Chapter 9:
Clash with the Pokemon Traffickers
Owten Nook
Thankfully, by the time the group left Nowtoch City, the rocks blocking Owten Nook had been finally removed and people could use the route again without having to cross Passage Cave. Though, thankfully, it seemed that the Pokemon inside the cave had remained calm and no more rock slides happened as a result of their constant territorial disputes.
They had spent the whole previous day walking, stopping only a couple times to eat and or to rest, before they set up the tents for the night. Then, as soon as the sun was up, they decided to continue their travel, until it was noon, and decided it was time to rest and fill their stomach, as breakfast felt far away and wouldn't be able to sustain them for much longer, so after finding a spot next to a small forest, they set up their camp.
Naturally, the first thing they did after setting camp was to release their Pokemon from their pokeballs so they could spread their legs and breathe some fresh air before it was time to eat.
As they waited for lunch hour, Ash had suggested that he and Serena had a sparring match to work up their appetites, something he was saying so often it was on its way to become a catchphrase. Ash decided to use Dunsparce and Birbie, while Serena used Braixen and Selkid.
"Let's see what you think of this combination, Serena!" Ash boasted, before addressing his Pokemon. "Dunsparce, Rollout! Birbie, use Gust to help him build even more speed!"
Dunsparce curled into a ball and rolled forward, while Birbie flapped his wings in order to produce a gust of wind that pushed Dunsparce from behind.
Serena smirked confidently. "Let me answer that with a combination of my own! Selkid, use Hyper Voice! And Braixen, use Flamethrower on it!"
"SeeeelKIIIIIIIIIID!" Selkid screamed as her voice manifested in the form of sonic shockwaves that flew towards the coming Dunsparce.
Braixen then aimed her wand into the sonic waves and shoot a stream of flames into it. The moment the fire touched the soundwaves, it began to wriggle and shift, forming a spiraling cone of flames around the Hyper Voice. The combination attack blasted Dunsparce backwards, who uncoiled as it landed on the ground with a soft thud. Even if Dunsparce didn't suffer much damage –she deduced the spinning force helped the Land Snake Pokemon deflect most of the damage– he was stopped in his tracks.
"Very good, Serena!" Ash praised her. "That combo would have made me lose a lot of points."
Serena beamed with pride at Ash's compliments, the determination to become even better burning brighter than ever. "And just wait to see what else I have prepared! Selkid, use Sing!"
The Sea Nymph Pokemon intoned a song that could have easily been mistaken for a human voice. Ethereal musical notes started to appear around Ash's Pokemon as they grew drowsy.
"Guys, resist! You must-eh?"
Then, much to Ash and Serena's surprise, Birbie started to chirp the same melody Selkid was, trying to follow the Water and Fairy type's pace. More musical notes started to appear around them.
"Look at that. Birbie learned Sing by listening to Selkid," Ash pointed out.
"It seems he wanted to form a duet with her," Serena said, giggling. Could it be that Birbie felt something for Selkid?
Serena, however, noticed something about Selkid. While she was allowing Birbie to sing alongside her, she was looking at him as if the Eden Bird Pokemon was challenged her. Selkid continued her song, only increasing her range and her pace, with Birbie trying to keep up with her as best as he could. She couldn't help to feel a little bad for Ash's Pokemon, given that the little bird wasn't trying to compete with her.
"Parce!"
Unfortunately for the singers, their duet abruptly ended when Dunsparce chose that moment to Headbutt the unaware Selkid, sending her rolling on the ground, getting dirt and blades of grass all over her body.
"Selkid!" Serena cried, as she went after her.
"Braix!" Braixen cried as well, following her trainer.
"BIRB!" Birbie screeched.
"Dunsparce!" Ash shouted. "Why did you do that!?"
"Parce?" the Land Snake Pokemon asked defensively, as if reminding everybody else that they were still in the middle of a battle.
While Ash and Birbie admonished Dunsparce, Serena and Braixen helped Selkid back on her feet. Fortunately, Dunsparce's attack hadn't hurt her much, even if she was now dirty.
"Selkid, are you okay?" Serena asked.
"Sel..." Selkid said, as she tried to wipe the dirt and grass from her little body, before glaring at the unapologetic looking Dunsparce.
"That Dunsparce..." Serena shook her head. "Say, there's a small pond going in that direction. Braixen, why don't you take Selkid there so she can wash herself?"
"Braix," Braixen nodded, as she held Selkid's hand and escorted the Sea Nymph Pokemon to the aforementioned pond.
As her Pokemon left, Ash walked towards her, a guilty look on his face, unlike the unruly Land Snake Pokemon.
"Hehe, sorry for that," Ash began. "I thought that Dunsparce realized that he shouldn't attack, but guess he's still difficult-"
Serena raised a finger, silencing Ash. Though she shot him a gentle smile to reassure him that she wasn't mad. "It's okay, Ash. I know it wasn't your fault. Then again, it may be for the best if you don't use Dunsparce during our spars until you have the time to curb his... atittude problem."
Ash smiled at her, still guilty but relieved to see Serena wasn't mad at him. "Guess I can't argue with that."
"Come on, let's-"
Serena was interrupted by a rustle coming from nearby bushes, as she and Ash turned around towards the source of the disturbance. And from the shrubbery, a small Pokemon emerged. It was a cute equine Pokemon, with white skin, a pink mane, a long tail ended in a pink fluff, a horn in the middle of its forehead, and big, clue eyes.
Serena's heart skipped a beat when she saw that Pokemon, who ressembled a smaller version of Kiricorn. Both she and Ash pulled out their Pokedex.
"Minicorn, the Foal Pokemon. Normal/Fairy. Its small stature, gentle demeanor and delicate features make it beloved by young children. A popular line of toys is based on it."
Checking Kiricorn's entry after that one, Serena confirmed that yes, Minicorn evolved into Kircorn when exposed to a Shiny Stone. Serena couldn't believe her luck, running into a Minicorn so soon, given their rarity.
Minicorn let out a high pitched whine, alerted by the sound the Pokedex made, and snapped her head towards the humans, looking at them with apprenhsive eyes.
"Uh oh, she looks scared," Ash whispered to her.
"I know. I'll try not to come off as menacing," Serena whispered back, before clearing her throat and putting on her best, most reassuring smile. "Hi there, Minicorn! My name is Serena, and I wondered if you'd like to be my fri-"
Serena was interrupted when Minicorn let out a loud, high pitched neigh of terror, before dashing back into the small forest.
"Minicorn, wait!" Serena said, taking a couple steps in the direction Minicorn ran towards. "I don't want to hurt you, I promise!"
"Guess that's a shy one," Ash commented. "Or maybe it's a Minicorn thing. Well, no wonder they're so hard to catch if they don't get close to humans."
"Too bad. I would have liked to befriend her," Serena dejectedly said, and she and Ash walked to Clemont and Bonnie, in the process of setting up the table.
Just as they finished, Braixen and Selkid returned, the latter already cleaned from all the dirt on her body, which still gleamed from the dripping water.
"Hey, look who's back!" Serena smiled at her most recent Pokemon. "Are you feeling better now? Because your food is ready!"
Selkid looked at the other Pokemon, both those who belonged to Serena, and those who don't, already happily munching on their food. Birbie noticed her, and waved a wing at her, but she ignored him. She furrowed her brow when her eyes rested on Dunsparce, the Land Snake Pokemon gobbling down his food as if nothing had happened.
"Selkid?" Serena asked.
Wordlessly, Selkid grabbed her bowl of food, and carried it to the other side of the table, away from the other Pokemon.
"Guess she isn't feeling that good yet..." Serena dejectedly said.
"Braixen," Braixen said, resting a paw on Serena's back to comfort her. The Fox Pokemon then grabbed her own bowl, and went to eat with Selkid. Thankfully, the Sea Nymph Pokemon didn't mind Braixen's company. The two Pokemon silently ate together.
…
Unbeknownst to the humans, Minicorn hadn't gone too far. In fact, she was still at the edge of the forest, carefully watching those humans returning with the rest of their herd, which also included a bunch of other Pokemon.
Normally, Minicorn wouldn't have left the safety and protection that the forest provided, especially since those other humans were still looking for her and her friends. One of the reasons she decided to go in the open was because she heard a voice, a singing voice, one that she hadn't heard in quite a few weeks.
But alas, she wasn't there, instead only a couple humans that could have easily captured her if they were faster. Granted, they didn't look as dangerous as the humans that kept her and her friends prisoner, but she didn't dare to push her luck with them.
Coming to terms with the fact that her missing friend wasn't there, Minicorn was about to leave, but something else caught her attention: a heavenly smell of something delicious. Something not of this world. Something that made her mouth water and stomach growl. Finding food has been a constant problem since she and her friends escaped captivity, so the promise of food was a welcome one.
One problem: the smell came from the human encampment, meaning that the food was theirs, and their Pokemon's.
Oh well, there's no reward without risk. And her friends were coutning on her.
…
And now, it was one of Dunsparce's favorite time since he allowed that human to catch him: lunch time.
Initially, Dunsparce only traveled with Ash because he thought that doing so would allow him to become stronger. The free food, however, was an unexpected but very welcomed surprise. And the taste was so much better. No more digging and scrapping to find stale mushrooms to eat, for the Land Snake Pokemon had hit the jackpot.
Though, he would have enjoyed his food much more if he couldn't feel Birbie's glare burning through his skin. Was he still angry because he attacked that fish in the middle of their singing? It wasn't Dunsparce's fault if the two of them forgot they were in the middle of a fight. Hell, Selkid should be grateful for Dunsparce holding back. A Poison Jab would have been far worse than a mere Headbutt.
Maybe he should have attacked Birbie instead, and teach that naïve chick what happens when you lower your guard in the middle of battle. Birbie was young and full of energy, traits of somebody who had an easy life and never experienced any hardships. How Ash allowed such a weakling among his ranks, Dunsparce couldn't tell.
Of course, Dunsparce was forgetting, either deliberatedly or otherwise, that said weakling had beaten him not long after that, but Dunsparce surely didn't consider that relevant to the topic at hand.
"Ches? Chespin? Chespin!"
"Cham! Pancham!"
"CHESPIN!"
Dunsparce's peace was disturbed further when he saw the Chespin from the nerdy human, Clemont, getting into an argument with the Pancham of the corny human. Apparently, Chespin was accusing Pancham of stealing some of the sweets the corny human, Serena, had baked for them, with Pancham naturally denying it.
"Pi, Pika!"
Before the two of them could get into a fight, Pikachu offered Chespin one of his sweets –Dunsparce believed Serena called them "pokepuffs"– which seemed to calm the Grass type down.
Too bad, that argument looked entertaining. And it seemed those two didn't get along. A malicious smile spread across his face as Dunsparce thought in ways to sow discord between them so they could get back to fighting-
YOINK!
"Cham?" Pancham asked, as he noticed that the pokepuff at his side had disappeared. He immediately turned at Chespin, a paw curled into a fist. "Pancham!? Cham, pancham!"
"Ches?"
"PANCHAM!"
...turns out no action on Dunsparce's part was necessary, as something had stolen Pancham's pokepuff. He didn't know who was, he only saw a brief flash of white and pink, but he didn't care. This time, Pikachu was unable to deescalate the situation, as he had no more food of his own to use to placate either of them.
"LUXRAY!" the nerdy human's Luxray quickly got in the middle, keeping the two angry Pokemon apart from each other.
Party pooper.
"Syl? Sylveon!" Sylveon cried, nervously looking around
"Nene?" Dedenne asked.
Apparently, Sylveon's food had also disappeared when she wasn't looking, and so did Dedenne, and accused the other Pokemon of taking away their food. Whoever that thief was, it was good, and has Dunsparce's respect.
"Bir-"
Birbie tried to say something, but his plea was silenced as the situation snowballed into a loud argument, drowning his voice in a cacophony of yells, as Pikachu, Luxray, and later Greninja tried without much success to defuse the situation.
Maybe with some luck, the argument would result in violence.
"Hey, what's happening over there?" Ash asked.
"Why are you fighting?" the small human, Bonnie, asked.
All the Pokemon immediately turned towards their trainers and began to loudly accuse the others of stealing their food, while the humans did their best to calm them down.
…
The raid had been successful.
Minicorn happily trotted with her loot, which she carried on her mouth, horn, and wrapped around her tail. It wasn't much, but she guessed it would last her and her friends a couple days, if they were careful with the rations.
And the best part, no one had seen her, as the other Pokemon quickly blamed each other for the disappearance of the food. Then, they'll leave with their trainers and the whole incident will be forgotten.
Or that's what Minicorn thought, as she wasn't unaware that a certain bird was following her, making sure the Foal Pokemon didn't spot him.
…
It took them some time, but they finally managed to calm their Pokemon down. It seemed that their food had disappeared, which was the cause of the argument. They were unable to come up who was right and who wasn't. Blaming Chespin was tempting, given his history, but even the Spiny Nut Pokemon wasn't as big of a gluttonous jerk as to steal food from pretty much every other Pokemon.
After that, the humans told their Pokemon to finish what was left of their food while they finished theirs, and they would resume their journey.
"Guess it's a good thing Selkid decided to eat apart from them," Serena said, as she began to recall all her Pokemon into their respective pokeballs. "Being in the middle of such an argument was the last thing she needed."
"Though, it's kind of weird that our Pokemon got into a fight like that," Ash said, as he did the same.
"Yeah. Chespin might cause some trouble with food, but never to this scale," Clemont agreed. "Which made me believe that this time he wasn't the culprit of the food disappearance."
"Guess there's no point in mulling over it. We will have to keep a closer eye on our Pokemon so there's not a repeat of this," Ash said, as he was about to recall Birbie, but the Eden Bird Pokemon was nowhere to be seen. "Birbie? Birbie? Birbie, where are you?"
"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked, looking around for the blue bird, only noticing his absence now.
"Where did Birbie go?" Serena asked, looking around as well.
"Wait... what if... Birbie stole the food and then ran away? Well, flew away," Bonnie pondered.
"There's no way Birbie would do that. In fact, of all my Pokemon, he's the one who eats the least," Ash said. "Though, now that you mention it, I don't remember seeing Birbie as part of the-"
"Birb!" Birbie chirped, as he emerged from the forest, looking a little agitated.
"Oh, there he is!" Ash said, relieved. "Birbie, where did you go? We were going to leave and-"
"Bir, birbie! Bir, bir!" Birbie chirped loudly, before he turned around, and returned to the forest.
"Hey, Birbie, where are you going? Come back!" Ash shouted, a bit confused by the behavior of the normally calm and chipper bird.
"Ash... I think Birbie found something and wants us to follow him," Clemont deduced.
"The food thief?" Bonnie asked.
"Only one way to know," Ash said, as he entered the forest, following Birbie.
The group of four followed the Eden Bird Pokemon across the small forest, the latter flying at a slow pace so they could follow him properly. They sometimes had to push some bushes or overgrowths here and there apart to walk, but otherwise the trek wasn't a difficult one.
"Whoa," Bonnie said.
They eventually reached to their destination: a rather large tree with an underground grotto partially hidden under its roots.
"So... the thieves are under that tree?" Ash asked.
"Birb!" Birbie nodded.
"Very well. Thanks for your help, Birbie. Return," Ash said, as he recalled Birbie into his pokeball.
The group went into the underground grotto, with Clemont activating his Heliolisk Flashlight to illuminate the area. It didn't take long for them to find its inhabitants, as they heard a high pitched neigh.
"...Minicorn?" Serena asked.
In front of them, bathed in the aritficial yellow light, were three Pokemon. One of them was Minicorn. The other was an Eevee, and the other was a blue and yellow insect Pokemon neither of them had seen in their lives, surrounding and eating from a pile of food the gang quickly realized was what their Pokemon were eating. Ash was quick to scan this new Pokemon with his Pokedex.
"Colarva, the Snow Mite Pokemon. Ice/Bug. The older they get, the sharper the ice spikes on their back become. Stepping on one buried under the snow is an unpleasant experience."
Eevee and Colarva flinched and shrunk in fear upon seeing their shelter breached by outsiders. Minicorn, instead, let out a neigh, and glared at the group, ready to go down fighting to protect her friends.
"Pikaaa!" Pikachu, in response, jumped from Ash's shoulder, landing on all fours, and releasing sparks of electricity from his cheeks. If these thieves wanted a fight, they'd have one.
"W-Wait! We don't want to fight you!" Serena said, raising her hands defensively. "If you only wanted food, all you have to-"
The honey blonde was interrupted when she felt one of her pokeballs shaking on its own, before opening and releasing the Pokemon inside.
"Selkid!" Selkid said, waving both arms at Minicorn.
Much to the group's bewilderment, Minicorn blinked in surprise, before relaxing her body. The two Pokemon walked towards each other, Minicorn nuzzling Selkid's face, while Selkid rubbed Minicorn's head with her arm. The Eevee and Colarva in the back also stopped shaking, and even got closer to meet Selkid, who also greeted them.
"Selkid? Do you know these Pokemon?" Serena asked.
"Selkid!" Selkid turned towards Serena and nodded at her.
"If that's true... then that means that these Pokemon must have been in the hands of those traffickers!" Clemont said in realization.
"Is that true, Selkid? Is that how you know these Pokemon?" Bonnie asked.
"Sel..." Selkid sadly agreed.
Ash's stare hardened. "We're close to Kevlar Town, where we rescued Selkid from that Maury kid. This confirms it. The traffickers' base of operations must be around Kevlar Town."
"Plus, we saw those bikers coming heading towards Kevlar after we left Moki Town," Clemont added.
"So... what are we going to do now?" Serena asked.
"First of all, these Pokemon look pretty beat up, not to mention hungry. Given that there are no Pokemon Centers around and we're still too far from Kevlar, we're going to take care of them oursevles until they're back to full health," Ash decided. His three friends nodded at the suggestion. "After that, we're going to find these traffickers' base and release all the Pokemon they have captured."
This earned Ash a few odd looks from his friends.
"Um, Ash, as much as I want to see those Pokemon free, shouldn't we contact the Rangers and let them take care of it?" Clemont suggested.
"By the time we reach Kevlar and contact them, it may be too late," Ash said, shaking his head. "In fact, I'm sure our encounter with Maury already tipped them that they're on thin ice and decided to bail already. Now that I think about it, it's possible that these three Pokemon took advantage of them moving out to escape."
"So if we find their base, they might not even be there," Serena summarized.
"Possibly, but we don't lose anything by taking a look first," Ash said. "If we don't find anything, we'll tell the Rangers once we return to Kevlar. Alright?"
To Ash's satisfaction, none of them opposed his suggestion.
"Very well then," Serena said, before turning at Selkid. "Selkid, ask your friends if they want to come with us for the time being. We can feed them and heal their wounds."
"Sel," Selkid nodded, before turning towards the trio of Pokemon, and presumably translated what Serena had told her.
The three Pokemon looked at each other, before sharing a couple of mutters. The three of them then turned towards the humans, and nodded.
…
A few minutes later, the group were back at their camp. Thankfully, it was still the way they left it. Leaving their tents, folding table and other belongings there unattended was foolish in hindsight, but fortunately, they weren't gone for long, so the camp was exactly as they left it.
The first thing they did was to give them some food, which they accepted eagerly, and wolfed them down as if somebody would take it away from them if they ate too slowly.
"Easy there, guys! You're going to choke on your food if you don't properly chew!" Bonnie told them.
"I guess these Pokemon haven't had much to eat lately," Clemont said, adjusting his glasses.
Once they were full, it was time to spray them with some Potions. Minicorn appeared to be the healthier of the three –perhaps that's why she was the one who went out to find food– but Eevee and Colarva, not so much. However, the Evolution Pokemon and the Snow Mite Pokemon took a step back the moment Clemont got close with the spray bottle, clearly not trusting him.
"Sel, selkid!" Selkid said, presumably telling them not to be afraid.
"This might sting a little at first, but trust me, you're going to feel so much better after that," Clemont reassured them, as he sprayed them with the Potion. The two Pokemon winced a little, but they trusted Selkid and let Clemont continue spraying them. However, after a few seconds, Eevee and Colarva looked at their bodies in amazement, seeing how their wounds disappeared and the small but persistent aches that afflicted them disappeared, replaced by a feeling of relief like they've never felt before.
"Ev!" Eevee squaled.
"Co-co!" Colarva happily screeched.
"See? I told you guys you can trust us," Bonnie smiled at them.
"Nene!" Dedenne emphatically added.
"Alright, now that you guys are better," Ash began as he walked towards then. "So, I was wondering-"
"Pika!" Pikachu suddenly interrupting, his ears perking up.
"Pikachu?" Ash whispered.
Silence reigned for a moment as neither human nor Pokemon made any noise, as if expecting for something to happen.
Then, they heard it.
The engine of a motorbike in distance, growing fainter and fainter until it disappeared.
"The bikers..." Bonnie said.
"They're close by..." Serena added.
Ash, however, looked far from worried or intimidated. If anything, he looked even more resolute than ever. "Then we were right. They do have their hideout somewhere around this parts. And inside said lair must be all the Pokemon they've poached."
"The noise came from that direction," Clemont said, pointing to the west. "But said lair could be anywhere."
"Fortunately, we know some Pokemon who managed to escape from that place," Ash told the trio of wild Pokemon, his voice sounding more pleading rather than demanding. "Listen, you may not like this, given that you'll have very bad memories of such place, but... can you lead us to the place you escaped from?"
Predictably, the trio grew uncomfortable with such a question.
"I know that going back to such a place may not be easy for you," Ash continued, kneeling before them so he could look at them in the eye. "But... think in all the Pokemon that, like you not long ago, were in the hands of those criminals. They're suffering like you did. And they're waiting for somebody to rescue them. You can help them escape."
"Pi, pikachu!" Pikachu added, waving his paws.
"Selkid!" Selkid added as well.
Once again, the trio of Pokemon looked at each other, before trading some whispers, and thankfully, once again their response was a positive one.
"You will? Awesome!" Ash cheered.
"And don't worry. We promise you we won't let you those guys catch you again," Serena reassured them.
…
About an hour later, the trio of escaped Pokemon led their human saviors through the forest, coming out from the other side, and heading towards the west, towards the rocky hills that surrounded Owten Nook.
"Are you sure this is the right direction?" Clemont asked, as he looked around. "There doesn't seem to be anything here."
"Eev!" Eevee said, nodding.
"Well, it looks secluded enough to build a base, but the terrain here isn't the best to build anything," Serena commented.
"I'm with Clemont, I'm not seeing anything here," Bonnie said, looking around as well. Then, she grabbed Dedenne and lifted him above her head. "Do you see something, Dedenne?"
"Nene," the Antenna Pokemon shook his head.
The trio then stopped, making the whole group to stop as well. The path ahead branched in different directions, and they were looking at them in confusion, as if trying to remember which one was the one they took when they escaped. They spend there quite a few minutes, unable to reach a decision.
"Guess this is as far as we're going to get," Serena said, as she scratched the side of her head.
"I guess that they were worried with escaping and didn't take the time to memorize the place," Ash said. "Not that I can blame them."
"Well, if I was an evil guy, I wouldn't just want my base on a far away place, but also hidden so people don't find them on accident," Bonnie pointed out. "Maybe that's why they're having trouble remembering where it was."
"That's... a rather clever observation, Bonnie," Clemont admitted, making his sister smile proudly.
"It's also a problem. How are we going to find something that's hidden?" Serena asked.
"Don't worry, I have the best Pokemon for the job!" Clemont said, as his hand reached for one of his pokeballs. "Luxray, go!"
"Lux!" the Gleam Eyes Pokemon shouted as he was released from the capture device.
"Luxray, we're looking for a place that might be hidden somewhere around this area," Clemont explained. "Can you use your X-Ray vision to help us track it?"
"Luxray!" the Electric type nodded. Luxray's eyes started to glow as he activated his X-ray vision. He began to move around, looking in every possible direction, trying to find something that might not fit with the current rocky terrain. And after a few minutes, he finally did. "Lux!"
"Did you find something, Luxray?" Clemont asked.
Luxray then began to run in the direction of one of the rocky paths, with the rest of the group trailing after him. Eventually, they reached the end of the path, which was blocked by a pile of large rocks and boulders. Luxray, however, didn't stop, and continued running towards the seemingly blocked path, and much to their shock, Luxray walked through it as if it wasn't there.
"A holographic disguise!" Clemont said. "No wonder the Rangers had such a hard time finding their hideout."
"A good way to hide the way to your lair. Bonnie was right, this isn't something one would find unless you were looking for it," Ash said, as he and his friends walked through the hologram.
"Those bikers surely have access to advanced technology," Bonnie commented, impressed.
They continued walking through the path, who took multiple turns, while also becoming more and more like a slope.
"You know, for a bunch of bikers, those Dunsparce guys chose quite an odd place for a hideout," Serena said, as she kicked one of the many, many pebbles scattered around the rocky slope. "This isn't a good place to ride a motorbike. You'd need something like an all-terrain vehicle."
"Who says they don't have them?" Clemont asked. "Maybe they chose this place precisely because no one would think in looking for a bunch of bikers here."
The path began to widen little by little, until they finally reached a large cliff wall. And at the base of said cliff wall there was the entrance of a tunnel, blocked by a metallic double door.
"I have the feeling we just found the hideout," Ash said.
"Lux!" Luxray warned.
"I think Luxray agrees with you," Clemont said, noticing how Luxray was looking at the gate intently. Or more specifically, what was behind that gate.
"Come on, let's see if we can force that door open," Ash said.
As they walked towards the tunnel entrance, they realized that Minicorn, Eevee and Colarva hadn't moved from their spots, and were looking at the metal gate with fear in their eyes. The humans didn't need to ask to know what was going through the Pokemon trio's minds.
"It's okay, you don't have to come with us any further," Serena said in a soothing voice. "We can go on our own from this point onwards."
"Yes. Thanks a lot for guiding us to this place," Clemont added. "You were very brave doing so."
Thye three Pokemon nodded before they turned around and ran away, presumably back to the same forest where Ash and his friends found them.
"Goodbye Minicorn," Serena said in a whisper. "Let's hope you and your friends will find a good place to live."
"Alright, time to rescue the rest of Minicorn's friends," Ash said, pulling one of his pokeball buckled on his belt. "Greninja, I choose you!"
Ash tossed the pokeball forward, releasing his strongest Pokemon so far. "Gre!"
"Greninja, use Night Slash on that gate!"
"Gre..." Greninja said, as he summoned a black and purple energy blade on his hand, before dahsing forward and delivering several slashing motions. "...NINJA!"
While the door appeared to be pretty solid, it wasn't hard enough to resist Greninja's might, and the Ninja Pokemon's Night Slash was able to cut a hole big enough for all of them to pass.
"Alright, let's go!" Ash said before rushing inside, the rest of his friends and the Pokemon following behind.
…
Once again, the blond biker named Amber had also been trailing Ash and his friends while they searched for the hideout of the Pokemon traffickers. Given the extremely rocky terrain, she was forced to leave her motorbike and continue on foot, though that wasn't an obstacle for the woman to do her job.
Once she saw Ash's Greninja break the steel door open, allowing the group and his Pokemon inside, she opened her Pokegear and dialed the number of her boss.
"Richard? This is Amber. I don't know how but those kids managed to find the secret hideout," Amber said, her voice sounding panicked. "So you and the others better get your sorry butts here, because things are going to get ugly really fast!"
…
As Ash and his friends ran through the ample tunnel, they couldn't help but notice the metallic sheets covering the ground, walls and roof, as well as the small lights to the sides and on the roof that kept it well illuminated, to realize that the traffickers had dug their base into the rocky hill rather than on top of it.
The walls were also marked with a large red Omega symbol, identical to the one on the Muscular Enhancer Maury's Pokemon wore.
The tunnel entrance led to what appeared to be a lobby. There were two men and a woman, wearing some sort of military uniform: a dark blue bodysuit with a gray metallic chestplate, gauntlets, boots, shoulderpads, belt and helmet, with more Omega symbols on them. The helmets had a green visor-like monocle that covered a single eye of their faces.
"Hey, who the hell are you and what are you doing here!?" one of the armored men asked.
"How did you enter here?" the woman demanded.
The helmet of the second man began to beep as information flashed on his visor. "Hey, that's the Selkid Maury lost many days ago!"
"So you're the Pokemon traffickers, huh?" Ash asked. "Well, to answer your question, we're the ones who are going to put an end to your operations!"
"Pika!" Pikachu said, jumping forward and landing on all fours, electric sparks jumping from his cheeks.
"Gren!" Greninja said, as he took a step forward, ready to attack as well.
"Big words for such a small kid!" the first man said, as he pulled out a pokeball. "We'll teach you not to meddle with Team Omega! Go Primeape!"
"Go Tofurang!" the second man said.
"Go Folerog!" the woman said.
"Team Omega, huh?" Ash asked. "You aren't the first group of criminals I faced that believed they could treat Pokemon the way they pleased. Greninja, Water Shuriken!"
"Gre!" Greninja said, as a pair of blue shuriken formed on his hands, and tossed them towards the enemy pokemon.
"Primeape, counter with Karate Chop!" the first grunt ordered.
"Use Poison Fang, Tofurang!" the female grunt ordered.
Primeape's fist glowed white, while a glowing purple aura surrounded Tofurang's mouth, as the two of them moved to counter Greninja's attack. However, the moment the two of them hit the water shuriken, they exploded into a mass of torrential water that pushed the Pokemon backwards, slamming them against the wall behind them.
"WHAT!?" the female grunt asked, shocked to see their Pokemon beaten so easily.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt on Folerog!" Ash ordered.
"Pikaaaa..." Pikachu jumped into the air, his body crackling with electricity. "CHUUUUUUUU!"
Pikachu released a powerful lightning bolt towards the hapless Folerog, the super effective attack knocking out the Water and Poison type instantly.
The helmet on one of the male grunts beeped, as more information flashed on his visor. "What the hell? The power of those two Pokemon is off the charts! Just what's wrong with this kids!"
"Retreat!" the other male grunt said as the trio of criminals bolted for the nearest exist.
"Oh no, you won't! Luxray, don't let them escape!" Clemont ordered.
The Gleam Eyes Pokemon leaped above the criminals, landing in front of them and blocking their only exit, and growling at them menacingly. Yelping, they scrambled for another door, but this time it was Greninja, without needing Ash to tell him to, who jumped in front of the door, staring down at them, arms crossed.
"Selkid, Sing!" Serena ordered.
As Selkid began to sing, ethereal music notes began to float around the Team Omega grunts, the Sea Nymph Pokemon making sure her friends were unaffected by the effect of her attack. In a few seconds, they succumbed and collapsed on the ground, deeply asleep.
"Good job, you two," Ash praised Clemont and Serena. "Now these three won't alert the rest of their cronies about our presence here."
"While the battle was quick, I'm sure somebody must have heard the commotion and more of those thugs are coming to see what's wrong," Serena pointed out.
"In that case, we better find where are they keeping the captured Pokemon so we can release them as soon as possible," Ash said, looking around the lobby. There were three doors leading to three different hallways. "Though... this place looks pretty big. Even if we split, we might take a lot of time to search every corner..."
"I think this may be of help," Clemont said, as he walked towards one of the sleeping grunts, and removed his helmet. "I hope you don't mind if borrow this for a few moments," Clemont said, before removing his glasses and putting on the helmet. Using the buttons on the side of the helmet, Clemont began to test what the device could do. "This helmet has a built-in computer. It has many functions, and one of them must be... bingo! A map of this base!"
"That's great, Clemont! So, you know where all the captured Pokemon are?" Bonnie asked.
"Give me a second..." Clemont said, fiddling with the device more. "Yes! I know exactly how to reach it! Follow me!"
Clemont lead the group through the Team Omega base. From time to time, they encountered a couple grunts who tried to stop them, but their Pokemon quickly fell before the might the intruders' Pokemon. They also made sure to block their escape so Serena could put them to sleep with Selkid's sing. There was no need to release more of their Pokemon, as those currently out were more than enough to face the threats that crossed their path.
The base was almost nothing but sheets of metal welded together, with no decoration except that red Omega symbols painted on them at regular intervals. Some rooms had windows that allowed them to see what was inside: some appeared to be offices, other had computers and machinery, and others appeared to be chemistry labs, but none of them had any Pokemon prisoner inside.
"We're close!" Clemont told them. "This corridor leads to a large room, which I think it's some sort of control room or command center. To the right there's a corridor that leads to a large storage area where all the Pokemon are being held!"
"That's great!" Ash cheered, his gaze filled with resolve. "Come on guys, just a little more! Nothing can stop us now!"
They exited the corridor and entered the control room, but they were forced to skid to a halt, as, much to their surprise, they were greeted by a veritable army of Team Omega grunts – according to Clemont's stolen Team Omega helmet, there were twenty two people in the room–, each of them with a Pokemon already out.
"Welcome to our humble abode, children," a new voice said.
Several grunts in the middle moved aside to make room for the source of the voice: A bald, fair skinned man in a Team Omega uniform, except his had bigger shoulderplates, and a black cape falling down his back. Unlike the grunts, he wasn't wearing a helmet, but he was wearing the one-eyed visor.
"Allow me to introduce myself. Captain Zebos, leader of Team Omega's Alpha Division, and main overseer of its operations," the man said, making an exaggerated bow. "We've been waiting for you."
"...you were?" Serena asked.
"You know, your friend had the right idea with stealing one of our helmets. I'm sure it helped you navigate this base," Zebos said, pointing at Clemont. "Too bad he didn't think in switching off the radio communicator."
Clemont's face grew pale with horror at such an oversight on his part, while Bonnie and Dedenne shot the inventor an accusing look.
"Of course, we had to let you believe that we were none the wiser, at least until you were past a point where escaping was impossible. Otherwise you would have turned around and leave, and we couldn't have that. Not after you brats stole something that belongs to us," Zebos said, piercing Selkid with his glare.
Selkid whimpered, and hid behind Serena's leg.
"Selkid isn't yours to take!" Serena protested, standing protectively in front of the Sea Nymph Pokemon.
"I beg to differ. You stole it from my son, so now I'm taking it back," Zebos stated. Then, he looked at Greninja and Pikachu. "And I think we're going to take a few more Pokemon from you for the trouble you caused us. Yes, that Greninja of yours will fetch quite a price in the black market."
"Gre!" Greninja angrily hissed, as he took a fighting stance.
"Oh? Do you want to fight?" Zebos asked. "I admit, you stand a solid chance. I know about you, Ash Ketchum, and your friends. Your Greninja and Pikachu alone are a force to be reckoned with. But powerful as they are, they are only two Pokemon. We will crush you with our sheer numbers."
"If you think we will go down without a fight...!" Ash seethed.
"With or without a fight, you will go down," Zebos said, his lips curving into an ugly smirk.
"Not if I have something to say about it!" a new powerful voice said.
That moment, a large group of people entered the control room. Men and women of various ages wearing punkish clothes, and the same blue sleeveless jacket with a Dunsparce on its back. And leading them was a tall, broad shouldered man with slick black hair, a goatee of the same color, and a scar crossing his left cheek.
Ash and Serena had seen this man before: on a 'wanted' poster on Kevlar Town. This man was Richard Hunter, the leader of the Dunsparce Gang.
"The bikers!" Bonnie yelped, as she held Dedenne protectively.
The smirk disappeared from Zebos' face as he eyed Richard and his gang of bikers. "Well, well, well, look who decided to show up uninvited. The security of this place leaves a lot to be desired."
"Wait...aren't they on the same side?" Serena asked, a little confused, as the bikers began to fill the room, many of them standing between the teens and the Team Omega grunts.
"If that's the case... you guys aren't traffickers then?" Ash asked the bikers in general.
"Hell no! We might not exactly be law abiding citizens, but we do love Pokemon! We would never stoop to do something so horrible!" Richard grimaced in disgust.
"These assholes were the ones poaching Pokemon to the highest bidder," another biker said. He had a powerful build like Richard and was of a similar age, but had dark skin, a full beard and a short mohawk. "While framing us for their crimes!"
"Exactly like Lou said," Richard said with a nod. "But not anymore! We knew about you and that you had a hideout somewhere around these parts, and thanks to these kids, we finally found it!"
"Wait... you've been following us?" Clemont asked, cringing at the idea that such an intimidating group had them on their sights.
"By pure chance, Amber there," Richard said, nodding at a female biker, a tall woman with long blond hair, who waved at them. "Saw your confrontation with that little shit over the Selkid. She told me about you, and I knew that, if you didn't seek Team Omega, they would go after you. And once that confrontation happened... we would be there both to provie help and settle the score."
"This changes nothing! You're nothing but a bunch of brutish, uneducated rabble! Team Omega, crush all of them!" Zebos commanded.
"Dunsparce Gang, show them what happens when scum like these mess with us!" Richard yelled, pokeball in hand. The other bikers soon followed suit.
"Go Arbok!"
"Time to kick ass, Dunsparce!"
"Fight, Tofurang!"
"Go into overdrive, Tancoon!"
"Go Dunsparce!"
"You too, Dunsparce!"
"Seek and Destroy, Sableye!"
Chaos engulfed the large control room as the bikers' Pokemon engaged those used by the Team Omega Grunts. Attacks flew in every direction, some finding their marks, others missing and crashing against either the walls or the electronic equipment spread around the room. In less than five minutes, the walls were covered in large cracks and burn marks, and all the electronics were made unusable, the worst being on fire.
The initial volley of attacks also caused Ash and his friends to scatter in different directions in order to dodge them, before they found safe spots to stay for the time being. Clemont was calling for Bonnie, but stopped once he saw that his little sister was with Serena.
Ash couldn't tell friend from foe, given the sheer amount of Pokemon duking it out. All Dunsparces being friendly was a conclusion easy to reach –for a given value of "friendly", if they were anything like his own Dunsparce–, but for the rest of the Pokemon, no idea. For the time being, Ash decided to play defense.
"Stay close, but don't move. Only attack when you're attacked, otherwise we may hit a friendly Pokemon," Ash told Greninja and Pikachu, the two of them nodding in agreement.
A Primeape ripped a piece of ruined equipement and chucked it against a Tofurang. Said Tofurang was then slammed by a Dunsparce's Rollout. A grey and pink Pokemon Ash didn't know –nor had the time to scan with his Pokedex– blasted another Dunsparce with a Hyper Voice. A Sableye used Night Slash on another Tofurang.
A Lombre bombarded a pair of Barewl with a powerful Bubble Beam, before said Lombre was at the receiving end of an Arbok's Slam, which send it crashing against a Flaafy that was fighting a Felunge. A trio of Tonemy flew towards Ash, ready to drown him and his Pokemon in Poison Gas, but Pikachu was faster and zapped them with a Thunderbolt.
"Luxray, no!" Ash's heard Clemont's voice cry.
Despite the loud cacophony of noises product of the large battle, Ash managed to pinpoint Clemont's voice, and saw how his Luxray was being harrassed by a Gliscor and a couple Gligar. Clemont had released Bunnelby and Chespin, but they were having trouble defending their teammate.
"Greninja, help Clemont's Pokemon!" Ash ordered.
Greninja nodded, and leaped into the air, gracefully dodging all the ranged attacks that both sides were launching at each other, while a pair of Water Shuriken formed on his hands. Greninja launched the projectiles, hitting the Scorpion Pokemon with powerful blasts of water, getting them away from Luxray.
"Thank you!" a grateful Clemont shouted.
Ash was about to say something in return, when he heard Richard yell.
"Oh no, you're not getting away, you scum!" the biker leader said.
Ash's eyes locked onto Richard, and saw that the biker was chasing after Zebos, who just escaped through one of the control room's doors. Scowling, Ash immediately went after the two of them. He wasn't going to let that awful man get away with his crimes.
…
Meanwhile, at another side of the control room, Serena had released Braixen, who alongisde Selkid were defending their trainer and Bonnie from some Team Omega grunts that had surrounded her.
"Braixen, Hidden Power! Selkid, Hyper Voice!" Serena commanded.
Braixen and Selkid unleashed their attacks, easily pushing the enemy Pokemon back. Sure, the Team Omega grunts outnumbered them, but their Pokemon left a lot to be desired. Though if these criminals treated Pokemon as mere property to be sold, they probably wouldn't treat their own Pokemon that much better.
Then again, no one would join a criminal organization as low-ranked grunts if they were good trainers, Serena thought.
"Hey, Serena!" Bonnie called.
"Sorry Bonnie, but I'm a little busy right now!" Serena hurriedly replied. "Braixen, counter that with Flamethrower!"
"Serena, this is important!" Bonnie insisted, as the flamethrower cast a brief orange light over the area. "That door over there! According to what Clemont said, the captured Pokemon are all behind that door!"
"Really?" Serena shouted back, now feeling a little guilty for dismissing Bonnie like that. Resolve filled her eyes as she gazed upon the door. Their goal was now within reach. "Alright. We'll release the captured Pokemon. If the bikers keep the Team Omega guys occupied, they won't be able to stop us from releasing them. Braixen, Selkid, we need to make a path towards that door! Help them, Pancham and Sylveon!"
Serena and Bonnie moved towards the door as soon as they had the chance, though the constant battles made their progress frustratingly slow. Braixen and Pancham were mostly on the defensive, while the two Fairy types were kept close to the girls in order to protect them.
"Braixen, Fire Blast! Pancham, Dark Pulse!" Serena ordered. "Selkid, Hyper Voice! Sylveon, Protect!"
While Serena's Pokemon were doing fine, the Kalosian teen soon realized one of the cons of having so many Pokemon out at once: not being able to keep an eye on all of them. When Serena was giving Selkid an order, Pancham was blindsided by an Owten's Wing Attack, sending him crashing backwards.
"Pancham!" Serena cried.
"Good job, Owten! Now use Confusion!" the Team Omega grunt in command of the Owten shouted.
"Tancoon, Take Down!" a new female voice said.
Before Owten could deliver another attack, it was slammed by a canine-looking black and brown Pokemon. The hit send Owten crashing against a steel wall.
"Good job, Tancoon! Now Arbok, Bind that asshole and use Glare!" the same female voice said.
Serena could see now it belonged to one of the bikers, a very tall girl –Serena wondered if the Dunsparce Gang had a height requirement for its members, given that all of them were pretty tall– with brown skin and black spiky hair, the right side so long it covered the right half of her face, the left side so short it was almost shaved. A large tatoo of an Arbok was coiled around her left arm.
She was wearing the gang's common sleveless blue shirt with a Dunsparce logo behind on top of a dark fuchsia t-shirt cut above her belly, short jeans, and dark green boots. Unlike the other members of the gang, who were in their thirties or forties, this girl appeared to be no older than eighteen.
Before the Team Omega grunt could do anything, an Arbok silently slithered behind him and quickly coiled around his body.
"What the-"
"Shaabak!" Arbok locked eyes with the hapless grunt, who quickly fell to the paralisys. Once done, Arbok released her prey, which collapsed on the ground.
"Well done, guys!" the biker girl praised her Pokemon.
Taking advantage of the respite, Serena pulled out her Pokedex to scan the unknown Pokemon from her savior.
"Tancoon, the Racoon Dog Pokemon. Dark/Normal. They are mischievous, and are known to steal food from small Pokémon or journeying trainers." the Pokedex droned.
Tancoon was a mostly brown canine Pokemon, similar in size to a Growlithe or a Poochyena. It had black ears, tail, and paws, as well as a v-shaped black mark on its forehead. It had two large claws at the end of each paw, and two fangs stuck out of its closed jaws.
"Hey, you okay?" the biker girl asked.
"Now we are. Thank, you, ummm..." Serena began.
"Aisha. Nice to meet you. And you're welcome," Aisha said, smiling at her.
"I'm Serena, and this is Bonnie," Serena said.
"Hello," Bonnie said with a wave.
"What are you guys doing here in the open? In case you haven't noticed, this place has become a battleground," Aisha cringed as a loud explosion blasted at the other side of the room. "You should find a place that has a good cover!"
"We can't do that! Those traffickers had their Pokemon locked behind this door, and we have to save them!" Bonnie retorted, pointing at the door.
Aisha's visible eye opened wide, before she looked at the door. "You should have started from there then!"
Serena pressed the red button next to the door, and it slid opened with a whoosh. Free of obstacles, the three girls and their Pokemon finally entered the storage room where all the Pokemon were being kept. Once inside the dimly lit room, Serena could see multiple Selkid, Minicorn, Colarva, Eevee, Luxi, and many more Pokemon she hadn't seen before, but if they were here they were probably rare and valuable.
Needless to say, all of them looked miserable, and reacted with fear when the trio of girls entered the room. Like Selkid before, they weren't too trusting of any human being nor Pokemon affiliated with them.
"Fear not guys, we're here to save you!" Bonnie announced, trying to both sound heroic and soothe the visibly scared Pokemon.
"Nenene!" Dedenne added.
"This is awful. Look at this Pokemon, forced to live in these cramped cages," Serena said, kneeling before a cage containing a sad looking Eevee. "How can somebody treat Pokemon like this?"
"The world is full of scumbags, there's no point in mulling over that," Aisha said, shaking her head, as she began to open the cages. "Fortunately, the world also has good people like you and me. Come on, time to return these little fellas to where they belong."
Serena and Bonnie nodded, as they began to open the cages one by one, releasing the Pokemon inside.
…
Running through another hallway covered in sleek metal, Ash followed Richard, who was in turn following Zebos. It seemed that Zebos had summoned every other grunt to the main control room, given that no more grunts crossed their paths.
The chase eventually led them to another control room full of computers, as well as monitors covering the wall in front of the door, but no way to escape. It wasn't as big as the one where the main battle was taking place but it was still rather spacey. There, they found Zebos franctically typing on one of the keyboards. hitting the last key with a satisfyed grunt.
"And done!" Zebos triumphantly said.
"Yeah. You're pretty much done," Richard deadpanned. "What the hell were you doing? I thought you'd take this chance to escape like the vermin you are!"
"Escape? From you? Don't make me laugh!" Zebos replied, as he pulled out a pokeball. "No I'm not afraid of any of you. But I know that you're not entirely stupid, and you probably had somebody alert the Rangers of the position of this base, meaning that it's compromised. So it was imperative to purge all our servers of incriminating information."
"That's so noble of you, sacrificing yourself to protect your buddies," Richard said, as he pulled out a pokeball of his own. "Though in the end, it will be worthless. All of you are going down."
"I'd like to see you try! Lucario, go!" Zebos said, sending his pokeball.
The capture device opened, releasing the Aura Pokemon. A rectangular device with a red Omega symbol on it was starpped to its chest.
"Go Dunsparce!" Richard said, releasing the Pokemon whose gang was named after.
"Go Dunsparce!" Ash echoed, sending his own Dunsparce. "You too, Pikachu!"
"You have a Dunsparce too?" Richard asked, beaming at Ash. "I'm starting to like you more and more, kid!"
The Team Omega Captain let out a loud laugh. "Really? That's what you plan to use to fight my Lucario? A pair of worms and a filthy rat?"
"You make a big mistake underestimating us," Ash warned him.
"Oh really? Let's see..." Zebos tapped the side of his visor, and information flashed in front of him. "Ha! Your Pikachu's power is high, I give you that, but those Dunsparce barely reach to the sole of my Lucario's feet! My Lucario could wipe the floor with all of you without needing to use the Muscular Enhancer," he then pulled a small remote, the same remote Maury had used, and pressed a button on it. "Then again, why take the risk? Plus, this way the beatdown will be even more brutal!"
The device hummed to life as the Omega symbol glowed with a red light. Lucario winced in pain, closing his eyes shut as the device worked to strengthen its body. The Aura Pokemon opened its eyes, which were now bloodshot red, as his mouth formed an ugly snarl.
"Richard, be very careful right now! I've seen that before! That device made Lucario much stronger!" Ash warned the biker.
"You did?" Richard asked.
"Yeah, a boy affiliated with Team Omega used it on his Pokemon," Ash explained. "You said he was your son, right?"
"Just because you beat my incompetent son, I'm going to be an easy prey?" Zebos asked, outraged. "Maury made the mistake to think the Muscular Enhancer is a replacement for training, but I'm not him! I trained my Lucario to reach the peak of its power, and with the Enhancer's help, its strength is on par with a legendary Pokemon!"
As somebody who had witnessed the power of multiple legendary Pokemon, Ash had some big doubts about such claim, but decided to let Zebos dwell on his delusion. Then again, Ash had also witnessed the effects of the Muscular Enhancer so, he knew that Lucario had become extremely dangerous.
"Richard, be careful, I already saw that device in action before. That Lucario has now the strength to knock out our Pokemon in one or two hits at most," Ash warned the biker.
"Are you kidding me!? Then how are we going to beat that guy?" Richard asked in disbelief.
"Follow my lead. For the time being, we'll fight defensively," Ash said. "Let's try to make that Lucario extert itself as much as possible, then we strike."
"Very well, kid. Let's hope you're right."
"I take that's how you defeated Maury? By having your Pokemon dance around his until they tired out? Ha!" Zebos mocked. "Such tactic won't work on me! My Lucario's stamina is an endless ocean! It can fight for hours on end if I order him to!"
"Let's put that theory to test then!" Ash said. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu jumped into the air, his body crackling with electricity, as he channeled all that energy into a single lightning bolt towards Lucario.
"Lucario, deflect it with Bone Rush!" Zebos ordered. "Then counterattack!"
"LU!" Lucario summoned a long bone made of green energy between its paws, and spun it in front of him, dispersing the Thunderbolt into smaller electric bolts that flew in different directions.
After Lucario blocked the attack, it gripped the bone tightly, holding it like a combat staff, and rushed towards the trio of yellow Pokemon.
"Pikachu, dodge! Dunsparce, Dig!" Ash ordered.
"Dunsparce, Shadow Ball!" Richard shouted.
Pikachu jumped backwards just as Ash's Dunsparce drilled through the metal floor to bury himself underground. Meanwhile, Richard's Dunsparce raised its tail, forming a large orb of darkness on its tip. Flicking its tail, it launched the sphere of shadows towards Lucario. Lucario struck the incoming projectile, but it also caused the energy bone to break as well.
Lucario then felt something under its feet, and fell back with a backflip as Ash's Dunsparce burst from underground, barely missing his target, much to the Land Snake Pokemon's frustration.
"You can't surprise Lucario! It can sense sneak attacks thanks to its aura!" Zebos boasted. "Now Lucario, Power-Up Punch on that Pikachu!"
"Cario!" Lucario dashed forward, clenching its right paw into a fist, which was covered in a bright orange aura.
Pikachu was able to move out of the way just as Lucario brought its fist forward hitting only a wall. However, the Power-Up Punch blew a huge hole in the wall, creating an impromptu passage to the next room, which appeared to be a large storage room with a few crates scattered around, as well as a few ground vehicles. The ground was made of concrete rather than metal, and the walls weren't covered in metal, leaving its brick and mortar composition visible. There was also a large garage door that presumably lead outside.
"Whoa! What a destructive power!" Richard said in horror.
"It's the effect of several Sword Dances in a row," Ash told him. He then looked at the adjacent storage room. "Let's move the fight there, we'll have more room to avoid its attacks."
"Got it," Richard agreed.
As the teen, the biker and their Pokemon entered the storage room, Zebos and his Lucario followed them.
"So now you're the ones who want to escape from me? Well, I can't allow that! Lucario, Blaze Kick!" Zebos ordered.
Lucario leaped into the air as one of his legs was coated in bright red flames. It then dived towards the trio of yellow Pokemon, landing between them foot first. The moment his fire-coated foot touched the ground, it produced a fiery explosion that blasted Pikachu and the two Dunsparce in different directions each.
"Does it sink yet how hopelessly outmatched you're against me? You stand no chance against Team Omega!" Zebos boasted.
Despite taking almost no damage from the fight, Lucario flinched. Ash noticed this, followed by how heavy his breathing was becoming. It was close.
"Dunsparce, Ancient Power!" Richard ordered.
"Parce!" Richard's Dunsparce cried, as it summoned a spinning circle of small glowing spheres above it. The spheres then grew in size, taking the form of large, golden boulders, before they flew towards Lucario.
"Lucario, deflect once again with Bone Rush!" Zebos ordered.
And once again, Lucario summoned yet another bone staff made of green energy, and used it to smash to bits the coming rock projectiles.
"Pikachu, Iron Tail from above! Dunsparce, Rollout, aim for the legs!" Ash ordered.
Pikachu leaped towards Lucario in a wide arc, as his tail glowed with a metallic sheen, and readied it to hit Lucario with it. Meanwhile, Dunsparce coiled into a ball, and rolled towards the aura Pokemon.
"Lucario, dodge and then Aura Sphere!" Zebos ordered.
In an awe-inspiring display of agility, Lucario jumped sideways, avoiding both Pikachu's Iron tail and Dunsparce's Rollout, as it formed a blue and white sphere of energy between its paws, before tossing it at Pikachu. Unable to block or dodge, the Mouse Pokemon was hit by the attack, and was blasted backwards, crashing against a nearby crate.
"Pikachu!"Ash cried.
While hurt, Pikachu managed to jump back to his feet, and nodded at Ash, making him know Pikachu could still fight.
"I guess I should be lucky Aura Sphere isn't affected by the Muscular Enhancer, since it's not a physical attack," Ash thought.
"Dunsparce, Flamethrower!" Richard ordered.
"Cut through it with Blaze Kick!" Zebos ordered.
Richard's Dunsparce opened its mouth, releasing a torrent of flames at Lucario. Lucario's right leg was coated in flames once again, and delivered a flying kick at Dunsparce. Thanks to its own fiery cover, Lucario was able to plow through Dunsparce's attack, minimizing the effect of the super effective attack, before slamming its foot against Dunsparce, resulting in a fiery blast, and Dunsparce was send rolling backwards until it crashed against a concrete wall.
"Dunsparce!" Richard cried, as he rushed to check his Pokemon. While that hit had hurt Dunsparce quite a bit, it wasn't hurt enough to give up the fight. "I guess the Flamethrower must have softened the blow..."
"Time to finish this! Lucario, Power-Up Punch on that Pikachu!" Zebos ordered, as he pointed at Ash's Pikachu.
Lucario prepared to attack, but much to Zebos' surprise, the Aura Pokemon winced, before dropping to his knees and clutching its chest, while loudly hissing in pain.
"Lucario, what the hell are you doing!? I said Power-Up Punch!" Zebos roared.
"You asked before how did I beat Maury. Well, this is how," Ash began. "That Muscular Enhancer gives your Pokemon a truly monstrous power boost. But said power comes at the expense of putting the Pokemon's body under an equally monstrous strain. And Lucario's body reached its limit. It won't be able to fight anymore."
"That... that's nonsense!" Zebos shouted, his face red with anger.
"You seem surprised by this. Didn't Maury tell you about the little flaw in your invention?" Ash asked. "Or maybe he told you but you refused to listen to him?"
Zebos didn't answer, he merely gritted his teeth, as his eyes drifted back and forth between Ash and his suffering Lucario.
"Your silence is rather telling. You're right about one thing, though. It's time to finish this! Pikachu, Electroball Dunsparce, Rollout!"
"Dunsparce, Flamethrower again!" Richard ordered.
Pikachu jumped into the air, forming a yellow orb of electricity on the tip of his tail, before swinging it at Lucario, just as Richard's Dunsparce exhaled a torrent of flames. Both attacks impacted Lucario at once, setting it ablaze as electricity shocked its body, before Ash's Dunsparce, coiled into a rolling ball, slammed into it, sending it crashing backwards, before it fell on its back.
"Lucario, get up! Get up you useless mutt!" Zebos roared. But Lucario was too weak to move, much less continue the fight.
"Sir!" That moment, a jeep with two Team Omega grunts on it skidded near their leader. "We need to go! Our troops have been beaten, and those bikers released our goods!" the grunt on the passanger's seat said. "The Rangers will be here at any moment."
Seething, Zebos recalled his downed Lucario, shot one last hateful glare at Ash and Richard and jumped onto the jeep, before it dashed for the opening garage door.
"No! We can't let him-" Richard tried to reach him in vain. He curled his hands into fists as he watched the jeep get away. "Of all the times of not having my bike..."
"You made a powerful enemy today, brat!" Zebos threatened as the car drove away. "You better sleep with one eye open as long as you're in Tandor!"
And with that, Zebos and his two remaining grunts abandoned the base.
Richard let out a sigh. "We'll get him next time. At the very least, they won't be able to cause more problems around this zone anymore," Richard said, as he returned his Dunsparce.
"Plus we saved all the captive Pokemon. That's what matters the most," Ash said.
…
Two hours later, outside the Team Omega Base
After Team Omega had been subdued, the Dunsparce bikers rounded them up and herded them outside –at least those who hadn't managed to escape–, waiting for the Rangers, who had been warned shortly before the bikers assaulted the underground base.
All the Pokemon captured by Team Omega were also waiting outside. Many of them wanted to follow their survival instinct and run away as fast as possible. Fortunately, Serena's Selkid managed to calm them down and explain them that such an action would be extremely foolish, since many of them were too far from home.
Once the Rangers arrived, they began to take care of the situation. They brought multiple vans, both to take the Team Omega grunts away and to transport the trafficked Pokemon back to their natural habitats.
While this happened, the Captain of this group of Rangers, a woman in her late twenties with short light brown hair, was addressing both the bikers and Ash and his friends.
"Even if I would generally not condone acts outside the law such as this one, I think I'm going to let this go, given how much we've managed to accomplish thanks to your help," the Ranger Captain said. "Good job, but if the next time you find evidence or hints of illegal activities, please report them to the next Ranger Station."
"That would have been hard, given that we were unjutsly persecuted for crimes we didn't commit," Amber said, pursing her lips.
"Yeah, about those charges on the wanted posters..." Richard continued.
The Ranger Captain sighed, but smiled. "Given all the evidence that we managed to acquire here, it's more than enough to exonerate your group of such accusations," the Ranger said, as she pulled out a tablet and began to tap on it. "And, as an unofficial reward for your help dismantling this criminal cell, as well as compensation for the false trafficking charges, I think I'm going to remove from your sheets all the minor offenses such as vandalism or harrassment."
"You heard that guys? We're clean!" Richard cheered.
"YEAH!" the bikers chorused back.
The Ranger Captain shook her head. "Don't think this means you're free to do whatever you please. If you guys cause any trouble again, the Rangers will fall upon you with all the weight of the law, you got it?"
Richard shot her a sly smile. "We'll be on our best behavior. We promise."
She nodded. "Good."
Another Ranger, this one with spiky reddish brown hair, walked towards the Captain. "Captain Kate, both the Pokemon and the detainees have been loaded onto the vans. We're ready to go."
"Alright Keith. Let's go then," Kate said, as she walked towards one of the vans before getting inside it.
The Ranger Vans drove away, leaving Ash and his friends alone with the biker gang. Richard looked at the teens (and Bonnie), and smiled.
Richard clapped his hands. "Well, we're no longer on the Rangers' wanted list, and it's all thanks to you guys. Not to mention, you saved a lot of Pokemon from a miserable fate. I think a little compensation is in order, don't you think?"
"Eh, it's okay. We only did what we thought was right," Ash said.
"Yeah. If we helped more people than we intended, then the better," Serena added.
"Nonsense! We of the Dunsparce Gang never forget a debt! So, from now onwards, you four are all members of the Dunsparce Gang!" Richard declared, and the rest of the bikers cheered again, "Normally, there are two requisites to become a member of this gang: to have a Dunsparce and a motorbike. Ash has a Dunsparce, and since you're too young to drive, we'll overlook that for the time being. Bring them their official Dunsparce Gang jackets!"
Two bikers stepped forward, carrying a pair of jackets each, and handed them to the four kids.
"Thanks a lot for the present," Ash said, smiling at them, as he looked at the jacket.
"How is that you guys have jackets of Bonnie's size?" Clemont asked, as he saw his sister putting on her jacket and making a twirl.
"That used to be Aisha's. I hope you don't mind it being a hand-me-down," Lou spoke up. "Aisha always wanted to be part of the gang since she was little. Do you guys want to see pictures of her when she was a kid driving her little toy bike? She was so cute-"
Aisha cut him off by punching him in the shoulder, making the large man wince.
"Goddamit uncle, put a sock on it!" Aisha yelled at him. "No one wants to see my childhood pictures!"
"Anyway, when you guys are old enough to drive a motorbike, if you want, there will always be room for you among the Dunsparce Gang," Richard said, as he and his friends started to get on their respective motorbikes, which they had left parked next to the hideout's entrance.
"Where are you guys going? Maybe we can give you a ride," Amber offered.
"Thanks for the offer, but we prefer to walk," Ash politely declined.
"Yeah, part of traveling through a new region is to appreciate its scenery," Serena added.
"Understandable Tandor has a lot of beautiful sights to see. In that case, I wish you guys a safe travel and good luck on whatever goals you're pursuing," Richard said. "Dunsparces, let's ride!"
Loud engine noises filled the air as the motorbikes started up and sped away, leaving trails of dust behind them. After a few seconds, there was no trace of the bikers anymore, and silence reigned once again.
"I think we should get going," Serena said, before she pulled out her tablet, and checked their position on the region. "Despite this detour, we can still reach Kevlar Town before nightfall if we walk at a good pace."
"Very well. Let's go then," Ash said.
…
An hour later, the group was walking through the main path of Owten Nook. The sun was beginning to set, bathing the scenery in a soft orange glow, that would soon follow by the cover of the night. Fortunately, even if they were still far away, they could already see Kevlar Town in the distance.
"Boy, I'm exhausted!" Ash said, stretching his arms. "After everything that happened today, I can't wait to get to the Pokemon Center, have a good dinner, then go to bed and sleep like a Snorlax!"
"I think all of us are pretty spent," Clemont agreed. "Nothing that a good night of sleep can't fix, though."
"Pika..." Pikachu said, shaking his head. Then, his ears perked, and stood alert. "Pi?"
"Something wrong, buddy?" Ash asked, noticing his friend's change in demeanor. He turned around. "Is somebody following... us...?"
Serena, Clemont and Bonnie also turned around. And indeed, there was somebody following them. Three somebodies, to be exact. Much to their surprise, it was no other than the Minicorn, Eevee and Colarva that they had helped earlier in the day, before they raided that Team Omeha hideout.
"It's you guys!" Bonnie cheered, happy to see them again.
"Why are you following us?" Ash asked, before he guessed the answer himself. "Do you want... to come with us?"
Minicorn took a step forward, and began to neigh. Ash didn't know what she was saying, but apparently Pikachu did, given the attention the electric mouse was paying to the Foal Pokemon.
"Pi, pika, pikapi, pi!" Pikachi began, motioning his arms emphatically. "Pi, pikachu!"
"Really? Well, that makes sense..." Ash said.
"Um, Ash?" Serena asked, smiling a little. "Not all of us can understand your Pikachu..."
"Oh right! Hehe. Well, from what I could understand, Minicorn and his friends didn't go far away after they led us to the Team Omega base. They saw how we stopped those criminals and released all the Pokemon they had captured," Ash said. "They consider us trustworthy enough to ask to take them with us."
"That's great!" Serena beamed, clapping her hands. "So, how do we do the split? It's three Pokemon and three of us, since Bonnie isn't a trainer yet."
Both Ash and Clemont smiled at Serena knowingly. "We all know what Pokemon you want the most, Serena," Ash began.
Serena smiled back at the boys, grateful for their gesture, and took a step towards Minicorn. "Hey Minicorn. Would you like to join me? I'd lobe to have you in my team, and my Pokemon are very friendly and would welcome you with open arms."
Minicorn neighed happily, stomping one hoof on the ground in affirmation.
"Hey Clemont, can we get the Eevee? Since Serena got hers, I always wanted to have one," Bonnie pleased Clemont, as she tugged him by his sleeve repeteadly.
"That would depend on Eevee," Clemont said, turning towards the Evolution Pokemon. "What do you say, Eevee? Would you like to join my team?"
"Yeah, you'll have like, lots of fun with us! And Clemont is a superb cook!" Bonnie added.
"Ev, evui!" Eevee agreed, as he walked towards the sibling duo.
"That means that Colarva is stuck with me then," Ash said, before adding. "That's it, if you want to join me. What do you say, Colarva?"
"CO!" Colarva then launched himself at Ash's face, knocking him on his back as he wrapped all his limbs around his head, while buzzing happily. "Co, colarva!"
"Hehe, such a cuddlebug," Bonnie chuckled.
Ash managed to pry Colarva from his face and placed it on the ground, before chuckling himself as well. "Heh, I take that as a yes."
Once all the choices had been made, Ash, Serena and Clemont pulled out empty pokeballs, and tossed them at one of the three Pokemon in front of them. The pokeballs opened upon hitting the pokemon, absorbing them inside, before they fell to the ground. None of them shook, and dinged immediately, signaling a successful capture. The three trainers walked towards their respective pokeballs and picked them up.
"Today is a great day for science, I caught an Eevee!" Clemont said, raising Eevee's pokeball.
"Ta-dah! I caught a Minicorn!" Serena cheered, holding the pokeball with both hands.
"I caught a Colarva!" Ash shouted, raising the pokeball above his head.
"Pi, pika!" Pikachu cheered as well.
The three of them took a moment to look at the pokeballs that held the new member of their respective teams, before putting them with the others, and continued their journey.
Today would be a day that they would remember for a long time. Not only did they took down a criminal cell, saved lots of trafficked Pokemon and befriended a gang of bikers, but also incorporated three new friends to their group.
And given that their journey just barely begun, they wondered what other surprises Tandor was storing for them.
Author's Note: Man, I was aiming for this story to be more on the short end, yet here I am, writing 13K word chapters again. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it.
First of all, yeah, the Dunsparce Gang aren't the bad guys, and if you played Uranium, this revelation shouldn't come as a surprise. Though, even if you didn't, I did say in the previous chapter's note that Ash and friends had nothing to worry about them. You didn't believe me? What, you thought I was being sarcastic or something? XP
Which leads us to the true villains of this chapter: Team Omega. First of all, no, Team Omega doesn't exist in the game, it's 100% a creation of my own. The reason is that Uranium's true villain spends most of the time in the background, and doesn't show up to directly confront the heroes until rather late in the story. So in the meantime, I came up with Team Omega to have a more direct antagonist. Though, don't think they will be filler villains; they're based on canonical elements that I'm going to expand, and thus their presence will be tightly tied to many important events of the game's story.
And then there's the last point of the chapter: Ash, Serena and Clemont getting a new Pokemon each. Yeah, Ash got a new Pokemon the previous chapter, and Serena got another one not long ago. But I want many captures to happen early in the story so I have time to properly develop every Tandorian Pokemon.
Also, make sure to check the Ao3 version for a picture of Zebos and the Team Omega grunts.
After two Gym battles back to back followed by another action heavey chapter involving a villanous organization, guess our heroes earned a little rest before their adventure continues. In the meantime, don't forget to drop a review with your comments on this chapter!
