We raced back, and I hitched a ride on Lola once again. I could already feel the boss Pokémon a few rooms ahead, a circuit tinged with green. My input could be flawed, though. I was more worried about the skylight Lola's Absol sense had figured out.
"Any danger around?" I asked hurriedly.
"I mean,yeah, I'm guessing," she blurted out. "Sorry— nothing specific for now. Any electric thing?"
"Yeah. The boss is in the kitchen." That much was also obvious. I couldn't tell her the others' status quite yet. I had not been able to quantify it enough to explain the energy sense on an aura level, and types other than Electric were far less distinct than, well, electricity.
"As I surmised," she muttered. Where'd she whip out 'surmised?' Getting closer, the yells got clear enough that I could make out words.
Rounding the corner, the first thing I noticed was the intact skylight. No breaking in, then. The boss had just spawned in the kitchen, or come in through one of the hallways right after. The second thing I noticed was that nasty green glow that encircled our new enemy. Its body was orange, eyes red and liquid. Its motor thrummed in my ears again, joined by its cackling, hoarse voice.
Rotom-Mow. Of course it's a Rotom.
"Chloe, in the back!" Micheal yelled to the Flying-type. "Go get Gab and Lola!"
"We're here," Lola announced, running to his side. She blew away the tuft of white fur in her face.
"Any moves yet?" I asked. Micheal shook his head.
Kieran and Valérie were the ones at the front for the moment. No Hidden Power here; after extinguishing the fire, her first tactic was to punch and kick at the lawnmower. Easier said than done when that lawnmower doubled as a speed demon. Kieran had a better shot at it since he didn't have to be concerned with being on the ground. He got a couple near hits with his stingers, but only a few Poison Stings hit their mark. He didn't resist the Electric typing, though Bug/Poison was extremely convenient for the Grass part.
In a flash, the Rotom swerved and crashed into what was left of the cake, toppling it with a bang. No one had pushed the boss that way. It just kept laughing out of pure mischief as burnt crumbs fell to the floor. As quick as it had driven to the table, it zoomed back to Valérie and Kieran, who were thankfully prepared enough to not be knocked over like bowling pins. Still, they dodged within a hair's width. The Rotom's wheels spun in place excitedly. The motor got louder and before we could do anything, it raced out of the room.
"What," Lola grunted. Skids and brake sounds mingled with faraway crackly giggles.
"This is the hedge maze all over again," Chloe shivered. "Do we follow it?"
It was laughing through the halls, revving its engine uproariously for good measure. It wanted us to follow, but we wanted it gone as well. Not the worst plan.
"Okay," Micheal stated. "The hall goes two directions. Kieran, Valérie, you cover Chloe and keep watch on one side. Gab, Lola, you watch the other side with me."
Kieran stopped us before we could get into position. "Wait! The glitch in the wall. It can go through it," he reminded us. "And there might be more panels like that. For all we know, he could drop from the ceiling."
"Crap," Valérie realized. Lola shot a worried look at that damn skylight.
Chloe dropped close to my side. "Can you feel the difference?" She asked softly.
I closed my eyes. The walls around us were solid enough, but that didn't mean the Rotom couldn't phase through them. I remembered the Umbreon in the third level. It had control over the wave of Dark Traps, able to mold their shape to skew the battle to its favour. I didn't know to what level the boss Pokémon could harness the more…practical side of their typing. I gasped and my head shot up. Maybe that meant I could do that too.
"What?" Chloe gasped in turn.
"No, no," I reassured. "No fake walls close by, I think. I'm just trying to plan—"
Still in energy vision mode, I spotted the Rotom getting brighter, closer. It was already back. "It's coming!" I warned.
"Same positions!" Micheal ordered. His tail swished in anticipation, and he ran to one side of the doorway to Lola and I. Kieran and Valérie faced us on the opposite side, flanked by Chloe.
The Rotom was stupidly fast and we barely had any time to react as it barrelled in. It slid sideways as it stopped in the middle of the kitchen, leaving skid marks on the floor even though it wasn't making contact with it. Eyes still pouring red pixels, its mouth was spared thanks to its watertight wall of fangs. It revved up its wheels once again but got distracted. Its stare landed on me.
In the split second I got to ask myself why, I noticed it wasn't staring at me, but behind me. What did a lawnmower focus on but the one thing that looked like lawn clippings?
It's going for the backpack—
That thought alone propelled me into a Quick Attack, but it morphed into something bigger. Static gathered and grew on my tail—Electro Ball— and I tensed it, slowing just a bit for focus, and as I twisted to whack the Rotom in the face, it also had something ready for me. Another Electro Ball. And, clearly, it had more practice using it.
I was sent crashing through the cupboard door, hitting the back wall with a yelp of pain. The shudder of shocks ran through my spine. Pokémon or not, I'd feel that for days. That door? Obliterated. The resulting dust permeated the air instantly. I coughed a cloud out, its smell oddly sweet. Wait, why was the door sweet? Cautiously, I gave it another whiff.
It's a cookie?
For a second, I was convinced my senses had gone haywire, but then I remembered the brown sugar pack fused to the cupboard floor. So, part of the door must've had brown sugar infused into it. I hated this place, but it'd given me an idea. If there were texture glitches all over the place, I could probably use them to our advantage. I was hoping the Rotom wasn't aware of them, at least, or conscious enough to plan around them. I needed to count on quick plans, because that damn lawnmower was running on obscene horsepower.
All right. I resigned myself to listening to my thoughts, my inputs, my senses. They were the only thing keeping me awake. I could let them run free and fast. Hands were spread on the floor.
Cookies. Smell. Metal. Blood. Stench. Robots. Parties. Five Night at Freddy's. Springtrap. Water.
Rain! That's it!
If it really was storming outside, it had to be more humid there, right? It had to gum up the Rotom's engine, I hoped. That, or I could ram it into a cloud or something. I knew how to get out. I'd have to break a Dark Trap commandment, to go through the glitch, but hey, everyone was a sinner. Now, to get out from my hidey-hole.
The sweet dust was nothing compared to the burning plastic clawing at my trachea. It was acrid, coming from another impact spot. When I turned my head, I didn't see the Rotom, but I did witness the carnage from yet another Electro Ball. It was a hollow, burnt, melted mix of broken shelves and packages. That monster had destroyed the fridge. I felt a fury like none other before.
"Oh mygod!" Screw the possessed lawnmower,I was the crazed animatronic here now. Yo-ho-ho. No poor dead person in sight. Why would a boss get to be human when I wasn't anymore? Grudges, anxiety, the adrenaline pushed my blood to painful temperatures.
I ran on all fours, not caring that my paws skidded at tight turns. Where was that thing? My ears flicked. I didn't need to close my eyes to feel it anymore. The Electric level was my savannah. Two halls away, a garish spark, speeding toward a corner I could reach if I kept running. I would not let it take any more of my friends. My brain let its current loose. Almost like teleporting, I was snapped to point B. Quick Attack? No, that was different.
Acrobatics?! That was Acrobatics!
If Electric moves were anxiety, Flying moves were complete control. The air felt more than malleable; it was like an extension of my body, like a thousand flying nanobots. I would never fall, my body shouted. Roger that, my mind answered with full confidence.
I kept going, flashes of bronze and copper blinking out as soon as I reached past them. Faster, faster, faster! I was unbound by gravity and so fast. It was just as Kieran had described his first time flying. I— I understood Kieran. Gross!
I barrelled into the hall, narrowly avoiding a Poison Sting onslaught. Speak of the Beedrill. When I'd landed, I made sure to cock an angry eyebrow at him. It didn't matter that everyone else was in the same place already. No time for concern.
"Hide," I ordered when I'd caught my breath. The revving of the engine got closer.
Valérie nodded. "Into that corner," the Meditite relayed, clambering toward the blind spot.
While Chloe and Kieran joined her, Micheal and Lola hesitated. Well, Micheal backed off from questioning me soon enough when he'd crossed my glare. Lola saw through it.
"You sure you'll be okay?" She asked. I nodded, lying. I'd do my best. I could promise that.
As soon as the Absol passed the threshold with the others, the devil machine rounded the corner. The whirring of the motor blared loud in the thin hallway.
"Hey!" I shouted. If I'd felt like the pilot before, this felt like I was a plane lacking that pilot. Anger was a sharp strike without superego, and I revelled in the lack of shame.
After that bark, I had the Rotom's eye on me. When Follow Me wasn't an option, I supposed that worked instead. Down the grid we would go, together. In that moment, I didn't feel the boss was very different than me. I was manic and furious, just like them, but on the other side. I was not better, but I'd beat him.
Down the hall. The breach is here.
I knew where the gap was. I could see it now, but my electric sense made it so very obvious. I was matter; the wall was light. Energy. But then, I was energy too. I had no idea how people looked with the Emolga filter, but Pokémon were just crystallized power with an atom hardware, griseous and adamant and lustrous. I almost forgot to open my eyes to look around and remember the material, sensical world that countered the floating lights. Briefly, I wondered if that was what a soul was.
With my Electric typing on my side, I dove straight into the fake wall... and found myself outside. Under and above me was an endless expanse of dark, sinuous clouds, crackling with monstrous tendrils of lightning. From where I emerged was an enormous brick factory that stretched far below, but not low enough to touch the ground. The stalwart fortress floated in place, ineffable in the constant storm.
The wind and sudden air tension almost knocked the breath out of me, but I caught myself as I heard the roaring of the terrifying lawnmower behind me. I veered upward on instinct, using the wind currents slamming against the factory as a boost. It took me a moment to see past the adrenaline and realize I was heading to the top of the building— to the top of disaster. Would I be the cause of that skylight shattering? Or would I get as destroyed as Lola predicted the ceiling would be?
I didn't have a choice to stop thinking about it: I had to stay in the moment. I focused on luring the enemy behind me. It did not surprise me that the Rotom could fly, but I was somewhat disappointed it hadn't careened into the abyss. The whirring of the engine, the screeching of the wheels grating against rock, the hoarse mix of growls and laughter— all were louder than the thunder surrounding us. He was gaining ground.
Rotom didn't expect the Disaster Pokémon.
She burst through the glass with a crash, the remnants of her Slash's shine still lighting the air. Foreseeing the disaster, the window breaking, didn't mean not causing it. Lola and I were on the same wavelength too, thinking ruthlessly. As quick as she'd appeared, she was gone, but I knew where she was headed. She was probably planning an ambush.
I brought on the light, and she the dark.
From the sound of it, Lola landed on the roof, hopefully dodging haphazard glass shards. Her scythe glowed with the same power that'd brought her here.
To my surprise, Slash hit head-on, without any sign of immunity. That lawnmower basically got socked in the jaw. That's right! Rotom-Mow lost its Ghost typing when changing forms. It was Electric/Grass. It would be a war of attrition any level before this, but I had a good move on my side. Neutral damage, all the power.
With a yell, I threw myself into Acrobatics, colliding with the Rotom at full force. I was unburdened, precise, concentrated.
She was the storm and I was her lightning.
The collision sent the Rotom flying over the border, finally letting it fall into the clouds. There was no need for a portal hum. I knew we'd defeated the stupid lawnmower, and I knew the exit was around the corner, somewhere inside the building. I landed on the smooth part of the glass ceiling, Lola bearing the biggest grin I'd seen from her the entire level.
She chewed on something shiny. "Sugar glass, we're going down swingin'."
The portal was an orange spiral carved into the floor. Having already gone through the Fire level, if Kieran's type theory was right— and I thought it was— then my best guess would be that the portal led to the Fighting level. That, or Ground. Either way, I hoped our type advantages could cover our weaknesses. Micheal in particular had a disadvantage coming, with him being Fire/Normal. Then again, we'd taken down an Aerodactyl last level. If our luck could stick around, we could too.
When we came down from the broken skylight, Kieran was the first to offer high-fives, Valérie right after him. Micheal and Chloe greeted us enthusiastically but were busy gathering sugar glass shards for later. Glitch or not, the wonky textures in this level would make our next few meals more enjoyable. After our triumphant yet frazzled return, Lola and I were regaling the crew with as dramatic a fight scene as we could paint. It got ridiculous, but then, what else wasn't nowadays?
"And then I burst out, like pshyoom—" Lola ranted excitedly, legs still trembling from the rush.
"Wait, how'd you get up there?" I raised an eyebrow. I was also shaky, leaning on her.
"Fancy jump," she shrugged. "You have your weird Pokémon senses, I have mine."
"Touché."
"Here's your backpack," Chloe said, dragging the thing with her beak. She and Micheal were done, having wrapped the sugar glass in one of our unused frond water satchels. I thanked her and although putting on the backpack was routine, both here and on Earth, being weighed down again felt foreign. Separating myself from Lola also felt… odd. Chloe stared either right at me or into space. "You guys going into the portal first, orrrr…" she chirped hopefully.
An awkward silence followed. My eyes went from the Swablu, to Micheal, to Valérie the anti-Master Chef, to Kieran, and finally stopped on Lola. To my own surprise, my face didn't heat up. I rubbed my hands against my forehead, smoothing out parted fur.
"Give us a minute," I demanded. My tone was more serious than I'd planned for, and it came across as me ordering people to do so, but hey, it did the trick.
They left us alone without much fanfare, but Valérie did have that smug smirk on her lips. I supposed that it was one of the better examples of protest. As long as none of those people tried baking again, I'd be good.
When they'd gone through the orange mist, Lola leaned over. "We've been overthinking this."
I looked her dead in the eye. "I do like you now, and I want to date you, so that's good enough, right?"
"Right."
"And I'm gonna be weird about being a Pokémon. Can you handle that?"
"If you can deal with me doing that too."
"We save the first kiss for when we get back to Earth, how about that?"
"Well, yeah, of course," Lola replied. "No offence, but I don't really want to kiss an animal either. Like, I'll do it because it's you, but I'm not achin' for it, you know?"
She laughed at that a bit too much. I had to sigh, and brought my hands together. I mustered up my best smile. "Lola, I know what your Deviantart handle is."
She froze dead in her tracks. "B-but—"
I continued, a paw rubbing the back of my head awkwardly. "I like to look up people I know and your account is the second search result for your full name."
If she could've blushed at the moment, she would've gone as red as a tomato— funnily enough, the colour of a shiny Absol. Her gaze shifted from the walls to the clouds, but never on me.
"That's kind of creepy," she mumbled back.
"Your werewolf drawings are stiff competition as to that aspect."
I cringed, just now realizing the double entendre, and I looked back to Lola. Many emotions passed through her face. As far as I could tell: shock, debilitating embarrassment, genuine fear, and then a pleasant smile.
"First kiss is for Earth?" She finally said.
I smiled. "First kiss is for Earth."
