Chapter 51: Cracking a Cypher (Part 2)
A few minutes ago, aboard an IPP Helicopter…
The air in the helicopter was tense as Echo, Sigma, Cherry, Wind, Michael, and Jovi all were flown towards Neo Cypher's base. Everyone was silent as they all anticipated the signal and waited with baited breath for anything to happen. Eventually, Aria let out a frustrated sigh as she looked at everyone. "Ok, I know we're all ready to go at the drop of a pin, but would it kill anyone to just ease the tension a tad?" Aria questioned.
"Can you blame us? This is a very big thing we're about to do and if we fail, that is an entire organization that will be occupying the region ." Sigma commented.
"That's fair, but I'm just sick of the quiet." Aria sighed, leaning back a tad. No one spoke for a moment before Echo smiled and let out a chuckle.
"Mom… I'm glad you're still your usual self." Echo said with a smile.
"Wait, she's usually like this?" Michael questioned, a bit surprised at that response.
"Most of the time, she is. It's where Hibiki get's her impatience from." Cherry responded, a small chuckle escaping her lips.
"Hey, I've learned to at least keep it in check when it counts… most of the time anyway." Aria retorted. Jovi giggled at the light banter, feeling a bit calmer and less tense now that there was something to break the silence.
"You have a weird family Echo, you know that?" Jovi commented.
"Yeah, I do often get that alot." Echo said.
"Really? I mean, given what your family has gone through, I feel that is a bit insulting." Sitma told Echo.
"Eh, it's something that kind of just occurred over the years given how much weird stuff has happened to all of us." Aria explained.
"Weird stuff?" Michael questioned.
"Yeah, we think it's related to how our bloodline is blessed with the power of Dreams, but I honestly am not sure if I believe that." Echo elaborated.
"Right, I do remember you telling us that your family was blessed with the powers of Darkrai and Crescelia. How does that work anyway?" Cherry questioned.
"You don't even know how that works Cherry?" Jovi asked.
"Not exactly, it's not really an area that I decided to study. Still, I have heard stories about those blessed by various Legendary and Mythical Pokemon." Cherry began to explain.
"Yeah, we've heard the same, various stories about people that get blessed with some weird powers like being able to conjure flames or read minds." Aria told the group.
"I always thought those were just myths and fantasy, never thought about the fact that they could be real." Michael said.
"Well, that is sadly for a reason, the people who awaken to those kinds of powers usually aren't able to control them the best." Cherry commented, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.
"What do you- oh… ohhhhh." Sigma said before it clicked for him.
"Yeah and I can attest that it is more or less as bad as you think it is. I have indeed seen a few awakenings and they are not pretty when they go wrong." Cherry commented.
"I can only imagine the kind of powers we're talking about. Though, now that I am hearing this, how do these awakenings actually work?" Michael inquired, tilting his head curiously.
"Given that there isn't a Pokemon Professor or someone similar that we know of studying this, we can really only take some guesses. From what we do know, it does seem like emotions have some factor in the awakening." Aria responded, recalling what she could. Echo, upon hearing that, snapped out of the trance she was in as she began to think about something.
"Are you thinking about your own powers Echo?" Jovi asked.
"Not my powers, more about Hibiki's." Echo responded.
"Did something happen with Hibiki?" Aria questioned, a hint of worry in her voice.
"I'm not entirely sure. Around the time when we were in Fairy Tale Grove, she showed me this weird state where the left half of her body becomes cloaked in shadow." Echo explained in a calm tone.
"God, these powers are cool and somewhat concerning." Jovi commented, a small smile appearing on her face.
"I do agree there, but it is concerning for me because I don't think that Darkrai's powers would manifest that. Granted, I'm not 100% confident that the form isn't part of what Hibiki gained from Darkrai, but something has been bugging me for a bit." Echo answered. Wind, who had been silent this whole time, put some pieces together as he got out a Pokeball of his.
"You think that Shadow Pokemon might have had some effect on it." Wind said, staring at the Pokeball intently.
"Yeah, I don't think it's out of the question. If Hibiki does have powers from both of the Dream Duo, Darkrai and Crescelia, then it's possible that since Luna has been turned into a Shadow Pokemon, Hibiki might have been affected by it." Echo explained.
"That does make some sense to me. If the source of the power gets corrupted or altered in some way, then anyone using that source would also be affected. Still, why do you think that?" Michael said.
"Call it a bit of a gut feeling, I just don't know if I like the feeling that I get from what I remember of looking at it. An ominous and foreboding feeling that felt like it was going to suffocate me if I gave it the chance." Echo said, gripping the sides of her arms. Aria put a comforting hand on Echo's shoulder, giving a bit of reassurance to the quivering girl.
"If that is the case, then shouldn't she be more aggressive than she has been?" Cherry pointed out.
"Like I said, I'm not entirely sure that this is the case, it's just what I think of as most likely." Echo responded. Cherry nodded as they heard the intercom in their cabin crackle to life, everyone getting ready for a signal.
"So had Hibiki told you exactly what the signal would be or is it more of a 'we'll know it when we see it' situation?" Jovi questioned, focusing on the mission again.
"She didn't say, but if I had to take a guess, I would say the latter." Echo responded. Jovi nodded as they were getting ready to depart when Sigma looked out the window for a moment and paused.
"Hey Wind, have you been to the base before?" Sigma asked.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Wind answered.
"Is that plume of smoke on the side of the mountain with what looks like Pokemon coming out of it where the Shadow Pokemon were stored?" Sigma questioned, a hint of concern in his voice. Everyone paused, stopping their preparations as they rushed over to the windows to see the sight that Sigma had described. On the side of the mountain was a plume of smoke coming out of a hole that was blown open, with several Pokemon either flying out or sliding down the mountain.
"...Yes, yes that would be around that area." Wind said with a heavy sigh. As if on cue, Echo got a text on her phone, quickly checking it and seeing it was from Hibiki.
"Oh Hibiki." Echo sighed as she read the text.
"Yeah, that would be a good signal. It makes things harder for us, but it was also something that we had to take care of at some point." Aria commented.
"I'll let Looker know so he can relay the information to the others." Cherry said. The group nodded as they proceeded to finish their preparations to begin their assault.
After a few more minutes of flight, the group landed in an open space a bit away from the volcano, getting off of the helicopter and getting ready. "Remember the plan, battle through the grunts and get to Shika. If we can find Hibiki or Melody, we work to get the two together." Cherry called out. The others all nodded as they each got out one of their Pokeballs and called out one of their team members, Echo calling out Specter, before charging in.
"Specter, we're storming the base, knock out any grunts that you can." Echo called out. Specter nodded as he dashed forward, seeing a group of three grunts in front of them. One of them tried to throw a snag ball at Specter, but the hand that came out immediately dispersed as it came into contact with Specter.
"What the?! The Snag Balls do-" was all the grunt could get out as Specter appeared behind them and kicked them in the back of their head, knocking out. The other two panicked that their Snag Machines didn't work before starting to reach for their own Pokeballs, being stopped by a quick Specter kicking a second grunt and giving the third a quick smack with the blunt edge of his arm.
"Good to see that the Anti-Snag Coating is working, I'll need to remember to give Michael my thanks after this." Echo commented. Specter nodded as the two continued to charge towards the base, the others and their Pokemon following suit. As they got close, several more grunts, easily over fifty with more coming, exited the base to confront them as well as attempting to capture or knock out the escaping Shadow Pokemon. The sheer amount of people caused the group to stop and look at the worde in front of them
"That is a lot of grunts. I think they might have called every remaining grunt in the region back to base." Wind told the group.
"Not exactly the easiest thing to get through, but we do need to get through it. Anyone have any ideas?" Aria asked. Michael paused as he looked at the group of grunts coming towards them and back at his Gardevoir.
"I might teleport you all to the otherside, but I'll have to stay with my Gardevoir in order to do it." Michael told the group, a determined and confident look on his face.
"You realize that is a very crazy idea right?" Sigma told Michael.
"I do and I am the person who single handedly took down the original Cypher. I think I know what crazy is." Michael responded.
"He's right in that regard. Besides, the agents will be here a bit to help out. He just needs to hold out till then" Wind commented, obviously talking in a rushed tone.
"In that case, I'll stay with my bro. He'll need all the help he can get." Jovi told the others.
"As much as I would love to contest that, we do have to hurry it along." Aria commented with a glance to look back at the grunts. They all nodded as Echo, Aria, WInd, Cherry, and their Pokemon all gathered together, with Michael's Gardevoir and Jovi's Metagross charging psychic energy.
"Stay safe you two!" Echo called out.
"Don't worry, we'll be fine. You all just go and end this!" Michael told the group. Echo nodded as the group was surrounded by a bright light that changed into a ball and shot above the group of grunts, heading towards the entrance. Gardevoir and Metagroos both shook for a moment before panting out of exhaustion, the maneuver taking it's on them.
"Are you sure this was a good idea bro?" Jovi questioned, dashing over to the two tired Pokemon.
"Truth be told, not entirely. This is very reckless, we might not be able to hold them all off, and we only have so many Pokemon." Michael said, walking up to join her.
"Exactly, but is this what you want to do?" Jovi asked, a sly smile on her face as she gave the two Pokemon Elixirs. Micheal paused for a moment before giving a big smile as he got out another Pokeball of his, Jovi doing the same.
"Absolutely, anything to give the people who made my teenage years a bit of a living hell another kick in the ass." Michael responded, a giant smile on his face.
"...You really still hold that against them huh?" Jovi inquired, a smile on her face.
"I nearly fell into an active Volcano sis." Michel said as he tossed the Pokeball he was holding. Michael called out a Goodra while Jovi called out a Dragapult, the two getting ready to fight through the waves of grunts coming at them. "Now then, let's cause a distraction big enough to draw the grunts towards us." Michael said as he looked around.
"That'll be simple enough." Jovi commented. The two then braced as the grunts started to send out their own Pokemon, the two bracing for the oncoming wave. Back with Echo, the ball of energy shot past the wave of grunts and landed in the middle of the entryway to the base, landing with a small blast that pushed any grunts in the area back. As they all got their bearings, they all quickly dashed inside the base to find it in chaos, with a few Shadow Pokemon running around and attacking what grunts they could find.
"I know the general layout, follow me!" Wind called out as he dashed forward. The others all followed Wind down a hallway, Wind's Sandslash and Sigma's Houndoom doing their best to block the patch from any grunts that attempted to follow them. As they ran down the hallway, they eventually came to stairs that lead up to the next level. "This place is five floors high all connected via an elevator that is for grunts and several staircases that they decided to separate for some god damn reason." Wind began to explain.
"If that's the case, wouldn't it be easier to try and hack into the elevators?" Echo called out as the group dashed past them. As if on cue, there was a loud explosion as the elevator doors were slammed against the wall and the whizzing of the elevator was heard followed by two crashes.
"Ok we need to check if you and your sister are cursed after this." Aria responded, stopping for a moment to catch her breath.
"You know… I think I'll be fine with that. The amount of times this has happened is ridiculous." Echo responded with a sigh. As they took a few moments to collect themselves in a relatively safe area, Sigma took a moment to look around, seeing no grunts or shadow Pokemon on the current floor though with obvious signs of battles having happened.
"Wow, they really did tear through this place huh?" Sigma noted.
"Yeah, we should be thankful at the very least for the distraction. Speaking of, where are we anyway?" Ariam commented.
"This would be the second floor, home to the Training Center and general lounging area. As you can imagine, it's where the grunts come to train for fieldwork and generally relax." Wind told the group.
"Train for what, handling the Shadow Pokemon?" Echo questioned.
"Yeah, the production and storage of them is on the first floor, which we just dashed through. I wouldn't expect the higher floors to be as much in disrepair or short of guards." Wind responded.
"Good to know, now how do we get to the next floor from here?" Aria asked. As Wind was about to speak, Sigma's Houndoom heard something coming towards them and jumped in front of the group, launching a gout of fire that caused an incoming projectile to explode and covered the area in smoke.
"Yeah I'm going to have to ask you all to kindly stop here." a gruff voice said from the direction of the projectile. As the smoke cleared, the group saw Strong walking towards them, with his Lucario following suit.
"Strong!" Sigma called out.
"What, didn't expect an executive to be defending the floor?" Strong asked, crossing his arms with a faux smile on his face.
"It was within our expectations, but we were just hoping you were busy elsewhere." Wind commented.
"Sadly for you, I was a bit caught up with a meeting when we got word of your friend actually letting our Shadow Pokemon loose." Strong told the group.
"So I take it you're on damage control?" Sigma questioned.
"I guess you could say that, now then, if you all would kindly get out of our base, that would be lovely." Strong said, cracking his knuckles as he did so.
"Yeah. How about…" Wind began to say before he just dashed away.
"Lucario, stop them." Strong ordered. Lucario nodded and immediately began to spring towards Wind before being stopped by Houndoom getting in the way.
"Fire Blast!" Sigma called out. Houndoom nodded and opened his mouth, letting out a large gour of fire that formed into a kanji symbol.
"Dodge it!" Lucario immediately stopped in his tracks and jumped out of the way of the attack, which went on to collapse the hallway that Strong had come from.
"Sigma, are you sure about this?" Echo called out.
"Yeah, someone needs to keep him from following. Now get going." Sigma responded, he and his Houndoom blocking the path to them. Echo held an arm out to reach for him before Aria grabbed it and gave a knowing nod before she began to follow Wind.
"...Remember the promise!" Echo yelled, a hint of concern in her voice, before dashing off.
"Of course I do, you silly girl." Sigma said under his breath. Sigma and Strong both looked at each other, their Pokemon doing the same, as a tense air of silence hanging over the two of them.
"Well, good to see that my finest grunt is still doing well." Strong commented, breaking the silence.
"I suppose I should say the same for my commander, it's been a while since we actually saw each other." Sigma responded
"That it has." Strong told Sigma. Once again, there was silence before Lucario changed forward and attempted to punch Houndoom, who simply dodged as they began to fight.
"You don't have to do this, you know? You could just fight alongside us and-" Sigma began to tell Strong.
"The offer is appreciated, but I'm going to have to refuse. I've done my fair share of wrong while I've been here and I'm more than happy to repent. Besides…" Strong began to say before trailing off. Sigma's Lucario smiled as he began to scream and a visible aura of shadow began to surge around him. "... any excuse to see how strong you've gotten is one I'm willing to take." Strong said, smiling a proud smile as he did.
"In that case, let's show him what we got, Houndoom!" Sigma yelled. Houndoom howled as his mouth was filled with fire and the two began their fight, Sigma silently hoping that he could get through this. Echo, who was watching from behind a wall, gave a silent prayer before she rushed to catch up with Aria and Wind. The three dashed upstairs, heading up to the third floor and being vigilant for any grunts that happened to be patrolling the floors. The floor did indeed have some grunts, though they were busy fighting a few shadow Pokemon that had made their way to the floor, making the three hide behind a wall by the central foyer as they thought about what to do.
"Ok, this is the third floor, the information and communication division. This is where all the communication going to and from HQ is sent to and where all data is stored." Wind explained in a hushed tone.
"Think we can shut all of that off?" Aria questioned.
"We might be able to, but that would require going into the maintenance halls of the base." Wind responded.
"You mean we could have gone through the maintenance halls?" Echo asked, a deadpan look on her face.
"It's not exactly that simple because I believe that there is a maintenance tunnel that connects to the Shadow Pokemon Storage." Wind retorted.
"Which means they might be filled with Shadow Pokemon. Honestly, it might not be worth it because of that fact." Aria mentioned.
"Agreed, plus the Shadow Pokemon might be able to take care of that themselves or it hopefully survives and we can come back to get what we can from it." Wind mentioned. Echo sighed, but nodded in agreement as she looked back out at the brawl going on in the main hub of the floor. It was then that she noticed Sly and her Mismagius not only fighting the other Shadow Pokemon, but also a grunt with a shiny Cinderace out.
"Hey Wind, would that happen to be your friend?" Echo asked. Wind quickly peaked from behind the wall, saw the grunt in question, and gave a long sigh.
"Yep, that would be her, I would recognize that Cinderace anywhere." Wind said.
"If Sly is the one fighting them, then it's more than likely found out that she was helping Hibiki." Aria commented.
"Yeah… yeah that would make sense." Wind responded, a worried look on his face. Echo paused for a moment before looking at Aria, who simply smiled and nodded at her daughter, knowing that she was implying.
"Where is the staircase?" Echo asked.
"It's at the other end of the foyer, behind all the grunts." Wind responded, still a bit focussed on the mission.
"Do you mind staying behind to help your friend and make a distraction?" Echo told Wind, a smile forming on her face. WInd nodded, agreeing to the plan with no thought behind it before taking a moment and looking at Echo.
"You really do just know what to say." Wind told Echo.
"Of course, I figured that was what you were going to do anyway, so we might as well be smart about it." Echo commented. Wind smiled as he stood up and nodded to the other two, the three getting ready before dashing out of their hiding spot, their Pokemon following not far after. Using the chaos as a distraction, Wind and Echo quickly threw Snag Balls at the wild Shadow Pokemon, catching them before their pokemon quickly took out the grunts .
"What?!" Sly exclaimed as she saw a Shadow Pokemon get captured in front of her. As she turned to look, she just barely saw Echo and Aria running past her. "YOU!" Sly yelled as she turned to dash up to them.
"Like hell you are!" Wind exclaimed. A whiz of air blew past Sly as Wind's Greneinja landed between her and the feeling duo, Greninja taking a moment to conjure a Water Shuriken and collapse part of the ceiling.
"Was wondering when you would pop up." Kryatal told Wind, her Cinderace panting as it jumped over to the Greninja. Wind nodded as they moved to join their Pokemon, Sly taking a moment to evaluate the scene around her.
"Okay, so it's obvious that you all had planned this from the start. God, she really was willing to throw herself off of a building and let us take her partner." Sly said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"I assume that Shika expected that?" Wind questioned.
"At the very least, she suspected something was going on." Sly said. Wind mentally nodded with a sigh of relief as Sly gave a cocky grin and she got out a second Pokeball. "Still, this is all within our expectations." Sly told the two.
"Figures that you all would have a backup plan." Krystal sighed.
"Less a backup plan, more a backup solution. How do you all feel about an last ditch effort?" Sly questioned, her voice dripping with glee.
"Oh son of a bitch!" Wind said as he attempted to contact the others.
"Like hell I'll let you!" Sly said as her Mismagius charged towards Wind. Wind's Gerninja immediately jumped in the way and let out a Dark Pulse, causing the charging Mismagius to . "Even if you let them know, I doubt they'll be able to beat Shika." Sly commented confidently.
"You want to bet? I think Hibiki has something to say about that." Krystal retorted.
"And what is she going to do? She's probably trapped with Solion right now, having a nice and touching reunion with her friend." Sly jabbed, calling out her Basculegion.
"Good to know." Wind thought to himself. As the three started to fight, he looked behind him at the wreckage of the hallway before sending a message to Echo and giving a confident nod, focusing back on the fight.
As Echo and Aria both continued up to the fourth floor, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket and quickly took it out, seeing that she got a message from Wind.
"Of course that's where she would be." Echo sighed as she started to look around. The floor was empty, with no grunts or Shadow Pokemon running around and next to no destruction save for the remnants of battle. The two trained took a moment to rest, recalling the Pokemon that they had been using since the start of the raid.
"I take it that you found out where Hibiki is?" Aria asked as they walked through the empty floor.
"Yeah, apparently she's with Solion and Melody. If I had to take a guess, she might be somewhere on this floor." Echo responded as they passed a monitor.
"Good to know, think we should take the time to look for her?" Aria questioned. Before Echo could answer, the monitor near them came to life, buzzing with static that focused on a live feed of Shika in her office leaning on her desk.
"Ah, the meddling family that will never leave me alone. How are you two doing today?" Shika asked, a smug look on her face.
"Shika!" Echo yelled out, looking at the cause of their problems. Shika simply laughed maliciously as she looked at the two before walking behind her desk.
"What are you even planning? Even if this is the center of Neo Cypher's operations, I would hazard a guess that you have your own plans." Aria questioned.
"Very perceptive Aria, even if it is fairly obvious." Shika commented, giving a slow clap. Aria got sufficiently annoyed by that reaction, but Echo put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Well, if you must know, how does making every Pokemon in the region turn into a Shadow Pokemon sound?" Shika responded
"...What?" Echo asked, her voice becoming very horrified.
"You heard me." Shika answered.
"But that should be impossible." Aria said.
"Oh by normal means it is impossible. After all, it is physically impossible to steal all the Pokemon in the region that's home to the IPP headquarters without some fuss being raised. Still, there are… other ways to influence Pokemon." Shika explained. As Echo was going to ask something, Shika looked over at her computer and smiled as she typed some commands on the keyboard in front of her. "Apologies for cutting our talk short, but I figured I would let you know that the last member of your family is in trouble." Shika taunted, bringing up another video feed. This feed showed Hibiki and her Pokemon battling about 20 different Shadow Pokemon along with Melody.
"HIBIKI!" Echo and Aria called out.
"She looks like she could use some help… but can either of you truly defeat me alone?" Shika said before the screen turned off, leaving the two in silence. After a few moments of silence, Echo immediately turned around to run deeper into the base, but was stopped by Aria.
"Let me go." Echo said, struggling to escape.
"No, this is what she wants!" Aria responded, not wanting to lose both of her daughters.
"And you care if she gets what she wants?!" Echo yelled out.
"Obviously not, but we need to think about this." Aria told Echo. The two struggled for a bit as Echo kept trying to run, before Aria got fed up, grabbed Echo's shoulder, turned her daughter around, and punched Echo in the face as hard as she could. The punch came as a major surprise to Echo, knocking her to the floor as she finally calmed down, still conscious but in a lot of pain.
"...You actually…" Echo began to say. Aria walked up to her daughter and held out a hand, which Echo took before being pulled up to her feet and into a hug.
"You're both just like her. Impulsive and caring about those around you, especially family." Aria said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Echo was silent for a moment before returning the hug as she gave a small smile.
"I'm sorry about that." Echo told Aria softly.
"It's fine and I'm sorry that I did that. I just needed to get some tension out and you were the breaking point." Aria responded, sniffling a little bit.
"You pack a mean punch by the way, I'm glad me and Hibiki never got you that angry." Echo commented.
"Oh you have no idea how glad I was that you two were relatively calm." Aria answered. The two laughed at that before they broke the hug and began to consider their options, the two talking things over.
"Well, all things considered and the way that I see it, we have three main options for what to do right now." Echo said.
"Those would be both of us going to help Hibiki, both of us going to take down Shika, or splitting up to take care of both." Aria finished.
"Right and none of those are ideal." Echo sighted.
"I do advocate for both of us going to stop Shika, but I just worry about Hibiki. She is tough, but that is a lot of Shadow Pokemon." Aria responded.
"True, which does leave one option…" Echo said as she trailed off. Aria was quiet for a moment before nodding to herself and walking up to Echo, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll go help Hibiki, you take care of Shika." Aria told Echo.
"...Didn't you just punch me for wanting to do that?" Echo asked, rubbing her jaw a bit.
"Yes, but you were also acting on impulse with no planning. Doing it like this at least gives me a chance to get Hibiki up to you." Aria answered, a smile on her face. Echo rolled her eyes and was going to say something, but stopped herself as something clicked in her mind.
"Dreams." Echo whispered.
"What was that?" Aria asked.
"That's how she's going to do it, using corrupted dreams to make Pokemon suffer and close their hearts." Echo said quickly. Aria paused as she let that sink in before her eyes went wide and she nodded.
"That would explain why she caught Luna. If you can get Luna out of her hands…" Aria began to say.
"We can stop the plan in its tracks. That being said, I don't know if I'm going to be able to catch Luna at all or in time." Echo responded. Aria was silent for a bit as she thought about a few ideas before recalling something that Hibiki might have, beginning to walk away towards a hallway labeled "Testing Wing". "What is it?" Echo asked.
"Hibiki might still have the Master Ball Nel gave her." Aria answered. Echo immediately went wide eyed as she nodded and began to walk towards a set of stairs she saw in the distance.
"I'll try to stall for as long as I can." Echo told Aria.
"Are you sure that you can do it?" Aria questioned. Echo was silent before turning to her mom and giving a confident grin.
"Yeah, who do you think you're talking to?" Echo responded. Aria smiled as the two took off in their own directions, Aria deeper into the fourth floor and Echo up the stairs to the top floor, neither looking back as they had confidence in each other.
Echo was silent as she walked through the silent halls of the top floor of the base, devoid of any real signs of fighting and any resistance to speak of. "I probably am walking into a trap, but if she has no idea of our plan, this might just work. Also god, this place is a maze, how do the grunts find their way through this place?" Echo thought to herself. After taking a moment to think about a few things, she eventually saw a large set of double doors at the end of a hallway.
"Ah, so the second granddaughter is coming to fight me. Frankly I'm surprised that you decided something on your own for once rather than always being joined to the hip of your sister." Shika said over the intercom.
"You leave her out of this." Echo responded harshly, starting to walk down the hallway
"But it's true, even if you did your own things and built your own team, you're always following your sister around. Following whatever she wanted to do and helping her solve her problems, even when you didn't want to. I understand that family is important to you, but are you really ok with the way things are now?" Shika continued. Echo was silent as she kept walking, knowing that everything was true, before starting to spring and kick down the door as she looked at Shika, who was sitting at her desk, with a big smile on her face.
"For my sis, I wouldn't have it any other way!" Echo declared proudly. Shika simply sighed as she got up from her desk and casually walked over to a shelf.
"You could have had so much more if you were by yourself." Shika responded in a casual tone.
"True, but I am more than content about staying with my family. Now, do me a favor and get Luna out here." Echo said. Shika laughed out of amusement as she looked at Echo with a big smile, staying still as she put a hand to her chin.
"Wow, you are either planning something bold or are just very confident?" Shika taunted.
"Just shut up and get her out here, I already know that she's how you're going to do your plan to use Luna." Echo responded, more than a little ticked off.
"Now why would I do that? I can guess that you plan on capturing her and putting a stop to the conversion, so how are you going to force me to call her out?" Shika questioned. Echo said nothing before nodding as she grabbed one of her Pokeballs, tossing it in her hand. "You know I have a team of all Shadow Pokemon, why are you- Shika began to say. As she reached for one of her Pokeballs, Echo quickly tossed out Psy, who appeared and dashed forward to slice at Shika, causing the leader to jump back out of surprise.
"What can I do? Simple, I can keep you from calling out your team by any means necessary." Echo answered coldly. Psy simply walked forward to slice at Shika again, causing her to roll to the side and look at Echo with a surprised smile.
"Really? Stooping to my level to defeat me? Ha, I didn't realize that you had it in you." Shika said, a small chuckle escaping her lips. Shika paused as she considered her options before just staying still and letting things play out.
"There are two things that I will always keep to myself. One, I am more than willing to do whatever it takes to protect my sister." Echo told Shika. Psy walked up to Shika looking at her for a moment as he raised an arm over his head.
"Even killing a person and being branded a criminal?" Shika asked, closing her eyes with a smile on her face. Psy immediately brought his arm down fast, stopping it just before touching Shika as she let out a loud laugh. "I figured you would chicken out." Shika responded. As she said that, Shika felt a yank at her Pokeball belt as the belt was torn off by an invisible force, making Echo give a smug smile as she fell to one knee.
"The other thing that you need to realize, I am very good at bluffing and making up plans on the spot." Echo said, her voice coming from right next to Shika.
"What?!" Shika exclaimed as the illusion faded, revealing that Echo was standing just next to Psy. Echo simply smiled as she looked over at the other her, the form slowly shimmering away as it revealed an exhausted Specter.
"You know, I am surprised that you don't just have hidden cameras littered all over the halls. I figured that you would, given how much of a control freak you seem to be. I also believe this makes two times things could have been avoided if you knew what was going on in your own facility, both by the granddaughters you loathe so much." Echo commented as she recalled Specter.
"You… YOU!" Shika exclaimed out of anger.
"Oh did I strike a nerve there?" Echo asked, a smug smile on her face. Shika, shaking with anger, reached into her pocket and took out a remote with a few buttons on it, pressing the bottom most one.
"You want to see Luna so badly? Fine, you can have her! I just hope that you can live long enough to catch her." Shika said, a deranged look on her face. Echo froze as Psy took a defensive stance before a wall opened up, revealing a machine with a Pokeball inside of it. The Pokeball shook for a moment before opening and releasing Luna, who looked at the scene in front of her. "Luna, Shadow Blast!" Luna nodded, obeying the attack order, as a surge of shadow energy gathered into the shape of a blade that was launched at Psy and Echo, both dodging out of the way.
"Now for the hard part. Psy, use Thunder Slash!" Psy did as he was told, quickly dashing in and delivering a slash at Luna, which did hit and looked like it didn't do much. "Figures she would be a bit bulky. Psy, keep up the pressure."
"Shadow Break!"
"Oh shit, dodge!" Psy attempted to jump out of the way, but was too close as Luna slammed into him and knocked him back hard, Echo managing to catch him as she slid back a bit. "Are you ok Psy?" Echo asked. Psy gave a weak cry as he fell to his knees in pain, Shika giving a small chuckle.
"You realize that Luna has been with your grandmother for years and is incredibly strong right? Again I ask, what makes you think you can win?" Shika responded, confidence back in her voice.
"I have to give it the best shot I can since my sister is currently getting Melody back." Echo responded as Psy stood up. Psy took a moment to rebalance himself and make sure nothing was broken before looking at Luna with a determined look in his eye. "Psy, let's change tactics. Use Thunder Wave." Psy nodded as she let loose a wave of electricity towards Luna, who dodged the attempted paralysis. "Poison Jab now." Psy, upon seeing the dodge, dashed forward as his hands glowed purple before delivering a flurry of blows to Luna, jumping back after he was done as Luna looked a little woozy.
"A stall tactic… really?" Shika chuckled.
"Hey, anything is a valid tactic when you're going up against a powerful legendary Pokemon. Psy, keep a distance and watch for any attacks." Echo ordered. Shika sighed as she reached behind her, before pausing as a smile crossed her face. "Ah shit, she probably has a Full Restore." Echo thought.
"You know, I'm willing to humor you for a bit. Luna, use Shadow Sky." Luna cried out as she sent a spark of shadow upward before it began to rain balls of shadow, causing Shika, Echo, and Psy to wince in pain.
"What's the point of this?" Echo asked, getting a Hyper Potion to heal Psy.
"Simple, if you committed to stalling this out, then I'm willing to put a timer on this little match of ours." Shika explained.
"And you expect these little sparks to do much?" Echo said, hissing in small bursts of pain.
"We'll see how you react after a bit under this little weather of ours. Speaking of, use Shadow Mist." Luna nodded as she sent a burst of energy forward that burst into a mist that obscured Echo and Psy's vision.
"Psy, make sure to keep an ear out, no telling where she might come from." Echo told Psy. Psy nodded as he took a defensive stance, taking care to not be distracted by the friend. After a few moments of silence, Psy turned his head towards an attack that he sensed, putting up a Protect that blocked a wave of shadows that cut through the fog.
"Now, Shadow End!" Psy's eyes widened as he tried his best to strengthen the Protect, but was unable to as Luna rammed into the barrier and shattered it. Thinking quickly, Psy pushed Echo out of the way as he took the full brunt of the attack and was flung towards the wall, leaving a dent in it..
"Psy!" Echo called out. Psy gave a weak cry as he slid to the ground and fainted, Shika giving a loud cackle as Echo recalled her partner.
"That's one down, do you still feel like keeping this going?" Shika questioned smugly.
"Of course, but I hope you don't mind me getting more of my team out." Echo responded, a brave look on her face.
"Go ahead, send out as many as you like." Shika told Echo. Echo did so as she called out both Shock, in Fan Form, and Leaf, who were both ready for a fight as they felt the pain from the falling sparks. "Shock, use Air Slash and Leaf, use Swords Dance." Shock and Leaf both nodded, Leaf proceeding to sharpen their blades while Shock's fan blades spun to create a damage wave of air that flew towards Luna.
"Shadow Shield!" Luna quickly created a barrier of shadows in front of her that absorbed the attack.
"Leaf, use Agility and follow it up with X-Scissor." Leaf quickly jumped from behind Shock and dashed forward as her arms glowed with a bright green energy.
"Shadow Wave!"
"Now Shock, use Substitute!" Shock quickly dashed in front of Leaf, creating a dummy that blocked the attack and kicked up smoke. Leaf, taking advantage, quickly bolted through the smoke, and delivered a powerful slash across Luna's chest, seeming to do a good bit of damage as Luna winced in pain.
"Shadow Rave!" Luna, now getting more ticked off as her aura grew in strength, let out a loud cry as she sent waves of shadow spikes towards both of Echo's Pokemon.
"Both of you Protect." Shock managed to get off the protect in time to fully block the attack, but Leaf wasn't so lucky as part of the attack managed to graze her.
"Shadow Break!"
"Electro Web!" Leaf quickly dropped the protect as she jumped back, dodging the attack as both her and Shock spat out electric webbing that managed to ensnare Luna, the Sparks fading soon after. "Leaf, lay into her with X-Scissor. Shock, stay back and use Nasty Plot." Leaf nodded as she ran up and used X-Scissor again and again, wearing Luna down as she struggled to move from her spot, Shock taking a moment to think up plans for what to do. Echo nodded as she debated on what to do next before feeling her legs lock up, looking down to see shadowy chain holding her in place
"Got you, you little twerp. Luna, Shadow Charge and follow it up with Shadow Burst." Shika ordered as she took cover behind her desk. Seeing that, Leaf stopped her assault as Luna began to gather Shadow Energy around herself, quickly deciding to get between Luna and Echo.
"Leaf, don't be stupid. You won't be able to tank that." Echo called out as she struggled to get her legs free. Leaf looked back and nodded as she used Synthesis to heal for a moment and took a deep breath. As Leaf braced for impact, putting up a protect to defend Echo, Lunar let out a loud cry as a burst of shadow energy began to envelop the room. Leaf immediately opened her mouth and let out a Hyper Beam that impacted the energy and struggled to push it back. The energy struggle went on for a few second before Leaf began to get exhausted and the Hyper Beam began to fade, letting the remaining energy surge forth and envelop Leaf and Shock, the Protect barely holding on as the energy faded.
"LEAF!" Echo called out, feeling a bit of distress as the Protect faded. Taking a moment to look, she saw Leaf breathing heavily as she just stood there before fainting and falling to the ground. Echo attempted to reach for her Pokeball, but was quickly tackled to the ground, the Shadow Hold breaking as Shika quickly snatched her Pokeballs back.
"I'll be taking this." Shika chucked as she pressed a boot against Echo's throat. Echo let out a wheeze as she attempted to get Shika off of herself, but being unable to due to the exhaustion catching up with her. Looking over at Shock, she saw that he was making sure Leaf was safe while protecting her from the slowly approaching Luna, who looked like she was fully healed. "Full Restores are indeed handy, just have to know when to use them. I will say that this was a fun game while it lasted, but I do believe that this is checkmate. Any last words before I smash your head in?" Shika said as she lifted her boot. Echo paused as she felt something approaching the room at high speed, giving a small smile.
"Who said I was going to beat you?" Echo responded smugly. Shika went quiet and quickly turned to the door, jumping back and something dashed through where she used to be, Echo feeling something get dropped on her stomach, and slammed into the wall, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
"Oh, of course that was your goal." Shika sighed as she looked towards the new arrival. As the dust cleared, a small figure was seen and quickly revealed to be Melody as she floated forward. "You know, I would have thought Solion would be more thorough with your conversion. Suppose that is what I get for rushing it." Shika told Melody in an annoyed tone. Melody gave a smug smile as she floated around Shika, Shika turning to follow Shika's back was facing Echo. Echo slowly got up as she looked at what was dropped on her stomach, smiling as she picked the object up.
"All according to plan. …A lot more pain than I would have liked, but it works." Echo thought to herself,
"So why come help little miss pipsqueak, was Hibiki too hurt from the battle with all those Shadow Pokemon to come herself? Given that she managed to purify you, I wouldn't be surprised if she was almost dead." Shika taunted. Melody just gave a hard look of anger at Shika, who chuckled as she reattached her belt and grabbed a Pokeball. "Now, I am tired and want to get my plan done immediately, so let's just skip to the good part." Shika said in a confident tone. As she was about to call Luna's name, she heard the sound of a Pokeball opening and a capture happened, Shika stopping in her tracks as Melody gave a smug grin. She quickly turned around to see a Master Ball shaking on the ground before an audible click was heard, Luna being captured inside.
"And that is how you distract a smug as hell leader to foil their plans." Echo said as she slowly got up. Shika, thinking quickly, dashed towards the Master Ball and leaped to grab it, but was beaten to the punch as someone else grabbed it, Shika rolling to her feet and turning to see an exhausted and battered Hibiki standing her, Melody floating up to be beside her partner.
"Almost as reckless as one of my plans, I do wonder where she gets it from." Hibiki commented in a smug and exhausted tone. Shika felt herself seething with rage, as she immediately grabbed one of her Pokeballs and tossed it out, calling out a Metagross. Hibiki looked at Echo and tossed the ball to her sister, who caught it before giving a weak nod to her sister as Echo's knees gave out and she went to the ground panting. "All right then Shika. If you want me so badly, then come and get us." Hibiki said confidently. Melody gave a confident nod as she got ready to fight, the final battle about to begin.
Hi, it's me again after a bit, sorry this one has taken a bit to come out. School and life in general have not been the kindest to me so writing has been slow. I'll give a proper update of things once I finish the last bit of the Neo Cypher stuff, but yeah sorry if this feels rushed.