Seeing Ivysaur in trouble, Dragonair streaked overhead, the elegant blue serpent weaving through the air. Dragonair's eyes glowed as it conjured a crackling orb of electricity at the tip of its horn – a Thunder Wave. The orb launched and burst against Machoke's broad back, sending jolts through its body. Machoke's movements suddenly slowed, its muscles spasming – it had been paralyzed. Ivysaur seized the opportunity and blasted Machoke point-blank with a cloud of Sleep Powder from the flower bud on its back. The greenish powder settled on Machoke's head and shoulders; within seconds, its angry grunts softened to groans, and the hulking creature swayed on its feet before toppling with a crash, fast asleep. (Hiroshi made a mental note to thank Ivysaur with extra treats later – putting down a rampaging Machoke without lethal force was no small feat.)
The Mightyena had circled wide, using its keen nose to hunt through the smoke. It lunged at Milotic, drawn by the serpent's distinctive scent. With a feral snarl, Mightyena clamped its jaws down on Milotic's tail, trying to drag the sinuous Pokémon down. Milotic cried out in pain, a musical yet pained sound. Its normally beautiful eyes flashed with fury. In retaliation, Milotic's tail glowed bright blue and whipped around – Aqua Tail – smacking the Mightyena off with a forceful splash. The dark Pokémon yelped as it was flung against a wall. Not giving it a chance to recover, Swablu (small but brave) swooped in and flapped its cottony wings, releasing a flurry of Disarming Voice chirps that rang with fairy-like energy. The attack bewildered and hurt the dark-type Mightyena, making it whine and shake its head in disorientation. Mightyena, its aggression faltering, scrabbled to its feet and bolted from the lab, perhaps deciding freedom without a cruel master was better than dying for one. (As it ran, its control collar sparked – maybe the commander tried to shock it into obedience, but the device appeared damaged by Milotic's water and Raichu's electricity. The Mightyena disappeared into the smoke and out the blown door, effectively out of the fight.)
By now, only two troopers remained standing, and they were regaining their footing, raising rifles with grim resolve. The commander, in his exosuit, had lumbered fully into the lab, swatting aside a rolling tray of medical tools. He was searching for Hiroshi, his helmet scanning left and right. Through the thinning smoke, Hiroshi could now see the exosuit's full form – a bulky frame that made the man inside a head taller than normal, with reinforced plating. It looked like a prototype of a powered armor – probably capable of augmenting strength and carrying heavy weapons. On his left arm was indeed a mounted gun: a futuristic-looking pistol with a wide barrel, likely capable of energy blasts or high-caliber rounds. A direct hit from that could be devastating.
"You pests!" the commander bellowed, seeing his men and Pokémon either down or fled. "Fine, I'll do it myself!" He aimed the arm-cannon at the nearest visible target, which happened to be Charmeleon, who had climbed atop a lab table for vantage.
Hiroshi's heart pounded. "Charmeleon, MOVE!" he screamed.
Charmeleon leaped, and not a second too soon—a lance of searing plasma sizzled from the commander's gun with a thunderous WHOOM. The energy bolt seared through the space Charmeleon had occupied, leaving a molten scorch mark on the floor. Had it struck, Charmeleon would have been vaporized. The realization fueled Hiroshi's adrenaline. This was now a fight for survival.
In the chaos, one of the troopers spotted Hiroshi's silhouette and fired a burst of bullets in his direction. PTANG! A shot clipped Hiroshi's shoulder, the impact absorbed by his tactical vest's armor plating, but the force spun him and he hissed at the jolt of pain. He dropped to a knee behind an overturned metal table, momentarily pinned by suppressing fire. The trooper advanced, confident, but he had forgotten about Wartortle. The feisty turtle Pokémon popped out from behind a toppled cabinet right next to the gunman and blasted a point-blank Water Gun at his face. The man gagged as water flooded his mouth and nose, and before he could recover, Wartortle cracked him across the helmet with a hard Iron Tail smack – clang! The trooper went down, dazed or out cold.
The final trooper hesitated, witnessing the formidable coordination of Hiroshi's team. That was all the opening Raichu needed – from the rafters (it had scampered up a support pillar), Raichu let loose another Thunderbolt that struck the man square in the back. He convulsed and collapsed, his rifle firing one last erratic burst into the ceiling.
Now it was the commander alone versus Hiroshi and his Pokémon. But the armored man showed no signs of fear. If anything, he laughed – a cruel, metallic echo. "A boy and his circus of pets. That's what brought down my empire? Pathetic!" He slammed a button on his suit's arm. With a mechanical clunk, the pistol's spent energy cartridge ejected, and a fresh one auto-loaded from a compartment. "Let's see how well you handle this!"
He began firing wildly, plasma bolts turning equipment and consoles into explosions of sparks and fire. One blast nearly hit Milotic, who barely weaved aside, the heat singing the edges of its ribbon-like fins. Another bolt exploded against the far wall, blowing a hole into an adjacent office. The lab was quickly becoming a war zone inferno.
Hiroshi realized the commander was trying to flush him and his team out into the open for a decisive shot. They needed to end this now. His hand brushed against a cool metal cylinder on his belt – a flashbang grenade. Perfect.
He signaled silently with a hand gesture. In an instant, Gardevoir reappeared at his side – she had returned after ensuring the children's teleportation went smoothly, and now she was back to help. Daisy's red eyes met Hiroshi's; no words were needed. Hiroshi pulled the pin and lobbed the flashbang high over the lab in the commander's direction. At the same moment, Daisy raised both arms and conjured a shimmering Protect barrier around Hiroshi and the Pokémon.
BOOM! The flashbang detonated with an immense burst of light and sound. Even with their eyes averted and the protective shield, Hiroshi and his Pokémon were dazzled by the brilliance. The commander, caught by surprise, took the brunt of it. "ARGH!" he cried out. Inside the helmet, he was blinded and deafened, if only momentarily. The exosuit stumbled, its systems probably thrown into brief disarray by the sensory overload.
Hiroshi saw his chance. "Lairon, finish it!" he commanded. Lairon, still loyally stationed as a shield, now switched to offense. With a snort of steam from its nostrils, the stout Pokémon charged. Its heavy body, all steel and stone, barreled into the commander's legs with a brutal Take Down attack. There was a horrific crunch as powered joints snapped and metal bent. The exosuit toppled like a felled tree, crashing onto its back and cracking the floor tiles.
The commander groaned, trying to raise his arm for another shot, but the damaged servos whined futilely. Sparks shot from his suit's fractured leg actuators. He was down, if not out. With the face-off ended, Hiroshi was already moving—running to the escape route he'd scouted earlier.
"Everyone, this way!" he shouted. At the back of the lab was a reinforced hatch marked EMERGENCY EXIT – MAINTENANCE TUNNEL. It was supposed to be a safety route for scientists in case of accidents. Hiroshi prayed it wasn't locked down by the security system.
Alakazam, who had returned with Daisy, anticipated the need. Its spoon bent slightly as it telekinetically yanked a panel off the wall, exposing manual release levers. With a metallic screech, the hatch's lock released. Hiroshi and Alakazam hauled the circular door open, revealing a dark tunnel beyond.
The Pokémon dashed through the opening one after another: Wartortle practically dove in headfirst, followed by Raichu, Ivysaur, and Charmeleon. Milotic and Dragonair elegantly slid their long bodies through. Swablu fluttered in, still keeping an eye on the commander from above until the last moment. Lairon backed in slowly—walking backwards to keep facing the fallen threat until everyone else was safe. Daisy and Alakazam waited, ready to support Hiroshi as needed.
Hiroshi was last. He spared one glance back at the ruined lab. The commander lay prone, helmeted head turned toward Hiroshi with hatred. "You… think this is over?" the man rasped through crackling speakers. "Others will come… You'll never be safe… fox…"
Hiroshi met the gaze behind that visor. In that instant, he considered stripping his mask and showing his real face to this man – just so he would know who beat him as the last sight before his world burned. But Hiroshi thought better of it. Instead, he simply replied in a cool, almost gentle tone, "It's over for you. And I'll be there when it's over for them, too."
With that, he slammed the hatch shut and spun the wheel to seal it. The commander's enraged scream on the other side was cut off, muffled into silence.
The maintenance tunnel was narrow and dark, illuminated only by faint red emergency strip lights along the floor. Hiroshi took off at a run, footsteps echoing. His Pokémon raced alongside or ahead of him, none worse for wear save for a few scratches and bruises. He tapped a control on his wrist-pad as he ran, checking the timer – only a minute or two left before the server charges blew. Perfect.
Behind them, the commander must have realized something, because a muffled voice could be heard through the hatch yelling desperately, "No, no—!"
KA-BOOOOOOM!!!!
The tunnel shook violently. A blast of hot air whooshed from behind, propelling Hiroshi and his team forward as if a giant hand shoved them. He stumbled but kept his balance, urging his Pokémon, "Keep moving!" Dust rained from cracks in the tunnel ceiling. The explosion had been even bigger than anticipated – maybe secondary explosions from power generators had ignited. The entire base would be engulfed in flames now, and likely collapsing. Hiroshi silently hoped the commander and his remaining men would have a swift end in the inferno rather than being buried alive.
At last, a sliver of moonlight appeared ahead. The tunnel's end. A ladder led upward to a heavy grate. Dragonair surged ahead, coiling up the ladder and pushing the grate with its snout. The cover clanged aside, and fresh night air poured in.
One by one, they emerged from a camouflaged hatch hidden among some bushes a few hundred meters away from the main building. Hiroshi was the last out, and he paused to slide the grate back in place – a habit of covering tracks. They found themselves in a small wooded area on a hillside overlooking the facility.
The scene was dramatic: plumes of black smoke billowed from multiple parts of the sprawling compound. Fire licked the sky. Even as Hiroshi watched, a secondary explosion burst from a side warehouse, presumably a munitions store cooking off, sending a fireball upward. Distant sirens indicated that the local authorities or fire services were alerted by the chaos, but they wouldn't arrive in time to save anything – and they'd have quite a puzzle on their hands when they did.