Chapter 7:Inspection
Commerce City. Midnight.
The lights gleamed bright in the central tower, as the entire plant functioned, its giant turbines running, roaring like some apocryphal creature, generating vast amounts of power, one that had always been the lifeline of Commerce City, and by extension, the main fuel for all sixteen cities in the vicinity, all the way to Cinnabar Island. Usually the offices would be deserted by seven in the evening, with the last of the workers emptying the place by ten. Tonight however, the lights in the office of the Manager glowed brightly, despite it being almost ten in the night, the sign outside his chamber displaying 'BUSY', as he served as an audience for one of the most intimidating people in Kanto.
"As you can understand, Mr. Levonsky, My partner and I are in dire need of this solution, and we sincerely hope to go ahead with this… acquisition without unnecessary trouble."
The man, known to all as the reclusive gym leader of Viridian, sat back, his head casually inclined towards the other man in the room, seated beside him. Strangely he had a large hood covering most of his face, with the exception of a heavily-chiselled greyish chin, devoid of any facial hair. The stranger had been sitting silent on the chair for the entire duration, giving Levonsky the impression of either being too frail or someone who didn't make a single movement without need. Levonsky didn't know which was more incongruous.
"Mr. Giovanni," The manager, a blonde-haired man of forty-six, answered, keeping a sideward glance at the other man's oddly silent associate, I understand that someone of your stature wouldn't just do things on a mere whim, but the Power Plant is the only source for the nearby regions. With all the power directed towards…" his eyes flickered towards the equipment placed a dozen feet away, "—the equipment would cause a lot of trouble, even if it is merely for a day?"
"I seem to remember that power might be cut off from time to time, in order to conduct… turbine maintenance, Mr. Levonsky. Believe me, I'm the Gym leader of my city and thus, go through all the stipulations myself."
"Then surely as Gym leader, you understand that cutting off power would cause a lot of distress amongst the Pokémon centers and hospitals. Should the League consider it, they might as well send someone for verification. I'd lose my job in an instant should that happen." The manager returned, feeling rather uncomfortable about agreeing to the meeting in the first place.
Giovanni let out a sigh. "I urge you to think of it as an acceptable risk in a…. business venture of sorts. My… equipment will go a long way in making my venture successful. I assure you, the benefits you'd gain from this would greatly outweigh the acceptable risk."
"What sort of venture requires you to… forgive me for being blunt, eat away power enough to fuel seventeen cities for a day?" He paused, looking at the equipment with distaste, "—and for the life of me, I cannot figure out how that tiny thing can keep its parts together after consuming that much power."
Giovanni chortled. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. There seems to be a misunderstanding. That thing wouldn't consume the power. It is built more along the lines of… acting like a conduit to transfer all that power."
A conduit to transfer that much electrical power? Into what? The manager couldn't help but think. "Even so, I honestly cannot agree to your request. Please forgive me."
Giovanni snorted again. "And here I was thinking that we would be able to come to a peaceful conclusion." He stood up, brushing off imaginary dust from his impeccable suit. "Very well, I'll have to approach things more directly, as my partner is fond of doing."
Directly? The manager felt uneasiness growing within him, as the stranger stood up from his seat, his face still covered by the hood.
I assure you, this will be quick and painless. Levonsky paled, as he heard the ominous voice in his mind, as the stranger lifted his hood, as the lights in the office room flickered for a moment.
Not a single worker left the Power Plant that night.
Vermillion city, Pokémon center.
"How could this be happening? Commerce City always has twenty percent of its production directed to Vermillion. That's how it has been for decades." Nurse Joy admonished.
The police official, a certain Gasper Michaels, took a step back. The pink-haired nurse had always been a rather no-nonsense type, everyone in the city could vouch for that. However, it certainly didn't make facing her any less intimidating.
"Please Ma'am, try to understand. We are not authorized to enter the main power generation plant, and the Manager is certainly not being forthcoming. I have checked with the agreement between the power plant and the League, and according to that, there can be shortage of power because of turbine maintenance, although the shortage could continue to a maximum of two days."
"Shortage of power, yes. No power, certainly not." The nurse retorted, "and God help you if you want to convince me that all the three turbines, which are run by hundreds of Magnemite and Magneton, and are separated into three distinct divisions of the power plant, have all broken down at the same time."
"Uh… actually from our sources, the water is still flowing in, which means-"
"The turbines are functioning." The nurse deduced.
"Um… yes." Michaels agreed hesitantly. "However, there is no output generated despite that. The Manager has issued an official statement, making it to be some kind of…interior malfunctioning, which will be solved in another day or so."
"If the turbines are working, where is the power going?"
"We do not know, Ma'am. It's strange, and almost like something is soaking up all the power from the turbines." Gasper replied, his face hung low.
"The plant provides power to seventeen cities, Officer Michaels." Nurse Joy scoffed. "No machine cannot soak in that much power for itself. What is Officer Jenny doing? I need that arse of a manager under arrest and questioned."
"I understand Madam but-"
Nurse Joy wasn't done speaking yet. She stepped forward and held the officer by his tie. "Listen to me, Officer Michaels. This is Vermillion city, and I have dozens of injured pokémon since last night, and none of them are able to receive proper treatment because of the power failure. I am very desperate right now, and you do not want me desperate."
Michaels swallowed.
"I need power back in less than an hour. Get it?" her eyes seemed to glow with anger, as she directed all her intimidation on the poor official, who looked like he was about to faint in a minute, should this continue. Suddenly pushing the man back, she let go of his tie, allowing the intimidated man to fall down on the ground.
The moment Michaels saw his chance, he instantly sped off, not wanting to be the victim of the ruthless nurse of Vermillion city.
The pink-haired woman saw the sad excuse of an officer speed away, letting out a frustrated sigh. True to her words, the center was devoid of power since midnight, and the injured pokémon weren't getting the treatment they deserved. Sure, she could manage to counter the more extreme cases with backup power, but she needed the main supply to be back and functioning.
She took a glance at the lobby, where trainers were sitting, their faces worried about their injured pokémon.
I will be getting a reprimand for this…
Despite of that probability, she knew that she would have to act, and act soon. If the police weren't ready to bring that manager to his senses, she would have to ensure that someone did it for her. Switching on the telephone on her help desk, she dialled a number.
Meanwhile…
"Power failure? For this long?" Ash accused. "I'm from a small town, and even there, we didn't have such problems."
Harrison looked away in frustration. He had had a good two-day training session with his pokémon, and had expended all of his full-restores on them, when he had heard about the sudden power failure all across the city. After checking in with the Pokémon center, he had come straight to the hotel, where he had met a rather irritated Ash Ketchum.
"I know. Extended power problems like this aren't exactly… normal. I visited the pokémon center earlier in the morning before returning, and Nurse Joy was in a very bad mood."
"And?"
"Let's just say that she was very… furious with the power plant manager, and leave it at that." Harrison paused. "Apparently, there are dozens of pokémon that need treatment and are unable to do so because of lack of power."
Ash looked concerned. He wasn't sure what he would do had it been his own pokémon that were injured and needing treatment in such a situation. He looked at his wrist, at the little Xtransceiver, wondering if he could use to send the injured pokémon to Professor Oak's lab. But then-
"Why didn't Nurse Joy transport them to some other center?" He asked.
Harrison looked up. "Apparently Commerce City Power Plant supplies power to seventeen cities in Kanto region. Everyone is suffering from this problem."
"So why isn't the League doing anything?"
Harrison shook his head. "The League cannot just interfere anywhere and everywhere, Ash. The power plant manager has claimed some kind of malfunctioning issue, which should be addressed in a day or two. With that kind of statement, even the League has its hands tied."
"But the pokémon-"
"Every center does have emergency power, Ash." Harrison advised. "Besides, it's only a matter of-"
"What if it isn't solved by another day? What happens to those pokémon?" Ash fumed.
Harrison sighed. "I understand where you're coming from, Ash. Believe me, I do. But what exactly can we do in this situation?"
"We can go to Commerce city to investigate what happened."
"Why?" Harrison questioned. "It might just be a matter of pure mechanical malfunction. Maybe we are just worrying in vain and the system will start up in an hour or something?"
"What if it doesn't?" Ash retorted.
"You sure are paranoid today."
Ash ignored the subtle dig. "Are you helping me or not?"
Harrison raised an eyebrow. 'You do know right that entering into privatized property is a serious crime?"
"Only if we are caught entering." Ash muttered.
Harrison took a step back. "Do I really want to know what's going on in that anarchic mind of yours?"
The grin on the black-haired trainer's face did nothing to help his nerves.
Students involved in Fire Stone research know that the Growlithe species do not necessarily evolve upon coming in contact with the evolutionary stone. The process is a little more… complicated than that. As per analysis, it is found that a ten-year-old Growlithe, is easily able to perform almost each and every move than an Arcanine can, without even resulting to evolution. Then what exactly are the differences between the two forms? The answer to that is puzzling, and yet, equally fascinating.
According to statistics, most Growlithe, upon maturing their inner-flame to a certain degree, known as the Rippler Mark, begin to automatically synthesize a genetic material that adds to their original DNA. It has been observed that this new addendum is what constitutes the entire genetic constitution of the Arcanine species, and is responsible for Arcanine having the move set and abilities that they do. Thus, it is entirely possible, that should a growlithe negate the offer of evolution, and instead, stay on as a Growlithe, sooner or later his genetic constitution would have absorbed enough of this… addendum to grant Growlithe all of Arcanine's move set without having to evolve into one. Professor Birch of Hoenn region is regarded as one of the foremost experts on this subject.
However, it is seen that should a growlithe manage to mature his inner-flame past the Ripper Mark, within a span of three years since birth, and then brought into contact with the Fire stone, then a biochemical reaction occurs within them, with the fire stone acting as a catalyst, amplifying the production of the addendum a million-fold, enough for the addendum to literally become the new genetic constitution, giving rise to a completely new species, known as the Arcanine. One, which is much larger than adult Growlithe can ever hope to be, and faster beyond imagination, able to cross past six thousand miles in a single day, should they want it to be. Also, it is noted that Arcanine do have inner-flames, at least twice as much as an adult Growlithe could ever hope to have, bringing them to the same level as that of a standard Magmortar. There is after all, a reason why Arcanine are still considered pseudo-legendary in many parts of the world.
Thus, it shouldn't be at all surprising, that Ash and Harrison were able to reach the Commerce City Power Plant in less than half an hour, their ride being none other than Harrison's Arcanine himself.
The first thing that came to Ash's mind was how frickin' huge the entire plant was. The entire place, seemed to have been built upon an area larger than Mount Moon, encompassing more than half of the entire city. Yet, for some reason, there were no sounds coming from the entire plant, only a dull, eerie silence, and the constant grinding sound which Ash guessed were coming from the motions of the turbines.
"All right, Arcanine. Get yourself some rest." Harrison returned his powerful fire-type back into his pokeball, before turning to Ash. "So, Mr. Detective, where do we go next?"
Ash scowled. "I don't know. Maybe see around a bit? Where are the turbines anyway?"
"Hear that noise?" Harrison asked, as Ash nodded. "That's from the turbines running. I've have a tiny hydroelectric project close to home, the procedure is similar."
"The sounds are coming from everywhere." Ash retorted, absently rubbing his forehead at the signs of a rising headache.
"Reverberation at being in close quarters." Harrison replied. "We are looking for laboratories closer to the dam, though I wonder, if the turbines are running, why isn't the entire place lighted?"
"Something more than that." Ash put in. "Have you noticed? We didn't meet a single person on our way here."
He was right. Despite Arcanine's speed, it was clear that the entire estate was almost empty. Either that, or the people had suddenly decided to shut in, and stay inside their homes. The entire place looked like a dead city.
"Reminds me of those zombie anime I used to watch as a kid," Harrison joked, "in which people turn into zombies and then kill more people, leading to a zombie invasion."
Ash, impassive, just looked around. "Maybe we should start from there?" He pointed towards the geodesic dome-like edifice at a distance, absently rubbing his eyebrows as he felt a slight twinge on his head growing.
"Want to split up?" The brown-haired trainer offered. "We could search better that way."
"Not worried about your zombie invasion?" Ash retorted, laughing at the other boy's scowl. "Just kidding. I guess I'll take this way and you can go through that one. Maybe we can meet somewhere in the center of something."
"And if you need help?"
"Uhm… I'll send Pidgeotto, if I need aid."
Harrison raised an eyebrow. 'I thought she was back at the coral."
Ash slightly shifted his left hand, as Harrison widened his eyes. "I… see, that's pretty useful."
"You can say that again."
Half an hour later…
Ash was still walking through the seemingly empty complex (with the exception of the sounds of the turbines), with a finger constantly rubbing his left eyebrow, where the initial twinge had now taken the shape of a massive headache. He had gotten himself a couple of pain relievers but nothing, it seemed, seemed to put a stop to the pounding headache, which seemed to be growing by the minute.
What the hell is happening?
He had already crossed the basement, which was unsurprisingly, empty, though the switches were still on. The main door, surprisingly, was open. He walked past it, past the empty guard stand, past the technical laboratories, all of which, seemed to be lighted, and yet, completely empty. Even the entrances were unguarded. Had he been a thief, he wouldn't have to lift a finger to steal everything out of this place. Without the lights on the ceiling working on emergency power, the entire place would've been jet dark. Even then, it didn't stop the entire place from having an ominous look.
Where are all the people?
On a whim, he pressed against the edge of one of the doors, before talking a single step into the room, if only to have a look at the instruments the workers used.
That, was a mistake.
The moment, he put a single step within the lab, instantly all power in the basement completely got cut down, inundating the entire place with darkness. The hairs on the back of his neck raised all of a sudden, and call it sixth sense or not, but Ash instantly ducked, as a sizzling stream of yellowish electricity splattered into the room, right past where his head might have been a few seconds ago.
What the hell was that?
Instantly, he turned on his back, and got up, releasing Metang out of his pokeball. He had gotten all of his pokémon back from the coral before leaving for this investigation, and Metang was the best bet if he was facing a rogue electric-type. However, much to his chagrin, there was nothing to be seen, neither ahead, nor in the air. It was almost like the electrical discharge had shot out at him from nowhere.
What's with electric types and their wish to electrocute me?
While pokémon training was indeed, dangerous business, and all trainers who got their trainee license understood it very well, Ash's initial meet with Pikachu, who was supposed to be his starter, had somewhat… shattered his views on the subject. Of course, he could understand that pokémon were, after all said and done, primal creatures at heart. However, the near-death experience had left him feeling slightly… averse to the electric-type as a whole, the feeling at its strongest when it came to the Pikachu-line.
Maybe I should just catch an electric-type, if sorely for vengeance.
Professor Oak had mentioned that Pikachu had been sent to Fuchsia Safari, a place that he himself wanted to visit at some point. As of now, the St. Anne's tournament-and having fun --he added mentally, was higher in priority. Besides, he already had seven pokémon, and none of them were fully evolved.
On second thought, Crawdaunt didn't really count. While the crustacean was fully evolved already, he still needed to up his game by a lot before he could be a battler for his main team. Till then, Poliwhirl was a better and safer choice, though against psychic types, Crawdaunt would probably be a better choice.
He casually observed the iron claw pokémon hovering all around him. From what the professor had mentioned, Metang seemed to have taken the will to train himself rough a little too seriously. The little thing had apparently made Oak's Alakazam feel his age.
"Metang, use Flash." He commanded, a small smile on his face as the iron claw pokémon suddenly began to glow with a soft white light. "We are in unknown territory right now. Attack anything that seems even slightly hostile. Don't hold back."
Metang made an odd sound in agreement, as it floated all around the place, making sure not to be more than five feet away from its trainer. Shutting its eyes, it concentrated its energies, and when ready, blasted them radially outward. The technique, originally invented by Professor Oak and his Alakazam, was called Supersensory, and comparable to SONAR, only this one involved psychic waves travelling outward, getting Metang a good enough estimation about the type of pokémon, and the distance of separation.
Chunk of steel. Electricity. Twenty feet. Larger chunk. Electricity. A hundred and thirty one feet. Human. Human. Something like poison. More things like poison. Electricity. Human…. Is that a-?
Before Metang could complete that thought, another stream of electricity came sizzling through the air, with the iron claw pokémon managing to deflect the attack just in time. It swooped closer to Ash, letting out a mechanical groan of warning, as the trainer quickly plucked Bagon's pokeball out.
Another flash of lightning, as Ash jumped to his right, noticing his attacker for the first time, in the dim light thanks to Metang's Flash ability. At first sight, it seemed like a floating, metallic ball with an eye in the centre, and two U-shaped magnets on either end. Noticing further, he found another one that seemed to be a combination of three of the former, held together.
Magnemite. The magnet pokémon. Magnemite floats in the air by emitting electromagnetic waves from the units at its sides. These waves block gravity. This Pokémon becomes incapable of flight if its internal electrical supply is depleted. They gather in places where electricity is available. They can be found clinging to the steel towers used to support power lines.
Magneton. This is the evolved form of Magnemite. Magneton emits a powerful magnetic force that is fatal to mechanical devices. As a result, large cities sound sirens to warn citizens of large-scale outbreaks of this Pokémon.
Ash ignored Dexter's mechanical oration, as he pushed himself a couple of steps back to avoid another electrical discharge, as he yelled, "Metang, use metal claw on them!" He saw the iron claw pokémon try his best, but the magnet pokémon were rather quick at dodging.
Steel/electric-type. Metang wouldn't really be that useful in this case. Let's try this. "Rhyhorn! Bagon!" He yelled, switching pokeballs, "I need your help."
With a flash of red light, rhyhorn was up and standing on the concrete floor, letting out a grunt, as he glared at the magnet pokémon hovering above him. Almost in reaction, the magnet pokémon sent out another discharge of electricity towards the ground type, who just brushed it off like an afterthought. Beside him, Ash's starter pokémon materialized, glaring at the magneton.
This might not be a good idea. Rhyhorn aren't known for their ability in the dark.
"Metang, maximum Flash. Bagon, use Ember! Rhyhorn, use flamethrower!" Ash commanded, knowing very well that rhyhorn's flamethrower was hardly at a level to cause actually damage to the part-steel type pokémon. Hopefully, the attack could be used to create a smokescreen for him to escape. Worse came to worse, he could always try capturing the Magneton inside a pokeball, and escape. At least the pokeball would hold back the thing for a while.
"Bagon, now use Zen head-butt!"
Bagon pushed himself off the ground, aiming straight at the magneton as he slammed his head into it, making the magneton further slam into the magnemite as both of them fell down to the floor.
That was unexpectedly easy.
"Rock tomb!" Ash ordered, gaining a little more confidence. Rhyhorn slammed his forelimbs onto the floor, creating crevices as the floor broke open, with large concrete fragments burst out of the floor.
'Now use earthquake!" Ash went on, "Bagon, jump up and use Zen head-butt again on Magneton."
The plan was nicely executed. The moment rhyhorn used earthquake, Bagon jumped off the ground, saving himself from suffering the effects of the seismic waves, which hit the magnet pokémon directly. Changing his momentum in mid-air, Bagon slammed into magneton once again, sending the electric-type tumbling away.
Yes. Ash thought, as he plucked out an empty pokeball and threw it at the magneton, the ball touching it with a loud sound, as magneton got sucked into it.
That should do it. Maybe even- fuck!
The ball wiggled for a while, before it threw its upper lid open, releasing Magneton. A very, very infuriated Magneton. Its three magnets shone brightly before it released a bright beam of light—Zap Cannon, Ash realized- which shot angrily towards Ash, only to be intercepted by a psychic barrier hastily raised by Metang before it could hit Ash in the face.
"…." Ash spoke, his face pale, escaping what could possibly be near-death by inches. His next words remained unheard as Rhyhorn let out a veritable grunt in anger, swung his neck and ran towards the Magneton, tackling it with a powerful horn attack, sending Magneton tumbling away, screeching as it did. Its mechanical screeches brought clusters of magnemite all around them, their magnets glowing menacingly as they all prepared for a powerful attack.
"Magnet—mite!" The magnet pokémon cluster roared in unison, as the collective beam of pure electricity slammed into the charging rhyhorn, pushing him back with a humongous force. Rhyhorn however, it seemed, would not be defeated as he kept on grunting and pushing forward, ignoring the stream of electricity flooding its body, more than what its typing could afford to save him from.
"Rhyhorn!" Ash cried in horror. "Metang, help-"
It was unnecessary. In the middle of the collective zap cannon attack, rhyhorn, it seemed, was glowing. His rocky structure turned into an ebbing white light, before it condensed and began to morph into a larger, bipedal form, one that was at least a foot taller than Ash, with its initially tiny tail protruding outward with a more conical appearance. When the bright light had receded, there stood in front of Ash, the powerful rock-hard creature, with its frontal region encased with a thick layer of steel, and its horn grown longer and sharper, with the appearance of a drill.
Rhydon. Ash breathed.
Rhydon let put a roar, and stomped down onto the concrete floor, with a power so great that it shattered, as dozens of concrete fragments shot up, pushed by the seismic waves of the powerful earthquake attack, as Rhydon swerved its long, shiny tail to the fragments, banishing them towards the floating magnemite cluster. Powerful and loaded with electricity they might be, but the momentum of the banished concrete was too much for them to resist, as they fell onto the ground, as did the Magneton who had summoned them. Rhydon however, was far from finished. With another guttural roar, he stomped its way towards the now slightly disoriented Magneton, and slammed a powerful fist into its spherical body.
Hammer arm. Ash realized with a wince, looking at the condition of the Magneton, now completely fallen on the ground, disoriented. He almost, almost felt pity for the electric-type.
Rhydon let out a roar of primal fury, before turning back and staring at Ash in the face.
For the first time in his life, Ash Ketchum felt fear while standing in front of his pokémon. It wasn't like he had been dealing with an evolved pokémon for the first time. Heck, Pidgeotto, and Metang were already in their secondary stage. He had captured Crawdaunt, who was literally a fully-evolved pokémon.
Rhydon however, was different. With their evolution from rhyhorn, rhydon developed a little more brain function, but at the same time, their physical strength magnified by several degrees. The resultant of the two was that Rhydon were much more… primal, than Rhyhorn or even, their final evolution, Rhyperior. It was exactly why it was so difficult to train the species, since a lot of trainers lost their lives because Rhydon went out of control and began its rampage.
Rhydon took a single step towards Ash, his eyes having that strange, maniacal glint that was feared by masses, as his trainer began to wonder if Rhydon was about to attack him or not. However, Rhydon just stared at his trainer, who stared back, his face a little more pale than usual.
Then, he gave a grunt and nodded towards the fallen Magneton, before nodding again towards Ash, who seemed to get his reference, and let out a sigh.
"You- want me to catch that Magneton?" Ash asked cautiously.
Rhydon grunted in agreement once again.
A thin, wary smile formed on Ash's face, as he looked at the now destroyed pokeball on the ground, before plucking out another empty ball and tossing it toward the Magneton, sucking it instantly. The ball wiggled for a moment, before it settled with the classic 'ding'.
And just like that, Ash thought cynically, I caught a Magneton. He took a moment to digest the entire absurdity of what had just happened, before shaking his head to throw away the slightly disoriented feeling. The headache was only worsening matters. Taking a step forward, he extended his right hand forward, touching Rhydon's rocky arm, to which Rhydon uttered a grunt, making Ash step back in hesitation. The great creature, a little surprised at his trainer's hesitation, simply took a step forward and touched Ash's hand with his horn, almost in a gesture of faith towards his trainer.
Ash smiled.
"Thank you, Rhydon." He muttered, smiling as he did. "I am glad that you still trust me as a capable trainer, even after I wasn't able to help you against the magnemite." He cast a glance at the fallen magnemite on the ground, before looking directly at his evolved ground-type. "Do you want to return to your pokeball?"
Rhydon gave another grunt, shaking his head.
"Want to roam around on two legs, do you?" Ash quipped, pulling his hand away. He turned back to see Bagon staring at his evolved friend. "Someday you will evolve too, Bagon."
The baby dragon screeched in agreement.
"Do you want me to return you?"
With another nod, Bagon jumped off the ground, as Ash sucked him back into his pokeball. Turning towards the still-levitating Metang beside him, he replied, "Let's get going."
Meanwhile on the other end.
"Arcanine, use flamethrower!" Harrison ordered, as the great fiery beast let out a roar and expunged out hot flames from its jaws towards the invading mass of sludge and poison gas. "Careful, it might be explosive." He warned, as he took a step back.
The entire corridor had been a one-way, and now he was trapped with no exit, except one, and that was from where he had just run in from, followed by vile masses of sludge, dirt, and poison, given life as a pokémon known as Grimer. Some of the Grimer in the back seemed to be much larger in size, and in all possibility, were probably their evolved forms.
Shit! Harrison cursed. Where's Ash's pokedex when you need one? That blasted thing would've been rather useful here. "Arcanine, worst comes to worst, use flare blitz and we fight our way out."
Arcanine woofed, his angry eyes glaring at the entire colony of Grimer and Muk slowly pushing towards them menacingly. The great dog belched out another stream of raging flames but the hordes of sludge belched out by the Grimer were more than a better match against it.
Harrison cursed under his breath. Only powerful psychic-types or steel-types would be of any use in this case. From his vantage point, he could see what seemed to be an ever-increasing horde of these sludge pokémon getting close to them. If he didn't do something instantly, they would overwhelm him easily.
"Arcan-"
The rest of his words stayed in his throat, as two powerful wings, each glowing bright silver, severed its way through the poisonous sludge, the sheer force of the attack swathing the grimer right and left, creating a way in the middle. As the creature drew near, Harrison realized what it was.
A Skarmory? Here?
"Quick, get out of there!" An unfamiliar voice yelled, distracting Harrison, as he looked ahead, seeing a stranger stand there, with a pokeball in hand. Then, the stranger threw up another pokémon. "Go, Aggron!"
Harrison watched in amazement as Aggron, the final evolution of Aron, a pokémon found in Hoenn, stood at the end of the corridor. The absolute monster looked slightly draconic in physique, with iron plates and horns covering its entire musculature. The feral beast let out a roar, before it began rampaging its way through the hordes of Grimer and Muk, banishing them away with single sweeps of its limbs and tail. Harrison silently wondered just how outstanding the trainer must be, to have an Aggron of all pokémon follow his every command without question.
"Coming out any day now would be good." The stranger snapped. "I swear I don't have the time or the intention to stand and fight these… trash all day."
On any other day, he would have snapped back about the way the stranger referred to the poison pokémon. Today however, Harrison couldn't find it in him, especially not after the other guy had just helped him out of what could possibly turn into a horrific and smelly death out of asphyxiation. Not wasting another moment, he ran out, followed by Arcanine towards the stranger who seemed to be getting more annoyed by the minute.
"What the fuck are you doing here? Last I knew this town is completely devoid of people since yesterday." The stranger accused.
"I, uh, well a friend of mine suggested we could go and see what's wrong with the power failure. Nurse Joy told us that-"
"Joy sent you here?" The stranger narrowed his eyes. "I thought I was the only one hired for the job."
"Hired?" Harrison tried to keep up, as it hit him. "No, we weren't hired or anything of that sort. We, that's me and my friend were just here to see if there was something wrong."
"Obviously." The stranger sneered. "Like to play cop, eh?"
"Not really, but is that a problem?" Harrison retorted, clearly getting agitated by the stranger's attitude. "Who are you, by the way?"
"Paul." The other guy answered, as Harrison took in his features. "Where's this friend of yours then?"
"He's… "Harrison considered his words, "somewhere, I guess. We took different routes to the tower."
"Hero syndrome." Paul sneered, as if Harrison had mentioned something contagious and obnoxious. "Let's hope he makes out of this alive, then."
"Yeah…" Harrison muttered, glancing back at the guy. "I'm Harrison, and well, thanks for saving me from those Grimer by the way."
"That trash has a name?" Paul sneered again, before looking towards the other end and stepping forward. "If you are planning on staying, then come with me. Else, get on that dog of yours and race your arse back to Vermillion."
"I… can't." Harrison answered, "I have to find Ash."
Paul pointed towards the turbine chamber. "Fully functioning, and yes, I checked them. The power is being directed towards the central tower. Whatever it is that's eating up all this voltage, it is up there."
"What kind of pokémon can actually do that?" Harrison asked in shock.
"A machine." Paul corrected. "Even my Electivire would go unconscious after taking in that much power for thirty seconds. And this thing is soaking since last night."
"Must be one hell of a machine." Harrison wondered. "Who would possibly need that much power?"
Paul's eyes darkened. "I might have… an idea. Now come on. If your friend is still looking, chances are that he would also get a lead to the central tower from the other turbines."
I swear someone seriously hates me a lot. Ash thought, as he leapt off the broken concrete, diving to the right, as the dark, menacing creature leapt past him, before twisting in mid-air, as it turned to face him, his face twisted with a feral snarl.
Damn Umbreons. Ash cursed, as his fingers reached in for one of the pokeballs as he hit the button, releasing Crawdaunt out to play. The overgrown crustacean clicked its pincers menacingly, glowering at the Umbreon, as he registered the situation, before letting 0ut a grunt.
"Use vice grip, Crawdaunt." Ash commanded, allowing Crawdaunt to take over as he pushed himself back to the nearest pillar to catch some breath. After getting rid of the magnemite cluster, he had been dawdling over the second floor, which at least, had those shaky lights on the ceiling, when he had run into a group of Team Rocket grunts, and four Umbreons of all pokémon, their eyes unnaturally red, almost as if they had lost all sense of normalcy and given into their primal urges, one that made them consider humans as their prey. For a Primeape to be like that was one thing, but for the Umbreon species… that behaviour was highly unnatural.
That, and their wide move set. He thought inwardly. For one thing, none of the grunts seemed well-trained in the art of battling, something they tried to counteract by sheer numbers. However, the wide array of moves their pokémon exhibited only gave way for a single conclusion- These pokémon had been caught (stolen), given high-powered TM's, and injected with drugs to maintain their state of permanent agitation, though how the grunts didn't end up becoming prey was anybody's guess.
Guess that's another of Team Rocket's secrets. Ash plucked out another pokeball and released Pidgeotto. "Get to Harrison. Bring him here, quick."
With a cry, Pidgeotto swooped past the other Umbreon, and dove through the window, soaring up into the air, before quickly locating their brown-haired friend a floor below in the other tower. With another passionate screech, Pidgeotto swooped.
All right Ketchum, cool down. Ash thought to himself, taking a deep breath. He knew for a fact that Rhydon and Metang were battling another pair of Umbreon on the other end, while he had Crawdaunt facing two Umbreons all by himself.
Time to bring in more reinforcements. He plucked out the two other pokeballs. "Charmander, Bagon, I have need of you."
As the lights subsided, and the two draconian pokémon appeared, Ash stood up and began to issue orders. "Quick, Charmander, use Dragon breath. Bagon, Dragon Pulse on the Umbreons." He glanced towards Crawdaunt, who was currently locked in a headlock with one of them. "Use bubble-beam to push it back, Crawdaunt!"
The combination of Crawdaunt's bubble-beam, and Bagon's Dragon pulse was enough to subdue the Umbreon, while the other one leapt out of its way, escaping Charmander's dragon breath, before jumping into the air, pouncing towards the fire-lizard-
Only to get slammed in the abdomen by a powerful head-butt from a certain baby dragon.
"Dragon breath. Again." Ash commanded, as Charmander's attack hit true this time, banishing the Umbreon to the wall on the other end.
"This way, guys!" Ash rushed, before running towards the other end, before stopping, just in time, to avoid colliding with his favourite iron claw pokémon who it seemed was floating towards him. Further in front, was Rhydon, kicking the disoriented Umbreon in the gut, who just mewled in excruciating pain. Beside the fallen dark creature, three grunts lay on the ground, with blood flooding from their chests.
Did Rhydon do this?
"Enough, Rhydon." Ash commanded in his most intimidating voice, letting out a sigh almost instantly at the fact that Rhydon obeyed him once again. Though, the irritated grunt from the rock species wasn't ignored by his trainer.
"Rhydon, I know you are angry that they attacked us. But please do not kill them. I'd hate for my friend to become a murderer of this…" He looked at the fallen grunt pair, "-these people."
Rhydon snorted at that, but didn't bother to do anything else.
Shaking his head in vain, Ash returned the rest of his pokémon, with the exception of Metang, as he stepped ahead, and opened the door, the grunts had been guarding.
What were these three grunts doing here anyway?
Beyond the door was what seemed to be a huge chamber, bigger than most gyms in sheer size. And there, on the floor, were people, fallen all over the ground, randomly, some above others, almost like they were-
Ash swallowed as the nasty thought crossed his mind. No. He told himself, stepping into the compound, doing his best not to puke at the possibility that he was standing amidst hundreds of dead bodies. Somehow, he managed to kneel in front of one of the bodies- a young woman of around twenty by her looks—and held two fingers at her nose-
He let out a breath of elation.
They are alive. Or at least, she is. "Metang," he whispered, suddenly feeling the headache grow to massive proportions. "Metang, please use confusion against me."
Metang made an odd noise, as if inquiring if Ash was in his right mind.
"I need to get rid of this headache, if I am to concentrate. Can you, you know, make me ignore this headache for a while?"
Another mechanical groan followed, before the iron claw pokémon's eyes glowed blue, and Ash's own mirrored them, before both pairs of eyes settling to their normal forms.
Damn. That was… too easy. Ash thought, feeling the entire absurdity of the entire thing. Pain relievers didn't hold a penny against a basic psychic trick.
"Thanks, buddy. Now can you check if these people are… you know, under some kind of drug, or psychically-induced sleep?"
Metang floated over the fallen bodies, gathering an inordinate amount of psychic energy inside him, before releasing it all, just like he had done it earlier. Supersensory did have its uses, after all. The people stirred, showing slight movements, proving Ash's theory correct, appearing to wake up from a long sleep and-
Their motions stopped as they fell back down once again, just as they were before.
"What… what just happened?"
Metang floated towards Ash, his eyes glowing an unearthly blue once again, looking squarely at Ash in the eye.
Psychic… power…. Strong.
"Stronger than you?"
Metang made a noise which Ash understood as agreement.
Damn. This is turning out to be spookier than I thought. First those electric-types, then Team Rocket with those High TM pokémon, and now a powerful psychic enough-
Wait.
Something is wrong. That… that certainly cannot be possible. One single psychic cannot possibly have that much power….
Can it?
"Let's…. just get out of this place." Ash murmured, before stepping out of the giant chamber. On walking out, he noticed a second door. Without thinking any longer, he went ahead and slammed it open.
Beyond the door was a glass tunnel, connecting one part of the skyscraper with the other, the tunnel serving as one of the three bridges between the twin towers. The first half, Ash mused, was mostly for the labs, and the more menial stuff. The managerial staff, it seemed, worked in the other half.
I wouldn't be finding out anything just standing here.
Shaking his head again, Ash walked up front, the hulking Rhydon and the floating Metang, quickly following him.
Meanwhile, Harrison and Paul had just engaged with a thin group of Team Rocket grunts (surprise?), which had been taken care of between the two of them. Arcanine had been rather… angsty over being almost-triumphed over by the hordes of Grimer, and was feeling more vengeful as usual. Boys and their pride after all.
"Are you sure it's all right to capture that Umbreon?" Harrison asked warily. The grunts they had just faced, had a pair of Umbreon and two golem with them. Arcanine had dispatched one of the Umbreons, while Skarmory, much to Harrison's awe, had simply dealt with the other Umbreon and the golem as if they were little more than inconvenience. When he had expressed his wish to have one of those Umbreons for himself, Paul had given him the green signal.
"Look bub, you either take it or you don't. These pokémon aren't registered. Team Rocket's never are. You are just taking your spoils from a thief."
"In that case, why don't you yourself capture some of them?" Harrison voiced.
Paul sneered. "These… are trash. They got blasted by a single move. I have no need for them."
"Any pokémon can become powerful, with the right training." Harrison retorted.
"Yeah. Do me a favour. Shut the fuck up, capture and train them for all you like. Don't bother me."
"You sure are a real charmer." Harrison mocked.
"I know, right?" Paul sneered again, before turning around, before taking a step back as a shiny Pidgeotto flew past him, landing straight on Paul's shoulders.
"A shiny Pidgeotto? Again? What? Do all the heroic morons get the shiny ones? Or is merely my luck?"
"She isn't mine." Harrison retorted, glancing at the avian squawking at him. "He's Ash's."
"Ash? Tell me it's not that-"
"Wait a second," Harrison interrupted, turning towards the avian. "Where's Ash? Is he in danger?"
Pidgeotto squawked again.
"Show us where." He replied, as the avian left his shoulder to soar upwards into the air, before squawking again, and entering the floor above them.
Ash is in the floor above us? "Paul, we need to-"
But Paul had already sprinted ahead.
Damn! Harrison cursed, before he followed swiftly.
So this is the main office. Ash wondered, standing at the entrance of the chamber, wondering if it would be proper to just walk into the entire place. After all, the manager would-
The sight of those people inside the chamber came to mind.
Shaking his head to get rid of that image, Ash took a step forth, making sure that Rhydon was just beside him. "Rhydon," he murmured, "whatever is there in this room, it might be hostile and attack us. If that happens, do not hold back." He paused, "Metang, psychic defenses ready."
Rhydon didn't have a human-like mouth. If he did, Ash was sure he would've been grinning madly. Metang just floated to Ash's shoulder, without a single noise. Confident of his friends supporting him, Ash pushed the door open.
It was unnecessary.
Standing inside the entire lobby, was a single figure, a man from the looks of it. He was wearing a full-sleeved trench-coat, hood on, as he stood in front of what seemed like a steel table of some sort, his two hands embedded inside some kind of… glowing, electronic accordion of some sort. On closer look, the thing seemed to be having too many wires drawn all around it, each glowing with a different color.
"Uh… excuse me?" Ash spoke up in hesitation.
Right, that is a wonderful start. The more cynical part of his mind scoffed. He just scowled inwardly, but took another step forward.
I didn't think you'd make it, child. Your Metang looks exceptionally well-trained.
Ash could've sworn he had heard the voice in his head. Almost instinctively, his left hand moved into his pocket as he took out the pokedex, hoping that Dexter would be able to shed some light into the situation.
No data available. Dexter crowed.
Of course. Ash sneered mentally. "Who are you?"
The man didn't bother turning back to face them, his palms still embedded inside the electrical equipment. Of course, the better question would be what are you, but it sounded way too rude, even for this context. Besides, he had heard about psychics, with Sabrina, the Saffron Gym leader and one of the Elite Four, herself being one.
I'm not… like Sabrina, little one. Her meagre tricks are of no value to someone such as myself.
That's a man who loves his work. Ash thought sardonically. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Shouldn't I ask the same of you?
Damn right. "I'm here to find what's going on."
Something… shifted about the person. Maybe it was because Metang's association was deepening Ash's own perceptivity towards psychics in general, or maybe it was just gut instinct, but something told him that the… man's proclivity towards normal conversation had changed.
I see… You are from the League.
"No… I'm just… a trainer. Who the hell are you anyway?"
Ash had a feeling like the stranger was smirking at him, and that he was the subject of a personal joke.
"A trainer then…. What is your purpose in coming here?"
"That's none of your business." Ash retorted. "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing here? Did you cause all those-hang on- he knows what I've been doing all this while, and he's the psychic and-
Crap.
The stranger finally pulled his palms out of the equipment, before they were sheathed within his trench-coat, as the man turned around. Not that it made any difference, since the coat and hood covered everything about him. Then, he levitated, floating just a few inches above the gr0und, almost… lazily.
I'll quench your curiosity then. I came here because I was thirsty, and now I've quenched my thirst.
"So you're going to leave? Just like that?"
The stranger tilted his head. Why should I do any different?
"What about those people? They are all under psychic control. Release them, now." Ash took a step forward, unaware why he was feeling more confident.
Interesting. And if I don't?
"Then I'll force you." Ash replied with conviction.
He felt the stranger smile behind the hood.
"Rhydon!" Ash commanded in a stern tone. "Use Rock Tomb!"
The great rocky beast let out a roar, before it stomped its way towards the psychic, raising several concrete fragments, as the seismic waves shattered the stone floor. With a single swing of his tail, Rhydon sent the fragments flying towards him-
Only to see them stop midway.
Just like that.
The psychic didn't even make a single movement, though the rocks slowly began to chip away, until the randomly shaped fragments had become semi-circular in shape. Suddenly, Rhydon was levitated off the ground, much to the beast's indignation, turned upside-down, as the semi-circular rocks bound themselves all around Rhydon like shackles, each of them at least a feet thick, incarcerating the beast completely.
"Rhydon!" Ash yelled in anxiety. "Metang, use thunder-"
Before the order was even complete, a silvery shadow sprung past in a manner of seconds, as it shot towards the psychic, before suddenly stopping with a single jerk. Ash, completely horrified, saw Skarmory getting her steel wing slowly twisted, as the avian screeched in agony. The psychic though, had yet to show a single movement.
It stopped Skarmory just like that, without a single movement. All of that while keeping Rhydon bound like that. What the hell… is that thing?
"Ash!" Harrison screamed in the background, as he and Paul raced towards him, Paul's face contrite with anger at the psychic's reaction. "Skarmory, use Flash!"
The steel avian suddenly flashed with blinding light, as the psychic held his hands up, shielding himself from the bright light, enabling Skarmory to escape his psychic trap. That moment of weakness, also cost him his control over Rhydon, who broke out and dropped on the floor, groaning.
"What the hell is that thing?" Paul snarled. "Aggron, Gyarados!" He called in, as the pokémon formed around him instantly. "Use Hyper beam."
With a predatory glare, both of the apex pokémon fired powerful hyper beams at the psychic, their beams conjoined close to their destination, only to stop directly in front of the psychic.
"What… the…" Paul exclaimed in horror. The psychic wasn't even diverting the hyper beams or deflecting them. He was simply… stopping them at one single point, which meant-
"Metang, psychic now! Full power!" Ash yelled, as Metang formed a thick layer of psychic energy, just in time as the highly compressed hyper beam exploded outward, lashing against Metang's shields, making the iron claw pokémon float back in reaction, though the shields held, but only just. Rhydon and Skarmory, both of them had been caught in the attack, and were unconscious, though their strong outer hide prevented all but superficial damage.
Is that all that you've got? The psychic spoke, still levitated, exactly where it was, as if the explosion hadn't happened. He tilted his head again. Pity. I was expecting a lot more.
The psychic, much to everyone's surprise, simply floated a little higher, before raising his left hand in a circle to the height of his shoulder, before snapping his fingers. Ash could see… grey skin at the ends of the sleeves.
Extremely light grey skin.
In time, the psychic spoke, still through his telepathy. You'll know what it is like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail all the same.
And then, he was gone.