The air became heavy as Inyssa approached the building, the unique geography of the valley turning the place into a wind maelstrom. She needed both hands on her hat at all times just to prevent it from flying off, and pieces of grass were constantly hitting her in the face, forcing her to walk with her eyes half closed. On the bright side there was no way they could see her coming with so much dust in the air. The Windworks lay only a stone's throw away from her; a featureless gray building with only two floors and almost no windows, the few it had being purposefully hidden from the wind's direction.

The first sign that something was wrong came to her when she saw the door wide open, the frame going forwards and backwards, slamming itself repeatedly due to the wind's strength. The inside looked like a poorly illuminated hallway, leading towards a bigger circular room in the middle. Inyssa stood in the door for almost a minute, thinking about how to proceed. Something inside her was telling her to turn around and leave; her legs were trembling and her lips were dry, but she attributed that mostly to the wind. Slowly she grabbed one of her Pokeballs, and stared at it for a few seconds.

"I can do this," she told no one, the wind swallowing her words. "I can do this. Steven, come out!"

The flash of light illuminated everything around her as the bird Pokemon appeared from it, his body instinctively adjusting to the powerful wind. Without much trouble he started flying in the same direction as it, moving his wings accordingly.

"Listen carefully, I need you to cover my surroundings," Inyssa told him when he came down to her shoulder. "I'm gonna go in and I don't know what's inside. You'll have to fly around the building and spy in between the windows. If you see people coming for me then distract them, and if the police or Barry come here you'll have to guide them to me. Do you understand?"

Steven's little head nodded, and then he playfully pecked at Inyssa's cheek with his beak. She smiled, happy to have such a smart Pokemon around, and with a swing of her arm sent him upwards where the Starly began flying in circles once more.

Not wanting to put it off any longer, she entered through the door, her feet moving slowly and her eyes open wide as to take everything in. As she advanced the sound of the wind began to dissipate, the thick walls blocking any sound coming from the outside. When she reached the end of the hallway she leaned her body against one of the walls and carefully looked around the corner, ready to grab a Pokeball in case of any trouble. But the lobby was empty, only a spacious circular space filled with nothing but flowerpots, a couple of sofas and an empty receptionist's table in the middle. At the sides of the back right wall there were two other doors, one of them leading deeper into the building and the other one opening to a staircase which led to the second floor. She opted for the former, though she had to push hard against the heavy door when she reached it, making it whir something awful.

She paced around the circular room it opened into for a minute, and as she made her way through the narrow path on the opposite side she ignored all the office doors that she saw, focusing on the door leading to the main lab room. When she finally arrived she forgot to hide herself and busted through the door by kicking it.

The place was small, only containing two huge, strange-looking machines at the sides of the room and safety rails in the middle, forming a small path that led to the next room. Inyssa came expecting a fight, and it seemed that's exactly what she would get, considering the two other people in the room. Pyxis and Orion, the Galactic grunts, turned sharply toward her, eyes wide in surprise. The former seemed to be holding onto the girl, whose face was crinkled in pain. A closer look told Inyssa that there was a shallow cut on the side of her right arm.

"Oh... it's you," said Orion, his tone a lot nastier than she remembered. "Should've known this was your fault."

Inyssa stopped in her tracks and gulped, hand going to the Pokeballs on her belt.

"I only beat her in a Pokemon battle," she said. "If later she tripped and scraped herself that's not my problem. Now tell me where you have that girl's dad before I make you."

She tried to sound fierce, but an odd feeling in her chest made her words sound dull. There was something about the way Orion was speaking, the intonation in his voice... it almost sounded rehearsed. None better than her to tell, with all the years she'd done theater in school. But why...?

"You... you really came here alone," whispered Orion, shaking his head in disbelief. "I mean we knew you were a stupid brat but this is..." He frowned. "Doesn't matter; when she shows up you'll be done for. She's going to..."

"No one is going to harm anyone else here."

The voice came from the other side of the hallway, filling the entire room and startling both grunts and Inyssa. From behind the sill appeared a tall, bearded man dressed in a brown suit and hat. His facial features made him look around forty, and although Inyssa could see most of his face, part of his eyes were obscured by his hat and flocks of brown hair.

"You two will cause no more harm in my laboratory." He spoke with a calm, low pitched voice that made Inyssa feel a small shiver on the back of her neck. "Greetings Miss, I assume you were the one to beat this... Well, I hesitate to call her a trainer," he said as he looked down at Pyxis.

Again, both Orion and Pyxis' face remained strangely expressionless, both of them staring at the man with less alarm than they ought to, for some reason. Inyssa stared at him for a couple seconds, refusing to drop her guard.

"Yeah, I'm the one," she replied, head high. "Are you the girl's father? She told me you were being held prisoner."

His mouth twisted into a strange smile as he let out a small laugh. "Ah yes. Katie, that wonderful angel. If it weren't for her I wouldn't have had the chance to set myself free, but with only one of these idiots around that ceased to be a problem."

Inyssa's body relaxed after hearing Katie's name, and she allowed herself to smile.

"I'm glad I could help out. Your daughter... she's a very brave girl."

"I guess she got that from her father." The man smiled, slowly walking closer. "Where is she now? Did she make it safely to the city?"

"Yeah, I made sure she went straight to the Pokemon Center," Inyssa explained, putting her hand away from her belt. "She was going to tell the nurse to contact the police, so they should be here any moment now."

"Perfect, that should wrap up things here." He slapped his palms together and smiled, perhaps too brightly, while close to him Orion trembled with fear. "I believe that would be those shapes approaching from the west, don't you think?" He pointed towards the window at the back of Inyssa, eyes covered in shadow.

"What? Oh yeah they sh..." She turned around, trying to focus her eyes on the outside of the building.

There was no one there.

She didn't have time to process what happened. Her entire body trembled as the air around her became heavy and she was suddenly unable to breathe. Her limbs froze and her throat turned dry. A hand grabbed her by the forearm and lifted her upwards with almost enough force to dislocate her shoulder, taking her feet off the ground and forcing a painful grunt out of her. Before she could react she felt another hand taking her belt, and with it all of her Pokeballs.

"To be honest..." The voice behind her spoke slowly, savoring every word. "I didn't think the person who defeated Pyxis would be so easily fooled by a trick like this."

She tried to turn around but as soon as she did the person holding her threw her forward, her body flying a few feet toward the hallway's entrance. A sharp pain pierced her left arm as she fell on it, her mind going momentarily blank from the impact. She heard a couple of voices near her, and the vibrations of someone walking towards her resonated inside her head. Painfully she tried to get up, only managing to sit, right arm supporting the rest of her body, gaze looking upwards to the man who had just assaulted her. She could see his eyes now, a dull, muddy red looking down at her, as his lips were contorted into a cold smile. On his left hand he held Inyssa's belt with all of her Pokeballs on it.

"Wh..." She tried to speak, but her voice came out weak. "You... give me that back!" She yelled with all the strength she had. "Aren't you the girl's... are you on their side?"

"I'm afraid I... ah, pulled your leg, metaphorically speaking." He laughed at his own joke, placing a hand over his mouth. "But no, I'm not Katie's father, he is safely tied up in the back room, waiting until this all blows over," he explained, his voice melodious. "As for my true identity... well, just see for yourself. I'm sure that will be much more educational than a boring explanation."

The man took a step forward, positioning himself a few inches from her. He closed his eyes and raised both arms to the side. For a moment nothing happened, but just when Inyssa was about to stand up she heard it; a horrible, reverberating sound filled the air as the man's body began to melt. She couldn't find another word to describe it; she watched in horror as his skin, hair and clothes began to bubble and shift as if they were made of rubber, turning into a bright, pink substance. The strange blob contracted and began accumulating on the stranger's shoulder, forming what appeared to be an irregular flat body with two dot eyes and a stretched mouth which was a simple line.

What a few moments ago was a tall, dark haired man now appeared before her as a young woman dressed in almost the same uniform as the two Galactic grunts behind her, with a Ditto sitting on her shoulders. Her hair was the color of blood, and her face was angular and slim, a long smile pasted onto her thin lips. The only thing that hadn't changed about her were those cold red eyes, now set directly on Inyssa. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but think that she looked familiar.

"What... what the fuck are you!?" The words came out of her mouth without her realizing, and she unconsciously started sliding backwards, away from the strange woman.

"You may call me Mars," she said, performing a short, mocking bow. "I am one of Team Galactic's four commanders. And this right here is my dear companion." She looked to the side at the Ditto on her shoulder, who's expression was still blank. "He doesn't have a name, so feel free to call him whatever you want, all right?"

She slowly walked toward Inyssa, whose body had frozen by the horrible chill in the woman's voice. Behind her, Pyxis had pushed herself as much as she could against the railing, trying to steer away from her.

"Get away from me!" Inyssa's voice came out as a shriek, until she realized that yelling was pointless. That woman called Mars still had all of her Pokeballs, and even if she tried to run she wouldn't get far. She had to think of another way out. "I... I mean... how did you... do that?" She tried to sound collected but her voice was breaking from fear.

Mars smiled as her eyes glanced towards the Ditto. "I'm afraid that's a secret," she replied, crossing her arms playfully. "If I went around telling everyone then no one would find me interesting! Let's just say... my Ditto here is a very cooperative fellow."

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Inyssa frowned, not understanding a word out of the woman's mouth. She looked everywhere, her mind racing to think of a way to get out of the situation she was in. Maybe if she just bought some time the police would arrive and save her.

"Who are you people?" she asked, hoping for a long answer. "What are you trying to do here?"

"I've been told you've heard of us before, but just in case, we are Team Galactic," she explained. "We've been trying to create a new world that's better than this one, or at least that's what our motto says. In truth I'm probably the least qualified person to explain our objective, but we shouldn't let that fact discourage this little reunion of ours..."

She nodded slowly, pretending to understand her words, and when she realized that was the only answer she was going to get on the matter she decided to change the subject.

"Then, if Katie's father didn't break out, what happened to her?" She pointed at Pyxis, momentarily supporting her body against the railway.

"T-hat's none of your business!" Pyxis spat out, her voice shaking.

"Now now Pyxis, don't be rude." Mars raised her left hand toward her and she instantly ceased speaking. "For your information, this is now the third time Pyxis has failed to complete her objective, despite claiming to be a talented trainer. And every time, just before it happened, she assured me that she had everything under control." Her gaze drifted from the wounded girl to Inyssa. "Whether from lies or misjudgement of her own abilities, I don't appreciate being misinformed. So I punished her slightly, to motivate her to grow stronger in the future."

"A-and I deserve what happened, my commander!" Her high-pitched voice sounded pained and irregular, as if she were having difficulty speaking. "I promise... I won't let you down again!"

Orion frowned at that, looking uncomfortable.

"Y-you did that to her just for that?"

Inyssa's heart sunk, the reality of the dangerous situation she was in finally dawning on her. If this crazy woman had carelessly cut one of her subordinates like that... then what would she do to her? She could feel her arms start to shake, any sign of bravery or composure thrown out the window as she lay kneeling on the floor, scared out of her mind.

"Now..." Mars broke the silence, her voice cutting the air like a knife on cloth. "Do you have any more questions, or should I get... started?"

She spoke as if she were a teacher prompting a student, but Inyssa could feel the threat in her voice. She tried to think of anything to say to buy a little more time, but her mind was blank. Her eyes darted around the room looking for anything that could help her, and right when she thought she was doomed she saw a speck of gray behind one of the windows near her. Mars couldn't see it since it was behind her, but Steven's silhouette was on the other side, watching Inyssa intently, waiting for orders.

With enormous effort she got to her feet, fingers closed around the bar of the handrail next to her.

"I think that's all; thanks for the information." She did her best to smile, even though her body was still shaking. "Steven, now!"

The window exploded into a hail of broken glass as Steven crashed in, wings covered in energy. Mars was taken aback for a moment as the flying Pokemon's beak approached Inyssa's belt. Unfortunately she was quick to react and was able to get it out of the way just before Steven could reach it. As it was he could only hit one of the Pokeballs with his wings, sending it rolling towards Inyssa. He veered upwards and flew to his master, landing on her shoulders.

"Commander Mars!" Pyxis' voice was heard over the torrent of wind now entering through the window. "Are you okay?"

Mars lifted her left hand towards her, and once again Pyxis stopped talking immediately.

"I'm fine Pyxis, thanks for your concern," she said. "It was my own fault for not paying attention."

Inyssa gripped the Pokeball in her hand as strongly as possible. Her plan had only half worked, she couldn't retrieve her belt but maybe with two of her Pokemon at her disposal she could get the rest back. Steven was chirping loudly on her shoulder, ready to fight, and with both aerial and ground coverage she could probably overwhelm whatever Mars had in store. She pressed the button on the Pokeball and a flash of light invaded the room. She crossed her fingers, hoping Enma would appear, but her heart dropped as she saw the silhouette of a Bidoof forming itself from that light. Bertha emerged in between Mars and her, eyes sunken and a concerned expression on her face.

"Bertha..." Inyssa's tone of disappointment was as plain as day. "It... it doesn't matter, I can still do this," she told herself, breathing deeply. "Bertha, listen! We have to fight to save the rest of our friends!"

The small rodent Pokemon didn't move for a few seconds, looking directly at her master. Her head moved up and down slowly, in what she considered a nod, and with her whole body shaking she turned to face Mars. The woman was simply cleaning off specks of dust from her uniform, not a line of concern on her face.

"A Pokemon fight, eh? I'm a bit rusty in that field, but..." She shrugged. "I can't say no after you got me like that." She looked over her shoulder toward the door at the other side of the room. "Hey, how much until we finish gathering all the energy we need!?"

Two figures appeared at the other side of the door; the Galactic grunts seemed to be trying to spy on their boss and the intruder. One of them approached Mars carefully, eyes avoiding hers.

"It'll only be a couple more minutes, commander." He spoke reverently, head down. "We should probably ready our escape."

"Tell Charon to ready the Pokemon, instruct them to teleport us away when it's needed. And as for Pyxis..." She turned to the wounded girl, and for a moment Orion looked like he'd throw himself between them. "Help Orion carry her, and make sure she gets medical care once we're back at the base."

The grunt did as he was told; he grabbed Pyxis by the arm and together with Orion they helped her along. However, just before disappearing past the sill of the door, the girl looked over her shoulder one last time, her eyes meeting Inyssa's. Bitterness alone shone through them, all directed straight at her. It was enough to send a shiver down Inyssa's spine. She was gone a moment after.

"And now that we're finally alone..." Mars spoke with a melodious tone, hiding her right hand behind her back. "Shall we begin?"

From the pocket of her skirt she grabbed a completely white Pokeball, with only a small red line going through the middle. She pressed its button without much fanfare and another flash of light exploded in front of her, taking the shape of a fat, quadruped cat-like Pokemon. His body was quite bigger than his pre-evolution and his face had lost all prettiness it previously had. The Purugly produced a sound from its throat that was half between a growl and a purr, his expression that of annoyance.

Inyssa cringed at the sight of that thing, her heart pounding on her chest. A fully evolved Pokemon? Even two on one it was going to be a nightmare fighting that thing. But she couldn't let worry consume her now, her friends needed her.

"Bertha, use Defense Curl! Steven, Double Team!" She did her best to put all her will into her voice, even if the wind was covering most of it.

"Faint Attack on Starly." Mars spoke, arms crossed and only barely paying attention to the fight.

The Bidoof positioned herself on the ground, and a strange blue aura started covering her entire body, fortifying her defenses. Meanwhile Steven jumped into the air and his body began glowing, many different fakes of himself surrounding him and obscuring his location. The Purugly simply observed this happen as he lazily walked towards both of them, eyes gleaming with hostility. His body crouched, the muscles on his legs contracting, and with a sudden jump he appeared in front of all the Starly, claws brimming with dark energy. With a huge arc the slash hit every one of them, effortlessly finding the real one and sending him towards the floor where he barely managed to stay above ground, a deep cut on the side of his body.

"Steven! Shit, I forgot about Faint Attack..." She bit her thumb while thinking about her next move. "Use Wing Attack! Bertha, cover him with Rollout!"

"Fury Swipes." Mars whispered.

The Starly flew as high as possible, and with all the power of his fall he threw himself at the Purugly, wings glowing white. The cat Pokemon wound its paw back, but just before he jumped Bertha started running towards him, turning her body into a fur ball and rolling with enormous strength at him. The impact distracted him long enough for Steven to fall on top of him, pushing him back a few feet and throwing him off balance.

Inyssa thought he was down, but the moment he fell his body sprang right back into action, now moving as if his laziness hadn't existed before. His eyes glowed bright red, and his expression shifted into one of blood lust. With a mighty roar he jumped right back at his opponents with a flurry of slashes that caught both Pokemon off guard. Inyssa heard their screeches as their bodies hit the floor near her, both Pokemon having deep wounds on different parts of their bodies. Bertha was still conscious and trying to stand up with much difficulty, while Steven was breathing heavily, unable to move.

Her mouth was dry as she watched her only hope being defeated so easily. Mars formed a sly smile and tried to contain a chuckle.

"I..." She didn't want to say those words, but she wasn't going to put her Pokemon in any more danger. "I give u-"

A barely audible growl interrupted her, coming from Bertha. She had managed to stand up, and her eyes were brimming with determination, gaze set on the Purugly.

"You can't fight anymore." Inyssa told her. "It's okay, we'll find another way to..."

It happened before she had a chance to stop it. Bertha started running once more towards her opponent, body turning into a rolling ball which traveled a lot faster than before. Inyssa didn't get a chance to let a word out, she simply searched desperately for Bertha's Pokeball on her pocket, but it was already too late.

"...Faint Attack," Mars whispered, a clear sigh in her voice. "Finish it."

Bertha's body, now covered in blood, accelerated with incredible speed towards the cat Pokemon, as he once more jumped into action, sharp claws brimming with light. The impact as the two collapsed destroyed the near safety rails and the cloud of dust that erupted outwards forced Inyssa to close her eyes. When it finally settled she could see two bodies on the floor, immobile. The Purugly lay unconscious in front of her master, growling in pain, and in front of him...

Inyssa's heart stopped. Bertha's body was motionless, most of her fur covered in a dark red. Her chest wasn't moving. She waited, one second, two, but she didn't... She was still...

She fell to her knees, eyes wide open and limbs frozen. A few feet from her, Mars returned the Purugly to his Pokeball.

"What a shame, having to take a Pokemon's life..." Her voice was now slow and contemplating, eyes still set on Inyssa. "I assure you that was not my plan; I'd hoped you would have better control over your Pokemon..."

Inyssa's body moved on its own. While on her knees she grabbed a piece of broken glass that was near her, and before she knew it she began running towards Mars, a weapon in her hand and the sound of the distant wind deafening her scream. She expected the woman to dodge or to call upon another Pokemon, but she didn't move. Inyssa was merely inches from her; she punched the air with the piece of broken glass, aiming directly at her face.

There was a flash of movement, and then an indescribable pain flared throughout her body. Inyssa glanced down, noticing the distinct shape of Mars' left fist buried in her gut. Air escaped her lungs and before she knew it she was on the ground again, face against the cold, ceramic floor. Mars' voice rang above her.

"What an interesting girl you are," she said, laughter in her voice. "You... remind me of someone. As a sign of my gratitude for helping me kill time, I'll return this to you."

Inyssa's belt fell next to her face, full of her unopened Pokeballs. She stared at them with wide, bloodshot eyes, every inch of her body tensed with pain and shaking with fury.

"I'll be taking my leave now, but I do hope that we'll meet again." For once she could feel a speck of honesty in Mars' voice. The woman turned around, finally taking her eyes off of her. "Until next t-"

Even with the gift of hindsight, even after what was about to happen, Inyssa would still not regret what she did then. Blood rushed feverishly through her veins, pure liquid fury, urging her to move, to hurt, to...

"Hnh-!?"

One of Inyssa's hands wrapped around Mars' ankle like a vice, and the other held a new, bigger shard of glass with enough force to make her palm bleed. Letting out a scream from the depths of her chest, she stabbed into the woman's thigh before she could react or move away, burying the shard more than halfway into her leg.

"G-AHHHH!"

Mars stumbled back, holding onto the railing for balance, eyes narrowed into slits from the pain. Her next breath lit her lungs on fire. Yet as she opened her eyes again, furious, what she saw was not Inyssa still laying on her stomach, helpless, but instead clawing at her leg and skirt with all her might, pushing herself up, digging her nails into Mars' skin. She looked at her with the kind of anger that could melt the snowcap of Mt. Coronet.

"H-hahhh... N-not... g-getting away...!"

For a single moment, Mars was completely taken aback by Inyssa's ferocity, especially with how easily she'd gone down, how slow she'd been just a moment before. That was all gone. Pure adrenaline and rage fueled her now as she pulled against Mars' body, against her clothes, forcing herself to her feet on wobbly legs, all in the span of a single breath. And without pausing to take another, she lunged at Mars' face yet again, this time fast enough that she barely managed to throw her head back, a shallow cut appearing on her cheek. Clicking her tongue, Mars easily pushed her away, sending the girl stumbling a few steps. But Inyssa wasn't going to stop. Grabbing onto the railing, her own heart hammering inside her chest, she gripped the shard tighter and forced herself to her feet, a scream rising from her throat.

"Enough."

It was the work of an instant. Mars was upon her in the time it took her to blink, her hand shooting toward her like an Ekans jumping on its prey. She grabbed Inyssa by the hair, and kneed her in the stomach with enough force to make her expel all the air in her lungs. Inyssa keeled forward, gasping, pain flooding her nerves.

"Go to sleep," Mars whispered. "Before you make me do something you'll regret."

The last thing Inyssa felt was a painful impact against the back of her neck, and then everything went black.