Lithos scratched at his skin, the stinging itch panging off of his plated body felt like it was burning him from how caustic it was.

He hummed and pushed the itch to the back of his head, relegating the sensation as nothing more than a bit of discomfort which could hardly inconvenience him. The burn crawling across his skin may feel painful, but the truth is, the caustic gas surrounding him could hardly harm his metallic flesh, let alone eat through it.

'It doesn't change the fact that a powerful ninja decided to come here though,' the steel specialist thought in grim worry.

Lithos didn't know why one of Koga's best ninjas were sent here, but it apparently happened and the best he could do now is take them out and offer their corpse to the big boss. Who knows? Maybe he'd even get another promotion out of this.

He walked along the foggy corridors and eyed the half melted concrete and peeling paint, the light bulbs, which have gone out thanks to their circuits being eaten through by the gas, have turned black from the mist.

Whoever came here was a specialist, that was what Lithos concluded as he kicked over the corpse of one of the grunts, he held back a frown as he saw their face, their human features barely recognizable amidst the wax-like look of their skin.

He stepped on the grunt's chest in curiosity, which was sated when he felt his feet bury itself deep into body, it was like a hot knife going through butter, there was no resistance and a cavity between the corpse's ribs formed from just a simple touch of his boot.

He looked forward, worried about the upcoming fight, a hand reached out and held his Scizor's Pokeball, he got ready to release it alongside his Magneton should the time come.

Lithos slow steps echoed across the hall, the weight of his body further strengthening the sound, thus it was only expected that Virah would hear it.

The poison specialist stopped looting a dead grunt and looked towards the direction of the footsteps, they were coming from behind her and they were slowly closing in, unfaltering as though the being making them wasn't bothered by the gas permeating the entire building.

'A Pokemon?' Virah questioned as she slapped open her baton, on her other hand she held a net, ready to be tossed towards the unsuspecting newcomer.

She ran with silent footsteps that quickly caught up to the being, which she quickly found out was actually another human, one drenched in Steel Type Energy from head to toe.

The glistening form of the humanoid in her Aura perception was colored in thick chrome, and though it was fortunate he hadn't noticed her, Virah certainly noticed him.

She also saw the Pokeball in his hand, which means that the fight was going to be uneven with the odds tilted against her.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

She popped the trigger of her net grenade, causing the shell of the sphere to loosen up, she held the button for a scant few seconds while slowly backing away from the advancing figure.

Plans formed in her head, and most of them involved grabbing a flamethrower from one of the corpses, throwing a net grenade at the man to incapacitate him, and then pouring flame at him like there was no tomorrow.

Plan set, Virah backed away and ran for the nearest corpse, she retracted her baton and wrapped the belt of the gun around her shoulders, the fabric was melting and even the gun itself looked like it was slowly breaking apart.

Virah grit her teeth and pushed forward, once she neared the man again, he laughed, "I…"Virah tensed as he pulled his arm back for a toss, "… SEE YOU!"

The Pokeball let out a digital scream and sent out a…

Virah's eyes narrowed at the Scizor, her gaze then shifted over to its trainer, was this who she thinks it is?

"I see you too," Virah pulled her arm back, preparing to throw the grenade.

"Your Pokemon won't matter here girl," the man laughed, "a poison specialist going up against someone like me is a death sentence!"

"Who says I'm throwing out a Pokemon?" Virah responded as the "ball" she tossed popped open into a net that swiftly enveloped the Scizor and started shocking it.

The net delivered a constant stream of electricity until the Thunder Stone powering it fizzled out, and when it did, the Scizor was now lying on the ground, its metallic form scorched black.

The paralyzed Pokemon's limbs occasionally twitched, a sign that it was fighting back against its incapacitated state.

Virah prepped her gun and aimed it forward, she pulled the trigger way before the man could recall his Scizor and soon, the sounds of the Pokemon's pained screams echoed inside the hallway.

To Virah, the screech sounded a bit off, like the Scizor was being drowned, which it was, and as the heat of the flames turned what was otherwise a powerful wail, the caustic gas around her gathered into the orange inferno, powering it even further.

When the flamethrower clicked empty, the cooked Scizor was now nothing more than a melted pile of steel and flesh.

Lithos sighed, "well, well, well," he clicked his tongue, "guess I had to do this after all,"

He grabbed his starter's Pokeball and tossed it, he raised an eyebrow as the ninja ran away, did she really think she could escape Consti?

Lithos recalled his Scizor as his starter materialized, he took out a Revive followed by a Full Restore from his backpack, shortly thereafter the sound of shattered glass followed.

Starting with the Revive, Lithos pressed the two items on the bud of his Pokemon's Ultraball as his Steelix materialized around him, Consti's gigantic form coiling around Lithos' smaller frame protectively.

He looked up at his Steelix, "it's time to eat bud," Lithos grinned, "this one's a bit spicy though, so be careful,"

With a loud roar that shook the very earth, his Steelix moved, chasing after the running ninja and causing large a large chasm to form in his wake.

Wherever Consti's 60 meter long body went, a small ravine got dug up, buildings got ruined, and the ground quaked.

He followed the scent of poison and ignored everything else, considering his trainer's orders absolute.

Down below, Virah ran, she hadn't expected a gigantic Steelix to suddenly get released, she looked back and gulped, the Pokemon chasing after her was an outlier of its species, even among Elite Trainers, Steelixes only grew up to about 45 meters, 50 if they were well fed.

The 60 meter long pound of steel chasing after her was unnatural, for what reason? She didn't know, but her mind was telling her it was because of the trainer's powerful Aura.

Virah heaved, and only then noticed her mouth was producing gas.

She toned down her Aura, lowering her speed but increasing her stealth, and now, without the beacon of purple smoke emerging out of her, she ran across the slums almost undeterred.

When she noticed that the Steelix was still coming after her, she decided to run along the alleyways she trapped before her attack and activated the teslas, electrical nets started to form on the paths she took, and she hoped they were enough to slow the Steelix down.

Eventually, the gangs had to fight back, and an all out war started on the slums of Goldenrod, she closed her eyes and breathed.

She hoped for the best when it came to the survival of the innocent people living in the area, and her knowing that they gathered a few streets away from rocket territory comforted her.

The fight went on, with the Steelix getting ganged up on by a Venusaur, a Charizard, as well as a few Fighting Types while various Pokemon supported them from the back.

The Steelix roared in challenge, and that was the last Virah heard of it before she slipped into the darkness and out of the slums.

When she was back under the safety of Goldenrod city, she heaved out a sigh in relief.

The adrenaline in her veins died down and the heartbeat pounding at her head started to lessen into a dull throb.

Virah leaned back, she grunted as her back struck the toilet's canister, the porcelain felt prickly against her skin, and yet she didn't mind, too pre occupied as she was with what she just went through.