A/N: I will reiterate the trigger warning I put in at the start of this climax
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CHAPTER 264 - Into the Breach
Since the start of this operation, Denzel had wanted to barf.
He'd done it once already, when he'd seen Roserade dismantle a Graveler with hundreds of poisoned leaves. When he'd heard he'd been one of the few causes for Pokemon casualties, Denzel had swallowed down the bile and blinked away the tears. It was too much. He had expected it to be terrible, but there had been so much carnage all around him in the garden that he was sure the images of the battle would haunt him for months to come. He hadn't been built for this. No one was built for this. It was toil. Endless work, crawling in grime, blood and muk. And yet, when he looked at the thing pretending to be Grace, he couldn't help but wonder where the hell his best friend had gone.
There was something empty in her eyes. When they'd stepped into the hallway, they'd immediately been struck by ten Pokemon commanded by two guards, as if they'd known exactly where they would be. Had there been no hostages here, it would have been easy to beat them, but they were forced to stand in front of their enemies to dissuade them from striking. While Denzel, the ACEs, and Grace would have to hold back and cripple themselves not to hurt the twenty or so people in front of them, the enemy had no such reservations. They'd tried the Sleep Powder trick, but Backlot's guards had a Grumpig to stop the spores with barriers, and of course, breaking through the barrier in one hit required attacks that would kill the hostages. So they struck small, at first. Building up their techniques little by little until the shield would crack, and hopefully leave them an opening large enough to strike with a precise move.
When the first hostage died to one of the guards' Pokemon's doing— a man who looked to be in his twenties and who had begged for his life until it had been snuffed out of him— there had been two reactions.
Denzel froze in disbelief. An entire life, just gone. One second, he had been there, the other, Grumpig had wrestled him in front of itself to block a low-powered Ice Beam from Lou's Vanilluxe after they'd taken down its barrier.
Grace had stayed silent and had Princess lodge a spear through the hostage's corpse and through Grumpig's head in a cold act of retribution.
It hadn't mattered. Not really. The man was dead— frozen like a statue, but the nonchalance of it all disturbed Denzel to no end. In the end, four more hostages died until the Pokemon were dispatched. Not all of them had been as evil as that Grumpig, thank the Legendaries, and they'd decided to surrender instead of fighting a losing battle of attrition. Now, Ariel, Richard and Lou pushed further inside of the building while Grace, Denzel and Maxwell were tasked with getting these hostages out of the building safe and sound, where Serena would stay with them and keep the peace. This was, thankfully, an operation to free these innocents just as much as it was one to capture Backlot.
Denzel's crouched in front of a girl who couldn't have been older than ten, his fingers and arms pale. He did not know if his paleness was because of the dark, or because of these events, but it was probably a combination of both. She was sobbing uncontrollably and not moving. He could have dragged her out of here by force, but Denzel couldn't bring himself to do so. Be strong, he told himself, because part of him wanted to sob just like her, and it wouldn't do to show that to this child.
"Hey, hey," he gently murmured. "What's your name?"
"L—Lisa," she cried, shooting a glance at the frozen corpse. Had she known him?
"I'm going to need you to be strong and walk, Lisa," Denzel said.
"My— my—"
Her words were incomprehensible, but Denzel could tell they'd been related in some way. A cousin? A big brother, maybe? And if so, where were her parents? Taken to a different side of the mansion, probably. Denzel felt his heart wrench with guilt. They hadn't been good enough, and now Lisa would have to live without a family member her entire life. How many years would this day haunt her, he wondered? How many repercussions would it have down the line? Too many to count, Denzel thought with a clenched fist. He soothed Lisa for another minute until she was ready to at least walk, and by the time he'd gotten her ready, Grace and Maxwell had led all of the other hostages back through the roof and back in the garden by lifting them up on his Honchkrow and Princess. Not one of them had spared Lisa a single look past asking her if she was hurt anywhere. Maxwell was different than Grace. Denzel pegged him as someone who had seen too many horrors in his life and had found the best way to cope was just to laugh at all of it.
It was more efficient this way, Denzel kept telling himself. She wasn't actually doing anything wrong, but there was more to being alive than efficiency. This was not her. The Grace he knew was compassionate and warmhearted. The Grace he knew would not have looked at a child who had just lost a family member like a statistic she needed to deal with before moving on to bigger fish. So before they caught up to the others, Denzel decided enough was enough.
He had to snap her out of it.
"Grace," he called out more aggressively than he would have liked.
His best friend turned, her eyes unblinking for far too long as she stared at him. "Hm?"
"We need to talk about your behavior," Denzel said.
"Now isn't the time to have a spat," Maxwell interjected with a snide stare. "Do it when you're out of here."
"Maxwell is right," Grace said. "Let's catch up with Lou and the others. This mansion too big, and it's got upward of a thousand guests and maids. The faster we move, the fewer people die, and the less time Abel has to plan."
She paused.
"Somewhere in this mansion," she muttered, "horror beckons, and it is loud."
The kidnapped Pokemon, Denzel thought. She could feel them somewhere.
"Since the others went ahead, protocol dictates we clear the side rooms," Maxwell said. "We have to account for Abel being able to bypass empathy powers, and Ms. Pastel can't sense humans. Let's begin."
Denzel's nails dug into his palms. They were right and he knew it, damn it. Honey was the only one of her Pokemon that seemed to be giving him the time of day about this topic too, so it wasn't like he could force the conversation. Jellicent had never liked him, for the ghost only had so much love to spare. Princess liked him, but Denzel was pretty sure she liked Sylvi far more than him. Turtonator didn't even spare him the time of day. Sweetheart was indifferent, although she liked when he talked to her about fighting, and while Angel was amenable and the nicest of her Pokemon, he was too focused on keeping things alive at the moment.
But he had to pull her out of this hole.
"We can talk while we do this," he said as Grace had Angel swing a door open. "You need to get ahold of yourself."
"This is for the greater good," she deadpanned. "Room is clear."
"Room is clear," Maxwell mirrored from the other side of the hallway with a Liepard next to his leg.
"I know you're doing this for good— I know you're a good person," he said as he had Lopunny kick down a door that shattered in a thousand splinters. Nothing in there. This was going to be long, arduous work. "Being in this situation doesn't give you an excuse to be like this. You mutilated a corpse. You look at the hostages like they're in the way."
"Grumpig deserved to die for what he did."
"So you're the judge, the jury and the executioner now?" he scoffed as he cleared another room. "There are ways to go about things. Ever since you've met with Hatterene—"
Denzel cut himself off when he saw Grace flinch.
"No, it goes further than that," he corrected himself. "But she's the one that taught you to be like this. You've had these moments where you aren't yourself," he continued. "And I will not give you a pass for this no matter what the situation is despite what the others say. Being a cold-blooded killer isn't you."
"I'm afraid it is."
"Then fucking contain it," Denzel hissed. "Being good takes work, and it's thankless work too. But you know what? Fine. I'll apologize for getting on your case about killing Grumpig—" Lopunny kicked down another door. "Room Clear. You probably saved lives by doing it, and I'm sorry. I just… I don't know how you do this killing this so easily. I don't know how any of you do it or vow to do it, to be honest. Not Cecilia, not Chase, not Mira. I don't think I'll ever be able to get used to it."
"It gets easier," she said, with a little bit of emotion.
Denzel ignored the wrench he felt in his heart. "But the way you treated the hostages? That isn't right, Grace."
His friend was silent, although he noticed her breathing quickened.
"Being a friend isn't just about blindly supporting each other, it's also about calling each other out when we go too far," he continued. "Just like you called me out for neglecting Sylveon and putting too much time into my streaming and marketing stuff. Just like you called me out when I was being annoyingly defeatist in Eterna City. I think you could at least make the hostages feel at ease after rescuing them. Even Maxwell does it."
"Room clear," The ACE said, ignoring them.
"Dissociating like you do won't always work out, even if it might today," Denzel said with a clenched fist. His entire body felt strained. "If you'd behaved this way in Eterna Forest, when you had to pick up the pieces and mend the group back together, we would have died. If you behaved like this when we were in Mount Coronet trying to get Cece back, someone could have gotten injured or worse, and you probably wouldn't have told us that you were getting sick. If you were like this when catching Turtonator—"
The enormous dragon loomed down at Denzel, but he would not be intimidated today.
"He would have burned you to a crisp," the tall teenager finished. "And probably us, too."
"It's easier this way," she said with a waving voice. Her Pokemon swarmed around her to support her. "I can do what needs to be done."
"I don't know— I don't know if there'd be a way to balance it," Denzel said. "But at the end of the day, this is just… advice I'm giving you. I can't imagine my life without you as my best friend, so if you can't stop, I'll just bury it all and try to forget. Try only to remember the actual you and bury this day somewhere very deep, because I won't lie to you, I'm glad you saved my life today, but… I still don't think that was you."
In that moment, light came back to her eyes, and Denzel recognized his friend again.
"I'm still killing Backlot and the people in charge," she muttered. "And I'm still leaning into it when the time comes."
"That wasn't what this was about," Denzel said. "It was about how you'd get there."
Although he couldn't help but worry for the fate that awaited the man. Death, he woudn't feel bad about, but that deal Mira and Grace had struck while they were flying? It would keep him up at night.
"How sweet," Maxwell mocked. "Keep your fucking heads in the game, kids. You never know when something will jump out."
They caught up to Lou, Richard and Ariel soon enough, and Denzel's heart dropped. Eleven dead civilians on the ground, blood seeping into the dark, and no enemy Pokemon to show for it.
Just because he'd said some nice words didn't mean everything would work itself out.
"This is among the worst-case scenarios," Lou declared.
—
It was, in a way, strangely annoying being here.
It reminded Cecilia of Clarence's numerous properties, only less extravagant. How many years had she spent, walking down halls just like these when her so-called father had summoned her to his office for another round of verbal lashing for not being perfect? Too many to count.
Yet, this was not the only reason why Cecilia was frustrated.
Cecilia could not use Lehmhart, her strongest asset, because he was taller than the ceiling and his weight would tear a hole under them until they reached the ground floor. She could also not use her most devastating attacks to deal with her enemies due to the hostages swarming the building. Twenty people, they had saved already, and now another set of Pokemon blocked their path. Slowking grunted next to her when a flurry of attacks reached her. Thankfully, none of them scythed through the hostages, although she noticed some were hurt by the proximity to elemental attacks.
Here, Scyther, Talonflame and Slowking reigned supreme, but Zweilous? Zweilous was more focused than they'd been in a long time. Always target the psychic first, her bodyguards had told her. Then, the trainer, then the rest of their team as they make mistakes due to the grief they'd experience.
"Dark Pulse, twenty percent."
Both heads let darkness gather in their mouths, like rings interlinking with each other until they became a chain. The weak attack shattered Girafarig's hastily erected barrier and whisked out of existence before it could hit an older-looking woman. Channel the rage, and focus, she continued. At the very least, this one was nowhere near as powerful as that Grumpig Chase had warned her about before going in.
A quick Air Slash cut across Girafarig and her ilk from above, and then Scyther dove in, slashing like a madman until nothing was left standing. Nothing except a single Stouland that he threw with much strain. The bug type motioned at Croagunk, who circled around Stoutland until she suddenly cut in with a Fake Out. Stoutland snarled, not being stunned for as long as Croagunk thought they would be and would have bit into her arm had Slowking not wrested her back. Too strong, this one, but any training is good training. Scyther cut across Stoutland's flank and Zweilous finished him off with a Dragon Pulse that was approximately at thirty percent.
The hostages came next. Cecilia smiled to reassure them that everything would be okay while her trainers helped with the evacuation process. A smile exuding confidence would be good to make them feel at ease, but it should not be too wide, for their situation was serious. She needed to be a beacon of hope for them to look to and think that everything would be alright. Cecilia iced her veins and shut down the swelling rage when a woman with burns carrying a toddler in her arms made herself known and thanked her for her help. How much meaningless death would today bring? People were being executed in cold blood, and for what? One man's folly?
"You're doing well," Mason said once all of the civilians were gone. He was a lot more serious than he'd been when locking her down in Veilstone, which she appreciated, and his team was serious as well, save for a grinning Alolan Raichu that floated on their tail like a surfboard. Her other two ACEs were here as well, but Mason was the only one she'd ever talked to. Grace and Mira were unique in that regard, considering their closeness to their guards. "But if one of those Pokemon had been not playing along, then you'd have dead hostages on your hand," Mason finished.
Cecilia's blood ran cold at that fact, but she didn't let it show. "How could I have improved?"
They didn't stop when they talked, but Cecilia listened attentively. This was as much a raid as a lesson, otherwise they wouldn't be letting her lead. They had intervened when she took too long to take down her opponents or when the opposition was too strong, but other than that, she was on her own save for when they cleared rooms. It was not only a lesson in non-conventional battles, but in warfare, and for that, Cecilia would be forever thankful. Oh, there were books about the art of war, but none were as good as experiencing it for yourself. Course of action, intelligence gathering, protocols for numerous situations, decision making— these would all serve her well in the future. She peered into a bathroom while Slowking kept her protected with a barrier and kept moving.
Something gnawed at the back of her mind, however. Things were far too quiet. Abel had not made his move despite them pushing far into the mansion. Hostages were dying, yes, but they would still snatch victory if things kept going as they did. Zweilous blew through a barricade, exploding the wooden desks, chairs and tables like they were paper, and they marched on. Radios didn't work here, so there was no communication with the other side, but all she could do was focus and hope her friends were alright.
Power screamed to get out of her throat, her fingers trembled, and something in the back of her head laughed.
—
Mira's hand was throbbing like a motherfucker, but it was best not to focus on that. Moving it was still possible, but agonizing— the most pain she'd ever felt in her entire life, in fact. Mira's ACE Trainers were holding her on a tight leash because of her past behavior and her two psychics being weakened here, so she was support instead of the tip of the spear. Not that a trainer of her caliber could even be the tip of the spear. Porygon2 fired a Water Pulse on a Rhydon that took up half of the hallway while Magnezone fired a blinding Flash Cannon. That Rhydon was drugged. Shit. He was the last Pokemon standing after all of his comrades had been taken out. A flurry of water and grass type attacks assaulted the rock type, including Alakazam's Energy Ball, and Carlos whistled.
Cold seeped into her. His Mismagius must have done something, because Rhydon started fighting the wall instead of them, shattering the structure and tearing through it like it was cardboard. Paintings and decorations broke as Rhydon dove horn deep into the wall, opening a gaping hole into some kind of living room. Carlos' ghost had tried to infiltrate the place numerous times with Haunty, but every time they'd been kicked out by Abel's Pokemon, which was why Haunter was currently waiting close to her to strike at her true target. The deal she'd struck with Grace would leave both of them happy, and Arceus knew that girl loved her bargains.
"The way's clear," Carlos said. "Pokeball."
One of the ACEs ran without making a single sound and swifter than Mira had ever seen, grabbing Rhydon's Pokeball and recalling it before it could bring the entire mansion down. The thing with Pokemon who were fed Rare Candies is that they never went down until they died. There had been five hostages to free— and one dead and two injured in that lot. A miracle, considering the rampaging Rhydon. Mira spoke to them as brightly as she could, trying to be the support that they needed in these trying times.
In the back of her mind, cogs turned.
"Carlos," she said. "I'm ready to do the thing."
"With your Porygon?" he gruffed. "If you still think that's wise."
"It is. We can get the names of Backlot's associates if we dig far enough."
The pink-haired girl grabbed her phone and realized how crippled she felt typing with a single thumb, but after twenty seconds, she ran her program. Fifteen Porygon came to life outside of her device, but these weren't like her own. Their eyes were blank, and they had no will. Just a bunch of ones and zeroes that would only execute their tasks before coming back to her or die trying. They fled through the halls and through the walls of the building. A neat trick, if anything. Hop inside of the nearest phone you see. Avoid danger. Send all of the contact information and the texts back to me. Those were the three main parameters the Porygon were operating on. Once they were done with a single phone, they'd move onto the next until a one mile range was covered, with Porygon2 leading them mentally.
The guards, Mira didn't expect much from, but there was a possibility that Backlot's associates were still in the building, and even if they weren't, then Backlot's phone would be of use. Porygon could scour through broken devices as well, so unless he'd Teleported the damn thing away, then she'd get results. A smarmy fellow like Abel would hold that information above their heads when the time came, and Mira wouldn't let him blindside her. Not again. Even if she didn't get the names, having logs of Backlot's criminal activities would be good to clear their reputation. Mira didn't expect them to take a large hit, but hostages were dying, and this raid wasn't going to be as clean as they thought it would be.
"Onward," Carlos grunted.
Mira followed.
—
"How many?" Chase asked.
More than four hundred in the foyer, but they've been barred from getting close to the doors, Lucario answered. I cannot delve into more detail, not when I have never practiced sensing at this scale. They have a single Pokemon on the stairs, ready to signal if anyone gets near and to block any hostages from running upstairs.
Chase chewed on the words for a few seconds, then clicked his tongue as his ACE Trainers brainstormed a strategy to keep as many civilians alive as possible. They'd been the first to make it near the foyer, it seemed, but they were still out of view, not even bothering to cross into the stairs out of fear that more civilians would be killed. It had been a lot easier for Chase, saying that he didn't care and he would just barge in anyway before he'd spoken to the damn people, seen them crying, injured and dead. Rich they might have been, but they were still human, and it was something he might have forgotten along the way. How ironic, that he had gone through the same process with his current friends and thought himself above that, now. Chase brought a hand to his chin and his right foot tapped rapidly against the carpeted floor.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
His squad had no ghosts to send to scout, and Sigilyph was going crazy from the dark. It took everything she had to focus, and she'd saved multiple hostages with last-second Psycho Shifts. Abomasnow placed a thick hand on Chase's shoulder and Houndoom licked his fingers.
"Our best course of action is waiting until another group gets near," an ACE said, pointing toward the opposite hallway. "They send a ghost and choke the life out of the Pokemon on the stairs, then we can get going."
"So we let them win, then?" Chase muttered.
"It's not about winning," another one said. "Time is on our side, Chase Karlson. We've knocked out twelve Pokemon on the way here, and the other groups probably will end up with a similar number. Let them clear out the wings, then we can move onto the foyer."
"I don't like it, but fine," Chase grunted.
Three minutes later, he realized that things would not be that easy. There was a shrill scream coming from downstairs, muted from the distance they'd put between them, but the sound of it made Chase's hair stand on end. He'd heard that type of scream, over and over when Steelix had destroyed his home. It was not born out of fear or pain, but loss. The panic soon spread, and there were soon screams everywhere until they filled the entire hallway.
"Lucario?" Chase snapped.
The crowd is moving back as one, as if to run away from… something, but they aren't coming up the stairs.
Chase cursed, and loudly. There wasn't much he could do, not when the ACEs were holding their positions. They kept saying it wasn't worth it, and Chase couldn't help but think to hell with that. Something was happening down there, and people were dying. Millionaires and billionaires, he reiterated.
"They better volunteer to pay their damn taxes after this," Chase hissed, turning to his four ACE Trainers and their Pokemon. "We're going in. People are dying."
"Let the record show that we disagreed with this decision," an ACE said.
They were putting him in charge, Chase realized, and suddenly, the weight of duty came crashing down on him, heavier than anything he'd felt in years. No matter what choice he made here, it would have consequences. There would be no miracle. It would just be differing, shittier shades of grey. But if he could not handle this, then how would he handle leading the Iron Islands or Sinnoh itself? Millions of souls, looking to a single leader for what to do, and he balked at four people and a few hundred hostages?
"What are your names?" Chase asked.
"Dominic."
"Rene."
"Nevaeh."
"Nakai."
"I should have asked a long time ago," he said. "Whatever happens, I'll bear the consequences."
They moved as one, although Chase knew he would struggle to keep up with their pace for long, even with how much he'd pushed his body for years. The stairs were just around a minute away, and a huge Arbok stood guard. In less than a second, a Sigilyph seized it in the air with Psychic and the other Pokemon easily dealt with the poison type. Chase ran down the winding stairs and only then did he notice the magnitude of the situation.
The foyer was on fire. Bright, red flames shone against the dark and consumed everything in its path. The entire mansion would fall to the flames if this continued, and all of the hostages would die. Some were already dead, lying there, burned and lifeless. The flames crept up the collapsing walls and ate at the wood, spreading like a disease.
A Flareon stood atop a dead guard and burned everything in his vicinity while the hostages were pushed back by the remaining Pokemon. They were stuck in between a rock in a hard place here, and these stupid fucking guards weren't even relocating them. Zoey had told them about a drugged Flareon back at the hospital. Had its trainer lost control? The ACEs were faster to move than he was this time. A Cloyster and a Walrein instantly started spreading water across the flames and beating them back.
"Downstairs," Nakai spoke.
Chase inhaled, but could only nod. With his team at his back, he ran toward the culprits. Twelve Pokemon, some of them clearly wounded, but they had mixed into the crowd and waited for Chase, Nakai, Rene, and Dominic to strike with bated breath as the Nevaeh worked to contain the drugged Flareon. The teen felt at his grandparents' necklace and wished he could call upon the voice again, but he couldn't. Not until this evening. The ash and smoke from the waning flames clung to his throat, but he didn't cough. He could only watch.
"If you surrender, we can work out a deal!" Rene yelled. "No need to get so many innocents killed!"
One of the guards hesitantly spoke. "No death penalty!"
"We can work that out!" Rene answered. "Just let the hostages go and surrender, okay? The same goes for your Pokemon!"
Thank Arceus. Chase hadn't even thought about negotiating with them, but things were going to work out. He felt a prickle of heat at his back as Flareon unleashed the final bit of energy it had into a roiling inferno, but the attack was contained by Dominic's Walrein in a giant sphere of frosty water. It took around five minutes of hesitant deals before the guards agreed to surrender, and the hostages could finally be let out through the front doors of the mansion. The guards agreed to let Abomasnow let them breathe in a little Sleep Powder so they could be transported without a fuss, and their Pokemon were recalled, including Flareon. The casualties were in the dozens… thirty-four, Chase winced. All burned due to Flareon before he could get there. His indecisiveness had cost them their lives.
"We should have come earlier," Chase muttered. Lucario could only stay silent, but it was comforting, in a way.
"We believed they wouldn't negotiate," Rene said. "It's a shame, but it could have been worse."
"It fucks with me, having to think of every decision in terms of lives lost," he grimaced. "Leadership is… harder than I thought it'd be."
The ACE snorted. "Did you think you could fix everything with a word?"
"No, but… this just reframed everything I knew. Everything I thought I knew. Every decision a Champion makes ripples across the region with intended and unintended consequences. I think I—"
Darkness sliced across Rene's neck.
Her head fell off, falling with a sickening thump as her body crumpled to the ground. Hostages all around them ran in a massive panic, and Chase didn't even have time to comprehend what the fuck had just happened. He would have gotten crushed underfoot too, had Sig not been there to lift him up, and his Pokemon could only brace themselves against the crowd. The screamed, pushing and stepping over each other without a thought as Rene's Pokemon stared in disbelief— Chase's eyes narrowed at one of the hostages. She ran faster than was humanly possible, somehow weaving in between the crowd. She cut open Rene's Chesnaught, Minun, Sandslash, Venomoth, Granbull and Lilligant before they even had time to register what had happened. Grief had frozen them.
"Zoroark!" Chase hoarsely yelled.
The entire crowd was outside now, and it was only Chase and the remaining ACEs. Panes of light flipped around the dark type, reminding Chase of the ghost he'd seen in the abandoned city, and she returned to her original form.
Zoroark did not pay any attention to their Pokemon. Instead, she focused on the trainers. Not him, Chase noticed. She was targeting the ACEs first, because they were stronger. Zoroark blurred as she shaped the darkness around her into a mass of writhing claws. Protects formed around every single ACE, easily absorbing the attacks. The terrain was at her advantage here, as it was for every dark type. She could shape the darkness into whatever she wanted. Chase soon realized Zoroark might have bitten off more than she could chew when the ACEs started driving her back. Darkness wrestled away by Nakai's Umbreon. Dominic's Aggron pelted her with sharpened pieces of steel twice as large as Chase in an attempt to kill. Nevaeh's Ariados slowed her with String Shot and sent poison that melted through every surface. Wounds built up one by one, and Zoroark was on the back foot.
They couldn't just stand around and sit here.
"Lucario!"
Lucario's eyes closed in cold understanding as two blue bones grew out of his palms and more aura emanated from every inch of his skin. With a wave of his hand, the blue light shone toward Zoroark, who cried out in pain as it turned to tendrils and tried to pin her down. Vikavolt hovered in the sky, firing as many Thunderbolts as he could while Lucario blurred forward. Nakai's Luxray followed suit, as did Zangoose, Abomasnow, and numerous others. Lucario usually was a master at fighting in a melee, but he could barely keep up with Zoroark. A bone slammed against her shoulder after tendrils wrapped around her ankles, and Zangoose clawed across her back with an X-Scissor while Luxray hit her with a Thunder Fang. The dark type growled and punched Lucario in the gut faster than the eye could see, sending him back as he rolled into the dark.
Zoroark snarled, calling forth a powerful pulse of darkness. Chase did not flinch. He jumped off Sig's back despite the high fall, and he landed in a roll right behind Lucario, whose aura overtook him and shielded him from the worst of the attack. His bodyguards brought their Protect back up again, but Zoroark used the opening to strike at Chase instead. Her entire body whirled back, and she kicked Zangoose in the gut, sending her tumbling back, and then she blurred, side-stepping Houndoom's Flamethrower and Abomasnow's Ice Beam—
Umbreon traveled through shadows quicker than Houndoom could ever do. Zoroark bared her sharp teeth, and then pulled back before she even tried to attack. There was another pulse of darkness, but this one was weaker than the last. The wounded dark type ran off up the stairs, and Chase clenched a fist.
"Fuck," he sighed. They would have won, he knew. The only reason she'd succeeded was the element of surprise.
The other ACEs gathered around Rene and her… Chase didn't know if her Pokemon were dead too, but some were simply unconscious, he could tell. ACE Trainer Pokemon wouldn't go down that fast, even when distracted. Something was afoot, and as it turned out, Dominic noticed that these were the telltale signs of Hypnosis. A dark type using the move so quickly? That was not something they'd expected coming in.
They recalled her Pokemon and carried her body outside with solemn stares. The garden outside was full of guests— more than he had ever seen, which meant that his friends were doing good work. The fresh air blew against his face and did wonders to clear out the smell of death from inside the mansion. Zoroark was on the loose, and she was powerful. One of Abel's fighters, if he remembered correctly. Chase felt worry creep up his spine, but there was nothing he could do. Heading back inside on his own would be comparable to suicide.
"Reinforcements are arriving in approximately eight minutes," Nakai said after staring at his League-issued phone. Not Poketch designs, but close to it. "Not ACEs, just League Trainers. They'll take care of the hostages. When they arrive, we will head back in."
"Good," Chase muttered as he stared at the hundreds of terrified guests and maids in the garden. "Are you okay? Rene… well, I didn't know her, but you did."
She had died so quickly, as was often the case in battles at the heights Chase had reached. Taken by surprise. They had thought about the possibility of Zoroark hiding as a hostage, along with Ditto, but they'd grown complacent after a deal was reached without any interference from her. Fucking hell, this was all on them. A mistake that shouldn't have been made.
"I will grieve when our work here is done," the short man said. "The mission always comes first."
Chase nodded.
"Okay."
He tried to find something else, but the words died in his throat in a series of grumbles. I'm sorry. My condolences. We'll get Zoroark back for what she did, but he knew none of those would work.
None of them had when his parents died.
So what else was there to say?
—
It was easier than not, letting myself become numb and unfeeling. The darkness helped me transition between states easily. It was no Shiftry's domain, but it certainly helped, even with all of the noise around me, be it Pokemon or hostages. We hadn't come across an enemy squad in two minutes, so we believed they were holed up somewhere else. Denzel's words rang out in my mind, reverberating in it over and over. Had I been doing too much and losing myself? How would I take actions that were needed, if I couldn't bring myself into doing them? Would I have been able to order Princess to run a lance through the hostage if I'd been my current self?
No, you would not have, I answered.
Denzel had been somewhat right, but also wrong, however. This was as much to help myself as it was to help others. Seeing hostages treated like pawns to sacrifice, dead people all around these hallowed halls? It made the desire for revenge ever greater. It bubbled under my skin until I felt like I'd break, whereas before, only the most extreme cases of cruelty would have me seek revenge, like that fucking Grumpig.
The psychic had felt nothing when he'd used that man as a shield. Just relief at his own safety. That was what made me snap. The sheer fucking audacity of just using a living, breathing person like a rock to hide behind wasn't something I was willing to let slide, ever. If I was presented with the situation again, I would make the same decision every time—
Colors, seeping through the doorway. Faded, almost muted, but there regardless.
"Wait!" I hissed.
Maxwell, who had just been about to have his Ursaring open another door, froze—
The door shattered in a thousand pieces, and Ursaring roared as darkened claws raked across the Shadow Ball faster than the eye could see. The Shadow Ball exploded in a billow of purple smoke, and I dragged Denzel close to me as Honey sprung up a Protect. I heard Lou cough beside me, her barrier having shattered, and when the smoke disappeared, she was writhing on the ground. Her Lunatone hastily threw her back, desperately trying to get her trainer out of harm's way, and every Pokemon prepared to fight.
The ACE's Pokemon entered first, and another explosion rocked the entire office. A desk crumbled, bookshelves sank, and purple energy swirled everywhere. Ghost. I only got one look at the carcass before a pillar of ice from Lou's Vanilluxe overtook it, because that was what it was. A carcass. Pale greys and browns, forever decomposing, yet never falling apart, with a bright halo above their head. Abel's Shedinja.
The ice just swirled until it disappeared, reminding me of Cynthia's Spiritomb.
Maxwell called out. "Fire, rock, ghost, dark or flying—"
Lou's Solrock materialized a pyro bomb around Shedinja, and everything went white. Honey was the only reason we weren't dead. My ears rang as Buddy extinguished flames on Princess' fur and Angel's vines, and the other ACE's and Denzel's Pokemon who weren't behind something or Milotic's own Protect were overtaken by the flames. Solrock wasn't themselves any longer. Lou's near-death made them impossible to control.
"Angel! Lou's Pokeballs!" I yelled.
The grass type was still smoking, but two quick vines snatched Lou's Pokeballs and recalled all of Lou's Pokemon while Shedinja silently weaved ghostly chords together and strangled Morpeko. The small electric type screamed, but there was no voice that came out until Richard recalled him and released him nearby. Maxwell's Honchkrow squawked as blades of darkness scythed toward Shedinja, but the bug type just—
Put up a Protect.
"Fuck! Protect and Wonder Guard!" Maxwell snarled. "We've got to exhaust it first—"
Explosions were growing closer and closer as something hateful traveled our way.
"Another Pokemon's incoming to our right!" I yelled. "They're going through the walls!"
Shedinja put up another Protect when Sunshine blew a stream of unending flames toward them, but I shut him down immediately when the mansion started burning. Buddy was on flame-extinguishing duty before it could spread, but he sent shades exploding at Shedinja, and numerous Pokemon attacked him from all sides. The bug type just hovered there, powered by nothing and with only muted feelings to give me an insight into their psyche. From all the true ghosts I'd seen, this one was the most alien by far.
Liepard growled as she blurred toward Shedinja, but she never finished her attack. Her eyes went blank, and she fell to the ground as if she was in a catatonic state, after which the ghost began to choke her too. Maxwell clicked his tongue and brought his Liepard to safety, releasing her next to Blissey.
"Don't get close," Ariel said as her Blissey healed Maxwell's Liepard with a Heal Pulse. "It's doing something, messing with any Pokemon that approaches."
The worst part was that Shedinja was weak. Stronger than my own Pokemon power-wise, but weaker than these ACEs. Protect combined with Wonder Guard was just unstoppable and forced you into a protracted fight, which the ghost was apparently excellent at, unless you had the sheer strength needed to blow past Protect, which was nigh impossible. Fighting in a single, small office also made things a lot more difficult than they had to be.
"Twenty seconds to impact," I warned. "They're angry."
"When the other Pokemon gets here," Ariel said. "Focus on it and retreat into the hallway."
Protect was the line between life and death. Honey said he was growing tired, so Milotic quickly crawled toward us and brought up her Protect instead, leaving the electric type time to rest. They couldn't put them up long like the ACEs' Pokemon, so they were only brought up when there was a particularly powerful move capable of hurting us, but we weren't Shedinja's focus, I realized. Ten seconds to impact, and the hate was so loud that it forced me to mute my powers. Shedinja had a gimmick, a gimmick that could be broken after a few minutes of fighting, but what would arrive worried me—
"P̷̨̛̛̙̼̳̅̐̄̓̌̈́̋į̴̧̼͕͕̘̝̯̰͔̬̥̮͔̑̈́̋̀͗̀͗̌̿̊̀̕͜͝k̶̡̠̝̯̆̑̎̎̈̍̀́a̴̖͙͖͙̻̻̽̍͂̽̇̅̆̓͐̔ͅć̶̦͎̎̀̄̉̈́̊̋͗̿́͝͝͝h̵̰̬͌̂͋̀̕ͅṷ̴̧̧̡̍́͌͋̐"
Mimikyu burst into the room and as if a switch had flipped, we all ran into the hallway. There would be ample space to fight here, and if they didn't follow, then we had more time to regroup, heal our Pokemon, and strategize. Mimikyu's beige and decrepit costume did very little to hide what was beneath it. Fragments of a face, so deafeningly silent. Eyes like a child's drawing that drew you in and continuously shifted in place.
We blew her up with everything we had as soon as she followed, and her costume turned to tatters, but that only made her angrier. I shivered when more of her body was exposed. It was an amorphous void that lashed out in every direction with makeshift claws that were darker than the night sky.
"Shedinja's gone! Phantom force, probably!" Dick yelled.
Sylveon's ribbons tried to wrestle Mimikyu, but they were cut like paper through a shredder, and none of Denzel's or my Pokemon had much of an effect, since we didn't want to bring the entire mansion down. The ACE Trainers were far better equipped to deal with this, having more custom moves under their belt than I could count, both powerful and not, the latter being for this exact situation. Maxwell disappeared in a puff of black smoke as Honchkrow brought him to safety and his Weavile and Liepard were tearing Mimikyu apart.
Shedinja reappeared behind Ariel, but her Cryogonal had been ready for it. The ice type countered the X-Scissor with Protect, then almost managed to hit Shedinja with a rolling Night Slash before he brought up his own barrier. Shedinja was tiring. Never before today had I understood the move's importance until I got into a battle like this one. If I managed to catch a Claydol, Protect was going on the top of my list for them.
We were finally getting the upper hand again, and the chaos subsided. Denzel's and my Pokemon only struck when we were sure we wouldn't get in the way and from afar. Abel's Pokemon had grown, that I was sure of. No one thought they'd be capable of standing up to ACE trainers before today. Yes, individually, each was weaker, but Mimikyu fought until there was almost nothing left of her and Shedinja had their tricks to last far longer than they had any right to. Buying time through trickery, I mused. But buying time for what? Why not just run away?
Fortunately for us, after a short, pitched battle, Mimikyu was on her last legs, and Shedinja's reaction times grew slower and slower. None of the ACE's Pokemon had taken too much damage, save for Richard's Greninja. Honey and Milotic had been replaced by Cryogonal to keep us protected, having grown too exhausted to periodically keep putting the green barrier up.
Mimikyu fainted, becoming a pool of purple void covered with her destroyed costume, and Shedinja finally took a hit from Maxwell's Crawdaunt and fell in one hit. The ghost's halo disappeared, crumbling into dust as the Pokemon fell lifeless on the ground.
"How's Lou?" Maxwell instantly asked.
We turned toward the pale woman as our Protects came down. Ariel walked at a brisk pace toward their fallen comrade while Maxwell and Richard ran to her. She was breathing, thank Arceus.
"She's unconscious, but nobody knows how she'll be when she wakes up. We need to get her out of here," Maxwell said. "Make a hole through the ceiling and have Dragonite carry her."
Ariel nodded. "Nini."
Dragonite spat out a small Dragon Pulse, tearing a gash in the roof, and the dragon lifted Lou in his arms.
"It becomes dangerous without her," Richard said. "We no longer have a psychic, and we won't be able to go through another one of these if Abel pulls out more of these tactics."
"We're pushing through until we meet the others," Maxwell shook his head. "The mission is the priority."
Dragonite came back and explained with much difficulty that hundreds of hostages were outside. I'd known the dragon enough to at least grasp some of what he was saying. That meant that our friends had managed to run through the mansion and free the majority of them, which was great news.
A headache split my head open as Hypno and a Xatu appeared in front of us with a gleaming eye above the Hypno's head. They were only there for a second. A single second. Weavile tried to strike her, but it was too late.
Then, all of the ACEs and their Pokemon were taken away… somewhere. There was a surge of panic inside of me, and my hands started to sweat. Denzel said something, but I didn't pay attention to what he was saying. Lou would have been able to counter that, most likely, or at least slow it down. Had she been taken out on purpose?
"Denzel," I whispered, "Steel yourself."
He could only muster a nod.
Steps, muffled by the dark. None of our Pokemon had been taken, and I was sure that was for a reason. Or maybe the combined might of Hypno and Xatu wasn't enough to Teleport all of us and they prioritized the ACE Trainers' Pokemon instead? I turned toward the direction of the steps, and our Pokemon braced themselves. Denzel released Swablu, who had been resting after taking a hit to her wing in the garden, but we needed all of the firepower we had if we wanted to win.
Brown hair, average height, and an unassuming figure, save for the sharpness of his jawline. Steady steps that were far too confident for the situation he was in.
Abel Torres was here, and Machamp and Zoroark followed behind him. No Malamar, I noticed. The Unovan ran a hand through his messy hair and I saw a bit of annoyance flash on his face when he stared at Shedinja and Mimikyu, which he promptly recalled.
"Hello," Abel spoke. "Now that your bodyguards are gone, I am here to present a deal to you, since evidently and for some Arceus-forsaken reason, you're in charge here. Easier to negotiate without the hounds trying to capture or kill me."
Princess ripped a few bricks from the walls and formed them into a drill until I stopped her. I understood immediately now. Without his Mimikyu and Shedinja ready to fight, he wasn't in as much of a position of strength as he could have been.
"What deal?" Denzel said, trying to keep his cool.
Amusement flickered on Abel's face. "Backlot can be yours, along with the names of his associates if you wait one more hour and some change."
I blinked as I registered the words. This was the last thing I would have ever expected.
Granted, I was not even thinking about accepting his deal. He did not only have two Pokemon with him, but three. There was something invisible crawling on the ceiling above us, and I had no way to alert Denzel about it without Abel finding out, and from the way Princess looked, she hadn't noticed, too. He definitely had a way of bypassing empaths, then. Zoey hadn't been a fluke after all. I also had no way to know if the Pokeballs on his belt were empty or if he was saving them. Even if the rest of his Pokemon weren't battlers, any extra help would work to beat us back.
"Why would you hand him over to us?" I asked, desperate to buy time. If our other friends and their ACEs got here, then we'd stand a better chance. Three Pokemon against twelve, I believed we could take, but some of our Pokemon were tired, burned, and I didn't know if he had more tricks up his sleeve like what he'd done with Shedinja to stand a better chance than he had any right to. I had no idea if he'd taught his Kecleon to fight on the level of his other battlers in the months since Veilstone, and I had no doubt some of our Pokemon would be terribly injured or worse if we went into a protracted fight.
"He's holed up in his zoo, at the moment," Abel said. "Where all of the Pokemon he's stolen are."
"The Pokemon you've stolen," I spat. The flickering colors of agony were closer now, and louder too. I knew now it was somewhere close to the foyer.
Abel rolled his eyes. "Semantics. Here's the deal. We can both get what we want here. Now, either I take Backlot with me and leg it, or you give me what I want and I give you the names of all of his associates. I know the League wants their heads."
Denzel moistened his lips. "What you want is? Beyond us waiting an hour, I mean."
"For you to stay holed up in the mansion, pretend that you're still looking for the fool and just to let me be. See, I'll actually let you find him. In approximately six hours, the door to his house of horrors will reveal itself, along with all the Pokemon he's tortured. I'll be long gone by then, but he'll still be there. I'm confident that no League investigations will be able to find the actual room no matter what methods you employ. If you double-cross me, I could just not send you the names of his associates and keep the room hidden away. I don't have to be here to sustain what I've employed to hide it."
That could be a lie, but I had no way to know. Think, Grace, think. Why the hell would Abel want any of this? My eyes darted between his Zoroark and his Machamp, who were staring at us blankly. There was no aggression there. Just normalcy, as if they'd done this a thousand times before. They had done this a thousand times before. Accepting this was out of the question, but I still needed to know what he was getting out of this. One, he had no idea I could sense his fucking so-called 'zoo' and the suffering that went on within.
"What are you getting out of this?" Denzel probed, enunciating my thoughts.
"None of your business, kid. I'm afraid the clock is ticking. Push comes to shove, I flee with Backlot."
What did Abel want the most? Money? No, too simple! To escape to Unova and get his revenge on Clarence Obel for slighting him twice and escaping because of Mira. Did Backlot have a way to give him this? A private plane was a sure thing, but the League had eyes on every airport and searched even those. But if he was confident we'd never find where Backlot was, then why did he even need us? Couldn't he just leave? No… why would Backlot take him on a plane if he left him out to dry here? Abel needed him here with him. Zoroark… Zoroark and Ditto could turn into Backlot if needed, so that wasn't an issue, but…
His plan was beginning to take shape, but there were still so many holes. Damn it, I couldn't get a read on him.
But I could at least pretend like I could. Buy some time.
"You have a deal with him and you want to run off to Unova," I said.
He shrugged, not bothering to answer. His face was difficult to read, more difficult than anyone I'd seen save for a few, other than when he'd seen his Pokemon hurt, ironically enough. I flinched when Hypno and Xatu reappeared, although Xatu looked halfway dead, with a torn-out wing and both of her eyes having been ripped out. Hypno was better off, but even though I could barely look at her, I could hear her tired breaths, see the flickering light from the waning Miracle Eye, and blood seeping on the ground where she stood. There was finally a surge of panic in Abel, but he smothered it as fast as it had come. They weren't close to us, so the fear of them kidnapping one of us passed.
Abel recalled Xatu and sighed. "Well, your time is up."
What now? Every ounce of my being wanted to strike. To rip him apart and make him pay for what he'd done.
But I couldn't risk it.
I couldn't.
I—
Movement on the ceiling. My body moved before I realized it, and I pushed Denzel back. The wood cracked under where he had just been, and Kecleon revealed himself on the ceiling, having just tried to capture Denzel with his fucking tongue. They'd tried to kidnap him by bringing him close enough to Teleport. Hypno was on her last legs. She couldn't just whisk him away in a second like she'd done to the ACEs.
The Miracle Eye disappeared, and Hypno fell, now unconscious from exhaustion.
They'd been timing this, and they'd failed.
Abel frowned. "How—"
"Kill him!" I yelled. Sylveon hadn't even waited for us to strike, a Moonblast forming in his mouth.
"Oh dear," Abel sighed.