CHAPTER 31 - Turning Point

Teleportation wasn’t like they said it was in the movies. There was no distortion, no pain, no nausea, and no delay. One second you were somewhere, and the next, you were somewhere else before you could even blink.

“Your Pokeballs. Give them to us,” A man said.

I was so confused by this point that I didn’t even answer. I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened to me. The uniformed man whistled, and a Mightyena lazily approached us, baring its teeth.

“I won’t say it a second time,” He continued with a sinister glare.

Even if I had wanted to fight, there were too many of them to take on. With a trembling hand, I handed over Elekid’s Pokeball.

“And you?” He told Cecilia.

I glanced toward her, and she was completely still, with her hand hovering over her Pokeball. Multiple Pokemon inched their way toward her. A Muk lazily glided across the floor, emitting a nauseating smell, a Zangoose sharpened its claws and got in an attacking position, and a Raticate barred its huge teeth with a hiss. I discreetly pulled on Cecilia’s skirt, hoping she’d get the message. I didn’t want her to die.

“Don’t hurt her, she’s an Obel,” The woman who had taken us here said as she put on her uniform. “She’s more useful alive than dead.”

“We should make an example out of her,” Another member said. “Show the people what happens when they fight back.”

“Shut the fuck up, you moron. Take her Pokeball yourself. She’s a child, and you’re a grown man,” The woman said. “You,” She told me. “Sit down, don’t try anything, and you’ll live.”

I nodded and collapsed on the cold, hard floor. I was completely powerless. There was nothing I could do.

“Hypno, you can get back to Commander Charon, we have enough hostages and we found the Obel kid,” The woman said.

Hypno lazily nodded and disappeared into thin air. One of the criminals grabbed Cecilia from behind, putting her in a chokehold while the girl grabbed her Pokeball and took it away somewhere. Would I ever see Elekid again? Feeling tears stream down my cheeks, I hugged my knees and buried my face in them, making as little noise as I could. I didn’t want to attract attention. I didn’t want to annoy them. I didn’t want them to kill me. Cecilia sat down next to me and observed our kidnappers silently. Every time I looked at her, I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Was she as terrified as I was?

“Daddy, I want to go home!” The child in the corner of the room sobbed. She couldn’t have been more than five. “I want to leave!”

“Shhh, we’re leaving soon. Don’t cry. Don’t cry,” Her father said, stroking her hair.

“Shut her up, or I will,” A girl leaning against the wall said. She had a Hoothoot on her shoulder. “Now.”

“I—I’m trying my best! Please, she’s just a child,” He shuddered, hugging his daughter tightly. “Shhh, quiet down, Hannah.

“Then maybe you should have raised your kid better,” The woman said. “Hoothoot—”

“Hey guys!”

My head whirled to the voice. A short woman with red, spiky hair skipped into the room. Literally skipped. All of the kidnappers turned toward her and offered a military salute.

“Come on, relax! It’s just little old Mars!” She laughed.

“Commander Mars! We have taken Cecilia Obel hostage. The plan can go as proceeded!” A grunt declared.

“Interesting! Which one is she?” Mars asked. When directed to Cecilia, she skipped toward us and crouched. “Ms. Obel! What a pleasure it is to meet you!” She said, in a clearly joking tone. She leaned in further, her face mere inches from Cecilia’s but Cecilia didn’t budge and stared the girl right in the eyes. “Hm, you’re no fun… I love making people squirm. What about you?” Mars continued, turning toward me. I jumped a little and recoiled. “Wow, you’re much better! I’d play with you for hours if I had the time… but alas, duty calls!”

The woman stood up.

“Listen up, grunts! “Charon is still busy in the control room, but he told me that he needed two more hours before we can vacate the power plant!”

So we were in Valley Windwork’s power plant, I thought with a sigh of relief. There had always been the possibility that we had been taken to a secret base in an unknown location. But Charon… My mind flashed to that fateful day at Lake Verity. It was the second time I heard that name, so he was clearly someone important in the organization.

The grunts clapped and cheered. What were they even here for? I was too scared to try to find out. There was one thing I could possibly do. When I sat, I felt my Poketch in my back pocket, meaning that if I was discreet enough, I could send a message to Denzel so he could call for help. But how? These people and their Pokemon looked at us like hawks. No, it was too dangerous. The best I could do right now was not succumb to fear and gather as much information as possible by just listening in. As long as I was focused on something, I’d be fine. Something… something…

What if they killed us all before leaving?

I whimpered and hugged my knees tighter. Mars seemingly caught that and looked at me with a gleeful smile.

“You know what,” She said. “Come with me.”

“N—n—no, please… please,” I cried.

Mars just laughed and forcefully pulled me up. Her partners looked at her uncomfortably before glancing away. The red-haired woman dragged me into another room full of chairs around a giant desk. It had seemingly been a meeting room. She pushed me into a chair, restrained me with some zip ties, and sat on the table, placing her feet on the armrests.

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“What’s your name, darling?”

“Please…”

She grabbed my face and pressed hard. I groaned in pain.

“Come on, tell me your name!” She laughed. “My name’s Mars! Well, I wasn’t born with the name, but I picked it myself when I joined Team Galactic. I think it’s cool, personally. I really vibe with the space theme we have going on!” All while she was talking, she still had my face in her hand, twisting and turning my neck at every wild gesture.

Team Galactic, I thought. So that’s what the G meant— I yelled out as she yanked my face to the left.

“Now, I shared something personal about myself, so come on! Don’t let me carry the conversation alone here!”

“I’m G—Grace. Please don’t hurt me, I won’t make any more noise. Just… please take me back.”

“But then all the fun’s gone. Oh, by the way, don’t tell Charon I was slacking, I’m supposed to be doing my job! He’s always grumpy— probably because he’s old. He’s going to die in like— ten years. I’d be grumpy too in that case!” She rambled.

That was when I first realized that this girl was completely unhinged. She talked to me as if I was an acquaintance or a friend, but she kept hurting me. She looked like she was having fun doing all of this.

“Man, Floaroma’s really a bummer. Flowers are nice and all, but I’d rather be with Cyrus…” Mars trailed off. There was a sense of admiration in her voice. “I miss him so much, but he’s always working. I want to see him, I want to see him, I want to see him, I want to see him, I want to see him— Oh, my bad! I bug out like that sometimes when I think about him.”

Cyrus. Another name I had heard at the Lake, I thought, before vaguely remembering his face. Thoughts were all I had. I was desperately trying not to break down.

“Now, enough about that! What should I do with you? I want to hear you scream— people screaming are just the best! Take off a fingernail or two, maybe?”

I sobbed.

“Ohh, you like that one? I personally think it’s a little cliche, and I’d have to find pliers somewhere… we can find something better. What about a thousand little cuts all across your body?”

“Please…”

“Luckily, I always have a knife on me. A girl’s gotta defend herself, y’know, and it’s not like we can get guns anywhere other than Orre,” Mars laughed. “I have to save my v-card for Cyrus. What if some creep tries to assault me?”

She grabbed a knife from somewhere inside of her uniform and threw it upward before catching it by the blade. I squirmed and pushed my face away, but she kept my head still and pressed the knife against my cheek. She pressed harder and harder—

“C—Commander Mars! A trainer has broken through the entrance!” A galactic grunt said, barging into the room.

Mars clicked her tongue. “I’m busy,” She hissed, pressing the knife into my skin. Blood dripped down its edge. “It’s just one trainer, just capture him, kill him, I don’t care.”

“He’s currently taking us down with three Pokemon, ma’am!”

“Damn it… damn you!” She screeched, throwing the knife at him. The grunt barely dodged, yelped, and fell to the ground. “I guess that's what we get for putting the newbies by the entrance. You interrupted my fun, fine. Dusky, go take care of it.”

I felt a sudden chill run down my spine as the temperature of the room dropped significantly. Smoke began to materialize out of nothing right behind Mars, slowly forming into a coherent shape. Color drained from the world itself, the white walls, the floor, and the blackboard turning into a sinister gray. A low ring could be heard, steadily getting louder and louder as my ears slowly filled up with pressure. The creature that formed behind her had a completely dark body, along with light gray extremities. A golden motif adorned its body, going around its abdomen, its arms, and its head, and a singular, shining red eye looked into mine. It was a Dusknoir— something I had only seen as an illustration, and Arceus, it looked different.

How was this possible? How did this woman find the secret to evolving a Dusclops? I could only stay frozen in fear as the smoke-like being exited the room and passed through a wall like it hadn’t been there. The temperature and color returned to the world, and I started to breathe again.

Mars rolled her eyes. “Arceus, this job is such a drag. Now, where were we—”

“Mars. Hypno informed me that you released that monster into the world again. Recall it,” Someone else said.

“Arceus, damn it, just let me have my fun!” She yelled.

I glanced toward the voice, and an old balding man with rose-tinted glasses that had dyed the rest of his hair purple slowly walked into the room. He walked with a pronounced limp, and Hypno followed closely behind.

“I won’t repeat myself. Cyrus will be furious if he knows what you have done. That thing is not under your control. It will possibly kill every hostage we have to sustain itself.”

“Shut up, Charon! Dusky isn’t under my control because he’s family! I just hate to keep him in his Pokeball, since he doesn’t like it. Plus, that way, he’s always next to me!” The woman whined.

“Let this child go. I’ve had enough of you fooling around. We are here for a reason and one reason only, do not derail the plan. I will deal with our unexpected guest myself,” Charon declared, as he walked toward the hostage room.

Mars pouted. “You’re no fun. If Cyrus wasn’t our leader, I would have left already!”

“And we might be better off for it,” Charon said.

“Juju would be depressed without me!” She yelled out. He didn’t turn back.

Mars looked at me with sad eyes and untied me. “I’ll take you back, but only because I don’t want Cyrus to be mad at me. That’d be a total disaster! Don’t worry though, we’ll meet again. I’ll have my eye on you from now on. Forever. Oh, I almost forgot!” She said, closing her eyes. She kept them closed for a few seconds, and then returned to her default, smiling face. “There you go! Dusky should be gone now.”

She took me back to the hostage room, and I sat back down at my spot. I didn’t have the energy for anything. I just stared blankly at the floor, hoping this would all be over soon. A few minutes later, I could hear yells outside of the room.

“...fuck off! You couldn’t take me in a fair fight, so you had to gang up on me! Fucking losers, can’t take down a single kid alone!”

Chase Karlson was pushed to the ground into the middle of the room, and with a groan, he rolled onto his back. He swore a couple of times before pushing himself against one of the many generators. His face was bleeding and swollen. I guessed that he was the one that had busted in. There was nothing any of us could do, and so for the next two hours, we sat in silence. My cheek was burning, and I wasn’t sure I would even be able to function after this. I was just exhausted.

After what seemed like an eternity, Charon limped into the room once more.

“Attention! All of the relevant data has been collected. We can leave with Hypno—”

Suddenly, I heard a disturbance on the roof, and then a tear. Charon frowned, looking up, and his stern face turned to horror as a Garchomp burst through the ceiling, creating a mini earthquake as it landed on the floor. A tall, blonde woman in all black clothes slowly climbed off of its back and looked around with a calm smile.

Chase chuckled. “I called the police before breaking in here, but I never expected them to send the Arceus damned Champion. What now, you fucking Galactic goons?” He asked with a bloody grin.