The two of them stared at the rather ominous amber circle on the ground. It pulsed slowly, emitting a dull glow that intensified in the otherwise dark lit interior.
“Oh man.” Pranav said, his demeanour rather anxious “These things are safe right?”
“I mean…probably?” His older brother replied “They use this tech everyday.”
Squaring his shoulders, Pranav sucked in a quick breath “All right then, me first.”
A hand stopped him abruptly, Pranav turning to see Arun giving him a look between fear and anger he couldn’t quite place.
“Not you.” He said sharply “I go.”
“Jeez, alright man, my bad.”
“10 seconds, if I don’t come back in 10 seconds you leave the building. Head through the docks, and come in through that entrance. Got it?”
“Yea…yea I get it.”
“Good.” Arun nodded. “Stand back.”
He stepped through, and Pranav watched as his brother distorted, it was like watching someone expand an image the wrong way, the proportions just turned out wrong. He expanded and contracted for a good few seconds, then just like that, he was gone. Every sci-fi trope Pranav knew came crashing through his mind, and he wondered if his brother teleported wrong, or if he had somehow teleported into another object. His heart began to pound faster and faster as the seconds ticked away and there was still no sign of Arun. Just as the 10 second mark was about to pass however, the amber circle lit, and Arun phased back into the room, looking slightly queasy.
“Holy shit.” His brother said, “That does not feel good.”
“Oh man.” Pranav breathed “I thought you were dead or something. Like you teleported into somebody else, or your toes combined with your forehead.”
“Wait what?” Arun asked, alarmed “That could happen?”
“I mean from the books I read, yea. Honestly though, fact that you’re fine means this is good.”
“Pokémon world, I guess.”
“Pokémon world.”
They stood in silence for a little bit, Arun giving him a searching look before sighing and looking away.
“Look, man.” He said, wringing his hands “I didn’t mean to be so blunt earlier.”
“I get it dude don’t worry.” Pranav replied with a light smile "I was rushing us a little bit, so it’s kinda my fault.”
“Still….shouldn’t have been so aggressive.”
“Arun, we’re in the big bad base stealing our very first Pokémon. Tensions are high, we’re gonna get snappy with each other. That’s just how it goes. So don’t worry about it, alright?”
Arun gave him a nod and a small smile. “All right then, here we go.” And he stepped back into the circle, distorting and fading away from sight.
Pranav waited until the circle had dimmed again, before taking a few deep breaths. He hopped quickly into the circle, ensuring both his feet were in by the time the circle began glowing. The sensation hit him immediately, the world began spinning around him, faster and faster until it was all a blur. His head began throbbing with pain as the dizziness set in, and he was unable to tell right from left, up from down.
“Dear God” he thought as the scenery began to change around him “Is this what hell feels like?”
Just as quickly as it began however, it ended, with Pranav stumbling out of the circle and crashing into the wall, The dizzying sensation still pounding through his mind.
“You good lil bro?” His brother asked, crouching over him.
“Yea…yea just happy days over he-” Pranav spun, pushing past his startled brother before hurling the contents of his stomach in whatever direction that wouldn’t make a mess of the two of them.
“Oh…oh god.” He wheezed, wiping the slime from his mouth. “What type of assholes made this hell contraption?”
“Same assholes that steal pokemon?” his brother suggested, before prodding Pranav with his foot. “Take a look at that, though. I know they won’t be happy about cleaning up this mess.”
Bleary-eyed, Pranav looked up to see he was right in front of the glowing amber circle. He scuttled back with a yelp, before noticing what Arun pointed to. His stomach contents floated in the glowing circle, disappearing and reappearing every 5-10 seconds. Seeing the absurdity of it all he couldn’t help but burst into a fit of laughter.
“Oh man…” He said, after his laughter began to subside, “feel sorry for the guy who’s gonna clean this one.”
Arun grinned, pulling him up and motioning down the hall. “We’re close. We just get in, and then we leave through the docks.”
As they wandered down through the hallways, Pranav could feel himself getting giddy with every step. This was it, this is where they’d be getting their first Pokémon. They’d be spoiled for choice, most definitely, and Pranav was never really picky when it came to team compositions. His usual motto was to just take the first 6 mons that caught his attention and make it work. He never really enjoyed the prospect of locking away Pokémon in PCs, so he stuck to his 6 and took them all the way to the end.
Arun stopped him, just before he rounded another corner, a single finger brought up to his lips. They peered the corner, and spotted two grunts standing near the door that led to the storage units. Unlike the rest of the building, they were alert, and somehow looked imposing in their skin tight bodysuits and bright blue wigs. Hanging upside from the ceiling however, were two rectangular forms with wings wrapped tightly around them. Two eyes peeked out from the top of their heads, and Pranav felt a shiver down his spine.
“Those are Golbats” He hissed to his brother
Arun stared ahead, pondering quietly for some time. Pranav let him think, there was a time for being annoying, and a time where bullshit just couldn’t be tolerated.
“We do the usual, nothing physical.” He finally said “If they start talking to us we stay close so we can grab them, just in case.”
“Want me to do the talking?”
“...Step in if I can’t follow through on any of their questions. But let me take point.”
They strode forward, their faces a mask of neutrality and belonging. Immediately the two grunts eyed them down with suspicion, one of the Golbats unfurled its wings, revealing its bottomless maw that nearly caused Pranav to back out of the whole mission.
10 meters out, so far so good. 7…5…2…they were at the door, all they had to do was open and get through the hallwa-
“What are you doing here?” One of the Grunts demanded.
"Shit." He thought. So close.
Arun turned to them, eyeing them down with an air of authority “Confidential, Grunt.” before reaching for the door once more.
A hand stopped him as the Grunt in question scowled at them. “This place is restricted, buddy. Don’t care where you got your orders from, we’ve been told not to let anyone in.”
Pranav clocked the second one as he began to move behind them, his Golbat dropping onto the Grunt’s shoulder, eyeing them with malice.
“Not even if it was from Cyrus?” Arun inquired, his manner still calm and controlled.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
That gave them pause, and Pranav had to fight back the urge to grin as they visibly paled.
“Why’s the boss sending you here?” The one behind them asked.
“Again.” His brother said, sighing “Confidential, you know what that means, don’t you?”
“Of course we do.” The first grunt snapped. “But we were ordered to let nobody in, we aren’t even allowed in, so I don’t see why two random Grunts should be allowed in either.”
“Look, friend.” Pranav cut in “It’s almost 3 in the morning, the two of us just want to get our jobs over and done with. Unless you wanna wake up the higher ups and tell them about us, let us through. But let me tell you brother…they find out you wasted their time on something that could’ve been handled in 2 minutes, that’s your ass on the line, not ours.”
Pranav eyed the one behind them, that one had taken the bait, and began looking at them more nervously. The one near Arun, however, narrowed his eyes at the brothers. Pranav held his breath, would it work? They were so close, just a dozen meters down and they’d be real trainers.
“Call them,” The one in front said to his partner “Just in case.”
Shit
“Well,” Arun sighed, “we tried.”
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arun surged forward, ploughing into the grunt and slamming him into the wall. The grunt gasped for breath against the sudden attack, but had no time to recover as Arun grabbed him by the hem of his uniform, roughly spinning him around and holding him against the pokemon.
The Golbats shrieked in anger, their wings rapidly flapping as they took to the air, he glanced to his side. Pranav was having trouble locking down his target, but surprise gave him the advantage.
“Tell your Pokémon to back off!” Arun hollered, as Pranav finally managed to pin his target.
“Fuck you!” The grunt snarled, trying to wriggle free. The man was taller, but had probably never worked out a day in his life, so Arun had held him still. He glanced worriedly at Pranav, who was having a little more trouble against his struggling captive.
“Walk” He hissed, dragging him backwards. When the Grunt didn’t comply he slammed the man into the wall, causing the Golbat to screech even louder. It made a dive for him, its speed nearly taking Arun off guard, but swerved away at the last second when he brought up its trainer in front of him.
“Golbat.” The grunt slurred as the Golbat began looking more and more panicked “s’fine, just follow.”
“Fucking move, asshole!” Arun heard his brother growl, his target was giving him a lot of trouble, despite being roughed up a little more.
Eventually they got to the door, into the final hallway. Arun could feel tension in the air as he considered the situation they were in. They held the trainers, the trainers were holding back their Pokémon. If they lost their leverage it would mean a fight against angry Pokémon, and Arun was certain they wouldn’t be able to handle them alone. It was a stalemate, one in their favour, but a stalemate all the same.
He heard a crack, and he whipped his head around just in time to see Pranav release his captive, the Grunt having slammed the back of his head onto his brother’s nose.
“[Air Cutter!]” The Grunt yelled, as Pranav spat out a curse.
The Golbat sneered, flapping its wings and sending out visible scythes of wind that flew almost faster than Arun could keep track of. Pranav screamed as the scythes cut into him, blood spattered across the hallway, and his brother was sent flying backwards.
Time seemed to slow down as his brother flew past him, sanguine liquid flying free from his body.
Pranav clawing his way out of the water, heaving and gagging up viscous ichor, staring in shock and fear towards him…Pranav losing his ability to walk, his voice a hoarse whisper as he asked if he was going to be ok. Arun tried to reassure him, told him that everything was going to be fine, but he didn’t know, how could he know? His brother no longer speaking…no longer thinking…Pranav’s dead eyes staring at him, an expression of peace, as if saying “I’m free now.”
Arun, being alone again.
No.
No.
Arun roared, hurling his captive into the wall where he crumpled. He sprinted down the hall, his adrenaline fueled muscles moving him faster than normal. His brother lay there, groaning as blood pooled around him from a dozen different cuts.
“Don’t let them escape! [Bite!]”
He felt the Golbat close the distance behind him, and he dove, grabbing Pranav in the process as one of the Golbats circled back around. Lifting his brother in his arms he sprinted down the corridor, weaving left and right as the two Golbats attempted to knock him down. The faint sound of air whistling caused him to throw himself to the side, more air scythes cutting into the wall.
Finally reaching his destination, he threw himself at the door, his stolen ID card clicking into place as the door slammed opened with a loud bang! He tossed his brother to the floor, grimacing as he saw Pranav writhe a little in pain. He shut the door behind him, just in time to hear the thuds of the two Pokémon crashing into the steel barrier. He quickly found the manual lock, turning it shut before breaking the scanner so nobody else could enter. He had bought time, how much time though, he didn’t know, they would have to move quickly.
“Oh man, that hurts.” His brother groaned, propping himself up against a table “Fucked up the mission, sorry about that.”
“Forget about it, are you all right?” Arun asked as he surged over to him, checking his wounds.
“Yea…yea they’re shallow cuts, I think. Find some bandages, I’ll be good.”
Arun nodded, and stood as Pranav began tearing apart the uniform, using the scraps to wrap around the wounds he could.
The room they were in…it was easy enough to see that it was a sort of lab/storage area. Multiple machines beeped softly nearby, and beside those…crates. Grabbing one of the fire extinguishers nearby, he cracked open the crate, and despite the situation, felt a rush of joy. Dozens of pokeballs, all mashed into one crate.
“Found what we were looking for!” He called out to his brother.
“Finally.” Pranav sighed, wincing as he stood. “Swear to god if I come out of this heist with a Delibird or something I'm gonna be mad.”
Finding the First-Aid kit was simple enough, they found out quickly however that it was a little…different.
“Are those berries?” His brother asked, amused.
A bang! At the door caused the two to bolt upright. Looking at their one entrance that now had a small Golbat-sized dent in it. They were running out of time.
Pranav shoved the Orans down his mouth, grimacing at the taste. Quickly though, his look of disgust turned into one of wonder as he saw his wounds visibly close and disappear, as if they were never there.
“Pokémon world.” Arun breathed in disbelief.
Pranav grabbed a handful more of the berries, tossing some to Arun.
“All right, pick your mon.” His brother said. “Soon as we get what we want we’re releasing the rest of these guys.”
“What? There's no way we can afford to feed multiple.”
“Obviously. We’re releasing the others as a distraction. I doubt whoever we take out here will be able to take on Golbats. It’ll be difficult for them to take on a whole stampede though.”
“Ok…ok. You first, or me?”
Another bang! As the door was filled with another Golbat-sized dent.
“Together.” The two said at the same time.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How long has it been? The pokemon thought, trapped in its little ball.
He remembered how he had gotten here, attracted to a manor deep in the city among the human folk. Oh how savoury his meal had been that time, the flavour of great sorrow, and a burning desire for vengeance had satisfied his palate, though nothing could quell the eternal hunger that came from beings like him.
Like moths to a flame he and his kin approached the manor, lining the windows and eaves in droves of dozens. Oh how they feasted! The battle within was surely one to behold, for it generated such raw emotion, it had left him giddy with euphoria. Such sorrow, such anger, such fear, what a tragedy they had stumbled upon!
It had been hours before the flames of war died within that little manor, with a number of blue haired humans leaving the place torched, grim faced and near-defeated themselves. That was when it had turned for the worst. One of them, their commander, he supposed, ordered for their capture. His elder kin were wise, they knew what that meant, they had fled. He and his siblings were young however, they were arrogant. How dare they? They were food sources, nothing more, they dared challenge the great spirits?
So they fought, dozens of ghosts flying towards the enemy, screeching their battle cries and declarations of war. They were met with such force, the being was surprised he had managed to survive their first strike at all. It was as if they were water against rock, splashing harmlessly against a great mountain. He had felt fear then, true fear, and it had tasted better than it felt. He and his foolish kin were rounded up, like cattle, and captured in those little devices.
He could feel the minutes turn to hours, the hours to days, the days to months. He could feel his home moving away farther and farther as he travelled distances he never thought possible. Was this to be his fate? To be trapped for good?
He had never truly given up hope, hate for the blue-hairs had long been his reason for being, all he needed was a chance.
He felt it, almost immediately, the waves of pain, and a bubbling hatred that stirred his soul from its slumber. What triumphed over all though, was the fear. It was a fear the being knew well, the same terror it felt when faced against his captors. A fear that required help, and help it would provide…at least for now. A hand reached down towards the crate it was in, and the being moved, rattling itself within its cage so that this new human would have a weapon willing to fight. It worked, the hand paused, before taking his cage in its hand.
It gorged itself on the human’s anger, the fear, the excitement, letting it fuel his own thoughts. This time, things would be different, no more would it cower, no more would it be a prisoner. It was time to fight.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh how happy he had been, all that time ago. He was young, but he was still a fighter. Training under his wise master’s gaze, as she taught him and his friends. Those had been happy days, days when he stood dutifully by his master’s side, as she managed her household and raised her Pokémon.
It had ended too soon.
Fire, war, broken bones and sundered spirits. Fighting raged around him, yet the little Pokémon could do nothing but watch.
“Admin Venus.” They decreed in arrogant voices that made his heart stir in agitation “You are hereby discharged from Galactic’s service, on accounts of treason against the great mission.”
His master’s face, a sad smile touching her lips as she looked about the battlefield that had become her household. “Oh Cyrus,” she said, “You never truly learned, did you?”
The pain, friends lying unmoving at the massacre. The fear, as he lost his teacher, her master’s prime, Alakazam, to the foes.
The anger, at seeing his own master’s face twisted into fury.
The realization, that they had lost.
“Run little one.” Venus said, “Don’t let them catch you.”
But they did catch him. Took him away from his home, his family, his heart. His last sight was of the Manor, burning as his friends lay there lifeless, a great reminder of his weakness. Too weak to stop it, too weak to try.
A hand touching his pokeball stirred him from his memories, and extending his senses he found it was somebody new, but who? Was it one of them? If so, he would be ready, he would crush whatever opposition faced him that day, for Venus, for Alakazam.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The four of them gazed at each other at first in weariness, then in slight confusion.
Pranav looked at the Pokémon in front of him. Wondering just how he had gotten his hands on something from gen 3.
“A…Shuppet?” He said, confused.
Its face broke into a wicked grin, and it cried out at the top of its lungs, causing Pranav to stumble back in surprise. It zoomed in close to him, its face barely inches away from his own, seemingly judging him. Pranav, not knowing what to do, touched his forehead with its own, this time leaving the Pokémon slightly confused. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the Shuppet seemed satisfied, hovering away and awaiting a command.
“What the fuck?” Was all he could say to the encounter.
Arun meanwhile, looked down fondly at the little Seedot that stared up at him with weary eyes. Crouching low, he tossed the wig over to the side in a clear display, raising his hands slowly and began to radiate comfort..
“I’m not with them, little buddy. I’m actually trying to steal back from Galactic. Think you can help me?”
The Seedot’s eyes widened in surprise, before taking a look at the room, and the door which now had 4 Golbat sized dents in it, and nodded, hardening its gaze.
Arun smiled in response, holding out a hand. It leapt in, and he rose, placing the little acorn Pokémon on his shoulder.
“Ready?” He asked his brother, who was watching the Shuppet float around him in circles.
“Let’s start a riot.” Pranav replied, his Pokémon's face split into an even wider grin.