Emilia rose to her feet on unsteady legs. It was a difficult process, tied up as she was. She had to roll onto her stomach and use her head as leverage to get to her knees and kick herself up from there, using her body to build enough momentum to pull herself to her feet. She failed twice before finally finding her balance.
Moving was another task. Her legs were tied together too tight for her to shuffle, the ropes digging in and pinching at her skin. The best she could do was hop across the cold, dirt floor. Grains of soil and pebbles pressed into the skin of her feet on her first attempt at hopping, the pain causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground again. It took another agonizing minute before she rose to her feet and continued her struggle across the room.
Her goal was the door. It had no handle or knob on the inside, but it didn’t look like a security measure. The door was metal, which wasn’t a good sign, but she was willing to bet it would open automatically because of it.
She hopped towards it, two staggering leaps over the ground, before she reached the edge of the room. She allowed herself to fall against the packed-dirt wall for balance, shaking from the exertion of her movement. She took several breaths, gasping for air, trying to clear her head. Breathing with her arms pulled behind her back was difficult; her lungs couldn’t fill the way they were used to at all.
She caught her breath and shuffled forward against the wall until she got to the door, moving forward with tiny hops so that she could place her shoulder lightly against it. As expected, it did not swing open, instead sliding across the frame with a pneumatic hiss. The door scraped against the dirt floor, the sound uncomfortably loud against the silence of the hall. Emilia froze, waiting for any sounds to respond to the scraping. She heard nothing, not even the distant voices that passed earlier.
She leaned harder on the wall and hopped forward, losing her balance and tumbling to the ground as she lost her support. She was ready for the fall and braced, using the moment to roll back to her knees. From there she hopped to her feet.
She wasn’t in a hall at all, but another room. This one was more than a bare square of dirt. It had slick metal walls and a gray, plastic floor. The ceiling was not dirt, but more metal, and the lights, while still electric, were long, fluorescent tubes, mounted to the ceiling. There were two boxes in the room and a generator. The generator was currently unused, sitting in the corner of the room and covered in dirt or muck. Either broken or only for emergencies.
Emilia turned her eyes to the boxes, feeling a small surge of hope. One was clearly an icebox and held little interest for her. The other, however, was long and broad, sitting low on the ground. It had a large pokeball symbol stamped on its side and the top of it was covered by a large lid with three letters stamped on it. P.P.S.. She recognized the letters. Portable Pokemon Storage.
***
Cashe paused at the shed. Or what remained of it. Primeape had destroyed the small building attempting to find the passage on his orders. The entrance to the underground tunnel was narrow and dark, only lit by the dim glow of electric lamps. The damp smell of upturned earth rose from the tunnel, along with the barest hint of body odor and the soft echoes of distant movement.
He stared at the hole in the ground and then down at his pokedex. The words on it had not changed, still blazing in the bright light of the screen, written in all capital letters.
[DO NOT DO ANYTHING. I WILL BE THERE SOON. DO NOT PURSUE HER.]
He looked back at the passage. She must know he couldn’t listen to her. She wouldn’t have sent the second message if she did.
[Make sure you have Sneasel with you.]
It was about as big of an endorsement as he could get from the Champion. He made his decision.
The was too narrow for Araquanid and the ceiling was much too low. He stared up at his towering, bug type pokemon ushering his other pokemon down the stairs and into the tunnel. Hattrem made a noise of complaint and he felt her brush against his mind. He stopped himself from reflexively withdrawing from the contact. It would hurt her feelings and she only wanted to be picked up. He really should make time to talk to her about her new abilities. Later. Right now, he needed them.
Forcing his thoughts back to the task at hand he scooped her up and placed her on his shoulder; she would be too slow down the stairs anyway. Returned Araquanid to his pokeball without a word, stepping down and into the tunnel.
“Hattrem, lead me to Emilia.” Cashe said. He didn’t like the way his voice sounded, like a granite slab pulled over gravel, cold, hard, and scratched from stress.
“Hat.” Hattrem responded. Even her voice was mellow, affected by his mood, no doubt.
Sneasel shuffled ahead, taking point and reaching the bottom of the stairs. The tunnel curved off and out of sight, but Sneasel waited for everyone to catch up. Primeape was next, shuffling along the ground on her hands and feet like a mountain gorilla from Earth. She sniffed at the air, growing more restless with every step. She smelled trouble and was fighting against her instincts every second she wasn’t bolting down the tunnel to destroy it with her fists.
Cashe was next, using Hattrem on his shoulder as a guide towards Emilia. Hopefully the tunnel would be long and straight, but if not her empathic abilities and burgeoning telepathy would allow her to pick out Emilia’s location.
Ivysaur followed behind them, taking up the rear. Cashe’s first pokemon refused to step from than a few feet away from him and had a vine wrapped tight around his hand. Cashe squeezed it back, unsure if he were comforting Ivysaur or if Ivysaur were comforting him.
Before long, the passage split, the tunnel turning in two separate directions. From one path, Cashe could hear the sounds of scraping. Digging. Unearthing whatever the damn thing was that the grunt claimed was buried here. The other path was silent. Sneasel came to a stop at the fork, looking back at Cashe, questioning. Primeape huffed in annoyance at the pause and dug her hands into a wall, causing a clump of dirt to fall from it.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Which direction?” Cashe whispered.
“Hat.”
Cashe nodded to Sneasel, and Sneasel turned down the silent path, darting forward on silent feet to scout ahead. Primeape shuffled after him, making considerably more noise.
The tunnel was long and narrow, moving mostly in a straight line but twisting just enough to make it impossible to see where it ended. Cashe moved quickly through it, disregarding any attempt at stealth as he ran to keep up with Sneasel. Which turned out to be a mistake.
“Sneasel!” Sneasel shouted a word of warning as he sprinted towards yet another branching path. This one was an intersection, with the tunnel spreading in four directions. How big were these tunnels? How long has Team Starlight been here?
He had no time to ponder the questions, however, as a pair of Team Starlight grunts, one man and one woman, stepped into the intersection. Both wore the green suits of Team Starlight, complete with the stylized symbol of a star emblazoned on their chests.
They turned as the sound of his pounding feet echoed down the tunnel, freezing for just a moment, before scrambling for their pokeballs. The space was tight, and there was barely room for a pokemon battle, but they didn’t stop to think.
“INTRUDER!” One shouted, the male. His pokeball flew through the air and bounced off a wall. A Galarian Slowpoke emerged from the ball, already yawning.
The second grunt, the woman, tossed out a pokeball as well, but instead of shouting, immediately turned to a device on her wrist and began slamming her hand against it. From deep within the tunnel system, a slow, rising siren blared up, echoing through the halls. An alarm.
The women’s pokeball bounced off the ground and burst open, a Veluza appearing from the light. The fish-like pokemon had silver skin and a neon-purple set of fins. It darted through the air a few feet above the ground, moving through it like water.
Cashe didn’t have time to think about what he was seeing. “Sneasel, Knock off. Primeape, Lash out!”
Sneasel was there first, slamming his claws through the Slowpoke, dark energy billowing from them in great waves. The poor pokemon had not time to react; he was thrown down the hall and into his trainer, sending them both stumbling.
Primeape was attacking as Veluza came out of its pokeball, unaware and uncaring of what pokemon with whom she was about to clash. Her fists similarly glowed with dark energy, though with less intensity than what Sneasel could summon. She brought her fists together over her head and slammed down on the Veluza, a mighty hammer blow slamming the fish to the ground.
As quick as it started, it was over. The female grunt stared at Cashe and his pokemon, her mouth agape. The male grunt moaned, shifting, but unable to get up with the knocked out form of Slowpoke pressing against his chest.
Cashe passed by the woman, ignoring her completely and stopped at the foot of the man.
“Who are you?” The female grunt demanded, “What are you doing here?”
“Ivysaur, put her to sleep, please.” Cashe said
“What?”
“Ivy.”
Ivysaur shook and a small plume of sleep powder rose from his flower and into the face of the female grunt as he passed her.
Cashe focused on the groaning man in front of him. If the games had taught him anything, there was something important here. Yes! There. A keycard. The grunt groaned as Cashe took it from him. It looked like he might have a concussion.
“Hey, buddy, you alright?” Cashe jostled his shoulder lightly, trying to get his attention.
“What happened?” The man’s voice was slurred, barely audible.
“You got knocked down. Don’t worry, it’s safe now.” Cashe said, “Listen, this is important. You have to remember the password to the door.”
“Password?” The grunt blinked, trying to focus on a memory.
“There was a password, right?” Cashe said.
“No password for the door,” the man shook his head. “Just need a card and suit.”
“Great, thanks.” Cashe gave the man a smile and stood up. “Ivysaur?”
“Ivy.”
Another small plume of powder hit the man in the face and he was out like a light. Cashe took a moment to wrestle the jacket off the man. It sounded like the suit had something in it for security. If nothing else, it might keep him disguised for a moment before the other grunts could recognize he wasn’t one of them.
He pulled it over his shoulders. It was too small and made from a cheap material, especially for a blazer, but it would get the job done.
“Hattrem, which way to Emilia?”
“Hat!” Hattrem’s cheer had returned with the violence. Probably not a good sign.
Cashe nodded and pointed Sneasel straight ahead. Sneasel took off down the tunnel. It continued straight for a few dozen meters, before the tunnel transitioned into a hall. The first thing to change was the floor, followed by the walls and ceiling a few meters later. The floor was made out of some sort of gray, hard plastic that lay easily over the ground like a carpet. The walls were brushed steel and looked professionally installed. The lights transitioned from dull electric tunnel lights to overhead fluorescents. The blaring of the alarm grew as he ran, becoming overwhelming as he came to the end of the hall.
“What the fuck?” Cashe breathed.
The hall led straight to a solid steel door whose frame took up the entire space of the tunnel. There was a small panel built into the frame, a space for him to swipe a card. Above the door, an amber light flashed at a steady pace, warning everyone that the alarm was currently going off. In case they couldn’t hear it.
Cashe swiped his card through the reader and a small chirp came from the emblem on his stolen suit jacket, somehow audible even over the blaring alarm. The door opened with a sudden movement and lurch of gears, rising from the floor like he was in some sort of science fiction movie.
Cashe stepped through, his pokemon trailing in behind him. The hall on the other side of the door was much wider and taller, with room for several people to stand shoulder to shoulder. The floor and walls were made of the same stuff, plastic and metal, but the space felt different. It felt like a facility. The door hissed shut behind him and the sound of the alarm cut off, reducing to a dull whine.
The hall was well lit, and Cashe could see doors dotted along the side of it, more light streaming from the glass walls of the rooms behind them. Shadows played across the walls as people moved in the rooms, either undisturbed by the sounds of the alarm, or uncaring that it was going off at all.
Cashe took a breath and marched forwards. Now that there was enough room, he brought Araquanid out of his pokeball. The enormous pokemon towered over Cashe and Ivysaur, stepping with them as he marched down the hall.
He passed several rooms, peering inside as he did. He saw grunts and scientists sitting at computers for the most part. One caught movement out the corner of his eyes and noticed them, the grunt’s eyes going wide at the sight of Cashe and his pokemon. Cashe just gave him a nod and continued down the hall as if he was supposed to be there. The grunt stared for a moment and returned to his computer screen. Cashe grinned. He could appreciate the instinct. No way the grunt was getting paid enough to deal with him. Still, Team Starlight should probably have better security protocols.
Cashe just finished the thought when an explosion ripped through the halls, coming from far off in the facility. A second alarm blared to life and sprinklers activated, flooding the hall. A chorus of shouts rose up from around him and scientists and grunts alike began streaming out of the offices.
*****