"Oh, great!" Candida thought bitterly. "Now what are we gonna do?!"
Team Midnight had them cornered, outnumbering the group of youngsters by around six to one. Things looked desperate; the agents were all armed and she knew that any attempt by herself or her friends to use their Pokemon could provoke them into opening fire. In any case, she wasn't about to risk it. In order to take on armed opponents, Pokemon needed special training and that could take several months at least.
"Got any ideas?" she whispered to Autumn.
Autumn shook her head. "Apart from not taking any stupid risks, no." She sighed, hoping desperately that her Pikachu managed to get safely away. It had been a wrench for her to tell him to flee, especially when they had only recently been reunited, but she had little choice. Team Midnight were dangerous and there was every possibility the youngsters would have their love for their Pokemon used against them.
The agent with the scarred face clouted her with his rifle butt and knocked her to the floor. "Silence!" he bellowed as he moved in to kick her. "Learn respect for Team Midnight, you little . . .!"
"Maybe you should learn how to treat a lady," Sandra muttered as, unseen by her captors, she pulled out Dratini's Poke Ball and activated it. "Dratini! Teach him a lesson with your Dragon Rage!"
Dratini burst out of the Ball in a flash of light. She took one look at the thug attacking Autumn and her eyes blazed with anger. Then, she reared up on her tail and opened her mouth in the way a Fire Pokemon does when it's about to use a Fire Attack. But what came out of her mouth was not fire; it was . . . Perhaps, the best way to describe it is as a tornado of pure, raw energy. It blasted towards the Team Midnight agent and, before he could react, sent him flying into the wall. Sandra quickly recalled Dratini and pocketed the Poke Ball.
Kevin hurried across and helped Autumn up. "Are you OK?" he asked, taking hold of her hand.
She nodded. "Yes . . . I think so. Or I will be as soon as you get your hand off my butt!" she added, slapping the offending hand away.
Kevin blushed; he had not intended to touch that particular part of her anatomy. "All right - sorry!" he told her. "Anyway . . ." He broke off as Crozier seized him by his collar and dragged him to one side.
"Very touching," she said grimly. "But I have uses for you, my dear boy! You train Dark Type Pokemon, don't you?"
"Yes - Sneasel, Murkrow and Houndour," Kevin replied, wondering where this question was leading. All he knew for certain was that it wouldn't be good . . .
"Good, we need your sort to help us rule." Crozier unclipped a communication device at her waist and spoke into it. "Agent Rich, this is Agent Crozier. I need to know how the search for the Rock of Darkness is progressing."
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The friends could not hear what was being said at the other end; all they heard was Crozier saying things like "Yes, that's right . . . Yes, I have the insubordinates here." Then, she switched the device off and turned back to Kevin. "You," she said grimly, "are about to feel the full wrath of Team Midnight!" With that, she pulled a mask over her face and nodded to her comrades, who did likewise. Then, they raised their guns - except, these weren't ordinary bullet-firing guns . . .
Before any of the youngsters could move, the Team Midnight agents opened fire. Green gas wafted out of the guns, creating a thick choking cloud that soon filled the entire corridor. Candida coughed on the gas filling her lungs, holding onto the wall for support and wondering if having a Pokemon use Whirlwind might do any good. But none of the Pokemon the youngsters had knew that move; they weren't even compatible with it. In any case, it was too late. Autumn, Kelly and Marc had already blacked out and the rest of the group were only semi-conscious.
She sank to her knees, feeling weak and dizzy as lack of oxygen made her light-headed. She was vaguely aware of the Team Midnight agents grouped silently around her friends but was powerless to do anything. As she slumped forward and lost consciousness, all she could think was that they had failed.
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A small yellow figure ran through the deserted corridors of Aquarius, listening for the sound of pursuers. It was, of course, Autumn's Pikachu and he was desperately worried about his trainer. Where was she? And had those bad humans from Team Midnight done anything horrible to her? If they had, he was going to give them a Thundershock they would never forget.
Sparks began to fly from the yellow rodent's cheeks, as if the mere thought of using Thundershock had caused his energy levels to build. Before he could stop himself, he let fly with a powerful Electric Attack. Twin bolts of lightning struck a nearby wall, leaving two scorch marks in the previously spotless paint. And the noise of crashing thunder that accompanies most Electric Type Attacks caught the attention of two patrolling guards.
"Hey! What was that?!" asked one, tightening his fingers on one of his Poke Balls.
"What was what?" His companion puffed on the cigarette he had lit in defiance of the Thank you for not smoking notice directly above his head. Team Midnight made the rules here now; they could do what they liked where they liked - and no-one was going to stop them. The man clasped his cigarette between his teeth and leaned against the wall.
"That sound - it sounded like a Thundershock or something."
The second Team Midnight agent shrugged. "You're hearing things. There are no Electric Pokemon loose in here - and, if there were any, we'd know about it." He pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and stubbed it out against the wall. "C'mon, let's get back. Maybe they've caught those troublesome kids . . ."
The two agents left, unaware of the Pikachu staring after them, struggling to resist the urge to run up to one of them and bite a hole in the seat of his trousers. But Pikachu knew a foolish action like that would only get him capture and that wouldn't do anyone much good, Autumn least of all. He had to do something about Team Midnight, but what use was a Pikachu against such an organisation?
Then, he saw a small figure in the distance. It was a Wooper, Sandra's Wooper. But what was he doing out of his Poke Ball? Pikachu had to know, so he ran over to the small Water/Ground Pokemon and asked him. "Pika pikachu?" he said, looking at Wooper urgently. Time was of the essence; the two Pokemon had to find their trainers before . . . He did not even want to think about it.
"Wooper wooper woop," replied Wooper. "Wooper wooper! Wooper!" Pokemon language is a strange thing. With only a few syllables in their "vocabularies", Pokemon (aside from the few who learn human speech) rely heavily on intonation to convey a message, often, if they are bipeds and have arms, supplementing it with a form of sign language. But all Pokemon species share a mutual understanding of each other's languages so Pikachu was able to tell more or less exactly what Wooper was saying. Using only two syllables in various combinations, he was explaining how he came to be separated from his trainer.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed when Wooper was through speaking. This was serious indeed. They had to find their trainers, no matter what Autumn had said.
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Agent Rich was sitting at his desk when there was a knock on his office door. He quickly smoothed down his shirt and adopted what he fancied to be a classic "criminal syndicate boss" pose. This involved resting one arm on the desk and keeping the other ready to clench his hand into a fist and slam it down should the need arise. "Enter!" he barked in a voice full of ominous menace.
The door opened and several Team Midnight agents filed in, each of them keeping their eyes carefully averted from Rich. He was one of the most important people in Team Midnight, with only Lenoir and his inner circle senior to him. No-one looked him directly in the eye if they wanted to avoid trouble and he didn't tend to make eye contact with his underlings if he could help it. Only if an agent was in serious trouble did he fix them with what many called his "Arbok stare", a look so full of menace that cracking under it was all too easy.
For now, he did not look at any of the agents as he asked for their report. It was the agent called Tanner who elected to speak for the group, looking down at the floor as he tried to explain the events of the last few hours. "Agent Rich, we caught some workers out of their dormitories."
"Good. How many were involved?" Rich kept his voice level, hoping that it would not prove to be the youngsters who had caused such an annoyance. No-one was going to thwart Team Midnight, least of all a band of teenaged upstarts.
"Seven, all under twenty," replied Tanner.
"And where are they now?" Rich's voice adopted a menacing tone.
"In a holding cell. And I assume you'll be interested in these . . ." Tanner opened the small bag he was carrying and emptied out ten Poke Balls. Rich gave the Balls a cursory glance before he spoke again.
"And what Pokemon are these?"
Tanner blanched; Rich had adopted the "Arbok stare". "I - I don't know," he stammered. "I ain't looked at all of them. But one of those kids has a Dratini and another has a . . ."
He got no further before Rich sent his fist crashing down on the desk. "You fool! If there's not a Dark or Poison Type among them, they're of no use to us!" The agents exchanged glances as Rich shoved the Poke Balls at Tanner in a gesture of contempt. "Here!" he barked. "Take these away and dispose of them!"
"Yes, Sir!" Tanner pocketed the Poke Balls, saluted and marched out.
Rich watched him go and turned back to the rest of his agents. "Right, let's get down to business," he told them. "Has the Rock of Darkness been found?"
"Not yet," replied Crozier. "But it won't be long now . . ."
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Little did Tanner suspect, as he carried the confiscated Poke Balls to the waste disposal chute, that he was being followed by a Pikachu and a Wooper. The two Pokemon had been running past Rich's office right at the moment when he gave the order for the youngsters' Pokemon to be disposed of. They had to do something. With Kevin's Sneasel, Murkrow and Houndour already firmly in Team Midnight's clutches, the group could not afford to lose any more Pokemon.
Pikachu and Wooper exchanged winks. Then, Wooper stepped forward and used Water Gun on Tanner, spraying a jet of water out of his mouth and soaking the Team Midnight agent from head to toe. Then, Pikachu tense his body for a split second before letting rip with a Thundershock, targetted at Tanner. The water soaking the Team Midnight agent conducted the electricity, resulting in a more powerful attack than normal. With a flash and a bang, Tanner was on the floor - out cold. Pikachu sniffed him cautious and recoiled in disgust; this human stunk in more ways than one.
In any case, now that they had saved the Poke Balls, Pikachu and Wooper faced the problem of how they were going to get them to the youngsters. Pikachu couldn't possibly carry all ten Balls by himself and Wooper had no arms or hands so he couldn't help. Finally, after a conversation that, to the uninitiated seemed completely meaningless, they decided to let out all the other Pokemon except Candida's Lapras and Marc's Seadra. Moving swiftly lest Tanner wake up, the two small Pokemon rolled the Poke Balls out from under him and pressed the buttons on eight of them in quick succession.
Flash! Kelly's four Pokemon appeared, Drifter hovering at ceiling level while Pinky and Delibird milled about in confusion and Cheeky chattered to himself. The Aipom was treating the whole thing as a joke - until Pikachu spoke to him sternly. "Pika pikachu!" The Electric Pokemon was telling Cheeky that this was serious.
"Aipom," Cheeky murmured apologetically as another flash of light heralded the appearance of Candida's Togetic, Sandra's Dratini, Jeremy's Charmeleon and Marc's Squirtle. The Pokemon looked down at the unconscious human, then at each other.
"Squirtle squirtle?" Squirtle was asking what they were going to do now.
"Skiploom!" cried Drifter as she floated away, the flower on top of her head spinning rapidly. With the universal understanding of Pokemon, the others understood that she was saying: "Let's go find our trainers!" So, with Charmeleon carrying the Poke Balls that housed Lapras and Seadra and the empty Poke Balls carried by Pinky, Squirtle and Cheeky, the Pokemon began their search . . .
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The first thing Candida was aware of was a pounding headache as she groaned and opened her eyes. She waited for the effects of the sleep-gas to wear off before attempting to sit up and take stock of her surroundings. She was in a small room that was completely bare except for two folding benches attached to the walls; she was on one of these benches with Kelly and Autumn beside her, both also just waking up. Opposite them sat Sandra, Jeremy and Marc, who were already awake. But something - someone - was missing . . .
She soon realised who it was. "Guys, where's Kevin?" she asked, struggling to raise her voice above a whisper.
Sandra, Jeremy and Marc exchanged glances, the same grim expression etched on all their faces. Then, Sandra spoke. "I haven't seen him since I woke up. Team Midnight must have him somewhere else . . ."
"Yeah, but where?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," said Marc, looking down at his hands. "And, without our Pokemon, we can't get out of here and find out."
It took a moment for his words to register. "What do you mean?" Candida asked, hoping against hope that nothing had happened to Lapras and Togetic. She would hate it if anything had. She and Lapras had been together nearly all their lives and Togetic had been her loyal friend for nearly three years, ever since a neighbour back in Cherrygrove City gave her a spare Togepi egg to hatch. She could still remember playing with the cute little Togepi and her joy when Togepi's happiness peaked and she evolved into Togetic. If Team Midnight had done anything to either Pokemon . . .
"Take a look," replied Marc.
Candida did so, checking both her pockets only to find them completely empty of Poke Balls. "NOOOOOOOOO!" she cried in a voice full of anguish. "Lapras! Togetic!" She sank down in despair, tears for her lost Pokemon welling up in her eyes.
"Team Midnight must have taken them," Kelly explained. "And that worries me . . ." She broke off as she thought of how hopeless everything seemed now. They were captured, one of their number had been separated from the rest for reasons she did not want to speculate about and, now, all their Pokemon were gone. Would she ever see Drifter, Delibird, Cheeky and Pinky again?