“You set your own people up?” asked Kenta incredulously. He narrowed his eyes. “But in doing so, you made a serious mistake, lady. Your receptionist informed me that this whole building will be blown to bits by Electrode if more police officers arrive for backup. Or didn’t they tell you that, either?”
Saishi threw back her head and began to laugh. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Is . . . is that what she told you?” she managed to gasp, wiping a tear from her eye. Kenta nodded, and Saishi snickered a few more seconds before answering. “I am one of this project’s administrators!” she declared with a waving gesture towards the telephone. “I know the leader too well. He wouldn’t dare destroy this building, not only because his precious project’s information is still here, but also because of sentimental value. He just plain likes the building!”
She offered him the phone, still laughing to herself. “Please, by all means, call for backup. Oh! On one condition.” Saishi held up her finger and Kenta waited, his mind whirling as he tried to keep up with it all.
What have I gotten myself into?
“Once you make the call, officer, I want out of here. My people may try to silence me when they see police cars swarming in over the horizon, and that won’t do, oh no. You and those other two on the floor must be my bodyguards until I’m seen to safety.”
Kenta smiled grimly at her. “Your bodyguards, huh?”
“Indeed.” She returned the smile. “Why do you think I volunteered to watch over you guys?”
I see. You need us. In spite of this careful planning you’ve done, it’s all for nothing if we don’t cooperate.
“Then I’m setting down my own condition.” Kenta put out his hand sternly. “Hand over the Master Ball for now. I’ll keep it safe.”
Saishi looked at him disbelievingly. “You’ll set no such condition,” she said softly. “I don’t even know you, and I certainly will not bargain with you. I’ll keep the Master Ball, thank you very much.”
I may never get another chance at this. I must have that ball!
“You may as well hand it over now,” Kenta reasoned, trying his hardest to stay calm. “It’ll be taken from you the moment you’re amongst officers anyway. I, on the other hand, know who you are now. I can vouch that you secured it with me . . . if you let me hold it. I can do nothing if it’s on you.”
One way or another, lady, he thought as Saishi glared at him, apparently doing some fast thinking. His thoughts drifted to the two pokémon in his pocket. If I have to, I’ll take it from you by force. Nobody else will have seen it but your prisoners, and who do you think they’ll side with?
Very reluctantly, Saishi offered Kenta her Master Ball, her face contorted in an ugly look. Taking it away, Kenta sank the ball into his pocket with a pounding heart, and pulled out a pokeball in its place. “Bakuphoon,” he murmured, and in a burst of light, a giant fire ferret appeared before him. The Typhlosion gave him a salute, and Kenta returned the gesture before pointing towards the tied-up Dei and Sosuke. “Cut those officers free from their ropes,” he ordered hastily. “Afterwards, stand by for orders. Do not attack this woman, she’s a friendly. Go!”
As Bakuphoon scampered over the prisoner officers and began chewing on their bonds, Saishi rushed to the computer and knocked on the screen. “Porygon! Time to go.” The head of a virtual pokémon with a 32-bit appearance poked out of the monitor, and it nodded to its master before ducking back inside. Kenta picked up the telephone receiver and listened for a dial tone. For a moment, he heard nothing, then Porygon’s echoing cry resounded through the phone. At the next moment, it was working again, and Kenta had the feeling that Porygon had broken through Silph’s security system to connect him with the outside world. Not pausing for a moment, he dialed the number to his military outpost and waited impatiently until he heard someone pick up on the other end.
“HQ, this is Sergeant Kenta Nyna, requesting immediate backup to the Silph Corporation building in Saffron City, repeat . . .”
When he’d finished his call, Officers Dei and Sosuke were already free, with their own pokémon out. A Weezing and a Growlithe stood at ready beside Bakuphoon, and Saishi’s Porygon floated out of the computer the next moment to total four pokémon on alert. Kenta saluted his two comrades briskly.
“Are you two both okay?”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“And you heard everything?”
“Affirmative. What are our objectives?”
“We’re on the third floor of Silph Corporation, and we need to get out. Our job is to protect Ms. Saishi from harm; she’s got information on the Master Ball, and her comrades now consider her a whistle-blower. Also, Lieutenant Shen may still be on the first floor, we need to save him as well. We’ve got ten minutes before backup arrives. Are we taking the elevator, or the stairs?”
“Stairs. They might trap us in the elevator.”
“Alright. Be advised, there’s one man out in the hallway with a Drowzee.” Kenta turned to Saishi sharply, a lot more comfortable now that his side was somewhat back in control. “What else might we run into? Pokémon? Firearms?”
“No guns, except for the higher-ups,” Saishi responded hurriedly. “But everyone has pokémon. Mostly there are Magnemite and Magneton, and a few Electrode . . . but those are used for pokeball research, not battling!”
Hmm. If that’s the case, enemy pokémon should be at levels in their upper twenties or lower thirties. Moderately powerful, but nothing we can’t handle. Let’s just hope they don’t attack in large numbers.
“Listen,” said Kenta, “the hallways are confining. There’s enough space for only one pokémon to effectively battle at a time. Any attacks will be straightforward and predictable. We’ll need a berserker out front to pave the way, while someone else covers the rear. Who’s going?”
Bakuphoon’s paw immediately shot up. “Bakra!”
Kenta smiled fondly at his starter pokémon. “As expected. Alright, Baku, I’m going to pull back the door, one the count of three. Ready? One . . .”
“Cover him,” commanded Officer Sosuke, and his Growlithe charged the door just as Kenta yelled “three!” and yanked it open. Both Fire-type pokémon lunged out into the hall, and a sudden yelp of surprise from the guard on duty was followed by a brilliant orange aura as the Growlithe and Typhlosion lit up the whole passage. Kenta and his companions rushed out the door into the heated-up hallway, and were met with the sight of charred walls and two smoldering figures lying unconscious on the floor. An instant later, an alarm began to sound, and water began spraying down from the ceiling on everyone.
“Oh hell, we’ve triggered the smoke detectors!” cried Dei. Kenta shook his head and waved his hand. “Dammit . . . don’t stop now, the stairs are this way!”
“Porygon, didn’t you disable the fire alarm?!” barked Saishi furiously at her Porygon. The virtual pokémon hovered a few feet back from her, looking terrified. She pointed back into the hostage room, where the computer still sat indifferently to the sudden chaos. “Don’t just float there, go turn it off!”
Every door in the hallway banged open as Silph employees emerged, looking around to see what the cause was for the sudden outbreak of noise. All eyes fell on the uniformed officers in the middle of the passage and their Fire-type pokémon, and a single shout went up from them. “Escape! Escape, they’re trying to escape!”
“Get out of the way, or we’ll put you down!” Kenta warned, rushing forward alongside his Typhlosion. “Baku! Flame Wheel! Make a path!”
“Electrode!” One of the workers in a white lab coat cast a pokeball on the floor, and a creature looking like the enormous version of its ball appeared. “Use Selfdestruct!”
There was no time to react. Bakuphoon smashed headlong into the Electrode, unable to maneuver right or left, and the enemy pokémon exploded, throwing Kenta and the others back from the force of the blast. “Baku!” shouted Kenta, horrified that his own pokémon having been caught in the explosion. As the smoke cleared, he saw his Typhlosion rise and shake off the attack vigorously. “Hey! You okay?”
“Bakra!” Bakuphoon looked back at him, then shot a thumbs-up. The next moment, his eyes narrowed and he bore his fangs fiercely at the scientists still standing in front of him. The collar of fire on his neck flared up to a luminous blaze, and a swirling mist formed at his feet as the water surrounding him evaporated instantly into steam. Kenta knew this mode. Baku was in his berserk state, where mind conquered matter, and pain didn’t register unless his adrenaline flow was halted somehow. Baku could take some serious punishment in this state. Kenta had once seen him charge straight through a pressure-stream of water without even slowing down. Earlier in that same day, he’d been smashed full in the face by a Hitmonlee’s Hi Jump Kick, only to shake it off and incinerate the foe with a single devastating Flamethrower in retaliation. When push came to shove, Bakuphoon feared nothing, not even legendary pokémon.
“Hold them back! Magneton!” The next Silph scientist threw his pokeball, and from it emerged a three-way connection of Magnemite, combined to form a more powerful magnet pokémon. It crackled with electricity, and the Silph trainer pointed at Bakuphoon furiously. “Use Thunder! It’s a sure hit in this climate!”
Kenta covered his eyes instinctively. He didn’t want to take his sight off the battle for a moment, but if he was going to command Bakuphoon properly, he’d have to avoid going blind. He heard a loud disembodied crash, the kind only concentrated electricity could create, and felt his body jerk wildly. When he opened his eyes, he was looking up at the ceiling, and the nozzles that were still spraying water down on him. Pulling himself to his feet, he realized that he’d been blasted down by misdirected lightning from the Thunder attack. Six of the Silph workers near the Magneton’s trainer were lying scattered through the hall, having been hit a lot harder by misdirected lightning for being so much closer. Bakuphoon himself was on all fours, his body shuddering from electric shocks, but his face alive and murderous.
“Are you CRAZY?!” shouted one of the two remaining Silph employees from behind the door of another room, at his colleague. “What in the hell is wrong with you?? You’ll kill us all, you bleeding lunatic!”
Saishi threw back her head and began to laugh. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Is . . . is that what she told you?” she managed to gasp, wiping a tear from her eye. Kenta nodded, and Saishi snickered a few more seconds before answering. “I am one of this project’s administrators!” she declared with a waving gesture towards the telephone. “I know the leader too well. He wouldn’t dare destroy this building, not only because his precious project’s information is still here, but also because of sentimental value. He just plain likes the building!”
She offered him the phone, still laughing to herself. “Please, by all means, call for backup. Oh! On one condition.” Saishi held up her finger and Kenta waited, his mind whirling as he tried to keep up with it all.
What have I gotten myself into?
“Once you make the call, officer, I want out of here. My people may try to silence me when they see police cars swarming in over the horizon, and that won’t do, oh no. You and those other two on the floor must be my bodyguards until I’m seen to safety.”
Kenta smiled grimly at her. “Your bodyguards, huh?”
“Indeed.” She returned the smile. “Why do you think I volunteered to watch over you guys?”
I see. You need us. In spite of this careful planning you’ve done, it’s all for nothing if we don’t cooperate.
“Then I’m setting down my own condition.” Kenta put out his hand sternly. “Hand over the Master Ball for now. I’ll keep it safe.”
Saishi looked at him disbelievingly. “You’ll set no such condition,” she said softly. “I don’t even know you, and I certainly will not bargain with you. I’ll keep the Master Ball, thank you very much.”
I may never get another chance at this. I must have that ball!
“You may as well hand it over now,” Kenta reasoned, trying his hardest to stay calm. “It’ll be taken from you the moment you’re amongst officers anyway. I, on the other hand, know who you are now. I can vouch that you secured it with me . . . if you let me hold it. I can do nothing if it’s on you.”
One way or another, lady, he thought as Saishi glared at him, apparently doing some fast thinking. His thoughts drifted to the two pokémon in his pocket. If I have to, I’ll take it from you by force. Nobody else will have seen it but your prisoners, and who do you think they’ll side with?
Very reluctantly, Saishi offered Kenta her Master Ball, her face contorted in an ugly look. Taking it away, Kenta sank the ball into his pocket with a pounding heart, and pulled out a pokeball in its place. “Bakuphoon,” he murmured, and in a burst of light, a giant fire ferret appeared before him. The Typhlosion gave him a salute, and Kenta returned the gesture before pointing towards the tied-up Dei and Sosuke. “Cut those officers free from their ropes,” he ordered hastily. “Afterwards, stand by for orders. Do not attack this woman, she’s a friendly. Go!”
As Bakuphoon scampered over the prisoner officers and began chewing on their bonds, Saishi rushed to the computer and knocked on the screen. “Porygon! Time to go.” The head of a virtual pokémon with a 32-bit appearance poked out of the monitor, and it nodded to its master before ducking back inside. Kenta picked up the telephone receiver and listened for a dial tone. For a moment, he heard nothing, then Porygon’s echoing cry resounded through the phone. At the next moment, it was working again, and Kenta had the feeling that Porygon had broken through Silph’s security system to connect him with the outside world. Not pausing for a moment, he dialed the number to his military outpost and waited impatiently until he heard someone pick up on the other end.
“HQ, this is Sergeant Kenta Nyna, requesting immediate backup to the Silph Corporation building in Saffron City, repeat . . .”
When he’d finished his call, Officers Dei and Sosuke were already free, with their own pokémon out. A Weezing and a Growlithe stood at ready beside Bakuphoon, and Saishi’s Porygon floated out of the computer the next moment to total four pokémon on alert. Kenta saluted his two comrades briskly.
“Are you two both okay?”
“Yes, Sergeant.”
“And you heard everything?”
“Affirmative. What are our objectives?”
“We’re on the third floor of Silph Corporation, and we need to get out. Our job is to protect Ms. Saishi from harm; she’s got information on the Master Ball, and her comrades now consider her a whistle-blower. Also, Lieutenant Shen may still be on the first floor, we need to save him as well. We’ve got ten minutes before backup arrives. Are we taking the elevator, or the stairs?”
“Stairs. They might trap us in the elevator.”
“Alright. Be advised, there’s one man out in the hallway with a Drowzee.” Kenta turned to Saishi sharply, a lot more comfortable now that his side was somewhat back in control. “What else might we run into? Pokémon? Firearms?”
“No guns, except for the higher-ups,” Saishi responded hurriedly. “But everyone has pokémon. Mostly there are Magnemite and Magneton, and a few Electrode . . . but those are used for pokeball research, not battling!”
Hmm. If that’s the case, enemy pokémon should be at levels in their upper twenties or lower thirties. Moderately powerful, but nothing we can’t handle. Let’s just hope they don’t attack in large numbers.
“Listen,” said Kenta, “the hallways are confining. There’s enough space for only one pokémon to effectively battle at a time. Any attacks will be straightforward and predictable. We’ll need a berserker out front to pave the way, while someone else covers the rear. Who’s going?”
Bakuphoon’s paw immediately shot up. “Bakra!”
Kenta smiled fondly at his starter pokémon. “As expected. Alright, Baku, I’m going to pull back the door, one the count of three. Ready? One . . .”
“Cover him,” commanded Officer Sosuke, and his Growlithe charged the door just as Kenta yelled “three!” and yanked it open. Both Fire-type pokémon lunged out into the hall, and a sudden yelp of surprise from the guard on duty was followed by a brilliant orange aura as the Growlithe and Typhlosion lit up the whole passage. Kenta and his companions rushed out the door into the heated-up hallway, and were met with the sight of charred walls and two smoldering figures lying unconscious on the floor. An instant later, an alarm began to sound, and water began spraying down from the ceiling on everyone.
“Oh hell, we’ve triggered the smoke detectors!” cried Dei. Kenta shook his head and waved his hand. “Dammit . . . don’t stop now, the stairs are this way!”
“Porygon, didn’t you disable the fire alarm?!” barked Saishi furiously at her Porygon. The virtual pokémon hovered a few feet back from her, looking terrified. She pointed back into the hostage room, where the computer still sat indifferently to the sudden chaos. “Don’t just float there, go turn it off!”
Every door in the hallway banged open as Silph employees emerged, looking around to see what the cause was for the sudden outbreak of noise. All eyes fell on the uniformed officers in the middle of the passage and their Fire-type pokémon, and a single shout went up from them. “Escape! Escape, they’re trying to escape!”
“Get out of the way, or we’ll put you down!” Kenta warned, rushing forward alongside his Typhlosion. “Baku! Flame Wheel! Make a path!”
“Electrode!” One of the workers in a white lab coat cast a pokeball on the floor, and a creature looking like the enormous version of its ball appeared. “Use Selfdestruct!”
There was no time to react. Bakuphoon smashed headlong into the Electrode, unable to maneuver right or left, and the enemy pokémon exploded, throwing Kenta and the others back from the force of the blast. “Baku!” shouted Kenta, horrified that his own pokémon having been caught in the explosion. As the smoke cleared, he saw his Typhlosion rise and shake off the attack vigorously. “Hey! You okay?”
“Bakra!” Bakuphoon looked back at him, then shot a thumbs-up. The next moment, his eyes narrowed and he bore his fangs fiercely at the scientists still standing in front of him. The collar of fire on his neck flared up to a luminous blaze, and a swirling mist formed at his feet as the water surrounding him evaporated instantly into steam. Kenta knew this mode. Baku was in his berserk state, where mind conquered matter, and pain didn’t register unless his adrenaline flow was halted somehow. Baku could take some serious punishment in this state. Kenta had once seen him charge straight through a pressure-stream of water without even slowing down. Earlier in that same day, he’d been smashed full in the face by a Hitmonlee’s Hi Jump Kick, only to shake it off and incinerate the foe with a single devastating Flamethrower in retaliation. When push came to shove, Bakuphoon feared nothing, not even legendary pokémon.
“Hold them back! Magneton!” The next Silph scientist threw his pokeball, and from it emerged a three-way connection of Magnemite, combined to form a more powerful magnet pokémon. It crackled with electricity, and the Silph trainer pointed at Bakuphoon furiously. “Use Thunder! It’s a sure hit in this climate!”
Kenta covered his eyes instinctively. He didn’t want to take his sight off the battle for a moment, but if he was going to command Bakuphoon properly, he’d have to avoid going blind. He heard a loud disembodied crash, the kind only concentrated electricity could create, and felt his body jerk wildly. When he opened his eyes, he was looking up at the ceiling, and the nozzles that were still spraying water down on him. Pulling himself to his feet, he realized that he’d been blasted down by misdirected lightning from the Thunder attack. Six of the Silph workers near the Magneton’s trainer were lying scattered through the hall, having been hit a lot harder by misdirected lightning for being so much closer. Bakuphoon himself was on all fours, his body shuddering from electric shocks, but his face alive and murderous.
“Are you CRAZY?!” shouted one of the two remaining Silph employees from behind the door of another room, at his colleague. “What in the hell is wrong with you?? You’ll kill us all, you bleeding lunatic!”