Pokémon Legends: Court of Kings

[Spinne Biss]

Route 12

Grant turned when he was approached, and smiled at the trainer. Grant didn't look like the pinnacle of Pokemon training grace - he looked badass as hell. Well, that's what he told himself the rips and tears in his sponsor jacket did.

If he had a weakness, it was pride. So, he smiled at the approach of Bacque. "I'm flattered," he said, offering a hand for the other trainer to shake. "That's a nice Seismitoad you have there. What's his name?"  

[Marsuru]

'Gren,' Bacque said, taking Grant's hand in his own, releasing it after a quick shake. 'Frog in Kalosian is Grenouille, so it just sort of made sense.'

Bacque burst out laughing, holding his hand to his forehead. 'Ahh, I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Gaston Bacque. I work for the pokémon league. I don't normally meet people up close when I'm working, but there are hardly any cliffs here.'  

[Spinne Biss]

"Grant Mei, but I'm sure you knew that," Grant said. He thought about his own Pokemon's names. "I think I've gotten better about naming over the years. Mumbles, my Empoleon, was named after that Piplup from the movie Happy Feet, but I was ten so it makes sense."

Grant looked between Gren and Gaston. Meeting fans, challengers, and potential rivals was all part of the plan. The more exposure, the more popular, and the more he was given by his sponsors. Even Raijin was evolved on their dime, a thought that amused Grant considering Thunder Stones weren't even that expensive. Just a perk, one he took advantage of.

Another was hotel rooms, and Grant was starting to miss his. "What sort of things are you working on that's got you out here? Tell me it doesn't have anything to do with me? Does it?" Then again, pride was Grant's sin.  

[Marsuru]

'You could say that. It's a great job for someone like me,' Bacque said. 'Every league season, they give me a name or two, and I cross those names off. Then the rest of the year I'm allowed to have a soul.'

Gren took his cue to place its palm on Grant's chest. The bumps dotted along his body started to quiver, and would send pulses directly into Grant's chest cavity. Grant wouldn't be able to move. The vibrations traveled quickly through bone and would have already reached his spine.

'In a few seconds you might feel like you want to be sick,' said Bacque. 'That's normal. Gren's just turning your insides into soup, and some of that's bound to come up. Just hang on, he'll find the right frequency soon.'  

[Spinne Biss]

Grant felt a pang of something being wrong when Gren mentioned crossing names off of a list. But he wasn't Salieri or Zack, he didn't have the fight instincts to dodge, he only had them to call orders to his Pokemon.

Pokemon that were at the center, getting healed. Instead, Gren reached him, and the blood rushed to his throat, escaping his mouth and coating his chin instantly.

He not only felt sick, his insides felt like they were on fire, every pain receptor that was left going off, and then a phantom of that pain reminding him that everything had been destroyed, including the nerve endings.

Adrenaline coursed, but Grant couldn't move. It only caused the world to slow down, and the pain to feel never ending.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Grant couldn't even breathe, instead his parted lips only caused more blood to escape.  

[Marsuru]

'It's taking longer than I expected,' Bacque said, drumming his lips. 'Gren can you hurry up? This is incredibly embarrassing. No, don't do it now, we don't want chunks.'

Gren concentrated on his palm like a workman with a drill. He felt the texture of Grant's body, the way it quivered under his touch. Blood escaped the trainer's mouth, drooling on the pokémon's arm. Then Gren had it.

'It's bad luck we had to meet like this,' Bacque said to Grant, clapping him reassuringly on the shoulder. 'If it'd been a week or two ago, you'd have had a great time. I throw an amazing barbecue.'

The bump on the back of Gren's hand inflated then slammed back down, sending a shock of vibrations through Grant's body. He'd matched the trainer's resonant frequency, dissolving the intermolecular bonds. Grant broke apart like a statue made from ash, scattering on the wind, his body turned to dust. Bacque's hand dropped through where Grant had been, and he took a deep, satisfied breath at a job well done.

'It's funny,' he said to Gren, who was busy slucing his arm down with a mild water gun. 'I should feel something. Ah well. It's time to see if our friend held up her side of the bargain.'  

[Spinne Biss]

Grant could hardly think, his insides turned to mush and his brain screaming at the pain that he was in. He couldn't scream, couldn't warn anyone, couldn't get help.

He struggled to move, but it was hopeless - he was helpless before Gren's power. Something he'd never felt before. Even in all of his years as a trainer, Grant had never once faced an opponent that he couldn't at least struggle against.

Were these the guys that Salieri was taking on? That Helena wanted to fight? He wished that he could warn them, but it was too late.

A moment later, all that remained of Grant was a pool of blood, and dust in the wind.  

[Jump Einatz]

Hidden Oil Field

Again, Alexa gave Bridgette and perplexed look, but wouldn't say anything about it out loud. It was not the time or place to question how different people reacted to death. A journalist had to remain objective. Ben was right, they needed to get what they came for and leave. "I...sure. A basket. We'll fly out of here on a basket."

The twins were reluctant to go inside with the others. Staying outside in this godforsaken forest was still a worse option, so they followed. Manny led the pack.

If he was still using Mind Reader, the Meditite would find no signs of life inside the facility, save for a few Ratata scurrying through the vents. The lights flickered on and off in the grey hallways. Rooms of automated machines and computers hummed alongside multiple AC units that gave the whole building a chill like a cave.

"I don't know," Alexa said, snapping pictures of each room they came across. Nothing about this place looked sanitary, or productive. "A Nostrad owns this place? It's a sham."

Ahead of them was a neon red EXIT sign blinking over a hallway that led to a single door. By now they were deep into the facility, in a basement level.

In the only other unexplored direction was a room labeled 'Archive'.

That was when Manny might feel the presence of a new Aura outside in the field.

************************************************

In a snap of green smoke and a white flash appeared in the center of the oil field, atop the mass of plants.

Rosencrantz, one of the six Royal Quillon Knights, surveyed the site with a swivel of his head. The Gallade's black suit of armor shined under the sun. He looked down and reached through the thicket pile, pulling out one of the Trevenant's hans. He let it flop like a plank of wood.

Another Teleport later, he was walking to the side of the oil field, looking at the shining pond of toxicity plaguing the storage area. Rosencrantz shook his head, then sensed multiple Auras moving through the basement of the facility. These must have been the intruders the Stalker had relayed about, before he was taken out by them.

His mission was to leave no witnesses or evidence. There was no way he could hide an engineered travesty of this magnitude, but he could still do his best.

The Gallade's elbow blades popped out, armored like the rest of him. He swiped them together over the oil slick, creating a spark that ignited the oil. A small flame spread rapidly across the surface. Soon, the whole thing would be up in flames and explosions.

As the heat began, Rosencrantz Teleported away.

************************************************

Sirens rang throughout the facility, and the oppressively bright white lights flickered to red, giving the whole place that glow. Through a window leading into a monitor room, dials for dangerous heat levels could be seen rising.

"No way," Alexa said in disbelief. Again with this? Was there no reprieve? She turned around and nearly dropping her camera with a gasp.

Behind them, at the end of the hall they entered from, the Curse of her sister shambled at her, arms limp at her side and an empty gaze in her eyes.

"It's back, the Curse is back," Alexa stuttered, walking backwards towards the Exit slowly. Her mind raced as to how this was possible. The Stalker was defeated. It could have even been dead. Did this technique persist even without the user's mentality guiding it? When was this going to stop?

Lumiose City Streets

"Oh, Mia can get you anything you want off the black market. Like, anything." Salieri sighed wistfully at Mia's terrifying computer skills. "She can hook you up for sure."

And minutes later, they were at Gotengo.  

[Marsuru]

'Uh oh,' said Roy.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Alexa's fear made sense, but so did the fact that this was a curse ability. Pokemon in battle escaped by winning or being returned. Either that meant they were still in danger or...

Manny informed him of the Aura, but didn't try to dig into the mind. He wasn't able to tell what had been done, only that someone was up there, then gone. That didn't bode well. Neither did the sirens for that matter. He wanted to know what was in the archive, it could be incredibly important, but unless a Pokemon suddenly learned teleport, he couldn't risk it.

"We're leaving. Down the exit! Go!" He yelled, and started trying to herd the rest of them down that path. What they had was enough. Heat levels meant potential explosion. Explosion meant attention. Attention meant their proof would be looked at more closely "Alexa, if it gets close to you, pass it to me. Okay?" She was more important here. People would trust her word, they barely knew him.  

[Spinne Biss]

Hidden Oil Field - The Tunnel

"Go go go!" Bridgette shouted after everyone. She wanted to add that none of this would be a problem if they had just gone with her hot air balloon idea, but she was sure they wouldn't listen, even if she said anything.

Bridgette charged ahead, her Pokemon already back in their balls before their departure down. How far these tunnels went, how long they'd be running, and even if they would be safe upon escape - none of these questions had sure fire answers.  

[Jump Einatz]

Hidden Oil Field

Alexa wanted to know what was in the archive room as much as Benedict did. But if she went down that hall, and it was a dead end, she'd be pinned by her Curse. Or she'd end up in an explosion. Whichever came first. They'd have to deal with the evidence they had.

"I can't do that," Alexa called back to Ben. She was tempted to put a hand on his shoulder for a second. A reassuring gesture, to signify that he wasn't at fault here. She was the only other person who had known the risks. She wanted to give him that, but she was afraid she might scratch him accidentally. "You got us through this far, you're getting out of here in one piece kid."

They ran down the exit hall and Alexa kicked the door open. Thankfully it was a push, not pull, and the door swung open to reveal...

An empty, dingy room. Nothing was here except for a single, dull yellow tile in the center of the room. The sirens grew louder. "What the..."

She would have given up then and there. Never in her journalism career, rife with threats, had she encountered such despair. Then Alexa realized what that tile was, and everything clicked.

Alexa stepped onto it. The Warp Tile glowed yellow, and then she and Sazerac disappeared.

Lumiose City

The Warp Tile led to another, a one way trip, and Alexa found herself in the middle of a dusty, empty floor. Perhaps she was in a building that could have held offices, or could have been a department store. Lumiose City's familiar skyline was on the horizon outside the window that stretched wide as the whole room. Judging by the distance below, she must have been on the third or fourth floor.

She was home.

Alexa turned around, her eyes on the Warp Tile to wait for the others to come through. Or for her Curse to come through. Could that be possible? She wasn't sure but she didn't want to say she was out of the woods yet.  

[Marsuru]

Hidden Oil Field

Roy smelled something burn. That was his last thought before the flame outside snared one of the leaking oil vats and burrowed its way in. The vat blew in silent chaos, trashing the wall, collapsing the ceiling in a plume of smoke, rubble and flame. Roy's skin set on fire for an instant, and he was blown backwards, crashing into the corridor wall outside the tile room. His ears rang, high pitch, his back felt broken and he couldn't breathe.

He shook his head, coughing up a lung of debris. The trainer rolled onto his forearms, retching as his muted world turned up the volume bit by bit. He heard the sirens, then the flames crackling, and saw a steel beam had impaled the warp tile mere seconds after Alexa used it. The room was flooded with fire, burning off the back of sprayed oil.

Staggering to his feet, Roy propped himself against the wall. Then the oil field rumbled again and again, a concert of distant explosions. Some not so distant. The ceiling loosed a shower of dirt alongside another bang. Roy sucked in air through his teeth, scared to check if he'd been impaled by anything during the blast.

There was one warp tile out of here. A facility this big had to have more. He looked toward his companions, fearful that they'd been hurt too.

'Have to keep moving,' he said to them, his voice muffled behind the ringing and the sirens and the encroaching flame.  

[Klarp Glornharm]

Once they hit the dead end, Benedict's eyes searched wildly for the supposed exit. Alexa saw it first and Ben grinned. As she vanished, his mind went to returning Manny and leaving...

And then everything was pain and force and heat. An explosion threw him back, it threw Manny back too. The Pokemon, used to getting hit and with heightened defenses, used a Psychic attack to protect himself and those near him by redirecting any dangerous debris. Just a bit, at least.

When it was over, Ben was left in a coughing fit, and so was Manny. The Pokemon would vanish in a beam of light as the first reaction of a trainer who was worried for their safety. He glanced around, trying to focus. Roy seemed to be coming around faster. He checked his body, no impalement. If there was shrapnel, he didn't feel it. Shock or adrenaline. It was hard to tell. Ben stood. Everything hurt, but that was better than the alternative...

"Archive. Room." He said, glancing to the others. It was the last place they hadn't checked. At the very least he would get to see what was there. His legs were shaky, but he moved to help anyone up that needed it, and would herd the rest towards the archives.

Whatever was there, it was probably not going to be as safe to reach.  

[Spinne Biss]

Hidden Oil Field

Fire wasn't a sure fire answers, and neither were explosions, but Bridgette got both. Her exictement cut short by the concussive shockwave of the blast.

Ringing. Memories of the heat of a burning vehicle. The memory of anytime she'd been too close to a fire type, or that time she was in Kanto and saw a volcano. There was one in Hoenn too, she thought, but she'd never managed to go.

Her skin stung like a hundred paper cuts, glass, wood, and concrete splintered, and in some places tiny shards and pieces had embedded themselves into her skin. Bridgette picked herself up to all three, hazily scanning the area around her.

The ringing in her ears gave way to the ringing of the alarms as the dirt came down, and Bridgette began to cough. Benedict arrived as she moved to stand up, giving her a hand.

"Thanks," she said, but quietly. Bridgette hadn't heard what either of them said, but if someone started to move, she'd follow.

And if both of them moved in different locations, she'd follow Benedict.