Lethal Force

Damn power fluxes.  If I could just get a mobile signal, then I could figure out where Kevin and Arturo are.  Who knows what they're doing and when they'll show up--

 

ARTURO:   We leave for three damned minutes! Soot, why didn't you do the thing you do? Do the thing! You're a bad Pokemon!

Arturo! Kevin! You're here--wait, did you mean Wish? Wish doesn't do a thing if you're unconscious, and Jess is far passed unconscious.

KEVIN:   Is she stable?!

TOM:   For now, at least.

KEVIN:   Tom...we left you alone with a teenage girl and now she's unconscious and really fucked up.  You know I'm gonna want some answers.  What is going on?

You know what? I'm just going to ignore that little insinuation and just go straight into--

ARTURO:  Hey Tom, what TM's do you have again?

TOM:   Here, just take the whole box and tell me when you're done.

KEVIN:   Tom?

TOM:   The power plant is in lock-down.  Doc's still in there, but we couldn't find him.  Jess and I dug out a hole to sneak under the main doors, but we ran into Zoroark in there...at least five, probably more.  We were able to knock one out and kill another, but Jess got ambushed by two at once and we needed to get out of there asap.  Power is still flowing through the plant, but something is causing a disturbance that's preventing that power from distributing effectively out of the plant itself.

KEVIN:   And these papers?

TOM:   Some kind of notes.  We found them scattered about one of the computer rooms, but I'm sure there's more of them.  You gotta take a look at these, man.  They're in French, but Jess was able to translate them and they do not say pleasant things.  "Are you still alive?", that kind of shit.

KEVIN:   Do you know what's causing the disturbance?

TOM:   The people here thought it was one of Doc's experiments gone awry; that's certainly what the Dark-type gym leader thinks, but I've spoken with one of the workers who's recovering in the back.  This isn't some freak accident.  I suspect a Joltik infestation, possibly Galvantula; we encountered electric webbing around some of the vents, so we know there's at least a handful of them.  That's not all though--WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!

ARTURO:   I evolved Shadow again.

TOM:   We're sure that that is Arturo's Gengar...right?

KEVIN:   I really don't know.

TOM:   Awesome.  Anyway, according to Sam, the power readings for the plant started going abnormal about a week ago.  When I checked the computers for a building layout, I discovered a log that detailed a pivotal breakthrough is Super-Training technology around that exact time.

ARTURO:   Wait, what's Super-Training?

TOM:   Apparently, Doc and some colleagues abroad have developed a way to streamline and micromanage Pokemon growth patterns.  We all know Pokemon increase in speed, strength, and resilience as they grow, but they've developed a system that quantifies all possible growth patterns and creates isolated training regimens to promote accelerated development for singular characteristics...without battling.  It's the equivalent of virtual weight-lifting or marathon-running, but it all translates into tangible physical conditioning.  It would revolutionize everything we know about training Pokemon...and I think the happenings at the power plant were meant to disrupt or gain control over this program.

KEVIN:   Do you have a plan?

TOM:   I've downloaded this map from the computers and it has been pretty helpful--

ARTURO:   Did you take a picture of the computer screen with your phone? Because the resolution is super shitty.

TOM:   ...it's been pretty helpful in figuring out where we need to go.  Our original goal was to hit the broadcast tower in the back and try to send a distress signal out, maybe reach out to the other gym leaders and get some backup.  Since it's looking like we are the backup, we could also consider heading into this central area here where the main generators are, remove the infestation, and get power back to the region.  Either way, I think locating Doc is secondary to making things safer for the next people to come into the plant...in case we fail.

ARTURO:   Jirachi told us that this shit is pretty much going to be all up to us, so let's hit that generator head-on.

KEVIN:   Agreed.

Right, so I know now that Electric-types aren't going to be as much of a concern in this plant as the Zoroark are, so I won't need to bring Jolteon along as a necessity.  I know he might be weak to their type, but Honedge is a ghost and that might prove very useful when dealing with matters of stealth.  Besides, it's a giant sword.  Where can we go wrong with bringing a sword?

ARTURO:   Right, let's do this!

TOM:   Hey guys...we're pretty fucked up, you know?

ARTURO:   What do you mean?

TOM:   I mean we have physically endured a fucking up on a major scale.  I don't know what you guys did when you went back to Kahu, but Jess and I went straight from the Bed to the plant and that did not serve us well.    I mean, she's still in intensive--

JESS:   Let's go.

ARTURO:   You're up? When did you--?

JESS:   Those fuckers took my egg.  I am ending them.

TOM:   By the way, I think we're pretty much all on-board for using lethal force against--

JESS:   They're fucking DEAD!

KEVIN:   I'm down with that.

ARTURO:   Yeah, me, too.

TOM:   ...you sound like my bird.

Something Barked Back

Remind me, Jess; who are you bringing with you into the plant?

Excellent.  I know they're strong, but you're smart not to bring Roses or Murk with you; they're not going to be as much help as they have been.  Caesar and Destruction are going to be your best friends in there because of the Ground-typing--

Actually, I don't know if we're going to have a problem with Caesar anymore.  Elekid's evolved and I don't know if it will register to him that Electabuzz is the same Pokemon that killed his brother or whatever.  I could just tell Electabuzz to not worry about Caesar and don't say anything to remind him--

Eh, you know what? I'm only gonna bring out the buzz-man if things get really sketchy.  Some Electric-types tend to flock to each other because of the static electricity they generate, and I don't want to draw any unwanted attention to our infiltration.

Here we are...the main entrance.  If you want to send Frostbite out to do some recon--

You already did...and there's no way in? Well, I guess it's time to--

JESS:   Burn the door down--

WOAH! Give me half a second, here! Fire is hot and it glows bright orange.  Even if we could melt through the door, I don't want to give off radiant heat and light as a part of our entrance.

JESS:   Okay, good idea.

However, this place is built on a cliff-side...perhaps we can burrow our way under the door and sneak in that way.  We will technically keep everything still in lock-down, and we can just cover up the hole if need be.

Caesar and Sheila can dig? Alrighty then.  I don't have a big digging contingent, and I think Gliscor might make the hole a little too big...

...but that hole is just big enough! Very nice.  And they don't seem to see any danger in there, so let's get a move on.  Joltik, Jolteon, come on out!

Alright guys, we're going in kind of blind here.  Be ready for anything--

...yeah...like...like that.

JESS:   Your Jolteon seems way into this.

TOM:   Yeah, I dunno.  There may have been a pep-talk a some point.

It's really dark in here; they must not be able to power the lights in the entrance vestibule with all the disturbance--

Is this carpet? Why did they put carpet in an electrical plant? I mean, it's a really nice carpet, but one would think the extra static electricity would be a bit of a annoyance.  Jess, you may want to have Soot light the place up dimly, since my only Flasher is Electabuzz.

I'll call out my Houndour as an early warning system.

Alright, boy.  I want you to keep an eye and a nose out for anything that isn't us.  If you sense something coming near us, I want you to start billowing out little puffs of Smog.  We'll be able to smell the stench and it should give us a little smokescreen to give us a bit more time to react.

Also, uh...if you evolve, don't try to kill me, alright?

I don't think you will, but if you do try, I'm gonna fuck you up.

...good boy.

JESS:   Oh, leave him alone! He's adorable!

TOM:   Hey, I'm just setting the tone here.  I've seen what a Houndoom can do up close.  And you were afraid yours was gonna try to kill you.

JESS:   I know, but he didn't! Look at him!

TOM:   Huh...my dog and your dog aren't going all alpha-mentality.  I guess the capture really tamed that nature, huh?

Okay folks, let's follow Soot.  She's the light, and considering that I'm hearing a hell of a lot of electrical cracking, we're gonna need to see what we're doing in here.

JESS:   Do you think we should split up and look for Doc?

TOM:   Absolutely not.  Splitting up would be a horrible idea.  These plants can labyrinths if you don't know the layout well enough.  Besides, even if Doc is in here, I doubt he's grievously hurt.  Every gym leader who has been attacked thus far has been taken out of commission, sure...but they've never been lethally threatened.  Mewtwo wants them alive for whatever reason, so I doubt Doc is in any real danger.  Besides, we need to get communications back up and send out that warning.  Once we've got the back-up, then we go in for Doc.

Oh, I see...this isn't just an entrance vestibule for workers; this is also a tourism entrance.  Look, there's framed photos of a whole bunch of innovations from this plant.  They must--

There's a light coming from the door on the right.  Joltik, return.  Jolteon, be ready to drop the noise; approach the door very quietly and see if there's something in there.

There is! Alright...let's open the door and Synchronoise!

HHRRRRRRRRRRRN--GYUGH!!! Oh, that was not a pleasant sound--

It was a Magnemite! But...it doesn't seem damaged by that at all--oh god, is it soundproof?

JESS:   Soundproof?

TOM:   It doesn't have ears, does it? I doubt sound-based attacks are going to do much to it.

Houndour, quickly! Hit it with ember! Jess, join in if you want, but don't kill it; we could use this little guy!

Alright, that really hurt it, just enough to--

Oof! I almost forgot they can generate sonic booms when they're upset.  But no matter, Houndour's still looking good.  Great Ball, go!

Direct hit--!

It didn't even go in? But that means...maybe it's owned already! Hold your fire, little guy!

Do you know Doc? Doc...the guy...uh, Doc? Spin once for yes and twice for no--

He doesn't have ears.  He's just a floating eye.  How the hell am I gonna communicate to him? He's basically...

...a computer! This room is full of computers! If I can power one up, I can ask him where Doc is! There have got to be personnel files on a local drive somewhere on here.  You there, little Magnemite! Come on over! We won't hurt you anymore; you just scared us is all.

Alright, let me see...this computer should do the trick--

Jess, you found something?

TOM:   "Il ya quelqu'un"?

JESS:   It's French! Maybe its trainer is French!

TOM:   I don't know French--

JESS:   I do! My mother's family is from Kalos! Bonjour--

Magnemite does NOT like French! Why in the--?

Well, your Houndoom sure scared the hell out of it with that bark.  He flew right through that wall in fear and--

TOM:   Jess...something...barked back.

JESS:   That's not good.

TOM:   What did that paper say?

JESS:   It translates to "Is there something?"

TOM:   What does that even mean--?

JESS:   What was that?!

TOM:   Something's coming.  Loudly.

Joltik! Gliscor! Come out! I don't know what this is, but I have an idea.

ZOROARK! Rushing forward! Gliscor, intercept and Brick Break!

BAM! Right through the wall! I'd be shocked if--

It's coming back! Gliscor, look out!

Damn, that slash looked like it hurt! Gliscor, hang in there! The hounds are coming!

Thank god for the hell hounds.  That fiery-flurry was all we needed to take it out.

JESS:   So...

TOM:   So...do we kill it?

JESS:   Well, let me try to catch it.

TOM:   Nope.  Brainwaves were too weak.

JESS:   I mean, these things are dangerous.  They're attacking people and they're being controlled by Mewtwo.

TOM:   And if we kill it, we don't have to worry about this one anymore.

JESS:   ...do it.

TOM:   Joltik.  Use Leech Life.

JOLTIK:   Yay, I'm involved!

TOM:   I just want to let everyone here know that I really don't want to do this.

JESS:   I do.

TOM:   Well, that's fucking grim.

JESS:   Look, I'm a Dark-type trainer.  I know that there are some Dark-types out there that you can control...and there are some that are better off if you just put them down.

JOLTIK:   I have murdered the thing for you!

TOM:   Thanks, Joltik.

We should really try to figure out what's going on here.  If you want to try to look around for more pieces of paper like the one you just found, I'll try to access one of these computers.  Joltik, you feel like you got enough juice in you to boot up one of these computers?

Alright, get a-charging--

TOM:   Jess, you found another paper? What does it say?

JESS:   Vivez-vous?

TOM:   Which is...?

JESS:   "Do you still live?"

TOM:   This is fucked up, Jess.  We should bring any papers we find like this back with us.

JESS:   For who?

TOM:   I dunno! Anybody! People need to know about this shit--!

JESS:   What about that guy with the fire-fox from Kalos? Maybe he's knows something about all this!

TOM:   The guy with the funny-money? Maybe.  If we can get communications back up, maybe we can find him.

JESS:   What about Sam? She said she took a boat and a plane to get here, and that she was in Castelia...but maybe she started her journey in Kalos?

TOM:   We might be able to learn more if we find more of these creepy French question-papers.  Everything here seem to be engineering schematics and files.

JESS:   Well, there's four other doors here.  Maybe there's some stuff behind one of them.  I want to check out this one that's been slashed and knocked off its hinges.

TOM:   One second, Jess.  Let's figure out what that door leads to first.  Lemme see if I can find a map...

TOM:   Here we go! A complete building layout! I'll just snap a quick photo of this...and let's see...it's a broom closet? But--HOLY SHIT!

JESS:   What?

TOM:   If you were a big tech-nerd and your place of work was attacked, where would you hide where you think you'd be safe? Big solid metal doors, maybe a way to escape from inside...and if someone was trying to get to you, they'd beat the hell out of the door, wouldn't they?

JESS:   You think it's Doc?

TOM:   Let's move this door.

Oh! Gliscor, you're looking chipper.  Did Soot use Wish on you? Well, if you're feeling better, maybe you could move that big door out of the way.

Well, that's odd.  It looks like this door has been damaged from the inside? But what would be in here--?

Look! Behind the boxes of weird antennae headgear stuff! Inside the air vents...

...webs.  Electric webs.  I don't suppose Joltik alone would be able to cause a large enough disturbance to completely interrupt power flow from the entire plant...

...but maybe Galvantula could.  When we come back here, we'll need to bring Fire-types and Rock-types to deal with them.

I have to try to find where this vent leads, or maybe something in the computers that would indicate why this plant was a target.  You can keep exploring, if you wish.  Just don't go too far.  Jolteon, power me up!

Let's see...I can't seem to locate any maintenance blueprints...but look at this!

There are several recently-opened files on work they've been doing at this plant! Apparently, the've been developing retro-fittings for existing Silph and Devon technologies.  Not just hardware updates...but software, too, including...hold on...

Super Training? They're developing a way to use Xtranceivers to selectively train Pokemon outside of battle to specifically target select attributes?! This could revolutionize everything we know about Pokemon training...and they just made a recent breakthrough in the software programming...

...one week ago--?

The power went out? Jolteon, what happened--?

JESS:   TOM! TWO MORE ZOROARK!

Shit! Everyone get over to Jess! Electabuzz! Emolga! Come out! We need you!

EMOLGA:   Finally! My chance to lead the charge--!

ELECTABUZZ:   The fuck did I tell you about the punching?

EMOLGA:   You are...much bigger now.

ELECTABUZZ:   That's as big as you're gonna get, isn't it?

EMOLGA:   ...at the ready, Major.

ELECTABUZZ:   Oh good, a promotion.

Fire is blasting everywhere--and I think I heard two distinct girlish screams? This is not good people!

Jess is down and bleeding bad! Electabuzz and Gliscor! Break some face and give us some space! I gotta get her Escape Rope and we need to get out of here now!

Two serious hits, team! Great job! One's knocked out flat and the other is running on its last legs! Now, I just gotta find--

There it is! Hang on, Jess, we're gonna get you out of here! Everyone, huddle up! Emergency evacuation hug--!

Quickly! I hear something coming from within the office--

A THIRD ZOROARK! HOLD ON EVERYBODY!!!

...

...

...

...we're out! We're right outside the Pokemon Center! Everyone, back in your balls! Upsy-daisy there, Jess.  I got you.

TOM:   Nurse Joy! I need a bed! Severe lacerations.  She's not conscious.

NURSE JOY:   What happened in there?!

TOM:   Zoroark attack.  There were at least four in there when we got in, definitely more than that, though.  I suspect they planted a Galvantula infestation somewhere near the core generators.  Those're your two main problems right there.

NURSE JOY:   We'll take it from here.  Thank you.

I can't go back in there alone; we were both too weak from the desert journey and the Bed of Jirachi troubles to last too long in there...but we've got the intel we need.  If only we could reach Arturo and Kevin...but communications are still down.  The only thing I can do now is rest and wait for Jess to heal, or for the boys to come over from Kahu.

I don't think anyone's gonna have a problem killing the Zoroark after this attack.  I know I won't.