Story Notes:
(Recommended to read ANTI-POKEMON: THE NEW WORLD before reading this) Contains content not suitable for minors under the age of 18. Viewer discretion is advised. *WARNING* This story may contain: Strong Language, Violence, Use of Drugs, and Strong Sexual Content.
Episode 16 - Dark Depths: The Spawn of Evil
Depression is a common emotion that is a gift and a curse for many individuals in this world and it had gotten to me. I couldn't even think properly, the death of Syndey and Litira rattled my mind like a crystal ball. It was just too much for one Zangoose to handle and the others knew it.
Kuimon wanted to know how Litira died and I told him, barely capable of talking about it. I sensed him change from a sad feeling to a feeling of hope so I asked him why he still smiled.
"Jherek, if she used the Anriu's suicidal attack then that means she has a chance of living still..."
Confused, I tried to ask him why that makes sense but before I had a chance he answered it knowing very well that what he said wouldn't make sense in one's mind who doesn't know much about the Anriu.
"This means Litira and Lucifer will be caught in the Plane of Darkness until one of them kills the other, if Litira can kill Lucifer in that realm..." he trailed off, giving me a hint on what he would have continued saying.
"It's still unbelievable that Litira was Lucifer's sister... I mean back at HQ she didn't seem to know ANYTHING about the Anriu..." Sparks finally spoke after a long moment of silence.
"I knew the first day I met her, but she never fought us, she never even talked about the Anriu, and I could tell that she must have been trying to escape Lucifer..." Kuimon explained.
"But... how can she be Lucifer's sister, I mean... how old is he?" I asked.
"Lucifer has lived since the beginning of time... only existing as a floating vapor in the universe until he grew to the point where he could take over another's body, he's chosen countless bodies and his current is actually Litira's brother, who's name also happens to be Lucifer..."
Surprised, I decided to ask him another question to just get myself to understand a little about the Anriu, "So... how did you achieve their powers and run away?"
"You see... once someone is infected with 'The Third Eye', if they have the will to retaliate against it they can, by removing the Third Eye, but in doing so, the power stays with you, it is one of the fatal flaws in the Anriu spawn, you can quit... and I'm glad that you were able to resist it as well for I know that by your last name being "Kuhn" you would be a definite Drone, your family... they were all infected with the Third Eye, that is why at first I believed you were just a spy especially when you told me your back was hurting, that is a sign that you have used your Anriu ability previously..."
With his long speech coming to a conclusion, he answered quite a bit of my questions, now I was sure that my entire family was part of the Anriu, and now I am just ashamed that the elders of my clan decided to keep this a secret to the younger.
I was starting to have difficulty moving forward, I could barely even move forward, my fur was soaking up most of the rain that fell on me and it ended up weighing down my body.
"Jeez... this storm is getting ridiculous..." Sparks complained as he flung both of his paws over his goggles and tried to protect his head.
"I think I see a cave down there and by the direction it is going, I'd say it leads straight to our destination" Kuimon suggested without any approval, he finally switched to walking on all 4 legs and charged inside before he became even more soaked.
Once inside, Sparks shook his entire body, all of the rainwater from outside spilling all over the cave walls.
"Oh shit... thought you guys were PEF soldiers..." a man proclaimed, his position unknown to us.
Out came a tall man with a green sweater and black pants, he had a rifle close to his chest along with the other 5 men who were close behind, all wearing the same exact clothes.
"I take it you guys are PDs?" Kuimon asked, squeezing his left, pointy ear so all of the water that soaked him would spill out.
"Correct, and I take it you guys are going to the Chaiisin Checkpoint?" he asked us. He had long, black, wavy hair that drooped over his eyes, dirt covering almost every part of his face, and his clothes ripped up drastically along with the others who were all bald.
Chaiisin must have been the checkpoint we were moving to, for Kuimon responded positively.
"James, Chaiisin as in the last Checkpoint in Route 115?" a man asked, one of the PDs on the left. "Correct Travis... after this it's on to Poseidon Markpoint..."
Poseidon Markpoint, exactly where I am heading, and if it is the next Checkpoint on the list, I might be reunited with Yurrei and Belisivious after all for, as I recall, they were heading there as well, "... and no can do Umbreon... we're barred up here, the PEF put in a huge roadblock ever since Rustboro was infiltrated, they do not want anyone going in or coming out... I'm afraid the only way around this place is through these caves which lead to an underground structure which has now been identified as a secret PEF testing lab and the long path around the mountainside..."
"No fucking way... if only we had Apple to teleport us around..." Kuimon grumbled, he shook the water out of all of his fur just as Sparks did, completely splattering it all on the PDs. Sparks and I let out a quiet laugh as all 5 of the PDs groaned, some walking away in annoyance. I was surprised I even laughed, maybe what Kuimon said earlier calmed me down about Litira, maybe she can still live after all.
We stayed there for quite a while for these PDs had a pretty good place here. We moved deeper into the cave to find a room that resembled one of a normal house in Littleroot town, a very small room with hardwood floors, white paint on the walls, table, couch, even a lamp, refrigerator, and TV, I did not know where they were getting the electricity but I did not bother to ask, I was just happy to see all of this.
And I guess James was not lying about the structure which lies deeper within this cave which is now a tunnel in my reasoning mind due to its depth. Travis helped me with my rifle, how to work it and how to aim it and how to maintain it. It was all very stimulating to know that I have such a powerful tool at my disposal, I only wish I could have learned how to use this when Sydney and Litira were in danger, I could have stopped all of this from occurring.
The small string that wrapped around my claws allowed me to pull down the trigger and fire my weapon, I could switch the modes from Automatic to Burst Fire by pulling down in a right angle and I could switch to Single Fire with a pull to the left angle.
Travis was a great instructor, he did not speak the Pokemon language correctly, but at least it was enough for me to understand him, he would try to say things like "You pull down to the right angle..." but ended up saying in the Pokemon language, "Down pull to the right the string" but he was good enough.
The humans don't really need to speak our language, all they need to learn how to do is learn how to understand us, Pokemon have always known the English language but we were never able to respond in any way until Dr. Prolowski of Slateport city created a book on how to understand Pokemon by the sounds and tones of their voice in 2055.
He stated that we may say the name of our species as a language, but our tone is what creates communication. To these humans I am pretty much just babbling out, "Zangoose, Zan-n-n-n, Zan-Zangoose"
Soon in 2069, Kyle Makwitz created a communication device that allowed humans to understand our language by transmitting it to the human language for them, now almost every human has one and it is very useful, but I could tell that Travis did not have one of these, nor did the rest of these 5 guys, but at least they understood us.
It was a great thing to know that humans and Pokemon were finally able to understand each other after all of those years of trying to figure it all out.
After learning the correct way of using this weapon, I strapped it back on my right arm tightly and switching the gun to "Safety Mode" for now.
James and Kuimon were talking mostly about Chaiisin Checkpoint when James must have struck up an interesting topic, Kuimon jumped up and asked, "Would you happen to know exactly what Pokemon are in this testing lab?"
"If you are referring about the 3 Pokemon that were captured some time yesterday, I know for a fact that yesterday they took in an Eevee, Kirlia, and Espeon at the same time, those must have been them..."
Kuimon turned to me, just by looking at his face I knew exactly what he was going to request, "I need to aid Chaiisin... if we lose that Checkpoint then we could lose control of Poseidon Markpoint... I will find a way out of this testing facility while you and Sparks go locate the rest and bring them back"
I could not leave any Elite Force member behind, it was my duty to put my life on the line for them once I stepped foot in their base and so I will. I nodded my head positively, signaling I have accepted the task.
With a relieved look on his face, Kuimon turned his attention back to James who was scratching his left arm.
"James, can you get us a link with Chaiisin, a connection to their base perhaps?"
"Affirmative Kuimon, come with me"
They both walked over to a tiny box which resembled a normal radio, Kuimon stood up on his hind legs once more when James handed him headphones.
"What is this little place called?" Kuimon asked.
"Well this place doesn't have a name, but we were near the last Checkpoint from where you guys came... um... Point 6 I believe it was called" James responded.
"Point 6 to Chaiisin, Point 6 to Chaiisin, do you read me?"
"Uh yes we read you, please identify yourself" an elderly-sounding man answered.
"This is James Vetterin with an Umbreon, I'm letting him talk right now"
"I can tell you know... he's speaking the Pokemon language... identify yourself Umbreon"
"My name is Kuimon..."
"Good, what is the reason you have contacted us?" the elderly man cut Kuimon off before he had a chance to say his last name.
"I wanted to inform you that I am on my way to reinforce you while the rest of my squad will search for 3 missing comrades, I believe they will act as a last resort if the battle lasts long enough"
"Now I remember your name, Kuimon, the leader of the Pokemon Elite Force I believe, yes, we await your arrival with great anticipation, and one more thing Kuimon the... will be... in..." his connection was being interfered by something that suddenly sent the message, "Stop this senseless violence... stop resisting the Pokemon Elimination Force..." in a male monotone voice, by the sound of it I believed it was an Overmind for it seemed possible that they could intercept messages so easily.
"Hello... can anyone read me?" Kuimon began repeating while trying to get a better connection with the two antennas connected to the transmission device, "Point 6 to Chaiisin Checkpoint, do you read me?!" Kuimon was now becoming frustrated as he raised his voice and kept repeating the same thing every few seconds until he finally gave up.
"James, do you know your way around the PEF testing lab?" Kuimon asked, going back on all 4 paws with his staff stick strapped on to his back tightly in place.
"Yeah I do, but what are you implying?"
"Can you escort Jherek and Sparks to wherever they might be keeping the rest of my team?"
"... I don't know about that, It's not that I don't know where to go it's just that strange things have been happening ever since a PEF APC brought in a little Sneasel, we haven't heard anything from inside ever since..."
"Jherek and Sparks are more than trustworthy, you can trust them with your lives... please... you know what will happen if we lose Chaiirin... I'm not one to brag but if I am there we will be reinforced enough"
"Alright, alright, I'll go, but Travis you're coming too"
"Say what?!" Travis responded.
"Then it's settled, but is there any quicker way out of here?" Kuimon cut Travis' whining off.
"Well, you'll have to go outside again and go around the mountainside, but I'm sure it will be much quicker than going straight through a PEF infested facility..." James answered Kuimon's question.
"Gotcha..." Kuimon started as he walked towards me and Sparks, "... and for love's sake please be careful..." were his last words before he stormed back outside in the rain.
"Courageous for a 15 year old boy..." I whispered.
The other 3 PD soldiers all began to mutter excuses for why they couldn't come along with us and all walked outside at once. One of them even said, "I left my refrigerator door open at my house..."
"Well, I guess it's just us 4, we might as well start moving..." James muttered as he walked towards what seemed to be a stairway in the tunnel going deeper and deeper into Earth.
"There is a secret entrance down here that should lead us to the hallway near sector 12 in this structure. I believe that they sort Pokemon out alphabetically by their species so we might need to do some searching..." James informed us, but by the sound of his voice I could tell he really did not want to be down here, "I think it will be a lot easier if we split up though... I've heard that Eevees are always tested in special places and I have no idea where to search for that, but I am pretty sure it is somewhere on the lower levels of the establishment, Jherek, you go down to level 1 and Sparks you go down to level 2, the room should be on one of those floors" Travis ordered like a real commander, showing more courage than James at the moment as they both slid open a metallic door that lead to a hallway, the entire room completely chrome and spotless, it was like staring at a calm lake with an incredibly reflective surface.
"Sparks, the rooms that lead to level 1 should be to the left of this hallway, Jherek the rooms that lead to level 2 should be down to the right, James and I will search for Emma and Apple while you two are gone, good luck" Travis was now beginning to take command, he ordered me to go right while he ordered Sparks to go left and that is exactly what we did.
I still tried to keep the element of surprise on my side through all of this, I did not know how many PEF soldiers I would attract by being sighted only once so I moved towards my destination as quickly and discretely as possible.
Entering my first room I noticed no one to hide from, the room seemed trashed though like someone was in a hurry to escape. The lights above flickered on and off constantly causing the environment to become depressing and fearful. I pointed the AER-40 rifle I had strapped to my right arm forward as I moved along, preparing to fire at anyone or anything that popped up instantly and without warning.
When I turned the corner to find myself looking straight towards the door that lead to the stairway where I was heading, I turned around instantly in disbelief on what I just witnessed.
"Blood... blood..."
It was splattered all over the door as if someone wiped the door and walls with someone's dead body, and there on the top of all of that mess were the words, "Undo thy sins..." with a bloody arrow pointed towards the door, telling me I should open it and find out.
I turned around to see everyone had already left, I just could not find the courage within me to continue nor I had the stomach to take in this much gore. It all dripped to the tile floor where the blood marked that the murderer dragged the victim inside. Little drops of blood began to drop on the tile next to me. I look up to see the ceiling soaked with blood.
"Sweet mother of Jirachi!"
I backed away before any of the blood dropped on me. The lights flickered on and off as I stared at the blood stains which completely covered most of the wall, floor, and ceiling in this half of the room.
The blood dropped as if the murder just occurred recently and that disturbed me even deeper. Was the murderer still in the building?
Somehow I summoned the courage to move on, I slowly reached for the door and tried to open it, but my paws weren't capable of opening doors, I looked down to see that the PEF still had Pokemon door handles, they must not have covered every single building in the Hoenn region yet to replace all human/Pokemon doorknobs. These types of doorknobs made it easier for Pokemon to open doors, there was a small hole under it where you push a button and the door will automatically open ajar, enough for the certain Pokemon to open the door with or without paws.
I fitted one blade of my right claw through the small hole and tapped the button slowly, opening the door, it squeaked as it opened ajar, it's sinister tone which caused cold chills to race down my spine as I pushed open the door a little bit, revealing the next room.
The stairs went straight down with no turns and so did the blood, the victim was dragged all the way downstairs, only one light shined from overhead, but it rocked back and forth as if someone had just been through here.
My heart began to race as I took my first step down, second step, third step, then suddenly I found myself running downstairs, it seemed as if I was in a position to get murdered right there and I just couldn't stand the instincts urging me to move forward faster.
My shadow rocked back and forth along with the light, it kept on making me believe that someone was behind me, but of course my mind was playing tricks on me.
I followed the trail of blood to see where it might have lead, which probably was not the smartest thing to do at the time but I had to know what happened here. Still, all of this did not make the slightest amount of sense, the human body cannot contain this much blood, there had to be more than one victim and that is exactly what I was expecting, a pile of bodies stacked up in one room for whatever reason.
The light that was aiding me from the staircase finally dimmed out, the entire room became a dark, evil presence in my mind. It felt like the walls were closing in on me and I felt as if I was being watched as I frantically searched for something that would light up my path. That is when my eyes located a dim light coming from a nearby room, I stumbled on overturned chairs that were mysteriously blocking my path to get to that room, I fitted my claw in the Pokemon doorknob and pushed the button, revealing a Charmeleon in the corner of the room lying there in a fetal position, he looked up at me began to scream, "Please, for the love of all things good, tell me you are a PDF!"
PDF was the nickname for a kind of PD Pokemon, the Pokemon Defensive Force made entirely out of trained Pokemon. I replied negatively to the Charmeleon's question, but I told him that he could follow me and eventually we'll escape this place.
He was extremely paranoid, he shivered in the warm climate of the room, his eyes shifted left to right at random, etcetera.
To calm him down I asked him what his name was, he decided to answer with some sort of motto, "One of the top 5 Strategists in Miir Cyraa, Cameron Kiddoo" he responded. He got close enough to me where I could see he had a small golden nametag pierced against his chest, "Officer Kiddoo" it read.
But, why was a high ranking strategist in this hellhole?
I took this as an opportunity to ask him some questions about this war, but I didn't believe it was a good time either way.
"Cameron Kiddoo, eh... tell me, do you know when the PEF are going to invade Miir Cyraa?" I asked.
It seemed I never really got around to that, when I was sick with pneumonia with Yurrei and Belisivious, I heard them talking about how the invasion was starting soon and how the PEF were building campsites around Miir Cyraa.
"Soon... I'd say about a week or two... we don't know for they do not have enough soldiers to reinforce them... but enough questions, I think we need to get the fuck out of here... please..."
"Wait, at least tell me what's happening here, why the hell is this PEF testing lab so empty?"
"You... you don't know...?" he started, "For the love of Jirachi man, it's fucking Lucifer's son!"
"Lucifer's... son?" the mere image of Lucifer mating with a female almost caused me to puke.
"They took him in a few hours ago, ever since this place has gone to hell in a Rattata bowl..."
I looked around the area, he must have been telling the truth, only one as foul as Lucifer or anyone with his genetics could have been capable of doing something as evil as this, "Those damnable Anriu scumbags..."
I finally saw that Cameron wielded an AER-40 rifle as well as I did. I did not bother to ask him why though. I think the "Top 5 Strategist" thing kind of spoke for itself.
"I'm sorry Cameron, but I can't leave yet, I need to find some of my comrades who have been imprisoned here... and I can't waste anymore time, either you are with me or you're getting out of here by yourself" I put that rather roughly, but it was probably the only way to make sure I had this Charmeleon's support and without hesitation he joined me, it was very surprising that he had enough courage to stay here longer and help me out a little.
I salute you Cameron Kiddoo.
Cameron began to scan the area, his rifle pointed outwards just as I did previously. "So... these guys you're looking for, they got names or what?"
"Well, I got some other guys looking for ones named Emma and Apple, but a Raichu and I are looking for an Eevee, Timmy who was expectantly taken to a special room for testing"
"Yeah... these guys always like to experiment with Eevee's constantly... I don't know why" Cameron answered.
Suddenly a barrel fell over from wherever it once was, startled, I jumped up and brought myself to a defensive position. Cameron did not seem startled though. It was almost as if he knew when exactly that barrel was going to fall over.
"Something is watching us..." he whispered, aiming his rifle towards a pile of boxes, extending his right arm out only and not his left, it must have been the correct aiming stance, next time I'll have to use that.
"... I know a little secret... you're about to go to hell..."
Cameron fired his rifle at the pile of boxes, his gun flashes up the entire room for a second revealing blood stains everywhere, splattered on the walls surrounding us and puddles on the floors.
Whatever hid behind those boxes suddenly exploded in a small streak of dark mist, the boxes flew all across the room and one straight to Cameron's face. The force of the box moved him back a little against the wall, his fiery tail began burning a plank irresponsibly placed against the wall. It lit up and without even thinking, Cameron picked up the stick and used it as a torch, he threw it towards the stairs from whence I descended down here, revealing a shadowy figure hiding in a dark corner near that area.
"Fuck... Nightwalkers... definitely the works of Constantine..." Cameron whispered.
"Constantine...?" I asked as I just remembered I never switched back my rifle settings, I had it on "Safety Mode" this entire time and I never knew it.
"Yes, Constantine, the son of Lucifer"
BOOM
The lights above suddenly flashed on, brightening the room with intense light, then...
BOOM
The light turns back off. Cameron's tail light was not bright enough to light the room.
The high volume of the lights switching on and off baffled me a bit, but I was afraid I had more than something so simple to worry about for the moment.
"Crap, I don't like this one bit..." Constantine spoke, fear in his voice.
BOOM
The lights turned back on.
"Sweet mother of..."
I whispered that in shock when I realized that several Nightwalkers were stalking us, staring at us from behind boxes and equipment.
BOOM
The darkness once again filled the room.
BOOM
The lights came back on and there were more of them, some even climbing on the ceiling and on the walls, their red eyes glowed all around the room.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Cameron yelled in a desperate attempt to calm himself down, "That's it, die mother fuckers!" he began firing his rifles all around at the Nightwalkers.
BOOM
The lights turned off once again, but this time I heard the low growling become loud and fierce, "Shit, one's got me!!" I heard Cameron yell, but I could not see him, the lights were not turning on anymore and the light coming from his tail was too dim, it wasn't helping me at all.
The room lit up once again, but this time it was all Cameron's gun fire, the flashes revealed how many of these creatures were surrounding us and by what I saw, we would be extremely lucky to get out of here alive.
"It's... these guys are ripping me apart, fuck, help me!" he screamed in pure terror, his gunfire revealed the Nightwalkers actually crawling up from the shadows, technically crawling out of the floor and attempting to pull Cameron in all directions, trying to literally rip him apart.
Before I knew it, one grabbed me, a red light flooded my vision as I looked down at the tall and skinny Nightwalker, its skin a dark charcoal, its eyes emitted an ominous red glow, its pupils resembled the insignia of the Anriu, this was indeed the work of Constantine.
I pulled down of the string that activated the trigger on my gun and began to fire at the Nightwalker. But by then, three of them were pulling me in all directions, two on my arms and one pulling on my tail, the Nightwalker's eerie screeching was all I could hear when I shut my eyes tightly and let out a Flamethrower.
Kuimon wanted to know how Litira died and I told him, barely capable of talking about it. I sensed him change from a sad feeling to a feeling of hope so I asked him why he still smiled.
"Jherek, if she used the Anriu's suicidal attack then that means she has a chance of living still..."
Confused, I tried to ask him why that makes sense but before I had a chance he answered it knowing very well that what he said wouldn't make sense in one's mind who doesn't know much about the Anriu.
"This means Litira and Lucifer will be caught in the Plane of Darkness until one of them kills the other, if Litira can kill Lucifer in that realm..." he trailed off, giving me a hint on what he would have continued saying.
"It's still unbelievable that Litira was Lucifer's sister... I mean back at HQ she didn't seem to know ANYTHING about the Anriu..." Sparks finally spoke after a long moment of silence.
"I knew the first day I met her, but she never fought us, she never even talked about the Anriu, and I could tell that she must have been trying to escape Lucifer..." Kuimon explained.
"But... how can she be Lucifer's sister, I mean... how old is he?" I asked.
"Lucifer has lived since the beginning of time... only existing as a floating vapor in the universe until he grew to the point where he could take over another's body, he's chosen countless bodies and his current is actually Litira's brother, who's name also happens to be Lucifer..."
Surprised, I decided to ask him another question to just get myself to understand a little about the Anriu, "So... how did you achieve their powers and run away?"
"You see... once someone is infected with 'The Third Eye', if they have the will to retaliate against it they can, by removing the Third Eye, but in doing so, the power stays with you, it is one of the fatal flaws in the Anriu spawn, you can quit... and I'm glad that you were able to resist it as well for I know that by your last name being "Kuhn" you would be a definite Drone, your family... they were all infected with the Third Eye, that is why at first I believed you were just a spy especially when you told me your back was hurting, that is a sign that you have used your Anriu ability previously..."
With his long speech coming to a conclusion, he answered quite a bit of my questions, now I was sure that my entire family was part of the Anriu, and now I am just ashamed that the elders of my clan decided to keep this a secret to the younger.
I was starting to have difficulty moving forward, I could barely even move forward, my fur was soaking up most of the rain that fell on me and it ended up weighing down my body.
"Jeez... this storm is getting ridiculous..." Sparks complained as he flung both of his paws over his goggles and tried to protect his head.
"I think I see a cave down there and by the direction it is going, I'd say it leads straight to our destination" Kuimon suggested without any approval, he finally switched to walking on all 4 legs and charged inside before he became even more soaked.
Once inside, Sparks shook his entire body, all of the rainwater from outside spilling all over the cave walls.
"Oh shit... thought you guys were PEF soldiers..." a man proclaimed, his position unknown to us.
Out came a tall man with a green sweater and black pants, he had a rifle close to his chest along with the other 5 men who were close behind, all wearing the same exact clothes.
"I take it you guys are PDs?" Kuimon asked, squeezing his left, pointy ear so all of the water that soaked him would spill out.
"Correct, and I take it you guys are going to the Chaiisin Checkpoint?" he asked us. He had long, black, wavy hair that drooped over his eyes, dirt covering almost every part of his face, and his clothes ripped up drastically along with the others who were all bald.
Chaiisin must have been the checkpoint we were moving to, for Kuimon responded positively.
"James, Chaiisin as in the last Checkpoint in Route 115?" a man asked, one of the PDs on the left. "Correct Travis... after this it's on to Poseidon Markpoint..."
Poseidon Markpoint, exactly where I am heading, and if it is the next Checkpoint on the list, I might be reunited with Yurrei and Belisivious after all for, as I recall, they were heading there as well, "... and no can do Umbreon... we're barred up here, the PEF put in a huge roadblock ever since Rustboro was infiltrated, they do not want anyone going in or coming out... I'm afraid the only way around this place is through these caves which lead to an underground structure which has now been identified as a secret PEF testing lab and the long path around the mountainside..."
"No fucking way... if only we had Apple to teleport us around..." Kuimon grumbled, he shook the water out of all of his fur just as Sparks did, completely splattering it all on the PDs. Sparks and I let out a quiet laugh as all 5 of the PDs groaned, some walking away in annoyance. I was surprised I even laughed, maybe what Kuimon said earlier calmed me down about Litira, maybe she can still live after all.
We stayed there for quite a while for these PDs had a pretty good place here. We moved deeper into the cave to find a room that resembled one of a normal house in Littleroot town, a very small room with hardwood floors, white paint on the walls, table, couch, even a lamp, refrigerator, and TV, I did not know where they were getting the electricity but I did not bother to ask, I was just happy to see all of this.
And I guess James was not lying about the structure which lies deeper within this cave which is now a tunnel in my reasoning mind due to its depth. Travis helped me with my rifle, how to work it and how to aim it and how to maintain it. It was all very stimulating to know that I have such a powerful tool at my disposal, I only wish I could have learned how to use this when Sydney and Litira were in danger, I could have stopped all of this from occurring.
The small string that wrapped around my claws allowed me to pull down the trigger and fire my weapon, I could switch the modes from Automatic to Burst Fire by pulling down in a right angle and I could switch to Single Fire with a pull to the left angle.
Travis was a great instructor, he did not speak the Pokemon language correctly, but at least it was enough for me to understand him, he would try to say things like "You pull down to the right angle..." but ended up saying in the Pokemon language, "Down pull to the right the string" but he was good enough.
The humans don't really need to speak our language, all they need to learn how to do is learn how to understand us, Pokemon have always known the English language but we were never able to respond in any way until Dr. Prolowski of Slateport city created a book on how to understand Pokemon by the sounds and tones of their voice in 2055.
He stated that we may say the name of our species as a language, but our tone is what creates communication. To these humans I am pretty much just babbling out, "Zangoose, Zan-n-n-n, Zan-Zangoose"
Soon in 2069, Kyle Makwitz created a communication device that allowed humans to understand our language by transmitting it to the human language for them, now almost every human has one and it is very useful, but I could tell that Travis did not have one of these, nor did the rest of these 5 guys, but at least they understood us.
It was a great thing to know that humans and Pokemon were finally able to understand each other after all of those years of trying to figure it all out.
After learning the correct way of using this weapon, I strapped it back on my right arm tightly and switching the gun to "Safety Mode" for now.
James and Kuimon were talking mostly about Chaiisin Checkpoint when James must have struck up an interesting topic, Kuimon jumped up and asked, "Would you happen to know exactly what Pokemon are in this testing lab?"
"If you are referring about the 3 Pokemon that were captured some time yesterday, I know for a fact that yesterday they took in an Eevee, Kirlia, and Espeon at the same time, those must have been them..."
Kuimon turned to me, just by looking at his face I knew exactly what he was going to request, "I need to aid Chaiisin... if we lose that Checkpoint then we could lose control of Poseidon Markpoint... I will find a way out of this testing facility while you and Sparks go locate the rest and bring them back"
I could not leave any Elite Force member behind, it was my duty to put my life on the line for them once I stepped foot in their base and so I will. I nodded my head positively, signaling I have accepted the task.
With a relieved look on his face, Kuimon turned his attention back to James who was scratching his left arm.
"James, can you get us a link with Chaiisin, a connection to their base perhaps?"
"Affirmative Kuimon, come with me"
They both walked over to a tiny box which resembled a normal radio, Kuimon stood up on his hind legs once more when James handed him headphones.
"What is this little place called?" Kuimon asked.
"Well this place doesn't have a name, but we were near the last Checkpoint from where you guys came... um... Point 6 I believe it was called" James responded.
"Point 6 to Chaiisin, Point 6 to Chaiisin, do you read me?"
"Uh yes we read you, please identify yourself" an elderly-sounding man answered.
"This is James Vetterin with an Umbreon, I'm letting him talk right now"
"I can tell you know... he's speaking the Pokemon language... identify yourself Umbreon"
"My name is Kuimon..."
"Good, what is the reason you have contacted us?" the elderly man cut Kuimon off before he had a chance to say his last name.
"I wanted to inform you that I am on my way to reinforce you while the rest of my squad will search for 3 missing comrades, I believe they will act as a last resort if the battle lasts long enough"
"Now I remember your name, Kuimon, the leader of the Pokemon Elite Force I believe, yes, we await your arrival with great anticipation, and one more thing Kuimon the... will be... in..." his connection was being interfered by something that suddenly sent the message, "Stop this senseless violence... stop resisting the Pokemon Elimination Force..." in a male monotone voice, by the sound of it I believed it was an Overmind for it seemed possible that they could intercept messages so easily.
"Hello... can anyone read me?" Kuimon began repeating while trying to get a better connection with the two antennas connected to the transmission device, "Point 6 to Chaiisin Checkpoint, do you read me?!" Kuimon was now becoming frustrated as he raised his voice and kept repeating the same thing every few seconds until he finally gave up.
"James, do you know your way around the PEF testing lab?" Kuimon asked, going back on all 4 paws with his staff stick strapped on to his back tightly in place.
"Yeah I do, but what are you implying?"
"Can you escort Jherek and Sparks to wherever they might be keeping the rest of my team?"
"... I don't know about that, It's not that I don't know where to go it's just that strange things have been happening ever since a PEF APC brought in a little Sneasel, we haven't heard anything from inside ever since..."
"Jherek and Sparks are more than trustworthy, you can trust them with your lives... please... you know what will happen if we lose Chaiirin... I'm not one to brag but if I am there we will be reinforced enough"
"Alright, alright, I'll go, but Travis you're coming too"
"Say what?!" Travis responded.
"Then it's settled, but is there any quicker way out of here?" Kuimon cut Travis' whining off.
"Well, you'll have to go outside again and go around the mountainside, but I'm sure it will be much quicker than going straight through a PEF infested facility..." James answered Kuimon's question.
"Gotcha..." Kuimon started as he walked towards me and Sparks, "... and for love's sake please be careful..." were his last words before he stormed back outside in the rain.
"Courageous for a 15 year old boy..." I whispered.
The other 3 PD soldiers all began to mutter excuses for why they couldn't come along with us and all walked outside at once. One of them even said, "I left my refrigerator door open at my house..."
"Well, I guess it's just us 4, we might as well start moving..." James muttered as he walked towards what seemed to be a stairway in the tunnel going deeper and deeper into Earth.
"There is a secret entrance down here that should lead us to the hallway near sector 12 in this structure. I believe that they sort Pokemon out alphabetically by their species so we might need to do some searching..." James informed us, but by the sound of his voice I could tell he really did not want to be down here, "I think it will be a lot easier if we split up though... I've heard that Eevees are always tested in special places and I have no idea where to search for that, but I am pretty sure it is somewhere on the lower levels of the establishment, Jherek, you go down to level 1 and Sparks you go down to level 2, the room should be on one of those floors" Travis ordered like a real commander, showing more courage than James at the moment as they both slid open a metallic door that lead to a hallway, the entire room completely chrome and spotless, it was like staring at a calm lake with an incredibly reflective surface.
"Sparks, the rooms that lead to level 1 should be to the left of this hallway, Jherek the rooms that lead to level 2 should be down to the right, James and I will search for Emma and Apple while you two are gone, good luck" Travis was now beginning to take command, he ordered me to go right while he ordered Sparks to go left and that is exactly what we did.
I still tried to keep the element of surprise on my side through all of this, I did not know how many PEF soldiers I would attract by being sighted only once so I moved towards my destination as quickly and discretely as possible.
Entering my first room I noticed no one to hide from, the room seemed trashed though like someone was in a hurry to escape. The lights above flickered on and off constantly causing the environment to become depressing and fearful. I pointed the AER-40 rifle I had strapped to my right arm forward as I moved along, preparing to fire at anyone or anything that popped up instantly and without warning.
When I turned the corner to find myself looking straight towards the door that lead to the stairway where I was heading, I turned around instantly in disbelief on what I just witnessed.
"Blood... blood..."
It was splattered all over the door as if someone wiped the door and walls with someone's dead body, and there on the top of all of that mess were the words, "Undo thy sins..." with a bloody arrow pointed towards the door, telling me I should open it and find out.
I turned around to see everyone had already left, I just could not find the courage within me to continue nor I had the stomach to take in this much gore. It all dripped to the tile floor where the blood marked that the murderer dragged the victim inside. Little drops of blood began to drop on the tile next to me. I look up to see the ceiling soaked with blood.
"Sweet mother of Jirachi!"
I backed away before any of the blood dropped on me. The lights flickered on and off as I stared at the blood stains which completely covered most of the wall, floor, and ceiling in this half of the room.
The blood dropped as if the murder just occurred recently and that disturbed me even deeper. Was the murderer still in the building?
Somehow I summoned the courage to move on, I slowly reached for the door and tried to open it, but my paws weren't capable of opening doors, I looked down to see that the PEF still had Pokemon door handles, they must not have covered every single building in the Hoenn region yet to replace all human/Pokemon doorknobs. These types of doorknobs made it easier for Pokemon to open doors, there was a small hole under it where you push a button and the door will automatically open ajar, enough for the certain Pokemon to open the door with or without paws.
I fitted one blade of my right claw through the small hole and tapped the button slowly, opening the door, it squeaked as it opened ajar, it's sinister tone which caused cold chills to race down my spine as I pushed open the door a little bit, revealing the next room.
The stairs went straight down with no turns and so did the blood, the victim was dragged all the way downstairs, only one light shined from overhead, but it rocked back and forth as if someone had just been through here.
My heart began to race as I took my first step down, second step, third step, then suddenly I found myself running downstairs, it seemed as if I was in a position to get murdered right there and I just couldn't stand the instincts urging me to move forward faster.
My shadow rocked back and forth along with the light, it kept on making me believe that someone was behind me, but of course my mind was playing tricks on me.
I followed the trail of blood to see where it might have lead, which probably was not the smartest thing to do at the time but I had to know what happened here. Still, all of this did not make the slightest amount of sense, the human body cannot contain this much blood, there had to be more than one victim and that is exactly what I was expecting, a pile of bodies stacked up in one room for whatever reason.
The light that was aiding me from the staircase finally dimmed out, the entire room became a dark, evil presence in my mind. It felt like the walls were closing in on me and I felt as if I was being watched as I frantically searched for something that would light up my path. That is when my eyes located a dim light coming from a nearby room, I stumbled on overturned chairs that were mysteriously blocking my path to get to that room, I fitted my claw in the Pokemon doorknob and pushed the button, revealing a Charmeleon in the corner of the room lying there in a fetal position, he looked up at me began to scream, "Please, for the love of all things good, tell me you are a PDF!"
PDF was the nickname for a kind of PD Pokemon, the Pokemon Defensive Force made entirely out of trained Pokemon. I replied negatively to the Charmeleon's question, but I told him that he could follow me and eventually we'll escape this place.
He was extremely paranoid, he shivered in the warm climate of the room, his eyes shifted left to right at random, etcetera.
To calm him down I asked him what his name was, he decided to answer with some sort of motto, "One of the top 5 Strategists in Miir Cyraa, Cameron Kiddoo" he responded. He got close enough to me where I could see he had a small golden nametag pierced against his chest, "Officer Kiddoo" it read.
But, why was a high ranking strategist in this hellhole?
I took this as an opportunity to ask him some questions about this war, but I didn't believe it was a good time either way.
"Cameron Kiddoo, eh... tell me, do you know when the PEF are going to invade Miir Cyraa?" I asked.
It seemed I never really got around to that, when I was sick with pneumonia with Yurrei and Belisivious, I heard them talking about how the invasion was starting soon and how the PEF were building campsites around Miir Cyraa.
"Soon... I'd say about a week or two... we don't know for they do not have enough soldiers to reinforce them... but enough questions, I think we need to get the fuck out of here... please..."
"Wait, at least tell me what's happening here, why the hell is this PEF testing lab so empty?"
"You... you don't know...?" he started, "For the love of Jirachi man, it's fucking Lucifer's son!"
"Lucifer's... son?" the mere image of Lucifer mating with a female almost caused me to puke.
"They took him in a few hours ago, ever since this place has gone to hell in a Rattata bowl..."
I looked around the area, he must have been telling the truth, only one as foul as Lucifer or anyone with his genetics could have been capable of doing something as evil as this, "Those damnable Anriu scumbags..."
I finally saw that Cameron wielded an AER-40 rifle as well as I did. I did not bother to ask him why though. I think the "Top 5 Strategist" thing kind of spoke for itself.
"I'm sorry Cameron, but I can't leave yet, I need to find some of my comrades who have been imprisoned here... and I can't waste anymore time, either you are with me or you're getting out of here by yourself" I put that rather roughly, but it was probably the only way to make sure I had this Charmeleon's support and without hesitation he joined me, it was very surprising that he had enough courage to stay here longer and help me out a little.
I salute you Cameron Kiddoo.
Cameron began to scan the area, his rifle pointed outwards just as I did previously. "So... these guys you're looking for, they got names or what?"
"Well, I got some other guys looking for ones named Emma and Apple, but a Raichu and I are looking for an Eevee, Timmy who was expectantly taken to a special room for testing"
"Yeah... these guys always like to experiment with Eevee's constantly... I don't know why" Cameron answered.
Suddenly a barrel fell over from wherever it once was, startled, I jumped up and brought myself to a defensive position. Cameron did not seem startled though. It was almost as if he knew when exactly that barrel was going to fall over.
"Something is watching us..." he whispered, aiming his rifle towards a pile of boxes, extending his right arm out only and not his left, it must have been the correct aiming stance, next time I'll have to use that.
"... I know a little secret... you're about to go to hell..."
Cameron fired his rifle at the pile of boxes, his gun flashes up the entire room for a second revealing blood stains everywhere, splattered on the walls surrounding us and puddles on the floors.
Whatever hid behind those boxes suddenly exploded in a small streak of dark mist, the boxes flew all across the room and one straight to Cameron's face. The force of the box moved him back a little against the wall, his fiery tail began burning a plank irresponsibly placed against the wall. It lit up and without even thinking, Cameron picked up the stick and used it as a torch, he threw it towards the stairs from whence I descended down here, revealing a shadowy figure hiding in a dark corner near that area.
"Fuck... Nightwalkers... definitely the works of Constantine..." Cameron whispered.
"Constantine...?" I asked as I just remembered I never switched back my rifle settings, I had it on "Safety Mode" this entire time and I never knew it.
"Yes, Constantine, the son of Lucifer"
BOOM
The lights above suddenly flashed on, brightening the room with intense light, then...
BOOM
The light turns back off. Cameron's tail light was not bright enough to light the room.
The high volume of the lights switching on and off baffled me a bit, but I was afraid I had more than something so simple to worry about for the moment.
"Crap, I don't like this one bit..." Constantine spoke, fear in his voice.
BOOM
The lights turned back on.
"Sweet mother of..."
I whispered that in shock when I realized that several Nightwalkers were stalking us, staring at us from behind boxes and equipment.
BOOM
The darkness once again filled the room.
BOOM
The lights came back on and there were more of them, some even climbing on the ceiling and on the walls, their red eyes glowed all around the room.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Cameron yelled in a desperate attempt to calm himself down, "That's it, die mother fuckers!" he began firing his rifles all around at the Nightwalkers.
BOOM
The lights turned off once again, but this time I heard the low growling become loud and fierce, "Shit, one's got me!!" I heard Cameron yell, but I could not see him, the lights were not turning on anymore and the light coming from his tail was too dim, it wasn't helping me at all.
The room lit up once again, but this time it was all Cameron's gun fire, the flashes revealed how many of these creatures were surrounding us and by what I saw, we would be extremely lucky to get out of here alive.
"It's... these guys are ripping me apart, fuck, help me!" he screamed in pure terror, his gunfire revealed the Nightwalkers actually crawling up from the shadows, technically crawling out of the floor and attempting to pull Cameron in all directions, trying to literally rip him apart.
Before I knew it, one grabbed me, a red light flooded my vision as I looked down at the tall and skinny Nightwalker, its skin a dark charcoal, its eyes emitted an ominous red glow, its pupils resembled the insignia of the Anriu, this was indeed the work of Constantine.
I pulled down of the string that activated the trigger on my gun and began to fire at the Nightwalker. But by then, three of them were pulling me in all directions, two on my arms and one pulling on my tail, the Nightwalker's eerie screeching was all I could hear when I shut my eyes tightly and let out a Flamethrower.