Chapter 11

Stalking the forest under the light of the full moon, Team Flare grunts in a group of 5, pokemon at the ready in case of an attack, while simultaneously searching for their next target.

A Herdier held its nose against the ground, sniffing to detect any distinct scents, differing from the normalcy of the forest floor. The five grunts followed from behind, but waiting from the shadows, a figure studied its targets.

Like a Seviper striking a Zangoose with the element of surprise, Gengar phased into existence from the floor, instantly placing the grunts and Herdier under Hypnosis, placing them into a state of drowsiness.

In the dead of night, the limit on Heridier's sight is increased exponentially, forcing him to use his sense of smell to guide him. But if someone were to wear the clothes of another and their face obstructed with dark sunglasses in the dead of night, would Herdier be able to recognize the rat walking alongside him?

...

Admin Perona sat idly in her chair, her Toxicroak standing beside her keeping guard while she listened to audible noises coming from her phone in the dead of night. Overseeing the operation for more captures of pokemon, Perona stared at the trucks being filled with a variety of pokemon, common to this route.

' At least until we no longer need to use this route to capture pokemon. Xerotic is just too excited at the moment to realize. Creepy mad scientist. ' Perona thought, shivering in disgust, an image of Xeroisc gleefully smiling at the experiment's success.

" Admin Perona. " A grunt said, his voice heard loud and clear due to the silence in the dead of night, freeing Perona from her thoughts of the head scientist.

" What is it? " Perona asked, giving the grunt her full attention.

" The trucks are fully loaded. The specified requirement has been accounted for. We can leave at your command. " The grunt replied.

" Excellent work. Tell everyone to pack up and get ready to leave. We're done here. " Perona said, a smile showing on her face.

' Finally. I can go back and relax in my room! ' Perona thought happily.

...

Walking down the halls, a team flare grunt passed by his peers. His eyes darted toward the walls from behind his dark sunglasses. Handy, considering the absurd level of brightness in this place. The white walls, with bright lights through every hallway, contrast with a large number of grunts wearing fiery red suits.

Taking the elevator, the grunt went down to the lower levels, situated for rooms. Hand in his pocket, wary of the cameras watching him from the top corners, he traced his keycard with his gloved finger.

The elevator door opened, and the grunt kept walking. His eyes darted to his left, right, and straight ahead. Familiar sights entered his vision, so no surprise was replicated on his face, yet still intriguing non the less. He turned his head upwards, looking at the 4 flights of rooms, long halls that extend for what seems to be more than a thousand meters.

Walking to another elevator, and entering floor number 3, the grunt soon made it to his destination. The grunt's room in the base is buried deep below the outskirts and inside Geosenge town.

As the grunt headed inside, closing the door behind him, he took off his glasses, droopy eyes examining the room as he walked toward the center.

" It looks way better in person. " Atsumu muttered, remembering the mental image of the room taken by Gengars dream eater. Removing the wig from his head, blond hair now visible, and throwing the wig onto the couch, he plopped onto the bed, the audible noise of a creaking bed echoed through the room.

Having Gengar use Hypnosis to knock out those 5 grunts, for the time being, Atsumu walked towards one of them and removed the suit the grunt was wearing.

The suit was a bit small, but it was the best fit at the moment. He couldn't take the place of the grunt who commanded the Herdier as it would have diffently noticed the difference later on with the change in ownership, which would have caused a problem and loss of time.

Standing in position while Froslass dragged the Hypnotized grunt away to hide him, Gengar removed the Hypnosis on the grunts but kept

" Damn! This bed definitely high quality. " Atsumu muttered, moving his body, getting a feel for the bed. The softness of the mattress is impeccable, and his back enjoys the sensation, sending signals to his brain. Rating of mattress:

10/10.

' We are currently 130 feet below surface level. ' Pallosand stated from within Atsumu's shadow, returning after her expedition of the entire base.

' 130 feet?! Damn! ' Atsumu thought, eyes wide.

' This is all well and good, but we should really go and look around the base. ' Decidueye said. ' Taking that admins keycard could cause more trouble than its worth. '

' That's a safe option Decidueye, but... ' Sabelye appeared in the room from Atsumu's shadow, standing on the bed with the keycard in his hand, mischievously smiling.

' Where is the fun in that? ' Sabelye asked, smirking widely.

' This isn't supposed to be fun. We're dealing with illegal pokemon kidnapping for who knows what! ' Decidueye argued.

' Yeah, Yeah. I know, but I also know that it's those poor pokemon that are in trouble at the moment and not us. ' Sabelye said.

' Unless you get captured. ' Decidueye said.

' It's insulting that you think we'll be captured by these fools. ' Sabelye snorts.

' They have the number advantaged. ' Decidueye glared.

' And we can bury them in the rubble. ' Sabelye countered.

' Our chances of survival would plummet drastically?! ' Decidueye yelled.

' No. Our chances of survival are 100%! ' Sabelye sighed.' We can literally travel through shadows to escape. '

' Well, either way, we're here. ' Atsumu said, sitting up and placing his wig back on. ' So, let's get started. '

' Sabeleye. Put the keycard back. ' Atsumu said.

' Fine... ' Sabelye whined, disappearing into the shadows.

' Pallosand. Lead the way. ' Atsumu said.

' Roger. ' Pallosand confirmed.

Exiting the room, shades propped on his face, hiding his eyes, Atsumu walked down the hallway, towards the elevator, and down to ground level.

' Take the main elevator to floor -40. ' Pallosand instructed, as Atsumu rode the elevator up to the required level and stepped out.

The floor was buzzing with grunts, and even admins it appears from Atsumu's assumption, considering they have similar clothing styles to Admin Perona.

Atsumu calmly walked, blending in with the grunts, hiding amongst the crowd, and observing the hallway.

' Scientists are being called in, 20 to be precise. The best option is to capture one of the scientists and take their place. ' Pallosand suggested.

Pallosand has the ability to sense what's happening through the earth due to the vibrations, including listening in on conversations since there are walls all around them. Once Atsumu snuck in using team lead Admin Perona, Pallosand quickly sunk into the shadows, moving through the base, and scouting out the important places.

' Best place to do it? ' Atsumu asked.

Seconds pass as Pallosand doesn't respond.

' Pallosand? ' Atsumu called.

' Change of plans. Replace one of the grunts on the far right. the ones hanging around that scientist. ' Pallosand said.

' Reason? ' Atsumu asked.

' They are in charge of loading the pokemon into the machine. ' Pallosand said, Atsumu's curiosity perking at the mention.

' The scientist informed them a few minutes ago but didn't elaborate. However, their heartbeats tell that they already know what's going to happen and don't want to participate, however, an order is an order, so they are trying to lock their emotions away. ' Pallosand informed.

' Is that so? ' Atsumu mused. ' Alright, who's the weakest link? '

' Second to last on the left. His heart rate is faster than the others. ' Pallosand said.

...

' Oh Arceus! ' Donald thought his mind in a frenzy. Thoughts of the previous experimentation playing in his mind, the sounds of dying pokemon as their life force is drained from their bodies leaving behind a husk.

It is terrifying!

The last he would want is to be any of those pokemon. They won't sacrifice any humans, will they?!

Right?!

It will just be pokemon, won't it?

' Oh please, don't fucking sacrifice me. I don't want to die! ' Donald thought, his mind racing, fear clouding his judgment. His hands were sweating, the gloves he wore soaking in sweat while his legs quivered.

" Hey. "

Freezing in his spot, Donald slowly looked around. The other grunts who are supposed to do this job with him were looking elsewhere, none of them were probably the ones to speak just now.

" Look to your left. "

' My left? ' Donald thought, gulping. He turned his head slowly, his eyes gazing on a grunt, waving at him while leaning on the wall.

" Sup. Listen, I'll make this quick. You seem absolutely terrified and I want to be part of the action. Want to trade places? "

The grunt's lips moved, and Donald could see them clearly. But he was so far away from him, and yet he could hear him.

' Wait, did you say you want us to trade places? ' Donald thought, his mind latching onto what his heart had deemed the most important piece of information.

" Yes. I did. " The grunt said.

' Yes. ' Donald replied immediately.

" That was fast. " The grunt said, smiling.

' You can have my place however I have one condition. ' Donald thought.

" That is? "

' Don't get me in trouble. '

" Done. "

The grunt got up from the wall, walking towards the group. He walked in Donald's direction, but no one in the room really glanced an eye at him as Donald stood in his place waiting.

' Just a bit more, Donald. Easy! You can do this. ' Donald thought to himself.

As the grunt got closer and closer, Donald put more effort to hold back his urge to run for the hills. As the grunt got close enough, Donald carefully slipped behind him and walked away in the same direction.

His eyes darted around to see if anyone was watching him, but he couldn't tell with the sunglasses everyone wore, though in the back of his mind, he reasoned that he was just paranoid about someone noticing and finding out, resulting in him getting punished.

Soon enough, he escaped his fate. Donald walked away, shaking in happiness. He got his ticket out. Though he still had worries about whether or not he will be caught for this and will be dealt with, for right now, he escaped and that's all that mattered.

...

Atsumu stood beside the other grunts while the grunt he swapped places with walked away. The other grunts didn't notice the swap, too engrossed in their own problems at the moment. As time went by, Atsumu's composure remained static, noticing the other grunts slowly gained control, their body no longer portraying their fear.

" Let's go. " A scientist commanded when he walked up to the grunts, carrying a clipboard in his hands while checking the time using his watch.

' Sabelye. ' Atsumu said.

' Camera's working just fine and yes, I turned off flash. 'Sabelye said.

' Well, at least you did. ' Decidueye said.

' We wouldn't want them to notice us after all. ' Sabelye said.

' Very true. ' Decidueye responded, as Atsumu walked through the doors to enter the experimentation site.

His eyes behind his shades widened in surprise, his step faltering for a split second in the realization of what stood before him.

' The ultimate weapon! ' Atsumu thought.

His mind compared the structure to the depictions from the book, the book he had read multiple times, knowing all the pictures by heart due to hours of rereading and passion driven into theorizing.

' There's no doubt about it! That's the actual weapon!! ' Atsumu thought, his hand clenching, excitement bubbling inside his heart. It took everything he had not to smile at that moment.

The weapon is real!!

It is in front of him!!

' I want to study it!! Right now!'Atsumu thought, his fist shaking.

" Get into position! Time to start! " A voice commanded, echoing through the chamber.

Atsumu looked towards the culprit, his eyes gazing at a man behind the computer, an excited grin on his face.

" It's day 2. Let's see how much we can improve today! " He yelled.

' Fill? ' Atsumu thought. ' Sabelye? '

' In position and ready to go. ' Sabelye said.

' Good. ' Atsumu said.

" Begin. " The scientist yelled.

Atsumu watched as one of the grunts went over to a cage and pushed it with a Houndoom inside. It moved easily thanks to wheels underneath and was carried it over to the ultimate weapon, placing it next to the chamber. Pressing abutting on the cage, the Houndoom was violently pushed out.

' No. No... They are going to sacrifice their life. They already have one day done and that scientist is already excited for day 2. So it must have worked.' Atsumu thought, staring at the Houndoom.

' To get to full power, hundreds of pokemon were probably sacrificed to the machine. ' Atsumu recalled.

' So... that means... '

A bright light emanated from the chamber as Houndoom screamed in agony. Atsumu watched from the side, fixated on the scene before him. Whisps of energy were extracted and absorbed from Houndoom, straight into the machine, all the while, a certain scientist was cackling loudly in contrast to the screams from Houndoom and the silence of all the other witnesses.

' The Houndooms aura is being absorbed completely, it's slowly losing vitality...' Decidueye commented, panic in his voice.

' If this goes on... '

' All that will be left is a husk. ' Sabelye said, voice dead of emotion, camera in his hand from his hiding space.

' We need to turn off that machine!! ' Decidueye yelled.

' That's a shit idea. ' Sabelye said.

' Too late. ' Atsumu said as the bright light disappeared.

Atsumu stared at what was left. A literal husk of a Houndoom dried up like a prune.

" Xerosic!! The meter increased several times over than before! " A scientist yelled.

" I knew it! " Xerosic, the cackling scientist yelled in delight.

" Bring the rest of the pokemon and feed them to the ultimate weapon. I need to go make a call with Lysandre and tell him about this new revelation! " Xerosic said.

" Yes sir. " The scientist said as Xerosic walked away passing by Atsumu who glanced at him as we walked by.

' Lysandre? Of course!! He has the other book! This is what he was looking for! But he has read the book, he should know that this weapon was used for mass genocide. But is that what he wants? He could have another motive but... What the fuck would that be!!? ' Atsumu thought, screaming in the confines of his mind, emotions in disarray.

' Boss. The group. ' Sabelye warned.

Snapping out of it, Atsumu walked over with the group, yet his fights were clenched tightly, so much so, that if he wasn't wearing clothes, his fingers nails would have drawn blood.

" Alright. We have the same amount of pokemon as yesterday. Get to work and place them inside. "The scientist said.

' More pokemon are being sacrificed!! ' Decidueye screamed.

' Yeah. We know. ' Sabelye said.

' We need to do something. Anything! We can free all of them and inform the league about this! ' Decidueye yelled out.

' You're wrong on that part! Freeing all of them and getting them to safety would be a big risk, considering the number of grunts and the act we are underground! Not to mention that it puts us at a disadvantage since we now know whos in charge. Lysandre!! Someone with a vast amount of connections. ' Sabelye rationalized.

' As for authorities, we don't know how that will play out. Lysandre is quite popular and probably has a lot of pull with the government. There is a possibility that they will side with him and allow him to keep working without repercussions. '

' You think that the government would actually condone this shit?!! ' Decidueye asked.

' Some, absolutely not. However, is there a hundred percent chance that everyone will actually side to stop Lysandre? There's also the fact that they could simply take over the entire operation. If Lysandre is insane enough, who's to say there isn't anyone else who is? ' Sabelye said coldly.

' Fuck! ' Decidueye cursed.

...

"Lysandre! We need to change our strategy! " Xerosic said, holding a phone up to his ear, Lysandre was on the other end of the call, currently wearing a bath rope of his body, droplets of water dripping from his face, specifically his beard.

" Xerosic. I was in the middle of my shower. " Lysandre said, stressing parts of his speech due to his frustration.

" Yet, you pick up. " Xerosic countered. Lysandre sighed, he walked into that one.

" What is it Xerosic? But make it quick. " Lysandre commanded.

" We just finished a test while using a Houndoom. It resulted in a greater fill rate for energizing the ultimate weapon. For the ultimate weapon to be charged completely and ready to be used at a moment's notice, we must get higher-level pokemon and ignore the lower-level ones. "Xerosic explained.

" I see. That however will be a problem. The league keeps track of the various pokemon groups in the area, especially the groups consisting of packs of pokemon with a high-level leader at the forefront to keep order.

While taking high-level pokemon from the wild will certainly increase progress, it will also gain the attention of the league and they must remain ignorant. " Lysandre said.

" But sir!! " Xerosic yelled.

" Patience... Xeriosic. " Lysandre coldly addressed. " Play this wrong and we won't even be able to use the weapon.

For now, finish adding the pokemon captured today and tomorrow. We can discuss the future of this operation at a later date.

Understood? "

"Crystal. " Xeriosic replied, his mouth set in a straight line, his previous enthusiasm stripped away.

" Good. " Lysandre acknowledged, hanging up the call.

Sighing, Lysandre dried his face with a towel, his mood ruined by wonderful news but it was in the middle of his shower. Sighing, Lysandre plopped into bed after changing into comfortable clothes to sleep in.

...

2 hours went by, but to Atsumu, they went by in a flash. All the pokemon were sacrificed, becoming nothing but resources to power this death device.

Perhaps it's just from thinking of what to do next, perhaps it's from watching too many times, perhaps from bringing multiple cages to the chamber, but Atsumu slowly became numb to the sight.

However, in the absence of fear, disgust, and anger, his resolve burned bright, promising all the pokemon that were sacrificed and will be sacrificed in the future, vengeance will befall their killers.

Atsumu, tired and sluggish, walked back to the grunt's room. Taking off the wig, and the suit, he walked into the restroom to take a shower and soon after changing, flopped into bed, and slowly fell asleep after Sabelye turned off the lights.

____________________________________________________

Hello Everyone.

Happy New Year!!

I hope you've enjoyed today's chapter and hope everyone has a great day for the 1st day of 2023.

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