Author's Note: In early 2013, I began a minor revision of this story. As of now, this revision ends here. I apologize to new readers if you encounter an increased number of typos starting with this chapter.
Chapter 15
Empirical Falls
"Remember… we've got to do this fast. This is our last chance to grab our stuff!"
The sky was dark and cloudy the night a humiliated Seviper and Croagunk made their way back to their pillaged hideout. The previous day, word was officially out that a gang of thieves kept a den full of stolen goods south of Jesterville and right on the border of the Jaded Woods—thanks to a certain meddling resistance team—and come sundown of the next day, the thieves knew there'd literally be nothing left of it. Their last chance to salvage anything was in the darkness of the night, as the Watchers hovered in the sky.
With only three hours left until sunrise, the two arrived at the Empirical Falls.
"I don't see the point," the Seviper snorted. "The boss will have our hides for this! Have you even thought about what we're going to tell him?"
"It's his own fault," the Croagunk mumbled, trying to find the path back to the cave. "If he'd been here, we could've taken down that stupid Scyther. He picked a real bad time to go on an errand…"
"Didn't have a choice," the Seviper replied. "Adiel called him away. Besides, it's your fault this happened! Quit trying to pin the blame on someone else! There will be no twisting the truth when the boss gets back. I'm not taking the fall for you. Not again."
"You could just run away, you know," the Croagunk suggested evilly.
"That's not a bad idea," the Seviper said, dripping with sarcasm. "What's the point of staying with—"
The sound of moaning came from below, cutting off the Seviper's masterfully-crafted insult. It was the voice of a ghost Pokémon lying in wait for a victim. The Seviper froze, waiting for the inevitable attack. The Croagunk shivered in anticipation.
A large Shuppet rose from the ground before them. With eyes glowing white, and a face of evil glee, it emitted a hiss and started bobbing through the air towards the Croagunk. He took a few steps backward, preparing a strike to defend himself.
But then, the ghost's moan echoed. The sound came from all around him.
"There's more than one," the Seviper warned, his voice fearful. "They're closing in…"
Another Shuppet popped out of the earth, directly behind the Seviper. Soon, three more emerged from the shadows, all glowing with dark energy. The ghosts hovered menacingly in the air, forming a tight circle around the thieves.
"Blasted Watchers," the Seviper spat. "Don't they know their allies when they see them?!"
"Apparently not this time," the Croagunk mumbled. "Get ready…"
The Seviper struck first. He uncurled violently and flung himself into the air, sending its bladed tail at the nearest ghost like a whip. The ghost fell back, disturbed. Then, all five of the ghosts dove inward at the intruders like hungry Carvanha to a feeding frenzy. The Seviper lurched in an attempt to strike away a ghost with its fangs, but the ghost dodged back and quickly countered, latching onto the Seviper's head. The Croagunk furiously punched at the ghosts, but most of his attacks passed straight through the bodies of the ghosts, who proceeded to throw themselves at him, the cursed dark energy leaking from them…
"No, you don't!" The Croagunk shouted as the Watchers swarmed him like flies. "Not today!"
With a loud croak, the frog Pokémon held his breath and focused on a well of dark energy in his chest, a power which was given to him upon induction into the Master's service. He prepared to use one of the techniques which had aided him many times in the past in defending himself against the Watchers. A small, shadowy ball of power formed between his hands…
"Ugh! Get off!" The Croagunk roared noisily as he released his power. A pitch-black pulse of shadow exploded from him, engulfing the Watchers. They shrieked as they were all flooded with dark energy, and soon went limp and faded away back into the ground.
"Meh heh heh, that'll show them," the Croagunk mumbled, rubbing his forehead and trying recover from almost getting cursed by the ghosts' power.
"The Watchers aren't supposed to even be watching this region tonight," the Seviper hissed in annoyance, picking himself off the ground. "Dumb ghosts."
"The Watchers go wherever they please," the Croagunk reminded. "It's not like we can tell them what to do."
The two rushed onward, and soon found their hideout. Not wanting to attract any more Watchers, they hurried inside. Croagunk lit a lantern, and the Seviper reeled in horror at everything the resistance team had taken.
"See?" Croagunk said with a ridiculously faked carefree tone. "Everything's still here!"
"No!" the viper shouted, slithering forward to examine the piles of stuff. "You fool! Everything of value is gone! The scarves, the orbs, everything that's of use to us! The boss will be outraged!"
"Nonsense!" Croagunk scoffed, searching through the piles himself. "They left plenty of stuff. Like… oh, no!"
A horrified gaze now in his eyes, Croagunk dug through a pile of scraps, furiously shoving everything away.
"They didn't! They couldn't have! This is impossible! They…"
He reached the very bottom of the pile, the stone floor of the cave, and angrily smashed a nearby stack of scraps with a clenched fist. Something of glass shattered within it.
"…they took my feral-shard! Do you know how hard those are to find?"
The Seviper didn't answer, instead just smirking at him with a "you deserve it" look upon his face.
"I was this close to being able to evolve! Meh, you're right. We really blew it this time."
"You blew it," Seviper said again, angrily. "I wasn't the one who decided to be an idiot and go out hunting during the day."
"Well, good evening to you both,"
At the sound of the new voice, both Pokémon spun towards the entrance of the cave. A large, menacing Dusknoir floated in.
"BOSS!" The two Pokémon yelled in unison, trying not to betray their nervousness.
"W-welcome back from your mission, boss!" the Croagunk stuttered.
"How was your mission with the Scizor? Did it go well?" added the Seviper.
The Dusknoir hung its faceless head, floating farther back into the cave. "No… it was a complete failure," it uttered. "I performed the perfect unveiling. The single most accurate, most skillful unveiling in the history of the Master's reign. But it was undone by… the Scyther."
The Seviper and Croagunk cast worried glances at each other, their nervousness growing by the moment.
"Somehow, the Scyther knew about our plan, and he chose that one day to guard over his team members. Scizor and I had to back down."
Without further ado, the powerful Ghost unleashed his pent-up anger at the nearest wall. He punched with all his might, setting a huge hole in the rock and causing pebbles to fall from the ceiling.
"That wretched Scyther!" it growled angrily. "How can one Pokémon be so brilliant? How does he predict our every move, time after time? He's been a scourge in our sides for over a decade now. He is like a mastermind! Like… a human, almost! This must end! He must be brought to humility!"
The Dusknoir punched again, shaking the entire cave and causing a huge boulder to fall out from the wall and crush a nearby pile of stolen supplies.
"Graaaaaaah!" it yelled.
The Dusknoir stood still for a moment, looking down at the hole he'd punched in the wall. Seviper and Croagunk were, simply put, scared stiff.
But, just as suddenly as the ghost Pokémon's rage had appeared, it was gone.
"So, how were your days?" the Dusknoir asked in a surprisingly friendly tone. "Get very much accom-wait, what did you do with my Dusk Orb?"
"Dusk Orb?" Croagunk gulped. "I, uh, didn't do anything with it."
"I need it back, I wasn't done with it yet," the Dusknoir said. "It still had plenty of energy left in it. Someone must have moved it. It used to be right here, right next to the…"
Dusknoir froze again. He glanced around at the contents of the cave, then to his two teammates. He took immediate notice of the forced smiles spread across both of their faces, and the way their muscles twitched like they were about to run away as fast as possible.
"YOU FOOLS!" The Dusknoir raged, slamming its fists into the ceiling and causing more rocks to fall around. "YOU WERE BLOWN OPEN, AND YOU THOUGHT I WOULDN'T NOTICE?! Can't I leave you alone for THREE DAYS? THREE DAYS? THREE DAYS, AND ALREADY WE'VE BEEN ROBBED?! ALREADY WE'VE LOST HALF OUR WORK?"
Croagunk tried to run, but the Dusknoir lurched forward and slammed him against the wall.
"WHAT HAPPENED? WHO DID THIS?" It roared, seething with dark energy.
"I—I can explain!" the Croagunk pleaded. "It… the… the…"
"The Scyther attacked us," the Seviper admitted shamefully in place of his partner. "We'd just settled in for the day, when… They ambushed us from within the dungeon! The Scyther used a little Bulbasaur and a Charmander to trick us, and… he almost destroyed both of us. There was no way we could have fought back. Not without you here."
The Dusknoir dropped its captive.
"A Bulbasaur and a Charmander, you say?" it replied, the anger once again vanished from its voice, replaced with a calm and thoughtful tone.
"Yes, and it sounded like he was… training them. Leading them through the forest," the Seviper explained.
For a moment, Dusknoir was silent.
"Ha. Hah hah. Hah hah hah," The Dusknoir said, almost a faked laugh. "Hah hah. Hah hah hah hah! That's… that's funny. You see, those two were also with him during the unveiling. You're meaning to tell me that… the Scyther… not only did he attack you when I was away, and then put a halt on Scizor's operation immediately afterwards, completely uprooting us both at the same time, he's walking his students through the process as well? This is… this is his way of schooling them?"
Croagunk started to join in the laugh, but Dusknoir fell silent again.
"We all know that the Scyther is brilliant," Dusknoir said, "But this… goes too far! Now he's just rubbing it in our faces. Heh, heh, heh! It's funny! I think it's time we've done something about this… this Scyther. I think it's high time we crack a plan that not even he will see coming."
"But who can come up with a plan like that?" Croagunk wondered. "Not even Scizor has been able to do it yet!"
Dusknoir glided over to very, very back of the cave, where even the lantern didn't shine. Truth was, he wasn't all that upset about the hideout getting discovered… just so long as the one thing which mattered most to him was still there.
His arm becoming intangible, he reached it into the wall and felt around for a little pocket of air which he'd been keeping a secret even from his two minions. He was relieved to find it exactly where it was supposed to be. Eagerly, he yanked it out and looked it over: it was a small, round object of incredible value. His hands trembled as he held it.
"Remember what Scizor is always telling us," Dusknoir said evilly. "If your opponent doesn't know how strong you are, there's no limit to what you can do with them. And now… I think it's time to unleash one of our… hidden weapons."
"Bwuh?" Croagunk said, confused. "What's… that you're holding, boss? I don't remember stealing something like that."
"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" the ghost yelled suddenly. "Besides, what ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Start PACKING! We have to be gone by sunlight! GO!"
"Yes, master!" the two yelped in unison as they started scrambling around for things they could take with them.
Division Base
"Get up!"
Ugh, thought Char, rubbing his forehead. Do we have to get up like this every day?
"I'm dead tired," Saura groaned, rolling over. "Can't we sleep for just a little while longer?"
"We don't have a choice," Scythe said. "The division's holding a meeting. We have to attend."
"A meeting!?" Char repeated in annoyance. "I wonder w— oh."
"Indeed," Scythe said. "Something last night created quite a disturbance. So, first thing this morning, they're sounding the alarm to have a meeting. We need to get down to the grand hall."
Char felt sick, not just because he'd been up for several hours the previous night, but also because it scared him to even imagine what would be said at this meeting. Surely, they would be discussing the Call and its effects on the base. Would they find out he had it? It wasn't something very difficult to figure out. He was one of the new kids sticking around with Team Remorse. Would he have to stand up before the entire division? Would he be ridiculed, or, far worse, have to spill the secret of his humanity?
This morning, instead of his usual zealousness, Scythe wore a frown as he ushered Char and Saura out of the room.
"This all could have been avoided if it weren't for Eva," he reminded them as they proceeded down the hall. "And now, I don't even know where she ran off to. I stayed up last night searching the entire place… couldn't find her. The registry claims she's still in the base somewhere, but… she might have fled."
"She ran?" exclaimed Saura in disbelief. "Because of all this?"
"It's because of her that we couldn't take the necessary precautions to prevent something like this from happening," Scythe said scornfully. "Now that she's seen her mistake, she's hiding so she won't have to deal with it. But she can't hide forever. She'll turn up. And when she does… she'll hear about it."
When they reached the end of the hall, a large group of Pokémon stood lined, talking amongst each other and waiting for their leader. Char realized that this was the first time he was able to see all of Team Remorse together, save for the few who were still out on the mission. On one side of the hall stood a Marowak, a Nidoking, a Feraligatr, and an Umbreon, and on the other, there was a Gabite, a Breloom, a Crawdaunt, and Ursa the Ursaring. As Char and Saura approached, the team looked down at them oddly.
"The teams will go down to the meeting in procession," Scythe explained quietly. "You'll have to be in back this time. Stick with Ursa."
"Morning, Team Ember," Ursa said. "Hard to tell what's going to happen today, you two. We've got to keep our fingers crossed that this doesn't all turn into a fiasco."
The murmuring stopped as Scythe stepped up to the front of the line and turned his attention to the entire team.
"Well, well," he said, addressing the team. "I can only think of one thing to say, and that's to be prepared for anything. At best, this could be a monumental occasion that we've finally found what we've been looking for. At worst… this could cast the entire division into schism. But anything in between could happen."
Wait, Char realized. Does that mean Scythe told everyone about me? About the Call? I don't know whether to feel safer, or more nervous…
"What will we do if it does destroy the division?" The Nidoking asked. "Have you thought about that?"
"I will make one thing clear," Scythe said, holding his head high. "I will always fight the Master, regardless of what happens. Anyone who wants to stay at my side and keep Team Remorse alive, it's your choice."
"I'm not going anywhere," the Nidoking said firmly.
"I'm staying," the Gabite announced. "Got nowhere else to go, anyway."
"Let's all be honest with each other," the Umbreon spoke up. "There's no breaking up this team. Where Scythe goes, we go. Right?"
The team cheered their unanimous decision, although there was a clear streak of uncertainty in everyone's voice. When everyone was nice and collected, they opened the door and started their procession down to the lower levels of the base in two, orderly rows.
… … …
On the way down, all Pokémon, no matter how crammed the hallways were, cleared a path for Team Remorse. But as he proceeded with them, Char watched as all the Pokémon glared suspiciously at him, causing his stomach started to get tied in knots all sorts of knots. He could tell, just by looking at them all, that they probably knew the secret. It didn't take a psychic to tell that not everyone had gotten a good night's sleep, and that they all suspected what had caused it. Char did his best to stay hidden between Saura and Ursa until they reached their destination.
For the first time, Char got to see what it looked like for the Grand Hall, easily his favorite room in the entire base, to be filled. The simple beauty of the vast dish-shaped room, with its large, circular stair-steps, outer ring of torches, and gargantuan statues of the legendary dragons was now impossible to see, buried under hundreds, no, at least a thousand Pokémon all filing into their seats and clamoring about not having slept well. Each and every Pokémon was grouped by team, with the more important teams near the front and the training teams at the back. It was the first time Char noticed all of the many special places for the irregular Pokémon to watch from, such large side-caves for the Onix and high perches for the Pidgeotto. Once more, Char couldn't tell whether to feel safe and sound with so many allies, or worried that his safety and sanity was about to be put into danger as soon as the meeting began. He felt his Ember churning like an upset stomach as he filed in near the very front row with the high-ranking resistance team.
"Wow," Saura said for the third time as he watched the seats quickly fill up by the bright orange light of the hundreds of torches on the wall. "This is… a lot… of Pokémon. This is like… a whole city. Just to see everyone in the same pace like this…"
"Yeah, the Gold Division is easily the biggest of the three," the Umbreon said from next to Char. "We've developed a habit of housing more refugees than we should, but, in turn, we've had the highest recruitment rate on record. The other divisions are more of the elitist type. Anyway, I don't believe we've met. Everyone calls me Raon."
"Hi, Raon," Char said, again trying to shake his hand before he realized the Umbreon didn't really have any.
"Of course, you two need no introduction," he said. "You've only been here for a few days, but everyone's talking about Team Ember! I think you're going to be even more popular than us!"
"Did Scythe… tell you about us?" Char asked carefully. "I mean, like…"
"Like you having the Call?" Raon said. "Of course he did. Last night, when he came back to the room, he woke everyone up and gave us all the news. But don't let that worry you! Team Remorse is on your side. Now we all know to look out for you."
Char was going to say something, but bit his tongue when he noticed that the entire room had gone dead silent. The murmuring stopped, and the rustling of feet and wings quickly faded out. Char turned his gaze to the center stage only a few feet in front of him. A Chatot fluttered onto the stage, followed by an Alakazam.
"This is it!" Saura whispered. "The meeting is starting!"
"Good morning," the Chatot announced to the entire audience. Even though he was so close, Char was surprised his voice was so loud.
"It's a trick of the architecture," Ursa whispered. "The ceiling is a giant dome, so you can hear voices from the stage anywhere in the room. That, and Alakazam likes to broadcast the words with Telepathy at the same time, so everyone can understand what he says."
"Thus begins the thirty-eighth grand convention of the Gold Division of the Great Resistance," the Chatot continued. "I apologize for the… sudden and inconvenient timing of such a meeting, but due to recent circumstances, we have much to discuss. So, without wasting any more time, it's my pleasure to introduce to you… your greatest servants, High Intelligence."
A procession of Pokémon climbed onto the stage and stood at Alakazam's side. First came a Slowking, apparently Dr. Orde from the hospital, then a Xatu, then finally, coming down from levitation, a mighty Metagross. With a gentle but enormous crash, its four limbs came to rest on the stage.
"There he is," Raon said. "Metagross. If the Gold Division had a leader, it'd be him. It never sleeps. It spends all day and all night reading records, and piecing together parts of the puzzles. It assigns most of the missions the Division accomplishes each and every day. Alakazam and Xatu are his assistants, and Dr. Orde is considered one of them, just because of his intellect. Together, they can see the entire division as a whole and make decisions regarding all of us."
Char held his breath as the Alakazam took to the front of the stage.
"First and foremost…," it spoke loudly, its voice echoing both audibly and mentally, "the issue that's on everyone's mind at this early hour… Late last night, at approximately three twenty-two A.M., by the human clock, there was… an epidemic amongst the entire division."
Voices arose from the audience, signifying their acknowledgement of his words.
"Over half of the members of the Gold Division awoke last night, almost instantaneously, and began to wander around the base in a state of half-consciousness."
More murmuring from the crowd. Char's heart escalated, but he took deep breaths and tried not to panic.
"There have been many rumors surrounding this strange occurrence," the Alakazam said, "but Metagross has determined the most likely cause…"
Here it comes, Char thought. The Call! The Call! This is it!
"…An earthquake."
Huh?!
As the entire room came alive with uproar, Char glanced at Scythe. Shock covered his face, and so with the rest of the team.
"What?!" Scythe said, shaking his head. "Now… This, I didn't see coming…"
"Quiet, please!" Alakazam pleaded, silencing everyone. "Yes, yes, at about Three-twenty-one, a minor earthquake shook the base. It was only a three on the Diglett scale, but it would have been enough to awaken everyone from sleep and affect them subconsciously."
"It was the Call!" someone shouted from across the room. "The Call!"
"Quiet, Quiet!" Alakazam pleaded again, just before the uproar could restart. "While evidence suggests it could have been the Call, the likelihood of such an occurrence is simply… benign. Not only is a Call of such magnitude practically impossible, but the timing is not right. The last Call was only twenty-four years, six months, two days, and five hours ago, and according to Lucario's pattern, a call, indeed, one of such magnitude, would not have appeared for at least another two years, five months, seven days, and sixteen hours. Keep in mind that these are not simply statistics, but solid, proven scientific facts."
"I… I don't believe what I'm hearing," Scythe said, completely incredulous.
"You don't think…" Ursa said. "You don't think this could be possible, do you?"
"I… wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes," Scythe muttered. "High Intelligence… is lying!"
"You might be wondering how this explains why everyone was somehow drawn to the quarters of Team Remorse. There is a very simple explanation for this: you all respect Team Remorse, correct? You all trust them as powerful allies, do you not? Well, in your states of half-consciousness, you sensed danger, and you fled to Team Remorse for protection, the same thing you would have done on a battlefield."
"It is difficult to believe, yes," the Xatu said calmly, "but… Metagross is rarely ever mistaken."
"Scythe!" the Feraligatr said softly. "You know, we could put an end to this right here and now! Just shout out! You're in a position to do it!"
"It's no use," Scythe said. "If High Intelligence sees fit to lie like this, they already know the truth, so there's no sense in arguing. Besides, this division trusts their words much more than us. Ugh… I bet those four brains of his took two seconds figuring out the answer and thirty minutes conniving a good lie to cover it up."
"Anyway, it is in the past," Alakazam continued, trying to calm the roaring crowd. "It does not affect us now. Now, we must move on to the second important issue on our agenda… Yesterday, after returning from a mission with his apprentices, as well as a few members of Team Stripes and one of Team Carrier, Scythe reported that he'd had an encounter with Adiel, the Scizor."
A gasp of horror rose from the room, followed by more muttering.
"Thankfully, Scythe and all five of his companions escaped with their lives and lived to tell the tale," Alakazam said. "But yes, it's very horrifying news that the Master has once again employed Adiel among his forces. The news could mean unforeseen trouble for us. Rest assured that Metagross has already begun to think about it. Since we got the news, he's been ceaselessly considering all possibilities of what the Master could be planning next."
"Due to these circumstances, I regret to announce… that… we must now place a twelve-day restriction on all training teams," Xatu said. "No training teams will be allowed to embark on missions until the restriction is lifted. We are… sorry for the inconvenience, and we know full well how far behind schedule this will put many of you, but… it is for your safety. Scythe's party only survived because of his presence. If their mission had been a routine one with no supervision… they would have not returned."
"I don't get it," Scythe stammered, not even listening to the new announcement. "Why? Why has this happened?"
"Obviously, Metagross thought it was the best course of action," Marowak said, fidgeting with his bone. "It's just like you said earlier, Scythe. Tell the truth, the division goes into schism. Lie… and it's a better outcome for everyone."
"Better outcome for everyone, my foot," Scythe rasped. "The Call could win the war. How is that not the better outcome?"
"Maybe Metagross sees other unforeseen consequences that you can't comprehend," Marowak suggested.
"He's doing us a service, Scythe," the Feraligatr said. "They know the truth. We know the truth. But now, we'll just less attention over it."
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Ursa added. "Everyone who's important believes you. That's all that matters."
"This isn't the way it should have happened," Scythe insisted. "I don't care if it is the better outcome. It doesn't feel right."
"Now, we must let our brethren of the resistance know about this news as well," Alakazam said. "Thus, I declare two missions: to send the warning of Adiel to the Black division, and to send the message to the Emerald division. Both missions are at the two-star level of risk, and have a bounty of four thousand Poké. These missions will become available at the registry as soon as this meeting adjourns."
"One thing's for sure," Scythe said. "I wish Daemon and the others were back. All of us need to have a serious discussion."
The rest of the meeting covered minor, silly issues which had obviously been thought up by Metagross to justify calling a meeting, such as a reminder to everyone not to allow their teams to get too big on missions.
"Hey, Char, you're dozing off," Saura hissed when Char's eyes stayed closed for too long, causing him to jerk back to attention. "So, that wasn't as bad as we thought, huh? The Call is still nothing but a rumor to the rest of the division."
Char, though, couldn't help but share Scythe's discomfort. If the Scyther's instincts told him that something wasn't right, something wasn't right, and it didn't make him feel any safer.