"Alex is fine," came a robotic voice. "He said he will see you on the other side."
Lyra was still too distraught from the sudden loss, so Sable decided to ask, "What do you mean, Rotom?"
"Replaying Alex's final instructions: 'Alright. Use the backpack to launch yourself to them, then release the Pokémon and push until you all reach safety. Have the Pokémon defend them and bring them home. Tell the girls I will see them on the other side.'"
"Does that mean he has a way back?" Sable asked.
"It would seem he believed so," Rotom replied.
"What do we do now?" Mika asked from the side, holding onto hope.
"First things first," Sable said. "We're getting the hell out of here. A bunch of Elites have no business fighting a Pokémon flood of this level."
They were still on a platform in the Distortion World, caught in the middle of a flood that even Champion ranked trainers struggled to control. As Elites, even with Alex's Pokémon, they had no business staying. Not to mention, they had already lost their platform, meaning they would need to return to base for further instructions.
Mika nodded, grabbed Lyra, and pulled her along as the girls made their way back to the portal, following the signs.
Occasionally, they had to fight off Shadow Pokémon that had managed to dominate a platform, but with Alex's Pokémon defending them, they reached the main portal without problems.
Once they exited, they registered with the officials and were informed that they had failed their mission and forfeited their rewards, though that didn't really matter at this point. In any case, their rewards had already been given by Cynthia before their shift began, so they hadn't actually lost anything.
When asked where Alex was, all they could say was that he was on his way, refusing to answer any more questions. This left the officials in a difficult situation as they couldn't declare him dead with certainty, but they could at least list him as missing in action.
"What now?" Mika asked, consoling Lyra, who was still out of it even after a day of travel.
"We head back to the base in Kanto," Sable answered.
"Should we… call ahead and let the girls know?"
"No. Since Alex seemed to believe he'll be fine, let's just tell them when we get there."
"Alright, so we should head for Sunyshore City via Route 222 and then take a cruise to Cerulean City in Kanto."
With a plan in place, the girls flew along Route 214 and reached Route 222 by the end of the day. They spent the night in the woods without any camping gear and resumed their journey the next morning.
Route 222 stretched along the coast, the air carrying salt and the steady crash of waves against the rocks. Woodland pressed in from the northern side, its footpaths winding through tall grass and berry bushes. It felt like a place balanced between wilderness and the traffic of trainers heading toward Sunyshore.
The journey was relatively peaceful as they flew overhead of the traffic, the early light catching on the coastline and the forest canopy below. For a time, it felt like everything would be alright, that Alex would greet them once they reached the base, with only the wind, open sky, and the steady wingbeats of their Pokémon surrounding them.
Then everything dimmed.
The sunlight vanished in an instant, swallowed by a sudden ceiling of shadow. The darkness broke apart into hundreds of shapes, jagged, spinning boulders descending in a tight, coordinated barrage. Someone had used multiple Rock Slides directly above them.
There was no time to climb or dive; the first wave hit before they could even form a plan. They only had a moment to use Protect, but the sheer volume of boulders raining down forced them off course, sending them crashing into the ground.
Sable and Garchomp were smashed sideways, the impact sending the dragon corkscrewing toward the trees. Lyra and Mika were thrown as Pidgeot folded under a glancing blow, the three of them crashing hard into the undergrowth in a burst of branches and dirt.
Sable forced herself upright as Garchomp staggered to her side. Lyra and Mika regrouped beside a dazed Pidgeot, and without hesitation they reached for their belts. One after another, Poké Balls burst open with sharp flashes of light, their entire rosters deploying into a tight defensive ring.
"Shit, we're surrounded," Sable said, her face paling as she took in her surroundings with her Ground affinity.
There were over a hundred Elite ranked Pokémon closing in on their location, led by six Champions. Most were familiar Ground types, while the rest appeared to be a random assortment. They lacked the coordination of a true team, but they more than made up for it in numbers.
"Rotom! We need help! Put in an emergency request to the League and set up a tight defensive formation. We need to hold out as long as possible."
Rotom, who occupied Alex's backpack suddenly disengaged from Sable's back and floated in place. With a flash of red light, all of Alex's Pokémon were released in a defensive formation surrounding them.
This was the special backpack, code-named Lifeline, Alex had rushed Rhea to build after his trip to the International Police Headquarters. It could hold all his Pokémon and release them in one go without having to worry about the exact Poké Ball.
Under Rotom's control, Alex would no longer have to worry about any of his Pokémon dying from lack of attention, ensuring they and he could fight at their best. It featured an anti-gravity propulsion system as well as boosters that allowed Rotom to reach dying Pokémon in the middle of a chaotic battle.
Soon, they managed to regroup and, under Gardevoir's instructions, combined their formations into a massive whole, consisting of roughly a hundred Elite ranked Pokémon led by three Champions.
They were just in time, having finished their formation as all the Elites surrounding them emerged from the forest in droves, led by a familiar figure in a reinforced mining exosuit and respirator mask.
"Brutus," Sable called out, recognizing the get-up.
"My, my, how the tables have turned," he said, stepping forward. "You know, I almost didn't pay for the information on your whereabouts when Umbraline offered me a deal, but to hear your protector was missing in action was just too sweet a bait to pass up. I was lucky too, since I had been hiding out in Sunyshore City ever since you and your bodyguards raided my base. Now, I get to sell you to Rowan and replace the maids I had lost."
Mika glowered in response, unholstered her guns, and opened fire, but a Bastiodon quickly stepped in, taking the bullets without sustaining much damage.
"Well, after a quick personality adjustment, of course. You don't seem like the meek type who would give up."
"Do you really think you can take us with just this much?" Sable asked as she looked around. "You only have three Champions on us, and we've already sent for help, so you're on the clock. Just give up, walk away, and leave us alone."
"No can do, sweetheart. You see, I'm not the only one Umbraline contacted with your whereabouts. A lot of interested parties are on their way as well, but Rowan put up a reward for whoever can delay you the longest until he gets here. As for the League, let's just say Rowan is very well connected, so you're the ones on the clock, not me."
"Shit," Sable cursed under her breath.
They were definitely screwed this time if all Brutus had to do was delay them. They were still a full day of continuous flight from Sunyshore City, which meant there was no realistic way for all three of them to escape.
On top of that, they might encounter even more trainers on the way, so moving too quickly would leave them exposed to additional ambushes. Somehow, someway, they would have to hold out long enough for the League to send actual reinforcements.
"Get the picture now, sweetheart? Why don't you just give up and play nice? We can even have some fun before Rowan gets here and whisks you away."
"Over my dead body!" Sable shouted back.
"I would love to, but Rowan wants you alive, so tough luck."
Suddenly, Sable's eyes widened as she felt a dozen Ground types burrowing with Dig, aiming for the center of their formation.
"Earthquake!" she shouted.
Gardevoir immediately commanded every Pokémon capable of using the move to target the ground simultaneously.
The vibrations radiated outward from their formation, staving off the attacking Pokémon while devastating their entire surroundings. Trees toppled, their trunks splintering under the force, and the forest floor cracked in jagged lines that sent dirt and rocks flying. Dust and debris filled the air, reducing visibility to almost nothing, while smaller plants were shredded and scattered like confetti.
"Oh? You really do have keen senses for underground vibrations. You'd make whoever owns you a very wealthy man. I'm almost tempted to take you for myself."
"Yeah? Why don't you come over and get me, then?"
"Sadly, I'm a coward who's very afraid of Rowan, so I'll just have to settle for his scraps," he said, his eyes drifting to the furious Mika and the uncaring Lyra before smiling. "In any case, I better make sure to keep you busy; otherwise, I might not get paid. Rock Slide!"
From above, the same terrifying scene of the sky falling repeated as jagged boulders rained down in a relentless torrent, threatening to bury their formation under a mountain of stone.
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