The Great Butler
Hush, keep it down
And now........the plot thickens as identities are revealed and dark pasts are brought to light........
------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER SEVEN: A Sky-High Showdown
Any normal craft would have been useless in the storm, but Rich's Lugia was tough enough to make it through. With its four passengers holding on to its back for dear life, Lugia fought the punishing winds and rain on its way to Enigma Shadow's airship. This would not be an easy trip. The airship was designed to look just like a black Lugia, making it hard to see in the roiling black clouds that coated the sky. Massive bolts of lightning occasionally lit up the sky, granting Rich and his friends only brief glimpses of where they were going. The one thing they had to be thankful for was Lugia's psychic powers----using them was the only way to find the airship's docking port, the only way in. Finally Lugia managed to land inside the port, and the four heroes got off.
"Lugia, return!" Rich recalled Lugia to its ball for a rest, then looked around. "There's only two ways out of this place. One will involve us jumping out the way we came in and will almost certainly result in our deaths. The other is through that door...." Rich pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room, ".....which will surely yield a fight with someone high in Enigma Shadow's ranks. Which will it be?"
"We take the door," Ashley answered confidently.
"Right. Onward we must go!"
The four rushed up to the door, then Steven pushed a button on the door's side. It slid open, allowing them passage into the next, much bigger chamber. This room had a large hexagon-shaped platform in the middle, two catwalks that connected to the docking port's door and a closed door, and finally a new door on the opposite end. Anabel instantly went up to the door, the others close behind, and pressed the button----but the door stayed shut.
"No!" she cried out. "It doesn't work! We're trapped!"
"Wahahahahah! Now how does it feel to be the mice in my trap?"
The door connected by the second catwalk slid open, and Nascour swept into the room. His purple clothes and cape made him just as intimidating as he was the last time Rich and Steven met him, in Larousse. His evil red eyes and wild white hair just contributed to it.
"Welcome to the beginning of your nightmare, Rich. At last, we meet again. I've been waiting a very long time for this."
"I should've known it was you all along," Rich growled back. "I'm going to put an end to this once and for all!"
"Now, now, don't be so hasty. I am extending your life by not fighting you right away."
"Nascour........" Anabel said, rather annoyed by his tone. "Only you could be so bold."
"Thank you. You see, Rich and I have battled before in the past. The last time we met, I sorely underestimated him. But this time, I will earn Queen Shadow's favor by bringing the traitor back into our fold."
"Trait........WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!??!" Anabel, Steven, and Ashley all screamed at once.
"Wahahah! Your little friend isn't all he thinks he is! He's really one of us!"
"Rich....please tell me this isn't true...." Anabel begged weakly.
"Uh....ugh...."
"Come now, do not lie," Nascour prodded, sneering. "Tell your friend the truth."
"It's.....it's true...."
Anabel gasped and fainted briefly. Steven and Ashley had to hold her up from falling off the platform.
"Many years ago, when I lived in Phenac City.......I....I was a member of Cipher. I was a clueless kid then, and once I uncovered the truth about Cipher's Shadow Pokémon plan.....I fled to Hoenn."
"Even then, you were very powerful. Queen Shadow favored you greatly, and when you defected, she was furious to have lost such a strong agent. As you stand before me now, I can sense your power has grown even greater. I will give you one last chance to save your life and those of your friends. Give in and rejoin us. If you cooperate, I will take you to Queen Shadow and she will render a somewhat merciful punishment on you. If you refuse, I will take you as prisoners by force, and Queen Shadow will terminate your lives. What is your decision?"
Rich tried to answer, but choked up and began crying instead. He did, however, manage to mouth the word 'no.'
"You have refused my offer. So be it. You have ruined our plans at every turn, for many years since you took the first blow with your acts of treason. Since you refuse to cooperate, I have no choice but to destroy you in battle and take you all prisoner. Queen Shadow will not hesitate to terminate your lives once I have defeated you."
"Rich........" Anabel said softly.
"A-A-Anabel...I'm sorry...."
"Don't take that junk from him! Take him down! I believe in you, Rich!"
Anabel seemed to reinvigorate Rich with every syllable she spoke. He stopped crying, wiped his face, and faced Nascour with a renewed air of confidence.
"So your girlfriend's got your back. It doesn't matter at this point. Prepare to lose!"
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Pkmn Trainer Rich ---vs.--- Cipher Nascour
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[Nascour's hair and cape waved in the wind generated by a cooling fan]
"This will be a decisive victory for Enigma Shadow. Sceptile and Walrein, go!"
"You may have resorted to dirty tactics to try and break my spirit, but I will win! Go, Alakazam and Salamence!"
As the two teams of Pokémon stared each other down, Nascour chuckled, took something out of his pocket, and held it tightly in his fist.
"Most amusing. How about we raise the stakes a bit?" Nascour opened his fist, revealing a shiny red gem. "This is the Ruby Plate, the only one you do not possess."
"Now what are you babbling about? Neither of us has the Emerald Plate either."
"Oh, what you don't know. Do you have that key you got from Spenser?"
"Yeah......" Rich took out the green key.
"That key fits into the center of the Battle Tower champ's belt you wear. Inside is the Emerald Plate."
Stunned, Rich quickly took the key, inserted it into the center of the belt's golden Poké Ball emblem, and gave it a twist. The emblem popped open, and inside was a shiny green gem. The Emerald Plate.
"Now, my proposal. Whoever wins this match shall obtain all the Element Plates held by the loser."
"You're on!"
"Now, let us dispose with the talk and fight to the bitter end. Sceptile, Crunch!"
Nascour's Sceptile rushed forward towards Alakazam with fangs bared. The Psychic type was caught completely off guard and thus could not dodge the powerful attack.
"Don't put up with that, Alakazam! Use Thunderpunch!"
Alakazam recovered from the painful impact of Crunch, teleported to right behind Walrein, and delivered a strong blow with an electrified punch to the walrus-like Pokémon.
"Salamence, Flamethrower!"
Salamence followed up quickly by loosing fire from its mouth, burning and injuring Sceptile greatly. Even so, the Grass type still seemed to have some fight left in it.
"How amusing. Walrein, Body Slam!"
Walrein sprung into the air---an incredible feat for such a large creature---and smashed its entire bulk down on Alakazam, which fainted.
"Wahahahah! This should end differently than last time!"
"That's what you think. Return, Alakazam! Go, Ludicolo!"
"Ludicolo, hmph. Sceptile, attack with Frenzy Plant!"
Large roots came out of the seeds on Sceptile's back, dug into the ground, and came back up to whip Ludicolo powerfully. This also left Sceptile quite obviously exhausted.
"Brick Break, Salamence!"
Salamence roared, then glided quickly down and smashed Walrein with its claws. Walrein tried to hold back against the blow, but its efforts failed. It tumbled over, fainted.
"This could actually end up being quite fun indeed. Return, Sceptile! Go, Gardevoir!"
"Rich, that's a Shadow Gardevoir!"
"Thank you, Anabel. Ice Beam!"
Ludicolo backflipped as it began charging the Ice Beam up, then it fired the freezing attack at Sceptile. This was a strong hit, and Sceptile fainted.
"I was right when I appraised your skills at higher than before. Sceptile, return! Go, Blaziken! Gardevoir, use Shadow Sky!"
Gardevoir began doing a strange dance as shadow energy accumulated in its body. It then looked straight up and screamed as a burst of shadow energy came out of it and shot up to the top of the room. When it hit the ceiling, it burst into an aura that covered the room.
"Blast Burn!"
Blaziken took a deep breath, sucking in superheated air. After a moment, it used this air to blast Ludicolo with a massive fireball. The impact sent Ludicolo flying, and when it landed it was knocked out.
"So you want to play it that way? Fine, Nascour, let's play. Return, Ludicolo! Go......Lugia!! Salamence, Earthquake!"
Salamence flew high into the air, then crashed down to create a shock wave. Lugia simply glided over it, but Gardevoir and Blaziken could not escape. The former took a heavy blow, the latter was knocked out instantly. Nascour gritted his teeth in anger.
"Grrrrr.......well done, formidable foe, well done......return! Go, Swampert!"
As soon as Nascour's Swampert came out, bursts of light rained down from the shadowy aura. They hurt all the non-Shadows---in this case, Swampert, Lugia, and Salamence.
"No more games, Nascour. Lugia, Giga Drain!"
Lugia's eyes flashed with bright blue light, then it began draining Swampert's energy. This attack was four times as effective as it held superiority over both Swampert's Water type and its Ground type. Swampert just fell over fainted.
"N-no.....this is.....Gah! Return! Go, Xatu!"
"Rich, that's another Shadow Pokémon!"
"I am not going to lose! Gardevoir, Shadow Rave!"
Shadow energy collected in Gardevoir's body, then it launched spikes of this energy at Rich's team. Neither Salamence nor Lugia took all that much damage, though.
"Snag Ball, go!"
Rich threw a Snag Ball at Gardevoir. Weakened from Salamence's powerful Earthquake earlier in the battle, it could not fight and was Snagged. More bursts of light then rained down from the shadowy aura, this time hitting Salamence and Lugia.
"Lugia, Surf!"
Using its psychic powers once again, Lugia formed a large wave of water which it crashed down on Xatu with great force.
"Xatu, Shadow Rush!"
The shadow aura surrounded Xatu's body as it flew up and into Lugia, doing a small amount of damage. Rich grinned broadly, sensing victory.
"Snag Ball, go!!!"
Rich threw the Snag Ball at Xatu. Nascour watched in horror as his final Pokémon was grabbed by the ball, which rocked once......
.....twice.......
.......three times. Xatu had been Snagged as well.
"H-how can this be?! Forgive me, Queen Shadow! I can't beat him!"
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"Well done, you scoundrel. You have bested me yet again, now allow me to give you your reward."
"Hand it over."
"Oh, I'm not the one doing the handing over. Your reward is the priviledge of getting the Element Plates taken from you!"
All four heroes screamed in terror as a huge magnet appeared from a hatch in the ceiling. It moved to right over Rich and activated, pulling the Sapphire, Emerald, Pearl, and Diamond Plates from his pockets. Once the four Plates were stuck to the magnet, it moved to over Nascour and dropped them to him.
"Y-You dirty cheat!" Ashley shouted.
"Wahahah! Forgive me, but I must be off!"
Nascour rushed out of the room.
"I don't believe it.....I fell for his trick....beating him didn't do a thing....."
Anabel just then noticed some objects on the floor.
"Hmm? Look, Rich, he dropped some things."
Anabel picked up the objects and handed them to Rich. One was a blue-and-white Poké Ball with the letter 'M' on it, the other a small metallic object with a red button on it.
"This is a Master Ball, which I'm sure will serve us well. I'll have to save it for an important Snag. But this thing?"
Steven took the odd object and looked at it.
"I know what it is. It's a remote for a Devon Corp. robotic door! I bet it opens the locked door over there."
"Give it a try."
Steven pointed the device at the door and pressed the button. As he had suspected, it opened.
"Now, let's get a move on."
Rich and the others went through the door and up the stairs leading to their next challenge.........................
To Be Continued.
------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER SEVEN: A Sky-High Showdown
Any normal craft would have been useless in the storm, but Rich's Lugia was tough enough to make it through. With its four passengers holding on to its back for dear life, Lugia fought the punishing winds and rain on its way to Enigma Shadow's airship. This would not be an easy trip. The airship was designed to look just like a black Lugia, making it hard to see in the roiling black clouds that coated the sky. Massive bolts of lightning occasionally lit up the sky, granting Rich and his friends only brief glimpses of where they were going. The one thing they had to be thankful for was Lugia's psychic powers----using them was the only way to find the airship's docking port, the only way in. Finally Lugia managed to land inside the port, and the four heroes got off.
"Lugia, return!" Rich recalled Lugia to its ball for a rest, then looked around. "There's only two ways out of this place. One will involve us jumping out the way we came in and will almost certainly result in our deaths. The other is through that door...." Rich pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room, ".....which will surely yield a fight with someone high in Enigma Shadow's ranks. Which will it be?"
"We take the door," Ashley answered confidently.
"Right. Onward we must go!"
The four rushed up to the door, then Steven pushed a button on the door's side. It slid open, allowing them passage into the next, much bigger chamber. This room had a large hexagon-shaped platform in the middle, two catwalks that connected to the docking port's door and a closed door, and finally a new door on the opposite end. Anabel instantly went up to the door, the others close behind, and pressed the button----but the door stayed shut.
"No!" she cried out. "It doesn't work! We're trapped!"
"Wahahahahah! Now how does it feel to be the mice in my trap?"
The door connected by the second catwalk slid open, and Nascour swept into the room. His purple clothes and cape made him just as intimidating as he was the last time Rich and Steven met him, in Larousse. His evil red eyes and wild white hair just contributed to it.
"Welcome to the beginning of your nightmare, Rich. At last, we meet again. I've been waiting a very long time for this."
"I should've known it was you all along," Rich growled back. "I'm going to put an end to this once and for all!"
"Now, now, don't be so hasty. I am extending your life by not fighting you right away."
"Nascour........" Anabel said, rather annoyed by his tone. "Only you could be so bold."
"Thank you. You see, Rich and I have battled before in the past. The last time we met, I sorely underestimated him. But this time, I will earn Queen Shadow's favor by bringing the traitor back into our fold."
"Trait........WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!??!" Anabel, Steven, and Ashley all screamed at once.
"Wahahah! Your little friend isn't all he thinks he is! He's really one of us!"
"Rich....please tell me this isn't true...." Anabel begged weakly.
"Uh....ugh...."
"Come now, do not lie," Nascour prodded, sneering. "Tell your friend the truth."
"It's.....it's true...."
Anabel gasped and fainted briefly. Steven and Ashley had to hold her up from falling off the platform.
"Many years ago, when I lived in Phenac City.......I....I was a member of Cipher. I was a clueless kid then, and once I uncovered the truth about Cipher's Shadow Pokémon plan.....I fled to Hoenn."
"Even then, you were very powerful. Queen Shadow favored you greatly, and when you defected, she was furious to have lost such a strong agent. As you stand before me now, I can sense your power has grown even greater. I will give you one last chance to save your life and those of your friends. Give in and rejoin us. If you cooperate, I will take you to Queen Shadow and she will render a somewhat merciful punishment on you. If you refuse, I will take you as prisoners by force, and Queen Shadow will terminate your lives. What is your decision?"
Rich tried to answer, but choked up and began crying instead. He did, however, manage to mouth the word 'no.'
"You have refused my offer. So be it. You have ruined our plans at every turn, for many years since you took the first blow with your acts of treason. Since you refuse to cooperate, I have no choice but to destroy you in battle and take you all prisoner. Queen Shadow will not hesitate to terminate your lives once I have defeated you."
"Rich........" Anabel said softly.
"A-A-Anabel...I'm sorry...."
"Don't take that junk from him! Take him down! I believe in you, Rich!"
Anabel seemed to reinvigorate Rich with every syllable she spoke. He stopped crying, wiped his face, and faced Nascour with a renewed air of confidence.
"So your girlfriend's got your back. It doesn't matter at this point. Prepare to lose!"
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Pkmn Trainer Rich ---vs.--- Cipher Nascour
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[Nascour's hair and cape waved in the wind generated by a cooling fan]
"This will be a decisive victory for Enigma Shadow. Sceptile and Walrein, go!"
"You may have resorted to dirty tactics to try and break my spirit, but I will win! Go, Alakazam and Salamence!"
As the two teams of Pokémon stared each other down, Nascour chuckled, took something out of his pocket, and held it tightly in his fist.
"Most amusing. How about we raise the stakes a bit?" Nascour opened his fist, revealing a shiny red gem. "This is the Ruby Plate, the only one you do not possess."
"Now what are you babbling about? Neither of us has the Emerald Plate either."
"Oh, what you don't know. Do you have that key you got from Spenser?"
"Yeah......" Rich took out the green key.
"That key fits into the center of the Battle Tower champ's belt you wear. Inside is the Emerald Plate."
Stunned, Rich quickly took the key, inserted it into the center of the belt's golden Poké Ball emblem, and gave it a twist. The emblem popped open, and inside was a shiny green gem. The Emerald Plate.
"Now, my proposal. Whoever wins this match shall obtain all the Element Plates held by the loser."
"You're on!"
"Now, let us dispose with the talk and fight to the bitter end. Sceptile, Crunch!"
Nascour's Sceptile rushed forward towards Alakazam with fangs bared. The Psychic type was caught completely off guard and thus could not dodge the powerful attack.
"Don't put up with that, Alakazam! Use Thunderpunch!"
Alakazam recovered from the painful impact of Crunch, teleported to right behind Walrein, and delivered a strong blow with an electrified punch to the walrus-like Pokémon.
"Salamence, Flamethrower!"
Salamence followed up quickly by loosing fire from its mouth, burning and injuring Sceptile greatly. Even so, the Grass type still seemed to have some fight left in it.
"How amusing. Walrein, Body Slam!"
Walrein sprung into the air---an incredible feat for such a large creature---and smashed its entire bulk down on Alakazam, which fainted.
"Wahahahah! This should end differently than last time!"
"That's what you think. Return, Alakazam! Go, Ludicolo!"
"Ludicolo, hmph. Sceptile, attack with Frenzy Plant!"
Large roots came out of the seeds on Sceptile's back, dug into the ground, and came back up to whip Ludicolo powerfully. This also left Sceptile quite obviously exhausted.
"Brick Break, Salamence!"
Salamence roared, then glided quickly down and smashed Walrein with its claws. Walrein tried to hold back against the blow, but its efforts failed. It tumbled over, fainted.
"This could actually end up being quite fun indeed. Return, Sceptile! Go, Gardevoir!"
"Rich, that's a Shadow Gardevoir!"
"Thank you, Anabel. Ice Beam!"
Ludicolo backflipped as it began charging the Ice Beam up, then it fired the freezing attack at Sceptile. This was a strong hit, and Sceptile fainted.
"I was right when I appraised your skills at higher than before. Sceptile, return! Go, Blaziken! Gardevoir, use Shadow Sky!"
Gardevoir began doing a strange dance as shadow energy accumulated in its body. It then looked straight up and screamed as a burst of shadow energy came out of it and shot up to the top of the room. When it hit the ceiling, it burst into an aura that covered the room.
"Blast Burn!"
Blaziken took a deep breath, sucking in superheated air. After a moment, it used this air to blast Ludicolo with a massive fireball. The impact sent Ludicolo flying, and when it landed it was knocked out.
"So you want to play it that way? Fine, Nascour, let's play. Return, Ludicolo! Go......Lugia!! Salamence, Earthquake!"
Salamence flew high into the air, then crashed down to create a shock wave. Lugia simply glided over it, but Gardevoir and Blaziken could not escape. The former took a heavy blow, the latter was knocked out instantly. Nascour gritted his teeth in anger.
"Grrrrr.......well done, formidable foe, well done......return! Go, Swampert!"
As soon as Nascour's Swampert came out, bursts of light rained down from the shadowy aura. They hurt all the non-Shadows---in this case, Swampert, Lugia, and Salamence.
"No more games, Nascour. Lugia, Giga Drain!"
Lugia's eyes flashed with bright blue light, then it began draining Swampert's energy. This attack was four times as effective as it held superiority over both Swampert's Water type and its Ground type. Swampert just fell over fainted.
"N-no.....this is.....Gah! Return! Go, Xatu!"
"Rich, that's another Shadow Pokémon!"
"I am not going to lose! Gardevoir, Shadow Rave!"
Shadow energy collected in Gardevoir's body, then it launched spikes of this energy at Rich's team. Neither Salamence nor Lugia took all that much damage, though.
"Snag Ball, go!"
Rich threw a Snag Ball at Gardevoir. Weakened from Salamence's powerful Earthquake earlier in the battle, it could not fight and was Snagged. More bursts of light then rained down from the shadowy aura, this time hitting Salamence and Lugia.
"Lugia, Surf!"
Using its psychic powers once again, Lugia formed a large wave of water which it crashed down on Xatu with great force.
"Xatu, Shadow Rush!"
The shadow aura surrounded Xatu's body as it flew up and into Lugia, doing a small amount of damage. Rich grinned broadly, sensing victory.
"Snag Ball, go!!!"
Rich threw the Snag Ball at Xatu. Nascour watched in horror as his final Pokémon was grabbed by the ball, which rocked once......
.....twice.......
.......three times. Xatu had been Snagged as well.
"H-how can this be?! Forgive me, Queen Shadow! I can't beat him!"
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"Well done, you scoundrel. You have bested me yet again, now allow me to give you your reward."
"Hand it over."
"Oh, I'm not the one doing the handing over. Your reward is the priviledge of getting the Element Plates taken from you!"
All four heroes screamed in terror as a huge magnet appeared from a hatch in the ceiling. It moved to right over Rich and activated, pulling the Sapphire, Emerald, Pearl, and Diamond Plates from his pockets. Once the four Plates were stuck to the magnet, it moved to over Nascour and dropped them to him.
"Y-You dirty cheat!" Ashley shouted.
"Wahahah! Forgive me, but I must be off!"
Nascour rushed out of the room.
"I don't believe it.....I fell for his trick....beating him didn't do a thing....."
Anabel just then noticed some objects on the floor.
"Hmm? Look, Rich, he dropped some things."
Anabel picked up the objects and handed them to Rich. One was a blue-and-white Poké Ball with the letter 'M' on it, the other a small metallic object with a red button on it.
"This is a Master Ball, which I'm sure will serve us well. I'll have to save it for an important Snag. But this thing?"
Steven took the odd object and looked at it.
"I know what it is. It's a remote for a Devon Corp. robotic door! I bet it opens the locked door over there."
"Give it a try."
Steven pointed the device at the door and pressed the button. As he had suspected, it opened.
"Now, let's get a move on."
Rich and the others went through the door and up the stairs leading to their next challenge.........................
To Be Continued.