Chapter Twelve

"Who's up for breakfast?" Candida asked. "I found some waffles in the fridge." She and the others had spent an uncomfortable night, made worse by the knowledge that, unless they did something about Team Midnight fast, the evil plans they had discovered would surely come to fruition. So she was keen to keep things as normal as possible (hard when you're under siege) and the first thing she had done was look for something she and the others could have for breakfast.

"Count me in," said Autumn, joining her friend.

"Pika!" piped up her Pikachu from his usual perch on Autumn's shoulder. Waffles were his favourite food; indeed, Autumn had once joked that he ate so many he would be fatter than a Snorlax before long. He leapt down and scurried across the floor and into the Bensons' living room.

Candida looked round at the other three girls, then down at herself. Sandra was wearing Crozier's Team Midnight uniform, but Candida, Autumn and Kelly were still in the night things they had been wearing when Team Midnight seized control of Aquarius and marched everyone off to their mine in the ocean floor. Not surprisingly, these garments were looking slightly the worse for wear. "First, let's get into some decent clothes," Candida said, pulling open her cupboard and grabbing an outfit at random. This consisted of a red vest top and a black skirt and she nipped into the bathroom to change. Then, peering round her bedroom door, she looked at her three friends.

"Autumn and Kelly, you can borrow something of mine," she said.

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So, ten minutes later, the seven friends were assembled in the Bensons' kitchen. Candida stood at the stove frying waffles, while Autumn, Sandra and Marc sat round the breakfast bar and Kelly, Jeremy and Kevin stood nearby. Autumn's Pikachu was sitting on the worktop watching the goings on with close interest. Seeing him reminded Candida of something.

"Oh, yeah," she said. "We'd better feed the Pokemon as well . . ."

"Pikachu likes waffles," offered Autumn as her Pokemon got up, tried to sniff at the pan - and was rewarded with a splash of hot fat in his face.

"Pika!" he yelled, leaping down and rubbing his nose angrily as Marc released his Squirtle and told him to use Water Gun to cool the Pikachu down. As the Squirtle sprayed Pikachu with a jet of water from his mouth, Candida struggled not to laugh. There had been far too few reasons to laugh since Team Midnight took over . . .

"OK," she said as she took the now cooked waffles off the heat and scooped them onto plates, "there's ketchup and brown sauce in the middle cupboard if anyone wants it. Now for the Pokemon . . ." She hummed to herself as she opened up the cupboard containing the Bensons' supply of Poke-chow. This contained a large bag of Water Pokemon food for her Lapras, a box of Ryan's Elekid's favourite Electroflakes and some packets of her Togetic's food. "Hope there's enough here for all of them," she muttered, recalling that, even without Kevin's Dark Types, she and her friends still had twelve Pokemon between them.

Sandra glanced down at her Poke Balls - and looked up with a start. "Er, guys," she said, "I don't want to bother you, but . . ."

"But? But what, Sandra?" Candida asked as she placed the plates of waffles on the breakfast bar. It was clear from the expression on Sandra's face that something must be wrong, but what could it be? Had something happened to one of Sandra's Pokemon during her brief period posing as a Team Midnight agent? But Sandra didn't have any Dark or Poison Types, the Pokemon Team Midnight were most interested in, and, even though her Dratini knew Toxic . . .

"Wooper's gone." Sandra's voice was barely audible, but it was enough to make the others look up with a start.

"Gone?" echoed Jeremy, his hand straying to the Poke Ball containing his Charmeleon.

"I let it out to distract Team Midnight - and forgot to recall it."

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After this revelation, the breakfast of waffles was eaten in silence; even Autumn's Pikachu was unusually quiet. Could Sandra's Wooper have been captured by Team Midnight? Or was he still at large somewhere in the underwater city? Either way, the friends now had four Pokemon on the list of the missing, three of which had definitely been taken. The question now was, what had happened to the fourth?

"How could you forget to recall a Pokemon?" Kevin demanded hotly. He didn't mean to sound harsh - he knew how Sandra must be feeling right now - but the stress of recent events was beginning to get to him.

"I was in a hurry," Sandra pointed out, her hand resting on her Dratini's Poke Ball. "You were there, remember? There were Team Midnight goons everywhere."

Candida digested this news in silence. It was one more crisis they had to deal with, in addition to everything else that had happened lately. And she had seen enough of Team Midnight agents lately to know what they were capable of; they would stop at nothing to get the Rock of Darkness and to hell with any people and Pokemon who fell along the way. In that case . . . She stood up and placed her hand over her heart as if she was making a pledge. "Then we'll stop at nothing to make sure they don't!" she blurted out, causing everyone to look up with a start.

"W - what?" stammered Sandra, still preoccupied with her Wooper's possible fate.

"Team Midnight," Candida replied simply. "We have to stop them, no matter what it takes!"

"I know that, but how?" Marc glanced at his Squirtle, currently munching on a plate of Pokemon food. He had no doubt that Squirtle - and Seadra if it came to that - would fight valiantly if it came to a battle, but would that be enough? Could seven youngsters with eleven Pokemon (not counting the missing ones) between them do anything against such an organisation? He didn't know, but what he did know was that they had to try. Otherwise, from what the memo Kevin had stolen said, the world was in serious trouble. Unable to come up with any plans, he looked desperately at the others.

"I'm with Candida," said Autumn, picking up her Pikachu and moving towards the chair barricading the door. "We can't just do nothing. First things first, let's get our Pokemon trained up." With that, she pushed the chair aside and stepped out of the Bensons' module before anyone could stop her . . .

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Candida had been about to suggest that they used the computer in her room to check the layout of Aquarius for any patrolling Team Midnight agents. But Autumn's action had forced them to venture out without having time to check first and they were all on edge. Her Togetic was flying on ahead with Drifter and Delibird, while Marc's Squirtle and Jeremy's Charmeleon flanked the group like bodyguards. It was a tense few minutes, but they had to catch up with Autumn before Team Midnight did.

Eventually, they spotted her heading in the direction of the room where they had battled their Pokemon shortly after coming to Aquarius. In a few short strides, they caught up with her and Jeremy grabbed her by the shoulder. "What the hell do you think you're playing at?" he demanded. "You could have gotten us caught!"

Autumn blushed with embarrassment, remembering a time when she (or was it one of the other girls?) had asked the boys much the same question. Back then, they had been worried about getting caught out of bounds, but this was different. They wouldn't achieve anything against Team Midnight unless they took a few risks. "Sorry," she said, trying to hide her discomfort with a nervous laugh. "I just thought we'd better get our Pokemon trained if we're gonna beat Team Midnight."

"So?" Jeremy asked, relaxing his grip on Autumn but not quite sure what she was getting at.

"So . . . the Bensons' module is too small. Why do you think I came this way?" She paused and pushed open the door that led into the room, before stepping inside with her Pikachu close behind her. "Remember that day we had all those Pokemon battles in here?" she added, clicking the switch she could feel on the nearby wall and turning on the lights. "I thought we could do our training here . . ."

Candida peered into the room. It was deserted, totally devoid of life, the only sign it had ever been used being the litter bins that were still unemptied from the night before Team Midnight seized control. The tables around which the young people of Aquarius normally gathered were empty. The jukebox which usually blasted out the latest tunes as the youngsters snacked, battled their Pokemon, chatted or just hung out stood silent. The whole scene had an abandoned, even melancholy, air. She thought of the people she had seen in here and what they must be suffering now. It stiffened her resolve and she stepped into the room.

"Let's do it," she told the others.

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The plans for the training session were quickly drawn up - six of the friends would battle while Kevin acted as referee. First up was Kelly versus her brother, Jeremy, and the two siblings now stood facing each other, Poke Balls at the ready. The others sat round a nearby table to watch and wait for their turn to fight.

"One Pokemon each!" Kevin called, reminding them of the rules they had set for this practice battle. "Begin!"

Jeremy responded immediately, hurling his one Poke Ball with all his strength and releasing the Charmeleon inside. The Fire Pokemon flexed his muscles as Kelly pondered which of her Pokemon she should use against him. With Charmeleon strong against both Grass and Ice Types, neither Drifter nor Delibird would last long unless they could somehow outmanouvere the fire lizard. And she knew from past experience (mainly the Metronomed Flamethrower Candida's Togetic had used to down Delibird) that Fire Attacks had a pretty long range. So she decided not to risk it and picked one of her other two Pokemon.

"Go . . . Pinky!" she called, throwing her Clefable's Poke Ball. Pinky emerged looking so dainty and feminine it was hard to believe she would stand much of a chance against a Charmeleon. But Kelly wasn't worried; the Clefable had taken out Fire Types before. However, just to make sure, she decided to make the opening move. "Pinky! Start things off with your Thunderpunch!" she ordered.

In response, Pinky began whirled her right arm round in circles, building up energy until it was positively crackling with electricity. Then, she clenched her fist and charged towards Charmeleon, ready to aim a powerful punch at the Fire Pokemon. Thunderpunch was a powerful Electric Type Attack which focussed all the Pokemon's energy into its hand, effectively turning it into a battery. All such Attacks had the power to jar the opponent, but the momentum built up in a Thunderpunch (combined with the close quarters from which it was delivered) meant it was capable doing some serious damage. Jeremy had to think fast and, in the few seconds before Pinky attacked, he acted.

"Charmeleon! Smokescreen!" he called, watching as Charmeleon snorted a thick cloud of smoke in Pinky's direction. She coughed, unable to see where to aim her Thunderpunch, as Jeremy quickly followed through. "Now," he added as Pinky struggled to see past the smoke, "Rage and Slash!"

Now it was Kelly's turn to counter her opponent's move. Slash was a powerful move in itself and, when Rage was used to increase Attack power, it could do some serious damage. Drifter had once lost a battle against a Totodile that knew this move combo; the small Water Pokemon had built up energy and leapt straight at the Skiploom, scratching her on the underside of her body with its sharp claws and causing her to "bleed" sap. Drifter had crashed out in the most literal sense possible - and Kelly was not about to let another trainer pull the same trick. Even her own brother . . .

"Pinky, don't let Charmeleon beat you! Endure!"

In response to Kelly's command, Pinky braced herself as Jeremy's Charmeleon came charging towards her, swiping at the air with his sharp claws. Then, just as Charmeleon got within slashing distance, she waved her arms and summoned a Lightscreen. The nearly invisible barrier caught Charmeleon by surprise as he collided with it. "Quick, Pinky!" Kelly called as Charmeleon shook himself and stood up. "Psychic Attack!"

"Charmeleon! Flamethrower!" Jeremy countered, seeing the purple light that was forming around the Clefable as she prepared to let fly with a blast of mental energy. Psychic Attacks were very powerful. They were capable of giving a Pokemon such a severe headache that it could no longer battle effectively and some Pokemon could even take control of an opponent's body using this Attack. Therefore, he wanted to get in an Attack before Pinky's Psychic did too much damage . . .

Charmeleon snorted and smoke began to issue from his nostrils as he prepared to let fly with a jet of flames. But Pinky moved a fraction of a second faster and, before Charmeleon had chance to react, she pointed at him and a purple light shot out from her fingers. She pointed upwards and Charmeleon rose into the air as if suspended on fine wires. Jeremy began to think desperately, his mind flitting through all the skills a Charmeleon had. There had to be something that could counter this. Maybe Attract would do it; after all, Charmeleon was male and Pinky was female.

"Charmeleon, Att . . .!" But, before Jeremy could finish speaking, Kelly butted in. She knew there was only one Pokemon move whose name began with "Att", a move that could cause Pinky to stop attacking Charmeleon and lose her the battle. Not if she could help it . . .

"Pinky, let's end this!" she shouted, cutting Jeremy off mid-word. In response, Pinky used the telekinetic powers Psychic gave her to send Charmeleon flying across the room. Then, with a wave of her hand, she dropped the fire lizard against a vending machine. He struck it head-on, struggled to get up and slumped down, defeated. Kelly was the winner.

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A little later, with most of their Pokemon having gained at least some experience - Sandra's Dratini had even learned a new move, Outrage - the friends decided to head back to the Bensons' module. As they had done before, they moved cautiously, constantly checking for signs of any lurking Team Midnight agents. They knew they had to do something to keep Team Midnight from finding the Rock of Darkness, but they didn't know what. Beyond what was in the memo Kevin stole, they knew nothing about the evil plans Lenoir had devised.

Somehow, Kevin knew, they had to stop this. He had no ideas, aside from finding his Pokemon and all the other Dark Types in Aquarius and setting them free before Team Midnight did something unspeakable to them, but he knew they had to act fast. If they didn't, if the Rock of Darkness was found and used, every Dark Type Pokemon would become evil. Somehow, he and his friends had to prevent that from happening . . .

Without any warning, the Team Midnight agents were upon them. Crozier, her Cacturne at her side, stood barking out orders to her fellows and caressing a length of electrical flex in one hand as she imagined what she would like to do to these young upstarts. She had rounded up every off-duty agent she could find and, with some difficulty since some were reluctant to do anything without a direct order from Rich at the very least, talked them into helping her avenge the slight the youngsters had caused to her. Her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of Sandra; the impudent brat was wearing her uniform. She would pay for that. They would all pay.

"Any ideas?" Candida whispered from where she, Marc and Autumn had been forced back-to-back by three Team Midnight agents, all of whom were armed with rifles. She shook with fear, knowing that any attempt to move could be the worst (and last) mistake they ever made. Her mind flashed through the events of her life in Aquarius, the underwater city that had seemed so exciting when she first arrived, but which had now become little more than a prison. Would she ever get out of here and return to the surface? Would she ever ride her Lapras in the waters of Cherrygrove Bay again?

"Right now, I'm just worried about staying alive," Marc whispered back. He had considered sending Squirtle out to fight the agents, but thought better of it. One Squirtle would not stand a chance against several armed humans . . .

Autumn, not trusting herself to speak, swallowed hard as she recalled how she had been put in the Tank the last time Team Midnight captured her. She wondered if they had the same fate planned this time and, if they did . . . Not wanting to dwell on the thought, she turned to the trembling Pikachu that was clinging to her. "Pikachu, run for it!" she whispered urgently.

"Pika!" Pikachu's only response was to cling even harder. Like most of his kind, he was fiercely loyal to his trainer and would sooner die than let anything bad happen to her.

Autumn prised him loose. "Don't argue - just get going." She gave the Pikachu a little kick in the rear to send him on his way. "And keep an eye out for Sandra's Wooper," she added as Pikachu reluctantly turned and raced down the corridor.

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"Shall we get that Pikachu?" one of the agents who had Kelly in a headlock asked.

"No," Crozier said levelly. "We need to get these brats dealt with. Besides, what can one little Pikachu do?"

"Quite a lot," Autumn thought to herself. A Pikachu might be small, but its Electric Attacks could do a lot of damage. She herself had received a few jarring shocks in the past, especially when her Pikachu was still a Pichu and hadn't learnt to control his electricity. But she refrained from saying anything out loud and waited to see what the agents would do next.

Crozier turned to her fellow agents. "Get them back into Team Midnight territory," she ordered. "I'll go inform Rich that they've been caught." She pulled out a Poke Ball and pointed it at her Cacturne. "Cacturne, return!" Then, as Cacturne disappeared into the Ball, she pocketed it and strode off with a imperious swagger. Candida and her friends watched her go with a sense of numb dismay.

A male Team Midnight agent with a long scar down his left cheek (the result of getting too close to an enraged Tyranitar) turned to the youngsters. "Move it!" he barked.