The Beautifly Effect

Chapter Twenty-Nine -- Mission Underway

Advancing through the darkness Richie kept a wary eye open for any sign of danger. He crept cautiously from the shadow of one building to the next.

He released Sparky from its Poké ball. He felt safer that way. Suddenly his Pikachu turned back to face him, its paws apart, its cheeks sparking. Richie was taken aback. What was going on?

Sparky dissolved into an amorphous shape. Its beady eyes, faintly glistening in the starlight, shrunk into pinpricks. The buildings around him morphed into trees.

The Ditto lunged forward, tackling him onto the gravelly ground. Richie grabbed it, rolled over and began to wrestle.

The hard ground beneath him softened. The Ditto stopped struggling and transformed again beneath him, this time into a human being, but not a copy of himself.

It was Abigail, and he was lying on top of her on a soft bed. Feeling her feminine body beneath him filled him with desire. Richie moved his head down to close the distance between their lips.

The vibration alarm on Richie's army-supplied watch woke him at 4 a.m. He didn't feel too bad—the antidote worked well. Some extra sleep would've helped, but he had a job to do.

Richie quietly sneaked out of the Pokémon Centre and made his way north at a steady pace. As expected, the place was deserted.

The isolation of the journey brought back recollections of his dream. The vividness of it could have been induced by the effects of the stun spore, but its meaning was all to clear to him: he was attracted to Abigail, but was suppressing his desires for the sake of propriety. The two of them could continue in this way, or they could change it.

Having known Abigail and having lived on the same farm with her for some time, he felt he knew her well enough. She was honest, thoughtful, diligent, hard-working, warmhearted... The list could go on. They saw eye to eye. They had many enjoyable times together before the winter brought its difficulties. And even then they supported each other with comradeship and bravery.

He was confident she felt the same way about him. He resolved, if they both got through this war alive, he would ask her to marry him.

He made his way to the outskirts of the town. When he got near the power station, he let Sparky out.

In real life the complex was larger than it had seemed on paper. Still, he had memorized the plans; it was simply a matter of following the instructions that he was given.

He found the front gate and hid in the shadow of the nearest tree. A wire fence ran for some distance to the left and right of the steel gate, and there was not much cover. Naturally, at this time of night, it was locked. It was either climbing the barbed wire fence or destroying the lock.

He chose the latter. Checking the best he could that the coast was clear, he approached the gate, Sparky at his heels.

He was startled by a beam of light shining in his face. He stopped in his tracks. His heart started to thump. Footsteps drew near.

"Who's there?"

Richie would have to bluff his way out of this.

"Well then who are you?" said Richie.

"I'm asking the questions here. For your information, I'm the security guard. You tell me your business here or I'll call the police."

"I'm a Pokémon trainer on my way home. I, uh... got lost. I've been looking for the Pokémon Centre all night. See, here's my Pikachu."

The nightwatchman shone his torch down, and left the light resting on Sparky.

"What's it doing out of its Poké ball?"

Uh... it knows Flash... Comes in handy at night."

"Yeah, right," muttered the guard. "Another Ketchum wannabee."

That remark hurt Richie, but he checked his emotions.

"The main road's that way," said the guard, pointing with the light. "'Bout an hour down the road. You'll find it on the right."

"Thanks sir."

"Stay away from here."

Richie followed the way the guard pointed until he entered the shadows of the nearby trees once more. Time for plan B. He followed the fence a hundred metres to the left, and approached it. He reached into his backpack and took out a dark-coloured blanket that was given to him for this purpose. He flung it over to cover the barbed wire portion of the eight-foot high fence.

"Sparky, climb onto my back," he whispered.

Sparky did so and Richie slowly scaled the fence and came down the other side. As he leapt off, he came down with a thud while the fence gave a rattle. The noise wouldn't have been noticeable in the day, but in the dead of night...?

Recalling the plan of the power plant in his mind, he made a run for it towards his target, Sparky cantering behind him.

The glare of a torch stopped them both in their tracks once more.

"Hey!" shouted the security guard, coming towards them. "You again! Hands up, stay where you are."

He pulled out a gun, pointing it at Richie.

Richie was stuck—he didn't know what to do. Then the guard, still holding the torch in his left hand, went for something strapped to his chest. If it was a radio, the mission would fail, and the invasion could be a lot more dangerous for the Kanto troops.

His training came into action. It was almost an automatic reaction to the situation. He had hoped it would never have come to this. His heart sinking lower than it had ever sunk in his life, he said to Sparky, "Code 1."

Sparky tensed momentarily, then shot a short but intense thundershock into the centre of the guard's chest. The man dropped his gun and torch, clenched his chest in a short moment of agony, then slumped, dead, to the ground.

Richie began to tremble. He had just taken a man's life.