Chapter Ten: Hypnosis "It's way too quiet," Matt declared as they closed in on their base. "I thought they had taken it over, shouldn't it be swarming with guards?" "Maybe they know we're coming," Allison suggested. "How could they?" Geoff asked. "Maybe Booster managed to draw most of the guards away," Uiru suggested. "At any rate, the door's unguarded." A few Poké Balls were drawn in preparation for a sneak attack as they crept up to the door. None came. One by one, they entered the base. Although it was pitch dark, the trainers knew their way around. They soon reached the living room. Without warning, the lights flashed on. Looking frantically around, it was quickly determined that the room was empty. "Someone knows we're here," Jessica stated. "Hey, down there!" Geoff pointed. "Our Pokémon!" On a table sat six Poké Balls. The trainers ran down the stairs and opened them up. They were empty. "What the hell?!" Jessica shouted. "Looking for these?" Fire Strike whipped around. It was Sunder, standing on the mezzanine. He was holding a Poké Ball. Fire Strike had their Pokémon drawn in an instant. "Give them back, now!" Uiru demanded. "Oh, I'll give them back," Sunder laughed. "Kadabra, Machoke! I choose you!" Kadabra was the evolved form of the Fighting Abra- one of the rarest breeds of Abra in the world. It's powerful body was protected by armor which shone with an adamant light. Nearly seven feet tall, Kadabra had it all, but it's Psychic powers were slow to charge. It's physical attacks were swift as always, however. Machoke was the same way. As a Machop it would fight with Abra, and the constant exposure to Psychic energy eventually taught it Psychic attribute enhancing moves. It was also extremely fast and powerful, and was much more resilient to Psychic attacks then other Fighting types. "Let's see how you like being crushed by your own Pokémon!" Sunder laughed. Uiru looked up at him. "You obviously have no idea, do you, Sunder?" he asked. "No idea about what?" "Kadabra, Machoke! About face!" Uiru and Jessica said in unison. Their power Pokémon turned, and leapt up to the mezzanine. "Machoke, grab him!" Jessica shouted. Machoke grabbed Sunder's arms and shook him. The other four Poké Balls rolled out of him. "Kadabra, PSY Beam!" Uiru added. Kadabra shot Sunder with a beam of pure Psychic energy. He went flying through a window on the far side of the room, and kept going. Uiru, Jessica, Nick and Geoff ran up the stairs to reclaim their Pokémon. "Dragonair!" Geoff shouted. "Omanyte!" Nick added. He picked up his sea snail Pokémon. "How are you? Are you okay?" Jessica hugged Machoke, then called out Haunter and tried to hug it. After a few tries, the three laughed. "Hey, Kadabra," Uiru said. "Are you guys okay? We were really worried about you!" Kadabra nodded. It pointed at the Poké Balls strewn on the floor. "Oh... What happened to your Poké Ball?" Nick looked at one. "It seems Sunder altered their balls," he explained. "Not like that, of course." "Maybe we should transfer them to new Poké Balls," Allison suggested. The other four had made their way upstairs. "Yeah, I don't want my Pokémon in anything Sunder corrupted," Jessica declared. "We'll transfer you guys out of there in just a minute," she promised as she recalled her Pokémon. "My trading unit is still here," Nick announced. "One of the modifications I made to it is that we can just transfer them to an empty Poké Ball." After a few minutes, the six were out of Sunder's Poké Balls and sitting pretty inside fresh ones. Uiru put Pittman's Graveler in his pocket. After calling Booster to tell him the operation was successful, Fire Strike headed for their helicopter. It wasn't going to be that easy, however. "Pidgeot, Gust!" Jeremy shouted. "Gyarados, Hydro Pump!" the man next to him ordered. The trainers dove out of the way. "Raichu, go!" Uiru shouted. "Thunderbolt the two of them!" Pidgeot got tagged by the explosive power of Thunderbolt, but Gyarados dodged it. "Stephen, use Hyper Beam!" Jeremy ordered. "Pidgeot, return!" "Hyper Beam!" Stephen shouted. Gyarados coiled up and fired it's rainbow beam at Erin and Jessica! As she braced for the impact, Jessica felt one of her Poké Balls open automatically. Machoke emerged and blocked the beam! "Machoke!" she shouted. It had taken the entire blast! Breathing heavily, Machoke glared at Gyarados, and started to glow! "What's happening?" Erin asked. "Machoke's... evolving!?" Uiru asked. "But Machokes don't evolve!" "This one is!" Jessica shouted happily. Machoke evolved into Machamp! Towering over the trainers, the nine foot tall Machamp certainly looked like it had been eating it's Wheaties. Four muscular arms flexed, giving a clear message to any who dared to challenge it- 'You're Dead'. The powerhouse Fighting type charged at Gyarados like a guided missile. "Wow! It's so cool! Look at it go!" Jessica cheered. Uiru could practically see the stars in her eyes. "Kabutops, I choose you!" Jeremy shouted. "Slash attack!" Before Raichu could shock it, Kabutops blasted it with a Slash attack. Uiru recalled it, and sent out Kadabra! "Kadabra, Psychic attack!" Uiru ordered. Kadabra started charging it's attack, but Kabutops got there first and began Slashing away at it's armor! "Kadabra, counter!" Kadabra's retaliation had no effect on Kabutops' rocky shell. Like Machoke before it, Kadabra began glowing! "I don't believe it! Kadabra's going to evolve too!" The still glowing Kadabra blasted Kabutops with a bolt of purple PSY power. It wanted some room. Kadabra evolved into Alakazam! Most Kadabras reached a maximum of six feet in height. Alakazam beat them all at eight and a half. Although not as muscular as Machamp (and still only having two arms) Alakazam would make a physical force to be reckoned with. An additional spoon proved that it's Psychic power had almost doubled as well. It's tail was gone, but that was okay- it'd be easier to kick the crap out of things now. "Alakazam, PSY Sword!" Uiru shouted with glee. "Hack Kabutops to bits!" Alakazam gripped it's spoons, and blades of pure Psychic energy emerged from them! It started battling Kabutops! It's blades were no match for Alakazam's short swords, and was quickly overpowered. Gyarados was not having a good time on the other side of the battlefield. No matter what it attacked with, Machamp just kept coming. It grabbed Gyarados by the tail and slung it into a tree head first. Stephen looked at Jeremy as the two undiscovered evolutions advanced on them. "I believe a strategic retreat would be in order," Jeremy suggested. "Indeed," Stephen agreed. The two took to their heels. Alakazam's swords disappeared. Uiru reached up and clapped it on the back. "Congradulations!" he stated. Jessica hugged Machamp again. It picked her up and sat her down on it's left shoulder. She laughed. "Great job, Machamp!" she congradulated. Alakazam and Machamp exchanged a high-five. Uiru and Jessica didn't shut up about their new Pokémon for the whole trip back. "Hopefully they'll fall asleep soon," Allison said to Matt. He nodded. "But how did they evolve?" Patrick asked them. "Machoke and Kadabra don't evolve. Why did yours?" "I'm not sure," Jessica answered. "Maybe... Maybe it was the trading unit," Nick suggested. "Maybe my modifications altered them slightly, and they evolved." "Hmm... So when they're traded, they evolve," Uiru said. "That sort of makes sence." "Does that mean Dragonair will evolve?" Geoff asked hopefully. "I'm not sure," Nick replied. "Dragonair evolves into Dragonite, but it takes forever. It might have to happen naturally." "Haunter evolves into Gengar, but nobody knows when," Jessica declared. "Nobody has been able to make a Haunter evolve. Only a few wild Gengar have been caught." "Maybe Haunter will evolve when you let it out," Matt suggested. "What about Graveler?" Uiru asked. "Pittman would be thrilled if it evolved too." "Let's try it out when we get back to Saffron," Allison suggested. Uiru and Jessica silently crept up Route 12 towards Lavender. Their mission: to get the newly evolved Gengar into Pokémon Tower and recruit the help of the Ghost Pokémon. Dressed as local Bird Catchers, Robert had loaned them Pidgeotto and Fearow to help complete their disguises. Both felt rediculous in the pure white shirts and shorts. "Why do we always wind up doing the espianage?" Jessica asked. "I have no idea. I hate this outfit though. It's almost as bad as the tux." "Oh, but you look so cute." Jessica pointed. "There's the checkpoint. Will they let us through?" "Why not?" Uiru asked. "We look like idiots, they'd never recognize us." With Pidgeotto and Fearow on their shoulders, the two got into Lavender Town with relative ease. Then they casually headed straight to Pokémon Tower. Although the door said 'CLOSED' the door was open anyway. After a quick glance around, the two snuck in. "From what Thomas told me, most of the ghosts are on the upper floors," Uiru stated. "Better call out Gengar." Jessica summoned her new Gengar. The six foot tall demon showed that Alakazam and Machamp weren't the only ones whos expert training reflected their larger size. Gengar just met Uiru's height and was still taller then Jessica. The two climbed the stairs into the darkness. "Is it supposed to be this dark, Gengar?" Jessica asked. It nodded. Gengar's carefree attitude was unwavering, even in this pit of darkness that Uiru and Jessica could sense was a very dangerous place. They reached the second floor. They couldn't see a thing. "This is rediculous," Uiru declared. "We can't do this if we can't see. We should go back and get a light." Jessica turned to go down the stairs. "Uiru... Where'd the stairs go?!" "What?" Uiru looked around. "Hey Gengar, get us out of here!" Gengar looked around and shook it's head. It didn't know where to go. Uiru threw up his arms. "Great." "There has to be a way out. The stairs didn't just vanish." Jessica looked around. "Uiru? Where are you?" No answer. Jessica heard only the laughing of a group of Gastly before their Hypnosis power put her and Gengar to sleep along with Uiru. Did I fall asleep? Uiru asked himself. "Jessica!" he shouted. "Gengar! Where'd you two go?" Although he still couldn't see, he senced he was in a small room. His feeling was confirmed when he found the wall and traced it. He found only two things in the pitch dark room- the door, which was locked, and what seemed like a king size bed. After slamming against the door for a moment, he found out the hard way that it was too sturdy to break. He sat down on the bed, then decided to blast his way out with his Pokémon. "Sandslash, go... Huh?! Dammit! Where'd my Pokémon go?" Uiru searched all his pockets, then started feeling around the room. "Did I drop them? Damn!" He heard the door open. "Who's there?" he asked. "Uiru?" a voice asked. It was Jessica. "Is that you?" "Yeah," Uiru replied. "Where were you? What happened?" "I don't know," she answered. She must have followed his voice, because she ushered him to his feet. "Come here, Uiru." Uiru had no idea where she was taking him until she sat him down on the bed. She sat down next to him. "You know, Uiru, we're all alone here..." The Animé sweatdrop made an appearance on Uiru's head. "Pardon?!" he asked. "Can't we take a break for just a little while?" she asked. "Just you and me all alone in here?" "This isn't like you," Uiru stammered. The internal conflict between what he wanted and what he WANTED was making communication difficult. "This really isn't a good time, and we've got a lot of work to do!" "Oh, why not?!" she snapped at him. "All you ever talk about is work, work, work. You deserve a break, and I want you to spend it with me." "And besides that, we're both way too young. ...And where's Gengar?" "Outside," she snapped. "Geez, since when have you been so conservative?!" Uiru stood up. He went to the door, which Jessica had left unlocked. "Hey, Gengar!" he shouted down the hall. No reply. "Just as I thought. This really isn't like you. In fact, I don't think it IS you. This is some kind of ghost trick. I'm outta here." He took off down the hall, with one hand on the wall next to him, and one outstretched in case he crashed into something. "Where'd Uiru go?" Jessica asked Gengar. It shook it's head. "Were we hit with Hypnosis or something?" Gengar nodded. "Damn." Jessica wandered lost for a good 20 minutes before she heard a voice. "Allison?" she asked. "What are you doing here?" "Oh, Jessica, hi. I'm looking for your boyfriend." Allison smirked at her. "What?" "Where's Uiru?" she asked simply. "I'm looking for him. I want him." "Excuse me?!" Jessica was getting annoyed. "Cut that out Allison. I don't know where Uiru is. We got seperated a while ago." "Oh, there he is!" Allison pointed behind her. "Hey, Uiru!" "Uiru!" Jessica and Allison moved up to meet him. "Where were you?" Uiru ignored her. "Hey, Allison," he replied. "Glad you could make it." "What? What's going on?!" Jessica demanded. "Uiru... What are you doing?" "What I've wanted to do for a long time," Uiru replied. He smiled at Allison, then kissed her. Jessica took a step back. "Uiru...?" Tears sprung to her eyes. Gengar got her attention. Through clouded eyes, she saw it vehemently shake it's head 'no'. "What are you saying...?" she asked. Then it dawned on her. "Of course! This isn't real!" She wiped her eyes. "This is an illusion. Allison is back in Saffron," she declared, glaring at the girl, "and Uiru would never do this to me! This is a trick!" Gengar laughed. "Let's go, Gengar," Jessica stated. "We have to find Uiru." Miraculously, the two bumped into each other not long afterwards. "Is this really you this time?" Uiru asked. "Yeah, is it the real you?" Jessica answered. She hugged him. "It was awful..." Jessica told him about what she had seen. "What? That's incredible," Uiru stated when she had finished. He told her about his encounter. "And you walked away from that?" she asked. "Pretty good, Uiru." "It just didn't seem like you," he replied. "You're much too shy- which I find adorable, by the way." She laughed. "Oh, shut up." Gengar patted them both on the back. "Did you happen to see a way out?" Uiru asked. "No..." A loud chattering drew their attention. A group of Gastly and Haunter appeared a few metres away from them. "Hey, do you guys know the way out of here?" Jessica asked. *Yes, we do.* The Ghost Pokémon communicated directly with their minds. *We see you broke through our little deception.* Gengar growled. *How dare you toy with my master like that?!* *Great Gengar, we know why you are here,* the ghosts replied. *We tested your master because we must gauge their character.* "Why?" Uiru asked. *We cannot decide on facts alone which way is right,* the ghosts answered. *All things can be seen in two lights, depending on the point of view. But a noble heart fights a noble cause. You have proven that you are worthy of our assistance. How may we help you?* Uiru grinned. "We plan to clear Sunder Force out of Lavender Town," he replied. "We're going to cause a blackout. When they attack Saffron to get the power back on, we'll ambush them." *We understand. You wish us to battle them from behind, correct?* *That's right,* Gengar answered. *Sneak up on them.* "Will you help us?" Jessica asked. The ghosts agreed. *We will keep a lookout. When the battle begins, we will assail them with all our forces. Good luck, Uiru and Jessica.* The next instant, Uiru, Jessica and Gengar wound up outside. Uiru's Poké Balls were back in place. "We made it!" Uiru almost shouted. Jessica shushed him. "We have to get back to Saffron," he declared. "And as luck would have it, the bus leaves in eight minutes," Jessica announced, checking the schedule. "Hey Gengar, thanks for helping us out up there." It laughed uproarously.