Pokémon Obsidian | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 3: Gale of Darkness

The luxurious Selenite Resort was built by Cipher. They made billions from offering the sumptuous suites and facilities to celebrities before they were shut down. Its legal owner was Nascour, one of the original Cipher Admins. He left it to his business partner, the disgraced Galarian Chairman Rose, who in turn left to his daughter Primula and her mom Oleana.

A private jet took off from the exclusive airstrip as Reira's Latios landed, several miles from the sprawling resort. There were battles at the onsite Rose Colosseum that day. They couldn't risk being seen, but they also knew the only remaining entrance to Cipher's underground lair was a grate that opened to the resort's sewer. The passages from the resort itself were filled in. Several hidden padlocks, issued by the International Police, protected the grate. Reira took out a key to remove them.

'They should do something with this place,' Zileh commented, 'Like they did with The Under. That'd stop Cipher coming back.'

'But there's no evidence to suggest they even plan to return. It's over four years since the last report to 8-100-CIPHER and that was a false alarm.'

'I sure hope we haven't got cocky.'

Ageing metal groaned. There was no ladder. The only way in was to jump into the sewer. Reira tied an Escape Rope to the grate. They could shower later, but they didn't want anyone to hear the splash when they landed. Before they descended, she held out a listening device similar to the one Aiko built. It registered no sound. There was no-one in the immediate vicinity.

Zileh slid down the rope first. Even the ladder from the sewer to the storeroom that hid the lair's entrance was removed. It could be reached only by jumping or throwing a Poké Ball down into the sewer, to climb onto a Pokémon's back, but that set off the alarms that Reira temporarily disabled.

The grate creaked. Zileh jumped from the swinging rope. She was held to the floor she grasped only by her heavy grip gloves. Stale sewage was smeared across her leggings as she clambered up. Reira immediately followed upon seeing her thumbs-up. The device still registered no sound. She risked whispering.

'I don't know about hearing us... they'll smell us coming.'

'They probably stink, too.'

The storeroom was still cluttered with the sewer maintenance equipment that originally hid the entrance. Reira took the blacklight from her belt to check for footprints. There were none. One of the keys on her heavy ring opened the broom cupboard. There, they finally reached the deep black curtains that seemed to absorb all light between the sewer and the lobby. They wiped their shoes on the curtains so they didn't squelch. Reira peered through. The lobby's shiny floor was unoccupied. Its neon 'Cipher HQ' sign was barely visible as it grew dusty in the shadows.

The lair was cut off from all energy grids. Its elevators and moving platforms no longer worked. Reira didn't check before she pulled out the elevator's emergency ladder to climb down the shaft. At the bottom were three glass tubes. Platforms once slid through them to the lab, 'throne room' and residential area, which included cells for Cipher's prisoners. The first and last were labyrinthine. They walked along the tube to the throne room first.

There was no padlock on its silver doors. The lab and dormitories might have been of use to Cipher, but they could meet anywhere private. A throne room was hardly worth wading through the sewer... yet as they approached, a deeply unsettling chill stood the hairs on Reira's arms on end. Whether it was intuition or she inherited her mother's ability to see Shadow Pokémon auras, she was left suddenly doubtless that there was indeed someone, or something, in the throne room. She held out her arm to stop Zileh pushing the doors open. There was no need. Zileh felt it too.