Pokémon Obsidian | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 5: The Escape

June 14
Seven years ago

Beyond Orre's borders was a city known for its suspension bridge. Vibrantly painted houses stacked up on its rolling hills until they met futuristic skyscrapers. The bridge wasn't the pictureqsque bay's only tourist attraction. Gatas Prison was there, too, although tourists had to photograph it from a distance. Only staff and prisoners went in.

The bridge's parking lot was quiet. It was before 6AM. Tourists were yet to arrive. Only dedicated hobbyist photographers were there to photograph the bridge, or the glittering skyline, silhouetted against a deep red sunrise. They were absorbed in their work. No-one turned to see a lone young man step out of a rental car with Orrean plates.

It took over 11 hours to drive from Jasper Town, where GoD picked up the car. He stopped only to relieve himself in the middle of nowhere, where he wouldn't appear on gas station CCTV. He wasn't tired or nervous. At that moment, his arrogance wasn't rooted in veiled self-hatred, but confidence.

Before his trip, he hacked the prison's system to retrieve a list of its staff. It was a tough job even for a hacker as experienced as Lyndon. GoD wasn't so experienced then. It took him over three months. Hacking staff members once he knew of them, however, was much easier. He quickly found the target he sought: an ageing guard who lived alone, had few friends and travelled to the dock by bus.

The old man had nowhere else to be. He didn't stay up late. There was no reason to. He always arrived an hour before his shift began, which was sensible, because the Sharpedo in the bay often held up the boat. To reach the dock from the bus stop, he walked through a tunnel.

GoD pulled his thick scarf over his face to fill the dimly-lit tunnel with Sleep Powder. The guard's Mightyena walked in first. He wasn't naive. When Mightyena keeled over, he glanced warily around. Before he could send out his other two Pokémon, GoD's Vileplume shook Sleep Powder over him from behind. He slumped to the floor. GoD released a Ditto. It knew what to do. It was trained for over a year in preparation for this.

Within seconds, it morphed into the guard. GoD removed the old man's uniform, glasses and ID for Ditto to put on. He took a change of clothes from his own bag. They fit the guard perfectly. Once they were on, he released a Vaporeon. It washed away all traces of the Sleep Powder. A blast of Rain Dance outside made it seem as if it simply rained, as it was expected to later.

The photographers grumbled. They began to leave. As GoD hoped, one almost tripped over the unconscious guard. Panicking, thinking the man fainted, he called an ambulance. That would keep the guard away.

Ditto prepared to board the boat. In the bag from its Trainer were a wig and note. The old man wasn't chatty. Neither his colleagues nor the captain were surprised by Ditto's silence. There was nothing more GoD could do to physically help Ditto. He drove to the nearest seafood restaurant to enjoy his first decent breakfast since he left Orre. Every 15 minutes, he checked in with Ditto via its earpiece. It knew to make a 'bloop' noise if something was wrong, but there was only muffled chatter, sloshing waves and, eventually, the buzz of the prison. Ditto was safely inside.

The young Pokémon had no idea that what it was doing was wrong. It wasn't a Shadow Pokémon. It loved and trusted its Trainer, who doted on it like any other Trainer would, completely. No-one attempted to make conversation with the guard. They accepted brusque nods as greetings. His quiet and perfectly calm nature made him a perfect guard for the prison's maximum security cells. Ditto waited, patrolling the corridor like its colleagues, until breakfast time came. Then it slipped the note to Ardos. He didn't open it until he was back under the blanket in his cell.

I am a Ditto here on behalf of Cipher's Grand Master, GoD: Gale of Darkness. If you want to get out, follow these instructions.

The handwriting was familiar, but unfamiliar at the same time. There was no time to wonder who it was, or if they were worthy of calling themselves Cipher's Grand Master. Of course Ardos wanted to get out. If Cipher couldn't succeed, it didn't matter to him where he was, because he would be miserable and unfulfilled... but he never stopped believing that as long as he lived, Cipher could succeed. He peered through his cell's tiny window. Ditto glanced back. It pulled open a rectangular hole used to speak with the prisoner.

'You, guard. I feel unwell.'

Ditto opened the door. It stepped into the cell. As the instructions advised, Ardos pretended to shiver. Draping the blanket over him to check his temperature shielded Ditto from view as it transformed into Ardos. They had to swap uniforms quickly, or it would look suspicious. Ardos took longer than the note suggested, but the security staff watching the cell weren't worried. The guard had a squeaky-clean track record. There was no reason to believe he was doing anything wrong.

All that was left for Ditto to do, now, was to silently sit in its cell and engage with prison activities as Ardos. The real Ardos had a far more challenging road ahead. Even with the wig, guard's uniform and ID, if he was stopped, it would be clear he was no guard. Everyone knew his face. He kept his head down and glasses fogged up. It wasn't unusual for that old man to seem especially withdrawn and miserable, but it was suspicious that he was leaving in the middle of his shift. The next step, as the note dictated, was to rush to the bathroom to feign diarrhea. It advised Ardos to stay there for at least 15 minutes. For good measure, he made vomiting sounds. A colleague knocked on the stall door to ask if he was alright.

'No...'

'Jeez... if it's that bad, go home. You don't wanna get blamed for making the inmates sick. You're max security, right? I'll tell Calvin.'

Calvin must have been the real guard's boss. Ardos was lucky. The man who checked on him was also a manager. He left to tell Calvin before he saw Ardos' face, because he had no reason to suspect he wasn't the real guard. Passing through the break area, Ardos saw a supermarket bag. He emptied the contents and hid his face inside, pretending to vomit, as he walked. If he was really a vomiting prisoner, the guards would have had no choice but to help him, but they kept their distance from a vomiting colleague. Calvin was aware by the time he reached the nearest staff doors. No-one questioned his exit. He had to pass through a scanner, but because Ditto took no Pokémon in, the system didn't flag Ardos taking no Pokémon out.

The boat's captain wasn't a member of the prison staff. He was a weary sailor. All he cared about was ID and, in that moment, staying away from a potentially contagious guard.

A security helicopter hovered over the bay, but it couldn't spot a fake guard or even a Ditto. All it saw was someone leaving early, which wasn't unusual. Ardos was able to lower the plastic bag until his face was visible to the dock's cameras. The guards who watched those knew to expect him, or rather the man he was impersonating. They didn't pay much attention as he walked out of view.

The note told him to head for the bridge's parking lot, keeping close to the walls to avoid the souvenir shop's cameras. That was incredibly risky. As the sun rose to its peak at noon, the bridge was besieged with tourists. It was as if this GoD wanted to risk him being caught. Or perhaps he was testing Ardos. That was more likely. If Ardos could walk out of Gatas, but couldn't cross a parking lot, he probably wasn't worthy of retrieval.

It wasn't the first time a young Grand Master plotted to free Ardos from jail. Lyndon once planned to free him from Motostoke Prison alongside Alfie. As sadistic as Lyndon could be, in such a vital moment, he would never have risked his work going to waste if Ardos was caught. Maybe it was because this man was apparently unlike Lyndon – who Ardos couldn't stand, just like his insufferable dad Alfie – or maybe it was because his truly callous nature was palpable without even meeting him... but Ardos found himself intrigued. He wondered if, for once, he would have a worthy partner in crime.

Tourists stared. They rarely saw Gatas guards so close up. One asked for a photo with him. Keeping his face hidden by the bag, he shoved past. As soon as he reached that ordinary white rental car, it wouldn't matter if they discovered his true identity. He would already be gone.

The doors were open. Designer sneakers were already hovering over the pedals. GoD didn't wait for Ardos to fasten his seatbelt. He drove the moment the door shut. When they were out of the city, hurtling along the interregional highway at 70mph, he let the bag fly out of the window. Then he turned his eyes to his rescuer. GoD's smirk was even more familiar than his handwriting.

'You...'

'Yes. My parents are exactly who you think they are. And I am GoD. Grand Master of Cipher.'