Love in the Time of Turmoil

Chapter 12: A Skein

Explosive stuff last time. And now for something a little different in Chapter 12!

Chapter 12

A Skein

"All right, lads, be careful with those canisters! Those contain the future of Galar right there!" The supervisor's voice, quite a grating one at that, caused most of the workers to grumble. This stretched down to the nearest Pokémon, a small elephant named Cufant that carried a canister with its smaller trunk. "Work hard, and you'll be rewarded. Jarvis, careful with that lift there!"

"Yes, sir, of course!" James snapped to, saluting their supervisor at his alias being used. Next to him, Meowth worked some of the levers, disguised under a bulk of clothing with Wobbuffet. The forklift grabbed one of the larger canisters, its fluctuating power levels showing a purple substance within, and moved it over to a conveyer belt, placing it gently down.

"Oh, Mr. Supervisor, sir," called the sweetest voice. James almost snorted, knowing it was all a lie. Down on the floor, Jessie sidled up, batting her eyelashes at the man. "We're working very hard today, so I was hoping we might get a break soon."

"W-well, Jessimina," the supervisor said, tugging at his collar as he turned all hot and bothered. The distraction achieved, James slipped a Poké Ball from his belt, calling Inkay from within. His precious partner flitted down unseen, right to the supervisor's own belt as he began flipping through his clipboard. A tug later, and a card was stolen from a keyring, brought back up. "It does look like you three have delivered the highest number of canisters this morning. Yes, I suppose you can take your break...and uh, maybe we can catch some dinner."

"Oh, you flatter me!" Jessie cried, slapping his back so hard it sounded like bones breaking. "I'll just have to see for later. Thank you so very much!"

Jessie began skipping off, marking the cue for James and Meowth to disengage, dropping down to the floor with ease. They tore off after Jessie and into an adjacent hallway, empty from the workers being consumed with their jobs. If there was one thing James had learned about Macro Cosmos and the Hammerlocke Power Plant, it was that they didn't rest. That worked fine by him, allowing them to slip into an abandoned hallway where Gourgeist and Jessie's new Sinistea popped out.

"Teea! Teea!"

"You said it, Sinistea. Jess really made dat man into putty."

"All in a day's work," Jessie boldly proclaimed. She was far too smug, and as a group of employees rounded the corner to walk down the hallway, the trio were forced to turn her away, covering their faces with their uniforms. Sinistea remained oblivious, floating along gaily. "Do you ever stop being obnoxious?"

"Gourgeist!"

"Siniseee!"

"I tink she just said no," Meowth replied with a snicker beneath his whiskers. Wobbuffet attempted to respond in kind, only for Meowth to smack him.

"Ugh, fine. Now, we have the security card. So,where do we go to find whatever thing we need to do whatever thing we need?"

"Hmm..." James mused, digging into his pocket to pull out a crudely drawn map of all the twisting hallways of the plant's lower levels. From executive offices to warehouses and to one of the largest sealed rooms that only scientists could be seen getting in and out of. That was very easily a no-go, but it was easy to see from their scouting the next best, and probably safest, option. "I'd say we head for the archives here. They're bound to have something."

"Then let's hurry it up. I'm getting wrinkles!"

"You caught dose long ago..." Jessie kicked at Meowth, but only managed to hit Wobbuffet. With a roll of his eyes, James took charge of their group, creeping along the hallways. More than once, some other uniformed power plant workers passed through, one of whom even bumped into them, but they managed to remain undetected until they arrived at their destination.