Pokémon: Out of the Woods | A Galar, Unova & Sinnoh Fanfiction

Chapter 56: The Caller

Caroline beckoned Enn to follow her into a cave. Once they turned a corner, there was absolute darkness, but she knew exactly where she was going. Enn had no idea how long they were in the dark. Time seemed to dissolve without the sun and moon as guides. Light eventually crept around another corner. Two Team Plasma Grunts guarded the doors to an elevator. They looked as unimportant as they were surprised to see Caroline, so Enn figured this was an equally unimportant entrance. They stumbled to their feet and saluted.

'Lady Caroline!'

She shoved past them to swipe her key card. The doors opened. A chandelier, its crystals reflected in the scratched and dirty mirror, jingled as the elevator juddered down.

This is fancier than the Plasma Frigate...

He still felt like the Plasma Frigate's theme music from the Black & White 2 movie was playing as the doors opened to a fusty corridor. In contrast to the cracked tiles and dusty chandeliers there, the Team Plasma logos on the walls looked fresh.

So Tance built this. Jahzeel just painted over it. Figures. How did anyone build an underground network without attracting the slightest bit of attention from InterPol? What do they actually do?

Most doors appeared to lead to dormitories. A man emerged from one in a blatant Cipher Peon uniform. Around a corner, a trio of burly Cipher Peons with snarling Shadow Pokémon guarded much heavier doors. The black auras filled the entire space to Enn's eyes. Nathan dealt with Shadow Pokémon in Orre, but Enn had never seen one in person before. He thought his indifference to everything might protect him. It didn't. He was unsettled.

Why did I agree to this again?

He knew why. He had never been so desperate to survive, mainly because he couldn't waste all this effort or knocks to his pride, but of course, he did think of Sam. He thought of Joshua. For a few seconds, he thought of Mirabelle, but her face wasn't what made him smirk. It was the thought of Félix being dumped by Verbena and crawling back to Mirabelle, only to find that she had already married the heroic ex she always preferred. Some of Enn's Pokémon would shake their heads, but he knew his Banette would share his smirk.

'What're you smiling about?'

Caroline's eyes drilled into him as the Cipher Peons parted to let them through. Enn thought it would be another elevator. It was actually another corridor. They passed through a body scanner. It was Caroline who set the metal detector off. She had more knives in her bag. She still dragged Enn aside to search him. His phone and wallet went into her bag as her eyes searched the scan for any hidden chips or cameras. She was satisfied there were none. A robotic announcement echoed through the corridors.

'9:57 service to – Hulbury – now arriving at platform – two.'

A train station? Jeez. This gets worse.

'I asked you a question. What were you smiling about?'

'I thought I'd be able to see auras. But I can't. They were Shadow Pokémon, right?'

'Yes.'

Caroline didn't sound convinced.

'That's unusual for a Harmonia.'

'Is it? Asterid can't see them.'

'Not to worry. Our Lucario will know if you're lying.'

Oh, shit... shouldn't have said that.

A cleaner polished the station's leather seats. The Team Plasma logos on the arriving train were so fresh that the wet paint still glistened. The disembarking passengers wore only Team Plasma uniforms. An announcement floated out from inside.