DPA: Rivals

Chapter 27: Meanwhile, In Saffron, Part 2

Daryon and the others ran towards the source of the explosion, unsure what to expect. It could've been anything from Team Rocket to a freak accident. People could be hurt. People could be doing something terrible.

Instead, what they found was...an Oddish?

"The journey starts today..." April hummed to herself, thinking about a song she had heard on the radio the other day. She had decided to position herself on Floor 5, a relatively empty floor that mostly held conference rooms. Only one other Rocket grunt stayed on this floor, guarding the elevator. Everything was surprisingly quiet. And boring.

Trying to pass the time, April had sent out her Eevee, who had curled up into a ball in her lap. April absentmindedly ran her hand through Eevee's fur as her thoughts floated from one thing to another, mostly random thoughts, except for one persistent, nagging image, of a Pikachu wiping out an entire horde of Zubat at once.

Such a clever, diabolical move. Pikachu's trainer, what was his name? Darius? Dorian? Daryon-that's it. Daryon. He clearly was a beginner, a newbie, when it came to training Pokémon, but that one moment showed a level of potential unlike anything April had seen before.

She had defeated a lot of trainers during her time with Team Rocket, even defeating the Gym leader in Celadon. The first real loss she had ever faced was with a newbie, a kid with glasses and a Mudkip-a runt Mudkip! No matter, maybe that was a fluke, a one-in-a-million mistake. She had been out all day, Eevee was a bit tired, so maybe the odds just weren't in her favor. But then, when she had command over thousands of Zubat, an army...she lost to a single opponent-a Pikachu!

None of it made sense. Was she losing her skill? Or were these new trainers just that talented?

All of these thoughts of self-doubt were interrupted by a loud thud. April could hear an unknown assailant hitting the other grunt with enough force to send him crashing through a wall.

April got up, running out of the conference room to see who was causing all the commotion. What she saw was a mysterious figure, hidden behind a black cloak, an Alakazam floating beside him/her. This mysterious person's face was completely blurred, possibly from the Alakazam's psychic energy. No matter how hard she tried to focus on this person's face, all April could see was a fuzzy mess.

"Eevee, let's go savage," April said to her partner, referring to Eevee's special combo attack.

Eevee bolted forward with a Quick Attack, its tail changing, sharpening and turning metallic, while also emitting a ghostly aura, preparing to deliver both a Shadow Ball and an Iron Tail at the same time. This combination of attacks is what helped April receive most of her victories.

Just as Eevee's tail came into contact with Alakazam's head, Alakazam phased out of existence, disappearing with Teleport, only to reappear behind the Evolution Pokémon. Before Eevee could recover, Alakazam grabbed Eevee by the scruff of its neck, slamming it into the ground with one powerful swing. Alakazam's free hand suddenly burst into flames as the Psi Pokémon delivered a single, decisive Fire Punch to the already weak Eevee, immediately knocking it out.

April barely had time to cry out for her defeated partner before the mysterious trainer appeared, as if by magic, in front of her, smacking her in the face. Stunned, April was unable to stop the attacker from swiping the Card Key. Having presumably achieved what he/she came for, the unknown character placed a hand on Alakazam's shoulder. Alakazam used Teleport, vanishing before April could take back the Card Key.

April could barely hold back tears as she gently picked up Eevee. In the space of only a few seconds, she had been brutally defeated, and lost the only opportunity she had to redeem herself in Ariana's eyes.

Returning Eevee to its Pokéball, April raced back into the conference room she had been sitting in only moments earlier, swooping up the walkie she had left on the table. "This is a Code 352!" she shouted, sending out an alert to all the other Rocket grunts in the building. "An unidentified assailant has appeared. He or she has an Alakazam, and could be anywhere in the building. Terminate by any means necessary!"