Pokémon Fool's Gold | Orre & Galar Fanfiction

Chapter 84: Free

Most of The Under's neon signs were off. The remaining streetlamps cast eerie shadows. International Police officers patrolled with torches. Machamp and Conkeldurr hauled aside boulders blocking the steps to retrieve the bodies of Ardos and his Pokémon, but progress was slow.

There was undoubtedly something alluring about the dilapidated underground town. Trip returned with Amber. She peeled stickers off the walls of the Bronze Bouffalant and stuck them in her notebook as souvenirs. Eldes greeted them. He and Rezar protected the upper level while Orre League colleagues and Bede protected the colosseum.

'Will you two still be challenging the Elite Four?'

'I will,' Amber replied, 'But Trip probably won't bother.'

'Yeah... I love Pokémon, but I don't need to be the best. I want to focus on my fitness. And maybe think of studying something else if I can't play football.'

'I understand. Then I look forward to facing you, Amber.'

They boarded a UFO. It creaked down. Emergency floodlights illuminated the lower level. Police and Trainers from Gyms and Mt. Battle patrolled. Most were bored. They battled Amber when she asked. Having spent most of her time in The Under in the dormitory, she was still awed by the sheer scale of the new town. Along the train line were post offices, two schools and a library. Sprawling malls boasted a variety of stores and services.

'How did they do it? How didn't anyone notice?'

'Apparently it started with thrill-seekers,' Trip explained, 'They forced a path down and found the town and UFOs were actually intact. Then a charity came along. It was all hush-hush, since no-one was meant to be down here, but they started digging out the lower level to make a safe place for homeless people. Ardos heard about it and moved in with his followers. The residents who wouldn't join Cipher got thrown out.'

'And I guess no-one listened to them because they were homeless.'

'Yeah. Then he met Alfie, who poured a shit-ton of money into it. Don't ask me how no-one noticed the building materials being brought in. I have no idea.'

'Some were probably left over from the mining days, I suppose. Maybe people thought the rest was for the charity and didn't want to expose them.'

'Probably. So it was already going well by then. At some point Ardos made off with Leden's money and everything she owned. Then Alfie met dad, promoted him to Grand Master and gave him all his money.'

'Man... how rich was he? People call my dad rich, but he got totally wiped out by the medical bills over here. And Alfie had to cover those and give him a massive payout... yet he still had enough to fund all this and a second Cipher revival.'

'Dad said he was still earning in jail. Even though he never made any more movies, the franchises were still making money. Like, let's be real, people still lap up anything to do with the Michael movies and that Galarian thing he was in.'

'Oh, yeah. Battle Armour. I've never seen it. In fact, I've only seen Gale of Darkness and the sci-fi things he was in. But yeah, I'm guilty of watching anything sci-fi. I've even got a load of merch from the Deoxys Files film because they never made any for the book. Nice to know I was funding Cipher's underground city.'

'I didn't even realise he was in that.'

'Yeah... he was the bad guy, Tyrell. At least he wasn't my boy Camden.'

Trip smiled. 'I'm gonna have to read this book.'

They got off the automatic train at the Deep Colosseum. A weary Pyrite Gym Trainer stared at his P★DA in front of the huge door. International Police officers respectfully bowed their heads. They planned to begin digging for the remains of Lir, Rosen's foster child Cole and her first boyfriend, Budic. The cavern where Laila's body laid would cave in. Trip wanted to visit one last time. Amber sat with him in comfortable silence until they quietly introduced their child to the open air.