Pokémon BW: Rise of Clarity (book 3 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 36: Smuggling Operation

It was dark by the time we managed to get out of Chargestone Cave. Breathing a sigh of relief that not much time had been lost, I set out for the Pokemon Center, returning both Pokemon. I slipped through the lobby and back up to the second floor where our room was. Quietly closing the door behind me, I went to sneak back to bed, only to stop. I straightened and reached for the wall, passing my hand over the light sensor. The room lit up, revealing that both Alex and Robert weren't here.

Already fearing the worst, I scanned the room. The beds were slightly haphazard, and some of our stuff still remained in the room, but there was no obvious signs of trouble. Holding up my wrist, I attempted to call them on my X-transceiver, only to realize that it wouldn't turn on. Blinking, I tapped more buttons. Nothing.

Did it short circuit or something down in the cave? I wondered. After taking a minute to rummage around through Robert's stuff, I couldn't find his "Robby", which led me to believe that he had it with him, and therefor hadn't been kidnapped, as something like that would have been left behind, either whole or in pieces. 

Then I found something half buried beneath Alex's sheets. A map of Mistralton. And the airport was circled in blue marker. I shook my head in confusion. What the heck was going on!?

With no other clues to go on, I quickly left the building and back out into the night. No one was out at this hour and the street lamps provided enough light to see on this cloudy night. Sticking to the shadows, Greninja and I ran towards the airport. It was a smaller airstrip that Robert had said that only Skyla's cargo plane would use it. So at this hour it probably wasn't in use.

You two better be here. I slid to a halt in front of the wired fence surrounding the whole of the runway. Greninja perked up, pointing towards the left. Following his lead, we ventured down until we came to a gate with a lock. A lock that was lying on the ground, broken in half. 

"Well," I said in a low voice. "This is becoming more and more interesting by the second."

I heard a distant sound from behind, getting closer. Quickly hiding ourselves in some nearby bushes, we watched as two trucks pulled up at the gate. Someone leapt out, opened the gate, and motioned for the trucks to go inside.

"Clarity," I guessed, watching them drive inside. "Maybe Alex and Rob caught wind of them in the area and came here to investigate... But where are they? And why not wait for me..."

Thinking they could already be inside, we waited for the person to close the gate behind the trucks and let him get a distance away down the runway before we acted. Greninja picked me up and once we landed on the other side, we skirted the runway, using the darkness to our advantage and moving silently. There were several hangers at the far end, and the one furthest left had light spilling out.

Once we got closer, the goons had already begun unloading large wooden crates from the back of the trucks. Instantly I was reminded of the crates we found in the river on Floccesy Ranch, the ones filled with Dream Shots. And they were moving a lot of them into the hanger. 

"C'mon people we don't have all night! Keep them moving!"

I crouched lower, spotting Akane coming out of the hanger, arms folded as she tapped her heels. If she was here, then her lackeys Brawny and Lanky were likely inside as well. Guessing what they were doing here was rather easy. They were likely hijacking one of the planes to carry illegal drugs and whatever else was in the crates. 

I motioned for Greninja to start backing up to move around the backside of the hanger. "We'll deal with them soon, but first we need to find our friends-"

An audible slam and Greninja went flying forwards, crashing into the side of one of the trucks. I turned around just in time to see something swinging towards me, catching me in the middle and flinging me out to land beside Greninja.