[DP] Veronica's Missions - Lights, Camera, Action.

[DignityPower]

((part 3))

indentVeronica realized she awoke; she instantly went to the light switch, ‘click’ and nothing. Her reflection’s eyes were blank, her face even more rotten than the last time making Veronica wonder why she was so drawn to look a third time. She rushed down the stairs and turned to the living room with the glass sliding door. She struggled to open the door; it felt more heavy than usual. She pushed through sideways it as soon as she could fit through. In the backyard, she looked up to the moon. It was strange—it was— she felt a sharp pain from behind, entering through her abdomen. The edge of the knife exited the other side before being pulled back.

indentThough she couldn’t form words, she felt herself calling out for it to help as she blurred out.

indentWhen she awoke, she found herself in a tight space with no room to move. Her legs were curled up, her back arched and her head between her knees. She tried pushing the walls away and one of them moved. She kept pushing it until it completely opened and she got out carefully.

indentVeronica found herself in a kitchen, though for some reason she couldn’t see through her eyes anymore but instead through a camera in the top corner of the kitchen. It made it difficult to move around. The kitchen was empty except for a few opened cans gathering dust. Eventually she made it to the door at her left and she passed through, making her sight change to another corner in the new room.

indentIt was a living room with a broken tv and a ripped opened sofa. She didn’t think twice about what could have clawed it out on the sofa. She collided with the sofa in attempt to move through the room, eventually making it to the next door. Before entering the next room she heard a can drop and roll, making her freeze and flip her head back towards the kitchen door.

indentThe door violently opened and a masked man appeared, the moment he saw Veronica he rushed to her. Veronica fell back into the other room, a bathroom and couldn’t even see what happened well as her line of sight changed but she could feel it. He started stabbing her, and didn’t stop. It didn’t blur until Veronica fell back completely and the blood gurgled out of her mouth.

indentWaking up again, she was still in shock and still had the memory of her death. She found herself trapped again, this time getting out faster and running out faster. In the living room, she went out another door and found herself outside an apartment in a hallway but there were only stairs to go up. She ran up the stairs, unable to find any other doors, until reaching the top and a single door.

indentIt was the rooftop of the apartment and it was night time. Veronica peaked over the edge, it was about eight floors high and looking at it made her dizzy. She looked up and saw the same moon, wider than ever before and shining bright whites. There was something awfully odd about it.

indentHer vision came back down and the man was standing at the door, making sure it was her before rushing in. Veronica felt the fear take over her; she was stuck between jumping or facing him. Grabbing onto the edge’s stone rail, she pulled herself over the rail as he ran to her.

indentShe started to fall, feeling everything inside her screaming. She wouldn’t bother to even open her mouth and watched until she could no longer watch as she fell and hit the ground. The sound alone gave her the creeps, although she didn’t have long to think about it before blurring out.

indentIt happened again, she woke up in the kitchen. Anger filled her and she began searching through the kitchen this time. Just as she heard the door creek behind her, she found a knife in one of the cabinets. Her face turned dark and she turned around, with the knife in her hand. She took a step forward and stabbed him first. The blood spilled over her and she pushed him away before he got the chance to hurt her.

indentEverything blurred away.

indentShe woke up from hitting her head on a desk. A few chuckles in the distance were heard. She rubbed her forehead as she took a look around.

indentVeronica found herself in a classroom, her desk next to the wall and an old uniform was on her. The students and the teacher were staring at her. Their expressions varied between shock, disgust and pity.

indent"Ew, what the ******** is that smell." Someone said. She looked back and forth, confused as she tried to pick up on what was going on.

indentThe next thing she noticed was something wet under her. Somehow, she had spoiled herself. It had started dripping out of the chair. She was petrified and a wave of embarrassment overwhelmed her. The blood flooded into her cheeks and she rushed to the door, leaving a trail behind. She couldn't hear anything but she was sure they were laughing, saying foolish whatnots.

indentShe sought out the bathroom where she ended up getting naked in order to awkwardly wash off in the sink. She kept thinking back to that moment, reliving it in her mind how embarrassed she felt.

indentThe bell rang. She figured someone might find her, she didn't expect that someone to be a boy, a beautiful one or at least she had thought so. He wouldn't stop laughing at her, pointing at her and insulting her. With each demeaning word, Veronica felt something crushing inside her until there was nothing left. Her confidence was blown to smitherings. And who was she anyways? Nothing more than pathetic.

indentThat was the scary reality. She knew they saw it: how awkward she was, how stupid she was, and how ugly she was.

indentIt ate her up. But...

indentThat was something she had already felt before, wasn't it? she felt capable of thinking in words for the first time. She knew if that's what they saw, then she'd be the worst of the worst. They wouldn't realize just how ugly she could be. Veronica's face grew serious as she stared at the boy. Until it's too late. She clenched her jaw and grabbed the boy's hair, crushing his head against the wall until his skull cracked.

indentFor a moment, Veronica felt shame. As if she was committing another mistake, again. As she let her head drop, she noticed blood slowly slipping out from her veins all throughout her body.

indentThen there was the pain of the cuts, and a smile. Pain was something she was more familiar with. She closed her eyes and felt the blood ignite with flames as if it was gasoline. The burning felt strange, not like she thought it would and her scream came naturally although it was inaudible. As much as it hurt, it felt extremely relieving. Then it blurred away.

indentVeronica opened her eyes, feeling her feet freezing before noticing anything else.

indentShe was in a closed room with no windows, only a light directly above her and a large ice cube below her feet and… a tight rope around her neck. Her eyes widen as she realized what was going to happen. She sighed. This was something she had imagined many times before and she was finally there.

indentDeath was easy. Confrontation and working and being benevolent—that was hard. However, this was something she had already tired of thinking over. She always figured she would have plenty of time for death but only so much to live, even if it was in pain.

indentThe ice had been melting away for a while and the more she moved the faster it melted. She sighed and tried to stay calm, taking ahold of the rope around her neck. There was no way she could ever rip it apart, so she tried biting through it. That’s when she realized she was human, all this time. That’s not right… Her mind slowly gathered consciousness that it was a dream and, as it did, the ice disappeared.

indentShe started to choke, angry that the Sableye form had gone dormant. It had been difficult to accept her new appearance in many situations but now… now she needed it.

indentShe tried everything but all she could feel was a stirring in her stomach as she died. Then everything blurred again.

indentVeronica found herself unable to move. It took several moments for her to look around and see that she was in the same room only lit up and the door ahead opened. Multarum was there.

indentShe couldn’t feel her hands. Her eyes shot up to the corner of the bed where her arms were extended to. She saw a green python at each of her wrists tying her to the headboard’s legs and crushing her wrists, making her purple skin turn black. Even as they started to devour her hand, she couldn’t feel anything there anymore. She looked down, not only to see the same situation with her feet and ankles but finding her body naked.

indentThe Spiritomb hybrid approached. “You have a taste for death.” It said, placing its finger below her chin. Veronica couldn’t respond. This time she got angry, wishing she could speak, feeling her stomach clench.

indentThough, as ‘it’ just kept staring at her eyes, she began to feel a heat wash over her. A moment later, when ‘it’ noticed her blush, it turned away to leave. “Wait,” she managed to say, trying to pull back her wrists and ankles. “Don’t leave me like this.” She begged. She started to feel the blur coming again and tried to fight it, preferring such a situation than any other she had passed through.

indentShe woke up in her bed at Mt.Silver still feeling hot. She didn’t move, trying to think back to that dream. She believed she didn’t recognize the man she had seen despite his clear hybrid condition. She let the scene play out in her mind until she grew bored.

indentSlowly, Veronica got up and sighed. She scratched her head, wondering why it had gotten so long for her to be able to speak. “Eh…” she spoke out, making sure she was truly awake. “Check, hello, yea…” she whispered to herself, feeling silly. She guessed she wasn’t fighting enough for it.

indentAs usual, she reached the kitchen and opened the fridge to check what she could add to a sandwich. It was empty, which was weird. There were times there were few things in the fridge but it was never empty. She went to check the living area and noticed an open book on the table. It was a photo album opened to a page with a single photo in black and white.

indentHer hands dropped opened as she gasped, starting to feel the dread and sadness fill her. She felt her whole body pulse at once and then she dropped to her knees. Her mind started to cause the surroundings behind her to deform and stretch.

indentThe photo showed a young girl in front of a stone building in ruins, one would not simply recognize that to be Veronica. So for the first time, she realized she was dreaming again. There was no one someone made the connection that it was her, much less have the old photo on hand, or even know they could taunt her with it. It brought back a memory of one of her first perspectives on the world: that she was alone. That even when there was someone behind the camera, someday, they too would leave.

indentAccepting her fate, she let her head drop down and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and saw everything shifting and twisting. She tried to get up in vain; a weight had piled up on her. She began to crawl forward. As she reached the table, she placed her hand on the photo but deep down she knew there was nothing she could do. Her own memories were the worst of torture, the most painful, and the heaviest to carry.

indent“So what are you doing?” Suddenly her demeanor changed; she grinned though her eyes kept the exasperated agony. “Aren’t you supposed to show me apathy?” her voice rumbled. Although it pained her, she crunched the photo in her hand and closed her eyes. She felt something stirring inside her unlike anything she had before.

indentVeronica started to hear her heartbeat in her ears and, when she opened her eyes, she saw herself in a shadow form: a color of grey with no shade or highlight. Then, she turned back to normal and her surroundings adapted the same sort of shadow form. Like a Night Shade.

indentSweat started to drip from her forehead and exhaustion started to wash over her. “Why?” she fell to the ground, unable to analyze what was happening. “Let me out…” she said. Slowly, she started to transform back into her Sableye form, unaware she had been in a human form before.

indentEverything blurred out. She felt the room turning.

indentWhen it stopped, her consciousness was renewed into new scenery. The sky was bright, the park was full of luscious nature and life, there were many people walking around and everything was in shades of greys. Veronica didn’t think it to be strange, instead she responded to a voice, “That’ll be $3.” She turned to it.

indent“Oh.” She noticed the ice cream in her hand. However… she didn’t like ice cream cones and knew she wouldn’t order it in a regular cone. Before she could think twice about it, someone else paid and turned to her with a smile. She was captivated by his face.

indent“Let’s go,” he placed his arm around her and led the way. Slight confusion started getting in her mind but she was too distracted to focus on the reality.

indentThey sat at a bench as she started eating the ice cream, its coolness and creamy taste only distracted her more.

indent“Do you like it?” he asked.

indent“Yea.” She wasn’t feeling so well, her stomach was still spinning, but it didn’t stop her from eating.

indent“Good, you need some sweet in you, Vava.” He laughed.

indentVeronica snapped to him, feeling annoyed. “Vava?”

indent“Yea, that’s what I call you, it’s cute, Vava, like a sheep.” He insisted.

indent“Mmmm…” Veronica kept thinking to herself about how awful it sounded and how demeaning it felt when he explained it, trying to find a compromise first. “Why not just V then?”

indent“That sounds terrible. Vava is fine, you don’t mind it.”

indent“Mmmm…” she decided it to let it slide. It was something meaningless to feel anger over.

indent“You’re not angry are you?” he placed his hand on her opposite cheek to turn her head to him. He kissed her.

indentShe… kissed back. Veronica sighed afterwards, annoyed that he had interrupted her meal for something like that even if it was just ice cream. For some reason, she felt nothing with him. She wanted that relationship; she wanted someone beside her to keep all the sorrow away, but…

indent“So I was thinking,” He interrupted her track of thought, “I was going to go to the stadium during the weekend. Uh, well, outside of it really to protest because…” she started to space out of what the guy was saying.

indent…But it didn’t matter who he was. The perfect person wouldn’t be enough, because she was her own problem. The life of love might be the sweetest fantasy humans could think of, but the sooner she understood that it was just a fantasy the sooner she could focus on what was important.

indentShe started to bite into the cone and continued to eat the ice cream until she started to gag. She shook her head, and he might have expressed his worry, but she took a closer look at the ice cream instead of listening.

indentIt was a chocolate ice cream… she hated eating so much chocolate. She started to look around the park only to find everything was in black and white. Then she saw she had her Sableye form. A form of Detect developed in her mind and she started to see through the illusion. She knew what she had to do and, still, she felt her throat tightened.

indentShe turned to face him, “Are you okay?” he asked. Veronica started to sweat, trying so hard to speak but couldn’t manage to open her mouth. She couldn’t be honest, she couldn’t tell him the truth, and she couldn’t end it because she feared the simple thought of being alone.

indentThe effort she kept trying to make in order to speak up how she didn’t want any kind of relationship wore her out to exhaustion. She surrendered and lowered her head. What kind of hell is this? She got up and left. He didn’t follow. She simply kept walking, letting her mind stay in a cycle of disappointment and despair.

indentShe lifted her head and saw the same bench ahead with the same boy. She looked behind her but it didn’t seem like she had gone in a circle. Am I… stuck? She tried to bring her courage up but failed.

indentHer expression changed to anger, she knew it wasn’t real but she her emotions were. She couldn’t get out either. She couldn’t move forward and change. In order to not let herself fall into sorrow again, she kept getting angrier.

indent“Get me out.” She begged.

indentShe felt her stomach twist again, a purple aura started to surround her. Then it extended to the scenery, making it appear like wallpaper on a room rather than a 3D park. The wallpaper started to crack and roll down to the floor as if it aged in an instant.

indentShe found herself in a blank room with no door. “Get me out.” She ordered, expecting that Sableye shadow inside of her to fight for her. However, all it could do was break the illusion and bring her back to the same room over and over again.

indentI can’t remember what happened… why I’m here… but maybe it’s not an illusion. She was pulling her hair from the headache that came with attempting to analyze her surroundings. Veronica took a deep breath and sat with her legs crossed, concentrating on meditation.

indentShe channeled to her fears and sorrows, burying them and bottling them up. There was no escaping but at least she wouldn’t let anyone subject her to such torture. She would keep all of it inside, locking it away. As everything around disappeared, she felt her spirit free out of her body so that her weaknesses wouldn’t reach her. The room was replaced with darkness.

indentIn the distance, the sound of slow moving cogs could be heard. Here, she was in control of her mind, even if that meant there was nothing, only the single process of keeping the void. There was no sense of time or space. She couldn’t feel her body. There was no floor or finite space. Effectively speaking, she was dead.

indentForever passed in a state of nonexistence. She figured it was what happened to those without souls but she couldn’t bother to think anymore. She could feel even that slipping away.

indentUntil she opened her eyes.

indentAt first everything was foggy. Her body moved on its own, moving from its side to its back. Above her a face came into focus but it took a moment more for her to put a name to the face. Multarum. She still feared speaking and decided to accept only thinking it.

indentEven though Veronica started to get angry at what she realized had happened, it was momentarily paused when she noticed the expression ‘he’ had. Like a sparkle of hope glimmering in his eyes. Veronica didn’t understand what it meant. ‘He’ hid it away quickly. “You were almost gone there.” ‘he’ scoffed. “I guess you’re not as strong as I thought you would be after all.” ‘He’ went back to his position he previously held.

indentVeronica slowly sat up. Cosmo was still asleep. “Don’t worry, he’s not in a nightmare, just asleep.” She returned Cosmo to his pokeball.

indentVeronica stood up and stared at Multarum. It waited for her to speak. She didn’t.

indent“No one really survives that.” It spoke up eventually, “But you took control, right at the end. It reminded me of the Sableye: waiting to make a difference only when it was the last hope. That’s the kind of crossing we had…”

indentVeronica tilted her head. “What do you want from me?”

indent“In time…”

indentVeronica’s face twitched at that and she decided to test if this was a dream by kicking his face. His head simply turned to the side with the kick, then turned back to her with a look of surprise. She sighed, still unsure; after all she had many dreams where she was sure it was finally real.

indent“For now, I invite you to join as a member of the Cult of the Moone… And as my apprentice, of course.” It continued talking as if nothing had happened.

indent“A cult? What makes you think I have time for that?” Veronica complained, wishing she could make ‘him’ pay for what she went through.

indent“Here, I can guide you to enlightenment.” Veronica rolled her eyes at his statement. “Your powers have already started to unravel, but you don’t even have the physical talent to use them properly.”

indentThere was silence. Veronica didn’t even know where to start analyzing his words; half of her mind was still going back to the nightmare scenes. At least she felt like it meant that this was the real world. She thought about whether she would want to be part of the cult if it meant that something like that nightmare might happen again. She sighed, knowing it was her own mind that made that nightmare and that it wasn’t anything she didn’t already live.

indent“Do you have a phone number?” Veronica asked abruptly, though a common quirk of hers.

indent“What?”

indent“Or somehow to contact you? I live pretty far away, it’d be annoying if I have to move or whatever.” She explained. “So… Sure, the training part is fine. But I’m not going to stick around.”

indentThe master was clearly baffled by her reaction. “…Yes.” It paused. “But you must come when called upon.”

indentYea, I don’t think so. Veronica glared. “Yea, sure. Where’s the crystal?”

indent“This?” Multarum held it up. “It’s mine. Unless you intend to try and take it?” ‘he mused.’

indentI could.

indent“You’ve been the first subject to the Rite of Night in many years.”

indent“I don’t even know what means.” Veronica sighed and accepted to give the crystal up.

indent“The Rite of Night is used to judge those who have been condemned to execution. An innocent wouldn’t suffer and only the worthy survive. Anyone who rises again is forgiven, not because they deserve it, but because it is known that what awaits them is far worse than death.” Multarum explained.

indent“Great.” She scorned.

indent“You can no longer change your fate. But as my apprentice, I can show you how to make the most of the time you have left: starting with your training and your hybrid powers.” Multarum spoke with certain greatness but it wasn’t going to fool Veronica.

indentShe had her own plans in mind, her own purpose. She would care enough to mislead them without allowing ‘him’ to manipulate her. She knew ‘he’ had some sort of plan, they all always did. Perhaps eventually she would be the one to take ‘him’ down, once ‘he’ served ‘his’ purpose in training her.

indent“When do we start?” She asked carefully, wary of what it would answer.

indent“Tomorrow at dusk. Try to get whatever rest you can. As for the, Phone Number, Lautaro should provide what you need.” Multarum raised its hand and casted something.

indentMoments later, Lautaro came in. He stopped in front of Veronica and bowed. “Welcome,” as if her standing alive was enough for him to understand. “I can show you to your room.”

indentVeronica hesitated, she didn’t intend to stay long but she was tired and still had many questions.

indentLautaro guided her deeper underground to what seemed like dorm rooms. All of the people they passed were hybrids or channelers, many of them Umbreons. If Veronica didn’t know any better it almost seemed like Multarum was raising an army.

indent“We have heard about the Rite of Night, read about it too, but it’s the first time in centuries that anyone was subjected to it. Try to pay no mind if you get asked about it, some will think it’s another meaningless ritual and some may admire you.” He said the former in reference to himself. “It’s an honor to be the Master’s apprentice. If you take it lightly, you might find yourself with enemies here, but I’m sure it’s destiny you were chosen.”

indent“I don’t think I was chosen, and I don’t believe in destiny. If it’s anything out of my control then it would have been luck.” Veronica affirmed. “And don’t worry; I won’t be staying here for long.” I just can’t imagine going back to the family’s beach house right away and pretend to leave all of this behind without investigating.

indentLautaro stopped at a door, opening it and allowing Veronica to enter first. She did. There were five others in the dorm. Veronica tried not to show it in her face but she felt extremely annoyed at the situation. They tried to shove as many as they could in the room and, although it was spacious, she didn’t have the energy for introductions or giving a damn about any of them. Five people were definitely much more than none, which was what she hoped for – considering how she became an apprentice.

indentLautaro caught on her irk and spoke up, “This is Multarum’s new apprentice, Veronica. Let her rest well tonight.”

indentHe pointed to the empty bed in the corner. There was someone sitting at the top bunk making it difficult to pass their feet but it didn’t stop Veronica from going straight into the bed and pretending to fall asleep. She heard them whisper and ignored them.

indentDespite all the pain and nightmare she had gone through, it didn’t make it harder to fall asleep. She was exhausted. She only hoped the next time she opened her eyes, it would be real.

indentVeronica blinked, finding herself in the void space with turnings cogs in the background at every angle going on for infinity.

indent“Multarum, is it?” The Sableye spoke, though in the pure darkness it was nearly impossible to find him except for two white dots that reflected from his gem eyes. “Maybe in time my memory will jog back. Things have been different since we became one.”

indent“Please, that sounded so disgusting. How are you still even around?” Veronica gaged.

indent“I wasn’t supposed to be. I think the Rite of Night separated a part of us again. Maybe it’s for the best, since you clearly don’t know how to use my powers.” The Sableye tried to figure things out.

indent“You know, I thought the silver lining in all of this would be that you would cease to exist, at least.”

indent“I wanted to truly, finally, die. That is something I could never tell you because it could only happen by having someone else take my place, somehow. In reality, you ceased to exist as much as I did. You were my sacrificial lamb. Alas, here I am. You must really hate me, I suppose.” The Sableye’s eyes closed for a moment in contemplation.

indentVeronica couldn’t answer that. She didn’t want to admit she didn’t feel hate, exactly. Even if she had once, she couldn’t anymore considering that some part of him was a part of her now.

indent“It’s up to you, what you’ll do: with my powers, with my fragment of a conscious – I hope you find a way to free me, or die sooner than later.”

indentVeronica opened her eyes, feeling the same fear the Sableye always caused her as she listened to the murmurs in the background. She thought she had put that fear to rest when he had stopped appearing. She needed to find a way to undo whatever she did in the nightmare, so that she didn’t have to fear him plotting to end her life early.

indentThere was a knock and everyone fell to silence, Veronica turned her body to check things out. A cloaked Umbreon hybrid entered. “I’m here for… Veronica?” He read the name off a piece of paper. How formal.

indentShe got up, “Uh, just one minute.” She turned to the bathroom and took her time cleaning herself up before heading out.

indentOn their way back through the tunnels, Cosmo popped out. “V!” he hugged her, stopping them for a moment. “What happened?”

indentShe took a deep breath. The nightmare had felt like it lasted for days, yet it was probably only a few minutes long. “I passed some test. We should be all right for now.” Veronica couldn’t explain to Cosmo everything she wanted to with the guard leading them.

indentEventually, they came to a large room similar to the training room in the HQ except with the modern panels and fancy tech stuff. Lautaro and Multarum were there, along with other members in the back training. The hybrid kneeled before them and left.

indent“Slept well?” Multarum mused, there was a hint of curiosity. Veronica didn’t entertain ‘him.’ Though she wondered just how long she had slept for. “Yesterday, some of your powers were unlocked. I’m only here to see that you can pull them out again, in your conscious self.” It said.

indent“Zooooo?” Cosmo was extremely confused.

indentWith a clearer mind, Veronica started to understand what he meant. Of course, she had seen what other hybrids could do before; of course she too could use Sableye moves, right? She sighed, knowing it wasn’t so simply especially considering the ritual she went through.

indentThey ignored Cosmo. “If I’m not mistaken, Night Shade was a move you used. Go ahead, try it out anywhere.” Multarum held his hand up, offering the room. Lautaro looked warily at the master, worried of what Veronica might do.

indentHowever, even with the welcome, she had no clue what to do. He could sense there was no energy coming from her. “Try to remember what pushed the powers out.” He insisted, expecting her to act as the chosen one.

indentShe felt annoyed that she would have to think back to the nightmare, but on a second thought she figured it wasn’t the worst. She knew the memories of the nightmare would return to haunt her many times, at least like this she could face them and use them to become more powerful. Long ago she had already accepted that her pokemon were the ones who were meant to defend her. She found herself stepping up to the plate now.

indentShe remembered the ripples her stomach made and how it brought a purple color to the black and white scenery. She tried to push her mind to mimic that nauseating feeling. A darkness flowed from her towards her surroundings but it was not as fierce as it had been in her nightmares. Night Shade… it’s supposed to depend on a user’s skill. So if I’m like level one then the Sableye’s moves in my nightmare could have been who knows what level.

indentLautaro was impressed Veronica got it in the first try. Multarum seemed disappointed knowing what it looked like in the nightmare. However, he accepted the attempt. “And the other one, the one you used to break out.” He ordered.

indentThe other? It would have been helpful if ‘he’ explained what ‘he’ meant. It took Veronica several moments to remember: the moment she realized it was all a nightmare. When the ice cream was a flavor she would never eat, and other minor details that could have only been implanted in. She let her mind expand and absorbed those same minor details of her surroundings. Her senses heightened to an extreme, waiting to detect what could happen next to defend herself. An invisible shield glistened around her. That was all: Detect.

indentShe sighed deeply, this one brought her comfort. An instant way to defend herself when she was so weak, which made it clear why Multarum was dismissive about it. It preferred Veronica to become a warrior and not a kid who hides behind a shield.

indent“In time, you will need to learn more about your powers. For now, I will leave you with Lautaro. You have a lot of elementary training to do and I don’t have the kind of time to waste teaching you the basics. Once you’ve honed your fighting skills, then we will meet again.” Multarum didn’t wait to leave. Veronica had more questions but she didn’t think it would be wise to bring them up yet.

indent“Are you hungry?” Lautaro asked.

indent“Not really…” She responded.

indent“I see. I was told as much. Here, I suppose you like these?” Lautaro opened his hand and offered some elemental gems. Veronica hated to admit it but she nodded and ate the gems.

indentCosmo looked at her strangely. “Aren’t those rocks?”

indent“Tasty rocks,” She confirmed.

indent“To start your training, we’ll look at defensive movements and actual gym-style training.” Lautaro explained.

indent“Listen, that is something I can do at home. I won’t be living here day in and day out. I guess you’re welcome to come along though.” She shrugged.

indentLautaro’s jaw dropped, not believing what he heard. “You do realize this is something you have to do every day, twice a day? Or rather, twice a night.”

indentShe shrugged. Cosmo repeated her movements and shrugged. “You can either show us the exit, or we’ll find it.”

indent“Yea, we’ll find it!” Cosmo cheered.

indentLautaro sighed heavily. “I have a feeling you’ll end up finding your way out one way or another.”

indent“Well, you aren’t stupid that’s for sure.” Veronica crossed her arms, trying to figure Lautaro out. She knew there were secrets they weren’t telling her. She knew eventually they would.

indent“I have been tasked with teaching you the basics… no matter where that is. I will travel with you but you’re only slowing down your training with a mundane life.” Lautaro insisted.

indentVeronica’s expression grew bored, the Snagem life was worth more than some Cult of the Moone but she didn’t feel the need to explain herself. “Let’s go then.”

indentLautaro sighed again, deciding to show Veronica and Cosmo the way out.

indentAfter many turns, stairs and slowly climbing back up and out of the mountain, they made it outside. It was just as dark as the other night. She was distracted looking around until she saw a Drampa appeared. It stood calmly beside Lautaro. He placed his hand on the Drampa. Veronica took the SNAG out to check what pokemon it was.

indent“You lead the way.” Lautaro said.

indent“Wait!” Cosmo cried out. “What about Jenny? Aren’t we going to say goodbye?”

indentVeronica turned to Cosmo with a sigh. She placed her hand on his head while thinking. “You go, we’ll wait.”

indentCosmo nodded and rushed off.

indentLautaro sighted. “You’re still too human. The Cult of the Moone isn’t for morality.”

indentVeronica snapped at Lautaro, thinking twice about whether or not to speak up. Remembering her nightmare pushed her words out, “Human? Morality? You don’t know me.” She snarled. “We’ll wait for Cosmo.”

indentLautaro was taken aback by her comment. “Okay.”

indentThey fell to silence for a while.

indent“Where are we headed?” he asked.

indentVeronica didn’t answer right away. “Kanto. I have a place you can stay there.” No way she would ever lead him straight into the HQ.

indent“That far? Already wasting a night of training…” he mumbled.

indent“Well, I will probably be able to actually bother with the training there… Most nights.” She nodded. If she trained at night that meant she would have the day to do her business. She would have to take naps whenever she could.

indentLautaro sighed. “I’ve had many students, but… This is the first time we’ve had to accommodate to anyone.”

indent“Right, cause I’m the Chosen One.” Veronica scoffed. She saw Cosmo returning in the distance.

indentHe was grinning and snickering. “Look at this!” He showed Veronica a Heart Scale. “Jenny gave it to me.”

indentVeronica faked a smile. Half of her knew that is was pointless for him to hold on to the Heart Scale instead of selling it but the other half didn’t want to crush his spirits. “Now you will definitely wait in the pokeball during the trip, right?”

indentCosmo complained but Veronica returned him. Then she sent out her Flygon. Her pokemon had mostly healed over the past 24 hours. “Let’s go,” They climbed onto their respective dragons and took off.

indentThey traveled for an hour, eventually reaching a small town in Kanto.

indent“Here.” She pointed to a house. “This was my old place. You can stay here; the bills are up to date. We’ll train nearby – starting tomorrow.”

indentLautaro bowed.

indentVeronica nodded and took off on her Flygon. “I know you’re tired. We’re almost home. Let’s make sure we’re not being followed, all right?”

indent“Fly!”  

[DignityPower]

SubonicXP

Urgent Mission

Infiltrate and Sabotage

We have discovered that a group of criminals have made their base in the old Trainer Hill building on Route 111 of Hoenn, the facility long since closed down since the arrival of the Battle Institute. This group of villains are the ones responsible for the outbreak of Shadow Pokemon in Mauville City, apparently distributing the Shadow Pokemon out of there and sneaking them into the city via an underground man-made tunnel which exits underneath the also shutdown Game Corner. While we have every intent to confront them and see them brought to justice it is certain that they already know that Team Snagem is aware of their activities and are actively seeking them out, as such they are likely preparing to abandon Trainer Hill.

As such we are sending you ahead to slow down their retreat, such a large and sophisticated criminal enterprise certainly can't move their operations that quick and they likely wouldn't abandon their assets, though even if they did it's stil a win for us. Your job is to sneak into Trainer Hill from their own smuggling tunnel, the entrance in the Game Corner, and find out how they are moving their assets out and slow them down by any means, without being caught of course. Remember, your goal is sabotage and slow down their retreat so we may prepare our forces to storm Trainer Hill and catch them with their pants down. Do whatever you have to in order to leave them vulnerable. And remember, don't get caught and if you do make sure you silence whoever saw you.

-Objective:
---Infiltrate Trainer Hill and sabotage the Shadow Pokemon smuggling ring.

-Opposition:
---The criminals operating the ring, they have no uniform and carry the following Pokemon, excluding Shadow Pokemon: Zubat, Golbat, Poochyena, Mightyena, Spheal, Sealeo, Gulpin, Swalot, Corphish, Crawdaunt, Grimer, Muk, Duskull, and Kecleon. You should encounter at least one Shadow Pokemon of any Hoenn Pokemon of second stage (Examples: Kirlia, Hariyama, etc.) or less. You must snag the Shadow Pokemon but do not have to keep it.

-Pokemon:
---The only Pokemon you will encounter are trainer owned ones unless you are unfortunate enough to stumble upon something in the tunnel. You may snag one Pokemon (the Shadow Pokemon doesn't count towards your one snag unless you keep it).

-Rewards:
---10x Snag Coins
---1x Snag Emblem Piece
---Varies from there.

[This mission is time sensitive and will affect the current story arc so whatever you write, should you choose to do this mission, will be included in the guild's story. More than one person may do this mission.]

The vibration of the phone woke me up, and before I could bother to stop the annoying sound, I stretched and cracked my bones as I regretted falling asleep in such a strange position and place. My shoulders and elbow popped, followed by my ankles and hips, then the snapping of the spine and neck as I finished stretching. Once I felt satisfied with the stretch, I grabbed my phone to check in. It was another mission. I always read them out of curiosity. This one sparked something in my own interests, the wording of it “by any means” and “silence whoever” had a nice ring to it. The thing that sealed the deal was how close it was, otherwise I would have just left that itch without scratching out of sheer laziness.
There were a few fun ideas that crossed my mind and, as usual, I was extremely confident that everything would go as planned.
The night was pitch black and it felt good knowing I could see where others couldn’t. As I got closer to the road, some of the dim lights started to show up through the leaves. I let myself be spotlighted by one of the lamp posts. Half of the lamp posts weren’t working and a few flickered. The sidewalk was crowded with trash and there were plenty of cracks in the road. I could tell this area was the last of anyone’s worry. It made for an optimal escape route for my enemies. So I followed a straight path to where their base was located for over an hour, not even bothering to pass by the Game Corner nearby that could probably have been the most simple solution. The fun was what mattered most to me. So with music in my ears, it didn’t feel like a long time had passed until I arrived at Route 111.
I still had a soft spot for Chi, my Infernape, so I let him take the role of the bait. He started a fire on the outskirts and it spread faster than I had imagined. It was like a dance with the wind. Some of the criminals probably didn’t care that the building could burn down, as they were already escaping it, but the fire could bring unwanted attention. The chaos was a success. Some of them decided to bail, others tried to put out the fire and Chi ran off to escape from some of the grunts.
I sent out my Flygon to sweep in and drop me off on the roof from above. The landing was hard and made a loud thump, the guards that were looking at the fire from the edge of the roof turned to me. I was about to pull out a pokemon when more of the grunts appeared from a door. One of them closed the door behind them and they glanced at each other as they prepared to take me down. They sent out a Zubat, Muk, Duskull and a Crawdaunt.
Then, just as they were calling out their attacks, the grunt that closed the door pushed over a storage closet to block the door. The clattering sound startled the two closest grunts and that caught their full attention. When they turned, one of the grunts froze in fear as he simply noticed a man dressed just like them had long, pointy claws extended out. This monster grew bigger, ripping out of the clothes and causing a large splash of blood over the grunt’s face. He turned over to his friend who had been beheaded. It was hard to tell from my point of view what the grunt felt, whether he wanted to vomit or just had shaky legs, as he fell down.
“Dus??” The Duskull seemed clearly confused. A blast of Shadow Ball pushed away the bewildered Duskull and Zubat. The Zubat managed to get back up to its owner but the Duskull dropped to the ground.
Meanwhile the Muk and Crawdaunt on the other side of the roof sent a Gunk Shot and Mud Shot at me that I was prepared to defend off with a Detect. I didn’t have any other of the big boys on me as an option, not until I cleared the roof, so I had to decide which critter would buy time. “Vanta.” I sent out my Eevee. “Iron tail.” I called out and the Eevee rushed forward against the Muk to slice with its tail.
Since I couldn’t bring up another Detect yet, Vanta would have to endure a serious attack from both of these enemies. With a Crunch from the Crawdaunt and a Gunk Shot from the Muk, Vanta got pushed up against some of the pipes and fell.
Near the door, a nasty looking Zoroark used Night Slash to finish off the Zubat and continue on its owner by slicing his neck to make sure he stayed quiet.
I couldn’t go to Vanta, I couldn’t even take my eyes off the enemies to check on how the little one was doing. I had to prepare to make my next defense against the pokemon. When I pulled up my Detect, I covered my eyes from the light. I didn’t think twice about the brightness. The Zoroark also hid away into the shadows.
As the light started to dim out I looked through my fingers and saw the area bright from the effects of a full moon. The moon started to melt down into a creature that wasn’t there before. Its cry made me flip towards where Vanta would have been, and my eyes didn’t find him. It confirmed that Vanta evolved into an Umbreon and healed himself. The Muk and Crawdaunt didn’t waste time and threw another combination of Gunk Shot and Mud Shot which Vanta dodged by jumping up, making me the target of the attack. I was thrown back.
Vanta landed closer to them and snarled at the Muk to intimidate the enemy. Following up, the Zoroark appeared from behind and Night Slashed the Muk to knock it out. Meanwhile, I was still trying to get up with the pain down my back from the crash. It wasn’t a big deal but my body was still not used to the serious fights. I knew those two might have a harder time taking down a type like Crawdaunt so I gave a signal to Cosmo to end it.
The guards didn’t expect the Zoroark to turn around and meet their gaze with shiny golden eyes as their last sight. The Umbreon fixed on the Crawdaunt with a Mean Look as Cosmo finished off the trainers.
This gave us a chance to regroup.
My Flygon landed on the roof with my Infernape, opening more options for us to end all of the enemies.
“So..” I sighed in pain, “I guess you’ll step out on this next one now.” I looked at the Umbreon, realizing he was too big for the next step in the plan. We both made a mental shrug and I brought out my Mudkip and Jangmo-o. “It’s just you two then.”
I walked over to a vent and asked for help to open it, “Two critters in.” Pisces and Hydra jumped in, they were the only two small enough to fit. Once inside the vents, they rushed through the building trying to find the places they could cause the worst damage.
“Ok, BlakCrystal, Vanta, return. Chi, Cosmo help me out with the storage.” I pointed to the door that Cosmo had previously blocked. Between the two of them it was much easier to move it.
I opened the door carefully… There was no one waiting for us behind the door. Inside, there were stairs leading towards floors.
As we stepped down, being sneaky wouldn’t be an option with the stairs so oxidized. I paused with them to determine whether there was no point in trying to be quiet… or at least if having less of a ringing noise in my ears was worth risking not having back up at my side. It was rather irritating how loud the pokemons’ steps were. I could talk about how, between our steps, having two pairs of steps made more sense than three if two grunts had gone up. So it would make sense to return one of them. On one hand, having Cosmo out would be ideal as he could be disguised as a grunt but Infernape’s steps were quiet despite his weight due to the fur that softened his step. Although an Infernape was much easier to spot, especially with his fiery head and tail.
It took me several moments to determine that none of it really mattered and that those thoughts about noise on some stairs could keep going on forever.
So I put my fingers in my ears and walked down with them until we reached the first door. There were grunts moving boxes around in the hallway. Only two of them paused to examine me.
One of them dropped the box carelessly and the other actually threw the box in my direction. Nothing a simple Detect couldn’t stop. They both sent out their pokemon and each of my own turned to take on the opponent. A shadow Kirlia and a shadow Nuzleaf. Seemed like I was in the right place. This wasn’t going to be difficult but it started to get attention as Chi Flame Blasted at the Nuzleaf and Cosmo threw a Shadow Ball at the Kirlia. The grunts started to yell from one side of the room to another.
Three more enemies were sent out: Sealeo, Grimer and a shadow Kadabra.
Then, the lights started to flicker out with sparks. It was sooner than expected but I had to follow the plan. I returned the two of them back and sent out my Flygon to pull off an Earthquake as I used Detect to cover myself.
That took out the Grimer and gave us a chance to dodge the Kadabra’s attack, but the Sealeo still hit its Ice Shard against BlackCrystal. I grabbed onto a pole as BlackCrystal sent out another Earthquake, with the lights going out completely now. Whatever was going on, seemed pretty convincing to anyone else that it was a natural disaster. Of course, it wasn’t really the case. It was just the Mudkip filling up the electricity room with water from his vent window and effectively electrifying anyone in that room. Next up for Pisces were the server rooms.
Back in the top floor, a third Earthquake made the floor open and everything fell down. Even with a Detect and night vision, I had to drop into the next floor down.
When I landed, I felt my ankle slightly twisted as I stepped into the rubble. BlackCrystal was about to go for another round when I returned him back. The grunts who could walk were either helping others or heading to the EXIT sign at the stairs. This called for a more targeted attack, I sent out Cosmo to prevent escapees at the stairs and sent out Chi to burn up anyone still around.
I had to walk more carefully as I made my way to the stairs. As loud as they were, it was the only option available. Emergency lights started to come on in certain areas of the building.
The next floor down was flooded and there was water dripping down. I thought twice about whether to step into the water. It was weird that no one was running away from that floor after everything, so I jumped the rail and skipped that floor. My pokemon followed behind.
As I approached the next floor, I could feel my heart pumping at my throat. My anxiety was at its peak. My gut was telling me something was wrong. It didn’t help that the floor was empty like a ghost town. I could only hear the water dripping from the ceiling.
“Clear out the rooms.” I told them and they divided the work.
There were several meeting rooms and a few leftover workers that got their own gorey scenes before they could send out their pokemon. It made the hall echo with screams as I walked to the only room that didn’t have glass walls.
I waited for the two of them to finish before opening the door. When we entered together, they reacted with a snarl and screeches while I analyzed the situation. Three grunts and a man dressed differently than them stood at the end of the room. Things from a shelf were broken on the ground, probably due to the Earthquake, and water dripped from the ceiling here too. It was a complete mess but the spotlight was on the two critters in the center carpet. A flashlight shined on them and then towards me. “You’ll have to pick one.” The man said, implying either Mudkip or Jangmo-o. In the back of my mind I knew Hydra had failed but I wasn’t about to sacrifice anyone.
I didn’t need to say anything, Cosmo went in for the Night Slash and Chi for the Close Combat. Two of the grunts took the shot while the third sent out a shadow Vigoroth. A threat was intolerable, so I sent out BlackCrystal to deal with the Vigoroth with a Dragon Pulse.
The man then sent out a Nidoking, Nidoqueen and Altaria that went towards each of my pokemon to hold them back. “I’ll give you ten seconds to choose, ” but as he said those words I sent out Vanta to bite him directly. It ripped his jacket and a bit of his skin. He cried out in pain and cleared away from the critters to send out an Aggron with his left hand to take down Vanta. So I took out their pokeballs to return them before this went on further. I knew my hands were trembling and I had some fingers being taken up by the Flygon’s and Umbreon’s pokeballs but it wasn’t an excuse to fail them.
The white flash reached us before the sound and the sound of it reached us before I could properly aim the pokeball at either one of them. By the time the red flash reached them, one of them failed to return–
Chains fell to the ground where the critters were. Vanta got blasted out by the Aggron. Cosmo was overpowered by the Nidoking. BlackCrystal and the Altaria knocked each other out and the same happened with Chi and the Nidoqueen.

When the man had stepped back from the Umbreon after the bite and decided not to wait 10 seconds, he grabbed a gun from his back with his right hand and shot at Jangmo-o. The critter’s head cracked in two and Mudkip had been saved.

The rage in me brought me to tunnel vision on the man and not notice the others’ struggles. With all the risk I would be putting myself in, I jumped forward towards the man. He didn’t shoot as the Aggron came up to stop me but I didn’t care about what would happen or how stupid it looked.
I wasn’t the only one who felt that way and a Marshtomp appeared out of nowhere to step in between the Aggron and I. A bit of logic returned to my senses and I knew I needed an Ace card to get to the man that took Hydra away from me.
My whole body was shaking and a lot of things dropped from my bag as the man kept the gun up but held back from shooting as his Aggron was in the way. He was thinking clearly and knew it wasn’t a good idea to shoot at a metal that could make a bullet bounce back in the worst case.
When I finally got the right item out, I used the rare candy on Pisces, evolving him into a Swampert and giving him an easier time with the Aggron. With a Hydro Pump, the enemy was out of the way and I jumped over the desk to attack the man.
I ripped his eye out and we heard another shot, but this sound was less filled with fear and more with rage for me. With the adrenaline I could keep going without thinking twice so I broke his arm and he dropped his weapon. I tried to rip off his other eye but he fought me off and ran to the corner. He thought twice about leaving the pokemon behind but the Swampert started to go at him. He disappeared behind a secret door. I didn’t even catch his name.
Confused by the secret door, Pisces turned around and sent a Hydro Pump to the Nidoking. Cosmo was too exhausted to get up. I returned all my pokemon and Pisces helped me pick my items back up since I stayed leaning against the wall and slowly sliding down while leaving a mark of blood on the wall. I was too afraid to move and possibly bleed out. I just held in the wound.
Pisces picked me up and cried out with a worried tone. “It’s all right, it just hit my side… Nothing serious, just a lot of liquid pumping out from the adrenaline.” My voice was a bit shaky but it wasn’t about me. It was for the loss I had. My taste for revenge kept me wide awake.