Chapter Twenty-One: Darkness of Deoxys



Ilima's POV



I've slept in a number of strange places in my time, a few of them stranger than even a fast-food restaurant. That being said, sleeping on a vinyl couch up next to a table with ketchup stains on the underside was actually more restful than you'd think it would be.



Until.



I woke up suddenly and found myself grabbed by Slender Man.



Okay, so it's probably not actually Slender Man. But when something grabs you from behind with long tentacles and binds your arms, legs, and mouth with them, the first thing you think of is Slender Man, at least if you're me.



Maybe I need to stop reading creepypastas just before bed.



There's a woman as well, pale-skinned and in a snappy red suit that complements her dark green hair rather well. She has a stare that could cut through ice. Well, well, well, she thinks at me. She doesn't speak, she just thinks. Whatever have we here?



Get out of here, I think firmly. Clearly this woman is a telepath. We're closed.



Ha, ha, ha. Funny, aren't we? she thinks back snidely. This is no laughing matter. We've been looking for you a long time, little pink one.



I glance desperately around the room. Paul's Crobat and Sylveon are both sound asleep. So are all my friends. A Hypno stands by the telepath's side, probably the reason they're all asleep.



Well, you've found me, I think back at her. Now what?



Now you have a choice. Are you going to come quietly and spare your friends the trouble of fighting me, or are you going to cause a ruckus where someone could get hurt?



Hypno isn't the only psychic type in the room, I realize. There's a crowd. Kadabra, Mr. Mime, Alakazam. All gathered silently around my friends.



Can I have what's behind door number three? I ask.



---



Wes's POV



Of all the times to wake up in the middle of the night and need to take a piss, it had to happen just when some crazy broad teleports in and tries to kidnap Pinky.



I mean, I was in the bathroom when it got started. I was just washing up when 'Lima got tied up by that weird orange and green thing. And when I stepped out of the bathroom, I saw a bunch of psychic types gathered around my friends and some woman threatening 'Lima with Mr. Noodle Guy.



"Hey!" I yell at the woman. "Wha's goin' on?"



She turns and looks at me, and I realize I haven't put my gloves back on after washing up. And that damn curse mark on my right hand is glowing something awful.



Which gives me an idea.



I raise my right hand and make my voice as deep and scary as possible. "Halt! Stop right there!" I bellow. "The Mark of Phancero compels you!"



The broad stares at me, then starts laughing. "Oh, you silly... you don't even know what that does, do you?"



"Sure I do, bitch. It distracts you."



And that's when Paul's Crobat drops down right on top of her head, screeching loudly.



The woman staggers back, glaring daggers at me. "So that's it? You think a little Uproar will break my spell?" Crackling green energy forms between her hands. "You're going to die, you little sneak!"



"I'll take a rain check on that," I say, ducking quickly under a table and knocking it over to use as a shield. "Says you and what army?"



Her Kadabra teleports up to me and grabs me from behind in a psychic headlock. The woman laughs. "Psychic-type Pokemon are the only army I need!"



I spot Paul's Crobat being hurled across the room. Fortunately the noise level means that the rest of our party starts to wake up. Shu orders Kachu to zap the woman with Thunderbolt, Gary has his weird Charmander thing use Flash to light up the battlefield, and Glad sends out his Sneasel to slash up whatever that thing is holding 'Lima down.



I struggle to break free from Kadabra's psychic prison. If I can just reach into my pockets and pull out Umbreon...



---



Benga's POV



Burger Kween wraps her ribbons around the strange woman's legs, but instead of tripping, the woman levitates into the air. Yoshi is constantly roaring to keep anyone from falling asleep, leaving the invader Pokemon with no recourse but to blast at us repeatedly. PK keeps dive-bombing the invaders while dodging Kachu's thunderbolts at the psychic army. Hoopa keeps diverting psychic attacks with her rings.



And Terra is completely freaking out.



Gladion's Ultra Sneasel, Sasha, continues to claw with her razor-sharp scythes at the monster holding Ilima. The beast flinches, and Gladion takes the opportunity to kick it in a rather painful spot and pull Ilima free from it.



We hear sirens from outside. Apparently you can't have an all-out brawl in a restaurant in the middle of the night without someone complaining about it. How rude.



When the woman hears the sirens, she turns to her pet tentacle man thing. "Deoxys! Grab the target and Teleport us out of here!"



Deoxys, if that is what she calls it, lunges for Ilima. But Gladion's quicker. Before anyone can say a prayer, Gladion shoves Ilima out of Deoxys's path, just in time to get himself grabbed by Deoxys's tentacles.



There's a flash of light. Ilima screams. Gladion gives a yell, and suddenly, our foes are gone.



And so is Gladion.



Ilima sort of crumples on the ground, gasping for breath. "No... Gladion, no!"



"You guys okay?" Wes asks, picking himself gingerly up from behind an overturned table.



"Gladion!" Ilima shouts. "They took Gladion!"



Gary's expression is hard to read. "They... wuh... shit... look on the bright side, once they find out what he's really like, they won't hold on to him for long, will they?"



"Gary, this is serious!" Ilima snaps. "This is Team Rocket we're talking about! They do experiments on humans!"



"That was Team Rocket?" Gary asks. "She wasn't even wearing an uniform! How did you know she was part of Team Rocket?"



"That was Sabrina," Ilima says breathlessly. "Gym Leader of Saffron City. Team Rocket's taken over Saffron City. Judging from her behavior, and the fact that Team Rocket hasn't locked her up or gotten rid of her, I'd say it's a safe bet she's working for them."



"Or at least working for herself." Gary makes a face. "And that's the second time this week that someone's been ninja'd away from me. We can't just leave Gladion to whatever Team Rocket wants with him, we just can't!"



Terra has spent this entire time hyperventilating. I trot up to her and rub against her a couple of time for reassurement. Cats are useful that way, especially when we purr.



"Gladion," she gasps, trying to put a brave face on things. "What... how are we supposed to fight Team Rocket when they can just Teleport away with us?"



"We'll think of something," Shu says hopefully. "We're not giving up!"



The sirens grow louder, and somebody knocks on the door. "Hello? Open up! This is Officer Jenny!"



The humans look at each other, then Gary goes to open the doors. Wes sort of moseys on back to the back of the restaurant in hopes of not being noticed. I can smell the nervous on him. Somehow I don't think he's the type to enjoy hanging out with the police.



Hoo boy.



So Gladion's gone now. Where, I'm not sure, but it can't possibly be good. He's gone because he tried to save Ilima, who now looks like someone ran over his best friend.



What are we going to do now?