Chapter 16: Escape I

"Will the plan work?"

All eyes were focused on Aeron, who just sighed and looked at all the trainers, scared out of their wits.

"Everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face." His words did not help calm the nerves of the trainers, who were too scared of what might happen to them. Who could blame them? Although calm, Aeron was scared as well. He had read in Jinga's Pokedex about everything The Syndicate had in store for them.

For the same reason, he wanted to escape as soon as possible. But he could not tell the trainers since they would panic more than they should. Even his partner in crime, Nessa, knew nothing of it. At least, unlike the others, she was showing faith in his plan. The girl had become his good friend in short few days. Courtesy of The Syndicate grunts who caged them in the same room with no one else. He was the girl's support, and to some extent, she was his.

The escape was simple, too simple to be exact. But it would all go down the drain when the Boss of these grunts interfered.

"Let's go."

Aeron led the horde of scared Mareep upstairs, making their grand escape.

Was it because of the geography of the area? The hideout was built in two separate parts. One was the place used for residence, while the other was used as an underground compound and a makeshift powerplant that provided the base with necessary electricity.

The base had seventeen people, including Jinga. Of these, ten were doing day and night shifts to keep watch over the base. This meant, currently, there were five people the group had to defeat or bypass to make their escape.

Aeron never considered the first option. It would be best for them to escape without catching the eyes of any of the five people guarding the base. And to do that, they had three hours. In three hours, the shifts would change, which meant, for a moment, there would be ten people awake, increasing their chances of being caught.

Also, the escape had to be tonight. It would be their end if the grunts came to them with food and found the Jinga in his current state. The night would also be a good cover for them while running away.

Aeron tapped his Pokedex and looked at the holographic map of the hideout.

If the information he got from Jinga was correct, one of the five should be in the Electrical Room, the floor above them.

The group, with Aeron in the lead, followed by four leaders, silently made their way up. Aeron looked at the stones illuminating the staircase. He did not know if anyone else noticed it, but the grunts used Light Stones instead of Electrical Bulbs to light up the pathway and the underground rooms they were trapped in.

'They are using the Electricity for something else.'

This was the only conclusion Aeron could come up with. And if guessed right, they were using every bit of electricity to power a tower station for communication with their HQ and other electronic appliances—no need to waste their limited energy on something a few cheap Light Stones could solve.

It did not take long for the group to reach the end of the staircase, where they were greeted by a door that would bring them out of the underground compound.

Aeron raised his hand, and the group came to a halt.

Once the door opened, they would see a pathway made within a cave. On one side was the door that led downstairs, while on the adjacent side was the makeshift Electrical Room with no doors or walls. This meant the man could see them when they opened the door.

"Samurai," Aeron called out to one of the five leaders. The boy with a chubby face and samurai armour walked forward. Behind him was the group he was leading.

Every trainer here was kidnapped in Viridian Forest, the home of Kanto Bugs.

More than half of the trainers were caught while catching Bug-type Pokémon. More than half of them had at least one Bug-type Pokémon. Aeron hoped at least one would have an Abra or some other Psychic-type Pokémon, but none did.

Most had the Pidgey line, Nido line or other Kanto Pokémon.

Samurai took a deep breath and took out one of his Pokeballs. He scanned his fingerprints and called out for his third Pokémon. After a flash of red light, a purple-coloured Pokémon with red eyes appeared before everyone.

"Venonat."

The Bug-type Pokémon called its name.

Samurai instructed his Pokémon, and the Bug-type obediently followed. Its red eyes started glowing, and it looked at the door or what was beyond the door.

Venonat or any other Pokémon with [Ability: Compound Eyes] could see through things within a limited range.

The Buy-type scanned the door and looked outside before turning to the Samurai, speaking in Pokémon tongue, which, surprisingly, the Samurai was able to understand part of it. Still enough to be helpful for the current situation.

"There is one man on the other corner of the room, along with Pokémon running on a treadmill."

So, this was how they were gathering Electrical Energy? Aeron nodded his head. "And what is the man doing?"

"Walking back and forth," Samurai replied with regret. He hoped the man was asleep.

There goes their hope to bypass the five grunts without being noticed.

None of the trainers here had a Ghost-type that could sneak or Psychic-type to teleport, so the only viable option was to charge in and take out the grunt before he could even react. Dangerous.

Yet, Aeron had to be the one who had to take that role. He was, after all, from Kanto Special Task Force.

The lie was biting him in the back now, but without the lie, none of them would have followed him.

'Fine, I will do it myself.'

"Ask Venonat to keep track of his movements." Would a surprise attack work? He wrapped a piece of clothing around his face, covering his nose. "Alice, get ready. Samurai, prepare to spam [Sleep Powder]."

Alice, a girl with poison-coloured hair, called out her Pokémon. Samurai and his group nodded, ready as the third line of attack in case the first two, Aeron's iron poll and Alice's Pokémon, failed.

Watching all of it with worried eyes, Nessa walked forward and grabbed his hand before he could open the door. Her action had the black-haired boy turn to look at her. She looked at him with her oceanic-blue eyes. Nothing needed to be said as Aeron understood everything from the look in her eyes.

He removed the makeshift mask. "Don't worry; I will be fine." His words did not ease her even a little, but they had no time to waste.

Aeron pulled the cloth back up and covered his face once again. With a nod to Samurai, he got in a running stance.

"On the count of three."

Aeron was in front, and behind him was every Pokémon that could use [Sleep Powder]—about five.

He spun the iron poll once and motioned to the Samurai with his head. The boy understood the command and prepared to open the door when the grunt was not looking in their direction. It would at least increase the chances of a sneak attack.

Aeron took a deep breath to calm his nerves and his headache.

"Axew!"

He heard his partner's words. The Dragon was resting on his head and refused to leave Aeron alone.

"Thanks for cheering me up."

Aeron smiled, nodded to the Samurai, and the chubby boy looked at his Pokémon. The red eyes of Venonat shone again, peering to the other side of the door. It did not take a second before the Pokémon spoke to its trainer, and Samurai opened the door.

There was no need for words since Aeron was already on high alert and ready.

With a push to the sole of his feet, he ran out of the room toward the brown-haired man looking at the Electric Pokémon running on a treadmill, creating the electricity they needed to keep their equipment working.

The cave was narrow enough as most of the space was occupied by the equipment needed to create electricity. The man was three meters from the door, a distance Aeron knew, courtesy of Venonat's [Ability: Compound Eyes].

Lincoln heard the door opening behind him. He needed to have his guard up since the only person who would come out of there was Jinga. However, since he was a few ranks lower than the latter, he turned around to greet. But his eyes widened in horror as an Iron Poll came hurtling toward his face.

He raised his arms and felt a sharp pain coursing through his body. However, before he could even scream, he felt something wrap around his neck, covering his mouth, making him unable to breathe.

Lincoln heard a hiss in his ears before whatever was wrapping his neck bit his colour bone. He felt his consciousness leave his body.

Ekans unwrapped itself from Lincoln's body and slithered back toward its trainer. The group leaders and Alice walked out while the rest of the trainers stayed back.

"That was quick."

Nessa stood beside Aeron but soon noticed his face covered in a deep frown and anger. She followed his eyes and looked at the electric Pokémon. Her face contorted in anger and disgust.

"Those scums."

Her words were harsh, but everyone agreed on them since they had similar, if not more abusive, words for the scum of The Syndicate.

-------------------------End of Chapter-------------------------

Author's Note:

- Let me know your thoughts in the comment sections!

- 4-5 chapters are incoming.

- Drop some Power Stones to support the book.

- Peace!