Chapter 8 Part 2: Lumios Labs

As we scurry to the object that will save the world, I try to talk to Clasingla. "So… How've you been?" 

He doesn't respond to me, not even sparing me a glance. 

"Okay… Any projects you were working on before this happened?" 

"None that concerns you," he responds, obviously ending the conversation that never started. John snickers and I roll my eyes. 

After seven minutes of running in silence, we reach a pair of big metal doors. Clasingla pulls out his card and presses it to the scanner. It beeps and the doors slide open. Inside is a room full of gizmos and gadgets, and I don't have a clue what any of them do. There's one that's a staff with a robotic hand on one end and a blade on the other. Another one looks like a PokeBall but it doesn't have a latch. They also have something that looks like a bunch of cords got into a fight, got tangled together, tried to separate, then gave up and accepted their fate. Clasingla goes to one of the shelves and grabs an orb. 

"We originally made this in case Lumios City had a power outage. What you do is, when fully charged, you turn it on, fly it into the air, and it will burst with light, enough to cover all of Lumios," Clasingla explains. "However, it didn't work that well. It takes too long to charge and doesn't last long enough. It wasn't a total fail, though. The same day we were testing with the effects of hypnosis on creatures and the light snapped our subjects out of it. Curious, we decided to experiment. We charged the orb and hypnotized some creatures. When the orb flashed, our subjects were released from their spell. This was exciting, but we never thought it would come in handy." 

I nod along. "So you're telling me that orb could break the Malamar's hypnosis across all of Lumios in one go," I ask. 

Clasingla nods. "Yeah. Unless hit by a physical force, it will take a few minutes for the effects of the hypnosis to wear off. If hit by something, though, it will end immediately." 

He hands me the orb and I put it in my bag. "Thank you so much," I say with a smile. "You know, we've got a safe place we're staying at. Wanna come," I offer. 

He looks between us, looking for any sign of trickery. "We've got a bed," John adds. 

That seems to win him over. "Fine," he says with a sigh. 

"Great," I exclaim. "Let's get out of here." 

"Hold on," Clasingla states, going over to a closet. He taps he card against the lock and it beeps, clicking as it unlocks. He opens it, revealing an Espurr. "Hey," he softly says, smiling as it jumps into his arms. "Come on. We're going somewhere safe." 

He carries it over to us. "Hi," I say, smiling at it. It turns aways from me, burying its head into Clasingla's chest. 

"It doesn't like strangers," he tells me as he walks out.  

"It could easily just be Hades! Nobody likes him," John says with a cackle as he exits. I roll my eyes. 

"Not true. That's just you. And the feeling is returned," I respond, following them down the hall. 

As we near the exit, all the Malamars watch us closely. My hand travels to my pocket, where Char's PokeBall is. John's does the same, going to Mewtwo's. Clasingla pulls Espurr closer to him. 

"Should we run," I mutter, my body tense and ready for anything. 

Clasingla shakes his head. "No," he whispers. "They're not doing anything yet. That would only confirm their fears."

We're almost at the doors, but then a line of Malamars block it. Another group come behind us. They are staring us down, grumbling lowly. 

"They know," John shouts.  

Clasingla reaches into his coat and tosses out two PokeBalls. A Meganium and Beheeyem pop out. "Clear the way! Dazzling Gleam! Shadow Ball!" 

The Meganium shimmers brightly and Beheeyem summons some balls of purple energy, hurling them at the opponents. The attacks hit, knocking the Malamars out the way. 

I run to the door and pull it open. "Move, move, move," I shout. 

John is the first to exit, rushing by quickly. Clasingla returns his Pokémon and runs out. After he passes I release the door and follow suit. Before the door shuts, though, a Malamar gets a tentacle out and wraps it around Clasingla's ankle. He yelps as he falls to the ground, twisting around to protect Espurr. 

"Clasingla," I shout, reaching out for him. Instead of grabbing on to me, however, he hands me Espurr. 

"Take good care of it," he tells me as he gets dragged away. Espurr screams a meow, trying to leap back to him. I don't let it, though, holding against me as I turn and run. I glance behind me one last time, seeing a bright flash and hearing Clasingla's painful scream. I notice his glasses on the ground and know we've lost him. 

Once I catch up to John, I find him in a fight. "Aura Sphere," he yells. Mewtwo swipes its hand through the air, summoning blie balls and blasting them at the Malamars. He turns to me as I approach. "Where's Clasingla?" 

"H-He didn't make it…" I respond quietly. 

"Oh… Well, we don't have time for that now. We've got our own problems," John says as more Malamars take the old ones' place. 

"I'm getting tired of this," I growl, putting Espurr in my left arm and sending Char out. It howls upon release. I pull my necklace out, my Key Stone shimmering with light. "Push beyond all limits as you let your inner beast out and show all that oppose you the power of your rage! Mega Evolve!" 

Beams of light connect to Char, filling it with power. It glows as its wings become shredded. Blue flames burst from its mouth. The light explodes off of it, and standing in the field is Mega Charizard X. It glares at the Malamars, growling lowly. 

"Well if we're going all out…" John pulls a Mega Stone from his pouch and tosses it to Mewtwo, who catches it. He then raises his fist, the Key Stone in his bracelet sending threads of power to Mewtwo. Mewtwo glows, its tail relocating to its head and it floats off the ground. When the light disappears, Mega Mewtwo Y is in front of us. 

"Why'd you use Y," I ask aggressively. John twists his head at me. 

"Because it was my best choice," he snaps back, offended. 

"Wrong," I reply with way more attitude than necessary. "X would have been better." 

John scoffs. "Not really. Psychic type moves become effective, and I personally like it being not very effective." 

"You know what else becomes effective," I ask. "Dark type moves! Plus, Fighting gets same type attack bonus, which seems very attractive in our situation!" 

"But Y gets a special attack boost, which benefits all of its attacks," John explains. 

I'm about to counter again, but a Dark Pulse goes flying past my face. I turn my attention to the battle and see our Pokémon barely holding their own. I sigh. "I hope you made the right choice," I say. 

"Trust me," John says, taking a fighting stance, "I did." 

"Flare Blitz," I command. Char's body becomes covered in blue fire as it soars into the Malamars, making direct contact and knocking them out. 

"Shadow Ball," John shouts beside me. "Mewtwo swipes its hand through the air, launching balls of dark energy at the Malamars, knocking them unconscious. 

We don't get a break, though, more Malamars replacing the old ones, and these are Mega Evolved. They swirl their tentacles, creating bullets of dark matter. They shoot the Dark Pulses at Char. "Steel Wing as protection," I tell it. 

Its wings harden and it puts them in front of it, blocking the hits. "Now as an attack," I yell. It kicks off the ground, slamming its wings into the enemies. It's not enough to knock them out, though, and they only stumble back, quickly recovering. I don't have time to counter the incoming Foul Plays. John does, though. 

"Aura Sphere," he shouts. Mewtwo sticks its hand out and in a blink of an eye has an orb of power, which it blasts into the Mega Malamars. Their bodies shine as the light breaks off of it, leaving normal Malamars on the ground in front of us. 

"Thanks," I say to John. 

"No problem," he replies, giving me a thumbs up. 

Again, though, we don't have any time to celebrate as more Mega Malamars come in, focusing this time on Mewtwo. They leap at it with Foul Play and close the distance in no time. 

"Dragon Tail," I command. Char flips towards the Malamars, slamming its tail into them.  

"Shadow Ball," John follows, Mewtwo shooting a purple ball at them, finishing the job. 

I smile at him. "Now we're even!" 

John chuckles and rolls his eyes. 

When we look back at the field, we're surrounded again, the other Malamars getting back up already. I groan. 

"Why can't y'all just leave us alone," I exclaim. "John, cover me. Char, Focus Punch!" 

John nods as Char begins to charge up energy. The Malamars realize what's happening and charges in with Foul Play. "Protect," John assists. Mewtwo zooms to Char, putting up a shield between them and the Malamars, causing them to bounce back and giving Char the perfect opening. 

"Now," I shout, throwing my fist out. Mewtwo spins out the way as Char slams its fist into the Malamars, a punch so strong that it creates a shock wave that hits them all. 

"Let's get out of here! Teleport," John commands. Mewtwo's eyes glow and in a flash of light we disappear. When we rematerialize, we are in the middle of the Malamar Hatars base. 

"What happened," Ava asks, taking in our breathlessness and Mega Pokémon. 

Where to start? 

@clasingla @Catcatmyoop @Voltareon2012 @UnovanZorua @fineasmatei @Pokémaniac25

Here's eight's other half!

Chapter Eight as a whole is literally my favorite chapter yet!

I, personally, like seeing character interactions and dialogue and you see a lot of that in these two.

Sorry if that annoys anyone.

Anyways, hope y'all enjoy!