Before they left, Ash paid one more visit over to Eldes. He was just sitting in the room calmly, and when he saw Ash walk in, he gave him a nod.
"I see you're back. That must mean the other bases are done, am I correct?"
Ash nodded, "Yeah, all that's left is the main big place. Anything to say about that?"
Eldes took a breath and narrowed his eyes, "Take me with you. I want to be there to help."
Ash raised an eyebrow, "Not what I expected. You didn't get brainwashed when I wasn't looking, did you?"
But Eldes shook his head, "I never believed in this stupid Cipher thing, or any of it. I just did it because my father, the Grand Master, insisted, and as a son, I couldn't leave him alone. I had to try and protect him, but things have gone too far."
Then he looked up at him, "You and your friends are braver than I ever was. I always wanted nothing more than to end this stupid nightmare, but I could never do it. But seeing you so close, I need to try."
Ash frowned and rubbed his chin, "I can't take you with us right now, but I might be able to do something. But first, I have a question for you. What exactly is your father after? And don't just say world domination, because we both know that's not all of it."
Eldes looked at Ash, then sighed, "I suppose there is no hiding it. Alright, the true goal of Grand Master Greevil is—"
—
It was time. Midnight.
Ash, Gary, Green, Yellow, and Rui were in the darkness. They were riding on La Glace, you know, since Yellow had her now, and they were going through the water since the tracker Ash put on Greevil was leading them out to a nearby island.
And they did find what they were looking for out in the distance. They saw an island with a volcano that the signal was coming from.
Citadark Isle.
They were right on the coast, where they saw some Cipher grunts keeping watch. But Green and Ash whistled, and Green's Gengar and Ash's Haunter flew out and snuck behind the grunts, grabbing them and knocking them out.
Green was gonna gloat, but Ash covered her mouth and reminded her they were trying to stealth their way in. That made her pout that she couldn't gloat, but she made a mental note to do that later.
Ash also made a mental note. He really should evolve Haunter one of these days. She was more than ready to be a Gengar too.
Anyway, Ash quickly pulled out Porygon-Z and sent it out to start hacking into the base. It would take a bit, but they had the Master Keycard to get them by until the full hack was done.
They landed on the island, where Green immediately took the unconscious grunts, tied them up, put a gag in their mouths, then threw them in a bush. Better safe than sorry, she said.
They all put on their Cipher disguises, the whole armor thing, and since Green actually knew Gary was gonna use one, plus Yellow and Rui, she quickly adjusted three of them to fit them.
She then walked over to Yellow, tightening the sleeves a little before crouching down in front of Rui.
Rui blinked, "You're surprisingly good at this."
Green shrugged, "When you've stolen as many disguises as I have, you learn."
"You know…is it bad that I'm not surprised anymore?"
"Yes, x2," Ash and Gary said in unison.
Ash shook his head before looking back toward the massive fortress. This was it. The game ends now. But there were still probably countless Cipher grunts in there.
"So, we need to be careful on how we sneak in. If we don't, we're gonna get swarmed," Ash told the gang.
"Alright, any bright ideas, anyone?" Gary asked.
Just as Yellow thought, she got an idea, but before she could say it, they all heard loud music off in the distance.
Slowly, they all turned, and they saw a giant cruise ship with lights flashing into the sky, being as un-stealthy as possible, blasting out music. At the very edge of the ship, they could see Miror B. and his Miror B. Peons, all dancing together on a dance floor.
"Come on, we can't let our darling children do this alone. Let us give them a show of a lifetime!" Miror B. chanted as he spun and did a pose that looked suspiciously a lot like Leon's pose.
As he did that, some Miror B. Peons stood on the edge holding out launchers and loaded fireworks into them before shooting them out at the base.
"...Well, that's one way to do it," Ash muttered.
Green smirked and looked over at Gary, "Looks like you made some friends. They must have loved your dance~"
"You shut your mouth, you," Gary said, narrowing his eyes at Green.
"Hey, as much as I'd like to keep bullying Gary," Ash clapped, getting their attention, then pointed over to the entrance they were just walking toward, where they saw the door was beginning to close, "We need to move now!"
Immediately, they all dropped the subject and started running. If they didn't have that, they would have to wait until Porygon finished hacking the base, and that could take time they didn't have.
But while it seemed like they weren't gonna make it, Ash looked over at Green and pulled out a Poké Ball.
"Green, help me out here!" He shouted.
Green looked over, recognized that ball specifically, then smirked, reaching and grabbing one of her own, "You got it, Ashy~"
They threw the balls out, and as they rolled underneath the doors, they opened, revealing their Nidoking and Nidoqueen, who jumped out. Then together, they raised their arms and caught the metal door, struggling against it and keeping it open.
Ash and Green scooped up the balls, then quickly returned their Pokémon, and without them supporting it, the door crashed down, sealing them inside.
They got up and heard the alarms going off. They walked out to the main base, and sure enough, dozens of Cipher grunts sprinted past the hallway they were hiding in, not even sparing the group a glance thanks to the disguises.
"Move! Move!"
"Get every Shadow Pokémon to the harbor!"
"They're firing fireworks at us!"
"...They're what?"
"I DON'T KNOW! JUST GO!"
They ran down the hallway to presumably the nearest exit they had.
Gary watched another squad run by before looking at Ash, "...I can't believe that's actually working."
Ash shrugged, "Nobody expects the distraction to be a giant disco cruise."
Yellow blinked, "...Should we...thank him later?"
"...Maybe," Ash admitted.
Rui looked around nervously, "So...what now?"
"Well, I don't have a complete map of this place, so as far as I see it, we just need to do this the old-fashioned way," Ash said as he pulled out the Master Keycard.
"Alrighty!" Green rubbed her hands together, "I wonder how much loot we can take from this place on the way."
"Please, let's focus on the mission," Gary sighed.
–
{Meanwhile above}
At the very top of the Citadark Isle base, Greevil was looking out the window, seeing Miror B. and his Peons charge the island and fight against his Cipher grunts.
He was still in a bad mood ever since Eldes was captured, and this just made things worse. He tightened his grip on his staff, then looked back at the only people allowed in his main office: Ardos, Wes, Nascour, and Evice.
He glared at them, "Nascour and Evice, go and contact the other admins to come here to assist with the battle," he said coldly. They didn't know that the admins and other bases were already destroyed. As far as they knew, they still had everything under control.
Nascour and Evice bowed. They didn't want to make Greevil any angrier than he already was. After all, Greevil may be old, but he was also the strongest person here. Evice wasn't even third. It went Greevil, Wes, Ardos, then Evice, and finally Nascour. At least, that's how it used to be.
But Nascour was different. He was the first successful Shadow Human, and ever since that succeeded, Nascour became stronger. They didn't know by how much since he and Evice hadn't battled, but they were probably more even now. If not, Nascour may be stronger now.
They walked out and went off to head to the communication room to contact the other bases.
Meanwhile, Greevil looked over at Wes, "As for you, seeing as Eldes was captured, you will now be my second bodyguard."
Wes stopped and looked at Greevil, narrowing his eyes, "That wasn't the deal."
"Brat, you should feel honored to be the Grand Master's Bodyguard!" Ardos said angrily.
But Greevil didn't blink either, "The deal changed. Maybe you shouldn't have lost to those brats," he said, acting like he didn't also have to retreat.
Wes clenched his fists, but took a breath, "Whatever." He knew he was so close to what he was after. Just a little more, then he could do 'that'.
Greevil turned away from him and looked out of the window. He thought everything was still going according to plan, even if there were a few…setbacks. Soon those kids would be captured, and they would retake the Black Pokémon they captured, since, remember, they also don't know that those Pokémon have already been purified.
He waved his hands, gesturing for Wes and Ardos to leave his office, and they did, closing the door behind them.
If only the poor fool knew.
—
And so the gang started going through the base. Thanks to the costumes, no one really paid any special attention to them. Plus, when they got to the second floor, there were hardly any grunts left since most of them got called out to go fight against Miror B.
But as they ran, Ash got a signal from Porygon. When he pulled it out, he got the full map of the base, along with the faces of who they were after.
Ash smirked, "Well, looks like our job became easier~"
A three-dimensional blueprint of Citadark Isle appeared above the Rotom Phone. Floors stacked on top of each other while colored dots moved throughout the fortress, each representing a Cipher member. Several of the larger dots were highlighted in red.
Gary folded his arms, "I'm guessing those are the important ones."
"Yep." Ash zoomed in, "Porygon managed to hack into their internal security system. It found everyone's location."
He tapped one red dot near the eastern side of the fortress, "Nascour."
Another appeared farther south, "Evice."
Then two more appeared almost directly above them.
"Ardos...Wes...and finally Greevil at the very top."
Green whistled, "Well, that's convenient."
Ash nodded, "It gets better. Nascour and Evice just left Greevil's office together."
"They're moving?" Gary asked.
"Yeah." Ash followed their dots with his finger, "Looks like they're heading toward the communications center."
Rui frowned, "They're probably trying to contact the other Cipher bases..."
Ash smiled, "Good luck with that."
Green snickered.
"So here's the plan." Ash enlarged the section of the fortress, "Gary, Green, you two intercept Nascour and Evice before they reach communications."
Gary nodded once, "Works for me."
Green cracked her knuckles, "Finally, someone important."
Ash pointed toward the upper floors.
"Yellow, Rui, you're with me. We're heading straight up."
Rui blinked, "Just...straight to Greevil?"
"Not exactly." Ash shook his head, "Ardos and Wes are between us and him."
Yellow looked up, "So we'll have to fight them first?"
"Probably."
"Alright, let's move. I'm going after Nascour. Green, you can go for Evice," Gary said.
"Works for me," she rubbed her hands together.
They split, going their separate ways. It was time to finish this.
—
Gary walked calmly through the halls of Citadark Isle, not even trying to hide anymore. With all the alarms blaring and Miror B. throwing what was effectively a disco invasion outside, almost everyone had somewhere else to be.
He occasionally passed Cipher grunts sprinting in the opposite direction. Gary simply stepped to the side, letting them run past, "...Idiots."
He glanced down at the map Ash sent him on his Rotom Phone, "Nascour...should be..."
A red dot turned the corner just ahead. Gary looked up, "Found you."
The hallway ahead opened into a circular communications chamber. Massive computer terminals lined the walls while operators frantically typed away.
Standing calmly in the center of it all was Nascour. His perfectly pressed suit was spotless despite the chaos surrounding him, one hand resting behind his back while the other lazily held a Poké Ball.
One of the operators looked up, "Sir! We can't contact any of the other bases!"
"None of them are responding!"
"The satellites are down too!"
Another Cipher grunt ran inside, "Sir! Miror B. is attacking the docks!"
Nascour closed his eyes, "...I see."
He sounded almost disappointed rather than concerned, "So every report arriving today is somehow more absurd than the last."
Then his eyes shifted toward the doorway, "...Hm?"
His gaze landed directly on Gary. Gary reached up and removed his Cipher helmet before tossing it onto the floor. It clattered across the room, "Been a while."
Nascour stared at him for several quiet seconds, "Ah." A small smile spread across his face, "I remember you."
Gary folded his arms, "I'm touched."
"So, you have returned. Good. Once I capture you, we will continue our plan to get the Black Pokémon," Nascour smirked.
"Good luck with that. How about you ask your other admins their opinion?" Gary said, smirking at him, and that made Nascour stop.
"What do you mean? You know something, don't you?" Nascour narrowed his eyes.
"I know a lot, like how you're not walking out of this room," Gary smirked.
Nascour smiled at that, almost politely, "I truly was hoping we would meet again someday."
Gary answered with a small grin of his own, "Funny. I was hoping for this too. Let's settle that debt."
Gary tossed his first Poké Ball. At the exact same moment, Nascour threw his own, "Indeed."
Across from each other, Gary's Blastoise stood across from Nascour's Shadow Metagross.
—
Meanwhile, Green casually strolled through Citadark Isle's halls with her hands behind her head, whistling to herself as if she wasn't currently infiltrating the headquarters of the largest criminal organization in Orre.
The disguise worked almost too well. Cipher grunts rushed past her in every direction, and Green simply stepped aside to let them run by, "Man, everyone here is terrible at security."
She glanced down at the map Ash had sent to everyone's Rotom Phones, "Evice..."
Her grin slowly grew, "The mayor guy."
If she remembered correctly, Rui had said he used to be the mayor of Phenac City, and that meant one thing: mayors had lots of money and loot.
She walked out and found the office that Evice was in, and there she saw him standing with his back to her. But she didn't even look at Evice first.
Instead, she walked over to a nearby cabinet, opened it, and whistled, "Oooo..."
She picked up an expensive-looking golden statue, "Yep, this is coming with me."
She casually tossed it into one of the bags hanging from her shoulder.
Evice calmly folded his hands together, "My, my. I was wondering who would be bold enough to stroll into my office as though they owned the place."
Green smiled, "Nice place."
"Thanks."
"I'm stealing it."
Evice's eye twitched ever so slightly, "...I see."
Green pointed at another painting, "That one's mine too...and probably that vase."
She looked toward a bookshelf, "...Actually...can you wait like five minutes? I kinda wanna rob you before we fight."
Evice slowly stood up, "I'm afraid I cannot allow that."
Green sighed dramatically, "Aww. Worth a shot."
Evice walked around his desk, "I must admit...I never imagined we would meet again so soon. I thought you would be eliminated by now."
Green tilted her head, "We've met?" She completely knew him; she was just pretending to make him mad.
And it worked. His eye twitched, "I'm the Professor, I kidnapped your friend, we battled while fighting the Black Flygon."
Green snapped her fingers, "Oh! You're the old guy that ran away." She said, trying not to laugh at the expression he was making.
Evice looked like he wanted to pop a blood vessel, but he calmed himself and adjusted his gloves, "You are just as irritating as that boy."
"Ash?"
"Unfortunately."
Green smiled proudly, "I'll take that as a compliment."
Evice sighed, "...Children truly have no respect anymore."
Green looked around the office again while he kept speaking.
"There was once a time when criminals feared Cipher."
Green reached over and picked up an expensive crystal paperweight from his desk, "Neat." Into the bag it went.
Evice watched in disbelief, "...Are you listening to me?"
"Kinda." Green answered honestly, "I'm multitasking."
Evice's smile finally disappeared, "How dare you meddle in our affairs so thoroughly!"
His voice echoed through the office, "The Shadow Pokémon Plan can be rebuilt from the beginning...But you children...you shall never be forgiven!"
Green blinked, "...Wow. That sounded rehearsed."
"It was not."
"You definitely practiced that."
"I did not."
"You stood in front of a mirror, didn't you?"
"I most certainly did not."
Green looked toward one of the nearby grunts, "He practiced that, didn't he?"
The grunt immediately looked away, "...I plead the fifth."
Evice pointed furiously at Green, "I shall destroy you utterly!"
"So dramatic." Green waved one hand in front of her, and with the other she reached for a Poké Ball, "But alright."
She smiled brightly, "If I beat you, I'm keeping the desk."
Evice stared, "...The desk?"
"It looks expensive. Is it made of mahogany?" Green said, rubbing her hands together.
Evice looked even angrier as he practically chucked his Poké Ball out like he was trying to hit Green with it, but it opened and out came a Shadow Tyranitar.
Meanwhile, Green casually tossed out her Venusaur.
—
Meanwhile, Ash, Yellow, and Rui kept moving upwards, and when they got to the top floor, they saw the doors. Ash looked at the girls and nodded to them, gesturing for them to stay behind. Then he went up to the door and opened it with the Master Keycard.
When they opened the door, the first person they saw was the blue-haired Ardos, who seemed to be sulking or brooding. Ash honestly couldn't tell, but when they opened the door, his expression turned to hatred. After all, he watched Ash kidnap Eldes.
"It's been a while, boy. Do you remember me?" He said before his tone fell, "I realize now that I should have crushed you much earlier, so return Eldes and I will consider sparing your lives."
But Ash just waved him off, "Save the hoopla for someone who cares. Where is the old guy? My foot has a very important meeting with his teeth."
Ardos looked even angrier, "You dare threaten the Grand Master? How dare you. I see, you are too foolish to be left alive. I won't allow you to touch the Grand Master."
He grabbed a Poké Ball and threw it out, revealing his Shadow Charizard, making it growl at them.
Ash was gonna go for a Poké Ball, but Yellow quickly grabbed his hand, stopping him.
"Ash, leave this to me. You go, okay?" She said, looking at him seriously.
"Are you sure, Yellow?" Ash asked.
She nodded, "I don't know why, but looking at them, and his Pokémon, I feel like I can win. So please leave this to me, okay?"
Ash looked at her, then gave a helpless laugh, "Alright then, I'll leave it to you. Rui, let's go," Ash said.
Rui nodded, and they began moving. Ardos wasn't gonna let that happen. He pointed at them, telling his Charizard to grab them, but as it got close, while Rui hid behind Ash, Ash didn't flinch because he heard Yellow's voice.
"Chuchu!" She called.
Chuchu flew in from the side, blocking the hit with an [Iron Tail] before throwing Charizard back.
And it was now that Ardos looked back at her and saw that Yellow's eyes were beginning to glow, "I won't let you hurt them. Your battle is with me!" She crossed her arms, huffing.
Ardos clicked his tongue, "So be it. I'll destroy you, then I'll destroy them!" He shouted.
The battle went on as Ash and Rui went through to the next room, but as they got down the hall, they saw someone. Someone that made Rui's breath catch in her throat.
Wes was leaning against a wall, guarding the door to Greevil's office. He looked up at them, and his eyes stopped on Rui for a second, then he glared at Ash.
"So you're both here. I can't say I'm too surprised."
"Wes…" Rui muttered, but Wes didn't meet her eyes anymore. He pushed himself off the wall and grabbed a Poké Ball.
"I can't allow you to go further. The plans are too important to be stopped," Wes explained, "And you have my Snag Machine. I want it back."
Ash smirked at him and pulled his sleeve back, showing Wes the modifications he made.
"Oh, this thing? Nah, finders keepers. Isn't that how you got it in the first place?"
When he said that, Wes' eyes narrowed, since Ash literally reminded him about what he did.
"Whatever. Let's end this. If I win, give me back my Snag Machine, and you take Rui and leave Orre forever," Wes said.
Rui's eyes widened hearing that, "Wes..."
Without thinking, she took a step forward, "Wes, it's me! It's Rui!"
She reached a hand toward him, desperate for him to just look at her, "You don't have to do this! Please, just tell me what's going on! Why did you join Cipher? This isn't you!"
Ash's hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder before she could get any closer.
Rui looked back at him, "Ash?"
He shook his head, "Don't."
"But-"
"Rui." Ash's voice stayed calm, "I know you want to believe the friend you knew would never do this. But you need to stop looking at him through rose-colored glasses."
Rui froze
Ash looked back toward Wes, "The Wes you knew wasn't some innocent hero who suddenly got manipulated. Even before Cipher, he was a member of Team Snagem." Ash narrowed his eyes, "He was a criminal even then. He stole, he attacked people, and he was literally a terrorist. All of that was before Cipher."
"I know he was kind to you." Ash's voice softened, "And I'm not saying he never cared about you."
Rui looked down.
"But one person being nice to you doesn't erase everything else they've done. Just because you were friends did not mean he was a good person."
Wes closed his eyes, "So you did your homework. Yes, you're right."
Wes confirmed it, "I was never a good person, but I never claimed to be one either."
"But that doesn't change anything," Wes continued, his grip tightening around his Poké Ball, "I had a goal. A purpose. Something I needed to accomplish."
Rui looked hurt, "Wes…"
"Sometimes you can't go back even if you really wanted to, so let's battle, and remember what I said." Wes ignored her and looked at Ash, "If I win, take Rui and leave. Never come back to Orre." He raised the ball.
Ash sighed, "You still think you can win, oh Wes." He slowly opened his eyes, as he looked down at him, "You haven't even seen a fraction of what I can do."