"Starly."
The small bird pokemon materialized with a soft chirp, landing on his outstretched forearm. Its beady eyes were sharp, missing nothing.
"Scout the perimeter." Elias commanded, his voice low.
Starly gave a firm nod, then launched itself silently into the air.
Elias melted deeper into the shadows. He heard the crunch of boots on gravel two blocks east. The revving engine of a police cruiser sealing the southern access road. Then, a new sound cut through the noise. The aggressive roar of engines. Three motorcycles, sleek and black, skidded around a far corner, their headlights off. They weaved through the police barricades, ignoring shouted commands to halt.
On the first motorcycle is Rein and another grunt. Must be part of his new team.
Elias watched from the shadows as Rein screeched to a halt in the middle of the street, facing down a line of three police officers and their pokemon.
"Where is she?!" Rein's voice was a snarl, amplified by rage. He didn't dismount. His Magmar stood on the pavement beside the bike, flames flickering menacingly from its shoulders. Two other grunts fanned out behind him, releasing a Houndour and a Galarian Meowth.
The lead officer stepped forward, hand on her own ball.
"This is a police operation! Dismount and identify yourselves!"
"Hold on!" A new hoarse voice came out from inside the warehouse.
Kieve stepped out of the front door, his long coat billowing behind him. Hitmonchan was not beside him, probably still trapped in the sub-level of the warehouse. His expression was serious and a pokeball was clutched in his hand.
"My officers... leave this to me." He said, standing between his officers and Rein's team. "I'm itching for a fight right now, and I'm not gonna hold back anymore."
The police officers, recognizing the finality in their Gym Leader's tone, immediately fell back, pulling their pokemon with them and creating a wide, hollow circle in the center of the road.
Rein's bravado faltered for a second. He'd expected more police, maybe a detective. He hadn't expected the man in charge to walk out personally, looking like a storm given human form.
"You..." Kieve said, his eyes locked onto Rein. "You're here for your people too?"
Rein straightened on his bike, a sneer forcing its way onto his face.
"Damn right we are! And you're in the way, old man."
"Old man." Kieve repeated, a humorless smile touching his lips. He held up the pokeball in his hand. It was larger, heavier, etched with faint, worn markings. "Let's see if you can say that again."
He pressed the button on the pokeball and let it fall from his hand.
A wave of palpable pressure erupted from the point of impact on the ground. The air itself seemed to warp.
A figure coalesced from the distortion. It was a large one with four arms.
It was a Machamp. But to call it that felt insufficient.
It stood a full head taller than any Machamp had a right to be, its four muscular arms corded with power that seemed to vibrate the very air around it. An aura of physical dominance radiated from it—a silent, crushing weight that pressed down on everything in the circle. The Houndour whimpered and backed into its trainer's legs. The Galarian Meowth's fur stood on end. Even Rein's Magmar took a step back, its flames guttering low as if pressed down by an invisible hand.
The air grew still and heavy. The distant sounds of the ongoing police search seemed to fade away, muffled by the presence of this titan.
Rein's sneer vanished. His face went pale. A cold sweat broke out on his brow. His mind went blank except for one screaming, terrified realization.
"Are you... kidding me?" The thought was a silent scream inside his skull. His jaw worked, but no sound came out. "This... this Gym Leader... he's equal to the four commanders..."
He had seen the Four Commanders of Xycle in action. They each carried an air of overwhelming force. This... this was the same. This was not a regional Gym Leader handing out badges to kids. This was a pillar of the city, a guardian whose true strength was only unleashed when his home was threatened.
Kieve stood beside his Alpha Machamp, his expression unchanged.
"You said you're here to save your people... why don't you try? Machamp."
The Alpha Machamp's eyes fixed on Rein and the rest of the grunts. One of its four massive arms simply drew back. The air around its fist seemed to distort, sucking in light and sound.
The fist began its forward arc, slow at first, then accelerating with impossible speed, and It was aiming for the center of the three bikes. A single, obliterating strike to end the confrontation before it could truly begin.
Rein's world narrowed to that approaching fist. Time seemed to stretch. He could feel the vacuum of air it pulled ahead of it. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. This was it. He'd gambled everything on his anger, his pride, and it was about to be crushed into the ground.
"Electivire, use Thunder Punch!"
From the roof of a two-story warehouse to the left, a yellow and black comet streaked down. It, too, was larger than normal, its muscles bulging with savage power—another Alpha.
It landed between Rein and the Machamp, and delivered its own fist, wreathed in a maelstrom of crackling yellow lightning forward to meet the incoming blow.
BOOM!!!!
A visible shockwave of force and discharged electricity erupted from the point of impact, blasting outwards. The wind ripped at clothes and sent loose debris skittering down the street. The grunts behind Rein were thrown from their bikes. Rein himself was slammed back over his seat, saved from falling only by Magmar grabbing his jacket.
When the light and dust cleared, the scene was frozen.
The Machamp's fist was halted mid-air, held in a deadlock by the Electivire's own fist. The two Alpha pokemon stood braced against each other, the ground beneath their feet cratered, veins standing out on their necks and arms from the strain. Sparks of electricity skittered harmlessly over the Machamp's stoic form, while faint tremors of pure force rippled through the Electivire.
Rein, gasping, pushed himself up. He followed the trajectory back, his eyes climbing to the rooftop.
There, silhouetted against the moonlight, stood Sarah. The secretary's blouse and skirt was gone. She now wore a form-fitting black suit, sleek and professional, that accentuated her curvy body. Her usually neat dark red hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her sharp features seemed carved from ice, her eyes glinting with cold as she looked down upon the standoff. She held a communicator in one hand, already issuing silent orders.
Commander Sarah. One of the Four. Here.
The relief that flooded Rein was so profound it felt like weakness.
From his hiding spot in the scrapyard, Elias watched the clash through a gap in the fence. He saw the two titans locked in struggle. He saw Rein's salvation.
Kieve's head slowly turned, his gaze lifting from the locked pokemon to the figure on the roof.
"Team Xycle." Kieve called out, his voice carrying over the hum of straining pokemon. "I see your hierarchy is present. Will you hide on rooftops, or will you face the consequences of your actions on the street?"
Sarah didn't shout. Her voice, amplified slightly by her comm or some innate projection, was cool and clear.
"Gym Leader Kieve Lock. Your strength is noted. But this is not a battle you can contain. Withdraw your forces. We will take our people and leave your city. Continue to interfere, and the 'consequences' will be the destruction of every block in this district. Do you value your city and your people?"
The words hung in the air, a cold options offered over the heart of the standoff. Sarah wasn't bluffing. The presence of her Alpha Electivire proved Xycle had the power to make good on the threat.
Kieve's jaw tightened. The muscles in his neck corded. The Alpha Machamp, sensing its trainer's turmoil, let out a low, subsonic growl that vibrated through the pavement.
"S-Sir." The lead officer, a woman with a gash on her cheek from flying debris, stepped close to Kieve's side, her voice low and urgent. "We have to consider a withdrawal."
Kieve didn't look at her, his eyes still locked on Sarah's distant silhouette.
"They're criminals in my city. I won't let them go."
"I know, sir. But our warrant is shaky—it was based on a tip from a minor, and the suspects have fled the premises. We have injured officers." She swallowed hard, her voice dropping further. "And HQ just relayed a message. There's a major Team Rocket incursion on the west side, near the power plant. They've diverted all available units. We are not getting backup. Not for hours."
The words were a cold reality. Talroc City was under attack on multiple fronts. The police force was stretched paper-thin. A prolonged, destructive battle here could cripple Kieve's ability to respond to the wider crisis, leaving the city vulnerable elsewhere.
Sarah, watching from her perch, seemed to sense the shift.
"A wise leader knows when to hold the line, Gym Leader Kieve. This is not the day. We are leaving. The choice is whether your city leaves with you, or in ruins behind you."
The pressure was immense. Rein, still on the ground, watched Kieve's face, seeing the conflict rage behind those steely eyes. Pride versus duty. Justice versus survival.
Slowly, Kieve raised a hand. Not in surrender, but in command.
"Machamp. Stand down."
The Machamp disengaged, its fist pulling back from the deadlock. It took a single step back, the crushing aura of its presence receding like a tide.
"Electivire. Return."
The Electivire vanished in a crackle of red light.
The silence that followed was deafening. The immediate, apocalyptic threat was gone, but the humiliation was a bitter taste in the air.
Kieve finally turned his gaze from Sarah to Rein and his scattered grunts. The fire in his eyes had banked, replaced by a cold, granite-hard promise.
"Take your rats and scurry away. But know this. You have made an enemy of me. Your 'Team Xycle' is now on my register. Your faces, your methods, your goal... I will learn them all. And the next time we met, I will not hold back. Now... get out of my sight."
Rein didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled to his feet, barking orders at his grunts. They rided their bikes with shaky hands, not even daring to look at the stony-faced police. The engines coughed to life, sounding feeble in the aftermath.
As Rein's motorcycle pulled away, Sarah took a glance at the scrapyard fence. She didn't see Elias, but she knew that he had been there.
The bikes disappeared down a side alley, swallowed by the city.
Kieve stood in the center of the ruined street for a long moment, watching them go. Then he recalled his Machamp. He turned to his officers, his shoulders squaring once more with the weight of command.
"Tend to the injured. Secure this area as a crime scene. I want every piece of data, every scrap of evidence from that warehouse cataloged. And get a direct line to the League. Tell them a new threat has appeared: Team Xycle."
In the scrapyard, Elias finally let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. The immediate danger was over. Anne and Marly were safe. Rein was chastened but alive. The mission was somehow a success.
***
The walk from the industrial district to the central took Elias over an hour. He is now wearing his simple dark shirt and cargo pants, because his leather jacket was left in the truck. A black plastic bag slung over his shoulder, inside it was the trench coat and mask.
The Talroc City Pokemon Center was a beacon of sterile, cheerful normality. Its red roof and glowing symbol shone brightly against the night. The automatic doors hissed open, releasing a wave of warm air and the soft hum of healing machines.
The lobby was quiet for the late hour. A few tired-looking trainers sat in the padded chairs, scrolling through their Pokedexes or nodding off. A young Nurse Joy with a gentle smile stood behind the counter, her Chansey waddling nearby with a tray of clean towels.
Elias approached the counter with a slight furrow of the brow.
"I need my pokemon healed, please." He said, his voice flat but polite. He unclipped Krokorok's and Starly's pokeballs, placing them gently on the counter.
"Of course!" Nurse Joy said, her cheer undimmed. She took the balls and placed them on the transfer pad. "They'll be right as rain in just a few moments. Did you have a tough training session?"
"Something like that." Elias murmured, his gaze drifting around the lobby.
"It'll be about twenty minutes to heal. You're welcome to wait in the lounge. There's a tea and coffee over there." She gestured to a small alcove.
In the lounge, he poured a cup of coffee from the dispenser. He sat in a chair in the corner and sipped the water, staring at nothing.
Then, his ears caught a noise coming from the door. A girl's voice.
"Haa... I finally made it here. Just a short ride from the subway and I'll finally make it to Metrolink City."
Elias lifted his gaze. He saw the girl coming inside. She is short, probably just by his neck. Her wavy hair was blonde mixed with light blue, stopping behind her back. She is wearing a black, faux leather jacket, and a grey skirt paired with her white shirt. A brown fuzzy boots covering her foot.
The girl strode into the center with an air of accomplishment. She dropped a small, stylish backpack by her feet and stretched her arms above her head with a sigh, oblivious to the few occupants in the lounge.
"I'm going to take a break here." She said to herself, her voice bright and carrying a slight, unfamiliar accent.