Author's Note:I know I haven't responded to all my reviews from last week yet. I'm sorry! I had six textbook chapters to read last weekend, and this weekend isn't much better. I'll get back to you when I can...

Anyway, this is the last update I will post for a while. I'm hoping to post a chapter over Spring Break (which is in two weeks), but no guarantees. So... this is the "midseason finale" if you will (for now).

It's a little... dark. I hope you enjoy it anyhow.

~TheFrogFromHell

11

"Fine," Archer said coldly, his blue-green eyes flashing. "You want to trick us into inviting you in? Well then, we'll play dirty, too. Go, Houndour!"

"You too, Arbok!" shouted Ariana.

The two pokemon materialized in front of their trainers, and Clair smiled to herself. The pokemon's stats were nowhere near maxed out; their levels were only in the forties. Clair's dragons' levels were all at least in the eighties, and they had defeated many an arbok before. One Surf attack will be more than enough to knock out Archer's houndour, Clair predicted confidently.

"Two against one?" Clair questioned teasingly. "I'd say that was unfair, except that you're still no match for my one dragonair."

"We'll see about that," replied Ariana, grinning maliciously. "Arbok, Poison Sting."

"Get out of the way, Rana!" Clair ordered.

"Faint Attack, Houndour," Archer called out. Chillingly, the pokemon's form gradually faded away, becoming lighter and lighter, until it was completely invisible to Clair (and to Rana).

Rana was successful in dodging Arbok's attack. The pokemon's stinger, instead of striking Clair's dragon, connected with the surface of the table that they'd all been sitting around earlier.

Clair froze. That's impossible.

Arbok had been able to drive its tail clean through the metal table, which had bent and crumpled slightly under the force of the attack.

That was not a normal Poison Sting attack, Clair thought in disbelief, overcome with the sinking feeling that maybe she'd been too hasty in challenging Rocket Inc.

"Rana," Clair called out instinctively, "use—"

But suddenly, Archer's houndour reappeared behind Rana, sinking its claws and teeth into the pokemon's neck.

"No!" Clair screamed as the houndour ripped away at her friend's neck as it screeched in pain and terror. "Stop! It's going to kill it!"

"Sorry," Archer said softly, but his icy stare and cruel grin revealed that he was not sorry at all. "But you asked for a battle, and that's what we're giving you."

The houndour, satisfied with the carnage, backed away from Rana, who now lay bloody and fainted on the floor. It needs to get to a pokemon center immediately or it could die, Clair knew, but now she didn't know when (or if) she'd be able to get away from Ariana and Archer to get to one.

"Rana, return." Clair held up Rana's pokeball to recall the pokemon, her heart pounding and her eyes fixed on the floor where it had lain. This isn't normal, she thought, beginning to panic. She looked at Archer's houndour, who stood proudly, licking its lips, with bloodlust in its eyes. Ariana's arbok, she now noticed, was exactly the same way. Clair had never before witnessed such brutality, such pure evil, in a pokemon's expression.

"What… what's wrong with those pokemon?" Clair stammered in horror, taking a step back and wishing that what she'd just seen had only been a figment of her imagination.

"Didn't you read the pamphlet?" Ariana asked mockingly, laughing. "Rocket Inc. only uses pokemon of the highest quality. And to achieve that quality, some pokemon require… enhancements."

"Enhancements?" Clair inquired fearfully. "But… pokemon are living things, not machinery that can be tinkered with at will!"

"Pokemon are simply tools that can be used to achieve Rocket Inc.'s goals," Archer said emotionlessly, and Clair thought it sounded like he was reciting a line that somebody else had told him. Maybe it's a Rocket Inc. official policy, she thought in disgust.

"Are you going to send out your next pokemon or what?" Ariana demanded of Clair.

The Rocket executive's gleeful facial expression made Clair sick to her stomach. I can't send any more pokemon out, she thought in fear, or they'll be torn apart just like Rana!

"Come on, we're waiting!" the Rocket executive insisted impatiently. Clair got the impression she was thoroughly enjoying this.

Maybe if I can get my pokemon to evade all of their attacks, I can win, Clair considered. I know if I could just get an attack in, I might have a chance.

"Shango, let's go," she finally called out reluctantly, sending her second dragonair into battle. This time, she didn't hesitate before instructing it to use DragonBreath.

The powerful breath attack shot out from her dragonair's mouth like a huge, white flame, fully engulfing Houndour and Arbok and lobbing off a third of each of their health points. It wasn't as much damage as it would have done to a normal houndour and arbok, but it was a start. Now I have to make sure that Shango dodges their attacks, Clair thought anxiously. Arbok's shouldn't be too bad, since Shango can see them coming, but I'm worried about Houndour's Faint Attack…

As soon as the dust had cleared from the DragonBreath attack, Clair noticed that the move had had another favorable effect – Houndour had been paralyzed.

Ariana, furious that her pokemon had been hit by Shango's attack, retaliated by instructing, "Arbok, use Wrap!"

"Shango, dodge it and use Slam on Houndour!" Clair countered.

"Houndour, Faint Attack!" Archer called out. Clair cringed in anticipation of the attack, but, fortunately for her, the dog pokemon was only able to stand still, quivering from the effects of paralysis.

Shango's Slam attack hit Houndour hard, and it flew backwards, colliding with the wall and falling to the floor, fainted. Archer recalled it bitterly, cursing.

Clair was tremendously relieved that she'd managed to take out Houndour, but she was still nervous about what was to come. Who knows what other pokemon he has? she thought. That was only his first one, and it might have been his weakest.

Ariana shrieked in frustration, a sound so strident it was painful to listen to.

"Arbok, get that thing! It's too fast, so let's slow it down. Glare!"

Arbok hissed, slithering around to face Claire's dragonair and staring at it hypnotically.

"Shango, don't look into its eyes! Use Thunder Wave!"

Shango's attack didn't miss, but, unfortunately for Clair, it was also unable to avoid Arbok's treacherous gaze. Both rendered paralyzed, the two serpentine pokemon stood immobile, their normally fluid coils now still.

It would have been a stalemate, with both Clair and Ariana on the edge of their seats waiting to see if and when one of the pokemon would be able to attack, had Archer not seized the opportunity.

"Koffing, let's go! Use Tackle on Dragonair," he yelled, releasing the poison-type pokemon, who cried, "Fing!"

It flew at Shango fast, hitting it hard and making a sickening "smack". The force of the assault knocked Shango backward, and it fell to the ground, lying sprawled on the floor. Still trembling from paralysis, Shango whimpered and looked to Clair for help.

"I'm sorry, Shango," she said softly, feeling terrible for making it battle these brutal opponents.

Koffing's tackle should have only taken off a few of Shango's health points, but, due to its "enhancements" (Clair wasn't even sure she wanted to know what those involved), the attack had reduced Clair's pokemon's HP to a third.

Since it's paralyzed, it's too slow to evade attacks, and another hit will knock it out, Clair thought. Reluctantly, she recalled Shango, not wishing for it to suffer the same fate as the first pokemon she'd used.

"Giving up already?" Ariana taunted. "I must say, I thought the dragon-type would pose more of a challenge. I'm disappointed."

Clair glared at her. "Don't worry, my next pokemon won't let you down," she said, releasing her third and final dragonair, January.

"Jan, use Ice Beam on Arbok!" Clair shouted. Due to years of using the attack, January had perfected it, now attacking with near-perfect accuracy and concentrated force that made it a critical hit almost every time.

As Clair had predicted it would, it struck Arbok with practiced precision.

"Aaaaar!" the serpent protested, writhing from the cold, thrashing its lethal tail back and forth violently. January was careful to duck out of its way.

Unfortunately, Archer was ready with another attack. "Koffing, SmokeScreen!"

There goes January's accuracy, Clair thought worriedly as the room was filled with a dark cloud of smoke.

The smog was so thick that Clair couldn't make out any of the pokemon through it. At least it puts the other two at as much of a disadvantage as January, she thought. Ice Beam is out, but maybe I can use…

"DragonBreath, now!" she commanded.

Through the smoke, Clair saw the white, glowing light characteristic of the attack. She heard pained noises from Arbok and Koffing, so she knew January had at least grazed them. She waited anxiously for the cloud of smoke to disperse, clenching her fists tightly and gritting her teeth.

In a few moments, the smoke had cleared enough for Clair to make out the outline of Arbok, lying fainted on the floor. She breathed a sigh of relief at that, but she also noticed that Koffing had withstood the attack, hovering around the room smugly at half HP.

Clair also saw something else that disturbed her – January's HP was already one third gone. One of them must have attacked it while they were all inside the cloud of smoke, Clair deduced. I have to be careful. This is my last pokemon with a chance to win; Kingdra will be a sitting duck outside of water.

"January," Clair instructed, "whatever you do, don't let Koffing hit you. Use DragonBreath again!"

The pokemon opened its mouth and produced the powerful breath attack, but Koffing quickly rose up in the air, evading it.

"Sludge!" Archer ordered, and Koffing spit thick, dark, foul-smelling gunk out of its mouth. January rolled to the side, narrowly missing the attack.

"Good job, Jan!" Clair complimented it, relieved. "Now, Ice Beam! Keep using it until it hits!"

January aimed its Ice Beam at Koffing, who dodged it. Immediately, Dragonair redirected its attack, but, again, Koffing was able to evade it. This process continued, with January attacking and the opposing pokemon avoiding it, until finally, the beam hit Koffing straight on, knocking it back against the wall.

"Fiiiing!" the pokemon objected, squirming as it was struck by the onslaught of ice. As its HP was reduced, the pokemon's struggling lessened in intensity, until it was completely still, unable to escape its fate. January ceased its attack, and the fainted Koffing fell to the ground with a "plop".

Clair didn't have long to celebrate this, though, because immediately she noticed something that she hadn't before since she'd been too focused on the interplay between January and Archer's koffing.

Ariana had released another one of her pokemon – a vileplume. Usually, Clair found vileplume to be sort of cute in a silly way. They were not Clair's favorite, but she'd never minded them much. However, there was something… well, vile,about Ariana's vileplume. Its red, beady eyes flashed spitefully at Clair, contrasting with its darker-than-normal, shriveled skin. Its body was thinner and more muscular than the vileplume Clair had seen in the past, and its sly smirk warned her she would need to watch out for cruel, sneaky battle tactics.

"No more playing around," Ariana said, glancing at Archer with disgust. Turning back to her pokemon, she ordered, "Vileplume, Acid!"

"Jan, out of the way!"

The grass pokemon spit a steady stream of acid from its mouth, directing it straight at Clair's pokemon. January was mostly able to avoid the attack, but a few drops of the dangerous liquid made contact with the dragon's tail. January howled in pain as those portions of its scaly skin sizzled, becoming red and raw, and Clair winced.

The dragon master also noticed that the acid that had spilled on the floor was eroding the tile, making it bubble and smoke. I've never seen an Acid attack that concentrated, she thought, worried that next time, more of the liquid might find its way onto her pokemon's skin.

"January, Ice Beam!" Clair shouted, and the dragon expertly aimed the attack at Vileplume.

Vileplume jumped up and down, dancing and twirling and causing some of the ice to ricochet off its petals. It did, however, take some damage— its HP was reduced by a third.

This isn't good, Clair thought, noticing something. Ice Beam is the only attack that's super effective against the grass type, and it's almost out of PP after battling Koffing.

Meanwhile, Archer had revealed his third and final pokemon – a houndoom.

Clair shuddered, remembering Archer's houndour's brutal treatment of her first dragonair. Please hang on, she thought desperately about Rana, wishing this battle would just end. If the unevolved form of Houndoom was that powerful, I don't know if January is capable of defeating this one.

She narrowed her eyes in concentration, weighing her options. If I recall my pokemon now, it's all over, Clair thought. Determinedly, she decided, We have to try. If it looks like January is going to get seriously hurt, I will recall it before it does.

"Jan, DragonBreath!" Clair commanded. It worked before, she thought. Maybe it'll work again.

Vileplume and Houndoom avoided the attack, moving away at a frighteningly fast speed and coming to stand behind January's back, ready to strike.

"Watch out!" Clair yelled in panic. "Behind you!"

Archer laughed evilly, mirth dancing in his muddy blue-green eyes, and he ordered, "Houndoom… Crunch!"

I've got to do something! Clair decided hastily. "January, counteract it with Slam!"

The dragonair whipped its tail around, swinging its long, heavy body toward the two opposing pokemon. Houndoom had lunged forward in preparation to clamp its jaws around January's neck, but since the dragon had moved, the dark-type dog ended up pouncing on January's tail instead. Clair heard a snapping sound and realized that it was her pokemon's bones breaking. Tears sprung to her eyes. This has to stop, she determined, regretting her decision not to recall January.

The dragonair screeched in agony, and it thrashed its body violently, knocking Vileplume back and jarring Houndoom, who stubbornly refused to let go of January's tail.

"Plume!" Vileplume exclaimed as it slid and fell into a pile of its own acid, crying out as the liquid seared its skin.

Ariana, completely apathetic, yelled harshly, "Stop mucking around, Vileplume! Get up!" The pokemon complied, but, as it did so, more acid burned the bottoms of its feet, and it hopped around aimlessly, wailing in pain.

Even more than before, Clair suddenly felt a burning hatred towards Ariana. Pokemon should never be treated that way, she thought furiously.

January thrashed forcefully again, this time slamming Houndoom against the metal table, which tipped over on its side, spilling all the papers and radio equipment on the floor. Houndoom howled in pain and released January's tail. Impulsively, without being ordered to, it opened its mouth and spit flames at Clair's pokemon.

"Houndoom, no!" Archer yelled frantically, and Clair quickly realized why: Vileplume had stepped directly into the path of the flames. Grass-types are weak against fire, she thought. Vileplume has no chance!

Houndoom, however, didn't appear to care about Vileplume at all. Both January and the grass pokemon were engulfed in flames, and the dark-type canine simply sat back and watched smugly.

"Damn you, Archer!" Ariana yelled. "Learn to control your pokemon! I knew you couldn't handle that houndoom the second Giovanni assigned it to you."

Archer had no comeback for her; he just clenched his jaw, observing the aftereffects of Houndoom's attack tensely, and Clair realized he was well aware it was his fault.

When the flames had died down, Vileplume had fainted (as Clair had expected) but, amazingly, January still clung to consciousness by a thread of about three health points. It looked miserable, whimpering and barely able to move. The end of its tail was scorched, bleeding, and unnaturally flat – Clair knew that Houndoom must have crushed some of its bones with its Crunch attack. It won't stay conscious for long, Clair knew. It might be bleeding internally… it needs a pokemon center as soon as possible.

Even though she could force January to keep battling, as Ariana or Archer undoubtedly would have done, Clair recalled it to its pokeball where it would be safe.

"We have to stop this," Clair pleaded, knowing that her protests would likely prove to be pointless. "This is no battle – this is a death match!"

"You're just not happy that you're losing," Ariana said as she recalled Vileplume, her earlier teasing tone all but gone. Now, she only glowered at Clair with hatred, clutching her third and final pokeball tightly.

"Aren't either of you worried about your pokemon at all?" Clair inquired, though, in all honesty, she already knew the answer to that question.

Ariana shrugged. "Our pokemon never lose," she replied matter-of-factly, "but even if they did, we could just get new ones. That's the beauty of Rocket Inc. – whatever we need is at our fingertips. If only you hadn't been so foolish as to challenge us, you could appreciate that beauty, too."

It means nothing to them when pokemon die, Clair thought in horror, though, disturbingly, she was not surprised by this. To them, pokemon are just like weapons of war that can be replaced.

"So," Archer said darkly, "what's your next pokemon?"

"No more," Clair said, shaking her head resolutely. I'll have to find out what happened to Mr. Jacoby another way, she decided. That is, if I can get out of here… "I'm done. I'm not like you. I refuse to treat living creatures like this."

Ariana laughed cruelly. "It's too late to back down now, dragon master."

Clair cringed at the cutting way Ariana had emphasized "dragon master".

"You brought this battle on yourself," Archer added. "If you won't send out a pokemon, then our pokemon will just attack you instead!"

"You wouldn't," Clair said uneasily, her stomach turning. "Pokemon attacks would kill a human."

"Oh, we'd be careful not to kill you," said Ariana, her eyes lighting up in anticipation. "If you died, you couldn't truly appreciate the power of our pokemon's attacks. You're familiar with some of Houndoom's attacks already, of course…"

The dark-type pokemon bared its teeth at her, and she could see that the pokemon was just itching to tear her to shreds.

"But you haven't seen the best part yet," Archer said, grinning excitedly. "When dark-type attacks are used on a human, they don't do much physically, but" – he tapped on his head with his pointer finger – "they do all the damage up here. Dark-type attacks get in your head, and they never, ever leave."

"You won't be able to battle, or lead your gym, or even carry on a conversation," Ariana added ominously. "And that's where Rocket Inc. will come in again, to give Blackthorn City a proper gym leader. But you won't even know that's happening. All you'll be able to do is scream."

She paused, and a foreboding silence filled the room.

The expressions on the Rockets' faces told Clair that they were deathly serious, but if she had to make a choice between watching her pokemon die and losing her sanity, she'd choose losing her sanity. And if my pokemon fight and lose, Ariana and Archer's pokemon will probably attack me anyway after the battle's over.

"Fine then," she declared. "Bring it on. I'm not going to allow my pokemon to be killed trying to defend me."

There was a sudden flash of translucent red light, and Clair gasped. Then, two pokemon materialized in front of her – Kingdra, and another one she didn't recognize right away.

Who's that? she wondered, but then she remembered the pokemon that the Karate King had given her when she and Lance had met him inside Mt. Mortar. She could see that the pokemon was small, young, and inexperienced, and without even looking at its stats she determined that it stood no chance against Rocket Inc.'s unnaturally strong pokemon. Kingdra doesn't pose much of a challenge either, since it can barely move around on land, Clair thought.

Archer and Ariana doubled over laughing.

"Those pokemon think they can defend you?" Ariana questioned between fits of giggles. "A kingdra and a tyrogue? How hilariously absurd!"

Tyrogue, Clair remembered, the pre-evolved form of hitmonchan, hitmonlee, and hitmontop. The pokemon resembled a scrawny human child – pathetically small in comparison to Archer's houndoom. It watched its opponents intently, and the determination in its wide, innocent eyes would have been almost comical had the situation not been so dire. It was very noble and brave for the pokemon to try to defend Clair without even knowing her yet, but she didn't want either of her remaining pokemon to suffer the grave consequences of battling with Rocket, Inc.

"Kingdra, Tyrogue, return! I don't want you getting hurt!" Clair protested, holding up her pokeballs and recalling them. However, to her dismay, the pokemon defied her and simply exited their pokeballs again. Having all eight Johto gym badges should have forced them to follow her instructions, but she knew that it had been documented that sometimes, under extreme circumstances, pokemon were able to override that rule.

Ariana laughed again. "What do you say, Archer?" she asked her partner. "Do you think we should make this last match an even-steven two-on-two battle?"

"Sounds perfect to me," Archer replied, smirking tauntingly at Clair.

"Go, Murkrow!" Ariana called out, releasing her final pokemon.

The beam of red light shot into the air, quickly forming dark wings, wiry talons, and a hat-like arrangement of feathers atop its head. Two mischievous red eyes peeked out from underneath the feathers, and Clair swore that the pokemon's beak was curved into an impish smile.

There's something different about this one, Clair thought as she studied the pokemon. Curious, and unsure if Ariana would answer her or not, she inquired,

"Has this one had its enhancements, as well?"

Ariana laughed. "I told you that only some pokemon require enhancements," she reminded Clair. "I trained this pokemon myself, and it's so powerful that it doesn't need any."

The pokemon landed on Ariana's shoulder, eyeing Clair. "Krow?" it remarked, cocking its head to the side. Clair caught Archer rolling his eyes at Ariana's statement and wondered what that meant.

"I'm tired of waiting," Archer announced. "Let's get this battle started! Houndoom, Flame Thrower!

"Kingdra, use Surf!" Clair countered.

"Murkrow, Faint Attack!" Ariana instructed, and the pokemon's form slowly faded away until it had disappeared from her shoulder.

The fire and water collided, creating steam. Since Kingdra had the type advantage, the water canon it shot out of its mouth eventually extinguished the flame, reaching Houndoom and spraying its face. The pokemon howled, and its HP was reduced by a quarter. Between Kingdra's Surf and January's attack earlier, it was down to about half its strength. It's going to be a trick getting its HP even lower than that, though, especially since now Murkrow's attacking us too, Clair thought. Then, alarmed, she realized that Murkrow still hadn't reappeared. Wait… where is it?

"Guys, watch out!" Clair warned her pokemon. "It'll come right out of thin air!"

She jumped in surprise as she felt something touch her head lightly. It feels like somebody's hand, but smaller… what the heck?

Suddenly, she heard a voice above her head call out, "Murkrow! Krow, Murkrow!"

Why is it on my head?

"Murkrow, stop that and attack the others!" Ariana screamed.

"Krow," the pokemon replied defiantly.

Is it refusing to obey her? Clair wondered. Why would it do that?

Archer growled in frustration. "That thing's such a nuisance," he remarked angrily. "Get yourself a proper pokemon!"

"I could say the same about you, with that useless houndoom!" Ariana retaliated. The fire pokemon turned to her, offended, and snarled.

Still atop Clair's head, Murkrow cackled.

Clair saw her chance. "Kingdra, again, Surf!"

This time, Houndoom didn't see the attack coming, and it was hit full on by the massive wave of water. It was knocked back into Archer, who cried out as he was propelled backwards, landing on the floor with a fainted Houndoom on top of him.

"Aaarrgh… that idiot!" Ariana exclaimed furiously. Turning back to her pokemon, she instructed, "Alright, Murkrow, it's up to you! Night Shade!"

The pokemon gracefully lifted up from Clair's head, and, suddenly, the room began to darken. Oh no, Clair thought in terror, it's over. But then she realized that she, Murkrow, and her two pokemon were standing in a circle of light, while the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. She could no longer see or hear Ariana and Archer, and she wondered if they had been afflicted by the attack. That's odd, Clair thought. It's like it's attacking its own trainer instead of us!

"Krow!" the pokemon shrieked, landing on the remains of the metal table and facing Clair.

"What are you…" Clair started awkwardly. "Are you… helping us?"

"Krow, Murk," the pokemon replied with a nod.

Clair gaped. "Why?"

The bird tipped its head back, opened its beak, and cackled again. Clair got the impression that the pokemon was only toying with her, using her for whatever purpose it saw fit, but, given the situation, she didn't mind. Maybe, if we're lucky, it will still help us to get out of here, she hoped.

"Rouge," Clair heard a small voice call. She glanced over to see the tiny tyrogue eyeing the murkrow distrustfully. The murkrow only cackled again, and, with a mischievous glint in its eye, it faded away as if performing a Faint Attack.

"Hey!" Clair yelled, panicked. Maybe it was a trick, she considered fearfully, and now it's going to finish off my pokemon!

The murkrow reappeared next to her tyrogue, who yelped in pain and surprise as Murkrow nipped its shoulder with its beak playfully.

Cackling in amusement, the murkrow returned to its perch atop the table as Tyrogue rubbed its shoulder and frowned crossly.

"Ty," the pokemon remarked to Clair, and she could tell it was not happy with their new acquaintance.

"Sorry," Clair told it, though she was actually thankful that the bird had not attempted to seriously damage Tyrogue.

Turning back to Ariana's murkrow, Clair inquired, "Why are you helping us? What do you want?"

"Krow," the pokemon replied casually, fluttering over to Clair and perching on her shoulder. She gasped in alarm as the pokemon bent down and grasped for something at her neck with its beak. Her two pokemon cried out in protest.

What the—

Then, Clair sighed in relief as the bird clutched at what was hanging around her neck – her Silver Wing.

"Krow, Murkrow," the pokemon said as it tugged on the object, attempting to free it from the twine it was hanging on.

"You want my Silver Wing?" Clair questioned in confusion. What would a pokemon want with that? she wondered.

"Murk," the pokemon affirmed.

Maybe if I give it the Silver Wing, it will help us get out of here, Clair considered. But if I try to bargain with it, how do I know it won't just trick me?

"Murkrow," Clair began firmly, making a quick decision, "if you want my necklace, you can have it. But you have to help us out first."

The pokemon cackled again, sounding more like a hyena than a bird pokemon. Then, to Clair's shock, it opened its beak and spoke.

"I make the decisions around here," it said in a voice that sounded remarkably like Ariana's, and Clair gaped.

"You can talk?" she inquired in disbelief.

"I make the decisions around here," the pokemon repeated in exactly the same manner. "I'm the director."

It's not actually speaking for itself, Clair realized. It's just mimicking things it's heard Ariana say.

"Well, are you going to help us out, or not?" Clair asked.

The pokemon tugged at her Silver Wing necklace again. "Krow," it responded, and lifted off her shoulder, flapping its wings and hovering in front of Clair and her pokemon. It glanced in the direction of the door, which was hidden in darkness, as if encouraging them to follow it out.

Clair noticed Kingdra and Tyrogue exchanging wary glances.

"What do you think, guys?" Clair asked her pokemon. "Should we trust it?"

"Rouge," Tyrogue replied unsurely.

"Kingdra… dra," the dragon added in dismay.

Clair got the impression that her pokemon felt almost the same way as she did – unsure if they could really trust Murkrow, but not seeing another alternative.

"Well then, I guess we have no choice," she decided. "Murkrow, lead the way."

Turning to her dragon, Clair said apologetically, "Sorry, Kingdra, but I have to recall you since you can't move around on land very well. But don't worry – we'll be out of here soon." At least, I hope we will.

Reluctantly, the pokemon complied, returning to its pokeball. Tyrogue gave Clair a pleading look, so she decided to leave it out of its ball. For a pokemon that doesn't know me very well, it's sure insistent on protecting me, she thought.

As they made their way toward the door, the circle of light that surrounded them moved with them, and Clair figured that Murkrow was responsible for that. She remembered what Archer had told her about dark-type attacks being used on humans – "dark-type attacks get in your head, and they never, ever leave" – and she shivered, wondering if that's what was happening to Archer and Ariana. Would Murkrow really do that to its own trainer? she wondered uneasily. She prayed that Murkrow would honestly lead Clair and her pokemon out instead of doing the same thing to them.

They followed the same path that she and Ariana had taken on the way up, again passing through the dark rooms that contained the many empty work desks.

My dragons need a pokemon center badly, so if we get out of here, I'll be satisfied, Clair thought, but I still wonder what happened to Mr. Jacoby. Now that I've seen what Ariana and Archer are capable of… Clair shuddered. She hoped that Mr. Jacoby hadn't had to battle them like she had. Are all Rocket Inc. pokemon like that? she considered, disturbed by the notion. Maybe that's how the organization got so powerful – no one can beat their pokemon without their own pokemon getting seriously injured or dying!

Finally, Clair, Tyrogue, and Murkrow reached the elevator that would take them down to the base floor. Thankfully, no card key was needed to operate it, so, at the push of a button, the doors slid open, and the group stepped inside.

The elevator rumbled to life, and Clair watched Murkrow inquisitively as it did something very strange. On the elevator's ceiling was a loose panel that Clair hadn't noticed before. Murkrow, flying to the top of the elevator, nudged the panel aside, ascending into the elevator shaft above.

What's it doing? Clair wondered. Then, oddly, several objects fell down from the shaft – a bracelet, a tiny trinket in the shape of a teddiursa that Clair suspected had belonged to Ariana at some point, and a key.

Clair noticed that all of the objects had a trait in common – they were all polished silver. That's right, she thought, remembering something she'd read before, murkrow are attracted to shiny objects. That must be why this one wants my Silver Wing!

The murkrow flew back into the elevator, sliding the panel back into place as it did so. It descended down to the floor, standing proudly in front of its collection.

"Krow," it declared, pointing its beak toward Clair's Silver Wing. "Murk, krow!"

"Not so fast, Murkrow," Clair reminded it. "We're not out of here yet. I'll give it to you once we're outside."

"Murkrow," the pokemon replied impatiently.

Finally, once the elevator came to a stop, its doors parted, and Clair, Tyrogue, and Murkrow stepped out into the dark, spacious base floor.

Nervously, Clair began walking towards the front door with Tyrogue tagging along behind her. If this is a trick, then this is the part where Murkrow will attack us, she thought warily, sneaking glances over her shoulder at the bird pokemon as they approached the exit.

However, to her relief, the pokemon did not attack – it saw them to the door and allowed the three of them to step outside.

Immediately, Ariana's pokemon flapped its wings hurriedly and demanded, "Krow!"

Clair sighed, facing Murkrow. I'd better hold up my end of the bargain, she thought, unclasping the Silver Wing from her neck reluctantly. She didn't really want to part with it, but she didn't see another way for them to get away from the Radio Tower, and she needed to get to a pokemon center quickly.

Tossing the object to Murkrow, she said, "Here you go. Add it to your collection, and we'll be off."

The pokemon caught the Silver Wing happily in its beak, hopping around in a circle mirthfully. Clair and Tyrogue turned on their heels, ready to take off, when strangely, Clair heard the pokemon say in a voice almost identical to Archer's, "Nine five two four five."

Clair whirled around to see the pokemon's form growing fainter and fainter, fading into the darkness of the base floor.

"What?" she asked confusedly. Nine five two four five, she repeated in her mind. That's a weird number… maybe it's something I should remember. Nine five two four five…

As the pokemon dematerialized, Clair noticed something on the ground – a key. This looks like the one that Murkrow had in the elevator shaft, she thought, picking it up. Did it leave this for us?

"Umm... thanks," Clair called out, though she was fairly certain that Murkrow had already gone.

Pocketing the key, she turned to Tyrogue. "We need to get to a pokemon center now," she said frantically, turning back around and starting to run towards Goldenrod's center.

"Rogue," the pokemon concurred.

Rana… Shango… January, she thought, clutching her pokeballs protectively, please hang on.