The Platinum Syndicate Part 2: Cracking the Coffers
The Test
Nickel, Dewalt, and I were on Capim's outskirts, looking at two prospective recruits. I pointed one of my tentacles at the first of the two, an Elgyem. "Hey, woman, does this friend of yours talk?" I asked to the Solosis, Dria, who was beside him.
"I'm afraid not!" She replied, sounding chipper. "I can understand my good pal Fornix by the flashling lights on his hands, but the only way he communicates is by telepathy."
"Oh, great, I'm going to have two Psychics roothing through my mind!" I complained. "It's bad enough that I have to worry about Shanks stabbing me in my sleep, or Thicket blowing another house up, but now I'm not safe even in my own head. Nickel, please don't recruit these two!"
I felt Nickel leave my bag to give me the tiniest of slaps, which I barely felt. "Cobalt, shut your trap!" He said scoldingly. "We need more folk who can attack at range, and we can't afford to be picky. It's the entire reason why we've been combing through town for new recruits! If these two pass my tests, you'll either have to suck it up or leave, and I know how unlucky you are at finding employment."
Nickel crawled back into my storage, his head and upper body peeking out. He pointed an arm at the two candidates for our gang, sizing them up. "So, what made you two want to join our fine group?" He asked, his tone blatantly shifting from aggression to an almost overbearing politeness. "Surely, there must be a good reason why you chose us over anyone else."
"Well, we were part of another gang once," Dria began to explain as she floated in the air. "Fornix and I can use our telepathy to communicate across vast distances, and that had a lot of uses for our old employers. They could split up people during jobs and each group would be aware of the other's circumstances, just from that little trick of ours. Sadly, they got busted a few months back. We need some form of employment, and Fornix figured your pay would be stable, since you got your whole moonshine-selling business as a side gig."
I heard Nickel cackle to himself, rubbing his hands in a display of unrestrained aravice. "That ability sounds super useful, and I should let you in based on that alone," Nickel replied. "However, I need to know if you two are any good in a fight. It's gonna be two on two – Cobalt, Dewalt, get your asses in gear. Give these two a show they won't forget." Dewalt walked up next to me, looking carefully at his two opponents. "I won't be babysitting you," Nickel informed us. "You'll be on your own. Now, are we all ready?" All but Nickel and Dria nodded, while the latter rotated themsleves up and down in approximation of one. "Alright, go!" The former shouted, signalling the start of the match.
"I'll take Fornix!" I exclaimed. I was by no means a tactician, but I figured the thick green barrier his buddy had around herself would soften the impact of my tentacles. Dewalt's claws were more suited to tearing through those defenses. Fornix fired a bolt of Psychic energy – Confusion, most likely, towards me. I blocked the shot with my claws, but the force of it was enough to make me flinch! I took out a Quick Seed that Nickel insisted that I pack in case of emergencies. I prepared to imbibe it, but using his telekinesis, my opponent stole that item straight from me!
Fornix waggled an arm at me, as if admonishing me, then consuming the Seed themselves. I quickly steeled my focus and watched how my opponent positioned themselves, and activated Detect. It gave me an insight into how and where my enemy was going to fire their bolts of Confusion, and as soon as they began their salvo, I started swatting the projectiles out of the air, advancing towards them slowly but steadily. Once I was close enough, I tackled Fornix with a Body Slam, sending the Elgyem flying. He was barely able to stop himself from impacting the ground, and looked worse for wear after the attack. He clearly wasn't as sturdy as I am. He put his hands up to his head, and then, things turned for the worse.
I could hear a strange, screeching hiss in my mind, grating my very soul. My brain felt like there was an immense pressure being put upon it, headaches and nausea following short after. My vision began to swirl, and instinctively, I tried to block my head with my tentacles. However, in my stupor, I couldn't quite make out Fornix moving to my side, charging something up between his arms. He unleashed a great, powerful wave of energy at me – Psychic. The force of the attack, combined with the natural disadvantage of my typing knocked me flat on my ass in the blink of an eye! I laid there, grumbling and barely conscious, the sounds of Dewalt fighting barely even registering. I drifted into a deep sleep, and a few hours later, I awoke.
I woke up atop one of the hay beds in our base, the material itching at my skin. I groggily rubbed my eyes and sat up, registering the presence of Thicket and one of her Rattata helpers. "Are you okay?" She asked. "You were out for quite a while. If I heard what happened correctly, one of the two new recruits went a bit overboard during their combat trial."
"Yeah, that's it," I grumbled. "I hate Psychics. They're nothing but a bunch of know-it-alls who read minds and screw with your mind for kicks. Do you understand how many Pokemon I gotta watch my back around now?"
"Oh, I understand," Thicket responded, her teasing tone only making me feel more uncomfortable. "You're so paranoid you can't sleep at night. Anyway, Nickel said that all of his gang members are to gather in his office. Do you think you can stand on your own, or do you need my employees to escort you?"
I got up on my own, slowly walking towards the door of the communal bedrooms. I hated them, but they were the best I'd get until renovations were complete. "Yeah, I can get there," I affirmed, closing the door behind me.
We all gathered in front of Nickel's desk, waiting for him to speak. It was the perfect representation of himself – its overly large size spoke to how he was a tiny Pokemon, trying to act much bigger than what he truly was. After a couple minutes of uncomfortable silence, I heard Nickel clear his throat.
"Oh, so the sleepyhead's finally awake, huh?" He asked, pointing directly at me. "What took you so long to wake up, you slacker?"
"Oh, I don't know, boss. Maybe it's because a Psychic decided to attack my brain?" I responded back, annoyed with how he was treating me. Nothing was ever enough with him – either you met his arbitrary, ever-changing standards, or he'd chew you out over the most minor of problems.
Fornix hung his head down, the lights on his arms flashing in a strange pattern. "My partner says to blame him and not that Clobbopus," Dria said, translating for her friend. "If he didn't use his signature technique, he wouldn't have been out for so long."
"I don't care who's to blame!" Nickel snapped back. "This little incident has cost me valuable time, and time is money! Now, you all better shut up, because I've got a heist cooking!" We all remained quiet as our boss scrutinized each and everyone one of us. "Are any of you familiar with the local bank?"
"That's the last thing we need!" I protested, realizing what he was implying. I couldn't believe what Nickel was thinking! "That'd attract way too much heat, and way too soon! Do you have any idea of how much attention a bank robbery would place upon us?"
Our boss sighed, looking annoyed with me. "I don't think you get it," he responded. "Some of the local Gimmighouls entrust their special coins with that bank. There's a treasure trove waiting for me, and it's up to you guys to help crack it!"
"Oh, so you're putting us on the line for your own benefit again?" I asked, aggression creeping into my voice. "Do you even have a plan?"
"Of course I have a plan, squid-breath!" Nickel replied, his irritation only increasing. "Seeing how we got two telepaths on our team now, we'll split our gang into two groups. You, Shanks, Ampere, and Dria are going to assault the front, and act as a distraction. Dewalt will dig under the earth and make a tunnel that opens up inside their vault. Fornix will accompany him, and will keep him posted on what the other group is doing. As for how we're going to get all that money out, I still need to negotiate with Thicket on the details, since I requested that her employees help steal the loot." He looked towards the door out of his office, hearing footsteps. It opened, revealing Makau and Thicket, who stepped into the room.
"The Rattata and I have finished figuring out our terms!" Thicket cheerfully informed us. "The Platinum Syndicate will get 20%, Over the Moon Brewery will get 80%, and you will get to keep any Gimmighoul Coins my employees snatch for you."
That share was comically skewed. Math wasn't my strong suit, but I could tell this was bait of some sort. "Only 20%?" Nickel shouted at the top of his lungs, outraged by her terms. "We're the ones keeping the bank's hands full! I say we get 70%, you get 30%, and I get to keep any Coins gathered!"
Thicket laughed heartily at her business partner, and for good reason – he fell for her trap. "You might be the distraction, but we'll be the ones who secure the actual loot. You can get 40%, Gimmighoul Coins included, and we'll get a 60% share."
Nickel groaned at Thicket's stubbornness. He could feel his wallet being attacked in real time, and I relished in his frustration since he made me feel the same daily. "You drive a hard bargain. 50% and the Coins for me and 50% for you; that's my final offer," the Gimmighoul said. "You're lucky I'm being generous and not taking 90%!"
"I accept your terms!" Thicket exclaimed, a smug expression peeking out from behind the jovial mask she put on. I knew for a fact that Nickel would've tried to cling onto as much of the heist's income as he could, and I could feel his impotent rage at how his business partner turned the tables on him. As much as the boss liked to brag about his skills in finance and management, Thicket was the smarter businessmon by far.
We all discussed the heist into the night. I tried to make my misgivings known, but none of the others listened to my concerns. I felt a deep sense of unease in my gut – I just knew something bad was going to happen when the day for the job came.
The Cunning Captain
The bank was an odd building, compared to the rest of Capim Town. Instead of being made from the remains of a tree it was instead built from brick, being short and squat compared to the rest of the town's constructions. Nickel crawled out from my bag and tapped me. "Do you idiots remember the plan?" He asked.
"We'll break in. We'll break their bodies," Shanks replied in a deep, monotonous voice. I felt a shiver down my back as he spoke – I knew he wanted to do worse, but Nickel always held him back. He could murder us all without breaking a sweat; why did he even listen to him?
Nickel remained silent for a few moments, taking in what Shanks said. "You don't need to go that far," he replied. "We just need to make sure the guards can't fight back or react against what our other team is doing. We're a distraction, got it?"
Everyone except Shanks voiced their agreement, and we all entered the bank. The bank teller was a strange sort of Pokemon. It looked vaguely like a Meowth, but it was far furrier, the brown and black fur on its body framing a white, scruffy beard. Watching closely were a Kommo-o and a Scizor. Both of them had badges in the shape of an Aegislash's shield. Were they there to denote the two as guards?
I raised my tentacles cautiously, unsure of how things would proceed. Shanks, however, eschewed all caution and bumped into me, knocking me out of the way. He walked up to the counter and stared down at the strange, Meowth-like Pokemon manning it.
"What're you here for?" It asked. "Are ye here to deposit or withdraw?" Shanks remained silent, continuing to gaze into the other Pokemon's eyes. Where most would flinch or turn their eyes away, they glared right back at him. "Oh, I know that look in your eyes. I seen it plenty back in me old days. You're up to no good, aren't ya?"
"We're robbing you," Shanks stated plainly, raising his shell. The two other Pokemon working at the bank raised their guard, all the while the teller laughed in Shanks' face.
"This ain't me first run-in with bank robbers," the helmeted feline responded. He extended his claws and brought them together to form a natural weapon of his own, much like Shanks' shell. "I've been Captain of this bank for seven years, and your lot are the sorriest-looking pack of marauders I've seen!" The teller jumped above his desk and over Shanks, and landed right behind the Slowbro. "Me old crew would've torn all but you to bits with ease, you pink sack of lard! You've got enough fat on ye to put a Wailord to shame!"
"Captain Perrserker, there's no need to fight them yourself!" The Kommo-o shouted. "We're perfectly capable of dealing with these intruders!"
"I haven't had a good scrap in ages, Clanger!" The Perrseker responded. "Besides, I've heard plenty about the fat man! He's one of the nastiest bastards 'round these parts, and I'm the only one here who has a chance of beatin' them! You and Snapper need to deal with the landlubbers, not throw away your lives fighting this fiend!"
"Understood," the Scizor – "Snapper", apparently, replied, acknowledging his orders. I also noticed an alarming change in Shanks.
Even though he was violent and dangerous, he acted slow and dopey almost all the time. I saw a degree of focus in his eyes as he grinned almost impossibly wide. It wasn't a normal smile; it was more freaky than that! His teeth were razor sharp and it stretched from one end of his face to the other in an expression that wasn't happiness, but instead one of intimidation. He was baring his teeth to Perrserker as a threat display, and it freaked me out so much I almost turned tail and ran!
That Perrserker shown more courage than I could muster up, smiling right back at his opponent. "This'll be fun," he remarked. "Ye get the first shot, big guy." Shanks lumbered forward, while the rest of us focused on the two guards.
Snapper attacked first, striking me with a lighting-quick punch. The Bullet Punch was too fast for me to guard against, dazing me and allowing the Scizor to attack with a slash as quick as the first attack. The Aerial Ace dug into one of my tentacles, causing me to flinch. Then, I saw a thin beam of electricity hit him – Ampere had fired a Charge Beam at him, using me as cover!
"Keep that dummy busy!" She commanded me. "I'm gonna make him fry!" I took a look to the side, and saw Clanger relentlessly assaulting Dria, clawing and Headbutting at her thick outer membrane. She fired off a wave of Psychic energy, the move causing him to fly back from the sheer force of it! She began to fire off Psybeams at him, while I drew my attention back to Snapper.
The Scizor continued his assault against me, but this time, I was prepared. I watched his movements and strived to block as many of his attacks as possible, all the while Ampere continued to whittle him down with her electricity. It was rough, getting hit with those sharp metal claws, but I was raised a survivor. The deep sea was a much nastier locale than the surface – if I could bear it, I could bear anything.
I began to get worn down by Snapper's assault, only for Nickel to pass an Oran my way. I grabbed it and prepared to eat it. One of Snapper's claws moved forward, intent on stealing it, but Ampere swooped down at him, coated in electricity. She hit him and caused him to stumble back – Wild Charge was a poor move to use in this situation, but I guess she was tired of sitting behind me. She was a thrillseeker at heart, and she hadn't had many chances to see action. Either way, her distraction let me consume the berry and heal myself.
Our tactics transitioned from being defensive to offensive. Ampere continued to dive-bomb our opponent, while I tried my best to overwhelm him with punches. Snapper knew how to fight off one of us, but against a team, he was overwhelmed. At one point, I held his arms back with my tentacles, and my ally charged into him with every ounce of force she had to muster! The attack worked, and he promptly crumpled to the ground, unable to fight any further.
Our attention was turned to Clanger and Dria. The latter was heavily injured, and was doing her best to hold on. A swipe of the Kommo-o's claw caused her to fly into the wall, barely able to keep floating. Ampere looked deep in contemplation for a few moments, before she threw her Bag over to the Solosis! She looked inside at the contents, and then looked back at Ampere. "You just shake and throw these, right?" She asked. Ampere nodded, and that was when I realized what that bird's idea was.
A wave of telekinetic force slammed Clanger to the ground. By the look on Dria's face, it exerted her greatly to do so, but even then, she kept on using her Psychic powers. Cheri Bombs floated out of the bag Ampere tossed, being shaken all at once! They hovered ominously for a split second before they all homed in on Clanger. A series of explosions went off, blinding everyone but Shanks and Perrserker for a few seconds. It reminded me of the terrible power Thicket held. She was small, but her concoctions struck terror into me. At least she brewed explosives instead of poison!
All that were left were Shanks and his opponent. Surprisingly, the Slowbro had been stabbed in several places, Perrserker inflicting more harm upon him than any opponent I had seen to date. The cat was clever, too – he stayed out of the way of Shanks' shell and mainly attacked his right side, where it couldn't strike him. It was clear the "Captain" had some smarts to him, but he was by no means unscathed.
Perrserker was severely bruised, and seemed to be only hanging on due to sheer stubbornness. A single whack of Shanks' shell was enough to send him stumbling back a few feet. When he recovered, there was a mischevious glint in his eyes. "Ye got a lot of force in that shell," he muttered. "How about I borrow some of it?"
A black-colored energy began to be siphoned from Shanks' shell, building up around the knife-like claws that the Captain wielded. Once enough energy was collected, he swiped his claw upwards. He raised his shell to block, but what he failed to realize was that the first attack was a feint! He jabbed both sets of claws into Shanks' side, the force of the attack being enough to make him roar in pain!
Perrserker withdrew his claws and beckoned Shanks to come closer to him, a confident grin on his face. The Slowbro stumbled for a few steps, and began to reach into his bag. However, he gave into the pain he felt, falling hard onto the floor of the bank. The scene felt utterly surreal to me. Shanks was a monster; the sort of Pokemon that seemed to be unable to be brought down, yet this guy did that in a single stab! What the heck was he?
"How does that Foul Play taste, ye blockhead?" Perrserker taunted, eliciting a groan from Shanks. "All I had to do to beat you was turn that titanic power against you. This is gonna make one heck of a story for ol' Crabby to hear, the next time I visit him at the Inn..."
"Y-you know Crabrawler?" Dria stuttered out, fear creeping into her voice.
The Captain strolled up to her face and laughed in it. "He's me sparring buddy! Our species both love a good scrap, and that's a better way of scratchin' the itch than returnin' to crime. Say... Crabby said he encountered a Solosis some time back."
He squinted his eyes at Dria, causing her to flinch. "A whole bunch of folk tried to rob the Blue Claw Inn a few months ago. A Solosis and Elgyem were among 'em. Tell me... Do ye know anything about that?"
"H-he wiped my old gang by himself! Fornix and I had to flee!" Dria blurted out, clearly rattled by the mere mentioning of that innkeeper.
Perrserker took amusement at my teammate's reaction, cackling at her anxiety. "A businessmon can't afford to be weak," he uttered, extending his claws again. "Ye need to be ready to defend your rightful property with your life. Tell me, who's the leader of your little gang?"
Nickel popped out of my bag, staring at Perrserker. "What do you even want with me?" He asked. "We're here to take all the Poke here, nothing more and nothing less. Are you going to try and preach to us about how evil we are?"
Perrserker shook his head. "Nothing of the sort," he said dismissively. "I ain't upset because I'm being robbed. I'm upset at the fact that ye thought throwing your men on a mission they'd fail would work. Do ye even care about them or only about lining your own coffers, pipsqueak? A crew is as only good as its captain!"
I saw Dria deep in concentration as Nickel's body tensed up, Perrserker's words clearly getting to him. "I know they'll win because they're under my command!" He yelled. "I'm going to make you regret-"
"I just got some bad news!" Dria exclaimed. "Fornix said his group is encountering resistance in the vault! There's no more time for chatting, we need to knock this guy out now!"
Perrserker cackled as he lunged at Dria and stabbed her already worn body with his claws. It didn't take much force to knock her out, and it left Ampere and I as the sole fighting Pokemon left! "That's me security system at work!" Perrserker taunted, as he directed his attention towards me. "Ye aren't the first folk to break into the vault directly. Now, like the lady said... Let's get down to business."
Perrserker charged towards me as I instinctively raised my tentacles up. He began to hack and slash at me aggressively while my limbs tried their hardest to block him. "Don't be scared of this guy!" Nickel chimed in. "The only reason why he won against Shanks was because he turned his own power against him! Keep a calm head, and you'll win!"
I continued blocking, waiting for a window of opportunity to counter-punch. However, Ampere was more than willing to provide one for me – she flew down at our opponent and set him off-balance with her charge, allowing me to slug the Captain with the strongest punch I knew: A Brick Break. To his credit, he took the attack surprisingly well. He shifted gears for a moment and locked onto Ampere and performed a very odd move.
He took Poke out of a sack on his waist, and threw it straight at her, one coin after another. His aim was perfect, and in a matter of seconds, she was shot out of the air. Knowing of the trouble to come, I instinctively flexed my muscles, using Bulk Up in order to stand a chance against Perrserker. However, Nickel wasn't going to wait for him to attack us again.
He shook and threw a Cheri Bomb at the cat, who to my surprise, caught it. He threw the explosive straight back at us, but I managed to save ourselves by batting it away with a tentacle, causing it to fly away to the side and explode there instead. "Those cheap toys aren't going to get ye out of this!" Perrserker yelled, lunging straight back at me. Thanks to my increased durability, I was able to tank his initial charge and barrage of claws, punching right back at him the moment I spotted a lull in his offense.
However, I remembered that I was on the clock – the other team was in trouble, and I needed to finish this fast! I decided to do the unexpected and squirted Perrserker in his eyes with some ink, blinding him. It wasn't as powerful of a dirty trick as it was back at my home underwater, but it still worked fine. I began to assault him with everything I got, but to my surprise, he tried his hardest to block my moves instead of distancing himself or trying to rub the ink out of his eyes. A silvery energy began to build up around him as I continued to clobber him, Nickel's eyes widening in apparent alarm.
"Get away from him, you idiot!" Nickel screamed. ""He's going for a counter-attack with Metal Bur-"
A burst of energy was emitted from the Captain's body, heavily battering me and causing me to fly back! I fell onto the floor and struggled to get up, Perrserker grinning madly at me. "That attack was downright nostalgic!" He said. "Back in me days as a crewman, I got ink squirted in me eyes by an Octillery!" He then began to look around, as if he were listening for something.
Even if he won against Shanks by using a gimmicky move like Nickel suggested, he was still strong and clever. He should've panicked when I blinded him, but instead, he played me for a fool. If I were to guess, he was going to start to use his ears to detect my movements, instead of his eyes. Feline pokemon tend to have very strong hearing, but how could I use this to my advantage?
Nickel began to whisper to me. "I'm going to start whistling," He informed me. "It'll cover up the sound of your movements. Sneak behind him, and hit him with everything you have." I nodded, and the Gimmighoul climbed off of me, running to another part of the room. Like he said, he began to whistle much louder than someone as small as him should've been able to, which caught Perrserk's attention.
"What do ye think you're whistling for?" Perrserker asked, trying his hardest to rub the ink out of his eyes. He stopped what he was doing and took up a defensive stance, his direction changing with where Nickel travelled to. Even if he didn't know the purpose of such a strategy, he instinctively knew that he was doing something sneaky. I did as my boss instructed and snuck up close, looming behind my enemy. I grabbed him in such a way that he couldn't free his arms, and then, with all of my force, I slammed him straight into the ground – it was a perfectly executed Reversal.
It caused enough pain for the Captain to cry out, but I didn't let up. I continued to barrage him with more attacks until finally, he stopped moving. It felt like a massive burden had been lifted off my shoulders with his defeat – he was one of the worst threats I've faced in my life, and I had to mostly fight him by myself. Nickel re-united with me and crawled back into my satchel, and I climbed over Perrserker's desk, walking to the back.
I was faced with a large, steel vault door. I could hear the sound of fighting and explosions from behind it, but it was very faint. "Bust the door down," Nickel ordered. "We need to provide backup!"
"Alright, alright!" I complained, as I punched the door with all of my strength. The steel barely budged.
"We're definitely going to need Shanks to get that open," Nickel observed. "Wake him up and heal him up with your supplies."
What?!? I cried out, remembering the last time I woke that monster up, a chill going through my entire body. That was not an experience I wished to go through again! "You've got to be insane! He'll stab me to death if I try that! You know what happened to me the last time I did that, so why're you telling me to repeat it, huh?"
"Quit whining, you big baby! If you don't wake him up, this job will be jeopardized!" Nickel replied sternly. "Get back there and wake him up!"
I hesitated for a few moments, before I came up with an idea – what if I lied and told Shanks that the Pokemon that woke him up was in the vault? With reluctance, I did as Nickel told me, and went back to the lobby to rouse the slumbering beast...
The Robbery
I had been waiting with the others in my group for quite a while. I was unable to discern whatever expression Fornix had, while most of miss Thicket's Rattata seemed to be a bit anxious. Makau, compared to them, looked as though he was about to have a nervous breakdown. Perhaps they just weren't used to being in dark, cramped tunnels like I was.
"Oh, c'mon, how long are they gonna take?" He grumbled. "I know this is going to be painful! I just wanna get this over with so I can go back home and crawl into bed!"
"Patience is the key to success," I reminded him. "We are to wait for Dria's signal. When we get it, I will dig upwards into the vault floor."
We waited for a few more minutes, until the lights on one of Fornix's arms began to blink. A telepathic message was forced into my mind:
"The coast is clear," Fornix informed me, his voice sounding distorted. I nodded and dug upwards, our entire group flooding into the vault itself. There was Poke lying around everywhere! The bulk of the Rattata got to work collecting it, while Makau's eyes darted back and forth, becoming even more on edge then before. He looked upwards, a shock going through him. It was enough to make his fur stand on end! I tilted my head in order to observe whatever caused him distress, and it caused me plenty of alarm as well!
There were three Pokemon sleeping upside-down on perches – a Noibat, a Gligar, and a Crobat. The latter woke up, nudging his sleeping comrades with his wings. "This place is trapped!" I alerted everyone. "Prepare yourselves!" Everyone took a few steps back as the three bats took off from their resting spots, and flew over us.
"Ugh, why are these Pokemon here?" The Noibat grumbled. "This place was supposed to be perfect – nice, dark, and quiet. I can't get a wink of sleep with these strangers scurrying about!"
"I know we get paid to sleep here during the day, but sometimes, we have to do our actual jobs!" The Crobat said scoldingly. "If the vault gets broken into and we get woken up, we've got to mop up the mess! If you want to go back to sleep so badly, show these intruders how much of a mistake it was to come here!" The other two guards nodded and positioned themselves for attack.
Noibat flapped their wings and battered some of the assorted Rattata with a Gust of wind, only for Makau to throw a Cheri Bomb at them and knock them against one of the vault's walls! He held another in one of his paws and began to aim, before Crobat swooped in and bit him with poison-covered fangs, eliciting a yelp of pain!
I rushed over and attempted to claw his attacker, but he flew up far too quickly for me. Fornix fired a beam of concentrated psychic energy at Crobat, but he proved far too nimble in the sky, evading that attack as well. Gligar flew in behind Fornix and attempted to stab them with their tail, but one of the Rattata Thicket employed tackled them, sending them off-balance and alerting the Elgyem to their assailant.
Fornix took hold of Gligar via telekinesis and began to throw and batter them across the room, all the while the Rattata attempted to fight off the other two guards. I reached into my bag to see if there was anything I could attack them with, knowing they mostly stayed out of the range of my claws.
I had a few of Thicket's brews, two Orans, a Slow Wand, a Hurl Orb, a Pounce Orb, and three Cheri Bombs. Nickel didn't know the vault itself would have a security system, so almost everyone neglected to pack a proper kit of items, save for Makau - he was always paranoid, carrying a satchel of Cheri Bombs where ever he went. I had no choice but to make due with what I had.
The Pounce Orb would be the simplest to use. I lined it up with Noibat, who was busy trying to nail Makau with the slicing winds of Air Cutters, and activated it. I was warped into the air and right next to them. I wasted no time and grabbed them, the both of us gracelessly falling back onto the ground! I was the more sturdy of us two and the first to recover, allowing me to hold my opponent down and claw at them! It was crude and inelegant, but it was certainly effective – they quit moving after a while, the strain of the battle having been too much for them.
I took a look at the battlefield, and it seemed as though Crobat was the only one left – Gligar was off to the side, groaning and with a wide array of bruises on their person. I saw Fornix hold their arms to their head, initiating a technique I had only heard about.
Fornix was going to mess with their opponent's brain, like he did with Cobalt. I heard Nickel refer to it as a "mindfuck", but that name was far too crude for an intimidating technique like that. I saw it take effect on Crobat – they winced in pain and they began to fly less straight, but unlike Cobalt, they weren't shut down immediately.
Crobat let out a deafening Screech, causing Fornix's concentration to be broken. They then swooped down and latched onto their head with a Bite, flying up into the air with the Elgyem's head between their fangs. Crobat then threw Fornix into the vault wall, injuring them to the point where they couldn't even levitate.
At this point, only Makau and I were left, and he was barely hanging on – the other Rattata were likely hiding in the tunnel I dug, waiting for combat to die down. "Do you have any plans?" I asked.
Makau began to stutter. "I-I don't know!" He cried out. "I wasn't plannin' for this! I'm running low on explosives, too, so I'd say we're screwed!"
"Keep throwing those Cheri Bombs, then! I got an idea!" I responded, looking into my bag. As Makau began to frantically bombard Crobat with explosives, I retrieved the Slow Wand from my pocket, and began to aim. Thankfully, my foe was focusing on Makau, so I had the freedom to line up my shot.
Crobat dived down and bit Makau again. The moment he got his hit in, I fired my Wand, hitting them. My only other ally was beaten, but I had successfully introduced a single, small advantage.
As my opponent flew up again, he looked around, confused. "It feels like I'm flying through glue," he commented. He then looked at me, and realized what had happened. "Oh, you're using a Wand, aren't you? Maybe your lot isn't as amateurish as I thought they'd be."
Crobat didn't descend to attack me like I thought he would. Instead, he remained in the air, launching Air Slashes at me. The cutting gales battered me, and it took everything I had not to be overwhelmed. I had to think of a way to get him down from the sky, and fast!
It took me a few moments, but I figured out what I had to do. I simply had to use my Hurl Orb on one of his knocked out comrades – the weight of the improvised projectile would most likely knock them down! I began to run over to Noibat, when I heard the sound of metal screeching! Both Crobat and myself turned to look at the source, and saw that something had punched the steel vault door enough to leave a hole straight through it!
A second punch and then a third landed, and that's when I saw what had caused it – it was Shanks' shell. I knew he was the strongest out of all of us, but I didn't know he could tear through metal like paper! Crobat froze up in panic as Shanks made a hole through the door and climbed through, his eyes filled with anger and malice. "You thought hiding in here would save you," he stated, staring at Crobat. "You can't wake me up and get away with it." What was he talking about? My opponent had been sitting in the vault this entire time!
Shanks began to fire off blasts of Psychic energy from his shell at Crobat. Under any other circumstance, he could've used his speed to dodge, but thanks to the Wand I used earlier, he had no hope of evading the Slowbro's assault. In three hits, he was shot out of the air, and as soon as he landed, Shanks began to bash him repeatedly with his shell. It was a barbaric, brutal assault that instilled me with unease. That Pokemon was a force of nature, and we were all lucky that he followed Nickel's command.
As soon as Crobat stopped moving, Shanks walked away from him, and pulled out some bread from his bag. He began to peacefully munch on it as Cobalt and Nickel entered, and the Rattata returned and began to take everything that wasn't nailed down. "We were lucky to make it out in one piece," the Gimmighoul observed. "That Perrserker at the front was a lunatic." He looked around, and noticed the three bat Pokemon that were knocked out. "Well, a lunatic and a clever bastard," he corrected himself. "He used nocturnal Pokemon to keep the vault secure, and he's the first guy I've seen who beat Shanks. Do you have any idea how much sleep that guy causes me to lose, Dewalt?"
"I have a vague idea," I replied. "I know fully well how dangerous and erratic he is, but we aren't strong enough to defy him yet. For now, we'll just have to be grateful that he doesn't want to rock the boat."
"Y-yeah," Nickel stuttered out, as Cobalt walked away and started to help the Rattata steal away the Poke stored.
Epilogue: Ruminations of a Madman
I sat down and ate my dinner. I thought to myself about today's events. The Perrserker shouldn't have beaten me – time was running out faster than I thought. I'll soon turn 74, and I am growing weaker by the day. I need to find an heir soon, or else my family's legacy will fade away. I considered my options.
The leader is too weak, but I admire his ambition.
The Clobbopus is strong enough, but he lacks the drive that a proper Shellbreaker needs.
The Drilbur clings onto "civility" and "etiquette" too much.
The Floette likes destruction, but she values her heart too much. It's a shackle to be broken, not a crutch to be leaned upon.
The Floette's pet Rattata is a weakling with the heart of a coward. I refused to even consider him.
The Wattrel would be perfect, but the family fighting style does not translate well to avians.
The two Psychics were also too frail.
No one was a good fit, but I know I'll find who I need. The leader is hungry for recruits. Ambitious Pokemon attract those like them. It was that trait that caused us to be feared across the Water Continent. Only the Blaziken Tribe didn't fear us. Their leader is one of the few I hold respect for. I've never met him, but he has a strength and drive even greater than my own family. We were around for longer, but in only a few generations, he forged a legacy superior to our own.
I am Shellbreaker the Thirteenth, the last of my kind. I won't make the same mistakes I did with my son. My successor will forge a new legacy, better than what we accomplished. They will eclipse all, even the heavens themselves.
I finished eating. I navigated our base and found my bed. I lied down and went to sleep.