Blaguarro Town Terminal Two Holding Cells

[Inkedust]

A horrid smell accompanied a cacophony of howls, cries, roars and screams that echoed through the hallways. The cells that lined every inch of the walls were small and hardly able to accommodate a medium-sized pokémon, the cells for larger species relegated for the lower floors.

Peering through grimy bars would reveal the pokémon within from all walks of life - wilds, ferals, drunkards, criminals and simple townsfolk - either cowering away in a corner or making shows of aggression through growls or rattling the bars through striking them. It was a good indicator to tell who was newly brought in, who was well on their way to becoming Shadows and who had tipped past that point. Many bore scars from experimentation and only the bare minimum amount of care for survival was given, the wilds being particularly neglected.

Not that Cipher would be all too bothered by the loss of a few subjects. It was natural selection after all. Only the strongest specimens, the ones worth keeping would survive and move onto the next stage: the final conversion, Cipher's work being proudly displayed to their prisoners as the new Shadows would take on guard duty for these levels. It was undesirable work, dirty work, dangerous work. So best to just ignore it and allow their creations to do it for them.

How else would Cipher be able to sleep at night?

<><><>​

 

[Inkedust]

Instead of following the group forwards into the main lab, Tala and Anite shoved past the front of the group to look for the supposed prison. It took trial, error and a bit of Mav's scouting to find it but eventually they had found it at the end of a long corridor. The door was firmly locked but little seemed to have been done in the way of proofing, making it easily splintered by Anite's efforts, granting everyone a view of the countless cells that laid ahead.

It was dark although Mav happily handed their lantern to Tala who took to the front besides Anite. "We go in and break every one open," she said with a huff but Mav very strongly objected to the idea with a squawk.

"What if they've gone full Witching Beast?" exclaimed V. "We'll be torn to shreds before we even open up three!"

"Well, start with the ones that look sane to ya," Anite deadpanned. "Then we can handle the Beasts proper."

Concerningly, there had been no sign of guards in this side of the building up until this point. The place wasn't secure in the slightest and given the rumours of Blaguarro, several Shadows had already made their escape. Just what was preventing all the captives from breaking out and running away themselves? Why were Shadows the only successful escapees?

It was up to the Wayfarers to find out.

 

[Phoenixsong]

The sound of the aggron aggronning off down a side hall meant it was time to go. Leaf gave her friends one last encouraging farewell—they had this, they all had this—and then, with a deep breath to steel herself, jogged after her.

The last time she'd done this, she'd been able hold off the guard's pokémon, nick her access card, and let the barely-restrained aerodactyl scare her into revealing which one was the "open all the doors" button. Most of the freed pokémon had just scattered, charged toward an exit, not bothered with Leaf or her team or each other because they just wanted out. Here, though... there were so, so many more, that were so, so much worse. Any really badly shadowed prisoners might hurt them, or even the others who were just trying to escape.

"Anyone see anyone they recognize?" she hissed. She sure didn't know anybody here, but Anite and Tala and Mav would, and Sonora might, and Steven had his list, so that'd be a start. She tried peeking into some of the cells, hoping to spot someone who looked at least kinda coherent, or maybe had enough wits left to ask for help if they saw a new face.

(Her blood boiled just that little bit higher every time she had to pass over a cage with a prisoner that seemed too aggressive or out of it. They needed to escape, too. She needed to get everyone out. She... they would. They weren't leaving anyone behind. Just needed to make sure the unshadowed ones were safe first, was all. And once those folks were taken care of, they could move.)

 

[Jackie Cat]

Sonora poked her head through the door to spy the rows of cages, her ears flat and her eyes as wide as a new moon.

"Saints on earth," she whispered, as fascinated as she was sickened and horrified. "Where are the goddamn guards?"

Her outline blurred as she split herself into illusory Double Team copies, the better to scout ahead without getting flattened by the first hostile 'mon to spot her.

"Tastes of Shadow and filth in here," she hissed. "Do we call out for thinkin' 'mon? They might not realise we ain't Cipher, yet."

She made eye contact for a second with a barely-conscious test subject, and broke it immediately.

"Shoulda brought a sawbones," she muttered.

 

[Cresselia92]

As soon as Silver got into the prison, his ears pinned against his head and his paw flew to his nose. Overwhelming. The noises, the stench, the palpable tension — everything was magnified by his fine hearing and keen sense of smell, and Silver wondered briefly where he found the strength to endure the sensory overload.

Slowly, as if in some kind of horrified stupor, the now-Sneasel studied the various cages, his blank gaze meeting the various prisoners’…

A baby Abra, yowling in distress and rubbing furiously his eyes, unable to sleep because of the unbearable scent of Chesto and Lum berries. Unable to muster the energy for a Teleport, something that should be first nature for any Abra. Unable to escape.

That was the first time Silver had seen the eyes of an Abra, and frankly, seeing the terror and exhaustion in them made him wish he never had. The kit raised a shaky paw and a faint glow flashed in his bloodshot gaze. A last, desperate plea with his remaining psychic energy.

H—lp —e…

“…We’re gonna get you outta here,” murmured Silver with burning resoluteness, his clenched fists crackling. “Not even the lowest lowlife deserves this kinda fate… except for those Cipher cretins, of course! They could use a taste of their own zombifying medicine!”

The now-Sneasel glanced at the others. “At the risk of sounding tactless, we oughta try to free the ones who seem the most lucid and with the highest energy first,” he said, before motioning to the cages. “If we help them first, they could help us free everyone else. Strength in numbers and all of that, y’know.”

 

[RJr3:2]

Aige looked at some of the prisoners as she passed, feeling a mixture of pity and annoyance.

Unfortunate... but not unfortunate enough. If only we could have left them be for a while longer.

"I wonder if there's a emergency release," she said, "It might be useful to open them all at once. If there are any particularly nasty ones, they might fight each other. Plus, it gets things done faster. It's nice to assume the other teams will get things done, but on the off chance they don't, better that we don't get cornered wasting time down here."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Whatever feeling of triumph Steven had after breaching Cipher's front door vanished as soon as he entered their prison. He froze where he floated, eyes wide as he took in the horrors before him.

"All these people," he choked out. "How... how could they?"

So many sick and weak. All terrified. Some too far gone to be of right mind. Some too far gone to keep their eyes open. It was horrifying what Cipher had done to every last one of them, whether their name was on his list or not. He wasn't sure how long he hung there motionless, staring in disbelief.

Aige's words served to jolt him back to his senses.

"N-no! Wait." Steven held out an arm as if to bar any further movement into the room. He stared first at Aige. "If we open all of the cells at once, it will be chaos."

Then at Silver, "And this isn't about vengeance. Not now. Not with so many people who need our help."

It was taking some effort for Steven to keep his voice steady. Fighting against the dangerous warmth growing in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to rip those cages apart with his own hands.

No, he needed to keep a calm head, for these people's sake. Once they were safe, though...

"We need to find someone who is able to speak. We need information about this place, as quickly as we can. And we need to figure out how we're going to get everyone out of here and back to the surface safely."

"Hello?" Steven raised his voice to be heard, calling out to any who would answer. He even tried a few names from the list that he could remember, maybe someone would recognize their name, or a fellow prisoner's. "Can anyone hear me? If you're able to answer, please! We're here to get you out of this place."

 

[Phoenixsong]

"What?" Leaf snapped, whirling away from a cell to stare at Aige. "Why would we want them to fight each other?! They'll get hurt. And they'll hurt the ones who can't defend themselves against shadow pokémon. They could get loose and hurt the others trying to fight Cipher, which would definitely slow them down. What on earth do you even think we're here to do?" Again: Mom was not allowed to call her impulsive anymore.

"I know we're strangers, but Anite and Tala are here," Leaf tried, calling out to the room at large. "And if you're hurt, me and Grace can help with that." (Mostly Grace, really; she was the one who actually had experience with that sort of move. But hey, what even was the point of being a unicorn if you couldn't wave your horn and deal with at least some minor injuries, right?)

 

[RJr3:2]

Aige glanced at Leaf. "They'll be hurt either way unless we have a means of curing them without opening the cage. I'm simply suggesting that we reduce the amount of effort on our part," she said plainly, "I understand it's perhaps a tasteless suggestion, but I see it as a means of preserving our capabilities in case. As for the ones who can't defend themselves, that's what we're here for. I wasn't trying to say that we let them all out to have at each other. We just have to manage it."

The Roggenrola then turned to Steven. "This would be chaos, just as you say. But it would be chaos we have the opportunity to leverage. I do agree that we should try to get information if we can." She eyed the cages. "I doubt we will learn much, but who knows."

Aige slowed her pace slightly, tilting forward as if nodding. "I'll defer to the majority either way. Just thought I'd offer my opinion."

 

[Cresselia92]

Silver glanced at Steven, perplexed. “Huh… Mine was just a stray thought, man. I don’t really think we should literally Shadowify Cipher or whatever.” He shook his head, his expression deflating. “That’d be like stooping to their filthy level, and I’m sure nobody wants that. I might have all the flaws in the entire cosmos, but I’m not a psycho.” I’m not like her. I’ll never be like her.

Then he turned to Aige. “Also, let’s definitely not do that. I know, we want to free everyone immediately, but we’re only a handful of folks versus an entire room, and there’s no way we’ll be able to protect everyone if a massive tussle started here. I might be able to Assist to help spread some healing energy in a pinch, but we gotta be resourceful and reduce risks, y’know?”

While the others began calling out to the various prisoners, Silver approached a cage which had one of the most active and aggressive prisoners. The amount of energy they displayed was promising and they could probably be an ally that could help them out. But how to prove whether they were hostile, wild, or anything else?

…Ah. Maybe it was time to try the method used by Rangers in the Safari Zone.

Silver took a deep breath, pooled some of his energy into his claws, and then poof! A red-haired doll resembling his original human shape appeared in his grasp. ‘Wow. I simply can’t recreate a Sneasel, can I?’ mused the definitely-not-a-real-Sneasel.

Silver used Substitute! The Silver Doll is drawing attacks to itself!

Silver got closer to the cell when the attack temporarily ceased and slipped the doll through the bars. Before his arm risked to become an appetizing target, he leapt back with a swift weasel-like zoomie and stood by the side of the cage, waiting for a reaction.

 

[Inkedust]

Steven and Leaf's calls were met with a multitude of reactions. Some approached the bars optimistically, others snarled and hissed and even more retreated further back into their cells. Those who displayed no signs of aggression would perhaps be the easiest to let out and Mav was happy to do just that, trying to pick apart the locks with their beaks.

Tala looked around and brought the lantern closer to one of the prisoners in the former category. A wild skorupi who chittered its mandibles curiously at the kommo-o's visage. "How do we plan on getting the wilds out? Something tells me they won't be as easy to lead out of the tunnels."

The prisoner Silver approached, a scrafty, eyed the sneasel skeptically and when the odd substitute was produced, he immediately struck it down with a blow of dark-energy, a hint of Shadows tinging the edges. "What are yer tryna prove?" he spat. "Don't look like newbie guards ta me. Wait. That ain't Anite, ain't it?"

Before they had any time to answer and consider any further questions, a voice, drenched in Shadow rang out from down the hall.

"Who goes there?"

"Intruders!" growled another. "Sound the alarm! They're gonna be pleased to hear we have new subjects!"

Wingbeats echoed through the darkness and then, the shrill sound of an alarm rung out through the hallway, riling all the caged subjects up. The sounds of footsteps rushed towards the group, quickly revealing to belong to a krokorok with a single eye.

"Oh this is more than gonna make up for that scarf I owe Lesar," the krokorok said with a manic grin. "I'd bet my other eye that had to do with you lot."

Anite spat at the ground. "Why ain't I surprised you had something to do with it, Joe? Yer more pathetic than Ryder."

Mav, however, seemed more fixated on the flying pokémon, a noctowl, now barely visible in the lantern's light. "Don't tell me," M whispered.

"Can't be anyone else. I'd know that voice anywhere," A replied, filled with dread.

"Reno? What happened to you?" V dared to ask.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven worked as quickly as he could, checking names from his list with those prisoners who were able and willing. But there were so many names. And so many cells.

An alarm. And shouting. Steven cursed under his breath.

And now, no more time.

If they could release those he'd already accounted for-- Too late, there was shouting and footsteps; they already had company. Over the sun, the snarl of an angry Aggron could be heard.

Steven turned to catch sight of the new arrivals , and his expression fell. Shadow 'mon, of course.

"Anite?" he called, "You know these guards? How?"

Maybe... If they could keep the guards talking, it could buy them more time. Time to do what though, he wasn't sure. There were so many names...

 

[Hap]

Ridley had never been so grateful to anyone in his life as he was to Luz right now. If he'd had to enter this room before his shadow affliction was lifted, he didn't think he'd have been much use to anyone. The horror of it all would have overwhelmed him.

Now, though, it was... not fine, but manageable. The shock and dismay he felt were less intense, less all-consuming, a tinted window filtering the light rather than a brick wall blocking it out.

"They'll be hurt either way unless we have a means of curing them without opening the cage. I'm simply suggesting that we reduce the amount of effort on our part,"

"No, that's stupid," Ridley said flatly. "The more chaos there is, the more effort there is on our part. If we unleash everybody at once, then even the lucid ones won't know what's going on and will waste more energy panicking and getting in each other's way. At very least we need to tell people what we're doing and figure out an evacuation plan for those who understand enough to follow it, and figure out how we're going to corral and direct the ones who've been shadowed."

As for a cure... Ridley hadn't been a shadow pokemon, not really, but wasn't he proof that radiance could work as some sort of remedy? All they'd need to do was figure out how to apply it properly.

 

[Shadow Serenity]

Gods, what a nightmare. They thought it would be chaos to release all the caged shadows at once? With all the back and forth, it was already chaos in here.

With the glow of Radiance having dimmed, having willed it to settle during the walk, it occurred to Kimiko that they were woefully unprepared for a rescue mission. In her mind's eye, she had seen a simple matter of releasing sober citizens from steel cages and organizing a loud but orderly evacuation while the rest of the Wayfarers dealt with Cipher on the floors somewhere above.

But now that they were here, there were just so many of them! And not just missing citizens, but wild 'mon and half-shadowed 'mon and likely some fully shadowed 'mon, too. How were they going to get those to cooperate?? Even if they were subdued, either by battle or by song... only Steven (and perhaps Leaf) could carry a passenger, and they had to be on the smaller end at that. They needed some plan as to how they were going to go about this.

And then they started shouting.

"Gods, what the fuck are you- no, shhhh, stop, are you trying to draw attention to-"

"Who goes there?"

"Intruders!" growled another. "Sound the alarm! They're gonna be pleased to hear we have new subjects!"

Her frantic hissed whispers in attempt to silence her allies came far too late. Kimiko visibly flinched at the sound of an alarm going off, running her hand down her face. "Great. Perfect. You know, it really was too quiet down here," she muttered under her breath, voice dripping sarcasm.

She crouched low, prepping to hurl some leaves at the krokorok. She would have already, in fact, had the Blaguarro natives not recognized them.

In fact, now that she thought about it, Kimiko recognized the name Joe. One-Eyed Joe, to be exact. They'd heard about him the first time they'd arrived in Blaguarro. (Not counting the squad that Betel accidentally dropped there.)

And then the noctowl - Reno, the dodrio called him.

"You're the missing watchtower guard," she snarled at the owl.

 

[Magyk]

Grace tittered nervously as she looked between their guests and the guards. Stars... she didn't quite understand, but... she'd wait for Anite to explain. For now, she was eyeing the Shadows.

She had no idea how to use Radiance, but... what if she had to try, in the heat of battle, amidst the chaos?

What if she was supposed to use it here, and not doing so would hold her team back? If they failed, they'd be captured, and then they'd just be more people to rescue.

Grace felt ill as she considered her options. Sometimes she just had to make risks and... adapt, right? She and her friends back home were good at adapting.

But... how the heck did she even activate her Radiance in the first place?!

"Woah, hey, let's, um, not start fights we don't need to start, 'kay?" she said nervously. "Can we not... talk it out?"

 

[RJr3:2]

"Stupid... right." Aige's tone was suddenly subdued.

The Roggenrola looked at the shadowy guards disinterestedly. "I didn't get an answer for my question earlier. Guess we'll just throw them all in a jail and hope for the best."

Or maybe I can take care of some of them myself later so it's easier for everyone else.

"Let's just get this over with."

 

[canisaries]

Knowing that Cipher had captured and most likely tortured mon was one thing. Seeing the victims for yourself was another. Andre saw one miserable pokémon after another as he checked through the cages and made mental notes of who seemed like a threat and who didn't, and each one broke his heart all over again. He wanted to personally tell each and every one that things were going to be okay, but there wasn't time. Actions spoke louder than words, anyway.

Then a horrid alarm blared out and two Ciphers, both familiar to the Blaguarro mon, made their entry. They would have to fight. Andre would have to fight. Hell, one of the Ciphers was ground type. He had the type advantage. Though he did also have a disadvantage against the noctowl. Should he stay back and simply boost the others? No. He should attack. The more people attacked, the harder it was for the opponent to dodge. Dammit. He had no idea what he was doing. He had never been into battling. He had never fought. He had only drugged his enemies before they even knew he wanted to hurt them and made sure they couldn't fight back when they awoke. Only once he'd struck a man that wasn't tied up, and that was all he needed to kill him. But he didn't have the element of surprise this time, nor was he up against a mere human...

Wait. They were talking. Maybe he shouldn't be the first to strike. He couldn't see why they bothered to exchange words when it was obvious that they were on opposite sides, but he didn't want to do something the team hadn't agreed on. Well, he could still boost someone. As the snivy looked like she was about to attack before being interrupted, he figured she was his best bet. Silently, he willed energy towards her. That which gave more power. Hopefully that was the right choice.

 

[Cresselia92]

The prisoner Silver approached, a scrafty, eyed the sneasel skeptically and when the odd substitute was produced, he immediately struck it down with a blow of dark-energy, a hint of Shadows tinging the edges. "What are yer tryna prove?" he spat. "Don't look like newbie guards ta me. Wait. That ain't Anite, ain't it?"

Silver quirked a brow and tilted his head, contemplatively. It didn’t seem like the Scrafty was completely overtaken by Shadows, which was… somewhat good, actually? Maybe reversing the shadowing process could be easier or possible with him? Though, they would have needed to cross that bridge only once far away from that slaughterhouse.

“…Oh, huh, nothing. Just wanted to see what you were capable of, that’s all,” he stated frankly, before tapping the lock to test its strength. “I dunno what’s your deal with the Aggron, but I’m gonna bust this thing here, and—”

The sudden yells and blaring alarm made his heart leap into his throat, and the now-Sneasel whirled toward the two guards, letting out a startled hiss and his claws dripping venom.

He glared at the guards as he listened to their exchanges, finding out that the Krokorok knew Anite and Tala, and Mav knew the Noctowl, and that same Noctowl was also someone that Kimiko knew. Somehow.

“Well, isn’t this a small world, after all…” grumbled Silver, glowering back and forth at the two guards while keeping a defensive stance.

Still, that ringing alarm was a concern he couldn’t simply ignore. If he had learned something from various spy movies and Team Rocket’s obsession with their Persian statues slash alarm system, it was that soon they would have had to deal with much more than just a duo of shadowed guards and a bunch of panicked prisoners.

They needed to do something about that situation. Immediately!

Focusing deeply, he reached out for Betel and asked them to send a message to his nearby companions:

Hey. Listen up! I’m gonna buy y’all as much time as I can by distracting these fellas, and even pick a fight with ‘em and whoever arrives if I have to! Some of you might help me keep ‘em busy while the others work in releasing the prisoners, okay?

…I’m counting on you. C’mon, guys! We can and will rescue these people!

“…Hmph. Yeah, gotta agree with Anite here. You’re either really pathetic or really stupid.”

Silver flashed a haughty smirk, aiming to press as many buttons as he could. If he could get on the nerves of half of Johto, then maybe he could pull off the same feat with a bunch of shadowed — and as such more emotionally volatile — folks.

“Tch! D’you really think you’ve got the advantage because you’ve got fancy shadow powers? Ha! Think again, losers, because…” He latched onto his spite to bring out the darkness inside his heart, making a faint shadowy aura flare around his body, and he pointed his claw at the Krokorok. “Three can play the same game, punks! And I’m so gonna enjoy wiping your idiotic smirks off your faces and make you two bite the dust!”

Silver used Shadow Taunt! Ouchie!! Beware of the edge!

 

[Inkedust]

The sound of the alarm cut of any fledgling conservation any of the Wayfarers tried to have with the prisoners. It seemed that they would need to find a way to cut it before anything else could be done.

Anite looked at the metang with a huff. "The snivy's got it, they're locals. Probably sold themselves out for safety. At least I know what happened to our night watchmon now."

"I didna sell anything out!" Reno hissed, his feathers puffing out defensively. "You were just late!"

"The fuck was I supposed to know where you ended up?" cried A. "How do ya even ambush a flier underground?"

Reno ignored him for the moment to acknowledge Grace, almost considering her words. There was a good chance of talking him down if the group could keep composure, however, Silver's taunting quickly shut the door on that possibility for now. The noctowl screeched and rushed to strike the sneasel with a wing.

One-Eyed Joe, on the other hand, was more than happy to rush down the group. "That the best yer got, girlie?" he taunted as he rushed through Kimiko's attack - though his grin was slightly strained as the attack did sting with Andre's help. "Pah! Wastes of my time, you though," he pointed at Silver with a claw. "I like you, how 'bout you ditch these losers and get on the winning side?"

"Time's up!" declared Tala, cracking her knuckles. "Anite, you handle Reno, I'm gonna help these kids out with Joe, over there." The kommo-o stepped between Joe and Silver to land a meaty gutpunch as Anite tried to swipe at Reno with her tail, the bird just narrowly avoiding the attack.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Sonora slipped into the room's cracks and corners the second the alarm went off, pulling up her Stealth Scarf wild rag around her muzzle. She reached for her bandolier and cracked an Invisify Orb, further quieting her movement. Hone Claws; Protean; Dark. She mapped the position of the witching beasts – the guards, the locals – in her head. Noctowl Reno; Krokorok Joe.

Always have a plan.

If you don't have a plan, improvise.

Grass for Ground; Thunder for Flight. That was plan enough.

Sonora began to climb the containment cells.