Pokemon Max: Universal Delete

Part 8 Delete

"Reinforcements?" The Buneary asked in a very cute voice.

I shook my head. "I dunno, I've got a feeling it's not..." I had barely finished the statement when a loud courts of whirring echoed around us. The robots lurched slightly, and Jacob stumbled back, barely managing to keep his balance.

"Well now I hear them." He grunted.

After another brief moment, a sound of static filled the room, with the frequency of the crackling changing as if adjusting. Just as quickly as it built, a radio-sounding, echo-y voice sounded, seeming to emit from every single one of the machines.

"Hello? Hello, is this thing on?" Dark said, nearly deafening all of us as he spoke. "Must be. Sorry, still getting used to this clunky tech. I wish I could use something better, but I guess I should be happy with what I could get."

I growled. I didn't care if he would be able to hear me, but I shouted, "What's going on here?"

It turned out he could. "What's going on is a little setup to slow you down. Sure, these robots were decommissioned. But when you've got my kind of...influence, it's not hard to find someone to fix stuff. I also got some people to set up a few other things, like this audio transmission, or the thing that's about to keep you trapped in here."

We all quickly turned around to look at the entrance, and saw a strange device lowering from the roof of the cave. It was a considerable size, and when set in front of the entrance, completely blocked it off. There was a large metallic base about the height of a person, and very wide. A large sphere hovered over the base. It glowed, adding new light to the cave, and a faint hum could be heard from it.

"Crap. What is that thing?" Carter muttered.

Jacob shook his head. "I really don't like the look of it."

"It's a bomb, in layman's terms. A very special energy bomb, that will vaporize you in...I think two minutes? Something like that. There's no going back. If you want out, you'll have to get through the veritable army that's standing in front of you."

I had had enough. "What do you have to gain from this!?"

"Simple." He replied. "When I use Jirachi to obtain the power to destroy the world you love, I'd rather not have to waste any of it defeating you fools. Have fun figuring this one out. I have a Pokemon to find."

The robots stopped transmitting his voice, and they sat there, as if waiting for us to do something.

Jacob swallowed. "This isn't good. I don't think we can expect to make it past all of these things."

Carter growled softly. "We have to. Not much choice."

I was silent. I looked around the room, desperately looking for some kind of answer. This section of the cave had large amounts of stalactites hanging from the ceiling, but they were sizable and sturdy. I doubted anything could shake them loose. The robots would surely begin fighting if we tried to advance. There was no way back.

I almost didn't notice the Jack the Vaporeon until he leaped up onto my shoulder. "Sorry about this. No choice."

"What?" I asked as he jumped off of me and onto the device. As he approached the sphere, his fur stood on end. "What are you doing?"

He shrugged. "I'll be honest...I don't have a damn clue." And then he jumped on top of the sphere.

"What the hell!?" Carter yelled. The Vaporeon screamed. It was a scream unlike anything I had heard. There was so much genuine pain. It struck me, leaving me paralyzed to the spot.

Jacob stepped forward quickly. "Give me your hand! You don't have to-"

"No!" He yelled, pausing to wince in tremendous pain. "I...you have to let me do this!"