The tangy odour of unidentified meat soup filled the prison's corridor. According to Amber's scratches, it should have been mashed potato, which was easier to throw. It was too late to communicate with Trip to postpone their escape. Mayson delivered soup to Amber and Bianka. Then Draven. Then the other tourists. Then Trip. Amber's heart hammered. She felt dizzy. Trip had been trapped in a cell for how long now? She didn't even know. Could he still throw so accurately? Especially sitting down...
Mayson turned. He began to walk. Come on, Trip! Maybe he'd decided to wait, but what if Draven or the tourists still tried? Bianka whispered.
'Maybe he's got too weak. It's understandable...'
Something tapped. Scraped. Was he on his crutches? Was that a good idea? Or was he just trying to signal to Draven? Maybe...
The toilet pipe flew. Amber held her breath. It sailed in a flawless line. Mayson yelped. The heavy steel clunked into his skull. Draven's pipe followed. He fell. His flailing limbs stilled. He was unconscious. Amber found herself smiling for the first time in what felt like years. As sharp as I noticed your Poké Ball throw was the first time I saw you battle. Oh, the irony... the irony that both she and Trip believed her affection was temporary, that she too wondered if she was gay, most recently because of the girl she shared her cell with; that she casually questioned whether they'd even stay in touch once the novelty faded. Yet now it was long gone and in its place was a warm, fuzzy and unfamiliar feeling that was as disconcerting as it was comforting, because it was so unplanned and uncontrollable.
I've gone and fallen in love with him, haven't I?
As impulsive as she'd become, she was simultaneously as cautious as ever, because she meticulously planned how her impulsiveness might unfold. She hoped to confirm she was gay, that whatever she felt for Trip was down to the thrill of fulfilling a rough and wild Orrean fantasy she imagined in front of the TV, years before it was inconveniently endangered by the realistation she wasn't straight. At first, when she felt nothing kissing him, she thought it was all going to plan... but something changed. Since then, her plans were foiled at every turn.
This wasn't the time for that. She had to think on her feet, not rely on plans that worked in her head but crumbled in reality. The elderly tourist, Quinn, reached for Mayson's keys. She unlocked her own cell and made her way down the corridor. Her husband, a local isolated in a separate cell after he attacked Znider, rushed to embrace her.
'Later, Cyle. These kids need to get out, now.'
Stepping out of the cell was unexpectedly emotional. Freedom so close, yet so far away... Amber yanked the Ultra Ball off Mayson's belt.
'I feel a bit bad, but maybe don't join Cipher next time, mate.'
Draven stripped him of his uniform. It fit him perfectly. He locked the unconscious body in his cell.
'Amber!'
Trip's voice was hoarse. 'Get the uniforms and go!'
Amber jogged to the cloakroom. There were more Poké Balls in Mayson's bag... but only two uniforms in lockers.
'You take them,' Quinn insisted, ignoring Cyle's protests, 'You have your whole lives ahead of you.'
Bianka and Amber hurriedly pulled the baggy uniforms over their dirty clothes. Amber was almost afraid to look at Trip. How badly had he hurt himself to write that note?
Well, that's what this adventure is about. Facing the things that scare me.
She tentatively approached. He still wore a hospital gown. The wound was actually bandaged. He was the only prisoner who didn't stink, because he was allowed to wash when the doctor wheeled him off to the lab's hospital. His eyes were exasperated.
'Go! For fuck's sake, go!'
'But I can't just leave you!'
'You must!'
The elevator beeped. Everyone froze. The doors slid open. Znider held his headset. He clearly expected the visit to be peaceful, because he was only accompanied by two Peons. Before it registered that he wasn't looking at three guards, Amber tackled him. Trip's soup flew at the Peons. Quinn and Draven pinned their arms to prevent them reaching for Poké Balls. The headset clattered to the floor. Znider scrambled to recover it. Amber snatched it first, whacking him in the face as she flung her boot into his crotch. Bianka ripped off his bum bag. He cursed. His Pokémon were inside. Fuelled by rushing adrenaline, Amber slammed his head against the hard floor until he was unconscious. Trip struggled by on his crutches. As one of the Peons began to overpower Quinn, Trip hurled the toilet pipe over their heads and into his temple. He slumped to the floor. Amber whacked the remaining Peon with the headset as Bianka dragged Znider's body into their cell. She emptied his pockets. There was a wallet, two P★DAs and keys.
Amber frantically gestured to the unconscious Peons. 'Trip! Take one of their uniforms!'
'No! They'll recognise two broken legs! Go!'
'Don't wait for us,' Quinn said, 'We'll follow if we can. Please, girls, Draven. Go.'
Draven swiped his stolen key card. The elevator's doors opened. He breathed out palpable relief. Bianka whispered an apology to Trip and followed him in. Amber hesitated.
'What's wrong with you?!' Trip roared, 'You'll get Bianka and Draven killed! For fuck's sake, go!'
'I can't... I can't just leave you! I'm carrying your child and – and...'
What I want to say is that I love you, or at least I think I do, but...
'And we're – together!'
'Then it's over! I don't want anything to do with you or your kid! Now go! I don't love you! Go fuck Bianka!'
Amber winced. Bianka's gloved hand closed around her wrist, tugging her into the elevator. Tears spilled down Amber's cheeks. In the split second before the doors shut, she saw his fierce scowl dissolve, but that wasn't what she remembered. His words were so convincingly hateful she believed them. She didn't hear his strangled sobs as Quinn knelt to hug him, rocking him like a helpless baby.
'I love her... I love her even if she'll never love me... but I had to say... something... anything... to make her go...'
'I know. I could see that. One day, she'll see it, too.'
'But it'll be too late...'
He was inconsolable. Quinn didn't know what to say or do. Cyle offered to try to carry Trip, though he wasn't sure he could, but they began to get the feeling he didn't want to go. That for some reason he wanted, or believed he deserved, to rot away in this secluded hell. Mayson stirred. They ran.
The lab looked different through Amber's metallic visor. She was no longer sure of the way out. A yawning Peon nodded at them. Another thought Draven was a colleague. He asked if he'd see him at tonight's basketball game. Draven's accent was Kalosian. He didn't dare reply.
'Hey! Did that Loudred deafen you, too?!'
A different voice spoke. 'What Loudred?'
'That crazy Galarian chick let out a Shadow Loudred. She couldn't hear for two days!'
The prisoners knew they had to stay calm. Their footsteps still quickened. Amber couldn't stop her heart's violent hammering. The corridor spun. This floor's fresher air made her dizzy... though it wasn't just that. It was how brutally Trip's words jolted her.
'Peeeee-uw! Hope you guys are on your way to the showers.'
A scientist shook her head. Amber nervously laughed, because they had to respond sooner or later. They kept walking. The scientist's voice followed them.
'Hey, seriously... you know the briefing begins in five minutes, right?'
Bianka was the only one with an Orrean accent. She turned.
'Don't worry – even Kof wants us to shower. Those battles... damn.'
She'd heard one of the Peons using Znider's first name, Kof. It satisfied the scientist. She chuckled and walked on. Amber glanced back. No-one else was looking. Most were in the meeting room already. She swiped Znider's key card to unlock a fire exit. Please, because it's Znider's card, don't set an alarm off...
They were out. The sky was clear blue. It was late afternoon. The dry desert wind was as refreshing as the most glorious sea breeze. No alarm sounded. Amber longed to toss aside her helmet, but she didn't dare, not yet. Bianka spotted Peons waving atop a cliff in Fool's Gold Regional Park. They waved back.
'They're the guys who caught me!' Draven hissed, 'We can't walk. We need to find a car.'
They wandered, trying not to walk too fast, to the parking lot. Amber's eyes focused on a licence plate with an Abomasnow frame: KOF-682.
'Znider's car! We've got the keys... haven't we?'
The blue SUV was surprisingly ordinary. Bianka rummaged in the bum bag. She pulled out car keys and what appeared to be a house key, jingling on an 'I ❤︎ Motostoke' keyring. Bianka nervously pressed the button. They all breathed sighs of relief when the doors clicked. Draven still had his driving licence. Amber and Bianka climbed into the back.
Znider's been to Motostoke. So Alfie or Ardos, or both, are involved somehow. But does that mean...?
'If you ladies don't mind, I'm calling my mom and getting on the first flight to Lumiose City.'
Bianka nodded. 'OK. They won't expect us to go to Phenac. I can drive, wherever we go next.'
'Wait!' Amber exclaimed, to groans from her friends who assumed she was about to mention Trip, 'Our Pokémon!'
'We can't, Amber,' Bianka said gently, 'We can go back to that cell now and save no-one, or we can promise we'll come back when we're stronger.'
'But...'
It was too late. Draven drove. The car rumbled over uneven ground. When they joined Highway 1, they relaxed. Bianka sniffled.
'I can't believe it. I thought I was going to die.'
Amber removed her helmet. She wrestled to peel off her sweaty uniform. The bum bag was between them. She took the two P★DAs out. One wasn't customised at all. The other must have been his personal one, because a woman and child smiled from the wallpaper. Amber punched in the only number she remembered off the top of her head. It was Zane's. Beeeeep... beeeeep... please pick up, someone, please... beeeeep...
'Hello?'
'Zane! Zane, it's me!'
'Amber! Oh my gosh, Amber, where are you?! We're literally on our way to the lab right now!'
'Turn back! We've escaped! We're heading for–'
They were cut off. The P★DA locked. She fumbled for the other one, but that was already locked, too. Amber felt sick to her stomach.
'They already know.'