| Rio POV |
I used to think the worst sound in the world was a Zubat screeching in stereo inside a cave.
I was wrong.
The worst sound in the world is Rotom Dex with no off switch.
"BZZZT! Did you know Silcoon and Cascoon have IDENTICAL stats?! SCIENCE IS WILD!!"
No, Rotom. No one asked. Again.
We're walking through the still-sleepy streets of Rustboro, moonlight bouncing off the pavement, Devon Tower looming like a final boss arena in the distance. The air's heavy with tension. May's still clutching the black 'R' letter like it might bite. Ralts has been pretending to be asleep in her hood for the past fifteen minutes.
Me? I'm just trying to stay sane.
"BZZZT! YOU ARE NOW APPROACHING: DANGER ZONE! Would you like a fun fact about corporate espionage?"
"No," I mutter.
"TOO BAD! BZZZT! In 87.3% of multiverses, any company with a glowing logo has done at least one unethical science crime!"
Roxanne meets us at the corner, dressed in something casual and a little battle-ready, like she's prepping for a midnight raid. She glances at me. At the floating demon tablet orbiting my head.
"...You got a Rotom?"
"It got me," I reply, dead inside.
"HELLO, FUTURE ALLY! DO YOU HAVE AN INTERNAL DATABASE I CAN VIOLATE?"
"Absolutely not," Roxanne says flatly, already regretting this team-up.
May's pace quickens. "Let's just get to the building before I punt this Pokédex into a sewer."
Rotom beeps. "Hate speech detected. Marking you as a hostile civilian. Would you like to be added to my Burn Book?"
"Please do," May grits out.
I sigh and shoot Roxanne a look. "Any chance Devon's fireproof?"
She adjusts her bag, dead serious. "No. But I've got coverage for property damage."
"Cool. Guess we're doing this."
The Devon building waits. Quiet. Pristine. Hiding something awful behind the glass smiles and marble floors.
Rotom buzzes cheerfully: "BZZZT! Time to break and enter! Remember: If you commit a crime in self-defense, is it really illegal?"
This is gonna go great.
"So, do we go in through the front door? I don't think anyone is at the reception," I ask, already bored of standing in the big clearing acting as the mega corpo's front yard. It's way too open. Too exposed. I feel like I'm about to be sniped by stock options.
May eyes the entrance like it personally offended her. "Too easy. It's either locked, alarmed, or leads straight into a security checkpoint with five Wheezings ready to gasthe bottom floor."
"BZZZT! Or it's a trap door into a Magcargo pit!" Rotom chimes. "Fun Fact: Lava is not OSHA compliant!"
"Please never speak again," I mutter, but he's already started doing loop-de-loops around my head again like an evil satellite.
Roxanne taps a discreet panel by a side wall. It beeps. She mutters something under her breath and frowns. "No staff access either. Looks like they changed how stuff works around here."
"What's Plan B?" May asks.
"Backdoor," Roxanne replies. "Literally. There should be an old loading dock they used for transporting shipments before they closed it off for 'hazardous materials testing.' We can probably sneak in through there."
Rotom makes a delighted beeping noise. "HAZARDOUS? I'm great with hazardous!! Let me eat a battery!"
"No," we all say at once.
I squint at the pristine tower. Corporate menace vibes at full blast. "Any idea what we're walking into?"
Roxanne hesitates. "...Not exactly. But if they're using the same protocols as before, then we're looking at biometric security, camera drones, and some prototype containment stuff they got from Silph after its owner sold it off. Could be Pokémon. Could be… other things."
"BZZZT! Maybe it's an Ultra beast!" Rotom blurts, unhelpfully.
I go still. "A What now?"
Ralts shakes her head in disappointment.
May sighs. "You know, the Pokémon dad told us about, the ones that can sometimes come from the rifts?"
"Haha, of course I remember! I was just... Testing you!" I say puffing out my chest
Ralts rolls her eyes. You're not convincing anyone.
I choose to ignore that. "Alright then, lead the way to the haunted loading dock, Captain Roxanne."
She actually smiles a little at that—brief, tired, but genuine. "Follow me. And stay quiet."
We loop around the side of the building. The front's all shiny glass and corporate excess, but the back? Rusted gates, reinforced walls, and faded hazard signs that haven't seen maintenance since Gen 3. A camera blinks once and dies with a quiet fzzzt. Charming.
Rotom gasps. "Is this what stealth feels like? I feel alive! Also I disabled the cameras."
"…Wait, seriously?" I blink.
"Yup! Just don't ask how. Also don't stand near any open wires for a few minutes. Safety first! BZZZT!"
May mutters, "We're gonna get sued so hard."
"Do criminals have the right to sue ? Doubt it" I smirk and walk forward confidently.
The loading dock door is sealed, but not powered. Roxanne pulls a hidden panel off the wall and exposes the manual override. A quick flick of a switch, and the door creaks open with the tortured groan of a thousand rusted souls.
Inside? Pitch black.
Naturally.
Ralts lights a soft glow with Confusion, casting eerie purple shadows across broken crates and metal walls. It smells like chemicals and old coffee. I hate it already.
"Welcome," Rotom whispers dramatically, "to Spooky Basement Adventure Hour!"
May glares at him. "One more word and I'm turning you into a toaster."
"...BZZZT."
We descend into the darkness, one cautious step at a time.
Time to find out what kind of corporate hell Devon's been hiding under the clean marble smiles.
"So, do you think they're the kind of villains that would have their leader waiting at the top floor or in the basement?" I ask after a while of aimless walking.
May hums thoughtfully. "Depends. If they're the dramatic kind, top floor—glass office, evil monologue, view of the city they plan to corrupt. Real Bond villain vibes."
"If they're practical," Roxanne adds, stepping over a broken forklift, "they're in the basement with all the servers, locks, and things that go boom. Easier to escape from if something goes wrong."
"BZZZT! Why not both? Evil twin in the basement, clone decoy up top! Double boss fight!"
"Why are you like this?" I ask, genuinely concerned.
Rotom attempts a shrug mid-flight and ends up doing an accidental barrel roll into a crate. "Dramatic flair! And trauma, probably!"
The hallway flickers with low emergency lights, casting everything in seizure-inducing orange flashes. It's like walking through a dying arcade.
"I vote basement," I say. "Easier to blow up from underneath if we need to."
Ralts pauses and gives me a look like please do not blow up a building.
"No promises,"
May groans. "I can't believe I'm risking my life for this party of war criminals."
I smirk. "You love us."
"I tolerate you. Barely."
"BZZZT! That's the spirit!" Rotom cheers, then zaps a wall socket. Sparks fly. Something explodes in the distance.
"…That wasn't important, right?" May asks.
Roxanne winces. "...We'll find out soon enough."
We keep walking.
Whatever's waiting down here, we're getting close.
Word count: 1192
Rotom has been alive for less than two chapters and has already committed approximately seven OSHA violations, one felony, and a war crime in spirit.
MC: I told you I want this.
Look, it was the wheel. Blame RNG. I just write the chaos.