Ever followed the transformed Ditto with great haste, hurriedly sending Nyx telepathic images and instructions as they went. A rough layout of the base unfolded in the Ever's mind—its "mind's eye," as it was. Human beings were such visually-oriented creatures—they often forgot that not everyone perceived their environment in the same way, that human vision was in actuality so very limited.
'Left,' the Starmie projected. Nyx quickly swerved to the left, dodging the line of sight of a small, embedded security camera. 'More left. Now keep straight. Left again. Right.'
Together they navigated through the base's security measures, weaving their way past cameras, tripwires, sensors, guards. There were a few times when Nyx nearly paused to prank a passing officer or two, but Ever managed to keep the Ditto under control. It helped that Coriander dropped in on their conversations once or twice to basically yell at them for "messing around."
A metal door, painted with a soft sheen in the weak light. The two Pokémon paused. After a brief mental exchange, they scuttled up the side of the wall and perched in a blind spot just above the frame.
'Wait for it…' Ever murmured. Nyx—still a tiny black blob—wobbled a bit in acknowledgement.
The door slid open, and a man in a Gambit uniform emerged. Secure in their inconspicuous size, Ever and Nyx slipped through the closing gap without notice. A resounding thud echoed down the corridors as the door shut. They were in.
Cages. Rows and rows of cages. The electric kind, from the look of them—the ones that shocked anything that touched the cage walls. They lined the room in towering stacks, each featuring Pokémon in varying degrees of tattered health. It was like an ugly, twisted kind of gallery, the way everything was showcased to the bare bones. Stark and raw.
Familiar pink bloomed in the smudge of black, and Nyx was back in its regular form. The Ditto stared at its surroundings with uncharacteristic grimness, the customary ever-present smile on its face conspicuously absent.
Ever drifted closer. 'You okay there, Nyx?'
Nyx continued to stare. 'Yeah. I wasn't…I mean, I didn't expect…' It frowned, and then shook itself before once again facing Ever. And then, like flipping a switch, the usual mischievous smile was back on its face. 'It's gonna be real fun blowing this place up,' Nyx said happily. 'Alrighty, boss, what's next?'
Ever headed toward a second door at the end of the room. It was smaller, thinner, and a lot more unassuming than the thick heavyset metal one they'd passed earlier. 'This way. And ditch the green, will you? You're too visible right now.'
'Pink,' Nyx corrected, following Ever and transforming as they went. 'I'm pink, my sightless friend.'
'Whatever.'
There were a surprisingly small amount of people manning the control room. Not that either Ever or Nyx were complaining.
In one swift movement, the Starmie un-Minimized and launched itself forward, hitting the first Gambit point-blank with a Confuse Ray. She promptly collapsed to the ground, spouting gibberish. Alarmed, her companion gave a start and reached over for a communication device; Ever immediately whirled around and downed him as well. Nyx gave Ever a grin before trundling over to search the officers' pockets. On the ground, the female Gambit began to laugh shrilly in between unintelligible jabberings. Her male partner was flailing under his chair in odd, jerky motions.
'Hey, Nyx,' said Ever, 'do your thing, will you?'
'One moment,' Nyx giggled. The Ditto had found a black felt-tip marker and was gleefully giving the babbling woman a mustache. Classic "angry Jigglypuff" style.
'Oy, we don't exactly have a lot of time here,' Ever prodded, and then sighed dramatically. 'Dammit, Nyx, why is it that being with you always brings out the stick-in-the-mud in me? Seriously. You're, like, turning me into Coriander the Second.'
Nyx pouted and blew a raspberry. 'You just can't handle my awesomeness,' the Ditto said mock-pompously, before finishing the mustache with a weird-looking flourish. The woman now vaguely resembled something out of a horror film. 'Right, then. Stand back—'
Nyx stretched and twisted, and an instant later a perfect copy of their teammate, Percieve, stood in its place. Floating over to the Gambit officers, the pseudo-Musharna tilted its head, allowing tendrils of dream-mist to waft towards them. Hypnosis.
Seconds later, the Gambits were completely asleep.
'Good,' Ever said approvingly. 'Now, these computers have access to the entire power grid and more; Transform into a Porygon, and then we can hack into—'
'I can't do that.'
'…Huh?'
'I've never seen a Porygon before. Can't Transform into something I haven't recorded.'
Ever sputtered. 'You—but I thought—the White Forest Incident—?'
Nyx-in-Percy-form blinked. 'I got knocked out early, remember?'
Silence.
Ever's arms drooped. '…Drat. Well, okay. Plan B, then. Which electric types d'you have in your arsenal?'
Nyx's grin on Percy's face was a deeply disturbing image that ought to never, ever happen again. 'Electric, huh? Now we're talking.'
Lerraine half-listened as Phero began to ask Noland a question, only to be abruptly interrupted by their third teammate.
"How much further is it, anyways?" came Yamamoto's voice. Loud. Grating. Overly obnoxious. Noland made a great show of rolling his eyes—and as a result completely missed any sign of the tiny, departing Pokémon. Lerraine almost smiled. A brat though he may be, Ren Yamamoto was also surprisingly perceptive at times. Phero was looking pretty annoyed, though—it was pretty apparent that any semblance of teamwork had dipped back down to nonexistent levels. Ah, well. Couldn't win everything.
Noland coughed irritably. "Eh, don't get yer knickers in a twist, princess. Meeting room's 'round the corner, see—"
The tunnel curved at a slight bend to the right, and there it was—a wide, squat, rectangular entrance. Noland went over and tapped something into a small metal keypad; a hiss, and the entrance gave way. Bright light poured in from the interior; it seemed that the meeting room was both spacious and well-lit, and—as Lerraine's eyes adjusted—possessed an odd dichotomy of cave-like structure and modern furnishing. The floor, walls and ceiling was comprised of a sheer expanse of bedrock; meanwhile, the center of the conference room boasted a large, smooth table, complete with accompanying decorative plants and a glossy, checkerboard design. Gambit officers flanked the table, both motionless and expressionless. At the far head of the table was a smartly-dressed man with a tinted glasses and checkerboard gloves. The Chessmaster, most likely.
Now, this was all very nice, but there was something decidedly odd about the entire setup—the situation just didn't feel right. Granted, they hadn't exactly been attacked yet, and no Pokémon were present on the Gambits' side. But there were far too many people, much more than necessary for a negotiation like this…
"Members of the esteemed Team Catalyst," proclaimed the man at the head of the table as he rose grandly from his seat. "It is my honor to greet you here today as the leader of the King's Gambit. Welcome, my friends, and do take a seat…"