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Steph absently rubbed her back. "If you stay quiet, we may be able to escape with minimal detection." Steph quietly told Seth.

Fortunately, just as she had hoped, there was an elevator around the corner. She gestured to Seth before heading towards it and pressing the button to go down. She heard the whisk of a broom---Pittsworth and Seatton---from nearby. Can't you be any faster, elevator?

The door opened. Steph intended to rush in, but there was one obstacle: three Team Lotus members chattering jovially in the vestibule.

After biting Seth, (more out of frustration from being suddenly pulled aside than ill will) Steph sprinted behind a wall and pressed herself against it. Perhaps it was exaggeratedly spy-movie-like, but it was not like anyone was judging her for how serious her hiding attempts were.
The Lotus members shuffled out of the elevator, still talking about visitors, (by then the conversation had shifted to household visitors which overstayed their welcome) and passed Seth and Steph by without notice. Once they were sufficiently far away, Steph, with some effort on being quiet, walked towards the elevator.
-_-_-_-
Great, he's gone...or not so great. Now I might not know where he went until it is too late, Lepida thought. Lepida tapped a button on a device to the side of a door.

STATE YOUR NAME, a mechanical voice from the device demanded.

"Lepida."

PLEASE RESTATE NAME.

Lepida sighed. Voice recognition technology still could not distinguish 'recognize speech' from 'wreck a nice beach.' Still, she dutifully stated her name again, this time pronouncing it slowly and clearly.

She turned the knob of the door and entered the room. The room was overly bright and clinical, despite the purple-hued bulb glass's attempts at casting a calmer hue, it was nearly bare, other than a few cables around the corners, prairies of dust, and----the most prominent feature----the huge, Hoenn-model PC in front of her.

Lepida logged into the PC, accessed Team Lotus's collective Pokémon Storage System account, and withdrew a more useful Pokémon. A Psychic-type---typical for the organization, but the commonness was not without reason.

"Seth, I found the door. Well, the stairs. It's the exit, so does it matter?" Steph headed for the stairs opposite the elevator. She did not seem to expect any Team Lotus member would be attacking them at this point.

"Box her in with Light Screen!!" Lepida yelled.

The Pokémon by Lepida's side, a peaceable-looking avian Pokémon with an unusual staff, slid a translucent golden wall towards Steph.

(Had only one super effective move, and 'thrre' should be 'there.')

Steph picked up Seth's pleading expression and successfully guessed the meaning. Sableye is still fainted, and Tiquail is just a tottering baby. That leaves only Normgon.

"Normgon!"

Normgon brandished her leek as she materialized from light. 'Nlikely seemed to smile, and amicably lifted its staff in acknowledgement to the fellow vegetable-weapon-user.

"'Nlikely! Use Fury Cutter to slice that...green one's leek apart!" Clearly---like her mistake with Gyarados and Arbok lengths earlier hinted towards---Lepida did not possess broad knowledge of all Pokémon.

'Nlikely, with a bit of regret on its face but no delay, jumped over to Normgon, its talons glowing light green. "Buffet it with---" Steph started to say, but her counter-maneuver command was not swift enough. A crack split the air as 'Nlikely's raised talons sliced apart Normgon's leek. A slightly spicy, celery-like scent effused the hall, and Normgon, wide-eyed, looked at her broken leek.

"[You-ah...you-ah...]" Normgon started to say, stuttering with stress and shock. Then she gained her composition back, and glared at the 'Nlikely. "[YOU BUMMAH NUMB SKAHT WEARIN'---]!" Steph, thinking that Normgon's stream of verbal abuse could delay her response to future attacks if continued, gave a command. "Buffet 'Nlikely with Yawn!"

(For Flarsable: Translated Pokémon speech is in brackets.)

(and sliced, not ad sliced, unless 'Nlikely was slicing through a floating pop-up)

Normgon, leek broken, had no weapon to parry 'Nlikely's slashes with. She grit her teeth as 'Nlikely swung, battering across her belly and shoulders. Each Fury Cutter was weak, but it had a cumulative effect on her. The rapid-fire strikes struck Normgon before Steph was able to think of an attack, but soon 'Nlikely's barrage of blows became more sluggish as the effects of Yawn began to set.

It didn't help that Normgon had such a limited moveset. "Normgon! Use Scratch to disarm it!"

"[Now you-ah goin' down.]" Normgon almost spat out her 'Norm's. Her claws glowed white, and with apparent malice, she let the bright coat extend even more than usual. Half-spinning, she thrust her knife-like claws towards the staff to knock it away.

Surprisingly, Lepida seemed to have a purse beneath her pink robes. "Finally! My wake-up medicine!"

However, Steph was not going to politely pause to let Lepida apply the Awakening (which she apparently used for herself...was that even safe?) on the 'Nlikely.

"Normgon! Your leek's broken, so use its staff-leek as a weapon!" Steph was not sure if it would work, but Scratch was too weak and slow, and 'Nlikely might naturally awaken at any moment.

Normgon grabbed the dropped weapon and staggered from its heft---it was disproportionately big and heavy for her. She struggled to keep it from toppling, her tiny blue wings beating, apparently for balance, as she hoisted it. Steph was a little surprised she was even able to hold it upright.

"Now swing it towards the bird Pokémon!" Steph hoped that Normgon attacking 'Nlikely in close range would also ward off Lepida.

Normgon clung onto the staff for only a second before being thrown aside. Limp, she skidded on the linoleum.

"Norm..."

"Normgon! Return!"

Steph clicked Normogon's Ball back onto her belt. Could Tiquail fight? She didn't really remember if Tiquail was in fighting condition at the moment. In any case, it had been some time since she had visited a Pokémon Center, and for all she knew, Team Lotus had not healed her Pokémon.

"Seth! Can you handle Lepida?" She hoped Seth had remembered the plan: that she would escape, find the police, and bust this shady organization. Ideally---especially since they were so close to the exit---Seth would come along too, but Steph doubted Lepida would be so inept as to let both of them escape.

Radiating a green, plantlike aura, Rotor grew. It seemed about twice its previous size now.

"Use Peck." Lepida commanded plainly. It wasn't necessary to add frills.

'Nlikely dropped its staff, churned its wings, and made a rather un-sage-like bobbing of its head. A light blue, glowing cone extended from its beak.

"Make it a one-hit KO, er...my bird Pokémon," Lepida added. (as she did not know or remember 'Nlikely's name) She guessed (from Steph's sudden sprint towards the exit) that she planned to make her escape, and she did not want Seth to give Steph adequate time by battling her.

'Nlikely built up its beak-cone to lance-like proportions, struggling to hold it upright. "Now!"

With a wing clutching the base of the cone in a haphazard attempt to balance it, 'Nlikely rushed (or, more precisely, waddled under the weight of its beak) towards Rotor.

Meanwhile, Steph was ascending the stairs.

'Nlikely---forgetting in the moment it had dropped its staff---made as if to fend off Rotor with it. Its revelation came too late, and Rotor bashed into it. It squawked, and dizzily fell backwards, smacking its head onto the floor in the process. "Wake up!" Lepida demanded---it was too tough to be felled by a potato-Pokémon. 'Nlikely did not respond.

"Don't make me do this," Lepida growled vaguely, maliciously, lowly and several other adjectives-ly. She reached inside her robe again, glaring at 'Nlikely all the while.

-_-_-_-

Steph felt over the sealed door. It felt rocky enough, with no discernible seals to indicate what it was. What if the police wants evidence of my claims? What if they need to see the base to believe me? What if---if the police will not believe me no matter what I do---I have to come back to rescue Seth alone? While Steph was thinking she was worrying too much, she did realize they were valid concerns. She picked up a nearby stick and tried scratching an identifying pattern into the surface, but only a thudding, grating sound was produced---no mark.

She scanned her environment for anything else that might leave a mark. There! Bluk Berries! On seeing them, she realized how hungry she was, but she stopped herself from eating any---it would only distract her and thus (if she felt like pursuing her) help Lepida. She carefully plucked a few. A fistful was not much, but what did she expect? It was hardly the Bluk berry harvesting season. She pressed the berries and their black juice onto the hidden door, intending to make a pattern too complex and deliberate for a wild Pokémon (well, other than a Smeargle. She hoped none lived in these woods) to produce.

A black swirl at head height. That should be distinctive enough.

Hoping her berry-stained hands would add further credence (note to self: don't wash hands) to her claim, and already regretting all the time she lost, she hurried out.