Weavile fired an Ice Beam across the ground in front of Evergreen, cutting off the spreading flames.
The blast had already left the second-floor laboratory on the verge of collapse. Enduring the agonizing pain, Evergreen forced himself to his feet. Weavile used another quick Ice Beam to freeze over a glass shard embedded in his chest, numbing the wound.
Evergreen gasped at the sting, but he didn't have the luxury of worrying about it now.
The second-floor railing had been completely blown away. All he had to do was walk to the edge to see what had become of the laboratory below.
A massive crater had torn through the entire lower level. Beneath it, a sea of flames raged. Several people, their bodies engulfed in fire, writhed and screamed in agony. Many more were swallowed by the inferno in an instant, their cries cut short forever.
It hadn't been a single explosion. There had been three. That was what Weavile, who had just burst out of its Poké Ball, conveyed to Evergreen.
The entire Underground Mine Base had descended into total chaos. Thick, choking smoke spread through every corridor. Before long, this place would become a living hell.
Evergreen's mind was in complete disarray as he desperately tried to figure out what had happened.
The twenty-six old Leaders were unquestionably dead. The source of the explosion had clearly been beneath the laboratory floor. This had been planned from the very beginning. The goal was to kill every single Leader.
If he hadn't gone up to the second floor just to enjoy the feeling of looking down on everyone else, he never would have survived.
'Who? Who the hell would do something like this?'
As furious as Evergreen was, even he had never intended to wipe out all those old Leaders. They held the greatest secrets the Hodgepodge Organization had accumulated since its founding. Those Amplification Devices were revolutionary inventions; their importance couldn't have been more obvious.
Now that all the old Leaders were dead... who benefited?
Even though Mira had already reported that the intruders were carrying Amplification Devices, Evergreen still refused to accept the obvious answer and desperately searched for other possibilities.
The Pokémon League?
Impossible. The Pokémon League would never use such underhanded methods to wipe out the Hodgepodge Organization. No matter how much they hated the organization's crimes, they would never resort to massacring everyone with explosives.
Then who else? Another hostile organization?
There weren't supposed to be any active organizations left in Sinnoh. Team Galactic had long since been reduced to a pack of strays, running from that International Police officer Looker every single day.
Another region...?
The do-gooders from Unova shouldn't have any reason to come all the way here. The two sides had never even crossed paths.
Zero?
Evergreen froze.
"No... No, that's impossible!" he gritted out, instantly rejecting the absurd thought.
Leader Zero had founded the Hodgepodge Organization with his own hands. How could he possibly destroy everything he had built?
For the sake of the Amplification Devices, Leader Zero had spent twenty years pouring endless resources into the project. He had handled everything with painstaking care. He treated those decaying old men like priceless treasures, and even when searching for successors, he did everything he could to satisfy their wishes.
How could Leader Zero possibly do something like this?
Evergreen released his Machamp, which was equipped with a Type-2 Amplifier. With one punch, Machamp smashed through the main door, which had jammed after the power failed.
Beyond the doorway, thick smoke filled the air. The entire underground base was blocked by rubble from the explosions.
Many of the Pokémon that the Hodgepodge Organization had captured for experiments sensed the danger. Desperate, they smashed open their cages and scattered in search of an escape.
Countless organization members were knocked flying or attacked by the panicked Pokémon. Even more had been buried beneath falling debris the moment the explosions began.
Of everyone in the base, fewer than one in ten were still able to move.
"Mira! Mira, answer me!" Evergreen roared, panting heavily into his communicator.
"Why are you yelling so loud? I can hear you! I'm busy here, so hurry up and spit it out!" The noise on Mira's end was deafening. It sounded like she was in the middle of a brutal battle.
"Tell me what's happening outside! Hurry!"
Machamp and Hitmonlee worked together, using their moves to clear a path through the fallen rubble. But the smoke kept getting thicker. Evergreen felt like he could barely breathe. Even his Pokémon could sense the lack of oxygen, and their strength was already beginning to fade.
"There are too many of them! You and your trusted people can't hold them back! Everyone's fighting one against many now. My Pokémon are strong, but they can't keep this up much longer… Ah!"
Mira's sharp cry made Evergreen's heart skip a beat.
Despite being injured, Mira didn't cry out in pain. Instead, she asked curiously, "So, how's it going down there? How are you holding up?"
"The whole place is full of smoke. I can barely see where I'm going, and the fire's getting worse. How do you think I'm doing?"
Before he could finish speaking, another section of the ceiling collapsed right beside him. If Hitmonlee hadn't reacted instantly and shattered the falling rocks with a kick, Evergreen would already have been buried alive.
"That's great to hear."
Evergreen thought he'd misheard. What had Mira just said?
"I stayed behind and kept fighting this whole time just to see whether you lived or died. It's a shame you're still alive, but hearing that you're having such a miserable time feels amazing!" Mira's voice was dripping with spite. "If you hadn't set me up, my life wouldn't have turned out like this. Heaven's watching. I hope something terrible happens to you."
With that, Mira pressed her palms together in mock prayer.
After her Gengar released a thick cloud of Black Mist, the people fighting Mira suddenly realized she had vanished. Their leader flew into a rage and immediately ordered a squad to chase after her and make sure she was finished off.
Evergreen couldn't even be poured to curse anymore. The chaotic noise and screams coming from the communicator Mira had left active told him he needed to move faster.
With the help of Machamp, Hitmonlee, and Weavile, Evergreen finally made it back to his private quarters. Seeing that his room hadn't been touched by the explosions, he let out a long sigh of relief.
He entered the small room where the video communication equipment was kept and had Machamp shove the heavy machine aside. Behind it lay a hidden tunnel, just tall enough for one person to squeeze through.
It wasn't exactly a new plan. Like Oleander, suspicion was simply a part of Evergreen's nature. If a place he stayed in for long periods didn't have a concealed escape route, he could never feel at ease.
The tunnel, dug by a Dugtrio, was smooth and level. Evergreen recalled Machamp and Hitmonlee, leaving only Weavile to guard him.
As he walked through the tunnel with his head lowered, he clenched his fists. He had completely calmed down, but he still couldn't understand why Leader Zero had done this.
Wasn't this completely destroying the Hodgepodge Organization? Why had he founded it in the first place?
He had spent so many years lying low, never openly provoking the Pokémon League, always avoiding attention while pouring everything into developing the Amplification Devices. He had even planted dozens of people inside the Pokémon League, yet he had never activated a single one of them, leaving every sleeper agent dormant.
What had he been trying to accomplish?
No matter what, Evergreen didn't think he had lost just yet. As long as the truth about Leader Zero slaughtering the other Leaders became public, how could the rest of the Hodgepodge Organization continue to follow him?
He hadn't lost. He still had a chance to turn everything around.
For some reason, though, Evergreen suddenly remembered something Leader Zero had said when he had once suggested using public opinion to gradually influence the world.
"You don't understand the Hodgepodge Organization. And you don't understand the Pokémon League."
That had been Leader Zero's answer.
'(End of Chapter)'
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