For about fifteen minutes, they moved in the vague direction Team Umbra had ran. The northwest path they had taken had led them into the vast wastelands that covered the north of Griffonstone, an expansive mess of bare rock and sand. Barely anypony ever dared venture into this inhospitable waste, because the risks posed by getting lost and by dangerous pokémon lurking in the sand were great, and there was little to make the risk worthwhile.
After awhile, Pidgeotto came soaring over the hills. Rainbow held her foreleg aloft, allowing Pidgeotto to roost on her hoof. "Good work Pidgeotto." Rainbow ruffled the feathers on Pdgeotto's head, offering her a berry from her bag. "Now show us where they went."
Pidgeotto took wing again, flying lower and slower so that the mares could follow. Pidgeotto led them into the large network of cliffs and crags that stretched across the horizon to the north. The cliffs were riddled with caves and crevices, many of which ran deep into the face of the rock. Finally, Pidgeotto alighted near one such cave, squawking urgently at it.
"This the place Pidgeotto?"
Pidgeotto nodded, gesturing her wing toward the cavern. Rainbow put Pidgeotto back into her pokéball, gazing into the dark cave. "Alright gang, let's go."
"Is everypony ready?" Twilight asked. If this was where Team Umbra was hiding, they would need all their strength to be able to fight their way through. Although their previous encounter had not been a good opportunity to gauge her strength, Twilight knew Aria would be a tough opponent. After all, she seemed to have subjugated all of Griffonstone- even the Gym Leader.
"HOLD IT!" A booming voice turned the six around toward the source of the sound. Trixie charged furiously toward Twilight, a grim determination burning in her eyes.
The appearance of her rival caused Twilight no small amount of displeasure. Even after Trixie had helped her outside Ponyville, Twilight still regarded her appearance as a negative. "What do you want Trixie?"
"Trixie would like to lend a hoof in fighting Team Umbra." She said matter-of-factly. "Those crooks have wronged Trixie and are due for some payback."
Applejack turned her head. "Whaddya mean?"
Trixie let out a pathetic sigh, dropping her airy composure and revealing a mare whose expression was one of defeat. In all of their encounters, Twilight had never seen her looking so down. "I challenged one of their admins to a battle. I lost." She quickly recomposed herself, and tried to quickly put her persona of confidence back on. "Trixie knows her pokémon are in there, and won't stop at anything to get them back."
I guess that's as good a reason as any to team up. Twilight and Trixie might not have been the best of friends, but Twilight would not turn her back on anypony whose pokémon had been stolen. She stuck her hoof out to Trixie, who cautiously shook it, wordlessly affirming their alliance.
"The gracious and humble Trixie would like to bury the hatchet with you, Twilight Sparkle. You have Trixie and her secret weapon at your back."
"What kind of secret weapon is that?"
Trixie flashed a devious smile, waving her hooves dramatically in front of her face. "Misdirection." Everypony waited a moment, expecting an explanation. When none came, they opted to simply dismiss it, and turned tail to set forth into the cave. The mouth of the cavern was dark, but as they went deeper into the cave, the tunnels began to grow light again. Quickly they discovered the reason; strings of electric lights had been drilled into the walls of the cavern, casting a harsh yellow glow across the stone walls. Twilight, Trixie, and the others crept along in the shadows, trying to keep themselves out of sight of any Team Umbra operatives that might be patrolling the tunnels.
Trixie pointed her hoof further down the tunnel. Twilight craned her neck to see a Team Umbra Grunt protecting a metal door. "Let Trixie handle this." Without waiting for Twilight's approval, Trixie tumbled out into the stallion's view.
The thug stumbled backward in surprise. "Who the heck are you?" He demanded. Trixie remained silent, only giving the same insane smile she had shown to Twilight. Still startled, the grunt swiped a pokéball from his belt and threw it in front of him. "Alright Grimer, let's teach this punk a lesson."
Trixie produced a pokéball of her own. "And for Trixie's next trick, Magikarp, let's go!"
From her hiding place, Twilight was trying hard not to scream. Was Trixie actually so arrogant that she was going to try to battle with nothing but a Magikarp?
However, as Twilight quickly learned, battling had not been Trixie's intention at all. In one quick motion she bent down to the ground and picked up a rock, tossing it at the knee of the Team Umbra Grunt. The instant he took her eyes off her, Trixie grabbed her Magikarp by the tail, and with a forceful swing, smashed the grunt in the face with Magikarp's scaly side. Just as the fish left his face, the stallion fell to the ground, unconscious. Trixie scooped up his pokéball and put Grimer back inside, and proceeded to pet her Magikarp affectionately.
"What in tarnation was that?" Applejack asked, mouth agape, still not entirely sure what she had witnessed.
Trixie bowed. "Misdirection." She bent over, stripping the uniform off of the downed minion, making sure there was a ring of keys on his belt. "Trixie will use this uniform to sneak deeper into the base. Trixie will unlock any doors she comes across and draw an 'X' in the dirt."
"That was… rather impressive." Rarity said approvingly. "You and Magikarp certainly have an effective system worked out."
Trixie's face softened substantially. "Without her pokémon, Trixie has had to use her superior wits to get by. Magikarp has been good company while Trixie endeavors to retrieve her pokémon. And yes, his scaly body has been quite helpful as well."
Without another word, Trixie slipped through the doorway, leaving Twilight and company in the tunnel. They decided it would be best to give her a few minutes to make her way into the facility before they followed. While they waited, Twilight turned to address the others.
"Alright everypony, it looks like things might get a little rough from here on out. I think it would be best if as few of us went in as possible. I don't want any of you getting hurt."
The other five kept their gazes fixed on Twilight, not showing the slightest hint of wavering. After staring at each other in silence, Applejack shook her head and chuckled. "Sorry sugarcube. You ain't getting rid of us that easily."
Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Don't expect us to leave you alone. My pokémon are more than strong enough to get me through."
"Same!" Pinkie gleefully cheered.
Rarity gave a curt nod of agreement. "I think these ruffians should find Gardevoir to be more than a match for them. I wouldn't dream of leaving you."
All eyes turned to Fluttershy. Out of everypony, she was the only one who had remained silent this whole time. Finally, she spoke up. "Well, I may not be much of a fighter, but that's what I have you all for. Besides, Chansey and I can at least keep your pokémon healed, in case anything happens."
Her friends were not going to back down. "Then I guess we're in it together." Twilight said at last. "Let's go kick Team Umbra's behind!"
The six mares moved as one through the door, rapidly moving through Team Umbra's headquarters. Many of the Umbra grunts they passed seemed to have already had an encounter with Trixie and her Magikarp. The few that didn't quickly found themselves defeated by any combination of Ivysaur, Flaafy, Gardevoir, Skiploom, or Pidgeotto.
Just how deep does this go? Every time it felt like they should be reaching the depths of the cave, it just kept going deeper. Something isn't right here. She examined the walls, taking particular note as to how unusually smooth they were.
If I remember correctly, Excadrill dig huge tunnels into the sides of mountains… Either this cave had been artificially tunneled out by Team Umbra, or they had occupied an abandoned tunnel. The base seemed too well organized to have been the work of wild pokémon. This cave was a purpose-built lair.
Soon after that realization, Twilight caught up with Trixie. In spite of the dark Team Umbra uniform, Twilight recognized her in an instant by the neatly styled curl of mane that stuck out from under her cap. She pointed toward a large metal door down the hallway and whispered, "Trixie has reason to believe that is where they have the stolen pokémon. Twilight, can you keep an eye out for Trixie while she gets this lock open?"
"Sure thing." She whispered back. She and the others ducked out of sight, keeping an eye at the tunnels behind them while Trixie fiddled with her ring of keys.
"Trixie has a good feeling about this one." She pulled up the next key on the ring, at least the seventh at this point. She put the key into the lock, smiling with satisfaction when the lock turned. With a gentle push, she silently opened the door, directing Twilight and Rainbow Dash to go in first.
The interior of the storage room was a mess. Boxes and containers of every description were piled up all around the room, all thrown into piles without any semblance of thought or planning. The room was organized more like a dump than a supply warren, but everything in there (aside from a few pizzas tragically past their prime) seemed perfectly usable.
"How horrid." Rarity spat, scoffing with disapproval at the messy room. "Could they at least be bothered to keep their food off the ground? This is how you get an infestation of Rattata."
Trixie got down to work rummaging through the mess of supplies. She was determined to find her stolen pokémon, and this seemed like the most likely place they would be kept. Twilight got down and began rifling through the pile as well, tossing aside all manners of junk as she worked.
"Found them!" Trixie exclaimed, yanking her stolen backpack out of a mound of supplies. She immediately stuck her head into the bag, trying to make sure all of her pokémon were accounted for. "Yes! They're all here." She dropped Magikarp's pokéball in the bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Trixie owes you a debt of gratitude, Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for helping Trixie rescue her precious pokémon."
"You're welcome Trixie." Twilight smiled. The two shook hooves, looking each other firmly in the eye. The look behind Trixie's purple orbs said it all. While they might still be rivals, there was a sense of respect in her eyes and in her smile.
With a performer's flourish, Trixie ripped the stolen Team Umbra uniform off. "We still have one bit of business to attend to. The Great and Vengeful Trixie owes the commander of this base a good thrashing, and Trixie intends to pay her in full."
Twilight agreed wholeheartedly. "Where do you think she is?"
"Trixie suspects she is in the deepest part of this facility. However, that should not be much further from here."
"How are you so sure?" Rarity asked, skeptical.
The blue Unicorn flashed a knowing smile. "Simple. Based on the amount of grunts, and the amount of food in here, it isn't likely that this base can support many more ponies than the ones we saw coming this far. That means we've most likely explored as much as this facility has to offer."
Trixie's reasoning was sound enough for Twilight. She quickly checked over her pokémon to make sure they were ready and proceeded out the door, following Trixie down the corridor.
The next door they came to had the purple eclipse of Team Umbra sloppily painted on it, alongside a violet and blue music note on either side. "This is it." Trixie said plainly, looking flatly at the door. "It's time they learned how strong Trixie Lulamoon has become. Twilight, are you ready?"
Twilight nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Good." Trixie stared her directly in the eye. "Trixie wouldn’t be surprised if there are two of them in there- Aria and Sonata. They will have Legendary pokémon on their side, so it will be necessary to team up and fight as one. Twilight Sparkle- can I count on you?"
There it is again. Twilight had picked up on the subtle change Trixie made to her way of speaking, referring to herself as "I" and not "Trixie". Twilight returned Trixie's stare with one just as determined. "Yes Trixie. You can count on me."
"Good." Trixie tested the lock of the door, carefully jiggling the handle. Finding it unlocked, she kicked the door open and charged headfirst into the room, Twilight and company in tow. Sitting on a throne made out of crates, boxes and other junk held together by duct tape was Aria.
"Well, lookie who we have here." She said, laughing through a smug smile. Her body language irked Twilight to no small degree. The causal way which she sat, leaning her head on her hoof, her arrogant smile… It made Twilight irrationally angry. "I guess I have to give you credit for coming this far, but I think it's about time for the grownups to get the fillies out of here. Don't you agree Sonata?"
Sonata turned her attention away from her work, another crude graffiti of the Team Umbra logo. "Sounds good to me coz. Let's school these punks."
"For the thousandth time, please stop talking like that…" Aria groaned. "You sound ridiculous."
"Yo, what's your beef coz? I'm just reppin' here."
Aria drew in a deep breath through her nose, exhaling it in a defeated sigh. "You know what, forget it. Let's just battle these chumps and take their pokémon."
Where in Equestria does somepony learn to talk like that? Twilight shook her head and grabbed her pokéball in preparation. Twilight turned behind her. Applejack, Rainbow, and Trixie all had pokeballs of their own ready to throw into the fray.
"It seems we all would like to battle." Trixie observed. "Twilight. Trixie will leave the decision up to you. Who will you choose as your partner?"
Twilight's eyes ran across the three. All were capable battlers, and she would have been happy to partner with any of them. But unfortunately, she could only take one into a double Battle. Twilight tried to weigh her options. I know Trixie had a Deino, as well as her Haunter and Charmeleon. Who knows how much stronger she's gotten since then. Rainbow Dash has Pidgeotto, Slowpoke and Luxio. Applejack has Flaafy, Shroomish, and Phanpy. Twilight turned to her prospective partners. "Alright. I've made up my mind. My partner will be-"