Pokemon: Forgotten Army

[ChapterAquila92]

Inspired by the Pokemon Nuzlocke series In Black and White, with a military twist.

In light of recent incidents involving Team Plasma, the Unovan League has only just started flexing its muscles to deal with the threat. Neither group expects to be haunted by the ghosts of Unova's past.

Critique is encouraged.

--

Chapter 1: Zero Hour - Part 1

A flight of four VTOL transports buzzed low over the ocean's surface, making use of the higher air resistance to slow down in preparation for their target - the warehouse district of Driftveil City.
In the second VTOL of the pair that ventured ahead sat four grovyles, two lucario, a zoroark and two jolteons, all equipped with form-fitting military-grade armor and, in the case of the bipedal species, suppressed carbines, custom-modded to fit their unique frames.
The static crackling of communication commenced as a hologram appeared with mission info, displayed against the backdrop of the wall between the troop compartment and the cockpit. "We'll be setting you down in the warehouse district of Driftveil City for this mission. We've got a bead on Team Plasma agents hiding in the area, and we suspect that one of them is an influential leader for the organization. So go in, find the figurehead, capture him and get out. Silver when you commence the search, Chimney when you've captured HVT, and Spear when calling for exfil. League operatives are also searching for the target, so watch your six, avoid contact as long as possible, and find the HVT before they do. Remember, this is a snatch and grab. Get this done as cleanly as possible.
"Good luck, and good hunting."
"Alright, you heard the man," One of the lucario spoke up over the roar coming from the turbofan engines outside, its speech, decidedly male, translated by a Devon Corp translation collar. "Time to lock and load."
Between the cocking of automatic weapons and the turbofans, Ren was content to sense that the rest of his team, dubbed Shadow-Six, was in a state of tranquility. Bred for combat and trained in counter-terror ops, a steady hand and timely decisive judgement meant all the difference in their eyes, and their training records spoke volumes of it. So much potential, only to be shut down by the League... It left a sour taste in their mouths at the very least, not least of all the horrific prospect of spending eternity in capture grenades.
To that end, all of them - not just Shadow-Six, but all PCOM units - had much to thank Dio for; the human not only saved them from that fate, but also gave them a meaning of value as a family he wanted to keep together.
Reminding himself of that, the lucario calmly put on his tactical visor, cycling though start-up protocols before revealing the complete HUD. Many of his abilities made some of the HUD's functions all but redundant to him, but the few years of training and practice he had allowed him to overlook the redundancies for the sake of having a fail-safe.
The VTOL lurched as it came into a hover before descending, the ramp lowering to reveal that a smokescreen was being placed for some cover. Behind their visors, Ren and several other members of Shadow-Six started grinning.
"Time to hit them where it hurts."

The attention attracted in the six seconds between touchdown and dust-off began with a handful of warehouse workers on break on the outskirts of the district. Between video streaming and calls made on cellphones, the media was quick to get a hold on what was going on, and within ten minutes local authorities arrived to blockade the smokescreened area, soon followed by reporters that happened to be in the local area at the time.
Amidst this first wave, a young female reporter and her cameraman struggled their way through the growing crowd to reach the police line.
The cameraman moaned. "Aw, come on, Tanya. Do we really need to be at the line right here?"
Tanya returned a harsh glare. "Evan, I'm signing my resignation from the station if we don't." She continued, "Besides, you might get your film award of the year if we play this right."
"How..." Evan paused before remembering that he mentioned it before. "Right."
"Look, I'm not happy about it either, but we've got a job to do."
As one of Unova Broadcasting Channel's newest reporters, Tanya had long since grown weary of covering what the League was doing about Team Plasma - each incident involving them featured long unnecessary talks with 'experts' on soapboxes, and each time they had exhausted the story with very little becoming of it before the next one, only broken up by the occasional seasonal article or an advertisement masquerading as news. She knew it too well, having been forced to do more than one report on fark of one kind or another.
She found it humiliating, and she was desperate for news that was genuinely worthy of being announced as such.
Making a mental sweep of what the situation was all about, she gathered what she could to form a decent start to her coverage of the event. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough for her to tie up the news station while she sought out legitimate interviews with witnesses and bystanders as to what was going on. It was one of the many benefits to her psychic abilities, which still had Evan on edge for as long as they've been working together.
Tanya looked up from her last-minute check-up to see Evan fumbling a little with his shoulder-carried video camera. "Don't be all day, Evan."
Getting a grip on the camera, Evan finished readying the broadcast signal. "Hold on, we're live in three... two... one... and we're up."
In her earbud headset, Tanya could make out the intro to UBC's Breaking News intro, along with audio input from the host, Bernard Lesconi.
"...We now bring you live to Tanya who is on site at the Driftveil Warehouse District where all this is happening. How are you doing over there, Tanya?"
"Good, Bernard."
"Can you tell us what's happening?"
"Ten minutes ago, four unidentified aircraft touched down across the warehouse district and left behind the thick smokescreen you see here before leaving. It is unclear what is actually happening, but eyewitness accounts say that they briefly saw what looked like armor-clad pokemon with military-grade weapons exiting the aircraft and entering nearby warehouses. So far, there has been no statement made by local gym leader Clayton Reed regarding this development..."
"Sorry to cut you off, Tanya, but is it true that Reed is currently investigating the escape of Team Plasma agents from custody?"
"That persistant prick..." Tanya hid her disgust at Bernard's clinginess to old news behind the poker face she frequently used while reporting. "That much has not been made clear right now, Bernard. What is known however is that Reed was on site accompanied by three Unovan League trainers when the aircraft arrived. More will come as the situation unfolds."

[ChapterAquila92]

Chapter 1: Zero Hour - Part 2

--

As quickly as the four teams - Phantom-Five, Shadow-Six, Spectre-Seven, and Ether-Eight - scanned their respective batches of warehouses, the process was methodical. Two fireteams of two would be sweeping the catwalks above while the rest would fan out on the main floor, ensuring that they would cover as much ground in one pass. Adding to that, with senses that extended beyond those of the average human being, the majority of the pokemon that comprised each team were more than capable of picking up a scent trail or equivalent, if nothing else.

For the first four warehouses that Shadow-Six searched, things went by the textbook, yet unable to find any tell-tale sign that any Team Plasma agents passed through.

They had barely made it into the fifth warehouse, marked as 5-B "Cold Storage" when Kale, the blaziken leading Spectre-Seven, made contact via radio. Kale was a known glory hound amongst PCOM, a trait he easily betrayed through his pep-talk and constant need for competition. Ren and Kale had butted heads more than a few times during training - a sore spot that's taken their mutual rivalry to a more personal level over the years.

"Shadow, this is Spectre. Be advised that Miner is in your search AO. Over."
Ren grimaced at the update. Miner was the pre-designated codename for Driftveil Mining CEO and local League Gym Leader Clayton Reed. "Acknowledged, Spectre. What is Miner's location? Over."
"Exiting 6, moving to 5. Has friends in tow. Over."
"Understood, Spectre. Will keep a watch. Over"
"Good luck, Shadow. Spectre out."

With the comm. link closing, Ren turned to the other lucario on the team. "Got a bead yet, Kol?"
Kol nodded. "Sounds like we better get moving, eh?"
"Alright Shadow, we won the lottery by we've got to make this quick."
Arkan, the zoroark of the team, chuckled to herself. "Time to get the party started."
"You know the drill."
"Gladly." With that, Arkan's image fluidly transitioned into that of an adult human in body armor with full coverage, complete with face-concealing helmet. It was little more than an illusion, but that was sufficient enough for their back-up plan if things went tits-up. The League didn't need to know that they weren't the thralls of some rogue trainer.

Two of the grovyles, Lyn and Raol, took point entering the warehouse, the vapour pouring out from within telling them that it was refrigerated, likely for sea food or produce.
Raol let out a low groan. "When we get back, I call dibs on the first available heat lamp."
Lyn was quick to throw in an elbow to Raol's flank in annoyance. "Grow some bark. We still have a job to do."
"Silence, both of you," Ren quickly called out over the unit comm. "HVT's huddling in the back like a flock of mareep."
Lyn glared at Raol's hopeless expression with satisfaction before carrying on, taking point as they weaved their way through the maze of industrial shelving units.

Torel, a grovyle of especially dark complexion and the team's leading marksman, whispered over the comm. "Got visual. One bigwig surrounded by six grunts. How copy?"
Ren responded, remembering the mission briefing. "The grunts are expendable. Keep HVT alive for capture."
"Understood. Moving into position."

Amid the relative silence that Shadow-Six lived up to in setting up, Raol heard the HVT complain, "I can't take this cold..."
Holding back a chuckle, Raol lined up his designated target. "You and I both, bigwig... Sights lined up."
"Fire on my mark..." Ren began after confirming Shadow's readiness, all the while steadily applying pressure to the trigger of his own rifle. "Three... two... one... mark."

The muffled concussion of six gunshots rang as one as all the Plasma grunts dropped lifelessly to the frozen floor, collectively featuring fatal headshot wounds. In the middle of it all, the remaining Plasma member stood shaking, both from the cold that his thick jacket did nothing to protect against and the sudden death of everyone around him.
"Move in."
The man was overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of Shadow-Six coming out from behind cover to surround him. Still in shock over the deaths of his underlings, he didn't know what to make of the situation.

Dread quickly expressed itself on the man's face as he saw Arkan, who stood imposing with her illusion while she spoke. "You're coming with us."
Trembling, the man took a step back, narrowly avoiding tripping over one of the newly deceased bodies. "No!"
He was too preoccupied with Arkan to notice Nel and Tolvan, the two jolteons, approaching him from behind.
"You don't have that option."
Before the Plasma member could say anything further, the two jolteons discharged electrical arcs, the shock carefully gauged to be strong enough to incapacitate the man with little risk of lasting damage.

As the rest of the team formed up around the scene, Ren called in via radio. "Sol, this is Shadow. Chimney. Over."
"Affirmative, Shadow. Spectre has informed me of Miner in your AO, so prepare to jump on Spear. Over."
"Understood, Sol. Out."

"Where y'all think yer gonna go now?"
No sooner had Clayton spoken when the beams of seven laser rangefinders traced over him and the three trainers accompanying him.
Continuing to play her part, Arkan raised her armored hand to restrain her comrades before speaking. "I would pick my next words with considerable care if I were you, Clayton Reed."
Undaunted, the Driftveil gym leader took his toothpick out of his mouth, trying to remain calm in the presence of his unnerved companions. "Who are ya?"
"Tip of the spear."
And with that, the unit teleported with their HVT in tow, the only evidence remaining of their existence being the six dead Plasma grunts.