FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The room they entered featured a large room with three doors around a much larger door of multiple colors. A few pokémon lingered around the premises, none of them appearing aware of what was happening.

"The Societea is bound to have all sorts of traps and tricks waiting for us," Pichu advised. "Splitting up seems like a good idea, but we might be better off traveling together."

"Yes. Along with that, they're definitely expecting human rangers," Summer reminded. "We can use our disguises to get the drop on them."

"Once we see them, we can try and confiscate their armor without needing to get close. Psychic might work there," Ben suggested. Just as they decided their plan, they heard the sound of beating wings, followed by someone landing behind them. The latios turned around, already knowing who it was. "Rand? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if there was a way to make the Sky Fortress less dangerous," the elder ranger answered. "I simply couldn't stay behind without doing my part to stop them."

"Spoken like a true ranger," Summer commented. "Hey, do you hear that? It sounds like a Z.Z. Flyer. Why would-" She cut herself off as everyone saw that the owner of the vehicle was Nema, surprisingly. She flew in on a personalized version of the Pinchers' vehicle, its color scheme being primarily white with blue in various spots.

"Nema! You should be back at home. It's too dangerous here!" Rand reprimanded.

"What if you run out of power?" she countered. "I want to help too, papa! My invention can get the job done quickly, and I'm working on one to help you right now."

"Nema... well, okay," he resigned. He ran a hand through her hair. "You sure seem to take after your old man, huh? You can stay here, but stay safe, okay?"

"I'll hide out here if you need me. Right about now, it looks like your Stylers could use a recharge." She grabbed their Stylers and instantly charged them up to full capacity before returning them.

"So tell me, how do you plan to disable the fortress?" Rand wondered. "I can check their defenses for important switches and see if I can do something about that cannon of theirs. What about you?"

"Our plan is to go in disguise, maneuver through their traps, and grab their armor once we spot an opening," Ben explained. "Hopefully, we'll avoid more conflict this way." The elder ranger nodded in approval. Nema pulled out a device that looked like a pokédex and gave it to her father.

"Make sure to keep my daughter safe, all right?" Both dragons flew closer to Nema and nuzzled her once more. Rand smiled at the sight and ran through the southern entrance.

"Thanks, Summer, Ben, and even you, Pichu. Good luck." They broke away and changed into their disguises. Ben and Pichu ran into the room on the far left.

"Hey, wait up!"

---

It was only after going a few feet did Ben and Pichu realize something was amiss.

"Um, Pichu? Where's Summer?"

"She was here a second ago... Ben, I'm getting a weird feeling."

"What is it?"

"Oh, just a strange sense of impending doom. I could be wrong though." As soon as he looked down, he realized they were somehow standing in the air. That didn't last long for him, however. "Wait a minute... I'm falling!" Before he could hit the ground, Ben quickly changed form and caught Pichu in his claws. "You know, I don't know why," he mused as they descended to safety, "but I feel so safe in either of you guys' claws."

"I think it has something to do with that Heal Pulse Summer kept using on you. It helped you feel better earlier, right? We just want to make sure you're okay, especially after everything that's happened recently."

"Thanks." Eventually they settled on a platform leading into another room, and Ben changed form once more. This room had a strange tube filled with a red liquid. Within the liquid was Mewtwo, much to their surprise.

"I don't think we can free him, Ben. There's no switch to press," Pichu observed.

"It might be for the best. I haven't even met Mewtwo and I know it's a force to be reckoned with." They continued into the next room and up a flight of stairs, eventually reuniting with their partner.

"Ben! Pichu!" she scolded. "What did you think you were doing? Rushing ahead like that, falling, and leaving me behind sure was reckless. Try not to rush so much next time." Ben found her tone odd, but decided to let it pass for now since it was his impatience that caused them to be separated.

"I'm sorry, Summer," he apologized.

"Me too," Pichu added.

"Anyways, after that door closed on me, these yellow switches appeared. Maybe we can use them to do something about the blocked path," she suggested. "Let's start with the middle one." Ben immediately stood above the switch, using his psychic abilities to simulate standing on it. This caused spikes to shoot out of the floor.

"Agh!" he cried as he jumped in fright. Pichu narrowly dodged them by jumping onto his back. Summer was strangely unfazed by this.

"These people are crazy!" Pichu remarked. "Spikes?!"

"I'm sorry, I guess that one was trapped. Maybe the top switch is the one we should use?" Ben "jumped" over the spikes to hit the switch, only to be blown across the room by two electrode using Explosion. He landed on the only switch that removed the blockade from earlier. "Oh my, Ben. Are you going to be all right?"

"Ugh... That hurt even though the Styler absorbed most of the damage," Ben replied, getting up and dusting himself off, "but it's nothing a Heal Pulse can't fix." He pointed at himself and Pichu, sending the healing energy coursing through both of them and removing their bruises. Summer widened her eyes at this and gasped. "What's wrong, Summer? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"N-n-nothing. It was just a random thought I had."

"Really? What was it about?"

"...Never mind. The barricade's down, so we should get going." Ben shrugged and led the way. As soon as he got close to the switch, Summer shoved him onto it. The switch caused a large rock to fall down and block their path.

"HEY! What was that all about?!" he yelled angrily. "That hurt!" Pichu glared at her, suspicious about her action.

"Sorry, I was about to trip," she replied innocently. "I never meant to cause this." Ben sighed and captured the pokémon needed to remove the obstacle, then moved on once the target was cleared. "Hmm, there's another switch. I'll try it this time." The ranger moved onto the switch as Ben closed his eyes, mentally scanning his partner. Within a second he determined that this was not Summer, but Kasa in disguise. He focused his mental powers and saw things from Summer's perspective.

"Ben, you figured it out as well, I see," the real Summer said calmly, picking up on her counterpart's mental signal. "I've been locked in this room by someone looking a lot like you. What do you suppose we do?"

"Play along for now," Ben replied mentally, maintaining the same air of calm as his partner. "Once we meet up, we'll have her cornered." The disguised latios smirked to himself. He mentally relayed the information to Pichu, who smirked as well. "We'll meet up with Summer again." He switched off his powers as he heard spikes shoot out of the ground again.

"Did I do something wrong? I'm sooo sorry," "Summer" said, not actually sorry about her actions. Ben considered flying over the spikes just to startle her, knowing that the Golden Armor piece she had wouldn't allow anything terrible to befall her, but decided against it. Instead, he ran forward, dodged all the spikes, and headed up the stairs, leaving "Summer" behind once more. The real Summer stood at the top of the flight and winked at him.

"Kasa is in the room below," Ben whispered. "We'll need to put up a cunning disguise of our own, if you know what I mean."

"Right," she whispered back. Then she spoke with mock anger. "You won't fool me again, faker!"

"What are you talking about?" Ben asked, feigning confusion.

"Don't play dumb! You locked me in here!" she shouted, laughing a little bit after she stopped.

"Yeah, that's right!" Another person, looking very much like Ben, entered the room. Accompanying "him" was a Pichu that had a ukulele on its back. The rangers exchanged knowing glances as the person came closer. "Impressive disguise, Mr. Fake Me!" "he" shouted angrily. "You tricked poor Summer and locked her in this room!"

"There's two Ben? And Pichu? Oh, I can't tell who's who!" Summer cried, though there was a slight hint of falsehood in her horrified tone. She raised her index finger as an "idea" came to her. "I've got it!" Without warning, she immediately shed her disguise, revealing her true latias form. Ben followed suit, revealing his true latios form. Both Eon dragons glared at "Ben", who stood there in complete shock. "Oh, that's right!" she said mentally, startling the false ranger and partner pokémon even more. "Both of us happen to be Latias and Latios."

"H-h-how? What... what is this?!" "Ben" asked, severely stunned by this turn of events. The Pichu by "his" side transformed into a ditto, having been startled enough to break the transformation. Both of them began to back away, too scared to follow through with the plan they had in mind. "This would explain your fast recovery, but...how?!" Both rangers could tell this was beginning to overwhelm the master of disguise and decided to put an end to it.

"Give it up, Kasa," Ben stated, floating closer. "We had you fooled all along. Surrender the Golden Armor peacefully and we'll take you home safely. I promise." Before he could grab her, the armor attached to her emitted a blinding light. When the light cleared, she and her ditto were gone. "Darn it!"

"I guess that armor has a mind of its own," Pichu said, "and sensed its owner was in danger. That, or she managed to activate one of its powers just in the nick of time."

"Readings indicate the disappearance of one of the seals on the door," Summer's Styler announced.

"Looks like it's time to check out another room."

---

After switching forms and having Nema recharge their Stylers, they headed for the north door. As soon as they entered, the door shut and locked behind them. Ahead of them stood Arley. His gaze spoke of ill intent.

"You're here," he said curtly.

"Where's your boss, Ed?" Summer asked him.

"Ben," he said, ignoring her question, "do you remember when we first met? Back then you seemed small time. Had I known you would be such an issue later on, I would have dealt with you then." He raised his fists, instantly commanding all the pokémon in the room to be hostile. "Unless you step on those red and blue switches, you won't reach me or Ed 'the Thinker'." With that, the man disappeared into the next room.

"Must be why Ed's 'the Thinker'," Summer and Ben muttered. They split up to capture and release the pokémon that stood in their path, eventually making their way onto the next platform.

"Arley is a hard man who likely won't be too fazed by our real forms," Ben analyzed. "We'll have to deal with whatever pokémon he sends our way this time." Summer nodded in agreement.

"I'm impressed," Arley said upon seeing them enter his room. "You're quite smart and brave youths. Are you strong as well?" He stretched his arms. "As a wrestler, I learned that power is all I had and all I could use. Let's see if you are strong enough to handle this." He jumped back as a regigigas dropped into the room, surprising both rangers and Pichu.

"Regigigas was sealed away a long time ago. How is it here?" Ben wondered.

"This armor gives the Societea limitless power," Arley explained. "You can't hope to compete with that. Show them, Regigigas!" The trio jumped away from the punch Regigigas sent their way. The ground shook as Regigigas slowly advanced closer.

"A little levitation should yield an opening," Ben muttered. In an instant he was now hovering about the ground, surprising Arley slightly. Ben fired the Capture Disc and looped it around the legendary a few times.

"Regigigas, use Mega Punch!" Ben managed to dodge most of the punch, but was dealt a glancing blow that possessed enough force to knock him to the wall. Summer cloaked her Styler in her signature red energy, then fired her Capture Disc, guiding it around the pokémon as quickly as she could before she was forced to jump away from a Mega Punch. The Magnitude that followed sent her onto her back. "Now, use Hyper Beam!" Summer rolled out of the way as Regigigas charged its attack. It aimed at them and fired, but nothing came out.

"I knew it would work!" Summer cried triumphantly.

"What? What did you do? Why did Hyper Beam fail?!" Summer ignored Arley's questions and nodded to Ben. Feeling experimental, he cloaked his Styler in blue energy and looped the disc around Regigigas, who seemed noticeably weaker with each loop.

"Now, Summer! Pichu!" Pichu shot a Thunder Shock at it as Summer looped her disc around Regigigas.

"Regigigas, Earthquake!" Regigigas stomped as hard as it could, sending up large shards of rock and dirt that made it hard to see. The rangers responded by putting on their goggles. After one more loop, Regigigas sat down and seemingly shut off, leaving behind a stunned Arley and a mildly wounded trio.

"I-I never thought... you would be this good," Arley said, unable to come up with much to say. He fell to his knees as the rangers settled on the ground. "This is madness..."

"Power isn't everything, Arley," Ben spoke. "Now give us the Golden Armor." Before neither party could continue, Arley disappeared in a flash of light. "It happened again..."

"I'm sure they'll be all right," Summer said. "For now, let's head back."

---

"Nema, are you all right?" Summer asked her.

"I'm doing well right here," she replied as she charged their Stylers. "The other pokémon here aren't giving me any trouble, and no Pinchers showed up. What about you three?"

"We're doing well. Did your father come back yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure he's doing fine. It looks like there's only one door left."

"We've seen Kasa and Arley," Ben said. "Ed's probably behind that center door. All that's left is Hocus. With that Golden Armor he has, who knows what tricks that magician will try to pull?" Nema clipped their Stylers back onto their arms.

"Don't worry. Even if he has that armor backing him up, you two still have the ability to see right through whatever magic tricks he has planned," she reassured them. The trio nodded and put on their disguises before entering the last room on the far right. To their surprise, Hocus appeared right in front of them in a burst of smoke.

"Laaaaadies and gentlemen! ...And Pichu," he greeted. "Nothing up my sleeve but a hello! Welcome to the miraculous Hocus show! I'll be your guide to a mysterious world!" He tipped his top hat and held up his cane.

"Get ready," Pichu muttered anxiously.

"My first illusion is 'On the Clouds'! One! Two! Three! Go!" He snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the rocky interior was replaced by clouds and blue sky. "Behold, my miraculous illusion!" He chuckled as he saw the rangers' surprise at his antics. "Until next time." He disappeared.

"We can show him some magic of our own," Summer said. Ben nodded and took her hand in his. The duo walked forward, using their psychic abilities to make sure Pichu wasn't caught off guard by any hidden gaps. In no time at all they arrived in front of Hocus, who had four giant boxes behind him.

"Wonderful! That calmness is truly wonderful!" the magician congratulated as he clapped for them.

"Hey, enough with the taunts!" Ben demanded. For once, the magician actually frowned.

"Well then, it seems like it's time for my next trick," he replied, strangely serious. He held his baton in the same hand his gauntlet was attached to. "This one is of a more advanced league than the parlor tricks I did for the children in Tilt Village. For this one, I'll need a volunteer... You there! You'll do!" He pointed his baton at Pichu.

"Wha...!" Pichu found himself being lifted by what could only be described as the power of the armor. The rangers looked on in shock as he then disappeared.

"Ho ho! Which box could the little fellow be hiding in?" Hocus grinned again, then disappeared once more.

"Poor Pichu. He's already gone through the loss of his home," Summer lamented. "He's gotta be around here somewhere."

"Wait, Summer. Listen closely... do you hear that?" The twang of a ukulele followed by the sound of electricity being fired rang through the quiet air. "Let's follow the sound." After capturing a mismagius, they followed it to one of the boxes. "Pichu? Is that you in there?"

"Pleeease get me outta here!" he wailed. "It's cramped!" Once Mismagius broke the box and flew away, Pichu leaped into Summer's waiting hands. "Thanks again guys! I'm sorry I fell for that awful trap."

"Pichu, it's not your fault. Anyone can see that," she reassured him.

"Still..." Pichu was saddened by what just happened.

"Don't worry. That armor has got to be manipulating him. Let's get him and then get Ed." The trio made a beeline for the cloud-covered door and headed up the stairs.

"Simply amazing, rangers! You found the correct solution," he greeted them. "How resourceful! Now it's time for me to display my escape magic..."

"Hocus, these are cheap tricks for children. Give it up!" Summer demanded, sounding a little harsher than she intended.

"Ouch, that's quite harsh, especially since you fell for them anyway," he responded, brushing off the insult. "I can see that you don't like my magic. Very well, I'll show you one last trick, then I'll bow out. This will be my first performance of it in front of an audience, so no complaints." He raised the armor on his wrist. "Behold, my Sky-High Illusion!" Ben and Summer switched forms, momentarily caught off guard by the flash that erupted from the armor. When the light dimmed, everyone found themselves in the air.

"Wait a minute! Is this part of his illusion?" Summer wondered.

"Probably," Ben replied. Suddenly the clouds beneath them erupted as a gigantic Hocus appeared before them. "How did he get so massive?"

"This is my finest illusion yet!" he announced. He then looked at the Eon duo in confusion. "Was my illusion so grand it transformed the rangers? I never knew I had it in me." Looking closer, he saw the scarves, Stylers, and goggles worn by the two dragon-and-psychic-type pokémon. He immediately dismissed the thought as he pieced the information together. "So, this is not a trick of mine. Very interesting. Anyways, the show must go on! Here's the highlight of the trick!" As he disappeared, a giant crobat took its place. Both rangers smirked to each other, knowing they had the advantage this time.

"This battle is ours." Ben held the massive crobat still with his Psychic attack while Summer made the capture, ending the battle nearly a minute later. The scenery returned to normal as Hocus shrank back to normal size.

"It seems my illusion was a failure..." he muttered in disappointment, falling on one knee. "And so quickly, too. Boy, that sure took a lot out of me..."

"Responding to Ed's invitation was the mistake you made," Ben said.

"Doesn't it make you happy when kids smile because of your magic, Hocus? Isn't that your calling?" Summer asked him.

"...You know, that hits pretty close to home," he admitted, looking up at the latias and latios. "Unfortunately, I can't go back." Hocus smiled weakly at them. "There are some things even a magician like myself can't undo." The magician stood up and put up a stronger smile. "Well, that's the end of my show! See you next time!" With that, he and his illusions disappeared.

---

Once they approached the big door and traced the symbol on its surface, it opened.

"All right! It looks like you can proceed! Nice job, everyone!" Nema congratulated as she repaired their Stylers. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Nema, thank you for your help," Ben said.

"I'll wait here for papa," Nema suggested.

"Good idea. There's no more bad guys on this floor, so you'll definitely be safe," Summer agreed. "It's time to confront Ed 'the Thinker', Ben!" Once they went inside, they ascended the series of steps.

"Pichu, are you going to be all right?" Ben asked in concern.

"As long as I've got you guys with me, I'll be fine," Pichu responded. "That terrible man is at the top, waiting for us, but he doesn't stand a chance against us. We'll disarm him and put a stop to this."

"Right!" both rangers shouted.

"On that note, why didn't we just fly to the top?"

"The Golden Armor has to be disabled piece by piece," Summer explained. "We would likely have been overwhelmed if they decided to combine their powers." Suddenly they felt the whole fortress shake as they approached the door to Edward.

"Did something just explode?"