Castol the Charmeleon's Story

One down, nine more to go. Not including the Houndoom, who had Glow separated from the rest of the group. "You're dancing with me, little kitty," he growled as he knocked her over to the stage. The two Klefkis simply broke apart and put themselves back together again, escaping the wire they were hung around. But as they rushed over to Glow, the Houndoom stopped them.

"No!" he roared, "She's mine to take down! Take out the others!"

A curt nod and they were off to join the others. The Nidorina charged at Aurora, a Crunch eminent. Both the Klefkis joined her, one using Draining Kiss while the other used Fairy Wind on the Lucario. The Espeon continued to go after Mud with Aurora having enough problems as it was, using Psybeam from a distance. The Krookodile was using Scary Face from afar, keeping Mud slow. Two of the four outlying Pokemon that stood back from the initial fray now charged in. Nuzleaf used Leaf Blade, aiming straight for Aurora with a vicious cut to the side eminent. Meanwhile, the Gurdurr stood back a bit, using Bulk Up before gunning for Mud with a Wake-Up Slap.

Zap looked down. 'Well, if I am in a dream, can I fly?' He sat up. He seemed rooted to the spot. He looked down, at the pokemon again. "Where am I?" The pichu- no Zap said. Zap winced at the memories. he just wanted this to be over with. A voice in his head told him to stay though. He continued watching. He saw the pokemon talking, and it seemed that seasons had passed by.
The pokemon were gathered under the tree. He noticed the pokemon had grown older and there was another. a swablu. There was a murmur. The pokemon then began to split up. Zap twisted and turned. He just wanted to go. But he continue to stay, as he had to. As the team split up, Zapnoticed mud trying to go after him. 'So it seems they do care for me.' He thought. Everything faded to black.
Zap blinked. So they do care. He took a glance at Pitch and started looking around for an escape.


________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Glow growled in pain. She needed a way to get back to the others. She started to get into the shadows, but the houndoom forced her out tauntingly. Glow gritted her teeth in pain. She took a glance over to the others, before yowling. "Leave them alone!" and slamming another Focus punch in the houndoom's face. She growled "They did nothing to any of you. Leave them alone."

Pitch had kept watch over Zap while he slept, making sure no one would mess with him. While he was kind of sure that Dim would make sure his Family didn't touch the two of them, kids had a way of disobeying their parents. Pitch would know...he was still one. And while he didn't exactly have a mother anymore, he remembered countless times when he didn't listen to her for curiosity's sake.

Man, this city made me grow up fast...

He felt the Raichu stir besides him. Getting up from his curled position, he watched over him with a careful eye as Zap blinked awake, slowly putting himself into a sitting position. Pitch didn't even realize this until just then. He was younger than Zap.

"You didn't miss much," Pitch sat down and scratched his ear, "They're still patrolling the grounds like floating idiots." He sighed, mostly out of boredom, then turned to Zap as a realization dawned on him, "We never finished our conversation from earlier. Why is it that you ran away before?"

---

The Houndoom took the Focus Punch like a champ, his eyes looking at Glow with all the hatred in the world, "You shouldn't have gotten involved with Pitch. Otherwise, we wouldn't be using you guys to get him back to us!" He leaped forward, trying the standard Bite this time. While naturally weaker than Fire Fang, it was able to hit pretty hard with Glow's type weakness to other Dark Types.

Meanwhile, the flurry of moves from the seven actively fighting Pokemon behind Houndoom continued, despite the constant rebuttals from Mud and Aurora. There were just too many Pokemon attacking from too many directions for the other two to dodge and strike at them all. In a few moments, they would be completely overwhelmed.

Zap nodded. "They seem pretty slow. We should be able to outrun them if needed." He said. he glanced around. There were about almost no windows. The ones that were there were pretty high up. "Well, we can't climbout of a window.." He said. He glanced at Pitch. "Oh. It is just something clicked in my head... I was completely on my own after the team split up. I thought they din't care for me. But now I know that they do.We need to go back." He glanced at Pitch, hope and determination glittering in his eyes.

As Glow battled the houndoom, He said something about how they were gonna use them as bait for Pitch. She thought wait. They don't have Pitch? The bite from the houndoom stung on her shoulder. If only she could reach Aurora She leapt up onto the stage behind her, and started to dart up the rafter like a mankey. Her dark fur blended in with the unlit stage. before you knew it, she was atop the rafters, looking down at the crowd of pokemon. She glanced around for any way to help. She knew if she could get away from the houndoom, then she could actually fight for real. If only she knew a way to help. If only Ivy or Fluff were there.

Pitch nodded, "That's good. They seem like good friends to be around. I can't see them purposefully abandoning each other. Something must have happened for you all to have been split apart like this...something involving your previous owner."

Pitch knew he was treading on a bit unstable ground. With Glow, the subject had been extremely fragile to her and he didn't want to mess their friendship up. Zap...he was a bit tougher, given that he was seemingly raised by the Pokemon more than by the trainer.

---

"Hey! Get back here!" the Houndoom barked, but refused to follow her up to the tresses. Instead, he stayed within reach underneath her, just in case she ended up falling down. He was not losing to her again.

Without warning, the doors to the amphitheater shot open, sunlight spilling into the dark enclosed space. No one entered. Then a giant net came whizzing through the opening, slamming into the Nuzleaf. It hit the ground with a thud. Squirming, Nuzleaf tried to Leaf Blade through the net, but the material it was made of seemed to resist the attack. In fact, it seemed to resist all attacks.

More nets came flying through the door, wrapping up every Pokemon that they caught. The two Pokemon on the outside, a Scraggy and an Emolga, hightailed it. The Houndoom glared up at Glow, "We'll finish this later!" he said before running into the darkness of the stage and out of sight.

By then, it was too late. All the Pokemon, Aurora and Mud included, were wrapped up in the nets. Then, people started to enter through the doorways, collecting the nets and hauling the Pokemon inside away. They wore grey uniforms with matching caps, the logo "PC" stitched onto them in a variety of places. They used nets because they didn't want to catch the Pokemon to train, but to take away until they were claimed by a human. These were the Pokemon Catchers of Nimbasa City.

Right now, they were answering the call of a large commotion coming from the amphitheater. It had sounded like it was...a Pokemon battle. So, to prevent as much destruction as they could, they came in and did their jobs. That meant taking these Pokemon to the PokeCenter to be claimed. And if they weren't...relocated to a random part of Unova.

The doors shut as the last Pokemon, the Nidorina, slipped it's way through the doorway within the net. There was a slight pause, the sound of closing doors, then an engine and the sound of a couple of trucks pulling away from the amphitheater. They collected every Pokemon in the building...except one.

Glow was still there. Her decision to climb up into the inner workings of the stage saved her from the clutches of the nets as not a single Pokemon Catcher noticed her. But now she had to make a decision. Pitch and Zap were still missing in action. And now Mud and Aurora were too. What was she to do?

Lumi and Skyball led the way through the PokeCatcher Facility without alerting any of the guard of their escape. As they opened the front door, they started ushering the Pokemon through the doorway and into the gorgeous colored sky. The sun had set and now the residual mixtures of orange, red, lavender, and purple were now above them. If they weren't in the middle of a prison break, the two might've actually took the time to sit down and appreciate the moment. But they had work to do.

Lumi was just about to answer that they couldn't come along when the sudden emergence of their friends stopped her. The next thing they knew, they were gone. Lumi and Skyball looked at each other, then down the street where the four Pokemon took off down, then back to each other. Finally, they laughed.

"Well that solves that!" Lumi giggled as she continued to usher out the Pokemon, one by one, until she held out her arm to stop a Nidorina's exit, "Hey, actually we need your help!"

The Nidorina stopped and looked confused, "Huh? What? Why? What for?"

Skyball butted in, "There's a really tall shelf behind this building that one of us needs to get on top of, but it takes a stack of three Pokemon to do it."

The Nidorina gave an amused eyebrow flick, "Oddly specific."

"He's kidding," Lumi grabbed the Nidorina's paw and started dragging her, "Come on."

But the Nidorina pulled away, suspicion in her eyes, "I'm not going anywhere. Not with you two."

"See? Told you that asking nicely wouldn't work," Skyball grinned as Lumi sighed.

"Guess not," Lumi clapped her paws together as she stared down the Nidorina with a new determined look on her face, "Okay, listen. We know who you are. And we know why you're here."

The Nidorina's eyes shifted a bit, but her face remained stoic, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe not put into broad terms, but maybe if we showed you this," Skyball reached under one of his wings and pulled out a badge. It was a white circle with a red stone in the middle and wings on each side. The Nidorina's eyes widened as she realized who they were.

"Crimson Guild Explorers," Skyball announced, a glint of something fierce in his own eyes, "Now there's no need for-"

The Nidorina struck at Skyball with Poison Sting. Lumi pushed him out of the way of the attack just in time. In the same fluid motion, Nidorina started to sprint down the street at full speed.

"...combat," Skyball finished, turning to Lumi, "I guess it's an all out sprint she wants. I'll take the skies, you try to outrun him?"

"Try?" Lumi stifled a chuckle, "Skyball, I'll do that and more."

"Yeah, but I'll do it first," Skyball challenged setting himself up in a runner's stance, "I am faster than you, y'know."

"Is that so?"

"You bet!"

"First one to catch him gets to ride Rubira while the other trots behind?"

"You're on!"

The two took off at remarkable speed, Skyball through the air while Lumi pursued on foot. Within a matter of moments, they were already in sight of the Nidorina and gaining speed quickly. Lumi and the Nidorina were heading in the direction of Glow and company while Skyball was flying a little too close to a certain Altaria...

---

"Right here!"

A sudden voice next to his ear made Pitch jump in surprise as Dim announced his appearance while he shambled through the walls. He was wagging a finger at the two of them.

"Naughty naughty," he tsked, as he hovered in between the two of them, "Plotting to escape while I wasn't around. Tis a shame those were just words though. I would've loved to have an excuse to send you two to the Spirit World."

Dim whistled, the other Pokemon in the warehouse responding quickly by double timing it over to their position as he continued to speak to them, "Nevertheless, it seems the time has come to enact my plan! I just need to make final preparations!" he then shifted his attention over to his Family members crowding around them, "Take these two outside. We will leave momentarily." He turned to phase back through the wall when he stopped lifting a finger up as he proclaimed some last minute words, "Oh, by the way. I figured this was worth mentioning to the two of you, but it seems like your friends were captured by the PokeCatchers a little while ago. Last time I checked, they're off to some random part of Unova as we speak. Isn't that cheerful! Welp, ciao for now!" And he vanished, leaving those haunting words to vibrate through Pitch and Zap.

Zap let out a yelp as Dim appeared out of nowhere. As he left, the words let out a flare of panic in his mind. "WHAT!?" He yelped.
He cried out silently and looked at Pitch, desperation twinkling in his eyes. "We need to help them." He said. "I just found them, and I don't want to lose them again." He said, a saddened twinkle in his eyes.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Glow let out a yelp as a familiar nidorina ran past her, shoving her aside. "Hey!" She yelled, as Aurora glared at the nidorina too.
As a pasarichu darted past her, and she almost lost her balance. "What the-" She growled.

As Fluff flew through the clouds, she noticed something flying towards her. She let out a yelp and swerved upwards as the pokemon glided towards her.

"Woah! Woah!" Skyball uttered as he swerved down, avoiding the Altaria he was about to crash into. Readjusting to the sudden evasive maneuver, the Emolga peered down to find that he had lost the two. Darn it...

"Hey, thanks for that," he spat at the Altaria with a bit of sarcasm edged in his voice before he swooped lower searching for the lost targets again.

"Sorry! Coming through!" Lumi cried as she blasted her way through three Pokemon she didn't focus on. Her focus was on Nidorina.

With a sudden quick step, the Nidorina juked right and dived into an alley on the left. Lumi had the agility to repeat the pattern, following the same motion as she entered the alleyway.

Without warning, the Nidorina turned around and struck Lumi with a few Fury Swipes. Grunting from the motion, the Pachirisu hit the ground hard, shaking the blow off. When she got up, the Nidorina was gone. Shoot...

Following the alleyway to the other side, Lumi looked around. There was no sign of the Nidorina at all...she had completely disappeared.

And then the city-wide intercom came on, "This just in. A massive bunch of wild Pokemon has just escaped the PokeCatcher Center. Police are unsure as to who did it and why, but they have now called upon the citizens of Nimbasa City to come forward with any information they may know."

She scoffed at that as the report went on, "In the meantime, the Mayor has urged the citizens to remain indoors and to recall their Pokemon until the crisis has been dealt with. The Pokemon Catchers will take any unattended Pokemon out on the streets. If you see any unattended Pokemon, report them immediately."

Double shoot!

Lumi sighed in irritation as Skyball landed beside her, "Did you get her?" he asked.

"No, she got away," she answered, "Did you hear that news report?"

"Only the end of it," Skyball shrugged honestly, "But I think I get the jist."

'Well, we need to find that Nidorina and quickly. However, it's gonna be too risky doing it tonight while all the PokeCatcher patrols are out and about." The Pachirisu began walking back through the alley she'd just gone down. Skyball followed behind.

"So we should wrap this up for tonight?" he said.

Lumi shook her head, "She may leave the city by then. We need to be careful." She reemerged on the other end, running straight into Glow.

"Oof!" she uttered as she fell back once more. Skyball was laughing.

"Oh by the way. There's Pokemon there!" he winked playfully at her.

"Shut up," she groaned, but even she was chuckling just a bit as she turned to Glow, Aurora, and Mud, "Sorry about that. Got a bit of a head rush, y'know?"

---

"We won't lose them again," Pitch reassured Zap, "I know they don't ship any Pokemon out of Nimbasa for at least a couple of days. We have until then to get them."

And then an intercom came on, "This just in. A massive bunch of wild Pokemon has just escaped the PokeCatcher Center. Police are..."

"Or they could figure it out for themselves," Pitch said, "That works too."

The Pokemon led them to the door, to which one Pokemon produced a key. He floated up to the keyhole, fitting it in perfectly. The door opened and Pitch and Zap were pushed outside. It was already twilight, the colors above them blackening as night approached. Pitch was a bit perplexed by how much time had passed. He hadn't expected to lose half a day.

Zap could not help but sigh in relief. "Thank Arceus they are out." I hope they are safe. He thought.
As they were lead lead out, he looked up at the first stars. It felt like an eternity in there. He thought.


_______________________________________________________________________
As the three slid into the theatre, the announcement rang out overhead. "We should hide somewhere. Make as little noise as possible. " Mud said. The other two nodded. Glow showed them the railings. "Only you could fit up there." Aurora said. Glow nodded. They continued to search until they found a broken board on the stage. Mud pulled the board away and they all slipped down, with a few splinters. They hid down under the stage, not making a sound.

Night had befallen the bright and adventurous city once more. The sidewalks seemed to glow from the buildings around them. The pretty lights showed their true colors and the hustle and bustle of people with Pokemon around them seemed to grow tenfold. Night time was a magical time to witness in Nimbasa City for this reason. There just wasn't as playful an atmosphere anywhere else.

Even in the most death defying situations, Pitch could learn to take this all in and appreciate it.

He and Zap were walking side by side, following a set path outlined by Dim. Despite everything, Pitch couldn't deny the Dusknoir as a strategist. He'd leveled the playing field to his advantage so much so that Castol would have no idea what was coming for him. Some part of him actually liked the thought of the Charmeleon being set in his place. Should the Family the the faction to do it? Well, that wasn't his premonition, but it wasn't like the Family were bad Pokemon, per say. They just had a different way of running things. They certainly weren't bullies like the Crusaders were.

"Stay close to me," Pitch had warned Zap early on before they had begun, "We'll find an opportunity and take it then."

However, no opportunity had arisen as of yet. Even though it appeared that Pitch and Zap were alone, he knew they weren't. Many a Pokemon were lurking in the shadows...watching...waiting. Dim included among them. And while Pitch believed the two of them may be able to outrun a good majority of them, they couldn't outrun the most lethal of them. So now, they played the waiting game.

Pitch suddenly turned to Zap, a warm hazel set in his eyes, "You know, it has been fun being with you...even with all that has been happening. I mean, not like this part is fun or anything, but enjoying your company. It feels great not having to do this alone."

Friend. Pitch let that word linger in his mind as he thought about it. Friends were few and hard to come by, especially around these parts. He made enemies, he made allies, he made acquaintances who'd take everything he owned in a heartbeat and strangers who'd give him a leg up at the time. But never a friend. He smiled back at Zap.

"I feel the same way," he told him, "And we-"

Before he could finish, a massive blast of fire erupted from the alleyway, hitting Pitch square in the side. The force of the strike was enough to send Pitch sprawling a few feet, landing with a hard thud. Shaking it off, Pitch had a sense of deja vu as he turned to face the foe he knew was there.

"Y'know," Castol said as he stepped into view, "Sometimes it feels great to just do things yourself."

Behind the Charmeleon was a few of his Crusaders, a certain Houndoom and Nidorina included. Castol was narrowing his eyes at Zap.

"Still making allies, I see?" he quipped as he began circling the Raichu, "Planning on starting your own faction to compete with mine?"

"A friend, Castol," Pitch told him boldly, stepping forward as if he hadn't just taken a blow from him at all, "Zap is a friend."

"Hah! Friendship?" the Charmeleon's eyes were lit aflame as he grabbed Pitch and held him by the scruff of the neck within his claws, "Friendship will get you nowhere here!"

"Maybe not," came a familiar voice from the shadows, "But Family can."

The sudden swipe from behind caught Castol off guard, the blow actually sending him reeling. Growling in annoyance, he spun around to find the glowing red eye of Dusknoir baring down on him. He scoffed.

"Dim," he stated, "I didn't expect you here. On my territory."

"On the contrary," Dim raised a finger as more shapes and figures emerged from the shadows, surrounding the Crusaders, "I believe you are on mine."

The Charmeleon snarled in response, "You dare ambush me?"

"Revolution is in the air tonight," Dim announced, falling back behind the various Ghost-Types and Dark-Types that had the Crusaders encircled, "And unfortunately for you, Castol, you are the first in line to bow down to me as I take over Nimbasa City."

Castol spat at him, "I'd rather die."

"That can be arranged as well," Dim shrugged nonchalantly, "And I shall resort to those methods if I have to. But this carries more interest to me. Let's see how much strength you and your Crusaders truly hold." He shot a finger out in command, "Family, ho!"

The Family attacked. The Crusaders were on the defensive for once. It was the start of something that Pitch didn't see that often in his life.

It was the start of a Turf War.

Zap froze as the two sides crashed into war. A familiar image flashed into mind. A truck with a red logo on the side, made to seperate pokemon from their family. And friends.

"Pitch!" He growled "We need to get out! The pokemon catchers could come at any given moment!" He observed the loud scene with a lashing tail. "There is a ledge up there that I- we could reach if we jump from that dumpster over there." He added earnestly "But we need to be quick."

Something clicked at the back of his mind. A memory flicked through his mind.

Zap looked at the pokemon around him. His vision was blurry. all he wanted to do was sleep. He could hear a few murmurs around him as he plummeted into darkness and rest.

The dawn light had started to show its beautiful orange and red shine. A pokemon could be seen walking towards something. He leapt up into the air, and landed in a tree. A pichu trotted after him and tried to also jump into tree. As it slipped, a pair of black paws grabbed it and hauled the Pichu up. "Careful!" He said. His gaze softened. "Look at that." He said. "The sunrise, the town in the distance, everything." He stopped, as he gazed of into the distance. He glanced down at the pichu. "Before you know it, that all could be gone." 'Gone?' The pichu thought.

Zap woke up, to see someone prodding him in the side. "Wha?" his vision cleared to see it was the Phampy, Mud. "Come on." He said. Zap sat up and follwed him. "What's going on?" Zap muttered sleepily. "Just be quiet and come with me!" Mud whispered. In the clearing was everyone else, all looking at him and Mud. Zap glanced around. "What's going on?" Aurora glanced at him. "We need to leave. Something bad is going to happen if we stay. We need to leave. Zap's world seemed to shatter into a million pieces. His family slowly started to tear apart, leaving him alone. He ran after Glow, crying out. "Wait! Please don't leave me!" Before he could get her to hear him, everyone was gone. He was all alone.
Zap snapped back into reality. "Please." He said. "We need to leave. I need to find my family."

Pitch darted out of the way as the two sides interlocked in battle. Panting, Pitch made his way around the outside to run into Zap, who was pointing to the window sill. From there, they would be able to get to the rooftop and away from the alley. "Yes, that's it!" Pitch exclaimed as he began running towards the dumpster, "Good eye, Zap!"

He lowered himself at the edge of the dumpster, letting Zap jump on his back to gain the leverage he needed to get onto the smelly thing. After this was done, Pitch took a few steps back, then bolted for the dumpster himself. He used the wall to spring himself even higher, landing on the top with a surprising amount of grace. He then turned to look below him at the raging fight.

Power was being flung in all directions. Shadow Balls and Sucker Punches permeated the general atmosphere while Razor Leaves and Flamethrowers cut through it. Despite being surrounded, the Crusaders were holding their own against the Family pretty well. There was no sign of Dim, but Castol was leading the charge on his side, Dragon Clawing the Haunter before calling back to his brigade, "We do not lose tonight! We fight on to victory!"

Pitch knew it was only a matter of time before the PokeCatchers showed up. He wanted to be out of sight from them when they did.

"You first," Pitch motioned to the ledge. It wasn't a far jump, maybe a few yards from the dumpster to the window sill. An easy jump for the both of them to make.

Zap nodded. "Thanks" He climbed up onto the window ledge then jumped quickly onto the roof, quiet as the wind. He looked back, waiting for Pitch to follow. His tail swayed back and forth. The sun was just starting to rise, setting a golden light onto the battle. As Pitch jumped up, Zap stood up and yawned. "We should find somewhere to- *yaaaaawn* rest." He finished, slightly embarassed.

Pitch made his own stealthy leap onto the window sill and followed Zap onto the rooftop. Indeed, the sun was beginning to rise, showcasing how long the duo had been out here. While Dim's plan worked to some extent, it didn't exactly work in a timely manner. Pitch had to stifle his own yawn from peeking out when Zap did his. After all, yawns were infectious.

But he had to stay focused. They may have gotten away from the meat of the battle, but that didn't mean they were out of the woods yet. Castol's Crusaders may have seemed outmatched, but knowing the crafty Charmeleon, Pitch wouldn't put it past him to hide a few of his more powerful goons somewhere nearby just in case things got too dicey. They would be showing up soon. And Dim would be after the two as well, finding his lost Family members. Just the thought of that was enough to creep him out.

"We're not quite there yet," Pitch reminded him, "We still have to get away first. Dim will be out looking for us as will Castol when they're both done. In fact, I see two Crusaders right now!"

Pitch pointed at two Pokemon, one scurrying from roof to roof while the other flew within the silhouette of the rising sun. As the figures began to take shape, the Eevee immediately began to recall what he just said, "Wait...I don't think they have an Emolga and Pachirisu among their ranks...who are they?"

Zap tilted his head. " I saw their base once. No smaller Pokemon like a pasarichu." He paused. "We should keep going. You're right. They could be anywhere." He suppressed a shudder at the thought. He darted to the edge of the roof, silent as a ninja. He watched the sun setting, creating a warm glow over the battle. He shook his head. He needed to concentrate. He scanned the rooftops. He leapt to one, waiting for Pitch to follow. As the two leapt away from the battle, the noises soon grew to whispers. Zap glanced up, seeing the moon creating an eerie light upon the two.

Pitch started to back up as Dim floated closer and closer. He knew Baby-Doll eyes would aid him a little bit, but he needed something surefire. His gaze shot to Zap, who was still on the other rooftop and had no way to get across. He kept backing up.

Dim had all the momentum in his favor and he was reveling in it, "There's nowhere to run off to...nowhere to hide. Just you me and that bright moon right there." His eye seemed to pulse with pleasure as the moonlight filtered in with the colorful lights from Nimbasa, an odd hue surrounding Dim because of it, "You know, you could evolve right now if you were just a bit more accepting. You even have a great name for it...Pitch. Like in pitch blackness. It's like you were destined to become an Umbreon."

Pitch had already considered this. If he were destined to be an Umbreon, he would've become one by now. The same was true for any Eevolution that existed. The names may match, but those were just labels and subject to change. When the time came, he would evolve. Right now, he needed to be an Eevee.

Pitch stared back fiercely, "Not yet I'm not. I'm fine just the way I am." He felt his tail bump into the slight rise signifying the tip of the roof. He had backed himself to the edge of the building. There was nowhere else to go except towards Dim.

Dim was charging a Shadow Ball in his hand, but kept a bit of lightness in his tone, "It doesn't have to end this way. You can surrender yourself to our Family and grow and evolve. Or, I can send you to the Spirit World here. I won't tell you again." The sphere grew larger and larger in his hand as he gave his ultimatum.

Pitch looked from Dim to the street below to the moon above to Zap afar and back to Dim once more before shaking his head.

Dim tsked before continuing, "Quite a shame. We could've used you. But now, you're just a forgotten hope." The Shadow Ball was launched, heading straight for Pitch at incredible velocity.

But Pitch had already began moving. He turned and dove off the side of the building, narrowly missing the Shadow Ball as it went whizzing over his head. He dodged the attack. But now he was in free fall, plummeting towards the street below. Any second now, he would hit the pavement and become a pancake.

Unless...Pitch noticed a window sill jutting out from the side and with near cat-like reflexes caught it with a paw. He felt his momentum halt as he now gripped the edge with dear life. His whole world was spinning from adrenaline and he couldn't see anyone. Zap was on the other side and would only have seen him jump off. Dim would be following in pursuit any second now, to see if Pitch had survived. Where could he go?

Pitch got his answer when he began pulling himself up onto the window sill, using his feet to shoot himself up onto it. The window was open just a crack. Not much, but enough for Pitch to nuzzle his nose under and scurry inside. By the time Dim managed to float to the side of the building, Pitch was gone.

But Dim wasn't stupid, however. He knew the only possible way he could've gone if he hadn't hit the ground was inside. But he wasn't willing to sneak his way into the home of a human and risk being captured. He stood by the front door and waited for Pitch to walk straight into his waiting arms.

---

Lumi and Skyball scuttled on the roofs of all the buildings in Nimbasa, searching for their missing Nidorina. The closest they got to finding anyone was an Eevee and a Raichu off in the distance. They didn't say hello.

"You shouldn't fly right now, Sky," Lumi called up to her partner, who was soaring over everything and was silhouetted by the moonlight, "You'll get spotted by the PokeCatchers."

"Relax!" he called back down, "I've got the pro dodging skills!"

Lumi snickered, "You've got the pro dodging skills?"

"Dang right I do!" Skyball did a barrel roll in the air as if to demonstrate, "Ain't no PokeCatcher no way no how gonna shoot me out of the air. Besides, we can really use the vantage point."

Suddenly, Lumi caught the lights of battle in the distance, "Hey, I think I see something!"

Skyball nodded down to her, "I see it too. Some kind of brawl going down. Should we intervene?"

"I think we should at least see what's up," Lumi suggested, "Maybe let them know what the announcement said if they didn't know already."

"Something tells me they know and don't care," the Emolga hovered lower, flying a couple feet above the rooftops to talk to Lumi from a closer distance, "I mean, do you see how many Pokemon are fighting?"

"Yeah, there are tons," he said, watching a giant fire arc shoot upwards out of the alleyway, "But why are they fighting?"

"Let's go find out!" Skyball was already diving into the fight, corkscrewing in the air before spreading his wings and hovering over the scene. Lumi slid down an extruding pipe, landing softly on the ground and approaching the combat zone.

"Hey...what's going on here?" she called out.

Immediately, a flame attack was sent her way. She zipped to the right, avoiding the attack mostly, but singeing a few hairs in the process. Lumi's eyes lit up in ferocity.

"Hey now!" she protested as she hurled an Electro Ball back at whatever flung that, "Not cool!"

The attacker rushed towards her, charging up his Dragon Claw before slicing in her direction. Lumi stood her ground and, rather than dodge, took the momentum of the strike and shoved it to the immediate right of her. Just like Crimson taught me... she thought.

The Dragon Claw smashed into the ground beside the Pachirisu. The attacker paused, eyes looking down puzzled as Lumi stepped towards him and Nuzzled his cheek. The sting of electricity was enough to have the attacker step back in shock as the electric jolts of Paralysis started forming from his body. Lumi glanced long enough at the attacker to realize it was a Charmeleon.

The Charmeleon sounded angry, yet bewildered, "How did you-"

"Why did you attack me?" she interrupted him, a hard set look of her face.

The Charmeleon gripped his claws slowly and with a struggle due to the paralysis, "You're not a Crusader. Therefore, you're an enemy to us!"

Lumi's head cocked slightly as she heard the name of their group. The Crusaders? "Who are you? And who are the Crusaders?" she asked.

The Charmeleon's brow lifted, "A newbie to Nimbasa, huh? Well, the name's Castol. And I run this town!" With that, Castol dove forward, striking at Lumi with Dragon Rage. The attack found it's mark as the Pachirisu was rattled by the sudden attack.

Meanwhile, Skyball had landed on the other side of the fight, without a clue as to what was going on with Lumi and Castol. However, turning back towards the Turf War, he spotted another familiar face...the face of the Nidorina! Immediately, he flung himself into the fray with Acrobatics, dodging all the random outlying attacks and finding his mark, striking the Nidorina square in the head. She reeled from the blow, smashing into the left alleyway wall. With a grunt of pain and determination, she got onto her feet to deal with this new foe...until she saw who it was.

"You again?!" she growled.

"You really shouldn't go to the bright shiny things to hide from us, y'know," Skyball winked menacingly as he steeled himself for the fight to come.

Zap let out a shocked cry. "Pitch!" As the eevee vanished over the other side of the roof. He peered over the edge, not seeing any sort of movement on the ground, and certainly not an unmoving clump of brown fur. Well, if he is not there, where did he go? He would not ditch me would he? He shook the thought out as quickly as it came He peered down further, hanging onto the roof with his back paws. He noticed something. A barely opened window, and a tiny bit of fur on it. Okay so he is alive, but he may not be for long if Dim finds a way in He quietly slipped in the window, praying he was not seen or heard. He made it through, barely able to catch himself from falling. He whispered "Pitch? Are you here? It's Zap."

Pitch made one last peek around the corner towards Dim before bounding for the amphitheater, "Let's go! They're probably waiting for us."

---

"RRRRRGGHHH! QUIT DODGING ME!" Castol snarled as he shot forth another Flame Burst. It would only hit the dumpster the Pachirisu was currently hiding behind.

"Dude, are you always this bratty?!" Lumi called back, part tauntingly, part genuine curiosity. The massive flame that responded only served to answer her question.

Castol still had the advantage over Lumi. That Dragon Rage really had caught her off guard and now she was much weaker in this fight.The Paralysis hadn't wore off, but it hadn't really helped yet either. And Castol was on the offensive while Lumi stayed defensive. She needed to shift the momentum in her favor and fast.

This wasn't some evil mastermind with a diabolical scheme, she reminded herself, This was a rich kid throwing a temper tantrum about not getting what he wanted.

She could do this.

Fast as lightning, Lumi zipped around the corner, charging headfirst towards Castol. The Charmeleon tried to Flame Burst once more, but Lumi dodged to her left and the flames sped past. Another low growl escaped his throat.

But Lumi was done playing games. She was a professional. She was a member of the Crimson Guild. She wasn't going to stoop down to the level of this...twerp.

She scuttled within reach. Castol had Dragon Claw prepared and ready to swing, but Lumi had already anticipated the close quarter move and proceeded to grab the arm in which he was about to use to attack her. She flung her tail in his face, effectively blinding him while catching him off guard. As Castol sputtered and spat out fur, she was already moving again, using his outstretched arm to flip around him and be behind him. A close up Electro Ball spawned from her hands and into Castol's backside in a matter of milliseconds, sending him sprawling forward.

But Castol knew how to fight. He rolled into the momentum, landing on his feet once more. The glance he gave back to Lumi was terrifying...one mixed with rage and pure intensity. Lumi didn't even know so much of his face could scrunch up in such horror like that. She slowed down considerably.

That was all Castol needed. He timed the Dragon Claw perfectly, landing it square in Lumi's stomach. The knock back was as immense as the blow had been. Lumi was flung backwards and hit the brick wall with a muffled thump! before collapsing to the ground. She shut her eyes and winced from the shuddering pain that coursed through her body. Her tiny hands clenched into fists of determination.

"I-I can't-" she stammered, her left eye blinking open to see the silhouetted form of Castol staring over her. The lighting made the sinister sneer that more wicked as he stared down at her with confident eyes.

"Oh what's wrong?" Castol stooped lower, down to near eye level with Lumi, "You walk into the wrong neighborhood?"

Hook, line, and sinker! Lumi suddenly sprang forward, kissing Castol on the cheek before shoving him backwards. The Charmeleon began to stagger, his vision swimming. It was incredibly hard to focus after a Sweet Kiss like that.

"Wh-wha..." Castol's gaze looked hazy and terribly unfocused, "Wha happened?"

Lumi didn't dare try to step forward...not yet. She hit him from afar with Swift, the stars swirling around the alleyway an landing on their target without fail. Castol took the blast like a champ, deciding to return the favor with another Flame Burst heading for the Pachirisu.

"Take this you son of a-OW!"

The move backfired...literally in this case. The confusion he was feeling caused the flames to engulf himself instead. Still, because he was a Fire-Type, they wouldn't do much damage. But every little bit counted.

Now it was Lumi's turn to counter as she sprang forward and barely grazed him once more or as she liked to call it, Nuzzle 2: The Renuzzling. The familiar jolts of Paralysis jutted out of Castol as she turned around again and struck with another Electro Ball. Lumi had once more gained the upper hand in this fight.

Castol was feeling everything now, the Confusion wearing off but the Paralysis coming back. The onslaught of blows he had taken were catching up to him and he was panting from the strain. Still, he held on to his temper and his brute strength that made him so difficult to take down in combat.

"You think you've won, rat?" he growled as he shut his eyes, seeming to concentrate. A purple hue began to form around him as he tucked in, almost like he was gathering energy. Then, Lumi realized what he was doing. Her eyes widened in shock as she completely glossed over the Dragon Rage he was about to unleash...not just on her but on pretty much everyone in the vicinity. She tried to run back behind cover, but she knew she wouldn't make it in time.

"YOU HAVEN'T EVEN FOUGHT ME!!!" Castol bellowed, a mighty blast of purple shock wave energy engulfing the alleyway around them. If the PokeCatchers hadn't seen or heard anything about the battle before now, they definitely saw that massive flash of purple on the south central side of Nimbasa City. A few moments before, they would be here.

Castol breathed hard, smoldering from the blast but a victorious grin plastered on his face. He turned to see the knocked out Pachirisu lying on the ground unconscious as well as many other Pokemon, Crusader and Family alike. The other Family members had ditched the blast zone and were now retreating back to their territory. Castol and the Crusaders had won the Turf War.

With a gleaming smile, he turned back to the remaining Crusaders left standing which was only the Houndoom, the Nuzleaf, and the Espeon. All the other members had been knocked out before Castol's Dragon Rage or by it. There was an oddity, however. A Nidorina was missing among their ranks. Castol decided to put that issue off until later. He didn't have time to deal with deserters right now. He was also aware of Pitch's disappearance from the battlefield, but there would always be time for payback.

"Alright, gang," Castol's eyes pierced through the three of them, "Let's take some prisoners and get out of here."

Zap nodded. As they darted through the alleyways, a purple flash flickered long enough to catch Zap's attention. "We should probably pick up the pace." He quickened his steps, as he could almost imagine the trucks swinging by and capturing everybody in sight.