Lumi the Pachirisu's Story

The sky was soon raining with fallen scrap all across the landscape. Flaming scrap began to rain below and surviving orkz began to pour out in the hundreds. Of course more orks continued to drop from orbit. However those on the ground inside the 'drop pods' that they landed in, Mekboys inside began to rig up Tellyporta Pads inside the landers to get more reinforcements to arrive.

Of course the orks on the surface had scrap raining down from above so as some scrap fell next to them they gleefully stopped their rampant running around to upgrade their kits.

Of course with the arrival of the Psychic Pokémon, the orks understood psychic being. "Its a weirdun'! 'Un its doin' sumfin'!" An ork boy shouted. Of course the Pokémon were not the only ones with psychic beings. Soon an ork with a crude looking staff hobbled his way out of the fiery wreck that was his lander. "'Fings jus' got a 'ole lot weirder..." The Ork spoke as he looked in the sky at the floating Pokémon. The ork raised its staff and launch a ball of psychic WAAAGH! energy at the Mewtwo. He was channeling the power of all the orkz around him so it would indeed be effective against most Pokémon.

The Ork commando even though its ears were ringing could still see. It was time to stikk the hairy ape now. Rasing his knife the Kommando would go in for a kill stab, an overhead swing to bring its knife down on the chimps head. "Time 'ta die you'zze git!"

The ringing in Crimson's ears had faded slightly, his vision remaining bright. As his mind raced, he would be looking down towards the earth beneath them. In the back of his mind, he reached for one of the many presences his body possessed...a sturdy and solid side of himself. There was a twinge of a smile registering across the Chimchar's face as he pulled the essence outward, letting it envelope his whole body. The flame on his rear began to die down. He began to feel the area around him shift as he continued to divulge his attention towards the air and how it moved...

As this was going on, the Ork Commander was readying what he believed to be the final strike. Crimson's hearing problem had faded just barely enough for him to make out the words Nog was saying to him: "Time 'ta die you'zze git!"

And then he felt it. He felt the wind shift around him, pulling back as it got behind the massive Ork's fist to unleash an attack of some sort. And that was all Crimson needed to act.

Before the Ork Commander could even register what had happened, the Chimchar sank into the ground, disappearing from view with nothing but a small plume of soft soil in his place...a spot the knife would easily plunge into due to the heaviness of Nog's downward vertical strike. But the nature and direction the Ork elected to take it's execution would prove to be his downfall.

Above ground, where vision was a must and light was a key component of that, Crimson was blind from the flash bomb. But below ground was a different story. Vision down here was based on sound waves and tremors, the movement of others around him or even above him giving an internal insight as to where things were. Living things, like the Ork standing above ground, or even non-living things, like the weird knife that dug into the earth a few inches above his head, but stopped there. And a glorious opportunity emerged.

Not even thinking about it, Crimson impulsively kicked his feet out above ground and wrapped around the hilt of the knife blade Commander Nog wielded. Using the Earth around him, his own strength and speed, and the surprise that would slowly register on the lower intelligence being, the knife would be yanked from his grasp, disappearing beneath the surface. Even with the advantage in strength, an Ork would never see such a move coming. Shock and confusion would be the primary candidates for reasons why he lost hold of the blade.

And the Crimson emerged, facing the Ork's back. An Ork wouldn't understand what had happened and most Pokemon in the area would barely understand it either, since it was described as an impossible trait for a Chimchar to carry. But as others glancing his direction would see, the flame on his rear was no longer present. His fur had changed color from orange to brown and his eyes were matching, a steady gaze appearing from them that signified he'd regained his eyesight while underground. He was standing on a small pillar of earth formed beneath him to meet eye level with the Ork. In his hands would be a makeshift akimbo he had acquired due to the tactical blunder made on Commander Nog's part: The Power Bat held on his right with the weird atom-shifting knife in his left. Due to the size of Orks, a knife might as well have been a sword in Crimson's grasp as it matched the size of the Power Bat. It was indeed heavier than most weapons he'd held, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.

He could switch types after all.

"I'm going to give you one last chance," Crimson said, twirling the Power Bat behind him while holding Nog's knife out in front of him, "If you surrender now, we'll let you leave with the promise that you never come back. If not...I'm not afraid to take the life of those that will destroy our world as we know it."

And for all intensive purposes, the battle between them could've been won there. Crimson knew where the Ork was from underground. He could've easily plunged the knife into him from below, or even tossed the knife into his head when he re-emerged. He was giving them a single chance.

And if the Ork Commander didn't take it...well, let's hope the WarBoss could do business without him.

---

In the overall picture of the fight brewing, the Orks were trying to turn the tide in their favor via numbers. The Sunrise Brigade's strike on the drop ships killed thousands, but left hundreds to land somewhat unsafely and send themselves into the fray. The number was slowly increasing in their favor, a good three Orks for one Pokemon present on the battlefield. Things from an exterior standpoint weren't looking too good for the home team.

And yet...everything seemed to be going their way.

In the spectrum of battle, it was equivalent to bringing lambs to the butcher's house. Ork would charge out to only be mowed down by a barrage of attacks like Air Slash and Ice Shard and Bullet Seed or even the more effective ones like Thunderbolt and Flare Blitz. They could hit 'em with range strikes that could incinerate one to ten Orks at a time while the return fire was vastly inferior. The bullets pinged across Pokemon at random, having a varying effect dependent on which ones they hit. Those that were Ice-Types, Rock-Types, and Fairy-Types had the worst go of it, a few good hits of these bullets taking them down. But even then, they ricocheted off the creatures like they were an inferior technology to behold. And none of these creatures actually died...they simply fell to the ground unconscious. Now the Fire-Types, Water-Types, Electric-Types, and Steel-Types...they might as well have been firing pea shooters at tanks since it did virtually nothing to them. Meanwhile, their own flames casting down upon the large creatures were slaying through them at an accelerated rate. And those that couldn't do much in attacking the Orks were serving as the support. Most of the Grass-Types and Fairy-Types were acting as healers while others were boosting their allies's abilities and lowering their opponents. A tactical advantage was slowly making the Pokemon much, much stronger than the Orks and they just couldn't keep up.

In fact, Sarik, Pert, and Meryl were more nervous about the newer Pokemon arrival breaching the surface than they were about the actual problem at hand.

"Is that...Mewtwo?" Pert's eyes quivered in awe and terror, "I've heard bad things about that one!"

"Again, we're in a different universe," Sarik reminded him, "The Mewtwo we've fought is not the same as the Mewtwo here. So far, he's only taking out the Ork creatures. So maybe he's a good guy."

"I dunno..." Meryl voiced her own opposition, "From what we've seen so far, they may have different personalities, but there's always some sort of element of similarity that applies between the Pokemon we know from Mohka and the Pokemon we've met on Ruula. I'm not so sure he's a good guy with pure intentions."

"Well, it's an ally on our side at the moment," Sarik rationalized, "So we can take that as it is for right now. If worst comes to worst, we can take him. We've beaten Mewtwo before."

Three curt nods followed as they all charged into the fight.

At the sight of the dreaded Mewtwo, most of the civilians who knew the stories started running in fear in the opposite direction. The walls of the city wouldn't save them from that kind of power should it be turned against them, but maybe it would buy them and their precious companions a few extra seconds. Terrance, of course, was completely clueless, but his skater friend advised him one more time.

"It's Mewtwo! I thought it was just a legend! Run for your life, Terran!"

Fuck no. There was a battle to be won, even if he had to do it all by himself. Well, not really, given all the wildlings that seemed to be pitching in and coordinating remarkably well. And so he trekked out across the badlands towards the Power Plant, combat knife and tactical flashlight in his hands as he approached the objective deliberately. Without his ANDEE suit, he was just another piece of meat out here. One wrong move could be his last. He was NOT getting repatriated in a casket, damn it.

Skulking up to the blasted entrance to the plant, Terrance frowned at the straightaway. If there were any guards, that corridor was a kill zone. However, the sounds of battle emboldened him to continue, trying to move quietly and only flashing the beam around when he had to.

One final bottleneck after what felt like a few miles of hallway...the counter at the entrance. This he could use for some quick cover as the dakka of Ork machine guns mixed with roaring fires and shrill cries of effort and anguish from both sides. Tch. This dinky little piece of metal wouldn't do any good against armor like that...not even his few boomers from home would do much. They were just bigger, faster, stronger and tougher than he was right now.

He had to do something to help in order to get his ass back to Terra. But what could he do?

Belana had had enough of the defensive. Her wings flapped harder, sending the hurricane into a full on gale as she ducked, arced and weaved through the Warboss's rapid fire shells. She moved herself into such a position that she could be set up for a direct charge. Focusing all of her remaining might into a frontal psychic barrier she rushed forward towards the warboss as his rounds pinged off of her shield. It held but just long enough that she got her jaws around the Ork's head and upper torso. With him secured, she flew straight up right for all of the boyz to see down below and began to crunch the Ork's body in her grasp.

Higher and higher she soared into the sky while tossing the ork high into the air and simply let him go down to the ground. With a massive roar and shriek of power she gathered up what strength she could muster and unleashed the most powerful Aeroblast she could manage with her remaining strength. The blast nailed the ork square in the back and immediately rocketed his acceleration towards the ground. Now at terminal velocity, Belana charged after him. Upon his landing, which subsequently caused a crater, she added injury by landing on him and forcing him deep under the ground, effectively knocking him out of the fight.

Another massive shriek of power as she let out a sign of her indomitable might and took to the skies once more. With the Warboss down, she summoned up a few hydro pumps to cut down the drop pods and destroyed the Tellyportas inside. But this...was all she could muster. Her eyes drooped and her wing beats grew erratic in their beating and soon, the massive Legendary pokemon plummeted to the ground near the defenders, landing hard on the earth and simply remained there. She was too tired to move, too weak to stand or even flap her wings. Now she had to try and rest. She was exposed but hopefully the defenders would have enough power to hold them back long enough for her to fully recover.

Her body glowed as she began to draw power from the rain above her and the earth below her. She had begun regenerating.

With the death of the warboss, along with their means of escape. One ork, one Nob in particular took it upon itself to do what orkz did best. The Ork laughed as he was disarmed. "I'z still don't undeestand you'ze stupid git! But if you'ze 'fink we'ze gonna be done 'fer 'fink again!" The ork roared as he removed his armor to reveal what was under all that heavy armor...His body was a massive bomb.

"I'z rigged 'da plant 'ta go boom! Along with all 'da scrap that has fallen all around 'da place! We'ze orks 'ave 'nuff juice 'ta blow the 'ole place and everywhere around 'dis place to 'da ground! 'DA BOSS MAY 'AVE GOT KRUMPED! BUT I'Z MAKE SURE YOU'ZE GITZ ALL DIE! WAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The ork gave one last roar as he prepared to blow himself and the whole place up with him.

Every other ork, that still managed to survive inside their drop pods already landed, or the scrap rigged up every little thing to make sure it exploded in a very large area. The Ork ship in orbit began to actualy aim itself to the city below. "I'Z GUNNA PRESS 'DA RED BUTTON! WAGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The Ork pilot pressed a button as the massive ship a few kilometers in length armed with heavy shields and armor began to rush to the surface of the planet in a final kamizaze move. Guns firing wildy at the surface.

The Orks on the ground also prepared to go out in an explosive end. The Ork Kommando laughing at Crimson. "WE 'DA ORKZ! WE'ZE GONNA KRUMP YOU'ZE GITZ!"

Crimson's eyes widened as the Commander made his big reveal...the huge hulking bomb that was somehow hidden underneath the armor already protecting him. In the back of his mind, it made him wonder exactly what would've happened had he done enough to drill through the armor in the first place. But his mind snapped back to reality as he took in the scope of the situation. The power plant was rigged to blow. And he was rigged to blow. And that kamikaze spaceship was flying towards the city at an incredibly fast rate...and probably rigged to blow.

What could he do?

The Ground-Type Chimchar's mind raced as he glanced around, getting ideas and formulating a plan. Luckily, the stupid Ork had given him enough time in his monologue to effectively do so. His glance shot to the Power Plant first, noticing the lack of Orks (since they either left or were slain). Luckily, there weren't many Pokemon there either, but he could think of a couple that would be in there. Team Vitality mainly.

To the left of them was a very exhausted Lugia, having defeated her opponent in impeccable fashion. Kind of anticlimactic for who was supposedly the biggest and baddest of the Orks in the first place. All he saw him do was rain useless bullets on them. In fact, it made him feel much better about the lack of strength this Commander had demonstrated so far. But as for the Lugia, she was out of commission for what would likely be the rest of this fight if Crimson played his cards right.

To the right was the main battle raging, a fight the Pokemon were clearly winning. The number of Orks were once again downgraded to double digits, so it was really a last ditch effort for them. But only now was Crimson noticing the approach the Orks were taking, surprisingly being sneaky at their approach to lace bombs in the debris around them. Not only would the power plant go out in fire, but likely many parts of this desert, causing craters abound. Nothing permanent in damage, but it still was a risk for the combatants on their side as they could have a number of fainting Pokemon resulting from this...a number that could shift the tide of the battle in the Ork's favor if it was large enough. What was worse, the reconnaissance they got from that mysterious Pokemon (who was clearly Mewtwo) hadn't taken much action other than the initial impact.

And behind his main opponent...the massive ship that seemed destined to collide with Lumiose City. That was the biggest problem to deal with. If they didn't redirect the course of that hulking hunk of metal...well, a lot of people were going to be killed, simple as that. He couldn't allow such devastation to occur. These people didn't deserve that.

And that was what he did know. He didn't know if all the bombs were going to trigger on the command of the numnutz gloating in front of him or on the individual command of the many Orks around him. He didn't know whether Tag, Pert, or Meryl were or if Sarik had arrived yet. He had to work with the pieces he knew about. But he did have an idea on how to reach the pieces he didn't. He sent a mental message to the only individual he knew would receive it and transmit it to the rest of the Guild. And finally...

He stared at Commander Nog with fiery confidence as the Ork spat it's premature celebration. His gaze rested to resolution as he took action.

"You're so stupid," Crimson said as he tossed the Ork's knife in the air and snapped his fingers.

Almost immediately, the ground beneath Nog exploded outward. Had this been a regular Pokemon with standard strength, the blast of Earth Power would probably be enough to propel the big, fat Ork a couple yards in the air. But Crimson was slightly more powerful than the standard. Slightly being that the Ork would be practically launched out of a cannon from the force of the strike. As Commander Nog was sent into the air a thousand feet or so, Crimson used his leveraged advantage to launch himself into the air and meet him halfway, catching the knife he'd let go so that he could use Earth Power on the way. Their gazes met a good fifty feet from one another in mid-air.

"Bye!"

There was charisma still in the slight twinkle in his eyes and the slight wave with his left hand, despite holding the Power Bat in it. The left hand had already launched it's projectile towards the Commander, the very knife he had wielded against the Chimchar previously, aimed straight and true towards the neck of the brute. If Crimson could recall from the previous bits of fighting, these Orks weren't exactly known for their reflexes, especially after being disoriented from having the ground blow up beneath it and sent spiraling in the air. Nor were they the most agile creatures, especially being in the air with their blubbery build. Crimson had thrown objects much cruder with as much accuracy as he had in this toss and there was nowhere for Commander Nog to maneuver in the air except for down towards his fate. It wasn't a matter of battling strengths to Crimson...it was a matter of exploiting weaknesses.

And all he would possibly have time to do before the knife sliced through his neck, separating atoms in the process, and ended his life, would be to push that button.

---

And even if Commander Nog had the mental willpower (which all Orks had) and the durability to maintain possession of that massive red button he needed to blow up the Power Plant and possibly all the scraps of metal set to make craters out of the desert, the Crimson Guild would be prepped for it.

It all began with a Dedenne named Dee, who had just revitalized her body with a couple Leppa Berries when her whiskers vibrated and she heard the voice of her leader in her head.

"Dee, I need your help. The Power Plant is gonna blow up, the Orks are about to see the other Members off with a bang, and there's a massive ship on course for colliding with the city. Think you can do a thing or two about that?"

Dee almost snorted at the calmness of tone Crimson had used to send her an update. She would have if it weren't for the gravity of the situation, literally in one case.

"On it!" she shot him a reply before upping her output range to that of everyone in the Crimson Guild, to include the Mewtwo, the Lugia, and even Terrance. "To anyone that can hear me, Crimson needs out help! We need to evacuate everybody from the Power Plant before the Orks blow it up. Team Vitality is already on the move out of there, but this is a warning for those still inside. Make your exit any way you can!"

"Anyone still fighting the Orks in the desert, brace yourselves for an explosion of your own! He said there were bombs scattered across the battlefield. Protect yourselves in any way you can, but don't give up the fighting! You guys can still take them down!"

"Sunrise Brigade, it'll be up to you guys to divert the course of the ship descending on the city. If you have another one of those massive hurricane attacks prepped, use it! We're counting on you!"

The commands were issued. Orders were being directed. Dee hopped on the back of Siena and a fully recovered Gambit zoomed out of the Power Plant and beelined for the crashing Ork vessel. Team Vitality fled the Power Plant with ease.

"Ooooooh, fuck," Skyball let a curse slip out as he took to the back of Rubira, accompanying Lumi, "RIDE, RUBIRA! RIDE!"

"I'm bucking you off of me the moment we're clear," Rubira snapped back as she galloped out one of the many gaping holes in the Power Plant. Team Volt were safe from many massive explosions.

The only ones that were left in the ticking time bomb were the Ground-Types, who made their escape in the only way they knew how...underground. They all knew Dig, so they were safe from the destruction that could potentially rain down on the ground above their heads. One by one, each Ground-Type submerged into the dirt they were more familiar with, spreading outward from the initial location of the Power Plant.

Meanwhile, the fighters in the main battle heeded the warning of the Dedenne and went on with it. Any that knew Protect or Reflect used them respectively and would be completely unscathed from the explosions that could happen around them. Those that flew went straight up to avoid any potential bombs. Fire/Flying-Types were at a supreme advantage here, since they could avoid the bombs and attack the Orks without a hitch. Those that couldn't escape by a defensive means went all out offensively, unleashing the strongest effective moves they had to take care of as many Orks as they could before the bombs struck. And fortunately, they also had healers and boosters scattered among their ranks, buffing up those that chose to continue attacking with health and defensive build to better cope with the destruction.

"I'm going in!" Sarik called out to Pert and Meryl, who were quickly right behind him.

"We got your back!" Pert informed from behind, taking his left flank while Meryl took his right.

It started with Sarik boosting his defenses with Iron Defense while Pert unleashed a Thunder Wave across the battlefield, placing every Ork in Paralysis. The already slow Orks would become much slower as Meryl began unleashing her Sparks across their ranks, the added electricity fueling to her own power as she charred Orks from the inside out. Sarik would follow up with a Hydro Pump to tear through the many ranks with highly pressurized water while Pert accompanied his own efforts with a Discharge that spanned across the other side. Common knowledge: Water and Electricity didn't mix. As such, their combo made a rather deadly spread effect that would decimate through the Orks like cardboard.

And as for the ship...the Sunrise Brigade were already on the scene, unleashing their directional torrent of wind that was the Hurricane Maneuver again. This time, they aimed on the left side of the hull of the ship, trying to force the ship to their immediate right. The force of the incredible gales were enough to shift the shift's direction slightly, but it wouldn't be enough. Peggy and Edal needed some extra power to have it miss the boundaries of the city. They realized this and watched with dismay as the ship began to plummet closer and closer.

"It's not enough!" Peggy was shouting, "Ready another Hurricane Maneuver!"

But a shape zoomed into view, a singular Pokemon ramming towards the falling ship at full speed. Peggy, Edal, and the rest of the Sunrise Brigade looked up as they saw the form of a Togetic approaching.

"I GOOOOOOT THIIIIIIIIS!" came the almost warlike cry from Gambit as his body flashed white at a measured pace...the familiar signs of Metronome. No Pokemon used Metronome as much as Gambit did, but that was because few Pokemon could get lucky as much as Gambit could. He called to the ether of knowledge and pulled a random strike from it's expansive library. And out of all the moves the Togetic could've used against the massive hull of the Ork ship...

He used Heavy Slam.

The trade-off wasn't great. A Togetic wasn't nearly as heavy as a massive ship a few kilometers wide...not even by a long shot. But the force behind a Heavy Slam was enough to do exactly what it needed to...shift the trajectory. The final push was enough to send the hunk of metal away from the capital of the Kalos Region and careening to it's right. It would crash into a grassy plain, completely uninhabited by humans and clear of Pokemon. Aftereffects could be calculated later as it would likely cause incredible damage to the area it landed in as well as some heavy earthquakes in the city. But those were much better than being completely decimated by the hunk of metal.

When opposition had presented itself in the form of a singular psionically charged Ork, Zee had not remained to engage. Getting bogged down in a fight like that, staying still or even in the one area would leave him vulnerable to bullets, explosions and knives. Not to mention the Ork ranks were on the receiving end of a growing amount of firepower from the perceived locals, and standing in the center of that was far from appealing.

His sudden acceleration would have left a gust of air trailing behind him from the force. The barrier of energy that wrapped around him from all sides would bash those he flew near aside, tumbling dozens in a zig-zagging path to cause as much disruption as possible, but then he noticed that something had changed. Metal was raining from the sky. His head craned upwards even on his flight path to see the hulking ship still moving.

They didn't. They wouldn't. They-

No, there was no time for that. It must have just been damaged in the battle and was now on a crash course. Something that large hitting the ground would be absolutely devastating, and Zee couldn't get a safe grounding to try and stop it. There was no time for thinking clearly now, just action. The sooner he intervened the more lives could be potentially saved, and maybe once he was up there he could risk standing still.

Around ground zero, that being the place Zee was at that very moment, would have the unpleasant experience of being turned to paste as a massive psionic force propelled the armoured Mewtwo skyward, cracking the sound barrier to boot. Zee would have plenty of seconds to think about what he was doing as he hurtled upwards into the atmosphere. His barrier switched from all-encompassing to purely frontal, and it charged from a sphere to a sharpened point.

He was a psionic blade, flat and wide to cause as massive a split and penetration as he could muster, only expanding with each second. He passed under the Flying types in the air in moments and continued higher into the air, cutting edge extending hundreds of meters to either side of him. And then, impact.

The battering on his mind was unbearable. Almost immediately the solid, sharp blade he had constructed psionically felt like a blunt knife cutting at wood. Zee could not comprehend all that he experienced in those seconds of him passing through the ship. All around him there was horrendous screeching of metal being ripped and torn. Explosions rocked around him leaving a burning trail in his wake. If not for the armour he wore, hooked into his helmet that helped control the extent of his powers, he probably would have killed himself. It went on for what felt like minutes, but couldn't have been more than a dozen seconds.

Then all resistance stopped and he was met with the wonder of the world beyond, an empty space devoid of anything but blackness and stars. Everything came to a standstill to appreciate the wonder of what lied around. It was peaceful up here. There was no sound, no violence, just nothing. A reluctant sigh came from within the pokemons helmet as he forced his back to it so he could face the destruction he wrought on the ship.

Now in the freedom of space, far from the gunfire and danger from below, he reached out with both hands to force psionic energy into the hole he had left in the ship, pushing outwards to try and split it in two. Technically he was just trying to minimize the total damage it was causing, but by some luck he was working towards the same goal as those on the ground; divert the ship. However he was operating on a slight different scale to them. Once the ship was sufficiently split he took hold, digits curling inwards to grasp one half of the ship, and started to pull. Blood trickled down from his nostrils as psionic powers wrestled against the sheer momentum of something so large, trying to force it to come to a complete halt in space. He had never tried such a blunt and direct action with his powers before and it was rapidly taking its toll. For a second time, it was only the restraints his armour put on him that stopped him from killing himself, but it also stopped him from totally succeeding. Even with the great extent of his power, with all the exertion he spent punching through the ship he was struggling to have a big impact.

But he didn't stop.

He wouldn't.

The Ork Kommando Gobfang, another of the many orks that would perish on the world of Ruula. As the knife drove in the Kommando's neck he would then be flown into the air roaring wildly in mostly anger and less pain. However his end was met by his own knife separating the orkz head from his own body. Not moments afterwards the massive bomb on the brutes chest was ticking. It was not a normal explosive, it was a timed explosive like the ones back in the power plant. The Kommando Nob exploded in a massive ball of fire leaving not even gibs behind, upon his own destruction the rest of the bombs followed suite by detonating all across the power plant as one last gift for anyone still stuck inside the plant. However the destruction was the least of everyone's worries...

The shoddy ork contraption...the ship was on a ramming course to the planet. Everyone knew what would happen if it impacted, it would be a world wide extermination. The air would be ash, the grounds would be lava, the seas would boil away, and life would be at its brink. Knowing this the many Pokémon did their best to slow it down no matter how meager it was. Ramming it, slicing it in half, the ship began to glow hot red as it began to arrive past the atmosphere where all could see the massive flaming wreck about to cause everyone's destruction...

The skeis grew crimson from the heat, the sound of the ship encroaching the planet ready to bring down destruction. Fear...panic...despair...One being could feel it all.

"How irritating...These greenskins surly know how to annoy...As much as this planets destruction would be a nice sight to see...There is an artifact that would allow me to gather much more souls than one single planets death can provide...It can't be helped, I have to save these so called...'pokemon'..." The man who was once inside the Catacombs suddenly appeared from a small chaotic sigil that branded itself on the land as he appeared.

He looked up at the marvelous sight of the crude ship prepared to wipe out nearly all life on the planet. The Pokémon of this world was adorably trying to stop it in such a futile manner. It was funny for him, to watch the weak struggle against destruction. However he was not going to let such a valued prize be destroyed needlessly before he could find it. So he had to regretabbly save this planet for his own goals.

Raising his hand into the air, the unholy powers of Chaos flowed through his body as he began to bend and tear at the fabric's of reality. In front of the ship something was going on, reality was torn asunder as a massive hole opened up as the sorcerer ripped a portal directly to the Warp and watched the fruits of his labor.

The massive and crude ork vessel was being swallowed by the massive tear as it no longer was on an impact course for the surface. It was being dragged into the maws of the Warp slowly but surely. All the beings on the planet who could see this spectacle watched as such unholy power was used to save them.

Soon enough the ship was swallowed hole, of course the thousands of orkz still swarming the planet began to hoof it on mechanical walkers or on foot and they ran as fast as they could go to safety. The Sorcerer darkly laughed to himself as he simply eliminated the threat. "That should do it...Let the rabble deal with the survivors...Rejoice you ignorant masses for your deaths have been averted for now...Now I have an artifact to find..." The man laughed to himself as he vanished in warpfire to return to the Catacombs to continue his search uninterrupted.

At hearing the biggest and strongest Ork shout these dire warnings, Terrance damn near crapped himself.

"FULL RETREAT! THIS PLACE IS GONNA BLOW HARDER THAN MY EX-GIRLFRIEND! GO GO GOOOOOOO!"

There was a gait called the "roadie run" for when soldiers were running to another point of cover. What Terrance was doing was more akin to a terror-fueled sprint, like a certain archaeologist and a rolling boulder he saw in a movie once. A series of terrific explosions started to go off. "I thought I fucking disarmed those things!" cursed the Terran as he continued to run for his life.

The plant was lost...there was no saving it now. But as he promised the random civilian back in the city, if he could save one life today, he was gonna do it. Even if it turned out to be his own. But even that wasn't enough. As he hit the stairs to light and freedom, the loss of horizontal velocity caused a blast of shrapnel to tear into his back. If he had his ANDEE suit, none of this would have been an issue, but such stuff was only allowed to him when he was on duty...which he most definitely wasn't.

With a loud cry of agony, the foreigner bit the dust, just three momentum-fueled steps outside of the smoking field of ruins, lying alongside Belana in pain and exhaustion. He then groaned and spat it out. "Fuck...all the lights in the city are out...everything hurts...I guess that means I'm still alive..."

Crimson felt an inner tension relax as he watched the knife plunge into the neck of Nog and through it before the Ork was literally coated in flames from the bomb strapped to him. He'd played that perfectly, not even allowing a crater in the ground on the Commander's part. In the air was the perfect place to detonate since it was away from just about everyone. And the Chimchar felt satisfied by the results.

As gravity took hold of his momentum and he began falling, he felt the winds of the explosion rushing past him, not even giblets accompanying it. The bomb's strength had been enough to literally obliterate the Commander after he'd been slain. The ground steadily approached, but Crimson was feeling too much relief in one moment to do anything but morph back into his Fire-Type form. He looked like any ordinary Chimchar hitting the ground beneath him at a heightened velocity. But he didn't even care about that. He didn't even care that he nearly blacked out from the impact.

He was just relieved.

---

The battle was basically over. Without the looming threat of the massive ship causing planetary extinction and thousands of Orks disappearing from sight due to a mysterious cause, it was a cake walk. The Orks would try to escape, but most would get cornered and slain by the numerous Pokemon swarming the area. Thousands turned to hundreds, and hundreds to tens. That being said, there were simply too many of them to take them all out. It was easy dealing with the majority that were paralyzed from Pert's Thunder Wave. The ones that ran for the forest were given chase by many of the faster Pokemon akin to rabbits being swarmed by wolves. And even the mechanical walkers were no match to those that had an advantage over it, like a Fighting-Type or a Rock-Type. But there were some that slipped through the cracks undetected. A couple were fortunate enough to be behind a tree at the right time and were skimmed over. A few more fled in a direction few would think to travel and got away without notice. One even had the gall to book it towards the city, where no one would dare think an Ork to go. Despite their heavy toll of life (even for Ork standards), there were still survivors.

But the invaders knew what they were dealing with now. They wouldn't understand the complexities behind it, but they knew the wildlife on this planet were strong...strong enough to take their forces head to head if it came to it. Sturdy enough to withstand many a spray and pray from a rapid fire gun. Capable enough to deal damage back tenfold. Their only advantage was numbers and they no longer had that. They would have to play defensive...or else they were doomed to be a once talked about species.

Their destruction could not be denied, however. Lumiose City may not have fallen to pieces, but it was definitely in a state of disrepair. Fortunately, no major structures or buildings were sent toppling to the ground and it would be minimum a week to fix everything within the walls. On the other hand, the Power Plant that did provide light to the city was in shambles with nothing but a pile of metal remaining. It would be a long time before light would return to the infamous Kalos city once more, an issue that could prove to be disastrous if no back-up solution was found. As for the desert, it was left with a few holes from where bombs went off…nothing nature couldn’t solve.

In said desert, the Crimson Guild was reconvening, gathering fallen allies to revitalize and telling their tales and experiences. Not a single Crimson Guild member was killed in the Ork attack, they quickly discovered. A few had fainted and most were exhausted, but there wasn’t a single casualty on their side of the battle. And for them, that was a victory.

It would be Tag who would find Crimson lying in the sand, eyes closed. A wave of panic set into the Turtwig as he bolted over to the Chimchar.

“Crimson!” he cried, “C’mon, not like this!”

Crimson kept his eyes closed, but chuckled wholeheartedly, “Dude, I’m not hurt. I’m just…relaxing for a change.”

“Oh,” was all Tag said in response as he sat down next to his buddy, “I thought that Ork got to you somehow.”

“Eh…” Crimson recalled the fight he’d undergone, “I think I had it just about handled. Though really I think today was his day to die regardless of what I did. He blew himself up.” He peeked his eyes open, looking up at the late afternoon sun still kind of high in the sky, “They were seeking as much destruction as possible.”

“Well…” Tag surveyed the area around them, “I can’t say they didn’t do that. The Power Plant’s trashed.”

A small frown appeared on the Chimchar’s face as he went into thought about that, “Hmm…that’s not good. We should find a way to bring some temporary power to Lumiose City. Maybe the Electric-Types can do something.”

“Well, you can’t tell them to do anything when you’re napping like this.”

That caused Crimson to chortle, “You’re right. Help me up.”

Tag held out a paw, which Crimson took and pulled against to hoist himself to his feet. Together, they began walking towards the massive crowd of Pokemon that was gathering just outside the pile of metal that was once the Power Plant. Along the way, he took in the environment with his own eyes, noting the bunch of holes, the dozen or so Ork bodies that hadn’t found their way to being burnt to a crisp or electrocuted, but were slain by other means. A small plume of smoke was drifting up over Lumiose City, recalling the initial impact points made by the Orks. They probably had some destruction over there too, Crimson realized as he began planning out what he was going to do.

When the two of them arrived onto the scene, everyone was chattering rapidly and excitedly, talking about the battle they’d just fought.

“It was insane!” a Cubone was telling his Ground-Type buddies, “Friggin’ Butcher over there wanted to plunge headfirst into the Power Plant and he didn’t even notice all the bombs strewn about everywhere. I was like ‘Dude! Pay attention!’”

“I still cannot believe I cracked that ship in half!” Gambit said excitedly to Dee and Siena, “I Heavy Slammed that ship into two pieces…TWO…PIECES!”

“Right, but where did it go?” Dee crossed her arms and twitched her whiskers, skeptical as ever.

Gambit shrugged, “I dunno, but I broke it!”

Siena smirked, trying to hide her laughter.

“What?” Gambit glanced over to the Shaymin, “You know something I don’t?”

Siena said nothing.

A lot of the conversations Crimson was overhearing was about what had happened with the ship on collision course to Ruula. Whether they believed Gambit’s side of the story or whether they watched Mewtwo tear through the ship, it still didn’t explain why it had disappeared all of a sudden. No one could really provide a one hundred percent confident answer to the conundrum. One individual did suggest that maybe Palkia was watching them and stepped in, tearing a hole through space to intercept it. Most people agreed with that theory, but Crimson didn’t entirely buy into it. If that was the case, where was the Legendary now?

Questions could be answered later, he finally thought in resolution. Right now, they had to fix everything.

Crimson held his fist in the air, signifying that he wanted to say something. The ones who did see the small fist quickly shushed the others around them, the murmur that Crimson was about to speak ripping through the crowd of Pokemon before falling silent. He had long garnered the respect from this group he led and that was clear in this moment. He made a quick glance around for Mewtwo and Lugia, but didn’t find them. Tag was by his side. Sarik, Pert, and Meryl had all gathered behind him. He had everyone’s attention.

“Guys…I want to say thank you,” he began, looking around at the Pokemon in the crowd surrounding him, “Thank you for sticking by me and our quest to defend Ruula from those that wish to harm it. Thank you for signing to my cause over the year. And thank you for standing by me today. We all knew what could’ve been at stake and we were willing to risk everything, including our own lives, to preserve our way of life for as long as possible. So thank you.”

The roar of approval that followed those opening words made Crimson smile as he knew how much it meant to them. How much he meant to them. In many ways, he was an invader who brought his problems along for the world of Ruula to deal with. He was grateful for how accepted he truly was among them.

Despite this, he had to harden his words, “But we’re not done yet. Far from it, in fact. There’s still the aftermath to deal with. The Power Plant is in ruins. Lumiose City is in darkness. And even though we took care of as many of those brutes as we could, I get the feeling there might be more out there. So we need to prepare. And we need to prevent anything like this from happening again.”

“We must start with the humans of Lumiose City. They didn’t deserve what happened to them. They were victims to this crime. And we have to help them out in any way we can until they can help themselves. Help bring their city and its way of life to being as normal as possible. There’s a lot that needs power to work there and we have some of the power necessary to charge it.”

He turned to Lumi, Skyball, and Rubira, “Team Volt, you guys will have to lead this charge. You’re some of the best Electric-Type users I know. And speaking of…” he looked over his shoulder towards Pert and Meryl, “You two should also help out.”

“Piece of cake!” Pert flashed Crimson a smile and a voice of confidence, “We’ll do what we can.”

“Sure,” Meryl’s softer reply came after, “But only because of that pun you just made.”

Crimson’s brow raised, “What pun?”

“Having Team Volt lead the chaaarrrge?”

This brought slight bits of laughter from the rest of the Crimson Guild and much louder, squeakier laughs from Lumi and Skyball in particular. Crimson looked towards the ground, failing to keep a smile from crossing his face as he realized he missed that wordplay.

“Y’know…” he said, glancing back up at Meryl with a twinkle in his eye, “I think I know what festival will make you happiest.”

“And what’s that?” Meryl smirked as she shifted her legs to make herself more comfortable.

“A Pun Festival.”

“Oh Arceus no!” Meryl’s genuinely panicked reaction caused a greater stir of laughter from the crowd of Crimson Guild members.

And so the planning continued. The Crimson Guild would provide aid to the Kalos Capital by utilizing half of their able bodies to help clean up the area. Among that half were Pert, Meryl, Lumi, Skyball, and Dee leading the Electric Patrol, the troop of Electric-Types who would go around supplying as much power as they could to the population within the walls. They would be around until the humans could provide power and other support to the people. The others would help clean up the rubble and rebuild the buildings that were damaged in the fight, helping the UPL in those efforts until the city was shiny and new once again. A very small team of Fire-Types, led by Rubira, would take care of the fallen Ork bodies by burning them to ash and scattering their remains to the winds. The Sunrise Brigade would begin searching for any of the surviving Orks and swiftly taking them down so that they could no longer bother the planet or its inhabitants. Crimson, Tag, and Sarik would lend whatever help they would need towards their efforts.

As for the rest of them, it was business as usual. Try to find the Psychic Rebellion and thwart their plans by any means necessary. Help other Pokemon along the way. Find new places to explore and new adventures to go on. To Help, To Explore, To Protect…that was the Crimson Guild motto…that was the Crimson Guild way.

For now, they were fine. They had problems to contend with, but it could’ve been much worse.

As Radegast left Terminus Cave, the white pokeball on his belt snapped open. Suros emerged, her talons gripping not too tightly on his shoulder. "Where've you been?" Radegast asked.

"Asleep," Suros coo'd in a way that seemed more like yawning.

"I was wondering why you didn't emerge when I got the crap slammed out of me," Radegast smirked, "You sleep like a log, doncha?"

Suros shrugged, "I wish I was there to turn whoever did it to ashes."

"It was a Pokemon battle," Radegast explained, "We played by their rules to get'em to leave without incident."

"As opposed to burning them," Suros flapped one wing to stabilize herself, as Radegast stepped down some uneven terrain, "That would've made them leave without incident."

"Where's Titania, anyway?" Radegast hadn't spotted her. Maybe she had things to do. A trainer like her was bound to have a Pokemon who know how to transport humans easily.

"I do not feel her presence," Reggie hummed.

"Must've left then," Radegast checked the key stone in the lowering daylight, then slipped it into his leg satchel. "We should get back." Lucy Reginald wouldn't not report his presence in Kalos. The sooner he got back to the Guild, the better. With Reggie still fused, but on his back, Radegast jogged through trees and plains, with Suros keeping watch overhead.

The Talonflame's sharp eyes allowed her to see anything coming. Combine that with Reggie's aura detection, and the three of them were virtually impervious to ambush. As always, the three of them were cautious, yet swift. They avoided cities and well-treaded roads, as well as concentrations of wild Pokemon. During the night, Reggie hovered silently as the ever-present sentinel, as ancient, if not more ancient than the trees that sheltered them.

Radegast poured some water into the air, where he barely caught it with his psychic power. He offered it to Suros as he drank more directly from the canteen. The Talonflame happily gulped down the water, which steamed as it made contact with her body.

"Almost there," Radegast laid back on the soft patch of wild turf he had used as bedding for the past night.

Reggie's lone eye scanned, unblinking, at the surrounding area, while Suros ruffled her feathers.

"Kinda wish the others were here," Radegast noted, "I'll have to remember this place." He produced his phone and jotted down in a note labelled "Places to hang out."

Radegast's phone had no SIM card, nor did it have a functioning GPS. For all intents and purposes, it was simply untracable- a tiny computer cut off from any network. This didn't matter to a wildling like him- he rarely came to cities even when he was still human.

Would Necrozma like this place? He wondered.

"I sense presences," Reggie spoke quickly as his steady form inched toward the Lord-Regent. "Coming this way."

"Plural," Radegast snapped to his feet and the two of them fused. Radegast focused psychic power in his legs, ready to run. Suros unfurled her wings and took to the air. "C'mon,"

He and Suros bolted into the forest. It was a detour from their path back to the Guild, but Radegast wasn't about to let his presence be known to any more strangers. "How many are there, exactly?"

"Three," Reggie returned, "And they're gaining."

Radegast's legs erupted with power, but a ten-percent boost to his running speed can only do so much in the wake of creatures that move as fast as Suros could fly. Giving up, Radegast found a solid patch of terrain and steeled himself. "Three on three," Radegast muttered, "At least, I hope this won't be a fight."

They would hear a rustle of trees and grass, the sound of leaves crumbling underneath rapid footsteps. First it was faint, but as Reggie pointed out, they were gaining ground very quickly. Three seconds...two...one...

A Rapidash burst through the bush growth due northwest of the way they were facing. Spotting the Gallade, there was a quick scrambling of footsteps as it tried to halt all of it's momentum at once.

"WOOOAAAAH!" the Pachirisu on the back hollered as they skidded past them, "STOPSTOPSTOP!!!"

But onward they went, slipping on the not so stable grass and careening into another bush growth to their immediate right. Radegast would hear the tumbling continue for a second more before it presumably came to an end and silence surrounded the jungle once more.

"Uhh..." Radegast lowered the sword, but kept the shield somewhat up. "You alright, guys?" The armoured Gallade called.

"We're ladies, actually!" the Pachirisu's squeaky voice called haphazardly, "But thanks for assuming!"

"Sorry," Radegast shifted his stance as Suros swooped down to land on his shoulder. "Verbal habit."

"He calls everyone dude or man," Suros added with a wry smile- or whatever a Talonflame's equivalent of one was.

Another Pokemon swooped down from the skies as well, skipping off the tree branch before landing with a tuck and roll on the ground next to them. A black and white, yellow-cheeked, flying squirrel Pokemon started brushing the grass off it's knees as it stood up next to them. Radegast would instantly recognize it as two things: An Emolga from his encounter with Elesa in Nimbasa City and an ally due to the recognizable Crimson Guild Neckerchief it wore.

"And y'all said I couldn't scout..." a male voice chortled as he took a look around, "I told you I'm the best-...where'd you guys go?"

His eyes grew wide with amazement as he saw the huge parting of the bush the Rapidash had tore through, realizing what had happened. His laughter was infectious as he rolled onto his back.

"Shut up!" the Pachirisu voiced angrily from the distance, "You would've done the same!"

"Maybe...*snort*...but that's why you tell me to scout."

"We only tell you to scout because you take too long to arrive anywhere!" the Pachirisu's voice shot back as she stepped through the clearing. For the most part, she looked alright, barring a couple minor bumps. She winced as she rubbed her head, "But yeah, good job on that, I guess..."

Emolga snorted, "I guess? What does that mean?"

"I probably could've done it better."

A hard laugh, "Yeah? And what happened to you there, slick? You put a little too much petal to that metal?"

"And so what if I did?! I fail spectacularly!"

"So uhh... why were you g- Why were you ladies- and guy- chasing us?" Radegast asked awkwardly.

The attention between the Pachirisu and Emolga immediately turned to the Gallade. Emolga started giggling again, a rapid, high-pitched giggle, "Aw, he so awkward! What'd you say to him, Lumi?"

The Pachirisu scoffed, "Oh you wouldn't have helped if he would've just said 'ladies'. You would've probably made it worse."

"I'm fine, by the way," a lower-toned female voice broke through as the Rapidash trotted towards them, shaking off the blow. "And we need to hurry. No time for your banter right now."

"Pffff...no time for it?" the Emolga grinned wickedly, "Ruby, you've known us for so long, you should know we always make time for it."

The Rapidash ignored him and turned to Radegast, "I'm Rubira. That's Skyball." She pointed at the Emolga, and then the Pachirisu, "And that's Lumi. We-"

"Are you guys from the Guild?" Radegast interrupted. Reggie's blade and shield moved to his back, seeing as a fight was not going to occur, "What's happening?"

Rubira nodded, "Indeed. Something's going on. We'll fill you in on the way back, but Crimson sent us and a few dozen other teams to find you."

While she talked, Lumi's whiskers seemed to twitch, as if searching for something. Then...

"Dee? Can ya hear me?" she spoke. A pause. "Yeah, we found him. We're bringing him back now. Tell the other teams to fall back." A pause. "Yes, I know you know to do that. Just sayin'." Pause. "No, I'm not gonna say 'over' after every sentence." Her ear twitched as she stared back to them. "Good to go!"

"Jeez, sounds serious," Radegast clapped his hands together. "No time like the present, eh?" His legs began to glow that faint ripple as he focused energy into his legs once more. He was ready to double-time it back to the Guild.

---

As they went, Rubira ran alongside and explained the situation. Through the Wilding Network, they received a report on strange environmental activity coming from the Grand Ruula Stadium. A few scouts answered the call from a lookout base established in Nimbasa City and proceeded to check out the area. What awaited them was a fully-fledged Diancie, Mega Evolved and weilding an absurd amount of power, controlled by a mad scientist. They arrived as they discovered the elite trainer, Emiko Touko, falling in defeat underneath the mighty beast. Before they could step in and do anything, the three combatants were suddenly whisked away to an undetermined location with no chance of pursuit from the scouts.

Touko, Radegast recalled the time she assisted in taking on the Psychic Rebellion back on the island. If there was someone he felt would be a huge asset in fighting the Rebellion, it was Touko. "Was anyone badly hurt?" Radegast asked.

"We don't know," Rubira replied grimly, "The most recent report came just a couple hours ago. There is a resurgence of this strange power in the heart of Castelia City and it has spread across most of the Unova Region, getting larger by the second. Our scouts are hunkered down in Nimbasa City, but we've yet to hear from them. Dee can't make contact with them."

"Ooo! Ask Dee if she's tried turning her whiskers off and on again!" Skyball interjected, talking to Lumi.

She muffled her laughter as she replied with reason, "Sky, this is serious though! We'd stress her out."

"Yeah, and?" Skyball countered with a shrug, "Sounds like another day at the office."

"So what can we do?" Radegast didn't feel ready, but then again, he hadn't tried Mega Evolution yet, let alone know if it was a real game-changer in his fighting strength.

"That's what Crimson's figuring out now," Rubira said, "Right now, he'd just called all Crimson Guild Members back and asked us to come search for you."

Radegast nodded. He had half a mind to report Lucy's presence in Kalos, but this Diancie situation appeared to take priority. There was still time to deal with this matter about the "Apex", but if what was said was accurate, Unova was in immediate trouble.

As they bolted onward toward the hiding place of the Guild, Radegast's thoughts moved to Mega Evolution. He planned out how he would equip the two stones. He needed something to hold each of them in, so they wouldn't have to be carried around everywhere with the risk of losing them. His gaze went down to the Limiter. Maybe he could find a way to fit it in there...he thought. Still, he had no idea if he could even use the power of Mega Evolution. He still had to figure out how all the pieces fit together...how he could tap into the power inside. Regardless, he had to try. If he was to contribute to solving this problem, he'd need as much of an edge he can get. After all, if he couldn't help with this Diancie character, what hope did he have against something like Lucy?

As he thought about the different stresses that came into his life, he had a brainwave. However, he couldn't try what he was thinking until he got back to his room. The armored Gallade focused more energy into his legs and picked up the pace. If not for him keeping close to the ground, he was almost flying across the fields.

It would be midday when they arrived back on the grounds of the Crimson Guild HQ. The first thing Radegast would notice is the lack of activity going on in the marketplace that was usually hustling and bustling. Pokemon were about, but there were more merchants that buyers, none of which wore the same symbol that Rubira, Lumi, and Skyball did. But he remembered what Rubira had said about all the Guildies converging. They were probably in the guild, he rationalized.

Sure enough, as they entered the Headquarters, he saw the mass of Pokemon gathered in the main lobby. They were all talking amongst each other, some in high spirits, some in low. But all seemed to be standing around, waiting for the presence of their leader. The volume died down a little as Radegast and company entered, but they were used to the knightly-clad Gallade's presence nowadays, so there was no awkward silence.

Elder and the others stood by the sidelines of the meeting, but they were the first- or rather, only- ones to approach. Chrome looked to Radegast as the Gallade removed his helmet. The Metagross was about to say something, but looked to Suros. "Is everything alright?" Chrome asked.

Radegast figured that the fresh memory was already registered by Chrome. "Yeah," Radegast smiled, "'Sides, there's something more immediate goin' on."

Elder noted that Radegast was more talking to everyone else besides Chrome. The Gengar simply nodded with a grin, and everyone returned their attention towards one another, keeping a wary eye on that staircase. Radegast sat down against the wall, his legs ached from the morning's sprint, and he looked to Reggie. "Gonna need to unfuse for a bit," He said.

Reggie complied, and hovered away, but close enough not unlike a bodyguard. Radegast then held up his right hand and removed the Limiter.

If it's anything like his body... Radegast focused psychic power, and he felt the glass-like substance that comprised the gauntlet get pushed in, not unlike a piece of wet clay. He then produced the Galladite and pressed it into the intent he made in the back plate of the gauntlet. Radegast then shifted the prismatic material to permanently set the Galladite inside. That's one, he figured. Radegast wouldn't know if this would work until he tried it later.

Radegast then produced the keystone in his other hand. He clenched the keystone tight, and held it over the back of the Limitar-clad hand. This time, he felt something.

Reggie noticed, as did Elder and the others. Radegast smirked. This was a good sign. Despite himself, Radegast tried focusing his energy on that tingling sensation he felt between the stones...

... Nothing happened.

Radegast blinked, lightly tapped the keystone onto the Galladite, then exhaled, before slipping the key stone back into his leg satchel. The spark was there... just how can I turn it into a flame? Radegast clenched and unclenched his jaw. Before he could think further about it, the room fell into silence. As he glanced up from his interior thoughts, he saw that everyone had their hand raised in a two-finger salute pointed towards the staircase. And sure enough, standing at the top of the stairs, returning the salute back to them, was Crimson. Tag, Pert, and Meryl were also there, standing behind him with serious, determined looks on their faces. The Chimchar's gaze, in contrast, was surprisingly calm and steady.

"Alright," Crimson said, dropping his hand. The rest of the crowd did the same. "Let's get this cracking."

He stepped down a few steps before taking a seat, just high enough so that he was visible to everyone. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you all here. Some of you probably even know or have heard rumors and whispers. Hopefully I set the record straight and make you all aware of what's happening and what we plan to do about it."

"Approximately three hours ago, the Wilding Network reached out to our outpost in Nimbasa City via the Pelipper Delivery Service regarding a strange environmental disturbance happening due north of their position at Ruula Grand Stadium. The reports say the sky had turned an ominous and sinister shade of purple and had a negative effect on the wildlife caught within. No wild Pokemon were reported near the stadium at the time of ocurrence, but a few just outside reported the effect it was having to he domesticated Pokemon in the general area. Evidently, a huge event was going on at the Ruula Grand Stadium today, one that had the entire world tuned in to witness. The witnesses say the effects were so bad that they dropped the event entirely and sent everyone home or to safety. Team Cassanova, which consisted of the members Dante, Lynda, and Fleur, took it upon themselves to investigate the scene and obtain more information."

"Upon arriving at the site of the incident, they discovered three individuals involved. One was a large Diancie, underneath the powers of Mega Evolution and radiating the strange energy that empowered the air. One was a thin scientist, who was believed to be in control of this Diancie and was taking notes. And one was a dear ally of ours, Emiko Touko, former Champion of the Unova Region and aid to our endeavors in taking care of the Psychic Rebellion. She appeared to be combating the Diancie, evidently throwing everything she had at it. But unfortunately, it was reported that she lost the fight."

"Team Cassanova attempted to step in and intervene, to try and attack the Diancie themselves. But before they could get there, the Diancie vanished, disappearing in a flash and taking the scientist and Touko with them. Their theory is that they teleported to a location and concluded their report by saying they would begin the search in the Unova Region and report back with more info. We have yet to hear from them since."

"We received another report from the Wilding Network soon after, this time reaching out directly to our Headquarters. The strange environmental disturbance has swallowed all of Castelia City and has since spread throughout most of the Unova Region. Eyewitnesses report this message being proclaimed throughout the city."

The Chimchar produced an audio recorder, Ruulan-made and likely swiped or reposessed by Pokemon from a PokeMart. Hitting play, the room would hear a bone-chilling message protruding from the device:

'Hear me now! All of Ruula! I, the new Crown-Princess Melaine, of Ruula, demand the total obedience of all Ruulans! As of this moment, Ruula belongs to me, and all of you shall be my subjects! A new age for Ruula begins now! O~hoho-"

Crimson cut the recorder short and set it down. There was a silence...a thick heavy blanket of dread that smothered the entire room. Crimson's gaze was serious, but still calm as he went on.

"That is believed to be the Diancie. She is presumed to have taken full control over the entire planet by defeating the reigning Grand Champion Iris. We have no idea where she is. The same can be said for the scientist and Touko. As of right now, we have no idea what she plans to do or what she wishes to enact upon the people of Ruula."

"It gets worse. The vortex of strange energy that is swallowing Unova as we speak is reportedly growing larger and larger. In two weeks time, it is estimated to cover most of, if not all of Ruula."

There were a few gasps in the crowd, mostly silent ones. Someone managed to voice out, "What does that mean?"

Crimson curled his lip in thought, "To an exact science, we don't know. But we do know that the effect of this energy the cloud produces is negative to humans and Pokemon alike. It also seems to be either a direct result of the Diancie's power or a catalyst to said power. It can even be both. We fear that it will decimate our ecosystem and send this world into ruin if left unchecked for an extended period of time."

"But that begs the question. What are we going to do about it? Well, first we must gather as much information on this new threat as we can. From there, we can create a plan of action...an offensive to bring down the Diancie and whatever wicked power she possesses. But among all else, we must ensure our own safety and the safety of everyone else to the best of our capabilities first. It's the people that matter first."

"We will start off with two teams: a Search and Rescue Squad and an Intel Squad. The Search and Rescue Squad will be headed by Pert and Meryl due to their geographical knowledge of Ruula. Their objectives will be to establish safehouses, find missing Guild Members, and warn the wildings of the incoming threat. The humans will already know what to do as they have worldwide broadcasters echoing the same message to the people, so they will be less of a concern. Of course, if you see someone in trouble, no matter the species, help them out. But know that they will more than likely have the necessary resources to take care of themselves. The wildings may not."

"The Intel Squad will be headed by Tag and myself. Their objectives will be to scout the areas of interest, searching for clues and researching the effects of the strange energy, and coming up with a countermeasure to either slow down or completely destroy the substance. I must warn you all that if you choose this squad, the missions will be extremely dangerous. You may have to embrace tough conditions. You may have to fight tough opponents. You may run the risk of giving your life or being captured. Take these things into consideration as you choose which team you want to join. You can sign up for either team on the large sheet of paper hung up by the board."

All eyes turned towards the board that hosted the jobs and the leaderboards. To the right was the paper, separated into two columns, labeled for each designated team.

Crimson stopped, taking a deep breath, "Guys and gals, what I ask of you is the same thing that I asked of you when you joined this Guild. I ask for your loyalty. I ask for your spirit. I ask of your courage and bravery. And I call upon your devotion to help others...to explore...and to protect from dangerous evildoers. Just because the stakes are higher doesn't change that. This is your home. And we are going to protect it with every ounce of strength we've got. So let's go show this world we mean to save it!"

The Chimchar pumped his fist into the air, prompting the others to do the same, cheering, whooping, clapping, and hollering all the way, their minds filled with optimistic energy and overflowing determination. Everyone began moving around, the ground floor of the HQ becoming a sea of bodies converging on the piece of paper tacked to the wall.

"Alright, so what happened?" Elder immediately asked.

"We ran into Lucy," Radegast replied, "In Shalour City."

Elder's purple form flushed from colour.

"YOU THOUGHT THA-" Rage's mouth was muffled with a Dewgong fin.

"You thought that wasn't as immediate a concern?" Crystal hissed.

"It was thanks to Suros that he avoided capture," Chrome spoke up, with his voice reverberating in the minds of only the group.

"Capture nothing," The Operative chirped, "They definitely know we're in Kalos now."

"It's not like we planned for it," Radegast clenched his jaw. It was indeed concerning, but... "Actually, this is perfect,"

"Whatcha mean, sir?"

"We're getting outta Kalos anyway," Radegast pointed to the sign-up board. "The question is, what do you guys wanna do?"

The group watched the other Pokemon mill about, signing their names on the board. The vast majority of Pokemon were signing up for Search & Rescue, but it wasn't entirely exclusive.

"Whatcha think, Sir?" The Operative hopped onto Elder's head.

"That scientist..." Elder mumbled, he then noticed everyone was staring at him. "Scientists usually have their work recorded somewhere, right?"

"I don't imagine him just starting his research notes with that battle," Radegast nodded.

"So the Lord-Regent would be more suited for the intel-gathering team," Elder prodded the armoured Gallade.

"What about you guys?" The Gallade rose an eyebrow.

"Rest of us will do Search & Rescue as Team Strangers," Elder replied, "Between our respective strengths and the survivalist knowledge we've honed over the years, we'd be a greater asset helping other people. Besides, you got Reggie with you."

Radegast stared at Elder. While he didn't like being separated from his friends yet again... well... it'll all be back to normal once he achieves his goals. Elder seemed to think the same thing. "Hey," Elder placed a hand on Radegast's shoulder, "We want to hang out like the old days too. That's why we're workin' hard and getting stronger too."

Radegast nodded. When the group arrived at the sign-up board, he watched as Elder wrote "Team Strangers" on one side. Radegast looked to the marker he held, and then wrote his name under "Intel Squad". He had been forced to practice his signature at a young age. However, after six years of never using it, his childhood's clean writing was a lot less clean. It was legible, but only just. Maybe I should practice it again...

From the top of the stairs, Crimson and company watched as Radegast signed his name, turning to look towards his own band of friends. Pert smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Welp! Looks like he's with you guys!" he said, "Meryl and I will start getting the masses organized. Allocating teams to the other Regions."

"Someone will have to go rescue Team Cassanova though," Meryl pointed out, turning to the Chimchar and Turtwig, "Your squad should already be heading into the danger zone. Do you guys wanna take that one?"

Tag nodded, "It'll be easier to manage that way. Besides, they know stuff I bet, so it counts as Intel."

Crimson kept his eyes on the Guild Members down below. When they had signed their team name (or regular name) on the board, they began to form two parties on each side of the room. Most of them were meeting at the far side, gathering together and talking about stuff and things. But a few were gathering near the staircase, Radegast among them. That was a good thing, Crimson noted. They would need more manpower in the Search and Rescue Squad than the Intel Squad since they covered more area. He needed the smart thinkers on his team.

Which included Radegast...

The Chimchar was going to ask him to join the Intel Squad anyway. He provided a unique perspective into the human side of thinking, more so than Crimson ever had. If anyone would know what to search for and how unfamiliar technology worked, it would be him.

"Alright, I think most of the teams have signed up," Crimson glanced towards the board before turning towards the Plusle and Minun, "I leave them to you guys."

"We'll do just fine. Don't you worry," Pert reassured before bounding down the stairs towards the large group of people, Meryl following in a less sporadic manner.

"I know you will," Crimson winked as they left, his gaze finding Tag, "Ready to do this, buddy?"

"Been a while since we've dealt with a planetary threat," Tag chortled in spite of the situation as they started descending the staircase, "How are we gonna deal with it this time?"

"Hopefully as a team," he answered, "Just like we always do."

"Team's gotten a lot bigger. More variables to think of."

"More pieces to move around the board."

"I never thought I'd be a soldier when I was growing up," Radegast muttered to himself as he stepped up to the Intel Squad. He cracked a smile as he watched his friends mingle with the other teams of the Guild. Many of them got odd looks, especially since Gengar now carried Radegast's pokeball belt within a team-issued satchel. Not to mention the team's ecclectic behaviour and inexplicable chemistry. The only ball Radegast held on his person was Reggie's ball, with the wood grain finish along the surface.

"Pff...we're not soldiers!" he felt a jab in his ribs and turned to see Skyball staring up at him with a warm, yet cocky glimmer, "We don't make formations and march everywhere and yell and scream at each other all the time. We're adventurers! We go where the action is! We have more fun that way."

And yet... Radegast smiled, but kept his thoughts to himself. He then spoke up, "So how are we getting to Unova?"

Crimson shot him an confident look, "The quickest method we can. If you're fast on the ground, take Lapras when you reach the sea. If you're fast in the air, take your wings and soar. If you're neither, take Unix's Dragonite Team. That's the easy part. The hard part is what we do when we get there."

"I think the first step would be to find out who that scientist is." Radegast shifted his stance and closed his eyes in thought. His helmet was held under one arm. "If we can find a name, we could figure out where he works, or lives from there. If he's got notes on what that purple stuff is, that's intel."

The Chimchar nodded in agreement, "Good idea. You can join the Castelia Scouting Team. I'm thinking if the Diancie showed up in Castelia City, then both that scientist and Touko are going to be there somewhere, since she took them with her. We'll need Pokemon that are fast and sneaky to avoid any potential dangers that could be there. I feel like she wouldn't be ruling this world alone. She's got a plan."

His gaze shifted to the group, "Alright, we've split the duties into three sections. The first one will be the Scouting Team. This team will be headed by Tag. Your objective will be to dive right into the belly of the beast. Head towards Castelia City and report as much information as you can. What has changed, what hasn't. We ned Pokemon that are fast...Pokemon that are sneaky...Pokemon that won't get caught. There could be dangers lurking. At the same time, I need you all to keep your eyes out for either the scientist or Emiko Touko. If you see Touko, approach. if you see the scientist, stay back and observe. See if you can get a name off of him as well as much information as possible from either of them.

"Finding either of them would be a good start."

"Along with that Scouting Team, there will be an investigation team to head up to the Ruulan Grand Stadium to check out the area and potentially find any clues on what might've gone down there. At the very least, some eye witness testimony on that Diancie and how she fights, what her strengths and weaknesses may be, and just as much information in general as we can get about her. I will be heading up this team."

"There is still one more task that needs to be done, though. I know none of you signed up for Search and Rescue, but as I mentioned previously, Team Cassanova has yet to report in since their previous encounter. I need a band of three to run into Nimbasa City and find our outpost. I have a feeling they might be hunkered down in there."

"We can do that," Lumi raised her hand, "We know the streets of Nimbasa City very well."

Crimson nodded, "Alright then. Team Volt, I leave that to you guys. You can take off whenever you're ready." His gaze rested on the group, "As for you all...people that want to scout, join Tag. People that want to investigate, join me. Crimson Guild..."

"HO!" the group chanted and began to split off in their respective directions. Radegast was about to mimic the chant, but he was late for it, and thought against it after all. He looked to the Turtwig, and began following him. He felt a tug on his arm and turned back to see Lumi waving at him.

"Have fun!" she gave him a thumbs up before taking off out the front door.

"You too, buddy," Radegast replied with a wave. He then brought his helmet back over his head and secured it comfortably. "Reggie?" He called, and the blade and shield moved from the back wall and onto Radegast's back. The eyes behind the visor began to glow once more. "Those clouds would be hazardous for flyers, so a Lapras might be our best option."

"A fair assumption," Reggie responded mechanically. "Where should we land?"

"I'll focus on finding Touko, see if she's alright..." He headed to the room that was provided to him to grab his things. "Are you familiar with Touko- as a Pokemon trainer, I mean." He asked as he slung his backpack and other equipment over his shoulders.

"I do recall visiting Unova while she was Champion," Reggie replied, "Though Tarma never had the chance to meet her proper. There was always something to do at the Garden Sho..." The Aegislash paused, as did Radegast. Tarma's twin daughters, Nadine and Cori. They had to know what happened to Tarma and the Estate by now. In light of this new development, are they alright? After a moment's pause, Reggie continued- although he did speak somewhat faster, "Touko's championship garnered her fame and fortune, and thus her hometown and so-called "favorite places" became public knowledge in tabloids.

"We'll check those spots them," Radegast nodded. He then found himself outside, stretching his legs and ligaments for a focused run to the shores. "I can't imagine being a big champion and getting destroyed like that."

"You can't imagine being a trainer." Reggie corrected, "Or a Champion."

Radegast turned his head to stare at the eye in the qullion block, then smirked, "Yeah..." He then focused energy into his legs, and burst into a sprint, following Tag's lead as they made their way to the western coast. Their destination: Castelia City.

"Okay, go!"

"Nfffffg! Oh, ow, ow, ow, OW, OW, OW!"

Skyball cursed aloud as he glided from one point of cover to another, trying to fly in between the raindrops as best he could. Unfortunately, when the Emolga spread it's glorious wings, it exposed him to all kind of misfortune from above...including light particles that hurt when making contact with skin. He figured if Dee or Gambit were here, they'd be contemplating the logistics of the phenomenon at hand, trying to understand how it works and a potential counter to the issue.

But they chose Search and Rescue... he mocked them in his head, immature voice and all. It was a way of coping.

He found himself underneath the large dumpster soon enough, joining his long time Pachirisu friend soon enough. "You're better at this 'run for cover' thing than I am," he grumbled.

"Whaaaaaat?" Lumi's eyes widened in over-dramatic fashion, "You mean to tell me I'm finally better at something than you are? The Spirit World must be frozen over!"

Skyball scowled, "Shut it. I have to glide to keep up with you. I have more exposure."

She giggled, "Well you should really do something about it."

"Lumi, I'm actually not in a good mood right now," Skyball snapped, "Chill for a sec."

Her smile faded. It was rare when Skyball got like this, "What's up?"

"Something feels different."

"Liiiiiiiike what?"

"I think it's the weather," he pointed above him, "Something in the atmosphere. It's like...infecting me or something."

"Well I don't feel anything," Lumi extended a hand out from underneath the dumpster, "See? I feel fine. Little hurt, but nothing an Oran Berry can't fix. You sure you're not just placebo-ing this feeling?"

Skyball sighed and looked down, "I don't know. Maybe?"

"Well, pay attention to it. If it starts to get worse, let me know. We can let Crimson know when we get back to the Guild."

He thought for a moment before nodding, "Alright...Alright! I'm focused. Are we almost to the outpost?"

"Yeah. Pretty close." Lumi took a look around, "Should be a left and a right and then we'll see it."

Skyball chuckled lightly and let out a smirk, "This city takes me back, y'know? Lotta fond memories we made here. Fighting that Nidorina..."

"You got to fight the Nidorina," Lumi shook her head, "I had to take on a Charmeleon and his goons."

"Yeah...and I had to rescue you."

She snorted, "That makes it a...one to ten ratio?"

He exhaled, amused, "That's generous of you..."

They were silent for a spell. Skyball continued to contemplate, "Wonder how that kid is doing..."

"He seemed smart. He's probably fine." She patted his wing, "Maybe Rubira will run into him."

"Yeah, maybe...ya ready to finish this?"

"Ready when you are."

"Kay. You're up."

"Kay...ah, ooh, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!"

---

Rubira was panting as she entered the Theater. She was pretty fast, so she could easily sprint through the flashing lights before it started to get really bad. But that didn't stop the fact that it did, in fact, hurt. She was wincing as she trotted past the opening, trying to squeeze past the hundreds of people.

Many people were taken aback by the sudden presence of Rapidash. Any tourist or human that owned a Rapidash would've kept it in the ball, given the mob of people hiding out in the theater. As a result, many people believed she was a wilding, which made little sense as Ponyta weren't native to the region. Not to mention the knapsack on her side only proved to perplex the odd situation.

But Rubira didn't pay the stares any mind. She simply passed through, reaching the back and glancing around the area. With so many creatures in one location, it would take a while for her to look at everyone in here. Finding Team Cassanova would be a tougher challenge than she thought.

Hope Lumi and Skyball find them... she thought as she took notice of the Beheeyem in the corner, healing Pokemon and humans at it's own kindness. She knew it had to be getting tired, using Heal Pulse so much.

An act of kindness... she thought as she reached into her knapsack and pulled out a Leppa Berry. She walked over to the Beheeyem and set the berry down in front of it.

"You could use this at some point, I reckon," she said with a grateful smile, "Thanks for everything you're doing."

---

Nimbasa City : Musical Theater Auditorium

---

The Beheeyem apologized.

I do not know any of the aforementioned individuals. I am sorry.

It seems he could not help Rubira there.

---

Nimbasa City

---

Lumi and Skyball would find that there were patrolling Sigilyph and Starmie, as well as an occasional Bronzong. Their patterns seemed easy to identify, but being spotted would be trouble.

The Rapidash nodded in understanding, "That's alright. Thanks for your help."

She gave the Auditorium a final lingering glance around, making sure she wasn't missing anyone or anything, before bounding through the auditorium, towards the front door, and back into the harsh weather.

---

"Woah, goons!" Lumi suddenly pulled Skyball back to avoid being seen by a Sigilyph.

"Huh? You don't know that," Skyball gave her a questioning look.

"Well they don't seem to be reacting to any of the falling rain."

The Emolga peeked out from underneath the dumpster, rearing his head slightly around the corner to get a better look at the Sigilyph before turning back and going, "Yeah, uh...I guess that's a good tell..."

"We gotta be careful how we move forward. We're almost there." The Pachirisu pointed towards an older, crumbling building that they knew was their Nimbasa City outpost.

"Yeah...hold on...look, here comes another one."

The two Electric-Types watched as another Sigilyph rounded the corner and proceeded down the same path the first Sigilyph had gone down. Lumi thought for a moment.

"Is it that consistent?" she asked Skyball. "Do they go down the same path constantly?"

"Only one way to find out," Skyball grinned.

They waited for a moment, looking to figure out the pattern. And sure enough, at approximately the same timed interval, a third Sigilyph made it's way around the same corner. Lumi peeked out, pausing until she saw it head down the street and continue on it's path. When it was out of sight, she nodded.

"We've got a minute," she reported, "Now's our chance."

The two of them bound through the street, making a quick right turn and then a sudden left before diving underneath another dumpster.

"I'm going to smell so bad after this, aren't I?" Skyball grumbled.

"Nah. You might actually smell better!" Lumi giggled, prompting a playful punch from the Emolga.

"You're so full of it," his words were dismissive, but that grin remained on his face.

They continued to sneak their way through the street and a half they had left to go, getting by with no incident. They only encountered one other baddie...a Starmie floating by with a passing gaze into the alleys it came across. But they knew better than to be exposed at any point, hiding until it had passed. Soon enough, they were finally away from the main streets and into the building they had adopted as their outpost.

For such a flashy and well-kept place such as Nimbasa City, this deteriorating building that they made a base out of was oddly ignored. It was made of grey concrete brick with several cracks showing and a lot of graffiti scrawled on several of the outer walls, allowing the Crimson Guild emblem to be expertly hidden as am image within the paint. Regardless of rationales as to why the cityfolk wouldn't destroy or rebuild this building was intriguing, but they wouldn't have it any other way as it allowed them a strong foothold position in the center of the Unova Region, a days walk away from pretty much every location at most.

The duo made their entrance into the building through the only way that made sense...from the gaping hole in the roof. While Lumi landed in a soft bundle of blankets, Skyball expertly glided through the opening, into the door that led to other rooms inside. The Pachirisu would make sure no one had spotted them entering before following close behind.

"It doesn't look that different," Skyball noticed as he looked around the hallway, "For a team like Cassanova, I'd figured they would've remodeled the place already."

"That's what they said they were gonna do," Lumi agreed, "Maybe they didn't spend enough time to do anything. Or maybe they just didn't have the supplies."

"It's Cassanova," Skyball snorted, "They would've brought 'em."

After a bit of navigating, they came to the main room. Despite initial voices to make the base up near the entrance, they decided to set up the outpost in a more secluded spot, one far away from any of the entrances. The set-up was about as to be expected from an abandoned building...dusty furniture, cobwebs in corners, many accessories falling apart before their very eyes. Even the carpet was matted down and looked displeasing. There was one unique addition, though. Upon entering, there was a map of the Unova Region tacked to the back wall with several pins adorning many locations on there, including many in Nimbasa City. However, the most notable pins to Lumi and Skyball were the black ones in between Driftveil and Mistralton...the ones that they knew the Master Blaster had been fired.

"Think we'll see the sites?" he pointed towards them.

"Skyball, we're on a mission," Lumi had to remind him.

"Right, right, right...well, it doesn't look like they're here."

Indeed, the Aipom-Spinda-Wobuffet trio were nowhere to be seen. The Pachirisu immediately started going through the drawers, pulling out various organized pieces of paper and looking through them. Skyball continued to examine the map, reading the pins with a practiced eye and turning back to Lumi.

"No active pin saying where they went," he noted, "Seems like they just saw the commotion and made their way to the Grand Stadium as fast as they could."

"No active jobs either," Lumi continued to riffle through the pages, "All I've got are Turf Wars being resolved."

"That would be the big concern in this area," Skyball muttered.

"Hey."

The call from the front of the room was sudden and the two Team Volt members whipped around to the sound, eyes alert and sparks prepped. But the gazes went a bit more relaxed when they saw who it was.

"Crimson," the Emolga heaved a sigh of relief, "Good to see you."

"What are you doing here?" Lumi asked.

The Chimchar walked closer, that casual smile on his face, "Got a ride. Not much to be found up at the Grand Stadium, so I started to move down."

"Where's everyone else?" Skyball raised a curious brow.

"I sent them back," he responded, "The weather started hurting them and I didn't know how bad it was going to be. I'm immune to it, for some reason, so I stayed behind."

"Wait, really?" Lumi thought for a second, "Do you think it's because you can swap types?"

Crimson shook his head, "This isn't a power any of us are familiar with."

"It could still be genetically Pokemon-based. Otherwise, how could that Diancie use it?"

"I'm hoping we find that out soon," Crimson pulled out something from his knapsack...a business card, "I've befriended a human while I was investigating the stadium. When we got here, we got a ton of leads on where we can go next."

Lumi leaned over and started reading the card, "Dr...Nendal...is this the scientist?"

He nodded, "That scientist cloned himself, evidently, and had another existing person here in Nimbasa. But unfortunately, before we could get anything else out of him, he was killed by the Gym Leader here."

"Elesa?" Skyball reeled back, eyes wide, "She did that?"

"You know her?" Crimson asked.

"Know of her. I've fought her before...when I had a trainer. I didn't know she'd have it in her..."

"Yeah, well something snapped in her," Crimson grimaced, "I hope none of us will stoop to that level. Killing people isn't going to solve our problems. It just makes them harder."

"There's a ton of places we can check out," Lumi went on, examining the locations on the card before grinning at the Chimchar, "I think I know what you're gonna do with this."

"Well I've already got our human friend on the way to Driftveil to check out one of the places. He'll contact us if he finds anything." Crimson pocketed the card. "Where's Rubira?"

"She's exploring the city on her own," Skyball said, "She figured while we checked this place out, she could find Team Cassanova potentially wondering around somewhere."

"Well, by the state of things around here, Team Cassanova hasn't nestled in here yet," Crimson glanced around the room, "Chances are, they're not in the city."

"So where could they be?" Lumi bit her lip, her concern showing.

"Well, if they were posted here and their last seen location was the Grand Stadium, I'd say they're somewhere in between."

"The wilderness?" Skyball questioned, "But why would they hide out there? The weather's bad, but not so bad as to prevent travel."

"I don't think they're hiding out there," Crimson's gaze suddenly darkened, "I think something happened to them."

There was a silence afterwards. Lumi and Skyball lowered their heads, not sure how to respond to such a thought. They've come across bad situations before, but those were just wildings and in some cases, human interference. Never had their own potentially been in danger. Not even with the Psychic Rebellion afoot. Finally, the Pachirisu spoke up.

"So we group with Rubira and go explore the wilderness," Lumi nodded, as if convincing herself to agree with her own plan, "See if we can find...something..."

"Don't lose hope just yet," Crimson's calm demeanor returned, the casual gaze resting on the two of them, "There's no proof of anything. It's just a hunch. But it's important to consider, so you know where to search next."

"Right," Skyball suddenly steeled himself, "I think we can find 'em no problem! Lumi, let's go find Rubira!"

"That's the spirit," said Crimson as the two of them took off out the door and towards the streets to find their friend.