Sonya's Story

"Like a moth to the flame," the Dark-Type sneered and pressed the button.

Immediately, a massive pink circle rose up from the ground around Touko. Before she could even be surprised, the pink circle shot up a barrier of sorts that stretched higher and higher until it formed together at an elevated position above the center of the peninsula. The result was a giant pink dome in which the elite trainer was enclosed in.

Meanwhile, a similar looking pink wall rose up at the point where the peninsula conjoined with the rest of the island. Tag, Gova, and Rage had just stepped on the peninsula when the wall began to rise. Meanwhile, the wall climbed higher and higher, definitely a daunting task for any Flying-Type. At the same time, it stretched outward, extending across the ocean quite a ways too. It would take a few minutes for any speedy Pidgey or Fletchling to reach the edge and another few minutes to get back.

Tag turned around rapidly, noticing the giant pink wall that hadn't been there a moment before. "Uh, guys..." he said hesitantly, unsure of what to do, "What is that?"

Crimson and the others, on the other side, were watching the wall expand outward, further and further. Confused as well, the group picked up the pace, Sarik hopping on Dobro's back so that they could travel faster while Pert hopped on Pounce's.

Tag quickly used Razor Leaf on the pink wall. The moment it hit contact, the wall made a bwooof! sound as the Razor Leaf stuck there. A wave of lighter pink spread across the wall, resulting from the impact the leaf had on it, like a ripple in the water. Gova approached it hesitantly, careful not to touch it.

"It's a barrier of some kind," Gova noted.

"Right you are!" a voice announced, causing everyone to turn towards the sound. Even so, the sense of dread in their stomach was ever so present as they recognized the theatrical tone behind it. There, standing in front of a bunch of tall grass were two Pokemon whom which no one wished to cross paths with. The one on the left was taller with dark fur minus a patch of deep red on it's head showcasing it's electric blue eyes that twinkled with an air of superiority. The other was shorter with white fur accented by deep purple with red eyes that simmered with hate.

Crimson and company had just reached the barrier to see the two appear. Crimson's eyes immediately narrowed, "Zane..." he growled.

"The one and only," the Zoroark replied, walking to the barrier. As he got closer, Crimson could see certain details he wasn't able to before. He wore a gold necklace with a black stone shaped like a diamond in the center. It seemed to emit a shadowy and seductive glow to it. He also had two bands on his wrists, one of which Crimson recognized as a PokeSpeak Translator, the other had a pink line that matched the color of the walls.

"And I do thank you for coming, by the way," Zane went on, looking down in the Chimchar with a patronizing stance, "You are the main guest, after all." He then turned around, walking back to the female Meowstic with his claws behind his back, "I do intend on ending you, just not yet. I need to get more..." he made a glance towards Touko as he went on, "Power. In the meantime, you can deal with my grunts." He clapped his hands together. On cue, the bushes around the Pokemon that were on the side of the barrier Crimson was on began to rustle. And then Pokemon of all Dark, Ghost, Poison, and Psychic varieties were around them, including Radegast and his Pokemon, minus a certain Mankey. They didn't hesitate to attack.

Crimson suddenly found himself leaping around a Muk while ducking under a Wing Attack by a Murkrow. Sarik used Iron Defense to immediately set himself up before charging into the fray. Pert, still riding Pounce, dove in as well. Dobro cracked knuckles and began thrashing Pokemon around left and right, trying to look for the Psychic ones.

That will keep them occupied long enough... Zane thought walking behind the Meowstic and appearing to eye Tag, Gova, and Rage on the other side of the barrier. "I hadn't anticipated you three making it here. Sonya, I intended for us to fight our trainer friend together, but it appears we need a little improv session. Will you take care of those three for me?"

Sonya's eyes glittered menacingly, "My pleasure." She stepped forward calmly, pulling out a baton with a blue sphere on the end. It fizzled with electricity. "So, let's see how long it takes to put a few weaklings in their place."

Zane had reached the barrier in which Touko was trapped in. He tapped a button on the PokeSpeak translator, turning it on. He then held a button on the pink band on the other wrist and walked forward...into and through the barrier. Smiling wickedly, he let go of the button when he was safely through and eyed the pink-capped brunette for the first time.

"Hello, there," Zane spoke, which would surprise Touko as she would realize she could understand what he was saying clearly, "I'm Zane. Would you like to make a lovely donation to our cause?"

A barrier? Hard pink light slowly rose, albeit quick enough that the group with the human would not make it in time. Radegast had an idea to send at least one more over the barrier before it reached a height too high for even fliers, but he would not be able to make it in time without having to take the extra time to put Crystal back on the ground. Rage, the Greninja, and the Turtwig were essentially trapped beyond the barrier. “You got this, buddy!” Radegast sincerely called over the barrier, unsure if sound waves could actually penetrate the hard energy. Rage blew a lot of hot air, but most of it was certainly not unfounded. The human was not worried.

Nor was he worried when he turned. Though if those beyond the barrier had been watching closely, for the smallest fraction of a second, the human’s eyes flashed an unsettling glaze. “Oh hey, we found the Zoroark!” Elder chimed towards Dobro as he pointed through the pink translucent barrier..

“Lord-Regent sir, we are engaged!” The Operative swiftly began weaving a generous amount of electrowebbing to sling at the incoming foes, “Contacts! Multiple contacts!” She flung the electrowebbing- which spread out in an encompassing netting. It caught a good chunk of pokemon to the immediate left, facing away from the portal. Crystal fired off a pulse of water that punched through the enemy ranks like a shotgun, sending foes away one at a time. For the ones Crystal couldn’t push back alone, Elder either Sucker Punched, or flashed a focused Confuse Ray to blind them before inflicting incredibly potent Toxic poison with his sharp, needle-like claws.

Radegast laughed, “It’s good to see you guys are enjoying yourselves,” he said rather calmly. In the midst of the chaos, he smiled and seemed to pretend not to notice that violence surrounded him. The Fletchling, Suros, flared up her feathers as her eyes held a murderous intensity, like a mother bear faced with a threat to her cubs. Silently she watched from the perch on Radegast’s sling. The human glanced down, saw this, and his smile faded ever-so-slightly. “You know… They say evolution happens when a creature needs something to survive,” Radegast calmly exposited, “In the case of Pokemon, it happens far more often, through exposure to particular elements, fighting, stones…”

The Fletchling flared a bright white.

—

Out on the road, travelling between towns, Radegast spotted a Fletchling laying on the grass at the side of the road. The bird was simply snoozing in the shade of a tree. It was not a safe place to be in, especially when there was a perfectly good tree looming above the Fletchling. Many a pokemon in the area would take advantage of the tiny bird snoozing somewhere that was not the canopy of a tree. Radegast sat down against another tree, across the path from the Fletshling. The human’s mere presence seemed to keep every other pokemon at bay. Elder hovered to the top of Radegast’s chosen tree and rested there.

The Fletchling eyed the human, who seemed to desire some shut-eye. The Ghastly up high seemed to be etching something into the branch with some kind of sliver of condensed gas. “You know,” Radegast said after a couple of hours, when the sky turned a deep orange and purple, “I think you got somethin’ goin’ there. It does feel great to just do nothing.” The Fletchling eyed the trainer, shifted closer, and eventually crossed the path to nestle against one of the human’s outstretched legs. “Heh… I think we can get along just fine.”

Elder chuckled, “Well, if you’re gonna hang with us, expect to be asked to do things… But only things that friends would do… You know? I mean, Radegast is technically a trainer… but then again, I’m technically a wildling.”

“I think I we can get along just fine,” the Fletchling echoed sleepily.

Elder blinked, and then he smiled. “I guess we’re stuck with you then. Heh… I’ll take first watch.”

—

“… But sometimes, it happens the old-fashioned-way.”

The white light vanished, and so did the Fletchling. Within the blink of an eye, the bird had completely vanished from her perch on Radegast’s recovering arm. A split-second later, a cone of sand blasted from the earth, sending particles into the eyes of many an attacker. A blazing, ungodly ferocious Fletchinder darted among the enemy ranks, delivering savage, STABbing, pecking blows. It was a sight to marvel at, if only one could manage to follow.

“It’s about time,” Elder whistled and chuckled as he sucker-punched a still-confused Psychic-type into unconsciousness.

Radegast reached for his pouch to get some potions ready in case he needed them. He had no doubt these attackers could use them after the battle was over.

—

Rage’s eyes widened in utter hatred as he watched the rather powerful barrier form, cutting him, the Turtwig, and the Greninja off from the others. The last clear image he saw was Radegast’s relaxed eyes and easy smile.

“You got this, buddy!” Radegast’s voice reached the Mankey’s ears right before the barrier fully formed.

“OOORAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! YOUR TOY WILL BE SUNDERED AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL WHEN I AM THROUGH WITH IT!!!! YOU DARE SEPARATE ME FROM FRIEND-RADEGAST!? YOU KNOW NOT THE POWER YOU CRAVE SWEET RELEASE FROM!!!!!” Rage’s anger-induced twitching became more and more intense, to the point where he appeared almost blurry- Constant, twitch-speed movement. “AN ELECTRICITY-STICK, CLEARLY A WEAPON, NAY, A CRUTCH!!!! THE TRULY STRONG RESORTS NOT TO PUNY TOYS, BUT THE BLAZING FURNACE OF THEIR BEING!!!! I WILL CRUSH YOU REGARDLESS OF TYPE, FOR THE EARTH AND SKIES, AND ALL THINGS KNOW THAT YOU ARE WEAK!!!!!!!!!” That being said, Rage stepped (or twitched? He almost seemed to blink) between the Mewostic and the Greninja. Rage’s eyes flamed to an untold wildness in a Leer that could probably unnerve even an Arceius.

The Greninja was a partially Dark-type, making her the most effective combatant against a psychic-type. Regardless of the Leer’s effectiveness, Rage thundered forward. His legs pounded the earth with the fury of a thousand malevolent gods. As he closed the distance, he zig-zagged his approach to both try to intimidate with his speed, and also make landing a long-ranged hit more difficult. After all, Rage definitely learned his lesson from that fight against Touko’s psychic-type. The most he could do is simply make the psychic-type’s aim more difficult. The Mankey’s hands shot forward. Rage intended to take the hit of, or at least swat the weapon out of the puny Meowstic’s paws. This strategy, if successful would leave the Meowstic extremely vulnerable to the Greninja.

"Okay, hold up," Touko interrupted Zane. "First, it seems you have power enough to achieve whatever you set out to do. I saw that blast all the way from Castelia, and man, that was a long flight. You should know exactly where that is, being as your kind is native to Unova," she started in on the Zoroark. "Second, if you think I'm going to give anything to megalomaniacs like you, you're crazier than you look. And third, the only thing I'm going to give you is a righteous beatdown. I'm here to challenge you to a battle! If I win, you disassemble the cannon. If I somehow manage to lose, you'll let me go without any future consequence and I'll leave you alone. Nobody has to get hurt, it's just a friendly battle to determine the future of our world."

Practiced hands whipped out a Pokeball. "So, how about it? You too chicken to put your money where your mouth is?" The Zekrom behind her let out a battle cry, hinting at a raw power even Rage was likely to appreciate as the air smelled more and more of ozone. Determined eyes hid behind the pink brim of a trucker's cap as she pondered her first move. So the dude had all sorts of tech on his side. Zekrom would probably be the best choice with Teravolt to neutralize it, as much as she hated leading with it. Maybe Juggernaut...it had just enough bulk to survive a surprise attack while boosting, then it would have more then enough speed to keep up with its trickery and soften up Zane's team enough for Zekrom to clean up. Yes. He would do nicely.

"Make your move."

The Zoroark chuckled at Touko's words. A friendly battle to determine the future of our world. "I'll have to use that one the next time someone wishes to oppose me," Zane told her as he started to walk around the edge of the pink dome, circling the trainer.

"Unova, you say? I've heard of the place, yet I'm not quite familiar with the terrain or layout. I've never been. In fact," his glance towards her and Zekrom was piercing, "I'm not even from this planet. Not technically, of course." he kept staring at Touko as he continued in his wide circle, "And I wasn't expecting you to give up anything voluntarily. Not yet. You need a little bit of convincing first." He checked his claws, rubbing them together and making sure they were still razor sharp before turning in a wide stance to face the brunette.

"I think I will take you up on that offer," Zane smiled, fangs popping out as he did, "But first, I'm a little bit outnumbered." He stretched his arms out wide, "See? I'm only me. And I'm to presume that an elite trainer like yourself has about five other allies to help you out. So I think I'll make the playing field a bit more even." With that, he put his paw to his amulet around his neck and rubbed the back of it. The black diamond stone pulsed with shadowy light while black smoke began to billow from the stone itself. Within a moment, the smoke shot forward, hitting Zekrom square in the face. The Zekrom would be surprised, then angry, and then...nothing would emote. It wouldn't matter what Touko said or commanded. Zekrom stepped forward, away from it's trainer, and walked toward Zane. It was hard to notice, given that Zekrom was the Deep Black Pokemon, but it had a ring around it's eyes...a familiar shadowy ring.

"You've encountered this amulet before," Zane smirked at Touko, "My first attempt at using it was yesterday. Remember? The little dispute between you and a certain Samurott over a specific Charmander. That attempt definitely didn't go as planned, but it did enlighten me to something better," he let the amulet rest on his chest while Zekrom turned around to face Touko as an enemy, not as an ally. "You see, that beam you saw earlier is powered by the energy Pokemon possess. And while the Charmander may have sufficed, I've stumbled across a better power source, once again thanks to you." He turned to his possessed companion as he said two words.

"Legendary Pokemon."

---

Sonya giggled at Rage went on his diatribe, "Good Arceus, you're even louder than Pounce is over there!" she motioned towards the Houndoom who was currently fending off a couple of Sableye, "In a feat of it's own, that's impressive."

She half-listened to the Mankey drone on and on about how she was going to be mince meat when he was done with him and that the weapon she carried was a sign of how weak she was and blah blah blah. She gave a patronizing look towards Rage and giggled, "Aw, dearie! Who needs brawn when you got brains? And a Psychic's brain is the best brain one could ever have!"

When Rage used Leer, the menacing look that Sonya received did jar her a bit. Despite her Tech advantage and her Type advantage, she could see right through the Mankey and know he was a rather powerful Pokemon. Not more powerful than me, she thought, but enough to make this fight more interesting. She felt her own power rise just a bit and knew that despite the Leer making her feel a bit insecure, she felt more power surge within her. Her Competitive spirit took over.

Tag took note of Rage's movements, deciding to move up with the Mankey. He ran along side the enraged being, copying the serpentine-like zig-zag that Rage was doing as he closed the distance. The Power Boots definitely helped, causing him to practically zip from place to place in a green blur. No range attack would do any good here.

Unfortunately, Sonya had no plans to use a ranged attack. She waited patiently, arms crossed until the Mankey lunged forward, aiming for the weapon. Tag also launched forward, intending to use a simple Tackle aimed at her legs. Sonya flicked a knob on her baton with her thumb, the crackling electricity fading away and replaced by a brownish glow. She pivoted with incredible timing, allowing Tag to slide underneath where she'd been previously while simultaneously grabbing the Mankey's neck, flinging herself over Rage. She then landed a stroke to the back of Rage's head with the handle of the weapon, which wouldn't hurt much. However, her quick counter would be followed up by a much quicker attack.

"Pathetic weakling," she muttered as she brought the baton down with a thundering crack! The earth around her rose up from the impact, Rage with it. It sent him airborne, allowing a cocky smile to form on Sonya's lips as she stepped forward, a few feet from where she hypothesized the Mankey was going to land. Tag flung a few Razor Leaves in her direction in desperation, but she brought the baton down again, raising the earth up in a small wall to block the sharpened projectiles with. And with precision, she used Psybeam...hitting Rage directly right before he impacted with the ground. A brilliant combo on her part as it would send Rage flying. It would be a pretty nasty hit, but who knew how resilient Rage was.

Still, he provided the distraction that was needed.

A sudden Dark Pulse hit Sonya in the back, causing her to cry out in shock as she realized who she'd forgotten. Turning around quickly, she saw Gova running at her with direct blinding speed rather than the dodgy approach Rage and Tag took. She coupled her first attack with Night Slash, a move Sonya couldn't bring her baton to block in time. She fell to the ground, panting in pain as Gova stood above her, charging up another Dark Pulse to finish the job.

And then Sonya struck, having quickly changing the Baton's settings back to the Lightning one it previously carried and smashing it into the Greninja's leg. "Gah!" Gova cried as she fell to her left knee from the abrupt strike. Sonya moved quickly, getting onto her feet and using Psychic on Gova, launching her near the edge of the peninsula. As a precaution, she used Future Sight and let loose a little bit of energy, which rose in the air and then disappeared.

Tag was then right behind her, attempting to use Giga Drain on her. But Sonya stepped back, grabbing Tag and used the Turtwig's momentum to toss him in front of her. Once more changing the knob setting on the baton to one of a simmering heat variety, she calmly walked forward and gave a mighty whack to Tag, watching the impact bring him to his knees. A burn was left on his side and Tag was clearly suffering from it. This pleased her, causing her to grab hold of Tag and force his head to look directly at hers. They were at eye level.

"No Crimson to save you now, is there?" she winked at him before raising her baton to give him a final blow that would surely knock him out.

Where was Rage?

---

"Yeah, no kidding!" You couldn't keep the dryness out of Dobro's tone as Elder told him where Zane was. However, the snarky comment enraged the Pangoro enough to throw the Scraggy he held far enough to where it was crashing into more oncoming Pokemon.

"Jeez, how many Pokemon did Zane recruit to his cause?!" Sarik glanced at Crimson as he said the question before looking down at the wave of Pokemon hurtling towards him. He decided that a quick Hydro Pump would take care of them, which it did. As the massive water blast cut through the trees in the forest, Pounce noticed and actually raised a brow in quizzical thought, "Huh, always forgets he knows how to do that," he told Pert, who was still on his back.

"Yeah, Sarik can pack a massive punch in that little body of his," Pert replied, sending a Shock Wave towards a Sneasel who tried to leap at the Plusle on Pounce's back. Pounce laughed as the Sneasel was sent back into a tree.

"Well, what did you think was gonna happen?!" Pounce shot at the downed creature before turning back to the action, " 'Scuse me...pardon me...better Pokemon coming through!"

Crimson glanced back through the pink barrier that separated him from his other teammates. He saw Zane and Touko on the other side, separated by their own little dome. He didn't have time to figure out what he was up to. He had to figure out how to break the barrier.

"Sarik, on me!" he called before running away from the fray, "Pounce, Pert, Dobro, Domingo, you guys got this for now!"

"Don't worry, you can count on us!" Domingo yelled back as Sarik retreated to Crimson's side. Anyone from Radegast's team who wished to help them joined the two as well.

"Alright, how do we shut down this barrier?" Crimson stared at Sarik. The Squirtle looked at the pink wall looming over them, approaching it.

"Hmm, well it appears to be made out of energy of some sort," he studied the surface further, "Likely won't hurt us when we touch it, but I'm not going to take that chance. Any way we can bust a hole through it?"

“Does anyone know Brick Break?” Elder asked after he sent yet another flying with a well-placed Sucker Punch. The Haunter was the only one to form up with Crimson. "Because otherwise I'm willing to bet the power source is on the other side of it."

Crystal, Operative, and Suros continued tearing through the ranks with unexpected savagery. It was clear that this team was more used to squad battles rather than simple duels. They struck absolute terror in the hearts of those who dared oppose them. Operative with her cold professionalism, Crystal with her dark, emotionless gaze, Suros with the mama bear anger.

Radegast seemed to be paying more attention to the barrier than the battle erupting around him. He could manage to see the battle going on through the barrier. He saw Rage get sent flying with a ground-type attack directed from that baton, followed by a Psybeam in mid-air.

The human was silent… deathly silent… as he watched Rage get sent over the edge of the peninsula cliff. “You got this, buddy,” the human echoed as he stared at the Meowstic… or rather, the baton she carried. The human’s gaze held an uncharacteristic… something… something truly unnerving. His eyes held an unsettling air that not even Rage’s leer could accomplish.

Almost as quick as it came, Radegast’s eyes became relaxed and friendly. The human turned back to the fight, in time to see a Houndour pouncing towards him. With an easy smile and a more relaxed expression, Radegast leaned to the side, leaving nothing between the Houndour and the barrier. With nothing to stop it, the Dark-type face-planted against the barrier.

—

SLOPPY!

Rage’s hand held a vice-like grip on the first extended rock off of the cliff face. A ground-type move, followed by a psychic-type move. A MERE TOOL, A VERSATILE TOOL, BUT A TOOL NONETHELESS! Impressive attack placement, the Mankey had to admit… but they were too weak. The Meowstic is simply too weak. It was no wonder that it resorted to tools and weapons. It would not extinguish the flames- It cannot. Only the truly strong can snuff out the great engine of fury… Though that did not mean the attacks did not hurt. A GROUND-TYPE ATTACK TO KNOCK ME OFF-BALANCE, FOLLOWED WITH A SURE-HIT PSYBEAM! A WORTHY TACTIC!!! A CLEVER COMBINATION!!! FRIEND-RADEGAST AND FRIEND-ELDER WOULD HAVE APPROVED! Rage ached in a similar fashion to Touko’s psychic-type’s attacks. However, a single strike from that Champion’s Volcarona hurt far more than everything that Meowstic had just thrown at the Mankey.

BUT IT IS NOT THAT VOLCARONA! IT IS NOT… SUROS!!! The Mankey’s pain all but completely vanished as his fury returned in full. With a single tug, the Mankey threw himself back over the cliff edge. From his position, he saw that the Greninja was being pushed away with Psychic attacks… which otherwise do not affect or even harm Dark-types.

WEAK… AND STUPID, I SEE! Rage thought, but did not scream… not yet… The Meowstic was moving to land a finishing blow against the Turtwig ally. Ignoring the pain with every fibre of his being, (made easier with a combination of adrenaline and anger) the Mankey rapidly and silently closed the distance, and moved to wrap both arms around the Meowstic’s waist.

If both hands locked together, Rage would not give the Meowstic a chance to break free, for he would immediately lift, sending the pokemon into a German Suplex variant of the Seismic Toss. “OORRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” He would shriek with as much gusto as before. The suplex would no-doubt send the Meowstic's head upon the tough cliffside ground.

Touko recoiled in shock as the Zekrom was forced to switch sides. "No! Zekrom! You have to fight it! We're friends, remember? Don't you? Buddy?" Her knees weakened as the force of the realization hit her like, well, one of Zekrom's attacks. Her eyes glanced around. That rod...that seemed pretty important. Her mind whirled with options, evaluating and discarding possibilities, picking through the various paths the battle could take, before eventually settling on something. It wasn't what her team was designed for, but here went...something.

"You...I won't let you get away with this. You made one mistake in your otherwise perfect plan...you made me fight at full power! Katsu zo! Dweller, Volcarona, let's save the world! Together!" Her aura was almost visible as a large gray-ish quadruped with magnificent forward-sweeping horns hit the field alongside a brightly colored six-winged moth, with red and white accents hovering nearby. "Dweller, use Sacred Sword! Go for that Zoroark! Volcarona, we've got to weaken Zekrom, so burn it with Will-o-Wisp!"

The Terrakion let out a battle cry before charging forward at incredible speed, ignoring the electrically charged black beast altogether in favor of the puppet master. Its horns glowed with power as it lowered its head before leaping at Zane, sweeping its head upward like a Bouffalant trying to gore an unfortunate antagonist. Meanwhile, the moth's job was to make the fight against the recently converted legendary dragon easier for the rest of the team, summoning balls of ghostly fire and hurling them at its rather large target to not only cause damage over time, but weaken its brutally strong physical assaults.

I wonder what Iris is doing right now. I need to see her about taking the Unova championship back...better for me to take it from Alder than for him to retire and leave the seat open.

Zane simply smirked as Touko brought out the Terrakion and Volcarona. Things were going well, all things considered. Maybe not exactly to plan, but he could improvise. Zane looked to the Zekrom expectantly, "Try not to overexert yourself. But please do take out that thing?" Zekrom's answering roar even sounded automated, as if the amulet he wore took away all emotion. Yet something had resonated within Zekrom. Even though the Electric Dragon didn't show it, Touko's words somehow reached it. Zekrom would hold back at least somewhat.

But it didn't stop him from attacking all together. He took the Will-o-Wisp head on, then barreled forward. A Dragon Claw was the first move to come out, smashing straight into the Fire Psychic. He followed up with a Crunch, now that he was in close range and could effectively use the move Type the Volcarona was weak to. Meanwhile, Zane concentrated and flipped himself to the side, dodging the Sacred Sword. He thought quickly and imagined himself lighter than he was before. The Agility hit quickly and Zane was practically a blue when he moved.

"Gonna have to try a bit harder than that," he stopped in front of Dweller to wink before moving (or just about phasing) right behind him, wiggling his claws in front of him expectantly, waiting for Touko's next move.

---

"What the-"Sonya could only manage to stutter as she was suplexed into the peninsula. She felt the earth crack below her as she couldn't make a full fledged cry out in pain. Rather, it came in a barely audible wheeze as she just about slumped to the ground. By this point, Tag had appeared next to Rage.

"Well, that's one way to do it, I guess," Tag at the furious beast that stood next to him, "Well done."

The Greninja had gotten up and walked over as well, laughing coldly, "How does it feel to be bested by a move type you're resistant to?"

It was true. Her Psychic-Type made her resistant to Fighting-Type moves. And while Seismic Toss had done a lot to her, it hadn't taken her out. Not completely. That was their misfortune as Sonya struggled to get up. She had dropped the baton, losing it in the grass as she was lifted and slammed down by the Mankey. The look of pure rage was on her face as she gritted her teeth and glared daggers at the Mankey.

"A CHEAP MOVE!" she screeched, "Seismic Tossing me from behind! Learn your place! ALL OF YOU!!!" she brought her hand down.

It was a perfectly timed Future Sight on Sonya's part. Neither Gova nor Rage had seen her use it. Only Tag recognized what she was doing as the massive blob of energy plummeted from the heavens. He barely managed to escape the direct hit, yet the force of impact was enough to send him flying off to the side, hitting the barrier and sliding down. He hit the ground hard...not enough to knock him out, but enough to make it a struggle to get back up again.

Gova was not so lucky. The energy had hit her dead on and she practically suffocated under it. It was her resistance to Psychic-Types and her lack of damage thus far that kept her from being knocked out by it all together. When the dust cleared, she was flat on the ground, grimacing in pain. Pulling herself together, she was shaky getting to a standing position as well.

And as for Rage...the move would have a SEVERE impact on him. Given his natural weakness to Psychic moves, the hits he'd taken thus far, and the sheer power of Future Sight as a whole, it wouldn't be surprising if the move knocked him out entirely. Of course, there was no telling with Rage, as he seemed to pull life, energy, and determination from a hidden temple of fury somewhere in his body.

---

Crimson glanced at Elder as he relayed his suggestion, "I don't. But maybe this will do." He twirled the Power Bat in his hand as he set himself up for a mighty swing. The Bat itself wasn't completely charged with energy, though it did gain some from the battle with Zane's current Psychic Rebellion. Crimson figured it was worth a shot at least.

He swung forward with all his might. The jarring feeling of impact went through his arms and around his body as the Bat struck the wall, exerting what energy it had on it. The wall seemed to vibrate, the impact spot turning a bright white before the white spread out in a circle across the wall, like a water droplet on a still lake. It had a ripple effect.

But the wall didn't break. Crimson stepped back in frustration. "Hm...didn't work," he said.

Sarik was eyeing the spreading circle from the impact, "It's spreading the energy around," he observed, "See? The circle is fading into pink as it spreads. It's the wall's defense mechanism!" he turned to Crimson excitedly, "If we can blast enough energy on a single point, I think we can break it!"

Just then, Crimson looked up to see Tag smack right into the wall, sliding down in pain. It was almost like a switch was flipped within him as he could only watch Tag get up, having clearly taken a beating. He'd seen this scene in front of him before...too many times...

He would not let it happen again.

With newly found anger, Crimson stepped towards the wall, laying a constant barrage of Fire Punches on a specific point. Sarik saw what he was doing and joined him, letting loose a mighty Hydro Pump. The power the two Pokemon demonstrated on the wall was extremely impressive, but it wasn't enough.

"Elder, put your new hands to good use!" Sarik called to the Haunter.

Meanwhile, the Psychic Rebellion battled on against the seven Pokemon fighting them. While they were doing very well at fending them off so far, they would find themselves getting tired. Battle was taxing and the onslaught of Pokemon was still numerous. Pretty soon, even the most determined would succumb to the amount of energy extruded. So far, none of them had even showed signs of slowing down, not even the weakest of the group, which was Pert. But it would come. Zane had planned that part out.

Elder nodded, grinned savagely, and readied his clawed hands much like he did when he applied Toxic to many an enemy. He thrust his hands forward repeatedly in multiple jabs, all focused on a singular point, between the attacks everyone else was throwing.

Radegast glanced at the group trying to break through the barrier. He signalled to the others that he was going to form up with the barrier-breaking crew that Elder just joined.

Crystal and the Operative were both beginning to show signs of fatigue, but Suros remained as speedy and deadly as ever. The human produced some potions and said, “Operative, form up.” The Joltik bounded back to Radegast’s side. While Suros and Crystal provided cover, Radegast applied the medicinal sprays to rejuvenate the Joltik’s fighting ability. Radegast also rubbed his hoodie sleeve against his sling to build up some static electricity for the Operative to absorb. It was not much, but the tiny Joltik appreciated the extra charge. They repeated the potion treatment for Crystal as well. “Suros, you doing okay, buddy?”

Suros slashed at the ground once more, sending another billowing cloud of sand into the faces of many an opponent. This gave her time to chirp, “Lord-Regent, I am fine if you’re fine!”

“What he means is do you need any potions?” Crystal returned.

“I know, but I’m fine! They haven’t even landed a hit on me!” Suros bragged before she returned to the fray.

“Well, nothing ever could land a hit on you,” Radegast chuckled, “Still, be careful. A’ight?”

“You got it, Lord-Regent!”

“Crystal, they’re gonna need your help with that barrier,” Radegast indicated the group sending attack after attack at the barrier.

Crystal nodded, hopped over to the group, and fired off her Aqua Jet at a location near Elder’s targeted location.

Between the Operative and Suros, the enemy was slowly, but surely gaining ground. Suros could dodge and weave all day, the enemy was simply too slow, but the Fletchinder could not attack as much as she’d like. Operative could only push the enemy back with well-placed String Shot.

If they were to break through the barrier, it had to be now. Radegast was ready to grab Crystal and leap through as soon as an opening was made. Everyone else was fast enough on land.

—

The blow was at full-power, but the Meowstic’s enraged monologue gave the Mankey time to raise his arms to try to block whatever came. The blob of energy slammed against Rage, tearing through his being. The attack made his cellular structure ripple and flare up in an enormous amount of pain. Rather, it brought back and amplified that pain the Mankey’s anger had previously forced himself to ignore. Rage dropped to his knees. His eyes seemed calm, almost glazed, even. A fist shot out and caught himself before he could drop forward and hit the ground. CHEAP MOVES? TELL THAT TO THE STRIKE FROM THE HEAVENS! IT MATTERS NOT, FOR NO GOD COULD EVER QUENCH THE FIRES OF RAGE!

Rage laughed a maniacal chortle. “YOUR FRUSTRATION IS LIKE A MOTHER'S NECTAR! IT TOOK THREE SUPER-EFFECTIVE MOVES ON YOUR PART TO MERELY INCAPACITATE ME! YOU ARE NO SUROS! YOU ARE TRULY WEAK! EVEN FRIEND-RADEGAST- A MERE HUMAN MORTAL- COULD DEFEAT YOU WITH HIS BARE HANDS!” Rage was defiant enough to avoid a KO entirely… but he was indeed no longer capable of fighting. Despite his fury, he learned from Elder to always retain a modicum of intelligence and control. Rage knew that he needed medical attention and quick. If only the Lord-Regent could get through that barrier. For now, however, he continued laughing, playing to the Meowstic's frustrations. She did not seem trained in the controlled usage of her own anger, unlike the Mankey. She'd probably be blinded by her own anger, left vulnerable to a clever move by the obviously more intelligent Turtwig or the Greninja.

Come on, woman, think. You've been in tougher situations before. Touko tried to psych herself up as Volcarona was gravely wounded and Terrakion was quickly outmaneuvered. "Dweller! Rock Polish, you've got to keep that Zoroark busy! Don't let him fluster you, so corner him with Quick Attack! Volcarona, Quiver Dance, then Bug Buzz!"

Terrakion swung its head about rapidly, barely scraping the horns against its rocky hide to drastically boost its speed and be able to keep up with the suddenly more agile villain before zipping around behind Zane with speed that made it almost invisible to even a trained eye, trying to give it a powerful shove in the right direction. Its goal was to herd the Dark-type into range for Volcarona's boosted sound-based attack, which would also hit Zekrom as well for decent damage. Quiver Dance would also make the bug faster and more elusive, better able to avoid the finishing blow from the larger black dragon.

"Zekrom, it's me, your friend, Touko! You have to remember! I don't want to fight you!"

Zane eyed the Terrakion as it used Rock Polish to make itself faster and more capable of keeping up with his own Agility. A very smart move on it's part, Zane realized as he could guess pretty accurately what was going to come next. His prediction rang true when the quick attack smashed right into him, sending him in the direction of Zekrom...right as Volcarona used Bug Buzz. Zane braced for impact as the sound waves ripped through him and Zekrom.

Touko's plan had worked exactly how she hoped it would.

But Zane was determined. Turning his own pain into anger, Zane quickly pumped himself up and stood in front of the electric dragon-type, "Zekrom can't hear you," he discouraged the brunette, a cruel sneer crossing his face, "My little shiny rock here makes sure of that!"

Zane lunged forward, going for Volcarona with Night Slash. Meanwhile, Zekrom switched targets as well, aiming for Terrakion with Draco Meteor. Zane's Agility would help him keep up with the Fire Psychic Bug while Zekrom was going to try for the ranged attack as the comets began to rain down upon Dweller.

---

Sonya's eyes flared up at the insult directed by the Mankey. Who did this fool think he was? A cruel laugh slipped out, but her body language radiated nothing but anger as she walking towards the struggling Pokemon.

"Really, now? The human could take me on? Too bad he sent me his worthless cousin!" Sonya unleashed a Psybeam straight at the already downed Rage, adding insult to injury. But she continued to barrage him, "Where is your human friend now, huh?!" she added another Psybeam, which would make Rage slide across the ground even further.

"ENOUGH!" Tag's own anger took control as he lunged at the Meowstic, ignoring his aches and pains. The speed Tag had as well as the suddenness of the strike was enough to catch Sonya completely off guard, causing them both to fall down in the tall grass. Tag began his own barrage once he had Sonya pinned down. "No one deserves to suffer like that!" he snarled in her face as he used any kind of damaging move he could think of to her.

But Sonya's shock on her face turned to smiles when her fingers wrapped around a familiar baton. She had kept it in the Fire-Type setting when she'd lost it and now it was time to finish what she had started before the Mankey rudely interrupted. Bringing the baton down on Tag's head, she felt the jar in her arm, the pulsing of flames exerting from the tip of the baton into Tag, and then Tag was still. Pushing the unconscious Turtwig off of her, she got up slowly and emerged from the battleground.

Gova threw a flurry of Water Shurikens in the Meowstic’s direction, to which Sonya disappeared into the tall grass once more, evading the attack. Gova snarled in disgust before deciding to cloud the area even more with Smokescreen. As the charcoal grey cloud spread, nothing moved for a moment. Everything was still. Then a flurry of attacks could be heard, the remnants of which would occasionally pop out and hit the wall. It was a fast exchange, then a loud zap, a cry of pain that was cut off, and silence once more. The clouds dissipated, Sonya standing in the middle of which. Gova was not visible from where the Meowstic stood, but she was lying on the ground, knocked out after a few hits.

“There we go…nothing a little pest control couldn’t fix,” Sonya stepped out into the short grass, turning to Rage one more, ”Now where were we?”

Before a response could be made, a loud explosion was heard behind her. Sonya whirled around to find a hole in the pink barrier she had created. How?!

---

The barrier had needed a further push. Crimson had evolved his flurry of punches to a continuous Flame Wheel. Sarik invoked the power of the Hydro Pump once more. Even Elder used as much power he could muster. But it just wasn’t enough trauma in one spot to break through. Panting, Crimson and Sarik stopped the onslaught they were using. Sarik was very fatigued, having used Hydro Pump more than twice that day. It had taken a lot out of him.

“We need more power!” Crimson shouted over the sound of battle roaring on around them.

The circle the group had formed around the three was closing in. There were just too many Pokemon to fight. Dobro and Domingo fought side by side, trying their best to delay the approach. Pert had long before hopped off of Pounce’s back and was backing up with everyone else. Pounce himself had stopped focusing on quips and actually started concentrating. Everyone had at least one or two attacks hit them, ignored through the adrenaline of battle. But they gave ground and the Psychic Rebellion ate it all up.

Crimson and Sarik became aware of their surroundings, noticing the steady approach of Pokemon heading towards them. It was close enough that random or deflected attacks were hitting parts of the wall and falling around the three. Crimson had to dodge to the right as a Flamethrower was sent in his direction. Sarik turned to the Chimchar, concern in his eyes as well as in his voice.

“Crimson…”

“I know,” he cut the Squirtle off, gripping his Power Bat tightly as he prepared for the worst.

A flurry of movement came from the forest, catching the eye of Crimson first before anyone. He pointed past their attackers, “Look!”

Then suddenly, wings and claws popped out of the tree line, revealing a large group of Pokemon coming out of the forest. There were a variety of types among them, but two features remained constant. For one, the majority of them had wings or was a Dark-Type of some kind. The other, a white bandana tied around each of their heads with a red sphere in the center, lines extruding from it…a familiar pattern to all the combatants there.

The Sunrise Clan had come to help.

The Psychic Rebellion turned around in confusion before getting hit with all kinds of attacks, Wing Attack, Sucker Punch, Dark Pulse…all battering around on each side. War seemed to break out as the Psychic Rebellion was now fighting on two sides, sandwiched in between. Among the Sunrise Clan’s side, a winged figure broke out from the crowd, flying over the battle and landing in the clearing with Crimson and Sarik.

“Hey,” the Murkrow grinned, “Figured you guys could use some help.” He paused as he took in Elder for the first time, remembering the fight with the Ghastly he’d been a part of a ways back…what seemed like ages ago.

“He won’t hit you unless you strike first…” Crimson reminded him before turning around to face the pink wall once more, “Which speaking of striking…you guys got enough power to help us break through?”

The Murkrow laughed, “Do we?!” He whistled, loud and piercing over the sound of fighting. Instantly, a crowd of winged Pokemon came flying over, led by a certain Starraptor.

“Peggy, can we blow a chunk into the wall?” the Murkrow asked, a knowing smile crossing his face.

“Sure, Edal,” Peggy smirked in reply, spreading her wings out. The Flying-Types behind her did the same thing, setting themselves up for a collective and powerful attack.

“Sunrise Brigade!” Peggy called, “Mass Gust!”

The wind storm that surged from the formation was incredible, throwing all sorts of energy into it. Sarik found another Hydro Pump within himself and launched it at the barrier. Crimson smirked on his own accord as he charged up another Flame Wheel.

We’re coming guys, Crimson thought as he launched his spinning self at the wall. With a final smash, he broke through. The Chimchar was the first to land on the other side as he landed feet first on the peninsula. Turning around, Crimson could already see the wall trying to form itself back together, the edges pulsing and morphing the hole down to a smaller and smaller size. Sarik leaped through it next.

“Guys, hurry!” Crimson called back to Elder and Radegast, “The hole is closing!”

The barrier finally broke. With the constant damage around the middle area, the opening curved and split wide open. Wasting no time, Elder and Radegast (the latter of whom grabbed Crystal) vaulted into the opening, followed by the quick hops of the Operative, and the impossibly speedy flight of Suros. Mid-vault, Radegast pulled his left arm from his sling and grasped at one of the pokeballs on his belt. Ignoring the slight pull his shoulder tendons were feeling, the human swung the spherical device around and pointed it directly at Rage.

A mere instant before the Meowstic could land a finishing blow, Rage vanished in a red flash. The last thing the Meowstic saw from the Mankey was a knowing grin. Suros swooped low on the ground and sent dirt toward the Meowstic’s face. Behind the cloud of sand, A net of uncharged string shot webbing was flung through. Elder followed up the string shot by closing the distance before throwing out one more Sucker Punch, using the blinding sand as cover, and the string shot as a way to hold the target down. Three attackers, each of them angered at the treatment the Meowstic had given to their friend, and none of them were willing to fight fair.

Radegast placed Crystal back on the ground and released Rage at his side. The human crouched down and quickly produced a couple of potions. “Well-fought, O’ warrior” Radegast smirked.

Rage coughed. His whole body trembled. Any other pokemon would have succumbed to worse states from such a barrage of attacks, but Rage’s sheer stupid force of will kept him barely conscious… or rather, conscious enough to maintain his style of speech. “IT WAS NOT!!! THE CREATURE WAS WEAK AND *cough* UNDISCIPLINED! IT RELIES TOO MUCH ON TOOLS AND WEAPONS AND NOT *cough cough* ENOUGH ON IT’S CORE!! IT WAS HARDLY A CHALLENGE WORTHY OF THE INFINITE RAGE!!!!!!” The tough act was only betrayed by glazed, tired eyes, and even a little blood trickling from the corner of a mouth, hidden by thick tan fur.

“Alright, just hold still a sec.” Radegast stated seriously as he applied a couple of potions. The pain the Mankey experienced vanished quite quickly, as befitting the powerful medicinal sprays. Rage still shivered as his body began to adjust from 0.001% health to 40% health once more.

“Let’s see…” Radegast checked his bag after tossing the empty, bio-degradable bottles. “Oh dear… one Super potion left… sheeeit… I gotta get more money.”

“Well, that’s what the Gym Challenge is for,” Crystal replied as she prepared to focus some icy wind to form a couple of narrow stalagmites. “After this, I’m down for taking on some Gyms. I bet Rage would like that too."

“AND NO ONE SHALL STOP ME!!!!” Rage reached for a stalagmite with a still-trembling arm.

Radegast reached out quicker, grabbed one, and broke it off off at the base. “Take it easy, buddy. You’re one hell of a defiant guy, but you just need a little more time for the effects to take,” He stood up with the ice spear in his good hand. He twirled the spear in his hand as he ignored the Meowstic’s fate and focused on the orb that had Touko trapped in a fight… probably to the death. The human spotted a Zoroark through the pink translucent barrier. With nary a second thought, Radegast rose his good arm and flung the icicle at the barrier like a javelin. Obviously it could not pierce the barrier when the first layer took the better part of an army to break through. But the better part of an army was here now, and the sound of the ice breaking would probably call the talking Zoroark’s attention. If anything, the shattering ice would serve as some sort of split-second distraction for Touko to make use of.

If the Dark-type did turn to investigate the noise of shattering ice, he would see Radegast’s friendly grin. “What’s up, dude?” The human would then ask in that instance.

Touko cursed under her breath as Volcarona was finally outmaneuvered and felled by the mighty Zekrom. That did little to quell her feelings of regret and anger. After all, it was her fault her whole team was going to suffer, by flying right into this trap to meet the enemy head-on. Then she swore over her breath as the fainted Sun Pokémon was returned. Kuso... That made her feel a little better.

"I'm not giving up yet! Let's do this, Juggernaut!" Out came a long-bodied, bipedal Pokémon, thick yellow scales protecting its body as it sported a pair of wicked axe blades from either side of its beaked upper jaw. The Haxorus cried out, ready to smash some skulls as it stared down the legend it had clashed against once before. Strength versus strength. Will versus will. "Juggernaut! Let's give him a Dragon Dance! Dweller..." She stopped as the icicle crashed against the barrier. Her friends were fighting for their lives out there! She had to succeed! "Dweller! Pin them down with Rock Slide!"

Another spread move that would give Zekrom and Zane something to think about while the Haxorus focused on raising its power levels, huge boulders came crashing down on the enemy's side of the battlefield even while the so-called musketeer zipped back and forth, matching the Zoroark's speed and keeping the villain in its sights, ready for any trickery that may come next.

Sonya didn't even have time to cry out in pain. The three attacks found their mark and she crumpled under neath them. She didn't move.

As Radegast's team dealt with Rage, Crimson and Sarik looked for their two companions, "Gova! Tag!" A few moments later, they found them both in the field about thirty yards apart. Gova was still knocked out while Tag was coming to.

"You alright?" Crimson pulled Tag to his feet.

"Yeah..." Tag said before he felt a flare of pain rising up on his left side, "Ack...no...not really."

Crimson looked at Tag with concern before digging into his pack and pulling out the Rawst Berry he had in there and giving it to him, "Here, this'll help."

Tag took it obligingly as Crimson called out to Sarik, "You got an Oran Berry for Gova, right?" Sarik nodded. Crimson turned back to the Turtwig who was slowly finding his way to a sitting position.

"Well that's one brutal agonizing pain down," he muttered. Crimson gave him his Oran Berry to which Tag took without hesitation. Crimson looked back towards the barrier they had broken a moment ago. It had reformed, blocking the way in once more. On the other side, the fight raged between the Psychic Rebellion and the Sunrise Clan, neither side giving any indication as to who was winning.

Making a full one-eighty, Crimson watched as Touko was battling Zane and...was that her Zekrom?

The icicle whizzed past Crimson's face and he followed it's trajectory as it hit the barrier with a zing! sound. That certainly didn't do near enough to break it, but it did distract Zane as he glanced that direction to see Radegast's smiling face.

Radegast's distraction couldn't have come at a better time. The Rock Slide made by Terrakion found it's way home, hitting both Zekrom and Zane. Grunting, Zane was quick to pull himself to his feet once more, noticing the Haxorus for the first time. Outside the barrier were both Crimson and his team as well as Radegast standing there...waiting to see the outcome.

Sonya had failed. And as a result, he was vastly outnumbered. Even if he managed to beat Touko, it was likely that he wouldn't have the strength to take down Radegast and Crimson.

Zane knew what he had to do. With a quick leap backwards, Zane pressed the button on the pink wristband and escaped the arena. Now on the other side, Zane turned around and made a theatrical bow towards Touko.

"I secede. These conditions are not optimal for fighting any longer. You have won." he tasted the last sentence bitterly as he went on, "But I won't be giving up the Master Blaster that easily. Sorry to break a promise, but I teeter on the edge of what I need to accomplish. Next time, try to be a little smarter and call your Pokemon back into your Pokeball when someone else has it!"

A slight pause, then Zane spoke clearly to everyone, "But know this! You all may have won this battle, but the war has only begun! I will return..." he stared at Crimson with all the menace and hate in his eyes, "And I will have my revenge."

Crimson winked at him, "Try it."

"Retreat!" his voice echoed past everyone to the fight going on at the edge of the peninsula...his followers. A rustle of grass would possibly alert anyone who heard to Sonya's position. She was carrying something huge and it was clear she had taken a massive beating. But she still managed to look back at all of them with a sneer before she jumped off the edge of the peninsula. Zane gave a small wave of his own before falling backwards off the peninsula and into the water. Only one splash was heard.

The moment the splash was made, the barriers began to come down. It took a few seconds for it to trickle down to the point where Touko and her Pokemon could step over it. Zekrom, Touko would find, was still unresponsive. As everyone else would notice if they got to the edge of the peninsula, Sonya was riding on a Lapras, away from the island. The rest of the Psychic Rebellion retreated to the forest behind them. Some of the Sunrise Clan gave chase while others stood behind and waited.

Elder’s hands dripped in purple, poisonous essence, he had been punching throughout most of the battle and it really wore down on his relatively new appendages. Operative was tired, nearly out of static electricity to still function. She clung onto Radegast’s hoodie for most of the aftermath. She was absorbing the static electricity the human’s layers of clothes constantly accumulated by rubbing against one another. It was not much, but it was akin to a slow blood transfusion to the Joltik. Crystal, the Seel, panted heavily. Her muscles burned and ached from shooting as many Aqua Jets as Elder threw fists.

Rage was the most battered and bruised of them all. On top of that, he had been bleeding until Radegast applied first-aid. The Mankey certainly had it the worst, though he would not admit it. “RUN, COWARDS! YOU MAY SURVIVE THIS DAY, BUT YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE THE WRATH OF TEN TRILLION MALEVOLENT GODS!” Evidently, even at 40%, Rage held the aura of a bloodthirsty and immortal gladiator.

Suros, however, more served the physical description of a bloodthirsty and immortal gladiator. The Fletchinder was utterly unscathed, though her torso did expand and contract in what seemed like silent panting. Now that the battle was over, she folded her wings once more and lazily climbed up onto Radegast’s shoulder. This time, the shoulder seemed only a little too small for the bird. She was, after all, now twice her original size. In no time at all, a purring snore emitted from the now-larger bird.

Radegast slipped Rage’s pokeball back onto his belt and filled his bag back up with the supplies he had pulled out haphazardly to heal up the Mankey. “We’ll need to hit up a Pokemon centre later. Sound good, dudes?” Radegast asked.

Everyone, including the suddenly awakened Suros, nodded their approval.

“Well, sounds like we did all we could for today,” he said as the others, save Elder, formed up and hopped back into their respective pokeballs. Radegast bent down as Elder approached with essence-leaking claws. “That poison, or ectoplasm?”

“Looks like we’ll get matching scars, Lord-Regent,” the Haunter grinned as he rose both hands, “Although I doubt a ghostly body can get scarred.”

“It’s still classified,” Radegast chuckled as he imagined the Haunter was referring to the scarring on his own visible right hand. (He returned his left hand to the sling.) The human stood up and approached Touko. “Looked like some brain-washing device, if fighting your own pal meant anything.” Radegast smirked, “I’d hate to see Suros on the business end, that’s for sure… Anyway, I imagine you want to give chase, but I’d rather my friends get stronger. Where’s this first gym, exactly?”

Sonya popped an Oran Berry in her mouth and glanced back at the shrinking island they were leaving behind. Sighing in relief, she turned around in the boat, looking ahead at the horizon in front of them. Zane was in front, steering the boat. Despite having the creative ingenuity to create a motor to propel the boat forward, Sonya managed to forget coming up with a way to change directions. As a result, that job fell to the Zoroark, who was not happy about it, among other things. He was in a mood as he thought ahead to future tasks at hand.

The Master Blaster 2.0 sat in between the two, gleaming in the sunlight. A weapon of incredible power, it was created much how a rocket launcher was. It was designed to rest comfortably on the wielder's shoulder and have very little kickback, despite releasing such incredible power. Currently it's power supply were three Pokemon...legendaries to be precise. The Yvelta, Xerneas, and Darkrai definitely had more than enough power to emit a killing blast to any Pokemon who dare find themselves on the other end of it...that is except one.

Sonya brought it up once more, "If you'd shot it at Crimson earlier, you may have had a better outcome in this."

Growling, Zane shot daggers at his partner, "I told you. He would've survived it. I'm almost sure of it."

"Almost sure," the Meowstic was quick to point out, "This one is stronger than Neeko's by far. It was still worth taking the risk. But because you didn't, we came away almost empty handed!"

"Well if you would've held off the others a bit longer, I would've had that Zekrom to add to our power supply!"

"I didn't anticipate a Pokemon Clan coming to help them!" she spat back, "Neither did you! We would've suffocated them otherwise!"

For a moment, Zane was quiet. Sonya typically didn't feel fear...it never was built into her. But she did get a bit anxious whenever he paused like that. She always wondered what would happen if Zane suddenly decided she didn't need her and she was on his bad side. It would be a fight for her life, she knew. She glanced down at the Master Blaster, anticipating the worst.

Instead, he sighed, "The past is the past. We have to look forward, now. Crimson's likely gonna set up a guild to recruit others to take us down. We have to increase our numbers as well."

A slow smiled creeped on Sonya's face as she thought of a place, "You remember where Zam said he was from, right?"

Zane arched a brow, "That one abandoned city?"

"Right," Sonya's smile grew wider and her eyes darkened, "It's supposed to be crawling with all types of Pokemon that may have a similar mind set. And it's not the friendliest looking place either, so less humans go there."

And then Zane's smile matched his partner's as the place came to mind, "Not bad...maybe not a permanent base, but it's a great placed to start."

The response to Rage's boisterous taunt was met with Telekinesis to keep the Primeape from escaping a flurry of attacks. They ranged in power on the scale of Magical Leaf to Psychic. The Aura Sphere connected, causing an instant knockout for Liam. Snips has scurried to the trees, using his speed to try and escape the volley of attacks following him. Dalia had burrowed underground, badly injured from the initial strike.

Meanwhile, the ambushers was paying attention to the teen, who had his hands secure on the PokeBall, "Get the Demonslayer! Quickly!"

Three individuals shot forward, their speed making them nearly impossible to trace through the darkness. One had grabbed Radegast's left hand and swung it behind the teen while the second yoinked the PokeBall out of his hands. It kept a good handle on it so as to not let it spring open. The third made a quick swipe towards Radegast's belt, grabbing Operative's and Chrome's ball in the same manner the second had grabbed Suros's. It was clear that they wanted to deal with as few enemies as possible.

If Radegast's time in the wilderness allowed his ability to see things better at night, he would've caught the form of a Lucario taking Suros from his grasp.

The sheer number of Pokemon waiting to ambush them would prove much larger than they might expect, just from move variance alone. A Thunder Wave shot through the air they were in, bringing forth paralysis to all remaining capable fighters. Snips was hit first, the initial impact causing him to lose his pace and begin falling from the trees. Another Flamethrower shot forth, landing a direct hit and doing away with the Servine in one clean swoop. The Servine hit the ground and rolled before falling into the same hole Maxin had fallen into.

A Headbutt to Crystal and one more round of Psychic attacks to Rage later, the attacks began to stop. Another Pokemon had appeared behind Radegast, grabbing his right hand and keeping him there with an incredibly strong grip. And then a light began to shine, illuminating the entire scene. Looking left and right, Radegast would discover a Medicham and a Slowking holding his arms. It would also appear that a Lucario had indeed grabbed Suros's ball and held it tightly in front of him. A Hoopa had been the one to sneak by and grab the other two PokeBalls. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast played clean-up crew. Two Beheeyem were picking up the KOed Gengar while another Beheeyem and a Bronzong had Liam. A Gothitelle and a Kirlia were currently restraining Crystal while an Alakazam still had Telekinetic control over Rage, keeping him from moving. And in the center of it all...

A very familiar looking Meowstic with a just as familiar metallic baton in her hand.

"Oh...I think you'll figure it out very soon," Sonya said to Radegast almost too playfully as she walked up to the boy. Radegast may or may not notice the collar around her neck, transmitting every word she was speaking into Common tongue so that he could understand what she was saying. Despite the over-cloyed tone she used, he would still see that spark of hate she held in her eyes every time she looked at him...that air of revenge she wanted so badly after the last time they met.

“And you are…?” Radegast calmly asked, though the spark in his eye danced around as he hoped like hell they didn’t take his friends farther away than they already had. He legitimately did not remember who this Meowstic was.

His scarred hands clenched as his wrists were held in place by the psychic holds. His heartbeat accelerated over concern for his friends. Despite all that, his voice was steady and calm. “Look man, I dunno what I did to piss you off, but maybe we can talk instead of assault?”

The Lucario holding Suros’ ball would feel an overwhelming force begin to try to force the pokeball open. Radegast noticed this and shouted, “Stand down!” The authoritative bark- the one Radegast tried his damnedest not to use, would even fill some of the lesser-minded pokemon amongst the group to feel a strangely different sense of duty.

Suros’ ball ceased attempting to open, filling Radegast with relief. “Alright, let’s start this from the top. Who are you and what’s your beef?”

A murmur ripped through the crowd of Pokemon at the sudden amount of authority in his voice. A good portion of the Pokemon that took part in the ambush suddenly had less bravado behind their victory. A couple of them even took a step back from the teenager.

Sonya's glare intensified and the baton came forward, held an inch away from Radegast's throat. A jolt of electricity sparked from the tip facing him, arcing within millimeters from his jugular vein. "You don't remember?! You don't remember what you DID?!" she screamed at him, causing everyone else to grow quiet. They knew better than to be in her way when she was angry.

She held the baton in threatening range for a couple seconds before retracting it with a huff, holding it by her side once more. She sighed irritably, "Seeing as your memory is worse than a pre-schooler's, I see no point in even explaining it to a buffoon like you. Besides...someone else would like to talk to you first. And he's not gonna let you forget it."

The Meowstic snapped her fingers. At once, the Slowking and the Medicham began tugging on Radegast's arms, dragging him forward. The other party members dragged the other Pokemon, both a mix of Radegast's and Maxin's, making sure they couldn't fight back or were completely knocked out before they began to walk. Everyone began to move deeper into the forest, traveling off the path. As they went Sonya turned back towards Radegast with a gleam in her eye.

"Please struggle or try to escape while we go along," her voice returned to that threateningly cheerful tone as she held up the baton," I'd really like to use this thing at least once or twice on you before we get there."

---

A slight groan came from Maxin as he blinked his eyes open. The first thing he noticed was that everything hurt. To be fair, it wasn't like he wasn't going to fall down a massive hole without sustaining a few injuries. Slowly pulling himself to a sitting position, he held his head in pain as he looked up towards the mouth of the hole he'd just fallen into. It seemed like miles above him, covered with loose dirt on the walls. He tested the sturdiness of the dirt and found it gave way under his fingers. No way was he going to be able to climb out through that opening.

Damn...

Still holding his head, he began to check himself all over to make sure that nothing was broken. He was sure he'd have a few bruises in the morning, but he counted his lucky stars that nothing was broken or dislocated. A good start...

Next came the gear check, which he discovered was less than fortunate. Apart from the sword he kept on his hilt (somehow, the strap didn't break through that fall?!) and his emergency batch of supplies he kept in a small knapsack on his utility belt, he had nothing.

Where's my backpack?

He began searching around the underground cavern he was in, trying to find anything that resembled a backpack of any kind. However, it was too dark to see anything and Maxin found himself fumbling around in the darkness, uncovering nothing. He began brushing his hand in front of him, sweeping the floor in front of him. He kept on his hands and knees, despite the discomfort his pain and the ground gave him. As he looked, he began to wonder what had happened. Had he stepped in a random hole or had he stepped into a trap of some kind? What about Radegast? What had happened to him and his Pokemon? He could only imagine they were figuring out a way to rescue him, either by their own supply or by getting help in Driftveil. He knew Radegast wouldn't dare leave him...

His hand brushed against something. Maxin grew slightly excited as he placed his hand on the object and felt around it...discovering instantly that it wasn't his backpack he was feeling.

It was a leg.

Crying out in shock, Maxin backed up underneath the opening once more, scared of what he might've done. What if he had just awoken an extremely territorial Pokemon who would now be coming after him? Afraid of the worst, he drew his sword and held it out in front of him, ready to defend himself from whatever it was that might come after him.

Nothing moved. Nothing even stirred in the darkness.

To be safe, Maxin waited for a minute of silence to pass before making another move into the chamber again. He was sure that his hand would've awoken whatever Pokemon he'd touched. Still hesitant, Maxin began feeling around a different part of the cavern, hoping he wouldn't brush against whatever he'd felt last time...just in case he was wrong. A couple minutes later, his fingers hit something again, only this thing was hard, metal, and cylindrical.

His flashlight.

Sighing in relief, he began thumbing the device in his hand, searching for the button in the darkness. His hand hit the "on" switch and the yellow beam shot forward. Blinking to adjust to the light change, the first order of business with his newfound technology was to examine what it was he'd brushed across before. He turned his flashlight towards the right side of the room...

And nearly dropped the flashlight in horror of seeing a Servine knocked out and in bad shape lying on the floor.

"Snips!" he sprang forward on instinct and scooped up his pal, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but it was incredibly faint. There was also an unnatural warmness to his body, as if he had been roasted in a fire.

Maxin reached into his knapsack and pulled out his emergency Revive Seed, placing it into Snips's mouth. A moment passed, Maxin unable to look away or let go of Snips throughout the whole process. And then he felt movement in his hand.

"Ugh..." Snips coughed as he wriggled in Maxin's arms, not even opening his eyes, "Fuuuuck, that burned......"

"Snips!" Maxin let the tears flow in momentary celebration as he hugged the Servine. He was just grateful Snips was still alive.

"Maxin..." he finally managed to squint one eye open, "Are we...?"

"Hey buddy," Maxin smiled as his voice cracked from the emotion he was feeling, "It's okay. We're in a hole somewhere. I'm not sure how or why, but I have faith that Radegast will rescue us."

"Radegast..." Snips murmured, "Rescue..."

The Servine then felt memories return to him. Maxin collapsing into the hole. And then the ambush...currently attacking Radegast right now.

Snips went from sluggish to full of energy as the reality of the situation sunk in and he leaped out of Maxin's arms, eyes wide in alarm. He looked at Maxin as he pointed up, "Radegast! He's in trouble!"

"Huh? What's up?" Maxin knelt down before Snips, trying to understand what he was saying.

"It was an ambush!" Snips continued to gesture, making a fist and punching his palm as if to demonstrate what he meant, "A big fight broke out! Liam and Dalia are up there! We need to help them!"

Without another word, Snips made his way back to the opening and tried to climb out of the hole. The dirt was too loose, however, and it even gave way under the Servine's smaller body. Snips found himself falling back to the bottom on every attempt.

"Yes, I know," Maxin walked up to him, "We need to find a way out of here." He pointed his flashlight towards the opening and noticed a large backpack caught on a rock or vine halfway above them...his backpack.

"Well, that solves that mystery," Maxin muttered under his breath as he turned back around...and noticed something scrawled on the wall. Curious, Maxin got closer to the wall to investigate further...

And gaped in awe by what he saw.

Despite the selective memory, Radegast wasn’t an idiot. He didn’t want to do anything that would get him or his friends hurt anymore than they did. He wondered if the Aegislash Reggie would find out about this, what it would do. Agent X prying into his past sent Reggie into such a fit of anger. The sixteen-year-old couldn’t even imagine what untold wrath this ambush would bring.

The souls of all Reginalds who came before him, with cultivated, crystallized power over generations. Radegast never put much thought into it when he first heard the stories from Uncle Tarma. However, witnessing the anger and feeling the unbridled energy rippling through the Driftveil gym made him question once more if he should inherit the coat of arms or not.

If only to keep an eye on such a creature…

—

“No, I will not tell you who Agent X is,” Tarma laughed, “He is a man of principle, as am I.”

The Aegislash’s energy seemed to warp the air around it as it glared at the old man. “You think this transgression should go unpunished? No Reginald before you ever allowed this.”

“Well, I’m allowing it.” Tarma said, “Radegast is allowing it as well. Speaking of whom, why did you leave him?”

“To find this Agent X and-“

“Dude,” Tarma began to rub his temples. Reggie's display was no longer amusing to the old man. “Between Driftveil and Mistralton is particularly dangerous terrain, and Agent X- the one you’ve been hell-bent on punishing- has learned that Radegast has made enemies… a lot of enemies… Most of them by accident. So what the hell are you doing here?”

It was a rare sight to see Tarma disappointed, let alone angry. It was fortunate that the Twins were off on errands, leaving the old man alone to keep an eye on the store, or they would have been terribly unnerved. Even the Aegislash stood down somewhat as it processed the old man’s words.

“Agent X is not a priority,” Tarma continued, “He’s harmless to the Family.”

—

A Skrelp poked it’s head out of the water, keeping watch over a shoreline nearby the Clay Tunnel. It did not take long for it to notice a sudden shift of movement. A bunch of leaves unravelled to reveal a Swadloon waiting around a bush close to the shore.

The Skrelp and the Swadloon checked their surroundings, and inched closer. “What news?” The Skrelp asked.

“As of fifteen minutes ago, the Lord-Regent has been captured,” the Swadloon said in a dull monotone, “By a Meowstic with a collar and a baton, along with a Lucario and multiple Psychic-types.”

“This… doesn’t bode well,” the Skrelp scout said.

“The boy accompanying him,” the Swadloon continued, “The one with the sword. He fell into a pitfall, along with his Servine.”

“Well… we can’t do anything on land, not to mention we’re poison-types…” The Skrelp nodded, “If you’re able to, bring that Servine boy to us.”

“Yes sir,” the Swadloon vanished into the bushes. The Skrelp followed suit into the sea.

Onward they went. Radegast's arms were kept by his side and many an eye was focused on him. They'd heard the rumors. Not just of the powers his Pokemon possessed, but the abilities he possessed as well. The initial strike on Oak Island. The more recent encounter in the desert with Labor Camp 24. Not many could take the kind of punches delivered by their kind and fight back with almost parallel strength. Radegast could. And for that figure alone, they brought the overwhelming numbers. Not just for Rage, Elder, or even Suros, but specifically for him.

Sonya led the way, twirling the baton in her hand as they went. Every time she gave her own glance back, she gave a cruel smile and a wink along with it. However, there was no masking the pure and utter hatred she held in those eyes while she did so. She was honestly a little surprised that the teen hadn't tried to resist yet. Perhaps he was smarter than he looked. She knew that he knew struggling like that would only bring him pain and a disadvantage to deal with in the future. Sonya didn't mind. She meant her threat towards wanting to use her devices to hurt him. But it didn't have to happen now.

Punishment would come later.

Finally, the trees began thinning slightly. Noises of other Pokemon could be heard. As they made their way into the clearing, Radegast would begin to notice the crowds of other Pokemon in the circle around them. This wasn't just a dozen stragglers that came out. This was literally hundreds of Pokemon, all gathered around in a circle around something in the center. As if she was parting the seas, Sonya swung her baton out, the standard motion to let everyone behind her know that she was coming through. And then the center was visible to them.

Skyva was on her knees, arms bound behind her. Behind her was a Sableye and a Weavile, their eyes on the redhead to make sure she made no sudden movements. A few feet from her left knelt a Zoroark, his eyes looking down at a machine in front of him. The machine looked like a massive cannon of some sort, strong metal plating covering the inner mechanisms beneath. There was a small tube on top that seemed to lead into somewhere in the back of it. The distinct marking of it would likely catch Radegast's eye as he had seen this contraption before.

At the Pokemon Training Academy.

The Zoroark's eyes twitched to the right to examine Sonya and the crowd she brought with her. With his body turned like that, it could also noted that a similar collar was on the Zoroark's neck as well as a necklace of some kind...a necklace pulsing with dark energy.

"Did you get him?" the Zoroark asked in Common, eyes seeming to stare into the Meowstic.

"See for yourself!" Sonya stepped out of the way as did the cast of Pokemon following her. Now Radegast was in full view of the Zoroark.

"Ah, so you did choose to come!" the Zoroark grinned wickedly at Radegast as he addressed him directly, "How thoughtful of you. You're gonna be a big help in my little experiment. As will your lady friend here."