World War Arc Team Mission 4 - The Blackest City

[Not a Noise]

((Volunteers for first post))

As the feeling faded away, Rhyme took a breath, Aria and Zwei returning again near her. She knew her heart sank, seeing the destruction, but from what she was concerned many of the pokemon were safe and that was what had mattered. She gives Zwei a high-five, the Lillipup hybrid soon snuggling into the soft fluff of the Atlaria’s neckruff, said pokemon reverting back to its normal state.

Rhyme listened to the quiet in the air around the two of them as easily as she did the electric around her body, crackling off into silence. The Altaria advances, face in hers, eyes locked on hers, and Rhyme looks up to her Pokemon, affectionately running her hands atop its head and down its neck. “Thank you...you did wonderful.” She murmurs softly, cheek to cheek with it shortly after.

For her, for them, this was a victory. They’d stopped the tanks, but she felt that it wasn’t over yet. Zwei seemed to agree with her, tapping her shoulder. “So...what happens now?” He asks, fluffy face blinking slowly in her direction. Rhyme takes a breath, unsure of how to answer him, but it seems that someone else has that idea in mind.

“We continue fighting.” The unfamiliar voice causes both Hybrids to turn their heads towards the voice, seeing dark uniformed men and women step up around them. “They aren’t done yet, and neither are we. It’s here and now we have to stand. I mean, I enjoy a good run through every now and again but this...this is too far.” A Rocket told the two children, looking from them to their Pokemon and out at the damage. “Though, uh...looks like you guys did a good number on them though. Didn’t realize Hybrids could actually do that--”

“Of course they can; they’re Hybrids. Its what they do.” Magma grunt and Plasma grunt step out and join the small group, and Rhyme peers out into the distance, fingering the stone in her pocket.

You feel that too, don’t you. You know as well as I that the fight is far from over, little Squirrel.

She looked down towards her pocket, mentally agreeing with the Legendary. Zekrom had known many things, and to listen to him was a good wisdom she granted herself. The others seem so determined and confident...RC had too, going Mega and delivering just as good of a blast as Blizz had.

And she...and Zwei, too...they did their part. Zwei was trying to raise morale of the trainers around them, allowing them to pet his head and observe his features, answering what questions he could to distract from the unease that crawled up his spine.

And there it was, the hordes of Pidgey and Starly leaving, and all the group looks up and watches. “Zwei, help them! I need to get a better vantage.” Rhyme calls, pushing backwards and hefting herself up the side of one of the undamaged buildings using the fire escape, scampering on all fours to gain a better look.

“What do you see!?” He calls out to her when she gets into position, ears twitching and expression neutral, staring out across the trees.

“Zwei….take out your Pokemon. Get ready. They’re coming! Defend the city!” She answers back, eyes widening at the sight of the massive creature. One whose presence hits home for her in far too much of a coincidence.

Months earlier, doing an exploration for Snagem with Steele’s assistants Hansel and Gretel, Rhyme had uncovered something far greater than a Zapdos Heart. In fact, it was this discovery, affectionately named Zac by the team, who had found her communicator and saved her life from being reduced to an experiment. That was before Aile had turned on them and took Zac away, but she’d learned about what he actually was; a Core. A core….for the creature that loomed above the trees, heading their way.

….How did they bring Order to their side?

“...What?” She blinks, pulling out the stone, tracing its edges and the voice continues in their head.

What you see before you, little Squirrel, is Zygarde, known as the one of Order….and one that seems it can be ordered. I feel….that you have met this Pokemon before.

“Not him, Zekrom….we met one of the Cores, trying to locate a Zapdos heart. It was….that core, who’d saved me. We’d...tried to keep him safe…”

He was taken from you....and is now used against you.

Her hands tighten around the stone, a small pulse of energy from it collecting her attention back to him.

“I can’t let them get away with it. Zygarde should be able to decide its own order...not be forced to pick a side and fight against the other. It keeps balance like you do.”

Your ideal situation is to keep the balance of our world, isn’t it? How...noble of you.

She stands on her balcony view, watching the trainers advance from the opposite side, it felt like….

Sides. Heh. Made this seem more like a coin of sorts, didn’t it? She whistled, pulled Altaria from resting near Zwei and climbed on the fluffy back, contemplating her next move.

~.~
Zwei? Zwei was pumped. All of his Pokemon were out, the dog team staring down the enemy alongside his newest friends, the Trainers, and their pokemon. The other team stared them down for the briefest of moments before their Pokemon went charging, and Zwei howled, running along with his pack. The combat was loud, and noisy, and chaotic, moves flying left and right as Trainers banded up and supported their teams. Zwei ended up staring down the nose of a Flare trainer whose Arcanine growled menacingly at him and his team.

“Ruby! Baby doll Eyes!” He started, the Eevee hopping forwards and looking rather adorably at the opposing fire dog, who seemed to be adoring of the smaller Pokemon before he was swatted on the leg by the Trainer. “Come on, Mutt! Keep going!” The Arcanine breathed in, spitting out Flamethrower at the Snagem and his crew, who jumped nimbly out of the way just in time.

“Nice one, Ruby! Baton Pass! You know what to do, Weiss!!” The Eevee leaped up in a backflip, Glaceon swiftly coming up underneath, already chilling the air around her, utilizing the water that bounced off the Rocket’s Zubat to her right to freeze and send towards the Arcanine in a swift Ice Shard attack.

Grinning as the Arcanine took damage and staggered back with a growl, lower on health, he heard the Team Flare member yelling at the beast, and...part of him felt bad. He wanted to help...How could he?

“Zwei!! Catch!!” He looks up as a Great Ball is tossed his way from above, the Pachirisu Hybrid lending him one of her balls for the capture, knowing he needs this Pokemon for his team.

“Awesome! Thanks Rhyme!” He chirps, grinning ear to ear. “Alrighty, Missy! You’re mine!” He equips the ball to the SNAG device, spins around and lets it fly, bouncing on the Arcanines nose and sucking it inside to the shock of the Flare grunt.

Rock…
Rock….
Rock…

Ding.

The Flare grunt curses to heaven and high water as a Zorua appears, Salem pushing the ball towards her Trainer for him to pick up. “Maybe you should be nicer and then you can keep your Pokemon!” He yells, knocking out the grunt with a Headbutt and shouting to his friend above. “Rhyme! We got it down here! I’ll help these guys hold the lines. Do your thing!!


~.~

Rhyme laughed slightly when he spoke, Aria carrying her above the battle, the ever present form of Zygarde in the distance.

Little Squirrel, how badly do you want to save that Core? Zekrom asks her as her hands tighten in the fluff. “Badly, Zekrom. We have to save Zac. We have to stop Flare, stop them from abusing their powers.”

Like you saved me?

A pause. “Yes, Zekrom. Like I saved you from them in Nimbasa….kinda. You weren’t...out like he was…”

But you did save me. You haven’t tapped into my power, like many have. Why?

“Because if I’m going to ask for your power, I’ll do just that. Ask. It’d be rude of me to take without permission…” She answers simply, and the Ideal Pokemon chuckles.

A wise answer from such a young Hybrid...go, then.

She pauses, looking out towards the Zygarde. “What do you...mean, 'go'?”

A friend of yours is in trouble, one who saved your life. Repay the favor, save theirs. Get to Zygarde, as close as you can. Perhaps...then, you can ask for my help.

Rhyme takes a breath, nods, pats his stone. “Thank you, friend.”

The voice stays quiet.

How to get close enough, the swathes of color below her…

She swung herself down with Altaria, the cloud Pokemon hovering low enough for her to grab a ball. “Gaia! Carve a path through the Side!” She pulls her SNAG, opening the brief communication. “We got this, guys! Zwei’s helping hold the lines! I’m going to go rescue Zac!!”

When the enemy saw the color of the appearing pokemon, they saw who summoned it and chuckled, thinking it was small and cute…..until the light reformed to its true size. Truthful to say that the Grunts...probably did not expect a shiny Tyrannitar to appear on the side, to the right of the icy burn of the forest, roaring in anger, tail lighting up as she swung to the side and sent Pokemon and trainers staggering or falling backwards. Stunned by Screeches from the dinosaur Pokemon, Rhyme and Aria provided support for the Tyrannitar, Rhyme guiding her mount to shoot the fire of Dragon Breath closer and closer to the enemy, and soon they were pushing through as the group began to advance...right up until the end, where she encountered a duo pair of Grunts before she had space to reach Zygarde.

“Not passing!” They yelled at her, summoning an Ivysaur and Umbreon who proceeded to delay the Tyrannitar’s advance. While the Umbreons’ pursuits agitated the mighty dinosaur, the Ivysaurs grass-type attacks proved more effective, and as Rhyme landed with Aria she quickly recovered her fainted Pokemon with words of thanks, staring the Trainers down. “I’ll Pass! Get out of our way!” she spoke back, sparking with another ball on her belt in hand. “Come on, Mr. Mew!” the Pumpkaboo appeared with a pop from its ball, little cat face locked on the two.

“Aria! Sing on the Umbreon! Mr. Mew! Psychic!” The energy flew from both Pokemon and both landed, the Ivysaur staggering from being weakened by the Tyrannitar, the other...falling asleep.

Both of her Pokemon then focus, switching off on Pyschic and Peck attacks until the Ivysaur faints and is recalled. Throughout all of this...the Umbreon stays sleeping. Perfect.

Great ball then in hand, Rhyme quickly flings out the SNAG ball and pulls the Umbreon into it, the device rocking three times before dinging that it was caught.

The Trainers look frightened then, especially when they notice that a Sharpedo popped out from one of the balls and is staring at them with an evil sort of grin….and Rhyme is confused as to why they’re running before she turns, spooked by her own Pokemon!

“Noise!” She scolds, but brushes his face gently and carefully, recalling Pumpkaboo with notes of good job and so on. The Water type makes as if to Scald her, but it its the trainers behind her when she ducks, providing her cover.

The Zygarde is far larger than she expected, but takes a deep breath and lets her pokemon continue to cover her.

You got me here...what do I do? She frantically thinks to the stone, watching the Order Pokemon get closer….

….Talk to it. Call it by name. Get its attention.

She nods, takes a breath… “ZAC!!!”  

[Requiem of Whyspers]

Odd nearly collapsed from exhaustion after his attack came to an end, the sweet embrace of unconsciousness nearly dragging him into it’s endless black expanse. Before he could be taken completely, however, a soothing warmth took him over, restoring his energy and soothing his battered body. Ulla’s Fairy Channeling, he learned rather quickly, connecting the sensation in both his body and his heart to the feeling coming from the little girl in the sky. A weak smile crept across his face as he basked in the feeling, reflecting for a moment on the carnage he had just witnessed. The huge surge of power that had washed over the members of Team Snagem not too long ago was gone again now but what had it been? Was that Sub’s doing? And had it been his influence or Deoxys’ that had caused several members of the team to go completely overboard, himself included. There were far more fatalities on this battlefield than anyone would have ever intentionally caused under normal circumstances, after all. Maybe it was just the overwhelming nature of that power surge? He’d felt it, himself, that moment wherein he had felt as if he had tapped his own well of power to it’s fullest potential. That move he had used as well, had felt far more powerful than he had ever thought he could achieve.

While he was still recovering from the battle, however, he sensed it. A new surge of power. Only this time, it was on the enemy’s side of the battlefield. “He’s coming back.” He told himself, knowing fully well what that energy signature was. He didn’t even need to see it to know Lysandre was coming for them and he was bringing Zygarde with him.

“This needs to end. Now…” He said to himself as he finally found the strength to stand again. As he crossed the battlefield toward the oncoming enemy, he couldn’t ignore the lingering souls of some of the slain Flares and, with a few embers of Wicked Wick, he found the ones whose souls reflected their evil natures. Those souls he drew into his Odd Keystone alongside the previous ones. “I don’t like it but this war might make my training go faster than planned…” He told himself as he collected the seventh new soul in the area before forcing himself to stop. “I can’t leave them all here like this but I have to conserve my energy this time…” He reminded himself. As he drew closer to the newly advancing line, he found himself assailed by a Neo Plasma grunt.

“I haven’t seen one of your ilk around in quite a while.” Odd told the enemy as he pulled a Pokeball from his belt. Throwing it out without a word, the grunt revealed his Pokemon to be a Beeheeyem. Tossing a ball of his own into the space between them, Odd revealed his own Psychic-type, Glissando. The Drowzee stood there for a moment, looking drowsily at the Cerebral Pokemon. Odd had to admit he was just slightly surprised for a moment. He’d always thought Beeheeyem were larger but it appeared to be the same size as Glissando for the most part. “Nasty Plot.” Odd ordered after a moment.

”Hmhmhm…” Glissando laughed, his body shuddering as he anticipated something, his thoughts vocalizing and his wicked thoughts and twisted plans manifesting into the physical plane thanks to his mental powers.

“Beeheeyem, use Dark Pulse!” The Neo Plasma Grunt called out to his Pokemon.

“Glissando, dodge it!”

Glissando ducked around the incoming Dark Pulse and and, as he continued to quietly vocalize his demented thoughts, Beeheeyem received another order. “Hidden Power!” The orbs of darkness circling Beeheeyem seemed to radiate an aura of otherworldliness.

“Low Sweep!” Odd called out from behind his Drowzee. The Psychic-type looked at Odd for a moment before turning back to focus on Beeheeyem, as if calculating if Odd’s order would be a good one to follow. When Beeheeyem released the Ghost-type Hidden Power upon him, Glissando held his ground until the orbs bore down upon him and, at the last possible moment, he lashed out with one leg and slid across the ground beneath the attack, driving his foot upwards and into Beeheeyem’s knee before he flipped over and performed a surprisingly graceful somersault back to Odd’s side while the Channeler sidestepped the Cerebral Pokemon’s attack.

“Beeheeyem! Use Calm Mind.”
“Psycho Cut!” Odd called out over the Neo Plasma grunt. Glissando nodded and slashed through the air with his clawed hands, sending blades of psionic energy soaring toward Beeheeyem. The extraterrestial Pokemon didn’t seem too fazed, though, and simply remained standing motionless, calming it’s thoughts and meditating to raise its power.

“Beeheeyem, use Dark Pulse again!”

Unfortunately for Glissando, the attack was more than he could handle this time. Even with his special defense boosted by Nasty Plot, the Drowzee went down under the pressure of the Dark-type move. Recalling the Psychic-type back into his Pokeball, Odd grabbed an Ultra Ball from his waist and released Adagio once again. “Hex!”

Adagio nodded and as she glared at the Beeheeyem, the eye of truth appeared before her, staring into the Cerebral Pokemon’s mind and flooding it with the truths of itself and it’s trainer. Beeheeyem didn’t seem like it could handle the ghostly energies pouring into it and passed out.

“Bah! Elektross!” The Neo Plasma grunt exclaimed as he released his next Pokemon. “Ion Deluge!”
“Um… That’s a new move…” Odd said to himself, wondering what it would do. There was no point in trying to look it up at the moment, really. GRAY wasn’t likely to be helpful and he couldn’t read normal writing so there was no chance he could read it’s effect. When the Elektross’s body began to shine with a powerful electric field, though, he had an idea. “It affects another Pokemon’s typing, doesn’ t it?” He asked himself. “Adagio...uh… Inferno!” Adagio nodded and unleashed a massive ball of indigo flames toward the eel. Elektross panicked as the infernal orb inched it’s way closer to it and without being told to, released a powerful Zap Cannon into the heart of the blaze. The explosion triggered by the colliding attacks consumed both Pokemon but only Elektross was knocked backwards by it. The whole “levitating corporeal being” thing tended to get in the way when resisting concussive force, after all.

“Adagio, use Haze!” Odd called out, figuring that a little cover wouldn’t be a bad idea at the moment, given that their opponent both had a powerful attack at their disposal as well as a willingness to use it without orders. Adagio nodded to the order and exuded a thick cloud of black smoke from the flame inside her head, covering the area and masking her movements. From somewhere in the haze, a spray of corrosive poison shout out as the electric lamprey shot an Acid through it at it’s trainer’s order. “Adagio, track it down and use Inferno!” Odd called out, sending shadowy arms racing through the Haze in search of their victim. As soon as he was able to locate where it’s energy was coming from, he bound the beast in place with Ramses Curse about the same time Adagio tracked it down and unleashed another massive orb of indigo flames intent upon consuming the EleFish in it’s entirety.

“Troooooosssss!” The Electric-type cried out as the flames hit and Odd extracted his shadowy hands from it. It didn’t look to be done just yet, though. Bursting out of the flames consuming it with lightning coursing across it’s skin, the Elextross unleased a Discharge that consumed much of the surrounding area, surprising Odd that it had heard it’s trainer. He hadn’t over the roaring flames but then, he was also much farther away. “That wasn’t fair!” The Neo Plasma shouted from behind his scorched Pokemon as Odd defended himself from the Discharge with Guardian Halo, the lightning arcing toward him simply fading away when it hit the shield’s edge.

“You lot joined a war and expect fair fighting?! Aside from the rules of engagement, I don’t believe you’ll be finding that from us.” Odd countered despite Adagio’s smoldering form before him, sparking slightly from the residual electricity running through her form. “Adagio, it’s burnt. Use Hex and end it!” The Channeler called out to his partner. Adagio nodded and released a burst of Ghost energy that ripped the space between her and Elektross apart, unleashing the eye of truth upon her unfortunate victim. As Beeheeyem before it, the Electric-type couldn’t handle the bombardment of sinister truths upon its being and collapsed to the ground only to be recalled and replaced with a Darmanitan.

“Rollout!” The Neo Plasma called out the moment his newest Pokemon appeared. The Blazing Pokemon tucked itself into the fetal position and began to roll around with incredible speed and control over it’s direction. Sadly for Adagio, she failed to evade the attack fast enough despite Odd calling for her to use Minimize the moment the opponent’s order was given. She’d been paralyzed by that Discharge and he hadn’t noticed. Now she was unconscious.

“Damn…” Odd grunted as he recalled his partner and sent her replacement into the battle. “Treble, use Phantom Force!” He ordered the Blimp Pokemon as it appeared. The Drimblim nodded and vanished into the Otherworld for a moment. Darmanitan had been racing toward him when he disappeared but when the Fire-type’s target vanished, it spun itself out of it’s Rollout form and took a stance on all fours. Just as it stopped it’s spinning and landed, before it could really anchor itself in place or even balance itself properly, Treble roared back into existence and brought a small surge of energy directly from the Otherworld with him, slamming into Darmanitan from behind.

“Belly Drum, Darmanitan!” The desert ape nodded to it’s trainer and slapped it’s hands on it’s stomach a few times and puffed up it’s chest in a display of dominance and power, boosting it’s attack to it’s highest level. The slapping did hurt a bit, though, it realized after a moment.

“Minimize!” Odd called out, knowing he’d need to be very careful to evade the Fire-type’s attacks in the future.

“Taunt!” While Treble was attempting to reduce his overall size, Darmanitan opened it’s big mouth and started smack-talking the Ghost-type, pushing him into a rage and cutting off the attempt.

“Oh no…” Before he could even call out another attack, Odd watched in horror as Treble disappeared. “Oh no… No no no….” He muttered to himself, watching as Darmanitan took on a rather calm look for a moment, as if it were using heightened senses to detect the coming storm of spectral energy. The moment Treble reappeared and tried to attack with Phantom Force, Darmanitan received the call .

”Fire Punch!” The flaming fist from the desert ape collided with Treble and pushed back the Ghost energy of his attack, slammed through it and knocked Treble to the ground.

“I was afraid of that happening…” Odd told himself as he reached for Treble’s ball. Before he recalled the Drifblim, though, the Pokemon’s Aftermath kicked in and sent an explosive wave of energy flying toward Darmanitan. The storm of Ghost-type energy seemed to be enough to knock Darmanitan out. The Neo Plasma grunted as he recalled his fallen ape and made to turn on his heel.

“You won’t get away with this! Lysandre’s crusade can’t be stopped!” He shouted at Odd as he began to retreat.

“I’m sure it can’t.” Odd replied as he recalled Treble at last.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

As Kaya descended to the earth below, he found himself assaulted by an advancing Flare. “You lot don’t give up, do you?” He asked as he stepped off his winged steed’s back and pulled a Moon Ball from his belt to recall her when the Flare released something the hybrid had yet to encounter.

“Taaaaiiil!” The glorious white kitsune cried as it emerged from it’s ball. The temperature around them dropped the very instant the fox appeared and Kaya’s eyes nearly began to glitter at the sight of it. “It’s… beautiful…” He said to himself. “Too bad I didn’t bring Raye with me. I bet she’d have some fun with you.” He told the Ice Type across from him as he recalled Tomoe and released Pluto once again. “Mirror Shot.” The flash of light emitted by the Klefki’s carefully directed body was infused with Steel energy and seemed like it really hurt the Ninetails across from them. As the Flare grunt called a counterattack, Kaya ignored him and pulled out his SNAG to do some research.

The Alolan Ninetails crumpled under the Steel-type attack at first but within a moment or two, it was back on it’s feet and firing an Aurora Beam at the Klefki’s who’d offended it. “Astonish!” Kaya directed, watching as Pluto popped through space for a moment to place himself almost directly in Ninetails’ face with a surprising shout and a cartwheel that slapped his keys into the Pokemon’s muzzle. Ninetails barked in shock and stumbled backward a few steps, tripping over one of it’s own tails in the process. The rage building inside the Ice-type was quick to show itself after it’s blunder. Kaya sensed the energy rapidly building up inside the Alolan Pokemon before a Sheer Cold was blasted toward Pluto. The unfortunate Klefki took the brunt of the attack while he was celebrating his last successful move and fainted, trapped in a thick layer of ice.

“Darien!” Kaya called out as he recalled Pluto and sent his Dunsparce into battle once more. “Drill Run!” Racing toward the fox, Darien built up speed before rolling over and thrusting his drill-tipped tail toward it while it spun wildly. The resulting construct of Ground-type energy took the form of a massive drill bit just like his tail and threatened to carve right through the dual-type vulpine Fairy.

Ninetails smirked and shot at Ice Shard at Darien. The Dunsparce’s attack shattered the icy bomb and showered the Pokemon in the ice and snow left behind but didn’t do much damage. Not that Darien had done any, either, considering that the exploding Ice Shard caused him to completely miss his target.

Ninetails charged toward Darien as soon as it could see him again and began to pummel him with strikes from it’s paws, tails and teeth with Foul Play. The attack didn’t seem to have a lot of power behind it, though.

“Defense Curl!” Kaya called out, watching as Darien coiled himself up into a tight bundle and hardened his skin against incoming attacks.

Ninetails backed up a moment when it realized it wasn’t getting to Darien and shot a Powder Snow from it’s mouth, blowing the freezing wind and snow across the reptile’s body. Darien uncoiled as the cold air chilled it. “Air Slash!” Kaya ordered, aiming to knock the fox out at last. Darien’s attack seemed to do the trick at last, knocking Ninetails to the ground again when it failed to evade it.

“Bah! Why didn’t I have more Pokemon on me?!” The Flare grunt complained to himself. “OH! This is why!” Clapping his hands together, he pulled them apart with a bow of ice forming between them. Drawing back to string and letting it loose, the Ice Channeler unleashed a frozen arrow toward Kaya.

“Gah!” Kaya exclaimed as he drew Rise and flipped his helm’s visor down at the same instant. With a quick slash, he knocked the arrow aside and watched as it’s cold spread across the ground where it landed and caused it to frost over rather heavily. And quickly.

“Of course you’d be a Channeler.” The hybrid realized as he stepped back and recalled Darien to his Moon Ball.

“Yes. Of course I would.” The Flare retorted as he walked toward Kaya, actively freezing the ground as he walked closer.

“So where’s your partner Pokemon? Or your Artifact? Aren’t those kind of a necessity for Channeling?” Kaya asked, stepping backwards carefully.

“Oh? I keep my partner hidden from the team. They wouldn’t understand the subtle beauty of frozen steel.” The Flare replied.

“Frozen steel?” Kaya asked, grabbing his SNAG and looking for something that might fit that description in it’s Pokedex function. “Oh. I see why you wouldn’t want them seeing that.” He said as he found Alolan Sandslash’s page.

“Of course not. They’d try to make me get rid of it. But it’s just such a beautiful combination, wouldn’t you say?” The Flare asked as jagged shards of ice began to swirl around them. Not quite hail but certainly not a proper storm. It was definitely dangerous, though. Kaya was noticing something about this Channeler, though. Of the abilities they’d showed off so far, only one of them was offensive. They were a defensive fighter. He wanted his enemies to think he was dangerous but mostly just made himself look more dangerous than he actually was to scare his opponents away.

“How about… No.” Kaya replied, aiming Rise at the Flare and casting a pink beam of energy at him. As the locked turned over, the man’s control over the cold and ice faltered momentarily. “This ends now!” The hybrid yelled as he rushed toward the Flare Channeler and slammed his steel-covered head into the other guy’s. It wasn’t graceful and it was certainly not a proper knightly form but it worked. The Channeler was out cold after that headbutt.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Wren came to a rolling stop after all was said and done, his confidence in himself and his abilities waning as the flower on his artifact quickly wilted, the energy infusing it and himself completely drained after that display of courage and, admittedly, skill. He didn’t get much further than standing up and dusting himself off a bit before the enemy began to approach again. He felt his energy returning, strangely enough, as he turned to face them and realized only after the enemy released an entire team of Combee and a single Vespiquen that it was due to a certain little girl and her newfound abilities that he was recovering.

“You’re really not fighting fair, you know…” The Grass Channeler told his foe as he considered his options. “Fine… I guess that leaves me very little in the way of choice here…” He groaned as he pulled the six Nest Balls from his waist and tossed them all into the air.

“Thistle, Iron Tail! Hemlock and Aconite, stand ready with Spiky Shield!” He told the first three to appear, keeping his heavy hitters and strong defenders closest. “Hyacinth, Petal Blizzard! Nutmeg, Magical Leaf! Cassava, use Fairy Wind!” The six Pokemon went right to work with the cacti forming a living wall between Wren and the rest of his team and preparing to defend the rest of the ground from attack. Thistle lashed out at the Vespiquen with Iron Tail, figuring he was the most equipped to deal with her. The three little ones hung back and threw their ranged moves at the swarm of Combee.
“Defend Order!” The Galactic called out. While this move would normally prove to only make Vespiquen more defensive, with her swarm free to obey, the quintet of Combee rushed to her aide and formed a glowing wall between her and Thistle’s attack even as Vespiquen continued to glow behind them. “Now, Attack Order!” The Combee scattered at the new ordered as Vespiquen went on the offensive, sending in a swarm of much smaller insects not unlike an Infestastion but with far more biting and stinging! The Combee didn’t just hang around, though. One rushed Hemlock with Bug Bite, one use Bug Buzz to disrupt the focus of Wren’s more inexperienced trio in the rear and one used Tailwind to make the rest of the group move faster. While they were doing so, the remaining two used String Shot in concert in an effort to tangle up Thistle and stop the Dragon from attacking again.

Hemlock’s Spiky Shield jumped to life when the Combee attacked him and jabbed at the Bug, sending it hurrying away to safety for the moment. “Thistle use Aqua Tail! Wash these bugs away!” Wren called to his Dragalge. The Dragon-type nodded and lashed out with his tail coated in swirling water. The intent? To do exactly as Wren had ordered and wash away the Attack Order before it could hit him or anyone else. He failed at getting the entire swarm of the attack but what was left dealt far less damage. Not that it was going to do a lot to begin with. In the process of defending himself with the move, though, he also managed to slap Vespiquen across it’s giant bug face.

Hyacinth’s, Nutmeg’s and Cassava’s attacks were easily swatted away by the Combee swarm due mostly to either lack of genuine power or experience or because of the type matchups working in the Bugs’ favor. “Hemlock, Aconite, keep up the defense!” Wren told his cacti upon seeing the one Combee driven back. “Hyacinth use Dazzling Gleam! Nutmeg, try a Bounce! And Cassava… Use Cotton Spore!” Hyacinth nodded and her body gave off a wild flash as flowers, stars and other “happy” things exploded from the blinding light. Amid the flash, Cassava’s body shook wildly and he scattered a large quantity of fluffy white particles into the air and Nutmeg seemed to disappear entirely.

“You’ve lost one of your minions, Snagem Boy!” The Galactic grunt taunted before looking at his Vespiquen. “Use Air Slash and command the rest of the hive to use Air Cutter!” He ordered the Bug-type.

“Don’t call me ‘Boy’, punk! I’m twice your age!” Wren snapped back as he watched the enemy’s collective of Pokemon as carefully as he could. Most of them appeared to be doing a lot of nothing for the moment but maybe it was began the buildup of white powder around their wings was slowing them all down and making it harder for them all to maneuver through the air? Vespiquen responded to her trainer’s command while Wren watched and he saw he she spoke to her Combee slaves before attacking. He also noticed one other thing. “Thistle use Protect! Everyone else, huddle close! Hemlock, Aconite, be prepared to add to the defense!” As Vespiquen and three of the Combee attacked with differing types of blades of wind, two of them simply threw Gusts at him and his Pokemon. While his team weathered the slicing gales, he watched the two who didn’t seem to be obeying the queen. And then he saw it. One of them had a red spot on the forehead of it’s bottommost face. It was a female! The other one not participating in the hive cohesion must be following that one instead of the Vespiquen! Maybe he could use that to his advantage?

Just as the winds died down, Nutmeg came crashing down from above, veiled in Flying-type energy. She crashed right into one of the Combee and, since it wasn’t expecting it, it was knocked out instantly. The Galactic grunt made an irritated noise as he recalled the Pokemon. “Vespiquen, use Struggle Bug! Everyone else use Bug Bite!” The Galactic grunt exclaimed, losing his cool and beginning to lose his faith in the queen’s ability to control her hive. Vespiquen nodded and, thrashing around just a bit, sent tendrils of Bug energy arcing out toward the nearby Grass-types. The two Combee still loyal to her followed their trainer’s order to use Bug Bit and tried to hone in on the Dragalge once more. It looked like it was the hardest one to stop at the moment, after all. The remaining two, however, looked to be staying back a bit and using Swift aimed at Hemlock and Aconite.

“Thistle, use Draco Meteor!” Wren ordered as the swarm came for him. Bundling up the Dragon-type energy and preparing to let it fly, he hesitated for only the briefest of moments when Hemlock and Aconite both conjured a green shield in front of him to block out the Swifts. The reason? The two Combee using Bug Bite ran straight into the double-layered shield and found themselves skewered rather painfully in the process with both of them dropping to the ground completely unconscious immediately. So Thistle threw his explosive meteorite of Dragon energy directly at Vespiquen. “Hyacinth, use Wish! Nutmeg, Teeter Dance! Cassava use Stun Spore!” Hyacinth nodded and released a burst of energy into the sky above her to heal herself and her friends after this was over. Nutmeg presented herself to the enemy and wobbled around in a playful, if a bit confusing dance of sorts that seemed to somewhat resemble The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies. Cassava, however, had a direct target. Wren had pointed out the female Combee when he issued his order to use Stun Spore and the Hoppip intended to hit that target. While the Cottonweed Pokemon worked on building up the neurotoxic dust, Thistle’s meteor of draconian energy slammed into Vespiquen and threw it to the ground.

“End it!” Wren called as he pulled a Nest Ball from his pocket. “Hemlock, Dynamic Punch on Vespiquen! Aconite, use Solar Beam on that Combee!” Hemlock nodded and rushed toward Vespiquen with arms aglow with Fighting energy. Aconite, on the other hand, threw her arms up and aimed the barrel-like appendages at Combee as she soaked up sunlight. Throughout the battle, Wren’s artifact seemed to have been recharged thanks to the boon from Ulla’s ability and, in the instant that Aconite used Solar Beam, the flower wilted a second time in order to pass it’s stored energy on to the Maractus. The result was a near-instantaneous Solar Beam that ripped across the battlefield and slammed into the already weakened Combee. The bright light from the beam left Vespiquen shielding her eyes and unable to defend herself properly when Hemlock approached to drive his fist into her Neopteran face. With the two attacks knocking their targets out cold, Wren let the Nest Ball loaded with Snag Machine energy fly toward the one remaining, female, Combee. The Bug was drawn in quickly and, as the Galactic Grunt cussed and swore, Wren watched the man’s Pokemon become his own.

“I’ll consider her spoils of war but if you don’t leave the battlefield now, you won’t live long enough to regret that I took her from you.” Wren warned as he retrieved the Nest Ball.  

[Reno Vantas]

Turning towards the battlefield as he began to feel the rumbling of the massive Zygarde that had begun its advance towards Black City. Turning on his heel, Reno stared at his old friend for a moment before he simply began to stretch his arms and legs in preparation for what he was already planning on doing. If he aimed to make any sort of a dent on Lysandre or to breach through into Zac's mind, he needed Kaiden focusing purely on empowering him throughout this process. It did not help that Ezekiel was currently recuperating from his own devastation of the battlefield through the repeated abuse of Nasty Plot fueled Overheats alongside his Mega form and the rest of his Pokemon had been on the receiving end of their own share of damage. Especially Aleister, who wasn't exactly used to Reno's method of reckless attacking and energy burning. Poor Reuniclus had helped him regenerate any damage done but it had taken its toll.

But he did have a few new advantages that he had been previously lacking during his singular assault on the tanks. Glancing between Leslie, Beau, and Aria, Reno saw that many of their Pokemon had been taken out in their assault. Hell, Aria only had her Inkay due to the overexertion that the rest of her Pokemon had essentially committed to. But this was the best method he had for truly turning the tide of this battle and it wouldn't work without the aide of his friends. "Alright, guys. I know you probably want to just brawl it out with the grunts, but I need your help. We are going to do something insane." Reno told his friends, watching a collection of blank expressions greet him. ".....what?"

"All of your plans sound and are insane. So let's just skip the part where we fake being shocked and get straight to the part where you only explain our part in it." Aria shot back, a condescending eyebrow raise and smirk being the sign for Reno to actually contribute his part.

"Fine. I need you all to clear me a path forward. I am going to go talk directly to Zac." Reno told them, turning to look at the green monstrosity while the other three simply sighed in response.

Quickly getting on top of Phemes alongside Kaiden, Harleen, and Nalu, Reno took a moment to watch as Beau and Aria both boarded his Fletchinder and Leslie put her poor Fearow through the abuse of hauling her into the air. And soon they were off. trailing closely behind the similar mad rush towards Zygarde that a certain Electric hybrid had committed to. However it wouldn't take nearly as long before they began to encounter their own adversity.

As they began to attempt a low pass near a batch of Flare grunts in an effort to avoid a blast of Hyper Beam, Aria and Beau noticed that their particular mount was beginning to slowly drift off beneath them as a similar sound was slowly drawing them towards a lethargic state. Heck, why did they need to keep rushing forward anyways when this was the perfect time for a nap?

Just gonna

go

to

sleep.

Oh wait, right currently flying and might crash. Snapping out of their states, it would only take a moment for Aria to trace the noise back towards a Flare grunt with a Brionne out, aiming to knock any efforts made by the Snagems or other groups to bypass the front lines for an easy shot at Lysandre. Looking over at Beau, Aria gave a smile before simply diving off the Flying type with a loud whistle emitting from her lips. "Wait, Aria! Damnit, I was supposed to do the brave dive to sacrifice for the mission." Beau griped, watching as his friend continued her plummet towards the ground. While she quickly arrived at ground level and absorbed some of her impact by using her own boot to the back of the Brionne's head, she had needed an extra bit of force to keep from breaking her leg. That particular force had been absorbed by the Inkay currently strapped to her back and whose sudden lack of force to pull against sent it shooting into the ground near them.

While he wasn't a future seer, being a mind reader made it real easy to predict that Aria was going to be the one to do their little sabotage mission. So Reno had already sent down the aid she would need with his Alolan Raichu, who was now quickly sliding into the scene with his distinctive floaty style of movement. "So...guess its you and me, Nalu. Well, at least someone cared enough to help me out." Aria said, watching as the small squad continued their headlong flight towards the Zygarde. "Now then. Only one person gets to do singing on the battlefield and thats me." She added, turning to face the Flare grunt and his Brionne. (To be continued in another post)

Back with the assault squad, they had began to draw closer to the site where they could see Rhyme was beginning to contend with a few of the grunts in the area. Looking between Beau and Leslie, Reno gave a smile as he watched the two break off and land behind where Rhyme was currently preparing herself for whatever she had planned. They would quickly land and set to work on assaulting the few trainers who figured out that the fight had spontaneously appeared behind them, namely by preventing them from drawing Pokemon in their own unique ways. Namely, Beau continued his method of applying light cuts to the arms of those reaching for Pokeballs and added blasts of Powder to the face for those who kept up their efforts. Leslie's method was a much simpler, more direct application of force via using her secondary mouth to swing around the homemade bludgeon that her Bronzong had become after its capture. While it was certainly not what one expected when they were told a small girl was going to ring their bell, the Heavy Slams they brought on impact certainly did much of the work for changing that particular attitude.

Quietly landing himself alongside where Rhyme was staring at the black ball in her hands, Reno slowly settled himself into a crosslegged sitting position alongside his Alakazam as he waited to see if he simply needed to push forward or if Rhyme would give him something that he could use and enhance in their likely similar purposes.

Well, it didn't exactly take Reno long to get the signal of what to do. It was hard to miss given that it was a short squirrel girl screaming at the top of her lungs.

And with that, Reno let himself slip into the mechanical trance of power and machine learning that existed between Kaiden and Phemes, respectively. Putting all of the power that Kaiden was pushing into two purposes, Reno set to work on amplifying Rhyme's desperate plea to the giant creature so that it would ring loud and clear throughout the mind of whatever cell or core of Zygarde he came into contact with. While this sounded like a limited and slow process, it was enhanced incredibly through the use of Phemes' processing power to, essentially, replicate Reno's simple effort via a multitude of proxy minds to simultaneously send the message to every cell and core that he could possibly contact. And once he felt one of the minds within this multitude of a hive mind give a more energetic response to the voice of its original keeper, Reno would implement the next part of his plan. Shutting down his myriad of simple facsimiles of himself that Phemes would have created, his focus would shift to amplifying that core's mental powers throughout the Zygarde as a whole. Hopefully, this would have the intended effect of giving Zac a controlling interest in the actions of Zygarde. If not, he could at least put in a good effort at that point for convincing the legendary that this course of action was against its purposes once he recollected his own thoughts from the massive mental effort he was about to put forth.  

[Cecile Silverstone]

||Leon Hanabi||

Leon felt the rush of his channeling abilities leave him as he and Roselia felt exhausted for a moment. But then, they were met with a wave of warmth thanks to Ulla. He looked over at Lucario as he was back at his original form instead of his Mega form. ”Ulla? Are you okay?” He waited for a response back. No answer, he looked at his war path. ”I’m glad Ulla wasn’t near….Ulla. Do you copy?” Leon would keep trying as he was getting worried. He looked at his wounds as they were still being healed. He bit his lower lip. ”Ulla. Stop your ability now. That is an order.” He said over his SNAG. He started walking around to see if he could find his little sister anywhere as Lucario was looking around while trying to sense her aura.

Twenty minutes passed as neither of them were able to find Ulla. ”Ulla I swear to Arceus...you better have not fallen asleep on the dang battlefield.” He said as he started scratching his head a bit stressed. Lucario ears then perked up as he looked up to the sky. ”What is it Lu-” Leon then looked up himself to see swarms of Pidgey, Starly, and many other Pokemon flee the forest. He watched as the Pokemon passed right by him going for cover. ”...Of course this isn’t over.” Leon was in the clear to see Zygarde, the Order Pokemon. Aggravated, Leon let out a loud groan. ”Just this mission is putting my motto at risk.” He then looked at Lucario. ”I know I’m not Ulla. But will you join me this one time? My fight style is different from hers if you haven’t noticed.” Lucario hesitated for a second. He really wanted to keep looking for Ulla, he was really worried where she was. But, he had to trust that the other Pokemon would keep her safe. The fighting Pokemon nodded. Leon did as well as he pulled out the rest of his Pokemon. ”Everybody I’m gonna need your help!” Pyroar, Litten, and Zubat popped out. ”Temporarily. We are going to work our butts off. So, let’s go.” Leon took out his hoverboard as Litten climbed on his shoulder while Roselia sat in the front. ”Into Black City!”

Leon was racing into the city as all of his Pokemon were either Poisoning or burning his enemies he was passing by. Lucario would lead the way as their main focus was to head to the shelters they sent the civilians they helped. Hoping, praying almost, they would find Ulla somewhere in the city. They were then stopped in their tracks as there was a crowd of a mixture of Aqua,Flare, and Galatic in their way. One of them told their Pokemon; a Taurus to get Leon off his board. The Taurus then charged at Leon as the Bull Pokemon flipped the man off his hoverboard. He quickly grabbed onto Roselia before she was flung somewhere else. He landed on the ground as he held Roselia and Litten in a protective manner. He then got up quickly as he looked at them both. ”You two alright?” Both of the small Pokemon nodded as the bigger Pokemon; Lucario and Pyroar were both growling at the group. There was a total of five enemies. Two Flare, two Galatic, and one Aqua. They each had a Pokemon as they surrounded Leon and his Pokemon. Leon was behind Pyroar and Lucario glaring at all of the grunts. ”...Get ready everyone….ATTACK!”

Leon, his Pokemon, and Lucario were fighting for their lives. They were facing against a Taurus, Weavile, Glameow, Dustox, and a Ivysaur. ”Roselia Poison Jab Taurus! Pyroar Flame Charge Dustox! Zubat Wing Attack Glameow! Litten Double Kick Ivysaur! Lucario, after that Weavile with Metal Claw!” All of the Pokemon did as the man commanded as he was mainly focusing on his battle with Litten against the Ivysaur. When Litten launched his double kick, the Bulbasaur quickly used Vine Whip and started slamming Litten to the ground. Litten bit the Ivysaur’s vine as it was being slammed as the Ivysaur released his hold on the cat. ”Nice job. Fire Fang.” Litten quickly took this time while Ivysaur was paying more attention to his hurt vine to charge up to the Seed Pokemon to bite it’s flower on top of its body. Ivysaur started shaking its body as Poison Powder was falling off. Litten then let go as he started scratching his face to get the Poison Powder off of it’s face. Ivysaur took this moment of advantage to use Bullet Seed. Litten was getting pulverized by the seeds. ”Litten you can do it! Let’s finish this with Ember!” Litten then started to run around in a circle and started shooting balls of fire at the Ivysaur as it was clashing with it’s Bullet Seed. While Litten was spinning around, Ivysaur started to get dizzy spinning as well. Leon then took out a Pokeball and loaded it into his Snag. ”Go Pokeball.” Leon tossed the Pokeball at Ivysaur as it was sucked up in the Pokeball. It landed on the floor as Leon quickly picked it up and also Litten as it clicked shut. The Ivysaur’s original trainer was aggravated as he charged at Leon, intending to tackle him down to give back his Pokemon. Leon quickly noticed this as he stepped to the side and chopped his shoulder very hard and tripped him to make him fall to the ground.

Leon then looked over to Zubat as it was still facing the Glameow. The Glameow seemed to be pretty beaten up, but so did Zubat. ”I believe in you Zubat. Get em with Poison Fang.” Leon said in a relaxed voice as Zubat seemed more calm when he heard his trainer’s voice. He then did as he said as his fangs started glowing purple as he went in for a bite. Glameow started purring loudly as its paws started being covered in a dark shadow as it used Shadow Claw on Zubat. Zubat was flung back as he turned his body in order to instead being flung back even more, it would be towards the Glameow. He then bit down on the Glameow’s tail as it started trying to fling the bat off. ”Venoshock.” Zubat then amplified the Poison from his Poison fang with Venoshock. As the poison started settling in the Glameow’s system. It then started to slow down it’s running as it laid down as it started to close its eyes. Zubat finally let go and went over to Leon and perched on his shoulder. The grunt recalled his Glameow as he ran off.

The man then started to look around for his other Pokemon as he was able to spot Pyroar intimidating the Dustox. It released a mighty Roar as the Dustox was so frightened, that it recalled back in it’s Pokeball and came out a Girafarig. It’s trainer then told it to use Psybeam on Pyroar as it shot a pink beam at Pyroar as it knocked him back but felt someone stop him. The lion looked back at to see Leon, Pyroar had a smug look on his face. So did Leon. ”C’mon Pyroar, you’re gonna let this little thing beat you up like this?” Pyroar took a better stance thanks to Leon as he was snarling at the Girafarig. ”Crunch go.” Pyroar started jumping in a zig-zag pattern towards the Girafarig. Girafarig used Psybeam again to stop Pyroar but the lion stopped and made it his prancing but then started again as he pounced and used Crunch. It was super effective. Seeing how Pyroar was so close, the giraffe used Zen Headbutt as Pyroar crunched down. Pyroar released his opponent as he flinched. Girafarig then used Double Kick but as Pyroar skid backwards. ”Flamethrower.’ Pyroar took in a deep breath as he let out a giant Flamethrower. He aimed it to be surround the Girafarig so it couldn’t see. The trainer tried to call out to them, but the roaring sounds of the flames were cancelling out the noise. ”End it with Flame Charge.” The grunt would hear a loud smack from the flames. The Girafarig would be knocked out of the flames unconscious. The trainer recalled it’s Pokemon as all of them went looking for the others.

Roselia was weakened by the Tauros and Leon was feeling it slightly. Being bonded by their channeling, he was able to feel it slightly even though they haven’t finished their training. Tauros was getting ready to ram right through Roselia. The flower was panting as Leon slid right beside her just in time. ”Petal Dance on the ground! Then use Mega Drain!” Roselia quickly shot her petals towards the ground as she was launched into the air. Leon quickly moved out of the way of the Tauros as Roselia ws now above Tauros. She then used Mega Drain against the bull. With sucking a bit of life of the bull, she regained some health that made her feel a lot better. Tauros then started charging once again, Roselia braced for impact as she was waiting for the last second and so was Leon. As the bull was charging, the Poison channeler could see that it’s tail was glowing. ”Roseila stop it with Petal Dance!” Roselia then pointed her arms towards the bull as she shot petals at it. But it was too close to slow it down as the bull swung it’s body, whipping Roselia with an Iron Tail sending her flying. Pyroar quickly jumped up and was able to catch Roselia in his mouth. When he landed, he gently let Roselia down. The flower thanked the gentle lion as Leon petted Pyroar. ”We are gonna have to play it smarter, distract it with Petal Dance once more.” Roselia then started performing a dance as the petals started to surround her to the point where she couldn’t be seen. Tauros was circling the flower as it’s trainer told it to use Shock Wave. As the wave of electricity hit the petals, they started to fall revealing Roselia pointing her bouquets right in front of the Pokemon. ”Poison Sting! Then combo it with Poison Jab!” Roselia nodded as she rapidly started using Poison Sting at its face. When the bull was far back enough, she stopped as she launched a fury of jabs at the bull. It then finally fell on it’s side unconscious. The grunt quickly recalled his Pokemon and was about to run at Leon to attack him. But then he saw Leon’s Pokemon all glare at him as Leon picked up the injured flower. ”I’m sorry I took so long.” Leon then looked at the grunt and started to approach him with a menacing look. ”If you don’t want me to rip out your vocal cords….I suggest you run.” He said in a very low voice. With his tail between his legs, the grunt ran off in fear. Leon sighed as he looked around. ”Roselia. Is Lucario nearby?” The flower shook her head. ”I told him to chase after that Weavile….Could they…” He shook his head as he just pulled out his hoverboard. ”They are probably close to the shelter if anything.”

The Poison Channeler was zooming pass several different battles against the Alliance and some other bad grunts. He didn’t really care, his main concern. Was Ulla, and the civilians that were in the shelter. As he was getting closer to the evacuation center, he noticed Lucario blocking the way from Weavile and it’s trainer. He seem pretty beat up as he’s been fighting by himself for the longest. Lucario then jumped over the grunt and the Weavile to land next to Leon. ”Sorry I took so long. Don’t tell Ulla please, I’m sure she would be furious.” With that, Lucario could only chuckle. ”Oh? So Lucario isn’t your Pokemon then? This will be interesting.” The flare grunt said as the Weavile sharpened her claws. ”Weavile Metal Claw!” ”You too Lucario! Metal Claw.” Both of the Pokemon’s claws started glowing as they charged at each other. Both of them clashed again and again, both of them landing with the same amount of power. Weavile then noticed an opening as she swept Lucario off his feet. Lucario looked back at Leon waiting for a command or a counter. But Leon wasn’t as fast to react like how Ulla was. ”Night Slash!” Weavile’s claws then turned black as she slashed Lucario. Lucario was able to evade it slightly but still took some damage, he was once again standing next to Leon. ”Sorry, I didn't react fast enough.” Both of them looked at the Flare grunt with their Weavile as it used Screech. Leon’s Pokemon covered their ears and so did they. Lucario watched Weavile get closer while still screeching, he was getting a bit aggravated that Leon couldn’t work well with him. He then made an Aura Sphere as he launched it at Weavile, it landed as it stopped her head in her tracks. ”Ice Beam!” Weavile while on the ground shot an Ice Beam at Lucario. Lucario wasn’t paying attention at the time as he thought he won, but Leon was able to notice it. ”Lucario move to the right!” Leon shouted as Lucario moved slightly to the right as he barely missed the Ice Beam. A bit shocked he looked at Leon. ”I’m sorry. I know we aren’t in sync, but we are gonna have to be.” Lucario nodded as Weavile ran closer to Lucario as he backed up a bit. ”High Kick!” Lucario was a bit confused out of all things to do, a high kick? ”Lucario trust me!” Leon begged as Lucario rolled his eyes, he waited for the right moment as the Weavile was trying to punch Lucario in the face. He was dodging each and every blow as he bent down as he high kicked the Weavile in the chest launching her. ”Keep her in the air!” Lucario was even more confused as he didn’t say any moves. Just. Keep her in the air? He jumped in the air as he was now facing Weavile. ”Focus Punch!” From this height, there was no dodging it. ”Here we go! Bone Rush!” Lucario summoned a bone staff as he smacked the Weavile several times away so he wouldn’t be hit with the Focus Punch. Due to gravity, both Pokemon started falling. ”Swing her under you!” Lucario understood what Leon was finally doing as he did what he was told. Unfortunately, one of Weavile’s Focus Punch landed. Lucario was stunned as he was holding his gut where he was punched. ”Close Combat!” ”Ice Beam!” Both of them launched their moves as a puff of smoke covered the air from landing on the ground. When the smoke finally cleared, Both of them were on the ground laying there. Lucario painfully sat up but Weavile was knocked out. The Flare grunt bit his lower lip as he recalled his Pokemon. Leon walked over to Lucario and offered to help him up. Lucario looked at him and merely chuckled under his breath as he took Leon’s hand and got up. ”Not bad for our first battle together huh?”

Leon recalled all of his Pokemon except for Roselia and Lucario. He then gave a regular potion to Lucairo. ”Here. This will help with your wounds.” Ulla’s Pokemon started spraying himself with the it. They made it to the shelter where they had all the civilians stay while the war kept going. Most of them evacuated while others decided to stay. Leon looked around, hoping Ulla would be here to take care of some of the people. He noticed the some of the Alliance in here wounded while others were making sure civilians were okay and to remain calm. He sighed ”I’m glad everyone is okay but…” He looked outside again seeing the Zygarde. ”....I hope Ulla and everyone else is too..”  

[Cecile Silverstone]

||Ulla Hanabi||

Ulla dropped her Channeling abilities about five minutes after Sub’s effects wore off. Just to make sure, that everyone was able to heal fully. When she dropped her ability, she was completely exhausted. She wasn’t able to heal herself, so she looked like a ghost. She rested her head on Togekiss as he was feeling a bit drained, but not as much as his trainer. Her other Pokemon that were with her started nuzzling against her to try and keep her conscious. ”I-I might have pushed it a little too long….s-sorry...but...let me rest my eyes….f-for a second.” The little girl said as her eyes were really heavy, even she was trying to fight it slightly. All of her Pokemon looked at one another not sure what to do as Dragonair let out a small breath onto Ulla’s skin. It was supposed to be an Ice Beam but Dragonair controlled it enough where it would be enough as just a cold breeze. Ulla shivered as she sat up shaking her head. ”I-I’m awake….kinda.” She said as she started to slap herself on the face. She looked around to see how much destruction they all caused. That was enough to wake her up, but she couldn’t shake off being mentally exhausted. ”....Look how much we’ve done to this once peaceful forest…” Togekiss then landed on the ground for Ulla to walk. Once landed, Ulla would try talk walk. But she stumbled as she was to weak to even do so. Dartrix quickly landed next to her and helped her up. ”T-Thank you so much...I’m gonna have to rely on you guys a little more right now.” Dartrix nodded as he helped his trainer backup on Togekiss’s back. Comfey rested on Ulla’s head as she started to heal her trainer with Floral Healing. Even though it was meant for Pokemon it was healing her slightly.

Their first objective was to find someone from Snagem or someone that could help their trainer. ”Ulla? Are you okay?” All of her Pokemon turned to Ulla’s Snag as they were able to hear Leon’s voice. ”Big brother…?” Ulla opens her eyes slightly to her Snag. ”Ulla do you copy?” ”Y-Yes….” The little girl said very weakly, probably wasn’t able to be heard. ”Ulla I swear to Arceus...you better have not fallen asleep on the dang battlefield.” Her Pokemon then looked at one another as they knew what to do. Find her brother. They were about to fly off to find where anyone could be. But then, they were faced by a rush of bird Pokemon flying away from the forest. They were wondering why as they turned to see Zygarde. All were surprised as Ulla peaked a bit to see what was going on. ”O-Oh my god….” She then tapped on Togekiss to start flying towards Black City. ”E-Everyone is in trouble...we need to help them.” The little girl said as she watched the wild Pokemon flee from the city and the forest. They needed to get this done quickly, before...the death toll increases.

All of them were going around Black City, only to here battling amongst everyone. All of them were looking around to see anyone familiar to help them. But, it looks like everyone was needing assistance. Ulla’s Pokemon noticed several of the Alliance fighting, but losing. They would then intervene as they would turn the tables on a few battles. Ulla would sit up as she turned to see the City in uttar war. ”Togekiss. Dazzling Gleam.” Togekiss started glowing as pieces of light started falling off of its body. It changed the battle for the Alliance as they now had the advantage. Once again, they started flying inside the city again, hoping to see a familiar. Ulla noticed a some Flare Grunts focusing on burning down buildings. ”Dragonair Ice Beam! Take out those fires!’ Dragonair started to use Ice Beam to put out the fire. The Flare grunts then turned their attention to Ulla and her Pokemon as their Combusken and Houndoom started to growl. Combusken then started to come up to Ulla using Peck while Houndoom went in for a Crunch. ”T-Togekiss Protect! Dartrix Brave Bird! Dragonair Thunder Wave!” Togekiss made a bubble to protect him and Ulla from Combusken and Houndoom’s attack. Dragonair then released a wave of thunder which made the Combusken and Houndoom paralyzed. Dartrix then sent two Energy Balls straight at the Pokemon. When they connected, the two Pokemon didn’t take that much damage. Togekiss let the Protect down as they all flew higher in the sky. ”Togekiss use Aura Sphere!” Togekiss charged up a large Aura Sphere as they launched it at the grunt’s Pokemon. Once it collided, a large puff of smoke as the Pokemon laid unconscious.

Ulla and her Pokemon then started flying back up to see if they could find anyone, that’s when they realized an ancient ship docked in Undella Bay. They needed to land, anywhere. Anywhere at all so Ulla could rest. Her Pokemon then landed a out of the city. ”No. You guys. We find Lucario, we also find Leon and the others. We are gonna have to go back to the city. Once we get back with them, we will know what to do with that Zyga-” Before she could say anymore, she noticed a group of brothers dressed up in a bit of a superhero costume. She then instructed her Pokemon to hide, as she wasn’t sure who exactly was on her side. And who she had to battle against. They all started to hide behind a building, wondering where the brothers were going. ”Mind telling me why you are peeping on us?” Ulla was startled as one of them in a red suit was behind them. Togekiss and and others quickly stood in front of the weak Ulla. ”Seriously?! I can’t ask a simple question?! Fine!” Resix pulled out a Pokeball and threw it in the air. ”Magcargo Body Slam!”

Dartrix quickly stood in front of Ulla using Protect as Magcargo bounced off. ”Why you-” Ulla pulled out oher last Pokeball as all of her Pokemon were a bit shocked that she even thought about doing so. ”Wai-” ”Resix. What are you doing?” Another one of the brothers came by, but this one. Was wearing green. ”Greesix! This brat was-” ”You were harassing this poor kid? Seriously?” Both of them were arguing. But it was more Resix was yelling, and Greesix was merely speaking in a monotone voice. Ulla leaned on Togekiss even more exhausted, ”You guys...we need to find big brother…” Dartrix helped Ulla back up on Togekiss as she sighed of relief being able to close her eyes. Even with the loud yelling. Resix and his Pokemon finally left Ulla alone as he walked off a bit angered. ”You are too young to be out here. What are you-” Greesix took a closer look at Ulla. The little girl weakly opened her eyes as she noticed he was staring a little bit uncomfortable at her. ”You look...familiar to a women. That I used to know. Her name was Nagi”  

[-l- JoltiBun -l-]

Geoff Returned Mawile to its pokeball and ran as fast as his legs would take him He ended up beside Ulla The young girl. "Go look for your brother I'll handle this goon." he said to the young girl beside him with pokeball ready in hand.

Soon after a flare grunt showed up So this is where you ended up huh geoff? Then fight me You runt.The flare grunt tossed a pokeball containing a ferroseed" Alright Mawile lets go! Use flamethrower!" Geoff Started to get into his tactics mode this flare grunt was in for a suprise. Jump and spin around to dodge it! then use seed bomb.

the flamethrower just barely hit ferroseed as the seed bomb hit full force on mawile this wasent doing much damage however mawile winced and Geoff ordered another flamethrower But this time it was a guarnteed hit , The ferroseed wasent getting out of this fire . geoff put the pokeball in his snag machine changing it to a snag ball and threw it at the weakened ferroseed catching it as it wiggled the grunts pokeball broke comfirming the capture

dammit geoff! that was my only pokemon givin to me by lysandre! " sucks to be you,you failed in stopping me , its just a price to pay when you are weak,." geoff said as he picked up the pokeball stashing it on his belt now talking to Ulla " mind if i join in your battle instead i'm sure this goon has more then one pokemon and mawiles pretty tough .  

[Reno Vantas]

"Oh really? The little has-been musician has the right to be the only musical source on a battlefield? Give me a break." The grunt said, rolling her eyes as she spun on her heel to face towards where Aria had landed herself. Noticing the mild surprise on Aria's face, the grunt added, "Oh what, are you supposed to be some obscure musician? We're from the same country and you keep touting yourself as Snagem's spokesperson. I just unfortunately detest you for all of that."

Looking mildly offended at the statement by the female Flare grunt, Aria would slyly look around the battlefield to see that her Inkay was still currently planted up to its eyeballs in the earth and struggling to get out. Alright, so nothing would coming from Hastur for a bit. At least she could see Nalu was floating into position next to her. “Well, it’s not my fault you lack good taste. So shall we see who here has the right to be singing on the battlefield then?” Aria said, doing her best to hide the shake in her one hand. She was going into battle with a Pokemon she had no idea how to effectively use. All she could do was hope that what she said made sense.

The grunt gave a smirk as a watery sheen finished encasing her Brionne, stretching her arms and shoulders as she said, “Nah. I think this is more about showing you what a real musician can do. And as much I hate having to fight, I think I can make the exception here. Brionne, Hyper Voice.”

The blue seal would barely hesitate before unleashing a devastating blast of music, bowling over Aria and sending Nalu sliding backwards from the force of the move alone. While she had certainly been prepared for the sound blast, Aria had not been prepared for how powerful it was. Exactly how healthy was that Brionne right now? Doing her best to focus on the thing, she could see a strange bell hanging off of the thing. What would that thing do?

Well, either way, she needed to respond. And thankfully, the quick part she’d want for it was well covered by Nalu. “Thundershock.” Aria said, doing her best to be heard over the intense noise blast of the Hyper Voice. While Nalu was used to listening for orders over some deafening fights, he also was used to having a double confirmation from a telepathic repeat of the message. So rather than the exceptionally more accurate attack, Nalu instead went ahead with a deafening blast of Thunder that zipped just past the Brionne into the melee behind them.

The grunt gave a smile at this miss. “Aww. Not used to the big bad Alolan Raichu? Don’t worry. Me and Brionne will show you what Alola has to offer. Disarming Voice!” The grunt said, smile crossing her face as she watched an ethereal voice drift out of her Brionne. When Nalu heard the song and began to understand the words, he could be seen as visibly shaken from what he was hearing. While it wasn’t exactly doing physical damage, emotional damage was exceptionally harder to avoid.

Flipping her eyes back over to where Hastur was still struggling in the ground, Aria gave a skittish look before shouting in response, “I’ll show you exactly how much I know about Nalu! Focus Blast!” The small Raichu was quick to response, a ball of brownish energy building in front of it before being fire straight towards where the Brionne was currently sitting. While the Water type attempted a dodge, the blast detonated when it grazed the thing and sent it flying across the small area they were currently dueling around. While it certainly took the blow, Aria could see the injury sustained was already being covered in some water coating while the strange bell began to ring out audibly.

That’s when the concept clicked for Aria. While she had no idea what either thing was, she could tell that they were in use to heal the Pokemon from any of the injuries it sustained. Watching the shift in Aria’s posture with this revelation, the grunt gave another smile. “Aww...Looks like you figured out what I did while we were posturing. What’s a good performance without a capable back-up to maintain the performance? Brionne, Water Pulse.” She said, her Brionne gathering a large amount of water before firing it off in a brightly glowing ball that exploded near the retreating Nalu and Aria.

While Aria would manage to keep her eyes averted from the exploding ball, she could already tell from Nalu’s suddenly tipsy floating that the Water Pulse had knocked his equilibrium completely off kilter. Alright, this was gonna end up being even more difficult. Maybe there was something Nalu could do otherwise? “Nalu, try and get Hastur free!” Aria yelled, looking at the confused Raichu hopefully.

Turning towards where the Inkay was still struggling in the ground, the raichu would glow for a moment before...it disappeared and was replaced by Hastur. The poor Inkay was confused but seemed relatively happy that it had pulled free from its entrapment. While Nalu was not currently planted in the ground, the drunken looking hover that he was currently performing made Aria’s confidence in the Pokemon drop. “Uh….Nalu, help Hastur with his attack. Hastur, use Thunderbolt.”

Across the battlefield, the Flare grunt was too busy trying to determine where Nalu had gone and what had popped up in front of Aria to take advantage of the opening that was offered. It did however give Brionne more time to heal up from its wounds. Unfortunately for Hastur, the Brionne was still quicker on the draw. A Round would erupt from the Fairy type, bludgeoning the squid with pure sound. “C’mon. Can’t prove me wrong with any real music? Guess you are just a bunch of hot air if you can’t even back up your simple little taunts to me with some actual sound.” The grunt sneered, her glee with the ease she was dispatching a Snagem she had a vendetta against driving her forward.

Unfortunately, as Hastur gathered up the charge for his Thunderbolt, the battlefield would shift around them with a yellow glow and jumps of electricity rocketing across it. With a sudden invigorating dose of energy, Hastur unleashed a blinding blast of electricity that only seemed to build as the electricity currently running along the ground leapt up to the blast to empower it. Snapping out of her bout of sadism as she watched her Brionne get lit up like a Christmas tree, the grunt began to re-evaluate her options in the battle at this exact moment.

“Electric Terrain. Damn that little thunder rat. Guess I have to cut the lesson short and just obliterate you. Brionne, Moonblast.” The grunt ordered, her Brionne barking in response before a bright pink glow began to illuminate its paws.

Eyes darting around the battlefield, Aria settled back on Nalu in his somewhat confused looking state. If she could get the little guy to work for her for a bit, she had this battle cinched. But as long as he was acting like this, she was screwed. Only one thing to do. Sticking her fingers to her mouth as she heard the call from the grunt for a Moonblast, she let out a shrill whistle. “Nalu! Speed your way over here and help out! Hastur, Thunderbolt again!” Aria ordered, turning to see the Moonblast about to launch and Hastur’s Thunderbolt only being halfway along.

Aria was accurate in her assessment of the battlefield. Hastur needed someone more speedy to do what was needed for this to succeed.

Thankfully, he was about to get that.

Snapping to focus at the sudden piercing whistle, Nalu was still slightly groggy from the confusing Water Pulse. So he didn’t exactly get the precise intention of Aria’s order. However, he did manage to hear “need’, ‘speed’, and ‘help’. From that, he decided his only course of action was to do something Reno had never requested he try. Channeling his Psychic energy, Nalu felt his own speed draining. And over with Hastur….

A sudden pink glow overtook the small squid, speeding up his movements to a ridiculous degree. So much so, that he suddenly found that his Thunderbolt was fully charged and he had opportunity to be first to the trigger. So he blasted the Brionne in front of him with another massively empowered Thunderbolt that sent the Water type flying into the air from the sheer force of the blast. A position where he quickly met a Great Ball thrown by Aria to Snag the poor Pokemon to her side.

“What…..what the hell!? Give me back my Brionne, you witch!” The Flare grunt roared, charging towards Aria with little care for anything around her. While she might have thought this would be her way to recover her Brionne before Aria could catch the rapidly returning ball, all it succeeded in doing was getting her kicked in the jaw and zapped with more electricity courtesy of Aria and Nalu respectively.

“Well, that was fun. Now lets get out of here before anyone notices their little knock out queen has been KO’d.” Aria told Hastur and Nalu, the trio slowly slinking into the nearby underbrush to slink back to either their side of the battlefield or to where Reno and the others were currently locked into a defensive battle to convert Zac to their side.