[PKMN OPEN] Pokémon Odyssey: Search For Cresselia (IC)

"What about you guys? Have any military experience. Not that I'm askin', but if you were running this thing, how would you do it? Straight up walk in? Sneak in? Leave some scouts behind? Do we wait for someone to show up? What?" Linx asked, looking to the two Valkarians.

"If it were me, I'd threaten to kill 'em if they didn't join up with your lot," Silence said with a cackle, then lifted her hands to stop any protests. "Buuuut, I'm guessing you lot don't want 'em hating ya guts when this is all said 'n' done." She shrugged. "Now, I'm no military expert like miss Goldie there, but I've been in a fair amount of sticky situations. And I got through 'em all by not trusting a soul." She turned to survey the... "town" below. "I'd keep a couple 'mon back, so if things turn sour they can observe from a distance then take word back. The sharpest and fastest of the lot, so they can make an escape if they needa. You never know." The Weavile then turned her attention to the area surrounding the village, tapping her chin thoughtfully. This was a bit of an odd environment to her, what with there not being any trees or other foliage about. "Whoever's buggering 'em could be watching the village, too. And if that's the case, they'd see us come in. Might've even already noticed us. My advice? Hope they haven't, and send that Spearow out there to try 'n' spy 'em out from above. Meanwhile, the rest of us head on in to meet up with this Just Root fella. Or wait here for an escort, whatever your Anatellian etiquette calls for," she said, waving a hand indifferently, then frowned. "Though I might add, if you just waltz right in they might think ya tryin' to force yourselves on 'em. Most 'mon don't take kindly to that."

Silence then tilted her head to Alizai. "But, like I said, miss Goldie there probly knows more 'bout makin' friends and battle plans than I do. I tend to just kill 'em and be over with it."

Abel, Penance, Thomas, Snype, Charlie, and Anna - The Gambler

Penance hummed idly as he led the way along. "Yo! Merone! How about we get some Perones, and we hit up the Dirones?" He crackled with mad laughter, "Get it! Rhyming!"

Along the way Penance had decided to pick up a passing Seekers. As he put it, he hated chance. So why not get someone who would want to take up some chances? Before Mer could even state 'no', he was grabbed by the duck and forcibly tugged along. To most Anatellians, specifically belonging to the Sons, they would just chuckle as they saw the duck passing by. Penance played his part, giving friendly ways and being... well, his usual mad way. Of course, most mon just took it to heart when he would sprout out his psycho babble.

"So... we have no primary forms of identification, no means of triangulating his position, or even being able to see beforehand what this guy does?" The Grovyle asked. "I mean... don't get me wrong. Shouldn't we first figure that stuff out?"

"No time, and I want tea time." Penance declared. "Meaning no tea, means no fun."

"We're taking a Gamble here pretty much. Kinda fitting. Kehe... if we're gonna find a gambler we gotta play his game." Snype said.

"I wouldn't really know where to begin," Abel stated with a meek shrug. "I know nothing about this... country, if you call it that."

"Here." Penance stated as he began to walk toward one of the buildings, "Gamblers bamble." He commented.

Snype nodded and followed the Golduck into the building. The enormous structure they proceeded inside was huge, appearing to be a converted monastery of some sort. It appeared quite quiet on the outside, but once the heavy solid rock doors parted, the group was greeted by a sight and sound similar to that of a marketplace. Activity was in full swing here, with many Sons of Arceus and their allied sects entering and exiting through the many doorways. It appeared that each doorway was a different shop, or attraction, with 'mon outside ushering them inside. Meanwhile, the hallway acted as the street, with merchants who didn't have their own place set up on the ground upon blankets, with the goods on display.

"Keheh... wonder what they got in here?...j-just to browse seriously! I'm not dumb. Kehe." Snype commented as he looked around the marketplace.

"Archives of the Gods, here!" A Politoad merchant stated in a stall down the line. Abel briefly browsed through as he walked passed each of the doorways into the shops. "Come get your forgotten history books!"

"Get yer 'ficial Arceus piercings 'ere! Sons go free! Spirit Seekers and Green Sea discounted!" Another store clerk, a Meowth, announced.

"Best tag on this side of the world! Cover dem Reverse Kings' and Dark Moons' territories with our message!" A third merchant advertised, apparently for a type of paint material.

Abel scanned around these multiple shops and shook his head. There was going to be a lot to go through, apparently, and they didn't have the time to stop at every single shop. "There has to be a quicker way of looking for him..." He muttered.

"Why don't we ask?" Anna suggested as she browsed the marketplace. Their products were certainly interesting. She may have bought something if she were apart of the cult. "The Gambler is looking for challengers, aren't they? I don't think we'd get in trouble by asking for directions."

"Good point Anna." Snype said. He looked over to the Politoad. Something about those forgotten history books got him curious. He approached the stall. "Hey there. Nice little shop ya got here buddy!" Snype said cheerfully.

The Politoad's expression momentarily soured as he looked across the group and their appearances. But he quickly smiled again and nodded. "Goods for all kinds here! Even for foreigners! Learn about the past of this glorified nation!"

"And I have lots of them!" Penance said with a grin, "No need here! I have my aces in a cup!"

The Politoad stared at the Golduck and pouted. "Well if you ain't buyin' nothin', move along! I got customers to sell to!"

"Actually I had a question. Ya seem like a knowledgeable fella and we're looking for someone. Ever hear of somebody called the Gambler? We're looking for the guy." Snype said.

The Politoad's eyes widened, and he looked to his left and right, before he chuckled. "You don't get many 'mon that go lookin' for him. What, do you have a death wish? My advise to you: walk the other way. Unless you're just lookin' to gamble your life away."

Snype snickered. "Kehe, being the King of Thieves, that kinda thing is common for me. A little gamble isn't gonna scare me. Kehe."

"King of Thieves," The Politoad repeated with some confusion. "Is that some kinda birthday nickname you made up for yerself or somethin'?" He scoffed. "Foreigners, tryina copy our name processin' too."

"But this is something else, 'king'." A sarcastic tone said. Off to the side was a Dewott who carefully watched the group. "Penance." He stated with more reverence in his tone, "We were wondering when you would show up again. It's been too quiet without you here."

With him was a Nuzleaf who gave a nod as well, "Hey there. Mind if we chat up a bit?"

The water type closed his eyes, letting out a soft sigh, "We heard you guys were looking for him. News travels fast among the Seekers. We figured we could hand out some hints."

Penance's eyes changed just a bit as Brynn let out a sigh, "Looks like we have some inside information then. Did you Seekers see anything?"

The Nuzleaf gave a firm nod, "Yeah. You could say we were some of the first actually. But... are you really going to gamble against him?"

"Kehe, guess he never said we HAD to gamble... but I got a feeling its inevitable. We gotta look into the guy and figure out just who or what he is." Snype said. "And I figure if he's gonna listen to what we say, we'll have to win at his own game."

"That's what I hear." The Dewott stated. "It started back a few weeks ago. The markets here have a variety of gamblers in them. Some are in stores where you go in, pay a fee, and gamble against dealers. Others set up tables and just have a stack of cards and play. Those usually cheat. There were five of us... and we were on break. Whenever we take breaks around here we just hang out with the locals. An approved activity was gambling, so we decided to try our luck with a independent gambler. He wasn't anything big really. From the few other mon we talked to, he seemed like a regular guy. Won some games, lost some. No big deal really."

The Nuzleaf sighed, "It was going okay at first too. Started out with betting some coins. Nothing too big mind you. Just small amounts until the pool grew. As things kept on going... they got a bit odd. The bets rose... and we couldn't leave."

The water type sighed, "Don't say it like that. Look," He held out his hands in a gesture, "... You know when you get hooked to something? You don't want to leave and just want to see how things play out? This... was kind of like that. It was more along we didn't even think leaving was an option. I'm convinced he pulled some sort of mind trick on us. The bet he set near the end was really odd too. I didn't even think twice when he set it down. It was really odd to look back on, but it wasn't on gold, or possessions, or anything. He said if we lost that match, he would teleport us to a spot. Gave us coordinates and everything. If we won, we could ask him a question in turn. Any question we wanted to."

The smaller mon sighed, "We both won... the others though. They lost."

The Dewott snapped his fingers, "Just like that they were gone. That's what helped to break our spell. We just jolted up and tried to get at him. We couldn't move for some reason. He said it was because he had to fulfill our bargain first. So we asked our two questions. I asked what he did with our friends. Stupid, I know, but he simply said he teleported them where he said he would."

The Nuzleaf crossed his own arms, "And I asked who he worked for. I figured that he had to be working for some big guy. Maybe another sect. He said... Darkrai. And just like that he ported away. His cards disappeared with him too."

The water type grabbed a scalchop from his side and rubbed it idly, "After that we reported back, and gambling was taken off of the approved activities list. That guy is around here. I know that much. Whenever he's close to getting caught he just ports away. Though we have found out some rules about him. He got something from Darkrai. Some sort of power. All I know is that with such a power there can be no cheating. Some Son tried to pull a trick on him, and he lost and suffered the consequences. Ported away in a blink of an eye."

The Nuzleaf spoke up next, "He also doesn't do those special gambles for everyone. Most of the Sons just aren't taken. He seems to reserve the disappearing act for special mon. Those who are stronger, or have some sort of special skill. He also... draws in people. Those who survive his game claim to have never thought once about leaving. Some even aren't gamblers and swear they felt an intense need to play, almost like something was drawing them to him."

"That's only on the mon he wants." The water mon said as he put his Scalchop back. "He has this weird game too. Everyone draws two cards. You get a score higher than the dealer, you win. You get lower, you lose. Anyone who cheats gets the penalty of being ported away. Just keep that in mind."

Snype crossed his arms, taking in the information. Cheating through this game would be more difficult then he thought... and more risky on top of that. "...So who's to say this Gambler fellow isn't cheating himself? Maybe these powers give this gamler some kinda edge. What kinda Pokemon is that guy anyways?"

"We don't know." The Dewott said with a shrug, "We think he's a Zoroark. He looks like all sort of different mon, most likely so that if we bust him he can just shift over to a new disguise. He's been seen as a Mr. Mime, a Snivy, and even a Grumpig. He also moves around once discovered. If you want to find him, you'll have to make sure he knows that you're high profile. High profile cases always draw him. As to him cheating... some have asked that as their questions. He claims to never cheat... and it seems sort of true. A diplomat of ours almost got taken, but he beat the gambler fair and square."

"Just be careful." The Nuzleaf stated, "He might have some more tricks up his sleeves. If you win though... I heard that he'll answer ANY question. There was this one time where a Son won a game. Asked him if there was a spy within our ranks. The gambler gave out his name and everything. We found the spy's papers and gave him a nice introduction to interrogation. It's true for every question he's answered. Always gives the truth. Even heard if he doesn't have an answer he'll refund the question."

"He could be watching us as we speak." Snype said in deep thought. "...If he's a Zoroark, then the Gamble is getting outside help to help with teleportation and even with gaining all of this information. If not that, we could be dealing with a Ditto." Snype said. "Ditto are experts at infiltration for obvious reasons. Almost had one sneak into the thieves at one point...heh, that's just a theory though, but keep an eye around you. If he's getting long distance assistance then it wouldn't hurt to investigate." Snype said with a wide grin.

"Soooo being King of Thieves clearly isn't enough to be high profile around here! So looks like I'll have to gain a reputation!"

"That won't be easy..." Anna said to Snype, though she seemed to be somewhere else at the same time. Her mind was likely on the Gambler. "By what I've seen the locals don't take kindly to foreigners of our kind." She looked up from the spot her eyes were fixed on and to Snype. This time she seemed more focused. "If you're going to make a reputation quickly, it won't be anything good. We'll be chased out before we ever even see The Gambler with those odds." Her eyes went to the merchants and other 'mon around. She shuddered at the thought of a mob. "However, one of us might have a reputation already." Anna looked over to the Seekers and then at Penance. "By the sounds of their greetings earlier, and the fact that they had been drawn in to gamble too, you might have the easiest time with a reputation, Penance."

"Kehe, he already has a pretty big rep here. The gambler might show up sooner then we expect if that's the case." Snype said, crossing his arms.

Brynn tilted his head, the glow fading soon from the eye as that maddening smirk formed along his bill, "Hehehehehe... true true." He said with a frew nods, "Though my Seekers are far and wide. But if I get in a game, then we'll need to be ready!" He snapped his fingers and pointed out at Snype, "You're the high brow. Sweep for the hearts and we'll find him yet!"

The two other mon glanced at each other warily, "Are... you sure about that?"

"Indeedably!" Penance crackled out. "Let Meetus know what the shindig is. Besides if I'm ported away I can port again!" He tapped his head, "Thinking in the groove. I'll rip him aside a new one!" He stated gleefully, "There are tons of riches around here, but the best way is by this!" The duck hopped onto the nearest bench, cupped his hands around his bill, and cried out in a booming voice, "YO! ANYONE KNOW WHERE THAT GAMBLER GUY IS!? I HAVE PEACOCKS WORTH TALKING TO!"

"P-Penance?" Anna looked around warily, uneased by the sudden attention they were getting. "You may have a reputation but this might not be the best way to go about finding The Gambler."

Penance, in turn, stuck his tongue out at Anna, "If he wants drawings, I got plenty!"

"You guys lookin' fer the Gambler?" A Graveler Son of Arceus asked from behind a group. He had a fairly large grin on his face. "I just saw 'im! Won a game against the weirdo. He's in this sector, at the far end of it, set up by the Reshiram Bars. Dunno if he's still there but... yeah. Life is good! SO GOOD!" The Graveler stated and walked down the path.

Penance grinned, "That's oddly specific! Let's go!" The duck was soon sprinting off, crackling with mad laughter.

"Gotta hand it to him. The simple method actually worked out pretty nicely." Snype said,

"We should be sticking closer together," Abel stated to the duck as he stormed off. He rolled his eyes and followed him, muttering very lowly under his breath. "Soon."

He followed behind the Golduck, scanning around at the multitude of shops and others services in the structure. There were also restaurants, brothels, and other similar locations. They seemed to slowly be getting out of the market area, and more to the dining locations, as loud chatter was replaced with rowdy roars and laughter.

Penance kept on moving, his eyes sweeping around before he stopped, "There." He stated as he pointed out to one archway, "It should be around there. Keep your eyes peeled for tables, chairs, or anyone around. I wouldn't be surprised if there were three or four gambling tables set around. Stay together." The maddening tone was long since gone from his voice as he made his way forward.

Snype looked around the area. He needed to figure out where to even begin. This gambler guy could be any Pokemon possible if it were a Zoroark or Ditto... perhaps the Gambler was already playing a game with someone. If he won then they would certaintly notice someone being ported away... but if the Gambler ported away they would be back to square one.

There were three tables set up in the area, and with each table sat the host of the table. The first held a Crawdaunt who was busy having an shouting match with one of the mon who had sat down at the table. There were loud yells of 'cheater' and other such nonsense going on there. At the second table sat a more peaceful Drowzee who was currently playing a match with two younger mon. And at the third table was a Smeargle who had, accidentally, painted the ground around his gambling table as he was busy playing dealer to four mon.

"Huh.... this is tricky." Penance muttered. He snapped his fingers and looked back to the more silent member of the group, "Thomas! What do you say? Which flavor is the blend of the day?"

"Seems as though anyone of them could be this 'Gambler' fellow," Thomas stated with a helpless shrug. "Shall we split up, or approach together to each one?"

"I would say... no." Penance crossed his arms, "If what those other Seekers said was true, and it is true, then he could use that magic of his to pull any of us into a game. We have to keep together."

Snype nodded. "Right. I'd say he'll find us before we find him. If you get the urge to start playing then we've found him." Snype said. "...or you just have a problem. Eheh... lets walk around the tables"

As the group began to walk around the tables the one with the Crawdunt was getting more... violent. The water type straight up punched the other mon and soon both were wrestling on the ground. By a great contrast, the Drowzee waved goodbye to his two patrons and glanced over at the group, smiling just a bit. "Well, I haven't seen you all around here before." He stated, "Are you looking for an open table? Particularly one which doesn't have a dealer who will punch your lights out?" He cast a frown over to the Crawdunt, "I can assure you, I'm more of a mild temper." He looked over at Thomas with a nod, "Three psychics in your group should really give you no problems with winning."

Abel casually glanced over the Drowzee and shook his head. "No, we're not exactly looking for your type of game. Let's go," He urged the rest of the group. Thomas, however, remained in place, further examining the Drowzee. Abel turned back to Thomas and spoke again. "Let's go, Thomas."

"... I ... feel we should give this a shot," The Hypno replied. "You never know, he could be the Gambler after all..."

Abel stared at Thomas for a few seconds, then back at the Drowzee. His expression morphed slowly from cold and relentless to pondering. He felt something... "... Perhaps," The Medicham stated simply.

"Are you looking for something?" The Drowzee asked, "Maybe I could help in that regards? If you're all up for a game, that is." He gave a meek shrug, "I don't necessarily hand out information for free you see. There is always a catch in a game of cards."

"Yeah..." The Grovyle Seeker stated as well, "Maybe we can get a lead here?"

Penance himself frowned, "... Odd." He simply stated, "Very... odd."

Snype crossed his arms. This matched up the description almost perfectly... seemed out of nowhere that they would just assume he was the gambler. Then again he was offering information. He looked over to Abel and noticed he was actually thinking about it! That was proof enough. If that guy was considering gambling then something was up. Without a doubt.

"Not exactly subtle eh? Abel would never consider gambling. Kehe" Snype said with a smirk as he stepped forward.

The Drowzee's eyes glittered as he looked among the group, "Care to take some seats?" He asked as he gestured to the wooden stools that were set before the group. The Grovyle made his way over and sat down quietly. Penance looked on, frowning, as he too took a seat, "So... you're what we're looking for?" He asked.

"I might be." The psychic said with a sweet smile

"Where are my Seekers?"

The psychic shrugged, "Let's say, that they are in a better place. I must admit, you have trained some strong mon. Stronger than most of the Sons around here. Though that Blaziken was something else. Very... dominant personality. As to where they are now? I'm not sure. I can say that with full honesty."

"What's your game here?" Abel demanded with no pun intended. "What're you after?"

"I'm here... for recruits." The Drowzee stated simply, "Go ahead and have a seat. The rules are quite simple. Before the game is started each of you can make a wager. My base wager will be simple. If you beat me at cards, I'll answer one question you have. Any question whatsoever. If I win though... I have a nice spot I'll port you over to. That's all I'll do. No... say, sealing attacks, or preventing you from returning. I'll just do a port and that's all. Now." He held up a finger, "It'll be up to each individual if they want to raise their own bets, or lower them. If it's too big of a gamble for you, then you can lower the bet. Of course, in turn, I'll lower my own bet. If you want to raise it to something more drastic, I likewise will raise my bet against that individual."

"So, yer basically gonna take one 'a us if we lose, right? 'Cause I tell ya, I'm a gamblin' man... but aren't we gonna have no fun with this?" With an accent like that, nobody could doubt it was Charlie. "Ya say beat ya at cards, what we playin'?"

The Drowzee smiled a bit, "I'm glad you asked, my insectoid friend." He grabbed his deck of cards and began to shuffle them. "Once I'm done shuffling this deck, I'll allow your group to shuffle afterwards, and then cut the deck however you please. Once the preparations are done I'll draw the first two cards from the deck and put them face down on the table. That is my hand. Your, and your comrades, goal is to beat the value of my hand. You will each draw two cards. If you draw a card from the value of two to ten, the value of that card is what is added to your total points. So, if you draw a five and a seven, you would have a total value of twelve."

He paused shuffling and set the deck down in the middle of the table. "Each of you are allowed one time to discard one card. From there, you can draw another card in an attempt to increase your score. Once everyone is set with their hands, I'll reveal my own cards. If the value of your hand beats mines, you win. If it is lower, you lose. If it's the same, it's a draw and neither bet is carried out. Jacks are worth eleven points, queens are twelve, and kings are thirteen. Make sure to look out for aces, they are worth fourteen points. Oh! I might have to mention, no cheating. If your party, or even I, end up cheating, that mon will automatically lose."

Charlie didn't think for one second that anyone so profilic would be on the level at all. But his game was simple enough, even if he wouldn't be able to pick a read from someone that didn't know their cards. He could probably put all his focus on watching those hands... "Nice an' simple. I like it. Tell ya what.. I'm a lil' short on cash, wanna play a couple fer gold 'fore we get into the serious stuff?"

The Drowzee frowned, "I could try... though, after the first round I am liable to... disappear." His smile grew a bit, "I already have revealed myself, you see. So, soon, some of the Sons or Seekers might come rushing over. So, if you want to lower your wager, you are free to do so. But, you may only get to play one round."

"So, ya want me ta go all in on the first hand?" Charlie chuckled. "That's askin' a lot, even fer a proper gambler." The bug couldn't deny his weakness for a good bet though. "So if I'm goin' all in, I'm goin' all in. Ya say yer recruitin', right? Then whatever yer plannin', I cock this up, an' I won't just take the teleport, I'll be joinin' no questions asked. One 'a the best in the world at yer service. What ya willin' ta put up fer a shot at that, bud?"

Snype shot his head over to the Scyther. "Charlie watch what your betting for!" Snype said. Not that he was going to pull back. That kind of talk made for a good poker face.

The Drowzee quietly put his hands together in thought, before he spoke out. "I would say... an item to help you." He said with a nod. "If you win, then I would be more than happy to give you a item that could very well save your life one day. Perhaps even more times." He looked over at the others, "Well? Do any of you also wish to change your bets?"

Penance frowned, "If I win, then I would say that you have to return my Seekers to me." He stated.

The Drowzee thought on that, "That is a fair wager to make. If I am to win, I would, in return, that I would also take some of your Seekers along with you for the ride."

Penance closed his eyes at that, "... No." He said, "Revert back to the original gamble then."

"I got one." Snype said. "...If we win, then you have to come with us. A certain someone is interested in meeting you." Snype said with a stern look.

The Drowzee frowned at that, "Just come with you? That's all?" He asked slowly.

Snype remembered the main job. It was either bring the Gambler in so Gaiyo could take care of him, or they would have to do something about it theirselves. Snype honestly wanted to look more into this guy... but he didn't have that kind of time right now. "Yeah. That's it. And no making a fuss about it either. You'll stay the whole way." Snype said. They had to capture this guy, so Snype was going to have to play their game. Still he had an odd feeling about all this...

"If I may, if Snype wishes to make that bet, he may," Thomas interjected. "As for me, I would find it pointless to make the same bet as him, so I shall keep the original bet of a question to be answered, no matter what it is."

The Drowzee gave a small nod. "Very good. Now then." He set the deck down. "Whoever wishes to go first can cut the deck, shuffle it. Do whatever the hell you want. Set it down and I'll draw my two. My first opponent will draw two and we'll see if he wins or loses. With each new opponent I will draw two new cards, then they will draw two, etc."

"And we can switch out one of the cards, correct?" Thomas clarified.

"Yes, you can." The Drowzee further clarified, "As the dealer, whatever two cards I draw I am stuck with. So, you have the main advantage in getting a larger score."

"Then I wish to try first," Thomas declared rather boldly. He felt enticed by this entire predicament, and he had long yearned to prove himself on this journey, especially after everything that happened in Valkaria. He picked up the deck and examined it carefully. He rummaged through it to ensure there were no doubles or cards misplaced, then shuffled it carefully as he handed it back to the Drowzee. "Deal."

The dealer gave a firm nod and wasted no time in grabbing the two top cards off of the deck, putting them face down without looking at them. "Now, you may draw." He said with a nod.

Thomas inhaled slowly and reached for the deck. He picked up the top two cards. The first one that caught his eye was a Queen. He tried not to smile, but he knew that twelve points was high. The second, however, was a five. It made him a bit more nervous. The choice now was to decide whether to drop the five, or keep it there.

"... I will be discarding one of my cards," Thomas stated, as he dropped the five to the side, and picked up another one. A six. Thomas shook his head. It was better than a five, but not too much of an improvement. Overall, it was a decent score. "Here is my hand then," He stated, as he revealed his Queen and six, to give the overall score of 18.

The dealer gave a small nod, "A queen is quite a lucky draw. Now only three queens remain in the deck. Eighteen is a strong lead. Now... for my hand." He said as he lowered his fingers and whipped up his own two cards. The first card to flip over was a seven , though immediately following... was an ace. The Drowzee looked over at Thomas, a smile grew on his face, "My score of twenty-one beats eighteen. Goodbye." He snapped his fingers.

"W-what?" Thomas choked. "Wait! Wai-"

In a flash, the Hypno disappeared, "And if everything goes according to plan, he'll be good friends with Darkrai once more." He looked at the remaining members of the group, "Who's next?"

Abel clenched his fists from the background as he watched Thomas disappear. He remained silent in the background, waiting for a chance to get at him in case things would turn for the worst.

Snype looked in shock as Thomas was suddenly teleported away. "T-Thomas!" Snype shouted before looking back at the gambler. "Hmph... lucky." Snype said with a scowl. He looked down at the deck, wondering if he should take a shot at this next or not... what did he mean by becoming good friends with Darkrai...? Perhaps he's in totally different territory now. He just hoped Thomas could manage.

"...Alright then. I'll go next." Snype said as he drew two cards out of the deck. The first was a King... a thirteen. A great start similar to Thomas. However... the next number was a seven. Literally at the middle of the deck. There was a fifty fifty chance of improving this number, or making it sink as low as a one... It was make or break here... He glanced back up to the Gambler, glancing around the room as if to see if there were any tricks going on...next thing he knew, this Gambler would have another ace up his sleeve.

"...Keheh... I think I'll stick with this hand." Snype said with a confident grin. "Whatever the result, victory will be mine in the end."

The Drowzee gave a nod, "Confident I see? Then go ahead and show us your hand."

Snype placed his cards down onto the table, showing his King and seven. He was actually a little nervous given the situation, but if he did end up being ported... he'd be right in the middle of Darkrais goons. He'd just have to break his way out if that were the case...

The Drowzee looked on in disbelief at the king. "... Apparently lady luck is on your side." He said, "I mean, really? I've never had a group draw two face cards in a row." He looked at his deck, "Did that Hypno even shuffle this thing right? Gah, no matter." The Drowzee sighed and flipped over his cards. He soon grinned wide as his ten and ace was revealed, "... Okay. I am SO thanking that Hypno for being a crud shuffler!" He said gleefully.

"Dammit Thomas! I'm gonna smack him across the head when I get down there." Snype said, clenching his teeth.

The Drowzee just smugly smirked and snapped his fingers, the Sableye vanishing just as Thomas had. "Who's next?"

"F*ck! Boss!" Charlie slammed his claw down onto the Drowzee's table. "I'm changin' my bet. I win an' you bring back the boss!"

The Drowzee stared at him, "I'm sorry. You can't. Once the game starts, bets can't be changed. Unless...."

"Quit stallin', quit f*ckin' around an' get to yer point." Charlie brashly hurried him on.

"Unless... we up your bet to the highest degree." The Drowzee stated. "If I win this match, then not only will you be forced to willingly join us, but a single mental condition will be placed upon your mind. You will find your thoughts being altered so that you will eagerly serve among us. You will WANT to be the best soldier we have." He frowned, "If you accept my terms, then we can change the wagers set."

The bug growled. He did not like those terms. But he figured he kinda... well, he owed it to Snype. Guy'd saved him from himself all that time ago, even if the ghost probably didn't see it that way. "Alright. But I win, an' Snype's free an' yer givin' me yer mystical tauros-sh*t trinket too."

He just gave a small nod. "We shall see." He simply stated. The Gambler reached over and pulled off two cards from the deck, setting them face down once more. "Draw, and we'll see what happens."

Charlie watched the Gambler's hands very closely, slipping his claw into the deck to take two cards of his own and laying them face-down as well. "I don't want ya readin' sh*t off me. We're showin' down at the same time."

He just sighed, "I won't cheat. Are you certain you won't look?"

"I ain't that I don't trust ya. It's that I don't trust nobody. We done messin' around?" Charlie curtly responded.

The Gambler shrugged, "Your choice." He stated, "Alright, flip your cards then."

"An' you yours." Charlie stated, flipping his card over both at once with a claw beneath them. As Charlie flipped his cards, two sevens were revealed. Though as the Gambler flipped his, he would reveal a king and a six.

"Hm... tough luck. Seems you thieves aren't good at straight cards. Oh, who am I kidding? Thomas really helped me with that crud shuffling job." He said with a light chuckle.

"I'm gonna gut the little fu-" Charlie began before, in a wisp, he disappeared like the rest.

"Now..." He looked over at Penance, "Shall we see how you fare?"

"We shall." The duck said as the Gambler drew his two cards. Penance sighed and reached over to draw two. Unlike Charlie he looked down at his hand, frowning at the eight and six that he pulled. He idly tossed the six to the discard pile and pulled another card, sighing in relief as he drew a jack. "Alright, here's my hand." He stated as he showed the eleven and eight for a total of nineteen.

The Gambler frowned and revealed his cards, smirking as a ten and the third ace appeared. "Damn, that Hypno gave me great luck!"

"Dammit." Penance muttered as he disappeared in a flash.

This... Was a lot more than she expected. Remembering the moments before they left, Anna remembered not putting too much weight on confronting the Gambler. Sure, she had considered losses, but in reality the game was much more... Dire. Anna could feel her heart quickening in her chest as every one of her companions had disappeared before her eyes. They had been taken off to some land, probably to serve Darkrai as she surmised from Charlie's bet, or worse... And now she was left. Her and Abel at least.

What she wanted to do wanted to do was run. Turn away and high-tail it without looking back. Regret doing it for the rest of her life probably, but be safe nonetheless. Regret, in that moment, felt like an acceptable outcome. She felt herself step back, but it was reality that stopped her from going on. The Gambler was obviously an agent of Darkrai, the legendary 'mon that attack Gold City right at this moment, if he hadn't obliterated and moved on by now. Their lives were in danger anyways and there was no way she could truly be safe. Anna would risk more than regret, though now that seemed even worse.

Anna swallowed before she spoke. "I'd like... To change my bet." Her voice was quiet and shook as though an earthquake went off inside her.

The Gambler frowned, "Hm... very well." He said slowly. "What would you like to change it to?"

"If I win..." She began, going over the words in her head so she spoke them coherently, "they all come back. The players you teleported come back right here, right now." She let out a shakey sigh, hating this moment. "And then you come with us. There's a group called Sons of Arceus. You let them take you in and do whatever they want until they're finished. No escaping." Anna's body shook harder and harder as she spoke. "Is that... Okay?"

The Drowzee considered the deal, "That is... okay." He said with a nod, "In return though, I'll change my bet. If you win, you get everyone back. If I win, you, and the Seeker, will be teleported to where the others are. Is that a fair deal?"

The Grovyle looked over at Anna and gave a nod, "If it'll bring Penance back... then let's do it."

Anna had a shocked look on her face, but then smiled meekly to the Grovyle. As off-the-wall as Penance could be sometimes he had certainly made fine allies. Anna nodded to The Gambler.

"I-It's a deal."

He nodded, "Alright then." He drew two cards and gestured for Anna to do the same.

The pressure made concentrating hard, but thanks to the SEC Anna had been granted slight psychic abilities through a TM. It took some work, but Anna drew her first card: An Ace. A sigh of relief came from her. A great start. Whether if it was his doing or not she thanked Thomas for his amazing shuffling. It wasn't over yet, though. She drew a second card: A four. That wasn't as good. Whether if it was his doing or not she cursed (with a twinge of guilt following quickly after) Thomas's poor shuffling skills.

"I'd like to draw another card." She said after. The Gambler nodded.

Again, Anna was given the opportunity to draw.With the same slowness she pulled another card. This time it was a six. Better than a four, no doubt, but still she could recall Thomas being excited about a similar six himself. She prayed to Arceus not to have his luck. She discarded the four and then set her cards down. "Lady luck?" She said mareepishly.

It was the Gambler's turn. He extended his arm and drew his first card to display it. A twelve. Abel was caught shaking his head. He was getting extremely suspicious at the way the game was progressing. But Anna still had a decent chance, as long as the next card wasn't too high. The Gambler drew again, and displayed the card. A six.

Anna gasped at the sight of the six and then let out another relieved sigh. In that moment all of her nerves washed away and were replaced with the cool aftermath of her luck break. She had done it! It was only now that she realized that she'd been sweating under her wool, but she didn't care about that now. All she wanted to do was fall over and rest. Maybe even cry a little.

"We did it..." She found herself whispering quietly between breaths. "We did it."

"... Looks to me like you did it." Abel stated.

Home Base One​

"-cker!" Charlie eloquently finished his sentence from before.

There was another body arriving soon after. The duck himself appeared, but looked rather pissed, "DAMMIT THOMAS!" He snapped, "Learn how to shuffle a freaking deck!"

Snype crossed his arms, looking increasingly frustrated at the whole situation. "Smack him for me to! No I'll do it myself! Gah!" Snype said as he clenched his fist.

"W-what?" Thomas stammered. "B-but it wasn't my fault! Did you not shuffle the deck after me?"

Penance frowned, "Well... it's still your fault!" He said as he too crossed his arms in a huff.

"Are you four done?" A voice asked from behind them. It was a Heracross, dressed in a dark garb with yellow insignias upon his shoulders. He had his hands clasped behind his back. Thomas, upon seeing the Heracross, took in his surroundings for the first time. They appeared to be inside of a large tent of some sort. Other 'mon were around them, appearing occasionally behind them and in front. As the Hypno turned, he observed that they appeared to be coming from a Network Point right beside them.

"Good," The Heracross stated with a nod. "I am Revoll, Commander of the Armies of Darkrai, and Agent of Chaos," He announced with a respectful nod. "I am surprised that Benjamin was successful in his recruitment of you. Welcome to Darkrai's army."

Penance huffed, "Where are my Seekers?" He spat out, "I know you have three of them! I ain't leaving without them!"

"Three?" Revoll repeated with a curious look. "You'll have to be a bit more specific, Mr. Malum. I think it would be more accurate to say we have three hundred here. Gathered upon the forests of Tollen. Recovered from the battles of Valkaira. Teleported from the gambling halls of Anatellia."

Penance glared, "No Seeker would DARE serve Darkrai." He hissed. "They would rather die."

"Then they probably have," Revoll stated in a matter-of-fact way. "Are you hungry? Have you dined yet in Anatellia? You could join me for lunch, while we chat, before we get to the other... pleasantries."

"If yer hungry, ya can bite my ass." Charlie snapped.

"I agree with the bug." Penance muttered, "Why don't you get started with whatever happens. I could care less."

Charlie shook his head. "No, ya don't agree. I mean he can just bite my ass."

Snype crossed his arms and tried to keep his senses. "You guys are being a bit brash aren't you?" Snype said to the two. "We're being offered free food here right? Kehe. May as well take his offer before we get recruited." Snype said. He honestly wanted to stall for time. Perhaps he'd have a shot to escape this mess if they had a bit of time to catch their bearings. More importantly learn a bit more about this whole army business.

Revoll looked over the group, and particularly at Charlie. He sighed and brought one hand from his back and snapped his fingers together. "It's nasty business, dealing with the Gambler. But a fair game is a fair game, and a true 'mon must own up to their loss."

Snype looked over to Charlie and back to Revoll. "Wha? Dealing... Charlie what the hell did you bet on?"

"... His mind." Penance muttered. "Pure loyalty. Forced."

"Idiot..." Snype faceplamed. "Dammit Charlie why'd you have to go and do that..."

"Yeah, but it don't mean ya gotta take the loss with grace, Boss." Charlie said, as calmly as if he actually had been ordering lunch. "Ya can still bite my ass." The tone was more playful now, more like he'd use when he was talking to... well, Snype.

"Now then, shall we dine?" Revoll asked the group, as he proceeded to the entrance of the tent. "You can follow me over to my tent," He stated, and revealed the outside. The group was immediately greeted by a flux of noise and sounds. There were Pokemon, thousands upon thousands as far as the eye could see. In the air, on the ground, moving between tent and tent, station. It was a sea of Pokemon.There were other recruits, some willingly and happily following their directors, while others were being forced to go along. It was an interesting combination of emotions. Upbeat and exciting, but also fearful and agonizing. The air was noticeably warmer, and Thomas noticed grass instead of snow upon the ground.

"Welcome to Home Base One, the Path of Nations."

"It's sure somethin' ya got goin' on here." Charlie said, a hint of admiration in his voice. "An' it sure as all f*ck beats bein' out in the cold."

Penance frowned, "So... while we're at... dinner, are we allowed to ask questions?" He asked. "You could say a curious mind teems, like pathogens. .... Are my Seekers safe, at the least?"

"Where are we? This isn't Antellia." Snype stated.

"It's the Path of Nations," Revoll repeated, as he guided them through the sea of Pokemon. Many of them stopped and gave the Heracross respectful nods and salutes. Oddly, many saluted in different ways, probably because they all came from different places. "No, you aren't quite in Anatellia anymore, but you're close. The Path of Nations borders three different nations in Anatellia, Beatruce and Karn. It's a strategic location from which to strike at those three. Here we are, this big one is mine," He stated as he entered the tent further to the right. it was larger than the others by almost twice as large, and inside, seemed to be set up a base of operations, as well as living quarters for the Heracross. A large cot was displayed on the side, as well as multiple shelves of books. There was also a large table in the middle displaying maps, markers, and different ornaments for strategic planning. In front of it, another table suitable for eating and sitting beside was displayed, where fine delicacies were already in place. On the very left side of the room, was a device Thomas did not recognize. It appeared to be a floating source of energy of some sort, a shining orb fluttering in mid-air, seemingly not suspended by anything. Shades of black and purple surrounded it as it twirled harmlessly.

Penance was silent for a bit, "... Can you answer my questions?" He asked, this time, a more firm tone in his voice, "Because I have some very important mon who I have become friends with."

"I will answer what I can," The Heracross stated as he gestured to the seats around the dining table. He sat in the far seat on one side. "But understand, that not everything can be answered while your initiation has yet to be complete. Eat."

Penance slowly sat and frowned at the food, "... Well, could you answer this then?" He asked as he grabbed a plate, "For what purpose are we working for? Even when I recruited my Seekers I didn't just do it for simple laughs. It's the same as why no group just random comes together because they were bored one afternoon. Groups such as this always have a purpose, whether it's to pursue a specific goal such as spreading knowledge, or to protect a country that they grew up in. For instance, the Seekers were made not because I was bored, but because of the purpose to defend against Darkrai and his corrupting nature. Because of that reason, many sought to join our ranks and it is a motive that combines us and encourages us. If we are to be initiated... why would I even WANT to join or be cooperative if it's for but a silly reason?"

The Heracross inhaled his breath and placed his elbowed into the dining table. He put his hands together and tapped his fingers together, then chuckled slightly. "Silly reason," He repeated the Golduck's words. "Silly reason..." He closed his eyes and exhaled, then glanced around the room. "Let's all not mince words. I'll just cut to the point. You all hate Darkrai, correct? All of you believe he's evil? You all believe he's a master of chaos intent on destroying the world and all that?"

Penance shrugged, "Well... when a guy plots to try and kill everyone in your kingdom or brainwash them into mindless servitude while trapped in a stone... well, first impressions are everything." He tore into some berries, "Just saying."

Revoll pointed at Penance. "Exactly as he said. You all believe along those lines, am I correct?"

"Course." Snype stated simply. "Since I got a bunch of his cronies attacking my home as we speak. At least attempting to. Heheh..."

"Yes, I suppose I would agree with that," Thomas concurred with a nod.

"So tell me then," Revoll began, as he peered among the four 'mon before him. "No matter what words come out of my mouth, no matter what I utter in defense of my side or in opposition of yours, will they really do anything to alter your perception? Will the affirmation of Pokemon you don't know, one you've likely never heard of before, suddenly sway you of your current beliefs?" Revoll shook his head. "I will acknowledge one aspect I respect about your side. You will stand true to your beliefs, because you believe that what you are doing is the right thing to do. And what we are doing is wrong. To you, this is a war of good and evil, of one side heroically fighting against the tyranny of another. You four, you are unlike many of the other recruits that come through here. So I will give you the respect of not withholding my intentions. And believe me when I say I will only ask once."

Revoll crossed his arms and leaned back against his chair. "You are now apart of the army of freedom. You will join us here, and lead as Agents of Darkrai. And you will have a choice. To do so willingly, and thus be given anything your heart desires as a prize, or not." Revoll glanced upon each one of them to ensure his point was being made. "In which case the Destruction Saint will break you to our cause tomorrow, and that will be the end of it."

Penance spoke, "You know... for some time I was the madman, I still am cooky." He chuckled a bit, "Now, I would be more in line... if Mr. D hadn't planted a bomb inside of my head to make me his slave and kill off a friend of mine. But I'm still someone who gives chances."

"Besides." Snype interupted. "Ya never really said what your "cause" is. As far as I'm concerned your all a bunch of power hungry maniacs that just want to tip the balance of the worlds order."

Penance held up his hand, "Snype..." He said slowly, "Relax for now." He looked back at Revoll, "Like I said, it was a first impression. If you can give your own argument as to why Darkrai did what he did, then I will consider your story and see if I'm willingly to join. I even did my own gig and turned some of the goldies my way, even when I was seen as evil by them. Because I was honest with them. I simply ask you be honest with us in that case. So... what are you trying to accomplish? And why should we join?"

Snype was awed. HE was the one being told to relax? He'd never seen Penance so... composed. He silenty sat put.

Revoll glanced at the 'mon, and shrugged. "Very well," He leaned in, and stare intently at them. "Darkrai has given us all a single decree, to use at our discretion by whatever means necessary. To gather as much chaos as possible. In whatever way we see fit. That is why you have so many Agents spread out everywhere, and yet doing very different tasks. To gather chaos for Darkrai. Chaos comes in so many different forms, and thus many different actions are performed to acquire it."

"But for what end goal?" Penance asked, "Simply providing such stark terms to me is like... well, like me walking up to to a potential Seeker candidate and saying I made this whole organization, just to go to other countries... just because I feel like sending them around." He held up a finger, "Now... that doesn't work on everyone, so I have to let more info slip. Go to other countries to try and find Cresselia and halt the flow of chaos. That's is what I'm interested in. What purpose are we working TOWARDS?"

Snype crossed his arms. He wasn't about to give himself up like this... there had to be a way to escape this all. He was the King of Thieves but he knew a thing or two about being an escape artist... "Tell it to us straight. What's your whole plan?"

"To create a new world," Revoll replied firmly. "A better world than the one that exists now."

"... Sounds like me." Penance said with a dry chuckle, "Like when I killed the tribe not to be evil... but to ensure that they wouldn't be too powerful. To ensure that they couldn't control all of Valkaria, as something like the Silver War clearly demonstrated." He frowned, "So, what is bad about the current world? What flaws are with it? And what will everyone do to make it a better design?"

"What is so bad with it?" Revoll chuckle lightly. "It is an ironic, if not fitting thing that the four members of the Valkarian group most against the grain of society are present. Thieves. Affiliates. The Valkarian Exposure. You, of all Pokemon, would know what is wrong with it. It is why you four had begun to break from the established society. To become free. And that, is what we have come to bring. True, absolute freedom."

Snype looked down and clenched his fist. Those were the thieves ambitions in the past... and even now, Snype still kept mostly true to that, even though they were less barbaric about it. Now it was more along the lines of making sure the Gold Tribe didn't do anything stupid. "What? True freedom under the rule of Darkrai? I somehow doubt that Darkrai is going to keep his end of the bargain in his current state."

Penance gave a small nod, "I'm afraid what Snype says is true." He looked over at Revoll, thinking for a moment, "The reason the Affiliates worked so well is because I wasn't a lord over them. I was a leader, yes, but any of them could take me out. If I tried to take total power over everything and usher in a kingdom where they would work as slaves for me, it wouldn't work. It's the same with the Seekers. I am not captain. I am not president. I am simply Penance. I have some tribe training, yes, but I make it so that they can take me down if need be. I have shown them my weaknesses, I allow them to train aganist me. So that, if one day, I become power hungry, I will be no more. With absolute freedom comes those who take advantage of the system. Maybe not this generation, maybe not in the next, but eventually it will happen. We weren't born thousands of years ago with the knowledge of law. It developed over time, naturally, because there will always be sin. There will always be someone who will want to stab someone in the back, or try to take power all for himself. We aren't born as cops, or as robbers. It evolved naturally because it's a balance. Freedom, and protection."

"Ya done talkin' crap I ain't listenin' to?" Charlie chided Penance.

Revoll chuckled again. "I am inclined to agree with Charlie. It's a nice lie, but a lie nonetheless. I have read about the Affiliates. I have observed the Seekers. And for all your talk about honesty, you are as big a liar as the rest of them, Penance. The most so to yourself. You are their lord. You are their captain. You are their president. They follow your every whim. They obey your every command. They are drawn to you, they almost worship you. The would die for you, even. Do not think you are anything special, preaching what you know. Or what you think you know."

Revoll shook his head. "Both of you speak of absolute freedom, but even if you may have gotten closer to it than most, you have never experienced it. In fact, it has almost never existed in this world before. Ever. Absolute freedom... it is a foreign concept. It is new. Raw. Yes, you are right, and yet wrong. Law has developed over time. But in the beginning, even then, did we hardly even grasp at the idea of what true freedom was. Because there was always something. Before the palaces there were walls. Before the walls, huts, before the huts, cloth. Before the empires, there were nations of democracy, and before that, there were tribes. Everything came as an evolution of something else. But as much as you wish to claim it as different, it never truly was at its core. Because it all shared one thing in common."

Revoll clenched his fist and displayed it to the group, in a similar fashion that Gabriel did as he explained to Obsidian in the Tollenian dungeons. "Order," He stated. "The thieves have it in a 'king'. The Seekers have Penance. Even the Valkarian Exposure had their spokesperson. And let's not stop there. The Tollenians have their Queen, Karn has an Emperor, the Anatellians have a hundred different sects with a hundred different leaders. Beatruce has their Senators. And... and here in this army. Even I, am leading. We are all products of order. Even if we fight on opposite sides, we are both producing that order. And what is order to chaos? It's natural enemy."

Snype stepped forward. "So that's it huh? Get rid of order is the gist of it? Without order we just end up going back to being primitive. Sooner or later, someone is going to look for some form of guidance and develop. Eventually someone is just going to take charge and lead those misguided fools all over. In this case, I suppose that would be Darkrai after he grants this "pure freedom". Snype said before giving a stern look.

"How bout you answer me this? What are you gonna do when this is all over? When there's nothing left?"

Revoll chuckled. "I suppose it's easy to see Darkrai as an all-powerful overseer. If you actually met him in person, though, if you actually talked to him, you would see that the mantle of Dark Lord is not something he seeks..."

"Keheh. Yeah well, we did meet him in person. Gave us a good beating up actually. Had a pretty nice conversation too... what, have you met the guy in person? This I gotta hear." Snype said.

"Ah, you have?" Revoll nodded. "A fascinating 'mon. Unlike any other I've spoken to. It takes a special 'mon to have the fortitude, the audacity one should say, to be able to control an entire set of 'mon with a blink of an eye, to be able to enslave at will, and yet turn away from it all the same. To be able to lead as a tyrant, and yet willingly, for years, follow the service of another. To be King, and then to be peasant. I do not think he cares for trifles such as leadership. Not like others. If he wanted to, he could have enslaved and controlled the entire leadership of the Agents, and probably the entire army we have in the blink of an eye. And yet, he willingly let's us pursue our actions. Our motivations. Our ambitions. I cannot count the number of different end goals each Agent has. And yet all are allowed to pursue them. Because all are free to do so. Our only encouragement, is to act as Agents of Chaos."

Penance held up his hand, "Query here." He stated, "So... let's say you win. Cresselia is wiped or what have you, and you get absolute freedom. How can you stop someone... like me, in persuading others to my side? And you speak of freedom, yet moments before you were talking about destroying our will and forcing us to be agents. How is that absolute freedom? Isn't that just making someone a puppet? Like big D Is trying to do me? He planted a bomb you know. Too bad it's not cream." He muttered.

"We are not agents of absolute freedom," Revoll answered. "We are agents of chaos. Our actions now are in many ways no better than some of yours. We will bend you if we have to because you are currently standing in our way. From accomplishing our goal. Once it is accomplished, then the veil is lifted. Our only difference is the goal we're working toward. Often, 'mon will do despicable things in order to accomplish something for the greater good. As we do now. In order for us establish this, the old world must first be torn down. And that means to destroy everything, and everyone, that opposes the new one. And from there... well, even certain things I cannot reveal to you just yet. Not while we remain enemies. So do you see now? Do you understand what I said before?"

Penance gave a nod, "It's as I told myself. The ends justify the means." He thought for a moment, "I'm... interested. I will say that. For many years I've tried to find one of your own, to figure out what your side of the story was." He gave a weak smile, "I'm glad I was finally able to hear it. Too often in war, one side is drowned out. I gave up after a while, trying to find answers, but I'm glad I have some now. Would it be alright if I talk to some of your initiates? See what their views are just to get a better ground on the general consensus?"

Snype snickered. "Yeah. Surely everyone you got here is on the same page with your views. Shouldn't be a problem right? He has a hint of sarcasm there.

"Few have the exact same mindset as me, I believe," Revoll stated with a shake of his head. "Everyone has different beliefs. But many agree with aspects of what I say. Speak with who you like. If you try to run, though, you will be destroyed."

Penance nodded and held out his hand, "Thank you for a wonderful chat. I do wish to give your side a fair chance in all of this. Once I talk to some folks I will think on this, and later today, I'll give you an answer. But do know, I am interested."

The Heracross grasped Penance's hand and firmly shook it. "The pleasure was all mine, Seeker of Truths."

Penance chuckled at that, "I do try to seek the truth as best as I can. In any matter," He looked over at the others, "Shall we get moving? I figure a good place to start would be any of my Seekers here. I can relate far easier to them, and they to me."

"Sounds good to me." Snype replied. "Comon Charlie. Thomas. Lets go."

Penance nodded again, "So... until we meet again, do have a good day. I'll probably ask for a few hours for us to debate among ourselves to make sure we understand what is going on here." With that he began to make his way out of the tent, "So... it was interesting." He said to Snype, "It is not often you hear another' sides tale."

Snype crossed his arms. "Yeah. Pretty nice perspective... in a sense." Snype said as he clenched his fist. He clearly wasn't convinced at all that the other side was in the right. Brainwashing one of his thieves didn't leave a good impression on Snype.

Penance lead the way out as he looked about, "Hm... let's go this way." He said as he led the group along and to an area where he saw some mon milling about. "Yo!" he called out, "Kind of new here and all. Any familiar faces there?" He asked.

A Mankey looked up from his chatting with one group and smirked. "No, go away," The mankey stated, causing laughter from the other 'mon around him.

"Hey, it's Penance," A Seviper, formerly a Seeker, blurted out from the laughter.

"Penance?" The Mankey repeated with a cocked eyebrow. "Ain't that your former boss?"

"Yeah, yeah," The Seviper stated. "And that's the King of Thieves too!"

"Ha! Revoll got 'em both!" A Chinchou roared with laughter.

Snype crossed his arms as he walked by the different Pokemon. He wasn't ashamed or anything. Luck was luck.

Penance made his way to the Seviper, a snake that he knew, and kneeled next to him. He didn't say anything for a while, only staring silently in his eyes. Then he spoke, "... I have heard many reasons why all are doing this." He said softly. "You know... you all know I care for my Seekers. Even those who have left, I still care for. Tell me truthfully. Out of what you learned from the Seekers, out of what you learned here too. Do... do you believe with all your heart and soul, that you are in the right?"

"Right about what?" The Seviper asked. "Darkrai? This army? Who am I to know? Who am I to care? The pitch he gave sounded good, and what he promised sounded even better. Better than anything I've heard from anyone else. Do I believe I'm right?" The Seviper shrugged. "Dunno, not sure. I don't really have a right and wrong about it. Do I believe that where I am is the best place for me?" He looked around and grinned at the others. "You're damn right."

"No. Right about the end result. On this new world." He stated. "You are here, and yet it seems that you are only here for personal gain. If that is the case, then your answer isn't what I'm looking for." He sighed, "How saddening."

"Is that not the case with all 'mon, though?" A voice asked Penance from behind, where a familiar Pokemon appeared. "To say any 'mon is not in a journey without a little prize for themselves, I think that is either the noblest 'mon one could ever meet, or a liar," He stated.

"Y-you...!" Thomas blurted out with surprise upon seeing the recognizable face of the Sceptile.

"Wouldn't you all agree?" Former General Grett asked with a confident smile.

"... General Grett... gotta hand it to you, you know how to throw a party back at Gold City. And you sure as hell know how to ruin it." Snype said, surprised that he was still alive after all that.

Snype kept the look on his face rather stern. He didn't have a whole lot to say. He was more concerned with Charlie at the moment and was especially concerned about the possibility of his own thieves ending up with this group. This was one place he did NOT want to expand his group of thieves too... he couldn't find much benefit to it with how things were going currently.

"Ruining is all in the matter of perspective," He gestured for them to follow. "Come with me, I'm to take you back to the Network Point. You're going home. Apparently, one of yours has bargained for your lives and won."

Snype blinked at that. Was he hearing things? Someone actually managed to win it all? Must have been a hell of a bet... who could have gone and done that? "Keheh, well aint that unfortunate for all of you? So close to learning some of our biggest secrets and all!" Snype taunted.

"That's my line," Grett snorted as he began leading them back. "At this point, you don't have much else to offer, I don't think... or maybe you do. 'Mon are full of surprises."

"Hmph. Touche." Snype replied.

"No." Penance said softly, "I'm not going. I was promised a few hours to talk, and I will take those hours." He frowned, thinking hard. "... Was there any time limit for when we are to return? If not, then I want the time I can here to make my decision."

"Penance," Grett began with a shake of his head. "You are under the impression that you have a choice in the matter. I imagine the fool Revoll offered you a chance to indulge yourself before he knew of your comrade's victory at the Gambler's hands. Now, do you honestly expect us to allow an enemy to remain? Want to talk it over with 'mon here? Join our side. If not... " Grett snapped his fingers, and a Psychic energy collapsed around the four Pokemon, as their forms began to vanish from sight. "...I'll be seeing you."

Callimer, Raz, Kaveri, Guardia, and Obsidian - Meet the Racers - Reverence, Anatellia

The Son's scout led the way toward the racetrack. The path carried through many of the monuments and gigantic structures. It became apparent they were heading through a good portion of the city on the way to the tracks, something that didn't take a short time. It must have been a solid hour before they finally reached their destination. It was a wide field, an area of the caverns hidden in a sort of valley. Here, unlike in many other parts of the cave, the stones were smooth and shallow, without any jagged rocks or stalagmites. It was clear that this was where the field started. Around, there were stands and stalls able to seat hundreds, maybe even thousands, which surrounded this open area.

They were led into a somewhat small (as compared to the other enormous structures around) building, where inside they were greeted by a stable of sorts, where countless Pokémon of different shapes and sizes were being held. There were also about five other Pokémon there, inspecting the penned Pokémon. There was a Mienfoo, a Clefable, a Skiploom, a Minun, and a Plusle. They were dressed with the fur wraps and coats on them, along with piercings identifying them as Sons of Arceus. Yet what they also had unlike many other Sons were helmets held under their hands, as well as other protection made apparently from the same material as most of the buildings in Reverence.

"Here are the foreign racers," The Sons scout commented to one of the five Pokemon, the Mienfoo. "I'll leave 'em to ya, gotta report back to Gaiyo. Good luck, Chaser. Make us proud!"

The Mienfoo who identified as Chaser nodded, and examined the rest of Valkarians as the scout left. He placed his hands on his hips and sighed. "Righto. Names Chase, but my race-name is Chaser. I'm the captain of the Sons of Arceus Under-race team. With me are Floor, The Seeker, and Tid and Bit," He explained, going in order to introduce the Clefable, Skiploom, Minum and Plusle. "Gaiyo already told me who you all are. I sure hope he knows what he's doin', sending in rookies. And foreigners for that matter... any of ya got any experience?"

"Yeah." Obsidian stated, "I've raced here before with my friends. But we usually go casual." He said with a meek shrug. "In any case, they may be new to the whole racing aspect, but they have some advantages in other areas."

"I know how to ride a Dragonite!" Kaveri piped up cheerfully.

"No experience racing in this regard," Razathiel admitted, "Though I'm certainly no stranger to moving at high speeds, or, for that matter, destruction, dismemberment, disembowelment, decapitation and death. By my hand, of course - armour seems to be something of a dress code, here; is it recommended or, indeed, compulsory?"

"This one's got a mouth on him," Chaser stated to the rest of his racers with an approving smirk. "I like it," He turned back to the Ralts to address him. "It's not required, but it's traditional in order to represent your sect. We'll probably be fitting you up later."

Obsidian nodded, "So, you want to see how they work? I'm sure the team can give you a demonstration."

"None of us really know how to ride too much besides Obsidian so," Guardia added with a shrug. "Whatever you can show us will be helpful."

Chaser nodded and gestured the group to follow him. "The Rulers of under-racing are simple. Each sect can enter in five sets total. A set is the combo of a rider and a mount, or a rider, a mount, and a backer. Backers can also ride on the mount as the rider's primary defense... and offense, if ya catch my drift. We've got three sets with us, which means the rest of you can make up our last two spots."

Chaser walked around and pointed across the pen. "The Sons own over a hundred mounts to use, in all shapes and sizes. Feel free to pick out any of 'em. Or, if you've got the stones, you can sign in as a mount yourself. Attacks are allowed, punching, kicking and tackling other sets are allowed. Basically anything is allowed, except leaving your mount or flying across the field."

Guardia looked out to the smooth area outside of the pen. "That's the field, right?"

"Lady," Chaser began as he crossed his arms. "That's just the starting line. The whole city's gonna be the field once the cones're set up."

"The entire city?" Guardia repeated in surprise. This apparently was a lot bigger than she anticipated.

"Yeeep," Chaser replied. "This race tests your hits and takes as much as your speed. You think we're here because we can ride and we're fast?" He shook his head. "We may not look at it, but we're some of the best fighters the Sons have as well. Which brings me to my next point... the competition."

He walked back over to the center of the pen, where the other Sons were standing. Bit the Plusle handed Chaser a clipboard with a list of names. He began reading through them. "OK, looks like we have a good turnout this year. Ninety-eight sects are turning up. But the main two we have to worry about are the Reverse Kings and the Dark Moons. Used to be The Pride that were the big deal, but now that they're allied with the Reverse Kings, they race with 'em. Reverse King's main set are the High Priest Robit, a Tangela, with his backer Buron, a Raichu. They ride on the back of a Tauros. Dangerous set. Watch out. They're the champs going in. They also have their second best set, Rogu, a Tyrogue. He's on the back of a Torterra. They ain't built for speed, but they can pack a punch."

Chaser shook his head and sighed. "Then you got the Dark Moons. They're just as good as the RKs, but much more dangerous. Because they're always goin' for the kill. I'm not sure the other four sets they've got going on them, but I know for sure who their main one is," The Mienfoo turned to the group. "Roxanna, the Queen of Darkness. The leader of the Dark Moons, and an Agent of Darkrai."

Kaveri simply stared a Chaser with wide eyes the entire time he was speaking. At first, he might've thought she was terrified - but the longer he spoke, the more her eyes sparkled. Now this sounded like fun! Dangerous? Sure. But whoever said danger wasn't fun was an idiot. "Awesome!" Kaveri cried gleefully, clapping her paws together and rubbing them together before turning to her brother. "We got this, yeh?"

"So, killing is entirely fair game?" Razathiel said with a growing grin. It had been mentioned before, but he just wanted to hear the words again.

"That's right," Chaser confirmed with a nod.

The Dreadmage giggled with glee for a moment, before catching himself. "And, erm- feel I should definitely clarify; we're on the same kind of, ugh... team, aren't we? I'll have to know where to direct the killing and where to not, obviously, so whatever the best way is to identify you lot, I'd better know about it."

Chaser nodded and walked over to the side of the room, where a large amount of armor of all shapes and sizes were hanging. This armor extended all the way to the end of the building. "Sons wear Silver to honor Arceus. We'll all be in that color, and we'll have our insignia painted on the back and front of our plates. That should be easy to tell us apart."

The sparkling green Dragonite had been silent the entire time, simply watching the goings on and thinking. At the mention of there being no real rules as to attacking fellow racers he smirked. "So, we can let loose with all of our strength huh? I think that nice little tidbit is going to win us the race if anything ever would." Cal smiled right back at his sister. "We sure do! Who needs to fly anyway? These legs aren't just for show." After that he turned to the dreadmage and let his smile grow a bit more malicious. "Raz, remember our little dive-bombing of the barbarians hiding in that cave on the way Argime? Y'know, right before that thing with the Rhyperior and the satisfying crunch?"

"That I do," the wizard replied with a smirk to match as he opened up his Magic Room, tossing his hat into the rip in space. "Though it's likely I'll be a little heavier this time - I assume you can handle that."

Callimer casually sidled over to one of the stables and reached in to lift a Tauros up into the air with one arm, ignoring it's startled noises and looking at Raz completely deadpan, by way of reply.

Razathiel gave the Dragonite a glance, "Oh, come now, don't show off; that's just unfair."

"Oh?" Cal questioned, raising an eyebrow but otherwise remaining unreadable.

"Well, as a Psychic, I can't really do anything impressive short of evaporating the poor bastard," Raz chuckled, dropping his staff to the floor and putting his hood down.

"Hey! Put 'im down!" Chaser yelled at Cal. "That's a damn good mount!" He then pointed his finger at Raz. "And you better not even try to 'vaporate him! Save that for the other sects!"

"Ooh, don't tempt me," The Dreadmage said with a devious grin, before shaking his head. "Don't worry about your Tauros, I'll save my energy for those Dark Moon bastards - see if I can blast them all the way to that Moon they apparently have a thing for. Anyway, any kind of restrictions on personal armour?"

His point made, (even if it was redundant) Cal wasted no time setting the Tauros back down in the stables.

Chaser glared at Cal the entire time as he placed the Tauros back in its spot. "Not really. I wouldn't overburden yourself, though, or you'll slow down your mount," Chaser explained to the Ralts.

Raz raised an eyebrow at the Mienfoo, "You did just see the- he did a whole thing! I probably couldn't burden Greenie if I tried. Now if you'll excuse me, please clear me a ten foot radius or so, lest a chunk of metal embed itself in your skull."

"What?" Chaser question with a raise of his brow.

"Just fucking do it, will you?" The wizard snapped, a few clunking sounds coming from inside his Magic Room.

"Whatever," Chaser answered with a shrug, and sloppily walked out of Raz's range.

Razathiel let out a hmph before waving a hand in the direction of his Magic Room. After a moment, he threw his arms out to his sides and various chunks of metal flew out from the rip in space. He levitated briefly, the metal fitting to the Ralts' body and taking shape around him before after a short delay, all at once, the fragments of armour pressed inwards with a clink and Raz dropped back to the floor. The wizard flicked his right hand, and his hood fell over the top of the helmet that was now covering his head.

"All right, I am not impaled. Wonderful. Glad to know that works."

"You're slightly less tiny now! Cool!" Kaveri chortled, moving forward to poke and prod at the Ralts. "No, seriously. Why didn't I get any of that?"

"Maybe it's because I'm a magnificent evil wizard, and you're just some meanie who picks on people for their size..." Raz retorted nonchalantly, deliberately looking away.

"Neat trick," Chaser commented. "Since he's in his own, might as well get the rest of you fitted. Go ahead and pick out whatever combo you like off the wall. Just remember that you have to wear at least one piece of armor, as part of the team colors."

Razathiel snorted, "Neat trick? You've no idea the intricacy that required. Regardless, what do I have to do to fit in with this 'team' thing of yours?"

Chaser looked over the Ralts' outfit, from his new armor to his hood. He placed a hand to his chin and pondered for a moment. Then, he grabbed what appeared to be a silver, chained overlay. It seemed more like an additional design rather than a piece of armor. On the front and back bore the symbol of the Sons of Arceus. "Throw this over your armor, and you're good."

"Very well," The Ralts said, accepting the chain and throwing it over himself.

Callimer was staring at the wall, brow furrowed while he looked at the various pieces of armor on the wall. There weren't exactly many, if any pieces that would fit on him, certainly none of the plate pieces were fitted to a Dragonite's...uniquely shaped body. "Errr...uh...hmmmm...Maybe I'll just wear a chain too..."

"Take a look around to the end of the hall," Chaser stated. "We've got armors in all shapes and sizes. And we've had some Dragonite riders and mounts before too, so there's bound to be some leftover. If you can't find any, which I doubt, we can always get you fitted and make something."

Cal searched around a bit, but ultimately decided on simply wearing a Sons of Arceus chain like Raz. "I think his'll do just fine."

Kaveri walked back and forth a few times, inspecting the available armor, before snagging a few pieces from the wall. She first fitted a helmet snugly over her head, then metal bracers on each arm. Nothing heavy that would slow her down, but having an extra hard head could only work in her favor.

Guardia elected to pick something a bit more form-fitting, placing a silver-colored upper body armor over her head, one with shoulder pieces attached to it. She also found a helmet seemingly made for her species, with holes on the top for her ears.

Chaser observed as the group chose their respective armors. As soon as everyone seemed fitted, he stepped forward again. "Alright, looks like we're all fitted. Now the last thing you need to do is figure out who you're gonna mount."

"That's easy enough." Cal said. "Kav and I are a team, always and forever." Kaveri, already having clambered up to sit on Cal's shoulders, nodded in agreement.

"So you'll be the mount then?" Chaser asked the Dragonite. "Well alright, I guess that works. And it looks like you've chosen yourself a racer too. How about a backer? You still going with the Ralts?"

Razathiel glared at the Mienfoo, "You didn't seem so intent on trying my patience back when I mentioned vaporising your precious little Tauros."

"All I asked was if they're still going with you," Chaser responded. "Hell if I know what you can do or not, and I ain't stupid enough to underestimate you ever since I saw Darkrai here in the flesh."

Kaveri perked up, staring down at Chaser from her perch. "Wait, what? You saw Darkrai? Here? When was that?"

"He's always around, with the Dark Moons," Chaser replied with a shake of his head. "How do you think they've risen so far and so fast? Power in numbers is one thing but when you see a god right before you, before your very eyes, it turns even the biggest of skeptics. I still remember the first time I saw him. Monstrous arms, larger than some of our buildings. Like a giant shadow loomin' over us," Chaser closed his eyes and inhaled sharply, then looked at the group. "He's probably gonna be at the race. I just know it."

Cal harrumphed. "Doesn't matter if he's there or not, I've already looked him in the eye, his presence won't help his mindless cronies one bit."

Chaser chuckled nervously. "I already looked him in the eye," He repeated what Cal repeated. "Saying that about a god so nonchalantly. Who the hell are you crazy fools?"

"Ask Gaiyo if you must know, I already told him, I don't wanna become a braggart." Cal answered dismissively. "Just don't forget, the Gold Tribe won't bow down and be beaten by anyone, not even a god."

"I'll brag for ya then!" Kaveri chirped, thumping her paw on Cal's head. "This crazy guy here fought one-on-one with big bad Darkrai and lived to tell the tale. Me and the little guy there?" She pointed a paw at Raz. "We fought one of his Agents and buried him dead. Literally."

The Dreadmage sniffed in Kaveri's direction. "Saying that as though it is my only achievement," He said with disdain, before spinning his staff and bowing theatrically, sending the edges of his robe billowing in a downward gust he created psychically. "Razathiel the Dreadmage, at your service; evil wizard extraordinaire, practitioner of foul magics and nefarious psychic powers. Death incarnate, really, on a good day. Evil day, rather."

"Don't forget devourer of ice cream and masterful showman." Cal continued sarcastically.

"Ice cream among other delicious confectionery treats," Raz said.

Cal thought about mentioning they were only speaking of things relative to Darkrai but he knew that Raz would simply begin to list off everything he's ever done against Darkrai and his minions so he just nodded.

Chaser shook his head again. "I heard of your names but I guess I didn't know what they meant. Still don't but... you say you fought Darkrai and his Agents?" He grunted. "Maybe we do have a chance at pullin' this off now. Roxanna is strong. I was worried about having some heavy hitters as back-up. Maybe I'm not as worried anymore."

"Hey, can I ride this one?" Guardia asked Chaser. The Mienfoo turned toward the Zangoose, who stood next to the pen of a Dodrio.

"Heh, ol' Diasy?" Chaser stated with a grin.

"You mean Daisy?" Guardia asked.

"Nah, Diasy. Long story," Chaser nodded. "She's a Sons favorite. Been in almost every race for four years. Won a few too."

"Why aren't you using her then?" Guardia asked curiously.

"Ours is big Boss," He replied as he pointed to the Torterra at the far side of the room. "Fastest Torterra in Anatellia. Plus, Diasy belonged to Jumpin' Jack. One of our best... he's a goner now. Roxanna got to him," He explained, as he huffed and looked outside of the pen. "Oh, look at that, they're setting up for the race."

On the outside, different 'mon had began gathering in the stands, while others slowly started to make their way onto the racetrack. Guardia observed as 'mon slowly began to pile toward that direction, and other sets of 'mon seemed to be setting up cones and barricade. Oddly enough, they started moving away from the field as well.

"I don't get it, why are they setting up outside of the field?" Guardia asked. "Isn't that where the field is?"

Chaser snorted. "That ain't the field. That's the starting line. Reverence is gonna be the track. It's a race around the city."

Abel, Penance, Thomas, Snype, Charlie, and Anna - The Gamblers Return

In a flash of light, Snype, Penance, Thomas, and Charlie suddenly returned to a familiar sight. They were in front of the cavern that they first arrived in when they came to Anatellia, with the Network Point beside them and the entrance to the white snowy surface behind them. It took Thomas a moment to figure out where they were.

"We're back in Anatellia," He stated. "We should go find the others in Reverence. Maybe share a little bit about what we've learned, and see what happened on their end!"

---

Having already been down the path before, it took less than ten minutes for the group to return to the sprawling, magnificent underground city of Reverence, and only a few minutes after that to return to the building that led to the marketplace where they encountered the Gambler. They wandered through the familiar path, hoping to once more encounter Anna and Abel along the way.

It probably would have done Anna some good to stop and get a drink--or maybe a breath--and calm down for a moment. She had not given more than a moment to herself after winning the bet before she began searching for her lost teammates. As she was told they should have appeared near the Network Point and it was in that direction that Anna moved now. Her little legs fast walked as quickly as she possibly could through the crowded streets. Even in her stress she was sure to say excuse me to every 'mon who got in her way and wait (somewhat) patiently for lines to move along. Even from a distance someone could see that the little Mareep could collapse and burnout at any moment, but she didn't allow a moment to consider waiting. The Gambler had repeatedly honored his bets yet Anna was ever the pessimist.

"You know." The Drowzee stated, "I could read your fortune if you want. I mean, I'm here anyways. Might as well and try to do something more entertaining then heading over and finding them." He said with a meager shrug.

Annabelle didn't answer the The Gambler as she pressed on, almost as though she hadn't heard him in the first place. She gave another "Excuse me" to a slowly moving Poliwrath in her way before weaving around them. Her mind came up with all sorts of terrible outcomes that had befallen her friends upon teleportation or the ambush that could be there or nothing at all since it was just a blatant trick for--

"... Alright then." He said with a sigh.

What? Anna looked glance briefly behind herself to The Gambler before putting her eyes on the road again. "I'm sorry, what?" It took a moment for her mind to process what had happened while she had been in the middle of her short panic. She vaguely remembered a water type. "Yes, tell us a fortune."

"Don't listen to what he has to say," Abel cautioned the Mareep from behind the two. "He's with Darkrai, he'll likely try to show you something you wouldn't want to see."

The Gambler didn't listen to Abel as he pulled out a tarot deck from a pouch, "I will say this, the powers he gave me don't allow me to force any untrue visions." He explained, "Everything is by fate alone. It's why I never cheated in my card game back there. The roll of the dice is all that matters. Though, your friend is right. I could show you a great evil that might happen to you, or a great good. It might even give you some time to understand how best to tackle a threat, should it come later."

He drew a card from his tarot deck and showed it to Anna, "This... is the future that could affect you." The image on the card shifted as Anna would see a trial occuring. It was too dark to see who was there, but it seemed that two mon were on trial. "This is very important." The Drowzee stated, "If you do not choose the correct path in this trial... blood will fall upon you." He silently put the card into his deck. "That is but a possible outcome in the future. You might even undertake a few actions that negate the trial even happening, or perhaps by trying to negate it, you cause it to happen. I cannot say for certain. All I know is that it is but one possible outcome."

Anna looked away from the card silently and swallowed hard. Nausea crept in her stomach and her head buzzed from the feeling of dizziness slowly coming over her. Regret too and the wish that Abel had stopped The Drowzee from drawing cards in the first place. Or maybe intervened before she spoke in the first place. She swallowed again, tripping over her own foot as she squeezed passed two more 'mon and then... Relief. Anna let out the breath she had been holding when she saw the familiar sights of the marketplace come upon them.

"Thank you," she said more to the abundant merchants and their wares moreso than she did to The Gambler. She put her mind back on the 'mon she was looking for as a last ditch effort to keep herself from collapsing prematurely. If Penance and the Gang had truly been teleported where The Gambler had said then they would be here by now.

Abel grabbed hold of the Gambler and ushered him forward with a not-so-gentle push. "Keep your prophecies to yourself," He commented, as he reached for a card the Gambler displayed to try and toss it away. As Abel reached for the card, the Gambler could only sigh, "No. Stop. Please don't do that." He replied in monotone. The card quickly burned the Medicham's fingers, burning them so that it felt as if he would be holding lava. At the same time, a small burst of electricity shot out of the card, with enough charge to throw Abel away. "Yeah... I wouldn't recommend that next time." The Drowzee stated, "The cards are related to my principle. Messing with them is still the same as cheating a bit in a next potential game." The heat from the card, as well as the pain of the shock, soon faded from Abel as he would feel... relativity the same still.

"Um... you probably should follow that advice.." Mer quietly commented.

Anna stopped in her tracks she felt the small burst of electricity erupt from behind her. She turned around and made for a short tackle on The Gambler. "And I would like to remind you," Anna began, feeling as though she had entered a brief moment of insanity, "that you are not in the position to give warnings."

Abel grunted for a second as he slowly rose following the shock that forced him back. He examined his hand, then turned back to the Gambler and silently scowled.

Soon after, Snype would follow the source of the small electricity and eventually found Anna's group. The Gambler was even there too! A lot seemed to happen while they were gone... "Hey!" Snype called out as he ran toward the group. "Kehe, alright which one of you just went off and saved our butts back there? Kehe" Snype asked with a big ol smug grin, even glancing over to the Gambler as if to say "told ya so".

The Gambler easily withstood the tackle as he nodded at Snype, "You're back per the agreement. Is that enough to show that I don't cheat?"

Penance didn't say anything to... anyone really. As Mer ran up to him, the duck didn't do a happy dance. He didn't talk to the Grovyle, or anything. He just walked on past. "Keep moving." He said, "Just... keep moving."

"That would be her," Abel commented to Snype has pointed to Anna with his good hand, while he rubbed the other one along his side, as if to rub away the pain and move past it.

If her wool were fur it would be standing on end. Snype's hello had shocked Anna, but when she turned to see them she was estatic. "Snype!" She exclaimed when she saw him. And Penance and Charlie and Thomas! It hadn't been as long as she had imagined it, but she was happy to see them as though she had not talked to them for years. "You're back! Is everyone alright?"

Snype looked over to Anna with a wide grin. He quickly ran on over to her and wrapped his arms around her giving a big Sableye hug! "You saved us? You must have made one hell of a gamble there to get us AND the gambler! You magnificent Mareep I could kiss you right now! Kehe!... actually what the hell! You deserve that much!" Snype quickly leaned in and gave a hard smooch right on Annas face!

An embarrassed blush came on the Mareeps face after the unexpected kiss and she laughed shyly. "It... It wasn't much. I'm just glad you're all back!" The waves of relief that stopped and started throughout this day would be unparalleled for the rest of her life she was sure. She... Hoped. "But..." She said in a more serious tone. "We need to get back, then we can discuss what happened to you all."

Snype rubbed the Mareeps head. "Kehe, sure we'll tell ya all about it. We actually learned quite a bit over there for the small amount of time we had." Snype said as he looked back to the rest of the group.

Penance, for the most part, just kept on moving. Not really paying attention to what they were saying as he was quickly leaving the others behind with his pace.

The Gambler just sighed, "Can we get moving?"

"Keheh, yeah but that' kinda our line." Snype said as he started to move. He didn't want Penance moving too far ahead or anything. He quickly turned back to Anna with a snicker. "Kehe, do me a favor and don't tell Kav about this." Snype jokingly said with a small wink. After that he looked over to Charlie... he figured the whole gamble didn't cancel out Charlies mind control... what was he thinking acting so brash? Was he trying to do the same thing as Anna? This little problem was going to worrysome to the Sableye... he had to make sure Charlie didn't go off and back stab him or something...

"... Let's keep moving," Abel murmured as they moved through the marketplace. "Gaiyo will want to know..." His voice trailed off, as he noticed a lot of movement across the structure. 'Mon seemed to be moving out of it and heading for the exit of the building. First there were others, but as the Sons talked with each other, more and more were fluttering to the exits, until it looked like they were running from something. Although the expression on their faces seemed to be more along the line of nervous excitement.

Penance made his way past the crowds with no interest what so ever. In fact, even Mer was looking concerned, "Um... was everything okay over there?" He asked Thomas warily. "Penance is always up for a party. Or at least a bit event."

Even the few Seekers they passed by who happily waved at Penance looked on in mild shock as the duck just trudged past him.

"We'll discuss it later, though it is probably something you ought to hear about," Thomas replied as he looked on at the Sons running about. "For now... excuse me!" Thomas yelled at a passing Son of Arceus, a Tangela. "Would you mind explaining why you are all in such a hurry?"

The Tangela stopped for a moment and caught his breath. "The Underrace is starting!" He stated after a moment to collect himself. "We're all trying to make it there, to get good seats, to see!"

"I didn't expect the race to be such a huge event in Anatellia," Thomas thought out loud. "Perhaps I underestimated its importance."

"That ain't all!" The Tangela interjected. Having recovered its breath, it took off again. "A psyduckin' god is there! Psyduckin' Darkrai's there!"

Even with such a loud announcement, Penance didn't react. He instead made his way to one of the larger buildings in the city.

"W-what?! Are you positive? Who told you that?" Snype said. He was here? Already? That couldn't be good for the folks over at the race! Who knows if the guy would pull some strings over there! He looked over to Penance who just started wandering off. He could quickly figure what kind of mood he was in after talking to those seekers.

The Tangela gestured with his head for the group to follow as it ran outside. Once he was, he looked on in the distance. "That told me that!"

Just Root Territory - Anatellia

Linx quietly listened to the Weavile's advice. His eyes darted between her and the town as she laid out how she would do things. After she had finished talking, Linx shrugged. "Err... yeah, yeah I was gonna say something like that too," He stated as he scratched his shoulder with his head. It was clear that the Sons of Arceus, despite being such a connected network of sects, and the largest one to boot, knew next to nothing about planning, military or otherwise. They truly were just one large, glorified gang.

"Spence, you go scout out ahead," The Linoone ordered the Spearow. It gave a small nod and salute with its wing, and took off into a high flight above. Linx then turned to one of the four Poochyena. "Marilie, you're our fastest, so if things go south here, you have to report back to Gaiyo what happened. Keep your eyes sharp. Don't get caught. Got it?"

"Got it, Linx," The Poochyena acknowledged.

"Alright, rest of us... let's see to this sect," Linx stated in a veil of confidence. He leaped over the hiding position they were in and proceeded toward the village. The rest of the group began to follow behind him.

The short walk there proved to be less than eventful, but it did cause Linx to become even more nervous than he was before. He didn't know if they were being watched now, and he had every reason to believe someone was bound to show up. Yet so far, no one appeared to be around save for his group and the town. Arriving in it, he observed as the 'mon gazed curiously, if somewhat frighteningly at them. They seemed bothered, irked, as if they were afraid the Sons would do something at any moment.

"You'd find more cheer in the catacombs," One of the other Poochyena murmured.

"Shutup," Linx hissed back to him. "We're here to make a good impression... but this does probably confirm that someone's been after them."

They walked through the small village to the center, where the large pillar was positioned. Around it, a group of 'mon draped in finer fur were seated, and praying. They stopped and turned in perfect unison when the Sons group arrived before them. Linx stepped forward and forced a large smile.

"Blessing of the Great Blue upon you!" He greeted with a unique hand wave in a circular, counter-clockwise motion. The priests returned the greeting, but remained cautious. The seeming head priest, a Lombre, stepped forward and spoke.

"Upon you as well, stranger," He stated solemnly.

"I know you must be wondering who we are, but I am he-"

"We know of who you are," The Lombre interjected. "We have foreseen your arrival, as we have with the others. Have you come to threaten and slaughter us like them as well?"

"Wh-What? N-no!" Linx stated in protest. "You have it all wrong! We're here to help you! We want to offer you protection. To get you out of this place."

"This place," The Lombre repeated as he closed his eyes and shook his head. "This place is our home," He explained and turned to point to the large pillar. "This pillar is the strength of Coballion himself. He has spoken to us from inside it. We have had the rare privilege of basking in his presence. No amount of villainy will make us depart our home."

"Respectfully," Linx began. "If you don't leave here, soon enough you won't be around to call this place a home. That's how this works now. But we can offer you protection at Reverence. With the Sons of Arceus."

"With the Sons of Arceus," The Lombre scoffed. "Under the grand leadership of the usurper Gaiyo Nyys? A 'mon so intent on abandoning everything that makes our ancient culture so prominent? He would see our ways all burned to the ground just so he can call himself king!"

"Y-you're wrong!" One of the other Sons blurted out angrily. "Gaiyo wanted to un-"

"Ber," Linx held up his paw to stop the 'mon, who reluctantly backed down. Linx turned back to the Lombre. You're right. The world isn't how it used to be. We used to be a different type of... err, you know, whatever. But Gaiyo is tryin', you know? He's tryin' to make us something again. Who else can say that? The Reverse Kings just want whatever is up for grabs. The Dark Moons want to see us all at the bottom of Kyogre's Bay! We are the only ones with anything worth offerin' that you could take. You'd even be able to keep worshippin' your Great Blue. The only thing that would change is where you'd do it. And you'd get us watchin' your backs."

The Lombre fell silent. He seemed to give this a good bit of thought. He then turned back to the other priests, and spoke to them for a little bit, before he turned again to the Sons. Linx gulped as he awaited the verdict.

"It is a difficult thing, to just leave a home. Will you give us the rest of the day to think this over and discuss among ourselves?"

Linx nodded happily. "Sure, sure! Whatever you need. We'll keep a watch around your town in the meantime."

"You will be our guests here, then," The Lombre stated. "See life through the eyes of the Great Blue."

"Err... yeah sure, that's cool!" Linx stated, not knowing exactly how to respond to the last line. The priest turned and walked away, and Linx exhaled deeply.

"Wew, OK well, it's a start," The Linoone said.

"Linx, why are we making so much effort over these guys?" The Hariyama with the Sons asked. "I mean, they're only gonna give us, what, a few dozen extra bodies? And not a lot of them seem like they can fight, either!"

"It's not always about the fight, Jett," Linx explained. "Gaiyo told me this was a top priority. Because even though these guys are small, they used to be a large sect over a century ago. They were grand, but they also kept to the old ways. The religious traditions. They didn't evolve with the times. And because of that, they lost a lot of their stuff. But think of what it would do for our rep if we got one of these granddaddys over with us! Other isolated sects might come too. This is a big step to bridge us back, to give the Sons that err... you know, that extra cred."

Linx turned to Zai and Silence. "We're gonna set up a... you know, a circle thing around the town. Watch for anything suspicious while they talk. You could do what you like, but if you came to Anatellia for anything, talking to those priests might be a good idea. They're really knowledgeable about the old ways. Your call."

A Swinging Mood​

It had been a few minutes ago when Penance had, surprisingly, asked the group, in a coherent manner no less, to patiently wait for him on the first floor. He had gathered some pens and papers, stating that he had some important Seeker business to attend to. Then... he had gone up to the next floor and all that the group had heard was a door being gently closed. That had been ten minutes ago, and there was still no sign of the duck anywhere. Mer was squirming a bit as he looked up again, "He never takes this long..." The Grovyle mused to himself.

"...And we're stuck until he does... whatever up there... after what happened earlier I'm not so sure if he's doing "important" seeker business... well actually maybe he is... hrm..." Snype rubbed his head and stood up. "I'm going up there." Snype said as he threw caution to the wind and followed where the Golduck had went.

"Don't take too long," Abel commented in his usual cold tone.

When Snype headed upstairs he could hear the sounds of...grunting... pain... whimpers... "...Ah!" Snype was quick to move as he followed the source of the sound and searching for Penance. He'd eventually figure out the location and was quick as he tried to open the door. "Penance! Comon I know what your doing in there! Stop doing that to yourself!"

Inside was the duck, wielding a small knife that he slowly dragged along one of his arms. Small trials of blood seeped down his arm amid the various cuts along it. Penance looked over at the ghost and let out a shaky cry, "Slices for the liar!" He called out, a bit of shaky laughter sounding out. "Just... f-fifteen... for the lies on my lips..."

Snype stepped forward to Penance and held his arm. "Penance!" Snype shouted at him. "...Comon man. I got a good idea what's on your mind and it sure as hell isn't worth all... this." Snype said with a worried expression.

Penance glared and gave a hard shove to the ghost, "L-Liars get their rewards!" He stammered out. Already, the blood loss was getting to the duck as he fell onto his knees, panting, "I.. just... more. Need... need... for e-every... lie..." He managed to murmur out before finally falling unconscious on the ground, the knife clattering to the side as he groaned weakly.

Snype leaned down to hold up the Golduck. "Penance... gah... blast it Darkrai..." Snype muttered to himself. He reached into his bag and searched for some kind of berry to at least give the Golduck some energy... he grabbed onto an Oran berry and placed it in the Golducks mouth.

Penance just groaned, "Lies... for... the liar..." He murmured out, too weak to try and use his tongue to push the berry out of his mouth, "Hehe... all leave... all leave..."

Snype frowned and would just force the berry down him, trying to make Penance at least chew his food. He wasn't going to let him pass out for blood loss. They kinda needed him to guide them through the city! And with the race going on... well he had to get Penance's head straight!... or as straight as it was before. "Penance...Talk to me."

The berry was forced down as the duck coughed as hard as he could, trying to get it back up. He turned away his head as much as he could, "Go... go.. t-traitor..." He croaked out, "Can't trust... no one."

"Wha? Me a traitor...? This is about those SEC members from before isn't it...? Penance... man I can't imagine how you feel right now..." Snype said with a frown. "...Penance I'm here if you want to talk about it. You saved my ass once before, the least I can do is try to help out."

He twisted away more and curled up, "Wake from the dream, the duck has fled." He sang out, "Wake from the dream, the queen is dead. Wake from the dream, the chorus is through. Weak from the dream, maybe some more pain will do. Wake from the dream, the skies are read. Wake from the dream for I made them that way..." He continued on and on, blurtting out nonsensical lyrics as he curled up into a tighter ball.

Snype attempted to comfort the duck, placing a hand on his back. The poor guy was really shattered up about this... "Penance look...

"What's taking up th-SWEET ARCEUS!" Mer cried out as he stepped into the room. He saw Penance laying on the ground, bleeding, and the only culprit in the room. "Get away from him!" Mer shouted out as his leaves began to glow a brilliant green. "You monster!"

"Ah! Hold on a second! I found him like this! I wouldn't dare do something like this to Penance!" Snype said, pointing to the knife in the Golduck's hand. He did back up though as told. No need to get things any more ugly!

"... Get... away..." Penance managed to murmur out.

"SEE! HE WAN-"

"You... Mer." The duck further clarified, "Get... away..."

The Seeker stared at him, "... What?"

"Can't... I get... peace?" He muttered. "You're just... a traitor..." He groaned out.

Mer glared at Snype, "What did you do to him!?"

"Dammit I didn't do a thing to him!" Snype insisted. "Just hear me out!...something happened when we got wrapped into that base. He met some of the missing seekers and... well they seemed to insist they were fine working with Darkrai. Penance is kinda taking it really hard now. Like... REALLY hard." Snype held up his hands defensively. "You can ask anyone else who was warped with me."

"... What?" Mer asked. "You lie! No Seeker would dare leave!" He spat out.

"Two fours don't make a right." Penance murmured.

Mer looked back and grit his teeth, "I need to find a doctor. At least bandage his wrists!" The Seeker quickly turned and ran back out, the thudding of his footsteps against the stair sounding out.

"No bandages..." Penance groaned out, "I made the sky red, I deserved it anyways." He sang out.

Snype continued to keep Penance company. He had to at least do something makeshift for now... Snype went into his bag and tried to find some kind of cloth or anything to cover up the wounds at least. Unfortunately he didn't have a whole lot on him, just the robe on his back. "Penance you can't let yourself go like this man. I understand if you don't trust anyone after that... to be honest that's one thing in common we kinda share..." Snype subtly mentioned. He really had no idea what Penance was going through right now. He wanted to keep his words to a minimum lest he make things worse.

A few moments later, Abel made his way to the top of the stairs "What's going on..." Abel began to say before his eyes set on the scene in front of him. "... here."

Snype instantly grew tense. He had a wounded Penance and Sableye alone in a room with Abel. That obviously was going to spell disaster if his previous threats indicated anything. "Dammit I already explained it once, I don't need any more fingers pointed at me." Snype said, quickly activating detect incase Abel wanted to try anything smart.

"Long die the... duck... for he lies..." Penance murmured out, his eyes closing as his breathing got a bit more labored, "Just... slices... do..."

The Medicham stared silently at the scene for a few more moments. His eyes trailed to the dagger on the floor, the bloody body of Penance, and then to the Sableye beside him. Slowly, he began to close the door behind him, and then locked it. "Did he cut himself?"

"Yeah. Whats it matter to you?" Snype said, getting on the defensive. This was horrible timing for something like this to happen, what with Penance's trust issues. Snype placed his foot down on the dagger and just stared at Abel.

"A pity he didn't finish the job," Abel stated coldly as he began approaching closer to the Golduck. He knelt beside him and shook his head. "And that Seeker saw him too, didn't he? Stupid fool. I knew you were unstable, Madman. I didn't also think you were weak."

Snype glared at Abel, clenching his fist. "Don't you dare try anything Abel! I know what you're thinking!" Snype stated, growing increasingly anxious in case Abel made a move to further harm the Golduck.

Abel snorted as he began to reach for his band on his arm, where his Gold Tribe emblem was located. He removed the emblem and salvaged the band. "What do you pretend to know about my intentions, King of Thieves?" Abel asked as he began to adjust the tightness of the band and make his way to Penance's wrist. "You think this is what I want? A leader like Penance, a leader of the Seekers is a crucial necessity right now. If he dies now, if he dies like the pathetic mongrel he is now, think of what that would do. He would die a coward. A traitor. A weak fool. His followers would disband in their sadness and give up their ways, because this entire organization revolves around his words, his leadership," Abel explained, as he adjusted his band onto Penance's wrist to help stop the bleeding.

"My country would burn, because as much as I would hate to admit it, the Seekers are out there right now, offering help in the depths of the plague," Abel shook his head. "Organizations like that cannot simply be removed like this. Not unlike others, such as a thief organization," Abel stated as he momentarily glared at Snype. "Those can be cut off at any time, because another King can always take their place. But not Penance. Not like this. Now, if I had arrived a bit earlier, before that Seeker fool had, maybe we could have gone about this a different way. We could have killed the Madman, say we found him like this, possibly plant evidence to suggest it was someone in league with Darkrai. It would be a rallying cry for all Seekers around, motivation to fight harder perhaps. And maybe even the Sons of Arceus would decide to help us out, given Gaiyo and Penance's relationship," Abel sighed.

"But that window passed," He let go of the band after tightening it. "The Seeker is likely seeking help, and news of what happened will also likely spread through the ranks. So now there is only one option: He lives. He must live. His day of reckoning will come. But it's not going to be today."

Snype just stared silently at Abel as he explained himself. Sure it made sense, but alot of the ideas he had presented still came off as really grimy. He was never going to get any other straight out answers from him about why he was like this. "...not very subtle with all that are you?" He simply commented, not really having much else to say about the matter. He needed to chat with Guardia about this sooner or later before someone got hurt.

Penance, for his part, was doing his best to get away from Abel and the band that was starting to block his wounds. Given his weakened state though, such a thing was far harder to do. "Liar liar... stab the heart." He murmured out. "Liar liar, they all fall."

"There's no need for subtlety in hypotheticals," Abel shot back. As he leaned in closer to Penance, and began to whisper to him. "Do you want me to tell you want will happen if you die like this, Penance? It's an interesting thing really. Maybe you'll expect what I'll say, but I severely doubt you will," Abel stated as he shot a quick glance at Snype, then leaned in closer. "Your life ends, but with it, another will take its place. Deep within your body, something will tick on and activate. That time bomb in your head? It'll go off... in a different way. The being known as Paradox will rise, but not as what you've come to know. He'll rise as whatever Darkrai wants him to be. And do you know what he'll do? Destroy everything you know. Kill everyone you remotely care about. Starting with Obsidian. And working down from there. Do you want to be responsible for that now?"

Penance only curled up into a tighter ball, opening sobbing now as he shook helplessly.

"You're weak," Abel shook his head at the Golduck in front of him. "You're a weak, pathetic imbecile. And because you're weak, you're going to pay," Abel stood up and placed his Gold Tribe emblem away, in his sack. "I actually thought my own coming out party would be in a different way but..." The Medicham shrugged. "Having the Seekers fight harder might be for the best I suppose. Darkrai would prefer that, I wager. Although it's hard to say for sure. He gives us so much leeway..."

Snype raised his brow. "...What are you on about Abel?" Snype asked, growing more tense.

"The inevitable." Penance croaked out, "The inevitable truth of the plight of birds."

"The inevitable truth," Abel repeated the mad duck's words. "Maybe there is a part of me that wants to stop my country from its fate. Deep down. But the inevitable truth is, Penance is a being of chaos. And so are his Seekers. And that's why I must preserve what they are, as they are. It's as I said before, if Penance were to take his own life, then the Seekers were to collapse," Abel proceeded for the door. "But if he, the Seeker that took off, and... let's add in Obsidian for good measure, were to meet unfortunate ends by an Agent, well, that's another story entirely. Looks like it's time to make my move, and I think I'll keep the Madman alive long enough to let his son die first." Abel grabbed for the door, and proceeded out.

"W-Wait!" Penance croaked out, "D-Don't!" He rubbed at his eyes as he blinked them, "... I-I c-can get good." He stammered out, "I won't... I won't if you pitter winckle." He sniffed a bit, "And then they pitter patter. And the pitters fall."

Snype stepped up toward Abel and followed him out. "So what? You intend to kill them off and pin the blame on an agent? Is that it? You're talking about preserving chaos as if you want to spread more of it or something by strategically killing them off!" Snype said with a stern glare. "Just whose side are you on Abel?" Snype said, getting himself in position to attack if necessary. He didn't like where this was going at all. He couldn't read this guy!

Abel stood at the edge of the door, and turned back into the room, and shook his head. "... Are you two really that blind? Or do you simply not want to hear the truth?" He asked them. "Ever wonder why I was selected to go to the festival instead of the leader of the Beatrucian Gold Tribe? Ever wonder why everyone has a story for my background, but no one ever spouts the same one? Do you ever wonder why every time you get closer to accomplishing something, things go awry? Do you think this is a jest?" He sighed deeply.

"I'm tired. Tire of the waiting, the planning," He ranted. "Tired of having to listen to you and all of your nonsense about winning and having a fighting chance, when the reality is you probably had the least chance because of one major problem."

Snype quickly activated Detect in response, starring Abel down. "...And whats that?" Snype asked.

"You were travelling with an Agent of Darkrai," Abel stated simply, and fired off a Focus Blast directly at the Sableye. The powerful moved roared through the air on the way to it's target.

Snype saw the blast coming his way. But he simply stood there firm as the blast didn't seem to effect the Sableye. Snype moved through the blast and moved in to strike Abel with Foul Play, but the Medicham was already gone.

Penance just shivered there, "Can't trust, can't trust..." He murmured out, almost in a daze, "All traitors..."

Snype clenched his fist. Nothing about this was a good thing! "Gah! I should have saw this coming... why didn't I talk to Guardia beforehand..." Snype turned back to Penance and held his shoulders. "Look I know what you're going through, but you have to snap out of it just for a little while! That traitor is going after Obsidian! If we don't do something about it then..." Snype shook his head. "Look once we finish all of this, I intend to look into our whole group to see who's truely committed to this cause Penance. I'm not going to have anyone backstab us a third time!"

"What's going on?!" A voice came from the doorway. It was Thomas, panting heavily as he looked at the scene. "I just saw Abel running down the stairways in a hurry. Wha-" He cut himself off when he saw the two 'mon. "What's going on?!"

Penance tried to stand, but immediately fell over as he groaned weakly, "S-Save... my son...." He croaked out to Snype, "I don't... care what... just... do..."

"Tend to Penance! That Medicham is an Agent! He's going toward the race!" Snype said frantically. "Penance you saved my hide once. I'll be sure to save your son." Snype said as he quickly rushed out the door. Mer would have to take care of Penance in the meantime. He had to stop that Agent by whatever means. Snype quickly rushed out the building but was stopped abruptly.

Leaning on the side of the building in his usual crossed arms was Abel, seemingly as calm and cool as ever. "Hey," He greeted the King of Thieves casually.

Snype turned to Abel. "You!" Snype glared at him.

"What did Penance do when he heard about what I said?" Abel asked the Sableye, ignoring his anger.

"W...what...?" Snype asked, extremely confused. "...more the same but what does that matter to you? He asked me to save Obsidian but looks like I'll be saving myself a trip." Snype stated angrily.

"Good, so it's a step above how he was acting before," Abel stated with a small nod. "Looks like the gamble paid off. I figured he only needed some motivation to get himself out of that sorry state. It's only a start though. You and Thomas and probably Anna will have to pick him up the rest of the way."

Snype just stared silently at Abel. first he was attacking them and now he was just... casually chatting with the Sableye? About Penance? "...Dammit you're a pain in the ass to read you know that? Was wondering why you went off and used Focus blast of things." Snype said, still a bit tense from the whole situation. "...I guess he is a little better though. So what then? Are you an agent or not?" Snype asked, just wanting to make sure. With so much going on at once it was difficult to concentrate on all the facts.

Abel rolled his eyes. "Arceus, you're dull," He pushed off the wall and faced Snype. "I was chosen to go to the festival because my leader in Beatruce said it sounded quote, unquote, 'boring'," Abel explained as he made air quotes. "Plus, I had worked with Guardia more and developed a stronger rapport. I attacked you with a Focus Blast because I needed to make a point without actually inflicting any damage, and there's so many different, alternative stories about me and my past because one day, some idiot decided to start a rumor, and that passed around like wildfire, changing every time. And each time, they got more and more ridiculous. And the only reason I didn't stop them was because they caused a lot of 'mon to simultaneously fear and respect me, a useful tool for someone in my position,"

Abel shook his head. "When you put anything up for discussion in the heat of the moment, even the most level-headed 'mon can make something from nothing. No, I'm not an Agent of Darkrai. Now are you going to go help the Madman or not? Because as far as I'm concerned, I've done whatever I can do to help. Whether it did anything, I don't quite care at this point. I'm more concerned with Darkrai at the races."

Snype looked back at the building and toward the direction of Darkrai. He was concerned about Penance. "Guess I'll have to explain that little fiasco to somebody in there eh?" Snype said as he rubbed his chin. "I better go in and help him. If they all think your an agent it isn't gonna be good. I take you'll be helping Guardia and the others?"

"I suppose," Abel stated with a shrug. "Better than standing around here. See you there."

"Right." Snype simply said as he headed on inside.

Snype headed back into the building, walking on upstairs. By now he at least expected Penance to be tended more or less. He just needed to let everyone know Abel wasn't a traitor. That was one heck of a scare. The Sableye opened up the door once more and headed on in. "Hey guys. Uh... this is a bit awkward but kind of a false alarm back there." Snype stated.

The Furret looked up from Penance. His hands were covered in small gloves and covered with blood, "Can it WAIT until I finish stitching him up?" He asked. "It can wait five minutes." The nurse he had with him just lightly coughed and awkwardly shifted.

"I..." Snype stood a bit awkwardly looking over to the Furret and simply nodded. "R-right... sorry..." Snype said as he stepped out to sit beside the door.

A few minutes did pass as the door opened again. The Furret stepped on out and brushed some fur back. "Now what is it? He's in a state of shock and can't respond at the moment." He crossed his arms, "Next time, knock when surgery is going on."

Snype looked up to the Furret. "Yeah... I'm really sorry about that... anyways, just needed to give you the heads up that Abel isn't a traitor... let alone and agent. He did that on purpose for Penances sake... at least to get him a step above from his current situation." Snype said with a shrug. "I mean... at least he isn't cutting himself anymore." Snype said with a sigh.

The Furret stared, then let out a sigh, "When the rest of you get back, I'll have to inform you all more about his history. Know this, he's stable for now. I'm watching over him. Go and see where your allies are and bring them back."

Snype nodded. "Right... to be fair I've been curious it just... thats kind of a difficult thing to ask somemon like him no offense." Snype said as he crossed his arms. "Then again who am I to say that kind of thing?" Snype muttered quietly to himself

The normal type shrugged, "It's complicated. Get back here, and make sure you bring Obsidian. I think.... it's time he hears what's been kept from him."

Snype glanced to the side and then back to the Furret. "Alright then. Keheh. I gotta make sure everyones alright back at the races anyways. Hrm... but the Gambler... well I guess if he's bounded to Anna, nobody can really get between the two! Kehe" Snype said with a snicker. "Well I'll head out. And I'll make sure Obsidian is safe in the meantime too."

He gave a nod, "Also, a note. When you all get here... don't tell him any bad news. He's slipping and I can't assure you he'll be stable if you just rile up his emotions more."

"Kehehe, when I get there, the news will be "Hey we won the race and gave Darkrai a kick to the shin!" Snype said with a wide grin. "I'll see ya in a bit!" Snype said as he headed on out the door.

The empty courtyard Guardia had first seen had filled to the brim in a matter of hours. Many Pokémon, thousands, had gathered in the stands, murmuring excitedly at the grand event that was set to begin. It wasn't just the Sons that had gathered either. The Underrace was an event enjoyed by all of Anatellia, and so all of Anatellia had come to it. Hundreds of different sects were being represented in the stands. Virtual unknowns that have now been assimilated into larger ones, third-tier sects such as the Earth Dwellers and Monsoon, well-known second-tiers such as the Mystic Flight, the Pride, and the Spirit Seekers, and most especially, the three first-tier sects: The Sons of Arceus, the Reverse Kings, and the Dark Moons.

The riders for each of the sects had also began making their way onto the field. Each sect was allowed up to five different combinations of riders, and many utilized all of those spots. Guardia was impressed by the amount of racers on the field. She expected a dozen, maybe as many as twenty or thirty, but there were hundreds. Many wore their sects' colors and symbols, and along the field, many had already taken to insulting each other, and flashing the signs of their sects as an intimidation factor.

The five groups for the riders of the Sons were also present along the field. They were the combination group of Raz, Cal, and Kav, the Plusle and Minum along the back of a Rapidash, the rider nicknamed the Seeker, a Skiploom, tagging along with Floor, a Clefable, who were on the back of a Golem, and Chaser, who went solo on a Stantler. The Dark Moons, oddly enough, had yet to arrive, but Guardia spotted the Reverse Kings in the middle of the pack. Oddly enough, they were only relying on two sets of riders, one for power and one for speed. The first set, a Raichu and Tangela, seemed to be on a Tauros, while the second set had a lone Tyrogue on the back of a Torterra.

The rest had various other 'mon that seemed to have their own strengths and weaknesses. Guardia knew in her mind that many likely had done this a lot longer than them. The only way they were going to have a chance to pull this off, she believed, was if they utilized the 'no-rules' rule. After all, many of their best strengths happened to be that they were strong.

"Them's the Reverse Kings I told ya about before," Chaser stated as he showed the two Reverse Kings riders to the far side. "They'll be your biggest problem. Well, them and..." Chaser looked around. "Hmm, not here yet, looks like. Let's keep an eye out."

Obsidian sighed as he sat near one of the top benches. To be honest, he never liked the mindless violence that the races brought. Technically, the rules Gaiyo handed out weren't being broken. They were at the same event, and even though Obsidian had distanced himself just a bit, he was still keeping an eye on the guests. The only good thing was that the upper seats, predictably, were quite bare. Another annoyance he had founded a dislike toward were the cheers that were so loud that it would cause a ringing in his ears. Up here? Not so much. But still... where were the Dark Moons? If he was a betting mon, he would say that they were planning some over the top entrance. He just pulled out a book from his pack and opened it up.

Guardia patted the side of her Dodrio mount, while she kept glancing side to side to observe the other racers. Most of them didn't pay her any mind, other than occasional glares. She was fairly certain hardly any even knew who she was. It was an interesting change than the experience of walking among 'mon in Valkaria, where she was well known. Here, she was just like the rest, just another rider. She was definitely going to try and use that to her advantage. She may not have had the experience of any of these other riders. But she knew for a fact she was probably stronger than most of them.

Well, most except probably...

"What's this?" A voice echoed through the large cavern, seeming to conquer over the numerous other sounds of the Pokemon around. Many turned their heads side to side to try and locate the origin of the voice. It giggled through the cave. "So many have come. Have you come to witness the rise of chaos? All of you? Mareep to the slaughter?"

"Up there!" One of the racers called out, pointing to an elevated rock formation within the cavern. Squatting down, observing the masses, were two 'mon. One was an abnormally large Rhyperior, standing a good two times the size of any normal 'mon their size. It had dark purple armor encasing its chest and skull, and a chain attached to its horns.

The second 'mon held the chain. It was a Zoroark, clad in a fine, dark cape with midnight jewels embroidered into it. She also had on a form-fitting, dark armor over the cloak, custom-designed with a chest piece and shoulder plates. Upon her head, a dark crown was present.

Her appearance was marked by a flurry of reactions. The brave few who were in a position to (most from the Sons of Arceus, though a few also did so from the Reverse Kings) booed her mercilessly. A vast larger percentage were met with a set of flinching, whimpering, and cries of distress. And many more, ones who had symbols of their alliance with the Dark Moons, cheered for her emphatically.

"Roxanna!" One of the Dark Moons cried as he raised his hands to her, as if to try and reach for her magnificence.

"Queen of Darkness!" Another yelled in glee.

"Darkrai's Voice!"

"Darkrai's Will!"

"Darkrai's psyducking dead idiot rattata!"

Guardia looked around at the Dark Moons that cheered for this Zoroark, taken aback a bit at how much they seemed to revere her. She obviously had a large part to play in all of this. This may not play out as easily as she initially thought.

"Are you going to sit around on that rock like an idiot all day, Roxanna, or are you going to get down here so we can race?" The voice of Fen Driar, a Shiftry and leader of the Reverse Kings called out from the audience. His outburst was followed by a string of laughing, but also shouts of protest.

The Zoroark merely glanced down at the Shiftry in the audience. "You dare talk to me, who champions the will of the Dark One?" She laughed deeply. "I speak with his purpose. I fight with his power!"

"Sure you do," A Son of Arceus lieutenant laughed from the audience. His reaction was followed by more laughter, as the groups divisively berated each other and the Zoroark with their words. The Zoroark, on the other hand, did not shout back. Instead, she stood up from her crouching position and smiled mischievously into a space above her. Her voice was low, but strangely, quite audible.

"Destruction Saint, swims in blood. Sealed away eternally," She began to utter. Guardia cocked an eyebrow. The words sounded oddly familiar. Then, her eyes widened as she remembered where she had heard them. Roxanna lifted her arms to her sides, and continued. "Shattered cell, ends begins. Chaos for eternity!"

Though he couldn't remember ever hearing them, the chants sent a shiver and an extreme sense of foreboding through Cal, blanketing an unsettlingly intense anger. He stood stock straight and stared at the Zoroark, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

As she finished her sentence, an odd, low noise began to make its way to the forefront of the scene before them. From the area just above the stadium, a blackness began to form. began as a small dot, an orb of dark destruction, one which slowly began to collapse upon itself and expand in an unnatural but mesmerizing way. Then the blackness suddenly expanded at an exponential rate, earning surprised reactions from the Pokémon below. Guardia glanced upon this sight with uneasiness, yet preparedness. Her Gold Tribe training kicking in, she observed the scene in a calm demeanor unlike many of the Anatellians.

That is, until the black seemed to wallow against itself, and spit something out of the spawn itself. The Darkness formed into a shape. A large, hulking, familiar shape. That of Darkrai, in a massive form the likes of which Guardia had only seen once before: during the battle of Gold City. The gigantic form of Darkrai hovered over the racetracks, its shadow covering the entire sight below. Looks of surprise and screams of panic began to make their way across the faces of the sects present. Others, like the Dark Moons and their allies, took to bowing to the monstrous being above them, their God.

Kaveri's eyes widened as she stared up at Darkrai, though really... They had been warned that he would likely be present, so she wasn't overly surprised. Glancing about at the stunned faces of all the other racers, she looked back up the dark legendary and waved cheerfully. "Hey! Don't suppose you've considered that marriage proposal anymore, eh?" she called up, likely earning herself more than a few befuddled looks from any Anatellians who weren't too busy being scared.

Cal took a step forward, so tense that his muscles were shaking. He had been trained for these kinds of things, he never lost his cool, he hadn't even when he was fighting Gabriel. He couldn't fight it though, his unease showed no matter how hard he tried to fight it. His wings stretched to their full length in a flash as if he was about to leap at the image of Darkrai above them, or the Zoroark that had summoned him and he growled deep in his gut.

Razathiel took a look at the Zoroark and seemed angered also, though for different reasons. "Think they can show me up, eh? I've got a thing or two to show them, chaotic bags of psyduck... not even any theme music..." The mage dashed off quietly and suddenly, supposedly with a plan in mind.

Kaveri blinked at Cal in alarm, quickly clambering up onto her brother's back and patting his head (careful to avoid the pointed horn). "Hey, hey, come on, I know he's not the prettiest but that's no way to react to your future brother-in-law. Besides, it'll be more fun to wreck 'em in the race."

"I just - he - I've got to....grrrrrrrr." Cal continued to grind his teeth and glare at Darkrai, but after a few more moments he shook his head and, failing that, punched himself in the forehead. "Right, we'll show them the Gold Tribe can win at anything, anywhere, and anytime."

"That's the spirit!" Kaveri cheered with a wide grin, then looked back up to the dark apparition above. "Ya hear that, Darkrai? Get your rear end, if ya got one, to your seat so you can watch us kick Roxanna's butt!"

The large, menacing form of Darkrai said nothing in reply to the 'mon below. He just continued to glare intensely at them, which was enough to send many of the racers running for their lives out of the field. The Plusle and Minun combo with the Sons were prepared to do the same, but Chaser grabbed hold of them.

"W-wait, damn it!" He spat. "H-he's just trying to get us to run and lower the competition!" The Mienfoo then glared angrily at Kaveri. "And what the hell are you doing tryina antagonize him?! Are you trying to get us killed?!"

"If he was gonna kill us I'm pretty sure he woulda done it by now," Kaveri said dismissively even as she stared up at Darkrai, now with a frown. "He's being really quiet, though. He was really talkative back in Tollen," she pouted, then waved to Darkrai again. "Heeeey, you awake up there?"

"Tollen, what?" Chaser asked in confusion. "Just stop whatever you're doin', damn it!"

Roxanna skated down the side of the cavern, with the Rhyperior in tow. She halted gracefully at the bottom, just before the arena, before she and her mount walked to the field. "Do not trouble yourselves, spectators! The Bender of Reality does not soil his hands with the common 'mon. He shall only be a spectator here. I will ride for the Dark One to victory, and bring the glory to the Dark Moons!" She yelled, earning cheers from the audience.

"You expect them to race with that hanging over them?!" The Reverse Kings Saint questioned with a hint of anger and possibly fear.

"The Dark One is a spectator like anyone else," Roxanna retorted gently. "Unless, of course, Fen, you have a problem with it? In which case I invite you to please share your concerns with him directly," She stated and pointed to Darkrai above, whose eyes momentarily moved toward the Shiftry. Fen nervously quieted down, unable to speak.

"No problem, but I DO have something to say." Cal answered despite not being addressed and smirked, glad for a small way to vent. "I hope he's going to enjoy floating there and failing at being menacing, it should be a real treat watching me kick his special little dark-snowflake's ass!" It wasn't like Cal to grandstand, but he was having fun doing it, even though he doubted Roxanna would be daunted in the slightest. It was enough knowing the only reason was that she had no idea what was in store for her.

"Cute," Roxanna giggled at the Dragonite. "But a worthless proclamation, as I intend to do the same to you and your companions, to settle a score. And I shall do it in the Dark One's honor!"

Obsidian looked up from his book up top, seeing the scene, and then looked back down the page. This race was going to take all day, wasn't it?

From the edges of the stands, the poles surrounding the clearing and even from the floor of its centre, brilliant balls of flame rose - fireworks, pyrotechnics that exploded in a shower of light that cast a cloud of smoke of oddly specific shape across the field. Across the stands, the instruments of various musicians trembled in the hands of their wielders, beginning to play of their own accord. This tune would be new to many, though some may have heard it before - on that fateful day at the festival in Gold City. From the cloud of smoke, two great crimson eyes appeared, and seeming to emanate from the area came a voice, booming in spite of how irksomely gravelly and high-pitched it was.

"Behold, citizens of Anatellia!" The voice echoed, pausing for a moment to laugh menacingly. "A surprise competitor has entered the race, that all might gaze upon his villainous magnificence! All fear the evil that radiates from his very presence!"

In a swift breeze tinged with psychic energy, the smoke cleared, revealing Razathiel in all of his miniature glory. "Me! Razathiel, the Dreadmage, the Dark Psyker! None may stand against me!" The Ralts paused again, satisfied with his opening. "So go about your business, eat some popcorn - I don't psyducking care. Enjoy the race or something."

Many Anatellians, particularly from the Sons of Arceus, laughed or clapped at Raz's performance. Obsidian quickly stood up and began clapping eagerly as well at the show that Raz had performed. He looked over to a few Anatellians from the Dark Moons who stared at the clappers, "What!?" He said out loud as he gestured to the Ralts, "At least he put in some EFFORT to his entrance rather than just appearing and glaring menacingly! Anyone could do that!" He sat back down, "At least he got me interested enough to put my book down." He muttered more to himself.

Roxanna, however, did not seem impressed. She gritted her teeth and glared intensely at the Ralts. "An unnecessary bit of showmanship. Do you dare go against me, the Queen of Darkness, Dreadmage?"

Instead of floating down, Razathiel instead rotated himself in the air so as to be perpendicular to the ground, smirking with his eyebrows raised as he looked down lazily at the Zoroark beneath him.

"Oh, hi! Seems I didn't notice you there. I guess probably because your intro psyducking sucked. Who are you again?"

"I am the one who will kill you," Roxanna announced venomously. "You cost me dearly for eliminating my colleague Tyren in Tollen. I have my debts to repay, and your life shall be the cost! The power of Almighty Darkrai flows through me!"

Obsidian stood up and shouted out again, "ARE YOU GOING TO RACE!? OR JUST TALK ALL THE TIME!?"

"Yeah, get on with the damn racing!" Another audience member shouted, as he nervously glanced upwards to Darkrai above. Other seemed to have the same notion.

Gaiyo nodded his head as he glanced toward the field. A good portion of the riders seemed to have ran off because of Darkrai's appearance, but a sizable portion of them still remained. "Riders to positions!" He announced, followed by a loud roar from the crowd.

"Hmph," Roxanna snorted and cast one last glance at the Ralts, then toward Guardia, Kaveri, and Callimer. "I shall look for you on the tracks. Try not to be too much of a disappointment."

"I didn't disappoint your sugar daddy apparently." Cal sniped as she walked away, cocky grin plastered on his face.

"Toodles, then! Have fun killing me!" Razathiel said sassily, floating away with a grin plastered on his helmeted face. He continued to mock the Zoroark as he left, facing away but deliberately being loud enough that she could hear. "Oh, I'm a big mean queenie, I get all my power from somebody else; isn't that impressive?! Hope I don't die like a psyducking rattata, that'd be a shame..."

"Then I guess I'm a shameful degenerate." Cal said before hoisting Raz up onto a shoulder and standing near Kaveri, except he seemed to have forgotten that Kav had already climbed up onto his back. "Because I intend to break her."

Obsidian quickly made his way down through the various levels and steps until he finally managed to make it next to Gaiyo, "I need a seat for this." He stated, "Raz is making this worthwhile."

"He's spicing up the event," Gaiyo commented to Obsidian beside him. "I don't think I've ever seen someone try to outdo Roxanna in that manner. It's surprising. Let's just hope he has what it takes to beat her here," He stated, before rising up from his seat.

Everyone below who remained on the track following the appearance of Darkrai were now in position. Guardia positioned herself beside Cal and the other three Sons riders. Toward the far side of the track, she spotted Roxanna hopping on the enormous Rhyperior, and to the other side, she spotted the Reverse Kings sets of a Raichu and Tangela on the back of a Tauros, and the Tyrogue on the back of the Torterra. She made a note to watch out for those guys.

Gaiyo cleared his throat. "Riders in position. Track is laid out. First one to the finish wins!" Gaiyo announced to the crowd. He then raised his hand as he prepared to the announce the commencement of the race. Hundreds of Pokemon waited anxiously for his hand to go down and for the race to begin. A few inched their way closer to the starting line, while others backed away from other riders. Most notably, many riders around Roxanna subtlety tried to move away from the Zoroark.

Gaiyo lowered his hand, and immediately everyone took off forward, with a few 'mon jumping ahead to an impressive early lead. The Tauros of the Reverse Kings was one of the first ones ahead, gliding over much of the competition as it shot forward like a bullet. However, after only a few mere seconds into the beginning of the race, a large, powerful attack suddenly burst from the side, a Dark Pulse which tore through the racers in a line. The attack encompassed a surprising area, including the path Guardia was traveling. She kicked the side of the Dodrio she was riding in a last minute ditch effort to outrun the path of the Dark Pulse. She narrowly avoided the attack, but she heard the shouts and screams of other 'mon not as lucky.

After the attack seemingly subsided, Guardia turned around to observe the damage. Other 'mon had also launched attacks at the start of the race, but none were as powerful as the one she narrowly dodged. The Dark Pulse, which she could see now came from Roxanna, had literally tore through the competition. Riders and mounts lay dead on the track, while many others were injured or knocked off their teams, and thus disqualified. Roxanna, on the back of the Rhyperior, then stormed forward with the other racers, with the Zoroark looking as confident as ever. Guardia could understand why. She wasn't just a talker. She had power to back it, unlike other Anatellians. With a single move, she knocked out dozens of riders.

As soon as the race started Cal began to run, quickly lagging behind as he observed the goings on. His eyes spent most of their time on Roxanna, his goal was to beat her far more than it was to win the race. When she launched her Dark Pulse he bunched up all the muscles in his legs, then jumped with a simultaneous push from his legs and flap from his wings. He soared over the attack as well as some of the other racers, making sure to keep his wings folded so he wouldn't glide and risk being disqualified. He angled his descent so he'd land on one of their opponents, a rather strange trio actually. It was a surprisingly tall Sudowoodo, almost Cal's height with a Seviper wrapped around him and and a Chimchar clinging to the Seviper.

The Chimchar saw Cal and managed to warn the Sudowoodo in time for him to get out of the Dragonite's way, but his landing still knocked them off balance and sent them to the ground. "Rhyperiors are not fast pokemon, not even the fastest of them, she must be intending to win almost completely through force. Well we're not going to be outdone by Darkrai's lead rattata!" Raz and Kav's emeraldine mount glowed white and he began to sprint almost as fast as he could normally fly, defying physics with his comparatively short legs. He dashed straight through a tight bunch of racers, batting a Rapidash out of the way like a toy and slamming an Ice Punch into the ground right before a Stantler used Quick Attack. The poor wretch careened off course unnervingly fast, making for a rather grotesque stop at the wall of a building.

The moment they'd put some distance between themselves and the finish line, Kaveri sat so she was backwards on Cal's back. A glowing blue orb formed in her paws, though it took on a frosty hue when she set icy fangs to it, combining the freeze of an Ice Fang with the Rain Dance she tossed into the air. A cloud rapidly formed over the racers behind them before a torrent of freezing rain, mixed with a small amount of sleet, came pouring down on them, turning the dirt at their feet into a muddy pit and the rock slick and slippery. From there on out, it was a matter of flinging a barrage of Water Pulses out at surrounding racers, and keeping an eye out for Roxanna.

Aiming and attacking while moving at high speeds wasn't something Razathiel was unused to, though it occurred to the mage that not being the one controlling the direction and velocity of his movement may prove slightly uncomfortable. He turned to face behind the Dragonite, one hand on the Gold Tribesman's mail to steady himself and his staff in the other as he kept an eye out for Roxanna. To his right, he spotted something: a blast of Dark energy. The wizard countered the projectile with a quick Dazzling Gleam before striking back in the same direction with a concussive Psyshock. Purple energy rippled through the air and struck a Zebstrika mount in one of the front legs, sending the beast and its rider - a Krokorok - sprawling into the dust and out of sight.

"Don't psyducking waste my time," Raz snapped at the poor mon'. He'd realised the blast didn't come from the Agent of Darkrai almost as soon as he spotted it - he was sure the real deal, especially with Darkrai being apparently present, wouldn't be deflected nearly so nonchalantly. "Where's Darkrai's psyduckwit gone to? Frankly, this race is rather pointless if we don't murder the muk out of her."

"Stay focused!" Guardia called out from in front of the trio of Kav, Raz, and Cal. It wasn't too surprising that she had managed to jump ahead of them, being on the back of a Dodrio. A very, very fast Dodrio. That and her being without another rider made things quite lighter, it seemed. Even though she had only one day of practice for this Under-racing thing, all she had to do was let the mount do the work, and she would keep an eye out for everything else. "Our goal is to win the race, not take out the Agent! That's secondary!"

The Zangoose slapped at the side of the Dodrio to pushed it further forward. It navigated through the path of the racetrack, which began to curve and take them in between the large structures of Reverence. Cones were set up across the sides, and fans observed from the outsides of the track as they cheered on the riders of their sect. The path began to steep, and Guardia could feel the legs of the Dodrio working harder to continue at its normal speed on the slope. Across her, 'mon fired attacks back and forth at each other. Guardia was focused more on guiding the Dodrio then firing back, but she did go on the defensive.

A Poliwhirl fired a water gun directed at the Gold Tribe Leader. She quickly countered it with the signature move of her family; a Thunder shot down from above directly in front of the Zangoose, which was used to intercept the water gun and stop the attack. It was a great defensive maneuver, and one Guardia was happy she knew at this very moment, as many of her species often lacked long range defenses.

The path began to curve down again, revealing a larger portion of the track and the racers involved. Guardia spotted all the way in front the Reverse Kings riders of the Raichu and Tangela on the back of the Tauros. They were a good distance ahead of the middle of the pack, and each second they seemed to be gaining more ground. A quick look behind her near the back of the track saw the secondary Reverse Kings team, the Tyrogue with the Torterra, ripping apart anybody that lagged behind. It seemed that their strategy was to have the Tauros team do the running and the Torterra team do all of the fighting. Not too far behind the Tauros, however, was Roxanna on the back of her enormous Rhyperior. Surprisingly, it was moving quite swiftly for its size. It didn't help that the Queen of Darkness was firing left and right, completely eradicating absolutely any 'mon she set her eyes on, no matter the size or sect. She saw a hint of a smile on the Zoroark's face too. It seemed fun for her. Fun and easy.

Now facing forward again, Kaveri caught sight of the Agent of Darkrai ahead of them. The distance between them was too great to cover through simply running, but maaaaybe she could do something about that. "Ey, Tiny, feel like makin' it really storm?" she asked the Ralts, referring to his electric moves as another frosty blue orb formed in her paws. Using the same method she'd used at the beginning of the race, she created a smaller cloud that poured freezing rain down on Roxanna and her mount - if Raz got the hint, hopefully some lightning would be added to the mix. While that might possibly distract the Zoroark, Kaveri doubted it would do much to deter her. So, forming an Ice Pulse, she flung it at the Rhyperior's legs. Her aim was to either knock them out from under the giant rock top, or just hope that the ice that shattered on contact would stab into it like an annoying little thorn.

Razathiel shot a glare at the Floatzel, still scanning behind Callimer. "Do you have a problem with referring to me by name, or are you really just that dense?" The wizard shook his head and sighed. "What the psyduck is it you want?"

"Some thunder and lightning, bang!" Kaveri specified more specifically.

The Ralts sighed again in exasperation, hopping from Callimer's back to one of his shoulders. "Where? What for? Did you find Rattatay McPsyduckface or-? You found Rattatay McPsyduckface!" Razathiel nearly jumped off of the Dragonite in anticipation, before remembering Kaveri's request and firing off a Thunderbolt from the tip of his staff to rumble in the frosty cloud, cackling as he did so. He cleared his throat before turning to the side of Cal's head and saying, "I'd save extremespeed to dodge those massive Dark Pulses. They seem like they'd give good opportunity to counter attack. And obviously, I'm not too keen on the idea of getting hit by one of those, are you?"

"No but I'm not too keen on falling too far behind either, running isn't exactly my specialty, especially compared to half the 'mon here who are known for doing almost NOTHING but run." Cal answered squinting towards Roxanna. "I think I have another contribution right now though, Raz you ever tried directing someone else's powerful attacks before? Because if so I have a delight ready for you." Cal concentrated as he ran and did his best to gather and condense energy without slowing down, and after a few seconds of concentration a perfect blue sphere about the size of his head and coated in silent black flames appeared above his hand.

"If you're referring to countering enemies attacks, then I've done my fair share," the wizard replied dryly. "Though if you're assuming I've engaged in any kind of teamwork you're unaware of, then I have serious concerns over your impression of me."

"All that matters is that you're capable of redirecting someone else's energy more precisely when they aren't fighting against you." Cal smirked and gently pushed the sphere above his hand, watching it float into Kav's cloud. "Let's really give them a show they won't forget, Roxanna included."

"So be it," The Dreadmage said. "Get me a little closer and I can direct those Draco Meteors of yours right onto McPsyduckface's psyduckface."

Cal didn't want to use Extremespeed again so soon, but he had to catch up a bit so he made another wing-powered leap towards Roxanna and used the momentum to speed up a bit upon landing. Hoping not to draw the ire of whoever watches the race for rulebreakers Cal risked one more jump to close the cap a bit and then stayed on the ground. "Alright let'er rip and try to rip'er in the process!"

With Razathiel's expertise in subtle psychic telekinesis, the manipulation of the meteors' directions was child's play; small, deliberate adjustments almost as soon as they were spawned from the clouds led to exponential changes in landing position. After the first meteor, he barely had to think in order to get the balls of dragonfire aimed right down at the Zoroark beneath them. Perhaps he'd have to use a little concentration if she started dodging - even then, he considered, it left good opportunity to react to her dodging of the meteor in order to launch an alternative attack. The wizard smirked.

In front of them, the Queen of Darkness continued to fire upon other riders around her, seemingly undeterred by the rain cloud above her. The Rhyperior under seemed mildly bothered by it, but continued to rampage forward. However, as the attacks began to pour down upon her, Roxanna glanced upward to them. She smiled mischievously, and oddly enough, did nothing to try and prevent their fall. The draco meteors and lightning bolts collided around her, and on top of her, yet she didn't seem the least bit damaged. Some even seemed to go straight through her and onto the hide of her sturdy mount below, who reacted with a set of roars of pain. Instead, she observed to see the source of the attacks, and spotted the group behind her. She prepped herself, and fired off a second, enormous Dark Pulse directly at the group of Cal, Kav, and Raz. The Dark Pulse's trajectory seemed lower, as if it were fired off at an angle, causing it to begin closer to the ground and continue upwards in case the three tried a jump to avoid it.

"Alright, I've had enough!" Cal shook his head and snorted like a frustrated Tauros and began to glow white. "Raz, forcefield! Shield! Whatever you can do, just give me a second!"

The Ralts fired off blasts of dazzling Fairy magic in as defensive a pattern as he could manage, hissing at the Dragonite, "My shields are Psychic, you moron! Magical shields from Dazzling Gleam are impractical. There's a reason I told you to psyducking dodge."

Cal smirked at the sight of Raz's defense, despite his griping his attacks dispersed some of the power heading towards them and weakened the whole overall. "That was plenty, thanks! But don't underestimate me. Hold on tight guys!"

"Don't psyducking patronise me."

With that the Dragonite grit his teeth, braced his arms in front of himself and charged right into Roxanna's attack. Breaking right through the dark energy and ignoring all the pain to slam into the Rhypherior.

The Rhyperior took the fierce attack to his side, which caused it to fumble to its side. Yet due to its enormous strength and size, it remained upright. However, Roxanna, who was on top of the Rhyperior, suddenly flickered, as if she were there, and then wasn't in that instance. Her position on the Rhyperior now appeared awkward, as if she were partially floating in space. The image of Roxanna flickered a few more times, and from the underbelly of the Rhyperior, the real Roxanna jumped forward and leaped at the trio while Cal was attacking. She made a quick Night Slash at the three from mid-air, and then leaped back onto the Rhyperior's back as it re-positioned itself and moved forward again, leaving them to deal with the Zoroark's attack.

The team's mount staggered back from Roxanna's surprise attack, recovering his balance as soon as possible and doing his best to keep up with the Rhypherior. "Done hiding for now? Good."

The staggering Dragonite gave way for Razathiel to flip over his back, dark energy from Roxanna's attack trailing just over Callimer's shoulder and Raz's head. The miniature mage kept his momentum, swinging around before aiming his staff through the crook of Cal's armpit and firing dazzling bolts of energy from the tip.

Kaveri, meanwhile, reached behind her back with one paw, bringing it back around to reveal a fairly large Water Pulse that she'd started forming between her tails at the beginning of the race. After giving it an icy touch from her fangs, she fired it off at Roxanna's mount. Already, she had another Water Pulse forming between her tails once again, even as she flung more normal sized ones with her paws.

The Rhyperior raised its hide, moving into a larger standing position at the behest of his rider Roxanna, causing it to take both the hits from Raz and Kaveri. The bolts of energy stung upon the small of his back, but the study, large 'mon endured. The Water Pulses caused it to roar out in pain, but it continued to press forward. In response, the Zoroark fired off a torrent of flames directed at the trio. However, as the attack came out, it expanded five times its size in a mere instant, something Guardia witnessed from afar which caused her to hang her mouth in disbelief. She watched as the flames seemed to morph as they were shot before her very eyes. The embers brisked together and expanded, and through the cascade of flames, she saw what appeared to be a large shape. It began as a silhouette in the fire, an image formed through the flames. But as the shape took form, it appeared to be more and more familiar to her. It was almost as if Darkrai himself had materialized in the flames and was attacking them in a burning rage. How was this possible? She was unable to assist her allies because of her distance, so she prayed they somehow survived this monstrous, unbelievably massive attack. On the back of Callimer, Razathiel jumped up to brace himself. Roxanna was apparently choosing to attack with fire.

Fool, The mage thought to himself. The Agent of Darkrai didn't seem to have caught on to his affinity for fire, despite the lavish pyrotechnics he clearly displayed when he introduced himself. His Hidden Power was something he had taken to honing from a young age, one of the first moves he had ever learned; Flamethrowers meant nothing when they could bend to his will. With a spin of his staff and a wave of his hand, Razathiel pushed the flames to the side of the group.

The central core of the flames Roxanna unleashed began to bend to Raz's will and follow his directed path to the side of the group. As Kaveri continued firing water pulses, they too, when targeting the core, helped to force them away. Yet oddly enough, the vast majority of the surrounding flames, including the prominent, terrifying image of Darkrai within the flames, continued toward the group, undeterred, as it if were not affected, by either Raz's powers or Kaveri's Water Pulses.

Despite his inability to have any feeling for what happened in the flames heading towards them, Cal couldn't help notice the smaller burst of fire split off from the main attack. His eyes darted towards the Water Pulses passing harmlessly through the other side of the attack and he decided to take one more risk, but if it worked he'd have to slow down on using some of his more taxing abilities for a bit. Cal's body took on the familiar faint-white glow once again, this time with a much thicker reddish-brown aura directly around his arms and he darted towards the side of the flames closer to Roxanna. Cal's Extremespeed maintained just long enough for him to race through the flank of the flames, subconsciously bracing himself for burning despite doing his best to act as if they weren't there, and stop just in front of Roxanna and her mount.

As the trio passed through and around the large, monstrous Darkrai-like flames, they found themselves largely unaffected, as if it were a large breeze passing them by. Roxanna tracked their movements through the flames and glared as the Dragonite came closer, and as it appeared beside her, she began to fire off a Dark Pulse at them.

"Lean as close as possible!" was all Cal had time to shout at his teammates before diving to the floor and sliding underneath the Dark Pulse. As soon as he drew close enough he finally executed the best plan he could think of to screw with Roxanna and brought his still-glowing hands up just underneath the Rhypherior's front. He used all of his strength, increased thanks to Superpower to push up from underneath and lift the Rhypherior off the ground. Before the rider could martial her mount's wits enough to really react Cal threw the Rhypherior, sending them both careening in the direction they'd come from. He wasted no time continuing to charge forward in the race full-throttle as soon as he realized he'd actually managed to fling them.

Both Roxanna and Jeff the Rhyperior were surprised by this action, as the Rhyperior was flung into the air. Due to his enormous weight, however, he didn't get more than a few dozen meters off the ground before he already started falling downward. While in the air still, Roxanna decided to make use of the height advantage and fire another Dark Pulse at the trio, as water pulses first passed and onto the Rhyperior. Unable to dodge much in the air, the Rhyperior took the water attacks along his collision to the ground, which came more softly than he anticipated. The rock 'mon landed heavily and knee-deep into mud, created in part by Kaveri's constant water pulse barrage.

After hopping shortly up onto Callimer's head for a better vantage point, Razathiel levitated briefly as energy formed in front of him. At once, the Dazzling Gleam he had been charging was shot out, a blinding bullet of light that tore straight through Roxanna's Dark Pulse and towards her and her mount.

Roxanna was surprised that the smaller Ralts managed to burst through her Dark Pulse with his own attack, thought not enough to say anything about it. Instead, the Zoroark called on her mount to attempt to take the brunt of the attack. However, when the Rhyperior attempted to move out of the way, it found itself stuck in the mud, unable to move fast enough to get out. In a last ditch effort, Roxanna scaled across the large body of the Rhyperior and hid behind its form as the Dazzling Gleam made contact. The attack struck directly on the Rhyperior, with it raising its arms to try and soften the blow. It roared out in pain from the hit, but due to its position in the mud it couldn't do anything to move back or move out of the way to try and lessen the damage.

Roxanna however, managed to avoid the attack altogether by hiding on the other side of the Rhyperior. When the attack ceased, she jumped back to the top and examined her mount, who appeared to be in fairly bad shape, panting heavily and whining about its injuries. "Get yourself out of the mud and move forward, NOW!" She demanded to the struggling Rhyperior.

From behind the action, Chaser appeared, tagging along the trio of Cal, Kav and Raz, and giving them a firm nod of approval after their actions. The other teams were closeby as well, along with the second team of the Reverse Kings: the Tyrogue and the Torterra. The Torterra seemed to be bulldozing over any other 'mon that stood in its way, flinging dozens of racers into the air like they were nothing.

"Come on, let's avoid those guys!" Chaser called out, referring to the Torterra. He then pointed forward to the very front of the race, where they could barely see the Tauros, Tangela and Raichu of the Reverse Kings all the way up front. "We need to catch up to them! Finish line ain't that far off!" Razathiel spun his staff in hand - it seemed he had an idea. He passed his staff over in Kaveri's direction and tapped the Dragonite on the shoulder.

"Callimer. Throw me."

"Are ya crazy?" Chaser yelled as he overheard what the Ralts had just said. "You can't do that, you'll be deecued!"

"I'm very crazy, I'm not sure why you need to be confirming that now of all times. Is that a problem?"

"Wait a second, Raz isn't a rider, he's a backer, does it say anything about that?" Cal figured it was worth a shot. He wasn't sure there was any other possibility for them to get in first that might avoid breaking the rules.

"Wh- I... I mean, yeah, that's the written rule," Chaser muttered through the intense action around. "No one's ever done somethin' like that... it says rider!"

"Alright then." Cal turned his head for a second to smile at Raz before refocusing on the race. "Let's do it.

"If it's not a written rule, then I psyducking dare them to defy me," The Ralts said menacingly. "Yes, let's go win this stupid psyducking race..."

"Right, right, in position, then!" Kaveri announced, water already forming around her. "Everyone ready? Good!" She didn't even wait for a reply from either of her teammates. Setting herself against Cal's back, she only waited long enough for the Dragonite to grab the Ralts before shooting off an Aqua Jet.

The telltale white glow emanated from the Dragonite's body one last time and - combined with the Floatzel brand Aqua Boost™ - rocketed towards the finish. Cal had been overusing Extremespeed throughout the race in an attempt to makeup for his lack of ground speed, so he could only go so far, but luckily he didn't have to make it to the end just yet. He hefted the Dreadmage in his right hand, angling his arm up. Then, right at the height of their speed before he could tire out, Cal stuck his foot in the ground and threw Raz as hard as he could, transferring all of their combined momentum to him along with however much velocity his throwing arm was worth, shouting "Don't go splat!" after him. The armoured Ralts flew out from the Dragonite's arm like a bullet, his robes billowing slightly in the wind and his hood falling off to reveal the helmet beneath. The finish line was in sight, but the landing - especially at this kind of speed - didn't look particularly favourable. Raz began forming a psychic cone of energy in front of him, serving to reduce his wind resistance for the time being. When the moment to land came, however, he would be ready to manipulate the energy to break his fall. Standard practice. Child's play for one such as him. Perhaps a little destructive - but why should he care? He was evil, after all.

As Raz shot past the multitude of other 'mon, racers and spectators alike dropped their jaws at the sight of a speeding Ralts burst through the air on his way to the finish line, which was now closing in. But the Reverse Kings Team of the Raichu, Tangela and Tauros were also closing in. Upon seeing the fast-moving object in their rear, the Raichu shot out a thunderbolt at it as a last-ditch effort to throw the 'mon off and get into first place.

The thunderbolt was suddenly intercepted midstream, however, as a larger, more powerful bolt of Thunder burst from above and stopped the attack in its place, the source of which coming from the Gold Tribe leader Guardia from the side. "I don't think so!" She called out, as Raz continued undeterred toward the finish line. The armoured Ralts sailed on, on and over the finish line, eventually crashing into the dirt some ways into the cave. He landed in a psychic explosion, throwing up a cloud of dust with flashes of purple light within. When the dust cleared, Raz could be seen at the edge of a crater, unharmed, visor raised and happily munching on an apple.

There was an immediate backlash from the crowd around, who began to shout down at the Raz, and throw all manner of things at him, including food, drinks, and garbage. Others, however, cheered loudly as the Ralts finished the race, some even chanting his name. The wizard batted the various items away with a psychic wave of the hand, basking in the crowd's glorious discontent and applause alike. He even had the audacity to snatch one drink out of the air and finish it himself. In the field, practically every racer began to focus on the remaining Kav and Cal in the field, and angrily turn their attention to them. A flurry of random attacks began to be powered up and sent toward the duo as the racers seemed intent on ensuring the remaining two did not finish.

Kaveri shot down what attacks she could with Water Pulse, while using Aqua Tail to slap away those that got too close. "Caaaal, let's go!"

"Right, nothing stops the Gold Tribe, and nothing slows down the Vians!" Cal ran towards the finish line as fast as possible, spurred on by Kaveri's boost and by the fervor of victory close-at-hand. Anyone who got in his way got a Superpowered smack out of the way and he did his best to dodge all the ranged attacks. His eyes widened as they closed in, but the ground was shaking even more-so than before. Cal's wings flexed and then flapped once to give him the lift for a leap over the heads of the various chargers' last-ditch attempt to stop the siblings from reaching the finish line. They soared right to Raz, where Cal raised his hands and waved at those with enough sportsmanship to appreciate their victory. Kaveri climbed up to stand on Cal's shoulders, lifting Raz's staff up in the air and swinging it about as she whooped.

Snype cheered out to the group from the stands, hopping down to the front seats. "Kehe! Hey Cal! Good thing ya got practice throwing small Pokémon awhile back eh? Kehe! Looks like it worked this time!" Snype said with a cheerful laugh.

Obsidian let out a sigh of relief at the win, "Thank goodness." He looked at Gaiyo, "I was worried for a bit." He said with a shaky laugh.

Here's to the Victors! - Guardia, Raz, Cal, Snype and Kav

There was a large combination of cheers and jeers as many more racers began to cross the finish line. But the only ones anyone seemed to be concerned about were the trio who came in first place. As Guardia crossed over, she hopped off the Dodrio and ran over to greet them. She hugged Kaveri and slapped Callimer along the back happily. "Helluva move you three pulled off!" She beamed, even at Raz below her. "Nice work!" She then looked up at the gathering crowd of spectators and racers, many of whom were thrilled, while others were quite angry.

"This is absolutely ridiculous!" The familiar voice of Roxanna called out as she shoved aside 'mon to get to where the three were standing. "Those three have cheated! The tiny one was off of his mount for more than five seconds. By all accounts, they should be disqualified!" She yelled out, which was followed by many 'mon roaring with approval, and others booing her.

Raz psychically retrieved his staff, hopping up onto it and tilting his head at the Zoroark. "Sorry, who the fuck are you again?" He asked, taking another drawn out bite of his apple.

"If you'd like, I can be your murderer tonight," Roxanna retorted venomously to the Ralts as she raised her claws. Cal was the first to step up to her, practically nose to nose, just waiting for her to try something. Dark Moons gathered around her, but were met with Sons of Arceus around also eager for a fight, if it came to that.

"Enough of that!" Gaiyo Nyys called out as he hopped down from the stands toward the center of the situation. The Queen of Darkness glared intensely at the Ambipom and then back to the group.

"You know the rules, Gaiyo!" She spat. "The Ralts was off his mount for more than the allotted time. He's out, so they should have been out!"

"Yes, but I'm a backer," Raz said nonchalantly, taking yet another bite of his apple. "And the rule applies to riders, so I don't know why you're bringing it up. Sore loser, I guess..."

"Are we going to have a problem?" Obsidian asked as he too made his way up, though he had a few Seekers along with him, all who eyed the Dark Moons. "They won fair and square."

"You all know that rule means riders as in everyone on the mount!" Fen Driar, leader of the Reverse Kings, called out angrily.

"For once, the old man and I agree," Roxanna stated. "They are riders!"

"Technically, we have always gone by what the rules state," Gaiyo stated with a shrug, "And the rules state that only 'riders' must stay on. Just because no one has done it before, doesn't mean it's wrong. Don't we all extend the rules sometimes? Didn't you when you brought him along?" He asked Roxanna as he pointed to the top of the cavern where the large Darkrai was still looming above. I declare that the winners are the racers of the Sons of Arceus!" He called out, raising the arms of Kaveri and Cal, as a string of cheers followed, along with many jeers.

Obsidian clapped along with a smile, "I have to admit... that was actually very energetic. I don't think I cheered like that in such a long time."

Cal's eyes never left Roxanna, ever since his encounter with Darkrai any thoughts of the lord of chaos and his servants made the Emerald Sentinel's blood boil. But he did manage a smirk, taking his chance to rub her nose in it. As soon as some of the tension slipped out of the area he dared to lean in close and whisper enough for only her to hear. "I hope your sugar daddy had nothing but good things to say about me, if you'd like to dispute our maneuver personally, feel free to come see me anytime. Unless your boss was quite dishonest you should be as afraid as you always try to make sure your victims are." Satisfied, he took a few steps back to rejoin his friends.

Snype hopped on in and joined the crowd, just looking up at the large Darkrai looming over them curiously. Looking at Darkrai like this without running around in a panic something just seemed... off. "Ya know, he's usually alot more talkative than this! Kehe" Snype said as he pointed up to Darkrai.

"The Dark One has no need to converse with impudent heretics such as yourselves!" Roxanna declared as she pointed threateningly at the group in front of her. "You will regret this, mark me. You will all crumble under the might of his destruction! And I will be seeing you again, very soon!" She stated, glancing briefly at Cal.

"Hey, hey, that's no way to talk to your boss' future wife," Kaveri piped in with a small pout. "We've had plenty of nice, looong chats. About totally regal things, like candy and parties."

The Zoroark turned to the Floatzel and gave her a look of disgust, before she turned and pushed her way through the crowd as she and her Dark Moons began to depart. As they left the area, the large form of Darkrai suddenly rumbled. Above it, the same chaotic portal which appeared before suddenly showed up, and the legendary began to disappear into it. The moment it left, many around seemed far more relaxed, with even Gaiyo sighing in relief.

"Glad that's over with," He murmured.

Snype crept on over to Kaveri and hopped onto her shoulder, poking her in the cheek. "Keheh, Wife? So it is true! Can't wait to see the kids Kav! Keheh." Snype said teasingly.

"Aww, you're not even gonna try stealing me back? I expected more from the King of Thieves," Kaveri chortled in reply.

"Never said I wasn't gonna try~ Kehe" Snype said with a wink.

"You all... do know that was just an illusion of Darkrai, right?" Obsidian asked.

"Well duh! Kehe!" Snype replied back. "Comon! We met the guy himself! That aint him! He'd have said something smart by now like the little jerkbag he is!"

"Wait a minute... Snype, you're here!" Guardia stated as she looked at the Sableye. "That means you came back from your mission. How did it go?"

Snype gave Guardia a small thumbs up. "Kehe, we got him! Pretty darn close call too! He's stuck with Anna until we go and fetch him. They're tied to a bet or something crazy like that. Long story. Kehe!" Snype said with a big ol toothy grin.

Cal lightly clapped Snype on the back. "That's great! Now, not to be a baby but when's naptime? I could sure use one..."

"Ya still got one more job to do for me," Gaiyo began as he crossed his arms. He then grinned. "But there was no way I would have thought you guys would win this race for me. The Reverse Kings win it almost every year. So you've earned some rest, at the very least. Take the rest of the night off, we'll talk tomorrow about the last job."

"You're damn right I do." Cal said groggily as he wobbled slightly on his feet. "I ate a dark whatever beam and chucked a Rhypherior. A. Rhy. Pherior."

Guardia, Nyalla, Obsidian, Snype, Anna, Cal and Abel - Tracking the Earth Dwellers

The evening was spent in relaxation for the group. Some decided to sleep in and recuperate after a tough race, while others chose to celebrate their victories, both against the Gambler and the under-race. In both cases, the group was allowed to roam the city and enjoy themselves, or sleep in. They were still under surveillance, but Guardia began to notice that the Sons of Arceus seemed to treat them a bit better after they had helped them. They didn't quite trust them as one of their own yet, but they were definitely warming up to the group. Gaiyo even allowed Razathiel to go on his own, with some Sons escorts, for his help in winning the under-race.

The following morning, Gaiyo found the gathered of Valkaria and brought them together to discuss the final job. They were situated in his home, seated across the stone mansion. The Ambipom waited until everyone had been escorted there before he cleared his throat and began.

"Alright then," The Ambipom started as he clasped his hands behind his back. His two tail-paws did the same. "Good work on the first two jobs, but you have one last one to do for me. The Earth Dweller scouts. Reports have 'em in our eastern territories, but there's no telling if they've moved on at all, or anything. I usually don't like making a big thing out of nothing, but they've been hanging around for a few days now, and it's irking me," Gaiyo paused for a moment and shook his head. "Something... something about this isn't right. Go in, confront them in whatever way you want. Talk to them, bring them in. Whatever. But find out why they're there and what they're planning. Questions?" He asked as he looked around the room.

Nyalla had been slumped in the corner. She had been worried since the start that they were supporting others who claimed their descent from gods in their name; she had no involvement with their previous tasks, but it was difficult to avoid them again. "Will they fight?" she probed - although she suspected she knew the answer as she had seen that most of these Stone Dwellers were less accepting of other faiths than her own people were...

"Go in expecting one," Gaiyo replied to the Riolu as his eyes darted to her. "But they're a third-tier sect. They're not the best fighters, so you shouldn't have that much trouble on that front."

"That is misfortune." she responded, her voice carrying a disappointed tone.

"Well can't be any tougher than the last jobs." Snype commented.

"Probably not," Gaiyo replied with a shrug. "All the same, get it done, and then we're square," The Ambipom suddenly whistled loudly, and a Nosepass walked through the doors. "Burter here'll take you to the area we saw them last. From there, it's up to you."

---

The Nosepass guided the group through Reverence. They passed by all of the monumental structures and continued east for a good while. After another hour of traveling, they arrived closer to the outskirts of Sons territory. Larger cathedrals and gigantic buildings were replaced with more modest ones. There was still the occasional sizeable building, but for the most part, they weren't the same enormous ones as in the inner city. However, the populations out in these smaller districts didn't decrease with the size of the buildings.

The Nosepass paused and gestured to one of the last remaining large structures around, a cathedral of some sort that extended in width longer than it was in height. Moss and cracks were present on its dense walls, but if Guardia knew anything about Reverence buildings now, the outside meant nothing. She couldn't wait to hear what the building actually was.

"Here we are," Burter stated. "Last place we saw them was in there."

"What's in there?" Guardia asked curiously.

"Some residencies, a few shops, some trophy rooms," Burter began to list off. "We've got a few prayer spots in there too. Most of 'em in this district are in that zone, actually. The EDs were creepin' around here last time we saw. We threw 'em out, but they came back in another spot. You'll recognize them by their piercings or tattoos. They'll have Groudon on 'em."

Guardia glanced at the building again and spoke again. "What exactly were they doing?" She asked. The Nosepass shrugged.

"I dunno it changes each time but, before when they were further out, they were writin' stuff," He explained. "Each time they get deeper in, they seem to be snoopin' more. But more of the time, they're just... watching. They go to pretty crowded buildings and they just watch. It's annoyin'. Figure this out, will ya?" He asked.

"Keheh, itd be simple enough to just walk up to em and say hi or something if ya want answers. I could give that a go anyways." Snype said

"Doubtful," Abel chimed in from his spot in the back of the group, as he looked over the building pointed to them by the Nosepass. "They're allied with the Dark Moons, which means they're allied with Darkrai. This is likely going a more covert or violent way, I'd say," He stated as he proceeded toward the structure.

"M-Maybe," Anna said as she followed Abel, not liking the words violent or covert. "But there's a chance we may be able to talk to them before anything like that happens." If any of it had to happen at all. After the Gambler fiasco, Anna decided to relax and take a long break to cool off and question her insanity, rather than celebrate. Now it was time to work again and while she didn't expect for the Earth Dwellers to get them in a mess as intense as The Gambler mission, she hoped it wouldn't happen. Maybe talking would prevent any issues from occurring at all. "I find it better--" and she had been told by others, as she was prone to do it herself "--not to assume the worst before we begin."

"Might as well try," Guardia stated in agreement with Annabelle. The group wandered inside the stone structure to the sight of what appeared to be a marketplace similar to the one they were in earlier with the Gambler mission. The difference was this area appeared to be less commercial and more residential, with hangers across the upper levels, with clothes hanging from them. A few markets were still across, and hundreds of 'mon walked by, going between places and conversing. It was going to be difficult finding specific 'mon here. But then again, those that weren't Sons of Arceus would stand out.

Snype looked around the area, observing the various markets and inspecting anything that seemed out of place. Since they were still walking through, Snype to start a conversation. "So uh... been meaning to ask. What's with Pokemon recently and clothes?" Snype asked, considering all he wore was a little robe around him.

Guardia glanced at the clothes hanging above. Most of them seemed to be furs similar to what most Sons were wearing. She continued to walk forward as she replied. "Not sure. It's not too common in Valkaria. But Tollen had a lot of it. Anatellia seems to only have furs for warmth. But mostly it seems to be cultural, I think."

"Probably," Abel added in as he also scanned the area for anything suspicious. A few 'mon glanced in their direction and talked amongst themselves in the far part of the room. He observed them silently as he continued. "Beatrucians don't really wear clothing besides our district armbands. It seems each place has a different use for them."

"Keheh...guess it makes sense seeing how its cold up here but still seems kinda unnecessary... not like Tollen anyways." Snype said with a shrug.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Guardia asked as she continued to move her eyes across the area, though they momentarily stopped at the Sableye.

Snype chuckled and crawled onto Guardia's shoulder, whispering something inaudible in her ear. As soon as Guardia heard what the Sableye said, she swiftly threw him off her shoulder, and slammed him toward the ground.

"What the hell?!" Guardia yelled as she tossed the Sableye off her shoulder. "Why the hell would you go and say something like that?!" She demanded, yelling loud enough to draw a scene from Anatellians around.

"Cause you asked! And it'd draw attention if I got ya all loud! Kehe! Start lookin!" Snype said with a laugh.

Abel scanned the area. Dozens upon dozens of eyes were now set on him. But instead of looking for who was looking at them, Abel was specifically looking at those who purposefully were not. In his experience, a 'mon who didn't want to attract attention would specifically make a concentrated effort to keep the status quo, even when that status quo had changed suddenly. At the far end of the room, a few 'mon were looking around, trying to pretend as if they weren't looking at the scene. They included a Cubone, two Meowths, and a Croagunk. Their attire seemed a bit different, with them carrying different style tattoos. Abel observed them for a moment as Guardia kicked Snype on the ground.

"I think we might have something there," Abel pointed out to the group.

"omph! ddooomhyeh?" Snype muttered as he layed down face first, getting kicked by Guardia. "Y-Ya know that hurts right? Kehe! I was being honest like you told me to be!"

Guardia stopped kicking as Abel pointed the group of 'mon out. "Stop whining," She spat to Snype on the ground, and urged him to get up. "Let's go after them."

"Plan of attack?" Abel questioned.

"Let's take it easy first," Guardia answered as she walked forward. "You never know how they'll take this." She explained as she proceeded to the group of 'mon, possibly the Earth Dwellers.

Cal offered a hand to help Snype up, almost playing good-cop to Guardia. "We'll have to see, being in such a religious place still feels strange to me. I'm all for respecting those who helped shape our world so much but... Well I think dealing with Darkrai has made more than a few of us - and plenty of the Gold Tribe as a whole - very wary of fanaticism about anything. I'm probably especially bad after...well, you know."

Snype reached up to Cal's hand and got himself up, brushing off any dust on him. "Yeah I gotcha Cal. I'm on the same boat. Kehe..." Snype said as he turned to follow Guardia and the others.

The group of 'mon appeared to be talking among themselves in whispers, with them looking around the area as they did so. They seemed nervous, a bit anxious, as if they knew they were doing something that demanded being on edge. This made Guardia more suspicious about their activities. The Cubone in the group suddenly turned and made direct eye contact with Cal. He stared blankly at the Dragonite for a few seconds, before he shouted to the others.

"Spotted, MOVE!" He yelled, and the group of scouts suddenly took off running as if death itself was chasing them.

"Aww, crap, after them!" Guardia yelled, as she watched the 'mon rapidly begin running through the crowd to try and lose their pursuers.

Snype quickly cast out shadow sneak to gain a bit of distance on the mon, occasionally using it once more to poof closer to them. "Whats the rush? We just wanna talk! Kehe!" Snype called out to them.

The group continued running hastily away. At one point, Guardia decided to stop their path forward. She gathered energy to a point a bit further away from them, and launched a Thunder to suddenly block their path forward. The Earth Dwellers skidded to a halt, but quickly turned the corner and continued on. Before they did, the Croagunk in the group suddenly turned, bulged his mouth and released a Sludge Bomb on his pursuers.

Anna yelped when the Sludge Bomb came towards them and dove out of the way of the explosive attack. She hadn't been in line of fire like this since Tollen and even then she was good at hiding and keeping others away too. Now she was actually in the fight and she wondered if it would be possible to convince her comrades not to give chase. When she stumbled back into a standing position she wasn't affected except for some sludge on her wool. Did she leave it there? Did she get it off? Anna didn't know which one would make her more quickly poisoned and if she waited too long the chase would be over! Arceus help her.

Cal began to gather energy in his legs for an Extremespeed, but his normal force would probably ruin the chase, he didn't want to hurt anyone. After a few moments of contemplation he had an idea and dashed after the Earth Dwellers in a white streak. Frosty mist and cerulean light gathered around Cal's right hand as he gave chase and just when he seemed about to catch their targets he slammed his hand into the ground, breaking through the floor and sending ice across the ground underneath the Earth dwellers feet, Even with his hand stuck in the ground the Dragonite continued to skid a few more feet, arm ruining a small chunk of the floor before he stopped and yanked on his wrist.

All this time it seemed that one member of the small group had disappeared. That was, until he leaped out from the side. Obsidian wielded two small metallic objects in his hands. With a cry he threw the items low, more specifically at the ankles of the fleeing mon. In between both wires was a very small string that would end up wrapping around some ankles and trip up the mon.

The surprise ice attack from the Dragonite sent the grounded Earth Dwellers skidding forward. When combined with Obsidian's wire trap to the feet of the 'mon, they suddenly and violently began crashing off to the side of the building. The Cubone groaned on the ground, while the two Meowth quickly tried to struggle to move up and go forward. That is, until Abel and Guardia arrived and blocked their path forward.

"What's the hurry?" Guardia asked with a smirk.

"Groudon curse it," The Croagunk in the group muttered.

Obsidian was taking no chances. He made his way to a Meowth and glared down at the mon, then his claws swung out. Not to scratch by the tap along his head. The claws tapped down upon the shoulders. "There." He muttered out. "Now." He looked at the other Meowth, "For you."

The first Meowth struggled to try to move his arms, only to find that they weren't responding to him at all. "Wh-what did you do to me?!" He cried. The second one gulped and looked up at the Weavile, before spitting to the side.

"Do your worst," She said with a slight strain in her voice.

"Or nothing at all," Anna said as she walked up to the group. Still concerned about the poison, but having to get it off of her mind. "We aren't on a mission to hurt anyone." Unless they had to, she supposed. Maybe they wouldn't have any hard feelings about what just transpired. They did have to catch them after all. Anything more than that seemed unnecessary. She was a bit late of course but... "We just want to talk. If everything goes without a problem then we can be on our way. How does that sound?"

The Cubone was about to stand up and shout angrily at the Mareep, but the Croagunk held a hand up to stop him. He shook his head and then glared at Anna. "We ain't sayin' anythin' to ya," He stated firmly as his eyes glanced around the group. "Any of ya Sons lovers."

"I," Anna began, "am not apart of the Sons of Arceus and neither are my friends here. If you take a good look at us then you'll see that none of us have any affiliation with the Sons." If you didn't count taking this job that is. "We only want to know what the Earth Dwellers are doing here. Nothing more, nothing less. Our involvement ends after today if, as I said before, everything goes smoothly."

"Wouldn't you like to know," The Cubone Earth Dweller said with a smirk. The Croagunk shot him a glare and continued.

"You're workin' with 'em, for 'em, so we ain't tellin' you nothin'," He stated once more while crossing his arms.

Obsidian stared at them, "Then, I guess we can't do anything..." He said with a meek shrug, "If you won't tell us, then I guess we're at a loss." He grabbed the paralyzed Meowth and easily dragged him along, "I mean, there is just NOTHING we can do, right?" He asked the other dwellers. "Just... nothing. No way to slip into your minds... or... persuade you in any way... or anything really." He looked down at the Meowth again, "Nothing... right?" He asked with a friendly smile.

The Meowth looked absolutely horrified as it was getting dragged away. It looked like it was on the verge of tears. The other Meowth looked as if it were about to say something, and the Cubone gritted its teeth angrily. "Wait, please don't!"

"Shut up, Coop," The Croagunk commanded. He looked over the Weavile. "Nope, nothing," He agreed with Obsidian.

Guardia looked at the four. She was now very suspicious. They wouldn't have ran, they wouldn't have kept their lips this tight, if this wasn't something important. She didn't like the sound of this. Abel seemed to be thinking on similar lines, as he leaned in to Guardia and the others.

"We could always force them to talk, or take them back to Gaiyo and have them try," Abel suggested. "Personally, I say we give it a shot ourselves maybe. Might give us more bonus points with the Ambipom."

"You're speaking my language." Obsidian said. He looked down at the Meowth, then up at Abel, "You know how to look into a mind... right? But no training in how to keep potential... mental damage down, correct?" He asked.

Anna's eyes widened at Obsidian's threat. "Is that really necessarily?" She understood that things needed to be done to get information, but... Wasn't that a bit... Extreme? "That seems..." Uhm... "Isn't there a better way?"

"They're allies of the Dark Moon sect," Abel explained to Anna as he peered down at the Meowth. "Which means they're allies with Darkrai. Want to know what happened the last time allies of Darkrai infiltrated an allied location?" He asked, but didn't stay silent long enough for anyone to answer. "They brought an invasion and nearly took Gold City in one day," Abel cracked his neck. "My mind infiltration skills are a little rough. I haven't really gotten used to keeping my victims alive, but I suppose that's inconsequential." The Meowth whimpered loudly.

Snype winced. Was this really what the group was resorting to now? They haven't even tried another form of approach! Darkrai's men or not, there was always another way. The Sableye stepped forward. "You're in a lose-lose situation here. You tell us everything we want to know, and your mind won't be infiltrated, sparing you a possible mental scar. If you don't... then guess that means you don't need your arms back right? Kehe" Snype said, showing off that wide toothy grin.

"B-but, I... " One of the two Meowth began, before once more, the Croagunk shushed them up.

Cal wasn't sure he liked the path were going about it all. The way he saw it the Dark Moons couldn't possibly have any actual allies, anybody who really agreed with what they say would just be a Dark Moon. So really they must just be scared or-Cal's eyes widened and he smirked for just a moment while nobody was watching. The Emerald Sentinel decided to mix the two best tools for convincing 'mon to talk: intimidation, and charm. He took a few steps into the small group of Earth Dwellers and knelt down in front of the Croagunk. "You seem more or less like the closest one to a leader among your current fellows, and you seem like the type who'd keep track of news. Have you heard any stories about some 'mon facing the Lord of Chaos one on one...and survived?"

The Croagunk grinned. "No regular 'mon's faced the Dark One and lived to tell about it. It's not somethin' that happens, dumbass."

Guardia smirked and crossed her arms. "Really, now?" She asked as she looked around her group.

"Yeah well, we've met the fellow and we look pretty alive if I say so myself! Kehe" Snype stated. "Honestly he's a pretty casual fella. Worst he did was Dark Void... kehe..."

"Think about it." Cal continued, looking into the Croagunk's eyes. "You've heard the stories, he's lost before, otherwise he'd already have conquered the world right? If he can lose once, he can lose again, and you're looking at just a few of the 'mon who've beat his forces before. If you guys really believe in the Dark Moons' cause then I guess there'd be no convincing you...painlessly. But honestly, do you believe in them? Or are you just afraid of them? Trying to go with who you thought was the winning side for the safety of yourselves and your families and friends? We're not just ignorant heathens either. You guys worship Groudon! One of the great ones who can create, who literally shapes the earth and helps give it life. And Darkrai destroys, confuses, hurts. Why would you ever side with someone who seeks to have total power over you? I can only think of a few reasons, and I have a feeling it's not because you trust and respect them."

The Croagunk stared silently at the green Dragonite. His face shifted through a few expressions, as if he were deliberating on something internally. "... They say that in Anatellia, Legendaries walk among the normals. That's an old saying, but when's the last time any of us actually saw one?" He asked not only the group in front of him but his own group. "Then Darkrai arrives, the first one I've ever seen, and turns the entire Dark Moons around. Hell yeah we're going to go along with 'em!"

Snype shook his head. "Really? I thought you said you haven't met Darkrai yourself. Unless you want to count that giant illusion that was thrown in the sky." Snype said with stern look on his face. "You're trapped. Why don't you just tell us what we need and spare your friend?" Snype said as he looked over to the cubone. He seemed to show more concern than the Croagunk. If he wasn't going to spill information, the other two definitely would. He didn't want to resort to blowing through their whole mind for answers. He was more surprised Guardia was just sitting and letting that happen!

"Is it really worth your friend?"

The Croagunk scoffed. "Dark illusion in the sky? That ain't no illusion, that's the real thing," He firmly replied. "You're insane if you think anythin' else!"

The Cubone and the others, unlike the Croagunk, seemed less convinced on everything being said to them. The pair of Meowth exchanged nervous glances with each other, while the Cubone made small movements and uneasy shifting.

"Not sayin' we'll do anything," The Cubone began, "but say we do. What would you give us in exchange for it? What can you promise us?"

"Rogg, shut your ass!" The Croagunk commanded.

"Protection, to a point." Cal answered. "Were you at the race? If so you must have heard about the so-called 'Queen of Darkness' failing miserably, she threw what looked like Darkrai at us, and we blew through it and beat her. Legendaries aren't omniscient and they aren't infallible. Do you really want to offer yourself up to someone who's very goal is chaos? Who will throw you and those you care about away without a second thought? One who's diametrically opposed to Groudon? Just because he's been known to show up a time or two? And who only seems to conveniently show up around a master illusionist most of the time?"

"... He does only show when she's around," The female Meowth commented.

"That's because she's her servant, that don't mean a thing!" The Croagunk whined.

Snype wasn't too sure how he was going to convince these three that the Darkrai at the races was an illusion... but Cal was getting there. These three had no idea what they were doing. But that just made it easier to bribe them. And considering the alliances he made earlier, fulfilling that would be simple enough.

"Kehe, well your buddy here would also have his arms back for one." Snype said with a laugh. "But if you really need more I could probably throw something else in the pot..." Snype said as he pulled out a coin from his bag, spinning it around his fingers.

"This is stupid!" The Croagunk began again. "I can't believe you guys are buying into this! First they're tryin' ta say Darkrai's fake, and now they're tryin' ta buy us off? You guys can't actu-" The Croagunk was suddenly cut off when the Cubone bashed in his head from behind with his club. He looked down at the fallen Croagunk, and then back at the group.

"You didn't hear it from us," The Cubone started. "There's a bomb in Reverence."

"Where is it?" Obsidian asked. "And how big will the explosion be?"

The female Meowth looked up and shrugged with a frown. "We're not sure but, let's put it this way: it was put close to the center of the city, I think. And we're all the way out here. What does that tell you?"

Guardia cursed under her breath. The Cubone continued. "We've been scouting out populations all the way out here for a bit now, checking how many 'mon live in each building, and tallying them all up. When it goes off, we're supposed to sweep through and see how much damage it did. This is... uh... this is like a test run."

Obsidian sighed, "How quick innocent mon are to grow up to become terrorists and end as many lives as possible." He shook his head, "I guess I could get some Seekers to go and search around then. But if they are out here... and these are the outskirts of where the bomb will go off... then we might not have much time left." He looked at the Cubone, "When is it supposed to go off?"

The Cubone shifted nervously. "... Soon," He replied. "Today, maybe tomorrow. I don't know exactly when. I just know this was our last scout before we pull out."

Guardia gritted her teeth and stormed forward straight to the Cubone. She lifted him up by his fur garb around her neck and held him threateningly. "Where the hell is it?!" She screamed angrily.

"I- We don't know! We didn't put it in! We only know it's close to the center!" The Cubone protested with his hands raised.

"Then who does know?" Abel asked beside the Zangoose.

"One of the scout teams that put it in," The Meowth below Obsidian answered. "B-but they're probably long gone! Only other 'mon that would know is an Agent of Darkrai. So Roxanna."

"Shit," Guardia cursed again as she dropped the Cubone to the ground.

"That just means my plans haven't changed at all." Cal said as he stood up, looking more grim than he had for some time. "Do you know where Roxanna can usually be found? If not, then do you know where the Dark Moons' Headquarters are?" He asked the Cubone, hoping that they might have a clue after working with the dark moons.

"Uh... well, yeah, she's probably in the Dark Moons camp southwest of here, but it's a few days walk... by the time you get there and try to get back... well..." The Cubone trailed off and shook his head. "Even if she was in town yesterday, she's likely long gone from here now. At least half a days ride ahead of you guys."

"We'd never be able to make it in time," Guardia stated as she gritted her teeth more. "There has to be another way..."

"Like I said, only those scouts or an Agent of Darkrai would know where that bomb is," The Cubone repeated helplessly.

Snype looked back to the group. "Well we happen to have one with us! Kehehe" Snype said with a grin.

The pair of Meowth and Cubone looked over to the Sableye. "You do?" The Cubone questioned as he tilted his head. "Who?"

"A nobody special, just a certain gambler...kehe" Snype said with a wide grin. "Shouldn't take too long to find him either. He tells us what he knows as part of our little bet, and we disarm the bomb without breaking a sweat!" Snype explained.

Guardia nodded in agreement. "That's right!" She exclaimed. "You said an Agent of Darkrai, not the Agent! We don't have to go for Roxanna if we already have one!"

The Cubone shook his head. "I had no idea you had the Gambler with ya... I mean I heard a rumor I guess but... yeah, he would know."

"There's no time to waste!" Guardia yelled again. "We're going back to Gaiyo and the Gambler! And you're coming with us!" She pointed to the Earth Dweller scouts.

"Maybe some of us should go ahead and try to get to him and ask first? That way by the time the rest get there with these guys we'll already know where we need to go." Although he didn't specify anymon in particular, the request was clear in Cal's eyes when he looked at Guardia. "Flying could help speed the process, and I'm sure Snype can handle the questioning."

"Right, good idea," Guardia stated with a nod. "Cal, take Snype and Annaith you to the Gambler. The rest of us will find out whatever else we can from the Earth Dwellers and meet you in the city. Let's go!"

Cal, Anna, and Snype - Interrogating the Gambler

The group of Cal, Anna and Snype eventually reached back to Reverence, where they met up with Gaiyo and were guided to the prison where the Gambler was being held. It was in one of the large, cathedral-like structures, though it was deep below the ground level. There, they were guided through a tunnel system carved out from the cavern, before they were eventually brought to a location lit by torches, with sturdy cells on either side of a long hallway. Many were empty, but toward the end, the Gambler was held.

The Earth Dweller's information had Anna on edge. A bomb in the city? One that could go off at any time any where. It was certainly a recipe for chaos, just like Darkrai had planned. Even if it didn't kill anyone the fear that there was a terrorist lurking here alone could meet Darkrai's goal. The only other person left to get information from was The Gambler and while she did win the bet, Anna didn't expect this to be easy.

"All goes well?" Anna asked The Gambler after greeting him. "We have some questions for you."

The Gambler seemed to be playing a game of blackjack against himself. "You don't want to ask that one." He muttered. "You can ask others, but I have many oaths." He flipped another card over as he rearranged the other set ones, "One is to Darkrai. I can safely say the, he's a ba**ard, and he knows how to keep lips shut. Hell, given the bet I would have loved to tell you all about him. The problem." His eyes snapped up, "Is that when I got this power, he set some boundaries for me. In terms of how I operate. I can't release any information he has that he deems important."

He looked back down at his cards, "So that one, I can try to help. If you want the most cryptic of phases spoken to you to ensure that I, in fact, do not break the rules he has given me. Then please, go ahead and ask."

Bingo. There it is. The hard part. "If that's true, then we may have to settle with what we can get. First tell me, what are the parameters Darkrai has laid out for you? If that's answerable."

"It is." He replied, "Basic gist is there is some info I can't answer if a bet is won against me. I can only answer what I know. Try to ask me where Darkrai is right now, or try to ask me how the universe began, and I could only shrug. So, if I don't know an answer, you won't get anything. Now, from that I can't give up important info that he deems 'critical'. Stuff like... say, who our contacts are in each region. Now.." He held up a finger as he flipped another card over. "What I can do is not tell you directly... but if you ask the right questions and interpret my extremely cryptic responses the right way, then you would, technically, not get an answer from me. Instead, it would be you all who take the clues, arrange them in the right order, and are able to determine for yourselves what I have been explaining. It's... very complicated."

"We found some members of The Earth Dwellers today and learned from them that there may be a bomb in the city. I believe it may be safe to assume that your information of that has been deemed 'critical' by Darkrai." Which would also be typical, but Anna had prepared herself for this anyways.

"It is." He said with a nod. "I can confirm if I know such things, but I can't talk directly about them. I wouldn't even have been able to alert you all to the bomb in the city if you hadn't asked me the question pertaining to the item in question. At most, I could tell you all to get out of the city cause something big and dangerous was going to happen. So, to get your answers, you have to think around the bush."

Big and dangerous. Annabelle didn't like the sound of that, not at all. Was it a bomb somewhere populated? Was it one that set off a chain reaction? Or, even worse, the bomb was metaphorical and they were wasting time here. Anna could only assume The Gambler had an idea, if not an exact location, of where the bomb was. On purpose or not, The Gambler did leave clues that made her believe he was the best person to talk to right now. The only problem was what counted as too direct of a questions? By The Gamblers standards or Darkrai's? What was open to interpretation and what wasn't was the hardest part about this mission. She thought maybe she should ask, but honestly that would only bring up more questions. They could go into the specifics about Darkrai's rules for hours and it wouldn't change anything.

Big and dangerous.

"Involving the citizens I assume as well?" You know a little something to make matters worse.

He fell silent at that, "Yes." He said. "It will and has involved citizens at some point." He explained.

Can and has involved citizens at some point. Hm. Bombs, chains reactions, one lasting a bit of time also. Made by citizens? Affecting citizens? And one that will blow up later into something deadly as well. The Earth Dwellers had been in the city for some time. In fact they had come here to take care of the problem of the growing cult. A cult with a bomb that had been passed around by the citizens.

"Would I also be free to assume that this is related to, or has similar effects of, the past situation in Tollen and the current one in Beatruce?"

He gave a small smirk, "It could be. And you are free to assume that." He replied. "So, assume away."

Anna nodded and began to think again. Her thoughts brought her back to the recent past when The Gambler gave her a cryptic message of her future. Trials and darkness, something she didn't understand at all. Something that had scared her and still does. Did it have something to do with now? They had already put (at least they thought they had) a needle in Darkrai's plans at Tollen. It is not unlikely that they could be the victims of a trap or just lucky casualties of Darkrai's plans.

"So, Gambler. Is it okay if I call you Gambler?" Cal held out his hand towards the Drowzee and continued. "How do you feel about riddles? Because I love them, and considering how suddenly this can all become a game to your boss, I bet he doesn't have many rules against them."

"He does, in a manner." He said, "Again, no riddles pertaining to my current objective. I assure you, he was quite thorough. I can't use telepathy, riddles, writing, poetry, literature, stage acting, sand writing, synchronized swimming, interpretive dance, miming, dramatic reading, sing language, comedy routines, flag signals, hieroglyphics, and definitely no rap battles. All in all... very thorough."

Cal nodded. "As expected, but don't forget what we're here about, I wouldn't expect you to even have told as us much as you have if the bomb was your objective right now. So how about it?"

He let out a quiet chuckle. "As I said, it has to be all indirect. You ask the questions, I answer. It's simple as that. It would be far too easy if I just handed the answers out. I would totally go riddles, but again, he outlawed it. If you can think of something else I could try, then please, feel free to let me know. Else, indirect questions it will be." He raised his brow, "Surely, you Gold Tribe can do that much."

"Sure, what places in the city could be reclusive enough but central enough to do a lot of damage and cause a lot of chaos?" Cal inquired.

The gambler closed his eyes and thought, "Well... " He began. "To get a lot of chaos down, one would need an appropriate tool, such as a bomb. Hypothetically... one would have to plant this bomb in a place where it could hit many places at once, thus to cause much chaos. However, it shouldn't hit every place. Chaos is born when there are people still left to react to it, correct? So, getting a large chunk of a hypothetical city hit would be good enough to cause an appropriate chain of chaos. In such a case... if I were to plant a bomb anywhere, my personal opinion here, I would do it where no one would look. A place still close by to residences, but still not looked after in close detail."

So not the most important places in Reverence. Anna had been worried that this bomb might hit something of extreme importance to the Anatellians. The destruction of the Temple of Arceus would be devastating, truly. It would be a chaotic and heartbreaking experience for the people here, but... It was obvious too. Anna could imagine there were others looking there now and for someone who was as clever as Darkrai it would be smart to lead them around in a circle. That and Darkrai takes his power from chaos. Long term, lasting chaos. An attack on the Temple could easily backfire. A tragedy at first, but tragedy often breeds hope and determination, which would be devastating to legendary, to say the least. Something that cripples the populous, makes them question themselves, maybe even Arceus and then what next? The Earth Dwellers seemed like a prime clean up crew.

"By that description it doesn't sound like the Anatellians wouldn't care about where this bomb hit," Anna said to both Cal and The Gambler, her thoughts still going. She was half in and half out of the conversation. "It doesn't sound as clever as Darkrai makes himself out to be. It doesn't seem so big and dangerous at all."

"I would say your opinion is wrong." He stated. "Very wrong. But that is your opinion. I can't change it. Often times, people don't pay any attention to things they always see." He gave a casual shrug. "You see something every day... and then when it changes, not one alarm rings off in your head."

"If its close by residences, it could also be planted just outside of town. Not too close to destroy a huge amount of buildings... but it'd be a pretty darn good scare and get everyone in a panic..." Snype elaborated, rubbing his chin to piece this all together. "Or hell the market place would make sense. Not just for hurting people but stock that folks make a living off of..." Snype added.

The gambler let out a cough as Snype spoke of buildings, "Yes, I suppose if you want to think that." He said slowly.

Snype tilted his head. "...That's it? No other cryptic riddles? Just a cough and "I suppose? Hrm..." It could be a hint. Buildings were definitely a target for the bomb then. "What kind of buildings would he go off targeting specifically then? Is he trying to harm people in the process or just get them into a mass panic?"

"I can't say..." The gambler said slowly, "It isn't like you could list them off or anything. I mean, all you would be doing is listing them, and that wouldn't add up to anything." He said with a helpless shrug.

Snype scratched his chin thinking deeper... suddenly a thought popped up in his head. "...Arceus Orb... I saw it while wandering around. A big cathedral but its really just a big apartment building now... not alot of people pay attention to its real purpose..." Snype's head shot right up. "Does anyone even check on that orb? For such an important looking thing, I didn't really see anyone hanging out near it."

He let out another cough at the mention of the orb, "Yeah, I don't see that either. Stuff like that isn't usually checked over."

The cough was definitely a means of communication. "Keheh, looks like we could "potentially" have our bomb location then. I mean, that's just a theory and all. Kehe" Snype said to slightly tease the gambler.

"Perhaps the Chronic too." Cal added. "It could all seem like an elaborate escape attempt to the public, and aside from the damage and panic any number of prisoners might be set free to wreak havoc...or chaos, of their own."

The Drowzee coughed again at Snype's words, "I wouldn't know. All I'm doing is coughing. No way you can tell from simple coughs."

Anna went away from her thoughts for a moment. This entire time she had been silent, going over the information given to them during the conversation. Big and dangerous. A bomb that would hit many places, not just one. Of course, preferably near homes. Something forgotten and unlooked after. It ruled out the Temple of Arceus. It was too important. There were churches and cathedrals around the city as well. With so much, there was bound to be more than one overlooked. They also spanned over a wide area of Reverence, not all, but much. It fit two of the criteria except... Assuming there was only one gigantic bomb and not many then it wouldn't be at any of those locations. Many churches were near residences, but it would have to be quite the explosion to cover as much ground as Darkrai might want. That left the market, here in the Chronic, and-- as Snype was suspected--Arceus Orb.

"I'm not sure..." Anna said indirectly to everyone. "About here, I mean, the Chronic." It had... Some strikes against it. "You're right Cal that it's big and releasing all of the prisoners here would create a panic, especially if they cause violence of their own. However, usually--and as we've already seen when we arrived here--prisons are rarely built so close to the normal populous. Yes, the prisoners could just run out and reach the city, but the impact wouldn't be as immediate that way. Not as 'big and dangerous', as our friend put it earlier. The other problem is The Gambler's presence here in the first place. Every action has a consequence and even Darkrai has to weigh what he will and will not give up. I wouldn't put it past him to know by now that Gambler is in this prison and precisely what room. Even with his deal intact at the moment, The Gambler's release still makes him a valuable member of Darkrai's forces. We know how easily he was able to capture his challengers, witnessed it ourselves. In the grand scheme of things something like that can't be wasted. Even if the explosion was far from him there's no promise what The Gambler's fate might be in a possible state of criminal anarchy.

That and," Anna smiled mareepishly, "my faith may be misguided, but I feel as though it would have been hinted to us by now that we were dangerously close to the bomb as well. So that then leaves Arceus Orb. As of yet it fits all of the criteria we've put in place. Near residences, forgotten, and--if only by its own design--able to hit many places at once. Arceus Orb is an outstandingly long building. As well as it holds itself up now I can't imagine it will do much to save its inevitable crumble when the explosion hits it. Its length alone will help it hit more than just one place and being a residence in and of itself it will have citizens involved. Lots of them. Especially if detonated at the right time. Still, that is an operation that takes much calculation and I doubt that we will be able to sweep all of Arceus Orb for the bomb, especially if we're wrong. It would have to be in a very specific spot or carried by a very specific person to be as devastating as it could possibly be. What I'm trying to understand now is what or whom would that be."

The Gambler let out the weakest of sighs, "Honestly... you're reaching. By this point, you should know where it is, or you're ridiculously horrible at picking up clues. Get out of here. Not like I can get out anytime soon." He muttered. "So if it goes off, I have everything to lose."

Razathiel was no stranger to markets, though that wasn't to say he was necessarily happy among them. Bartering for goods meant interacting with fellow 'mon - and not just any 'mon, but merchants. Merchants, who despite often being prone to creating conflict, also tended to be uncomfortable with resolving those conflicts with fights to the death. Intimidation tactics and having a lot of disposable income made shopping less of a hassle for the Dreadmage than it otherwise could have been, however, and the variety of goods here in Anatellia helped stave off the boredom that came from markets filled exclusively with useless junk, scams or souvenirs.

"You!" A Smeargle shopkeeper yelled at a passing Raz as he pointed to the Ralts with a stick. "You look like a smart 'mon! Check out these amazing items I have for sale!" The wizard in response hopped up onto his staff and briefly surveyed the merchant's stock.

The shopkeeper had a variety of trinkets and knick-knacks that could fit into the palm of a 'mon's hand (not Raz's of course, it's too small). Some looked like they could be valuable, but it was very difficult to discern what was the valuable items and which ones were just junk. At least to the common eye. Some appeared to look like they belonged in the trash, old stones or orb with inscriptions on them. Others looked like parts of writing or part of the same buildings that made of Reverence. Others were more shiny and new, like rings and jewels. Razathiel's eyes glowed briefly, before he flicked his wrist and laid out three of the shopkeeper's trinkets in front of him.

"This, this, and this," The mage snapped, floating momentarily as he used his staff to point at the three items. They didn't look like much - nothing particularly dazzling, carved from simple rock, but Raz didn't have all that much interest in pretty jewellery. "That will be all."

"Uh..." The Smeargle shopkeeper began as he looked at the three items. "Alright, seems like ya know what ya want. What are ya offerin'?" The merchant asked, as he extended his arm. Razathiel rolled his eyes, exasperated. He peeked into his magic room briefly, withdrawing a green jewel after a short delay. He levitated it in front of the merchant's face so that he might inspect it.

"Oh!~" The merchant beamed, clearly impressed with the item. But he shook his head and tried to snap himself out of the trance. "Errr... that is... that's a nice start, but these are raaare items 'ere. What else ya got? To sweeten the pot a bit?"

"Don't you fucking toy with me," Razathiel said with a glare that could probably cut to shape the gem he was offering. "I'm not sure what passes for deception in these parts, but you're a lot closer to a psychic blast through your cranium than another gem in your pocket."

"Hey, watch your shit!" The merchant stated angrily. "Who the hell do ya think you're talking to? Which sect are you from, huh? Having balls like that? I'm giving ya a fair deal!"

"Seems to me as though I'm talking to some feckless moron, posing as a merchant, with far too much greed for his own good. Here, I'll give you a tip to sweeten the pot; work on your fucking poker face!" Raz half-heartedly flung the gem at the storekeep's forehead, snatching up the trinkets and walking off in a huff. The gem hit the unsuspecting and unprepared Smeargle merchant directly on the forehead and knocked him out cold. "Insolent prick, wasting my valuable time... that should be payment enough, Giratina preserve me..."

"My goodness!" Cried a Quagsire bystander, placing a hand over their mouth.

"Whoops." Raz muttered, monotone, remorseless. He hopped off from his staff, walking forwards to examine more of what the market had to offer.

"Hey," Another 'mon suddenly said from Raz's side, from a nearby alley. He was shrouded in mystery, with a dark cloak covering his face, and the dim lighting of the alley adding to this enigmatic new individual. "I saw what you did there with that merchant. Pretty impressive if you ask me," He stated lowly, but confidently, as if he was someone who demanded attention. "You seem like the kinda fellow who gets things done. I like that. What would you say to a job I have lined up?"

Razathiel stopped in his tracks, turning to fully face the mystery 'mon. Slowly but surely, one of his eyebrows rose as he stared at the figure.

"Fuck off." The wizard said suddenly, turning and leaving.

Further down the marketplace, another interesting shop came into view. The merchant seemed more lowkey, smiling to anyone who passed by, and giving a few, humble words to get them to stop. His collection seemed to be larger than the other merchant, and had more appealing-looking items. However, a few relics seemed to be in his possession as well.

"Care to stop and observe me wares, mate?" The merchant asked politely.

"If I want to observe your wares, you needn't tell me to," Raz murmured with a hint of annoyance, more to himself than to the merchant. He slid over and hopped back up onto his staff for a better view.

"Hey... hey ain't ye that Raz fellow?" The Croconaw asked in surprise. "Who won the under-race? It is ya! I's a big fan, mate! Big fan!"

"Well, frankly, I'd prefer to be known for exceptionally powerful wizardry, being a terrifying psyker, dark magician, destroyer of worlds and all that, but yes, I did win the under-race - though of course it ranks relatively low on my list of villainous achievements..." The Ralts' eyes glowed as he perused the merchant's selection, but as he did he decided to ask the 'mon a question. "Say, that Zoroark isn't still around, is she? I can't help but feel she should probably die."

"Eh?" The merchant tilted his head. "Ya mean that Roxanna with those bloody Dark Moons? She should probably die, I reckon. But she left Reverence right after you won. What a loser, eh?"

Razathiel let out a bark of laughter, "Agh, curses. Funny, I'll admit, but a little disappointing nonetheless."

"Yeah, I woulda liked to see you wreck that bitch," The merchant stated with a smirk. "Anything ya looking for in particular, mate? I got a lot of stuff. Ignore the shinies, these maps are what ya want. Name's Yorp, by the way."

"Eeeehhhhh..." Raz stroked his chin in deliberation. "Ah, fuck it, I'll take all of those old ones. One of the new ones. I don't give a shit..." The wizard pulled open his magic room to take a peek in.

"Nice, nice," The Croconaw said with a nod of his head. "But hey... since you're all famous and all that, how 'bout a bargain price? There's this arse guy down the ways. He's a Minccino that goes by the name Guage. You'll know him. Weird guy. Tell him to lay off me, and I'll give ya these for free, yeah? He's off that way," He pointed.

"I mean, is that a euphemism for killing him? Because I can certainly do that, in fact it'd be slightly easier in all likelihood..."

"What? Nah nah!" The Croconaw shook his head. "Just tell him ta leave me be, yeah? And make sure he does."

"Yeah, sure, I'll go for it," Razathiel waved a hand dismissively, almost as though he were disappointed, hopping off of his staff and taking it in hand as he walked over in the direction Yorp had pointed. Soon enough, he came upon the Minccino. He was an average Minccino, although he had a pierced ear with an Arceus piercing in it and a stripe of purple paint across his face. He just sorta stared at Raz.

"Aww what did that fella in the shop send someone out here? I didn't do anything wrong! Just moved a bit of things around... honestly you know how unorganized all those maps are? Tipping over and all... they could fall and catch dust!" He huffed, crossing his arms. "Uh, your robe is uh... a little off center there...er... a-aren't you that Raz fellow? Won the race by rocketing past all those other mon and everything! Big fan of your genius!"

Raz rolled his eyes, "Frankly, I'd prefer to be known for exceptionally powerful wiza- never mind, that's not important. While it's all well and good, yes, the other 'fella' in the shop down there sent me to get you to 'lay off' him. All in all, I couldn't care less, however; I'm a 'mon of my word, and he promised free maps if I get you to 'lay off' him. So basically, piss off, because if you don't then it becomes my business. And when it becomes my business, people start dying. Am I understood?"

Guage chuckled. "Awww I doubt he'd want ya to kill me! Then you wouldn't get any maps!" He said as he stepped closer to him. "Oh and that whole threat stuff? Love that too! Really gives you an intimidating vibe! Pardon the fanboying" He randomly commented afterwards. He reached forward and quickly readjusted Raz's robe, getting it more centered. "But really! If I left him alone what would be in it for me? His shop is so dusty and unorganized! So bothersome! I can't help but do my thing!"

Razathiel gave the Minccino a dangerously quizzical look. "He didn't say he wanted me to kill you, but once it becomes my business you'd be an idiot to think I'd even hesitate! You think I won't because some guy I made a deal with would prefer I didn't? Hell, I'll kill you out of spite for defying me, I don't give a fuck- who do you think I am?"

"A very evil Ralts who wants to rule the world? Or just loves being an evil fella! Comon I'm not stupid I know who ya are, you kept going on about it in the races!" Guage said with a laugh. "Man I'm making such a bad impression here... silly me! Oh how can I make it up to you... oh! I know! Just one thing I'd like to do for you! If you let me do this, then I'll leave that shop keeper alone! If you get the maps, then I won't ever have to worry about them again! Everyone wins!"

Raz was silent for a moment. "... What?"

Guage held his hands behind his back. "You look like you've traveled a far distance! I can see it! You're covered in dust, dirt, and all sorts of stuff! Ohh it bothers me more than the shop!" He said with a huff. "So I'd like to offer my services to you and give you a cleanup! Brush off that outfit, and really make you shine! I even offer massages on the side as well!" He explained.

Raz appeared more confused than angry now, taking a glance down at himself with one eyebrow raised. "I am... perfectly clean, I'm a psychic, cleaning isn't at all a difficult thing for me, I'm not sure how you can even make that argument against me - in fact it's somewhat creepy - and even then, it seems to me that perhaps just killing you would be a very easy option; if you really, really wanted to make it up to me, perhaps you should consider... maybe, doing the thing I actually told you to do in the first fucking place? Hm?"

"But psychic cleaning just doesn't have an art to it! Its just all "poof!" No shine or anything! Well if you insist! How about a massage or something instead? I don't think your fancy psychic tricks could pull that off! And I'm a pro at this sorta thing! Comon I just want something to brag about to my buddies! Then I'm good as gone!"

"I mean, you'd also be good as gone if I killed you, which is a little more enticing, really- if this is your idea of a way to repay me for making a bad impression, it seems a hell of a lot more like a way to get you killed..." The wizard had to deliberate as he said this, as Guardia had specifically stated that killing innocents was a no-go. This guy was a pushy prick, though... "Okay, here's the deal; I don't necessarily trust you anyway, especially after this, so... I will allow you to pose one, maybe two new deals. If I like them, then that's fine. If not, I will go back to the other merchant and pay for the maps, and some time later I will return and I will kill you. Otherwise, you can just do what I said originally, which is of very little consequence, really- in retrospect, you're a real big prick for not just doing this of your own accord, you know."

Guage blankly stared. This Raz fellow was a real stickler! He had no idea what he was missing out on! "...doh! And here I thought I'd get something out of this! Alright how 'bout I tell you what I really wanna do." He began. "The reason I keep going in that shop? Well I just want to give a good ol' dusting up! He's trying to sell so much rare and valuable stuff and just lets it all go to waste in the dust! It'll really bite him in the butt later on and looking in that place just.... ohh! I can't stand it!" Guage said as he stomped the ground.

"So here's an easy one! Bring me to the store! So I can convince him to let me work just one day! Maybe a few hours and clean the place up all good as new! I won't break anything I swear! Not like my other business makes much cash anyways!"

Razathiel slowly put a hand to his forehead and sighed to himself, "Ugh, I should have just paid for the fucking maps... Fine! Come on. I will consider this one of your alternative deals, you fucking... agh. Let's go..."

The wizard led the way back to Yorp's store, though as he approached he pushed his staff to block the Minccino's way so as to reach Yorp himself relatively alone.

"This bastard just wants to clean your shop. Apparently. You did a real number with the telling me not to kill him, you know? Seems like he reeeeaaalllyyy wants it."

Yorp was about to greet Raz, before he saw Guage in his vision as well. As he heard Raz out, his face went into a frown. "What? What?! Who ever heard of that?? What? I said get rid of him! He doesn't wanna clean! Nobody wants to clean! Who would ever wanna do that, eh mate?"

The Mincinno tried peaking over the staff. "H-hey! L-let me talk to him! I-I really do wanna help out!" He shouted out.

Raz frowned straight back at the Croconaw. "You want to try getting rid of a guy who values offering you massages over his own life? Without killing them?"

"T-that's a side thing!" He commented with a blush.

"Everyone's working a side angle here, mate," Yorp explained to Raz. "Everyone's after something. Last assistant I had? Stole me socks! Me socks!"

"W-why...nevermind! I'll clean those too! You think I'd get away with stealing? Look at these little paws! I wouldn't get away with that even if I were good at it! Just give me a chance! I'll make this place shine and you'll see more customers as a result!" He held his paws up against each other as if he were begging and even gave off puppy dog eyes that were just oh so irresistible. "Pleaassee? I won't break anything! Infact I'll increase their value!"

Yorp threw up his arms in defeat. "Alright, alright, fine!" He yelled in defeat. He held one finger up to Guage. "One week!"

Guage gave off a fist pump! "Yes! I won't disappoint you! This'll be the best decision you made in your life! I'll even throw in my massage services if you want! I can start cleaning up right away!"

"No massages!" Yorp ordered as he handed Guage a broom. "Here, clean that mess in the corner there!" He commanded as he pointed to a puddle of 'something' in the corner of the shop.

He just stared at the broom. "Here I got a better idea!" He said as he walked on over to the puddle of 'something and instead used his tails to start cleaning up the small pile! Certainly more effective then a small broom! Minccinos were KNOWN for their cleaning abilities!

"Whatever works," Yorp said with a shrug. He looked back at Raz. "Thanks, I guess. Uh... you can have the maps," He stated as he handed the bag of maps to the Raz. "Can ya carry all that, mate?"

"Don't fucking patronise me..." Raz said as he flung the bag of maps into his magic room with a flick of his staff. He fled the scene as quickly as his small legs could manage - that whole ordeal had been a whole lot more disturbing than he had expected. Why hadn't the Minccino been afraid of death? Even more terrifying, why had the Minccino been trying to offer him massages? Was he too reliant on killing people? Not reliant enough? He needed to clear his head... Muttering curses to himself, Razathiel turned into an alleyway and put his back against the wall, breathing deeply and trying to clear his mind.

Suddenly, a Snorlax propped himself up on the wall beside Raz. He seemed tired. Or perhaps he was just lethargic. Maybe he was just as most Snorlaxes appeared, and this was his normal appearance. Either way, he leaned over the side wall right beside Raz and exhaled deeply. He looked down briefly at the small Raz, stared at him for a few seconds, then looked forward again and exhaled once more. "One of those days," He stated. Razathiel's head snapped to attention in response, though he remained leaning on the wall. With one hand he pointed his staff in the direction of the Snorlax's face, not bothering to look at the lumbering 'mon.

"State your business," The wizard said curtly.

"Don't have any, just leaning," The Snorlax stated lethargically.

"You spoke, as well," Raz snapped. "So no, you are not just leaning. State your business."

"Berry break from work," The Snorlax said with a yawn. "I'm a Stantler horn polisher," He explained in a low voice that sounded like he was going to put himself to sleep.

"Yes, terrific. Regardless," Razathiel turned to face the Snorlax, one eyebrow raised. "I hope you realise, if you plan an ambush, by blocking me you've also left yourself nowhere to dodge. Blasting a hole directly through your stomach would hardly be difficult."

"Blocking your what? What?" The Snorlax looked down at the Ralts lazily, then back up to the wall in front of him. "I dunno what you're saying."

"My exit. From the alley."

"I'm not blocking crap, go around."

"You call this not blocking?" The Ralts asked, sticking his staff between the Snorlax and the alley wall like a crowbar.

"Stop poking my stomach, that hurts," The Snorlax stated mildly annoyed, as he rubbed his belly where the stick poked him.

"Stop blocking my way," Raz countered. "It makes me want to hurt you."

"I'm not blocking your way," The large Snorlax snorted. "Go around."

"Raz? Raz!" The familiar voice of Gaiyo was heard down the market. "Where's that damn Ralts gone to?!"

"Oh!" The wizard exclaimed, looking the Snorlax in the eye with a sinister smile. "Looks like I don't have time for this. Toodles!" And with that, Razathiel let out a concussive wave of psychic energy, blasting the Snorlax out of the alley and into whatever unfortunates lay in his path. The Snorlax tumbled over and crashed into a nearby market stall, and dozens of 'mon flocked to see what was going on. Gaiyo on the other hand, shot past them and found Raz.

"Good, you're here!" He exclaimed. "Come on, we have to go now! I'll explain everything on the way."

"Promise to buy me ice cream on the way," The Ralts demanded.

"No time, but if you figure this one out for us, I'll buy you a whole ice cream shop!"

"But I want ice cream now," The wizard countered with a glare.

"We're all gonna die now!" Giayo countered back. "Later!"

"Fine," Raz growled, tapping his staff once on the floor and beginning to walk with the Ambipom. "But you will regret this, mark my words..."

The group of Snype, Cal, and Anna eventually left the Chronic and met up with the rest of the group just outside Arceus Orb, the monumental Cathedral that extended longer than any building in Anatellia. It was now home to the largest concentration of Sons of Arceus residents. Not too long after the two groups arrived, Gaiyo Nyys arrived with Razathiel in tow, who was enjoying a large scoop of ice cream.

"Good you're all here," Gaiyo stated as he nervously looked around the Arceus Orb. "So this is where the Gambler said the bomb is?"

"No, tell them west quadrant." Obsidian was saying to a nearby Kadabra, "I don't care about the interference, just make sure those orders get out!" It was evident that his new position was already causing some stress to the younger 'mon while he busily shouted out orders to the few Seekers around.

"Yeah, sure." He stated absent-mindedly to Gaiyo, "Wait, did we clear out that quadrant?" He asked more to himself as he grabbed his maps and hurriedly flipped through them.

"We're trying," He explained with a shake of his head. He looked up at the enormous Cathedral in front of them. "But it's not practical. There's just too many 'mon around. It's like asking to clear out an entire city in hours!" He once more shook his head. "No, there's only one way this thing goes down. We have to find the bomb, and stop it from going off. Or if we have the time, move it out of the city."

"WHAT!?" Obsidian asked as he threw his maps to the side, "We don't have that kind of time on our hands! This bomb could go off in the next minute! If we don't clear out then we end up losing this war! Look, I have enough mind to know when an idea is stupid, and that is plain stupidity. We don't have hours to search every inch of the housing! What if they hid it in one of the apartments? Underneath it? We don't have that time!"

Gaiyo angrily pointed at Obsidian. "I don't give a damn about your war! If this bomb goes off, I lose my people!" He yelled, clearly upset. "I'm not disagreeing with you, we should continue evacuations. But there's no time to evacuate everyone! If say the bomb goes off in an hour, we'll have evacuated less than 5% of the 'mon here in Arceus Orb! Find that damn bomb, and find it now!"

"And when it does go off, then guess who dies!? Your people!" Obsidian shouted back, just as clearly enraged. "And also our Seekers! I'm the leader of the Seekers, whether you like it or not! That old man might have cracked jokes, but guess what? I'm not him! So quit thinking that you can just boss me around like some finger puppet! We're set on evacuating and that's final!"

"So we should get looking now before we lose anymore time arguing about what to do," Kaveri said, the Floatzel actually looking rather serious for once. "Either we run outta time trying to get everyone out in time, we run outta time looking for the bomb, or we run outta time sitting here squabbling." She turned to scowl at Obsidian then. "Keep your 'mon evacuating, fine. But if we can find the bomb before it goes off, no matter how small the chance of that, we'll be able to save even more lives." Twitching her tails in a rare show of irritation, she took a couple steps away then glanced back. "So, we gonna sit here til we all get blown to bloody pieces or get moving?"

A loud crunching noise came from Razathiel's direction as he bit into the wafer cone of his ice cream. His eyes scanned the area contemplatively as he stood staring ahead, saying nothing.

Gaiyo was about to erupt at Obsidian, until Kaveri stepped in, seeming to partially diffuse the situation. Guardia took this opportunity to step forward as well. "Kav is right," She began as she looked around the others. "We won't get anywhere arguing. We'll split up the tasks. Obsidian, go ahead and continue with helping with the evacuations. The rest of us are going to look for the bomb."

"You're going to split up? Again?" Gaiyo asked the Zangoose Gold Tribe leader.

"There's no time to argue it!" Guardia snapped at the Ambipom. "Obsidian wants to evacuate and we have to find the bomb, so that's what we're gonna do!"

"Ah... argh, fine, fine!" Gaiyo yelled.

Obsidian grit his teeth as well, "Alright, I'll get the civilians out of your way then." He looked back at the Kadabra, "Send orders out, Seekers get out of the way of Gold Tribe. Control the crowds and give room for them!"

"Gaiyo, do you know of any spots in the Orb that very few 'mon ever pass by or enter? Those would be the best places to start, especially if any of them are rather easy to get to from the outside without being noticed." Cal asked, putting a hand on Kav's shoulder proud of Kaveri for stepping in while he'd been speaking with some of Gaiyo's 'mon in an attempt to learn more about the insides of the Arceus Orb.

Razathiel bit into the ice cream cone again, letting out a pleasantly surprised hum. He made a quiet slurping sound followed by a pop.

"Mind doing that a bit more quietly Raz? I considered you someone with better manners." Cal said, antenna twitching lightly.

"Don't need manners," The Ralts replied absent mindedly, in-between taking samples of his ice cream. "Evil."

"Thanks." The Dragonite answered before turning away from the dreadmage and back to Gaiyo.

Snype seemed to be ignoring the conversation and was just simply scanning the area. He didn't have much to work off of at the moment but once they started moving he could start figuring out possible hiding spots for this bomb.

"I don't know, I'm not sure, I mean..." Gaiyo's voice trailed off as he scanned around the enormous Cathedral and shook his head. "There's so many corners and places that 'mon hardly go to! Abandoned residencies, hiding spots... I can't think of any one place off the top of my head, damn it!"

"Well it'd be in a spot that would cause the most damage to the building or even make it collapse. One bet would be one of the bottom floors." Snype theorized.

"But there's so much traffic going through the bottom floors, where would we even begin?" Gaiyo asked with a hopeless frown.

"Wait," Guardia asked as she looked at Snype. "What was it you were telling me before about the orb? Like, there's an actual orb here, right? That's why you chose this place?"

"Right." Snype said. "I was getting to that. Kehe. Seems even Gaiyo forgot about it! Just makes it a more perfect spot to investigate!" Snype said with a laugh. "Hope you guys are ready to climb!"

"The orb..." Gaiyo repeated as he turned his head to the top of the building. "I hadn't thought of that. It's a generally restricted area except to priests... let's all go see!"

A gust of wind passed over everyone's heads to the beat of Cal spreading his wings. "I don't do 'climbing." He answered with a smirk. "Kav, you in?" For reply, the Floatzel climbed up onto her brother's back then gave a nod.

"Curse myself for not having wings," Thomas muttered. "I'll start climbing up the stairs. We'll see you up top!" He exclaimed as he ran inside the building. Guardia, Gaiyo and Abel followed.

Snype climbed onto Cal as well. He was a pretty light fella at least so it worked out! "Hey if I come up with an idea that involves throwing me again, slap me will ya?" He said.

"Throwing you should have the same effect anyways right? Then I can teach you a lesson AND do what you say." Cal replied with a friendly smirk at the Sableye. "See the rest of you at the top!" And with that he was off, soaring towards the Orb at top speed.

As soon as Cal landed up top, they spotted something right in the center of the enormous Cathedral. There was a fairly-sized crater, where it was said the Orb would be positioned, and where priest would climb up to pray to in respect to Arceus. But the orb was gone. Instead, a much smaller object was present. Giving off a variety of colors the small orb was cracked up and floating in mid-air. Its size and shape, however, was familiar to the group. It was similar to the orb Zai carried.

"So," Razathiel said from a window to the right of the group, hanging half out and taking a bite of his ice cream cone. "This situation sounds preeeety serious. Let me know if you need my help or if you want to fill me in, or anything..." He took another large bite. "That bomb looks pretty freaky."

Snype investigated the orb curiously. "...wait I've seen this somewhere before..." Snype asked as he took a step closer. "This is way smaller then I expected for the Arceus orb... no this can't be it. It looks like the Mega Stone Zai has..." Snype thought aloud.

Kaveri slid down from Callimer's back and took a few steps toward the orb to get a better look at it. She didn't get too close to it, though - they had no idea what could set this thing off after all, right? While she was normally quite the risk taker, there were a lot of lives riding on them diffusing this thing, so there was no room for her usual antics. Before she'd thought maybe she could freeze the bomb to slow it down or even stop it, but she hadn't thought it would be something like this. "Well if they're really that powerful, it probably wouldn't be beyond belief that they rigged it to release its power in an explosion. And if those cracks on it mean anything, we don't have much time before it falls apart and does just that."

"It's over here, this way," Gaiyo's voice was heard from behind. "Here's the Ar- what the hell?!" He glanced over the cracked floating orb in the air. "Oh crap. This is..."

"It's like Zai's," Abel commented from behind. "A Mega Stone, right? Why is it doing that?"

"Rigged to explode," Raz commented from the windowsill, still chewing. "Duh."

"Did you just come up with that, or do you know something?" Guardia asked the short 'mon beside her.

"Well I didn't just go off for a whole fucking day to do bugger-all, now did I?" The Ralts said indignantly, immediately afterwards taking another crunchy bite of cone.

Cal stood next to Kav and took a step closer to the stone. He had to stop himself from reaching out towards it, some sort of strange fascination he couldn't place. "If it's just a matter of energy and not any technical explosives how can we disarm it? Perhaps some method to defuse the power building up gradually so it can't cause any damage?"

"What's going on up there!?" Obsidian shouted up. "Is the bomb there or not!?"

"It's a Mega Stone," The Dreadmage said with a roll of his eyes, taking another loud bite of ice cream cone. "Just get someone to use the damn thing and it won't explode. Pretty simple if you ask me..." He paused to take a quizzical look down at his ice cream. "Is this cone extra crunchy, or is it just me?"

"Raz is right," Gaiyo stated as he gazed upon the Mega Stone nervously. "One of the reasons that our country ended up how we are now is because 'mon started to use these as weapons. But the right species of Pokemon can diffuse it if they touch it. The only problem is, each time a wrong species lays hands on it, the detonation process speeds up as more energy is drawn from the core. We have to be careful, but we have to act now!"

"Is there anyway to know which Pokemon is the right one? Like, I dunno, does the stone shine? Or would the Pokemon know somehow? Or something?" Kaveri questioned, inching a bit closer to the floating stone but not daring to touch it just yet.

Snype stared at the stone nervously. He was tempted to take a gamble and try something himself... but with what went down last time he wasn't too sure anymore.

"The only way to know is to touch," Gaiyo stated with a frown. "Coloration wouldn't tell because it's already been rigged to blow."

"All right," Raz sighed heavily, hopping down from the window and spinning his staff in hand. "Just leave me wondering about the crunchiness of my ice cream cone forever, then. Not like I have feelings anyway..." He waddled up closer to the stone, shaking his head exasperatedly as he momentarily stuck a hand into his magic room and pulled out another orb of similar size and shape. "I can do a thing with this, because otherwise if we all touch the fucking thing we're all going all over the place- it's activated, at the very least, that much is clear, so it's pretty obvious it's got to be for at least one of us. Are you lot going to be pissy at me, or can I get on with this crap so I can get back to finishing my ice cream?"

"What are you going to do?" Guardia asked curiously, not sure to make of what Raz was attempting to do.

"Tap it with this," The wizard said irritatedly, hopping up onto his staff. "So then everyone can touch this instead, when we've only touched the other one once. Not sure where you lot'd be without me going out and researching all this buggery..." He paused to deter a smug smile that tugged at his lips. "Probably not all that well off, I have to say..."

Kaveri was tempted to sweep the Ralts up and swing him around, but she instead just dropped a paw down on his head, a grin on her muzzle. "Tiny, remind me to get ya a whole lotta candy after this."

Razathiel flinched, psychically batting the paw away. "I will hold you to that. And don't call me 'Tiny'."

"Well let's not waste any time." Snype said.

"Right you are, minion," Raz agreed, levitating the dormant Mega Stone in the palm of his hand. He guided it gently toward the shining bomb and tapped the two together, and as he did so, small cracks appeared on the bomb in a burst of light - both stones remained in tact, however, as the dormant one Raz held in a psychic grasp now glowed, albeit more dimly, with the same colourful light as the bomb held. "All right, everyone touch this stone one at a time. If the light dims, it's yours. Get this over with - my ice cream is melting as we speak."

Since she was already standing next to the Ralts, Kaveri went ahead and bent down to touch the orb with a paw. The orb did not react beyond giving off the same, varied-colored light. Soon after Kaveri touched it, Abel walked over and lightly tapped the orb. Once more, the Mega Stone didn't react to his touch.

Snype looked at the orb and cautiously reached his hand out to it. As with the previous two, the Mega Stone gave no indication that it matched with him.

"Dang," Guardia muttered. After Snype, Thomas cleared his throat and proceeded forward. He held out his index finger, but found the same low light continued undeterred. Gaiyo stepped forward afterward, and once more, the same result happened.

"Damn it, it's not looking good," The Zangoose leader commented, as she reached out and grabbed the Mega Stone with her paw. The light did not dim as it should have. Nothing happened, which caused her to frown.

"Not looking good?" Raz asked, raising one eyebrow. "The bomb is glowing, so someone around here has to match it. Not sure what you're getting worried about, bloody hell..." Rolling his eyes, the wizard brought the stone back to himself and tapped it half-heartedly before sending it back a few arms' lengths away from him. The stone, despite the Ralt's tap, did not react. The cracking on the exploding Mega Stone, however, was becoming more and more apparent. It looked like all of the energy inside was about to erupt at any moment. Guardia could only imagine how catastrophic it would be.

"Ok, no more ceremony and awe, we've got to hurry up!." Not content to wait anymore Cal laid his right hand on the stone so someone else could go. The moment Cal reached out for the stone, all the energy on the surface of it instantly vanished in a brilliant bang of light. The Mega Stone dimmed and sat in his palm, lifeless again.

"Congrats, Greenie," Raz said unenthusiastically. "Now give it back and pick up the fucking bomb; I've got ice cream to eat."

The Emerald Sentinel caught the now-dormant Mega Stone and stared at it, completely dumbfounded. The cracked stone seemed to seal itself up at the Dragonite's touch and form back into a normal Mega Stone, but Cal could feel a deep power rushing inside of him now as he held it. "Me? I've never even heard of a Dragonite mega evolving, is that even a thing? How..."

Gaiyo let out a deep sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground. "That was way too close for comfort."

"Son of a bitch," Guardia cursed at the giant Green Dragonite beside her. She punched him hard on his shoulder. "You son of a bitch!" She yelled louder with a huge grin. "You did it!"

Kaveri slapped her brother's back, a very proud and very relieved look on her face. "Who cares if anyone's heard of it before? This is great!"

"Oh yeah, well done Cal, he did it," The Dreadmage grumbled, rolling his eyes and stomping off towards the stairs. "Stone touched, world saved- ice cream half-melted... fucking outrage, this is..."

"Well let's all show today's real h-err, magnificent villain some appreciation." Cal called out, rushing up behind Raz and hoisting him up onto his shoulder, who cried out in protest briefly before begrudgingly allowing it. "If he hadn't put so much effort into taking out a lot of the guesswork and giving us that extra time we wouldn't be here right now. And neither would a big chunk of this place I'd wager." Raz mumbled something inaudible into his cone before apparently drinking its remaining contents.

Guardia chuckled at Raz's reaction to Cal picking him up. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and sighed again in relief. "I guess it's true. We wouldn't have known what to do if Raz hadn't found out about the Mega Stones ahead of time."

"This will definitely prove useful against fighting Darkrai and his Agents," Abel commented as he examined the stone in Cal's hand.

Cal smiled at the situation and at his luck. "Yeah, maybe next time I scuffle with Darkrai I'll be able to do more than just scratch his disguise away. If it even works that is."

Snype crossed his arms as he observed the stone in Cal's hand. "Keheh, gotta say I'm a little jealious of ya Cal. But uh... why would they make a Mega Stone specificly made for you a bomb? Sends pretty convenient eh? Kehe" Snype said with a laugh.

"Maybe it's supposed to be a dowry for his betrothed." Cal answered grimly. He wondered if Darkrai remembered their fight, and if maybe it put Cal on some sort of twisted pedestal in his eyes or something.

"It could be that was the only one they had," Gaiyo remarked from his position on the ground, clearly still overwhelmed by all of this. "Damn Dark Moons, they'll pay for this, mark my words... either way, if they learned how to do this, it can't be good. " He shook his head and continued. "But regardless," He got up and looked over the group. "You helped me out. You saved my city. And you gave the Sons a great rep and some nice recruiting opportunities by winning the race. Plus you stopped Sons from disappearing and joining Darkrai's ranks with the Gambler. Consider anything you owe me paid, in full. You can move around without us escorting you now. Also..."

He looked at Cal and pointed at the stone. "If you wanna get that to work, I can give you a recommendation on where to start. Mega Stones are said to come from legendaries. Your best bet may be to visit one of the Temples in the south, since they're the best chances of communicating with actual legendaries. The Temple of Balance... or the Temple of Life. Other than that, I mean... there used to be a place long ago, where they said Mega Stones were once created. It's called the Altar of the Divines. I would recommend you maybe check that out if you wanna find more Mega Stones, or how they work. But..." Gaiyo shrugged. "To be honest, I have no idea where it is, other than somewhere northeast of here."

The Dragonite clenched the stone in his hand and nodded. "Sounds good to me, I'd love to use this thing on Roxanna, show her just how lowly a queen can be."

"You don't know where that place is?" Raz asked, perplexed, taking a loud bite of his cone. "I just bought a map with that place on it an hour ago! Bloody hell..."

Gaiyo scoffed. "What? That's not possible, no one's seen a map of that place in eons."

"Fuck off!" The wizard snapped, rummaging in his magic room for the bag of maps he'd bought earlier, bringing it out and plopping it on the floor in front of Callimer. "Got fuckin' maps," Raz said, mouth still full of cone.

Gaiyo looked over the maps incredulously. "How...?" He scanned them over and nodded. "Yes, that's the place," He pointed at the far corner of the Anatellian border. "The Altar of the Divines."

"Prick," Said Raz.

Gaiyo stared for a moment at the Ralts, then continued. "Either could give you the information you need. I leave the choice up to you. As for me, I have to let my people know all is well," He stated with a grin. "And figure out my next move against the Dark Moons. If you do ever have the time, come find me at the Temple of Arceus. You may have done all I asked of you, but I do have a few assignments I could still use some help on. Consider them not as required though, but as favors. I'll send Obsidian your way too. Good luck," The Ambipom waved as he headed off.

The Most Daring of Escapes​

There was panic on the streets, that was for sure. There were talks of bombs, and of casualties, and GET THE F**K OUT OF DODGE. Amid the rushing civilians and the guards and Seekers that were trying to keep the chaos as orderly as possible was a Haunter who easily floated through the bustling crowd. "Come on now!" He shouted back to his partner. "We're almost there. If the info we got is still accurate that is!" He floated a bit further and finally eyed their destination.... and the Seekers that stood outside guarding it.

The Buizel and Sandshrew pair were chatting among each other, but stopped as they saw the ghost approaching. "ID please." The Sandshrew said, acting automatically as he held out his hand, only to quickly withdraw it. "Oh... oh! Ruzzbull!" He cried out, an excited shriek in his voice, "Oh my Arceus! I've heard so much about you!"

"THE Ruzzbull!?" The Buizel gasped out, "Oh my I'm such a big fan!"

The Haunter chuckled weakly, "Um, thanks boys. Listen, I'm here on official business. You two have to help with evacuations. I've been sent to watch over the prisoner for now."

"You sure?" The water type asked, "Normally only two are set to guard."

"Yes, I have my partner here." He said as he gestured behind him.

"Greetings," The Simisage behind the Haunter declared with a slight bow of his head and a warm smile. The Simisage wore a belt with an assortment of items on it in pouches, some of which looked heavy, but which he wore without much trouble.

The Buizel and Sandshrew gave smirks, "Well, that was fast!" The Buizel said with a large smile, "They said the relief team would be ten minutes out." He gave a nod, "Well, sure. Just remember this, don't try to gamble against him. He is locked up and ordered not to leave."

The Sandshrew gave his own nod, "Yeah! That Mareep beat him in cards and he has to stay there with a bet! So it's no real problem. Don't expect any fighting from him either." With that the two ran off.

The Haunter turned to the grass type with worry in his eyes, "We have ten minutes to bust him out or else this whole place lights up with Seekers saying that there are intruders." He quickly floated in and opened the door for the Simisage. "We have to get in, and get out, asap!"

The Simisage nodded firmly in agreement. "Right, but... well, to be fair, if we're still here and we don't get Ben out, the Seekers aren't the worst we'll have to worry about," He explained as he leaped forward through the doors of the Chronic and proceeded through them. "He should be on the lower levels, through the caves... where's the... ah! Stairs down!" The Simisage pointed with a smile. "Let's go, there's not a moment to lose! I'd hate to have to die!"

As the Haunter followed his companion he frowned, "Listen..." He said, "I still have some close bonds with these guys. It's not their fault they are against us." He explained. "If we encounter any of them... can we not kill them? Just knock them out? I mean..." He sighed, "Well, you know how it is. But can't you protect us from it? I mean, hello, you're up there in the ranks! Isn't there something where you can block it? Just for a small area?"

The Simisage began down the steps toward the lower levels, but paused as he heard out the Haunter. He smiled again and tried to pat the Haunter on its side. "Hey, no problem..." He began, as his hand instead went through the ghost type. "Ha! Look at that, funny. Oh but anyways, I totally understand. I wouldn't want to hurt my village if I ever went to it, either. We'll go for the knock-out if we can help it."

He smiled weakly, "Thanks man. Well... maybe if we can help it... I wouldn't mind taking some of them back with us. They have to listen to the truth, after all." He chuckled a bit, "And getting them out of this blast zone... they would be rather thankful." He stopped talking and pointed forward, "There. We have... nine minutes and thirty seconds left. Let's make this quick."

As the two emerged into the cell room a soft voice greeted them, "Ah, I was wondering when something would happen." The Drowzee was playing yet another game of blackjack, "So... I take you are here to liberate me?"

"Hey Ben!" The Simisage waved happily. "Gosh, you had me worried. Getting captured back there! Why do you keep betting like this?"

He shrugged, "Honestly, it's the thrill." He let out a soft chuckle. The Drowzee's body shimmered as the illusion faded away. In it's place, was a young looking Alakazam. "I always enjoy the idea of a changing bet." He explained. "But you know that well enough. Everyone does." He flipped a card over, "But... I do caution. Don't force me out of this cell. I have a bet going. I can't escape. Forcing me out will just cause... unpleasant effects." His eyes snapped open, "And you two wouldn't like that... would you?"

The ghost frowned, "So... how do we get you out?"

At that, a small smirk formed along the Alakazam's mouth, "Simple." He grabbed a card and held it up, "Shall... we play a game?"

"Oh dear," The Simisage stated as he rubbed the back of his head and then his forehead to remove any sweat that built up. "This always gets me so nervous! But dang, I guess we don't have any other choice, do we?" The Simisage propped himself down on the ground just outside of the Alakazam's cell. "What's the game and what's the stakes?"

The Haunter took up a position to watching the hallway as Ben gave another smile, "Simple. You know how I go for bets. I always choose something that is... not favored by the other party." He held out his hand as his cards flew back into his palm. He idly shuffled them as he parted his lips once more, "The bet shall be this, if you win, I get to come back with you and my previous bet is laid off. If I win... however." He set the deck down, his eyes gleaming dangerously in the light. "You will end up being thrown into a cell, powerless to escape. You can help keep me company here while we either wait for our inevitable demise from the bomb, or wait for Gaiyo to return. Is this bet... fair?"

The Haunter frowned, "Hey... let me do it!" He said as he floated over, "They already have one Agent, they can't get a chance to take another!"

The Simisage crossed his legs and shook his head. "Then they'd just take you instead," He stated with a frown. "It doesn't matter our status, we've all just got one life. We'll do the bet together. One at a time."

Ben nodded and gestured to the deck, "Then, we shall begin." He reached out and quietly picked up two cards, silently sliding them face down to his side. "And... your turn."

The Simisage nodded, and drew two cards himself. He examined them both. One was a decent high card, a Queen. The other was a seven. "Hmm... I'll put this one back," He stated and handed back the seven faced down. "Oh dear, I'm sweating all over the place!" The Simisage exclaimed as he wiped his forehead again. "I simply can't understand how you keep so cool under this pressure... let's see..."

As the Agent drew another card, he frowned. "Oh, fiddlesticks!" He cried as he revealed his Queen... and two.

Ben flipped his own over, sighing as he saw a King and a ten there. "I'm sorry... my friend." He hung his head as another nearby cell popped open its doors. Out from the cell flew four blue ghostly shackles that quickly snapped around the grass-type's wrists and ankles and dragged him inside, the door slamming shut. "As I said, any attempts to escape will be... not met." He looked at the Haunter, "And... shall you try too?"

Already, the ghost was flying to his friend's cell, "I-I can get you out!" He cried out.

"I wouldn't recommend it." Ben muttered. "Trying to interfere with the consequences of the bet can get you... killed."

"Leave it!" The Simisage cried to the Haunter. He smiled at the 'mon. "Don't worry about me. Try going for Ben again. Don't worry, I believe you can do it!"

Ruzzbull stared at the mon before giving a weak nod and floated over to Ben, "Um... okay. So if I win, you'll release... " He frowned and looked at the grass type, "I... don't think I ever got your name. I just have called you agent."

"Alai," The Simisage stated. "Sorry, most 'mon I work with somehow end up knowing it off the bat, I sometimes forget I have to introduce myself," He explained with a chuckle.

"You'll release Alai too, right?" He asked.

Ben sighed, "Then the parameters of my bet would be changed as well." He explained. "If I would win under such conditions, then both of you will be chained in a cell, powerless still to escape. But to add onto that... you wouldn't be allowed to place harm upon any in this building."

Ben looked at Alai, "Um... is that okay?"

Alai shrugged back at Ruzzbull. "That was the plan anyway," He replied with a small smile.

He looked back at Ben, "Okay... I'm in."

Ben silently took two cards off the top of the deck, "Then, we shall begin."

Ruzzbull let out a shaky sigh and reached for two other cards, closing his eyes as he pulled them up and looked at them, paling as he saw the low numbers. "S**t... s**t..." He croaked out. "Um..." He looked back at Alai, fear on his face, "I... I can do this." He took in a deep breath and shakily lowered his five and reached for another card. He smiled weakly and shakily held out his cards to show the six and king. "U... Um... is this good?" He croaked out.

Ben said nothing as he flipped his own cards to reveal a seven, and a jack. "You win."

At that moment the shackles that had a tense grip on Alai's body slackened and faded away with the door opening. Ben silently rose and collected his cards as his own cell opened, "I have to say... thank you."

Ruzzbull smiled and threw his hands up excitedly, "I-I did it!" He cried out excitedly, "I... I saved you two!"

"Good work, Ruzzbull! I knew you can do it!" Alai stated as he climbed out of the cell he was just dragged in. He wiped himself off of the dirt from the cell. "That was so nerve-racking... I'd say that's enough gambling for me for... probably the rest of my life," He stated with a chuckle. "Gosh, I'm so dirty and I was only in that cell for a minute... oh but anyway, let's go while we still have time!"

"Yeah! Let-" Ruzz stopped in mid sentence as the sound of rushing footsteps could be heard, "Oh c**p. The... relief team."

Out from the tunnel appeared a Machamp and a Primeape. "W-What's..." The ape looked about at the scene, "Isn't that Ruzzbull?"

"Yeah! With the prisoner out!" The Machamp cried out.

"Dang," Alai muttered under his breath. He held his arms out to the two. "Now guys, let's not get too riled up here. After all, shouldn't you guys be trying to escape the city while you can?"

"We're here on orders to get the gambler out! And escort him with some Sons. Nice try!" The Machamp sneered as he ran forward and punched out with two fists.

The Primeape busied himself with building up his body with a Bulk Up.

Ben let out a sigh, "You know, in battle I must draw. Do you want me to participate, or not?" He asked Alai.

Ruzzbull himself scooted back and let his tongue fly out, hoping to lick the Primeape, Instead, the monkey saw it coming and reached out with his hand to grab it. "Oh cra-" Ruzz soon found himself being spun about in a Seismic toss as he hit into a wall and flew into it.

Alai glanced over to the Haunter as he was tossed and gritted his teeth. "You shouldn't have done that," He stated with a displeased look on his face. He turned briefly to Ben, and shook his head. "Your gambling fight method is too unpredictable right now Ben, and I promised that Haunter that we wouldn't kill his friends. You leave these guys to me," He stated as he cracked his neck, and unbuckled his belt of stuff and let it fall to the ground below his feet. "Go check on Ruzz in the meantime!"

Ben let out a sigh and made his way to the wall that Ruzz had disappeared into as the Machamp kept on rushing and stopped before the Simisage as he shot out two fists to try and grab the Simisage's arms while his other two tried to grab at his shoulders.

The Primeape was using the distraction afforded by his partner to channel another Bulk Up.

Alai reacted with precision to the Machamp's charge. The Simisage was fast, as he leaped up into the air and soon after made a precision shot at the Machamp, relying on a type advantage with his attack. "Alright then, Acrobatics!" He yelled as he oddly announced his own attack and struck at the Machamp.

The attack flew and nailed the hit, but the Machamp had been ready thanks to the announcement. A hardy Revenge attack flew out from one of the Machamp's lower fists and aimed to hit into Alai's stomach. Finally, the Primeape channeled his last stat boosting attack and rushed over. He narrowed his eyes at the other ape as a Foresight shot out.

Still out of position to dodge because he had just launched his own attack, Alai couldn't quite dodge the blow, but he instead moved his arms over and intercepted the punch to his stomach. The blow landed on his hand, and sent him through the air above the Machamp. Alai brushed his hands through to try and take off some of the pain, but quickly concentrated once more on the Machamp below. As Alai began to jump down through the air, he positioned another arm and leg to strike at the Machamp in two different places.

"Let's try this again, Acrobatics!" He announced once more.

At this point, the Primeape leaped across to block the attack, "PROTECT!" He shouted out as a green shield formed around the monkey's body, taking the impact of the blow. This gave the Machamp the chance to reach out with his hands once more. This time, not for so much damage. "Let's make you a bit weaker." He chuckled as his hands moved along the Simisage's body, his fingers lightly fluttering anywhere they could as he performed a Tickle attack.

"Dang!" Alai shouted at his failed attack, and watched as the Machamp's fingers prodded along his body. "Wha- hahaha... hey... hahaha, quit that!" He demanded through his laughter as he tried to escape from the Machamp's attack and defense lowering move.

The fighter just chuckled as he kept the attack up, letting one pair of hands reach out to grip the Simisage's wrists and keep him trapped as his other pair of hands worked their magic along his upper body.

As the Primape was about to take the opening to attack, he soon let out a cry, shuddering as a long pink tongue dragged along the back of his thigh. The monkey tried to turn about, but paralysis gripped him as Ruzz popped back out. The Haunter soon formed a black sphere in his hands and nailed his immobile target with his Shadow Ball. "Back-up is here!" he said happily.

"Perfect... hahaha!" Alai laughed one more time before he managed to slap away and break free of the Machamp's grip and flip away from him. He landed just below where his belt was. "Maybe on another day, I would have liked to fight you for longer," Alai stated as he crouched down and began fastening the belt back on himself. "But today..." the belt snapped on. "... is not your day," He stated with a grin. He rummaged through one of the pouches on the belt, and pulled out a Starf Berry. He grasped hold of it and held it in his hands, then closed his eyes to concentrate. His body began to glow a faint purple color.

The Machamp took a wary step back, then shook his head as he took the time to channel his own Bulk Up. "I won't give up!" He boomed out.

"Everyone fights for something!" Alai shouted back as he opened his eyes and ran forward at the Machamp. The purple glow extended to his arms and fists as he unleashed a torrent of attacks on the fighting type, who soon found himself being attack by Psychic-type punches and kicks. "But I fight because it's right! Natural Gift!"

At first, the attack caught the fighter off guard as the punches and kicks hit him where he hurt. He cried out, barely having enough discipline to raise up his own Protect shield to save him from the rest of the blows.

All the while, Ruzz was floating around the immobile Primeape. The monkey's arms and legs were dripping with saliva as he trembled there, the paralysis hitting him quite hard. Just as the ghost was ready to release another Shadow Ball, the Primeape finally felt his muscles loosening. He whipped about and threw a dark fist at the Haunter, his Punishment attack hitting right through the ghost's protection. "We fight because we're right!" The Primeape shouted out, in counter to Alai's statement.

Alai backed away as he saw the Seeker's Protect go up. He waited for a moment, and gripped the berry tighter, causing more purple energy to pulse around his body. "Maybe," He countered. "In your mind. But I fight now to save my friend. And that's why it's right," He examined the protect shield that simmered around the Machamp. "Let us go. You're in over your head here."

The four armed fighter narrowed his eyes as his protect eventually waned away, "... No." He said firmly. He kept up his defensive stance, "We have a duty here... we can't let you just keep on slaughtering our friends and family. Letting you go... means my dad could die... my son could. I can't let that happen."

"Neither can I." The Primeape stated, "We all have people to save. And with your mass killings, you aren't going to be allowed to leave. We've lost friends here thanks to this freak." He glared over at the Alakazam. "We won't lose anymore."

The Machamp took in a deep breath, "So, we'll keep on going." The Machamp nodded to Alai, "So... come on. Let's end this."

"And if it wasn't us, it would have been someone else," Alai muttered as he shook his head. "Did you know that if we wouldn't have, it was probable that Karn would have invaded in a much more brutal fashion within the next year?" He questioned as he clenched his fists and allowed the purple energy to engulf him. "And then another war happens after, and another after that, and the cycle of violence will continue forever. That's why we have to break the cycle. That's why we have to become free!" Alai ran forward to the Machamp and connected with another flurry of punches and kicks. "Natural Gift!"

"Close Combat!" The Machamp boomed as every kick and punch was met by a punch that the Machamp threw. The sound of skin and bone smacking against each other echoed around the cells until both attacks died down. The Machamp fell to a knee, all four arms placed against the ground to support him as he gasped and panted, "... Crud. You're strong."

"They don't call me Agent for nothing," Alai stated as he stood over the Machamp. "But don't let this get you down. Use it. And maybe your next fight will be better." He turned to see how Ruzz was doing. As it turned out, he seemed to not be handling things as well, the Primape had some berries hidden in his fur and was now on a rampage against the Haunter. Alai would have hoped the fact that Ruzz was a Haunter would have helped him against the Primeape, but Seekers weren't pushovers. In a fury, Alai went to assist, leaping in to try and take on the Primeape.

"Aaaah! Fight me!" He shouted unnecessarily to give himself away. "Natural Gift!" He shouted once more, stating his attack and his intentions as the purple energy gave off around his body again to give him a Psychic-powered boost.

As the grass type got closer, and thanks to his earlier announcement, the Primeape tensed his muscles, "Overheat." He simply said, sarcasm lining his voice, as flames shot out, engulfing both Ruzz and Alai. If anything, Seekers didn't go by the usual moves their kind would know.

Alai opened his eyes in shock as the suddenly flurry of flames engulfed him. He felt the intense burning around his body, but luckily the announcement of the Primeape made as a tease at the Simisage actually worked in his favor, as it gave him a moment to reach into his pouches. He propped up another berry into his hand, this time a Passho Berry, and clenched it in his hand. "Natural Gift!" He shouted again, and started spinning around as blue energy seemed to surround his body.

His hands produced a water that doused the rest of the flames around his body. Though some of them had already done their damage, the rest were now put out off of him and Ruzz. He panted heavily as steam emitted from the put-out flames on his body. "You OK?" He asked Ruzz beside him in between his pants.

The Primeape grit his teeth as he staggered back, the water having drenched his fur a bit, "... F**k..." He muttered out.

"Yeah... crispy..." He shook himself a bit, "Taking a month off for no practice really did a number on me!"

The monkey narrowed his eyes as he looked at the two remaining fighters. "... I probably won't stand much of a chance... but I won't die here!"

"We're not going to kill you!" Ruzz cried out in shock.

"So what then?" The Primeape hissed, "Take us captive? Brainwash us?"

"Um..." Ruzz looked at Alai, "Well, they would be out of the blast zone. And they are both pretty strong! That Machamp was almost to the point of matching blows with you! I think they would make fine additions!"

"Hell no!" The Primeape snapped. "I won't become some... some mindless soldier!" He reached into his fur to pull out a small pill. At the same time, the Machamp was reaching for his belt to grab onto a small object that was attached to it.

Alai's body sparked with blue energy as he gripped tighter on the berry. "You know, not everything's as simple as good and evil!" He yelled, before charging in once more. "Natural Gift!" He exclaimed, and with it, came a barrage of punches, all infused with Water-Type abilities. He aimed lower across the Primeapes body, in hopes of connecting closer to the ground and causing the area around the Primeape to become more slippery.

The fighter yelped and fell over with a thud, the pill he had gripped for falling out of his hands. At the same time, the Haunter shot out his tongue to lick the Machamp's chest. "No! No more death!" He cried out. "Well, at least for you two. I can't see any more Seekers die!" He cried out in distress.

Ben just sighed at the scene, "Are we almost wrapped up here? Staying in a jail cell for the past few hours hasn't been the most comfortable experience in my life."

Alai examined the fallen Seekers following the Haunter's lick, and turned to Ben. "They're done fighting. Can you teleport us, Ben?" He asked.

Ben raised his brow, "I can do well enough from here." He muttered. "Seekers too, I take it?" He asked as he began to charge up a bit of power.

Alai began to nod. "Ye-No!" He suddenly shook his head. "Let's not take them back to home base. But let's at least get them out of range. From there, they can decide what to do themselves after they hear us out."

Ben gave a small nod and held up one hand, "One port, coming up." Before either fighter could protest there was a flash of light as the cells were emptied of all life.

Alai, Ben, and Roxanna - Why we fight

The five soon reappeared. The city was nowhere in sight, and the caves were quite dark as well. That was no problem for Ruzz who held out his hands and used Flash. "There we go!" He said cheerily.

The fighters were gasping as the Machamp was still barely standing. The Primeape remained just as tense as he glared at them all. "So... what now?"

"Now we talk!" Ruzz said eagerly. "You all have no idea what we stand for."

"You stand for the chaos of nations." The Primeape spat out. "The means to slaughter entire populaces because your lord and master forces you to. You are but brainwashed masses who desire nothing but to cause havoc and the eventual death of millions of mon!"

".... Er...." Ruzz frowned, "Geez, I was like that too..." He looked at Alai. "I hope I wasn't THAT bad! At least, with my old group." He let out a weak chuckle.

Alai shrugged as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a few Sitrus Berries. He handed them to Ruzz, the Machamp and the Primeape casually. "I'm not sure. Everyone has a different reaction. The problem with them is that they have an established idea from someone who faced Darkrai at his worst. It's hard to erase that idea from someone's head when they're convinced," He explained as he himself popped a Sitrus berry into his mouth and chewed delightfully. "Ah, that hit the spot!"

"How about when Darkrai kills your father?" The Primeape grumbled out.

Ruzz opened his mouth, closed it, and frowned, "Um... honestly... that is a very good point there." He muttered out. "How do you take a death and change that around?"

Ben sighed, "It's hard to. And also, I just checked in with home base. It seems Roxanna is going to be coming..." He let out another sigh, "So, be prepared."

"Heh, Roxanna!" Alai exclaimed gleefully. "She's not in the best of moods right now. She just lost the under-race," He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Oh, but I'm sure seeing you alright will make her slightly less not-happy!" He stated, before turning back to the Primeape and Machamp.

"I'm sorry to hear about your father," He frowned. "Everyone loses when it comes to war. There are no winners. It's hard to even say know what to say. No amount of words will bring him back."

Ben just groaned, "No... she won't. She's going to kick my ass... again."

The Machamp finally got to his feet as he peered at the berry, "... Well, if this is poison, at least I'm dead." He bit down and began to chew as the Primeape crossed his arms, "Exactly. So I don't know why you brought us here. I have no idea what sort of things you did to have Ruzz let go of his oaths, but that won't work on us."

"I'm not sure what made Ruzz come along with us," Alai replied with a shrug. "Honestly, it's usually different every time. Everyone's motivated by something different. The only reason I brought you here..." He paused and sighed. "The only thing I can give you is an explanation. On why he died. To give you a reason. So that you know he didn't just die for nothing."

"So... what?" the Primeape asked, his rage clearly rising, "So he died all those years ago because some pent up brat locked in a sphere got mad he couldn't rule the world. I already know the story."

Ruzz winced, "That's REALLY low. And not the reason!"

"It's not that simple," Alai responded as he looked out through the dark cavern, his voice echoing slightly as he did so. "There's so much that's going on behind the scenes, it's hard to know where to begin... it feels like it would take an entire week to explain every thing that happened, or could happen."

Alai put a hand to his chin and scratched it a bit. "You ever hear of the Guardians?"

"No." The Primeape stated flatly. The Machamp, likewise, shook his head.

Alai nodded. "You wouldn't have. It's an old story. Not well known anymore in many circles. Put simply, the Guardians are a group of legendaries that basically act as guardians of the world. They make sure the world remains in balance. It was a system established a long time ago by an unknown entity. Darkrai, known to us as Gabriel, is one of the Guardians. But the Guardians system is a pragmatic one. One based on give and take, on push and pull. A good deed happens in one place so that a bad one happens here. A life is lost in one place so that a life is born in another."

"So..." The Machamp began, "This whole thing is happening so... something good can happen somewhere else?"

"And my dad died so someone could be born." The Primeape snorted, "What if this is all lies? Have you ever thought of that? With Penance he brought us hard evidence! The Gold Tribe had been hiding all sorts of historical manuscripts and books! We have lots of copies of them now! That's how we know we're right!"

Alai shook his head. "You're exactly right."

"So what?" The monkey narrowed his eyes, "Why are we even out here then if we're right and we have the documents to prove it?"

Ben just groaned in annoyance, "Can you all just make them shut up for a bit? I have had to listen to stupid people for the past few hours, and I would like a break from it."

"In a moment, Ben, this is important," Alai stated to the Alakazam. He turned back to the two Seekers. "You're here because you misunderstand. You're right, the Guardian system is a lie. It is flawed," He nodded firmly. "And that's why Gabriel has set out to destroy it. You see, we're not promoting the Guardians here with this war. We're destroying them. Before the system destroys all of us," Alai extended his arms. "This all? War? Violence? Destruction? All of it has happened before. All of it happens now, everywhere. And all of it will continue to happen until the end of time. Because that's apart of life. Because the world was built so that authority could trump everything else."

Alai began to pace and make movements with his hands as he explained. "Let's now... so like, the world is in pretty bad shape. But this isn't the worst it's been before. Long ago, it's been much worse, and long before that, it also had gotten to that point. Throughout points in history, it delves deeper into a pit, and the worst of the world piles on top of it, until it reaches a boiling point. A cataclysmic event," He turns back to the Seekers. "And then something terrible happens."

"So..." The Primeape began, "Instead of telling people this... and educating them... you just want to kill everyone who doesn't know who a guardian is? How many Seekers honestly know who the guardians are? How many Gold Tribe know? How many mon who aren't a part of either of us know? No one!" He flailed his arms, "So if this is the truth, why are you going around and setting a already bad example? Do you honestly think that stunt you all pulled in Tollen in killing their people with a plague will honestly score you Sitrus points?"

Alai sighed. "What happened in Tollen was terrible, but it was also not my call. Every Agent works differently. And I'm not defending how they did it, but I will defend what they did it for. And in case you haven't noticed, this is the reason a lot of good, honorable 'mon have joined us. Because we have started educating the world. The ones that would listen. 'Mon like you... or the ones in Valkaria or other places, they've been far too indoctrinated by their own misconceptions. There's no changing their opinion, no matter how hard we try. I mean... look at you guys! Ben's barely standing this talk again! Because we've had it so many times already. A book that's been filled can't just be rewritten. Not always at least."

Alai shook his head. "Pokemon don't want to know the truth. They've been told countless times before, and the result is the same," Alai began making expressions with his hands.
"'We don't believe it! We don't care! If the system is there, it works! It's for the greater good! It's for balance!' I've heard it all before, trust me," Alai explained as he mimicked all sorts of responses he would get. "And that's why, thousands of years ago, Darkrai first set out to break the system. To destroy it and to build his New World. But he was imprisoned. And because of that, natural chaos, the overseer of that, was suddenly vanished from the world. Do you know how bad that was? To have no natural chaos in the world. Or at least no Guardian to oversee it? If Cresselia had been alive, then once more... the worst would come again. Even if she wasn't, I can't even begin to imagine how bad we're all screwed because of it. The world is on the edge now. Everything is going to repeat, as it had in the past," He shuddered. "I can only imagine what'll happen. But there's no way I'm going to let it. We're going to stop it. We're going to end this."

The Machamp blinked, "... So... huh."

"Then why is your precious leader trying to kill us all?" He asked. "Cause, last I heard, he pulled the same sort of shit in Tollen that he pulled in Valkaria! The kind that killed my dad! Brainwashed mon who just... kill anything around them! How is that freedom!?"

Ben shuddered, "She's... almost here."

Alai nodded to Ben, then continued with a frown. "... Because he was part of the system. Tollen, Valkaria, they all are. And if they oppose what Gabriel is doing, then they have to be forced out of the way. It's an evil thing to do. But it's the last option left. The Seekers, SEC, The Gold Tribe, the nations, they're all the iron fist of control. And control is the problem. We need to free them, in the most violent way possible. The sad truth is, through this, Darkrai gains power."

"So... no order... meaning no protection... meaning everyone still dies cause mon can be selfish bastards. Glorious." The Primeape muttered.

"Freedom to live is still freedom," Alai stated back. "Why should one have to die so that someone else could have their freedom? That's not freedom, that's also control. That's not what will happen. That's another answer that many of you guys will think will happen."

"So... what will then? What will happen in this most perfect of worlds?" The monkey spat out.

"BEN!" The familiar voice of Roxanna called from atop her mount. A group of 'mon, including the Queen of Darkness and a contingency of Dark Moons began appearing out of thin air. "Praise the Dark One, he's not dead!" She yelled as she looked up into the sky. "But you will be in a moment..."

Ben flinched a bit at the tone, "Um... hey... uh... Roxanna... hehe... I have a REALLY good explanation this time!" He cried out desperately. "Pleasedon'thitmeagain."

Roxanna jumped off her Rhyperior mount and decked Ben right across the face. "You fool! How can you be such an incomprehensible buffoon? Do you enjoy putting your life on the line like a lunatic on a daily basis?"

The Alakazam coughed and sputtered as he wiped some blood from his lips, "I would have gotten the leader of the Seekers, the leader of the Thieves, AND the second in command to the SEC!" He shouted back, "Imagine that, a woman who could have been able to hand us over a load of psychics for the taking. And I had to make the bet! You know how I am."

Roxanna scoffed, almost pompously. "Dearest Benjamin, I had them all within my grasp at the under-race!"

"Oh, you got them there?" Alai asked happily. "I thought you lost!" Roxanna's eyes glared violently at Alai, who instantly paled. "... Uh..." A moment later, the Zoroark's foot connected with the Simisage's face and he fell to the ground.

"The impudence..." She muttered.

"So... what happened at the race then?" He asked her, "Did you take them prisoner, or not? Because I worked my ass off to try to get them all. You couldn't have just magically done it all!"

All the while, the two Seekers looked on, clearly knowing they were at a huge disadvantage.

"The blasted Ratatas had cheated!" Roxanna yelled. "That is the only reason they won. And it shall be the reason they die as well, Dark One mark me!"

Ben just raised his brow, "... Of course... it isn't because oh..." He let out a loud cough, "You'vebeenputtingofftrainingwhilethinkingthatyou'rethebest." He let out another cough. He blinked slowly, "Sorry... scratchy throat."

"Why you little caterpie," Roxanna began storming toward the Alakazam. "We ought to have left you in that accursed cell to rot!"

Alai jumped in between the charging Zoroark and the Alakazam. "Hey guys! Come on now, let's all just... hnnnggh, calm... down!" He implored as he tried to hold Roxanna back. "Besides... we have... company here!"

"But Roxanna." Ben said with a sly chuckle, "Who would be able to predict the movements of the Seekers next time? Certainly not you."

"Yeah!" Ruzz cried out energetically. "These are.... uh.... I don't actually think we ever got their names... but they're here! And Alai was like BAM! And they were like SLAM! And then they did this thing where they matched fist for fist and were like BA-KAM!" The Haunter cried out as he moved his hands in all manners of ways.

Both of the fighters tensed up as the conversation was brought back to them. Yeah... this wasn't going to end well, judging by the attitude the Zoroark had.

Roxanna turned to the two Seekers and grinned. "More volunteers for the armies of the Destruction Saint?" She asked mischievously. "Or are they dissenters waiting to be broken? Shall I bring them to their knees? Or are they so beneath our standards as to 'force' me to dispatch them here and now?" She chuckled.

"Hey, hold on now, Rox," Alai stated as he put up his hands in protests. "I was just giving them the spiel on everything. I told them what's going on. It's up to them to decide what to do about it now."

"Your placidity is amusing, Alai," Roxanna replied with a snort.

"We ain't betraying any vows." The Primeape muttered. The Machamp likewise gave a firm nod as he readied his arms in a defensive pose.

"And they aren't bad!" Ruzz said, hurriedly. "Four arms here matched blow for blow with Alai!"

"It's true." Ben said as he crossed his legs and sat down, "They put up a fight. Though they were doomed to fail against an Agent, of course. Now, that's why they probably won't fight unless you throw the first punch. Alai and you? And me? Together?" He let out an amused chuckle, "They won't stand a chance."

"So after everything I said, you're still going to oppose?" Alai asked them.

The ape gave a firm nod, "Just because you said doesn't mean it's right to go about it this way. If I die here, then fine."

The champ gave a small flex. "I'm not turning on oaths I made either. How can I even call myself an honorable mon then?"

"Flayed alive it is, then," Roxanna responded with a menacing smile.

"Wait!" Alai stopped Roxanna with a motion of his hand. "No, we're not going to kill them."

"Aren't we?" She asked with a look of disapproval. "They die now. It's the best solution, since I know you would never force anyone to come with us, Alai."

"We're not killing them," The Simisage repeated again firmly.

"Then what? Turn them loose?" She asked angrily. "So that they could rejoin their ranks and kill more of ours later? Your tolerance is arrogance. You've no doubt heard the tales of the Demented Ones in the Seekers. Why should we let them live if they treat our own so brutally? Hmm?"

"Roxanna. Dear." Ben replied as he slowly stood back up, "It is a two versus one vote." He looked at Alai, "While I do respect your position... this is war. Do we allow them to live so they can kill you another day?" He let out a coy chuckle, "Of course not. It is either death or life. You promised not to kill them... but forcing our hand upon them isn't killing them. Besides, do you honestly want to fix with Rox on this issue?" He smirked, "Go ahead. They are good fighters. We can use them as nice assets."

Alai looked toward Ruzz, then toward his two companion Agents, and finally to the two Seekers. He shook his head. "I'll have no part in this. A warrior who fights unwillingly for a cause is no warrior. They are a slave," He shook his head. "... Why not just send them back?" He asked, almost immediately he waved his hands as he saw Roxanna begin to react. "I know, I know, just hear me out. As of now, Valkarian propaganda has the entire world believing one thing, and the only ones who ever get educated on the other side of things are those who join us. But what if they get sent back and we let them tell our tale?"

Roxanna rolled her eyes and scoffed. "And you believe they would do it? That they would believe anything that we tell them, or say it to anyone."

Alai paused for a moment, and looked over the two Seekers, then nodded firmly. "Yes, I do," He stated with a smile. "They're Seekers, and the leader of the Seekers has one true saying: I never tell lies. The same goes for withholding the truth. All he wanted was the truth, and if we give it to them, he'll share it. I know he will."

"You're a fool," Roxanna stated with a scowl.

"That would have worked..." Ben began, "If the leader of the Seeker hadn't just attempted to commit suicide and is currently bed ridden. Right in the area where the bomb is set to go off, and unable to be transported out at the moment." He replied quite casually. "Whatever he saw in our camps shook him. So much so that his will is dwindling. His title has been temporarily passed onto his son while the whole mess is sorted out." His eyes flashed, "And if you have heard the stories I have about the kid, he can be a bit harder to predict over his father."

"As bad as that sounds, the decision to report or not to report still lies with them," Alai stated as he pointed to the two Seekers. "I trust that if they believe in what the Seeker leader believe, then they'll at least share what they've heard with others. And that's all we need."

Ben held up another finger, "Then, how about we make this so both of you are happy?" He asked. "Send one of the seekers back, the other gets inducted into our ranks. Perhaps the more powerful one." He murmured as he eyed the Machamp. He smiled at Roxanna, "What do you say? Sounds fair? Both parties get a nice resolution."

"I suppose I am willing to accept that," Roxanna replied with a small nod. Though I would prefer both, or none alive."

Alai once more looked toward the two and then back at the Agents. Once more, he shook his head. "No, I'm not compromising on my morals," He stated firmly. "It's just not who I am, guys," He said with a small smile. "Sorry."

"Alai, I'm going to kill you!" Roxanna spat angrily.

"Sorry, I know, I know!" He held up his hands to try and calm them down. "Just do this one for me, please?"

Ben tilted his head, thinking for a moment, "Very well...." he started off, "I suppose I can send them back... at most I can dump them in the outskirts of the city." He looked at the two, "Most likely they might raise alarms, so if you don't mind, I'll lure them off to sleep first." Before any protest could be made, the psychic's eyes glowed as both fighters collapsed to the ground. "It's just to make this all easier." He explained. "I'll get them down, then I'll meet up with you two later. Roxanna, I'll see you... well, you know where." He said with a sly grin, "We have some catching up, after all."

Roxanna waved him off. "Yes, I'll see you there. Though I've got an important assignment coming up, so I won't be able to hang around for long."

"Great!" Alai exclaimed as he glanced at the two now-asleep Seekers. "Yeah, yeah, this should work out," He stated with a nod. "I guess I'll see you guys later, alright? Keep in touch," He waved off, and headed away toward where the other Psychics were, and with a flash of light, the Simisage was gone.

Guardia, Snype, Callimer, Kaveri, Anna, Thomas, Abel, Obsidian, and Conduit - Decisions and a friendly face

"So, what do you guys think?" Guardia asked the group soon after once everyone was present in front of her. "Where should we go next?"

"I'd say the temples... but I really don't want Karn getting all pissy at us just because we came in from the wrong side of the door." Snype started to ponder. "Can't we like, walk in from somewhere else? Maybe like inbetween and get them all confused! Kehe... or sneak in," Snype joked.

"I also agree with the temples," Anna said after Snype, "but if we go in we should do it from Karn's side of the border. The Anatellians don't like it and it may affect their stance in this war, but in terms of fighting power Karn will be one of our greatest assets. It is better to have them on our side than against us. Besides, as we continue our journey I can only hope these two countries will put their differences aside and work together to fend off Darkrai, if only for this one war. We may be able to help when that time comes as well."

"Then shouldn't we wait until we go to Karn for that, and instead go do one of the other tasks first?" Guardia asked Anna.

"Depends on what we get out of it if we keep helping him out." Snype said. "If we aren't going after the temples then we should move onto either Karn or Beatruce."

"We can alternatively look for other mega stones" Anna pitched in, "like The Dark Moons possessed. They are obviously stores of great power and can aid either side in this war. If we find them and take them to the temples with us it may help us more in the end than going without them. However, carrying such great power with us would make us a target as well. Knowing what we can uncover it may be worth it."

"Then you're suggesting the Altar of the Divines to track down more Mega Stones?" Thomas clarified what Anna stated. "That could be a good way to go."

"...aw hell that would actually be a good idea." Snype replied.

"Thank you, Thomas," Anna nodded to the Hypno. "That will be my decision for our next direction. Unless there are strong arguments for another option?" She looked towards the other members of their party quizzically.

"Agreed," Abel stated with a nod. "Going to the Temples through Anatellia would be suicide militarily. And we gain nothing more from helping Gaiyo. We've already secured enough of his favor."

"And the Altar of the Divines doesn't really have any downsides other than the possibility of missing out on other opportunities. It's the safest bet with as much potential as the others." Cal added, looking down at his Mega Stone again. "And I'd prefer if this thing didn't stay a useless rock. I can only imagine what it feels like to have the amount of power we almost saw erupt out of it flowing into you, I just hope it doesn't have any lingering remnants of Darkrai's power...If it was his that made it a bomb in the first place."

Snype glanced over to Cal as he explained what kind of power he could gain. It slightly worried the Sableye... mostly what this could mean for the gold tribe if Darkrai was defeated. "...yeah well if you do make that thing work don't go off doing anything crazy with that kind of power.." He simply stated.

Cal looked at Snype and it was clear with one glance he had already considered it. "Trust me I won't...I feel almost like I tapped into a little bit of that potential when...well you know, I can't bear the thought of losing control in the middle of something much more intense and dangerous."

Snype kept his stern expression as Cal explained himself. "...If you say so Cal." Snype stated rather bluntly. "...Sorry I probably shouldn't be so unfair to you like this. Honestly you're one of the better mon among us to have something like that."

"I hope you're right." Cal answered solemnly while he tucked the stone into his bag. Another loud bite of cone brought Razathiel to attention.

"I dunno how you guys feel, but..." The wizard paused to swallow. "As far as I'm concerned, fuck Gaiyo. He's a prick..." Raz plopped the last of his cone into his mouth and climbed upwards, sitting cross-legged on top of Callimer's head. "And frankly, it's a little insulting he only considers our debts repaid now. As far as I'm concerned, the fucker owes us a lot more than we ever owed him... So yeah, fucking, uh, Altar, I guess. Then we get the bloody hell out of here to wherever else we need to go."

"Well, gee, thanks for the heads up." Obsidian muttered as he strolled on over, two Seekers accompanying him. "If you want to go and seek out unimportant trinkets, fine then. But I have a job to do now. And that entails finding the rest of Cresselia's being." He crossed his arms, "So, you really going to just ditch to find stones that can cause more chaos? Be my guest."

He soon however, let his arms hang down as he began to chuckle, rather darkly, "Oh... but that isn't the most funny thing yet! I mean, sure the bomb was big, BUT I know something a tad more funny! Can you guess what it is? Hm?"

"Those Mega Stones could help against fighting Darkrai, Obsidian," Guardia explained as she crossed her arms. "But what do you mean by more funny?"

"You know... our gambler friend. He's gone." The smile fell from his face, "While we were dealing with things here they pulled an ocean's eleven! The Seeker guards are missing too. That means, they put this distraction here just to get him out!" He grit his teeth and threw his hands up, "Just... gah! Look, I have a mess to sort through here right now. You can go ahead and do whatever you want, but I have to deal damage control here! Who knows if anything else was taken? I can't just go off right now. The Seekers have to restore order in this city."

"What?!" Guardia called out in surprise. "That bastard escaped? Figures he would while we dealt with this... but I thought he was bound by the bet?"

"Maybe he found a way out of it, or maybe he isn't as truthful as he makes himself out to be," Abel commented.

He let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head, "Look... just take some Seekers, okay? These thugs just planted a bomb in this city. What's to say they won't charge you when they see you and aim a hyper beam at your group? These lands aren't safe for any of us if they can just throw mega stone bombs at us all day. Take some of my warriors and at least get some more protection."

"Have you forgotten Obsidian? We can go to one of the temples without leaving Anatellia. We won't be gone forever, and I don't think there's any point assigning seekers to us as bodyguards." Cal broke in amiably.

"Your real strength as a group is information, as long as we keep in contact we can still help each other, I'm sure you have plenty of capable fighters, hell I've seen a few. But this little ragtag group of ours has some of the best fighters around, possibly among the world's best in some cases, and plenty of other skills besides. And we can't afford to just sit here either, don't forget we're losing progress in every one of our other destinations the longer we dally. You have to stay open-minded. Either way I don't think we're done here yet, I think it would be best if we get rid of Roxanna before we leave, I know she can probably be replaced but Darkrai doesn't just make his servants agents willy-nilly. And she seems to have a reputation as one of his best, if we can get rid of her I doubt the Dark Moons could recover quick enough to become a serious threat to the Sons again. And that would leave the infrastructure of Anatellia much more stable."

The meeting was interrupted as there was a knock on the door. Before any of the gathered could respond the door was opened by a grinning Raichu. "Geez, guys! You'd think I have the Tepig Flu with that kind of treatment." There was a rather anxious group of 'Mon behind him, an escort from the local Network Point. "Alright, alright. I'm staying here. You can go." A laugh escaped from him as he approached Guardia. "Ma'am...I'm afraid I have some rather unfortunate news for you."

Guardia turned to her side to see the familiar Raichu approaching her and the rest of the group. "Conduit?" She greeted her Gold Tribe brother in surprise. "Conduit! What the hell are you doing here? What happened?"

A troubled, yet pleasant look crossed his face as he looked down. "It's a pleasure, Guardia, but I wish I could visit under more...hopeful circumstances." He sighed as he looked back up, the grin slowly disappearing. "General Rikken has fallen."

Guardia's expression changed to one of shock. "Rikken? He's... he's gone?" She asked unbelievably. "That... that can't be..." The Zangoose leader closed her eyes. It seemed like a worst case scenario for Valkaria back home now. General Grett had betrayed them, and now General Rikken was dead. Which means the defense of the entire Alpha Alliance came down to...

"What about General Warren?" She asked.

Conduit nodded as he frowned. "He fell in battle, no worries there. A real fighter to the end." A somber chuckled escaped his lips as he smiled. "General Warren is...well...He's harder to kill than most. I heard him screaming at some Psychic types to send him back to Gold City on my way to deliver the news." The grin grew again as he laughed. "You know the Alliance will be fine with him around. He may not be the best at politics, but if anyone can captain a skeleton crew, it's him."

"Heh... damn bastard," She said with a slight grin. "I knew he'd pull through. Still..." She frowned again as she thought of the prospects. Normally, three Generals commanded the Alpha Alliance at peacetime, and then it was already a full-time job. Now, General Warren had to handle the defense of Valkaria all by himself, and he had to do it without the leader or second-in-command of the Gold Tribe to boot. "Conduit, I know you're going to want us to come back and help but... but right now we just can't. Our mission, this mission is way too important. We're getting close now. Close to getting military help for home, and close to finding Cresselia too. We can't go back now, not empty-handed. I hope you understand."

Conduit nodded as he looked around. There were several stronger members of the Gold Tribe here. "I understand. Warren and the Alpha Alliance can handle themselves. They've got some members of the Tribe with them as well." The grin returned to the Raichu's face as he crossed his arms. "There's no way in hell that I'm going back. Too many nasty 'Mon out there." He looked around as he felt a certain sense of comradery. "If you all will have me, I'd like to tag along with you."

Guardia grinned and nodded. "Of course, we can always use another tribesmon in the group," She replied as she extended her hand to shake Conduit's. "Welcome aboard."

Conduit grinned as he took the Zangoose's hand. "It's an honor, Guardia." He looked around to everyone, stopping to wink at each and every one of the gathered. "You might find that it's rather [/I]shocking[/i] how helpful I'll be." If one payed enough attention, they'd see a small spark cross his face.

Razathiel ran a hand down his face. "Oh, for fuck's sake..." He muttered. "Guardiaaaa, can I kill him for that? Please? You all heard the pun! That can't be allowed, it's unforgivable!"

Conduit looked to the small Ralts and gasped, placing his hand over his heart. "That really HERTZ, shorty. Someone should've taught you your manners!" It seemed a never ending grin kept growing.

"He did it again!" The wizard cried. "And he called me 'shorty'! Why does anyone even care about Darkrai when THE REAL MENACE WAS UNDER YOUR NOSE THE ENTIRE TIME!?" At the peak of his rage, Raz fell off the back of Callimer's head, landing on two feet in a huff with crossed arms.

The Raichu grinned as he he leapt up, his tail moving beneath him to hold him up. "WATT are you doing, man? There's no way that you can have a MAGNETIC personality that way!" A continuous burst of laughs streamed from his mouth as he bounced around on his tail.

Cal sighed and laid the end of a wing on Raz's shoulder - which utterly eclipsed it - while stepping forward to lightly punch Conduit's shoulder. "Good to see you, it's been too long, glad to know another good tribemate is safe. Don't antagonize Raz too much, he's been working hard, he saved all our asses today!" He couldn't hold in his smile at the sight of another living member of the tribe coming to join them, but he knew Conduit sometimes had a hard time grounding himself.

"Cal, my man!" Voltaire hopped off of his tail and walked over. "Good to know we've got some of our best here...even if you do look a little sick." The obvious reference to the Dragonite's color was rather bland and distasteful, but the humor of this Raichu knew no bounds. "My bad, little man." He looked to the Ralts and laughed. "I hope we can put this little revolt behind us, eh?"

"Not this time, Rants," Guardia responded to the Ralts as he asked about killing the newcomer to the group. "Not that it would be easy. Conduit is one of our best fighters. But you're gonna have to get used to the puns, because he's coming with us," She explained with a grin.

Razathiel collapsed to his knees. "So this is how it ends..." He breathed. "The saga of the magnificent evil wizard Razathiel, brought to its climax by puns, of all thi-" The Ralts was suddenly interrupted as a large handful of candy was forced into his mouth. The culprit, Kaveri, took a bite from a candied oran berry herself as well, before offering the half eaten treat to Voltair.

"Hey,Conduit,greattoseeyou!" It seemed the Floatzel had already consumed a large amount of sugar beforehand, if her rushed speech and constantly twitching tails were anything to go by. "Youwantsome?Tastesgreat,you'llneedit,lotstodo!" The Vian sister then paused, took a breath, then released it, continuing to speak at a more methodically slow pace, though it was obviously quite difficult for her. "Ah man, you've missed a lot! I'm engaged!"

A rather shocked expression crossed Voltaire's face as he looked to the Floatzel. "Hey there, Kaveri!" He took the treat from her hand and popped it into his mouth, taking very little time to taste it. "Delicious!" In all honesty, he hadn't even tasted it. But the thing about food was that there was so much to eat, so there was no reason to take time to savor it. "You're...you're getting married?" Conduit narrowed his eyes. "This is some...jolting news...but congratulations all the same!"

The Dreadmage let out a muffled groan from the floor, where he now lay, distraught, with a mouthful of candy.

"Conduit eh? Keheh. Well we'll take whoever we can get on this little adventure." Snype commented with a wide grin.

"Well, there's your backup." Obsidian muttered, "Go on and get going. Time is of the essence." He turned to the Kadabra next to him, "I need those updated numbers, and fast. Have all sectors get them to me within the hour." He soon made his exit.

Cal and Snype: Reading Club

After deciding their next location, Snype strayed away from the group to just spend some time on his own. He remembered a mention of a library full of various books about legendary lore and perhaps Mega Stones if he's lucky. The Sableye just had a lot to think about with the recent events going down. They had two Mega Stones in their posession... maybe more if Raz was hanging onto some in his magic room. Snype entered the library and casually glanced around at first. As expected it was fairly quiet at the moment. Most of the Pokemon probably left after hearing about the whole bomb incident. It gave Snype time to himself at least. He took a seat by one of the tables and sat down, just leaning back and going into deep thought.

"No, we don't have all that many, most examples at all are just short mentions in tomes on completely different topics." A keeper could be heard saying with a surprising lack of subtlety for someone watching over a library. "Hey aren't you the mount from the Sons team that won the race?"

The Dragonite at the keeper's desk shook his head and spoke more quietly than the keeper. "Speaking of topics, can we keep on the one I started with? I'd appreciate it if you could point me towards any books that might have information on Mega Stones. I don't care how small the mention is."

"Ya mean reading don't bore ya?"

"No."

The keeper shrugged. "Surprise surprise, golden boy's got a brain." He reached under his desk and pulled out a set of files, then began to scan through them while Callimer turned away and scanned the shelves for something to distract himself.

Snype paused his own train of thought to catch Cal nearby. "Cal? Keheh, didn't think anybody else would wander in here." Snype said as he sat up more straight. "What brings you over here? I can take a guess but figure I'd ask. Kehe"

Cal pulled the stone out and turned it in his hand a bit while nodding before putting it away again. "You probably guessed right, but I also just wanted something to do. When we aren't in the middle of our missions I spend a lot more time and gray matter than I should thinking about...well a lot of things. Everyone back at Gold City, the 'mon in Beatruce that are waiting for us while they battle disease, and most of all...Darkrai. What he might have done to me, what he might be doing everywhere else, and what he's done to Penance. I like to read, if there's any time I could use a mental distraction, it's right about now."

The Sableye looked over Cal as he spoke and tapped at his chin. "Hrm... guess owning a Mega Stone would do that eh? I'm kinda in the same position. Concerned about the thieves back home, other places, though mostly worried about the future myself. And I'm not just talking about Darkrai either. I mean what'll happen afterwards." Snype said. "Its a bit silly I spose but the past thirty years gave me enough insight to warrant that kind of thought process... kehe. Was actually hoping to read up on a few legendaries while I was here myself. Never took ya for the reading type."

"Of course. When I was younger I was so weak, I felt completely useless to Kav. There she was working to keep us afloat and what could I do? I couldn't protect myself, and I didn't even have hands to work with. But my tail was enough to turn the pages of a book." Cal sighed wistfully and a small smile stole over his features at the memory of the first time he felt useful. "The one thing I felt like I could do besides a few minor chores was learn, I could learn where we might be able to make some money, help Kav find interesting stories so she didn't have to bog through the boring crap. And I could keep myself occupied so she could worry just a little bit less, until Wildfire took us in it felt like the only thing I had in the world besides her."

Snype really wished he had a drink or something on him. He figured the two would be chatting for a good long time. He needed something like this right now. "Keheh... sounds like a hell of a life Cal. For me? Honestly was just your every-day thief. Not much different from how I am now! ... Alright maybe that isn't all true but uh... I'm kind of a complicated fellow that way." Snype said with a shrug.

Cal snickered at Snype's 'life story'. "I think our entire merry band is a bit complicated, it's lucky for us this little trip is gonna take a while, probably plenty of time for us to get to know each other a bit. Unless some of us would rather stay private I guess. Personally, I think it's good, if we don't foster any trust between now and when we beat Darkrai, what might happen to the world afterwards? Some of the most influential people in the world are in this group, a lot could be gained for the world from genuinely good-intentioned cooperation between us."

Snype nodded to Cal. "Tsk, yeah. Glad someone agrees with me. Why do ya think I'm so chatty with the group? Keheh. I know I can get on alot of people's nerves but hey, they know who I am at least. And if they're open for a chat... well..." Snype pointed at the table in front of them. "Fact is, I'm a pretty open fella. Mostly anyways. I'm not gonna go off tellin ya what plots the thieves got goin on, not that it matters with Darkrai being a thing and all." Snype said.

"Though after we deal with him... well I dunno. That's been a big thing on my mind as of late. Even more so with the idea of finding more of those Mega Stones. If you catch my drift"

"Yeah, they leave plenty of room for corrupt 'mon to be dangerous without legendaries or 'gods' or whatever even getting involved. And they could irreparably shift the power balance of the world when this is over if we don't handle it right. I have a feeling now that they'll be a big factor in the days to come, we can't just see them as power boosters." Cal answered with a nod. "I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't just a bit excited about it though. I hope you get one at some point, after all, you haven't experienced evolution."

"I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't a little jealous of ya." Snype laughed. "Yeah but on a more serious note, we do need these things to take down Darkrai. But what would stop some other mon from just saying "Oh man! I sure don't like that Dialga fella! I'm gonna go rough him up!" Or perhaps "Gods? Who needs em! We can just run things!" Snype said, going into a sudden shift in tone.

Cal stared at the ground and was silent for a moment. "I'm not really sure what to say on that, besides that even with the power to fight one gods aren't so easy to find. I think those that helped create this world and supposedly keep it in balance deserve respect. But sadly the only thing Darkrai's proven to us so far about legendaries is that they aren't infallible, and they can be just as corrupt as any of us can."

"Cal, I'm pretty sure I can trust you enough to make smart decisions regarding the matter. But Darkrai could only be the beginning. He could cause alot of mon to fear legendary Pokemon in general. I'm just worried about this whole Mega Stone thing getting out of hand. Comon, imagine if Raz or Penance got their hands on that kind of power? Or hell, even Guardia? I'm worried about a shift of power balance because it will happen. Maybe not now, maybe not this century, but it could be inevitable." Snype said before shaking his head. "I really shouldn't worry about something so far off but I just can't help it. The Gold Tribe has one Mega Stone. What happens when a group of them has that kind of Power and can start making bigger choices?" Snype continued on. "Gabe got corrupt with all his power. What's to stop us from doing the same? The Gold Tribe, Seekers, hell the thieves even! I should just steal the damn things when we're finished and bury em.."

"Then it would probably start some crazy 'mon-hunt with conspiracy theories flying around all over the place. What would be better is if we could keep them spread out to begin with. Keep them in this group as much as possible." Cal countered. "And then decide, democratically, mind you, what to do with them. Even if we spread them evenly throughout the world I worry that countries would just go to war over getting more and upset the balance anyways." He rubbed the back of his head. "That's just the first step I can think of though, there are so many unanswered questions I can't even imagine what we'll have to do. I can only hope it becomes more clear as we go, so I guess you and i are in the right place, trying to learn about them and all. Among other things."

"Well at least you agree with me more or less." Snype said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair. "Honestly, if you had this conversation with Guardia she'd probly say "We won't use the stones for bad things! We'll be fine!" I'll bet you money on that. Kehe" Snype said with a chuckle.

Cal nodded solemnly. "Guardia trusts her brothers and sisters in the tribe almost completely, maybe more than some deserve. But I try to repay that trust in kind, and I'll look at us all critically if she won't, and I'd like to think she'd agree with us about the stones. And if not, I'll just have to convince her otherwise." He smiled at the end. "After all, I've got a bit of pull myself now."

Snype tilted his head Cal. "Keheh...ya know Cal, your probly one of the most reliable folks in our group I gotta say, let alone one of the most reliable fellas in the Gold Tribe... wouldn't hurt to have someone on the inside I like that... heh." Snype said with a shrug.

The last bit of Snype's statement made the Dragonite's antennae twitch. "On the inside, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, did I let something slip there? Kehe... ah its really not too big of a deal." Snype said with a sly smirk.

"Listen Snype." Cal continued, now leaning closer to Snype and looking directly into his huge, crystalline eyes. "If there's someone specific in the tribe that worries you, I need to know. What. Did. You. Mean?"

Snype kept that big toothy grin of his even as Cal leaned in closer. "Keheh, well honestly I have alot of things I'm worried about in the tribe. and it isn't just me either." Snype said to the Dragonite, his face quickly turning to a more serious one. "I got a few questions for ya first though. We'll start with an easy one. Why do you think the thieves came back?"

Cal squinted, wondering what Snype was getting at. "Back when all I knew about the thieves was a few stories and my encounters with your more...unseemly members I probably would have said you came out because you smelled the chance at a big score. After getting to know you a bit, I think it must have been more than that. Whether it was related to Darkrai or not, something had you concerned, and it brought you to Gold City the day hell found us. And it was something you couldn't just have another thief handle and spread with the Ninjask, it had to be you who investigated."

"Keheh... well we've been a little active even before the big day in Gold City. Hell alot of the past thirty years I spent preparing for a crisis like this. Did ya know I setup a bar right near the heart of Gold City? A speakeasy! And not a single one of you knew about it! Not even Guardia knows! Haha!" Snype said bursting into laughter. "Your tribe has alot of flaws Cal if you let something like that slip through. Hell we have an tunnel we sneak through dug right up by a few folks I hired! Made a good escape route for alot of the civilians that couldn't make it to the networks! Honestly ever since Guardia got in charge we started getting more and more thieves by the minute and it only made it easier to prepare for Darkrai, and fulfill some of my other tasks! But I'm getting a bit off topic. Kehe..." Snype continued.

"You know Snype, I know you've never claimed to be some sort of goody two-shoes or anything but you should think a bit more closely about just WHY your thieves had more leeway." Cal's eyes darkened and his tone wasn't quite so friendly as before. "That tunnel and your networks ended up being a good thing for Valkaria, but you got that far because of just how difficult it is to keep order without infringing everyone's rights. After Guardia took charge the Gold Tribe wasn't some sort of elite police force anymore, we all really tried as hard as we could to make sure everyone wasn't just safe, but also happy. You got there by taking advantage of that good will, that belief that we shouldn't have to be a militaristic society or a dictatorship to be safe."

He took a deep breath and closed one eye, wanting to make sure Snype didn't take his shift in tone for hostility. "And if part of that worked because you have spies in our ranks - take for instance some of the supposed ex-thieves Guardia vouched for personally and did her best to give a second chance in regular society - that was wrong, regardless of your intentions. That type of subversion, whether fake loyalty or divided loyalties, ultimately isn't good for the Thieves or the Gold Tribe, and just makes it harder for us to trust anybody." Cal's back muscles tightened as he kept his tail from thrashing behind him at the thought of more spies in the ranks, and from 'mon who shouldn't really be their enemies.

"Keheh....heh. I'll ease your mind a bit there Cal. I don't have spies in the Gold Tribe. I'm not THAT dirty. We're thieves, not covert agents. If we're gonna steal something we'll put on a show or make it seemless. Kehe. The worst case of spying you'll have is our Ninjask network and those buggers are loud!" Snype said with another laugh. "But again, I'm off topic. Just feels good to get that all out. Cal I'm telling you all this because I do want someone I can trust. At least one mon within each of these different groups that have formed up." Snype continued as he looked Cal straight in the eye, rather enjoying this debate.

"You're fairly close with Guardia. I know she's been more...selective with who joins the Gold Tribe. What happens to those who get denied? Ever hear from them since then? Kehe."

"Well they're not held to any standard or punished. But plenty of them are bitter about not making it in, I can only imagine some of them go to you. The thieves have influence, and do things with their lives, and you're mostly all still Valkarians to the core, so it makes sense. But in most cases I'd like to think Guardia had good reasons, though she can make mistakes just like any of us." Cal stretched to loosen up a bit and let his gaze soften as well. "Some examples make me glad sometimes, I'm not sure I could stand working with that Scyther friend of yours. I'm afraid if we hadn't seen so little of each other on this trip I might have hurt him by now. He can be a real jerk."

"Well ya can't like everyone ya work with Cal. That's just how it works. Guardia sure knows how to waste talent and send em all my way. Honestly I doubt I'd have been able to expand as far as I did without them! Kehe. Gold Tribe training is a mighty fine thing for a thief it turns out!" Snype said with a laugh. Not that I just take them all. I don't need thieves getting hostile toward the Gold Tribe. That isn't my intention at all. Ya know, unless they get out of control or anything...but if that happened then we're doing our job wrong... or ya know, we just let them gain access to some supernatural power blessed by legendaries or something." Snype shrugged once more. "Oh dear another slip up~ Keheh. Almost like we're more then just thieves!" Snype said, showing off that big ol toothy grin.

"But at least you're aware. I've been meaning to spill the beans to Guardia one of these days and HOOOO boy! I cannot wait to see her face! Kehe! Don't you dare take that away from me Cal~!" Snype laughed, going off topic once more.

Cal smirked at Snype's laughter. "I won't...unless you take too long to tell her. But you know it won't be so simple to deal with the Mega Stones as making sure nobody has too many. It's something we'll have to deal when we know more. But I certainly don't intend to watch the tribe start gathering them en masse and hoard them, that would be a very dangerous mistake for all of us. The power they hold...it's not something just anyone can handle. So few pokémon can even use them, let alone handle that kind of power. If it truly can rival legendaries, then Darkrai might pale in comparison to a group of 'mon that could all use them. I will never let that happen if I can help it."

Snype smiled to Cal. "Heh... well good to hear Cal. Just hope that the others share the same ideals as you do. The thieves will keep doing their thing to make sure the tribe dosn't get too carried away either. While I make sure the thieves themselves don't make that very mistake. Honestly our numbers most definitely surpass the gold tribe by now if you count all our expansions. Kehe"

"Maybe, but some of us are pretty good at making friends without ever having to expand at all." Cal let his own underhanded hint at greater things slide along unimpeded before continuing. "And if it makes you feel any better, I'll be keeping a close eye on the thieves myself. And if any of you ever do make those mistakes, I'll be ready with my own stone to help fix it, if it has to come to that. I want to trust you too, even if I'll always be iffy about your fellow thieves. What'dya say we make a pact of some sort? Always keep an eye on each other and all that, and be ready if either group, or - Arceus forbid - either of us should fall too far."

"I'm down. Keheh, but I'll tell you what I say to everyone else. Never trust a thief. Keheh." Snype said with a smirk. "But if you wanna trust me to an extent, be my guest." Snype said as he held his tiny hand out to Cal."

Cal smirked again and held one hand out, before he made sure to pull Snype's other hand. "Oh I'm careful, just because I might call you a buddy doesn't mean you'll pull one over on me. And, if you try to cross any fingers or toes, I promise I'll break them later. " And with that he shook the much smaller hand, somehow feeling a lot of relief from the simple act, regardless of their differences and allegiances.

Snype felt the larger hand shake his. He was always worried he'd eventually get his hand crushed during one of these handshakes but the Sableye was lucky enough so far! "Fair enough then big guy! Kehe" Snype said with that big ol toothy grin of his.

"Ahem."

The keeper clearing his throat startled Cal out of his thoughts. "So, these books've been on my desk for a while now. Either of you gonna get readin' anytime soon? Thought that's why you came in here."

"Oh... uh... kehe, sure thing. Care to grab em Cal? I'm about the size of most of these books anyways." Snype joked.

"Right, right." Cal began to gather up the various texts and tomes as best he could and follow Snype towards some tables. But after the first few steps he stopped and looekd at the keeper over his shoulder. "Listen, any thing you heard during all that, you didn't hear, got it?"

The keeper nodded, as far as he was concerned it was all way over his head...plus he had stopped listening less than halfway through when he realized he didn't care what they were talking about.

Yorp and Guage - Adventures in the Shop and Beyond!

Guage continued cleaning up the shop, starting off with dust piles in the corners of the shop and eventually moving onto the merchandise. "Ha...haha... so what do ya think? Looks really good right? A-and I haven't broken anything either! I know how to get around valuable stuff like this!" He said.

"Yeah, yeah," Yorp stated, clearly not interested in the cleaning of Guage. "Fine, fine, yeah, keep goin'," The 'mon stated as it looked over some papers on the counter. He briefly looked outside to see if any other Pokemon were passing by, but it was all fairly empty now that night was coming.

Guage shrugged. He didn't expect to be appreciated quite yet, but he was just happy to lend a hand. The whole place just seemed alot nicer overall! "So uh... how long have ya ran this shop anyways? You got all sorts of cool trinkets and stuff!" He simply asked as he started dusting along the shelves.

"This shop's been in me family for shut-the-hell-up-and-work years!" Yorp shouted angrily at the Minccino. "I'm trying to see our replenishments, Arceus curse it!"

Guage frowned. "...s-sorry I was just curious..." Guage said as his tails kept doing their work while he paid attention to Yorp.

A part of Yorp felt bad for the way he suddenly snapped at Guage. He sighed deeply and rolled his eyes, and turned to the Minccino. "Look, it's been in me family for 'bout three generations. We come from a lina mercants. Before that, we were diggers. Once they found enough crap, we became sellers o' that crap."

"Ohhh! So you went on like... adventures and stuff! That sounds really fun! I never really got into thrills like that but I loved reading about them and all the stuff mon found!" Guage said as he moved over to door and dusted off the floor to give it a nice shine. "

"I never went on adventures," Yorp stated sourly. "Me great granddad did. Ever since, we settled and became shop-owners, mate."

"Ya ever wanted to? I mean I know we have alot happening out there but after that all settles down maybe!" Guage replied.

"I ain't got time to go on silly 'ventas, I got a shop ta run! Go back to sweepin'!" He yelled at the Minccino, and began muttering under his breath. "Adventures... hah... thrills and mountains and... "

The Minccino kept on dusting around before moving up to Yorp and dusting around his area. "Hey just a fun idea if you get some off time!" He said with a wide grin. "Maybe you'd find something more valuable to sell here!"

"Get your fat ears out of the clouds and back into these caves where they belong!" Yorp shouted at the Minccino.

Guage tilted his head. "Hey a guy can dream right?" He said happily. "There you go! All dusted up! Look around! Your shop looks good as new!"

Yorp once more glared at the Minccino, this time a vein popped up on his head. "Dream?! Dr-" Yorp looked around the shop, fairly surprised at the good condition it was in. "Ey, ey, not bad at all, mate. Ya know, you're preey good at this, yeah?"

Guage rubbed his head with a small blush on his face. "Hehe, aw thanks. I'm uh... sorry for doing it the last couple times without asking! I just have this thing that snaps whenever I see dirt or something like that." He explained.

Yorp shrugged. "Well, ya could have worse things... I was always wonderin' why ya were so weird before. I guess no judgin' till ya know a guy, yeah?"

"Heh... yeah, and my other side job wasn't really making alot of cash either. Some folks just don't trust me for some reason! Maybe I'm just too forward?" He said with a shrug.

"In a place like this, it's habit," Yorp agreed with a nod. "Ya never expect someone to come up to ye without any other motives. It just doesn't happen in Anatellia."

"Yeah. The whole place has been pretty weird ever since those gold tribe fellas showed up. What's up with all that anyways?" Guage asked

"You're barking up the wrong tree, mate," Yorp stated with a shrug. "I don't know why they're here or how long they're here to stay. That's up to Leader Nyys."

"I know I know. Things just feel kinda weird ever since they got here. I dunno why." Guage commented as he casually brushed his tail along the ground. "

Yorp shrugged. "I guess... I been hearing all kinds of things about them, but what it all means?" He shook his head. "No idea. And I dun care. They're not doin' anythin for me!"

"Hmm... well they did win that race thingy but I suppose your right! So what kinda things do ya do when nobody's shopping? Ya play any games? Draw? Something like that?"

Yorp shrugged. "I guess, I like ta look at me maps sometimes," He stated as he pointed over to the stack of maps in the corner of the shops. "Thinking about how me granddad used to travel there. I've got a spot I go to sometimes when we close down. A nice spot..."

Guage walked over to the maps and looked them all over. "Ohhh can we go there after we finish up at the shop? I wanna see!" He said with a cheery expression.

"Are you kidding me?" Yorp yelled at Guage. "I've never actually been at that spot, just closeby! It's on the surface, ya know! Closest I ever been was the Network Point at the edge of the cave."

"Well why not check it out then? Its marked on the map for a reason! Maybe we'll find something!" Guage replied.

"Nah, it's stupid! Ain't nothin' up there but cold," Yorp replied with a sigh. "There's not been anythin' up there since forever."

"How do you know? Ya said you've never actually been there!" Guage said with a tiny laugh. "Ya never know unless we try! what do we got to lose?"

"Our limbs in the cold!" Yorp responded with a shout. He looked over the map. "Bah... I mean... there's so much that could go wrong, and everything, I just don't know..."

"Well I got fur! And we could bring coats! Just a little peek! If its too much we'll head back and plan something else! It'd get us all hyped up and everything!" Guage said with a big ol smile! Guage hopped up onto Yorp's desk and lookedwa at him directly.

"Grrr... alright fine! Fine!" Yorp gave up. "We'll go together once the shop closes! But just a quick see! Nothing crazy!"

"Yeah sure sure!" Guage said with a wide smile. "Ya need anything before we head out?"

"Yeah, two more hours for the shop to close!" Yorp yelled as he threw a book at Guage. "Keep cleanin'!"

"O-oh ok!" Gaiyo replied as he got right back to cleaning around wherever he may have missed.

---

Yorp took the first, long step into the white sheet of snow. The pair had made it just outside of the cavern where the Network Point was. In front of them, white as far as the eye could see, though at the very end of it was a peak. Yorp pointed to it. "There, that peak," He explained from the top of the cavern, as he shivered despite being wrapped in Anatellian fur from head to toe. "That's the spot I'd wanna go. Yeah..." He sat on the cold snow on top of the cavern and sighed. "Sometimes I like ta come up here and just sit and watch. It's nice. Nobody's ever up here. It's peaceful-like. I like ta think that me granddad made it up to that peak."

Guage shook off a bit of snow off of his fur and observed the peak. "And that map marks the very same peak right?" Guage asked as his feet messed around with the snow a little. "Whatcha think is over there? Some kinda treasure maybe?"

"I can't say for sure... but I always did want to know... it's just so far away!" Yorp whined. "And in this damn cold and snow... I dun know what to expect!"

"I'm really curious! It could be something huge! Ohhhh I really wanna check it out!" Guage replied.

"Guess we better start headin' off to find out then," Yorp concluded grumpily, as he grabbed hold of a walking stick and made the first tread into the white sheet of snow before them. The first of many.

It was a rather long and arduous journey toward the peak itself. The cold air blasted the two 'mon's face relentlessly. Even all bundled up, it was spectacularly blizzardly, and Yorp knew it had not only the potential to get worse, but it definitely would. And yet, the two continued forward. Yorp had his hands in front of him, covering what was open on his face as best as he could. Though still, the brisk air punished him.

Then they finally made it to the base of the peak, a long hike that seemed to take years, but in reality was only a few hours. Nothing of notice seemed to grab Yorp's attention at first. It seemed to just be a pile of snow surrounded by even more snow. Nothing seemed to be here. He wondered if this was a mistake. If he had come here for nothing, and killed his vision of the adventurer his grandfather was. He wondered if it would have been better not knowing at all.

A small, glistening light caught his gaze further up the peak. On a ledge. He cocked his head, and waited for a moment. The glint once more appeared under the right reflection of light. There was definitely something up there. "Somethin' be up there... but it'll be a cold climb... I wonder if we should risk it, eh?"

Guage climbed onto Yorp and used his tail to wrap it around him for warmth. "Hey we got this far right?"

"A-ain't ya scared? Or shiverin'? I'm freezin' here, mate!" He protested, though in reality, Yorp was just stalling.

"Oh yeah I'm freezing! But that big bright light is gonna bother me for weeks! We gotta get a good look at it!" Guage said with a wide grin.

"This had better be worth it," Yorp muttered. The two spent the next half hour making it up that peak, which was, as expected, quite difficult. The pathway up was significantly steep, and with each passing step, Yorp could feel the temperature continue to drop at a steady pace. Yorp was already certain his entire face was numb at this point. Now, it seemed, that parts may just start falling off.

But the two eventually reached the area with the glow. It was a surprise, to say the least. There were rock formations and loose parts of a building, but everything was in ruin. It looked old, ancient, as if it had been there for a long time. But Yorp recognized part of the designs. They were definitely Anatellian. Maybe even older than the ancient buildings the Sons lived in now. Yorp had not expected this. He had never known the Anatellians to have ever lived on the surface.

The glint caught the corner of Yorp's eye. He walked over to it, where a small, black and red orb was sitting in the snow, embedded right into a smooth stone. The stone had writing on it.

"Walk the path of Bethereem, first city of 'mon, the founders of civilization," Yorp repeated what was written off the stone. "Arceus, this is the ruins of Bethereem!"

"Wow! Bethereem! That's amazing!....uh....whats a Bethereem...?" Guage asked in a confused tone. "T-this place does seem alot older then the stuff back home... wow... Told ya it'd be worth it!"

Yorp looked over to Guage and bopped him lightly on the head. "Ain't you never heard? Damn, nobody ever hears about it no more in Anatellia! Listen up, while I give a history lesson!" He snapped. "They say we the Anatellians are the first civilization, chosen by the legendaries. Everythin' began from us. And Bethereen was the first city of 'mon! This is... this is crazy! I can't believe we found it... err, what's left of it!"

He glanced at the smooth rock again, and slowly pulled out the shiny orb from the socket. It came out rather easily. "This thing looks newer than the stone it's in, wonder what it is?" He asked interestingly as he moved the oddly colored orb in his hand.

Gauge's felt his heart stop for a second. "H-hey! C-careful! D-don't ruins like these have like, traps and stuff? Like in the books and stuff!" Guage asked, worried for his new friend.

"Aww, hell, what are ya worried about?" Yorp laughed. "Me granddad always told me that ruins this old, any traps they woulda had would have been worn up a long time ago! Say, you know we could become super famous if we tell 'mon that we found this... maybe even get somethin' for this orb thingy too!"

"Ohhhh yeah!" Guage said happily. "I kinda wonder what else this place has in it... Brrr.... I-I mean... maybe when we aren't freezing huh?" Guage said with a goofy grin.

"It'll take a few good looks to check to see what this has... I still can't believe we found this, mate!" Yorp exclaimed happily. "If me granddad could see me now... Yorp the adventurer... ha!" He jumped up and down with glee. "I gotta share this! Guage, ya and I are gonna be known as the discoverers of Bethereen! Maybe we can also get a price on this doohickey as well," He stated, pointing to the orb. "Maybe Gaiyo would pay somethin' for it? He asked for rare stuffs from shopkeepers before."

Guage hopped up and down and hugged Yorp. "Yeah! Hey maybe we can use the money to set up some expeditions and explore this place! Uh... that'd be...er...profitable right?"

"That it would be, Guage," Yorp stated as he hugged the 'mon back. "That it would be."