[PKMN FULL] Crimson Dawn: A Tale of Conquest (IC)

[Greiger]

A certain Primeape forgets old lessons: Petrina, Brand, Thrasher, Tavhir, Pendro​

Brand stayed in his place, afraid to move, lest he step on any egg. Being a fat Emboar, he almost never saw where his feet went. His eyes darted to the dragon that moved eerily towards them; the only thing he could do was bide his time, save his energy and wait for his opponent to get closer. "Hurry up and take 'em out, sis," Brand muttered, "I'm of no use against these 'mon."

As the dragons advanced out from the fog came a shape. It had been running, but then it leaped out as a Primeape jumped out. He glanced around and then caught sight of the Emboar, "Ah, Flame King. Pleasure to see you!" He looked at a dragon and ran crossed his arms as he leapt up and came down upon the beast, his cross chop hitting into its chest. He pushed off against the dragon and landed back, managing to crush an egg under a foot, "Eh." He held up his foot and wiggled it around, "Disgusting!"

As soon as he pulled his foot up however a large explosion threw him back. He crashed into more eggs as suddenly he found himself being tossed about like a rag doll as more and more chain explosions happened. Finally he was slammed into a wall as more eggs near the wall exploded and the back of his head slammed hard against the rocky surface. The suddeness and the force of the explosions was enough to cause Thrasher to slump to the ground as darkness overtook him.

"By Arceus, it's the Gold Tribe!" Although, despite her exclamation, Petrina's wonder at their backup was cut.... explosively short. Still, at least there was some useful information available to her now; The eggs go boom. With this in mind, she dared not move another inch - not whilst she was in the middle of them, but she had to do something... anything. A Blizzard was far too dangerous. She could hit Brand or Captain Suicide with it quite easily, but then... "Okay, I think it's time that everybody here just cools off a little!" Powder Snow was an elementary move, first class of the first day for a master Ice-type like Petrina, but given the potential for hurting the others, perhaps it was best to hold back the cold for a bit. A small breath that quickly turned into a bitterly-cold snowy wind, pointed at the Dragons that would in no way enjoy the cold...

Tavhir looked at Pendro, grimacing. "Well, we had better go after him. Hold your breath." He took in a deep breath, before dashing further down the cave, using the mushrooms to help guide him along. Suddenly, he heard several blasts, and he tensed. That definitely didn't sound good. He arrived in the room to find Thrasher knocked out cold, several Dragalge on the other side of the room, malicious intent in their eyes. Wild, judging by the depraved look on their faces.

"AAH!" Reaching Mind screamed behind the Pawniard as he came upon the scene, psychically dragging two poisonous dragons away from the fallen Primeape and blasting them aside for the moment. He rushed over to Thrasher, quickly giving himself a run-down of his brother's injuries. "Multiple bruises, trauma towards the back of the head... heart functioning, breathing functioning, unconscious... chance of recovery, an estimated eighty-seven percent factoring in constitution, provided no further disturbance is caused- dragons are still here! OK, Tavhir, we need to cover Thrasher, if we have a berry it's possible he could be up within a minute or so- agh, there are others!" He pointed towards the newcomers, an Emboar and a Glaceon, with a shaking hand. In fact, it was pretty much a shaking everything. "What...? Erm... help!"

"Help?!" Brand shouted, staggering after blocking a blow from the Dragalge attacking him, "I thought you were here to help us!"

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to- EEP!" Pendro ducked a sudden Dragon Tail, rising back up to Iron Head the beast away. "We, uh, might be here to help. Erm, who are you?" The Metang took a defensive stance in case any other of the poisonous dragons wanted to approach, or in case the newcomers happened to be rebels.

"Now's not the time!" Petrina yelled back, before she fired away an Ice Beam to cover Brand. "Perhaps a formal introduction can wait until we might not die at any minute? Brand, get back as quickly as you can!" she commanded, during a delicate prance only barely over an egg clutch - one second later would have seen her caught with a vile Venoshock.

"I'm well aware of the situation, thanks!" Reaching Mind shouted back, Flash Cannoning one of the mock kelp Pokémon to keep it at bay. "I suppose I meant friend or foe, though that's a little irrelevant for now."

Tavhir narrowly dodged an incoming Dragon Tail, jumping out of the way. "Hey guys, less talk, more fight!" He rushed forward towards one of the dragons, careful to avoid the eggs to avoid the same fate as Thrasher. His blades began to glow slightly, before he leapt upwards, slashing at the dragon with all of his might in a metal claw, landing just behind the beast.

"But I don't like fight! They can't be that aggressive! Wild Pokémon like berries, right? Do we have berries!? SOMEONE GET THEM BERRIES!"

"How about some Ice Punch berries?!" Tahvir called out angrily to Pendro, frantically weaving through the attacks being thrown at him from the raging dragon. "I hear Dragalge really like those!"

"I'd rather stay as far away from these things as possible..." The Metang admitted, pushing a Dragalge away from Tavhir and flinging it into a nearby wall. "Psychic seems effective enough from my end."

"Good, just- GAH!" Tavhir scrambled as another dragon snuck up behind him, just barely managing to avoid a poison tail being slashed towards him. "Just keep doing that! And you two," he pointed towards the Glaceon and Emboar. "We'll sort out niceties later, just help blow these things to kingdom come!"

 

[Ray Maverick]

Jacob "Prankster"

"Hooold," Jacob shouted at the incoming mercenaries, without knowing of their intents. He was blocking the way to the monastery of the Spirit Summit, his arms crossed as he stared at them suspiciously. "Who are you people? Who do you work for?"

Rax stopped as the Meowstic was blocking the way, signalling for his men behind him to halt. He eyed the Meowstic inquisitively. "I was just thinking the same thing."

The Meowstic took out his insignia from the bag. He held it in front of the Toxicroak. "Gold Tribe."

Rax saw the badge, before easing up slightly. The Mewostic was an ally... for now. "Fair enough. The monks sent for us. Imperatorium, at your service. Off to go exterminate some rebels... kukuku..." the Toxicroak chuckled mischievously. "Now, if you would be so kind, we have a job to do."

Jacob stared blankly at them for just a few moments. "By all means," he said, stepping aside. The group of twenty walked past him into the Keep. Jacob followed the group closely, observing its members and guiding them to the right path for the Family Vault. "I assume the priests will be paying you accordingly?" Jacob asked rather indifferently, pretending to be making small talk.

Rax laughed heartily as they walked along to the summit. "If you're asking for a cut of the profits, no deal, mate," he scoffed. "But if you must know, the priests did offer a rather hefty sum for our assistance. Our services ain't cheap, ya know."

They reached the Vault; Zack was inside, kneeling over the hole on the floor. Jacob made sure to walk in first, so the Electabuzz would see him. "It appears we have paid help," Jacob informed him, lest the jumpy engineer attack the newcomers. Instead, Zack smirked, glancing at the group of mercenaries.

"Mercenaries, is it? More like expensive thieves," he whispered. Jacob silently agreed. He peered down the hole, then looked over at Rax and pointed at it.

"There," he said. "Careful, floor might be trapped..."

"No worries," Rax said with a hint of arrogance. He then gestured to four burly looking 'mon behind him. "Donny, Jake, Sisko, Bret: You four go down first and scout ahead."

"Aye aye, boss!" one of the mercs, a Marowak, replied. Without hesitating, the Marowak led the way, jumping over towards the make-shift rope and climbing down, the other three mercs following close behind. As they reached the ground floor, the Marowak turned back up towards Rax, who watched intently from above. "Yo, boss, it's kind of dark down here."

"You saw those runes, right?" Rax shouted back. "Remember where those were, you'll find the way."

"You got it," the Marowak replied, motioning for the other three to follow him. Without thinking, they rushed over to where they saw the runes before they entered. As soon as they touched the markings, though, the floor opened up, swallowing the mercs completely as they plummeted down to the lower levels. All four landed on separate piles of the eggs, which immediately began to explode.

From up above in the vault entrance, Rax watched with a devilish grin as he heard their violent screams, followed by the blasts, and then... silence. The mercs had died, and Rax started laughing.

"Haha! Poor fools. They actually thought they had a chance at the Imperatorium! Hah!" Rax boasted, motioning towards the rest of his men. "Alright, now unless you all want the same fate, you'll follow my orders. Got it?"

The rest of the mercenaries looked at Rax, some etched with fear, others, determination. They all nodded in unison, and Rax smirked. "Good. Now, follow me."

Zack kneeled over the edge of the hole, his eyes widened and his teeth rattling from the cold. It wasn't that cold... "They... they died? Wait..." he tilted his head, noticing the dark pit that the treacherous runes had thrown the mercs in. The ominous, green-blue glow of the mushrooms was visible like a haze from up there. "Looks like a cave... hmm." He rubbed his chin. "It's very dark down there," he glanced at Jacob, then at Rax and the rest of the group who were going down, "Jacob, shouldn't you go with them? I-I mean... the others could be in trouble."

Jacob nodded, "I'll keep an eye out."

"Also," Zack stopped him, "look for exits. The air is foul, I can tell, so there might not be exits... which is rather puzzling. You remember the vision? They left through the tunnel. They didn't go up."

Jacob nodded again. "I'll look into it. You stay here."
​

 

[GastlyGibus]

Unexpected company
|Pendro, Thrasher, Petrina, Tavhir.|​

The Dragalge were many, but they were ultimately outmatched by the Gold Tribe. As more and more fell, the fight only got easier - there were less in general to attack, and the ones still attacking were a little more cautious, what with the incapacitated bodies of their brethren strewn about the cave flaw in front of them.

Tavhir leapt up against the cave wall, pushing himself off and launching towards another of the dragons, clawing at its chest with metal claw. The great beast roared in agony, before collapsing in a lifeless heap on the ground. "How many of these things are there?"

"More than I would like." Pendro answered. "But less than there were before, which was a lot more than I would like."

There was a groan as Thrasher slowly began to open his eyes, "I... I forgot that lesson." He croaked out as he slowly began to rise, but cried out and fell down, "Ah.... my leg. Must have twisted the damn thing." He glanced around and looked up at Pendro, "Ah, well... no one else is dead. That's good." He coughed a bit and gripped his abdomen, "... Think I've been poisoned."

"Thrasher! That was sooner than anticipated, erm... well done? Heheh, had me a little worried - well, a lot worried - for a second, there. Or more than a second. TAVHIR! BERRIES!"

Restless stopped as he heard Pendro calling for him. "A little busy at the moment!" Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him, and he turned to face another of the great beasts, charging a dragon pulse aimed right at his head. "Oh sh-"

In an instant, just as the Dragalge was about to attack, a large Mud Bomb flew directly in the dragon's face. Now thoroughly blinded with mud and dirt in its eyes, the dragon cried out in rage.

"GET SOME!" a voice shouted out, as Rax charged in the room full speed. The Toxicroak used his powerful legs to leap up, landing right on the dragon's head. With the dragon completely blinded, Rax raised his hands, the spikes on his wrists glowing bright purple as he rammed them into the Dragalge's eyes in a Poison Jab. The beast screeched in pain, blood pouring from its face as it fell over, dead.

More mercs rushed in, joining in to mop up what little remained of the dragons. A Glalie floated through, casting an ice beam and driving the remaining dragons out of the room, chasing them down a separate tunnel. Rax casually stepped up from the corpse he had created, dusting his hands off and puffing out his chest. "That's how it's done."

Thrasher managed to slowly get up. "Thanks." He said as he clutched at his leg, "Damn thing. I'm getting too old here." He coughed a bit more, "Stupid exploding eggs."

"Oh, right, those," Rax said, snapping his fingers. "Erik! Here, now!" As he said that, a Torkoal ran up towards him, looking at Rax expectantly. "Take care of these eggs, would ya? And be careful, unless you wanna wind up turtle-soup."

Erik nodded, walking over to the clutches of eggs farther from the group to avoid damaging the others. He let out small bursts of fire, slowly but surely destroying the eggs in the room.

"Now then," Rax spoke up again. "Is that all? I was honestly expecting something tougher than a few rampant fishies."

Thrasher slowly got up, "Well, if you didn't know that those eggs explode when one is stepped on, then you would end up getting tossed like a rag doll around. By the way, how DID you know they did that? Obviously you were making sure you wouldn't step on one."

Rax smirked at Thrasher's question. "Let's just say we had a little trial and error, kukuku..." he chuckled again, clearly amused at the thought of his former comrades.

He frowned and looked over at Jacob, "I'm clearly in no condition to battle." He said, "It would be different if I had some elemental attacks or was a psychic. I won't be able to keep up, so I think it might be best if I hang back here. The other prisoners will be roaming around too no doubt like the Blaze King was here." He sat on down, "I can just wait here and let them know that help is here and to stay put. Oh, Blaze King." Thrasher quickly pulled out his journal and flipped through it, "Are there any other prisoners that we don't know of? We do know that five of you were captured from the negotiations. We have no idea if any others were likewise taken."

The Flame King was leaning on his knee, kneeling on the ground and panting heavily. "Five," he repeated, "yea, sounds about right to me. It was Chloe, Spinebreaker, Champion and me... and Petrina here. And... and the Crown Prince."

Jacob pulled the arm of the Emboar to draw his attention; the moment Brand turned his head, Jacob stuffed his mouth with a sitrus berry. He patted him and said, "you'll be fine," then walked over to Thrasher, almost jumping from his hurry. He searched furiously inside his bag for Pecha berries, and as soon as he found them, he threw all of them on Thrasher. "Let me see if I have any Sitrus..."

Thrasher chuckled as took one and slowly chewed on it, "Easy Jacob." He said, "I'm old. That's it." He glanced over at Pendro and Jacob, "It's been too long since my last injury that... I tend to forget that I don't have the old vitality I used to." He swallowed and looked down at his leg, "Save your sitrus for the others. You'll need if you come across more exploding eggs. I'll just splint my leg is all."

Pendro chuckled. "If you were all that bad, Thrasher, you wouldn't be up as soon as you are. In fact, I thought it'd take a little longer..."

"Here," Tavhir said, walking over to Thrasher and untying the brown scarf around his neck. He handed the cloth to the Primeape. "Use this, I don't need it."

Thrasher gripped it, "If you say so brother. And thanks for the compliment Reaching Mind." As he set about splinting his leg he looked over at the Flame King, "So... where are the others? I would have thought being down here you would all stick together and..." He glanced at the Glaceon, "Who is she?"

"Remember that floor? In the memory," Jacob interrupted, "trap door. They fell in and got separated, probably." He turned to Petrina, watching her stoically. "I'm Jacob, second-in-command of the Gold Tribe. Your title and name?" he asked quickly.

"My name is Petrina Levitt, I took the title of "Vanguard". My former position was at command of Xeo's outpost-" The Glaceon took a glance at the floor as she thought back. "-although I suspect that might not be as valid a posting as it used to be. What about you? Who do I add to the long list of people who I owe my life to now?"

Tavhir turned towards Petrina, gesturing towards himself. "Tavhir, or Restless, if you prefer titles."

"Erm, okay - Pendro 'Reaching Mind' Malis, I'm, uh... well, I... do something. Probably. With books, most likely."

Thrasher nodded, "I am Thrasher. Do you two know anything else?" He asked. "We only saw a bit of what happened, but it looked as if some ritual was taking place with the rock up there. Can you tell us of anything the Stygians said or referenced as to why you all were taken alive, besides the Prince of course."

Brand frowned. "For ransom, I suppose," he said. "We were about to start the negotiations, then they ambushed us... treacherous filth!" He spat.

"Yes, um, yes, I agree, that is... bad." Pendro commented quietly.

"They used darts to put some of us to sleep. I resisted as long as I could; saw a few good men and women get butchered like Mareep. I'll never forget it. Then we woke up in a chamber, with runes on the floor and that dark rock in the middle. They tortured us, but they didn't seem to want anything... Polo just tried his best not to kill us. If I find that piece of crap, I'll make sure there won't be any trial for his actions," The Emboar promised.

"They seem to have a thing for taking us in here whilst we're out at least... Last thing I remember was being at the battle. I mean, we had all our traps set and everything, we knew how it was gonna turn out... but I don't remember anything between then and now. I could have been anywhere for however long it's been." Petrina raised one paw to her bloodied head. "Could be something to do with this. Still hurts like anything you want to mention."

"That is also bad..." Pendro thought aloud. Again, quietly.

Thrasher nodded and smiled a bit, "Well, if you're still alive Flame King, then the others are probably alive too. I have to say... Shadowrend has been in a bit of a slump lately, but this good news has to at least cheer him up a bit. Like I said, I'll probably wait here just in case any other prisoners happen by." He gave a nod toward Jacob, "If I'm feeling up for it then I might explore a bit, but I don't want my leg giving out on me at a crucial moment. Though, I do suggest that once we're done here we take a closer look at that rock up there." He looked over at Pendro, "Reaching Mind, don't feel bad. This is still good news for us. At least better than finding everyone dead." He gave a small cheerful smile.

"Oh, yes, that would have been... bad." The Metang agreed. Quietly.

 

[Turnip]

More Smelly, More Tunnel

Featuring Tavhir, Thrasher, Rax, Brand, Petrina and Pendro​

"Search and rescue?" Rax said, listening in to the discussion. "Aw, man. I was hoping I'd get to bash in some skulls." The Toxicroak gave a disappointed sigh, before turning towards the rest of the mercenaries that had began to gather in the tunnel. "Alright, guess we're playing hide and seek now. In formation!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the mercenaries split up into groups in a line. It looked as if they had rehearsed this. "You," Rax pointed to a Chimecho, "you and your group are going down that way. Keep up that Heal Bell, it's pretty nasty down here, if you couldn't tell." The Chimecho nodded and took off down one of the tunnels, severals of the mercenaries following behind. Rax then turned to the second group. "You guys go down that way, and take care of any eggs you see. Be careful; you blow yourselves up, that's you're own fault. I ain't here to babysit ya!" The group ran off towards another tunnel, as Rax turned to the last group of several poison types. "You guys go down that last hole over there. I'll catch up with you later."

With the mercenaries split up into groups, Rax turned towards the others. "So, let me get this straight. Y'all went down to these pukes to negotiate, then got ambushed and captured?" He crossed his arms, shaking his head in disapproval. "I thought Gold Tribe was supposed to be tough."

"Shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for you!" Tavhir snapped back at Rax. "Just who the hell are you, anyways?"

"Aww, how cute. Tiny here is all angry. Kukuku..." Rax snickered. "Or are you forgetting who has the type advantage here?"

Pendro raised a claw. "Erm, I have the type advantage."

Rax shot Pendro and irritated glance. "Bug off! I wasn't talking to you! If you must know, we were hired to come take care of the problem. Apparently, I'm getting paid to clean up the Gold Tribe's mess." Tavhir glared at the Toxicroak, growling slightly in anger. The Pawniard wanted to gut that smug bastard right here and now, but Jacob put a hand on his shoulder, holding him back, lest he do anything reckless. "Be calm, now," Jacob told Tavhir sternly, "these men are here to help us."

Tavhir looked towards Jacob, closing his eyes and nodding, albeit begrudgingly. Rax's grin never left, before he turned towards the others. "Well, I'll let you all have your tea-time conversation. I guess I should go look for some prisoners."

"I like tea." Pendro noted.

"Ey, boss-man!" one of the mercenaries shouted back through the tunnels. "I think you should see this."

"This'd better be important," Rax said impatiently, running down the tunnels towards the mercs. A Seviper, Skuntank, and Koffing were gathered around a spot of the floor. Rax walked up to them, seeing their grim expressions as he drew closer. "Well? What is it?"

"See for yourself," The Seviper replied, flicking his tail towards the ground. Lying on the ground, covered in cuts and bruises, was a Cacturne, Chloe, dead. Her body lay in a small pool of blood mixed with copious amounts of poison fluid, no doubt attacked by the many Dragalge around. The Seviper rolled her tail over the Cacturne's body, feeling the temperature. Cold to the touch. "Looks like she died quite some time ago."

"Oy, them Gold folks won't be happy." Rax remarked, lightly tapping the body with his foot. "Still, we're gettin' paid to find them. Nobody mentioned anything about them havin' to be alive."

Thrasher glanced over at Pendro, "Hey, don't mind him. I've met plenty of rude a**holes in my time, and we'll meet plenty of more in the future." He sighed, "Unfortunately, the world can be full of them."

The Metang shrugged, sighing a little in resignation. He turned to Thrasher with a faint smirk, speaking in hushed tones to the Primeape. "Worst comes to worst, I have the type advantage. For now, though, we should just get this over with as quickly as we can. I'm not sure how much time I'd like to spend with these people... they seem to be comprised of roughly 22.25% fear, 39.25% stupidity and 38.5% pure, unadulterated prick."

Tavhir looked at Pendro, slightly surprised at his bluntness, but he nodded in understanding. "Agreed. I don't like these guys, they reek of treachery. Best to keep our eye on them."

 

[GastlyGibus]

Mercs in a cave
|The Imperatorium.|​

The Chimecho steadily rang her heal bell, keeping her team safe from the noxious fumes as they traversed down the path. Behind her, a Lairon and Emolga slowly traversed, keeping pace with the Chimecho as they explored the path.

"So... what exactly are we looking for again?" the Lairon asked, his eyes wandering in awe at the glowing mushrooms of the cave.

The Emolga shrugged. "I don't know. Some kind of Gold Tribe prisoners, or somethin'."

"Aww man, we're helping out the Gold Tribe?" The Lairon whined. "Why are we helping those goodie two-shoes anyways?"

"Beats me," The Emolga replied. "Rax said somethin' about a big prize for us all. I got the feeling he wasn't talking about money."

The Lairon's thoughts began to meander about, pondering over what Rax could have meant by big prize. What could be better than money? Well, besides more money. As they continued down the path, they suddenly heard a shriek, followed by a crash and what sounded like heavy footsteps.

"That didn't sound good," the Chimecho said with a worried expression. The three began to pick up the pace, running towards the source of the noise. They soon came to the end of the tunnel, which dumped out into a large, dark room. Towards the east, knocked against the wall, was a Glalie, apparently having been shoved into the wall.

The Emolga chuckled at his friends predicament. "What's the matter, Ren? Got your butt handed to you by some wild Dragalge?"

"N-no! Of course not!" The Glalie replied indignantly. "I was chasing those stupid dragons out, and just when the coast was clear, I was jumped by someone! I don't think it was a wild!"

"Well, get up then and let's go find them!" The Emolga said. The Glalie shook himself free from the wall, joining up with the others to explore the room. They walked with a slight sense of dread, unable to see very far in the darkness of the caverns. Their fear heightened when more footsteps were heard. They turned abruptly towards the source of the sound, seeing a shadowy figure bolting away from them. Without saying a word, the group chased down the figure.

After a few seconds of chasing, they managed to corner the figure. Once they got closer, it swung out with a vicious swipe of it's claws .The glow of the mushrooms on the wall nearby managed to just barely illuminate the figure, revealing a frantic Ursaring, it's eyes glazed in a mixture of terror and anger.

"Get away from me, you bastards!" the Ursaring cried. "You can take my dead corpse back to Polo! I'm not going down without a fight! Y-you hear me!?"

The Chimecho whispered to her teammates beside her. "Is this one of those Gold Tribe people? I don't see any badge on her."

"You idiot, she's a prisoner! Of course she wouldn't have a badge!" The Lairon scolded, before cautiously approaching the Ursaring. "Listen, we're not here to hurt you. We're hear to help."

The Ursaring stopped in thought, her voice growing weary. It sounded as if she were about to break down into tears, but she held her composure, her voice cracking slightly. "Are you... are you t-trying to trick me?! Y-you're just trying to take me back to that son of a b*tch Polo!"

"No we're not, honest!" The Lairon replied, trying to reason with the Ursaring. "We've got your friends back there... ah, cripes, who were they? Help me out here..."

"Oh! Let's see..." the Chimecho said, thinking of the people she saw. "There was a Primeape, and a Pawniard, and a Meowstic-"

"J-Jacob?" the Ursaring said in surprise. "Is Jacob here?"

The Chimecho nodded, glad that she was able to get the Ursaring to calm down. "Yeah, that was his name! And, uh... I think one of them was called Thrasher? And Flame Kid..."

"Thrasher? Flame King?" The Ursaring exclaimed. "Please, take me to them!"

The Chimecho wiped her brow with her tail, finally able to convince the Ursaring. "Come with us, we'll take you to them."

*****​

In another part of the vast cave network, a Torkoal was busy burning out the eggs in another nearby tunnel, mumbling something to himself as he did.

"Stupid tunnels, with their stupid eggs, and stupid Dragalge, and their stupid mushrooms!" he complained, blasting another flamethrower towards a patch of eggs, destroying them completely. "This is so dumb! We should be knocking heads and taking names, not making omelettes in some God-forsaken cave!"

"Oh, quit your whining, Erik," his partner, a Pinsir, rebuked. "We're gettin' paid for this anyways, be glad it's easy."

The Torkoal grunted in annoyance. "Just 'cause it's easy doesn't mean it's fun."

"Well, good thing we're not here to have fun, then," the Pinsir replied. "We've got a job to do, so unless you want Rax to abandon you down here, you'll just do what he says. You know he'd do it, too."

The Torkoal was about to reply, when they were nearing the end of the tunnel. "Great. A dead end! Now we go- huh?" He peered a little closer, trying to see in the darkness. Was that someone at the end of the tunnel? He approached cautiously, when the Pinsir grew confused.

"What is it Er-"

"Shh!" the Torkoal berated, signalling for the Pinsir to follow his movements. The Pinsir did as instructed, slowly creeping over towards the end. As they neared the wall, the Pinsir saw it too. A large Goodra, hunched over, back facing them as it mumbled to itself.

"No way out... there's no way out... no way out... no way out..."

"Hey, are you with the Gold Tribe?" The Torkoal asked quietly. The Goodra didn't respond, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. The fire-type walked closer, trying to get through to the Goodra. "Hello? Exathor to Goodra, come in Goodra!"

The Goodra didn't respond, almost as if he was in a comatose state, just repeating the same mantra to himself like a lunatic. The Pinsir began to grow impatient, walking over to the Goodra and grasping his shoulder, shaking the dragon.

"Hey! Wake up!" he said loudly. "We're here to save you. Your friends are back waiting for you. "Erik, what were their names again?"

"Wasn't one of them named like Kicker or something? Slasher?"

"Thrasher! Yeah, and uh... Pedro? Pendor?" The Pinsir looked back at the Goodra, shaking the dragon again. "Come on, snap out of it!"

The Goodra kept still for a second, before suddenly shaking his head as he snapped back to reality. He looked around frantically. "W-what? Who are you?"

"Not important," the Pinsir said with a sigh of relief. "Thing is, your Gold Tribe buddies are here and they're looking for you."

"Gold Tribe! They're here!?" The Goodra exclaimed. "Oh, thank the maker! We're saved! Please, lead the way, we have to find them!"

*****​

"We passed this area already."

"No we didn't, this is the way we came in!"

"No it's not, I saw that mushroom twice already. Why can't you just admit that you're lost?"

"Well, it's not like I have a stinkin' map or anything!"

Champion the Goodra followed behind the bickering mercenaries silently, before speaking up. "I'm sorry, but, don't you guys have some kind of plan? I thought you said the Gold Tribe sent you?"

The Pinsir turned back to face Champion. "Not exactly... we'll explain when we get there. Or rather, if we get there, since Erik apparently doesn't know the way back..."

"Now listen here, Veesh!" Erik the Torkoal snapped back. "If you're so smart, why don't you lead the way then?"

Veesh grinned. "Finally! I thought you'd never ask! I'll get us back." The Pinsir confidently took point, leading the group through the tunnels. Champion remained quiet, unsure of what to make of the situation. While he was thankful that he had finally been rescued, he couldn't help but feel that these fellows were poor choices for the task. Not to mention, they apparently weren't Gold Tribe, rather working for them? Why would the Gold Tribe hire outside help? He'd have to wait before those questions were answered.

After a minute of wandering, the three eventually made it back to the large, obsidian pillar surrounded by runes, though it appeared that the runes were inactive now. Champion grimaced at the sight, memories flooding back to him with his ordeal at this spot... he wanted to leave, now.

"Now who's lost?" Erik taunted. "This is where we entered this cave in the first place!"

"I knew that..." Veesh replied, looking around the room. "We should be able to find our way from here."

As they decided their next course of action, they began to hear voices coming from a different tunnel nearby. They were faint at first, but began to grow in volume quickly.

"Come on, it's this way!" the voice called out, and seconds later a Chimecho appeared out of the tunnel. Behind her came a Lairon, Emolga, Glalie, and Laila "Spinebreaker," the Ursaring.

"Laila!" Champion called out upon catching sight of the Ursaring.

"Champion! You're alive!" Laila exclaimed. The two rushed over to greet each other, meeting in a quick embrace, before Laila realized where they were. This site brought the trauma of her experience back as well, and her hands curled into fists in anger. She turned back to her guide, the Chimecho. "You said you were taking me to Jacob and Flame King. Where are they?"

The Chimecho gulped, seeing that Laila was visibly distraught. "We're getting there! Honest! We're just a little... lost, is all."

"Okay, listen," the Lairon spoke up. "This is where we came in, right? Big, scary rock and all? How about you two Gold Tribe stay here, and we'll go find the others and bring them back here?"

"That sounds good," the Emolga said in reply. "Erik, Veesh, you two stay here with the Gold Tribe, and the rest of us will go look for the others."

"Oh come on," Erik whined again. "Why do I get stuck with the boring work all the time?"

"Erik, you're such a whiner!" The Lairon chastised. "Just stay put. We'll be back soon."

Erik grumbled to himself, taking a seat on the floor as the others began to leave. Veesh walked over to the large rock, feeling it with his hands. It was quite unlike the other stones in the cave; intriguing, in some ways.

Champion looked towards Laila, the Ursaring gritting her teeth and clenching her fists as she stared at the rock. The Goodra placed a hand on Laila's shoulder, trying to calm her down. "It's okay... we'll get through this."

"Oh, I know we will," Laila replied in anger. "I'm going to find that two-faced coward Polo, and I'll make him experience the same pain he gave to me, thrice over! I'll pluck his wings out, rip out his teeth one by one, gut him like a fish and strangle him with his own entrails! That loathsome son of a b*tch is going to-"

"Please," Champion said, strengthening his grip on Laila's shoulder. "Don't talk like that. We're alive, and we're going to get through this. That's all that matters."

Laila sighed, letting go of her pent-up feelings. "You're right... I'm sorry... I just need to get out of here..."

"And we will," Champion reassured her.

Meanwhile, Veesh kept up his inspection of the large, black stone, eyeing it with increased curiosity. "Erik, what do you suppose this is?"

"I don't know," Erik said indifferently. "Looks like a big, dead rock."

"Yeah, but it's strange. It's smooth and... hey..." Veesh stared closer at the rock. "Erik, come over here. I need a light."

Erik sighed in irritation, getting up and igniting the flame in his shell for visibility. Veesh brought his eyes up to the rock, seeing that it was actually transparent, though only barely so. "Erik, go stand on the other side, and keep your light up." Erik groaned, slowly walking over to the other side and illuminating his shell again. Veesh peered closer, able to see Erik's light on the other side. Upon closer examination... it appeared there was a silhouette of a pokemon inside the rock. There was a pokemon trapped in there!

"Erik! There's someone in this rock!" Veesh cried out in shock, keeping his gaze fixed on the silhouette, trying to identify the pokemon trapped inside.

"Did you just say 'someone' As in, a living, breathing person?" Erik said in disbelief.

"Yeah! That's so crazy!" Veesh said. "They look big... definitely bipedal... damnit, I can't see what it is though!" The Pinsir looked over towards Erik, completely forgetting about the other Gold Tribe prisoners. "We have to go tell Rax!"

 

[Midorikawa]

Fun with Punisher and Punchier
[Cassandra, Guardian, and Punisher]​

Punisher yawned loudly as he scratched at his stomach. Nothing exciting was happening so he turned back to Cassandra, "Soooo.... uh, do you know anything we can do to pass the time?" He asked, "I wanted to try and fight things... but we can't now." He dropped his voice a bit, "Not with the Emperor here. He takes away all the fun!"


"Well at least we know we don't have to worry too much about protecting him," Guardian commented, walking up to Punisher and overhearing his comment. Ninetales have good hearing after all.


Punisher looked back at the Ninetails and groaned, "That's the POINT!" He rubbed his forehead with his upper hands, "We will have NOTHING to do! Some enemies sneak up? Those mercs will battle them first! Some are fast and their numbers are another plus! We'll be trying to push our way in so we can battle and they will just easily beat up everyone and we'll have to stay back and we'll just sigh. I wanted some action, not stay back and just be a spectator."


"Quiet down Punchier. You wouldn't want the emperor overhearing you. Don't forget we must rescue our fellow members. Its better to be quick than take our time fighting. They are first priority, not enjoying ourselves battling."


"Guardian is right," Cassandra noted. "We're here to find our lost brothers and sisters, first and foremost. We'll have plenty of other opportunities for fighting, I'm sure of it."


Punisher sighed unhappily, "Alright..." He shook his head. "I just.. I guess I'm pent up and being on the ship didn't help anything. Sure I got to punch some small things... but that was it. I need a release sometimes, you know?"


Cassandra grinned, giggling quietly. "I totally understand. Don't worry; like I said, we're bound to see more action soon..." She sighed a bit, quite tired of all the violence herself. "... unfortunately."


"If you need a release so badly you could probably punch a tree or a rock or something like that. Or even yourself," he tacked on at the end, meaning it jokingly... well half jokingly. He had to admit he wanted to fight some himself, always finding it a good way to release some stress that was a constant in his life.


Punisher huffed as he crossed his four arms, "It's not the same." He protested, "It's... well, it's like... okay, it's something that... look I don't like death, I just like punching someone else, actually getting an adrenaline rush and managing to also get beaten. It's that... it's that life or death feeling you know?"


"Punished. I have no idea of that feeling, however if you wish to feel it then just imagine yourself as someone else. Then fight yourself switching between yourself and the other Pokemon. That should suffice for that feeling shouldn't it?" he suggested, wondering if the machamp would actually do it. So far his impression of the fighting type was that he wasn't very bright, thus he had high hopes on following his advice and giving them all a show.


Punisher rubbed his forehead, "Hm..." He looked down at his own hands, "Well... I guess?" He gave a weak shrug, "I mean... I guess that it technically should... but it's so awkward. I mean, I really can't get the adrenaline out of fighting for my life if I know I won't kill myself." He sighed.


Guardian looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling a rather mischievous smile. "Simple solution. Don't fear killing yourself and then you can do it without worry."


He blinked a bit and looked down, "Really? Can you show me!?" He asked eagerly.


"No," he stated bluntly. "Its impossible to show something that is not visible to the Pokémon's eyes... however I could help you get started," he offered, smiling once again.


Cassandra eyed Guardian with a mixture of shock and disapproval. She didn't speak, but her stare said it all. "What are you doing?!"


Punisher smirked, "Really? Well... sure!" He nodded, "Anything to pass the time."


Cassandra placed her hand on Punisher's arm. "Please, there's no need for that! There are better ways to pass the time, you know." She glanced over at Guardian again, annoyed that he would take advantage of Punisher like that.


Guardian rolled his eyes at the grass type. Walking by Punisher he stretched his tails out fully. From there he simply walked around him, making it feel as though a bug was crawling on his skin. He was of course ready to retract his tails if the fighting type attempted to touch them.


Punisher shivered as he felt something tickling along the side of his thigh and quickly reached down to scratch, yet he found nothing there. He glanced down and rubbed his head, "Huh. So... what else did you have in mind?" He asked Cassandra. "I really don't do that word puzzle stuff. It's so boring."


Upon seeing his first attempt failed, he of course tried again. This time however Guardian jabbed lightly as though the bug was biting the Machamp.


And this time Punisher gritted his teeth and slapped his thigh, "Damn! Where's that bug!?" He said angrily as he looked over his body, "Has to be somewhere..."


"You're terrible!" Cassandra scolded Guardian. "I hope you know that." She crossed her arms, annoyed at Guardian's antics. "First Jacob, and now this guy... I swear..."


"Maybe you just need to relax some and enjoy life while you still have it," he replied to her, a bitter undertone to his words as he continued his antics.


Punisher, surprisingly, actually was a victim for a bit, the tails at times times causing him to scratch at his skin or slap, and at other times causing him to laugh until he finally swung around while trying to brush at his thigh and saw Guardian there. "Hey!" he said angrily as he balled up his fists, "You were doing that, weren't ya!?"


"No," he stated calmly, sitting down and flicking his tails behind him, away from Punisher. "Punished my dear brother do you really believe I would do such a thing to you? That I would take advantage of you like that?" he asked using puppy dog eyes.


Punisher blinked and let his arms drop, "No... I guess." He turned around and crossed his arms, "Still, it's just boring here."


"I know dear brother I know. Patience though and we shall hopefully enjoy ourselves on this mission," he told him, shooting a triumphant smirk at Cassandra. Cassandra simply stared at Guardian angrily.

 

[Greiger]

Finding Cyrus: Tavhir, Jacob, Thrasher, Pendro, and some side mercs​

The rest of the Gold Tribe remained in the large room, still near the corpses of the Dragalge from earlier. Tavhir tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for some news from the mercs. This was ridiculous. They were supposed to be conducting this mission, not some two-bit heartless thieves. Why they were even here was beyond him, but he couldn't do anything about it.

As they waited, the Chimecho came in the room, her face bearing intense relief at having finally found their way. "Oh, thank goodness we didn't get lost again!" she said cheerily. "We found your friends, they're down this way!"

"Guys guys guys guys!" Veesh the Pinsir came running in suddenly from the same tunnel, barreling his way past the others. "Is Rax here? This is important! There's somebody in that rock!"

"What!?" Thrasher was quick to get up, only to hiss in pain and grip his leg, "Dammit... what? Where? That crystal?" He looked around, "Rax isn't here yet... might be best if one of you wait here for him. Please, lead us back." He said. "Jacob... that crystal... it can't have someone in it can it? I mean... unless they're storing a dead body in it. Did you see anyone in it during the memory?"

"Wait, you mean there's actually somebody inside that big hunk of crystal?" Tavhir said, shocked.

Jacob rubbed his chin, looking off to the side with a thoughtful expression. "We'll have to see for ourselves... I guess." He wasn't fond of the idea of getting anywhere near the crystal, but it appeared they had yet to find the Crown Prince. Jacob feared for the worst...

"Somebody callin' me?" Rax said, entering from a separate tunnel entrance. "This place is huge... a damn labyrinth is what it is." He looked over towards the others, then squared his focus on Veesh. "What are you gobberin' on about, now?"

"That big rock towards the entrance," Veesh said, pointing a claw towards the tunnel he came from. "There's a pokemon in there!"

"You must be pullin' my leg!" Rax said with a laugh. "You sure about that?"

"Absolutely!" Veesh said. "What should we do?"

"Erm... observe, compare, deliberate." Pendro suggested. "There's no telling for what reason a Pokémon would be trapped inside a large, black crystal."

Thrasher nodded, "True... but remember.. in the memory everyone else was seated on the runes. They fell all at the same time. Here however... Cyrus was the only one seated directly in front of the crystal. If the Caretaker wanted to kill him and show that the emperor's bloodline was all gone, then what better method than kill Cyrus and store his body so everyone will see that bloodline gone? Oh, and on the topic of the Caretaker, Tavhir and I talked with the orphans up there. Mr. Kagemusha is the Caretaker, has lived here his whole life apart from going to the academy, I suppose, and apparently his 'family' adopts others to become the next Caretaker, and he's supposed to be coming back sometime soon with a new Caretaker... so yeah."

"The Pangoro is the Caretaker? Well, um... I don't mean to say we're not up against a powerful enemy, but I'm relieved, at least, they're not working for a deity of some kind... thus far, anyhow... still, I'm not sure why they would bother preserving the Crown prince in this specific of a way. I mean... there are lots of other ways to show that someone is dead. And trapping them in a giant crystal seems somewhat overly meticulous, if you ask me."

Thrasher shrugged, "Could be a trophy of sorts for him, to show how easily he beat the Emperor's family. In any case, we should head up there. Either it's him or it isn't, but whoever is in there, even if they were put in there before we got here, has no access to food, water, or oxygen."

"Regardless... with the nature of all these rune traps around, we'd best be on our guard. I'd rather not find out if my 'fireball' translation was correct..."

"You all must be nuts," Rax said, unconvinced. "Why don't you take us back there? I need to see this for myself!"

"Aye, of course! Follow me!" Veesh said, motioning for the others to follow. He led the way down the path towards the crystal, running slightly faster than the others as he hurried them along. Moments later, the group had made it back to the crystal.

Laila and Champion perked up at seeing the rest of the Gold Tribe. "Oh, thank Arceus," Champion sighed. "I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see a friendly face around here!"

"How did you guys find us?" Laila asked, looking over the Gold Tribe.

Tavhir held a bladed hand up to them. "Long story, we'll tell you later. For now," he turned his attention to the crystal. "Apparently, this crystal has some significance."

Thrasher nodded, "Seems like it. In that memory they basically were using it for something and it seemed to be some sort of... well, important thing to them." He looked at the center, "If... If Cyrus is in there... then he's..." He sighed, "He's probably dead. No access to food, water, or even oxygen. Hopefully that isn't him, hopefully it's someone else they put in there... but there is only one way to be certain." He looked it up and down, "We have to crack it open."

Pendro floated forwards. "I wouldn't be so sure about the mortality of whatever's in there. Depending on the conditions inside the crystal, it's quite possible to create a form of cryogenic stasis to preserve life in there..." He turned to the newly-rescued Gold Tribe - or, that was who they appeared to be, anyhow - and raised a claw nervously. "Erm, hello. Er... hello. I'd, uh... forgive me if it may seem, uh, rude, but, ah, I think it may be in our best interests to check something."

Thrasher glanced around and saw four mon down on the ground, "Uh... lost some men Rax?"

"Kukuku," Rax laughed silently to himself. "Like I said, trial and error."

Champion and Laila glanced at the Metang, bewildered at his comment. "Check what, exactly?" Laila asked.

"Erm..." Pendro glanced in as many directions as you'd care to name. "Just, uh... safety precautions, just so we know that you're... uh... legitimate...?"

Thrasher chuckled as he held out a hand to stop the Metang's speech, "Easy." He faced the two, "Well... we've seen the rebels already dishing out all sorts of surprise attacks and ambushes and the like. We fear that, given how long you all were gone, it is possible that... well, maybe one or all of you might have either Ditto or Zoroark posing as Gold Tribe. Given that you all were separated presumably... it's just going to be standard. We can't risk having a potential spy or such. I'm sure you all understand."

"Are you saying I'm some kind of spy?" Laila said angrily.

"Well, that's exactly what a spy would say..." Reaching Mind commented under his breath.

"After all we've been through, and you think that we-"

Champion held out a hand to silence the Ursaring. "It's fine, Laila. These rebels have already proven that they are more cunning than we realize, so their suspicions are founded." Champion turned towards Pendro and Thrasher. "How do you propose we prove ourselves?"

Thrasher nodded, "Yes... and on top of that... they have thrown out morals. You two don't know... but the Stygians have gone a-wall. They just performed a siege on Alamagna. As you two know, Stygians generally don't destroy their own cities or kill their own citizens, here they were killing as many civilians as they could and destroying every single building in their sight, practically trying to raze the town. Given that... we can't assume they are sticking to any ethical behavior anymore. It is now to the level that we believe they will do anything possible to win this war. As for checking... well if you are Zoroark then psychic shouldn't work on you. Pendro here knows some psychic techniques so if he can, say, lift your arm with psychic powers that should be able to take away that possibility."

He sighed, "Ditto will be trickier. I'm not sure if you two know, but once a Ditto laughs then their disguise will fail. If you two are indeed true GT... I doubt you'll be in a mood to laugh that much. We can always focus on that later, but for now Pendro, you can check them out with psychic and once we are away from this depressing landscape we can just confirm your identities."

Tavhir, meanwhile, had walked up to the crystal, feeling it with his hands. It felt sturdy... far too sturdy to be destroyed by conventional means. He pointed towards the Torkoal. "You there, I need light."

"What do you say?" Erik asked sarcastically.

"Now" Tavhir said threateningly. The Torkoal trembled slightly, before quickly walking over towards the Pawniard. He inhaled, igniting the flames in his shell and providing a bright, red glow over the crystal. Tavhir peered inside, his eyes able to better see through the dark crystal.

"Well, I guess we found Cyrus," he said with a hint of worry. There was definitely a Beartic in there, standing straight, eyes closed. The fur on the side of his head was matted over with blood, same as the vision where they had seen him last. "So... any ideas on how to get him out?"

Thrasher nodded, "Yeah... We have Flame King and this Torkeal here." He inspected the stone a bit more, "We apply fire to some pressure points, below and above him. We let the first affect the outer most area and then we get some fighting types or those with blades to hit those areas. It'll start chipping and could take some time, but once we break off the section he's in we'll haul him up and out of here. Then the king can get some experienced jewel cutters to get larger tools to open up the shell."

"Erm," Pendro held up a claw again. "Shouldn't we be a little more cautious around this massive black crystal that was radiating horrible energy? For all we know, one crack in this thing could let loose a nuke of darkness on half of Exathor..."

"We've no choice, do it," Jacob said, examining the stone with his arms crossed. "Go ahead, try. If it doesn't work, then I might just know what to do."

 

[GastlyGibus]

Emergency Preparedness
|Tavhir, Pendro, Thrasher, Jacob.|​

Thrasher nodded as he looked at the Torkoal. "Okay, light near the base and just above him. Tavhir and myself can focus on breaking the bottom. Rax and whoever else can focus on the top."

The Torkoal grunted, before stepping back and letting loose a steady stream of flames at the bottom of the crystal. Once he felt it was heated enough, he turned towards the top, repeating the process. After a few moments, the top and bottom were both radiating with intense heat. Tavhir took a moment to focus himself, then let lose with a flurry of swipes towards the base of the structure.

Pendro watched on, worry etched on his metallic features. "If this goes wrong, I blame literally everyone but me."

Thrasher nodded, "Sure Pendro. Everyone not helping with cutting this down, you might want to stay back. No way to tell where it will fall or if it will roll along." He joined Tavhir in punching at the rock and even performing a Cross Chop. "Tavhir, get ready to run to either side if it falls toward us." He said as he kept on punching.

The Glalie and Pinsir flew up to the top, attacking the surface of the crystal in an attempt to break it. After several seconds of unrelenting attacks, Tavhir stopped, motioning for the others to cease as well. He looked at the crystal, the structure completely unfazed. "Damn... any other ideas?"

Jacob took a step up with determination in his eyes. "I know what to... to..." he begun struggling with his words, taking quick and short breaths. "To..." he tried saying, his eyes open wide with fear. Suddenly he screamed and grabbed his throat. He kneeled on the ground with force and retched a black liquid, then doubled up and started shaking and screaming.

Thrasher gasped and quickly ran over as he held up Jacob, not caring if the black liquid poured over him, "JACOB!" He cried out, "♥♥♥♥... someone, get a berry!" He held him doubled over as he made sure he wouldn't fall, "What's the matter!? Jacob say something!"

Jacob stared back at Thrasher fearfully, choking as more dark liquid gushed out of his mouth. He tried speaking, but he only gagged.

Thrasher looked at the black stone then quickly pulled him up and began to move away, "I have no idea what this black stone is but it's doing something to him!" He shouted, "Tavhir! Take him dammit I can't run that fast!" He said as he lowered Jacob down to the Pawniard.

"What the hell!" Tavhir cried out, more shocked than anything. "Where am I going?!"

"ANYWHERE!" Thrasher shouted, though Tavhir's shock was more than enough for him to pick up Jacob again as he began to sprint, despite the massive pain now growing in his leg.

"This is bad!" Pendro shouted. "This is EXACTLY what I was talking about! Berries, healing, SOMETHING!"

Jacob was coughing and squirming in Thrasher's grasp. His gagging begun to cease, and he turned to the side to retch once again. He drew a few ragged breaths, then started laughing loudly. "I see," he shouted between his laughter, "I see, that was your reaction. Gullible!" He broke free of Thrasher and kept his distance, his face having a lazy, apologetic smile. His lips were all covered with that dark liquid. "But quick to act, nonetheless!"

Thrasher suddenly stopped his jog. He slowed to a crawl and he stared. He stared at him in a mixture of many emotions. Relief that quickly turned to shock, that turned to anger, that turned to enragement, and finally calm...which was followed by a fist that was aimed to smash into Jacob's face. It landed spot-on; the Meowstic yelped and rolled to the side. "YOU'RE FINE ALRIGHT!" He snapped, "I GUESS YOU CAN TAKE A PUNCH THEN!?" He stepped on back, his body shaking with pure anger, "YOU... YOU F-... YOU.... you...." He stepped on back and fell against the ground as he gripped his head, "Y-you.... you... got me good." He sighed and hung his head, looking back up with pure relief in his eyes, "Really good. ... I'm sorry for that punch. I let my emotions take control there for a second."

Tavhir glared at Jacob with rage, bringing a bladed hand up. "Give me thirty seconds alone with him. Just thirty seconds..."

Pendro lifted up a hand in the Pawniard's path, slightly perplexed. Okay, very perplexed. "Tavhir, I... I'm not even sure." He turned to the Meowstic. "Jacob, you aren't helping anyone. You're an a**hole. Go home."

Tavhir stopped, not taking his eyes off of Jacob, slowly bringing his hand down. He grunted once, before turning back to the crystal. "I'll be sure to let Garland know you care more about your pointless pranks than saving the Crown Prince."

Jacob rubbed his cheek where the punch had hit him and got up to his feet. He hadn't lost his devillish smile. "No need," he said sharply, having regained a commanding tone, "I'll tell him myself of all that's happened here. You guys are slow."

Thrasher held up a hand, "Easy you two. He has a point with this. Tavhir, when I tried to make the logical choice of handing him to you given my bad leg, you essentially froze up. Pendro, you barely had time to react. I was the only one who was even ready for a sudden scenario. What if it is as you say Pendro and we open up the dark crystal? What if something does come out and we're all blown back and in need of medical attention?" He nodded at Jacob, "He made sure we're prepared. It was a dirty trick, but an effective one."

Jacob chuckled, "now you make sense! But you didn't have to take out your anger on poor Jacob! That's a point minus from your total."

"I can assure you, Thrasher," Pendro looked at the Primeape seriously. "I learned absolutely nothing from that experience. And I learn from most things. There are many manners of teaching things. That happens to be a poor and dangerous one."

He sat on down and rubbed his thigh, "Though my leg is now in more pain. You all find another way to get the stone down... but I do have another theory." He looked at Jacob, "Remember in the memory Cyrus was right up against the stone in essence when the others were on the runes. I think the top is how they got him in there. there must be some opening or such."

"The only opening here is in Jacob's head," Tavhir said bitterly, before returning to the task at hand. "I don't think there's any sort of opening on this dumb crystal. The thing looks like it's locked up tight."

"I'll go up to check it out..." Jacob said, "don't expect me back for a while. I've something to take care of." Jacob turned and bolted, without waiting for replies.

"Yeah." Pendro muttered. "Sure. We'll all miss you."

 

[Ray Maverick]

Jacob "Prankster"

Jacob ran up the steep slope of the stinky tunnel, which soon led to the chamber with the runes on the floor. The sheets were still hanging from above, so an easy exit was guaranteed. The Meowstic stopped abruptly, just before the outer circle of pale runes. At first look, it didn't look like the dark rock had any entrance or door; when Jacob blasted himself across the runic floor and onto the rock, he discovered nothing. The solid material beneath his feet was unyielding to anything Jacob could throw at it, and it seemed smooth enough, with no openings or cracks. It was a singular thing. "I'm wasting my time here," Jacob begun muttering.

The Meowstic blasted himself again, barely catching the sheets and quickly climbing to the top. He glanced around the Family Vault, looking for Zack or Gerrick, but to no avail. The two seemed to have vanished. Without a look back, he bolted outside.

***​

The pre-dawn chill was in the air of Stoneyard, and a slight, bitter breeze ran through the Meowstic's fur as he ran across the bridge to the Sun Rise. The night couldn't be darker now, and Jacob thought a haze was gathering in the Midnight Shrine, blurring the fires the scientists had set up. Once he reached the Sun Rise, he walked sideways through the ruined, abandoned monastery without a roof, reaching the bridge that led to the Middlemesa quickly and silently. Some mercenaries were stationed on the bridge, but they didn't give him much trouble once they saw his Gold Tribe badge. In the Middlemesa, he found more mercenaries. More than he liked to see. A few dozens were coming and going in the hall of the Middlemesa, but they stopped once they saw him and grinned gleeful-like until he was gone. Jacob would've stayed and stalked them, but he had other things to worry about. The Crown Prince was trapped inside an indestructible rock, and the Emperor would be getting impatient for now. And when Emperor Dareon gets impatient, he takes matters onto his own hands, as proven by his early arrival at Stoneyard.

Two fires could be seen in the southern sky, a few miles off of Stoneyard; those were the Bucentaure's lights as it glided in the darkness. Jacob stared at it as the lift of the Middlemesa was going down. He waved at Wallace and Jenkins, even though he couldn't see them. Looking over Stoneyard as he descended, he saw a group of children, the orphans, joined with the priests.

Once in the ground level, he rushed to the middle of the pit, where the Midnight Shrine was. The Emperor, Garland and Sophia were still there, along with the scientists and the remaining mercenaries; he snuck around to meet his sister first. She looked relieved to see him. She held up her hands and he grabbed them; together, they did small dance with the same melody playing in their heads: Faythrow the Brave, a Vanir ballad. Sophia slapped him lightly on the cheek, and Jacob did a flip.

"Fi, hey," he said, hugging her briefly after their check, "good to see you're still whole."

"Jake!" Sophia said, then she took a step back, "what's that on your mouth?" She scooped some of the black liquid and smelled it. "That's berry juice, isn't it? What have you been doing?"

"Important stuff," Jacob said flatly.

"Are the others okay?"

"They're okay. I think. A little tense, and slow, but still okay. Listen, sis..." His eyes fell onto the Emperor. And someone else, that shouldn't have been there: Rax, the Toxicroak. Jacob's mouth dropped in an ominous frown as he stared deeply at the Toxicroak, who hadn't noticed him yet. "Hold on," he told his sister, then snuck closer to Rax, who appeared to be talking to the Emperor. Jacob perked up his ears, listening in on them.

"... so you see, your highness, it would appear your son, Cyrus, is trapped with no means of getting out." Rax said, his face now bearing an expression of regret, a stark change from his normal cocky demeanor. "The others began to grow worried, so they sent me to notify you as soon as possible."

"Did they?" Jacob asked in a caustic tone, drawing the attention of the Emperor, Garland and the Toxicroak. "I didn't hear them say so."

"Ease off, buddy," Rax said dismissively. "This is an important discussion we're havin'." Rax turned his attention back towards Garland and the Emperor. "We tried to break through, but we had no luck."

The Emperor turned towards the Spirit Summit, his woolen mane billowing with the breeze; his face had tightened and his brow was smirked in furor. Jacob feared the Emperor would do something rash; he stared down at Rax who had broken the news without the least bit of grace. Jacob would've taken the Emperor by the hand so he could see it himself, and possibly help out.

Emperor Dareon turned to Garland and he said, "you're coming with me. And you, Prankster. I require your counsel."

Garland was reluctant, but he spoke, "going into the Summit? Even with us by your side, is that wise, your Highness?"

"No!" the Emperor erupted, staring at Garland, "it's not wise! Nothing of what I've done in the past few months is wise! And stop calling me 'your Highness', Garland. This is a time when I need a friend more than a servant."

Garland's face twisted strangely, as if an inner conflict was storming inside his head. Jacob noticed it and looked at him, puzzled. Then he stepped up between them, although he was shorter by two feet than the both of them. "If I may put in," he said, "I've got everything under control. Your safety is guaranteed... all of us, actually, are safe. Garland," he turned to the Floatzel, "give me the teleportation crystal, please. It's best that I keep them. And now, we should depart. Time's wasting."

"He is right," Garland agreed, nodding. He handed his teleportation crystal to Jacob and then walked over to Cassandra and whispered, "best stay here, lass. You, Punisher, Guardian and Noah. I don't trust these mercenaries."

And Jacob approached his sister, "come with me," he said, "I need your help with something."

"What of us, your highness?" Rax asked, a hint of worry in his tone. "Shall we accompany you as protection?"

"Stay where you are," Dareon hissed, "are you blind? What of the scientists, would you just let them roam?" He turned away and walked furiously towards the Middlemesa. Garland and Jacob followed him close behind.

Rax gave a courteous bow to the Emperor as he and the others began to leave. "Oh course, your majesty," he said, assuming a more dignified tone. He then turned towards the others mercenaries. "You see these rebels?" He pointed towards the scientists. "You keep them in line. If one of 'em moves from their spot, you'll be sorry. Understood?"

The other mercenaries nodded out of fear. They knew that Rax was one who made good on his threats. A few gathered around the mercenaries, keeping a close eye on them to make sure they didn't get any ideas of escape. Rax smiled, approaching Atris as she sat idly on the ground. He crouched down, speaking softly to avoid drawing the attention of the others. "Any luck?"

Atris shook her head. "Been hard, what with the Emperor and his cronies here all day."

Rax nodded in understanding, placing his hand on his chin as he pondered over the situation. "Well, you just stay here. I'll figure somethin' out."

The Exalted

Jacob knew the way, so Garland let him lead them to the Spirit Summit. Sophia walked to the back of the group, and Garland next to the Emperor. They were more wary than they would have been if he was not there, though he displayed earlier that it would take an army to put him down, and the walls of the Keep were never as empty as they were now. As they walked quickly in the dark under the guidance of a torch Jacob had picked up, he had filled them in on what they saw in the memory of Zane Tyrael and who they met in the dungeons. Garland was upset to hear Kagemusha was actually the ruler of Stoneyard. "How did we miss that?" he said out-loud, the walls of the Keep sending his voice back to his ears.

"Technically, lordship was never officially passed down to him," Jacob replied quickly, "I remember now. He'd disappeared for a long time, leaving Helena as the stewardess of the Keep. Makes sense."

"And when he re-appeared to join the College of Liberty, he never stated his lordship. Everyone had forgotten the Kagemusha name," Sophia added.


"What does it matter?" the Emperor spoke harshly, "he is a dead man now, sided with the rebels. He cannot escape justice."

"I honestly do not know what goes through that fool's head," Garland muttered, "I thought of Kagemusha as an intelligent individual."

"Which makes him all the more dangerous," Sophia said. "Intellectual doesn't equal nice."


They reached the Family Vault, the door of which still lay open. The sheets were hanging by the edge of the hole.

"I see the Kagemusha is a wealthy family," Emperor Dareon said when he noticed the contents of the vault. It had every manner of valuable object in it: golden bars, artifacts made of strange materials, worn out scrolls with runes and ruined books scattered about. A rug made of a creamy white wool was hanging from the top to the bottom of a wall, and a stacks of paintings stacked around; the nearest one was a representation of the concept of the hero that slays the dragon in art. Belongings of the Kagemusha family or not, the ruler of these objects was dust and decay.

"Jacob, Sophia," Garland said, "you go on ahead. I'd like a private word with the Emperor."

Jacob blinked, but he complied. He took the sheet down the hole after his sister.

Garland turned to the Emperor, assuming the serious look of perseverance that he was known to have. "You said you wanted a friend, rather than a servant now. I'll go ahead and be your friend, then, and as your friend, I'll give you this advice. You are not invincible. Justice won't be served because you want it to be served. Don't underestimate the rebels, just because we have greater numbers. You saw who is behind the schemes, that witch Vendra, Chantalai, Kagemusha himself, and even former members of the Gold Tribe, and possibly many more that we don't know of yet. You know what they're capable of. And the worst news is they are more determined than common rebels. History doesn't repeat here, in this case; the unruly people of Exathor have become wise with you as a ruler. Only fools would stand up to your claim to the Thunder Crown, after what happened in the War of Succession." Garland paused to take a breath. He hadn't spoken to Dareon in such a way for a long time. It almost reminded him of the times where they could share honest words with each other, instead of courtesies. "They are up to something. My gut tells me that we all should fear that something. Even you."

The Emperor stared quietly to the side, with a face empty of emotion. At least he was not angered by Garland's straightforwardness. "Yes," he said, "I acknowledge the danger here. And my son is in the middle of it. What would happen to Exathor, an my heir was killed?"

Garland smirked, "aren't you concerned about his well-being?"

"Any injuries he may have, the healers will cure, so long as he is alive," Dareon continued dismissively, then surprised Garland by patting him on the shoulder. "Whatever danger may be in store for Exathor... you take care that you don't die before the time we can feast in the gardens of the White Citadel as a family once more. And certainly do not die before I do. The rest of my time would be miserable."

They shared the chuckle, and Garland shook the Emperor's hand and nodded, smiling lightly. They climbed down the sheets and into the tunnel, where their guides were waiting.
​

 

[Ray Maverick]

Garland the Exalted One
​

The gloom of the mushrooms was fading the closer they got to the dark mass that Jacob had informed them was some kind of rock. It was very quiet in the cave, and they could hear the breaths of the Gold Tribe and mercenaries as the Emperor approached them with his escort. Garland was perplexed, though, by the nature of this place. The Spirit Summit was known to exude with a threatening aura of darkness that snuck to your head and messed with your mind. Yet this place felt like an ordinary cave now.

The mercenaries had cleared all the eggs from the Nest and they had established torches brought from the Family Vault on the walls for vision. There was a visible path among the cruelly pointy rocks on the ground, which the Emperor and his escort followed up to where the dark rock was. Garland's heart beat faster with worry of what he was going to see: the Crown Prince, trapped inside, not breathing. Jacob was following very close behind Dareon and Garland, almost a breath away, muttering, "I got you."

Sophia took Jacob's satchel and fed all the berries in there to the rescued Gold Tribe: Brandifer the Emboar, Champion the Goodra, Spinebreaker the Ursaring and also Petrina. Brand stuffed berries in his mouth as he greeted Garland with a strong pat on the shoulder, to which Garland replied with a soft smile, as if wishing to say the danger had passed. Spinebreaker also nodded at Garland. "Thank you," she said, "all of you."

"Absolutely no problem," Zack said with a delighted smile, his chest bulked up and his hand on his heart. "It was a pleasure."

"You just got here," Laila said scornfully.

Champion kneeled in front of the Emperor, and said, "your Highness, it is good to see you safe, but you should not be down here."

Dareon motioned him to stand up immediately and said, "I had to make an exception to see what was taking so long to shatter a mere rock."

"Well, it has been made apparent that it is no mere rock," Garland observed, his head back as he looked upwards, searching for the tip of the rock. "Any progress?" Garland asked the Torkoal mercenary whose name was Erik.

"I'm afraid not, milord," the Torkoal said. It looked like he and his comrades had given up trying to break the rock, so they all had just gathered around the spot where Prince Cyrus was trapped. The blurry, hazy light was reflected upon the impenetrable stone in front of them. Emperor Dareon approached the stone along with Garland. They spotted Cyrus, standing up, eyes closed, immovable, a few feet from the surface of the rock. The green-blue light made the Beartic look sickly and weak, but it had the same effect for everyone. The faces of the Pokemon in the cave reflected the light the glittering mushrooms were giving off. Garland noticed something else, though. Behind Cyrus. The dark was thicker there, and a defined outline made him think that there was another rock, smaller in size, inside the greater one. After examining the rock for a few moments, Dareon put his hand on his forehead, pushing away one of the locks of cotton aside.

The Mega Ampharos looked at the people who had put themselves in danger for his son. "I thank you all for your efforts," he said graciously, "but it appears I need to step in." Garland moved away from him, knowing what would follow.

"Everyone, stand back from the Emperor and the stone," Garland ordered, and it was done immediately; nobody was ever like to wish to get hit by lightning. Jacob, though, remained as close to the Emperor as he could, standing guard behind him. Garland's eye was drawn to the Meowstic. "What are you doing?" he whispered exasperated, watching him intensely.

"You'll thank me later," Jacob said quickly, without taking his eyes off the Emperor.

Emperor Dareon adjusted the Thunder Crown atop his head and remained still. He took a deep breath. Garland thought he could hear everyone inhale and exhale, everyone's heartbeats. The Floatzel stared at the dark, reflective rock about twenty feet away from them, into Cyrus and beyond him, the darkness that seemed to boil behind him. Something was changing in the room, Garland felt his hackles rise and his jaw trembled. The overwhelming sense of dread washed over him, suddenly present, stronger than ever, and they were right in front of its source. Dareon raised his arm, his claws bent so the tips almost met each other. Sparks were generated at once, increasing in number, until they became thicker streams of bolts that flew uncontrollably around the Ampharos in a wide range. Some fell to the ground and vanished, some snapped in the air. Dareon was utilizing his full power. From his channeling, lightning was generated across his entire body, but it soon became something else: pure, raw energy in the form of lightning. Garland covered his eyes with his arm, as it became too bright to see; he saw the Thunder Crown showered in bolts, the stone reflecting the immense light.

It happened in an instant. All that gathered lightning was unleashed to the stone and the sound of thunder tore the silence that had befallen the cave. When the lightning spear struck the surface of the stone, it was deflected into many streams at once that flew into every direction, licking the stone. The stone was unyielding, despite the massive amount of power behind Dareon's attack; or so everyone thought. For in the next moment, a crack appeared, which expanded deeper within the rock. Many, smaller cracks joined next to it, then resumed their way inwards. Dareon was breathing heavily from the effort; the lightning covered the entire stone. The cracks covered the entire extent of the rock. Then, like a porcelain vase that falls to the floor, it shattered into a million pieces. Everyone got down, protecting their heads, but the shards seemed to vanish, raising darkness thin as gas to the air. Instantly, the cave was filled with an aura almost as thick as a liquid, the glow of the mushrooms faded, shrouded in darkness. Light was distant and blurry, sounds were barely heard. Others may have not known, but Garland had been underwater, and what he was feeling right now was not much different.

The Emperor screamed something, but no one understood him. He was pointing in the dark haze ahead. When Garland tried looking past it, he didn't see what he ought to have seen. Prince Cyrus had vanished. The darkness, free now, was boiling and waving, convulsing and writhing like something alive. It was a trap all along. But honor had bound them to their duty.





Among the mess of the dark sea, a pair of eyes slowly opened, burning blue and white like hot fire, gazing back at them with unearthly intensity. The dark aura intensified, becoming solid, stiff in the air, and the ground shook with a mighty tremor. Garland's senses were overwhelmed by fear and the instinct to run away. He staggered back. Even though he looked away, he was still seeing them. They were engraved forever in the memory of his own eyes. The blue eyes that watched. And hated.

A forced, unnatural silence floated ominously in the cave, blurring every sound, yet the tremor in the cave had not ceased yet. Then, a sharp, ragged breath echoed in the cave, louder than any other sound, painted with a psychic hue. A voice, deep, yet soft and psychically enhanced, pierced their minds.

"Reborn... at last, I draw my first breath."

Inside the darkness, a mass started forming in the shape of a giant body, the gathering darkness growing in bulk. And then, another color begun to emerge as light. Crimson. Initially, it was just a round glow, but it spread, following lightning-like patterns. The sharp breathing tore the cave once again. The unblinking, bright blue eyes crowned the crimson light as it produced a ringing noise, sliding like a liquid within those patterns of the body, reaching out into three limbs that formed the letter Y.

It was a giant avian-like Pokemon, twenty feet high, with a feathery gray ruff that encircled its neck and billows out over its back. The feathers were all crimson in the light produced on the chest. A beak-like snout was open, vicious fangs bared and eyes wide open, etched with the thirst for life and hatred and fury amassed for a thousand years.

Garland took a step back, or thought he did, clutching his head as it pulsed painfully with the pressure from her dark aura, with each breath she took. Only as a legend, she was known as the Deathbringer by the Otori, the Black Dread by the Tocan, the Goddess of Decay, Eater of Knowledge, the Paragon of Darkness and many other names throughout different ages of Exathor. Her tale is ancient, obscure, forgotten by many and told differently every time. But all of Exathor's races agree upon one name for her: Thrace. Yveltal.

Spoiler:

 

[Plumbum]

The Emperor staggered from another tremor that shook the cave, holding onto the Thunder Crown with one hand and touching the ground with the other. Once he faced the beast, he wasn't fazed. He forgot to be afraid for a moment, but Garland's words came rushing to his mind: he was not invincible. That was before he realized that the Pokemon before him was no ordinary opponent. Garland shouted something of the Deathbringer, barely heard with the energy of the recently exploded cocoon still in the air. Dareon understood: it was Thrace, Yveltal, the Goddess of Decay, thought to exist only in legend, as a metaphorical form of death and destruction personified; all the woes and calamities Exathor had gone through had been awarded to her, but no one believed for serious that it had been her. The Great Sundering, cataclysms before that; it suddenly all made sense to Dareon, who had studied history so thoroughly. It was claimed that in those massive cataclysms that ravaged the island, over 90% of the population was destroyed. None had lived to tell of her afterwards. That was why nobody knew; nobody was prepared. Not for this.

Emperor Dareon stepped back at first, but his guts returned to him with the adrenaline pumping through his blood. A moment of insanity took him, and he thought of charging at the legendary being with no second thought, but Garland shouted something; the Floatzel appeared to be hiding behind a rock. Dareon glanced one more time at Yveltal, whose darkness begun amassing around her, then he jumped next to Garland, who held him by the shoulders, fear in his eyes. "Is Cyrus there? Did you see him?"

Dareon shook his head. "We have to search for him."

Garland nodded. "Everyone! Stall her, till we're done searching for Cyru--"

The darkness had begun buzzing with the sound of the void itself, it seemed, gathering around Thrace like a veil, until it was sent away with a cracking sound in a dark pulse that filled the cave. Darkness was everywhere, crashing against the rocks and mushrooms, and Garland thought he saw random images of things he had never seen himself inside it. His eyes wide with fear, he wondered if those were fleeting moments of Thrace's dark thoughts. The immensity of the Dark Pulse she had unleashed had shaken the very foundations of the Spirit Summit. Dust and rocks begun falling from the ceiling. "Quick! Stall her!" Garland shouted, and it was the order hardest to give, and hardest to follow. He could only hope none of the others had been decapitated from the first Dark Pulse... and he had a hunch that many more would be coming their way.

Tavhir had fallen to the ground the instant the Yvetal had broken free. He covered his eyes with his arms in a futile attempt to defend himself from dark pulse, but it was no use. There was no stopping this beast, this... goddess. Phobias he never knew he had began to creep into his mind, and memories of his past haunted him anew. Restless saw things he had wished to forget suddenly flooding back to his mind, as if they had only happened mere seconds ago. It was a wonder he didn't go mad and curl up into himself. He was near the breaking point, until he suddenly heard Garland shouting something... he missed it at first; the veil of darkness that surrounded them was blinding to more than just mere vision. It felt as if he were trapped in a padded room, the darkness itself swallowing the sounds whole and deafening all inside. Garland then shouted a second time, and Tavhir strained to listen.

"Stall her!"

Stall her? Stall that... creature? Was Garland mad? One did not simply stall a being of this magnitude. The mercenaries cowered in fear, and rightly so; this creature could quite easily erase them from existence, had it the intention to. Tavhir was Gold Tribe, but even he was completely aghast at the sight. Garland gave he order to stall... but what exactly was he going to do? He managed to bring himself to his feet, leaning against the wall of the caves for support, staring wide-eyed at the Yvetal. He looked around in a panic, before his eyes settled on something on the ground. Garland had given the order, and in this situation, there was no time to think through and make a rational decision.

Without hesitation, Tavhir picked up a small rock, no bigger than his head, flinging it with all of his might at the Yvetal. Thrace did not even bother moving to protect herself. It was unlikely she even noticed she was assaulted by a flying rock.

Thrasher sort of stared on, a bit surprised and not truly thinking in the sense of complex thoughts. His body was on automation as the dark pulse slammed him into the wall. He blinked a bit and shook his head. He found himself throwing out a Screech, but not really putting anything into it. He had just gotten slammed yet again into a wall, dark spots began to speckle his sight, and he was pretty sure his stomach was growling now in hunger. With the intense darkness around him he couldn't see his own hand in front of his face, so of course his Screech completely missed the large dragon as it hit into the ceiling causing some loose rocks to tumble down.

He tried to get up but he immediately fell over thanks to his disoriented state and his weak leg. He blinked his eyes a bit as he began to crawl, his survival instincts screaming at him to get out of there.

Pendro didn't have much time to think once Thrace had emerged from the crystal. For a moment, thoughts of impending doom, death, and slight paranoia that even so much as mentioning the Paragon's name earlier had somehow provoked this flooded his mind. And then, just like that, they all went away. The Dark Pulse knocked Pendro unconscious almost immediately, but fortunately, being unconscious doesn't stop something from moving.

The blast sent the Metang flying like a spinning top, thrust backwards and into a rock. Rather than stopping entirely, Pendro's metallic form bounced straight off, ricochetting with surprising velocity off of the stone, direction reversed. In perhaps the most amazing offensive move Reaching Mind had pulled off in his life - such a shame he wasn't awake to see it - Pendro flew straight back at Yvetal, crashing into the deity's face at breakneck speed.

Thrace screeched, taking a step back and turning her head away, stunned; Pendro fell close to her, inside the gathering darkness. As Yveltal was momentarily stunned, the sound of psychic energy cracked in the room, sucking the energy the cocoon had released into a spell: Miracle Eye. Jacob was standing against Thrace, holding his arm forward and maintaining the triangle of energy that shone in purple, pink, blue and bright white colors; that allowed everyone to see right through the darkness, as if it did not exist. With the sensation of being underwater gone, Garland gathered his courage and peeked out of his rocky shelter, into the Eye. He did not find Cyrus. Only Pendro was to be seen around Thrace.

Then he looked back at the Deathbringer. She had found Pendro, the source of her recent troubles, and with bared fangs, a turquoise colored kind of energy started forming in her mouth. Garland felt his fur stand to attention from the power that attack was radiating. He desperately turned to Petrina, "freeze my attack! That should keep her in place, I'll go get Reaching Mind!" he shouted; water begun forming beneath his feet. Streams formed from the ground begun pumping at Yveltal with pressure; Garland rose from the ground in a Surf attack. He controlled the water, making sure it reached Thrace's feet, then as he was diving, reached for the fallen Metang and grabbed his arm, rolling to the side with him in an attempt to roll both of them out of Petrina's way.

Petrina stared straight at Thrace, with a completely undisguised terror. She was still feeling pretty woozy from the fumes back then, not to mention carrying wounds already - she would barely even consider facing this thing when she was fine, let alone how she was right now - but orders were orders. She had ordered others to do crazy, even suicidal things before and they'd come out of it fine. It was just her turn to take the orders rather than hand them out. She stowed her fears away in the back of her mind - Garland had called on her for help and maybe it was a crazy enough plan to work, but how could she freeze such a volume of water so quickly?

With a start, Vanguard dashed forward, true to her name in the front of the battle and right into the path of the Surf attack - even allowing herself to be swept away by the torrent - the water struck home against her with a force like it was a wall of stone. As crazy as it seemed, allowing herself to half-drown did at least have some point to it - from right in the middle of the water, it was a far easier prospect of freezing the whole thing, keeping the deity still - at least for now. Petrina closed her eyes and tried to ignore the tumbling waters. Surely, it was just as simple to perform a blizzard underwater as above the surface? It seemed to be working, Vanguard could feel the ice crystals beginning to form around her...

The water washed over Yveltal up to her chest, then the torrent froze with the Blizzard Petrina conjured inside it; a shield of ice was formed in front of Garland and Pendro just a second before Thrace shot a turquoise-colored beam at it. It broke right through, sending ice shards to every direction, but the shield had given enough time for Garland to barely move out of the way, carrying Pedro's limp body with both hands. Thrace remained in place for the most part of Garland's reaction. She seemed slow to comprehend what was going on. Or she was looking at a desperate rodent amusedly, right before she killed it. Garland couldn't tell which it was, but he found the opportunity, gathered his strength and jumped onto the ice, seeing Petrina working her way up from inside the water she had froze. He grabbed her front leg firmly just as she thawed out, roughly pulling her up, abandoning being gentle for later.

Petrina was thankful for being whisked away - leaving under her own power after throwing herself in the way of an attack like that was not going to be an option. Soaked, battered and disoriented, Petrina allowed herself to be carried away, only managing a hushed "thanks".

Now Garland had two people to carry. But he made the mistake of turning his back to Yveltal. The deity drew breath, and the air seemed to be sucked straight out of the room, although its effects weren't as horrible as the first time. Then, she let out a tremendous, high pitched roar that shook the entire cave; Garland lost his balance and Pendro and Petrina almost left his grasp, but in an instinctive move, he pulled his brother and sister close as he begun falling down the ice and sliding towards the rest of the Gold Tribe. Darkness engulfed the place once again in a Dark Pulse that burst out of Thrace's chest, shattering the ice completely. Garland fell face-first onto the stinky ground, dodging the pulse; he grunted with the effort of picking himself up and kept running forward, to Jacob's Miracle Eye that was the only beacon of light amidst the darkness.

Just then, he trembled as she drew a ragged breath. Thrace screamed with the monstrous, ragged voice fit for a Pokemon who slept for a thousand years in the bowels of the Spirit Summit: "The Thunder Crown is mine!" The next words were unintelligble; they sounded like a howl from the depths of hell, pinched with words of a harsh, raw language. The darkness begun to glow crimson. The ground shook with the immensity of power that gathered in the middle of Yveltal's chest. Garland glanced behind him just in time; Thrace was not looking at him. She did not even seem to notice his presence. She was staring directly at Dareon.

With an explosion of crimson energy that rocked the Summit yet again, a six feet thick beam was unleashed from Thrace's chest towards the Emperor; it was bright white in the middle from the immense amount of energy it carried. Garland was much too far away to protect Dareon in any way. "NOOO!" Ileas "Champion" screamed, bashing into the Ampharos at the last moment, pushing him out of the way. The crimson blast found the Goodra and engulfed him wholly. Garland almost stopped in his tracks, fear overwhelming him; he thought he saw the Goodra's expression during the moment of impact. The tightness the proximity of death was engraved on it. Then the face faded, became dust. Nothing. The Goodra's body was eaten away by the beam, and parts of him that were outside it were sucked in, destroyed wholly with the rest.

The beam crashed on the rocky walls of the cavern, causing parts of it to collapse and fall from the ceiling; the crimson beam had dissipated, but floating crimson orbs of energy where the Goodra's each of them with her body. The next time Thrace exhaled, afterwards, it was the most terrifying: it was the sound of sick, bloodthirsty pleasure.

"Get here," Jacob shouted, unfazed by what was going on around him. His face had not changed. Stoic, as usual, with only a hint of discomfort in his eyes. He put his teleportation crystals in front of him. "We need to get outta here!" He pointed at the members of the Gold Tribe, connecting them to the Miracle Eye he was keeping up, then raised the two crystals in the air. They glowed... for only a moment. Garland thought his heart stopped. Jacob gulped, staring at the crystals in his hands. The creeping darkness was buzzing threateningly around them. "Their effects are negated..." he muttered, then fell on his knees, clutched his head with the weakly shining crystals still on his hands. "I did not predict this."

Dareon, who was staring back at Yveltal this whole time, backed off and grabbed Jacob from the head, raising him up in the air so he could look him in the eye. With Dareon's touch, the teleportation crystals immediately shone bright with power. "Use them," Dareon said through gritted teeth, as the crimson light begun spreading in the cave around them. The crimson colored beam was shot. Jacob used the crystals, and the reality of the gloomy cave was shattered in a teleport.

 

[Ray Maverick]

Jacob "Prankster"
​

"Thrasher!" Jacob shouted. He kneeled on the ground, pushing the teleportation crystals close to his mouth as he spoke to someone on the other line. "I didn't find Thrasher! He's still in there! Go, go!"

They had landed abruptly on the wet grass, just a mile out of Stoneyard. They had perfect view of the great mesas; it was dawning outside, the sun crowning the Middlemesa as it rose from the mountains of the east. Zack was laying on the grass, laughing hysterically. "Very funny," he said and laughed again, but his voice broke and the laughter was followed by tears. "V-very funny... now I will wake up and everything will be alright." The Electabuzz got on his feet with a pained expression and looked at the Spirit Summit. He chuckled. "See, me? Everything's alri--"

The mesa erupted from the inside in an explosion of darkness that sent a shock-wave across the land which brushing the grass like a massive, invisible hand. The entire Spirit Summit was leveled to the air, rocks flung in the sky, leaving trails of residual darkness, followed by a great, ear-piercing roar that all of Exathor must have heard. The Keep on the mesa was destroyed entirely. Nothing remained of the mountain but a sea of darkness where the bowels of the Summit were.

"Th-that w-w-would've-ve h-h-h-happen-e-ed to u-u-us," he stuttered, his face a pure mask of fear. Then he fainted, falling backwards conveniently on a soft patch of grass.

But the destruction of the Spirit Summit wasn't the only happening. In place of a forth mountain for Stoneyard, a long skyscraper had risen exactly where the Midnight Shrine was, minutes ago. It was an imposing edifice of stained obsidian that was fashioned after old, traditional Stygian architectural styles. It had windows in each of its many floors, and on the top, it boasted a giant, purple and pink crystal that was glittering with the first rays of the sun. A white, thin beam rose straight out of it, shooting upwards, piercing a few clouds to meet with the invisible barrier; on the spot where the beam and the barrier met, the white light spread. "The Sky Nexus," Emperor Dareon mused. "The device that feeds the barrier that shields us from evil."

A cloud of dust in the base of the Sky Nexus was settling down, allowing Jacob and the others to see what had happened to the pit. It had collapsed inwards, forming a massive hole in the ground, but the most impressive thing was what was in it: a city of stone, built around the Sky Nexus. Houses old, made of the most durable of rocks, had survived centuries underground, only to be revealed with the Sky Nexus after all this time. "Aren't those the houses built by the workers?" Jacob asked, "those who built the Nexus, four hundred years ago. They lived around it. Where did all that ground that covered it up go?"

That was a valid question. The pit's reforming must have been a rather slow process, because the scientists and the mercenaries, who were on the area of the Midnight Shrine when it happened, were now looking around the ancient city that emerged out of nowhere. They were unharmed, and now in awe of the gargantuan blob of darkness that rose in the sky, at the same height with the Sky Nexus. Thrace's roar echoed across the grasslands once again; it was a terrible, high pitched, angry scream. The crimson light inside the blob churned the darkness; parts of it were shot at the crystal, but never reached it. The crystal blasted anything that came near with a bolt of pure energy, vaporizing it.

Jacob looked at Dareon stoically. "She's gonna destroy the Nexus if we don't do something."

"The Nexus isn't such a weak opponent," Dareon observed. He turned to the others. "Follow me. We are going inside the Nexus. I do not want to find out what will happen if anyone reaches the inner defenses before us."

 

[GastlyGibus]

The Sunken City
|Cassandra, Punisher, Guardian.|​

Amidst the chaos of the ground that sunk, and the cloud of dust that raised, scientists and mercenaries were running in the streets of the ancient city, trying to find a way to exit the pit, screaming and pointing at the blob of darkness that had risen in the morning sky. But one needed to climb a very steep slope to reach the top, and not every Pokemon could do it. The Sky Nexus had risen from the very depths of Exathor, sucking all of the land mass of the Midnight Shrine below it.

It was chaos. The Gold Tribe of the ground team that had stayed close to the Midnight Shrine had collapsed into the pit.

As they began falling, Guardian moved towards his fellow members, well Punisher and Cassandra being he was already close to them. As they fell, knowing they would not be able to escape, he used protect so they would not be injured in the fall. Once they were on the ground he shook himself off of any dust and looked around at their new surroundings.

Punisher was already close to Cassandra and managed to at least grab her in his arms, aiming to fall down on his back, though surprisingly no pain came from the rather large fall. He blinked a bit and looked about, "Oh... uh yeah! I'm just that awesome!" He said with a chuckle as he let Cassandra go and stood on up, "So... uh.. anyone know where we are now?"

"Yes you are absolutely amazing. Flawless," Guardian commented, his voice dripping with sarcasm "Anyways. It would seem that we are in a pit with rubble. The truly important question is what happened exactly. And if our brothers and sisters on the stealth team live or not?"

Punisher puffed out his chest, "Thanks for noticing!" He said to Guardian, the sarcasm flying over his head, "Uh... oh s**t." He looked down at the rubble, "They were down there right?"

"Yes. Well then they're probably dead now," he shrugged. Moving slightly he once again surveyed their surroundings. "I don't see them so I think it is safe to assume that they are dead unless they managed to escape in time." Guardian made sure to sniff a little for their scents, but he didn't find them, and the dust in the air just made him sneeze. With so much dust in the air from them falling, he couldn't tell if his nose was lying or not, however he hoped it was the former.

Cassandra dusted herself off before scanning the environment around them. It was hard to see with the dust still falling from the pit's crumbling, but what she was able to make out was astonishing. It appeared to be an ancient city, somehow able to withstand the tests of time and remain sturdy. She listened as Guardian hypothesize on the fates of the stealth team, growing visibly worried. "Don't jump to conclusions... we don't even know if they were here or not." She turned her attention again towards the constructs around them, then up towards the large tower that had sprung up above them. "Does anybody have any idea on what happened?"

Punisher frowned, "Uh... the ground fell down and that came out of the ground?" He said as he pointed up to the black creature in the sky. "I... think?"

"I think it is apparent that none of us do. For now we should explore, we might find our fellow members." Guardian started walking, once again attempting to catch the scents of their siblings, and once again sneezing from the dust. "Unfortunately until this dust settles more I can't use my nose. Thus we are stuck with sight... though its difficult to see in here..."

A psychic wave brought Jacob's voice in their minds. Ground team, do you copy? Don't have much time, these darn crystals are runnin' out of juice. We're alive, though I dunno for how long. See that big dark cloud above your heads? That's... uh, Thrace, Yveltal. Goddess of death and all that. I suspect the rebels have something to do with her trying to destroy the Nexus - we're heading there at the moment. Meet us at the entrance.

Punisher blinked at the voice, shaking his head a bit, "I hate when psychics do that." He muttered. He looked back at the others and puffed out his chest, "Right! Now, we're going to that uh, nexus thing and we'll wait for them! We need to start moving and all and given that Jacob and Garland aren't here right now I'll take over duties!" He smirked, "No need to thank me, but let's get moving!" With that Punisher glanced over at the nexus and could feel his heart racing.

Finally, the battle that he wanted to have for so long was now coming. What battle was better than squaring off against a FREAKING legendary, right!? He shivered a bit in anticipation as he began to run along the deserted streets, though curiosity did cause him to glance in through some broken windows here and there. The house were all made of stone, no doubt made from stone that came right from Stoneyard. Inside the houses the group passed there were an assortment of items that seemed to have been frozen in time. Chairs, tables, bookcases, all of it was surprisingly still intact and apart from having a more worn appearance, it didn't look like anything was going to spontaneously fall over.

Of course, most people would theorize that by being trapped underground like this city was, there would have been no water or air around, and thus no agents in the air to cause decay to spread across the buildings. Of course to Punisher he knew none of this and could only wonder how such an ancient city still managed to remain standing when the wall in his own room would pretty much collapse if he happened to punch them.

"This'll be a cake walk!" The Machamp called back to the others with a smirk, "Heh, we go in and help this nexus thing fight off Thrace! I bet it can take her down in one hit!" As he made his way past a corner he cried out and ended up falling onto his back as a dark blast barely missed him, instead the blast slammed into a wall and caused the wall to shatter. The building began to creak and groan, shuddering before it began to collapse over. Punisher had been startled, but that mindset soon wore as he rolled away to the side.

A dust cloud rose up as the house collapsed and caused the ground to shake a bit. "Uh... so let's get to that sky nexus faster!" He said, doing his best to camouflage any fear he had in his voice. Thrace roared loudly in the sky, no doubt a bit pissed off that the sky nexus hadn't fallen yet and she seemed to redouble her efforts. She swung her wings as another Dark Pulse shot out, but yet again the pulse was destroyed by the nexus. Instead the fragments of the pulse shot out and slammed into other buildings. Some mercenaries and that had been trying their hardest to climb up the wall cried out as the remnants hit into them, the force alone more than powerful enough to cause them to fall. If they weren't dead already, then the fall would surely claim their lives.

There was a Pokemon flying in the dust; a dark, swift shadow on the sky. It dove towards them, slashing through the group of the Gold Tribe, barely missing Punisher's shoulder. The shadow stood behind the group; it was a Gliscor with a crazed smile and a vest strapped onto him. Polo, former member of the Gold Tribe, known to torture his brothers and sisters after the start of the rebellion. "Gold Tribe!" He screamed, "you're still trying! Heh, even with Thrace backing us up. You guys are bigger fools than I'd imagined!"

Punisher huffed and readied his four arms, "You guys go!" He said to his brother and sister, "I think Poto here needs to have a reality check." He smirked right at the Gliscor, "So... let's dance."

 

[Ray Maverick]

Earthquake

His lord Chantalai had used his innate ability as a Zoroark to wrap the group in an illusion that was more solid than reality. Even the sharpest of eyes would have looked past it, especially in the darkness of the moonless night before.

Romulus was getting impatient, forced to stay out of sight for an entire night. The silence between him, Polo, Vendra, Kagemusha and Lord Chantalai was deafening. Not that the silence bothered him too much. The Haxorus was quiet enough. If he was going to be loud, he would do so in battle.

It started with tremors. The Spirit Summit was shaking, and a muffled roar reached his ears. The old man Chantalai was grinning. "Here she comes," he said. Romulus had no idea what was going to happen, other than Vendra's enigmatic statements about the coming of the Crimson Dawn. All bullcrap in Romulus's ears.

Vendra walked off from the illusion, and so did the Pangoro who was named Kagemusha. Romulus walked close to them through the grass around the Middlemesa. The earth shook violently, much like when Romulus used his devastating Earthquake technique.

Kagemusha stopped in his tracks, observing the Spirit Summit. He had this constant smirk on his face, as if he was having constipation problems, and his black eyes were harsh and expecting. "This is where it should happen," the Pangoro pointed a claw at the Midnight Shrine. "The Sky Nexuses are programmed to detect threats and eliminated them, should they arise. The awakening of Thrace will bring it out automatically."

The earth shook again, another muffled roar. Lord Chantalai called Romulus to stay close to him; the Haxorus looked at the Zoroark with the silver hair on his head, and the mismatched eyes. "You have a chance to redeem yourself here for failing to bring Garland's head to me," Lord Chantalai said sharply, "you shall stay with me this time. I am taking matters into my own hands."

"Your wish is my command," Romulus said flatly, bowing to his lord.

The sun was rising from the east, breaking the dusk into a new dawn. The Spirit Summit almost looked beautiful to Romulus, a steep mountain amidst the grasslands, basking in the first light of the day. It started with another tremor. The Spirit Summit shook and a crack appeared in its base. Then, it erupted like a volcano of roaring darkness that shredded it into tiny pieces and flung them in the sky, leaving only the dark mass inside it. The mountain and everything on it was effectively eradicated. Romulus watched, awestruck, the ground in the area of the Midnight Shrine sinking into a great pit. A long, tall building begun to emerge in the center from within, a massive glowing crystal on its top.

"The Sky Nexus," Kagemusha muttered, a vicious grin of satisfaction on his face. "I was right."

The dark blob begun rising with the Sky Nexus. It was half as big as the Spirit Summit, a whole mountain of dreadful, lethal amount of energy amassed into one place. A black hole. Bits of what was formerly the Spirit Summit circled inside it, unable to get out; whatever was in it was facing off with the crystal of the Sky Nexus now. Vendra was laughing hysterically at the sight. Romulus couldn't see what the Meloetta found so funny. The little green witch turned to him with tears on her face and a victorious grin. "Look at her!" she spat enthusiastically, "I've worked yyyeears for this! Look at her, pawn, and know your place! That is the power we have. The power to change the world."

Romulus scratched his chin, baring half of his fangs in a doubtful expression. "Don't see much of it changing currently," he murmured.

"What was that?" Vendra screamed, diving right in front of his face.

"By the Deathbringer," Kagemusha swore, staring at the base of the Sky Nexus, "that's the City of the Workers. It survived, after four centuries... fascinating."

Vendra laughed, watching the blasts traded between the dark blob and the Nexus. "That's old history. It'll soon be ashes, no matter how old it is!" She laughed hysterically again. Romulus covered his ears.

"The Dark Star helped it survive," Kagemusha insisted, "Thrace is not the only power in here. It is high time we went to retrieve it," he said. "You go to the Nexus. I will stay in the city."

"You forget who gives orders here?" Vendra demanded sharply, "I give the orders. You go to the city, and we'll go to the Nexus."

"That's what he said," Romulus pointed out, rolling his eyes.

"Silence! That's what I said."

***

The band of Gold Tribe were moving in formation with the Emperor in the middle; they had jumped inside the pit and were crossing the city of sand towards the Sky Nexus. Rocks were falling from the sky, the effects of the explosion in the Spirit Summit still lingering. A huge boulder fell close to the Gold Tribe, causing a small earthquake and forcing dust to rise. Garland was flung onto a building and with his vision limited, quickly lost the others. He cursed himself.
​

"Ah!" a voice said from behind him. Garland turned around abruptly to see the Pangoro with his absurd robes, standing on a roof. "You survived Thrace, I see," Kagemusha said grimly, "no matter. I'll be more than happy to destroy you."

"Your goddess failed to kill me, and you think you've got a chance?" Garland taunted him; he didn't know where the arrogance came from, but having seen an extremely destructive entity awake in front of your eyes, his perspective on life might have just changed. With Thrace in Exathor, they would pretty much be in constant danger - into the field for Garland's pessimism. He couldn't be any more negative, so he would be positive.

"Through sheer luck you survived," Kagemusha said, "but luck runs out." The Pangoro raised his arm; darkness begun forming out of nothing, shaping a deadly, sharp spear. Garland slipped in an alley between the houses of the ancient city, but Kagemusha's spear burst right through it, destroying it wholly. It crumbled into bits and Garland ran elsewhere to hide. Damn! That spear brought down the entire house! I cannot let that reach me...
​

​

 

[Greiger]

Help from an unlikely source​

He was stuck, that was really it. The Spirit Summit had come down... and he was stuck. When all of the rocks began falling Thrasher did his best to brace himself against a wall to avoid most of the debris. Good news, he wasn't dead. Bad news... he couldn't move any rocks without causing some sort of avalanche effect and killing himself, he would only have limited air down here so he would have to keep his breathing under control, and he was pretty sure that the bones in his injured leg had split apart and opened a wound. He couldn't feel his leg, but judging by the red liquid slowly spilling out... he could make a guess. He was numb from it all to be honest. He had never expected something of this magnitude to happen.

He head heard stories, ancient folklore he had thought, of Thrace, but it was mostly the kind to make children behave. If that was true... then they were doomed. This was a being that could wipe off every single person's life on the continent. This was a being that was responsible for every catastrophe, probably responsible for every single unmarked grave here. He didn't care why anymore... only knowing that even if he somehow, miraculously, managed to find a way out of this... he would die. They would all die. Everyone would die... and it was all their fault.

An eerie humming came to his ears from far away, though it seemed impossible that sound would travel between the rocks. No, the humming did not travel in the air - it travelled directly in his mind. It got louder after a while. "HUMMM... Trasher? ... or was it Thrasher? Thrasher more likely..." an incredibly monotonous, teenage voice said. Thrasher had heard it aboard the Emperor's ship! "Do you copy?"

Thrasher was silent for a bit, "Yes... " He said softly. "Who is this?"

"Jenkins." The humming got louder. "I'm looking for ya. Think I'm getting closer."

"Don't..." Thrasher said, "Look, there are too many rocks here. You pull the wrong one and I'm dead. Well... maybe that won't be a bad thing. Thrace is out... THE Thrace. Even if you manage to get me out... we're all dead. Maybe... maybe I can get in one punch before..." He shuddered, "Before I become dust too. Before we all become dust. And... it's all our fault... my fault. I... I should have stopped him."

"Wow," Jenkins said, "they didn't tell me you was so sad. Well, listen here, pal. I'm here to save ya whatever you say, and I ain't doing any rock pulling. Do you have any idea how far below the surface you are? That'd get me months to find ya. No. We doin' it my way. Boop!" The humming stopped. In the dark, a faint, ominous purple light appeared before Thrasher. It was a ghost that looked like a balloon. A drifloon! "Grab on my tail. We're getting outta here."

Thrasher glanced up, "You're not Jenkins." He said, just a bit on edge, "Jenkins is... a Purlion I think... or was he the other thing?"

The Drifloon laughed haughtily. "Half of us are Jenkins. Half of us are Wallace. Well, actually, our names may sound... differently to you, than they do to us. It's for security purposes... or something."

Thrasher sighed and reached up to grab on, "We should make some distance away. I'm... I'm not sure if the others survived. It all came out in a blur... but we need to get away from here. Or else we'll be come dust as well, and that won't help the world right now. We need to get to somewhere that we can start defending from Thrace."

"Oh, they did survive, friend! They're safely outta the Summit. Jacob sent me." As Thrasher grabbed onto the Drifloon, the two Pokemon became transparent. Jenkins started rising in the air, seemingly with no trouble with Thrasher's weight. They moved upwards through solid rock and Jenkins updated him on the situation. "They used the teleportation crystals to get out. It's goin' crazy out there. Sky Nexus rose from the ground, I hear, and the City of Workers showed up, unscathed after effing millennia of being buried!" It wasn't actually millennia, of course, but balloons aren't likely to know history.

Thrasher sighed, "We have to get to the others and get out of here as fast as possible." He said, "It's... we're in no condition to battle here. We're right against Thrace and she is the queen of the chessboard, able to take out any piece and we don't have the pieces necessary to win. We have to regroup somewhere else less our king be taken down in the third turn. Can you send a message to them?"

"Awwh," Jenkins whined, "do I have to?"

"YES!" Thrasher snapped, "We are nowhere near our peak condition! We have to regroup and study the chess board! We are but novices now while our enemy has probably been practicing this exact game for the past few years! We have to step back and look at the big picture!"

"If you don't calm down, I'm gonna drop ya off here," Jenkins said. "Seriously! Steam off, bud. SIA's got this under control."

Thrasher couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Yes, I'm sure you've done practice drills in case the god of destruction starts ravaging the land again..."


***


They were now flying through air. Dawn had arrived, the morning sun illuminating the grasslands. An airship surrounded by a purple, pale cloud was flying close to the Middlemesa... only it wasn't a cloud, it was hundreds, thousands of balloons. Drifloons and Drifblims both. Some were flying off from the pack, scouting in the monasteries, but never approaching Thrace of the Sky Nexus. "Heh, see?" Jenkins bragged, "we, too, are a force to be reckoned with."

Thrasher looked up at the dawn and sighed, "The crimson dawn." He muttered, "I hate to break it to you... but Thrace can turn any of us into dust and absorb... something. It was a sphere of some kind I know that... but even if you are in mass she'll just kill you all." He rubbed at his leg and flinched when he poked his wound, "If we stay here and do a frontal assault we will all surely die."

"Actually, I think your guys are going into the Sky Nexus. Get yourself together, Trasher... we'll get it done, you'll see."

Thrasher chuckled softly, "Aye, at my age, even getting together is hard work. I'll need a cast, or at least something so I don't bleed all over the ground. Then...we'll see."

The Drifloon landed at the edge of the pit of the Midnight Shrine, where more of his kind were gathered. They had even set a table and chairs; Jenkins laid Thrasher on a soft patch of grass and a Slowking rushed to his aid. It was the same doctor that had pulled off Brynjolf's memory. "Lay down, lad, this should hurt a bit. Your leg needs to be relocated... have you walked at all? I would be surprised... but then again, you are Gold Tribe." The doctor seemed to know what he was doing. He placed both his hands upon the Primeape's leg and channeled his Heal Pulse. The healing light engulfed them both, closing Thrasher's wounds, but the relocating was still in progress, helped by the Slowking's psychic powers. "There are things beyond my capabilities," he confessed, "so I will tie this in a band." He glanced worriedly towards the Sky Nexus that towered above them all. "I am not sure if you should join your comrades."

Thrasher nodded as he winced just a bit as he slowly bend his leg, "I shouldn't move it that much to be certain or it will become a lame leg." He looked at the Slowking, "So... given my leg, bruised pride, and the fact that a dragon is up there that can eat all life... you think I'll be able to help? I want the honest truth doc, and if you think there is a chance that my leg won't give up on me then I'll head down there." He chuckled a bit, "A pawn is only serviceable as long as he is in fit condition to serve his king, right?"

The Slowking stood on his legs and fingered his chin, looking down upon Thrasher in a scrutinizing manner. "That seems about right. There is a chance you might get killed if you go there... and I think members of the Gold Tribe will become very valuable in the near future. Best not take any chances, lad."

"Already almost got killed once today," Jenkins observed.

Thrasher looked back at the crater and sighed, "Then I'll never hear the end of it from Garland." He reached into his pack and pulled out his book. None of it mattered really anymore. All of his notes the took out and ripped them apart as he threw the scrapes angrily behind him and instead began writing on another page. He didn't spend that long before he folded it over and handed it to the Slowking, "If I die down there, there is a Leafeon named Clavis in Wrothgar. Make sure this gets to him whatever the cost. Please..." He stood up and grunted as he leg quickly gave under him, so he found himself having to drag it behind him, "I have a duty. I accepted it when I took this bloody job. I won't be known as a coward on my last day of life."

The Slowking took the piece of paper and handed it to one of the Drifloons, who floated away; then the doctor looked gravely at Thrasher, helping him get up from the grass-bed. "Stay courageous. Good luck."

 

[Ray Maverick]

Jacob "Prankster"

After that debris that had fallen from the sky, Jacob scanned the dust with his Miracle Eye, but its light was weak and the energy seemed to be drawn and fade towards the Nexus. Everyone alright? He asked, utilizing his psychic powers, but his voice was warped, twisted, the wave sucked off before it reached anyone's mind. With a plain face, the Meowstic looked up to the Sky Nexus that towered many stories above the city and the monasteries. Its pulsing purple crystal ought to have been the perpetrator. It literally drew this kind of energy to it. "Damn! Won't work," he shouted. He had to do this manually.

The first person he found when he looked around the area was Petrina. "Hope you ain't hurt," he said, then coughed a bit as he inhaled some of the dust. Next to the Glaceon, he found Pendro, who was laying on the ground, unconscious. "Hey, get up. Oh. I need to get you guys to a doc."

Zack stumbled close, coughing and then falling face-first into the ground. "Ugh," he whined. "W-wait..." He got something off his belt, "use this, Jacob."

It was a mini-rocket that was shaped like a Sharpedo. Jacob took it in his hands and examined it carefully, then looked at Zack. "If you think I'm gonna ride this to safety, you're badly mistaken, friend."

"It's a flare," Zack coughed, "dumbass."

"... in my defense, it doesn't look like a flare..." Jacob muttered, then decided to use it. He flicked his powers, setting the wire on fire. The Sharpedo-torpedo screeched and was flung in the air abruptly, flying high above the cloud of dust. "Wow!" Jacob slipped, startled. The flare exploded red in the sky.

The Slowking doctor arrived fifteen minutes later.

​

 

[GastlyGibus]

The Sky Nexus
|Dareon, Cassandra, Noah, Tavhir.|​

Dareon glanced behind him, to the cloud of dust where everyone had disappeared; only little Tavhir was with the Emperor now. "Leave them behind," he ordered the Pawniard, sensing his doubt, "reaching the Nexus is our top priority."

Just as he was saying that, he jerked to the side. An Aegislash had appeared out of nowhere. "Thresh!" the Ampharos spat, "here you are, at last."

"Your Highness," Thresh, the Emperor's Shield bowed.

Tavhir kept his gaze on the dust, silently cursing their luck. This mission was supposed to be simple; go in, find Cyrus, get out. Now they were becoming separated and losing numbers rapidly, and to top it all off, they had awoken Thrace. Though he had never heard of her personally, their brief encounter in the cave was enough to convince him of the extent of her power. He glanced back towards the Emperor. He hadn't felt it before, but now, being alone in the Ampharos' presence was intimidating. Any objections he had to Dareon's past actions were now silenced. In this situation, there was no time for petty squabbles over politics. The Pawniard simply nodded in response to Dareon's statement. They had to reach the Nexus.

Despite the hurry, Dareon walked firmly in an almost-sprint pace. As they approached the Nexus, two figures became clear through the dust, amidst the road. It was Cassandra and Noah. "Where are the others?" Dareon demanded of them, walking casually but quickly.

Cassandra turned at Dareon's voice, relieved to see that, at least, the Emperor and Tavhir made it out. "We were separated," she began, looking towards the direction they arrived from. "This place is incredibly unstable. We narrowly avoided the falling debris... but with all the dust and hazards, we ended up losing each other." She frowned slightly, remembering the events that had happened prior. "Polo is here as well. Punisher opted to fight him alone, but..." she trailed off. As much faith as she had in the Machamp, Cassandra couldn't help but worry. Polo was no pushover, and she wondered if Punisher would be able to handle the Gliscor on his own.

Dareon walked past Cassandra and Noah and said, "come with me. My son is not here... so we ought to at least save the Nexus."

Cassandra nodded, though reluctantly. She had wanted to wait for the others to possibly reconvene; their odds of surviving would be substantially higher. Time, however, was a luxury they did not possess.

Tavhir rushed forward upon seeing Cassandra again, running up to her. "You're safe!" he exclaimed. Cassandra bent down, briefly embracing the Pawniard. Tavhir returned the gesture, before drawing away, turning his attention towards the Sky Nexus. As happy as he was that his sister was safe, they would have time for reunions later.

"What happened down there?" Cassandra asked, clearly in reference to the great beast that now circled the Sky Nexus.

"It's a long story..." Tavhir replied. He pointed his bladed hand towards Thrace, the Yveltal flying higher and higher above them. "All I can say is... I think that creature was part of the rebel's plan all along."

Dareon ignored the chatting of the siblings. He marched straight up to the Nexus, his eyes fixed on the entrance. There were Rhydon statues on either side, carved on the black obsidian which the Nexus was built from. The building had to be nearly indestructible, like the Obsidian Citadel in Alamagna. The Ampharos and his band of Gold Tribe walked right past the gates into a dark room; it was lit by a lane of pink neon-lights underneath a glass floor that formed a carpet that led to the stairs. Statues of Rhydons were placed on either side of the lane. "What is it with those Rhydons?" Emperor Dareon muttered.

"Allow me to scout," the Emperor's Shield said and vanished. After a few seconds, he said, "Room is clear... though I think I sense Pokemon in the upper floors."

Dareon was aggravated by the fact, but he didn't show it. "Splendid, they must be rebel scum," he rasped, "I would like to have a word with them, and then destroy them."

He crossed the first floor and walked up the stairs. Every new floor in the Sky Nexus was the same. A pink lane of neon on the glass floor leading to the next staircase, the windows on the walls shut with obsidian. They took many stairs to the upper floors, until they were all panting from the effort. "Didn't they think of... say, elevators, when they were building this place?" Dareon said between his breaths, although he was hiding the fact that he was panting.

"I believe elevators were not invented then, your Highness," the Aegislash said, completely unwearied by the scaling as he simply floated around.

They were halfway to crossing the next floor, when suddenly, half the wall to their left exploded. Pieces of obsidian flew everywhere and the floor shook with the intensity of the attack that had blasted the wall to bits. Everyone stumbled on their feet from the tremor; Dareon regained his footing and looked outside immediately, to see the pitch-black darkness of Thrace's void staring back them through the open window. The Yveltal started to become visible inside the sphere; her turquoise eyes were locked on Dareon. She was preparing another attack.

Dashing to the front of the group, Noah boldly positioned himself in between Dareon and Yveltal's icy gaze. "Your Majesty, please stand back!" Flashing a brown jewel from his pack, it dissolves rapidly as he prepares a Focus Blast, the fighting gem bolstering its already impressive power. The sphere of energy was launched directly into the void; striking Thrace and interrupting her attack. The resulting explosion only aggravated the damage of room they were in, but did provide sufficient smoke as cover. "Again, your majesty I insist you go on while I hold her off!"

Dareon was halfway done raising his arm, preparing his own attack, but he looked at Noah, who had offered. "Very well," he decided, "we are continuing our way up."

"Noah!" Cassandra called out. Tavhir quickly grabbed her hand, tugging her away.

"Come on, we have to hurry!" he exclaimed. Cassandra looked back towards Noah, hesitating, before giving in and following the others up the stairs.

 

[CourageHound]

Noah - The Flash
Staring Down the Giant​

Noah took a deep breath as the others vanished up the steps and Thrace roared in outrage. Thinking fast he darted to the side and launched a flamethrower at her face in order to pester her. It didn't do nearly as much damage as he'd liked, but at least he had her full attention.

Thrace stared back at the Typhlosion. It was hard to tell her expressions, but she looked amused. "Oh?" was her only response to his flamethrower. The Yveltal flapped her wings, sending the darkness to fly through the crack in the wall, forcing Noah to step back. She floated with the darkness, landing firmly on her strong feet in front of Noah; she towered over him, being at least four times his size. "Dare you attack me?" Her monstrous, hoarse voice pierced his ears, without a hint of amusement in it. Only some sort of rotten pride mixed with fury. "You wish to hold me off? You think yourself honorable?" she inquired harshly. She bared her fangs, and with another flap of her wings, the darkness amassed around her, forming into a Dark Pulse.

Noah frowned without a reply, beginning to concentrate his energy into Nature Power. Suddenly a downpour Rock Slide emerging from the obsidian walls bombarded the massive Yveltal that had decided enter the room with him. The Typhlosion assumed the legendary was also a flying type taking note of how the rocks caused quite the slight aggravation rather than just being shrugged off. "Honorable? Maybe. Regardless I do what I feel is noble. It's a shame one with so much power would not do the same." After the taunt, he quickly strafed to the side of the room with the stairs leading downward while streaming a steady Flamethrower.

Thrace grunted when the Rock Slide hit her on her back and her wings, and she stumbled, shaking off the rocks from her body. Then the flamethrower hit her chest and snout and she turned away. The moment of weakness didn't last. She roared, the darkness bursting up with her screaming, engulfing the flames and rocks and reducing them to nothing. "You speak as if you know..." she drew a ragged breath, drowning in her fury and what seemed to be anguish. She took two steps foward, spreading her wings and screamed words that shook the entire building, "I WAS AS HONORABLE AS ONE SHOULD BE!" With that, her amassed Dark Pulse was shot everywhere around her.

Swift as lightning Noah practically dove down the staircase barely avoiding the blast. Looking back, rubble, stones and debris of the destroyed floor above him sealed the exit above. The room he retreated into wasn't as bright as the last considering a hole was blasted into the wall. However he wasted no time to light any candles, and instead hid behind a pillar and began to charge another Focus Blast. He needed to charge it in advance in order to have enough power to cause significant damage. The Typhlosion only hoped to Arceus that he stabbed at Thrace's pride deep enough that she hadn't decided to ignore him and travel back after the others.

Thrace charged after him like a crazed demon, the darkness rushing beside her, flooding the stairs. As she squirmed to fit through the stairs, another Dark Pulse was shot, bouncing off the obsidian walls and causing cracks here and there. The Focus Blast Noah launched pierced right through the darkness and exploded on her chest, but it barely deterred her from reaching the floor Noah was in. She burst through the door, destroying it and standing once again in front of the Typhlosion; she was deadly fast for her size. "I will grant you to mercy of choice," she spat, almost sadistically, "how would you like to die?"

Noah gave a shocked look and took a step back. "Really and truly?! How gracious of you!" He said this mockingly as he put a hand on his chin and began to tap his foot. "But there are soo many options. Surely you can find the time to make an appropriate decision?" At this, Thrace let out a cry of both rage and indignation and fired off a concentrated Dark Pulse at the Typhlosion. However, true to his tittle, the Flash assumed a Flame Charge and evaded the area of destruction just in the nick of time. Similar to the floor above, the back wall had now been blown apart. Noah responded with his most powerful Blast Burn, engulfing the giant 'mon in a hellish tower of flames.

However, the darkness around Thrace swallowed the flames, shrouding her in a protective cloud. The crimson light spread in the patterns on her chest, originating from the center that connected her two wings and tail. The attack could be heard, a low, menacing rumble. Thrace roared the same unintelligible words she had spoken in the Summit's cave, and a massive, crimson colored beam was shot straight at Noah, rings of energy engulfing Thrace's chest as she roared with the power she channeled. The deadly beam shot through the obsidian walls, causing cracks at the durable material at first but the next second, the wall was gone. The force of the attack had created a shock-wave that sent all rubble flying out of the giant hole. After a few seconds, the beam dissolved into thin air, the body of Thrace ceasing to glow crimson. The Typhlosion was no more.​

 

[Greiger]

Polo Vs. Punisher​

"AHAHA!" Polo screamed, rather than laughed, his eyes wide and crazy. "Big, slow and stupid! This should be easy!" The Gliscor dove through the air, cutting it like a scizor with an Aerial Ace that was directed at Punisher's chest.

Punisher was ready. He held up his four arms to protect himself and his forearms took the blow from the Ace. It hurt like hell, but he wasn't going to go down that easily! At once his two upper hands reached out to try and grab the Gliscor's wrists as his two lower hands pulled back and aimed to hit right into the Gliscor's stomach with a Revenge attack, "Heh, you don't look that strong to me!" Punisher said gleefully. Punisher's fist hit... something. The Gliscor had vanished, leaving some sort of doll behind him. A substitute! It shattered once Punisher smashed through it.

"Over here, stupid!" Polo panted as he charged in a U-turn at the Machamp, flying backwards after a quick hit, then returning into another Aerial Ace attack.

Punisher gritted his teeth as he felt the claws slash open his back and he staggered back, "Heh, you're fast." He stated as he readied a Cross Chop, but before he could implement it the Aerial Ace hit into him and he fell back. He coughed a bit and looked up. "Fast and strong... shouldn't go together..." He murmured to himself. In fact, it was something he learned in school. Something that was fast could be a bit strong, but usually such pokemon weren't strong at all, only using their fast reflexes to keep on attacking. Polo was breaking that rule.

He slowly got up and held his hands up for a guard as he began to slowly sidestep to his left. It was now dawning on him that this was a VERY bad idea to begin with. Polo used the time Punisher gave him to set a sword's dance technique; the ritual renewed the vampiric bloodlust in his crazed, spinning eyes. He didn't even finish it properly, when he dove in for his next, extremely fast attack: Aerial Ace. Even with Punisher defending, the Gliscor's pincers crushing against Punisher's arms with tremendous force.

Punisher couldn't help but cry out in pain, in fact the first time he had felt real pain since evolving into a Machamp. One arm quickly fell limp as he pushed back against the Gliscor and took a step back. He glanced down at his arm as the equation lined up in his mind. He could feel his heart beating in his chest as a lightbulb turned on. He COULD be beaten. He COULD find someone stronger than him. He took a step back as something else began to filter into his mind. His adrenaline was going high and usually when such a thing happened it would mostly be when he was swinging away on weaker pokemon. Back even in his Macoke days he would unleash some punishment enthusiastically on even training dummies once he hit that rush... but here it was different.

"AHAHAHA!" Polo screamed, although he was visibly sweating and panting and somehow seemed hurt. Blood was dripping out of his nose, even though Punisher had not hit him there. He didn't even seem to notice. "Does it hurt?! Weakling! You look veiny! Mmmhhehehehe. I'll suck your blood after I break every single bone in that meaty body of yours! How do you like my new power, weakling?!" The Gliscor flexed his pincers, showing the vest that was strapped on his chest and bulging on his back. "My new best friend designed it, Vendra! HA! You stand no chance, Punisher. I watched you in the ECUL... so strong! The strongest of our class! Not so strong now! I've always wanted to drink your blood. Mueheh!"

Punisher paled a bit, 'You're... bleeding..." he said slowly as he stepped back as his fear kept him from attacking. "And... blood?" He found himself stepping back a bit more. "W-What do you mean!?"

The Gliscor stopped with his frantic behavior and stared at the Machamp, befuddled. "... yes? Blood. We drink blood to survive..." he muttered to remind him.

"... THAT'S SICK!" He cried out as he took a few more steps back, "I don't know how you got so strong... but... but I'm not dying here." He held up his three arms and gulped, "Well... I kind of slept during those defense classes... so I'll have to break your neck!" He tried to sound tough, but it came off more as a stammer.

"HAHAHA! Tough talk!" the Gliscor let out his annoying laughter, then charged at him again. Same move, Aerial Ace, packed with the same amount of tremendous power and delivered at mach speed. It was the same tune as before. Punisher just lacked that speed, but this time he ended up falling hard onto his back as he gasped a bit, slowly getting onto his side to try and get back up. Polo saw the opportunity and grabbed it, diving down onto the fallen Machamp to begin a flurry of Aerial Aces.

Punisher actually screamed out in pain as he did his best to protect his body as, for the first time since his young days as a Machop, he began to tear up. Amid his intense fear something else began to pump through his veins. He knew he was going to die here... but... just once...

He let out a yell and randomly punched into the air, He didn't care if he hit as his three functional arms punched about wildly in an attempt to make him just.... stop. The punch hit Polo full in the face, smashing his teeth and making him stagger in the air, confused and stunned. His whole mouth and nose was bloody and there was a pale glow in his eyes; it looked as if he had gone unconscious for a few seconds.

Punisher looked up, first in shock that he ACTUALLY managed to hit him... and then he felt his blood really pump. He... he could do this! His adrenaline helped to get him on his feet as his three arms glowed. He crossed his upper two arms and pulled his lower right arm back. At that he ran to the Gliscor and yelled out in anger. His two upper arms uncrossed for a Cross Chop as his lower hand slammed forward as well, a Dynamic Punch flying out from it. Punisher's arms struck hard into powerful attacks that sent the Gliscor flying to a building with such force, that he ran through the ancient wall, destroying and bringing the whole building down. A great noise, like a porcelain shattering was muffled from the rocks that fell onto Polo, but nothing moved in the rubble afterwards.

Though... even though his adrenaline helped him to stand he found that it wasn't helping to keep him on his feet for long as he sunk onto a knee and gasped in pain, a few more tears forming in the corners of his eyes thanks to the sensations he hadn't felt to in so long. He wasn't sure if he had won, but he sat down and huffed a bit, "Heh... not taking my blood..." He muttered to himself as he reached into the pack around his waist and popped in a sitrus berry. He forced himself onto his feet as he made his way to the rubble, a lesson he heard some time ago about checking to make sure the enemy was dead rung about in his head. Heh, that was a good brain, making sure it looked after him.

He made it to the rubble and glanced about. "Where would he be?" He muttered as he picked up a few pieces and tossed them around, the sitrus working well to cure his aches and small pains.

Polo's body lay broken underneath the rubble in a pool of his own blood, the vest he was wearing torn apart and pink, glass-like shards were spread around him, floating in the pool of blood. Punisher was confused as he pulled away the vest and threw it to the side. He reached down and picked up the pieces, not sure at all what they were, and then he saw something under the Gliscor himself. "Hm..." He moved his body aside and picked up a big pink part his his upper hands, "What's this?" He mused to himself. He did have a class on items... and he could have SWORN he saw it before... but he had fallen asleep in that class too. "Hm... if it's important..." He looked down at Polo and sighed. He kneeled down and closed his eyes, "Uh... sorry about this." He said as he stood back up and began to walk away, the orb under one arm. Once this was all over maybe Garland could have some answers about this... thing.

 

[Ray Maverick]

It All Changed With a Click
Thrasher & Vendra

​

Good news, Thrasher was so used to the pain in his leg that it had numbed up and he was no longer grimacing his face in pain every tim he pulled it behind him. The bad news was... that it was numb. So numb that he feared he could drag his sole across glass and wouldn't feel anything. His jumping would no longer be possible and his attempts at dodging any ranged attacks would be s**t too. Still, there were little enemies around the nexus, which he found rather odd. wouldn't someone like... oh, Romulus be here by now? Still, he pushed his way in through the door and glanced about, "Hm... either they aren't here yet... or they are further up..." He mused to himself.

"I-intruder!" Vendra's voice came from somewhere within the chamber with the Rhydon statues. "Stay back! I'm warning you. I'm armed."

Thrasher paused and looked about, "I must say... I thought there would be better security." He raised his fists and slowly began to pivot as best as he could, "To be fair, if you have two working legs... well, you can plainly see I can't catch anyone in this condition." He sighed, "I know your voice Vendra, I saw that memory of Brynjolf's. Frankly... I could ask all sorts of questions to be honest. I could ask why you didn't only bother to capture Cyrus, I could ask why you waited so long, I could even ask why you didn't just open Thrace yourself... but that doesn't matter now. I guess the main question... is why? Why kill the world? What did we do to make you hate us?"

The runty form of Vendra materialized a safe distance away from the Primeape. Her face was dark, although there was nothing cheery about it as per usual; it was tight as stone and her mouth formed the angles of a sad frown, and her arms were crossed. The witch looked nothing scary as she was now; she looked like a child who had her toy taken away. "Do you have any idea what it's like, to have lived a thousand times the lifetime of a normal Pokemon? Ages ago, I was foolish like you, with dreams of peace and a happy ending to my story. I did try. To change the world, to make it a better place, with suggestions for unity and ideas that were disregarded and laughed at. By 'mon who were "stronger" than me. 'Mon like Dareon, who think they own the world." She let out a sharp, mirthless and cynical laugh. "I said, so be it. If I cannot change the world with my good will... then I shall change it with force, and I shall banish people who dare mock me, who dare raise their voice against me. Thrace is the same, you know. She guarded Exathor -- that's RIGHT!" she shouted passionately. "She guarded it with all her might, millennia ago. But she was betrayed, by the very people she was protecting! I was there to see it. Oh, the pain! Oh, the anguish of it all. Only I understand her rage. If you had been there, you would all bow to her... but now it's too late. Too late for apologies and amends. The Gold Tribe and everything it stands for, she will make sure to erase, unless it does not serve her. I'll make a step here - by destroying you!" she screamed, raising her delicate hand which flashed green with energy, unleashing a psychic blast towards Thrasher.

Thrasher quickly raised his arms as the blast hit into him and he slammed against a wall, yet.... he didn't move to retaliate. He kept his guard up as he spoke, "Vendra... you have spoken. You have a type difference as well as experience aiding you. Now... will you allow me to try and give a counter to your points?" He asked. "I ask but only a few minutes of your time. With your longevity I know that you've probably heard similar things to what I have said... but I am a mon who tries to hear both sides of the story at the least. I ask that you give me but one chance.

Vendra was in the middle of creating another psychic blast with her other hand, but she seemed to stop at his words. She stared at Thrasher, frowning. "A chance?!" she croaked, "what makes you think you deserve a chance?"

Thrasher took in a deep breath as he held his hands up to indicate that he had nothing hidden up his sleeve, "You are blaming the sins of our fathers on us." He said slowly, having to decide on his words before he spoke them. "You and Thrace are legendary pokemon. I have often heard theories, unconfirmed ones, but theories none the less on how legendaries can live for thousands of years. You are living proof of that. At first, it seems to be a blessing, but... even in my short lifespan I too have seen the darkness in pokemon."

He frowned and let out a sigh, "Just as there is good in this world, there is also evil. It is like a good friend once told me, you only gather one single pokemon and talk to them, then they are smart. You gather a group however and group mentality sets in, they essentially become the stupidest pokemon you have ever met and no matter how smart you are, no matter how convincing your words are, they will refuse to hear them."

He let out a deep breath, "Everyone has their own story. Everyone has experiences set in their life that makes them different from everyone else. If every single mon thought exactly the same then life would be boring. There would be no innovation, no change or different opinions. At the same time with that free will, comes the ability to inflict damage on others. To hurt feelings, to crush dreams. A normal pokemon only goes through, what, a hundred years of that on average? But... but you and Thrace have lived for far longer. It doesn't help that many people tend to only remember the bad memories and reject the good ones."

He looked down at his leg where the scar still remained, "I did it once myself, I let the memory overpower my decisions and I threw away many good friends. At the time I blamed my anger and pain all on them. That was my weakness. But... you can still change." He smiled weakly, "A story isn't finished until the last chapter is written, and I have a feeling your last chapter is far from over, Vendra. The Pokemon of today have no idea why you and Thrace are angry. We never saw what happened... so teach us. Tell us what happened. Tell us of who you two really are. Good-will shines out in all mons. Sure you two made a bad first impression, but I know countless people who have done that as well to me." He chuckled a bit at a memory, "Still, just because you are aligned against us now doesn't mean you have to set this in stone now. If Thrace did protect us, then let her tell us her story. Being late is better than never."

"You take me for a fool, ape? I suppose it takes one to know one. Are you so thick between your eyes that you can't see that we're already far from redemption? That Thrace has taken her decision A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, to destroy the sons of those who betrayed, and the sons of the sons of those who betrayed? Do you really think that there is a road back from madness?" Vendra laughed hysterically. "Fool! Imbecile! Your ideas are just as pathetic as mine were. Trust people! TRUST PEOPLE! NEVER AGAIN! Have you been taught nothing of history in your stupid school, ape? The history of this land is nothing but an endless list of conflicts written in blood that you could wrap around Exathor itself a million times over. People do not change. There is no good in this world. Only evil, and shades of it. They will remain selfish, craving for power, and those who are the lighter shades should be swept aside. They are the minority. They are the parasites. If only the strong survive, there will be no strong, nor weak. All that will be left behind is the absolute ruling power of the Crimson Dawn. And then we'll see whose ideas are stupid and whose are not!"

Thrasher stared on and nodded, "I do see your point. I have heard it is only when people truly die that they change. Those who do perish, but by some miracle are brought back, they are the ones that can change." He fell silent for a bit, "May I think ask what happened to Champion then? Thrace... I am unsure if she killed him, and... if that is the fate that awaits all on this planet... I won't let it happen." He gave a slight bow, "My name is Demetrus Sinclair... and I work to protect every single innocent soul on this world. If you wish to choose to kill everyone, then... I will have no choice but to stop you." He held up his fists in a guard once more, "But please... do not force me to kill you."

"Kill me?" Vendra giggled suddenly, having forgotten of her seriousness a moment ago. "You can try! It's best that you do try." She vanished into thin air. A psychic blast was conjured from Thrasher's right, tearing down a Rhydon statue on its way to him.

Thrasher kept his guard up as the Meloetta faded away. Teleportation or invisibility He thought to himself as he slowly began to circle around the room. He heard the screech of the Rhydon statue being torn and leaped off to the side, barely avoiding the wave, though he cried out as he felt his leg twist up and he gripped his calf, "Heh, well, it seems I have the disadvantage both ways." He said as he managed to rise up and support himself on his body leg, "A bad leg and a psychic against me do not make for a good situation." He glanced about again, "You wouldn't happen to just... oh forget about this and instead sit down for a nice cup of tea right?" He waited for a moment and spotted a pillar. He dropped to the ground and instead of running rolled over to take cover behind it, "I hear tea calms down everyone you know!"

Psychic energy snapped at the air and the pillar Thrasher was hiding behind was shattered. "Stay in one place so I can blast you to bits, ape," Vendra shouted from somewhere ahead, audibly annoyed, before she conjured another psychic blast that was aimed at Thrasher directly.

Thrasher gritted his teeth as he knew this would REALLY mess up his leg, but it was far more important not to die. He gathered power in his legs and gave a jump to the side, rolling as he bit down on his lower lip. The pain was throbbing there again. He hid behind another pillar and took in a deep breath. The muscles along his arms and legs expanded as he Bulked Up and he glanced around the pillar, "Surely if you have lived for so long I thought you would be a better shot!" He made a roll to the left and placed his back against a statue.

Vendra let out a childish cry of frustration, sending another blast, smashing the statue he was hiding behind. Invisible as she was, she sneaked around the statues to get a better look at him. "Hmmm...hehe," she giggled again. "You can't be running for long," she said. Then she started singing. A soft tune to put him to sleep.

Thrasher had been waiting for some attack to come, but none came. He waited and then as he was about to step forward to try and roll his ears twitched. He blinked a bit glanced around to try and find the reason for the singing, but just as he pinpointed it, he could feel his eyelids starting to droop. "N-N..." His legs shuddered under him and the Primeape fell to the ground, snoring softly.

Vendra laughed at the sleeping Primeape mockingly, the sound echoing all over the chamber. She revealed herself and floated above him, staring down at him with a wolfish grin. "Beaten by a little girl," she giggled, pointing her hand at the Primeape for the last psychic blast that would seal his life...


.


.


.


click.

"Gotcha." Psychic restraints formed around the Meloetta's arms, preventing her from casting any of her psychic spells. She jerked behind her, to see a Meowstic staring at her stoically. "I had to be quiet for a long time," Jacob said, "and I heard all of what you said. I kinda disagree with everything."

Vendra screamed in fear and vanished, but Jacob cast his Miracle Eye. "Can't hide from me," he said, almost cheerfully raising his arm to hold her in his psychic grip. Vendra, unable to cast any of the psychic spells that Jacob knew due to the Imprisoning, opened her mouth to start to sing, but Jacob's grip shifted from her torso to her legs, swinging her upside down and making her choke on her breath. "I see no other way," the Meowstic said plainly. He brought her close and stuffed his pouch in her mouth, strapping it around her neck. "There. Stay pretty."

He walked to the sleeping Thrasher, guiding Vendra upside down behind him. He slapped the Primeape lightly but sharply on the cheek. "Wake up. This ain't no time for sleep."

Thrasher groaned as he blinked his eyes and looked about, "Uh... what?" He yawned and looked at Jacob, "Oh...." He glanced around again, "So... uh... " He smiled sheepishly, "How long was I out?"

Vendra was letting out muffled screams and squirming, upside down while in mid-air behind Jacob, who glanced at her, then back to Thrasher. "Long enough for me to save your hide."