The group arrived just outside the capital of Daggen in Karn. It was a bit of a walk there, but they reached the capital in a couple of days. Along the way, Celebi reluctantly informed Snype that she saw a premonition while in Karn, that Snype would die, and that the one who would be responsible for that death is a Pokemon named Edgar. Snype became nervous, but pressed on. It became apparent that the country was quite prone to violence early one, with random brawls and duels happening across the street. Daggen was one giant brawling city, and no one seemed safe. The group encountered a group of Pokemon brawling, where only one emerged on top. His name was Sen, and he appeared to be from a class of Pokemon in Karn known as the 'Serving', which were discovered to be former slaves seeking the same status of citizenry as Karnians. To do that, they must defeat 1000 other Pokemon in a fight.
The group learned that Sen knew and had befriended Guardia, and that friendship extended to Sen's superior Hugh, who was one of the five Grand Generals of Karn, and a former Serving who had won his freedom. Sen agreed to take the group to the Tower of Rising, where the Emperor sat. There, they were to be tested to determine if they could stay in the country. The group traveled to the very top of the large tower, and encountered the Emperor: Edgar Rionart.
Snype became worried after learning of the name, and a few things became apparent: First, the Emperor was exceedingly strong, even to Vee, a legendary, as he quickly dispatched most of the group when he decided to personally test them to see their worth. Second, the group quickly discovered that he wore the last piece of Cresselia around his neck in the shape of an orb.
The group fought hard against the Emperor, and eventually he concluded that they were worthy of remaining in Karn. They then began their inquiries into the orb, and of the possibility of Karn helping in the war. The Emperor replied that while they were allowed to stay in Karn, they haven't proven their strength enough to actually be deserving of those favors. They would have to show their reputation and worth in Karn. The Emperor outlined a few activities the group could do in order to boost their reputation. One obvious one was through fighting. That could be challenging strong fighters, like Generals, or fighting in the acclaimed Dueling Tournament up north in Erble. When the group discovered James would be in that tournament, some immediately jumped at the opportunity to participate. The Emperor, seeing their interest in the orb, decided he would give the bonus give of the last piece of Cresselia if they were to win the tournament.
Edgar also informed them of other possible reputation builders. One was climbing Mount Titan, which is the tallest Mountain in Karn, and very hard to climb because of the harsh conditions. Very few have climbed, but those that do have much respect in Karn. One Pokemon that did was Xander Eidragon, one of the 5 Grand Generals and also an open Agent of Darkrai. He was currently forming a rebellion in Karn, which the Emperor said the removal of which could be another way to build reputation. The Emperor said that the group should talk to Gregory, the planner/informer in Karn who handled tasks in the area of information, planning, maintenance, etc.
Before the group left, Snype teased the Emperor somewhat, and the Emperor goated Snype into a fight. Snype, hearing of the earlier premonition of Celebi, refused, which caused the Emperor to take a disliking to Snype, calling him a coward. Raz, on the other hand, made some off comments at him, and the two eventually ended up brawling. Although powerful, Raz managed to hold his own against the Emperor and Edgar took a liking to Raz. Raz did not reciprocate.
The group eventually went to Gregory, where they learned quite a bit about Karn and gained much information. First, they learned that the Emperor actually met Gabriel before. The two Pokemon dueled, and it was the Emperor, and not Gabriel, who had won. This shocked everyone, and the group began making theories about where the Emperor's bizarre power came from. They made a note to figure that question out later. Second, they learned of general activity happening in Karn. Xander was conducting his rebellion in the south, James was joining Erble's tournament up north, and Grett was leading Gabriel's forces in war against Karn to the borders in the west. They also learned about the 5 Grand Generals of Karn, who were Hugh, James, Xander, Boros, and Gregory himself. They also learned some more about the culture in Karn. Snype also learned about an underground group run by a Pokemon known as the Dealer. In Karn, things are quite different in terms of what is legal and illegal, but generally the Dealer was doing things not expect of normal Karnians. He was introducing commerce into the country, and playing at underhanded tricks, something very un-Karnian. Snype made a note to find out more about him. Obsidian also learned that the Pokemon who killed his father was a former Grand General Tropius who was defeated by Xander years ago. Few know if he was still alive, but he is believed to be in Dart to the south, near Xander.
In the end, the group concluded that they would split up and target multiple places to build a reputation. Callimer, Kaveri, Snype, and Abel would go to the tournament. Raz, Vee, Rattles and Cythera would go after Xander to the south. Obsidian would accompany the Xander group for now. Able and Anna would remain in Daggen and assist Gregory with various tasks.
Before they left, Callimer decided to pay a visit to General Hugh and Snype would assist Able and Anna with help for Greg. During Cal's meeting with Hugh, it was discovered that Hugh was friends with Guardia, and that he would assist Callimer if he could too. Hugh told Cal about the plight of the Serving, and how many struggle to find citizenry by their suicide pact of killing 1000 Pokemon each. Hugh said he wants to end the practice, but he needs either the Emperor's support, or 3/5th vote of the Generals to change a law. That meant Callimer either had to convince 2 other generals to vote the same way, or to defeat those Generals and thus take their place. Since two Generals were known Agents, they latter seemed the obvious choice. Hugh agreed to lend his army for Valkaria and ally if Callimer agreed to help Hugh. Hugh said Sen would help guide the group to Erble, and would even participate in the tournament with them.
Snype meanwhile went with Anna and Able to help Gregory with something Greg called the 'Death Census', which was literally counting all of the dead bodies in Daggen. It was a strange job to do, but they agreed. During this trip, Snype ran into a very drunk Mienshao, who was kicked out of a bar, and almost attacked. Snype prevented the attack, even though the attackers warned against not letting them kill the Mienshao. Snype carried the Mienshao back to his home, where another hooded 'mon was waiting. He was cryptic, but Snype learned that the Mienshao was Drake the Marauder, and, as the hooded 'mon put it, was the 'mon that would change Karn."
Snype learned from Greg later that Drake was in fact a mercenary for hire. One of his ticks was drinking before a job. However, Drake typically drinks a lot or a little depending on the size of the job. The last time Drake drank that much, he managed to take down a Grand General. However, instead of taking up the position of Grand General as was custom, Drake abdicated, and thus another took his place. Snype learned it was Greg who took that General's place.
Daggen: Able and Anna spent their time in Daggen doing various tasks for Gregory. Most of the time, it involved delivering messages. Able, who was extremely fast, was quite efficient in that regard. She delivered many different messages across Daggen, including to a Camperupt called Rolph, and another Hitmonchan named Dill. Dill, when she visited him, mistook Able for someone else for the moment, ranting to her about his men who died in the south, and about other matters. Able was confused but tried to press him, but Dill, realizing he may have made some mistake, asked her a strange question: What color was the ice sheets of Titan?
Able, being somewhat confused, didn't know how to answer, and Dill immediately became more polite and sent her on her way. Able wondered what the business was about, but decided to let it go for now.
Later on, Able discovered from Greg that an Agent was here in Daggen, Alai, and he was messing with Gregory's operations. Greg asked Able to steal back something Alai stole from him, but he cautioned her that Alai was very tricky. Able managed to find Alai, and located the box that Alai had. Before she could steal it, he confronted her, and tried to talk to her. Alai began making several incriminating statements about Gregory, and about he wasn't who he appeared to be, that he was quite a dangerous and nasty 'mon. Able, somewhat believing Alai, listened, and the two chatted for a while. When Able asked what was inside the box, Alai said it was dangerous and she was best not knowing. Alai said he was trying to take down Greg's dangerous operation here and that Able could help. Able said she would think about it. Alai allowed Able to take the package.
When Able returned to Gregory, she was more cautious, and she wanted to know more about the package and his operation, Gregory explained that Alai was a known trickster and most likely was playing Able, and what was inside the box was information about his operation, including names and locations. Able felt frustrated that Alai deceived her, but still felt she wasn't getting the whole story.
Xander: The group of Raz, Cythera, Rattles and Vee made the long trip down south to find and defeat Xander. Along the way, they encountered an odd Garchomp who apparently hailed from a foreign country. He was named Percival, and had just defeated 30 or so Pokemon who were apparently sent to kill him. He seemed quite polite, so the group chatted with him and got along alright. He informed them he would be heading to Erble to check out the tournament, and if he saw the rest of their group, he would say hello.
The group then arrived in a town at the base of Mount Titan. Here, the divides of the country was apparent. Half of the town supported the Emperor. The other half supported a Pokemon known as the Beast: Xander Eidragon. His high support was the result of many not liking some of the Emperor's policies about the Serving, preferring to see them as slaves. They also liked that fact that Xander managed to make the dangerous climb up Mount Titan.
They passed through the town and eventually discovered Xander's encampment. There, they discovered 'mon could challenge Xander one on one. Raz elected to do so, and they met Xander, an Ursaring. The two fought, and Xander elected to use many boosting moves which continuously boosted his stats. For some reason, he could still continue to do so even though most normal Pokemon couldn't stand the strains it would put on their body. Raz ended up matching some of those stat boosts to a certain limit, but Xander's kept going up. Raz eventually ended up stabbing Xander with his staff, but even that didn't end up killing him. The group, realizing that Raz may not be able to win the fight, elected to depart. Even though they surrounded, they received help from a Tropius in a cloak, who Obsidian believed to be the one who killed his father. Nevertheless, the group teleported away.
As they regrouped, the group believed that Xander was likely using Groudon's Gift (explained below), and elected to teleported back to Daggen to learn more about it, and to counter Xander's apparent immortality.
Erble Tournament: Snype, Callimer, Kaveri and Abel headed north to participate in the dueling tournament soon after their business in Daggen was concluded. Along the road, they ran into another group, where one of their members were poisoned somehow. The poison snuck up on the 'mon by another Pokemon they encountered, and he died soon after. The poison was discovered to be something called Groudon's Farewell, also called Groudon's Gift, which was the strongest poison known to the world. It is very rare, said to only grow on the top of Mount Titan, where very few have climbed. They learned the poison come from the plant, and that boiling the plant produced the opposite effect of the poison: regenerative abilities. The group decided to travel with the two remaining members of that group, Airen and John. Both were also traveling to Erble to participate in the tournament. They were also second-class Karnian citizens, originally not from Karn but rather conquered territories Karn had taken.
Another night along the way, the group ran into Percival, who was also there to participate in the tournament, and he informed the group he had encountered the other half of the group traveling toward Xander. However, they also encountered a Camerupt named Rolph, who seemed intent on killing Percival for some reason. Rolph was learned to be a mercenary of sorts. Rolph agreed later to take out Percival in the tournament.
The group eventually reached the tournament, whereby they registered and participated. They encountered not only James, but also Roxanna, both of which decided to join. The first round was a battle royale, where there were eight different arenas and where hundreds of Pokemon joined in, with only two from each arena moving onto the next round. The battles were tough, but eventually the sixteen managed to emerge: Snype, Callimer, James, Roxanna, Drake the Marauder, Airen, Pericval, Mei Yun (a Gold Tribes'mon from Beatruce), Abel, the Wyvern (a former Serving turned mercenary), Rolph, Dolan, Atlas, and Rebel (a known dueler and one of Greg's associates).
In the first fight, Roxanna was paired up with Airen, but Roxanna emerged victorious. Callimer then fought Abel, an emotional match which ended with Abel seemingly somewhat accepting the fate of his sister, Anzu. Next was Mei Yun v. the Wyvern, where the Wyvern prevailed. Atlas fought Rebel, who ended up winning. Kaveri fought the tough Dolan but won. Rolph and Percival fought in a match that was one of the closest. Neither gave way, but eventually Percival won. Rolph highly respected Percival afterward however. James then fought Sen. Unfortunately, Sen was no match for the Grand General, and Sen not only lost, but died, tragically right before he reached his 1000 mark and gained his freedom.
In the last fight, Snype was to fight Drake. However, before the fight begun, Drake suddenly gave up, giving the fight to Snype. Many in the audience, including the Emperor, was displeased by that. Many assumed some sort of collusion. Snype followed Drake afterward to find out why he gave up. He met him in a bar, where the two briefly talked. Snype didn't find out much, other than it was a bad idea for them to be seen together, as some would suspect they planned this.
During the break between rounds, Snype was approached by someone who worked with the Dealer. He extended an invitation to join. Even though he was somewhat conflicted about it, Snype agreed, thinking there would be benefit in it. A pass-code they use to identify each other is the question: What color are the ice sheet of Titan? The response is: blood red, but not for long.
The next round of the tournament began a few days after, whereby the Emperor specifically handpicked the named of the contestants from a large sack brought by a Meowth. There, the next round was selected. Atlas v. Snype, Kaveri v. James, Callimer v. the Wyvern, and Roxanna v. Percival.
Back in Daggen: The Xander group returned to Daggen and talked to Greg about Groudon's Gift. He informed them he did not know much about where to find some, but said some may have it. The group figured if they couldn't beat Xander through getting some more of Groudon's Gift, maybe they could do it with Mega Stones. They decided to head to the temples, but first made their way to Erble to meet up with the rest of the group, figuring they ought to do it together. Greg offered teleportation transport.
Obsidian, however, remained in Daggen, after learning about Alai being there. He heard from Greg that Alai was having troubles, and figured he may better serve trying to help out there. Obsidian also discovered Alex in Daggen, as well as another Pokemon, Killian, and a handful of other SEC that were living in Karn for quite some time under another branch of SEC, known as SEI. Together, the group, along with Able, decided to do something about Alai (as in get him out of Daggen), as Greg offered a reward for doing so.
Able decided to approach Alai again and talk to him while the others would try and spy and discover what they could. In the second conversation, Alai informed Able that Greg had dozens of Mega Stones he was planning on using. Able, shocked at this, informed the others, just before Alai stated he would leave Daggen and Karn for now. The group, technically successful, came back to Greg, along with the information about the Mega Stones. Greg once more informed them that Alai deceived them, that he didn't have all of those stones. Instead, he revealed two things: he was the Dealer, and the true contents he had was a small amount of Groudon's Gift, most of which Alai stole. Greg now urged the groups to remain in Daggen, though the urge was more a subtle order.
The Temples: The Xander group reunited with the tournament group and they all decided to go to the temples together, except for Snype, who was suddenly called upon to do a mission for the Dealer. This involved working with Drake, who apparently also was working for him. Their mission was to follow a Meowth, find out where he lives, and break into his house. After doing so, they let Snype go. Snype wondered what this was all about.
Meanwhile, the group split up and headed toward the temples from Anatellia, where Vee had been before. Raz, Cythera, Rattles and Vee headed toward the Temple of Life. Kaveri, Abel, Percival and Callimer headed toward the Temple of Balance. Before heading into the Temple of Life, Raz and the Emperor had a conversation,
where the Emperor revealed a name that went by Birabarn, and that it might be someone the group should pay a visit to with regards to Groudon's Farewell.
At the Temple of Life, the group successfully summoned and spoke to Kyogre.
The conversation did not initially go well, as Raz seemed to insult the legendary 'mon. However, the Kyogre revealed a bit of information, including that The Emperor was his chosen vessel which he combined his power of life to. This gave the Emperor his prolonged life and made him invincible from most deadly situation.
The Emperor's strength, however, was his own, as was revealed. It was also revealed that Groudon's Gift was Kyogre's creation, and the opposite effect of Groudon's Farewell was one of the ways the Emperor's abilities could be taken away. Kyogre also provided additional Mega Stones to the group, and infused his power into them so that the first transformation would be without any of the fallback repercussions that usually occur. Kyogre also revealed that most of the other Guardians have already abandoned the fight. Most are either preparing for the end or are too afraid to confront Gabriel.
During their conversation, Agents of Darkrai, including Xander, James, Roxanna, the Abomasnow Wyatt, Alai, and a cloaked agent appeared. They all then went for Kyogre, attempting to subdue him with some sort of power the cloaked agent carried. During this fight, Cythera successfully used her combination stone to make a permanent transformation into a Mega-Florges, one whose power was a bit weaker than regular Mega-evolutions, but who had similar abilities. The drawbacks was shortened life. The group pushed back the agents, but unfortunately, they could not stop them from reaching Kyogre. Kyogre was forced to depart from the temple, and was not killed. But any bond he shared in the world was broken. Luckily, however, it was also revealed that anyone who had bonds with anything from Groudon's Gift was also broken, this including Xander. However, there was also a possibility that Xander had more of the plant to use.
At the Temple of Balance, the group encountered a Dratini emissary who worked for the legendaries. He explained that the duo of Reshiram and Zekrom would only allow those who are worthy to pass, those who have a deep bond. Since Callimer and Kaveri were siblings, they were deemed worthy. Meanwhile, Percival stood in a place which prevented others from going inside to disturbed the two, sort of like a spell. However, Percival is not able to move while the spell is active. Able agreed to watch over Percival while the meeting took place.
Inside, Cal and Kav met the duo Guardians. The duo were more pessimistic about the state of the world. They explained that because of the absence of Cresselia for so long, the world was thrown off balance, and the world was dying. The end was coming, and nothing could stop it now, so the duo would not interfere in the current fight. Cal and Kav passionately requested their assistance regardless, and managed to convince them to give them a few Mega Stones, and infuse the ones they already had so that the bad effects wouldn't take place right away.
Outside, Abel encountered Agent Grett. He had a discussion with him, where Grett tried to turn Abel into killing Percival so that they could both kill the legendaries and the others inside. Grett played on the fact that Abel lost everything, and Gabriel could give it back. After a bit of deliberation, Abel vehemently refused, and fought the Agent as a true Gold Tribesman would. Grett ended up killing Abel over there, but Abel never faltered in his beliefs, and successfully prevented Grett from interrupting the meeting. Cal and Kav came outside just in time to say their farewells to Abel before he passed. Percival was also formally declared a member of the Gold Tribe.
Back in Daggen and the road to Birabarn: Raz informed the rest of the group about Birabarn, and the group decided that this was one avenue they could pursue. Anna, Able, Vee, Raz, Cythera, Rattles and Obsidian decided to talk it over with Greg and see if he had any information. Greg warned the group not to pursue Birabarn, that it would interfere with his plans. But he didn't explain why.
The group decided to ask about Birabarn from Hugh, who told them that Birabarn was a former General a while back who challenged Emperor Rionart, and caused one of the most massive civil wars in Karn's recent time. He did not know much beyond that.
Erble Tournament: Quarter-Finals Continued: The quarter finals continued, with Callimer facing off against the Wyvern. The match was tough, but Callimer managed to come out victorious after the Wyvern gave up. This was apparently due to the Wyvern's status as a serving and after hearing about Callimer's intentions for fighting.
After their fight, James fought against Kaveri. The fight was intense and was back and forth, before James mega-evolved. The fight ended up being one-sided for a while, before Kaveri too decided to mega-evolve. Even in her state, however, James had the advantage of doing this evolution before. He seemed to have the advantage most of the match, before Kaveri ended up coming away with the victory, and James' death in a surprising twist of a move.
The following fight, Roxanna fought against Percival. In another surprise, Percival seemed to defeat and kill Roxanna. Roxanna's followers tried to kill Percival, but Rolph, in a surprise move, came over to help the Garchomp, perhaps out of respect. The Semi-final combatants were all set, with both Agents remaining in the tournament being defeated in the quarterfinal round. Only Percival, Callimer, Kaveri and Snype remained.
The Dealer's plans: While in recovery, Snype was paid a visit by a Furret from the Dealer. He said he was going to be a part of the plans soon, and that he should expect to get tapped for an assignment soon. The message was cryptic, but Snype seemed to still be on board. Whatever was going to happen would happen at the semi-finals.
Snype then had a conversation with Callimer, where Cal confronted Snype on all of his dealings and going behind people's backs. Snype was upset, before Cal revealed that he did that to have any potential spies not know that they were on the same page on this. Celebi arrived and revealed the room was warded off, and then Snype told Cal about his dealings with the Dealer. He also explained that the Dealer was most likely Gregory. At this, Cel stated that he wasn't and that Greg was going against the Dealer, that he was told by a Camerupt who was his friend. This confused Snype and Cal even more, and took them by surprise. Cel did say that whoever the dealer was, the Camerupt said he was an ally.
Birabarn: The rest of the group traveled to meet Birabarn, who was revealed to be an old Nidoking. He was a former Grand General, and apparently he was also the Emperor's former best friend. He revealed the history of the two, and how they diverged in paths. Birabarn wanted more radical, fast change in Karn. The Emperor wanted to make change happen more smoothly so 'mon could adapt. They fought and it ended up going to civil war. Birabarn revealed however that the war was still ongoing and the fight wasn't lost. He also revealed that two 'mon came to visit him: one identified as the Dealer and the other as a Grand General, a Snorlax and a Simisage. It appeared that Gregory visited Birabarn as a rouse of the Dealer, while whoever Gregory was fighting against ended up taking his identity and going as 'Gregory' the Grand General. It was revealed to be Alai.
Obsidian, angry, returned to Gregory to get answers, only to find Gregory dead, the result of Groudon's Farewell.
The Semi-Finals Choosing Ceremony: Everyone gathered at the Semi-finals choosing ceremony, where the Emperor reached into the large sack to choose names for the fighters. However, as he did this, someone, later discovered to be Drake, teleported into the sack, and used Groudon's Farewell on the Emperor. The two fought as the Emperor fought off poison. With Kyogre's bond now broken with the Emperor, the poison seemed to be affecting him. The Emperor defeated Drake but seemed badly shaken and wounded.
At this point, Alai arrived and declared himself a new Grand General after killing Greg. He challenged the Emperor to allow others to challenge him should they choose to if they won the tournament. The Emperor seemed to be heavily affected by the poison, but agreed regardless.
Not too long after, it was discovered that the rest of Percival's crew was captured by the Dealer (Alai's) men, and they were holding him hostage in exchange for fighting for the other side. Rolph revealed this to the group, and said that out of respect for Percival, he was going to try to find the crew. Obsidian agreed to do the same, after previously discovering similar info by the borders of Karn with Alex and Kilian. Obsidian paid a visit to Hugh, hoping to gather some information. He then tailed a few Pokemon Hugh pointed to that could potentially lead them to the crew. He discovered one location at the edge of Karn, and followed those 'mon toward that location. He then discovered where half of the crew was being held. Obsidian went back to Hugh, and requested assistance in getting this half, knowing this might make the other have perish. Hugh agreed after hearing one of the guards was Mance, one of the best mercenaries in Karn. With Hugh and a few other Serving, Obsidian went back to the location and confronted Mance and the other guards. In a surprise move, Mance quickly gave up, saying he did not think even with his abilities could he win a fight against Hugh and company. Half of the crew was recovered, but the other half didn't appear to be yet.
Erble Tournament: Semi-Finals: During the Semi-Finals, Snype fought against Percival. During the fight, Snype discovered that Percival was not only formidable opponent, but also had a Mega Stone with him. Snype tried his best, but in the end did not choose to Mega Evolve and lost the fight. Callimer meanwhile fought Kaveri in a tough sibling fight, with Callimer taking the victory, and the title of Grand General from his sister.
The final was set for Percival v. Callimer, in a fight which was bound to be something spectacular. And it was, the fight went on for quite a while, with both 'mon even going into their Mega Evolutions. Percival was clearly fighting to the death, as he did not want harm to come to his crew. Callimer was fighting to secure the last piece of Cresselia.
As the fight went on, Raz, Vee and Cythera managed to do a few experiments with the Mega Stones to allow Raz to transform into a Mega for a temporary while. The level was the same as Cythera's permanent mega-evolution, but without the permanence because of Raz's strange evolutionary block in his body.
During the fight, Rolph managed to recover the second half of Percy's crew as well. They were all teleported to the tournament grounds, where Percival managed to see them at one point during the fight, close to the climax. Although the two seemed to be able to continue and fight more, Percival had no reason to fight anymore as his crew was recovered, and he yielded the tough bout. Callimer was crowned champion of the tournament.
Not too long after, the group was paid a visit by the Emperor. Still weakened from the poison, he said the group earned his respect and that he would grant them the last piece of Cresselia, as promised. Cal also asked at that moment if the Serving practice could be expunged, as they now had 3 votes from Grand Generals to pass law. The Emperor agreed. The group decided not to take up Alai's offer and challenge the Emperor in a fight. Instead, Callimer asked the newly inducted Percival to remain in Karn while the Emperor decided whether to assist the group in fighting in Valkaria, and watch him to make sure nothing befell him. With all 3 pieces of Cresselia in their possession, it was finally time for them to return to Valkaria, and finish their fight with Darkrai.