Pokémon Odyssey: A New Beginning [T] [Best Veteran 4Q '12]

Sovereign

Sovereign's brain was struggling with the scene before him. Gold Tribe Member Ragnaros, and Sentinel Genevieve, both individuals from two warring factions. Yet, here they were, not in conflict with each other. What were they doing? His mind raced, listing hundreds of possibilities, each one fueling the jealous rage rising within him.

Then, it all came to a halt. Ragnaros's actions suddenly washed away the jealousy in Sovereign's heart, and instead filled him with shock at what had just happened. As the Dragon took flight, Sovereign began to laugh most loudly while staring at the ground. It was not the kind of laugh one would expect from this situation. It was filled with airs of disappointment. "You Gold Tribe sure have some funny ideas regarding honor." He tilted his head a little as if curious as to the reason for their behavior. His voice and demeanor seemed to be as they should be now. "Why, just earlier today, I fought a Scizor who actually believed that it would be honorable for me to betray my allies and break the oath I swore to Auron. And now, here you are giving advice to your enemy. I took you to be an honorable warrior Ragnaros. Honor is everything to a dragon. And yet, among all these things, what appalls me most," He lifted his head to look in the Salamence's direction, "is the fact that you would pass up the opportunity to prove your worth on the battlefield! I came here expecting a rematch!" His words were not as they were at the ambush. He was not taunting Ragnaros. No, he spoke as if to an old friend whom he believed was making a grievous mistake. "WHERE IS YOUR HONOR!!!"

TrueStriker, meet the Siren.

Genevieve and Sovereign are incoming to the battlefield. Hanso? I believe you can track Genevieve's location. If you're still alive, that is.

That was a relief. Hanso thought he saw someone fly up into the sky, possibly Ragnaros, but the Aerodactyl was spinning mid-flight in another attempt to dislodge the Gallade. Hanso relayed the message to Zane and Penance: Making sure you know, if you didn't hear Ragnaros, he says Genevieve and Sovereign are coming into the battle. That was all he said before looking at the city below. The Aerodactyl was close to the downed tower, which was where Hanso wanted to go.

It was also close to roof level.

Hanso let go of the descending Aerodactyl and stood up on its back, then struck its neck with a Psycho Cut. The now-dead Aerodactyl began to drop like a stone; as it got closer to the ground, Hanso jumped off to the side, toward an area with less rubble. He rolled forward as he hit the ground and stood back up, arm-blades extended. No Ancients tried to attack him, yet, so he checked himself for injuries. A few scrapes from hitting the ground, some minor scratches and such from fighting. Hanso looked back up to survey the surrounding area. Ancients and AA soldiers, no surprise. He hurriedly stepped away as a Bastiodon fell to the ground, then dashed over and used its body as a stepping stone to jump into the air for a further look.

There. Further away were a Tyranitar and-- The shock was enough that Hanso didn't watch his landing, and he hit the ground hard before getting back up. That Gardevoir couldn't have been Brynn!...Could it? Hanso shoved his way forward through the battle, absentmindedly taking down any Ancient that kept attacking him, which were several. The whole time, Hanso extended his mental sense toward where he'd seen the two. Not his twin-sister. Genevieve.

Hanso had hidden his feelings behind a blank face by the time he'd pushed through and found himself several yards away from Genevieve and...Sovereign, Ragnaros had said. "I thought at least one of you would have been fighting," Hanso called, keeping an eye on both of the Sentinels. As he spoke and waited, he worked on building up his own mental defenses.

Penance 'Defender' Malum​

The Swift landed next to him to face on the Flareon. Alright, so far so good, now they needed the others to get here-scratch that. Out of the corner of his eye he spied a certain Gallade hopping onto an Ancient and flying further into the city. "Damn it Truestriker!" He shouted after him but quickly turned around to face Ignitus once more. "Ignitus, stand down now! Surrender or we'll have to beat you down like we've done to the others." He said as he prepared another Water Pulse.

He could not afford the others to run off as well! More importantly they couldn't hold off Ignitus with just him and the Scizor here! Swift would be burned to a crisp in a milisecond and sure he could hold her off for a bit, but in the end he could be taken out in a few seconds. His mind whirled with calculations, but for the moment they had to keep her ground here.

"Listen to me Swift. Do not attack her head on, stay at a distance and for the love of Arceus do not get hit with one of her attacks or you will be easy pickings for the Ancients. On my signal, use a range attack, but not before. Got it?" He whispered to the Scizor as he kept his eyes locked on the Flareon.

"Listen to me Swift. Do not attack her head on, stay at a distance and for the love of Arceus do not get hit with one of her attacks or you will be easy pickings for the Ancients. On my signal, use a range attack, but not before. Got it?"

Jirmonji nodded and took a gulp of air. "Got it." He wasn't a fan of the whole 'ranged attack' idea. His Silver Wind wasn't as powerful as his Metal Claw or Bullet Punch. Fear began to cloud his mind. If that Flareon got him, it would be Scizor on a stick for everyone. "So be it. Now, we wait on the others." He heard the Golduck mention a certain 'TrueStriker'. "What about that friend of yours, 'Bloodthirster' was it? He seems to be quite fearsome in combat. He was afraid. He was afraid of death. No, I must not die. I promised that beast Sovereign. I will not die.

The whirlwind of events that unfolded before Genevieve was not "completely" unexpected, just "partially". Sure, Sovereign showing up was a mild inconvenience. It had expedited the exit of Ragnaros before she was fully done with him. No matter, she was fairly confident she had him right where she wanted him. Ragnaros left rather quickly upon the giant Tyranitar's arrival. As much as she had once respected the ideas and advice of her dear friend Ragnaros, she had no intention of heeding his advice this time. She was not about to throw herself in the middle of a melee. No, her plans would be a little more...effective.

Before she could address the Tyranitar in full, her mental counterpart arrived. She did have to admit, he was a looker. A Gallade, for some reason, she was expecting an Alakazam or maybe even a Reuniclus. No, this was much better. Those other species were always so droll or insipid. This one, no this one was definitely worth her time...but later.

He had shouted out to them, probably for the benefit of her company that was privy. "There will be no need for audible words, I trust we are both beyond such...corporeal means," she relayed to him across the distance, her lips unmoving. "I'm afraid that our little rendezvous, will have to occur another time. Trust me, I'm as heartbroken as you surely are. It's not every day I get to encounter such an attractive specimen." She tried to influence him slightly with the faintest amount of her attract ability. Genevieve tried to implement it slowly, hoping the effect would take root almost unnoticed. "I trust my friend here will be great company however, he'll be sure to give you a warm welcome. However, I must warn you. He's a bit more, how should I say? Hands on, than I am."

She walked toward the lumbering Tyranitar, each step more practiced and precise than the last. She always felt the slightest bit unsettled around him, his darkness rendered him impervious to her psychic abilities she so relied on. Apparently, she hadn't needed them however. The infatuation was completely perceivable in his voice. Each time they spoke, the evidence became more and more insurmountable. It had been that way, almost since the day they met in fact.

He dwarfed her in size, the mountain of a Pokemon practically loomed over her. She placed a hand on his chest, tracing a circle over the breast plate of his chitin like body armor. Lowering her tone into the most innocent and exposed sounding possible, she asked him, "Sovereign, do you think you could do me an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny favor?" She looked up at him, knowing full well how protective he seemed of her at all times. "You see that big Gallade over there? He has come here for me, and I'm afraid of what he intends to do with me. Would you be able to, I don't know...keep him company? If you know what I mean," she finished speaking to him with a knowing wink and flirty smile.

Genevieve never felt bad trying to manipulate anyone, even if they were on the same side. He served his purpose, and if Genevieve had assumed correctly, he was going to serve his purpose here just fine. Oh, how she loved the many uses of males.

Before she turned to face the Gallade again, she reached out to Ragnaros one last time. "No need to be lost anymore my dear. It should be plainly visible to you. The Alpha Alliance and Gold Tribe are the forest. They've blinded and confused you, made you doubt yourself and the being you used to be. Let me be your torch, and together, we'll burn our way out."

That, she truly meant every word, they would burn as a whole. Their body and their soul, but first, their heart.

Sovereign

A hulking Beast stood before a Goddess. Her beauty so radiant that the stars themselves were jealous. The Beast had never seen anything like her before, and was almost afraid. She turned to look at him as her eyes pierced straight down into the depths of his soul. As she moved ever closer, he found himself paralyzed. The Goddess leaned in close, and whispered in his ear. The words were unimportant, as waves of sweet unending euphoria swept over his body. The Goddess wrapped him in a warm embrace that made the troubles of the outside world seem insignificant. All the Beast had known was pain and battle his entire life. But the Goddess offered something not even his own mother had given him. Comfort. The Goddess smiled, her wicked intentions unseen to the Beast. The seed of demise had been planted, with no hope of ever being uprooted...

Sovereign watched in disappointment as his rival flew away. Where is your honor Ragnaros. Without honor, what do we have? Sovereign was mad now. If he could not fight with a dragon, he would have to settle for something less. He wanted to see blood.

Without warning, he felt a gentle hand touch his chest. He looked down at Genevieve. Her beauty ever resplendent in the ever shining sun. She traced a circle on his chest, her gentle caress preventing him from chasing after Ragnaros. "Sovereign, do you think you could do me an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny favor?" Her voice could not be denied. Then, she looked up. Those eyes. Those horribly beautiful eyes. Once caught in that deep gaze, there was no escape. "You see that big Gallade over there?" He looked over at the Gallade. He didn't look so big. "He has come here for me, and I'm afraid of what he intends to do with me. Would you be able to, I don't know...keep him company? If you know what I mean?"

Sovereign's fingers twitched. A warrior perhaps? I see blades on his arms. But what of his allegiance? Gold Tribe? Alpha? "I will fight him. You needn't be afraid. I can only hope that he will give me a good fight." Sovereign stepped forward, out of the Gardevoir's grasp. He moved towards the enemy until he was close enough to speak. "I do not normally extend such courtesies to non-dragons, but I am curious. What is your name, and who do you fight for?" He paused. Despite Genevieve's distraction, disappointment still echoed in his head. "Do you have more honor than your disgraceful brothers?"

Albia

"Everyone, form up on Ignitus! Keep her contained!" Defender yelled to the others. Calamity and Zane formed up, prepared to go at Ignitus. TrueStriker, who appeared behind them, decided to engage her in his own way as well. Speculum formed up behind the two, and Guardia was ready to fight behind them as well. The Swift made his way close to Defender's location soon after. TrueStriker went in first, teleporting closeby Ignitus and launching a few Pyscho Cuts at the Sentinel. Ignitus, however, using her quick reflexes, dodged the attacks, and prepared to fire her own flamethrower back, but the Gallade had already teleported away.

The set of water pulses and the water bomb from Defender came at her next. Ignitus didn't have room to maneuver and dodge, so instead she launched a powerful flamethrower at the incoming attacks, disintegrating most of the water into smoke and mist, although a few did get through and grazed her shoulder. If the attacks did any pain to her, she certainly didn't show it. With a cold gaze as ever, Ignitus approached the others. Zane and Guardia stood close to each other, giving each other a nod before heading in. Guardia slashed at Ignitus from above, using her legs to get a bit of air and followed with a powerful use of her claws. Zane took the lower route, attempting to smash into her with an Iron Head. Calamity made his way around to the other side, and attacked Ignitus with a Thunder. Ignitus moved back to avoid the first set of claws from Guardia. She then sidestepped Zane's incoming attack, and struck him with her own on his back. Zane fell back in pain. Ignitus barely had enough time to power up her own attack to meet the Thunder from Calamity, but successfully launched another Flamethrower, and clashed with the lightning. The two attacks exploded in a burst of flames and volts. Zane backstepped so that he and the others were around Ignitus in an almost full circle. He suddenly saw Defender note that TrueStriker had suddenly went off, while Ragnaros let them know that Sovereign and Genevieve were on their ways. Zane knew the names well by now. Sovereign had made his mark on the battle before this, but the one called the Siren had been known to Zane since before. If she was here, things could get really bad...

"Ignitus, stand down now! Surrender or we'll have to beat you down like we've done to the others." Defender said to her.

Ignitus titled her head and looked at Defender. "Mmm...that's not going to happen. You seem to believe me at a disadvantage here...let me show you what a real Sentinel can do..."

Ignitus gave no other warning. She prepared a large amount of power from within her, and in a sudden release of energy, she launched an Overheat at everyone within the location, doing her best to be both thorough and potent. Zane and Guardia tried to go for cover by some nearby rocks, but the attack came in too fast, and the two were burned in a wave of intense flames. Calamity and Speculum were also hit by the wave. Zane struggled for a moment to get up. She was right in a way. Her attacks seemed noticeably stronger than Beserker's or Noctious's were. But Zane and the others had grown stronger too. Zane got up as quickly as he could, only to see Ignitus prepared for another Overheat to launch at them. Zane tried to get off the ground and defend himself, but it seemed she would get off the attack before he got the chance.

That is, until a kick to her back sent her lunging forward, and dispersed the attack. She got up in a few seconds and turned to her opponent. There stood the veteran Sawk, a loyal Gold Tribe member and one of Zane's first and favorite instructors back at the Heroes Alliance School. It was Gallant, and by the looks of things, he was ready to do some damage.

"EVERYONE GET AWAY!" The Swift began to fly away as quickly as possible. He took a flying leap and landed inches away from where the blast stopped. The shooken Scizor slowly stood up with cuts and scrapes all over his body. "Damned *****." He was very angry. VERY angry. He saw the Flareon fight off 'Vigil', and Absol, and a Snorlax. She was fast...but not as fast as the 'The Swift'. She was about to finish of the Bisharp, but low and behold, 'Gallant' kicked her off him. "'Gallant'!" He said excitedly. Time for me to join the fight. He took off at the speed of a sonicboom, so the sound resounded throughout the city. 'The Swift' slammed into the Flareon's side, got a good grip on her and took off into the air. "You demon!" Not a split second after it happened, he dropped her and continued to fly.

Emerald watched as the Swift ran off after she healed him and she nodded to herself before fighting her way through the Ancient's with Shadow Balls and take downs. With how many there were she didn't want to use Hyper Beam, the attack made her have to rest for a minute before she could do anything else. It also was less controllable. She frowned as a Kabutops jumped in front of her and smirked slashing her across her chest with Slash making a semi-deep cut that caused her to whimper in pain.

"You've messed with the wrong Blissey" she whispered before she saw a blast of fire in the area were her fellow Gold Tribe Members were. "Your lucky this time Kabutops" she said slamming against him with Take Down knocking him out before she ran towards the blast. When she got there she saw Gallant, the Swift who had picked up a Flareon as well as Zane an a few others who had been burned.

"Oh" she said to herself rushing over the others. "It won't fully heal the burns, some are to bad" she said "but it will help. I'll be able to do more once the battle is over." she finished using softboiled, the yellow glow coming from the egg in her pouch again and surrounding each of the gold tribe members.

Penance 'Defender' Malum​

Even though they surrounded her Penance still noticed TrueStriker and Bloodthirster were gone. They needed to all be here! More combatants against one individual meant that Ignitus could be defeated quicker! What were they doing in other parts of the city that was so important!? Penance heard the message from Bloodthirster. Okay, Sovereign and Siren were coming. Penance wasn't good with names, so he had no idea who these two were! Well, at least Vigil might know so if anything was amiss then Vigil would be able to alert him. Well, why wasn't Bloodthirster over here yet then!? He clearly saw the Sentinels coming so shouldn't he be helping with getting Ignitus down!?

Penance was not in a good mood at all.

Soon enough a Overheat hit everyone and even Penance could feel the flames burning him badly. He took it much better than the others, but still, Ignitus had some pent up power. Luckily before she could land another Overheat a familiar figure appeared and kicked her away. Penance breathed in relief at the sight of one of the more reliable fighters in the Gold Tribe. They had to press their advantage now! Emerald was healing them up and this was more than enough to end Ignitus!

"Everyone! Space out! Hit with paralyzing attacks or water attacks! Get her immobile! Hit from all sides, one at a time! Don't let her get another Overheat in and keep her occupied!" He shouted as he prepared some more Water Pulses and flung them at her back while she was being carried by the Swift. "Cripple her quickly! Aim all of your attacks at her back and paralyze her! Break her spine and do it quickly!" He shouted to the others. He knew it was dirty to try and disable a opponent in battle, but this was a Sentinel. They had to get her out quickly to deal with the others less they get ganged up on.

Albia

"'Gallant'!" The Swift shouted, clearly happy to see the Sawk alive. Zane gave the old Sawk a respectful nod, which Gallant returned.

"Good to see you still alive and well, Vigil." He spoke to Zane.

"Likewise, brother." Zane responded with a slight smirk covering his face. The Blissey known as Healer took this opportunity to heal up the squads. She did her work with extraordinary quickness and effectiveness, despite the small amount of time they had to work with.

The Swift entered back into the fight almost immediately, seeming to taken Ignitus by surprise and launching her into the air. She began falling from the sky, and Defender decided to get the advantage.

"Everyone! Space out!" Defender began. Zane and Guardia moved over and gave each other room. Calamity, Gallant and Speculum did the same. Hit with paralyzing attacks or water attacks! Get her immobile! Hit from all sides, one at a time! Don't let her get another Overheat in and keep her occupied!" Zane did as was directed. He launched a Thunder Wave at the Flareon, while Guardia and Calamity hit with a Thunder. Defender shot a few Water Pulses. While in the air, Ignitus did her best to fend off the incoming attacks, with strange effectiveness for the most part. She shot a flamethrower at any incoming attacks, and tried to spin herself to cover the entire degree of vision. She was, for the most part successful, but now she was getting close to the ground. She shot another Flamethrower at the ground's direction, which began slowing her down as the flames collided with the ground. She came to an eventual halt, but upon the commands of Defender, everyone went in to try and disable her once more. Having been focusing on the ground with her attacks, she had no room to operate or defend successfully.

"Break my spine? How dare you..." She began, but the Gold Tribe had already begun launching their own attacks. In a last minute ditch effort to hold them off, Ignitus prepared to overpower them all with another Overheat. Flames covered her body, and prepped to spread. As she gathered energy, though, an attack suddenly rushed at her from nowhere, a Future Sight. The attack hit her and flung her onto her side, giving the others an opening.

"Now's our chance, let her have it!" Zane shouted, as he launched his Thunder Wave. Guardia and Calamity tried to hit again with a Thunder, and Gallant used a Focus Punch. Speculum, having transformed into an Excadrill, hit her with a Mud Slap. All others would follow with their own hits.

Penance 'Defender' Malum​

Well, at least his mood was a little better now. Everyone was following his orders to the letter which always helped. Penance wasn't sure what attack had hit Ignitus, but she appeared to have been blown back by something. They needed to paralyze her quickly, not kill, but paralyze. "Get her worn down and knock her out! Paraylze her, break her back, do something that will not let her fight back! We are capturing her! Not killing her! She has valuable inside information and I swear if anyone does kill her I might just lose it!" He snapped as he focused not on flinging anymore Water Pulses, but on his confusion attack. She was within his line of sight so Penance focused his powers on her back and attempted to snap a small portion of it. Not enough to kill, oh no, but enough to paralyze her and keep her alive and breathing.

She was valuable right now and Penance saw her for what she would become, a vessel that held interesting information. With her they could learn so much! They could find out how the Ancients were brought back to life! They could learn about Auron and why he was leading this rebellion! So much information in that head of hers! Surely the Generals had a psychic that was skilled enough to dig into her head and find out information she was unwilling to tell.

His mission was simple now, keep Ignitus alive and learn what she knew and they would be in business!

Sovereign

Sovereign had suspected he was a Gold Tribe. They were all over the place, like an infestation. "It might depend on what you mean by honor." A strange answer to a strange question. "I suspect it's different than the other Sentinels, since you hadn't left with them before." There was truth to that statement. Sovereign smirked. "An interesting observation. So far none of you have noticed-or, at least they never pointed it out." Sovereign knew better than to get his hopes up for one so small, but he also knew that size wasn't everything, a lesson he'd learned from Vera.

His blood was boiling, and he was through with pleasantries. Sovereign stomped the ground generating a crack that traced all the way up to Hanso, ending with a massive explosion of stone and earth. "Perhaps you are familiar with my reputation. Do you know what the fearful masses call me?" Sovereign hated his title, but it was an effective means of striking fear into an enemy of a lesser caliber. Hanso's reaction would give Sovereign his answer. "They call me The Crusher!"

A devilish grin crossed Genevieve's complexion as Sovereign launched his first salvo at the Gallade, the one called "TrueStriker." She scoffed at the recollection of his title, how trite and adorable. Such titles were mere vanity. Of course, she was perfectly aware of what others called her, "The Siren." It caused her to laugh every time she heard it. It wasn't exactly inaccurate, in fact, it was accurate to perfection. No, it was adorable how she had adopted a persona almost larger than life, an unspeakable curse of drunken soldiers regaling others of their encounters. It served its purpose of course, not only did people fear her for what they knew she could do, but also for what they feared she could do.

Sovereign served his purpose most excellently. She made a note, that if he survived, she would have to find some way of rewarding him. One could only be dragged along for so long with no payoff. It was time for her to take her leave however, other business needed her attention. She curtsied exaggeratedly at the Gallade. "Until we meet again," she called out to him.

She turned from the soon to be bloodbath, the loser would be either dead, captured, or the first to run from their honor. She didn't think Sovereign liked prisoners however. Then again, it never bothered Genevieve to run from a fight, she also had no respect for honor, so it was a trivial point. Maybe one of them saw the importance of retreat also. Vanishing quickly into a side alley, the city loomed before her. Most of the civilians had run to the safety of neighboring villages or towns, but not all. Many feared losing their homes, the boards on the windows a sure sign of those who decided to "ride it out."

She stopped in the middle of the street, her extrasensory perception extended itself into the area, searching for what she wanted, what she needed. There it was. Striding up to a house boarded to the gills so to speak, a shopkeeper's residence by the look of it. Panels barricaded the door from the inside, she used her mental powers to pull the nails from their resting place one by one. The last one out of place, she opened the door gingerly. The gloomy and dreadful illumination cast an eerie view of the interior. A Pikachu huddling in the corner, a Pichu grasped in his hands, clutching it to his chest. A father protecting his child from the dangers of the outside world. If only he realized how useless this was.

"Come with me, I insist," Genevieve spoke to him softly, levitating him and his baby into the air and outside to the waiting street. The father and child let out a scream of terror, an unearthly noise that pierced the eardrums. Paying it no mind, she made her way to the convergence of battle, trudging her way up to the city wall and overlooked the mayhem and massacre that lay waiting. A great Aerodactyl swooped down to her side, eliciting another terrified shriek from the father son pair. Leaning over to stroke its jaws, she whispered it commands, completely inaudible to her hostage company. "If you don't hear from me in twenty minutes, you know what to do." The Aerodactyl acknowledged with a shake of its head, nothing more, and bounded off into the sky once again.

Returning her attention back to the pair, she ripped the Pichu from his father's desperate grip. The Pikachu grasped at nothing but air, tears swelling in his eyes from fear and his powerlessness. She continued to hold him in place, her grip shifting to hold him by the throat. The wall offered her a great vantage point, the battle was visible in almost its entirety. It was visible at that point to see the trouble Ignitus had gotten herself into, "Idiot." As much as Geneveive would have loved to project herself to the entire battlefield, she knew her limits. Apart from a supremely powerful being, it was practically impossible for anyone to do, especially if they still wanted to live afterwards. She decided to focus on the battle surrounding Ignitus and her idiotic predicament. At least those would hear her message and hopefully it would spread like wildfire.

The Pikachu moved over the battlefield, his body hanging limply as he struggled for every breath. "Witness what you so called liberators and heroes have wrought upon the people you allegedly care for," she projected herself, the effort itself was monumentally tasking and draining. She could feel her strength being sapped, the possibility of keeping her projection like this for prolonged periods of time was slim. "You are blinded, bringing war to these people in the name of what? Misplaced allegiance? Do you think this, civilian, cares whom he bows down to, or who robs his coffers of hard earned treasures?" Her voice was deadly serious, her tone as terrifying and cold as she could possibly manage. The grip on the Pikachu tightened, his breaths grew increasingly shallow and desperate, his son looking on in horror.

"Unlike you, I will keep my promise. Well, this time." She let out an arrogant self-serving smirk. "If this battle continues and you do not withdraw, I will make it my personal mission, no, my pleasure, to see that I take the lives of as many innocents as I can. You may very well be conquerers, but I will see to it that you have conquered nothing but ash." The Pikachu ceased his breathing, the precious supply of air severed from his lungs. Releasing her grip, he landed heavily on the battle below, his son unable to verbalize his fear and sadness into tangible sound. "One down," She cut off communication, gasping for air herself. The effort had taxed her and she knew it, but she had to follow through.

No longer exerting herself through communication, she focused all her remaining strength on lifting the Pichu next. Her threat evident to anyone who had been watching. It was their move, all she needed was a response.

"An interesting observation. So far none of you have noticed-or, at least they never pointed it out."

Hanso raised an eyebrow at that. Anyone who cared to look at the list of who had left Valkaria with Auron would recognize that there hadn't been anyone named Sovereign. There had also been reports of this Tyranitar, though Hanso had heard only a few of those. The Generals or Zane might know more.

Sovereign stomped the ground generating a crack that traced all the way up to Hanso. He teleported several feet to the right to avoid the worst of the resulting explosion, but he was still struck with several pieces of stone. "Perhaps you are familiar with my reputation. Do you know what the fearful masses call me?"

I'll wager you're about to tell me...

"They call me The Crusher!"

As Hanso prepared to meet Sovereign in combat, he saw Genevieve to one side as she curtsied exaggeratedly at the Gallade. "Until we meet again," she called out to him.

She was no less unsettling. However, as Sovereign was ready to fight, Hanso winced and turned his attention away from the Gardevoir, who disappeared somewhere into the city. Hanso reviewed what he knew about Tyranitars in general. They were impervious to Psychic attacks, so his Future Sight and Psycho Cut were no help. That left him with one attack that could still hurt, but he needed to get close. Hanso was sure that Sovereign could create sandstorms and earthquakes, and the blood-stains meant he knew how to fight up close.

Hanso created multiple copies of himself that surrounded Sovereign; he and his illusions then teleported to different spots in the circle, which had confused many of his past opponents as to where the real Gallade was. They all began running at Sovereign with Night Slashes ready, with the real Hanso off to the Tyranitar's right.

The Swift swooped in and slammed Ignus' back with a Metal Claw. He landed next to Zane. "Nice day for capturing a Sentinel, isn't it?" Before he could answer, he was off again. That voice had entered his head again...curious. It was the same one, but this time he could tell it was feminine. It threatened to destroy something they were fighting to protect...the citizens!

Jirmonji found the source of the voice after flying around for a little bit...a Gardevoir. She's the Sentinel threatening people. He landed in front of her and noticed a dead Pikachu nearby. Dear Arceus...she's a monster. Nearby was a frightened Pichu. "Hello there. I assume you're a Sentinel, I assume you killed that Pikachu, and I assume that the Pikachu was that Pichu's father. If you're anything like the person I'm thinking of, you're Genevieve. Nice to meet you former sister."

Ignus turned to face a very large Salamence. Even for a dragon, this guy was pretty big, standing at least twice Ignus's height. Ignus flinched at this sight, and went on guard automatically.

"I don't know many Zoroark that can spit flames," the great dragon said. He said it in a very flat tone, almost as if he were saying a fact instead of a compliment. That was a compliment, right? Ignus couldn't tell. The dragon introduced himself.

"I am titled as Bloodthirster, Ragnaros." He pulled a Gold Tribe emblem out with his tail, showing it to Ignus.

"The liberation of Albia is at hand, but whatever are you doing, fighting like that in the open?"  He said it very calmly, almost if he had rehearsed it. His voice showed no fear ore concern, really. It was just...kind of flat. But hey, at least he wasn't sugercoating anything. Ignus realized he had no emblem on him, as he had left it in his mock home. He used and illusion to create one, seemingly pulling it out from his mane. He flashed it to Ragnaros. He was still wary, not sure if he should trust the Dragon...but he didn't think any sentineals were Salamences.

"I am a Gold Tribe Member as well. I've been hiding here in Albia waiting to do some sabotage, but you guys got here quicker than I thought." Ignus put his "emblem" away, and introduced himself.

"I'm Ignus, titled Prince of Light. I've been with the Tribe for a couple years, but I don't think I've ever met you." Ignus tried to sound casual, but the gnawing paranoia of more ancients ambushing the two kept him a bit nervous. Also, Ragnaros could be a spy for all he knew. He would have to earn his trust, no doubt.

Sovereign

The Gallade disapeared right as the ground expolded. I knew it. He's just another coward, Sovereign thought to himself as he prepared to set out for a new opponent. Suddenly there were Gallade all over the place, each one appearing only for a moment before teleporting to new location before he was completely surrounded. Each one charged him, ready to attack. A trick? As the illusions converged on him, Sovereign's hands bacame engulfed in black energy.

Hanso sliced into Sovereign. From the right. Sovereign retaliated as the black mass around his hands grew. As he struck, the energy launched, intensifying the blow. Payback is a risky move, but it's useful if you know when to use it. "It seems I judged you wrong. You are certainly a brave warrior."