The Wall​

As the sounds of the charging Pokemon grew near, Guardia and the Gold Tribe she was with finally managed to reach the wall. She climbed the steps, rushing past any guard or Alpha Alliance soldier who were on the path, before arriving at the top. She looked first across the wall. Alpha Alliance soldiers were positioned across the long stone barrier around Gold City. Many of them were younger, probably scared out of their minds as they have yet to be tested in this way. Guardia remembered feeling a similar way when she was just 15 when the Silver War began. Yet as the Gold Tribe rushed with her to the top, many felt a bit more at ease. They were watching their backs.

She then looked beyond the wall, at the Pokemon fast on approach. To her surprise, they weren't Ancients. Yes, there appeared to be Ancient Pokemon among them, but many of them were other species of Pokemon, a variety of which made her assume that these were not all corrupted Pokemon. Darkrai had been branching out. She sucked in a deep breath, looking again across the wall. Hyper Beam Cannons were positioned all across the wall. Powerful devices, they would release a single shot of energy which could cause destructive force. With SEC helping create over a dozen now positioned across the walls, Gold City definitely had an extra boost of energy it didn't have before. "Get in positions, brothers and sisters! Load up the cannons!" She ordered, as the army began to get quite close to the wall.

The Alpha Alliance had one general that had become corrupted, and another leading the civilians away from the city. That left one to command the troops on the wall: Warren "Devastator" Karkanos. The Blastoise paced along the wall, sizing up the enemy's army. He looked to his fellow soldiers on the wall and grinned, the look in his eyes slightly unsettling. "ALRIGHT MEN, PREPARE YOURSELVES. THIS WON'T BE EASY." His pace increased along with his anxiousness. "LET THEM COME!"

Several soldiers rallied closed to their commander. Even though he wasn't necessarily a master tactician, it helped the men's morale to have a leader willing to stand and fight with them. The Alliance, SEC, and Gold Tribe all had stable positions along the wall, and it seemed that Hell was coming down upon them. It was a good thing that Warren was the devil.

Razathiel landed on the wall in a small cloud of dust, having taken a slightly less orthodox method of travelling there. He didn't like stairs, for 'obvious' reasons that he assured everyone were in no way related to his somewhat challenged verticality. He leaned his staff against the battlements and hopped up it to gain a view of the plains before him, before picking up the pole and twirling it in hand for a moment.

"Quite a lovely evening." The Ralts chuckled to no-one in particular. "For destruction, that is. Let's make sure we're the ones dishing it out, shall we, minions?"

Zai took a position next to Guardia, glancing briefly at Raz as he appeared on the wall. She still didn't like the little fairy, but now wasn't the time to worry about him. Perhaps his blood lust would come in handy. She grabbed onto one of the Hyper Beam cannons and prepared to fire it. She didn't have much practice with the device, but she supposed so long as she could aim and hit a few pokémon, it wouldn't be much of an issue.

Cal didn't even stop when he got to the wall, he knew he was one of the few warriors there who could safely do some damage before the enemy hit them without using the cannons, and with Kaveri riding shotgun all the better. He soared right over the heads of those gathered to stem the tide and right into the air above the enemy. "Dive bomb!" Was all he said to his sister before tilting his wings and zooming down towards the enemies below.

Before Cal was over Darkrai's army, Kaveri had formed a multitude of Water Pulses, using Ice Fang to freeze each of them into ice balls then bundling them up in her arms. This left her with only her legs to hold onto Cal, so she made sure she was safely seated and crouched low over his back as he dived. When they were within a good range of the Pokemon below, she sat up slightly so she could sling the ice balls at the enemy. As each ice ball hit the ground, or often a Pokemon, it would shatter into hundreds of icy shards, creating even more hazards for the Pokemon surrounding the area they landed.

There was one more thing to do, so after Kaveri had dropped in enough ice he swooped back up a safe distance and focused hard. After a few seconds of what looked like intense concentration Cal roared into the sky and a large amount of energy shot out from him before it split into many different little blue spheres coated in black fire and they all rained down upon random enemies below, exploding when they hit the ground or a target and dealing even more damage to those around them.

Noticing two of her tribesman over the wall engaging the enemy, Guardia quickly looked toward the Hyper Beam Cannons and the Pokemon manning them. "Hey, avoid that area there, I've got a brother and sister out there!" She commanded, to which the Pokemon on the Hyper Beam Cannons positioned their weapons from the area she pointed to. "Everyone else...open fire!"

All at once, Pokemon along the wall, both soldiers and Gold Tribe launched all manner of long-range attacks toward the forces of Darkrai as they approached the wall. Pokemon were shot down by the dozen before ever reaching the wall. Then the big guns came out, three Hyper Beam Cannons firing off into the vast armies. The powerful shots detonated a brilliant white energy which left a crater of rock, dirt, and dust in its wake, and caused Pokemon to fly everywhere from its impact. Each shot carried weight, and deterred the forces. But with every Pokemon that fell, two more came forward from the seemingly endless army on approach.

"Damn, this isn't working!" Paradox snapped. "I knew he was persistent, but come on!" He shouted angrily as he threw out yet another Water Bomb, "Hey Zangoose! Got any bright ideas? At this rate we'll be swarmed! I mean, I'll be alright of course, but you all will probably die. Just saying."

"Well, I ain't dying yet," Guardia declared. She looked over at the Hyper Beam Cannons, which were recharging before they could shoot again. Others on the far side began to fire instead in their own area, which was also beginning to be swarmed. Slowly, the army was advancing at every point, trying to encircle the city. "Spread out the Gold Tribe to the far walls," She commanded, charging energy within. As the Hyper Beam Cannons continued to recharge, the forces were being repelled by the regular attacks, which wasn't enough to stop them all. Guardia released her built up energy, striking down a powerful Thunder down onto the plains, taking out a group of Ratticate running together, as well as a Golbat up above them.

Pokemon down below started getting close enough to return fire, sending fire, lightning, hail, grass and rock toward the wall and the Pokemon defending it. Through the thicket of sprinting Pokemon, Guardia noticed a group of stampeding Pokemon on fast approach. They consisted of Tauros, Bastiodon, Rampardos, Rhyhorn, and others. Seeing this, Guardia quickly brought it to the attention of the others. "Watch the rammers! Don't let 'em reach the wall! Get those Hyper Beam Cannons charged up already! Hold them back!"

"Get a move on!" Paradox snapped as he threw a Water Bomb at a Rhyhon and managed to take two of the rammers down, "Am I the only one bringing the slack up here!?"

Zai waited a bit impatiently for her cannon to reload. She had managed to hit a few pokémon with her first shot, and now that she had been able to use this thing once, she was pretty sure she would be able to do a lot more damage with the second shot. "Come on, come on!" she muttered, wanting to hit the machine. But she knew that wouldn't help, so she focused on launching a few long ranged attacks while it recharged.

A moment later, the cannon made a small sound to indicate that it was finally ready to fire again. She immediately took to controlling it again, aiming the weapon at the group of rammers heading towards the wall. "Let's see how you like this!" She loosed a second Hyper Beam from the cannon, hitting the center of the rammers. It got rid of a few of them and briefly scattered a couple more, but they were still advancing.

"Damn it," she grunted, jumping away from the device as she signaled another pokémon to take the controls.

Kaveri had quickly run out of the ice balls, what with the large numbers they were up against, and was flinging about plain old Water Pulses when she noticed the rammers heading for the wall. "Oh no you don't!" Twisting on Cal's back to face them, she formed a small, glowing blue orb between her hands then tossed it into the sky above the rammers. A cloud formed rapidly above the charging Pokemon, and half a moment later, rained poured down from it, muddying the ground they were running on. Hopefully that would at least slow them down.

The muddy ground did well to slow a good portion of the ramming Pokemon, giving the defenders of the wall, an easy target. They began firing at those points in particular, mostly water attacks if they had them. Other flying Pokemon dropped attacks from the sky. A Hyper Beam Cannon was now fully charged, firing another powerful blast in the area, sending the large, brilliant energy right at the ramming Pokemon. Smoke, dust and dirt blasted through the air from the impact, a bit of it landing as far as the top of the wall where Guardia stood. That was a good indication of the sheer force each of these Hyper Beam Cannons had.

A single rammer from the group managed to sneak by, barely treading as it rammed into the wall, which hardly caused a dent. It was mowed down by the Alpha Alliance Pokemon. Guardia breathed in and out in relief. It was a good start, but she soon found that there was no room to rest. More rammers were already on approach, as well as countless Pokemon aiming to get toward the wall and into the city. Also on approach now was an abundance of aerial forces, which sought to try and fly into the city from above. Some of the larger flying Pokemon carried other Pokemon to drop off once they reached inside of the city.

Warren roared as his cannons pushed out water in a flood, carving entire swathes through the enemy forces. "HOLD THE LINE!" He roared to his soldiers, their morale still steady. "KEEP FIRING, AND AIM FOR THE RAMMERS!" It was time for a change in attack. He adjusted his aim slightly and began to fire at the charging Pokemon, particularly the ones closest to him under the wall. The jets of water not only damaged them, but muddied the ground even more, slowing their progress. "MEN, HOLD THE LINE!"

With that he began to parade up and down the wall, giving encouragements to his men, and helping out occasionally. Every now and again he would give the old 'Head Cracker' (Skull Bash) to a soldier who needed a reason to fight. "STAND TOGETHER!" Warren turned to face the charging army, a steely glint in his eyes. "LET THEM COME! LET THEM COME!"

Paradox sent out more and more pulses as he glared across the landscape, right at the very first being he had ever met, "Damn him." He muttered. He readied another pulse in his hands, but this time stepped back as he held his arm back, and then chucked the pulse out far, right for the dark figure that was out there. Let him eat on that, Paradox thought smugly to himself. For every mon he struck down another rat took its place and it became more along a blur that only fueled his anger more and more, "JUST DIE ALREADY!" He screamed out at the streaming crowd.

Zai ran along the wall, loosing blasts of Thunder and Stone Edge at the oncoming army. "Zai!" She halted for a moment, turning around to see who called her name.

"Kai!" she yelled back as her twin approached rapidly, accompanied by their uncle. "How is everyone?"

"The kids are with your grandparents, heading for the Network. They should be on their way to meet up with Desmond. My son is fighting on another area of the wall," Rai responded, speaking quickly.

"Okay, give me some help here! Combined Thunders sound good?" Her brother and uncle nodded, and they all looked out at the enemy pokémon, sparks running along all three of their bodies. They took aim at the rammers and each one of them loosed a powerful Thunder, the attacks combining midair, amplifying the power of the moves as they struck their targets. The sheer heat from the attack caused some of damp the ground around the feet of the rammers to solidify once more, trapping them in place for the moment. The ground that didn't solidify conducted the electric current, shocking various pokémon that had avoided the brunt of the blast.

There was a loud rumbling noise and lots of screaming before Cal could make out one of the panicking voices yelling "A group of rammers have made it to the western gate!" punctuated by even louder rumbling. "Dammit!" Cal flew back towards the main gate and when he felt he was just barely close enough he grabbed Kaveri by the arm and yelled, "Don't follow me too close," and threw her at the wall. Anyone who looked at it might have thought it was carelessness, but really it was simply Faith in his sister. "Guardia! I'm going to the West Gate!" With his last-second warning shouted he darted off towards the aforementioned section of the wall.

"Got it, Sentinel!" Guardia yelled from the top of the wall, firing another Thunder into the Pokemon nearest to the wall. She managed to hit a few at once, but some of them being rock types, managed to go on unaffected. Thankfully Warren and other Water Types were there to cover her type disadvantage and spray any remaining down. "Take care of yourself!" She said to him before he took off. "And don't die brother, that's an order!"

"Don't worry if I did Kav would kill me!" He called out behind him before he was out of earshot.

Kaveri flipped around in the air so her feet were facing the ground, then let off a few spurts of Aqua Jet to slow her fall so that she landed steadily on both feet. 'Stay safe, bro,' she thought silently to herself as she watched him flying away. She didn't follow immediately, though; she would be able to catch up easily enough with Agility, and if she was right about Cal was planning to do, she didn't wanna be too close to him when he did it.

Casting a glance over the edge of the wall, Kaveri noted where most of the rammers appeared be flocking. With a few Rain Dances, she created a series of clouds along that portion of the wall, using the same tactic as before to slow the enemy. The clouds would only last five or so minutes, but any amount of time was precious in a battle like this. After sending a few Water Pulses into the midst of the enemy, she darted off in the direction Cal had gone.

Guardia meanwhile decided to make use of Kaveri's water attacks, ordering Hyper Beam Cannon shot into the area where she watered the enemy. Following that, Guardia then proceeded to unleash another powerful Thunder to shock any remaining foes who still stood after the Hyper Beam Cannon shot, which wasn't many. She was thankful they had quite a few of those on their side.

A sudden rumbling caught her attention. It felt like it was from a great distance away, yet with each passing second, it grew much more powerful. Looking out into the seemingly neverending armies of Darkrai, Guardia spotted something in the distance. It was far, quite far away for now, but she also realized if it was really that far away and she could see it, it was ENORMOUS. It appeared to be a Wailord, covered completely in the front of its body by some sort of black metal plating, with spikes across the front. Below the Wailord, hundreds of Pokemon carried it across the battlefield, heading toward the walls of Gold City. It didn't take long for Guardia to put together what the enormous Pokemon's purpose was.

They were going to use it as a battering ram, and destroy Gold City's wall.

When he drew near the Western Gate Cal spotted the cause of the alarm, a cluster of rammers had made it through to the gate and the defenders couldn't fire the cannons at them without damaging the gate. Anything he could do with enough momentum and strength to move those gargantuan beasts would probably damage the wall too...unless... The only way to beat force is with superior force, or the right mix of entropy and finesse! He flew down towards the side of the rammers who were already at the gate and began slamming into them with Ice Punches, holding back just enough that their sides were coated in frost but they weren't deterred from their destructive task. Once there was enough ice on the current wave of rammers Cal distanced himself from them and gathered his strength into his arms and his wings. His wings were wreathed in a white glow and his arms radiated an eerie off-red glow, and a sonic boom erupted. All that could be seen of the Dragonite was a white and orange streak through the air all the way to the crowded mass of over sized 'mons at the gate and a small rumble spread throughout the area when he made contact with them.

The air visually distorted around the point of impact and all the rammers at the gate fell completely over, there was no way even Cal could send such heavy targets flying with one hit even at his full strength, but thanks to his preparations he didn't need to. Their was enough momentum to the rammers' falls that as soon as they hit the ground they slid across the ground on the frost that had accumulated on their sides, spinning about in random directions and knocking over swaths of their own allies as they reeled away. There was no time to rest however. "Here come's another wave!" Yeah that, another group of rammers had already sprinted past their weaponized predecessors and were now barreling towards the gate and - since he just so happened to clear out the gate and make himself a huge target - Cal.

Sure he could just fly out of the way, but the Western Gate wasn't nearly as reinforced as the Main Gate and it still had enough force coming at it that he was certain they'd make it to the wall again if he moved. The cannoneers proved their worth and kept firing far enough out not to be in danger of hitting Cal, as well as making the tide surging towards him at least remotely manageable. He stomped his feet firmly in place for as much traction as possible when he faced the oncoming tide, and his antennae began to shake. Cal's body darkened, adding a slight red hue to the emerald scales adorning him and his eyes turned completely white. When the rammers were less than ten seconds away from crashing into him the Emerald Sentinel let out an eardrum-shattering roar, even causing some of his brothers and sisters on the wall to flinch and look at him uncertainly.

To their credit none of the rammers so much as slowed down - unless they were hit by hyper beam cannons - whether it was confidence or zeal for their cause. A large blast of steam shot out from the top of Cal's head before it slowed down to just continuously slip off of him. When the head of the charge, a Bastiodon, reached him Cal wrenched back his arm and punched it's faceplate so hard it not only stopped, it twisted and flew right over it's followers into the throng of Darkrai's soldiers behind them. That actually gave the rammers pause, and the instant they hesitated Cal cut into them, rampaging, punching, and throwing 'mon as big or even bigger than him left and right.

The moment Kaveri heard the deafening roar - which was quite loud even from her distance - she knew exactly what it was. No doubt about it; the Emerald Sentinel had gone into Outrage mode. But even if this majorly increased his strength, Kaveri also knew that it also made him a heck of a lot more reckless and he most definitely wasn't invincible, so she quickened her pace with another Agility boost. It was a few more moments before she was able to clearly see what was going on below the wall, and when she did she saw that there wasn't too much cause for concern - yet. For the moment, it looked like Cal would be able to hold his own, but there were more enemies running towards him. Deciding to offer her brother a little help, she created a torrent of rain between him and the oncoming rammers, so he wouldn't have to meet them all at once.

Her attention was quickly torn away from Cal's fight as she noticed the Pokemon defending the wall - some of her brothers and sisters of the Gold Tribe included - were having a bit of trouble. Some of the enemies' flying Pokemon had managed to make it to the wall with their passengers, and there was now a cluster of them attempting to take out the Hyper Beam cannons, with more on the way. Cracking her knuckles, Kaveri smirked grimly. "Not on my watch, ya don't!" she declared, launching herself into the fight.

But first, she created a small cloud over her head that would constantly pour rain down on her and follow her around. With the addition of Agility and her already natural high speed, Kaveri's speed would be more than tripled as long as her fur was wet. Then, of course, there was Aqua Jet, which she now used to shoot herself up to a Fearow flying overhead with another Pokemon on its back. She grabbed the bird's long beak and bit into the side of its face with Ice Fang, dropping back down to the wall immediately afterwards. The Fearow's head froze over completely, though Kaveri didn't have time to stop and watch as it fell past the wall, both bird and passenger crashing to the ground far below.

Kaveri wasn't done there, though. She stayed on the edge of the fray, using the speed of Aqua Jet to hit then back off. Normally, she would have gone right into the middle of the fighting, but this time she wanted to leave herself available to chuck Water and Ice Pulses (Ice Pulses being her frozen Water Pulses) at the enemies still coming in from the air. With Kaveri keeping any enemies from reinforcing those already on the wall, those allies who had been there before her were able to take down those enemies who were already on the wall, either by killing them, shoving them off the wall, or simply knocking them out.

Without enemies to trouble them on the walls anymore, the Gold Tribe members and Alpha Alliance soldiers along the wall were able to fend off anymore sky attacks, allowing Kaveri the chance to glance over at her brother.

Pokemon big enough to be living battering rams skidding across the ground and bowling over their smaller allies was quite the sight, but it couldn't last indefinitely. The red haze over Cal's mind slackened just long enough for him to yell "Let any of the spent cannons charge up and hold fire till I say!" before resuming the onslaught. It continued for a good few minutes but eventually the flow of steam slowed and right after punching out one more Rhyhorn Cal knelt on the ground, barely able to summon the energy to speak. "Anybody who can, fire now!" A barrage of golden beams was launched, and all the explosions and enemies flying in every direction gave Cal just enough time to catch his breath.

His vision was starting to clear up, but it stayed fairly blurry as he beat his wings to leap back onto the wall, with how heavy his breathing was Cal didn't have to explain why he just jumped instead of flying. At least since he was grounded and safe for the moment he could make use of Roost, his body took on a soft, colorless light while he regained a chunk of his strength. He only noticed after almost 20 seconds of intense concentration that he'd landed next to Kaveri and huffed out a "Hey" cut off by some rasping and wheezing followed by a "how's it going?"

"Going better for me than it is for you, it seems," Kaveri chortled lightly, referring to his current breathless condition. She didn't really seem to be paying a lot of attention though as her eyes scanned the area off by the Main Gate, which was just barely visible from where they were. What was going towards it though... She couldn't really make out what it was, but it was definitely big. "I think it's 'bout time we got back there. Looks like they're gonna need more help."

"Hey, you try lifting a Bastiodon with your bare-hands smartass." Cal's Roost gave him the second wind he needed and he stood back up, scooping up Kaveri and setting her on his shoulders to get her own grip. He didn't actually wait to make sure she was comfortable though, making use of one last Extremespeed to rocket them back towards the Main Gate.

Network Point Two - Gold City

Arceus, damn it," Jackson "Aero" Nyha, a Swellow of the Gold Tribe muttered under his breath. He was one of the three Gold Tribe members charged with defending SEC Network point two, which was at the far right of Gold City. He was upset at first that he wouldn't get to see the ceremony, but he knew his duty would come first. Yet as they began to hear odd noises and feel large rumblings, Aero took off into the sky to see what was going on. What came next shocked the Swellow. As he flew down and explained it to his other two tribesman and the some two dozen Alpha Alliance soldiers guarding the Network points, a wave of panic began to envelop them.

"W-what do we do now?!" One of the Alpha Alliance soldiers, a Graveler, screamed in fear. "Darkrai's gonna come an' kill us all!"

"We should run!" a Seviper Alpha Alliance soldier suggested. "We could make it through the Network to another city. While they haven't reached us yet!"

"No!" Aero uttered, angrily glaring at the Alpha Alliance soldiers. "We're tasked with protecting the Network here. If we abandon our posts, and the Network falls, that's one less way out! Think of all the citizens you've sworn to protect! Think of your families!" There was silence from many of the Alpha Alliance soldiers. Suddenly, two of them, a Machoke and a Granbull, sprinted away as they abandoned their positions and took off in fear. Aero tried to shout to stop them, but one of the other Gold Tribe members, a Grumpig titled "Basher", placed a hand on the Swellow's wing to stop him. "Let them go, brother."

"They're cowards!" The younger Aero yelled angrily. The Grumpig shrugged, once more shaking his head. Almost an instant later, the two Pokemon were surprisingly shot back toward the guards around the Network point, flying past them and crashing behind at a far wall. Aero had to duck a bit to the side to avoid one of the bodies, which came at them at a fairly alarming speed.

"You shouldn't blame them too much," A voice from the same direction was heard speaking to the group of Gold Tribe and Alpha Alliance soldiers. It was a Greninja on approach to the Network point. "Not everyone's suited for this level of destruction. It's quite fearsome!"

"Who are you?!" The third member of the Gold Tribe, a Persian by the title of "Lionna" demanded of the Greninja.

"Oops!" He said quickly, giving the Gold Tribe and the Alpha Alliance a small bow. "Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. Name's Gabriel. You can call me Gabe!"

"What's your business here, Gabriel?" Aero demanded of him. He already knew the Greninja was bad news, but he figured he'd give the SEC soldiers enough time to place the two Hyper Beam Cannons into position, straight at him. That would be enough to deter anyone from stepping another foot forward, if over two dozen Pokemon and three Gold Tribe members wouldn't do that already.

"Well, what you're guarding actually is," He replied casually, pointing to the team of Psychics sitting in a circle behind them, joined in hands and helping create the connection known as the 'Network'. A machine was positioned close to the psychics, propelling their psychic abilities to a further level which helped strengthen the distance they could send Pokemon. "See I'm with the big guy down over there," He stated, pointing to Darkrai's location along the plains. "And your teleporters are on his 'take-it-down' list."

Aero shook his head and chuckled a bit. "You're either really full of yourself, or completely and utterly stupid," The Swellow stated. "You might not see it, but we're Gold Tribe here. Plus we've got about thirty Alpha Alliance troops around. It's not boasting. These are just facts. Even if you're a Sentinel, you wouldn't be able to get through that easily. If you even know what a Sentinel is."

"Oh yeah, I heard of those guys!" Gabe replied. "Strong guys, really strong! I'm not a Sentinel though."

"Exactly," Aero continued. "And if you still think you can take us on...better look again," He added, motioning with his head to the two Hyper Beam Cannons manned by two SEC mercenaries, a Zoroark and a Shiftry, pointed directly at him. "I'm sure you've heard of Hyper Beam Cannons before."

"Oh, shoot!" Gabe exclaimed, chuckling a bit nervously and placing his hands on his hips. "Yeah I've heard of those things," He nodded. "Interesting story about them...do you know when the first ever Hyper Beam Cannon was built? It was about...hmm...I'd say about a little less than a hundred and fifty years ago now. All the way down in Poseida Village. Back then, it was a secret project under wraps. It was reaaaally unstable, but also extremely powerful," Gabe explained, over-exaggerating the enormity of the power with his arms for dramatic effect.

"There was a big battle in the night around the city, with the Order of Neoverse, I'm sure you've heard of them, charging right at the city. They had superior numbers. They had excellent command. They had good cover in the night. Really...everything you could ask for. And then the Alpha Alliance fired one shot from this Hyper Beam Cannon...BANG!" Gabe suddenly yelled, motioning with his arms. "Everything went white, dust and smoke and dirt flew everywhere. The rumbling...the noise, it was unbearable. And then...there was a huge crater where the shot landed. In one, huge explosion, the Alpha Alliance won that battle."

Aero listened curiously to the Greninja, not sure where exactly he was going with the story. If anything, he seemed only to be complimenting the Alpha Alliance, and more particularly the Hyper Beam Cannons. Aero nervously looked at the others, who returned a similarly perplexed gaze. Gabriel continued speaking.

"Now here's the interesting part. After that, that huge, powerful cannon, it had to go into a little bit of a recharge. Know how long that took?" He asked them. Before any of them could answer, he did so himself. "A week," He stated. "But that was of course the first model ever made. I'm sure the Alpha Alliance has improved the recharge time since then dramatically. So what is it now? 5 minutes? Ten?" He asked them. Again, no response immediately came. The actual number was known to be around seven minutes by the Gold Tribe and Alpha Alliance soldiers. "I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and say it's five minutes."

"What's your point in all this, Greninja?!" Basher demanded angrily.

"Oh, sorry, must have been blabbering. Here's my point: I'm gonna go ahead and acknowledge that if I get shot by one of these bad boys, I'm probably gonna die. One hit, and that's all she wrote about poor Gabe," Gabe sunk his head for a moment, scratching the back of his neck in seeming disappointment. "Man, that'd be a lame way of going out," He shook his head and perked up again. He held up a finger and spoke once more. "But...let's say for the sake of...just saying so...say the first Hyper Beam Cannon shot misses. You fire it, and you don't hit the target. Ridiculous, right? I mean, the thing fires like a crater-size! It's obviously gonna take me out! But...let's just say it doesn't," He held both of his hands up at the Pokemon watching him carefully. The longer he was speaking to them, the more nervous they were becoming, especially the non-Gold Tribe Pokemon.

"Just bear with me. Say you fire the second one right after, and, strangely enough, that also misses! Somehow, both of your Hyper Beam Cannons just failed to deliver, and there you are, standing there without either of them working for the next five minutes." He crossed his arms, thinking to himself as he stared off to the sky, then spoke once more. "Hmm, well let's say four minutes since you might not fire both of them at once. Four minutes!" He exclaimed, holding up the three fingers on his left hand, though he implied four. "So! Let's play a little game. A wager, if any of you are betting men," He then looked at the Persian Gold Tribe member known as 'Lionna', and gestured to her. "Or women, sorry about that! The stakes: your lives, and mine. The terms: I'm betting that if the two Hyper Beam Cannons miss, you won't get to use either a third time."

There was silence among the Pokemon defending the Network. Nervous Alpha Alliance soldiers exchanged glances and some whimpered silently. The Gold Tribe members were a bit more calm, but still anxious. Sweat began down Basher's back. Aero felt his wings shake a bit, and didn't quite understand why. He didn't know whether to take the Greninja seriously. On one hand, he seemed far too lax to be serious about what he was talking about. On the other hand, there was a strange...uneasiness she felt around him. Something was definitely off, which is what worried him. He looked back at the Hyper Beam Cannons. The two sat somewhat nervously with their large weapons pointed at the Greninja. The Zoroark was a bit more in control, but the Shiftry was a nervous wreck. Sweat poured off of him and he was visibly shivering. Aero turned again to look at Gabriel. Now, he was looking directly at the Shiftry, his eyes not breaking from the 'mon. Aero opened his eyes in shock, and realized that Gabriel might have been trying to provoke the Shiftry. "Here there, calm down now, there's no need to react ra-"

Aero was cut off by a sudden movement from Gabe, nothing spectacular or anything that caused any attack or damage to appear, but a sudden whirl of his hands. This sudden, unexpected movement, caused the Shiftry to release his Hyper Beam Cannon shot right there. It shot and hissed through the air, and then collided with the ground where the Greninja was positioned. Instantly, the area lit up with a brilliant, powerful flash of white energy, blinding all those from keeping their eyes open. Aero shielded his eyes by covering them with his wings. Meanwhile Basher covered his face with his arms. Lionna used her fur and hid her head from view. The other Alpha Alliance soldiers took similar steps to hide their vision as the white flashing light was then complemented by the rumbling impact of the powerful blast and aftershock. The ground shook and pieces of rock, marble, and dirt blew into the faces of the guardians of the Network. The psychic Pokemon around were also being blinded, breaking connection for a bit, but standing strong enough to keep their composure and remain together.

After a few more moments of intense light and rocks flying all over the blast, the light began to settle. Dust and smoke was still everywhere, so when Aero lowered his wing, he couldn't immediately spot the Greninja. He began to look around everywhere, trying to catch sight of him. The other Gold Tribe members did the same, while the Alpha Alliance soldiers still tried to recover from the powerful effects of the blast. Everywhere they were looking around, waiting for the Greninja to pop up. When the smoke from the spot he was standing cleared, there was absolutely no sign of him whatsoever, leading Aero to assume he had be completely annihilated by the Hyper Beam Cannon. He was about to let out a sigh of relief, when Gabriel's familiar voice was heard behind them.

"Well! Sure glad I didn't get hit by that thing!" Gabe said. Aero's eyes opened wide as he turned and saw the Greninja, who had somehow managed to take out the Zoroark SEC mercenary on the second Hyper Beam Cannon, and take it over himself. The gun was pointed directly at them. "What was that, one minute?" He asked them, before placing his hands on the trigger mechanism on the large weapon, and firing. "Sorry guys, you lose!"

The second Hyper Beam shot hit right in the middle of the group of guards, striking directly at the Network device and psychic Pokemon, as well as the three Gold Tribe that were there and the Alpha Alliance soldiers around. The last thing Aero saw was the bright white ball of the Hyper Beam shoot at him. Everything exploded in bright white energy, and then all was darkness. An enormous explosion erupted in the area, with the machine exploding and evaporating, and most of the Pokemon directly in the line of fire meeting the same fate. All those who weren't directly in the blast were thrust away by the impact and collided meters away, and did not move. The Greninja gracefully and skillfully leaped off of the cannon, and over the enormous blast crater it created, and casually walked away from the mayhem he had caused.

"One down, two to go."

Annabelle Serta & Thomas Blake: Network Point One​

The Network point was a mess. By the time Hanso SharpEye had gotten to one, scores of Pokemon were cramping around trying desperately to escape the city. He looked at the scene unfold, as only pockets of Pokemon were sent out of the city at a time. When he designed the Network, it was mostly supposed to be used as easier transport between cities, as well as ensuring unwanted Pokemon couldn't randomly teleport inside. Sure, it could be used to have others escape too, but not this amount at once. If they wanted to get everyone out in time, two things had to happen. They had to ensure these points remained safe, and the walls had to hold. Hanso hoped it could be done. He began directing Pokemon to try and form some sort of line around so that the transportation could become a bit more stable.

"Everyone! Please stay calm!" Annabelle yelled into the crowd of terrified Pokemon. Once Darkrai arrived and the panic started the Network was the first place Annabelle went. Like any SEC member she was well versed on how to use this system and was quickly devising a plan to teleport Pokemon in the most efficient manner with the help of her other colleagues. With the help of other SEC members, Anna directed 'mon into the most organized lines she could muster. In order to put as little strain as possible on the Psyhic types the crowds were directed to line up in groups of two (three depending) before transporting off. Any other other Psychic Pokemon that was able and willing were also recruited to either help teleport or enhance the power of the Network.

The sudden attack had Annabelle on edge and if it weren't for the task at hand she didn't think she'd be able to keep her cool. Work always had a way of helping Anna put her emotions on hold. After this she would collapse in a shaking heap of wool, but until then Anna maintained her focus. There were hundreds of scared citizens around her and if she was scared too what use would her directions be? Some of the 'mon would panic while others broke the line and dove in while another group was in the middle of a teleport. Needless to say, those moments didn't end well. There was even a post where a Meowstic had been overrun by the panicking masses and injured in the process. Since then they've kept a hard watch on the citizens, but there wasn't any way they could really stop another riot of that or bigger magnitude. Still, with all of the problems Anna was glad she wasn't near the fighting. She didn't believe anything could happen over here that would be more devastating than the fight by the wall.

Hanso noticed Annabelle on the far side of the crowd trying to organize the Pokemon into the Network as best as she could. He gave her a quick nod and proceeded to do a similar task, trying to organize them by the line method she was using. Thomas Blake meanwhile arrived with Sven close behind him, examining the large amounts of Pokemon, and looked to some of the SEC to see what he could do to help, noticing that they seemed to be the ones in charge of the situation. He approached a Mareep who had been trying to calm down the crowd enough to get them out of the city.

"Excuse me, ma'am," The Hypno began to say to her as he tapped her lightly on her shoulder. "Is there anyway I could assist? Things seem to be quite hectic here. Perhaps I could help organize the lines? Or maybe add my psychic abilities to help boost the Network? I...I just need to help somehow. I have to."

Anna turned around at the tap on her shoulder and perked up when she saw the Hypno and heard his request. "Of course!" She took a quick look to her left and right before pointing with her paw down past some of the Network lines. "Down there we lost a teleporter in some of the panic. She's alright," Anna continued with a reassuring nod, "and she's still willing to help, but her injuries are hurting her concentration and you'd be more than a big help if you assisted her."

Thomas nodded in understanding. "Right, I'll go help her out, then!" He replied loudly so that the Mareep could hear over the loud sounds of the Pokemon screaming and yelling nearby. "I...still can't believe this is all happening. All my life, I believed...I mean I didn't believe the stories. And here out of nowhere, he comes."

Thomas looked back at the Mareep and frowned. "It's just so unbel-" As Thomas was finishing his thought, he was interrupted by a large, brilliant light shining from another point in the city. The white light was followed by a large rumbling noise. "That...sounded like it came from inside the city, didn't it?" He asked her. "A Hyper Beam Cannon maybe?"

Shamefully a surprised shriek came from Anna when the flash came and she had to close her eyes at the light. She had jumped maybe an inch off of the ground and when she landed her wool trembled. Around her the screams of Pokemon heightened and the citizens around her began to panic again. Panting, Anna forced herself to recompose and direct others to help calm the crowd.

"A Hyper Beam Cannon?" Anna looked out towards the end of the city where the blast took place, still visibly shaken. With tools like that in the city there was no doubt the destruction would be incredible. Images of the devastation put Anna's nerves on the rise, but she forced her mind back on her mission. Giving herself a good shake, Anna took a deep breath and returned her attentions back to the Hypno. "Never mind going to the other station, we need to get everyone out of here as fast as possible and I'll need some help." Anna's mind was already rolling with everything they might need. "We'll need to calm the crowd again and get as many Psychics who can teleport or boost Psychic ability as possible whether they're fighting or not!" Right now she wished that Prynne, a Sunflora member of the SEC, had brought her experiment to showcase here at the festival. It had been a small, chewable tablet that boosted a Pokemon's abilities. There were tablets for light, medium, and heavy boosts and whether some of them were in their experimental phases or not, Anna dearly wished they had a supply to hand out to the much needed Psychics. "Anyone who can fly that's still in the city would also be crucial as well as anyone who can Dig escape tunnels away from the city." Anna nodded (mostly for herself) when she finished speaking the directions. Her mind still listed more duties and made edits for efficiency, but for now she was done. "Do you think you can help me with that?" Anna asked the Hypno. "I need to get the word out as quickly as possible and all the help I can receive."

"R-right!" Thomas managed to stammer out. He was surprised by how quickly the little Mareep was able to take charge. It was impressive, to say the least. He quickly tried to see what he could add to help the situation. "Well, I've got a lot of my followers around the city. I lead...led the Valkarian Exposure, so I could definitely try to get them to spread the word, and maybe help with digging the tunnels and gathering flying Pokemon," Thomas turned to his companion Sven the Sandshrew beside him. "Sven do you think you can spread the word to everyone?" Sven, who was still a bit shocked from the Darkrai appearance and the loud explosion from the Hyper Beam Cannon, merely nodded without saying anything, before he took off.

Another rumble soon followed the first one, followed by another bright white light. Judging from the area and power, Thomas believed it to be coming most likely from one of the three SEC Network points. If one of them had been compromised, that definitely wasn't good. "Alright, let's get to work!" He declared. Before he started off, he turned back to the Mareep. "Oh, I'm Thomas Blake by the way."

Thankfully the Hypno had resources, something more than helpful in this situation. Anna was also impressed by his readiness to work. She had been approached by others who wanted to help, but few had the fervor the Hypno did. He was not fearless, but he certainly had the heart. When Thomas introduced himself, Anna gave him a nod in greeting before introducing herself. "Annabelle Serta. If all goes well on your end find me or any other SEC member. There is more than enough work to do today." She looked worriedly towards the last blast at another Network point. Her mind told her to check their status, but she knew that they would need as much help over here as possible. Besides being so close to one of those cannons... Annabelle tossed the thought aside before giving Blake a parting gesture and running off not only to inform others but to organize as many escape operations as possible.

Snype was on his way to the wall... after a bit of distance though, he suddenly stopped. Along the way he was thinking of several possibilities and just how well planned this assault could be... Darkrai usually wasn't this direct. It seemed out of character... at least... that was what Snype had noticed from what he had seen. He hadn't revealed himself until the very end... on top of that, Darkari was attacking head on and trying to destroy the walls with a giant Wailord ram! Again though, Snype's only seen him once. This attack is happening and the bottom line is that it either had to be stopped, or the citizens had to be evacuated somewhere... Eden forest immediately came to mind as a place to evacuate but Snype was uneasy of attracting attention like that to the thieves... he was willing to help the Gold Tribe and stop Darkrai... allow them the resources of the Ninjask Network, and have the thieves within the city assist with the battle and any other tasks...

But he wasn't about to risk the lives of all of the thieves within their own base.

Snype was feeling uneasy. Thirty years ago he was a mindless killer who joined the Silver Tribe for the fun of it... now he was a mastermind of the thieves, using their resources to prevent the very same thing from happening. He had researched on not only the Gold Tribe, but Darkari as well. After the Gold Tribe documents were leaked into the public, Snype of course, was one to take advantage of this information. He recalled that he had once made an entire country go to war against itself... That whole scenario just sounds chaotic. If that were the case, then everything would make sense.

"What if Darkari is planning to do that again...? Cause enough chaos to make everyone panic... which would lead to doubt... the possibility that there could be spies of Darkari within the city. But... what of the thieves? Could one of our own thieves be agents of Darkari? Is nobody safe...?" Snype clenched his fist. "No! What am I thinking?! That's probably what the slimy bastard wants! If we all start suspecting one another of being Darkari, there will be an outrage! One of the citizens could reveal themselves to be a spy. Everyone could be a suspect! The perfect opening for Darkrai. I have to trust my men... but if there were any agents of Darkrai within the city... then he would know about..." Snype perked up.

"The Network Points!" Snype quickly turned around. He had no idea which one would possibly be targeted first! He'd have to know the suspect first! The only way he'd know where to strike... is for the attack to begin. One of the points would have to be destroyed first...

Gah! How could I be so stupid! Cause a mess, trap everyone in the chaos! But who? Someone with some decent sense would have to pull of something so elaborate! No... I don't want to believe it. The possibility that other Pokemon could willingly work with that thing and be hired... its a theory... just a theory... just a theory... jus-"

Suddenly... an explosion.

That was all he needed. His proof was right there. Somebody was working on the inside. Snype let out a loud whistle and ran toward the direction of the other network points. Those thirty years of preparing for this weren't going to waste... If he couldn't save Gold City, Then he could learn about the enemy as well as the situation. He wasn't going to go down easily.

Four Ninjask flew toward Snype and slowed down to follow him.

"You! I want information on the site of the explosion! And you two, I want both of you to investigate the nearby area and scan for all possible routes toward the other networks! We need to figure out where he'll strike next and his tactics! Such a large explosion means some powerful force was involved... likely the Hyper Beam Cannons or a Hyper Beam of their own-no it had to be a Hyper Beam Cannon! Someone was manipulated, tricked, or they were hijacked... they're the only things in the city that have the kind of power to create such a gigantic crater. Perhaps the opposing party used a cannon to avoid harm, leading the the gigantic explosion... If Darkrai planned to take out all of the networks then someone with the expertise to escape something like that is still roaming the streets!" Snype explained. For now, He was just walking blind toward one of the network points. He had no means of discovering the next target. He didn't want to assume that this intruder knows of the Ninjask network. That would only lead to being paranoid. All he could do was hope for the best.

"Pass the message to Guardia and any other Generals! Along with any other Ninjask in the area! We can't lose the network points... But I have a backup...If it comes to that..." Snype paused, gritting his teeth. No! He wasn't about to resort to that! He was going to stop this intruder!

"Just pass the message! Get to work!" Snype shouted as he sent off his messengers. "Hang on... you there." He called back another Ninjask. "I want you to follow me. If I find this intruder, I might need backup. Understood?" Snype said.

The Ninjask just stared at him confused. "Boss... I'm just a messenger. I'm not as efficient in combat as you"

"Who said you would be getting involved in combat?...still... you're a thief. We're an independent order. You have the ability to make your own choices. I trust you can do that. Otherwise you wouldn't be following me. Understood?" Snype explained. The Ninjask simply chirped in response. Snype would start to head toward Network Point three... just off of a gamble. No doubt the rest of SEC were starting to set up their forces on the other Network Ponts. He just hoped they could hold the intruder off. Snype's goal was to figure out the identity of him or her. Snype would either be holding off the final line, or the second. Hopefully SEC had things under control.

A Slight Misunderstanding
Victor and Abel



The city was in an uproar, chaos abound. It seemed that the darkness Victor had witnessed was not the only thing there. An army was on the attack. Victor ran through Gold city, looking for any sign of the Madman. He had strapped the book onto his back for convenience, the same way he had done along the trip to Gold City. "This city's too damn big, how am I supposed to find him in all this mess?!"

Abel meanwhile had been sprinting through the city, trying to navigate around all of the Pokemon heading to the Network points and soldiers heading to the wall. Oh, and the few that were abandoning there posts and running for their lives. If it were in Beatruce, Abel had half a mind to kill them as they ran, but he figured he'd let the own leadership handle it.

Along the way, he bumped into an Electivire who seemed not to fit into any of the groups. Abel contemplated just moving along and leaving him to his seemingly aimless wanderings, but figured as a Gold Tribe member, he might as well lend a hand if he could. After all, half of their jobs were babysitting the helpless, as he would put it. "Hey!" He yelled after the Electivire. "Closest Network point is over there if you're trying to leave the city! Get a move on!"

Victor stopped at the Medicham's call, a bit caught off guard. "Leave? But I only just got here." Victor had no intention of leaving the city until he found the Madman. "I'm not leaving til my job is done, alright."

"Job?" Abel questioned impatiently. Already too much was going on and he wasn't sure if he had time for whatever nonsense this Electivire was talking about. Still, he was a bit curious. "What job? What are you, an Alpha Alliance soldier?" He then pointed behind him toward the front of the city. "Wall's that way then!"

Victor was getting impatient. "I ain't no Alpha pushover! Who I work for is none of your business, now stay out of my way." Victor was not about to start killing random people, whether they be the invaders or this nut job. "Trust me, you don't want to tangle with someone like me." Victor promptly started away, thoroughly done with distractions.

Abel suddenly found himself glaring at the Electivire oddly. Here crossed his arms and spoke, now more interested in the 'mon. "You're not Alpha Alliance. You're here in the city conveniently when we're under attack...so you're working for Darkrai then?" He snorted. "You've got a set of balls on you then." The Medicham prepared to charge at the Electivire. "Too bad you won't be finishing your job."

"I always finish my job, and today is no different." Victor turned back to the Medicham. "I don't know any 'Darkrai' but if you're so intent on stopping me you're sadly mistaken." Victor raised his right arm, summoning a volley of sparks around it. But when he lifted his left arm, which was charred black, something different happened. Flames engulfed Victor's hand, swirling about their point of origin. "Nothing can stop me." Victor took a battle stance and prepared for the Medicham's attack. Victor refused to make the first move. Fighting was not his job right now, but he would fight if he needed to.

The Medicham stared long and hard at the Electivire. He said or did nothing while he did this, instead merely examining the 'mon. After a while of examination and deep thoughts, Abel rolled his eyes and sighed, leaving from his fighting stance, though not entirely dropping his guard. "You're not with Darkrai," He stated. He knew this not because his opponent didn't apparently have any knowledge of the Dark One, but because he refused to make the first blow. Sure, it could be argued that he was waiting for Abel to do it, but it was clear to the Medicham that he didn't want to fight in the first place. Abel thought it was possible he could be completing another mission for Darkrai, but dismissed that as well when he didn't seem to know where he was going or run off immediately when Abel stopped him. Put simply, Abel had been in enough of these situation when he knew that his opponent's position, relatively just from body language. "Who or what are you looking for?"

"Hmmmm..." Victor lowered his guard, following the lead of this stranger. He contemplated the situation a bit, and decided that this guy knew more about what was going on than himself. "I'm here to deliver a package. This book." Victor turned around, displaying the bound book on his back. "It's for the Madman." Not wanting to leave himself open too long, Victor returned to facing the Medicham. "My name is Victor Maelstrom, but most just call me Firestorm."

Abel looked at the book as Victor displayed it, then back to the Electivire. "Are you Gold Tribe, Victor?" Abel asked, not bothering introducing himself to the Electivire. He never liked doing so, and more often than not, especially in these tense situations, it wasn't likely anyone he did divulge his name to would be around long enough for it to matter.

Victor chuckled to himself. "Freelance mercenary." Victor sounded proud as he said it. He wasn't the sort who bought into the 'heroics' of the Gold Tribe. "I'm the guy the Gold Tribe calls to take care of their dirty work. Or whoever's dirty work. But we'll have time for life stories later. Either tell me how to find the Madman, or let me go."

"Right, mercenary," Abel repeated what the Electivire said. "I just thought since you had a title you might have been...never mind," He stopped himself short. Abel pointed back the way he was coming from, toward the direction of the wall. "Last I checked, he was heading toward the wall to help with the defense. He probably is still there," He added.

"Damn." Victor had had bad missions before, but this was ridiculous. It seemed every bad thing that could be happening, was. "Guess that means I gotta go back to where those freaks are coming from, huh? Well this package probably won't be getting delivered as long as this fighting is going on, I guess I'll just have to lend a hand. But someone better make it worth my effort." Last time I ever play mailmon... "Thanks for the tip." Victor started running back to the wall, the last place he wanted to be right now, but the only place he could go.

Snype, Paradox, Anna, Tebra and Gabriel - Network Point Three

As Snype's Ninjask Network would soon find out, Gold City was in more of a mess than first anticipated. While the wall held on for now, the interior of the city was beginning to crumble. Network point two had apparently been compromised, destroyed by the Alpha Alliance's own Hyper Beam Cannons. It was most likely the work of an agent of Darkrai, though the assailant is currently unknown. Furthermore, Network points one and three have had to pick up the slack for two's destruction, with large lines, cramping, and panic occurring around Network point one. However, even worse than that was Network point three, where an apparent large fire had erupted, engulfing the area in flames. Though not compromised yet, the Network point was in bad shape if the fire wasn't put out.

Snype immediately noticed the fire erupting at the network point. This intruder was fast! It had to be a single Pokemon. A master at infiltration. One of the Ninjask quickly flew over to Snype and confirmed his suspicion of the Hyper Beam cannons. If that were the case, then the very same thing was going to happen to Network Point Three. He doubted this Pokemon had the ability to destroy something like this on his own.

"Find some nearby Water Pokemon and make them help with the fire. I don't care of they're civilians or not. This network is going to fall if we don't deal with this." Snype ordered. The Ninjask quickly searched the city, making sure to keep its distance from the Fire. Snype meanwhile was heading straight for the heart of the Network Point to find this intruder and hopefully get information from him or her.

Paradox ran through the streets, more than pissed off as he ran past terrified civilians. "You know, you don't have to be THAT annoying!" He snapped to himself. Only way to get you to do anything. Penance replied testily back. We have to get to Obsidian and the others. I will promise you this, if they were killed you can go and kill that whole army. Paradox just smirked at that, "Then I hope they're dead!" He said gleefully as he made his way to the smoke. It seemed that no one was around now... but there were some dead GT and alpha soldiers. "Heh, so much for being trained to be the best." He mused.

Quit your jokes! This is serious now! You know I only get serious when it's serious! They aren't here, get to another point and find them now! "Sheesh, and I thought I was high strung." He said as he dashed off yet again. This time his attention was drawn elsewhere. He could see billowing clouds of smoke that wavered in another part of the city, yet these flames weren't close to point three... at least not yet anyways. They seemed to be heading that way and so Paradox began running along the sidewalks. He glanced up at a low lying building and jumped into the air, at the same time lowering his hands down as he shot off a Water Bomb. The impact of psychic energy that exploded out helped to shoot him up higher as he landed on the rooftop with a grunt.

He picked up his pace again as he ran to the next roof, this time using the force of a simple water pulse to help propel him across the wide gap. He glanced off to the side of the building as he saw the flames continue onward, but they weren't as fast as he was. He glanced near the edge of the roof and made his way to the corner, leaping off and tossing two water pulses down near the mass of flames. He, of course, performed a small acrobatic flip in the air as he rolled into a landing and held out his hands as a mass of water pulses slammed out to combat the flames. "You have better port every single living mon out of here right now or I swear, if I have to play house maid for another godd**n five minutes heads are going to roll!"

People were crammed right next to the network. That would be catastrophic if it exploded just like the last time. Snype noticed Penance seemed to be around too dealing with the fire.

"Where is this guy... they could be within the crowd just slowly slinking on into the heart of the area..." Snype searched around for the Location of the Hyper Beam Cannons and started to head toward them. The intruder would likely be heading there to cause some havoc. Setting up Hyper Beam Cannons that can be pointed right to the Network. Smart design choice there Hanso...

The Ninjask that Snype ordered to follow him kept his distance, flying around as if it were with the rest of the network. Some backup probobly wouldn't hurt either if any thieves were nearby. Snype was chasing after a master infiltrator after all.

As if on cue, Tebra, an Umbreon that had been raised in the Thieves' Forest, sprinted up to the Network point, slowing down to match Snype's pace when she got near him. "Fire, Darkrai, and a Network point about to be destroyed. There a plan yet or are we just kind of doing whatever?" she asked hurriedly, glancing at the mayhem around her.

"Good to see you too." Snype simply replied. "Yeah I got a plan. According to what the Ninjask investigated, the last network was destroyed by the Hyper Beam Cannons. Unless this intruder is carrying a nuke in its Pocket, then it'll have to use them again in order to blow up the third network point. I plan to catch this Pokémon in the act and prevent any more damage. The only problem is I have no idea what species we're dealing with here. Its something fast. The fire here didn't take long to errupt after that last explosion so it has to be something about medium size or our size." Snype said, getting into range of the Location of a couple Hyper Beam Cannons.

"Ya know!" Paradox shouted on over, "Normally I wouldn't be interrupting given that I find it absolutely hilarious whenever you lesser pokémon try and plan, as if you can actually change anything, but perhaps disabling the cannons themselves just MIGHT be a good idea. Just saying!"

Snype glared back at Penance. "Yes I was getting to that. Disabling them would work and possibly prevent this place from being destroyed. But then we'd lose our intruder and he'd probably just find another way to blow this place up. Still, having somebody on standby to disable the Hyper Beam Cannons just incase would be helpful... or work against us. For now, this will make for a good lure, assuming he uses the same strategy again. He should have been here by now though..." Snype's eyes gave off a glimmer, activating Detect to hone his senses.

"Kehe, well, we could always ask them nicely eh?" Snype said, somewhat joking but it was still a serious suggestion. He hopped right down and made his way to the Hyper Beam Cannons cautiously. He didn't want to waste time warning them. They wouldn't be stupid enough to waste a blast on Snype after all. "Tebra, join the Ninjask here on standby. I'll let you know when to act." Snype said before heading down.

As Snype moved away, Tebra turned back to the crowd and the spreading flames. "In the meantime, I'll work on putting out the fire!" She didn't know any real water-type moves, but she could at least try something.

She leaped onto a rooftop where the flames were about to spread, and raised her head high. She looked into the clouds and used Rain Dance, summoning a downpour to help and dowse the flames.

Anna coughed harshly from the smoke of the flames. It wasn't easy running near the raging wall, but she had to if she thought there'd be any hope for Network Three. As other Pokemon helped put out the flame, Annabelle worked to help injured Psychics or move the able-bodied ones. The Psychics could still operate in this area, sure, but with the threat of the flames and the choking smoke it would be better for both the Network and the Psychics themselves to another area.

Anna guided a Hypno towards the new point which for now they would call Network Point Three B. Despite the smoke, the Hypno was still strong and it reminded Anna of the Hypno Thomas she'd left at Network Point One. After giving him her instructions he seemed to be capable of keeping things under control. She hoped more than anything that soon the same could be said here.

As the King of Thieves and others began approaching close to the Hyper Beam Cannons, the Pokemon on top of them nervously pointed them along at the many citizens passing around the Network point. Despite moving it a tad out of the way to avoid the flames, the cannons were still in range to deal with anyone who would try something. Of course, the problem was that there were so many Pokemon around that at this point, the cannons were virually worthless without causing extreme casualties. The first Pokémon, a Heracross, moved the Hyper Beam Cannon around left and right, roaming as he tried to act casual, though he couldn't help but let a bit of his anxiety show. The second Pokémon, a Greninja, sat more casually on the Hyper Beam Cannon, not moving it around or pointing it anywhere away from where it was originally positioned, pointed right at the Pokémon on approach. However, the Pokémon seemed to be more or less relaxing rather than patrolling, with one knee bent up to his chest, and an arm positioned over it, resting on top of it, while his other leg dangled over the seat in the air.

Figures that he'd have those cannons pointed right toward him. Didn't this guy know the danger of shooting that cannon in the middle of this crowd? Snype's Ninjask was currently hidden on standby... Snype had a plan to hopefully throw the intruder off. Wherever he was. Unless someone caught him, which Snype doubted, the intruder had to be at the Hyper Beam Cannons by now. Snype looked over to the Greninja and Heracross.

"...how welcoming. Look, there's not much time to explain. You two need to deactivate those cannons. They'll do nothing but harm with all of these people running around here." Snype began. He kept Detect prepared in case anyone decided to make any sudden movements. Something wasn't right about this scene...

"W-what?" The Heracross began, positioning the cannon slightly pointed toward the Sableye now. "Did the Generals order that?" He asked nervously.

"Probably not," the Greninja replied before the Sableye had a chance to. "That's the King of Thieves there, Snype. I wouldn't trust him if I were you. I certainly wouldn't!" He stated to the Heracross.

"Of course you shouldn't!" Snapped Paradox as he doused more flames, the rain helping much in that regard, "He's chaos filled that one, hehe. Still, I should hopefully be done here, then I'm out of here. At least back at the wall there was some semblance of getting stuff done! Oh but no, Paradox HAS to be the maid, I need to clean this up, I need to clean that up, and this stupid Golduck in my head just won't shut up!" He threw a few more pulses, most clashing against the flames... and also causing some damage to the houses to boot.

Snype ignored Penance's comment. Everything was going according to plan. If the intruder was here, he'd be waiting for an opportunity to take one of those cannons and fire it straight at the network. He had to get them to aim away from it first. So Snype casually started to move to the right to hopefully have them change their aim a bit...

"Kehehe... wise of you not to trust a Thief, but I still think you should deactivate those cannons. I don't know if you're aware, but the last network point was destroyed by those very same weapons. If you keep them on, you're only endangering every citizen here. It's not like you can fire it without causing serious harm to everybody around you. Someone could easily hijack them and point it right to the network. The Generals didn't order it. I'm ordering it. It's just common sense." Snype said.

The Heracross nervously looked at the Sableye, unsure of what to do. He looked at the Greninja, who exchanged glances with him and shrugged. "Seems solid to me," He stated to the Heracross. The Heracross thought for a moment longer, then nodded, both of them started deactivating the Hyper Beam Cannons from a trigger next to its base. "You're the boss, I'm just a waiter..." The Greninja muttered as he looked for the off switch. The Heracross quickly deactivated his Hyper Beam Cannon, the massive weapon powering down and shutting off, all the energy building up at it's firing point suddenly vanishing.

The Greninja had a bit more trouble shutting the weapon off, it seemed. "Oh darn it, where's the dang off button," He said as he searched for the off switch at the bottom of the cannon. As he was looking, it appeared the Greninja was inadvertently moving the cannon slightly more to the left. "It's on the base, next to the two petals!" The Heracross instructed from the other, deactivated cannon.

"I'm lookin', I'm lookin'...oh, found it!" The Greninja said, as he located the apparent 'off' button on the weapon. However, as he was about to turn it off, his hand suddenly found its place at the trigger, "Oops," He stated, as he fired off a round of the Hyper Beam Cannon, the large massive weapon pointed nearby Network point three, firing its signature white, bright enormous energy pulse.

The impact from the Hyper Beam cannon made Anna jump a foot off the ground. Her body shook from fright and her heart beat faster with the screams of the citizens hit by the attack. She remembered the earlier blast over by Network Point Two and a feeling of dread went over here. They were here now too and by the looks of how many citizens crowded this Network it was the attacker's intent to take it down. That was something she couldn't let that happen!

For the second time Annabelle forced herself to focus on her work rather than the fighting around her. "Everyone!" She shouted to the Psychics. "It still isn't safe over here! Follow me!"

It was at that moment that Paradox's hand flicked behind him to grab the cannon and twist it at the last moment. Good news, the point hadn't been damaged. Bad news, the cannon's fire had gone straight through a load of civilians as various screams echoed through the air. Paradox sighed, "I really thought you normals were smarter than that." He muttered. "I gave a small itsy bitty chance, yet you still amaze me to this day." He glanced back right at the Greninja with a smirk, "On the one hand, I like the attitude. You do make for a fine waiter. On the other, tsk tsk. I thought you would be more fun, but you're so... droll at the same time. So cliche."

He looked right at the Heracross, "You scram or I snap your neck. Two seconds." He looked right back at the Greninja, "So, how has my dear old 'dad' been lately? Swell? Bit under the weather considering his old ass was beaten by mere mortal pokémon, and this is obviously some ego boosting he desperately needs in order to convince himself it was just lucky they won?"

Snype had a bad feeling about the Greninja as soon as he took his time with the Cannon. He should have just struck beforehand and took a gamble. What he DIDN'T expect was for Penance to make matters worse for Snype. The Network was safe, sure, but the cataclysm was the same nonetheless! He held his hand up to keep the Ninjask on standby. Originally he was going to intercept the Greninja himself but it seems Penance had to make matters difficult. To make it worse, they seemed to be acquainted. He'd ask if he was crazy, but the answer would be obvious.

They found their intruder though, and the Network Point was saved for a little while... but it didn't matter if a crowd of Pokémon was obliterated. Who's idea was it to have these weapons again? Snype was about ready to slap whoever thought placing these together in the middle of town was a good idea. "Ego... tsk... look who's talking..." Snype thought to himself.

"Huh, droll? Cliche?" He repeated what the dark Golduck said, seeming a bit put off by it. "Hey, that's not really nice to say, Penance!" The Greninja exclaimed from on top of his Hyper Beam Cannon, his form barely visible from the residue dirt and smoke fluttering in the air after the powerful shot. "Oh sorry, I should say Paradox instead." He corrected himself with a smirk. "I try reeeaally hard with my plans!"

Paradox just sighed as he aimed a finger right at him, "Really now? You DO realize I could shoot out a small beam and rip apart your heart, you DO know that right? I swear, you normals are like insects, going where footsteps are and for some strange reason, being satisfied as you are squashed." He raised his other hand toward the Heracross who hadn't moved from his cannon yet, from sheer fear and shock, and flicked his finger as he moved his head in such a manner that a loud snap was heard.

"I DID give him a warning, did I not?" He questioned the frog, "Seriously, he comes here, sees you there, knows its not your cannon... stays in there while 'I' am here. I mean, truly, the levels of stupidity ASTOUND me." He shook his head, "Thirty years in and I STILL can't understand it. But..." He looked up and smirked, "I have to say, I do like your spirit. Honestly, most who do see me cower in fear, and that's the rare times I've come out. Tell you what, I'll let you decide your fate. Chaos beam through the heart? Maybe I just snap all your bones? Try and be creative here, it might very well earn you bonus points."

Snype stepped forward. This duck was a serious liability. "Pe-Paradox. I'd prefer if he were alive. I wanna know how the hell he ended up being affiliated with Darkrai. He seems to have alot more sense then other Corrupted Pokémon. Also, get him off the Hyper Beam Cannon. He's obviously stalling to get another shot off." Snype said.

"I agree with the King," The Greninja stated, pointing to Snype as he continued. "All those options sound kinda scary, I'd rather you just...not kill me, if that's alright with you," He added, in a somewhat surprisingly upbeat tone. "Oh, but you're wrong about me stalling! Actually, you're dead on, but not really in the way you think," He stated in response to Snype's last statement. "It's like I said before, I try reeeaally hard with my plans. It's be a bit...hmm...boring to go about destroying another Network point the exact same way. I mean, come on, that would be..." The Greninja's voice trailed off for a bit, putting a finger at the bottom of his face where his large tongue covered his chin. "...droll and cliché," He said, his eyes and face convulsing to an apparent smile, though from the smoke and distance, it was unlikely the others would notice. "So let's chat a bit more and you guys try guessing what I'm actually doing. Hey, you know what? I heard a lot about what you guys have bee-"

"NOW!" Snype shouted. The Ninjask following Snype quickly held out its claws and struck the Golduck with X-Scissor. It knew pretty darn well how dangerous such a move would be, so Snype jumped in as well to ensure his partner's safety. He wasn't about to let Paradox kill a valuble source of information. Tebra was up next, sprinting in with outstanding speed just short of the Ninjask's. She leaped onto the cannon next to the Greninja and, before the oversized frog could do anything, she hit him with a Mean Look attack, immobilizing him.

"Wha? Huh? Hey!" Was all the Greninja replied with, before coming under wraps of the Mean Look. He, apparently, wasn't going anywhere now. Realizing this, the Greninja began to sulk in his seat, easing back a bit and sighing. "Well...alright then." He replied simply.

It was at that moment that Paradox raised a finger and fired off a chaos beam right at the Greninja, but just as the attack went off it ended up veering to the side, firing right into the air. The attacks hit, causing the Golduck to stagger back, silently reaching up to rub his cheek that had a slice upon it. He was silent for a bit longer, almost contemplating what happened as he spoke softly, "You two... have 'til the count of three before I do something. One..."

"Paradox how about you go check out that big smoldering crater of Pokemon you just killed with that Hyper Beam Cannon misfire? You love chaos so that's right up your alley, right?" Snype turned to Tebra. "Get him out of that Cannon. Turn it off in the meantime. It's on the base, next to the two petals." Snype said, practically mimicking the dead Heracross's words. Snype's eyes gave off a glimmer, in case Paradox wanted to try something stupid again.

Penance narrowed his eyes at the Sableye, "You think that you can boss me around?" He sneered, "I will admit the cannon fire was a nice change of pace... but I have a different idea in mind for our... captive." He smirked a bit, "You say you don't want him dead, fine. I won't kill him. I'll only work him to the point that he begs for death instead. That should get him to the point where he's screaming out answers, correct?" He asked smugly as he slowly strolled up to the Greninja and gave his ribs a poke, "Besides, he seems strong willed enough. Probably lead to some lovely hours cracking him open like an egg."

"Aww, hey there's no need to do that!" The Greninja exclaimed from his immobile position. He chuckled a bit nervously. "I mean, we're all reasonable 'mon here right? Right?"

"Four of us are. Kehehe" Snype replied.

He still didn't trust Penance to be alone with the Greninja. If they had to play good cop bad cop with this Greninja then so be it. He'd like the Gold Tribe to at least be informed of this. Chances were that word would've spread by now.

"Fair enough. I just want him to tell me what I want to know. After that I really don't care what you do with him. I'm more curious in what this big plan is supposed to be." Snype said. Could there be more agents in the city...? He was recalling what the Greninja was talking about earlier. He hadn't planned to destroy the next Network Point the same way... how else could it be pulled off then? He had to make sure.

"...Are you the only intruder in this city?" Snype asked rather bluntly.

The Greninja, who had seemed nervous and somewhat frightened by the situation he was in, instantly changed his demeanor once Snype asked his question. He looked him straight in the eye, his eyes and face seeming to convulse, possibly because he was smiling under his tongue-scarf. He replied to the King of Thieves.

"Now THAT'S a much different way to destroy the Networks."

Snype, Paradox, Gabriel, Anna, and Ripper

Of course, that smile was enough for Paradox to grab the Greninja's right foot and twist it about painfully, "No no no." Paradox tsked, "We do not want petty answers like those..." He looked right at the Greninja, "Why attack the city now? Personally I would have attacked when Guardia was here all by her lonesome to be sure."

"Oww, oww!" Gabriel yelped in pain as Paradox pulled his leg. He tried to squirm his way away from the insane Golduck, but was unable to move still from the Mean Look, it seemed. "Take it easy now!"

The Greninja was stalling. That settled it. Darkrai had multiple intruders inside the walls. At least there's no way the Greninja would be escaping now, thanks to Paradox. "Ninjask, fly around the network and warn anyone about other possible intruders. I don't know what they have planned... but its likely somebody's already made it to network one. It'll have to be up to whoever's stationed there in that case." Snype said. The Ninjask nodded and flew off to warn other members of SEC about other intruders as well as the captured Greninja. It would inform any possible Gold Tribe soldiers as well.

"You're stalling. We're probably wasting time interrogating you but you have information. I'll have to take that sacrifice. What the hell are you thinking working with Darkrai? You're not corrupted so what gives? He doesn't seem like the kind of being that'd give a decent paycheck." Snype said.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," The Greninja responded with a shrug. "But let me ask you something: you probably saw Darkrai for what, thirty minutes? An hour? Do you really think you know what 'kind of being' he is after that little time?"

"W...wha? What are you implying?" Snype said, stepping forward to the Greninja.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Gabriel replied, staring off into the sides of the streets, where some of the flames continued to progress, albeit somewhat slowed down by the enormous effort to put them out. "I just find it kind of funny that you think you know what kind of paycheck he offers in that short time. Hell, I've known the legendary for...well a long time and I'm not sure I know what kind of 'mon he really is."

Paradox gave a rather loud sigh and this time grabbed Gabe's leg, twisting about so it was just on the verge of breaking... then he smirked and twisted it just a bit more so that the sound of at least one bone breaking was heard, "Oh... I know him." The golduck said with a smirk. "You're looking at a part of him after all. Me? Far different from the sentinels. He used his own darkness, his inner parts, to birth little old me." The dark duck snickered, "I know how he truly thinks so I'll ask this. What is my 'father's' plan? You don't give me a straight answer and next I'll break your other leg. But I won't stop there, oh no. I'll break your arms next, I'll crush your ribs, I'll sever your spine in that veeeery particular spot so that you won't die, but you'll have to lay in the bed for the rest of your life contemplating, why oh why you never answered Paradox's question truthfully. Trust me." He leaned in close, the glow from his red eyes reflecting just a bit off of the Greninja's blue skin, "By the time I'm through with you, you'll wish that you would have died."

"Hey! Oww! Oww! OK OK!" Gabriel yelled, panting a bit as he clutched his leg. Just when it appeared he would possibly say something on the subject, he spoke again. "Well, if you really know how he truly thinks, you should know what his plan is...obviously!" He added with a bit of a chuckle. He noticed what he said might once again illicit a reaction from Paradox, so he quickly changed tune again. "N-now hold on, before we go and do anything rash, let's talk this through."

"Quit talking in riddles. Unfortunately, I can't really control my Golduck friend here. Kehehe. If you like, I could lock you into a nice dark room alone with him where nobody could possibly watch what terrible things could go down! Ohhh that'd be fun right Paradox? Kehehe. That tongue scarf of yours looks rather cozy!" Snype threatened.

Paradox just narrowed his eyes at the frog, "You look like you want to speak... yet you keep saying stupid things... " He glanced back at Snype, "Suppose some curse is laid on him?" He asked, "It's the only reason someone like him might be acting so idiotic in front of me and digging a deeper hole for himself which will eventually culminate in say..." He grabbed the frog's thigh with a sick grin, "Oh... dislocating his bone from his hip. I hear it's a very, very nasty experience to have."

"Well we aren't going to find out if you end up breaking him too soon." Snype simply responded. He glared at the Greninja once more. He held up his hand, revealing a few small blue flames as he prepared Will-o-wisp. "Talk."

"OK, OK, I'll talk, just don't have him break my...whatever! I prefer to keep all my parts intact if I can," Gabriel pleaded. He sighed deeply, preparing to speak. "Alright," He paused for a moment longer, taking in another long breath. "My name...is Gabriel. You can call me Gabe though, my friends call me Gabe," He stated. He then looked around, pondering for a moment. "Well, I guess you guys aren't really my friends so...but still you can call me Gabe too." He glanced quickly at Paradox, who didn't appear to be amused. He quickly continued. "Uhm...I was born in Gold City, Valkaria...oh wait. No I wasn't, that was my cover story. I forgot...ha," He chuckled a bit.

"I'm waiting." Paradox said with little amusement in his voice.

"I'm actually an ag—" Gabriel was cut off. In the distance of another part of the city, a sudden collapsing of a building or something of that nature was heard. He perked up to that location, and nodded. "Right, that's my cue!" In a sudden, unexpected motion, Gabriel leaned forward, which was something he was thought not able to do because of the Mean Look. He pressed his hand, which clutched something small within it, right up to Paradox's forehead. "You're not needed yet, Paradox. Sleep for now," He muttered softly. A small shine rose from the tips of his fingers, and an instant later, Paradox would feel himself being pushed to the depths of the mind, with Penance back in the front of things. As the transition occurred, Gabriel kicked the Golduck with some surprising force probably not expected from the 'mon, releasing himself from his grab, and shot a Smokescreen at the ground below him. Instantly, the area burst open with a thick smoke.

As the smoke began to slowly vanish, the Greninja was gone.

Penance coughed and hacked as he fell back. "Huh...." Penance blinked a bit as he looked down at his blue skin for a moment. He then turned to the others and clasped his hands together, "Well, looks like we are royally f*cked here." He said with a cheery grin, "By the way, any of you want to pick up my best seller? It's to die for! Literally!" He burst into a bit of laughter as he sat down in the other hyper beam cannon, though his laughter was soon quieted by his hacks as he doubled over.

He paused for a moment before he leaned behind the machine as the sounds of retching could be heard. He coughed a bit and turned about, wiping his bill off, "Urgh... hate it when that happens." He muttered as he patted the dead Heracross next to him, "So... what do you all think of a twenty coin increase in the price eh?" He blinked his eyes before suddenly the Golduck slammed against the console as he fell unconscious.

Snype started to cough repeatedly as the Greninja got away. Blast it... part of him started to regret not just killing him but now they could confirm all of this information, as well as Snype's own theories. And it looked like Penance was back to his usual self. What was that he was saying? He's an ag-what now? The Greninja succeeded in stalling. If only Paradox would stop talking for two minutes and just get to the point. He'd have to thank the Greninja for shutting him up after he was caught.

"So there's other Pokemon like him in the city... that kind of power isn't normal for a Greninja... Gah, I still need more answers. Where the heck did he go...?" Snype searched around for any possible traces left behind, if there were any.

The Gold Tribe member Ripper, a Houndoom, came around to the Network point not long after the Greninja Gabriel had left. He looked around at the unconscious Penance, the large crater from the Hyper Beam cannon, the dead Heracross and the fire still raging in the area. "What the hell is going on here?" He asked the others. He also noticed the Network was no longer where it was supposed to be before.

Snype looked back at the Gold Tribe Member. Aww this wasn't good. The image here was going to start making Snype look like the villain! "Jeez... where do I begin?" Snype started to explain word for word what happened. The Greninja that had hijacked the hyper beam cannon, Penance's interference via Paradox along with the Heracross' death, as well as what the Greninja has told Snype.

"What a mess!" Ripper growled, angry at how everything was turning out since Darkrai had returned. He knew this festival was a bad idea. He just knew it! But hardly anyone was listening to him. "Well damn it, if we're going to move the Network now, we'd better move it somewhere safe. Somewhere more secure. Let's go, now!"

Snype nodded. "Right. Keep an eye out for anybody suspicious near the network while your at it." Snype glanced over to Penance and sighed. "Geez... what the heck are we gonna do with him?"

Ripper looked back at the unconscious Penance, and shook his head. "He's the Madman, right? He probably has supporters. It sounds harsh, but we have to protect the citizens and their chances of escaping now...not one 'mon." In truth, Ripper actually preferred to just leave him there because he was old enough to hear about the horrors the 'Affiliates', what the Seekers used to be called, did to Gold Tribe members.

"Keh... wasn't going to suggest protecting him..." Snype thought to himself. He'd prefer if Penance and Paradox just stayed out of this before one of them screws something else up or murders another chunk of the city. They were unreliable, despite whatever history they might have had in the past for taking out Darkrai. Shrugging, Snype followed Ripper off to the network point. Nothing else to do after all.

Ripper took off, heading toward the Network, where both the Psychics and the machine was being moved over the watchful direction of a Mareep, who he was guessing worked with SEC. "Hello, ma'am, where are you moving the Network?" He asked her.

Anna nearly jumped out of her fleece when the Houndoom approached her. She had been doing that a lot lately, having been so engrossed in her own work in all of this chaos. She soon calmed down when she saw Snype with the Houndoom. He was the well-recognized leader of the Thieves and after seeing his Ninjask at work, she had to assume he was on their side. The Houndoom--Ripper, a Gold Tribe member she had the pleasure to meet when she first created the idea of the Pokerus Capsuls--could not be handed the same courtesy for now. Anna's suspicion made her nervous. While Anna could work as a diplomat, she was never specifically trained to do so and was no expert at hiding her emotions.

"Do you know where the Display Building is?" Anna started. The Display Building was, just as the name implied, a building used to display works by artists, musicians, bakers, SEC members, and all other product-producing parties. It was a large building, big enough to hold hundreds of displays and even, on occasions, parties and gatherings for anyone who could rent the space. "I'm taking the Network there. There is enough space to hold all of the Psychics with me as well as more if we could save them," Anna said, referring to the other attacked Network Points. "There the Psychics will form in a circle rather than a line and concentrate their Psychic energies. If we get the right balance we will be able to send much larger groups than we have before. Twenty, maybe close to thirty Pokemon at a time and more if we can get more Psychics to help." Anna looked down the line of proceeding Psychics and SEC members. The Display Building was admittedly a distance away, but after that last attack, staying within the general area was not a viable option. "We won't be able to get as many people out at once," Anna continued, looking back at both Ripper and Snype, "but once we reach the building there will be far less risk and the Network will be easier to guard."

Ripper listened to the young Mareep speak. It was definitely risky, moving the Network to that far point in the city, but he couldn't help agreeing to her logic. One Network Point was already destroyed. While they did get a sizeable chunk of citizens out of Gold City already, there were still many inside. The best route now was to protect what Network power they had left as best as they could. He nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll follow you to protect them," He turned from Anna to Snype. "Think you can get some of your...friends to help out as well?"

"Yeah. I can get a couple of thieves to help protect the point. I can have one of our Ninjask scout out the display building for anybody there, assuming we have an ambush waiting there. We can't really tell who's with Darkrai or not unfortunately." Snype said. He whistled to one of the nearby Ninjask and quickly requested he gather up whatever thieves were in the area.

"If the building is compromised," Anna began, "there are other buildings close by that we can use. They're less ideal, but they'll work. We'll proceed on to one of those buildings and continue on based on your Ninjask's report."

"Gotcha. Get to it. Give us a report as quickly as possible. We can change routes if anythings wrong." Snype said to the Ninjask. With that, it flew right toward the destination to scout out any possible ambushes.

Anna, Ripper, and Snype - Display Building

The Ninjask that had been sent to scout the display building had quickly returned. "No signs of hostiles there. And I didn't spot anybody hiding around the building waiting for an ambush or something along those lines." The Ninjask explained. Snype nodded and crossed his arms as he continued to move along with the network.

"Doesn't mean there aren't, say, any ghost Pokemon lingering around there... could be invisible for all we know. But I might just be paranoid. Still, keep your guard up unless you want to lose the only convenient means out of this city." Snype said.

With the all-clear given, Anna lead the group of Pyshics into the nearby building, making sure to heed Snype's warning. The way there had been surprisingly smooth. They had some mishaps with fighting they had to avoid or desperate Pokemon they had to turn away (Anna was against anyone being near the moving Network Point without properly narrowing the risks), but all-in-all it had been easy, a relief to all those pressured by the events. Inside Anna directed the Psychics into a wide circle, one that would hold their link and had enough room to add more Pyshics in the future. At the end of the circle towards the door there was an opening for Pokemon to enter and then, if all goes well, instantly teleport. Annabelle could already imagine the Pyshics on the other end probably surprised by the sudden strength in Psychic energy. She was confident they'd be able to handle it though, especially after a Psychic relayed information to them.

Once the Psychics were in order, Anna approached Snype and Ripper. "How many people do you think we can get to protect the building?" She asked both of them. Hopefully it'd be at least ten. The large building only had two entrances (one in the front, the other in the back) to guard and a walkway that lined the perimeter above. Both would make ideal spots to put sentries other than anywhere else Snype or Ripper would see fit. The least secure part of the building was its glass roof, but they may still be able to keep hidden.

"This is a high-priority point. I'm sure I can get my brothers and sisters to lend us a hand in its defense," Ripper answered, looking around the building to ensure that it was secure. One of the Psychics, a Grumpig who was carrying the Network device, placed it in the center of the circle, and turned it on. "If we can get word out, we should have this place locked down soon."

A small group of thieves arrived to the location that Snype had mentioned. Most of them seemed confused that they were defending the network point but considering ther threat, they weren't about to question Snype. "Ahhh there they are. These guys can fill in until your men arrive. Keheh. Don't worry they're well trained to put up a fight." Snype said with a grin. A couple of thieves positioned themselves on the walkway above, and near the network point on the first floor.

"So... what's next?"

"We can start bringing in citizens," Annabelle began, "however we'll need to make sure none of them intend on destroying the Network Point. I haven't formulated yet how we can properly screen for their intents with what we have, however I suggest we only let the citizens enter in groups. The Network as we have it now should be able to teleport a little over twenty 'mon if we can get them in here. Though it may be dangerous keeping so many citizens outside waiting." Anna sighed. "Either of you, of course, would know more about handling crowds than I am. Likely more experience as well. I'm positive you know how to keep any saboteurs away from us?"

Snype was a fairly charismatic fellow... he could sway the citizens to follow orders and keep organized. The only problem was that he's the king of thieves. Nobody was going to trust him unless he had some huge fans inside the city or something...

"What do you think Ripper? Any ideas how we can pull this off?" Snype asked.

"She seems to be right in this case...it's a hard process but it's the best we have for now, Ripper said in a sort of growling voice. He wasn't 100% set on trusting thieves with this big assignment, but it seemed he had no other choice for now. "I sent word for my brothers and sisters to come via the Ninjask Network. We should be able to handle anything if someone pops up. Nothing's full proof but...it's the best we've got," He nodded. "Let's start sending them in!'

"Right." Snype said, quickly creeping out the door to start bringing in civilians. At least, those civilians he could convince at least. While he had plenty of charm, he was still a thief. Some trusted him for the sake of not having anywhere else to go. Desperation was enough for them to follow the King to the building. And of course, just like Anna mentioned, he kept them in groups. It'd be easier to keep an eye on everyone if they weren't all scattered around.

Network Point 1 : Three guys walk up to a point...​

"Why is it taking so long?" Obsidian asked as he tapped his foot, "I'm more likely to die of impatience than Darkrai right now."

Alex just sighed as he stretched his arm, "It's a long line, you have to accept that as fact. If you want to leave and try another point you're welcome to, but frankly you'll have to start at the end and just look at how long this line is." He gestured out to the line that was now stretching far behind them, "If you want to extend the time you're in the city, then be my guest."

"I do hope we get there soon." Hoods said, "Best to leave as soon as possible in my opinion." He crossed his arms under his robes, "Anyone want to play a guessing game? I tend to pass the time that way."

"How about cards instead?" Alex asked with a grin as he pulled out a full deck from under his cloak. "Not sure if you two know... but I'm quite the master of cards." He boasted to the hooded mon and Surge, "I can guess any card you pull from this deck."

"That's because it's loaded." Obsidian stated, "You have a loaded deck and I know it! Or you read minds or something!"

Alexandre tsked, "I don't stoop to such lows Obsidian! I am just but a magician after all. We can all just relax and spend some time with a few tricks eh?"

Off to the side, a group of children was waiting to gain access to the Network point. Bored and not fully aware of what was going on, the mention of magic earned their attention.

"Daddy, can we go watch some magic?" the young Espurr, Eona, asked as she tugged on the fur of her father's leg.

Her father, the Pyroar Desmond, glanced down at her and then at the group in question. "I suppose it couldn't hurt," he said calmly, though his thoughts were more worried as he wondered what was happening to his mate, Zai, on the front lines.

Alexandre meanwhile was shuffling his deck despite Obsidian's lackluster attitude. "So then!" He finished and handed the deck to the Weavile, "Shuffle and pick a card! Any card my fine assistant!"

The Weavile sighed and took the deck as he shuffled it about, "You're really going to do this aren't you?" He asked unenthusiastically as he finished and then chose the top card, glancing it over quickly and setting it back in the deck, "There. Now you have the card marked somehow and you're going to guess right. I know how it works now."

"Do I have it marked?" He asked with a grin as he began to shuffle his deck around, then handed it to Surge, "My dear friend, cut it if you will."

The Kadabra was more than eager to grab the deck as his eyes shined blue. In an instant cards flung about as they slid among each other and into certain parts of the deck and out of parts of the deck before he finished. "Cut to precision! Like an oyster!"

"Indeed." Alexandre said as he pulled out a card and handed it to Obsidian, "Is this your card?"

For once the Weavile's face lit up as he snatched it, "Ha! It isn't! You fa-" He suddenly paused as he noticed something was stuck to the back of the card. He wiggled his claws along them and slowly another card revealed that another card was hiding behind it and he fumed, "Dammit!" He said as he handed the two back, "I have NO idea how you did that, but I'll get to the bottom of it!"

"Of course you will assistant." Alexandre said with a chuckle as he reshuffled his deck again, "But I think you will find no answers that way." He then reached over to grab behind the Weavile's ear and pulled out a multi colored cloth, "Though I think you'll have to get your ears checked first Obsidian." He teased as the Weavile muttered under his breath.

"Whooooooooooooa how'd you do that?" the little Espurr asked, now standing right below the pokémon. She looked up at them in awe. A moment later she was joined by her three siblings; a male Skiddo, Ryder; a female Litleo, Vaitra; and a male Absol, Ortaia.

"Can you do another one, mister?" Ryder, the Skiddo, asked in excitement.

"Why of course!" The Gardevoir said as suddenly Obsidian got in front of him, "No way!" The Weavile said, "We can't have four little kids perking up your eg-" Alexandre calmly put his hand on the Weavile's chest and gently shoved him to the side as he kneeled down and grinned at the four young ones, "Magic is a very long time art my little friends." He said. He pulled out a small crystal that he balanced in one hand, "It is something that astounds the senses and leaves the mind yearning for more." He bounced the crystal up in his hand and as it came down into his palm it suddenly disappeared. He chuckled as he reached over to the young Skiddo and frowned, "You know," He said as he pulled out the crystal from behind his ear, "You really should clean your ears more young man." He chuckled. "Surely you don't want crystals in your ear all the time?"

Ryder giggled, jumping around excitedly as Skiddo were prone to do.

Eona peeked up at the crystal, intrigued by the sparkling object. "Oh how'd you do that?" she asked, though she knew she wouldn't be told the answer.

Alexandre chuckled and patted her on the head, "Like I said. Magic." He stood up and placed the gem back in his coat pocket.

"Smoke and mirrors I call it." Obsidian muttered.

Alexandre looked down at the children, "Now... any ideas for tricks my young friends? It is often said that children have the best imaginations, so let me see if I can impress that imagination of you all."

Eona hesitated, thinking hard. "Make him disappear!" she said finally, pointing to the irritable Weavile.

"Keep it moving, everyone!" General Riken yelled through the pushing and shoving of the crowd. "The sooner we get everyone to safety the better, but we have to remain calm. Everything will be alright, I assure you!" He stated. He noticed a group of Pokemon were actually going along normally, trying their best to make the best of things, or perhaps not entirely aware of the situation at hand, as some were quite young. Riken felt a sudden tap on his shoulder. He turned around, to see a familiar Hypno beside him, Thomas Blake.

"General," He declared to him with a nod. "Just wanted to let you know I'm here and willing to help in whatever way I can. I'm currently helping with SEC in boosting the Network. With the addition of my own followers helping out, we've managed to get it so that more Pokemon can 'port away at once."

Riken stared at the Hypno for a moment, then nodded in understanding. It was quite surprising, Thomas's turnaround from the shouting match he was having with him earlier at the ceremony. Not many would so willing come around after knowing how much at fault they were.

"Any news on the what those two explosions in the city were earlier?" Thomas asked the General. The General was hesitant to give a response, mostly because he was afraid of what the others might hear right now. With many of his soldiers and a few Gold Tribe around, morale was a big concern. "How's the city faring?" Thomas asked again.

Before the General could reply, a sudden voice came from behind him. It was throaty and low, and he said but two words: "Not good." The General turned around to barely catch glimpse of an Ursaring standing right behind him, having prepared a Dynamic Punch which collided straight into the General. The impact, which came at a surprisingly ferocious speed and power, sent the General flying off past Thomas and straight into the building beside the crowd. Upon seeing this, many Pokémon began to panic and scream, while Alpha Alliance soldiers and Gold Tribe began to approach the source of the destructive force. The Ursaring spat on the ground beside him, readying himself for those that would come. They were all road blocks, and his target was the Network. The disturbance drew others as well. Beside the Ursaring, two more Pokemon also chose to appear: an Ariados clinging from a web, and a Machamp ready to pulverize anyone who got in its way.

Obsidian quickly turned to the sound of the violence as Alex slowly glanced up, "Not good." The Gardevoir muttered. "Get to a safe place young ones." He told the children, "Things are about to get ugly."

Eona turned, startled, and ran off with her siblings back to their father. When they got to him, he herded them into a nearby nook, removing them from the danger. "Eona, if anyone violent comes over here, you know what to do." The little Espurr nodded, and Desmond turned to run towards the Ursaring.

Gaia, a Houndoom of the Gold Tribe and a member of the Arashi clan, leaped down from his point as a guard, sprinting alongside Desmond towards the source of the disturbance.

"We can't go out there Alex!" Obsidian said, "We have to get through this portal!"

Alex tightened his cape, "There will be no portal if that beast comes here." He stated. "Judging by his appearance here... he could be attempting to try and draw attention away from other areas." He quickly made his way out of the crowd as he looked about, "Now... if I was trying to attack... what would I do? Where would I come in from?"

"Well.... dammit fine!" He said as he began to rush to where he caught sight of the Ursaring and he paused in his run as he caught sight of the other two there, "... well..." He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, "Maybe I should just stay off..."

Snype and his band of thieves stood watch over Network Point three, helping various citizens inside to be teleported to a more safe location. So far so good, but Snype wasn't about to let his guard down anytime soon. After the incident with Gabe, it was hard for him to trust the other Pokemon around him. Of course, that was probably the whole idea behind Darkrai's master plan... but it was hard to avoid. Maybe that's what made it so darned perfect. He still didn't even know what Gabe's real plan was supposed to be.

Citizens were at the very least being evactuated so the tough part was out of the way. Once they were gone, it'd be easier to focus on the oncoming threat. Snype wanted to keep watch of the third point at all costs. The last thing he needed was for something to happen to a moving Network Point while he was away. At the same time, he needed to figure out what to do once everybody else was moved from the city. He sure hoped the thieves at the speakeasy had caught word of the whole situation. Most were possibly within the city, or retreated back to the forest. One way or another, Word would get there. It'd make for a good safe haven from this madness.

Obsidian, Alexandre, and Abel - Network Point One

"Oh come now Obsidian." Alexandre said as he glanced over at the three that had arrived, "Just stay calm is all."

"I am calm!" He snapped at the Gardevoir, "This is SO not good!" He groaned. "They're going to kill us all!" He hissed.

"Maybe you should turn your voice down?" Alexandre advised as he tapped his cane on the ground, "Still, I think they will hardly provide a challenge." He stated as he just snorted, "The GT are strong, far stronger than any other living beings. They will handle them quite easily and that will be that. Remember, keep your mouth shut too." He advised.

Abel approached from the side, seeing that the current Network Point was in some sort of turmoil, but unsure of what the current situation really was. Off to the side, he noticed a few Pokemon who were trying to make a concentrated effort to hide from something. He quickly approached them, also in hiding, and spoke to them in a voice barely above a whisper. "What's the current situation here?"

Obsidian yelped and quickly turned about, ready to strike, but Alexandre held his hand, "Easy." He said, "Ah, hello there." He said with a small bow, "There is no need to worry, the GT have this." He said cheerfully as he pointed back to where the three brutal pokemon were, "Just a bit of a small distraction is all friend."

"Small distraction my ass!" Obsidian snapped, "Did you not hear those loud explosions Al-er, Richard?" He said quickly,

Alexandre waved off his concern, "The SEC and GT have this place secured my friend. This is just a small mishap is all." He said to Abel.

Abel eyed the 'mon curiously, looking around as Pokemon panicked and three particularly strong-looking ones were the source of the mayhem, it seemed. "Sure doesn't look like anything is secure. I just heard from a stupid Ninjask that Network Point Three was destroyed," He responded somewhat annoyed. "Looks like these guys are here to finish the job..." He shook his head and cursed under his breath. "If that happens, I won't be able to get back to Beatruce to warn everyone...I have to stop them."

Obsidan just blinked at them, "Uh... are you SERIOUS?" He asked. "I mean, no offense I'm sure you're a good guy and all, but these guys are CRAZY! I mean, they get... what out of serving Darkrai? Penance has told me all about him! It's bad news to even get close to the guy!"

"And there goes your tongue." Alexandre remarked as Obsidian quickly covered his mouth, "S**t." The Weavile muttered, "Look, you didn't hear that alright?" He said quickly.

Abel didn't show it when the 'mon mentioned Penance, but he knew at that moment that they were probably Seekers. Even in Beatruce, the name of the Madman was fairly well known now, especially among the Gold Tribe. The Seekers have a base set up there, and Penance has been known to pass through on occasion. However, he was less concerned about their status and what they were trying to do than stopping the Network from getting destroyed.

"I didn't hear a thing," Abel replied hastily, in an almost uncaring manner.

"Right." Obsidian said with a wink, "So... you really want to go at them?" He stepped out of the way and nodded, "Be my guest. Given they are with Darkrai they'll probably bust out their chaos forms soon... though why they haven't yet is odd.... but I don't think we'll be staying around for that!" He said as he grabbed Alex's hand and tried to tug him along, "Come on the line is shorter!"

Alex pulled right away and huffed, "We must be on the lookout." He said as he tapped his cane on the ground, "Though our fine fellow here seems to have the right idea. Calm and collected is the way to be."

"Yeah, let's see how that turns up when that Machamp over there rips open your spleen!" Obsidian countered.

Alexandre just chuckled, "A magician has secrets too. So then, shall it be a frontal assault? I always tend to go behind the back so that might work a bit better."

Abel rolled his eyes at these cast of characters and their ramblings. If they kept talking, it would most likely defeat the purpose of a surprise assault to begin with. Regardless, Abel did find one thing they said interesting. Although he had never before believed in Darkrai and the chaos forms, at least he didn't care enough to deny or confirm that he did, now that he knew for sure it was true, he expected they were right. The only problem was...they weren't showing it. Which meant that there could be a good chance they weren't even chaotic to begin with. Nonetheless, he expected that if they weren't, they'd be pretty strong foes.

"Speaking of magicians...you guys are Seekers," He stated as a fact, without their confirmation. "If they are actually strong, being that they're with Darkrai, I may need an advantage going in. If they split up, give me some sort of distraction to start off with, so I can get a good leg in," He told them. He didn't bother asking whether they had the capability to do so, or whether they would do it for a Gold Tribe member to begin with. He simply addressed them as if they would. In Abel's mind, either a Pokemon was useful, or they weren't.

Alexandre blinked a bit, "Well I am not a seeker good sir, but I can' help." He said with a smirk, "A magic show is always a distraction." He said as he looked at the rogues and then flicked his cloak out to the side. As he did so a needle suddenly flew out from it and right at the Machamp. "I find anger to work well enough." He stated calmly.

Obsidian just gasped out and quickly raised his guard, "Dammit! That guy will pummel me into next week!"

"Then just don't get caught by him. You're fast enough Obsidian." He said calmly.

"Oh, so we're already ditching our false names!?" Obsidian asked angrily.

"Yes, we might as well. You'll only get confused." He said with a light smirk as Obsidian fumed.

The Machamp quickly reacted at the point where he was stung by the needle, and looked around for his enemy. "Which one of you bastards pulled that off?!" The large 'mon yelled, flexing two of his arms. Abel cursed under his breath. He didn't intend for them to do it right away! And he didn't intend for his target to be picked out for him...he would have preferred the Ariados. As it was though, it had to be the Machamp. Abel snuck around and lay in wait, prepared to strike.

Alexandre just yawned and smirked at the big fighter, "Come at us big boy." He said softly.

"Hey! He'll pulverize me!" Obsidian cried out.

Alex just smirked, "Then I shall handle him alone." He gave Obsidian his cane as he walked on out, "Shall we duke it out fine fellow?" He asked with a growing grin.

The Machamp noticed the Gardevoir step forward, and grinned at him. "You got some balls on ya," He spat, cracking a pair of knuckles on each hand and then bashing his four hands together. Abel palmed his face in the shadows, not expecting them to simply go out in the open and attract the 'mon's attention like that. The Machamp took off from his spot, leaving the place shaking with each step he took. He charged the 'mon, bringing his two upper hands up above his face as he prepared to slam him into oblivion. Abel already was on the way out, cursing as he did so as he prepared to intercept the Machamp.

However, before he was two meters from the Gardevoir, the Machamp suddenly went dizzy, and closed his eyes as he was still charging. He suddenly fell to the floor with a mighty thud, and when his two arms which were attacking slammed onto the ground, it produced a fairly powerful shock on the ground. Abel looked at the knocked out Machamp curiously, wondering what happened.

"Always wait for the trick to finish." Alex said calmly, "You can secure the others I presume? We'll just keep watch over him." Alexandre walked up and sat on the slumbering Machamp. "Well go along." He said with a smile.

Obsidian made his way over as he sat down with a grumble, "Show off."

Abel eyed the Gardevoir who now sat on top of the Machamp, and pondered curiously. The sleeping show was impressive. He didn't expect to stop the 'mon so easily. But he had to wonder, if he hadn't been stopped, what would have happened? He looked around at the damage the Machamp had just done from his two fists stomping on the ground when he was on his way down. It created an earth-shattering crater a few meters wide, and that was on less power than intended. These 'mon were tough, no question about it. And there were two more to deal with.

The Ariados grinned maliciously, separating from his two compatriots in order to cause his own bit of deviousness. It shot a String Shot at an escaping Alpha Alliance soldier, a Machop, who was caught under his web and thrown at a fairly power force from one side of the field to the other. Though it didn't appear as such from his size, the Ariados, known as Jugen by his close associates, was among the most durable and tough Bug Pokemon in his part of the world.

"To the Network now, yes?" He said out loud, speaking to no one in particular as he pushed and jabbed any 'mon in his way as he began weaving his way toward the Network.

"To the Network he says! To the Network!" The Scyther shouted from a nearby rooftop - gripped onto it very tightly with his claws for a fear he could fall off. Charlie carried the same casuality he did with just about every other conversation he took - but seemingly he wasn't even aware of the situation or the danger he was in. "So why are we all goin' to the Network anyway? They got more to drink there or somethin'? I could sure be after that."

"More to dri-" Jugen began as his eyes glared over to the Scyther on the rooftop, before realizing the situation he was in. "Ooh, I see now. Another victim of the festival, I see. I'm not quite sure whether to pity you fools the most, or whether you should consider yourselves lucky that you don't know what is happening." He stated, as he began weaving a web across the road and up toward the Scyther.

"Either way, whether your brain can interpret what I say or not, I think I'll leave you with the knowledge that I go to destroy the Network, and you could not do anything to stop me because of your...current state," He added with a maniacal grin. "Perhaps when you sober up you'll realize that...or perhaps you will just die here with all the rest."

"Hey... hey. That's not cool. I can perfectly interpret everything both of ya are sayin', and I don't like none of it - I am not a victim of the festival at all, buddy and I don't want yer pity! I'm just happily pissed out of my mind!" Charlie released the one claw he had buried in the rooftops, raising it into a position that made him look dangerously close to taking a fighting stance. "And I don't like it either that you've just come by here and bugged me to me last nerve! I'll cut ya for it even you know! I'm bored enough 'a hearin' ya talk!" With that, Charlie pitched forward, in a motion clearly intended as a graceful flying Fury Swipe, but instead found more headway as a slightly more organised version of falling over with a Fury Swipe tacked onto the end - ending somewhat spectacularly on his face.

The Ariados opened its eyes in sudden surprise, and tried to leap back away from the falling Scyther, only narrowly avoiding the powerful slash. He came a lot closer than Jugen intended, which did not suit well with the spider. "I was considering just letting you die in your own drunken misery, but if you want to play it that way, feel the full weight of my arsenal!"

Jugen prepared himself, his eyes glowing a strange, mysterious color as he began unleashing a Swagger upon the Scyther. "I am called the Master Manipulator where I hail from. Countless foes have suffered at the skill of my illusions, only to kill themselves before they even know what is going on!" As the Ariados was unleashing his ability to confuse the Scyther, he urgently spun his web over to the other side of the 'mon to begin confusing him in terms of the bug's position. Then, he released a powerful Toxic onto the 'mon, intent on causing it more pain.

"Do you see? I am unstoppable when you fall under my traps!" He exclaimed loudly, now beginning to form a double team, only further intending to bewilder the inebriated Scyther's mind.

Under the power of the venom, Charlie choked a little. "Holy Arceus! I didn't think there was anything that tasted worse than that sh*t Snype told 'em to serve up!" With a crude lurch, he was now beginning to suspect he was in a fight with an Ariados. After all, now he could see three of them instead of just two, it made the picture that little bit clearer - but he could swear only two of them came over to ruin his day - maybe the one on its own didn't have a problem with him today.

Even stranger, Charlie felt even stronger than he had before, albeit no less drunk. "I swear to Arceus, like really now, I'm like a machamp. Like a really not sober machop." Between the recent impact to his face and the fact he was generally off his face, Charlie figured he couldn't feel any worse no matter what this creepy spider decided to do to him - so what better to do than make a quick buck? Charlie decided he wasn't much keen on keeping up this fight, but these Ariados were smaller than he was - he stuck his claws forward, aiming for the world's least subtle theft; skewer the bags, body tackle the Ariados and take to the sky!

Once more, Jugen was caught by surprise as the Scyther came rushing in, almost as if ignoring the fact that he had poison running through his system, a nauseating confusion to deal with, and a Double Team to throw him off. Yet the Scyther seemed to surpass each one of the obstacles and go straight in for the Ariados with ease! No Pokemon had managed to so easily maneuver around his manipulative fighting abilities like that before. Jugen tried to move out of the way from the apparent slash attack, but was struck across his front leg, slashing at it. He hadn't expected to get hit before, which was the reason he usually allowed for a Swagger to boost the enemies' attack. As he found out, that was a big mistake.

Jugen screeched in pain, clutching the front leg with its pinsir. "Who...what are you? How did you manage past my manipulations so easily?" The angry, bewildered Ariados launched a sludge bomb toward the Scyther, hoping to further incapacitate him.

"Yeah, you want me to let you in on a little secret? I'm dru-" Charlie was cut off from finishing his explanation as he found himself almost drowned by an explosion of noxious sludge. Knocked yet again, to the ground, the Scyther wasted no time in returning to his feet, although he certainly needed to waste time steadying himself once he had.

"Just die already!" The Ariados screamed, readying a Poison sting to try and finish the 'mon off. There was no way any Pokemon could take that much poison into the body without feeling the effects. At least, this is was Jugen believed. He was at a point where this entire fight was making no sense, and so he was making large steps out of his comfort zone to see it finished.

"Okay, enough 'a this foul-tasting crap is enough! I'm gonna end ya!" Charlie had seen enough of this battle in equal parts. He shot inadvisably high into the air - only dodging more poison thanks to fortunate happenstance - before he dived hard and fast back to the earth, claws extended in what would make for a spectacle if his flightpath were straight - claws ready, he would show the power of a true Aerial Ace!

The Aerial Ace came at Jugen from above in a way so unpredictable and uneven that the Ariados literally had no idea what to make of it. His pattern, if he even had one, seemed jumbled, random. Jugen literally didn't know if he was going left or right, as he seemed to be doing both every few seconds. Jugen scurried to the left across his webs, then back the other way, trying to avoid the claws. Yet everywhere he would go, he was simply intercepted and forced back the other way. "How is this even possible!?" He yelled, and was struck full force by the Aerial Ace, the powerful claws delivering right into the top of the head of the Ariados. It writhed and screamed in pain and anger, falling off of its web and onto the ground. The spider 'mon tried to clutch at its head and stop the bleeding, but instead wriggled uncontrollably around in its own blood.

"So, lemme give you a little hint... I've been drunk for the last..." Charlie seemed to take a second to count off on his claws "... half of my life. Ain't no crazy mind games gonna throw me off my game, because I am just to dumb to trick, ya futz." Seemingly unaware of the damage he'd caused, he held his claw against his stomach. He could feel that the combination of a lot of alcohol and now some added poison was about to have... a very predictable effect - but he had at least time for one more line before he scurried away in search of a more secluded place to evacuate his stomach - "Oh! And whatever evil thing ya were gonna do, don't do it!" With his last warning, the urgency of the other matter took a hold and the Scyther took to his wings to have something to hide behind.

Lyn "Guardia" Reed - The Wall of Gold City

The Wailord was massive. As it closed in on the wall, Guardia could see it was larger than a normal Wailord as it towered over the other Pokemon below it. Still, she couldn't quite explain why so many carried it as if it had a weight about it. Usually the Pokemon was known to be notoriously light, but that didn't seem to be the case at all. Guardia's first reactions were that the large steel armor chained down across its skin were what was carrying it down. Yet as it came closer, and as she saw the massive amount of Pokemon which were carrying it, she couldn't help but feel there was more to it. Something was wrong here, and she didn't want to find out.

"Damn it," She cursed, seeing General Warren and the other Pokemon unable to reach the top of the wall, instead electing to remain on the ground and hold the forces off. Guardia knew the size of the army, with Pokemon constantly reaching the wall along certain points and causing some damage. Although no terrible damage was done yet, she expected eventually that the area would be too hot for them to remain. She would have preferred if they would pull out sooner rather than later. "Tell the gatemaster to open up the main gate and let the General and his men in," Guardia ordered to a fellow Gold Tribe member. "I don't want him to stay out there, crazy bastard," She added with a grin. The General was under no obligation to follow Guardia's request. She wasn't in command of him after all. She just didn't want him to die, not after the incident with Grett.

The armies continued their approach, along with the large Wailord. Pokemon from other close points around the wall, Guardia would notice, seemed to be gathered toward it, as if it were a symbol of some sort, or an offering to Darkrai. It was all quite ominous, and she wouldn't have any of it. "Move the Hyper Beam Cannons onto the Wailord," She ordered the 'mon around. "Have everyone of them in range focus on the Wailord."

The Hyper Beam Cannons instantly began falling into position. Each one had about one shot in them before the Wailord would be too close to stop anymore. Which meant they would have a few chances to shoot at the thing to bring it down. Guardia intended to use every shot she could. The Wailord was close enough, and she didn't want to risk waiting anymore. "Fire!" She announced, bringing the wrath of the Alpha Alliance's most powerful weapons to the helm. The two nearest cannons fired off into the Wailord. Instantly, many of the flying Pokemon and Pokemon around reacted. Thankfully, because of the Sentinel's fighting earlier in the skies and General Warren's and the other Gold Tribe's fighting on the plains below, along with Razathiel's Psychic mayhem, not as many Pokemon were gathered around it as would probably have been the case earlier.

Nonetheless, the first shot was intercepted by a pool of flying Pokemon: Zubats, Pidgeys, Aerodactyls, Archeops, and more all flew in with large teams and caused the large blasts to fall on their targets prematurely. Because not as many were in the skies, one of the blasts managed to partially blast through the flying 'mon and strike the Wailord. It didn't react to the pain, further making Guardia conclude that the...thing was not alive. But it did cause the Wailord to tumble a bit, and its large armor plating to crumble on certain parts of its body. As more white glow surrounded the area coming from the powerful Hyper Beam Cannon blasts, more Pokemon of Darkrai's army were thrown in front to prevent it. But Guardia was adamant to see the thing brought down. It was clear now it was an object of considerable danger. Hyper Beam Cannons targeted across the beast, at the ground and the upper levels to prevent its advance, but still the beast tugged on.

Due to the considerably less numbers around from earlier's defense, blasts did manage to get through, and with each step there was faltering. But it wasn't quick enough. The Wailord was right beside the wall now, carried on the backs of the many hundreds of Pokemon, many of whom were dying from the mayhem the Alpha Alliance unleashed. Until finally, the weight of the beast could not be held up any longer, and it fell before having reached the wall. A unusually large thud was heard on the Wailord as it fell in place, not a few meters away from the wall and the main gate, where General Warren was presumed to be standing, had he not already gone inside as Guardia hoped he did.
Slowly, the plating across the Wailord's hide began to crumble, and revealed was the plain, dead skin of the 'mon. As the last bit of the armor fell off, the Wailord's mouth was revealed, and even so slowly, it began to open, as if it were being forced open. Guardia watched cautiously as this happened, trying to see if any of the Hyper Beam Cannons were recharged yet. She narrowed her eyes, looking down at the bottom of the beast and watching as something slipped out of the mouth. It appeared to be a ball. A ball, split down the middle between the colors of red and white. An Electrode. One other such 'mon followed it out, followed by another, and a dozen more, and a dozen more. And as they poured out, they began to glow.

"Sh*t," Guardia cursed. She inhaled deeply and tried to call out to all that could hear. "GET AWAY FROM THE GA-"

BANG!

The first explosion occurred, followed simultaneously by the next in a chain reaction. Guardia was blinded first by the brilliant white explosion, akin similarly to the might of a Hyper Beam Cannon, only amplified in its intensity to a single point across the wall: the main gate. Or rather, just beside it. Then came the actual explosion, shaking the wall she stood on, and blasting rock, stone and dirt across the skies to oblivion. All she could hear was the rumbling and the sound of a large, loud, continuous, destructive eruption. Then, she felt her body catch flight from the shockwave, and carried off to the other side of the wall into the city.

She didn't know how long she lay there. She couldn't tell. The explosion seemed to go on forever. When it finally did settle, Guardia found herself lying around crumbled stone and a broken tree branch. There was smoke as high as the eyes could see, and small fires all across the area. She frantically looked around for any sign of her brothers and sisters who stood beside her on the wall, or General Warren or any of his men. She saw none of them at that moment. What she did see, however, was the main gate of Gold City. Half of it was blown completely off, and large parts of the wall was damaged or crumbling in that area. Soon after the dust, smoke and bodies were removed, the armies of Darkrai would come forward at the opening the Wailord provided, and have a footing right into the city.

The six brave soldiers, including the general, staved off attack after attack. Nothing was getting past the few, brave soldiers. When one digs their heels in, it takes a tremendous amount of force to move them. Now the general...He's another story. The Blastoise, as stubborn as he was, had not budged an inch as he fought off Darkrai's soldiers, even with the Wailord getting closer and closer. "GOOD JOB MEN! KEEP HOLDING THEM OFF!" The enemy couldn't make it through. The Wailord was far enough away to not provide an immediate threat.


As it got closer, the Hyper Beam Cannons opened fire on the massive battering ram. Hundreds, possibly thousands of soldiers threw themselves in the cannons way. It seemed that these men were almost as fanatical as the general. "Brave little buggers..." Warren growled as he blasted away the opposition directly in front of him.


The gates opened slowly as a Gold Tribe member, a Lopunny on the other side cried out, "General, Guardia told me to let you guys in! Get in, sir!"


Warren simply laughed at the order. "GOLDIE'S GOT NO POWER OVER ME! MEN, GET IN THERE! THAT'S AN ORDER!" The Blastoise wasn't leaving. Destruction had to be caused!


The Poliwrath stepped forward in protest, "General, we won't leave you! Come on!"


Warren grinned as his voice dropped for the first time, "There there, laddie. I'll be fine. It'll take more than an army to kill me." He pushed the Poliwrath inside the gate. "Everyone in! NOW!" He barked. The soldiers followed suit. As the last man entered the gate, the general turned to find the Wailord toppled over, the armor knocked off. "CLOSE THE GATE!" He roared, and assisted in pushing the gate shut. When the gate closed shut, he turned to the Wailord. Oddly, its mouth was forced open. "What in Arceus' name..." Warren watched carefully, his eyes narrowed.


An Electrode popped out. He heard a cry from the wall, "EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM THE GA-"


Bang!

There was a flash as the group of Electrodes exploded, and the general had a front row view. "DEAR ARCEUS!" The explosion rocked the wall and the gate. The explosion lasted a life time, and the light was blinding. Nobody could have predicted the destructive force of the Wailord.


As the explosions ended and the smoke died down, the gate was revealed to be in shambles. Rubble laid all around the entrance. Surely nobody could have survived...The wreckage consisted of cobblestones, hinges of the gate, leftover Wailord, and a shell...Wait a second...A shell?


Warren popped out of his shell quickly with a laugh. He boomed across the field, "TRY HARDER NEXT TIME, DARKRAI!" The Blastoise roared as he clinched his fists. "NOBODY TRIES TO KILL ME AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" He spat some blood out and brought his cannons out. "YOU BETTER PRAY THAT YOU HAVE YOUR ANCIENTS AROUND!" Normally one would be weak of will when nearly blown to pieces, but not one of the two Alpha Alliance generals. He only seemed more pissed off than usual.


If it weren't for the troupe of soldiers that arrived to drag him back into the city, he would have marched straight into the approaching army. The Poliwrath from before struggled to contain the seething general. "SIR, WE HAVE TO FALL BACK! THERE'S JUST TOO MANY OF THEM!"


After a while, he gave up. "FINE! WE'RE GOING TO GIVE THEM HELL IN THE STREETS THOUGH! FORM DEFENSIVE POSITIONS THROUGHOUT THE CITY!"

Snype was starting to feel bored... he was still on edge protecting the building but things were way too quiet. All of the fighting must have been happening over at Network Point one. The silence was probably a good thing. Snype's leg was just dangling on the edge of the walkway up above as he rested on his back. He'd occasionally get up to watch the groups of civilians teleporting their selves out of the city. "Maaaann...think they just gave up on this network point or something? Kehehe. Probably didn't expect it to start moving to some new location eh?" Snype said aloud. He turned his head over to Anna. "So what do you do around here anyways? I don't think I caught your name. Humor me. Kehe. I'm kinda bored up here." Snype said, showing off that big toothy grin of his.

Annabelle had been scanning the floor of the Display Building since she arrived up on the walkway, intent on catching any error that could occur. She was no expert and once they came into the building and things seemed calm (despite the chaos outside) she felt tired. Anna had no way of knowing if her efforts were worth the time. Snype the King of Thieves was also up on the walkway watching the citizens below more intently (and effectively, Anna was sure) than she was.

"I'm... Just a scientist," Anna replied at Snype's question. "I came down to the festival to admire and congratulate my colleagues on their good work." She had no display of her own here which was a painful fact after the events passed occurred. "And my name is Annabelle." After a small smile she returned Snype's question. "What did you come here for? I can't imagine you were invited."

Snype smiled and hung upside down from his little spot on the second floor walkway. "Kehe, not really common knowledge of the public, but me and the thieves actually WERE invited to this festival. Kehehe. Just a bit of past history with the previous war and all of that. Long story. I probly don't gotta introduce myself but, the name's Snype. Kehe." He said. "I actually came down here to have fun an party! Figured the thieves could liven things up. But that Darkrai fella decided to ruin everything and now here I am defending the city. Wouldn't do any good for the thieves if Gold City suddenly disappeared." He added with a small sigh.

"You were? I must have missed your arrival at the entrance," Anna began, "though it seems odd that there wouldn't be some commotion around you. Especially with the amount of thieves that I suspect are here," she finished with a small laugh. It felt odd to her, though. Laughing at a time like this. At the mention of Darkrai, Annabelle let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't even see him arrive." At the time she had been occupied by something else and only knew Darkrai was even in the city from the sudden commotion. "I never got the chance to ask anyone how he got here. Do you know?"

Snype chuckled at that. "Kehehe, oh you wouldn't have seen us enter. We have other ways to get into the city~ Kehehe. That's none of your business though!" He said with a hearty laugh. "As for Darkrai, I don't even know how he was able to return so soon... its only been thirty years and all. I just wonder how Gabe got in undetected. Maybe he also has other ways inside the city? I was hoping to find out but he ended up escaping. Thankfully we stopped him from blowing up the network but... gah... that misfire... blast that Golduck." Snype added.

Anna would have asked who Gabe was (though she could presume he was the Greninja she had a glance of before going back to her work with the Network Point) but there was something else that caught her attention. "Other ways into the city?" He said it was none of her business and she would agree and not ask if it hadn't caught her attention so quickly! Annabelle hoped what she was about to ask would be too much, but... How could it be? In a situation like this! "Does that mean you have other ways out of the city as well...?"

Snype smirked. "Heh, your the first one to actually catch on! Nobody questioned why the king of thieves was never spotted at the gate. kehehe. The others don't seem too insightful. I doubt Gabe would have taken our route. Its guarded 24/7. keheh. But yeah. We have another way out but its too cramped to fit the entire population. I have it as a last resort honestly..."

"I'll take my chances with the Networks while they're still active before I divert citizens to a criminal's secret way out," Ripper added in with a minor snarl. He had been listening to the two converse from afar, and jumped in then to let his feelings be heard. He was adamant as it was to be working so closely with Thieves. "That's why protecting this place is so important now."

Snype nodded. "Right. Besides, if he took that route, then I'd be notified. Kehe. The traps we have set there aren't easy to get through without setting off. My guess is that they may have been living in Gold City for a few years now waiting to strike... they all blend with the crowd pretty easily ya know." Snype said.

"It only begs the questions then: if they were in here for so long, how much do they know? How deep are their connections? And why didn't they attack sooner?" Ripper asked. He didn't expect the King of Thieves or Annabelle to have the answers, but he still had far too many questions without an answer.

"Well unless they have some kinda of network like we do its kinda hard to say. That Greninja seemed to insist that his plan was well thought out though. Unless there's records for all of the civilians in Gold City I doubt we'll be able to find out if they've been in here, or if they slipped inside during all the chaos." Snype said, giving off a sigh.

"That doesn't look like it's hap-"

The Display Building began to shake violently. Pokemon on the inside screamed in fear and a bright light coming from the south of the city just permeated Ripper's vision. The shaking lasted a good twenty seconds before the brilliant light calmed down and the rumbling ceased. "What the hell? That wasn't a Hyper Beam Cannon!"

Ripper squinted his eyes, looking through the window at the point where the rumbling seemed to originated. He couldn't tell from here, but a large smoke cloud began to rise from the area. "It's coming from the main gates, I think. Arceus...what is happening?"

Annabelle braced herself while the building shook, half expecting the walkway to fall from under them. A sigh of relief came from her when it didn't, but the Pokemon below them weren't feeling the same way. Standing up she called down to them with a few other members to remind them to stay calm. As long as they were relaxed they would be safe soon. She hoped at least.

"Is there anyone who could tell us what's happening?" Annabelle asked Ripper. "Whatever that was might mean this place won't be safe for long."

"We have to find out," Ripper insisted. He let out a deep sigh, knowing he would have to ask the thieves for a favor, but in desperate times, he had no choice. He looked over at Snype. "We need someone agile to head over there and report back to us so we know the situation. I would go but..." He glanced back over to the Network and the panicking 'mon desperate to try and get out of the city.

Snype had dropped down from his spot on the walkway after the sudden earthquake. He was quick to respond to Ripper. "Kehe, yeah. I could send a Ninjask out there but I got a bad feeling that won't be enough. I'll head on over. It's the gold tribes job to protect the citizens after all right? We're just nosey little criminals! Kehe" Snype said, throwing a small wink. "I'll send a Ninjask back with a report. Any other thieves will remain here to protect the network until everyone is evacuated." Snype explained.

"Alright then," Ripper declared with a nod. "If you see Guardia...if you see my brothers out there let them know whats going on with the Network Points too."

"Gotcha. Was kinda hoping to run into her again out there." Snype said as he headed right out the door and waved to Ripper. He felt uneasy leaving this network point unguarded, but at least a majority of the population was making it out. Though that'd only make that network point an easier target. "Don't you dare lose this Ripper. Get everyone out. Kehe. Cuz otherwise I have no idea where they're gonna be staying after this~. Kehe" Snype added before heading right off to investigate.

The Standoff - Network Point One

The Greninja took a few more steps forward, before turning around for a moment to admire his work. All Pokemon who were still around the area rushed away frantically, searching for the last way out of the city, while he stood there as casually as ever, seemingly unaware to the many citizens who rushed passed him. He placed his hands on his hips and gave an approving nod.

"Nice, nice," He said to himself, marveling at his own work. He then turned around again and continued to walk off. Scar and Abel weren't about to let him pass.

"And just where do you think you're off to, hmm?" Scar questioned the Greninja, who stopped right in his tracks and glanced at the group of Gold Tribe members.

"Why, the last Network Point, of course," Gabriel replied casually. He crossed his arms and continued. "They've probably moved it around by now, but I might be able to find out where the new one is by the line, so no problems," He stated cheerfully. Scar leaned on his cane, walking out in front of the Ursaring. Gabe's eyes flickered very quickly to the downed bear and he raised an eyebrow. "You took him down?" He asked as he pointed down to the Ursaring, before giving a chuckle. "Not bad for your age!"

Scar ignored the compliment, stepping right in front of the Greninja's path, while he looked back at the others beside him, Abel, Gaia, and Desmond. "If you please, I need you to head to the last Network Point. From what I've heard of a Ninjask, it changed locations now, but find it, and defend it. It's one of the last ways for citizens to get out now. It is a top priority."

Abel cocked an eyebrow as he stared at the elderly Mienshao. "And you?" He asked, wondering what his intentions were.

"I will remain here and hold off this one," He gestured at the Greninja. The Greninja tilted his head and crossed his arms.

"What? Me? Well, I guess you wouldn't be the first to try," Gabriel commented, though he appeared to be largely ignored at the moment. Abel remained where he was, not liking the idea of leaving one of his brothers behind to fight whoever the Greninja was. Even if Scar could take him. Scar spoke up again before Abel could though.

"I've spoken to General Riken on my way here...I agreed with what he had to say. This Network Point was destroyed, as was Network Point Two. How much longer will Three remain? Who knows? I think it's time we approach this from another way now. Riken's already going to collect Guardia and the others around the wall. The Alpha Alliance cannot win this battle as it is. Not conventionally. Not alone. Besides, you've been wanting to go home back to Beatruce anyways, right?" He asked with a smile.

Abel was beginning to only somewhat understand what Scar was implying. He appeared to be speaking subtly so that the Greninja wouldn't pick up what they were discussing, but Gabriel's eyes suddenly changed in their demeanor. In fact, his entire casual, carefree expression was suddenly being replaced by a more fiery, determined gaze. He suddenly leaped forward at an alarming speed, one that Abel could barely keep up with, as he attempted to shoot past the group of Gold Tribe. Scar quickly jumped to meet him, keeping up with the Greninja somewhat by clashing with him in the sky, the two meeting blows of Close Combat. At first it seemed that Scar held off each blow from the Greninja with one of his own, before Gabriel got in a few more blows, brushing past his defense and striking him across the Mienshao's torso and propelling him back. However, Scar managed to land a palm across the Greninja's chest. It wasn't enough for a hit, but it was enough to force him back momentarily.

"Go! Now!" Scar yelled at the others. Abel proceeded to move at his behest, onward to the last Network Point.

"Your retirement..." Abel began to say, not really sure what to say to the Mienshao at this point. He was never very good at picking his words correctly, especially to sound sincere.

Scar clutched at his side, one of the points where the Greninja had landed his punches. The ribs were probably cracked, and even a slight touch seemed to sting. He was a lot stronger than he let on, probably heavily concealing it under his happy-go-lucky ruse, the Mienshao surmised. He smiled through his pain, letting his cane fall beside him as he steadied himself for the Greninja to come back again. Not looking back at Abel again, he spoke to the Medicham one more time.

"We're Gold Tribe, Atrox," He stated to Abel, his cane hitting the pavement and rolling around behind the Mienshao. "Death is our only retirement."

Abel took off from the ruins of Network Point One and headed to the last Network Point left. He didn't look back again to the Mienshao and the Greninja's standoff.