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

Penance Malum
​

Penance had been shooting out water pulses at the Ancients that got too close to him when he noticed someone else in the fight. An Infernape was attacking the Ancients as well. He looked closely and saw that the Infernape had a gold tribe symbol as well. Looking even closer he noticed that the Infernape was a female. Every sensor in Penance's head went off right then. Just as she ended her Heat Wave, he saw a group of Ancients heading straight for her and so Penance sent off a cluster of water pulses to push them back. He was about to rush to her aid when he heard Speculum shout out, "There you are Vigil!"

True enough Vigil had found them. "Speculum, Hoodhide, Defender. Good to see you all intact. Any sign of the others?"

"Calamity went to assist TrueStriker in fighting with a Sentinel. Sword and Shield is out of commission at the moment, but the big guy's still hanging in there."

Vigil regarded the Infernape, "It is great to see another of the tribe, sister." Penance couldn't agree more. All Penance had to do now was make sure she remained safe.

"...Rey?" Vigil's voice snapped Penance out of his thoughts and he turned with the others to regard the hooded Zangoose. Finally! Now we can get some ans- "GOLD TRIBE!" The two Generals were heading toward them and Penance couldn't help but groan inwardly, when would they find out if this was the "Rey"?

"We need your assistance. The Breloom Kivir has concocted a plan to get through the inner wall on the way to the central district. We'll need you in front when a part of the wall comes down!" Vigil left to go find Calamity and TrueStriker and Penance was left with his brothers and sister.

Before he could open his mouth Penance heard a loud crashing sound and saw the wall protecting the inner district had been destroyed. The Generals were already racing to the front and Penance followed his brothers and sister to the area. Speculum then instituted a challenge, seeing who could down the most Ancients. "What? No youcan't dothat onthebattlefield! Concentrate on the taskathand!" Hoodhide said in his high pitched voice. Penance thought about the offer, it would take some of the edge off of the carnage if they could have some fun at the same time. Penance smirked, "Of course I'm in. For now let's remain together. If we're separated again then we could easily run out of energy and quickly be surrounded." Penance cast a quick glance at his sister, And I can make sure that she doesn't get harmed.

Kivir swung his tail launching a salvo of seed bombs in the mist of the ancients blocking their path, at the same time the Rampardos and Excadrill unleashed earthquakes. The ancients were knocked off balance and many were knocked out by the duel earthquakes. "We need to make a hole in their forces to escape through," said Kivir as he charged into the mist of the recovering ancients. He delivered a powerful uppercut to a Kabutops sending it spawling to the ground, while he re-grew some seed bombs. Meanwhile the Alpha Rampardos lowered his head and charged forward in the mist of the ancients running over some of them and bashing others out of the way. The Excadrill and Dugtrio were right behind the Rampardos and proceeded to finish off or cut down enemies left in the Rampardos' destructive path. Kivir and the two smaller Pokemon followed in the other's wake, and for a moment there it looked like they were going to break through.

Just as the Rampardos was about to push through the last little line of ancients an enemy Rampardos blindsided him with a Giga Impact sending the Alpha Rampardos rolling to the ground. The enemy Rampardos was then attacked and quickly torn to pieces by the Excadrill and Dugtrio. Seeing the enemy closing off their escape, Kivir charged forward and launched a few seed bombs at the Bastiodon and Cradily that blocked their escape. He then jumped forward and delivered a powerful upward thrust to the Bastiodon's face, sending it stumbling backwards with a massive dent in its shield. Kivir then turned and delivered several quick jabs to the face of the Cradily. The fast jabs just made it pull away, but they didn't actually do much damage. The Zorua and Kirlia charged for the hole with the much faster Zorua in the lead. They looked like they were going to escape when all of a sudden an Aerodactyl swooped down and grabbed the Zorua in its claws and took off. The Kirlia froze in fear and started looking into the sky to see she was next. She was so focused on another aerial assault she didn't noticed the Armaldo charging in behind her.

"Behind you!" yelled Kivir as the Armaldo raised its claws to attack the Kirlia. The Emotion Pokemon turned around just as the Armaldo unleashed a series of powerful fury swipes on the Psychic pokemon. The vicious ancient tore into the weaker pokemon and after the series of strikes the Kirlia was on the ground bleeding badly from the assault. The Armaldo then raised its claws to deal the finishing blow to the shocked Kirlia, but Kivir charged into the Armaldo, pushing it back and preventing it from killing the Kirlia. Kivir then stood over the wounded Kirlia to protect her as the Armaldo along with several other ancients surrounded Kivir… there was the Bastiodon from before along with the Cradily, two Omanyte, two other Armaldos, a Kabutops, and a Kabuto.

Kivir frowned and quickly looked around as it felt like time was slowing down to him. He watched as the Dugtrio got frozen into a block of ice by two Omanyte and then crushed to pieces by a Rampardos. The Excadrill was barely standing as it tried to fight off three Kabutops at a time, while a Bastiodon maneuvered behind the Subterrene pokemon. The Alpha Alliance Rampardos smashed his head into a Cradily while two Armaldos and a Kabutops cut massive wounds into his side. Kivir refocused on the ancients surrounding him. He had failed… he had failed to conduct a plan for them to escape and had doomed himself and his team. Below him he could hear the struggled breathing of the wounded Kirlia as he noticed one of the Omanyte charging up an Ice beam.

Kivir was able to dodge the Ice beam as the three Armaldos, the Kabutops, Bastiodon, and Kabuto charged at Kivir. He quickly gave the first Armaldo a punch to the jaw, while dodging the Kabutop's blades. However the bastiodon slammed into Kivir sending him flying to the side. He quickly threw the seeds on his tail filled with sleep inducing spores at an Armaldos that had turn its focus on killing the Kirlia. As he unleashed the seeds he was hit with a high powered blast of water in his shoulder that sent a sharp pain down his arm. As Kivir quickly recovered he was hit with several large rocks but he ignored the pain and charged back to the Kirlia smashing a Kabutops in the face with a powerful punch. He turned to hit an Armaldos when he felt a sharp claw dig into his side. Grimacing he hit his attacker with his tail to try in ward them off for the time being. He then proceeded to kick away the Kabuto from the Kirlia as the harsh icy sting of an Ice Beam slammed in his back as the Kabutops and a Armaldos struck him as well. He swung his tail around to launch some seed bombs at the Omanyte that had Ice Beamed him, but as he swung his tail the Kabutops swung its bladed arm and completely removed part of Kivir's tail. The end of his tail hit the ground and the Seed Bombs exploded doing almost no damage to Kivir's enemies. Just then one of the Armaldos cut deep into Kivir's side. Kivir weathered a combined barrage of attacks while trying to fight back for several seconds before his strength failed him. Falling to the ground, beaten and bloody, Kivir's last move was to fall over the Kirlia's body so he could try to protect her using his body as a shield. "Play dead little one… perhaps you can still live," gasped Kivir as he coughed up blood.

He waited for the finishing blow, but it never came. Just as the Kabutops raised its blade to decapitate the Breloom he was struck by a Hyper Beam that sent him flying backwards. Seconds later the ancients were being overrun by Alpha Alliance soldiers making a push for the inner wall. Looking up Kivir could see fellow Alpha Alliance soldiers rushing past him. Smiling a little he collapsed to his side and muttered, "It's up to you all now... Don't let our sacrifices be in vain," He then closed his eyes and let the pain overwhelm his mind causing him to black out right as several medics rushed to him and the Kirlia...

Eternity City

As the Gold Tribe prepared the charge into the main district, Defender spoke to Speclum.

"Of course I'm in. For now let's remain together. If we're separated again then we could easily run out of energy and quickly be surrounded."

"Psha, all business, eh?" Speculum said. But he agreed. The Ditto prepared as they charged forward, and onto the battle. Immediately, they were greeted by a pouring of Ancients, much greater in number than in the outer district. Speculum groaned for a moment, but used a Leaf Blade on a Kabutops. He watched Hoodhide take down a Bastiodon with his Dragon Claw, but the Pokemon still lingered for a moment before a finishing move was delivered by Rey. Teamwork at its best continued.

Alpha Alliance soldiers ran all across as they engaged with Ancients furiously. Speculum knew they didn't have the raw talent the Gold Tribe had, but he still admired their willingness to give it their all. It just mean Speculum would have to do the same.

From the corner of his eye, Speculum caught a glimpse of Rey in action. He was in the middle of a battle with a Kabutops and Cranidos. The Kabutops and Rey clashed with the steel of their claws as the two of them collided for a moment. However, it was noticeable that the Zangoose was the stronger Pokemon, and soon overpowered the Kabutops, and slashed him to the ground. The Cranidos attemted to use an Iron Head on Rey. With one hand, Rey stopped the Pokemon's charge, and Slammed him onto the ground. Speculum could hear the impact of the shot, as the ground shook. Apparently Rey did not only grasp the attention of Speculum, as four Bastiodon and three Kabutops enclosed around the Zangoose as well. Rey went to work. Two of the Bastiodon were closer, and charged at him first. Rey jumped on the back of one of them, and guided that one into the second one. The two Pokemon fell over in pain, but not out yet. Rey knew so, and applied a Slash to both of the Pokemon. They stopped moving. The three Kabutops began to approach next. Rey's claws were extended into the air as the three slowly circled the hooded Zangoose. One felt lucky apparently, as he charged Rey. Rey met the Kabutop's claws with its own, then force him back. The Kabutops stumbled, and Rey got the jump on him with another Slash. The two other Kabutops looked at each other, and ran forward shrilling and shrieking their war cries. Rey leaped around them, and applied a Crush Claw to one, who fell on impact. The second looked at the downed Pokemon, and took a step back. Rey took one forward. The Kabutops ran, but Rey was persistent, and easily disposed of the Kabutops with a Pursuit, especially effective when the Pokemon's back was turned. As Rey looked back, the two Bastiodon were already charging, and tackled Rey right to the ground. Rey stumbled a moment, but did not falter for long as he recovered enough and delivered a well placed Crush Claw on the Bastiodon. The other one, obviously shaking with fear, ran.

Speculum whistled, but decided to concentrate back on the filling battlefield, where Pokemon of both sides were clashing now. General Belas was fighting while shouting orders to Pokemon left and right. Belas sure knew how to shout, a natural leader with a booming voice.

As Speculum charged forward, a noticeably different figure was on the approach from a distance. He knew it wasn't an Ancient because of the different body proportion. As the figure got closer, Speculum alerted the other Gold Tribe members.

"Bros! Sis! Look!" He shouted, as he pointed to the Pokemon who just took out a Charmeleon Alpha Alliance soldier. It was a Nidoqueen. It was Noxious, the Sentinel.

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As Ignitus once again fired an Overheat to push them all back, Calamity prepared for her next attacks. A Toxic came unnoticed by Calamity, however, and the poison quickly latched onto the Absol. He cringed in disappointment and slight pain as he knew this would only get worse. Calamity silently cursed that he was hit, but didn't falter. The Sentinel was powerful. He wondered if the two of them would be enough to stop her.

But as luck would have it, a third Pokemon appeared, and bore with him a symbol of the Gold Tribe. Knowing she may be outmatched at the moment, Ignitus sent Ancients at the three of them, and departed into the inner wall. Calamity fought with an Omastar, who launched a Water Gun at him. Normally, he would dodge without any problems, but the poison from the Toxic was taking small effects, and his stamina was taking a hit. The Water Gun partially hit him, but the Absol fought through it and finished off the Omastar with the Night Slash. As the fighting progressed, the newcomer Gold Tribe member spoke.

Brothers I give you an option, we either fight these scum off together, our combined strength will make this fight a quick one, or... you go now, follow Ignitus, I will hold the Ancients off and cover your pursuit. I will leave the choice up to you."

Calamity took at bite out of the Cranidos he had just fought, and turned to look at him.

"Oh and by the way...I am "Dark Lightning", it is a pleasure to make your aquaintance brothers."

"Calamity." He said with a nod. "It is good to meet you, brother. Let's finish off these foes together, then join with the rest of our group that's heading into the inner wall. That's where the battle is progressing, it seems."

As he finished the sentence, Calamity charged forward, leaping behind a Kabuto who attempted to tackle him. Three Rampardos surrounded him, preparing to charge. Calamity took a look at the wound where the toxic was inflicted. Not the best position to be in. The Rampardos prompted their feet preparing to charge like bulls, and all at once, the three enclosed. Calamity shot a Psycho cut at one of them, tried dodging the second one, but the third impacted him directly with his head. Calamity flew back, and was slow to get up, but managed. Two of the Rampardos were still up, and preparing their second charge. Calamity took at deep breath, then prepared as the two Pokemon began running. In a swift motion, the Absol moved to the side to avoid the charge, and took out one with a powerful Night Slash to the Pokemon's exposed side. The second one ran right into a building, and the debris collapsed on top of him, finishing him off for good.

Calamity exhaled, satisfied with the result of the battle, and observed his two brothers, wondering how they fared.

Penance Malum
​

Penance followed after Speculum and the others while looking back at the Infernape every now and then. He couldn't let his attention slip and is she fell in battle or something worse happened then he wouldn't be able to live with himself. Penance first off focused on the Ancients that were coming straight at him. He dodged a Kabutop's attempt to slice his head off and shot off a water pulse at its chest knocking it back. A Aerodactyl swooped down toward him but Penance grabbed it with a Confusion and slammed it down into a crowd of Ancients. A Energy Ball suddenly slammed into Penance's side. The Cradily that had attacked him was ready to throw another one at him but he grabbed it with a Confusion and hurled it into the crowd of Ancients.

Penance sent out volleys of water pulses into the crowd, some hit and some didn't but all that mattered was that he at least thin out the crowd. He emitted a screech that caught many of the Ancients off guard and allowed the soldiers to get the upper hand. He took the time to quickly check up on the Infernape. He hated that he called her that but once they had time Penance made a mental note to ask for her name.

Penance turned back to the task at hand and was rewarded with another Energy Ball to the chest. Two Cradily were targeting him with their grass-type moves. Penance ducked the next Energy Ball and used Screech. With the Cradily cringing it was easy for Penance to grab both with Confusion and slam them against each other. Despite the amount of Ancients rushing at them Penance managed to stay with his brothers and sister. The Ancients were numerous, but still, they were not Silver Tribe.

"Bros! Sis! Look!" Speculum shouted. Penance turned to where Speculum pointed and saw a Nidoqueen in the crowd. It took Penance a few seconds to remember the Sentinel's name. Nefarious? Nexium? Noxium... that was right. Noxium. Penance shoved back a Omastar and ran up to Speculum. "Speculum her poison attacks are going to tear though your current form! You need to change into something else!" From what he had remembered at the academy Penance knew that Nidoqueen were extremely weak to water and psychic attacks, both of which he had! Suddenly a idea popped into his head. "Speculum, change into me! I'm not sure if you saw my water bomb I made earlier but I'm thinking it could be possible for both of us to make water bombs and wear her down with them!"

It was a risky move, Penance didn't exactly know that much about ditto and how they could use moves. Another idea popped into his head, "Or you could lure her to me. I can charge up my water bomb and at close range it'll deal more damage. Whichever way you want to do it. If you do water bombs know that they'll take a huge chunk of energy out of you, but I think it's worth it." Penance blasted away a few Ancients with his Confusion and began to form a Water Pulse and forced his psychic energy into the pulse. Having fired off two bombs already Penance assumed at his current energy level he could probably fire off two, possibly three before the fatigue would force him to stop. Penance held the bomb in his hands, ready for whatever course of action Speculum would take.

Eternity City

Zane searched around the battlefield for signs of the other members of the Gold Tribe. By then, a good portion of the Alpha Alliance army had gain strong footing in the outer courtyard, and most of the Ancients were either taken out or retreated to the central district. This made it much easier to track down the others. He found, them, along with one additional Gold Tribe member, a Zebstrika that wore his Gold Tribe insignia around his neck like a necklace. He addressed them.

"TrueStriker, Calamity. How has the battle treated you?"

Calamity grinned, hiding the pain from between his teeth. The Toxic was taking effect slowly. He'd have to get to a medic soon, but he dared not show any signs of faltering in front of Zane or the others. "I'm managing." Calamity said, giving Zane a smile.

Zane turned to greet the new Gold Tribe member. "Hello, brother. I don't believe we've met. I am Vigil. It is a pleasure to meet you."

A second later, sounds of battle filled the air as the four of them heard battling continue to commence into the main central district. "Come on, brothers. We're needed." They set off without a moment's hesitation as they approached the fighting. Zane stopped as she saw a Chansey tending to an Alpha Alliance soldiers.

"Excuse me!" Zane said over the loud fighting not to far away. The Chansey looked up, stairing down the golden Pokemon before her eyes were drawn to his Gold Tribe insignia. "My brother Sword and Shield, a Snorlax, needs medical attention. He's over there." Zane said, pointed her to the location.

"O-OK!" The Chansey said with a stutter. "I'll get a team down there right away! Good luck, Mr. Gold Tribe!" She said to the rest of them. With a nod of thanks, Zane turned with the others and ran back to the direction of the battle, which was right in front of them.

Gladius Clipeum​

I have not felt I have landed. I even could not quite remember how I managed to fall and, miraculously land safely on... Whatever there is to land on. The nearest description I could give is a really dark floor and even that is an understatement. I knew I started walking, though I have no control over my feet now. It seemed like they somehow evolved to possess minds of their own. I couldn't even care less. All I knew is I lost touch with the real world. I have not heard any familiar voices since I fell. Vigil? Defender? Where are you?

Without any landmark to distinguish one spot from another, it is hard to tell if I am really making any progress. I felt I am walking in circles, except I'm not. It's hard to explain what is really happening, especially as I don't even know where I am. Suddenly, something shook in the depths of the darkness, and I felt it through my feet. I heard some indecipherable ramblings. I heard some words, but they made no sense.

"---, Calamity---battle---you?" I think that was Vigil's voice, but I cannot be sure. Why would he invite Calamity to a battle? Whatever Calamity replied, it was drowned in a buzz of words. Unclear words.

"---believe---I'm---pleasure---" That came out funny. Vigil is clearly in a lighter mood. What if they have defeated yet another Sentinel? Or we managed to reconquer Eterna City? That would be great!

"---brother---Shield,---medical---over---" It seemed like Vigil is talking about me. Or conversing with another one. Either way, it does not sound good. What does he mean that I am medically over? Hell, I am here. Alive! And I do not know how to get back. I'm not medically over. In fact, I feel great!

"---down---right away!---Gold Tribe!" What? What the hell is really happening out there? Vigil! What happened answer me! Help me back there! Help!

Kivir opened his eyes slowly and stared at the roof that was protecting him from the elements. However it could not protect him from the sounds of the battle not far from his wooden makeshift cot in the medical facility the medics had quickly thrown together in an old shop close to their entry point. Pain still echoed through his body but he did his best to ignore it. He could not shut out was the cries of pain of the other wounded around him, and his desire to help them. Forcing himself to sit up, Kivir looked around at the other wounded Pokemon. Some where close to death, some would survive but would be disabled for life, and others were just in lots of pain. Despite his own pain, Kivir put his feet on the cold earth on the right side of his cot and began to stand up, wincing a little as pain shot through his legs in protest of his movement.

"Stop, your wounds are not all healed yet!," yelled a Chansey running over to Kivir to force him to sit back down.

"I cannot rest while others are in need," replied Kivir with a calm voice that hid his pain.

"I'm sorry but you're not going to be any help to anyone in your condition. Let yourself heal then you can help the others. Do not force me to make you rest," said the Chansey in a stern voice to the badly beaten Breloom.

Sighing Kivir knew he didn't have a choice and he lay back down with a slight frown.

"I'm sorry…" said a faint whisper to Kivir's left as his head hit a makeshift pillow. Turning to look Kivir saw the Kirlia from his strike team sitting on the edge of her cot with several bandages wrapped around her wounds.

"Sorry for what?" asked Kivir as he looked at the Kirlia with a calm look.

"I failed you all… I just… I was just so afraid…" she said as he began to cry.

"You did your part… you did not fail us," replied Kivir he then looked back up at the ceiling and added, "We are all afraid, but it's how we deal with our fear that defines if we are "brave" or "a coward." You came with us on the dangerous mission, and you preformed your role perfectly. The deaths of our comrades are not your burden to carry. As the leader of the mission that responsibility falls on my shoulders so do not let it disturb you anymore… get some rest and let yourself heal so you can be strong when you are needed once again."

The Kirlia lay down, but was still sobbing a little while she tried to get some rest. Kivir knew she was ashamed of her inaction, and perhaps she could have made more of a difference. However like he told her, it was not her responsibility to protect the rest of the team. Their deaths fell on Kivir's shoulders because he had not thought out the mission fully and did not have an escape plan. His lack of foresight was the true cause of their deaths. Closing his eyes he tried to push away the feelings of guilt for their deaths, but unlike most of his other emotions, this feeling wouldn't easily go away.

Another gold tribe member had approached them, Laytons first reaction to this new ally was one of imediate shock, he was a bisharp, that much was obvious but Layton wasn't surprised by his species, he had quite alot of experience and had seen most every pokemon there was, bar a select few and the legendaries, though he swears he once saw Moltres streak across the sky. No, what really shocked Layton was the Bisharps colour, a dazzling gold, how fitting for a gold tribe member. "Hello, brother. I don't believe we've met. I am Vigil. It is a pleasure to meet you." The Bisharp, Vigil as was his title, introduced himself. Layton smiled and nodded his head. "Trust me brother the pleasure is all mine, I am Dark Lightning, a former gold tribe veteran raring to rejoin the fight."

Layton was quite pleased he had already met so many of his brothers, though they had just met they greeted each other with such kindness and companionship, that you would think they hand known each other for years, were it not for the obvious introductory nature of the conversation. Layton had missed this companionship, the total trust between members of the gold tribe. However this was not the time for cheery introductions and idle reminiscence. As the sounds of battle continued to erupt in the central district.

"Come on, brothers. We're needed." Vigil said, as he turned to the central district gesturing for Layton and the others to follow, however Vigil stopped for a moment to adress a passing Chansey. He asked him to take care of his friend, another gold tribe member "Sword and Shield" by title. *Ahhh I saw him aswell, unfortunately I had in fact assumed him to be a boulder, my bad...* Layton thought to himself.

With that sorted vigil took off with the others towards the central district, Layton waited for a moment, allowing his electricity to charge before breaking into a gallop forward, easily matching their speed. "Come now Vigil, surely you can match the speed of an old Zebstrika like myself?" Layton joked. However within moments they were at the forefront of the battle so the friendly competition wuld have to wait.

An Archeops who was hovering low was Laytons first target, using his already gathered speed he broke into a quick and smashed his head hard into the Archeops back, the flying ancient was knocked forward and collapsed to the ground.

"One down.... most likely many, many more to go." Layton murmured.

Ignitus ran through the streets, her feet pounding on the ground. She knew that if Gold Tribe successfuly took the courtyard, then it would be much harder to defend the citadel. And if the citadel fell, then Eternity would be lost, and the rebels would have scored their first major victory. That was completely unacceptable. The punishments they would receive for their failure would not be pleasent, and it would also give the rebels more hope. The rebels needed to be defeated here. News of a major victory would spread like wildfire. And with hope like that, no doubt others would be eager to join the resistance. No, it had to end here.

It was strange, there was no sign so far of Noxious, not that Ignitus had seen at least. And Frost had seemed to dissapear too. Not that she cared about either of them, but warriors that strong needed to be helping to win the battle.

Ignitus looked up as she ran, and saw the crumbled wall, chunks of stone strewn accross the ground, littering the battlefield. As she ran towards it, she had an idea. She looked around for any psychic pokemon, and spied one on top of the wall, looking down on the battle. She darted for the nearest tower, leaping up the steps. Upon reaching the top, she ran towards the psychic pokemon she had seen, an Alakazam, throwing attacks down towards the rebel army.

She neared him and shouted at him, above the din of the battle below. "You! Come with me!" She took him over towards the part of the wall that was breached. The width of the gap seperating the gap was perhaps thirty or so meters, wide enough for a small army to pass through, but still creating a bottleneck. She shouted once more to the Alakazam, "Use your psychic powers to weaken more of the wall! The wall is already partially weakened from the intial blast! If you can weaken this section here just a little more, it should crumble and fill in the gap at the bottom of the wall, cutting off the rebels in the courtyard from the ones still outside!"

The Alakazam nodded, understanding. Ignitus trusted him to do his job, and went back down the stairs the way she had come. As she exited the tower and enterd the courtyard, she heard a crumbling sound as part of the wall collapsed and fell into the gap in the wall. The gap filled in some, but not as much as she wanted. The falling wall had crushed some rebel soldiers, and no doubt some Ancients as well, but that didn't matter. Unfortunately it was still possible to enter the courtyard, it was now just much more difficult.

Knowing that there was no changing that, she looked around, surveying the battlefield looking for where she was most needed. Quickly she spied Noxious facing off with a Golduck and a Ditto. Nobody was foolish enough to deal with a Sentinel except for Gold Tribe, so Ignitus had no doubt that these pokemon were so. Ignitus looked around the courtyard once more, looking for strong opponents, but saw none that were of Gold Tribe save for those facing against Noxious. Ignitus made up her mind and ran over to Noxious to fight by her side. "Noxious my friend! Let us stamp out these pathetic rebels!"

Eternity City

Speculum heard Defender shout across to him.

"Speculum her poison attacks are going to tear though your current form! You need to change into something else!"

He was right. Replicus would get killed in his current form. He waited for a moment, and began to transform into another Pokemon, but suddenly, Defender stopped him once more and had a better idea. "Speculum, change into me! I'm not sure if you saw my water bomb I made earlier but I'm thinking it could be possible for both of us to make water bombs and wear her down with them!"

He had a good idea. Noxious was a Nidoqueen, after all, so water and Psychic attacks would be highly effective against her, and seeing as she was a Sentinel, they would need all the advantages they could get. Penance seemed to think for a moment, and had another idea then.

"Or you could lure her to me. I can charge up my water bomb and at close range it'll deal more damage. Whichever way you want to do it. If you do water bombs know that they'll take a huge chunk of energy out of you, but I think it's worth it."

Speculum may need his energy, but he decided with the former option. He transformed into a Golduck, and grinned at Penance. He then looked over at the others. "We'll prepare over here. Penance will show me how to do this. We'll need you guys to hold off the Sentinel."

"I'llgo!" Hoodhide said in his fast, chirpy voice. He turned to Defender. "We'll give you the timeyouneed!" Rey nodded as well, prepared to do a part in holding off the Sentinel...correction, two Sentinels now.

"Ah, there's two of them..." Speculum said, worried a bit. "They'll get it done, Defender! We have to do your part!"

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Noxious saw in front of her, as three Gold Tribe members approached. An Excadrill, a Scrafty, an Infernape and another Pokemon, one who was hooded. All three were of the Gold Tribe, however. Beside Noxious appeared Ignitus.

"Noxious my friend! Let us stamp out these pathetic rebels!" Ignitus said. "Good to see you, Ignitus. Care to help me exterminate the remainder of the Gold Tribe?"

As she said this, her attention turned to the Gold Tribe members on approach. They appeared to be keeping their distance at the moment, whether from fear or some other reason, so Noxious decided to strike first. Before she could, however, more Gold Tribe members appeared.

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Zane stopped for a moment as TrueStriker fell behind them. Had he not been too close, Zane may have not heard him at all.

"Sorry," Hanso said slowly, to his comrades, "but I'm out of it for now. Toxic." Hanso fell onto his knees, and then a moment later, onto his face. Zane checked his pulse. He was still alive, only knocked out. A Chansey approached them soon after, and began looking after the fallen Gallade. Zane didn't like it. First Sword and Shield fell, then TrueStriker. He hoped his brothers would recover soon. Zane looked back to Calamity and Dark Lightning.

"Come on. He'll be alright. We have to get to the others. There's no telling what's going on in the courtyard."

As he said this, a portion of the wall collapse on numerous Alpha Alliance soldiers and a few Ancients. Zane assumed it was a Sentinels doing. Ancients didn't have the capacity to think of plans on their own. He bypassed a Kabutops as it attempted to slash at him. He then knocked the Kabutops have himself. Calamity, from behind, finished the Kabutops off, and the trio continued through the battlefield. From the corner of his eye, he spotted the goal. It was Ignitus, and a Nidoqueen. Noxious. Facing her was three of the Gold Tribe.

Zane ran fast knocking away any Ancients in his way, and soon, he joined his brothers and sister's side, facing the Sentinels.

In front of Noxious now stood additional Gold Tribe members: a Golden Bisharp, a Zebstrika, and an Absol. There were six of them now. The Gold Tribe members exchanged looks with each others as all of them prepared to fight off the two Sentinels together.

"What Arceus-forsaken hole did all of you come out of, I wonder?" Noxious said to them. "No matter. Together with Ignitus, I shall finish the legacy of the Gold Tribe, once and for all, and Lord Auron shall reward me greatly."

"Zane, we're supposed to hold them off until DefenderandSpeculum are readyandthen we lead them over to them so they release their attacks." Hoodhide said in a whisper. Zane nodded, and looked at each of the other Gold Tribe members with him. Sword and Shield and TrueStriker were out of commission, and the Breloom Kivir was gone too. But Calamity, Wildfire, Dark Lightning, Rey, and Hoodhide stood, ready for battle.

"Watch out for Ignitus's flames. Be wary of Noxious's poisons abilities." Zane said. "Let's do this."

Immediately, Calamity charged forward, continuing the conflict he had before with Ignitus by launch a Night Slash at her. Hoodhide prepared a Hi Jump Kick on Noxious. Zane also aimed for Noxious, trying to nail her her with an Aerial Ace. Rey was preparing an attack on Ignitus as well. In a burst of energy, Noxious launched a powerful Sludge Wave on the Gold Tribe members who attempted to approach her. Zane was partially hit, and staggered back. Hoodhide luckily evaded the attack, when he noticed she was launching something.

"Be careful! Her poison is dangerous!" Zane yelled at them.

Rey and Calamity made a move at Ignitus, Calamity coming in with a Night Slash as the hooded Rey charged in from above, preparing a powerful Crush Claw.

Gladius Clipeum​

I heard more shouts from the other members, but this time it is more audible. 'Watch---Ignitus's flames. Be wary of---poisons---.' Seems like Vigil and the others were somehow battling a Sentinel. Ignitus, the feared Flareon. It was widely known in the tribe of Ignitus' ability to use Toxic, a rather strong poison type attack. And now, I am guessing, she was using it again against us. Who were still battling? Vigil, Defender, Speculum, Truestriker, Hoodhide, Calamity. I am also sure I saw an Infernape, wearing the golden insignia of the tribe. Rey is also supposed to be alive. It seemed like with the battle of Eterna City, more Gold Tribe members appeared. I certainly hope more will appear once the battle is over.

'---careful! Her poison---!' I am quite certain that Ignitus is the one battling my brothers. I am... wait. No... Another Sentinel, one who possess a much stronger Poison type attacks, still lives. Noxious, the Nidoqueen. My sworn enemy. I must come back and battle her! I must...

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Gladius opened his eyes. His breathing was deep, and there were several stubby palms on his large stomach and faces. A Blissey looked at him and shouted in delight.

"Mr. Gold Tribe! I thought we lost you there!" she said. Gladius simply groaned. He tried to speak, but it seemed like his mouth is terribly swollen. He find it painful to even move his mouth a little. However, he found out he could move his arms without pain, so he tried touching his face. "We're sorry about your face. We did all we can do, and we focus on your appendages. They are your far more important assets." Gladius just nodded. His face was covered in bandages, except for his eyes, his mouth, and nostrils. "If you would rest for a little while, we could heal your facial injury. We cannot promise anything."

Gladius shook his head. I am able to fight again! Let me out of here! I do not need my mouth to attack!

"You're not well yet, Mr. Snorlax. We insist you stay here for a while," the Blissey kindly said while her subordinates, Chanseys and Happineys, were still healing Gladius. This is no good. "Just close your eyes, Mr. Snorlax. In a few minutes, you will be out there again, as good as new."

Penance Malum​

Penance watched as Speculum thought for a moment before, in the blink of an eye, transforming into a golduck. Penance blinked in surprise as he looked at Speculum's form. He didn't know if the ditto had just taken on the form of a golduck he had seen in the past or if that was Penance's form but if it was Penance... man he looked good! "We'll prepare over here. Penance will show me how to do this. We'll need you guys to hold off the Sentinel."

"I'llgo!" Hoodhide responded. "We'll give you the timeyouneed!" As soon as Hoodhide ran off to face Noxius another, more familiar, face appeared. Ignitus. Great, now there were two Sentinels they had to face! It was a good thing that Speculum had changed because if he had still been in his Grovyle form he would not only be facing poison, but fire attacks as well. At least as a Golduck the two had advantage over both opponents and a resistance to Ignitus' fire attacks. Speculum was now watching him and it was up to Penance now to quickly teach his brother his trick before the Ancients could surround them again.

Taking in a deep breath Penance focused on the Water Bomb he already held and drew out the psychic energy he had poured into it back into his body. Soon enough the water pulse was its regular size and he dropped it onto the ground. "Alright, first you need to make a regular Water Pulse, but in between your hands. You need to give it all the stability you can." Penance held out his hands and a water pulse formed between them. "Next you need to focus on the Water Pulse itself with your psychic powers. Instead of sending out a psychic blast let the blast flow into the Water Pulse, like this." Penance focused on his Pulse and infused it with his psychic powers allowing it to grow in size. He kept going until he felt the Pulse was of an appropriate size. "That's all there is to it really. Just imagine that the Pulse is a balloon and your filling it with air, a.k.a. the psychic energy. Don't go overboard with filling it up or the Pulse will probably burst in your hands and we don't want that. Once the Bomb leaves your hands the energy will truly leave you and you'll feel some fatigue. Only make two Bombs, making three will drain all your energy. Also, don't get too close to it. I noticed that last time I made one that the psychic energy blew back some Ancients so it'll probably be good to shout a warning to let the other get out of the way."

Penance hoped that the demonstration was enough for Speculum to get the picture. Looking back at the fight his brothers were engaged in and looked back at Speculum, "Once you feel you have it down, signal them. When we have a clear shot we'll see just how much of an effect they'll have on her."

Gladius Clipeum​

What Cleric Blissey said was right. After a few more minutes, most of the pain Gladius felt was gone. In fact, he found out he could speak again. He also found his strength returning to him.

"Mr. Gold Tribe, please do not over exert yourself. We have not applied the proper healing procedure for you. It is mostly for first-aid. Too much exertion on you will leave you helpless. Again," the Healing Pokemon warned. Gladius just nodded. He glanced along the beds at the tent to check if the Alpha Alliance was doing well. Gladius saw many unknown faces. They were hurt, but they can manage. Along the far end of the tent, he caught a glimpse of TrueStriker. The Gallade was sleeping, with a bowl of Pecha Berries beside him. Presumably from Ignitus's Toxic.

"I better go, Ms. Cleric," Gladius said. "Thank you for your help."

"It was dutifully given. Don's push yourself, Mr. Gold Tribe!" the Blissey called after Gladius, but the Snorlax could not hear her anymore. The sound of war erupted in his ears again. I'm back. Gladius immediately engaged in battle. He grabbed the nearest Armaldo by the feet, and flung it to a group of Ancients, surrounding two Alpha Alliance members. The two of them looked at Snorlax in awe.

"Go! For our freedom!" Snorlax shouted as loud as he can, to boost the morale of the army around him. He grappled with a Kabutops, and managed to toss him aside like a ragged doll.

"I'm back!"

Daricka "Wildfire" Cambar

"GOLD TRIBE!" The members of the Gold Tribe turned to look at the Dragonite that had spoken. "We need your assistance. The Breloom Kivir has concocted a plan to get through the inner wall on the way to the central district. We'll need you in front when a part of the wall comes down!" Just then the ground shook and the walls around them fell into even more ruin than they had been in before.

"By Arceus, he did it!" the Metagross with the Dragonite yelled. "Everyone muster around the Gold Tribe! They'll be plenty of more Ancients in the central district! GO! For the Alpha Alliance!"

As they moved toward the central area of the city, Speculum said to Hoodhide, "Wanna keep track at who takes down more Ancients?" When the Scrafty refused he turned the challenge to Daricka and Defender. Daricka just ignored it; she saw no point in such a petty competition in the middle of battle.

As they closed in on their destination, Daricka was once again lost in the whirlwind of battle, knocking Ancients down as quickly as they came. A bead of sweat trickled into her eye and she fired a Focus Blast as she blinked it away, the blind shot causing an Armaldo to lose its balance and fall over. With another Focus Blast, this time aimed, she incapacitated it.

"Bros! Sis! Look!" Speculum shouted. Daricka looked where he was pointing and scowled when she saw a Nidoqueen, no doubt Noxious the Sentinel. Even with there being so many of the Gold Tribe together this was going to be a tough fight. She listened as Defender and Speculum concocted a plan of sorts. As the Golduck and Ditto backed away to prepare, another Pokemon appeared, this time the Sentinel known as Ignitus.

'This just keeps getting better and better,' Daricka thought grimly, cracking her knuckles. As luck would have it, more Gold Tribe members came along at that moment. She only felt slightly more comfortable with the odds.

Noxious launched a Sludge Wave at the Gold Tribe and Daricka did a series of back-flips until she was out of its way, but still getting splashed by the poison. She quickly lit up the part of her body that had been touched by the poison - she didn't want to risk it infecting her - and burned the liquid away from her fur. Daricka then exploded into a Flare Blitz, quickly running over to Noxius and swinging her tail at the Nidoqueen, her full body weight behind the swing. Twisting around on one foot when she landed, the Infernape let the flames covering her fur escape in a Heat Wave. The last attack wasn't meant to do much damage; this was just to keep them busy until Defender and Speculum were ready.

Eternity City

As the fight began between the Sentinels and the Gold Tribe, Defender taught Speculum how to perform the attack.

"Alright, first you need to make a regular Water Pulse, but in between your hands. You need to give it all the stability you can. Next you need to focus on the Water Pulse itself with your psychic powers. Instead of sending out a psychic blast let the blast flow into the Water Pulse, like this. That's all there is to it really. Just imagine that the Pulse is a balloon and your filling it with air, a.k.a. the psychic energy. Don't go overboard with filling it up or the Pulse will probably burst in your hands and we don't want that. Once the Bomb leaves your hands the energy will truly leave you and you'll feel some fatigue. Only make two Bombs, making three will drain all your energy. Also, don't get too close to it. I noticed that last time I made one that the psychic energy blew back some Ancients so it'll probably be good to shout a warning to let the other get out of the way."

Speculum did his best to go through the ability, and try to copy what Defender did, and attempt to replicate it himself. He made nervous glances at the battle that was occurring not too far away to see how the Gold Tribe was faring against the Sentinels.

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Zane was at a disadvantage fighting Noxious. The only way to try to deal with her would be from far off, but Zane's capabilities to do long-range damage was small. He had a Thunder Wave, but that wouldn't do much against Noxious. He did have the one plus that he was somewhat immune to the full affects of her poison because of his Steel type. Hoodhide was in a similar bind. Both were close-range fighters. Luckily, they didn't have to fight her directly as much as lure her. Every time Zane and Hoodhide would back off, Noxious would approach a few steps closer. She wasn't close enough for striking distance just yet, but she was getting there.

Wildfire went in with a direct approach, attacking the Nidoqueen with her flames. Noxious prepared to take the swing of her tail, moving her arms to defend, while preparing to release an attack once the Infernape got close enough. As Wildfire released Heat Wave, Noxious met it with an equally deadly Sludge Wave. The potent poison spread across in all directions, particularly aiming for the three of them. Zane leaped back in an attempt to evade the poison. Hoodhide did the same. The air was filled with a fog of gas and poison now, like purple haze. It became slightly difficult to breathe, and Zane's eyes began to tear just from being open. He couldn't see Wildfire immediately in the mist, but he saw the figure of Noxious on approach to them once more. Zane looked back at Speculum and Defender, who prepped their attacks.

She wasn't close enough yet.

Gladius Clipeum​

As they say in the Gold Tribe, once Sword and Shield went berserk, there was nothing to stop him. And now, just minutes after his complete and miraculous recovery, Gladius was seen strewing about bodies of Ancients he mangled and crush. He simply is a walking tank. Everywhere he goes, the Ancients that were supposed to be stopping him was littered on the ground, either unconscious or broken enough to not be able to stand anymore. Grab, throw, punch, smack; Gladius employs all non-conventional methods to decapitate his enemies. He rarely uses his moves.

He could not see any of his comrades, though he is sure they are faring well also, despite the possibility that they may be facing two Sentinels. Gladius just hope that they were teaming up against the two.

Vigil, Defender, Calamity... Gladius thought of the names he became much acquainted in with the tribe these past few days. Do not die now.

Ignitus laughed as the Absol from before ran in with a Night Slash, the dark curved blade on his head looking like a scythe of death, prepared to give the mortal blow. Ignitus also charged forward, the distance between the Absol and her quickly shrinking, the two getting closer with every second. Right before the Absol's attack struck, she slid sideways and rolled on her side, knocking the Absol's feet out from under him. It was weak and would do little to no damage, but it was more distracting and unbalanced him, giving her the advantage to start out the battle. As she pulled out of her roll, another pokemon grazed her from above with a Crush Claw attack. Even though it barely hit her, it was still obviously an incredibly powerful attack. Ignitus leapt to her feet and jumped back to analyze her new attacker. It was a hooded Zangoose, with bright eyes. As she stared into the eyes, she recognized the foe. She shouted above the din of the battle, "Rey! Obviously we did not kill you well enough the first time! It's time to remedy that! Prepare to die you dirty blooded filth!"

Ignitus let the heat of battle overtake her, flames dancing around her, and let rage build up, remembering everything to be angry for, and focues all of that emotion on Gold Tribe, Rey in particular. It was time for him to die.

Ignitus used overheat, launching waves of heat outwards from her, affecting all of the Gold Tribe members in the area. Hopefully it wouldn't affect Noxious too much. It would probably help her more than hinder her...hopefully. To be honest, Ignitus didn't really care at this point. As long as Gold Tribe died here. After using overheat, she used shadowball, launching multiple balls of darkness towards the absol, that should keep him busy until she could land some hard hits on Rey. Then she used flame charge, becoming an arc of fire streaking towards Rey, then used superpower to beef the attack up even more, hopefully causing devestating effects on the Gold Tribe leader.