People and Pokémon carried boxes upon boxes of supplies, filing though the dark tunnels of a barely known underground. Fire and electric types were spread amongst them, lighting the way for the large group. All of the Pokémon moved freely, some gathered in groups of type, others collected around their trainers. There were few pokéballs to be seen, most stored in the boxes beside potions and berries. Many people within the group were older than the average trainer, with any number of highly leveled Pokémon. Some had family with them, but there were few children. The life they lived was not a comfortable one and so most families stayed above ground in the cities, only the sympathetic aware of the group's existence.
At the front of the group a team of fire types moved along side their trainer, an equally fiery young woman whose outfit echoed the colors of her team. She knew her way through these tunnels; they had been her idea when the need for secrecy first arrived. Base management was her job within the group, and she took it seriously. If they were caught, it would be because of a fault on her part, and it would mean the destruction of the main branch of the coexistence rebellion.
One of the biggest voices and powers within the rebellion, had once been the Unova Pokémon League Champion—Adler. "Come on everybody, keep it moving, we need to be at the new base by sunrise!" He called, his Bouffalant and Druddigon waiting patiently for him to finish loading them with supplies to be carried. He and Drayden were the leaders of the group, the only ones who'd gone underground to run the rebellion. Both men believed strongly in the rebellion's ideas and if they could, it was well known that both would take on the King themselves. Adler shouldered a particularly heavy burden, believing it was his fault that Team Plasma had managed to gain control of the legendary dragon. His loss to the King weighed on him constantly, and he was not nearly as vibrant of a man as he once was. His Pokémon knew well how he had changed and most of them refused to leave his side unless he ordered, his Volcorona especially.
Secondary members, those who had been with the group the longest were spread among the group, taking care of their individual assignments and keeping watch of the people and Pokémon nearest to them. That was where Elise came in.
She had only been seventeen when the rebellion was formed, started by a group of devoted trainers who cared deeply for their Pokémon. Team Plasma had been spreading seeds of doubt and stealing Pokémon from caring trainers for almost a year prior, building up to their ultimate plan, and no one had seen it coming. Once their king had taken possession of one of the legendary dragons, Plasma moved quickly, wiping out all existence of peaceful coexistence between humans and Pokémon. Most of Unova's citizens now feared the creatures that had once been so woven into their lives. Constant propaganda, demonstrations, and patrols insured that no one other than Plasma used or interacted with any Pokémon.
At first, the trainers that would become the rebellion had no choice other than to run. While they were all strong, they were far outnumbered and would only have been able to last so long against Team Plasma, especially by themselves. Adler had come up with the idea for an organized rebellion, carefully communicating it with the members of the Elite Four and Unova's gym leaders, knowing that Plasma had established a presence almost everywhere. He needed help, knew that he was not a quiet enough person to find and rally the few trainers that had managed to hold onto their Pokémon without being found out. When Drayden came across Adler's plans, he joined quickly, eager to take the young, foolish King from his position of power. While not as boisterous as his counterpart, Drayden played a role equal to Adler within the rebellion. He was responsible for supplies and their above ground connections, as well as managing the ranks within the group. The contact lines he set up worked well and the group grew to a good number rapidly. However, the rebellion had nowhere to convene. Pokémon had to be kept hidden from Plasma's sight, and a gathering of trainers would be too easy and obvious a target. A request for ideas was sent out through the contacts in hopes that any member would know of some place. Elise had answered, suggesting that perhaps something used in another region would work—a system of subterranean tunnels where secret bases are drilled into the walls. She had used it during her time in Sinnoh just over a year before and still had the equipment; they just had to hope it would work in Unova.
When it did, the group slowly disappeared below ground in small groups, careful not to raise suspicion. From then on, the group steadily grew, breaking into branches, some staying above ground and running information nets there, others taking to building secret bases in cliff sides and forests. More than just trainers began to join and the rebellion slowly became more of an off grid community, complete with nurses, people specializing in berries and herbs, tinkerers to work on old pokéballs and other machinery, and more.
"This is it," said Elise, she and her Pokémon stopping to wait just outside their latest base, her fire types' flames serving as a beacon for the rest of the group to locate their new home. The first people to enter the base were trainers with electric types and the tinkerers of the group, quickly setting to work on creating a simple electrical system. At most times, the bases were lit by candles and fires, to put less strain on the Pokémon and to make the bases even harder to find, but sometimes electricity became a necessity.
Behind them came gardeners and nurses, moving in to set up their respective stations, and finally the rest of the rebellion arrived, with Drayden and Adler bringing up the tail end. Moving bases was a monthly thing for the group, but each time, Adler seemed just as enthralled, his eyes lighting up as he took in their newest home.
"This one's large, no wonder you and Shawna were gone so long," Drayden said to Elise as she joined them.
"I know, " She nodded, resting her hand on one of her Houndoom horns as it leaned against her leg, "I thought we needed more room, so many of us have rather large Pokémon and space was cramped in our last base, it made them tense. We had more scrabbles there than we've had anywhere else—other than our first base, of course."
The older man looked down at her as she watched the rest of the group set up, her eyes following Adler about the large room. "And Shawna didn't mind helping excavate this much? She isn't usually keen on helping in the first place."
Elise laughed lightly, taking her eyes off of Adler to smile up at Drayden, "Oh, she minded, that's why it took so long. We would have been done in 3 days if she wouldn't have made us take so many breaks." Shaking her head, the red haired girl kneeled down to pet her Houndoom, "She cares a lot for her Pokémon, they're her only family now, and she doesn't want them hurt. That's why she hates making them work like that, but they're some of our best steel types, it's almost unavoidable."
"Our new base is best yet!" Adler boomed, clapping a hand on Elise's shoulder, startling her a bit, "You'll have a hard time outdoing yourself with the next base."
"I believe you say that every time, Alder," Elise hummed, standing again, a small smile on her face as she kept herself from chuckling.
Before Adler could argue that he had never said that—because he couldn't remember that he did—Drayden interrupted, "Elise, you must be tired, please, you and your Pokémon go get some rest. You've been working since dusk, don't let this fool keep you up."
Giving her Houndoom a pat to get moving, the girl nodded, "Thank you, Drayden, sleep well once you get there."
As she walked away, Drayden pulled Adler aside, "We need to talk; I've got news from above ground." With that, the white haired man walked back into the darkness of the tunnels, and away from the small rejoicing occurring inside their base. The Champion's face quickly fell into a frown, most news was shared with the entire group at one time, when it wasn't, that rarely meant well. With a sigh, and one look around at the smiling members of the rebellion, of his rebellion, he stepped out after his partner.
By the light of his Volcorona, he found Drayden quicker than he would have liked. The man's face was sterner than usual, and if he looked close enough, Adler thought that he could see a hint of fear in his yellow eyes. Voice soft, wary, he asked, "What is it, Drayden? What's happened?"
Checking that no one had followed them, Drayden began, "Team Plasma may have finally found us," Adler's heart dropped. Sure, he knew it was only a matter of time—just as Drayden was currently saying, but he hoped that for once, Drayden's information was wrong. The rebellion was flourishing, the people were happier than they'd been in a long time, the group was finally garnering enough of a presence to have a chance at taken the fight to Plasma. "Grunts and higher ups alike have been seen talking to miners and other underground workers, asking about the Sinnoh system. Granted, there are others who use it here, there has been since Sinnoh trainers first came over with the technology, but I doubt Plasma has any interest in gems for trading or any of the other little trinkets we find down here. They're coming for us."
