Lorelei Belle Winters grinned as she hefted her backpack. Today was the day that she would begin. She had dreamed about this day for a long time, but now her life would really begin to take off. She glanced down at her side, and Weavile glared up at her wryly. Cryo had come a long way from the Pokémon that had nearly killed her twelve years before.

She had grown up quite a bit since then. She had tasted the bittersweet nectar of leaving home to make her own life as a Pokémon trainer. She had dated a half hundred guys, and had broken all of their hearts. She had become the majority investor in half a dozen small companies, and had proven that she had inherited her father's business wiles.

But now, she was going to put her abilities to the truest test ever. Lorelei grinned, and ran forward, up the boarding ramp of the AMS Articuno, one of the finest military vessels that had ever plied Alto's seas. She had known that it had been coming for a long time, but this time it was going to be different.

Neragosh had declared war on Alto. Engara had instantly declared war on Alto as well, coming to the aid of its ally, but Tintia had, of course, declared war on them both, fulfilling the treaty that had been in place for centuries. Tintia and Engara would battle amongst themselves, each throwing their full force against each other, while Neragosh and Alto would both be alone.

But there was a rumor that this time would be different. There was a rumor that the Neragoshans had found an evil that had long been thought long lost. There was a rumor that Geomantz had been reawakened.

The evil Legendary had not been seen for centuries, and everyone had assumed it dead. But if the rumors were true and Geomantz was once again leading the battle against Alto, then things would be different. If it was true, then all of Alto would empty and would throw themselves against Neragosh to defeat the Legendary Ground-type Pokémon.

Lorelei leaned against the rail of the ship and waited for it to launch. While she waited, she glanced over her shoulder at the rest of her team. Weavile had been with her for quite some time, as had Gengar, Golem, and Entrophen. She had met both Gengar and Golem around her estate, and had caught them as soon as she was able to, when her parents weren't at home and nobody else was watching.

She stroked Entrophen behind the ears and smiled sadly. She had caught him almost five years before. He was nearing the end of his short life. One way or the other, this would be his final campaign. The lupine Pokémon nudged her knee gently, and Lorelei caught herself before her eyes teared up. She would not allow herself to cry. Ever again. It wasn't proper for a lady of her wealth. She knelt down next to the Pokémon and stroked its silver fur lovingly. They had been together since he had been born. She had captured this Entrophen's mother early on in her journeys, and now he was all that Lorelei had of her first Entrophen. There was no one that she cared for more.

Lorelei adjusted the pistols in their holsters as she stood to her feet, and reached over her shoulder to make sure that her rifle was still there. Lorelei grinned as she looked out at the open sea. Somewhere out there was an enemy she had heard about since birth. And, maybe, a Legendary Pokémon.

Lorelei grinned. A week, and then she and her team would be in the thick of things.

War.

Nothing she had ever seen had prepared her for it. She had heard stories, and had scored among the highest in her Academy Tests. But nothing could have possibly prepared her for the raw emotion that was war. Half of her squad, people she had known since the Academy, were cut down when they stormed the shore.

But she and her team of Pokémon had survived. They hadn't just survived, they had taken point in every one of the charges. Even started a charge or two. Lorelei grinned as she changed magazines on her rifle. She had heard stories of wars before, but nothing had prepared her for the real thing. As she primed her weapon for firing, she wondered idly what a war without Pokémon would be like.

Here, she was the commander of her own little platoon. She had six Pokémon under her command, and was part of a six-man squad, led by her late Sergeant. She had assumed command of what was left of the team, and had thrown them into the thick of things. But they had gotten split up, and maybe they were dead. That didn't matter now.

Lorelei glanced around. They were in the city of Gneiss, fighting a desperate battle for a foothold. The Neragoshans weren't giving up an inch, and she and the other Altans were losing people and Pokémon fast. But she and her team weren't done yet.

Lorelei peeked around the corner of the alley, and grinned. They had a full squad out there, waiting for her. Plus it looked like they had a machine gun nest set up inside of a Psionic Shield. These guys were thinking that they were entrenched. Boy were they in for a surprise.

Lorelei pulled back around the corner and thought for a moment. Warfare had, for the better part of the last millennium, depended heavily on Psionics for communication, enhancement, and protection. Any force without a Psionics team would be defeated in very short order. But most Psionic teams didn't deploy Shields, but rather connected the minds of every soldier in a given number of people, and protected them from outside Psionic Interference. Psionic Intereference was, after all, one of the most dangerous weapons in any army's arsenal. If a Psychic could gain control of another person, then they could make that person turn on his own comrades. Various lines of technology and Psionics were developed to help combat such efforts, but it was still a dangerous and ever-present threat.

But what was even more of a threat to Lorelei at the moment was the Psionic Shield that had been erected, not twenty yards away from her area of cover. A Standard Psionic shield was a double Barrier, with a double Light Screen. The standard means of overcoming the Barrier was with a Rocket Propelled Grenade. Lorelei grimaced. She didn't have an RPG.

She glanced over at her team of Pokémon. She may not have the sheer strength to break it down, but she was sure that she would be able to dislodge the Shield. Lorelei leaned around the corner, inching the barrel of her scavenged rifle around and fired off several bursts. A hail of gunfire and Beams roared back, and Lorelei barely had time to get out of the way.

But her gambit had paid off. She had been able to spot the edges of the Psionic Shield. And that, taking into consideration the shape and angle of curvation of the Shield, had told her about where the Psychic probably was.

She glanced back down the alley at her team, and grinned. It was a good thing that she had developed this team before the war started. It was about as close to a Psionics-busting team as she would probably get. Two Ghost-types, two Dark-types, a Rock-type, and a Poison-type. Lorelei grinned. This would be easy as pie.

She shifted in her crouch to be able to look over her shoulder. "Gengar, Dusknoir, you two sneak around back. The rest of us will be making a distraction up here. While their attention is focused on us, I want you to take out the Psychic. No heroics, and get back to us as soon as you can." The two Ghost-type Pokémon nodded their affirmation, and dashed through the wall of the building that Lorelei was leaning against.

Lorelei glanced out into the street. It was littered with debris, and there were a few chunks big enough to be cover for her, but they were pretty far from her current position. Her eyes narrowed. "Entrophen," she said quietly, glanced over her shoulder at the triple-tailed canine. "Take up position here, and watch our backs. Don't let anyone flank us from over here."

Lorelei turned to Golem. "You're going to be my cover. We'll take up position on the far side of the street. Houndoom, you're taking up position behind that piece of rubble in the street," she pointed, and scratched her Dark-type behind the ears. "Keep a constant Ember going on that Shield. You'll be able to target the Shield easily enough, just don't get cocky and try to hit someone. It won't work. And don't get overexcited and pump up the juice. I need you to stay as fresh as you can, but direct the Psy's attention forward, to us. Not to the Ghosts that are flanking 'em."

Lorelei turned to Weavile and grinned. "Well, partner, I'm not going to give you any orders. You just do your usual dirty work, and we'll call this one fair." Lorelei grinned as she pulled a grenade from the bandolier sashed across her chest. "Ready?" Lorelei asked. Without waiting, she tossed the grenade out into the street and turned away, shielding her eyes.

The grenade exploded brilliantly, with a massive explosion. Without waiting, her team carried out their orders, moving to their assigned spots. Lorelei ran, half-crouched, with Golem across the street, while Weavile rapidly climbed the building that had afforded the team their cover.

For several seconds, nothing happened, the people and Pokémon behind the Shield were still recovering from the effects of Lorelei's flashbang. Then they began opening fire, and bullets and Beams began roaring out. It would take the Psychics a few seconds to triangulate their positions, Lorelei knew.

"Open up!" Lorelei roared, and swung her rifle up into a firing position, and fired at the Psionic Shield. Her bullets ricocheted harmlessly, as did Houndoom's Ember and Weavile's Ice Beams, but Lorelei's assault had served its purpose. Lorelei ducked back behind her cover as a hail of returning fire sailed over her head. She looked up at Weavile and grinned. "Cryo, give us cover!" she shouted.

Lorelei pulled a Mark XVI Fragmentation from her bandolier and tossed it over her shoulder. "Frag out!" she shouted, and ducked further down behind her cover. The explosion ripped through the street, and fire intensified on her position. Then, suddenly, all there was around her was white.

Lorelei grinned. Her Weavile had come through once again. She took a deep breath, and ran in a half-crouch to Houndoom's position, ignoring the Beams that roared through the Blizzard blindly.

She knelt next to her canine Pokémon, and tapped it on the shoulder. "Leash is off!" she shouted into its ear. "Ghosts should be about in position right about now. Give 'em something to look at from the front. Cryo and I will back you up."

The Houndoom roared its approval to her plan and the flame that had constantly been belching from his mouth ceased. With a single movement of the Dark-type Pokémon's muscles, the Houndoom leaped up and over its cover, heading for the enemy. Lorelei reached behind her back as she raced for Golem's alley, and the shelter from the freezing Blizzard.

Once Lorelei ducked inside Golem's alley, she pulled her flare gun to point straight up, and fired off a single shot. The blood-red flare rose up several hundred feet like Moltres, its brilliance leaving behind a tail of red flame that dissipated slowly. Instantly, Cryo's bitter winds cut out, and she could hear the shouts, screaming, and roaring of the attack already beginning.

Lorelei peeked around the corner and saw Houndoom tearing through the team of Pokémon that had been bunched around the front of the shield. They were obviously counting on the shield to protect them, and hadn't counted on her having a Dark type. Suddenly, there was an explosion further back, and Lorelei saw one of the humans, a surprised expression on his face, topple forward, the Alakazam that pushed him over still moving with momentum.

And then there was only sheer chaos. Lorelei left her cover and charged in, rifle pressed against her shoulder, firing in short bursts. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ice Beams slam into one enemy after the other. Weavile was doing his share of the work, as usual.

A flash of red light to Lorelei's left caught her attention, and she spun to see a Neragoshan yelling into his radio, and a Pidgeot making a break for the sky, only to be shot down by Weavile. A quick burst from Lorelei's rifle, and the soldier was down. She spun back to check on the rest of her team, and saw that the few Neragoshans that weren't dead or unconscious were surrounded by her team.

Lorelei grinned. "Get 'em out of the street!" she snapped, motioning for Golem and Entrophen to rejoin them. She tapped the earpiece in her left ear, activating the commlink to the Command Bunker. "Command, this is Winters. I've got up to Klareng Street, and I have four prisoners her, awaiting transport."

Lorelei knelt down next to one of the humans, and rummaged around until she found his Pokéballs. "I've only got me and my six Pokémon left. Awaiting orders."

"Hold please," Command responded.Lorelei pulled the Pokéballs out and recalled the Pokémon that the human had controlled. Satisfied with that, she miniaturized the Pokéballs and put them into a pack tha she kept with her just for that purpose, and went through the man's pockets looking for ammunition.

"Have you no respect for the dead?" One of the Neragoshans demanded. Lorelei glanced up. It was a young man. It was probably his first tour of duty. Lorelei hadn't been in a whole lot of fights, but she was nowhere near as green as he was. Houndoom and the ghosts were herding them over towards what had been Golem's alley.

"As a matter of fact," Lorelei said quietly, "I don't. Now shut up, or we may run into a Neragoshan ambush and you may find yourselves caught in the crossfire." Cryo landed next to her, and Lorelei looked up at the Weavile, "Check to make sure they don't have any hidden weapons, then come give me a hand looting." Lorelei held up a pistol and ejected the cartridge for emphasis. Her Ice-type nodded.

Lorelei knew that the Neragoshans, having lost contact with their Psychic, and especially after that radio chatter with the Neragoshan she had just killed, would be coming soon. And then she'd need all the firepower she could get. To last as long as possible.

Lorelei moved on to the next body. Some people would probably find this gruesome, but to her, it was as natural as taking a breath.

"New Orders coming through, Winters," the voice of Command came through. "We're pulling out."

Lorelei stopped and put a hand to her ear. "Say again, Command?" she asked.

"We're pulling out. You are to meet up with the evacuation party at Point Bravo." Lorelei shook her head, literally quivering with rage. She had been with good people. And seen them die. They were calling off the invasion force because of that? That was ludicrous. She had seen the defenders. If they kept pushing, they could easily defeat Neragosh once and for all.

But the commanders surely had a good reason for what they were doing. "Roger that," she said. "We're on our way with prisoners." She looked over at the rest of the team, and gestured that they were moving out. "We've got orders, people. We're to rendezvous with the rest of the attack force."

Lorelei shook her head. They would be giving up a lot of ground, ground that they'd have to retake inch by blood-stained inch. It was a bad call, but she would make the most of it.

Lorelei stared up at her Commanding Officer. Colonel James T. Surge was an imposing man, and his years of service in the Air Force were among the most decorated of any of Alto's heroes. "You handled yourself well, Private Winters," the man said gruffly. "your fighting style reminds me a bit of my son's, but he left the Army after only one tour of duty." Surge sat up in his chair and regarded a picture lovingly.

Lorelei took the moment to glance around. Surge's office was a small room in the Altan Aircraft carrier Avion. It wasn't that big, but then, nothing on the ship was. The only furniture in the room was a table with an ink blotter, a computer, and a few pictures, and two chairs.

"This is the end of your tour of duty," he said quietly. "We'll be pulling into Fogh in a few hours. I was wondering if I could convince you to stick around." Surge looked up at Lorelei earnestly. "If you would see your way to sticking around, I would see to it that you were promoted to lieutenant, on a fast track to a command. You're a natural commander, and handled yourself extremely well in Gneiss. I really don't want to lose you."

Lorelei shook her head. "You must know by now what my answer is." Surge leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "I'm out of this joint. The only reason that I joined up with the Air Force was to fight Neragosh. And I've done that now. And we could have finished this if we hadn't signed that stupid peace treaty."

Surge sighed, and got to his feet. "I know how you feel," he said quietly, looking out his porthole. "But you know as well as I do that if we had pressed our advantage, Engara would have stepped in and destroyed us all. And Tintia would do the same if Neragosh would ever defeat us."

Lorelei glared down at her lap. She had heard the rhetoric, but all she heard was that the people at home had lost the will to fight. They had clamored for peace and had abandoned her and the rest of the military, insisting that they pull out instead of actually finishing the job.

"I didn't think that I'd be able to talk you out of leaving," Surge said quietly. "So I put in a call to an old friend of mine. He's got a job open for you at the Academy." He glanced over his shoulder. "I know how you feel, Lorelei, t that Neragosh should be defeated at any cost. Of course I can't and won't condone that, and I know that you wouldn't ever go visit anyone like that. After all, Agatha Fraley isn't the safest person to be around."

Lorelei cocked her head to one side. Was he—"Fraley?" She asked quietly. "As in one of the Legendary Kantan Generals?"

Surge nodded, a wistful smile sliding across his face. "Those were the days, when we were young. The Surge Brigade, the Fraley Force, the Battling Blazers, and the Samuel Squad." Lorelei rolled her eyes. She had heard the stories dozens of times before. How Surge had once commanded a mercenary battalion, and had waged war on Neragosh. He had been given the honorary rank of General from Kanto for helping to drive out Engaran oppressors.

Surge turned around, a sly smile on his face. "Remember, Lorelei, stay as far away from Agatha as possible." One of his eyes closed, then opened again, almost too fast for Lorerlei to notice the man's wink. "Dismissed."

Lorelei got to her feet and saluted Surge, and walked out the door. She was relatively certain that he had tried to direct her to Agatha Fraley. Of course, he couldn't come right out and say it or he'd get in trouble. After all, Alto was at peace with Neragosh.

Agatha Fraley, eh? That meant a trip to the Indigo Plateau. Where had she put her passport? Retirement just might be interesting after all.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Lorelei screamed at the man standing across the counter from her. They had been having the same….heated argument for the past several minutes. "I am NOT going through Victory Road!"

The man tending the counter glared at her. "All trainers are required to battle through Victory Road in order to reach Indigo Plateau."

Lorelei bristled. "I'm not a trainer!" she hissed. "I'm just someone who happens to have Pokémon companions."

The attendant glared at her. "That sure sounds like a Pokémon Trainer to me. Listen, the only way I'm letting you by here is if you can prove that you can stand the heat. To do that, you need to go through Victory Road."

Lorelei's hands curled into fists. "Listen, little man, I may be the only one here who's only killed someone!" She smiled darkly. "I know over a hundred ways to kill you with one finger alone." Lorelei grinned. All she would need to do would be to pull a gun's trigger a hundred times. "Now let me through."

The little man glared at her. "No!" he insisted in his whiny, nasally little voice. "you're not getting to the Indigo Plateau without going through the Indigo Plateau. If you were going there for shopping or something, that'd be fine, but since you want to go see the Champion, we need to be sure that you're good enough."

Lorelei's eyes narrowed, and she felt her hands unconsciously dropping down into the pockets of her trench coat where she kept a pair of tiny derringers for emergencies. She forced her hands back up and onto the counter. She grabbed the little man by the shirt collar. She pulled him closer to her face, her eyes flashing. "Listen, I don't care if she's the Champion or the janitor. I am not going through some stupid gauntlet."

Lorelei glared at the sides of the cave. "I can't believe this happened," she muttered to herself. She glanced over her shoulder. Everything was dark, except for the small shimmering of light that came from the entrance. She pulled out a light from one pocket and attached it to her wrist.

"Weavile, take point. Gengar, Dusknoir, find the way out of here. Houndoom, light our way, torch anything that gets too close. Golem, scout ahead, Entrophen, cover my six," Lorelei growled. Weavile grinned up at Lorelei, waggling his paws, a dark light in his eyes. Her entire team could tell that she was in a bad mood, so they hopped to their tasks faster than normal.

Gengar and Dusknoir faded through the walls, searching for the exit, and Golem tucked himself into a ball and rolled forward, becoming the advance scout for the team. Houndoom's flames roared outwards, illuminating the pathway around her.

Lorelei took a step forward, glaring daggers at the darkness. How could they make her go through this? It was humiliating. She knew how to take care of herself. So what if she hadn't fought a single battle in Kanto? She had fought to defend her home, and then had taken the battle to the enemy.

How could something like that not net her enough experience to see the stupid Champion? Who cared if she was the most powerful in Kanto? Lorelei deserved better than to be treated like some wet behind the ears kid.

They'd just better hope that no trainers would get in her way. She knew that her anger would fuel her Pokémon to fight more fiercely than they normally would, and she would not stop them. She wouldn't stop them, either. It was their fault that this was happening.

Lorelei stalked forward, her trenchcoat billowing out around her in the icy wind that suddenly picked up. Her red hair snapped around her face like the mane of a medusa, and the fire in her eyes was almost visible. Pokémon ducked out of the path of her brigade, and cowered in whatever nooks and crannies they could find.

Her anger was palpable, and the fact that she had to remain in the infernal cave only fueled it further. The wind intensified, and frost began to appear on the caves of the wall.

Lorelei came around a corner, to see a Blastoise battling her Golem. "Stupid Pokémon!" the trainer said. "wandering off like that." Lorelei felt her rage boiling over. "Sorry about this, but I have to faint you!"

Lorelei made a gesture to Houndoom, and instantly the canine's light was darkened. "You'll do no such thing!" Lorelei said quietly, her voice low and threatening. "I'm afraid I can't allow it."

"Charizard, Flash!" the trainer exclaimed, and suddenly a gout of flame shot into the air. The trainer's eyes widened. Standing in front of her was a figure, its face hidden by shadows. Arrayed behind it was a team of three Pokémon—a Houndoom, a Weavile, and a Golem.

"Not bad," The trainer said, pushing her long, red hair over her shoulder. "So you've gotten this far. Let's see how good you really are!" The trainer swallowed. Whoever this was was certainly putting on a good show. But she had been around long enough to know that that wasn't necessarily the same thing as strength.

"They keep saying that," the opposing trainer said quietly. "I get quite tired of it. Weavile, take care of them. All of them." The Weavile standing beside the unknown person grinned, a dark light glimmering in its eyes as it advanced, claws slowly extending.

"Do you really think that that little thing is going to be a challenge for me?" the trainer demanded. "You do realize that I have a type advantage right?"

"I grow tired of this, Weavile. We'll be moving on. Don't take too long." The figure started walking, but the Kantan Trainer jumped in front of her.

"Just where do you think that you're going?" the Pokémon Leaguer demanded. "Charizard!" There was a moment's pause, and the Leaguer frowned. "Charizard! Blastoise?" The Leaguer turned to look at her Pokémon, and her face paled. The Weavile was standing up from the Blastoise, the bright yellow liquid dripping from its claws betraying the fact that the blood was from the Water-type. And just beyond the Blastoise, Charizard lay, purple blood leaking out, its wings frozen in place by a thick layer of ice.

"You better tend to your Pokémon," the stranger said quietly. "And radio ahead to the other Trainers that they should stay out of my way."

The Leaguer took one last look at the stranger, then ran to the side of her Pokémon, digging in her belt pouch for Hyper Potions. She looked up as a strange, purple Pokémon stalked past, regarding her darkly. The Leaguer shivered as the bitter wind further intensified. Just who was this person that was going through Victory Road?

Just what was her purpose here?