Whitney, Copper and Steel ran through the thick trees all the way to the edge of Fuchsia City but the sight they saw there was the worst nightmare of anyone in Kahto.

Copper had never seen so many Zephyrs in one place and she'd lived in their capital for a portion of her life. Something big was happening and it was not going to be good.

Zephyr activity had been strange lately but she had no idea what it could be. Copper leant against a tree so she was hidden entirely from their view and she racked her mind for possibilities.

All Whitney and Steel could do was stare in horror.

Why would so many Zephyrs come to Fuchsia City? Copper wondered, Falkner may hate Janine but this is overkill.

Copper was looking around aimlessly as she spoke but then her eyes locked on something in the distance, the only horizon she'd ever know, the Everstorm.

She had to stop herself from yelling as many swears and curses as she knew. This was bad. This would be a catastrophe.

She sneaked further back into the forest and indicated for Whitney and Steel to follow her so they wouldn't be caught talking.

"It's the Everstorm!" she whispered, "They're trying to get rid of it!"

"What?! But I thought it was impossible to get rid off without Ho-oh or Lugia." Steel said in a hushed voice.

"And Clair made it very clear that they won't come to our aid after Jan attacked them." added Whitney.

"Maybe after fourteen years the legendaries got over it. They're guardians and anyone would tell you that Kahto's in a bad state at the moment."

"We can't let that happen. The other regions would stop him eventually but if that many people and two legendaries launched a surprise attack on Hoenn then the devastation would be cataclysmic." Whitney was sounding panicked, "But what can we do? Three versus pretty much half of Kahto wouldn't work in any universe."

Copper was stumped, "Maybe if we get more people...Erika maybe?"

Whitney shook her head, "She wouldn't lead her people into a battle against so many people especially after they just woke up."

Steel gave them a quick confused look but there wasn't time to elaborate so he just continued, "What about Indigo City? Janine said she'd help if there was any trouble."

Whitney frowned, her expression becoming more and more hopeless with each second, "Clair doesn't want any people from the city fighting and I'm not sure how quickly they could get here."

"What about the people who live in Fuchsia City already? Why aren't they doing something about this?" Steel asked.

Whitney shrugged, "Either no-one lives there anymore or..." Whitney smiled as an idea occurred to her, "Or they're waiting. There's a clan of poison-specialist ninjas in Fuchsia City. They certainly wouldn't accept this." her smile faded again, "But that wouldn't be enough people, would it?"

"Whitney," the light bulb above Copper's head switched on, "Is there a way to get us into the gym or something? From there we might be able to meet the people in Fuchsia City."

Whitney's eyes lit up and Bib-bib bounced up and down eagerly. They all crouched down and grabbed Bib-bib's tail. The beaver Pokémon dove into the dirt, tugging the three trainers along with it.

It was too late when Steel realised that it probably wasn't the best idea but thankfully he was soon proven wrong when Bib-bib broke through to the surface and they appeared in the Fuchsia City gym.

Steel stood up but then gasped when he realised they'd just broken through the floor.

"Okay. Nobody move until I can sort this out." Whitney instructed. She outstretched her hand but stopped suddenly. She nodded, "The walls are up so that means we'll have to find a way through."

Steel didn't know what she was talking about until he stepped forwards and found there was something in his way.

"Invisible walls? Come on!" Copper walked around with her arms out and found that to be quite true. She glanced to the doors and gritted her teeth, "We can't waste time on this."

"Sadly we have to. The gym puzzles are there to show you're a trainer of some worth and no matter how many times you come to one you have to repeat the puzzle each time." Whitney explained and she walked through the seemingly empty gym.

"Can't you just remember the pattern?" Steel asked and Whitney chuckled.

"Of course. Otherwise it would take us ages just to get into our own gyms." Whitney showed Copper and Steel the way through to the exit.

Whitney kept Bib-bib by her side for protection but no-one had yet showed up.

"Cindy? Barry?" she called out in a hushed voice.

"Whitney?"

Steel almost yelped as someone actually answered but thankfully he stopped himself. The person in question had apparently appeared out of nowhere but Steel expected he'd just been hiding like Janine did.

He wore black and a ninja mask but had tight navy ribbons tied around one of his legs. He had short light brown hair and his grey eyes kept darting around the gym.

"Whitney, what are you doing here? Don't you know that the Zephyrs had a death wish for you?"

Whitney nodded, "I know, but I can't let the Zephyrs get away. Something bad's about to happen."

Phil looked around and several more people appeared around them, "But what can we do? There are only ten trainers left in Fuchsia City and more than fifty of them. Why are they here anyway?"

"We think they're trying to get rid of the Everstorm." Copper quickly continued before any of them could get too hopeful, "We can't let the Zephyrs get away. Can you imagine what would happen if that many killers were unleashed into the other regions?"

The hopeful faces faded into grim realisation, "If we attack them, there's a good chance they'll just kill all of us. Releasing a poison cloud into the crowd could only affect some of them before they catch on."

Steel sighed, "If we can get more people on our side it might be plausible."

One of the ninjas scoffed, "Plausible meaning one off impossible."

Steel didn't have any way to retort that. It was the truth after all. But Steel had to do something about it.

"How much time do we have until they get rid of the Everstorm?" Phil asked but the three trainers shrugged sadly.

Phil sighed then turned to the rest of the Fuchsia City trainers and threw out his arbok, "In that case, we need to start asap. If we can poison them before anything happens then surely we'll be able to fight the rest."

It didn't sound foolproof but it was the only plan they had so everyone murmured in agreement. If they managed to cut down the amount of Zephyrs that could escape then it was more likely that the other regions could stop Falkner before there's too much destruction.

Steel was terrified but he had no choice. He wanted with all his heart to go back to Mount Mortar so he could see his father again but Steel knew his luck was running out as steadily as the sands in an hourglass.

Phil was discussing tactics in a low and hushed voice when a loud rumble shook the gym and was quickly followed by a large crash.

Everyone's heads turned to the door and the sounds of commotion outside it. Fear shot through Steel and one of the trainers darted to one of the thinly veiled windows. He gasped and when he spoke his voice was the incarnation of panic.

"Guys! We've gotta act, now!"

The rest ran to the windows. Steel, Copper and Whitney couldn't see properly through the veils but the others were used to seeing through them so the shock came through clear.

"Everyone. Prepare to fight!" Phil called and someone kicked at the back wall, opening a hidden door and revealing the most surprising scene Steel had ever seen.

The Zephyrs were locked in battle. Rocks were in a heated fight against wind and the chaos was immeasurable. They'd come. Trainers from Pewter City had come to help and though they were being outnumbered it was enough for a distraction. Now, victory was possible.

Copper and Steel threw out all their Pokémon and ran to join the fight, blowing away any Zephyrs that they could see. Whitney was quick to follow their example. She'd become a massive target on that field, her 'crime' renowned among Zephyrs, but no matter what had happened she was still a gym leader.

Mil-mil was knocking down any Pokémon in her way while Ring-ring was staying by her side as he fought.

"Thunder punch!" she called and Ring-ring's massive paw slammed into a nearby flying-type and sent it crashing into another Zephyr's Pokémon but they kept coming. Whitney clenched her jaw in frustration and sent out her ambipom to compensate for the sheer amount of Pokémon fighting against them.

Whitney yelped as another bird-like Pokémon dive-bombed her. Thankfully the pidgeotto was caught by Pom-pom but Whitney's breath was becoming ragged from the danger she was in and the constant fear.

She couldn't see Copper or Steel anymore, they were lost in the battle and Steel's steelix wasn't the only one fighting, but she hoped with all her heart that they were okay. She was worried that Steel with all his injuries would become a target for the cruel Zephyrs looking for an easy fight. Whitney knew that Steel was a good trainer from what she'd heard in the City but if they started attacking him…

Steel cried out fell to one knee while Brooke stood protectively behind him and attacked the noctowl who'd used dark pulse on Steel. Thanks to his jacket covering his back and arm it wasn't immediately obvious he was hurt but as the battle demanded more and more of his energy it became harder and harder to bear.

Antheia was spinning around furiously and whipping up petal dance to attack the Zephyrs surrounding them but she knew she was getting into a fight which would be very difficult to win considering her move pool being ineffective against their enemies.

Lancer, Knucker and Ferro were busy taking care of the Zephyrs in other areas of their own volition while Steel was commanding Brooke, Charlie and Antheia nearby. He'd lost sight of Copper but trusted she was doing well on her own. The trainers from Pewter City were very lucky to have the advantage with their rock-types and they were battling well but their involvement meant the original plan of poisoning the Zephyrs had been tossed out the window.

The main problem Steel was facing were the non-flying Zephyr Pokémon that always caught him by surprise and the Zephyrs themselves since most of them could actually fight.

Steel didn't like having to attack other humans since they were much more affected and fragile than Pokémon but he had little options in that regard.

One man with a fearow ran up to Steel who was still on one knee and launched a punch at the teenager. Steel was hurled onto his side onto his arm and he had to force himself not to scream in pain. Charlie helped him to his feet while Brooke took care of the attacker but Steel could notice that his Pokémon were rapidly tiring.

They'd been fighting for a long time now but there were so many Zephyrs to fight. Without the help of Pewter City there would have been no chance but it still looked so impossible.

"Gloooom!" Steel's head turned around to see Antheia be blasted by gust and thrown onto the dark red pavement which resulted in her fainting.

Steel recalled her but heard Brooke roar in warning. Steel leapt out of the way of charging golbat and yelled a command.

"Hydro pump!" Steel called and Brooke used her newly-learnt move to blast the poison-type away but not before she'd been hit with swift.

"Brooke!" he cried but the Pokémon waved off his concern, only making the boy worry even more. Steel knew something was wrong but he didn't have the time to think about it. With another hit Charlie was only had a fraction of energy left until she'd be knocked out completely and it was then when things started getting overwhelming.

Somehow Copper found her way to Steel after wading through the fighters with Bruce and Dwaine. She was worried about him fighting alone while being so hurt but on her way there she found that she shouldn't really be worrying.

Ferro was smashing Pokémon out of the sky while Knucker had no qualms about hurling boulders at anyone in Zephyr uniform. Lancer was doing well in the air battles and the Pokémon who were taking orders from Steel were doing even better. Too bad that it wasn't enough.

"Copper!" Steel was relieved to see her but they couldn't talk much considering they had a lot on their minds.

"Jolie, feint attack!" Copper called and Jolie charged at a nearby Zephyr but ended up attacking someone in the opposite direction, catching them off guard and throwing them to the ground.

Sadly Lore had already been knocked out but the rest of her Pokémon were still fighting. Copper was hoping that this would be able to stop enough Zephyrs and ruin their plans. It was following this mind-set that allowed her to realise what what was missing from the fight.

Copper swore, "Falkner!" she exclaimed and Steel gave her a quizzical look, "He's not here!"

Steel's eyes widened. Whatever he was up to would not end up well at all. It was worrying but there was a loud sound which led their minds to be entirely focused on the new threat coming in.

Steel had no idea what had happened, maybe these had only been Zephyrs from Kanto or they'd called for reinforcements, but before he knew it there was a flock of birds flying towards Fuchsia City. They were having trouble with the amount of fighting in Fuchsia City already. They'd have no chance if more came.

"Electro ball! Confuse ray! Ice shard!"

"Hydro pump! Rock throw! Rock slide!"

Steel and Copper were trying their best not to let the extra Zephyrs land but it didn't do enough. All their efforts seemed to do was direct all the fire towards them.

"Safeguard!" Belinda hurriedly coiled around the two teenagers and several of their Pokémon to protect them from the harsh winds raining down on them.

"How are we going to fight off this many trainers?!" Steel wondered panickedly.

Copper was breathing very heavily from having to run around and be in constant danger all the time, "I don't know, but we're running out of Pokémon and trainers on our side and I've got no idea where Whitney or Falkner are."

Steel and Copper yelled out some more attacks and their Pokémon advanced but things were getting tough for both of them.

"Bruce! Jolie!" Copper cried when the two of them were thrown into each other and simultaneously rendered unconscious.

She ran over and recalled the two of them but since she was far away Copper was helpless to do anything as a barrage of poison stings shot towards them.

Steel's eyes widened in horror but he managed to croak, "Ice fang…" in response before falling to the floor.

Copper sprinted to her friend. Dozens of poisonous needles were imbedded in Steel's back and blood was seeping through the holes in the back of his jacket.

"Steel!" she looked around for Charlie but all she saw was the fainted Pokémon lying on the grass. All their remaining Pokémon were continuing to fight and protect their trainers but Copper was stuck on what to do. She couldn't heal this. If Steel's wounds had reopened and he'd been poisoned then there wouldn't be a lot of time.

The Zephyrs kept advancing and Copper realised how screwed they were.

"Payback." the word sounded across the battlefield as did the appropriate attack. Dark energy erupted in icicle-like shards and rained down specifically on the Zephyrs, missing any allies.

Someone landed behind Copper and Steel but attacked before Copper could do anything about it. Something dark and familiar shot at some of the Zephyrs in front of the two. Copper wasn't afraid of dark-types anymore but she couldn't erase the amount of times Janus and Rose had attacked her with a Honchkrow from her memory.

But this Honchkrow was on their side. Copper wheeled around and gasped.

The newcomer's silver hair was blowing in the breeze and she had her fists balled up in anger.

"K-Karen!?"

Karen looked at Copper in a reassuring manner but her silvery-blue eyes still held unbelievable anger.

"Of course. The League has been afraid for too long. We're here to stop them."

Yeah this was longer than I'd expected so I'm going to be splitting the finale up into two parts.

Haha! Now the League has joined the fray and it's all-or-nothing for Kahto.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did or didn't I'd appreciate if you review with any comments, suggestions or questions for the series! :D