Hello guys!

And here we go for the chapter of the week! Little announcement, due to some reasons, the next update would not be before the 20th June! I'm sorry for the delay-

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the end of the 16th chapter!

oOo

The day was one of the typical days of the beginning of the summer, one of those days where you either went out with your friends to do refreshing activities or you stayed in your room the whole day, windows opened and shutters closed in an attempt to keep a rather cool temperature. A day with a clear sun, only a few clouds, and no winds.

Which meant no rain to end the fire. Which meant no wind to disperse the fog.

Some people compared Twist Mountain to a gigantic bowl for a reason. The different faces of the mountain did indeed create a kind of bowl. Humans and Pokémon could easily come and leave with the light wood footbridges and the caves, but this artificially dug creation trapped everything else. The stones. The fossils. The coals. The fog. The fire.

From their refuge, in one of the higher wood platforms, X, Green, Whi-two, Shauna, and Cilan could do nothing but shiver at the sight of the terrible spectacle that was happening in front of their eyes. The Testsuch's laboratory they only saw in pictures before was now consumed by a huge and devastating fire. The black fog spread and could not escape from the bowl, not without any wind, and so it kept turning and turning around, becoming thicker as the fire kept producing it. The rest was entirely hidden by both fire and smoke.

When they first smelled the burned odor, from the entrance they guarded on Route 7, at first, they had exchanged a suspicious look. And when they eventually saw some smog and heard someone yelling about an attack and a fire, they did not need to speak to each other to decide that they had to go to check the situation. But they were not expecting this to happen. They did not expect the terrorists to be that heartless to threaten the lives of so many people by setting fire to what used to be the lab.

Green's brain was thinking of a solution as quickly as possible. Should they try to end the fire? Surely, his group was in a good position to try something like that. However, his Golduck would clearly not be enough, and none of his teammates owned any Water-type Pokémon. If it had been another group, it may have worked out, but not with them. Should they try to get rid of the fog? No, the situation was already complicated with the fire and the fog, and the two Pokémon that are powerful enough for this task, the duo of Charizards, might end up making the situation worse. Should they try to get closer to the laboratory? But if they did that, they would put themselves in danger, and they would lose their advantage of seeing what was happening. Plus, according to the sounds he could hear, some people were already here. Their presence would be nothing but useless.

His train of thought was interrupted when he heard some footsteps coming from near him. He turned his head, and his teammates turned towards the direction of the footsteps as well, looking for who was coming.

A cloak that was starting to become terribly familiar for Green, X, and Shauna. A man with a Roman nose and a cruel smirk. Another man, probably a bit older, the shadow of his hat completely hiding his face, except for two gleaming and focused eyes.

Three familiar silhouettes. Three familiar walks. Three familiar people, tensing when they saw the group, their hands automatically reaching for their Poké Balls, preparing to release their creatures, ready to fight.

Three terrorists, they had already seen too many times.

Them.

THEM.

THEM!

They were here. Just in front of them. While staring at the other group, the terrorists' initial reaction of surprise was quickly replaced by a sigh. It was a sigh of exasperation, a sigh that signaled that the two teams would have to fight once again.

If they counted their three opponents, there were now eight people on the platform. Too much people. They would have to choose everything carefully; their Pokémon, their moves, and their position, if they wanted to avoid the potential destruction of the walk bridge under their feet. It was a destruction that would be fatal to them. They could not act recklessly, and one glance between the five of them was enough for them to know that.

Green's Scizor and Golduck were the first ones to come out from their Poké Balls. They were followed a few milliseconds later by X's Garma and Elec, and an opponent's Lucario. An Elekid and an Octillery came out as well, while a Vulpix was excitedly jumping and yelping around the cloaked person, clearly happy to be out of its Poké Ball.

Green frowned. A Vulpix? He had seen a lot of trainers coming to his Gym with a Vulpix before, and although they were not as powerful as his Ninetales, the fire they produced was still powerful. Those fires were able to consume their environment quickly, and Vulpix had a natural exceptional control over their fire, for the best and for the worst. He had no doubt that if its Trainer were ordering it, the Vulpix would have no difficulty to set fire to the laboratory in an instant.

They might be closer to the culprit than they expected.

"Golduck, Hydro-Pump at Vulpix!"

The well-trained Duck Pokémon immediately obeyed, directing the powerful water squirt to the Fire-type Pokémon. The man with the roman nose called Octillery, and the Jet Pokémon did not waste a second to get between Golduck and Vulpix to receive the Water-type move.

However, the people Green was working with were also experienced, and the octopus was soon stopped by a Vine Whip move coming from Cilan's Simisage. Octillery's trainer did not even need to give an order before it turned to the Thorn Monkey Pokémon, ready to counter-attack. But instead of a Water-type move, a devastating Fire Blast instantly reduced the whip to ash, critically hurting the former Unovan Gym Leader's partner.

All of this happened in less than a few seconds. It was barely enough to let Foongy jump out from Whi-two's arms, or for Shauna to release her Kitty. However, it was enough for the Lucario in front of them to prepare a Bone Rush move, directed towards Elec without any hesitation. One, two, three hits, and it was enough. The Ground-move demolished the Discharge Pokémon, who collapsed on the ground, unconscious. With that and the Simisage that was now barely standing, the fight was destroying Green and his teammates without much difficulty.

The end of the fight was close to Simisage, and he knew it. But before letting his burn finally put him out of the fight, he released a desperate Leaf Storm to the Octillery that was their toughest opponent for now. To the relief of the five trainers from his side, he succeeded. Even though he had to return to his Great Ball just after that, his opponent had to return to its ball as well.

The foe's Elekid ran towards Golduck, most likely ready to release an Electric-type move. But it was then surprised by Shauna's Skitty, who just arrived on the field and swiftly chose to use a Fake-Out move. It was not something that could cause heavy damage to the Electric Pokémon, but it was enough to surprise and destabilize the Elekid.

Lucario arrived from behind, readying itself for a Close-Combat, but it was blocked by Garma's Shadow Claw. It left Scizor with enough time to prepare its Steel Wing and cause the Elekid to faint. In front of them, there were only Vulpix and Lucario left, and Foongy was under them, ready to release a Clear Smog.

The terrorists exchanged a glance, knowing that they were outnumbered and that they were losing. They had to do something, anything to avoid that. And so they did the best thing they could think of at this moment.

They fled.

Their Pokémon followed them, and so did the Dexholders and Cilan and their own partners. Their feet were pounding on the wood of the walk bridge, giving the illusion of an anarchic melody. The group of three terrorists went straight ahead, not looking behind them, already knowing what was waiting for them.

Or at least they thought they knew. Because they were running, they did not notice the entrance of a gallery on their right. It was a gallery that, if Green recalled correctly, had two other exits leading to the farther part of the bridge. Two other exits that may allow them to ambush their enemies if they were quick enough for it.

He pulled X and Whi's sleeves, silently showing them the black gallery, before leading them into it, leaving Cilan and Shauna to continue chasing the three criminals. The ground of the gallery was covered by rocks of different sizes, but the trio made sure to avoid them and to reach the closer exit as quickly as possible. They burst in just in front of their targets. Whi-two and X were ready for what they had to do.

"Foongy, Clear Smog please!"

"Garma, Dark Pulse, now!"

The two pokémons obeyed. The two moves violently shook the structure of the bridge. It was efficient, but not as much as they expected, because Vulpix let out a cry and tackled the ground. Lucario did not seem to be out of sync, his first reflex being to grab his trainer and his partner to bring them closer.

The trio saw this reflex, and their eyes widened when they realized the mistake they had just made as they heard Cilan yelling.

"SHAUNA!"

Obviously, this had to happen. With the bridge trembling, the young girl lost her balance, and, in front of the stunned eyes of the three Dexholders, she was slowly but surely falling, not on the bridge or the rock wall but on the void, with the ground several meters under her, a harsh mountain ground... Her eyes were wide open, an expression of surprise on her face. Her hand vainly tried to grab something, anything, but there was nothing to grab except air.

Of course, X and Green's bodies tried to react, running to reach the young girl, and Cilan tried to reach her hand, but they were too far, too slow, and she kept falling. The miracle eventually came from their own enemies.

The man with the hat was quick, and before anybody could react, he was already close to the young girl, grabbing her shirt and pushing her aside. She violently landed on the wood ground, grimacing. The man with the Roman nose sighed with exasperation before he took the cloaked figure's wrist in his hand and walked towards Green, X, and Whi-two. X already moved, not focusing on the terrorists but on his friend who nearly died. Whi-two was starting to panic, not knowing what she should do. And before Green could try to help them, he was pushed against the wall, and the terrorists entered the gallery just behind them, quickly followed by their third friend, who gave a last look to Shauna before he left.

Green silently cursed as he himself grabbed Whi-two's wrist to follow the terrorist trio. Cilan and X would be enough to take care of the Furfrou stylist. Green knew that if he was alone, his chance to succeed against their opponents was near to zero. Thanks to his job and his experience, he knew how to recognize a strong trainer when he saw one. There was no doubt that the ones they had to fight had extensively trained Pokémon, a lot of experience, and well-planned out strategies. They were probably at the same level as some of his other gym leaders. Underestimating them would be dangerous.

They had once again walked between the different rocks, but instead of taking the right path to come back on their steps, they followed the terrorists on the left one. Two turns on the left later and they could see the light entering from the second entrance. They arrived on another bridge, one that was once probably the same as the one their three teammates were still on, but the bridge was separated by a huge and unnatural hole. Their three opponents, with the cloaked figure at the lead, did not hesitate while roaming the wood structure. They were all coordinated, and a little bit quicker than the Kantosian Gym leader and his Unovan Junior. And as they arrived at the end of the bridge, instead of heading to another gallery, they jumped inside a hole in the rock.

Green wanted to follow them at first, but he had to stop after he slipped on the wood. The hole they jumped in was too far, too low, and he immediately knew it would be physically impossible for both him and Whi-two to do it. How did their opponents manage to do it? If a normal person tried it, they would end up breaking their legs! But they just did it as if it was normal for anyone to do it. He was blinking, trying to understand what happened before his ears heard someone calling him from beyond. He closed his eyes, sighing.

The attack was not over yet, but he already knew that they had lost this battle.

oOo

Night-slash. Cutting off. Crunch. Counterattack. Mega-Punch. Avoid. Work-Up. Reinforce. Leech Seed. Imprison. Ice-Beam. Destroy. Assurance. Riposte, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

The blows were exchanged without a single break. Move, always, attack, do not stop. Otherwise, it is the end. White panted from exhaustion. Nothing was going right. Their Go-Goggles were useless because, without night vision or X-ray vision, they were not helpful in all the darkness and the fog that did not stop to become thicker.

Blue, Silver, Y and White struggled to catch up with their opponents. While the four of them had to work without their eyes, it was not the case with their enemies, or at least one of them. One of their voices kept yelling, finding where the Dexholder's Pokémon are hiding, giving directions to people on his side to fight back. And they did not hesitate to use this advantage at all. They attacked and then hid in the fog before White or her new friends could have enough time to identify the Pokémon their opponents used. This fight was anything but a fair one.

The Dreamer understood why Green said they were dangerous, because they indeed were. They were strong, but they did not only have brute force. One of them was able to see in the dark and the fog, which meant that they had tools to help them with whatever their goal was. They knew how to use their Pokémon to their maximum potential, showing quite a bit of experience in that field. They had the knowledge to accomplish what they wanted to. To create such a thick and blinding fog, the fire that caused the fog had to be a huge one. They were determined, ready to use every method, even the more extreme ones, to get what they want. Those kinds of people could be nothing but dangerous, and the Dreamer could not help but feel a shiver go down her spine, and certainly not because she was cold.

Amanda suddenly cried in pain, burned by a sudden Fire-move. From where it came from, she had no idea, the reddish glints already disappearing in the darkness, but she knew for sure that her Serperior was exhausted. And she was not the only one. The Absol, the Blastoise, and the Weavile on her side were not in the best condition either. They were slowly, but surely, losing, in a dark and vicious way, like the low growling that had been resonating around them for some minutes now...

Wait, a growling? A drum roll, not coming from the left or the right but from all directions, even above and under? She blinked. No, this growling was surely not coming from her imagination, and it was anything but reassuring. She noticed that the attack had slowed down, nearly stopping even, as both her teammates and terrorists were trying to hear what was happening.

And as the growling was increasing and that the ground, the wall, the cell around them started to furiously quake, both Blue and the woman who was their enemy yelled at the same time, "RUN, NOW!"

The Dreamer did not have time to think of anything as something, a Pokémon or a friend, she could not see it, was grabbing her wrist and quickly took her away, running in the direction of the light in front of them. It was the only thing they could make out despite the fog. The growling became a loud crash, loud for them but probably lost for the rest of the mountain as the low sound melted with the violent crackling of the fire. And as she finally managed to arrive outside, on one of the little wooden bridges, the gallery behind them collapsed.

White looked around her and could not help but sigh of relief as she saw Blue, Y and Silver near her, the Flyer's hand still firmly gripping her wrist. They all made it in time, none of them stayed behind, none of them was injured or lost or something worse. She could not help but also notice that none of the terrorists was with them. Were they trapped under the rocks or did they find a way to flee? At least, this time, the collapsing was not something planned by the terrorists. She then took the time to study her surroundings. The gallery behind them was completely blocked by an impressive amount of rocks. Of course, the mine was not made for such violent fighting, and it broke as a result. Going back inside was simply impossible now. And unfortunately for them, the wooden bridge they went to was not a bridge but a platform stuck behind two walls. It was too high from the ground and too far and low from the other bridges to jump without serious wounds. The collapsing had trapped them on that small platform.

The four of them looked at each other, already knowing that they can't do anything about their current situation. They had no way to leave the platform and using their flying Pokémon was way too dangerous with the fog and the fire. And even if thanks to a miracle they managed to get off the platform quickly, they would never be able to find their enemies again in this maze of galleries and bridges. They had lost, partly because they had fought carelessly in a place that was not able to hold the fight.

"That," Y stated suddenly, trying to break the suppressing silence, "is one of the main reasons why I prefer Sky Battles. Mountains are so unpleasant and dangerous, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, they are," Blue smiled in return. "It would be so much easier if we could just jump like those guys... Heh?!"

Just above them, three people jumped from a higher bridge and landed on one of the holes that the collapsing created. They blinked, stunned, as their eyes went from the bridge, to the hole, and to the bridge again. How did they accomplish that? It should have been physically impossible! But they did it as if it was the simplest thing in the world. What just happened? Blue eventually noticed one of her fellow Dexholder from Kanto as she started to call for Green.

Apparently, they were not the only ones who arrived at a dead end.

oOo

Everything happened in only a few seconds.

A blue ball filled with energy came out of nowhere, clearing the fog, and before any one of them could react, or even notice the move, the ball of energy landed on the ground, only a few centimetres away from Gold's shoe. Immediately, a crater appeared, and the Johto boy lost his balance, falling on the ground. Red reacted immediately, trying to reach the Breeder, but stopped, as he had noticed something. His body reacted on his own, thanks to the experience he got in years of fighting. He was able to release his Poli just in time to block a Fire Punch. Cress started to move too, his hand grabbing Simipour's Poké Ball, ready to release Simipour, and it would have worked if his arm did move. Unfortunately, something was immobilizing his hands, as well as his legs and his entire body.

"Musha! Brav!"

Black did not need to say anything else, as his two childhood partners perfectly knew what he wanted. As the Drowsing Pokémon glomped his trainer's head, Black started to focus on the situation, his eyes analyzing everything around him.

Where the attacks came from. Two... No, three different directions. The Pokémon who used Fire-Punch, deformed humanoid form, middle size claws, thick fur, size of a young kid, a bit more than one meter. Not from Unova. Trainer not far, their bracelets twinkling.

Another humanoid Pokémon, on a farther rock, the one who sent the ball of energy, their standing sturdier, neither thick fur or claws, not the same species. Used Aura-Sphere, probably a Fighting Pokémon. Humanoid form, was it a Mienshao? Too far to know exactly. Shadow of their trainer could be confused with their partner, but their trainer was taller, wearing a hat, two huge straws of hair out.

The last Pokémon is only a point in the fog, probably between the two trainers. Small, flying. Impossible to recognize correctly, but the String Shot came from this direction, so probably a Flying-Bug or Flying-Grass type Pokémon. Would prefer the first option. No trainer around it, so it probably obeyed a command from one of the other two.

Three foes. The humanoid Pokémon is the most dangerous, able to cover a large zone. Would be better to eliminate it first.

"Brav! On your right, at twenty meters, Sky Drop!" yelled Black as he pulled Musha away from his head.

The Valiant Pokémon did not wait for a second, flying to the target, his talons imprisoning his target to bring it high, high in the sky, before dropping them. So far in the sky that Brav could not hear the voice of the human girl he trained with a few days ago in time, yelling at him to stop now, that he was attacking the wrong target. When he noticed the yellow star on the fist of the Pokémon he just attacked, he realized that it was not one of the enemies, but one of the Pokémon who fought with the same girl yelling at him, the Hitmonchan that was from Johto. He flew towards the ground, trying to pick up the Punching Pokémon before they both landed on the rocks beneath them. Unfortunately, Brav had used too much strength in his attack and he was not quick enough. The cry of the Pokémon hurting the ground sounded painful, and without a doubt, Hitmonchan had suffered from a lot of damages but, fortunately for them, he seemed to be still able to fight.

"Black! Be careful!" yelled Crystal, a trace of anger in her voice. "You just attacked Monlee!"

"Sorry, Senior Crystal! I thought..."

He could not continue, as the world around him became fuzzy. It was not only an expression; he could not make out the difference between the ground and the sky, left and right. The shadows he already had issues to see lost their shape, becoming a horrific nightmare, surrounding him, suffocating him. He was losing his balance, and before he realized it, he was already on the ground, sat in a less than elegant position. Not that he cared about the pose he is in. Not that it helped him to come back to his senses. The world around him was still spinning in a whirlwind of colors. He blinked. A whirlwind of colors, coming back to his senses, no balance... Were not all of these symptoms coming from the move Extrasensory?

He was totally incapacitated and could do nothing because a heavy mass crushed him to the ground. He could not move, and his eyes were not useful anymore. However, the ringing in his ears started to fade away, and he could at least hear what was happening around him. Gold and Red were yelling, somewhere, and Cress tried to give an order, but it was useless in the chaos going on.

"You all, stop that! You're only..." Crystal tried to say something else, but her voice faded out, covered by the battles around.

Black heard the muffled sound of someone landing on the ground, and the clinking of something metallic.

"You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right..." Lack-Two started to say with his typical emotionless voice.

"Lack-Two! It's me, Red!" the unfortunate Fighter signaled, his hand now attached behind his back, stopping Pika from attacking the Arrester with a nod.

"Senior Red? But why... Wait, would that mean... Byron, Tierno, stop, now!"

"Stop now?" The Sinnohsian Gym Leader's voice was way too close to Black for his taste. "Why should I? I just caught one of them!'

And then the Dreamer understood. Extrasensory. The mass crushing him. His vision was a bit clearer now, enough to let him see what was crushing him. He sighed. Of course, the mass on him was nothing else than one of Byron's two Bronzongs. They were a group of idiots. They were all lured by their senses and lured by some attacks.

Instead of fighting against the terrorists, they had just fought and neutralized their own allies. He did not doubt now, that the victorious jeer of Gold not far away and the groaning of Tierno were linked. Black opened his mouth, trying to say something.

"Sorry, but it was the quickest way to end that for all of us. Lycanroc, Stone-Edge!" A female voice Black never heard before interrupted him.

The edges began to grow, surrounding them, before imprisoning them in a kind of circle, with no way to get out without destroying the rocks itself.

"That voice, there's no way..." muttered Byron, who was then interrupted by Crystal's irritated voice.

"You idiots, did you realize that you just attacked each other? They're running away because of that! I know it's hard to distinguish each other in the fog, but for Arceus's sake, please try not to attack everything that moves! Now, help me break down the rock, if we're quick enough maybe we'll be able to stop them just in time!"

But the optimism of Professor Oak's assistant did not come true. When they had finally destroyed their prison, their enemies were already far away.

oOo

Fact of the chapter: You know about my obsession concerning for example the different places where events of the fics occur? Here two little place facts for you.

In chapter 15 part 1, Green had an appointment with his friends in a restaurant with a "countdown clock about a hot dog eating". This restaurant is inspired by Nathan's Famous. Indeed, as Nimbasa City is inspired from Coney Island. The first Nathan's Famous store opened in Coney Island, and as it is their original location, it is also where they hold the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every year.

And for Chapter 16, all the different paths our favorite protagonists are using really exist in the ingame. I literally have a map with all the tunnels and bridges with every paths both Dexholders and terrorists used and let me tell you that ugh Twist Mountains are a horrible twisty maze- I spent hours working only on the preparation of the paths, which was even worse than Lumiose City

Anyway, see you all later for chapter 17!