The frigate landed in the middle of Mistralton City. Colress was the first to climb off. Skyla was the only one, standing a few feet away. Colress took in the sight. The hazy sky. The smell of smoke. Skyla got his attention.

"Who do you think you are?" She demanded. A horde of Neo Plasma grunts assembled behind Colress. Zinzolin appeared at his side. He spotted Bronius near the airport. Several traitors were with him. Kyurem's link was standing outside of the pokemon center; a few other trainers were with him. "Answer me!" Colress smiled.

"We're taking over this city."

"Yeah, right!" Skyla sent out a Swanna. Swanna whipped up a gust around Neo Plasma. Colress struggled to hold his ground against the wind. Zinzolin sent out a Sigilyph. Lights built into his metallic headband started flashing. Sigilyph fired an ice beam at Swanna. Swanna dove out of the way. "You're nothing but terrorists!" Swanna dodged another ice beam and strengthened the winds around Neo Plasma.

"Zinzolin, handle her!" Colress ordered. Zinzolin sent out a Serperior and a Golurk. His headband flashed. Skyla sent out a Braviary and an Unfezant. The birds kept their distance, attacking with strong winds. Sigilyph made several more futile attacks. Serperior and Golurk remained still/ A few Neo Plasma grunts were blown off their feet. The frigate started to rock. "Zinzolin!" Zinzolin fiddled with the headband. Was it not working? Colress scowled. Braviary glowed, charging. It slammed into Sigilyph. Sigilyph spun in the air. Braviary circled for another attack. Colress had to take desperate measures. This was getting out of hand. He dug a Pokeball out of his pocket and a small remote. Zinzolin spotted the remote and froze. His three pokemon froze as well.

"W-what are you—"

"I'm taking over." Colress sent out a Gigalith. Skyla's eyes met his. He smirked, jamming buttons on the remote. Gigalith broke into an awkward run towards Skyla. Its body started to glow. Swanna fired a scald, Gigalith struggled against it. Gigalith didn't go down. It was working. Skyla raised her eyebrows. Braviary attacked, practically bouncing off of Gigalith. The attack hurt Braviary more than Gigalith. Unfezant whipped up a whirlwind around Gigalith, slowing its advance. Swanna repeatedly attacked it with scald. Gigalith groaned, continuing forward. It was a few feet away from Skyla. She took a step back. Her eyes were wide, the realization painted on her face. Too late! Colress hit a button on the remote. Gigalith exploded. The blast blew Swanna and Unfezant away, Braviary was sent spiraling into the ground. It was weaker than the earlier explosions, marginally. Colress looked for Skyla in the shrinking cloud of smoke. She was on her back. Gigalith was still standing, in the center of a crater. He grinned, looking at the other trainers.

"We're taking this city over!" Zinzolin shouted. The grunts scattered, approaching Bronius and his group. Colress walked over to Skyla. She was covered in dirt. Her eyes were wide, staring up at the sky. He waved over two grunts.

"Tie her up." With that, the attack began. Zinzolin and the grunts attacked Bronius' group and overwhelmed them. A few escaped, but the majority were captured. Some trainers tried to intervene. They were beaten. The link was nowhere to be seen. Colress decided to make the airport their temporary base. They took Bronius along with the traitors and locked them inside. Rood was left as the guard. Colress returned to the frigate and started setting up an antenna. The shadow triad was gone. He thought about N as he plugged in cords.

"I'm N." The green-haired boy smiled at Colress. Colress looked him up and down. N was holding a Zorua.

"I'm Colress." N held out his hand. Colress cocked his head, smirking.

"I heard you talk to pokemon." N nodded. Colress didn't shake his hand. "That's pretty weird. What are you? A pokemon?" N lowered his head. Zorua nuzzled him. His face lit up. Colress' eyes narrowed. "Is it speaking to you?" N jumped as if he'd forgotten Colress was there.

"Oh, yeah." Colress stared at him for a moment, trying to figure him out. N beamed at him.

"Oh, there you are!" Concordia appeared in the doorway. Colress and N looked up at her. "N, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Is it working?" Zinzolin asked. Colress blinked.

"What?"

"The antennae."

"Oh. Right." Colress hooked the last wire up. "It should be starting now."

"We've got all the traitors rounded up in the airport. What should we do with them?" Colress considered this.

"Where is the link?"

"In the poke mart. He and a few trainers are hiding in there."

"Why don't you go get him out, might as well recapture him."

"But what about the—"

"I'll take care of them." Zinzolin nodded. "Your headband is it functioning properly?"

"Yes. I had to get used to using it earlier. But now I think I got the hang of it."

"Good. I want the link recaptured before the legendary pokemon start appearing, hurry." Zinzolin nodded and left. Colress made his way belowdecks.

"What are you people doing out there?" Clay shouted from his cell.

"I'm here to ask you a question," Colress said. Clay glared at him. "Do you recall our agreement?"

"Yes." Colress reached into his pocket and displayed a small remote with a single button.

"You thought you could outdo me. You evacuated Driftveil." He waved the trigger. "Then you tinkered with our bombs. They weren't even half as effective as they should've been!"

"Driftveil city is more than the place," Clay spat. "You can blow it up for all I care! Everyone is out safe!" Colress scoffed. His thumb traced the button.

"Thanks to a mutual friend of ours, I knew about your evacuation plot." Clay stiffened.

"Black Empoleon?"

"They sold you out." Colress shook his head. "Those people you care so much about. Their exits have been blocked. There's no way in or out." Clay was trembling. A gasp came from Joy in her cell. Colress waved the trigger. "And guess where the bombs are." Colress sputtered an unintelligible response.

"P-please."

"Where are the bombs, Clay!" Colress shouted. Clay moved slowly, placing his head against the floor.

"Please. Please." Colress stared down at him. He smiled.

"I guess Driftveil was more than the place after all." He slipped the trigger into his pocket. "Now it's time to correct your mistake."