Clara gritted her teeth as she tried to move her wrists, only for the rope to bite harder into the raw skin. Her legs were equally immobile, her back pressed against someone else who was only recently brought in by the woman in the skintight black suit and helmet. There were dozens of people and Pokemon around her, bound and gagged like her, arranged in a circle. The large cavernous room was supported by pillars and a network of pipes ran along the ceiling. It was barely lit, the only light coming from scattered candles and lamps, as well as the eerie blue fire from the Chandelures.

The shadows caused by the lights moved as Cultists stalked around the edges of the large room. They had a excited air about them, as if their anticipation was too much for them. Whispers floated around Clara and she struggled to make any sense of what was being said. Litwicks moved along the ground all around, occasionally lighting up an area near some of the tunnels where they sent Rattatas skittering away back into the sewers. They occasionally moved along the captives and whenever they passed by, Clara got the shuddering sensation that her soul was slowly being sucked into their flickering flames.

A flash of red reminded Clara the Cult weren't the only ones down here. Team Flare grunts patrolled the sewer tunnels while some remained within the main chamber. One of their scientists, known as Xerosic, was busy on a laptop which had wires connected to the woman in the bodysuit.

Footsteps echoed and purple robes swished in front of Clara. She glared up at the man standing before her, his hood pulled back to reveal an aged face. "Hello dear," Sebastian knelt, smiling. "I hope you're ready to be a sacrifice to the All-Powerful One."

...

Our progress was slower now as we made our way through the old sewer systems, but this time we knew where we were going thanks to Scizor. Looking at the Bug/Steel type once more, I could see how damaged he was. He must've escaped to find help for Clara and likely almost died in the process.

After going through several different tunnels, Scizor stopped at the next junction. He nodded to the left tunnel and Looker slid down the wall, barely poking his face out the other side to take a peek. He withdrew quickly, jerking his head slightly towards it. Inteleon shimmered slightly before disappearing again as he climbed the wall towards the ceiling. Lucario lay Scizor down gently before nodding to me. Nodding back, I sent out Mawile, who was filled in on the situation by Lucario. Raticate stepped forwards, rubbing his teeth together. I shared a glance with Preston, who gulped.

Looker held up his hand, listened, then brought it down, turning the corner swiftly. Our Pokemon followed, Raticate sliding across the ground and bouncing against the wall. Following, I saw that there were four Flare grunts. They had backed up quickly, eyes wide, but recovered quick. Two balls flew over our heads, releasing a Drapion and Weavile behind us. Lucario turned on the balls of his feet, clenching a glowing fist. In front, two Houndooms bared their teeth as flames flickered around their maws.

Looker and I rushed forwards as the Pokemon engaged one another in battle. Weavile launched herself towards Lucario, only to be hit by a thin bolt of water that slammed her into the wall. Lucario ducked beneath Drapion's extended arms, driving home his fist into the Poison type's middle. I jumped, kicking off the wall so I could spin my boot into a grunt's head, slamming her to the ground. Looker delivered a swift kick into another grunt's stomach and he crashed into his buddy behind him.

Raticate burst through the Flamethrower, slamming his body into the Houndoom, who yelped as it was crushed into the floor. Mawile leaped over his head to slam her back jaw into the other Houndoom who had lunged for the Normal type. She whipped herself around, a blast of pink wind sending him crashing into the wall. As Inteleon kept Weavile at bay with shots of water and wind, Lucario dragged bones along the ground, assaulting the Ogre Scorp Pokemon with them. Then Lucario was caught by Drapion's tail, his arms trapped. The Dark type twisted his body around to face him, claws glowing green.

A blur of red and Drapion cried out in pain and released Lucario. Scizor turned quickly, blasting wind against him. Drapion stumbled forwards, right in the path of Lucario's swinging fist. It slammed into his face, the enemy Pokemon collapsing.

I dodged to one side, the grunt's fist hitting empty air. I dropped, swinging out my leg and tripping him. Then a kick sent me sprawling and the grunt I had thought I had taken out moments earlier was ready to attack again. Then Preston appeared out of nowhere, yanking the Flare grunt backwards and punching her in the face. She spun around from the impact, her red sunglasses falling to the ground when before she collapsed.

"Thanks," I breathed, accepting his hand so he could pull me to my feet.

"I still have the skills from my last job," Preston smiled sadly, then shook his head. "We should keep moving."

Scizor stumbled past us, then stopped. Footsteps echoed around the battered tunnel as we all turned to see the new arrivals. Just ten feet away from us were several cultists with their hoods pulled up. They stood there, faces hidden in darkness. Then they turned around and began walking quietly away, forms swallowed up by the shadows.

"After them," Looker growled as our Pokemon regrouped at our sides. "But slowly. Be prepared for an ambush."

With our flashlights aimed forwards, we saw the Cultists disappear around a corner. We hurried after them, cautiously turning the corner to find a tunnel that led down to an archway. Flickering flames lay beyond that and the Cultists were waiting for us below it.

"We're here," I realized. "And they don't look surprised to see us."

"It's like they're welcoming us," Preston look terrified, but he looked resolved as he stood alongside Raticate.

As we drew nearer to the archway, the Cultists parted to let someone walk through. I stopped. "Sebastian."

He smiled, showing a row of white teeth. "Ah, so you've finally arrived. The All-Powerful One has foretold of your arrival. She desires your presence for when she is finally summoned." He held up his hand, gesturing us forwards. "Come. We won't cause any of you harm. Just be mindful of your manners. We wouldn't want any accidents happening to our current guests now would we."

I exchanged a glance with Preston and Looker. The latter nodded after a brief hesitation, but kept his guard up. Both Lucario and Mawile growled, but didn't attack when I shot them both a glare. Taking a deep breath, I lead the way forwards. The Cultists beneath the archway stared at us as we passed by, an ominous aura emanating from them. Sebastian stood within the large rectangular chamber ahead, Chandelures and their pre-evolutions providing most of the light. This place was easily the size of a stadium, thick concrete pillars supporting the pipe-covered ceiling. Then I caught sight of the circle of people and Pokemon. They were bound and gagged, arranged in a circle and pressed back-to-back. Their were at least several dozen, bruised and some had dried blood on them. The various Pokemon had metal bands around them, seeming to be able to block their powers and ability.

"So they've arrived." Two figures stepped out of the shadows to join Sebastian. The one who spoke was Xerosic, seemingly paler than ever before. The other person beside him was the woman in the black skintight suit. The E on her helmet's screen glowed and something felt oddly familiar about it.

"What happened to making the world a better place?" I narrowed my eyes at Xerosic. "How does helping the Cult achieve that?"

"This world is already dead," Xerosic stated grimly. "There is no future in trying to restore it or restarting from scratch. Only in Chaos will there be some meaning."

Preston gasped and he shook my shoulder. "Zeno, it's Clara!" I followed his gaze and saw Clara somewhere near the outer edge of the circle on the far side, her face turned towards us. From this distance I couldn't make out her expression, but she nodded.

"So," Looker held Sebastian's gaze firmly. "All these people are going to be your sacrifices to summon Chaos?"

"Oh, no no," the Cultist chuckled, shaking his head. "They are merely a gift for the All-Powerful One. No, that's why we have Essentia." He gestured towards the woman in the suit. "She was made for this exact reason. While Zeno would have been a near-perfect sacrifice himself, Essentia turned out to be, how should I put it," he grinned widely. "Essential!" He then looked to Xerosic. "Now that everyone's here, begin the preparations!"

Xerosic nodded, leading Essentia away by the hand towards a table with a laptop and machine. He began sticking cords into her suit, tapping away.

"If you think we'll just sit back and let you do this-!" I took a step forwards, but Sebastian held up his hand and several Cultists and Chandelures advancing towards the prisoners. I stopped, clenching my fist in frusteration.

"That's better," Sebastian nodded, satisfied. "Now we shall continue as planned. Xerosic, is she ready?"

"Y-yes," Xerosic said, looking slightly distracted. He unplugged the cords from the suit and lead Essentia to stand on the symbol of Chaos, drawn in blood on the ground. Sebastian withdrew a jagged knife, chanting something under his breath. Chandelures began spinning around him, their flames connecting and glowing purple. A chill spread through my body. I glanced worriedly at Looker, who shook his head and mouthed, "Not yet." I saw something shimmer in the air not far from Sebastian and I knew Inteleon would intervene before it was too late.

Something flew past me and I heard Looker gasp. "Mimi!?"

"What is this!?" Sebastian growled as the Espurr landed gently on the ground beside Essentia.

"Wait!" Xerosic cried, grabbing Sebastian's arm before he could give an order. "It's not a threat!"

Mimi rubbed against Essentia's leg, her purr echoing around the room. She glanced up at the helmet, eyes wide with love. A swift kick sent the Psychic type flying backwards.

"Mimi!" Looker and I both yelled, but Mimi got back up, looking hurt emotionally rather than physically. She launched herself forwards with psychic energy and slammed into the glass helmet.

"Get that Pokemon away from her!" Sebastian yelled and a Chandelure blasted Mimi away with fire and trapped her within a circle of flames. But the damage had been done and the glass covering cracked and broke apart, revealing the young woman within.

"No!" Looker choked. "Emma!?"

I blinked. It was that same girl from Looker's office. She shook her head, as if trying to come out of a daze. She glanced around, her eyes falling on Xerosic. "Is the test over? Did I do it okay?"

"ENOUGH!" Sebastian roared, clenching Emma's shoulder hard, raising his knife. "THE TIME IS NOW! CHAOS WILL RISE ONCE MORE!"

"NO!" Several people shouted that word. Looker was the first of us to begin sprinting towards Emma, but Xerosic made it there first. He shoved Emma aside and cried out as the blade sliced into his chest. He gurgled blood and collapsed upon the ground, the symbol glowing purple.

"NOOOOO!" Sebastian cried, dropping the dagger. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"

The circle of Chandelures was broken as several concentrated bursts of water slammed into several of them. Looker resumed his sprint, slamming Sebastian to the floor. Lucario, Mawile, and Raticate surged forwards, Lucario sprinting ahead and Mega Evolving upon my command. He flicked his wrists, blasting the cultists and enemy Pokemon around the prisoners away with his aura. Raticate and Mawile engaged a group of Ghost types as Preston and I ran to help the prisoners.

Time seemed to slow around us. Then something just beyond the dozens of captives began to form. It began as a flicker of purple, then a crack spread from floor to ceiling. It began to spread open slowly, an eerie violet light seeping through. Then a single claw appeared through the rift, oozing a poisonous substance as it curled around the tear in reality, trying to force it open.

Sebastian managed to lift his head as Looker held him down and his face lit up. All the cultists fell to their hands and knees, bowing to what lay beyond. "She comes! She comes! She comes!"

...

"Are you sure this was the right idea, dear? I mean, our ancestor sai-"

"Oh stop it already," Princess Allie waved her father away as she headed towards the second floor of the mansion to watch the work being done herself from the balcony. "I'm sure that prophecy was nothing but a load of mumbo jumbo. Besides, I'm sure the finished product will look gorgeous when it's complete. Once my dearest Zeno sees it, I'm sure he'll come back to be my husband for sure!"

She practically skipped the rest of the way up the stairs and down the hall. She turned once she reached the wall of mirrors and headed onto the balcony. She gripped the edge and stared down at the hedge mazes as the first rays of dawn lit up Kalos. Down below, the front two hedge mazes represented the face of a Pyroar and the other the body of a Chandelure. The one in the top right created to look like a Solrock. To its left, a hedge maze that had to be regrown after a small fire. The Princess had tinkered with the idea of remaking it the way it was, but then decided she would make a lovely present out of it for Zeno to represent the face of one of his Pokemon.

She watched as the workers and their Pokemon trimmed away and styled the maze. Then she tilted her head slightly. "Now, that's an odd looking Arcanine. I do say, it does look pleasing to the eye. I'm sure husband dear will be so delighted when he sees it!"

Another long delay, sorry! I've been using my new laptop a lot for testing how it runs and playing Minecraft. But I'll try and get more chapters rolling out faster and faster... Chaos is rising! While Zeno, Looker, Preston, and their Pokemon face the coming threat of the All-Powerful One, Alex and Robert hurry to bring together the two legendary Pokemon of Kalos; Xerneas and Yveltal. The final showdown with the Cult of Chaos begins and the world may be destined to be plunged into the depths of Chaos! Till next time and Happy Labor Day! Toodles!