"Zzzz…Zzzz…Waffles…"

A whisper escaped the lips of a sleeping Jaune Arc. Providing a small glimpse into his dreaming mind, occupied with sweet breakfast confectionaries. While his mind lay in the land of nod, the rest of his head lay softly on his pillow, next to which was his Scroll, that suddenly turned on. A cube-shaped logo appeared on the screen, surrounded by a ring of circles. The bottom circle then lit up with a tag popping up out of it.

"Ursa! Ursaaaaa! Ursa in the wooods! Ursa! Ursa! Ursa! U-u-u-ursa!"

The sound of electronic dubstep suddenly came out of the scroll, causing Jaune to wake up with a start.

"Wha?!" He murmured in surprise.

Jaune reached his hand out to grab his scroll, the screen transitioning to a call interface with Ruby as the caller ID. He accepted the call, stopping his ringtone and lifting his scroll to his ear.

"Uh…Hello?" Jaune greeted tiredly.

"BZZZT! CRRSH!"

Distorted noise came out of the scroll's speaker, making Jaune wince. He quickly pulled the communication device away from his ear to see the call suddenly cut off and end only six seconds in.

"…Ruby?"

"Jaune…Jaune?"

"Huh?"

Jaune looked around his dorm room, some time having passed since his mysterious Scroll call. Instead of being in his blue, rabbit pyjama's. Jaune was now fully dressed in his regular hoodie, jeans and white armour plating. He could see Ren opening the curtains to reveal the blue and orange sky in the early summer morning.

"You're not still thinking about that call earlier, are you?" Pyrrha asked. "I'm sure they're fine."

"You think?" Jaune asked for reassurance.

"Probably a butt dial." Nora cheerfully said before stifling a yawn and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I still don't know why we had to get up so early. The ships aren't even ready to leave yet."

"We need time to wake up and ready our previsions." Ren explained. "You can have either more sleep or eat breakfast Nora. There's no time for both."

"You underestimate my power!" Nora dramatically argued back.

Ren shook his head wearily, deciding not to start a pointless conversation while he was still waking up. Suddenly an alarm started blaring throughout the entire school on full volume. The volume so loud that Nora couldn't help but cover her ears instinctively, while her teammates looked around in confusion. Team JNPR opened the door to their shared room and stepped through it into the corridor to see that like them, many other students were exiting their rooms in confusion and concern.

"What's going on?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, my Gods!"

A random student said. The entire hallway turned towards them as they were looking at something on their Scroll. A live video of the city under attack! Several other students began pulling out their Scrolls and saw the shocking news for themselves, with many panicked murmurs being heard over the alarms.

Very few individuals seemed to keep calm at that very moment, though surprisingly one of the ones who did was the leader of Team JNPR.

Taking charge, Jaune looked toward his team. "We're changing our mission. Everyone outside!"

Jaune watched Nora and Pyrrha run down the hallway, before he placed a hand on Ren's shoulder. "Ren, we'll make it to that village another time."

Ren silently nodded before running after his teammates, with Jaune following close behind him. Just as the Team JNPR ran around a corner, another team composed of Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder all dressed in the Haven Academy uniforms, appeared from that same corner into the hallway to see what was going on.

Emerald looked over her shoulder to see Jaune run past her before looking to her team. "You don't think…"

"Sure looks like it." Mercury answered.

"That's still days away!" Emerald pointed out.

Mercury turned to face to their leader. "So? What do we do?"

Cinder narrowed her eyes in intensive thought, carefully contemplating her next move before making a decision.

'Even if the train needed to be moved, with how long that would take, and with no news of an explosion…Something's changed.' Cinder realised, frowning heavily. 'What is Xerosic doing?'

"Talonflame go after Crobat!" Kai exclaimed.

"Stop him with Air Slash!" Xerosic ordered.

The two orders pierced the deafening silence of Mountain Glenn's second underground city. With all the other human, faunus, Grimm and Pokémon HAVING been teleported miles away into the kingdom's main city, the only ones left to fight in the forgotten land were Kai and Xerosic. The two facing each other for what may be the final time.

Kai's Talonflame flapped his wings and chased Xerosic's Crobat up in the air. The Bat Pokémon managing to keep ahead and having his four wings glow sky blue. He swiftly spun to face Talonflame while flapping his wings in unison, blowing crescents of razor-sharp air downwards toward the Fire/Flying type.

"Find a gap and manoeuvre your way through those winds!" Kai instructed. "Don't hesitate Talonflame!"

"Ha! I wasn't planning too!" Talonflame cried confidently.

Talonflame kept shooting upwards, keeping his wings completely straight as he flew forward without fear. Tilting his entire body to pass through openings so slim, that the wind would brush up against his body. Blowing out small patches of embers that scattered from his feathers, before Talonflame's burning passion reignited them, as he metaphorically threaded the needle.

While Talonflame kept rising toward Crobat, Kai looked back down to focus on the other pair of Pokémon in this fight. His Slurpuff and Xerosic's Malamar.

'Crobat used Cross Poison to stop my weapons Freezing Laser before. With how fast they are, I better prepare Slurpuff's defence while Talonflame's distracting them.' Kai thought.

"Slurpuff use Cotton Guard!" Kai instructed.

Slurpuff nodded and held her stubby white paws in close. Clouds of cotton began sprouting all over the Fairy type, covering her completely before dissipating just as quickly in a puff of smoke. Leaving behind an empowering orange aura that rose over Slurpuff, just like her drastically risen defence.

Upon seeing Kai's chosen move, Xerosic gave a subtle smirk. 'Just as expected.'

"Don't bother using Hypnosis this time! Thanks to Slurpuff's ability, you won't be able to take any of us captive so easily." Kai declared, referencing Sweet Veil's negation of sleep.

"Oh, I am well aware. You see, since our last encounter I knew that I would have to prepare accordingly to stand a chance against you." Xerosic explained. "So, I had my Malamar forget Hypnosis and replace it with this!"

Xerosic suddenly pointed his arm at Slurpuff. "Now Malamar, Topsy-Turvy!"

Malamar bent his white fins and did a front flip, landing upside-down to stand on his head. At the same time he landed, a translucent sphere of purple energy surrounded Slurpuff. An orange and blue orb then appeared above and below the Meringue Pokémon before her body rotated upside down, causing the orange and blue orbs to move counter-clockwise and switch places with each other. The dark energy faded and Slurpuff landed back on her feet right-side up, alongside Malamar flipping back onto his fins.

"Slurpuff are you okay?" Kai asked concerningly.

Slurpuff placed a paw to her head, her eyes quickly getting used to seeing the right way again. "Hm? My parfume is unchanged, Kai parfume!"

'I've never seen that move before, but it doesn't look like it's done anything. Maybe it's a dud?' Kai thought to himself. 'Let's just finish this quick! The longer this fight goes on, the more damage could be done to the kingdom…or my scattered friends and Pokémon.'

Up above the battlefield, Crobat and Talonflame continued ascending in their sky battle, passing over the decaying rooftops of old underground buildings. Crobat spun in place whipping up more winds around him his wings before furiously flapping them in panic. More and more razor-sharp blades of air passed by Talonflame, as he nimbly weaved in and out of danger. The Scorching Pokémon grunted in annoyance as he had to continually chase after his prey.

Kai looked back up at them and went into thought. 'It looks like Crobat is just faster and that's allowing him stay ahead. I need a way for Talonflame to close the gap just a little quicker but how can I-?'

Kai suddenly remembered his first encounter with Ruby in Junior's club and how the sudden boost in speed her semblance made things difficult for Talonflame to get in close. That was until-

"Come on Talonflame, use Flame Charge to boost you forward!" Kai instructed.

The embers around Talonflame intensified into full on flames as he shot forward like an ignited arrow. The use of Flame Charge acting like a thruster that allowed him to speed through the air and close the gap between him and Crobat. Before the Bat Pokémon could react Talonflame dove into his face beak first, knocking him into a downward spiral while Talonflame glowed with an orange aura.

"Perfect and now that Talonflame's raised his speed!" Kai pumped his fist up into the air. "Dive bomb him with Acrobatics!"

Talonflame body shimmered with a sky-blue outline before speeding downwards. His body left behind a trail of after-images in his wake as he immediately caught up with Crobat, crashing into him to send him spiralling. Talonflame charged into him again from behind before vanishing and reappearing above Crobat, plunging his beak into his face and shoving him out of the air and into the ground.

Talonflame flew up out of the resulting dust as Crobat lay there on his front, scowling at Talonflame as he struggled to start flying again.

Kai pointed at Xerosic's Pokémon. "Now Slurpuff, hit them both with Dazzling Gleam!"

Xerosic looked toward his two Pokémon. "Crobat stop that attack with Cross Poison! Then Malamar, strike back with Psycho Cut!"

The Team Flare scientists' Pokémon grunted in acknowledgement with Crobat flapping his wings to get back into the air just as Slurpuff spread her paws to her sides. Her body began to shimmer with sparkles of multi-coloured fairy light before her pudgy frame emitted a brilliant flash. Crobat covered his upper wings in a purple coat of poison before swiping them in front of him, flinging an X-shaped slash forward, intercepting the sparkles and preventing them passage through its thick toxins. The clash between Dazzling Gleam's light's Cross Poison's blade caused the two moves to explode, creating a thick poisonous miasma and pretty sparkles of light that didn't reach either side of the battlefield.

With the threat of being attacked gone, Malamar pulled his two long tentacles either side of him back. Both of them starting to glow with a pinkish-purple psychic power when the Overturning Pokémon snapped his tentacles forward, releasing two razor sharp crescents of psychic energy that cut through the miasma and sparkles, racing through the air toward Slurpuff.

"Slurpuff brace yourself!" Kai instructed.

Slurpuff responded by tucking her arms in and bracing herself per Kai's instructions. She anticipated the psychic blades, confident in her ability to shrug them off when they made contact. Immediately and effortlessly though they shredded through her defences, cutting into her like a hot knife through marshmallow.

"Sluuurp!" Slurpuff cried out in pain.

Kai's eyes widened in shock. "Slurpuff!"

The force of the attack sent Slurpuff's pudgy white body flying back. With just one move Slurpuff was already covered from head-to-toe in dozens of lacerations and scratch marks. The Meringue Pokémon fell onto her back with squinted eyes, puffing in pain and exhaustion. A sight that was a struggle for Kai to bear.

'What happened?! After using Cotton Guard, Psycho Cut shouldn't have been able to deal nearly that much damage! Did he get lucky and land a Critical Hit?' Kai thought to himself.

He looked up from his heavily damaged Slurpuff towards his opponent, who seemed unsurprised by the amount of damage he managed to deal.

'No. It wasn't luck. And it's not that his Pokémon are ridiculously stronger than mine either. He must have done something, but-?'

Kai suddenly remembered the move Xerosic called on his previous turn, and his mouth opened in realisation.

"That move you used before? It negated Slurpuff's stat boost, didn't it?" Kai accused.

"Not quite." Xerosic dramatically waved his arm forward. "Topsy-Turvy didn't negate your Pokémon's stat changes. It reversed them!"

"Reversed?!" Kai repeated. "So right now, Slurpuff's defence isn't drastically raised, it's drastically lowered!"

"Precisely." Xerosic confirmed. "Though I don't blame you for not realising it until now. Topsy-Turvey is a move only Malamar's evolutionary line is capable of learning, at least in the Kalos region, so it's understandable you may not have seen it first-hand."

'No wonder Slurpuff looks so beat up. With her defences that low she must be hanging on by a thread. I knew he was planning something but I still told her to take the hit anyway!'

Kai felt the walls closing in on him as the cave looked as though it was getting smaller and smaller. The idea of staying and fighting in an underground space making every fibre of his being recoil.

"Kai? Kai!" Talonflame shouted at his trainer. "Snap out of it! We're in the middle of a battle here!"

But Kai didn't or rather couldn't hear him. He had fought back against his phobia but with all the fighting, all the surprises that had been going on down there, he was reaching his limit.

'We-we can't stay here! If we do things my family will only be in danger! There's no one here who can help! We're all alone! They'll get hurt and then…and then…' Kai felt his mind start to slip as his chest tightened.

"Kai…par…fume…"

A comforting sweet smell entered Kai's nostrils as he was momentarily pulled away from his thoughts to see Slurpuff getting back up on her pink feet.

"Do not worry your parfume…just yet" Slurpuff turned to Kai and opened her mouth wide, smiling happily with her tongue flapping out the side. "My parfume is still not emptied out yet!"

Kai looked at Slurpuff, remembering their first encounter and how because of her he was able to fight through his phobia and continue his journey through Connecting Cave. How they made it through that one and several others throughout Kalos together and how they can make it through this one.

Kai took a calming breath. "Yeah, you're right Slurpuff. As long as you're still okay to fight, I'll find a way to win this together!"

Slurpuff nodded. "That's the fragrant parfume I remember!"

As they spoke Talonflame looked at them and gave a hidden smile through his beak. 'She always did have a special way to get Kai through his cave worries.'

Xerosic watched the display between trainer and Pokémon with fascination.

"Remarkable. It has been theorized that a Slurpuff's sense of smell can identify the mental condition of a human, but with its capacity to communicate Kai Emblem's particular Slurpuff seems to be able to treat it." Xerosic's scientific curiosity showed itself as a creepy smile. "My, my, Emblem. What a truly ground breaking discovery you have made."

With Kai's thoughts refocused for the moment, he stared in-between his Pokémon and Xeorsic's as he started figuring out a way to achieve victory.

'I've got to focus! This is no time to lose my head!' Kai thought determinedly. 'Besides I need to remember it's not just us fighting. Robin, Ruby and everyone else are putting their lives on the line too!'

While Kai thought about his friends, in Vale's City Square, Ruby and Robin specifically were currently staring down a recently teleported in Atlesian Paladin alongside Doctor Oobleck and Zwei.

With the cries of panicking civilians being drowned out by the droning of the city's Grimm attack alarms going off, Ruby turned to her teacher for guidance.

"What do we do?" The red-hooded Huntress in-training asked.

"We do our jobs." Oobleck answered as he looked to the members of the public, frozen in fright or tripping over themselves as they struggled to run away. "I'll escort the civilians out of harm's way! I am trusting the two of you to find a way to keep this weapon contained until I make my return! Understood?!"

Ruby raised a finger to object. "Uh-?"

"Great!" Oobleck cut off.

The history teacher quickly ran off in a blur, using his impressive speed to round up and direct civilians to safety at a rapid rate. At her feet Ruby noticed the saddened expression of Zwei looking up at her. She smiled at her pet and motioned him to go join his new friend.

"Go." Ruby said with her blessing.

With that Zwei's down expression changed dramatically. The corgi barked happily before running off to fight alongside the Doctor, leaving his owner to follow her own mission.

As Ruby let her beloved pet go, Robin turned and looked over to her. "Kai told me you fought one of these before. How did you beat it last time?"

"Well, we took out its sensors and went for the legs. Then Kai's Lucario just hit it really, really hard, and it exploded!" Ruby explained pumping her fist into the air.

Robin looked at Ruby, sighing at the straightforwardness of her previous encounter with the Atlesian mech. "Okay then, brute force it is."

The Paladin aimed its cannons towards the two teenage girls, firing rounds of electric energy bolts in unison. Both Huntresses in-training activated their Semblances in time to dodge, with Ruby running off in a trail of petals toward the square's raised platform, while Robin shifted gravity to her side to falling onto the trunk of a nearby tree.

Quickly running up the side of the tree, Robin reached the canopy and stopped using her Semblance. She used her new viewpoint to scan the area for any signs of her Pokémon, their absence confirming what she already knew.

"Chesnaught and Beartic aren't here. They must have been teleported somewhere else." Robin thought out loud, as she grabbed another Pokéball from her pouch. "Well at least here I won't need to worry about any weight restrictions."

Just as she was about to open it the Paladin's upper frame suddenly rotated; its weaponry aimed right at her. The adolescent Pokémon Trainer gasped as both cannons fired in unison. Robin instinctively used her Semblance to fall into the sky right before the electric bolts struck the tree. The plant violently detonated in an electrically charged explosion, as though it was struck by a bolt of lightning in a thunderstorm. The thick trunk was reduced to splinters and the leaves were burnt to embers, creating a deafening shockwave that reached all the way up to Robin, creating an invisible force that sent her tumbling back into the sky.

Robin lost her sense of balance and feel into an upward free-fall, tensing up as she focused on trying to correct herself. Before she could though the Atlesian Paladin's lower half spun around to match up with the top half, taking a step forward and raising its guns to the sky, locking onto Robin's position.

Red rose petals scattered across the paved granite when Ruby dashed to the mech in the blink of an eye. Swinging her scythe and slashing its mechanical leg, knocking its footing off balance right as it fired. Messing up its aim as the electric bolts harmlessly passed Robin as she finally corrected herself.

Robin frowned and tossed the Pokéball to the ground. "Tyrantrum, prepare for battle!"

Leaving Robin's Personal Gravity, the Pokéball opened up in mid-air. A bright dinosaurian silhouette lit up the rooftops before the theropod's feet slammed onto the square's grassy terrain. The ground rumbled and dirt rose up as the Despot Pokémon made impact, craning his head up the to let out a roaring cry. Tyrantrum straightened his posture and looked straight ahead to look at the Paladin, the creature of the distant past eying the technology of the future.

"Tyrantum use Rock Slide!" Robin shouted.

Despite being dozens of feet in the air, Robin's voice was loud enough for her order to come through. Tyrantrum's feathery ruff began to faintly glow, creating grey sparkles of light overhead. Large rocks began to manifest and rapidly grow in size until a ring of boulders formed. Tyrantrum lowered his jaw and cried out, allowing gravity to take its course as the boulders started falling through the air toward the Paladin prototype.

Two rear-mounted anti-aircraft missile systems opened up, unloading a barrage of missiles from the ten-tube rocket launchers on both sides. The rockets collided with the avalanche of stone and exploded on contact. Each bolder getting blown up into shattered pieces, scattering dust and fragments across the city square before they could get close enough to do damage.

"The attack's coming out too slow! If only I could control the rate they fall like I can do with myself!" Robin thought out-loud as she continued falling through the air. She looked at the ensuing clash of rock vs explosives when she suddenly got an idea. "Or maybe I can."

Shifting her Personal Gravity in front of her, Robin twisted her hips and moved her momentum toward her Pokémon's attack. She positioned her feet in front of her and fell at full speed, crashing her metal soles into one of Rock Slide's boulders. Her impact made a dark-blue Aura shockwave ripple out, causing the boulder to be instantly propelled forward at a staggering velocity, passing past the others and crashing into the Paladin before it had a chance to fire a missile in its path. The rock shattered on impact but the force knocked the Paladin flat on its back. The remaining boulders began bombarding it one after another, but one last rocket was fired off before it became buried in rubble.

Though her legs ached and her Aura had taken a hit to prevent her legs from taking serious damage after falling from such a speed, Robin couldn't help but feel a rush of satisfaction from what she had just accomplished. Unfortunately, that feeling couldn't last, as the final missile weaved through the Rock Slide straight for the gravity manipulator. After pulling off such a stunt and losing all her momentum, Robin was in no state to move, leaving her completely open as the rocket detonated point blank in her face.

The Pokémon Trainer was engulfed in fiery explosion that shook the air. Ruby looked toward the last explosion and saw an obscured figure – cloaked in fire and smoke – flung into one of the buildings surrounding the perimeter. Smashing through the grey stonework and weakening its integrity, causing upper sections of the structure to break apart and collapse in on itself.

"Robin!" Ruby gasped.

Tyrantrum heard his trainer's name called and looked around, but couldn't see Robin anywhere. The Despot Pokémon then turned his head all the way round to the collapsing building, but still didn't see or hear anything except for broken bricks and shattered glass. The Fossil Pokémon walked up to the broken building, lowering his head and sniffing the pile of debris with his huge nostrils. He paused and watched the pile as he thought about his trainer, the first face he had seen since waking up in a strange new time period. The one who had guided and loved him for near seven years. He patiently waited for movement or signs of life but when none came all he could do was let out a whimper.

Suddenly a loud sound of crunching rubble being crushed was heard, but not from where Tyrantrum hoped it would be. A metal hand burst out of the Rock Slide pile, that pushed against the ground and pulling it and the Atlesian Paladin it was a part of back up. It's armoured metal plating covered in scratches and dents but its motor functions and weapon systems still fully operational.

Tyrantrum turned back around and growled at the stolen mech with the same intensity as a mad bulldog. With his fangs bared, Tyrantrum charged forward.

As he left, Ruby took his place and started shovelling away at the broken pile.

"Please be okay Robin! Please be okay!" Ruby chanted as she kept shovelling. "Please be o-!"

A hand suddenly shot out of the rubble.

"WAH!" Ruby cried out in surprise.

The hand felt the rubble and began pushed down on it, as the pile started to shake and move. The bursting out of it was Robin, coughing and gasping for air.

"You're alive!" Ruby called out in relief.

"Of course, I'm alive. My Aura managed to hold out long enough to protect me, but after all that it's pretty much spent." Robin pulled her legs free and stepped out of the debris, a little shaky but remarkably uninjured. "Where's Tyrantrum?"

"GRRAWRR!"

Robin heard her Pokémon and looked to see it charging head first toward battle with the enemy mech. The Paladin's fist folded back into the main body to re-equip its Dust cannon, before aiming and firing a cannonade of electric blasts. However, each bolt proceeded to slide off Tyrantrum's rock-like scales like raindrops, his Dragon Type giving him resistance to such an element.

The mech re-opened its rocket launchers and fired off ten missiles from each side, with no intention of stopping Tyrantrum took all twenty explosives' head on, getting caught up in a monstrous chain of explosions. A thick veil of flames and smoke clouded the area only for Tyrantrum to pass through no-less deterred.

The Paladin pulled back its mechanical arm and unfolded its metal fist over its Dust cannon. As soon as Tyrantrum got close the prototype mech stepped forward and threw a hydraulic-powered punch.

Tyrantrum cranked open his jaws, making both rows of serrated teeth glow. He chomped down on the Paladin's fist, trapping its arm in his mouth. The Paladin attempted to pull itself free but was unable to pry its arm free. The ear-grating sound of metal being stretched was briefly heard before Tyrantrum snapped his jaws, tearing off the mech's left arm, crushing it in his mouth and spitting it out like a worn-out chew toy. Before the Paladin could do anything else, Tyrantrum's swiped at the Atlesian mech's legs, making it lose its footing and falling on its back.

Tyrantrum stomped his foot down on the machine before it had a chance to move and his teeth glowed again with another Crunch. He clamped his teeth down on the shoulder joint of the Paladin's remaining arm and using his jaw muscles alone, ripped off the mechanical appendage, tossing it into the air where it fell behind him with a metal crash.

With one more Crunch he sunk his teeth into the front of the Paladin, stripping it away and revealing the inside of the cockpit. Along with the very, very terrified White Fang member unfortunate enough to be piloting it.

"That's enough Tyrantrum!" A stern voice followed by the snapping of fingers, seemed to capture Tyrantrum's attention.

He stepped off the Paladin looking down to see his trainer right there safe and sound, making the White Fang pilot sigh in relief before passing out. Like a puppy seeing his owner after a long trip away he dashed over to her with his tongue sticking out in the wind, only for Robin to stick her hand out signalling him to stop.

"Hold it right there! We're in the middle of the battlefield, this is not time for you to relax!" Robin chided. "And what were you thinking, taking the brunt of all those attacks! You're bulky but all that damage adds up!"

Tyrantrum whined as he was disciplined by his trainer, the sight of which making dog-owner Ruby feel empathetic toward him.

"Aww. He was only doing that because he cares for you. Plus, he was totally awesome! He should get a treat for something like that!" Ruby applauded.

Before the two could discuss the matter further a momentary flash caught Robin's eye. She turned toward it and saw another Abra, this one accompanied by three new Atlesian Paladin's.

"There's three of them this time!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Looks like it." Robin bitterly muttered. "You're not finished yet Tyrantrum! Get ready!"

Robin pointed toward the trio of Atlesian mech's, showing the Despot Pokémon where to go he growled, showing off all his rows of teeth. Ruby on the other hand twizzled her scythe in preparation, getting it in a better position to fight back.

"I sure hope the others are having better luck than we are right now." Ruby hoped.

As the foot soldiers piloting the Paladin's stormed the city square, elsewhere their Lieutenant was in the midst of clashing steel with the progeny of their hate in a secluded alleyway.

The Lieutenant ran toward Weiss who raised Myrtenaster defensively in response. She moved her rapier in a circular motion ahead of her, creating a pale blue ripple of light in the air. The Lieutenant stomped his foot down and pivoted, shifting his momentum into a brutal chainsaw swing. Before the attack landed it was suddenly blocked part-way by a hard-light Dust forcefield appearing in front of Weiss. Cyan shockwaves pulsated out from the centre of the barrier resisting the Lieutenant's attempts to saw through the heiress' defence. Weiss continued holding him back, resisting to back down or wave. The Huntress-in training swiftly twirled, making the Hard-Light pulse and repulsing the White Fang Lieutenant back.

The Lieutenant recovered and attempted an overhead swipe but the Huntress used her weapon to cover her right side, angling it downwards. When the attack came, she used the position of her weapon to block. Sparks flied as the motorised saw rapidly scraped against the rapier but Weiss managed to aim the strike at the ground, making the attack miss her completely. The heiress quickly pulled Myrtenaster up, giving her a short window to attack while the Lieutenant's weapon was still on the ground.

She twirled and thrust the tip of her weapon into his chest, knocking him back. The heiress flipped gracefully over his tumbling body, striking the side of his head while in mid-air and landing behind him.

The Lieutenant finally recovered and spun around, swiping his chainsaw horizontally to bisect the Schnee heiress. Weiss pre-emptively lowered her body, allowing the weapons spinning edge to travel over her chest, before she pushed her hands against the ground and performed a back roll to reposition.

Weiss planted her feet and swung her rapier up into the Lieutenant's mask, she stood up and twirled around striking the faunus extremist once more in the same spot. The Lieutenant recoiled and held his weapon defensively to block a sword thrust, but moves too slow to block a second attack to the head. The force knocked him up before falling hard on his back. Giving Weiss the opportunity to flip over his downed body, staring down at him from another position.

The Lieutenant leaned up, picking up his weapon and swinging it at Weiss as he got up. She turned and leaned under the attack, however when Weiss back got up the Lieutenant had already raised his weapon. He only continued to get more and more aggressive, bringing down another overhead slash that Weiss had to duck to avoid. He swung at her again from the side, forcing the heiress to keep using her weapon defensively to block as she was getting forced back, closer and closer to the wall of the alley.

The Lieutenent pulled his weapon away and lifted his left leg. Thinking fast Weiss leaped up into the air, avoiding his snap kick. She twirled in the air while forming a glyph above her, positioning herself so the soles of her shoes pushed up against it. She spiralled off her glyph with her weapon outstretched toward the ground, causing the Lieutenant to step back and avoid Weiss' spinning stab, the Huntress rolled forward and got up to continue the fight. She deflected his chainsaw, before flipping over a low swing, landing in a crouched stance and thrusting the tip into his knees, sending him flying backwards down the alley.

As the Lieutenant rose to his feet, Weiss held Myternaster in dead centre of herself. Concentrating as she made yellow Dust fust with her Semblance to create a haste glyph under her feet. The hands on the Roman-styled clock glyph turned as Weiss felt her speed increase drastically. The heiress rain toward her opponent while pointing a finger in his direction. A collection of white glyphs with the symbol of her family's crest surrounded him on all sides as she dashed forward. With time flowing faster around her Weiss became a white streak, striking him before landing on one of her glyphs, ricocheting off it to repeat the action. Performing it over and over again, each cutting away at his Aura as the Lieutenant was mercilessly attacked in the span of three seconds. She finished off her combo by launching him off the ground where he was vulnerable, before getting above him and swinging her blade to smash him back down.

Weiss created one final glyph behind her feet, jumping off it with her blade pointed down to stab the Lieutenant where he lay on the ground, only for him to roll backward before at the last moment. When the Lieutenant got up, Weiss leaped into the air again, preparing another attack again when the Lieutenant spotted an opening.

"C'mere, princess!" He said as he outstretched his hand.

Before Weiss could react he caught her in mid-air, grabbing her by the jaw and clasping his hand over her mouth. Weiss tried to say something but everything that came out was muffled, unable to say anything as the Lieutenant lifted her over his head before slamming the back of her skull into the concrete. Chunks of debris flung upwards from the impact while the sudden shock left Weiss stunned. The Lieutenant picked her up and tossed her like a rag doll, letting her limp body drop as he prepared to slash her with the brunt of his chainsaw.

Right before the spinning edge made contact, a black shadowy streak suddenly appeared under the Lieutenant, striking him in the gut.

"Graagh!" The Lieutenant gasped, as the force knocked him back to the end of the alley and stopped his attack mid-swing.

Weiss' body continued to fall and was about to hit the ground when her back was safely caught in someone's hands.

"Ughh…" Weiss faintly groaned, straining to keep her eyes open. "…Blake?"

She looked up to see her teammate, crouched down and cradling her in her arms.

"Don't worry. We're here." Blake comforted.

"We…?" Weiss strained to ask.

Beside Blake, Weiss noticed Aegislash floating up to her. The Royal Sword Pokémon lowering her gaze at the dazed huntress in training.

"Hmph. There are better places for one to take a nap then on the ground Lady Weiss." Aegislash looked up narrowing her single purple eye at the Lieutenant. "But for now, you may rest your head. We'll take over from here."

The Lieutenant just stood there, watching the three converse. Yet his mind wasn't as absent as his sudden patience suggested. For the first time since he started working with the likes of Roman Torchwick and Team Flare, he earnestly wanted to carry out the mission. His mission that was. And that was on finding a certain stray cat.

"So, you finally show your face. Traitor." The Lieutenant finally spoke, pointing his chainsaw at Blake. "Or did you really think I wouldn't recognise you underneath that bow."

Aegislash cautiously looked toward Blake. "You are acquainted with this cretin?"

"I knew him. Once." Blake looked away from her teammate and at the Lieutenant. "He worked close…with my old partner."

Blake struggled to utter the last part of her sentence. Aegislash focused on those words, having them remind her of the story she had told Kai, and the rest of his Pokémon back during the break between semesters. Of how the man she was working with didn't seem to care about the needless deaths caused from their missions for equality.

Ahead of them, the White Fang Lieutenant seemed to have a different reaction to hearing them. His grip quickly tightened around his weapon, so tight that underneath his gloves his veins could be seen bulging through his skin.

"Your old partner? Do you not even have enough respect to say his name?!" The Lieutenant roared, startling the three girls.

He shakily exhaled and loosened the strain on his hand, shaking his head. "Right. As if a coward who doesn't even respect her blood would have any gratitude to the man who she owed everything. Especially after betraying us and working for the very family that persecuted us for years. The very fact you hold a princess like that in higher regard than your own kin…you really are nothing but scum. Guess it's appropriate you ended up teaming up."

At the implication of her family's name being accused by the extremist Weiss scowled. Partly from such a person who helped scar her childhood, refer to her lineage in a disrespectful manner. But also, from the shreds of truth that she – to her shame – had only recently started to accept.

Blake noticed the reaction on the Schnee heiress face and gently placed her on the ground to recover.

"Insult me all you want, maybe I deserve some of it." Blake unsheathed her weapon, holding both sword and sheath in her hands as she prepared to fight. "But don't you dare insult my friends! Especially when you don't know the first thing about them!"

The White Fang Lieutenant's focus was gauged entirely on Blake. His muscles tensed and he kept his weapon close to his chest.

"You know I swore on my life that I would find you. And now that I have, I'm not leaving until I bring you back to him." The Lieutenant suddenly sprinted forward, his chainsaw revving intensely. "Even if I have to send you piece by piece!"

"GYASHA!"

As the Lieutenant continued his fight, his captive Pokémon fought his. Gyarados roared at Greninja and Yang, his Intimidate ability going off to indicate the start of a new battle, lowering Pokémon and Huntresses' physical prowess.

The Atrocious Pokémon opened his massive jaw, making his fangs glow bright. Gyarados lunged through the air towards Yang and Greninja who quickly jumped out of the way, leaving Gyarados to take a literal bite out of the tarmac where they once stood.

The flying sea serpent lifted his head up, spitting out chunks of the black stone and tar mixture. Seeing he was distracted, Yang cocked Ember Celica and began firing explosive incendiary rounds against the Atrocious Pokémon's cheek, only for them to do as much noticeable damage to Gyarados as a puff of hot air.

"Yeah, fire isn't very effective on Water types! Neither is my water sooo~" Greninja pointed at Yang. "What's the plan?"

Yang looked back at Greninja in befuddlement. "Uh? Why would I be the one to come up with a plan?"

"You're the human! Strategy's your thing, fighting's my thing!" Greninja explained.

"Well I'm a Huntress, fighting's my thing too. Besides Kai taught you how to speak so you must be pretty smart, you figure out the plan!"

"Really? Okay then. Plan, plaaaa~n…" Greninja hummed, placing his front foot under his chin in thought. "…I could try calling him names?"

"Gyasha!" Gyarados roared, flinging the remaining bits of road out of his mouth before raising his tail above his head.

Vapor started to condense around the appendage, forming a spiralling trail of water that went along Gyarados' lower scales and dorsal fin. The flowing water continued pouring outwards to create a condensed stream of highly pressurised water like an aquatic limb.

"What's it doing?!" Yang cried out in alarm.

"It looks like Aqua Tail, but I don't remember Kai telling me it knew that." Greninja explained. "Guess it must have learnt a new move after it lost last time."

"Gyasha!" Gyarados slammed his tail into the street.

The high concentration of pressurised water tore up the ground, forcing Greninja and Yang to be split up on either side of the crushing stream. The two ran forward while ignoring the droplets of water and specs of dirt falling around them, chipping away at Gyarados from afar with Water Shuriken or incendiary shotgun shells.

"Can't we just leave it alone and let it calm down?" Yang suggested, as she peppered Gyarados with miniature explosions.

"Don't think so, Gyarados aren't exactly the friendliest Pokémon out there. Apparently, they've been known to destroy entire cities!" Greninja explained when he noticed Gyarados swinging another Aqua Tail toward him.

He backflipped over the enchanted liquid limb to dodge, flipping to the other side of the street where he casually landed beside Yang. "And I don't know about you, but if I was held captive and tortured by a crazy guy in a mask after being transported to an alien world…I'd wanna break something too."

Yang sighed. "So, it's too dangerous to just be left on its own. Got it."

"What about your Semblance?" Greninja suggested. "Can't you just go into your super form, get a zenkai boost and beat him up that way."

"I'd love too. Problem is I used it already against the Grimm. I'd need to start building up damage again from scratch." Yang paused and exhaled heavily, needing to take a breath to deal with her built-up exhaustion. "And I don't think my aura can take too much more punishment before it breaks."

Greninja slumped his shoulders, disappointingly. "Well, isn't that just perf-Watch out!"

Greninja noticed Gyarados raising his tail horizontally and immediately reacted. He pre-emptively sprung forward and pushed the soles of his webbed-feet against Yang's hip. He kicked the Huntress out of the way, just before Gyarados followed through on his move. Gyarados quickly attacked with a vicious Aqua Tail swing, slamming it into Greninja with overwhelming force. Greninja's body was sent tumbling through the street, having been battered like a rock in the way of a raging tidal wave. He crashed into a concrete building at the end of the road, his view completely obstructed by a cloud of dust

Yang got back onto her feet and turned around toward where Greninja was sent.

"Greninja!" She called out in concern.

"GYASHA!" Gyarados roared behind Yang.

Yang looked over at Gyarados snarling at her. "Okay…Now I have something I want to break."

From the kingdom's ground level city streets to high up on the rooftops two, tail-appendaged figures leaped from building to building, hidden amongst the pale early morning sky. The first, possessing a blue furry tail seemed desperate to escape from the second, whose brown segmented stinger quivered in delight from the chase.

The first figure's feet came to a swift landing atop the grey shingles of a building complex, not waiting long to hear a second pair of feet land a fair distance away from him.

"Finally satisfied with your walkies?" The skull-masked faunus mocked.

"I have no reason, nor desire to fight with you." Lucario stated matter-of-factly, turning his head to face him. "And quite frankly, I have much more pressing concerns than the likes of you."

"Well regrettably you are my most pressing concern. It seems as though one of us will need to re-evaluate our priorities." The skull-masked faunus glared at Lucario through the slits of his mask. "You and that trainer of yours."

"Master? What are you-?"

"Waaah! Waaah!"

The sound of a baby's cry interrupted Lucario, diverting his and the masked man's attention to the street level. There they saw a woman, tightly holding an infant no older than a few months old wrapped up in a soft blanket.

"Shhh~ Shhh~" The mother hushed, gently rocking her child. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay. Please don't cry. Please calm down."

"Waah! Waah!"

The scorpion faunus looked up from the crying child to catch eyes with Lucario. A monstrous opportunity came before him and he rose his vambrace up, a glimmer of light catching off the ends of its mounted blades.

Lucario's eyes widened and his irises shrank as he sensed the intent from the skull-masked assailant.

Both barrels popped out of the weapon and the scorpion faunus aimed them to the ground. Lucario pre-emptively rushed forward, getting in the way of his line of sight before he opened fire. His weapon automatically unloaded a spray of bullets that Lucario willingly took. His body was peppered top to bottom with rapid-fire ammunition, each hit chipping away at his health as his body was mercilessly shot at.

The Aura Pokémon winced, raising his aura-sensors to scan for aura without taking his eyes of his attacker. He sensed the mother being alerted to the sound of gunfire nearby, and could tell she was already running off with her crying child to somewhere safer. A fact which relieved him, if only for a moment.

But as another bullet scratched past his cheek Lucario's protective instincts turned to anger, his dark thoughts manifesting as black aura imbued around his paws.

"You monster!" Lucario shouted, thrusting his paws forward to send out Dark Pulse.

The wave of negativity blew up and shattered any bullet casings that made contact, prompting the scorpion faunus to stop firing. Quickly choosing instead to bend his legs and jump high into the air, letting the attack miss him and go off into the distance.

"Hehee! Monster you say!" The skull-masked faunus's shadow hovered over Lucario, as he stuck his legs out preparing to drop on top of the Aura Pokémon. "Isn't that ironic coming from a creature like you!"

The masked man stuck his legs out for a landing, planning to divekick Lucario. The Aura Pokémon stepped backward just before the scorpion faunus' boots came down, letting their soles hit the rooftops instead of himself. Immediately the faunus pivoted on his heels, swinging his arthropodic tail into Lucario. The Fighting/Steel type raised his arms, using them to cushion the swing as he felt himself get pushed him back.

The Skull-Masked faunus immediately kept up the pressure, swiping his wrist-mounted blades furiously toward Lucario, to drive him further and further to the edge of the roof.

Lucario bared his fangs, clenching his paws into fists and coating them in fighting spirit. "Power-Up Punch!"

Lucario threw a flurry of jabs toward his attacker, regaining the offensive as he forced the scorpion faunus to duck and weave. The faunus didn't simply give up however, thrusting his arms in-between short openings in an attempt to cut the side of Lucario's face.

In the middle of his swipes the skull-masked faunus twisted his arm and threw a surprise uppercut, aiming the tip of his blade under Lucario's jaw-line. The metal of his weapon glinted inches from stabbing into Lucario's mouth when the canine-like Pokémon tilted his head up at the last second, allowing the weapons edge to safely graze the tips of Lucario's blue fur.

Before the scorpion faunus could pull his weapon back, Lucario ceased the opening, using his right forearm to knock the masked attacker's arm to the side. With his posture uneven and an opening made, Lucario creating an opening as he lunged forward punching his left fist full-force toward his attacker's skull-designed mask.

The telson of his tail suddenly dropped down from above to cover his face, taking the hit and stopping the punch in its tracks. Gusts of wind expelled from the force of the impact yet the tail did not budge. Easily absorbing the blow as the energy of the Fighting type move faded.

Lucario grunted in frustration while an orange empowering aura rose over his body. The scorpion faunus then flicked his tail up, shoving Lucario's arm into the air and knocking his posture backward. The skull-masked faunus swept Lucario's unbalanced feet, knocking them up into the air, before spinning in place and roundhouse kicking the Aura Pokémon in his stomach.

Lucario was knocked back through the air, landing on his side and tumbling across the rooftop. He got himself on one knee and stabbed the spike on the back of his paw down, slowing his traction as he skidded to a stop before he fell, his back foot teetering on the edge of the roof.

Lucario picked himself up onto his feet to witness the skull-masked faunus madly cackling. The Aura Pokémon felt his body stinging all over from the various scratches and scrapes he had collected during the scrap against a madman and he had enough.

"I'm putting an end to this!" Lucario cried out when he put his paws together, concentrating his aura into an intense blue sphere.

The skull-masked faunus gleefully watched Lucario prepare his signature attack. Though it could not be clearly seen because of his mask the scorpion faunus had a wicked smile. His golden eyes fixated on the aura's light. Golden eyes that started to glow a shade of Tyrian purple.

"Aura Sphere!" Lucario thrust his palms forward, firing the powerful special move.

The fast-moving projectile approached the faunus as he pulled his right arm back, cloaking his hand in a purple aura the same shade as his glowing eyes.

"Ha HA!"

The scorpion faunus clawed his aura-cloaked hand into the Aura Sphere, his fingertips cutting through the attack and splitting it in two. Both halves of the sphere passed by the man, harmlessly fizzling out.

Lucario's eyes widened and he gasped. "What…?"

The Skull-Masked faunus held his hand in front of his face, flexing his fingers as the fiendish purple aura around them faded. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was that meant to hurt?"

Lucario growled, raising a clenched paw and covering it in orange fighting spirit. He went to attack when the skull-masked faunus shot him a threatening stare. The action making Lucario's aura sensors shoot up behind his head as he felt his opponents' feelings.

'What is this?' Lucario thought as the man's aura became visualised.

In Lucario's aura-sensitive view of the world he saw the skull-masked faunus' aura overflow out of him, emitting with such intensity that it was as though the entire world around him was bathed in a red filet. As Lucario released invisible waves of aura towards his opponent, they would rebound back to him, carrying a message of the skull-masked faunus' goals.

"Master…?" Lucario weakly murmured.

"What's the matter? Don't tell me the wittle doggy is scared without his owner here to pet him on the head." The skull-masked faunus taunted. "I wouldn't worry. I assure you that once I've finished with you I'll be sure to send him your way. Along with that froggy, birdie, batty, sweetie, and that old rusty blady."

"Don't you dare…threaten them…" Lucario growled, sweat coming down the side of his head.

"Threaten them? Oh, I would never dream of doing something like that." The scorpion faunus sinisterly tapped his fingertips together as his tail curled. "Her Grace insisted I do much, much worse."

Just being in this man's presence was slowly driving Lucario mad. The Aura Pokémon's body trembled as he hesitated, the glow from his prepared attack faded. He was so overtaken by him, that he didn't even notice the orange aura enveloping his frame.

All the while the skull-masked faunus cackled at Lucario's body freezing up, swinging his tail hypnotically behind him.

"Well wouldn't you know? It seems even a doggy like you can feel fear." The masked man sinisterly commented.

Just as the alarms in the city were constantly blaring like white-noise, a similar set of alarms were going off hundreds of feet in the air on board an Atlesian airship. The military personnel on board urgently raced backward and forward throughout the ship hoping to get a grasp of the situation of the ground, all except for a certain pair of silver boots aggressively stamping forward with purpose.

The boots came to a sudden stop in front of a familiar cell. With the guards focused on the ensuing surprise attack in Vale, no one was there to watch over General James Ironwood as the prisoner's door opened.

"Good morning general." The inmate greeted.

The inmate that just so happened to be inside of that particular cell being none other than former criminal kingpin of Vale Roman Torchwick. Though he had been there since Kai, Team RWBY, Sun and Neptune had captured him after their battle on Vale's highway, he seemed surprisingly chipper all things considered. He stretched his arms as he woke himself up, staring up mockingly at Ironwood the whole time.

"You know, I don't recall asking for a wake-up call today." Torchwick condescendingly said over the alarms.

"What is going on?" Ironwood asked seething.

"Ooh, you seem angsty this morning. What's the matter? Trouble sleeping, or did you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Torchwick asked.

Ironwood grinded his teeth and growled. He wasn't going to play around with this criminal when lives were at stake. The general grabbed Torchwick by his white suit's collar, roughly picking him up into the air and slamming him hard against the back of the cell.

"The kingdom is under attack! The creatures of Grimm, the division of the White Fang you've been working with, and my technology which you stole, is bypassing the kingdom's outer walls and being teleported directly into the city by Team Flare!" Ironwood's grip tightened as he explained what was going on, his patience wearing incredibly thin. "I know that there's more behind this! That this isn't just some mindless attack! So, you're going to tell me right now whose really behind this and what they're planning! Or else you'll wish you were down there fighting for your life in those streets, instead of being up here with me!"

"Hey! Hey! Take it easy! And mind the suit! You'll get it all creased! It's the only one, I've got in this-!" Torchick's relaxed and charismatic demeanour suddenly faded, getting replaced by a much more confused and serious one. "Hold on…did you say teleport?"

"And what if I did?" Ironwood asked back.

"You're sure? You're absolutely positive?" Torchwick insistently pressed for information, when another odd detail came to mind. "Wait? What date is it?"

Seeing Torchwick like this, seeing the previously confident and in-control criminal so unsure of what was happening. In all the time he had spent locked up he had never once acted this way. It could only mean one thing.

"You really don't know anything. Do you?" Ironwood realised.

"Well, you did lock me up in here. Guess being kept in solitary confinement for a month or two on a heavily fortified battleship keeps you out of the loop." Torchwick explained.

Ironwood's grip loosened and Torchick fell out of his hands, letting him fall to the bottom of his cell with a painful thud.

"Then you're useless to me." Ironwood turned his back on the criminal and stepped out of the cell.

The door closed behind him, once again leaving Roman Torchwick all alone in the dark with nothing to converse with except the muffled alarms going off. It took a moment for everything to really process in Torchwick's mind, at just how scrambled and messed up things sounded compared to what he thought was the plan back when he was in charge. When things finally clicked and he realised how everything he had set up had literally gone off the rails without him…he grinned.

"Little Red. Boy Scout." He softly said to himself. "You goody-two shoes really made a mess of things this time didn't you?"

The former Vale kingpin was not the only one with Ruby on their mind. The scythe wielder found herself the centre of attention as she used her speedy Semblance to race across the City Square, her quick movements getting registered by the Atlesian Paladin's sensors. The machines aimed their Dust cannons at where the teenager was, only for them to hit nothing but rose petals as she ran circles around them.

Ruby pulled her scythe back and jumped, using her built up momentum to leap toward the front-most Paladin. Swinging her scythe to clip the hydraulics' in the mech's leg to make the machine to momentarily stagger, leaving it wide open.

An opportunity Robin immediately capitalised on.

"Now Tyrantrum! Use Dragon Tail!" Robin ordered.

Tyrantrum's tail suddenly became enchanted with a scaly draconic aura. The Despot Pokémon stamped his foot on the ground to balance himself, then slammed his tail into one of the Atlesian Paladin. Before it could steady itself the mech was sent flying upwards, above and over the nearby rooftops, crash landing into another street out of harm's way.

"Woah, it went flying!" Ruby awed.

"That should give us some breathing room." Robin explained, before turning to the other two Paladins. "Unfortunately, that still leaves them."

The two prototype mech's started running forward towards the girls. Tyrantrum stamped his feet and shoved his head in front of one to cut them off, forcing it to uncurl its mechanical hands to try and force it away. However, that still left the other unobstructed from attacking the two Huntress'-in training.

"Looks like we're gonna need some reinforcements." Robin put her hands into her belt's Pokéball, grabbing the last two Pokéballs and single Net Ball inside. "Flareon! Beedrill! Clawitzer! Prepare for battle!"

The latter half of Robin's Pokémon team all popped out of their respective Pokéballs in front of the two girls.

"Flareon Flareon? (Has this commotion still not been quelled?)" Flareon sighed. "Flareon Flare. (I suppose it cannot be helped.)"

"BzzBzz! BzzBzzBzz! (And here I was trying to rest! These jerks are gonna get it!)" Beedrill agitatedly called out.

"Clawitzer Claw Claw! Claw Clawitzer? (Your mayday call has been received Captain! What are your orders?)" Clawitzer asked.

Robin turned to Ruby. "Tyrantrum has shown he can handle that one on his own just fine. I'll order my Pokémon to follow your lead to deal with the other!"

"Okay!" Ruby pumped her fist in the air. "Let's do this Team, er…Team…"

"Don't worry about a name just go!" Robin exclaimed in frustration.

"But we'd be so much cooler with one." Ruby mumbled to herself before leading the charge.

The Paladin's motion tracking lasers scanned the ground, picking up on the newly unnamed team's movement and opening up its anti-aircraft ten-slot missile launchers. Firing off a fusillade of rockets to stop their approach. As it fired, Robin's Beedrill flew upwards, meeting the explosives at their level.

"Beedrill, cover the others with Pin Missile!" Robin instructed.

"BzzBzzzBzz! BzzzzBzz! (I may have fired off a lot of missiles already! But I've still got plenty left for you!)" Beedrill angrily exclaimed.

He pointed all three of his stingers toward the incoming storm of rockets, coating them with a lime green insectoid aura. His glossy red eyes shimmered in the early morning light as he unleashed his own volley of missiles to intercept the Paladin's. Both waves of explosives met in the middle, creating a chain reaction of explosions above everyone's heads.

Underneath these collisions Ruby eyed the piece of Atlesian weaponry up and down, before coming to a stop at its hydraulic powered legs.

"We need to stop it from moving!" Ruby announced as she planted the pointed end of her scythe into the ground, grounding herself as she aimed its sniper rifle barrel.

Ruby began firing at round after round of high-calibre bullets at the Paladin's artificial leg work. Each Aura enhanced bullet dealing enough force to push it slightly back, but its mechanical grip kept supporting itself from the other side to keep it balanced.

"Claw Clawitzer? (Why don't you allow me?)" Clawitzer asked beside the Team leader.

From the back of her massive right pincer, a high-pressured burst of water shot out of a nozzle, propelling Clawitzer up into the air.

"Clawitzer use Water Pulse!" Robin ordered.

"Claw! Claw! (Aye! Aye!)" Clawitzer, opened her claw as moisture built up inside of it. "Claaaaww, ITZER! (Aaaand, FIRE!)"

A dense water ball shot out of the extra-large appendage, leaving rings of pulsating ripples in its wake as it landed a direct hit on the Paladin, leaving a crater-like dent in its armour.

'As expected, no armour can survive unpunctured from my Clawitzer's Water Pulse. Especially with her Mega Launcher ability boosting its power even further.' Robin thought proudly.

"Don't stop Clawitzer! Keep firing until it's knocked down!" Robin ordered.

Clawitzer obliged, letting loose another short burst out of its back nozzle to shoot herself over the Paladin while firing over and over again. The Paladin was blasted with water, its defences getting punctured, desperately forcing it to aim one of its Dust cannons at the Howitzer Pokémon. However, a stray Pin Missile blew up against it before it had the chance to fire an electric blast. The opening gave Clawitzer time to land behind the mech's back, giving her an opportune shot at the back of its leg, while Ruby had a clear shot from the front.

From opposite sides, the Huntress-in training and the Water Type Pokémon aimed their respective sniper-rifle scythe or claw cannon at the Paladin's leg. Both female's eyes narrowing before firing simultaneously. A red Aura clocked bullet and a large water cannonball hit both of the Paladin's feet at the same time, causing it to lose its footing and collapse to the ground.

As the two marksmen admired their handiwork, Flareon suddenly ran past them. Quickly climbing up the Atlesian Paladin's bulky metal frame, reaching its highest point before bending her legs leaping high up the air.

"Now Flareon! Destroy it with Flare Blitz!" Robin ordered.

Flareon complied and lit her fluffy coat of fur ablaze. The thick cloak of flames made the air distort as she dove out of the sky, a streak of fire burning behind her as she rammed into its armoured frame. Detonating on contact like a bomb, the whole mech exploded into pieces. Lighting up like a mechanical bonfire.

The White Fang member piloting the machine was tossed out of the burning wreck, disoriented and incapacitated.

"We need…reinforcements…" The White Fang member groaned into an ear piece before losing consciousness.

Beside them Flareon elegantly landed on all four paws in front of the burning wreckage, only losing composure for a brief moment when she cringed due to the accumulated recoil damage. A shadow was then cast over the Flame Pokémon, prompting her to look up. There she saw Tyrantrum, eagerly holding the leg of the other Atlesian Paladin in his jaws like a dog with a bone. The rest of it laying torn up and ripped apart in the distance.

Flareon just looked disapprovingly at her teammate. "Flareon Flare. Flareon, Flareon Flareon Flare. (I know that you are a literal neanderthal Tyrantrum. But after all these years you should have learned that in modern society, one should not play with their food.)"

Ruby looked toward Flareon and Tyrantrum, pulling Crescent Rose out of the ground while taking a moment to sigh in relief. Her reprieve didn't last long though, as she heard something big and loud approaching from the distance.

The red hooded Huntress in-training looked down the end of one of the roads connected to the square. Charging past a row of buildings and appearing around a corner was the same Atlesian Paladin that Tyrantrum had previously knocked out of battle. The advanced military mech ran down the black tarmac road, ready to re-join the fight.

Ruby swivelled her scythe and bent her legs as she prepared to face another stolen weapon down, when she felt something weird coming from the Paladin's direction…an ice-cold breeze.

Before Ruby could think about why it was feeling as cold as winter when it was the middle of summer, the cold intensified. Though the White Fang member couldn't tell, after all they were piloting a piece of Atlas technology, naturally it would be well insulated against the bitter cold. Though as any well-versed Pokémon Trainer knows, resistance does not mean immunity.

The wind picked up and the roads started to fill with a thick layer mist as the temperature dropped instantaneously. Ruby started to cover up as the Atlesian Paladin, left completely unaware, was consumed by an all-enveloping whiteout. When the chilling winds died down, Ruby uncovered herself and looked ahead full of awe.

"Woah…" Was all the silver eyed girl could say at the sight.

Standing in the middle of the road was the Atlesian Paladin, completely still as it was completely frozen in ice. Its metallic grey looking more like white and blue as the machine completely shut down. Its appearance now more akin to an ice sculpture than a war machine.

Quickly clambering up to the Paladin was the culprit behind its sub-zero incarceration. Robin's Beartic, having used Sheer Cold.

"Beartic Bear Bear, Beartic Bear. Beartic Beartic. (Though I dislike attacking dishonourably from behind, given your underhanded surprise attack on this domain, and stealing your strength rather than earning it. I have no qualms making an exception on this occasion.)" The Freezing Pokémon uttered coldly.

The Ice type Pokémon looked away from his handiwork and towards his trainer. Robin briefly glanced at the Ice type with a smirk before growing more serious.

"Took you long enough." Robin remarked to herself.

Ruby suddenly rushed over to Robin's in a burst of speed, creating a gust of wind that made the Pokémon trainer's hair ruffle.

"That's another three down! Wow, and here I thought taking one of those things at the beginning of the semester was cool!" Ruby awed.

"It's still not over yet, so don't relax." Robin pointed out. "These are just the grunts, unless we take out the boss they'll just keep coming."

The raven-haired girl looked at a broken piece of a destroyed Paladin lying on the ground near her. Its plating covered by a red-painted symbol of the White Fang. Ruby also looked at the symbol with a concerned frown.

"I fought this huge guy with a big chainsaw who seemed like a big deal but… I have no idea where he is now." Ruby continued looking at the symbol. "He seemed like he had something personal with Blake…I hope she doesn't run into him."

Despite the team leader's hopes for her teammate, that was unfortunately what had happened.

The White Fang Lieutenant's chainsaw whirred as it bisected through Blake, her body getting cut in two! Only for both halves to fade into shadow. Behind the Lieutenant the real Blake sneaked behind him only for the Lieutenant to turn his head to her and quickly grab her by the throat in a similar manner he did to Weiss. The sudden shock of it making Blake open up her hands, dropping Gambol Shroud to the ground.

"Those childish tricks have worn out their welcome." The Lieutenant tightened his grip making the black-haired girl choke as she struggled to pry his hand away. "You're a traitor who turned on her kin. And now you dare stand in our way…?"

Blake's body suddenly faded away and vanished, leaving the Lieutenant's grasping nothing but thin thin-air air. Behind his mask the Lieutnenant's expression showed shock that quickly turned into frustration as he looked around for the hidden faunus.

"Tch…Where'd she g-"

The Lieutenant was cut off by a black ribbon wrapping tightly around his left arm, dragging him closer to the ground and throwing off his balance. He looked behind him to see Blake's sword stabbed into the stonework to keep him pinned.

"It's because we are kin!"

The Lieutenant heard Blake's voice and looked back ahead of himself just in time to see her re-appear before him, with one notable change – Her bow was no longer on her head.

With her feline ears and her faunus heritage on full display, Blake righteously charged toward the White Fang extremist. Both hands tightly gripping Gambol Shroud's sharpened sheath, as she pulled the weapon back to deal a powerful attack.

Seeing Blake's determination only fuelled the Lieutenant's disgust in her. He growled in anger and his muscles bulged and tensed as he took a powerful step forward.

"Shut up!" He yelled.

In one motion he unlodged the black katana and freed himself, much to Blake's shock. He lunged forward attempting to interrupt her charge stepping into her shadow, unaware of the single purple eye lurking within.

"Shadow Sneak!"

Aegislash's sword-shaped shadow rose out of Blake's, smashing itself into the Lieutenants chest. The Lieutenant's body rose into the air, silently gagging in pain as he gave Blake the opportunity to back off. The shadow faded and the Lieutenant landed back on his feet, growling in pain and frustration.

"Speaking of tricks." The Lieutenant grumbled.

He turned his head down the alley where he saw Aegislash floated toward him, the sides of her body glowing white.

"Slash!"

The Royal Sword Pokémon swung her sword-shaped body, making the Lieutenant block with his chainsaw. Sparks flied as steel scraped against steel, as Aegislash and the Lieutenant pushed back against each other, in hopes of breaking through. Aegislash narrowed her eye in frustration before quickly repositioning, pulling her bladed body back and swinging it again and again. Each time being met with the Lieutenant's chainsaw, the two parrying each other's blows repeatedly before Aegislash angled her body vertically and put all her weight into a downward strike. The Lieutenant held his weapon up, using his weapons bulky engine to cushion the attack, as Aegislash's Slash unleashed a white shockwave that sent him skidding back into the wall.

Aegislash's body slowly floated closer to the ground as she paused for breath. She went to prepare her next move when she suddenly lurched forward in pain.

"Gah-!" She looked down and noticed that her body were covered in dozens of tiny scratch marks. "What? How can this be? I was certain that my Ghost typing would nullify any damage from the force of his weapon."

Aegislash's confused thoughts were interrupted by the reoccurring sound of the Lieutenants chainsaw. Her lone eye stared at its rapidly revolving edging, noticing all of the sharpened points on the weapon's serrated chain.

'Of course! When my body made contact with that brute's saw, I brushed against its metallic edging. It appears to affect me no differently than making contact with a Ferroseed, or attacking Lady Robin's Chesnaught when in the process of using Spiky Shield.' Aegislash thought.

Aegislash narrowed her gaze. "One thing is for certain. I must be more cautious from this point forward and keep physical clashes to the upmost minimum."

While the Royal Sword Pokémon strategically thought Blake ran past her to continue the fight, as the while the Lieutenant did the same. She eyed her sword, flaying around wildly as its ribbon was still wrapped around the Lieutenant's arm.

Blake twirled the sheath in her left hand, repositioning it appropriately when the Lieutenant approached. The Lieutenant pulled his chainsaw back and swung low, aiming for Blake's legs. Darting her eyes to the side of the alley, Blake kicked the ground to jump over the motorised weapon and planted her feet against one-side of the wall of buildings. Before she stumbled, she leaped off the white stonework, passing over the Lieutenant and taking the chance to cut his back with her sheath.

The Lieutenant groaned, hobbling toward the ground as Blake landed behind him on the pavement. Her appearance blurred as she leaped out of a shadow copy of herself, to rush the Lieutenant while he was down. She prepared another swing with her sheath when he suddenly regained his footing, pivoting in place and intercepting Blake with his weapon's long reach.

The chainsaw made contact with Blake's side but rather than parry she let another copy take the hit using it to jump forward into the air, reaching her hand out to reclaim Gambol Shroud before she passed it by.

The Lieutenant growled. "Not again!"

He reached out to Blake with his free hand, managing to grab her foot while she was in mid-air. Blake's eyes widened and she barely had time to gasp, when the White Fang Lieutenant tossed her like a rag doll. Her body slammed against the hard surface of the alley's side, sending Blake into shock as her body rebounded off the building back toward the Lieutenant.

He prepared his revving chainsaw, getting ready to deal a fatal blow to Blake's aura, when he noticed something in the corner of his eye.

Another streak of shadow raced across the side of the wall at blinding speed toward the Lieutenant. The attack shot out from the wall however unlike last time the Lieutenant saw it coming, smashing his chainsaw into the shadow and shredding it into dissipating pieces.

At the source of the shadow Aegislash's eye widened, a spike of pain going through her. "Gah-!"

'Even Shadow Sneak makes contact?! Curses!' Aegislash thought in annoyance. 'I do not require speed to knock him off his guard! I need power to break through it!'

The Lieutenant lowered his weapon and looked down the alley to see Aegislash floating in the distance and Blake looking back at him in frustration.

"Hmph, you haven't changed at all Blake. Always talking big, but the moment things got rough you always ran and hid behind others to do the dirty work for you. Only this time you begged on your knees for the humans to take you in like a pet!" The White Fang Lieutenant taunted.

Blake's cat ears pushed back angrily as she readied her sheath in her hands. "That's a lie! The friends I've made see me as an equal! The way faunus have always wanted to be seen!"

"Please! The only world that exists in is in those ridiculous books you read. In the real world all it's ever been is us versus them! Sooner or later, they'll turn on you!" The Lieutenant spat as he raced forward toward the former member. "Just like you turned your back on us!"

Blake prepared herself to parry his attack, readying holding the edge of her weapons sheath out, When the Lieutenant was about to slam his weapon into her.

"That is quite enough!"

Aegislash suddenly dropped down in-between the two in her Shield Forme, her body emitting a spectral, honeycomb patterned force-field appeared in front of the Lieutenant. His chainsaw collided with it and repeatedly scratched and sparked against its surface. Leaving no trace of his attack as his attempts to cut through the invincible barrier were in vain.

His force grew too much and the White Fang Lieutenant was repulsed back from the protective move as it faded. Aegislash snapped back into Blade Forme and stared the extremist down.

"You have the gall to question Lady Blake's bravery! Her pride! And yet here you stand before us, hiding your face behind a cheap mask!" Aegislash declared.

"I don't need to be lectured by a human tool!" The Lieutenant cried out, gesturing his chainsaw toward the Royal Sword Pokémon.

"I am no tool!" The glare from Aegislash's single eye intensified, as not only was her shadow growing darker but the surrounding area in front of her.

"I am a knight. A team member. A friend. Part of a family. All these things made possible by the bonds we Pokémon and humans share! To seek comradery with them is not cowardly. Nay! It takes great courage and compassion!"

The Royal Sword Pokémon subconsciously moved her cloth-like hands closer together. A small sphere of shadow appearing between them that quickly began to grow in size. Purple lightning crackled between her violet fingers, as she was dispelling more and more light and cultivating the dense ball of darkness in front of her.

"I will not deny that many human beings are fools, there is no secret in that. And…it is not right that you should bend the knee to appease those who have only caused you and your brethren grief and pain. Though I cannot truly fathom the injustices that you and your kind have been put through, I offer my deepest sympathies. But even so…" Aegislash thought back on the Gyarados he kept captive and threatened, keeping it scared and in pain. "That does not vindicate the choice you have made to assert your grievances upon the rest of the world!"

The sphere of shadow crackled like thunder and Aegislash subconsciously thrust her cloth arms ahead of her with all her might. The Royal Sword Pokémon threw the orb at the Lieutenant forcing him to raise his chainsaw and cut through it like her Shadow Sneak. But when he made contact with the dark orb he found himself unable to break through it.

"Grr…" The White Fang Lieutenant growled as he felt himself getting pushed back. "What is this?! It won't-!"

Suddenly the new attack detonated at point black range. Consuming the lieutenant in a dark purple explosion of spectral energy that sent him flying back, his body crashing through the wall behind him and into the another previously segregated alley.

As the Lieutenant lay there Blake looked up at Aegislash in surprise. "What did you just do?"

"I…I am not entirely sure." Aegislash looked down at her cloth hands, floating there completely dumbfounded. "That power? That move? I…I've seen it before. Could it be that I just used-?"

"HRAAAAH!"

Out of the dust the White Fang Lieutenant stood once again, though his posture seemed unbalanced and his breathing slightly hitched.

"He truly is a glutton for punishment, isn't he?" Aegislash noted.

"I need my weapon." Blake looked at it still dangling beside the Lieutenant. "If I can get that, then I can provide us an opening to take him down for good."

"I see." Aegislash followed Blake's line of vision. "Then I shall cover you!"

Blake nodded and ran forward while Aegislash started to concentrate, pushing her hands together in an attempt to replicate what she had just performed.

'Focus Aegislash! Remember that feeling.' She thought to herself, as shadowy energy crackled in her fingertips.

Blake stepped through the remains of the recently broken wall, as the Lieutenant dragged his chainsaw through the stone path. Chunks of rock flew towards Blake, who used her sheath to cut or smack each piece of debris away without slowing down.

The Lieutenant desperately rose his chainsaw over his head, vertically smacking it down on Blake with full force. Her body was torn into two and the ground beneath her shattered, before her real body darted to the right leaving her copy to dissipate to shadow. The White Fang Lieutenant vertically tore through the air, catching Blake's leg, only for that to disappear as Blake used it as a copy to get above the Lieutenant.

As Blake continued using copies of herself to buy time, Aegislash was slowly recreating the shadowy blob. Maintaining absolute focus to replicate her fluke.

"Almost there…" Aegislash murmured to herself upon nearing completion.

Blake fell through the air, using her sheath to parry against the Lieutenant's chainsaw as the force knocked her back. She prepared to use another copy to reposition when her back hit something hard – the alley's wall. Taken by surprise she lost composure as she started to fall to the ground, the Lieutenant taking the opportunity to take another deadly swing at her.

Aegislash's single eye widened. 'The move is still unperfected! I can't use it in time!'

Blake braced herself when right before impact a white snowflake-shaped glyph appeared out of thin-air underneath Blake's low-heeled boots. Through reflexes Blake instinctively kicked back against the platform, getting her to safety as the chainsaw didn't have enough reach.

Aegislash saw the familiar power and looked down to see Weiss up on one knee, pointing her weapon in the direction of her semblance.

"Well? What are you waiting for?! Take the shot!" The heiress desperately remarked.

Aegislash didn't respond in her usual condescending manner. She simply gave a quick nod of approval as she prepped the ball in her hands.

"'Tis over! Fall before my new move!" Aegislash threw the sphere of spectral energy at the Lieutenant. "Shadow Ball!"

The Special Ghost type move hovered through the air, closing the gap between itself and the Lieutenant. Alarmed the Lieutenant avoided his mistake previously and leaped to the side as the Shadow Ball hit the building behind him, detonating in a violent explosion. The force of the reaction flung the Lieutenant forward uncontrollably, leaving him helpless as he saw Blake run under him and pull the black ribbon wrapped around his arm, untying her weapon which she successfully grabbed hold of.

"Damn you!" The Lieutenant roared as his foot hit the ground.

He reached out with his recently unwrapped hand and went for Blake's throat, as the feline faunus tightly held onto Gambol Shroud's ammo cartridge. As his fingers touched her, Blake formed another copy to take her place. But this one did not fade to black; this one was composed out of yellow Dust. Out of electricity!

"GRAAAUGH!" The Lieutenant screamed as electricity coursed through his veins.

Sparks of energy surged around his bulky frame. His muscles tensing up and convulsing, while his nervous system was shot. The high voltage momentarily paralyzing him in place. At that moment all three of his opponents stood together poising their weapons.

"It doesn't matter whether we're faunus…" Blake prepared Gambol Shroud in in its katana configuration.

"Or human…" Weiss pointed Myrtenaster's tip dead ahead, as a white glyph appeared behind her.

"Or Pokémon!" Aegislash's sides started to glow, enhanced by Slash. "All that matters…"

All three girls rushed forward. Their blades glowing bright and leaving a trail of their Aura as they struck.

"Is that we work together! To defend this world from the likes of you!"

All three passed through the Lieutenant in a single movement. The edges of their weapons cleaving through his bulky frame and leaving three individual marks against his body's protective aura, which promptly fizzled out and shattered.

The White Fang Lieutenant gave a pained gasp as he fell onto his back. Letting go of his chainsaw which fell to the ground with a metallic clang. The last sparks of electricity faintly crackling as the energy diminished and faded away from his sizzling frame.

The three girls turned around to see the Lieutenant lying there defeated. With Weiss and Blake in particular panting as their exhaustion from fighting for so long started to catch up with them.

"He's finally…down…" Weiss panted.

"Indeed. Even I must confess that I underestimated his tenacity." Aegislash shrugged. "Though I suppose I should have suspected as much given how he was able to fell you. Even if that isn't saying much."

Weiss gave Aegislash a sour look. "He just so happened to get a lucky hit in because I literally fought Grimm all day yesterday and this morning."

"Excuses, excuses, Lady Weiss." Aegislash critiqued. "Just consider yourself fortunate fate called us to your aid on this day."

Weiss pouted, putting her hands on her hips. "For the record, I'm sure I could have beaten him on my own if I needed to."

"Well…" Aegislash placed her hand over her body's fuller, as though she were stifling a laugh. "I suppose it would be rather embarrassing if you couldn't."

As Aegislash bantered with the heiress, Blake walked solemnly away from them down the alley. Her boots brushing aside tiny bits of rubble as she slowly came to a stop. She looked down at the defeated White Fang Lieutenant, noticing her discarded black bow to his side, weakly flapping on the ground from an early morning breeze. The Huntress-in training paused for a moment before bending down and reaching out her hand out, picking up the accessory in her hands.

"Lady Blake, you mustn't let that oaf's spiteful words damage you so."

Blake looked behind her to see Aegislash and Weiss catching up with her.

"That man was trying to hurt you. Any notion out of his mouth was only designed to do the same, nothing more." Aegislash attempted to comfort.

"You don't need to keep wearing it Blake if you don't want to. You being a faunus…it doesn't matter." Weiss attempted to console.

"But it does matter." Blake stood back up and looked over toward her teammate. "Because I am a faunus and I'm proud to be one! It's a part of who I am but-!"

Blake was cut off by the sound of rumbling and gunfire in the distance alongside the city's warning alarms, making it clear that the fighting was far from over.

"Just look around, all of this is happening because the faunus in this kingdom were sick and tired of being treated unfairly. Of being treated less than human." Blake looked back at the two. "You weren't there at the rally. You didn't see just how many people showed up and how many bought into the propaganda."

"I know but…" Weiss started to say before stopping herself.

Weiss stopped herself, realising that any sentiment coming from her, not matter how well intentioned would only be naive at best and insulting at worst.

"But with all that said, at least putting a stop to them now." Blake tightened her bow over her head and looked back at Weiss and Aegislash. "Might help things from getting any worse."

Suddenly a pink flash of light appeared in the alley. The three were temporarily blinded, forcing them raise their arms to cover their eyes. When it faded the three of them looked in horror to see a docile looking Abra, floating in front of an extremely vicious pack of unidentified Grimm.

Compared to others these ones seemed much shorter and stubbier in stature and appearance, standing on a single pair of hindlegs, with no arms or forelegs to even speak of. Thick, blunt bone masks adorned their faces with two slits on either side exposing their four red eyes as red markings crossed through them. Each one covered in dulled bone spikes along with dull bone plating that travelled from the horn on their head, down their spinal column, all the way to end of their lizard-like tails.

"Creeps!" Blake cried out in surprise.

"We need to go." Weiss quickly murmured.

The Abra passively looked in the direction of the two Huntresses and gave a hand gesture with his fingers that was similar to a peace sign before teleporting off again. Right when the identified Creep hoard charged for them.

"Right now!" Weiss reinforced as she and Aegislash ran off, she briefly looked over at her when she came to an abrupt stop. "Wait! Where's Blake?!"

Blake and Aegislash stopped and looked back down the alley, to see Blake struggling to lift the defeated White Fang Lieutenant's body off the ground. As the sound of the approaching stampede got louder and louder, Blake tried desperately to get the large man to budge before looking behind her to see her time was about to run out.

"King's Shield!"

Aegislash covered Blake's back in Shield Forme, projecting her signature move just in time to fend the Grimm off.

"Aegislash!" Blake called out.

"Lady Blake! Not that I do not approve of your noble act to show mercy even on one's enemy but-!" A loud thud cut Aegislash off as more and more Creeps kept piling up to break through King's Shield. "If you could please get on with it, that would be very much appreciated!"

Blake suddenly felt some of the Lieutenant's weight shift, looking to see Weiss helping to carry him.

"You're helping?" Blake asked.

"Well, I'm not exactly thrilled about it, but I know you well enough to know there's no point talking you out of it and…" Weiss painfully looked at the symbol of the White Fang on the back of Lieutenant's white top, remembering how eager the Lieutenant was to eviscerate a member of the Schnee family tree. "If I'm really going to redeem my family's name, I need to recognise the consequences of our wrongdoings and start working to amend them. Besides, isn't it a Huntresses' job to save anyone in need."

Blake looked at her friends resolve and smiled. After all, if a former White Fang member and Schnee heiress could be teammates and friends, maybe there was more hope for true human-faunus co-operation than she thought.

The monochromatic pair got to their feet and started taking the Lieutenant to safety as quick as they could while Aegislash continued holding the line. The Grimm kept smacking against the protective move like bugs on a wind-shield, headbutting away as a blue power-dampening aura befell each of them that made contact. More and more kept piling up as Aegislash struggled to maintain the move for longer and longer durations of time.

'I doubt I will be fortunate to successfully keep King's Shield up any longer. Sooner or later, I will need to strike back!' Aegislash thought as she prepared to go on the offensive.

"Chesnaught! (Hammer Arm!)"

Two spiny arms rose up and slammed into the ground, creating a powerful shockwave that erupted underneath the back line of Grimm. The unfortunate Creeps were forced high up into the air, their bodies decomposing and fading away before they even hit the ground.

With a new immediate threat behind them, the pack of Grimm turned away from Aegislash and started going after their attacker. Aegislash safely watched them ignore her, finally giving her reprieve to stop defending.

"That voice? Is that-?" Aegislash started to say.

Before she could finish, a sudden explosion detonated the Creep in front of her. Half blown-up carcases scattered to the wind, their departure allowing Aegislash to clearly witnesses Robin's Chesnaught effortlessly trudging forward, despite a dozen different Grimm headbutting and gnawing him from head-to-toe.

"Ches! Chesnaught! Chesnaught Chesnaught Ches Chesnaught! (Hey! Fangs off! Robin will be mad if the next time I see her my shell's covered in scratches!)" Chesnaught complained, pulling a Creep off his back and swatting it away with a spiky backhand.

"Sir Chesnaught!" Aegislash announced.

Chesnaught ignored the Creeps surrounding him, paying full attention to Aegislash. "Chesnaught! Chesnaught Chesnaught! Ches Chesnaught? (Hey it's you! String bean's teammate! You seen Robin anywhere?)"

"No I…I have not." Aegislash pointed at the numerous Grimm attempting to kill and consume the Spiny Armour Pokémon. "Do you require any assistance?"

"Ches Chesnaught! Chesnaught Chesnaught. (Nah I'm good! You can take those ones though if you want.)" Chesnaught pointed at the smaller pack running down the street, prompting Aegislash to float forward.

"In that case." Aegislash changed into Blade Forme and formed another shadowy orb in her hands. "Shadow Ball!"

Aegislash threw the sphere of darkness into the pack, the explosion killing all of the Grimm directly caught in its blast radius.

'Lady Blake. Lady Weiss. I will join you momentarily. But until then…be safe.' Aegislash hopefully thought.

As Aegislash and Chesnaught fended for themselves, two of the White Fang Lieutenant's possessions lay shattered against the cobblestone. A Pokéball and a remote control with a yellow gem-like button. Both of which belonging to a Pokémon, unaware that they were free and no longer under threat of disobedience

"GYASHA!"

The sound of Gyarados' roaring cry could be heard throughout the streets of Vale. Had anyone still been around there was no way they couldn't have heard it, even if they were a recently swatted ninja frog.

Greninja's body lay partially embedded into a nearby building's wall. He was drenched in water and littered with tiny shards of grey rubble and dust. He'd been out of it for seconds? Minutes? The Ninja Frog Pokémon couldn't tell when he finally leaned up, placing his front foot on his chest.

"It's a good thing I resist water too. But man, fighting this guy's annoying." Greninja mumbled, as he stood up on two feet. "Okay, think Greninja. Your Water type moves are ineffective, and your physical moves have been hampered by its Intimidate. But you've got Yang to help and she punches things and uses fire…which means she has the exact same problem as you so she can't help."

Greninja groaned and placed his webbed front-feet on his head. "Urgh, I'm getting a headache! Geez, Kai made this strategy stuff always seem so easy."

"Gyash!"

"Hmm?" Greninja heard Gyarados' cry and brought him back to reality.

He saw Yang continuing to struggle with the Atrocious Pokémon, the Flying type staying high in the air where her fists couldn't reach. Forcing Yang to continue fighting back with only her ineffective shotgun shells.

"Hyah! Hrragh!" Yang grunted and panted. "Why! Won't! You! Just-!"

CLICK! CLICK!

Ember Celica's chambers holster rung empty.

"Gyasha!" Gyarados capitalised on Yang's ammunition running out immediately.

Gyarados raised his jaw and opened his mouth, a draconic glow escaping from the back of his throat. Yang's eyes widened as he spat out his Dragon Rage, the blonde-haired Huntress-in training reacting just in time to avoid getting hit directly, but the purple fireball kept going and hit the road below. Detonating into a purple explosion of heat, the force of which sent Yang flying flat onto the pavement.

"Urrgh…" Yang groaned.

Although her quick reflexes saved her from taking direct damage. The sudden shock of hitting the ground at that speed, combined with her overtiredness after fighting so, so, many Grimm without much rest left the young huntress vulnerable. Gyarados lowered himself closer to the ground and stared down at Yang's sprawled out body. In the corner of his eye, he caught the glint of the yellow crystal that housed in his shock collar. Seeing it reminding him of his captivity, of his hate. Even without the Lieutenant near the thoughts of getting zapped again scared Gyarados, angered him, triggered his fight or flight instinct. And to the one categorised as the Atrocious Pokémon, there was only one choice.

"GYASHA!" Gyarados prepared to finish the fight, permanently. Opening his mouth, and letting his fangs glow via Crunch.

Greninja looked on and saw Gyarados about to take a bite out of Yang and knew he had to do something. Much like Gyarados, Greninja left with no options did what came naturally.

"Hey whiskers! Over here!" Greninja shouted at Gyarados to steal his attention away from Yang.

The Atrocious Pokémon heard the Ninja Frog Pokémon. The loudness of his voice distracting him much like other loud sounds had done previously.

"Gyash?" He called out in response.

"That's right! I'm talking to you fish lips!" Greninja pompously continued his tirade. "Quit wasting your time with the human and I'll show you what a real Water type can do. Unless the reason you're a Flying type is because you're part chicken!"

Yang heard Greninja's taunts and started becoming aware. She placed her palms on the road and started pushing herself up off the ground. When she picked her head up, she lifted it so she could see in front of her, looking right at the Ninja Frog Pokémon and gasping.

"He's…glowing…"

Yang watched on as unbeknownst to Greninja himself, his entire body was starting to outline and glow with a confident red aura.

"What's the matter you overgrown Magikarp?!" Greninja walked pompously down the street, getting closer to Gyarados. "I mean look at you. A so-called 'deity of destruction' who can't even destroy a noodle-limbed frog. It's just sad really. Just like you."

Greninja's words and actions become empowered by his ego, causing Gyarados' body to start glowing an identical shade of red. The Atrocious Pokémon's anger was seething, to the point that tick marks appeared at the side of his head. His sclera began to glow, as his vision became tinted and blurry. He was literally seeing red with rage.

"GYASHAAAAAAA!" Gyarados roared in pure rage.

Greninja looking puzzled as the glow around him faded. "Wait? Why is he-?"

Before Greninja could finish, Gyarados rushed toward him head first with his teeth bared. The Ninja Frog Pokémon braced himself for the attack, only for Gyarados to completely rush past him. Blindly ramming his crest through the display window of a nearby bakery. With a loud crash the roof of the building started to crumble apart brick by brick, each one falling right on top of Gyarados' head.

"…Huh?" Greninja murmured in surprise.

Greninja relaxed and looked behind him to see Gyarados lift himself up and shake his head, removing shards of glass, bits of brick and miscellaneous breads and pastries that were put on display. The Atrocious Pokémon growled in pain, the red glow from his eyes making his expression appear delirious. An expression made all the more noticeable by the appearance of an imaginary flock of yellow birds, chirping away as they circled around Gyarados' head.

"He's confused? How'd that happen?" Greninja asked himself.

"Ha! I thought you were joking when you said you were gonna call it names." The voice came from Greninja's side, where he spotted Yang back on her feet and approaching him. "Still, I guess that's the second time I owe you for saving me."

"And I'm still owed two thank you's you haven't given me. They're not complicated words to say, I should know." Greninja pointed out before, realising what Yang had really said. "Wait?! You think I did that!"

"Well you were just glowing right now, and you were really wiling it up." Yang explained.

"Well, if that was me then I think maybe…maybe I just learned Swagger. I didn't think I could learn that? Not on my own at least." Greninja placed his front feet on his tongue scarf. "Oh mouth, I'd kiss you if you weren't also my lips."

"A new move? Like what happened with Kai's Slurpuff against that nightmare thing?" Yang huffed enviously. "I wish putting my life in danger gave me a bunch of new techniques that easily."

"Yeah it is pretty sweet, shame we can only have four at one time though. But come on, making your opponent punch themselves in the face while you wail on them, that's gonna be priceless going forward." Greninja joked, looking at Gyarados when the red look in his eye made him suddenly grow worried. "Although Swagger doesn't just confuse the target…"

Yang at Gyarados, as it turned around and raised its tail over the bakery. "Well, what else does it do?"

"GYASH!" Gyarados' swiped his tail, destroying the rest of the bakery a single flick. The establishment being reduced to rubble in the blink of an eye. Yang's jaw dropped, while Greninja awkwardly looked away.

"It also sharply raises its attack." Greninja revealed.

Yang's eyes widened, turning back to Greninja in disbelief. "YOU MADE IT STRONGER?!"

"Well…yeah."

"GYASHA! GYASHA!" Gyarados flailed its tail back and forth, blindly smashing the remains of the bakery over and over again. Pounding it into finer and finer dust.

"What kind of useless move is that?!" Yang continued to complain over the ensuing destruction.

"Hey, this move helped save your life! Don't insult it!" Greninja defended.

"Or what?! You'll use it one me and make me absurdly powerful too!" Yang shouted.

"Oh yeah?! Well maybe I wil-!"

Greninja went to argue back when a mental lightbulb went off in his head. A second later, Yang realised what she just said and had a similar epiphany. The two jokesters turned battle partners looked at each other with a scheming look in their eyes.

"Use it on you." Greninja started to repeat.

"And make me absurdly powerful." Yang finished.

"See, this strategy stuff isn't that hard. Now try not to punch yourself in the face." Greninja crossed his front legs, standing in front of Yang with a confident demeanour. "Swagger!"

He focused his gaze on Yang and she soon found herself surrounded by a red aura outline. Yang felt her head pound inside of her skull as her vision became distorted. Another ring of imaginary bird silhouettes circled around Yang's head as Greninja looked at her from an outside perspective.

"How are you feeling?" Greninja asked.

Yang at looked toward him. Her vision was still red and blurry, but through it she saw a silhouette she could vaguely recognise. She reached to her sides and pulled out two identical rows of ammunition, that bared the appearance of firecrackers. She tossed them into the air and opened up her empty gauntlets, catching the ammunition in them before they hit the ground, reloading them with a satisfying click.

The revitalised Huntress looked to Greninja with a smirk. "Stronger."

"GYASHAAA!" Gyarados roared up to the sky.

Behind the two the Atrocious Pokémon looked as though it was slowing down. The red glow in his eyes suddenly vanished, his mind going clear as he looked down at the broken bread shop.

"Oh whissskerssss!" Greninja hollered.

Gyarados turned his head toward the annoying sound, only for Yang's fist to make immediate contact right between his eyes. Ember Celica released an explosion on impact, sending a massive shock through Gyarados that knocked him to the ground.

"Gyaaa…" Gyarados moaned, feeling an intense heat coming from the centre of his crest, which Yang's attack coloured black.

"Ooh! That looks like is singed." Greninja taunted, leaping into view on the roof of a building.

He aimed both his front feet towards his fellow water type, forming two balls of steaming water in his soles. "Here, let me put some water on it! Scald!"

A flood of boiling hot water cascaded on top of Gyarados' head, the intense temperature forcing him to close his eyes and recoil.

"Gyash-AAAAA!" Gyarados panted before his entire body convulsed in flames, contracting a burn.

"Ah, no. My bad. I just made it ten times way worse." Underneath his tongue Greninja smiled mockingly. "Sorry 'bout that."

"GYASHA!" Gyarados opened his mouth, his teeth glowing bright.

'Here comes Crunch.' Greninja thought.

Gyarados quickly rose back up into the air, snapping the air viciously. Greninja backflipped off the roof, landing onto the top of a Hard-Light Street lamp, leading Gyarados away like a fish on a line.

'The burn should have halved his strength but he still has the attack boost I've given him. They more or less even each other out but I don't want to take any chances.' Greninja thought.

Gyarados went to chase after Greninja when he suddenly felt something grab hold of his tailfin. His momentum came to a jarring halt, leaving his stiffened straightened body anchored in place.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Yang rhetorically asked.

She stretched her legs and pivoted off her foot, flinging Gyarados' tail over her shoulder to drag Gyarados down and smack him hard against the road. Gyarados rose his head up to face Yang when his burn acted up, chipping away at his stamina and leaving him exposed.

"Set me up!" Greninja called out, while leaping down from the lamppost.

Yang tossed back Gyarados' tail, bringing his body closer to the edge of the street where Greninja was falling towards.

"Night Slash!" Greninja brought a needle of dark energy in-between one of the segments connecting Gyarados' large scales.

Gyarados's grimaced but didn't back down. He raised his tailfin up, making water flood out from it and spiral into a cyclone. The sea serpent's lower body floated off the ground and he twisted his body, making it difficult for Greninja to balance himself as another Aqua Tail came his way.

The Ninja Pokémon jumped off Gyarados just in time to avoid getting swept away by the tide sweeping tail. The attack hit the ground, creating a large splash of water that rained down and pooled into little puddles. Puddles that were quickly splashed and displaced by Yang's boots when she charged forward.

Even though she still couldn't see straight, Yang continued to resist the urge to hurt herself and threw a heavy punch forward. Her knuckles scraped against Gyarados' jaw but failed to move the Atrocious Pokémon. Gyarados's burn acted up again, making it wince in pain as flames covered its body. But through them he glared down, staring at the young Huntress who continued to get in his way.

"GYASHA!" Gyarados roared with all his remaining might as the burn acting up.

His fangs glowed and became empowered with Crunch as he widened his gaping maw as he rushed at Yang. The confused Huntress barely had time to think, seeing as she couldn't dodge, she planted her feet and pushed her arms out right when Gyarados was about to snap his teeth down, catching his upper fangs in her palms as she struggled to fight back.

"Ugh…! Getting real tired…of all these serpents trying to eat me today!" Yang strained to say as she tried to avoid getting a vicious bite taken out of her.

Her arms started to wobble, as Gyarados slowly started to overpower the blonde. His maw slowly coming closer and closer together. Greninja looked on at Yang struggling and narrowed his eyes.

"Still not enough." Greninja put his front foot under his chin in thought, when a risky thought popped into his head. "Well since she's already confused…Hey Yang!"

Yang's eyes looked away from her stalemate with Gyarados, over to Greninja whose body was enveloped in an arrogant aura.

"Swagger!" Greninja croaked.

Yang's saw Greninja and felt overcome with filled with another anger filled boost of strength. Tick marks appeared beside her head as she felt her physical strength sharply increasing.

"Come on Yang…Keep it together." Greninja hoped.

With her attack now boosted threefold, Yang shut her eyes and dug in her heels. Her fingers tightened on Gyarados' upper fangs as she kept him from pinning her down.

"Can you just-!"

Yang's eyes opened wide! Her irises no longer red because she was confused, but from her raw anger fuelling her strength. Coincidentally snapping herself out of confusion at that moment.

The Huntress-in-training pulled her arms back before shoving them forward, over-powering Gyarados and forcing him back enough to free herself. Yang crouched and jumped up while simultaneously firing two shots from her gauntlets, sending herself high into the air. Above Gyarados Yang took advantage of gravity and fired another shot from Ember Celica to shoot her toward the ground, then another, and another. Building up speed and momentum as she rapidly spun herself down over Gyarados' head.

"CALM DOWN ALREADY!"

Yang punched the centre of Gyarados' crest. Expelling all her built-up force in a gargantuan explosion that crushed the Atrocious Pokémon under its searing impact. The light and wind intensity so strong that Greninja had to hold his front-feet over his eyes to brace himself. When it died down, he slowly removed them to see the result. Gyarados was charred and lay sprawled out with spiralled eyes, fainted. Yang stood over him with a trembling fist, the victor.

"…Heh…wow…" Yang panted in exhaustion as she looked down at her trembling fingers. "Never thought I could get that sort of power without my Semblance. I gotta admit…that move is pretty good after all."

Yang suddenly went down on one knee, feeling light-headed after pushing herself so far when she was running on fumes. As she did Greninja jumped forward, his shadow looming over Gyarados' head.

"Now then." Greninja muttered, as dark energy manifested into a sharp needle in his front-foot. "Time to put you out of your misery."

The Ninja Frog Pokémon raised his dark blade up toward the pre-dawn sky, just as Yang finally took notice of his presence.

SHING!

Gyarados opened his eyes, and saw the white thread of his collar cut frayed and split in two. The yellow gem that threatened him no longer around his neck but in Greninja's grasp.

"There we go. You must already feel a lot better now that you're no longer getting choked by this." Greninja nonchalantly tossed the gem upwards, before slicing it with his Night Slash.

The electric gem was cut into two, before it hit the ground and shattered into tiny pieces. Small amounts of electricity crackled in-between the broken remains of the power source, before disappearing along with the colour.

"Alright, now get out of here. With all this chaos going on, now's your only chance if you want to avoid the locals." Greninja pointed off into the distance. "I'd recommend heading North."

Yang slowly got back up having caught her breath and regaining some stamina, stepping closer to Greninja.

"Are you sure it's okay to just let him go? Didn't you just say before it could destroy an entire city?" Yang asked.

"Yeah, but that was before we beat him up. Now it'll take all his energy to move. He doesn't have the strength to use any attacks, and if he does still want to cause trouble-" Greninja shrugged his shoulders as he started walking off. "The guy's so beaten up that it won't take much to take him out, and that time it would be on him and not because some angry man with a chainsaw forced him too."

Yang looked down. In truth after fighting so hard against it, after it tried to kill her, she wasn't sure if letting this fish off the hook was a good idea. Her years of Huntress training hammered it in to her that if there's a monster trying to kill you, don't leave it alone unless it's dead. But-

"Well…you probably know how to deal with Pokémon better than I do. Since, you are one." Yang admitted. "Besides with the city under attack, we don't really have time or energy to waste on beating someone who's already down."

Greninja and Yang turned their backs on the Water/Flying type and prepared to head off and deal with more pressing matters when Gyarados slowly opened his mouth.

"Gyash…? (Why…?)"

Greninja turned his head and looked back at the wild Gyarados raising his head.

"Gyasha…Gyasha…? (After all I have done…Why did you spare me…?) The Atrocious Pokémon asked.

"Greninja. Greninja Gren Greninja. (Don't look too into it. In this messed up world, Pokémon have gotta have each other's backs, that's all.)" Greninja croaked in his native Pokémon tongue, before bashfully looked away. "Gre…Nin…Greninja. (And…Y'know…it's what my trainer would do.)"

"Gyasha…(Thank you…)" Gyarados weakly floated up. "Gyasha…Gyasha. (I will remember…this debt.)"

Gyarados started flying north, as per Greninja's suggestion. Slowly becoming smaller and smaller as he headed out into the sky.

"What did you two talk about?" Yang asked.

"Oh, he was just asking for your number." Greninja joked. "Don't worry, I let him down gently for you."

"Well, you know what they say. There's plenty more fish in the sea." Yang looked at Gyarados flying above the rooftops and off into the distance. "And the sky too apparently."

Though as one Pokémon was finally freed from doing battle, another was still knee deep in it. So overwhelmed by emotion that they were struggling to even take a single step forward.

Lucario's muscles were as stiff as metal and unfortunately for the Steel type, it wasn't in the good way. The Aura Pokémon's head throbbed as the maddening cackle of his scorpion faunus attacker echoed in the back of his mind. The titular Pokémon's capability to read his opponents thoughts and feelings only driving his stress up to debilitating levels.

In front of him, the faunus causing his anxiety to increase approached the stiffened Pokémon with a swaying stinger and his weaponised vambraces poised.

"I know it must be difficult being away from your trainer so long. I too have a devoted Master to which I serve." The masked faunus came to a stop, standing over Lucario as he boasted his extra feet of height. "Which is why the Queen Servants must perform their duty you understand?"

The skull-masked faunus suddenly crossed his arms over his chest before swiping them toward Lucario in a pincer movement. The blades on his named weapons closed in on Lucario's neck, about to cut into him from both sides just as Lucario came to his senses.

Lucario stepped forward and dashed off, a couple blue hairs getting shaved off as he narrowly avoided getting slashed. The skull-masked faunus grunted in annoyance, as Lucario placed a paw on the side of his neck in slight surprise.

'Strange, with how close he was I was certain I wouldn't be fast enough to evade his attack completely. Unless…' Lucario thought back to how he hesitated in front of the skull-masked faunus, when his bloodthirsty aura overwhelmed him. 'Of course! When I was overwhelmed by his callous thoughts, I hesitated in my attack. I flinched. In doing so my Steadfast ability must have activated! That explains my increase in speed to keep up with his movements.'

"I need to keep him at a distance!" Lucario clenched his paws, putting them together. "Bone Rush!"

Lucario pulled his paws away from each other, manifesting a bone-shaped aura construct. With his newly increased speed Lucario rapidly swung his manifested weapon from side-to-side. The scorpion faunus kept moving in the increasing small gaps between swings.

Lucario extended his footing, pivoting off his toes and spinning on the anti-clockwise on the spot. Throwing off the timing and position of his next swing, messing with the skull-masked faunus timings, before smacking the side of the bone into the side of his head. Although the attack only hit uncharacteristically once, the shock still sent shivers through the masked man's body. Knocking him off the roof's ridge and onto the angled rafter.

Lucario went for a second blow by thrusting the tip of the aura organ at the scorpion faunus, only for him to casually flip into the air to doge. The skull-masked faunus landed on the end of the bone, planting his feet and weighing it down. Lucario grunted as he was weighed down but quickly tightened his muscles and forced the long bone upwards, flinging the masked man into the air.

Adapting instantly the skull-masked faunus adjusted his posture, stretching out their legs to prepare an aerial foot dive. Lucario saw the approach and held the aura bone horizontally to block the attack, only for the skull-masked faunus to twist his body in mid-air to reposition their right hand in front of them. Their eyes glowed purple as their hand once again was covered in a familiar shade of Tyrain purple aura.

With a single swipe down the middle, the glowing blue aura construct was forcibly split apart like a fractured bone. Lucario was left in shock and fear as his prided aura control was effortlessly disrupted and was left vulnerable.

The skull-masked faunus straightened his arm and swiftly chopped down. Using the momentum of his fall to momentarily increase his speed and power to sink his vambraces blade into Lucario's trapezius, cleaving in-between his neck and left shoulder.

"Graaaaah!" Lucario screamed, as he felt the blade's sharp edge sending jolt of pain through his clavicle.

The skull-masked faunus boots hit the roof tiles and he quickly followed up with a thrust kick into Lucario's gut. Dislodging his arm-mounted blade as Lucario was sent careening into a nearby chimney top. His body smashing through it, the Aura Pokémon's back smacked against the roof tiles as he skidded across the roof until his head perilously hung over its edge.

"What? You're still in one piece? Well, that won't do at all." The skull-masked faunus said, brandishing one of his blades against the other. "But if you could just lie there and accept the end, then I'm sure I can fix this mistake."

Lucario had already stopped listening at this point. The cuts, grazes and bruises littered all on his body ached and his mind was filled with a powerful sense of dread that left his emotional state rattled.

'This man…his strength and agility are unlike any human in my world, and stands above so many others in this one. His disposition is maddening, and he can disrupt my aura with a single hand.' Lucario contemplated. 'If Master were here, I'm sure we'd find a way through but on my own…I am not sure. I was never in the wild like the others…I've always followed either Korrina or Kai's instructions…is that why I'm struggling? Am I really so helpless all on my own…? What…what would you say if you saw me? Would you be ashamed?'

Lucario saw an image of Kai in his head.

'…No. He wouldn't be ashamed. He…he would pick me up. He would listen to my worries and…he would help me through them. Just as he managed to help himself through his.'

Lucario remembered all of the times Kai stopped and needed to take a breath to calm his nerves. Whether it was overcoming his fears and anxieties, such as getting himself to enter a cave. Or dealing with the aftermath of a heated encounter. Placing a paw on his chest Lucario decided to do the same. The Aura Pokémon's nostrils flared and he took a deep inhale, waiting a second and then opening his mouth release an equally deep exhale. In, then out. His chest rising and falling with each breath. His heart rate slowing down and becoming more natural.

'I…will not let myself lose control. I will not give in to fear.' Instead of thinking about his enemy and his threats, Lucario focused on that image of Kai. 'I will do as my Master would. Embrace my feelings. Instead of building them up to a breaking point. I will let them flow.'

The outside world, the skull-masked faunus' maddening aura, Lucario's worries and fears, all of it started fading into the background. The Pokémon's thoughts and view of reality going blacker and blacker as he focused in on himself.

He thought back on his life in the Tower of Mastery, with his former trainer Korrina and his fellow Lucario mastering Mega Evolution. He thought on his journey with Kai and the rest of his found-family over the past three years, defeating Team Flare, the Kalos League and even unlocking a way for human and Pokémon to speak on even terms. He thought about the recent months since arriving in Remnant, about the Huntsmen and Huntresses in-training he and his trainer had formed bonds with, about the trials and tribulations that were endured in order to learn and adapt to this new world and its workings, to stepping up and facing immediate threats from both worlds threatening the peace and wellbeing of the kingdom.

And then there was the future. A complete unknown. Would he fail? Would he succeed? What then? What about Kai? Or Greninja? Or the rest of the team? What about himself? Did it even matter?

One second felt like an eternity as Lucario came to terms with his thoughts. With his experiences. The good and the bad. The past, present and potential future. The realistic and the extreme. And though acknowledging these thoughts didn't make them go away, it made them easier to understand, to accept, to organise and recognise when to think about them.

In the dark abstract of his mind, Lucario visualised a single drop of water that calmly fell to the ground. Its's ripples quelling Lucario of any worry and creating a mindscape of peace.

At the exact moment Lucario reached enlightenment in his mind, in the real world his physical body was suddenly overcome with a rainbow-coloured encircling energy.

The skull-masked White Fang member cautiously observed the strange energy overcoming Lucario. "What…is this?"

The energy faded and Lucario opened his eyes, he felt better not just in mind but somehow in body.

"This feeling." Lucario pushed his paws against the roof and stood back on his toes. "It's as though my stats just raised. But all I did was calm my mind. Unless-!"

"Yaaaaaah!" The skull-masked faunus cried out as he leapt forward to finish his execution.

Lucario faced his opponent and quickly prepared himself to continue the battle.

"You." Lucario gave a low growl as his paws covered themselves in dark aura. "You may be able to disrupt regular aura. But let's see if that applies to Dark Pulse!"

Lucario thrust his paws forward unleashing a large pulsating wave of darkness, even darker and denser than previously. The speed and scale of the move caught the skull-masked faunus by surprise and he was left unable to defend as he was swamped by the wave of negativity. The attack blasting him into the roof, his body's impact shattering the tiles under him as his body tensed up.

Meanwhile Lucario looked down at his paws as the last trickles of black aura trickled away, the sight and feel of which made him realise something.

"I see. By learning to calm my mind…" Lucario calmly got into a defensive fighting pose. "I have learned Calm Mind."

The faunus groaned as he pulled himself up before transitioning into a gleeful chuckle. "Well now, it seems the cornered stray still has some bite left in him. Of course, you should know that dogs who bite back-" The faunus motioned his arms to Lucario, aiming the barrels of his weapons' guns at him.

"Get put down!" He cackled as he began firing.

The spread of rapid-fire bullets pierced the air on their way to the Aura Pokémon who showed no emotion as he eyed them. He bent his leg and pushed himself forward, dashing away right before the bullets shot where he would have stood.

"Huh?" The scorpion faunus' muttered in confusion.

He turned to see Lucario standing back on the roof's ridge before he fired again. Only for Lucario once again sprint away, faster than the speeding bullets.

"Gah! Where did it-?" Before he could finish asking his question, Lucario appeared before him with his right paw cloaked in fighting spirit.

"Power-Up Punch!" Lucario cried as he threw his punch.

Lucario slammed his clenched paw into the faunus' stomach, making him wheeze in surprise as he was forced back. An empowering orange aura rose over Lucario as he quickly caught up to the masked man, preparing another Power-Up Punch.

This time though the scorpion faunus had enough time to react, using the end of his tail to block as Lucario's paw made contact as he had done previously, but this time something was wrong. Lucario kept pushing on, the faunus' arachnid tail started to shake under the move's force. Lucario was once again enveloped in Power-Up Punch's secondary attack boosting aura as he gave one last shove, punching the faunus own tail into his face and knocking him back through the air.

'I don't understand. His speed. His strength. How has he not weakened despite my efforts? No even worse…' In the slots of his mask, the skull-masked faunus' eyes shook as the intimidating silhouette of the Aura Pokémon appeared before him. 'How is it even faster and stronger then when this fight started?!'

The scorpion faunus momentum came to an abrupt holt when his tail was smashed and sandwiched between a chimney and his back. The impact cracked the brickwork, causing him to give a pained gasp as he glared at Lucario.

"Heheh…Well this is certainly a startling development but don't think this'll change anything." He started to explain to the Aura Pokémon. "Sooner or later you'll slip up and when you do, you'll leave your precious trainer all on his own. Oh, I can only imagine the look on his face when I break the tragic news of what happened to his pet. Can you?"

As the scorpion faunus spoke to keep Lucario's attention focused on his front, the tip of his stinger lay hidden behind his back. It laid low as it started to secret a mysterious purple liquid. A droplet of it started to grow in size, becoming more bulbous before its own weight made it fall to the ground. It splashed on the roof, forming a small puddle on one of the tiles. A puddle that started to bubble and steam as the stone was immediately corroded.

Lucario listened to the psychopath's words, though unlike last time he refused to let them get to him.

"No. I cannot picture it, because I refuse to fall to you. Though not everything you said is entirely wrong. The longer this confrontation goes on, the more likely one of us is bound to make a fatal error so…" Lucario took a breath. "I won't humour you any longer. Calm Mind!"

A droplet of water calmed Lucario, quelling any lingering emotions as his body radiated with a rainbow psychedelic aura that raised his Special stats for the second time.

Seeing that familiar stat raising glow around Lucario triggered the scorpion faunus' battle instincts. He had to finish this now! He kicked himself up and agilely manoeuvred around the roof at his top speed. Appearing and disappearing all around him in a blur as he attempted to throw Lucario off.

"Heeheehee! Heeheeheehee! Oh, right you are! It is time to finish this!" The skull-masked faunus said, appearing right in front of Lucario before appearing behind him. "After all, although this has been fun…one must never deny our Grace's desires."

The masked man disappeared again, continuing to run literal circles around Lucario. The Aura Pokémon in question following as best as he could with his eyes before returning to a neutral position.

"I refuse to let your words…" Lucario raised his aura sensing appendages and closed his eyes. "Dissuade me any further."

Lucario put his arms to his side, putting his paws together as a pure blue light began to twinkle in-between them. More and more sparkles of aura began to form and gravitate in-between Lucario's paws in a spiralling motion. As the sphere of power quickly grew in size and shape, the scorpion faunus stinger was poised as he prepared to strike.

'My queen…' He thought, his eyes sclera turning a shade of purple as he appeared once again in front of Lucario. 'Your will is done!'

"HRAAAH!" The faunus cried out, thrusting his stinger forward.

The tip faunus' scorpion stinger went straight through Lucario's cream-coloured fur. Stabbing him in place of where a human heart would be found. The Pokémon's body was incredibly still as the skull-masked faunus stood triumphant as he felt his appendage pressed up against him…pressed up?

Lucario's eyes shot open, his eyes showing no signs of hesitation or pain, only a razor-sharp determination. His eyes glowing as his Aura Sphere had grown even bigger than normal, so large that it could encapsulate his attacker's entire upper-body.

'My stinger didn't pierce his flesh?!' The scorpion faunus thought in fright as he felt his stinger unable to stab into Lucario's body. 'My venom didn't absorb into his skin?!'

"Aura…" Lucario muttered.

The faunus' skull mask was lit up with the light of Lucario's immense aura as the Pokémon threw his paws forward. He cloaked his hand in his own aura in a desperate attempt to disrupt it, but was too late.

"SPHERE!"

A flash of light devoured the faunus, when the Aura Sphere was released point blank in his face. His body was pressed up against its searing energy as the Special move carried the faunus off the roof and high into the air.

The scorpion faunus screamed in agony as he felt himself getting absorbed and engulfed into the burning blue hemisphere. His skinny frame briefly glinting purple as his Aura tried to protect him before it buckled under the immense power, shattering and fizzling out to nothing as he was completely overwhelmed. Fading away into the aura's light.

The Aura Sphere detonated in a brilliant explosion that lit up the sky. Teal coloured smoke and sparks of energy dispersed throughout the air, as though it were the aftermath of a fierce storm. All the while its light illuminated Lucario's calm face as his fur blew from the shockwaves that followed. The Aura Pokémon's posture slouched, as he sighed in relief. He placed a paw where his defeated opponent had embedded his stinger and continued looking up into the sky in deep thought.

"Hmph. I anticipated you would strike with your stinger. I figured using a Bug-type like appendage would result in an ineffective Bug-Type attack." Lucario looked down at his chest. "And yet…I felt nothing in that last ditch effort. Even with my resistance I thought I should feel some level of pain. How peculiar."

Lucario wasn't left long to ponder the strange interaction when the sounds of his attack's explosion cleared up and were replaced with another explosion in the distance. He looked down and saw scattered humans and faunus running for safety, while appearing at the start of the street was an oncoming Beowolf pack.

Lucario didn't react, choosing to calmly remove his paw away from his injury and preparing for his next battle.

'I will await your arrival, Master.' Lucario thought as he leaped off the building, landing perfectly on his toes down below.

He raised his paws, cloaking them in aura, as he prepared to face off against a hoard of rampaging Grimm.

'So until then, please remain calm and have the same faith you have in yourself, as I believe you have for me.'

As Lucario thought about his Master, the trainer in question was deep in his own thoughts. Of how best to deal with Xerosic and his means of manipulating a Pokémon's alternating stat changes.

'Slurpuff's already taken a lot of damage so there's no point wasting time raising her defence back up. I'll also have to be more careful with using Flame Charge, or else Malamar could end up turning Talonflame's speed against him.' Kai strategized.

Ahead of him, Xerosic seemed to grow impatient. Not willing to give Kai the time to think he pointed his Pokémon in the direction of Slurpuff.

"Now let's finish that pesky Fairy type off! Crobat use Steel Wing on Slurpuff!" Xerosic commanded.

Kai came back to reality and stared dead ahead. "Talonflame intercept and hold Crobat back with your Steel Wing!"

Both Flying types wings shimmered a metallic grey as they flew toward each other. They collided with one another, their wings making a clanging sound as they made contact. The two-winged combatants pushed back against each other, forcing one another back before charging back in and clashing metallic wings again and again. Neither side giving an inch as they tried to land a decisive attack.

Kai's eyes followed both opponents, his pupils darting back and forth between them. "Just a little closer."

Talonflame's wings pushed back against Crobat's over and over, as he was slowly being pressured further backward. The Scorching Pokémon briefly glanced at Kai who gave a wordless nod back at him, before Talonflame turned his head back around just in time to see Crobat rushing in. He only managed to raise his left wing to block as Crobat struck with all four of his. Talonflame was shunted not only backwards but also downwards towards the ground, while Xerosic grinned at the result.

"Well now! Looks like your victory against me all those years ago was simply a fluke!" Xerosic pointed at Talonflame. "Strike him now Crobat!"

Crobat flew forward at maximum speed, ready to land a solid hit on Talonflame before he could readjust himself and fight back. Kai just continued watching Crobat's speeding approach and grinned.

"Right there!" Kai's eyes lit up and he pointed his hand to the underground cavern's roof. "Now Talonflame! Stop attacking and ascend high above them!"

Talonflame abruptly flapped his wings, removing their metal shine and suddenly flying above Crobat's projected flight path in a single flap.

"What?!" Xerosic shouted.

"About time! I was getting sick of playing coward!" Talonflame grunted as he kept rising higher. "They're all yours Slurpuff!"

On the ground the injured but still standing Slurpuff prepared herself as Crobat continued flying full speed straight ahead, the Bat Pokémon unable to correct himself or change direction as both he and his partner were left wide open.

'He used his Talonflame to set Crobat up and leave Malamar vulnerable!' Xerosic realised.

"Slurpuff use Dazzling Gleam!" Kai instructed.

Slurpuff spread her paws to the side and shimmered with a glowing pink outline. The light then refracted into various different colours that sparkled in a powerful flash that blindsided Crobat. Without his partner, Malamar could only brace himself as the light dispersed out and he was overwhelmed by a Super-Effective hit that forced him back.

Xerosic heavily frowned as he watched his Pokémon get tossed around. His Malamar looked hurt but could hold out, whereas if it wasn't for the poor type matchup, Crobat would have been downed completely.

'Urgh! Crobat won't be able to hold out much longer! One more attack and he'll faint!' Xerosic thought looking up. 'Not only that but by commanding his Talonflame to go high into the air he moved out of Topsy-Turvey's range. I can't reverse his raised speed! He'll be too fast for Crobat to avoid him. I'm afraid there's only one logical move left to make if I still have a chance.'

The lead scientist looked away from his Crobat and to his signature Pokémon, giving Malamar a stern look.

"Now Malamar! Use Superpower on Crobat!" Xerosic commanded.

"He's going after his own Pokémon?!" Kai exclaimed in shock.

Malamar seemed surprised but quickly got over it as he was overcome with a powerful beast-like power. His body erupted in an orange aura that surrounded his tentacles that he swung at Crobat. The Bat Pokémon didn't expect his partner coming and did nothing as he was struck out of the sky, colliding with the ground.

Xerosic's Crobat lay before Malamar knocked out with spiralled eyes, while looming above him the Overturning Pokémon glowed with an empowering aura that rose his physical stats.

"Wait? Superpower is meant to lower attack and defence, so why does it look like Malamar's stats are rising?" Kai asked out loud.

"Because they are." Xerosic returned Crobat to his Pokéball before looking toward Kai. "Malamar's ability is Contrary. Similar to Topsy-Turvy it causes all stat changes affecting Malamar to be reversed, even self-inflicted ones."

"So Malamar just got a boost to its attack and defence, and he sacrificed his own Pokémon to do it." Kai summarised in disapproval. "How can you even make your own Pokémon attack each other like that?"

"Don't pretend to act so high and mighty when you have never been forced into desperation like I have! Only when you have your most precious desire in the world denied could you even begin to fathom what I feel!" Xerosic retorted. "You're still just a child! You have your whole life ahead of you! You have no idea what it's like to fear not being able to continue your life's work."

"What are you even talking about?!" Kai asked, prompting Xerosic.

"Ever since I can remember, I loved to invent things. I was blessed with this talent, and my parents provided me with all the opportunities and financing I needed. My inventions were popular and I attained great fame and wealth but that wasn't what I wanted!" Xerosic adjusted his goggles as though he was deeply looking back at something. "Certain scientific experiments were considered taboo…like the ones that lead to the creation of the Ultimate Weapon used by the king of Kalos, three-thousand years ago but those types of scientific enquiry fascinated me. Curiosity kept me up at night, and that was when Lysandre invited me to join Team Flare. Somehow, he found out about me interests and proposed to support my research. Even after joining Team Flare my ethics prevented me from diving too deep into those areas but one day…"

Years ago…

Xerosic was stumped. He rubbed the side of his head as he stood in front of a small Pokémon. A floating blue squid, with a transparent mantle on its head that revealed a rounded, pink interior that had several yellow, circular lights blinking intermittedly.

"Is this your Inkay?"

Xerosic turned his head toward the voice, which belonged to a pale, serious-looking man with pointed reddish-orange hair that connected to an equally pointed beard. Dressed fashionable in a black suit, with a fluffy grey collar. He was the leader of Team Flare; Lysandre.

Lysandre walked up to Xerosic, noticing his Pokémon trembling in anticipation. "I can see it's about to evolve."

"Hm…" Xerosic confusingly mumbled in response. "Time of day, weather, items, trading…I've tried every possible method I can think of to evolve it!"

Lysandre immediately understood and assessed the situation. He paused for a moment to think, taking another look at Xerosic's Inkay before having a brainwave. Lysandre placed his hands on Inkay's head and grabbed the Revolving Pokémon, abruptly flipping him upside down in his grasp.

Suddenly, Inkay's entire body started to glow with a powerful brilliant light. Their body undergoing a sudden and drastic transformation. His mantle increased in size, with the pointed top separating and becoming two tentacles that touched the floor. The moment it did the light faded and Inkay's evolution was complete, having successfully evolving into Malamar.

Xerosic went slack-jawed at the sight of his Pokémon finally evolving. Not just at the spectacle of such an event, but at how Lysandre had instantly come up with an unusual but effective solution to the problem he had spent so long trying to figure out. He walked up and inspected his newly-evolved and overjoyed Pokémon.

Lysandre simply gave Xerosic an earnest smile. "When you're at a dead end, go in the other direction. Reverse your thinking."

Xerosic looked back at Lysandre. "Up becomes down, down becomes up. Black becomes white, light becomes shadow, the past becomes the future and the weak become the strong. I see!"

Lysandre continued to smile but soon his expression turned mournful. He started to walk off to a nearby window that led to the outside world.

"What you believed yesterday can actually be turned on its head." Lysandre opened the windows and stepped out onto a balcony. "Take a look Xerosic…"

Xerosic walked up behind Lysandre to see the dazzling lights of Lumiose city, the largest and most beautiful city in all of Kalos. Highlighting it all was Prism Tower, a national icon in the dead centre of it all that lit the world alight. But that wasn't where Lysandre was looking.

Lysandre looked down at the filthy streets. The littered alleyways. The cold stonework and narrow shadows occupied either by the homeless, dressed in rags and sitting on newspapers. Or punks, gang members, and other folk that the public eye would rather cast away their gaze from for being too unsightly.

"No matter how much we give to others, there will always be broken people and Pokémon cast out of society." Lysandre spoke pessimistically. "We have to choose who is worthy of help and who isn't."

Xerosic shuddered at what he had just heard. "But that's immoral!"

"Think about it the other way around Xerosic." Lysandre looked over his shoulder at the scientist. "We won't give equally to others; we'll just take equally from them."

Xerosic couldn't help but be inspired. His moral compass starting to reverse just like the perspective Lysandre was showing him.

"Just imagine. A pure and perfect Kalos, free of everything and everyone that troubles us." Lysandre looked back out to face the shining lights. "Wouldn't that be beautiful?"

"The worthy and the worthless need not subscribe to the same code of ethics. He opened my eyes! It was the greatest support he could give me! But then you-!" Xerosic thought back to all of the times Kai had interfered with Team Flare's plans, his pride suddenly turning into spite. "When you stopped Lysandre not only did you stop his beautiful world from blooming, you cut me off from the funding and resources needed for my research! With Team Flare disbanded I had to rush my magnum opus which led to…complications with the test subject. Then when the International Police finally came for me…I was just about ready to give up."

Xerosic paused. For a brief moment he almost looked remorseful for his actions. However, as he remembered the International Police taking him away, he remembered what had come after. How he and the man in the brown trench coat were ambushed by a flash of rainbow light appearing before them. The memory sparked something in Xerosic, twisting his expression into one of madly obsessed passion.

"But then I learnt the secrets of inter-planetary travel! I discovered a brand-new world where humanity also existed! A world without Pokémon, filled with so many new concepts and scientific discoveries! After learning all this I refuse…" Xerosic looked upwards, raising his arms high. "To give up my intellectual freedom!"

"I'm sick of listening to this guy flap his mouth!" Talonflame dove down in a blur with his left talon stretched out. "Fly!"

"Talonflame wait!" Kai warned.

But he was too late. Talonflame flapped his wings and shot down through the air, creating ripples of air that erupted behind him as he charged forward and smacked Malamar with all his force, kicking him square in the face. A shockwave of wind erupted from the attack, as Talonflame's talons were clenched and pushing against the Overturning Pokémon's cheek, but the Psychic/Dark type refused to be knocked down.

'Fly still wasn't enough?' Kai thought. 'That defence boost from using Superpower must have been enough for Malamar to hang on!'

Xerosic passionately thrust his gloved left hand at Talonflame. "Malamar! Use Retaliate!"

The Psychic/Dark type in question gave the Scorching Pokémon a sinister look as he poised the sharp tip of his tentacle at Talonflame and leapt forward. In the blink of an eye Malamar rushed past him, delivering a sharp, stabbing strike with his tentacle as he passed by the Scorching Pokémon in dramatic fashion, leaving a trail of cherry blossoms that dispersed throughout the air.

"Graaah!" Talonflame gagged as he felt the recently empowered Malamar deliver a powerful blow.

"Talonflame!" Kai called out in worry.

"Talonflame parfume!" Slurpuff cried in similar concern.

Kai's Pokémon fell to the ground hard. His back slapping down on the dust and debris, his wings outstretched and his body seemingly limp and weak.

"You should know this already, but I might as well remind you that Retaliate is a move that doubles in power when an ally has been previously knocked out the turn before it's used. Even if it was done so by my hand." Xerosic explained. "Don't you see it now! Those morals of yours that drive you! That sense of right and wrong you believe so strongly! They are what hold humanity back from true greatness! If only you and the rest of the world realised that you need not stand up for the weak and unchosen who simply take our limited resources for granted and give nothing in return! That is what Lysandre taught me! That is what is right!"

Kai listened to the mad scientist's words, taking in everything he said. His grey fedora casting shade over Kai's expression so that his eyes couldn't be seen.

"So that's the reason for everything you've done, is it? The real reason? That just because you're rich and smart that makes you better than everyone else. That everyone else simply doesn't matter?" Kai murmured, his bare hand at his sides clenching into a fist. "Did you ever stop to think that those people you think so little of could matter to someone else?! That they're someone's friend! Or family! Or partner!"

As Kai spoke, he felt the underground cave he was in blend in with another. The one from his nightmare he experienced back in the Eden National Reserve. A figure appeared behind him, of the older silhouette of a person that was stuck with his broken body at the absolute bottom of the underground.

"Do you even think about the pain…you put their friends and family through…when you take them away…?" Kai stared down Xerosic with an intense frown, his brown eyes looking past the scientist as though there was something else there he couldn't take his eyes off. "Well, I do. Which is why I refuse to let you succeed! Because people don't need to be rich! Or smart! Or talented to be worthy of living! The only thing they need to do to be worthy, is to live life each day however they want with the people they love!"

As Kai thought about that image, his Slurpuff sniffed the air around him. Growing progressively more concerned.

"This parfume…it's different than normal. This overwhelming new scent overpowering Kai parfume's natural aroma. What is this parfume?" Slurpuff thought out loud, taking another sniff. "And why does it smell…so distraught?"

"What nonsense!" Xerosic casually dismissed from the other side of the battlefield. "Let's see what good that mindset does you now! After all, with Malamar raising his attack and reversing your Slurpuff's defence, this fight is already over!"

"Yeah…"

Xerosic looked down at the battlefield in horror. Speaking directly to him was the injured but still very much conscious and battle-ready Talonflame.

The Scorching Pokémon flicked his head up, glaring at the lead scientist and his Pokémon. "Over for YOU!"

As Talonflame roared, Malamar felt his body grow incredibly hot before he was suddenly engulfed in flames.

"A burn?!" Xerosic cried out in shock "Not good! Contrary may be able to reverse individual stat changes but it can't do a thing about the burn dropping the power of physical attacks in half!"

Kai blankly looked at the sight of Malamar getting afflicted with a status ailment but remained quiet. As though even though Kai's eyes were open, he wasn't really awake, that he was lost inside his own head.

"What are you two waiting for?!" Talonflame screeched, pulling Kai back out into reality. "Finish this guy off already or I'll do it myself!" Talonflame screeched as he picked himself up and started flying again.

Kai's attention sharply shifted toward Talonflame, his screeching voice bringing him back to his senses as the figments of the other cave and the fallen silhouette disappeared, and the battle once again took the forefront of Kai's mind.

"Right!" Kai looked confidently away from his second team member and towards his fourth. "Slurpuff it's time to put a stop to this once and for all! Use Dazzling Gleam!" Kai called out.

"Don't let it hit you! Disperse it with Psycho Cut!" Xerosic shouted desperately.

Slurpuff's body sparkled as she expelled a brilliant flash of light. Malamar coated his tentacles in psychic energy and swiped them forward, sending out two thick crescents that pushed back against the luminous fairy type move. Sparks of energy crackled as the two moves pushed back against each other, as Slurpuff and Malamar locked eyes.

The Meringue Pokémon stuck out her nose and took in a massive inhale of air, puffing out her chest and planting her feet. The pink light flickered into a rainbow of colours whose glow brightened intensely, forcing Malamar to sweat as he felt the strength in his tentacles fleeing. Snorting out a puff of air, Slurpuff screamed as she thrust her paws ahead of her. With one mighty shove Slurpuff's Dazzling Gleam shattered the psychic blades, engulfing their remains in its expanding light. Malamar's face was briefly illuminated by the light, allowing his look of fear to be seen before it became too bright to be seen. The Overtaken Pokémon consumed in a brilliant sparkle that lit up the ruined streets of Mountain Glenn's underground street, almost making it look alive.

The light started to die down, leaving only small twinkling's of photons that trickled down like snow. Slurpuff gave a brief sigh from exertion as she looked down on Malamar's beaten and unconscious body.

Xerosic's jaw dropped at his defeat before he gritted his teeth and turned away, showing off the Team Flare logo on his back of his orange suit, as he stood there wallowing in defeat.

"I see. Even after all this time…you and your Pokémon are still so amazing." Xerosic muttered to himself.

"Hey, Xerosic." Kai's voice calmly spoke behind the scientist.

Xerosic looked over his shoulder to see the trainer in question aiming his right gauntlet at him. Loyally standing just in front were his Talonflame and Slurpuff, the two of them eagerly awaiting an order.

"Stop your assault on the city, now." Kai bitterly uttered.

"Well, you are the winner, so I suppose I have no choice but to honour your request." Xerosic turned to face Kai completely, placing his fingers on the microphone in his right ear. "Attention all Neo Team Flare grunts. I have been defeated. All is lost. Execute the Extinguish Protocol. That is your final order."

Xerosic then ceased his communication, removing his fingers from his ear and pulling out Malamar's Pokéball to return the unconscious Overturning Pokémon.

"Is that it?" Kai asked.

"Indeed. Congratulations Kai Emblem, you've stopped our plans once again." Xerosic congratulated, putting his right hand into his right suit pocket. "I do hope you're proud of yourself."

"I don't care about pride; I just want to go home. Then you're going to pay for everything you've done and help clean up the mess you've made on these worlds." Kai harshly responded.

"Yes, yes, of course! But why wait?" Xerosic grabbed something inside his pocket and gave a sinister smirk. "Why don't we leave this world right now!"

Xerosic quickly pulled out his portal-generating remote, hovering his thumb over the centre button as he was about to create an interplanetary portal to escape.

"No! You're not escaping to rebuild Team Flare AGAIN!" Kai's eyes flashed with the activation of his Perception semblance.

The Pokémon Trainer thrust his arm forward, firing off his weapon's metallic hand. The iron knuckle punched through the air as it raced against the lead Team Flare Scientist. Xerosic didn't react, all he could did was watch the image of Gant Blindé's extending fist reflecting off his goggles as it shot out toward him.

'It looks like…my time as a leader has come to an end. Though I suppose I never really was Team Flare's leader.' Xerosics thoughts trailed back one last time to Lysandre at the balcony, sharing his philosophy with the scientist and his newly evolved Pokémon. 'Lysandre…I-'

The metal appendage smashed Xerosic square in his pale face. His orange goggles absorbing the shock and causing the lenses to crack under the impact. Xerosic cried out as he fell, his back slamming against the earth along with the back of his head. The sudden blow knocked the scientist out cold as his portal creating remote hit the ground moments later, shattering on impact into dozens of broken, misshapen pieces. Orange metal and circuitry littered the dirt…but there was no keystone in sight. It wouldn't have been able to work.

The light in Kai's eyes from his Semblance faded, leaving only a look of instant regret in them. Kai stared at the defeated scientist's body, how still he looked, with a look of horror on his face. "I-I didn't mean to hit him so hard! I-I just wanted to stop him I-"

Once again Kai saw reality, flicker with the cave of his nightmares. Xerosic's injured body swapping with the image of the older brown-haired man who lay there just as still.

"I-I didn't mean to…to…" The colour from Kai's face started to drain.

"Fear not Kai parfume!" Slurpuff boldly interrupted, reclaiming her trainer's attention. "His parfume…nothing in its scent suggests a serious injury."

Life returned to Kai's face as he was brought back by Slurpuff once again. "Are you sure?"

Slurpuff nodded. "Trust in the parfume."

Kai placed his gauntlet's hand on his chest and gave a deep sigh, before he started to control his breathing again. "Okay…we're okay…"

Talonflame just looked towards his trainer with a frustrated look of concern and curiosity, while Kai simply took one last deep breath in and out, his mind started to think logically again.

"We need to get back to Vale as soon as possible! Even with Team Flare no longer a part of it, there's still the White Fang and the Grimm!" Kai looked determinedly at Talonflame. "Talonflame are you ready to fly?"

Talonflame put aside his thoughts about his trainer for the moment and confidently spread out his wings.

"Always!" He proudly answered.

Kai nodded. "Then let's get ready to go."

"Leaving already?"

Kai froze on the spot, hearing a mysterious female voice he didn't recognise. He instinctively looked off to the side where the voice had come from, but he couldn't see anyone there.

"A shame. I was looking forward to speaking with you, but it looks like that will have to wait." The woman's voice spoke again.

"Who are you?!" Kai aimed his gauntlet in front of him, as he carefully scanned the surrounding area. "I don't want to fight any more than I already have, but I will if you force me to."

"Oh please." The mysterious voice mocked.

Out of the darkness a foreign object suddenly flung towards Kai's direction, hitting the earth with metallic clunk. Kai briefly looked down and gasped seeing his left-handed gauntlet, the one he had previously discarded during his fight with Neo.

"If you're going to draw your weapon at me. At least do it fully equipped." The voice advised.

Kai quickly bent down and put his bare hand inside the black vambrace until his fingers wrapped around the inner mechanisms to control the hand.

"Thanks for-" Kai started to say.

The Beacon student stood back and stopped himself when he saw a new individual having appeared out of seemingly nowhere. An older woman with long, spiky black hair. Wearing a red and black kimono and hiding her face behind a white mask with four eye slots. The same one who unbeknownst to Kai, had helped save Yang's life.

"That?" Kai finished.

"Not a bad display out there all things considered." The mysterious woman evaluated. "But you've been spoiled too much by the comforts of Beacon. Had you been fighting a real threat, you wouldn't have had the time to hesitate like you did."

"We didn't ask for your opinion lady!" Talonflame yelled. "If you're not here to fight us then scram!"

"And that's another thing." The mysterious woman took another step forward. "Those creatures of yours talk too much."

"So, I've been told." Kai looked at the mysterious woman, lowing his weapons. "Look, I don't really have time to be idle. If you're really not here to fight then what do you want with me?"

"As I said, just to talk." The mysterious woman answered. "However, I can clearly see that your mind's currently elsewhere so…"

The woman tightly grabbed the handle of her sheathed ōdachi. Kai lifted up his armoured glove-like weapons defensively, at the same time Talonflame bared his talons and Slurpuff opened her mouth to show off her fangs.

As the family prepared themselves, the woman turned around and quickly unsheathed her sword. Her red blade cut through the space behind her, tearing open a deep red entryway that whirred intensely.

Kai and his Pokémon lowered their guard, looking at the mysterious action in confusion and surprise.

"That should take you straight into the heart of the city of Vale." The mysterious woman explained.

She expected the teenager in front of her to thank her or make a bee-line after she said that, but instead they just gave her a heavily sceptic look.

She placed a hand on her hip impatiently. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to get there as soon as possible?"

"Let's just say there's two types of people in this world I've grown to distrust." Kai started to say. "People in red who open mysterious portals and people who hide their faces behind creepy white masks. Right now, you're both. So, forgive me for thinking that you might be trying to send me towards some sort of death trap."

The woman said nothing at first, her thoughts and feelings hidden by the mask she wore. But soon she relaxed and gave a short chuckle.

"What's so funny?!" Talonflame asked.

"Nothing." The mysterious woman said, stopping herself from laughing any further. "You're just less gullible than you look."

"Uh…thanks?" Kai awkwardly thanked.

"I mean it as a compliment, really. It means you're thinking. Asking questions. Let's me know I'm not just looking at a lost cause blindly following the orders of an old con man." The mysterious woman elaborated. "Look I'm not forcing you to do anything. Unlike everyone else you've met so far in this world; I'm offering you an actual choice. You can go the way I've opened up for you or you can find your own way back into Vale. It's really that simple."

"You still haven't given me a reason to believe you." Kai pointed out.

"Well, I suppose that's true." The woman admitted. "How about this? Even if we can't talk now, I'm sure we'll have another chance to in the future. Consider this my way of making a good first impression so that next time we meet you might be more…inclined to listen to what I have to say."

Kai continued looking toward her, still not quite sure whether or not he should take her at her word. Though at the same time he also didn't have a reason to not trust her either. He knew he didn't have time to press her any longer and so did the woman who seemed just about ready to leave.

"Well, I'll best let you be on your way, but one last piece of advice. Unless you're strong enough to afford it. Mercy and kindness in the face of your enemy will only get you killed. It's not all friendly sparring matches, in this world when you get in a fight you need to decide. Their life?" The mysterious woman pointed the tip of her sword toward Kai's throat. "Or Yours?

The woman pulled her sword back toward herself and returned it to its sheath. She stepped aside and started walking off into the recesses of the underground city, back into the mysterious shadows from whence she came.

While the woman walked away Slurpuff perked up her nose, getting a waft of her natural scent. A scent that made the Meringue Pokémon wrinkle her nose in curiosity.

"This parfume? Why does its scent bare a resemblance to another parfume?" Slurpuff asked herself.

"What do you mean by that?" Talonflame asked the Fairy type.

"My parfume…is not sure yet." She answered.

Kai didn't notice his Pokémon's observations. He was too busy mulling over her words and advice, looking down in thought as he took everything this mysterious woman had just said. Until he finally thought of one more thing he ought to ask.

"Who…are you?" Kai finally asked, lifting his head back up.

But she was gone. The woman had disappeared into the shadows without a sound. The only voice Kai could hear now was that of a bird's caw echoing in the emptiness. With them now truly on their own this time Kai looked back towards the portal the woman had left, his brown eyes transfixed by its round crimson shape hovering in the air.

"Talonflame, I need you to be honest with me." Kai started to say, his gaze not leaving the sight of the portal. "How fast can you use Fly to get from here to the city?"

"While carrying you and presumably that guy." Talonflame gestured his wings toward the unconscious Xerosic and scrunched up his face. "Half an hour at least. Give or take."

"At least?" Kai sighed, walking over to Xerosic and picking up the pieces of the broken remote scattered around him. "Even if you could get us there faster, with the city under attack every second counts."

He put the pieces in his jacket then looked back toward the portal. "And the only thing faster than flying in a straight line between two points. Is instantly appearing at the second point without taking a step away from the first."

"You sure?" Talonflame asked.

Gant Blandé's metal fingers grabbed Xerosic's collar, giving Kai one more moment to look at the fainted scientist. Staring down at him with no anger or fear. Just a strong desire deep in his chest to set the wrong things he had done right.

"Yeah…" Kai showed a determined and unwavering look in his eye as he looked at the portal. "I'm sure."

He started dragging the scientist behind him towards the entryway. Talonflame and Slurpuff briefly looked to one another and the two nodded in unison, following their trainer loyally at his side.

Stopping just short of the crimson opening in space, Kai took one more breath before taking a final step forward. Joined by his Pokémon on both sides, the three entered the portal. Disappearing completely into its abyss before it closing up behind them moments later.

Leaving Mountain Glenn as lifeless and empty as it was when they had first arrived.

New Fights! New Moves! And even a snazzy new logo I created!

Originally I had hoped to finish this arc by this chapter, but I had so much to write for these fights that I decided it would be better if I just split it in two. I've already surpassed the previous chapter in length and that was the longest so far, I figured doing this would be easier to read and I would update sooner.

Some neat details, I used some manga material to help with some of the scenes in this one. Specifically the Shonen Jump RWBY manga for the initial skirmish between Blake and the Lieutenant, and Pokémon Adventures for Xerosic's backstory. I know that I'm mainly following the show and the games but that doesn't mean I can't delve into some parallel continuity if I think I can make it work and feel natural.

Speaking of parallel continuity in the time between updates RWBY: Ice Queendom became a thing. Some of you may be wondering will I be adapting that in this story. I've given this some thought and right now my answer is...probably not. I've had a plan for how I want Trainer To Huntsman to go and I don't want to suddenly incorporate an entirely new story arc into it, especially since as of the time this is posted it has only just premiered and I have yet to see it. That's not to say I won't take inspiration or maybe even have a sister/spin-off story based on it in the future, but for now don't expect anything.

Wow I've certainly got a lot to say in this afterword...guess that's what happens when you don't update in a while.

Either way, until next time this is Kallerston signing out!