~ Chapter 84 ~

Veilstone City Under Siege

"When we returned to Veilstone City to get ahold of Looker, we had been completely barricaded from the city. Team Galactic had completely taken over, blockading the harbour with several of their ships, and several shipping tankers outfitted with heavy artillery. The reinforcements from Snowpoint couldn't get anywhere close, and so used their Pokémon to create a thick blanket of fog and hide themselves just out of range of the Galactic gunboats. We set up a small base camp up in the mountains outside of Veilstone. Everyone from Lake Verity was there as well as several well trained veterans from Celestic Town who had come to free their High Priestess and leader. Even Rort had returned with some of his workers who had taken 'time off' to help free Veilstone City from Team Galactic. The siege of Veilstone was close to beginning…what's funny is, it wouldn't be the last time in my life I had led a veritable army into battle…"

The camp was bustling with trainers from Celestic, Gym Leaders, Cynthia, Valentina, Rort and his workers, and even Professor Rowan and his grandchildren. Sam and Alyssandra were at the head of it all, organizing and planning the logisitics of attacking Veilstone City head on.

Sam had been delaying the strike for days, waiting to hear back from Looker before he struck.

Looker was supposed to get Sam and Alyssandra inside the Team Galactic Headquarters.

The plan had been to get inside the HQ while everyone attacked the Veilstone City from the outside, distracting the grunts, and Snowpoint's attackers would strike from the sea.

But things were starting to get tense as the waiting drew on.

Supplies were starting to run low on the boats, as Sam's Staraptor had relayed—a message tied to its foot from Candice herself.

Those in the camp could go foraging for food, but those as sea were not so lucky, especially since they had to stay hidden within the fogs so they weren't shot out of the water.

"One more day," pleaded Sam with Cynthia and Rowan, "Just give me one more day to get in touch with Looker. If he doesn't respond by dawn, we'll strike immediately."

"We can't keep delaying just for Looker," warned Rowan, "We'll lose the element of surprise—their patrols get closer every day. Team Galactic is getting close to their plans, and if we take too long, they'll be up Mt. Coronet and summoning the Creator Gods before we can stop them."

"While I'd love to believe in Looker, Professor Rowan is right," sighed Cynthia, "There's too much at stake—too much time sensistivity here."

"Dawn, it's all I'm asking for," pressed Sam. He wasn't backing down.

Dawn Oak poked her head into Sam's tent.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"I wasn't—" started Sam.

"I know," smiled Dawn, "But we've got some…visitors here. They claim they know you."

"Did they give a name?" asked Sam.

Dawn nodded. "Alexander, Alan and Anthony," recited Dawn, "They call themselves the Hiker Brothers."

Sam smiled.

He exited the tent, leaving Rowan and Cynthia alone as he went to greet his friends.

Going to the edge of the camp's palisade, Sam saw the Hiker Brothers beam as they saw Sam approach.

Alyssandra soon joined, coming to assist Sam in greeting the brothers.

"We heard what our cousin was doing," sighed Anthony, "We've come to help you bring him down. He's got our grandfather in there."

"Your cousin?" asked Sam, taken aback, "You mean, Cyrus is your cousin?"

Alan nodded. "Little cousin," corrected Alan, "He…was always a smart kid, but didn't really like people all that much."

"It seems to have lead him to this," sighed Alexander, "And we can't let him destroy the universe for his own ambitions."

"You'll be a big help," smiled Sam, "You even know how to get to the Spear Pillar if we need to…I'm sorry it's had to come to this."

Anthony nodded solemnly. "Hopefully it won't come to a confrontation at Mt. Coronet…but we shall see."

"When do we expect to strike?" asked Anthony, "Soon, I hope?"

Sam looked over at Cynthia and Rowan who had exited the tent, waiting for him to return.

"No later than dawn," stated Sam adamantly, "We're waiting on a contact within the HQ, who's there under assignment from Interpol to respond to our missives. Hopefully, if they reach him, he can sneak Lyss and I into the HQ and we can infiltrate it from within while everyone else distracts Team Galactic from outside. Snowpoint City has reinforcements hiding out in that thick fog out there—"

Sam pointed to the giant cloud of fog that blotted out the horizon past the Team Galactic blockade.

"—They'll strike from the sea when we strike from the land," explained Sam, "The hope is to distract them long enough that we can take them down from within. Free the Legendary Pokémon, and our friends, and stop Cyrus and his Commanders before they make it to Mt. Coronet."

"A simple, but solid plan," smiled Alexander, "We're not many though."

Sam shrugged. "We're enough. Rort brought enough help to replace those who were captured, and some. It's better than nothing."

"Aye," nodded Anthony, "Some help is better than doing it alone."

Sam opened his mouth to respond, but stopped as a Starly landed on his shoulder.

He knew what this was.

Sam grabbed the small note wrapped up and tucked under the Starly's tongue and unrolled it.

It was a note from Looker.

He'd gotten their message, and he gave them an address to meet them at and he would sneak him and Alyssandra into the Team Galactic Headquarters.

He looked at Maylene. "Where is this?" he asked.

Maylene scrunched up her face as she thought. "By the dockyards," she pointed out, pointing to the harbour by the city, "I think it's that big blue building right there if I recall correctly."

"New plan everyone!" cried Sam, pulling everyone in close to gather around.

Once everyone had gotten within earshot he started going over the plan.

"Listen up!" he called, "Good news! We heard from Looker, and he's going to sneak Lyss and I into the headquarters. That means the plan stays the same."

"Rort!" he called, "Take your men and sweep the city from the east."

He saluted Sam and looked to his men.

"Gym Leaders, you're under the command of Maylene—she knows this city best," called Sam, "Sweep up the west of the city—try and draw Team Galactic away from the docks so we can get through their easier."

Maylene turned a light shade of red, unable to fathom being in charge of Gym Leaders far above her.

"Valentina, Cynthia, Rowan, Dawn, Lucas and the Hiker Brothers," continued Sam, "You'll be another group. Your job is simple. Once we're inside the HQ, we'll let you know. If the Gym Leaders are able to, they can pull as many Galactic grunts out of the docks as possible. From there, you're to help bring down the blockade preventing entrance into the harbour. With the ships out of the way, let the Snowpoint ships dock and take them to the Headquarters."

Valentina nodded. "Let me at 'em!"

"Once the Snowpoint reinforcements have docked, send up a flare, and everyone is to rendezvous in front of the Galactic Headquarters building," continued Sam, "Don't let up until you've broken through and entered the building, or until you've exhausted every last grunt they throw at you. Whichever comes first. Any questions?"

No one answered.

Sam smiled. "All right then!" he cried. He sent out his Staraptor, scribbled a quick note for Candice on piece of parchment, and sent it with Staraptor to let her know to begin the attack.

Everyone waited twenty minutes on Sam's orders.

Then…a flare came up from the habour, flashing lights from within the fog showed the outline of ships.

The fog dispersed, and Pokémon started attacking off the side of the ship, sending projectiles and energy attacks at the Team Galactic ships.

There were a few explosions from the harbour, and Sam called for the attack to begin.

Everyone split up into their groups, and went charging down the hill towards Veilstone City.

The Siege of Veilstone had ended…the Battle for Veilstone had begun.

Niya and Jeremy paced in their cell.

Palmer and Lou muttered in the corner, trying to see if they could escape.

Everyone had been captured and placed inside a single holding cell—except Nilama.

She had been taken elsewhere, though no one had seen her since they arrived.

Gardenia and Barry sat by Lou and Palmer, listening to what they were planning and trying to help with suggestions and ideas.

Several of Lou's ranch hands stood on the edge of the giant cage, listening for any guards who might hear their plans.

They were still scratched up and bruised—Jeremy's arm was broken, and Niya had a nasty burn healing on her left hand.

Their Pokémon had been taken and placed in Team Galactic's PC storage—likely for "conversion" and use by Team Galactic later.

"We need to get out of here," growled Niya, her hand bandaged by a Team Galactic doctor—at least they weren't wholely cruel.

"Breathe," said Jeremy, "We'll get out of here…or Sam will come to get us…eventually."

Niya snarled a bit, going stir crazy from being starved and kept in a cage.

"Have we gone mad already?" asked Cyrus as he entered the room.

Everyone stood up and looked at the blue-haired Team Galactic leader.

He had kept them in the same room where he conducted experiments on the Lake Guardians and the Red Chain.

Everyone had been—likely intentionally—forced to watch as Cyrus asnd Charon experimented on the Lake Guardians and on the Red Chain.

Every couple of hours they would return to the Guardians, strapped into machines that would sedate them when they weren't needed, and they would have their gems removed forcibly.

"Here to torture those poor Pokémon again?" spat Niya.

Cyrus sneered. "Do you know how the Red Chain came into being?"

Niya didn't respond, but simply glared at Cyrus.

"The Red Chain was a legend passed down by the Celestic Tribe to the entirety of the Ancient Sinnoh Tribes when they lived atop the mountain," explained Cyrus, "The only time it had ever been used was by the legendary hero founder of the Sinnoh Tribes. They were once a single tribe, united by a High Priest and Champion of the Creator God. He united the tribe and ended a period of war and strife by fusing the Red Chain, being of pure heart, and showing his primacy over those below him. His control—albeit temporarily—over the Creator Gods was enough to get people to agree to unify beneath him."

"So?" asked Niya.

Cyrus sneered again. "The tribes left it at that. Eventually they drifted apart once more…there had been tensions amongst the tribes for a few generations now. Slights here, arguments there, but the Celestic Tribe was able to hold everyone together. But then the Solaceon Tribe learned they could forcibly forge the Red Chain—forcibly. The gems did not need to be given wilfully to forge the Red Chain. When the Celestic Tribe heard of this, they exposed the Solaceon Tribe for what they were—power hungry fiends willing to doom us all to control the tribes."

"What does that have to do with this?" asked Jeremy.

Niya seemed to slowly understand. "That's what caused the war. The one that forced the tribes from their homes atop the mountain."

Cyrus nodded. "The war raged on, but it reached its peak when, during their annual religious festival, the Solaceon Tribe attacked the festival—for they had been forbidden from it. They attacked looking for the Lake Guardians, who appeared to be worshipped by the humans once a year. Their hope was to destroy the unity of the clans and take the Lake Guardians in one fell swoop. Many died in their attack but the Creator Gods themselves forced the Solaceon Tribe from Mt. Coronet. As punishment, all humans were banished from Mt. Coronet."

Niya thought of her Spiritomb, now sitting somewhere in a Galactic PC. That Spiritomb was a remainder of that war, a weapon created to defeat the other tribes…in order to create the Red Chain.

"So you intend to follow in their footsteps, then?" asked Niya.

Cyrus shook his head. "No. They were greedy, selfish beings. It pains me to act as they did to achieve my goals…but the human spirit is flawed. We take and destroy, each other and Pokémon, nature and life. Our human spirit, our human personalities, they are ruining this world…so I must create a world where there is no human spirit. Then…everything will be perfect…will be…at peace."

"You're insane, you know that?" replied Jeremy, "How can you claim to hate human spirit and human greed, and yet you go around and capturing these peaceful Pokémon just to painfully steal their gems to create some artefact to enslave even more Pokémon and kill everyone."

"I know I must sound like a hypocrite," sighed Cyrus, "There is no way for me to deny this…but I can only justify it knowing that once I have done what I need to do to achieve my goals, no one else, not even myself, will need to do that again. Mine shall be the last terrible act that fixes everything."

"You don't make sense," hissed Niya, "And you're cruel!"

"I don't expect the layman to understand my motives or my true feelings—or even why I must do this," sighed Cyrus, "I tire of talking. I must return to my experiments."

Cyrus turned towards the Lake Guardians. He crossed his arms across his back, holding them in each other as he walked away.

"You're welcome to stay and watch if you'd like," he smirked as he walked towards his work.

"He'll come get us!" roared Jeremy.

Palmer and Lou stood up and stood behind Jeremy, talking for the first time since Cyrus arrived.

"He's gonna kick your ass too," smirked Palmer, "He's gonna be stronger than me one day."

"He'll stop you!" cried Niya, "And he's going to make you sorry you ever started this."

"Ah, yes, your little hero. The brave little commander of the opposition at Lake Verity and Acuity," smirked Cyrus, "He abandoned you at Acuity, didn't he?"

"He's probably already on his way here with reinforcements," called Jeremy.

Cyrus shrugged. "Not that it will matter. I'm almost ready to depart. All I need to do is put the finishing touches on—"

Alarms blared above Cyrus's head in the dark laboratory.

"Attention! Attention! All grunts mobilize immediately!" called the voice of Saturn over the intercom; "Anyone not departing for Mt. Coronet are to report to the front of the Galactic Headquarters immediately for immediate deployment. Please see Saturn, Mars and Jupiter for further instructions once you have arrived. We are under attack!"

Cyrus's eyes filled with incredulous rage.

"Told ya," smirked Niya, sneering back at Cyrus the way he sneered at her.

Cyrus's face went cold and steely. His gaze pierced through the cage into his prisoner's hearts. "No matter," he said through gnashed and gritted teeth, "It will not matter. He will not arrive in time, and he will not defeat me. I'll be long gone before he arrives."

"We'll see," stated Lou simply, "But he's rather tenacious, you know. You may want to move quickly."

Cyrus said no more, but his pace was quickened as he continued his work.

The pressure was on.