Chapter 24

Resolve

Earth 63, 2049, 7:00 PM

3rd person P.O.V.

Nixullium was grumbling as he walked around campus. Classes were such a waste of time. He came here to help fight against his stepfather's allies, not go to college. The freezing January weather had little effect on him however, being a fire type shifter had its advantages.

As he walked through the large grassy area on campus he took note of the city below the hill which the school rested on. Nearly the entirety of Veilstone city was comprised of hills. Solid black stone had been carved to serve as elevated housing developments with only the downtown business sector on level ground.

He was about to head back to his dorm when he noticed an illuminated pathway leading to a sign that said 'Professor Andrew Malcom Memorial Park'.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Eh, let's see what's in here..." Nixullium had heard other students say how cool this place looked at night, so what was the harm in checking it out?

As he entered the park he noticed two black granite walls, on the top was carved "Lest We Forget" along with the names of the people who died in the terrorist attack on the Pokémon World Tournament 20 years ago.

There were hundreds of names, spread apart on four granite walls on both sides of the park, in the center of the area however was the most intriguing thing. A massive white stoned statue of a man in a long trench coat with glasses and a cane. He was standing in a firm pose, as if protecting something.

Before Nixullium could get close enough to read the plack on the statue, a new visitor entered the park. It was Professor Connor Malcom, his cane was in his right hand and wreath with green flowers was in his left.

He placed his wreath at the statue's base and bowed his head.

"Happy birthday dad, If only I could've helped you..." He said.

Nixullium decided to give him some space and turned to leave, however, he was stopped by Connor saying, "Please, Mr. Umbra, don't leave."

Nixullium turned back and walked up to the statue. Connor was looking at it with a neutral face, clearly a mix of emotions going through his mind.

"Who was he?" Nixullium asked after a moment of hesitation.

"My second father, I spent more time with him than I ever had with my biological family." Connor explained.

"How did he die?" Nixullium said before biting his tongue.

"Don't be sorry, it's important to know the story. It's long, but the short version is that a terrible group of people attacked the city, he laid down his life protecting his academy and students." Connor explained, shedding a single tear.

"He sounded like a stand up guy. I'm sorry that happened." Nixullium said, genuine sympathy in his voice.

Connor sighed and said "Don't be, he made his choice to protect his school and his students. If he had the opportunity to do it all over again, I doubt he would change anything about his actions that day."

"He sounds like he was a pretty dedicated guy." Nixullium commented.

"You could say that, but I think what would have surprised people the most was how caring he was, he cared deeply about his students and anyone who needed help, he fought hard for shifter rights, and never backed down when he knew something was wrong." Connor mused before turning around and tipping his hat to Nixullium.

"Have a good evening Mr. Umbra." Connor said just as his phone rang.

"And that would be the good general." Connor joked before walking away, leaving his student to his own thoughts.

Earth 97, 2049, 5:00 PM

3rd person POV

Giovanni marveled at the creature on the screen. Thanks to Calrok's security systems he still had full camera coverage of the entire complex in Earth 63. The creature was shooting what looked to be spores into the ground , creating massive fungal plants that looked like a mushroom had opened up with a bulging organ inside.

According to Cyrus and Charon, those were hives that created new betas every 24 hours or so, while slower than the Breeder's production it didn't tax the creature like rapidly creating biolums did. Cyrus's notes said that the breeder may struggle in prolonged combat, creating its energy blasts and hatching hunters would eventually cause the creature to run out of bile and thus be relatively helpless. However it could draw more bile from the hives without stunting their production, this likely explained the creature's behavior now that the two remaining Allegiance airships has retreated to a safe distance.

Allegiance's new perimeter wall was more than enough to keep the beta outbreak contained, Giovanni knew the outbreak would go no farther than that. The Allegiance had enough tanks and smaller jets to keep up the fight indefinitely. If they couldn't beat the betas with a surgical strike force, they would simply outlast the breeder until it inevitably had to leave the wall to find another source for hives. Unfortunately the hives were only able to be created near geothermal vents to self sustaining. Otherwise, they would decay and eventually explode. The soil lost its nutritional strength too fast.

A rough calculation by one of his scientists estimated that the breeder had a mere week before it would be forced to attack the wall, it had no chance of defeating allegiance, enough aircraft and soldiers could bring it down.

However Giovanni was optimistic, this defeat could be used to an advantage. This was a true large scale field test for the creatures, Cyrus and Charon's deaths were inconsequential. They had all of their notes and even a DNA sample from the breeder. In reality they had lost nothing that could not be replaced easily.

"Hopefully I can have some success on Earth 16..." Giovanni mumbled as Calrok and his two special operatives entered the room.

"You wanted to see us sir?" Calrok asked respectfully.

Giovanni smiled and said, "Yes, I have business to plan for on earth 16, in the meantime, Finalize you preparation for the attack on the Pokémon World tournament on Earth 63!"

Proofread And Edited By FXCF.

Author's note- We will finally have some action next chapter, along with a plot twist that hopefully none of you saw coming, there were a few hints but nothing too jarring.

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