Pokemon Rebel

by nasdreks

All Lucas ever wanted to be was a Pokemon Trainer, but his dream was stolen by his older brother John. Now a certifiable juvenile delinquent, he's getting a second chance to be a trainer and show his family, the world—and himself what he's made of.

39. Chapter 39 Burn and Boom

Chapter 39: Burn and Boom

The sights and sounds went past Lucas in a blur as he and Flint, one of the members of the Elite Four, battled their way through the lighthouse in Sunnyshore City. Lucas had finally made it to the Survival Zone to try to discover the cause of the several month long closure of the location of the eighth and final Gym. At first, all signs pointed to the irresponsible actions of the eccentric Gym Leader Volkner, but upon investigating the city with Flint, Volkner's oldest and closest friend, learned the truth: Team Cosmic was behind the closure of the city and Volkner was being held captive in the city's lighthouse. Now the two Trainers, alone against an unknown number of Cosmic hordes were fighting their way up the flights of the city's landmark on a mission to rescue the Leader while the power of the Pokemon League raced to Sunnyshore to help.

The two were on the third floor now, Lucas' hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath when they paused in front of the next stairwell, "How many floors is the lighthouse?"

"Six. That dude from the Gym said Volk's going to be on the fifth floor. I don't mean to sound obnoxious, but can you hurry it up a little? We might have knocked out the knuckleheads that were already here, but it's pretty safe to say they'll be bringing more red shirts while we're waiting,"

"It figures they had to disable the elevator," Lucas nodded and straightened himself up, Gizmo nudging his face in encouragement. The teen boy was always in fairly good physical condition, but he never developed the kind of stamina real fighters had and all the running and battling was taking their toll on him as much as his Pokemon. When it was clear the boy was ready to move again the two raced up the next set of stairs to the fourth floor. Flint was once again the lead, throwing open the door, another set of four Cosmic grunts ready for the ambush.

"Rapidash!" Flint called out as Cosmic's Pokemon appeared like horde in front of him.

"Franky!" Lucas added, the obedient water-type pushed back its opponents just with its appearance in the hall. Like at Snowpoint in the free-for-all battle for the temple, the Cosmic grunts ordered their creatures to attack the humans as much as their Pokemon opponents. Flint's Rapidash tore through most of its opponents with its searing hot mane and diamond-hard hooves. A Venomoth tried to blast Lucas with its Stun Spore but the teen's loyal Gyrados threw itself into the attack, blasting the bug with a Hydropump before succumbing to the paralyzing affects of the poison-type's scales. This was bad news for Lucas. Through the progressive battles between the battle at Sunnyshore Gym to all the fights on the way to this point in the lighthouse, all of Lucas' Pokemon had taken a beating. Though none of the team had been knocked out, all of his creatures was below half-strength. Even Gizmo's upbeat behavior, clinging to his normal spot on Lucas' shoulder could not disguise his panting and sluggish movements. Only Franky had remained in good shape, but now paralyzed, the only semi-healthy Pokemon Lucas' team was his Buneary Stella.

Flint's Pokemon managed to take up the slack created by Franky's downfall, but even the Elite Four's team was beginning to take serious wear and tear. The four grunts scattered to search for replacements for themselves but a new wave of Cosmic fighters sprinted in front of the set of doors to the fifth floor staircase. With no choice but to move forward, both red-headed Trainers charged the next set of grunts, hoping to use the momentum of their previous wins to keep pushing through.

This next crowd of grunts was larger than the last and none of them hesitated to summon another slew of Pokemon to block the Elite Four member and his younger companion. Flint heaved out his Pokeball once again, summoning Flareon. With no other choice, Lucas summoned out his normal-type. Stella, now fully devoted to her Trainer, tried her best to hide her weariness from the barrages of battles she participated in on their way to the fifth floor of the lighthouse. Once again the two men called attack after attack, knocking out their opponent's Pokemon with increasing difficulty. Cosmic, for their evil plans and demented ideologies, were very consistent in their belief in powerful Pokemon. Even the grunts' weakest creatures were final-form evolutions knowing devastating attacks. The tiny Buneary did its best against her opponents, her speed and fighting-type moves damaging them more than one would expect from a small normal-type. But at one point, she met her match. One of the grunts released a giant Exploud and went full-force against Stella. At first the Buneary could hold her ground, but the other normal-type's sound-based attacks kept throwing her back and slammed her against the walls and garbage cans in the hall.

Lucas could not stand to watch Stella get so hurt, especially not after everything they had been through together as Pokemon and Trainer. He called for her back to her Pokeball, but the Exploud refused to get out of the way, the red recall beam unable to make contact with his Pokemon. Forgetting about Flint and the rest of the battle, all the teen focused on now was getting his Buneary out of this fight. He tried different angles, shoving grunts out of the way to try to get to her. But no matter what he did, the Exploud blocked him. Stella continued to try to fight back and navigate around to try to get to her Trainer, but her opponent threw her back time and time again, the energy in her body just about gone. She was in the middle of the floor now, struggling with the last of her might to try to get herself to a standing position, the vicious Exploud approaching closer in a taunting manner. Just as the hideous normal-type was about to use a final Stomp attack, Lucas slid across the floor on his side, snatching Stella out of harm's way and taking Stomp in his own kidneys. The human's body exploded in pain from the force of the Pokemon's strength, his eyes watering involuntarily but the rest of his body wrapped around the tiny Buneary protectively, Gizmo following with a swerve around the Exploud to stand loyally by Lucas' face. Despite the near-blinding plain he just experienced he looked down to Stella, "I got you, you can return now,"

Stella looked up at her injured Trainer with tears in her large black eyes. This was her battle to fight, it was her job to win, and yet Lucas once again got injured for her sake. She buried her face into the boy's chest and sobbed. As her sobs and shrieks echoed in the still raging battle, her body began to glow. The tiny Pokemon became larger and larger in the teen boy's arms until her evolution was complete. Stella was a Lopunny now, and the change in her body recharged her strength. With a look of rage and movements of sheer grace and speed, the Exploud was hers now. The stun of Lucas' pain was gone now, but he remained on the floor in awe as he watched his new Pokemon battle. She was a creature of deadly beauty, the culmination of two bloodlines of champion Pokemon, and the training of a loving and selfless Trainer. Moments before, the Exploud had toyed with the tiny Buneary like a cat plays with a dying mouse, but now Stella in her new form was making short work of her opponent. With a devastating kick, the Exploud was sent flying into the crowd of still-battling Cosmic Grunts, instantly ending the battle as they scattered in fear and pain. The fight finished, the Lopunny returned to her Trainer's side. Lucas wrapped his arms around her face, "Thank you,"

"You okay, Brohawk?" Flint asked as he helped Lucas off of the floor.

"I'll be pissing blood for a week, probably, but otherwise I'll live," Lucas winced as he was pulled to his feet by the man with the Afro, and gingerly touched the spot where the Pokemon had kicked him. With one last pat for both Stella and Gizmo, he recalled both of his creatures and once again followed Flint towards the staircase.

The terrified grunt from the Gym had informed Flint that the captured Volkner was on the second-to-top floor of the lighthouse, locked in a storage closet. In the six-floor building, it meant the Sunnyshore Gym Leader was somewhere on the floor Flint and Lucas just entered. After the Herculean effort of non-stop battles between the first and fourth floor, both Trainers expected the fifth floor to be crawling with grunts, but much to both of their surprise, the fifth floor seemed abandoned.

"This doesn't seem suspicious to you?" Lucas asked in a low voice, the hairs on his neck once again warning him of danger.

"I don't care if this is a trap, I'll worry about that later. First we free Volk," Flint said as he began throwing open all the doors on the level, looking for his friend. He knew he was at the right place when he couldn't twist the knob on a door marked Closet. Authorized Use Only. Flint summoned out his Rapidash and ordered it to do a Double Kick against the locked door. The metal door flew off the hinges with a 'pop' and fell down like a domino. Flint's face lit up, "Volkner! Bro!"

"Well, well, Flint. It's about time you showed up. I was about to get bored again," Lucas jogged over to where Flint was and when he looked into the closet found himself falling face first onto the ground.

The fact of the matter was that Lucas liked girls. A lot. But the right man with the right looks could make the teen boy act as much of an idiot as around a pretty woman. And for Lucas, Volkner had the right looks. Like Flint, The blond Leader was in his early twenties. He sitting back in a metal folding chair with his feet against the wall of the small room in a strikingly casual manner. He had serious eyes and a small confident smile that allowed him to exude a kind of indefinable coolness without the grating obnoxiousness that often accompanied self-assured people. And upon seeing Volkner, Lucas' feet had miraculously discovered the one spot of uneven floor and sent him diving to the ground.

Volkner's eyes widened slightly at the teen boy's attraction-based lack of grace, "Who's he?"

Flint yanked Lucas back to his feet with his usual easy-going attitude and explained cheerfully, "This is Lucas. He's the kid who's been helping me rescue you,"

"H-hi," Lucas stuttered awkwardly. Volkner raised an eyebrow towards Flint in disbelief. The teen boy was already mentally slapping himself in the back of his head for his ridiculous personality flaw. Not only did he develop a surprisingly strong crush at the most inopportune time, crushes on men added an additional layer of complexity.

"Well, either way I appreciate you guys finally showing up. What took you so long, anyway?" Volkner lifted himself off of the metal chair and stretched himself out. He shuffled towards Flint and the two old friends bumped fists.

"Didn't know you needed the help, bro. The League thought you were just being all moody again and fried the power," Flint explained.

"For two months? Really?"

"Yeah. In fact they wanted to strip you of your Leader title. That's what they originally were trying to send me here to do. Fact is, if it wasn't for Brohawk over here, you'd still be locked in this closet. He was the one who thought you might need help,"

A flash of anger passed behind Volkner's eyes but he immediately calmed and turned to Lucas with a more genuine smile, Flint's piece of information seeming to improve the Leader's confidence in his other rescuer, "Thanks, kid,"

Lucas could only bring himself to respond with a nod, fighting his body to not allow his face to become bright red.

"Point is we're here now and the cavalry's coming soon, so let's am-scray out of here," Flint said with a gesture back towards the stairwell.

Volkner shook his head adamantly, "We gotta get my Pokemon back first. Then we need to go back to the Gym. They're keeping my Junior Trainers hostage there,"

"Um, Cosmic didn't take your Pokemon, did they?" Lucas managed to ask, his voice cracking slightly, "Because if they did I don't know how'd we get them back. A Leader's Pokemon would be pretty valuable to those creeps,"

Volkner sneered as he started heading towards the staircase for the top floor of the lighthouse, "Nope, never got a chance to. Like the rest of you, I thought these people were workers, that is until they invited me to the lighthouse. Once I ran into him, I realized something was up. They chased me up to the lamp room but I stashed my team before they got me. Since then I've just biding my time until I could make my move,"

Lucas wondered about who the Leader was talking about when he mentioned 'him', but he felt he couldn't muster the decorum to speak again to Volkner without tripping over his tongue. With a determined gait, the Sunnyshore Leader climbed up to the top floor of the lighthouse. The lamp room was the area where the giant light that warned passing ships of the rocky reef around the city was located. In olden days, the light was lit by oil, like a giant candle and was tended constantly by the lighthouse keeper. Today the light flashed with the power of electricity, and was largely maintained automatically. With the sky pitch black now, the lamp was on and flashing back and forth across the water. Volkner jimmied with the locked door that allowed maintenance workers to go inside the light itself and marched to a panel below the slowly moving lamp. Popping open the panel, he pulled out a belt with several Pokeballs, smiling with relief that his creatures were still there. He turned towards Flint and Lucas, "Okay, now we can leave."

"Already, Mr. Volkner? And you were just beginning to see things from my side," the voice was all-too-familiar to Lucas. When the three Trainers turned back towards the door the Cosmic commander Major Mathias was leaning casually against the door frame. His eyes immediately locked with Lucas', and that annoying snake-like smile spread widely across his face, "This is truly my lucky day. Now I've got one of the member of the 'elite' Four trapped and I get to run into you again, Lucas. You always know how happy you make me just to see you,"

Volkner turned to Lucas in rage, "This guy's a friend of yours?!"

"He's as much my friend as a Golem is a water-type," Lucas responded back, his sense of outrage outweighing his shyness around the handsome blond Leader.

"This is the jackass that's been keeping me in the closet this whole time," Volkner snarled, "He's been wanting me to sign up with Cosmic,"

"But you see now what I was saying weren't lies. You are notorious for being one of the strongest Trainers in all of Sinnoh, on par with the so-called Champion, yet your potential is constantly suppressed by the Pokemon League and their ridiculous policies. Any time you try to become more than you already are, you are held back. You may think Flint is your friend, and I no doubt think he believes he is, but at the end of the day he's just a hand puppet for the League, soothing you back to your Gym and forcing you to face weakling Trainers and their pitiful teams. And look, the moment it seems as that you've once again tried to live up to your potential, satisfying your mind with making puzzles for your Gym since you can't satisfy your craving for that power you yearn for, the League is ready to throw you away. What Flint told you was true, they were going to take your Gym away. Even after lowering your head time and time again for the Pokemon League to stay within their rules, they are so easily going to turn their backs on you. Come to Cosmic, Volkner. Your strength will never be held back, your potential never castrated. With your talents allied with the General you would probably even come to outrank me. Imagine it, Colonel Volkner," Mathias tempted, his voice with the soothing quality of a demon.

"You can't honestly believe something like that would appeal to him? Right Volk?" Flint snapped towards the Cosmic officer and turned to his friend. Much to Flint's shock, Volkner said nothing. The blond Trainer had an unreadable expression on his face, obviously deep in thought. Almost like he was considering what Mathias had to say. Weakly the Afroed Trainer called out to his friend again, "Volk?"

Mathias wide mouth spread even further with his satisfied smile. "I guess you don't know him as well as you thought. Of course if you are truly so loyal to your friend you can always join, too. The General would be extremely pleased if you I could get three of the most powerful Trainers in this region to be recruited to Cosmic,"

"Three? Is a mouse in your pocket a Pokemon Trainer, too? Because I know you don't mean me, Major Pedo," Lucas snarled.

"You are too much of a tease, Lucas. But I suppose that's what draws you to me. The game's more fun than the prize. But we both know I'm getting you on Cosmic eventually. That's why I don't resort to the same tactics I use for recruiting other Trainers to our ranks. I have the patience to wait the resolve to keep chasing," Mathias smirked with an unconscious lick of his lips.

"I'd tell you to bite me, Mathias, but I'm afraid you'd take me literally," Lucas replied.

"Most likely," Mathias added dryly before turning his attention back to Volkner, "Please don't think me rude and that I was ignoring you, Mr. Volkner. So what do you say about my offer?"

"I have a pretty specific place on where you can put that offer," Volkner finally spoke. Flint's worried look instantly vanished, "You're right about one thing, Major, I don't like having to hold myself back. I do get really bored when I have to face a bunch of green Trainers who think their ready for the Pokemon League and I can beat them in a couple of rounds. But what you don't get is on how you get to fulfill your potential. You don't get strong by crushing the weak, you get strong by facing the strong. I want to keep facing stronger and stronger Trainers just to see how far I can go, to see what me and my Pokemon can do, what's the total voltage we can take. But I don't stay at the Gym because Flint pleads with me, or because of anything the League says, but because every so often I get my strong Trainer, and I lose. And those rare Trainers are what keep me a Leader. That test that shows me I haven't hit my potential yet and I get inspired again,"

"Yeah Volk! That's the bro I know and love!" Flint shouted as he pumped his fist in the air.

"If that's your answer, I'm afraid I can't let you leave," Mathias sighed irritably and reached into his long overcoat to pull out a Pokeball.

Lucas immediately reached for his own belt when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Flint was smiling at the boy, "No worries, Brohawk. We'll handle it from here on out," He stepped next to his oldest friend and offered his fist, "So what do you say? I bring the burn, you bring the boom?"

"Damn straight," Volk replied and collided his fist with Flint's.

"Seviper! Arbok! Go!" Mathias commanded.

"Rapidash!" Flint summoned.

"Raichu!" Volkner added.

Once again Lucas was witness to a fierce battle between powerful Trainers. For his intense dislike of Mathias, the teen knew the man was no one to underestimate as second in command in Cosmic. But his opponents were a member of the Elite Four and the strongest Gym Leader in Sinnoh. The first round was a stalemate. Volkner's Raichu managed to take out the Seviper, but Flint's weakened Pokemon succumbed to the Arbok's attacks. Flint next called out his Flareon, to which Volkner recalled his evolved Pikachu and brought out his Jolteon instead. Mathias' next Pokemon was another serpent-like creature, the water-type Huntail. In this round Flint and Volkner were able to take out both of the Cosmic commander's Pokemon. Mathias then summoned a Steelix and Gengar and with their combined attacks were able to take out both of the Eevee evolutions. Flint and Volkner showed no hesitation, and summoned out the next of their Pokemon.

"Go Magmortar!"

"Go Electivire!"

The two massive Pokemon shook the lighthouse slightly as the appeared before their Trainers. Even as pure types with no second types to add more advantages, the two overpowered Pokemon made short work out of the last of Mathias' team. Though a flash of anger appeared behind the Major's aqua green eyes, he started laughing, "Well that was pointless. For you of course, not for me. While we were having fun with our Pokemon about forty of my grunts are behind me in the staircase. You're still just as trapped as you were fifteen minutes ago,"

The three young men edged away from the door as they saw Mathias was right. From the staircase they could hear the rhythmic sound of marching feet coming up the stairs. Though not yet panicking, all three Trainers looked around to see any hopes of escape. They were on the sixth floor, there were was no more 'up' to escape to. As Lucas glanced out the windows to see how far down was the ground his own heart sank slightly. Up until an idea flashed in his brain.

"Th-these windows open?" Lucas stammered to Volkner, his face flushing slightly when the Leader's elbow accidentally touched his arm as they continued to back away towards the clear glass walls.

"That they do," Volkner quickly spun back and hit a small latch towards the floor, causing one of the huge glass panels of the lamp room to pop open, sending in a whoosh of cold night air.

Lucas pulled off a Pokeball from his belt and threw it out the window, "Go Hotrod," The Charizard appeared in a flash in the black sky, flapping his wings while he waited for Lucas. The Trainer hopped onto his Pokemon's back and gestured to his two companions to join him.

Flint hooked his arm around Volkner's elbow and dragged his friend forward. With outright giddiness he said, "Now this is what I call riding in style!"

As the grunts rushed forward, Lucas nudged his Pokemon with his knees and Hotrod swooped down in a dazzling dive. With a barrel-roll under the pedestrian bridge now lit up like a landing strip, the three Trainers escaped their captors. As the Charizard's wings beat up and down Volkner tapped Lucas on the shoulder and shouted, "We need to head to the Gym. We gotta free my Junior Trainers,"

"I think Brohawk is going to head there anyway. We still need to give the PL the signal," Flint replied for Lucas. With a nod in agreement, the teen boy guided his Pokemon towards Sunnyshore Gym.

When they landed Cosmic had not arrived yet, the Charizard's speed giving the three a much needed advantage in an otherwise badly skewed fight. But their time would not last long. It was Volkner's turn to take the lead, guiding the red-headed men through his Gym. Lucas had no time to admire or study his surroundings, the thought of an upcoming Gym match entirely blotted out as the battle to rescue Sunnyshore City was becoming more intense. The Pokemon League had to come in now. All three Trainers' teams were badly wounded, and Cosmic had close to a thousand of their members keeping the city under their thumbs. The police, the Pokemon Center and the city's citizens all kept as much under lock down as Volkner was in the lighthouse, and his Trainers in the Gym. The Leader found his captive followers locked in the generator room and when he turned the key and opened the door he was rushed by a little girl in a Pikachu costume.

"Waaah! Volkner I'm so glad you're here, I was so scared," the little girl sobbed, "We didn't know what happened to you and those workers locked us all down here,"

Volkner put a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder as well as locking eyes with the seven other Junior Trainers locked in the room. Volkner's Trainers were electricians, rock musicians and another little boy also dressed in a Pokemon costume, "You're all going to be safe now. But we need to move fast. Those 'workers' are actually Team Cosmic. That group we've been hearing about for months. We thought were ready for them, but these guys' tactics aren't some crazy person with a harebrained scheme. They're still here and there's no way we can take them on head-on. They'll be back, so we need to go and signal the Pokemon League. So everyone, get ready!"

"Right!" The Trainers said in unison. Five of the Trainers scattered to other parts of the Gym, but three followed Volkner as he guided them, Flint and Lucas through the concrete corridors that existed for maintenance just behind the Gym walls. But as they moved through the tight halls a hum rang through the building everything became pitch-black.

"So they cut off our power. They think that will stop us," Volkner laughed humorlessly, "What shape is the back-up generator in?"

"I guess you didn't pay attention in our prison," One of the musicians who had more lip piercings than Lucas said snidely, "Back-up generator is gone. Workers, or I should say, Cosmic, took that sucker out as soon as they shoved us in,"

Volkner was unfazed, "That doesn't matter. We're still an electric-type Gym, after all,"

So through the darkness, the blond Leader still moved in the tight corridors with his Trainers following awkwardly behind him. He finally led the group into a room that had slightly more light, a single, small window high on the wall let in the small amount of light from the moon and the ambient light of the other buildings and streetlamps in Sunnyshore. In the dim light, Lucas could see a large machine that looked like something out of Frankenstein. The handsome blond Trainer raced towards the mysterious device and started examining it for defects or sabotage.

"Good, nobody's been here. I'm glad I finished it when I had the chance," Volkner said softly under his breath. He then turned to the group, "Okay guys, this is what we're going to use to get a signal to the League. This unit to my left is a lightning rod attached to a charging lode. I need you to use your Pokemon to zap this thing as much as you can. You don't need to worry about overdoing it because this thing needs loads of energy. Get ready because if Cosmic killed the lights they know we're here and they're going to eventually find us. So we gotta work fast,"

"Go Pikachu!"

"Go Magneton!"

"Go Luxray!"

"Go Electrode!"

As Volkner and the Junior Trainers began charging the machine, Lucas added his own Pokemon to the mix, "All right, Sparky! Have fun!"

The curious and happy-go-lucky Rotom was delighted to try something different from training and battling and began zapping the rod with the last of its strength. As the five electric Pokemon used their power with all their might, the large mysterious machine began humming and beeping to life. As the Trainers and their Pokemon worked, Volkner continued to adjust nobs and switches on the device, carefully checking dials and gauges as he waited for the right level to be achieved.

Suddenly the rest of the lights came back on in the Gym and standing in the doorway behind the Trainers was once again Major Mathias. He was still smiling triumphantly and carrying himself with his usual suave and dignity, but there was no hiding the irritation glittering in his green eyes, "Why must all of you waste my time like this? This stupid stubbornness impresses no one and you're just exhausting yourself and your Pokemon. This operation was planned for months and I have over a thousand of my people in the city. Do you honestly believe that a handful of weak Trainers and a few strong ones could stop a mission of this size? Cosmic's strengths are not just physical, but mental as well. We have planned for every contingency, plotted for every error and contemplated for any scenario. I expect this kind of adorable naivete from Lucas, but Volkner, you should know better,"

Volkner ignored Mathias and turned to Flint, "Flint, I have a confession to make. I have been doing some upgrades to my Gym recently. What can I say, I get bored way too easily," With a satisfied smirk, the Leader lurched up the largest switch on the machine. All the charge from the hardworking Pokemon was pulled up into an arc and disappeared through thick copper cables in the ceiling.

"What have you done?" Mathias demanded, but the blond Trainer only responded with a sneer. Lucas felt his heart beating faster after seeing such a cool act of defiance against someone he disliked so much. Mathias' eyes narrowed dangerously and he ran back into the corridors, the rest of the Trainers, Gym Leader and Elite Four Member following him to the outside to see what Volkner had done. From the outside the large metal building was now acting like a Tesla coil. Loud, large arcs of electricity that could be seen from miles away flashed up in the sky towards metal towers that surrounded the Gym.

"Well Volk, I'd definitely call this a signal," Flint whooped.

Within a matter of seconds the grunts of Cosmic came running towards their leader like a horde of rats trying to abandon a rapidly sinking ship. Following behind were dozens of faces that Lucas recognized. Riding on his massive Rhyperior's shoulder with his Lucario on the opposite side was Riley, following close behind on a snaking Steelix was Byron with Roark and Grant standing behind him. From the route from Lake Verity stood Gardenia followed by Professor Rowan's assistant Lucas. Floating down from of her Mismagius to make an entrance was Fantina. Clasping hands and with her shining burns still healing, Maylene and Candice ran together, their teams once again battering the Cosmic grunts. And from the docks, leading a group of the highest ranking Trainers in Sinnoh stood Cynthia, Crasher Wake with Barry trotting behind, an old woman who stood with sheer ferocity for her age and a girl who couldn't be more than twelve with blue hair and a gentle smile. The Cosmic battalions were truly panicked now, looking to their leader for help.

Mathias' flicked eyes around, trying to remember the backup plan for this situation when a sparking of static came from his overcoat. He pulled out a radio and Lucas could hear the deep, emotionless voice crackling out of the device, "Mathias, this operation is a failure. We're pulling out now,"

"Yes, General," Mathias responded curtly, "You have my sincerest apologies for my failures. There were a couple of scenarios I did not foresee. The next operation will not have these potentials for error,"

"There will be no next operation, Major, we are too visible in Sinnoh. We will be pulling out of the region. At least for now," The enigmatic General ordered.

This command seemed to take Mathias by surprise, "But General what about—no, never mind," the Major seemed to want to argue, but thought better of it. With a gesture to his troops he put away the radio and pulled out a second device that looked like a remote control and clicked it. Within a few seconds several giant helicopters were filling the chaotic air with noise and dozens of cables were lowered down. The grunts not caught in a fight with a Pokemon League member rushed for the escape route, creeping up to vacate to safety. As the last of the uncaptured grunts ran away to the choppers, Mathias turned one last time to Lucas, "This is goodbye for now, my dear friend. But we will meet again. For now, you serve the Pokemon League and fail to see the hypocrisy of your hatred for Cosmic, and you look at me with those hate-filled eyes and determined jaw. But you will come to see the truth, and I will wait with anticipation for the day you serve under me in Cosmic,"

"Satan's gonna be nursing frostbite first," Lucas responded. With a last of his skin-crawling snake smiles, Mathias grasped onto a cable and was pulled into the sky by the chopper.