Ryan and Matthew finally caught up with Dawn and Lucas as they surveyed their situation at the closest entrance to their original gathering point. While Dawn greeted the two with relative warmth, Lucas remained fixated on their present situation, which could not be described as anything less than grim. Ryan peaked out from around Lucas's head to spy what he had seen. The walls of Titanio City's gate hung relatively low, but they were manned by more than twenty men and their Pokémon. High above the entrance they had planned to use to infiltrate Claude's defenses, were the cannons that Corey had mentioned. Even in this more lightly guarded area, the way into the city and towards the end of the war seemed all but impossible.

"Well, that's just great" Lucas frowned. "We're outmanned here."

"I thought they said this would be lightly guarded" Dawn whined.

"With someone like Claude, you can bet it is probably already lightly guarded" Ryan remarked coldly. "But we still need to find a way in. Addy can't do everything."

"The key is to search out the weakness" Matthew opined.

Dawn eyed Matthew as if he had two heads. "What weakness? This is supposed to be a weakness!"

"Arrogance often masks clumsy mistakes" Lucas pointed out. "Professor Rowan taught me that."

"If you're betting on Claude to make a stupid mistake-" Ryan began, but Matthew tapped his shoulder. Ryan turned to face him. "What is it?"

Matthew cracked a wide open smile. "I found it." He gestured towards a smaller wire gate that was put up near the entrance to Titanio Hospital. The small and almost completely inconsequential fence was even more lightly guarded than the lower walls. In fact, from what Ryan could decipher, there were only two guards to occupy the whole situation. Two that he could not be happier to see, as his memories of their incompetence rang far back in his mind.

"Why would Claude even think of keeping those two idiots in line?" he spat out, trying to contain his laughter.

"Who are they?" Lucas asked.

"You ever pick up a dirt clod? The tiniest little specks of dirt and soil at the bottom can be used to represent Lily and Lena."

"Those two are more of a threat to a bowl of cereal than they are top lieutenants in Claude's army" Matthew concluded. "This could be easier than I thought."

"We still have to get passed them" Dawn reminded the boys. "And if they manage to trigger an alarm-"

"They won't get to. All we have to do is bait them out."

Ryan glanced down at Lily and Lena's positions. The two had been pests to him and his friends in the past, but in the same way Zubats were when one traversed a cave. Relatively harmless so long as you didn't go in too blind to what they had in store. But he knew that the two of them wouldn't just take any old bait. It had to be something so rich and enticing, they'd drop everything to try and get it. And he knew the only thing those two would do it for that they had on them. "And I'll be the bait."

"You?" Dawn gasped.

"Are you sure?" Lucas worriedly asked.

"We've dealt with these two" Ryan assured his friends. "And I can more than take care of myself."

"If you say so."

Ryan gestured towards the guards on the lower wall. "Make sure those guys get taken down first before anything else happens. Once I've got the two pinheads away from their positions, getting into where they're guarding should be as easy as pie." Without waiting for a moment of hesitation, Ryan made his way closer to where both of his old foes stood. He found a nearby column from what had once been a part of the Tram System and hid behind it to survey the situation. He peered out at Lily and Lena, his old foes whom had certainly fallen from whatever grace they might have had back in the day.

Like he and Matthew, Lily and Lena were twins, though the two were identical twins that you could only tell apart superficially by their choices in hairstyle. Lily was the one who had bright-colored hair, whereas Lena had darker-colored hair. But while the two were certainly both greedy and sneaky, that was the only personality traits the two shared. Lily was much more malleable and worrisome than her sister, with a penchant for overreacting at even the slightest hitch in their plans. Ryan recalled when he first met the two on his first journey, when they had caused a stampede of wild Pokémon to steal hundreds of Balm Mushrooms on behalf of the Syndicate. When he had even the slightest suspicions of the two, she nearly caved immediately.

As for Lena, she was more abrasive, calculating and cruel, though she was not without her own sense of mercy. When Ryan had gotten tangled up in their plans to try and steal a clutch of eggs from a Feral Sandslash's nest, the twins attempted to take Ryan as their prisoner, though it was Lena who had taken a pity on him. It was short-lived, though, as the animosity between the twins and their personal nemesis would only grow after each and every encounter.

He had endured more than his fair share of encounters with the two since those first two confrontations, including two close encounters with them in the Ruined Tunnel and outside of the Arcana Safari Zone and more adventurous showdowns with the two outside of Cauldro City and on the slopes of Mt. Heatmor. If he was being honest with himself, Ryan knew he would be better off never seeing these two again. But, if there had to be two guards to bait out into a trap, it had to be the two of them. He didn't trust anyone else to be pinheaded enough to fall for this scheme he was concocting. And if they wanted to end this war, he needed to play his part so that the defenses Claude had could be shut down and that Cynthia and Billy could obliterate the remnants of their foe's army.

While he waited for just the right moment to make his move, the lone Poké Ball he had on his belt spat out the last of his trusted Pokémon allies: Achilles the Gallade. The Pokémon surveyed their situation and stared intently down at Lily and Lena, who were already bickering about something between one another.

I should wonder why someone as meticulous and calculating as Claude Jacques would employ the two who constantly failed the Syndicate in the past?

"It always pays to have some kind of pencil pushers on the bottom rung of a ladder" Ryan snickered.

I assume you have a plan beyond just challenging them to a battle that will draw attention to us?

"Of course I do. But in order for it to work, I need you to do something for me." Ryan looked at the walls once more and beyond them at the city that was still heavily occupied. "Claude is hiding somewhere inside those walls. If we capture him, we can find out what happened to Sparks, Simba, Terra and all the others. But we need to find out in what building he's hiding in. That's where you come in. You're going to teleport into the city and find out which building he's hiding in and then come and find me."

Achilles eyed him as if his trainer had just spoken at him in a different language. Then how do you intend on fighting off those two without my aid?

Ryan shook his head. "I don't. I'm going to lead those two on a chase for me, while Dawn, Lucas and Matt make it into the gates they're guarding. Once they're inside, I'm going to let those two catch me and bring me into the city as their trophy of war. Considering how many times we served these two their behinds, I'd imagine anything more than me goading them would be seen as the first move in battle."

I can't say I approve of your capture, especially if I cannot find Claude quickly enough.

"Galatea will be in the city with Addy" Ryan assured his Pokémon. "Link up your minds and you two should locate him in a matter of minutes, if that. Once the real battle starts, we'll be able to use that information, storm Claude's hideout and capture him." He clenched his fist in anger. "Then we can put this mess behind us."

Achilles shrugged. I cannot convince you otherwise, so I consent. Good luck, my friend. We shall meet again soon. In a bright flash of light, Achilles vanished from sight and had entered the limits of Titanio City. With no alarms being tripped, Ryan knew the Gallade would complete his task in no time. Now, it was time for him to do his own. Though it was going to require a little bit more acting than he would ordinarily be comfortable doing.

He leaped out from his hiding space and whistled towards the bickering sisters. "HEY! Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber?!"

Lily and Lena both looked over at him at the same time, showing a sense of shock and alarm that Ryan Kingston had emerged to challenge them. Lily immediately began to squirm anxiously, while Lena clenched her fists in frustration at the sight of an old adversary like him.

"YOU?!"

"IT'S RYAN!" Lily squealed. "We've got to make the call!"

"It's time I put you two jokes in your-" Ryan made to reach for a Poké Ball on his belt and let out a gasp. "Uh oh."

Lena eyed the situation curiously, while Lily began to frantically try to dial out a call towards their higher ups. She pulled her sister's arm down as she nearly made the call. "Hold it, Lily. Something seems off about this. Why is it just him? He's always with those stupid friends of his, like when Archer reported their raid of Claude's mountainside estate." Her eyes widened greedily. "And it would seem our little hero here is truly on his own."

"You mean...no Pokémon?"

"Not a one" the older twin snickered. "You know what that means. Payback is going to be quite wonderful."

Lily tried to mimic her sister's wicked grin, but seemed to be struggling to do so. "Yeah. And if we're the ones who capture him, Claude will reward us!"

"Now you're starting to think like me" Lena smirked.

Ryan remained frozen in place while the twins collected themselves and made their way slowly towards him, the only thing keeping him from breaking off and running his knowledge that he needed to distract the two as long as possible for his friends to make their way into the outer defenses of the city. He lowered his hands as they soon came within a few feet of him.

"Where'd all that bravado go, Mr. Champion?" Lena demanded. "Didn't you call us 'jokes'?"

Lily nodded. "I remember that. And for all that you've put us through over the last nearly three years, I think you deserve some kind of punishment from us, you little twerp!"

Ryan finally took a step back. "Come on, ladies. I was just teasing you."

"I'm sure you were."

"It's not just us you've been a problem for" Lena reminded him. "It's also been poor Lord Jacques. The headaches you and that family of yours give him are never ending."

Lily stepped forward to close the gap between them and their prisoner. "And since no one has been able to get a hold of the former Champion for some time, I guess you'll have to answer for the rest of your family too, kid." She held out her hand towards the boy. "You'll be coming with us, kid. Don't make this harder than it has to be."

Ryan glanced behind the two subtly and saw Dawn, Lucas and Matthew gingerly making their way for the door Lily and Lena were guarding. Knowing he would have to completely disregard Lily's warning, he made to give the girl his hand. But before she could take hold of it, he instead slapped her hand down and ran for it. It didn't take long for both girls to be in hot pursuit of him. He led them around the area, doing his best not to attract the attention of other guards on the walls, though he noticed he did get a few disinterested glances down from the ones on the higher walls. After the third lap around their little arena, when all three of his friends had made it beyond the gates, did Ryan finally give in the chase and pretend to trip over himself, landing on the ground and scraping himself up a bit.

"Nice one there, klutz" Lena laughed. "I'd say we'd pay you back double for making us chase you, but that fall of yours more than made up for it."

Ryan tried to push himself up, but one of the twin's boots pressed him onto the ground and kept him there. "Do you mind?"

"And risk you resuming that chase?" Lena snarled. "No dice, kid. This time, you're going to pay for all of this."

"I think all of our stuff is inside" Lily cautioned her sister.

Lena frowned. "Then we're going to have to bring him in with us and report him." Lena removed her boot off of Ryan and hauled him back to his feet, keeping him from moving anywhere long enough for Lily to take a firm grip of Ryan's wrist. Knowing he couldn't make it seem too obvious that he wanted to be captured, Ryan pretended to struggle, but it didn't particularly phase Lily. While Lena led the way, Lily dragged Ryan along in the rear until they had made it to the door. Lena pushed the door open and gestured for them to follow her. Ryan reluctantly obeyed after Lily tightly squeezed his arm. Once the door had shut behind them, Lena locked the door, meaning that Ryan was now in this game for the long haul.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked her sister.

"We've got to report him to Archer" Lena explained.

"Why not Claude himself?"

"Do you trust Claude to actually believe us?"

"Do you trust Archer to not take credit for us getting him?"

Ryan rolled his eyes, slightly ashamed that he had allowed himself to be taken by these two again. Only slightly, because this time it was planned.

"Besides" Lily continued, "Nadine said that she overheard that Archer is being sent on a special mission. Probably to-" Lily stopped herself from saying more when she remembered the high profile prisoner they had just taken. "We need to take him to see Claude ourselves. Perhaps it will get a negotiated settlement."

"If Jon Kingston was still leading this, it would be a possibility" her sister countered. "Michael Kingston has no room for mercy or negotiations. He's going to want unconditional surrender." She eyed Ryan and snickered. "Now, we might have a way to force the great Michael Kingston to capitulate."

Ryan laughed. "You two jokes really think Michael would call for peace when he didn't even do it for his own sister?"

"Did I give you permission to talk?" Lena snapped.

"It doesn't matter!" Lily argued. "We need to bring him to Claude now!"

Lena seemed eager to argue, but admitted defeat. "Fine. I'll go check in with his secretary to make sure we can bring him up." She pulled out her Poké Gear and left to make a call.

Now, was where some of that acting had to come in. Ryan lowered his head and slumped against the wall, unable to fall down completely, due to Lily's grip on him, but the woman did look at him in confusion. "What's wrong with you?"

Ryan only let his frown worsen. "What's it to you? You guys got what you wanted. I goofed up. Big time."

"Serves you right for humiliating us as many times as you did" Lily snapped. "If you'd just cooperated with us back in Pocus Town when we first met, we would never have had a problem with one another."

"You guys never did anything as stupid as I did, running into battle without Pokémon at your side."

"Gotta admit, I've never done that before."

Ryan let himself slump harder until he ended up bringing Lily down to the ground with him. She was about to slap him for the escape attempt, but paused herself when he made no move to run, escape or even to free himself from her grasp. Instead, he simply put his lowered his head and sat in a crouched position. "I let everyone down again. First on Mirage Island and now again in Arcana. And now, I let myself get captured like an idiot. No wonder they've all lost faith in me."

Lily truly did not know what to say. "Um...I'm confused. You're the one who stopped the Syndicate before. Why would they lose faith in you?"

"What does it matter? They all blame me for what's happened. If I went any lower in the eyes of my family, I'd be less than a pebble."

Lily was silent for a long moment before finally speaking again. "Look, we're still obligated to take you to Claude. Even though you're not as grand a prize as you might have been now that you told me this, you're going to be kept as a prisoner. But if you behave yourself and do what we say, kid, we promise to take you to see your mother. I mean, not even a mother can lose all her faith in their child, right?"

Ryan sighed. "I guess not. But I'm the reason you guys have her to begin with."

"Claude wanted more valuable hostages" Lily admitted, "but your mother has been a model prisoner since she was taken. She's been keeping that firebrand cousin of yours in check."

Ryan nodded. That was at least good to hear. "It's good to know my Mom and Tori are okay."

"Lord Jacques takes care of his prisoners. But only if they don't act out of hand." Lily jumped up to her feet and stood over Ryan, her grip on his wrist softening a bit. "If you behave yourself as your mother does, it will go by much easier for you. But if you don't, well, don't give my sister or our colleagues anymore reason to want to make you suffer." She held out her other hand to the boy. "Come on. Lena will be back soon."

With no other recourse for the moment, Ryan let the girl pull him to his feet. As he reached them again, he leaned forward and pecked the young woman on her face, causing her to flush in surprise. "Thanks for listening to me." Knowing he couldn't sell the deception much more than he already was, he remained quietly in place, with Lily's hands locked on his wrists and her head locked in confusion.

After a moment of awkward silence, Lena returned, a knapsack on her back and a very frustrated look on her face. "Stupid Davis! He thinks we're lying or we've got the wrong kid. We're going to show him!" She paused as she looked over the situation. "Did I miss something?"

Lily pushed Ryan aside and shook her head. "Nope."

The darker-haired twin ripped open the knapsack and threw a coil of rope at her sister. "Make it snappy. We're taking the kid to Davis now!"

"Who's this-" Ryan began, but Lily pulling Ryan close to her reminded him of his situation and he agreed to keep quiet and obedient. At least for now. He let Lily pull his wrists behind his back and encase them in ropes. He tested the knots around his wrists, but found them giving no immediate slack. He'd be waiting for Achilles after all.

Once she was finished, Lily looked to her sister, who was now looking outside for something Ryan could only guess about. Lena looked around in a bit of a panic for something, until she realized she had just what she was looking for in her hand in the knapsack. She plucked out a scarf and flung it at Lena. When Lily was slow to move, Lena almost exploded. "Would you just hurry up?! The last thing we need is one of the others finding out what we have here!" Lily nodded and looked to Ryan with a bit of a regrettable look.

Ryan, knowing where this was going, remained still and did nothing. He did nothing as Lily wrapped the scarf around his mouth and head to silence him. But before he could react, Lena shoved the knapsack over his head, thus robbing him of his vision.

"What's this for?" Lily asked.

"I won't have anyone in the city recognizing him!" Lena snarled. "Now let's go!" The sound of pitter pattering made it clear to Ryan that Lena had gone ahead.

Lily sighed. "When did she become the paranoid one?" Nevertheless, Lily remained close to Ryan, as if she was inspecting him. When she was finished making sure he couldn't go anywhere, she gently took his arm in her hand. "Come on." Ryan let himself get pushed out the door, but Lily held him in place for second. "But it's a good thing for your sake that you've finally learned to listen to me." She then led him along out the door and onto the barren streets of Titanio City.

Ryan could not tell where he was being taken. Then again, he wasn't really trying to figure it all out. He was more than willing to let Lily and Lena drag him wherever they felt needed as long as it took. He was waiting and listening for Achilles. Once his Gallade found where Claude was hiding, the real fun could begin. Once in a while, when Lena would hiss at her sister, Lily would throw herself and Ryan into a back alley to hide from someone they didn't want seeing him. After several moments of waiting, Ryan would get pulled back up and led along again.

"If we're going to keep hiding him like that, I don't see the use in the sack over his head" Lily grumbled.

"The last thing you'd want is for Archer to come and demand we show him something, right?" Lena sneered.

"I guess" the younger replied half-heartedly.

"What's gotten you so down?" Lena asked. "Do you realize how set for life we're going to be when we hand him over to Lord Jacques?"

Lily didn't answer. As Ryan had planned, she was beginning to question her sister's ambitions. Whether it was out of pity or something else, he might not know, but it was clear the solidarity that was usually there between these two was shaken. The three continued moving along wherever they were taking their prisoner. The trio came to a stop outside of a large building of some kind. After the doors opened, Lena dragged both Ryan and Lily in behind her and shut the door again. Ryan could feel the marble flooring and fine carpeting as he was being dragged along and knew all too well that he was Titanio City's Historic Hotel.

Claude Jacques is in the Five Star Paradise Hotel, the voice of Achilles echoed in his head. Within the confines of Lady Kingston's cousin's penthouse. I am coming to retrieve you.

"I'm going to go get Davis" Lena declared. "Keep him someplace safe."

"Lena" Lily said woefully. "I've been thinking."

"That's never a good sign."

"I'm serious!" Lily seemed to be looking around for someone or something before continuing. "I think we need to be honest with ourselves right now. Claude is going to lose."

"Would you shut your-"

"No! He hasn't won anything since Michael and the others came back from Mirage Island. And there's no help coming from the team on the island. Do you want to go down with a sinking ship? Because I don't."

"You're not seriously thinking about defecting, are you? Do you think any Kingstons will accept us after what we've done?"

"No. That ship sailed when we planted bombs inside Taghwan Hall. But I'm in favor of bailing out and getting as far away from Arcana as possible. Leave this behind us and start a new life somewhere else. The kind of life Mom and Dad wanted us to lead." To Ryan's surprise, Lily grabbed his arm. "And Ryan here is the key to it. If we hand him into Claude, how do we know if we'll be able to enjoy any reward he gives us if those Kingstons attack?"

"So you just want to turn him back over to the Kingstons?"

"Ryan said the Kingstons are down on him since his constant mistakes have cost them so much" Lily pointed out. "And yet, so long as Michael Kingston is in charge, it would seem that he would still have a home with them." She pulled the sack off of Ryan's head so he could now see. "So, my idea is this. We keep him."

"Keep him?" Lena asked, her eyebrow rising. "For what?"

"If the Kingstons want Ryan back, we use him as a hostage exchange. If they don't, he's an outcast like us with some insanely good Pokémon training skills. We'll take him with us and he can be our personal bodyguard slave."

The color left Lena's face as she angrily glared at Ryan. "What ideas did this little twerp put in your head?"

Ryan was almost in agreement with her. Exactly how did his plan now end up with Lily planning on "keeping him"? The last thing he wanted was to be kept as anything belonging to these two. But he knew any words spoken would be muffled by the cloth over his mouth, thus keeping him silent.

"The idea that Claude is going down is beyond obvious to anyone who isn't a sycophant" Lily countered. "Keeping Ryan as our hostage is my own idea. Taking him with us is out of pity that he's the new black sheep of the Kingston Family. He didn't put any of it in my head."

Lena made a move to try and grab at Ryan, but Lily yanked him out of her reach. The two sisters seemed eager to have it out, but a phone call coming from behind the concierge's desk distracted Lena and she made her way over to answer it. With Lena out of range, Lily finally undid the scarf around his mouth to let him speak. There were plenty of things he wanted to say, but he was still dumbfounded how much his plan had worked. "You'd want to keep me around?"

Lily sighed. "It's not ideal for any of us. But neither is Claude losing." She eyed him up for a moment, but shook her head. "But like it or not, outcasts need to stick together. If my sister and I want to keep out of prison for a while, I think we'll be able to put up with you being around us. We were told that your brother and Jocelyn Aced stuck together in exile. Why can't the same be for us?"

"Well, I-"

A look from Lena while she was on the phone made Lily stand in front of their prisoner. "Shush" she urged him. "You'll make it easier on the both of us if you just stay quiet and do what we say." She then spun around to face him. "Who knows if it will even come to that? Someone in your family is going to want you returned safely. Worst case scenario for all of us, we have to make a run for it and lay low somewhere. Of course, you'll be coming with us if that's the case."

"But why would you-"

"I'd think you'd prefer this plan, considering my sister's plan for you would involve leaving you in a ditch somewhere." She winked at him, though whether or not she was joking, Ryan couldn't tell. She then stepped over to his side again and took his arm in her hand. "Stay on my good side and I'm sure it won't come to that." Ryan was about to retort, but she put her hand over his mouth to stop him. "I'd keep quiet if I were you. Lena never liked backtalk. When Ryan nodded in agreement, Lily removed her hand and then stepped behind him, almost as if she was going to untie him. Ryan's hopes were dashed when she instead took both his arms in her hands.

"It's not you I'd worry about being stuck with" Ryan admitted, eyeing the increasingly angry Lena while she snapped at whomever she was talking with.

Lily looked back at her sister and rolled her eyes. "She's not ideal, but Lena's not all bad. She's just been very protective of me since-"

"What are you just going to let him go now?" Lena snarled as she slammed the phone down and marching over to the situation.

"No" she defiantly spoke. "We've already got him as a prisoner. What's the point in keeping him in the dark?"

Lena steamed in anger. "You really mean to go through with this. To keep this little twerp as a hostage? To what ends?"

"You honestly expect us to be able to go anywhere in this world on our own?" Lily argued.

"You honestly expect us to lug him around with us all around the world?" Lena made to grab Ryan again, but Ryan was forcefully yanked backwards by Lily. Lena managed to grab one of his arms and hoisted him over to her side, prompting Lily to pull his other one closer to her. The tug of war over his freedom seemed to be just warming up and neither sister was willing to give ground. He tried to test the bonds around his wrists to see if he could free himself, but there was still no slack. Lily had tied them too tightly.

"Why not? He's a decent Pokemon trainer and a valuable negotiating chip if the Kingstons come after us. And if they don't, he's going to be a bodyguard for us. It's not like we're going to just let him run away."

"What makes you think you can trust this little imp not to run away?" Lena hissed.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Ryan asked impatiently.

"Not now!" Lily hissed, slapping her hand back over his mouth.

A heated and downright brutal argument would have exploded between them had both their heads not moved rapidly towards one another and bonked into the other with enough force to knock them both out. Both fell into a pile in front of the concierge's desk. Before Ryan could ask what had caused it, a quick Psycho Cut sliced the ropes around his wrists clean off. Achilles stood behind him, tall and proud.

We have to hurry. There are talks of a helicopter coming to help Claude escape from the city.

Ryan nodded. He made to lead the way out of the hotel, but paused when he saw Lily slumped on the ground beside her sister. He was pitying her as she had his façade. Was he truly the kind of person that would do something like lie to Lily and then leave her to her fate after she had revealed she saw them as comrades? Was he that far gone from the boy who had once dreamed of adventure, worshipped his cousin and pined for a girl with chestnut-colored hair and violet eyes?

Ryan?

Ryan refused to move. "No. We have to do something. I pay my debts." He looked around for a closet of some kind, locating one right behind the concierge's desk. He took Lily's arms and began to drag her unconscious body over towards the doorway and pushed it open. He then gently lowered Lily inside. As she lay against the wall of the closet, a spare maid's outfit fell off of the clothesline and draped over her like a blanket. "And now my debt is paid."

You owe debt to a woman who has harassed and attempted to kidnap you?

"I used deceitful tactics to trick those two" he admitted. "I don't think I'd like myself if I was able to be proud of leaving them to whoever finds them."

That's good. Galatea and I feared you were beginning a slide towards the same path your brother once walked.

Ryan frowned bitterly. "Let's just hope that Claude doesn't escape, then. Otherwise, I might need to ask Matt for advice. Now come on, Achilles. Let's head for the Grand Hotel."

{}

There was little Matthew could see within the doors of the main control center for the Outer Defenses. The doors were blacked out and the lights were too dim for him to make out anything of note. But from the way his Noivern floated in silence behind him, he knew that she was listening intently for any noises inside, especially considering if someone was in there. She let out a low chirp when she was finished listening.

"Good work, girl" Matthew acclaimed. He looked over to his two reluctant partners. "Okay, we've got only two guys in there. None of any major substance. Just two peons."

"That's too easy" Lucas responded. "There's got to be something missing here."

"Where are Victor and Nadine?" Dawn asked. "They're supposed to be in charge here, right?"

"Probably off trying to find out when Cynthia and Billy are coming" Matthew responded. "But they can't come until we shut down those cannons." He recalled his Noivern and sent out his Marowak. The Pokémon took one look at the door and slammed his thick bone club into it, causing the door to snap right off it's hinges. The two peons, both male computer nerds in their mid 20's leaped out of their chair in shock and held their hands up immediately, terror on their faces.

"PLEASE DON'T HURT US!" the first pleaded.

"We're just following orders" the other insisted.

"We won't hurt you so long as you don't get in our way" Dawn assured the two. She gestured for Lucas. "You're up, Lucas." When Lucas shuffled his way past her and towards the computers, Dawn gave him a heartfelt wink. "You got this."

Lucas made his way over to the computers while Matthew stood watch over the two computer nerds alongside Dawn. "Okay. Let's see how to disable these cannons."

"You guys are Kingstons?" the first Nerd inquired.

"What's it to you?"

"Please!" he begged. "We were taken from our homes and forced to man these computers for them. We don't know how any of the advanced weapons work. We just want to go home!"

"Maybe you will" Dawn told him. "But only after we've taken care of things."

"Those cannons can't be shut down" the second nerd chimed in. "They disabled all shut down keys to keep us from betraying them!"

"They're right" Lucas admitted. "None of the disable keys are working."

"We told you."

"You need to hack your way into that cannon" Matthew demanded. "We can't get any of the army in here with those cannons shelling them."

"You guys need to hurry with whatever you have planned" the first warned. "Our Boss is going to be back in a few minutes!"

Lucas went to work, using every encryption and firewall password breaking strategies he knew, but he was coming up with nothing. As the moments passed, beads of nervous sweat went down all six heads in the room, including the anxious Marowak. Dawn was worriedly scratching at her thighs while Matthew paced. Finally, Lucas found a way into the CCS or Cannon Control System. "We're in. But there's still no disable option on here."

"Then we've got to blast these things apart" Matthew concluded. "Plan A was always the better plan. Sorry Addy."

"Can you rotate the cannons?" Dawn asked. "Away from their front facing?"

Matthew's eyes widened as the glimmer of an idea flashed in his head. "I guess there is more than just Pokémon Training going on in Sinnoh."

"I'll take it as a compliment" Dawn shrugged.

"Lucas, make all of those cannons turn at an exact 180 degree angle. Aim them directly for the walls. We'll let these turrets destroy Claude's dreams of an empire on their own."

Lucas began to make all of the necessary adjustments. Within moments, all of the high-powered cannons that Claude's illegally siphoned money had paid for would destroy his own domain. As the trio was about to enjoy their work, Matthew turned to see a massive blue vine appear out of nowhere and snare Dawn's torso before yanking her up in the air, unable to reach a Poké Ball on her belt.

"Ugh! Let me go!"

"DAWN!" Lucas cried out. He flung himself out of the chair, but a harsh voice ordered him to stand down.

"Cool it, twerp!" a man's voice roared commandingly. Matthew turned to face an old accomplice as he strutted into the computer room. "Well, well, well. This is where little Matthew Kingston went to hide all those years ago while the rest of us were put behind bars. Hiding with his family."

"Victor" Matthew growled. "Let her go."

"You kids really did a number on that Estate of Lord Jacques's near Iron Village" the former Syndicate Administrator reminded them. "You three are hardened criminals in Claude's domain."

"Claude's domain?" Lucas cried out. "Claude doesn't rule anything. And before today ends, he's going to be behind bars!"

"That's where you're wrong" Victor laughed. "You three are going to make very good hostages to give to him, especially when Lily and Lena hand Ryan over to him as well."

"The same two that have failed you so many times before?" Matthew mocked. "Man, Claude must be desperate for help if you rehashes are all he has to serve him."

"Keep talking big, Matty. Go on. Test my patience. Let's see if your little friend can fair well." Victor's Tangrowth, too tall to fit through the doorway, squeezed his vines constricting Dawn tightly, causing her to scream in pain.

"ERGH! STOP IT!"

Lucas was doing all in his power to not beg for Dawn's safe release, while Matthew was doing everything to keep himself from tackling Victor then and there. Victor cackled triumphantly at their failure. "It was a valiant effort, kids. But you never stood a chance of outfoxing me! Now, you're going to pay for all of the defeats you cretins have handed-"

The ground beneath them began to shake violently. Matthew looked towards his Marowak, but his own Pokémon was struggling to remain composed. But if it wasn't his Marowak, then...

Victor's Tangrowth let out a tremendous yelp of pain. It released Dawn from the vines. Matthew pulled her away and flung her towards Lucas, who embraced her almost as tightly as the Tangrowth's vines did. Then, the Tangrowth spun around wildly as if a drill had been inserted beneath it before it fell over on it's rear end. From underneath the Tangrowth's position emerged an Excadrill. It bore it's claws at Victor and chirped angrily.

Before Victor could react, a Rotom phased through the walls out of nowhere and shot a jolt of electricity at the former Admin. He let out a scream of pain before trying in vain to swat at the Ghost Pokémon. Finally, the Rotom vanished out of sight and a big human's fist slammed itself into Victor's face. The once brutish thug stumbled backwards and fell onto his back. Gregory Craft emerged from the shadows, shaking his fist after his blow had landed with such force into Victor's face.

"Wow. Chris wasn't kidding when he said he might have sprained his wrist punching this guy" the Gym Leader remarked.

"Chris may exaggerate some things" another voice, a woman's, echoed nearby. "But he doesn't exaggerate fights and battles. James taught him too well." From out of the shadows, came Shannon Kingston, the Trickton Gym Leader, wife of Jeice Kingston, mother to Katrina and Renee and stepmother of Christopher and Cameron Kingston. "Still, even taking a thug like this down should make a man proud."

"Anything that helps me get closer to Tori" Greg answered.

"Aunt Shannon" Matthew called out. "We thought you guys were gonna help out at Magic Junction."

"This is where my Daughter conducts her Gym Battles" Shannon reminded her nephew. "This is where she's fighting. So I'll be here too."

"Where's Renee?" Dawn asked.

"Battling those gunboats with Billy, Jon and Cameron. Claude won't be going anywhere by land or sea."

"Let's just hope the air is an impossibility" Lucas gulped.

"Did you guys get things done?" Greg asked, looking at the two nerds in the room with them. "And these two?"

"They aren't our enemies" Dawn insisted.

Greg looked to Shannon. "Take these two to some place safe and out of the battle. I won't have any collateral damage on our hands." Shannon escorted both of them out of the computer room and away to whatever semblance of safety these freedom fighters were offering. When their position was secured, Greg looked to the trio. "Wait a minute. You are one head short. Where's your brother, Matt?"

Matthew looked to his partners and then to Greg and gave him a quick shoulder raise. "He played bait to let us get in here. He's probably somewhere in the city already."

Greg frowned. "I was hoping you kids would stick together. Oh well. Matt, go find your brother. If he's thinking of taking Claude on alone, he's going to need backup." His attention then fell on Dawn and Lucas. "Those cannons will start firing automatically when the police force arrives. But so long as you shifted their battle positions, we've done our job. I want you two to find the rest of your group. Namely, Addison, ArcNet and the Queensbury kids."

Dawn nodded excitedly. "You got it. Come on, Lucas!" She grabbed her friend's hand and raced out the door with him, Lucas's face redder than a ruby as he was led out the doorway. As they rounded the corner, Greg turned with a more stern look on his face than before. "Matt, this is very important. We cannot let Claude escape again. If we want to get any answers about Mewtwo's plans, we have to capture him. If I hear it from Michael one more time, I think I might rip my ears off."

"Is he coming?"

Greg shrugged. "Who's to say? He's said he's done fighting, but I doubt Michael can stay on the sidelines forever." Greg looked towards the watch on his wrist and nodded. "The endgame is coming. And this place is going to see battle the likes of which it hasn't seen since ArcNet blew up the Syndicate Compound." Greg ushered Matthew out of the computer room and out towards the end of the war.