Authors' Note: If there are any questions, please leave a review and we will do our best and try to answer it!
Disclaimer: We don't actually own Pokemon.
Chapter Six: Accumula Assault
Xeno carefully heaved a freshly cut wooden beam onto the frame where she and Rachiel were re-building the roof of Pansear's Grill, which had, quite unfortunately, been burned down by Shadow Force. It had been two weeks since the sabotage battle, and most of the small town had already been rebuilt.
"Hey!" Xeno and Rachiel turned as Amethyst barked at them, bounding down the path that led to the beach. "It's time to go!"
"So soon?" Rachiel gazed up the sandy path to see several vans with the phrase "Evolution Revival ~ Evolution Stones sold, Dungeon Items Bartered" stenciled into their sides sitting atop the hill. "But we haven't finished rebuilding Pansear's Grill yet..."
"S'okay, miss." A Chesnaught working by their side paused his work to talk to them. "We got plenty o' Pokemon to help us now. Go and free Accumula Town!"
"That's right!" a Hawlucha added, "I got a cousin there. Go!"
Rachiel glanced at Xeno. The Breloom shrugged. "As the birdie says." The two turned and darted after Amethyst.
"Yo! Watch out!" Jason complained as they blew by him. He had completely recovered from Mali's poison, but was still considerably weak. "Let a poor Pokemon hitch a ride, will ya?"
Two seconds later, Jason was on Rachiel's back, whooping and cheering as he showered the roads with waffles and poffins. The four Pokemon raced towards the van.
It was almost time...
"Ralphie, my boy!" Ralph turned from one of the vans, where he had been packing Sitrus Berries into the trunk, to see Ron running towards him. Or maybe just the speed of Ron, since that was the way he usually moved―fast.
"What is it, Ron?" the Lucario asked, stepping quickly out of the way as the Treecko plowed past him and into the crates of berries in the trunk.
"I've made a breakthrough, that's what!" Ron cheered excitedly as he sat up from the mound of berries. Half a Colbur Berry was smashed against his head, so he looked like he was wearing a lumpy war helmet, but he still looked more excited than when he'd told their kindergarten teacher, Miss Lumo, that he will no longer be requiring her services because he'd decided that he wanted to become a hobo when he grew up. (Man, did Miss Lumo really blow her top on that one. Anybody remember? Well, Ralph remembers.)
Ralph stifled a laugh as he remember Miss Lumo's expression from back then. "Yeah, sure. What's the breakthrough?"
"The breakthrough..." Ron led Ralph to a wooden shack that had hastily been set up as the new Town Hall. He threw open the creaky wooden doors. "... are these babies!"
Half a dozen cannons were standing in the dusty room. They were dark blue with a red bottom, and a gold diamond-shape pattern on the top. Several spikes and fin-like objects were arranged on the cannons in resemblance to a Garchomp. Five cannons were by themselves on the floor, while one was in an armored car that someone had poached from the Shadow Force. (*cough* Victor, stealing is bad. *cough*)
Ron patted the van. "I modified it a teensy bit, so it's much more well-protected now. It'll carry the cannon and there's a switch that'll flip open a chink in the armor of the van where you can put the muzzle of the cannon. It's destruction-proof!"
Ralph saw his point and the potential in the new weapons. "Alright. Get some Pokemon to help you carry them to the other vans," he said with a grin, "Let's use these to give the Shadow Force a whole new definition for pain!"
"Oh, yeah! This is epic!" Ron cheered and started tap-dancing around the tiny shack. He yelled at some Machokes to help him carry the the cannons to the vans as Ralph turned and went to look for Lumière. He smiled a bit as he saw the words "Evolution Revival"on the side of the vans. It has only been due to Lumière's intelligence and Marcus's suggestion for the name that they had came up with such a great disguise for the name of the traveling trade team they were in.
"Evolution Revival" was an anagram for "Vive La Revolution".
Thirty minutes later...
Ralph looked around at the other Pokemon that were with him in the van. There was Jason, of course, Lumière, Mark, Marcus, and Charlez, who was looking quite weak and frail but still had a bright spark in her eyes. Trent, Ron, Xeno, May, and Rachiel were in the last van to keep watch on the rear. Victor, Amethyst, and Charnette were in the middle of the group of vans. Morfient, of course had stayed behind in Nuvema town.
The Revolutionists joked and examined their various trading trinkets as the vans rumbled along.
"Oh, yeah, you got it, you got it, POFFINS AND WAFFLES!" Jason danced as he sang along to his favorite song―"Poffins and Waffles".
Ralph leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes for a quick nap. It was only an hour's drive from Nuvema to Accumula. The poor Lucario should be able to get in a quick nap during that time, right?
Wrong.
"Stop the car!"
Mark, who had been driving, flashed a STOP signal to the cars behind and frantically stomped on the brake pedal. The van screeched to a halt. A murmur rose up from the other vans.
Ralph, who had been slammed into the window and was now almost as flat as a pancake, rubbed his forehead, and glanced at the Pokemon who had just barked out the hysterical command―Marcus.
The Leafeon was wild-eye and looked a bit crazed―and a bit scared as well. He shoved open the door and scampered outside―and into the woods.
Ralph and Mark sort of just stared at the Verdan Pokemon as he disappeared into the shadows of the forest.
"Well? Aren'tcha ginna go after him?" Ralph turned around to see Amethyst and Charnette hopping out of one of the other vans. "Git goin'!"
"Right!" Ralph looked around. "Lumière and..."
Mark held up a claw. "Wait a sec." he said, "I've seen Marcus like this before. It'd be better if I went after him alone."
"Wait." Ralph cut in, "It's not safe to go in there alone." He didn't have to say anything anymore. Rouge Pokemon and criminals lived in the forests, robbing poor travelers and killing defenseless ones. Mark was skilled, yes, but one poorly aimed Flamethrower could mean the death of the entire forest. "I'll go with you, okay?"
Mark didn't protest, and the two went off into the dark forest, following Marcus's frantic steps.
They found the Leafeon staring at an old, broken-down shack with the faded letters "THE FOREST BAR"on a rusty sign.
"Marcus..." Ralph started.
"I used to live here." Marcus muttered, partially to himself, "With my grandmother. She was a white witch. She said a battle was coming. I didn't believe her..." He walked into the abandoned bar. Mark and Ralph shared a concerned glance, and followed the traumatized Pokemon.
Marcus led them to a dusty library, where a creaky wooden table still stood. On it was a jade statue of a winged Eevee. Mark examined it.
"This isn't jade! This is made out of pure Grass Gem!" The Blaziken inhaled sharply. "It's a priceless artifact!"
But Marcus wasn't paying any attention to the priceless statue. Next to the statue was a note, which Marcus was reading. Ralph peeked over the Pokemon's shoulder.
My dear grandson,
After you left, I too, left. There was no more reason for me to stay.
And yet―I saw a vision. I see you returning here, asking for answers. Asking why this curse must course through our veins―especially in you.
Go to the pond. I've shown you the rituals a long, long time ago. You remember it, right? That object is now yours for the taking. Take it, and bring it to the moon goddess Cresselia to cleanse it.
Your path has many stones in it, Marcus. Good luck, my grandson. I doubt that we should ever meet again.
Your Grandmother,
Noni
"Noni?" Ralph asked, then realized that he'd said it out loud, "I mean... What did she mean, Marcus?"
"She means this." Marcus picked up the statue carefully in his mouth and stepped out of the broken down bar.
Behind the bar was a shimmering gray pool, so eerie that Ralph shivered. There seemed to be the faces of tormented Pokemon in the reflections of the pool.
Marcus didn't seem to notice the strange patterns in the water. He tossed the statue into the pond.
"Uh... do you know how much that costs?" Mark blurted out, "I could've re-bought my van!"
Marcus stared at the water. His eyes seemed to glow yellow, or was it just the sun reflecting off the pool?
Then the pond exploded.
"Duck!" Ralph yelled, pushing himself to the ground as pressured water shot through the air like Hyper Beams. Mark screeched and hid behind the stump of a lightning-struck tree. Marcus, however, simply closed his eyes and flattened his ears, letting the water wash over him.
Ralph crept up cautiously as soon as the water stopped. Mark poked out from behind his improvised shelter. In the middle of the now dried-up pond was a pair of Stantler's antlers. Entwined between the ivory bones was a rusty, cracked sword.
"Uh... Can that be used?" Mark asked.
"No. Not yet." Marcus strapped the sword to his back. "I need to go cleanse it."
"How?" Ralph asked, "We'll go with you."
"You can't." There was a fractured light in Marcus's eyes. "Nobody can come with me."
There was a silence. Then Mark brought up the destined question. "Are you... leaving the Revolutionists?"
"Just temporarily." Marcus's voice was tight. "Just to... heal my mind. And the sword. You know what I mean, Mark. Nothing was same after that―that incident."
Mark winced at the memory. "You mean the one where Har―... I mean, are you sure?" he asked.
Marcus's eyes saddened. "Yeah, I'm sure." He lowered his head. "Thanks, Ralph. I―I'll be back. Maybe not soon. But... I'll be back. Promise. And... thanks." He trudged past the Lucario and Blaziken and headed into the forest.
"Wait, you let him leave?" Jason screeched as soon as Ralph delivered the news, "A-Are you crazy or mad or insane or what?"
"Aren't they all synonyms of the same thing?" Victor grumbled. The Revolutionists had temporarily pulled up on the side of the road for an emergency meeting.
"The poor creature certainly did need healing," Charnette put in, uninterested and focusing on cleaning her paws. Since it was coming from an expert enchantress, nobody argued with her.
"So that's that. He'll come back." Ralph said firmly. Then he pulled out an envelope from his traveling bag. "Anyways, Scarlet sent me a note and prophecy..." He opened the envelope and dropped his jaw abruptly. "It's empty!"
Charnette leaned over and sniffed the paper. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "It has the smell of that mangy spy." she said, revolted by the scent that burnt her nose.
Ralph slammed his paw into the table where they were all seated around. This had gone too far. "Mark―I don't care what you say, that spy has to be caught! Maybe Scarlet's letter contained a secret note―or clue! Now that lead's been stolen!"
"Um, why didn't you check for secret messages as soon as you got it?" May asked timidly.
"I-I forgot..." the Lucario admitted, "But... that was from Scarlet! The oracle! This spy must be caught!"
"I agree." Charnette purred, baring her fangs in a bloodcurdling smirk, "I would love to see the beastie that managed to escape death for so long. He would make a very interesting test subject for a new curse I've been working on."
"Can you guys sense him?" Charlez asked.
Charnette, Mark, and Ralph all shook their heads.
"He's not around right now." Charnette returned to licking her paws, disinterested.
"Normally, I could detect the tiniest trace of him if he's around―but no, he's not here. Not now." Mark informed.
Ralph closed his eyes and spread his aura-sensing senses as far as he could, but he couldn't find the silvery aura that had eluded them for so long. "Yeah, the guy's not here." he admitted reluctantly. "We'll have to table that for later. Let's get going."
The Revolutionists nodded grimly.
Nearing Accumula Town...
"STOOOOP!"
For the second time within forty minutes, Ralph was jolted awake by a Pokemon's piercing scream.
"What ith it now?" Jason mumbled sleepily. The Revolutionists had more or less all fallen asleep during the trip. For the second time, Mark slammed on the brakes and brought them to a screeching halt.
"What is it this time?" Ralph muttered drowsily.
Amethyst barged into their van, her amber eyes dancing in the dim light. "Charnette sensed somethin'. The lass'll explain."
The Liepard waved her tail, gesturing for them to get out of the van. The Revolutionists retreated to a cool spot in the forest next to a little eddy.
"They are reversing our trick." Charnette glanced back at the forest for a moment.
"What do you mean?" Jason yawned. "Was it... really worth... waking me?"
"Unless you want a perfectly lovely and painful death." Charnette snapped. Her emerald eyes gleamed with an insane spark. The Riolu decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Anyways... they have captured the citizens. I can sense that much. They have captured them and replaced them with SFP officers." Charnette informed them with a low growl.
"Hey―that's our trick!" Jason yelped, "Copycats!"
"It's not a total shocker, nyet." Lumière admitted, "To use our own trick against us―that would be the perfect revenge for them. Actus reus." he muttered.
"Well... um... that's great and all..." May said nervously, "But what are we going to do? It'd just be us, the protesters, some citizens from Nuvema Town, against... against them."
"Don't worry." Ralph assured her. He felt a flicker of warmth towards the trembling Gardevoir. "We've been in plenty of battles before. I'll protect you."
There were several mrfs and murmurs from the Revolutionists. May turned Cheri Berry red. Amethyst started grinning.
"What?" Ralph demanded.
"Males." Xeno muttered, stifling a smile.
"So dense." Rachiel agreed, flicking her tail.
"Hey!"
"Back on topic." Lumière interrupted, "What do we do? They'll see us long before we come... and no, I don't think black magic would work," he added as Charnette opened her mouth. "I mean... you used to be a mercenary, right? And they know you. And you're with us. They probably would know about you and your magic, and have other enchanters and sorcerers looking out for you."
"Hey! Charna ain't..." Amethyst started protesting, rising to her hind paws.
"It's fine, Ame. We're not on our own anymore, we have to take all precautions." Charnette sniffed indignantly, glaring at the ground. "What now..."
"I'll charge them!" Trent offered.
"No, Trent." Charlez contradicted, "You might be called 'the TANK', but that doesn't mean you can make it five feet into Accumula Town before they blow you up. And I don't mean to be harsh," she added, as Trent looked somewhat on the verge of tears, "But that's the honest truth."
The Tyranitar stared glumly at the ground. "No Tank?"
"If you charge into there alone, you'd become a splattered spot of Tyranitar." Victor informed him.
Trent looked rather displeased.
"Well." Rachiel ventured, "What about this?"
The others leaned in to listen.
In a Shadow Force Outpost...
"What do you think of the new general?" General Ranark let out a soft hiss of surprise as General Doomsday approached him with the question.
"Which one?" the frog Pokemon snapped, "There are two new generals, thank you very much."
"The female one." General Doomsday replied in a cool, monotonous voice.
"She's insufferable." he growled, "And crazy―but easy to manipulate." He allowed himself a small, malicious smile. "I sent her a new order."
"And that is?"
"To execute all Accumula citizens."
"What?" Doomsday snarled, "Have you lost your―"
Ranark wheeled around to face the dark general. "Pardon me, Doomsday, but it's clear as day that we need to get rid of all possible allies ASAP. We know that those Accumula citizens are on the Revolutionists' side! They must be put down?"
"And excuse me, little froggy," Doomsday's voice was as sharp as a knife. "How many times must I tell you? We do not, on any condition, hurt innocent Pokemon!"
"Innocent?" Ranark scoffed. "You're just being soft. We both know as well as Our Lord Darkrai who's on whose side! You're too kind to our enemies! I admit that your fighting skills are better than mine, but you are incredibly soft and care way too much about things that deserve elimination! You're willing to kill our own soldiers, yet you can't even lift a single claw to shred our future enemies! And you're an oracle―supposedly. You should know who our future enemies are! One does have to wonder where your loyalties lies, don't they?" he asked with a gleeful sneer.
"There―" General Doomsday started, menacingly, "―are so many things that you don't know... should not know... and will never know…" The general's eyes gleamed arctic blue as the Pokemon turned and faded into the shadows.
General Ranark growled with annoyance. How he hated that Pokemon! He long to rip General Doomsday into pieces, that foolish, annoyingly soft Pokemon. A no-good excuse for a Shadow Force general!
But alas, being of a much lower rank than General Doomsday, there was nothing he could do against the Disaster Pokemon.
Near Accumula Town, the battle had started...
"Ron, HURRY UP!" Ralph hollered as he pushed against the mob of raging SFP officers. Rachiel's plan was to attack the town directly with half their fighting force, while the other half prepared the Garchomp Cannons.
"Uh... I think it's this lever? Wait, no! Wrong one!" Ron yelped as he frantically fiddled with the cannons.
Obviously, one thing he hadn't calculated and planned for was the Garchomp Cannons taking so long to be ready. They had met the Shadow Force a little way out of Accumula Town and attack them just as Ron went, Oh, sorry, folks. I sorta forgot how to set these up? Give me like, half an hour, okay? Thanks! Toodles!
Thanks a lot, Ron. Ralph thought as he punched a Malamar over the head and kicked a Gothia into the giant squid.
But they were still making pretty good progress. The element of surprise had been on their side, thanks to their Evolution Revival disguise and the Shadow Force apparently thinking that they weren't quite so suicidal as to making a direct attack.
Again, that had all been before the psychotic bat showed up.
Several vans, along with their precious trading items and berries, blew up with a tremendous, bone-shattering BOOM! Tongues of fire leaped gracefully into the air as their cherished cargo was blown into a million bits.
A huge Noivern, somewhat bigger than the others, soar above the burning wreckage.
"BEHOLD!" she shrieked, her wavery voice two octaves too high and laced with the element of madness. "I AM THE GREAT HYPER-NOVA, THE GREAT GROWL! THE SCREAMER, THE―"
"Scally subwoofer?" Jason offered as he brained a Murkrow with a high-velocity Tamato berry.
"YES! YES! THANK YOU!" the deranged bat screeched crazily, "BEHOLD THE GENERAL HYPER-NOVA! I COME TO DESTROY YOU ALL!" She let out a maniacal laugh. Her eyes shone scary and schizophrenic. She Hyper Beamed the earth, carving a trench of carnage from the borders of Accumula Town, straight through the battling army, and faded into the distance.
"Dude, when did the Shadow Force get a such a preposterous lady bat for a general?" Xeno grumbled as she punched a Houndour to the earth. Rachiel shook her head with disgust and turned to bash a Haunter into the ground. Victor rolled his eyes and cast a Leaf Storm on an Seviper.
Unfortunately, General Nova was as deadly as she was derailed. She blew a dark wave of Dragon Pulse, and more Revolutionists fell. She even knocked down Trent (THE TANK!) with a crazy, badly aimed Wild Charge to the head.
"Charnette!" Ralph yelled, "Can you curse―" He was cut off as Nova did a kamikaze dive through the air at top flying speed―apparently her own version of Aerial Ace, and slammed into Ralph.
As one would know, Ralph did not have his defenses up, which was considerably stupid, as the Noivern was a Flying type. He somersaulted head-over-tail and bounced off the wreckage before curling up in a ball and groaning with pain.
General Nova let out a shrieking, fatuous laugh, and zipped through the air again, knocking both Revolutionists and her own soldiers aside as she sped through the sky.
"Ralph!" Suddenly, May was next to him, casting a Heal Pulse and applying medicinal paste to his wounds. Ralph shook his head several times. He got slowly to his feet to watch his helpless army struggling against the insane bat.
He has seen Charnette's insane laugh, crazed smile, and completely off eyes. And that scared him plenty, not to mention the Liepard's fighting skills and magic.
But General Hyper-Nova was a new kind of scary. She had the kind of zany light in her eyes that proclaimed to the world that she was completely off her rockers, and she liked it that way. Her entire body was jittery, as if she'd eaten too many Pokeblocks. Her pupils had shrunk so much that they were mere black specks in her wide, lamp-like yellow eyes. Her wings were shaky―but that didn't stop her from obviously flying. She used pure force in every one of her attacks, and didn't hesitate to do swoops and kamikaze dives that would've made any lesser Pokemon a grease spot on the pavement.
Ralph began to shake. The Noivern was completely bonkers―but that only made her even more dangerous. No sane Pokemon would use moves like her.
Behind him, more Pokemon cried out again―Revolutionists and officers alike, as Nova swooped over again and launch such a destructive Solar Beam, it left the ground bubbling in an unhealthy way. She blasted Ralph with Flamethrower, but May grabbed him and used Teleport, so they they reappeared several feet away.
"You can't give up." the Gardevoir said firmly, but gently, "We've come so far now. We can't just end here."
"Yeah, POFFINS AND WAFFLES!" Jason yelled. Ralph looked up and almost swallowed an Aura Sphere. Jason had somehow got a hold of Hyper-Nova's ears and was riding on the loco bat as she shrieked and dove, completely unaware of the tiny blue fox on her back.
That was until, of course, he pulled a five-ton block of metal out of thin air and dropped it on her, smashing her flat to the ground. Then he did a double flip in the air, and landed on the bat's back with a pirouette, like ta-da!
There was silence for a moment as the officers and protesters gathered around the fallen general. Her pupils had somehow turned even smaller, so they were just tiny pinpoints of darkness. Her wings were wedged awkwardly under the block. Ralph leaned over and shone a bit of light into her eyes with an Aura Sphere.
Then the dark flecks that were her pupils disappeared, and her eyes turned completely yellow, glowing with light.
The metal block imploded with such force, every Pokemon within five miles was sent flying like rag Pokèdolls. The vans took the brunt of the damage as the Revolutionists and officers ducked for cover. Xeno found herself using a van as shield along with a Mightyena from the Shadow Force. She grabbed a metal pole used for hanging laundry and clocked the beast over the head.
"I CANNOT BE HELD DOWN!" General Nova screamed, her eyes slowly turning from yellow to pure, glowing white, "HEAR ME, FOOLISH ONES! I AM THE GREAT HYPER-NOVA! THOUSANDS OF POKEMON HAVE FALLEN BEFORE ME AS I WOKE, AND THOUSANDS MORE SHALL FALL BEFORE I AM SPENT! AND THUS, YOU CANNOT―"
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The great Hyper-Nova, in her screaming rage, never noticed or heard the Garchomp cannons being locked and loaded. A projectile half the size of Trent smacked her out of the air, sending the nutty bat shrieking and spiraling out of sight.
"Well," Ron said as he stepping out from behind an armored van, chuckling a little bit, "That was fun."
"ATTACK!" the Mightyena that had been knocked out by Xeno shakily got to its feet and screamed. The Shadow Force officers roared and raced forward to engage the Revolutionists. Lumière and May worked overtime as medics as they tried to heal the protesters and fight at the same time.
Ralph lunged forward blindly, slashing and kicking at random. The Mightyena jumped at him and the two went rolling away. The hyena-like Pokemon sunk its teeth into Ralph's shoulder, and he screeched with blinded rage and pain. But he was pinned, unable to get up, as the Mightyena dove for the kill.
SMACK!
Ralph blinked the black spots out of his eyes to see two Pokemon he had never seen before doing paw-to-paw combat with the huge beast Pokemon. One of them was a Treecko with a blue bib around his neck, who was using Bullet Seed and Leech Life to drain the Mightyena. The other was a Raichu, who was using his tail as a deadly iron club and summoning lightning and thunder.
The Mightyena put up a good fight. Ralph was impressed by its swift movements and cold, calculating attacks. But in the end, it was forced to turn and flee under the assaults of the two Pokemon.
Breathing hard, the Treecko turned to Ralph with a smile and stuck out a paw. "I'm Billy." he said in a friendly voice. "And this is my friend, Jebodiah."
"We're Accumula citizens." the Raichu introduced, "We happened to be outta town when those scum attacked. When we came back, we got tied up and tossed into broom closets like turnips. Thanks to one of the Revolutionists―the Chandelure, we were able to escape and join the battle.
"Do you know where the other citizens were?" Ralph asked.
The two Pokemon shook their heads sadly.
"My brother's gone, too." Jebodiah muttered, "He was really, really strong. If they managed to capture even him..." He didn't finish the thought.
"Stand up! We are greater in numbers!" the Mightyena was shouting, "We can't give up now!"
The Revolutionists, however, had a great advantage with the Garchomp cannons. Officers went flying. Craters appeared in the earth. Within the next few minutes, the Revolutionists had finished pounding their enemies into the dust.
"That was awesome!" Jason bounded over to Ralph. "Didja see me riding on that ol' Noivern's back? Epic!" Then he stopped and stared at Billy and Jebodiah. "Who're those goons?" he asked suspiciously, "Do they need a poffin hammer to the head?"
After introducing Billy and Jebodiah, who apparently wanted to join the Revolutionists, to the rest of the team, they got together for a quick meeting.
"Where can they be?" May asked, inquiring about the missing citizens.
"I have a bad feeling 'bout this." Trent mumbled. Lumière was applying medical paste to the large lump on his head, where Nova had smacked him.
Charnette looked up from the ground, where she had been tracing strange symbols. "They're being executed." she said calmly.
"Wait―what?" Billy stammered, "I-It can't b-be! N-Not e-even the S-Shadow Force w-would..."
"There's a phrase we used to use in the Shadow Force." Charnette continued on with her usual bored tone... "'Kill all future enemies.' That does include the Accumula citizens, doesn't it?" She lifted a paw to lick it.
"We have to find them. Fast." Ralph decided. The other Pokemon nodded grimly.
"Well..." Mark said, stepping into the van. "Get in. It's time to show off my driving skills." he added with a grin, swinging the car keys.
Mark, for his part, drove like Mali. Racing crazily along the road, suddenly jolting and halting as he maneuvered around rocks and trees.
"Hold on!" The giant super-chicken bellowed as he did a wheelie over a boulder. Ralph's stomach did a double take as they hit the ground. Jason yelped and slammed into the ceiling.
Every single jolt reminded Ralph of the soon-to-be-dead citizens. The dust churned up on the side of the road, billowing silently into the air. Pidoves flew overhead sluggishly. The sun was too bright, hitting hard on the van and throwing harsh light it the Lucario's eyes.
The trees on either side of the road seemed to laugh and whisper hauntingly. Their limbs shook like desiccated corpses. The wind hissed and chattered like skeletal hands as the vans charged through the road. The leaves fell from the trees, slowly spiraling through the air, and landing on the ground with an alarming sense of dread.
"This isn't right." Billy murmured. "This is one of the most well-traveled roads in all of Unova. There should be a lot of Pokemon here."
"Maybe... they're all at home today?" Xeno suggested hopefully.
"No..." Jebodiah said, "Today's a workday. If they're not here..." He didn't have to finish the thought. Every single Pokemon knew.
If they weren't there, then they were dead.
They caught sight of the slaughterhouse when Mark took a too-sharp turn on the road and crashed into the trees, skidding down a ravine and landing with a loud CRASH at the bottom. The other vans followed suit, bumping and clanging, as they arrived at the terrible scene.
Most of the bloodstained clearing really should've been left to the imagination. There was a platform where a Bisharp was sharpening its blades. The citizens were lumped together and tossed to a side of the clearing, barely an inch from the platform of death.
Charnette purred, "I've done my share of dirty work here."
"They haven't started executing them." Lumière said, "Quick, we must act now."
"Charge?" Ralph asked.
"Why wait?" Rachiel snorted.
"Like Hell, Imma wait!" Amethyst raced into the clearing, hopping onto the platform with the grace of a skilled vaulter. She slammed the Bisharp down, right through the platform. Only the sharp metal blade on the Bisharp's head showed as he cursed and tried to struggle free. Amethyst torched him a couple times to keep him down, setting the wooden platform on fire.
"What?" A Shadow Force officer yelped. The officers had been having a party in the glade of death. Several had bibs and party hats on. One's mouth was covered with frosting.
"Eat cake?" One confused officer muttered.
"EAT DIRT!" The outraged Revolutionists swarmed the surprised officers. Cupcakes went flying. Cream pies were smashed into their eater's face.
Within a few moments (thanks to the Garchomp cannons), every Shadow Force officer had been routed and captured and beaten to the ground. The others were driven away. The citizens were freed.
"That wasn't so hard." Jason said, "Actually, this has pretty much been the best day ever!"
Ralph agreed.
It did, in fact, turn out as one of the better days the Revolutionists had, no doubt. Except for a few scratches, none of the citizens had actually been harmed. Apparently, the Shadow Force's plans had been goofed up and changed so many times, none of the officers really knew what to do except, of course, to party.
The Revolutionists themselves partied the day out after they returned to the town, which was left virtually untouched due to the battle taking place next to it, which was a pretty smart idea, if Rachiel did say so herself.
"Brilliant plan!" the Houndoom said, slurping a smoothie, "Only a genius mastermind could've come up with it!"
As they partied, ultimately dropping their defenses, they forgot about the spy, who watched them with luminous yellow eyes.
In the Northern Kingdom...
"He won't be in action for a few months, at the least." Her Highness, Ruler of the Northern Kingdom, Matilda, said as she glanced down at the battered Weavile spy lying limp on the hospital bed, "But no matter. Let us plan our next attack."
"Our next distraction attack." Darkrai corrected, moving his hand across a map of Unova, "Will take place in Striaton City."
"Careful. That place is well-guarded by the three brothers." Matilda warned.
"That's fine." Darkrai said easily. "We'll send General Nova there. Let's see how their Vive La Revolution holds up there." His eyes flickered with half-mad lights.
"But that is not of importance." the old Nidoqueen added as she marched towards Darkrai, "I want to know why you made that―that completely zany batgirl a general. She's completely insane."
"Exactly." Darkrai said, a small smile creeping up his face, "That is exactly why I made her a general. She doesn't care if she dies. She doesn't care who dies... She's ruthless, and willing to sacrifice anything just to defeat an enemy." His eyes gleamed. "And she is, and will be, our secret weapon." He threw back his head and let out a maniacal laugh.
In the shadows...
"Oh, look at them." the spy hissed, "Partying again. Defenses completely down! How wonderfully absurd." he growled.
"And this is coming from the Pokemon that nearly botched his spying mission by going after doughnuts," the voice floated over the communicator.
"Ah, come on." the spy laughed silently, "You can't leave doughnuts alone when doughnuts are alone. You know that!"
"No, I happen not to." the voice hissed, "Tell me the updates."
The spy wrinkled his nose in disgust as he watched the partying Pokemon. "One of the deserters... you know, the Leafeon, left with a sword. I started trailing him for a while. Then it got boring, so I went back to tail the main group. When I got there, the battle was taking place, and there was a new bat general who's completely insane flying 'round. Then they brought out these cannon thingymajigs and blasted her out of the sky. And then they went to save the Accumula citizens, who didn't actually need saving, thanks to my brilliant, scheming mind and ability to copy others' handwritings. After swapping a couple notes, changing the letters, et cetera, the officers got an order to party, which they were happy about." He puffed out his chest proudly. "I like to think of myself as their hero today!"
"Please." The voice dripped with sarcasm. "As far as they are concerned, you are but a spy. And one that may get caught soon."
"Oh, please. They're never going to catch me." he snickered.
"Just you wait..." the other Pokemon whispered, "Now, what'd Scarlet's letter say?"
"Just some notes to the Lucario. It also had that prophecy Pearl interpreted a week ago."
"I meant the secret message."
"Right! I knew that." The Pokemon shone a blacklight reader on the note. "Uh... it just says 'I am so sorry, Ralph. I hope you can forgive me. The day's mood: sad, moody.' I don't get it..."
"You don't." The voice was suddenly alarmed. "But I do. Do you not get its meaning? Do you not know what it actually means?" The voice rose, on the verge of panic. "Scarlet always loved using secret codes. Look at the letter, you fool! Can't you see?"
The spy's face paled. His heartbeat seemed to stop. With a sudden understanding, he slowly raked his claws across the letter, destroying it.
"Mother of Arceus..." he muttered shakily. "T-That means..."
"This is very, very, bad." the other voice finished.
Credits:
alpha2275: LoG Representative on Fanfiction and Fanfiction Manager
MarcusUCOD: Tactician and Dialogue Writer
Esther Hung: Chief Writer, Editor, Video Maker, and Character Creator
Anisa Krieg: Writer, Artist, Character Creator, and Tweaker
(More TBD...)