AN: Hello readers. I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Be warned that I have changed the point of view from 1st to 3rd person. Hopefully it makes for a better story.

The camp was a flurry of activity when Shoteneko and Bruiser emerged from the medical tent. Every operative was being sent to his or her battle station. Cooperation from everyone was needed to face against the humans.

"Hard to believe this camp was nearly deserted yesterday." Shoteneko said.

"Well we didn't have the confirmation of an impending attack yesterday. Now that we do, soldiers on the mend from previous battles were probably eager to return and fight alongside their comrades." Bruiser replied.

Shoteneko's squad was stationed in the forest outside of the town. As there was only one road large enough for the humans' tanks to move down, the commanders were hoping to gain the element of surprise and wipe out a large portion of the enemy's firepower before the battle wore on. The sooner it was deemed the battle could be easily won, the sooner the Air squad would be called in to finish the job.

"All right you two, stay sharp. The enemy is only a mile away and closing fast and if you feel you're in a bad situation, be sure to contact me so I can pull you out. Is that clear?"

"Yes Flamerunner, sir!"

"Good, now prepare your-"

No-one heard the final syllable as bombs began to drop into the forest. The leader of the human's battalion had foreseen this type of tactic and decided to bomb the forest to reduce the Pokemon's cover.

While the job of a plane had not changed much since the beginning of the war, the ways in which they were done had changed drastically. Humans learned how to feed electricity into rocks from Chargestone cave to induce floating. By changing the way and intensity of the charge being sent into the rock, pilots can maneuver even better than in their old machines. The weapons attached to the plane also received an upgrade. Rather than continuing to use projectile weapons, scientists were able to replicate Hyper Beam on a smaller scale and attached this device to the planes. Although it still lacks the punch of the original, its implementation allowed old bombers to be retrofitted and put back into service, greatly increasing the size of their aerial forces.

"Holy crap!"

After the initial blast, Shoteneko had split up from the squad and was currently hopping from tree to tree to both avoid being hit by one of the falling bombs and scout the position of the enemy.

"There they are. Flamerunner, I have an attack squad at my coordinates. It looks they have about 5 lightweights with a couple of heavys right behind them.

"Roger that Shoten, I'll be headed your way soon. Try to lure the lightweights toward me so we can take them out all out."

"OK boss"

In order to deal with the superior physical strength of the Pokemon, humans had once again turned to technology to bridge the gap. The antigravity technology being implemented in the planes was put to use on a smaller scale retrofitting tanks to function in the same way. This new breed of tanks was now faster and packed a heavier punch than their previous incarnation but at the cost of some armor, coining the nickname: lightweights.

One of the greatest technological achievements that humankind had accomplished since the start of the war was the creation of Knight Frame. Utilizing magnetic monopoles found deep beneath the White Treehollow, sufficient power can be created to operate large humanoid robots called Knights. These knights can be outfitted with all sorts of weaponry from swords to "handheld" versions of what the tanks use. This vast array of weaponry lead to the nickname: heavy.

Shoteneko grabbed a few nearby rocks and began to throw them at the nearby tanks yelling "Hey over here. Come and get me ya morons." Before retreating into the forest

This statement, the blow to the pride, always got them and 3 of the 5 tanks began to pursue him into the forest. Each tank began to fire their blaster to try and hit the one who dared cross them. Shoteneko avoided each of the shots through the use of Agility all the while throwing an occasional Shadow Ball back at them, not so much to try and take them out but to make sure they stayed interested.

Eventually the inevitable happened and the branch that Shoteneko landed on snapped, landing him right in front of the oncoming tanks.

This is bad He thought. Guess I have no choice but to try a Thunderbolt or Dark Pulse.

But before he could gather the necessary energy for either move, a scarlet blur burst from the nearby forest and slammed into the nearest tank with a fiery brilliance.

"Shoten, you OK?

"I'm fine Flamerunner. Thanks."

"No problem. I got one of them with a Blaze Kick, but the other two got wise and sped off. If take go after one, think you can handle the other?"

"I think so but what about Bruiser. Wouldn't he be able to take it out much easier?"

"That's true but he's busy keeping those bombers and the AKs off of us."

The Air Knights or AKs allowed humanity to match the might of the flying Pokemon just as the Knights had allowed them to match the ground forces. Utilizing the same monopole technology as the Knights these frames have less armor surrounding the pilot and more monopoles to power the antigravity stones embedded in their metal bodies. The entirety of the frame is just the pilot with extensions on their arms and legs covered with monopoles. While these frames can carry the same type of weaponry as their ground counterparts, their peculiarity arises when one looks at the pilots of these crafts. For some unknown reason that both sides of the war can't explain, the compatibility of a pilots with an AK increases if one is female, leading the greater amount of AK pilots as women.

"Be sure to call me if you need me." Flamerunner said.

"Sure thing." Shoteneko replied. Flamerunner then mega evolved before running off in pursuit of one of the tanks.

"I better get going too." Shoteneko then raced off to catch his own tank.

I'm not strong enough to take one on head on. Perhaps I can use my surroundings to my advantage.

Through the use of Agility, Shoteneko quickly caught up to the escaping tank.

"Now, Slash attack!" Shoteneko then began to cut down some of the larger trees in the vicinity of the escaping tank. With too little time to slow down, the doomed tank simply fired a shot toward its assailant before accepting its fate.

Satisfied with his work, Shoteneko turned on his communicator and asked Bruiser for an update on the course of the battle.

"It's not lookin' good here buddy. Those AKs are tearing us apart. Since Reuniclus won't send in our own aerial forces, we are pretty much screwed unless something big happens."

"I'm free at the moment so let me see if I can track down the location of the enemy commander."

"That's a smart idea Shoten." Flamerunner broke in. "However most of our forces are occupied at the moment either battling the AKs or trying to halt the advance of the ground forces. If you find the commander you are NOT to engage do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Shoteneko replied before putting away his communicator and speeding off into the forest.

Moving higher into the trees will give me a better vantage point but also draw the attention of the AKs. Should I move higher? This battle could turn for the worst quickly, I have to try and find the enemy commander at any cost.

Slowly gaining altitude, Shoteneko was able to report the positions of quite a few AKs and a few heavys on the ground, but still had no luck in finding the enemy headquarters.

"Dang it. Where could the base beeee?!" He said before tumbling down a couple branches due to a shot from the sky.

Looking up revealed the shooter to be an AK pilot. She was of an attractive build with flowing red hair which almost seemed to dissolve right into her machine.

"Well well well. What do we have here, a little kitty cat trying to play spy? Well it stinks to be you!" the pilot then pointed her gun once again at Shoteneko and fired.

I have a pretty firm grip on the Shadow Ball technique. Maybe it's time to try one of the variations I've read about. "Shadow Ball Shield!"

Shadow Ball Shield is a signature variation of Shadow Ball developed by the ancient hero Slash. Instead of firing the Shadow Ball at the target, one allows the energy to build in their hands, expanding the size and strength of the ball, forming a shield for the user. The concept is not unlike using a dodgeball to block others coming at you.

It being Shoten's first time trying the technique, the shield quickly broke under the pressure of the blaster shot but not before dissipating the offensive shot.

"Dang! What kind of move was that?" The pilot reacted "Guess I'll have to take you seriously." With that, she put away her gun and pulled out a sword out of a scabbard at her hip and began to charge.

She has a significant size advantage on me. Even though I have a larger offensive arsenal than her, my best option would be to retreat into the forest like I did with the tanks earlier. Maybe She will lose interest.

As Shoten began to retreat into the forest, the AK pilot simply followed him, cutting down any tree that prevented her machine from following her quarry. Instead of causing her to lose interest, instigating a chase seemed to actually be encouraging the enemy to defeat him.

"God, I hate it when they run. Why can't you face your defeat like a man? That's it I'm definitely going to get you now." The pilot taunted. Her anger at Shoten's technique and tactics were creating a burning desire for her to defeat Shoten and fast.

"Fine, you want a fight? Try this on for size, Thunderbolt!"

"That's more like it but sorry, not good enough to get me. Now it's my turn."

The pilot didn't even dodge the Thunderbolt. She simply caught the electricity on her blade and began her rush toward the prey.

"Night Slash!"

With those words, the two combatants began to launch into a flurry of attacks resulting in the clashing of sword and claw. Although each Night Slash was able to match the sword in terms of power, Shoten's combatant had the advantage of both height and weight and used it her advantage, wearing down his defenses until it was child's play to land swings on him.

"That was fun but looks like I'm going to have to end this now." The enemy pilot raised her sword and let its energy grow in preparation for the final strike.

Dang it. What can I do to block the next swing? Thunderbolt won't do anything. The only move I can come up with is to try another Shadow Ball Shield but even that didn't work quite right last time.

"Good-bye pipsqueak."

"Ahh screw it. Looks like I don't have a choice. Shadow Ball Shield!"

As the forces collided, sparks flew between the two. The enemy's anger at Shoten's stall tactics finally boiled over as she pulled out her gun once again.

"I have had ENOUGH of you! It was fun at first but I can't take this anymore. I said good-bye so get out of my sight!"

Just before she could pull the trigger a figure cloaked in fire emerged from the forest and knocked her away with a Flamethrower.

"Shoten, are you hurt? Can you move?" Flamerunner asked.

"Just a few scratches boss, I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"I was looking for the enemy commander but got jumped by this chick. Glad you came when you did. I don't think I could have held out any longer."

"Don't just ignore me!" The enemy pilot yelled. "I was about to take you down, now you just ignore me, how dare you."

"Shoten, I'll handle the girl. Retreat into the forest and continue your search for the enemy commander. Just remember my command not to engage. It holds true even more now that you are injured." Flamerunner said.

"OK boss."

The last thing Shoteneko saw before disappearing from view was his squad leader taking on the enemy AK pilot in an aura of flames from his mega evolution.

Shoteneko ran until the sounds of the battle behind him faded to mere whispers on the breeze before he allowed himself to rest by a patch of sitrus berries, to heal his injuries.

"I hope that Flamerunner and Bruiser are doing OK. We've been separated this entire battle. It feels weird not being able to watch each other's backs." He said to himself.

"I wonder what's around here?"

Shoten hadn't walked two feet before hearing a voice in a nearby clearing.

"The enemy is putting up a stronger fight than we were anticipating but rest assured. We have the upper hand and will win the battle."

"I hope so. For your sake, General."

A General! That means that the enemy base of operations is just beyond this line of trees.

"Base Command. This is Shoteneko reporting that I have found the location of the enemy's commander. What are my orders?"

"This is Base Command. Shoteneko, you are to retreat back to base."

"What?!"

"The enemy was better equipped than originally anticipated. Reuniclus was forced to send out our aerial forces a few moments ago in order to prepare for our retreat. I repeat: your orders are to return to base and prepare to retreat."

"Yes sir."

The enemy's base ops is right in front of me and I'm ordered to return to base. I can't believe it.

An idea then began to form in Shoten's mind

I'm pretty much healed thanks to those sitrus berries, what harm will it do to launch a little raid on the human's HQ before heading to base?

AN: There you go, the longest chapter yet. Feel free to review with your opinions on the human's weaponry.

PS: 10 points to anyone who can guess the inspiration for the AKs