Chapter 6
"Get that Meowth! Don't let him escape."
OK. Maybe attacking the base by myself wasn't the greatest of ideas. Shoteneko thought to himself.
After making the decision to make a small raid into the enemy headquarters, Shoten came up with a very simple plan: Create some havoc in the camp. Although plenty of chaos was created when he entered the camp and began to destroy some of their buildings and equipment, Shoten didn't think the plan all the way through. By creating lots of havoc in the enemy camp, he was also attracting a lot of hostile activity toward himself, leading to his current situation, being chased around the encampment by a Knight (heavy) while 4 other tanks were in hot pursuit trying to shoot his tail off.
These guys are smart. They're blocking my escape from the forest to make sure I'm defeated and preventing me from collapsing any trees on them like I did to their buildings. If I want to get out of here in one piece I'll need to use my own strength to break through their blockade. Once I'm in the forest, I might have a shot to defeat them.
"All right here goes nothing. Agility!"
Shoteneko increased his speed in order to flank his pursuers and began to launch into a flurry of Night Slashes on the tanks. The first two exploded from the force of the Night Slashes but the others were able to escape with only a few scratches.
Dang it. That normally would have gotten all of them. I must be losing power after wrecking the base here. This isn't good.
Now surrounded, the remaining tanks and Knight began to charge their blasters for a final strike against Shoten.
Ever resilient, Shoten yelled "Shadow Ball!" and jumped into the air just as the blasters fired.
The Shadow Ball hit its target just before the blaster could go off, resulting in the tank's destruction. The shots from the other two tanks missed and hit neighboring buildings. The Knight, in an attempt to still hit Shoten after he jumped readjusted his shot and accidentally hit one of his comrades, destroying yet the final tank.
Shoteneko hit the ground and immediately called out "Night Slash" while running toward his final remaining pursuer. The Night Slash, while more effective than an ordinary Slash attack, did very little to phase the Knight, which swiftly counterattacked by bashing Shoten with the butt of its rifle.
"Dang, I'm still not strong enough to take on one of these knights head on. My only shot at escape is going to be running the blockade surrounding the camp."
With a plan still forming in his head Shoten began another charge at the Knight with a Slash attack. Rather than using it though, Shoten ran under the Knight and began a hastily planned retreat.
OK. I need to hit the blockade fast and hard if I want any chance of escaping. Time to use Agility.
This extra burst of speed allowed Shoten to create some space between him and his former combatant, now chasing him with guns blazing.
As he began to near the blockade, Shoten drew fire from the waiting tanks trying to draw him back into the camp. Rather than do as the enemy wanted, Shoten continued to charge toward them, dodging fire all the while. When Shoten finally reached the edge of the encampment, he gathered as much power as he could and yelled "Thunderbolt!"
The power of the blast was enough to destroy the machines blocking his path, allowing Shoten to make his retreat. He continued to run for another minute before realizing that he had lost his pursuer back at the camp and decided to assess the situation.
"I was so hyped up on adrenaline; I didn't notice taking a few hits from those tanks. There were too many to dodge and still stay a safe distance ahead of the Knight. When I used the Thunderbolt on the tanks, the electricity must have screwed with the Knight's systems; that's the only way I could have gotten away from it."
Before Shoten could make another move he heard a voice call out from the sky "Stop right there infiltrator." With that an AK descended from above the clouds with the pilot pointing her gun directly at Shoten.
Crap. It makes sense that the commander would call his troops back to defend the headquarters. Now I'm on my own dealing with not only tanks and Knights but also the reinforcement AKs.
The pilot of the AK called out again. "Will you surrender peacefully or are we going to have to fight?"
Shoten responded "Sorry Lady, it's against my principles to surrender peacefully. I'd rather go out in a bang of glory than be carried off to a holding cell."
"Have it your way but you're on your own out here. The Pokemon forces are in retreat and reinforcements are inbound from both the front lines and the base you just ransacked. You won't win."
"You know what they say. You never know what's possible until you try."
"Fine then let's begin shall we?" With those words, the pilot began shooting her gun relentlessly at Shoten, who was barely managing to stay ahead of the blasts.
Maybe I should have surrendered. The injuries from earlier are more severe than I realized and my power is dropping fast. I don't think I can win. I have to try and retreat again.
"Double Team" Shoten cried and 4 identical Meowths appeared on the battlefield.
"What is this pathetic attempt to distract me? A Lady always comes prepared for these types of situations. Gun division." The gun that the AK pilot had previously wielded then split into four at the barrel and each piece then attacked a Double Team image.
"Gah." Shoteneko cried out in pain as the final shot hit the "real" him. "Shadow Ball"
In an attempt to counterattack, Shoten threw a Shadow Ball at one of the BITs, which was easily blocked by the other three who were closing in for an attack on him.
"As you can see there is no escape." The enemy pilot said as she began to explain the true power of her unit. "If you try to attack one of the BITs, the other three will block the move and fighting against three mobile enemies at once prevents you from attacking them physically."
"She's right." As Shoten continued to fight back against the attacking BITs, any attack made was blocked and each attack from a distance that was well out of reach for a physical move. Any move made to retreat from the situation entirely was cut off by the total encirclement of the BITs around him. It was like being surrounded by a swarm of bees.
Reinforcements began to slowly move in and watch the total domination of the spy who had wrecked their base by the BITs. Once a sufficient amount had arrived, the AK pilot said "This is beginning to bore me. It's time to bring you into custody."
With that the BITs suddenly put on a burst of speed and hit Shoten in both of his arms and legs.
The BITs then returned to their owner and reformed the original gun before the pilot said. "He's all yours boys." She then flipped her hair in a small victory pose before flying off toward the base.
The commander who had ordered his capture earlier then moved to stand right on top of Shoten with a boot laying heavily on one of his wounds. "This is the reason you Pokemon won't win this war. Whatever you can do we can reproduce and improve on with technology."
"What will…happen…to me now?" Shoteneko croaked weakly.
"Well since you destroyed our base, you will be punished accordingly, most likely with some type of torture to squeeze you dry of any information that could help us in future battles." The commander explained. "After that you will either be disposed of or if you are lucky be subjected to various experiments to help us develop our technology even further. Kinght units G-30 thru 35, you will be tasked with taking this mongrel back to base and someone see to it that the pilot of the AK that captured this beast receives special accommodations for her work. That is all."
With that one of the Knights picked up the broken body of Shoteneko and began to head back to base with most of the other troops in tow.
No, No, NO. I can't let it end here. Shoten thought. I want to live to see a peaceful world where heroes like the Slash can once again roam. As these thoughts flashed through Shoten's head small sparks began to emanate from his body.
I have to become stronger. I've never been strong enough to make a difference when it really mattered. The sparks coming off of Shoteneko's body began to intensify.
I need more power. I need MORE POWER! As these final thoughts formed in Shoten's head, his frustration exploded into reality, unconsciously turning the already active sparks into an even more powerful move: Thunder. The sheer power of the move destroyed the guard of Knights carrying him to the human base, along with any other machines within a couple of feet of the blast. The remaining power turned into a pillar of light extending into the sky for the entire battlefield to see.
(Bruiser POV)
"Darn, these AKs do not wanna give up." Bruiser said to himself as yet another AK descended toward him and his retreating faction.
I don't have much left in the tank but I have to be sure that the rest of this faction is able to escape. "Dragon Claw!"
The weak Dragon Claw was caught easily on the blade of the AK which countered by kicking Bruiser back into the thick trunk of a tree.
"Time to finish this." The pilot said and raised her sword to deal the finishing blow to Bruiser.
Before the strike could come, a loud explosion followed by a pillar of light appeared on the battlefield, well behind the lines of the humans. The AK pilot, distracted by the sudden appearance of light, hesitated in delivering her attack, giving Bruiser time to yell "Outrage"
Bruiser's Outrage caught the pilot off guard and was able to take the machine out despite its lowered power.
"Press the attack! The enemy is distracted. We might be able to pull somethin' out of this battle yet." Bruiser yelled.
Inwardly he wondered I wonder what could have caused release of that much energy, before rejoining the battle himself.
(Flamerunner POV)
Whoever this AK was, they were very skilled. Despite the order to retreat, which was given quite some time ago, Flamerunner had been unable to disengage from the tenacious redhead pilot.
"Fire punch!" Flamerunner yelled as he charged his opponent once again.
"Bring it on! Even if you did destroy my sword with a Sky Uppercut, I can take you without it." The enemy pilot replied, charging with fist raised.
Both had exhausted nearly every resource available to them. The AK pilot had used all of the power available in her guns over the course of the battle with Flamerunner blocking every shot with a Flamethrower. Since the Sky Uppercut that broke the sword, both combatants were running on fumes. When the pillar of light appeared, both Flamerunner and the pilot stopped to look at what had happened.
"Daaaaaang." The AK pilot said, mouth agape at what was being witnessed.
"What is that?" Flamerunner said with an equal amount of amazement.
"Scarlett, can you read us Scarlett?" The pilot's communicator suddenly came online.
She quickly responded "Scarlett here. What is that thing?"
"No one knows. The only thing known at this point is that it took out a large number of troops near our headquarters, and that the ensuing confusion is allowing the enemy to turn the tide."
"Thanks for the info. What are my orders?" Scarlett asked.
"You are to come back to base. Our command structure is in shambles. We'll need to regroup and attack again at a later date."
"Fine. We'll call this round a draw Blaziken, but be warned next time we meet on the battlefield, it will be a fight to the finish. Understand?"
"Very well Scarlett. I will look forward to our next match."
A large pillar of light appearing near the enemy headquarters. That's where Shoten was when he last radioed in. He couldn't possibly be the cause of this could he?
AN: Hello all. Another chapter and the end of the Battle for Verdanturf. Next time: the aftermath. Using a technique that powerful has to have some consequences. If you liked the story, have questions, or have tips on how I can improve leave a review, you will be acknowledged.