After asking her contact about the supply line, Silver was able to secure the NAA use of the cannons which had been used to protect Mt. Pyre. With this crucial piece in place, the Alliance was ready to launch their assault on Slateport city.
The crushing defeat of the humans at Mt. Chimney by Light severely depleted the forces stationed at Mauville, leading to additional troops from Slateport being sent to the city. Although this gave Mauville a fighting chance against the oncoming NAA, it left Slateport undermanned and ripe for the taking by Pokemon forces who had been trying to capture the city for months.
Light had sent the naval vessels off to cut off supplies to Slateport a week ago and had proceeded to have the bulk of the NAA army move back to Mauville to prepare for the fight in Slateport. Forces ready for battle, they simply await the word of their commander to march off.
"Hello everyone!" Light bellowed as he walked before the amassed troops. "As many of you have noticed, many changes have taken place over the last month. In that time we have conquered the human stronghold at Mt. Pyre, strengthened our forces with new technology and brought new allies into our midst."
The crowd erupted into rapid applause until Light motioned them to quiet down, as he still had more to say.
"Despite all of these changes, my conviction remains the same: to help you all create a free and neutral state! If you asked anyone two months ago who the strongest power in Hoenn was, they would answer in an instant either the humans or Pokemon. If you asked someone now, they will without a doubt say the New Age Alliance!"
"HEAR HEAR!" a particularly rambunctious soldier exclaimed.
"My friends, we have reached a turning point in our crusade. No longer are we the underdogs fighting for a place in the world. We are a major power carving its sphere of influence. With a little more time we can completely expel the other powers from Hoenn and fulfill our dreams! And all of that continues today. Fight valiantly so that we can take another step toward reaching our goal!"
As the crowd erupted into another fit of cheering, Light stepped out of sight to converse with his lieutenants.
"You sure can fire up a crowd." Nate commented.
"I'd never be able to do that." Silver said. "Too many people all at once."
"Is what you said true?" Momo asked. "Is this really a turning point in the war?"
"I at least believe so." Light replied. "We now have supremacy in Hoenn but the others have not been eliminated yet. This change in the tide of the war will also affect them."
"How so?" Nate asked.
"Desperate men will do crazy things. Without supremacy, many of the commanders may change tactics. It becomes an even steeper climb from here."
"We ain't gotta worry about that now." Grunt said. "We got a city to beat down!"
As the NAA army began their journey to Slateport, time began to drag until finally Nate spoke
"It feels like we've been walking for hours. Are we almost to Slateport?"
"We should be." Light replied. "The journey was only supposed to take an hour at the most."
"If it was only supposed to be an hour trip, why has it felt three times as long?" Silver asked.
"I'm not sure." Light said as he began to ponder the situation.
This trip has stretched on for an awfully long time. Light thought. We should be there! We left Mauville heading due South and haven't changed directions so we can't be lost. The only other explanation is that..
"EVERYONE STOP AND PREPARE FOR AN ENEMY ATTACK!" Light yelled.
Almost immediately after telling the NAA soldiers to be ready, the scenery around them faded and a multitude of enemy forces appeared in their place, ready to attack.
"Wh-WHAT!" Momo sputtered as the forest continued to dissolve into even more troops surrounding them.
"Sometime along the way we were hypnotized." Light explained. "It gave the enemy complete control over our movements and allowed them to position us such that their forces would have a distinct advantage."
"Bravo Light." Came a voice from the air. "I can see the rumors about you were true. Especially if you were able to see through my hypnosis."
"Who are you?" Light asked.
"Me?" The voice responded. "I'm the commander of the forces here in Slateport. I'm a Haunter and my name is Puzzles."
"Why Puzzles?" Grunt asked.
"That's the puzzle!" The voice responded before breaking down in a fit of laughter. "Well I believe we've conversed enough. It's time to kill you now. Bye."
The Pokemon surrounded Light and the NAA then launched a barrage of powerful attacks in an effort to wipe out their forces. Many of these attacks succeeded but the majority of the NAA was saved by a hastily throw Shadow Ball Shield by Light, Protect from Silver, and individually strong moves from Nate Grunt and Momo.
"All forces!" Light yelled as the smoke began to clear. "The enemy has maneuvered us into a corner so don't hold anything back. This is going to be a hard battle but we can still pull through!"
Following the orders of their commander, the NAA began to fight back with all of their strength, eventually reaching a point where they were no longer surrounded.
"Nate, you have an aerial view of the battle. How are things looking for us?" Momo asked, beating an attacking Pokemon back with a casual Leaf Blade.
"From here, things look pretty evenly matched. We're no longer surrounded and have the option to retreat back to Mauville now if we need it."
"Things may seem evenly matched but the Pokemon still hold the advantage." Light broke in.
"What do you mean?" Nate asked.
"Our forces suffered a serious blow at the beginning of the fight and have been fighting at full power ever since. That is starting to take its toll."
Looking around, Momo began to notice the heavy breathing and sweat pouring from her comrades. "They are looking a bit tired but that doesn't mean we can't win."
"I'm not saying that either but they have the advantage. In addition to our fatigue, Puzzles hasn't even made an appearance on the battlefield yet."
"Well if you're the great military strategist that you say you are, make a plan that will tip things back in our favor!" Silver said over the communicator, in full 'battle' mode.
What can we do to turn this around? Light thought. What we need is an overwhelming offensive attack. I could use my electricity but then I'd be too wiped out to even have a chance against Puzzles. It's too bad those cannons from Mt. Pyre weren't portable. The high energy density of their shots could've easily… Wait energy!
"I have an idea but I'm going to need everyone's help in order to pull it off."
"OK Light. What's your idea?" Momo asked.
"You're the linchpin of the plan Momo so I need you to answer this question honestly. How much energy do you have left?"
"If I had to make an estimate, I'd say I'm a little under half my full power right now."
"That will work." Light replied. "Nate can you lift Momo into the air with you, not far just a few feet."
"Sure thing Light!"
"Next up, please don't panic, but Grunt and I are going to launch a couple of attacks at you."
"You're going to do WHAT!" Silver cried, trying to look out for the well-being of her new friend. "Are you trying to kill them?"
"First of all I said DON'T panic. Second of all if you let me finish I was going to say that both attacks will be energy based so that Momo can absorb their energy."
"Why not just have her absorb the energy directly from us rather than from your attacks?" Silver asked.
"This is the only way for her absorb energy from both Grunt and myself. I need Momo at full capacity for this to have a chance of working and if I give too much energy, I won't be able to fight Puzzles."
"Fine." Silver said, caving to Light's logic.
Their sure were quite a few I's in Light's explanation. Momo thought to herself before asking. "Once I absorb the energy from you two what do I do with it?"
"Once you have the energy, I want you to launch a Solarbeam with an energy density as close as you can get to the cannons from Mt. Pyre."
"There's no way they'd see this move coming, it's sure to wipe out their troops. Let's get to it already!" Grunt said excitedly.
"Are you ready?" Light asked Momo.
"Yes, let's try it."
"OK. Thunderbolt!"
"Chest cannon FIRE!"
Light and Grunt launched their attacks simultaneously toward their waiting comrade. Just as the attacks were about to make contact with her, Momo yelled, "Mega Drain!"
In an amazing display of energy manipulation, Momo took the energy from both attacks and began to store it her body which slowly began to glow, just like it had when she absorbed Tara's Desert Sun attack.
"I'm ready Light!"
At that signal, both Light and Grunt ended their attacks and the next phase of the plan went into action.
"SOLARBEAM!"
All of the energy that had been stored in Momo's body suddenly began to pour out in the form of the Solarbeam which began to decimate the Pokemon forces.
"Hey you said you needed everyone's help for this plan to work." Silver said. "What's my part in this?"
"Once Momo finishes with her attack, she is going to be exhausted. I want you to use your Refresh attack to restore her stamina and to protect her while she is regaining her energy." Light explained. "There are going to be a lot of troops gunning for her after this."
Once the Solarbeam was completed, Momo slumped visibly in Nate's arms as he lowered his commander to the ground.
"Hope you don't mind Light." Momo began, as Silver used her Refresh attack "I cut back slightly on the energy density of that attack so that I could keep it firing longer."
"No need for apologizing, it did what I needed it to and more."
"It looks sorta like we have the numbers advantage again dontcha think Light?" Grunt asked
"Yes it does. Even though the enemy may be slightly fresher than us, if we keep fighting the way we have, I'm sure that a victory will be within our grasp."
"Well Bravo to all of you." Puzzles said appearing out of the nearby brush, clapping sarcastically. "You've gained the upper hand, for now."
"Yeah!" Nate shot back. "We can take anything you can throw at us!"
"So you've finally decided to come out and face me?" Light said, trying to goad Puzzles into attacking.
"Oh no no no. You've got me all wrong. I've simply been watching the battle and found I needed to intervene again."
"Too bad I won't let you. Night Slash!"
Light charged at the Haunter only to have his attack and body pass harmlessly through it at the last second.
"You see, I'm not actually on the battlefield right now so there's nothing you can do to stop me from interfering."
"Why not fight like a man er… Pokemon er… male organism?!" Grunt said also trying to goad Puzzles into an attack.
"If you survive my next assault, I'll be waiting in Slateport for you all." The image of Puzzles said before fading out of sight once again.
"Darn it." Light said, banging his fist into a nearby tree. "Looks like we have to finish off these troops if we want a shot at Puzzles."
"What do you think he meant by 'his next assault' if he's not on the battlefield?"
"I'm not sure Momo it could be-"
"Help! Something's happening to the troops!" Someone cried over the NAA communicator.
"This is Light. What's going on?"
"It's our troops, sir. They've turned and started attacking us!"
AN: Dun Dun DUN! We've moved onto Slateport and introduced a new villain who's a little different from the others our heroes have encountered so far. How will Light and the others react to their troops turning on them? Let me know what you think! Feel free to leave a review. Until next time!
Also OC Submissions are still ongoing. See Chapter 18 for details.