Gaigax: Jubilife Arc
Chapter 12: The Calm Before

The sun had just passed through the city of Jubilife. The starlight reflected wonderfully with the tall and plentiful buildings. With all of the gloomy civilians in their houses the city could actually be beautiful again. The large G still shined brightly, dissipating some of the cities beauty. An Espeon and a Starly were admiring this beautiful night from the balcony of the pokecenter. The oo'd and aw'd together at the magnificent sight. Zan's room didn't have a balcony but that room wasn't being rented at the moment so the boy and his pokemon snuck onto it. The burning glow of a shooting star filled up the night's sky and caused the pokemon's eyes to open widely.

"One day, I want to be as fast as a shooting star" shouted out Augment. He was surprisingly still perched on the balcony railing. Stars were the one thing that could keep him calm. They just completely hypnotized the little bird.

"Only if you start training your body" Nala giggled. Augment waved his tongue out at Nala briefly before his eyes were dragged back to the stars. Wes, Boris and Zan were next to the duo, alongside the railing. Boris was more interesting in the human's conversation than the star gazing. Nala was capable of listening to the conversation as well as star gazing.

"What does your agenda look like for this city" questioned Zan. Wes had just informed the boy what he had done today, which Wes didn't give a lot of information.

"I need another day" Wes answered followed by a yawn. There were no dark circles under his eyes but he did appear to be pretty drained.

"As do I" Zan commented. He wanted to give Wes details but the blonde wasn't giving Zan any details either. So Zan just didn't feel motivated enough to inform his traveling partner what was going on. Then again it was probably a smart move since Zan himself did not know what was going to happen. Jubilife needed help and he didn't like what Gaigax was doing, but he was just a single man. Wes rose his weary arms into the air and arched his back to stretch.

"Is that all? I will be going now then." Wes walked to the railing and placed both hands firmly on it. He was fully intending to leap off.

"Hold on, I am too curious, what have you been up to since we have arrived?"

"Stuff and things" blurted Wes before returning to his jump.

"I fought Sky and I've been researching the Gaigax Company. I don't like them." Zan obviously hoped that telling the truth might coax Wes in doing the same. It wasn't exactly that he wanted to know everything his ally was doing but the boy was just generally curious what Wes was doing that took all day.

"No one does, welcome to Jubilife. And you're not my buddy, pal. You said earlier we don't have to share everything, we will have our secrets. Now I am out."

"Wait" called out Zan. "Are you sure you don't want to stay in the room? Lady Moore won't be coming back tonight so she won't be able to get mad. Sleep is healthy after all."

"With my agenda, this is the best time to act. Where is that blue devil staying anyway?" wondered Wes who was now completely perched on the railing. Zan's pupils expanded in surprise. Even though he had met with Moore not more than an hour ago he just remembered something important about her. The boy had completely forgot to talk to Gaigax about pardoning her alleged crimes.

Sky's residence was one of the few buildings in the city still brimming with life. While very quiet the inhabitants were very much awake. Sky sat on her side in her comfortable living room. Golbez was resting upside down on a perch bar set into the ceiling. A new face in the form of a brilliant Manectric rested beside her owner Sky. The electric dog warmed up the bar feet of her companion. Manectric wasn't the only fresh face though. The intimidating Lady Moore was resting her bones in the house as well. The couch was a refreshing feeling for her body since she spent most of the day on the dirty, cold concrete of Jubilife. Still Lady Moore did not feel totally at ease here. Her body was comfortable but tense. People were out to get her yet here she was rooming with someone she didn't trust. Then again there was no one that girl trusted. That stupid boy Zan was the one who recommended that Lady Moore stay with Sky. All it took was to mention that Gaigax wanted Lady captured, and that got Sky to agree. The butler, who really does not take a name, wasn't so trusting of Zan and his friends. Which is why he is sitting in the room with the ladies, despite usually passing out in his bed by now.

"So, Miss Moore, how long have you and Zan been together?" hesitantly questioned the orange haired girl. Zan's wild fighting style and bold statements hadn't left the cute girl's mind all day. Moore had been mostly quiet the entirely night but that event made her burst into laughter.

"Oh man, you're hilarious. I would never date that idiot loser. He is far too simple for my tastes" informed Moore while still chuckling. Sky seemed slightly uncomfortable at the response. Sure she didn't know him that well but he didn't seem like the kind of guy to warrant that response. She knew that Moore was Zan's friend so she assumed that Lady knew the boy well. Sky was completely clueless that the two just met a few days ago.

"Anyway, so what do you two plan to do for the rest of your time here?" Sky didn't look in Moore's general direction the entire conversation. Instead the blind girl let her head hang down low. Lady Moore wasn't looking at Sky either, instead she was just mindlessly staring at a wall.

"Get out of here. Once that lazy bum has finished his activities we will push through the east exit and be in Oreburgh by tomorrow. That boy thinks he can try to talk Gaigax out of wanting me captured. He is so naïve to think Gaigax can be rational or bargained with." Moore kept her confident smirk as she talked, running away from Gaigax was no worry to her. The mention of Gaigax brought a strong frown upon Sky's face. She never did hear back about how Zan's meeting with Charles went. But from Moore's words it sounded like Zan just wanted to talk about Lady Moore, and not about the freedom of the city. But that was nothing new to the orange haired girl, no one really wanted to help, no one cared about Jubilife anymore. They powered the television stations and no one was dying due to Gaigax, that's all that mattered to the outside world.

"Ah I see. Well I hope your stay in Jubilife was a pleasant one. I think I am going to bed now" spoke Sky in a fake cheerful tone. She didn't pay much attention to her word choice which was obviously poor. She just did not care, sadness had overtaken her at the moment.

There was one last group of active people amongst the city. This group was spread around the entire city, communicating over radio. The Gaigax group was still very much awake and active. The three hunters still were watching the exits and they didn't seem remotely tired. Vraska was scavenging the city alone, looking out for any signs of Grave. While Charles was the only tired one, laying on the silk sheets of his double king sized bed. He was barely keeping consciousness but was awake enough to communicate.

"Oi Vraska, I forgot to ask earlier" mentioned the sleep Charles. "Even though Moore isn't the Grave and so escaping with shadow sneak is no longer a problem, you still want the hunters to post up as guards on the exits?" A relief swept across the Hunter Haven's face since he was wondering the same thing.

"It is a new strategy I am testing, just bear with it Prince. When we catch Grave, we should hang his head outside of one of the Gaigax plants. This type of action can no longer be allowed to happen" Vraska grunted. Haven's face melted into a pale color. The cowboy strongly disagreed with that action but none of them dared to say anything.

"That wouldn't be wise" advised Charles in a sleepy monotone voice. "Murder will instantly bring enemies to our door. The fact we haven't killed anyone makes other groups pass us off as not that troublesome. Your demon side comes out when you get frustrated."

"They will pay though, we hunters will make sure of that" added Haven. The cowboy was the only vocal one in his group. Anastasia was quiet because she was defeated. Even after they found out that Moore wasn't Grave, Anastasia still tried to use her expert skill to track down the culprit. But she didn't have enough to go off and failed. Anastasia Burbank was not supposed to fail. The other member, Mort, just didn't have anything to say.

"If you guys can get them, you haven't exactly proved your worth" Vraska insulted bitterly. Haven dug his nails into his palm out of sudden anger. He was too prideful of a man to just take that. His two fellow hunters didn't seem to react at all though. The cowboy was ready to fight back, he hated the strategy Vraska used today and just her strategies in general. It was the money that kept him in this boring job but the money wasn't enough for him to dismiss his pride. A rage filled speech instantly filled the man's head and he prepared to spit it out.

"Radio silence effective immediately" announced Charles. He was the boss and no one tried to argue it. The noise on the radio completely disappeared. Vraska and Haven just grunted to themselves and then continued their duties. "Now, all other threats have been accounted for and tamed. Once Grave is caught and arrested we can return to our peaceful job of ruling this city, with me as the king" spoke Charles, several minutes later.

"And you are the best leader for this craphole" mentioned Vraska, purposely trying hard to avoid using the word king or prince. The entire group of hunters fell silent now. That didn't bother Charles at all, he knew money was the only thing keeping them tied to the company.

The masked man that called himself Grave was back to moving around. He found himself scurrying about the south side of Jubilife. His target was another Gaigax power plant, this one was one of the lowest south plants that Gaigax had. It was just before the neighborhood houses started. The vigilante stood on the top of this white building with malicious intent. Yet he was not making any offensive actions against this building. That was because Grave was not alone this time. A barefoot man with equally aggressive intent stood on the small round roof with Grave. They were locked in an intimidating glare though Grave was much more menacing. A dark aura manifested around Grave's hand before he took a large step forward, towards his big nosed opponent, Mort.