Gaigax: Jubilife Arc
Chapter 14: Cries of a City

"What the hell are you doing?" questioned Lady Moore. She broke her bickering with Wes to turn her attention to Zan who was hunched over the pokecenter counter. The boy furiously scribbled on some paper that he snatched from the lobby. The three of them stood in the lobby of the pokecenter. The center always kept its doors open and lights on since the hotel was on their second floor. They didn't want people to get locked out if they had to leave early in the morning. Zan had made a small stack of written on paper already.

"I am writing notes to the people of this city to hang on their doors. Now that I know I have you two on my side, I want to launch a full scale attack on Gaigax. But if we succeed, then this city will lose power. If we can get them to agree to our plan, then we can recruit Sky, and we will probably need her" Zan explained while still writing.

"Do you know how long it would take to write notes for everyone in this town and then go around handing them out? That would take an entire day if not longer" argued Lady Moore loudly. The door behind the counter peaked open slightly.

"Then we will move fast" replied a determined Zan.

"I couldn't help but overhearing your conversation and I want to help" added a quiet, female voice. A woman with pink braided hair snuck out from behind the door. A single room could be seen through the small crack in the door. "When more people used to have pokemon, we had a text alert system to let you know when you're pokemon was ready to be picked up. And we've kept those numbers in our system. You could instead write up one message, copy it and then just send it to all the numbers, eliminating having to run around town. There are a lot of numbers but there are four us here and if we all have phones well, I think we could do it. And I think the people would back you up, this city needs saving" nervously explained Nurse Joy. She hung her head down low while twiddling her thumbs.

"Well, that is actually a much better idea, thank you Joy" Zan admitted with enthusiasm, despite it being well past midnight.

"Or we can rush in, beat some over privileged heads, and rush out" mentioned Lady Moore. She was swaying around impatiently already.

"We can't, one these people have gone through enough, they don't need a sudden, unwarned power outage that could last months. And if we don't get the people to be okay with this, then Sky won't be ok. I don't know their man power very well but I would feel much better with having four fighters compared to three." Nurse Joy had successfully booted up the computer and spun the screen around so that the others could have a look. The determined Zan wasted no time pulling out his Pokenav and getting to work. Joy had wisely split up the numbers into four columns to help the process go faster.

"I know about their man power, and their building layouts. There was a reason I was Grave" added Wes. The word grave caused Moore to hit him with a piercing stare. She had still not forgiven him for that.

"Good then, we can formulate a plan then. Though why do you two hate Gaigax so much?" wondered Zan.

"They remind me too much of my father. They put on a nice, helpful face to climb into power and then they stab everyone in the back and spit on the ones that helped them climb. I really can't stand it" answered Wes without hesitating for a second.

"I hate them because I want to hate them, they are hate-able. Do you have a problem?" Moore explained with sass. "What is your hatred for them? Is it because they hurt your lover Sky."

"Dude, you're dating Sky Salone? Brave" complimented Wes.

"I hate them because they've instilled fear into the hearts of the people. No one should feel this fear every day they wake up and every time they go to sleep" informed Zan. His allies had now reluctantly joined him with texting and Joy had made her way to that side to see the screen.

"Those are your only reasons" wondered Nurse Joy. "You're willing to start a war with Gaigax, over reasons that simple and impersonal?" No words were given, just three simple nods.

The sun had returned from its night's rest as the city was flooded with life again. The place was livelier than usual with Gaigax grunts running amok in haste. They were going as far to violently question random civilians in order to find a criminal. It was noon and Zan had slipped through the mess of guards to get to Sky's house. The butler had kindly opened the door for Zan and led him to Sky who was resting on the couch still. She was awake but still laid there resting. The poor girl had worried too much about Moore's disappearance since the lady did not leave a note.

"Oh, hey" the orange haired girl welcomed groggily. She quickly rose to a seat position but with a glance down her body flushed red. Sky wasn't wearing anything inappropriate, just a tank top, but it was enough to embarrass herself. A blank was swept up around her body to cover everything up. "What can I do for you today? Not another battle?"

"Not today, we have more important battles to fight. Please read this" requested Zan as he handed his phone to her. She received it cautiously and began to read the screen. The phone was on a text message reply that Zan had received this morning, one of many.

Surviving without power will be no problem. Please eliminate Gaigax so this city can sing yet again

Sky was still trying to take in the message since it came out of nowhere for her. Zan reached forward and slid his finger gently across the screen.

"Here is another one for you" he mentioned softly.

I don't care what we have to go without. As long as I can see my kids having the joy of playing with pokemon again.

Before she could react Zan's slide his finger across the screen again.

Go get Sky and go kick Gaigax asses

"And so here I am" Zan concluded, He nobly dropped down to a knee to extended his hand out towards the lovely girl. "Sky Salone, we have contacted almost the entire population of Jubilife and only like five people want us to leave Gaigax alone. Everyone else has given us permission to destroy those bastards and take away the power from this city. But we need your help, will you please destroy the dictatorship that is Gaigax with us?" Tears will rolling down Sky's face as everything came together in her mind now.

"Us?"

"I have two allies both with skeletons. They have their own reasons for wanting to smite the Gaigax. We have a plan, but we need you, this is your city after all. Come save it." Sky's pale hand firmly wrapped around the hand of Zan.

"Damn right I'm going to go save my city. What is the plan?" Zan started by retrieving his phone.

"Well we may have sort of, beat up that Mort guy yesterday, and broke several bones to incapacitate him. So the Gaigax guards are out with a vengeance, questioning random civilians with force. So my allies are safely in another building. There are only four of us and only three big names on the enemy's side. But those grunts are not pushovers, not with those inventions they have. We will probably be overrun if we try to fight them all."

"Naturally, it is a reason why I haven't tried hiring mercenaries to help me take down Gaigax. We need a small army."

"We don't need a small army, we have a device that fights a small army." Zan revealed a metal cylinder with dozens of wires branching off of it. It looked more like a piece of trash that fell off a car. "One of my allies, he is Gra, he well, has been strongly investigating Gaigax for a while. He was also far more intelligent that I would've thought. The grunt's tools give them a decently powerful thunder punch as well as good armor to stand up to attacks, but that is all powered by electricity and not any sort of pokemon power. This device to set to nullify that exact wave of electricity. They will lose their offense and defensive power. This will take the grunts out of the game. And the range on this thing is supposedly crazy far. We just, need a strong burst of electricity to activate it, good thing we have you." Sky's jaw was dropped, she couldn't believe the opportunity that was in front of her. With three willing fights and this device, as well as the people preparing for a power outage, Gaigax's defeat was very possible.

"You guys seem prepared, but are you truly prepared? I don't care what happens to me as long as this city can be happy again." The tears cleared away as Sky looked dead serious into Zan's arms. This was not a relaxing game. Zan just could not match Sky's seriousness though.

"Oh, Moore and Wes were trying to tell me about this. Gaigax is supposedly linked to some higher power and that threat has kept other power companies and just anyone from messing with Gaigax. But this is a company full of empty threats, I don't believe they have any larger allies. And if they do, well that is just a consequence I will have to deal with." Sky's heart instantly dropped to this man's words. She didn't believe in falling in love so easily but he sure was impressing her with his words.

"And your allies feel the same?"

"They care even less about themselves than I do. You did meet Moore after all, she doesn't really exude an air of longevity." The butler had remained in the hallway, listening to the conversation this entire time. He was extremely worried but didn't dare say a thing. The man had served Sky long enough to know how badly she desired to help this city, nothing would convince her to not go through with this.

"I see. After the grunts are removed, then what?"

"Supposedly there are only three power plants that really matter, all of the other plants lead energy into them. If we want to really take out Gaigax then these plants need to fall. Wes couldn't find out what exactly, but there is something strange with how Gaigax generates power. Wes and Moore will move on the other two plants separately and first. These plants need to be protected so the two remaining hunters will split up to protect them. Wes and Moore wanted to fight alone, thus taking the two smaller targets. The final team will need to be a team of two, to take on a plant located under the Gaigax office building. Vraska the Demon will be there and it is completely unknown if Charles Gaigax has any battle power" Zan repeated. Sky continued to sit there and nod along to all of his points.

"You came up with this plan? You are quite well informed" Sky complemented with a cute smile. A small chuckle leaked out of Zan's mouth.

"Wes and Moore designed this whole plan. I know so little about Gaigax I barely know what I am talking about. Hunters and demons, it means very little to me." Zan chuckled even more because of his lack of knowledge. Sky's pupils shrank a little and she was speechless. Not knowing details of the Gaigax is understanding, but not knowing who Vraska the Demon was, where has this man been lately?

"Ah, well alright then" Sky responded, letting out a little awkward laugh of her own. "Well then, one last question. Do you guys plan on killing the members of Gaigax?"

"If it comes down to our life or theres, then murder may have to happen. But that is not on the agenda. Once we crush their business, crush their pride and their skeletons, hopefully they won't try to rebuild and just move out instead. I don't think they can rebuild anywhere now since everyone in Sinnoh knows that Gaigax wrecked Jubilife, no other city would welcome them. They would be done as a business and that is what really matters."

"Can we destroy them now, please?"

The battle betweent the allies and Gaigax swings into full motion. The plan is set and the players are determined. The tactician Wes leads off the offensive. He struggled against Mort earlier though, which hunter will he have to face this time and will he be able to succeed? All on the next Iron Fist: Proving Grounds