Gaigax: Jubilife Arc
Chapter 15: Proving Grounds

"Is the plan a go?" whispered Grave into his back PokeNav. The blonde male was wading his way through the city as the Gaigax Grunts were getting more dense. His target was in sight but the closer he moved in on it the more suspicious he was to the guards. Eventually a pack of them pointed to him and decided to confront Wes together. "come on" he muttered underneath his breath. He was only moving because they group had previously said they were almost ready. Sky and Zan just needed to get in place before the takedown could start.

"The plan is a go" replied the voice of Zan. His words were not empty though, as soon as they filled they sky so did an invisible wave. The light cackle on the guard's equipment was ripped away in a second. They had gotten to Wes's face but now had nothing to back themselves up. The group and all the guards around looked suddenly nervous now. They had never experienced their equipment not working. Was it a glitch or did Gaigax abandon them? Either way this particular batch as in for a world of trouble. Wes clocked the one of the guards right in the face with a metal coated fist. The guy dropped faster than the punch was delivered.

"If you don't leave now you'll end up like him. Your weapons are gone now, you can't do a thing" announced Wes using his deepest voice. None of the guards attempted to step up, allowing the blonde to waltz right up the tower door. Black blades sliced into the white door. The material was tough though and wasn't cut with one swipe. But Wes knew that would happen and he just hacked at the door over and over. The blades continued to dig at the door until eventually it gave way to the attacks. The white halls of the plant were entirely free of people. None of the plants had people inside them unless they needed maintenance or updates. Wes continued to hold his pokenav out as he was following a map that he had made on an app. The structure was small enough that within a minute Wes had reached his final goal. Yet another door stood in his way, this way a little shinier than the first. The security in the plants wasn't the toughest because by now, dozens of grunts would be swarming this place, that was Gaigax's security plan. It had easily been defeated by the mind of Wes though. "If I had my own pokemon I could get some much needed help" Wes muttered between strikes against the door. This door was slowing him down as well as draining him of energy. His black aura blades could barely sink their teeth into this thick door. Wes believed that it actually had been coated with the same electricity as the guards, meant to zap anyone that tried to break it down. Though his device had defeated that security measure as well. The door was peeled away enough that the insides of that room could be seen. Wes stumbled backwards in surprise and barely kept from falling over. The power room was full, of pokemon. They were all in cages, chained up and wrapped in wires. None of the pokemon seemed to have any energy to move or even cry out. There was easily a dozen pokemon in this plant alone if not more.

"Isn't it amazing. The secret to cheap, super-efficient power has been at our sides" commented Anastasia who came up from behind Wes. She was panting from rushing over here but was trying to hide it the best she could. Wes recovered from his surprise and quickly stood to his feet. The two humans were about equal in height and were already sizing each other up.

"You must be Anastasia the tracker. How pathetic, you could never find me until I actual revealed myself" taunted Wes, in a deep, professional voice. He stood tall with his arms crossed now. The black haired hunter raised an eyebrow at this comment.

"Um, I was never looking for you" she replied sassily.

"I believe you were actually, I am Grave after all." Instantly Anastasia's face bloomed with the color red. Steam could practically be seen coming off her skin she was so upset.

"You, you, you made me fail. Anastasia does not fail. I will make up for mistakes right here. Thanks for motivating me to actually try against you." Words were done as the female darted forward at full force. Since his Night Slash was still out, Wes decided to go ahead and swung with that. The quickly girl dropped to her knees and slide right under the swiping blade. A back fist was inserted into the back of Wes' knee. As he dropped down he threw his Night Slash back to try to nip at her again. Palms were pressed on the ground and then pushed the light girl up, allowing her to jump right over the second night slash. Now in the air Anastasia clasped her hands together. A brilliant blue energy formed between her palms. The energy formed a sphere and was fired forward at Wes who was still trying to stand upright again. The blonde male extended his right arm straight out as he saw the attack coming. The hand coated with metal and pulled Wes in the direction it was pointing, out of the way. Anastasia was coming down now from her jump. Wes saw this and pushed off the ground with all fours to gain speed. Again his fist coated in metal and at furious speeds it jabbed Anastasia right in the stomach. The impact moved both fighters against on the white walls in this hallway. "Not strong enough" commented Anastasia. Her knee lit up orange as it drove into the bottom of Wes's jaw. This opened his guard up enough that she was able to repeatedly thrust her fists into everywhere on Wes's body. She did this while sliding down the wall back to her feet. The Arm Thrust had opened up a distance between the two fights now. One that Anastasia tried to close again with a Cross Chop. Before taking a step forward the girl's arms felt too heavy to get into place. She quickly glanced down to see little metal balls covering her hands and arms. Panic set in because Anastasia knew what was going to happen but couldn't do anything to stop it. Wes smirked as the magnet bombs exploded. The explosion was rather light but it did damage to Anastasia's energy level.

"If you want to play all out attacker, I have a strategy for that. If you want to play defensive, I have a strategy for that. If you want to play ranged, I have a strategy for that, go ahead, pick your poison." The woman was breathing heavily now as his words were just increasing her anger.

"Don't act like you're strong. You're just poor son of the pushover Clive. You barely get to fight, you have to use your father's leftover pokemon to learn any moves. You cannot be strong."

"That's just what I want you to think." Wes went on the offensive this time, charging forward. Now that her hands were back, Anastasia crossed them over to make an X shape. Wes had his fists ready but no aura was shown yet. The two crossed paths yet again and Anastasia's slashed her attack across Wes' chest. The powerful attack sent him flying back but he had latched onto her collar, bringing her with him. The two tumbled together and with a powerful spinning motion, Wes slammed Anastasia into the ground. Despite being so close together Wes decided to drop Magnet Bombs that attached to the girl's torso. The explosion affected them both and it propelled Wes upwards since he was above her. Wes's entire body grew heavy as a metallic coating swept over him. He slammed down on Anastasia with weight and momentum. His weight knocked the air right out of her which meant her skeleton's energy was beginning to drop. The girl was a fighter though and knocking the air out of her did not disable her. Both knee were planted in Wes's stomach. He was heavy but she continued to push at it until she was able to slide his body barely off. The girl still couldn't breathe but she had to get up or else it was over. She rolled forward to her knees and then pushed off hastily. She was across the hall from Wes by the time he got up himself. But the girl doubled over with her hands on her knees to finally get some air. "I told you, I'll counter everything you can do."

"Counter this, Grave bastard." An aura sphere formed between her palms again, this one much faster than the first attempt. As soon as the blast left her hands, another one was being formed. And then another, and another. The rapid fire attack was draining every last energy that she had. Wes jumped out of the way of the first one, and then barely avoided the second one. The third blast came in contact with the man's chest. The two missed attacks had created a cloud of smoke when they smash against the wall. Anastasia couldn't tell whether the rest of her attacks hit or not but she was certain the battle was over. "Game. Set. Match. I have avenged my failure, and tracked down the Grave." The final aura sphere was released from her hands as her words finished.

"Your guard is down!" shouted Wes as he suddenly appeared in front of Anastasia. He had a purple coated fist in one hand and his other hand was coated in metal and it gripped onto the aura sphere. The purple punch collided into her pretty face as the aura sphere was jammed into her stomach. The wall was directly behind her so the girl got squished between the wall and Wes's attacks. "If you drop your guard while still attacking, sucker punch will destroy you. You were so bent on defeating me I knew as soon as you thought I was defeated, that you would celebrate. The victory is mine. Now Gaigax will fall and you will be out of a job, you've truly failed this time."

The first step of the allies' attack is complete. But there is still plenty of combat to be had. Next off is Lady Moore's adventure as she faces off for revenge against the hunter Haven. She struggled the first time around but she was also already tired when they first fought. The rash woman finally gets her first full fight, all on the next Iron Fist: The Huntress