Chapter 8
Kanto Region
Saffron City
Team Rocket Base
"Gah!" A female trainer said as she was pushed to the ground, covered in bruises, her Alakazam on the floor next to her, the state of its body far worse than her own.
"For the last time, give us the Twisted Spoon!" A Team Rocket grunt shouted at her.
"No, I'll never let people like you have it!" She shouted in return, looking up at the grunt through her long bangs that had fallen in front her face. Receiving a hard kick to her stomach, the young woman fell over on her side, grasping her midsection in pain.
"We can do this all day girl. This'll continue until you give it to us." The grunt said, watching as she gasped for her for a few moments before placing on hand on the ground, forcing herself up into a sitting position.
"Never." She mumbled out loud, getting a chuckle from the grunt. Kneeling down in front of her, the grunt used the index finger of his left hand to lift up her head by the chin to look at the smirk he wore.
"Are you sure you can keep this up, cause I know I can." He said with a smile.
"You sick, twisted, evil little-gahh!" She began to before the grunt lashed out at her with his right hand, landing a devastating hook that sent to her to the floor with a hard thud. Remaining on her side, her eyes were covered by her bangs as she grit her teeth, fighting back tears.
'She's breaking...' The grunt noted, his smirk getting larger. Now it was time to go in for the finish. "Why are you putting yourself through this. You could just hand over the Twisted Spoon and be on your merry way."
Receiving no reply, the grunt looked down at her with a look of disappointed. He was almost having fun when she snapped back, but now it appeared that she was finished.
"Alright then." The grunt said, standing up straight. Raising one leg, he stomped down on her side, getting a scream of pain for her. "Speak!"
She remained silent.
"Fine, have it your way." He said, placing his left foot on top her head now. Keeping all his weight on his right, the grunt was prepared to give her one last offer. "Talk!"
He gave her ten seconds. No reply. Beginning to transfer his weight onto his left foot which rested on her head, she began to scream as the weight increased.
"Talk!" The grunt shouted again.
"Alakazam!" She screamed when she could no longer bare the pain. "It's inside Alakazam."
"What?" He asked, leaning forward with a smile after removing his foot from on top her head. Hearing her sniffled a few times, the grunt chuckled with a sick smile.
"It's in-inside Alakazam." She repeated to him, choking on her words.
"Inside your Alakzam huh? That could be pretty tricky for me to do on my own. I guess I'll have to check in with Alan for this one." The grunt muttered to himself. Hearing the footsteps of the grunt move away from her, the woman looked through her bangs to see the grunt collecting Alakazam's unconscious body from the ground, throwing it over his shoulder.
"Wha-what are you going to do with Alakazam?" The woman called out, watching as the grunt and her partner Pokemon disappeared into the darkness of the hallway that was entry way to the room she was resting in. "Don't take out the Twisted Spoon! It's the only thing keeping Alakazam alive! Come back, please!"
Johto Region
Route 32
The group of four composed of two Pokemon and two humans stood awe struck and silent, their eyes glued to Blake's right arm that had just deflected a Solar Beam attack that was capable of putting a hole through the strongest of metals.
"H…How did you do that?" Grace asked with a baffled expression, watching Blake who continued to stare at his arm.
"I have no idea." He replied, shrugging it off since he had no way of explaining exactly what he had done. He had felt a sudden energy boost surge through his body before he jumped in to save Larvitar, and the rest was nothing but a white flash. "Are you okay Larvitar?"
"Lar." It said, nodding to him as he let go, allowing it to land on the ground. Arcanine barked at Blake, forcing the amazing feat Blake had just pulled off out of its mind, taking off in another sprint toward Blake. Barring its fangs, electricity began to spark from its mouth as it prepared a Thunder Fang attack.
As Arcanine neared the duo of Blake and Larvitar, Blake pushed the small green Pokemon beside him away with his left foot before diving to the ground to his right to avoid being bitten by Arcanine. Realizing it had missed Blake, Arcanine came to a completely halt before turning around, glaring at Blake who was returning to his feet. The Fire type gave another growl before it raced toward Blake once more, faster this time.
Unsure of which way he should move now, Blake noticed the branches above and quickly came to a decision. Running toward Arcanine as well, Blake took a large leap into the air which barely got him over Arcanine's head. Once he was clear of its head, Blake managed to land on its back before using it as a springboard to launch himself up to the tree branches above. With two hands on the branch, Blake began to swing himself back and forth to gain enough momentum to throw him up onto the the next branch a head of him.
Arcanine had already spotted Blake trying to hide, Blake took note of the flames that Arcanine breathed out its nostrils which was a sign of what was coming next.
"Poliwag, come on out and use Water Gun!" Blake said, snatching the Poke-ball from his waist to release his only Water type. Arcanine opened its mouth, unleashing a large Flame Thrower that was aimed to catch Blake no matter where he moved.
"Poli!" The Tadpole Pokemon shouted as it fired a continuous stream of water from its mouth to fight against the oncoming flames. Poliwag's Water Gun was a tiny stream of water when compared to Arcanine's Flame Thrower, but it was enough to keep a small opening in the flames so that Blake and Poliwag weren't engulfed in the flames.
While Blake and Poliwag weren't eaten up by the flames, the tree branches surrounding them were, and size of the fire was quickly growing as Arcanine continued its assault on Blake.
"Arcanine, return!" Grace said, jumping out from the bushes along the side of the dirt pathway, holding Arcanine's Poke-ball. "Milotic, come out and use Water Pulse!"
As Arcanine disappeared into its Poke-ball, a serpentine Pokemon that's tail was scaly, alternating between the colors red and blue, replaced Arcanine on the field.
"Mii!" It shouted, a large sphere of clear water forming in front of it which was then fired at the tree where Blake and Poliwag were stuck. The water was more than enough to dose the flames, but Blake and Poliwag were caught in the blast, and Blake was soaked to say the least, although Poliwag was quite pleased to soaked in water.
'Opps...' Grace said after Blake jumped out of the tree, realizing she had drenched him in water. Pulling back his wet bangs that had fallen in front his eyes, Blake looked toward Grace with a glare.
"You still haven't answered my question. Who are you?"
"What do you mean who am I?" Grace asked as she returned her Milotic to its Poke-ball with a quick thanks for its assistance.
"At first I thought you were just a regular trainer, but you're way more than that." Blake said, returning his Poliwag to its Poke-ball. "You were with those people from the Committee, what are you hiding?"
"I'm not hiding anything, and I'm of Committee member so they're my friends."
"A Committee member?" Blake repeated, getting a nod from Grace. "What do you know about Team Rocket?"
Grace's cheeks reddened with embarrassment as she looked away from Blake. She never listened to any of the meetings for the Committee members since they never let her leave Indigo Plateau. Why listen to the meetings since she'd never get to see any of those things in real life.
"Well I don't know much." Grace replied. "To the best of my knowledge, Team Rocket's next target is Azalea Town, that's why we're headed there."
Blake sighed. The information she had given him was everything he already knew, but he thanked her for it anyway before accepting her apology about the Water Pulse attack.
Route 36
"Hey you!" Robbie shouted at a female trainer who had just won three battles with her Yanma. "Let's battle!"
"Sure." She replied, pulling her flowing black hair into a pony tail since it had become a mess during her last battle. "My name is Carrie. I'm an R-Class trainer. Who are you?"
"My name's Robbie." Robbie replied confidently, motioning for Totodile to get off his shoulder and prepare for battle.
"What's you Battle Circuit record?" Carrie asked, getting a nervous chuckle from the teenage boy standing a small distance away from her.
"I haven't really...debuted yet." Robbie replied, getting a smirk from Carrie.
"Heh, then this should be easy." Carrie replied, her Yanma taking flight from the ground beside her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Robbie asked, a vein appearing on the side of his forehead.
"Basically, it means your weak." Carrie replied. "I already have five wins in the Battle Circuit while you've got none. The only conclusion that I could come to is that your weak with a record of zero wins."
Robbie was practically steaming at Carrie's blunt statement, and Totodile had taken notice of that. Blasting its trainer with a Water Gun attack to the face, Robbie's attention was directed to Totodile.
"What was that for?" Robbie asked, looking down at the Water type Pokemon.
"Toto-dile!" It said, raising both its arms to flex its none existent muscles. Right stood in silence for a moment before a Totodile's message finally got across to him, a smile growing on his face as he gave Totodile a nod.
"Right, let's show her just how strong we really are." Robbie said, raising a fist toward Carrie.
"Alright, if you want to be humiliated that badly." Carrie muttered with a shrug. "Yanma, start off with Quick Attack!"
"Yam!" It said, bursting forward toward Totodile, its wings reflecting the light of the sun which blinding Robbie and Totodile momentarily which was enough for Yanma to land a fast hit. Totodile was sent tumbling backward a few feet, but once it came to a halt, the Water type jumped back to its feet, brushing off the attack as if it was nothing.
"Alright, the training did pay off!" Robbie said, pumping his fist into the air. "Now Totodile, let's go in with Scratch!"
Now it was Totodile's turn to burst forward, showing of its increased speed which was still nothing compared to Yanma's as the Bug/Flying type easily avoided the physical attack, putting some distance between itself and Totodile in an instant.
"Yanma, use Wing Attack!"
"Hold it back with Water Gun!"
Firing off a powerful stream of water at Yanma who had come charging toward it, Totodile forcefully held back Yanma with the pressurized water, halting its attack.
"Yanma, press forward with all your strength!"
"Yanma!" It shouted, the speed of its wings flapping doubling as they became a white blur, the dual type Pokemon beginning to move toward Totodile despite having the Water Gun pushing against it.
"Totodile, cut off the Water Gun and use Scratch!" Robbie said quickly, getting a nod from the Totodile who followed his commands. Yanma shot forward at full speed now that it had no obstacles in its path, only to meet with a heavy downward Scratch attack had all of Totodile's body weight behind which smashed it into the ground. "End it with Water Gun!"
"Yanma, look out!" Carrie shouted to her partner as Totodile opened its mouth, releasing a point blank Water Gun attack that send Yanma flying toward its trainer. Yanma landed on the ground in front of Carrie with a groan, soaked in water and its eyes replaced with black swirls.
"Awesome Totodile!" Robbie shouted, rushing over to Totodile who he slapped on the back before hoisting it up onto his head, beginning to party over his victory.
"Yanma, return."Carrie mumbled, withdrawing her unconscious Pokemon to the safety of its Poke-ball. "You only won because Yanma was tired from its other battles today. But you are pretty good. Can you tell me your name again?"
"Robbie."
"I had better see you at the Rookie Kings so I can pay you back in full for this." Carrie said, giving him a way as she began to head in the direction of Violet City.
'The Rookie Kings...their must be a lot of people entering this year.' He said to himself, deciding that he'd need to double up on his training to make sure he could beat everyone opponent he would be facing in the future.
Violet City
Pokemon Academy
Mari sat inside of the lobby of a large building on the east side of Violet City. It was the Pokemon Academy that was know all over Johto for producing some of the famous trainers in the Johto Battle Circuit such as Meegan J, the current Champion. The lobby was crowded with trainers that were waiting for a small tournament that was specially for pre-debut trainers to gauge their strength.
Her goal today was to have as many battles as she could, and learn from the pre-debut trainers that had gathered from the area's surrounding Violet City.
"Miss Mari?" The attendant behind the desk called out. Mari rose from her seat, approaching the man who was waiting for her. "You've been approved. Your first battle will be on Field 4. One Pokemon only.
"Thank you."
Mari stood in the blue box of the battle field. She would be facing a male trainer who already had his Pokemon waiting on the battle field when she arrived. It was Ledyba that was observing her with a blank stare.
"Are you ready?" The ref asked, getting a nod from Mari as she released her Eevee onto the field. "Alright, battle begin."
"Eevee, counter with Quick Attack!"
"Ledyba, use Mach Punch!"
Both Pokemon shot forward at a high speed, meeting each other with a hard thud. Eevee stumbled backward, Ledyba's Mach Punch having a type advantage which led to Ledyba powering forward.
"Follow up with Comet Punch Ledyba!"
"Eevee, push it off with Tackle!"
Using only its hind legs to push itself forward, Eevee lunged at the approaching Ledyba, ramming its small body against it, but that didn't stop Ledyba. Eevee received a chain of fast blows form Ledyba which sent it tumbling backward again.
"Ledyba, keep it up!"
"Ledy!" It said as it jumped at Eevee again to continue its assault.
"Eevee, keep your distance from Ledyba using Quick Attack!" Mari said, motioning for Eevee to pull back from Ledyba.
"Vee." It muttered, moving away from Ledyba. Keeping its distance for a while, using its superior speed ot its advantage.
"Now Eevee, let's get it with Secret Power!"
"Ee-vee!" The small brown Pokemon shouted as a wight halo formed around its body.
"Get ready Ledyba!"
All over the field, small white spots formed on the ground that then rose up from the floor, taking of the shape of an orb as the floated in mid air surrounding Ledyba. There were at least a hundred, and Ledyba was was covered from every angle.
"Crud, Ledyba can't dodge that."
"Vee!" Eevee squealed, the orbs racing in toward Ledyba. The Bug/Flying type could only grunt as the orbs rained down onto its body, effectively wiping out almost all of Ledyba's health.
"Eevee, use Tackle while it's open!" Mari ordered. Eevee charged in toward a dazed Ledyba, landing a hard hit to its body which sent it sliding across the field on its back.
"Ledyba is unable to continue. Eevee wins." The ref said, raising the blue flag.
"I guess we still have some training to do." The boy said, returning his Ledyba to its Poke-ball before leaving with his hands in his pockets.
Mari quickly rushed onto field to check on Eevee was currently resting on its side, taking shallow breaths.
"It still takes a lot of energy to use Secret Power doesn't it?" Mari asked Eevee, getting a small nod from the Pokemon. "Rest up, I'll use Chikorita next."
Out of sixty five trainers, Mari made it to the top 16 before losing which told her that there were still many trainers that were stronger than her.
'Johto's a big place.' Mari said to herself, exiting the Academy. 'I need to train more if I plan to earn the money for the Cherrygrove debt in the Battle Circuit.'
4/17/0046/Morning
Union Cave
Blake and Grace stared at Union Cave in shock, although the surprise wasn't evident on the faces of either trainer. The entrance to the cave looked like any other, but the ceiling of the cave had multiple holes that appeared to be drilled into, allowing daylight into the cave.
The question was why would someone do this?
"Hey." Blake called out to a rather large boy that was observing the entrance like he and Grace were. He appeared to be around the same age as Blake, but Blake could tell just by his clothing that this boy wasn't a trainer. "Do you know what happened her?"
"No, I got her earlier this morning and found it like this. It looks like something was going down in her a while ago." He replied.
"Hmm...I guess I'll forget it for now." Blake mumbled to himself before waving to Grace. "Let's go."
The dark haired duo began to move into Union Cave, using the daylight provided from the holes in the ceiling to stay on course.
"Hey!" Someone shouted, getting Blake's attention. Looking back, Blake saw the boy that was at the entrance of Union Cave running toward them.
"Yeah?"
"Do you mind if I follow you through here? I don't have any Pokemon and I've heard that Union Cave is pretty dangerous to travel through alone without Pokemon." He explained.
"Do whatever you want. It's no big deal." Blake replied nonchalantly.
"Thanks man!" He said happily. "By the way, my name is Jerry."
"Blake." Blake responded as he began to walk forward again.
"I'm Grace, nice to meet you." Grace said, introducing herself.
"Geodude!" A new voice shouted as Blake was suddenly thrown to his bottom. One of the rocks Blake had just stepped on was moving. "Geo-dude!"
"Are you okay?" Grace asked, watching Blake jump to his feet with his Pokedex out, taking a snapshot of Geodude.
"I'll be fine once I'm done battling this Pokemon." Blake replied, quickly reading over Geodude's data from the Pokedex before selecting Poliwag's Poke-ball. Before he could give the Poke-ball a toss, Blake found the Geodude hanging onto his leg with a tight grip, shouting at him.
Blake gave the Rock Pokemon a dark glare before he swung his leg repeatedly, trying to shake it off. Eventually Geodude's grip loosened before it finally slipped off Blake's leg, being sent flying into the wall of the cave. The loud bang produced from Geodude colliding with the rock wall disturbed many Geodude that had been sleeping in that area.
"Nice. Poliwag, let's battle." Blake said, releasing his Water type partner from its Poke-ball.
As Poliwag appearing in the cave, a group of nine Geodude had cut off the groups path, all of them shouting at them for awakening them from their sleep. As Grace took Milotic's Poke-ball off her belt, she noticed a signal from Blake telling her not to join the battle.
"Leave this to use." Blake said. "Poliwag, use Water Gun.
Poliwag blasted away three of the Geodude's using Water Gun, but the remaining six surrounded it, preparing to attack. Three of them ripped a chunk of earth out the ground, throwing it at Poliwag while the other three began to move in.
"Poliwag, use Pound on the ground." Blake said, watching Poliwag spring itself into the air using its tail, avoiding the Rock Throw from the three Geodude's, two of the Geodude's that had moved closer getting hit by the rocks. "Now use Water Gun."
"Poli." It said, blowing away two more Geodude's, both of them crashing into a large rock that was resting against the wall of the cave. While Poliwag knocked out another Geodude while Water Gun, the large rock began to move, rolling over to reveal a face, four small yet bulky arms and two feet at the bottom of the rock.
"Graveler." It said angrily, approaching Poliwag after tearing a large rock of the ground.
"Poliwag, jumped behind the approaching Geodude." Blake said, noticing the Graveler approaching from behind Poliwag. "Then use Pound on the Geodude and send it flying toward Graveler."
Poliwag followed his command, jumping into the air to avoid a Tackle attack from one of the remaining Geodude's landing behind it as Graveler hurled the large stone at Poliwag. Blake took a snap shot of Graveler, watching Poliwag slam the Geodude with its tail on the back, sending the Pokemon flying toward the rock Graveler had thrown.
Geodude broke right through the rock, splitting it in half which cleared the threat without any trouble. The Geodude continued its path, flying toward Graveler who wasn't expecting anything like this, crashing into the Rock Pokemon. Without Blake's command, Poliwag used Water Gun on the remaining Geodude, finishing off the Pokemon.
"Nice Poliwag." Blake said before Graveler groaned, rising to its feet while the Geodude that had crashed into it lay on the ground next to it, its eyes replaced with swirls.
"Graveler." It said, picking up the unconscious Geodude next to it. It then chucked it at Poliwag, before getting a running start, curling itself up tightly into a ball, beginning to roll toward the group.
"Oh no, it's using the Rollout. It'll smush us like a pancake." The boy said, hiding behind Blake.
"Poliwag, use Pound and send Geodude back. Aim to hit the ground in front of where Graveler is going to move to." Blake said.
Poliwag did just that, sending Geodude right into Graveler's path.
"Now use Water Gun on the ground in front of Graveler." Blake said. Poliwag soaked the ground, a large puddle forming as Graveler hit Geodude, the obstacle in its path causing it to rise into the air for a few seconds before landing on the puddle, the Rollout attack still going.
"It's going to run us over!" The boy shouted in fear before Graverler suddenly turned off course, running straight into the wall of the cave.
"Poliwag, end it with Water Gun." Blake said, watching Poliwag finish the job. "Nice."
Blake, Grace and Poliwag continued walking along, leaving the boy behind.
"H…Hey wait for me." He said, running after them.
4/20/0046/Night
Route 33
Blake and Grace finally made it to the exit of Union Cave, pleased that they got out the cave before it got too dark to see. The entire day went to Poliwag who battled dozens of Rock type Pokemon inside Union Cave as training.
"We made it." Jerry said happily, joining them in looking up at the night time sky.
"Let's camp here for tonight. Azalea Town is still to far way." Grace said, dropping her back pack. Blake gave her nod in agreement, looking for a place to set up his hammock.
Blake found a nice spot on some low tree branches to set it up when he noticed Jerry laying down on the ground using his back pack as a pillow. Normally Blake would ignore a scene like that, but instead a he chucked one of his Poke-balls at Jerry to get his attention.
"Oww, what was that for?" He whined, both his hands covering the spot on his head where he was hit.
"Sleep here." Blake said, standing next to the hammock that had already been set up. Jerry looked at him for a moment before rushing over to Blake, giving him a bone crushing hug.
"Thanks man!" He shouted happily. "But where are you going to sleep?"
"I have a spare." Blake said, walking over to grab the Poke-ball he had thrown at Jerry and his back pack after Jerry released him. From there he began to climb the tree, looking for a spot to sleep, giving Jerry a thumbs up to reassure him.
Jerry returned the thumbs up before climbing into the hammock, falling asleep in an instant. Blake on other hand had found a branch he could rest on since he didn't have a spare hammock.
'There's your good deed for today.' Blake said, remembering Lola's words that she had drilled into him while he was living in the Orphanage. 'Do at least once good deed every day and something good will happen in return.'
4/20/0046/Morning
Azalea Town
The small town was mainly a condensed area of small wooden houses that went on for about half a mile, a few buildings that stood out from the rest like the Pokemon Center and the Gateway to Ilex Forest, a place that was a safe haven for trainers and Pokemon during the Dark Days. Surrounding the city was a thin forest that grew thick heading to the west side of the town, the location of Ilex Forest, a thick forest that went on for miles, filled with Pokemon and said to be home to the Forest Guardian.
Surprisingly, Azalea Town had preserved the Pokemon Gym from the Old Days, through the Dark Days and kept it open to this day as a place where trainers in the Battle Circuit could test their strength.
After parting with Jerry at the entrance to Azalea Town, Grace and Blake began their search for the Committee members in this small town.
"Do you have any idea who we're looking for?" Blake asked, looking around at the town's people who were standing in their shops, discussing random topics with their customers.
"Yeah, there should be five Committee members we have to meet up with." Grace replied. "They should be waiting in the northern side of the city in a park."
"You mean that park?" Blake asked, pointing at the fenced area a head where multiple small kids were chasing each other on the grassy plain, a sign on the fence reading 'Azalea Town Park'.
"I'll go with it." Grace said as the two of them entered the park, noticing a group of five adults seated on two benches, only one of them standing.
One of them began to wave, recognizing Grace. Grace recognized three of the five people as Randy, Shari, and Rachel from the Johto Committee.
"Hey Grace, is that your boyfriend?" Rachel asked teasingly. Grace turned red, denying Rachel's jab while Blake stared at her blankly. She was the same height as Blake with cream skin and dark brown hair. She sat on the bench, her legs crossed wearing a pair of blue denim jeans and a red t-shirt that was visible through her unzipped black jacket that was missing its sleeves.
"Ignore her Grace." Shari said, preventing Rachel from continuing. "Anyway, these two people are from the Kanto Committee. This guy is Brad, one of the toughest guys in the Kanto Committee. And the girl is Jackie. Everyone says she's sure to make it to the top of the Committee with her brains."
"Nice to meet you." Jackie said kindly with a soft smile as if the compliment meant nothing to her. She was a young dark skinned woman that appeared to be in her early twenties with short black hair that was pulled back into a bun. She wore a simple pair of denim jeans and a burgundy blouse.
Brad didn't even spare the group a wave. He just continued to look up at the sky through his black bangs. He was dressed in a pair of cargo pants and a t-shirt, both in black. There was chain looping around from his front pocket to his back and one his wrist was a brown leather wrist band.
"Likewise." Grace replied with the same kindness Jackie had shown to her. Blake focused on Brad more than Jackie, glancing up at the sky to see what the young man found so interesting in the vast open space.
"Blake, it's been so long." Shari exclaimed, approaching the boy who only glanced at her.
"Its only been a few days." Blake replied.
"But partners shouldn't be apart for that long." Shari continued as she slapped his back. Blake stiffened up before glaring at her.
"What are you talking about?" He asked, deciding that it was best that he ignore her previous action.
"We'll be partners in a matter of weeks so we have to get to know each other." Shari explained, reminding Blake of the fact that he would be joining Team Rocket once they were done in Azalea Town.
"Alright, can we get down to business. I'm supposed to be tailing Dustin and it's easy to lose track of that guy so I don't have much time." Randy said, putting the conversation back on its original focus.
"Right. So as all of you know, Team Rocket is planning an attack on Azalea Town sometime in the near future. It's our duty to figure out what Team Rocket's goal is and prevent them from harming anyone in the process." Shari explained.
"So why are members of the Kanto Committee here?" Blake asked, looking over at the duo.
"We were sent by the Commissioner to do some information gathering. Team Rocket has preformed a few small operation in Kanto, and everyone wants answers." Jackie explained. "We noticed that Team Rocket is more active in Johto then Kanto, so we decided to join the investigation over her to see if there is any links between their movements in the two regions."
"Team Rocket is obviously bigger than we first anticipated if they are in Kanto as well. At this rate, they'll become an international threat." Rachel said, but before she could continue, the screams of several children gained their attention.
It wasn't the usual cheer of a child playing with their friends, it was clear that their voices were filled with fear and panic.
"Ur-saring!" A deep burly voice roared over the screams. The group of Committee members and Blake turned in the direction of the screaming, spotting six Ursaring's advancing on the park from the border of the town, pursuing the children that had been playing near the edge of the town.