"Does anyone have a plan?" I asked. Gani was quickly healing Kykis. He regained consciousness, but wasn't in any state to fight yet.

"I might have been able to hold off the Kimonos," Hana said, "but there's no way I can take on the Skyscrapes."

"Kykis, do you have any counter to them?"

He was still moving very fast at the control panel. "No. The only one who has a chance of taking them down is Elric."

I thought for a moment. "There has to be a way." Then I had an idea. "I can beat them! Hana, hold off the Kimonos. Kedo, I need you to grab the attention of the Skyscrapes." I grabbed our flag and tied it, putting it around my neck. Then I grabbed a new headset. "KY, I need you to find out the base of the Polar Magnets."

"Are you sure about this?" KY asked.

"Nope, but it's the best we got." I ran to a broken window. "How much longer on the protect?"

"Thirty seconds," Fort said.

Hana moved in place at the front door. "Fort, are you ready?"

He nodded. "Whenever you are."

Thirty seconds had past, and the attack went down. "Go!"

Kedo and I burst through the window, and Hana threw the front door open. Kedo formed to guns of water in his hands and started shooting at the ring of flying types above us. Their perfect formation was thrown off, and I heard one of them calling out orders. They noticed I had our flag.

We took off down the street as fast as we could, but it wasn't going to be fast enough. I scowled. Of course we couldn't outrun them. They were flying. Plus, the Skyscrapes were known for their speed.

Then I felt myself picked up by Kedo, and we started moving very fast. I was set down in a small cart of water. I looked at him in amazement. He had made a motorcycle.

We sped down the street, the Skyscrapes in hot pursuit. "KY, what do you have for me?"

"Nothing very helpful. Luckily Hana distracted the Kimonos, but she isn't fairing well. With Kykis down, I can't tell you the exact location of their base. The place to look would be the electronic store on 21st street, the one with the lightning rod."

"Kedo, get us to 21st!" I yelled. He nodded, making a sharp right.

I could see the lightning rod. "Once we reach that street, drive right into the electronic store. Plow down the door. and try to exit through the back alleyway."

"That's a tall order," he said.

"It's our best chance."

We turned again, the electronic store not far away. I saw a pachirisu run into the base. Good, they noticed us. Kedo got on the outer edge of the street, and made a sharp turn, sending us right through the front door of the Polar Magnet's base.

I looked behind us. The Skyscrapes didn't follow us inside, so they were probably circling the building, just like they had been doing to us.

We made it to the back door, which led to the alley, but we didn't make it through it. Kedo's bike went over a thick cord, and we swerved, hitting the door sideways. The bike burst apart, dumping us onto the ground. We quickly hid behind some shelves. They had holes in them, which were meant for the cords of whatever electronic device would be on display, so we were able to see what was going on.

Many electric pokemon gathered, and a heat rotom was working quickly at a computer.

"Hurry, Nevo!" an ampharos said. "They are about to attack!"

"I'm working on it!" The heat rotom said. "Everyone got a wire?"

All the electric pokemon held up a wire. "Good. Ready, and, go!"

All of them let loose electric attacks, which traveled through the wires. There was a bright light from outside, and the Skyscrapes started falling like stones. They must have reversed the effects of the lightning rod, allowing it to send out electricity. I was pretty curious on how they did it.

"We should be safe," Nevo, the rotom, said. "Pac said they were chasing two pokemon on a motorcycle. Where'd they go?"

"The back door was open," a minun said. "We believe they escaped through there."

"Do we still have our flag?" The ampharos said.

"Yep. It's still in the generator room."

"Good. That was a lot of the skyscrapes. Their flag might be unguarded. Let's hurry and get it. Nevo, you stay here with Radic. Everyone else, follow me." They all nodded, and hurried out the door.

We stayed still. Nevo was still at the computer, while Radic, the minun, had gone to stand watch at the door. Kedo moved very slowly, forming a gun in his hand, putting it against a hole. I got ready to run, since radic would come running when Nevo went down.

Kedo fired, and Nevo was blasted right out of his chair, out cold. Just as I expected, Radic ran over, only to be pounced on by me and hit with an up close toxic.

He squirmed out from under me, a shield of trump cards forming around him. I did the same, and we let loose our attacks on one another. Kedo ran forward, only to be jumped on by the small pokemon, who rubbed his cheek against his face. Kedo was shocked, and fell down, paralyzed.

I tackled him off Kedo, blasting him with shadow ball. He let loose a barrage of stars at me, but I dodged them, attacking with my own swift attack. This hit him as well, and he went down.

I ran over to Kedo. "Are you okay?"

He struggled to his feet, sparks flying around him. "I'll be fine. Let's find their flag."

We went to the back of the store, where a door was. Inside was a large electric generator, with a yellow flag on top. I put it around my neck as well.

"What do we do now?" I asked. Then I remembered KY. "KY! How are you guys doing?"

"We're pretty beat up, but we made it. Hana forced the Kimono's to retreat. We still have seven minutes until we can put up another protect, though.

Okay, so now we had three flags. "We got rid of the Skyscrapes, and we also managed to take the Polar Magnet's flag. They went to take the Skyscrape's."

"We can use that to our advantage. When they come back, should they have gotten the flag, they will come to put it with theirs. Hide in the room where you found it. When they come with the flag, cause a commotion and take it from them. Do you think you can do it?"

"Yeah, but how will we escape? Kedo is paralyzed."

"That's not good. Okay, we'll send Kykis that way. When he sees the commotion, he'll break in and teleport you guys back to here. Try not to attack him, since he's still a bit worn from the attack from the Skyscrapes."

We nodded, and found places to hide. Kedo hid in the air ducts while I hid in a box of wires. We waited, not knowing when they would get back.

After what seemed like forever, we heard voices from outside the room. "Nevo! Radic! What happened?"

There was a faint mumbling, which I guess was Radic. The door burst open, and Kedo let loose his smokescreen, filling the room with white smoke, making it almost impossible to see. I didn't dare move from the hiding spot, since electric attacks were flying everywhere.

I saw something move across the floor. It looked like a shadow. Kedo jumped down, and Kykis materialized, grabbing us. In a flash, we were back in the emporium.

"Good, the plan worked," KY said. "We're doing pretty well." Gani went over and healed Kedo of his paralysis.

I looked around the emporium. Loads of the shelves had been broken down, and lots of shattered glass littered the floor. "Did the Kimono's get in here?"

"Unfortunately yes," Hana said. She had a broom in hand and was sweeping up the glass. "I held them at the door for a while, but they eventually forced me in here. That's why it's so destroyed. Luckily I didn't hurt KY's control center. He had set up a metal dome around it which I didn't break through."

"Though you did make an unbearable racket," Gani said irritably.

"How are the others doing?" I asked.

"Pretty good. Auroc's group has shut down 8th street, which is now covered in ice and rock. Lilly's group is still watching the Geoaxes, who haven't used any weapons yet. The current scoring is us tied with the Geoaxes and Draviathans in first, us all having three, the Kimonos, Volcs, and Harmonics tied in second with two, the Shadow Eaters and Skyscrapes tied with three other minor gangs with one flag, and then nine gangs in last who don't have a flag. It appears that the Polar Magnets didn't get the Skyscrape's flag."

"Why are the Skyscrapes and Shadow Eaters so low?" I asked.

"The Skyscrapes all attack together, and we were their first target. Since they were taken down by the Polar Magnets, they haven't stolen any flags. The Shadow Eaters worry me. They sent a very strong attack force out. The one flag they got is from a gang called the Estuaries. They are probably waiting for something."

"For us." I said. "They want us to get a bunch of flags and attack."

"A good plan, but I don't think Dahk wants to take that chance," KY said. "He's lost to us too many times already, and doesn't want to risk being knocked out of the games so early. He'll probably deploy the same strategy upon some other gang, most likely the Kimonos or Volcs."

"How much time is left until the games end?"

"It's only one o'clock," Fort said. "We still have six hours."

I couldn't believe it had only been an hour. It felt like an eternity. "Well what should I do now?"

"Wait," KY said. "I want to see where the scoring goes. Try to get some sleep."

I knew I wasn't going to sleep, so I grabbed an iron ball off the floor and started rolling it between my paws. I wondered how well the shop had done when someone actually owned the stoor.

We waited for what seemed like an eternity. I didn't do anything but role the iron ball. KY stayed at his control center. Kykis, Gani, and Kedo fell asleep. Fort would put up a protect, and when it went away, he and Hana would go stand guard outside. When the protect was up, Hana would clean. No one tried to attack us, which frightened me. It was way to peaceful.

It reached five o'clock. KY sighed. "The scoring has only changed between the minor gangs. I think we should just steal a flag from one of them and call it a night." He looked back at the screen, and started working frantically. "Oh no!"

The Shadow Eater's score rose to five. The Skyscrapes and the three other gangs who had one flag now were in last with zero.

I stood up. "What should I do?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know if they would go and try to get more flags or if they're going to make sure they don't lose the ones they have. Kykis!" Kykis bolted awake. "I need you to tell me what's going on at the Shadow Eater's base."

In a flash, Kykis was gone. He came back a few minutes later. "They are still on the offensive. It looks like they are going to engage the Geoaxes."

"Fools. We have no choice to go and get those flags. In fact, everyone is going to go and get those flags. It's up to us to be first."

Kedo and I were gone before he could get out another word. He made another water motorcycle, and we were off. I noticed he was looking a little tired. It must have been from making something so big and detailed. I would have to worry about that later.

We sped to the security center, hiding in the alleyway across the street from it. The cacturne from before had regained consciousness, and had a Drapion and Skuntank with him.

"Great, they boosted their defenses," I said. "You have a plan?"

"I do, but it's not a good one." He ran out from the hiding spot. "What are you idiots doing? You were supposed to back us up when we went to attack! We are not about to get our butts kicked because you all are slacking off!"

I stared, horrified at what he was doing. He was a dark type, so he was trying to pass as one of them. The cacturne was the first to speak. "Our orders were to guard the door."

"Well the orders I heard were for you to follow us in case we needed back up! Why are you still arguing this? Get moving!"

"If those are our orders, why are you here?" The skuntank asked.

"Because someone had to get you moving."

The Drapion scowled. "Fine then. You remember where we hid the flags, right?"

"Uh..." Kedo paused. I was scared almost to the point of being able to use psyche scream. They knew.

"You're the idiot here," the Drapion said. "It's in the office room, remember?"

"Oh, of course. I apologize. It seemed to have slipped my mind."

"Oh really." The drapion grabbed Kedo. "We didn't hide it there. We hid it in the usual spot!"

Ice and stone erupted beneath the pokemon, sending them and Kedo flying. Auroc rushed forward, nailing the Cacturne in the stomach with an ice punch. Absolum and Ore blasted the Skuntank and Drapion with stone edge and razor wind.

"Couldn't even make it in the front door," Auroc said, smiling. "Not your best work."

I ran out of my hiding place. "Come on. Let's get those flags."

We ran inside, taking the stairs this time. When we reached the top, we came face to face with the tyranitar I had seen earlier. Though he wasn't asleep anymore.

He roared, glowing white. The light soon formed into a large ball in front of him. Ancient power. Before any of us could react, Kedo raced forward, a sword of water in hand, he cut through the attack, which exploded, sending him and the tyranitar flying in opposite directions.

The tyranitar started to get up, but Absolum pounced on him, a cloud of dust appearing. It was the same move he had used on Auroc. I still didn't know what it was. When the cloud settled, the large pokemon was unconscious.

"What move is that?" I asked.

"Play rough, a very useful fairy type attack."

We all walked over to Kedo, who was getting up shakily. "You really didn't think that one through, did you?" Ore asked.

He shook his head. He took a step, and collapsed, unconscious as well. "Well this complicates things," Auroc said.

"KY, Kedo just fainted. We're in the Shadow Eater's base. Can you send Kykis to come get him?"

"We're a little busy!" He yelled. "The Harmonics, Draviathans, and Kimonos are attacking!"

"What? Are the flags safe?"

"Yes, but if we can't stop them, they won't be for much longer!"

"We'll be back as soon as we can. Just give us a minute."

"No! They want everyone here. We can't beat them all! We did a count. Each one has their entire gang here. Even the flags are with them. We can't fight this many pokemon!"

I thought frantically. "I have an idea! Just keep fighting!" I ran to the security room, where the sneasel, along with a weavile and honchkrow, guarded the flags.

I let loose a toxic. "Get out now!"

They all were poisoned, and got ready to attack me. I let loose a crazy amount of trump cards, along with swift. "I said get out!" The attacks struck them all. Soon everyone else joined me, and we took them out easily.

I looked at the flags. I grabbed them all. "Come on! We have to go to the Skyscrapes!"

"What? Are you insane?" Auroc yelled.

I ran out of the room, quickly up the stairs. I made it all the way to the roof. I saw a group of flying pokemon. I sent a swift attack at them, grabbing their attention.

They came flying over, ready to attack. "Don't attack!" I yelled. "I got your flag back for you!"

They all slowed their flying down, and landed in a ring around me. A dragonite, who appeared to be in charge, spoke. "Why are you giving this back? Is this a trick?" I was startled by his deep voice.

"No, we aren't attacking you. I need your help. Our gang is being attacked by three of the major gangs, and we can't defeat them alone."

He stared for a moment. "And you want us to help?"

"Well it would be really nice. Please?"

He continued to stare. "And you are willing to give us our flag back?"

"Yes. I also want the other flags that got stolen to be returned to their respective gangs, to see if they will help us as well."

The dragon pokemon looked thoroughly confused. "You hold in your possession five flags. If I'm correct that you are from the Unnaturals, then even if you lost your three flags, you would still be in the lead. Why are you taking this risk?"

I lowered my head. I hadn't thought about that. "I don't know. I guess I kind of feel bad. I want our gang to win, but I don't really want to make anyone lose, either."

He turned to a Noctowl. "What time is it?"

"5:23, sir," he said.

He nodded. "What's your name, eevee?"

"Hydra."

"Well, Hydra, let us make you a deal. We help you protect yourselves against this attack. We should hopefully be done well before six, so that will leave an hour left in the games. For that last hour, we don't attack you, and you don't attack us. And, of course, you return our flag."

"Sir, they have eight flags!" A fearow said. "Can't we get another one?"

"No," the dragon said. "We will not take what is not rightfully ours. If we want any of those flags, we will have to take them fairly, not through blackmail. Besides, she plans on returning them to their gangs anyway."

I smiled. "Thank you so much sir!"

"What about us?"

I turned to see the Ampharos from the Polar Magnets, along with a lot of electric and steel pokemon, march up to us. "You two are the reason we don't have any flags! We are not going to get knocked out this early!"

"I can give you your flag back." I said. "Can you help us as well?"

She scowled. "Of course not. I came here to take a flag from you."

"I don't see that working out for you," Auroc said from behind all the pokemon. It was about time they had arrived. "You are staring down a strong group from the Unnaturals and some of the Skyscrapes. Is violence really the way you want to go?"

She scowled some more. "Please?" I said.

She sighed. "I suppose we'll still be doing the work for it. Fine. Let me contact the other gangs that those flags go to." Nevo, the rotom, stepped forward with what looked like a microphone. She turned it on. "Okay, I am paging all those who had their flag stolen by the Shadow Eaters. The Unnaturals have them, and if you want them back, you have to help them fight back the Draviathans, the Kimonos, and the Volcs. If anyone is interested in this, send up an attack from your base." We waited. There wasn't any attacks coming up from anywhere. "Okay then. If you want to take the flags back, just come by the Unnatural's base. Good luck, though. They are all crazy right down to their cores." She turned the microphone off. "Well, it looks like you will have a lot of flags."

"We will resolve the flag matter later," the dragonite said. He turned to me. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Korado."

"Well then, since we're being polite, I'm Dendy," the ampharos said.

I smiled. "So what's the plan?"

Korado looked at Dendy. "Do you have any pokemon with the ability soundproof?"

"A few."

"Good. They will distract the Harmonics, breaking up their song so we can attack. I will take a group to attack the Draviathians." He turned to me. "It is up to your gang to defeat the Kimonos."

I smiled. I didn't know how this was all going to end, but the battle was going to be pretty intense. "Sounds good. Let's go beat up a couple of major gangs."