Happy Double Upload Day! The next few chapters are going to be really long ones, so this is probably going to be the last time that I post two chapters up in one day. ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 51 - The Rebellion, part 1

(Khrista's POV)

I was up and making sure my backpack still had everything in it by the time the Pokemon with me were waking up.

"What's going on?" Pika inquired as I threw my backpack over one shoulder. I admire the Exploration Pokemon - he seems to be smart and quick thinking.

Though, the fact that his Guild is called PokeExplore is somewhat unnerving, as that's what one of my neighbors called her Team...

I shook the thought out of my head. No need to concentrate on that now.

"Lien told me we have to go out and start freeing kids," I explained. "We're going to have to move fast, because that attack is going to start today. Or, at least, I'm a couple hours." My gaze went over the group of six Pokemon. "You guys ready to go?"

"Who are we looking for?" Zorro asked.

"Silver," I responded, "as well as the others Joshua and I have managed to identify. If we can find them, they could recognize other Trainers - and maybe even Pokemon - and get a mass breakout going."

"Silver's a strong Trainer," Pikachu noted. "You might not be able to find him as easily as you found Joshua or that other Trainer."

Yeah, by their standards he's strong. But put him against an Avatar like me, with a team like mine, and he'd go down pretty fast.

"Well, we'll find him eventually," I stated. "Besides, if he does fight back, I'm pretty certain that he only has his Feraligatr with him."

At this, Raichu and Sparkler exchanged grins, then disappeared inside their PokeBall and SafariBall, Zorro doing the same a moment later. Pika and Pikachu then climbed up onto my shoulders, and I stepped onto the warp panel, leaving the Aqua barracks behind.

Out in the hallway that gave me access to the cells, everything was quiet. No voices, no alarms, no nothing. In a way, it unnerved me, but I figured that no one else was probably supposed to be up.

Of course, that probably wasn't going to last for very long. I promptly went ghost, became intangible, and started to stick my head through the doors to see if Silver was in the area. Unfortunately, I didn't see Silver, and I couldn't get into Joshua's for some reason - it felt like there was seem sort of explosive on the door that would blast it open the moment I did.

However, in one of the other cells in that area of the building, I did find one person that I knew: Alia, a Trainer who liked Kanto's beasties, and a good friend and rival of mine. I recognized her instantly - I knew that black hair with pink stripe combo well enough. Although the plain black shirt and pants she was wearing definitely weren't her style.

I slipped into the room and made my way over to her bunk - which happened to be the upper one on the left side of the cell. I almost mistook her for dead, she was lying so still - Alia was always the toss-and-turn type from what I remembered of sleepovers.

"This is freaky," I muttered, landing on the floor. I shifted to Psychic-Type and attempted to hold onto the Ghost-Type at the same time. It made my stomach twist, but it settled down pretty quickly as my shirt swirled between gray-purple and gold.

At least that Type mix was working for me.

I put my feet on the head of the lower bunk - which did have somebody, but I didn't recognize them or disturb them. Grabbing the headboard of the upper bunk, I got as close as I could dare to Alia's head, then started to consider what I should say...and what might end up getting her to actually start acting like her normal self.

I bit my tongue, unsure of what to do, but then something came to mind, and I gave a rather sinister grin.

"Sheesh, what happened to your character?" I whispered in mock shock and amusement. "It looks like she went through a car wash with the top down!"

Alia's body jolted, and she opened her brown eyes with a gasp. An instant later, she had sat up and backed into the wall on one side of the bed. I could tell that she was really confused-looks like she's got the same problem Lucas did.

"Calm down," I stated telepathically, reaching out to my friend. "There's a lot going on, but we don't have much time." I floated up and sat down on the bunk bed, looking over at my black-and-pink-haired friend. I furthered my connection to Pika and Pikachu, as they were the two Pokemon that weren't stuck in PokeBalls at the moment.

Alia blinked in confusion, staring at me in shock as my smirk disappeared into a grim look. "What-"

"Talk with your mind," I thought irritably. "That way there won't be anybody else listening in."

Alia looked somewhat panicked. Listening in?

"You never know with those Galactics. We've got a major problem because of those morons."

I explained the situation as quickly to her as I could. What I had to say only got her eyes to get wider. By the time I'd finished, it looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head.

Th-this can't be happening! Alia yelped. I only played as a Pokemon Ranger! What would Cyrus want with me?

"It's not you he wants - it's some girl named White," I replied. "She's somewhere in our neighborhood, but I don't know who and I don't know where she lives."

You're sure they're a she.

"Positive." I shifted my weight. "Charon tried to get Matthew to tell him if I was White or not. If it was a guy, he probably wouldn't have said anything." I looked across the room at the two figures that were hiding underneath the covers of the bed across from us. "Do you recognize anyone in here?"

Alia peered over the edge of the bed, catching sight of the others in the room besides us, still out cold despite me moving around. Two of them could be my cousins...maybe. I'm not sure.

"There's a way you can find out. Say their name or something from a conversation that was Pokemon-based. They could come out of it that way. Be careful, though - there might be some bugs in the walls that will hear what you say." I floated off the bed, adding, "I'm going to go find more kids to rescue. Make sure you're ready for the attack. Good luck."

With that, I disappeared and flew through the door, starting out for another room.

You probably shouldn't tell them everything that's going on, Pika noted. There's a lot to tell and not enough time to do it.

"I didn't tell her everything," I replied irritably.

I meant about White. They're not going to know who she is.

Well, Pika had a point. They probably weren't going to know who White is - especially considering that everything I know about my neighborhood includes no people with colors in their names anywhere.

The rest of the rooms that were in this particular corridor didn't have anyone that I recognized, unfortunately. And if I did know them, I didn't know their names-Alia might, though. She'll probably get to them sooner or later.

After slipping through a wall, I managed to find another corridor of cells. I poked my head into the first room that I came across and got the shock of my life.

"Snap out of it already!" a girl with dark brown hair and blue eyes bellowed at a boy with identically-colored features. "Come on! I want to get you home!" As the girl yelled, her purple jacket seemed to flare out from her movements, revealing more of the white shirt she wore underneath.

I came through the wall the rest of the way, blinking in confusion at the sight before me. Matthew and...Liz? And Liz wasn't being controlled?

Unexpected, but definitely helpful.

I landed on the cell floor and walked over to the ramrod-straight eldest Carlsdale, then got as close as I could to his right ear so that I could mutter something and snap him out of it. It didn't take me all that long to come up with something, either.

"Matthew, are you going to let me use your DS to transfer my team over or not?" I demanded in an irritated hiss. "Because it's been about a month since I last did and my Dex needs to be filled."

The stiff boy became even more stiff and started to blink rapidly. Liz looked surprised and a little suspicious at the sudden shift, and she got into some sort of stance that looked like she was ready to pounce on her older brother.

I backed away and stood next to Liz before letting myself become fully visible by dropping my intangible ability for a while - that move can really drain a person!

Matthew stumbled back a step with a little more fluid grace than he'd had over the last few times I'd seen him. The Carlsdale bent over and grabbed his head with his left hand as though he had a headache - which I think I would believe, considering his situation.

Liz turned and looked at me in shock. "What did you - who -"

"My cousin suggested something," I replied. I looked over at Liz curiously. "And how is it that you managed to escape his control?"

Liz blinked, then scowled. "Like even I know. I just didn't want that thing to mess with my head, and a force field appeared out of nowhere. I made sure Cyrus knew I was still me by blasting him with a water attack."

I blinked in surprise. "What?"

Liz let out an annoyed sigh. "I'm Mist, okay?"

My eyes widened in surprise, and I was about to say something in response to this, but then Matthew let out a groan.

"What happened? This doesn't look like our garage..."

"That's because it isn't," Liz responded irritably. She crossed her arms over her chest. "We're stuck on the Pokemon world, and Cyrus actually managed to go through with his plans from Sinnoh."

"And he kidnapped a bunch of us looking for one kid," I added. "You were the first one he nabbed."

Matthew looked at the two of us with surprise and shock. "Wait - Cyrus did what?"

"We've got no time to explain," Liz replied. She looked at me, her eyes scanning my shirt's swirl design. "Do you think you could break the door down?"

I blinked. "I dunno. Maybe. I haven't tried before." My gaze went over to the steel door as I switched from the Ghost/Psychic combo to Fighting-Type.

Matthew's jaw dropped when he saw my shirt turn orange. "H-how did you -"

"Comes with being an Avatar," I replied dryly, glancing in his direction. My gaze returned pretty quickly to the door, though, and I got into a fighting stance of sorts. Then I took off and rammed into the door with my left shoulder.

As soon as I hit that door, I bent it a little bit at where the door handle was supposed to be - or, at least, a little bit above that. The impact sent a jarring shockwave through my shoulder, causing me to back up a couple steps.

"I think I just used Take Down," I muttered, rubbing my shoulder. "Definitely not doing that again."

Matthew still looked a little bewildered when I turned around to look at the two Carlsdales. Liz - or, should I say, Mist - looked like she'd seen something like what'd I'd done before.

"Well, I'll let you guys have at the rest of the cells in this area," I stated, swinging my left arm to see if I'd done anything really bad to it. Luckily, the pain seemed to be fading away right at that moment. "My cousin said you guys can call the names of the other people you know in order to get them out from Cyrus' control - or even just something Pokemon-related."

Liz gave a nod. "OK. Thanks."

I gave a nod in reply. "No problem." I yanked the door open using some of that Fighting-Type strength and prepared to step out.

"Wait!"

I paused, my foot hovering over the threshold, then glanced back at Matthew. "What?"

"Is...is there anyone else from our family here?" Matthew asked.

"Um..." I frowned, thinking back to what I knew. When I remembered the riddle Joshua had given me some time ago, I stated, "Your little brother's here, but not the other sister."

Liz let out a sigh of relief. Weird. At the same time, Matthew looked downright panicked. Doubly weird.

"Thanks," Liz stated. "Now get going. And stay in touch."

I gave a nod, then shifted to Ghost-Type and disappeared from sight.

"There's something familiar about that girl," Pika muttered to himself. "Almost as though...I know her from somewhere."

"Unless she played the Exploration games, I doubt it," I replied. I looked down as Liz and her older brother walked out of their cell, my eyes widening in surprise when I saw that Liz somehow had managed to get her hands on some sort of curved blue sword with purple gems in the hilt.

Well - I guess she doesn't need anybody else in order to get the other cell doors open. I flew over the next warp panel and entered the next corridor.

My search in the third corridor was very nearly fruitless were it not for the fact that I ended up scoring two people in the same cell again. The very last cell contained Collin - the seven-year-old youngest of the Carlsdales - and Alia's younger sister, Kira. I found it odd that the Galactics had no qualms for putting boys with girls - maybe they had given them orders that kept them in line.

I snuck over to Collin (who was on a lower bunk) and whispered in his ear, "A whole team of Electric-Types, Collin? Really?"

I had to back up because Collin promptly jumped up and whacked his head against the bottom of the upper bunk.

"OW!" he yelled.

I had to slap my hand across his mouth before he woke anyone else.

"Keep it down!" I hissed. "Every Galactic goon within a mile probably heard you!"

Collin's blue eyes widened, and he pushed my hand away. "What do you mean by that?"

"Give me a minute, and I explain," I replied. I looked across the room at the other bunk bed and leapt for the black-haired girl. Her yellow streaks were starting to fade, but I'd know Alia's younger-by-a-second twin sister anywhere.

"Kiiira," I called out in a soft sing-song tone. "Come ooon, I want to battle you."

Kira let out a groan upon hearing my voice, and she opened her green eyes, which widened a moment later.

"This is not my bedroom," she stated in a panicked voice.

"No, it's not," I agreed, backing up. Kira crawled out of her bed after me, and I soon found myself standing between the blond-haired Carlsdale and the yellow-streaked twin.

"Khrista, what's going on?" Collin asked in a soft, scared voice.

"Cyrus kidnapped you in an attempt to find the Trainer who took him out," Pika stated quickly, looking down at the boy. "He ended up dragging you all into it."

"And we're getting ready to take him down," I added, grinning at Kira.

That didn't seem to be the least of her worries, though.

"You mean we're stuck on another planet without a way home?" she asked in a panicked whisper.

"...Uxie said there was a change he could help," I responded after a moment. "Until then, yeah. But you guys can help."

"How?" Collin asked.

"Next time you guys get let out of here, look for anyone that you know and say their name as close to them as you can. They'll break free of Cyrus' control, and you'll be able to help take him down, then."

Collin gave me a grin that did not fit his age group. "Sure! We can do that!"

"Thanks, little buddy," I replied. I started to hover, getting looks of shock from the both of them. "I'm going to look for others and see if I can set them loose. See you guys later!"

With that, I disappeared from sight and flew out the door.

"OK...where to next?" I muttered quietly.

"You should try the labs," Pikachu suddenly spoke up. "A few Avatars could be stuck in there."

The idea surprised me. Avatars, stuck in labs? But, then again...considering that Cyrus knows nothing about us and our random abilities...

Quickly, I left the cells behind and went for the labs.

Spacial Break, Change in POV

Birch's eyes snapped open at the sound of knocking on his bedroom door. Wasting no time, the Hoenn professor leapt out of bed, made his way through the clutter in his room (almost bumping into his dresser), before throwing the door open, revealing Cedric Juniper, Professor Oak, and Brendan.

Brendan's eyes widened when he saw what his father was wearing. "Dad, you're still wearing the clothes you had yesterday!"

Birch looked down at his attire - lab coat, green sweater, brown shorts - then shrugged. "I wasn't thinking about clothes when I went to sleep last night."

Oak shook his head, an amused look on his face. "Well, I'm afraid we don't have any time to discuss that. Lien managed to get your message to Khrista about speeding things up."

Birch jumped out of any thoughts concerning his attire, recalling the request he had asked of the Mesprit the night before. "Good. Is everyone else prepared?"

"We're getting there," Cedric responded. "The Champions have everyone roused on their end, and Red is going around with Delilah to wake up the town."

"I sent Zuzu into the Fields to get everyone there," Brendan added. "We've already got a pretty big crowd outside."

Birch made his way into the hall, then rushed downstairs to the ground floor. "How big?"

"The Square was about three quarters full, last I checked," the Hoenn Trainer replied. "A quarter of that is the Pokemon owned by Avatars trapped up there."

"And then there are the Trainers themselves," Oak remarked. "They are prepared to go off and attack the nearest Galactic at a moment's notice."

Birch grinned at this. "Perfect." He grabbed his sandals from their place by the door and dashed out of the lab, the others in pursuit.

Outside, a large crowd had gathered in the Square, and Pokemon and Trainer alike were talking among themselves, eager to get going and rescue those trapped in the tower. As Professor Birch approached, the crowd's murmurings fell to silence, and all eyes fell on him.

"Good morning!" the Hoenn Professor greeted.

"Good morning, indeed," Rowan responded from where he stood by the other Professors in front of the crowd. "The rest of us are up an hour before the designated time, and you sleep in by fifteen minutes!"

There was nervous laughter from the crowd.

"Yes, well," Birch chuckled. "I suppose you kids are wondering what the battle plan is."

"We've been waiting all week!" someone called back.

Birch nodded. "Lance will lead a squadron of Trainers from Mt. Coronet to attack the tower from the outside using Flying Pokemon." Looking over at the Dragon Trainer, he asked, "I suppose you've already picked the Trainers?"

Lance nodded. "Red and I drew up a list and contacted the Trainers last night. We're ready to go whenever you give the signal."

Birch smirked. "Good. Gather your group together and head for the take-off point with Jewels - we'll have Merlin send the signal as discussed when we're ready."

Red gave the Hoenn Professor a thumbs-up, then dashed for the tunnel, followed by Lance and a group of Trainers, with Flying-Types from every region - as well as the Azelf - bringing up the rear.

"Now, the Ground and Rock-Types are going to have to get up to the cave ceiling directly underneath the tower's foundation," Birch continued. "We're going to need you to dig up through the foundation so that we can fire the grappling hooks from the cannons and get up there."

A pair of Graveler looked at each other in surprise, then grinned.

"I'm up for shaking that tower," one remarked, cracking his knuckles.

"We could really do some damage," the other agreed.

"You can do that after we get everyone out," a Golem told the two. "Come on; we've got a hole to make, and we don't have much time."

"I'll come along and give the signal," Lien added. "Let's go!" The Mesprit flew off into the Fields, the Ground/Rock-Types following.

"The rest of you!" Cedric Juniper called. "Go and prepare yourselves if you haven't already done so! If you are prepared and are in the first wave, get into position and wait for the signal!" The crowd promptly scattered in opposite directions.

While Birch ran off to make sure that the grappler cannons were still in working condition, Grace trotted over to a picnic bench, by which a yellow Vulpix was sitting.

"You wanted to talk to me, Velma?" the Eevee asked as she came to a halt in front of the Fire-Type.

The Vulpix nodded. "I understand that you wish to evolve," she murmured.

Grace nodded, but a saddened look crossed her face. "I want to be able to fly, but I don't know if I'll be able to."

"That's just because we haven't told the humans about it yet," Velma responded matter-of-factly. "Even very few Eevee ever hear about it."

Grace's eyes widened. "R-really? You mean there's a chance I'll be able to fly?"

"If you so choose," the Vulpix stated. "If you do, though, you might not be able to become human again."

Grace frowned. "What do you mean by that? I can't turn back right now, and I can't go home. The machine got destroyed, remember?"

"That may be, but Uxie could still find a way for you to go home." Velma let out a sigh. "Your sister has chosen her fate. What will you choose?"

Upon hearing that Eliza had been in this very same situation, Grace's eyes widened. Then she closed her eyes, let out a sigh, and opened her eyes, revealing a serious look. "Let's do it."

Spacial Break

Joshua's eyes snapped open to the sound of a shrill whistle from the machine on the door. Quickly, he jumped out of his bed and, taking his bundle of devices with him, leapt onto a lower and lay with his back to the rest of the room.

Just as he had done so, the machine exploded.

"What was that?" Gangrene demanded, appearing from her usual shadowy corner. "You're not under attack, are you?"

"It was an invention of mine," Joshua replied calmly. He got off the bed and looked to where the door was. "And it worked perfectly."

The handle had been completely blown apart, destroying the locking mechanism.

The Gengar looked impressed. She gave a sinister grin to her Trainer. "You just provided yourself a way out without the Goons doing anything."

"Exactly what I was hoping for," Joshua responded smoothly. Pressing his left ear, he stated, "I'm on the move, Nick."

It took a moment before the Aqua grunt replied. ::So I heard. Khrista's already gone, and Azumaril says that it feels like the storm's getting stronger. Watch out for things going haywire::

"Will you guys be coming out?"

::Definite. Meet you by your place in five::

Joshua frowned. "Five minutes?"

"Five seconds."

The door creaked open, revealing a grinning Aqua grunt and his equally eager Water-Type. Noticing the Ghost/Poison-Type at Joshua's side, he gave her a quick wave and stated, "Name's Nick. This ran into me a few days back; same with him there. You guys ready to cause a ruckus?"

A mischievous grin came over Gangrene's face. "Certainly."

"Then let's go."

As the pair left the cell, Joshua looked around and noticed that the other cells' doors were wide open. "What happened?"

"Cyrus is gonna have some sort of meeting in the training area," Nick explained in passing. "Don't know what it's about, but I'm not going."

"In that case, this might help." Joshua removed a calculator-like device from his bundle. "If you have to, this can crack codes or blow a door open. It's a once-only use, though, so I'd only suggest it as a last resort."

Nick's grin became wider. "Thanks, man! I could use that." He accepted the device, then gave a mock salute. "I'll be seeing ya." With that, he took off down the corridor, Azumaril not all that far behind.

Joshua looked over at the Gengar. "Come on - we have to find that room Nick told us about."

"Why?" Gangrene asked, frowning. "Cyrus is going to be there."

"I know that," Joshua stated. "But it's going to be easy to start freeing people - everyone's going to be-"

Plunk.

Joshua stopped short, looking up at the ceiling.

"Be..." the Gengar prompted.

"In that room," Joshua finished.

Plunk.

His eyes widened slightly. "Do you hear that?"

The Ghost/Poison-Type frowned. "Hear what?"

Plunk.

Gangrene's ears widened. "There's something hitting against the building," she murmured, her frown deepening.

Joshua nodded. "The hailstones. We have to move - fast." He took off down the corridor, the Gengar in pursuit.

Chaos has begun in Cyrus' citadel! It's only a matter of time before everything comes to a head! HA! XD

And, guys...I'm still kind of waiting for help with thinking up names for a couple characters. Defender's suggestion for the Poison girl wasn't quite what I was looking for, and I'm going to need a name for the Dragon guy - you can see quickly written up profiles of the two a few chapters back; I'm not planning on rewriting them just because there's only been one suggestion.

And more reviews! Please! I know Defender isn't the only person reading my story!