Things are heating up! ;)

And eclipse, don't worry too much about the names. I think I may actually use Ryu, but I'd like to have more options to choose from first. It's the Poison-Type woman that I need a name for at the moment because of where I am in writing the story.

Chapter 52 - The Rebellion, Part 2

Khrista was starting to become majorly frustrated. Not only was Silver's location eluding her, but the Pokemon and scientists had disappeared from their labs without a sign as to why.

"This is really weird," the teen muttered, scratching her head.

"Do you think they might have known we were coming?" Pika asked, frowning.

"I don't think they know where Khrista is, other than that she's back in the building," Pikachu responded. He looked around, his ears twitching. "It sounds like someone else is coming this way, though."

Khrista's head turned in the direction Pikachu was looking, her eyes narrowing upon catching sight of a feathery red and orange thing at the corner. "Looks like a Pokemon," she remarked.

"Yup!" A Torchic with a red star over one eye hopped around the corner, followed closely by a Riolu with a green stripe going around his right paw. "Hey - Archie sent us to find you."

"Us?" Khrista frowned and looked at the Riolu suspiciously. "What do you mean, 'us'?"

"I'm one of you guys!" The Riolu replied, holding up his green-striped paw. "Name's Rick. I'm Lucas' brother. They found me not to long ago and told me what's going on."

Khrista relaxed slightly and crossed her arms over her chest. "All right. So what did you need to find us for?"

"Everybody's been gathered in the main training area of the building," Lucas explained. "You're going to have to move fast if you want to get there and cause the most havoc."

Khrista's eyes widened. "Now things are going to get interesting. Which way?"

"There's a one way green warp panel that'll take you there," Rick responded, one paw pointing around the corner. "Once you're there, you'll probably be near enough to Silver that you can get him freed." Looking back at Khrista, the Avatar added, "Good luck."

The teen nodded. "Thanks. You guys keep your eyes and ears open, all right? If you manage to hear about something big, either come looking for me or an Aqua grunt, or try and take care of it yourself. Think you're up to that?"

Lucas' eyes widened, and he grinned around his beak. "I'm ready to knock all those Galactics into next year!"

Pikachu nodded in approval. "Good. Get going and sabotage something before those scientists get back. Set something to explode or something like that."

Lucas gave the Electric-Type a nod, then ran around Khrista and down the hall. Rick followed the Torchic at the same speed.

As the two Pokemon ran off, Khrista exchanged glances with the two Pokemon on her shoulders, then walked around the corner and onto the green warp panel Rick had mentioned.

In an instant, the teen was standing in a corner of a large room, which was packed from end to end with people - specifically scientists in Khrista's corner of the area.

Khrista looked around as she shifted to a Ghost/Psychic-Type combo. "Looks like some sort of auditorium...I hope that Cyrus hasn't caught on as to who jump-started this whole thing."

Pika nodded, then frowned as he tilted his head back. "We may be able to see what's going on better from up there. Can you take us up there?"

Khrista blinked. "Sure, I guess." She made sure that they were not seeable by the scientists standing nearby, then took off into the air in order to get a better look around.

In the center of the raised platform in the center of the room, a rather haggard, unshaven Cyrus stood, conversing with a nervous Charon and the three Commanders from the Sinnoh games - Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter. Curious, the teen flew in closer to hear what they were talking about.

"...and send those two up to my office to replace the window," Cyrus was saying.

"Another Articuno attack, sir?" Saturn inquired.

"It may as well have been. Those hailstones are as large as softballs."

Khrista's eyes widened. "Hailstones? It sounds like the storm outside has begun to unleash its fury."

Which is very good for us, Pika noted. The tower will be taken out much more quickly this way.

"Well, yeah, but we still have a long way to go." Khrista turned her attention away from the Galactics and she started to circle the area.

She felt Pikachu shifting on her shoulder, then the Electric Mouse stiffening.

"I see Ash," Pikachu stated grimly.

Khrista and Pika turned to look where Pikachu was glaring, and the two caught sight of he black-haired Kanto Trainer - still in his Galactic uniform - leaning against a pillar on the stage. It looked like his eyes were closed.

And right at the edge of the stage nearby, surrounded by a bunch of scientists, was a certain red-haired Trainer who looked extremely annoyed.

"Come on. Let's go see why it is that Silver looks so annoyed."

Khrista flew over in the direction that Silver was in and was soon hovering over the area the Jhoto Trainer was standing in. Cautiously, the teen positioned herself above the red-headed Trainer, then reached out with her mind to see if she could make contact with him.

Below, Silver suddenly stiffened as Khrista created a temporary telepathic link between them. Who's in my head? he demanded.

"A friend," Khrista responded.

There was a mental snort in response. Yeah, sure. Prove that I can trust you.

Khrista frowned, then after glancing at Pikachu, stated, "You're the son of Giovanni, but you didn't really figure it out until when Deoxys came to Earth and got involved with Rocket by accident. Said Deoxys also considers himself Red because he picked up the Trainer's DNA on the way out of the Rocket lab."

...That just proves you're a stalker. Try again.

Maybe you should mention something from those 'games" of yours, Pika spoke up.

Khrista's eyes widened. "Shoot, I'd forgotten about that! Maybe something about the rivalry!"

Below them, Silver had started to look around for the source of the voice, being careful not to get any attention from the Galactics around him. ...Games? Since when did I have a rivalry with you?

"I often called you 'Hairball' for no particular reason."

Silver stiffened again, seemingly recognizing the name.

"Even after seeing your Trainer Card and learning your name," Khrista added.

...That was annoying. Do you realize how embarrassing that was?

"Even worse than the Wanted posters Gold put up?"

The Jhoto Trainer shuddered at the memory. What do you want to talk to me for?

"I wanted to make sure you weren't under their control. How come you aren't?"

Silver glanced upward slightly, but he couldn't see where Khrista was because she was staying invisible. The Galactics have been keeping me hostage so that my father cooperates. Apparently, the Rockets are partially immune to mind control.

Pikachu frowned. It could have something to do with the Masked Man and his Neo-Rocket group.

Perhaps. Silver frowned. Two Pikachu accompanied by a Legendary...

"Not quite," Khrista responded quickly. "I'm no Legendary, and I'm not a complete Pokemon, either." Seeing the confused look on the Trainer's face, she continued, "I'll explain later. The Underground has probably been on the attack since dawn, and the hail only makes me want to speed things up."

Underground? Silver repeated.

Khrista nodded, knowing full well that Silver wouldn't see the movement anyway. "Yup. Free Trainers, Gym Leaders, and Elite Four members who managed to slip away from Cyrus before he could gain control of them. I, though from another world, am one of their number." The teen looked out over the crowd, catching sight of blond-haired Collin standing nearby. "When you get the chance, start attacking the Galactic goons and freeing kids that you recognize. I'm going to go around and do the same."

Khrista moved from where she had been above Silver's head, catching sight of the frown that graced the Trainer's features. "Don't bother trying to look for me. I'll reveal myself soon enough." With that, she flew over to where Collin stood.

As Khrista approached Collin, she stopped short upon seeing Matthew, who was standing next to his brother. Both boys looked like they had their sights set on the Galactics and scientists in the room, whether to not they had Pokemon on them.

"Steady," the teen told the both of them, causing Collin's blond hair to start to raise in alarm, his blue eyes wide. "Wait until the most opportune time."

A smirk came across Matthew's face. Right, sure. Says the trigger happy kid who always fired off her Pokemon's most powerful move first.

Khrista glared at her friend, crossing her arms over her chest. "Take them out as fast as possible - that's my strategy." She glanced at the seven-year-old. "Relax, Collin. It's Khrista, who happens to be using telepathy. I'll tell you about what happened later."

Collin upon hearing this, seemed to relax slightly, but his hair remained in its unusual spiky position. All right. You'd better remember that.

"I will," Khrista responded. "Any idea what's going on?"

I have an inkling.

The three turned to look to Matthew's right, catching sight of Joshua, his arms folded over his chest.

Cyrus is probably going to ask around to see if anyone has access to a Cresselia, seen my cousin, get progress reports out of the brainwashed kids, or figure out a way to stop a storm, the boy stated. The Underground should be setting off alarms within a few minutes - despite what most people say, those Plasma grunts are no fools.

No sooner had the words faded from their minds than an alarm blared throughout the entire room. At the same time, somewhere above them, the building started to shake vigorously.

While Cyrus looked around nervously, fear and surprise clear on his face, Khrista grinned at Joshua. "All right. Now what?"

Her cousin smiled slightly. "Here's what we're going to do..."

Spacial Break

Lance was relieved to have four Rayquaza with him out by the roof of the tower. Although the hailstones and lightning were helpful, the Dragon Trainer didn't want to think about the damage the freakish weather would have to the Pokemon and their Trainers. Having three Pokemon with Air Lock certainly helped.

As soon as Jewels had received the signal, the Flying Pokemon had attacked the tower with a ferociousness that was rarely seen except for in the wild when Pokemon defended their territory. The hail, which had started a few hours before, had taken out what guns the tower had for outer defenses.

Unfortunately, when the Rayquaza had stuck their heads out of the cave on Mt. Coronet, the hail became like rubber balls, bouncing off the tower with the same level of flexibility as the real deal.

"Master Lance!"

The Dragon Trainer turned his head, catching sight of Corza. "What is it?"

"Azelf reports that the Underground had run into seem trouble," the colbalt Rayquaza explained. "We must draw some attention to ourselves - more than we already have - so that the forces might become less." He nodded to his brethren, who were positioned at the four corners of the tower. "We are prepared to unleash a simultaneous Draco Meteor, if need be. Will you allow us to?"

Lance frowned slightly. "Although it is a powerful attack, that move will leave you greatly weakened." He looked down at his ride - his Dragonite - who seemed to have gained in interest in something. "What is it?"

The Dragon/Flying-Type pointed downward, at a square rectangle of light that was the only artificial illumination in the area. "It seems as though a window was knocked out by the storm. Perhaps we need not tear the roof off."

Red, who had been flying nearby on his Aerodactyl, Aero, nodded in agreement. "But that doesn't mean that our Pokemon can't have a little fun with taking off as many pieces of the tower as they can." He grinned. "What do you say, Aero? Are you up to it?"

The ancient Pokemon let out a snort of amusement. "Please. This shall be no difficulty for a flyer such as me. You go and have fun inside. I shall join you after I dig my way in."

Aero then flew down to the open area, dropped Red off, then flew off to join the other Pokemon who were wreaking havoc on the surrounding area. The Kanto Trainer was soon joined by Sapphire, who let her Tropius run wild, Brendan, who allowed his Pellipper to cut loose, and Black from Unova, whose Unfezant was soon seen whirling Air Slashes at the tower's walls.

Red released Pika from his PokeBall and grinned at his fellow Trainers. "Let's go."

Spacial Break

"Jewels reports that there are Trainers entering the building!" Lien called out.

"About time!" Gary declared. "Blastoise, we need this place cleared out! Move it!"

The giant Water Starter grunted in response, then charged down the corridor ahead of them, blasting water at every Plasma grunt and Pokemon that tried to get in the turtle's way.

"How did they get in?" Chaos asked, unceremoniously tossing an unconscious Watchdog aside.

"Lance's Dragonite saw a shattered window - the one at Cyrus' office, to be exact," the Being of Emotion explained. "It was probably taken out by the hailstorm. Red and a few other Trainers went inside not long after this was discovered."

Mew's clone nodded in approval, then put up a Barrier behind him so that a Plasma grunt running up from behind would be knocked out by the sudden stop. "Good. These Plasma grunts are beginning to get on my nerves." He looked in the direction Blastoise had gone, something moving above him at the edge of his vision, but he ignored it. "We'll have to move fast if we want to get up there before the Galactics get down here."

Gary nodded in agreement. "Right. Go, Arcanine!" Once the Fire-Type had been released from his PokeBall, he told the Pokemon, "Go ahead and make us some cover with Blastoise. We want to get the jump on whatever's ahead and scare the day lights out of them."

Arcanine nodded. "It shall be done." The Fire-Type then took off down the hall, joining the Blastoise in a matter of seconds.

Gary nodded to Lien and Chaos. "Let's keep moving. There's more Pokemon waiting to get up here."

Lien chuckled. "Don't I know it!" She looked back at the hole, where Professor Birch stood guard with Professor Oak and the Kanto Professor's Dragonite. "Bring on the rest of the first wave!"

*grins* Everybody's converging!