Hello everyone, I'm back once again to deliver another chapter to you. First off happy Easter and Passover and I hope you got a vacation for them. I've been having decent April vacation, hasn't been bad but I'm kinda bored. But then my foster father took me shooting earlier today and some guys hat got blown onto the range and he ran out there to get it. His head was literally in my crosshairs. I could've killed a man today but for some reason I don't care anymore. If you guys have somehow interesting you want to share then I'm happy to hear it. Anyway, I'm getting way off topic, I hope you have been doing well and I'd like to thank you for clicking on my story.
Guest: Jesus Christ, thank you so much. I never knew where I got the story from but now that I think about it you are absolutely right. I owe you one, big time
Sailor Taichichi Vegeta: Well it wouldn't be interesting if it was Ash and May walking around just talking about things. Doesn't that rule apply to just about everyone with a family? A nervous breakdown they failed to prevent though.
jojo298: Thanks, I'm happy you enjoyed it and I'll be sure to
Chapter 10: Homecoming
"That was beyond stupid of them. They sent an entire human only division after us and expected to win? They looked they were fresh out of training. Ruby and David basically took on the same thing by themselves when their platoon was taken out" Samantha said
"They had no way of knowing we were with their targets. I had Blaziken too, their armor stood no chance against and overheat. We aren't good enough to take out a division of soldiers on our own Samantha you know that" Ruby said
"Be that as it may we got you guys into trouble and now you probably won't be able to go around living a, for the most part, peaceful life" Ash said
David grinned "Well I don't know about the rest of you but I think it's good to get out once and a while. The place was making my eyes bleed anyway" he said
"Hey! I set up the place almost by myself be grateful you pompous ass" Samantha yelled at him
"You calling me pompous? I volunteered myself to take your place in the worst spot there was, remember? We pulled straws and you lost. Boss got the good set up fair and square. You should be thanking me for my generosity" David said
"Well you take your generosity and shove it up your-"
"That's enough. I don't need a headache after I've killed a bunch of people" Matt said while playing with a small shard of metal he had made into a necklace, his mask and hood now down.
Samantha just hmphed and turned to look away from David who just grinned in response. "It's like listening to a married couple" Thomas said with a stupid grin. Matt flinched a little. Thomas's face dropped "Matt...I'm sorry I didn't mean to"
"It's fine. Don't stop on my expense, keep on teasing the newly weds" Matt said, cutting Thomas off
"In that case I'll get my bible" Butch said with a grin. "Shut the fuck up, all of you" Samantha yelled. May laughed from the tree stump she was sitting on
Away from the gathered crew, Ruby and Ash were tang in victory and planning a route to the castle. "It like having five Riley's" Ash muttered, glancing over at the group. "Assuming you are excluding Matt and the fifth member is Miss Maple then yes, yes it is. At least they're in better spirits. And Miss Maple isn't clinging to you for once" Ruby said, the last part bringing a sly grin to his face
"Are you really trying to make a sex joke about an emotionally unstable woman who needs support?" Ash asked while glaring at Ruby
"Absolutely"
"You're fucked up you know that right?" Ash said. "I don't see you denying it" Ruby said.
"Fuck you" Ash said, causing Ruby to fall over laughing. Ruby sat back up and wiped fake tear off his eye, "So worth it" he said. Ash sighed and looked back at the map. "We've already crossed the border into Hoenn, we have to safely make it back to the castle and avoid all of the soldiers on the front line"
"Change the subject why don't you" Ruby said, earning another glare from Ash "But yeah, the trick to this now is sneaking past. No matter how we play our cards we won't be able to take these guys head on. If it was a platoon we could pull it off without loosing a man, especially with Blaziken, Scorch, and Pikachu with us. But if we attack one in this case the others will come running. And it's not like we can rely on help from the castle on this one. They don't even know if Miss Maple is alive" Ash nodded. "Then we'll need a lot of stealth in this one, think you're team can do it?" Ash asked. Ruby grinned once more "We ain't much Ketchum, but were not that bad. I'm worried about Miss Maple however, she knows nothing along the bounds of stealth and evasion. She will be the weak link on this one" Ash nodded again "Yes but there is little we can do about that. It's not like we can leave her here, she's the whole reason I'm in this mess"
Ruby glanced up from the map towards Ash "Which reminds me. How did you manage to get caught up in this?". Ash sighed and put a hand on his forehead "Cabbage head hired me to find her in the Dark Forest, which is where she ran to after escaping, and then tried to kill me to save some coin. Bad move on his part but I wasn't expecting any less. But anyway, for some stupid reason I ran after her when I was done killing the attempt on my life and she hired me to bring her here. So here I am, in buttfuck alley stuck with you losers"
Ruby feigned being hurt "Egads Mr. Ketchum. Your words maim me ever so much" he said in a really pompous, snobby, smug, stereotypically rich voice. Ash fell to the floor laughing. "Ooooh man I haven't laughed like that in a while" Ash said while wiping a tear from his eye. Ruby chuckled at the site and back at the still quarreling soldiers May couldn't help but smile at the site of them getting along so well. "But back to business, we should take the route up the river. We can use the cover of night to get through the platoon that watches over the area. Sound like a plan?"
Ruby nodded "Let's go inform the others". The both turned around to see Butch holding up a thrashing Samantha who was yelling "Let go of me you overgrown Primeape" a few feet off the ground and David looking on the spectacle with satisfaction. Thomas was trying to assure May that they weren't usually like this and they would guarantee her safety to the castle and Matt was simply cleaning his bow with Scorch at his side. Blaziken was sitting in a tree looking at a terrified Pikachu who was currently running away from Eevee.
"Is this what you put up with all the time?" Ash asked, a little bewildered that a professional military branch could act like fourteen year olds, even though they all in their twenties or very early thirties. Ruby just looked down and sighed
"ALL RIGHT YOU SAD EXCUSES FOR SLOWPOKES LINE UP!" Ruby yelled
They all immediately fell into a horizontal line, including Pikchu, Eevee, and May. Ruby looked a little embarrassed "Miss Maple, you don't have to line up, I was talking to them". May blushed in embarrassment and sat back down on her tree stump with Eevee. "Plan is we're heading up the river under the fall of night, there should be a lot of guards and maybe even more than usual because of our escaped convict here" he said jokingly to May "Point is this mission will require a lot of stealth, and yes Butch I know you "don't do quiet" so you're staying at the back of the pack with Miss Maple. Protect her at all costs. Ash is leading the pack through the fray with his bow and the rest of us are running interference. Thomas you're the best at stealth here, maybe Matt could take you on but that's besides the point, we need you to take out anyone that Ash, Matt, or I can't get to. Samantha, you need to keep a sharp set of eyes out, you're longshore will not be of much use yo us on the mission but your senses will. While we are firing you need to make sure no one is coming around to blindside us. David, your job here is to back up Thomas. If he gets into trouble you are going to dash in and eliminate the threat and then fall back immediately. Again Matt, Ash and I will be using our bows here so we're counting on the rest of you to make sure we din't get screwed over in the close range department. Scorch, just do what David tells you to do sand try to lay low. Same goes to you Blaziken and Pikachu, well you can handle yourself. Just stay close to Ash and warn him if anything happens. Am I understood!" Ruby said, shouting the last sentence. The cores yelled "yes sir" in response
"Umm Ruby, what should me and Eevee do?" May asked while raising her hand.
"Just keep looking beautiful as always" Ash muttered while looking off into the woods somewhere, completely zoning out. After feeling the stares of eleven life forms on him he turned to everyone and they were all staring at him. "What?" he asked while looking confused. Ruby just shook his head and smiled, Samantha grinned manically, Butch gave Ash a perverted look, Thomas winked, David gave him a thumbs up, Matt just stared at him with an impassive look on his face like he didn't care, Pikachu was looking at Ash confused, Eevee was jumping up and down in excitement, the two fire types looked at each other then back to Ash, and May just stared at the ground. Her face redder than Scorch's skin.
"Seriously what did I do?" Ash said, not realizing what he said. Ruby just walked past him and patted him on the shoulder "You got it bad buddy" he said before continuing on his way. The others just passed him giving him various looks, what threw him off was that May refused to meet his eyes. "Pikachu what did I do, why are they acting like this?" Ash asked his partner.
Pikachu just sighed and kept on walking. "Seriously! You too" Ash sighed and began to follow the group.
They had been waiting for a few hours by the time night fell. The whole time no one told Ash what he said, the worst part was when he asked May. Her face was redder than an exploding volcano and she just started babbling nonsense to avoid the subject.
He gave up after the first hour
"Alright it's time to move out" Ruby said "Use the bushes and shrubs for cover and don't make a move without notifying the others. Don't risk blowing your cover over a chance, others will come". Everyone nodded and Ash took the lead and drew out his bow, Matt just behind him to the left and Ruby to the right of Matt.
Soon they came upon a dock in the middle of the river that had chains connecting it to the ground. It was square and had a gangplank of about five feet for guards to walk around on. "Water based post up ahead, four guards on the outside patrolling the dock area and three on the inside. Total number of soldiers on the inside unknown there might be some more" Samantha said while trying to look through the only window on the building. Ash nodded to Thomas who put up his mask and hood. and slowly walked into the water till he disappeared in their black depths. "Matt be ready to take the shot on the guard on the northeast side of the post" Ash said. Matt nodded, his mask and hood now also up. Soon though the back gloves of Thomas became visible right beneath the guard that was looking out over the lake. Matt let an arrow fly and it impaled itself into the soldiers neck and he dropped forward.
Just before he hit the ground Thomas caught him and slowly dropped the armored guard into the water with him, not making a single sound as he did. "Matt there's a guard at the opposite side, drop him" Matt released another arrow and another soldier del, this time making a loud splash as he fell into the river. The two guards on the outside came running and looked over the edge where the guard fell. "Jeremy?" one asked as he saw a shape emerging from the water.
Thomas kept out of the water with two of Matt's knives in his hands and and impaled one in each of the guard's necks but immediately released the hilts and grabbed the collars of their armor just before they hit the ground and dropped them silently. He picked the knives from their throats and slowly made his way over to the door of the post. Just as he reached for the doorknob it door opened to reveal another guard looking over his shoulder at his comrades inside. Thomas ducked behind the door just before the guard saw him. The guard went to the edge of the dock with an entire bottle of ale in his hand and pulled down his trousers and began to pee off the edge of the dock. Thomas began to move towards him but stopped and waited till the man had brought his trousers back up before putting a hand over his mouth and cutting his throat. He gently laid the body down with the rest and went up to the door and knocked on it. He heard the laughter of some drunk guards and someone coming to the door. The second the door opened he cut the throat of the man who had opened it and dragged the body outside and leaned it against the door before glancing inside to see if the others had noticed, but they were too busy laughing at two Shroomish fighting each other. He didn't hesitate and silently walked behind the two and stabbed them both in the back of the neck. He dragged both the bodies outside and pilled them on the bodies before wetting his fingers with their blood and drawing a large M with a big circle around it on the inside of the building.
"Any problems?" Ash asked when Thomas had returned. He took his mask off and shook his head before smiling "No, and I think we just sent the flyer out for our return" Thomas said. Ash grinned in return, even though he wasn't a Magma Core member he could sympathize with their cause.
"Then let's keep going, there's bound to be more ahead" Sure enough there were two ground based encampments blocking their path not too far ahead. They had the same standard layout that all the Kanto camps had. Wooden spiked fences surrounded the camp and there were four guard towers also made out of wood. One facing East, another North, and so on. There was a large campfire in the center for meal and three tents all at one side of the oval shaped camp. One was the commanders tent where the layout of the battlefield was set and the leaders convened to discuss their next move, another for the higher ranking soldiers quarters and the largest of all of them was the barracks for the common soldiers and Pokemon. The two camps had a hundred yards between the two but they could see anything in-between from the guard towers and going around was not an option due to the river.
"We're going to have to do this quick and quiet. This will take a lot of stealth, coordination and good timing if we are going to take out one post to make it through" Ash said "Matt I want you to set yourself up in a tree and make sure you have a visual on all the guard towers from it okay?" Matt nodded and took off "Ruby you do the same. Butch I want you ready with Samantha at the front of the gate ready to break in and take them out if things go down the shitter. David, you and Thomas help each other get over the fence and make sure you aren't spotted. When the men in the towers start dropping, you take out everyone you can without a sound okay? If anyone gets in your way before hand take them out quietly and hide the body" David and Thomas nodded and ran towards the fence. Ash turned to Blaziken "This is one of the most important jobs. If this goes to hell you need to abandon us and get May across and run to the castle as fast as you can. Don't look back got it?" Ash said, Blaziken nodded. "The rest of you form up and protect May, your attacks will only bring unwanted attention so you can't come with us"
Finally Ash turned to May If anything happens and all of this fails and you can't make it through you run to a bar in Slateport City and go to the bartender. He's a talking Meowth who owes me a few favors. Give him this knife and he'll guarantee your safety in Hoenn for as long as you need". May just smiled and took the knife from him. "I'll take it but it won't be necessary. I know you'll succeed" she said. Ash grinned and turned to go but May grabbed his wrist and kissed him on the cheek.
"For good luck" she said with a smile and a blush on her face.
Ash just nodded dumbly and turned around to get into position. He found the tree adequate enough to get a good view of the soldiers in the camp. He looked over at Matt and took out and arrow and nodded to him. Matt nodded in return and took out an arrow and turned to do the same to Ruby who was somewhere out of Ash's sight. Ash drew the arrow and aimed at the first guard tower, choosing the man that was to the left of all the others. He used one hand to hold his arrow in place and used hand signs to tell Matt how they would target the men in the towers. He nodded and relayed the signs to Ruby. Ash took hold of his bow once again and looked at his target, he could see Matt waiting for him to fire the first shot.
Ash let a breath loose and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and firing, he heard the screech of Ruby and Matt's arrows follow his and they all made they mark. All three of them fell to the floor of the tower dead. The saw Thomas and David start making their move and took out another arrow and began to fire with Matt and Ruby at the other tower guards.
It had been going so well
But a tower guard refused to die and yelled to the rest before one of Matt's arrows finished the job one of us failed to do. Soldiers came runnning from the barracks. None of them were prepared for a fight though, some were only in tunics, some had chain mail, and some had a few pieces of armor strapped on here and there. But even though they were unprepared, they were many and their leader cam out of his tent dressed in full armor a little bit after them, his colleagues emerging shortly after also fully dressed in armor. They all ran at Thomas and David
Ash wasted no time
He jumped from his sniping position and sprinted towards the gate, Ruby apparently having the same idea appeared running next to him. They came to the gate and saw Butch and Samantha on either side of the gate waiting to go in. Ruby ran up and kicked the door in to see Thomas and David slowly retreating towards the opposite side of the camp. "Lets go!" Ruby shouted and he began to sprint at the enemy followed by Butch, Samantha, and Ash. They mat not be able to finish the job unnoticed, but they could stop this camp from calling out to the other one for reinforcements.
Ruby engaged the soldiers who were facing away at the two Magma Core members who were barely holding back the soldiers. Ruby managed to get three down before all the attention of those surrounding him was diverted to him. The first strike came form above, an overhead the was easily ducked under. A simple jab towards the attacker and another soldier died. Then they all came at once and it became harder. The Pokemon made it worse, a few attacks here and there cut off his movements allowing little room for an offensive. So Ruby had duck and weave, he parried what he could and attacked when an opportunity arose, making his way towards David and Thomas.
Butch ran through them like a Milktank. He made it look like he was using an everlasting take down on the soldiers. The drove their weapons at him but once swipe with his axe rendered them futile. His swung his blade back and forth chopping anyone that got in his way. Even taking out a Ryhorn in mid charge by splitting its skull open. Houdoom pounced at him creating a dog pile and scratched him and used anything they could to kill him without hurting their comrades around them but he kept moving throughout the crowd towards his friends.
Samantha stayed at the gate, making sure anyone trying to cut off the escape ended up being cut off themselves. Those who weren't trying to kill the four cores in the mass of Kanto soldier were heading for her. Her longsword glowed in the moonlight, covered in blood. At one point she lost it and was left with just a shield. That was more than enough for her though. Anyone that came close was knocked unconscious or killed. She used the bottom edge as a blade and killed more than a few people with it before she got her longsword back.
Matt stood on his tree branch, letting loose arrow after arrow into the horde of enemies. The calm look in his eyes never leaving the entire time. Is someone got too close to either David or Thomas they found an arrow embedded in them. His arrow fell like raindrops. No man was safe from the hell he brought with him. It almost seemed impossible some of the shots he made. Sometimes killing two men with one arrow. But he fired away as if it was nothing with his seemingly unending supply of arrows. He didn't even hesitate after a shot, never once watching where it was going. Every time he would fire an arrow he would pull out another one before the first hits its mark. He knew it was a good shot from the beginning.
Ash cut though their ranks like melted butter. He was heading straight for the commanders. Without leadership the grunts were nothing, it's why they were grunts. They felt the need to be led. They were weak because of it, and he was taking full advantage of their weakness. They came at him like a wave, but he split the wave in two and kept moving, never once stopping to fight someone one on one. He would block a strike, dodge an attack and occasionally take out a solider who happened to get in his way or had their back turned. But no one was stopping him from getting to his targets. He broke through their lines to the leaders who were barking orders at their men. That's all they were good for, orders. Those with no skill get those with skill to do what they needed. And they were about to pay for it with their lives. They yelled at their men to kill Ash, to go at him with everything they had.
The were silenced
And Butch and Ruby broke through to Thomas and David. Thomas looked worse for wear though. He had cuts everywhere and was bleeding heavily. He was good with indirect fighting, using distractions and the environment around him to fight for him, but there was nothing except then corner he was backed in. David was not too much better. This was his kind of fight, head to head. No one stood a chance against him one on one so they attacked all at once. He could handle it but not for too much longer.
"Calvary's here boys" Butch said as he drove through the front line that was threatening the two, Ruby breaking through another part. "Butch. I never thought I'd ever be happy to see your ugly mug" David said. Butch grinned and dove right back into the fighting. Ash rejoined Samantha at the front gate. "Make sure no one gets out. Our only chance is that the other camp doesn't get word of this" Ash said. Samantha nodded and charged at the enemy, Ash joining her in her attack.
Soon the camp was turned into a graveyard. Corpses littered the ground as common as dirt, blood soaked the ground like water. Not only of it from the Kanto soldiers.
-Sapphire's POV-
It was a normal day
And just like any other, nothing was happening. We had long since given up on an offensive strategy and so had the Kanto soldiers. Now it was just a stand off. Occasionally we would send out sabotage parties that would raid caravans and destroy their supplies, but that did little to defeat the enemy. Only stall any chance they had at an offensive.
My job as the general of the Aqua Guard was to lead the troops into battle. It used to be Archie's job but King Norman assigned him to protect the daughter of the Sinnoh royal family that had arrived with the last of their army.
Dawn was her name
Archie was still the leader of the Aqua Guard but he couldn't lead us into battle anymore. That was the three general's job and I'm one of my job right now is daily training with the Aqua troops.
"Come on ya pansies your runnin' like you don't want breakfast" I yelled form the front of the line of soldiers that was running around the training ground. I could hear them all grumble and complain but I ignored it and kept on running. When I came around for another lap though all the men had stopped running and were walking to the gate.
"Hey! where ya all goin'!? We ain't done runnin' yet" I yelled after them. One turned around and yelled "Boss they're letting some more people through the gates". I sighed and began to join them, the had formed a semicircle around the thick iron doors that had yet to be opened. One of the men at the gate watch towers ran through the crowd yelling "Get King Norman immediately!". Soon both royal families joined us in the center of our semicircle to welcome our new guests. We always did this but no one that could help in the war effort showed up. The king was always there to meet each newcomer though and ask if they had any news about his daughter.
"Opening the gates!" one of the watchmen yelled form the top of the wall. The doors opened to reveal eight figures. There was a big one with a scrawny looking guys on his back, another with a tall girl in his arms, some guy dressed in black with a Pikachu had a girl in his arms, the girl had and Eevee on her, another had a bow and was leading up the rear, looking behind the group for anyone following with a Slugma. A powerful Blaziken walked beside the last figure. Soon they all came into focus and everyone gasped. All of them were covered in blood.
"May?" King Norman whispered. The guy in the black gently shook the girls in his arms and she stirred a little. She looked hop at the guy before looking at the crowd of assembled people. "Dad?' she asked back. She leapt out of the guy's arms and ran at her father, wrapping her arms around him and her mother Caroline soon joined in with tears running down her cheeks, Prince Max only moments afterwards. Soon though King Norman let go of his daughter and approached the others "I owe you everything I have for this. Who are you?" he asked.
The one beside the Blaziken walked up and stood in front of King Norman before bowing on one knee. "Magma Core leader Ruby reporting for duty sir" he said with his head bowed. Norman stepped back in shock "Leader?" he asked.
"Ruby" I whispered and I saw the guys surrounding me look at me weirdly
Ruby stood up and nodded before saying "Sir, everyone here needs medical attention immediately I suggest that we-" he started before Butch collapsed on one knee and fell to the ground with Thomas still on his back.
"Get the to the infirmary now!"
I like this chapter a lot. I think I did a pretty good job this time, though I wasn't sure where to leave off. Should it have been when they were opening the gates or when Butch collapsed? I don't know but I hope you enjoyed, suggestions, support, hate and anything else is always welcome. Thanks for clicking on the story and I hope you enjoyed it. Till next time
-novaking2832