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Demons are not like obedient Pokemon; they do not come at Man's beck and call.
-Yanase Berlitz
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The Hood nearly danced with black joy, the Evil Djinn reflecting his mortal host's emotions. The airship was finally finished, in all its weaponry, in all its terrible glory and fastness that would soon rain fire and death on the free peoples. The only thing that remained for the Grand Plan was to assemble all the forces of Team Eclipse aboard and muster them for battle.
Looking out the spacious observation deck, the Hood viewed the soldiers and their Pokemon loading carts of supplies and fuel canisters, vehicles, and weapons of all sorts onto the massive gunship. Emrett had finished his public campaigning, the others had returned, and all was ready for the war to begin. The War for the Sake of Earth. The War Against Arceus and the Pokemon Association.
The part of the carrier the Hood was most proud of and took the most delight in was the portable Ice Cannon, a tunnel-shaped weapon with a line of cryo-oscillators around its length, proudly displayed at the bride of the gunship. His scientists had tweaked the power source for Team Plasma's old weapons and allowed the cannon to be charged by Kyurem's energy, the power emitting from its tail. It needed constant recharging, but it was far better than having a volatile legendary Pokémon aboard the frigate.
He now had known exactly what he must do to completely free his master from his prison, thanks to the capture of the two archeologists. Soon, as his master promised, he would have greater powers than he could ever dream of. He would not even need Pokémon to fight for him, unless in the most perilous battles. What abilities and new vistas of strength awaited the Hood, he could only guess.
The only dent in the Plan was that Lysandre had not joined them. Emrett believed that it was about Lysandre tempering out his wish for the new world during his two-year-long imprisonment, and for that reason, Lysandre had escaped. No matter. Ghetsis's authority, and Colress and Charon's brains would aid him greatly, and Lysandre's strength and charisma could be covered for by the Hood himself. It was a shame that Lusamine was not stable enough for his liking, but he would need someone to run internal diagnostics to an extent that his existing technicians could not, since more security would be required once the attack had concluded.
After he had begun taking Shaymin's seeds for only a day, he had been feeling healthier and stronger than ever. It was as if his very body was emitting virtue, and Henry had commented that the Hood was practically glowing under his facial shroud. He would need to be in optimal health in order to survive the Indwelling, and the Shaymin avenue to peak physical condition was bearing fruit.
His next target, if all went well, would be the capture of Blaine and controlling his link with Mewtwo. Such raw power enticed the Hood greatly, and his master would be pleased as well. However, once his master was free, the Hood wondered if his priorities would remain the same. The Great Djinn had not ordered such a operation and was anxious to complete his means as quickly as possible. Mewtwo may be a dead end.
The Hood prepared to board the gunship, after seeing that his most well-trained and enhanced Pokemon had been loaded, and the ship fully fueled. The time was close, so close...
The board was set, and the pieces were moving. Team Eclipse was about to get the first pick.
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I hope that the empires of the future will be the empires of the mind.
-Bronze Tercano
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Bronze and company shouted for joy, despite the thinner air, at reaching the top of Cragonos Mountain. Most of the second half of the climb had been taken by a lift built into the mountain face, but the first half had been tiring nonetheless. After eating a light snack amidst the stunted grass, they approached the building near the summit rim, which had two transport-flyers ready for boarding.
Knocking on the locked door of the spartan hit, Bronze hoped that it was occupied. Soon, a man in military fatigues and an eyepatch came out, a veteran of the Terramist Wars, judging by his tattoos, and looked at the three with shock. "How did you kids get all the way up here? Everyone takes the lower terminal! I hardly ever see anyone except the occasional hiker! Well, what is it? Community scouts? Wannabe Rangers? Team Eclipse promoters? If you're the first and final, go away!"
"We had a change of heart about the lower terminal." Bronze said, hoping to establish a rapport with the casually brutal man. "That isn't any of your business, and you don't seem like a prying man. How much for a ride to Anthien? One-way, no strings attached."
The man grunted. "One thousand units. No refunds. Three times more expensive than the lower terminal, since it is hard to get fuel and food up here. My ships are the fastest around, however. You'll be entering Anthien airspace in less than five minutes if you ride my transports, or, as a good friend once called them, 'buckets of liquid speed.' I don't care if it's overpriced for you kids! I gotta make a living, take it or leave it!"
All three contributed to the payment, and the man led them to a ship, rectangular, boxy, and covered in green paint. A few pothole-shaped windows ran along the sides, terminating by the conical engines. The inside was remarkably clean, and Bronze saw some extensive technological modifications that allowed support for more exotic fuel sources, presumably for speed and stability.
"All right folks, buckle up." the veteran said, taking a seat in the pilot's chair. "If you aren't a fan of high speeds, be warned, this thing will be going at over a thousand miles per hour."
Jake and Tess gasped in horror. "Wait, what?!"
"Don't worry, the tensor fields will keep you from being pounded to jelly. But I warn you, you probably have never experienced anything this fast. No refunds, but I guarantee that you will suffer nothing worse than a broken bone, little lady. Takeoff in three, two, one..."
The transport levitated off the launch pad with engines flaring, turned in midair, and faced Anthien City over the Sunset Sea. Signaling their path to the comms tower on the lower terminal miles and miles away, they glided over the side of the mountain, the lands beneath stretching out like an exquisitely detailed mural, the Frostveil Mountains terrible and beautiful.
"Okay, tensor fields on, fuel additives stable, tank full. Everyone, put your headphones on! We are going to maximum speed in t-minus three, two, one! Hold your bladders!"
VRRMMMM!
Despite the tensor fields, the force knocked the three back against their seats with such force Bronze worried he had broken his spine. The sonic boom popped his ears, and the noise of the engines was so loud that Jake and Tess's screams were drowned out, even through the headphones. Out of a rearview mirror, visible outside a battered window, Bronze could barely see through his straining, tear-filled eyes Mount Cragonos zooming away at such speed that it disappeared in a sudden flash. He could feel the incredible jarring of the air brakes coming at full force, the atmosphere thinning.
"Okay!" the pilot screamed through the headphone network. "We're entering Anthien airspace! I'm going to slow down, and don't mind the rattling! That is completely expected, it is just the gas mixtures changing! I promise we won't hit a falling Minor or Lunatone, the sensors take care of that!"
Sure enough, Bronze felt the constricting force around his chest gradually lessening as well as about the ship. Looking through the frontal viewport, Bronze began to see Anthien City approaching, lights blinking and towers shimmering, with more ships of varying make and model coming around them, but not nearly as fast.
Soon, with the massive skyscrapers glistening, the dark underbelly of Anthien began to become clearer, a concrete city of pure technology prowess, hovering in the air, close to the point where no human could survive such heights. It truly was a great feat of human engineering and skill, a city geared up for the future.
As they approached a docking port, the pilot signaled their approach to Anthein Air Control. "Upper terminal Twin One to tower, approaching for landing at hangar bay 3-B. Three civies aboard. Clear trajectory sighted, scopes clear and compressors in optimal condition. Fuel at half a literjon."
"Copy, you are cleared for landing, Twin One. Arceanspeed!"
As the smoking, red-hot craft stopped at the magnetic docking pad, Jake and Tess unbuckled their seat belts, stumbled out of the rapidly cooling craft, and promptly vomited into a nearby trash can by the blasted landing platform. Bronze was dizzy, but he had never felt any nausea at high speeds. Apparently, it was the way his vestibular system functioned, combined with a stronger fear of falling, not high speeds.
After the two had cleaned up their sick, they walked back to Bronze, looking pale and gaunt. The lights of the boxed terminal gave way to the city behind plastiglass swing doors, glowing and proud, without stain or distasteful criminal underworld, the light of a thousand windows eliminating the darkness from all the corners and allies of Anthien City.
"I guess...we're in Anthien now," Jake muttered. "Some place."
Tess nodded, swaying gently. "We should probably get a room at a hotel in the city somewhere. Anyway, there is so much to do, so much to see, and Bronze, you have to get to your Gym Challenge, right?"
"Yes, of course. And why are you so pale and wan, it was just a little ride!"
Jake and Tess mumbled something that Bronze couldn't hear, and then moved off into the city.
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The process of healing does not end when the wounds are no longer visible. It ends when the wounds no longer ache.
-Pokedex Holder Yellow of Viridan Forest
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Oak picked up the phone, the Bagoon floating over the sea south of Unova.
Cypress was on the other end, telling him that the Pokedex holders Bronze and Jake had arrived at Anthien City. This was not pleasant news for Oak. He had been hoping that with an Eclipse movement of some sort about to occur there, he would want the new trainers to avoid the place it would occur.
After ending the call, Oak viewed the billboard of evidence he had made. Apparently, the command structure of Team Eclipse was strictly hierarchal, with Admins taking orders from the leader, who Oak assumed to be the hooded stranger that had taken Cresselia. Then, the Commanders took orders from the Admins, leading squads of soldiers on operations. Of their endgame, Oak was a bit shakier.
He speculated that Team Eclipse had kidnapped those two archeologists for their expertise in dealing with some sort of artifact that Team Eclipse wished to get their hands on, but he couldn't figure out which. Judging by the dogma about creating a new world, Oak assumed that they wanted to find Hoopa to do this, although it seemed odd to Oak, since Hoopa definitely didn't have the power to do such a thing. Its location was completely unknown, and professional hunters came up with no traces whatsoever, as he had Darkrai.
Oak had also contacted Emerald, and he was also en route to Anthien, and would arrive in but a few hours. Other than that, and putting all the other regional Professors and the Chairman on standby, there was little he could do short of complete occupation of the city.
Also, there had been many reports of Pokémon becoming uneasy all over Roria and even in the Alolan Islands. It was almost as if something massive was about to go down...something unnatural.
...
Colress handed the Hood new schematics for a Type Change module onboard the ship. The Hood hoped that he would be able to use this once he had captured Genesect, and possibly synthesize a new one for his soldiers to wield in Great Djinn had encouraged this, so the prospect of the Hood's success was high.
Dismissing Colress, the Hood retreated to his quarters. There, a shrine stood in a far corner, a statue of a dark lord, dressed in armor and wielding a great cudgel gracing its crest. Arcane carvings and scripts of Old Kalosi covered its stone border, and a small pot for offerings to whatever deity the shrine honored was placed directly at the graven image's base.
"My lord, I shall free you from your long imprisonment. Under your guidance, we shall ascend above the throne of Arceus, greater than the heavens. Side by side, we shall rule everything over everything, and other worlds shall crumble before our combined power, until all universes, under all creations, not just this one, have been joined with you. Lord of the Night and the Heavens, hear and accept my earnest prayer."
Offering a diamond before the altar, the Hood stood in reverence as he saw it suddenly disappear, a sweet fetter rising through the air.
The Great Djinn was much pleased. It was always an enjoyment when one of his servants, truly believing that their master had their best interests at heart, paid homage to him. Also, the more virtuous they were, the better. What was Giovanni without his courage, or Cyrus without his love for Pokemon? Mortals possessing such characteristics, when they reached his House Below after death, were always more amusing when they got there.