New Goldenrod City, Mr. Star's office.
"I would like to thank you all for responding to my abrupt summons."
At Mr. Star's table, he sat at the helm with the other CEOs he had invited. Although, none of them seemed particularly happy to be there. They were either nodding off or completely irate. In the case of Oleana, it seemed to be a bit of both.
"…Especially so early in the morning."
Oleana set her elbows upon the table and locked her hands together to rest her chin upon them. "Mr. Star," She began, attempting to remain as polite as she could manage, "I think I speak for everyone here when I ask why we received an urgent meeting request at six in the morning?"
The next to speak up was Lusamine. "I…" She couldn't even get one word out before needing to muffle a yawn. "…Have to agree with Oleana. I don't need to tell you that we're all very busy people. I had to wake up at four to be here."
As the others mumbled out similar fatigued protests, Mr. Star raised his hands to quiet them. "I understand the inconvenience this has been for you all, but I would not call for something like this without a reason urgent enough to warrant it."
Eagerly, Oleana accepted the hot coffee mug offered to her by Alice, Mr. Star's secretary. "How urgent exactly? I'll have you know that I have a sixteen hour long shift coming up today. Could this not have been delivered through a video message at the very least?"
Mr. Star firmly shook his head. "No. I could not risk such information being tapped by a third party. If it was, then it would become useless." He slammed his hands upon his desk to stir the CEOs, shouting, "What I am about to tell you will end up reshaping our world, perhaps even back to a semblance of normalcy! We have found the location of-"
Suddenly, a guard sporting the Star Foundation insignia upon his suit burst into the room. "Apologies for interrupting your meeting, Mr. Star, but there is something urgent on the ground!"
An irate Mr. Star replied, "We are in the middle of something urgent ourselves. What is it?"
The guard stiffened. "I-I'm sorry, sir, but this really can't be put off! There are wild Pokemon tearing the streets apart!"
That was more than enough to wake everyone up. President Stone of Devon Corp shot out of his seat. "What do you mean? Here, in New Goldenrod? Right now?"
"Yes, sir!" Replied the guard, visibly shaken. He was getting paler by the second. "It's like they came out of nowhere! We never even saw them come into the city! They just poured out of alleyways and streets! Some are rising out of the sewers!"
Mr. Star flew from his seat, running faster than anyone would have given the short old man credit for toward the glass hallway. When he flipped over the carpets to look down upon his city, he let out a moan of horror upon seeing flames and smoke rising from the streets.
"Get Ash on the phone!" He roared. "Now!"
High above the ground northeast of New Goldenrod, a helicopter was carrying back Ash and his friends. He had gotten a message from Mr. Star at four in the morning, although he had only woken up to see it an hour later when the sound of helicopter propellers woke him and his friends up.
To Ash's envy, Serena and Latias slept in the back seats with Pikachu doing the same, curled upon his girlfriend's lap. Ash was afforded no such nicety. The original message Mr. Star sent him was vague, only really telling him to immediately return to New Goldenrod and that he had sent a retrieval helicopter. It was a good thing Mr. Star had the foresight to do that now that they no longer had Tobias's help.
However, now he was dealing with another problem. "You're kidding. Why would wild Pokemon do this out of nowhere?"
"We don't know!" Hissed Mr. Star over video call on Ash's Secretary Bot, clearly panicking. "None of our messengers and scouts had anything meaningful other than that they suddenly started appearing en masse from different parts of the city. We need you here as soon as possible."
The old man raised his head at the sound of muffled talking. "I have to go, Ash. I'm in my office with the other CEOs and we're going to try to orchestrate some kind of plan from here. Call me when you get here."
Ash nodded. "Will do. Ash out." Then, he hung up. He laid back in his chair, letting out an exasperated, anxious sigh. "You're kidding. One thing after another." He glanced over to the pilot on his left and asked, "How long do we have?"
Making sure to keep at least his thumb on the wheel, the pilot motioned with three fingers ahead of them. "I can see the shine of the city from here. Shouldn't be more than five minutes to get there and ten to land up on Star Tower."
Ten minutes was enough. Ash nodded, then turned around to tap on Serena's and Latias's laps. They gave tired groans as they stirred, waking a groggy Pikachu as well.
"Huh?" Mumbled Serena as she wiped her eyes. "What is it? Are we there?"
Ash replied, "In ten minutes, but we gotta talk." He snapped his fingers to get a rise out of them, earning irritated moaning in protest to the sharp noise. "I'm sorry, but this is important. Mr. Star just called and told me that wild Pokemon are attacking New Goldenrod."
The news seemed to at least make their eyes open steadily. "Wait," Latias said, "What is happening? Why would…?"
"I don't know," Replied Ash, "And neither does Mr. Star. I need you to be up and ready by the time we land because we won't have the-"
The moment the helicopter cleared the edge of the city, warning alarms began blaring, making everyone jolt upright in their seats.
"What's happening?!" Cried Serena, frantically looking out the windows.
Suddenly, the pilot seemed more frantic. "We're getting multiple alerts of incoming warning signals. There's too many on the radar to count!"
Ash's eyes went silver as his Aura warned him of malicious intent by the hundreds from below. "Go up!" He warned.
Quickly moving into action, the pilot pulled up the handle to make the helicopter ascend. In the back, Serena yelped, grabbing onto whatever she could find. Ash held out his arms as much as he could without hitting the pilot to form an Auric barrier around the vehicle.
Just as he managed to get it up, a black swarm of beating feathers and furious caws overtook the helicopter. Innumerable Flying Type Pokemon had surrounded them, pecking and clawing at Ash's barrier as they attempted to find a way in.
"I can't see!" Yelled the pilot. "There's too many of them! I can't navigate!"
Ash wasn't doing much better on that end. "Same here. All the Aura signatures moving around are getting in the way of sensing what's past them."
Latias leaned near the window, summoning Dragon Claw through her fingernails. "Should I clear us a path?"
Honestly, Ash entertained the idea. Out of anyone, she would be the safest bet to stand a chance in these skies. "Hold off on that," He told her. "We don't know how many there are. I'm going to try to-"
Everyone collectively yelped when their vehicle abruptly stopped, especially Ash, who gasped as if he had personally been struck in the chest. "What happened?!" Serena cried.
In a panic, the pilot checked every window they had. "I think we hit something!"
The barrier surrounding their vehicle faded with Ash's concentration broken. To their horror, this allowed everyone to see what exactly they had hit. The pilot quickly pulled them away from the skyscraper they had just impacted, having left a gash across their windows. Serena could see damaged cubicles, though luckily, it seemed no one was inside.
Ash's barrier had prevented them from actually impacting the building, otherwise the situation would have been even worse. However, in that barrier's absence, the swarm quickly took advantage of their new opening. The sound of them pecking at the windows was like hail, and their furious claws seemed louder than before.
Above, a Skarmory stomped down on the roof between the two propellers. It held out its wings, setting them alight as it prepared to use Steel Wing. Ash sensed its intent, but could do little more in the time he was given than to cry out. The Skarmory beat its powerful metal wings against the propellers, making them snap off of their hinges.
Immediately, the helicopter began plummeting down into the city below. Within, everyone cried out as they were suddenly lifted from their seats. While the pilot reached for a parachute backpack on instinct, Latias leapt into action.
Shifting into her Pokemon form, she used Psychic to pry off one of the doors. Her eyes glimmered red, and so too did the vehicle. The descent of the helicopter slowed to a crawl until, gradually, it was lowered to the streets below.
Coating everyone in that same crimson glow, Latias lifted everyone out from the helicopter and planted them on the ground. "I'm never going to be able to ride a helicopter again!" Whined Serena.
Ash let out a long sigh, then gave Latias an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Latias. I still couldn't move much after my barrier went down. If not for you, I dunno if we'd make it."
Brightly, she returned the smile with one of her own. "Glad to be of help!" Her smile faded upon hearing a gasp from their pilot. When she and Ash turned to him, he was pointing a finger at Latias with a slack jaw.
"Y-you're Latias, the Legendary Pokemon!" He exclaimed. "Th-thanks for the save, but where did you come from?" His eyes shot wide when he looked around, believing there was a missing passenger. "And where did that other girl go?! We didn't lose her on the way down, did we?!"
Latias chuckled at the man, then grinned at him. "No need to worry about her. I have a feeling she's perfectly fine."
Though he gave her an odd look, he replied, "If you say so."
The sound of growls caught their attention. Prowling Pokemon came waltzing out of the alleyways, leering at them fearsomely. Serena instinctively reached for a Pokeball and stepped shoulder to shoulder with Ash as Pikachu stepped forward and sparked his cheeks warningly.
"Where did they come from?" Asked Latias.
Serena couldn't even begin to count them all. "There's so many!"
Ash narrowed his eyes at them as he stepped up to Pikachu's side. "There's something wrong with them. Something in their minds isn't right. It's all foggy."
The sight of the wild Pokemon dragging their claws along the walls was chilling. They came from all ends, gradually encircling them until only their back was left open. Challenging them, Ash and Serena tossed down their Pokeballs to release their teams. Latias's Dragon Claw flashed out from her smaller claws.
In the midst of this, the pilot stepped back. "I…gotta go. I knew the situation was bad, but I didn't know there were this many of them. I need to check on my wife and son; see if they're alright."
Not daring to take his eyes off the approaching horde, Ash propped up a small wall-shaped barrier to stop him. "Hold on. It's not safe." He briefly glanced up at Star Tower in the distance. "We're still in the outer city. If there are this many Pokemon here, there's bound to be way more up ahead."
The pilot flashed a Pokeball he kept in a vest pocket. "Not to worry. I can handle myself. Just about everyone who lives in this city is a trainer. You yourself saw to that with that campaign you did."
Ash winced slightly, having completely forgotten about that. Still, he lowered the barrier, understanding the man's resolve.
"Our trainers have gotta be giving these wild Pokemon a fight," Said the pilot, "And just as soon as I make sure my family is safe, I'll be joining that fight." And with that, he took off into the alley.
"He was kind of inspiring," Latias admitted.
Ash nodded. "Yeah. I feel a bit better knowing that the city is in good hands."
Serena frowned, glancing up at Star Tower forlornly. "I agree, but he's gotten me worried about Pangoro. I want to check on him."
Glancing around at the leering Pokemon, Ash mulled over their options of attack. "He's probably safe since he's back at the hotel in Star Tower, but you should go make sure just in case. Latias, do you mind escorting her?"
"What about you?" Latias asked.
To that, Ash smirked. "Me? I'm going to be the one giving you guys cover." He patted Charizard on the back. "Isn't that right, Charizard?" Charizard eagerly rumbled out his name in response.
Pikachu hopped atop Ash's shoulder as his trainer did the same with Charizard's back. The dragon's powerful wings beat against the ground, kicking up dust as he took flight.
By now, Serena knew by the glint she saw in Ash's eye that he had a plan. Cupping her hands to her mouth as he ascended, she asked, "What should we do?"
Ash waved toward the tower. "Just find a way to get there safely. I'll try to keep as many off of you as I can." He turned to Latias and added, "Latias, can I ask you to stay with her?"
At first, Latias opened her mouth to protest. She wanted, practically instinctively, to stay with him. Yet the idea of Serena wandering off on her own did not sit well with her either. "…For sure!" She chirped up at him with a nod.
Ash smiled down at her, then turned a stony gaze back upon the enemy Pokemon below. He could sense their malicious intent, yet they hadn't attacked so far. At first, he thought his Pokemon on the ground were intimidating them, but he sensed no such thing from them. Malice was about the only thing he saw in their hearts, but their minds were foggy.
So why hadn't they attacked?
"Something isn't right about them," He mumbled under his breath.
When Charizard cleared the first building, Ash instantly saw that this behavior was unique to this particular group. His jaw dropped at the sight of the glamorous city up in flames. Trainers and their Pokemon were fighting against the relentless onslaught of the wild ones, and the city itself was only getting caught in the crossfire.
Gritting his teeth, he pushed back his Aura's response to their pain. Yet he was given no reprieve. His Aura spiked in response to aggression from below.
"Watch out!" He ordered.
His four Pokemon on the ground brought up their guard as the horde suddenly dove upon them. Whatever was holding the wild Pokemon back had vanished. As Ash's Aura manifested and touched Pikachu and Charizard, they were made aware of Ash's intent without the need for words.
Charizard bellowed out a Flamethrower to bear back part of the horde. Yet this did little than allow for the Pokemon behind those struck by the attack to trample over their supposed comrades to sate their fury. Pikachu shot down a Thunderbolt to try to keep them at bay, and though he struck down dozens, it meant little compared to the entire horde.
An enraged Primeape leapt at Sceptile with a beast-like craze in its wide eyes. A swift Leaf Blade cut it down, and Sceptile used it to kick off into the horde. The wild Pokemon were suddenly under fire from within as a green flash of light danced through their ranks. Yet no matter how many he cut down, more seemed to replace them.
Serena felt a tug at her skirt as she watched this. She found Latias, who silently motioned for her to come with her. Nodding, she ran after Latias as she flew away. Her team bounded after them.
Noticing their departure, Ash held out his arm to issue an order to his team. "Cut through their numbers! Let's meet up with the other trainers, and from there, we'll knock the wild Pokemon out one by one!"
Below, his team roared out in agreement. Not being one to ever let himself be one-upper, Charizard craned up his head and let out a fearsome bellow that rang across the city. More than a few heads were turned in response to this, both ally and enemy alike.
As Ash flew toward the inner city, he saw that the situation was even worse than what he found at his first glance. The city looked like the scene of a war. There were more bodies filling the streets than he could count. The swarm of wild Pokemon filled almost every inch of the streets. It was almost impossible to tell which ones were owned by trainers and which ones were wild.
"So many wild Pokemon," He marvelled. "Where have they been all this time? There were supposed to be barely any left. How did so many appear so suddenly?"
He spotted a rounded wall of trainers below. They and their Pokemon were struggling against the wild horde that surrounded them, even with their numbers. There were hundreds of them bunched together, but it seemed there were ten Pokemon for every one of them.
"There."
Charizard nodded and set course for them. Below, Sceptile, Hydreigon, Noivern and Greninja forged a path through the horde as they followed their trainer. Ash wanted to test the enemy's will. If he could use his will to suppress theirs, he might learn why they're attacking.
Charizard came to a sudden stop over the heads of the trainers. Ash could feel them. Their terror, their pain, and their resolve to defend their home. It was high time that the trainer who set them on this path join them in their time of need. Holding out his arms over the burning city, Ash set his Aura alight.
The war below stopped for a brief moment when a blinding light filled the sky. When they looked up, they had to shield their eyes as an ivory star began burning in the air. While the trainers cried out in confusion, the wild Pokemon merely fell still and observed.
Ash cleared his throat, then announced, "My name is Ash Ketchum, and this fight is over! To the Pokemon invading this city, you will stop attacking!" His Aura burned all around him, enveloping himself, Pikachu, and Charizard. With it, his will was pressed against the enemy's.
The response from the Pokemon came in the form of, at first, a series of rebellious roars and growls. Then, Charizard dodged on Ash's shared instinct as attacks came at him from below. Charizard weaved through geysers of fire, lightning and more, but below, Ash's team swiftly began taking care of those who dared to try to harm their friends.
With wide eyes, the bewildered trainers could only watch as bodies from the Pokemon horde began flying into the air with loud thuds and pained cries. These sounds drew closer and closer until four Pokemon stood at the front of the line of Trainers, facing the surrounding enemy. Charizard swooped down, making the ground quake as he landed.
"It's just as I suspected," Ash said as he dismounted from Charizard's back. "These Pokemon are being controlled by something. It's not their wills that mine clashed with, or they'd be running by now."
He glanced back at the slack jawed faces of the trainers behind him. "Looks like we've still got a fight ahead of us. Good job holding down the place until now, but if we're going to get our city back, we're going to have to fight with everything we've got."
Before long, his words shifted their expressions. Their shock gradually changed toward bright smiles as the trainers realized who exactly was now at their side. Then, a series of cheers broke out, and they pumped their fists proudly into the air.
"It's Ash!"
"They don't stand a chance now!"
"Let's kick 'em out of our city!"
A cacophony of approving roars rose out from the crowd at that proposal, followed by the excited chanting of Ash's name. Ash himself rubbed the back of his head, finding it difficult to face them. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing, but he wasn't about to turn down their morale.
Taking the tip of his cap in hand, Ash twisted around and pointed toward the crowd. "Let's get 'em, guys! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
All at once, the trainers at Ash's back pumped their fists skyward and roared, "YEAH!"
High atop the roof of a nearby Skyscraper, a man in black armor observed Ash's display. "Continue having the Pokemon attack their designated areas, but have some on standby to change course to attack the boy if necessary."
"Yes, Commander Ryder," Came a chorus of voices from his comms.
The black of the man's visor revealed nothing of its interior as he observed Ash's efforts in the battle in the streets. Still, he continued to stare intently. "Put on as convincing of a show as necessary, but make sure the boy is not harmed beyond recovery. He is still needed. Also, do not have the wild Pokemon attack the ones of trainers. The trainers themselves are fair game."
"Understood, Commander Ryder."
Turning off his microphone, Ryder then addressed the Pokemon at his side. "Weavile." He addressed with cold apathy. "Lead the efforts against the boy. Make sure you are not caught."
The Weavile bowed to Ryder, then gave a solemn nod as it chanted its name. The sound made Ryder's blood boil. However, the irritating sensation quickly left when the Pokemon regretfully under his command departed, dashing down the side of the skyscraper to join the horde.
"Sir!"
Ryder reactivated his microphone in response to the panicked voice of one of his subordinates. "What is it? Have yellow and red entered the city?"
"It's yellow, sir, and it's headed right for you!"
Just as his subordinate said, Ryder's danger warnings began to blare inside of his helmet. The sky went white for but the blink of an eye in wake of a thunderclap. Ryder only had time to unsheath his blade before the entire rooftop was swamped with lightning.
The rapid presence of heat caused a thunderous explosion, sending burnt debris down from the damaged roof into the crowded streets below. Pokemon and Trainer alike looked up at the sound to find a building with a roof covered in dust, but what they couldn't see was two figures darting out from that dust and landing atop another roof. As Ryder's heels grinded against the rooftop to a halt, he swiped his blade through to air to redirect an oncoming bolt. Its creator flew through, using the opening to lunge at Ryder.
"I've got you now!" Declared Zeraora as he thrusted a palm toward his target. Ryder managed to bend back just as the palm send forward a pulse of lightning right over his head. He grabbed the ground and tried kicking up at Zeraora's ribs, only for the wolf to flip over it and retaliate by using Thunderbolt beneath him as he passed over. Tucking and rolling to his left, Ryder evaded yet again. As Ryder returned to his feet, he sheathed his blade and took aim.
The moment Zeraora's feet touched the rooftop, Ryder drew his sword. A blade of wind cut horizontally across the sky, filling it with the sound of ringing metal. Above the lingering curve of air, a yellow plasma curved through the air and landed atop the building across from the one he'd just been on. Ryder knelt down before shooting across the gap to meet him. He raised his blade as Zeraora brought up his electrified palms, then they dove at each other once more.
Ryder and Zeraora swung at each other relentlessly, dancing across the rooftops as each of their blows tried to find their mark. Yet no matter how many attacks they threw at one another, neither of the two could manage to land a blow on the other. Narrowly, Zeraora bent back to avoid a glancing upward slash from Ryder. In turn, he flipped back and then dashed at him, swiping at Ryder with his electrified claws. The armored man's head tilted to the side to let it pass.
To gain some distance, Ryder backstepped, then kicked off the ledge to propel himself onto the next building. When Zeraora pursued, Ryder sheathed his blade. Zeraora's eyes widened and he changed course midair, to rise above what he thought was a horizontal slash. He did not expect Ryder to turn his aim down rather than up. In one clean slash, Ryder diagonally cut through several floors of the skyscraper itself. Digging his boot into the gash, Ryder kicked up, and the airborne Zeraora was suddenly met with a rising wall.
He quickly realized that he would not be able to evade. Zeraora braced for impact, but the impact of the flipped building chunk still knocked most of the breath out of his lungs. Turning himself over, he sprinted along the falling roof, managing to launch himself off of the edge just before it fell over completely. Narrowly, he caught the edge of another building's roof and pulled himself up. As he turned, he panted for the air that was lost to him. Exhausted, all he could do was look on in horror as the massive building chunk plummeted to the streets below, right onto people and Pokemon alike..
A thunderous crash from behind caught Latias's attention for a moment, but she did not have the luxury of turning her attention to it. As she tried to fly toward Star Tower to at least confirm if Pangoro was still there, hundreds of attacks from the wild Pokemon below rose up to meet her. Though her speed easily allowed her to weave through the attacks, she could not find an opening to get through their wall. Every time she would attempt to pass a certain point, so many attacks flew up to intercept her that there wasn't enough space to get through them.
"Dang it!" She hissed as a Thunderbolt grazed her cheek. "Why are they trying to stop me from getting to the tower?!"
She turned her gaze at the land around the tower. "Is there...even anything there?" Her brief focus was broken by a pelting from a Stone Edge, making her cry out. Enough was enough. Deciding that nothing would get done this way, Latias made a swift nosedive for the ground. She dove beneath the buildings into an alley where she had left Serena and her team.
"Any luck?" Serena asked.
Shaking her head, Latias replied, "The wild Pokemon are defending the land around the tower for some reason. I couldn't get close, even with my speed."
Serena's eyebrows creased. "Well, I don't want you hurting yourself for my sake, but..." She glanced up at what she could see of the tower from the alley. "...I wonder if there's a way we can go on foot?"
Recalling another detail, Latias said, "That reminds me. I only saw it for a second, but the area around the tower itself was empty for some reason."
"Empty?"
Latias nodded. "It didn't look like anything was on the ground there at all. If anything, I think that means Pangoro's safe if he's there."
Folding her arms, Serena hummed in thought. "...Alright," She conceded, "I guess so. For now, let's help out the other trainers. Maybe Pangoro came out to help when he saw the fighting start."
Latias nodded.
As Ryder drew his blade and took aim at the stunned Zeraora, his warning signal blared from his side once again. He shifted his attention toward the oncoming threat and prepared to draw, but saw nothing despite his sensor's warnings. A loud clang boomed, and then Ryder found himself sprawling across the rooftop. He smashed through the stone railing and fell, flying straight through a window on a nearby building.
Screaming was what first caught Ryder's attention when he first stopped moving. As he craned his head back up, he found that he had been thrown into an office, and was embedded in the wreckage of a cubicle. All around him, people whom he assumed were taking refuge from the chaos below ran away from him in terror. He peered ahead at the holes he had made in the walls, and then, his danger sensor rang out again.
This time, Ryder did not hesitate. He ripped himself out of the wreckage and swung, seemingly colliding with the air itself. Everything around them exploded outward for a moment before the roof began to collapse. Before it could touch Ryder or his assailant, they dove back to where they came. As he backstepped, Ryder threw blow after blow to crash into the open air. The ground underneath their feet splintered in the wake of their collisions, and as they neared the windows, part of the floor severed and began sliding out.
Before the floor fell completely, Ryder jumped up and caught a metal board, using it to pull himself up and begin sprinting up the side of the building. Though he could not see it, his instincts crawled as they felt something pursuing him. The moment his hand touched the railing of the roof, he used his momentum to swing to the opposite end. Hearing a whistle through the air on the rooftop, Ryder swung his blade and met with solid air. He twisted his blade around what he had struck, pulled it toward him, then delivered a swift kick.
Now he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt there was something there. The metal of the rooftop churned as something grinded against it after Ryder kicked the air. Bringing up his blade, Ryder crouched into a position to counter once more and said, "Who or whatever you are, your disguise will no longer work."
There was a pause, filled only with the wind, before something broke it. "Have it your way." At the end of where the floor had twisted, something began to fill the empty space. Genesect's form came into view, standing back up from a crouching position. "Well met, Ryder," She spoke with a hiss. "Were you watching as I killed Sniper and Launcher?"
"I watched enough to learn of your stolen technology," He retorted, "But as you already figured out, it's outdated."
Shifting her claws into hands, Genesect folded her arms and chuckled. "Apparently, you weren't watching all that closely. My outdated technology was more than enough to take care of Launcher. I haven't even used half of my arsenal yet."
Ryder's thumb shifted dangerously close to the shiny new button that adorned the hilt of his blade. "None of it will help you now. If your kind even have souls, you'll be meeting the rest of them soon enough. Better that than to be around to see what's coming."
Genesect's eyes narrowed at him. "What do you mean by that?"
From behind Ryder, a flash of lightning rose up into the morning sky, leaving Zeraora behind. "You!" He roared. "There were humans down there too! Does nothing mean anything to you?!"
This had gone on long enough. "The scope of our goal reaches farther than what your kind could fathom." His thumb moved to hold onto the button, resulting in potent blue flames dancing across his blade. From within the hilt of his sword, a shard of Necrozma's crystal began to glow.
"Flames?!" Exclaimed Zeraora.
Genesect stepped back in the wake of this new power. "This was not present in either set of data. You did not display this ability against my kin!"
Marveling at the flames, Ryder cut a circle through the air. Lingering cyan embers glistened against his armor before falling to the ground around him. They spread and grew more swiftly than Genesect anticipated. "My master," Began Ryder, "Has foresight beyond anyone else. To make up for our losses by your hand, he has entrusted me with new powers." He grasped at the hilt with both hands, pointing his flaming blade skyward and holding it close. "I will not fail him. Now, not even the Legends are beyond my blade's power to slay."
"Yet another upgrade I missed," Lamented Genesect. "It will not matter. I will be able to make up the difference with the data taken from your corpse!"
Ryder smothered the flames by sheathing his blade, yet keeping his hand firmly upon the hilt. "You are welcome to try."
Central Square of New Goldenrod City was unusually silent. Typically, it was the most busy place in the entire world. It was, after all, the site of the illustrious Star Tower. All manner of people came and went through that pillar of mankind's achievements, from traders to trainers to innumerable workers. Of course, there was also the occasional tourist. Today, the only noise came from the battling in the distance.
"Is everything clear for the next step?" Asked a portly man.
"Yes, sir. Everything is in place, and though Ryder is struggling, everyone else has been able to control the wild Pokemon so far."
The portly man nodded, scratching at his small goatee. "I see. Well, let's not waste any more time then."
Then, the silence was broken. Massive metal garage doors opened from the side of a large warehouse, and men in black came pouring out. On their suits, they sported patches depicting an exploding star. Hundreds of them swamped Central Square before long, followed by two large humvees. Impeded by nothing, they brazenly marched upon Star Tower. Their boots tarnished the pristine stone stairs leading toward the tower's base. As the humvees scaled those stairs, their wheels crushed them underneath.
The glass at the bottom of the tower was shaded over, darkened from the inside to prevent anything from peering in. Several soldiers drew near, keeping their weapons aimed at the windows in case anything struck at them from the inside. They attached a thick wire to the door handles, then a Black Suit motioned for the humvees to approach. The soldiers moved to the sides of the doors as the wire was attached to the backs of the vehicles. The Black Suit looked to the portly man for confirmation, and when he received a nod, he gave the confirmation.
"Now."
Like a growl from Entei itself, the engines of the humvees roared loudly as they began pulling at the doors. They bent slowly, offering as much resistance to ward off the invaders as possible, but it wasn't enough. Soon, the doors popped off of their hinges, and the Nova Branch soldiers rushed inside. There were immediate cries of fear ringing up from those taking shelter from the battle.
Someone with a Star Foundation patch on their shirt pointed at the Nova Branchers. "You!" They yelled with wide eyes. "I knew you had to be behind this! Wild Pokemon wouldn't just attack us out of nowhere! When this gets out to the news, the entire world is going to hunt you down!"
One of the Black Suits walked in with his shield up to survey the situation. There were hundreds of people and their Pokemon huddled together like a wall. All of them looked frightened. "We can expect resistance," He whispered to a soldier behind him, who nodded and skulked off to deliver the message. Turning back toward the man who spoke out against them, the Black Suit replied, "None of you will live to tell the news."
Several more Black Suits entered the room, tailed by more soldiers. Over their shoulders, smoke bombs were fired into the crowd, eliciting more screams from them. As the smoke caused the crowd to break apart, laser sights peered at them through the smoke. Some of the trainers ordered their Pokemon to attack, but their attacks were blocked by the shields of the Black Suits. From behind those shields, the soldiers opened fire into the smoke.
Something came barreling from the smoke on the side of the trainers. A massive Tyranitar, roaring furiously as it stampeded toward the Nova Branchers. One of the soldiers raised his gun to open fire on it. "That's Star's Pokemon!" He shouted. But before he could pull the trigger, a net flew out from behind him that covered the gigantic Pokemon. It thrashed against its bindings until the net lit up with electricity, and before long, it was forced to the ground in spite of its size.
The soldier turned back to see who fired it, his eyes widening when he saw a portly man holding a smoking net gun. "B-Boss!" He exclaimed. "Should we finish it off?"
Shaking his head, the man handed off the net gun to the soldier without a word. The hail of bullets stopped briefly when the Nova Branchers saw their commander walking past the shields to face the bound Pokemon. No retaliation came from the smoke. Rather, only cries and groans. The Tyranitar opened its eyes in spite of the electricity coursing through it. It shared a brief eye contact glance between itself and the portly man.
Turning away, the commander snapped his fingers and said, "We still have use for it. Keep the Tyranitar alive. As for the rest, make sure it's the opposite." Just as he cleared the shields, the soldiers opened fire once more, making sure to aim over the Tyranitar's head. The deafening noise of gunfire and screams filled the once proud pillar of the world as the tower meant to be the greatest bastion against Team Rocket was stained by their attackers.
When gunfire and screams turned only to gunfire, the portly man held up his arm to stop the rest. "That's enough." He made his way into the smoke as it cleared, uncaringly stepping over what was, mere moments ago, the rebellion against them. "Continue up," He ordered. "We have to pay a certain someone a visit."
"Patrat, use Bite!"
A young trainer sporting scruffed shorts and an old, battered cap ordered his Patrat to attack an enemy Drowzee from behind. However, a Machamp intercepted the attack. The Patrat bit down into the Machamp's tough muscles with little effect. Smirking, the Machamp plucked the small Pokemon off with one of its four hands and held it high. It squirmed in the larger Pokemon's grasp, vigorously biting at its fingers.
"Patrat!" Cried the trainer.
Machamp seemed to ignore the pitiful attempts at attacks. Instead, it turned a dark glower toward Patrat's young trainer. Suddenly, the boy realized who he should have been worrying about. He staggered backwards, unable to break his gaze from the Machamp's leer. It stomped toward him, making the boy quake with every step until he fell backward. It smirked down at him cruelly as he raised a hand to deliver a fatal Karate Chop. Patrat's eyes went wide, crying out for its trainer.
"GoRO!"
A black fist struck the Machamp across its cheek, sending it onto its back. Its grip loosened, allowing the Patrat to run back to its trainer. "Patrat!" Cried the boy joyously. However, that joy returned to terror once he saw the glare of the Pangoro looking down at him.
The boy flinched when Pangoro growled and made a swift move with its arm. However, it did not strike him. Rather, the Pangoro was holding out its arm and pointed at something. It was then that the young trainer realized the Pangoro only had one arm. The boy looked over to see a group of trainers fighting against the horde near a building. Realizing what the Pangoro was getting at, the boy shakily nodded up at him and ran away.
"Thank you!" He said over his shoulder before joining with the other trainers.
Pangoro merely grumbled to itself before turning to face the enemy Machamp. As the Machamp nursed its bruised face, Pangoro stomped on the ground to get its attention. The Machamp looked up, receiving a dark scowl from its assaulter. It was a look that was eagerly returned. The Machamp curled back, using its four arms to throw itself back onto its feet. Pangoro's scowl deepened upon glancing at the extra arms of its adversary.
The Machamp, wearing a dark grin upon its face, marched up to Pangoro. Yet as the panda took a stance to prepare to retaliate, the Machamp merely walked past him. Confused, Pangoro turned and barked at the Machamp to face it, but was ignored.
Then, Pangoro saw what it was marching toward. It was moving toward the boy again, looking to join with the rest of the horde to assault the trainers. Pangoro swiftly moved into action. Stomping his feet into the ground, Pangoro twisted his body to throw a potent Brutal Swing at the Machamp's face. In turn, the Machamp brought its four palms together to catch the attack.
One arm struggled against four. While Pangoro was putting everything he had into pressing forward, the Machamp seemed to be mocking his efforts. Its smile soon faded when Pangro's heel pressed further into the cement, allowing him to put his back into the attack and throw off Machamp's grip.
While the Machamp was staggering back, Pangoro rushed forward and threw a Bullet Punch at the beak of its opponent. One punch of Bullet Punch alone was hardly an attack at all, but there was more than that came from. Coating his other arm in a metal sheen, Pangoro sought to deliver another punch to Machamp's face. However, his elbow-length stub had caught only air.
Pangoro's eyes widened upon realizing what he had done. The attack had been purely on instinct. Now, he was left open. The Machamp twitched spastically for a moment, then went still. No further cocky smirk adorned its face, but rather, an empty look portrayed something Pangoro could not accurately describe. All he knew was that something drastic has changed within his opponent, and he did not like it at all.
Bellowing out its name so forcefully that the nearby windows shook, the Machamp grabbed hold of Pangoro's stub and squeezed down with as much force as it could muster. Throwing back his head, Pangoro cried out in agony. The Machamp used this opening to hurl a powerful Dynamic Punch straight at Pangoro's head.
All Pangoro could do when he realized what was coming for him was gasp and grit his teeth. He was Dark-Type, and such a powerful Fighting Type move may have put him out of commission for good.
Yet, the Machamp's arm suddenly went still, stopping just before making contact with Pangoro's snout. A dim red glow had encompassed Machamp, and all it could seem to do was whimper weakly as it struggled against the odd light. It let out a cry upon being whisked into the air and thrown somewhere Pangoro couldn't see.
Suddenly, a new Pokemon had flown right up in front of him. Its sheer speed made Pangoro flinch, but it was able to stop on a dime. "There you are!" It exclaimed. "We've been looking all over for you!"
Pangoro raised a brow at this new Pokemon inquisitively. A red and white thing with vague wings on its arms. Its voice seemed familiar too. He had remembered hearing something like it every now and then on the balcony of Serena's apartment, but he had always been so zoned out that he never paid much attention to it.
The Pokemon said, "That Machamp nearly had you. It's a good thing I showed up when I did." It tilted its head past Pangoro, adding, "Isn't that right, Serena?"
"Pangoro!"
The proud panda flinched at the call of his name by a familiar voice. It whipped around, crying out its name in shock upon seeing his trainer and the rest of their team running up to him happily. He was unsure of what to do when Serena threw her arms around as much of him as she could.
It wasn't long before the rest of the team, save for Rhyperior, was upon him as well. Before he knew it, he was on his back. "I'm so glad to see you're okay!" Cried Serena. She looked at him with watery eyes that gleamed. "And you're up and about again too!"
All Pangoro could do was grumble in response, though even he could not resist just a hint of a smile. However, they were not given too much of a respite. All this noise had attracted the attention of other Pokemon. They leered at Serena hungrily, eager to attack.
Serena narrowed her eyes at them, standing back to her feet. The rest of her team did the same and formed a defensive wall around Pangoro and their trainer. "Looks like they won't be giving us any leeway," Serena noted. However, she sent a smile down at Pangoro. "But that's fine. This time, I'll be here with you, like I should have been on that island."
Rhyperior stood beside her, offering its hand to Pangoro.
"We all will."
Pangoro looked at her with shock. All this time, had she been blaming his injury on her? He had spent the last few months feeling sorry for himself all because he wasn't strong enough. He wasn't fast enough to dodge an attack, and Hydreigon suffered for it. It never crossed his mind that she was suffering too, though there weren't many things that crossed his mind on that balcony.
Grinning up at his team, Pangoro accepted Rhyperior's hand and pulled himself back to his feet. He surprised Serena by embracing her. This time, he wouldn't mess up. One arm or two, it didn't matter.
Pangoro turned and faced the horde. Puffing out his chest, he let out a proud roar of a warrior. The horde responded in kind with a chorus of screeches and bellows of their own. This time, Pangoro would be there for Serena too.
At the center of the battle, Pokemon crashed upon the defenses of the trainers like waves. For every one that Ash and those at his side struck down, ten seemed to take their place. With how barren so many forests were, Ash was shocked to see that this many even existed. Where had they been all this time, and why were they here now?
Ash had no choice but to put these questions at the back of his head and focus on keeping himself and those under his protection alive. All around him, the bodies of defeated Pokemon were flung through the air in waves. With his guidance through Aura, his own Pokemon tore through the enemy.
His Aura made it all rather convenient. He could sense their location without seeing, tell them to dodge and attack without speaking, and know the result of his wordless orders only through feeling. He wondered if this was what Riley meant when he said his Aura would develop on its own.
However, even with his Aura, there were far too many enemies to keep track of. All he could do was sense for the ones nearest to his own Pokemon and tell them to attack. Yet that was another odd thing about them. The attacks aimed at his Pokemon, and the Pokemon of the other trainers gathered all around him, were hardly attacks at all. They were more like shoving in an attempt to get them out of the way.
When it came to humans, they were as fearsome as could be. Whenever an enemy Pokemon broke through the guards of the Pokemon of a trainer, they would immediate lunge for them with the intent to kill. Ash would occasionally be forced to prop up flat barriers to stay the blow before letting the trainers' Pokemon handle it. At the very least, the allied Pokemon weren't coming under terrible harm.
"But why are they only attacking people?" Ash wondered aloud as Pikachu zipped by him to deflect an Ursaring's Hammer Arm aimed at his trainer with Iron Tail. Pikachu flipped up, using the momentum from hitting the arm to deliver another Iron Tail down upon the Usaring's head to knock it out.
Ash smiled at his friend. "Thanks for the save, buddy."
Pikachu nodded happily at Ash before returning to fighting off the surrounding horde.
Looking out into that horde again, Ash tried again to sense for intent among the minds of the enemy. Something to tell him why they were only focusing on people. Yet again, there was only this foggy muddyness in their heads. Their will, not their own. But then, something surprised Ash. There was one Pokemon in the horde with a clear mind.
At first, Ash thought a trainer's Pokemon had gotten separated and surrounded until he sensed further and found its intent. It was a Weavile, and it was issuing attack orders to the rest. More questions raced through Ash's mind, but he held them off upon the quick realization that he could get his answers from the source itself.
His Pokemon were made aware of this new target. While the others continued to beat back the horde to keep the trainers safe, Sceptile alone was chosen to face the Weavile. He was the fastest in Ash's team, and Ash knew that Weavile were slippery Pokemon. Sceptile would be the best one to catch up to it. Sceptile blitzed through the crowd. An emerald blur sent the bodies of Pokemon flying before they even knew that they had been hit.
The Weavile's eyes darted over to the approaching Sceptile. Smirking, it murmured something before backing away into the crowd. Upon Sceptile nearing the Weavile, many of the surrounding Pokemon suddenly bunched together to form a defensive wall. Sceptile's eyes widened. At his speed, all he could do was try to break through. His Leaf Blade impacted a Golurk with a loud clang, and though the attack felled the giant Pokemon, it brought Sceptile to a halt as well.
Feeling this, Ash grumbled. The Weavile was even more slippery than he imagined. "So, it is the one issuing orders after all."
One of the nearby trainers, an older man with a Star Foundation symbol on his suit, noticed Ash's murmuring. "What?" He asked. "Did you figure out their leader?"
Ash nodded. "I think so. There's a Weavile in there that's ordering the others. If I can get ahold of it, then the rest might stop fighting."
He stood tall and lowered the shield around himself. In turn, his Aura began to flare up around him. "Try to prepare as best as you can," He told the trainer. "I'm going to try to use my Aura to bend its will. If I can do that, we may be in the clear, but I can't protect you with my shields while doing this."
Nodding, the older trainer ran off alongside a Grumpig to warn the other trainers. Ash took a deep breath, then held out his arms. His flaring Aura shot out and expanded into a brilliant, shining geyser. The fighting stopped for those who could see it, if even for a moment, as all eyes turned upon the geyser.
A crimson and black blur raced across the sides of the skyscrapers, tearing apart the windows as they passed. Not far behind, a bolt of lightning tore through the air. Just as Ryder managed to kick Genesect away, Zeraora pulled back his paw with a Zap Cannon in hand.
"It's over!" Roared Zeraora. Stray bolts of lightning leaked off of the yellow orb he carried, dancing across his fur. It ravaged the side of the building he touched, setting the sky alight around him. Yet just before he could throw the ball, his fur went on edge when he sensed something familiar. "What the-?!"
For only a split second, the yellow wolf turned down to see this source of familiarity. At first, he could not put a finger to it. When he saw the white pillar rising from the streets, it became much more clear to him.
"What is he doing here?!"
Ryder took the opportunity to swing at his distracted enemy. The sound of flaming sparks popping the air by his sword snapped Zeraora back to the fight. He tried throwing the orb, only to be struck clean across his left side by the blade. His eyes reddened as blood swelled within them from the pain.
In a flash, Zeraora was sent hurtling toward the geyser. Ash flinched and broke his focus when something impacted a car near him with a loud crash. His eyes widened further than they already were upon seeing a yellow and black arm hanging from the car's splintered roof.
"It's Zeraora!"
Ash could feel the damage that Zeraora had sustained, and in spite of how their last meeting went, instinctively rushed in to help. As he ran, shattered glass crunched beneath his feet. His Pokemon raced back through the crowd to encircle him defensively to keep the surrounding horde back.
As Ash went to Zeraora's side, he hovered a glowing hand over the wound. He winced upon seeing the lingering flame burning away at the gash in Zeraora's side, but it at least resulted in some level of cauterization to keep it shut while he healed him.
Slowly, Zeraora's eyes fluttered open in response to the sensation. "Y-you!" He stammered, attempting to growl as much as his injury would let him. "Get away from me…! I…don't want a human's pity!"
"I don't care," Ash replied flatly. "If I see someone in need of help, I help them. That's just the way it is. Whether or not you like that, I'm still healing you."
Though Ash could feel Zeraora's desire to protest, he begrudgingly bit his tongue in response to the relief Ash's Aura granted him. "You know," Started Ash, "I told you this before, but we really can't afford to be fighting amongst ourselves like this. The world can't take much more of it. If we push it too far with our fighting, we may never come back."
Feeling some of his strength return, Zeraora gripped the side of the car and pulled himself up. Ash stepped back in case he tried something, but sensed nothing malicious in his intent. At least, not yet towards him. So, he kept his healing trained firmly upon Zeraora.
"Why are you and these Pokemon destroying the city?" Ash asked curtly. "These are good people. I don't know what kind of humans you've encountered, but these people are only trying to return the world back to normal."
At that, Zeraora for the first time looked around him to see the battle going on. He had seen humans and Pokemon at glance as he was speeding around, but ultimately had his focus elsewhere. Shrugging, he answered, "I don't know what their problem is and I don't care. I didn't come here with those Pokemon."
Once the last of his wounds had faded, Zeraora pushed himself off the car. He suddenly turned to his right and snarled. "I'm only here for him."
As Ash followed his gaze, his skin went pale. Slowly stomping toward the two of them was the smaller armored man from the island. The one that had put his team in the hospital and gave some irreparable injuries. Sensing Ash's shock, the rest of Ash's team immediately shifted their attention upon this approaching man and snarled with rage.
Yet a part of them trembled at the sight of him. Even Charizard, proud as he was, felt unnerved staring into the blank visor of Ryder. It was a trepidation that Ash and his team shared. Pikachu's shortened tail lowered behind him on its own in response to seeing the armored man. Hydreigon could feel his stump of an arm twitching.
The wild Pokemon, noticing Ryder, began to clear away from him as he walked past them to meet with Ash and Zeraora. All of the trainers nearby became confused when the horde began to recede. A few of the younger ones began to cheer, believing that they had won. The older ones, however, could feel something was wrong.
"Why are they retreating?" A brown-haired teenage boy asked with worry. "I don't like this."
Ash could no longer stand the wordless waiting and shouted, "You! Are you the one behind this?!" With his Aura flaring out and touching the rest of his team, he could feel their anger as they felt his. Just the same, he could feel the phantom pain from the injuries the man before them caused. His Aura practically exploded outward to the point that even Zeraora was shocked. As it made contact with Greninja, he shifted into his bonded form.
"You're gonna pay for what you did to us on that island!"
Ryder merely gave him a sideways glance. "You ought to stay out of harm's way while we still have a use for you. If not for that, you and your pets would not be standing here."
Before Ash could question him, something loudly whistled through the air. Behind Ryder, something red fell to the ground. Reticles in her vision locked onto the armored man firmly before scanning Zeraora and someone she did not expect to see. "You again." It was a curt greeting.
Ash's eyes darted to her for a moment before settling back upon Ryder. However, when he realized what he had seen, did a double take. "Wait, the red Genesect?! What are you doing here? And...where are the other ones?"
A low, electric hum of a laugh came motionlessly from Genesect. "Not quite. But it doesn't matter. You are welcome to help me strike down the wretch before us. Either that, or stay out of my way." Lighting surged to her claws as the drive on her cannon turned yellow. "If you are a nuisance, I won't hesitate to cut you down."
"What?!" Ash could hardly believe what Genesect had said, but he knew that no answers to his questions would come any time soon. He, his team, Zeraora and Genesect knelt down as they prepared to dive upon the armored man. Ryder himself stood still like a statue as he awaited their first move. Then, in a flash, his hand was upon his blade. As everyone leapt toward him, he drew his sword and cleaved a ring of fire through the air.
Mr. Star's office was rampant with fright. Most of the CEOs were either making desperate calls back to their own organizations in wake of the disaster. Others were crying out at Mr. Star, demanding answers he simply did not have.
"Yes, Chairman Rose, I'm fine." Amidst the chaos, Oleana had turned away from the main group to make a call like some of the others. Though unlike the others, she was keeping it as quiet as possible. "I don't know. Mr. Star isn't letting anyone out of the room. Something's messing with the cameras and Mr. Star won't let us leave until he's certain it's safe."
She glanced over at the old man over her shoulder. He had several landline phones tucked between his cheek and shoulder as he attempted to get in contact with any staff. Meanwhile, his secretary Alice had the blank security cameras opened on her Secretary Bot and was vigorously typing to try to get some kind of response out of them.
Narrowing her eyes at them, Oleana turned back around and whispered into the phone, "How fast could you have a Corviknight Taxi get here? Not long? Good. All of today is going to result in a mountain of paperwork and I am not going to let it stack up anymore. Yes. Thank you, Chairman Rose. I'll see you soon."
She alerted the other CEOs by suddenly standing up from her chair. "That's it!" She shouted with finality. "I am not going to sit here a minute longer while wild Pokemon could be climbing up this tower as we speak. Chairman Rose has already sent a ride for me and I will not keep him waiting. Good day."
As Oleana turned toward the door, Mr. Star called out to her. "Miss Oleana, please wait! We don't know the situation out there! It's too dangerous to go out there!"
Scoffing at him, Oleana replied, "Exactly! It's too dangerous to be anywhere in this city right now. I, for one, am not going to waste any more time here until you get your city under…"
She trailed off in response to a commotion on the other side of the door. Everyone in the room went silent upon hearing it, staring at the door with wide eyes. There was arguing on the other end, then screaming. Oleana began backing away from the door when sounds of fire rang out.
"Oleana," Mr. Star began carefully, "I think you should take a seat."
Halfway turning toward him, she asked, "Wha-?!"
The doors slammed open and men in black suits began flooding into the room, exploding stars imprinted upon their suits. As the CEO's cried out, the Nova Branchers screamed at them to take a seat and keep their hands up. Oleana couldn't even reply. Their yelling and the sight of a weapon aimed between her eyes shook her so badly that she wordlessly complied. It wasn't long before at least three of these men had guns to the heads of everyone at the table.
Two of them took a side by the door and saluted. Through the door, another man entered the room. Sporting a peaked officer's cap, a short man in a blackish green uniform entered the room. On his suit, there was a gilded marker with "Thorn" engraved into it.
"Mr. Star," He greeted with a nod to the glaring old man, "I believe this is checkmate."
In turn, Mr. Goodshow laughed at Thorn. "I may have no room to talk, but I expected them to send someone taller."
Thorn nodded up at the soldier closest to Goodshow, and his amusement soon came to a close when the butt of a gun was driven into the back of his head. Goodshow cried out, grasping at the stricken area in pain. Scanning the room of glaring faces, Thorn asked, "Anyone else?"
With more venom in his voice than the CEO's thought possible of the old man, Mr. Star hissed, "What do you want, Thorn? Were you the one left in charge of the Nova Branch's assets when Lee went down?"
To that, Thorn chuckled at him with an irritating hum in his voice. "In case you haven't noticed, you are not exactly in any position to be asking questions." Raising one hand, he looked up at one of the soldiers behind Mr. Star. The soldier nearest to him raised his gun to give him the same treatment that was given to Goodshow until another voice rang out from behind Thorn.
"Do not harm him," They commanded. "Not yet, at least."
Thorn's smile faded at the sound of the voice. Nevertheless, he backed out of the way of the door and stood stiff, giving a salute like the other soldiers. Emerging from the doorway was a portly man that stood much taller than Thorn. The eyes of the CEO's shot wide upon seeing this person, as if they were staring at a ghost. Yet none showed as much surprise as Mr. Star. His face turned a pale white, and his old bones began to tremble like leaves in the wind.
"Y-you!" He screamed in utter disbelief. "You're supposed to be dead!"
The man before him merely chuckled. "I'm supposed to be many things, but dead isn't one of them." He pinched at his goatee and flashed a grin at the CEOs.. "The looks on your faces tell me that you've already been clued in to who I am. But in case that's just the reactions to the guns at your heads, allow me to introduce myself." He spread out his arms dramatically before curling them toward himself to bow. "My name is Christopher Lee. I run a little business you might know as Team Rocket's Nova Branch."
As he stood back to his full height, he turned his sights upon Mr. Star. "And you're the one who's been the biggest thorn in our sides. It's a pleasure to meet the man himself."
Author's Note
Pokextinction Fact of the Day: Star Tower is actually made up of many different buildings. There are a few other buildings attached to it at each of its sides, and the interior of the first floor is mostly conjoined. That's why it was so huge the first time Ash went inside at the beginning of Arc 2. The main tower, at the top of which Mr. Star resides, is actually quite hollow at the lower levels. The upper levels are where the business takes place. As for the other buildings, we know one of them to be a hotel or apartment complexes for important people like certain staff members such as Ash and his friends. For the other buildings, it's usually just other means of business for less important things.
One of the buildings houses a mall though.
Bonus Fact: Grunts in the Nova Branch rank below soldiers. Grunts were typically hired near or after Necrozma's defeat, and thus do not have that much time in the organization. Soldiers were there for years, and have proven their loyalty. They are equipped with weapons that Grunts do not have access to. There are other specialist agents here and there with duties too numerous to tell in full detail. Black Suits are expected to perform work interchangeably between agents and soldiers, but generally for more important reasons. They can issue orders to soldiers, Grunts and any agent below them in rank. Soldiers cannot issue orders to Grunts unless there are no superiors to guide them.
In some instances, Black Suits can hire themselves and other Black Suits for missions without notice for their superiors. This is rare, but allowed by superiors such as Chiefs of bases or Commanders (Who rank parallel to Black Suits) like Thorn from the chapter with Ash and Lugia, and the other guy who led the platoon against Genesect. This is in stark contrast to Ryder and his armored squadron, who serve only the orders of the Nova Branch leader.
The Creator- This chapter was sitting at eighty percent completion for a long time because of how ridiculous my homework has been. I swear, there were twelve days in a row I was working from 2PM to midnight and one of those days was until 5AM. But we're finally here, performing for you, with a new chapter. And what a chapter this was. Can't wait to see what you guys thought of it. We are in the final stage.
Hydra- It seems Ash and Zeraora are starting to form a bond, it'll be interesting to see what comes of it. Genesect is as bloodthirsty as ever and it seems she's willing to even cut down innocents if they get in her way. She's lost all semblance to the scared little Pokemon we knew and in the ashes a killing machine has emerged.
SilverWolf1130- Yeah. The Legendaries' victory over Christopher Lee's forces will be very shorted lived.
We finally saw Xerneas in action. Deer power!
Oh, boy. Ryder be getting that IOS 500 upgrade. Wonder how much Carnage he's gonna cause.
Can't wait for the next chapter!
The Creator- Short lived it was, my friend. Glad you liked Xerneas. We have big plans for her. And how's slicing off the top of a skyscraper and sending it into the streets for carnage?
Hydra- Well you were quite right with your predictions from the start about Lee dang it! Was I too obvious? Mr Star is definitely in a bad position right now. Let's just pray Lee doesn't do anything rash to him and the other CEO's. Now here's the question for you, now that he's back what do you think will ultimately happen to him?
G- Great chapter, so the Ultra beast settlement was found by the Nova Branch and they forced to Xuritree to go with them and help them to reverse engineer the Necrozma's techonology, otherwise the Nova Branch could harms the rest of the community. Well, this are bad news, as with the technical support of Xuritree, the Nova Branch could advances even more their technology and gear, allowing them to get more upgrades for the Black suits and get new toys that could makes them more dangerous for our heroes. Adding that they could even blackmail Xuritree from not only with harms his peers, but also exposes their existence to the mankind and the Legendary pokemon, to causes that the Ultra beast hunt begin, even if the latter threat is more like a bluffing, as according to the Nova Branch, they prefers to not gives the Humans and Pokemon other common enemy that could unifies them, and makes more harder the plans of the Nova Branch to purges the Pokemon world.
As other point, so Xerneas ended meeting the possible mole within the Star corporation, as he/she was whom told Xerneas to wait for a Humvee, that ended being a squad of Nova Branch agents prepared to capture Xerneas, well it is bad that this outcome ocurred, as now the Legendary pokemon could begin to distrust in the Star Corporation, to knows that possibly some of them are affiliated with the Nova Branch, something that could put strains in this relationship between the Legendary pokemon and the Star Corporation.
And talking about strained relationship, looks like that the Nova Branch is now planning some interesting plan to takes advantage of the fugitives agents Heavy and Launcher, as they plans to used Zeroara and Genesect as scapegoats, to makes that once that both Legendary pokemon end tracking the fugitives agents near of the Goldenrod city, the Nova Branch will deploy brainwashed pokemon to seiges and attack the city, with the Legendary pokemon as the apparent leaders.
Well, this could brings my previous concern about the possibility that Genesect begin to attack and kills innocent people in her hunting, as to considers that Heavy and Launcher are approaching to this city, and that the Nova Branch are planning to frames them, is likely that the wicked organization could plant false evidence in the city, like one of their humvees with their logo, to makes thinks to Genesect and Zerora that the Goldenrod city is a secret base of the Nova Branch, especially as Heavy and Launcher were escaping to this place, implying the possibility that the Nova Branch is in this place, causing that Genesect end becoming paranoid and start a slaughter in the Goldenrod city, like a smart way to discredit the pokemon to the Human's eyes, and that even some of this people end defecting and joining to the Nova Branch, or at least start to shares their human supremacist vision, to see how much ruthless can be the pokemon. Adding that the current behavior of many Legendary pokemon, like Lugia, Reshiram, Giratina, and possibly Keldeo, will not help with this possible future issue, as this could caused a rift and a strain in the relationship between the mankind and the pokemon.
Well, i hope that besides Ash, Xerneas can act like an arbiter in this possible quarrels, as being honest, i am really admiring her in the story, as Xerneas proved be herself a wise and strong willed pokemon, as she managed to kept her moral code completely intact, and Xerneas even still live up to her duties and mindset as protector of the life, than allowed be overwhelmed by the horrors of Necrozma and the Nova Branch like most of the Legendary pokemons, leaving clear that possibly Xerneas is the only pokemon that wasn't so affected physically and emotionally for the past events, something good, as this fact could makes Xerneas the most fitting pokemon to keep the balance and harmony between the Legendary pokemon, and between the relationship of the mankind and the pokemon. Being honest, Xerneas is easily a great role model, as many pokemon and even humans could learns from her, in the sense of Xerneas showed harbor no ill intentions against any pokemon nor human, even affiliated to the Nova Branch, as she even managed to persuaded one of them to defected from the organization to showed them the value of the life, shame that the Dr Death planted to their soldiers chips that funtions as a kill switch, killing this men that could be a provement of the union between pokemon and humans.
To finishes, regarding to your point The Creator, about a battle between the Burned man and Genesect, this could be interesting and hard to thinks whom could wins, as i have a hunch that the Burned man do not showed yet all his arsenal within his battle suit, adding that i thinks that until the moment, the Burned man don't even fighted to his maximum capability, to considers that most of the battles in that he participated, he was even holding back, implying that the Burned man is far more dangerous than we saw in the story until the moment. And in the case of Genesect, to considers that she is still searching for more information to still upgrading herself, could shows that Genesect is becoming more versatile, powerful and lethal as continues the story, meaning that Genesect could become a more dangerous opponent for the Nova Branch in the future, making hard to calculates her combat capability, to considers her adaptability.
Being honest, i am not sure whom could wins, as both could be capable to overwhelm to the other, depending of the circunstances, like that if Burned man got a complete information about the current upgrades of Genesect, he could uses one of his hidden weapons to disables her circuits and nanomachines to could defeats. But on the other side, Genesect could manages to hacks the complete information about the Burned man's suit, allowing her to be prepared to any trick and weapon that the Burned man could has under his sleeve, and manages to beats him like she did it with Heavy and Launcher. Well, we only able to waits for any confrontations between both to see whom could wins in this battle, though that i hope that Genesect do not ruins the possible confrontation between the Burned man and Moltres, as i still want to see if the Nova Branch agent can set score in the firebird for turned him in a Darth Vader 2.0.
Keep the good job.
Dr Death: "Commander, the time has come. Execute Order 77."
Commander: "Yes my lord."
(And suddenly all the Nova Branch agents end being killed by a chip implanted in their bodies.)
The Creator- It's so sad how Xurkitree is obeying because he believes the Beasts are still alive. Imagine what he would think if he found out the truth. Now the Nova Branch's forces are going to be nuts with how powerful he's making them. You were completely right about using Zeraora and Genesect as scapegoats, as you've seen with this chapter. The perfect opportunity fell into their hands, but for what purpose? What purpose really? Nothing is true on the surface. But then again, maybe it is.
Making Genesect and Zeraora believe that New Goldenrod is a Nova Branch base would cause nothing but havoc. I am sure the Branchers are watching with glee. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Hydra- I'm happy you liked Xerneas like I said earlier she's really starting to become one of my favorite characters now due to her ideals. The fact that she refuses to fight back just makes it all the more better. She's the perfect representation for what society could look like if Pokemon and humans lived peacefully.
Leafy boi- Okay so, genesect, scary af and has a "friend" now, heavy gone awol, and xerneas is showing to be quite the smooth talker to get even a nova branch unit to think twice and turn sides. Love how she fought indirectly. Also the idea of how easy the nova has breached stars group? How deep have they spread inside!? And poor ultra beasts qwq they didnt deserve what happened..
So yeah lovin the details in the fight scenes, the mystery and ominousness of "the man" and seeing how once youre nova its nova forever. Excited to see if the ultra beasts were able to survive. And this plan to attack the city is just dirty but yeah its a great story and cant wait for more
- bye for now
The Creator- The poor Ultra Beasts indeed. Raised from birth for generations to wage war, then stranded on a planet that hates them. They never stood a chance. And I like that phrase. "Once you're Nova, you're Nova forever." Nice one.
Hydra- I've said this in the past I'm sure, but one of the weirdest things about us writing is that it's easier to write fight scenes more so than actual dialogue. What do you like reading more? The fight scenes or the dramatic dialogue? This question applies to anyone who reviews by the way I'm curious to hear all your thoughts.
The Creator- Next chapter, we'll see just what Lee's intentions are. Why is he here? Is it his own initiative, or did he come on someone else's orders? And who could even order him? Also, we'll get to see the resolution of Ash, Genesect and Zeraora VS the new and improved Ryder. It's time to ride or die.
Hydra- Well crap has surely hit the fan now. Christopher Lee has finally made his reappearance as many of you have suspected. I guess if you never see a body they can't ever truly be dead. I wonder how Lugia is gonna react to his return. Will he be furious or… elated for another chance at revenge.