Watcher of Arceus - Path of the Immortal

by The Shadow Master of Weapons

Watchers, the direct descendants of Arceus herself, sets of twins born with her power. Born in pairs, these twins were meant to bridge the gap that had come between humans and pokémon, one a gifted human, born beside a pokémon. Inseparable immortal twins, the godchildren wandered the world. But now, a single pair remains. Full summary inside. Reboot of Watcher of Arceus.

60. Chapter 60 : Alto Mare United

Watcher of Arceus

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Only the idea and OC's.

Author Notes:

-X-This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.

~xXx~ This will identify where each paragraph breaks.

"Human Speech" 'Character Thought' {Pokémon Speech}

Co-author: Catsithx

The following is a total and complete Reboot of the story "Watcher of Arceus".

~xXx~

Chapter 60 : Alto Mare United

Mayor Ashe quickly moved down the alley, her greninja and blastoise at her sides. She was adjusting her helmet some, Police Chief Crafts walking just behind her blastoise and on the radio still trying to coordinate efforts to try to keep the people of safe from the Knights.

As soon as she was at West Guardian Square, Thomas let her in and Dahlia came up to greet her, along with a few other police officers and rangers. "Mayor Ashe, we have a problem. The people are ignoring orders and gathering up anyway. We'll have a riot on our hands soon enough, the people refuse to let these so called knights set foot in the city." One of them stated, and as Mayor Ashe looked back towards the main street, the police were occupied just keeping the barricades up, but not to keep the Knights out of the rest of the city.

She was going to say something, only for a portal to open up down the alley, hidden from view from the port. Six pokemon walked through, a pair of Registeel, Regirock and Regice coming through to help. They quickly moved out of the alleyway into the market square and moved to the pier.

Dahlia moved up to the group of Regigolems, only to shake her head. "Slow down, and speak more clearly, I can't keep with all of you." Dahlia stated as she held a conversation with the Regigolems.

"We'll have assistance soon enough. Thomas is broadcasting everything to the news stations around the city and word has already reached the mainland. The Japanese National Counsel is deploying troops as we speak." Mayor Ashe replied to the ranger though, a few of the rangers quickly looking up.

"Military forces are on the way?!" One of them exclaimed.

"Two hundred soldiers, who can be here in two hours, as well as medical teams, emergency supplies, and engineers. Thomas also found a way to block them from using any kind of communications equipment on the boat. As big a deal as this is, whoever is funding them already knows what's going on, but they won't be able to contact them." Mayor Ashe stated.

"I'm here to buy time for help to arrive, or talk them down entirely. Just keep the residents safe... and away from here!" She added looking over the square, and to main street that lead in and out of the square were police were busy trying to keep things in order.

Turning back towards Dahlia who was pointing down the pier, Mayor Ashe gave a few slow breathes. "While I don't know the finer details of how these so called Knights of Arceus operate, I have been paying attention to what you've already explained. They do have a very clear hierarchy. The basic grunts of this operation will all be following the orders of whoever is in charge, but you also said that Coria was here? She's meant to be one of their future leaders but isn't one yet? Does that mean that she'll be following orders or will she have a group of her own of these people under her command as well as whoever is actually leading this mission of theirs?" Mayor Ashe asked.

"If this is intended to be a major excursion, Coria will no doubt have brought people she personally trusted with her. And with her being psychic, there is no doubt that she'll know exactly who her hand picked troops are loyal to. But she won't be personally leading this mission directly. At the very least there will be one personal advisor to the Kings and at least one of their personal guards present, both of whom have more authority in their ranks then Coria does at the moment. There could be others, but I don't know how many or who they might be. This doesn't mean that they won't let Coria lead the charge though. They might turn this into an opportunity for Coria to prove herself as a stepping stone to kingship." Dahlia replied.

'They've almost docked, and the people are getting more agitated.' Verna alerted them as the shouting from the crowd only got louder as the boat pulled up next to the pier.

"So... at the very least we know that Coria is a high ranking member on the ship, and there are at least two other people higher ranking then she is. Do they have many psychics in their order, and what about their preferred pokemon?" Mayor Ashe asked now as she started walking towards the pier with Dahlia, Verna, and a dozen rangers around them.

"They have four psychics that I know of currently, including Coria. She's the only one I've seen able to perform combat actions with her mind however. As for pokemon, each knight upon promotion from squire begins to train themselves along one or two pokemon as their personal partner based on what the Knights feel that their ranks are lacking. While the final choice is usually up to recruit themselves, there are some limits on what pokemon are accepted. Anything typically too violent, too dangerous, or too small or too large need special permissions for the recruit to put real work into training them. They will actively try to get their recruits to focus on pokemon that can easily be passed as useful for other roles though in most cases, typically construction work, cargo work, or environmental work." Dahlia replied as they approached the pier and Morag rushed up to join them now.

'They are heavily concerned about what is happening. They want to use misdirection and would try to gain our trust, but are unsure how to respond to this situation. It would appear that we have entirely caught them off guard today. We must be extra cautious however, because this is not a good thing. They are nervous, may be prone to violence. Perhaps they wish to cause enough of a scene to let others sneak by and get to Thomas... their blind devotion to a false image of the World Mother is set deep, and many are praying, asking for help today.' Morag stated.

"Well... we knew they were coming. I just had hoped that after what happened last time they would reconsider coming like this." Mayor Ashe said taking a few more deep breathes, before taking a few more forceful steps forward.

"Chief Crafts! Order your men to get those people to safety. I don't want any civilian casualties if fighting breaks out! And I'm ordering an immediate evacuation of anything within two city blocks of West Guardian Square. Arrest them if you have to, for their own safety! Threaten their trainer licenses, and attempted murder charges if need be, anything to get them away from here." Mayor Ashe shouted now, and just in time.

The ship came to a complete stop and anchors were dropping. There were some people on the deck of the boat looking down at them, but too far to make out fully. It was clear that there was a lot of confusion going on though as a group of police boats pulled up behind the ship, attempting to blockade them in the port setting up chained nets and more to damage the ships propellers if it tried to leave.

"Thomas has let us directly contact them and explain that need to dock here and be prepared to immediately surrender for inspection right?" Mayor Ashe asked, the leading ranger around her nodding.

"We've explained that we have been informed of known terrorists on board as well as illegal weapons being stored on the ship, and that all personal on board need to be prepared to surrender themselves into police custody until we can figure what is going and we figure out who is who they really say they are." The Ranger told Mayor Ashe as she stepped forward.

"We've also fully explained that waters around Alto Mare are rough today, and we are actively watching both the water and the skies, they will not be able to evade us today. We've got three patrol boats pulling up behind them, and another already eight in position to help catch anyone foolish enough to get into the water right now." He continued, Mayor Ashe nodding as she still looked over the ship.

Mayor Ashe slowly approached the group coming down from the ship, Rangers and lucarios at her side.

"What's … what's going on here?" One of the people called, Mayor Ashe looking through a few photos that she had with her at the few people.

"The gray haired man on the left there..." Mayor Ashe stated, holding up the photo and Chief Craft nodded looking it over.

"You there... please step forward." Chief Crafts stated taking a step forward.

The man in question didn't move though, another stepping forward. "I feel the need to ask again, what's going on here?"

"Your ship is currently carrying people with active ties to the terrorist group group known as the Knights of Arceus, as well in possession of weapons and equipment that this group is actively known to use. Until we know for certain who is and is not associated with the group, we have to take special precautions. If you truly are not part of this group, understand that we will verify this information and we will make arrangements for your to return home in a timely fashion." Mayor Ashe stated as she walked up slowly.

"You... you can't be serious." The man who was speaking gasped out.

"Please answer my questions... Are you working with the group calling themselves the Knights of Arceus and are your intentions here purely non-violent?" Mayor Ashe asked.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm not part of some terrorist group." The man stated, the lucarios just watching and the rangers waiting.

"That is not the question I asked. I directly asked you if you were working with the group known as the Knights of Arceus, and whether your intentions here are purely non-violent." Mayor Ashe repeated, trying to be somewhat respectful even with her questions, not wanting to get anyone caught up in the fighting if she could avoid it.

"I'm not here to hurt anyone... guys, you-" The man speaking continued to start speak, but the lucarios could already sense a direct lie in his intentions, and Morag shook her head.

'Directly answer the question. Do you serve the collective known as the Knights of Arceus.' Morag stated firmly stepping forward with her aura bone glowing brightly.

"Calm down Morag. I thank you greatly for your help, but I need to do this myself, for the people who have elected me to help this city prosper, and because I'm the one responsible for keeping this city safe." Mayor Ashe stated, and Morag gave a bow, stepping to the side and behind Mayor Ashe.

"We have already confirmed that there are people who are working with the Knights of Arceus aboard this vessel. Coria Crostovia is aboard this vessel, and there are those who are aiding her. We know for a fact that there are crewmen serving on the bridge of the vessel who are in possession of weapons hidden on the bridge. Until we can confirm the identity of everyone on board this vessel, we will not be taking chances. Please, directly answer the questions that we are asking, for your own safety and the safety of the entirety of Alto Mare." Mayor Ashe stated slowly, firmly, and yet still trying to be respectful without raising her voice.

"Do you knowingly work for or with the group known as the Knights of Arceus?" Mayor Ashe asked once more.

"I don't know who you're talking a-." The man stated, but Morag and almost all of the lucarios present shook their head, the rest just growling a little.

"Please remove your hat." Mayor Ashe asked now, the man just looking confused.

"You can't be serious..." The first man started.

"The knights are known for a few things, including unusual head gear made of a duskstone alloy. These unusual pieces of head gear make them easy to identify. These pieces of head gear appear to be mandatory for members of the order." Mayor Ashe stated.

"I'm not part of any terrorist group! You can't believe that this ship is carrying weapons can you?" The man started, as a few of the rangers moved up a bit closer.

"Sir, for your own safety and the safety of the people of the Alto Mare, you must answer the questions honestly. Please sir, remove your hat." The ranger stated as Mayor Ashe raised her hand again.

"Thank you for your help, but please. I'm here, I need to do this. Sir... the gray haired man who has stayed silent at your side was the on the bridge of this ship and knows of the weapons being stored on the bridge in hidden compartments." Mayor Ashe stated. It was easy to tell that at least two of the men in front of them knew of and were working with the knights, and likely all three of them were since only one man was talking, the other two being unnervingly quite.

Sparing a small glance up at the boat, there were only a few other people visible from where they were and that only worried Mayor Ashe. If people weren't coming down as instructed, then it was likely that either everyone on board the ship was a knight, or were holding any non-knights on board the ship hostage.

"Sir... please step forward." Chief Crafts stated, pointing to the gray haired older man again.

"Morag... I don't know what all you can do with your aura but I know you can see others even through walls. Can you tell if anyone is being held hostage on board this ship?" Mayor Ashe asked as the Chief Crafts stepped forward a bit.

The gray haired older man seemed hesitant to step forward. "I'm... sorry officer, but what's going on? You still haven't explained anything. Who are these knights?"

The lucarios all seemed to be getting more agitated though as they looked on, the rangers all getting the same idea. 'They're stalling... looking for an opening.' Morag stated, her dread locks floating up behind her head some as she looked through the boat, and could see various people getting ready for something, before looking to the bridge. 'The crew on the bridge are preparing their weapons. . . And someone just down some kind of chute! They are under the boat, they are leaving the boat by some passage under the water!' Morag yelled out right as an image of the ship appeared in front of Chief Crafts.

Just as Morag has stated, the hologram image showed the cargo ship and there were a number of figures starting to swim out from the under the boat and sirens on all the police boats began to start blaring. "You will surrender at once!" The echo of a loudspeaker shouted from one of the boats followed by numerous large splashes as water pokemon on the boat dove into the water after the people trying to sneak into the water and past the docks.

All at once, things rapidly got out of control. The man who had been doing all the talking with Mayor Ashe immediately went for his belt but Morag was faster. Her aura bone extended just a bit and in a burst of speed, she had pinned two of the men down, her bone pressed hard against the necks as they knocked back and to the ground. It curved lightly to keep the two pinned as grabbed the belt of first man to keep him from calling out any pokemon while the rangers on either side of her helped pin them down fully.

Chief Crafts tried to grab the gray haired man, but the man had easily knocked the police chief off his feet, and threw him to the water, even managing to toss on of the lucarios into the water as well before two more grabbed him. Mayor Ashe's blastoise quickly grabbed her, forcing her down as it suddenly turned its back to the boat and some kind of attack bounced off the back of the its hardened shell, her greninja jumping up, using a pair of Water Shuriken to counter another attack coming for them.

"You bastard scum will never have this city!" Dahlia screamed out as things went back, charging forward, and behind her things only got more complicated. Her angry cry was the final straw for the angry mob that had been gathering on the main road trying to break onto the docks. Between the sudden sirens, calls to surrender over a loud speaker, and attacks against Mayor Ashe had riled up the mob, Dahlia's angry cry might as well have been permission for the group as dozens of pokemon were released at all once and the barricade that had been erected toppled over.

The large chain link barriers that were reinforced with crystalline vines were easily tossed to the sides, and even those that were held in place by crystals were getting ripped to the sides. As the flood of angry trainers rushed into the market square, the knights attempted to call out their pokemon now.

The lucarios quickly moved to take the offense and lead the charge, rapidly going for pokemon that were being called out as the rangers followed up going for the trainers. The regi-golems who were present moved to provide cover and rushed up to the dock. More pokemon were being released and the regi-golems jumped into the way of various attacks now. The lucarios tried to counter with aura spheres, but the height of the boat gave the knights and their pokemon easy cover from anything below on the docks.

With most of them still on the boat and while they thought that the height advantage would be beneficial, it proved a very bad mistake on their part as Zapdos cried out and bolted from his perch. A single pass over the top of the boat letting his powers of electricity flow freely and Zapdos had paralyzed every person out in the open, and half of their pokemon before any of them were ready for it. In the water, things weren't going any better for the knights. One of them who had tried to dive under the cargo ship was now being dragged along and tossed up on the police boats by a pair of Phione. The knight tried to fight back as soon as he was released, but never got a serious chance as the twin Phione blasted him with twin water guns knocking him back off the boat, before diving again.

This time when they grabbed the knight however, they made sure not to be so gentle. The smacked his head against the side of the police boat twice, and when he was tossed up onto to the officers the second time, the police were ready for him. Tackled and pinned as soon as they were on board the second time, the knight didn't stand a chance entirely unable to fight back. It wasn't the only case of a knight being tossed around in the water though. Another pair of Phoine were busy tossing up a second knight onto another boat and then the fighting started in full.

Shadows and noise from the bridge began to draw attention to ship as things were getting started however. A pair of knights called out their pokemon on the bridge and both of the large pokemon easily towered over the humans. "Protect the people! Get those civilians to safety!" Mayor Ashe screamed out as her blastoise kept providing her cover as the rangers and lucarios began trying to get up the ramp to the ship. Only a few managed to start up the ramp before it was dropped from the ship however.

The bridge of the ship tore open, leaving a large hole that gave the knights a new way to try to exit the ship in numbers. Even before the smoke cleared, a number of pokemon as well as some of the knights were rushing out of the newly opened exit, jumping from container to container. They were hopeful that high ground would provide them cover from below, and the smoke would give them a chance to spread out to attempt to gain some kind of edge. Zapdos was ready for them however and quickly went to work. With little need to restrain himself, he gave another pass over the top of the cargo ship, multiple smaller thundershocks randomly striking large amounts of space, and pokemon on the top of the containers.

With the smoke cleared from the blast that opened a hole in the bridge, a number of pokemon tried rushing out all at once, along with a few knights, but Zapdos was ready for them. Another pass over the top of the boat, multiple smaller thundershocks randomly striking all over the top of the ship quickly pinned down several of the pokemon. As more pokemon were called out, a few psychic types tried putting up barriers to protect the top of the ship.

Those still in cover tried to launch an attack out towards the square. "Get the gardevoir!" A loud scream bellowed from the bridge, and it was clear that Dahlia was the intended target as two hyper beams were sent in her direction. Zapdos quickly changed tactics and with a thunder attack stopped one of the two hyper beam attacks.

Dahlia threw both hands forward, and Verna instantly did the same, but instead of one large barrier appearing in front of them, a dozen different barriers were all stacked up on top of each other, an almost rainbow like glass wall getting stacked up in front of the two them. Barriers, protects, light screens all stacked on top of each other, a number of other trainers were rushing into the square and a dozen other pokemon were there at Dahlia's and Verna's sides all giving aid against the attack in a loud clatter of various shouts and commands all getting yelled out at once.

The second hyper beam never hit the wall though. A pair of wobbuffet had dashed in front of everyone and took the hit dead on. The pair cried out rather angrily however as their bright orange glows off the bodies halted the attack in full. Although hurting a bit, the loud twin cries of the wobbuffets were heard easily as the bright beam of orange light suddenly stopped and then was turned back towards the boat with deadly precision. The bridge of the ship shook as the attack was returned with an even greater force, smoke quickly rising from inside the ship now.

"All of you! Get back!" Dahlia screamed out, but what met here was a hundred shouts of defiance against that order.

"We will not let Alto Mare fall to these bastards!" "Not a chance!" "The guests of our guardian deities will not be attacked in our city!" And dozens more like it sounded even as Thomas tried to close up the main street which wasn't meant to be entirely sealed off. There was no stopping it as a constant stream of citizens were rushing towards the fighting now, ready to push back against the Knights before they even had a chance to get any kind of foot hold.

With the knights on attack now though, the people had no reason to hold back. A line of hundred pokemon were called out and advancing on the ship, and an hundred attacks were being launched at the boat. Many hit each other in the wave of uncoordinated attacks, but just as many also struck the sides and front of the ship.

The rangers and police tried to calm the people and keep them separated, but their views of the city getting attack were clear by now. The people of Alto Mare were going to stand up to the attackers in their city and as a group began to move forward. Although the police tried to keep the two groups separate, it was a hopeless cause now as they continued to advance. This only fed into reinforcing the knights thinking at the moment though who began to try calling out every last pokemon they had, even as the boat started to shift.

The two massive holes in the ship were only the start of even more problems. Between the first in the bridge used to try to start the attack, and the second in the front of the ship from the people of Alto Mare with their very uncoordinated counter attack, the ship was starting to fall under its own weight. The sound of metal straining and loud sudden cracks, a few snapped cables were adding to the problem as a few of the shipping containers were even shifting now as well, starting to fall over.

A surge of water starting to bubble in the waters off the coast quickly grew in size before a geyser erupted in the water and Lugia came flying out. Zapdos made a second run over the top of the boat, this time coming to a halt over the middle of it to let loose several smaller thunder attacks over the ship. Intent to disable it as well as keep the remaining people and pokemon on the ship inside as Lugia flew up, he flew to the side once Lugia was ready.

Eyes glowing brightly, the entire ship began to glow and stir now. There was the straining sound of metal bending a bit, and a few more snapped ropes and chains as the entire ship was getting picked up. A dozen or more containers began to topple off the side of the ship. The rangers, lucarios, and police were all suddenly running from the docks now as it moved, rising up into the air. Even as it merely started to move with Lugia, a few knights and their pokemon were knocked off the side of the ship.

With a flap of their wings, Lugia jolted backwards several dozen feet along before turning around, the ship following along. Unlike when Lugia had aid carrying the Lunar Blessing, there was no gentle touch with this effort. With each flap of her wings, each minor movement in the air, the ship matched Lugia's movement. Constantly jerking to the side and getting tumbled in flight as it was forcibly pulled through the air forced to follow along. There was screaming as one of the shipping containers almost fell onto a police boat, but the ship was aggressively moved to the side before the container could it. A number of phione had pushed the ship out of the way and quickly made room for Lugia to fly the ship away from the city, moving any boats in the way out of harms way from falling cargo, people, or pokemon.

Even as the ship was being pulled up into the air, some of the knights and their pokemon continued to try and attack Dahlia. While Lugia was too busy picking up the ship and pulling it along, making sure to stay out of their line of sight, the knights even tried attacking Zapdos now when he came to Dahlia's aid a second time. The ship however came under a second volley of attacks from multiple angles as even more trainers and their pokemon counter attacked though.

Like the first time, there were many incidents of attacks connecting with each other, a large collection of explosions from where attacks canceled each other out, but just as many hit the ship and the front of the ship only suffered more as a result. The strength of the cargo ship's hull was waning fast, more loud snaps and another dozen cargo containers began to tip over, but by now Lugia had pulled it over out of the harbor entirely.

The front of the cargo ship began to slowly fall apart as it picked up speed. Multiple knights and their pokemon were falling into the water on the rapidly moving airborne boat. An evergrowing gathering of Phione began to pop their heads up in the water around the falling people and pokemon. Almost like a swarm, the Phiones began pulling the people through the water to the police boats and docks to be arrested.

With the cargo ship getting pulled away though, the police quickly tried to restrain the public now even as Dahlia and the regi-golems moved forward to help with the knights getting tossed up on shore. As Dahlia rushed up, the knights tried to anything in their power to rush her, only one managing to break free of the others, aided by the medicham that it had called out. While able to help for a moment, it was quickly overwhelmed but so was the knight. Drawing a knife, she never had a chance to attack proper.

Dahlia slammed the broad head of Spanky into the knight's hand, swatting the knife out of her grip, and then spun around to slam the head of the boat oar into her calves, taking the knight entirely off her feet. Even before the knight had fully landed on her back, the handle of the oar was quickly pressed into her neck and Verna rushed up, pulling Dahlia back before Dahlia could go further.

As Dahlia was being pulled off and away from the downed knight, the horde of angry residents descended on her though, quickly and forcibly restraining her. The angry mob aggressively tossed the knight to the feet of the police, but not without getting kicking her around a fair bit though, before the group turned to make sure that Dahlia was okay.

Lugia flew off away from the city, but not that far. Of the hundreds of rocks and outcroppings that dotted the waters around Alto Mare, Lugia flew up to one of the largest. A massive tower like rock structure with two smaller tower like outcroppings next to it, Luga easily flew through the middle of the as the ship was raised higher and higher. Turning and flying up a bit, Lugia pulled the ship up with her, before suddenly diving hard. The ship went up just barely above the rocks, but when Lugia dove, the ship plummeted hard.

Crashing into the three sets of towering rock pillars, all of them began to topple over but their bases held strong. The ship was wedged between the three rocks, just barely held above the water. Battered, ripped open in a few places, and now wedged up on top of the three rocky outcroppings tearing open more of the hull and almost threatening to just split in half, the ship would never sail again.

Below the water, Lugia was joined by another dozen Phione and Manaphy herself. A hundred more water pokemon seemed eager to help them and the group began to swim. Around and around the three rocks, the waters began to stir. Both the pokemon, and even Thomas in the D.M.A. were at work as a massive whirlpool began to form around the wedged ship. The water underneath the ship began to dip lower and lower.

As the whirlpool grew in strength, the waters around the ship grew more violent, before the rocky bottom of the ocean floor was revealed. Stuck on the trio of rocks, now suspended almost sixty feet above the ocean floor surrounded by a violet raging wall of water, the ship and all of the knights on it were now stranded, isolated from Alto Mare.

-x-

Stranded and isolated, a raging whirlpool surrounding the ship, the attack against Alto Mare was stopped in full. The military arrived, the lucarios had confirmed that none of them were knights in hiding, and while the people of Alto Mare were calming down very slowly, there was still a great deal of work to do.

Thomas had found ways to tap into the intercoms on the ship through the hundreds of notes that Latias, Latios, and Mewtwo had effectively plastered all over the D.M.A.'s control systems and was providing as much information on the knights as he could to the military forces there to aid them as well as the Rangers and aura guardians of the Arceus Division.

There was a fair deal of disorder among the knights. Many were still devoted to the cause, but there was a lot of debate on what to do about things, doubly so with so many legendary pokemon aiding Alto Mare. The ship still lacked any kind of communications options, everything on the ship being entirely blocked, and only a few seemed to be willing to consider surrender. It wasn't for the sake of giving up though, with those considering it wondering if the only option for getting closer to Thomas and Dahlia was to risk being taken into custody, or to escape while in transport to a more secure prison since the others needed to know what was happening.

Those knights already off the ship were quickly placed in cells under full guard while the military began to help figure out how to detain the knights still stranded on the ship without giving them an opportunity to cause more trouble. With only a partial understanding of the knights' scheme, it was difficult to come up with a rescue plan for people who were actively looking to use the chance to escape or worse make one more attempt to kill Thomas or others in the city.

Mayor Ashe had no breaks at all even with the knights mostly under control. Her attention was now turned towards trying to keep the still very angry residents of Alto Mare under control after the fight that had broken out. Some of the residents who had helped defend the city had turned themselves in to the police for the moment, while others very vocally defended their actions. She was still forced to order the police to round up everyone who had joined the defense of the city however. There was the very complicated matter of deciding what to do with them, how to keep control of the situation even if things had calmed down.

Realizing that she needed all the help she could get, Mayor Ashe directed asked the legendary for help right now. And with the request, both Lugia and Radara had chosen to step up to the task while the others were busy trying to prepare space for the knights to be detained.

Finally after two days of preparation and work, they were finally ready to move the knights to into custody properly. Most of them would be sent to the city jails which had been reinforced through the use of the D.M.A. The bars of the cells had been wrapped in crystalline vines, and large patterns of crystals lined every wall of the police station were most of them were being kept.

The higher ranking knights on the ship however, picked out by Dahlia who knew their ranks, were kept isolated and moved in secret to a private location away from the others, under special guard and far more detailed security measures.

~xXx~

Coria sat in meditation, shielding her mind as thoroughly as she could right now. Her cell was entirely isolated, inside a house on the side of the city, but it was a jail cell none the less. She knew that the houses next door on either side and across the road were all converted to strange prison cells as well. Strange glowing blue bars, in a checker board pattern that defied what she knew of physics, the corners barely touching, she was effectively locked inside a bedroom with a half bath connecting it. One wall of the bedroom had been entirely removed to keep a clear eye on her, and the small bathroom had its door taken down leaving her little privacy.

The only piece of furniture left in the room was just the mattress, it was clear that they weren't taking chances. There wasn't even so much as a picture frame in the house as far as she knew and her guards consisted solely of lucarios and rangers, who only entered the house with the clothes on their backs, and soft padded shoes. No belts, no extra gear, not even silverware for her bare bones meals served on paper plates and cups of mainly sandwiches and water.

She knew that there was an option to escape if she truly needed it, but also knew that she could only do it once and then they would know exactly how she had done it. The lucarios would also easily notice that she wasn't there, and attempting to escape unarmed would be a mistake against this many people, much less even trying to rush the target without anything to aid her.

They already knew that she was psychic, so Coria had to plan around that. She could tear down the walls of the building itself to get out if it came to that since she had just barely noticed an axe through the window of the bedroom she was locked in. It was just laying in the grass behind the house by a large stump beside some fire wood and a large stone oven. Swinging the axe while using psychic on it would be little different then doing so with a sword, and would let her quickly tear through the walls of the house.

The problem was this strange metal cage that covered the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. It would not budge no matter what she did. Twice she had tried pulling the bars open with her mind to test it, and twice the cage reacted violently against her, the bars on the ceiling came barreling down before the walls closed around and formed a tight cage around her, barely giving her room to move. Until she figured out what this metal was, there was no point trying to use force to escape.

The lucarios seemed to read her every move as fast as she considered acting on them, and Coria knew that they were still counting on her trying something. They couldn't tell precisely what her plan was though, only her general intent and if she was lying. They could predict her movements and actions to some degree, they weren't able to read her mind, letting her plan as much as she wanted. Coria was very glad that she had spent several days studying lucarios after her last visit in Alto Mare, and could only hope that she was prepared now.

As the sun set, the guards changed and Coria was still wondering how she could escape and make one last attempt to salvage the operation that she had been a part of. As a lucario walked up, ready to take her plate and cup for the evening, they almost stumbled, but quickly corrected.

Coria paid very close attention, wondering if it was a trick, but the lucario seemed genuinely confused, before turning around and looking to its partner. There was paw movements between the two, like they were talking again, but the paw motions were faster then she had seen before, more concerned if anything, maybe worried. One of the rangers ordered the other two to stay put, and one of the lucarios to stay with them with no other spoken words before they left, almost in a rush, the other two lucarios with the rangers seeming to be very eager to get out now.

Coria didn't move, but could tell that something was up. Although she couldn't properly speak to the other knights, Coria could feel their confusion in the other buildings around her, that something was happening. All of the lucarios watching them seemed to be getting worried and nervous all of a sudden, confused even. Although nothing happened for a few minutes, Coria had began to study the lucario in front of her. It very much seemed nervous, and possibly concerned or on edge about something. A sound in the another part of the house made them all look away and drew Coria's curiosity. Surely the lucario should have known that someone else was there, but instead it seemed shocked too.

The thud upstairs sounded again, and the two rangers quickly moved towards the stairs. Something was wrong here, but Coria couldn't tell what. The rangers quickly moved upstairs, and a minute passed in silence. The lucario seemed even more nervous now, sparing glances upstairs, biting their lip a bit, and giving worried glances at Coria. Coria could only wonder what was happened before a hand smashed through the wall behind the lucario.

There was aloud thud as the lucario was slammed against the wall of strange metal bars that made up the cage Coria was in, and with a pathetic whimper just slumped down easily knocked out by the surprise attack. The large arm pulled itself back through hole in the wall hiding in the shadows for a moment before there was movement. Something in a large black cloak was moving down the hall and out sight. A minute later the figure came walking around the corner into the hallway. A pair of hands moved up and pulled the hood of the cloak aside a bit to reveal a silver tiara on its head as well as a mask that hid its face. A second pair of hands though moved up offering a note and a trio of blades that belonged to the knights.

The machamp seemed eager to offer it Coria, but Coria didn't know what to think. With the machamp wearing a tiera, it could be a knight, but she didn't know whose machamp it was. There were no machamps assigned to this mission. Every person on the ship had been hand picked for the assignment, and would only be bringing their single best pokemon. She couldn't even read its mind, not with the tiara that it held. Carefully reaching out and taking the note, she unrolled it to being looking it over. "What do you mean the lucarios are blind right now?" She half demanded, but the machamp quickly moved a finger over its mouth shushing her while shaking its head.

The sound soft of something hitting the window started to sound, and Coria looked over for a moment, rain starting to hit the window. There wasn't any scheduled rain for today, but it was clearly raining now, and Coria could only assume that someone was using a rain dance attack in the area to make it rain. As she turned back, the machamp was gone, leaving only the three blades hanging through the food slot, along with a few large hoodies and hats. Coria quickly tried to look around for the machamp, but couldn't find them at all. She was left just looking over the note again, and then towards the lucario on the ground in front of the cage.

~xXx~

Xent moved through the portal into the gardens of Alto Mare. Arceus was delayed and stayed in the temple for a few things still, namely to talk with a guest visit from Queen Ilene from the Kingdom of Rota. As they both entered the gardens, there was no one around at all however. Even the pokemon who rested in the garden seemed to be in hiding possibly right now. A heavy rain was happening over the city and while the garden was protected a bit, Xent was concerned about the lack of any movement in the garden.

He had limited knowledge at best of the situation, but now that he was here he was determined to get caught up. He knew that the boat had been moved and tossed aside by Lugia, he knew that there was plans to arrest all of the knights, and he knew that the people of Alto Mare had stood up aggressively in defiance of the knights trying to attack the city.

He also knew that Latias and Latios had arrived before him by an hour, in a rush to get back to their city. They both told him that they wouldn't mention what they had done though, but would let the others know that he was coming. Suicune and Arceus would be arriving later as well, so he had expected someone to be here to meet him. Concerned, he quickly rushed to the Lunar Blessing and got a change of clothing. He was very careful as he got dressed though, quickly getting his thickest hoodie, a large hat, and an extra large glove.

He spared another glance around the garden looking for anyone as he exited the boat but there was still no one, the garden might as well have been deserted. Checking his pokedex, there were just too many news alerts for Alto Mare to sort through. Rushing out of the gardens, the city still seemed to be in something of a mess. Not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, he didn't out right run through the crowded streets, but he knew that something was happening. With as heavy a rain that it was, people should have been inside and under cover, but there were large crowds out in the opening, and it almost seemed like the people were actively patrolling the streets in place of the rangers and police.

He couldn't blame them, but it didn't help his mood as he worked his way towards the museum where he figured that someone would be there at least. If not, with the D.M.A. already active, then the guards would point him in the direction of others. Approaching the museum though, things were heavily crowded, and Xent had to wonder if the entire city was outside even with the rain.

He had to weave his way through the crowds, occasionally stating who he was to get closer and try to get through, but still tried to keep things quiet. Barricades had been set up around the entrance to try and keep things orderly while a stage was being constructed. Mayor Ashe was there with Lugia and Radara trying to explain what was going on even with the construction and the rain though.

Not wanting to cause a scene, he saw Thomas off to the side around the corner, talking with Morag and Rebecca, both of them who seem distracted and in Rebecca's case a little panicked perhaps.

-x-

As Morag came rushing up to Thomas, Rebecca was already in a small panic. 'Thomas... why can I see anything? My aura sight? I can't see your aura.' Rebecca's breathing was hard as she quickly voiced her concerns as soon as she found Thomas.

"What do you mean wrong and you can't see?" Thomas asked, utterly confused.

'Our aura has been silenced.' Morag stated firmly. 'I can talk to my subjects from the bond that we have formed over decades, but the others who have not grown up in our kingdom, but it is mere whispers and hard to understand. Unless we are in the same room, we cannot even speak with aura. I had to get this close in order for my aura speech to reach you.' Morag quickly stated as she moved up to them.

'Then its not just my aura?' Rebecca asked looking to Morag.

'We are all blind right now. Something is wrong here.' Morag stated.

"But what could blind you? I thought that the aura of a lucario couldn't be … I don't know, changed or blocked unless the lucario was knocked out." Thomas stated.

'I recall my aura being hindered once before. A poacher had used some kind of large bug pokemon swung its bladed hand and slashed through the air. I believe its trainer had called out something like air slash. When the attack when in the air coming at my mother, she too seemed distracted, but as soon as she countered it, my aura returned.' Morag stated.

'But this an entirely different thing. It is powerful, the world around me is seen but unseen. It is constant, as though someone has just turned off our aura, and a struggle to speak clearly aside from this short distance.' Morag stated.

"Latias and Latios are currently in the D.M.A., but they shouldn't be doing anything to modify your aura. We've run several tests before while you were here and nothing effected it when they were testing the various applications. I mean I stressed the system a little with that whirlpool when the knights attacked, but you were fine then and that was just barely pushing the system. They haven't even tried to do anything more potent with it since then." Thomas stated, the three of them completely oblivious to what was going on around them, not even noticing Xent as he tried to call out, just not loudly.

While there was a large gathering of people around them, many were paying far more attention to Mayor Ashe, Radara, and Lugia who were attempting explain things. No one noticed another man trying to get closer and closer, before crossing the barriers. People were about to call out, before the man moved towards one of the posts against the museum and opened it up, looking it over and people just assumed that he was trying to fix the speaker on top of the post which had stopped working.

With the man appearing to work, no one paid any attention to him now, before the man started walking down the empty space next to the museum. Xent was the only one paying attention, trying to get through before he noticed the glint of metal and then saw the man trying to pull out a short sword.

Xent immediately dashed forward and over the short metal barricade towards the figure as it drew the blade. In an instant Xent's hand had reached up, and just snapped closed on the blade. "Like hell your backstabbing wonderboy." Xent snapped out loudly as he caught the blade, standing between the new figure and a now very shocked man in a cloak.

"W-what th-the!" The man exclaimed in sheer shock at what was going on, before there was snapping sound, and the sword that the man had been holding practically shattered under strain.

"Oh come on..." Xent grumbled, before just slapping the shocked man right across the face, sending him toppling to the ground entirely knocked out. The crowd beside them was fully aware of things now, and in response to the man trying to assault Thomas turned once more into a mob. The barrier meant nothing as a dozen people forced it to the side and then rushed up and grabbed the man. There were a few punches and kicks before the man was dragged forcibly to the side and towards the front of the museum where they were aggressive thrown to the feet of rangers and police.

"Xent!?" Thomas finally stated in shock as Xent turned around, the glove on his left hand having been sliced right open along the palm, and there was a soft gently glow from the hand underneath it. "Wait... that's your … left arm?"

Xent just held up the arm some, before sighing and pulling the glove off. Instead of flesh underneath, there were a a large collections of small rods and spheres, in the rough shape of a hand. Made a soft blue metal, Thomas instantly knew the metal as the same legendary blessed alloy that all of the watcher weapons and sigils were made out of.

'What is that arm? I swear you had lost it when Coria arrived last time...' Morag asked.

"Latias and Latios gave me a new one," Xent said, starting to flex his fingers some with a face of focus before the hand suddenly snapped shut again. "It's... difficult to control, its not nearly as dexterous as my old one, but given this is a first of a kind, it works great." He explained while getting his hand open with some effort and concentration. "Still... getting used to it though."

He then looked toward them both. "How'd that knight sneak up on you? Aura sight should have picked him up." He asked, clearly concerned.

'Our aura is blind right now. None of us can feel the world around as we would normally be able to.' Morag stated equally concerned.

Xent's eyes narrowed and went silent, going into some thought. "Has anything like this happened before?"

'Once, long ago. Poachers attack, one of their pokemon with blades for arms and wings was ordered to use a move, and I think it was air slash. It lasted only a second though, before my mother countered the attacked.' Morag stated again.

"That's... weird... what else can you tell me? A lucario without any help from the roots or the city's network, what weakens a lucarios aura sight?"Xent asked.

"I've never heard of this before. And we used the D.M.A. a fair bit during the attack from the knights and the lucarios weren't affected then." Thomas stated, just gently pulling a still nervous and now slightly twitchy Rebecca closer.

'I... I hate this Thomas... Its g-getting harder to speak...' Rebecca whined, Morag looking over her some, and giving a small nod.

'While we can still fight with physical strength, without our aura, we fight with a handicap and will put others at risk. We need to find out why our aura is blind. If we cannot even find a single threat that was practically on us, we cannot aid you in the ways we were asked to. My subjects are already getting worried, and I fear that only way to help is gather them all back in the Aura Oasis if this continues.' Morag stated as one of the rangers ran up to them.

"We have a problem and need some. Morag, we need your aura to find Coria!" The ranger quickly stated, the entire group looking to him.

'My aura is blinded. . . This event was planned, they're using it to try and continue attacking the city!' Morag snarled a bit hearing that Coria had escaped.

"Damnit!" Xent shouted out a bit, before there was a rush of something nearby. With Xent's shout, Zai had finally heard him and came barreling out of the window of the museum to get to him as fast as possible. Zai snarled at Xent, went to slap him, but held herself back, screamed at him before going to hug him.

She stopped in confusion though, before suddenly reaching out to grab his left arm, but Xent quickly reached out with his right arm, pulling her into his chest while rapidly throwing his new arm into the air. "Don't touch that, its dangerous right now. I don't have full control over that arm and I won't want to hurt you by breaking a bone or worse!" Xent quickly stated.