So, I know I said this was going to be updated like 2 weeks ago, but I was quite busy recently, so I didn't have enough time to write this until today. Also, I know that those words aren't polar opposites, but it's the best I could do. I'm this close to just reusing previous chapter names. But anyway, with the usual apologies of how unreliable this upload schedule is out of the way, let's get on with this chapter, shall we?
Chapter 10;
Star and Eclipse
4 days after Gina's response to Cassiopeia's message, the people of Paldea were finally fully ready to go charging down into the Great Crater of Paldea, and face off against the forces of Team Eclipse down in Area Zero. The crowd gathered was so large they had to split everyone into multiple groups and spread them around all of the Crater, to make it easier to outdo the group down below. The 8 Gym Leaders were in charge of different groups, as was Chairwoman Geeta and the teachers. Even Florian and Juliana's mother was put in charge of one group, that being the group of students that wanted to join in the rescue. Looking around the Crater, it was as if the entirety of Paldea had shown up to prove Team Eclipse wrong.
To make matters better for them, Team Star outdid themselves. They gave each group a giant Revavroom for their leaders to ride on top of, and even made mechanical Cyclizars for everyone else. Penny sat up on the Revavroom that the Twins' mother stood on. She had to admit, their mother looked really cool up there. Once everyone was gathered together, an image of Geeta was projected on front of every group. "Ok, this is it everyone," she said. "Team Eclipse believes that we will roll over and meet their demands! Well, this is our chance to show them all that The Paldea Region doesn't negotiate. Instead, we meet threats by fighting back!" A rally of cheers rose from the gathered trainers at this. "So, let's fight this threat back!" Geeta announced. Everyone cheered, then they all charged down into Area Zero.
During their preparations, everyone assumed that Team Eclipse would be a relatively small group of people, barely worth worrying about. What they weren't expecting however, was just how many more members the group had than they first thought. The group was easily the same size as Team Star, which is something that concerned the Admins. But luckily, they had a lot more than just Team Star with them, so Penny's group alone outnumbered them 2-1. It didn't take long for their superior force to overwhelm Team Eclipse's army, and join up with Nemona's group. Arven's arrived not long after. "Well," he said, "this is certainly anticlimactic." Penny couldn't help but chuckle at that. "It's better than last time," she commented. "They took one look at us and fled with their tails between their legs."
Arven chuckled at that, which caused Nemona to glare at both of them. "How can you be joking at a time like this!?" she demands, shocking the both of them with how serious she sounded. "Juliana and Florian are down there, probably suffering, and you're hear joking!" Both of them shoot Nemona apologetic looks. "Well in fairness, we can't go anywhere yet," Carmine pointed out as she arrived as well. "We need to wait for everyone else before we storm the Zero Lab." Nemona was clearly restless, and dying to save Juliana. Penny was also desperate to save Florian as well, so she could understand how the tall girl felt.
The rest of the rescue party arrived not long after, and all of Florian's friends gathered together with Geeta to figure our where to go next. "No doubt there will be more trainers further down," Geeta commented. "No doubt they will be stronger than these ones. It seems this Gina has more influence than we thought." Penny nodded. "She can be very persuasive," she said. "I remember how well she convinced other students to pick on me by telling them about how I was given the role simply because the school needed more diversity." The Admins of Team Star looked really pissed of upon hearing this. Kieran looked particularly appalled. "Wow," he commented, "she sounds like a royal bi-" "KIERAN!" Carmine interrupted him. Kieran apologised for his language, then everyone refocused on getting down to The Zero Lab.
They all continued down Area Zero, charging towards the Zero Lab. As expected, Team Eclipse started putting up more of a fight as they got closer. It didn't help that the Team had somehow managed to get Gina's voice broadcasting all over the Crater the lower down they got, calling out words of encouragement to Team Eclipse, and demanding that Team Star and their allies surrender "for the good of Paldea's future." This only angered everyone more, and spurred on their attack. Team Eclipse only fought more aggressively to the point that pokémon battles had started being left to the wayside, in favour of physical fighting. Nemona fought with particular ferocity, her mind tunnel visioned on saving the love of her life. Once this was over, she was going to tell the girl how she felt, once and for all!
After a long struggle, The Zero Lab was finally in sight. Throughout the struggle, many of Team Star's forces had to fall back to either heal their teams or recover from injuries. But for as many losses as Team Star suffered, Team Eclipse suffered 3 times as many. Penny was suddenly filled with hope that this whole situation was finally nearly over. But of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. As they approached the entrance to the Zero Lab, one of the agents of Team Eclipse pushed a button, causing several cages of electricity to fire up, trapping most of Team Star and their allies. Only Kieran, Giacomo and Penny managed to slip through, as well as some other members. Thry snuck around until they came across the machines. Then, the three of them began to work on them, while the rest of the escapees stood guard. While they worked on the machine, the Team Eclipse member who first triggered the trap, who looked to be an Admin, began to taunt Team Star and the rest of Paldea. "I can't believe you'd choose our region's destruction," he said gloatingly. "It is thanks to you that native Paldeans will go extinct. You allow invaders to take over, because you're too scared of being called a bigot. Well, we're not. We're trying to preserve Paldea, and if we get called bigots, then so be it. History will remember us as the heroes, who fought to preserve this region!"
Kieran felt sick hearing this boy's rants. He also saw that Ortega looked like he wanted to strangle him. Turning to Penny and Giacomo, he saw that Giacomo looked just as angry. "Who's he?" Kieran asked. "Andrew," Penny answered. "Someone who bullied Ortega relentlessly for his sexuality. It got so bad Ortega started denying it to himself for a while. As you can probably see, this upset Giacomo quite a bit as well." Giacomo nodded at this, not taking his eyes off of the box. While the three continued to work, Andrew continued to taunt the group about how much they were aiding in Paldea's destruction. But finally, they managed to shut the box down, and the electric walls came down. Immediately, Ortega dived onto Andrew and began pummelling him. Other agents of Team Eclipse came out and started fighting as well. "Lock the doors!" Andrew ordered. "Don't let them through!" An agent nodded and ran through the doors into the Zero Lab, then began to shut them. Nemona ran towards them, but Arven held her back. "We need to wait for the others!" he told her. "We can't!" Nemona argued back. "If we don't hurry, we'll never get to Juliana and Florian!"
Arven wanted to argue, but Clavell spoke first. "Nemona is right!" he said. "You two go, along with Penny, and anyone else you can. The rest of us will join you as soon as possible!" Arven still looked unsure, but what sealed the deal wad the twins mother, who ran up to them. "Please save them!" she begged. "I'd come with you, but I don't have enough pokémon. Please bring my children back!" With no time to argue, the two nodded, then ran towards the rapidly closing doors. Penny and Kieran joined them, while Giacomo went to Ortega's aid against Andrew. Carmine also joined the four running for the doors, while Mela, Eri and Atticus joined the fray fighting the agents. The five barely managed too make it through the doors before they closed behind them. Penny had time to throw a small device to Giacomo that'll allow him to open the door when they're done out there. Now, all they had to do was fight Gina and her other lapdogs, and finally get Florian and Juliana back.
Once again, I took way too long to update this and I'm sorry. Honestly, if it wasn't for all the supportive comments, I would've put this on an indefinite hiatus by now. I'm very sorry for how long this is taking me. I'm also sorry for the quality of this chapter. I wrote most if it in a huge rush, just so I could get it done, which is why this was a severe dip in quality. Trust me, when I write the next chapter, it will be much better quality. Sorry once again for the shite schedule, and I'll see you when I see you.