Oh boy this is going to be a fun one. Despite how sudden this seems, I've actually had this planned for ages. I just didn't know how to set it up properly in this story, so that's why it seems like this is out of nowhere. Something to note as well, this chapter will have a lot of shifting perspective, because I have a lot to cover in this chapter. I should've spread this out more, but I don't have the chapters to do that now. So, you're getting the brunt of this siege in one chapter. I hope you'll be able to follow along.
Chapter 94:
Larousse Under Siege!
After May stormed off to her room, she sat on her bed for a while, seething. Drew sat with her, but didn't say anything, instead choosing to allow her to sit angrily for a while. Eventually, she stood up. "Let's go," she said. Drew looked at her, shocked. "Go where?" he asked, scared that he already knew the answer. "To Larousse," May replied. "We're going to put a stop to this attack." "You mean, help put a stop to it," Drew corrected her. "We are absolutely not doing this by ourselves!" May sighed, but knew he was right. "Fine, yes, help put a stop to it," she said. "Now, help me out here."
Drew released his Roserade while May opened her window. Then, Drew had Roserade create a Vine Whip to lower the two of them to the ground. Then, Roserade jumps down into Drew's arms. Then, they snuck away from the house. Petalburg was quiet as they crept away from it. Once they were safely away from the town, May summoned and Mega Evolved Blaziken, then she leapt into the air, rocketing towards the capital city. Drew followed right behind her with Roserade, using her Vine Whips to swing across the trees after his girlfriend. By the time Norman went upstairs to check on his daughter, she and Drew were already at the coast of Hoenn, riding on May's Blastoise right to Larousse.
May and Drew arrive at Larousse, both now wearing their costumes. Drew has Roserade attach her vines to the bridge, then raise him and May up onto the bridge. As they're raised up, May returns Blastoise to his ball. They make it up to the bridge, then begin running towards the town. But before they can get very far, three people approach them, two men and one woman, all with guns raised and pointed at them. Immediately, May rips her mask off to show that she's on their side. "It's me! May Maple!" she exclaims. "Don't shoot!" It's then that she recognises the three of them. They were involved in the Second Kalos Crisis, and had saved Max when Megan tried to take him to Lumiose Tower.
And it seems that they recognise them too. Or at least, the older man does. "You were involved in the Second Kalos Crisis weren't you?" he asks. "On our side, I mean." May and Drew nod, and the three of them lower their guns. "Sorry about that," says the detective. "But we can't be too careful. We've had a few people try to sneak up on us from the bridge." May nods in understanding. "Come, follow us Blaziken Mask, we need your help." May and Drew follow them, putting their masks back on. As they walk, the detective says, "By the way, I noticed that you've forgotten our names." May tries to deny it and apologise, but the detective waves her off. "Don't worry about it," he says. "I am Detective Looker. As for these two..."
He trails off, allowing them to introduce themselves. "Agent Hilda Touko," says the woman. "And this is my twin brother, Hilbert." Hilbert nods to them, giving them a small wave. Then, they continue on their way down the bridge. As they walk, they hear the sound of a plane overhead. As they look up, a cargo plane flies above the city. It slows down and it's back opens. People jump out from the plane and start to parachute down. Looker swears at this. "We need to hurry," he says as he breaks into a run. "Those are Team Terra agents, trying to sabotage the cities defences." At this, May summons and Mega Evolves Blaziken. "I'll get started on that," she says. "Drew, help these three into the city." Drew nods and begins to wrap the three of them in vines as May takes off, flying straight for the parachuting agents.
Just as these agents are passing windows on their way down, May rockets up at them, punching them through the windows and knocking them out immediately. Some land on the roof, so she quickly shoots up there and knocks them out too. Then, she leaps to another roof and does the same, before doing the same to a third roof. She lands on the ground and is about to run to the coast of the island to start knocking projectiles back at the tanks, when she sees that she's completely surrounded. "End of the line, Blaziken Mask!" says an agent. "Now, unmask yourself, and surrender to us." May looks around, trying to find a way out, but there's nothing to be done.
Before she has very long to think of a plan, a large blue orb of energy flies out of the sky and strikes one of the agents. They all look up, just as a small shower of them hits them, knocking them all out. May looks up to see Ash Ketchum sliding down the side of a building, using a Bone Rush to slow his descent. He lands next to May and smiles at her. "Good idea sneaking out like that," he says. "Now I get to join in on this." May chuckles a bit. "Where's Serena?" she asks. The answer to that question comes in the form of a large explosion in the sky. Looking up, May watches as the plane that carried those agents into the city ebursts into flame, and begins to retreat to a nearby island before it crashes. "She's keeping an eye on the sky with Charziard," he replies. "Making sure no more people sneak in this way. That's how we got here." A loud roar pierces the sky at that. May laughs, then they get back to fighting.
While all of this is going on, Max and Bonnie race to the city on Deoxys. They arrive shortly after Ash and Serena do, but don't leap into the fray like Ash did. Instead, they decide to play things sneaky. Deoxys hovers over the city while Max uses the camera he got for his 11th birthday to get a closer look at the city. Specifically, he's looking at a spot underneath one of the bridges that the monorail runs on. "Thank Arceus for zoom and enhance cameras," he says to himself, before turning to Bonnie. "Found our way in," he says. "Deoxys, can you lower us to that wall under the bridge. There's a small patch of rocks we can stand on.
Staying up in the air, Deoxys uses their telekinesis to lower them down to the spot below the bridge. Once there, Max presses his ear to the wall. He grins as he hears the sounds of engines running. "Bingo," he whispers to himself, before turning to Bonnie. "Can you get Donphan to use Rollout on this wall?" he asks. Bonnie looks at him utterly bewildered, but obliges. She releases Donphan and is about to tell her to use Rollout, when Max raises his hand, signaling her to stop. She looks at him quizzically, but he's staring intently at the nearby island. Team Terra's tanks are parked there, with their guns pointed right at the city. He keeps his hand raised as one of the cannons charges a shot. Then, right as it's about to fire, he drops his hand.
The sound of the shot mixes so perfectly with the sound of the wall smashing that they're almost indistinguishable. The two of them climb into the hole Bonnie made,then Max releases Gallade and gets him to refill the hole. Once that's done, both of them return their Pokémon to their balls, and begin making their way through the passages underneath the city. Despite the fact that Max has Deoxys' help finding his way through, he also remembers this place from the last time he came to Larousse with May, Ash, and Brock. Bonnie watches as he navigates his way though, only occasionally needing help from Deoxys.
"How do you know your way around this place?" Bonnie asks. Max shrugs. "I've been here once before," he replies. "Last time I was in Larousse, Deoxys and Rayquaza almost destroyed the city while having a fierce battle. We were forced to come down here and try restore the power." He turns around to look at her, to find that Bonnie is nervously looking upwards. "Don't worry," he says quickly, "it was a different Deoxys." He keeps walking for a little bit, before stopping and adding, "At least, I think it was." This doesn't reassure her. But, she decides to trust Max and keeps following him.
Back up in the city, May, Ash, and Drew are fighting some of the agents that managed to find their way into the city. Ash admitted to May shortly into the fighting that Max and Bonnie are here too, but are safely below ground. "They think we're here to get you out of here," Ash says. "But I have a feeling that there's something more going on here." "So, what are they doing then?" May asks. "Well, if all goes to plan, they should surface near the battle tower. If anything is going on, it'll be there. They can follow them and let us know." May is uncertain about this, but she agrees to leave them to it.
Suddenly, gunfire comes from the roof. Looking up, they see people trying to shoot down Serena. Ash flies into a rage and begins to ascend the building, ready to tear that person apart. May is about to follow, when she hears Drew cry out. She turns around, and sees Sub-Admin S once again. She's grabbed Drew by his neck and is pointing a gun at his head. "Stand down!" S demands. "Stop fighting and surrender to us, or I'll blow this mask off his face!" May panics at this. She looks around, trying to find a way to save him. But she can't find anything. So, she stands up straight and lets her hands and feet go out.
"Good," says S, but she doesn't lower the gun. "Now, remove your mask, and let me see your face." Drew begins to frantically shake his head at this, but S just hits him with her gun. "Your choice Blaziken Mask," she taunts. "Reveal yourself and let him live, or keep your secret, and let him die." Drew once again shakes his head, choking out, "Don't do it!" But May can't bear to see him die. So, she sighs, then removes her mask. S's eyes widen with shock at this. "But, we had you, and you were saved by the Blaziken Mask," she says, before realising what must've happened. "You were disguising yourself as her to keep her identity secret," she realises. "That means you must be..."
But before she can pull Drew's mask off, she suddenly falls backwards, hitting the ground and letting Drew go. Drew quickly scrambles over to May, who's quickly put her mask back on. She hugs him for a few seconds, before turning to look at S. she is getting to her feet, only for her head to fly backwards and falls onto her back, as though she was kicked. Then, May realises that she was kicked. A figure suddenly appears before S, and kicks her again. S grabs her leg and tries to pull the figure down, but they just twist their leg, leap out and turn invisible again. S gets to her feet and is kicked back down again.
She quickly stands up, then spins around, pulling a knife out of her sleeve. Right before she can be kicked again, she jams the knife into the figure's suit, turning them completely visible. They give S one last punch, before running off. S stands up again, then runs off in the opposite direction, a determined look on her face. "Follow the invisible person," May tells Drew, "find out who's side they're on." "What are you going to do?" he asks. "Follow Shelly," she replies. "I'm going to end this once and for all." Drew nods, then runs after the figure, using Roserade's vines to give himself a boost.
He chases after this figure as they tear through the streets, trying to turn themselves back invisible. Eventually, they manage to do so. But before they could, Drew uses Roserade's vines to pin them down. He lands in front of her, slightly out of breath. "Who are you?" he asks. "You can call me Camo," the person says. "That's the only name I'm going to give you." This does nothing to alleviate Drew's suspicions. "Ok," he says cautiously. "Whose side are you on then?" "Yours," Camo replies, as if that's obvious. "Did you not see me beat that Sub-Admin up?" "I saw," says Drew. "I also saw you flee the scene the moment you lost your invisible powers. That doesn't make you seem entirely innocent."
Camo tries to struggle free themselves, but Roserade's vines have bound them too tightly. "Just tell me who you are," Drew demands. "I'll let you go if you do." "I can't!" Camo argues. "I need to protect the people I care about. I can't reveal myself like that, just as you can't." Drew sighs. They have a point, but he doesn't admit that. Instead, he undoes the restraints. "I still don't fully trust you," he says. "What will make you?" Camo asks, to which Drew shrugs. "I don't know," he says. "Someone vouching for you, I guess."
"I can," says a voice behind Drew. He turns around to see Ash coming up to them. Camo saved my neck in Kanto a few weeks ago, back when Brock was deciphering that map for you. Team Terra attacked Pewter Gym, and would've destroyed it had they not show up to save us." Drew looks at Camo again, then sighs. "Alright fine," he relents, "I'll trust you for now. But I will deck you faster than you can turn invisible if you dare betray us." "Duly noted," Camo replies. "Anyway, shall we get back to stopping this siege? I don't know what Team Terra want with this city, but whatever it is can't be good." The two boys nod, and start running back to where they left May.
While this is happening, May chases after Sub-Admin S as she runs through the street. She climbs up the side of some paths, working her way up to one of the levels of a building. May lands on it ready to fight, then she freezes. Attached to the wall is a small clump of bombs. S sees the look on May's face and laughs as she twirls a detonator in her hands. "Well, this is quite the pickle," she says. "If you let me go, I tell everyone in Team Terra who you really are. But if you come to fight me, I press this button, and this building collapses onto the street below. So, what are you going to do 'hero'?"
May growls at this. "I fail to see how destroying an eco friendly city like Larousse will accomplish anything other than getting your team worldly hated," she says, not bothering to disguise her voice. "There's so much more to this attack than destroying the city," S replies. In fact, destroying the city wasn't even part of the plan. But I won't hesitate to break down this building if you try to attack me!" May glares at her, then charges. She powers up her legs and puts on a burst of speed, reaching S before she can push the button. The two women proceed to wrestle over the detonator, trying to take it from the other. Both of them punch and kick each other, trying to get the other to let go.
Their fight eventually leads them right next to the bombs. May manages snatch the detonator out of S's hands and kick her away from the bombs. S howls with pain and rage and tries to lunge back at her, but May dodges out of the way, and kicks her again. She crashes into the spot where the bombs are attached to, causing them to come lose, and get stuck to her instead. S glares at May with utmost hatred. "You think this will stop us?" she demands. "We always bounce back. As long as humans continue to selfishly destroy our world, we will always be here to stop it. If you want to stop this world's destruction, you'll stop fighting us and hand over your brother now!" May refuses. "I won't!" she declares. "You will not use him for your evil purposes!" Sub-Admin S smirks at this. "Then you can watch as your boyfriend is blown to pieces!" she declares.
As May watches, S turns around and pulls one of the sticky bombs off of herself. In the distance, Drew approaches them, along with Ash and that masked person. S raises her arm and aims to throw the bomb right at Drew. She presses a button on the bomb to activate it. The moment it starts beeping, May sees red. Quick as a flash, she charges at her. She ignites her leg and kicks S off the building. While falling, S tries to spin in midair to throw the bomb anyway. But she never gets the chance. After kicking S off the building, the recoil causes May to stunble backwards. When she does, her thumb accidentally hits the button on the detonator. Shelly doesn't even have time to scream before the bombs rip her apart.
May stares n horror at what she just did. She quickly throws the detonator to the ground and smashes it, then looks down below. The side of the building had a hole torn into it, but luckily no one was hurt. Other than Shelly of course. But there's nothing left of her to examine then damage. May feels herself begin to throw up, and turns away from the edge of the building to avoid puking down the side of it. As she throws up, she feels a caring hand rub her back. "It's ok," says Drew from behind her. "We know that was an accident. That wasn't your fault." May doesn't say anything at this. She just stares at the spot where Shelly fell off the roof.
"Come on, we need to go," says Ash. "I'd say there'll be more agents on the way." He kneels down in front of May, careful to avoid her puddle of sick. "I know how you feel right now, maybe better than anyone here," he says. "But we need to keep your brother safe. So, let's do that, and we can deal with this later, alright?" Drew looks shocked at what Ash just said, but May nods. "You're right," she says. "I'd be a huge hypocrite if I wallowed and refused to fight now." She stands up, then turns to the other 3. "Come on," she says, without much enthusiasm. "Let's get these guys out of the city." The three of them nod and head down to the ground, where Looker and the twins are waiting for them. Once down there, Drew quickly fills them in on what happened, then they head through the city, determined to meet up with Max and Bonnie.
While all of this is happening, Max and Bonnie continue to sneak under the city. They reach the end of the basement, and Deoxys points them to a small tunnel going under the rest of the city. Using Deoxys' telepathy, he manages to lead the way through these tunnels to find a deserted spot in the city to climb out. Luckily for them, they're small enough that they can walk through while stopping slightly. Max and Bonnie both have their hands hovering over their pokéballs, ready to release them at a moment's notice. Neither of them speak as they walk through the tunnel, but they can hear the sounds of explosions, which makes the two of them wince.
Eventually, Deoxys informs Max that there's no one above them when they pass a way out. Max stops and tells Bonnie this, then they look for a way to open it. Max summons Sceptile and has him use vines to open the grate, which he does with minimal difficulty. Max climbs up first and peeks around. Sure enough, there's no one there. So, he helps Bonnie out of the tunnel and they quietly seal it back up. It is only when they're done that they hear the sounds of someone coming. They quickly dart into an alleyway and peek out, looking around for whoever's approaching.
Their hearts nearly stand still as they watch Admin Bannai walk through the street, away from the sounds of fighting. He seems to be walking with purpose, and heading straight for the battle tower. Once he's gone, Bonnie begins to sneak back out and head towards the fighting, but Max stops her. "We should follow him," he says. Bonnie looks at him like he's just grown 3 heads. "Are you crazy!?" she demands. "He's actively hunting us, and you want to follow him!?" "I want to know why the man who orchestrated this attack is sneaking around the city as opposed to helping out," Max replies. "We're not going to intercept him, we're just going to see what he's up to, then call Ash and tell him about it, alright?" Bonnie thinks about this, then relents, and they follow Admin Bannai into the Battle Tower.
If I had a nickel for every time someone accidentally killed someone with their powers by knocking them off a building, followed up by them throwing up upon realising what they did, I'd have 2 nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. So yeah, now May is going to have some trauma of her own. Sorry for how messy this chapter was, I had a lot to cover in it. Now, join me on Thursday where you find out what Bannai is planning, and if Max and Bonnie are able to stop it in time.