The Redwood Saga Chapter 32 - 27: The Red Winter

Parfum Palace – Kalos Region

There was a knock on the ancient mahogany door that marked the entrance to the quarters that had, historically, played host to all manner of Kalosian nobility. "My Prince your, erm, Grandfather has requested your presence in the…'space between war and peace'… He said you would know what that ant…"

"Of course he did…" Calem muttered, but the servant who'd delivered the ssage was already gone. He was no longer the young teen he'd been when he'd first t his 'legendary' relative. After they'd battled before most of Lumiose, he'd revealed that they shared blood, though how many generations separated them was a mystery. Realizing Lysander was likely also a relative had taken a long ti to co to terms with, but it made sense, in hindsight. He too had been tall. Calem hadn't gained bulk however, just size. He'd already been tall before Xerneas had blessed him, but in the years following, he'd grown to one hundred and ninety-six centiters last he'd checked, which admittedly, had been so ti ago.

After regaining his beloved partner, the returned King of Kalos had reclaid his Palace from Calem's cousin Allie, and took charge of the complex and delicate system of power the Kalosians had been peacefully ruled under since the last war, three centuries past. Nobles of their region were expected to be expert Trainers, for the King had decreed that only those with strong bonds with their partners were fit to lead.

Up until the Team Flare incident, ga Evolution had been a closely guarded secret of the Kalos nobility, several Gym Leaders, and usually the region's Champion. When the young prince had gone to aid the very man who made Kalos' secret power so popular with his research, Calem had gained a bad reputation with the nobles, which had included his parents. That hadn't stopped him from thrashing them, however.

He'd been given the title of Grand Duke thanks to his skills, but any influence he might've had only beca significant when the King returned, and publicly revealed their blood ties. Kalos was now once more ruled by a single figure, and he'd suddenly found himself a target of every noble in the region, who had, for the past three centuries, enjoyed the absence of taxes to a giant, ill-tempered monarch.

He might've been crushed, had his Chesnaught not beco his bodyguard. Surprise hit-and-run Hyper Beam attacks had beco far too common, and lately, he'd been forced to stay in his room.

"Co, Chesalier. I expect we have more Battles to win…" The sleeping form of his Chesnaught, which took up a large portion of his palatial quarters with his size, slowly unfolded, and the irritated, half-awake eyes of the massive Pokémon fell upon his Trainer. He opened his mouth expectantly, and received an Oran Berry.

Now smirking, and munching happily, he wiped the sleep from his eyes and lumbered after his Trainer, ready to form a protective shield around him at a second's notice. Calem glanced up at the ceiling as they walked, and were joined by the only missing mber of their newly extended party of ten. Like many Trainers, he definitely intended to join the next World Tournant, since he'd missed the last one, though lately, it seed like the next site for it would be a war zone before long. Or so the rumors said.

"Anything, Guivre?" The Noivern dropped from the ceiling in an elegant and spiraling movent that, in the dim lighting of the Palace, was hard to follow. He gave the dragon a jaw scratch as he rose up before his Trainer, and blinked his eyes once. Nobody around, this ti. It seed his route to the Hall would be clear today.

He recalled the dragon into his Luxury Ball, and continued on. The Hall of Mirrors, as it was sotis called, was typically used, in ages past, to hold peace summits. The one that had ended the last war had been held here, and ever since, the nobles had preferred it when battling each other for political power, as they did almost daily, to further their personal agendas.

It seed it was empty today though, save for his gigantic relative. AZ had said that, thanks to Xerneas, he too would one day grow to tower over his fellow humans, that like him, the power of the Legendary Pokémon had done more than make him immortal. He had been proven correct, despite Calem's initial skepticism. He'd also hinted at so strange power related to their blood, but they'd been interrupted before he could say more, and they hadn't spoken of it since.

The King had cleaned up since his return to power, and looked eerily similar to how he had several centuries past, though his hair was definitely grayer. Calem had walked by giant paintings of the man's face nurous tis in his childhood, and talking to the man himself often made things seem surreal to the young Prince.

The ancient King was staring out of one of the windows that were as tall as he was, his Floette perched on his shoulder, as usual. AZ's attire once more befit a ruler, though his young relative still looked like a Trainer, albeit a well-dressed one. He'd matched his Chesnaught's color sche of green and tan, and hadn't regretted the change.

"Good. You've co quickly…there is much to say. As you may have noticed…we have a guest." The giant man gestured, and a new figure joined them, separating smoothly from the few shadows in the room. Calem beheld the only other woman he'd ever classify as being anywhere near Serena's level of beauty, though comparatively she was still rather young, and a decade at the very least separated them in age. The more he looked, the more he realized the two won really were quite similar, though this one had sharper eyes, a satisfied smirk, and hair as red as fire.

Jessica Gladstone introduced herself with all the proper manners of one born to high society, and though she hid it well, Calem knew a Kalosian accent when he heard one. He returned the introduction with a bow, and his own list of titles. Once the niceties were done, a silent pause filled the room, and Calem resisted smirking. He knew a bit about the current Champion's sister. She was a good Trainer too, or so rumor said.

He quickly glanced between them, as his Chesnaught, sensing no danger, curled up into a spiky sphere once more to snooze while the humans talked endlessly. They both wanted him to speak first, or so it seed, and he did. "So. What brings the youngest Kalos Queen in a decade back ho, hmm? Last I heard, you and that new Unovan Champion were enjoying the holand… though I expect things have changed…"

"They have." She absently ran a hand through the fiery mane, and adjusted her black and white sun hat as she ignored the title he'd given her. She had spent her most recent spring break from University in Kalos, and during said visit, had managed to match Serena in a Pokémon Contest. She'd denied the title though, and thus it was currently, technically; unclaid. That was when the Prince's instinct-driven eyes finally noticed the color sche of her outfit. Black and white. Of course. Unovans never changed, it seed. "Fornia has declared all-out war…and they're letting their Church pay for the whole thing. Their…'Crusaders' are hitting us hard…in short, my Prince, Unova calls for aid."

Calem glanced at AZ, who had resud staring out the window. He nodded, once. Calem gave his best smile, and as always, it drew a faint flush to the woman on the receiving end of it. "Then Kalos will answer. Though what aid we give will be up to the King…"

AZ finally turned then, and regarded the woman properly for the first ti since eting her, as his gaze often drifted towards the sky. Slowly, his eyes widened. "So…the Tree of Life gave another gift…let us hope you wield its power better than her first choice…" The giant began pacing then, and the two humans watched, and waited. "Unova has ever been our ally…and in ages past, even when split, the Original Dragon has aided my people against the Imperium's encroachnt…I will send our Prince, and a legion of our best Trainers. I will ready them myself. Will that satisfy your needs, Dragon Empress?"

The woman blinked once, and then smirked. Her voice seed to purr as she bowed low, in the Unovan style. "Thoroughly. Thus, the ancient pact is honored again. You have our gratitude, King of Kalos."

"That's…the thing." AZ said, interrupting what sounded like the woman's exit. She seed eager to get moving, and given the current dire situation, or what little Kalos knew of it, it made so sense. "I no longer desire to be the King of this region, indeed, even the nobles grow tired of my ancient gas. My Kalos has moved on in my…absence. This is no longer my little kingdom…it's grown much larger…but it still requires a leader."

The giant turned and approached the redhead. "Send your…Dragon Emperor…to speak with , when this conflict abides… I wish to…test his ttle. If it's good enough for your Dragon…it may be good enough for my Kalos."

Calem and Jess's eyes went wide at his words, and their implication. "I-I'll inform him as soon as possible. You have my word…thank you, again. Truly. It's nice to have reliable allies."

With that, and to the Prince's shock, the woman vanished in a flash of light that he'd only ever seen his Gallade use. "Did…did she just Teleport?"

AZ chuckled at the Prince's expression. "Yes…it seems the next stage of our species' evolution is upon us my young Prince…those with intensified psychic power are becoming more and more common as they manifest their Will."

His eyes began to shine with a familiar blue and white glow. "It is a trait you too possess…and before we honor our ancient alliance, I will unlock your…potential."

The Prince raised a brow. "Is it just psychic powers that have been appearing? Or are there other types as well?"

The King grinned. "Clever clever grandson. Co…summon your Gallade…we are short on ti…"

Calem threw the Luxury Ball, colored green and white, into the air. "Sol! Co." He turned to his relative as his partner appeared. He'd almost gone with a owstic, but when he'd learned his old neighbor Serena had acquired a Gardevoir from traveling in Hoenn, a Gallade had been the only logical choice for him. "Do you really intend to hand over Kalos to the Dragon Empire?"

AZ shrugged, as he finished bumping forearms with the young, but eager Gallade. "Potentially…yes. I do have a thod to my madness…but we'll deal with all of that when and if he manages to make it here...for now, focus."

Calem nodded, and with a flash, his Gallade ga evolved. Nodding in approval, the giant human t the ga Gallade's eye and said, "Show him."

anwhile, in Unova…

They were tearing the eastern forces apart. The Arcean's Crusaders were almost unstoppable, for each of them had strong teams of ten Pokémon, as well as a staff that could fire three kinds of energy. The sa three that had subjugated an empire in ages past. Fire, ice, and lightning. Evidently, the Arceans brief, strange, and also completely denied capture of the Original Dragon had yielded sothing. Most of the Arceans never had to draw their Pokémon, so outmatched were the Unovans, in those early days.

As in all conflicts, the hard toll of war separated the weak from the strong, but the eastern forces could never muster a force to match their foes in a proper battle line. Their superior weapons, literal beams of energy that could take out squads of ten humans in a single shot, had forced a hard retreat in every such conflict, and the eastern commanders who survived had been forced to adapt. The mainly militia forces had been quite effective at evacuating, though.

Every Gym Leader throughout the eastern states had, without a word from the League, acted in unison, and moved as many people as possible eastward, towards the supposed 'capital' of this newly reconstituted empire. Those soldiers who had been Trainers tended to excel, and many suspected they were funded by the League, for those who stood out against the invading army were sohow always well equipped.

In Texico, the east's knowledge of sailing the Texican Gulf ca in handy, as the west half of the split State had not held control of the waters for so ti. Though initially forced into a hard retreat, the tides had changed after Champion Rosa and her Scales had reinforced the Texicans. After scavenging more than a few of the Church's own weapons, the Texicans of the east had forced a hard border line between both sides, one that had extended from Texico up to the center of the continent. That was where Champion Nate and his dragons ruled the air with a string of unbroken and overpowering victories.

While the Church had manufactured planes equipped for war, they proved inferior to Nate's dragons, who could fell over ten at a ti with a well-placed Hyper Beam. It wasn't long before the advancing Crusaders with flying partners were organized into proper air squadrons, but superiority belonged to the dragons, who dove on the ranks of mainly ground-bound Crusaders with devastating Outrage attacks every chance they got. The front lines shifted most in the middle, and Nate was the first to lose Scales under his command when the Church had ordered a regintal shift to ice typing, and filled the sky with beams of ice.

The Unovan's new elite forces were, thankfully, hard to kill. Their armor proved invaluable, so much so that the head Professors of Unova University had granted their creators the rank of lab assistants. Eric Redwood, the leader of the so-called Brain Trust, was supposedly at that mont taking the exams to beco a proper Professor, but while he did, the war raged on.

Illinowa and Tenina had fallen, willingly according to rumor, but the Kanadian border held as strong as it ever had. Their wall's strength was legend, for it had even resisted the Dragon Empire, though truthfully, Tao himself had never tried to take it. When the Dragon had led armies, they had won, and in the past Kanadia had willingly joined the Empire with the promise that their culture would be kept intact, along with their border, should the empire fall. Kanadians usually laughed, whenever 'southerners' ntioned the wall and asked after its origins. The Kanadians would then tell them, almost verbatim in each encounter, that the two hundred foot tall structure, made mostly of steel and old world building thods, had been built 'ironically' by their ancestors in ages past, to shield Kanadia from insanity. Whatever that ant.

Their northern neighbors were a bit…odd, but to their credit, they had taken in many who had begun running as soon as they heard the Arcean's 'holy army' was invading. The Kanadians found themselves reinforced by the Dragon Emperor himself, several days into the conflict. He'd led thirty-five of his heavily armored troops along the border, using the Black Salance called Shruikan to eradicate entire companies of enemy Crusaders with massive Charge Beam attacks.

They eventually learned to shield themselves, but by the ti Shruikan struck, he was usually gone, and the damage was already done. These n too had tried shifting to ice typing, and while effective, Shruikan would always make them regret their choice when he demonstrated that he could unleash a torrent of fla, as well as electricity. Alex charged him with helping to guard the wall, a task he accepted, for it both provided food in the way of Wailord in the icy waters of the north, and entertainnt, when the Arceans would try, and then fail, to take his wall.

While the Kanadians along the massive structure appreciated the reinforcent, the new Emperor was sothing of an unknown, in their region. Rumor had spread, of course, of the 'first skirmish' of the war, in Unova's own territory. None had been surprised at the outco, for Unova had always created powerful Trainers, by the dragon-load. While the new Gym Leader of Opelucid City had undoubtedly distinguished himself, their Champion had, quite publicly apparently, dismbered one of the Prophet's own Hands by way of incineration. He never bothered correcting the tale tellers by saying it had actually been Tao who'd removed the abomination. He would've done the sa if the dragon hesitated, but Tao never did.

Indeed, the dragon was proving invaluable as a commander. He had retained his ga Form, and from Unity Tower, ntally guided the thousands of troops under his command, usually by way of ntal contact. Every human he spoke with, and the soldiers under them, fought ten tis harder after hearing his Words of inspiration, and though many innocents were saved by noble sacrifice, many more continued to die to the relentless advance of the Arcean's Blitz.

It was an old practice in Unova, but after several days of besieging the border wall all along their territories, the Kanadians had, at the giant black Salance's suggestion, adorned the wall with the enemy dead. Those with weak stomachs declined to help, but there were plenty who'd suffered under the relentless march of the Church who were willing to do the grisly work. The corpses placed atop the Kanadian's wall sent a clear ssage. Death awaited anyone who tried to take the north, and the attacks all but ceased as the futility of facing Shruikan gave the Kanadians enough bodies to line the wall across several states. Any attempts to take it were routed whenever Shruikan would so much as scratch his neck. He had proven he could strike the humans whenever he wished, day or night, but he was defending, and that ant staying put. For the mont.

Most easterners had latched on to the news of a new Dragon Emperor with hope, for every State had legends involving the first. The governnts of each eastern State quickly reaffird their loyalty to the Dragon in writing, as they had quite openly supported the trade between the eastern states for years, hoping for this exact developnt. The people were ready to start growing again, all they had needed, was a spark.

A spark was exactly what the Dragon Emperor had created. Most didn't believe the rumors, about him taking on a Hand, alone, and living, unless they saw him in battle. The Prophet's 'limbs' had made a lasting and early impression in this war, striking many States on their own turf free of easterners, before vanishing in a hail of destruction, and usually carnage.

The rumors ca to slowly be believed however, once the Scales of Balance arrived to even the odds all across the front. Wielding plasma swords straight from a combination of science fiction and fantasy, as well as 'magic' powers and teams of incredibly strong Pokémon, the Champions who'd survived the Great Swamp were almost impossible to stop, especially when they struck in force. Rumor had it that they could even slice through the energy beams of their enemies, deflecting them from their soldiers, but nobody quite believed that one.

It took a long, bloody week for the Blitz to ground to a halt against the Scales and the invigorated eastern forces, but it wasn't long before the Church's drums of war thundered once more. The Arceans set their sights on the Ohiana region, and the straightest path towards Unova, by reinforcing the northern border's Arceans army group with what remained of their soldiers after the attempts on the Kanadian Wall, and charging once more. Conflict erupted, as the head Professor for the region commonly referred to as the 'breadbasket of the north' resisted the invaders with surprisingly effective guerilla attacks.

Professor Buckeye, the man leading the militia, and Trainers, resisting the invasion quickly beca a legend. This was mostly due to the Legend of his own, which he had summoned. As the days had begun turning colder, everyone knew winter was coming, and in the north, it had co early. Though the fact that a Suicune was nearby may have had sothing to do with the sudden shift in weather. At the very least, the snows were bad enough to make the Crusaders pause. Those who were sent out anyway, returned with ice burns, and tales of a ferocious 'snow demon'. If they returned at all.

With the north shutting down for the oncoming cold, and the border being held by Unova's Champions, Alex had taken his comrades to where they had been needed most, first. With a brutal takeover of the far north-western state of Kodiak, all the way up in the arctic, the Yukon and Takoma regions had joined the Kanadian soldiers, who had slowly been gathering on their new, unwalled western border, ready to reinforce it.

Winter was a constant in those lands, but given that these were the harshest months, the Arceans in the far north west seed content to wait in their tallic bunker-fortresses along the border once they'd taken control of the sparsely populated regions. The Church, in truth, technically owned part of the Kanadian's wall, and were bombarding the n manning it on both sides. The call for help had gone out, and Tao had sent an answer.

Arcean Northern Command – The Border of the Yukon and Kodiak Regions

Their black cloaks made them stand out against the snow, though thankfully, with a little psychic manipulation from their Emperor, they were able to walk above the waist deep, or higher, drifts. Each of their feet glowed blue as they walked, yet unlike most ard forces, they left almost no trace of their passing.

The Arceans, naturally, had them surrounded in short order, popping up from the snow around the entrance to their aesthetically simple tall, round fortresses. Most of their forces had Beartic as partners, for little else could survive this far north, and still be strong enough to et Church standards. Their leader, the only man with a gold-furred hood surrounding his white T-visor helt, stepped forward, his staff raised. It was quite imposing, for a mass-produced weapon, and the black-cloaked figures knew, this was the type of man who 'modified' his weaponry for 'effectiveness in battle'.

"State your purpose here, strangers." He said, leveling the stave at them. Evidently, this far west, the Arceans hadn't yet heard about the east's 'secret weapons'. That, would be their undoing.

One of the cloaked figures stepped forward, a woman, judging by the shape hidden under the strange, almost leathery garnt she seed to be wearing. It was entirely black, and hid much of the person underneath. The woman spoke, and what could be seen of her mouth beneath the black, leathery hood obscuring her features was smirking. "Haven't you heard? There's a war on."

The wind gusted then, and even the heavy leather-like cloaks flapped in the ferocity of the arctic blast. The strangers didn't seem to notice, though. After the heat and intense training of the Swamp in sumr, arctic blasts were refreshing. What they wore beneath their cloaks was bone white armor, with so sort of black suit beneath the molded bones, and protecting the joints. Evidently, it made moving the incredibly heavy dragonbone less arduous.

When it ca to headwear, so of the cloaked figures had various dragonbone head coverings in a variety of styles, always in a mix of black and white coloring. The one leading them however, needed no helt. She drew back the leathery hood that hid her face, and her hair billowed like fire in the intensity of the wind as she raised her blade, and ignited it. The Arceans did the sa with their weapons, as they switched from ranged to lee. "Co, Champions…we fight!" The low hum of fifteen or so plasma swords burning to life filled the air, and each gave off a pale blue glow against the snow beneath them. The one leading them narrowed her Serperior-esque eyes against the wind, as she marched forward with purpose. "In the Emperor's na."

Chaos erupted, as the Crusaders found their beams of energy, regardless of type, sliced in half as each of the cloaked figures bisected the attacks of those who had not prepared for close combat. Then, the Scales fell upon their enemies, and gave no quarter. Nearby, a similar conflict had broken out. Alex had split his group of thirty-five into three units, and given command of the third to the leader of the Norstad Trainers Percy had called up, a man by the na of Bjalfari. His group was more of a motley combination, as his people used steel weapons, and the Scales among them had plasma blades.

After a brief battle, Alex had allowed the eager Norstadder to craft his own plasma blade, since he'd been using a longsword anyway. He knew how not to cut himself, which was valuable, as many were still adjusting their combat styles to avoid accidental loss of limb.

As the three giant monolithic structures fell to the Scales, the call went out to the Kanadians behind them. It took almost two weeks from that initial encounter, during which much of the rest of the war was stuck in a freezing, bloody stalemate. Alex led his forces all across the north-western territories, and reclaid them for the Empire. As soon as the sparse regions were claid and manned with yet more Kanadians, he rushed to aid the Kanadians on the westernmost side of the border wall that had, thus far, been bombarded from two sides.

Over the course of a day, he and his Scales had eradicated the soldiers north of the wall with brutal efficiency, losing not a single mber of their company. This was naly thanks to Jess' skill with using Recover, and the Emperor's refusal to let his comrades die. More than once he'd had to channel energy through his Chakras, and unleash a storm of psychic power on their foes. Confusion and terror had gripped the Crusaders, and their terror was rcifully ended by his Scales. That night, not one of the Scales had joined the celebrations of the n who were no longer besieged, and evidently forgotten this far out west.

Taking the northern areas had been easy enough, and they'd taken several hundred soldiers as prisoners before they were through. None of the Champions turned super-soldier had yet experienced true, pitched battle against the Crusaders who, as it turned out, were usually just as effective in lee as they were from a distance. That hadn't kept them from being cut down like wheat before the burning plasma of the Scales, and after seeing, and often causing, such horrific wounds the forr Champions had recoiled at what they had wrought. In the end, the battlefield had been littered with cauterized limbs and bisected human. What bugged Alex most though, had been the sll. He could still scent it with every breath, and resisting the urge to hurl was growing tireso.

That night, as they sat within one of the many barracks that lined the interior of the Kanadian Wall, a familiar voice ca to each of them. The Foggy Swamp Sage.

"Now you know the horrors of war, my Champions. I apologize…truly…I could not prepare any of you for this."

Alex, for his part, had been wearing the sa grim 'smirk' since ordering the end of the bloody conflict. His body count had, easily, outstripped those under him as he'd been in the vanguard, and he'd gone quite quiet after they'd returned. As had Jess, and many of the other younger Champions. All of them now understood the true difference between a battle, as a sport, and war, as a fight for survival that had a steep price for losing. As the Sage's words echoed in their heads, their Emperor stood, and addressed them all. "Those of you who wish to leave…may do so. None of you signed up for…for that…and I expect that I, and those under , will have to experience that kind of senseless slaughter quite a few tis before we're done. We're the strongest soldiers the east has…which ans our body counts will be large indeed. This is your chance to avoid a future of blood and death."

The gathered humans looked around, and his grim look faded as none moved to leave. He went quiet then, expressionless as he spoke softly. "Run, you fools…avoid this…you still have a chance…"

One of his Scales stood then, and Alex recognized him as a League Challenger who he'd sent on to the Dragonspiral Tower, and had then apparently made his way to the Swamp. His armor was much the sa in general body design as the rest of them, but his helt had horns that swept up and curved, not unlike Tao's.

The man, whose na was Nikolai if Alex recalled rightly, saluted him then, by pounding his right fist across his chest, and against his heart. "We already got this speech, Redwood. You weren't there for it…but we knew what we were signing up for. We've had plenty of chances to leave before now…and we haven't. We're fighting for the Empire, for the chance of peace. If that ans bloodying my hands on those overzealous Arceans, so be it. They started this…they burned Colville, attacked crowds of innocents in our own capital by enslaving the Forces of Nature, and by ambush, and they even had the nerve to bind our Dragon, and try to use his power against his own people."

The others stood then, and the Emperor felt each of their eyes on him as the man continued. "I will never enjoy what we had to do today…I know the aftermath of what we had to do to them is going to haunt . Forever. If it ans my family stays safe though…I'm okay with that. I'm trusting you to lead us sensibly, so we don't have to do this too often…so if there must be battle…let us make it swift."

Alex glanced around at each of them, and saw not one single eye waver. "Very well…but understand this…these weapons, this armor, they are going to be central to what the Scales beco when and if this conflict ends…you will never be free of them. The only way out of this little group of ours will be death, and it likely will not be a peaceful one…this is your last chance to leave."

None took it. It seed Oranguru had weeded out anyone that might have not adhered to his rules regarding their psychic abilities.

He felt the Sage address him, specifically. "Heed their advice, student of mine. Revel not in war, but accept the necessity of it."

Alex looked at each of them once more as he replied ntally, "I understand the necessity. I am Dragonborn…I have a better idea of what that ans, now. I need soldiers who also understand…and it seems that these Champions do…thank you, for Instructing them so well."

He heard the Sage chuckle. "You're quite welco…it was difficult, and without Instruct we never would've co close to giving an even hundred…but it seems it was all worth it. I'll have more for you before long. Many more." With that, the connection ceased, and the Scales retired for the evening. Alex spent his ti sparring with Arthur, as after his Trials, he too only needed four hours of rest for a full recharge, and like his Gallade, his sleep was more of a trance. When he wasn't exhausted.

The next day, Tao gave them new orders. It seed the Arceans were once more fortifying for a hard push straight for Unova, through Ohiana. The winter storm had finally let up, and it was rumored that Pravus himself was leading the attack, alongside no less than ten of his Hands.

The Border Between Urbe Monachus and Ventosus

With the reinforced border between Kanadia and the blackened northern Fornia region taken care of, as Shruikan claid he could guard the entirety of the wall easily thanks to his speed and the quick response tis of the Kanadian sentries manning the wall, Alex moved his Scales to join with the defenders in Ohiana. Hilbert and Hilda had been given the northern parts of the border line, and along with Nate, Hilda had kept the center lines from collapsing. She had evidently, at so point before the conflict, gone through the sa training her brother and Alex had, one Champion among many who had been Instructed in the Swamp.

Hilbert had drawn the short straw, and had been given the northernmost area, the very one Pravus now intended on charging through. The Champion turned General hadn't been idle, though. They had, while the fierce winter storm raged, built several underground hide-outs for the inhabitants of the region, who were mainly farrs, not fighters. That didn't an they'd been short on volunteers though. Most farrs usually had at least one well trained Pokémon. Ohiana had many ranchers, and after learning of their new Emperor's humble origins, many of said ranchers had also opted to fight. Despite their salt of the earth toughness, many had fallen in the early hours of the Blitz to the superior firepower and tactics of the Arcean Crusaders, and until Professor Buckeye arrived, the local forces had been in the process of being routed. Were the Church's forces not also infused with Shadow, they might have held better, but they had no answer for the advantages Shadow Pokémon gave their enemy. Their intel suggested every single Crusader had at least one egg-infused Pokémon on their belt. This was, in both Tao's eyes and his Tar's, a cri that would apply to every single Crusader. They had no doubts that Pravus had ensured his forces had as many egg-infused Pokémon as possible.

As Alex brought his combined group of Scales in, he realized that Tao had called in as many special units to this area as possible. The rest of the Norstad forces were already here, and it was mainly they and the Scales who had done the fighting thus far for the defense of Ventosus, the largest city bordering the Great Lake. Neither group had minded the cold winds or heavy snowfall, and indeed, they and their Pokémon thrived in the harsh storm. Newly reinforcing them were Trainers from what he assud was Kalos, judging by their clothing. They were a small group, but as he looked closer, he recognized several faces. Old or semi-retired Gym Leaders who had been all too eager to co to the aid of their Unovan allies. It seed Buckeye was leading them, as he appeared to know them, and Alex beca more convinced that all old people knew each other. Not that it was a bad thing, given their circumstances.

He t with Hilbert, and found that he too had not lost anyone in his squad yet. This was mostly because they had, for the majority of the early weeks of the war, been stuck in a blizzard. Festivus would have already begun, had a war not been raging across the continent. Ventosus had the unique benefit of bordering the Great Lake, as well as the Kanadian's wall, and their skirmish lines extended south from the lake's shore.

Hilda had, apparently, sent word that she was coming from the south, but thus far there had been no news. The rumor was that the central fighting had suddenly flared again. She'd likely been distracted. They weren't alone though, for Kanadia's Champion, who'd diverted from Alex's squad as they'd passed over his sea-bound ho island, had brought his own battalion of skilled Trainers from the icy north to reinforce Buckeye as well. Trainers from the northern Tribes, that also had little trouble with cold climates. Much like their Fornian cousins, they seed, at least to Alex's eye, to be skilled Trainers in their own right.

Alex noted that everyone bowed when he entered the command tent, even the League-employed Professor, who had no reason to, as far as he knew. That was going to take getting used to. Having been mostly among trusted friends who had dropped the 'yes, my Emperor' nonsense on day one, he was still getting used to having authority, and having people many years his senior acknowledge it.

He sensed the Original Dragon as he took his place at the rounded table, and had to resist smirking. He felt a current of psychic energy between Tao's imposing ntal presence, and his belt. Arthur joined them then, sitting beside his Trainer at the rounded, foldable tal table. A pair of disembodied golden eyes appeared above the table, burning with Light, and all who had seen Tao's ga Form recognized those holy, vengeful spheres.

"You again have my gratitude for coming. I will not forget those who ca when I called for aid. Should we prevail, you will not regret joining us. Now then, what spies we do have recently confird that the Prophet is in Urbe Monachus. A city that, judging by its na, will have no shortage of his followers." The Dragon went quiet for a mont, presumably to deal with sothing on his end. "We are expecting him to co to us much the sa way the Blitz did. He will be fast, relentless, and if he gets through our line, he could devastate many of our farr's land. The less damage he does now, the easier recovery will be. With that said, we will likely never have a better chance than now to strike him down, and that is why I have gathered you here. We must stop their advance, and remove their figurehead. Thor will engage him first, as he has experience battling the man in close combat, and Mjolnir can damage the Shadow abomination."

The red-bearded giant with gleaming skin smirked from his place at the table. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, but he seed focused on the mont as he listened, golden arms crossed. "I may have to break out mine second hamr for this." He chuckled, and then elbow nudged Percy, who was to his right.

Alex, who had removed the imposing dragonbone helt styled after his iron one, raised a brow at the alleged deity. "You have two? I thought those stories were made up."

The God of Thunder laughed, and the booming sound echoed loudly in the ears of those gathered. "I usually only use one because it is more of a challenge! But against that one…yes, I think two should do."

Percy chid in then. "Just how many bloody hamrs do you have anyways?"

Thor just winked at him, and laughed again. The others gathered seed to sigh. He was, thus far, enjoying this war a bit too much. Not that they minded. When he exercised his boredom, enemy troops died. Every little bit helped.

The group of gathered leaders was interrupted then, as a courier entered the tent. "Sorry to disturb sirs, my Emperor, but you…you need to hear this. It's Pravus." Tao remained quiet, and his Tar had a feeling the dragon already knew what was going on. The courier produced a miniaturized TV screen then from his giant, square backpack. The 'Dragon Army' as it was being called, didn't have much of a standard uniform yet, but the color sche was to be expected, and this man was no exception. His heavy leather coat was primarily white, but underneath, his clothes were shades of black, with more white as well. At the very least, they blended with the snow, and could, like most modern clothing, be turned inside out for longer use, or a change of color.

The screen displayed a feed direct from the Arcean's main Church-run dia network, Arc News, that was considered mandatory viewing for all 'loyal followers'. Through it, the people living, working, and even flourishing, despite the current 'conflict', were given a steadily monitored version of events as the Church displayed their 'Enlightened Crusade' for all to see from monitors that were in every ho, workplace, outpost, work camp, and naval ship. The Prophet had ensured he would always have an audience for his bloviating speeches.

In reality, what was displayed was indeed battle cam footage, but only scenes that did not contain 'subversive content' were ever allowed to be shown. One of the Prophet's own Hands was in charge of making sure nothing slipped into the public's attention, and her skill was legendary. Despite nurous hacking attempts, she'd thwarted any and all content that would display the war for the atrocity it really was, and the visible Shadow auras many of their beloved Crusaders had. Despite the atrocities they had committed, naturally, the Church vehently denied being party to a cri so egregious, the entire world had laws specifically designed to punish those who infused Shadow into Pokémon eggs. Both for individuals, and laws targeted at organizations.

Rumors still spread of course. Of camps, full of civilians from central states that wanted no part of any of it. Of the dark forces the Hands were, allegedly, using to slaughter their enemies wherever they appeared. The Prophet himself often addressed such rumors, live on his own network, and it demonstrated to his people that he was indeed listening to their concerns, and knew what to say to keep them loyal. If his charisma ever failed, there were always Pokéters on hand for 'private sessions' as well as people who knew how to use them properly. Those who asked questions Pravus deed subversive, or simply did not like, usually ended up in one of the longer grueling ter sessions, as Gilroy Redwood had.

It was a touted fact that the Prophet's Pokéter was different from others, and the Church considered it a holy relic, infallible in its accuracy. All who beheld it agreed, there had to be a touch of Creation in that machine. Only one man had ever successfully used it, or so the legends claid.

The screen of the portable television showed the Prophet in yet another of his 'private chats' with his people, and the Pokéter in question sat before him shining with what seed to be genuine golden Light. The gathered eastern forces exchanged glances. It was radiating what could only be Light energy, and as Tao sensed the thoughts of his allies, the pair of golden glowing eyes that had manifested above the table flew into the screen then, and reproduced the video's feed, but in a four-dinsional manner that, no matter what angle you looked at it from, was centered properly, as it had been on the screen. It gave them all a much clearer look at their opponent, and they realized he was on a presumably mobile set, made to look like his 'ho quarters'. With their unique display angles, they could see the city around it. A city teeming with the all too familiar T-visored faces of the Church's own ard forces.

An alarm rang outside their tent, as the military was mobilized by a direct order from the Dragon. It did nothing to impede the leader's view of the scene though. The cheesy, trumpet heavy opening the music, which strangely lacked the edited in title that usually accompanied this ridiculous 'show', finally finished, and the Prophet smirked at the caras.

"Hello again, loyal followers…as is expected in tis of war, there are many questions, and each day, more arise. I'll do my best to answer your concerns, going by majority. Many of you have called your Church, warning of a massive fire, raging in the north. Worry not." He winked at the cara. "Forests must sotis burn away the old, Deadwood so that newer, better trees may grow from the ashes." He smirked, and gestured with a purple, hand-fitting gauntlet that was part of his standard 'war outfit', at what was presumably an image on the screen, that remained empty to the easterners sneaking a peak. "Now, it is true this blaze is particularly large; however, our land has always had enormous fires, and it has always recovered. Your cities will be protected by our strongest Water Pokémon Trainers, and those of you who live in the afflicted area will be relocated, as soon as possible. Until then, we have many Optimal Org building facilities that will not only house you, but allow you to contribute to the cause as well." He paused, to enjoy one of his notoriously long tea sips, common to his broadcasts.

"Slave labor." Professor Buckeye snarled, before spitting on the dirt 'floor' of the command tent. "The only people who live in forests like that are people tryin' to escape notice. The Church'll tak'em back alright, but they'll be shipped to a mining facility within a week." He shot a glare at Percy. "They've been doing the sa to our people, the ones they captured, but in far worse conditions. It's only grown worse as their sources of tal vanish."

Percy shrugged. "I consider the lives of Mythical Pokémon above those of Humans who have absolutely no right to claim they're 'more important' after how they've been treated." He gave the Professor a glare of his own, and the older man flinched at the ice within it. "You haven't seen what I have. Every facility finds a new way to…sicken ."

"Relax, both of you." Alex said, and his voice cut through the growing argunt the Professor was forming. He raised a brow at the now unhelted Emperor. "We'll save all of them. Percy, you yourself told that the number of remaining camps is becoming 'manageable'. Finish freeing the Hex Nuts, and then focus on freeing our people. It's going to take ti to find the camps anyways, let alone infiltrate them."

One of the fliers from Valaskjalf, the right hand of the Chief, who had better things to do than talk endlessly, spoke then. "We have found several, Dovahkiin. My people alone could free all of them."

Alex smirked at the pale woman with raven hair. "I don't doubt it Yennefer…but you're too valuable to send in alone. What if they ambush you? What if they manage to capture your mounts, and infect them with Shadow? You really want them to have that kind of power? Shadow Articuno in the winter? No. Patience. Scout their defenses, learn how many Crusaders the Church has deigned to put on guard duty, and then we will give you enough firepower to overwhelm them in one swift attack. And realistically, by the ti we set that up, Percy will likely be done. He's rather fast."

"That he is…" Buckeye grumbled. "Fine, but just rember, the longer we take, the more of our people break…many might even turn. These are center region dwellers after all, and bowing to the invaders is easier than resisting their new order."

Tao rumbled then, filling their heads. "The center regions have always chosen the path which grants the most stability, as it suited them. In war, they turned the tide always, and often, and kept both east and west from obliterating each other more than once. Do not underestimate their cleverness. Now quiet, he speaks."

The Prophet lowered his stein full of…whatever he was drinking. It certainly didn't look like 'tea'. He wiped away the red stain on his mouth, and grinned at the cara with what seed like genuine, slightly mad, amusent. "Now that's addressed, let us move on to current events! Behold!" A disembodied sound that, for lack of a better description, sounded like lasers from a sci-fi movie, played as the Prophet made a grand gesture, and the set folded down, revealing the entirety of the scene.

Tao cursed, loudly, and his irritation was felt by all of them. Behind the charismatic ruler, was a large group of seemingly normal people. They had the look of people who did not like where they currently were, and they were kept from leaving by several large n with armor who'd told them to accompany them. Or be dragged.

"Long have I denied that the policy of disconnecting from family mbers who leave the Church, quietly or not, exists. My enemies would have you believe that this old, and admittedly abhorrent practice is still very much enforced. The truth, however, is that the only people my Church orders cut off, are those who are traitors to the Holy Arcean Alliance. These people, gathered here before you, had relatives who were chosen by one of my own Hands to live in Unova, and try to show these backward primitives an enlightened way of living. Instead, their relatives largely turned traitor, and tried spying on us…and we all know what happens to spies, unfortunate as it may be. This…is war."

The Prophet gestured then, and a blade of pure dark type energy ford in his hand. He leveled it at the crowd of guilty-by-relation civilians, and stared into the cara. "Not all of the traitors died, however…" He grinned. "Many ca ho, to be forgiven…Purged of their sins, you might say."

His free hand gestured, and each of the eastern leaders flinched as they beheld what a Purged human really looked like. "Behold, those touched by the Light of Arceus! They have ascended to a new form of being, and will now serve the Church more devoutly than ever before! Their Cris are forgiven, now that the Light has shone upon them!"

The humans in question lumbered onto the scene then, which had turned out to actually be placed on a raised dais, surrounded by Crusaders, as the Prophet delivered his almost daily 'chat'. It was large, as it had much to fit, and it seed recently made, but their view was too focused to see much of the city beyond. It certainly looked like Urbe Monachus, going by the ever-present ever-darkening clouds.

One of the relatives of the Purged cried out as they saw what their loved one had beco. As they ca into clearer focus, one could see their pale, entirely white eyes, and almost corpse-like gray skin. They moved as if on strings, mouths hanging open, and each breath rasping in their throats.

The woman who'd shrieked was imdiately enveloped in Shadow, and then vanished, with but a wave from the Prophet's weapon. "Those who are guilty of Cris and dark Sins cannot help but flinch at the sight of those touched by the Creator! Rejoice for them, for they have experienced Divine Truth…though it cost them their sight. They will still be used effectively, for the furtherance of our divine Mission!"

The gathered Crusaders around the dais, in one uniford motion, rested their imposing staves in the crook of their left arms, and began to clap in perfect unison. The result was applause that definitely sounded forced.

"Now, you may be wondering why I have gathered all these people here. As it turns out, the Enemy enticed these people with promises of freedom for their families. He and his psychic Serpent are tyrants indeed, for now, he cannot fulfill his promises. I possess their families, and to be sure we have no heretics or traitors among them, I will be personally Monitoring them over the next few hours, one by one, until their Cris are revealed, and the traitors among them are Judged." He gave the cara a look then. "As ter sessions are considered sacred, and one's privacy within one Divinely protected, we will not be airing them. Until then, my loyal followers, enjoy your regularly scheduled cultural entertainnt, developed here, in Fornia."

The scene vanished then as the feed turned off, and the Light faded from the TV, though Tao's ntal presence did not. The screen now displayed a movie, a generic superhero tale that, in actual fact, starred Rosa as the protagonist. Which ant it had been made in Unova. Alex heard Hilbert sigh, as he watched. He'd starred in several movies himself, in his ti, and reportedly loved acting. The past few years had been focused on training however, as the World Tournant once more approached.

Tao's voice echoed again in their minds. "I received a report while we've been talking…as it turns out, Pravus does indeed have the families you promised to free, Alex but most of our spies evaded capture. The only Purged are those he showed us…probably. So may have chosen suicide over capture, and so might have simply run off. Most, however, are reportedly safe. This ans his little show was ant for us to see…their network has never been that easy to access."

"So it's a trap." Percy said, frowning. Thor nodded in agreent. "He's baiting you, Redwood, but, those private sessions are probably going to leave those innocent people worse off than the Purged. Sohow, he has access to a Light wielder. This should not be possible, Diist Dovah." He said, looking upwards.

"The Alpha's Light works and responds to those who open themselves to it. For Psychic Types, they can open their bodily energy pools, and absorb it from the general flow of the Universe. Fighting Types tap into it by embracing their emotions, and pushing their power past its limits. Not unlike Legendary Pokémon who also use Light energy. For normal Humans however, at least in this era, devout belief may have a similar enough effect, enough to be usable. Though it depends greatly upon the mind summoning the energy, and their purpose. The Light cannot be used to kill senselessly, but it can most certainly purge a Human of thoughts and beliefs another Human may consider to be 'corruption'. This is very hard to do though, as the Human in question must have both unshakeable trust in the Alpha, and a righteous heart. Whoever Purged those people has been practicing for a while. They're just sentient enough to be profitable. That is no accident. That's practice."

The Dragon Emperor spoke, as Tao finished and Alex put the helt on once more. The bluish-purple eyes burned to life, causing his voice to echo slightly with psychic reverb. "And you said there is no way to save them?"

The Original Dragon radiated genuine sorrow. "No…what the Light burns away, it burns away entirely, if not properly shielded. It surged through their brain's circuitry. That doesn't grow back, not without focused treatnt anyways, and given the Arcean standard of living for prisoners, they will likely deteriorate over ti, if they haven't already."

There was a low rumble in the tent that radiated from their Emperor. The dragonbone sections had begun to glow. Fused by the Voice with elental Plate shards, they acted similarly to the crystals. Alex had long since figured out he could ga Evolve his partners by using parts of the armor. His set had been customized specifically with his team in mind, and it gave his outline a unique glow of their many colors.

The cascade of rainbow light hardened into a proper Aura shield as the bluish purple dragon energy in the bones bent the other types to its indomitable will. "Those people are only there because I gave prisoners a chance to be decent Humans…they're going to beco little better than vegetables, because of my kindness." He looked around at his gathered allies. "I don't know about you all, but I'm not going to sit by and let it happen. I'll charge Monachus alone if I have to. I guess what I'm trying to say is…who wants to co with ?"

"Aye, I'll co. And I'll bring enough wind to fill the sail of that ego of yours." Professor Buckeye said, smirking. "I only chatted with your granduncle a few tis…but I never got the impression the dark rumors about him were true. I've seen what his wife looked like. Do you think he'd approve of you charging into the enemy's headquarters?"

Alex smirked. "Not at all. He'd say it was a 'damn fool suicide mission', or sothing. And he'd keep saying it, all the way there, until he saw people in danger. That's when he'd beco a Trainer, and try to save them. He was too good. That's what got him involved in their business in the first place. I guess it runs in the family…"

Percy chuckled. "I'm out. I have things to do. You have fun fighting in a city though, Redwood. Enjoy urban warfare. Maybe after you get trapped, you'll understand why I forbid them in my region." Thor and the black haired Articuno Rider gave him a look.

"Valaskjalf is as much a city as any-" The rider had begun to speak, but Thor raised a hand.

"Do not rise to his bait, Yen." He fixed his red eyes on the Fairy King then, "It does not matter, Percival. Norstad will regrow regardless, and eventually, the Humans will form cities. You know this, Fairy King. You are the one who lengthened their lives by lifting the technology ban."

Percy gave the fla-haired 'god' a blank stare. "I made a promise, didn't I." He stood then, and left with a sigh.

The Rider of Valaskjalf stood as well, shaking her head. "I have camps to scout. Good luck, Dovahkiin."

Thor stayed, grinning as he said, "You may consider 'in', Dovahkiin. Whatever we find in that city, I shall smash! Two hamrs!" He left then to go prepare for the imminent glorious combat, and kept laughing all the way to his own tent, his loud voice still very much in their range as he started boasting to his warriors about the last ti he and Pravus had dueled.

"Tao will be ready to join us by way of Teleport, if necessary. And if they block that, sohow, he can also just fly over. Many like to forget, but he can ignite his tail still. He's faster than a Rayquaza." Alex smirked, and the remaining leaders chuckled. "Go then, you know your assignnts…the Scales can handle this with Norstad's aid."

They each departed then, and all along the line, the word went out. Another strike was coming for Ohiana, and both sides had brought their best. What the north did not know though, was that communications had been cut in the center and southern regions, all the way down to Texico. The Church was leading another simultaneous offensive, and had begun to attack before the Prophet had. It was a good strategy, as those areas had, thus far, held the longest under the onslaught. The Church's best minds had been gathered, along with several Hands, to break the Texican stalemate.

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Alex went to his own tent, and loaded the various ball holder clips spaced evenly along the cloak's inside with many of the partners he had captured in the past, and recently began properly training. The old training weight vests his original six had used had been passed on, and now he slotted in those who had proven themselves strong in the many battles he faced daily. This included his Sceptile, Staraptor, Umbreon, Espeon, Flygon, and Chesnaught, who had beco like an unofficial backup team to his main ten. Now, in war, they would augnt his ten, as no such carry limits existed in warfare. He would have had his Combusken and Rowlet trained up as well, but he'd only had so much ti, despite the fact that there were always Scales willing to spar with him.

Percy had apparently been consulted for the cloaks as well, and had sohow managed to create a link between one's PC boxes, and the small four-pronged tallic ball holders that lined the interior of the dragonhide cloaks the Scales wore. Once a Trainer put their partner's ball in, they would be ready to be retrieved from their PC, and if the cloak was damaged in battle and the sockets with it, they would remain safe as the PC system automatically recalled the ball into storage. If a ball was damaged, though its occupant would remain safe, their new ball would need to be retrieved physically at a Pokémon Center.

Naturally, due to the expensive nature of this new technology, only the Scales had been outfitted, and many among them had begun training more partners to fill their cloaks. It was always nice to have backup on the battlefield, if they needed it. Alex hopped onto Blaze, once he was ready, and he'd morized where each of his partners were with his new, strange ntal abilities to compartntalize basic information in massive quantities.

It had been a while since he'd ridden his Charizard, and he was surprised at how wide his neck had beco over the past few months. He bore his Trainer, dragonbone armor and all, into the air with ease, and roared into the sky as he ascended to the next level with a flash of red from his Fla Plate. Echoes ca from the Pokémon of the other Scales, and Hilbert joined him on his Braviary. Jess and Chari followed as well, and then the three Unovan's squads ascended after them, each Scale riding on unique mounts, though there was so species overlap, naturally. Charizard was also a very popular choice.

A horn sounded to their west, and they saw Thor, riding what looked like an iron chariot, pulled by two flaming Gogoat, soaring through the air just above his loyal soldiers. Each of those was ard with a sword and shield, and covered in golden armor that was from the sa culture that had created Thor's regalia, judging by aesthetics. They were all mounted atop a Rapidash with blue flas for manes. Though the breeds of Norstad retained their fire, their ho region's nurous ice types had made them considerably more burly than their kin across the planet. That, and their additional pair of legs, for a total of six, and evidently, more speed. Their supposedly immortal riders roared as they followed after the Thunder God, and once they left the camp, just outside of Ventosus, they spread out in a proper 'fla wall', as they called it. The Scales joined them, alongside the other fighters from Norstad.

It was a short trip to the enemy, and they knew they were seen long before they ca up to the Sippi river. Thor's n leapt it with ease, as did the Scales. The normal Norstad forces, most of whom had thus far kept pace on foot, stead in the cold night. Hot as they were though, they knew that entering that river would an death. It was still flowing, despite the cold.

Their leader, Bjalfari, stepped forward then, and awed his n by summoning his Wailord from a tiny, almost laughable ball. A generally unchanged species across the world's oceans, the massive creatures had the fecundity of rabbits. This was good, for many ocean dwelling Pokémon were indeed carnivores, and had limited berries to draw from as an alternative. The n climbed atop the creature quickly, and with one flap of its limbs, it crossed the river that all but bisected the continent. They still had to sprint along the slippery length of its back, but none of them had too much trouble.

The sky above them seed red, which ant it was dawn, or dusk. Given the nearly perpetual cloud cover that was becoming darker by the day, ti had beco wobbly for those who'd not seen the sun, only battle and snow, for over a month now. Thor was the brightest object for miles, but Alex wasn't concerned. They'd crossed the river. If the Arceans wanted to stall them, they'd lost their best chance.

Another horn from Thor split the air, and the Rapidash riders sped up to attack speed as their mounts began uniformly Fla Charging across the snowy plains, leaving their mortal comrades even further behind, but with a lted path to follow. Eventually, they saw the reason for the sudden increase in speed. Urbe Monachus lay before them. It didn't have much in the way of a skyline, being more of a spread-out grid like deal, but they didn't have to wonder where the Prophet's dais was.

A recently made 'pyramid' of circular edifices, each of which seed to hold yet more Crusaders, was lit up like a beacon on the city's skyline. A shield of blackish purple energy appeared seemingly from nowhere at the edge of the city limits, where it t the urban sprawl that was, evidently, abandoned. The riders charged through, doing their best not to cause wanton destruction. There would be plenty of that once they got into the city. By that point, each of their mounts had charged enough to reap the benefits of constantly increasing their speed, and the area around them managed to go mostly unburned.

Thor leapt from his chariot and smashed both hamrs into the shield. It wavered, and then reford itself. A voice rang out above them.

"Ah yes, the 'thunder deity'. I was hoping the Dragon would send you to …and with all your precious warriors no less. You haven't yet seen what my Crusaders can do, have you? This weather…inconvenient for war maybe, but not for the determined workers of the Church. I wish to negotiate, Asgardian. Send in your Emperor."

"Not alone!" Thor shouted, smashing Mjolnir into the shield again. Cracks across the opaque purplish darkness ford where it struck, and lightning moved across the entirety of it in seconds. "Your defense is not so great that it can withstand , worm…but if ye wish to parlay, I'll…resist killing your n. For a ti…"

The Scales caught up to the host of the Thunder God then, at the edge of the shield. They'd moved in formation, and Blaze had kept pace with them. "By all ans…" The Prophet's voice continued. "Bring all your little friends…we've been expecting them." The shield vanished then, and without its opaqueness obscuring their vision, even to their psychically enhanced eyes, they saw now what lay beneath.

Crusaders lined the main avenue into the city, on each side of the street, where normally citizens parked their vehicular transport. None were around today however, in fact, there was no sign, physical or ntal, of anyone, aside from the delusion hardened minds of the Crusaders. All their psychic thed paranoia resulted in a culture that trained its best soldiers to be all but immune to ntal Mukkery. The assembled forces waited for their ground-bound warriors on foot, and then moved together, through the city, weapons drawn, but relaxed.

"This be most definitely a trap…" The crimson-haired Asgardian growled under his breath as they strode quietly down the Crusader lined streets.

Alex nodded in agreent. "Look at their mouths." The ntal words ca from Jess, and as he did, his glacially slow to awaken anger, twitched. He knew his smirk well, and whether by individual practice or hidden holoprojector, it was plastered on the face of every heltless officer they passed.

Alex ignored it, after a ntal nudge from the First Dragon, and continued onward, pretending to ignore the ard enemies around him. He was tense though, and he knew it. It was more due to the cold than anything, as it was low enough in temperature for ice to have ford over the smirking soldier's armor and visors. He rembered being more resistant to it in past winters, but for so reason this one kept him properly shivering, even in his armor.

The temperature only lowered as they neared Pravus's monunt to the effectiveness of forced labor. The laborers were, like the city's civilians, evidently hidden, likely by dark type energy. Only rlin's power had, to Alex's knowledge, been able to see through such things before.

Pravus stood atop the dais, at the end of the only ramp that allowed access to each rim, and of course, the top. "We have a special treat today, loyal viewers." Alex, Jess, Hilbert, Bjalfari, and even Thor sighed in unison, along with their squads and assembled fighters. The Prophet glared at them, and then smiled, continuing on with his shpeal.

"It seems the Dragon Emperor wishes to have a word about our last broadcast, and being the peaceful man that I am, I've decided to hold a summit, here, in the city of our most devout monks!" He gestured then, and suddenly, those with psychic senses knew exactly where the civilians and laborers were.

The city had a fair amount of high-rise buildings for one of the smaller cities on the continent, and atop each of the now lit buildings, was the population. They each appeared to be wearing the sa blank white robes, adorned only with Arceus' symbol on the chest, and nothing else. He felt Tao's revulsion then, and the Dragon's voice echoed among his troops. "They are…they are all Purged…" Righteous fury at the sheer amount of wasted, discarded life spread through each of them, and Thor twirled his hamrs as he shouted at the Prophet.

"Oi! You and I have a score to settle, Vul Sos! Nobody on this good Earth tries to steal Yggdrassil, and lives to tell of it! You ca to my ho, and tried to strip it of Life! That...is an act of war. Privileged am I, to be able to smash your foul face live, on your own bloody show!" It seed Thor, like the rest of the easterners, were sick of hearing Pravus talk. The Asgardian bolted forward with the speed of a lightning bolt, and a pair of massive hands, ford of pure dark energy, and shaped like a Darkrai, grabbed the heads of each. Thor pushed him across the dais slowly, grinning as his golden muscles strained under his battle armor. It was Asgardian tech, and was barely distinguishable from his skin in color.

"See what your beloved Prophet really is, Fornians!" He shouted, and Pravus made a cutting gesture with his own hand. True to form however, 'technical difficulties' had begun as soon as Thor charged. For once, it hadn't been entirely untrue, as the lightning from the god's presence was making the tech atop the dais go wild.

"Look." Jess said in his mind. "The energy. I saw it last ti, but I wasn't sure…it's definitely a Darkrai, but those eyes-" "Are Human." Alex finished. They'd been disguised by the usual invisibility of the Pokémon's form which seed to have been rged to the back of Pravus in an all-encompassing shield. "The question then becos…whose eyes are those…"

He had the thought at the sa ti the Dragon did. "I will show the Chief, do not move your gaze." Thankfully, Pravus and the dual-wielding Thunder God were trading blows, and had, after several minutes, each gained grins of genuine amusent. They were both powerful fighters that rarely, if ever, had a chance to go all out in a lee.

Tao's voice returned a mont later. "We were correct in our suspicions. The Chief was deeply shocked by the sight of that Darkrai, and her eyes…there is only one place in the world that has, ever, successfully created, and fused with, the Pitch Black Pokémon." He paused for effect, and spoke then only to Alex, Hilbert, and Jess.

"There is a reason the lands on the continent to our south were given the title of 'Dark Continent'. It's mostly covered in jungle, though the coast is taken up by Rio's size, or rather, the ruins of it. It is a place where Dark Types and Grass Types flourish. Just south of Fornia's side of Texico, there was a civilization that, around three thousand years ago, began fusing their entire population with Darkrai they created through artificial ans that eventually got them wiped out. Zigma, the Guardian of that land was split in the fury of the conflict, but the fused Humans were all turned to ghosts, vengeful ones, able only to lash out at those brave, or foolish, enough to venture into their ruined city in the mountains. It was believed that after a few centuries of starving, the ghosts would fade back to the Spirit World. The last I heard, Rio fell into so kind of internal city-wide civil war that wiped out almost all of them. Now their city is mostly in ruins as well, though evidently they still occupy a small part of them."

"So…you're saying Pravus is what, so kind of Darkrai enhanced Human who…swam out to sea? Perhaps to escape whatever wrath was brought on his people…but he was dragged north by the current to…oh…" Alex paused as, the more he thought about it, the more the facts fit into place. It would explain why he'd known how to fuse with a Darkrai, and evidently make one as well. "So if he had to create the one Thor's fighting now…presumably by using energy from Vega, and a…suitable Human…"

Jess finished for him, this ti. "What happened to the first Darkrai he had?"

They looked up as the two whirling, dueling figures having, and evidently enjoying, their epic clash split apart with a forceful boom that had co from Mjolnir and its twin smashing into a Dark Pulse that Pravus had evidently been attempting to condense into a much heavier, damaging attack. He felt Arthur's amusent, for he too had struggled with the absurd density of condensed dark energy. Until he'd infused a bit of psychic to keep it light enough to move. In his experience, the orb devoured what little psychic energy he put into it long before it made contact with whatever he was striking. Such was the nature between the two types.

Thor's crimson cape had been torn away in the fierce clashes of energy between electric and dark, but the god himself looked unhurt elsewhere. Pravus similarly was all but unscathed, for whenever Mjolnir ca close to smashing him once more, one of the hands would reform, catch it, and push it away.

Furious at the constant redirection, Thor hit harder, using both hamrs at once, over and over. The hands slowly withered as the Darkrai took damage, and seeing his chance for final victory, an end to the war, and even more fa and glory from humanity, Thor swung them both up with a flourish, and brought them down.

Or he would have, if the dark arms hadn't reford suddenly, very much still corporeal, and caught Thor's burly arms in each hand. That left his chest open to the Prophet's dark sword, and it was as he struck that the man's private show ca back on, the tiny robotic drones once more whizzing to life and recording. On the Fornian's side, the Prophet's aura, powers, and other such abilities were always, always shaded to be portrayed as golden light. The sa held true for his Crusaders. Only the soldiers themselves, and those who saw them in person, knew the truth of his 'divine power'.

The smart ones hadn't questioned the disconnect from television and reality, and had reasoned that one must use both darkness and light to fulfill the Alpha's mission. It wasn't all that different from what Tao taught, though true to form, the cult structure had abused their people's honest devotion at every single turn. The ones who dared to suggest that 'using the essence of evil on our friends' was wrong, were the ones who ended up in labor camps for asking questions above their station about the Leader, and the wisdom of his decisions.

Thor's armor proved its worth as the Prophet struck the struggling Asgardian, but the Darkrai had a firm grip, and refused to let go. Thor shifted his chest, causing the blade tip to slide harmlessly along his golden breastplate, and kept the sword from piercing him by finding a seam in the alien tal. For the mont.

Snarling in irritation, and seeing the eastern forces starting to rush in to aid their ally, and potentially end the war, Pravus let the darkness envelop him, the sword grew larger, the hilt ford a v shape just below where the wide, black blade grew, and it took the man two of his own human hands to swing. He thrust up at Thor from a low angle, and the Asgardian gave a breathless gasp as the Shadow blade tore right through him.

Alex was at the top just in ti for the spray that followed, and then the sickening sound of the heavy body hitting the ground as the blade phased through it. He glanced at his armor, covered in the blood of one he considered a friend. He stared Pravus down, and the purple-blue energy in his eyes and aura shifted to golden Light.

"Now now, little dragon, you might not want to Purge in front of the entirety of my following…I'll only co back stronger, and the people's faith will be rewarded again and again. I have a different proposition…" He gestured to three bodies that lay, smoking, beside his Pokéter, at the back part of the rounded stone dais. "Have a session on my Pokéter. We'll even lift the rules, for this one special circumstance, and show it live for the first ti ever…lives are on the line after all, and this is history." His smirk widened to a grin.

Alex tightened his grip on the ignited plasma sword, and felt Lux' eyes on him. Thor's blood had, apparently, brought out the electric type's rage. He was urging his Trainer to use him, and strike the darkness dead. This ga was what he wanted, it was all part of the trap. Alex quickly thought over his options, and then took a deep breath as with naught but a whisper, he made a third option. He t the Prophet's grin with his usual smirk, and powered down his sword. Pravus did the sa, and they both moved towards the machine, eyes never moving from the other. Behind them, Thors soldiers rushed to attend to his wound,but Pravus seed not to care, now that he'd proven his dominance.

"I don't understand what you get out of…this…" Alex said, gesturing to the elaborate asures that had evidently been taken just to get him on this machine. It was undoubtedly from a source of Light, but this close, his third eye could see how skewed it had beco. Twisted, until it could do little more than burn those who touched it, or not, at the reader's command. He resisted laughing, as he had a feeling that was what the Prophet intended. Pretend to give him a fair, honest, ter session, a hallmark of his people's culture and religion, and have him 'die accidentally' as a result. Evidently it wasn't unexpected, on this machine. He supposed it was a good plan, given that his Hand hadn't gotten the job done.

"My people consider these sessions sacred, young Redwood." Pravus said, sitting properly, as he powered up the machine. The cara drones buzzed around him, and from behind each of the sitting leaders, Scales and Crusaders flanked their backs, staring the others down, ready to start fighting if sothing went awry. They all knew it was a trap, there was no way things wouldn't go sideways. They were ready for sideways.

"This Machine, and those descended from its Most Holy design, are specifically tuned to hone in on one's Cris, and advise a Judgent for the severity of them. The Light, praise be, is rciful, and usually only leaves small burns that heal in short amounts of ti, but sotis, one's cris are so great, the Light eradicates them on the spot." He smirked. "Down to the last atom. This Judgent, we have determined through our advanced science and technology, cos straight from the Alpha himself. Therefor…it cannot be wrong. Once we are done here, it is my hope that this war will finally end, and my loyal soldiers can stop dying."

Alex nodded quietly as the Prophet spoke, and casually glanced upwards at the clouded sky. Reassurance flooded him, and the Scales behind him shifted. "Very well. I agree to your tests. If I prove worthy of the Alpha's Judgent, you will stand down, at once. We all serve the sa Maker, we do not need to keep killing each other."

"My thoughts exactly." Pravus said, grinning, and gesturing to the silvery tal canisters at the opposite end of the Pokéter. "After this, there will be no reason to keep fighting."

"You're running out of ti, Alex…" Tao muttered in his head, both amused and satisfied that they had just gotten more than enough from the Prophet, in his own words, for future de-escalation. The Dragon had warned that the clever villain might not use his silvered tongue, but in hindsight, there was no way his ego would've let him stay quiet. He appeared confident in victory, or at the very least, winning this part of the battle, and then charging straight for Unova, and total domination.

"Then let there be peace." Alex said, winking at the floating caras as he gripped the cylindrical canisters of ltal essence. Tao had taught him much about how energy could flow, any energy, theoretically. If one knew how to harness it, one could turn it on their opponent. Such tactics were a trademark of the Dragon's fighting style. Control, balance, and upsetting that balance, in combat, making their energy work for you instead of your opponent.

Moreover, he and his enhanced brain had gotten familiar with what they were using to make the plasma swords function, and he could, and had, often repaired those that had been damaged after a hard battle. The best part of the ltal's gifts was that, if you used a steel type crystal or plate, you could repair damaged parts in the field relatively quickly. Other tals did not nd so easily, and Tao had said they simply did not have ti for him to learn how to properly wield and build with steel energy.

Thankfully an Iron Plate crystal had been fused by way of the Voice to his armor, as an Aggron would, eventually, be part of his team. Cenomons still had yet to evolve, though he was a good battler in his own right. He braced himself, and felt the cylinders grow hot beneath the black sh that also protected his hands, as well as his joints.

The Prophet smirked, and began to read the instrunt. "This isn't the first ti you've been on a Pokéter…you've done this before, haven't you?"

Alex glared at him, and the grip on the canisters tightened. The smirking Prophet knew full damn well what he'd caused with his first ter session. The last ti he'd been on such a machine, albeit a normal, non-glowing one, he'd lost his chance to be a Trainer. Or so he'd believed, for a very long ti.

"I have. It may interest your people to know that you sabotage the futures of innocent children, whose only cri is being related to an old man that subverted your 'legendary security' after being wrongfully imprisoned." He stared at the caras then, for they were indeed still rolling. By the Church's own rules, a session could not be interrupted, and this one had been ordered to be perford live, by the Prophet himself. "I doubt those you've put in your labor camps are seeing this…but if they are, I want them to know that escape is still very much possible…and even if you fail, worry not." He shifted his smirk and gaze back to Pravus. "I'll free you myself, soon enough…"

"Oh, will you…" A surge of what could only have been Light energy ca from the machine then, surprising Alex entirely as it broke through his Aura shield with little to no effort. He quickly guided the energy, and kept it in his arms, before forcing it back from whence it ca, through the canisters, but the ter seed unchanged. Pravus appeared satisfied though, for all intents and purposes, it seed as though the sturdy Dragon Emperor had been thoroughly shocked. "How about now?"

Another surge ca, and he played along, the snarls of pain were real enough, but Alex kept his posture, and his grip. His hands were on fire, but he didn't release the canisters. That would give the Prophet an excuse to end things early, rather than continue toying with him. A quick glance at the man's not unpleasant face told him what he needed to know.

The Darkrai around Pravus, still invisible to normal eyes, seed to be looking down at him with sorrow. He winked at it, too, as another surge of energy traveled further up his arms than he would've liked. Both were shaking now, and flaring streams of light energy escaped from the joints between the dragonbone of his armor.

"I've bought you a few minutes…" Tao's voice ca, and Alex got the ntal image of the dragon, likely from centuries past, bashing a plain leather ball, evidently from a human, higher and higher into the sky with his tail. He started to chuckle, and imdiately regretted it as another surge of Light ran up his arms. He controlled it once more, and forced it back into the machine. The pain was intense, and he bit his lip. He couldn't feel it though; his brain was preoccupied with the intense pain in his arms. No distractions, then.

"Seven bursts, and the Dragon Emperor still retains consciousness. Impressive, to say the least. Only my Hands have ever endured so much. Admit to your Cris, Alexander Redwood…and you may yet be forgiven…I'll even offer a one-ti chance to join , my people, my Church. We don't need to kill each other, right?" The carefully controlled sarcasm irked Alex, but to his followers, sounded as genuine as everything else their beloved leader said.

"What…cris…" He said, surprised at how hard talking had beco. Another surge, but he'd been expecting it, this ti. Once more he let the energy travel up his tortured limbs, and then guided it back down, which was just as painful, straight into the machine. Finally, he sensed a shift within it. An imbalance, small, but enough.

Pravus raised an eyebrow at his reading, but continued on anyways. "Co now, use that clever brain…everyone has things they regret. Choices, they wish they could undo. Share yours with us. There is no judgent, at least from us, during a session. You are with friends…"

The Prophet's voice seed to cut through the pain he felt in his arms, which trembled every few seconds now. Still, his grip remained iron. He glanced up again, and hid a smirk as he 'pretended' to double over in pain before another surge of Light. He felt a strange, unnatural compulsion in his mind, to share his pain, things he would normally never utter aloud, to let all of it spill out, and let the Light decide if he was too terrible to keep living. He could see why normal people, without crystals or armor or psychic powers, fell to a machine like this so easily.

The tal cylinders had, he'd slowly realized, ford a direct connection to his nervous system, piercing his gloves, as the session went on. Normally harmless, this connection allowed the reader to asure the potential of the human linked to the machine, though in this era, ter readers had strict orders to extract secrets from their parishioners, which were then used to the Church's benefit, and the result had been the Pokéters becoming little more than very glorified 'lie detectors'. The promise of privacy was, as with so much else in their cult, an illusion ant to reassure the person on the receiving end of the ter that what they said would be kept hidden.

Thankfully, the Light was not a mindless, all-destroying force that left death in its path when unleashed. It only ca from one known source, and Arceus was a rciful deity. Alex knew if it reached his brain, as Pravus likely assud it already had, he wouldn't be able to recover. Another surge ca through his nerves, and the pain was almost too much. He'd retreated from his ntal link to Jess and his partners, as he knew them well, and knew they wouldn't be able to sit by if they had any idea of just how bad he was hurting. Arthur knew, of course, as their link was far more ingrained thanks to his typing, but the Gallade also knew he had to resist the urge to charge in and help. For now.

Sweat fell from his jaw and beard as he panted, but his arms, he forced to stay in place. Slowly, he sat up again. Pravus gave him a magnanimous smile. "Confess, and the session will be over."

When another burst was slow to co, he waited. A minute passed. He waited. Another, and he knew ti was fading fast. He forced himself to sit up. "You want…to hear what I am guilty of? What I regret?" He looked down again, composed himself, only to hunch further forward as another burst of Light surged into him. That was all he needed. Sadistic types like Pravus likely didn't know just how ineffective torture was, as a rule, but instead of lying to end it, he had other plans.

Part of his leg armor began to glow with steel type energy, but he kept it out of sight below the table, hoping the sadistic man wouldn't notice, enjoying the session as he was. He widened the connection to the cylinders, and redirected as much Light as he could through them. One more, he thought, as he sensed the imbalance in the device grow. One more…he could handle one more. But, he realized, he was out of ti.

The sky above them took on a dark red hue, and the Prophet looked up, eyes narrowing. "All I regret…" Alex said, letting the pain fade from his mind, and replacing it with his growing rage, "Is that I let a worm like you control my life for so long…my biggest regret? Giving up my Venusaur, when I earned my Trainer ID…that's the only ti I've ever been forced to abandon a friend…" The eyes narrowed, and the dragon energy flared to life again as he focused his anger. His aura shifted from blue, to a deep crimson, that matched the sky above them. Pravus stood, rage coming over his features as he realized, sohow, his opponent was not as weak as he should be. "And you are the reason I had to in the first place!"

He focused his power then, empowering his psychic energy until it let the Light energy flow into him from the universe, and his entire form began shining with golden light. He directed it into the machine's imbalanced internal energy, overloading it. "What!?" Pravus switched the knob that powered the machine off, but the needle displaying the energy reading remained where it was, entirely too far to the right side of the display, in the red. Nobody had ever forced the needle into the red before on this machine, not even Pravus had enough power to force it. He took half a step back as he realized he couldn't stop it, only to have it explode in his face with a flash of blinding Light.

When the flash faded, Alex found himself on his knees, arms hanging limp, still panting. He slowly reconnected to his team, and assured them that he was okay. Jess hadn't waited, reforging their link herself, and shielding him with a Barrier right before the machine went critical. She too, had seen the imbalance, what he'd been trying to do, and as usual, he'd forgotten to leave enough energy to defend himself.

His entire form was smoking, as he slowly stood, and he looked over at Pravus. The man was on his back, obscured by the table, and smoking more than he was. It was at that mont that his whispered Words manifested. Coming down from the clouds, seven massive teor-like objects, wreathed in crimson, sparking flas, hurtled towards the dais, in a disturbingly perfect circle. The Crusaders, who had begun powering up their staves when the light exploded, barely had ti to react before the massive spheres of draconic energy, summoned with naught but a whisper hidden in a deep breath at the start of this charade, ca down on them.

The smart ones had shifted their weapons to fire type energy, and ford personal shields around themselves. Unfortunately for their comrades, panic had won out by majority, and once the ashy clouds of teoric impact blew away in the fierce winter wind, the dais stood all but unoccupied, as it was covered with burned, wounded n. The Scales moved through them with brutal efficiency, and ended their pain with rciful strikes to vital organs.

With the dais suddenly free of their control, and their Prophet's status unknown, the remaining forces in the city began to converge on them, and the eastern forces reinforced the top level of the structure, turning the long ramp down to the street into a killing zone as Pokémon joined the fight. Eventually, Crusaders stopped charging blindly into the various attacks from the gathered Scales, and bided their ti to make a concentrated charge.

In short order, they began climbing, alternating positions to form defensive spheres of elental energy powered by their armor, which joined together when close enough. The Scales drove them back rather easily though, as those defending were Champions, and had their powerful partners using rock type attacks, which both severely damaged or cut through the Crusader's fire and ice counter-attacks, and were entirely immune to electricity. Moreover, they could also make the ramp very smooth, and difficult for the heavy humans to climb, especially while defending themselves.

The gathered host of Thor who had ran to their fallen leader, reported that he was comatose, self-induced, to begin the healing process. Evidently, he expected his allies to stabilize him in ti, which they did, though how exactly, the others could not see, as the tall riders obscured any foreign eyes from peeking through. When asked how they were going to heal a wound like that, the only answer the stone-faced warriors gave was, "Asgardian technology."

The remaining eastern forces spread out atop the large stone structure, as Alex and Jess went to examine Pravus, to make sure he'd been fully ended. She'd already managed to use Recover on his right arm, and was tending to his left, as he froze, and shifted back to combat readiness. The spot where Pravus had lain was empty, only a charred mark on the stone remained where he'd been lying only monts before. "Bloody Darkrai…we need to separate him from it. Every ti, it saves him."

"We need…" Jess said, as she focused her scarlet-pink energy on his arm, "To get out of this city alive. And figure out how he fused himself to a Darkrai in the first place."

Alex reached out to Tao then. "How did that go? Did they cut off broadcasting?"

"No. The feed is still live, sohow." Tao responded, sounding perplexed. The cara drones were, like everything else after the explosion of power, smoldering wrecks. Alex ntally ordered the most tech savvy of his Scales to secret them away, for they needed a back door into the Church's propaganda machine. "As far as I can tell, they gave your abilities the opposite coloration of the Prophet's."

"So it looks like I just blew him up with a giant darkness bomb. Great. Even when we win, we lose…" Alex muttered, flexing his hands as Jess finished. He used them both to hug her, murmuring, "I'm fine, really…" before letting her go.

An irritatingly familiar voice echoed above them. "Win? You have won nothing, half-breed." They looked up at the dark cover of the ash-filled clouds, as a familiar looking ship descended from the upper atmosphere. It was Percy's but it had been given the Arcean treatnt. That ant more guns, more shielding, and a giant symbol of the Alpha, jutting up from the rear this ti. "I'll give you points for being clever, overloading my machine with too much energy…you would've made a powerful Hand. Now, all you'll make is a corpse. Such a waste…"

Singing ca through the sounds of battle by the edges of the dais, and they glanced to the rooftops of the city's few skyscrapers. The shield from earlier reford, once the Prophet's ship was low enough. It began heading straight for them.

The pair of bow-mounted triple barreled cannons on the forrly stealthy airship ford six orbs of energy, two for each typing the Church had adopted as weaponry. Bjalfari gave a sharp whistle then. "Mount up with Thor's n, lads! We're getting out of here!" He t Alex's gaze, and the Unovan tilted his head questioningly. "Thor is severely hurt, and, well…" Bjlafari gestured, and the city below them teed with the white armor and visored faces of thousands of soldiers, all heading towards them.

"Right." Alex said, shaking his head free of the painful daze springing the trap had caused. "Of course…fall back, all of you!" Hilbert took his Scales into the air, and headed southeast, over the city, and towards the battle lines that, presumably, needed reinforcing. The rest of them leapt atop their mounts as well, just as the beams from the ship fired. The entire top half of the stone monunt was blown away, but the resulting dust and rubble only hindered the Church's troops, and gave the easterners cover to get away.

Thor's n had retained their Rapidash, and each of the blue-maned beasts had Bounced high into the air with the rest of them, so gaining additional height as massive chunks of stone flew past them. Not all the regular Norstadders escaped unscathed however, but the survivors knew that anyone who fell to the teeming horde of Crusaders below was already lost. They didn't take non-civilian prisoners very often. Alex's squad, which was essentially three in one at this point, saw where the Thunder God's warriors were landing, and battle erupted as they cleared the space for the descending fire horses. They were surrounded before long, all of them fighting and blocking as best they could.

Each of the Scales had called out their partners then, and many had bolstered their ranks by summoning Pokémon from their cloak holders. With unity acquired through practice in combat, those who could defend, rged their defenses, which were mainly rock type, and any ice attacks that ca close to hitting their barriers were burned away by the Charizard, Talonfla, and other aerial fighters as well. Blaze was leading them, and the Scale's entire defensive strategy worked like a well-oiled machine as they covered for each other's weaknesses. None of them fell, as the Champions defended the landing host of Thor, and once the Rapidash were all down, they needed an exit.

As if on cue, a pair of very angry, very on fire Gogoats burst through the Crusaders on their eastern side. Bjalfari and two other warriors helped Thor into his chariot, though in the chaos it was hard to see how the red-haired Asgardian was faring. Once loaded up, the Gogoat both reared up, and then began charging back down the path of fire and death they'd created to reach the embattled eastern soldiers. The Rapidash needed no urging, and the gathered forces began moving as they beat a hasty retreat.

Then, for the first ti in their brief history, the Emperor's own squad suffered losses. Moving so quickly back towards their lines had left gaps in their defense, which the Arceans abused to great effect. Bjalfari lost three of his Scales, and ten of his warriors, Jess lost two of her own, and Alex's own squad lost three. The Sippi region had only contributed eight forr Champions to the cause. So regions had as many as twenty, others as few as two. Sippi's in particular unanimously resented the Arcean plant that had taken their region, one Valarian Nocturne. The forr Champions had, evidently, ford a plan in the quiet of their minds, and had chosen to sacrifice themselves, and their partners, to the hordes of angry Crusaders to buy the others more ti.

Alex felt each of them fall, his sense of helplessness and anger rising with each death, and as the third of his own squad gave her life, he'd had enough. Three Champions, and over eighty Pokémon at their command…all brought down with rciless efficiency by the Church's horde of loyal n, and their own partners. Any rules of battle had been utterly tossed out the window. Alex reached out to his ace in the hole as they approached the wall of opaque darkness. "Are you here, yet?"

Alex smirked, as he was answered with a thundering roar, that made the Crusaders pause. Jess had reached the opaque barrier first, and with a single aura enhanced punch, had smashed a usable hole in the darkness with focused fighting energy. Rapidash began streaming through, and she moved to open another. Above them, thunder bood as the upper part of the shield was blasted apart. Many of the Crusaders stationed within the city had been sent against the Kanadian Wall before now, and that roar haunted their nightmares. A cry escaped from one of the soldiers, a woman, who sounded several rows away from the current mob of chaotic Pokémon battling and combat. "Black Death cos! Switch shields to-"

The words were cut off as a massive pillar of electricity ca down from the darkened heavens, and obliterated the speaker, and any who'd been near her general vicinity. Night had fallen by now, and the night was where the Black Death had earned his nickna. The Charge Beam moved in a tight circle around the easterners, and those fighting made short work of the few who escaped unscathed, before continuing to retreat after the fiery column of Norstadders following the unstoppable charge of Thor's Gogoat.

For the first ti, Alex actually saw the Crusaders pause. They'd switched their weapons to ice typing, but the sky was a ss of reforming smoke, and chaotic Pokémon battles between Scales who excelled on their flying mounts, and aerial mounted Crusaders. The moon reappeared abruptly as Shruikan winged away for another destructive pass. As he circled, which took him just outside the city, and out of range, he ga evolved.

The Crusaders, instead of aiming for him, aid for the similarly glowing Trainer giving him power, only to find their ice attacks smashed apart by blade arms, burning with Light energy from the Emperor's Gallade. Just as quickly as they'd struck, the Gallade retaliated, and entire squads of Crusaders fell to the whirling dervish of death that was Arthur. There were always more to replace them, though. Alex fell back as he let the others run the final stretch to the suburban outskirts, as he turned in the middle of the main road leading out of the city, and prepared to stall their foes. Otherwise, they'd chase them all the way back to command.

As Shruikan turned to deal with the advancing airship firing ice beams at him at a rapid pace, Cenomons appeared before his Trainer from underground, where he'd been making well-tid Dig attacks against soldiers who shifted their energy to electric. He'd followed the current then, and struck at the source. Usually, it wasn't an ally, and he'd have to dig again before retaliatory flas hit him. Thankfully, he was still rather fast. When it ca to digging, at least.

"Alright Ceno, just like we practiced. Bearing Shot! Spread it as wide as possible!" The Lairon hunched his entire body, growling as the enemy, and their Pokémon, ca closer. With a sound like cannon fire, tiny balls of glowing steel shot from each of the Pokémon's holes, along his back and head. Five tis he repeated it, and the Crusaders paused, as the multitude of orbs stuck themselves to the nearest enemy target that the Lairon had marked. It was possible to hit allies with this as well, but he could usually spot friends from foes, with his Trainer's help. A piece of his attention was always there for him, in the back of his mind, if he needed it. It was reassuring to have on hand.

The Dragon Emperor raised a hand towards the Church forces who, upon seeing the orbs didn't really do anything but stick to them and glow, began charging him once more, intent on ending the war by taking his head. These were no back-woods soldiers that had never heard of the Scales of Balance. They knew how to kill Scales. Overwhelming them with varied lee strikes was the easiest thod, while one had their Pokémon firing from mid to long range behind them as well. Their swords couldn't block everything.

The grimly smirking horn-held figure's eyes flared as he summoned the power of electricity, and the surrounding area took on a yellow hue. Sparks flared along every surface, and the internal systems of the Crusader's armor went screwy…for a few monts. They had been built to channel this very elent after all. The fingers snapped, and the gathered forces, who were only a battling field's length away from him now, glanced skyward as they heard an all too familiar whooshing sound. The sound of Death inhaling. In the quiet before the strike, Alex's Voice reached Shruikan, and his victims as well. "Thunder."

The now ga evolved Shruikan had once more blocked the moon, and given the nature of formations that were chasing fleeing soldiers, a long line of the fastest had ford while the slower soldiers sward in behind them. The dragon opened his maw, but instead of a pillar of electrical death that only left charred, useless armor and smoking skeletons, the very clouds bent to his will as he used his Thunder.

He took his best shot at the closest opponent who'd been marked, and as the bolt struck ho, it spread. Like a line of macabre dominoes, the Crusaders fell one after the other as the deadly energy spread through the silvery orbs, through the line of the fastest soldiers, and then into a good portion of the advancing front. Chaos erupted as divisions were left leaderless, and the charge faltered. Alex raised his hand again, and grabbed onto the black scaled tail that was all but invisible in the dark night to human eyes as Shruikan picked him up, and quickly matched pace with the rest of their war party.

"Not again! Fire everything!" Pravus' mad voice failed to hide the pain the eruption of Light had evidently caused him. It made so sense, as he'd discovered dark types were weak to that kind of energy. Alex recalled the various partners who had, thanks to his eeveelutions, not lost a single mber. Between his Sylveon and Espeon, they had been an effective force, both defending and healing, as well as attacking when the mont ca, but now was the ti to pull back.

It was good he did, for Percy's ship had begun firing random beams of energy at any remaining enemy forces, which at this point, were his own partners. Eventually though, he recalled all of them from Shruikan's back. Seeing his prey fleeing, Pravus gave another command. "All soldiers! All ships! Ice Type attacks now! Fill the sky with them! Fire at will!"

Alex swore, and ran up the length of his dragon's neck, leaping off his snout, and recalling him as ice energy filled the air. His aura flared, and he propelled himself towards his troops, who were waiting by the Sippi River. While delayed, the Crusaders had regained marching patterns minutes after the Emperor's attack, and were now marching in pace with Pravus' newest flagship.

Alex raised a brow as he landed, and saw Jess and her squad ascending into the air. He found Hilbert, and their squads rged as they ford a defensive periter. "What are they up to then?"

Hilbert looked at him. "She said you were the one who gave her orders to fly into the air…"

Alex glanced up quickly. "I did not…wait, she's shielding herself from ." He went quiet as he gave her the ntal equivalent of a loud knocking sound. He knew he'd made her wince. So she could hear him, at least. "Care to tell where you're going?"

He sensed her wink at him. "Hush…and enjoy the show."

Alex raised a brow, and then turned his gaze towards what she'd ntally gestured to. His eyes went wide. He'd never seen a Suicune up close, but there was no way they were supposed to be this big. Moreover, its mane was blue, rather than purple just as Connor's partner was orange furred, and not yellow. Even Connor's Raikou hadn't been so…imposing, though. Professor Buckeye was atop the Legendary Pokémon, and he gave Alex a nod as they trotted by, following after Jess and her Scales.

She'd found her lover's choice of squadmates for her amusing, and had run with it once she returned from Kalos, going as far as bringing in five additional Articuno riders she'd befriended in her ti at their village. They stood out among her Scales, and flew in a V formation of Articuno just above them. Jess was on Folokraan now, and Chari was with Blaze amongst the Pokémon of Hilbert and Alex's combined Scale force. Below them, there was a soft boom, and a cloud of snow as Suicune accelerated towards the enemy.

When both it and the Professor were about ten miles from the Sippi river, the old man let out a sharp whistle. The fliers above began circling his position, and from the distance, ca their foe. Pravus's ship continued to charge towards them as fast as it could. It was much slower now, laden down as it was with all the upgrades. It had lost any chance of being stealthy, but it still fired ice energy beams as it advanced.

Below the ship, the Crusaders ca as well, once more mounted as they had been for their Blitz. This was, evidently, ant to be their second attempt, a strike all the way through Unova. A howl tore through the air, and the relatively barren grassy plains that made up this part of the continent were flooded with mist that rose from the river and the snow, and encompassed what was supposed to be the battlefield.

The Asgardian forces led the charge back to Ventosus, their main focus on healing Thor. Alex didn't mind though, for he agreed with their priorities. His Scales could handle this. "Everyone heal up! If you need items, co to . I want full health, and power on all your partners. Don't worry about how much you use, just give anyone who fought what they need to handle another round."

Arthur handled using items on their own team, and Shruikan made a brief appearance as well, healed himself, and then rapidly headed north once more to make sure the Church hadn't grown bold in his brief absence from the wall. The air had slowly grown even colder, and snow fell anew from the ash covered sky. He knew Jess had sothing to do with it, but she was still being dodgy about what they were up to.

As the Scales under Alex and Hilbert healed and restored their frankly absurd number of usable partners, Jess and her squad prepared to stall the advance, and perhaps end the battle before it properly began. Percy's ship fired beams uselessly into the fog-covered battlefield, and eventually ceased. Beams of ice fired back at the Arcean lines, and the Crusaders adjusted as necessary. Once they had ice shields however, a massive Blast Burn appeared from the mist and tore through most of the Arcean front line. The airship that held Pravus got to experience the power of a Thunder attack from a ga evolved and pure special attacker as Jess ordered Amphi to aim for one of the engines, and shared her psychic sight to account for Thunder's inaccuracy. Other fire moves imdiately followed the massive thunderbolt. The Crusaders shifted their shield's typing again, and were t with ground and water moves in response.

Rightly assuming their attackers were on flying types, beams of electricity filled from the Crusaders soon filled the air, and actually managed to pierce the mist. Only a few of the Articuno were hit, and those managed to land and recover to get back in the fight. The misty cover was invaluable, but Suicune wasn't done.

Suddenly, the airship halted its forward montum, as did the winded, and diminished lines of Crusaders. More stread in from the city, and it beca clear Pravus was giving his slower n a chance to mass up. When bunched together and shielding themselves in unison, few attacks could bring down the Church's soldiers. Or even manage to hit them, and as their lines reford, their shield once more protected the airship from damage. What smoke there had been, ceased, as Fornian engineers handled and solved for the problem. Crafting a new part or six was easy when one had a living tal Pokémon on hand.

As the Church forces regained their composure and ford a proper battle line, as they had in the first Blitz, they charged again towards Ventosus, and entered the mist covered battlefield. They knew where they were headed, and it was Pravus' belief that they could handle whatever surprise the easterners had prepared. Without the Thunder God, they would be mowed down.

Another howl filled the air around them, and the mist turned into a Blizzard. There was a faint icy blue flash ahead of them within the storm, and without warning, the Blizzard beca sothing else entirely, as the five remaining Articuno riders took control of the energy. That was when the Crusaders heard sothing on the wind.

It wasn't a howl this ti, but a song, one in a deep, unknown tongue. Those aboard Pravus' ship knew it well, for many had been in Norstad, and hadn't left their posts in the months since. Flying type energy exploded from the airship in a circular wave that dispelled the clouds, if not the snow. Above them, the large once more full moon hung in the sky, and blocking their view of it was a rider, with fire for hair.

She raised a dragonbone covered fist, and the following snowstorm blinded the entirety of the Arcean lines with its intensity. The temperature dropped, rapidly, and Pravus gave the command. "All forces, switch to fire typing." The airship, for it had defenses as well, used the energy in its weapons, and rged it with the cohesive fire-shield blob the soldiers made up just below them. The result was a rather warm, comfortable do that would burn away any ice attack. Or so they'd believed.

"Kun Iirik!" The Shout echoed across the battlefield, even through the shield of fire, and from the white void surrounding them, ca an Ice Beam. It didn't look normal however, and it was Doctor Ein who realized what it was, though he couldn't convey it quick enough to matter.

When infused with Shadow, an Articuno could use a devastatingly powerful move that was, essentially, just an Ice Beam enhanced by Shadow energy. Now, it seed, one of the irritating riders from before had thought to combine it with Light energy. The beam shattered the shield, and as a result, the enhanced armor of every Crusader suddenly lost power, burnt out by the overheating power units built into the back of each Crusader's armor. The suits had tried to output enough heat to match the frigid beam, but between it and the rapidly dropping temperature, the heat had been too much for the suits to sustain. Their weapons still worked though, and their leaders imdiately ordered a barrage of fire typed beams into the sky.

It wasn't enough, though. The Sheer Cold attack from no less than five Articuno, each much larger than the one that had broken their enemy's shield, struck ho as their defenses failed, and the beams of fire were swallowed up into the howling storm of ice and snow. As the roughly two hundred thousand Crusaders began to freeze, those at the back of their respective division began to flee for the city.

Seeing the first few lines already frozen solid in painful, horrific death poses, morale shattered, and the entire army began to flee. Or rather, they tried. Suicune had not been idle, and the impossibly fast Pokémon had run around the entirety of the Arcean lines, forming a barrier of ice with its Ice Beam as it ran.

Buckeye kept his partner healed and energized as they penned in the troops, and closed the jaws around the trap Tao had set. The Dragon had expected his forces would need a fast exit, and fast exits against n like Pravus ant a hard charge to follow. Using the river, and a few Legendary Pokémon, the clever Dragon had cut off his opponent's sight, attack and defense strength, and now had sealed off their escape as well, as the first fleeing soldiers soon found out.

Regular soldiers from Ohiana itself, made of mostly Trainers and militia who had thus far been under Buckeye's command, quickly traveled along the flat top of the new wall of ice, and began firing down at the soldiers quick-witted enough to realize that this wall was going to turn the battlefield before it into a killing zone if they didn't bring it down.

So reinforced it with rock type moves, while others moved all the way to the far end, to make sure everything was covered. They knew it likely wouldn't hold if the entire field army began retreating, but they'd been told most of the soldiers would be frozen before they ever reached the barrier.

Tao, who had spent several minutes filling in Alex on what exactly the Hel their plan was, sent his Scales back into battle, and Alex and Hilbert's squad's once more joined with the ladies. They charged through the ranks of frozen Crusaders, their armor protecting them from the worst of the still ongoing Sheer Cold.

They did co upon the edge of it however, and as they saw the Riders of Valaskjalf freezing entire battle companies solid they also once more found the Prophet's ship. It was ascending, rapidly. Evidently Pravus realized his people below were already lost. Jess gave the order for the Sheer Cold to cease, but the damage had been done. Out of the two hundred thousand loyal Crusaders who'd followed their Prophet into the latest battle of this war, only two divisions, roughly fifty thousand n, remained.

Twin Ice Beams shot from either side of the field then, illuminating the sky with their brilliance as the clouds and snow faded. They struck the airship on each tandem wing rotor, freezing them both solid, and the massive ship began to plumt. This, more than anything, was what killed most of the soldiers.

Pravus did not, however, go down with his ship. Indeed, it seed the wreckage was entirely empty of non-frozen or Crusader held victims. As usual, the slippery Shadow abomination had a way of quick escape, if it was necessary. Alex knew though, that the fact that he'd had to use it would likely an incredible rage from the man, and new bruises for his subordinates.

Once the Prophet's ship crashed and the Scales hit it with several Hyper Beams, and elental variations of similarly powerful attacks, the remaining Crusaders had surrendered, after a grisly chain of murdered lieutenants, and anyone with any kind of authority in the Church. The man who'd led his fellow soldiers in rebelling against a suicidal charge on the Dragon Emperor, called 'Reggie' or 'Reg' by his companions, had offered conditions to Alex that he'd accepted.

They would renounce their ties to the Church, and in return, the Unovans would imprison them sowhere far, far away from all the death and murder until the war ended. At that point, he said, he would like to return ho, but he would leave that decision to Alex.

The Dragon Emperor had thoroughly shocked them all when he'd accepted the terms, and began speaking to them. "I know you all have heard plenty of things about from your Church. Well the leader of that sa Church just abandoned you to, presumably, die by my hand. The thing is, I don't want to kill you. Any of you. We never wanted this conflict. We wanted Pravus, for all the atrocities he has allowed in his long reign, and as you will soon see my Fornian foes, we had good reason to want to take him down. I will speak to as many of you as I can, when and if this conflict ends in a Unovan victory…if it doesn't, I'll be sure to leave the coordinates of your prison in a…obvious and easily found database. Sowhere. Maybe the Church will bother rescuing you. But don't count on it." He gestured then to the field around them. "Your frozen comrades who weren't shattered by your own airship will be thawed, but we'll leave convincing them to follow your lead in surrendering up to you…they're not going to believe anything I tell them."

If he'd made an impact on the Crusaders, it didn't show, but given that they all had visors on, that was expected. He pulled Reg aside once he'd finished addressing their new prisoners. "You're going sowhere near Ontarec. It'll be cold, damp, and probably cloudy, but you'll all be alive. I need you to figure out who the…dangerous ones among the frozen are. We have different facilities for them. You give their nas once you're all settled in, and our deal will stand. If you decide to try to betray , or escape your new prison, you will all die. Do you understand , Reggie?"

The man, who'd removed his own helt, nodded. He had the usual Fornian features, though the tan had faded back to pasty white skin, from all the snow and near-constant cover from his armor, and his hair was black. "I hear you, Dragon Emperor…you don't need to convince . I saw what you did…what your woman did…tell sothing. Honestly. Are your powers evil?"

Alex chuckled, and shook his head. "Not…inherently. Obviously, not all with abilities like mine are…good natured, but I like to think I'm good at resisting the urge to brainwash people with them." The man seed to chuckle at that, but it faded as he saw the Emperor's mouth grow grim. "I think you understand…there are more ways to brainwash people than with psychic abilities, and don't think your Prophet isn't using them, either. He has a Gallade of his own, you know."

"I'll take your word for it…" The man muttered, seemingly ready to return to his comrades.

Alex smirked. "You'll see for yourself. We have a video record, developed since this war began, for those Fornians we happen to capture. We show you the unedited truth of what your governnt and your Church have been up to for the past few centuries."

That piqued the man's attention again. "And does that kind of tactic work?"

Alex chuckled again. "About as well as you'd expect. Around fifty percent usually refuse to watch. The other half that do, don't take very long to deconvert. We offer a chance to save their family mbers then." He gestured again, and the very people Pravus had captured earlier, who'd been spirited away sowhat unwillingly by Thor's riders, were huddled around the Scales, and the fire Pokémon with them. "We don't always succeed. Most of the ti, they're already dead, but sotis…sotis we have a happy ending, a family reunion, and people who won't try to unravel my governnt when and if this all ends." He t Reg's eyes then. "I don't want your people to die, Reg. I want your people to flourish, as they should have been, for the past three centuries."

The Crusader looked down again, shook his head, and sighed. "It's…a lot to process…"

Alex chuckled. "You'll have ti to think it over. But the offer stands for you as well. Soldier or civilian, spy or diplomat. We offer the chance to be free to those who have the will to take it. Good luck…and may the Alpha's Light guide you truly."

The common Arcean ending to a conversation seed to startle the Crusader, as it had co from the very man he'd been told had zero respect for his people's culture or beliefs, and wanted to see all of it in ruins. They would all have much to think about.

For his part, Alex had floated into the air, and headed for the windy city's Encampnt, which was serving as the military's headquarters. As he landed and entered the command tent, Tao's voice filled his skull. "We have a problem. The other fronts have been cut off by dark type interference. For all we know, there's several divisions heading our way from the southern lines. All we've been able to divine is that the Church launched a second attack on the south and center lines while we were focused on Monachus."

"Well…Muk." Alex said, sighing. "Focus on re-establishing our communications. See if rlin can't pierce whatever barriers are blocking us."

"Arthur can handle that…" Tao said, sounding slightly amused. The Gallade popped free of his ball then, bumped fists with his Trainer, and then Teleported. "There is more, though…I was wondering why we had such an easy ti today…"

"You call that easy?" Jess said, shaking her head. "You try fusing an Ice Beam with Light energy without being able to 'summon it from the universe'." She'd added air quotes, but mostly for the benefit of the leaders present. Bjalfari had survived, but Hilbert was being treated for a harsh burn to his shoulder. Evidently he'd run afoul of a Crusader's Arcanine while fighting and leading the lee on the ground.

"I never said you weren't impressive. Regardless, did none of you notice sothing was missing? What does the Prophet always have with him, according to reports?" Alex glanced at the others, but Jess figured it out first.

"His Hands…we didn't see any. That is strange. All reports from his past appearances on the field have had him surrounded by at least ten, with five in reserve." She glanced at Alex then, sensing his own thoughts.

He spoke them aloud for those not psychically connected to him. "I imagine so are leading the offensives in the south, to counter the Scales, but…he's supposed to have thousands right? Where are the rest?"

"Unfortunately…" Tao said to all of them, "We know that, too…they're in Sinnoh. They've been in Sinnoh this entire ti, and until today…Sinnoh's Champions were holding them off but…we just received word from the PNN. Reports are coming in from Japan…there's a second Blitz, apparently, and it's heading down the entire island chain."

Alex's eyes went wide, "But why? Why make another enemy, fight a war on two fronts, when he's barely been able to secure the land his Church has claid here?"

"I imagine this was supposed to happen before we were ever engaged, but given Fornia's industrial might, they can handle two fronts. Especially since one has evidently been planned for a very long ti…Sinnoh was betrayed from within, and the locals apparently surrendered without much fighting, in almost every city…the Crusaders there are already heading south, towards Kanto." The Dragon seed to pause, and as it dragged, Alex fidgeted.

Finally, he spoke. "I'm sending Red. I'm sending Red, and whoever he wants with him. If Kanto is going to be their ultimate target…let's keep it from them. Japan is no industrial slouch either…and I'd rather not give them a chance to brainwash their stronger Trainers."

The Dragon radiated agreent, and was silent for several more monts. Then, "It is done. He and a squad's worth of Scales will have to be enough reinforcent for now. He said he would ntion the Empire's wish to aid them in this sudden invasion to the local governnt, but until they actually accept, sending our troops there en masse would technically be an invasion as well."

Alex glanced back to the map on the table. "So what now? Pravus is probably healing in a bunker sowhere. Where do you need next?"

Tao's eyes manifested once more, as he got a better look at his Tar. "Rio. We need to learn more about that city Pravus ca from, and my information is three millennia out of date. Go there, find out what you can, and if possible…bring ho so allies."

Alex stared at the pair of golden orbs. "You're kidding . Rio? People are going to think I'm vacationing in the middle of a war!"

Tao's voice was silent to the others then, even to the female he'd bound himself so close to. "You can't hide it from my Divine Gaze. You're exhausted. I can see your eyes. When was the last ti you slept?"

The dragon energy flaring from his eyes shifted to Light, obscuring even Tao's sight, and the others in the tent exchanged looks. Alex responded in the sa manner though, so the others heard nothing. "I can sleep when this war is over…or at least, until we free the civilians they've captured."

"Leave them to . I have led many wars more difficult than this. Pravus has overextended, as we demonstrated today by taking out the northern part of his army…or most of them, anyways. I'm sure the city is still well fortified. In any case, you are not a military general of my caliber. I can still take you with four moves in chess."

"Five." Alex interrupted.

The Dragon continued. "Everyone has a mission to accomplish if we want victory. Yours, right now, is to find out who exactly our enemy is…the people of Rio may have a way of killing these abominations of Pokémon and Human. You detonated a relic of Arceus in his face, and he ca away with mild burns. We need to know what he's vulnerable to."

"Fine." Alex growled, severing the connection. He turned his focus back to the others. "Jess. Your Scales and mine are going on a little…trip. First, back to Unova. Bjalfari, you remain here and help Hilbert. Once Thor gets up, have him take Monachus. Without Pravus and his highest-ranking goons there, they'll be weak for a while."

He left the tent then, smirking as the redhead pestered him for details, ntally of course. Eventually, he admitted that they wouldn't need their armor, for a ti, and he'd then proceeded to retract his, for the first ti in at least three days, into his belt. They would need to be less noticeable, where they were going. Many Champions in their squads had been quite famous in their ti, or still were, so disguises were necessary. Rick Astley in particular had gained fa after his adventures in Galar, and the writing of what was, apparently, one of the hottest new songs in existence. It had been at the top of the associated charts for months now. He and his friend Drake were also among those Alex had chosen for his own squad.

They made good ti to Unova, and were on their way south as the sun rose. The ship was a luxury yacht that Jess had actually owned, or rather her father did, but she insisted he wouldn't mind lending it to the cause. Having also been to Rio in her ti, she claid they'd fit right in. The ship was littered with the sleeping, now casually dressed forms of the Champions. They were all exhausted.

Only one of them stirred, the only one who ever remained up this late. Normally, he'd be training, but he'd gotten his four hours of rest, and was fully recharged. His eyes had even beco slightly less bloodshot, though the bowl of Leaf he was enjoying didn't help with that.

Alex looked up as Arthur Teleported beside him. Being able to recall to his Pokéball was a useful skill that Alex wished he could use. The closest he had was his room at ho, which he'd flown out of more than once when a recall failed.

His Gallade joined him at the top of the ship's cabin. The captain, a salty old man by the na of Fergus who was enjoying his golden years captaining leisure cruises, had joined him for a spot of Leaf, and had even shown him how to properly blow smoke rings, a skill that had eluded him for years. He taught Arthur, as the Gallade took his own hit from the bowl, and the two filled the morning sea air with the foul Skunky-esque scent of the herb as the dawn finally ca.