CHAPTER 263 - Siege

Arceus, what a beautiful party it was. Full of panicked guests looking to save their hides, crying children with their baby Pokemon pets, knocked-down drinks and fallen food soaking the velvet carpet. All Abel needed now was some terrible music to make among the top five parties he'd ever been to, but Backlot had ordered the underpaid DJ to turn it off. Unfortunately, nothing would ever be able to top the time he'd sneaked into one of those cocktail parties in Castelia where Burgh gave a speech about some fucking painting and droned on for three hours.

He had stolen that painting. Sold it for around three million.

Abel would have loved to have a drink, but he needed his mind crisp and clear for this. Five minutes since the twenty-two remaining guards had come back in, and everyone was yelling at them to understand what the hell had happened. Abel circled around the grand foyer with Zazza at his back in the form of some woman in her thirties and Hypno calmly cleaning her pendulum with her mane in the corner of the room. All of his other Pokemon had their positions, of course. The ACE Trainers were going to come in one way or another, and he needed to buy time. It had been more difficult than he'd thought, stealing Backlot's phone, and his pilot would take a few hours to get to the actual airfield. Now, he had scrolled up through all of their messages, but it seemed like they were deleted frequently, so he still had no address or general direction, which meant he still had use for Backlot.

Speaking of his boss, the Lechonk had screamed until his face was red and decided to gather two of his men still left while the other twenty-five kept watch of the entryways. The guests avoided them like the plague, not wanting to get hit by a stray Stone Edge, or whatever rumors were swirling about. Abel passed by a mother hugging her daughter tight, telling her everything would be alright as she stroked her back and tried to hide her own fear from her voice to not panic the kid. He'd seen plenty of those already, considering the fact that guests had brought their families to the party. Abel motioned at Hypno to follow. The Unovan had been supposed to stay hidden during the party, since he was a wanted criminal, but most of the guests were too busy fearing for their lives to ask Backlot why he had Unova's most famous thief under his employ.

Not that some hadn't. Backlot just hadn't answered the question

Abel climbed the staircase and walked down the red carpet, making his way to Backlot's office.

"Stay out there," he turned to Zoroark and Hypno. If Zazza ever saw Backlot, Abel feared she'd sock him in the face.

"Good, good. Abel, come in," Backlot sighed. He let himself be weak in his study, letting his toupee drip onto his sweaty forehead. Just like all of this mansion, it was luxurious beyond belief. Deep, regal Burgundian tones and carved wood. Who the hell carved their flooring with such intricate detail? And there was more space here than he could ever hope to use. "Samuel, Warren, report."

The two jittery guards nodded, and Abel listened intently. Twenty-six guards either captured or dead, the Pokemon their assailants used, that there were only sixty-five Pokemon left available to all of them, and they explained the tactics employed by the ACEs. Sinnoh's ACE Force was different than Unova's, it seemed. They fought more like a military unit than a special, focused force. Abel eyed Backlot as he breathed in, the gears turning in his head.

"Why did you strike first?" he hissed. "We could have still surrendered. This is a raid, so they must have probable cause, but if they found nothing, then they couldn't have sunk me, even if my reputation would have been in tatters. My lawyers would have beaten this in court!"

Oh, yes. Which was why Abel had Malamar mind-control one of the guards and have him order his Politoed to attack. He couldn't have risked a surrender, because that would have been his worst-case scenario. The League would have come in, and yes, while he could have stabbed Backlot in the back and revealed his house of horrors, he wouldn't have been able to get his ride back. Backlot was smart enough to have contingencies to stop Abel from mind-controlling him, but he hadn't extended that security measure to his guards, the poor fool. The guard Malamar had controlled was unfortunately dead. It would have been nice to still have a hold of him as a tool, but alas, not everything could go his way, could it?

"We could still do it," Samuel stammered. "Surrender, I mean."

"You've struck at ACE Trainers under my command," Backlot snarled. "They'll fight me tooth and nail and have my head for this. It's a fucking capital offense! Either you die under my command, or you get the death penalty or worse!"

Ah, he was fully in this now, how fantastic. Backlot was smarter than thinking he could deal with this on his own, but the fool was so addicted to his zoo that leaving it was basically worse than death for him. It was his life's work. His reason for existence. Without it, he was an empty husk pretending to live. So he would try everything in his power to save it until it was far too late.

And when that time came, and only then, he would realize he had fucked up and jump into Abel's arms and lose all of his leverage.

"So you say there are children there? Five of them?" Backlot asked.

"Members of the LTIP, as we understand it," Warren murmured. "Not as powerful as the ACEs, but one-man armies in their own right. I had to fight one of them… she drowned me in her Jellicent and took out all of my Pokemon in the meantime like they were nothing," he said through clenched teeth. There was regret there, and sadness that he'd most likely never see his team again. "She was attacked midway through and I managed to run off."

"Run off without any Pokemon," Backlot grumbled. "You're dead weight."

"She was terrifying, sir," Warren muttered. "Looked at me like I was just in the way—"

"You'll still be of use," his boss interrupted, drumming his fingers against the wood. "As it stands, our best course of action is fortifying. I want you to use my ample amount of furniture to make barricades in the halls. It won't hold them, but it'll obscure their vision and the guests and maids will make them think twice about breaking in with all of their might."

"We're… keeping the guests here, sir?" Maxwell asked.

"We have to. That way, we have leverage. The League won't go in and slaughter innocents in cold blood— Abel!"

"Yes, Mr. Backlot?"

"I need you to prevent them from Teleporting in here. Can you do that?" he asked, gripping the edge of his desk.

"I can, but the mansion is too large, so it'll have holes."

"Holes we can guard," he gruffed. "Get to it, now. All of you. The longer we wait, the more the ACE Trainers prepare while we don't."

"How should we tell the guests they are now hostages, sir?" Abel said, hiding his haughty tone.

"Just figure it out!" the man raged. "I have to talk to my associates. They'll be Teleporting out through those gaps when the time comes, so it's not all terrible news."

Abel didn't have to be told to leave twice. He exited the room, and Zazza and Hypno followed closely while the two guards went downstairs.

Plan? Hypno asked. A psychic of few words, she always had been.

"Still the same," Abel said. "Everything's proceeding relatively correctly. First, we have to get Malamar to start coating some rooms in dark TE. Zazza, you'll help as well before I send you into the crowd to blend in."

"Right," the dark type grunted.

"They won't Teleport into the funnels," Abel guessed. "They'd suspect that they would be blasted by dozens of Pokemon as soon as they appear, it'd be suicide, ACE Trainer or not. No time to put up a barrier. They'll move in through another way. Side windows are possible, but unlikely. Backlot's forces don't have enough manpower to cover everything and guard the Teleporting points we'll be creating."

"Which is why you accepted Backlot's suggestion in the first place," Zazza said.

"Well, yes," Abel shrugged. "Doesn't matter. If he hadn't, I would have asked him myself. This needs to be a long, arduous siege, and that means we can't make it too easy for them, still. That's why you're all spread throughout the mansion and I'm going to have the guards send their Pokemon to protect the windows instead of the Teleportation points. The ACEs won't risk Teleporting in, ever."

I could go warn them, Hypno spoke. Easier that way.

Abel nodded, and Hypno disappeared. She would be a key player in this, with Miracle Eye to Teleport through Zoroark and Malamar's darkness. ACE Trainers their attackers might have been, they knew how easy guarding a choke point was against an assailing force, so they would enter through less conventional means, like breaking through a wall. They'd been trained for war, and they would want to minimize civilian casualties. One thing Abel had noted through Malamar's mind control was that the ACE Trainers were very keen to defend Mira Compton's group. He already knew it, of course, but it was something else to see it in action. They were… important, in some way. If everything went to shit, he might be able to capture one of them to negotiate from a position of strength. They were also different than he'd expected. More straightforward, and far less preachy, which was good news. He'd heard speeches about his wrongs a thousand times already. He'd rather they just get to the point and they tango right away.

Malamar stood tall a few feet away from one of the windows, his golden eyes gleaming in the sunlight. Abel's starter dipped his head when he saw him, Zazza and Hypno approach. His usual smirk was replaced by a serious look that didn't fit him at all. Standing around and waiting wasn't good for his nerves considering their convoluted plan.

"Malamar, I'm going to need you to work with Zazza and insulate this entire building and prevent Teleportation," Abel said, getting straight to the point. "Try to get as much of it as you can. If you have to abandon some rooms, make them rooms on the first floor and far away from Backlot's office. We'll have them fight for this place inch by inch."

Hypno, Xatu and the other psychics would be annoyed, but they would still be able to use their moves, although with some strain, as all high-level psychics would. Guests and employees would die, but that was no skin off their backs.

Zoroark rolled her eyes. "Always a flair for the dramatic. When I'm disguised as one of the guests, can I punch Backlot in the jaw?"

"Not yet, Zazza. Not yet."

Malamar croaked, and tendrils of darkness seeped into the floor.

—

Not even five minutes after the battle, the mansion was swarmed in darkness.

It wasn't very surprising with added context. Teleporting in had been Mira's first suggestion, but the ACEs had refused because they would have needed to go in multiple waves if we didn't recall our Pokemon before going in, since there were just too many of them and not enough psychics— five, by my count, not including ours. Lou wasn't good enough to Teleport more than one person at a time. Second, they feared the guests would panic, and it would lead to a stampede with hundreds of casualties. Not the kind of results any of them wanted. Now that we knew these were hostages, it made sense they wouldn't allow the guests to escape.

"Maxwell, would you send someone to clear that news chopper?" Lou asked without turning toward the Helicopter. "Have two ACEs circle the area and order the place sealed until further notice."

News organizations were already here, unfortunately, and I recognized the SGNC logo on the helicopter. They were thirsting at the news of a League raid on one of the richest and most eccentric people in the country, if eccentric was another word for psychotic and evil. Maxwell relayed Lou's orders, and Ariel and another trainer riding an Unfeazant flew up to ask the chopper to leave.

"Won't be the first trying to get in," Carlos said with his arms crossed.

"If they don't leave, we just arrest them," Lou spoke as she observed the mansion. "They can go record the Game Corner instead. I'm sure the League wouldn't mind a show of force in Veilstone."

Cecilia's back straightened. "They're raiding the Game Corner as well?"

"They started earlier than we did," Lou nodded. "We won't have any results for a while, but we had to do it now before they had the chance to scrub any evidence."

My girlfriend bit her lip and allowed hope to show on her face. She was hoping for Wooper to be found, I knew. Croagunk did too, her cheek-pouch filling and emptying faster than they'd just been.

"Denzel. Are you okay?" I asked.

"Uhuh. Don't worry about me, I'm doing a lot better now that we've made it through the first bit relatively alright."

But that wasn't it, was it? I could tell Denzel was worried about having been spotted, and it was a problem. He wasn't a member of the LTIP, so he technically had no right to be here. I didn't know how we'd wrangle that— maybe ask Cynthia to let him in the program retroactively? Even then, it wouldn't just make the rumors magically go away. Luckily, we were taking down poachers whom we'd given a chance to surrender multiple times, so as long as we kept things clean as we had so far, he would walk out of here with his reputation intact.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it. Not now.

"We have a few grass types. We could try to approach the windows and use a few fliers to spread Sleep Powder and Stun Spore inland," Carlos suggested.

Inland. It was strange, how they referred to the mansion like it was an actual territory and not just a building.

"Could work, but they'll have countermeasures before any damage is done. There isn't any point in not doing it, however, so we'll send you there soon. First, we need a tangible plan."

"What about going through the roof? We make a hole, and we get down from there?" Mira asked. "Apparently Backlot's office is on the third floor, according to Zoey. On the left wing."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Yes, that would be sound. The windows and entrances will most likely be guarded as well, and even though we could break through, it would be best to take them by surprise," Lou said. "They'll expect us to come through a wall or the roof, but they won't know where exactly. Not until it's too late and we're already in there."

"First, we wait," Carlos said.

I frowned. "Wait? Why?!"

"Let the anxiety rise by harassing them instead of breaking in right away like they probably expect," Carlos said.

"Our friends will fly here…" Denzel muttered.

"Then your friends will be asked to turn around or be placed under arrest," Maxwell said. "No one else will be added to this operation."

My best friend gulped but breathed a sigh of relief.

"So the spore thing first, right? Abomasnow can help with that, but I didn't think this would go like this," Chase muttered. "I expected a lot more action."

"This is no battle, Mr. Karlson," Maxwell explained. "This is like the wars our forefathers fought. You have no idea how difficult clearing a building protected by barriers full of cornered trainers and Pokemon is, let alone an entire city. Every room is a potential death trap. Laying siege and exhausting them for a few hours is just smart tactics unless you have enough power to level the place completely, which we can't due to the hostages and needing to capture people of interest."

"Why not stay longer, then?" Cecilia asked. "Theoretically, I mean. I don't particularly feel like staying here long, but we could last days."

"Backlot has enough food and water to last for months in this place. Better to wait long enough to exhaust them, but not long enough for them to get a good night's sleep. First thing's first, though, send someone to ask for a surrender and negotiation. We do this by the book."

Cecilia took in her words and nodded. This was a learning experience for all of us. The chopper had left, by now, but I could still hear it in the distance. An ACE Trainer walked up to the front door of the mansion with a megaphone and a Mr. Mime protecting him and demanded that the forces inside of the building surrender.

No answer came. Not even an attack.

Then, he tried to ask for negotiations for the hostages, but even then, nothing came.

"Usually one or two would have tried to break out," Lou muttered. "Mutiny from the inside would be best."

"Either way, we have to get started," Chase said. "Williams, Roserade can come to spread her spores too."

"Right," Denzel nodded.

"We'll do it on both sides of the mansion," Lou specified. "In and out with a psychic so they don't have time to retaliate.

"Denzel comes with me," I said.

Lou answered with a non-commited nod, and Maxwell and Carlos explained what the plan was to the rest of the ACEs. Me, Denzel and two other ACEs stood in a circle around a Bronzong while Chase was in another group. To reduce the strain on Bronzong, we had to bring only our grass types, which were Angel, Roserade, Venusaur, and a Breloom while a Staraptor hovered in the sky where we'd Teleport. Lou counted down from five, and then I was suddenly somewhere else. I could peer through the side window and saw at least eight Pokemon standing guard and using guests as human shields. Anger flared within me, but my view was instantly obscured by green and yellow spores despite Bronzong's barrier keeping us safe. A Power Whip from Angel instantly shattered the glass, and Staraptor swooped down from her position and a huge gust of wind carried everything into the mansion.

The sheer amount of spores was more than I'd ever seen before, but Bronzong Teleported us out before we could see the results of our work. After around two minutes, Staraptor flew back close to the window, needing only a split second to see inside, and then blurred toward us in seconds. Talonflame was almost as fast, I noticed. Even if she was nowhere near as powerful, it was a sign of how far we'd come. Staraptor cawed, and Bronzong translated to report. I was finally starting to realize what Maxwell had meant when he said this was war. This was doctrine. Something that had been drilled into these ACEs and their Pokemon for years. Chase's group was a little late, and the Mr. Mime there had much fewer results due to the fact that a Grumpig had been able to contain the spores right away. Another flier, this time a Ninjask reported as well.

"Eleven guests unconscious," Lou said. "Five Pokemon knocked out cold. Persian, Luxray, Heliolisk, Hitmonchan, and Slowbro."

"Mediocre results, but the psychological effects will be felt. The vise is tightening," Maxwell said. "They're far more liberal with their hostages than I thought they would be, though."

"Backlot has nothing else to lose," Lou shrugged. "A cornered Pokemon always lash out."

"I did notice something," I said. "Eight Pokemon guarding one window, when they have fifty-something left by our count? They should be spread thin, shouldn't they?"

"They are," Mira nodded. "But it doesn't matter how thin they are if they have people to cover their asses."

"Even when we go in, that'll be… a problem," Denzel muttered. "What if Backlot lashes out so much hundreds of innocents die?"

"These are his friends and friends' families. Will he really do it?" Cecilia asked.

"He's already using them as shields," I spat. "Not like he values their lives."

"Backlot will most likely give the order, but the question is, will his forces follow? We have no real way to know, but they are not open to negotiations. We cannot allow them to get any leverage," Lou said. "If hostages die by Backlot's hands, then that is not on us."

"But their safety still matters," Denzel said.

"It does," Lou agreed reluctantly. "Which is why we'll try to thin their forces as much as possible before going in."

I bit my lip and nodded. Please let this go okay. "What now, then?" I asked.

"We do the spore trick again, but through another window," Maxwell answered. "Then, we switch tactics."

—

Twenty minutes into the siege.

Screams. How annoying. Zoroark walked down the steps, cursing how slow she had to act as a human not to attract any attention. She heard panicked yells from the opposite side of the mansion. A real human would not have heard the words, but she did. Spores. The ACE Trainers were attacking, but valued the lives of the hostages too much to just break in, so they would soften Backlot's forces first. Her eyes scanned the foyer, which was occupied by around five Pokemon. Not that large of a force, but these so-called civilian humans were scared of everything. If they all ran as one, some would die, but most would make it out alive. Why would they not take that chance? Zazza did not understand humans, and she did not think she ever would. Arceus, she hated clothes too. The weird fabric clinging to her skin was uncomfortable and it took every ounce of restraint not to change back into her original form. For Abel, she thought.

He'd saved her life. Without him, she would still be in Virbank getting kicked around by her old owners and their stronger Pokemon. Abel had brought her there, a year later to exact revenge. There was nothing left of any of them after she'd been done with the bodies.

Zoroark needed to blend in, and for that, she needed a target. The foyer wouldn't do, she concluded. Too many people to do this discreetly. She could change into whatever she wanted, but she needed to turn into someone on the guest list. Plus, creating some of these ugly, strange clothes from scratch would have been a chore. Zoroark stalked the halls for two minutes until she found what she was looking for. The people that had fallen asleep due to the spores. The hallway was still swarming with the leftover, clinging to every surface and floating in the air like dust in an abandoned home. This amount of spores would mean that even walking through would have her fall asleep by clinging to her skin until she had to breathe and getting in her eyes or her nostrils. Zazza flexed, and power coursed through her body.

Darkness was not cold, nor was it hot. It just was, and Zoroark couldn't help but let a savage grin stretch her lips when she called upon her power. It was like drawing from an enormous well. The void surrounded her, and she jumped. In one smooth motion, she was atop her target's unconscious body. Then, darkness pulsed out of the dark type and pushed all spores away from her, giving her the time she needed. Zoroark lumped the thin woman on her shoulder and jumped back just as the spores settled into the end of the hallway again. The pulse would numb the people who had been touched by it for a few days after they woke up.

Zoroark's body loosened, and she felt shivers all along her skin. Transforming always felt… odd. To observers, it looked like panels of light appearing around her and flipping, revealing her new form. To Zoroark, it felt like her body itself was turning inside out. Not painful, but very uncomfortable. In a matter of seconds, she was her captive, clothes and all. Brown skin this time, shoes that were way too small for her feet and clothes that were too tight for her body. Zoroark growled in frustration, but now, all she had to do was hide the human somewhere.

The dark type's head whirled back. People were coming. Either she could tear a hole through the wall and hide… no, that would just make them more curious. Humans had a tendency to put their noses where they didn't belong. Zazza decided to let them come. They were running away at a snail's pace, or at least that's the way it looked to her. Two females and two males. Were they hoping to escape through the broken window? If they held their breaths and closed their eyes, they might succeed in throwing themselves out the window before falling asleep, and the League would take them to safety.

Unfortunately, they had seen Zazza carrying her doppelgänger. If they woke up after escaping, they would tell the League that she'd transformed, and if they ran off, they'd tell the guests, and that would spread through the guards. It was a true shame, really. She would have let them go otherwise. Zoroark blurred, the world around her slowing. By the time the first man had taken a step back, she snatched him by the throat and lifted him up the ground, circling around the group to block their escape. She would knock them out, so they would still get away with their lives. There were screams, as there always were, but Zoroark ignored them. Her psychic powers weren't great, but Malamar was a good teacher. Light overtook her eyes, and the world shifted, revealing strings. An overwhelming number of them, all of the exact same length and bending in different directions. Her eyes focused, and most of them… didn't disappear, but they did fade into the background. Zoroark focused on the ones in the humans' heads and weaved them into a structure that Malamar had taught her well, and they all crumpled to the floor from the makeshift Hypnosis. She gently placed the man she held by the throat on the ground and decided to shove the human she'd turned into inside of a closet large enough to fit ten of her.

Now, to blend into the crowd and wait for the ACEs to strike. With that many people in the crowd, no psychic was going to be able to pick her out. When she made it back to the foyer, another lady called out to her.

"Tasia! Oh, Arceus, I was so worried! I tried calling you, but phones don't work anymore…"

Of course, Tasia had friends. Good thing she was a good actress, but how was she going to figure out this human's name without giving herself away?

"George was taken somewhere," the friend muttered. "They say they're taking us hostage, but I'm not certain."

Now was the time you figure this out? Zoroark wanted to grunt in annoyance.

"They are," Zazza said, injecting fear into her tone. "We should stay silent and blend into the crowd so they don't pick us to send to the windows. Who knows what the ACE Trainers outside will do? We could die."

There you go. The girl shut up, and even though Zazza was secreting fake tears, she wanted to smile.

—

Thirty minutes into the siege.

Kecleon was a nifty little Pokemon. He'd spied for Abel more times than the Unovan could count and was among one of his oldest captures. The normal type crawled on his shoulder, his skin turning to the dark colors of Abel's clothes, and hung there. Since Hypno and Xatu were quite busy, at the moment, Abel released Dan from his Pokeball. The pink blob instantly scowled until he turned into the form he'd stuck to for the past few weeks. An eight-year-old boy, this time. At first, him always having been a child made justifying his behavior easy for the public, but now he was just used to being small, and they'd collected plenty of hair so he had an expansive catalog to choose from. Ditto was, after all, only slightly more than one year old, and the species took a while to mentally grow, unlike most Pokemon.

"Translate what Kecleon says for me," Abel said.

"This place crummy. Leave yet?" Dan pouted.

"If things go well, we'll be leaving today," Abel said, crouching to reach his eyes. There was another scream down the hall, which made Dan frown. "Don't worry about any of that. We're doing the plan I told you about, remember?"

"Yeah," the Pokemon answered.

He'd been learning to speak these past few months thanks to Zoroark's tutelage, and he'd come far, even if his words were still garbled. It was hard not to feel proud of him. Kecleon croaked a series of words, and Dan nodded along.

"Cory Williamson, Shaun Blankenship, Ja… Jayla Chapman…"

The names of Backlot's associates came one after the other until he had the full list. He only knew three of them by name while the other ten were new to him. Not something he was particularly planning on using, but a nice bargaining chip, if anything.

"Teleport away," Dan continued. "Escape."

Abel nodded. As much as he would have liked to keep them here, Backlot would have figured something out if he took out the Kadabra that came to pick them up. Could have knocked out both them and the Kadabra too, but he didn't want any meaningless risk. Someone where they were supposed to Teleport to was bound to be alerted if they didn't come back.

Still, he had leverage now, in case things didn't work out. Should everything go to shit, he could always kill Backlot before he fell into the League's hands, escape, and try to make a deal with the government in exchange for the names. It'd leave a terrible taste in his mouth, but he'd need plans in case none of this worked out.

"Good job, Kecleon. Keep spying on Backlot and alert me if he gets any wild ideas so I can steer him in the right direction."

The normal type nodded, turning invisible, and Abel recalled Dan into his Pokeball. He leaned against the wall and his hand instinctively went to a cigarette in his pocket that wasn't here anymore. Xatu had destroyed all of his hidden packs. Five minutes later, Hypno Teleported next to him with that awful, awful eye above her head that Abel couldn't stare at. Miracle Eye had more uses outside of battle than within, and it was a wonder Abel hadn't had Hypno prioritize it until he almost got caught.

The eye winked out of existence, and Abel wiped sweat he didn't know had been there.

"What are they doing?" Abel asked.

Spores, mostly, Hypno answered. Sometimes, they attack through the windows if there's an opening and there are no hostages. Backlot's guards are overwhelmed, so they haven't covered every window yet. There are also two ghosts that have snuck in, but Mimikyu, Shedinja and Malamar have those covered and force them to flee every time.

"How many Pokemon are down?"

Only eleven, now that I spread the message to get further away from any windows. They won't catch them off-guard again. So long as we keep hunting ghosts before they take us down, we've stabilized until they try something else.

"How's morale looking in the troops?" The guards needed to at least fight back. If they surrendered at the sight of the ACEs breaking in, then Abel wouldn't be able to buy time.

Terrible. There are talks of surrender, but most are trying to get some kind of Kadabra to pick them up, but they can't call for help with the darkness scrambling phones. Apparently some people left with one earlier?

"Yes," Abel nodded. "Backlot's associates. Do me a favor and pick up Xatu for me?"

Abel closed his eyes, and it took ten seconds for Hypno to pop back with Xatu. The flying type looked mighty annoyed, probably from being in the dark too long, but she would have to deal with it.

"Anything new?"

Xatu's eyes twitched. The numbers are fluctuating wildly. Every minute, the odds change. I fear I won't be of much use to you here, Abel. All I can do is tell you that they're coming, and soon.

Her voice was garbled as well, due to the dark. She did not share Hypno's expertise with using psychic powers in these environments. Even before the ACE Trainers had even arrived, her numbers had started to change in every direction, so there was something else at play, here. Too many variables, perhaps.

"Oh, I know that," he said. "I was hoping for more, but it'll have to do."

Abel Torres rolled his shoulders and sighed.

I apologize. I can try to look again.

"No need to exhaust yourself," he said, shaking his head. "As soon as they break in, take me to Backlot. Hypno, you're relay. The team won't last long against ACEs, even with our tricks stacking odds in our favor, so you're Teleporting them to me as soon as things get dicey. Have Xatu feel when our enemies strike to help you time things."

Both psychics silently agreed.

Soon, it would be time.

—

Two hours and thirty-nine minutes into the siege.

The mansion's roof was so uneven and rough that just crouching on it hurt my ankle like hell, and all of those bandages on me made my body feel tight and uncomfortable. Buddy worriedly clicked at me until I told him I was fine. I'd found it harder than I thought to get back into the zone, especially with all of the activity around me at all times, but we couldn't wait any longer. Our tactics weren't having much effect any longer, so we needed to break in. Denzel was with me, along with Lou, Maxwell, Ariel, and two others that were called Richard (although they called him Dick) and Serena. All of my other friends were in another section of the roof with their respective ACE Trainers. We were going to split from now on, and not meet again for a while until we fought through the mansion. The fight itself would be relatively easy unless we stumbled on Abel and his team, but even the Unovan couldn't stand up to five ACEs.

That was, unless he had tricks up his sleeve, which we had no doubt he would.

There were also the guests and employees to worry about, so there would be no wide-ranging or destructive attacks. That would put a strain on our tactics, but it had to be done. I wasn't going to let my team kill innocents. There were children here, I knew. I'd seen one through the window during one of our Sleep Powder tactics. I would rather let guards and Pokemon escape than have all of those people die on our watch.

Lou stared at her watch until the clock struck the dot.

Ariel's Dragonite pierced through the roof with a simple Ice Punch, and we all released our Pokemon into the breach. All around us, three similar explosions rang out. I jumped, letting Angel's vines catch me and gently pull me down into the room we'd just gone in. No guards, no guests. Some kind of bedroom larger than Dad's entire apartment. It was my first time seeing my bodyguards' teams in full from up close.

I let myself breathe again and closed my eyes in relief.

We were in, and things were so silent.

My body and mind began to numb.