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Senlin Village - Fire Nation Colony Territory, Koria

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"People of Senlin Village!" Came the commanding tones of the Fire Admiral, Zhao. He struck an imposing figure, atop the back of his massive Camerupt, which seemed perpetually enraged, and had eyes that burned with an ominous black and red energy. "My forces conducted an exercise today, to drive out Air Nation Rebels from Minjujuui City. We did not catch all of them." His massive fire Pokémon stomped down the line of arrayed villagers, what few were left. Many had left to fight the Fire Nation, and none had returned, once the Imperium became involved.

Each villager had their head bowed under their Kasa hats. Being as they were simple farmers and foragers, their classically Eousian styled hats hid their faces from their fire spewing overlords as they knelt and endured his monologue. "Who speaks for this…place?" There was about one second following his question before an elderly looking gentleman, judging by his hands, stood before the Admiral.

"I do, honored Admiral. We have seen no Rebels here. We are of the Earth Nation…and we willingly pay the tithes of the victorious Fire Nation." The old man said, bowing as he spoke.

Zhao arched an eyebrow. "Do you now…" He looked around at the town, most houses were abandoned, and several had marks of firebending. The fields were fertile though, and the grain house was open, and recently emptied. Just a bunch of farmers with barely enough to eat. "Lieutenant!"

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One of the Admirals closest soldiers stepped forward, beside a nasty looking Incineroar with artificially enhanced muscles. "Admiral."

"See that these wretches acquire some Servitors. They may be peasants, but they're part of the Imperium now. Imagine how much more they could contribute to Mankind if they weren't weighed down by menial tasks." Zhao said, with a truly subtle smirk.

"As you command, Admiral." The man said, stepping back alongside his partner. Such methods had been employed heavily throughout the Fire Nation, where villages of farmers were slowly replaced by, and often became, the lobotomized menial arm of the Imperium of Man. Only Firebenders typically avoided this cruel fate, but average citizens were encouraged to contribute all the same. If they failed to do so, they could be made into 'specialized' Servitors designed for mining. The process to make such an abomination of flesh and technology was far more painful and involved.

"Soldiers!" Zhao roared, and the primarily mounted soldiers answered him with an affirmative noise of their own, in practiced unison. "Fan out and find the Air Rebels…they're definitely here." The smell of the sewer they'd been hiding in was in the air, and he knew the Fire Army's most common mount Pokémon would be able to sniff it out. Charizard was practically a revered species in the Fire Nation, but over time, and thanks to many generations of inbreeding, a different form of Charizard began appearing, once their Charmeleons evolved. They had initially had four weak, malformed legs, no wings, and large, often malformed fangs. Their tails had retained their fire, though, and they had the same eager-to-battle quick-to-anger mentality that most of the Flame Pokémon line did.

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It was the disturbing commonality of these evolutions and the desire to spread beyond their island chain, that had prompted Fire Lord Sozin to seek out the Imperium of Man's assistance, betray Eous, and give the Imperium their first foothold in historically Eousian territory. The Imperium had stabilized the malformed Charizard's DNA, and in the process created a large, thick, muscled ground bound mount with a superb sense of smell, tracking ability, and battle prowess. Unlike their winged kin, these massive rapid moving fire lizards had no qualms about torching weaker opponents. The Fire Nation bred them specifically for viciousness. They stomped off at Zhao's command, and the Admiral failed to notice the subtle finger twitches of the old man who claimed to speak for this place as they did.

As his soldiers began to fan out past the gathered and still bowed villagers, Zhao turned, and admired his mobile fortress looming over all of them like a volcanic God. An Imperium Coalossal by the name of Incineratus. Genetically modified to be massive, and a useful source of combustible fuel the Imperium had dubbed Promethium, since Koria's subjugation, the genetically modified Galarian giants had become commonplace on the borders between the Imperium of Man, and everywhere they did not yet rule. This was the only one in Koria, and had been a gift to Zhao from one of the Imperator's own children, the Prime Archon Lorgar, leader of the Imperium Heralds, the 17th Legion of Thunder Warriors tasked with bringing Koria into the fold of the Imperium of Man.

The massive Coalossal began moving northeast and reality shook with each mighty step. It was as the Admiral stomped off on his ride, that he noticed. Each of his mounted soldiers was roaming into the forest surrounding the village, aimlessly, like their mounts were being led by a scent on the wind in a specific direction, away from the village. It was at the moment of this realization that the Admiral turned back towards the villagers, only to find a flying foot coming for his face. As he'd been making to follow his Coalossal, he'd still been in the village, and thus went sailing into a wall of a long-abandoned house. His Camerupt roared, enraged, at least until a slim figure in a shawl covering red and darker red clothing appeared before the enraged Pokémon.

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Fire formed around her hands, and began shining with a warm, golden light as it filled the Camerupt, and calmed its heart. It still wanted to defend its Trainer, but Minami already had it falling asleep once it calmed. Akos had followed up his initial kick with a waterbending barrage, but it was quickly being evaporated by his larger, angrier opponent. Zhao was an Admiral for a reason. Just as he seemed to be overwhelming the waterbender, another foot came from Zhao's blind spot, hitting him on the other side of the chin, as Ara stepped in to help her brother, and took a 'Southern Octopus Stance'. This was a smart decision, as the circular wall of water and tentacles shielded her from the explosion of flame that Zhao let off as he recovered himself.

"THE NEXT PERSON WHO KICKS MY FACE GETS INCINERATED!" He roared. Akos had not been so well shielded, and fell burned, beside his Piplup, who popped out of his ball as he landed, and spread its little arms wide before Zhao. The pissed off Fire Admiral took down both Ara and Minami, as they attacked simultaneously, from two sides, burning them as well. He was ready for them now, and he would start, with the first water rat that had dared to touch his noble personage. He loomed over the tiny water type and laughed. "The hell are you supposed to be?"

The tiny penguin puffed up its chest and glared. Then, he started to glow. As he became a Prinplup, the Admiral sighed. "Enough of this. Move." The Prinplup lowered its head, and water surrounded it. It leapt forward then, with impressive speed, but it had given away its attack to a fighter as skilled as Zhao, and his Aqua Jet was not yet perfected, as he had literally just started learning it.

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"Pado!" Ara shouted, as the Admiral roundhoused the penguin Pokémon in the face, sending him flying her way as he advanced on her badly burned brother. She drew water from the air itself, rotated in place, and used the penguin's speed and momentum to restore his move, and send the water-wreathed penguin hurtling back towards Zhao, nailing him right in the armored stomach. Zhao had the air knocked from him and fell to his knees as his flames went out with his lack of breath. The newly evolved penguin waddled unsteadily as he landed, while Minami gathered Akos up, and Ara grabbed his Pokéball. She recalled the Prinplup, and Tenzin made his timely appearance from dispatching riders in stealth from the woods, by hitting the winded Admiral with several smoke bombs that did not help his need for air.

Zhao cleared the smoke with angry firebending drawing on his emotional rage rather than his lungs, but when it dissipated completely and he'd recovered from his coughing fit, they were gone. Each of his assailants had been wearing long brimmed Kasa hats like most farmers in this village, sufficiently hiding their faces. Furious, he made his way back to where the villagers had been rounded up, only to find a few of his soldiers stumbling out of the woods with black eyes or cradling broken limbs. Others, Tenzin had not been so gentle with, but the elder Air Nomad strongly disliked ending lives and had over his century plus of years learned to tell which soldiers were worth sparing at a glance. The psychic powers also helped. He had no moral qualms about reading the thoughts of the people who had relished in burning his Nation to the ground, but he was yet wise enough to understand not all Fire Army soldiers served willingly.

Zhao found each of the villagers was gone as well, and with an enraged yell, he rocketed himself into the air with his bending, and made for the ceramite structure built into the body of Incineratus. As he took the helm of the massive Pokémon, he pointed at the village below. "Incineratus! Use Promethium Surge! Wipe this nest of Rebels off the map!" Zhao's mad orders thankfully, echoed loud enough for his soldiers to hear. Some, around two or three gaped, as they couldn't quite believe the Admiral had just ordered all of them burnt alive. Those who recognized the imminent threat of death, and ran, were the ones who survived. Incineratus had precision thanks to his augmentations, and his owner had ordered this specific village, and not an inch more of it, burnt to nothing.

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Tenzin and the newly recruited villagers, what few had remained once they saw the smoke start rising from Minjujuui City, ran northwards towards Bul Fortress. There, they would rendezvous with the caravan that had fled underground with their earthbenders and newly acquired supplies from their new western ally. As they hurried onwards on foot, the world shook. Behind them, a tower of flame erupted, exactly where the village was. An air-shaking roar followed the explosion of orange liquid that was evidently so hot, they could see the air shimmering from the heat from roughly a mile away.

"We need to go faster!" Tenzin said, whirling his robed arms around him as he summoned the air. The entire group picked up speed, and with a little effort, they all began to sprint rather rapidly northwards. Akos had mostly received burns on his arms and face, his legs were still fine, and the air boost from the Air Nation's last surviving leader helped him and the other wounded keep pace.

They eventually arrived at the outskirts of Bul Fortress after crossing a river with the waterbender's aid. It was many miles to the Earth Nation province of Hu Xin. Officially, the province of primarily farmers in the breadbasket of the Earth Nation was controlled by the Fire Nation. Like many Earth Nation provinces however, the Fire Army had simply not mapped them very effectively, and Bul Fortress was more of a myth to them, than a fact. More than once had Thunderhawks from the Imperator's own air force scoured the area for the 'rebel fortress', and all scans and searches had turned up naught. Thanks to combined earthbending, lazy Imperium technicians, and a bit of luck, the Earth Nation's southernmost bastion of defiance had remained undetected for centuries.

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In the centuries since the Fire Nation had taken control, many underground tunnels had been created across the underground of the Earth Nation, and this far south of the Impenetrable City, Bul Fortress was a nexus point for them. Thus, it was through these tunnels that most of the rebels in Minjujuui had escaped and brought their Unovan supplies with them. Being unable to bend the earth, Zhao's soldiers hadn't even noticed which of the many rock-sealed pathways they'd taken out of the sewers, and the tunnel to Minjujuui was now mostly collapsed.

As Tenzin's group came upon the fortress, they all stared in shock, stopping in their now several days long run, as the fortress sank into the earth itself, and vanished before them. A few minutes later, they understood why. From above them, a pair of flames in the sky were hurtling towards their group. Given express orders by Admiral Zhao, the banished Fire Nation royals had been tasked with the less important task of wiping out Senlin's remaining rebels. Zhao had proceeded northward, to the Water Nation's northern tribe, to end their centuries of defiance, once and for all. It was also the best way to draw the rats to him. In desperation they would claw at Incineratus, and while they might manage to damage or even faint him, it would not keep him from obliteration Agna Qel'a.

Tenzin stopped a few steps ahead of the others, sensing their progress had again stalled. He was weary after leading exhausted farmers and his rebels this far north, on foot, and even his bending hadn't kept them from tiring. Seeing the flames, and knowing them for what they were, the old Air Nomad sighed heavily. Then, he drew a communicator from his robe, one whose partner was in Bul Fortress. "This is General Tenzin. I have Senlin Village's civilians with my group. We've been found by a pair of Charizard riders. Commence pickup maneuver twenty-two, over."

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The comm crackled for a second. He knew the voice on the other end, and its words made the old man smile faintly. "Twenty-two!? Tenzin...are you sure about this?"

"Quite sure, Hao. Get the civilians to safety." He spoke louder then to his group. "Aratak, Akos, and Minami…you're with me. Lin, take Boto and the civilians northward. Pickup maneuver twenty-two."

The graying earthbender's eyes went wide as she realized he was serious. "That's suicide Tenzin! Those are flying Charizard riders! I'm not leaving you here to make Pemma a widow."

The Air Nomad fixed her with a steely gray airbender stare. "I have no intention of dying. Now go! These people need you, Beifong." At hearing her surname, the villagers who'd thrown their lot in with the rebels started murmuring.

"Yes, that Beifong!" Lin snapped at them, before sighing. "Fine, Tenzin…but you had better come out of this alive." She rounded on the group she was leading then, "Move it, Slowpokes! Unless you'd rather eat a fireball!" The group with Lin began running northward, and Tenzin spied one of their assailants, still thousands of feet above them in the air, arcing towards their group. The blue flame descended on Tenzin's position, unchanged.

"Oh no you don't…" Tenzin muttered, and then spun in place, as air whirled around him in a building tornado.

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"Umm…General…" Akos said, concerned, as his airbending no doubt became visible from above. "What's a twenty-two maneuver? Are you going to clue the rest of us in on the secret?"

"Akos, I'm about to let everyone in on the secret…" Tenzin mumbled, as he spun faster, and then sent his arms skyward. A nearly invisible tornado of wind snagged the arcing Charizard, brought it slamming back into the burning blue dot, and then the pair of them started hurtling towards the ground at a speed that guaranteed the riders would die, if they didn't stop their momentum. They were trapped, in a downwards moving air corridor that neither Charizard could fight against, entangled as they were by the crash.

As they neared the ground, the pair of firebenders atop their struggling mounts created a combined fireball of orange and blue that crashed into the ground, and Tenzin recognized the light of Mega Evolution as a pair of rainbow-colored DNA spiraling helixes appeared above the flames. His frown deepened. Only Royal Guards and Fire Army elites flew on Charizard that still had wings. Only royals of the Phoenix King's own family knew how to bring them to their Mega Form, and has the stones to do so.

The air was filled with smoke as the two variations of Mega Charizard rose from their smoldering crater, and then, in an instant, it was blown away, along with Tenzin's hat, and shawl, which had hidden his iconically colored yellow and orange airbender attire. "Spawn of Sozin!" He said, with hate in his eyes, "Today you pay for your family's sins…inviting the Imperium into Eous, and Koria…murdering my father... and the attempted genocide of my people."

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The nastier fire lizard of the pair, the one with blue flames, answered the airbending human with a Flamethrower, only to have it blown back in her face, from an angry torrent of air. From the black Charizard's back came her rider, one half of her face seemingly melting, from the redirected Flamethrower. Aluza tossed the golden mask and snarled at the Air Nomad. "I know you…the spawn of Aang…Tenzin of the Air Nation…the Last Airbender…" Beside her, came her brother, who fell into a fighting crouch. Both Druk and Caeruleus readied more Flamethrowers, while Ara and Akos took their own stances beside Tenzin. Pado was already out, and ready to provide them with water, from a safe distance behind them.

Aluza pointed at Tenzin then. "Alright you two! Focus fire on the Airbender!" Druk looked briefly at Okuz first but attacked alongside his sister anyways. A torrent of blue and orange flame came straight for Tenzin and was wide enough to hit the waterbenders as well, but instead the attack was blocked with a technique Okuz recognized immediately, as one his uncle Iroh used. Taken from the style of northern waterbenders, the arms moved in a circle, dissipating the flames harmlessly before the Kasa hat wearing firebender who blocked them. Aluza's burnt eye twitched as her scarred face contorted with rage. "Brother…take care of the Traitor…the Nomad is mine!"

Ara and Tenzin immediately came under fire from Aluza and her partner. The Air Nomad easily blocked or redirected the angry firebender's wrath, which of course only made her angrier. Ara, for her part drew on the Water Gun Pado sent towards her, made it larger with what she pulled from the air, and formed a pair of water tentacles around her arms as she dodge rolled away from the Flamethrowers that Caeruleus sent her way, making the Mega Charizard pay for it with repeated, and super effective, slaps to her face, neck, and wing joints. They might as well have been Bug Bites, for all they did to a Mega Form with a dragon typing.

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Minami, meanwhile, had Okuz following her off to their own part of the plains, which were rapidly becoming scorched. Akos watched the two groups, unsure of who to aid. He tracked Minami, in case she needed help with the male firebender and his own Mega Charizard, but her partner, a very feminine seeming crimson furred Infernape, was handling the fire lizard with moves like a firebender, something the line could learn to do, if they were trained in Koria. She used her open-palmed hands to ward away anything fire based, leaving Druk with few other options. Fire Punches clashed with Dragon Claws, and the force of it reverberated through the area, and Akos. "Go!" Minami said, from beneath her hat, "Help the others." She respected Meelo, mostly because the only battler stronger than him that fought for a free Koria was his father. If this blue burning rage princess was strong enough to take his son, Tenzin would need an edge.

Pado glared at the Charizard, spat a well-timed Water Gun at his face, and followed after his Trainer. The flame lizard glared, focusing in on the Prinplup, and leaving him wide open to the Fire Punch to the jaw that the Infernape gave him. He flapped backwards, and into the air, and launched another widespread Flamethrower, but this time, the Infernape gathered the fire into a sphere between its palms, and condensed it. "Fireball!" Minami shouted with a timely command, and the Infernape pointed at Druk. A small orange bead of light flew towards the Charizard from the flame monkey's palms, and then detonated in a circular explosion of fire damage, right in his face. Though he resisted fire typed moves, the damage of the move was adding up with all the others the Infernape had landed.

Air Slashes rained down on the fire monkey, and Akos watched as she dodged effortlessly, knowing that just one of those, from a Mega Form, would probably be enough to KO her, or leave her barely on her feet. As they entered in on Tenzin and Ara's battle, Aluza took one look at them, and flowed from a furious, but still deflected series of strikes on Tenzin, into a fast, electric based attack aimed right for Pado. The bolt of lightning that coalesced from around her body and then gathered in her fingers was meant to kill.

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Akos moved before he could think, as he desperately reached for water, any water, and recalled something he'd seen his father do, a technique the southern tribe had developed, which had then seen them captured and imprisoned for its use. To this very day, many southern waterbenders remained imprisoned by the Fire Nation. The tube of gathered floating water Akos sent to intercept the superheated plasma shooting from Aluza's fingers guided the energy along it harmlessly, and dissipated its charge as the levitating water tunnel dispersed the burning plasma, before promptly evaporating from the heat.

Tenzin capitalized on her outstretched arm, grabbing it and twisting it behind her back. The firebender roared furiously, and blue flames spouted from her mouth, only to die out seconds later. A brief distraction was all Tenzin had needed, to start creating a pocket of vacuum around her head with his free hand within which was a distinct lack of oxygen. She gagged, coughed, and started to choke to death, but Tenzin had to stop his efforts and she only fell unconscious.

Seeing her partner in trouble, the increasingly irritated Mega Charizard spewed blue flame at Ara. As expected, the waterbender used her dodge roll, but that was what Caeruleus had wanted the water rat to do. Ara caught the business end of her massive, mega evolved tail as Cae spun and hit her. She went skipping across the plains, and Tenzin tried to give her a soft landing, which ended his finishing move on Aluza. While he did, Caeruleus snatched up her partner, and roared for her brother, only to find him conquered by a shiny Infernape, and its Trainer. Now Okuz was on his own against both of them, and holding out well, for a lone human. Knowing he had other partners, Cae decided to leave them, and flew towards the nearest cover she could find, so Aluza could recuperate, and come back to consciousness.

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Seeing Aluza leave, was the moment Minami had been waiting for, and her Infernape came back to her, as their battle with Fire Prince Okuz hit a brief lull, while he recalled Druk, and drew another ball. As he went to throw it, Minami tossed her Kasa hat into the air, revealing her features to him, which made him pause with visible shock. "Minami…? But you're…you're no Traitor…you're supposed to be at the Academy with Izumi!"

Her eyes narrowed. "You don't even know, do you." The air around her became noticeably hotter, as her anger boiled over. "You don't even care!"

"Know what…? Minami, what happened?" Okuz said, glancing behind him as Tenzin and Akos, who were supporting Ara, came up behind him, but made no threatening moves. Tenzin had one hand raised defensively, but didn't airbend. Okuz thumbed his ball, and summoned Ken, his Blaziken. Okuz held up a hand, as the flaming chicken prepared to strike, and readied his own defense.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you…" Minami said, looking at the scorched ground. Her Infernape made a sad noise, but stayed ready to leap into combat if Okuz resumed it.

"Stand down, Ken." Okuz said, the authoritative and somewhat hoarse voice deflated the tension in the air as he spoke. He lowered his hands, and Tenzin did the same, with a slow nod to him, a mutual agreement; there would be no fighting, for now. Okuz stepped towards Minami, palms open, and unthreatening as he glanced at her Infernape, and then at her. One hand landed on her shoulder, and the crimson furred fire monkey growled, but quieted when the human did nothing else. "Tell me how you ended up with Rebels, Minami…tell me what happened to my daughter. You wouldn't be here without her…"

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Since Okuz had enrolled his one and only child in the Fire Nation Academy for Females, Izumi and Minami had become close friends for eight out of the ten years they were required to attend. This year was supposed to be their last, as both girls had been selected to graduate early. He'd kept as informed as possible, but between his banishment and Izumi's mother shutting him out, staying in his daughter's loop had been all but impossible. It was one of the many driving factors behind his desire to capture the new Avatar, and head home as quickly as possible.

Minami looked up at his eyes then, and the Fire Prince's orbs widened, as he saw tears. Kuzon's daughter had never, as far as he knew, shed tears. For anything. "It…was our last class." Minami said, looking down again as she spoke. She couldn't bear looking at Okuz anymore, she saw too much of Izumi in him.

"She decided to ask our Praeceptor about Shadow Infusion. She'd overheard your father, talking to himself, and heard stories from some of the Japanese students, of humans being controlled by the Shadow, who were invading their land. The Praeceptor brought her out of the room….and she didn't come back. Ever." Tears were falling now to the scorched earth below her, but Minami continued. "They brought in…an Inquisitor. Apparently…just mentioning the Shadow warrants a visit from them. I don't know what happened to her after that…this was several years ago, now…I tried to find out where she went. To dig deeper, but you know how the Imperium is. All traces of her vanished, your father didn't even blink. Wouldn't even speak of her to me. He ordered me imprisoned for 'wasting his time', and it was at that point, I decided to escape the automated hell your family has turned our Nation into."

Okuz just stared at her, still processing. If an Inquisitor had taken her, it was to Olympia, and once on Olympia, she would never leave. Not as she once was, at any rate. The news surprised him though. He had thought the Imperium disliked openly using the Shadow, though he wondered if they might not be setting themselves up as the only force on the planet able to use the fearsome power Shadow Infusion could bring. If that was the case, he reasoned, they would want to keep an eye on anyone asking about it or seeking knowledge. In all likelihood, his daughter was now a Servitor. All for asking a single, and somewhat harmless question, of her teacher. The wrongness of it was finally too much for Okuz as his brain tried to process the idea of his little girl as a lobotomized servant to the High Lords of the Imperium. Years of denying what he and his family had helped turn Koria into began to finally register, now that it was personal, with massive amounts of guilt, shame, and the understanding that what his people had done would, forever, marr their history. Many talks with his uncle started taking on a new perspective, and he knew then his path forward.

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After about a minute of silent thinking, Okuz looked up at Minami, and tilted her head up at him. Their eyes locked. "Listen to me, daughter of Kuzon…I will find my daughter…or what's left of her. And I'll have to help your rebellion to do it. My uncle was right…as I'm sure you know. He tried to tell me. I just didn't hear him. I'm going to see him now…if your rebel friends let me…"

Tenzin, while initially conflicted at allowing one of the family members of those directly responsible for the attempted genocide of his people to go free, read the young man's thoughts, and found in them the potential for redemption, someday, once the Fire Nation had thrown off the Imperium's yoke. They would need a leader and compared to his sister's fraying and instinct driven mind, Okuz seemed the best choice. It would be hard work, undoing three centuries of hatred, but Tenzin surmised this man could give the effort towards finding unity for Koria again its best start.

"I won't impede you from leaving here…and as long as you intend to rebuild the Fire Nation into what it was, and not what your Grandfather wanted it to be, you will have the aid of myself, and my people. We can discuss the matter of…reparation, once Koria is free again."

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Okuz looked at the ground again, as he was forced to acknowledge the superiority of character from the Air Nomad. Had it been the Fire Nation on the receiving end of what they'd endured, the war would've never stopped. He was reminded of what one of his earliest firebending instructors had taught him; those who wield the power of the flame must walk a razor-thin edge between human decency, and savagery. Okuz thought then of the sparring match between himself, and a traveler of Koria that they'd stopped to interrogate, and who he'd lost track of once they entered Kuzon's gym, never to come out again. The stranger's flames hadn't burned with rage, but like his uncle's, came from breath control, focus, and a large source of heat. He resolved then to learn this alternate method of firebending. If he could use both without becoming an unstoppable ball of burning rage, he surmised he just might have enough power to take on his father. With some help.

"Much will have to change before my Nation understands what it's done. …Be patient with us, Airbender." He called out his Arcanine then, and rode away, as Druk still needed to rest. Tenzin and the others watched him go, as did another. Caeruleus snarled as she watched her brother's Trainer ride away, and the noise woke her own Trainer. Furious, she leapt from the crater in an explosion of blue flame, and spied the battlefield a short distance away. She started running, and then leapt on Cae when she flew after her. The pair returned to the scorched area, only to find the Air Rebel and his water rat friends had gone. Of her brother, there was no sign.

Caeruleus dropped her Mega Form, and then headed northwards, to regroup with the Admiral. She knew all the rebel's rats eventually floated up north into the Water Nation's inland sea. It was an entire biome that the benders of the area had total mastery over. The people, the Pokémon, all with an irritating edge over those who wielded flames as weapons. Even the Imperium had been resisted by them. The initial fleet of Thunderhawks under the Prime Archon had leveled the Nation's capital to nothing in the past, but the irritating water rats had rebuilt, often in the space of a day. She wanted to be there personally, to ensure all they had was reduced to ash.

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After connecting with Bul Fortress, Akos, Ara, Tenzin and the others continued north. Boto opted to stay and train with the earthbenders, and saw that half of the supplies the west had given them made their way across rebel cells in the Earth Nation. They'd traveled north then, through the Laghima Mountains, where Akos and Pado had begun filling out their team, and training hard as they recovered from their wounds. His encounter with Zhao had fired up the tiny penguin, and within a matter of days on their trek through the often-hostile peaks full of very territorial Pokémon, the Prinplup evolved into an Empoleon. But the training didn't stop there. Akos had asked Alex how he'd managed to become Champion, and the 'secret' such as it was had been simple. Constant training, but not just by battling. On their previous treks, Alex had often had a partner out, ready to help wild Pokémon, or other humans, as needed. The act of expending their power to aid or defuse situations had helped them grow as fast as any battle, and it was this strategy Akos used to eventually dethrone a rather brutal Alpha Nidoking.

The local Pokémon would have to find a way to coexist on their own, but many let their group pass unhindered after that, making the trek easier for those hauling the supplies. The refugees who wished to live at the Air Temple had taken this role, while others from their now destroyed village had dispersed throughout the Earth Kingdom, mostly headed for Ba Sing Se. Given a chance to wander freely without Fire Nation soldiers spotting them, as they rarely came anywhere near these 'haunted' peaks full of Air Nomad ghosts, Akos went on a catching spree with the balls Alex had given him. Thirty ultra balls were more than most new Trainers got, and Akos put them to good use, snagging a Duraludon, a Swinub, an Elekid, and a Rockruff through the course of their travels.

When they arrived at the Northern Air Temple, or what the Imperium had left of it, he found a lost, hungry Phantump, and added him to his growing team as well, while Ara, Minami, and Tenzin distributed their supplies to the rebels hiding in the burned-out husk of the once magnificent mountain temple. Once they had recovered from their trek for several days and distributed the supplies they had left, it was Ara who noticed that, from the north, the clouds were becoming darker, not with the threat of a storm, but with ash. Seeing that, the group hurried off towards the Northern Water Tribe, to presumably rendezvous with Meelo and Alex.

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Agna Qel'a - Koria Region

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Faced with the problem of reaching the Water Nation's northern bastion without getting attacked, Meelo tried to send word ahead to their Chief, but his pocket radio was being jammed, and the wind was too intense for his words to reach anyone of import at the backmost edge of the city built into the massive chunk of ice. Alex suggested waterbending them beneath the ocean to reach it, but Meelo opted against that. While the northern waterbenders might not outright kill a fellow waterbender, they were typically hostile to strangers, and undoubtedly had far superior control to his own. So recently after an attack, they might very likely just assume they were hostile and pop their air bubble beneath the water. Alex had progressed well with his brief but instructive lessons from Ara in Minjujuui City, but not enough that he could hold off an ambush by multiple waterbenders at once. Instead, they turned Pruina around, surfed to within sight of the mountainous coastline, and then burned their Fire Nation clothing.

Once that was done, they took Pruina around to the right of the massive ice island and began trekking on foot towards the city of Agna Qel'a in almost five feet of snow. When they were within a mile of the city, Alex bid Meelo to stop. The Lugia had since disappeared from the horizon, likely back under the waters, and the remnants of the Fire Navy had ceased their assault, for the moment. Alex wanted to psychically suss out any potential threats in the Water Nation's capital, and Meelo agreed to help him. Together, they combined their psychic prowess, one hiding their probe from detection, while the other scanned. Most of the city had the same latent psychic potential as any other large accumulation of modern Homo Sapiens, and as usual, the exception came when Alex scanned the most ornate building at the back of the city, likely home to its leader.

What he sensed deeply disturbed him. One presence, while large in terms of power, was completely controlled by Shadow energy. Thankfully, there were exactly three other sources around it, one of which, he was quite certain, was Raava's Avatar. One was situated to the side of the Shadowed presence, and the Avatar, and presumably a friend of his, were standing before the presence. Given what Kashiji told him, Alex assumed the Guardian was asleep, to not notice the obvious Shadow corruption in front of her. It was as he took this mental sight in, that Meelo spoke. "I hid from the others…but that large presence…likely Chief Unulaq, noticed us."

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Alex sighed, and swore, invoking the name of the Grimer line. "Of course he did. Listen, Meelo. That Chief of theirs is infused with Shadow." The man's eyes widened, and Alex guessed that he grasped the seriousness of this issue. "He's very likely either willingly serving this Vaatu figure who's fused with the Phoenix King, or he's been made into a pawn…which explains why the Fire Nation has largely ignored the northern tribe. I have a plan, but we have precious little time to enact it. I can sense benders already heading for us. We won't outrun them." He handed the Air Nomad his Pixie Plate shard. "Use this to make me look older. White hair, wrinkled skin, make the tone of it a vague brown, but light enough to be foreign."

As Meelo nodded, and quickly made the changes to the glamor they'd reapplied after Kuzon's dispelling of it, Alex focused on Lux, telling him what he needed. "You can't seriously believe that will work." The snarky spark ghost said. "You'll never get close enough."

Alex gave him a mental smirk. "I don't have to get that close, if you channel the Light for me through your form. You need to look like very scorched bamboo. Can you pull that off?"

The Rotom seemed to reassess his plan, and then nodded. "If they don't confiscate me and you get close enough, this might actually work."

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Meelo raised a bushy eyebrow as his travel companion's previously hidden plasma sword floated free, winked at him, and then became a very ancient looking, gnarled bamboo staff seemingly scorched black by fire, and turned white in small parts by age. Once their preparations were made, the northern waterbenders showed up not long after. Meelo took over speaking, then, as Alex bent his spine, presumably due to age, and leaned heavily on his staff. "Greetings, Waterbenders! I am General Meelo, of the Korian Rebellion. This is my travel companion, a fellow rebel, and a source of great knowledge and wisdom."

The waterbenders were clad in blue tones, but unlike the southern style of clothing, theirs was less furry, and more modern. Insulated. Streamlined. They likely had a very skilled tailor. Sharp icicles had surrounded the pair when they appeared, but the leader raised a hand. "Meelo, you say. Master Tenzin's son? Can you prove this claim, stranger?"

Meelo nodded, and at that moment, felt the urge to sneeze. He focused the expelled air on a nearby snow drift, and it exploded apart as the forceful air burst hit it. Seemingly impressed, the ice shards focused uncomfortably close to Alex, then. "And this one?" The lead guard asked.

Alex spoke then, in his best hoarse old man voice. "My name is Alex. I am an ally to those who fight the Fire Nation, and the Imperium. Master Tenzin and I are old friends."

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The icicles lowered then, and the guards murmured amongst themselves. Tenzin was supposed to be en route to them, and Meelo was undoubtedly an airbender. It was also known that the older Air Nomad had many equally old allies, scattered throughout Koria. Finally, the leader dropped his ice, and beckoned to them. "Our Chief, Unalaq, has ordered you brought before him. Come with us."

The benders brought them on moving pieces of hardened snow into the besieged city, and Alex took it in as they passed through. Meelo did the same, and Alex heard his voice in his head. "Something is wrong…dad told me the northern tribe was much more prosperous than this…even with the siege, this level of poverty and despair is…"

"Man-made." Alex answered, solemnly. "The Shadow's influence reaches far…don't worry my friend, we will Purge it before the day is done."

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Alex sensed the airbender was skeptical, but he kept the faith, even if his ally and his staff doubted him. What he had in mind would work. Probably. Agna Qel'a's palace was impressive, to say the least. Massive totems depicting local Pokémon like a snow Liepard, Beartic, Braviary and other Pokémon local to the biome flanked the path to the pyramidal multi-tiered palace.

As they were brought inside and into the Chieftain's audience chamber, Unalaq raised his head, as the voices, mercifully, parted and gave what was left of his mind a reprieve from their incessant mutterings. He was old, likely one of the oldest humans yet living, at well over two hundred and fifty years of age. His body, once maintained by his masterful bending for an unnatural amount of time, even by modern human standards, was old and withered. Black veins of ice radiated through his relatively recently added ice throne, and his eyes were tired, red, and surrounded by bags of exhaustion, except they went entirely around his eyes, bottom and top.

He was a sunken, shriveled human, but what the Shadow possessing him showed his people and Raava's meat suit, was an older man, aged, but still capable of fighting. Alex immediately saw through the illusion, recognizing it for what it was. Pravus had worn such a thing as well, once.

"Unalaq…" Came the dreaded whisper through the blessed silence of Unalaq's mind. "The Original Dragon's Tamer approaches. He is a herald of doom, for your people. You must destroy him…and his friend."

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Leaning on Meelo's arm as they approached the throne, Alex stared the Chief down, and knew that in turn, the Shadow had recognized him. Or rather, its source had. What Vaatu knew, he assumed, the Phoenix King knew, and with that, his cover in Imperium territory was essentially blown. If they could entrap him. Having been shown the unnerving autocratic efficiency of the Imperium's oppressive mechanism, he assumed that, in these next few minutes, the Imperator himself would hear this news, and a response would be given in kind.

Standing to the right of the Chief's uncomfortable looking straight-edged throne, was an older man with mostly gray hair, a thin mustache that came down in two straight lines on either side of his mouth, and a very bushy soul patch. He seemed to be a tribal elder of some description, and Alex could tell he was powerful in his own right. The man's eyes met his, and he smiled, before focusing back on the Chief. Of the Avatar and his powerful psychic ally, there was no sign.

As they stopped before the throne, Unalaq raised a hand, and in one motion, all of his thirty or so guards lowered their spears into a stabbing stance, aiming them at the newcomers. "The hospitality of your village seems to have cooled of late, Chief Unalaq." Meelo said, eyeing the spearmen.

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"Why should I welcome you…son of the air?" Meelo's eyes went wide as Alex psychically broke the illusion for him, too. To his credit, the man kept his composure, and had dispelled his own glamor before they'd arrived. His arrow shaped tattoos on his bald head were on full display. "Your doomed rebellion…has dragged my people into war. If you wish to help us against the Fire Navy…your aid comes late. Our…newest ally and his Lugia…have sent them home, limping."

The old man beside the Chief glanced at him, and then the foreigners. His eyes were narrowed, and Alex could sense him readying his body's energy for bending. "Come now, Chief Unalaq…are we not all fighting for Koria's freedom? The Nations must be one again, if we are to repel the Imperium. We will fail if we do not stay united. Though some in our region may fall to the Imperium's temptation, they've aided warmongers in the past, and always we have come through the occupations stronger for it."

"Not…like this. They have never…been so involved." Unalaq wheezed. "It will take…more than we have…to repel this enemy. We are better off…staying isolated, and quiet, under Imperium rule."

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Meelo's eyes widened, and mentally, he spoke to Alex. "I know Unalaq. The Chief of the Northern Water Tribe would never give in so willingly."

Alex nodded then and stepped forward from his 'aid' with walking, leaning on his staff as he did. The old man's eyes focused on him, and through them, Alex saw red tinged Shadow staring back. The kind of infection that turned one's own essence dark. He briefly wondered if Unalaq would even survive a Purging. "Unalaq…son of Nurro." He said as he mentally asked Meelo the name of his predecessor, and approached the throne, "This Shadow has plagued your mind long enough…hear my Voice, Chief of the Water Nation!"

The Storm Voice echoed in Unalaq's ears, and Alex smirked as he felt the battle, between the frankly furious mind that was Unalaq, and the shadowy grip Vaatu had on his essence. That sudden renewed conflict, gave Alex what he needed, and as the Chief's old waterbending guard struck at Alex, Meelo sliced through the watery tendril with a crescent of air. The old man arched a brow at him, and the Air Nomad simply held up a hand. A universal gesture for 'wait'.

"Zu'u Stin Hi!" Alex said, and as the Hyper Voice washed over the Chief in visible waves, his advisor recoiled in horror, as the veins of Shadow in the ice throne became visible, the illusion shattered. The vague outline of a seriously evil looking black and red kite appeared in the ice behind the throne, its tendril 'arms' reaching out to, and binding the elderly Chief. Dark laughter filled the chamber.

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"Your petty Words will not unbind Me, pawn of the Light!"

Alex's smirk faded, to a grimace. Blue aura shone around the old man guise he wore, and his back straightened, his heavy clothes flaring as he summoned the power. "I will Purge you, Shadow spawn. Greater Champions than you have dispersed before me." The blue aura shifted to gold, and with that, the fairy glamor burned away. His audience looked on, as the soldiers the Chief had positioned around them charged forward, some throwing their spears. Meelo acted again, covering the epic clash of Light and Shadow in a turbulent spheroid of wind.

Alex raised Lux and aimed him at the Chief. The Shadow in the ice recoiled in the face of such harsh Light. "I told you to disarm them!" Several of Vaatu's tendril arms burned away, snapping free of the Chief's frame. "If I go…Unalaq dies…" Light energy burned up the gnarled 'wooden' staff in a spiral of gold that, naturally, took up half of the black coloration, leaving it a perfect balance of black and gold.

"You underestimate the strength of the Water Nation." Waves of Light radiated off of Lux as he channeled the power through his housing.

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Several tendrils regrew from Vaatu's form, wrapping Unalaq once more. "The Northern Water Tribe is Mine!"

Alex raised the staff higher, holding it level at Unalaq thanks to his height, as he'd climbed up the stepped dais towards the throne. "Lux! Use Purge!"

As he spoke the move, Lux activated the stored energy. If Alex hadn't had his psychic powers, Unalaq would've likely burned away as well, but he was able to guide the Light, purging the Shadow, and healing the human simultaneously as he forced Vaatu back. His new tendrils snapped, as did several others. Furious, the Shadow's strongest Champion on the planet lunged at him directly. Alex's other hand joined the first in gripping his staff as Vaatu exposed himself and gave in to rage. The Purge hit him full force, knocking him out of Unalaq, and back into Ozai. The Phoenix King's roar of rage echoed through the Regiis Caldera as the connection was cut.

Unalaq began to fall forward off his throne, but Meelo redirected his air shield to catch him. With the clash blocked off and the illusion of Vaatu dispelled, the gathered members of the tribe had paused, and watched. More than a few had noted that, since the Fire Navy had renewed their assault several months ago, their Chief had been acting strange, and now they had all seen why.

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The old waterbender who'd stopped at Meelo's gesture caught the old man, as the airbending faded, and the guards gathered around them. Alex let the Light aura fade back to blue, and then to its usual state of invisibly shielding his frame. Despite his advanced age, Chief Unalaq looked quite a bit stronger, now he was free of Vaatu. His skin became less wrinkled, his hair less frayed but still snow white. As his advisor helped him stand, he began bending, and Alex watched, curiously. He drew water from the air itself into his body, suffusing it with fresh life, but the toll of the lengthy period without that nourishment would be taken on his ancient body in the days and weeks to come. For the moment though, he had the strength to lead. "Master…Pakku…and Meelo? Is Tenzin here? Did…he free me?"

"That was me, actually." Alex said, and the Chief's eyes turned to him. He bowed in the Unovan style, and the old man recognized it. "I am a friend to your tribe, and Master Tenzin's rebel alliance. We should speak in private, if possible. Along with the Avatar."

Aware of the number of eyes on them, and how rumors spread, Alex hoped the Chief would see the sense in this. After a long moment, he nodded, when the stranger hadn't offered his name. A quick glance at Meelo, who'd nodded at the foreigner's words, was all he needed. "Very well. To the War Chamber. Master Pakku will join us, once he has retrieved the Avatar."

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Pakku left to do that, and Unalaq thanked his warriors, assuring them his mind was his own again, before leading Alex and Meelo through the maze-like ice corridors of his palace. They entered a room then, with a standard setup that reminded Alex of business rooms for meetings in Unova. A long table, many chairs, all with the trappings of the northern tribe's iconography, but otherwise, a rather spartan chamber designed solely for speaking in private to others. Pakku arrived minutes later as Meelo and Unalaq chatted. Behind the old man, was presumably the Avatar, and Alex took him in as he got his first proper look at his quarry. It'd taken a few weeks more than he'd wanted, and they were well into early summer by now, but finally, he'd found the being Tao charged him with tracking down and aiding. He could almost feel the well-earned rest he was eager to take once his business in Koria finished.

"Introductions are in order, I think." Pakku said, as the sandy toned young man who was presumably the Avatar sat. He gestured at Meelo and Alex. "This is General Meelo, of the Air Nation, and a leader of the Korian rebellion. His friend is…"

Alex nodded, taking the conversation's lead from the old man as he stood, and Unalaq sat. "Alexander Redwood. Tamer of the Original Dragon of Unova, and leader of the newly reformed Dragon Empire." He bowed to the space between the Avatar and Unalaq. "The Original Dragon bid me to come to your region to find Raava's Avatar and help them free Koria of Imperium control." He turned to the presumed Avatar, then. His eyes were sad, and in this moment, a bit incredulous. If he found it odd that a pale westerner was offering their region aid seemingly out of the blue, Alex found it equally odd that so much could rest on the admittedly shredded shoulders of one seemingly ordinary man.

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He was dressed in similarly modern looking clothes to the locals he'd seen, in the green and brown tones Earth Nation citizens seemed to favor. Bandages covered his hands and muscled forearms, his swampy green, durable looking pants seemed as roomy as Alex's preferred ones, and his shoes were brown, with plates of metal protecting his feet and shins.

"I see…" Unalaq said, as Alex and the Avatar locked eyes. "Emperor Redwood, then…this, is Avatar Jimen. Koria's last hope."

Alex offered a hand, and the lightly bearded earthbending Avatar took it, as he finally spoke in his deep but not unappealing tones, and gripped Alex's hand with significant force. It was like shaking hands with a rock. "The Original Dragon huh? I've heard the legends…he taught the Fire Nation to wield their flames. Odd, that he'd be on our side."

As Alex was about to explain that, apparently, they no longer followed what he'd taught, Tao spoke for himself, shocking everyone, as a pair of intense glowing golden eyes manifested in the room above the meeting table. "The Fire Nation has perverted my teachings, Avatar…and you are running out of time to stop them. Even now, the Imperium has sent additional Thunderhawks to level the Water Tribe. You must prepare." The eyes focused on Alex, who sensed the dragon was urgently trying to get them out of harm's way. "Take Jimen and his friend and return to the Tower." The eyes turned to Unalaq then. "When next you see the Avatar, he will be as strong as Kora and Aang were. With that might, and mine, we will free your people…for now…hide and shield yourselves as you have before."

Unalaq simply nodded. He could sense the sheer power and presence of the eyes before him, and they matched what the oldest legends they had of the Fire Nation said when describing the Original Dragon, and how he taught the first firebenders to wield the flame with honor under that fierce golden gaze. For his part, Alex could sense how monumentally disappointed Tao was with how far the Fire Nation had fallen, and how much further they yet could go.

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Alex and Jimen left Pakku, Meelo, and Unalaq to deal with the imminent bombing. He took the chance to examine the Avatar's belt, only to find he had no Pokéballs. "So…uh, you're not a Pokémon Trainer?"

The earthbender glanced at him, as they walked. "I used to be…but no longer. Kora didn't have many partners, and mine…"

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Jimen trailed off, and Alex didn't need to read his mind to recognize sadness. "I understand. Fire Nation?" Jimen nodded, and the two continued on in somewhat awkward silence. Then, suddenly, Jimen stopped at an icy door.

"This is it. My friend is in here. What tower was your dragon talking about, anyways?"

Alex spoke, as he opened the door. "Probably the Dragonspiral Tower. In Unova. It's his…headquarters…" He trailed off as he took in the only person inside the room Jimen stopped at, mostly, because of disbelief. The man within had spiky black hair, kind eyes that had a fire in them, a Pikachu on his shoulder, and a long blue haori with white flames on the bottom of it. His red and white hat had a green swoosh on it, and the style of his clothes under his jacket reminded him of what Oranguru garbed his trainees in, these days. Alex needed no introduction for the reigning World Champion, but Jimen gave him one anyway.

Jimen stepped into the room nonchalantly, and said, "Ash Ketchum, this is Alex Redwood. The new leader of Unova, in the west. His Legendary partner said we're supposed to go with him, since the Imperium is coming as we speak."

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Ash seemed to process this, his almost perpetual smile fading. "And leave Koria…? I…don't think I can, just yet." He stood then, and walked towards Alex, offering a gloved hand. "I'm Ash. This is my partner, Pikachu." "Hiya hooman!" The electric mouse said, sounding rather cheerful, given the circumstance of their meeting.

"Uh. Hello there…I uh...I know who you are, World Champion..." Alex said, trailing off. He was still processing who was in front of him, how they were even there, the fact that they were even real. A thousand questions flooded his mind, and Ash seemed to have an inkling as to their source.

"You said you're from Unova right? Before you ask…the cartoon liked to embellish my early years…but honestly, they did pretty good with recreating the important moments. It's a good thing most Gym Battles are recorded, huh? Very easy to animate, after that."

Jimen, for his part, looked completely clueless. "World Champion? Cartoon?"

Alex just shook his head, and laughed, genuinely, for the first time in at least a week. "Yea…your friend here is…kind of famous. Legendary, even. Famous enough to have a TV show chronicling his journeys. He's the World Champion, the best Battler in the world, and if even half the stories are true, he's met more Legendary Pokémon than most people on the planet." Alex tensed, as he sensed Tao's urgency. "As much as I'd love to talk about your Battles, Ash, we need to go. Now. The Imperium has the power to block Teleports, and they're closing in."

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Ash shook his head. "I still need to recall Lugia…"

"We don't have time!" Alex said, as Tao psychically urged him to hurry, again. "I'm sure a Lugia that large will be just fine on its own. It's a Psychic Type. It can find you again." He grabbed Jimen's wrist then and offered a hand to Ash. "We need to go. Quickly."

Ash's Pikachu look at his Trainer then, "Perhaps we should listen…" and though all Ash heard was "Pi-kachu, pi…" He understood about as well as Alex. "Alright." Ash said, taking the hand offered. "Bring us to Unova."

Alex focused then, letting his mind focus on and remember an anchor half a world away. Once he had the lock, he used Teleport. A brief pulse of psychic energy emanated from him, but instead of a bamf, all they heard was a brrplf. Twice more he tried, and twice he failed.

"Erm…does that usually happen?" Jimen said, raising an eyebrow.

"No. We ran out of time. They're already here. Looks like we're on to plan B." Alex said, grimacing.

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To his surprise then, he sensed a powerful surge of fear, and its source was Ash Ketchum. His partner poked him, as the man looked down at the icy floor. "It's the Imperium. Plan B is to surrender before they shoot us. They won't stop, now that they've been deployed."

To Alex at least, it seemed like Ash had prior experience with the massive supercontinent-spanning empire. He spoke confidently, and Ash's eyes met his as he did. "They have to find us first, and we have Pokémon with us. We'll be fine." He gestured to Jimen then. "We also have the Avatar. We'll get out of here. The question, is where are we running to?"

The look of determination returned to Ash's eyes. Redwood was right, of course. He had Pikachu, and his partners. Lugia would follow in time. "East. To the Temple of the Mind Sage. I've heard of you, Unovan Champion. Heard you also studied under a Sage. My teacher will likely be eager to have us spar."

Alex nodded. "I look forward to meeting him." He looked at Jimen then. "I can help you bend us a way to the ocean. Once we reach it, we should walk on the bottom, rendezvous with this Lugia if possible, and start heading towards the mainland. Can you guide us?"

The Avatar nodded. "I have friends in Ba Sing Se that can get us further east. We'll need a way to cross the ocean, though."

Alex smirked. "Worry not. I have a Lapras. Lead on, Avatar."

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As the trio made their way, Meelo met up with them, and gave their feet a useful speed boost as they exited Agna Qel'a to the north, moving up the sheer icy cliff face that made up the back of the city with an air spout from Alex and Meelo's combined bending. If Jimen was surprised the Dragon Emperor could bend, neither he, nor Ash, mentioned it. Once at the top, they dropped into the deep snow as Jimen called out a warning. The first of the Imperium's Thunderhawks had arrived. Screaming out of the rising sun over the city, the first flying V of gunships passed over the city, and each one fired a payload of at least forty missiles. Thankfully, the ice did not run red anywhere, and all the Imperium destroyed, as usual, was the homes of ice emptied of material possessions.

As the flying V turned around above them for another pass, Alex had seen enough. The group moved, trudging far too slowly down the northern slopes of the Water Nation's ice mass. Then, he heard it. A roar he was all too familiar with, but this one sounded female, and unlike Chari, was no runt. "Behind me!" He shouted, and as the blue Flamethrower burned a trail towards them, he dissipated it as Okuz and Kuzon had done to many of his own attacks by guiding the flames in opposing directions and leaving naught but a fiery circle that faded to nothing. The Mega Charizard flew over them with an angry roar, and another torrent of blue flame, this time from her rider, came towards them, to no effect. Alex called out Pruina then. "Hop on! Pru! Take them to the water! Quickly!"

She made a noise that suggested her worry for him, but he waved her on. "Now, Pruina!" As the Lapras took off through the downwards slope of snow, his mind stayed with her, and the battle, such as it was, became split. The Charizard rider leapt for him, only to be blindsided by a massive, snow-covered chunk of earth that sent her into the five-foot drifts in a fit of rage. The snowmelt kept putting her flames out however and soon she was drenched, and shivering. Alex turned and guided Pruina then, using their shared sight and mental link to aim her Dragon Pulse at the Charizard. After two misses, she narrowed her eyes, and guided the ball of dense dragon energy, curving it in the air, and hit the flying fire lizard right between the wings. Caeruleus crashed into a drift as well, and Pruina fired another three far more condensed Dragon Pulses at her as she reached the water. The fire lizard's Mega Form faded, and Pruina looked worriedly back up at her Trainer.

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Up above, Aluza was enraged, and melted her way out of the permafrost and bits of tundra buried deep under the snow that he'd pelted her with. "Fire…and Earth…" Alex's eyes widened, and for a moment, he wondered if it might not be better, and safer for Jimen, if the Fire Nation was after him, from their perspective, a random pale skinned foreigner who trained Pokémon. He could sense their intent in a crowd, and even if they did ambush him, he had Lux, who could only extend his blade a few inches, if necessary. Without the need to bisect elemental beams from Crusaders, there was no point to go full length all the time, and there was only one person on the planet who, thanks to media and propaganda from the Dragon Empire, owned and used a white and black plasma sword. It had become iconic, and the fame of the Pokémon Wars series was no small part of that. Aluza jumped at him, full of flames and deformed rage across her otherwise appealing features. Her armor didn't leave much to the imagination either, form fitting and soaked as it was.

Alex confirmed her suspicions for her, and trapped her angry charge with snow, that became water as he shifted its form. Heating and freezing the water he controlled had been tricky, but it was something Akos had gone over until he understood how it worked. He re-froze the water then, completely. Aluza seemed to inhale within the ice, but Alex was ready for that. Firebending needed breath after all. He controlled a hard circle of ice and sent it hard into her solar plexus as he rapidly raised a fist, and her breath went out, as the air was literally knocked from her lungs.

"Somehow, I hoped you'd be harder to beat." He said, spinning in the snow and turning it to ice to help his momentum as he broke the bit containing the rage princess, formed it into a sphere, and then chucked it at a passing Thunderhawk, who by this point, were on their third pass, and thus, had finally noticed their duel. Her ice ball went right through the gunship as it started laying down strafing fire, and then the damaging projectile continued down towards the earth for a landing that would likely shatter it, and violently free its occupant.

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Shifting the circle of ice beneath him into a makeshift sled not at all unlike the disc-like ones he'd used as a child, he hurtled down towards Pruina, and had to fight down a smile. The situation was too serious for fun, but he had to admit he'd enjoyed fighting a firebender for real. Manipulating Nature Energy could compensate for whenever he faced a superior martial artist, for he had no illusions as to which of them had been training and bending longer. He recognized natural talent in the fiery woman, but that had done little in the face of multiple elements, nor would it save her from taking damage from being hurled through a ceramite aircraft only to land, hard. The ice ball would shatter on impact, likely hurting her quite a bit, but her people were nearby. She'd probably survive, and if she didn't, that was up to the harsh nature of this environment she was invading, and no longer his problem.

It was Pruina who had ultimately shown both he and Akos how to control large waves of water in what was classically known as a Surf attack, among Trainers. He showed off for her, riding the circular ice sled on the wave he guided and grew, until he came down, and braked beside her. Her forehead met his, and he chuckled. "You're getting good at that, for a Human." She said, and he enjoyed the praise from the water type. Who would know waterbending better?

They descended beneath the waves then, and Jimen helped, as he and Alex kept them all breathing beneath the water in a dome of air, while Pruina propelled them rather quickly through the undersea. Unlike the seabed on his way into the region, Pokémon were all over the place here. Meelo sat quietly on the shell, meditating, and projecting his aura towards the wild Pokémon, including several Sharpedo. They were nudged into ignoring the humans atop the Lapras, and more then once Pruina had let her horn sparkle with the beginnings of a Thunderbolt for those alphas who wanted to test her anyway. There were none here capable of resisting an electric attack, and most species seemed content to ignore them.

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Ash's Pikachu shouted, and pointed in the distance, and Alex mentally guided Pruina into a stop. A massive shape was moving in the distance towards them. All Alex glimpsed was its eyes, glowing ominously in the dark inland ocean, though they resolved into the features of a truly massive Lugia as it came closer. Compared to Pravus's and Percy's, this one was clearly the oldest, and probably classifiable as an alpha of the Lugia line.

His male mental voice was calming, and Alex extended the bubble as his head came closer. Pokémon around them watched, curious as to what the Beast of the Sea could want with humans and a Lapras. "Hello." He said, looking at each of them, before focusing on Ash. "You do not need my aid for the next leg of your journey. I must return to the isles."

Ash nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Lugia. Before you go…could you drive off the Thunderhawks?"

The Legendary Pokémon nodded slowly. "It will be my extreme pleasure…travel safely, Ash. If you need me, I shall come."

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Alex watched the psychic and flying type, and he smirked to himself. The emotions being given by Ash and his partner almost reminded him of himself and Rayquaza. The dragon tended to be more stern, but if one could get him to indulge in some Leaf, he was very companionable. He didn't open up his heart much, and Alex knew it was because he still grieved for his last human, but they'd reached a mutual level of respect, and Alex knew if he ever needed him, both he and Tao would be there. Only a few Rayquaza could move so fast they Teleported, and Tao had long ago mastered the skill of instantly transmitting his being to another point in space. Apparently, it was slightly different to Teleport, and he'd learned it from a human, but the dragon had not elaborated on who, or where, or even when.

The Lugia flapped away then, and the silt blinded them completely. Another thump of pressure signaled a second flap, and then, Lugia was above the water. He spun out of the ocean in a glorious spin, bringing no small amount of water with him. Almost immediately, the two wings of Thunderhawks dispatched to level Agna Qel'a reacted to its presence.

By the time they turned though, it was already too late. The Aeroblast was accompanied by a furious shriek that the party below the water did hear, and the resulting explosions from eighty percent of the airships signaled his victory. The survivors scattered, and Lugia took the opportunity to fly away, east towards the sea, where he could travel in his favored terrain on his way home. There were other Lugia to see of course, and he looked forward to checking on them on his way back.

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The group soon discovered that waterbending didn't apply to silt, and Jimen left the bubble to Alex, as he focused on keeping the disturbed mud, miles of it upturned by Lugia's flaps, from coating them. Keeping Pruina's eyes clear was also a draw on his focus, and thus Alex kept their bubble intact, as he settled in, and became accustomed to the strain.

"Try this." Meelo said, extending his aura shield to match their bubble. Alex reinforced his shield with his own, and found it drew far less energy than constantly bending.

"What, you're psychic, too?" Jimen said, in disbelief.

Alex smirked at him, as he took a similar meditative pose to Meelo. "I was a psychic long before I was bending Nature Energy." With the silt issue solved, the four men chatted in the quiet beneath quite a bit of pressure from the inland ocean around them. Ash explained that he'd been training with the Mind Sage, an Alakazam, alongside his friend Isamu. He was too excitedly recounting it to elaborate on who that was, but neither Alex nor either of the other two stopped him.

Alex recounted his own training then, and he had to smirk when Ash asked what happened to Iris, and Alex simply said she'd retired. It was easy to miss, given how lively Ash was, but Alex realized he was quite a few years older than himself and Jimen. It was Meelo though who was by far the oldest, of the four of them. He briefly wondered if Iris had slowly faked how old she'd become, so that she could 'retire' and do as she pleased. It was no secret she had not been thrilled by being so easily dethroned by Rosa, who had then gone on to be trounced by Nate hours later, with his absurdly powerful team. Taking on the majority of Team Plasma had turned his team of six into beasts, and it was a matter of record that he hadn't stopped there. Nate had ultimately let Iris retain the title, while he beat her with four more teams from his box, before officially claiming the title and seat of Champion for himself. His later clash with N had been, in a word, Legendary, but the green haired son of Ghetsis had eventually emerged the winner, taking on Nate's entire team with only Zekrom, and winning. Alex was glad N hadn't been that on top of his game, when they'd battled.

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Chatting with the three men made the trip seem short, and before long they were on the shoreline just before the massive mountains of the Laghima range, where the Northern Air Temple once stood. As Meelo tried to contact his father, Alex, Jimen, and Ash had a quieter conversation. "Jimen. I met a…special Polteageist in the Spirit World on my way here…it claimed that Raava, Koria's Guardian, lost her connection to your past lives in Kora's last clash with Ozai. Have you been able to speak with her?"

Jimen shook his head. "Raava…I know that name…but no, I…the Water Sages said the Guardian was sleeping, and that she may likely not awaken in my lifetime."

Alex nodded. "I've been thinking about that." He looked at Ash then. "I think the Mind Sage may be able to help us with awakening Raava. Once we're out of range of the Teleport blocker, can you get us there?"

Ash frowned. "Maybe…I've never Teleported myself before…" Pikachu leaped onto his shoulder then and gave him a tiny thumbs up. "But I can certainly try!"

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At that point, Meelo came over to the triad of protagonists. "I just contacted my father. They're actually close…there's just one problem."

Jimen arched a thin eyebrow and spoke up. "What is it, General?"

Meelo sighed, and his gray eyes looked downward. "The Admiral leading this attack isn't…sane. He's brought a Coalossal from the Imperium."

Alex spoke this time, "The giant kind?" Meelo nodded an affirmative. "Muk. They won't even know it's coming…and something that large will snap that ice mass in half."

The four men shared glances, and Ash spoke this time. "I'm not leaving a city's worth of people to die…or worse. I've seen what the Imperium does to prisoners." He turned to Jimen then. "We stopped them once. We can do it again."

"Without your Lugia?" Meelo said, sighing, and pinching his brow. "We don't have the numbers to take down a Coalossal that large, and we can't mass Teleport the people out now."

"Unless..." Ash countered, "We find the Librarius." The other three men looked at him, and Ash gave his best attempt at a confident smile. Alex and Meelo could both tell he was fighting the fear within, though. "We take out the Librarius, the Teleport blockage goes down." He looked at Alex and Meelo then. "Can you two Teleport that many people at once?"

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Meelo pondered for a moment, and then glanced at Alex, who shrugged, and looked back to Ash. "With Tenzin's help? Maybe…but we'd need somewhere to send them. Somewhere that knows they're coming."

"The Mind Sage took in the Air Nomads once." Ash said. "I can try to reach him and tell him Agna Qel'a is coming as well."

"Let's keep that as a backup plan…" Alex said, looking into the distance. There was a part of the horizon line more smokey than the rest of it. "I say we take down the Coalossal, and drive them back. Jimen, that Firebender I fought, thinks that I'm you…I say we convince this Admiral of the same thing. Let them think the new Avatar has pale skin like a westerner. They'll never find you. Right now, getting you to safety is our first priority. Ash, we need to move to the southeast, out of Librarius range, at which point you can both go to the Mind Sage. Leave the Coalossal to us. Without it, the Northern Water Tribe can keep enduring."

"You're suggesting open war with the Imperium, Alex." Meelo said. "Are you sure you want to risk that? They may have other ways of identifying you."

"When I Purged Vaatu from Chief Unalaq, I have no doubt he and Ozai informed the Imperator of who I was, and that I was here. We need to hit the Fire Nation before more reinforcements arrive. If we take out the Librarius and the Coalossal, we can retreat, and call it a victory." Alex said, crossing his arms. He was using his own General voice now, confident of the plan.

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Ash and Jimen shared a look as well. "We can't just leave-"

But Alex held up a hand. "Jimen is more important to Koria's future than me or Meelo or anyone with Tenzin. I know he'll be safe with you, World Champ. You need to leave this to us. Adamanteus!" He shouted, summoning his Steelix. "We need to head up those mountains and put as many miles between us and Agna Qel'a as possible. Can you handle them?"

The Steelix looked at the peaks of the Laghima range and nodded. "There are powerful rivals here…but I can take them, now…"

Alex nodded, confident he could. "Alright. Hop on, you two. Ash, try reaching the Sage."

With reluctant sighs, the two men climbed onto Adamanteus, and Ash's aura flared a blue almost as deep as Alex's. Possibly even more so. Alex could sense the sheer depths of his power, and in that moment, very much regretted that they probably wouldn't have a chance to battle. Yet. Then, as he reached out, an overwhelmingly powerful mental presence manifested among them, and Meelo turned, his own communication with Tenzin disrupted by the arrival of such a potent mental presence.

"All three of you must come."

The voice was loud even for Alex as it echoed in his head, not like thunder, but louder than his own Sage master was. It made some sense, for no species could boast the kind of psychic power an Alakazam could produce. Their brains were more advanced than humanity's, and a Sage of that species would probably be, arguably, the most powerful psychic presence in the world. It didn't mean Oranguru would necessarily lose, if they battled, but in terms of raw special attack power, this Alakazam would have a clear advantage.

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Meelo spoke then. "He's right, Alex…he…he showed me how to win this. Let my father and I handle the Coalossal and Agna Qel'a. Go. Help our Avatar, Dragon Emperor. It's why you were sent here. It is your path."

Alex glanced at Adamanteus, who also sensed the massive mind, though he only had second-hand knowledge from Alex as to what the plan now was. "Fine." Alex said, giving Adamanteus a kick. "Be safe, Meelo. Keep everyone alive, if you can."

Meelo watched them speed off into the Laghima mountains then, and Tenzin and his group arrived just in time to see their dust cloud, and their mount, vanish in a flash of Teleportation as they'd sped onto a second peak, and then a third with the Steelix's power.

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Temple of the Mind Sage - Koria Region

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Adamanteus crashed hard as the inertia carried through the Teleport. Ash and Pikachu went flying as they lost their grip, Jimen simply leapt and rolled away, but Alex stayed on, secure in his position behind his partner's large neck. He gave the slightly winded Steelix a rest in his ball and looked around. Odd and long strands of golden yellow grass extended into the sea from either side of the pointed almost triangular jetty they'd appeared on. Before the trio, on a rising mound of what seemed to be dirt, was a structure he would classify as a temple. Large, many roomed, and made of stone, Ash began sprinting towards it. Jimen glanced at Alex, and Alex nodded, before starting after him. Luckily for them, Pikachu hopped off his Trainer's shoulder to guide the slower pair, and Alex tossed him an Oran Berry for his trouble.

Ahead of them, Ash sprinted up the stairs to the topmost chamber of the temple, where the Mind Sage typically resided. Ash found him again in his Mega Form, meditating, and hovering in the air. His eyes opened, as he sensed the urgency of his student's return. "Interesting…someone has shown you how Teleport works, have they?"

"Master…" Ash said, out of breath. He panted, from taking so many stairs so quickly. "It's Agna Qel'a…they're under attack from a Coalossal."

"I am aware." The Mega Alakazam said, nonchalantly. "What of them?"

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"We need to help!" Ash said, regaining his breath. "If that thing reaches their iceberg, it'll break it in half!"

"And then the abomination will fall into the ocean, and presumably be attacked by the local Pokémon. I see no issue here, Ash Ketchum."

Ash blinked at the callousness of the Sage. He'd genuinely thought the kind old Pokémon would eagerly lend a hand. "Look, the city's population is hiding right now, under the iceberg. If it breaks, they'll be crushed!"

"They are Waterbenders. I severely doubt they will so easily die to something they can bend." Alakazam answered. "The Fire Nation cannot reach them, and the Imperium is not equipped for deep water combat. The people will survive. Probably. They can rebuild their icy home quite easily. They've done so before."

"Maybe they can rebuild!" Ash said, growing frustrated, "But we need to move the civilians who can't bend out of danger until it's passed. I wanted to ask you to bring them here."

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The Mega Alakazam pondered and closed his eyes. For an infuriatingly long time he said nothing, and Ash tried not to be impatient. The Mind Sage often got like this, when he tried to mentally foresee and predict all future outcomes. "Your idea has merit. Freeing the Waterbenders to aid the Rebellion will likely turn the conflict into a rout for the Fire Nation. The first loss in the turning tide of the war. Of course, none of this can come to pass until the Librarius is removed."

"General Meelo is working on that as we speak, Great Sage." A new voice said, echoing through the chamber.

The Mega Alakazam shifted his eyes to the newcomer and arched a brow. "I know thee, Human…Oranguru's Rising Star. The Rain Sage speaks well of you also. You are welcome in my temple, Dragon Emperor."

"I'm honored to be here, wise Sage. I brought the Avatar with me." Alex gestured to Jimen then, and the newest incarnation of the Avatar stepped forward.

"Uh…hi. I'm Jimen." He said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. He was still coming to terms with the fact that Pokémon could apparently 'speak human' when they wanted to, if they were psychic typed or Legendary. Or both.

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The Sage eyed him for some time. "Raava yet sleeps within you…it will take many lifetimes for her power to fully return to you…lifetimes we do not have the luxury of waiting through."

"Then…how do I wake her up?" Jimen asked. "Ash and Alex said you might have a clue to that."

The Sage nodded simply. "I do." He gestured for them to come sit, and before where he floated effortlessly in the air, three plush seating cushions appeared, and the three men sat, and listened. "To awaken Raava, you must enter the Spirit World, and find the lost remnants of your past lives. The battle between Avatar Kora and Fire Lord Ozai scattered much of your spiritual lineage…but enough may yet remain to awaken Raava, and elevate your combined powers to that of past Avatars. Your spirit will never be completely healed, but if you find Avatars of repute, who wielded great power on their own in their time, you will gain their wisdom and experience, and their power when you enter the Avatar State. Once you have reconnected with enough of your past lives, Redwood here can show you how to master the Avatar State."

Alex blinked. "Erm…I can?"

The Sage nodded. "You have walked the Trial of Eight Paths and come through alive. Not something many Humans can claim to have done. Even only a precious few Avatars ever managed it. You must guide Jimen through his path, as you were guided through yours. Are you up to the task, Redwood?"

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Alex briefly pondered. Obviously, the goal would be to get Jimen to channel the energy of the universe itself at the finale of his chakra opening. Such energy might very well be what Raava would need to awaken, assuming they could find his past lives. "It would be easier to take him to Unova…the Seven Sages there can help him more than I could."

The Sage shook his head. "Raava must awaken here, in Koria. She is tied to this land in a manner every Guardian is. You will be provided with whatever you need, to open his chakras."

Alex nodded. "Then I'll do my best to train him, Mind Sage."

"You will train Ash Ketchum as well." The Alakazam said, looking to Alex at least, deviously proud. "This is the price of my aid for Teleporting the majority of the Northern Water Tribe into my home."

Alex glanced at Ash and knew that if he helped someone with such obvious raw potential awaken it, he would be given a very strong rival as a result. The nine-time World Champion roadblock in his future might very well become insurmountable, with fully realized psychic powers. He smirked, as he wouldn't have anything less than Ash's best, when they inevitably battled for his title. "I accept. I'll do what I can to guide both of my new friends here on the path to enlightenment."

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"Good!" The Sage thundered. "I will send you into the Spirit World now, to find Jimen's past selves. You have been there before Redwood. Think of the best place to land, and you shall appear there."

Deep purple aura flared around the floating Pokémon, and Alex thought for a moment, deciding between Kashiji's hut, and the Tree, before ultimately focusing on the hut. If anyone could help them, it was the Light-touched Polteageist that Raava had inadvertently created.

As he focused, Ash and Jimen closed their eyes as well, and then, in a flash of purple, they were gone.

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Fire Nation Controlled Shore Near Agna Qel'a - Koria Region

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After Caeruleus had found Aluza lying unconscious and battered on the ruined ice of Agna Qel'a, the shiny Charizard carried her partner across the inland sea to report to the Admiral the identity of the new Avatar. She'd sent a Talonflame ahead with a message but knew the Admiral would want a full account of her failures. Over and over, she replayed how easily he'd taken her down, with multiple elements. She hadn't expected him to look like a foreigner from the west, though. They'd never considered that Koria's Guardian would reincarnate outside of Koria, it had never happened before, but then, the Fire Nation had never all but controlled Koria either. Would it not make sense to reincarnate in a non-hostile region, and then return to Koria once grown?

As she pondered her latest excuse for failing her mission, she noticed a pair of rats, scurrying on the ground near Incineratus, as Cae alerted her with a growl. "Finally…" Aluza descended with practice born of years of training as an aerial hunter, and in the darkening sky, Caeruleus was all but impossible to see thanks to her black scales. What Akos and Ara did see as they went about their mission to take down Incineratus from the inside, were faint half circles of sparks in the darkness, followed by an impossibly fast bolt, aimed right at Akos. All Ara had time to see of this perfect and critical strike from the shadows was where the bolt would hit, and she leapt, catching it herself before it hit her brother. She didn't hesitate for a second. As Ara went down in a smoking heap, Akos drew the water from their six total waterskins, and used it to shield himself and his sister from the follow-up blue Flamethrower delivered by their attacker's obsidian skinned mount.

Unfortunately, the attack burned away his shield, and Aluza followed up by leaping down from Cae's back and bringing an arcing fiery foot down at Akos. It became clear the grinning, deformed rage princess was playing with him, as they traded blows, and Akos knew he needed to level the playing field before the Charizard returned for another pass, or worse, mega evolved again. If it reached its dragon-typed Mega Form, he had no chance of stopping it solo.

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Desperate to slow her, Akos used the snow around them to freeze her, and in the seconds it took her to once more burn free of her icy prison, Akos called out his Rockruff. He wasn't particularly special in terms of looks, and Akos hadn't used him much since catching him. They'd camped together a few times, shared a love of Sealeo jerky, but he'd called on his other new additions for training, so far, not this one. Thus, the rock pupper was a bit confused as he was brought out to handle a fully grown and very pissed off Charizard of the Fire Nation's royal lineage. Akos then surprised him, by offering him what seemed to be some sort of small pink candy, in a blue wrapper. "Eat this!" He ordered. "Hurry!"

Akos's Pokédex had listed his Rockruff's projected level, and he'd found it around the same as the other Pokémon he'd caught in the Laghima mountains. He'd also noticed it was more than was needed for evolution, apparently, and by quite a large margin. For whatever reason, this Rockruff had simply not evolved, though he could refuse now, if he wanted, Akos hoped he might consider it, in order to win. Thus, as the sun set around them and the night took over, the Rockruff was given a Rare Candy his Trainer had picked up randomly from the ground, and as a result, the tiny rock puppy began glowing, growing, and then howled, as he reformed as a Midnight Form Lycanroc. "Get the Charizard!" Akos shouted, as he and Aluza once more engaged.

He shifted his attacks from ones that tried hitting her, to tendrils, focused on slithering around out of her field of vision, and snaring her limbs before she could burn him. The newly evolved, but now much stronger Lycanroc fought a similar losing battle, against the superior Charizard, only staying alive and conscious thanks to his newly learned move: Stone Edge.

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Just as the Lycanroc was about to suffer a rather powerful tail smash, a feminine voice broke in on the conflict. "Now, Luna! Use Moonblast!" Akos hadn't expected help, as Minami, Meelo, and Tenzin were on their way to the Librarius. Thus, when the absurdly powerful beam of fairy magic came out of nowhere to smash into the Charizard, he knew the tables had begun to turn. The source of the attack was a blue eyed Lunatone, floating beside its Trainer, a similarly blue eyed and white-haired woman of Akos's nation, garbed in the blues and light purple of the Northern Water Tribe. Around her, from the ocean, came other waterbenders, garbed for war, and they brought with them ice Liepards, Beartics, and even a truly massive Gyarados, that was just then arcing out of the water. The Gyarados, clearly an older one, and therefore far more powerful, aimed a Hyper Beam at Incineratus that the massive Coalossal raised its arms to tank the hit with. Though a mark had been left, all the attack really did was make the living furnace roar hard enough to vibrate the air with the force of it. The temperature of the area rose several degrees, but the snow did not stop falling before the might of Incineratus.

The fight Aluza had started had alerted not just the Fire Army forces within Incineratus, but the northerners who had been watching and waiting for a sign that it was time to strike. Evidently seeing a member of their sister tribe from the south go down hard was enough to motivate them. Akos's Lycanroc capitalized on the fairy attack, following it with a harsh, quadruply effective Stone Edge that sent Caeruleus hurtling away from the newly made camp. He howled in victory and grinned at his Trainer. He seemed to like being a Lycanroc, and he considered Akos worth defending. Furious, Aluza beat down the water rat resisting her, finishing Akos by breaking his guard, and then hitting him in the chin with a burning roundhouse kick. She sprinted for Cae then, ready to burn the world around her if someone tried to further harm her partner.

The white-haired Trainer ran to Akos, but he pointed weakly at his sister instead as he fought to stay conscious. "My…sister…oof." As he blacked out, the woman laid him down, and then approached the still-smoking form of Aratak. She winced, as she noticed the body before her had, by that point, stopped breathing. Akos hadn't had a chance to tend her after she was struck, and by now, her spirit had left. They'd simply been too late to save her. The woman retrieved her necklace, a symbol that she was apparently engaged, and four Pokéballs from her bag.

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Her Lunatone then levitated Akos back into the water and hid them beneath the waves just out of sight of the battle with a silvery shield of aura, as the woman tended to him with her waterbending, using the northern tribe's famous Life Dew like skills to heal. It was something his gran had told him the northerners learned from the Lapras that resided in their inland sea. Akos regained consciousness quickly, and looked around agitated, before his eyes settled on the woman. She was beautiful, easily the most stunning Akos had seen in his young life, and as he realized he was sitting in damp sand underwater, with his head in her lap, he flushed slightly, and sat up. A roar echoed from above them. "The battle isn't over? My sister! Is she-" The words died in his throat as he saw the woman's face, and as his eyes fell, saw four Pokéballs in her palm, and their mother's necklace.

That told him all he needed to know. "My name is Yue." She said, placing her free hand on his arm. "By the time I reached her…not even Heal Pulse could help. I'm sorry it took my people so long to aid brave warriors from our sister tribe, like you and your sister."

Akos was a roiling bag of emotion, as he tried to come to terms with the fact that a beautiful woman was touching him, and his sister had died for him. All he could do was stare at what he had left of her, his mom's necklace, and his sister's Pokémon. She had always been the better bender, the smarter one, though he'd never admit it. It was why she'd been tapped for the resistance, and he had not. Or so he thought. He took her Pokémon from Yue and let them out beneath the shielded sea. A Horsea, a Primarina, a Dewgong, and to his surprise, what he recognized as a female Riolu appeared before him.

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Their faces broke his heart as he told them the fate of their Trainer, and though they didn't know Yue, they looked to her for confirmation all the same. Her Lunatone let out a sad tone that confirmed, in their tongue, what they asked, and the Primarina began crying as Akos finally spoke with a shaky voice. "I understand if you girls want to leave…there's plenty of wild Pokémon here that the Fire Nation hasn't disturbed. The Dewgong, and most recently caught addition to his sister's team, looked at the ocean around them, and then nodded with a sad intonation of her name. He released her, and with a sad farewell, she slipped beyond the psychic barrier. The Primarina did the same a moment later, jetting off at an upward angle, and heading north. He'd heard that, when sad, they created hauntingly beautiful melodies to express their feelings, and he knew that tonight, such a melody would fill the inland sea. He kept her ball just in case, though.

The Horsea, for his part, as Akos realized it was a he, and not female like the others, just looked heartbroken, sagging into the sand, as he clearly didn't know what to do now that his friend had passed on. The Riolu however, was emanating an emotion Akos understood all too well, and as they locked eyes, he knew he'd gained a partner. "Rio. Lu." She barked at him, and he nodded, holding up her ball. "Revenge it is, then." The Horsea watched the Riolu be recalled, and then met Akos's gaze. The sad, tear-filled eyes of the relatively young Pokémon hit him hard, and then they mirrored his. Tear-filled, shiny, but determined. "I'll take you with me too, then." He said, recalling the little one.

Yue let him have a moment, as he cleared his eyes, and stood up as he did. "Right." Akos said, sounding far more confident as he suddenly took her hands in his. He fixed her with a hard stare. "I know you don't really know me, but I need your help, Yue. I was tasked with bringing that Coalossal down from the inside…and I can't do it alone."

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She nodded, matching his determined look, as the faint blush from him suddenly grabbing her hands faded. "The Northern Water Tribe is no longer hiding. Even Chief Unalaq is fighting. I will help you." The pair emerged from the water then and found the beach landing area alight with random fires, jutting ice sticking out of the snow, and numerous now dead Fire Nation soldiers. The waterbenders, as usual, had the advantage when it came to fights, they weren't massively outnumbered in. More troops would be coming though, as word reached the ships anchored in the only waterway that led into the Water Nation's home learned their moving base was under attack. They scurried across the snowy beach, Akos pointedly avoiding looking at where his sister had fallen, as they entered a metal doorway carved into Incineratus' leg. The carved-out insides of the living furnace Pokémon were as hot as one could expect it to be, and thanks to Minami's educational ramblings about the intricacies of Imperium technology, he knew where he needed to hit the massive Pokémon to set it off. In the bowels of each Coalossal mutation, their 'hearts' such as they were had been changed with technology, implants, and genetic therapy to unnaturally produce more of everything the Pokémon needed to live, resulting in truly massive size.

He had no idea if Meelo, Minami, and Tenzin were accomplishing their mission, or were already dead because of it, but he intended to blow up the Coalossal either way. This mission had cost them far too much already, and all because they hadn't seen the Charizard rider in the sky. His sister's Riolu and Yue's Lunatone ran beside them, but all they encountered were a few normal engineers, that the Riolu took down with a brutal series of punches. She was brave with her attacks, but Akos knew that bravery was driven by grief. She tried to hide it, but he could sense how torn up the punchy puppy truly was. "We need a name for you, don't we." He said, trying to distract her as they ran down several cramped corridors unimpeded for the moment. "How about Tuhan?"

Roughly translating to 'fighting spirit' the Riolu's eyes went wide. "What," Akos said, chuckling as they came around a corner, boomerang raised. "Is that what my sister called you?" He paused, as the Riolu put a paw on his leg, and nodded, and he blinked away fresh tears. "Great minds think alike." He growled, as a fresh wave of emotion threatened to overcome him. The Riolu looked at him differently after that, and actually listened to his orders when he gave them.

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Eventually, they reached what Akos guessed was the core of the Pokémon while encountering only about twenty people. It turned out that Tuhan also knew Rock Slide in addition to Force Palm and Quick Attack. This helped with the various fire and flying types the soldiers had used. Talonflame was a very common choice for a Fire Nation soldier's belt, and the swiftly moving rocks propelled by aura took them down rapidly. The core itself was surrounded by crisscrossing steel beams that provided structure for the heart device's advanced technology. It was very sturdy looking, and neither Tuhan nor Luna managed to make so much as a dent in it.

Akos then called out his Duraludon, Alumin, and Pado. "I need you two to work together on cutting through these beams." He said, only to notice his Duraludon, a very high-level catch, and a new one, was uncomfortable in the heat, and disinclined to listen to the human who'd snatched him from his territory. Akos looked meaningfully at Pado and gestured at the rapidly heating steel type. Water doused the steel dragon, and its initial reaction was anger, until Akos got in front of it. "Focus, Alumin. Help Pado cut through these beams. He'll keep you cool."

The dragon eyed Akos properly, and paused, as he read the obvious turmoil Akos thought he was hiding and repressing. Pokémon were, luckily, much better at reading humans than humans assumed. Sensing his distress, the steel dragon nodded, and then glanced at Pado. He seemed more concerned with the human, which made sense, but as ordered, the two began using their steel moves to slowly cut through the strong, light, and durable alloy blend the Imperium used in pretty much all their processed metal structures.

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"Yue." Akos said, gaining her attention, "We can cut through the other beams with our Waterbending. Then Luna can deliver a powerful attack from above, maybe something Rock Typed, and it should, theoretically, all come crashing down." Luna chirped, evidently happy to help, and Akos looked at her. "We might need a shield once it falls. Can you cover us?"

The blue-eyed psychic rock moon nodded confidently, and that was enough for Akos. They set to work then, with Tuhan covering the entrance to the core room. She kept herself hidden, and with her aura, sensed when anyone unfriendly approached. For a solid hour, they kept at it, slicing through steel alloyed beams one by one, until finally, Akos deemed it ready to fall. In that time, they'd heard consistent sounds of fighting from up above on the Coalossal's higher levels, and he only hoped that the airbenders weren't having too rough of a time holding off the Admiral and his troops while they took down the Librarius.

When Akos said it was ready, Luna looked at the beams, and her eyes began glowing with a pale white psychic aura. "She's using Future Sight…" Yue said, somewhat in awe. Seeing that the psychic bombardment from the future would be enough to detonate the Coalossal core, she gave a cry of "Tooooone!" And then hastily floated for the exit. Tuhan both cleared them a path and covered their rear with her Quick Attack getting her to the front and back of the group more than once. The few soldiers they encountered fell easily, and when they emerged, it was to the sight of a losing battle for the Water Nation. More Fire Nation soldiers had arrived, it seemed.

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Yue put a hand on Luna, and shouted, as her voice psychically reverberated through the area. "The mission is accomplished! Everyone run!" What waterbenders yet lived began disengaging from the firebenders, usually by locking them in what little snow remained on the beach that had yet to be used for bending. As they began running into the ocean a pair of firebenders torched a retreating waterbender, and Akos realized they were slow targets for the firebenders remaining on the shore, so he called out his Lycanroc again. "Amaroq! Make us a wall with Stone Edge!"

The midnight Lycanroc howled, and did as ordered, slamming his paws into the ground, and creating rocky cover for the fleeing waterbenders. There were less of them than before, but there were far more dead Fire Nation soldiers in their wake. Akos doused the man who'd been opportunistically torched as Amaroq made the pair of firebenders pay for overreaching, instead of retreating with the rest of their forces. Akos recalled his Lycanroc before it got further distracted by chasing fleeing opponents, and he, Tuhan, and Yue ran to the ocean.

Behind them, Incineratus let out a mournful sound, and Akos's arm went around Yue's waist as he pulled her down into the water and shouted, "Duck!" A pillar of white-orange flame lit the sky for miles around, and flaming rocks, not unlike meteors, came falling down as the mutated Coalossal finally expired. After seeing how heavily modified it had been, Akos had no doubt the creature was glad it no longer had its innards playing home to Fire Nation soldiers. As the two waterbenders sat up in the relatively low surf, they watched the sky.

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Yue was in awe, but Akos was looking for the three who'd gone to take on the Librarius. Then, one of the fireballs descending from above stopped being on fire, and Akos spied Minami as the source, as she and Meelo held what appeared to be an unconscious Tenzin. Akos really hoped he was just unconscious. Meelo tried cushioning their landing, but the air puff he produced was lacking. Akos raised his arms, and seeing his target, Yue helped him. Together they raised a wave, thin at the top and large at the bottom, ideal for spreading out the water tension and impact force of three rapidly falling humans. "I can heal them." Yue said, once they landed, and Akos pulled the three towards them with the ocean's current.

As a pair of very bruised and beaten rebels deposited their unconscious and rather old general, Yue frowned, but began doing her best to heal anyways. "Luna, I'll need your Heal Pulse." Luna began focusing her psychic power on the airbender, and then Akos felt her nudge his mind. Turning on nothing but instinct, he raised not one, but three ice walls, as yet another surprise, and critically effective, lightning strike came lancing towards Yue this time, her glowing healing power making her an obvious target in the night.

Two of the ice barriers shattered, and Akos clenched a fist, drawing the third onto his form, like armor. "The Fire Princess…" He growled as anger took over his vision. Tuhan's eyes matched his own as she understood; this was the warrior who had killed her partner. Revenge was at hand.

"Keep healing, Yue." Akos said, and as he strode with murderous intent towards Aluza, it seemed as if the inland ocean, or at least a very large part of it, moved with him. He called out two more Pokémon then, not looking at them, or even stopping as he walked. "Amaroq. Protect them from any more damned lightning…Tuhan…Pado…this is the inbred Fire Royal that killed my sister." Tuhan snarled as she confirmed her suspicion, and shared in Akos's rage, and Pado, who had genuinely liked Ara especially after their tag-team move on that angry guy with the sideburns, intended to avenge her. "Don't hold back."

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A healed and rejuvenated Caeruleus joined Aluza then, and she held up a hand towards the Fire Nation soldiers approaching from behind her. "This water rat is mine. Nobody interferes!" What was left of the beach had been turned black and into glass by the massive detonation of Incineratus. The ground was still hot, steaming in the cold air of the Water Tribe's home and littered with the charred and now empty armor of dead Fire Nation soldiers as the two faced each other down.

"Back for round two, Royal?" Akos said. "I want your name, before I kill you."

Aluza smirked. He was angry, which meant her strike earlier in their first round had done its work. She felt the thrill of the kill surge through her, and beside her Caeruleus felt it as well, her orange tail flame shifting to blue. "You have the honor of having your rat sister killed by the Fire Princess Aluza. I don't need your name, sea trash, but your penguin's corpse will please the Admiral." She moved then, like lightning, but Akos was expecting that now, and having none of it. For some reason, he felt more in tune with his bending than he ever had before. "Aqua Jet." He said, as Pado laid down, and he guided the water penguin into the air with his bending after hopping on his back and locking his feet there with ice, essentially making them fly. "Tuhan! Take the Charizard!"

Aluza's first strike missed the pair as Akos began air surfing through the air atop his Empoleon, and she looked at Caeruleus then. "Mega Evolve! Kill the runt, and then bring them out of the sky." The eager flame lizard nodded, and then began glowing. Aluza pressed her Key Stone, and it reacted to the X strand of Charizardite hidden within Cae's crimson body armor. The Mega Charizard moved for the Riolu, but Akos trusted in Tuhan. Despite the massive disadvantage, he knew she wouldn't let her Trainer's death go unanswered, and all she really needed to do, was distract the Charizard.

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Pado hurtled towards Aluza once Caeruleus left her side, but the mutilated princess dodged easily, and danced through another buildup for a lightning strike. The water that Akos had brought with him trailed behind him as they jetted through the air, and as Aluza struck again, Akos turned with Pado, and the pair barrel rolled safely through the air as the momentum of the penguin Pokémon kept his Trainer tightly bound to his back. Then, Akos retaliated. After seeing her attack several times now, he'd noted a weakness. After she fired, she lowered her guard from brief exhaustion. Either she was as tired as he was, or shooting hot plasma from one's limbs took a toll. In reality, her body was simply cold, after being drenched in her earlier battle, and essentially frozen. Akos raised his arms, and as he did, he spied Luna out of the corner of his eye.

Tenzin and the other waterbender had been stabilized, and the Lunatone had then ignored Yue, to focus on the sky above the battle for some reason. Nothing she could do made the psychic moon rock budge, so Yue went back to healing with her own power and let Luna do as she wished. There was really only two moves Luna wished to contribute to the kind waterbender with the hurting heart, and the first, was Moonlight. Though it only restored Luna's energy, something she also needed, it also made the moon appear in the sky, and shine brighter. It was a useful boon to waterbenders.

As Akos brought his hands down, the spiral of water he and Pado left in their air surfing wake rained down hundreds of thin, needle like razor sharp pieces of ice from multiple directions. Aluza burned a swathe around her face free, but many more hit her sides, back, and legs, and the ice soon turned red, signaling a successful hit. What was worse, was that as her rage melted them, the deep wounds they left were free to flow, and there were simply too many to burn closed. She'd pass out from the pain of searing nerve endings long before she cauterized every cut Akos had given her.

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Akos gathered what water remained in front of him as Pado kept them levitating, and when Aluza lowered her guard to counter, she was greeted with another shower of ice needles. This time, several got through the flames billowing from her mouth, and brought her down with the force they hit her with. With hate in his eyes Akos surfed towards the soldiers then and raised his arms. From the beach, and Aluza herself, came a flood of water and blood needles. He aimed them at the soldiers, only pausing long enough to give those with sense to run as the cloud of death formed over them. Those who moved to fight, were brought down in a rain of icy death. Each fallen soldier only added to what Akos could bend and combine with the snow. He wasn't entirely merciless. Those who begged or those who limped away wounded he didn't target, and some, simply retreated after keeping a steady burn against the blood and water, before turning and fleeing. "Ice Beam." He said coldly, and Pado launched an icy ray of frosty energy along the bloody ground. He made a wall of seething ice then that gave off waves of frost in the relatively warmer air, the part on the land was blood red, and the part blocking the water of the Xiyan river was as cold as a glacier, and almost as thick, for he'd frozen all of it.

The Pokémon in the river would be saved later, by other waterbenders, but for now, the message to the Fire Nation was clear. The beach was theirs, their Coalossal was gone, and sure enough as the sun would rise, so too would the Northern Water Tribe return, as they always had, after Imperium bombardment. While Akos had lost himself to rage, grief, and war, his new bond with his Riolu had been affected by his mindset.

Tuhan had dodged the Mega Charizard with well-directed Force Palms keeping her just out of Caeruleus's reach. She'd managed to dodge the furious dragon for just long enough for her Trainer to pelt Aluza with ice. The second hit on Aluza sent Cae back to her normal form, and as she moved to defend her Trainer, Tuhan hit her hard with a Rock Slide, right on her neck. Drawing the Charizard's fury again, she moved to crush the annoying puppy with a Wing Attack, only to then feel the brunt of Luna's second contributing move; another Moonblast. Concentrated fairy energy again hammered the Charizard, just in time for the moment when Akos's emotions had shifted. Sensing the darker turn, the Riolu reacted. Under a bloody night sky, at the peak of rage and the emotional turmoil of loss, Tuhan found herself heading down an alternate and previously avoided path of the Riolu line. Luna kept up the Moonblast, as the punchy pupper evolved.

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She had two metal spikes on the knuckles of each of her paws, and in form looked like a slightly shaggier Lucario. Her fur was longer, all across her body. What was supposed to be blue was now more plum colored; the spike on her chest was also on her back, and her feet were larger, shaggier, and had longer claws. Her tail curled upwards into a tight spiral, like a Kecleon's, and her 'hair' had several lumps, almost reminiscent of braids which dangled down by her ears. The black fur around the end of each of her paws was a familiar crimson, and the fur coating her chest was black instead of the typical yellow. She still very much seemed like a Lucario, but what one might expect of a Riolu that evolved at night.

Now a dark and fighting type, Tuhan manifested a purple Aura Bone and proceeded to use a combination of Bonemerang and Rock Slide to raise a pair of massive rocks limned with rock energy, and hammer them at Caeruleus with critical effectiveness, on the first rock. The second was enough to make her faint, and by that point, Akos and Pado were surfing back towards Tuhan. Akos recalled his Lucario into her ball as they headed for deeper water, and it was only from above that Akos finally noticed what was occurring deeper under the water. As he flew over where Yue and the others waited, she guided them under the waves towards Akos, and then realized why he'd altered course.

It seemed that the Chief's Gyarados had given the Coalossal a rough battle, but in turn, the Coalossal had brought down the water dragon, and as it had still been standing, was technically the victor. Even if it had blown apart shortly after said victory. By the time Yue arrived, the other healers had done what they could for the Chief, but both he and his partner had been claimed by the counterattack from Incineratus, a volcano-like spray of massive burning rocks.

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The waterbenders headed home then, and in the dark night following that rather eventful and bloody day, set about rebuilding most of their capital, starting with the walls encasing the front. For his part, Akos had been refused when he offered his help to rebuild. The northerners had an entire corp that specialized in rapidly building homes and dwellings, sturdy ones, out of ice. Feeling useless, drained, and demoralized he trudged out to a western peak not far from the capital, but far enough that, he assumed, nobody would follow him.

And then, on the wind, he heard it. A mournful aria that could only be from a Primarina. Other voices joined in with hers, for Unalaq's Gyarados had been a powerful alpha of the inland sea, and his presence would be sorely missed. He hadn't noticed he'd been crying, but at some point, tears had escaped his eyes as he took in the song, and then had frozen to his face. Thus, when Yue appeared 'stealthily' and surprised him out of his reverie, he fell in the snow around his perch, and rose with powder clinging to the tears on his face. He closed his eyes, and bended the water away, before rejoining Yue on his seat. "What are you doing up here?" She finally asked, once the giggling ended.

Akos gestured to the wind, and Yue listened, closing her eyes. He heard her gasp softly when she heard the aria, and as the wind shifted again, it became louder. "It's Ara's Primarina. I think a pod of Lapras might've joined her…I…get the sense they're mourning the Chief's Gyarados as well as my sister, and all the others we lost today." He vaguely felt Yue wrap herself around his arm then, and realized with belated grogginess, that he was freezing cold. Too cold. Numbness in temperatures this cold, meant death.

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Akos exhaled, using the warmth of his breath to spread heat through his blood. He was more in tune with his body's fluids now, after having used other's lifeblood as a weapon, controlling his own wasn't too difficult. Yue seemed to notice what he did, for next she said, "There are a few in the tribe who want to exile you for Bloodbending…it's a forbidden technique, up here."

"It's forbidden in the south too." He said.

Yue nodded. "I understand why they're…disconcerted, but I also understand why you did what you did. You single handedly drove back most of an army, Akos. Are all southern Waterbenders as strong as you?"

He shook his head. "I had the right emotions to fuel me, and your Luna using Moonlight also helped. Thanks for that, by the way. Without her, Tuhan would've been hit while evolving…"

That was something else that worried Yue, and thankfully few others had seen his unsettling Lucario. "I've never seen a Lucario like that, I must admit…we have stories about the Aura Pokémon. And the Aura Guardians who tended to use them. In ancient times, it's said they brought peace and stability, where they could."

Akos nodded. "I thought about it. My friend, Alex, had a Riolu of his own. They're good friends, and his Riolu evolved in Battle, around noon time, by his account. In contrast, Tuhan had just lost her Trainer, was fighting desperately for her life, and could sense my own emotions. I think those circumstances, and the fact that it was night, propelled her down a different path. But I'm not a Pokémon Professor."

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"Aren't you worried she'll be…you know…violent?" Yue asked.

Akos shook his head. "I can feel the same righteous anger that my friend's Lucario had. She may lose control…but that's why she has a Trainer. Watch. I'll use her to help free this region, like my sister wanted…and after that? I might just let her wander, if that's what she wants." They sat for several minutes then, in silence, taking in the aria for the departed. "How is the tribe doing? Did they decide on a leader, yet?"

As Akos finally spoke, Yue pulled away from him. "That, is actually one thing I wanted to speak with you about…the traditionalists want me to be Chieftess. I convinced Chief Unalaq to aid you, I led the others to the beach, and even helped you take down a Royal of the Fire Nation. The others in the tribe…they want you to be our Chief." She said, watching his reaction.

Akos's eyes went wide. "Me!? But…I'm a southerner. Isn't that-"

Yue cut him off. "For some it's a problem…for others, it's just more proof that Unalaq's decisions against proactively fighting the Fire Nation, beyond aiding the rebellion, were a bad idea. We've forgotten how to fight on the offensive. At some point, our teachings shifted to defense…but the moves you used, they're very much offensive. 'Born in the fire of war' some say. That's why they want you. If you accept, I won't stand in your way." She smiled at him, and Akos's heart skipped several beats. "Frankly, I agree with them…we need fresh eyes closer to the conflict to lead us now."

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Akos closed his eyes, and did as Alex had instructed during their travels, when he posed a particularly hard problem for him to solve, claiming it was part of his 'psychic awakening'. Whatever that meant. Slowly, a solution came to his hormone-addled mind, one that, in reality, would actually serve to unite the tribe, and not just the north, but also the south. "The last thing the Water Nation needs to be right now is divided." He said flatly. "If I become Chief, even temporarily, those supporting you or other northern candidates will undermine me. If you become Chief, those who want to fight will probably leave on their own and get blown apart by the Fire Navy." Yue nodded along, and seeing she followed his logic, he smiled at her this time. "So, I'm thinking…why not both?"

Yue blinked her large blue eyes at him. "What? How would we both…" She trailed off, and the two mutually flushed as she realized what he was asking. She stared at the ground, thinking. It was just crazy enough to work. It would get her father off her back about being eighteen and unmarried, and then there was Akos. A strong Trainer of Pokémon and a powerful bender to boot. There were certainly worse matches.

As she seemed distracted, Akos gathered some snow in his palm along with a rock and condensed it into an icy circle as he used the water to carve the stone. Tradition usually had the men carve these by hand, but he reasoned that he was using his hands to bend, and no amount of whittling with a bone knife would ever come close to reproducing the piece of the necklace he was now crafting. He'd combined the northern tribe's crescent moon and wave lines with the southern tribe's similar wavy lines, and three crests from the ocean's waves into one symbol. One tribe.

Once he was done, he moved his arm, and the sound of it brought Yue's head back up, as the handsome warrior held out his palm. Then, she saw what was in it, and his intentions, for her and their people, became very clear very quickly. She took the chunk of carved light blue rock then and kissed him. Luckily for him, it was also her first, so neither could tell how bad they were doing, and in that moment under the starry night sky, neither really cared.