The timely call from his uncle saved Okuz's life, as the lightning pierced through two boulders, and still had enough residual force to blow out the back of them, right into Okuz's face, covering it in tiny scratches. Druk, for his part, had mega evolved, and was dogfighting the other Charizard with fire. With so many of them, it was easy to cause confusion, sow anger, and in short order, Druk had most of them fighting among themselves. This didn't work on all of the Charizard though. There were a few well trained enough to come after him, to note the slight differences in his form. Druk beat them down with Thunder Punches, only to then find himself in the path of a Flare Blitz from his seemingly insane sister. She roared incoherently at her clutch-brother, and came at him with every intent to kill.
Meanwhile, Okuz looked up at his savior. The Silver Comet of Ba Sing Se. The silver-blue Emboar who had broken the infamous wall of the Earth Kingdom's largest city with naught but his fists, determination, and a whole lot of fire, now stood before him. He was a bit of a recluse in his old age, but the old boar was by no means done battling just yet. Unlike his Trainer, his body had stayed hard, his moves practiced. Iroh simply nodded without looking at him. "You know what to do, Hyeseong (Hey-song)." The Emboar nodded, and smashed his fists together eagerly, as he and Iroh dashed towards Aluza.
That was when Okuz noticed, both his team, namely his Blaziken, Kingdra, Greninja, and Ampharos, and his uncle's Volcarona were also holding off quite a few of the other Charizard. Ken handled any attacks focused on the ground, and was making leaping spin kick through the ranks of the Royal Guard, while the Volcarona easily redirected the multitude of Flamethrowers from the angry fire lizards by spinning amidst them, and dispersing their attacks completely. Counter attacks came hard, and the sky around the ship was utter chaos.
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Aluza saw the old man coming, and wrongly assumed his boar would be the bigger threat. All Hyeseong was, was a big, burning distraction. His punches seemed slow, heavy, and Aluza leapt away from them, gracefully spinning her arms in opposing circles as she separated the positive and negative energy within herself, and in that gap, created searing plasma. When she fired at Hyeseong, the great boar simply stacked his arms atop each other, and took the hit. Electric attacks didn't do much to him, but when he didn't keep coming for her, she had just enough time to turn, and find her uncle.
His strike was swift, and brutal. The chop at her throat connected, and Aluza began coughing as her implants struggled to get her air. Then, she was on the defensive, forced to bend or burn as Iroh opened his mouth, and essentially unleashed a Flamethrower at her. A Flamethrower that Hyeseong took up, as Iroh turned, and shouted, "Okuz! Let's go!"
His nephew nodded and began recalling his flagging partners. Strong as they were, taking on almost forty Charizard at once would tax any team. Druk had managed to stymie his sister's enraged strikes with Dragon Claw, and hearing the whistle to return from his Trainer, marked her face, and then turned and dove. He knew he would be the main mode of transport, for their escape. Iroh joined them soon after, and the Mega Charizard and Dragonite flew hard through the air, a literal cloud of Charizard behind them.
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Caeruleus emerged from the pack at its head, and once she did, another lightning bolt from Aluza perched on her back came streaking towards the pair. Iroh's Dragonite let out a heart-wrenching squeal as once more, Aluza's lightning proved critical, almost deadly. The damage fainted her, but the fall would end her. Iroh had a choice to make, and he made it swiftly. "Go, Okuz! I will hold them off! You must escape! Druk! Run!"
Okuz tried to pull Druk around, but the Charizard stubbornly refused. "Uncle!" Okuz shouted, as the old man recalled his fainted partner, and began to plummet. Iroh summoned his Volcarona, and while the fiery bug wasn't quite large enough for riding on, it did keep the overweight General from dying, and instead he was 'gliding' down, perhaps faster than either of them wanted. That, and a pillar of fire from Iroh, was all that kept him from slamming into the ground. He still rolled from the impact, and fell into a ready position as his Volcarona scattered searing scales around the riverbank they'd landed next to. From above, Okuz could see the area.
Iroh went down just upstream of the resort, as Okuz was carried into the distance. Anger drove the Fire Prince to curse at his starter, but like Iroh, Druk understood the situation was quite dire. He had his own emotional turmoil about his sister attacking him with the intent to kill, but right now, keeping his Trainer alive took priority and he would not waste the old human's noble sacrifice. And so, Okuz watched, as Caeruleus came in like a blue meteor. His Charizard was fast though, fast enough to outrun the others, who had stopped at the cornered Iroh's position, rather than uselessly chase after Okuz. Banished, and now alone and wanted by his own family, the Fire Prince would receive sympathy from no one, or so they reasoned. All Okuz saw of what he assumed were his uncle's final moments, were flashes of fire, and then lightning, streaking into the sky. Finally, a massive incendiary boom erupted into the sky behind them, and Okuz could not see what happened next, as Druk continued his panic-speed flight away from the near fatal ambush.
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Minjujuui City, Earth Kingdom - Koria Region
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With very little effort, the freshly supplied Earth Army began taking their Nation back. King Kuei started with Ba Sing Se, as the walls rose once again, and another wall was added, further expanding the massive city's reach across the Earth Kingdom. The fast-moving earthbenders quickly and brutally retook their ancient forts and then continued, spreading west from the giant city's borderlands, now once more defended by its signature, if not so impenetrable, walls. Alex stayed with Jimen, but there was no sign of Ash as they continued to spread the news to Earth Nation villages: the Avatar had returned, and the Earth Kingdom was on the rise again. The initial news was met with praise and thanks to the spirits, the gods, and most often, Jimen himself. Very quickly, word of their 'stone savior' traveled ahead of the army.
It took about a week and a half before they finally reached Minjujuui City, during which, Jimen trained hard with Alex, as did his Gible, newly recovered from stasis and just ecstatic that his Trainer was alive. Through training while traveling with the A Team, and a timely pile of Exp Candy from Tao to push him over the edge, Jimen had a Garchomp on his belt by the time they arrived in the city. Alongside his land shark was a Magikarp, a Budew, and a Meditite he'd found along the way. There, they found Meelo and Tenzin, still recovering from their duel with a Librarius of the Obsidian Keep, a sanctioned psychic of the Imperium. Their rebel HQ was above ground, now, and Minjujuui City's President was now openly supporting the resistance effort and claimed to have been all along. The actual rebels knew this to be nonsense, but it sure was convincing to the somewhat sheltered citizens of the city, and their votes. By the end of that week, and in only two weeks since departing from a recaptured Ba Sing Se, the Earth Nation had recovered. Resources lost to them for decades were now returned, though in one of the many meetings they had discussing such resources, King Kuei and the others kept finding that, across the board, the Fire Nation had stripped their mines of every mineral that wasn't basic stone and had done the same for the new mines they'd drilled with reckless abandon during their occupation. It was no exaggeration to say that the Fire Nation had essentially mined the mainland of Koria of every mineral-related piece of wealth they'd been able to dig up in three centuries.
This did not, however, stop the Earth Nation. All across their historical territory, local earthbenders did their own mining, after King Kuei humbly asked for their assistance in finding iron, and the components for steel armor. While he and the others prepared for the coming eclipse, Alex and Toph had taken Jimen to Nomad's Isle. With the departure of their fiery overlords, Minjujuui's President had begun work on an actual Pokémon battling stadium, complete with practice fields, and situated within the harbor itself. So far, it was shaping up to be a white stone building of opulence, with gold trim and other pieces of painted metal to suggest wealth to onlookers. Because of the pool of three available Nations worth of benders that lived within the city, construction went rather quickly. Firebenders welded beams, earthbenders shifted them into place and kept the scaffolding strong, and waterbenders kept everyone hydrated, and cooled off. In a matter of mere days, it was already adding to the skyline of the growing city.
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Alex and Jimen, when not learning how to master their earthbending from Sifu Beifong, as Jimen had started calling her, had practiced their firebending as well, under the floating golden gaze of Tao, when he could spare a moment. They'd learned much of the basic techniques, but there was one, that they practiced even then, that Jimen kept having trouble with.
"I just don't see how a dance is going to help me in combat." Jimen said, for about the twentieth time. "We should be learning how to draw and control heat, steam, hells, maybe even Lightning! This…dance maneuver seems excessive."
Alex glanced at Toph, who gave him a nod, and a smirk. He cuffed the Avatar on the back of his skull. "This 'dance maneuver' was taught to Avatar Wan. In his day, there was no other Firebender, or any bender really, who even came close to his skill. Just memorize the positions. It will make sense when we piece them together and add some flames."
Having a mental connection with their mentor also helped, as Alex could pretty much divine what the dragon wanted, and what the correct final product looked like.
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While initially reluctant to firebend, for good reason, the more Jimen used the flames, the more he learned of what firebending was supposed to be, the less reluctant he was to use them. Personally, he intended to leave the Fire Nation to rebuild itself once the rest of Koria brought them down. He would lend them minimal Avatar related assistance, and his successor could deal with them. That would be their Nation's punishment, for committing the atrocities they had. He could already sense several of his past lives not in favor of this choice, but this was his era, the one Kora had fought to make for him. Everywhere they'd gone throughout the Earth Kingdom, he'd found very old people, who had stories for him of how Kora helped them. Because of her fight, and subsequent end, Jimen wasn't really able to connect with her outside of dreams. She and Raava were closer than any of his other past lives.
Reality snapped back into focus, as the Original Dragon's voice thundered in his skull. "You two are ready. Move through the forms, and bend your flames with them." It was still hard for Jimen to focus on manifesting the sun's heat as flame while also doing some silly dance, but he tried, at least. He was out of sync with Alex, but as he flowed through the stances, and more importantly guided his fire through them, he realized how this form could be quite useful, in combat. When he and Alex finished the set, arms pointed at each other as they spewed fire, the flames did something odd.
Rising like a tornado between them, they harmlessly expanded past the firebenders, into a whirling cyclone of fire that was somehow all the colors of the rainbow, and more. "The Infinity Flame." Tao said, helpfully. "Very few Benders manage to even summon this fire…I believe with mastery and time, you will be able to wield it, Avatar Jimen."
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Jimen, while impressed by the flames, wanted no part of them, a fact made obvious as he answered the dragon. "I don't want more fire. In fact, I believe I've had more than enough for today."
"You are a Firebender, Avatar. You represent all of Koria's elements, not just those you prefer." Tao answered.
Jimen's brows furrowed, and Alex glanced between him, and the golden floating eyes, as they both went silent. "I will never forgive the Fire Nation for what they've done, Dragon. Never. They took my home, they shattered our region's peace, and sold us out to the Imperium. And for what? So they can be abandoned three centuries later? No. I am going to crush the Fire Nation, as it is, into dust. They will be left to fix the pieces, but the rest of us won't be helping them. My successor will. I refuse."
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Tao's eyes pulsed with gold, as their silent argument continued. "Your duty is to all of Koria, Avatar. If you ignore one part of it, all will suffer. Ask your past selves, if you think I am wrong." With that, the golden eyes vanished into nothingness, and Alex glanced around, noting that Toph had also left at some point.
"Any word from Ash?" Jimen asked, as he growled softly to himself with frustration.
"No... and we really should've heard something, by now. The eclipse is approaching. His Lugia would make this invasion plan more...robust. But Sages can get...tunnel vision, let's call it, when it comes to training." Alex said, pondering not for the first time whether or not he should try mentally reaching out. Oranguru had implied before that doing so was considered rude by some Sages, but none of those Alex had met struck him as the type to care about such things. "When the invasion begins, I'll poke him mentally. Until then, we should assume Ash Ketchum won't be joining us."
"Kind of a big assumption…" Jimen muttered. "He did say he'd help us, right?"
Alex closed his eyes, and mentally projected himself just above the Mind Sage's Island. He mentally and unobtrusively probed the area around Ash, and sensed his Pikachu, and the Sage himself. The Sage gave him a slow, mental nod, but Alex could tell he was mid-training. Seeing they were busy, he departed, and opened his eyes. "It seems he will join us at the right time, and the right place, and not a moment before." As for how, his aerial perspective of the Mind Sage's Island had revealed its shape to him, one he hadn't really noticed on his prior visits. It uncannily resembled a massive Alakazam head, and he wondered if a three-hundred-year-old specimen, once trained by a rather insightful and spiritually centered Avatar, could grow to be island sized. It wasn't entirely unheard of, but most people didn't believe the tall tales of random gigantic Pokémon.
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Jimen left the training area then, and Alex looked around the now deserted Pokémon battling fields. He began training his B Team then, with more than a few pairing off with one of their senior teammates. Terra and Hydrus acted as good training dummies, with their strong defense. Blaze and Astrum began trading Air Slashes and dogfighting in the air, while Canis and Arthur began trading punches with increasing speed.
It was then he noticed that the fighting types had a psychic fairy filly tailing them, and Alex went over to meet her, berry in hand. As he fed the hungry filly, he decided to make them all breakfast, and it was namely Leo and Pruina who helped him set up the cookware he had stuffed in his bag. Near the end of the effort it took to feed twenty Pokémon, Alex felt two sets of footsteps headed their way with his earth sense. Tenzin and Minjujuui's President had agreed it was best if their 'faux Avatar' remained out of sight from the public, and he knew Jimen's gait by now. Soft, for an earthbender, but determined. These steps were different, familiar, but he hadn't committed everyone's to memory yet. Glancing up, he saw Professor Akamatsu, and General Hao.
Hao spoke first over the more nerdy, and soft-voiced professor. "Mister Redwood! Er…Emperor Redwood, rather…" "Alex, will do." He said, cutting in with a smirk. "Erm…right…" Hao continued, "Alex. We've been told that you've been collecting Gym Badges from our region. I'm guessing you simply never had the chance to challenge us, what with the attempted coup, and helping the Avatar find his past lives. Thus, we decided to come to you. We know your skill as a Trainer, but what we need, is for your team to be in top shape…" Hao trailed off then, as he noticed there were quite a bit more than six Pokémon around the Unovan.
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Akamatsu however, didn't miss a thing, and continued smoothly. "I take it these are both of your squads, the one that made you Champion, and the one you're training up right now? I assume we will be facing the younger ones, yes?" Alex nodded, and the professor pushed up his glasses, just right, so the sunlight above the canyon-like battlefield obscured his eyes. "I ah…I was wondering…you see, I heard you actually have a Togetic on your team…and not just any Togetic…a Golden one."
Alex arched his brow, and then turned his head slightly, to look back at the now lowered Snow Liepard fur hood that was currently acting as Astrum's nest. "I do…and yes, his feathers are a bit golden colored." As his Trainer's words registered, Astrum raised his tiny head, and yawned, before looking at the two humans, and chirping cheerfully from his perch on his Trainer's head. Dogfighting with Blaze had tired him out quickly. "The one with glasses is a big fan of yours, bud. That's Professor Akamatsu, of Ba Sing Se University." Alex said, chuckling. Hearing that, the little angelic Pokémon fluttered down from his hood, and over to the Professor.
Astrum greeted the man, who completely lost his professional bearing, as the tiny fairy chick started chirping. "Oh my...such plumage!" Akamatsu gave Astrum a head pat, and he chirped happily. "I have a gift for you, Golden-feathered Togetic." The Professor reached into his scholarly green, tan, and dark green university robes. "A Light Stone." He said, unveiling a light blue glowing stone. "Or as they say in the west, a 'Shiny' Stone. It is yours, if you want it."
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Astrum glanced at Alex, who nodded, and then chirped happily, before accepting the stone. Alex was used to seeing more golden Light stones, and he quietly waited in growing anticipation as his partner stared into the bluish-white Light he'd come to associate with Raava. It made sense that a stone with Light energy affinity would adapt to the closest source, and in Koria, that was the Light Spirit.
As Astrum's stare continued, he eventually tucked the Light Stone into his feathers, and waited to use it. He flew back to Alex then, sensing his slight disappointment at not, potentially, seeing a new form or gaining a Togekiss. "I'm sorry…but I think I need Jimen around for this to work. I don't know why…it's like a…feeling."
"Instinct." Alex said, nodded slowly. He smiled at his youngest partner, and gave the fairy chick chin scritches. His wings fluttered faster, as he did and the tiny golden Pokémon rose in the air as a result. Alex relented, and spoke again then, looking up at his partner. "Don't ever apologize for not evolving, Astrum. You can decide when to use that Stone. Just be aware…it may change if we leave Koria with it."
Astrum's face darkened, then. "I wouldn't mind leaving…this region is…hmmf."
Alex handed him one of his favorite berries, and then offered his ball. It did much to shield the emotionally sensitive Togetic from the emotions of humans about to go to war. The more they converged on the Fire Nation, the more the negative emotions grew. "And yet you withstand it anyway, to stay with us. I knew you were strong. As a Togekiss you may even be able to calm the emotions of many Humans and Pokémon, and potentially stop wars before they begin, or drag on too long. It's a sorely needed ability in some parts of the world…but you decide when you are ready to evolve. You'll know when the time is right. Trust your instincts."
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The Togetic returned to his ball then, and Alex looked between the two Gym Leaders. Hao was stroking his beard, watching the scene, and learning. He'd heard of how western Trainers treated their partners, and Redwood already had quite a few badges. Hao had never even considered the measure of his own partner's intelligence. In truth, these days their 'League' was more of a game for Fire Nationals, and the occasional regional traveler. Such foreign Trainers didn't usually stick around, though. Akamatsu, for his part, was scribbling notes rapidly, with a modern pen, and had folded his pad away by the time Alex looked back at them. The professor spoke. "I think a simple two on two should suffice. We will Battle in the western style, since there are two of us. We have no need to examine your bending prowess. Toph is impressed by the ferocity in your strikes, and how they're always in control. The martial art movements you've shown our Lieutenants have also caught on in popularity, due to how well they dodge fire, when done right. Demonstrate your Battle prowess here, and we will find you worthy of both of our Badges." The professor pushed his glasses up then, and they caught the light filling into the stadium from the setting sun. "Be warned though…we will not fall easily."
Alex smirked, and untied the Water Nation clothing, letting it fall as his black and white robes became free, and unrestricted. "They all say that. Come at me with your Aces. You won't win otherwise." The twenty balls in which his team resided rotated behind his back in a slow circle, and with a gesture, he sent two out at once, before they floated back into place again. General Hao's Gigalith was a mass of light bluish-green protruding spikes from a blurple colored body of rock. Such crystals were common to what the Roggenrola in the crystal caverns under Ba Sing Se often ate, even though that composition of Gigalith was considered 'shiny' in other regions. The crystal Gigalith and Professor Akamatsu's Blue Core Minior came face to face with Pruina and Arbor, and as the battle began, the Quick Claw around the Lapras's neck flashed.
"Ice Beam the field, Pru. Don't forget the pillars." Alex ordered. Pruina launched her attack at the ground then, and around the two rock types, masses of ice rose from the ground. Next up, in terms of speed, was Arbor. "Leaf Blade, on both of them, then go high."
Hao and Akamatsu shared a look, and then simultaneously shouted, "Use Protect!" Rocks formed around the Minior, and the Gigalith covered itself with a barrier of pure nope energy that Arbor's blades skirled across uselessly. His Sceptile's agility made moving across the ice via the pillars easy and as ordered, he sailed high into the air, as Alex called their next moves. He raised a fist, first. "Arbor! Mega Evolve! Pruina, use Surf!"
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Green lines of energy emanated from Alex and his partner, and once more, they connected, and catapulted his partner to a superior stage of evolution. While he floated in safety suspended by the Infinite Energy of mega evolving, the rocks fell from the Minior, and the barrier faded from the Gigalith, just in time for a wave of water to come rushing at them. Oddly enough, as they both took the super effective hit, the rocks returned to the Minior's body. The Gigalith seemed much stronger, and tanked the hit but that didn't surprise Alex. Hao was a military leader after all.
"Gigalith! Meteor Beam on the Lapras!" Hao shouted. The mass of living rocks and crystals hunched, and the bluish green crystals in its body began humming as they drew in power from the universe, not unlike how Alex, Ash, and Jimen had in the Tree of Souls.
"Minior! Use Acrobatics! Keep up with the Sceptile."
"Dodge, Pru!" Alex ordered, as the Meteor Beam readied. She slid across the field with obvious skill, and Ice Beamed a wall in front of her as the Gigalith rocked in place and fired. Seeing her ice wearing away, the Lapras resumed her Ice Beam, and as the beams collided, they exploded. Pruina went sliding back but managed to right herself from the ultimately glancing blow that her efforts had turned the Meteor Beam into. Arbor, for his part, was parrying the Acrobatics of the spinning psychic star rock with Dragon Claws, as they zipped around the field.
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Seeing an opening, Alex smirked. "Get it above the Gigalith, Arbor! Then use Sunny Day!" Sensing the plan from his Trainer, the Mega Sceptile nodded and sprinted low across the ice like a ninja, his Mega Form's claws easily digging into it for traction. He charged at the Gigalith, and Hao tried to counter. "Use Smack Down! Don't let it above you!"
But the summoned rocks from the Gigalith were too slow, and Arbor was too fast. As ordered, the Minior followed Arbor up, still trying to land Acrobatics, but as the Mega Sceptile used the Gigalith to get air, he launched a pod from his tail into the sky, and then used his speed to vanish seemingly into thin air, once the Minior followed. It spun in place, under the now brightly burning seed pod, searching in vain for the speedy grass dragon.
Alex and Arbor were again in perfect sync, and as if fate understood that, his next hit was critically effective, and large enough to hit both rock types. "Solar Blade!" Reappearing in a flash at the foot of the Gigalith, Arbor's arm blades were lowered by his waist, humming with grass energy as they absorbed the sunlight, and struck. From his crouch, his oversized tail that had been raised in the air gave his swing momentum, and the massive flash of green lit up the sky above Nomad's Isle, as the move struck home with perfect natural critical effectiveness, and the Gym Leader's partners exploded with damage. When the smoke from the impact cleared, the two rock types were in a fainted pile, the damage from Surf earlier more than enough combined with a critical Solar Blade to get the challenger the victory.
Alex walked up beside his partner then, as his Mega Form faded. "You…have become seriously strong my grassy Samurai friend." He patted Arbor's shoulder, handed him a favored berry, and then popped a pair of Revives into the pair of fainted Pokémon. Pruina also skated over, demanding nuzzles and scritches, which she got for being just the best icy tank.
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Akamatsu had an expression that suggested he'd expected such an outcome. Hao, on the other hand, was still staring, jaw agape. "I don't even…how…" He shook his head, and let out an echoing, booming laugh. "HahahaHA! I'm starting to see why King Kuei and Avatar Jimen appreciate your aid, Dragon Emperor. You would be a fierce enemy." He bowed then, one closed fist pressed into an open but covering palm, in the style of respect used in Ba Sing Se. Akamatsu mirrored him. "Someday, we should have a full team Battle…and I shall have to find four more partners. Heh. Did you not say Trainers from other regions used only six Pokémon, Professor?"
Akamatsu chuckled. "The kids do, but only recently did the western Pokémon Leagues approve the use of ten at once, in preparation for the next World Tournament. It's going to be bigger than any they've had before, since the number of Trainers worldwide has skyrocketed." He gave Alex a meaningful glance then. "A lot of people now have access to Mega Evolution, though whether they can safely wield that power for them, and their partners, remains to be seen."
Alex nodded in understanding, guessing that the greatest minds of Koria had figured out what the Brain Trust had. Unchecked Mega Evolution was a real problem, for the Pokémon who suffered an improper ascension's side-effects when used by humanity, a species that had, to date, weaponized every increase in firepower they'd ever discovered to better slaughter their fellow humans, those labeled as 'the enemy'. Despite that, the World Tournament was the ideal stage from which to teach the world how to properly use the Plate shards, and their bonds with their partners, to achieve balanced Mega Evolution.
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As Akamatsu and Hao left, Alex resumed training, and did so for the next week as they waited on standby. By that point, his older team members had gone over with him what they'd experienced and learned in their time off, and had focused those lessons into several new, and useful moves for their younger teammates. He even took Lux out, to go through blade forms that, in his opinion, were far too rusty. Bending nature energy would always be useful, but having a plasma sword rivaled that utility, especially when his sword could also possess other things, if needed. Jimen also joined them with his own team, for some last-minute level grinding.
Finally, the day of the invasion arrived, and Alex was feeling confident in his and Jimen's chances. Their teams were stronger, and several of Jimen's Pokémon had even evolved after a bit of training. Everything hinged on them getting Ozai alone, and Alex pissing Ozai off enough to focus on him, instead of the Avatar. At first. The fleet of repainted ships in Minjujuui's harbor had been built and donated by the city to the Earth King. Surprising everyone, Kuei was the first Earth Monarch in millennia to peacefully cede territory the Earth Nation historically saw as its own to non-earthbenders. Minjujuui City would remain independent, and in return for this, all of the city's war-capable ships had been upgraded, armed, and given to the Earth Kingdom for the invasion of the Fire Nation, and ideally, an end to the war.
Alex and Jimen were with the earthbending tanks, an invention that had by itself made the Earth Nation capable of holding almost two whole centuries against the Fire Nation, and the Imperium. The Thunder Warriors had been relentless foes, but they were no longer around to keep their ash-making friends safe. The tanks resembled centipedes with gray metal sides, and green tops, but they were flexible, and after three centuries of warfare, some open, some not, they had been upgraded with the capability to extend sideways as well and allow a few troops to push much larger forces back, behind fire-resistant metal. In the center and simultaneously foremost position of the tanks, was an earthbender capable of steelbending, an art that Toph Beifong was renowned for having created, mastered, and then taught. They were required for the tanks to be able to extend. Her discovery, and subsequent disciples, had proved that Earth Nation citizens were capable of bending three types of energy, while other Nations only had two at most, with the second type being unlocked typically by particularly skilled benders of water, air, or fire.
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Toph was the leader of their particular tank, and after a few long hours of going over plans in tight quarters, she and the rest of them were more than ready to get things underway. Each tank also had a waterbender, or at least, those attacking Aluzon Harbor did. The harbor was renowned for its ship-stopping defenses, developed by Fire Lord Aluzon, with Imperium technology. The result was a series of laser-guided flame turrets that only needed a single firebender to operate. Between them, stationed at key points along the harbor, and the massive net of flammable razor wire between the two large flame-topped pillars at the harbor's entrance, the port had not once been breached in three centuries of warfare.
As Alex and the others in the main attack force sank to the bottom of the volcanically active ocean, their waterbender kept a sphere of air around them, while the earthbenders, Alex and Jimen included, moved the tank along the ocean floor, and up the slope of the volcano that constituted Capital Island, at the summit of which, was the Regiis Caldera. Up above, the ships that had dropped the tanks before the now-active 'gate' of Aluzon peeled off to either side, and though the Promethium turrets tried to hit them with intense, focused flames, they remained out of reach, as if they knew the distance of those turrets.
Fire Army scouts reported that multitudes of civilian craft were rowing to meet the invading forces, and once those people in the rafts were aboard, the Earth Nation's new fleet approached the harbor in an encirclement, and the firebenders aboard each ship, members of the local rebel cell in the Fire Nation, made the turret's attacks useless. The ships countered hard with cannons that launched massive steel-coated boulders loaded by earthbenders, and when they hit, they made short work of the turrets.
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For his part, Alex noticed a lack of Pokémon use in this fresh conflict, though even as he had that thought, from one of the wrecked turrets, an Imperium augmented Magmortar rose, turning its surroundings to molten rock in rage, and vengeance, for its Trainer. It leveled a cannon arm at one of the ships, but instead of Promethium and all its purging glory, a bolt of pure electricity hummed to life, and then fired. The shot streaked towards the ship, and hit the command tower, as the ships Minjujuui had were, naturally, similar in design to the Fire Nation's, their command center and engines seemed to be in the same places.
While the ship's Trainers began summoning their partners to counter the Magmortar, similar scenes kept happening across the harbor. Enhanced fire types, usually enhanced to use electric moves to great effect, began firing back. Their shots were powerful enough to stop the currently widespread tank formations, stalling their forward momentum. It took effort to get them going again, and Alex could tell the benders were flagging. If they lost their energy before they even reached the base of the volcano, before the eclipse even started, they'd never have a chance.
Alex summoned Terra, and with his Voice, spoke to the ten or so people per tank. "My Torterra will move the tanks! Focus on countering the fire tossers!" Alex kept any stray fire turret shots from his friend with a massive, concealing stone dome, as he stomped his trunk-like feet into the ground, and began moving all the tanks, quite rapidly, towards the base of the volcano that housed the Phoenix King's throne. The benders, naturally, moved with the tanks, and as they reached the steeper slope leading up to the volcano's cone, Terra paused, glancing at his Trainer. "Give us a Siege Pattern Alpha, bud."
The grass tortoise nodded, and again slammed his bulky feet into the earth. Around them, the fortified structure composed entirely of fire-resistant rock formed new layers, and detailing, with holes by perches in his tree for his team mates to fire from, It was mostly Eremus, as the long, slender dragon could fit under this pattern of structure that Terra could create. With Rock Slide and Stealth Rock, he gave the firebenders and their partners a rock typed pummeling that Toph and the other earthbenders began making good use of.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
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Jimen summoned his partner then, and the Garchomp snarled at the sight of firebenders. After a checkup at Minjujuui's Pokémon Center, he'd been cleared to battle, and seemed very happy to be by Jimen's side again. The rather adamant Garchomp leaped from his ball into the ground, and began covering their flank with impressive Earthquakes, and the occasional Dig through a line of Fire Army soldiers as he moved through the earth with as little effort as his Trainer did. They attacked in unison, and Alex, as someone who also had a ground typed starter, could see how close they were. Reuniting after a tense and lengthy separation had apparently been what was needed to maximize their bond, and thus, Alex had given the pair Earth Plate shards. There had been quite a lot of them, albeit mostly inactive, across the Earth Kingdom. There were quite a lot of soldiers in the harbor, for a Nation who claimed to control the whole region. They were falling though, as the combination of benders and type advantaged Pokémon in water, ground, and rock types countered the enhanced fire types the Fire Army seemed to prefer.
As Alex and his group began to ascend the volcano, that's when the Fire Army countered. Hard. A sea of red, maroon, and emotionless white face masks began streaming down from the top of the volcano, like a wave of human lava. Throughout the harbor, from the many civilian buildings, entire companies of troops hustled out, and joined the fray. With them, were fresh Pokémon, revive items, and even a pair of Predator class Imperium war tanks, that Ozai had essentially had his people copy from the genuine article, down to the last detail, and in complete secrecy. The word 'Purgation' was branded on each of the tread-wheeled tanks. They had one main long-barreled gun atop their body frame, with two additional side turrets fashioned to the sides of the main gun.
As they began rolling out and the Fire Army began descending on them, Alex swore. He'd been briefed on the mainstays of the Imperium's arsenal, and he knew a single plasma blast from such a tank, let alone three, would punch easily through their comparatively well-made but primitive shielding. The earth tanks were meant to counter ground bound Fire Army troops, not Imperium tanks. He called out Arthur and Canis. "I need you two to each take down one of those tanks. They're sticking together, and so should you. Watch yourselves, and take some Potions with you." The pair glanced at each other, nodded, took several Max Potions, and then sprinted towards the approaching tanks while weaving through fire and rocks. Arthur, for his part, was wearing a green hood, and though he was a Gallade quite obviously, he still looked quite heroic with it hiding his face. At his level, all his opponents saw was a blur, and Canis, who was very much vulnerable to fire types, struggled to keep pace with him.
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Gathered from across the Earth Nation, what Kuei had devoted to the harbor in terms of manpower was enough to match those who'd been hiding in the harbor. There was a city's worth of Fire Army troops coming down from above, though, and most of their forces were now cut off from the center with the Avatar in it, by the extra Fire Army forces. The battle became more desperate, as it seemed on average, the combination of better training and cybernetic enhancements gave the Fire Nation's Pokémon a serious edge thanks to their enhanced power and large move pools. The balance to this, was Alex's own team, who he'd been dispatching one by one to aid areas across the harbor. Most, like Gelauros, Hydrus, and Leo, were using their Plate's armor to keep themselves hidden, and well protected. There were more red bodies littering the ground than green ones, but the day wasn't over yet.
As Alex turned back to the approaching firebenders from above, now about halfway down the cone of the volcano, he noticed another force, and the one seemingly intended to put down this attack before it gained steam. A force of what had to be forty Charizard, give or take, was ascending from the city atop the volcano, and began diving directly towards where Alex and Jimen's group was below.
Mentally, Alex recalled his partners, and advised the others to do the same, returning them to their balls as they returned to the moving fortress that was Terra. Their group was the one who needed aid, now. Thankfully, Arthur and Canis had both, quite easily, punched straight through the inferior building materials of the Fire Nation. Lacking Boron Carbide and the advanced understanding of complex ceramics and resin-based coatings the Imperium built with, the Fire Nation had replicated the Imperium's tech with mere steel, and complex circuits from other regions. After that, the servitors that remained had put it all together, and made it run. Straight into the fists of two high leveled fighting types, which was one of the many reasons past kingdoms and civilizations had, unlike the Imperium, completely abandoned firearms and things like tanks, in favor of more powerful Pokémon. Bullets did little when an opponent could use Psychic, multiple times, and even turn them on those firing. The State's own military had heavy vehicles, but they were designed to work with certain species of Pokémon, and Alex had been one of the minds behind advocating and coming up with new patterns for more species, once they had coalesced into the Empire. He knew Tao was quietly building up their stock of such patterns, many specifically designed for the particular teams each Scale had, but it was early days, early enough for said patterns to be much more than designs on a computer.
With the Purgation Tanks knocked out, the Earth Army was able to regroup, and form ranks before the oncoming tide of firebenders from above. Alex recalled Terra, as he regrouped with his tank squad, and had his team on hand again. He gave them each potions and elixirs as they recovered, and he was frowning, as he knew he'd just given them a break specifically to get over being in a war. They assured him, via Terra, that they could handle it, now. Several had a lower opinion of the firebenders than they had for Arcean Crusaders, though given three centuries, Alex was sure Pravus would've matched Ozai's depravity.
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As the firebenders above came close enough for their fireballs to start hitting their tank's shields, Toph frowned, and shouted, "We need to get out of here! We have a mission."
"How!?" Jimen answered, as he blocked several fireballs from an enterprising squad of Fire soldiers. Toph slammed a foot into the ground, her equivalent of looking around. "Can't go over it…" She said, as she felt the descending footsteps. "Can't go around it…" She continued, feeling the ships still cut off around the harbor's edges by both sides and their movements. Finally, she turned to the volcano itself and took a bending stance. "Gotta go through it!"
The elderly master earthbender made a series of rapid punches towards the volcano's cone, bending the beginnings of a tunnel into it as she did. She grabbed the sides of her tank then, slamming it back closed around them, just in time for everyone to fall back within it. "Move us forward, I need to focus on Bending!" Toph's loud but commanding tone filled the tank, and those within who could earthbend did as asked.
Outside the newly made tunnel, the descending firebenders felt the earth beneath them shudder, and as Toph began carving their path up to the volcano's summit, she also cut a line through their ranks with the vibrations of her bending, and sent quite a few of the firebenders tumbling to their deaths, or at the very least, to a bed in which to heal their broken bones after falling down a mountainside.
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Several Miles North of the Boiling Rock Prison - Fire Nation Waters, Koria Region
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Akos stood as the new Chieftain of the Water Tribes from the front of the tribe's hand-crafted ships. They could cross oceans, it just wasn't extremely comfortable, even for a waterbender. Akos's ship was one of the few that was larger in size, capable of deploying quite a few waterbenders at once, and powered entirely by bending. As the heroic Trainer who'd beaten the Fire Princess, and the new husband of one of the north's most influential priestesses, he'd been agreed upon by all as the ideal candidate to lead not just their tribe, but the southern tribe as well in this time of war. His father's warbands had, upon hearing their little Akos was now the north's Chief, agreed to, eventually, pass him leadership. For this assault, their forces would work in tandem, and much of their time had been spent traveling. It was made easier without the Fire Navy's blockade slowing their passage.
Akos had raided a Fire Nation outpost in their territory, but before he'd demolished it and given it to the sea's icy depths, he'd befriended one of the Talonflame who'd been kept there as a messenger. Hawky, as he was now known, had been flying messages between Akos and his dearly missed father ever since, but he hadn't mentioned Ara's fate yet. That wasn't the kind of thing his dad needed to be burdened with before a battle. He simply hadn't mentioned her, as there had been plenty to say about his own travels.
Akos had simply not answered his reply's questions about her, and instead had gone on to explain the plan they'd concocted with the Earth King and some 'foreign assistance'. Hakoda had agreed to the plan and began gathering the scattered Southern Water Tribe ships together. Akos and his people would invade the Fire Nation's largest island from the north, and Hakoda and his warriors would take the south, while the Earth Kingdom's forces struck and softened the middle. The rest of the Water Nation's ships would engage the Fire Navy when they appeared, or at least, what was left of it after Lugia had given it several Aeroblasts. Bolstered by their home Nation's fleet, the decimated Fire Navy was around the same strength of numbers they'd had for the initial invasion of the Northern Water Tribe, and they were, apparently, all gathered around the Fire Nation's primary island.
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To balance the disparity in force strength, Akos had brought his people to a large source of waterbenders, likely the largest in Koria, after three hundred years. He turned to his canoe-bound troops then, and raised his voice so they could hear him. His voice cracked at first, but clearing his throat fixed the issue. "We -ahem- We are floating before the Boiling Rock. One of our allies in the Fire Nation told Yue about it. Inside this superheated hell, these Ash Makers are holding members of the Water Nation with the same reasoning they used three centuries ago when they slaughtered the Air Nation. The time has come. We need to get in, free our people, potentially make some Firebending allies, and then sail as hard as we can for the Regiis Caldera! Waterbenders! With me!"
The Boiling Rock, like most Fire Nation buildings, resided in a volcano that was deep beneath the ocean. Akos's plan, such as it was, was to overwhelm the guards with his forces, and the steam caused by the cold ocean meeting the isolated, superheated water within the Rock itself. Together, the northern waterbenders lifted a massive wave over the stoney walls. They'd left their ships outside, and the sudden addition of hundreds of gallons of cold ocean water caused the entire prison to be drenched in conveniently bendable fog.
Akos and his people infiltrated easily as they rode the wave in, and many of them, veterans of multiple attacks by the Fire Navy, showed little mercy to the guards, and their necks. With thick steam everywhere, they could take down guards near instantly. Finding the right prisoners was also a time-consuming exercise, as quite a lot of the inmates seemed to belong in a place like this, locked far away from society. Eventually though, Akos found the cell block where they kept the waterbenders. The air was dry, the heat was excessive, and as the languishing prisoners saw him enter in a cloud of mist, they readied what strength they had left, as Akos and the others quietly worked on their cells.
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So far, the alarm hadn't been sounded, thanks to their resident expert ice knife thrower nailing the guards on watch with critical strikes to their necks. They would be found eventually, but for now there was still time. In short order, Akos had most of the waterbenders free, when he noticed another group, far in the back, and huddled in a crowded cage.
They were all women, and the younger ones still had paint on their faces, though it had started to run. One of the women around his age leapt at the bars, gripping them as the metal seared her hands. "Wherever you're taking them...take us, too!"
"Your hands!" Akos said, unable to focus on more than the sight and scent of the teen's burning flesh. He waved over one of their healers, and the teen hissed as she began healing the burns. "Who are you ladies anyway? Why does the Fire Nation have you all together?"
"We're the Warriors of Kyoshi Island. We've proudly fought the Ash Makers for almost three hundred years! Who are you?" She said in a mistrustful tone.
"I'm the new Chieftain of the Water Tribes. Akos. This is a jailbreak." Akos said with a smirk. "Tamaroq, are these...Keeohshi Warriors a real thing?"
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The man who served as his foreign knowledge expert nodded, and dispensed what he knew. "They served and idolize Avatar Kyoshi. They're elite warriors, but not benders, they're strictly female, and Kyoshi Island is largely isolationist. Or at least…it used to be. The Fire Nation burned many of the villages to ash in Avatar Kora's era, during one of the many purge campaigns they launched to draw her out of hiding. They thought attacking Kyoshi's home would draw Kora to them, but Kora never showed, and the Fire Nation never completely took Kyoshi Island, as the Imperium didn't want to waste resources on such a small, unimportant place. The Fire Nation used the same tactics they used on the Southern Water Tribe. That's probably why they're here with them."
Akos looked at the caged women. They were standing now, hope and vengeance burning in their eyes. "There must be three generations of warriors in here…" He looked at each of the women and then made a judgment call. "I'm definitely going to let you ladies out, but before I do, I have an opportunity for all of you. An opportunity to stop the Fire Nation. Permanently." Akos elaborated on their situation then, and every single Kyoshi Warrior offered to aid the invasion. Once they ate real food and slept on something other than stone, of course.
Eventually, about forty minutes after their infiltration, most of the steam had evaporated, the Rock's water pumps had compensated for the surprise excess water that had cooled the boiling sea around the prison, for a time, and almost drowned their inner systems. Then, the guards had been found with half-melted ice knives in their necks, and the Warden's voice came over the vox speakers throughout the prison. "Attention all guardsmen and women. We have been infiltrated by the northern Water Savages. If you see one of those overly moist wastes of DNA, burn them to nothing, especially if they're out of their cells!"
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Currently, Akos and his people were hiding in a secret garden one of the warriors, the one around his age who was called Suki, had been tending to. Only her fellow Kyoshi Warriors knew of it, and it gave them a place to avoid the constant patrols. "We have two options, as I see it." Akos said in a hushed tone, drawing in the exposed dirt of the secret corner in the prison. "Either we somehow free the prisoners, incite a riot, and ride a wave of cooled water back out of here, or, we wait them out, until tomorrow night, and make our escape then."
Suki shook her head. "This place is hidden, but the guards will find it eventually. We can't wait that long, either. Your eclipse invasion will have ended by the time we get there. We can free the prisoners, but they won't riot without a spark. Can one of you muscled men start something? The trash in here is too scared to start a fight with any of us."
Akos swiped his thumb across his nose, and smirked. "I can certainly try."
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The plan went into motion, then. Two of the Kyoshi Warriors, older ones, took down a pair of guards and assumed their identities. Then, they waited, and participated in the lockdown procedures, until the Warden got tired, and retired for the night. The Rock remained on high alert, but most of the guards were wiped from searching so fruitlessly. Around three in the morning, the cages loudly slammed open with a buzzer that echoed through the prison, and slowly, tired prisoners emerged from their cells, and milled in the general area. Then, the doors to the rec area outside opened. "I guess we get rec time now, since we couldn't have it earlier." One of the prisoners muttered, as they wandered out into the yard.
By the time one of the actual guards saw this, and ran to the control room to fix it, all he found was smoldering, useless controls. The prisoners were out, and only brute force would get some of them back in, now. There were some in here they never let out, not even for rec time, and there was a reason for that.
Akos, for his part, had minimal success. After punching three tough looking men that were apparently all in the same impressively effective rehabilitation group, he finally gave in, and explained that he needed a riot. The three men wanted in on his obvious escape attempt, and with a group as large as theirs already, he figured three more couldn't hurt. With only two words, the men managed to incite a fiery uprising, and chaos rippled through the prison as prisoners began fighting guards, other prisoners, or taking the opportunity in the chaos to steal some of the guard's food. In terms of quality, it was barely above the gruel the prisoners got.
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Once more, Akos's people took out the tower guards, the two who'd stayed at their posts anyway, and the group of roughly sixty people began moving swiftly but silently towards the blind spot in the guard's towers outside of the prison's foundational exterior. The waterbenders raised a massive cloud of steam from the boiling waters, again, which did absolutely nothing to help the prison guards attempt to regain some measure of control. Furious, the Warden's voice soon came over the vox speakers again, as chaos reigned in his prison. "This is a diversion! All guards who can hear my voice, keep an eye on the edges of the Rock! Nobody escapes alive, do you hear me!? NOBODY!"
With most of the top layers of water heat directed and drawn into the air for cover, the waterbenders froze a path across the mostly boiling lake, and though it began melting rather quickly, they managed to get everyone over without touching the water. "Keep up the steam cover." Akos ordered. "We take everyone up and over, one by one. Once we're back on the ships, we can steal a larger one from their harbor. They won't notice. Then we should have enough food and room for everyone to reach the Fire Nation." His benders nodded and set to ferrying the people up by way of a water-propelled pulley system, with a cold, icy grip to hold onto.
Only one person ended up being too burly for their ice handle, which only became stressed as his grip shifted uncomfortably on the cold rung. It didn't help that the wall of the submerged volcano was hundreds of feet high, but it did spur his grip to hold. For as long as possible, anyway. Three of the northern waterbenders caught the falling man, one of the riot starters, but his panicked yell basically alerted the entire prison guard force on the rim that there were prisoners out here with them, in the steam.
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It also alerted something else, something Akos and the northern tribe hadn't counted on being in a prison. In days past, when the Fire Nation and their Imperium handlers had razed their capital to the ground, their Legion of Thunder Warriors had done so with a pair of tanks designated as Immolator Tanks. In Koria, they had used upgraded Immolators, with twin-linked plasma beam cannons. In the days of those raids, going up above to Agna Qel'a was a rare thing indeed. The northerners had made do for quite some time below the ice, but eventually, the Legion had departed. There were stationary versions of that very formidable weapon though, and one such installment had been added at the behest of Prime Archon Lorgar, when he'd required the prison for holding truly deadly opponents, namely psychic airbenders losing control in the face of their ongoing genocide. The Imperator himself had ordered that nothing escape from the Boiling Rock, and for three centuries, though their airbender prisoners were now long gone, likely dead, the plasma beam turret remained.
Though Akos could barely see through the fog, it was hard to miss the smell of burning ozone, and the twin giant, focused beams of plasma shooting over their heads. This time, the waterbenders were ready when the prisoners were about to squeal. Their mouths were silenced, and the benders on the pulley sped up their efforts to double time. Getting down was easier, and fun, but before the big prisoners went, each was thoroughly warned not to yell on the way down, no matter how fun or terrifying it seemed.
Two waterbenders went first, as Akos watched for incoming firebenders. The ice slide they made behind them was much sturdier than their pathway across the now once more boiling sea, and the inertia of the sliding escaped prisoners was canceled out as the waterbenders below caught them in watery spheres, lifted them onto their flagship, and then drained the water from their clothes.
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The twin plasma turret fired again as Akos leapt onto the ice slide. The beams were again nowhere near him thanks to the fog, and the sound of a following explosion filled the air behind him, as the poorly maintained turret surrounded by hot steam exploded in the Warden's face, compounding his failure with burns.
The northern fleet began moving then, and Akos helped them with their efforts. "We can almost have a rest! Once we have larger ships, we can all relax! For a few hours, anyway." Though the waterbenders quietly groaned, they made good time around the Boiling Rock, and soon found their harbor. Using his Empoleon this time, Akos surfed over to the largest ship, crouching as Pado Aqua Jetted up the black iron side of the flagship.
The crew was slightly above their usual night crew strength for the middle of the night. They hadn't gotten official word from the prison, but it was hard to miss the warning sirens and the firing of the plasma turret. They were ready to send in troops at the Warden's word, but after the lull in action, the command crews had gone to bed.
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"Did you hear? The Phoenix King recalled the Army! Does…does that mean we lost?"
"No. We took over the Earth Kingdom. Brought down Ba Sing Se's walls. Crushed any rebellions that rose up after. We have barracks in every village from Minjujuui to the Penetrable City, keeping the Phoenix King's peace. The war has been over for years, at this point."
"Wow…when you line it all up like that, it kinda sounds like we're the bad guys."
The only forewarning the guards had was a slight mist rising rapidly over the ship's deck. Akos chose that moment in the guard's conversation to interrupt. "You are." He said, popping up, in full Water Nation warrior war paint. All the steam and heat had made it run a little, but that just made him look more haggard, and frenzied.
One by one, his men expertly took down, and then froze the crew of the ship, and once the liberated prisoners started coming aboard, one of the guards shouted, "ESCAPED CONVICTS! ESCAPED CONVICTS IN THE HAR-" He was cut off as his mouth was forcibly filled with water, which then became ice. He struggled to breathe, until he remembered he had a nose. Patches of ice covered the other guard's mouths, though in time their breath would melt them.
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For a long moment, nothing happened, and everyone stayed still. Then, a pair of searchlights swung towards the harbor, passing over the ships, and then focused on theirs as they saw it powering up to move. Sirens blared to life again, and Akos swore. They'd been noticed too early. There were three other ships in the harbor, small, but easy enough for a single man to disable, if said man was also a Trainer. "Get going! Head for Sozinawa, on the northwest shore of the Fire Nation's largest island. I'll be right behind you."
"Good luck Chief!" One of the waterbenders shouted, before joining the effort to get the ship moving on their power, as the Kyoshi Warriors focused on spinning up the engines. Akos leapt to the nearest smaller ship, called out Amaroq and Tuhan, and headed for the engine room. By that point, the other crews of the ships had recognized the commotion and had begun preparing to follow the escapees.
Akos and Tuhan smashed through them with a combination of waterbending, Thunder Punch, and Tuhan's Metal Claw tore apart their forged engine. Akos recalled his partner then, put as many sheets of metal between him and the engine as he could, and still was sent flying, when it went boom. He wasn't burned, just winded from the concussive force, and Pado popped out of his ball to help his Trainer onto the next ship.
The steps were the same for the next two ships, and by the time he leaped for the third ship, which was already on fire, the crew had him surrounded as he stood, burned and bruised by the hits the other crews had gotten in. "Last chance, lads…" He said, wiping away blood from his mouth. "Just walk off your ship, and none of you have to get broken bones and serious burns."
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"Firebenders get burned all the time!" Their Captain snarled. "Kill the Snow Savage!"
With a disappointing lack of hesitation, the crew's firebenders pushed their fists towards Akos, and let loose. Just before they did, Akos brought Amaroq out again, and the canny night wolf landed a Rock Tomb around his Trainer. The non-benders charged forward then for the gaps in the rocks, only to find their swords snared by water. With tentacle water arms not dissimilar from those Aratak had used, Akos began tossing them into the burning, oil-coated sea. The smart ones stayed under, and swam out from under the oil slicks. The screams of the dumber crew members who'd surfaced filled the air, and broke the morale of the remaining, unburned crew. All but their Captain ran for the relative safety of the dock, but that was also on fire, and the only other solid ground required a gondola to reach.
Seeing his Lycanroc, the Captain called out his own Pokémon, a Magmar. Amaroq was a bit worn after battling most of a harbor, and Akos gave him a Max Potion, one of about thirty Alex had given him. The revitalized Midnight Lycanroc howled, and then met the Magmar claw to claw. The test of strength lasted several minutes, and the ship below them rumbled from more damage than expected, but not too surprising from being adjacent to multiple exploding ships.
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The test of strength went to the rock type, and Amaroq followed that victory with a Stone Edge as he guided the Magmar's frame down, right into the rising stone of his move. The damage was enough to knock out the Magmar, and Amaroq sent it flying into its Trainer, before being recalled by Akos, swapped for Pado, and after a brief Aqua Jet over the flames, they began surfing towards their stolen Fire Navy ship in the distance.
Akos tried to get their attention, so they could slow down, but water was not the best element for that, and the night was quite dark. Pado swam the rest of the night, but Akos could tell he was flagging, and that was bad right before yet another battle, a hard one, in the form of the upcoming invasion. In the dawn's light, the ship saw him and Pado, and stopped, and Pado gave a last burst of speed to get them to the ship, before he finally fainted. Akos water-surfed once he did and raised himself up to the deck with a tornado of water, before landing, and then falling to the cold iron-worked floor.
The next time he opened his eyes, he was in a lavish chamber, for a ship, and by the decor, realized this must have been the old Captain's quarters, or quarters of someone high up. Yue was with him, and as he gained consciousness and smiled at the sight of her. She frowned and slapped him. "What the actual Muk do you think you were doing!? You can't just go off on your own and keep expecting to come back alive!"
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Akos was surprised by the slap, mostly because Yue strongly disliked violence. He did recognize as a sign that she cared though, but there was something more going on, that much, he could tell. "It's nothing my team and I couldn't handle. Honestly, the hardest part was escaping the engines before they blew. That's where most of the burns came from." He inspected himself then, and found the burns long healed, along with the other injuries he'd gotten.
Yue wasn't relenting, though. She got in his face, and the look there, somewhere between pain and fear and anger, made his heart literally lurch. "The only reason you can go out there again and fight is because of our healers. It would've taken you weeks to heal on your own. You almost died Akos, and you need to stay alive."
"Is dying so bad?" He said, averting his eyes, knowing the words would hurt her, but, in his head, he thought it better Yue was ready for any eventuality. Aluza's mechanical revival had been revealed alongside the broadcast that called the Fire Army home. If they met again, she wouldn't stop trying to kill him. It was why he'd been training Pado and Amaroq more than, say, Tuhan, who was weak to fire. "I don't want to leave you, and the Tribes, but I can't control what fate has in store for this battle. At least…I'd see my sister again."
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He expected the slap this time, which covered the other cheek. He made no move to dodge it, though, and Yue continued. "No, you wouldn't. You'd be dead, Akos. You wouldn't see anything. Not your sister, and not your child." She stormed out of the room then, and it took Akos longer than it should have to register her words.
"Wait, what!? Yue!" But she was already gone. As he made to follow her, he realized he lacked pants, and looking around the chamber, he couldn't find his, or any others.
In about five minutes, Yue came back with clothes. Akos had, in the meantime, come up pantsless for all his searching, and was in the process of covering himself with a discarded Fire Nation symbol banner that had been dropped to the floor and left there. It was better than nothing. The two lovers talked then, and Akos realized he'd been a bit of a Mudbray, now that he had context. He also had a new appreciation for life. He reassured her that he would come back, one way or another.
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Some hours later, a siren screeched through the ship, waking Akos and Yue. He grabbed his pants, put them on for the first time, and found his attire suited to someone who was both Trainer and Chieftain. On his head, was an old Lycanroc head that had been made into a symbol of power in the northern tribe. Out of reverence for its great life, it had adorned the heads of many of the tribe's Chiefs. Short sleeved hardened leather breastplate for the tropical climate, armored gloves, knee-high boots, even a proper Trainer backpack, all various shades of blue and clearly of the Water Tribes. His clothes also had retained the Snow Liepard fur lining. When he came out onto the deck, his warriors were gearing up, painting their faces, and sharpening their weapons. Ahead of them was the Fire Nation's largest island. Three conical mountainous shapes rose on the horizon, but only one of them was smoking, signaling it as an active volcano.
Sozinawa was an average Korian village, the main difference being, it was seemingly empty. Akos brought out Tuhan and held up a hand for the others to wait. "Anything, Tuhan?"
His darker Lucario closed her intense eyes, and her lumpy 'hair' flared outwards. About a minute later, she opened her eyes, and shook her head. "Deserted...strange."
Akos gave the sign to move forward, and the group of just over a hundred waterbenders and warriors began filing into the village. "There should be at least a-"
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Akos was cut off mid-sentence, as he and most of the northerners got their first look at what the Imperium and the Phoenix King did to humans who couldn't prove their use in a meaningful way to the Imperium or the Fire Nation. The servitor was a grotesque fusion of man and machine. Cables ran in and out of its body, most of its face was metal, with a grill that it seemed to be 'breathing' through. What was left of its face was sunken, malnourished. Its feet were gone, now replaced with tread wheels for faster movement, and four additional arms, each bearing a different type of farming tool, had been surgically implanted into its back.
The most horrifying part though, were the eyes, which very much seemed like they were still suffering, as they turned on the group of waterbenders. For a long moment, neither side reacted, then, the abomination began rolling towards them. It stopped a respectful distance away, and up close it wasn't any better. Pieces of the poor Fire Nation soul could still be seen in what was left of their primarily red clothing.
"A-A-Agrimat unit 00897351, awai-ai-ai-ting orders."
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The waterbenders shared a look with Akos, and he spoke to the technological nightmare. "Uh…go…tend the fields."
The servitor seemed to try to blink, and it twitched in place as it tried but couldn't fulfill its task, which by design, caused it immense pain. "E-E-E-Error. F-Fields cannot-ot be plowed. A gi-i-i-ant boulder is b-b-blocking the p-plow."
Akos winced. He almost wanted to put this monstrosity out of its misery, but, this loyal Fire Nation citizen, likely a supporter of three hundred years of systematic genocide not just of Air Nomads, but of psychics, or Psykers as the Imperials called them, had suffered this fate at the hands of their own ruler. Or his puppet masters. "Go prepare to plow the fields. We will remove the boulder."
"U-U-Understood." It wheeled away then, surprisingly nimble, and quick, when it actually had a task. The brutality of what they'd just witnessed made the waterbenders pause for a minute. They'd all heard the rumors of course, but actually seeing a servitor up close was a new experience for the relatively isolationist northerners.
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"We should kill them. All of them. Leaving them like this is wrong, Akos." One of his waterbenders said, and Akos turned to meet the man's gaze. Hahn had been the likely choice for Yue to wed, before Akos showed up, and took on a Fire Royal. There was a reason Ozai's line was feared. Both Sozin and Aluzon had led many campaigns to 'cull' the Water Nation and keep them from rebelling. Naturally, this had only made them rebel further, and Avatar Kora had been a large part of their consistent, unified resistance, and coordination with the Earth Kingdom.
Even if Hahn had the personality of a Basculin, he did also have a fair point. Akos countered with his own. "Do the people who committed genocide on the Air Nation deserve our mercy? By this point, they've likely killed almost as much of the Water Nation, in total. Not being able to work seems to be painful for them. You want to help these Ash Makers? Move the boulder. Let production resume. I'm not going to cry over the fact that the people who helped slaughter my Nation and our Airbending friends were lobotomized by their own King. Their choices led to this fate. I'm going to help the Rebellion, and the people who actually deserve our aid."
Akos continued on then, and there were murmurs, as the group continued to walk. Right then, he couldn't have cared less about potential mutiny. Without breaking stride, he chucked Tuhan's ball towards the boulder as they walked by the field. With little effort, she smashed it apart, though how it had even gotten in the middle of the field was a mystery. With Psychic, she sent the shards sailing into the nearby ocean, and then joined Akos, who was already looking at the Regiis Caldera. "Muk."
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Servitors buzzed as they resumed working, and finally, the constant 'mind' numbing pain they'd felt was alleviated, at least until something else blocked their work. Akos was more focused on the distant volcano housing the Fire Nation's capital city. A tide of red armored humans was pouring down towards the harbor, which was smoking. "Warriors! Mount up!" Akos said, as they saw the road exiting the village extend towards the harbor. The part of the village near the water was abandoned, but as the waterbenders called out their Snow Liepard mounts the tribe had domesticated and trained from the wild population for mounted land travel, they ran through the other side of the town, which was bisected by the fields. Here, there were people, and Tuhan barked a warning as she easily kept pace with the Snow Liepards that Akos and the others were now riding.
Akos gave the hand signal to charge through the town, and it soon became clear; this was where the firebenders and citizens deemed worthy of retaining their minds lived, in Sozinawa. Apparently, none of them had the time or skill to move giant boulders, they just assumed the food would come as it always had. He saw the rich, finely dressed people looking out from their finely crafted windows as the group of waterbenders, supplemented by three squads of Kyoshi Warriors from three different generations, thundered through their moved fast enough to avoid the local guards, who by the time they heard about the invaders, could only see a faint cloud of dust in the distance that marked their passing.
"Look! What is that!?" One of his waterbenders shouted, and Akos followed his eyes towards the volcano's slope. A line of disturbed earth was sending quite a few firebender soldiers tumbling quite far down the volcano that housed their capital city.
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"That's probably the Avatar, which means the plan is shifting, and our friends in the harbor need us! Double time, people!" Akos shouted, before giving his Snow Liepard a pat to go faster. He'd made sure to bond with the big cat on the ride over and had managed to allow it to tolerate his presence and let him mount it. He saw the intense yellow eyes side-glare at him, but he increased his speed all the same, and Akos murmured a thank you by his ear, as he crouched low to reduce the drag of the wind on his partner.
The Snow Liepards, also sometimes called Polar Liepard, if they lived on the poles of the planet, were built front heavy, like a polar bear, but their back legs were also well developed. They needed to be, to be able to propel over a ton of furry, angry Liepard at whatever it was hunting, usually Eiscue. They weren't the best for long distances and had been known to take a chunk of their rider if they were ridden too long or too hard by someone inexperienced, but for a short sprint into combat, they were devastatingly effective.
"When we get there, you can take out whichever of the red wearing Humans you like." Akos told his mount. He intended to let the big cat do as he pleased, as he was an alpha of the tribe's 'domesticated' pack. As they approached the harbor, the entire island shook. Akos looked for the source, and spotted lava, purposefully flowing out and down to the harbor below. It was unnaturally curving though, and while he'd heard of firebenders controlling lava, seeing it was something else entirely. Royal Fire Nation guardsmen were guiding the lava from the backs of their Charizard, while others coaxed more of it from the volcano.
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The molten rock could be turned and sped up by firebenders, but this did not make them true lavabenders, as only people of the Earth Nation, or its ancestry, could truly control the molten rock, and usually only with great effort. Instead of falling on their enemies though, the lava flowed into two previously unseen channels carved into the earth around the harbor, just as the sun above all of them began to be overshadowed by the moon. The earthbenders in the harbor lowered their eye shields, but the firebenders were not powerless. The magma nearby gave them an alternative source of heat, which hadn't been the plan. General Hao had been sure the Fire Army would be completely crippled by the eclipse, and in that time of powerlessness, they'd be able to capture the soldiers, lock down the harbor, and take it for the Earth Kingdom.
The tide's turning ultimately came when, as planned, waterbenders from both the northern and southern tribes came in from the side roads to the harbor and joined the fray. As the battle became more desperate, with the firebenders not surrendering, and the earth and waterbenders having to put them down rather than risk tying them up, Akos looked at the summit of the volcano. The line of earth rising up the slope had ceased, and he sincerely hoped that Alex and the others were alright in there. Then he heard a furious roar, and from above the massive group of wheeling and dive bombing Charizard, came a black Mega Charizard, burning like a blue meteor, as she Flare Blitzed herself at Akos.