----------------------------------------
Sacreus Bunker Base – Fornia Region
image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/107dc055-197f-4c79-a8d4-bf5e3018e03b/dcjmob4-055208f7-900b-4d2b-9add-89f4eba6d58a.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzEwN2RjMDU1LTE5N2YtNGM3OS1hOGQ0LWJmNWUzMDE4ZTAzYlwvZGNqbW9iNC0wNTUyMDhmNy05MDBiLTRkMmItOWFkZC04OWY0ZWJhNmQ1OGEuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.ucgEGImyear8OvPx-lnJNO203oPePrDUo_Puyw6skGs]
----------------------------------------
Sacreus' Bunker Base – Fornia Region
----------------------------------------
Doctor Ein made a noise of disgust, as the name 'Wes' was read aloud from the report that had just come in. Their scouts had discovered where the Veloraptar had gone in only a few short days. Evidently, the presumed-dead Trainer called Wes had come out of retirement for this conflict, and somehow, had stolen Ein's prized creation. Ein assumed he felt somewhat embarrassed that his own state of Orre had fallen so…quickly. This was retaliation. His precious Veloraptar had been 'snagged' apparently, or so the locals who'd witnessed the event claimed.
Though the beast had been fast, the time power of a nearby Celebi, one thought previously to be only rumor, had given the aged Snatcher a fair chance at catching the Pokémon. He was too young, and frankly unstable, to handle a Dark Ball, and thus the capture had worked. The promised Draco Plates had been delayed by some seemingly random act of thievery, and now, the chance to mold the Pokémon's mind, and evolution, was gone.
He turned to his ridiculously garbed employer, who quite literally fancied himself a demigod, and said with all the reverence he could muster, "We need to retrieve him, my Prophet. Without that specimen, we have no chance of de-thro-"
----------------------------------------
The doctor was interrupted by a fist, encased in Shadow energy, slamming across his cheek. He was on the ground then, and Pravus loomed over him, glaring down with those awful eyes of red. "Do not presume to give me orders, Doctor. You'll get your pet back…or we'll mine up another. Our destiny is before us…do not spoil it by having such a loose tongue. His eyes glared at the technicians around them, working at their stations. Most, the smart ones, simply tuned out events like this, and focused on work, unless specifically called by name.
The ones who did not last long at their posts, and there were always a few, were the ones who listened too obviously, or in some cases, dared to watch said events unfold.
The room turned an eerie red, as black and red arcs of lightning flew from the Prophet's outstretched fingers, and into the workers who'd let their eyes wander. The Prophet had not been gentle, and many of the burns were serious. He had expected things in Unova to, finally, work to his advantage. But evidently, a sky full of enemy dragons was impossible to fool.
"It is time we put the Redwood whelp in his place. Begin marching the lines east. Tell the Generals the time for the Blitz has come. No stopping! No rest! I want this land conquered before the Unovans can form a hard defensive line." The Prophet's words had a hard edge, and his loyal minions worked rather quickly, despite their injuries, to accomplish the Leader's orders, and send out messages to the commanders on the border.
They had already begun pushing, though in reality, they had been marching rather slowly. Now, each of the Crusaders would summon a Pokémon to ride into battle, and the already retreating easterners would quickly be overwhelmed by their combined speed. All across the border, the Arceans advanced.
----------------------------------------
His lieutenant, Samson, stepped forward then. "My Prophet." He bowed his head. "The Texicans have known this was coming for a while…their Champion learned far more than he should have in Orre. I'm afraid this has caused a drive for unity amongst their people. As far north as Kentu's borders, we've had reports of organized resistance…and Ohiana has Professor Buckeye, and his Suicune."
That got the Prophet's attention. "He's summoned the North Wind? It seems the first part of this war may begin in earnest. Prepare a ship, a fighter. Make sure there are plenty of Dark Balls. I'm going to declaw his forces, too."
The lieutenant saluted, quietly glad that, for once, relatively bad news hadn't been met with a random, brutal beating. "Yes, my Prophet." The man might've felt sympathy for the Trainers about to lose their beloved partners to the Shadow, but they were heretics. They deserved no less for daring to oppose the savior of mankind.
----------------------------------------
Fifty Miles East of Arcino – Fornia Region
----------------------------------------
"You know, when I said you could disguise me, I had something else in mind…" The voice belonged to Wes, the unofficial 'hero' of the Orre region, and the man he was speaking to was quite a long way from home. But Percy had a task to complete. And a promise to cash in on.
The Fairy King smirked at his last-minute partner, who was now guised as a little girl. Cute, blonde, and complete with pigtails. He'd bumped into Percy on the only road that went into this part of the desert, and they'd found that their destinations were the same. Thus, they had joined forces, for a time. Everything had gone smoothly until they came closer to their goal. Percy had insisted on disguises, and though they'd made good time with them, Wes had been demanding a different guise for over an hour now, as they'd traveled across the dry brush landscape to their destination.
Percy was guised as an old man, with a beard of gray that covered most of his face. He'd even gone with an eyepatch, over his right eye. The story was, supposedly, that this random grandfather just happened to be wandering through a desert with his relative. Completely believable.
His argument had been that people in Norstad traveled across vast swathes of wastes just to survive all the time, but Wes had a feeling Arceans avoided that. Their Church paid for everything, which included transportation to wherever they were 'assigned'.
----------------------------------------
In the end, it hadn't mattered. They came upon their destination without encountering anyone. Now up close, Percy could see many details his abrupt satellite scan of the area hadn't picked up on. The facility was in what had once been a crater, which could only have come from a meteoric impact. Pools of undulating silvery metal were all over the crater, and had plenty of space between them. Oddly enough, there was no wall, not even a fence, surrounding the crater. Only several large, and easily avoidable turrets, placed about the rim.
"I can feel the heat from here…" Wes muttered, his adult man's voice sounding entirely unnatural coming from the little girl he currently was.
"Hush." Old Percy said, smirking. The Trainer had a point, though. It was hot down there. That was likely what was keeping the Meltan, and their evolutions, in a constant liquid state. Then, the wind shifted, and the two shared a look. There was a…noise, of a kind, on the wind. A terrible high pitched groaning sound. The sound of hundreds of Melmetal, and their prior evolutions, crying out in pain. Apparently being forcibly melted together in burning holes in the ground was something they didn't like. "If we can free them…they would make powerful allies."
The little girl glared at the old man. "Or, they could run amok, and be disintegrated by those turrets. We need to find a way to help them out of those holes and disable the heat, as well as take out those guns. Seems we have two tasks."
----------------------------------------
Percy was already moving. "Dibs on the heater. Have fun with the giant guns!" He gave a casual wave as he strolled down the crater's steep edge, moving slowly, and letting his magic camouflage him. Wes was on his own. As a rare act of mercy, he dispelled the poor man's fairy typed disguise, and gave him a robe of shadows instead. It wasn't as stealthy as a genuine one, but tricking one's perception was a trademark of fairy energy.
Knowing the Arceans as he did, for Caleb Pravus had sent many a brainwasher to his tower, over the years, he knew their buildings typically went for a fortified underground approach. After many failed attempts to convert him, Percy had been 'given' inside secrets usually only reserved for Church members who'd put in their time, and worked for it. Evidently Pravus' reasoning was that he'd already done his time, and had still been doing it, thus he could be trusted. If he joined. The Prophet himself never actually visited him though, not until he'd been useful.
Eventually, Percy had acquiesced to their requests to 'ally' with their organization. It was better than rotting away in that tower, forgotten by the mortals of all but his home region. Technically, he was considered to be at 'stage eight' of twelve on their Church's 'path to enlightenment'. The completion of which, made one 'immune' to disease, and supposedly death. There was, of course, not one shred of evidence that completing each stage, something the people had to pay thousands, if not millions, of units of currency for, actually worked. The first Prophet, the man who'd founded the cult, and set up most of the current rules and regulations, had himself died of a sudden heart attack. Then, Pravus had seized control, and those who questioned him disappeared. Or so the rumors claimed.
----------------------------------------
It was an unusual death, to non-Arceans at least. In those early days, they'd been the largest of several regions in what was now Fornia, and the east kept an eye on them. Under Pravus, they had dominated, and expanded, uniting the Fornia region under one banner in a matter of years. The Prophet's.
Evidently the first Prophet, a normal, if charismatic human by all accounts, had been sequestered on one of his naval ships after their cult was sued into becoming ocean-bound refugees, and the advanced medical technology that could've saved him was too far away to do anything. Or so Pravus had told his mourning followers. All anyone knew of the man assuming control of what the original Prophet left behind was that he'd appeared one day on the coastal beaches, and had been helped by the original Prophet, who'd just happened to be strolling by that morning.
It wasn't long before the strange castaway had befriended the first Prophet, become his confidant, and upon his death, took over the, at that point, almost entirely naval cult whose only land holding had been Port: Land, close to the Kanadian border. The official Church statement had been that Pravus' predecessor had been called to Arceus' side, and therefor had to abandon his body. Or something. Getting those details had been a slog, for many had not wished to speak of the first Prophet. Only the current one mattered, apparently. After well over two centuries of control, it wasn't surprising that the current generation was so unflinchingly loyal. Percy knew how malleable humans could be, if one influenced them young enough. It was why immortals and long-lived tyrants were so effective.
----------------------------------------
Once Percy finally found a bunker entrance, he used what skill he'd honed over the long millennia to subdue a guard, examine his mind, and take his place in the order of things by way of disguise. In this manner, he slowly made his way through the rank and file, until he made his way lower into the facility, broke a machine, and then found a maintenance worker, and took his identity as well. The illusions hiding their unconscious (and possibly deceased) bodies would hopefully last as long as their mission here would.
The room he was looking for, he had learned, was indeed located deep underground. A furnace, evidently powered by not one, but two male Heatran. As he finally came upon the chamber in question however, he found the armed guards, in standard soldier attire, already violently and permanently dispatched. Someone was inside, mumbling to themselves.
The room only had one entrance, from a walkway that, thanks to the technician's knowledge, Percy knew was over sixty percent Dolomite, a durable, heat resistant blending of metal. The walkway was above the chamber, most of which was taken up by the machine within. The two Heatran were there, and they were massive, held unmoving in some kind of stasis, constantly giving off as much heat as they could manage.
----------------------------------------
Percy decided on stealth at that moment, and listened in. "No…No. No. Nonono. Where the hell are they? I know there's *burp* some here." The man speaking, and belching in between sentences, looked like a Professor, and had the hair for it. Wild, spiky, with a bald spot only visible from behind. It was pink, save for faint streaks of white within. For the most part, he seemed like a normal human, but he'd already taken down four soldiers of the Church's Task Force, who lay unmoving on the floor of the underground prison with gaping wounds in their vital organs. Looks were deceiving.
Another, far more annoying voice came then. "Aw geeze, Rick. I don't think this guy is alive. Rick? Rick! I don't want to be an accomplice to murder, Rick! I want- I want to go to school!"
A loud belch filled the small underground cavern, followed by more speech from this Rick person. "School? You want be some *belch* miiiindless sheep that comes at the call of a *burp* bell? Fine. If all you're going to do is *burp* biiiitch, then you can go. Here. Go on, Grampa is right behind you." Percy glanced down, and his eyes widened as he saw the man fire a device with a pink crystal embedded in the top. At the push of a button, it tore open a portal in reality. It was a pinkish scarlet color, but the smaller owner of the annoying voice walked through without complaint.
----------------------------------------
The belching figure went back to rummaging, and moments later exclaimed, "Woahoho! Jackpot!"
Deciding he'd had enough stealth Percy dispelled his illusion as he leapt the stairs down to the machine, and winced at the intensity of the heat. He turned to his fellow intruder, who hadn't noticed him, and said, "Hello there."
Rick stood and turned slowly, and Percy got his first good look at him. Bored expression. Bloodshot eyes. Pink hair. Professor's labcoat. In one hand was the device that had torn a hole in the very fabric of space for travel. In the other was a large, almost plant-like seed looking object that seemed to pulse with heat. Rick handed him the seed then.
"Here. *Burp* Hoooold this. I can only carry two." He reached down to grab more of the strange objects, and Percy winced as he examined it in his reluctant grasp.
"I'm Percy by the way… erm, What…exactly am I holding? And why?"
"Heatran Seeds. The only thing that *burp* burns hotter than these babies is my eternal devotion to Szechuan Sauce. I need them for my…uhh…science. Just follow me through the *burp* pooortal, quick trip, in and out." Rick stood then, and Percy observed that his 'seeds' seemed to be more…fresh, as they were dripping some kind of ichor.
----------------------------------------
"Not so fast…" A new voice crowed from above them. The two men looked up to behold a new figure, another man, though almost as flamboyant as Percy. He had a long brown coat, and under it, a suit of clothes whose color scheme seemed oddly familiar. Deep blue, steel gray, and a light blue as well.
He too held a device. It was thinner than Rick's and had a blue crystal embedded at the tip that was the same light blue hue as his clothes. He was staring at them with what seemed like disbelief, as he pointed it at them, and it buzzed for a moment, then stopped. Percy felt a brief intrusion into his mind, but it was so quick, he almost missed it.
The crimson, almost scarlet haired man spoke again, then. "Ahh…Humans. Of course, it's Humans." He stared down at them with sad, angry eyes. "I thought you'd been wiped out…all that effort, and you destroyed yourselves anyways. Gave in to your 'inevitable doom'. It's enough to make a man give up…for a time. The running never really stops."
Percy raised a brow at him, ignoring the unsettling throbbing from the seed that, the more he looked at it, seemed more flesh than plant. "You seem to have outdated information. We bounced back. Have you really not seen a Human since Old Earth fell? How old are you?"
----------------------------------------
The red headed man adjusted his bowtie then and smirked, "Old enough, actually…right. Humans. Earth. House call. Imprisoned Meltan in a hellish crater." He looked down at his side then, and Percy spied a rather small Meltan, clinging to his pantleg. "You never said you were from Earth. But I'm here now. The Doctor is in."
He strode down the steps then, past Percy and a silent, unnerved Rick. He had visibly tensed at the man's words, specifically 'Doctor', and was looking at the strange man like he knew him, but the newcomer no longer seemed to care that they existed. The Meltan clinging to his right leg was struggling to stay somewhat solid in the intense heat the machine holding the Heatran gave off.
There was a familiar noise as a pink portal opened, and then closed rapidly, as Rick stepped through, leaving Percy holding the throbbing seed. "That's not a plant seed you know." The 'doctor' said as he scanned the machine with his tiny stick, and appeared to, somehow, read what it had to say about it.
"What is it then?" Percy asked, holding it away from him.
"It seems Humanity is as brutal as ever. Heatran give off the most heat when they're in intense pain. What you're holding in your hand is what whoever put these poor fellows in there had cut off, to keep that pain fresh, to keep the heat coming, to keep…the Meltan melted." He stared at Percy then, as if noticing him for the first time. It wasn't an unpleasant stare, nor was the man ugly. Not Percy's type, for he'd had both sexes and everything in between in his time, but attractive enough. "Where am I, anyway? Location, Year, etcetera? All I found was empty tunnels on the way in."
----------------------------------------
Percy set the 'seed' down, and then summoned his Glaceon, who formed a Water Pulse in a small, spinning sphere that he could wash his hands clean with. "You're some miles west of Arcino, in the Fornia region, some giant underground crater facility. The people running this operation are called Arceans. They're a…religious group. Big on militancy."
The doctor sighed, voice dripping with sarcasm as he examined the machine's controls. "Fan-tas-tic. I love a cult. Militant, eh? Let me guess. Plenty of guns?"
Percy shrugged. "A few firearms, like pistols perhaps, but their main weapon is the staves they make from the metal here. They're capable of shooting elemental beam attacks in the form of flame, ice, or lightning. They're quite strong. Are you telling me you just appeared in this place with no idea what was going on?"
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
----------------------------------------
The redhead nodded again, then blinked. "That's kind of my MO. Wait. What? Are you telling me you've all already gone and surpassed projectile weaponry for beam energy?" He looked at his bare wrist the way one might look for a watch, paused for a moment, then shook his head clear of old habits.
Percy chuckled. "Most modern regions are capable of producing capture-spheres that hold their partners in their own pocket dimensions. They're quite cozy, too. Beam weapons aren't that hard to reproduce, but it's cheaper to just teach a Pokémon how to use Hyper Beam."
The doctor raised a brow, and then lifted his dark brown long jacket, revealing a team of his own. "Capture-spheres? You mean like these?"
The Pokéballs looked rather old, to Percy's eyes, a bit knackered, but ordinary, to him. A nice combination of red and white in the classic style. He'd quickly reacquainted himself with the modern world's capture technology, and had even begun sneaking it to those in Norstad he knew could benefit from having them. This 'doctor' and his team looked several decades off, but then, some claimed the older balls worked better than the new. He hadn't been around for that era, so he didn't know if such things were true.
"Humans who can Battle…right. That…complicates matters. Deal with that later…for now, friend Percy, white-clothed, pale-skinned Percy, you have ice types yes? Like your Glaceon here? I want you to have them use Ice Beam on this console." He gestured to it, and then took several steps back.
----------------------------------------
Percy's Glaceon, who was already out and listening, used Ice Beam then. While it did cool, it evidently wasn't enough. His Beartic got involved as well then, and that was when the doctor deemed it ready. "Alright…we should be all set. L-9, would you do the honors?"
A Lucario materialized from his belt then, shaking his head as he once more became corporeal, and not energy. He gave his partner a nod, and with a motion so fast even Percy's eyes had trouble following, the console split in half diagonally. The Lucario gave his aura-bone a twirl, and it faded then. The redhead gave his friend a pat on the head, and then eyed the tanks.
"Oh…that seems to have woken them up…" He slowly turned to Percy, awkward smile on his face. The kind one makes when they know they've accidentally messed up.
His Glaceon began growling at the tanks, and Percy glanced from her, to the doctor. "What does that mean?"
----------------------------------------
"Well, do you know what happens to cold glass when it's rapidly heated?" The glass on both tanks began to crack, as the fluid holding the Heatran began to boil once more. The two angry males were awake, in agony, and the area around them would boil for it. It didn't take long before the entire holding cell began splitting apart.
"It means run!" The Doctor shouted as he bolted for the stairs and Percy sprinted after the redhead. He wasn't all that worried about stealth, for not many people were authorized to be this far down, and the roars of the pained Heatran began echoing through the tunnels as they broke free of their prison, incoherent with rage. Anyone with sense, would run from a sound like that.
"Not that I don't like exercise…" Percy said, panting after several minutes of running, "But do we have a destination in mind?"
"We do!" The Doctor said, taking a sudden right. He led them into a large cavern, big enough for aircraft, and with an equally large exit, which was open. On the 'landing area' outside, little more than a slab of poorly made metal, was the sleeping form of a God. Or the closest thing Pokémon, and humans, had to one. The beast that controlled and maintained the very flow of the Time Vortex.
Dialga.
----------------------------------------
They sprinted out of the enormous hangar, for indeed there were several aircraft which were currently stored away in the walls of the red stone common to the area. Behind them, almost forty feet of wall rapidly melted, as a pair of massive Heatran, eyes burning with purple shadows, came charging after them.
Dialga opened one eye as the Doctor approached it, and Percy, who had run before with other Tamers of Legendary Pokémon, found himself suddenly cautious as he saw the sad, angry eyes of the Time Deity.
"Right…" The Doctor said, as he saw Dialga's reaction, stopped, turned, and raised a hand. The two massive Heatran prepared another Magma Storm as they rapidly approached. "This is where it gets complicated." The man snapped his fingers, and Dialga Roared.
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile…
----------------------------------------
Wes had decided to test his recently snagged Pokémon on the Arceans guarding the large, imposing energy cannons that encircled the base. Having had an interest in fossils and the creatures his ancestors had named 'dinosaurs' since he learned that was what Orre was most famous for, he knew exactly what species this Pokémon had come from. That was why he'd laughed when he saw the ID on the vest he'd been wearing, and the name the Arceans had evidently given this revived species. He'd called the Pokémon out some hours after escaping the Arcean onslaught, but quickly realized that bonding with a Pokémon like this could help turn the tide of the oncoming war.
After taking down the entire crater rim's defenses in less than twenty minutes, Wes knew he'd made the right choice. Oddly enough, he hadn't been tainted with Shadow, which was a nice change of pace from the Pokémon he usually took from Arceans. He'd tied them to continued Shadow Infusion for years, had even told the League, but nobody had acted on the information. Now, his home had paid the price.
He gave the raptor a scratch under his thin chin as he came trotting back, and the beast made a trilling sound that anyone could tell contained joy. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Now we go get ready to help the Meltan. This way."
----------------------------------------
The creature did something then that surprised the Trainer. It crouched low, and stared directly at him with an unnerving amount of intelligence. He wondered what exactly the Arceans had done to the creature, or if said intelligence was just a part of this species, but decided to trust the inherent kindness of every Pokémon he'd ever befriended. He climbed onto the creature's back, and wrapped his arms around his neck.
They began running then, and though he was slowed by the weight, the Pokémon's speed was still, especially for a part rock type, quite impressive. They assaulted each pool quickly, and Wes called out his Espeon and Umbreon to give them a hand once they quickly found their opponents overwhelming them by disregarding any kind of battle etiquette, or rules.
There was a reason he was a top-ranked Trainer, even if he did come from the sparsely populated Orre region. He'd handled far more grunts in his time than the Church had garrisoned here. Thankfully, this was only half of the population. The others were, he had learned after studying a map and shift schedule by one of the turrets, all garrisoned in the tunnels below, and were off-duty.
----------------------------------------
Once they were done, they could only sit and wait, until Percy disabled the heat. A few of the Nut Pokémon had, upon seeing their torturers beaten, tried climbing out of their rocky prison. The heat always melted them however, and they oozed back down into the pool of silver and eyes.
After five minutes of pacing, Wes sighed. "I'm done waiting. I'm doing what I came here to do." His Pokémon perked up at his words, which had broken the 'silence' between them. In truth, this close to the pools, the Meltan and their evolutions drowned out the chance for conversation. They sensed freedom near, and all of them yearned for it. The sound was overpowering. "You three stand guard. E.S.P., help them up with Psychic when the heat goes off. I'll be back." His Espeon nodded, and sat himself by the rim of one of the central craters.
With that, Wes dashed into the nearest tunnel. His contacts in the Fornian Rebellion had given him a map of the complex that revealed enough of the structure to get him where he wanted to go, and nowhere else. Thankfully, it was easy enough to follow.
----------------------------------------
When the Arcean Crusaders had overwhelmed Mt. Battle, and then the entire Orre region in a few hours, and claimed the region theirs, they had taken prisoners to ensure that the 'heroes' of the region didn't stir up any trouble.
Naturally, this had meant kidnapping the girl who could see auras. Rui. Dear to both her cousin Michael and Wes, the Church had claimed that she was in a safe place, being well treated, as long as everyone obeyed the new order. Before long, what few residents the region had were suddenly giving their conquerors their hard-earned money, to take 'classes' on the cult they now had the pleasure of paying to be part of. Those who resisted usually conformed once they were threatened with being shipped away to a mining camp in Fornia. Even in Orre, the locals had heard dark rumors of the Church's protocols in such places. War had, undoubtedly, made them worse. It always did.
Only a few had persistently resisted the Church, but it was enough for Wes to decide he'd had enough of sitting around. The disappearances had started slow, but eventually, he kept an eye on those who did defy the Church, and it wasn't long before he had tailed the black clad Task Force members to the only road that existed in this part of the desert.
----------------------------------------
Now, finally, he was here. After hearing the Meltan's cries, he doubted these people were treating her well. Humans who could do that to innocent Pokémon were the worst kind of scum. He needed to free as many people as possible.
The tunnel before him read 'Prison', but the letters were in the shape of Unown. After hearing several rumors about such things, Wes moved slowly past them, down the hall, and towards the cells, which were little more than Iron bars and melted out caves. It was oppressively hot, and the entire place stank of unwashed, sweaty human.
Forcing himself to ignore the stink, he listened, and his ears caught a hint of her voice. He knew it quite well. Wes stalked towards the noise, until finally, he found Rui's cell.
She was repeating something. Over and over, hunched in a corner of the small cage carved into the rock. As cells went, it was rather nice. A real bed. A real pillow. A toilet that evidently had been cleaned, and recently. He raised a brow as he tried to make out what she was mumbling. "Rui?"
----------------------------------------
She twitched at the sound of his voice, and began rocking in place. "I can't see them, I promise…I can't see them… I can't…"
Wes glanced at the bars, and then called out his Typhlosion. The air shimmered, and the bars melted quickly as the Pokémon turned his back to them, and snorted, causing his flames to rise. He then moved to stand guard in the tunnel, hiding low on all fours.
Wes gave the bars a second to cool, and then stepped into the cell. The entire time, she had kept repeating the same words. "Rui? It's me. I'm getting you out of here."
She stopped rocking in place, and glanced at him, eyes wide in terror. "No…please Doctor…I can't see them, I promise…I can't…"
Wes' eyes narrowed. "Doctor who?"
Rui looked back at the corner, still repeating the words. He moved to touch her shoulder, and when she didn't strike at him, he picked her up, and set her on his Typhlosion. "Typho…get her out of here. Run all the way back home if you have to. But keep her safe."
----------------------------------------
Typho was one of his best trained Pokémon, who Wes had trained almost as long as his Espeon and Umbreon. The powerful Pokémon nodded, but followed behind his Trainer as they tried to quietly move back through the tunnels. Rui kept whispering however, and every few minutes, she'd grow louder. Typho would calm her by generating some heat from his neck, but it never stopped her mouth from moving.
They parted as they returned to the central hallway of the prison. After examining the locks he hadn't melted, Wes figured there was an electronic 'open' switch somewhere, and indeed there was. He defeated the man guarding it, who called himself a 'Bishop', and had claimed superiority to a Trainer like him. After a quick battle, Wes took the man's ID card with the bored expression of a man who'd done this several hundred times, and eventually, found the switch to open the cells. He smirked as he saw many residents of Orre stumbling free.
They each looked tired, but determined as they recognized the Snatcher, and it wasn't long before they began rushing for the exit. Wes joined them, and led them out of the tunnels. Right as they ran out, and returned to the craters of Meltan, the entire complex began to shake, and roars of pure rage echoed throughout.
----------------------------------------
Wes told everyone not fit to battle to flee, and all but a small group of Trainers did. They had Pokémon partners that had been taken, and refused to give up on them. Wes had explained that they were likely infused with Shadow now, and lent them his Snag Machine. At least until they recaptured their friends, and left this hellish place.
Once they'd left, his Espeon got his attention. The Melmetal were climbing up, forming cohesive bodies. The craters glowed with the white energy of evolution, as many of the Meltan came together to reach the next stage. They'd been unable while melted, but now, they all sought revenge, and that fueled their evolution.
In the end, the craters produced roughly twenty of the giant living metal beings, who began moving, unified, in each compass direction of their crater prison. They would cleanse all of it. They moved into the shaking tunnels, and exacted revenge upon the humans that had inflicted unimaginable pain upon them for decades now. Each giant had been surrounded by a crowd of Meltan at their feet, who aided their evolved kin with unified and timely Flash Cannons. Collapsed tunnels were easily fixed as they moved through the complex, but the metal used to prop them open was weak, and would eventually break if the shaking continued.
----------------------------------------
With Typho and the residents of Orre on their long way home, Wes recalled his eeveelutions, and decided to try to find Percy. He had no love for the man, but it felt wrong to abandon a fellow traveler when they'd come here together, and he wouldn't wish being captured by this cult on anyone after getting a firsthand look at their prison. Thankfully, he didn't have to look far once he climbed to the crater's rim again. The exploding hangar caught his attention, as did the unmistakable figure of Dialga, facing down two giant Heatran.
He was already moving towards the massive figures atop his raptor, but quickly realized he was too far to do anything. Dialga roared, and Wes watched as he ran. The two Heatran shrank in size as the Roar's power surrounded them, and seemed to calm them, slightly, though they still attacked with a pair of Magma Storms. He saw a Glaceon freeze the waves of molten rock in place, and then watched as a Lucario smashed them to pieces with a single strike from a bone club that looked like it was made of pure energy.
Things seemed to calm down then, and by the time Wes had run over, the same Lucario had subdued the pair by using its aura waves to keep them calm, and somewhat docile. Percy was speaking to a red-haired man with a unique fashion sense. "And they won't remember any of it?"
The man grinned. "Nope. It's like their trauma never happened. Now, all I have to do is bring them home, and their sense of time will return fairly quick. They'll have a few nightmares…but in time, they'll fade. Provided they're not disturbed."
----------------------------------------
The doctor chuckled as he saw Wes approach them, and raised a brow at his choice of mount. "Is that...what I think it is? Oh you are...gorgeous!" Wes opened his mouth to warn the stranger away, but the initially hesitant Veloraptar allowed the man to touch his snout, and then trilled as he began scratching the underside of his neck. "You'll want to get him right under the jaw, back here...that's the spot he likes best. Isn't it you beauty."
Wes raised a brow at the man. "How do you know that, exactly?"
The man winked at him as he gave the beast, whose tongue now lolled out of his razor-sharp toothy maw, a thorough scratching. "I speak raptor."
Wes shifted, and he glanced down at the raptor's legs. Dangerous looking claws adorned each limb, perfect for gripping and tearing prey, but now, one of them was twitching, in direct time to the man's attentions. He felt himself laugh, despite the absurdity of the situation, and the looming form of the Time God above them.
Percy and Wes gave a bow as the man made his way towards Dialga, though they didn't quite know why. It seemed right. The Doctor placed a hand on Dialga then and gave them a wave with the other. The two were then encased in a cube of blue energy that floated into the air, and shot skyward, where it shortly disappeared. Percy smirked, as he'd heard the strange doctor shout with glee as they vanished.
Wes raised a brow at him. "Was…was that Dialga's Tamer?"
Percy nodded. "He called himself the Doctor…"
Wes' eyes slowly hardened, and he glared up at where the cube had vanished. "Doctor who, exactly?"
The Fairy King shrugged. "He never gave a name, just…doctor. Why?"
Wes went on to fill in the events he'd dealt with while Percy had chatted up strangers who seemed to be able to warp space and time as they pleased.
----------------------------------------
Once he was finished, the light blonde man shook his head, and recalled his Glaceon. "I don't think that doctor was the one your Rui mentioned…he's not tied to this place, in fact, he seemed surprised that Humans still even existed on Earth."
They had begun walking again, on their way from the base. The crater now smoked from every entrance, and destruction was everywhere. Wes followed Percy, as he seemed to have a destination in mind for them. "Really? Well then who was she talking about?"
Percy glanced at him. "Like you have to ask. There's only one doctor I know of that meddles with Shadow infusion. That would have the...depraved idea of creating a place like this. You've met him, if the legends are true."
"Ein…" Wes spoke the name like a curse.
"Exactly." Percy said as he crossed his arms, and stopped. The Meltan that had traveled with and then been left behind by the Doctor was now stood beside him jiggling with excitement. They were before one of the larger rock formations just outside of the crater. Before Wes could ask why they'd come to stare at a rock, he got an answer.
----------------------------------------
The stone exploded outward, as a roughly ten-foot-tall hole appeared in the side of it. From it, came no less than twenty lumbering Melmetal, all surrounded by small groups of their prior evolution. Dark red drops circulated through each of their bodies, and Percy didn't have to ask where they'd come from. There was a reason humans had been warned not to anger powerful Pokémon. This was often the result. The Meltan that had been with them thus far rejoined its kin, and was soon lost in the swarm of golden hex nut heads, and silver.
Percy spread his arms as each of the giants stood before them, forming a semicircle. "Hello Melmetal! And hello Meltan as well. I expect your revenge went well, aye?"
Each of the creatures began readying an all-too-familiar sphere of normal type energy that presaged the use of a move absurdly common to powerful Pokémon like these. "Now now, no need for that…I'm Percy. This is Wes. With efforts from both of us, we freed you, and now, we'd like your help."
The balls of energy stopped growing in size, but still remained. One of the Meltan by the centermost giant wobbled forward, and Percy touched its mind.
Gratitude for freedom. Let us live in peace.
The Pokémon let their attacks fade, and turned then, but not before Percy spoke. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Hear me out, please." The giant's eyes moved back to him, and waited, motionless.
----------------------------------------
Percy took the pause to speak, "I for one, am fully behind letting you all get back to what you were doing before you were imprisoned here, however, I imagine quite a few of you still yet hunger for revenge, yes? I saw…I saw the data for how many Meltan had simply fallen, dissolved to the heat. You have my condolences…as well as an opportunity to strike back at those who've been abusing you. Unova and Fornia are at war, and the east could use a supply of metal, gathered properly of course. In return for your aid, I'm told that the Original Dragon, who is indeed now once more whole, intends to give you land in which to live, undisturbed, once this is all over."
The Melmetal looked at each other, and three of them wandered away, evidently not interested in revenge, only rest. Percy didn't blame them for leaving, but thankfully, the Meltan following them stayed, and began to shine, as they combined with the other swarms around the giants to form another Melmetal. That left them with eighteen.
"Good." Percy said, smirking now that he had their attention. "The lizard will work out the details with each of you. You will have your chance for revenge."
The newest Melmetal intruded on his mind then, and Percy winced. The contact was powerful, and, he realized slowly, boiling with rage for all those who'd died senselessly. There are others. Must find them.
----------------------------------------
"Leave that to myself, and my allies. Your prison was obvious, easily found from orbit, but if there are others, they will be harder to track. They're all likely underground. We'll begin searching for them as soon as we return to Unova." A single Meltan oozed from one of the giants as Percy spoke.
This one knows of others. Give them same agreement? Land? Home?
Percy nodded. "I'm sure the dragon won't have an issue with that. I'll use this one's memories to find the others. Now prepare yourselves…this might feel strange."
Each of the Melmetal placed their fists on the ground, and knelt on both 'knees', as they sensed what Percy was about to do. He turned to Wes then, and chuckled. "It seems this is where we part ways. Tao will move you to Orre…since apparently that's what you want. Are you sure you wouldn't prefer somewhere less…hostilely occupied?"
It was Wes's turn to chuckle. "If I wanted unoccupied, I wouldn't go east. That's where the soldiers went. My moneys on south. No Church down there."
Percy shrugged. "South of Orre, and free of Arceans eh? Well, if you really want to test the legend of the 'Dark Continent', you go right ahead. I'm bound for Unova…I've a debt to collect on." Percy offered a hand then, and Wes gave it a shake, before taking the three-point stance he'd been told, by Percy, was the best way to survive Teleporting, as it could be tricky.
----------------------------------------
He reached out to Tao, then linked with each of the Melmetal, and with the dragon's aid, Teleported all of them to Unova.
Wes was redirected to Orre with little more than a thought from the Original Dragon. It was where he'd wanted to go, and he didn't mind when he reappeared in Phenac City. It was close enough, and, his ride was parked here, conveniently.
The Trainers from earlier approached him, and returned his Snag machine. Evidently they had gotten their partners back and flown home. They had even cleared them of Shadow with nothing but the strength of their bonds, and rather quickly at that. The local Trainers had learned how from the best, after all.
He'd half expected them to take the machine for themselves, but the people of Orre had come to associate such things with two particular Trainers they considered heroes. Nobody would willingly rob their remote region's icons of their ability to cleanse captured Shadow Pokémon.
Back in Unova, Percy set to work on getting the Melmetal comfortable, and it wasn't long at all until the Brain Trust began fabricating the war's first plasma swords. Only time would tell if they would be enough to shift the oncoming tide in the east's favor.