Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ulla watched as Blizzard's collar fell to the ground, she sighed of relief as some others were getting their collars off. The Fairy Child then glanced over at all the evidence that was scrapped. Her heart sank as she heard some of the recording, she looked at the photo evidence as this was something unreal. "...I wonder if this falls into the lines of a different universe. That would just prove my parent's studies fact." She said to nobody in particular. These were damning evidence. But, she knew that all of these were false. There was no way they could get any of this to stick.

She then lined up to get her collar off, but then she felt a small hint of happiness. She turned to see Keiko and Ter talking amongst themselves. The Fairy Child stepped a little closer to them to hear a bit of their conversation as she smiled warmly for the first time here. "And I'm so overjoyed you still see me as your daughter." She said as she inserted her own remark. She was about to say more but then heard Lykas and Odd fighting. "H-Hold on time out!" She shouted as she got between them. Both had good points. We can't mess up if we were going to run. We'd be risking way too much. But we also need to stand up for ourselves in our own way. She heard the concern from both parties as Ter and Keiko commented on the fighting as well. That's when she noticed some others not wanting to take off their collars.

The Fairy Child was on the fence on whether to take hers off or not. After a few minutes she thought of something. "Can I suggest something?" She spoke up so others could hear. "We are on the run. But we aren't going to have a base of operation. And by running, SWIPE will probably be on higher guard of those left in HQ. Knowing we'll probably try and break them free." She said as she unlocked her collar. As it dropped on the floor, she adjusted her shoulders. "I can find a spot for the rest of Snagem in the Fairy Realm where the effects of the realm will be little to almost none." She said looking at Sub, remembering how everyone acted the last time they were all there.

"Why not bring them into the Fairy Realm?" She suggested. "There's no way to get there other than trying to find a portal. Which, is literally finding a needle in a haystack. And with them being young and innocent. They won't be affected by the Fairy energy there." She said as she looked at Odd who had his Artifact out. "Odd I know you are scared for their safety. I am too. But there's a right way and a wrong way. I hear you. I have no doubt in my mind Rala can take care of my new sisters. But it's that small hint of 'what-if'." She said calmly. "We can't fight amongst each other. We need to reserve our energy for the real problems...But if you need to take your anger out. Let it be me." She said as the Fairy Child just stood there. Not having any fighting stance, or taking out her Artifact.

Sub would stand there as everyone began to talk, be it about relief that they were going to be free, doubt on whether or not Sub himself was truthful or panicking over what was to become of their children. He only gave the 'evidence' a curious glance before quickly dismissing it as false, much of it alright inconsistent with how the events of the past truly played out, as Sol himself knew and pointed out. Letting the cacophony of voice wash over him the Dark One began to eye Mr. Stone's desk, that is something that was on top of the desk, a laptop. Some of his teammates may doubt him, no longer trust him, or at best were angry with how he went about things, may even believe they are in this situation because of him, but none of that mattered to the Snagem leader. He took on his role as leader of this time a long time ago and when he did he promised to not just protect the world from Ein and the Shadow plague but most importantly to protect his teammates, his friends, and he was not going to let anything get in the way of his duties, not even the teammates he swore to protect. He had a job to do.

His eyes darting across the room as he stood motionless the man noted where Mr. Stone and his employees were and who or what they were focused on. All the arguing and stress ranting was pulling the Devon Corporation people's focus, a perfect opportunity for the Dark One. The man would casually weave around his teammates and made his way closer to the desk, locking eyes with Tristen at one moment and giving him a wink before turning to the desk and swiping the laptop off of it, taking the device and turning his back towards the group as he stood in a corner and did something with it. Once he was done he shut the thing and gently placed it back on the desk without a word. What was that about?

With that done Sub turned back to the group and grumbled softly to himself before finally speaking up, clapping his hands to get their attention. "Hey! Calm down! All of you!" He shouted, unafraid of being heard by those outside, as Mully and Mr. Stone pointed out that wasn't exactly possible. "We will have all the time in the world to fight and argue after we get out of here and get somewhere safe, okay? Right now Mr. Stone just gave us an opportunity to reclaim our freedom and possibly, maybe, clear our names. Yes, the evidence looks pretty clear cut, I admit, but I promise none of that is true. I don't know how they fabricated it but they did, however that is not what's important right now. What is important is we get out of here, now. And to you who think there is an option to not escape with the rest of us, to turn yourself into SWIPE and take your chances, you have no such choice." Sub declared, turning to Mr. Stone who. "Unlock Amber's collar and anyone else that still has theirs on, please." He said to Mr. Stone.

"If any of you were to stay behind to remain in SWIPE's custody while the rest of us made a run for it would only put us in danger, if you're willing to surrender to SWIPE, for whatever reason, you can no longer be trusted not to stab us in the back and cooperate with SWIPE against us. Whether you like it or not at this point we are all in this together. Do you think for a second SWIPE and Looker would have done all this if they didn't think they could hang each and every one of us? If you think they have no evidence on you, that you aren't involved because these events took place in the past before you joined up, then you're sorely mistaken. You are all accomplices. I've said it before as a motivator but now I'm saying it as a slap back to reality for some of you; this is Team Snagem, we are Team Snagem. And it's not just me saying this, forcing this classification on you, SWIPE has, the world has. So start acting like a Snagem, right now. You are all going to be free like a Snagem whether you like it or not." Sub declared rather bluntly to his teammates. He wasn't consciously doing it but a wave of unseen Dark energy would wash over the room coming from Sub, mild but oppressive in nature, the draining nature of it somewhat sapping away feelings of resistance. Was he unknowingly Channeling again? Without an artifact?

"Blizzard, I like your thinking, take as many of the collars as you need. Cera, I like your offer, you're going to tail behind the group as we moved to keep a mental eye out for anything. As for where we're going I already have a plan for that. The Fairy Realm would be a good place but right now we don't have the luxury of finding one of those fickle entrances nor can we find a way to Kalos to go through the one permanent entrance. Any of Ein's labs are not just too dangerous as we learned his experiments have a way of surviving without their master but I have no doubt since we've seen tech escaping those places lately that most of, if not all of them, have been found. So with that said we are going to here GRAY is, where Tristen just came from; Trainer Hill." The man informed them.

"Some time ago I sent several of you to sabotage a Shadow Pokemon smuggling ring that was set up in the abandoned Trainer Hill building and thanks to your efforts the ring was destabilized and the entire racket brought down by the Hoenn authorities, Trainer Hill officially repossessed by the Hoenn government. It would later be bought by a private investor by a good friend of the team, someone some of you have been acquainted with; the Trick Master. Officially it's suppose to become the site of his new Trick House, unofficially it is one of our panic bases, the Trick Master holding ownership of it to keep away any prying eyes. Not that anyone would care to mess with that seemingly old rundown building, the public long since lost interest in Trainer Hill once the Battle Frontier was built. So that is to say there is no better place to hide in plain sight and it's conveniently nearby." The man continued to explain. "Also, as a reminder, you all now know where we're going, even more reason as to why we must all go together. We can talk, or yell, more when we get to Trainer Hill. Heck, might even let some of you throw a few punches at me if it helps." He said, cracking a light joke as he understood how frustrating this all was for some.

"So this is the plan, we're going to all run out the back, together, and head east out of Rustboro towards the Rusturf Tunnel. We'll go through the tunnel into Verdanturf Town then from there into Mauville City and from Mauville north to Trainer Hill on Route 111." The man said, lining out the path they would take. He would then look to a clock on the wall, noting the time before turning his gaze back to Mr. Stone. "You may want to give your employees the rest of the day off, it's about to get messy around here."

Eventually Sub would get everyone gathered at the back door that Mr. Stone had led them to, any stragglers nudged along by Darts. "Alright, I want to remind all of you that we must travel on foot. Their mobile teleportation scramblers have us in range, flying will just make any one of us an easy target, and Crystal or Darts I don't think now is a good time to take an inter-dimensional gamble. If you have any ride-able Pokemon on you use that. Unfortunately they made me deposit all my Pokemon...well, except one...either way thankfully I got the last laugh on that. SWIPE will no doubt see us exit and scramble to give chase but don't worry, I got us all covered. All you guys need to do is run for the tunnel as fast you can and don't look back. Cera will follow behind you guys to keep watch and I'll lag behind to slow them down for you, I'll catch up later. Now..." Sub said as he pressed the key card Mr. Stone had given him on the panel next to the sliding door, said door them promptly opening to reveal the outside behind Devon Corp. HQ. "GO!"

"My choice to stay is mine alone," Amber said, and Brian was about to agree when Sub spoke. Both of them let out an audible growl as Sub basically said that anyone who stayed behind would be, in effect, traitors to Snagem. How the heck could he say that when he knew damn good and well everyone there would lay down their lives if it came to it? Amber would have given the Snagem leader a piece of her mind right then and there, but Brian's hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked at him to see him shaking his head, and she scowled as she allowed Mr. Stone to remove her collar. Amber remembered Trainer Hill; it was where she'd gotten Sander. Hearing Sub's jab that he might let some of them throw a few punches made Amber sigh. Hitting people wouldn't do any good.

As they all gathered around the back door, Rachel rolled a Pokeball in her hands. This would be her best shot to get out of here with the rest. She could see Brian doing a few standing stretches, while Amber just stood there impassively. She couldn't tell what either of her friends were thinking; neither were exactly open to sharing their thoughts. The look of determination in both their eyes was enough to let her know that Sub's words had gotten through to them, and as the door slid open, Sub shouting at them to go, she threw her Pokeball in the air, revealing Clint, her Skiddo. "Let's go, Clint!" she said, the Grass-type waiting until she was on his back before taking off at a run after the rest of the group. For their parts, Amber phased out of visibility as soon as they were outside, and Brian just took off at a dead sprint.

Reno had been quietly focusing on the evidence that Mr Stone had provided them, currently locked in a debate. Not over whether or not it was true, he wasn't foolish enough to believe somehow that Sub and Sol had faked the visceral levels of detestation between them and Ein. It was a debate over how precisely this evidence had been manufactured. Unless there had been a ton of mental manipulation for everyone from all of SWIPE down to Stone's insider, this wouldn't be some editing and photo manipulation to create something that looked half okay. Time travel seemed like a possible solution, what with the currently alive dead-man in the room, but that didn't pass the sniff test either. Falsifying a few of the people using Pokemon or hybrids like a Zoroark would be possible and seemed like a likely answer given the fact that Sol was a hybrid at a time when he wasn't by his own words. But that still left a lot of gaps, including somehow managing to get facsimiles for Ein and S-22 or, if this was time travel, actually getting Ein to cooperate on a plan he wasn't the lead on.

Before he could continue further down the rabbit hole, Lykas and Odd's little tiff would catch Reno's attention. Shooting a glance over to Leslie, he would give a slow head motion towards Lykas as he began to look ready to bolt for the elevator. Slowly, they both begin to prepare and ready to dive towards the man if he made any motion towards the thing. Thankfully, with a little interruption from the rest of the group and Sub, it would manage to resolve peacefully. Although, once again, Sub would somehow be managing to channel without an artifact again. While the last time, it had been a panic over the fact it happened at all, Reno wouldn't be having any additional reactions to the slight sensation of Dark energy creeping over him. While there was some room to be having an ethical debate over the whole minor manipulation of people via channeling thing, right when they were about to have to run for their lives was not the time for it.

Grabbing out a pair of Pokeballs, Reno would crack them open to reveal Nalu and Harleen, the Wynaut currently setting herself up to ride along on the Alolan Riachu's tail. Popping himself up into the air and giving a few test pushes with his legs, Reno looked towards the sliding door and prepared for the rush that was about to hit. Looking around, he would see Leslie opening up a Pokeball and settling herself on top of her Onix, Beau and Aria quickly joining her on top of the giant rock snake as their best methods of transport were all fliers and that was just asking for problems if attempted right off the hop. Looking back towards Sub, he would hear the fact he only had a single Pokemon on him and slowly, a few gears would begin to turn as he contemplated what exactly that meant. Did Sub somehow manage to sneak Registeel onto him and was about to use that to throw down with the SWIPE members? But that didn't make sense, it didn't seem like that would have enough punch for this situation. Did they still have Deoxys somehow tucked away? But when would Sub have had time to grab the thing? Did he do it before they went to Boyleland? If so, maybe that weird cobbled together ball slipped past as not a Pokeball to SWIPE's eyes? And....

Before he could continue thinking, the doors would slide open and Reno would give a smile before immediately pumping his legs full of chi and rocketing out of the gate with a burst of psychic force. Following close behind would be a subway train-sized Onix, hauling along Leslie and anyone else who needed a ride and wanted to hop on.

Before I could get any answer, I looked over, Sub speaking up. I winced a little, staring in confusion. A pressure that built up in the room. It was only for a brief moment, but it certainly got my attention. A weird sensation that came up from Sub that I didn’t quite understand. Like he was trying to channel something, but with no catalyst, never mind any Pokémon by his side. While it was enough to maybe make some people cow without them realizing it, to me on the other hand only gave a feeling of foreboding. Like it hearkened to something to come. I didn’t need any convincing to go along with this, but it hearkened to things of missions past. Just one more to the pile I needed to start making questions over when we finally get out of this. Sub gave me the go ahead to take some of the collars, but without any means to hide any transmission signal, rather being tracked or being listened to, I didn’t want to take the risk. Never mind the fact that there was still the issue of a remote kill switch, which we would have needed to figure out how to disable as well. I had to admit it would have been nice to try some of what I had in mind, but frankly, given everything, I wasn’t going to get the time of day, and I didn’t want to assume we were going to have much at this aptly called ‘panic base’ that Sub arranged. I would ultimately end up deciding to leave the collars for Devon to take or, for that matter, SWIPE to find. Speaking of the base…

“Wait, you came in all the way from Route 111?” Freth asked Tristen.

“Yea, I was confused as to where I was at first. Didn’t recognize anything at all other than GRAY. GRAY told me everything that happened and told me to try to make arrangements with Mr. Stone to get you guys out of the headquarters.” He said. “I kinda hope everything is going alright back in Paldea though; I left without saying anything to anyone. You and Blizz were the last ones that I saw before I activated Phobos and got warped off to Trainer Hill.”

“Still though…we got to cross half the region with SWIPE more than likely hot on our heels all the way there. It’d take a few hours on foot just to get there if we try to stay as covered as we can. It’d probably be closer to night fall by the time we get there. Even going all out. Never mind having to stop for at least a minute to catch our breath and recover. Not like we can use Agility forever either, never mind some Pokémon not going to keep running like that either.” Freth said. “Ugh, this really is just like when we all got together.”

“Don’t remind me. Though if we can make it to the cavern system on the way to Verdenturf, I think we might be able to lose them by bottlenecking them.” I said.

“Provided they don’t have anyone waiting on the other side for us.” Freth commented.

“But, why is Sub the one staying behind?” Tristen then asked.

“Because he’s the primary target. He’s the one they want most of all. This all is centered around him for some reason; reasons that we are going to have to figure out as soon as we are free.” I said to him. “Who do you have on you? By chance you got Zebstrika?” I asked him.

“Yea, I do.” Tristen said.

“Then when we get out, get Zebstrika out and book it. We’ll be behind you.” I said to him.

“What, you two aren’t staying to fight too, are you?” Tristen asked.

“What, are you kidding? No. It’s not going to be like we’d be able to keep up with Zebstrika easily.” I said to him. “Everyone is moving out. Come on. Mr. Stone, I swear I will be back to make up for this.” I told him as I walked backwards a few steps then turned around to continue moving forward.

The three of us followed the rest of the Snagems out. Tristen quickly tossed out a Pokeball and in a flash out came his Zebstrika. Tristen quickly hopped on his back and hung on tight. “Alright, Zebstrika, east. Go.” He said. The electric Pokémon reared back and quickly darted off down the streets, his hooves as it struck pavement, small sparks of electricity flew up. Freth quickly gave chase, hovering off the ground and darting forward with her psychic power, and me close by her, on foot in a hard sprint. We needed to leave. Now.

The trio would turn towards Sub when he clapped and started his rousing speech. What he'd go on to say wouldn't be anything new to Sol or Cera. They had the years of history and trials by fire to know all of this, and it was safe to say if they had dirt on the team's bigger names, they had it on everyone else one way or another, no matter how much of it wasn't lining up and convincingly fabricated. What apprehension Amaranth had would seemingly fade as Sub continued, unaware of anything happening to guide that along, while Cera would pick up on it pretty quickly. It felt awfully familiar to her, remembering a similar feeling right before she fought Shadow Mewtwo and when she and Sub channeled on the rocket. She found herself looking at him, the influence doing nothing about the questions coming to her now. But how would she even ask them without upsetting her friend or sowing even more doubts and concerns from everyone else? How was he even doing this, if it was him? This feeling would fade in turn, seeing her cow and opt to worry about it later.

Sol had a normal amount of resistance relative to the situation, noticing Blizzard's hesitance about the collars. He couldn't blame him with how little they knew about them personally, they were a high risk even with their potential. "Mr. Stone, you have our thanks. We'll do everything we can to prove your trust hasn't been displaced. I'm not sure what to suggest with the collars if we aren't taking them after all, but if you find some use for them that could help us in turn, we'd be all the more grateful."

They'd follow along to the back way out that Mr. Stone led them to, Sol taking a breath.

"We all ready?"

Amaranth gave a nod, a ball in hand. "Yeah. Swift's the only one that isn't really a flier and I can ride, but he's my fastest on the ground."

"Yeah, I'll be staying lower to the ground. As long as I'm not too high up, I should be alright. I just hope the others are alright..."

"We'll worry about them once we ourselves are safe. Those that have something to ride, make tracks. We'll catch up when we can. And Cera? Here." As he'd take a Fast Ball in one hand, another would pull a Beast Ball out of a pocket to hand to her. "Don't know how much Buzzwole will be at ease around you compared to me, but if you get in a tight spot before we make it to Trainer Hill, don't hesitate to open that ball. We're already past the point of discretion with SWIPE."

"Er..." Cera couldn't say she was terribly confident being handed a ball containing someone that might not listen to her and lash out. Even if the few times she'd seen Buzzwole herself had seen them being fairly chill. But she couldn't complain to have some sort of backup if she really needed it. "Right. I'll keep them safe."

Right after that was when Sub opened the door, with Amaranth bolting out and sending out her Dodrio to make a mad dash eastward. Sol would otherwise make a move to help lead the charge amongst those running on foot, giving a first line of defense as more of the Snagems poured out. Cera would start trying to get her mind to sync with the others' more, trying to keep a sense out for anyone or anything nearby. Once it came down to her and Sub being the only two still yet to run, she'd clutch the Beast Ball entrusted to her and start outside. "Right... now we go. I'll keep an eye on whatever I can!"

She'd float outside after her mental broadcast, keeping around the others' eye level to stick out less. Even for bringing up the rear, she wasted no time in getting as much distance as she could, knowing she couldn't afford to slow down if she could help it.

Ulla sighed of relief when Sub finally spoke up. She was glad he could get everyone on his side, but. Something seem...odd. For a moment, she thought Sub was channeling during his speech. But, he has no artifact. Right? While he was explaining their escape plan, the Fairy Child rummaged through her bag to look at her Pokeballs that she had with her. "No flying so not Togekiss or Dragonair...Lycanroc could probably do...but we haven't tried how it will be now with my new form..." She said to herself as she had no choice but to run. She could channel, but that might single her out. That's when Ulla heard Ter's voice asking if she needed a ride. She looked at his Talonflame a bit concerned. "But Sub said-" Before she could get a word in, the back doors opened as everyone started rushing out. A bit startled when Sub yelled.

"GO!"

Ulla watched as everyone started running out or riding their own Pokemon. She looked at Ter and nodded. "If you don't mind. I'll cover our rear." She said as she hopped on Talonflame and held on to Ter's back.

The Snagems took off from Devon Corporation headquarters, heading through the parking garage and out into the street behind the building. There were no SWIPE members waiting for them behind here however the moment they went past the corner of the building they would be immediately spotted, a cacophony of voices calling out followed by the sound of sirens turned on, blaring into the late evening sky. "They're escaping!" "Get them!" "Stop them!" were some of the words they heard being shouted at them. The chase was on.

Keiko would prove to be one of the fastest, speeding ahead of the group with her Agility. Her husband and Ulla soared not far behind her in the sky on the back of Terashi's Talonflame who was also using Agility, the bird quickly catching up to her, only lagging due to the delay in take off. It was their proximity however that would allow Keiko to witness something horrifying.



Shortly after Talonflame overtook Keiko, the woman able to look up and see them in the air ahead of her at this point, the air would become static-y and Keiko's fur would stand on end, a single second of a warning of what was about to happen. A pillar of electricity would come crashing down from the heavens right above Terashi and Ulla on the back of the Talonflame, engulfing all three of them in a merciless Thunder attack, the boom of the Thunder following shortly after while Terashi, Ulla and Talonflame fell to the ground in front of Keiko. Posted on top of Devon Corporation's building was none other than Kess, her hand crackling with electricity after summoning that Thunder attack. She'd make a mental note to thank that flying Snagem later, she would have never spotted the group fleeing so quickly had one of them not flew right through her line of vision like that.

As soon as the Thunder came crashing down Tristen, on the back of his Zebstrika, would come running up, just in time to see Terashi and Ulla hit the ground. In this moment he wouldn't know who just delivered that attack, only seeing its aftermath. The boy could help them or keep running. One thing was certain though, if he had been a little faster, or Talonflame slower, his or Zebstrika's ability would have drawn in that Thunder, lucky for Kess they weren't.

Amaranth, Reno and Deo followed up shortly after, Terashi and Ulla still reeling from that hit as they came upon them. Again they could keep going or help, however danger was about to finally show up as the Zapdos hybrid landed on the ground several yards behind them, crackling with electricity as she prepared another attack.

From behind Kess came the three other avian hybrids, close together, Freth, Blizzard, and Sol seeing Kess reaching her hand out towards Amaranth, Reno and Deo as she began to charge up a Thunderbolt. They had to stop her before another comrade got zapped.

Further behind were the others who would unfortunately be confronted by members of SWIPE earlier than expected thanks to their early spotting, most of them getting barely a block away before vehicles came peeling around the corner in pursuit, their sirens blaring. Several Magnemite clinging to sides of the vehicles by their magnets would fire off volleys of Flash Cannons, orbs of Steel energy whizzing through the air and threatening to strike Aile on Ursaluna, Rachel on Skiddo, and the trio on Onix.

Crystal, Brian and Monique would be the furthest behind, in range of Darts and Ogerpon's sight. SWIPE grunts on foot and some on the backs of Rapidash, Espathra and Stantler. They would attempt to charge up to them, the fire horses firing off Fire Spins to attempt ensnaring them in a fiery vortex while the deer and birds took a different approach in trying to get in range to cast a Hypnosis.

Amber was unseen, for now.

[Escape from Rustboro City and onto Route 116! SWIPE agents are in pursuit in vehicles, on the backs of Rapidash and Stantler, and on foot. Evade their assaults however you can. They will use any of the following Pokemon to stop you; Rapidash, Stantler, Magnemite, Magneton, Arcanine, Herdier, Stoutland, Elektrike, Manetric, Gumshoos, Luxio, Luxray, Inkay, Mabosstiff, Houndour, Houndoom, Espathra, Araquanid, Sigilyph, Granbull, Golurk, Braviary, Donphan, Lycanroc (any), Spidops, Octillery, Whirlipede, Pyroar (any) Watchog, Sandslash, A-Sandslash, Electrode, Starmie, Tauros, P-Tauros (any) and Furfrou. Write out your fight or struggle to get to Route 116. You may snag a Pokemon, provided you can think of a logical scenario that wouldn't slow your character down.]