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Lykas glanced up, spotting the incoming arial strike team and sighed. “Of course they’d come at us from the air… We’re giant targets if we try to get airborne as long as Kess is around so they’ll absolutely use that to cme at us from all angles.” The sun was beginning to set as most of the Snagems escaped the city limits and crossed onto the softer earthen path of Route 116. For a moment, he thought just maybe that would play in their favor. Out here in the wilds, maybe they could duck into the tall grass and use that to disappear under cover of darkness? And then the arial squadron released their Sigilyph and began to lay practically invisible traps all around them. Which proved immediately effective as Keiko slammed into one of them at full speed and was instantly knocked senseless for entirely too long.

“That’s no good…” He remarked to himself as he sparked a large Will-o-Wisp to life in his hands, using it’s light to help create reflections on the walls of barely-visible hard light. ‘Any chance you know how to use Brick Break?” He’d asked Sphynx. The large lynx mewled at him, irritated by the question and shaking her head. However, in response, she would let out a small roar and manifest a massive set of fangs out of pink energy before her. As she neared each wall that lay in her way, she would close that massive fangs upon it and shatter the Refect into countless shards with a violent crashing sound, like windows being blown out of a skyscraper. “Oh… Psychic Fangs works, too.” Lykas remarked with a small laugh, He wouldn’t stop or slow down at first but the moment he was sure they had made it out of the thickest threat of the walls, he’d pull his hoverboard out and, standing up on Sphynx’s back, he’d toss it out and take a flying leap onto it, wobbling precariously at these high speeds for a moment. “Discharge! Take down as many of those crazy birds as possible!” He’d direct Sphynx. She nodded and unleashed a massive, wild explosion of lightning bolts aimed skyward without stopping her floating run. There was no direct aim involved in this. She was merely blasting away and hoping for the best.

Unfortunately for him, in the process of continuing the mad dash while also attacking, he’d get caught up in one of the Whirlwinds, spun around wildly before being slammed, bodily and spine-first, into a wall of Reflect that had yet to be shattered. And then his hoverboard met his stomach, nose-first. “Gah!” The hybrid gasped, momentarily unable to breath as his diaphragm was crushed by the weight of the hoverboard thrown into his gut. The moment Sphynx stopped discharging electricity she’d race over to him, grabbing the back of his shirt in her teeth and picking him up, leaving his hoverboard behind. The machine didn’t matter right now.

Odd would find himself having a hard time holding onto Musette as she ran, beginning to take jumping dashed away from a variety of Electrode as they began to roll out of the forest in front of them, seemingly trying to get in the way and blow up on them.The Stantler had no choice but to leap over the third or fourth one that rolled into her path, it’s appearance so sudden in the encroaching darkness that she had failed to see it coming until it was too late. Odd was fully prepared to be blown away but, rather than a sudden explosion, he felt a sudden pulse of energy wash over him that made him feel “off”. “Two can play that game.” He noted as he grabbed a Ball off his belt and tossed it out. “Use Bonemarang!” He instructed Remix as the Alolan Marowak appeared. “Hit as many of them as you can, even if you have to use it more than once.”

Musette continued to run as Remx threw his bone and began to follow. As the Bonemarang flew, the usually green flames on it turned bright azure sa Odd’s energy began to influence it. Every one of the Pokemon struck would find they now bore a mark on their face similar to Remix’s as Odd’s Soul Schism attempted to force their body and soul to separate a bit.

“Hey!” The Channeler yelped as several Magneton appeared, the nearest one seemingly grabbing him, somehow, and pulling him toward it. “Bone Rush!” He called out to Remix, pointing at the Magneton as he grabbed his Artifact. Remix dashed toward Magneton, proceeding to try and wail on the magnet Pokemon with his bone, the flames turned blue once again. While floating in the air, Odd spun himself around as he channeled energy through his artifact, the crescent blade suddenly growing larger and glowing black as he tapped into his connection to Fermata. “Use Spirit Shackle!” He directed the Decidueye, who he’d just noticed was also floating, at was Musette. They’d all been magnetized, it looked like. As Fermata targeted the Magneton with his shadow-piercing arrow, Odd borrowed a smidge of that energy and pulled back a “string” of shadow from his artifact’s blade before releasing a massive barrage of tiny shards of shadow-like energy via his Infernal Fusilade, aiming to strike any and every Pokemon he and Remix had marked at this point. This wouldn’t have as lasting an effect as Fermata’s Spirit Shackle, especially under normal circumstances, but it could hit many foes rather than one and those afflicted by Soul Schism would find the tiny shards hurt far more than they should. With any luck, just maybe they could put an end to this magnetic polarity by knocking out the Pokemon that did it to them. If not, maybe between Fermata and Remix attacking the Magneton that seemed to have grabbed them, they could free themselves from that thing’s grasp.

Regardless of whether they succeeded in their attempts to put down their direct pursuers, both hybrid and Channeler would find themselves looking back toward the city as a vehicle came flying through the air toward Route 116. “What the actual ~/~?!” Lykas gasped out, barely conscious and barely breathing as his Luxray continued to carry him by the back of his shirt. As the vehicle crashed into the ground it began flipping over and rapidly tumbled itself into a pile of scrap metal.

“I repeat what I told Looker… I don’t recommend working with homunculi.” Odd remarked to himself as he recalled Remix and Fermata, replacing them with Cadenza as he attempted to create a Guardian Halo around WHiTE. As far from the strange entity as he was, though? There was a fairly high chance it wouldn’t reach. And if WHITE truly was a homunculus, there was no way of knowing if it would be capable of containing him anyway since it relied on the presence of a soul to contain or repel things.

Provided everything worked out for them and WHITE was stopped, at least for a moment, the two would resume their mad dash toward Rusturf Tunnel. ~What are the chances collapsing the tunnel will slow them down?~ Lykas thought to himself as he neared it. With the resources at their disposal, he was almost certain it would do no good but he was also not willing to rule out any chance at making their escape work out better before considering it.

Brian and Rachel, both still riding on their chosen Pokemon, saw the Electrode approaching and knew they were in trouble. Rachel signaled to Brian, who gave a nod and patted his mount's neck. "Can ye use Bounce?" he asked. Instead of giving a nod or anything to answer, the Fire-type gathered its legs under it, leaping high into the air as it utilized the attack. Brian hung on as Rapidash landed, well away from the Electrode and what he now recognized as an Eerie Impulse attack. Oh, that wasn't going to end well for anyone caught in the area. He locked eyes with Rachel for a split second, seeing her nod, and returned the gesture. "Use Overheat on the Magneton, please!" he said, as the Fire-type turned abruptly and released the white hot stream of fire in a sweeping motion. Hopefully this would stop the Steel/Electric-types from being able to use their magnetism, and Brian patted the Rapidash's neck again as the Fire-type turned and bolted in the direction they'd originally been going.

Rachel watched Brian leap over the encroaching Electrode, and she could hear the buzzing of Magneton behind her. Oh, heck no, she wasn't going out that way. "Clint, use Bulldoze directly in front of us!" she said, as the Skiddo slammed his front hooves onto the ground in order to stop the Electrode from utilizing whatever attack they were getting ready to unleash. Rachel's lap dragon jumped to the ground and immediately jumped in on the fun, Sand Tombing as many of the Electrode as possible, despite the drain he felt from the Eerie Impulse. All three felt the heat of the Overheat as it flew overhead, aiming for the Magneton pursuing them. Sonic decided to help out with the Magneton, aiming a Mud Shot sweep at any that evaded the Overheat.

Amber, seeing WHITE targeting Crystal, debated stopping to help. After a few seconds, however, she realized that with both Monique and Abby there, she wasn't going to be of much aid, so she chose to keep going. She didn't like leaving her teammates behind, but at the same time, right now, it was every Snagem for themselves, in a way. Besides, why draw attention to herself when it wasn't necessary to do so? Better to leave the fighting to those who could actually do so.

Tsuki was not going to have any time to spare with the SWIPE vehicle thrown their way, his own immediate problem being the six foot tall hulking menace that was Agent WHITE’s Type: Null slamming into his Cofagrigus with a Shadow Claw. Coffee groaned in pain, already softened up by taking several Zen Headbutts and Rollouts from the previous battle. He could have backed out of the way, tried to throw the enemy off, but any quick movements might have likewise sent his human flying off of him. “Ack!” Tsuki yelped in tandem as he, Coffee, and Snapdragon slid once the ghost type fell unconscious from the Shadow Claw slashing through the ghostly arms and stopped their run dead in their tracks. His gaze looked around as he held onto Snapdragon for dear life. Cars being thrown, Agents at every heel, a battle of legendary avians, a strange looking Pokemon at his throat, there was even a Mega Steelix off in the distance.

Crouching, Tsuki looked at the beast. “You’re that jerk’s Pokemon, right? Time for some payback then. Baja!” he yelled, leaping behind and off of his Pokemon into a roll before returning the both of them. Coffee was down for the count, Snapdragon wasn’t fully trained, and their trainer was falling behind. He had worked really hard to be able to not get left behind and he was NOT going to make all of that effort go to waste. The trainer unlatched the Pokeball he had reached for earlier and swung it in front of him as he ran to unleash the Blastoise from it. The Shellfish Pokemon let out a roar and likewise ran to keep in front of his trainer, acting like a shield from the chimera Pokemon that had set its sights on him

Gurkinn got out of his chair, left his tea, and began to examine the trainer and Pokemon beside him. "Tell me, how did the both of you meet?" he asked, walking up to the starter Pokemon.

"I... he was a gift, actually. When I first joined Team Snagem, I only had one Pokemon and my friend Sub said he didn't think I'd be safe with just her. So he gave me Baja and he's always had my back since." Tsuki answered, looking at the Blastoise with a grin. The Pokemon rubbed his head, embarrassed but happy.

"Hm. Your friend came here once as well, it's good to see he's the reason you're here now." Gurkinn said back as he pat Baja with a nod.

Tsuki looked at the back of his Pokemon and thought about something for a moment. He had been a really big idiot to doubt Sub before. But the time for second guessing things was over; he brought a hand up to the earring he had hidden under his shaggy red hair and brought his fingertips to the Key Stone gem attached to it.

“Baja, Mega Evolve and use Water Pulse!” he yelled, feeling the connection between him and his Pokemon almost materialize the way he felt with his channeling partner. Similar to his trainer, Baja grabbed at the Mega Stone he wore as a necklace and charged water chi within him whilst a cocoon of energy formed around him, cracked, and exploded into shattered pieces with a Mega Blastoise coming out of it. Instead of two cannons at his back, now rested one massive cannon and on each arm rested one about the size as his two previous shoulder mounted cannons.

“Blaaaaast.” Was what Baja would say to the Type: Null before firing off a barrage of Water Pulses at it while charging, each firing independently of the other cannons.

Reno watched as the others ahead of him started to gain a lead, staring off after the quintet as he debated the virtues of seeing if he had his Alakazam on him to turn this propulsion up to the next gear. As beneficial as it might be to throw himself forward as fast as he could, maintaining a strong distribution of stronger Snagems across the length of their mad scramble would likely be of greater benefit. Especially since they were successfully doing the one thing he had expected to be most valuable: drawing attention to the chase away from Devon Corp and Sub.

The stampede that emerged to try and derail their dash was certainly a unique one, Electrodes rolling across their trail from the forest. Getting bogged down in a fight wasnt something they could waste time on, so Reno would focus his psychic force on the bottoms of his feet, turning from the smooth propulsion of the skating he had been doing into a singularly powerful jump that sent him into the branches of the nearby trees. And while he could see a few stray volts trying to jump across the air space towards him, it would barely manage to even make his leg tingle.

Feeling a slight hitch in his propulsion, he would cast a wary eye towards where he knew Nalu to be and saw that strange jolts of electricity had a more pronounced effect on the Raichu. While they weren't causing any damage, it was clear that some of his spirit had been sapped. And then Reno felt his leg begin to try and rise its way past him to the sky. To the Magneton he could see had joined in the strange stampede. So that was the game, stymie their speed and make sure they had enough electricity on them to make them magnetic. Scrambling towards his Pokeballs as he fought to keep his leg from dragging him up into the awaiting Electric types, he could see that Nalu and Harleen were already beginning to lose their speed as contact with the ground became less of a concern.

And then, just as a plan was beginning to form for Reno, a Mega Steelix would usurp the entire direction of polarity.

Feeling his leg being dragged towards Aile and her Steelix, the stray thoughts he could pick up from his fellow amputee told him that now was a great time to give Nalu a break. Cracking open the Raichu's Pokeball, Reno would look to Harleen as she was now stuck to one of the orbiting pieces of metal he could see around the Steelix. Giving a slight shrug as he returned Nalu's ball to a waiting position for after the Earthquake, he would let his magnetized leg keep him anchored upright on the Steelix's body. Giving a smile, his right hand would begin to glow before he pointed his finger towards one of the less affected Magneton. "Bang." Reno said, the glow quickly concentrating into a small ball at the tip of his index finger before firing itself into the Steel type Pokemon. He would be on point with aiming towards any of the Magneton lable to attempt to usurp control over their little induced magnetism, firing off volleys of Charge Counter bullets towards them as he began to tap into the well of energy that had been building from the last few days of pain and torment courtesy of SWIPE.

"Hell of a ride you got here, Aile. Hope you don't mind me hitching a ride for a moment?" Reno said to his fellow rider, flashing a smile to her as he continued to make a show of himself firing away at the Magneton that still ahd enough spirit to keep following after the Earthquake.

-------

"WHO THROWS A CAR!?!" Leslie bellowed in bewilderment as the SWIPE SUV that their trio had spent so much effort in disabling and driving off was now being used as a projectile. But her exasperation wasn't over the thing being thrown at them, no it was over the fact that it was thrown at all. A vehicle that was being driven at full speed could hit for WAY more damage than simply throwing the thing like a boulder.

Leslie's personal gripe towards the thrown car was not shared by her two companions, as both Beau and Aria would screaming in fear at the rapidly closing giant projectile. Beau would join Hestia in throwing more of the olive Seed Bombs at the SUV in an effort to cut down the thing's momentum, a few bursts of Powder getting on the ones Beau was throwing as his panic made for a few inadvertent bursts of Powder. Aria would be doing her own best efforts, having her Carbink continue to conjure and refine a Reflect wall to soften the blow while her Pangoro stood still and focused on the SUV, preparing to swing as it came into range.

"Go faster!" Leslie shouted, scrambling her way down her Onix's body to stand beside Sogetsu the Pangoro to try and swat as much force out of their doom as they could. And as it slammed into and crashed through the Reflect wall, Sogetsu would meet the thing's grill with a well timed Hammer Arm while Leslie swatted at it with a less than graceful hammer swing. There would even be a tree slamming into it as Leslie and Sogetsu's clash began to falter, the SUV about to squash all of the passengers on the Onix.

Thankfully, this was just enough time for said Onix's Rock Polish to finish itself, a coating of the heavier and more jagged rocks erupting off of the Pokemon as it suddenly accelerated away from the SUV, letting the vehicle crash into the earth behind them.

Breathing a collective sigh, Leslie and Aria would turn back to see what might be coming up next.

Beau, however, found his focus on the rear as he looked towards where WHITE was attempting to take down Crystal. And as the hybrid grabbed onto the thankfully deterred SUV, Beau found his focus drawn to some flashes of color on the vehicle.

Olives.

Powder-coated olives.

And Red Baron, that glorious Fletchinder, had realized this as well. He had been flying along above after spotting the SUV about to impact their ride, but now, he was diving towards the vehicle as it was being thrown towards Agent WHITE. "Ember! Light that candle!" Beau crowed, watching as a small gout of flame popped out of the Fletchinder's beak and streaked towards the Powder-coated, olive-filled, and gasoline-loaded steel projectile that was going to slam headlong into Agent WHITE.

Oh, he had to watch exactly how this all went down.

As Sol continued running through, he'd meet Blizzard and Freth's Agility by forcing Fire energy through his legs to keep up pace with the other avians. He wouldn't be able to work the kind of speed they could, but he needed to do whatever he could to avoid being in the increasingly huge cloud of Snagems and SWIPE personnel. He kept his head down too as a few collars flew closer than he liked to see right now. "Hopefully that slows her down for a bit," he remarked, looking behind himself briefly and seeing several Electrode rolling up. What ground he had was quickly lost by them as they passed by, seeing their crackles of electricity too as Magneton held up the rear.

"Mind the Electrode!" He yelled out to those slightly ahead, certain they were going to explode at any moment. He was sure he'd see them start to glow, but he'd never see it. While he'd be spared the worst of the Eerie Impulses and magnetism, he'd slow himself down a little to funnel Fire energy back into a hand, tossing several flames out at the Magneton to give those targeted a better chance of escape. In the process, he'd see a car flying overhead too. "The hell... Cera! Any eyes on that?"

"I see it too!" Cera remarked, her body glowing with an aura of Psychic energy as she tried to push back against the car. "Can't sense who threw it, but it can't be far- ah!" She'd barely see the beams and Type: Null in time to move herself, managing to avoid Null itself and the first of the beams before the other two grazed her. A one-two punch of fire and electricity would strike her, interrupting her psychic efforts against the car and sending her tumbling in the air for a moment before righting herself. By the time she righted herself, Type: Null was already about to strike Tsuki and his Cofagrigus. "Barely... if that thing's here, WHITE's gotta be close. I can't sense them either, so be careful!"

Sol didn't get much more time to think about being ready for Agent WHITE's appearance when Kess rapidly approached him alongside Blizzard and Freth and a stop sign flew out. It was far enough from him that any stray bolts from it didn't catch him, but he also was a bit behind the other two by this point. Kess would appear in front as soon as the sign went into the ground, just as he'd managed to catch up. And, much as he'd try to slow down to avoid being caught out, she'd land a solid kick on his side, against a rib. The combined impact and electrical energy would send him to the ground with a yell, hand on the ground as he immediately tried to get to his feet.

"Gahhh! Do you know how much that hurts?" He yelled out as he got to his knees and waved his other arm. Kess had done something much worse in that moment; for her, she maybe cracked a rib, brought someone close to being recaptured. For Sol, she just hurt his pride and he couldn't allow that to stand, come hell, high water, or an entire armada of SWIPE agents. "Tu Perra! Pretty sure you cracked it too. Seriously, who kicks someone in the ribs!?" By the time he got to his feet, he'd have a hand against his side, lingering for a brief moment as the rear guard caught up.

---

Amaranth had kept going, finding herself in the lead with a few others. She'd notice as Braviary and Sigilyph swooped down at her and the others nearby, unaware of anything happening until Swift rammed right into a Reflect wall like all too many Pidgey and Starly against a recently cleaned window, throwing her off in the process and rolling against the ground. "The hell was...?" As she started getting up, she'd barely notice a shimmer from the wall her Dodrio had hit, each of the three heads angrily squawking at one another and trying to blame one of the others for failing to notice what was in front of them. "Probably a lot more of those... Ether!" She'd let her Hisuian Braviary out, before quickly motioning for him to land.

"I need you to stay close and use Defog in front of us. I think there's walls in our way. Stay low, we need to keep moving." She'd give a quick pat to Swift before getting back on, waiting for Ether to release a strong wind against the wall in front and, hopefully, more nearby ones too before having her Dodrio start running again. The Braviary would keep low thanks to a bit of psychic power, keeping as low as he could and closeby to keep using the move as needed.

Keiko wasn't feeling too well after hitting that invisible wall but thanks to her hybridism she would prove to be a bit tougher and with enough time would regain her wits and be able to keep up their flight, her husband however would not be as fortunate. Maybe it was adrenaline keeping the human going but now that Terashi a brief moment of standing still the pain and physical damage he suffered would begin to rear its head. Between getting zapped, falling out the sky, carrying Ulla and stopping the hoverboard on a dime like that Terashi would begin suffer, a lot, like he pulled something important inside him. It was easy to forget in a group with so many hybrids that as a human you were much more fleshier and physically frail.

Ulla's fairy energy empowered gale would catch the flying SWIPE grunts off guard, their Braviary attempting to course correct as the Sparkling Swirl sent them and the Sigilyph for a ride. It was in that moment of vulnerability where two other Snagems launched their attacks. The Discharge from Tristen's Zebstrika and Lykas's Luxray would manage to catch all of the bird mounted SWIPE agents and their solo flying birds, the feathered creatures and their riders falling out of the sky after suffering the shock. Not only were they dizzy thanks to Ulla now they were fried and suffering fall damage, they were not going to be feeling well when they woke up.

With the combined moves of Brick Break and Defog the Snagems would manage to clear the path ahead to Rusturf Tunnel, riding themselves of these invisible walls. Now that their conjurers were gone nothing would stop them from fleeing into the tunnel. These Snagems at the front no doubt heard the fighting behind them but they couldn't afford to stop, they needed to keep moving forward. That said, even if the others make it into the tunnel, what was to stop SWIPE from pursuing them in there too? Maybe those ahead could devise something to ensure their escape now that they had a few minutes to think.

As for those dealing with the Electrode and the Magneton abductors they would also have some success in combating this threat. Odd and Remix would manage to make some headway in combating the Electrode only to quickly realize that the Electrode were not the real threat, only a diversion plus a means to apprehend them again. With his Channeling combination Odd and his Pokemon would manage to deliver enough of a blow to the Electrode and Magneton, leaving them vulnerable to the other Snagems. Brian and Rachel would help take some out with Bulldoze and Overheat but those were too single focused attacks to take this many out quick enough, before they recovered.

Just as the Magneton regained their wits and began to float back up high into the air and were starting to magnetically draw in the Snagems again a certain Steelix appeared and revealed its true power thanks to Mega Evolution. The magnetism would be turned around on them as they got snatched away towards the iron snake, dropping any airborne Snagems, Pokemon, or objects in that moment. The Sand Force empowered from the Mega Steelix would prove absolutely devastating to all these Pokemon and instantly knocking out the Magneton and Electrode in one blow. Well, almost all of them. A single Magneton was too far away by the time Steelix used Earthquake and managed to escape the devastation. In that moment it locked its eyes on Aile and with an angry cry attempted to rush her as it began to charge up for an Explosion only for Reno to snipe it out of the sky unceremoniously, thus putting an end to the Electric type ambush squad. The sandstorm continued to blow across Route 116.

...was the ground still rumbling or was that just Aile and Reno's imagination? Felt faint, maybe just an aftershock or something? That was a pretty powerful Earthquake after all.

Further back were the Snagems facing off against Type: Null and its master, Agent WHITE. Another Mega Pokemon would be born in this fight as Mega Blastoise materialized, the Mega Pokemon promptly firing off three Water Pulse orbs one after the other at the Type: Null. The chimera Pokemon would manage to leap over one, perform a flip in mid air and Air Slash through the second one with the wind generated by its flip. Unfortunately for it it wasn't quick enough to stop the third and was blasted out of the air in a watery explosion, the mutant Pokemon falling to the ground and eating dirt.

Meanwhile Agent WHITE was dealing with his own annoyances. Taking several steps forwards Crystal as he intended to follow up his little baseball pitch Monique would command her new bovine buddy to blasted him in the head with a jet of water, Agent WHITE's head flinging to the side while his feet remained firmly planted on the ground. Slowly turning his head back around and see Monique flee Agent WHITE raised a hand and began to charge energy in it, prepared to repay Monique the favor with an attack of his own as she fled. Crystal other plans.

WHITE would dart his 'gaze' towards Crystal the moment she said 'incoming', seeing his gift being returned to him in that moment. Throwing both hands up, maybe to catch the the vehicle or something else, Agent WHITE braced himself, however even this would not go as intended. Darts came running in to scoop of Crystal while the Ogre of Oni Mountain leaped up and treated the flying vehicle like a baseball as she took a fiery swing at it, not only giving the thing more force as it was sent flying faster but also igniting some of the olives on its back side, the explosion propelling it further. But that wasn't all, Red Baron would come swooping in and just as the vehicle would make contact with WHITE the bird would ignite the rest of the Powdered olives on it causing a chain of explosions to go off. All the explosions happened so quickly that it was more like one big boom with the vehicle's fuel tank also igniting in that moment creating one massive explosion to completely engulf Agent WHITE. The shock wave generated by the explosion would be enough to send Red Baron flying back and anyone else light enough.

As the explosion went off Type: Null flipped around onto its feet and immediately turned to face the location where it went off and where its trainer once stood. Paying Mega Blastoise nor any of the Snagems not so much as a glance the Type: Null would rush towards ground zero and run straight into the resulting cloud of black smoke, disappearing into it. It was distracted, and WHITE hopefully out of commission, now was their chance to get away.

Back towards the entrance to Rusturf Tunnel where the lead Snagems already were the fight between Kess and the two Articuno hybrids would come towards them and with said fight came a storm as it began to rain down on them and eventually the rest of the route. As the rain began to fall the group could also feel the ground briefly shake violently and then stop before a small quake went off a second later. After that second quake they would begin to hear the sound of rumbling and creaking and if they looked towards the entrance of the tunnel they could see small rocks begin to roll off. The entrance was about to collapse. They had to get inside, now, but where was Sub? Not only that but Kess was still on the attack.

Back where Agent WHITE just got blown up a certain Snagem leader came rocketing down the route on a stolen SWIPE motorcycle, wiping water from the rain out of his eyes, doing his best to catch up with his teammates. He would pass the giant black cloud of smoke and give it a look, his eyes not wanting to leave the smoke even as he drove past, whatever it was gave him unease. Dismissing it he faced forward again, focusing on getting to his friends as quick as-

A beam of white energy, like a small Hyper Beam, struck the back wheel of the motorcycle causing the bike to flip forward and Sub go flying. Both bike and Sub would hit the ground tumbling, either one going in different directions. "Gah, what was that!?" Sub shouted as he stumbled to get back up, looking behind himself as he held his arm in pain. As he did he would witness stepping out of the smoke Type: Null and behind it came Agent WHITE, the man looking unscathed, a cloak of white energy surrounding them both with a thin string of the energy connecting them, all this energy disappearing within seconds. Sub's eyes would go wide as he bore witness to the man and was quick to turn around and attempt to run, however he was hurt, his flight not the quickest nor the most elegant. "Guys! Someone!" The man shouted as he tried to get away from WHITE but could any of them hear him? He was just shy of the Tunnelers' Rest House as it was, they were all ahead of him.

Type: Null began to charge up a Tri Attack, three different colored orbs of energy beginning to rotate around each other in front of it as it prepared to lob them at Sub, one after the other. The Snagem leader was a limping Ducklett stuck in the rain.

Aile gave a smirk as most of the Magneton and Electrode went down to the Earthquake, though not without some softening up. However, the fact that Kuat’s Earthquake was able to deal with most of them still made her proud. At least until she heard the furious beeping of one final floating magnet ball. She would whip around to meet it only to see Reno fingergunning it out of the sky. “Ya know? I’m pretty sure you’ve paid for your fare with that.” She’d give a grin back to Reno before turning to Kuat once more. “Nice job, Kuat. Let’s go forward and get out of here!” She’d point the Mega Steelix forward as the woman situated herself on his head, the steel snake steadily making his way forward. Hopefully, that rumbling was just nothing…

As the pair got closer, Aile frowned as the sandstorm shifted into a rainstorm, also noticing some of the rocks falling from the outside of Rusturf Tunnel. “Kuat, we need to go in, before- Kuat?” Kuat would look away from the tunnel and turn towards the rest house, grumbling and bringing his head low. Aile would jump off for a moment to tremor sense and between some of the rocks falling, she felt something do a couple of tumbles and stop. “That… Let’s be quick, Kuat. Automize and Magnet Rise!” Jumping back onto his head, the Mega Steelix would start grinding his body segments and shed some excess steel, that steel adding to the steel shards floating around his body. In addition to that, the scraps would begin to float at various parts of his body, instead of just around the first segment. Maybe Harleen might want to find a better spot to relocate now. The rotation of the segments, as it seemed smoother and smoother, would also allow it to begin to hover off the ground, affording the Mega Steelix better maneuverability as well as better speed from Automize. The now hovering metal serpent would take off, going faster now between getting a little bit lighter, as well as the metal shards helping it to hover and ignore any friction. In just a little bit, they would wind up coming across Tristen and Sub, Kuat swinging around once she motioned for him to. If he could get a good opening to, he would also attempt to slam the tip of his tail into Type: Null, wanting to swat the threat away without harming the apparent ally.

The Iron Snake Pokémon would lower his jaw into the dirt as he came around, bringing up the earth he dug into as Kuat plowed forward, doing that to bring both Sub and Tristen(if he wanted) onto his head as well. As soon as the Pokémon saw the two go into his field of view, Kuat would lift his head back up, with Aile reaching out a hand to help them onto the center portion of the Mega Steelix’s head. “All aboard! Next stop, a collapsing tunnel entrance. Kick it!” Pushing himself as fast as he could, the Steelix would keep going back towards Rusturf Tunnel, bringing his head down to Bulldoze through anything, if something or someone wanted to get in their way.

—

Crystal would be mentally cursing her situation, about to look behind her when she felt herself get scooped up, looking up to see the face of Darts once more. Why did he have to be the one to save her skin again? Why was he being the one to save her skin? Light burn her, this was getting damned embarrassing. The hybrid felt her cheeks burn as the Giratina hybrid told her that she owed him. Technically, in her head, she owed him twice now, but that could get argued over or conveniently forgotten later. Still…

Crystal would peek around Darts’ shoulder to try and see what might have happened to WHITE after everything, noticing that the pink glow around her didn’t dissipate yet, and she felt grounded, like she couldn’t access that power that would let her leave. WHITE survived that, and enough to keep that dimensional lock on her. What in the Light did he do to her? “I…” Her ears would lay back against her head, as the rain began to fall on them. “Th-thank you,” she finally said, though her eyes wouldn’t leave the direction where WHITE was last seen. “Are you sure about this, though?” She didn’t see much of his capabilities, but the fact that he could just casually lock her down to one reality, and the strength he had in that throw, those alarm bells were ringing loudly. WHITE honestly scared her a bit, which wasn’t the easiest to do.

As the last of the barriers fell, I thanked Angeal and Samurai before recalling them. I then walked up to where I left my Hoverboard, but the closer I got, the more I realized that something was wrong. I felt fine when we stopped to deal with the barriers, but having to spend some time without moving, I... felt tired? I was breathing heavily and my body felt sore in weird places. Maybe it was a result of the Thunder? Either way, I wasn't sure if I could run much farther. I also noticed that my Hoverboard was lying flat on the ground instead of hovering, so I figured I probably broke it stopping on a dime like that, but I didn't realize how bad it was until I picked it up and looked at its underside. It wasn't just damaged. It was trashed. It looked like a car wreck in a way. I almost wished I would have just let myself collide into a barrier when Keiko did, but my body protested in a unique way.

Keiko heard me coughing and rushed to my side. I didn't see any blood on my clothes or on the ground, so I thought it might have been a normal coughing fit, but Keiko's sense of smell showed her the truth. The scent was weak because it was a REALLY small amount of blood, but she could tell it wasn't normal coughing. "Terashi..." she called to me weakly, her voice rife with worry. I shook my head and showed her my ruined Hoverboard. "I don't think I can go much farther," I told her

Keiko wanted to say something, but she sensed something nearby that she at first mistook for an enemy. She could see clearly that what she sensed was coming from Lykas, though. Then she saw the smalll pile of debris close to him and an idea formed in her mind. "It's gonna be okay," she said, trying and failing to sound confident. "We should be far enough ahead that we can afford to slow down." Keiko had an idea of what Lykas was doing, and I came to the same conclusion fairly quickly. Though I couldn't help but worry, myself. Sparrow was the only Pokemon I had on my that could carry me. Samurai only recently evolved into a quadrapedal form, and would take time to acclimate to it enough to be able to carry me. Even if that wasn't the case, there was still his emotional state. I didn't think Samurai was angry at me specifically, but he simply refused to accept what had happened ot him, and would probably only get angrier if I asked him to carry me. I always assumed Sparrow would be enough if teleportation wasn't an option, and that assumption was biting me HARD right now.