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The second we shot out of the headquarters like Zubats straight out of hell, everything else effectively gone insane. SWIPE operatives were instantly alerted and scrambled to wrangle all of us in. Tristen was a good way away, already blazing a trail on the back of Zebstrika, while Freth and I could certainly try to keep up, but honestly, there was no way. Because of which, Freth and I were on the look out to avoid anyone out to challenge the two of us. Instantly, the two of us perked up, looking up towards the skies for a brief second, seeing the aftermath of Ter and Ulla, both on the back of Talonflame, taking a fall from the Thunder attack. “Really?” Freth asked outloud.

”Even Sub had the sense to say not to take to the skies. And on a Talonflame? The both of them? They didn’t have at least a Pidgeot between the two of them? You know, the bird that would excel in flying if they just had to do so?”

”No idea.” Freth replied, exasperatingly as far as internal contact was concerned.

The bolt of lightning would come down thereafter, Tristen’s natural Lightning Rod capabilities drawing the bolt down on him, as well as the Zebstrika carrying him. Tristen instantly felt invigorated, getting a hefty power boost from the lightning he absorbed, but he couldn’t relish in it, as the electrical surge also triggered something in his steed. Motor Drive. With a loud neigh, Zebstrika picked up severe speed, Tristen having to hang on tighter than he originally did initially before he flew off the back of the electric zebra. But this was precarious. Originally, he was going to go down back streets and alleyways on the back of Zebstrika, but at these speeds, this was practically impossible. He needed to go on the main roads and get on the main route to get on Route 116. He guided Zebstrika, breaking off from the others, going down the main streets full speed, taking note of some of the cars that were driving down these streets that were getting passed as if they were standing still.

Meahwhile, back at the main part of the scramble, Freth and I would notice Kess, trying to do her part in trying to take down the Snagems. It looked as if she was going to actually try to strike down another Snagem with her electrical attacks, now that Tristen was out of her grasp. “Freth!” I said.

“Yea! I see her!” Freth’s feathers around her eyes and feather tips on her wings started to light up furiously and then she reached out to lock down the Zapdos hybrid. Following up, I reached forward myself, but I instead fired a harsh Ice Beam forward for the Zapdos hybrid for her to take and blast her off and leave her hurting.

“Not as fun when you’re the one getting blindsided, huh?” I would say as Freth and I continued forward full speed ahead.

It was only a moment after he saw Keiko and Terashi streak past into the open air behind the place when the echoing boom of Thunder got Reno's ears ringing. While he had been expecting an Electric attack on the fliers, he hadn't expected Kess to be waiting to immediately launch it before he would be able to do anything for 'helping' steer the problem. Cursing as he moved towards where he could see the crashed Terashi and Ulla dueling with an Arcanine, the slight sensation he felt as electricity began to build up behind him told him all he needed to know about where exactly Kess had ended up. Spinning himself to face backwards as he kept his propulsion aimed forward, he would give a wicked smirk towards the Zapdos hybrid. "Come to party, stool pigeon!? Let's see if you can do anything besides a sucker punch!" Reno taunted, giving a mocking 'come at me' gesture with his right hand to the woman. It didn't matter if she took the bait or not, he was watching and prepared for her to fire off the Thunderbolt. Once it was fired off, he was going to seize control and direct it towards the ground next to him to neutralize it. Assuming she did actually manage it, considering he could see who was about to fall onto her for their own ambush.

Spinning back around to face forward, he would see the Luxray that Ter had left behind preparing to take off in pursuit of its prey. Looking to Nalu, he would give a nod one direction while he broke the other direction around the slowly accelerating Electric type cat. Giving a massive push that sent him flying directly towards the Luxray, Reno would watch as a blast of Psychic erupted from Nalu at the same time. Leading with his prosthetic knee, Reno would feel the impact as he slammed into the thing's head as the Psychic blast impacted the Luxray's rear quarters. The simultaneous blows would send the thing spinning out and ruin any further efforts to pursue, not to mention being a duo of heavy blows that were liable to knock it out on their own.

Resuming their forward motion, Reno would give a quick nod over to Nalu and Harleen as they keep their headlong rush going.

Aria, Beau, and Leslie would all come trailing out behind half of the crew, the Onix not being the fastest transportation but it wasn't going to be stopping for much of anything. The first volley of Flash Cannon blasts certainly put a solid effort, blindsiding the trio and sending the Onix struggling to keep on the trail that had been laid in front of it. Screaming and yelling as they did their best to keep themselves on their chosen steed, Leslie would be the first to steady herself and raise her hammer towards the pursuing vehicles. "Aria! Cover us! Beau, get me flaming ammo!" Leslie commanded, bringing her hammer back as she prepared already to start hammering projectiles towards the vehicles. Aria would already be opening two Pokeballs, looking towards her Carbink and Pangoro. "Buncle! Light Screen! Sogetsu! Arm Thrust! Weaken and intercept their attacks!" Aria commanded, watching as the screen quickly manifested itself while her Pangoro quickly set himself up just in time to start sending a flurry of precisely aimed thrusts to slam directly into the weakened Flash Cannons from the second volley.

As the few blasts of the second volley slipped through and sent Grunt shaking again, Beau would be looking to his own two Pokemon. "Hestia! Seed Bomb! Baron, Ember the olives and then we throw them towards Leslie!" Beau commanded, watching as the Arboliva would glare down towards him for a moment before beginning to pluck a few of her olives off and imbue them with energy. The first Ember would 'startle' Hestia and she would fumble the olive and 'accidentally' drop the dense and vaguely on-fire thing onto Beau's head. Shouting out an indistinct curse, Beau would scramble to grab the olive and send it towards Leslie and her waiting hammer. And she did her entire job, slamming into the thing with practiced ease and sending the flaming olive towards the windshield of the lead vehicle to detonate and either delay or completely grind the thing to a halt. After her little 'accident', the next few of the bombs would be successfully lit and thrown directly toward Leslie without having a small stop on Beau's skull, where they would be sent at high speeds with incredible accuracy towards a few of other vehicles to bathe them in exploding olives and burning olive oil. Beau looked on in awe at the barrage of munitions that he had just been witness and participant in creating, when a small question entered his mind. Where exactly had Leslie been keeping that hammer?

Brian knew he wasn't going to be at the head of the pack; he wasn't anywhere near fast enough to keep up with an Agility-based run, and while he did do his share of exercise, speed had never been one of his strong points. That was going to change once they were out of danger. A sudden heat behind him had him glancing over his shoulder, finding that a Rapidash had gotten close and tried to ensnare him with a Fire Spin, making him bank left to avoid the attack. "Don't ye know it's against the law to have yer Pokemon attack another trainer?!" he shouted, angry at this clear violation. One of the agents, riding on the back of a Rapidash that had come up next to him, let out a sudden pained yell, gripping the neck of his mount as it reared up, it's fiery mane flaring, threatening to throw him. Seeing this, Brian capitalized on the opportunity, grabbing the man's arm and pulling him from the Fire-type's back.

Feeling the weight disappear, the Rapidash settled on all fours and glanced at Brian as it trotted next to him. "I need yer help to escape," he said, not stopping. "Are ye willing to aid me, friend?" The Fire-type regarded him with some curiosity, before slowing just enough that Brian was able to use a nearby car to vault himself onto the Rapidash's back. "Thank ye," he said, panting from the exertion of running. "Follow the running rabbit, please!" The Rapidash gave a whinny as it took off, racing to get its new friend out of the town as they followed Keiko.

Rachel felt more than saw the Flash Cannons zipping past her, and she steered Clint into some of the narrower back alleys, where the wider vehicles couldn't follow. She spotted movement in front of her, causing Clint to stop in his tracks. Well, she knew that wouldn't last for long, as she stared down a growling Manectric. She could already see the electricity running along the Electric-type hound's fur, and she grimaced. Oh, this wasn't going to end well. She braced herself as it fired a Thunderbolt at her, but before it could hit, one of her Pokeballs popped open. Rachel opened her eyes when she realized that she wasn't getting hit, and she stared in shock as Sonic, her Gible, stood in front of her and Clint, having jumped in front of the attack.

"Dig!" she called, and Sonic vanished underground. The Manectric wasn't able to dodge quick enough, and the Electric-type cried out in pain as the super-effective attack hit it. "Good, now Sand Tomb!" she said. Sonic gave a cry of his name as Clint ran past, and the Manectric howled as the ground under it turned into quicksand, trapping it. Sonic gave a happy cry as Clint paused long enough for Rachel to pick Sonic up before sprinting off again. She could see a fence coming up fast, and she patted Clint, who gave a soft huff as he turned and ran along the fence line. The area was just wide enough to allow the trio to pass, and even some of the Pokemon that were trying to stop them would have a hard time getting through.

A pair of Magnemite, however, had no such issues, and Rachel looked up as the two released a joint Thunder Shock. Sonic once again took the attack, this time firing a wide-spread Mud Shot as the two Electric/Steel-types frantically tried to evade. Unfortunately, they collided, and the Ground-type move did serious damage to the pair. Rachel gave a grin as she was once again in the clear, and this time, she didn't see any other Pokemon coming after them. She gave a short sigh of relief as they made their way toward Route 116, hoping they would be able to escape this time.

Amber, unseen, ran toward the edge of town, passing various vehicles and bystanders as she did so. She was careful not to get too close to anyone, not wanting to alert them to her presence. Despite knowing they would want to protect her, she refused to let Spooky or Arauth out of their balls at the moment, knowing they would wind up giving her away before they could become incorporeal. All she could do at the moment was run and hope she wouldn't run into any SWIPE members on the lookout for them.

Lykas and Odd listened as Sub began to speak, explaining the escape plan he already had in mind. Both felt the oppressive weight of his energy as he seemed to be Channeling for a moment but the energy was proving to be beneficial as it suppressed their urge to resist, making the both of them feel far more ready for this than they had a moment before. Both reached to their belts, grabbing a Ball a piece and tossing them out just as the doors were opened. Both hybrid and Channeler wanted to talk to Sub about this moment but now was definitely not the time.

As things stood, according to Sub's plan, they would climb onto their Pokemon - Lykas on his Luxray and Odd his Stantler - and they would be headed East to Mauville through the infamous Rusturf Tunnel, then North to the long-closed Trainer Hill. With SWIPE crawling up their tails every step of the way, most likely. As the others took off, the pair urged their Pokemon forward, trying to quickly explain the urgency of this run to them after they began to move.

Lykas wasn’t far behind Keiko when the sparking began, looking up to see Terashi flying on his Talonflame. “That idiot!” He cursed the Psychic Channeler and his hubris just as the Thunder crashed down over him and, by extension, Ulla. “I hope those two are alright…” He told himself, signalling Sphyynx to alter course a bit. He’d follow after Tristen, who’d passed him on his much faster Zebstrika about the time the Thunder came crashing down. He started to stop and offer assistance to the man and his adopted daughter but they seemed to be recovering much quicker than he’d expected, the pair of Channelers getting back up and working out a way to move on their own. He shook his head in disbelief, turning back to focus on the path laid out ahead of him again. Just as he did so, he found himself confronted by a Stantler-mounted SWIPE agent who threw out a Pokeball that released a Gumshoos racing past him at full speed, and skidding to a stop in his way.

“Oh, jeez… I knew the president of the Unovan Pokemon League looked like a Pokemon but did you have to prove it?” He asked the agent, sliding off of Sphynx’s back. “Get them to safety. I’ll be right behind you.” He assured the Luxray, reaching around for a Moon Ball at his belt.

“Hang on!” Odd declared as he and Musette caught up. As he approached, Lykas spotted the Ghost Channeler’s Decidueye mounted on the Stantler’s back end, an arrow already nocked and ready to fire. “Sinister Arrow Raid!” As the Channeler was approaching, despite being mounted on Stantler-back, he managed the motions needed to tap into the Z-Power ring on his wrist and the Decideum Z placed into it. As Fermata’s body began to shine with the light of Z-Power, two more SWIPE agents pulled up, one atop a Rapidash and another on the back of an Arcanine, the pair releasing their own Pokemon as they arrived. One released an Octillery and the other a bird of some sort that Lykas didn’t recognize. “Must be Paldean…” He noted, realizing he still didn’t know as many of that region’s Pokemon as he’d like to after over a year since his first trip there.

Fermata leaped into the air at last, firing a barrage of spiritually-infused arrows into the air that were quickly grabbed and pulled behind him as he spread his wings and caught the air. Taking only a moment to analyze the scene, the bird would glide in with ease, dropping arrows onto the new arrivals upon the scene in the closest thing to a carpet bombing as Odd could get though he felt sure Beau might be proud of the havoc as he dashed through the scene just as Lykas unleashed a full-powered Water Spout directed at Gumshoos. And after nearly three days with his energy being restricted and unable to release the build up, it was a bigger geyser than usual, easily washing the Stakeout Pokemon off it’s feet. The three SWIPE agents were caught up in the pair of attacks as well, their mounts either startled and throwing their rider off or knocked off their feet by the water and dropping their rider.

Rapidash and Arcanine flailed in the momentary flood, trying to get get back on their feet as Lykas jumped off off Sphynx’s back. “Thunder!” He directed, pointing at the group. Sphynx’s mouth twisted into a sinister grin and her mane sparked as she unleashed a Thunder attack. The thousands upon thousands of volts of electricity raced across the space between her and the SWIPE group, electrocuting them all as they stood in the water Lykas ahad provided, sparking and twitching as the attack came to an end, continuing to circulate through the puddle for a while.

“Let’s go!” Lykas urged, jumping right back into Sphynx’s back. “Ow!” He yelped, pulling his now numb hand back from her mane as he did, receiving a powerful shock from the residual electrical energy still in the fur as he jumped back on. “Use Magnet Rise, then Agility.” He directed the large feline as he rubbed at his hand in an attempt to return the feeling to it, winding his tentacles around her stomach at the same time. Odd was making headway on getting to Rusturf Tunnel, watching as others knocked away their own attackers all around them in various ways, when he was suddenly passed by a floating monorail cat racing by at top speed. Sphynx had broken traction with the ground thanks to Magnet Rise and by using Agility, she was now racing toward route 116 about a foot off the ground with nothing but the wind to slow her down.

“He’s a mad genius…” Odd remarked to himself, briefly wondering if Musette could pull off something similar as her hooves hit the ground once again. “Can you use Agility, Musette? We’re falling behind.” He asked the Stantler. She nodded and began to dash forward with larger leaps until she got a good stride going, at which point, she began to blaze a trail of white energy as she picked up more and more speed, finally beginning to catch up to the rest of the team after that.

Tsuki internalized what Sol had said- because there was no way that any of them could have known about what exactly was in that Comet. He didn’t know much about the origin of the Shadow Virus, but he did know that much. The boy latched his Pokeball back onto his belt and exhaled the tension that had built up inside of him. That was even a good point for one way they could prove or disprove whatever claims were made against them. “If that’s true, if we can compare Deoxys’ DNA to the Shadow Virus, then that might clear some things up. Make the rest unravel from there.” he said. As for whether or not a potential Deoxys DNA mixup might have made a Mew originated vaccine cure impossible…? There wasn’t really a way to disprove that without breaking into the field of mad science.

And as for Ein… that sounded true, like something the Sol that Tsuki looked up to might say. He could at least give that a chance- a chance to prove what exactly was fact and what was fiction.

When Sub finally spoke, Tsuki listened. As much as the proof was damning for all of them, their association with Snagem had dragged them all into the fire. They were in this right now, to get to the root of the truth regardless of what it was. He’d have to accept that as a lifeline for now, thinking back to something he had said to Looker in his interrogation. This is his normal life. Where else could he go? When Sub’s Dark energy way flooded over him, something in the trainer’s psyche felt agitated. Like two opposing waves meeting for a moment, it stirred something in Tsuki that brought a fire out of him. Even if the proof was solid, he wanted to make damn sure that Essentia had nothing to do with their being condemned.

“You had me at “throwing you a punch”.” Tsuki said with a nod.

Now running all the way to Trainer Hill? That wasn’t something he could do even with his workout routine. Flying was out of the question but maybe he’d have another option.

“Coffee, we ride!” Tsuki called out once the back door to the Devon HQ was opened, sending out his Cofagrigus. He wasn’t the fastest thing in the world but he could keep up while moving like a tank. It’ll do. Leaping atop his Pokemon, the ghost type warped his fingers to expand and spread as he lay back in order to look like some kind of messed up sarcophagus spider. For extra measure, he finally sent out his channeling partner Magby.

Barreling through the garage and the parking lot, Tsuki cackled on his way though Rustboro and towards Route 116. “You’ll never catch me alive, you helmet wearing jerks!” he yelled back, only to find two SWIPE agents rapidly approaching him to, in fact, catch him alive. He mumbled something about every time and stood upright on the moving Ghost Pokemon. One of them was riding a motorbike with a Manetric beside and another atop a Stantler. Not close yet but catching up.

Right. Cofagriguses weren’t exactly the fastest. “Mags, we need some cover. Lay down a layer of Smokescreen low while I aim high, got it? Got it.” Tsuki said, grabbing his amulet in one hand and focusing on that well of chi he had accessed the last time he had channeled with Maggie. He could spit out combustible liquid and set it alight with his Spitfire abilities but doing both at the same time? At the scale he needed? No, he could only do one. But Coffee? “And you, get ready to use your Will-O-Wisp!” he said down to his ride Pokemon.

With Pokemon and train both taking a large breath each, the duo sent out a stream of smoke on the ground and what was effectively gasoline above. But not for long though, with a wave of one ghostly hand, Coffee’s Will-O-Wisp set it alight above and caused a flash of fire directly over the stream of smoke, each exhaling as long as they could manage. With the fire above acting as a heating insulator, the cooler smoke had to stay on the ground and get in the way of their pursuers. The one on the motorbike lost control in the haze and flipped over, rolling harshly onto the dirt with a thud while the Stantler racer stayed in pursuit even after Tsuki and Maggie had exhausted themselves.

Well, at least the ever loyal Manetric stayed with his trainer.

“Pull over with your hands up and get on the ground!” The second SWIPE agent called out, commanding his Stantler to slam into them with a Zen Headbutt

“Which is it? Am I- AH CRAP!” Tsuki yelped as he and Maggie wobbled around and almost fell off of his Pokemon. Experience with an unruly Flygon made fighting that doable at least. .

“As I was saying, which is it? On the ground or in the air? Because you’re really unclear!” Tsuki said back, scooping up Maggie for another attack. He’d aim his Pokemon like a firearm with both hands, similar to how he had in Paldea and told the Magby to let out a Flamethrower. She sent out a stream of fire, making the Stantler have to jump back and weave side to side just to avoid the brunt of the attack but at the cost of losing ground on their quarry.

The Stantler sent out a Hypnosis now, but a well timed Crafty Shield was more than enough to prove that the SWIPE agent needed a second Pokemon to make this battle even. They threw a Great Ball out, releasing a Donphan to immediately roll at them with a Rollout. The elephant tire monster slammed into them from the opposite side that they suffered the Zen Headbutt from. “This guy…” Tsuki groaned, not sure if any of his other Pokemon could reasonably stand on the Cofegrigus shaped Cofagrigus platform without falling off or slowing him down too much. Actually…

Swapping Maggie for Snapdragon the Dipplin, Tsuki kept low as the Stantler regained ground and slammed back into them again with a Zen Headbutt. Thankfully he was prepared and Snapdragon’s sticky syrup made being knocked off difficult. “Use Syrup Bomb on the Donphan!” he said.

“Syrup Bomb?” The SWIPE Agent asked before seeing the strange Pokemon hacking up a ball of Grass chi infused syrup onto his Pokemon, dealing damage and slowing the monster down enough from its sped up Rollout spreading the syrup all over for it to start lagging behind.

“A Pokemon usually from Kitakami. You should check out their tourism program, it’s really interesting!” Tsuki yelled out before having his Dipplin do the same thing on the Stantler. With that second agent slowing down enough to fall behind, he knelt down and checked on Coffee who gave him a ghostly thumbs up. Built like a tank and all that.

"Wait, Sub said to stick to the ground!" Cera called out, seeing the Talonflame as for whatever reason, Terashi took a solid look at reason and tossed it to the curb. Barely any time later came the sirens and a staticy feel to the air, a telltale sign that any sort of warning was already too late. She was far enough away to be safe from the Thunder attack Kess unleashed in turn, seeing the trio struck fall like a fly in the distance and sighing. "What were you two thinking...? Er!" Alongside the SWIPE agents constantly blipping on the Mew's mental radar, the much bigger and stronger one of Kess would trip her senses as she went on the move. Judging on the others she was sensing nearby... "Kess is closing in too! Ammy, Reno, Deo, on your six!"

Amaranth looked overhead as the pillar of lightning came down, tucking herself inward as her Dodrio sped away. "You'd think if someone said 'no flying' they wouldn't fly, and I'm the one with birds!" She remarked with a grunt, her speed proving well in keeping away from the growing outpour of SWIPE agents. She'd lean over as she got close to Ulla, trying to reach out an arm to yank her to safety. This slight slowing down meant Kess had an easier shot at her, and Cera's warning would reach her mind just a moment too late. From the corner of her eye, she'd see the hybrid reach an arm out with electricity crackling, and one of Swift's heads would spot the same and panic a second later. "Swift, I think we're gonna need Agility here..."

Right after Kess' arrival would, thankfully, come a calvary as Sol, Freth and Blizzard found themselves hot on her heels.

"Already see her!" Sol commented to Cera's broadcast. Lamenting his lack of items, let alone his blade, he'd have to go for something more basic this time around. Making a sweeping motion with his hand as flames sparked to life, he'd fling them outward to have his Flamethrower mingle with Blizzard's Ice Beam and add to the assault upon the Zapdos hybrid. "I was hoping the next time we'd cross paths would've been more amicable, you know. Lapses in judgement from certain members notwithstanding..." With some luck, he'd hope his contribution alongside the others' would give Amaranth, Reno and Deo a chance to get further away from her as he continued running himself.

Throughout all of this, Cera was doing everything she could to keep herself out of harm's way, though in the process, she would spot a Houndoom with one of the agents and find herself slowing down for a second. She couldn't sense and tell for sure, but part of her wondered if they were the same one she'd caught before this whole mess started. Even if they weren't, she couldn't help being reminded yet again of the sudden separation from the Pokemon she befriended, unsure of what their fates were going to be. She looked at the Beast Ball she was clutching tightly, tempted to let Buzzwole out and hope they'd be chill enough with her to just take the Houndoom by force in lieu of any ability to snag. A hard sigh came as she turned away, still fleeing and speeding back up. "...no... If we're not safe first, they never will be." She told herself, redoubling her efforts to keep a mental eye out.