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Leslie would already be halfway through preparing to slam her hammer into the wall that they seemed to be pointed towards when the button successfully cracked it open. Thankfully, her preparation to commit violence would be rewarded with the emergence of a flurry of Dugtrio that appeared oh so tempting to use a hammer on. Reaching up on her hammer, she would quickly press a button. A whirring sound would echo through the cavern as motors and gear systems snapped into action, the twin mouths of Leslie’s hammer snapping open before the four segments began to set to work on layering themselves. Each segment would interweave themselves with each new one that laid on top, eventually coming together with an echoing snap as the two ends finished their transformation and formed into a simple mallet.

Letting out a cackle as she looked towards one of the Dugtrio, a pink glow began to ignite around her instinctively. And then she would appear above the Dugtrio with barely a sound before Leslie bellowed, “Time for a high score!” The mallet would slam home onto the head of the largest of trio with a Play Rough-empowered smack that kicked up a large dust cloud. As the cloud blew away, Leslie would be standing over the knocked out Dugtrio looking towards the rest of her prey. Dawning recognition would ripple through the scattering of Dugtrio that had been paying attention to her. A deep, primal recognition of the weapon that sat on her shoulder and what precisely that meant for them. In unison, they would all dive into the earth. They had one chance to handle the Whac-A-Trio menace and it was going to require coordination.

Cracking open a Pokeball, she would charge forward to meet the challenge even as her Bulbasaur popped out behind her. “You wanna play? Let's play!” She shouted, watching as the first one popped out of the ground in front of her and prepared to slash at her with the Dig attack that they were coordinating. However, instead of the time before a hammer swing that would be perfect to smash into Leslie, it was instead greeted with a sudden impact to the lead one's head before the small package exploded into a shower of glitter that completely derailed their attack. Laughing over her Fake Out attack, Leslie would barely have time to bring her hammer around to try and block the second Dugtrio as it leapt out of the ground to assault her. Leaving her completely open to the third trio's successful dive into her back with a flurry from their Dig attack. Yelping in pain from the somewhat blocked and completely free shot she had just taken, Leslie would get the satisfaction of watching as a pair of vine tendrils extended out and intertwined before slamming home onto the Dugtrio that had hit her back, the Power Whip knocking the thing for a loop before it retreated to pick its wounds.

Pushing back against the Dugtrio stuck against her hammer, Leslie would be mid-windup when a torrent of mud slammed into her and tried to knock her off balance. The Dugtrio she had Faked Out decided that a Mud Shot was its best course of action and it was very successful at stopping the violence against its friend. It was much less successful at halting the violence entirely, as the punk glow once again consumed Leslie before she appeared above the offending Dugtrio and gave it the same treatment as the original instigator for this brawl. Turning from her felled prey, she would watch as the other two Dugtrio once again dove underground to try another Dig attack.

It would only be a moment before they popped out of the ground again, but Leslie had thought herself ready to intercept and slam home onto the next one that dared enter her range. Unfortunately, the two Dugtrio had decided to split themselves up this time and one popped to slam home onto her Bulbasaur while the other sprung out of the ground behind her and slashed into her with a Sucker Punch to take advantage of her distraction from preparing her own attack. Willow would be sent bouncing around the tunnel from the impact, the Bulbasaur not prepared for such a heavy blow. And just as she prepared to leap to her Bulbasaur's defense, a localized sandstorm would kick to life around her, forcing her back from her prepared dive as the Sand Tomb began to consume her vision. Squinting to try and see through her new surroundings, Leslie would be able to see the two Dugtrios popping out of the ground as they prepared to focus down her Bulbasaur before returning to try finishing her off.

As much as she didn't want to do it, it would appear that she was going to do something to completely ruin her score. Raising her hammer high, she would squeeze down on a small grip that sat just outside her normal holding position. A whirring sound would begin to echo out of the hammer, just barely audible above the roaring dust devil that the Dugtrio had entrapped her in. A bright, steely glow would begin to poke out from the mallet head of her hammer, seeming almost to be pushing against the seams. “This is gonna ruin my score but I don't care. Metal Searing Flash Cannon!” Leslie called, the head of the hammer finally unable to stand up to the strain of the energy it was containing and forcing the mouth to bloom, a concentrated beams of grey-white energy searing through the Sand Tomb and slamming home into one of the Dugtrio before it could attempt to follow up on her Bulbasaur.

Turning to see where the beam had come from, the final Dugtrio would re-evaluate its target priorities and dive into the ground once again. Except, before the hole it dug could shut behind it, a ball would fire from Willow and be sent flying into the cavern that the Dugtrio was forming. A second later, there would be a muffled boom as the Seed Bomb went off and the Dugtrio would just barely manage to get aboveground before Leslie's hammer slammed into the Pokemon and put it out of its pain. “Okay. Might have bitten off more than I can normally chew but I got it done. I think.” Leslie said, pulling out a Pokeball and returning her Bulbasaur. As painful as it had been, she was thankful for the team attack since it kept them from using Earthquake. That effort to avoid friendly fire had helped with keeping things controlled.

—

Reno sat at the table, doing his best to keep his breathing controlled. While he was certainly not enjoying the questions being asked by the opposition, there was bound to be an opportunity here. There had to be, because otherwise Sub was letting a myriad of witness badgering, prosecution testifying instead of asking questions, and other objectionable things fly without response. And when Blizz began going in on SWIPE, an idea began to form but it depended on what came from Cruxias next.

He couldn't fully focus on that though, not with his own little passive mental monitoring alerting him to the fact that the vaguely cliche ball of emotions that was Keiko was beginning to get close to lashing out. And as much as he wanted to himself, Reno had to keep himself focused in case she did go for it to stop her. While it wouldn't be great to have to basically put down one of their team members, it would look even worse if they required actual bailiff or even SWIPE members to stop Keiko.

Odd had felt the needling of absent Snagems at his senses ever since entering the gym but, for some reason, had been unable to tell exactly where they were. As Cruxias and Blizzard’s exchanges continued, he tried his best to search the building for them, looking around for those familiar souls against the void of the physical world. Nothing, though. They were definitely here but it was beginning to drive him mad being unable to see them. Focusing back on Blizzard just before Cruxias brought out his “evidence” against not only Blizzard but all of Snagem, he was slapped in face with one of the very souls he had been searching for moments before as if it had simply popped into existence out of nowhere. Were these temporary walls also constructed with Ebonite? Did everything in this modern world include the stuff? Or was it more insidious than that? What stood out to the Channeler more than anything was that that soul was worn down. He was exhausted, nearly broken, it seemed like, and had clearly not been properly cared for in the time they had been away. What hurt the most was the loudest voice in the room, however. In Doc Owl’s arms, pulled away from her fathers and the Pokemon that would have been responsible for her in their absence in most cases, Libelle began to cry loudly. She was unhappy, uncomfortable and very likely hungry. The crying baby wriggled about, trying her best to be free and look around for the people who made her feel safe. That was when Lykas saw it. Even the children had been collared. “Why can’t I sense her?!” Odd asked quietly, straining to detect the smallest hint of her soul and finding nothing but Doc Owl standing there.

“Libelle!” Lykas gasped, he and Odd gripping one another by the hand as they fought to remain seated while Cruxias ceded to Sub. “They’ve all got those damned collars on now…” Lykas informed Odd as the Snagem leader repeated the same trick with Blizzad as he had done with Odd while not even asking him a question first. Both knew why, seeing this brazen display. Blizzard, among all of Snagem, had been a father-figure if not an outright father the longest. He spoke the truest and the most deeply of the love the Snagems had for their children and for their hopes and dreams for them and their future. As the hybrid made his plea to the masses in their defense, the two young men nodded along with him. Neither wanted Libelle to be part of Snagem and while Snagem as an organization going defunct wasn’t something either liked the idea of, they both knew the family it had created for all its members would never fall apart even if the team itself were to disband. They would have friends and family everywhere and, with any luck, live in a world that didn’t need Snagem when and if that day ever came. But for now, they all did their best to keep the kids away from the field and kept safe. Whereas SWIPE had barely bothered with keeping them alive and nurtured in their absence, it seemed. Odd covered his mouth as he fought not to curse and scream at these government dogs for what they had done. Lykas narrowed his eyes, glaring at Cruxias, first, then casting a tearful look to his daughter. “We’ll be back together soon…” He promised her under his breath, trying not to disrupt the proceedings. The young fathers would find themselves holding one another a moment later, trying to keep their emotions in check for now. This trial as far more painful than either had been expecting and not for the reasons they had thought it would be. Looker had dangled their absent family in front of them like a carrot on a stick to ensure they came but that promise of reuniting them seemed to be little more than an outright lie now. They never had any intention of allowing Snagem to reunite with those left behind before they successfully entrapped everyone possible and ensured none of them would be leaving the courtroom without cuffs and life sentences.

One by one the Dugtrio would fall, the wild Pokemon putting up a surprisingly fierce resistance to the presence of the Snagems, no doubt lending credence to Aile's theory that these Dugtrio were charged with protecting this hidden tunnel. Completely unsurprising that a Ground specialist such as Giovanni could make such an arrangement. Of course the Dugtrio had to get something out of this arrangement as well to keep their end of the bargain, especially after this long. The Snagems would soon find out what that was.

It was a short walk deep into this hidden tunnel once the Dugtrio were put down, the Snagems entering a section of the tunnel which was clearly carved out by humans, the tunnel ending in a perfectly square chamber littered with small holes all over the ground. At the center of this swiss cheese floor was a square of metal roughly five feet by five feet with the promised warp panel at its center. On opposite sides of the square were boxes that ran the length of square, their tops made of plexiglass. Inside one could easily see several Electric Gems, the power source for this warp panel, removing the need to be connected to any sort of power grid.

"Dig...?"

"Digi-dig?"

"Lett..."

One by one small Diglett would poke their heads out of the tiny holes, looking at the Snagems with a mix of confusion and fright, unsure of what to make of these strangers and whether or not they should fear them. They were baby Diglett, it was just as Aile theorized to herself, this hidden chamber that house the warp panel was being used as a sanctuary by the Dugtrio to raise their young. That is what they got out of their arrangement with Giovanni. And the Snagems just knocked out their parents and caretakers.

"...well there is the warp panel...not sure how I feel about this." Larrimore said as he walked up behind the others, looking around at all the young Diglett. "The panel at least looks to be in one piece, for what it's worth. What about the Dugtrio though?"

-----

Back with Amaranth and Rachel...

The two women would reach the outskirts of Viridian City without issue, however as they neared they would notice the increased police presence with local police and SWIPE agents posted at every entrance to the city. While it was not a proper police checkpoint and anyone and everyone was free to enter and leave it did make for a stressful time no doubt.

Once they made their way to the gym they would find the place still surrounded by throngs of people waiting to see what decision would be rendered and in spite of how many officers and agents were here there were nowhere near enough to deal with this many people gathered. This would be to their advantage.

Their goal was to scope out the outside of the gym and look for a weak point if they needed it. As far as they could tell from here most of the people were gathered at the ground by the door, which made sense, but what about the rest of the building?

Dead silence on the outside. Staring at the witness stand, Deo was not in the biggest of moods. His face was pale, whole body was covered in a cold sweat. It looked like he was zoned out, but he was not. What really was happening inside his mind was the worst. The fact that this case could come out the worst possible outcome.

In his mind was the worst. From the jury declaring guilt, the eruption of the audience. Then there was the sentencing. His cries of anguish and fear being dragged out of the courts and the crowd cheering. He became zoned out, the jeering, the booing, the sneering, and the heckling. It was playing repeat in his mind, and he just could not seem to get it out of his head.

The aura of dread was in his mind, and spreading throughout his body. He began to sweat profusely. The sweat was cold, ice cold. His hand shaking, heart racing, he did not know how he would make it out. Innocent? Guilty? In a stretcher? Only the powers that be know. He knew for one thing though, he was innocent.

His heart sank, he was called. He accepted this and went to the stand. He would answer the lawyer "Speak common please. I do not understand what you are saying." He would then answer the actual questions. "My name is Deo, former Sandgem officer of around 7 years and 4 months before an unknown force hybridized me and caused me to become a monster of both hybrid and man" he would catch his breath, still sweating profusely. "I am a rather new operative of snagem with the mission to hunt shadow pokemon and cure them with the antidote which will return shadow pokemon from a hostile infected state to their original selves. I was charged with these crimes which I still have seen no proof nor evidence against us. To my knowledge, I am being charged with the crimes of CYPHER which, might i remind the people, is NOT in anyway SNAGEM." His blood began to boil, knowing that Mr. "sold my soul" of a lawyer would probably twist and turn this into his advantage. Giving the solid stare to the prosecutor.

As Blizzard spoke out in defense of Snagem, Odd felt a shift in the emotional state of the room. It wasn’t profound, exactly, but it gave him hope. Suddenly, he felt a lot less animosity aimed toward them. Something Blizzard said struck a chord with a lot of people, apparently. If their emotions had changed to something positive, it would take the fairy child’s senses to tell but at least “neutral” was better than the outright hatred the Ghost Channeler had felt only a few minutes before. Just maybe, if they continued to plead their case, they would be able to get themselves out of at least the worst-case scenario and walk away with minimal punishment?

Lykas saw the change in Odd’s expression, looking at him curiously for a moment, taking any excuse he could for the moment to not fear losing everything. Odd smiled gently and whispered “It feels like we might be getting through to them.”. Lykas sighed but didn’t say anything in respons, afraid to be too hopeful. He felt that was justified as Blizzard returned to his seat and Cruxias called his next witness to the stand.

“Deo?”
“Deo?!”

The pair yelped out quietly, confused in equal measure. Deo had no knowledge of the events relating to Ein, that either of them knew, as far as Snagem was concerned, having joined the team around the time of the World Championship Cup. What could Cruxias be aiming for calling him up? Did he, maybe, know something about the hybrid that none of the Snagems knew? Entirely likely considering the only things anyone seemed to know about Deo within the team was that he’d been a cop at one point and he had been hybridized without his consent. Lykas assumed Cruxias’ intent was to use Deo to somehow slander the team but, most likely, Sub in some way. Perhaps imply Sub was somehow connected and had done so to encourage the man to seek out Snagem? To point out his inherent strength or potential as if Sub intentionally gathered powerful hybrids to make a private ‘army’? The Jellicent hybrid grunted in aggravation at that point. There were entirely too many possibilities and as Cruxias began to question Deo, none were made immediately clear yet. Odd could assume Cruxias’ intent no more readily than his husband and tried to remain calm, focusing on the emotional energy in the room for now.

~~~ ~~~

Clare regrouped with the other Snagems as everyone else managed to either evade, defeat or capture one or more Dugtrio. As everyone gathered in the chamber beyond the false wall, they frowned. “I kinda feel bad for catching it…” They noted to themself, looking down at the Ultra Ball in their hand. “Maybe I’ll let it go when we leave?” They wondered to themself. If they did so, they would once more be defenseless but they could at least take solace in reuniting a family they had unintentionally separated. They watched some of the baby Diglett pop in and out of the various holes around the room before focusing on the warp panel. Unfamiliar with the devices, they asked a question that felt obvious. “How do we make sure it’s working? Toss a coin onto it or something?”

Once more with the heart sinking. Deo needed to answer carefully. Though lying was off the table he wanted to shout at the lawyer calling him wicked and the court kangaroo, but no. Deo looked at the paper, at the lawyer, and at the jury. “They made a deal with me to keep a radio to be in contact with them mentioning violence or hostile intent to my grandmother should i refuse. I will say right here and now.” Deo tensed and relaxed a bit. “Not once did SNAGEM make any criminal moves, rather when we were all victimized for crimes which were brought up against us for what? I will say though, the thought of SNAGEM and CYPHER being bed buddies is laughable. But, would you accept a deal with an underworldly being if they threatened your family? Your loved ones? It is a deal with a devil in a sense. Faustian at that. The deals don't stop, how much would you get for hiring former goons and leaders of CYPHER to work for you so you can be persuaded with the false hope of being a ‘Hero of the People’ when in fact, their mission has you as a pawn in a larger, more wicked scheme. I can conclude that this deal with SWIPE” As he takes out his radio and puts it on the witness stand “is done. We are not bed buddies, we were two different teams. If you were threatened with violence against ones you care about, what would you have done? SWIPE gave me an ultimatum, SNAGEM on the other hand as i discovered is very forgiving and trusting of the ones who call them friends. I will never turn again, even under the penalty of persecution or death.”