-Chapter 21-
The team slept in until nine, then went downstairs to get breakfast. There was a wide array of options, including fruit, cereal, pastries, breakfast meats, pancakes, waffles, bagels, donuts, and eggs. Everyone got what they wanted, and Kodai pushed three tables together to have enough seats for everyone. “So, what’s today’s plan?” Jonah asked. “I don’t think it’s safe to cross yet, since the Pokemon are most likely still tired,” Duncan said. “Agreed,” Tetsu added. “We should get a call from Thompson today,” Ikari said. “Hopefully it’s good news,” Liam replied. “I know what to do,” Tanner said. “What’s that?” Hayai asked. “We should sweep the city for signs of Aldrich, like Jonah said,” Tanner answered. Keagan muttered something unintelligible through a mouthful of waffles. “Use your words,” Jonah joked. Keagan swallowed and said, “It’s not like we’ll find anything.” “Most likely, but it’s better to be safe than sorry,” Duncan replied. “Well then, we should go now, be done by noon, then start for the ocean,” Kireina declared. Everyone else was on board with the plan, so they did that. Everyone wolfed down their breakfast at warp speed, went up to their rooms to get their gear, and then went outside. “We’ll need to split up if we want to clear the city by noon,” Olivia said. “There are two boulevards and four avenues, so how about teams of two?” Tetsu suggested. “Sounds good. You and me?” Jonah asked Keagan. “You bet,” Keagan replied. The teams ended up being the roommates from the hotel. Jonah and Keagan took the North Boulevard, which is where they were already. The plan was to go up one side of the street and down the other, checking alleys and other hiding places as they went.
“So, how you holding up?” Jonah asked as they went down the first alley. “Pretty well, all things considered,” Keagan replied. “How ‘bout you?” He asked. “Oh, you know, it’s just your everyday trip to a place that doesn’t exist,” Jonah joked, eliciting a laugh from Keagan. “It is pretty wild, though. I mean, a few months ago, we were regular school kids, and now we’re building an army to fight an evil crazy cult king,” Keagan added. “Yeah, I guess it is,” Jonah said. They talked for a few more minutes, until Keagan said, “So, you think we’ll actually find anybody?” He said that as they turned the corner of another alley, where two male acolytes dressed in street clothes were packing up supplies. All four of them reached for a Pokeball. Keagan went for Cinderace since it was small enough to fight in the tight alley. Jonah had to consider his options. Rillaboom was too big, Noivern’s wingspan was too wide, Corviknight had the same problem, Boltund’s electric attacks were to dangerous for close quarters, and Obstagoon’s shouts would be dangerously loud in an echoing alley. The best choice was Charmeleon. “Go, Charmeleon!” Jonah said. The acolytes released a Pokemon each, one a Grimmsnarl, the other a Sawk. Keagan took the first move.
“Cinderace, use Double Kick on Sawk!” Cinderace ran straight at Sawk, who gave a smug look as it prepared to counterattack. When Cinderace got within five feet of Sawk, its trainer said, “Sawk, use Brick Break!” Sawk drew its hand back, then tried to strike Cinderace with a chop. At the last second, however, Cinderace jumped to the right, jumped off the side of the alley to the other side, then jumped off of that and gave Sawk two hard kicks in the back of the head, knocking it to the ground. “Nice one! My turn,” Jonah said. “Alright Charmeleon, hit ‘em with Fire Fang!” Charmeleon raced forward on all fours, making a beeline for Grimmsnarl. “Toss it, Grimmsnarl,” the enemy trainer said. Grimmsnarl unfurled the hair on its arms and grabbed onto Charmeleon, then threw it into the wall of the alley, cracking the bricks. “Charmeleon!” Jonah hollered. Charmeleon tried to get up, faltered, then pushed itself up and growled. “You did it now,” Jonah said. “Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!” Charmeleon inhaled deeply, then released a searing blast of flame, scorching Grimmsnarl. “Now follow with Slash!” Jonah said. Charmeleon ran forward while Grimmsnarl was still recovering from Flamethrower, then attacked it in the face. “Good work, bud!” Jonah said. “Enough screwin’ around. Use Hammer Arm,” the acolyte said. Grimmsnarl stood up and nailed Charmeleon straight in the face with a heavy strike. Charmeleon was knocked straight onto its back. “No!” Jonah said, thinking that his Charmeleon had been knocked out. Just then, he saw Charmeleon wink at him, indicating that it could still fight. “Charmeleon, use Fire Fang!” Charmeleon sprang to its feet and attacked a stunned Grimmsnarl, latching onto its arm with burning jaws. Grimmsnarl writhed around in pain until it shook Charmeleon off. “Now finish it with Dragon Breath! A big one!” Jonah yelled. Charmeleon took a deep breath in and began to charge the attack. “Wait!” The enemy trainer held up his hand. “Don’t do it, kid. To be honest with ya, I don’t even wanna be here. And Grimmsnarl doesn’t wanna fight ya.” Grimmsnarl was down on the ground, and it looked like it was ready to give up. Jonah was suspicious of the offer, but he signaled for Charmeleon to hold its fire.
“Thanks, pal,” the acolyte said with an evil grin. Just then, Grimmsnarl’s hair lashed out and stabbed Charmeleon. Charmeleon staggered and fell backward. “Hey! You lied to me!” Jonah said. “Did you really think you could trust ‘em?” Keagan hollered from his battle. “Well, hindsight’s twenty-twenty,” Jonah said. “Plan?” Keagan said as the enemy Pokemon closed in. “Uh, yeah. Hold ‘em off.” Jonah said. “Hey!” Keagan yelled as Jonah went to check on Charmeleon. “C’mon, bud, you gotta get up,” Jonah said to Charmeleon. Charmeleon struggled, but it couldn’t get up. “C’mon, I know you’ve got it in you,” Jonah said. Just then, Charmeleon got to its feet and began to glow with magnificent blue light. It began to grow taller, and it sprouted wings. The light faded, and where Charmeleon once stood, there was now the fanged, flying, fire-breathing Charizard! Charizard announced its presence with a deafening roar that reverberated down the alley. “All right!” Keagan said just as the enemy trainers said, “Oh, no.” “Keagan, let’s show ‘em what Fire Pokemon can do!” “The combo move?” Keagan asked. “The combo move,” Jonah said. “Cinderace, Pyro Ball,” Keagan said. Cinderace kicked up a pebble from the ground and began to bounce it on its feet, igniting the stone and creating a bigger and bigger fireball, then launched it at the enemy Pokemon. “Charizard, use Flamethrower!” Jonah said. Charizard launched the attack behind Cinderace’s Pyro Ball, creating a blinding inferno that scorched not only the enemy Pokemon but the ground in the alley. The enemy Pokemon were knocked out. Jonah called the police and the acolytes were arrested. “Good work,” Jonah said.
Keagan and Jonah met up with the others at the hotel around eleven thirty. “Alright. Good work, soldier,” Ikari said into his walkie-talkie. “That was Thompson. He’s arrived, and his team has already started constructing bases in the area,” Ikari said. “Are we ready to ride out?” Jonah asked. “Once Duncan gets out here,” Kodai said. Just then, Duncan walked out of the hotel. “Alright, we have been checked out. Ready to go?” He asked. Jonah pulled out his compass and found the right direction. “Okay, so we ride to the coastline for about two hundred miles, then we’ll switch to seafaring Pokemon. Everybody got it?’ Jonah asked. Everyone said yes and they started to ride out of Kalos. They got out of Lumiose City in a few minutes and arrived on the open road. They rode for a little while until Tanner hollered, “Hey! Get down here for a minute!” Jonah, Duncan, Liam, and Kodai all flew down lower so they could talk to the others without needing to shout. “What’s up?” Jonah asked. “Well, I was thinking, and I realized that we don’t really have a plan for what to do when we find this place. It’s probably really heavily guarded and fortified and stuff,” Tanner replied. “Yeah. I doubt even we could take it down. We’d be outnumbered, and I can only light so much stuff on fire,” Keagan said. “Duncan, what’s the surveillance like there? Do you think we could scout it out without them seeing us?” Jonah asked. “Hmm. It’s possible, but we would need some long-distance surveillance equipment,” Duncan said. “Which we don’t have,” Liam added. “Wait! I got it! Duncan, is the castle open from the top?” Jonah asked. “Yes, you could get into the courtyard from the air, but why?” Duncan answered. “I think I know where this is going, and I like it,” Keagan said with a smirk.
“Noivern can fly quiet enough to drop me in from the air. That way, I can do some recon on the inside of the castle,” Jonah explained. “That’s crazy! They’ll see you!” Kireina exclaimed. “This is the part where I like the plan,” Keagan said excitedly. “I need you guys to create a distraction outside the castle,” Jonah instructed. “Can I light stuff on fire?” Keagan asked hopefully. “I would prefer it,” Jonah answered. “Yes! I knew I liked this plan!” Keagan exclaimed. “Yeah, that’s great, except how do we get out? Like Keagan said, they’ll outnumber us and overwhelm us eventually,” Liam interjected. “Uh, yeah, good point. Duncan, do you know any escape routes we could use?” Jonah asked. “Well, there is a canyon we could try to lose them in, but it’s risky,” Duncan replied. “These days, risky is the best we’ve got,” Kodai added. “Okay, does anyone have anything else to add?” Tanner asked. “Yeah. Can we just get there already?” Mackenzie asked sarcastically. “My thoughts exactly. Full speed, everyone!” Jonah yelled.
The group reached the coastline around four in the afternoon and stopped to reorganize. The flying Pokemon landed and returned to their Pokeballs. “Okay, so whadda we got?” Hayai asked. “My Avalugg will take me, Tanner, and Keagan,” Liam said. “Gyarados will take me, Mackenzie, and Tetsu,” Ikari said. “Olivia and I will ride with Milotic,” Kireina said. “I have a Carracosta I can ride, actually,” Kodai added. “And I’ve got my Barraskewda,” Hayai said. “I’ve got a Kingrda I can use,” Duncan said. “Sounds like we’re good then,” Jonah concluded. “Who are you gonna use?” Keagan asked. “I’ll swap Noivern for Charizard since Noivern has been flying a lot,” Jonah said. Jonah released his Charizard, informed it of the situation, and hopped onto its back. Once everyone had gotten situated, they began to ride out across the ocean. Duncan had told the others that there was a small, uninhabited island about two hundred and fifty miles out from the coast that they could rest on for the night, so that was their destination. Jonah rode low, close to the water to talk to the others. He had to be careful of waves and sea spray so that they didn’t put out the fire on Charizard’s tail. “I think we should use our time to make a plan,” Tetsu announced. “A plan for what?” Keagan asked.
“Well, once we get away from the fortress, we’ll need to get back to Hammerlocke, and I don’t know if the enemies will follow us, or if our Pokemon will have the energy they need to cross the ocean again,” Tetsu explained. “That’s a good point,” Olivia said. “Well, off the top of my head, Unova is closer than Galar, but we don’t have anywhere to lay low in Unova,” Jonah said. “Actually, I know a guy in Unova who could help us out,” Kodai said. “Who is he?” Ikari asked. “His name is Michael. I took a trip to Unova once for fossil hunting, and we worked together there. Since then, we’ve been pretty good friends,” Kodai explained. “We could rest there for a day, and then make the trip from Unova to Galar,” Kodai added. “Is your friend into battling?” Jonah asked. “Yeah, why?” Kodai questioned. “If we can get enough people, we could place a defense force there. A small one, but enough to hold off any of Aldrich’s forces that would try to cross to Galar from there. They could hold them off just long enough that we could bring troops over the water and drive them back,” Jonah explained. “That could work, but are there enough people to begin with?” Keagan asked. “Actually, you’d be surprised how many fossil hunters go there to talk to this guy. He’s been all over the world to find fossils, so people ask him where to find specific ones. If anyone could convince a bunch of fossil-hunting scientists to fight a war, it’s Michael,” Kodai told the others. “Does he have a walkie-talkie? If you give me his channel, we can call him in advance,” Ikari said. Kodai listed off a bunch of numbers that were complete gibberish to everyone else but him and Ikari, and then Ikari fiddled with a knob on the walkie-talkie and handed it to Kodai.
Kodai took it and said into it, “Hey, Michael, it’s Kodai. You copy?” There was a crackling noise, and then a voice came through the walkie-talkie and said, “I read you loud and clear, Kodai! It’s been a while. How’ve you been?” Kodai laughed and said, “Well, actually…,” then went into an explanation of recent events and why they needed his help. He told Michael about the plan and asked if he would do it. “Uh, gee, that’s a lot. But, if it’s really that important, I’ll do it. Let me make some calls, and I’ll get back to you,” Michael said. “Roger that. Over and out,” Kodai said, then handed the walkie-talkie back to Ikari. “He says yes!” Kodai yelled so everyone could hear. “Great!” Kireina exclaimed. With the escape plan hammered out, the group returned to normal conversation, although they were nowhere near a normal environment.
The group reached their island rest stop at about nine o’clock and came ashore. Duncan was right about there being no people on the island, but they weren’t the only ones using the island as a resting place. There was a flock of Wingull and Pelipper resting on the cliffs of the island, and various swimming Pokemon inhabited the waters around the island. The group found a clearing and set up camp in the usual circle formation. They made a fire as usual and ate dinner. “So, how much further do we have to travel, Duncan?” Jonah asked. “We should be able to hit another island by tomorrow, rest for the night, then reach the fortress by noon the next day,” Duncan explained. “Sounds good to me,” Hayai said. With that, everyone recalled their Pokemon and turned in for the night.
The group got up early the next morning, which was usually the routine of their travels. They packed up their tents and readied their Pokemon to leave. The flying Pokemon were able to wear saddlebags, but the Pokemon in the water couldn’t use them because they would drag in the water, so their passengers wore their own backpacks. Duncan pulled out an old map, studied it for a moment, then told the others which direction they were going, and they began to travel. It was a relatively uneventful trip, except for a Wailord that had breached and sprayed everyone with water. The team discussed battle plans again on this trip, including where Jonah should look on his reconnaissance mission. Duncan informed him about the locations of things like the armory and where they kept their Pokeballs. He also told him about a high-security area where hardly anyone was allowed to go. Even Duncan had only seen it once, during its construction. “What’s it like?” Jonah asked. “Well, when I saw it when it was being built, it was basically built around this circle area in the middle of the room. The circle was probably about thirty feet wide, and it was marked with all kinds of runes around the edges. The only other thing in the room was a pulpit that faced the circle. There were pillars holding up the ceiling, and the whole room was built out of dark stone,” Duncan explained. “Any idea what it’s for?” Keagan asked. “Not really. As I said, hardly anyone was allowed in there,” Duncan answered. “Wait a minute! I think I might know. Based on the way you described it and what we know about Aldrich’s goals, it could be where he plans to release that Devourer Pokemon,” Tanner suggested. “He has to like, summon it, right?” Olivia asked. “That’s what the book said,” Liam replied. “But not how to get it here,” Keagan added. “Maybe there’s a different book that says how, like Jonah said,” Duncan suggested. “Sounds plausible. Duncan, you said there was a pulpit, right? That’s probably for a book,” Jonah concluded. “Well, I’m not sure what’s in it, but Aldrich has a vault in the castle that’s got really tight security. If he was going to hide a book, that is most likely where,” Duncan said. “So, we gotta get the thing then,” Keagan said. “Yeah, but I can’t do it by myself. We would need a full-scale attack,” Jonah said.
“So that’s what we do. Here’s what I think we should do: we do this whole recon op thing, and while Jonah is on the inside, we need to do just enough damage on the outside to set them back a week or two, and then we move in with full force to end this,” Ikari explained. “We would have to cross from Galar to Unova, otherwise it would take too long,” Tetsu added. “Agreed,” Ikari replied. “Once we move in, we’ll have to get the book,” Tanner said. “And after that, take the castle,” Hayai added. “Sounds like a plan,” Kireina finished. With that, the war plan was ready.
The rest of the trip took three more days, and then the group reached the coastline of the region. It was very warm when they arrived on the coastline. “Sheesh, it’s hot out here,” Keagan said. “No kidding,” Kireina said, wiping her brow. “How far is it from here to the castle?” Jonah asked. “About thirty miles,” Duncan replied. “Easy-peasy,” Tanner said. Everyone turned to their usual land-traveling Pokemon, except for Jonah, who decided to use his Rillaboom. He released it and told it what they were doing, then hopped onto its back and began to ride. Rillaboom moved quickly and easily went over rough terrain at a good speed thanks to its dexterity. Rillaboom wasn’t quite as fast as Keagan’s Arcanine, but it was faster than Tetsu’s Steelix. It was a bit of a rough ride thanks to Rillaboom’s constant up-and-down movement, but Jonah didn’t mind. Once the group was within a mile of the castle, they switched to stealth travel. Once they could see the castle, they stopped altogether. It was about three in the afternoon when they stopped, and they had to wait until sunset to move in. During the time they spent waiting, the group finalized their plan. “So, what can we do for our distraction?” Keagan asked. “Well, there’s eleven of us, so maybe we should split up and force them to divide their forces,” Duncan suggested. “Okay, so like, left and right sides?” Ikari asked. “Sounds good,” Mackenzie said.
“So, who’s with who?” Kireina asked. “How about me us as one group, and you guys as another?” Keagan said, referring to the majors and Duncan as one group and his friends as another. Everyone agreed with that plan, so they moved to the next part of the plan: escape. “So, what’s the fastest way to the canyon?” Jonah asked Duncan. “It’s behind the castle, to the south,” Duncan replied. “Okay, so how do we lose them in the canyon?” Liam asked. “Well, it’s full of lots of tight corners, so I thought that we could try and make our pursuers crash out, but we would need really fast and maneuverable Pokemon,” Duncan explained. “And we don’t all have those,” Liam added. Liam was the perfect example of this, as he didn’t have any fast Pokemon big enough to ride on. “Maybe those of us who have Pokemon to use can do that, and the others can wait somewhere,” Kodai suggested. “That could work. Duncan, is there somewhere that they could hide?” Tetsu asked. “You could wait at the end of the canyon if you can get there fast enough,” Duncan replied. “That’ll do,” Tanner said. “So, who goes into the canyon?” Olivia asked. “We’ll need some flyers and some on the ground,” Tanner said. “So that either way, whether they chase us on the ground or in the air, we can distract them,” he explained. “I’ll be in the air with Noivern,” Jonah announced. “I can go in the air too, with Dragapult,” Hayai said. “You’ve got a Dragapult? Cool!” Keagan exclaimed. “Duncan, how many people do you think they’ll send?” Jonah asked. “Well, a usual search team is ten, with one lead Pokemon, and they’ll divide between air and ground,” Duncan asked. “So, I say three flyers and two on the ground,” Tanner interjected. “I’ll be the third flyer, with Aerodactyl,” Kodai volunteered. “I’ll go with Arcanine on the ground,” Keagan said. “I will accompany you with my Sawsbuck,” Duncan said. “Sounds good,” Jonah said. “The rest of us will wait at the end of the canyon then,” Tetsu said.
Once it was dark enough outside, the group set their plan in motion. The two teams that would create distractions moved out to the right and left sides of the castle. The castle was an imposing fortress, with walls fifty feet tall and a massive central tower. Guards were patrolling the walls of the castle too. Jonah’s friends went to the left side and the majors and Duncan went to the right. Jonah had tried to find his stealthiest outfit, which ended up being a black hoodie and sweatpants with a black beanie. He released his Noivern and explained the plan to it, then waited for the distraction to kick in. He couldn’t see the right side of the castle, but he saw his friends releasing their Pokemon on the left side. Keagan had selected Coalossal, Liam had chosen Darmanitan, Tanner had gone with Golisopod, Olivia picked Meowstic, and Mackenzie had decided on Cufant. Keagan started the distraction with a Flamethrower attack from his Coalossal. He had directed it at the top of the castle wall, but not at any of the guards. Jonah could tell that the attack wasn’t intended to do damage but to draw attention. It worked because several guards ran over to the blast site. One of them yelled down, “Recall your Pokemon and surrender!” Keagan called back, “What? I can’t hear you!” He was clearly stalling, which was exactly what they needed. “I said, recall your Pokemon and surrender!” The guard said again. “Can we use your bathroom?” Keagan called back. The guard appeared puzzled, then repeated, “Can you use our-what do you want?” Just then, a crackling bolt of lightning shot over the other side of the castle. “You might want to go check on that,” Keagan suggested. Then, another guard stepped up and smacked the other on the backside of his head and said, “You idiot! They’re attacking us! Send troops from this side to the other side and fight back!” Jonah watched as guards ran to the other side of the castle and other guards started attacking his friends on the near side. He saw three guards on top of the wall release a Pokemon each: a Hydreigon, an Electivire, and a Dusknoir. Six more guards took the stairs down one of the castle’s towers and emerged onto the ground. They all released a Pokemon, including a Drapion, a Krookodile, a Crawdaunt, a Trevenant, a Grapploct, and a Hariyama. They began to fight with his friends, which was just what he had been waiting for. Jonah mounted his Noivern and silently launched into the air. Noivern flew through the sky without anyone noticing and swooped behind the castle wall low enough that Jonah could hop off into the courtyard and recall Noivern. Jonah looked around and didn’t see any guards nearby. He thought that most of them had gone outside to deal with the others.
Jonah spotted a wooden door that he went in through. It opened into a very wide hallway with a red carpet running down the middle. Duncan had told him the locations of important places in the castle. The first area that Jonah wanted to check out was the armory. If Jonah was in the right hallway, he needed to go to the end of the hall and make a right. He didn’t see any guards anywhere, so he ran down to the end of the hall. He peeked around the corner and still didn’t see any guards. There was a set of wooden double doors at the end of the hall. Jonah crept down the hall and opened the doors. What he saw baffled him: there were three racks in the middle of the room, each filled with Pokeballs. Jonah estimated that between the three racks, there were about three hundred Pokeballs in the room, and he also guessed that this wasn’t the only room like this in the castle. Jonah wrote down what he had seen on a small notepad he had brought with him. He left the room and headed toward the next stop, which was the vault. Duncan had told him that it was pretty deep in the castle, which made Jonah worry about running into some guards on the way. Jonah started down the hall Duncan had told him to take. He passed lots of doors along the way, all of which were closed. He kept walking for a minute or two until he heard voices up ahead. He stopped and crept slowly around the next corner until he saw where the voices were coming from: Aldrich’s throne room.
Aldrich sat on a throne carved out of dark black stone. There was a red carpet leading to the throne, and banners showing the Chaos Lord Pokemon’s twisted body. One of Aldrich’s soldiers, a higher-ranking one, Jonah guessed based on his armor, was briefing Alrich on the situation outside. After the soldier told him that the others were attacking, Adlrich slammed his fist on his throne and yelled, “How is it that my best soldiers have failed to stop a band of children from attacking my castle?” “Uh, well, you see, your Highness…” the soldier started, but Aldrich slammed his fist on his throne and said, “Just go stop them, now!” With that, the soldier scurried out of the throne room. Jonah made a mental note of where the throne room was and continued on his way to the vault. He made his way to the vault without any more stops and began to write down what he saw. It was a set of double doors ten feet tall and five feet wide with a lock in the middle. The doors appeared to be made of solid metal at least a foot thick. It was clear that to break the door open, a Pokemon was needed. Jonah made his notes and continued to the final stop, which was the high-security area Duncan had mentioned. He expected it to be heavily guarded but was surprised to see that there weren’t any guards. Jonah crept inside and felt a chill when he entered the chamber. It was exactly as Duncan had described it, and there was no doubt that this was where Aldrich would attempt to summon the Devourer. Key word being attempt, Jonah thought. Just then, two guards came into the room. One exclaimed, “Hey! It’s that kid!” “Oh, crud!” Jonah exclaimed as he bolted out of the room and down the hall. He ran hard for the door, burst through, and kept running until he nearly smacked into Keagan. “Hey. You good?” Keagan asked. Jonah started to answer just as a Shadow Ball from a Dusknoir on the wall hurdled over their heads and exploded behind them. “You were saying?” Keagan asked. “We gotta go,” Jonah said. “Why?” Keagan asked. Just then, the two guards burst through the door and said, “There he is! Get him!” “Oh. I see,” Keagan replied. “Did the plan work?” Tanner yelled. “My half did. Yours?” Jonah asked. Tanner pointed at the wall. Jonah saw that the groups had done major damage to the walls on both sides, enough to set Adlrich back for a week or two at least. “Let’s get outta here. Fall back!” Jonah bellowed at the top of his lungs. Everyone mounted their Pokemon and headed toward the canyon. As he flew on Noivern, Jonah heard one of the guards yell, “After them!” Jonah smiled. The plan was working.
They got into the canyon just as the guards caught up with them. The lead Pokemon of the search team was Talonflame, and the rest of the team consisted of a Staraptor, a Braviary, and a Skarmory in the air, with a Gogoat, a Stoutland, a Mudsdale, a Tauros, and a Zebstrika on the ground. The team came to a split in the canyon that Duncan had told them went the same way either way, so the flying Pokemon went to the left and the ground Pokemon went to the right. The plan was simple: lose their pursuers by any means necessary. Jonah turned left on Noivern and settled in for the chase, being pursued by the man with a Talonflame. He figured he had a couple of options: one was to engage Talonflame in combat in the air, which he didn’t want to do because of the risk of being burned, try to make Taloflame crash, which was possible but unlikely given that Talonflame had good in-air maneuverability, or to use the canyon to take out Talonflame. Jonah went with the third option. He needed to find something to knock down, like a rock or a tree. Unfortunately, this was hard to do while he was trying to avoid crashing or being burnt to a crisp. Jonah couldn’t hear the rider give orders, but Talonflame continuously launched attacks that Jonah and Noivern had to avoid. Jonah looked around for something to use, and then he saw what he needed. It was a pass about twenty feet wide with a large rock arch at the end of it that Jonah could tell Noivern could blast loose. Jonah steered Noivern into the pass with Talonflame close behind. He heard the rider bellow, “End of the road, kid!” Jonah smirked and prepared to make his move. “Okay, Noivern, do the move!” Jonah and Noivern had been practicing this move for a while, but this was the first time they would try it in combat. Noivern pulled up to be completely vertical, fanned out its wings to catch the air, and was sent flying backward. Once Noivern got behind Talonflame, it flattened back out to be in regular flight. Jonah saw the other rider turn around with a look of complete bewilderment. Jonah looked for a rock that wouldn’t crush Talonflame, but knock it out of flight. He found one, pointed at it, and yelled, “Dragon Pulse!” Noivern fired a blast of energy at the rock with pinpoint accuracy, and the rock fell and hit Talonflame on the left wing and dragged it down with Talonflame awkwardly flapping and trying to stay in the air. It landed on a ledge on the side of the canyon. Just then, the whole arch began to fall, so Jonah had to pull Noivern up as fast as he could to avoid being crushed.
Once Noivern had leveled out, Jonah flew up higher and saw Hayai riding his Dragapult in a mid-air duel with a woman riding a Staraptor. The duel ended abruptly when Dragapult fired its Dreepy missiles and knocked Staraptor out of the sky. He saw Kodai and Aerodactyl rush onto the man and his Skarmory pursuing them, then Aerodactly chomped onto Skarmory’s wing and threw it to the ground. To finish things up, Aerodactyl headbutted Braviary in the ribs and knocked it into the side of the canyon. Since he knew the flying Pokemon had done their part, he flew onward to the rendezvous point at the end of the canyon.
Keagan and Duncan raced through the canyon on the ground, pursuers in tow. They were outnumbered, but Keagan wasn’t worried. He and Duncan had come up with a plan: they would take out one or two guards on their way to the meet-up spot, then get rid of the others when they got there. Keagan pulled out his Rotom Phone and called Jonah. He picked up and said, “Aren’t you in the canyon?” “Yeah, but I need your help,” Keagan replied. “Okay, whadda you got for me?” Jonah replied. “We’re going to come to the rendezvous point with three or four of ‘em behind us, so make sure everybody is ready to go when we get there,” Keagan explained. “You got it,” Jonah replied. With that, Keagan hung up the phone.
“So, how do you want to play this?” Keagan said to Duncan. “Well, I say we each take one,” he replied. “Sounds good to me. Dibs on the big one,” Keagan said. “Mudsdale?” Duncan asked. “Uh-huh,” Keagan said. “Very well. I will take Tauros,” Duncan said. Keagan nodded and peeled off to intercept Mudsdale. “Hi,” Keagan said as he pulled up beside Mudsdale and its rider. “What the-where did you come from?” The man asked. “Not important. I’m gonna take you out now,” Keagan replied. “Oh yeah, kid? How’re you gonna do that? Mudsdale is a Ground-type, you moron,” the man sneered. “Who said I was gonna use Pokemon?” Keagan asked. Then, Keagan punched the rider in the face and knocked him off of Mudsdale, who stopped in its tracks. He looked back and saw that Duncan had already disabled Tauros by wrapping it up in thick roots from Sawbuck. “Nice work,” Keagan said as Duncan caught up to him. “Yes, you as well. Although your method was a little…brutish,” Duncan said. “If it works, it works,” Keagan said. With that, they went full speed ahead to the end of the canyon.
Jonah had told the others about Keagan and Duncan’s plan, and they were ready. Ikari had his Crawdaunt positioned so that as soon as a Pokemon crossed over the gap, it could use its large claw to smack the rider off. Olivia’s Hitmonlee was standing on a ledge on the side of the canyon, ready to pounce on a Pokemon or rider once they came by. And for the final Pokemon, Hayai had his Jolteon in waiting to zap any enemy that came by. About two minutes after everyone had set up, they began to hear footsteps thundering down the canyon. The first person they saw was Keagan and his Arcanine, with Duncan close behind and the enemies trailing them. Keagan crossed the gap, then Duncan, and then their pursuers a split second later. Ikari’s Crawdaunt knocked the rider on Gogoat straight to the ground with a big swing from one of its pincers, Olivia’s Hitmonlee vaulted off of its ledge and did a sweep kick to knock Stoutland’s legs out from under it, and Hayai’s Jolteon bristled its fur into spikes, launched itself at Zebstrika’s rider, and curled up into a ball to knock him off. Once all the riders and Pokemon were separated, Jonah and the others pounced on the enemy trainers, took their Pokeballs, and recalled the Pokemon they had ridden. As soon as the enemy trainers were disarmed, Jonah’s Rillaboom tied them up with vines.
“You’ll never get away with this!” One of them yelled. “I dunno. Looks like we are,” Liam replied. “Do you really think you can beat us?” Another asked. “Uh, yeah, actually,” Keagan said back. “You will never defeat King Aldrich. You are a child,” one of them spat. “Let’s look at the facts here,” Jonah began. “Our army is what, a third the size of yours, give or take a few hundred? Even with a severe numbers disadvantage, we’ve stopped two sieges on Hammerlocke, taken a base under the control of your best tactician, established more bases in the Crown Tundra, figured out where you’ve been sending your troops from and stopped you, and we found your base that no one is supposed to be able to find and infiltrated it, which is also supposed to be impossible. How will you win?” Jonah said dead serious. The acolyte didn’t say a word. “Thought so,” Jonah said and walked away. He got over to where the others were standing and said, “So, where now?” “Well, we need to get to Unova, and the easiest way would be to ride the coast,” Duncan said. “For how long?” Mackenzie asked. “Roughly five days,” Duncan replied. “Ugh. I’m tired of the ocean,” Olivia said. Everyone laughed and nodded their heads in agreement.
The five days of travel up the coast were pretty dull. The group pushed themselves and their Pokemon because they knew they were on a schedule, and they covered about seven hundred miles each day, only stopping to sleep, and even at that they stopped late and got up early. By three o’clock on the fifth day, Unova came into view. “Woo-hoo!” Keagan exclaimed. At the same time, Liam yelled from Avalugg’s back, “Land ho!” “So, where can we find your friend?” Keagan asked Kodai. “He’s probably out at his dig site, over that way,” Kodai replied, pointing to a large rocky area. “Aye-aye. Full speed ahead!” Keagan yelled.
About an hour later, the group arrived at Michael’s dig site. There were lots of people and various kinds of equipment all over the place. People of all ages were digging around for fossils, except for one man who was standing by himself. He wore a blue button-up shirt, cargo shorts, and a wide-brimmed sun hat. He waved up at everyone in the air and shouted, “Come on down!” Everyone who was flying landed and those in the sea came onto land. Everyone dismounted and recalled their Pokemon. Kodai shook Michael’s hand and said, “Good to see you.” “You too, old friend,” Michael replied. “So, would you like to introduce me to your companions?” Michael asked. “Oh, sure. The kids are kinda in charge. They were the first to encounter the, uh, bad guys. They got the message out that they needed people to help them fight, so I answered it. They picked me and the others to help them out, and Duncan is a former enemy turned ally,” Kodai explained. “Quite the crew,” Michael said. “You’ve got no idea,” Kodai said. Keagan cleared his throat and said, “This is nice and all, but we’re on the clock. Do you have somewhere we can go to talk?” “Uh, yes. This way,” Michael replied.
Michael took them to his house, which was built on the dig site. It was nice, but also cluttered with papers and equipment. As soon as Michael opened the door, a squeak was heard from the hallway and an Archen flew out to land on Michael’s shoulder. It cocked its head at the others and gave a little squawk. “They’re friends,” Michael said. “So, fill me in. How can I help?” Michael asked. “Okay, so here’s the deal,” Jonah began. “We just attacked the enemy’s main base and we’re pretty sure they’re going to come this way to try to find us. By the time they get here, we’ll be back in Galar amassing our forces for a full-scale attack. When they come this way, we need you to hold them for a while until we send backup and send them back to where they came from. Got it?” “Um, yes, I can do that,” Michael replied. “Thank you,” Kodai said. Michael told them they could spend the night, which they elected to do, and he went to explain the plan to the others outside.
After breakfast the next morning, the group said their goodbyes and set off for Galar. They could see Galar within three hours, passed of Stow-on-Side in four, and within half an hour from then they landed in Hammerlocke. The group was greeted by the Gym leaders and Jonah’s parents. His mom rushed over to him and said, “Are you alright? Did you get hurt again?” “No Mom, we’re okay. But we don’t have much time. I need to talk to Dad,” Jonah replied. “Go right ahead,” his mom said. He walked over to his dad and gave him a hug. “How did it go, bud?” His dad asked. “Good, but we don’t have much time. We’re launching a full-scale attack on their base, and I want you to help. You in?” Jonah asked. “You bet I am,” his dad replied. “Good. You’ll have your assignment later,” Jonah said. After they checked in with everyone, the group went to brief the other command team members about their trip. Once everyone was there, Ikari began the briefing. He told them about what they found in Kalos, the recon operation, the attack on the castle, and the defense force in Unova. “So, what we need to do now is launch a full-force attack on the enemy base. We need to figure out our numbers first,” Ikari said. “Before you do that, let me give you an update. While you were gone we did a lot more recruiting, and we have roughly three-thousand one hundred and fifty troops to work with here, plus the four hundred and ninety stationed in the towns, so about three-thousand six hundred and forty troops total,” Leon explained.
“Holy crud,” Keagan and Jonah said in unison. “Okay, so let’s do some math,” Liam began. “Based on what we saw at the castle, I wouldn’t expect any more than one hundred and fifty soldiers to have been sent after us in Unova. How many people did Michael have on his dig site?” He asked. “About one hundred,” Kodai answered. “Okay, so let’s send a hundred of ours over there, and the rest can go to the castle,” Liam said. “Okay, sounds good,” Jonah replied. “How will we divide the forces?” Keagan asked. “How about three battalions of a thousand-ish?” Tanner suggested. “Do the math,” Jonah said. Tanner did the calculations and resulted in three battalions of one-thousand-one hundred and eighty troops each. These would be divided into four companies of two-hundred and ninety-five each, which would be divided into four platoons of about seventy-four each, which would then be divided into individual squads. Each company would be an even distribution of the groups that were previously organized; strong and slow, flying, fast, and all-rounders. One battalion would be led by Jonah and his friends, another by the majors plus Duncan, and the third by some of the stronger Gym Leaders, Victor, and Leon. The remaining league members would be dispersed throughout the forces. They had also planned to call in the captains that were deployed throughout Galar and add them to the fight. They would wait until they had confirmation that those sent after the group returning to Galar had been dealt with, and then they would move out toward the castle. For now, they would use the remaining time to train. They also made another call to Looker and asked him to defend Hammerlocke while they were gone. He agreed. With everything set, the travelers did the only logical next step: taking a nap.
Jonah woke up at about five in the evening. He had already decided what he wanted to do. He was going to battle his dad, no holding back. He wanted to make sure he was ready for the frontline. He went to the house where his family was staying. His little brother ran out to greet him and asked, “Can we battle?” “Not now. I’m here for Dad,” Jonah replied. He found his Dad in the backyard with his Pokemon. “Hey Dad!” Jonah called. “Hi bud. What’s up?” His dad asked. “I wanted to battle you to make sure you’re good to go. Sound good?” Jonah asked. “You got it. I’m not going easy on you though,” his dad said. “Me either,” Jonah replied. His dad sent his Rhyperior our first, and Jonah selected his Obstagoon.
“You first, bud,” Jonah’s dad said. “Big mistake. Obstagoon, Night Slash!” Jonah said. Obstagoon launched forward and gave Rhyperior a good hit to to face. Rhyperior staggered backward and reset itself. “Hammer Arm!” Jonah’s dad yelled. Obstagoon was caught square in the gut with Rhyperior’s massive arm and flung away like it was nothing. Obstagoon landed on all fours and pushed itself up, one hand on its stomach. It snarled at glared at Rhyperior. “Okay, you’re strong. But we’re stronger! Use Snarl!’ Jonah said. Obstagoon fired a large ball of purple energy. “Block it!” Jonah's dad said. Rhyperior crossed its arms and took the attack full on. Immediately, Jonah said, “Use Headbutt!” Obstagoon lowered its head and hit Rhyperior straight on, knocking it backward. Rhyperior recovered and Jonah’s dad said, “Use Horn Attack!” “Obstruct!” Jonah said. Obstagoon crossed its arms and a white X appeared, blocking the attack. “Now Rock Wrecker!” Jonah’s dad said. Obstagoon took the hit full-on. It got up, but it struggled. “Okay, that’s enough. You guys hit hard for sure. Obstagoon is made for fighting, and even he’s hurt. The other guys are totally screwed,” Jonah said. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, bud,” Jonah’s dad said. “You bet. I gotta go. Meeting my friends for dinner. See ya!”
Jonah arrived at Hammerlocke Station last. His friends had already gotten a table and ordered some food. Jonah waved to his friends and walked over to the table. He sat down next to Keagan and said, “Sorry I’m late. I was battling my Dad.” “Is he gonna be ready?” Keagan asked. “Totally. His Rhyperior hit Obstagoon so hard it barely got up,” Jonah replied. “Good. Is he gonna be with us for the fight?” Liam asked. “I think so. I’ll put him in our battalion,” Jonah replied. “That’ll be good,” Tanner replied. Keagan crammed half a Slowpoke tail in his mouth and mumbled, “How are we gonna decide who goes where?’ Jonah thought for a moment and said, “I dunno. Have everybody walk through and get a number I guess.” “Dude, enough battle talk. We just got home. Talk about that tomorrow or something,” Tanner said, exasperated. “Yeah, fair. Let’s just hang out,” Olivia said. The friends spent the rest of the night talking and goofing around, right up until bedtime.
