Faces appeared one after another on translucent screens, their numbers ballooning to a few dozen over the course of 30 minutes. Nobody spoke during that time, their expressions cold and intimidating. Each one was well over 100 years old, yet they appeared to be between 30 and 60 in human terms. They were a mix of men and women who participated because of a firm rule among the top brass of Team Luminal.
The emergency call was absolute, and any one of them could activate it so long as they understood that they'd be hunted down by every other Master ranked trainer participating in the call if their time was wasted.
When the scheduled time for the call arrived, the person who'd activated it finally began speaking.
“I called for an emergency meeting because I noticed a pattern among our members. Last year, in Kalos, we lost two bases, and this year, in Kanto, we lost three.”
The stares of everyone listening turned cold at the speaker's words. If the intel was correct, they were being hunted down, and despite their defenses, they were still losing to their attacker. It was a sign that any one of the people participating in the call could be targeted next, and based on their current defenses, they'd undoubtedly lose.
“I personally investigated the matter and found that all five attacks came from a single person riding an Arcanine to and from the base. He'd first locate the general area of the base, destroy it, fight off the first wave of mandatory reinforcements, loot everything, then leave before the second wave arrived. He fumbled a bit at the start as he realized how our defense system worked, but he's now able to accomplish this consistently. This means that, as we are now, we're nothing but prey.”
Rage started building on the faces of those listening to the meeting, but they couldn't voice their opinions because this emergency call was biased toward the person who'd called it. The person who activated the call was allowed to speak uninterrupted until they were finished before everyone else could give their opinions.
This rule existed to ensure their organization, which operated under a loose hierarchical system without a single leader, could survive a common threat. It was a last-ditch effort for an organization filled with ambitious powerhouses who didn't trust one another, refused to subordinate themselves to anyone else, and would never willingly accept a single person as their leader.
“I couldn't find out their identity. He has a habit of looting everything, destroying recording devices, and covering his tracks so nothing can be used to identify him. My solution to the problem is for everyone to install at least a dozen 1-way surveillance devices that randomly transmit short video snippets to satellites beyond the detection range of a Rotom outside your bases. This way, you'll be able to avoid being found while simultaneously leaving a record behind once you get attacked.”
They would've been screaming if they could speak at the sacrificial nature of the idea. Still, it was one of the best ways to identify the attacker without risking exposure to the outside world. The surveillance devices would transmit their footage to specific satellites, making triangulation difficult, while the short duration of each transmission would provide too little information to pinpoint the exact location. As long as they regularly changed the appearance of their energy shields, even leaked footage would make it difficult to identify the location of the base.
“You're welcome to improve your defenses as much as you want to fight against him. I've included a report of my conclusions about his fighting style in this call, so feel free to take appropriate actions as necessary. All I ask is that you ensure you have a satellite-linked recording of your base’s destruction so we can take revenge. I will personally head out and hunt him down if I can just find out who he is. This is the end of my message.”
The video call exploded with angry voices, fearful questions, and idiotic suggestions, but everyone agreed to do the bare minimum at least. There was no reason they should be exposed if they accepted the recommended action. That said, they also moved to double or triple their defenses to ensure they'd be able to defend themselves or at least escape an attack by whoever was responsible.
By the end of the meeting, each individual had ideas of their own, but all of them made sure to place some form of live satellite surveillance device in hidden locations outside their bases. This way, they'd have a record of any attack and, more importantly, enough information to identify their attacker and take revenge.
-----
Alex said his goodbyes to his family roughly a year after returning from his dimensional expedition. He was fully packed and ready to go, with his Pokémon prepared for war, bar one that would serve as his taxi to Ultra Space. His pack was empty save for enough ammunition to destroy a region and enough food to travel through one without needing to hunt or forage. His gadgets had been repaired or replaced as necessary, ensuring they were all operating at peak efficiency.
He'd also finished his farewell sex with the girls last night, this time with them dressed in fox costumes complete with fluffy tails. It was an interesting experience.
Once he finished registering at the Research Center, he lined up with the others. Then, with a flash of light and a tight squeeze, he was off to a whole new world.
BANG!
Alex was suddenly tackled by an unknown entity. It grabbed his arm and gnawed at it while he struggled to regain his senses. Slowly, he could make out explosions, cries of death, wails of pain, and the unmistakable sounds of war. He had somehow found himself in the middle of a battlefield, right where the two sides clashed.
A Machoke slammed into a Donphan, sending both rolling through the dirt, while a Fearow dove overhead and unleashed a barrage of Drill Pecks upon a formation of Ariados. Somewhere farther away, a Typhlosion engulfed a cluster of Victreebel in flames as Rhydon and Ursaring tore through opposing lines.
Once he got his bearings, he punched the Typhlosion that was uselessly trying to tear him to shreds, sending it flying into the distance. A pack of Houndoom descended upon him, some biting at his limbs while others breathed intense flames onto his Deep Suit. He punched them away, kicked those within reach, and slowly managed to establish his arena in the center of the battle.
A Golem rolled past him like a living cannonball before crashing into a group of Poliwrath, while a Scyther darted between the combatants, its blades dripping with blood. Above them, several Noctowl and Pidgeot fought for control of the sky, their cries nearly drowned out by the explosions below.
“That’s enough!” Alex shouted as he released his Pokémon, immediately drawing the attention of both sides.
Gardevoir went to work, establishing a two-sided perimeter between the armies and counterattacking anything that dared to attack them while maintaining a Protect rotation. Given that each and every one of Alex’s Pokémon was Champion rank, the aura they radiated immediately suppressed both sides.
A Tyranitar charging toward them suddenly slowed beneath the oppressive aura before being knocked aside by one of Alex's Pokémon. A Dragonite attempting to break through the perimeter was forced back by a devastating attack, while a group of Ampharos and Magneton hesitated as they realized they were facing something far beyond anything they had encountered on the battlefield.
Unfortunately, this was a war, and one that apparently couldn’t be lost, so despite their overwhelming power, the trainers continued to fight, forcing Alex’s Pokémon to retaliate.
A massacre ensued as bodies piled up around Alex and his Pokémon, creating a zone of death in the middle of the battlefield. Arcanine, Sandslash, Heracross, Kingdra, Donphan, and Rhydon fell among the countless others, while surviving Pokémon desperately tried to retreat from the monsters standing between the two armies.
“Wash them away,” Alex commanded. “Both sides need to cool off.”
“Gardevoir!”
At her command, the water team and any Pokémon capable of using Surf unleashed a pair of tidal waves that split the two sides of the war apart.
The fainted Pokémon and dead bodies were washed away toward either side of the battlefield. Even the bravest among those who wanted to continue fighting stood no chance against the immense power unleashed as they were swept away in the sudden flood. Onix were uprooted from the earth, Ursaring were carried away helplessly, and entire groups of Houndoom and Arcanine were knocked out by the rushing water.
Slowly, the fighting spirit on both sides died out as they realized they were losing to a single trainer standing in the middle of the battlefield. Hopelessly, at that, as if they were mere children being separated by an adult.
“Now that we have some space, capture the commanding officers on both sides,” Alex commanded.
Before either army could realize what was happening, their officers were seized by an overwhelming psychic force and dragged toward Alex. One by one, they were forced to their knees in front of him, the commanders from both sides facing each other.
There were roughly half a dozen officers on each side, twelve in total for this battle.
Judging by the number of commanders and units they commanded, this was likely a major, pivotal battle that could determine the victor of the entire conflict. And Alex had somehow been dropped right in the middle of it.
As he was about to speak, his hand hovering over the vambrace on his left arm, he suddenly sensed a swarm of Elite rank auras approaching from one direction, accompanied by a powerful Champion rank aura from another. Looking toward the horizon, he saw a flight of dragons approaching from the west, while a lone Dragonite carrying a rider on its back flew toward him from the south.
Alex's eyes narrowed as he watched them draw closer.
“Looks like the real commanders have arrived.”
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