Chapter 93:

  Declaration of War

  "What's in Kanto?" I frowned. My hand was already typing the necessary keyword to redirect me to Kanto TV's website but I was hesitant to press the enter key.

  My trouble sense was going off and despite Hylla telling me it wasn't me who was in trouble, I still felt anxious. Somehow I knew it would affect me. I know how Fate plays her cards. Just because I hadn't run into trouble this week doesn't mean that I am in the clear.

  Or was I just being paranoid? No, Fate was definitely out to get me.

  "Dust?" Hylla's voice rang through the speaker, she sounded worried.

  "Why did you call me?" I asked warily. Last time she contacted me, it didn't end well.

  "I got new information that might interest you," Hylla stated. "Information that's related to A2. However," she gave me a doubtful look. "On second thought I also realize you deserve some rest."

  "What are you playing at?" I narrow my eyes.

  Hylla studied mine.

  "You still blame me for your experience down in A2." Her gaze softened. "And you still haven't called a professional counselor as you promised."

  Shit, how did she know? "I don't need a psychiatrist." I managed to say it without blinking. "Besides, why do you care?"

  "I do care about your well-being," I highly doubted that. "However I also know you can't just stay out of trouble."

  I wanted to say that it wasn't my fault and that trouble kept coming for me but that would be a lie. I did tend to take a bit more risks.

  "Don't tell me otherwise." Hylla's gaze sharpened again. "From what I know, you went from one life and death situation to the other with only little breaks between. That is not exactly normal."

  "You were the one who put me into that situation in the first place," I pointed out.

  "I did it out of necessity. Maybe that was on me, but what about all the rest? Instead of slowing down after that, you continued to look for danger. I did a little digging and I know that you are actively looking for problems to throw yourself at." Why did she have to bring that up now?

  "That's no-" I tried but Hylla cut me off.

  "First the entire thing with attacking a Team Rocket outpost with a rock and a wild Ralts. You could have walked away but you didn't. Next, you get robbed and your first reaction is not to go to the police or ask for help. Instead, you decide to have a wild chase scene across the city. And just when it looks like you are about to slow down you jump straight into a hostage situation."

  Hylla paused and took a deep breath, giving me the chance to say something.

  I didn't know what to say.

  I was at a loss for words. I already knew I was… well a bit more reckless than normal humans should be but hey, I was fucking magiced to another world. Not just any world, an insane world filled with super-powered monsters and humans.

  It's funny you keep calling everyone and the world insane. The voice sounded so amused. Like I was telling them a joke. A cruel joke.

  I frowned, wait? Where did that thought come from? A sudden sense of dread washed over me. The feeling you get when you know something is horribly wrong. But what was it?

  "From the look on your face, I see you realize it as well." Hylla's voice interrupted my thoughts. For a brief second forgot the webcam was turned on. I quickly forced my expression to be neutral and stared at it. In the corner of my screen I saw Hylla swipe a hair lock out of her face. Her deep purple-colored eyes fixated on me. It felt as if she would reach out of the screen to tear out my heart.

  Dammit she was intense.

  Luna, who had been sparring with Fay, stopped mid-fight and gave me a worried look. I shook my head and urged her to keep doing her own thing.

  "You keep heading into dangerous situations, every time you'll find an excuse to justify it. Whatever you think. It's not healthy. You are actively looking for danger."

  "Tsk." I groaned. I tried to come up with a smart-ass response. But I came up empty yet again and I knew why. The answer was simple. Hylla was right and it annoyed me. But more, it worried me.

  My thoughts drifted back towards my final moments in A2. The sound of the scythe coming down on Froslass, her last words.

  That could have been me. It should have been me. Logically, I should have been dead 10 times over.

  Then why do I keep risking my life?

  My head started to hurt. Why? As if I don't have enough questions to answer already.

  "Why do you care?" I asked, my voice low. I had to keep myself from getting too emotional. Otherwise it would needlessly distress Luna and Fay. "Why'd you call me up just to tell me that I am…"

  "Self destructive." Hylla offered.

  I didn't feel self destructive. Though I don't know how I would know if that were to be the case.

  "Yes, why?"

  A small kind smile appeared. Her gaze softened.

  "Well for starters, I don't want to see you on the news because you died trying to do something heroic."

  "That's it? You just want to help?"

  "Yes," Hylla said resolutely. "Is it that surprising to you?"

  Was that a trick question? Of course, it could be likely. From what I know Hylla always plays a game to win.

  But what could she possibly gain?

  Like she could read my thoughts, Hylla rolled her eyes dismissively.

  "Dust, I suggest you call that number the doctor gave you. I really think it would do you well to talk to someone."

  I ignored her remark.

  "So, can I assume you lied about something happening in Kanto?"

  "Oh no, there is a B-level threat in Viridian City and it does concern you, however, I also noticed you still haven't talked to anyone about what really went down in A2."

  "It doesn't matter." I said. "I went in, encountered some weird shit and left. Nothing happened."

  It wasn't like I had been chased by a murderous queen. It wasn't like I had seen a human being gobbled up alive. Nope, nothing bad ever happened.

  "Besides, that place went up in ashes anyway. Now, can we please move on?"

  "If you promise to call a professional counselor," Hylla said without faltering. "Otherwise I won't give you the information you desire."

  Ugh, really. I get she wants to help me, or pretends to at least but seriously, this is starting to become a serious pain in the ass. Couldn't she just let me be?

  However, I did want to know whatever it was she thought I would deem important.

  "Fine," I let out a defeated sigh. I needed to know what Hylla figured out. She was my only source within the League, my inside man. I didn’t really trust her a lot, but I trusted her a whole lot more than anyone else I knew in this world, not that I knew many people to begin with.

  I didn’t had that many allies. I should avoid alienating the sparse few I had.

  Even though she gambled with your life twice? An annoying voice in my head whispered.

  I ignored it and forced myself to smile. "Now, show me what you got."

  "You promise to seek professional help?" She asked.

  "Yeah yeah," I didn't promise I would do it soon. "Now, what's the thing that might be important to me?"

  "Do you like monsters?" Hylla asked mysteriously.

  "Monsters?"

  "Switch to Kanto TV." Hylla said. "Then you'll see what I meant when I said you might not want to get involved with this."

  I hit the enter key.

  A viewer's discretion appeared on the screen immediately. Of course, I clicked it away and watched a loading wheel turn a couple times before disappearing altogether.

  I was met with a choppy low resolution overhead view shot from a plane. Just as I took in the sight I realized Hylla said Viridian City.

  If my memories weren't betraying me then Viridian City is the place where you fight Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket.

  I hadn’t spent much time thinking about Kantol. It was kinda far away and doing its own thing mostly. They probably also didn’t think much about us, now I thought about it.

  Like the broadcast was waiting for my realization, it finally pulled through and the quality improved. Now the screen was no longer a mess of pixels and I could make out special details.

  While the game version of Viridian City was barely six buildings, the real world version was an actual city. And when I say city I mean a sprawling metropolis, a big city with skyscrapers with districts and small ants that imagined themselves to be people.

  From the bird’s eye view Viridian cityscape looked like a shining cesspool of humanity, corralling together in the center to form a futuristic looking skyline that vaguely reminded me of a row of teeth.

  Viridian City wasn't big the same way Jubilife City was. Jubilife was a city with hundred towers reaching for the sky, all equally beautiful and part of a bigger picture. Viridian was the opposite. It had tall buildings but the architecture was all over the place.

  Some of the buildings were made of simple brickstone and looked like they were supposed to be demolished two decades ago. Then you had buildings that were made of bright steel and glass; the pinnacle of prosperity.

  Viridian was like a jigsaw puzzle with no harmony in the design.

  Another big difference between Jubilife City and Viridian City were the black plumes of smoke that rose from the city and weaved into the orange sky.

  Though it wasn't the usual smog that rose from the city. The plumes were heavy and thick and seem to originate from multiple spots in the city. Several city blocks were on fire, each looking on the camera like a small smouldering piece of coal.

  "What am I looking at?" I realized the audio was turned off.

  "Wait for it," Hylla spoke with a concerned look.

  A lightning beam suddenly struck somewhere in the city. No, not somewhere, it was from where the smoke was the thickest.

  I raised the volume. Immediately I heard a reporter talk. The constant drone of a chopper blade confirmed the footage was shot from a helicopter.

  "There's still no official response from the Kanto League. Evacuations are still ongoing as we speak."

  Ever seen one of those big monster movies? The ones in which a giant Godzila appears in the middle of a city and tramples everything, yu know what I'm talking about: Toppling buildings, cars on fire and ruined streets.

  It was close to the scene I was watching right now. There was only one difference.

  The giant monster was nowhere to be seen.

  The camera footage was shaky and black wispy smoke blurred the lens. Despite this a bright yellow path could be seen carved into the city like a hot knife had cut through buildings, stores and streets. Fires were everywhere, apartments had been charred black. The foundation of the streets looked like it had straight-up molten into black puddles at certain spots.

  "Holy fuck." I muttered with both awe and abstract horror. The scene looked like something from a comic book or a fantasy game. But to see it in real life; It was like God drew with his finger through Viridian City. A burning hot finger mind you.

  "What caused this, a Legendary?"

  "Just one Pokémon," Hylla said sinisterly, there was some sort of excitement in her voice. "And it's not even Legendary class, though I am not sure what to call it."

  The chopper from which the crew filmed began to slowly descend back to the city. It stayed away from the end of the burning trail where the air was sizzling with local thunderstorms.

  "See the collateral damage?" Hylla asked.

  I barely noticed her voice. Instead, my attention was on the city.

  Black plumes were coming from multiple spots in this mismatched city. The biggest source appeared to be somewhere close to one particular tall building.

  "You see that skyscraper, the one shaped like a screwdriver?' Hylla asked. I didn't see how it looked like a screwdriver to her. Despite this, I knew which building she meant.

  It was built close to the center of the city in the middle of a once busy shopping avenue. It must have been the crown jewel of Viridian City. Of course, now it was collapsing in on itself.

  "What about it?"

  I could see people on the top of the skyscraper. Some were taking off with Pokémon that could fly but not all of them could get away as another part of the floor collapsed inwards.

  "That's the Viridian Casino, one of the biggest Casinos in the world." Hylla sounded amused.

  The feed shifted and cut to a scene closer to the ground. The square around the Viridian Casino was scorched black, like a massive bomb painted everything in one color. I could vaguely make out some human outlines on the ground, like someone spray painted the place black but somebody got in the way. At the center it was one black smudge. The surrounding buildings had suffered damage as well but it looked like the casino had taken the brunt of it.

  "Around 20 minutes ago, 3 Pokéballs were dropped off on this spot by an unidentified person." Hylla sounded like she was reading something to me out loud. "10 minutes later the Pokéballs opened-"

  "Wait, three fully evolved Pokémon?" I repeated, wondering what the hell this could mean. Dropping off a Pokéball is something akin to leaving a ticking time bomb. Does this mean this was a targeted attack? No, of course it has to be a targeted attack.

  The camera shifted again. It showed a group of humans wearing protective gear. They appeared to be discussing something but I had no idea what. From the looks of it, they were getting impatient. While they were traversing the torn-open shopping street they were accompanied by a weird turtle like Pokémon that was walking on four legs. The Pokémon unhinged its squared jaw and began blasting a torrent of water at the fires that had littered the road.

  The turtle thing was also carrying some weird device the size of a refrigerator. I didn't recognize what it was.

  "Three Pokéballs. One opened directly after the man left. It released an Electrode."

  "Ai." I muttered, already seeing where this was going.

  "It caused an explosion thrice as powerful as normal. Directly after that the other 2 Pokéballs were opened. One of the three Pokéballs was destroyed by the initial blast. The other Pokéball did manage to survive and released an unknown Pokémon."

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "How can it be unknown?"

  The video feed cut again. This time it showed a group of humans that had set up camp on a rooftop.

  They had laptops and other broadcasting technology laid out, protected by a large tent. A girl was intensely staring down at the city underneath her. Her dark purple hair was tied in a ponytail. She was fumbling with a remote-sized device in her hands, occasionally she turned around to bark instructions at her colleagues. She wore a red dress which really looked out of place.

  "That's-"

  "Sabrina," I said automatically. "I met her, a really nice girl, to die for."

  Hylla didn't reply.

  "So the Hunt is involved, eh? They're not doing a great job of it." Considering multiple sections of the city were on fire. It did explain why the camera coverage was so great and extensive. They did mention something about PR to me. T

  "I disagree, I think they are dealing wonderfully with the situation."

  On the screen, Sabrina suddenly turned around to face one of the guys on the rooftop. She shouted something, looking quite agitated. The tech guys started to relay the message.

  "So, what is this Pokémon, a Fire Type I assume?" If I had to guess it looked like Moltress had visited the city, but the fire damage was too focused. If it had been Moltress, half the city would at least be on fire.

  "That's the general consensus. It's been going at this for almost half an hour."

  Was that long? I had no idea how long these kinds of situations usually lasted.

  From somewhere underneath Sabrina a bright flare thingy shot up into the sky. It crashed a few blocks away and clouded that area with a blue-ish fog.

  When the fog faded away, the cameraman zoomed in. It looked like it was a normal city street with run down apartments and stores. Now the sidewalk was obliterated and one of the buildings had been cut in half, like a laser had cut through it.

  It was creepy to see how fast and easily the building was destroyed. Pokémon truly are terrifying and whatever had done that, it wasn’t done just yet.

  The fog was pushed away by a second shockwave. A ring of fire spread from one of the collapsed buildings and the rubble began to stir.

  A fiery explosion erupted from under a fallen roof and the blocks of concrete were disintegrated by the flames. How hot the fire had to be in order to cut through concrete I did not know, it must have been insanely hot though because the air began to become distorted.

  Actually, that did explain all the collateral damage. This thing was not just burning the city, it was melting away the foundations with its sheer presence.

  "Ew, from under what stone did that come from?" A husky voice said from my shoulder.

  I managed not to jump. Instead I managed to calmly turn my head to see a small orange bird perched on my shoulder. It barely weighed anything.

  I considered telling Midna that this was a private call but then I was reminded that Hylla had said this was somehow related to A2 and that Midna kinda deserved to know.

  And she was right, the thing displayed on the screen was indeed a freakish creature.

  In the middle of the raging flames stood a creature the size of a small horse. It looked like a black Doberman but it had huge horns.

  A Houndoom was the first thing that came to mind but I immediately rejected that. The creatures from which the flames spread was close to a Houndoom but it looked different. It was taller, had some sort of weird external rib cage and his nerves glowed red. Also its entire body was shrouded in fire. However, while the top of its body looked like it came from the depths of Tartarus its lower body looked the complete opposite. Instead of strong muscled legs and claws, it had 4 stocky legs that looked withered and frail. Its claws were too long and apart from each other. Its legs bent at the wrong angle. It looked like the frail legs had trouble sustaining its own weight.

  "It looks like a Houndoom but…" I began. I wanted to say Mega Evolved but this world did not have Megas. I checked but no one had ever witnessed a Mega Evolution. Of course, there were those weird drawings in ancient temples but no concrete evidence.

  Like a third evolution state?" I finished. "Though the legs are all wrong."

  I looked at Midna to see if she knew anything but the bird was completely silent.

  Hylla was silent and I had the idea she was judging my response.

  "We're lucky with that at least. Those misshapen legs are the reason the casualties are so low."

  Low? Wasn't half of the city on fire?

  The people and Pokémon that had gathered around the Houndoom quickly backed away. As the Houndoom managed to get up people seemed to be shouting orders. People on bird Pokémon flew up while others tried to find shelter behind barriers or other coverage. Just in time too. A shockwave of flames generated from the Houndoom and blasted debris across the street, cutting through concrete, plastic and steel with ease.

  With shaky legs, the Houndoom moved further down the street. The Pokémon in the air shot projectiles and laser beams but the heat of the flames incinerated it on impact. Nobody got hit but its flame covered body bled fire molt everything near it into a dreg.

  Pokémon fired back but all their shots were either vaporized or missed, hitting the grounds and buildings around him.

  "Have they tried water-type attacks?" I didn't see any water types on the battlefield. They were present but were scattered over the city, apparently tasked with putting out fires.

  "That won't work." Hylla said, "In fact, directly attacking it is discouraged. It has more weird abilities."

  She mentioned that now. I thought the people down there had a severe Stormtrooper aim syndrome. None of them really hit their target which was basically a slow moving ball of fire.

  A girl with blonde hair riding a Dragonite crashed into the building next to the Houndoom. She rammed straight through it and appeared on the other side without a scratch. I could practically feel the smirk radiating off her face as the tower crumpled on top of the Houndoom, again burying it under rubble.

  Purple smoke began to exude from under the rubble and the pile began to colour orange.

  A Snow-white Ninetales materialized and ran towards the pile that had now begun to stir. Of course, I recognized that cute fluff of snow, though she looked a lot less cute now. Dust and ash streaked her pale white fur. Red blood was smeared on it as well, though I wasn't sure it was hers or someone else's.

  Everywhere her paws touched the ground an ice crystal emerged and spread out. As she approached the rubble, she covered it with a layer of ice as well which actually seemed to work and kept the beast trapped. Especially since Snowflake sat on top of the hill, keeping it frozen.

  "So you know how your Zorua has mixed abilities?" Hylla asked me.

  "She does?" Midna asked, feigning surprise. I ignored her.

  "Yes, let me guess. This Mutant thing has it too? It already looks really fucked up."

  "Well from what has been observed it has above average endurance and strength." I was inclined to believe that after seeing it get up after having a building collapse on it. "It has the same typing as a normal Houndoom but it also seems to have a Ghost-like ability."

  "Destiny Bond, or at least some variation of it," I guessed, "That's why it hasn't been killed yet, and why no one is daring to hit it, that’s also why it also has purple stuff around it." It was a guess, but

  Of course, the question was: where did this beast come from? Wait, I could guess that too.

  "Let me guess it has escaped from A2."

  "You're right about the Destiny Bond thing. Any attacks that hit it are directly returned to the attacker." Hylla didn't confirm my second statement.

  The turtle Pokémon with the refrigerator on its back had finally arrived too and the people present removed the straps that held it in place and placed it down. More Pokémon carrying the same type of equipment just at the same time.

  The pile of rocks shuddered and the ice cracked. A spire of flames rose into the air and Snowflake literally got torched. The people up in the sky were relaying orders at the people below. They were linking the devices that were brought together. The water Pokémon that were present were tasked with putting out fires.

  Snowflake emerged from the flames, sporting severe burn marks and missing a tail, but I already saw some weird magic repairing all the damages, as if a clock was rewinding.

  "That's-"

  "Snowflake, I know her."

  I heard Hylla softly mutter something about taking the fun out of explaining.

  The fox yipped at the Houndoom who managed to literally burn himself free. In typical dog fashion, the Houndoom barked back, baring its fangs. Its eyes were glowing a fierce red.

  The two Pokémon stared at each other down. A misty haze spread from Ninetales' tails. At the same time, the flames surrounding Houndoom gathered around him. More barks were exchanged, maybe they had a lengthy discussion but I had the idea they weren't exchanging pleasantries.

  The two canines baring fangs at each other was like something from a western movie. It seemed that whatever Houndoom's original plan had been was thrown right out of the window. That was not so good for little Snowflake.

  Besides a type disadvantage, Snowflake was not only up against a half mega but also had been modified. (I kept running into these, I ought to find a better name for them.)

  Snowflake was most likely older and had her weird time-loop thing going on but she also had only 2 brain cells. For Viridian City's sake, I hoped she could outlast Houndoom.

  If I had been calling the shots I would have expandable Pokémon wear down Houndoom and then have him dropped from the sky or something. If that didn't work, nuke the shit out of it.

  The people around Snowflake didn't seem to care about her predicament and kept working on their machines. The Pokémon on standby seemed to be cheering on the white fox. The airborne trainers joined in on the excitement as well. Even the cameraman dared to come closer. Snowflake opened her mouth and barked loudly. Spears of ice materialized around her. They shot towards Houndoom. Most of them were hit out of the air by tendrils of fire but one hit home and crashed into Houndoom's chest. Houndoom didn't whimper or flinch but a bloody mark appeared on Snowflake's fur.

  "So that's the Destiny Bond thing. Weird."

  "Well the data you recovered from A2 did say it was possible to mix and modify abilities but to see it in progress, it's terrific."

  I had sadly seen a lot of that in progress. Eternal Queen, the freaky Kabutops. This thing in Viridian City fits right in.

  Instead of waiting to recover, Snowflake shot forward. A second later she appeared, her jaw locked around Houndoom's neck. Her teeth were glowing and a feral look was in her eyes.

  Houndoom roared and twisted, trying to shake Snowflake off. He generated an explosion and Snowflake was tossed away. She crashed against a lamp post which… ouch must not have felt good.

  With shaky legs, Snowflake got up. Bleeding heavily from the gashes that had magically appeared in her neck. She whined sadly as the pain burned.

  Despite this, she got up.

  I wanted to yell at the screen. Tell Snowflake to target the legs, to not head straight for the neck. Instead, Snowflake did the exact same thing. This time she didn't even get close as a fireball tossed her away prematurely.

  Was it me or was the fire getting fiercer?

  Snowflake got up, looking charred and damaged but the wounds in her neck however had already disappeared. She narrowed her eyes as if thinking really hard. She charged and Houndoom unhinged its jaw. Snowflake abruptly stopped mid-charge. As fire heated up inside Houndoom's belly she slammed her paws into the pavement. Ice crystallized underneath them and spread towards Houndoom. The dog looked down in surprise. The ice had reached his paw and a spike shot up from the ground straight through its misshapen feet.

  He howled in pain and tried to move but his leg was nailed to the ground.

  A whine escaped from Snowflake as she fell. One of her paws was completely soaked with red blood. A Tropius swept down and picked up the fox before she could get up again.

  The Houndoom roared and shot a fireball up into the sky. However before it could reach the pair a blue screen flashed to life. Absorbing the hit.

  The panel had a light blue hue and reached up into the sky, higher than even the highest building in the city. It looked like a… forcefield!

  2 more of those things flashed to life around Houndoom, covering the entire city block like a giant prison.

  The force fields erupted from the ground, each had one of the refrigerator things backing it in the corner. I let out a small gasp as I realized what the plan had been.

  Not to kill it, but to pin it down long enough for the people to set up force fields. Those force fields were the same one used during big tournaments and Gym battles, though they usually were smaller. They protected the spectators from whatever battle was going on.

  My respect for the Hunt grew as I realized the full extent of their plan.

  The machines that generated the forcefield must have been deployed at 3 different spots in the city and slowly moved toward the target's location, all the while the ground troops kept the focus off them and the airborne fighters pinned the Houndoom down with rubble and relayed its position.

  Setting up a forcefield in the middle of a city must have been a pain to coordinate. The machinery involved with the process was very delicate and took up a lot of space.

  The Houndoom had freed itself from Snowflake's spike and rammed it against the barrier. It held strong, not even flickering. It turned and charged at a different barrier but was met with the same result.

  "Isn't this the same strategy you used?" I asked Hylla.

  "She did what?" Midna asked.

  "Yes, though this is a much higher and stronger force field. Must be using an enormous amount of power." Hylla didn't sound too happy about them using her plan.

  The girl riding the Dragonite appeared on screen. Her cape wavered in the wind as did her long blonde hair. Her Dragonite was carrying a metal orb-like thing in its paws. I didn't recognize what it was.

  The Houndoom kept pounding against the walls, breathing fire that had cut through buildings before. Now, it was harmlessly absorbed by the light blue walls.

  The girl on the Dragonite flew straight up at a 90-degree angle, parallel to the glowing wall. Once she had reached the top she flew over it, dropping the small orb right inside the cage.

  It dropped down at a slow pace. It took a while.

  Houndoom only had the chance to give a surprised look before a shockwave erupted from the orb. A split second later, the entire forcefield bathed in light.

  It wasn't just fire, more like a pillar of pure destructive light, only contained by the 3 shields. It beamed straight up into the sky past the clouds and blended with the red sky.

  I could feel the sheer power through the screen and boy, if those screens weren't placed there I had the suspicion Viridian would have been wiped off the map.

  The light stayed for only 5 seconds before it subsided like a candle going out.

  When the light faded away there was no sign of the monster. Nothing had remained, not even the ground he stood on. Instead, a perfectly triangle-shaped crater stood in its place.

  There was nothing left.

  The battle had ended.

  "Holy fuck." Midna spoke with awe. "Where do we get one of those?"

  "They're not for sale."

  "So what just happened?" I asked after a full minute of silence.

  The Hunt seemed to be done and began with clean up operations. I spotted the Commander walking around, shadowed by a Bulbesaur. It was an odd image, but he seemed to be doing fine commanding people around. The girl on the Dragonite struck a victory pose which stuck out as odd to me but the camera seemed to love it.

  "Well this surprisingly has a lot to do with A2." I miniaturized the broadcast and turned on the video call feed.

  A2, a gift that keeps giving.

  "So, I assume that blowing that place to hell was not enough? How does it relate to all of this?"

  Viridian City and the Red Orphanage were miles away from each other.

  "Remember the guy you met on your way to A2?"

  I nodded. He had been covered in blood, a huge Beedril and was fucking horrifying. Not someone you easily forget.

  "Well, the sketch you provided us gave me some clear idea who you ran into. His name is Redhand. Tell me Dust, have you ever heard of the Team Rocket Executives?"

  I had heard of them. They were like mini-bosses in the games. Just higher-ranked henchmen, cannon fodder to the protagonist's journey. I hadn't heard of them before in this world though.

  In the next minute, I learned that they weren't at all like in the games. They sounded a whole lot worse. They aren't leaders but more like assassins. Very dangerous and skilled. They were the ones Team Rocket sent to weed out rival organizations and gangs. They mostly operated from the shadows so even the League didn't know how many there were but Hylla thought there were between 3 and 10 Executives.

  The reason they weren't enemy number one was that they purely focused on other criminals and for this reason the Kanto League looked the other way when they were around.

  Messed up as hell, I know. And just my luck to run into one of them, though he did leave me alone. He said I wasn’t one of them and then just left me.

  "Okay, so what did Galactic do to have an Executive sent after them?" And murder everyone.

  I felt the Zorua stiffen on my shoulder. "The Mew DNA," Midna whispered into my ear.

  "The what?" Then I recalled that one simple line from Midna's file. About how they did something with her egg and Mew DNA. It never specified where they got it. Now I had some clue about the origins.

  "Your Zorua is right.” Hylla confirmed. “You’re already familiar with the legend of Mew, good. Allegedly one of Team Rocket's vaults held Mew's DNA. Whether it’s the real deal or a synthesised copy or maybe even mutated Ditto DNA, Galactic stole it for their own purposes and Team Rocket strikes back in retaliation."

  A typical gang war, except both parties were multi-million organizations that tried to rule the world from the shadows. In a twisted way it made sense.

  "And how does it tie in with Viridian City getting lit on fire?"

  I had a theory. I just need to know what Hylla knows and which parts of canon were real.

  "Well, the true reason is classified." Hylla had a smug-ass smile on her face.

  "But you will tell me anyway?" I replied with what I hoped was my most charming smiles. Access to classified information was the prime reason I was friends with Hylla.

  "Well, you're really not supposed to know this but seeing how you are already involved. Might as well know the full story. Remember the tall screwdriver building?"

  "What about it?"

  "Fun fact- it is, was, one of the world's biggest Casinos. Lesser known fact is that it's also an important Team Rocket HQ. I think it's very obvious what's going on here."

  Why was I not surprised? I knew Giovanni was the Gym leader of Viridian. Might as well have a secret Casino hideout.

  Still, this does explain why a random monster rampaged through the city.

  This was Team Rocket's home turf. Galactic just sent out their murder experiment to burn the city down. This might have been the world's biggest 'fuck you' I had ever seen.

  "So Galactic did it to piss on Team Rocket." Considering Cyrus wants to be a God himself it does seem like something a megalomaniac would do.

  "Still that leaves a few questions, 1 where did that Houndoom come from and what is wrong wi-"

  "Ssshht." Hylla shushed suddenly me. "Look, they're talking."

  I opened the broadcast again.

  A man was holding some kind of press conference. A small stage was built outside an official League Gym. Reporters were already asking questions.

  I turned up the volume.

  The man was neatly dressed in a black suit. His hair was cut short and slicked backward. He had a sharp jaw and black eyes that were surprisingly bright and filled with life. Next to him sat a Persian. Leisurely licking its own paw.

  "-And we are extremely grateful towards the heroes of the Hunt who not only managed to put down the savage monster that tried to attack our home but also managed to save thousands of civilian lives with their warning to evacuate hours prior to the attack."

  He nodded towards one of the officials.

  "Their psychic and brave heroes saved the day," this guy really sounded passionate. "And I will personally see to it that they are properly rewarded."

  His eyes darkened.

  "Now I also have a message to those who cowardly attacked our proud city."

  The people in the crowd murmured.

  "Because make no mistake," he addressed the crowd. "This was a targeted attack. A group of cowards is working from the shadows but I, no, we know you are out there."

  His gaze was focused on the camera, as if he was trying to burn it with his eyes.

  "The Kanto League doesn't want me to share this with the public but after today," he gestured at the city around him. "I think everyone deserves to know."

  "I think I recognize him, didn't he appear in a magazine once?" Midna thought out loud. I too, had a very strong theory about who this was.

  "No, nono," Hylla muttered in distress. "He isn't allowed to spread that information yet."

  "This attack was orchestrated by a terrorist organization known as Galactic. We don't know alot about them but we do know that they are willing to destroy the foundation of everything we built to achieve their goals."

  As if immensely disappointed, the man shook his head, "Today they went too far."

  There was a certain edge to their voice. Like he said one thing but meant something else differently.

  "You don't just attack my city and get away with it."

  "No, he can't do that," Hylla muttered.

  "You attacked my city, now I, Giovanni, Gymleader of Viridian City, declare war on Galactic and I promise I will not stop before all of them are put to justice."

  The crowd exploded with questions, shouts. The officials standing near him also didn't seem to be sure what to do.

  "That's it." With a curt nod, he left the stage, ignoring all the questions that were fired at him.

  I still understood what he meant. Team Rocket declared war on Galactic.

  A/N Heya heya. It is your perpetual depressed, anxious and tired Captain here.

  A bit late, but update is update. Working a lot on my youtube stuff and I just got a 2k monitor! Hopefully that will make running games at the lowest settings for frames even look better!

  Thanks for coming by. Writing this fic is a pain in the ass a lot of the time, but I genuinely really feel happy when I hear it means something to people.

  So yeah, for now go take a rest. But it's not over yet, there's a whole insane world waiting for you!

  -CaptainMoonShine-