Pokémon Umbral ~ Renny's Sidequest Chapter 1

[Bard The 5th LW]

Charlotte didn't even need the order from Pierce to send out Arcanine. Now things were getting interesring! Charlotte was getting kind of tired of Narchams and Pulverots. She was hardly listening to what the others were saying, she wqas just focused mostly on what was happening with her part of the battle.

Charlotte, deploy your Arcanine, have it use Dragon Pulse on Orbishriek A.

'Crap, which Orbishriek is A' was her initial thought. She wasn't really keeping track of that kind of thing. Maybe she should focus a bit more. "Buck, tear into one of the Orbishrieks with Dragon Pulse. Buck let out a bark before sending the attack forward. Fortunately, Charlotte's gamble worked out, and it hit Orbishriek A.

Meanwhile, Charlotte reloaded the sawed off shotgun with another two shells. She wasn't sure who to shoot, so he decided to spread the wealth. With much improved speed and accuracy, Charlotte unloaded one barrels into Orbishriek A and the second into B. Evil beware, she can aim now. Unfortunately for her, she forgot to the turn the camera on, and it hung uselessly around her neck.

[Astral Harmony]

Front Lawn Battle (Ally Phase)
- Whitney: Paradigm Shift Turn 2 of 3. Toxicroak has been defeated.
- Shannon's Abomasnow: Torterra has taken critical damage. Torterra is now frozen. Xatu has taken great damage.
- Weather Update: A hailstorm is now in effect on the Front Lawn.
- Moon's Crawdaunt: Dugtrio has taken great damage. Xatu has been defeated.
- Harliette: Linoone has been defeated.
- Evangaleen's Electivire: Sharpedo has been defeated.
- Dominic's Electrode: Wobbuffet has been badly poisoned.
- Lola: Magnezone has been defeated.
- Renny's Shaymin: Swalot has been defeated.
- Morale Integrity Level has been reduced to 42%. Enemy Formation is breaking up.

"I'm going to tear your fragile psyches to pieces!" Whitney said. Harliette smiled. Whitney had a lot of beef against Faynoc's boys for what happened to her brother and her Pokemon. Toxicroak quaked for a moment, then stoop up straight and fell backward. Whitney had tore its mental functionality asunder. "That's right. W-H-I-T-N-E-Y, stand before me and you shall die! I'm Whitney, bitch!"
Harliette was just as disturbed as everyone else at Whitney's sudden blood lust.
Shannon kissed a Pokeball and flung it. "Sorry for leaving you out of the battle for so long. Abomasnow, stand tall and proud."
Just as Abomasnow materialized from the capture energy, chunks of ice began falling from the sky and the temperature seemed to decrease. "Put 'em on ice, Abomasnow! Blizzard!"
Torterra and Xatu ate Abomasnow's frigid wrath. Torterra was suddenly frozen while Xatu resisted being frozen. Still, they had taken an immense beating.
"Pretty slick, Shannon. But watch me in action." Moon tossed forward a Pokeball and out popped Crawdaunt, making quite a racket with its snapping pincers. "Crawdaunt, mow 'em down. Blizzard!"
Dugtrio was badly hurt by the Blizzard. Xatu fell over with a clunk. "Hey, we're not half bad. I wonder why we lost when we were trying to rob that bank?"
"I can think of one woman...ergh, reason."
Harliette shook her groove thang as she pumped rounds into the weakened Linoone, taking it down. "I don't see point for their Pokemon using moves like that. It's just an open invitation for them to get their asses handed to 'em."

Evangaleen shrugged. "Beats me. Moves like those didn't help us when we were the enemy. Just goes to prove one important thing."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Never, ever fuck with the Pokemon Advanced Tactics and Counterterrorism Agency."
"Truer words were never spoken."
"Electivire, up and at 'em! Thunder!"
Sharpedo was downed by Electivire's electrical fury. "Good show."
Electrode poisoned Wobbuffet with Toxic.
Lola rushed forward and slid into the sleeping Magnezone with a solid kick, finishing it off.

Harliette whistled. "As a nurse, I thought your job was to heal people."
"Quiet, you." Lola said.

Shaymin flew before Swalot and beat its wings rapidly, creating blades out of the air that glided into and sliced Swalot up. Swalot fell over, bleeding and was returned to its Pokeball.
The enemy formation was starting to not look nearly as devoted to the fight as they used to be. "Keep it up!" Harliette shouted, reloading her guns. "We've got 'em filling their trousers with all kinds of stuff. One more push and we might be able to get them to flee."

Front Lawn Battle (Enemy Phase)
- Aggron, Slaking, Qwilfish, Crobat, Octillery, and Gardevoir have been deployed.
- Darkrai Pokebrid (Hidden): Abomasnow and Electrode are now asleep.
- Cresselia Pokebrid (Hidden): Shaymin has been defeated.
- Abomasnow, Electivire & Whitney have been defeated. Whitney's Paradigm Shift is ended.
- Torterra is frozen. Ursaring is asleep. Slaking is now in cooldown.
- Wobbuffet has taken good damage from bad poisoning.
- Maria has fully revived Whitney and awakened Harliette.

"We're not so easy to assassinate, are we?" Harliette said, laughing at the enemy Pokebrids.
"Curse you," the Arbok Pokebrid said. "Whitney, we gave you a home. We provided you with hot meals, a warm bed, and a purpose. You would really forsake all that?"
Whitney shook her head. "I am very thankful to all Faynoc has done for me, but unlike you, I can see that he doesn't do it out of the kindness of his heart. He does it out of the ideal that he can just use us as guinea pigs to exact his diabolical will over the world."
The Arbok Pokebrid faced Harliette. "And you, Harliette. We have taken you from the streets and given you a future when the rough urban life had nearly ended your life. You would dare to fight against us as well?"
Harliette shrugged. "What, me shooting your Pokemon didn't already answer that question? Even if my life did improve thanks to Faynoc, I would sooner rip my own body then abandon my only friend, much less fight against her."
"Sam!"
"Hey, no hugging. We're in the middle of thwarting a half-assed assassination attempt here, remember?"
"Mister Renny, please don't forget my Synchronization Technique, Black Hole. I can remove any enemy from combat and deal really great damage to them. Next turn will my last turn in Paradigm Shift, so it's my only chance to use it."

The time for talk was over and six more Pokemon were deployed to cover for the losses.

- Aggron (Steel/Rock) [Skarmory Pokebrid Pokemon 4 of 6]
Moves: Double-Edge / Iron Tail / Fire Blast / Thunder
Ability: Sturdy
- Slaking (Normal) [Dunsparce Pokebrid Pokemon 5 of 6]
Moves: Hammer Arm / Hyper Beam / Giga Impact / Earthquake
Ability: Truant
- Qwilfish (Poison/Water) [Arbok Pokebrid Pokemon 4 of 6]
Moves: Hydro Pump / Poison Jab / Toxic / Aqua Tail
Ability: Poison Point
- Crobat (Poison/Flying) [Arbok Pokebrid Pokemon 5 of 6]
Moves: Air Slash / Poison Fang / Confuse Ray / X-Scissor
Ability: Inner Focus
- Skuntank (Poison/Dark) [Sableye Pokebrid Pokemon 3 of 6]
Moves: Explosion / Flame Thrower / Night Slash / Sludge Bomb
Ability: Aftermath
- Gardevoir (Psychic) [Claydol Pokebrid Pokemon 3 of 6]
Moves: Dream Eater / Hypnosis / Psychic / Magical Leaf
Ability: Synchronize

Just before the enemy phase kicked off, something happened. Both Harliette and Electrode suddenly fell asleep. The scouters picked up the use of Dark Void from an unknown source. But everyone knew that only Pokemon could use Dark Void.
"So...sleepy," Harliette mumbed as she fell to the ground. "I didn't drink...that much..."
"The Darkrai Pokebrid!" Whitney shouted. "The Dark is here!"
Then Shaymin was ate a well-targeted Ice Beam. Shaymin was out cold in more ways than one.
Harliette frowned, frustrated that the scouter couldn't find either of the hidden offenders. "And if The Dark is here, The Light isn't far behind. The Cresselia Pokebrid. Looks like they're done playing around with us."
"Not so confident now, are you?" the Arbok Pokebrid laughed. "You all are very high priority targets on Master Faynoc's list of wanted heretics. Try as you might, you shall most certainly die here, and we shall be the ones to exact his divine will."
"You won't defeat us no matter who you've brought!" Whitney declared. "Step forward and stop hiding! We'll crush you all!"

Bastiodon hit Abomasnow with Ancient Power.
Aggron finished Abomasnow off with Fire Blast.
Torterra with frozen solid with only a sliver of health to its name.
Dugtrio used Earth Power on Electivire.
Ursaring was fast asleep.
Slaking utterly destroyed Electivire with a Hyper Beam. "We don't have to worry about Slaking for a while," Evangaleen said, still bitter about losing Electivire. "With the ability Truant and the cooldown, Slaking will lay there all night."
Qwilfish blasted Whitney with Hydro Pump. "Agh, that's cold! Oh, and it's a lot of water, too!"
Crobat, Skuntank & Banette finished Whitney with a combination of X-Scissor, Night Slash and Shadow Ball. "Can't...keep up," Whitney said, still conscious but not able to continue the battle.
Wobbuffet didn't do shit. Just slowly started dying from the poison.
Gardevoir devoured Electrode's dreams with Dream Eater.

Maria immediate went to work, reviving Whitney and awakening Harliette. "Geez, Whitney, you look like something a Mightyena ate and then shat off a cliff."
"I...attracted too much ire. Oh, no, my Paradigm Shift is gone! They'll pay for this!"
"If we can defeat a couple of those Pokebrids or force them to flee, we can get those two Pokebrids sniping us to join the fight directly. We can start working on them, then."

-----

Back Lawn Battle (Ally Phase)
- Whitney: Relocates to Front Lawn.
- Charlotte's Buck: Orbishriek A has taken severe damage.
- Shizuka: Orbishriek A has been defeated. Shizuka recovers most of her health.
- Rachel's Registeel: Orbishriek C has taken great damage.
- Rayleen's Rayquaza: Raikners A & B have taken great damage.
- Dormond: Engaged Paradigm Shift. Orbishriek B has taken great damage. Orbishriek B is flinching. Orbishriek B's Syncstrike is disabled.
- Mika's Juggernaut: Taunts Juggernaut.
- Pierce: Orbishriek B has taken severe damage.
- Pierce's Kingdra: Raikners A & B have been defeated.
- Charlotte: Orbishriek B has taken critical damage.
- Kiyomi: Used Raging Raider. Orbishriek C & Raikners C & D have been defeated.
- Morale Integrity Value has been reduced to 55%.

Whitney moved over to the front lawn to replace the vacancy Dormond left.
Buck opened its maw wide and discharged a large pulse of dragonic power that collided into the Orbishriek.
Shizuka didn't even look at her designated target. She laid a gentle hand on her sheathed katana. Then she removed it. It didn't look like she even moved from her spot, but there was an afterimage showing that she did cut her target. The Orbishriek was frozen in place, then slowly split into half and died. Shizuka neld a dismembered Orbishriek leg. "Sorry for this."
Holy shit, she was devouring it! Kinda like eating a crab, Shizuka broke into the armored shell surrounding the strange meat and bit into it like a starving animal. Once she had emptied it, she tossed the shell aside and wiped the blood from her face. "One of the things you can look forward to when you gain demonic power," Shizuka said, staring at the enemies. "You can devour your enemies and recover your health that way."
"Metagross, well played. Please return." Rachel recalled her Metagross, then tossed Registeel's Pokeball. "Registeel, Flash Cannon!" Registeel blasted the Orbishriek full on. "Why do I get the feeling that the worst is yet to come?"
Rayleen's Rayquaza ripped into the as-of-uninjured Raikners. "Because it is. There's lights coming from the forest. Wanna bet that our Ruin General?"
Sure enough, there were about ten lights in a very close gathering shining outward from the nearby forest. Behind them, a large silouette. Definitely not a natural Pokemon.

Dormond underwent rapid mutation. Once it was over, a human-sized Mawile stood where Dormond was only ten seconds ago. Then Mawile charged forward and slammed head on into Orbishriek B. The Orbishriek was shuddering from the impact. The pulsating glow from her oversized sphere had died. "I seem to have broke its Syncstrike by making it flinch," Dormond slurred, trying to speak while having a Mawile's mouth.
The Juggernaut under Mika's control continued to keep the enemy Juggernaut preoccupied.
A large meteor radiating dragonic energy slammed down from the sky and Raikners A & B were crushed by the weight and power.
Charlotte unloaded both barrels into Orbishriek B since Orbishriek A was downed earlier in the phase.
"Right. We'll clear out the Raikners this way, at least." Kiyomi said, then raised her face and voice to the sky. "Loboooooooooooov!" Kiyomi yelled.
Something moved across the roof, then leapt down. It was definitely a machine, a four-legged thing lacking head and tail and bristling with weapons.
"Those bastards called me an AIDS-belching shit connoisseuring cum dumpster!" Kiyomi said through crying eyes while pointing at Orbishriek C.
That was all Lobov needed to hear, anyways. Kiyomi's eyes were already dry when Lobov took to the air, then opened a barrage of machine gun fire on the Orbishriek and the two Raikners flanking it. Compartments on its large legs and torso opened and numerous missiles poured out and exploded in a small radius. Then, to top it all off, Lobov seemed to implode it on itself and then engaged some kind of afterburner. It slammed into the Orbishriek like a battering ram and detonated with a large explosion.
"Did you really need to say that to make Lobov attack them?" Rachel asked Kiyomi.
"I think it helps the damage output," Kiyomi said, though she didn't look certain of that.

Back Lawn Battle (Enemy Phase)
- Two Raikners, two Harpressors, and two Orbishrieks have been deployed.
- Steel Ruin General Lexhur: Deploys Fire Absorber, Dark Absorber, Dragon Absorber, and Steel Absorber. All moves of those types will be absorbed by the satellites.
- Rayleen's Rayquaza has been defeated.
- Charlotte's Buck has taken severe damage.
- Mika's Juggernaut has taken great damage.

Suddenly, the trees beyond the enemy formation were torn to shreds as the large shape in the forest rolled down onto the battlefield. "I'm drunk, right?" Rayleen asked the others. "No, I'm serious. I had too much wine and need to go to bed because I really want to believe I'm not actually seeing this."
"The ancient drawings were pretty silly, but I guess now they're actually quite accurate," Mika said.
"It looks pretty cool to me, though." Rachel said.

What had just ripped its way out of the forest was a big old-school train engine sitting atop two monstrous tank treads. The entire length of the metal beast was bristling with everything from bigass machine guns to missile racks and various other equipment. "That's definitely Lexhur, the Steel Ruin General."
"Oh, I say! I had no idea that I still had a reputation large enough to be recognized after all those eons spent underground! Blimey!"
Rayleen sighed. "And it has a polite british accent. Just grand."
"We need for him to get to closer to us," Shizuka advised. "At present, we can't expect to land any significant assault on him."

Two Raikners, two additional Harpressors, and two Orbishrieks joined the fight, maintaining a solid enemy formation that prevented the allies from attack Lexhur. Not even Mika's Juggernaut in the enemy formation could make a move against him.

Some compartment on the top of Lexhur opened up and four large object sthat resembled metal sphere shot out. In mid-air, some kind of aircraft radar dish opened above and a large propellar unfolded out below them. The spheres held themselves aloft. "The hell are those things?" Rayleen asked Mika.
"I wish I knew," Mika said. "We can't hit them from here, though. We'll just have to proceed carefully."
Rayleen looked at them closely. "They have some kind of color code to them. One's red, one's silver, one's sky blue, and the final is black.
"Maybe it has something to do with attack types?" Kiyomi suggested. "The job of those satellites may be to protect the enemy formation from certain kinds of damage."
"And those colors are a hint as to which types will be protected against. Red is pretty obviously fire, silver might be steel, and...ummm."
"Do you think sky blue is dragon type damage?" Rachel suggested. "We do rely on dragon type moves to destroy Ruin Pokemon quickly."
"You could be right. I'll bet the black one protects against dark type damage. That covers a lot of weaknesses except for psychic and ghost. Why the fire one?"
"Probably because of what Impact did against the Harpressors," Shizuka suggested. "We'll have to alter our tactics to suit these handicaps."
"However, it might also be a way to the destroy those satellites," Kiyomi advised. "If we pump enough moves of a certain type out, we could probably destroy the Absorber for that type as it gobbles all those moves up."
"It'd take a lot of effort, though." Rayleen countered. "And it's possible Lexhur can just generate a new one on the next turn. We're just going to have to play it by ear."

The enemy formation was arranged like this now: Orbishriek A (reinforcement), Juggernaut, Raikner A, Orbishriek B (critical), Orbishriek C (reinforcement), Raikner B, Orbishriek D (injured, asleep). And now there were four Harpressors in the air.

All three Orbishrieks that weren't asleep began charging two kinds of attacks, their Syncstrikes and their Absolutely Blast. Rayleen frowned. "With our dragon type moves crippled alone, we'll have to find another way to take all three out. Orbishriek B will be a cinch, but A and C are fresh troops."
The two Raikners focused fire on Arcanine, sending it reeling. Buck shook off the vertigo and black spots and faced down its foes.
The four Harpressors ganged up on Rayquaza and knocked it out of the sky. Rayleen recalled it. "Good job, Rayquaza. You did well."
"A Signature Sequence may be in order," Shizuka said. Mika and Kiyomi nodded.
"Me and Mika have one, but Mika's focusing on that Juggernaut right now."
Shizuka nodded. "Then it'll be up to the leader whether or not you two use it. Mika will have to dispossess the Juggernaut but it might be worth it. What's it called again?"
Kiyomi looked a little ashamed. "It's called Hotwheel."
Shizuka made a visible effort not to laugh. Kiyomi looked at the enemy. "The move works like Mechanized Cavalry, but it can directly target two enemies and leaves the enemies with a burn. It may not exactly kill those Orbishrieks, but it would easily set them up for a quick death."

[Dracorion]

Pierce surprised himself by not being at all disgusted when he saw Shizuka chewing on an Orbishriek leg. It couldn't be the tastiest thing to eat, but if it restored health it was certainly useful in a pinch.

Lexhur's satellites certainly proved troublesome. However, he knew a way around that. First, though, he was in the mood for some small chat.

"So. I don't suppose I could convince you to be a good lad and pull back your satellites so we can take your subordinates in a fair fight?" He called to the monstrous train.

Without waiting for a reply, Pierce rallied his thoughts. They could really use Impact's help right now. "Don't worry, I got a better idea for dealing with those little pests. Rachel, return Registeel. Shift to your Magnezone form, Paradigm Shift and use your Signature Technique Magnet Crush. That should disable the satellites. Charlotte, heal your Buck, have it use Dragon Pulse on that Orbishriek." He told Charlotte, pointing at the Orbishriek designated A that was flying over the battlefield. "Shizuka, attack Charlotte's target. Rayleen, deploy your Salamence and attack Orbishriek C." Then Pierce saw Impact getting up. "Great! Impact's up. Hey, I need you to attack Rayleen's target, Orbishriek C!" He called to the Slayer.

"Kingdra, Dragon Pulse Orbishrieks A and B. Charlotte, use both barrels of your shotgun to take out that Orbishriek." He pointed at Orbishriek B. "Mika, let go of your Juggernaut and execute your Signature Sequence with Kiyomi, target both Juggernauts. Then use your Signature Technique Tentacle Scourging. Kiyomi, attack one of the Harpressors, whichever looks weakest. Dormond, use Iron Head on Kiyomi's Harpressor."

Pierce waited for Charlotte's shotgun blast, then rushed forward at the weakest Orbishriek of the bunch. The scythe shaft whirled as it struck the monstrosity repeatedly, seemingly never stopping. It was practically singing as it cut through the air.

-----------
Rachel: Return Registeel, Pokeshift, Paradigm Shift, Magnet Crush.
Charlotte: Heal Buck, Dragon Pulse Orbishriek A.
Shizuka: Attack Orbishriek A.
Rayleen: Deploy Salamence, Dragon Claw Orbishriek C.
Impact: Pull out Dragon Slave, attack Orbishriek C.
Pierce: Kingdra to Divide Dragon Pulse between Orbishrieks A & C. If one of them is dead, Divide between live Orbishriek and Mika's Juggernaut. If both Orbishrieks are dead Divide between both Juggernauts.
Charlotte's personal: Attack Orbishriek B.
Pierce's personal: Attack Orbishriek B.
Kiyomi & Mika: Execute Hotwheel on both Juggernauts.
Mika: Tentacle Scourging.
Kiyomi: Attack weakest Harpressor (if all are at full health, just pick one)
Dormond: Iron Head against:
If a weakened Harpressor is alive (this takes place after Kiyomi's attack, so if Kiyomi weakened one, kill it), hit this Harpressor
If a weakened Juggernaut is alive, hit the less-weakened juggernaut

[Bard The 5th LW]

"Well that definitely aint kosher," Charlotte said at the sight of Shizuka eating the enemy. Charlotte to had pondered what a Ruin Pokemon might taste like, but she would rather have taken a bite after it met a barbecue grill.

"Good dog, just hang in there," Charlote muttered quietly as she used a full restore on Buck. She usually didn't carry healing items, it was lucky that she did have that one item.

"Now Dragon pulse on the that one," she said pointing at the Harpressor that Pierce had also pointed out to her earlier. "Make a firework show boy," this time, she was sure to turn on the camera. Her hands were full with the shotgun though, so it was a bit difficult to get a good image of the Harpressor.

She then turned her attention to the Orbishriek. It was difficult to aim the shotgun at it while aiming the camera at Harpressor, but she managed it and unloaded both barrels into the Orbishriek before Pierce began his attack.

[Menarker]

Renny's face was flushed as Shaymin plummeted to the ground with a tiny thud, her form shifted to its land state with its body all covered in frost. Renny immediately attended to her, a Full Revive coming from his pocket.

"Shay..." It's personality became the shy yet endearing form which Renny knew her most as.

"We still need you badly. Rest up for now." He then recalled her to her pokeball, as he glared at the enemy pokebrids.

"If we can defeat a couple of those Pokebrids or force them to flee, we can get those two Pokebrids sniping us to join the fight directly. We can start working on them, then."

"I hear you. We can certainly manage that."

Maria sneaked along toward Dominic's side and past, over to Electrode waking it up and healing it from the horrible assault on his dreams... do robots dream of electric sheeps?

"Matthias, put that Aggron to sleep! Lola, we're going on the offensive!"

Dominic interjected as Maria shrunk back to his side, trying to avoid sticking out like a sore thumb with the snipers around. "Electrode, we're bringing the light show. Signal Beam that Torterra and Gardevoir."

TRODE! The large ball suddenly glowed with a strange ambient disco light show aura, as it shot two bright rays of light that flashed in a strange pattern similar to that of fire-flies, while having all the potency of the seizure inducing lights from one of the banned pokemon episodes.

"Swampert, it's your turn!"

"PERRRRTTT!" The pokemon appeared, reliably eager as always to enter combat, smacking the ground playfully at his presence.

"Alright, let's make the best of this! Moon, another Blizzard on Crobat and Dugtrio! Shannon, get that Cacturne to use its dark type move on Gardevoir! Whitney, don't you have a ghost form to use against that Banette? Evangaleen, get a pokemon of yours to use Thunder on Crobat and Quilfish! Quilfish is pretty darn fragile, so it should go down fast! Harriette, attack that Bastidon with fighting bullets! It's durable regardless, but that's one of his weakpoints! Swampert, focus your power on that Skuntank! Earthquake!"

Swampert roared instantly as he heard the command at last. Taking one hand, he stabbed it deep into the earth, which tremored intensely, but showed no immediate effect for a second or two before seismic force jolted around where the Skunk pokemon was. Renny watched as the fight went on, hoping that eventually it would all end in their favor.

"Someone who merely make a weapon out of beings and ideas is fooling himself. Something built on strength alone can certainly be brought down by strength itself! Phantomere himself tried to stop us, but we defeated him... and some of my team-mates even looted his corpse and his stuff! If you are unwilling to make amends and end your attack, then it's no uncertainty that we'll continue to assault and thwart Faynoc's ambition. We're built with immense strength... and of stronger things that he overlooked."

---------------------------------

Renny heals Shaymin. It goes into Land Form. *Air Slash becomes Earth Power since Land Form can't use Air Slash.* Renny is down to one Full Restore and one Full Revive.

Maria Full Restores Electrode and stands by to help someone else.

Lopunny (Lola): Lopunny Pokebrid Sync! Sexy Party! All offensive attacks boosted by 50%! ^____^

Matthias: Sleep Powder on Aggron.

Electrode (Dominic): Divided Signal Beam on Torterra and Gardevoir. Super Effective on Torterra both of them. 5% chance of confusing target (normally 10%, but divided makes it only half effective?)

Crawdaunt (Moon): Blizzard on Crobat and Dugtrio. Super Effective on both.

Renny’s Swampert focused Earthquake on Skuntank. STAB Super Effective

Mismagius (Whitney): Shadow Ball Banette. STAB Super Effective.

Cacturne (Shannon): Sucker Punch on Gardevoir. STAB Super Effective

Jolteon (Evangaleen): Divided Thunder on Crobat and Quilfish. STAB Super Effective on both

Harriette: Fighting bullet for quad damage on Bastiodon.

Uneffected: Ursauring (Asleep), Wobbuffet (Uselessly dying to Toxic), Slaking (Truant)

[DanteFalcon]

It seemed a darkrai had entered the fight. As a precaution he popped the chesto berry he had been holding onto into his mouth, not biting down yet. If it tried to send him to sleep he'd have ample time to bite down and send the energizing juices of the berry through his system.

Matthias nodded with Renny's command, turning the dust cloud onto the Aggron and sending it to cover the large steel pokemon. He was thoroughly enjoying himself at this point, watching the enemies fall to his poison one after another. Albeit they were only sleeping but it made him a low priority target it seemed. Which was just fine in his book.

Something they've never understood. You can outsmart me, you can outmuscle me but if your sleeping or paralyzed than your strength and smarts can only carry you so far.

[Geminex]

There was no pain, only calm. There was no fear, only certainty. There was no emotion, only strength. There was no conflict, only power. Channel the power. Impact awoke... slowly. Disoriented. Time was strange, where he had just been. The mind played tricks on itself, time sped up and slowed. He had no idea how long he'd been out, though he didn't think it was more than 30 seconds. Meditation was strange... but extremely useful. The ache in his leg as all-but-gone, he was once again fully mobile. He lay prone for another second, observing what was happening around him. A huge tank on the horizon, orbs in the air. More Ruin types, goddammit. Pierce giving orders, goddammit. Still, it sounded good enough to act on.
Impact jumped to his feet, adrenaline still pumping through his system, drew the dragon slave, still comforted by its weight. Gunblades were fine for those who could use them, but for Ruin types? Dragon Slave all the way. He grinned as he took two steps and launched himself at one of the Orbishriek.

[Astral Harmony]

Front Lawn Battle (Ally Phase)
- Lola: Engaged Paradigm Shift (Lopunny). Uses SyncTech "Sexy Party". All participating combatants gain Helping Hand.
- Matthias: Aggron is now asleep.
- Dominic (Electrode): Torterra has been defeated. Gardevoir takes great damage.
- Moon (Crawdaunt): Dugtrio has been defeated. Crobat has taken severe damage.
- Renny (Swampert): Skuntank has been defeated.
- Whitney: Pokeshift to Mismagius. Banette has taken severe damage.
- Shannon (Cacturne): Gardevoir has been defeated.
- Evangaleen (Lambdavolt): Crobat has been defeated. Quilfish has taken severe damage.
- Harriette: Bastiodon has been defeated.

Lola engaged her Paradigm Shift. As a curvaceous Lopunny, Lola posed.
"Looks like it's time for a sexy party!"
Nothing happened.
"I said 'Looks like it's time for a sexy party!'"
"Oh, goddammit, fine!" Harliette said, stripping off her armor and clothes. "Friggin' hate this."

...Wait, huh!?

Renny, Matthias, Moon and Dominic were suddenly in for an unexpected and bizarre but altogether wonderful treat. Harliette, Whitney, Shannon, Evangaleen, and even Maria had stripped down to their skivvies and joined Lola out on the front lawn. Then Lola started bouncing after them as they ran around the lawn, laughing like idiots while some music played in the background.

Yep, Pokemon Umbral was breaking new barriers in sheer absurdity.

What do you want out of me, shame? Shame is for people on Facebook.

It was a slaughter after that. Lola's bizarre ritual put Helping Hand on e'erbody, and then the enemy Pokemon started falling.
Aggron feel...but only asleep. Torterra was downed, then Dugtrio, then Skuntank, then Gardevoir, then Crobat and finally Bastiodon. And that didn't count the Pokemon that were seriously wounded in the assault. The enemy formation was broken by then. The Skarmory Pokebrid recalled his sleeping Aggron and suddenly fled. "Where the fuck're you going!?" The Arbok Pokebrid demanded, but the Skarmory Pokebrid said nothing and kept running.
Harliette smiled. "Run, li'l piggies."
The Dunsparce Pokebrid was the next to flee, followed closely by the Donphan Pokebrid.
"And tell Faynoc that he needs to send more flunkies. These fucking chickens don't have enough meat on 'em."

-----
Front Lawn Battle (Enemy Phase)
- The Morale Integrity Value is unaffectual. You've pretty much already made all the cowards flee, anyways.
- The Skarmory, Dunsparce, and Donphan Pokebrids have recalled their Pokemon and fled.
- Legendary Pokebrids called The Light and The Dark have joined the battle.
- Second Wind: All Ally Pokebrids in Paradigm Shift are force reverted. All Paradigm Shifts and SyncTechs have been recharged. There is no healing.
- Your Opponent: Your opponent are the six Pokemon deployed by the three remaining normal Pokebrids. The Light and The Dark will be using two Pokemon each in addition to fighting themselves, creating a total of twelve opponents again.
- BGM: "Divine Identity" by Shoji Meguro

"Well, how about us? I think we have enough meat on us."
Out of the dissipating smoke, two Legendary Pokebrids slowly stepped forward. "The Light and The Dark, the Cresselia and Darkrai Pokebrids," Whitney identified them again.

The Cresselia Pokebrid, The Light, was enchantingly beautiful. She had long, golden hair that flowed like a pristine river all the way down to the lawn. She wore beautiful clothes that accentuated her perfect beauty, and held a long, custom-made whip in her left hand.
The Darkrai Pokebrid, The Dark, was a complete mess. His hair was unkempty, his skin was discolored, and his clothes were ragged and tattered. He clutched dual revolvers.
"Master. Mistress. We are so sorry," The Arbok Pokebrid said, bowing.
"No worries," The Dark said. "We have to have some way to thin the herd of the weak. I'd shoot them, but I don't want Rogue Pokemon breathing up my ass so I guess I'll just let them go for now."
"Let us not worry about those wastes of human life," The Light said with her soothing voice. "Our service to our master Faynoc would be better served bringing divine judgement on these heretics."

Muk (Poison) [Arbok Pokebrid Pokemon 6 of 6]
Moves: Gunk Shot / Toxic / Mud Bomb / Giga Drain
Ability: Stench
Houndoom (Dark/Fire) [Sableye Pokebrid Pokemon 4 of 6]
Moves: Flamethrower / Crunch / Sunny Day / Solarbeam
Ability: Flash Fire
Solrock (Rock/Psychic) [Claydol Pokebrid Pokemon 4 of 6]
Moves: Solar Beam / Explosion / Rock Slide / Sunny Day
Ability: Levitate
Masquerain (Bug/Flying) [The Dark Pokemon 1 of 6]
Moves: Bug Buzz / Air Slash / Silver Wind / Stun Spore
Ability: Intimidate
Ninjask (Bug/Flying) [The Dark Pokemon 2 of 6]
Moves: X-Scissor / Toxic / Shadow Ball / Aerial Ace
Ability: Speed Boost
Wailord (Water) [The Light Pokemon 1 of 6]
Moves: Hydro Pump / Bounce / Dive / Water Spout
Ability: Water Veil
Milotic (Water) [The Light Pokemon 2 of 6]
Moves: Hydro Pump / Rain Dance / Blizzard / Dragon Pulse
Ability: Marvel Scale

"Make the first move," The Dark suggested, smirking. "I like to give my opponents a false sense of hope before I rob them of all chance of sparing their own lives."

-----
Back Lawn Battle (Ally Phase)
- Rachel (Magnezone): Engages Paradigm Shift. Uses SyncTech "Magnet Crush". Type Absorbers are grounded and ineffectual. Lexhur cannot use special attacks.
- Charlotte (Buck) & Shizuka: Orbishriek A has been defeated.
- Rayleen (Salamence) & Impact: Orbishriek C has been defeated.
- Pierce (Kingdra): Juggernaut A has taken good damage. Juggernaut B has taken great damage.
- Charlotte and Pierce: Orbishriek B has been defeated.
- Kiyomi & Mika: Uses SignSeq "Hotwheel". Juggernauts A & B have been defeated.
- Mika: Uses SignTech "Tentacle Scourge". Raikners A & B have taken severe damage. Orbishriek D and Harpressor A have been defeated.
- Kiyomi & Dormond: Harpressor B has been defeated.

Rachel recalled Registeel, then engaged her Paradigm Shift. As a larger-than-life Magnezone, she unleashed Magnet Crush. A powerful magnetic field erupted in the dead center of the enemy formation and spread out rapidly. The Type Absorbers fell to the ground like useless bowling balls. Lexhur's weapons struggled against the force.
Buck blasted Orbishriek A with a powerful Dragon Pulse.
"Perish," Shizuka said calmly, dividing that Orbishriek up the middle with a single cut. "How many more of them remain?"
"Just focus of survival, and by survival I of course mean killing them," Rayleen said as she deployed Salamence. Salamence opened Orbishriek C with a brutal Dragon Claw.
Impact made his move. With a powerful jump, Impact used the Orbishriek's strange mandibles to get on top of the beast, then dragged his blade through the top of the monster's exoskeleton all the way to the sphere that was slightly embedded in its thorax. Then, with one herculean effort, Impact jerked the blade out of the thorax and right through the sphere, bisecting it cleanly up the middle. Impact casually hopped down from the crumbling body and jogged back into formation.

Kingdra ripped open some new wounds in the two Juggernauts. But they were as big as toolsheds and likely just as heavy. And exponentially more able to absorb damage.
Charlotte and Pierce worked together to polish off Orbishriek B. But it such an easy act that it left both feeling a little unfulfilled.
"Okay, here we go," Mika said to Kiyomi. "C'mon, whip 'em out."
"I don't like this move. Do you know how much maintenance I have to do on my precious after this?"
"If you hate it that much, then why did you agree to it?"
"Because he looks too cool when he's like that?"
"Whatever. Just bring him out here already. They're not gonna wait forever to be annihilated."
Kiyomi whistled, and Geartooth came rolling up, soaked in the entrails of his foes. Kiyomi pulled out some kind of aerosol can, then started to spray Geartooth all over. Once Geartooth looked equally coated-
"Step aside, Kiyomi."
Kiyomi turned to face Mika. "What the fuck, Mika-chan!? Why is your fireball that large!?"
"So it coats the whole mecha."
"That's what the goddamned aerosol is for. Whatever, just ignite him already."
Mika unleashed her fireball. Geartooth lit up with blinding white fire. Kiyomi simply pointed toward the two Juggernauts. "Those," Kiyomi said. "Destroy."
Geartooth sprung into action, ripping across the lawn and then ripped right through the two Juggernauts just as they turned to face their offender.

As the Juggernauts fell in burning piles of overcooked flesh, Mika and Kiyomi surveyed the work.
"Surprisingly, they don't smell have bad when put to the flame."
"Thinking of cooking that kind of stuff for Rio?"
Kiyomi looked hopeful. "Do you think Rio would give me affection instead of Chizuru when Rio has her cooking?"
Mika smirked. "That's absurd, Kiyomi. Chizuru has both immeasurable cooking ability and the sexiest curves I've ever seen on a woman as young as she is. I don't want to burst your little dream bubble, but you'll never meet Chizuru's level in getting Rio's effection that way. Anyways, we've talked long enough."
Mika kneeled and clasped her hands as though in prayer, but her ritual had no holy connotations. And when a big, black vortex that chilled everyone to their souls appeared and grew to very large size, everyone had a sudden desire to be very far away. Then a handful of treetrunk-wide tentacles rocketed out and started going berserk!

Mika's hands changed and then she started the ritual to close the damn vortex. When it was over the ancient terror was forced to withdraw. Two of the Raikners stood with broken bodies, the Orbishriek that was asleep this whole battle was shattered like a nutshell, and one of the Harpressors had been grounded.
Kiyomi rushed forward and jumped, Dormond not far behind. Their combined efforts were enough to remove a second Harpressor from the air.
"Nice move, Dormond."
"I'm a nice person, Miss Kiyomi."

-----
Back Lawn Battle (Enemy Phase)
- Second Wind: Pokebrids are automatically reverted. All SignTechs, SignSeqs, Paradigm Shifts, SyncTechs, and Slayer Accessories are recharged. All remaining Ruin Pokemon are defeated. Magnet Crush is still in effect. Type Absorbers are grounded, ineffectual, and can now be directly targeted. Lexhur cannot use metal-based special attacks (like missiles) and can be directly targeted. No health recovery. You have initiative.
- Battle Rules: Legendary and Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon are force deployed. Only one Pokemon can be deployed at a time. Legendaries get priority over Pseudo-Legendaries. Magnet Crush is in effect for two more turns. Testament Drives are in effect.
- BGM: "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" by Judas Priest.

More Ruin Pokemon seemed to be amassing on the edge of the forest. "Ugh, they just keep fucking coming!" Kiyomi growled. "At this rate, if they keep getting between us and what we really want, Magnet Crush will end and we'll have to put up trying to fight the Ruin Pokemon with less effective attacks. Damn, I'm so exhausted."
"And I've seen enough."

Suddenly, Lexhur burst forward and spun in place, destroying the remaining Ruin Pokemon on the ground. As for the Harpressors, he simply told them to leave. Lexhur then turned to face his enemies amassed before him.
"Useless as always, are they not? I say, the Ruin Pokemon of today are so useless compared to what we used to have with us."
"Used to have with you?" Rayleen asked the giant metal contraption. "What do you mean?"
"Actually, now that I think of it, they aren't much different, actually. It's the people of this world who have grown into such fine soldiers. Anyways, enough of this cat and mouse. I shall destroy you myself."
"Damn," Mika said. "We've used up a lot of our best skills in that fight. This is going to be rough going."

Suddenly, without warning, a finger-thin beam of light shot out of the ground right in the center of the ally formation and rapidly spread to encompass them all in its radiance. "Wow! I feel so energized now! Watch out because Kiyomi's ready to rock!"
Rayleen looked at her Rayquaza Pokeball. "Hmm. It didn't heal Rayquaza."
"The Second Wind cannot do everything, you know."
"Second Wind?"
"Very long ago there existed a Legendary Pokemon. The Legendary Pokemon of Legendary Pokemon, Gaea. Anyways, Second Wind is supposedly a gift from her to those chosen warriors who must risk their lives and fight evil to save the world. Usually from us. It's a strange power that had caused us some trouble very long ago. But that's really enough talk, don't you think? It is time for battle."

Right on cue, the music changed from "More Human Than Human" by Rob Zombie to "Between the Hammer and the Anvil" by Judas Priest. And the fight was on.
"Remember that we fight differently when a Ruin General takes us on directly," Rayleen began. "Our Legendary and Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon will force deploy, in that order. When defeated, Legendary Pokemon will attack the Ruin General directly with a Testament Drive, a signature move wielded only by Legendaries when defeated in a battle against a Ruin General. That Magnet Crush will continue to work for two more turns so let's take advantage of that. If we reduce a Ruin General to a sliver of its health, it is very likely to engage its Umbral Awakening, which is like signing its own death sentence but will gift the general will the power it might just need to annihililate us all here, so let's be extra careful when it happens. We don't know what this thing can do so be prepared for surprises."

[Geminex]

"Goooood morning Vietnam! Or, rather, good evening! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's yet another beautiful night on the battlefield. And what a battlefield it is! Fire, corpses, and I think I can hear pokebrids dying just to the west, but all that pales in comparison to our highlight, Luxhor, the Steel Ruin general! Please give it up for Luxhor, ladies and gentlemen! An oversized iron abomination with a craving for blood, hundreds of tricks up its metaphorical sleeves, and a conspicuous british accent! You'd almost expect him to be drinking tea and eating crumpets. But of course, he'd have hidden those, lest the lesser Ruin types get their hands on them. Because did I mention the other Ruin types? Two Atunhand, two Juggernauts, four Harpressor, four Raikner and eleven Orbishriek! All dead now, of course, but man, what a warm-up! And delicious with barbecue sauce, right, Shizuka? But that's in the past, let's see what we can do for Lexhur here. Steel-Ruin type, very few weaknesses. Vulnerable only to dragon, but that's allright. That's fine. Cause dragon? Dragon we got. So let's give it!

Charlotte, have Buck start us off with Dragon Pulse. Rachel, when Registeel force-deploys, have it use a flash cannon. Rayleen, have Salamence follow up on that with a Dragon claw. I'll go in with a Dragon Slave. Pierce, your concern was touching, but I'd recommend you keep your pokemon away from me when I'm unconscious. Have your Nagrai go in with a Draco Meteor once I'm out of the way, show us some fireworks! Dormond, have you still got that attack boost? If so, use an iron head. If not, try a fire blast. Let's see how it reacts to different damage types. Pierce and Charlotte, turn your personal attacks on the absorbers. Maybe hit the dragon absorber, I'd like to see how it holds up. Shizuka, you have your bug-lightning legendary, right? Well, deploy it, go for a flash cannon! Mika, mewthree's psychic should be fun as well. And Kiyomi, finish it off with Hyper Beam from your Regigigas. Let's not use anything super-powerful this turn, we don't know how Lexhur can defend himself. Next turn... perhaps.

Shizuka, can you kimonos use signature techniques when your legendaries are force-deployed? We'll probably need them later, this thing looks tough. Though, then again, so did Phantomere, and that didn't stop him from dying quite horribly. Did you hear about that, Lexhur? One of your allies has died horribly. As will you. But hey, look up. It might even be fun! It will be for us. Ladies and Gentlemen? Let us... begin!"

Impact was being far more flippant than usual, but that was intentional. Pehaps he could goad Lexhur. And besides, this was a party. They were supposed to be enjoying themselves. And mocking your sworn enemies? That was fun. But back to work. He ran forwards, Dragon Slaved at the ready, leapt at one of the thing's treads, slicing furiously. He had no idea where Lexhur's weak points were, but if they managed to immobilize him, that'd certainly help.

[Dracorion]

Tyranitar force-deployed upon the appearance of Lexhur and was itching to take a stab at the giant train. "Sorry Tyranitar." Pierce said apologetically. Tyranitar understoof, but he huffed and stepped away from the battlefield.

Nagarai was crackling with electricity from Impact's comment, while Pierce rolled his eyes at the Slayer's long-winded speech and recalled Kingdra. "Why? Are you, heh... you afraid of Pokemon or something? Or just Nagarai? I assure you, I'm the only one she wants to violate."

"I do have a question, though: How are you a train on tank treads with freaking missile launchers?" He asked Lexhur. "Seems a little too modern for a sixteen hundred-year-old Ruin General is all I'm saying."

That said, he rushed forward and smashed the scythe shaft with all his might into the Absorber that had been colored sky blue before Rachel's Magnet Crush. "Nagarai, Draco Meteor!" He called. "Right away Master!" The blue-skinned dragon lady formed a meteor between her hands and launched it straight into the Steel Ruin General.

-----------
Nagarai consumes White Herb to negate Draco Meteor's stat decrease.