So, yeahhhhhh... Hi? Please don't kill me... I know it's been a while since I posted, I've just been -swamped- with real life, family issues, an unstable work schedule, and the rest of that wonderful MMO known as life. Graphics are great, but the grinding and boss battles suck. Anyways, I finially managed to get around and finish this chapter, I hope you like it. Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, the Setting, or any semblence of a schedule.

Chapter Nineteen

"Alright everyone! Let's send these East Sinners packing and retake our homes!"

Lucian smiled tiredly as he watched Gardenia rally their men outside of Eterna City from the top of her Torterra's back. Glancing around, he felt a slight swell of pride at the willingness of his people to fight to protect each other. People from Jubilife City to Twinleaf Town, all coming together to protect their territory and retake the homes of their neighbors.

'If only Dawn were here,' he thought sadly to himself.

Seeing Gardenia hop off her Torterra and begin working her way towards him and Alakazam, he pushed those thoughts aside for the moment.'Save the country, then you can morn.'

"Lucian, we're ready to move," she told him, her orange hair and green cloak clashing in the early morning light.

The Tactician nodded. "Understood. Let's begin," he said simply as he stared out at the city, smoke still rising from the sacking.

With a loud battle cry, the army began to press forward, each of the commanders leading their groups from the front. Lucario and Riley also charged with the front line, both ready to pay the Eastern forces back for their friends.

As the battle began and progressed, Lucian held his position from atop the hill overlooking Eterna City, relaying new orders through Psychic-Type Pokémon in the field, occasionally ordering one team to retreat or a force to advance.

By late morning, Pierce's army was in full retreat, heading back towards Mount Coronet and the relative safety of the isolated town of Celestic, having been outmatched by the superior tactics of the Western Sinnish army. And while the West celebrated pushing the East from their homes, Lucian silently began planning their next offensive and their first push over Mount Coronet.

"In two days time, we'll begin our attack on Veilstone City," explained the young head of the Veilstone Resistance.

As he stood in his war tent, his gaze held on the large map, the rest of the occupants nodded. Paul's own team, consisting of Conway, Barry, Ursula, Maylene, and Drew, along with Ash's group, consisting of Max, Misty, Dawn, May, and Gary.

"The bulk of the Resistance will march on the city, buying us as much time as possible," Paul explained, pointing at various spots in Veilstone. "With the battle going on, most of Charon's forces are out west, leaving only a token force along with Galactic's people here in the city. Our main objective is the Galactic Headquarters," he finished, dropping his index finger down on the northern end of the city, by the sea between Sinnoh and Stark Island.

Max raised his hand. "Do we have any idea about the interior of their Headquarters?" he asked.

Conway nodded. "They're based in the old capital building. And thanks to Maylene and Ursula, we possess a second way inside," he explained with his creepy smirk.

Ursula then elbowed her sister to stand and explain, much to the girl's surprise.

"Uh… Yeah. The capital building has a secret tunnel below Veilstone into a warehouse at the edge of town. The passages were sealed up a while ago to be used as an escape route in times of danger," she explained nervously.

Gary sighed. "Great… More tunnels," he complained before Misty elbowed him herself to keep him quiet.

"We'll use the tunnels to get into the building, then fight our way to Cyrus. If we capture Cyrus, we take Galactic out of the war," Paul explained, leaning against the table as he looked between the teens. "Questions?" he asked.

May tentatively raised a hand. When Paul nodded for her to continue, she asked, "How will capturing Cyrus take them out of the war? Isn't he just one man?"

Conway cleared his throat. "Cyrus Akagi is the leader of Galactic and is a habitual micro-manager. He oversees the majority of work that Galactic does, so taking him out will disrupt their chain of command," he explained.

Paul nodded. "At the least, we'll be able to get the rest of the Galactic grunts rounded up and keep them out of the war with the disruption. After that, we better hope the West can push them back. If not, Veilstone begins planning an assault on Hearthome City itself. If Charon dies, or we capture him, the war ends."

"Assuming one of Charon's minions don't take over in the power vacuum created," Max muttered.

Conway smirked. "Unlikely. In terms of political power, while Charon is King, and Cyrus is high, if those two are removed, the next likely candidate for the throne would be Volkner," he explained.

"Who's Volkner?" Ash asked curiously.

Paul cleared his throat. "He's the leader of Sunyshore City. Militarily, the city rivals Hearthome in terms of personnel and Pokémon, but they've taken a neutral stance to our resistance. My scouts tell me that their army has mobilized recently, likely at Charon's order."

"So, isn't that bad for us?" Dawn asked, frowning in thought as she stared at the map.

Conway's smirk turned into a smug grin. "Volkner is the only major city leader who doesn't openly hate us. That said, he also is bowing down to Charon, which may be problematic, depending."

"He also has ties with the Stark Unovans," Paul continued, pointing out Stark Island. "Volkner and Charon don't see eye to eye on a lot, and we're hoping that he won't interfere with our activities."

"Any chances the Stark Unovans can help us?" Dawn asked, drawing some curious glances from Ash and Gary.

Conway shook his head. "Not likely. After the Unovan Blitz, Alder wants to keep his people out of our affairs. While Volkner has ties with them, I doubt he'd be willing to bring them into the war. Not after the Blitz."

"Still," Paul added, "We can't discount the possibility. But that could be a curse as much as a blessing, if Volkner truly sides with Charon in the end."

"So, we leave in two days?" Ash inquired, his arms crossed, Pikachu on his shoulder as he looked at the map.

Conway nodded. "Correct. Any other questions?"

After a moment of silence, Paul nodded. "Alright, then. Go make whatever preparations you'll need. Train, learn about your environment, and remember to stay out of trouble. We only have one shot at this, and if any of you mess it up, my next tent will be made of you," he warned, turning his attention back to the map in thought.

Taking that as their cue to go, the group dispersed, leaving Paul and Conway to continue with their planning.

"'Screw this up and my next tent will be made of you,'" Gary mocked. "That guy takes himself way too seriously."

Drew smirked. "If this was Rota, wouldn't you be annoyed if someone ruined your chances of freeing your home?" he asked.

Gary grumbled under his breath as he failed to come up with an answer.

May stretched her unharmed arm a bit. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go lie down for a while. My arm's still sore," she explained, heading back towards the medical tent, Bubbles flying beside her on her fluffy wings.

Dawn then looked at Maylene and Ursula. "You two up for some training?" she asked.

Ursula scoffed. "You and that Piplup of yours? My precious Gabite would flatten it in seconds. It'd be a waste of my time," she replied snottily, heading off towards her tent, oblivious of the glare Dawn was aiming at the back of her head.

"She's almost as bad as Paul," she muttered, glancing back to Maylene, who chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, sorry. She means well, she's just… very sure of herself," Maylene explained, choosing her words carefully.

"Hey, I want to train!" Barry then shouted. "Why wasn't I invited to train?! If Empoleon and I aren't invited to training in ten seconds, somebody's getting fined!"

Misty rolled her eyes. "Can someone throw him in Lake Valor or something," she complained, causing most of the group to chuckle.

Ash smiled at the group. "Pikachu and I are going to go grab some lunch. I hate training on an empty stomach," he rationalized.

"Pikachu, pika pika," the Electric Mouse Pokémon agreed, the pair waving as they headed off.

"Those two seriously think with their stomachs," Drew observed.

Gary smirked. "Sounds like someone else I know," he added before stretching. "Let me go find Umbreon and I'll join in. I haven't fought many Sinnoh Pokémon yet, could be a fun challenge."

Misty smirked. "This should be worth a laugh," she said, much to the amusement of the rest, despite Gary's glare.

As the majority of the group sparred, Drew quietly retreated from their training grounds with his Roserade, making his way towards the medical tent.

'I'm curious as to why May's here in Sinnoh, of all places,' he thought to himself as he opened the tent flap, finding the brunette teen sitting on her cot, her Swablu sitting on her head happily as May examined a blue bandana. 'Isn't her bandana normally red as a rose?'

"Afternoon May," he said simply, gaining her attention. As he walked over, she balled the bandana up in her hands, placing it in her pocket.

"Hey Drew. What brings you by?" she asked, deflecting the subject from her bandana.

He shrugged. "I was wondering if we could talk," he explained.

She nodded. "I don't see why not. What about?"

"Well, let's start with what brings you to Sinnoh. To say I was surprised when you walked into camp was an understatement."

May raised a sceptical eyebrow. "You seemed fine to me," she replied.

He merely smirked, shrugging it off. "The ability to appear in control at all times is a useful ability in politics," he explained. "But, you haven't answered my question. What brings you to Sinnoh?"

May fidgeted nervously at the question, he noted. "I was making a delivery to Rota with Max. We were on our way back to Pewter City when we stopped to take a break. I somehow ended up dangling from the side of a cliff, and Ash managed to pull me back up before I fell."

Drew felt the urge to frown about how May talked about the dense raven-haired teen, but he suppressed it. "Well, that was lucky," he said instead. "That still doesn't tell me how you came to be in Sinnoh."

"When Max and I got to Pewter City, we got work our next courier assignment was here in Sinnoh. Eterna City, to be exact. Ash's group was heading here too, so Max and I tagged along. Unfortunately, the war broke out and everything's been a mess since," she explained to him.

"I see. But why stay here during the war? Shouldn't you be heading home?" he pressed.

May frowned, shrugging. "Max and I wanted to help Dawn help her land. We'd have done the same for Hoenn, after all. And to be fair, isn't that what you're doing here?"

Drew blinked, not expecting his question turned back on him. "My father had trade deals with Veilstone. When Galactic took over, that was bad for business, so he sent a small force with supplies to support the Resistance. I stayed behind to watch the investment and train my own abilities," he explained with a flick of his hair. "Besides," he continued, "How often does one have the chance to say they helped in not one, but two different wars? The Veilstone Resistance and now the massive Sinnish War that spans the region."

May frowned. "So, you're here for glory?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, not exactly," he told her. "LaRousses always do our part to assist those in the right. That's why we play such a large part in Hoenn politics," he explained, not giving up the chance to remind her that his family was powerful.

May rolled her eyes. "As long as it doesn't affect your family's bottom line," she muttered.

"May, there's nothing wrong with looking after our investments."

Her expression hardened. "That doesn't make it right, either. It sounds like you're here for the wrong reasons," she pressed.

Drew frowned, narrowing his eyes. "At least we've done something. The LaRousse support has been here for months, assisting the Resistance. Your group were the ones who dropped in unannounced."

She glared back at the green-haired heir of the Larousse family. "Well, sorry for interrupting your nice little war…" she replied, annoyed.

He was about to retort when someone entered the tent. "Hey May, hungry?"

The pair turned back to the tent flap, seeing Ash and Pikachu walking through the tent entrance with a plate full of food. Seeing the pair, he stopped, blinking. "Uh… am I interrupting something?" he asked.

May shook her head. "Drew was just leaving," she said pointedly.

Turning back to May for a moment, Drew nodded. "And so I was…" he admitted defeatedly, realizing his temper had lost him this battle. Without another word, he walked out of the tent with Roserade, leaving Ash and Pikachu to wonder what had happened.

"Everything alright, May?" he asked, worried he was intruding on her at a bad time.

May shook her head, glaring at the tent flap. "No. But I'll be fine. Drew just said something stupid that I didn't agree with," she explained, sighing.

Bubbles looked slightly saddened by the development, landing in her lap and rubbing against her affectionately.

"Should I come back later?" Ash asked.

May shook her head. "No, actually I could use some company after that," she explained. "Sorry… Drew just really wears on my nerves sometimes."

Ash made his way over to her cot, setting the plate down on her cot. "Anything I can do to help?"

May sighed again, grabbing a piece of buttered bread from the plate and taking a large bite. "I think you already are," she replied, her expression softening a bit.

Ash gave her a warm, if awkward smile. "Any time."

"Kirlia, Magical Leaf!"

"Empoleon, use Steel Wing!"

Dawn smiled, watching the battle between Max and his Kirlia, and Barry and his Empoleon. Piplup also seemed intent on the outcome, watching it's more powerful evolution battle against the Psychic/Fairy-type. The group of teens had found a clearing near the camp in which to spar with their Pokémon.

As Kirlia's Grass-type attack battered the powerful Emperor Pokémon, Empoleon lashed out with a pair of gleaming metal wings, barely missing the quick Emotion Pokémon. Max silently thanked all the training he did with Dawn to speed up Kirlia's reactions and decided to press the attack.

"Use Psychic! Throw Empoleon into the tree!" Max ordered, gritting his teeth.

"Empoleon, Hydro Cannon!" Barry shouted in retaliation, clenching his fists in determination. "We can win this!" he insisted.

"Shift it!" Max replied.

"If that Hydro Cannon hits, Kirlia's gone," Misty remarked from the sidelines, sitting with the rest of her friends.

"Being the strongest Water-type move Empoleon can learn, it's bound to cause some serious damage, that's for sure," Dawn confirmed, watching intently. "But it leaves Empoleon open by using it."

"Assuming the little dancer survives the hit," Gary replied, crossing his arms.

As the Emperor Pokémon built up energy to fire, Kirlia managed to reach out with it's psychic abilities, lifting the large Water/Steel-type ever so slightly.

Dawn held her breath. She saw full well that Max's called attack wouldn't work, and the Emotion Pokémon was about to get slammed with the full force of Empoleon's Hydro Cannon. But to her surprise, when the attack fully charged and was fired from Empoleon's beak, it's trajectory was off, impacting a foot in front of Kirlia. While the water spray from the detonated attack did blast Kirlia back a ways, he managed to easily remain standing.

Gary blinked. "He withstood that?" he asked incredulously.

Meanwhile, Max cheered. "Awesome! Now, finish this, Kirlia!" he commanded, and the Emotion Pokémon responded, picking up Empoleon in his inability to move and hurled it towards the edge of their makeshift battlefield.

"No! Empoleon!" Barry shouted as his starter and friend slammed onto the ground, knocked out. Quickly, the blond-haired teen ran to Empoleon's side to make sure he was alright.

"And that means Max and Kirlia are the winners," Dawn observed with a smile.

"Kirl, Kirlia!" the Emotion Pokémon cheered, running to hug Max, who returned the hug with a grin.

"Great work, Kirlia. That was perfect," he encouraged the small Psychic/Fairy-type as the rest of his friends made their way over to congratulate him.

"Nice work, you two," Misty congratulated.

"All that training back in Oreburgh seemed to help," Dawn noted, with Piplup nodding in her arms.

Max grinned. "Kirlia did all the work," he admitted.

"Bit more training and you might even be able to take Umbreon and I on," Gary boasted, prompting Misty to jab him in the side, as usual.

"Let him enjoy his moment, you," she warned him.

Dawn chuckled at the couple's antics. "I take it you want to battle next, Gary?" she asked.

The brunet boy nodded. "Umbreon and I could use some training," he explained, looking at his Moonlight Pokémon, who nodded in return.

"Umb, Umbreon, Umb," he replied with a predatory grin.

Dawn glanced around to see who would be willing to battle when she saw Drew walking by their training field, hands in the pockets of his vest. He looked annoyed. "Hey, Drew!" she called.

The teen turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow as he made his way over. "Do you require something?" he asked.

"Up for a training match with your Roserade?" Gary asked.

The green-haired teen thought about it for a moment, glancing at Roserade, before turning back to Gary. "Why not," he said, his annoyed expression turning to a smirk.

The two teens took opposite sides of the battlefield, their Pokémon standing proudly in front of them.

Dawn stepped up at the midway point. "This will be a battle between Gary and Umbreon versus Drew and Roserade! Trainers, begin!" she called out.

"Roserade, Sludge Bomb!" Drew called out.

"Umbreon, Shadow Ball!" Gary retaliated with.

The Bouquet Pokémon thrust forward her flower-arms, firing off a series of purple globs of poisonous gunk at Umbreon.

The Moonlight Pokémon retaliated by charging a black ball of crackling purple energy, firing it through the sludge at Roserade.

Both attacks struck their targets, as Roserade reeled back from the powerful Ghost-Type move, and Umbreon being battered by the Sludge Bomb attack.

"Now, use Payback!" Gary called out, hoping to retaliate quick and hard.

"Giga Drain!" Drew ordered.

The Moonlight Pokémon charged close, slamming into Roserade hard, sending the Bouquet Pokémon skidding backwards from the strong attack, only to cringe and wither as the Grass/Poison-Type retaliated with Giga Drain, draining Umbreon's strength.

"Stay strong, Umbreon!" Gary called.

"Petal Dance!" Drew then ordered.

Misty held her breath as she watched the battle from the sidelines. 'Come on, Gary, you can take this guy' she thought to herself.

Unfortunately, however, the raw power of Petal Dance struck, slowly driving Umbreon back.

"Umbreon! Use Take Down!" Gary called, and the battered Moonlight Pokémon nodded, charging through the storm of red flower petals Roserade was firing, managing to slip through and slam into the Bouquet Pokémon hard.

"Yes!" Gary cheered, making a determined fist. Right until Umbreon recoiled back in pain, purple energy crackling across his ebon fur.

Drew just smiled. "Meet Poison Point, Roserade's ability. Your Umbreon is now poisoned," he explained. "Now, finish this! Leaf Storm!" he called.

Gary blinked as he tried to come up with a possible counter. "Umbreon, get out of there!" he shouted. Unfortunately for them both, it was too late. The powerful storm of razor-sharp leaves dug into the Moonlight Pokémon, battering him backwards.

Drew just smirked arrogantly, flicking his green hair. "Finish him with Giga Drain!" he called.

"Umbreon, use Moonlight!" Gary ordered and the Pokémon nodded, closing his tired eyes and began absorbing energy despite the Giga Drain. When both attacks ended, Umbreon looked slightly better for wear, much to Drew's annoyance.

"Take that oversized rat down with Leaf Storm!" Drew ordered again, clenching a fist in frustration.

"Umbreon!" Gary called, "Every time he uses Leaf Storm, it'll get weaker! Now's your chance, use Take Down!"

Misty, Max, Dawn, and the rest of the spectators held their breath as the Moonlight Pokémon charged headlong into the strong Grass-Type attack, barreling through the leaves despite the pain. With a grunt, he slammed into Roserade, launching them towards Drew in a heap.

Misty cheered when she saw that Roserade had been knocked out, until she also saw Umbreon fall in pain, from the recoil of Take Down, and from his poison. Sadly, the proud Moonlight Pokémon fall on his side, also out.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle! The battle ends in a tie!" Dawn called.

Gary sighed, walking up to his Pokémon's side and placing a hand on his head, channeling a bit of Aura into him to purge the poison and help him recover a bit of his strength.

Seconds later, the Moonlight weakly opened his eyes, seeing his trainer above him. "Umb," he said, licking Gary's hand.

The brunet smiled. "Nice work, buddy," he told his faithful partner, helping him up.

On the other side of the battlefield, Drew helped Roserade to her feet, a look of deep thought on his face as he and the Bouquet Pokémon made their way towards their tent.

"Hey Drew!" Gary called. "Good fight."

The green-headed trainer ignored him, lost in thought.

Riley sighed in the quiet tent he and Lucario were sharing, staring at the flickering candlelight. 'Where do I even begin?' he thought to himself as he held the quill in his hand, trying to figure out how to put to paper what had happened.

"Riley, it's possible that they are still alive. We can't give up hope yet," Lucario said telepathically, sitting crosslegged on his bedroll, meditating.

"Lucario, neither of us have sensed a thing since the bridges supposedly went down. My mother will want to be told, and the longer I wait, the worse it'll be," the Aura Guardian said, running a tired hand through his hair. 'She'll be heartbroken and will blame me for it,' he thought sadly as he closed his eyes.

Ash found himself sitting on the shore of Lake Valor, staring up at the star-filled skies of Sinnoh with his yellow partner, Pikachu. "What do you think, Pikachu? Think we'll get home?"

"Pika. Pikachu pika pikapi," the Mouse Pokémon replied. Ash and Pikachu had been together long enough that Ash had a general idea of what Pikachu was saying even without his aura abilities.

"Yeah, you're right. We'll likely link up with Riley soon," he agreed, leaning back to stare up. The stars were out in full force tonight, and Ash couldn't help but realize they reminded him of a certain brunette's brilliant sapphire eyes. He smiled to himself.

'I think Gary's right. I do like May. A lot. And whenever I see her with Drew, I get this weird, cold feeling in my gut. It's all gotta be connected," he thought to himself. He began considering what he wanted to do after he completed his trials. He found himself wondering what Hoenn was like. Wondering what it was like where May grew up.

"Think we should check on May and Bubbles, buddy?" he asked.

"Pika," the Mouse Pokémon agreed, giving him a thumbs up.

"She's asleep," came a voice from behind the pair. Ash felt that icy feeling settle into his gut as he pushed himself to stand, turning to face Drew.

"Drew," he offered neutrally in greeting.

"Ketchum," the green-haired teen replied. "Shouldn't you be getting to bed?" he asked.

"I'm… not tired," Ash lied. In truth, ever since their run in with Darkrai, Ash wasn't in a big hurry to go back to sleep. Last night's rest was fitful at best, filled with blurry images he couldn't recall and a sense of dread at something.

"Still, with two days to the invasion, you should be at your best," he said, crossing his arms with a tight smile on his face, gauging Ash's reactions.

The raven-haired teen frowned. "Did you need something, Drew?" he asked.

"Just want to have a friendly chat, is all," he said, his smile turning to a smirk as he flicked his hair.

Ash's frown deepened. "What about?" he asked cautiously, growing more suspicious of the green-haired teen.

"May, of course," he replied confidently. "I was curious about how she received her shoulder injury."

"We ran into a Darkrai," Ash explained, despite the fact he didn't remember the encounter.

"Well, yes, but there were two Aura Guardians, a Tactician, and the best fighters in the Resistance there as well. It occurs to me that those forces should have been sufficient to defend her. Though, why you brought a civilian like her into a warzone is beyond me," he told Ash with another flick of his hair.

Ash growled. "She wanted to come," he argued.

"Yes, but she's untrained, her and her Swablu," Drew continued. "And you knowingly brought her into danger."

Ash began getting angry, but Drew's words had found their mark, playing on Ash's own doubts. 'He's right. I did support her going into the battle, and she got hurt because of it. She's hurt because of me,' he thought.

"She wanted to go!" he tried arguing again, but both the teens knew his words lacked conviction.

Drew's smirk grew. "Yes, and if a baby wanted to play with fire, do you think that'd be a good idea?" he asked condescendingly.

Ash glared but had no answers.

"May's an important person in Hoenn. If I were you, I'd try to remember that. It simply wouldn't do to allow someone like her to be injured any more than she already has," Drew said as he headed off back towards camp, leaving a very confused and enraged Ash behind.

Ash looked over at Pikachu, his expression shifting between uncertainty and anger. "He's wrong about that...Isn't he?" he asked shakily.

Pikachu's ears fell with his expression. "Pikachu, pika chu kapi Pikapi," he told his partner, trying to cheer Ash up.

Ash just turned back to the lake, glaring at it. And as his mind began to play tricks on him, forming the image of the green-haired teen smirking in the water, Ash charged and throw a powerful Aura Sphere into the water, obliterating the face.

On the other side of Sinnoh, Lucario's eyes snapped open as he looked at his partner. "You felt it too?" he asked.

Riley, now wide eyed, nodded. "Ash is alive. He's angry, but he's alive," he confirmed. Excitement surged through him. "If Ash survived, maybe the others did too. Now we just need to find them."

And there you go, hopefully I'll be able to get more posted and actually finish the story. What a concept, right? Anyways, I apologize for my absence, I'll see what I can do. Enjoy and God Bless.