Pokémon XYZ: Life, Death, Order, and Chaos (book 2 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 52: Crisis in Geosenge

"This just in! A giant metal flower has sprouted from the ground in the middle of Geosenge Town, an act that has left the surrounding area littered with debris and overturned buildings!" The news lady held her hair back with one hand as the helicopter circled around the city, her cameraman filming the aftermath below on live TV. "It appears these red suit-wearing people are behind this, an organization under the name of Team Flare! What they plan to do with this flower is anyone's guess at this point! They also appear to be standing guard at the exits of Geosenge, using force to keep the residents inside the city!"

I grimaced as we all stared at the mini TV installed in the helicopter we were flying in, heading straight for the disaster zone.

"What's the International Police doing about this?" Alex asked, her voice coming through the crackly headphones we all wore.

"Their on there way like we are if they're not their already," Looker replied. "What the news doesn't realize is that Team Flare is actively holding back anyone trying to get into the town. They don't want us interfering."

"We can just fly in like this, right?" Robert sounded hopeful, but Looker shook his head.

"Not officially," Looker responded. "I'm being ordered to regroup with a squad outside the town. However, we'll have to fly over Geosenge first and then I can meet up with the rest of the IP."

Robert opened his mouth, looked confused, then shut it, nodding. "I see."

"We're nearing Geosenge Town," the pilot confirmed and I glanced to my left out the window, seeing the buildings below us. We began to descend and slowed. I nodded to my friends and we all tugged off our headphones and unstrapped ourselves from the seats. Once we came to a complete stop, hovering ten feet above the surface, I opened my door and jumped out, releasing Greninja at the same time. He jumped and caught me, getting me to the ground safely. He then leaned back his head, his tongue shooting towards the helicopter, wrapping itself around Alex, lowering her to the ground before doing the same for Robert. The door shut, but not before Looker gave us an unofficial thumbs up.

"Its them!" 

We turned to see a group of six Flare grunts rushing towards us alongside their Pokemon.

"Ah," Robert nodded, already grabbing his pokeball. "The welcoming committee. How nice."

"Greninja," I held out my hand. "Water Pulse!"

"Vespiquen, Attack Order!" Alex shouted while Robert yelled, "Pin Missile!"

The combined attacks from Greninja, Vespiquen, and Chesnaught blasted the enemy back, creating a small explosion which covered them in a dust cloud.

"Let's get moving," I ordered, motioning with my hand and taking off at a run towards the center of town. I motioned with my hand towards the roof of a building and Greninja nodded, leaping onto it and following us from the rooftops.

"So what's our objective exactly?" Alex asked as we ran.

"Destroy the weapon at all costs before it activates," I answered. "If we can't do that, then we find where it's getting its power and destroy that."

I skidded to a halt as a woman came into view, standing in the middle of the road. A Team Flare admin. Just beyond her loomed the Ultimate Weapon, casting a long shadow over us.

"Grunts to the right," Alex warned, letting out Ninetales.

"Anyone else worried about how not worried we are?" Robert asked, sounding a bit worried.

"You are worried, don't worry," I said, letting out Corvisquire. "But not about fighting. About letting that weapon fire."

"Good to know," a heavy sound came from near Robert, indicating that he had let out his Snorlax.