Chapter 1; Tournament of Heroes

As the group began to run outside, Catelynn looked back nervously "Rose is still being healed....and I don't wanna slow you guys down. So I'll stay here with the nurses in case anyone tries anything" she sounded scared, and then looked over to Luke "You and Gawain better be OK! You need to win the Tournament still and be champion and just.....Be careful" she barely uttered the last part above a whisper

As they made it outside, everything was eerily quiet, a pillar of smoke coming from the center of town, with a white and blue helicopter hovering above it, a man standing in the open door and speaking through a megaphone "Unova Region! It has been Twenty Years since your precious Hero of Ideals ended our first attempt at freeing Pokemon, and Eighteen since our King came back and stopped his mad father from freezing everything with the Power of Kyurem. Well, it is time that Team Plasma rises again!"

People seem frozen in fear, but it looks like the only damage was to the center stage of the tournament "Consider this the beginning of the end for the Pokemon League. We seek the freedom of Pokemon. Free from barbaric practices like Tournaments and Gym battles. Free from the pain of being ripped away from their family in the wild in order to fuel this endless machine. Our king tried to show you the way twenty years ago. He saved you two years later. And yet you hold battles in honour of of the oppression continuing!?"

A few men in white and blue descend from the helicopter as it begins to fly away "This is the start of a rebellion. Yours will be the first Pokemon freed. This is an honour we have decided to bestow upon you, since the King held the Hero of Ideals in such high regard."

Four of the men turn towards the group, tossing Pokeballs in front of themselves, releasing Canine Pokemon of various types "Please, don't make this difficult. This is the start of their freedom. You care about your Pokemon, right? Why risk them getting hurt constantly?"

Hovering just outside of view, the cameras were still rolling, focusing on the scene unfolding in front of them

"Team Plasma!?," Jacks said in shock and surprise. "But they were disbanded twenty years ago...," he said as the Team Plasma grunts went on with their diatribe and descended.

"You can't just come here and force everyone to release our pokemon!," Jack said. "And it's not up to you, anyway, right Bolt?!," he said, looking to Bolt.

"We're not gonna let you send everyone's pokemon away, right pal?," he asked Bolt as he took a step closer, adopting a combative posture as Bolt's cheeks crackled with building electric power.

Team Plasma? Weren't they defeated decades ago? What on earth are they doing here now? Azrael glared at the speaking Team Plasma member scared but angry, "You're trying to stop Pokemon battles by attacking them with Pokemon? Do you realize how stupid that sounds? What is wrong with you people?!" Azrael grabbed the baseball bat strapped to his backpack and nodded at Aethon, "Let's get them out of here." Aethon launched up into the sky, heading up and over the closest enemy Poochyena in preparation for another dive attack as Azrael brandished his bat threateningly.

Bolt dodged the the Poochyena's frigid fangs and unleashed a voltaic broadside, blasting the dog with a massive thundershock and dropping their assailant.

"Great job, Bolt!," Jack said enthusiastically as the Poochyena went down just as easily as the Growlithe had earlier.

"Quick, let's help the others," he said, looking to his embattled comrades...Luke and Gawain were closest, and Bolt scurried over, moving in behind the Poochyena that was attacking Gawain.

Jack looked across the field at the Team Plasma Grunt. "You can't just show up, set off anow explosion and force people to change their whole way of life! Of course people are going to fight back--and we're gonna win, too!," Jack said confidently.

With that he ran over next to Luke, staying close to Bolt.  "Hey, are you and Gawain alright?," he asked after seeing the clash with the Pooch's fiery fangs.

"Two on one?" Dave asks, with a smirk. "Well, I guess you need to make it fair somehow."

Looking over at the others that were fighting beside him, he recognizes the boy who was talking to him earlier. And then he sees a blue haired boy brandishing a baseball bat. "By the Trio!" he says, aghast at the implications, "What do you think you're doing? These aren't wild Pokémon." ...is this usual out here? He resolves to save those thoughts for later.

Dave grins, though, as he says, "Hal, finish 'em off, eh?" But that smile flattens out considerably, as all that happens is a few sparks. "When this is over," he mutters under his breath, "I'm going to have to have a few choice words with that Attendant..."

As Bolt dropped the Poochyena in a single hit, it's trainer cried out in anguish "No! Rex!" Before quickly recalling it and shaking his head "I knew it was a bad idea to start out by attacking this tournament. THere was no way they would listen, and now they hurt Rex!" The man next to him smacked him on the back of his head "Don't think that way! We can't just give up! Maybe if we win, they'll understand! N always said that the best way to hear the voice of Pokemon was through battle, so come on! Let's hear them sing!"

Before the two Poochyena by Hal had a chance to do anything, Aethon swept down,smashing into it's side, causing it to let out a howl of pain, before retaliating with a mouth full of crackling electricity aimed at the small bird

The other beast bit at Hal, noxious fumes coming from it's mouth as it snapped at the Porygon, who continued to have sparks uselessly shoot from its face

As Bolt came over to help Gawain catch the Poochyena off guard, it lunged at the Eevee, before going down to the retaliatory hit from the powerful Normal Type

Luke cheers as Gawain downs the Poochyena. "Good job, Gawain!" He scans the battlefield, seeing Aethon and a weird ... pink duck thingy... duking it out with two Poochyena. "Gawain, go and help out the ... pink duck thing! Helping Hand"

Gawain runs over till he is in range, then focuses. Quickly, a burst of white light springs forth from the feline and jumps over to Hal, strengthening it.

Catching part of the Team Plasma members' conversation as he watched the battle, Azrael shook his head. They want to free Pokemon from battling, and think that battling is the best way to understand them. They're insane. He sucked in a sharp breath as Aethon narrowly dodged the enemy Poochyena's lightning-filled maw. That was too close, he thought, "Aethon, let's finish this!" Aethon spiraled tightly around the Poochyena, lashing out with his talons as he passed by. At the same time, Bolt and Gawain moved in, and Hal released another crackling burst of electricity.

As the battle ground to an end, Azrael glanced back at the older trainer in disbelief, "A covenant between trainers? Are you serious? So you're fine with just handing Hal over if another dozen of them show up to beat us?" His lips curl in disgust, "It sounds to me that unlike Hal, you're not willing to fight for your friends." Bat over his shoulder, he stalked off towards the ending battle to reunite with Aethon immediately and check him for injuries he might've missed in the commotion.

To his surprise, Jack chimes in as he's walking away, and Azrael deflates visibly for a moment. Him too? Steeling himself, he pauses and looks back towards Jack, "But you can beat ideas by letting Pokemon fight it out and shooting lightning?" He frowns, rubbing his forehead with his free hand. "You're right though, this is our battle just as much as it is our Pokemon's. They're willing to fight for us, so we should be willing to fight for them. That's what friends do."

Jack let out a sigh of relief as the last Poochyena fell. Victory... Although, Azrael's words, and the words of the Team Plasma Grunt left him with a frown.

"Well, Zekrom is the Pokemon of Ideals, and he uses lightning to get the job done," Jack said, putting on a smile. It was obvious that he was joking. "But, all joking aside, no, beating them in battle doesn't beat their ideas. The only way that we can ever truly come together and settle our differences is by talking about them. That's something that the people of Unova learned a long time ago," he said with a wan grin. "But, sometimes, before you can talk to one another, you have to fight first. You have to prove that your ideals are something that you're willing to stand up for and defend...but at the same time, you have to show that there are reasonable, understanding people on both sides of the fighting. Otherwise, well...," Jack said, thinking about all of the stories of warfare that wove the tapestry of Unovan history.

"Otherwise you don't have anywhere to start your conversation from at all," Jack said.

At this point he turned to look at the Team Plasma grunts with a slightly saddened look. "I think I understand a little bit about what you're saying. There are some trainers who abuse their pokemon, that's true, but we're not all like that. Not even to people who mean us harm," he said kindly. "I can agree with you that those kind of people need to be stopped, but forcing every trainer to give up their pokemon isn't the way to do that. It's not fair, not to the good trainers, and not to their pokemon," Jack explained.

"And as for battling, well," he said, looking at Bolt with a warm smile. "You've got it backwards. It was Bolt who wanted to join in the battles, not me. I'm helping him pursue something he wants...to challenge other pokemon, and to get stronger. And there are a lot of other pokemon like that--pokemon that want to battle," he said. "See...sometimes it's not all black and white. There's plenty of room for grey in the world," Jack said, "and I hope that that is something that you guys will think about."

With that he walked over to Bolt, picking up the Pichu. "Great job pal! You were awesome out there, absolutely great!," he said enthusiastically, giving the mouse a hug.