//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Confrontation and a Prelude to Revelation // Story: Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers [Parallel Quest] // by Cyrus Colter //------------------------------// *While Sweetie Belle and Rota were catching Draco the Dratini* Neo warped into Viridian Forest running like a Mightyena was chasing him. Because one was. Freaking May with her freaking suspicions! Of all times for her to have one, it had to be now, he thought as he ducked under a Shadow Ball sent at him by his pursuer before dashing off to the left, narrowly escaping the beast's jaws. He had managed to swipe some Synergy devices on his way to the transport room, only for the Team Night Sky admin, a version of the Team Sky admin May Birch, daughter of the Hoenn Professor specializing in Pokemon Habitats, to come in with Mightyena already lunging for him. He barely got the transport through before it could clamp its jaws down on him, but before he could relax, the Mightyena had been warped in after him. Thus beginning the chase. “AFTER HIM! DON’T LET THAT TURNCOAT GET AWAY!” Neo could hear her barking orders to her Pokemon as a Corviknight pursued him overhead, acting as a tracker for his location for the others. He barely evaded Mightyena again when a Hawlucha dropped towards him with a Flying Press, forcing him to jump aside to dodge it. Rolling to his feet and running away again, Neo felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up upon hearing the faint sound of another warp followed by a mechanical whirring and stomping, joining the pursuit. Looking back, his fear was confirmed. May had joined the chase herself in a Mecha Tyranitar exosuit. Neo was barely able to dodge a Fire Blast only to be launched by the explosion from the impact, the flames scorching his back. Sweetie Belle and Rota were about to set off toward Pewter City (Sweetie Belle wanted to see a Geodude, for some reason) when a series of explosions from the forest in the distance caught their attention. “Huh, seems like something’s happening. What do you say we check it out real quick?” Sweetie asked. “If nothing else, to find out who’s letting off attacks that recklessly,” Rota answered. The pair took off to the air towards the explosions, quickly hearing the sounds of a chase happening as they drew closer. Picking up speed, Sweetie Belle dove into the canopy while Rota stayed above it. It wasn’t much longer until Sweetie Belle spotted what looked like a robotic Pokemon (why does it look like a Tyranitar? Sweetie briefly wondered before refocusing) firing at a young man with dark skin and brown hair, who seemed to be familiar to the filly. “I knew you were too soft to stay loyal if you knew the truth, Neo. You put up a tough front, but I know a bleeding heart when I see one. Can’t tell you how many of them I’ve had to put down on Giovanni’s orders,”  a female voice sounded off from the Mecha Tyranitar. A voice Rota recognized. “Hey May!” She called out from above and behind, drawing her attention before slamming a thrust kick into the head of the mech, tearing it off and revealing the young woman inside with a black bandana and a cybernetic eye. “Not one I know, which means, I don’t have to feel guilty about doing thi-WOAH!” Rota proclaimed as she grabbed May by the throat before she had to duck and dodge the arms and tail of the mech, still being controlled by the latter. Rota was forced to jump away to avoid the Hawlucha coming in to support May, while the Corviknight and Mightyena were thrown to the ground behind May and her Hawlucha, Sweetie Belle landing in her Pony form, ready to fight. May growled as three more Pokemon were released from the exosuit, a Salamence, a Decidueye, and an Altaria, before addressing Rota and Sweetie Belle. “Looks like I’ll also have to get rid of you two. Can’t risk anything going wrong for Team Rainbow Rocket,” she said as the Hawlucha put the discarded head of the Exosuit back over her own, the Exosuit auto-repairs locking the head back on. With a flash of light from the Exosuits eyes, the Pokemon at her side attacked Rota and Sweetie in unison, the Hawlucha and Decidueye targeting the Saiyan while Salamence and Altaria went for the filly. Jumping up to escape the two pronged attack, Rota immediately sent a ki blast at the Decidueye. She couldn’t harm it hand-to-wing, since it was an Alolan variant, rather than one from Sinnoh, so she needed to keep it back and blast it from a distance. The Hawlucha, she could handle just fine, as she intercepted an Aerial Ace from it with an Ki infused punch, stopping it dead, only for it to grab her as the Decidueye came in striking Rota with a Sucker Punch. With a growl, Rota spun in place, slamming the clingy Hawlucha into Decidueye and sending both flying, only to be struck from behind with a beam of energy from May in her Exosuit. Putting her left index and middle finger to her forehead, Rota warped out of the attack and, still flying from the impact of the blast, slammed a punch into the Exosuit’s back, sending it stumbling with a large dent in it. May then turned and slammed the Exosuit’s arm into the Saiyan, causing a burst of Steel Type energy on impact, sending Rota tumbling through the air, until she caught herself with a flip. The Exosuit then launched a stream of fire from its mouth. Rota dashed off to the side while sending energy blasts at her opponent. Meanwhile, Sweetie was dealing with the pair of Dragon Flying types that were Salamence and Altaria, ducking between biting jaws and a pecking beak, often making them hit each other. After a minute of this, Sweetie decided to actually fight and caught Salamence's electrically charged jaws as they were about to clamp down on her. Gritting her teeth through the electricity, she lifted the dragon-like creature over her head and slammed it onto the cloud bird (Sweetie was curious as to how that was a dragon) then spun around and launched Altaria, using Salamence as a Baseball bat, at the Exosuit as it turned to follow Rota with it's Flamethrower. Looking Salamence in the eye, Sweetie could tell the beast was unconscious, so she left it in favor of dealing with May in the Exosuit. The Exosuit launched a bolt of electricity from its mechanical maw at the filly, only for Sweetie to put up a mirror shield, sending the lightning back at her attacker, the suit sparked for a moment, but seemed otherwise undamaged. The Exosuit braced itself before suddenly rocketing forward at the filly, only for someone to suddenly appear in front of Sweetie Belle and catch the exosuit mid charge. The person, a man with brown hair in a ponytail-esque style, similar skin tone to Rota, then lifted the Exosuit over his head and tossed it into the air. Rushing at it faster than Sweetie Belle could see with her eyes (She could keep track of him with her energy sense just fine), he then slammed a punch into it, tearing both the head and an arm off, revealing May, before he grabbed her by the throat and pulled her out of the falling Exosuit. “Alright, now to get you taken in- OW!” The man said before May shoved a taser into his wrist, causing him to drop her. Rota shot up to catch her, but with a flash of energy, May, her Pokemon and the Mecha Tyranitar all vanished before anything could be done. “DAMN IT!” Rota cursed as she landed. “She got away.” “Yeah, warped out of this dimension, it seems,” the man said as he landed next to Rota. “Well, nice to see you again, at least, Marko,” the Saiyan said as she looked at the taller human man. “Same, sis,” he replied. “Hey, Rota, who’s this?” Sweetie asked, startling the two of them as they turned to the filly now right next to them. “Oh, right, Marko, this is Sweetie Belle, the kid I told you about over the phone when you called me earlier. Sweetie Belle, this is my older brother, Marko,” Rota introduced. Sweetie looked between the two, seeing… very little resemblance between them. “I’m adopted,” Rota sheepishly blurted out when Sweetie opened her mouth to ask. “Ooooh. Well, nice to meet you, sir,” the filly said as she hovered up to eye level with Marko, hoof extended. “The feeling’s mutual. Now, I recall there being someone else here…” “Over here! I’m fine, mostly,” the young man that May and her pokemon had been pursuing called out as he came out from a hole on the nearby cliff face. Rota’s eyes immediately narrowed as she saw his face. Reddish brown hair under a cap with a mega stone on the brim, purple eyes and dark skin. It was him. “You were that grunt that led that team trying to catch Mew, weren’t you? Why the sudden change of heart?” Rota demanded. “Yes, I am that guy. As for the change of heart…” He paused, then took something out from his carrier bag. A small earpiece with some kind of gemstone in it. “A Synergy device? OK, that confirms that theory, but what else do you have for reasoning?” Neo looked Rota in the eye. “Giovanni wants Arceus.” Roughly three hours later, the four were at the local Police Station, Neo being held in an interrogation room, while Sweetie, Rota and Marko, while technically free to leave, felt they at least needed to make sure things wouldn’t get worse while they were gone. “Well, this will likely mean I’m going to be VERY late for school…” The filly lamented as they waited for Detective Looker to finish questioning Neo. “Dialga agreed to shift us in time enough to where you would have just left seconds ago when we leave,” Marko said, hoping to at least assuage Sweetie Belle on that front. “Oh, thank Void.” “Did you have to bug Dawn on her vacation?” Rota asked in slight annoyance. “She was on her way back to Sinnoh, anyway,” Marko replied, causing Rota to look at him confused. “Team Rainbow Rocket’s already made the news worldwide. The League Association’s even considering lifting the team size restriction, just to be safe, and the Ferrum League’s recently reported some old files going missing from storage.” “Well, the latter is confirmed by our friend here to already be in the hands of Rainbow Rocket,” Looker said as he, a slightly younger blonde man with a beard, trenchcoat, and red scarf and Neo came into the room the three were in.  “However, his willingness to share what he knows of their research and plans will help us at least keep even with them.” “It’s the least I could do,” Neo said when they looked at him. “Alright, then. We’ll be back eventually, I can guarantee that much,” Marko said as he shook hands with the detectives. “And we’ll be holding out just fine, knowin’ your timing.” The blonde one said with a Scottish/West Galarian accent.. “Most likely, Deadtective. But still,” Rota said as she and Sweetie left, followed by Marko. As the trio left the Police Station, they noticed it was getting late in the afternoon, near evening in fact. Sweetie Belle, deciding it was as good enough a time as any, decided to head home. She couldn’t spend all her time here worrying, even if she were sent back to when she just left there upon going back. Leading Rota and Marko into a field outside the city, she reared up on her hindlegs and grabbed the space in front of her and opened a rift. Like a door. Because she can. Luckily it was one tall enough that Marko, at 6 foot even, needed to only slightly duck his head to get through it. With a brief chuckle from Rota and a momentary dumbfounded stare from Marko, the three traversed the rift to Equestria.