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"I'll ascend the mountain on my own. Be careful," Cera commented before deciding to just stay outside, starting to ascend the mountain from what she hoped would be relative safety. As she did, she'd try to keep an eye out for the chi Varuna and Dark were giving off and another way for her to get inside. From what she remembered, Mt. Coronet had a few ways to get inside and get around. She only hoped that she wouldn't wind up having to go to the summit.

This left Amaranth having to go inside with more conventional means, however, taking a few tentative steps before trying to mind the rumbling as Varuna went to work before traveling further inside. Though she'd have mostly little trouble getting around for the most part, her path would be constantly crossed by a lone Absol. The first couple of times, it would be in sight just long enough to be noticed and then it'd go away. The third time their paths crossed, it'd linger longer and seem to constantly follow.

It wasn't until Amaranth stopped of her own accord to turn around that the Absol decided to actually move to stand in her way and actively move with her to try and stay in front. A growl could be heard as she got closer, and while it did seem hostile all of a sudden, it almost didn't. Like it knew something that the Ho-oh hybrid didn't. "Move," she'd finally say, intending to just keep going. "Please."

She would find no compliance from the Absol, instead launching a Psycho Cut to keep Amaranth at bay and still growling before letting out a sharp cry to ask her to leave. This alone was enough to tell her that there was an impasse, both of them staring each other down before Amaranth sent her Flareon out. She wasn't going to leave. She couldn't afford to, not when the others were around and trying to get through too. Absol's efforts in vain, it'd throw another Psycho Cut to strike at Flareon from a distance.

The attack was so unexpected for Flareon that he wasn't able to evade it, taking a harsh slice and letting out a pained cry. He'd opt to retaliate with a Fire Spin to try and trap Absol, keeping to Amaranth's side to call any further shots. "We'd rather not fight you," Amaranth spoke up. "Please, just let us pass. Or at least explain yourself."

Not seeming to be too keen on explaining itself for fear that it'd be shrugged off, it went to attack, Slashing at Flareon despite the flames burning it slightly and forcing it to back off before it could do any more damage. "I guess there isn't a way out of this. Flareon, Fire Fang," Amaranth commanded. Her Pokemon would rush forth at Absol from the spinning flames still around it, the flames seemingly powering him up a little as he bit down and exhaled flames at point-blank range to make the wounds all the worse.

Unknown to Amaranth or Flareon, however, Absol would suddenly go on the offensive with a Sucker Punch and quickly force him back with a Night Slash. The assault alone was already leaving Flareon in bad shape and struggling to keep to his feet. "Try to stay back," Amaranth warned. "Lava Plume." Absol's day would seem to suddenly worsen as the cascading flames spread from Flareon to engulf it, though it did its best to endure it before suddenly racing through them.

All Amaranth would see next was a harsh slash hit Flareon as Absol panted, not wanting to battle much longer unless it had to. Surprisingly, Flareon was still standing, seemingly spared by a False Swipe. A growl would follow, intending to up and finish the job if both of them didn't turn around and leave now. Her hand was forced here, prompting her to throw a Great Ball at the weakened Absol before recalling Flareon and immediately running off to get away. She figured that it'd serve as a good enough tactic to give Absol the slip.

The ball would end up failing with the fight Absol was still giving to the idea of being caught, doubting that it'd allow it to try and deter the hybrid from her trek through the mountain. By the time it escaped and rendered the ball useless, however, Amaranth and Flareon were gone. It'd have to try to find them again, unable to shake a bad feeling about what was going on in the area.

Sub would enter behind the other Snagems, beginning his journey into the winding labyrinth of tunnels through out the mountain range called Coronet. The tunnel was dark and the man had to use his SNAG as a source of light once the others were out of sight. Eventually he realized he was going about this the wrong way and released Poe, instructing the imp to maintain a Flash for light. The Sableye would make a joke about showing him a different kind of flash before he went ahead and did as ordered, the Darkness Pokemon giving off a bright light from its back gems to illuminate the tunnel as they walked along.

Not too much longer Sub began to feel uneasy, he wasn't sure why but something just didn't feel right. You know that vibe you got when you walked in an empty room filled with paintings and you can't help but feel like you were being watched? That's how Sub felt at the moment, that there was something out there in the darkness, watching him and Poe.

"Poe, I think we got company. Why don't you brighten the place up a little bit more? See if our guest is nearby." He instructed the Pokemon, who responded to the command with a sinister laugh followed by intensifying the glow of his back gems.

"Sol!" Hissed the Disaster Pokemon as it recoiled from the sudden bright glare. The Dark type Pokemon had apparently been following them from behind and when Poe made that light even brighter it got a nasty flash right in front of its face, temporarily blinding it.

"What luck, a Dark type I don't have finds me." Sub smiled. "It's ours. Poe, use Power Gem!" The man command.

With a quick spin around to face the target Poe would momentarily turn off the lights in order to focus his energy into his eyes, the sapphires glowing in the darkness as they launched from them expanding hexagon shaped pieces of solidified light. The Power Gem would expand into a single sheet of energy which would take up almost the entire tunnel, scrapping the rock walls before slamming into the dazzled Absol, sending it flying backwards. Poe would relight his Flash afterwards so Sub could see.

"Absol sol!" Growled the Disaster Pokemon as it regained its posture, now hunched over with its fur standing on ends as it prepared to attack. "Sol!" It barked once more making a mad dash toward Poe, the Dark type disappearing midway and reappearing in front of the Sableye to deliver a dark chi infused horn slash to the Darkness Pokemon's chest.

"Poe! You okay? That looked like it packed some power behind it." Sub commented as he watched Poe get completely swept off his feet and fell to the ground, the Night Slash taking him completely by surprise. Poe would not answer however as he got back up and prepared for the next attack, the Sableye suddenly taking this far more seriously now that his chest gem was scratched. It would pay for that.

"Alright Poe, didn't want to get this nasty but hit it with a Confuse Ray!" The man ordered.

Dropping the Flash, the cave would go dark but not for long as a quick flash of dazzling blue light appeared very briefly. The Absol was looking dead at Poe when this happened and was now feeling the full effects of the Confuse Ray as the Pokemon began to stumble around. The Pokemon attempted another Night Slash but instead slashed the wall, hitting its head on the rock surface in the process.

"Good enough for me!" Sub laughed as he took out a Dusk Ball and hurled it at the Absol.

-----

With a fresh capture Sub and Poe would find themselves somehow having gotten ahead of everyone as the other Snagems were coming up behind them. The Dark One had stopped at the edge of a cliff inside the tunnel, looking down at the glimmer of light down below. He could hear talking coming down from there and while making out the words were difficult he recognized one of those voices. "Dark, and some others." He whispered to himself.

Once the other Snagems arrived he would make a shushing sound and point over the cliff for the others to see.

"Enjoying the show?" Horus said as he suddenly appeared behind Sub, taking the man completely by surprise and using the opportunity to deliver a swift kick to his back, sending the man falling over the edge down towards where Varuna and Dark stood in front of a rock wall, Varuna with RC's staff in hand.

"Sableye!" Hissed Poe, far too angry to even speak human as he lunged at the Xatu hybrid, intending to bite him. The hybrid however was quicker and with a flap of his wings sent Poe also flying over the edge.

RC would fly right at Varuna, firing off a Thunder Wave. He intended to hamper his fellow Grand Master before beating him soundly for the theft of what was his.

Ryan really wanted to go after Varuna, but to get in the way of the old dragon might be unwise at this point. So for now Ryan would go in hard after Dark. He calls out Tank and leaps up on his back, uncorcking his gourd as he does.. "Tank. let's go! Waterfall from above!" Ryan says with a grin. Tank grins and leaps into the air and aims for Dusk with Waterfall. As they got close, Ryan would use a Water Whip to try and hold Dusk still, even for a fraction of a second to let Tank connect.

Lykas entered the mountain shortly after the others, having gotten distracted momentarily with figuring out who all he had brought along before entering the mountain.

Sadly, he wouldn't have a chance to actually get inside. He took half a step and found himself swarmed with bats. "~/~ bats!!!!" He screamed, swatting the four Zubats and their Golbat gang leader away. They would not be deterred, however, returning to their attempted feast once again with seconds.

"Cordelia! Swimming Stones!" He'd call out, tossing out a Pokeball and releasing his previously undebuted Relicanth. She appeared in a burst of light and a swirl of mud-stained water. The Muddy Water produced something for her to swim in, at least, which allowed her to attack with Stone Edge, her fins coated with jagged chunks of ancient rock. The Zubats couldn't even hit her once she hit the water, thankfully, which allowed another Stone Edge one after another until all four fell into the water. Golbat, however, was able to get a Whirlwind whipped up, dragging the Relicanth's water off the ground and leaving her grounded. "Good job, Cordelia." Lykas finally called out, recalling the ancient fish before releasing a blast of pressurized water from his forehead gem, his own Water Spout doing plenty to put an end to the Golbat with relative ease.

From there, he rushed off to catch up to the others. Somehow, he'd wind up just below the cliff Sub got kicked over without being close enough to be spotted by Varuna just yet. He'd just been following the chi signature he felt that was so familiar. Unfortunately, due to Sub's predicament, he'd likely end up breaking the channeler's fall without ever seeing it coming. He was kind of oblivious like that sometimes.

"Oof!" Sub grunted as he fell stomach first onto Lykas, Poe coming down on him shortly after. "Thank you...Lykas." He thanked the hybrid, even though the blue man didn't intend to break his fall. "Get off Poe." Sub moaned, the Pokemon scrambling off his back so his trainer could get up. "That hurt...that totem pole with feathers tried to kill me." Sub almost hissed as he looked up at the ledge he fell off of.

-----

Horus would barely have time to turn around before he felt Reno's assault on his mind. Unfortunately the hybrid was a little more battled hardened and saw Reno's lunge coming, the mind stab not enough to dull his reaction time as the bird man flapped his wings and moved backwards off the cliff to avoid Reno, the channeler missing his mark and jumping over the edge. However Reno's actions were not in vain as right behind the man came Amaranth who would be successful in her own tackle, the fellow feathered hybrid tackling Horus out of midair and sending the two of them to the ground with a thud as they landed next to Crystal.

As for Varuna his hybrid senses were top notch from all his many years, the man sensing the sneak attack coming partially thanks to already being alerted to their presence thanks to Horus. The hybrid would move out of the way at an impressive speed with Quick Attack, firing an Ice Beam at RC once he was safely out of the way, staff still in hand. "All of you aren't suppose to be here yet. What happened?" He declared aloud to no one in particular, mostly just a declaration of confusion at these turn of events.

RC quickly uses his Protect to avoid the chilly beam from Varuna. "I bet you thought that because you were banking on that unrefined Dragon Hybrid to slow us down completely. But I took care of him. But enough of that. That staff does not belong to your, Water Grand Master. It belongs to the Keeper of Sky Pillar, which so happens to be the Dragon Grand Master this time." RC says to Varuna.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryan snapped his hand down onto Tank, but he still got ejected off the back of his Swampert. He would take a tumble, but he and his gourd were still in tact. Ryan slaps the few ground a few times, trying to shake off the effects of the electricity. Tank knew he had to run solo from his trainer at this point and would strike the wall near him, causing rocks to fall down onto Dark from above, A Rock Slide attack.

"No, I didn't expect that unrefined brute to do no more than what he did. He served his purpose when he led me to the vault." Varuna said as he snapped around to face Crystal as the staff was suddenly snatched out of his hands, the hybrid's cold gaze now resting on her. "Your master...yes, that chi feels familiar...this isn't your own power." Varuna said as his faced warped into a smile.

"Kurma, hold back the dragon, use Ancient Power." Varuna declared as he dropped what appeared to be a very old style blue apricorn Pokeball onto the ground, the ancient device opening up in a less specatular way than one was used to as an equally ancient looking Carracosta appeared from within.

"Costa!" Roared the elderly Pokemon, the ages it has witnessed evident in its very voice. With a slap of its massive flippers on the cave floor the Prototurtle Pokemon would cause chunks of rock to break off from the walls and begin to float in midair, suspended by primal rainbow colored chi. The rocks would whizzed toward RC, coming at him one after another as he was probably accustomed to, however the turtle had some tricks in its sleeve as it would attempt to channel its attack through the ground as well as rock spikes would shoot up to try and take RC down.

As for Varuna, he focused his attention on Crystal and getting back that staff. The man would begin to dash straight for Crystal, looking like he was going to attack her physically head on. However several feet away from her he would jump into the air and fire from his mouth a powerful jet of water with Hydro Pump and upon landing on the ground would attempt to break down into a puddle of water with Acid Armor. Now hopefully in liquid form the hybrid would attempt to slip around behind Crystal, hoping that it all threw he off guard enough for him to reach up from his puddle form and take the staff back.

"No....problem" Lykas groaned from the ground under Sub. Why was his luck so bad? If he'd had some kind of warning, he could have liquified by now instead of just laying here and being squished. It was around this time that his senses tripped. He could suddenly sense Varuna's chi again.

"That old b*****d....." He finally said, his voice gurgling slightly since he was already partially liquid when he spoke, using his own Acid Armor to get out from under Sub, quickly crossing the cave floor in the direction he could sense the old Water master's chi. He found Crystal there but didn't solidify just yet. It was then that he witnessed Varuna's attack.

Before the old hybrid could attack, he raced over, solidified as he propelled himself forward and jumped between the two of them, launching a volley of Will-o-Wisps directly at Varuna. Even in his liquid state, if those ghostly flames touched him, he'd be burned. And that would set him up for a better chance at putting a stop to Varuna.