Mr. Grey's Story

Emiko Touko landed, wheezing from the rush. "All right, Unfezant, return. Now to give Burgh his marching orders. Knowing him, he'd likely favor Sticky Webs so our guys can safely unload on them from a distance."

Where else would Touko be? Still directing traffic and giving orders, this time barking into her Xtransceiver at an old friend.

"I don't care if you're having the shits right now, get your ass to Virbank and help Roxie, I am not having some of my best backup bottled up!" She was clearly channeling her inner boss bitch as she shouted at the troops to start moving up to gain ground and engage the NRE forces, who had brought knives to a gun fight...and the UPL had orders to shoot to kill, forcing the enemy Pokémon to choose between protecting their Trainers and being effective combat units.

"Burgh, get your big boy boots on, let's show them they picked the wrong side in this fight!" After giving everyone their marching orders, she moved to hold the Skyarrow Bridge, the gateway to the eastern part of Unova. The Striaton leaders were strong, but not as strong as the Shadow Triad...and she couldn't bear the thought of the enemy getting all the way to her home town.

Touko biked quickly across the Skyarrow Bridge, retreating to Pinwheel Forest to establish a command post deep in the woods. The stage was set, now everyone just had to play their part and hope she started her first war on the right foot.

Emiko Touko couldn't believe it. Her side was...winning? "I guess that's what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket! Melaine may be amazingly strong, but everyone else is a PUSH OVER! Fire teams, move up, they're just about to break!" Then something came on the monitor in one of the Nacrene warehouses where she had set up her command post, getting a good view of the action as well as directing logistical traffic and protecting the east end of the Skyarrow Bridge from a surprise attack. "Wait, no, not the fact that they're flying in using super strong birds, I can get Skyla to worry about that. I'm talking about the dude by the ice cream shop, he's way too calm about this. Get a team over there, assume hostile. I want him alive."

Stay calm, Touko. It's just like a normal battle. You've got this, she repeated to herself, one hand on her chest as she rode the edge between exhilaration and over-stimulation.

Emiko Touko was positively giddy, watching the glorious sight of victory unfold! "Burgh. They're retreating. Mop up any stragglers, take captives if you can. James, grab Allen, you two are with me. I'm going in after them. We have a chance to end this war right here before more people get killed."

Wren's ears perked up at the comment, causing him to turn around from the path he was walking. What was this war the stranger was talking about?

Ahem, excuse me. What did you just say?

he inquired, lifting his hand to his chin in puzzled repose.

Touko skidded to a stop on the bridge as some random citizen asked her about some sort of war going on.

"Wherever you've been, you'd better get back there. Some Diancie went all power trippy and established her own freaking Diamond Domain right over in the harbor there, and recently declared war on us. If you're a strong Trainer that can take out the Shadow Obelisks that have popped up and are juicing her up to where not even I'm a match for her, that's great, but for now I have holdouts to mop up and capture. I'm trying to rendezvous with a couple of my friends so we can strike at the enemy territory, so with all respect..."

And then she just gave Wren a hip check out of her way before continuing to the Castelia pier to meet up with James and Allen.

"Ah, James, it's been a while. Good to see you've been well. Who's your friend and why does he look like he wants to battle me? We do not have time for this, we can't just let the NRE retreat to lick their wounds and prepare for the next attack. I managed to catch them by surprise this time by having the troops use guns in addition to their Pokémon, but they won't fall for that again."

Wren Harrington stood in surprise, stunned by the sudden interposition. Not quite an experienced trainer just yet, he stepped back a bit as the commotion unfolded.

Yes! Well, thank you ma'am!

he stammered, unsure of which direction to go. Looking eastward, he turned on his heel and shouted over his shoulder,

Thanks for the tip! I'll be back soon!

came his echoing response before he disappeared off into the wilderness.