"Shall we leave, Sabi? We wouldn't want to keep our new friends waiting."

Dr. Nicholas Jenner sat with his legs crossed and his back pressed up against the padding of a comfortable high-backed chair as he stared out into the dark skyline of New York city from the window of his hotel room. It was past curfew, but a man in his position didn't need more than proof of identification and the right attire to convince most Regime enforcers that he was on business far above their clearance level. Technically, such unplanned breaches of conduct were supposed to be reported regardless of who committed them; in practice, however, the threat of the former head of a major Regime research division complaining to his superiors about an overzealous officer's rough treatment and dedication to wasting his time was enough to convince most reasonable men to keep their mouths shut. In truth, he had far more to worry about from the rebels themselves - considering his reputation, it was possible they would take him hostage or kill him outright rather than make an attempt to see the reason in his proposal. Attempting to predict the behavior of a disorganized group of anti-government extremists was a troublesome thing, although those qualities did have their own advantages, he had to admit. For one, it made them desperate enough to need his help.

The familiar sound of heavy scales sliding across the carpet prompted him to straighten out his tie and push himself onto his feet. One of Sabi's expressionless, slitted red eyes glimmered in the darkly lit room as she loomed over the side of his chair, her tongue tasting the air curiously.

"Remember, [i]do not[/i] kill without instructions tonight," he said to her sternly, meeting her gaze and making sure that his words were spoken as clearly as possible. "[i]No venom.[/i]"

The seviper pulled her head back and nodded, prompting a faint, satisfied smile from Dr. Jenner. One slight benefit to his otherwise degrading "vacation" had been the abundance of free time it gave him to pursue his hobbies away from the scrutiny of his colleagues in the Regime. He had spent a great deal of that time teaching Sabi to understand English, as well as the meaning of a few basic gestures she could use to communicate back with him. Her progress had been encouraging, even if he was quickly running out of excuses to continue teaching her beyond pure academic curiosity.

"...Good girl," he said, struggling to reach up and stroke the massive reptile's head until she cooperatively lowered it for his convenience, even going so far as to press herself into the weight of his hand like an over-affectionate cat.

She was, perhaps, enjoying the attention from his lessons even more than he was enjoying recording their results.

Letting his arm fall back to his side after a brief moment of thought, the doctor strode forwards to collect his suitcase from the foot of the coffee table in front of him, his seviper dutifully slithering behind despite some difficulties in navigating the furniture. Inside the case was his personal computer, loaded with as much sensitive data about the Regime as he could acquire without overstepping his authority, in addition to personal copies of his own research that likely dated back almost twenty years - although he suspected the names, locations, and purposes of several high-value production and research facilities were likely to interest his prospective rebel allies more. He hadn't bothered to travel with much else, other than a few changes of clothes that would not be coming with him on this excursion, some other light essentials, his security badge, and his labcoat, which he pulled off a rack at the door and shrugged over his shoulders on his way into the hall, stopping only briefly to fish a pokeball out of his pocket and recall Sabi into it before she frightened someone into starting a panic.

The night was still young as he took to the streets, with nothing more than a vague hint that he was supposed to find people sympathetic to the rebels' cause somewhere in Manhattan. His hope had been that in wandering the island, he might have been approached - or more likely, ambushed - by someone with a greater understanding of the situation, but as he drew closer to Queensboro Bridge, it became apparent that even such a simple plan had been quite hopelessly optimistic. For reasons he wasn't quite aware of, it was choked with foot traffic, leaving the checkpoint guards too understaffed to do much more than maintain order amongst the crowd as it gradually flowed one way into the island. If it were a rebel scheme to conceal their members inside a group too large to undergo proper identification, he had to admit that it was a very clever one - even though it made his own part more difficult than he would have liked. He had few alternatives other than to simply fall in line and enter the slow procession leading into the relatively crowded section of the city.

Every few meters, an officer waited with a datapad in hand, searching the crowd for faces that matched what was in all likelihood those on a database of the Regime's most wanted. Most of them were content to overlook Dr. Jenner, being much too busy to do anything other than write him off as one of a hundred other civilians passing through to the island, but one seemed to focus on him and held up a hand as he passed by.

"Hold it right there," the officer sternly ordered, earning an amused look from Jenner as he performed a quick look-up on his computer. His eyes lit up in surprise as it read back the results to him.

"[i]Pleased[/i] to make your acquaintance, officer," Dr. Jenner uttered from behind a somewhat threatening smile, "I take it introductions will not be necessary?"

"N-no, sir," the man stammered back, looking briefly over his shoulder towards the end of the bridge. "But... if you have business in Manhattan, please be careful. We've been receiving several reports of insurgent activity these past few days, and now this..."

Jenner gestured at the people around him. "Yes, [i]this.[/i] What is the cause of this trouble, hm?"

"Evacuation order, sir," the officer responded tersely. "From a bomb threat in Long Island. Until the investigation is complete, these people are being moved to temporary residences on the island and other adjacent neighborhoods. Do you require an escort?"

The doctor looked down at the ragged poochyena standing at attention behind his interrogator's feet and couldn't help but sneer. "It is very kind of you to offer, but you shouldn't reach so far beyond your grasp, officer. Don't let me keep you any longer from your, ah, [i]important[/i] duties here."

Without waiting to even acknowledge the man's offense, Jenner slipped past and rejoined the crowd of civilians making their way across the bridge. He was fortunate enough to have reached the other side just before the first tremor shook the island, bringing himself and a great many of the people around him to their knees.

A low, deafening rumble sounded from somewhere to the east, dying out only to be replaced by the pervasive murmur of several hundred concerned voices all speaking out in unison. When the second blast struck - this one far closer - the people began to scream instead. Dr. Jenner barely had the time to recover his footing and take hold of a nearby signpost as a mob of terrified citizens stampeded down the roads leading back towards Queensboro Bridge, effortlessly overpowering the waiting Regime officers in their desperation. The third and final explosion went virtually ignored by those still in the immediate area, who were well beyond caring that their city had gone dark throughout the chaos.

Dr. Jenner didn't hesitate to release Sabi from her ball, the gigantic serpent quickly splitting the fleeing crowd into two halves like a boulder shoved into the midst of a flowing river. As she coiled protectively into a wide circle around him, he took advantage of his relative safety to consider the situation. Despite how it looked, the rebels had nothing to gain from bombing civilians; shepherding them into a trap would do nothing but garner even more support for their enemies, which meant that there must have been another objective. If not the residential sector, what was the target? Were they [i]trying[/i] to disrupt the power grid? That didn't make sense - Manhattan had no active power plants, except...

The realization struck him mere moments before Zapdos's screech pierced the sounds of panic from the streets below, and he looked towards the sky in time to see the furious creature darting upwards through the clouds, leaving the makings of a tremendous lightning storm in its wake. For a moment, it was all he could do to simply stand there in awe of the Pokemon's unbelievable power, but slowly, quietly at first, he found himself chuckling. As the civilians ran for safety and Regime peacekeepers struggled to organize themselves, Dr. Jenner threw his head back and laughed triumphantly at the sight of his own peoples' ruin.

"[i]Marvelous![/i]" he shouted in his excitement to no-one in particular. "[i]Brilliant![/i] What do you make of your precious failsafes [i]now[/i], Hessemer!? Haa ha ha ha ha!"

Though he felt quite foolish for not considering the possibility of an attack on the legendary Pokemon's prison, the doctor was too impressed and outright excited to pay the thought much attention. Overtaken by curiosity, he ran up to his seviper's side, adjusting his glasses with one hand as the other gestured her wildly forwards.

"Come, Sabi, we've no [i]time[/i] to admire my rival's great humiliation! Clear a path through these fools and let us see what remains of Central Park, shall we!? Perhaps the culprits are even still alive!"

Sabi, less excited than her master by several orders of magnitude, nonetheless did as she was told and began to press against the tide of humans and small Pokemon fleeing from the center of Manhattan, forcing them to part to either side for fear of provoking the great snake's anger. The crowd quickly thinned out as they drew closer, allowing the two to sustain a swift jogging pace through the increasingly empty streets of the island.