ride on

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

Finding the place hadn't been easy. Guzma had been reluctant to tell Sena or Adora anything about it, and they couldn't go to Lusamine to ask, what with Overwatch keeping tabs on her. But Kukui, on the other hand, had been surprisingly forthcoming, although all he'd given them was a vague hint about a hidden door somewhere in the new Stadium. 

That had been enough. Searching around the base had netted them a secret door at the seemingly empty end of a hallway, and taking it leads to an elevator down into the depths of the stadium. And that led them to another door...one completely locked up with no visible keypad or lock. The only thing there is an odd camera-like device, and a speaker...the light above it a bright red. They're stumped.

"How're we supposed to get in? Did Lusamine give you some kinda secret key or something?"

"Eh?! W-W-Why would she give me anything like th-"

As if responding to his voice, the light suddenly flashes green, and a neutral female voice sounds through the speaker.

"Ultra Rider Zero-One, confirmed."

"...Eh?"

The door unlocks and allows Sena to pull it open, revealing a room very similar to the secret lab that Lusamine had shown Sena some time prior, equipped with multiple buckles and other equipment for additional Ultra Riders. Before Sena and Adora can step inside to get a better look, however, a hologram boots up in front of them. It's a young female with bob-cut hair, dressed in a white and green suit dress over black. She speaks in the same neutral voice from before, making it evident that she's related to whatever computer system just recognized Sena as the first Ultra Rider.

"Greetings, Ultra Rider Zero-One. I have been awaiting your-"

SLAM.
...
...
...

"...Sena, why'd you shut the door?"

"...No, I was just surprised..."

Comments

[fallers_npcs]

As if on cue, the woman pushed her head through the door. "Zero-One, please enter the room. I have been waiting, and there is much to discuss."

As if on cue, the doors opened once more, revealing the rest of her body as she stepped back, holding out her hand as if she was a tour guide.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

Through the door. Literally through the door. Like a ghost.

"HIEEE!"

The fact that Adora is right next to him is the only reason he hasn't fled the scene yet.

And then the door opens again.

"Uh-ah-who are you?! And h-how'd you know about-" that totally embarrassing title that lusamine gave him and he spoke to nobody about because this is humiliating, oh my god

[fallers_npcs]

"Sena Kobayakawa, registered user for Ultra Rider Zero-One," replied the woman as she gestured Adora and Sena inside, Adora glancing around the room as she had to nudge Sena into the room lest he flees.

"You are the main registered user of the primary device holder of the Zero-One Buckle. And thus, the main team leader of Commander Lusamine's Ultra Riders. I am Integrated Z-Systems Universe. I.Z.U. for short as I have been designated."

She gave a short bow as she gestured towards the table for Sena and Adora to sit down.

"Wow," said Adora. "This is nice. Wait, are you a hologram? Are you like Light Hope?" A pause. "You're not made by the First Ones are you?"

"My manufacturer is Stark Industries," replied I.Z.U. calmly. "Please sit."

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

"I-Izu...okay...?"

Sena blinks as he's pushed inside, but he relaxes a little once he hears that she's something designed by Tony. He knew that the man had been working with Lusamine a lot these days, so...it was on something like this?

"Um, alright..." He sits down as she asked. "Izu, you were already updated with information about me...? Even though this is so recent...was it before all this stuff with Overwatch?"

[fallers_npcs]

"Yes. Once you were chosen, my data was automatically updated to the database upon the activation of the Zero-One Buckle. When you were first admitted to administration, your profile was added to the Aether Foundations own personal files, as well as your Pokemon Team."

I.Z.U. gestured and a list of everyone's Pokemon appeared in screens around the room, each showcasing their different battles, Pokemon and teammates. "Aether Foundation has been preparing for gathering a group of members to ferry and explore the lands beyond their home for quite some time, but it was shelved before the Championship Tournament. Events had caused Commander Lusamine to rethink her options of exploration."

A screen enlarged, showing multiple instances of a massive Ultra Beast emerging from a Ultra Hole: huge, ugly, enormous mouth with enormous claws. "Ultra Beast designation Guzzlord. Capable of destroying entire Islands, Cities, and Nations. Four of them emerged onto the Championship after Champion Ash was declared the winner of the tournament. With the aid of the Ultra Guardians, the Kahuna, Royal Mask, Champion Ash, and Team Rocket, we were able to send all four of them back."

a call to arms!

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

"A-loooo-laaaa!"

The voice on the video post made to the Rotom-Net is surprisingly perky, given how dire the circumstances are here. It's a bright, energetic female's voice, spoken with a slight buzz that clearly indicates its artificial origins.

"Annoyed with the uninvited guests that have settled down here? Gotten chased down by totally incompetent but suuuuper bothersome armored goons lately? Really want some peace and quiet around here without some old goose telling you what to do with your life? Well, we have the solution for you!"

The screen pans over the secret lab, zooming in on a rack of seemingly innocuous belt buckles as the voice continues to ramble incessantly.

"Join the Ultra Riders! A new, totally elite branch of the Ultra Guardians, organized by Lusamine to explore the Ultra Holes! Travel across the multiverse, gain incredible experiences, and show those Overwatch nincompoops that we can do whatever they can, but better! You'll get a sweet armored outfit and everything - hey, Seeenaaaaa!"

Where's Sen-ah, there he is. Looks like he's reading up on something using one of the many monitors in the room, something rather complicated if his tired expression means anything. He perks up in alarm when Rotom calls him.

"Rotom? Wait, what do you want?"

"Neh, neh, why don't you show everybody your super cool Ultra Rider suit, and the transformation, it'll get them hyped up and everything!"

"HUH?!" Sena reels back in his chair, face red with embarrassment. "I-It's not cool, it's ridiculous, and the energy on it is limited so we shouldn't just play with it, and - what do you mean show everybody."

"Everybody watching, duh! I'm recording an advert to help you recruit people to Ultra Ride with you, you two did say that you couldn't do this by yourselves! Lusamine did tell you to make a team, after all!"

"Yeah, I did, but we don't need to do it like this - watching?! As in, right now?!"

"Ooobviously! It's live-streamed, after all!"

"LIVESTREAMED?!"

Sena's voice squeaks in his panic as he jumps out of his seat. Not a second later, he darts for the Rotomdex, and the video shakes as he manages to grab her.

"Sorry about that! I don't know what she told you, but she probably just exaggerated things - I-I-I mean we'd like the help, but it's definitely dangerous, so you should be careful thinking about whether you'd like to join or not, uhm, uh, anyways! Rotom! Turn it off!"

"Aww, but you didn't even show them all the cool parts about being an Ultra Rider, like the transform-"

"TURN IT OFF, ROTOM!"

[shadowslipping]

Hahahaaaaa...

Too late. You have a call, Sena. "Haaah, you're a Kamen Rider now? Like TV then?"

What's with this dry tone...

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

"No!!!!!"

Absolutely not, complete denial, that is totally embarrassing and attention-grabbing and he is not doing the secret hero identity thing again, he is not

"Yeees~!!!!"

And then his Rotom chimes in, far too cheerfully. Sena groans and puts a hand over his eyes in resignation.

"...yes..."

[shadowslipping]

"Hehhh? It's for real then?" Well. Shit. "But if you have all of that there, did Lusamine intend to recruit the rest of us then? I'm rather surprised, I would have thought with all the emphasis on pokemon that this sort of thing be frowned on... ...then again things have gotten fairly violent..."

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

"Er, well...It's not really meant to fight crime or anything, more like for research. It's just that exploring the Ultra Holes could get dangerous, so we need that kind of protection."

Sena sighs.

"It's just that this Overwatch stuff came at a really bad time..."

[blue_ice]

Some time later, Kaiba tap-taps away at his Rotomdex and sends an encrypted message.

Look, do you want some help with security?

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

Oh! That's actually a decent response. And it's coming from one of the developers, too...

Actually, yeah! I know the Overwatch guys are banned from this place, but that's definitely not gonna keep them out for long...

[blue_ice]

I'm on my way to the stadium. The last thing I want is our work going to waste because they sniped you.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

...Ah.

That wasn't something he'd considered.

The level of the attacks they can use now...I don't think I could get sniped by that, but they'll definitely raise their game later, right?

Sena.

You underestimate the absolute douchebaggery of Glomgold.

It’s okay here we go!

[withoutcontrolofmyself]

Hey you have another call, Sena. The video has Wes and his bike in a nearby forest.

“Where are you?” Wes gruffly says. “I want to talk. Securely.”

Koffing shifts a little from the camera view and chuckles, revealing two armoured Overwatch goons hanging from the the trees. Someone also has been harassed and had enough.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

Well. Someone's been having a hard time.

"The Stadium. Those guys aren't allowed in there, so if you can get there without getting caught, you should be fine."

[withoutcontrolofmyself]

Thankfully it hasn’t been him.

Wes nods. His glasses slide over his face and he hops on his bike.

“Give me fifteen minutes. I’ll meet you in there.” And without waiting, he returns his koffing, throws his Rotomdex into the side car and drives off.

“Seriously? Treat me with more respect!” Wes’ Rotomdex yells over the roar of the hoverbike. Better have the door ready and open for him, Sena.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

"I'll meet you in the lobby, then!"

And just as he said, Sena's ready and waiting for him.

"You made it here with no problems?"

on the streets

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

After that totally embarrassing live-stream that exposed him, Adora got the brilliant (as in, he couldn't say no to it) idea to go around and actually speak to people about the Ultra Riders! Which, he was planning to do anyway! But now that Overwatch people are on the streets, they've obviously gotta sneak around in the shadows, like a resistance organization, and -

Anyways, this just means that Adora and Sena are both skulking around, trying to get people's attention in a non-attention grabbing way.

Or bailing them out of tough-slash-inconvenient spots the Overwatch goons are putting them in. That's probably more likely.

[devilish_chrysanthemum]

So. So far, nobody has commented on it, but Phym has a jet black horn jutting from her temple, strange black markings on her skin, and her white dress is...fairly clearly part of her actual skin. On top of that, she's openly psychic, and has been noted to be able to communicate with Pokemon.

Some of the Overwatch goons decided that meant she should be taken into custody.

They very quickly learned that doing this where Alice could see them was a spectacularly bad idea. One of them is currently passed out in a crater from where she chokeslammed him so hard his armor shattered. Another has been embedded head-first through a nearby wall, and Alice is holding a third one in the air by the simple expedient of grabbing him by the top of the skull and lifting.

The fourth member of the squad, who can see a losing proposition before an enraged super-soldier bursts in, is just standing off to the side with Phym, bribing her with candy.

Someone should probably calm Alice down before she kills someone.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

Sena is here to save the day!

Kind of!

Okay so he noticed that someone was getting attacked by Overwatch goons and he was initially going to help but then Alice started throwing them through walls. And is about to throw another one at him.

"Wait wait WAIT WAIT WAIT-!" AAAAAAAAAAA

[devilish_chrysanthemum]

Alice pauses, because while the panicked screaming is expected, that guy doesn't have any armor. She adjusts her grip on the goon's skull, tosses him in the air, and catches him by one ankle before slamming him into the ground and leaving his unconscious body behind as she walks over to Sena.

"Sorry about that. I was running a little hot there."

[sinnohcoordinated]

And so far, you got someone who isn't being accosted by Overwatch and their goon squad - Dawn. By pure luck of being a native Trainer, the soldiers ignored her...

And it was really annoying her, mostly because by ignoring her, the soldiers were aiming at other Trainers.

"Oooh, I wish they would mind their own business...!" Dawn growled, arms crossed under her chest.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

Speaking of minding their own business...

"Yan, break up the path with Ancient Power!"

Sounds like they're still not doing that. Looks like they made the mistake of going after Sena, who's retaliated by sending out his Yanmega.

It pulls up rocks from the ground with mystical power, creating several potholes for the Overwatch goons to fall into.

"Now, crush 'em!" And then the rocks are dropped back on top of the holes they fell into. They're wearing armor it's fine. Probably. Sena's not looking back as he moves to escape the scene, but it leads to him almost crashing into Dawn when he does so.

"Ah-ah, sorry!"

[sinnohcoordinated]

"Woah! Hey! What's the big idea?!" Dawn yelped, leaping out of the way. And then she sees what happened.

"What the...?! Were those...?!"