Team Phalanx and Team Kama reach the Siphon Prison, but they are too late. Five deadly inmates are set free, and flee to the infamous crime haven known as Blackcoast...

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Sol didn’t know how long he slept, but he soon found himself awakening to a noise in the hallway. Sol lazily opened his eyes, listening, and then heard it again -the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor. Then, seconds later, he had the feeling something was watching him, and there was a chill in the air he could not explain. He raised his head and felt his heart thump harder just once when two beads of red peered back at him through the bars of his cell door, peering out at him from what appeared to be a hood.

He stared on in silence at the hooded figure for a time, then after calming his heart down he snorted a bit and spoke up. “...The fuck you want?” He growled. “If you’re trying to scare me, you’ll have to do WAY better than the old hood trick…”

As if in answer to his challenge, the figure drew close. More accurately, the entered his cell, passing through the door as if it were only an illusion, and as they neared him, he saw more of the figure. An avianic Pokémon, eyes still shining in the darkness, but the hood-like growth encompassing his head still hid his face. His wings were curled about him like a cloak, and the formidable looking talons on his feet didn’t make a sound as he walked. Sol didn't know of any Pokémon besides Ghost-types that could actually walk through walls, momentarily caught off guard by the display as the creature did not appear spectral in any way.

“...Okay?” Sol uttered, narrowing his eyes slightly after watching the unfamiliar Pokémon come to stand in front of him. “Look, if you got something to fucking say, then spit it out already.” He growled, getting increasingly annoyed at the silent treatment the stranger was giving him. “Clearly you ain’t a guard. Lack of any uniform and the fact you took down a couple judgin’ from the sounds I heard kinda gave that away.” He deduced.

“Indeed I am not a guard,” the stranger finally replied. “What I am, is a messenger to a very powerful being. Tell me, Typhlosion… do you wish for your freedom?”

“...Maybe.” He replied. “Though I ain’t dumb...you want something from me in exchange, don’t you?” He would add smarmily. “Ain’t that how it works with your kind? Eye for an eye?”

“The alternative is staying here in this dark cell for the rest of your existence. Which, if every guard lies dead before this night is out, I imagine will not be much longer,” he returned plainly, making it clear that Sol’s options were limited.

The Typhlosion let out a growl, not overly keen on spending the rest of his existence in the cell with absolutely no means of escape; he had spend too long bound in shackles as far as he was concerned. “Alright, fine.” He relented. “Get me outta here.”

The figured stepped forth, lifting one of his wings away and holding it out to his side, where a key, clenched between two feathers, appeared. He stepped forward, undoing the shackles that held Sol’s arms and legs, but he left the chain collar on his neck. “This key does not unlock the collar,” the owl explained. “If you must fight, you will have to do so without your powers.

“Psh, I ain’t so much of a scrub I can’t fight using my fists.” Sol retorted.

He returned to the door, producing another key as he walked through it, and then the door unlocked from the outside, opening it and allowing Sol to step through. “This way,” he bade, before turning and walking up the hallway.

Sol stepped out of the cell, taking a moment stretch his stiff limbs. He cracked his knuckles and pounded his fists together. “Alright...Time for a little exercise.” He muttered, following the stranger, eager to get a bit of payback.

He found the bodies of two guards lying in the hallway, limp and motionless on the floor. The stranger stepped over them nonchalant, and at first Sol could see no visible wounds on the two, as if they had simply died where they stood and collapsed to the floor. He could not begin to imagine what could have caused such a swift and sudden end in someone, but it did leave him somewhat disappointed to not have anyone to crush when he first got out of his cell.

Suddenly the owl-like Pokémon stopped, turning to investigate another cell. “Wait here,” he said, before he walked through another cell door.

Listening, Sol heard someone speak up in a startled tone, a gravelly voice sounding from within the cell. “Gah! Fuck, where did you come from?!”

“You are… Sandjaw, correct? I have heard of you,” the owl said.

“So what if I am?”

“Tell me… do you wish to leave this place?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” The other asked before Sol heard chains rattling. “Of course I want out of this place! But if ya know me, birdy, you know where I come from, and I know that such offers ain’t free, so what’s in it for me?”

“A return to the feared status you once had, for starters,” replied the owl.

There was a short silence to follow before the other voice spoke again. “Alright, you got my attention,” he said. “Get me out of here, and we’ll talk.”

As with himself before, Sol heard shackles being undone inside the cell, and as before he opened the door, a Krookodile following him into the hallway. The crocodilian Pokémon was large and powerfully built, with a rugged scaled body riddled with the scars of many battles -clearly no stranger to violence. His large, glassy eyes, peered at Sol through the gloom, narrowing at the sight of him.

“Who’s this guy?” He asked.

“Another potential accomplice,” replied the owl, walking across the hall and disappearing into another cell. “Try not to kill each other out there.”

The Krookodile once more turned to look at Sol, both standing in silence for a moment before he spoke. “So… what’d you get put away for?” He asked.

“Went berserk during some fuckwit Swampert’s tournament.” Sol bluntly replied.

“Huh,” the Krookodile said with a nod.

“And I’m going to assume you’re some kinda bandit from the ass end of nowhere.” The Typhlosion remarked.

“Deserts of the West Continent,” he replied. “Been in here for a few years now.”

Sol scoffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “For what? Stealing sand from the dunes themselves?” He retorted.

“You’re right about the ‘stealing’ part,” Sandjaw returned, not taking the bait. “Let’s just say a lot of merchant wagons didn’t reach their intended destinations while I was around. What I couldn’t eat or sell, I smashed.”

Almost as if on cue, the door to the cell where the owl had vanished through suddenly bent outward following the sound of something hitting it, making both Sol and Sandjaw jump, and watch in stunned silence as a second blow sent the now deformed metal door careening off its hinge. A Slaking stepped out of the cell with a bored expression on his face, regarding the two with nary a hint of interest as he scratched his rounded gut, letting out a grunt and stepping aside to let the owl out.

“One more to go,” the owl stated, crossing the hall to one final cell, and disappearing inside as before.

Sandjaw looked at the Slaking curiously, their gazes meeting for a moment before he spoke. “So… what’d they put you away for.”

The Slaking grunted and answered in a deep voice. “Knocked down a buildin’,” he said.

“Like, demolished a house or something?”

“Condominium,” he replied. “Occupied. They owed me money. They didn’t pay. Free burial.” He let out a yawn and leaned against the wall. “Hmmph… where’s that stupid rock?” He muttered.

“...Some landlord you turned out to be.” Sol openly remarked, though he raised an eyebrow when the Slaking mentioned a rock. “What, can’t leave home without your precious little trinket?”

“A Carbink,” replied the Slaking. “Use ‘im to keep myself goin’... guess they didn’t pick ‘im up.” He grunted again. “What a pain…”

Suddenly, a mad cackling filled the hallway, drawing the attention of the three to the cell door the owl had passed through before. They watched as the avian stepped back out, unlocking the door, and narrowly avoided being hit with it as the being followed him out, the cackling reduced to an unrelenting chuckle as the figure stepped out, revealing a Hydreigon, who looked up and down the hallway until his eyes found Sol. Before the Typhlosion could react, suddenly the dragon was soaring at him, slamming fully into him with all its weight, the cackling returning as it fell upon him, the head-like claws at the end of its two arms going immediately for his throat.

Sol quickly brought his paws up and grabbed at the heads going for his neck by their necks, strangling them as he brought his feet under him and Double Kicked the Hydreigon off him before popping back up to his feet and snarling angrily at the dragon.
“Buddy, you just pissed off your worst fucking nightmare!” He announced before storming to the Hydreigon with his fists clenched at his sides.

Very suddenly, the owl appeared between them both, green blades of Grass-type energy extending from his outstretched wings and stopping just shy of the throats of both Sol and the Hydreigon. “Cease!” He hissed, looking briefly at Sol, and then at the Hydreigon. “Control yourself, else I put your carcass back in that cell.”

The Hydreigon’s laughing ceased, and slowly he pulled his head back from the blade, blinking as if waking from a dream, casting a curious glance at Sol as though seeing him for the first time, but saying nothing.

Sol growled, pointing at the Hydreigon with his finger. “You try anything like that again and I’ll roast you on a spit over a volcano…” he warned the dragon before he shoved the blade away from his throat.

At that moment, there was an explosion, and the prison suddenly shook. The owl turned in the direction of the blast, and then back to the four prisoners he had freed. "Time to leave. My cohorts are freeing the last prisoner. It will keep the remaining guards occupied. We will exit via the main hallway."

"Wait, there are more cells below here?" Sandjaw asked.

"Only one," replied the owl as he stepped past them, taking the lead. "Follow me -the guards will have to pass this block to get below. Your freedom nears."

“Bout fucking time...” Sol grumbled, shoving his way past the Hydreigon and shooting him a dirty look as he followed the stranger leading the way.

Deep down, he could barely contain his excitement. Finally he would be allowed to run free and do whatever the hell he wanted...He could practically taste freedom already. Falling into line, the other three prisoners were quick to follow. The Slaking brought up the rear, moving the slowest of the four, still seeming disinterested with everything that was happening. The strange owl-like Pokémon led them further up the corridor, bringing them to a stop only when they reached the fork. Countless heavy footfalls were approaching, and then blurred shapes of Pokémon sped across their view, one of them shouting at the others who fell in to join them.

"Hurry, men! We can't let them free prisoner zero! He must not get away!"

Sandjaw tilted his head. "Who's prisoner zero?" He asked.

"You will find out soon," replied the owl. "Come."

He broke into a run, his wings trailing behind him as he strode around the corner, his talons still not making a sound as he moved. Sandjaw and the Hydreigon were quick to hurry after him, the dragon taking flight the moment he had enough space to do so, but the Slaking was still moving along slowly, seemingly not worried by the possibility of discovery.

“Might wanna pick up the pace! You’re moving slower than a Slowpoke!” Sol would openly taunt as he ran, now starting to smirk as they moved closer to freedom from this wretched prison.

They reached the main door of the prison, Sandjaw pushing the door open for them, and they emerged into the yard. But it was not as deserted as they expected. Twelve guards armed with staves turned to face them as they emerged, immediately brandishing their weapons and shouting orders for them to stop where they were. The owl extended his blades and launched himself at the guards, slashing through the staff of the first guard in his path, before cutting their throat in the same fluid motion. The next one rushed at Sandjaw, who caught the staff in his powerful jaws and snapped it in two, before punching the guard upside the head. The dragon, previously watching in blank amazement, suddenly shifted mood again, the crazed latter returning as he soared at the next set of guards, bulldozing into them and proceeding to rip at them violently.

The next guard ran at Sol, who snorted and caught the guard’s weapon one paw, then uppercut him HARD in the stomach, causing him to lurch forward and cough up some blood from the force of the impact before he fell limp and flopped to the ground. Another rushed the Typhlosion, and he dealt with him as quickly as he did the first, socking him along his jaw before grabbing both sides of his head and brutally headbutting the dazed guard, no doubt causing some severe cranial damage from the force of the attack.

The other guards quickly fell to the other prisoners, all except four who focused their attention on the Slaking making his way slowly across the yard. Whether they considered him a bigger threat or an easier target, Sol didn't know. All he saw was the four of them foolishly rushing him, each one beating him with their staff to no avail. Some of their staves broke over the Slaking, yet he still paid them no heed. They resorted to trying to grapple the slow-moving giant, but deciding he had had enough, he gave one swipe of his arm, sending the two guards holding it spiralling through the air. He grabbed the guard holding his left arm, and then threw them backhandedly across the yard, disappearing into the night as they flew over the wall -which was more than forty feet away. The last guard stood in stunned awe, and the Slaking put a finger to his forehead, flicking him and launching the guard onto his back, straight into unconsciousness.

“What a nuisance," the Slaking grumbled, continuing toward the gate. "Next time bring a cart… I don't like walking."

The phantasmic owl dispersed his blades and turned to the prisoners. “It is not much further. We merely need to get through the gate, and we are free."

The Slaking snorted. "Fine… one gate, coming down," he said as he stormed past, heading towards the prison gate.

The others followed, watching as the Slaking approached the steel-reinforced wooden gate of the prison, wondering if he could really break it. Sandjaw spoke up at that moment, seeming to have an idea. "You know, I could probably dig us out, and the dragon here can fly himself over. I just need a few-"

CRASH!

With a windup of his arms, the Slaking brought both fists down one the gate, wood splintering and steel bending under the blows. He did it again, and again, each time deforming the gate more until on the fifth blow, it exploded outward, the locks and barricades giving under the Slaking's enormous strength, not lessened at all by the siphon chain collar he wore and opening the way out for them.

"...Never mind," remarked Sandjaw sheepishly.