[Pokémon] Revolution - PG13

Hey, its Icy (Aisu) back from the dead! I had another fanfiction on here some time ago - the reason I didn't finish was I had lost interest in Pokemon for a long time. (I'm still not that interested - I just play some games.) But I really wanted to finish a story on here so I bring you Revolution, a story about the war between humans and Pokemon.

Warning - There is profanity knocked around in here. I wasn't able to edit them all out.

Chapter One
Dominic​

"Racist Zoroark…I can imagine the headlines already," Dominic muttered, walking through the bleak and barren place that was once Snowpoint City. The buildings were toppled, reduced to jagged gray fingers jutting out from the thick sheet of ash and upturned soil covering the paved streets and sidewalks. Ash fell from the mahogany-colored sky instead of snow, falling over Dominic's red cloak. He rubbed his nose with his claw, trying not to sneeze.

"Imagine only. With these rebels, I heavily doubt you'll live to see the papers when they do produce them." Reyes gestured to the scene around them. "I mean, you see the number they've done on Snowpoint already. Imagine what they could do if their numbers doubled, or even tripled."

Dominic shuddered. "Oh, man. This is getting to be a real problem. I mean, people having Pokémon is a part of life. Why rebel against that?"

"I guess some people just don't like being contained in a tight space, coming out just to fight until you're at the edge of your consciousness."

"Like you did?"

Reyes' shoulders slumped under his emerald cloak. "Yeah, like I did."

The change in atmosphere made Dominic uneasy. "So…why are we here anyway?"

Reyes knocked him over the head, carefully avoiding using his razor-sharp leaves. Dominic tensed up suddenly, turning his ears around halfway. Reyes looked over his shoulder and saw an incoming cloud of dirt going at a fast pace towards them. As it grew closer he could make out various Pokémon, all with furious expressions. He tapped Dominic's shoulder.

"I think we should hide," he whispered. Dominic looked around and pointed to the PokéCenter. The PokeBall symbol was half buried in the ground, covering the entrance, and the windows were too cracked to look through. They made a break for it, feet pounding behind them. Dominic dodged behind the PokeBall, prying the broken doors open and ducking inside, Reyes following closely behind.

The Pokémon Center was dark and almost as desolate as the city. The ceiling was broken apart and wood hung over the smashed counters and machines scattered about. Chairs have been flipped and twisted and most of the rooms were blocked by debris. Dominic stepped around the mess, able to see in the dark, but Reyes wasn't so lucky. He tripped over a wire, falling into a twisted pile of machines. Dominic listened closely to the footsteps going by the PokéCenter and heading off in the opposite direction. He breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall.

"We're safe, that is, until someone decides to check this place," he said, feeling around the wall for a light switch. "It feels like one of those zombie apocalypse movies where there are these kids trying to run for their lives and hiding out in destroyed buildings."

"Yeah, I guess," Reyes moved his arms around like a blind person. "Help me out, Dominic. I'm no Dark type like you."

"Everything seems to come back to the Dark type excuse," Dominic muttered, clambering over the mess.

"Give me a hand," Reyes said, but it wasn't his voice, nor did it come from his direction. Reyes whirled around, knocking a chair into the wall with his big bushy tail.

"Who's there?" he shouted in the darkness. A batch of PokeBalls shifted in the corner, sending up clouds of dust. A Bisharp got out of the mess. "Rebel or revolutionary?" Reyes demanded, jabbing his finger at him. The Bisharp jumped a bit, surprised.

"Revolutionary, I guess," he said. He sounded younger than Dominic but not as mature as Reyes. "I was working here when the rebels attacked a week ago. Since then I've been hiding in here while they patrolled the city."

"Damnit!" Dominic banged his fist against the counter, smashing it in frustration. "What's with these damn rebels?"

"I don't know," Reyes sighed. "At first, it was like 'Oh, nice, Pokémon get a stand' but now its getting to be more like a monarchy."

Dominic didn't say anything. He pulled away a pile of charred wood to open the hallway and motioned for Reyes to follow as he ventured further into the PokéCenter. Smaller Pokémon, such as Wurmple and Rattata, skittered across the blackened floor as he passed by. He checked in the abandoned human rooms, fearful that one would be residence to a rebel.

"When I was a Zorua, the only problem here was Team Galactic." He found a room that had a decent bed inside and went in, his ears pricking back and forward, alert to every subtle vibration in the air. He sat in the shadowy corner, discarding the cloak. His black fur blended in well with the background, contrary to Reyes, who stuck out well with his green skin. "That crazy guy – what's his name? – Cyrus, convinced of capturing Dialga and Palkia."

The room was painfully quiet for a few breaths. Reyes sat on the edge of the bed, the Bisharp joining him. "…What's your name?" he asked, trying to be polite as he learned. The leaf Pokémon didn't seem to know what polite was, however.

"Reyes," he said, exhaling. Dominic took long, deep breath, and both of them thought he was asleep. Daytime was always a bad time for him, considering he was a Dark type; even though the sky was the same color as blood the same basic principle applied: he was hardly awake during the morning hours. If he had to he could fight, but he was most prominent at night. Reyes handled everything in the morning, and Dominic took over in the night. It was the odd partnership they had agreed to two years ago.

Bisharp was silent for a while, then he cleared his throat. "So…why are you here?"

"We were supposed to survey the damage done on the cities in possession of the rebels and make note of it. I can tell how many Pokémon are in control, what type they are, and basically our chances of winning. We are trying our hardest to come to an agreement with them, but…but they are dead-set on creating a lawless society, where anyone could do whatever they pleased; where there is no dominant species, and everyone is at the same exact level."

"That's some pretty serious ****."

"Trust me, it is. In the first place, humans were friends with Pokémon. They helped each other with daily life. Then someone invented a PokeBall, which lead to Pokémon battles, gym leaders, Leagues and everything that you know today. Things have been that way for so many years humans have lost track of the history, leaving only vague details to piece together, like a puzzle missing pieces. Even if humans weren't supposed to have Pokémon, things shouldn't be resolved like this." Reyes rubbed his arm.

"Then again, nothing in this world is resolved peacefully."

"I know that much is true."

"Hey, Reyes? How do you know all this anyway?"

He seemed hesitant to reply this time. "My Trainer used to take me with him to school. I learned a lot from there."

Bisharp wanted to ask about his Trainer but Reyes' face stopped him. He propped his elbow up on his leg, trying to distinguish Dominic's figure from the darkness. "How did you and Dominic become friends?"

Reyes looked like he was trying not to laugh. "Well, two years ago, Dominic was being chased by a group of rebels. He ran right into my forest in the middle of the day. At that time, me and my three friends were lounging in trees, playing a game we called 'Sneak Attack'. That was before we knew about the rebellion though, so the atmosphere was very light. Dominic barreled through and we thought he was my friend Roy and we all jumped him with Leaf Blade. After that he was indistinguishable as a Zoroark. I apologized many times over before he finally accepted it. I asked him why he was running and he explained to me about the rebellion. I thought it was a load of bull**** and joined in with him as a revolutionary. Originally I was teamed up with a Conkeldurr and Glalie but I have" – he cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed – "an inability to cooperate with others. Dominic's the only exception."

They made idle conversation after that. Bisharp explained how his Trainer had travelled to Sinnoh to challenge all the Gym Leaders and made it up to the Snowpoint Gym. He decided to heal him before challenging Candice but before he could leave the rebels attacked. Through the fire wall Bisharp couldn't find his Trainer and had been there ever since, hiding. It was a surprise to Reyes when the sky began dropping shades until it was a deep red-black color.

"I think it's safe to go out now," Reyes said, standing up and stretching. Dominic stirred, his bushy mane bristling.

"Oh, ah, its night?" he yawned, rolling on his back.

"Yeah. Dominic, we need to keep moving. We have a job, you know." Reyes tapped his wrist, an impatient habit.

"What about me?" Bisharp asked. Dominic stood up, stretching his back.

"There are beds at the revolutionary base, right, Reyes? We can take him there," he suggested, easily finding his cloak in the darkness. He threw Reyes' cloak at Bisharp, who looked nervous now.

"What's it like there?" he asked.

"Full," Dominic and Reyes said at the same time. Reyes cleared his throat and continued, "It's a base where all the revolutionaries are located, ready to settle any dispute between the rebels and the humans. They also work on retaking and rebuilding rebel-controlled cities, like this one. All we had to do was see how many Pokémon are guarding it and evaluate their levels and types so the base can send out the Pokémon best situated to deal with the threat."

"No," Dominic argued, balling up his fists. "It's a shelter under the Veilstone Department Store where they shove in raggedy old mattresses for everyone to sleep on and a whole bunch of Poffins instead of real food, and then there are people barking orders at you every other minute your not trying to sleep over all the noise."

"Creative way of putting it but yes, it is kinda like that. But overall, it's a good place," Reyes added quickly, seeing Bisharp's discouraged expression. "I'll be glad to get out of this smog city though. There's so much ash if I wasn't a Grass type I'd be on the floor hacking."

"Oh, speaking of that, you should lay low; the majority of Pokémon out there are Fire types and Ice types, both super-effective against you." Dominic ran his claws through his mane. He kept important documents in there, but nothing really helpful in the case of a fight, except a single Potion from a PokeMart he stopped at along the way. He made a mental note to acquire more useful items.

"Please, I never see you lay low when there's something like a Machamp out there," Reyes pushed the door open. The creaking hinges hurt Dominic's ears worse than the ensuing silence that befell them; the calm before the storm. Reyes counted at least twenty Pokémon out there, but that was just the ones he could see. Who knows how many could've been hidden, an animal ready to spring. The tension was like rope slowly wrapping around everyone's lungs, squeezing them until they could hardly breathe.

Dominic slipped past the PokeBall and outside. The cool night air was disturbed by the ash and dust swirling around. As far as he could see, everything was quiet. However, he knew from experience that nothing stays quiet. He pricked his ears back and forward, alert as ever as they stalked along. Then, the familiar rumbling sound returned, and Dominic saw a group of Pokémon running towards them from the only available exit in the city. The other route was blocked by fallen trees too high for even Reyes to jump over.

"Isn't there more than last time?" he said, pushing Reyes and Bisharp forward. "Before it was like, maybe two dozen, but now it's like that two dozen had babies, and their babies had babies."

"What do we do?" Bisharp asked. Dominic sighed and rubbed his nose.

"You can use Extremespeed, right?" he asked Reyes.

"Yeah," Reyes grabbed hold of Bisharp, slinging his arm over his shoulder. Then he looked at Dominic warily, "What are you gonna do?"

Dominic cracked his knuckles. "What do I do best? I'm gonna kick some ***."

He cupped his hands to his mouth and blew out a whirlwind of flames that spiraled and twisted in the air, illuminating the night sky. The Pokémon halted a minute, inches short of being burned. Then he moved quickly, disappearing with the fire, becoming nothing more than a shadow in the night, screams the only thing indicating his location.

A nice, fresh story. Different and darker, it gives a sense of realism to the Pokemon world. It especially makes people consider the feelings of Pokemon in a world where they are forced to battle each other to the point of fainting.

However, it does have it's downfalls.
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Normally, I don't review sentence structure, grammar or things in the category, but . . .

Aisu said:

"Imagine only. With these rebels, I heavily doubt you'll live to see the papers when they do produce them." Reyes gestured to the scene around them. "I mean, you see the number they've done on Snowpoint already. Imagine what they could do if their numbers doubled, or even tripled."

Click to expand...

I found this incomplete sentence minor (especially since it's a character speaking), but it left me slightly confused about the very next sentence. Which caused me to have to go back and read the last paragraph over again in hopes that I missed something. I did not.

Aisu said:

Reyes knocked him over the head, carefully avoiding using his razor-sharp leaves. Dominic tensed up suddenly, turning his ears around halfway. Reyes looked over his shoulder and saw an incoming cloud of dirt going at a fast pace towards them. As it grew closer he could make out various Pokémon, all with furious expressions. He tapped Dominic's shoulder.

Click to expand...

The paragraph lacks fluidity. Nothing wrong with it, it just comes off as a bit mechanical.

Aisu said:

"Who's there?" he shouted in the darkness. A batch of PokeBalls shifted in the corner, sending up clouds of dust. A Bisharp got out of the mess. "Rebel or revolutionary?" Reyes demanded, jabbing his finger at him. The Bisharp jumped a bit, surprised.

Click to expand...

Factual Error: A rebel and a revolutionary are essentially the same thing. Thus, the confusion in differentiation of the two parties can make it harder to read the story.

Aisu said:

They made idle conversation after that. Bisharp explained how his Trainer had travelled to Sinnoh to challenge all the Gym Leaders and made it up to the Snowpoint Gym. He decided to heal him before challenging Candice but before he could leave the rebels attacked. Through the fire wall Bisharp couldn't find his Trainer and had been there ever since, hiding. It was a surprise to Reyes when the sky began dropping shades until it was a deep red-black color.

Click to expand...

Two things.
One, the sentence is a little confusing.
Two, I'm wondering how he can see the sky inside such a dark P.C.

Aisu said:

"No," Dominic argued, balling up his fists. "It's a shelter under the Veilstone Department Store where they shove in raggedy old mattresses for everyone to sleep on and a whole bunch of Poffins instead of real food, and then there are people barking orders at you every other minute your not trying to sleep over all the noise."

Click to expand...

*you're

Sorry, it's a pet peeve to point this out at least once, lol.

-------

All in all, the story has too much Imagery as well as too much Mental Imagery. It's so hard to discern what's going on at times. Though this helps with the chaotic mood you want to set for a war, it's pretty hard for a reader to know what's going on at times. To summarize, I recognized that Dominic was the Zoroark midway through the story and I'm still not completely sure what Reyes is, even after re-reading.

Plus, the war isn't quite explained in the best terms. What happened to humans, generally? They're much weaker than most pokemon, so what happens to them in this desolate time? If they're not around or not the majority anymore, what's the reason for any of the fighting at this point?

One major problem with the storyline that I had is the Pokemon themselves. Since when did captured pokemon feel the need to rebel? I always thought that once they were caught, they just dealt with it and tried their best to get along with the trainer? If a trainer feeds you and cares for you, would there be any reason for most pokemon to feel the need to start a revolution. I understand wild pokemon (even though they wouldn't necessarily know the pain of being captured), but the premise is a bit hard to get behind. However, that's only from a writer's point of view. To a natural reader, it's not all that unbelievable.

It's a good idea. And with a few tweaks, it could be one of the best stories on here.

dudebot said:

Factual Error: A rebel and a revolutionary are essentially the same thing. Thus, the confusion in differentiation of the two parties can make it harder to read the story.

Click to expand...

Actually, no.

They are similar, but not the same. They have different connotations depending on how they are used.

A rebel is a person who is refusing to submit in one way or another to a certain power. A revolutionary is someone that, while they may refuse a power, have a desire to change the power and make it something new or base it on a new concept, something, and please ignore the pun, revolutionary. In the example that this author used it is correct, and, in fact, is a good question to ask. Is the character simply not willing to submit themselves? Or are they trying to change the world?

PhantomX0990 said:

Actually, no.

They are similar, but not the same. They have different connotations depending on how they are used.

A rebel is a person who is refusing to submit in one way or another to a certain power. A revolutionary is someone that, while they may refuse a power, have a desire to change the power and make it something new or base it on a new concept, something, and please ignore the pun, revolutionary. In the example that this author used it is correct, and, in fact, is a good question to ask. Is the character simply not willing to submit themselves? Or are they trying to change the world?

Click to expand...

Both, actually. The aim is to stop the rebels and save the world from destruction by Pokemon. And @dudebot, I know I made quite a bit of mistakes. XP The general thing is though that I don't really explain the plot or characters that much until later in the story. And yeah, there are still humans around, but mostly their hiding out in cities, because I'd sure as hell hide if a dragon was patrolling around cracking off Dragon Rage every few steps. X3

In the process of reviewing this chapter - thoroughly - I've come to a realization - making no sense actually is my forte with writing stories. So, I apologize if this chapter is a bit farfetch'd (pun very much intended) or grammatically wrong or whatever, that's just how I do.


Reyes couldn't see anything – he cursed his poor night vision – but he could see the Pokémon falling to the ground one by one. Everyone once in a while a Flamethrower swirled up in the air, revealing Dominic sinking his claws into something. He was the only Dark type there, allowing him much better vision, however, he was still very outnumbered. Eventually it changed from him attacking to him being attacked, and his screams filled the air instead of the many rebels.

"Let's go!" his outline blurred. Reyes dug his feet in the snow-dirt mixture and broke into a sprint that slowly accelerated until even Dominic had a hard time keeping track of him. Dominic jumped, grabbing hold of the Bisharp's other arm, letting Reyes run them both out the city and down the pier, the ensuing Pokémon disappearing behind them.

"How do we get through without a boat?" Bisharp asked, closing his eyes to shield them from the stabbing wind. Reyes and Dominic shared a secretive glance and a sinister smirk before jumping off the pier, high into the night sky. They landed on the water; however, they did not sink, and instead started doing long jumps across the dark waters.

"How – how are you doing this?"

"Both of us" – Reyes ducked his head – "both of us were trained to move fast as lightning. By applying little pressure on the water then we can cross over it."

"We're pretty amazing like that," Dominic smirked, pushing into the air and doing a 360.

"Now you're just showing off," Reyes said sourly. Dominic cackled in response.

"But you know what I'd really love?" Dominic smiled, and suddenly they were at Floaroma Town, surrounded by a field of multicolored flowers of all shapes and sizes. Bisharp was surprised, as they had been crossing the ocean just moments earlier. Dominic bent down to pick a flower.

"C'mon, Dominic, get serious," Reyes said. Bisharp didn't get how he was immune to the almost intoxicating scent of flowers in the air. The town was so calm and peaceful he almost felt like going to sleep, then he remembered what they were doing.

"Fine," Dominic snapped, and instantly they were back to running across the ocean. Bisharp had almost forgotten Dominic could make illusions. But it was so very realistic he was almost lost in it.

"Wow, that's a pretty good illusion," he commented. Dominic scoffed as if it was an insult.

"Don't expect anything less from me," he said, not turning to look back at him. "I could make a Zoroark think he was dead."

"There are a few admirable traits Dominic has," Reyes said passively, staring forward. Dominic jumped, skidding on the water's surface and nearly plunging in. He stared daggers at Reyes and he made a very strange expression, presumably caught up in one his illusions.

"Reyes is a big fat idiot who thinks he's all cool all the time," Dominic said while he was still out of it. "He does the thinking and I do all the fighting!"

"So you're just the brawn, no brains," Bisharp translated. Dominic sputtered and Reyes immediately snapped back to attention, as Dominic had lost his concentration as Bisharp turned his words against him.

"Dominic," Reyes sighed, grabbing a fistful of his hair and bringing him closer. "Do that again and I will kill you." He threw him to the side and the sky was lit up in a sudden flash of light that fell down in a greenish-white beam right on Dominic, effectively knocking him out. Bisharp grabbed his arm to prevent him from sinking under the water. "You really don't need to do that, as he can float downstream quite well," Reyes said, his voice taking on a new, unfamiliar tone.

Bisharp was interested as to what exactly he had seen, but by his angry expression he obviously wasn't going to talk about it. Meanwhile, their relationship is very questionable. While they seem friends and partners, they argue far more than they work together, and often enough one's power goes against friend rather than foe.

"Canalave," Reyes said suddenly.

"What?" Bisharp said. Reyes pointed at the grey-streaked horizon.

"Canalave City," he repeated. The port city was just coming into view. Reyes picked up the pace and Bisharp braced himself as his strides grew lower and quicker until he literally was running on water. With one agile leap the ground below transformed into the aged wooden piers of Canalave City. He grabbed onto a wooden beam and swung onto the drawbridge bringing the divided city together. "We have to cross through the rest of Sinnoh to Veilstone."

"I haven't been to Canalave since Ethan challenged the gym here," Bisharp said, caught up in his memorabilia. From Reyes' expression he was remembering the city as well, but not as fondly as Bisharp. Bisharp's eyes trailed downwards to the unconscious Dominic. "I'll take him to a PokéCenter," he volunteered. He took Reyes' silence as an agreement and hefted the Zoroark over his shoulder, starting towards the Pokémon Center. This gesture became wasted, as Dominic was deemed totally fine when they arrived. Actually, the only injury he had was a slight bruise on his forehead. He was both annoyed and slightly touched by the action.

"Reyes' di**head self couldn't hurt me," he boasted, poking the small bandage on his head. "Where is he, anyway?"

"I think he went to the Library."

"Oh, he's always reading," Dominic scoffed. By the way he said it he seemed to be pretty illiterate. He stood up, stretching his back.

"Curious: how is Snowpoint destroyed, but Canalave is intact?" Bisharp asked. Dominic folded his arms across his chest, thoughtful.

"Well, see, the rebels have about as much a plan as us. As there is one rebel to every twenty revolutionary, they try to be secretive and not make a huge impact at one time. There are at least thirty or something revolutionaries here, and I'm pretty sure they don't have enough supporters to send out thirty at a time for each city. Snowpoint was just taken over so they're still guarding it, but the other few cities – Floaroma, Solaceon, and Hearthome – don't have as many. Actually, right now, revolutionaries are fighting there to take them back."

"So how come you and Reyes aren't fighting the rebels directly?" Bisharp stood up as well, flexing his deadly hands.
"Like I said, Reyes doesn't fight, and I don't go nowhere without him."

"I have a question about that–"

Bisharp didn't get to his question, as at that moment, there was a loud boom outside the PokéCenter and it resonated through Canalave City. The two of them glanced at each other for a second before racing out of the center and joining the crowd of gathering onlookers watching the burning Library.

"The fu– Reyes!" Dominic cupped his claws to his mouth and shouted. At first, he thought Reyes had perished in the flames (as he was a Grass type he never was too quick in fire) but a few moments later he leapt through the wall of flames, his palm-tree like tail smoldering, a cluster of books in his arms. He failed to land on his feet and rolled on the ground, but the action managed to extinguish his backside. The books clattered to the pavement.

"Dominic!" Reyes said before breaking into a coughing fit. Dominic crouched down next to him.

"What happened?" he demanded. Reyes opened his mouth but was interrupted by Gym Leader Byron storming in, followed by Bastiodon.

"What happened?" he demanded in the same manner as Dominic. Dominic rolled his eyes.

"Rebel!" Reyes finally managed to shout, pointing at the burning building. A fireball flew out, nearly burning off Byron's head; however, Bastiodon shielded him at the last second. An Infernape came out of the mess. Understanding dawned on Dominic's face and Bisharp stepped closer, kneeling down to join in the conversation.

"What do we do?" he asked.

"What do you think we do? Drink tea?" Dominic scoffed. Infernape's eyes went from Byron to Bastiodon to them. His eyes narrowed at the sight of Reyes. The flame on his head burned brightly to exhibit his spirit. He lunged in their direction, fists flaming. Dominic pulled Reyes back and Bisharp jumped in front of them, blocking with both his arms. Infernape bounced back, snarling.

"You," he growled at Reyes. He stepped on the books he was carrying, setting them alight. Reyes painfully got to his feet and swung Leaf Blade at Infernape, causing him to rear back. He grabbed the flaming books and threw them into the dirt, patting himself down to keep from catching on fire before falling on his rear.

"Reyes, what is so important with those books you have to risk catching on fire?" Dominic said. Infernape howled and his fire blazed even brighter as flames sprouted from the earth. The patrons of Canalave jumped around, some even diving in the lake to keep from getting burned. "Oh my Arceus," Dominic face-palmed, grabbed Reyes' books and shoved them in his fur before swinging his foot in Infernape's direction. Infernape dodged easily and they broke into close combat.

"The books," Reyes said as he got to his feet. Bisharp closed his eyes and glowed white a moment. The sky, previously a blue and grey mixture, filled completely with dark clouds and immediately began to rain, dousing the flames. Infernape halted a minute, enough time for Dominic to kick him in the canal. Helpless in the water he floated downstream kicking, disappearing somewhere near the bridge. Just as Dominic began to sigh in relief however, he caught a scent. Not a scent, actually – multiple scents, dozens of them. Infernape surely had reinforcements.

"We have to go," he said urgently, seeing a set of multicolored dots appearing at the ocean's tip, followed by a rainbow-like streak of Pokémon in the sky. "We can't do anything with this much Pokémon."

"But what about the people?" Bisharp gestured to the humans, who were now running for cover, and the Trainers, who were now releasing their own Pokémon.

"This is out of our hands. The revolutionaries here can keep the Pokemon from wrecking the city," Reyes answered, skipping over the question. Byron released Steelix, who promptly began using Stone Edge against the Flying types as they drew nearer. Dominic could see a huge variety of Pokémon – Dragonite, Flygon, Staraptor, Altaria – and an even huger assortment of Water types – Tentacool and Tentacruel, Milotic, Gastodon, Marill, Azumarill, Dewgong, Spheal.All the Dragonite knocked away the rocks and attacked Steelix with Dragon Rush, knocking him out immediately. Upon seeing Dominic and Reyes, however, their attention diverted from Byron and they all lunged to attack the two of them.

"****!" Bisharp exclaimed. Even Reyes looked slightly alarmed as he cross his arms across his chest, the leaves on his arms extending. Dominic, however, was calm and collected, placid even as the rushing Pokémon suddenly stopped and crashed on the ground, all writhing in pain. Dominic took a deep breath and some of them even let out a few shouts of agony. "What are you doing?" Bisharp demanded, unwilling to see even rebels in that much pain.

"Nothing much," Dominic said simply, "just a cute little visit from Kyurem. Come on – while their distracted lets go!"

"Kyurem?" Reyes stopped him by grabbing his arm. "Kyurem is the strongest Dragon type in the entire world. Aren't you overdoing it?"

"Look, does it really matter? I mean, it's not like anything is seriously happening to them."

"That's not the point, Dominic!" Reyes suddenly shouted, taking him aback. Even Bisharp was scared by his outburst.

"We're not supposed to terrorize Pokémon!"

Dominic sighed, annoyed, but the Pokémon immediately came to their senses. When they realized Kyurem was not there they searched for the source of the illusion – all twenty pairs of eyes landed on Dominic. Just as they were beginning to rise, however, a wave of revolutionaries broke through the crowd of Pokémon. The rain pattered on the concrete as the two groups stared vehemently at each other. Stares turned to angry remarks, angry remarks turned into brief scuffles, then the scuffles escalated into a large brawl. The brawl grew in tone as the Water types jumped out of the water and joined in; most, however, broke from the fight and began to attack the humans and their Pokémon, calling them profanities for "submitting to the human's control."

"Insane!" Dominic shouted over the din as he, Reyes and Bisharp were backed to the edge of the canal by a group of Altaria and Weavile. One Weavile jumped so fast Reyes didn't have time to move and it sunk its claws into his arm.

Reyes blew him backwards with a Seed Bomb, but now his arm hung uselessly at his side, blood dripping through the claws clenching it.

"Seriously insane," Reyes agreed as the group advanced further, cracking off Ice Beams and Dragon Rage. If they came any closer the three of them would fall in the canal and become sitting ducks for the Water type Pokémon lurking underwater.

"Something just occurred to me," Bisharp said suddenly. "Reyes, can't you use Dragon type moves? I remember from Pokémon School – Sceptile can use both Grass type moves and Dragon type moves."

Dominic face-palmed so hard his claws scratched off a bit of fur from his forehead. "And I'm the no-brainer."

Reyes glared at Bisharp out of the corner of his eye. "It won't work if everyone is so close together, so your still the dumb one here Dominic."

"I'd rather take a hit from you" – Dominic ducked under an Ice Shard – "than a rebel."

Reyes contemplated this slowly and finally sighed. He took a deep breath and released it, except it was a large concentrated amount of blue and purple energy. A great majority of the Pokémon were knocked back, including Dominic and Bisharp, who plunged into the water. As the Pokémon slowly began to regroup Reyes dived in, falling under the waves. Dominic grabbed hold of the both of them and sped forward with Giga Impact. As he had no target he kept on going, knocking away any Water types attempting to attack. He stopped after just a few moments, surfacing. They were next to a bank, Canalave far out in the distance.

"We're…safe…" Dominic panted, hoisting himself on dry land before giving up moving entirely. Bisharp pulled himself on the grass and stared at Celestic Town not too far away.

"What is the deal with the books, anyway?" Bisharp asked as Reyes stood up, shaking himself dry.

"I had to save the books," Reyes said, digging through Dominic's fur for them. He opened one and used his claws to carefully separate two pages. "The Library was burned because some of the books have a secret."

"Secret?" Bisharp repeated. Reyes nodded.

"It's the reason that the Pokémon attacked the humans in the first place. I don't know all that much about it yet, but I'm trying to find out more. This may be able to end the revolution."

Reyes and Dominic were perched in a building watching over Veilstone City. From their point they peered into the windows of the houses, watching small children set up their Christmas trees and milk and cookies. Reyes propped his elbow up on his knee and rested his head on it, nodding off. Dominic tilted his head back, staring at the moon.

"Y'know, when I was a Zorua, I'd always wonder about Santa," he said thoughtfully. "Like, what is he, Pokemon or human?"

"Hopefully not a weird combination," Reyes muttered. Dominic mumbled in assent and watched the lights in the houses slowly go out. It was as if a wave of darkness was spreading across the city. Then, just as the last light went out, the moon started shining brighter. Dominic had to look away a moment and when he turned back, he saw Cresselia floating down towards a house. A lone Pichu was strolling on the streets holding a pile of presents; however, upon witnessing Cresselia, it jumped in the air and changed into Mew with a burst of light. Dominic's eyes widened and he rubbed his eyes.

"Reyes, Reyes, wake up! Mew and Cresselia are delivering presents!" he said in a stressed whisper, pushing on his friend. Reyes grunted but didn't open his eyes. Dominic groaned in frustration and moved further into the darkness as the two legendaries began delivering presents, Mew disappearing and reappearing each time with a big stack of wrapped gifts ("Where did she get them from?" Dominic wondered) and slipping easily through a house window. Cresselia, presumably, was there to put anyone that was awake to sleep. Dominic struggled to keep absolutely quiet as he watched the Pokemon deliver gifts all throughout Veilstone.

It was half past one in the morning that a dark cloud came over the moon. Dominic didn't think anything of it, however, Cresselia looked alarmed. She paused over a chimney as Mew popped out munching on a pile of oatmeal cookies. She followed Cresselia's gaze and watched as a pitch black entity popped out of the cloud. Suddenly, Reyes looked very pained. Dominic bit his lip as the creature came closer and he finally recognized it.

"Sceptile," Reyes muttered, squeezing his eyes and grinding his teeth. Dominic stared at Darkrai; he had the painful feeling the Nightmare Pokemon knew he was watching. It would be so easy for it to use Hypnosis and knock him out, sending him into the everlasting spiral of nightmares he brought on. He suddenly could hear a series of strangled cries coming from the houses; obviously, Darkrai wasn't just affecting the two of them.

"Cresselia, Cresselia..." Cresselia said, glaring at him. It seemed the legendaries either spoke a totally different language or just plain said their name over and over annoyingly. Even so, she seemed pretty pissed off at him. Darkrai's eyes shifted to a pile of presents on the floor. It took them all out with a Shadow Ball. In less than ten seconds this escalated to a full-on fight between the two of them. Reyes shifted between peaceful sleep and dreadful nightmares. Dominic just gawked at the both of them.

Then the moon turned into a drawing.

Something like that, actually. The moon transformed into pixels. Dominic stared in disbelief, thinking his eyes were fooling around now. Then he realized it wasn't the moon, just the thing over it. Something like a pixelly, backwards L appeared over the moon making a series of screeching noises like a broken fax machine. Then it made a barrier of sorts, turning everything grayscale. Dominic tried to yell out but his voice failed him, and he saw Reyes' vibrant green turn to dull grey and white.

"Oh wait, the Pokemon's Missingno! PokeDex entry 000! It appears and disappears at will wherever, changing reality and fiction for pleasure!" Dominic exclaimed at the new fiend who had manifested. Then he gawked at the syntax he was using - poem style. It wasn't at all amusing.

Reyes however continued to sleep in his strange fashion; both snoring calmly and shaking with a passion.

Dominic got annoyed with Cresselia and Darkrai's fight, as it had ruined his entire Christmas night. The Dream Pokemon and Nightmare Pokemon endangering the patrons' sleep. And obliterating the presents? It was probably Dominic's worst week.

He leapt down dramatically from the building's window; however, it wasn't very dramatic to land in a trash can row. He shook rotten bananas and dirt from his fur, "Achoo!" he sneezed, attracting the attention of Cresselia, Darkrai and Mew.

"Hey, both of you!" he jabbed his finger in their direction and demanded, "C'mon, this fight is leaving kids empty-handed! Quarelling like this is keeping people from their gifts!" Mew then erupted in a series of giggling fits.

Dominic turned redder than his fur, running his claws through it, uneasy. The smell of garbage was making him queasy. Darkrai turned towards Dominic, ready to put him to sleep, then Cresselia struck him with Giga Impact, making an apologetic noise like a peep.

Mew raced towards the both of them, her plan very asinine. She shifted faster than Dominic could track into an Arcanine. She sunk her fangs in its arm and discharged Thunder; it only took her minutes to realize her blunder.

With Mew biting its arm with lightning Darkrai was thoroughly annoyed. With a cry of "Rai!" it enveloped Mew in Dark Void. Mew reverted back to her legendary form and crashed to the street, her expression quite forlorn.

Cresselia moved to tend to her as Darkrai set on its own. It used the shadows to destroy presents in each and every home. Dominic had to help; at least that was something he could know. But first of all he had to take out Missingno.

He waved his hands to get Cresselia's attention. "Hey," he said, "its some divine intervention! That glitchy mess up there is twisting up my speech!"

"I apologize dearly, but that Pokemon is out of my reach." Dominic didn't know which was more shocking; a Pokemon out of a legendary's reach or her just plain talking. He then gestured wildly at the rampaging Darkrai.

"Then what about this guy - aye!" Dominic jumped, barely missing the Hypnosis from it. Then he noticed it was holding the arm Mew bit. He suddenly had an idea - with a little provoketion [I'm aware this is not a word, but poems sometimes use nonsensical words in them]... He charged up a Shadow Ball to set this plan in motion.

He fired it at Darkrai and it promptly exploded. Then, just as quickly, Darkrai eroded. Dominic looked around frantically, searching for the Pokemon. However, it seemed it was gone.

It was nothing short of a miracle he dodged Focus Blast because surely if he was hit he wouldn't have last. Meeting Darkrai's eyes a silent note passed between the two as it was now Dark VS Dark and the winner... Anyone could guess, even you.

Suddenly Dominic was no longer in view. Darkrai looked up and saw him in the air in front of the moon. Dominic taunted him, "Loser, dickhead!" he was told. Just as quickly Veilstone was enveloped with sheer cold.

A Blizzard appeared out of thin air racing towards Dominic, Mew making note of the allusion [sheer cold, as it was a reference to the move Sheer Cold]. Then, just as it was about to hit, this Dominic was revealed to be an illusion. Passing through the fake the ice continued to go until it eventually collided with the glitch Pokemon Missingno.

Just as quick as it has hit Missingno exploded in a shower of pixels. The greyscale vanished and everything was fixed. Dominic breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank Arceus I don't have to talk like some crappy limerick anymore!" Then he realized Cresselia and Darkrai had begun fighting again. Frustrated, pissed to no ends and just wanting to go to sleep he climbed to the top of a house and shouted, "Both of you, stop already! Christmas is supposed to be a time for love and peace, not fighting and destruction!"

Darkrai, in the middle of concocting Shadow Ball, paused to listen. "We should all be gathered around the Christmas tree singing about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Stantler and having fun!" Dominic waved his hands. "Is that too hard to manage or something?"

Cresselia sighed and floated down to the ground. "What's the problem with you anyway?" Dominic asked Darkrai. The Shadow Ball disappeared.

"Never get presents," it said gruffly. Dominic face-palmed.

"...I have absolutely no response to that," he said in monotone. He pulled a wrapped present from his fur and held it out. "I was gonna give it to Reyes but...here. If it saves everyone else," he added quietly. Darkrai took it with no change in expression and sunk into the ground, disappearing.

Mew practically flew into Dominic's face, chattering "Mew mew!" excitedly over and over. She flitted around in the air as hyper as a Combee, disappearing and reappearing constantly, sometimes with presents in her hands and sometimes empty-handed. Dominic felt a presence behind him and Mew spoke to someone over his shoulder. He could hear Cresselia reply and he suddenly felt very sleepy. He tried to stay awake but it was like someone was pulling him under, and then the reality he was seeing was hard to distinguish from a dream, and he was suddenly chasing Rattata back home in Nacrene City...

"Hey, Dominic, wake up." Dominic groaned and rubbed his eyes, sitting up. Him and Reyes were sitting on the PokeCenter. "So this is where you were all night," Reyes said. Dominic blinked heavily against the sunlight, his ears twitching incessantly. Excited cries from children filled his ears. "Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, Merry Christmas." It took a few seconds for Dominic to remember all the transpired events. He lurched to his feet, talking so fast Reyes could hardly understand him. "Oh, Reyes, last night was so cool! I was about to go to sleep and I saw the moon shine and Cresselia came out then Mew appeared and they started handing out presents to everyone then suddenly Darkrai came out all 'Boo I'm scary I'm all mad like this' and it started blowing up presents and Cresselia and it started fighting then this computer glitch thing came out of nowhere and made everything like an old Christmas special and everything rhymed oh crap..."

By the time he had finished Reyes' ears were sore. "Dominic, your dreams are crazier than mines."

Remembering Reyes' consecutive nightmares and daydreams he asked, "What did you dream about anyway?"

"The good part was when I was back in Petalburg Woods," he said, then half-smiled. "The bad part was when I was back here with you."

"Hey!" Dominic said angrily, swiping his claws. Reyes dodged them and laughed, jumping to street level and taking off. Dominic chased after him, half annoyed, half glad to be with his best friend on Christmas.

"What do you mean?" Bisharp asked. Reyes showed him a soaked double-page photo of the Sinnoh region.

"Well, listen to this," Reyes turned the page and read, "'A young man, callow and foolish in innocence, came to own a sword. With it, he smote Pokémon, which gave sustenance, with carefree abandon. Those not taken as food, he discarded, with no afterthought. The following year, no Pokémon appeared."

"So?"

"Well, this says that in the beginning, Pokémon were hunted and eaten by humans."

"I hardly think that's reason enough to start a whole revolution."

"Well, it's not." Seeing Bisharp's confusion, and Dominic's weariness, Reyes said, "I think we should find shelter." Reyes lifted Dominic, swinging his arm over his shoulders and half-dragged him over the grass.

"Continue, please," Bisharp said, taking Dominic's other arm. Sceptile enjoyed Celestic Town; it was a quiet place that held on to old customs, and he has always wanted to take things slow and easy and have things remain the same.

"'There once were Pokémon that became very close to humans. There once were humans and Pokémon that ate together at the same table. It was a time when there existed no differences to distinguish the two.' This says that Pokémon and humans coexisted as equal beings rather than Trainer and Pokémon." Reyes held the book open with his free hand.

"What book is that anyway?"

"Sinnoh Myths."

"Myths," Bisharp said dully. Reyes rolled his eyes and took in the peaceful surroundings of Celestic Town.

"Hey…hey…I'm fine…" Dominic said, pulling out of their grips and stumbling backwards. He scratched his ear. "I'm fine, just was frozen a little. Giga Impact does that."

Reyes folded his arms across his chest. Dominic snatched the book him his hand and dangled it in front of his face. "What's this for?" he said, squinting.

"Can't you read?" Reyes said tiredly.

"Well, ya, but there's too much light for me to see, ok?" Dominic scratched his ear again. "Can I go sleep somewhere?" He shoved the book in his fur and dropped on all fours, scratching the same ear with his foot. "Arceus, damnit!"

"What's wrong?" Bisharp asked, seeing the frustrated look on Dominic's face. He kicked at his ear until something the size of an eyeball flew into the air, exploding seconds later.

"Whoa!" Dominic's eyes widened. "That could've killed me!"

Reyes extended his hand and caught the remaining bits of the tiny machine. "The rebels are getting some new tech," he said, picking through the pieces. "You're just lucky it didn't go too far in your ear, or else it would've exploded your brain out of your head."

"Hey, I have a question," Bisharp said. "How hard is it to become a revolutionary?"

"Very," Dominic and Reyes said at the same time. Dominic got to his feet and continued, "Well, they teach you every move possible, and hand-to-hand ****, and some hard as hell endurance training where you spend an hour with whatever's super-effective against you."

"No way."

"I can show you the scars." Dominic pulled back the fur around his chest and arms, revealing fist-shaped scars.

"A Charizard burned my pods off," Reyes said darkly. "Three times."

"Brutal," Bisharp breathed. Dominic and Reyes muttered their assent. "But I think I'll become one anyway. It'd be nice to help out those in danger, and maybe even find my Trainer."

"Well," Dominic clapped his hand on Bisharp's shoulder. "When you do become one, feel free to join us." He glanced at Reyes, expecting him to shoot him down.

"Fine with me," Reyes shrugged. Dominic's ears drooped.

"Reyes you dickhead," he muttered, but before Reyes could reply Dominic ran down the stairs to the Celestic Shrine. "Cool!" Dominic exclaimed, going inside.

"Dominic," Reyes sighed. He started after him but stopped and glanced at Bisharp.

"I'll just go to the PokéCenter," Bisharp said. Reyes made a face that seemed a bit apologetic but mostly came off sour. He ran down the steps and into the Shrine, nearly ramming right into Dominic's back.

"Dominic!" Reyes said. Then he noticed the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia examining a very strange drawing on the wall. She didn't seem to notice them immediately and was just talking to herself.

"This cave painting... It's always been described this way. The light in the center represents either Dialga or Palkia appearing at the Spear Pillar. The three lights around it were thought to be Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf." Reyes straightened up and she turned, appearing relieved they were only Pokémon.

"Zoroark," Dominic said, walking to the wall and pointing at the drawings. It sounded like "Zoroark" to Cynthia but Dominic actually said something much ruder. Reyes knocked him over the head.

"Are you interested in these legends?" Cynthia asked, looking at them. Reyes and Dominic nodded, the latter doing so quite painfully.

"I realized that there may be another way of interpreting this. Could this triangle of lights actually represent a different trio? Could they be Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina instead? And the large light at their center. Does it represent something else? Could it be what created this world of ours?" Seeing they were still interested, she continued, "A long time ago, I wonder what sort of person painted this? Dialga's Roar of Time... Palkia's Spacial Rend... To the people back then, those Pokémon really must have appeared to rule over time and space. Seeing them must have shaken the people to their very core. This painting represents those feelings of awe, wonder, and everything else. It passed that memory to countless people, eventually becoming a myth... That's what I believe as a researcher of myths.

"'Two beings of time and space set free from the Original One.' I think this quote, too, points to the presence of another Pokémon. A Pokémon even more powerful than Dialga or Palkia. Does that sound plausible to you? I'm not quite sure how Giratina fits into this scheme of things, but... It's said that in the Distortion World, neither time nor space is stable. I think that tells us something about Giratina, the only Pokémon there. It must have been as powerful as Dialga and Palkia, the rulers of time and space. In some way, though, Giratina has to have a power opposite of theirs."

Cynthia looked a bit startled, as if remembering the others' presence. "I'm sorry. I'm not even that sure why I'm telling this to two Pokémon. Anyway, I've spent too much time here. I must return to Victory Road." She smiled at Dominic and Reyes. "But I have enjoyed having someone other than myself to talk to."

"I enjoyed the information," Reyes said. Cynthia hurried out of the Shrine and Reyes snapped his fingers in front of a dozing Dominic. His head snapped upwards and he wiped his mouth.

"Man, that's too much information for Dominic," he said sullenly. "I learned about half of that in Pokémon School."

"Yeah, half. Don't you want to know the other half?" Reyes said. Dominic gave him a sour look. "If it's important to our work," Reyes held out his hands exasperatedly.

"Then you handle it," Dominic said. "I just kick ass, I don't think."

"Isn't that the statement of the century," Reyes said sardonically. "The point is I think you should be interested if it'll help end the war."

Dominic sighed heavily, scratching his ear. "Ok, ok, but I really can't read in daylight. I was born like that."

"Were you born stupid too?"

"Were you born a major smartass?"

"Yes."

"Whatever," Dominic rolled his eyes and turned towards the exit. "I'm joining Bisharp in the PokéCenter. I'm hungry."

Reyes joined him as they walked up the stairs from the Shrine. He didn't appreciate Dominic for his smarts (certainly not his smarts) or his fighting ability, but simply because he was a good friend and they always stuck together. Even though Reyes constantly made fun of Dominic for being stupid he really didn't mean it, as sometimes Dominic was smarter than he was.

For instance, "Hey, how did the rebels get their hands on tech like that?" Dominic asked. "I'm pretty sure they don't even sell it in the Department Store."

Reyes paused in front of the PokéCenter doors. "They could have a sort of financer."

"Financer?" Dominic looked halfway between laughter and anger. "What kind of person finances the destruction of human homes and lives?"

"I don't know, but there is the occasional crazy."

"Everyone has a little crazy in them."

"And I guess we have the most?"

Dominic spread his arms. "C'mon friend, we're as crazy as can be."

But Reyes just shook his head and said, "Dominic, you're the only crazy one here. Now lets eat."