Pokémon Odyssey: A New Beginning [T] [Best Veteran 4Q '12]

Silver City

The Gold Tribe and their allies, as one, struck at the weakened Haxorus, who seemed to be hardly incapable of fighting back at this point. It really was now or never. Everyone struck with everything they had. Vera went for Auron with a Brave Bird, who stumbled back a step, but held his ground proudly, though his body did not match his confidence. Next, Guardia and Gallant came at him, both of them striking deep with a pair of Close Combats, each being multiplied from the one before. They fell upon the cracked, broken skin of the Haxorus like hammers, and he faltered with each additional hit. Wildfire gave everything she had in the final Focus Blast, riddled with her own life and fire as it seared through the air and struck Auron on the chest. Zane now charge forward with Sword and Shield and the Swift, the Snorlax hammering Auron with a Wild Charge while Zane followed with an Iron Head. The Swift struck with his own attacks as well. The trio of heavy hitting made Auron stumble back even more, the dragon roaring from pain. Or perhaps anger.

He tried firing back now, a normal-colored Dragonbreath at the group, but Guardia stepped in front and blocked the attack with a Thunder defense, the traditional move of the Reed family. The Haxorus had greatly been reduced in power, enough so that he wasn't even able to produce a powerful enough attack to push through. The Thunder fully blocked the Dragonbreath before it reached any of them, and the second set of Pokemon countered back at the Dragon.

Bloodthirster began tearing apart at Auron's skin with his Dragon Claws, while Snype enacted a Foul Play and hit the dragon with an after image of himself. Levina prepared a Thunder as powerful as she could muster, and launched it straight onto the beast, while Dryad and the Cleric fired two final Hyper Beams right at his front, hitting him square in the chest. Accatosh fired his own Fire Blast directly at the dragon, the flames scorching his already worn body and combining with the intensity of all of the previous attacks. All the while, the Healer pumped up the others with Heal Pulses, just so they all could remain on their feet.

All of these attacks went for Auron, and after all the effort they put in, through their own perseverance, blood, sweat, and broken bones, there was finally the finishing dent. Smoke filled the area of impact, clearing very slowly. Zane, even with the help of the Heal Pulses, could barely stand, his knees shaking below him. Guardia and Gallant were basically holding their breath, while Sword and Shield huffed and puffed loudly behind them. And soon, the smoke began to dissipate. The shadows and contours of the Haxorus were formed, with the image of the Haxorus standing upright before them now in full view as the smoke blew away. He stood still after all of that, which at first made Zane almost drop down on his knees, but then he saw the Haxorus again.

He had holes and tears all across his body. His skin was cracked beyond belief, and blood was prevalent all around him. And his eyes, his eyes were barely open, and they were darkened and dull. Then, at all once, the great beast fell toward the ground with his last breath, and perished.

Luphen "Auron" Augustus, former Gold Tribe second-in-command, Lord of the Sentinels, Commander of the Ancients and Leader of the Silver Tribe, was defeated.

It almost felt as if a weight lifted off the shoulders of Zane. He instantly dropped to the ground and lay there, panting heavily. He looked up at the cracked and collapsed ceiling of the Citadel. He didn't say anything for a while. Not a sound. He just lay there, panting and trying to grasp his mind on what had just occurred. For over two years, the Gold Tribe and the Alpha Alliance had endured the hardships of Auron, from his surprise invasion to his conquering of Valkaria. They endured and finally were able to fight back, all the way to this point where it all began, or ended. Now, here in Gold City, it seemed to have finally finished.

Zane smiled, and his smile then turned into a laugh. He laughed to himself lightly, and at the queue, the others finally were able to grasp at their victory. Sword and Shield roared with delight, and Guardia fell onto her behind on the ground and joined in Zane's weak, but happy laughter. The two Lilligants exchanged momentary heartfelt embraces, and Sawk grinned as he never had done before, amazed at what they had managed to do. Through all their effort, through all their sacrifice, they had finally brought down the face of tyranny and injustice, of chaos and power. He sat up, still wearing a smile on his face, despite his numerous injuries. He looked around at the others as they celebrated in their own fashion the important victory they had just achieved. He saw Hanso close by the door, and nodded to him. During the battle with Auron, hardly any other Pokemon had gotten involved, and Zane had a feeling by the Gallade's absence here that it was because of him that this occurred. Had Auron received any additional help throughout the fight, he knew they would not have been able to defeat him.

Yet as he looked across the room at the different parts riddled with holes and burn marks and crumbled pieces of rock, a certain object caught his eye. Indeed, Auron had been defeated. Through much effort and hardship, he had finally been brought down.

......But the Silver Crystal, surrounded still by a shield of dark, chaotic energy, was still present. It floated around next to the throne where the Haxorus previously sat. In fact, it now shone brightly, as it rotated in place. A sterling, pearly color surrounded this bright light from the object. It shone brighter than it ever had before. It emitted more power than it ever had before.

Vera Fayos
Vera watched as the leader of the Sentinels, whom she had followed for so long, fell in defeat. A worthless husk of his former glory. Sovereign had been led down his path by Auron, and with him dead she could feel at ease.

And yet she didn't. Nothing about this seemed right. In spite of everything, she felt no relief. She just felt bitter. "Is that it? What now?" She stared at the Silver Crystal, and recognized its dark shadow. So this is what happened to the Sentinels. It left her uneasy. A sense of doom loomed over her. This was just the beginning.

Snype backed up from his attack, shaking his fist a bit and fell down onto his rump. Levina quickly ran over to Snype. Nah she wasn't going to hug him or anything, just check on the little ghost. From what they could tell, it was finally over. All that was left was to take care of this crystal. The power it was giving off was frightening to Snype. Oh all people, Snype was frightened! They had to do something with it... but Snype really didn't know how to handle this sort of situation.

"Zane, can't you just blast it with that fancy Gold Crystal or something like that? Destroy it and get it over with! End it here somehow!" Snype shouted out to him. If Snype didn't know any better, he'd have just gone up and attacked the crystal himself. Though he'd probably get killed for even attempting it.

Paradox and Varren, with reinforcements​

Paradox narrowed his eyes at the departing Gallade and pumped some more power into his shield, "Varren, remind me to slap your head for stupidity when you aren't trying to murder me." He shout out a beam of chaos at the Gardevoir and ported behind the Toxicroak, quickly porting the both of them inside the citadel itself and he gripped his head, "Don't fight this."

Paradox began to push in for but one goal, find that hypnotic suggestion and get rid of it quickly.

A weak blast of psychic power was all Genevieve could manage, rolling herself a few feet to one side. She couldn't see the two Pokemon leave; she assumed Paradox was about to kill her.

"Easy for you to say," Varren retorted, one arm trying to reach behind himself without much initial success. He calmed down enough so his torso could twist and one arm reached for Paradox with a Poison Jab. Varren resisted the compulsion, however, whether his own struggle interfered with the Golduck or not.

Paradox frowned and pushed in deeper, gritting his teeth as he used some of his energy to create a psychic walls of sorts to keep that poison tip from poking into his skin. "Let's see... where is it?" He muttered as he pushed in deeper. "Hm... doors for childhood... education... where is that blasted signal? Can you try and not jab me, you know, fight this blasted compulsion!?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" The Toxicroak was pulling on the one arm with his other hand, frowning as he had his own tug-of-war. He then smiled. "Hehehehehehehehehe... if this were someone else I was watching, it'd be comical. You know what I mean, right?" After a moment, Varren was frowning again. "Wait, you're looking through my life, aren't you."

Paradox gritted his teeth, "Passing doors, it's hidden somewhere... ah here's the signal!" He blasted open the door to his middle age memories and flew as fast as possible, finding the signal and smashing it to pieces. Just in time, as a half-formed spear of darkness faded the moment the signal was gone. He pulled out of the mind and then looked over at the Gold Tribe. "Hm.." He looked up at the floating Crystal, "Right. Let's see, you'll all die soon enough. Standby Varren if you woud do so, and see the spectacle."

Varren blew a sigh, taking an exaggerated step away from Paradox. "Yeah, no offense, mister, but I'll slap you if you ever take a closer look, okay?" As he turned his attention to the room, Varren rubbed his chin with one hand. Why did it feel like something was amiss?

Back outside the Citadel, Genevieve gingerly pushed herself up. Where did they go? Reaching out with her mind, she scanned the inside of the Citadel, taking a minute to find what she was looking for. Oh, great...they're inside.

Paradox smirked back at the Toxicroak, "Oh Varren." He smiled broadly as suddenly two Alakazams, two Hypno, a Drowzee, a Kadabra, a Kirlia, a Grumpig, a Mr. Mime, and a Espeon appeared around the two. All of them had jet black skin and menancing looks in their eyes. "Varren, meet Penance's psychic. Psychics meet Varren. Oh and by the way if you need any energy, the psychics have plenty to spare." He grinned at the Gold Tribe, "Oh and psychics, meet your enemies. What say we have a bit of fun with them?"

"Vera's right," Zane said aloud, getting up on his feet, which pained him, but he did so anyway. "Something's not right about this," He approached closer to the Silver Crystal, and examined it. It gave off the same eerie light, brighter than what he had seen of it when he first walked inside of the main chamber. Snype asked Zane to blast the Silver Crystal with the Gold one, but he didn't even begin to know how. "I expected when we took down Auron, when we took down the wielder, then the Gold Crystal would have reacted at least in some way. Even if we weren't doing the original plan anymore...but nothing's happening..." Zane's voice trailed off as he continued to stare at the crystal opposite of the one he wore around his neck.

"That is because..." A voice started behind the group. It was the Keeper, still exhausted from the mental strain he had put on his mind with the mass-teleportation earlier. Yet still he hobbled into the room from the main doors, his eyes fixated on the Haxorus on the floor. "...Lord Auron is not the wielder of the Silver Crystal. He never was, it seems." He limped toward the downed dragon, and placed a hand upon his bloodied and broken body. "I peer inside of this...being, and I do in fact feel the taint of the Silver Crystal inside of him. I feel much of it, in fact, so much more than many before. Ancients have a similar feeling inside all of them, being non-sentient servants of the Dark One. And that is all that this poor creature seems to have been. He had been twisted by the Dark One to be no more sentient than an Ancient."

Zane and Guardia exchanged glances, and a moment later, a Golduck arrived. Jet black in color, it took only a moment of him speaking for Zane to figure out that it was Penance, and that this was probably who Genevieve and TrueStriker had been dealing with before. Zane shook his head, both in disappointment and disbelief at what had happened to the Golduck. He and a Toxicroak he didn't know exchanged words and bouts, before more Psychic Pokemon joined in and around. Zane instantly prepared himself for a fight, as did the others. They were injured and badly bruised from fighting Auron, but they would fight again if they had to.

"Do you want me to tell you what Auron was?" Another voice asked from behind the group. Zane turned his head to see another Pokemon walk in. It was a Scizor, one who they all recognized immediately, from the multiple cuts on his body to the relatively fresh one given to him by Blitzkrieg back in Cape City. "It was as I said to Penance back in Cape City. Lord Auron...is a puppet. A front. A ruse. He was the Lord of the Sentinels, but he was no different than the other Sentinels, perhaps even worse off. Though he was stronger. Oh, but the Alpha Alliance needed a face to their enemy, and his made the most sense, to give them something to fear, to give them something to fight against."

Zane felt like he was hit by a train. He looked perplexed at Sentry, barely able to speak, but he had to say something. "Then....then you...all this time you...you're the wielder!" Zane yelled. Sentry was examining the Silver Crystal, which floated effortlessly through the air. He almost seemed oblivious the all others around, before he finally turned back to the Bisharp and gave him a malicious grin.

"Sorry, wrong again."

Zane exchanged glances with the Guardia, then the others. He looked at them, hoping they could give him an answer, but they seemed to be just as confused as he was. Then he brought his eyes to the Keeper, who brought his gaze from Sentry, to Auron on the floor, and then back to Zane. He gave him a shake of his head.

"Can you think of no one else?" He said mockingly, to him, sticking out his arms as if disappointed at their effort.

Zane had another name. One that he had thought about for a while now, ever since he had vanished after the battle of Albia. Guardia seemed to be thinking of the same thing as she and he exchanged another glance. He felt a lump in his throat as he swallowed. Guardia was the one to say the words, barely above a whisper.

"Noctus. Noctus Gamble."

Sentry smirked again. Then, the soft patter of footstep was heard behind them. It came as though it was from a mile away, then slowly the footsteps grew louder. Zane was almost afraid at this point to turn around, to see it with his own eyes. A part of him didn't want to at all. A part of him felt that if he did, something terrible would happen. Yet as these footsteps grew closer and louder, they became harder to ignore. Zane had to look, and so he turned his head and looked at the doorway, along with the others, to find a sight he was not expected.

A Pokemon, hooded and cloaked in the entirety of its body and face, walked inside the main chamber. Guardia recognized this Pokemon as the same hooded Pokemon she saw in Cape City, who she saw briefly of his face, and knew it was Noctus. Then the Keeper dispelled the possibility only somewhat by speaking of the abilities of the Silver Crystal to cast illusions, as the Gold Tribe saw in the ambush at the Thieves Forest. Now, the rumor that it was Noctus was dispelled entirely, for one main reason.

The hooded Pokemon dragged another by the leg on the floor of the main chamber. He threw the body of the Pokemon into the room, for all to see, and they would immediately recognize him by his (broken and dented) arm and elbow armor attached to his body. It was the dead body of Noctus Gamble, the Cacturne thief.

"Noctus Gamble came at a perfect time for us," The hooded Pokemon said, as he walked around the large group of both Psychics and Gold Tribe members and their allies. "When Sentry first mentioned to me of the thief traveling with you through Albia, I decided to use it as an advantage. His lineage was not hard to discover, which would make the idea that he was allies with us all the more believable," He continued on, now completely encircling the group, and standing close to where the Silver Crystal floated. "But Noctus Gamble was a child, not worthy of the last name that Galleon held even though he tried to live up to it. When we saw the opportunity arise, I had Auron order the attack on the thieves, correctly predicting that Noctus would respond in turn by coming here to us to seek revenge. We destroyed his people, and now he wanted revenge...and he was quickly disposed of." The hooded Pokemon's eyes went from the Silver Crystal to the group. "He sought revenge for his name then as much as he did his brethren in the forest, but he perished. Of course, you weren't aware of this. How could you be?"

The Pokemon stepped onto the steps leading to the elevated throne as he prepared to grab the Silver Crystal. Zane, finally snapping out of the shock of everything that was going on, decided to try and stop the Pokemon. "Stop!" He yelled, trying to keep him away from the crystal. His words did not deter him, as the Pokemon in the hood continued to walk up the steps of the elevated throne. Reacting now with him, Both Gallant and Zane shot attacks at the Pokemon, a Thunder Wave from Zane and a Focus Blast from the Sawk. The attacks shot through the air on fast approach to the Pokemon.

And then, they were stopped, and Zane opened his mouth in pure shock, simply by the manner it was stopped.

A brilliant flash of light emerged between the two attacks and the hooded Pokemon, a bolt of bright lightning bolting down between the attacks and effectively nullifying them. The attack was a Thunder. Thunder shot from above and sent down, not as an offensive weapon, but as a defensive mechanism. A shield. This signature attack used in this way was legendary among the Gold Tribe, and was a specialty known to very few. In fact, it was used by only a single family in all of Valkaria.



As if nothing at all had occurred, the hooded Pokemon continued up the steps of the throne, and approached the crystal floating there. He spoke to the entire room as he did. "The Silver Crystal had years to build up its power," He said, looking at it with his red eyes from underneath his hood. He appeared to almost be admiring it. "From the great wars a hundred years ago, to conflicts after and before it. Power was siphoned to it. Eventually, it had enough power to influence others, as it has done so before. Even from such a distance, the crystal had searched for its host, and found him."

The Silver Crystal is said to have severe influence over a large area, able bend anyone to its will. Its influence is so strong, and is said to be able to control people from hundreds of miles away, too. It latches onto someone, and bends that person to its will. Sometimes, a person will not even know they are being controlled until it is too late.

The hooded Pokemon stepped up to the top of the steps, and lifted an arm, dispelling the barrier which was around the Silver Crystal. "The screams began as just a whisper, something that I ignored for as long as I could. But as his strength grew...my strength weakened...it was only a matter of time. My mind was slowly not becoming my own. And I couldn't do anything to stop it, nor say anything to anyone. I was changing, both inside and out. I was becoming somebody completely different."

"It actually makes some sense, I guess. Before the invasion, he was acting so distant to me…ha…I actually thought he was mad at me for the way I was acting. For yelling at him and telling him that I should be the next leader when he told me he was planning on making Auron the next. I had no idea he was like that because he had all this on his mind."

The hooded Pokemon grabbed at the crystal which stopped spinning in the air. At his touch, it let out a eerie light, before fading slowly to its normal hue. "And he knew who he was picking. It had to be me. If the Gold Tribe did anything correct, it was to hide the Silver Crystal from the outside world, where no one could find it. Even if it tried to whisper in someone's mind from afar, if that person didn't know where it was, all it would be is whispers. Nothing more. That's why it had to be me...because only I knew."

I have vowed to never tell another soul of its location, except my successor as leader. They are to vow to only tell their successor, and so the cycle will go on. The knowledge of the Gold Crystal and Silver Crystal will pass from Gold Tribe leader to Gold Tribe leader, just in case the worst will come to pass.

The hooded Pokemon formed a chain around the Silver Crystal, connected by dark energy and shadow. "You see, as I watched you all, I heard of what you said. Penance was so close to the truth, so close..."

"Anyways... if someone they trusted led them right in... and just happened to open it up as they came upon it..."

"But it wasn't Sentry who led them in. It never was. It was me," The hooded Pokemon placed the Silver Crystal, which now hung from the necklace of shadow, over his head and around his neck. "It had always been me. And the Dark One knew of the Gold Tribe's strength, and the only way to stop them was to break them. So...I sent them to be broken."

...believes there to be something serious going on in the unknown lands to the north. He wouldn't tell me what exactly it was, only that it was from a secret carried down for a hundred years. He said something had awoken that should not have been. He has sent myself and a few of my brothers and sisters on a mission there to secure the area and find the source of the problem. I am uncertain why... believes this to be so dangerous, but he wouldn't send me on a mission like this if it wasn't. I will fulfill my duty and return as quickly as I can.

The hooded Pokemon turned to them. "And, so, the invasion began, and I ordered Auron to have it begin at Cape City first, to where the Gold Crystal was. To separate it from all the rest. Unfortunately, my will...the will of this body...was still clinging to sanity. I managed to resist long enough to reach the Gold Crystal and dispel any influence for as long as I could. There was limited action I could do, but it was enough to travel to the Golden Catacombs, and gather what I could. By the time I had entered, the Gold Crystal had spread enough influence in my body and...He...retracted enough so that the Keeper wouldn't notice anything amiss. But he didn't stop me anyway. By this action, it would have eaten away the last of my will only to help further his goal indirectly anyway." Slowly, the hooded Pokemon began to remove his hood, revealing his identity.

"You…you have his face. Strong and proud he was, like many before him. An air of charisma and loyalty he commanded. Yet his thoughts were muddled with the concerns of the outside. He feared what was to come. But he wanted to do something about it. Here he stood where I stand now. He was the last to come."

His hood and cloak was now off to reveal a face they all new. His fur was mostly white except for deep red, scar-like markings on the face, chest, and forepaws. He had two long, black claws on his forepaws, and paw pads on his hind feet. His eyes were a light-red all around, with a jab of black in the center, eyes of one who was brave and true, yet sharp and cunning. Or at least, he was once. The Pokemon wore an emblem the same way as he always did, as a belt with the emblem displayed prominently as the belt buckle. Yet the emblem in place of a Gold Tribe one was that of a charred, grey, dark one. The Pokemon was a Zangoose, one who they all knew because once, they all followed him, looked up to him, believed in him.

The Pokemon was the former leader of the Gold Tribe, the true Lord of the Silver Tribe, the father of Guardia, and the wielder of the Silver Crystal. Adam "Rey" Reed.

Hanso, Varren, and Genevieve
Silver City - Citadel
~~~~~

As Hanso entered the room, he couldn't help but look in mild amazement at the condition of the battlefield. To think what could have happened if Paradox and Blackguard had been here to fight the Gold Tribe... Hanso caught Zane's nod and returned it. So he and his companions had bought time, even if their plan hadn't worked out so well. It was over, wasn't it?

Well, aside from Paradox and Blackguard still being alive. And...Hanso's attention was drawn to the Silver Crystal that hung in the air beside the throne. ...What now.

Then came a hooded figure into the throne room, circling around the elites and toward the Crystal. The moment of astonishment didn't come for Hanso until the Pokemon blocked Zane and Gallant's attacks. With a Thunder defense. What?...I thought he was dead. The Gallade immediately contacted Genevieve. This is what I'm hearing right now, he said, transmitting what the cloaked Pokemon was saying to Genevieve's mind.

Back outside the Citadel, the Gardevoir stayed sitting on the ground, supporting herself with one arm as she listened. Genevieve wasn't sure she wanted to believe it at first. Then her mind ached, and she dimly recalled a few snippets of something in her past, which helped the revealing make a bit more sense.

Once Adam "Rey" Reed revealed himself, it was only a matter of seconds before the silence was broken. The Toxicroak off to one side was slowly clapping, a wide grin on his face. "Impressive," Varren stated, lowering his hands. "So far as I can tell, most everyone here was fooled. And I apologize for bringing the extrapolation to an end--" His voice dripped with sarcasm. "--but what happens now?"

Blackguard
Silver City

As he had anticipated, the two had teleported away. Blackguard looked ahead, being unable to identify any bodies under the rubble of the destroyed building. The rubble had even blasted onto him, but he had protected himself with an aura shield. Indeed... this body wouldn't be all bad. The aura that he controlled was manipulable in almost any manner he could think of, which meant...

Tapping into the power in his mind, Blackguard began expanding his aura shield to surround his entire body again, but then began to change its shape, into one that was all too familiar. Before long, a giant replica of a Golurk created from aura with Blackguard at its center stood, facing the citadel.

"Now... it ends. About damn time too."

The aura Golurk was automatically able to fly into the air, and as he looked down upon the destruction wrought on Silver City, he laughed to himself.

The Blackguard crashed through the walls of the citadel, letting sunlight stream in upon the combatants. As expected, Auron lay dead at one end of the room, and the tattered, weakened Gold Tribe stood on the other. Paradox had already arrived with his corrupted Psychics, and the true representative of the Silver Tribe - and former representative of the Gold - Rey, stood in between the two.

Blackguard chuckled to himself, the aura Golurk flickering out of existence and dropping the Lucario to the ground. He first looked over to Rey, a grin on his face, and then to Paradox and Varren, a scowl immediately replacing it. Then, he glanced at the Gold Tribe, noticing some people who may once have been good friends to his former host, Paladin.

The stage was set. All the actors were here, just as planned. Now it was time for this little play's final act.

Paradox: FINALLY AFTER TWO GO***M YEARS- A Finale... Finally​

As the figure walked into the area Paradox was a bit confused. Penance's own mind had fixated on Sentry being the true wielder, and in a way Paradox had to confess that he thought so too. Most of Penance's thoughts had been fixated on details and facts. The fact of the matter was that very specific pokemon had gone to find the Silver Crystal, and Sentry had been among them. Of course with only a little information known, then there were bound to be mistakes. The figure kept chatting it up with some details here and there and Paradox cocked his head.

Before at the fields he hadn't been as well adjusted in this body to be able to sense the energy in others, but now that Sentry was here he could feel the energy in his body wasn't that of the Dark One's. Hm.. and this hooded one was the one with his energy in him. Still, who was he?

Thankfully his question was answered when the hood was taken off, and Penance in his mind went absolutely crazy. Paradox sighed and shut up the Golduck a bit and rubbed at his temples. "No... no." He let out a soft laugh, "You know... you're supposed to be dead... yet here you are." The Golduck began to pace, "You know, funny trivia about that. Penance ACTUALLY thought that Rey was evil. He called it a sixth sense, and who knew that he was right? That whole, 'oh the Gold Tribe is going to enslave us and take control of everything' didn't hit too far from the tree eh? You can't fault him for seeing something that was bound to happen. Albeit he had the specifications wrong, sure, but he had the outcome all the same... I even say if he hadn't been deterred by that one day of massacre he might have even worked up the courage to have his Affiliates infiltrate the Gold Tribe and kill Rey during a naming ceremony. Another fun fact though."

He smirked at Vigil, "He ACUTALLY has some Affiliates who infiltrated the army and all. They're high ranking now, helped to have the citizens link their brains to the psychics at first, but he was going to pull a 180 on you all, with the Gold Tribe weak after the battle simply send in the Affilaties and finish you all off. Clever no? Technically after that he would the whole alliance would no longer have been ndeeded."

As he turned to face Rey he sighed as Blackguard came in. "Well late to the party aren't you?" He asked. "You'll get explanations and all later." He pointed over to the wounded warriors.

"They are weak now. The prison must be opened, with their help. If you will permit me... eh... sir? Leader? Hm... we'll have to think of a good title. Anyways, my lordship... hm..." The Golduck smirked, "Not bad... yeah that can work. My lordship, if you could kindly allow my psychics and I to convert them to our cause, we can spread even more chaos." He held up a finger, "With more corrupted on our side we will not only tear down the last of the Gold Tribe, but we would also turn the armies' own heroes against them."

He began to pace again, "Not to mention that we can use them to help secure more of the citizens here, begin spreading the chaos in their minds, and we wait. We let the army fight back against the Ancients and using our various psychic abilities, port in and take them by surprise while they tend to their wounded. Of course this all up to your discretion, and also we must take into account that Gold Crystal there. We take it out and then corrupt them one by one...."

He turned to smile at the Gold Tribe now, "The funny thing though... is that you all know of what is planned... and yet you are entirely powerless to stop it." He quickly shot a glance at the Gallade, "And don't think of porting Hanso. My psychics already are teeming with Disable. You all will soon find your attacks being negated again... and again... and again, so I suggest you sit tight and try not to fight back."

He turned back to Rey, "You know... Penance is actually mad about this. Not that you're alive... but apparently you were supposed to, quote, mug it up. Apparently put more... OMPH into a return. Like coming in seemingly like a miracle and 'helping' to defeat Auron, only to stab someone through the stomach AND THEN monolgue till your heart was content. Hm... you know, that's actually not a bad idea, so I do have to give kudos to him."

Vera Fayos

Vera was faced with a stranger. To the others, this man seemed to be important. To her, he was nothing more than the one behind the scenes.

A voice cut through the fabric of her being amongst this new development. She recognized his speech patterns. They had been burned into her skull years ago. She turned to look at the new arrivals. A Toxicroak among them. His voice was maddening. Varren. It couldn't possibly be. Not only was Varren dead, but he had been wiped away when they entered Sovereign's mind. Besides that, Varren was a Gengar. Why would this Toxicroak suddenly have his personality?

She had to shake it off for now, there were more pressing matters. She decided it would be best to let the others do the talking for now. They all seemed to have a history with them, whereas she did not. Well, that might now have been entirely true, if he was in fact pulling Auron's strings. All the Sentinels' strings for that matter. But still, she did not know this individual.

Even with this reveal, however, she continued to feel that looming sense of doom. Something bad was going to happen. She could feel it.

So much for hope: Rey, Paradox, Blackguard, Sentry, and minions. Plus Zane and the Goldies.
Silver City - The Citadel

Rey just stood there, allowing the others to react to his unexpected return in their own ways. Guardia seemed to have the worst of it, her knees no longer able to support her as she fell to the ground and sob in an almost uncontrollable way. Zane had never seen her cry this much, but he understood why. The Pokemon they had all looked up to, the leader of their tribe, her own father, had turned out to be the one behind all of this...the true wielder.

But after he had spoken everything, it made sense to Zane. After a few more moments, and words from the others, Zane finally had enough. Despite everything, he still knew what he said when he entered Silver City. One way or another, this was going to end, and he wasn't going to run. He walked over to Guardia, and tried to lift her up, who looked at him through her tear-filled eyes. "Bloodthirster is right. That is no longer the Pokemon we once knew as Rey. We fight for him as much as we fight for anyone else." He turned from Guardia to Rey. "And if you want to fight us, you'll find that we are difficult to kill. You made sure of that, long ago."

"Kill you?" Rey questioned. "Kill you...if I had wanted to kill the Gold Tribe, I could have done it a long time ago." Zane cocked an eyebrow, as Guardia slowly rose herself from the ground. He turned from the Gold Tribe to the Scizor beside him. "You see, unlike most of the other Sentinels, who knew nothing about any of the crystals, I...the Dark One...allowed him to know more, to unshield his mind, simply because we knew of his reputation from before, as a Gold Tribe member. He had a special skillset, even then, and we sought to utilize it." Turning from Sentry, he looked down at the Gold Tribe below. "After all, I couldn't be keeping an eye on you myself and risk getting caught. And that...is exactly what Sentry was doing. His goal, his main and only objective, was to ensure that the Gold Tribe perserveres. That you survive your encounters, that you win your battles. That you continue on your path to here, to Silver City." Rey turned his back to the Gold Tribe, and spoke facing the throne which Auron had long sat about. "I realized a single invasion effort would not spur the Dark One from his prison. Chaos was what we needed, but much more power was needed. We needed action to come, and the only way we knew how was to move you from your hiding.

Sentry sent word across the western areas that General Hazone would be moved from the torturehouse to the main one in Silver City. He also moved Gold Tribe members we captured to that specific one as well, and let the information slip, so it would spur you into action. Thus, Liberty Town was left defenseless, and the Sentinels would destroy it. Yet just in case that wouldn't be enough to call for war, I had Sentry forge two notes, one from General Belas, and one from the Gold Tribe to the General, as a call to action."

Zane remembered the note he had read from Belas, and how on the night before the invasion to Silver City, both didn't know who sent the other the letter. It was because none did.

"Liberation," Rey chuckled. "We have a different word for it. Chaos. That is what war is, what violence is. And the Dark One feeds off the chaos, malice and evil of this world. So long as these traits persist, his power will increase. Until...he is strong enough to destroy the prison that has sealed him away."

"And that was Sentry's purpose, to monitor the Gold Tribe's progress. I'm sure you've run into him a few times along the way. In the Wastes of Will, on the way to Cape City. I could have had you killed a hundred times over by any of the Sentinels, but I didn't. Because...." Rey turned back to the Pokemon who stood before him. "...you are tools. Tools of war. The Alpha Alliance's best hope for battle. For victory."

"And only one thing really stands in the way now..." He looked across the group of Gold Tribe members, looking for a certain object, before coming across it along the neck of a gold Bisharp. "Truthfully, I would have expected my daughter to be the one to carry it, but when I heard about this 'Vigil' in Liberty Town, I supposed that would have been a possibility."

Zane cocked an eyebrow, a little confused.

Paradox let out a very loud sigh, "You know... it means the Gold Tribe has been ensured to survive up to this day. Though... you could have done one better." He said to Rey, "I mean, corrupting one or two, having them go on a journey for a few months, come back and maybe have started a little war with a nation or two. Simple really to cause a massive war in such a way." He shrugged, "But of course I wasn't there at the time, though if you had gotten Penance with you, heh, I can assure you things would be upside down all around. This is a good starting point none the less."

Blackguard cracked his knuckles as he watched the Golduck and the Zangoose monologue their hearts out. He was beginning to get bored. Monologing wasn't really his style; rather, he preferred a straight-to-it tactic. In this instance, there was no more time for talking as they needed to proceed.

"Anyways," Blackguard boomed. "You might be interested to know we made a few friends of our own. Some of them might have been your friends once..."

At that moment the ground began to rumble as a black Sandslash flew up by a hole landing before Paradox. At the same time a large black Garchomp flew through the ceiling landing with a thud and letting out a blood curdling screech. If that wasn't enough the wall behind the throne was punched through with a Emboar and a Gliscor coming in.

"Hey, that was going to be my line!" Paradox whined. He sighed and then began to pace, "You have a choice. Sit down, and let what happens happen, or.... you can have multiple bones broken and your pride shattered before you are forced to kneel. What say you all?"

Realizing what was about to happen, Zane prepared himself for a fight, and the rest of the Gold Tribe did so as well. "You already know the answer!"

Paradox sighed, "Very well then. Break them, but don't kill them." All at once the psychics sent out charged up beams laced with chaos, aiming mostly for the bank ranks of Sword and Shield, the healers, as well as Gallant. Meanwhile the Gliscor and Garchomp jumped into the air and flew down to hit into Guardia and Bloodthirster. The Emboar ran full force at Hanso and the Sandslash dug back under the ground, with the tunnels he had dug before being split apart more and more as the ground itself began to form fissures.

Meanwhile Paradox teleported right in front of Zane and held out both hands. Red rings shot out at the Bisharp and Penance spoke lowly, "Just relax... that's all you need to do Zane. This will be over soon enough." As he worked on hypnotizing the Bisharp one hand reached out to grab the Gold Crystal.

He came in too fast, and Zane did not have the energy to stop the Hypnosis from hitting, and he could do little to resist. He slowly felt himself slipping. His eyelid fell heavy. The Golduck reached out and finally grabbed hold of the crystal. It as not at all hard to pull the crystal from his neck and smirked evilly. "Oh hush now Zane... enjoy your dreams." He tossed the crystal back right at the Lucario.

Blackguard tapped into his aura, twisting it into the form of a giant hand and extending that hand to catch the thrown crystal. He caught it, and immediately he could feel its power pressing against his own, suppressing it. He might have heard something from Saturn Barrowman, the original owner of this body, if the Lucario had not been completely wiped. Still, the crystal was far too weak to do any real damage, so Blackguard just helt it in his aura hand, a smug look on his face. He turned to the Gold Tribe.

"Look on, Gold Tribe. I hold here in my hand your last hope for salvation, and-" he stopped mid-sentence, purposely dropping the crystal onto the ground. "Whoops. Butter fingers," he mocked, grinning.

His aura shifted into the shape of a giant Golurk foot, and using all his power, he brought the thing down hard upon the crystal. The entire building shook, rocking the Pokemon within, and a large crater was created around the area where the foot had struck."

Just like that, the Gold Crystal's oppressive presence faded out of existence, relieving Blackguard and all corrupted Pokemon in the vicinity. The Silver Crystal almost seemed to react to this, as it began to glow brighter.

"And... that's that." Blackguard's aura shifted back into the shape of a small orb in the palm of his hand. "Now who wants to stop us?"

Paradox chuckled at Blackguard's words and stepped back from the Bisharp, slowly clapping his hands. "The question though my dear Blackguard... is who wants to join us first?" He chuckled a bit, "I say... we leave the Bisharp for last... to wach as one by one..." At that moment Penance held out a hand that would pin Zane's arms to his side and keep him from moving, "As those he traveled with... as those he grew close to become our... friends."

Paradox glanced over at the Alakazam and frowned, "As to you... well, hehe, you better stay here. After all, you came ALL this way with them, might as well see their end too, no?"

Rey smiled as Zane was quickly subdued and the the Gold Crystal finally destroyed. "See, Gold Tribe, that's the problem with hope. Hope, like anything else, can be broken."

Silver City

It was almost unbelievable. It happened so fast, Zane could barely react now. He had managed to have enough resistance to be able to stop himself from going unconscious, but he was powerless to stop what had happened. The Gold Crystal, their last chance to stop all of this madness and win, had been crushed beneath the feet of the Lucario with the Silver Tribe. Just like that, everything they had worked for was undone. Every battle they fought and won now seemed for nothing. And the mastermind behind it all was the one he had once followed unquestionably. If he had felt a deep wound in his stomach now, he could only imagine how Guardia felt, who appeared to be unable to formulate any words.

Rey didn't waste a moment's hesitation from the destruction of the crystal to begin walking away from the action going around. "Now that the nuisance is gone, there is nothing else to be done by me here." He said, reacting to the appearances of the other corrupted Pokemon. "They are more than a match for you now. I will go to the top of the Citadel, and siphon your energies you would use in combat, and those the Alpha Alliance uses now fighting for their lives. I will use it...and I will bring back the Dark One into this world."

He proceeded to the end of the hallway and began up the stairs. "Fight, if you must. Become corrupted, if you must. Die, if you must. It matters not anymore. You cannot stop the inevitable. You have already lost. The only thing that remains undecided is how you will leave this world."

Guardia finally spoke, barely above a whisper, but enough for Rey to have heard. "Father..." Was all she said, and the older Zangoose stopped up the stairs and stared down at her.

"...Not anymore." He replied. "I am the Wielder."

"You cannot stop this even if you kill me now, although you're welcome to try. But before you try to kill the wielder, I wonder how you would fare against...the monster."

Vera Fayos

Vera watched in horror as their seemingly only hope was smashed into oblivion. For everything that had happened, though. She couldn't shake a fear in the back of her head.A nagging idea that something worse was coming. Through all this, everything seemed lost. So what more could possibly happen?

At Rey's mention of the monster, though. Her fears suddenly made sense. Without chance to react, the floor began to sink in the middle of the room. The walls began to quake, as if they too feared what was coming. A sudden burst blew away the sunken area of the floor, unleashing a flurry of sand throughout the room.



A black shape emerged from the hole. It's form barely recognizable as a Pokemon. Purple armor covered it's torso, head, arms and feet. Between them, only black skin beyond the darkest night could be seen. From it's back, several tentacles protruded. As it lifted itself out, with it's unnaturally elongated arms and legs, it's eyes became visible. They were little more than hollow holes now.

This beast would have been a stranger to them, if not for the blood that stained it's hands and feet, and the scar running through it's left eye...



Sovereign Chronos
Several days earlier

Sovereign stared into the void. The pitch black darkness all he could see, no matter where he looked. His body would not react to his commands. He thought for a moment on what happened. It came back to him, he had been crushed under the roof of the throne room itself. "I must be dead" he whispered. "I'm sorry, father. I failed."

"Ahhh, there you are... I've been waiting... I knew if I was just patient, you would return to my grasp..." The voice was familiar. A recent memory. Far more recent than he liked. "There's no one here to save you this time, Sovereign, and you're far too weak to defy me. I think it's time to eliminate that soul of yours. You are far more useful as a mindless monster..." Sovereign was done fighting. He had fought to his final breath. He could see the face of darkness before him. A shadow he couldn't quite make out. It's features enigmatic. It leaned in close, and cut him loose.


Sovereign felt himself drift away, the light embracing him. "You did well, son..."

Sovereign's body was not dead, however. All that remained in the absence of his soul, was something else. Something evil. The Behemoth...



Behemoth


The Behemoth let out a roar, like so many times before. It's voice shook the very foundation of the Citadel, an unnatural sound deeper than any other. As Vera stared at this monstrosity, horrified at what had happened to her first friend. She could see no life in his eyes now. This was only a husk. "It's not Sovereign... not anymore..."

Her Blazikenite began to glow, finally ready. "Who says we've lost yet!? If we're gonna die we're gonna give them hell before we do!" In a flash, Vera became enshrouded in the shell of energy emitted from the stone. When it shattered, her form had changed back to that unknown form. She took her stance, and prepared for the worst.

Daricka "Wildfire" Cambar​

Finally, after a merciless barrage - courtesy of the Gold Tribe - Auron fell. Daricka crumpled to the ground, the excessive use of her Life Flames having completely sapped her of energy. She allowed her weary eyes to close as her brethren celebrated their victory.

However, She was not to be permitted a reprieve. As the cries of victory cut off, confused mutters took their place. Daricka reopened her eyes and propped herself up so she could see what was wrong, and her eyes narrowed as she noticed the Silver Crystal still glowing vibrantly with power. She watched the following proceedings through blurring sight from her spot on the ground, her limbs to leaden and feeble for her to rise to her feet. When the true wielder of the Silver Crystal entered and began his speech, his voice pricked at a memory from long ago. When his identity was revealed as Adam "Rey" Reed, the leader of the Gold Tribe they had long thought to be dead, her eyes filled with shock, but was quickly washed away by fury and betrayal. Even if she knew it was no longer the Rey they had once known, the hurt cut deep into her heart; like the rest of the Gold Tribe, she'd looked up to the Zangoose and admired him. When she was young, she'd seen him as the image of perfection; when she'd matured enough to realize there was no absolute perfection, she'd still held him highly in her mind, right next to her adopted father Darius.

And now, cruel fit was pitting him against those he had once led. As the true leader of the Silver Tribe continued on with his plan, Daricka gritted her teeth as she realized what their plan was. Not only was the Dark One on its way to be revived, but the Gold Tribe was in a set up that would end with them joining the ranks of the corrupted Pokemon now facing them. At least, that's what the Silver Tribe had planned; Daricka would rather die than become a slave to chaos.

Grunting with the effort, she struggled to stand, finally making it to a crouched a position. Her legs wavered beneath her, and she was finding it difficult to stay conscious, her eyes fluttering as she attempted to blink away her weariness. Glaring fiercely about, there was little about her that would intimidate her foes; the flame atop her head had died to a bare flicker, signaling that her life was nearing its end, and her entire body trembled with the effort of keeping her upright; Her tail drooped to the ground, not even having the strength to flick to either side; and if her physical posture wasn't enough, her eyes betrayed the exhaustion she was withholding.

To make matters worse, as the enemy attacked, a new foe appeared from a hold in the ground; Sovereign, now some new creature that no longer held the honorable Tyranitar within its soul, faced down against the Gold Tribe.

Despite the obstacles, despite her own weakness, Daricka held her ground, albeit shakily, and with a muffled growl that barely made itself heard, she mustered up what power she could and launched two feeble Focus Blasts toward The Behemoth.

It was one problem after another... Snype figured it wouldn't be this easy. The fight did seem a little too easy so what was Snype supposed to expect? Snype wasn't familiar with the deep history of the Gold Tribe so for the most part, he was lost... but he knew the names very well and how significant they were. Noctus Gamble... being a thief himself, of course Snype would know the name. It shocked him to suddenly see his lifeless body on the ground like this. Seeing how Snype opened the freakin door and gave the Silver Tribe directions through the thieves forest, he began to feel more guilty about the whole thing. Snype didn't know what was coming over him. He was a cold ruthless thief who had no sense for honor and now he was being sentimental? Some criminal he turned out to be.

To top it off, Snype had been fighting an awful lot today. He abused Foul Play quite a few times as of late and got in several fights against both sides. Sooner or later, he was going to start showing some fatigue. Every Pokemon had their limits.

And then it happened. With the reveal of the true wielder being the leader of the Gold Tribe, to the Gold Crystal being shattered, all hope was starting to diminish... to make things worse, everything seemed to be falling appart around them! Oh wait, that was just Sovereign crawling out from under the ground... wait, Sovereign?! Snype barely knew the guy but he acquainted himself with him somewhat back in Cape City before everything went down the crapper.

"Keh... well if all hope is crushed... then what else do we have to lose? May as well go out fighting!" Snype said.

Paradox and Gallant​

Paradox smirked evily at Zane and lowered his hand, letting him free, "Toodles, I hear on the grapevine a red mon wants to go at ya!" He winked and ran off, moving with efficency right at his target. "There you are." He said as he landed right in front of Gallant and shot out a Water Pulse at him.

Gallant was usually cool-headed enough to not let most things phase him. As an instructor back at H.A.S., that was sort of expected. But even he had trouble composing himself after Rey was discovered to be the Wielder. That surprise and anxiety only multiplied, however, when the Gold Crystal was destroyed before their eyes. Gallant had trouble grasping the entire concept of the crystals and the Being inside and all that, but he understood enough to know that, at this point, they were basically screwed. From the way everything was described, this was probably their only way to stop everything.

He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. The wounds he received fighting Auron, particularly the blood from his side from his Dragon pulse, stung. Deep down, he knew it would eventually come to this. He had to give them credit, they came much further than he ever expected, but now, he could finally go down fighting just as he probably should have in the first invasion. He had lived a full enough life as it was. His only real regret was that his brothers and sisters, most of whom were barely in their 20s, didn't get a chance to live as full a life.

"Then I'd better do somethin' about it," He mumbled to himself, opening his eyes just as Paradox was coming upon him, and launched a Water Pulse at the old Sawk. Gallant reacted immediately, ducking to his left to avoid the water attack, which he barely did. Despite his old age and numerous injuries, he moved with a rejuvenated sense of purpose. Coming from his roll, he charged forward at the Golduck, who was once Penance. Truthfully, he had still much resentment at the former Gold Tribe member for his part as the Madman. He had been looking forward to knocking his head for a loooong time. He leaped through the air to try and hit him with a Hi Jump Kick.

Paradox smiled widely as the elder dodged his attack. Good... yes, he was still in working condition! Hehe... and the better to make his plan work. He stayed on his toes, watching with eagerness as the Gallant got up and ran at him with his kick, but all he had to do was hold out a single finger to let a blue glow encompass his body and halt him in mid air.

"Uh uh... you hated Penance didn't you? Well... let's see if you can have a broader picture..." Paradox chuckled as his eyes glowed an even more intense shade of blue. Right now the Sawk would have a massive headache coming on, so massive that he might just black out. All the more easier for Paradox then. He pushed and wormed his way into that fighter's head, making it as painful and uncomfortable for him as possible. Fighting types... so weak, so... idiotic. But they had powerful bodies, and likewise this Sawk would serve them well.

"Now... where to begin?" Paradox chuckled softly as the two faded away from reality.

Gallant felt distress as he was powerless against the Psychic and his abilities, which stopped him in middair. But what happened next was even worse, as the Sawk began to feel a sharp pain in his mind, and soon, he felt himself become lost from reality, as if he was slowly slipping into a deep sleep. Only he knew if he were to go to this sleep, he might no wake up. He tried his best to avoid going into that fate, doing whatever he could to stop it, but eventually it happened, and everything went dark.

As his vision returned, he found something off about it, as if he was viewing it, but everything seemed a little blurry. Rubbing his eyes, he found that it wasn't his vision that was off, it was everything else there. It was a grey sort of room with hundreds, maybe thousands of different doors (some with locks) which let to so many different places. He didn't fully understand what he was viewing, as he had not much experience inside of his mind. But he knew that he had to guard these doors. He looked around, wondering if he was alone in here. Judging by the strange way he felt like he was being watched, he'd say not.

Paradox smirked as he walked around and let out a whistle, "So nice and gray... hehe." Out from his feet a few grains of corruption already shot out and began to move quickly across the floor. "I hate gray. It's so boring to look at. We need to spice it up!" He held out a hand as a black ball of corruption shot out and splattered against the wall, quickly working along it and covering the gray with blackness. "Hm... Gallant! Where are you!?" He shouted out playfully. He hummed as he walked, ever so often expanding his power to send some more corruption into another part of his gray mind.

"You know, this is by far way too easy!" He shouted out gleefully. "I have ALL the time in the world in this mind of yours. You'll be awake soon enough you know! Awake and happily working with us, because that is the truth in the matter. We are all chaos... and you can't fight that fact. You feel it with your anger you know, the need to say screw the rules. The need to reach out and snap a neck or two despite your laws and morals saying otherwise."

He held out both hands as more black balls of corruption shot out to splatter against doors, "You are just like... Penance. Hehe, in a way." The corruption moved across the mind like a spider, attaching to the doors and even slowly melting through the locks and what not to get deep into the memories.

As he saw Paradox begin to spread corruption, he figured he'd try getting a shot at him to stop it. He didn't want to end up like...well, Penance. He'd rather die than turn sides. Going from behind his position, Gallant emerged in Paradox's view and began hitting him with a flurry of hits from the Close Combat, to try and stop him from melting and of the locks.

As Gallant moved Paradox turned, smirking as the attacks hit. He fell back and landed on the ground, though he got up chuckling all the while. "The corruption moves independently of me Gallant. There is no way to stop it now." He cooed. What he said was true, the corrupted blobs moved about the mind, many already breaking into locked doors and moving along like spiders, leaking corrupted fluids wherever they went.

Paradox smiled even wider and spread his arms, "Go ahead, hit me all you want you pathetic fighter. In the end it won't matter. We will claim you for our side, and you will happily submit by that time."

"I ain't submitting to no one!" He yelled, as he hopelessly looked around. The corruption ate through the locks of many of the doors now present, and some of them began to creep open. He didn't know what to do. Even if he attacked Paradox now, it didn't seem to make much of a difference. Still, he did receive a sort of pleasure from hitting the Golduck, as a bit of payback nonetheless, and struck at him again with a Focus Blast in desparation.

He slowly stepped back, a bit of a chuckle coming from his bill, "Well, ready to be like Penance?" Paradox asked with a smug grin. He held a hand off to his side as a flow of corruption erupted from the floor. The inflow was quickly formed into a ball thanks to Paradox's powers and immediately it expanded more and more as he infused more psychic energy into it.

"Just like his Water Bomb... quite a lovely combo that is." At that the corruption ball exploded. Corruption shot out and splattered along the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. More and more of the corruption formed into those spider like beings as the tore open doors and spread all over.

"Gallant..." Several corruption spiders lined along the walls and each shot out a string of corruption to bind up the Sawk nice and tightly, "Welcome to the family."

The corruption exploded everywhere, and as it attached itself to the walls and through the doors, Gallant felt strange. He felt like shouting, but no scream would escape his body. He tried to struggle, but his body didn't listen to the commands of his mind. He felt like, slowly, he was leaving his body and traveling further and further away. As if the scene in front of him no longer belonged to him, but instead, belonged to someone else. He was only an observer now, an observer to something else. He closed his eyes, no longer having the will to fight any of this, or perhaps not knowing how.

Then, something happened when the corruption began attaching itself to the Sawk. A bright, gold light suddenly pierced the room where they stood. It felt like it originated straight from inside of the Sawk itself. As he opened his eyes, gold light filled his sockets, and shot out at the corruption. The black, liquid and fog of the corruption seemed to react at the touch of the golden light in the area, and deattach itself from the walls and doors. The doors too began to close off too, pushing all of the unwanted material to the outside. New, golden locks formed on all of the doors which had broken or melted locks. The corruption directly around Gallant decayed at his touch, and he felt a new will inside of him to fight on.

All at once, he built up this strange, yet powerful energy around him, and forced it out. "Get...out...of...MY HEAD!" He yelled, and forced all of the energy outwards in a nova, a spiral of bright, glistening power, halting anymore corruption that targeted his brain.

On the outside, an elderly Alakazam gave a weak smile as he saw for a brief moment how the Golduck tried to enter the Sawks mind. The Gold Tribe were not totally out of options yet, it seemed.

Paradox cried out as he was forced out of the mind and in the real world stagged back, looking up at the fighter with surprise, "W-What!? The crystal is gone! This shouldn't be happening!" He snapped angrily. He quickly rose back up on his feet and narrowed his eyes, "That's it! All of you are dying right now!" He wasted no time in shooting out a Confusion right at the fighter, "Now die!"


Levina decided to split off from Snype while he handled his own end of the table. Even without the Crystal, she figured going by Snype's word would be best. There's nothing else to lose, so they may as well keep fighting! Levina quickly ran toward Paradox and struck him with Thunder.


The Golduck gritted his teeth as the electricity moved throughout his body, but he chuckled as well, turning about to look at the Jolteon. "Ah, someone else to fight eh?" His eyes narrowed, "Like I said, all of you die, now." In a second he teleported behind the Jolteon and shot out a Confusion at her to fling her away. "Heh, this will be fun."


Levina simply laughed until she was flung away by Confusion. She spat on the ground and smirked at the opposing Golduck. "What I have you all for myself? That's a shame. Comon then." She taunted. The Jolteon formed a dark ball of energy over her head and quickly fired a Shadow Ball at Paradox. She was certainly armed for all sorts of foes!


The Golduck frowned and formed a shield of Water to lessen the blow of the Shadow Ball. In return the Golduck held out a hand and instead of a Confusion, a pure beam of corruption shot out right at her. "Let's see how well you can deal against corruption!" He chuckled.


As the Golduck shot the corruption shot at Levina, Gallant, who was recovering from getting infiltrated in the mind, saw an opening to go in for a strike and began barraging the back of the jet-black Golduck with a Close Combat. He didn't let up until he was sure he would make a dent.


Paradox cried out, his beam instead shooting off to the walls instead of his target. He turned and his eyes glowed a deep red as he sent a strong psychic pulse into the fighter's mind, "ENOUGH! THIS ENDS NOW!" He screamed out, his rage getting the better of him.


Levina stood firm as Gallant took the hit for her. She would have been hit dead on otherwise... now that she knew what this Golduck could do, she could focus on keeping her form to avoid more oncoming attacks. Levina began to run toward the Golduck at extreme speeds and circle around him to use Double Team! He'd be surrounded by several illusions of Levina. A perfect opportunity for Gallant to get a good hit.


Gallant felt the psychic pulse begin to infiltrate his mind, clinging to his head with his right hand, while keeping his left one up as a physical defense. Trying to battle through it, he saw Levina provide a distract enough for Gallant to focus his mind, trying to fight off the nagging sensation of the psychic while also meditating his energy to exert his physical energy into a blast. He fired the Focus Blast on the Golduck, hoping to catch him off guard.


As the copies appeared around him, Paradox knew what to do. He gathered his energy and screamed out as chaotic energy shot out all around him. It was a sort of blast as it hit into all the clones and those who were close to him. He kept shouting louder and louder, shooting off his energy, so much so that the ground underneath him began to crack a bit.


Levina fried off a Shadow Ball toward Paradox before she was hit. It wasn't exactly well aimed since she prepared it at the very moment she was hit but hopefully it'd hit the Golduck. She was feeling extremely confident despite taking the hit dead on. Levina quickly got up on her feet and growled at her opponent. "Psh... is that it? Just go home already." She taunted again before letting out another Thunder right down upon him.


Gallant wasn't as lucky as Levina, taking a full hit from the chaotic energy. Had he not launched a Focus Blast earlier, he probably would have been hit directly and suffered more extreme damage, but luckily it cushioned the blow, and he was only set back to the side of the wall. He grunted on the floor, but got up as he saw the Golduck screaming and releasing more energy, and Levina launching another hit at him. He decided to coordinate his own attack with the Jolteon's, launching a Focus Blast at the same time as the Thunder.


The Golduck grunted as his attack ended, but then he smirked. A second before the Thunder hit the Golduck ported away, only to reappear behind Gallant with his hand up, "Boo." He said as he shot out a Confusion to fling Gallant forward. In that next moment he ported once more and appeared in front of where Gallant had been telekinetically thrown and sent out another psychic blast blowing him in another direction.


It had become a sadistic version of pinball now as he flung Gallant around two more times, with Gallant being flung in one direction and the Golduck appearing in front of him holding out his hand, "Goodbye." Was all he said as he shot out a large purple wave of psychic and chaotic energy at the fighter.


Gallant did whatever was physically possible to try and stop his body from moving, but the fight with a Psychic Pokemon, especially one as powerful as Paradox was too much for a fighting type like him. As physically proficient as he was, he couldn't do anything against being flung around like a doll. With each psychic fling, he could feel pain coursing through his body. Each one made it harder and harder for him to resist, or even make the attempt to resist. By the time Paradox had sent off his final wave of psychic and chaotic energy, Gallant couldn't move much more, and was hit directly with it. His eyes widened as he felt the psychic sensation permeate his skin and fling him back like a toy.


As darkness took his vision, Gallant felt his body collide with the side of the main chamber, and lay still. He couldn't move. He couldn't even tell his body to try. Both his mind and body had been physically exhausted to their limit. He had nothing left in the tank. Slowly, he closed his eyes, leaving Levina to fight the Golduck alone.


Levina got up from the last attack, breathing heavily. Gallant was down... great. Swung around like a little Ragdoll. Levina would be by herself for now until the others could help out. Levina felt like she could take this chump down easy though! Levina quickly ran in between Paradox and Gallant and stood her ground to attack him with another Shadow Ball.


As the ball hit him Paradox just staggered back, and began to chuckle. His red eyes glowed as he looked right at the Jolteon. "You know... Penance talked about puppets before with Snype... I remember that conversation." He held out his six fingers and grinned, "That Sableye pal of yours is immune to this so..." At that six black strings shot out right at the Jolteon. "Now... how well can you obey orders?"


Levina was struck by the six strings and staggered back. "Ah!" She yelped as she suddenly was struggling to move. "Hey! Let go!" She threatened as she attempted another Thunder on Paradox in retaliation. She wasn't going to let herself get controlled so easily, but she could still fight with her ranged arsenal!


The Thunder stuck him, but that caused him to just smirk, "Ah, now then!" He pulled along the strings that stuck her in her legs causing her to slowly step back. He smirked and wiggled his fingers about, forcing her to 'dance' in a strange way, "Now, the best part of this?" He grinned and the Jolteon would feel her life energy being sucked up, through the strings and into Paradox. The Golduck smirked as the injuries that had been afflicted on him quickly began to vanish. The bruises from Gallant's earlier attacks disappeared and eve the burns from the electricity cleared up, "Ah! Much better!" He snickered.


He pulled the strings just so causing Levina to trip on her own feet. "Now..." All six strings unattached, only to fly at the Jolteon's neck and wrap tightly around it. "Now since strings are very, very thin they are hard to break apart." The strings broke free from his fingers and he crossed his arms, "Yes, you do need to be quiet sometimes Levina." He cast a glance at Gallant and for good measure shot out a chaos beam right at his skull. It was always well intention to ensure all of his enemies were taken care of.


The Jolteon was absolutely helpless as Paradox got total control over her. She was degraded to dancing against her own will and was slowly beginning to feel her life being sucked out...she eventually fell to the floor, feeling extremely weakened. All of that effort for nothing. She hated this. She had been doing nothing but losing and being overshadowed by the others. Snype kept saving her butt this whole time and now she was remembering what he said. He wasn't always going to be there to get her out of these situations.


"Mmmmrg..." She mutters under her breath as she was being choked by the strings... either he had intended to use it as a Collar or just kill her right then and there.


As she thought that the strings suddenly loosened up, and then the strings themselves moved through her yellow fur. They quickly moved up the sides of her head and to her ears, quickly slithering in like tiny slugs. All six strings soon disappeared in her head as the chaos began to try and work its magic on her.


"You know, with Gallant I realized my error! Why not send the Chaos itself to awaken you? I mean if you fight that off I can just kill you, right?" He smiled a bit, "Anyways... lets see if you can awaken."


Be killed or be controlled... those were her two choices now. Levina gave off a gasp as the strings slithered on into her head. She shook her head just wanting it to end. It was terrifying. She was already twisted as is so what more could brought out? Alot apparently. Levina's ears fell down as the strings slowly began to consume her and awaken whatever evil thoughts lay deep in her subconscious.


"m..mmm...!" She whimpered quietly.


Just as before inside of Gallant's head, a bright flash of golden yellow light began to shine through Levina's mind, and send any corruption or chaos that was present outside. It's origin did not come from inside of her head, but it began from inside there as if the seeds of protection had already been planted. The golden light prevented more corruption from spreading, and sent Paradox and his Chaos once more from the mind of the Pokemon he tried to corrupt. The strange, unknown protection remained.


Paradox rolled his eyes as he felt the strings fade away. "Oh just f**k it." He held out a finger and in quick succession shot out small bullets of psychic energy to quickly impact along her body. "Just die now please." He muttered angrily.


For a moment, Levina felt the pain go away... her mind wasn't being controlled anymore. Thank lord... but soon after, she was being blasted by Paradox down onto the ground. She was already weakened as is. She couldn't take much more of this. Levina couldn't tell what protected her, but she'd take what she could get.

Brynn and Paladin
Just Talking, Really


"Well." Brynn just sat there, floating in the middle of the gem-vault with her legs folded under her as she watched something that she hadn't bothered to call up for Paladin to see. A plate of cake sat in her lap, and one hand held a fork. "That was…interesting, to say the least. Oh, forgive me, would you like some cake, Paladin? I'm afraid it's really only an image to call up, a memory, but cake is so…"

Brynn shook her head, smiling slightly. "That's not the point, though. Tell me, Paladin, how much do you recall? Paradox did a fine job of explaining some things, but it wouldn't hurt us to know if there might be something more we don't know yet. Plans, counter-measures…anything that we could use?"

It took Paladin a moment to remember exactly what had happened. Technically speaking, he didn't know Brynn, but he knew that the last thing he remembered was fighting her and another Gardevoir as Blackguard. The memories were all rather hazy, but they slowly returned. "Um..." Paladin mumbled, rising to his feet. Though he had been in a kind of daze for what felt like forever, he noticed that all the while Brynn had been looking through some kind of mirror, though through it he did not see their reflection, but rather a display of events from outside this place, wherever this place was. The Golurk stood up, looking down at his own body; it was clear. The darkness was gone, which meant that Blackguard was still at large. Though, did he still use the same body? Paladin hoped not. He would have rather had his body perish than have it controlled by that monster.

Getting up from a previously seated position, Paladin stretched his arms a bit. Though this was technically only his conscience's form, it still felt good to be himself again. "The memories are rather hazy," Paladin explained, stretching his legs. "But... do you know what's happening now? The Gold Tribe should be able to repel Blackguard and Paradox with the Gold Crystal... wait, no..." Paladin said as he clutched his head. A memory, or rather a plan of Blackguard's, was beginning to resurface. "He... he knows how to destroy the crystal. If he manages to pull off his plan we're all doomed," he explained grimly, blissfully unaware of current events.

"Ah." Brynn glanced at the mirror, then back at Paladin. "I'm afraid...that the Gold Crystal was just destroyed. Are you sure, no cake?"

As soon as Brynn said this, it felt like Paladin's stomach twisted into a knot and he fell to his knees. "Well then, it's done... everything is going as planned. Blackguard pulled it off."

He rose again, a look of genuine sadness on his face. "Blackguard started all this... in my mind he rested, waiting for his chance to strike. Allora was the first step of his plan, to play with her emotions and cause her to wander into my mind, providing the perfect opportunity for his takeover." He began to pace for no apparent reason as he continued. "He concocted a plan to destroy the Gold Tribe, starting with the Madman. When he'd assumed control of my body he found him and corrupted him, turning him into this fiendish Paradox. The next part of his plan was to recruit Varren, but my memory ends there. I knew that he intended to wait until the Gold Tribe had used the Gold Crystal's power, which they eventually would against Auron, and then destroy it... but that's hardly the worst part."

Paladin walked up to the mirror, standing right next to Brynn, and looking into it. "I see... so you already know. Auron was but a puppet, and my good friend Rey... was the real enemy." He walked back down, unable to bear watching more of the chaos unfold. "Now all hope is lost. Unless we can get some power back, some little bit of power that once belonged to the Gold Crystal, there is nothing we can do." He walked back up to Brynn, snatching the plate from her hands, and gobbling up the entire cake in a matter of minutes. It tasted of nothing.

Brynn unfolded her legs and floated toward the vault-door, leaving the mirror to continue playing. The way she moved, it could have been a walk in springtime woods on a sunny day. "At least you haven't gone quite ballistic," Brynn said, turning to face Paladin. "I know a number of Pokemon who would have reacted more violently than you have so far."

After a moment, she added casually, "Oh, and please don't freak out if you feel like you're being leeched. This gem was designed so its wearer could draw off its prisoners' energy. It's not like the two of us are actually doing anything right now, is it? Hm..." Brynn tapped the vault-door again with a finger. "Well, Varren did end up accepting the offer of a new body. Is there anything more, besides Rey leaving the others to clean up?"

Paladin groaned, sitting down. He hadn't really started feeling the leeching effects of the gem until Brynn had brought it up. "It might take me a bit to remember, but it's not like it matters anymore anyway..." He sighed. "I hate the fact that we're safe inside this place while everyone else is out there dying," Paladin said through gritted teeth, balling his hands into fists. "I would rather die fighting than watch my friends do so!" He slammed his fist into the wall of the room, the attack having no effect whatsoever. "In any case, it wouldn't matter... we don't even have any way of getting back to our bodies. But tell me, why are you so... calm about all this? You're acting like Penance."

"Trust me," Brynn answered, turning back to Paladin. "I'm not so calm as I look." Her voice quivered slightly with her own cold anger. "Do you think you were the one I wanted to bring in here with me?" A second, closed door appeared in the wall beside Paladin, radiating even more frosty air than the room they stood in. "I tried to remove Blackguard from the scene so my brother and the Gold Tribe would have an easier fight. In a way, this was a last resort. I prepared the gem over time, hoping that we'd never need to use it this way. But now I'm close to useless, after using a Destiny Bond that's more or less wasted now!"

The Gardevoir closed her eyes and took a calming breath; the door beside Paladin disappeared. "I am calm, instead of raging around and wasting my energy. Instead of focusing on despair, I am going to keep watching, in case something comes up that I can actually help with. What will you do?"

Paladin sighed heavily, "I... don't know." He began pacing again, trying to ignore the chilling sensation that had overcome him due to the door's appearance. "Well, I know how you feel, anyway. I know what you were planning, and I did hope with all my heart that it could have worked, but Blackguard always has a backup plan. You know, while you were fighting him, I even tried to take my body back again. Obviously, my efforts were futile, but I was trying to warn you..." He grumbled somewhat angrily. "Wasn't exactly easy for me either. I've had that THING growing more and more powerful inside my head for over a year, and then all of a sudden I become just another one of the Dark One's puppets. The things I did as Blackguard... I can't help but blame myself for them. It was my weakness, my failure to resist him, that cost the Gold Tribe everything. It's... all my fault."

He stopped moving for a moment, seemingly frozen midstep. "No use moping around though. Though I doubt we'll have a chance, we might as well stay on the lookout for any opportunity to help, or even offer some advice or something. I don't know."

Brynn clapped her hands, a small smile appearing. "That's the spirit. Do remember, Penance and the Affiliates have a knack for not being so serious all the time. Anyway, back to the show."

~~~~~
Hanso, the Keeper, and Genevieve
Seems That Hope Isn't Entirely Lost, After All

That was the problem with half the Pokemon around here, it seemed. Paradox just couldn't help but boast of at least part of the Silver Tribe's plan, including the fact that his psychics were going to be using Disable. A very annoying move, but Hanso was sure it was going to be triggered the moment the Gold Tribe began fighting back.

He didn't feel much of anything. What happened with his sister had begun to numb Hanso's emotions; it was as if the rest had been thrown out the window the moment Rey had revealed himself. All that was left, pretty much, was the will to live. Or, as Varren had put it earlier, a natural reflex to want to stay alive. That, and Hanso's stubbornness.

So they had Disables at the ready, did they? As the Emboar began running at him full-force, Hanso tried to throw a Psycho Cut at him. Cue Disable. As his Psycho Cut fizzled out for the next ten minutes or so, Hanso made a copy of himself with Double Team, right where he stood and 'ported away to a dark corner of the room under its cover. The fake Gallade appeared to duck and dodge every move the Emboar made, for however long that would last.

What next? Hanso began pulling energy from the gem around his neck, enough that he wouldn't be exhausted as he fought. Big issues: Paradox; Blackguard; the psychics with their Disables; the fissures that the Sandslash was working on. And… Wha—Sovereign?! Except, if any trace of Sovereign was left, it wasn't in charge of this monster. And, Rey isn't sticking around. The problem there was that the Gold Crystal was destroyed, which gave Hanso pause.

The crystal was destroyed, but did its contents disappear completely? "Hey, Keeper, would the Gold Crystal's power still be around?"

One thing at a time. The psychics would be first, as they would be the most disruptive. Hanso 'ported to another place along the wall, behind a piece of a broken pillar, and checked on the psychics' positions. They seemed to be a little spread out; seemed like he could go after them one at a time. Hanso blinked behind the corrupted Kirlia and swung at her neck with a sharpened Dark sword. She called up a quick shield of energy that broke under the sword, which knocked the Kirlia to the ground. Hanso quickly 'ported away, appearing in the doorway to the throne room. The illusionary Gallade had likely worn off or been discovered by now.

~~~~~

Hanso had never removed the connection; Genevieve was still hearing what he heard. The moment she'd heard Paradox more or less order the others into action against the Gold Tribe, she gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain to slowly get to her feet. It took longer than she wanted, but Genevieve began moving toward the Citadel's front doors, heading for the battleground.

~~~~~

As the Keeper smiled at Paradox's failed attempt to infiltrate Gallant's mind, he responded into TrueStriker's mind. "Indeed, you could say something like that." He concentrated now, trying to link all of the minds of the Gold Tribe and their allies around, while also simultaneously keeping out the minds of all of their enemies, as well as calling forth energies around him to prepare a Future Sight to assist against the Psychics. One he had linked everyone's minds together, he proceeded.

"After all, your young leader did mention it to you a while ago, didn't he?" He inquired to the others, but mostly to Hanso as he battled the Kirlia and other Psychics. Inside of their mind, he made a subtle inference into their memories, so they could remember the exact memory of which he spoke about, if they were there to see it. The pop up would have been subtle, not enough to distract them in their fights, but enough for them to understand that not all hope had been lost.

"Incidents." The Keeper spoke into their minds again, just as Zane had before.

The Espeon, Mr. Mime and Grumpig all simultaneously proceeded forward at the Gallade, surrounding him one each side to make it hard for him to attack any of them singularly, and shot Psybeams at him.

Good to know that they weren't done for. Hanso threw a few small Dark blasts to counter the Psybeams before jumping into the air, firing a Dark spear at the Grumpig. At this point, it wasn't the kind of energy that mattered to Hanso; a speared heart or loose head would do just as good. Hanso could faintly feel the energy of his earlier Future Sight, pending from the time when Varren had been in charge of his body. Let it charge a little more.

Before he could be caught in the air, Hanso 'ported to the other side of the room, near one of the Alakazams and the Drowzee, and threw two more Dark spears at them.

The Dark Spears rained on the psychics around, and they each put up psychic barriers to help lessen the blows. Combined with each others psychic abilities, it did well to lower the damage they would have taken. Yet against a Gold Tribe member, it still wasn't enough to completely avoid damage, and the Grumpig fell back from the attack straight to his stomach, as did the other Psychics.

Figuring they would need much more combined energy to stop the Gallade, the remaining standing Psychics stood together, gathering the energy and combined to form a massive looking attack, a combination of Psychics, Psybeams, and other kinetic energy into one large bubble of Psychic energy. It took a significant combined mental strain for them all ot be able to pull it off, but eventually, they fired the chaotic-looking bubble bursting with energy toward the direction of Hanso.

"Careful, young one!" The Keeper exclaimed in the mind of the Gallade. He sent forth his own Psychic energy through the channel they had established to momentarily boost Hanso's reaction time and abilities enough to help him in the next few minutes.

If it wasn't for the energy from the gem's prisoners and the Keeper's help, Hanso would likely have been done for. Pointing his arms forward with hands together, he formed a Dark spearhead-barrier before him, attempting to divert the energy-bubble to either side of himself. He devoted part of his attention to holding the barrier while slowly forming several more Dark spears under cover.

At that moment, Genevieve leaned against one side of the doorway into the room. More chaotic fighting, no surprise there. Spying the psychics that were grouped together, she raised her hands, one crackling with electricity and the other covered in shadow. "Need some help, dear?" Genevieve fired a Thunderbolt and a Shadow Ball at the psychics, not knowing which one if either would be Disabled.

The Psychics grouped together were relatively worn out from the large amount of energy they exerted forming the large bubble earlier, so when Genevieve came at them from behind with a Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt, they weren't quite able to respond right away. The Thunderbolt hit the Espeon right on its side, knocking it back on the floor with a cry of pain, while the Shadow Ball successfully targeted one of the two Hypno, also knocking him back.

Quickly responding to the addition of the new threat, the second Hypno fired a disable at Genevieve to get rid of her Shadow Ball from now on, hoping it did the trick. The Kadabra then shot forth a Psychic at her front, while an Alakazam and the recovering Kirlia went to either side of her and fired their own sets of Psybeams in a trio. Meanwhile a second Alakazam and the Mr. Mime chose to aim for the Gallade on either side with a Psychic.

However, as the Mr. Mime tried to launch his own attack, he was suddenly swept off his feet and knocked into the air. Having no apparent control over his body, he was slammed to the ceiling, and then onto the ground below, leaving cracks both on the ceiling and floor where he was hit. The Keeper kept his hands steady while he controlled the flow of his body, leaving the Gallade to only have to deal with the single Alakazam for the moment.

There was nothing Genevieve could do to stop her Shadow Ball from being Disabled, but she released her own Psychic wave to counter the Psychic and Psybeams. It wasn't all that powerful, however, as Genevieve's earlier pain was still lingering. As her first wave slowed the attacks, Genevieve released another one, firing a Thunderbolt at the Kirlia for good measure.

As he came out of his barrier, Hanso saw one of the Alakazams coming for him with a Psychic. He 'ported away, appearing behind him and morphing one of his Dark spears into another sword with which Hanso tried to behead the Alakazam. "So what do we need to do about the Gold Crystal's power, Keeper?"

"Well..." The Keeper began, as he watched TrueStriker and Genevieve continue to fight off the Psychics. He made sure the message he relayed was connected to all of the Gold Tribe and their allies across the Citadel. Hanso had just successfully taken the head of the Alakazam, it falling on the ground in a light thud, followed by its body. Meanwhile, Genevieve used a first and second wave of attacks to strike at the Psychics surrounding her, forcing them back onto the ground to agonize at their injuries. The Grumpig had recovered enough, however, along with he Drowzee and both fired another set of Psybeams at the pair.

"My new plan came with the acceptance that what has been done before will no longer be done." He continued, monitoring the two as he poured some of his own energy toward them to help them in their fight. He noticed the Mr. Mime try to get up again, and effectively slammed him into the ceiling again to prevent that. "Yet we hit a major snag with the Gold Crystal getting destroyed. Originally, once or if the Wielder would be defeated, the Gold Crystal could be activated to seal all of the Silver Crystal's power back inside, as we had done before. Now...we would have used the Gold Crystal in a different way. We would have tried to attack the Dark One straight at his source. You see, the Silver Crystal is a prison, one we constructed which leads through a portal into another realm we created. In that prison, the Dark One is sealed away with the full might of his power. It is in that realm that Ancients are commanded and created, and as his power increases, the power of that realm also increases, as does His power. Right now, the Wielder Rey is using all of the power that has been gathered in our world to tap into that realm and create a hole in the Silver Crystal, thereby destroying it and pouring that realm into our world. Thereby, releasing the Dark One.

It was at this point that we could have used that against him. If the Gold Crystal were to be put into the realm with the Dark One still inside of it, the result would be catastrophic for Him. All of the Gold Crystal's energy would be activated, and most likely destroyed. So would the Silver Crystal and the Dark One's realm. Yet...at the same time, the Dark One would be released back into this world, as a free being. But...his powers, his unlimited energy and terror would have been greatly reduced, heavily weakened by the effects of the Gold Crystal. He would have been in a state where he could have been defeated. Defeated by the Gold Tribe. By you. That was my plan."

Genevieve fired two Thunderbolts at the Grumpig and Drowzee, which shot through their Psybeams and partially deflected them. She winced as part of the two Psybeams hit her anyway, taking a step back before concentrating on the Drowzee. Genevieve's eyes glowed blue as her Psychic aimed to take hold of him and throw him around.

Dark spears in tow, Hanso 'ported to Genevieve's side, throwing another one at the Grumpig. The first Disable would wear off soon, leaving him open to be Disabled again. Not good if they were to get his Teleport. "Now that the Gold Crystal itself is destroyed, you have something else in mind?" Two more Dark spears were thrown at the Hypnos, leaving three in reserve.

The Keeper cringed an eye, the sense that his Future Sight was now coming. It blasted at the Mr. Mime that he was dealing with, effectively ending him. The Grumpig fell back at the hit from the Thunderbolt, then again at the Dark spear, both hitting right on the targets and knocking them down. The Hypno was hit now by the double Dark Spear, and was knocking to the floor, but as he fell, the Espeon and Alakazam that recovered managed to use up their energy they had left to fire two powerful Psychics at the two.

The Keeper purposefully bended the space around the Psychics incoming to both slow them down and to weaken their strength for the Gallade and the Gardevoir. "Well thankfully, the Gold Crystal was not destroyed. At least, not entirely." He allowed a smile to creep onto his wrinkly face, then proceeded. "You see, Zane Tyrael was right. "The Gold Crystal's energy could be transfered into other objects. As a failsafe, as he called it. The original encasement for the Gold Crystal has been destroyed, along with the power which resided in it. This indeed, is a problem. But the power of the Gold Crystal was transferred by myself into another object a while ago, just in case. After all, anything can be the Gold Crystal really...no matter how small or miniscule the object...like the bracer of a Gallade, the pendant of a Golduck, a ball of string carried by a Sableye. No one would even give it a second thought." The Keeper looked up above as another Future Sight attack was soon to be incoming, presumably the Gallade's. "So my plan, if you truly still want to do it, can still theoretically work. The problem will reside in the fact that this Gold Crystal's power is not quite as strong as it would have been with the original. So in essence, if we release the Dark One, he will be stronger than I originally planned. Perhaps much stronger, perhaps too strong. He will, of course, be nowhere near as strong as if he were to release himself by his own power. Yet...as I see it, this seems to be inevitable. One way or another, the Dark One will walk Valkaria again. But the question is this: Shall he walk out on his own accord, or shall he be forced out, and suffer the penalties that come with it?"

While Genevieve psychically threw the Drowzee at the ceiling again, Hanso fired two Dark blasts to help cancel the incoming Psychics. Who was left? One Alakazam was dead, as was the Mr. Mime. One Hypno had been thrown back, but where was the other one? Hanso fired a Dark spear at the second Hypno, hopefully before he could get back up, then 'ported Genevieve and himself to one side of the throne room.

"This is a question?" Genevieve shook her head, letting the Drowzee drop back to the ground as her head spun for a moment. "If we still have a chance, then why haven't you followed the wielder yet? Oh, right, these pesky Sentinels and such." Beside her, Hanso gritted his teeth for a moment as he forced his Future Sight to keep pending, keep building up. It had to be fired sooner or later, before it dissipated. Or blew up. He wouldn't use it on the psychics, though, if he could help it.

The second Hypno fell back again just as he was starting to recover, the hit striking him right in the face and forcing him on the ground, no longer moving. The Keeper merely nodded in response. "It will take all of us to do it, and maybe then it won't be enough. But we will try. We must. Come on, then!" He got up, approaching the pair as the rest of the Psychics went together as well to try to combine their own energies for a finishing blow against Hanso, Genevieve, and the Keeper. Their Psychic was concentrated into a smaller bubble than before, but it also felt that much stronger. The Keeper closed his eyes to concentrate, trying not to overexert himself as he used a Calm Mind, not only to strengthen himself, but also his allies.

"Oh, blast it all," Hanso muttered, "can't hold it anymore." Facing the grouped Psychics and their attack, he released it. The Future Sight immediately shot forward out of nowhere, larger than usual as it barreled toward the bubble and the psychics behind it. Even if that didn't hit, Hanso fired his last two reserved Dark spears at them. "Disable on me is gone," he warned Genevieve and the Keeper.

Ignoring the fact that Hanso was free to be hit by another Disable, Genevieve asked, "So you say Hanso's bracer is infused, as well as this pendant and string you speak of? Sounds to me like we should make sure they're gathered up."

The Psychics were hit dead on by the Future Sights, any energy they had been storing up were effectively dissipated. The finishing touches came with the Dark spears, and now, the Psychics were effectively finished up. The Keeper panted a bit, having wasted quite a bit of energy, more than he was used to. "Heh...haven't been in a fight like that in quite a while...I wonder how long it's been..." He suddenly snapped back to reality and replied inside of the mind of the two, so the others too could hear. "Mmm? Ah, I did not mean that those items had the power of the Gold Crystal inside. I only meant to use them as an example to show that anything could be the Gold Crystal. Perhaps they do have it inside, perhaps they don't. Perhaps a certain emblem one of you carry has it. Or perhaps not. I'd rather not say for certain what does and what doesn't while other...powerful enemy psychics still linger." His eyes darted to the jet-black form of the one known as Paradox. "It is best we keep quiet until the times come. Just as a caution."