[Pokémon] Forsaken Wings

The Beginning
(Forsaken Wings is a story based on a fusion of the Pokémon Adventures Manga and the original Pokémon Games. This story is taken (mostly) from the point of view of an experienced Pokémon trainer: Ramo Razez. He is a citizen of Hoenn, who has numerous Pokémon championship qualifications under his belt but has never beaten a master. One day he finds himself on the run from the Pokémon Leagues because someone framed him for a massive murder. This is his story.)

Ramo Razez, the twenty year old seasoned trainer, sprinted through the darkness. While he heard the cries of a numerous amount of zubats, bat-like creatures that fed off the lifeblood of living animals, running through his head, he laughed to himself. He broke two basic tenants that even poke-school graduates have down. One, pack light. He was weighted down with several survival supplies that he thought he needed. Second off, small little bats are actually dangerous.

Loud screeches had rendered him temporarily deaf, so he didn't notice the young hiker girl until he smashed into her.

She crumpled, and hit the ground hard. He turned around sharply and shifted the bandanna on his neck to cover his face. She wasn't moving but her chest was moving up and down in a steady motion.
He threw the unconscious female over his shoulder and continued to sprint towards the entrance. His legs burned from exhaustion and he cursed himself for not being more careful. Just when he felt like stopping, he saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

The land that came crashing into view was breathtaking. His black shoes smashed into the rocky ground for traction and he stopped a few feet away from the edge of a cliff. Patches and lines of forestry populated the landscape, with a few lakes here and there. Ramo realized how high he was off ground level. A fall from this distance would kill even the most sturdy of Pokémon.

The zubats began to close in and there was no way down that wouldn't involve tossing the hiker girl down. Ramo was a fugitive but he was no murderer.

The zubats flew into the setting sun, because their sonar could detect nothing that resembled the human they were pursuing. After a few minutes, they stopped their wails and returned back to their nests.
Ramo slid the girl off his body and gently onto the ground. The stalagmite he used to mask his and the hiker girl's body had covered his black hoodie with dirt. He sighed and brushed some of it off and took a good look at the girl.

She was a dirty blonde, with small eyebrows and a slightly angular face. She looked about nineteen or twenty, but Ramo couldn't say for sure. Her small soft lips trickled slightly red from the impact that knocked her out. Pangs of guilt hit the young man as he ran his fingers through her hair and flinched as she stirred. He pushed his sunglasses closer to his face as she awoke.

Her cry was enough to stir a resting Golbat, a much more aggressive and larger evolution of the zubat, from his nest. With the most silent of wing flaps, he descended down towards the two trainers.

Ramo dropped her and felt embarrassment color the features hidden under his guise. His sunglasses flashed red so he turned and saw the golbat swooping down to claw at the young girl. He turned swiftly and threw his back into the golbat.

He flinched as he felt the creature tear through the armored clothing under his shirt and rip flesh off his back. To make matters worse, the impact of the Golbat was enough to send Ramo toward the edge.
The girl screamed as she saw the young man plummet down.

A white flash blinded her for a moment before a white creature with a gray underside came into view. In one hand, it caught the young man and in the other, it clung to the cliff. The Aggron, the pokemon that Ramo had sent out, threw his trainer to safety and leaped at the Golbat which had begun to retreat upon view of the giant Pokémon. Aggron jumped towards it and captured the vampiric bat in both hands.

The girl looked away when she heard the crunch of the creature's bones breaking. Instead, she looked down at the young man who had landed a few feet away from her.

"You tried to kidnap me! What is wrong with you?" She yelled and kicked him as he tried to get onto his feet.

Ramo felt his ribs take the impact of the hit and grunted in pain. He rolled over to his stomach and felt warmth seep from the wound on his back.

"Get away…" Ramo said lowly between gritted teeth.

The Aggron began to make his way to the platform.

"But then again, you did save me. And I can't help but to wonder what's under that mask.."

She whispered as she kneeled next to him and swiftly slid down the bandanna. He tried to stop her, but his hands were slapped away.

"You're..."She stuttered as she backed away.

Well aware of his notoriety, Ramo removed his sunglasses and revealed his dark, black and sharp eyes. He stood, this time without a reaction from her.

"You didn't see me. I'm not here." He growled, his heartbeat racing when he realized he had already been spotted.

Aggron's head peaked from the cliffside behind him.

It only took her a moment to realize that they were putting too much weight on the fragile rock and she quickly ran back into the cave.

He slid the bandanna over his face and for a brief moment, assumed that it was his intimidation that had sent her running.

Just then the platform cracked and sent the two humans and the aggron hurtling towards a massive fall. The girl screamed and Ramo turned down to face the ground.

Aggron wrapped his arms around them as if to sacrifice himself to absorb the blow.

Ramo returned his pokemon into his greatball and captured the girl's hands in his. However, she had shut her eyes and the sensation of free falling had masked the feeling of his hands in hers.

Another bright light appeared and a large monstrous blue and black three headed creature appeared beneath them. The monster's loud screech filled the air and Ramo flinched.

"Quiet, Hira, you're going to attract unneeded attention." He warned his Pokémon as he patted her center head. He then turned back to the girl.

"I am going to guide us down, I'm going to go west and you're going east. Understand?" He said with a low voice. The girl frowned and nodded without hesitation. She was smart enough not to argue with world's most wanted.

As they were slowly guided down, Hira spotted three yellow creatures approaching them from the horizon. Ramo took a deep breath to prepare himself. The sight of such a rare dragon must have triggered the alarm of the people beneath him. Ramo turned to the girl and frowned before speaking in a gentle voice.

"I'm sorry that I got you involved in this. Kidnapping you was an accident. I will turn myself in." Ramo told her.

"My name is Alice, and thank you. Ramo Razez of Hoenn." She replied timidly. "But tell me is it tr-" She was interrupted when the Dragonites who had suddenly accelerated to cover the distance began to surround them and growl.

"She's not with me. I kidnapped her. Go ahead and charge me with that too. I won't fight." He told the Dragonites as Hira held her dragon-breath in her throat. When they attacked anyway, Ramo realized just how deep of a conspiracy he had found himself in.

Wow, this just wants me to keep reading! I keep wondering who everyone is, it's kind of mysterious.

The Chase

The orange orbs came in a barrage towards Ramo and Alice. Since they had originated from three dragons rather a one, it was enough to render the dragon that the pair was rididng unconscious.

Ramo, as he fell, turned his body so that one hand would be able to return the hydreigon, and with the other, could catch alice and bring her into his body. Hydreigon's pokeball released a red beam that made direct contact with the knocked out pokemon, and forced it back in to captivity. With Alice facing up and Ramo underneath her, her body took close to none of the impact.

He grunted when he hit the ground but quickly rolled away from Alice and stood. With the speed of a western gunfighter, he tossed a pokeball into the air. A white flash came from the moving object, and it blinded the three hostile dragons. A black and white horse-like pokemon originated from the pokeball and landed on the ground in front of the now grounded dragons. With one movement, it struck them down with a fierce clap of lightning.

Ramo coughed and tasted iron. Red liquid flowed from his mouth, so with his free hand wiped the blood away. He glanced at the knocked out pokemon, before he felt a disabilitating amoung of pain force him from his knees.

He caressed the bruise on his head as he realized he had been hit with a pokeball. He turned and found himself face to face with the tenant of said pokeball. A large, hulking creature with huge sharp teeth and two beady black eyes exhaled smoke from its nostrils.

Before Ramo could be struck down by the pokemon, Blitzle smashed its body against the hulking beast. Why is a typhlosion here, in this region? Ramo wondered before a voice caught his attention.

A young man appeared, maybe a year older than Ramo. His technology enhanced sunglasses quickly made a identification. Gold. He was wearing black pants, a red jacket, red shoes, and a gold plated baseball cap.

"Pretty girl you got there Ramo, didn't know you were into kidnapping girls ontop of treason." Gold laughed his annoying fun-loving laugh.

To the side, Typhlosion was battling hard with Blitzle.

Alice had blushed at the young boy's comment. She wasn't with Ramo, she thought to herself, but she wouldn't mind accompanying him.

"I don't want to fight you, Gold. You know I am innocent." Ramo said as he returned Blitzle. Although his Blitzle was tough, Gold's Typhlosion was at a whole different level. "I'm a hero, or I will be, after I take you back to Johto." Gold said as he sprinted at Ramo.

When Ramo turned back, Gold tackled him to the ground. Alice screamed at Gold to get off. Ramo elbowed Gold and they began to struggle for control.

A black pokeball with a silver dragon etched onto the top hit the ground. Ramo screamed.


A white flash illuminated in the setting sun. A dragon of tremendous size with two redwings and sharp eyes flew into the air. With a roar loud enough to shake the ground beneath it, it spotted Gold and spat a large fireball at him, easily the size of a small home.

Gold narrowly avoided the flames, and began to use his running shoes to get away as fast as possible.

As the massive black Salamence prepared another attack, Ramo called out to it. "Mortem! Stop!" The dragon growled and charged a blue flame in its throat. "Ramo tilted his feet and activated the running shoe mechanism. He leaped forward, using the compressed air to assist his jump, and came face to face with the dragon. He touched it gently and before Mortem could react, captured her in the black and silver pokeball.

When Ramo landed, he watched as the fire created from the dragon spread from tree to tree and created a raging fire. He turned to say something to Alice but noticed as she was gone. She had left him to fend for himself. Well, then again, he thought to himself, he did sort of kidnap the girl.

The flames of the wild fire began to roar, and it reached a heat that caused Ramo to sweat. He coughed and returned Mortem's pokeball to her place on his belt.

Sprouts of water began to originate from underneath the foliage, and extinguish the fire. Squirtles appeared, and used a coordinated effort to try to kill the fire, with a moderate amount of success.

Ramo, satisfied that he was both alone and unseen, drifted into the darkness.

Getting into this region was a bit more difficult than he expected, and now the wanted posters are sure to be put up, but at least he had arrived and still is, in one piece.

After a few hours of travel, Ramo spotted the familiar glow of light. Expecting it to come from civilization, he traveled towards it and found a populated village. The houses were styled in an archaic manner and made of ancient material. As Ramo admired the fine craftsmanship of the architecture, an old man appeared through a central door in one of the buildings. Recognition when he saw Ramo sparked in his eyes. Ramo reached for Aggron's pokeball and growled.

The Village

Aggron munched hungrily on his prey; iron found not too far from the edge of the mountains and on ly a few hundred feet below. Ramo sighed as he thought over the last couple weeks and stroked the neck of his blitzle.

Escaping from Gold was made much easier from the appearance of Mortis, the twisted Salamence that was affected by the Virus. The virus, a biological weapon made by the new council of champions that had reign over the more powerful regions. It worked by tapping into the brain of those affected and rendering their more primal state to be more aggressive. If the infection if particularly successful, it can change the biological composition of the pokemon.

It was really nasty stuff, so when Ramo had found it being developed in the Johto region's mountains, he felt morally compelled to destroy it. He didn't want a repeat of the shadow pokemon incident. That's when the champion council decided to frame him for the destruction of a main building in Johto. The explosion was enough to kill two hundred people and an unknown number of pokemon. Gold, he assumed, was told by his successor that Ramo did commit that act of terrorism and Gold heroically thought he could bring him to justice. Ramo really couldn't blame Gold, and he wished things could be different. Mortis, the massive black salamence was constantly in pain, and felt nothing but anger. The only release it would have is in her pokeball, or in death. Ramo couldn't bring himself to do that. So instead, with the data destroyed on the Virus, he made an escape to Synnove region. The Synnove region was much farther back in terms of raw military and technological power, so finding him there would be much more difficult. When Ramo finally made his way into the wilderness, he had found a small village.

The old man had originally thought he had seen his son again, a young man who had disappeared a few weeks before. Ramo had not attacked him when he reazlied the man was not scared but surprised. As an outlaw, Ramo was always on his guard. The old man, as his usual benign nature, offered Ramo dinner, which the young man denied. The old man introduced himself as Felix, and insisted that he stayed.

Ramo was grateful when he ate, as he had not had a warm meal in what felt like ages. The meal was composed of simple meat and home-grown vegetables but it was more than what Ramo was used to and it was cooked with tremendous skill. When Ramo complimented the chef, he saw a young girl with pitch black hair and sparkling blue eyes walk out of the kitchen. She has small, thin frame but she walked with the upmost grace. Felix explained she was his assistant, who helped work with the horses and the house. Ramo mused for a moment over how people back in his home region, hoenn, might find that offensive, but he quickly shook the thought off. She smiled and introduced herself as Micky. She brushed her fingers through her hair as she examined Ramo. Before Ramo could respond, Felix took a loud and deep breath. He was facing out the window and a grimace was etched on his face.

Genuinely concerned, Ramo asked him what the problem was. Felix responded that the loss of his young son had affected the home farm tremendously and it was much harder to raise the crops. Ramo looked down at the humble meal and replied that he could help. Micky grinned and Felix looked surprised. After a few sentences of confirmation, Ramo found himself sleeping in the shed.
The next couple weeks went by so fast for the young man, as he found himself working hard on the crops, a skill he had never learned before and his attraction to the assistant. Between tending to the lifestock, and plowing the fields, Ramo found himself finally finding a home he could call his. Every day he would work in the sun, and every night he would find himself underneath an oak tree, talking and flirting with the young woman.

Micky was from that small village since she was small, and when her parents had died from a raider attack, she was taken under the care of Felix. The young man that Ramo resembled had been like a brother to her, and she commented that he went to the forest one day and never returned. This caused curiousity about the nearby terrain and what possible secrets it could hide, but for once in his life, Ramo was able to surpress his desire for adventure.

The night before, Ramo remembered with a large grin on his face, Micky had felt cold and drew close him. He wrapped his arms around her, and she gently kissed his chin. They both smiled at each other, and embraced. The moon was full, and beautiful, he recalled saying as he looked up at it. She laughed and brought his face to her's. They kissed, and Ramo blushed.

Now, Ramo was far from that small farm and felt it was appropriate to feed his pokemon. They were all scattered around in the wilderness, searching for food as they felt necessary. The only one that hadn't been fed was Mortis. He would feed her eventually, but he would have to find a place where he could contain her safely.

As his mind raced to find a solution, he heard the distant sound of Rapidashes, a type of horse-pokemon that used flames to defend themselves. He quickly turned his Blitzle and began to head towards the village at full speed. He was much farther to the village than the distant herd of rapidashes, so he hoped it wasn't his worst fear, Raiders.

Raiders aren't a big problem in larger regions such as Hoenn, Johto, Sinnoh, and Kanto, but in a developing region like Synnove, it was major issue. Raiders are a term to describe mercenaries and pirates that would attack smaller cities and villages for their resources, burn them down and repeat. They typically leave little to no survivors and could be in and out in an instant. They primary method of travel was on horse-back. Besides raiding and pillaging, they would supplement their lifestyles with the occasional bounty-hunting.

Ramo felt tears stream down his face when he made it to the small village. Fire was eating away at the building and Micky was there, but she wasn't alive. A large weapon had taken her life, and nearly split her into two. He jumped off his pokemon and ran to her side. His fingers brushed against her skin, and as he looked up, a larger raider with an axe approached him.

The raider smiled, one gold tooth had replaced a front tooth. "Wesley?"Ramo recognized the face even without the use of his sunglasses, as his adventuring equipment was stored outside of the village. "Oh Ramo, looks like I found you." The tall raider said as he spun the axe and held it to Ramo's neck. "You know, ever since you left me to die, I have always planned revenge. I never thought you would do something as stupid as terrorism. So, I get my revenge or my troop gets the large bounty on your head. Did you know that for the last two weeks they have been steadily raising it. I think it would be a good idea to imprison you and wait for that bounty to even out a high price." Wesley laughed and kicked Ramo in his stomach.

Ramo winced in pain, and felt the ground shake beneath his body. Wesley kicked the back of his head, and Ramo felt the light going into his eyes dim. He fell down and groped at the dirt beneath him. Wesley laughed.

Aggron appeared from underneath the ground just below Ramo and rose him far above the flaming village. As it roared and prepared to kill Wesley, Wesley yelled. "If you get away from me now, me or my troops will find you. We will kill anyone you stay with; there will be no safe haven for you. If you escape, you are only being selfish!". Ramo, with his last remaining energy, returned Aggron into his pokeball and felt his consciousness slip.

The Ocean
Ramo awoke to the sensation of shaking up and down. His dark eyes drifted toward the tarp that was allowing a small amount of the sun's rays in. Slowly, he realized where he was: on a carriage, on a route that would take him to the Raider's home region. He felt the cold wood brush up against his bare skin and realized he was stripped of his clothing. Furthermore, his hands were bound in rope.

Without his equipment; without his pokemon and without his hands, Ramo had no clue how he would get out of this mess, or even if he should.

Even Ramo, with his limited knowledge of the Raider culture understood how determined a raider can be when he marks his target. It wasn't a bluff when Wesley said he would chase Ramo wherever he went. Ramo thought back to the last time they had met prior to his capture.

Ramo was riding on his Lapras, a pokemon that had four flippers; a rocky back that seemed almost made to sit in, a blue body with a long neck, bottle shaped faced and two striking blue eyes. Lapras charged an ice beam and fired it the mist that surrounded the ocean air. Ocean spray stung in Wesley's eyes. He rubbed them and looked back at Ramo.

Wesley was so much younger back then, he didn't have the yellow beard his older self had, and he looked clean. His short blond hair cropped closely to his head and his dark blue eyes contrasted against the bloodshot sclera. He grumbled, and pat Ramo on his back. "Bud, do you really think we haven't lost Archie yet?" he asked.

Archie was a maniac who led Team Aqua, an organization that sought to expand the sea. He and his organization managed to capture the red orb, an object that when used is capable of controlling a legendary creature that created the oceans. Meanwhile, Maxie, an insane counterpart to Archie with a group called Team Magma who seeked to expand the land came across the Blue orb, that can be used to control the legendary creature that created the land, was also discovered. When Steven Stone, the Hoenn region champion found this information, he split four pokemon league hopefuls; Ramo, Ruby, Sapphire, and Wesley, into two groups to attack the cult leaders. Ruby and Sapphire went after Maxie, while Ramo and Wesley chased after Archie.

Ramo looked at Wesley with his trademark stare. "It would mean the end of the world if he is gone. There are millions of people in the world that are counting on us, Wesley. If that means we have to chase this man to the ends of the earth, then so be it. I will not stand by and watch as the world is flooded and a legendary beast overtakes us all." Ramo stated simply as he turned his attention back to the mist. Wesley thought for a moment and reached for his belt. He tossed a pokeball into the air and catched it as it descended. A Butterfree, a large butterfly-like pokemon with huge red eyes and beautiful white and black wings appeared in the air. It flapped its powerful wings. The force of the wind was enough to clear up the fog. All that remained was the cool mist.

It all happened in an instant. Ramo just barely registered the shape of butterfree being swallowed by a creature of such an amazing size. Lapras dived deep into the water, plunging the two trainers without warning. It quickly turned, and fired a beam of intense cold from the horn on its head. The ice beam connected with something in the deep and murky water. Then the thing that swallowed Butterfree shook. The impact was enough to knock both trainers off the Lapras. The deep water was extremely dark. Ramo couldn't see a thing and neither could Wesley. Ramo quickly began to sank, as he couldn't swim.

Ramo felt something massive and evil flow past him. Then he felt the warmth, and the cry of Lapras. The young trainer threw his hand into his side and grabbed Lapra's pokeball. He shot it into the darknes. The red beam cut through the abyss and went straight for what seemed to be miles, and after a few moments, he felt it shake. The shaking signified that Lapras was successfully returned. Whether or not it was in one piece was yet to be found, Ramo thought to himself as he began to panic. As he sank deeper, he felt his lungs beginning to burn.

He could hear the thunder despite how deep he was in the ocean. He saw a red glow beneath him that etched the shape of a great and terrible monster. It outlined two yellow eyes that stared at him as if he was as insignificant as a fly. Kyogre, Ramo realized as he remembered the ancient tale, opened its massive mouth and prepared to swallow him whole.

When the world began, Kyogre and Groudon fought for its control. Groudon created the mountains and Kyogre the seas. Their battle only ended when a creature of even greater power emerged from the sky and sealed them into the earth and sea. Archie was able to release this horrible beast upon the world and its first kill would be Ramo.

Two red eyes pierced through Ramo's mind. It spoke a language that seemed so strange and so different from anything he had ever heard. "Ramo. You failed. You failed Steven Stone. You failed Wesley. You failed your brothers. You failed the world. You failed yourself. Worst of all, you failed me. I will help you, but only because I need you. Don't forget me, for I will not forget you. " Ramo understood the language, and felt a shiver run down his spine. The eyes pierced through his very soul.

Ramo watched as a black hand wrapped itself around the Kyogre and squeezed it with one powerful motion. The legendary creature cried in pain and turned its body. It retreated deeper into the ocean. The same hand, now much smaller slowly lifted Ramo from the ocean and circled around him to form a bubble.
The young boy could breathe now, and he could see through the darkness. Wesley was sinking into a red mist and his blue eyes had noticed his rising companion. Wesley reached his hand out towards Ramo, as if begging for help, but Ramo could do nothing. The last time he saw Wesley was when Sharpedo, a shark-like pokemon, ripped its jaws into the flesh of his shoulder.

"You will help me, Ramo Razez, and it will hurt everything and everyone you ever loved.." the ancient and eldritch voice spoke as Ramo blacked out.

The shaking stopped and the entrance of the carriage opened to reveal a young raider, clad in iron armor and holding a spear. He boarded the carriage and grabbed Ramo by his long black hair. Ramo grunted but didn't fight as he dragged him out.

Ramo saw where he was being taken. A black prison made of iron and stone. Escape was nigh impossible, and Ramo knew that.

The Prison

The cell was spacious; it was about twelve feet wide and nine feet long. It was gray and had no decorations except for a pool of blood in the center of the room. Upon closer analysis, it was clear that it was dripping through the soft stone above.

Ramo Razez was escorted in by the raider in iron armor. He was placed so that he was both in and facing the corner. The rider pushed on Ramo's head and forced him onto his knees.

The iron raider reached at his side and produced a small hatchet. He placed it on
Ramo's neck. A voice ran through his head; a voice that spoke his language but with a thick accent. "Welcome to Snara: the most secure and dangerous prison that Vallhöll has to offer. Only traitors, prisoners of war, and wanted criminals are condemned to this hell."

The axe came down as the man pulled on Ramo's thick hair. It was sharp enough to easily cut through the black stands and send Ramo's head forward. It collided with the wall, and Ramo grunted. A few moments later, Ramo could hear footsteps and then the cell door close. Slowly, he rose onto his feet and quickly scanned his surroundings.

The cell didn't even have a bed. It didn't even have anything, except for the blood. Ramo leaned against the wall and shut his eyes. With his hands still in cuffs, he saw nothing he could do but plan his escape. Just before he drifted to sleep, he heard someone knock on the cell door.

There same guard that chopped his hair off returned with a yellow jumper. He walked in and placed it in the center of the room. When Ramo turned to face him, he felt painful electric shocks run through his body. All of his hairs stood on end and he fell to the ground. His muscles shook and he twitched violently. He grunted in pain and watched as the man undid the handcuffs. Ramo's eyes drifted to the jumper as the guard walk away again. With care, Ramo rubbed his wrists. Then he went to put on the jumpsuit.

A few hours later, a guard armored from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet and a gray mask grabbed Ramo forcefully and dragged him out of the cell. All the cells, the young man noticed, was much smaller than his cell and was filled with atleast four or five residents. If the other prisoners found out of his special accommodations, Ramo would face issues.

After a few minutes of walking into a straight line, and going up a very long stairway, the guard released Ramo into what appeared to be a cafeteria. It was arranged into several square tables, each with no chairs but rather a booth that could probably sit three people per side. Seeing as Ramo must have been escorted there late, there was only one available. It was all but empty with the exception of a single man.

Like Ramo, his hair was unevenly cut but it happened a long time ago that it had begun to grow back. The man neatly kept his hair in a ball above the back of his head. Ramo thought to himself that it was a popular style for men in the Hōmu region.

His posture was calm and tall. In fact, his presence would be incredibly commanding if he wasn't so deathly thin. His black jumper indicated that at one point, he had broader shoulders and a strong frame. He had no tray.

Ramo went to the line that was serving food and waited for his turn, as there were a couple of men ahead of him. One of them eyed Ramo cautiously before leaving with a tray of gray slop. Ramo received a tray from a man with a hair-net and a dirty face. The man slopped the same gray substance onto the tray and sent Ramo on his way.

Ramo sat in front of the thin Hōmu man and made eye contact as the man looked at him. Ramo knew that he was being glared at but didn't flinch. Instead, he slid his tray towards the Hōmu man. The man glanced from the tray to the Ramo then looked around before he began to eat ravenously with his fingers.

A few moments later, the man sighed and wiped his fingers on his torso. "Yūki Hoshi. I am of region Hōmu. And your name is?" He said softly as he looked around suspiciously.

"Ramo Razez of the Hoenn region. Why haven't you been fed?" He asked as he ran his fingers through the space where his hair had been.

"I am to die of hungry. Hōmu and Vallhöl were at war a few years ago. I was one of Hōmu's generals. I was captured two years ago and sentenced a month ago. I wait to die." Yūki said as he looked down at the tray and slid it back to Ramo. "Earrings of dragon."

Ramo reached over to his ears and noticed that one piece of his equipment had not been taken. His two blue dragon gems had still been embedded in his ears. He focused on them and heard them activate. Within moments, a voice penetrated his thoughts.

"Ramo Razez, are you actually calling? After all this time?"
"Latias, are you there?" Ramo thought.
"Well, I have nothing better to do but be on your beck and call~" The sassy female voice replied.
"I am imprisoned. I hid my equipment at this location, and I just need you to drop it by and send out my pokemon."
"Did you really kill all those people?"
"No, Latias, I didn't. You know better than that."
"When I promised you I would help you Ramo, I would do it despite whatever happens. It is a debt that I will always owe you."

Just then, a loud and vicious growl ripped through the building. Ramo realized that it belonged to Mortis. When they were examining his pokemon, one fool must have made the mistake of sending Mortis out.

The guard didn't see it coming. The inmates charged at the opportunity the growl had given them. Within moments, they were brutally taken to the ground and slaughtered. Ramo and Yūki just glanced at each other and then back as the inmates began to make a wave to the exit. They quickly joined the group.

The prisoners split into different paths, assumingly to go into different parts of the region. The Raider's version of homeland security would be there soon, and without his Pokémon or anything to identify him as a high value prisoner; he would probably be put down.

Ramo looked at Yūki and asked quietly. "Where do you think they would hide the new prisoner's belongings?" Yūki quickly jogged towards a hallway, and Ramo followed him to a large wooden door.

Yūki pointed to a locked door and then back at Ramo. Ramo charged forward and smashed into the door. After a few tackles, the door finally cracked. Ramo kicked it in. Inside was his clothing and his Pokeballs. There were five to be accounted for, but the black and silver masterball that held Mortis was nowhere to be found.

Ramo sighed as he threw the orange jumpersuit off his body and slid his red armored shirt over his head. Over the shirt, he put on his black hoodie. He then slid on his protective black jeans, his stealth socks, and his running shoes. Finally, over his head he placed his trademark fireball baseball cap. He checked to ensure both his earrings on and realized he had forgotten his dragon-styled belt. The rest of his equipment was stored close to the village in Synovve region.
He turned and realized that Wesley had walked into the room. "Ramo.." Wesley said as he stroked his blond beard. "You are not getting away. This is where your story ends. You will die."

"I didn't mean to leave you behind, I swear." Ramo screamed as he saw Mortis' masterball attached to his outer coat.

Ramo quickly took note of his enemy's armor. He had a thick helmet that was strapped under his chin. Besides being round, it had no particular features. His armor was had an etched ab plate, something Ramo found a little cliché, and broad shoulder guards. His arms were bare, and he wore plated leggings, with sharp boots. Overall, it could be worse.

Ramo ran at him, and then activated his running shoes. The extra burst of air allowed him to flip over him as he swung a heavy arm. Narrowly avoiding the blow, Ramo twisted his body and landed behind Wesley. Two hits to the kidney followed by an elbow to the side of the head seemed to have little to no effect on Wesley. Rather, it seemed like the steel armor only put bruises on his hands. Wesley laughed and gave a swift kick to Ramo's chest.

Ramo hit the ground hard from the impact, and reached for Aggron's pokeball. "Don't do it. Do you really want to force your pokemon to kill someone?" Wesley mocked.

Ramo slid his belt off and stood up. His stance was low, and his fist came up to guard the upper part of his body. Wesley then pulled an axe from the wall. "I however, have no such restraint." Wesley raised the axe and made his way slowly to the young man. Ramo thought quickly rolled out of the way as it came crashing down onto the ground. He jumped off the handle for height with one leg before tucking it in and kicking at Wesley's face with his other. Wesley grunted when he felt his nose crack. Ramo landed on both feet squarely.

Wesley swung the axe up and nearly cut off Ramo's heads if he had not swung his body backwards. Now that he was on the ground, Ramo brought both his legs around Wesley's head and torso, and brought them in to take Wesley to the ground.

Wesley hit the ground with a thud and the axe went sliding. Ramo kneed Wesley in the ribs and as he rolled over, stomped on his neck. Ramo moved quickly to the axe and lifted it.

Kill him! Kill Him! KILL HIM! KILL THAT MAN!

Ramo heard a familiar and ancient voice scream into his ears. He shuddered and denied it. The axe fell to the ground.

Wesley stood and turned to face him, and for a moment, he seemed to realize that Ramo may not be his enemy. That was until, Mortis' head came crashing through the soft stone ceiling and ripped at Wesley's body.

The masterball rolled over to Ramo's foot. He picked it up, and looked away from the grisly sight. He returned the feasting Mortis.

A few minutes of trying to transverse the prison rewarded Ramo when he came to entrance. Snowflakes descended from the heavens and landed on the cold dirt below. The battered young man looked up at the cloudy sky and couldn't help but to feel tears stream down his face. He decided to begin his path back to the Synnove region.

A Task For Another
The screen faded away into black. The young girl had to watch the same news story twice. She couldn't believe it, first her childhood crush murdered countless people, and now he broke into Snara Prison and released all the inmates into Vallöll.

Whatever happened to the young boy who would do anything to protect those who couldn't protect themselves? I wouldn't be myself if it not had been for that boy. The girl thought to herself as her thin fingers ran through the width of her hair.

A green bird, which stood at about six inches with dull red accented feathers landed on the girl's hand as she stretched her arm out to catch it.

Natu, the girl thought to herself, always had an amazing sense of timing.

Winona wants you, and she doesn't seem very happy.

But it's my day off!

Trust me, what is going on is vastly more important that your lazy day.

Argh…Fine, at least it will keep my thoughts off of him.

Who?

No one.

The girl's eyes glanced at the beautifully crafted wings displayed on her wall. They were in the process of being decorated, as brown wings covered their mechanical frame.

Not yet, she thought.

A large brown and yellow pokemon landed a few from the girl's front door. Its black beady eyes flicked from left to right, and waited a few moments. Impatient as always, it let out a cry to alert its trainer.

You hear that? It is time to go. Get off your lazy, brooding and moody butt and let's get g- The Natu was interrupted from its psychic speak with a prompt return from the young girl. She returned the pokeball back to the side of her leg and with one motion, turned around and headed to the front door.

Before she could even get door, the Pidgeot knocked furiously on the door with its talon. She opened the door, slipped out and closed it.

Her Pidgeot took a few steps back before it bowed down so that she could get on the saddle that was attached to its back. Before she got on, however, she reached into the saddle and removed a decorative mask that would only cover up the upper portion of her face. It would protect her eyes from debris and had several functions which included; tactical awareness scanner, pokedex, encyclopedia and a communication device.

Once the mask was adjusted snugly, she gracefully boarded the bird and allowed it to take off.

The girl loved the feeling of the wind rushing past her face and though her long hair. She almost wished that the way to Fortree gym was longer, because she arrived there in what felt like no time.

The gym was always a marvel to behold, with its elaborate statues of flying pokemon and huge stairways. From that height, the girl could see Winona as small speck. The girl instructed her Pidgeot to land in front of the older woman.

Winona was the city of Fortree Gym's leader, an important rank to hold, and has been since she was sixteen years old. Now, she was in her older twenties, but still burned with the enthusiasm that had her picked at such a young age by her predecessor. She stood at an impressive stature of six and half feet tall, with long lavender her that extended past her hips. She still had the same yet endearing goggles that she had when she was younger.

Her baggy outfit remained the same; she always did favor function over fashion after all. Ramo once said it was all her quirks that made her even more attractive.

The girl was snapped out her train of thought by the sound of Winona's sigh. Her voice usually carried a melody, but as she spoke to the younger girl, one could detect a solemn edge. "Fay, Bugsy and his assistances haven't left their gym stations in over two weeks. The doors are locked, and mysterious noises have been heard occurring at night. Normally, the Johto region wouldn't ask a Hoenn gym leader to assist in their affairs, but Gold hadn't returned from chasing after that traitor and…"

"I'll do it." Fay interrupted with zeal. She had been waiting for a chance to prove herself to Winona, and this seemed a better chance than any.

"Listen Fay, once you break into that gym, none of you equipment will work. Kanto's policy of technology free battling for gym completion has recently passed in Johto and disarming the equipment disrupters could take weeks. So if you get in any kind of trouble, any at all, I want you to turn around and run." Winona stated carefully to the young girl and placed her hands on girl's plumaged shoulders for emphasis.

Fay nodded slowly and turned back to her Pidgeot. "I won't waste any time. I'll get to Johto at top speed." She said as she leaped onto the bird pokemon. The brown bird spreads its wings and began to take off into the air.

As they traveled the several hours that it took to travel from Hoenn to Johto, Fay began to go over the facts in her mask.

Bugsy was a bug type gym leader whose gym was located in Azalae town. He was world renowned for his expertise in all things creepy and crawly. Speaking of creepy, was Gold really going after Ramo? Last time they met, they bumped heads but she could never see Gold actually trying to bring Ramo to what could be his execution. Ramo couldn't have done all those terrible things. Could he?

After musing to herself about how drastically her life had changed and then falling asleep safely at a low altitude, Pidgeot arrived at the destination. Azalea town was small, hidden away in the southern part of Johto. There was not much to see, so Fay walked straight to the gym. With one powerful kick, she brought the door down and saw to her distress, that it was almost completely dark.

She walked in carefully, and noticed that her mask stopped scanning within a few feet of the now desolate gym. However, her eyes did slowly adjust to the darkness. There was a large pit in front of her, and there were three spider-like contraptions that she could pick from. She picked one and walked towards it when she felt something crack under her shoe. She looked down and realized that she had stepped on a bone.

The Earrings
Sensation was lost in both of his hands. His breath escaped his lips and appeared like smoke as it spread into the air. Frost clung desperately at his eyebrows; he couldn't feel his toes and his body was shivering rapidly. It was easier to ignore the miserable conditions when the young man could focus on the task of hand.

Step by step, he began to scale the large boulders that lead to a cliff a several feet over the ground. His feet pounded at the ground with each foot that he ascended, and his arms struggled to pull his weak and injured body up. "Just a few more feet to go" he spoke softly to himself before he felt his foot slip.
His body traveled suddenly but his reflexes were faster. One tanned and calloused hand snatched a rough rock and he held himself up. He didn't waste any time as he finally ascended the cliff and saw his destination.
Smoke billowed from the entrance of the cave. He covered his face with his hands and made his way inside. There was a small campfire in the center, and next to it, sat a girl who was staring out of the cave.

The girl squealed when she saw Ramo Razez. She was about a foot shorter than him. Her hair was cut short, but two pieces stuck out and resembled ears. She had soft pink eyes, pale skin and a small mouth. Her body was thin, and looked even thinner in the dress she wore. Her dress was a bright red with white symbols that run down her sleeves. Ramo's eyes went wide when she touched him and he pushed her away.

"You're physical." He said incredulously.

"I've been working on it for you." She said with a wink as she reached out and took a hold of his hands. "Now we can be together forever and always." She said with a twinkle in her eye. Ramo felt his hands crush under her grip.
"Did you bring the equipment, Latias?" Ramo asked, in an effort to change the topic. It was hard for him to believe that the beautiful woman in front of him was actually a Pokemon. Not just a pokemon, however, but a legendary. One that is so rare, many don't even consider it to be real.

She was both a psychic type, and a dragon type. She could read his mind, and even see through his eyes if she so choo- "Are you really that surprised to feel my skin?" She interrupted his very thoughts. Her palm suddenly touched his cheek. "I want to be your wife, you know. That's why I gave you those earrings. So we could always be in touch."

Ramo felt his cheeks burn immensely but took a deep breath as he looked over to the corner. All of his adventuring equipment was put on a perfectly balanced pile. "Thanks for bringing my stuff." He walked over and kneeled over his belongings. With one hand, he removed the sunglasses from the pile and slid them over his face.

"Give up on this stupid atoning business. Do you really think that proving your innocence will change anything? They'll kill you and if they kill you, I w- I will…I wil-"She began before the young man held her head to his chest.

His hand flowed down her back and stopped at the base of her back. "Laty, I won't die.Well, I won't die any time soon. I can promise that." He said lowly. She glared back up at him and formed a strange purple ball of energy in right hand. "I'll kill them. I'll kill them all. No one will stop me from being with you." Latias said as she raised her right hand and fired the ball into the icy air. Then she turned and
smiled back at the young man. "But don't worry. I would never hurt you, dear. You're mine and I don't hurt what's mine." Ramo swallowed hard and nodded.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked away from him and stared at the roaring flame. "Well… The infection that infested your Salamence, it is similar to the Shadow Incident. I have heard stories of man named Wes who was able to purify pokemon that had its heart shut away. If you can figure out how to convince him that you are innocent, he can help you with Salamence, and maybe even clear your name." She said softly.

When she finished, she was staring at the fire. Silence filled the room. "I was hoping that you would come with me. If everyone thinks you're a murderer or a maniac, then maybe I could finally have you all to myself. We could be together like I've always wanted." Latias said under her breath. She turned and saw Ramo as he finished putting on the rest of equipment.

He slid the bandanna over his face and looked out to the world. His sunglasses' heads up display showed a map of where he was and how to travel to the Orre region. From there, he was sure that could track down a man as famous as Wes, if Latias' story was true. He began to walk towards the exit when a soft hand pushed him back.

Latias pulled the bandanna down and kissed his lips. He shut his eyes, and submitted to the sensation for a moment before he pulled back and realized her wings had sprouted from her back. He glared at her. "That isn't okay, Latias..". " But Ramo, didn't you like it?" Ramo's sunglasses flashed a danger symbol and he pulled Latias and slammed her into the wall. Not a few moments later, and ice beam appeared from the outside and struck Ramo. His body went flying and he felt his body beginning to freeze. It had hit his torso and his armor could do nothing to prevent the temperature change.

Latias cried out and ran to his side. The side of the cave was ripped open by a huge crystal-like being with three yellow dots for eyes. It stared them down. "Regice…" Ramo choked out.

The cracked bone that Fay stepped on was yellowed and she could see that it wasn't alone. It was part of a large group of bones that lay on the ground.

Winona said that the gym was abandoned for two weeks. These bones seemed aged, as if they were there for years. Fay thought to herself as she slowly backed away from the bones. Fay reached for her left leg, gripped a Pokeball and unclipped it from her side. She tossed the Pokeball into the air.

A large bird Pokemon was sent out, with an armored steel body and red primaries and secondaries. Its face was pointed to be sharp and a steel beak. It looked around and trembled. It made a small cry and moved close to Fay.

Fay soothingly ran her hand on the top of its head, and it was enough to sooth the steeled Pokemon. "Skarmory, keep your eyes open." Fay said she reached into her pack and removed a flashlight. When she turned it on, it cast a weak light but she felt like it was better than nothing.

Her flashlight ran across the ceiling. Fay's blood ran cold. White tendrils span across every inch of the ceiling. They were long and thick. One such of these webs hung down several feet and ended in what appeared to be a body-shaped object. She could see that it was moving.

Suddenly, it moved forward and knocked Fay off of her feet. She screamed when she saw the face.

Bugsy's features were etched in a horrified scream. His skin was pale, and blue veins ran across his cheeks. His eyes were blank and they were dripping with a foul smelling liquid. There was a wound on his neck that was big enough to reveal the yellowed bone underneath. It too, appeared a couple years old.

An immediate crash snapped her back to the horror of it all. She located the sound as coming from the entrance. When she turned to see the cause, all the blood drained from her face. The door was sealed with thick webbing.

Scream! Yell! Beg!

She heard a psychic and sheer voice piece through her thoughts. It kept getting louder and louder. She fought the temptation to fall and continued to search for the psychic with her flashlight.

They taste so much more delicious when they're heart races. You…You will taste delicious...First I'll peel your flesh…

Her flashlight caught something in the corner. It was hard to describe as anything but an absolute abomination. It had eight legs, connected to a red body with black stripes running down its body that formed what appeared to be a skull. It had a segmented body, and the smaller and more forward body connected to two yellow and purple arms that were covered in crimson stains. It had two large and purple eyes that were composed of smaller eyes, and they were remarkably human in appearance. Its head was attached with a long and thick neck. It had a massive mouth with fangs that dripped with saliva.

Suddenly it spat a purple fluid at her. She couldn't react fast enough to get out of the way, but Skarmory intercepted the attack with its armored body. Steel melted upon impact and the Pokemon gave a weak cry of pain.

"Skarmory!" Fay called out in concern and quickly returned the injured pokemon back to its pokeball. She turned to run to the door, but her feet would not move. She looked down and realized her feet were caught up in web.

"Damn it." She growled and looked back up. The monster was gone. Her eyes frantically searched for a sign of it, but without a clue, she changed plans. She reached to her side and grabbed the third Pokeball down. She tossed it onto the ground.

A brown Pokemon emerged. It had two long thin black legs that ended in a flexible foot and three sharp talons. Its main body was a brown fuzzy ball with three black and thin necks that attached to three separate heads. Each head had two eyes and black feathers that sprouted out of the back of their heads.

These heads bickered together for a moment before they noticed their surroundings. Their heads all spread out to catch for any movement in the darkness. Suddenly, their heads snapped to the left.

One head began to charge fire as another charged lightning and the final one charged ice. The blasted the trio of energy balls and they combined to form a triangle. It was enough to illuminate the room.

Several bodies had been plastered to the wall. They all had to the same wound that had incapacitated Bugsy. Fay shivered when she realized that they were the bodies of the gym assistants.

She turned back and saw that her Dodrio, the brown bird, was hit by the web and blinded one of the heads.

She panicked when she saw the monster beginning to crawl towards it and returned her Pokemon. The room began to light up. There was a fire that was started by the Tri Attack and it burned fiercely in the back part of the gym. Her attention was split for a second and the creature moved again during the distraction.

The strange beast was above her now and spun a web that clung to her back. Fay screamed as she felt herself beginning to get pulled up. "What are you!".

I was an Ariados before there was a delicious black berry that was fed to me. It made me see. Made me realize how fun it is to kill. To feast. Especially on the flesh of trainers like yourself. Then I began to evolve…

Fay kicked her leg out and watched as a Pokeball fell to the ground. She came face to face with the monster. They made eye contact.

Do you have any last words?

"Yeah. Bite." She said as her face went from horrified to confident.

A red-orange angular face appeared behind the arachnid and it dug its long and sharp teeth into the back of the creatures head. Red flames spat out of its mouth and lit the creature's body on fire.

The assailant Pokemon spread its green wings and grabbed the monster and tossed it to the ground. The monster screamed in agony as it smashed into the ground. The red-orange Pokemon captured the girl and set her on the ground. "Thanks Charizard" Fay said as she watched it storm off and begin to burn the monster to the ground.

Thanks Ramo, the Charizard came in handy. Wherever you are…

The Charizard finished torching the giant spider and looked towards the exit. With one huge burst of flames, it scorched the webs and kicked down the door. It turned back and roared at Fay.

Fay looked back at the gym and sighed. She was going to have trouble explaining this.

The Frozen Meeting
Ramo Razez slid on his back towards the wall. Latias turned to him as the cavern entrance caved in from the forceof her psywave's impact. The light slipped away from them and plunged them into the darkness.

Latias lit up her hand with a deep purple hue. It was strong enough to light up the general area around them. A roar shook the ground beneath them and they could hear Regice pounding on the numerous boulders that separated them.

In the purple light, Ramo could see her reaching into her sidebag and seemingly search for something. He turned his head towards the wall and noticed that there was a small hole in the wall, andhe would press on it to check for its stability, if his arms were not frozen to his chest. When he looked back towards Latias, she had removed an ice heal.

An ice heal worked by spraying an accelerated water compound that quickly heated up the ice but also gently healed ice-related injuries on skin as well. It really was a miracle-worker especially in a frozen region like Vallhöll.

She sprayed over his chest and arms and watched as the ice quickly melted off his body and the several layers of skin that were ruined come back to life. When it stopped, Latias ran her fingeron his arms and up to his neck.

Ramo pulled away, and Latias frowned. "Latias, I am sorry but…"

"NO!" She yelled at him at him. Ramo flinched. Her eyes, for a moment, glowed a dangerous red. He realized how easily this legendary Pokemon could kill him if she so choose. Her eyes faded to their normal pink color and then they began to well up with tears.

"Don'tcall me that…I want a real name. A name that you could be proud to be with..."She nearly sobbed. Ramo went to go embrace her, but a large frozen hand ripped through one of the rocks.

Frightened but not to the point of paralysis, Ramo turned and brought his strong leg against the unsteady wall behind him. It smashed and crumbled down to reveal a larger cave complex. He took Latias' hand in his and sprinted into the darkness.

They ran in silence. Latias didn't want her beloved to hear her cries, and Ramo didn't know what to say to comfort the Pokemon. After several minutes, and the sound of Regice was long gone, they finally stopped.

Latias yet again lit up a small amount of light with one hand, and finally spoke out loud. "I can set a fire if you have anything flammable." "I have a few sticks, give me a second." While the young man prepared a small campfire, she sighed. "Your hair looks horrible, Master. Allow me to cut it down. Maybe it will grow more even." She smiled a little when Ramo nodded.

He sat against the wall and she removed a large knife from her pack. Despite himself, Ramo felt his heart beginning to race. Untrained Pokemon tend to run on emotions rather than logic. But was it fair to call her a feral animal like that? She clearly has a consciousness, emotions and even advance thought that was more than just survival instincts. But even intelligent pokemon like Alakazam with super advanced intelligence aren't given the same rights as humans.

The blade pressed against his throat and she hissed in his ear.

"If they kill you, I will go with you. I love you, master. To death. "She smiled and kissed his cheek. Then, skillfully ran the blade over his hair, closer and closer to his scalp for what felt like an eternity. The blade danced around his face but never sliced him.

Finally, she dropped the blade and brushed the loose hairs off of his head. Ramo threw his hood on, and tightened it to his now cold head. Then, he yelled in pain. Blood poured out of a wound in his red shirt. It dyed it a darker crimson. Latias cursed out loud and looked at the wound.

"There is a piece of ancient ice inside you. The remanants of the ice heal are keeping it down but it keeps expanding." Latias poured the contents of an ice heal into his wound.

Ramo screamed in pain and struggled against her grip on him. "Angelina! Stop! It hurts!" Latias looked at the young man with renewed interest.

"Angelina…?"She asked him as she ran her hand over the injury. "You wanted a name, didn't you?" Ramo dismissed her, and looked back towards the darkness. Angelina smiled at her new name.

"Like an angel? Like your guardian angel. I always do look after master, right?" She laughed and Ramo gripped at the wound in his stomach. It reopened, and the ice expanded. It hurt, and then it wouldn't for a few precious moments before the wound would reopen.

Angels can fall…Ramo thought to himself darkly as he looked at his bloodstained hands.

"That Regice seemed intent on capturing us. Vallhöll is desolate, for sure, but it wouldn't risk injury on a small meal of two people.Is there something you aren't telling me?" He looked back at Angelina. She frowned and looked down. Once again, she began to cry silently, but with the razor not too far from her hand, she looked more terrifying than pitiful.

"Chase Razez. The Pokemon Hunter..."

Ramo's eyes widened. Chase is one of the few survivors of the Great Pokemon war. He only goes after the rarest and most dangerous of Pokemon for profit. He is intelligent, skilled and powerful. In fact, he was one of my tutors in Pokemon battling and martial combat when I was young.

"He looks a little like you, and with a surname like that…" Angelina began.

"He is my uncle. He wasn't the same after his little girl died. That Regice was his?

"Yeah, once you activated your earrings and I could track you, I figured you could help me." Angelina said softly.

A light appeared in this distant cave entrance. It was several feet off the ground and Ramo swallowed hard. The visible outer edge oft he flashlight was embellished with the Razez symbol.

The Reunion
Chase was a threatening figure. He stood a couple heads over his younger relative, was dressed in a dull armored gray shirt, black pants, thick gray boots, a massive tattered black cape and asmall black mask that wrapped around his eyes. He walked like a man who had no fear.

Ramo sprinted at the man despitethe pain in his chest. Chase crouched down immediately and instinctively grabbed Ramo's shirt with one hand and then threw his arm forward. Ramo didn't react fast enough to prevent the fast maneuver and was sent flying towards the cave wall.

Ramo threw his arms forward to absorb the impact and a few moments later, he felt the ground rip at his arms. Chase didn't even look back.

Angelina weighed her options. If she killed Chase, all of his Pokemon would automatically be released and without the hunter to keep them at bay, would rip apart this cave and the nearby villagers. However, if she ran, she would leave her beloved to fight a hardened murderer.

Before she could do anything, however,two thin string pierced through the air and embedded themselves into her shoulder. She felt electric shocks run through her body and sent her limp towards the ground with a series of twitches.

Ramo examined at the device that was used to incapacitate the wild Latias, it was the same item used to take him down in the prison.

Herealized that he had no more options left, Ramo reached to this side and quickly sent out five of his Pokemon: Umbreon, Aggron, Blitzle, Lapras, and Hydregion.

Firstout was Umbreon, a pokemon that appeared like a black fox with gold markings and red eyes. The Umbreon looked around for a moment to take in her environment before her eyes focused steadily on Chase.

Aggron came next and wasted no time digging its massive steel claw into the side of the wall and ripping out a massive piece of the rock to use as a club before roaring loudly.

Blitzle sparked lightning out of its body as it leaped in the air. It landed in front of its trainer and snorted blue electricity out of its nostrils.

Lapras froze the ground beneath it with an ice beam, and slid around the group with grace.

Hydregion roared and took to the air, flapping its wings in unison as its heads roaredand growled together as a single unit.

Chase smirked as he heard the Pokemon's cries. He turned away from his prey to lookat his young nephew. Recognition lit in his eyes, and he stared at the young man as if he had just first seen him. "Hey there pal…Long time no see. Sending your Pokemon to confront me…Now that is no way to treat your favorite Uncle. What a surprise you turned out this way. I knew you would be just like me. "

Chase reached into his cloak and sent out five Pokemon.

First a Tyranitar, a massive hulking creature with tough green skin, black diamond markingsand a ferocious desire to destroy. Aggron couldn't help himself but to charge at it. Aggron was known to make territory for themselves in the wild, and Tyranitars have been known to tear through mountains, the result is a natural hatred of each other. Their claws met in a violent clash as they wrestled for control.

Next was a Houndoom, a black canine Pokemon capable of manipulating both darkness and fire. Umbreon, seeing the opponent of equal size and speed, smashed her body against the canine with lightning fast speed.

A Rapidash emerged, whose fiery body spurted flames and launched a stream of hot flames at the opposing Blitzle.

A large blue and white pokemon that resembled a sea serpent appeared to the right of Lapras. It slid on the ice at blinding speed and opened its massive jaws to takea bite of Lapras, but was repelled by a hydro pump.

Finally another Hydregion, slightly smaller than Ramo's, appeared and flew up high towards Ramo's Hydregion. When they got close enough, they began to brutally attack each other, both biting and firing beams at each other.

Ramo turned to fight Chase one on one but a sharp pain shot through his entire body. He instinctively reached towards his side and felt his open and freezing cold wound. The blood had been frozen over but since it was expanding with sharp edges, he was in immense pain.

Angelina knew that she should run. Ramo was doing his best to stall. Ramo isn't a pushover by any means but he isn't an amazing battler. Chase had been able to best Champions such as Cynthia and Steven Stone. The best Ramo did when he was able to challenge them was 5-6 and 4-6 respectively. Angelina would know, she was thereafter all, disguised as a Pokemon so that she could cheer him along.

She tried to move her fingers, but to no avail. She was forced to watch as Chase placed his foot on Ramo's temple and forced him face down. His boot pressed against the back of the young man's skull.

Meanwhile, Ramo's Hydregion absorbed the full impact of several draco-meteors from the opposing Pokemon. Hydregion went down with assured speed, and Chase's Hydregion looked at the defenseless dragon and thought to itself that it would make a delicious meal.

The Seprent, a Gyarados, tried to clamp its teeth on the Lapras but the Lapras was once again faster. It penetrated the soft jaw of the serpent, and fired an icebeam down its throat. The Gyarados fell limp and frozen when the Lapras casually tossed its body to the side. It looked at the moving Hydregion thatwas about to devour its friend and began to charge blue. It suddenly fired ahuge beam of sheer cold and struck the Hydregion down.

Blitzle fired electricity through the fire and it sliced through the flames, allowing Blitzle to advance unscathed. An experienced battler would be aware that Rapidash can deliver bone crunching stomps, but Blitzle was the newest addition after all. A hoof smashed against Blitzle's head and knocked it out instantly.

Umbreon's attack dealt little to no effect on the Houndoom, so it leaped in the air, spinning a tight circle and grabbed the back of the Houndoom's neck with her teeth. She then proceeded to use their motion to smash them both into the edge of the cave. Umbreon growled in pain but she was still moving while the Houndoom was incapable. She watched the Rapidash smash on the back of Lapra's body and use its weight to knock it unconscious with a several well placed kicks. Umbreon took a deep breath and smashed head first into the Rapidash and sent them both crashing into the rock wall but this time, she didn't have the energy to keep going and fell to a deep sleep.

Aggron threw Tyranitar down to the ground and kicked the side of its throat. Tyranitar roared and grabbed Aggron's leg with its arms. It tossed Aggron into the darkness and then followed. The sound of clanging steel made the entire cave rock violently.

Ramo watched as his Pokemon were fighting for his life. The pain in his body was so immense, he couldn't bare to move, but still he crawled towards them.

Angelina cried out as Regice took her into its freezing cold grasp. It then fled from the cave and landed into the snowy area below. Chase turned and yelled at it, "Where do you think you are going?" but he was ignored.

Tyranitar marched out of the darkness covered in battle wounds. He released a roar and held up Aggron's skull armor. Ramo watched it and felt tears beginning to well up in his face. Aggron was there for him since he was a first year trainer. TheTyranitar began to charge up a hyperbeam, and Ramo prepared for the end.
Withhis eyes shut, Ramo could only hear the bones cracking. When he opened his eyes, Aggron without his armor, was ontop of Tyranitar, his broken neck in his arms. He threw the deposed Tyranitar down and slowly donned his armor before staring down at Chase.

Aggron turned to face the older man as his tail smashed down on the only exit out of the cave. His mouth slowly opened, and it filled with a bright light that emanated with power. Aggron's dark blue eyes were filled with malice, and his thoughts swirled with how he was going to incinerate Chase Razez.

Chase felt himself gripped by fear for the first time since the Great War. He looked to Ramo, who for once, no longer looked at the man as a beloved family member but rather as a hardened criminal who deserved to die.

"Stop! Please! I have a tracker on Regice, if you spare me now, I'll lead you to the Latias…" Chase screamed then begged. Ramo raised a single hand, palm out towards Aggron as to signal him to stop his attack. Aggron would have listened, but it was too late to stop.

The white beam tore through the rock and even made its way through rock and stone, so powerful was the blast that it created a hole into the roof of the cave. Warm rays of light beamed their way across Chase's face as he was battered, but otherwise intact. Aggron had been able to redirect the beam just in time to spare the human.

Ramo felt himself surge with anger when he realized that his first role-model, the man that had taught him almost everything he knew had almost killed him. He leaped on Chase, and began to deliver a brutal series of punches and kicks. His mind was full of memories running in a non-sequential order. The young man was tough from a life fraught of danger and loss but the last week was too much for him to bare. Alice's body ran through his mind, then Latias being ripped away from the cave, Wesley's body being torn in half, the guard's iron plated mask, and finally Chase leaving him to die in a burning home.

Ramo spat blood that had welled up in his cheeks. It landed on Chase's face and eyes. "I trusted you." Ramo growled He wrapped his fingers around his uncle's throat. Kill him. Feed me his soul. He doesn't deserve to live. He wanted you dead. The voice in his head whispered with bloodlust. SHUT UP! NO. NOT NOW. I NEED HIM ALIVE! Ramo mentally screeched. There was a low growl but the presence of the mysterious voice disappeared.

Chase narrowed his eyes. Had he heard that right? It sounded like Ramo was talking to a psychic. Chase was born with the Gift, but he knew Ramo had not. The voice was so loud, and so very clear, and with that, Chase deducted that the owner was either nearby or a being of incomprehensible power. Chase pushed Ramo off as he was distracted and the stood up. His hands came palm out towards the Aggron so that it wouldn't kill him and looked at his young but furious nephew. "Regice took off without my permission, so I am left to assume that its master, Regigigas has stirred. You and I both know that unless we retrieve the Latias, and stop the Regis from reaching their master and awakening it, the end of all human civilization would begin.

Ramo nodded his head and withheld the hatred in his heart for the moment.

"That hyper-beam is bound to attract attention, especially with the size of the blast. People are aware you are free and in this region, so we are almost garunteed to have attracted bounty hunters. We need to start heading out right now if you intend to save you girlfriend before she becomes the sacrifice required to usher in the Dawn of Recreation."

As Ramo revived his pokemon quickly with the medicine that Chase had on him, he looked at the man questioningly. "What is the Dawn of Recreation?"

Chase took a deep breath as he mounted his rapidash and waved a hand to instruct Ramo to do the same with Blitzle. Ramo heeded his instructions and within moments, their pokemon were making their way through the frost-bitten ground.

"A few thousands years ago, before the Great War, before the Razez clan, and even before the majority of humans were able to use Pokemon as equalizer, Arcues looked down at all of humanity as unclean. He created the Regigigas to destroy the humans, and its three minions as a vector for death. Early civilizations fell to the immense power and man fell into its darkest hour. When all home seemed lost, a strange couple, a man and his Gardevoir companion confronted the behemoth. The man was the first with the Gift, the blessing of psychic ability, and together with his Gardevoir was able to construct a black hole and seal the three inside another dimension forever. Regigas was too powerful however, and one day while searching for relics, I came upon its regenerating body. It was able to tears itself into innumerable pieces in order to pass back to our world. I caught the Regice while it was trying to give its gem to the beast. With all three gems from all three golems, it can awaken and end the world. Latias is the last of her kind, and her soul has enough power to fuse the gems to Regigias' body. I was trying to capture her for the last few months until I saw you here." Chase narrated with his smooth voice.

"I'll accept that it is trying to awaken its master. But you trying to save the world just doesn't seem right to me." Ramo looked at him accusingly.

"Well, I was going to sell that Latias to the bl-"

"Her name is Angelina, and you aren't going to put a damn finger on her."

"Understood."

The two stopped as they reached the end of the cliff and the entirety of a huge ocean lay in front of them. It was going to be a long journey.

The Distant Hope
Fay watched as the burning body of the mutated spider was hauled away in a ponyta-powered carriage. She remembered seeing Winona's face, at first concerned but then angry. Winona was upset that her orders weren't followed. Fay felt horrible, but at the same time she felt relieved. Winona was only really angry because Fay had endangered herself.

These thoughts directed Fay's mind back to the pokeball on her leg. If it had not been for the Charizard entrusted to her by Ramo, she would have been in serious trouble. She was upset, not only because Ramo Razez turned out evil, but also because even after all this time, she still had to rely on the young man.

As the League Aces, elite assistants for the pokemon league, walked out of the remanants of the gym, she noticed what they were carrying. A wooden coffin draped in a Johto flag, and upon seeing this she lowered her face. Bugsy had died a horrible death. Who knew when he was exactly killed, maybe if she had just been a little faster she would have been able to save him.

Don't be like that, Fay. You didn't know, and the body looked like that from the moment we walked in. Even if we had managed to get there a moment after our mission was given, Bugsy would still have been dead. We did what we could, and I know that next time we will do better. Natu communicated with her in a hushed tone.

With a glance to the small green bird that landed on her shoulder, Fay took a deep breath. I don't want to have my life be saved by him anymore. I need to be strong on my own. He's saved me so many times, I hate that feeling of being a damsel in distress. Fay thought out loud as she walked away from the retrieval of the bodies.

Natu looked at her but didn't say anything. It kept its thoughts to itself. Instead, it looked at the black half-heart necklace that was now visible against her shirt. Fay looked down and upon seeing the necklace, shut her eyes tightly.

Fay had heard the legend of Milotic. A wild Milotic, a rare serpent-like pokemon with tanned skin and beautiful hair-like extensions, that touched a human was said to grant a vision of love, and a tear given voluntarily was said to heal any sickness. Fay had been a trainer for five years when she first heard that her mother had contracted a fatal illnessand was in her deathbed.

Fay wasn't just going to stand by and let her pass away. She heard that in Newhope town's forest, there was a mystical lake where one could find a wild and powerful Milotic. However, Newhope forest was said to be filled with an assortment of vile and dangerous pokemon.

Rather than ask anyone for help, Fay decided that she would have better luck finding the Milotic if she went alone. After all, one teenage girl was much less intimidating than an army of experienced trainers.

When Fay first entered the forest, the world around her was in an early morning state. The sun was rising, and the world was bright. Upon a few steps into the entrance of the forest, the world suddenly turned dark and malevolent. Fay turned to face the exit, but she saw to her horror that the path was suddenly blocked by thick and tall trees. Her features darkened and she looked back to the beaten dirt path. There was no turning back now.

After several minutes of walking, Fay stopped. She realized she had been walking the same path and wasn't making any progress. After the first few minutes she sensed that there was something wrong, so she took note of a strange looking branch and after a handful more minutes of walking, she noticed the same strange branch again. She reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it in front of her.

Several yards ahead of her, an invisible object was covered in the dust, and shook it off. A purple gas-like being emerged, with a black face and two huge red eyes. "Guess I'm going to have to kill you the hard way" It screeched and revealed sharp fangs inside of its massive mouth. It leaped at the girl, who swung to the side and sent out a pokemon from her belt. A Pidgeotto appeared, a brown bird-like pokemon with red and yellow head-feathers.

"Pidgeotto use gust!" Fay commanded with confidence. The bird took to the sky and began to flap its wings hard to produce a gust of sharp wind that tore into the flesh of the spectral being. It screeched in pain. "Peck, Pidgeotto." Fay said calmly. Pidgeotto swooped down and dug its beak into the eye of the ghastly pokemon. The ghost screeched and dispersed.

With that pokemon dispatched, Fay realized that at the very least, the rumors of how dangerous the forest were true. If those legends were true, than perhaps the legend of Milotic was true as well and it renewed her with hope.

She returned her Pidgeotto and replaced it with a Noctowl. Noctowl was an owl-like pokemon that had the ability to see through illusions and was world-renowned for its ability to find its way out of even the darkest of mazes.

It was only after it began to fly through a patch of thinner trees that Fay was able to look through the leaves and branches.

The sun was nowhere in the sky,nor were there any stars. The only thing that appeared in the pitch black sky was a blood-red moon that was getting larger and larger.

A voice brought Fay back from her thoughts. Two men had arrived in front of her, each clad in black from head to toe. They were heavily armored, and not an inch of skin was showing.They had steel boots, chainmail and plating and iron masks. Their masks formed a hideous smirk and had two horns jutting out from the temples. Black-Op Aces. Fay was suddenly on her guard.

"We are going to need your help to capture Ramo Razez. We know of your relationship with him." They spoke in their raspy, computer generated voices.