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

Hanso, Genevieve, and Blitzkrieg
Citadel - Top Floor
~~~~~

It was awe-inspiring, to put it one way. A bit stupid, in Hanso's opinion, but Ragnaros' efforts were not in vain. The excess shots of energy that had shot across the room were easy enough to dodge. When enough dust settled to show that Rey wasn't anywhere in sight, Hanso began moving around the room, giving each Pokemon a Heal Pulse. Zane and Ragnaros somehow ended up being the last two; unfortunately, Hanso wasn't sure if a Heal Pulse was enough to keep the Salamence alive.

Then, surprisingly, or not real surprising at all, Rey stood up again. He's not gonna stay down 'til he's dead. And the problem was, the Dark One hadn't even made a personal appearance so far.

Scar was the one to jerk the room's occupants back into action. "Blitzkrieg, Protect!" Hanso mentally snapped out; the Salamence had been about to rush at Rey with an attack. Blitzkrieg nodded and hurried to stand between Zane and Guardia and the incoming attacks, then called forth a Protect to block them for a couple seconds. Hanso took a moment to keep his pending Future Sight in check; it would be needed later. He then teleported in front of Rey and attacked the Zangoose with several Psycho Cuts before 'porting away several feet and firing a Dark orb at him.

Genevieve stood still, observing the renewed fighting. Her Hypnosis attempt earlier had been repelled by Rey, but that was when he had the Dark One's energy to draw on. No, it was time for him to die, even if there might still be any shread of the real Rey left. Genevieve's eyes glowed as she focused on the Zangoose again, this time using her Psychic to try twisting Rey's neck until it broke.

Snype and Levina seemed to be knocked out cold for a majority of the fight after that last heavy hit he took. He felt refreshed from the Heal Pulse. Thankfully he woke just on time as a large piece of debris was about to flatten him. The Sableye rolled out of the way and got back up to his knees. "Gah... sleeping on the job... that figures..." Snype muttered to himself. He noticed a portal had opened up inside of the room with Zane and Guardia making their way inside of it. The others seemed to be protecting them.

Levina seemed to get up as well and the two were quick to join the others in holding off Rey. Levina used Thunder to hold him off why Snype got close and personal with Foul Play once more.

Penance 'Madman' Malum​

Penance was too busy calculating to watch around him, He saw Zane moving on. Yes, it was far from over. He could tell that already. Storybook standards dictated that there was one last fight before the true finale and he could feel it in the air. As Rey shot back up and had his little speech Penance just watched on and slowly began to make a Water Bomb. They had to time this perfectly. If they let Rey just charge out all blindly then of course it would be for nothing. They could hold him back for now, but Penance knew that something else was bound to happen. The Dark One was a king of chaos, which meant that he had plans going. Why else risk everything with Rey? If you were one that didn't pay attention to plans, then it wouldn't seem that odd really. Have one guy you depend on and work through and everything works in your favor right? Unfortunately, that was just but an illusion. Just because they would kill Rey here and now didn't mean the Dark One would go away. In fact if they killed the Dark One that wouldn't mean it would all stop either. It might stop temporarily... but...

Penance shook his head. It wasn't the time to delve into that topic. This would come up in the meeting they would have after this, that much was certain. Until then, it was neutralizing Rey and getting the others ready for what was to step out of that portal. He doubted most would know what would come out, but he had an inkling before that was now fool proof. He closed his eyes and as Rey charged he sent out his Water Bomb. Instead of exploding it aimed to seal Rey's head right in the water, cutting off his air. He would get desperate no doubt, and the liquid would play tricks with his vision, making some things appear further than they were. He cast a glance back to Zane and couldn't help but try and want for him to hurry up. They were going to take down Rey easy, yes, but after that? Well, he was certain they would need a miracle.

"Be prepared!" He cried out, "Plans are everything! There is more to this than meets the eyes!" He turned his attention back to Rey and frowned. Yes... be prepared indeed. He had seen in a way... and it was far from a pretty picture.

Silver City

Rey gritted his teeth as Blitzkrieg had blocked the Zangoose's attempts to destroy Zane with the Shadow Balls. He quickly tried to build up energy to unleash a few more, but the others started wandering around him, getting in the way in any way they could. Wildfire helped Blitzkrieg in defense, intercepting some of the Shadow Balls with Focus Blasts. Scar attempted to delay him some more, firing a barrage of Close Combats along his body. Though Rey was damaged, he still managed to intercept most of the hits and forced Scar back with a Slash across his side. Levina tried a Thunder on Rey, while Paladin went in for a Focus Blast and Snype sneaked in with a Foul Play. Penance unleashed a Water Bomb and TrueStriker fired off a set of Psycho Cuts while Genevieve sought to use a Psychic. All together, the last resistance tried desperately to hold Rey at bay while Zane and Guardia limped forward to the portal.

He saw the broken shards of the old Gold Crystal with him, and for reasons he did not quite understand, he decided to stop for a moment to pick them up and take them along with him to the portal. Along the way, Zane felt the gravity of the situation, the amount of lives that would have been saved by going through with what he was supposed to do. But another feeling irked at him. He felt cold, the coldness of uncertainty approaching him. Countless time before he had dealt with death and horror and unimaginable pain, but there were very few occasions when uncertainty was his enemy. The uncertainty of the end, perhaps, or the uncertainty of the unknown. Perhaps both were beyond in the portal. Perhaps only one of them. Perhaps none at all. The problem for any Gold Tribe member is that they are trained against almost any threat imaginable, to defend against countless possible situations of attack, to prepare for defeat if need be. But there is no preparation for the unknown. So there at the end of all things, Zane's truest and most prominent emotion was one of fear. Fear for that which he couldn't know.

Yet as they came closer to the portal, now only mere moments away, something interesting happened. Flashes of images began to enter into his vision, as they have been quite a bit in the last few weeks. He had never known what these were before, but knowing now that the power of the Gold Crystal was inside of him, he understood this to be the reaction of visions and memories that the Gold Crystal had. All around him, different flashes of images started to appear, on his path along the left and right. Looking up at Guardia who was helping him along to the portal, and the continuing fighting in the background, he could tell these images were seen by only him. They began as shadows, as small silhouettes of Pokemon, some of which he recognized by name and reputations, others as ones he knew in his own life. Many more were there that he had never laid eyes on before. But the Gold Crystal had. In front of him was a collection of Pokemon from a millennia of strike and protection, of lives saved and lives lost. All the memories accumulated over all of this time since the beginning of the crystals were about to be destroyed, and so to with it all of the memories. Here in the end, Zane would see the last of it.

Are you afraid? One of the figures asked. It belonged to a slightly familiar face, the Zangoose of the Gold Tribe known as Kaiser, who had asked the same question to him in his dreams.

"I am." Zane answered back.

Don't be, Another voice popped up. Again, he recognized it as one from his dreams. The Roserade Gold Tribe member, Burstborn. You are not Pokemon. You are not beings, or citizens of the Alpha Alliance. You are tools. Tools that are used to defend Valkaria. And tools such as you are expendable. If necessary, you will be tossed aside. If necessary, you will be damaged. If necessary you will broken. If necessary, you will be destroyed. You will fulfill you function as is necessary at whatever cost, even your 'life'. Because that, is what the Gold Tribe is.

"Is that really all we ever were? Something to hold in the Dark One beyond secrets and lies?" Zane asked the multitude of images around. He looked through their memories, the almost unlimited memories of the Gold Crystal for an answer. He looked through the memories of the Gold Tribe discovering the secret of the crystals in the Golden Catacombs, how the Gold Tribe was created as a prevention for the Dark One, a fail-safe. He remembered the talk that he had with Kivir Sveenis about the true purpose of the Gold Tribe, how they were beginning to lose their focus and relied solely on power instead of civility.How Penance constantly said that the Gold Tribe should have been destroyed years ago. How it was unnecessary after this will all be concluded. He remembered the feelings he had along with the others below Poseida Village, where he realized that this war would bring the death of the Gold Tribe.
All throughout this, Rey had managed to pierce through the line of defense on the Citadel. His flesh was burnt and bloody, with part of his skin and bone showing on his left side of his face. His arms had their furs ripped off, and were bleeding badly. A portion of his left ear had been cut off by one of the many attacks. Yet someone, with the will of the Dark One fueling his broken body, he had momentarily broke through the defense and launched a Shadow Ball at Guardia and Zane. Both were hit directly by the attacks, and launched to the side, but the rest of the Gold Tribe and the others quickly succeeded on pushing Rey back through the line. However, Guardia was too injured taking most of the blow from the Shadow Ball to stand, and Zane was swimming through his memories, and unable it seems to stand on his own. He shook his head, unable to accept both the determination of what the memories said and of his body's failure to reach the portal. Was this really the end? Zane closed his eyes...



"We're not your Gold Tribe anymore!" A voice shouted through the haze, and Zane's eyes lit open to see a scene unfold in front of him. The Pokemon who shouted those words...that was him, talking to the Keeper. Talking about how the Gold Tribe had been created for something, but that wasn't what they had to stand for anymore. Zane lifted himself from laying to sitting upright. In front of him, a wide array of images were fluttering about. Yet this time, these images and visions were his own.

"I had my doubts," The familiar voice of Ragnaros commented, recreating the image of both of them there on the ground. "about honor, about loyalty. Ahh, but when you see your world falling apart... all that's really left is your brothers and sisters... the Tribe." It struck a note within Zane. What Ragnaros had said then. What Zane said earlier. That which the Gold Tribe was created for in the beginning didn't have to be what they stood for now. Not if the crystals were gone forever. Slowly, over the course of this war, he saw the Gold Tribe fluctuate and become deemed for something beyond that.

"That, is what is meant to be in the Gold Tribe. We are not elite warriors showing off our strength. We are a team, the greatest team because we all fight on the same page, and we trust and believe in each other. We are family. And that is a bond you should never break, no matter the circumstances." The vision of Rey speaking to the Gold Tribe trainees pierced his vision, and slowly, all other images were being erased. All of the hundreds of Pokemon who were around looking on were puffing away in smoke. All that was remaining...all those that remained, were the ones who had been with him on this journey. His brothers and sisters. His family.

"No." the voice and image of Dark Lightning suddenly said, becoming the centerpiece and focus of his vision. "No, this isn't the end. Not for them. Not yet." He looked on as the rest of the Gold Tribe left as he stayed behind, to give them a chance. But he didn't do it just for Valkaria. He did it for his brothers and sisters. He gave them that chance to go onward.

As Calamity faced off with his own end against the Chaos-powered Ignitus, he looked beyond at his own brothers and sisters. "See you all in another life... He smiled, and gave his own life so that the rest of the could go on.

"When I go in...start running. Run as fast as you can, as far as you can from here. You're too valuable. Continue the fight. Honor me." In his last moments, Hoodhide shared similar sentiments.

"This isn't over yet! As long as one of still stands, as long as we are able to twitch so much as a finger, we will not lose!" Another voice permeated. It was in the battle above, during which Wildfire passionately asserted what they all believed. They could win. They knew deep down that there was that possibility. Why? Because they fought as the greatest team. They fought together. They believed together. Rey said it himself.

And that was what made all of this worthwhile. It wasn't just the desperate citizens of Valkaria they fought for. It wasn't just a homeland that they yearned to have return to them. It was the Gold Tribe. It was the family that Zane had come to know, to love, to the very end. There was never quite another feeling than to have that unbreakable bond with those that you fought with day after day, for the rest of your days. That was what the Gold Tribe had become in his mind. They stood for something beyond what they were originally designed. They stood for what they were meant to stand for. But they also stood for each other. For their family. All around him, he was surrounded by the images of his brothers and sisters he had fought beside.

"Get up..." He heard the vision of Ragnaros say, and all together, the Gold Tribe helped him rise to his feet. He shakily stood, and proceeded forward again, toward the portal. One by one, all of the visions of the Gold Tribe members, his friends and family, left him, and he was standing with only one other Pokemon, the Zangoose, Kaiser. He asked once more.

"Sacrifice is part of being in the Gold Tribe. Sacrifice of your name, your attachments, and ultimately even yourself. Everyone has to be willing to do this, He had heard this line, played over so many times in his head. He thought he knew how he would end it, but the Zangoose said something he didn't expect. "But sometimes...when you sacrifice something precious to you, like your life, you aren't really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."

As Zane came to the last steps before the portal, he made a running start inside, and moment latent, he forever disappeared from sight. His eyes tried to focus on what he saw on the other side, but his body began glowing a large, bright golden light, which impeded his vision. He felt himself slowly losing control and feeling in his body, and decided at that point to simply close his eyes and let it all happen.

On the outside, shock and awe came upon Rey's face. He stopped struggling and fighting against the other fighters who remained, merely gazing at the portal as he waited for the inevitable to happen. It began as a small, luminous sphere of energy which appeared at the center of the portal. It began to expand rapidly, growing in both size and brilliance, soon becoming quite unbearable to keep one's eyes open. The golden light began to spread out and envelop the entire Citadel, but it didn't stop there. Soon, the light expanded beyond the halls of the Citadel and all through Silver City. Pokemon who were swept away in this light could feel instant warmth and harmony, as if all their troubles and trepidation would being swept away just as the light passed over them.

For the Ancient who were caught in this golden light, it swept through them in a different manner. Their eyes, which turned to a dark purple hue for a few moments, suddenly transformed into that of a bright, golden one. They stopped their actions of destruction and simply stared off into an unknown point in space, the golden light in their eyes now guiding their thoughts. Then, their bodies slowly began to disintegrate, decaying into the wind as if they were blocks of collected dust. They were swept away from their locations and became nothing more than ash that was carried off in whichever way the wind carried, until they too joined the flow of the wind, and were no more. All across Valkaria this happened, from the white marble streets of Cape City, to the wooden homes of Albia, to the ruins of Shine and Gravel City, to the never-ending trees of the Thieves Forest, to the tall, cold mountains of the Korhal mountains, to the walls and stones of Eternity City, to the ruins and undergrounds of Poseida Village, to every other small village that lay within the borders of Valkaria. All was swept away in this golden light, leaving the Alpha Alliance citizens to stand among themselves, victorious over the Silver Tribe. The warriors inside the Citadel could have seen all this occurring from the spheres that Rey created which still hung above, showing them the different cities across their homeland. That is, until the spheres of energy too began to be swept away in the golden energy, crumbling into nothingness.

All that remained was Rey, who throughout all of this stood and observed the portal from which the brilliant light originated. He turned to the warriors, the heroes of Valkaria, the ones who had made this all possible. Then, his own body began to be affected by the Gold Crystal's power. Bit by bit, the golden energy worked its way through his body, eliminating all traces of the Silver Crystal's power. Rey found his own body begin to crumble and decay and disintegrate, as all of other Ancients had. It was true that Rey had forsaken all of his memories and all of what made him whole. His previous persona and personality was totally eaten away as he had lived as the Wielder. But in that one moment while the Gold Crystal's energies possessed him and his body was being destroyed, he felt his memories collected within the Gold Crystal return for him for his dying moments, and he smiled at his fellow Gold Tribe members, a smile of overwhelming appreciation and gratitude. Then, like all of the Ancients, he vanished in a collection of golden particles, with no trace remaining.

The Gold Tribe and their allies had won. The Gold Crystal was now gone, with its energies successfully destroying all traces of the power of the Wielder. But with his power gone, another still remained. The Silver Crystal, which hung around his neck, fell with a thud to the ground. The large crack that was around after the Keeper first went into the portal began to expand, creeping all along the entire grey rock. A dozen more cracks appeared, following by that many more. Until eventually, the Silver Crystal was shattered. The remaining Silver Crystal pieces suddenly seemed to pick themselves off the ground and fly into the portal. The portal grew dark, with the light of the Gold Crystal now gone.

Everything was silent. Perhaps too silent. The silence felt ominous, dismal. That may be that, even though many Pokemon of Valkaria now celebrated what they believed to be victory over the Silver Tribe, the Pokemon at the Citadel knew they had one more adversary to fight. One more dangerous, deadly, destructive adversary.



The clouds above sought to lay foundation by gathering in bulk across the skies of Gold City. They were darkened, gloomy clouds, which gave off the same eerie feeling inside. The clouds blocked any sun that still lit up the fast-approaching evening, darkening the top room inside of the Citadel. Then the portal began to react. It shook, first calmly but quickly thrashing about violently as if it were about to detonate.The portal suddenly expanded, doubling in its size and width, and constantly convulsing and writhing, as if it could no longer maintain any singular form for very long. Dark, shadow-like energy began to creep out of the portal, expanding out from the realm it came from and into the normal one before it. It poured out like a black fog, as if it were steam which flowed into the open air. But the shadowy energy poured in one single direction, towards the left of the portal, and seemingly in a certain stream.

However, this shadowy fog began to show that it actually had some sort of tangible form, reacting around and moving along with itself in the same directly. It was loose, but they belonged together. The form soon began to form to appear more like that which it had made it. The Shadowy object was an arm. It gripped the outside of the stairs, and dragged along with it another, similar fog-like blackness of an arm, which gripped the outside and began to force out the rest of it's body. The rest of the body came soon after, having the same metaphysical form of shadow that appeared almost as a fog. The entire form was a black shadow, other than the piercing blue eyes that it formed. However, soon after, the eyes accompanied by a white fog-like ghostly substance billowing from its head, which covered one of the blue eyes, as well as a red spikey growth around it's neck.

The Pokemon had been known by many different names throughout it's many millennia of existance. He was called the Keepers of Dreams, the Nightmare Pokemon, the Bender of Reality, the Stranger, the Destruction Saint.

To the Pokemon of Valkaria, he is known as the Dark One. Darkrai.

Penance 'Madman' Malum​

Penance had seen many things, but this topped the books in drama for him! The whole gold explosion, the gate disappearing, Zane going through and being a self sacrifice, this was like some sort of book being written here! He knew he would have to write this down later, make it into a play of some sort, but for now they had bigger shadows to fry. As the dark manifestation came out Penance's grin widened and he snapped his fingers, "YES! I KNEW IT!" He cried out joyfully. "Hehe, I saw it right when we peered into Scar's mind when he had been recovering! All the pieces were there! The nightmares, the dreams one would feel like they were in! The whole dark fog coming here and there!" He pointed a finger at Darkrai, "I knew it all along and you possessed me for a while so you KNEW I had it down!"

He held up his hands again, "Though... he's probably going to kill us and slaughter us and all. In that case, I would say we get him down quickly. Of course he's here so best advice I can give is TRY not to die!" He looked back at the Dark One and smirked, "Alright, no psychic moves. Hanso be on standby and backup healer. Everyone else, adopt a two one pattern. For you all just sitting on your asses, get on up or you'll be ripped to shreds! Scar with me! Those that have status inflicting moves you better you use them now! Don't group up! Space is key here! I want to see some ranged attacks in here now!" He shouted out.

He opened his mouth and let out a loud deafening Screech at his target. They had to get him weakened now! Move while the iron was hot and the Dark One was still adapting to actually being out of his world.

Hanso, Genevieve, and Blitzkrieg
Citadel, Top Floor
~~~~~

When Rey stopped fighting, when the Gold Crystal that Zane was took effect, Blitzkrieg breathed a sigh of relief. So did Hanso, but he only relaxed as far as taking a breather for the moment. When the room began to darken under the clouds, the Gallade quickly moved to release Heal Pulses for the others, starting with Guardia and Wildfire. They would all need it.

Genevieve froze where she stood as she watched the Dark One crawl out of the portal. This was the one responsible for turning the Sentinels in the first place, for drawing out the Siren within her. Even if the Keeper and Zane had forced Darkrai out of his realm, he was easily more powerful than any of them. Chances were, he would turn as many of the Gold Tribe to his side as he could, then kill the rest.

No. That won't happen again. I will die before I become a monster again! Genevieve raised her hands and began throwing Energy Ball after Energy Ball at the Dark One, ready to move if anything came her way.

It had to be. It just had to be a Dark type, didn't it? That fact alone already negated the full effectiveness of Hanso's Future Sight. He let it go, and the Future Sight barreled out of nowhere to pretty much splash harmlessly against Darkrai's face. For that matter, Hanso had only one real move that would hurt him at all. The most help he could give were, as Penance said, support and healing. And maybe teleporting someone out of harm's way if Hanso could do it in time.

Of course, damage wasn't everything. Thinking back to his tactics against Blackguard, Hanso formed a Dark orb and threw it at Darkrai's head. If it got through, he'd wrap it around the Dark One's eyes, hopefully blind him. A blind being couldn't target so well...except Hanso didn't know how well it would work here.

Blitzkrieg set his jaw, an orange energy forming inside his body. It then came out his jaws as he fired at Darkrai. The Draco Meteor split into several smaller Meteors before they got to him.

Darkrai's Rise - Silver City

"Freedom..." Darkrai inhaled sharply, his voice a deep, dark rumble. Though those present before him didn't know, in his prison fashioned by him by the old ones of Valkaria, there wasn't much in the form of normal air. The 'air', if you could call it that, in his realm in the Silver Crystal, was more along the lines of recycled waste that the normal realm no longer supported. It was extra refuse, something normal Pokemon couldn't tolerate breathing in for so long. Of course, Darkrai being the powerful and legendary Pokemon that he was, had long since abandoned the need to 'breathe' as normal Pokemon do. But the act of inhaling his lungs with something other than poisonous fumes was pleasant to him, even if he didn't need to do it. These Pokemon didn't know how lucky they had it.

Ah, but that took him to the presence of the gathered before him. Darkrai had lived for thousands of years. He had traveled across the lands to the distance corners of the world, and had seen a thousand ends and a thousand beginnings. He had, through all of this, never contemplated the significance of a single Pokemon race or country. All of them individually were mere fodder for him. For it is through them that he truly gains his power. Through their violence, their malice, their evil. Theirs wars, battles, struggles and pain.

So then, why was it that these Pokemon were any special? In normal circumstances, there would be no reason. With a wisp of his fingers at his full might, he could bring them all to annihilation. To Darkrai, they were merely the next stop. Thousands of years ago, the Pokemon residing in what would soon be known as Valkaria were in the midst of a bloody war. A war between seventeen individual tribes. Darkrai sought to cash in on the power which the war would bring, so he cleverly and secretly traveled through their land and began to escalate the conflict. It was only much later that he was discovered and the Pokemon banded together to stop him, and even then they were only successful because they had received help from an unexpected source, she whose power helped power the crystals. But he could not ignore their part in his capture either. Indeed, they were like any other minuscule Pokemon nation he had come across. The only difference was that they had managed to succeed where all the others had failed. They had captured him, an almighty god of a Pokemon, through the sheer dumb luck of being chosen. Of chance. They were insignificant, but this...this was personal.

At his fullest power, Darkrai could annihilate them with his ferocious power. But as he felt his body tense after he exhaled his breath, he could tell: He was severely damaged inside. His power was weak. All that energy he had gathered up over that millennia of capture...most of it was destroyed by the two who had entered his realm. He had spent a hundred lifetimes biding his time, and now had nothing to show for it. Yet he had other ways of destroying them. The Golduck tried his luck first...he had dealt with many of his kind in the past, but his was a different way of thinking. It was almost...interesting to the Dark One. Almost. He didn't have much a reaction from the screech reaching his body. It likely affected him, but he didn't choose to give him the flattery of showing a fault. He wanted to show how useless their attacks were before he broke them. The others followed suit, a Lucario, Infernape, Gardevoir, Gallade, Salamence, Mienshao, Zangoose and Zebstricka all launching their own attacks. He again didn't bother with defending himself. The attacks hit their mark, and damage across his shadowy figure was shown by each individual attack. He could feel the pain, but he had long ago forgotten to react to it. Once again, it would have probably done wonders to see their expressions as if he was invulnerable...but the pain was there. With his weakened form, though doubtless they knew just how weak he was...it was still there.

He recognized some of these species, some of them personally as his own servants. He peered inside each of them individually, and saw what they were made of. Many had interesting tales in their own right, but some of them he had already seen. The one, absolute fact in all of them, no matter how large or small it may have been, is that every single one of them had darkness in them, had chaos in them. He may have lost much of his power right now, but the one ability he didn't lose is how to bring it out.

He lifted up his monstrous, shadowy hands and pointed both of them toward the room with the gathered Pokemon. His body began to ooze part of the darkness around, and between his hands, a black, vortex-like energy began to form. He uttered the words that chilled Guardia's spine to the bone. "Dark Void."

The attack behind the entire madness, Dark Void is one of the premier sources of Darkrai's power. The feeling of stepping into a nightmare and coming to grips with darkness is bound with the power that emitted from the Silver Crystal. It is the source of his chaotic and dark powers, the way he turns others to do his bidding. Those who are drawn under the enchantment feel themselves going into a deep sleep, and it is only when they are 'awoken' that the void is broken. In the Dark Void, the Pokemon try to come to grips with the darkness inside of them, watching it grow in front of their very eyes within their minds. Those who cannot defend themselves from the darkness will eventually have their conscious fall into the sleep, causing their darkness to 'awaken'.

Pokemon who have delved into their own minds, or the minds of others, will likely have a much easier time resisting the Dark Void at first. This especially applies to psychic Pokemon, or Pokemon with some Psychic training. However, Pokemon with stronger darkness inside of them have a double-edged knife way of approaching the Void. On one hand, they would have dealt with darkness before, so they have more resistance to it the next time (This especially applies to Sentinels and those who had Chaos inside of them, because they've dealt with this specifically). However, this also depends on the extent of that Pokemon's control and acceptance of the darkness inside of them. If the have no control or command or defense of it, if they shy away from the darkness or cannot understand it, they will fall quicker. With Pokemon with stronger darkness inside of them, however, if they do fall, they will fall twice as hard. They will lose themselves twice as much, and coming back from the darkness would be unlikely to ever happen again. For everyone else, approaching the darkness is a new experience like nothing they've ever seen before. It will be an infiltration of the mind that seeks to break their spirit entirely, until they are no longer the Pokemon they were before. For all the Pokemon here, it is about the will to survive, and the strength to do so.

Yet the problem with surviving such a powerful, unique attack, is that it's not often the case of whether you will or will not survive the Dark Void. Instead, it's simply how long it'll take before you succumb to it.

Penance 'Madman' Malum - Darkness again​

Penance waited for the attacks to cause some sort of damage, but none came. He began to think deeply and formed his hands into fists. Of course, he was a legendary. 'Weakness' to him meant just a shield that protected him from harm. Of course he would shrug off anything normal mon would throw at him. If anything, only a legendary at this point could take him down. The question was, now that Darkrai was out here in the open, would any legendaries come? Surely they could have been blindsided by the silver crystal and simply not have realized that Darkrai was still around, but now since he was in the open it would not only be easy to feel his life force, but also it would be easy to see him. Penance could only hope that at least some legendaries would feel this and would come to try and combat him as well. He knew of one that would no doubt feel this dark presence... but if that was the case why hadn't she come earlier? He couldn't dwell on possibilities right now though. Either a legendary came or one didn't. He had to prepare for the worst case scenario, and that was a scenario based around the simple fact that they were against a god and probably anything they threw at him would barely scratch him. Still, they had to try.

"Hanso! No dark attacks!" Penance snapped, "They'll rejuvenate him no doubt! Stick to healing and porting everyone around!" He looked back at the dark being, trying think of what he would do. Well, for one, he had been building up power for quite some time. Being a god as well, he could just look away from them and cause their hearts to stop or such like that. When he did announce his attack Penance just frowned, "Not good." He muttered to himself.

He spoke out loud to the others, "Alright, no mental connections at all! The Chaos could infest us all if we connect our minds leading to an instant defeat! Psychics, he's dark type no doubt so avoid all psychic attacks. Scar, Gen! Keep a steady perimeter. HOPEFULLY since you two dealt with this you can fight against any illusions that start to settle in your mind. Do not focus on those that get turned! If you do any attacks aim them right at Darkrai, do you hear me!? No one falls asleep! Spread out and use ranged attacks! He's a god though... so since he isn't reacting to our attacks I'm afraid they won't have much effect, in essence don't do those status moves anymore! Go straight out and use damage dealing moves only! If you have moves that exhaust you, pump them out as fast as you can!"

He readied a Water Pulse in both hands and tossed his two balls at the creature of darkness. "Don't let up at any time! We take Darkrai down foremost! Don't worry about the others unless you have healing moves! I want to see some action and don't any of you f**king fall asleep on me!" He shouted out yet again.

He looked up at the legendary and snorted, "You think you can beat us... think you can take our free will away? You have another thing coming." He readied another Water Pulse, "Circle formation! Just blast him to oblivion!"

Hanso, Genevieve, and Blitzkrieg
Citadel, Top Floor
~~~~~

His attack didn't appear to do anything. Frowning, Blitzkrieg released another Draco Meteor at Darkrai, then a Fire Blast and a Dragon Rage. Still, the Legendary wasn't reacting much, except to prepare a 'Dark Void'. Blitzkrieg felt he would need to Protect others as well as himself; he lifted his wings and swung down, getting into the air to fly around.

No, no, no, no, no! Genevieve fired two charged Energy Balls at once; her arms then crackled briefly before she shot Thunderbolts at Darkrai's eyes. The Gardevoir aimed her attacks at his face from that moment on, but it seemed inevitable that the Dark One would get someone with his Dark Void.

Okay, that's not doing anything. Hanso dismissed his Dark orb, then looked at the rest of the Gold Tribe. It irked him that he couldn't do anything to directly hurt Darkrai. For once in his life, Hanso was stuck purely in a support role. He'd already released two rounds of Heal Pulses for the Gold Tribe, and no one had yet been hit by this foe in this fight. Until Darkrai did something, there wasn't much point in moving anyone around via Teleport. The Gold Crystals, both the gem and Zane - and apparently the Keeper - had already been broken or used up.

...but not all of the Gold Crystal's power. Hanso glanced down at the gem hanging from his neck, smirking for a moment. The little power he had probably wouldn't be a tiebreaker, but it was better than none. If anything, Hanso could use it to help anyone who was hit by the Dark Void. Speaking of which, Penance would have used Disable by now if it would work, wouldn't he?

Silver City

Besides the occasional psychic message into the mind, Guardia had little experience with such an infiltration into her mind as the one that the Dark Void created. Almost instantly, she felt the cold whiff of blackness surround her and try to engorge her. The dark power seemed to creep closer and closer into her mind, and if clamping onto it, without letting go. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was so foreign, so new. How could she be expected to fight it off? Guardia tried to physically exert herself, to try and force the darkness back. But the more she tried to do this, the more she fell herself tire out, and only work to make the darkness creep further into her mind.

Just relax...let it happen. Soon, it will all be over, and then there will be nothing to fear. Nothing but the end. The voice of the Dark One pierced her mind, beckoning her to succumb. She wanted to resist. She tried everything she could to do so, but she knew she was failing, and fast. What would Zane do? What would her father do?

A sudden thought popped into her brain. Some words of wisdom her father had said to her long ago seemed to lodge in the forefront of the memories. He once said that there wouldn't always be an answer to everything, and a way to overcome every problem. The best is to prepare for every situation possible, and when a new one comes up, try to connect that one with whatever else could possible fit that is similar to the problem.

In other words, Guardia had to relate this experience to whichever one fit it the best. But what could possibly help her with this? Guardia thought long and hard about every possible Gold Tribe scenario, every memory she could think of that could help her decipher what way she could combat this. Nothing was coming to mind. Again, the darkness was closing in around her. She thought of her brothers, her sisters, the tribe, Valkaria, and how all of it was about to be lost if she didn't stop the darkness. But nothing happened. It continued to irk at her and force her deeper into the sleep...

And at the words, a sudden memory made its way to the front of her mind. It wasn't a Gold Tribe memory, or even a memory of training, really. In fact, it was the furthest memory she could think to use at a time like this. When she was little, she was somewhat of a brat. Her father would always tell tales to her of the Gold Tribe, and of his times with it. Her mother, however, disliked that she kept staying up so long to listen to his stories. The deal Guardia had with her mother then was that she would be able to listen to stories until she was tired and had to go to sleep. So, in order to listen to more stories, Guardia began to try and keep herself up for as long as possible. What resulted was her developing a way to stay up as a child to listen to her father's stories a little while longer.

And that was the best memory she could think of to fight the Dark Void. The power, after all, most closely related to that of falling into a deep sleep. In order to fight the power of the Dark One, she had to fight the urge to fall asleep.

***************

Scar had less success finding such a memory that Guardia had to fight off the Dark One. However, he had the experience of dealing with many Psychic attacks on his mind throughout his life. Combined with his dealings with Genevieve as a Sentinel, to which he had his memories, and his previous effects with this exact attack when he was first inducted into the Wielder's forces, he had sufficient will to block out the first of the infiltration. Yet the power of the Dark One couldn't be denied. He was cunning, both in mind and body, and with each block Scar tried to put up, Darkrai would quickly worm his way around and delve deeper into his subconscious.

He wouldn't last much more of this...

Darkrai in the meantime dismissed most of the attacks thrown by him as nothing of concern. The Water Pulses damaged his form. The various fire blasts burned at his black, fog-like body for moments at a time. Guardia tried a Thunder and Scar hit with a Shadow Ball through their struggling. He let these attacks reach his form, but he payed them little mind in the long run. If he even had one Pokemon turn now, he would have enough power to heal his injuries as if nothing happened. Already, some were beginning to feel the effects.

His attention was drawn to the Gallade who carried with him an interesting gem, and the Golduck who had done most of the shouting. Seeing the Dark Void affect some more and others less, he focused more on the two of them, as well as other Psychic Pokemon like Genevieve, making them feel the full power of chaos.

EVERYBODY! TOGETHER NOW!​

Penance frowned as the pressure seemed to become more intense. Darkrai apparently was so focused on using this Dark Void that he wasn't dishing out any other attacks. That was good... in a way. It meant less physical damage and more mental damage. Personally he was taking it in stride. He had spent many years in his maddened state after all, he knew how to drown out darkness better than most or to warp it in his eyes. The others though... at this rate everything would come crashing down. If just one of them fell, then the chances were that they would all die. He wasn't sure entirely how the corruption worked still, but he was certain another Sentinel was something they couldn't handle at this point.

His mind raced as he saw the others being affected in different ways, but more importantly he felt his own mind being hit by that chaos even more. Sure he had defeated Paradox, but he had no doubts in his mind. This chaos would probably ressurect him again. They had to work fast if anything... but they had to do something else. Personally, Penance would never do this beforehand, but it was something that was necessary now.

He began to expand his mind outwards, grunting as he extended his powers to wrap around the minds of Guardia, Scar, Wildfire, Hanso, Paladin, Rai, Blitzkrieg, Genevieve, and Levina.

Okay, so we're all fine and dandy here right? Right! Now here's the plan. A dead guy once showed me that it's usually better to stand together than to stand alone. This rings true here and now. I know, I know, I killed goldies before, but trust is key now. I haven't killed any of ya right? And I have no plans to. You all saw why I fought that good fight. Information is to be shared... and likewise we must share more. Our strength. We keep each other up here and now. We're going to lean on each other and survive this, because with this web up if one of us falls, we all fall. A bit of incentive to not be corrupted eh? We are going to stand tall and beat this m***erf****r! Get pumped everyone, because we are not dying today!

When Penance shared minds and expanded into the others, Guardia and Scar instantly felt the relief of the extra weight they were all carrying now together. With a shared consciousness, the Pokemon inside of it could now band together to help each other fight the darkness. The disadvantage however, was that now Darkrai could concentrate his darkness in the pool of connected minds. His Dark Void would be more focused, but so would their strength. It was time to see which one would overcome.

Guardia didn't expect it from Penance, but he was absolutely right. Right at the end of everything, the only way to win this was to help each other out. Those that had more experience to deal with it had to show the others the best way. With their connected minds, they could share their strength, their psychic resistance, their memories, and their will to win. The mental strength of connected minds relieved most of the pressure from her for the moment, but she saw what was coming ahead of them. Darkrai's wrath came forward.

The Dark Void now flowed through all of their connected channels, instead of reaching each of the minds separately, he pooled his energies toward the connected minds of the Pokemon who Penance linked. Darkness came out of the void he created, and slammed toward their minds, not in a string or even as a slow fog creeping along, but as a hammer of energy slamming against any barriers that possibly stood in the way.

Penance readied his own power to counteract, also hoping that Hanso would push forth some power as well. "Remember all! Remember what we have lost!" At that several images would flash before their eyes. Images of lost friends, images of destruction. "We are not going to lose now!" He cried out. The Golduck's eyes glowed a deep blue as anger flowed into his mind, "We fight, and we fight hard! Everyone, lay it on him!" He readied a Water Pulse in each hand and threw them at the legendary.

Hanso immediately took part of the workload in keeping their minds connected and set about building mental defenses. While he did so, he began feeding some of the Gold Crystal's power from his gem throughout their minds. Not all of it; Hanso felt he would need some for later. Thoughts flowed through his mind, memories of the last battle for Shine City, of his journey since the jailbreak, of finding his sister again and losing her. There was no way all their losses was going to be for nothing.

Blitzkrieg had initially put up a Protect in an attempt to block out the Dark Void, but it had worked only a little. When Penance connected their minds, the Salamence could feel the burden lessen. He let out a roar, energies combining inside him. "For Valkaria!" Blitzkrieg then released a Draco Meteor infused with a Fire Blast and Dragon Rage at Darkrai.

Genevieve did nothing at first, simply watching the Dark One as he targeted their collected minds. Now that he was bringing his power to bear, a part of Genevieve wanted to give up and give in. It would be so much easier, and she herself wouldn't have to worry. Just let the Siren loose once again... No! The Gardevoir's eyes lit up as she began to fight back in the mind. Her arms crackled once again as Genevieve fired more Thunderbolts at Darkrai.

Wildfire could feel the Dark Void almost as a physical force as it probed at her mind, bashing against the defences she attempted to put up. Exhausted as she already was, the temptation to just give in to the invading darkness was powerful... Sleep would be a welcome relief right now... As she felt her senses lulling and her vision blurring, she snapped her head up from where it had been close to falling limply against her chest. Her eyes burned as she forced them wide open, refusing to so much as blink. She needed something to focus on, something that would keep her mind on the battle; throwing out attacks was too instinctual and didn't require a lot of thought, so that wouldn't work... Wildfire was suddenly given the focal point she needed when Penance connected to all of their minds. Now she needed to stay awake not just for herself, but for her comrades; that was enough for her.

With the renewed strength she felt flowing through the link, Wildfire's flames flared a bit hotter and her limbs no longer felt like they were dragging her to the ground. Her gaze sharpened, and energy swirled to life in her palms much more quickly than it had before; with a thrust toward the Dark One, two more Focus Blasts launched towards him. While she wasn't nearly back to full power, and she still felt the pressing of the darkness trying to break through into her mind, she felt more alive than she had for the better part of the battle.

Guardia saw the images of Pokemon they had lost. She remembered all those that fell in the initial strike years ago. All her friends that fell in the invasion. She remembered taking back the cities, but watching Dark Lightning sacrifice himself to save them during the ambush. She still remembered looking back that final time and seeing him fighting off the armies of the Silver Tribe to give them this chance to fight back. She remembered Calamity, and all of the others who fell to bring them to this moment, including just on this very level in the Citadel. She remembered her father, and she remembered Zane. At this moment, she felt the spirit and will of everyone of her fallen brothers and sisters help push her way through the darkness as it clashed onto them all. She did everything she could to not only stop it in its tracks, but also push it back.

Scar too did his part, remembering the pain of the transformation, the pain of the memories of leading armies of Ancients to slaughter his brothers and sisters in the way. He remembered every Gold Tribe member's face as they were killed, and knew that he could never go back to what he was before. He had to fight back! Both Scar and Guardia fired off their attacks at Darkrai while they held him at bay. Scar launched a Shadow Ball, and Guardia struck him with his Lightning.

They were remarkably resourceful for ants. Darkrai stared and stared, awaiting the first of them to turn into his slave, to do his bidding. It only took one of them to turn for him to have enough power to summon forth more energy, to have enough power to take them all down. But that was the problem...the more they banded together, the stronger their will to survive and endure seemed to become. What was worse, at this very moment, all throughout Valkaria, all fighting had ceased. His Ancients were destroyed, and for the moment, the Pokemon all believed that the war was over, and that they had won. They felt no fear, no anger, no violence or chaos in their hearts. It was the disadvantage he was in, and to his great surprise, they held him off. Darkrai grumbled deeply, trying to add even more of his chaos energy into the void. He staggered back a bit at the last set of attacks which struck at him, the first sign that his body was not immune to personal damage.

Penance smiled at the sight and pointed a finger out at the legendary, "Gather up everyone! Gather and fire! He's not even worthy of legendary status!" He said more of a taunt to the dark mon himself. He threw out more Water Pulses and smirked, "Darkrai.. to think we were afraid of you. To think that here you are and all you can ever be is a puppet master. That you can't even hold your own in battle, I must say I am VERY dissapointed!"

He knew that the legendary was bound to be more powerful, but at the same time he had to rally his allies, to let them feel hope. That was this mon's one weakness, hope. "Come on all! Let's wrap this up in five minutes! I'm sure we're all starving after all of this!" Now that was a thought, food more important than the dark one! Hope was quite a lovely thing. With that said Penance smirked, "Guardia... ready an attack. Now. I have a plan, you trust me... " He looked over at her with a smirk, "Right?"

"I might regret it later, but for now, I do!" She yelled, simultaneously speaking and trying to fend off the darkness in front of her.

Snype stood firm as the Dark One used Dark Void on the group. The Sableye couldn't really make a good offense back at him since most of his attacks were about getting close and fooling his foes. He felt like he'd just get blown away. Either way his job was to hold the line and that was what he'd try to do, Even if it was tearing him apart. Levina and the rest of the Pokemon were linked together through their minds. She could hear what everyone else was thinking and even felt a little stronger. She was throwing Thunderbolts like nobodies buisness. Snype however, didn't feel different and seemed out of the loop.

"Hey uh... You forgetting someone over here?" Snype said to the Golduck. Levina looked over to Snype.

"He can't connect you with everyone else! Your a Dark Type you dolt!" Levina shouted. Well crap.

Penance looked over and narrowed his eyes, "Snype! Sorry, but you're on your own!" He looked back at Guardia, You ready? Everyone! Give Guardia your strength! Focus on her and channel everything to her! Trust me on this!

Wildfire's body was relunctant to relinquish the energy it had so recently acquired; however, she did as Penance ordered. While she still had her doubts about the Golduck, his brain was their best hope at this moment; and he was right, they needed to trust each other. She felt her movements grow more sluggish as energy filtered out of her body, through the connection, and to Guardia.

The Crucible, Paladin and Scar too poured their energies to Guardia at Penance's request, giving as much as they could while still trying to fight off the darkness coming toward them.

Blitzkrieg had little choice but to trust the Golduck. He did as Penance said, focusing on channeling his energy to Guardia. He was tired out after that last attack anyway.

Channel everything to one Pokemon? Yes, yes, do that, and Darkrai would either target them once they were weaker, or take out Guardia before she could do anything. Genevieve brought a hand up to her mouth, thinking. There was one way to stop it...in the manner of the Gold Tribe. Here goes. Genevieve calmly sat down on the floor, folding her legs under her as she closed her eyes. She could feel the darkness inside their network, the chaos that was trying to corrupt them. Genevieve began putting up additional walls to funnel it all in one direction. Into herself.

Immediately, she could feel the darkness trying to turn her again. The darkest part of Genevieve's own mind was already working with it, making it even more of a struggle. Regardless, she continued to funnel all of it into herself. Too much of it would kill Genevieve, or so she hoped, but it should take the pressure off everyone else.

Hanso could feel what was happening. How many more would they lose before this was over? He began funneling his energy to Guardia, including most of the remaining power in his gem. However, Hanso kept some of it for himself. He began walking toward Genevieve, arm-blades extended. There was no guarantee that what she was doing would work. It was possible that she would only become the Siren again.

Levina channeled her energy right into Guardia as planned. She sent whatever electric power that she had to offer toward her. For Penance's sake, this had better work. She was already growing weak the more that she did this. Snype meanwhile was a bit helpless to do much but he had to come up with something! These chumps couldn't take all of the glory! The most he could do was fend off the Dark Void that was slowly draining him. He literally was on his own.

Snype was down on one Knee. He could feel the chaotic effect messing with his mind and digging into his inner darkness which was pretty easy. Snype wasn't the nicest of guys around though he accepted that a long time ago. Snype already was a being of the Dark and he's experienced what its like to be a sentinel and how they behaved. He wasn't going to turn into a puppet like them! Snype attempted to hold his ground, slowly marching forward. He was making himself an easy target to get some pressure off of Guardia hopefully.

Penance felt the others working hard, working to ensure their survival. He closed his eyes and felt Gen's activities. He couldn't help but frown at that. If she fell... would they all fall? He couldn't let that hurt him now! He wasn't holding anything back. He had his faith in Guardia and so he poured out all of his remaing energy into her, even falling to a knee. "Hehe... Hanso... I said I had a surprise... you know." He chuckled a bit, "That thing... I was going to show ya? I think... it's best to do it... now. You... didn't think I beat... Paradox all on my own... right?"

A silhouette appeared behind the Golduck, one of a familair Gardevoir. "Just... a sliver of her saved. Thank you.... hehe. We're all in this together!" More energy flowed out from the Golduck, but it wasn't his own and he grinned at the Zangoose, "Do it."

Guardia could feel the surge of energies inside of her. This surge came not just from her own will and power, but from her friends around her. Together, they channeled all of their extra energy into her, per Penance's request. It was quite a feeling, holding that much energy in her body like that. She knew the great responsibility that came with it. Now, while Genevieve took all the darkness toward her, all the pressure of the incoming chaos was suddenly relieved, and Guardia felt she had this one chance to push back all of the darkness.

Both in her mind and body, she let it all go. The energy built up by her and the channeled energy was released in both a physical attack, in the most powerful Thunder she could manage, while inside of her mind, a block of power was suddenly thrust through the connection and launched at Darkrai's invasion with his Dark Void. The Thunder struck directly across the dark, fog-like body of the Dark One, hitting him straight across the chest and causing him to recoil and stagger back. Guardia continued to thrust the Thunder at him, causing a massive wave of lightning to strike along his chest. A terrible, deep, rumbing howl was heard from him, his acknowledgment of the pain that ruptured his impermanent body form. Yet, combined inside of the psychic energy pushing inside of his mind, it was enough to almost make it seem as if he did. He let out a threatening, shrieking howl, and forced the incoming psychic back. He focused primarily on the Gardevoir who had elected to siphon most of the energy herself. If he could turn just one of them to his side, that would be enough. Yet she had too much inside of her, and if they broke through her last defenses, she would likely die before becoming his slave. Even so, he tried to turn at least one of them, one would be enough...

But the Pokemon's energies continued to endure. Both on the outside and inside the mental barriers of the mind, they gave it their all. All their strength, and will, and determination and hope. Every last bit of every emotion and power they could muster was thrust at the Dark One, the one behemoth behind the chaos of this land. Soon, the powers almost seemed to converge, with the both striking right through their respective zones and at Darkrai. The Dark Void in the center of the room, the unofficial symbol of chaos, doom and darkness for the Pokemon, slowly began to disperse, with Darkrai no longer being able to control it. He no longer had the power to summon forth his own attack.

And, at long last, after everything that the Pokemon of Valkaria had gone through. After all the pain, the fear, the war, the blood, the darkness. The chaos. After everything that they had been put through since the start of this calamity, the Dark One faltered, and was hit all at once on both levels, physical and mental, by the combined efforts of Valkaria's last line of defense. The psychic wave targeted his mind as the Thunder burned at his form. Darkrai fell back and struggled to move. But it was not the end for him. No, this was not how he would end. He summoned the last bit of darkness that his form could muster, and began to form into a fog across the room, travelling out of the open room of the Citadel. As he passed through, this was the last message he said to the warriors of Valkaria.

"Darkness and chaos. These will always exist," His voice boomed through the broken remnants of the Citadel. "I will never become just a memory."

And with that, the Dark One, the scourge of Pokemon, the bringer of darkness and the master of chaos, disappeared through the night air. The clouds above cleared of their darkened forms, and the heavy burden of war and death was lifted from Valkaria, and from the soldiers who had fought in it. Valkaria was saved.

A Little of the Aftermath...
~~~~~

Hanso replied to Darkrai before the Legendary left: "Of course there will be. Problem was that you were pushing it too far." He stared after the fog for a few moments before turning back to the room. Genevieve was only a few yards away, lying limp on the floor. Hanso closed the gap and knelt on one knee, checking for signs of life. There was nothing. The Gardevoir had done what she set out to do.

"Looks like you got your wish after all," Hanso muttered, sitting back a bit. Not exactly, since it wasn't him that killed her in the end, but now Genevieve wouldn't have to worry. Now she was in the afterlife. Hanso had heard some Pokemon say that when a powerful Psychic died, they entered the mental realm known only to psychics. The whole thing was an unknown to him, something that he had always put to the side before. Well, he would have time to ponder it now.

Hanso slid his arms under the Gardevoir's body and stood up. "All right, then," he said, turning to everyone else. "Let's gather everyone and go, before this place collapses on itself."

After the last words of Darkrai, Guardia's knees just gave out. Any bit of sheer will or adrenaline that rushed through her body and gave her that extra strength to stand was now gone. She no longer needed it, either. For the first time in years, Valkaria had the air of peace and serenity about it. No longer was it a nation at war. All around the major cities and small towns, the Pokemon cheered, sighed, cried and danced happily at their freedom from the tyranny of the Silver Tribe. Word spread like wildfire around, and soon everyone was in on the large celebration.

The Healer was quick to patch up everyone on the top. That is, everyone who made it. There were those who had made it, and those who didn't. Genevieve was the last and latest among the fallen. But before that, it was Zane and the Keeper. Bloodthirster payed with his own life to make them get passed Rey. Before him, Sword and Shield and Dryad died valiantly against Rey. The Cleric died against Blackguard. The Swift gave his life to ensure the end of Sentry's. Before him, Gallant fell by Paradox's hands. Noctus fell trying to fight Auron after his thieves village was attacked and burned. The trio of Bane, Speculum, and the Shadow Protector fell as well to Blackguard. Before their fall, Hoodhide gave his life to stop the Inferno's carnage, who ended up destroying the Prince of Light. On the Thieves Forest's edge, Kivir Sveenis ensured that the Alpha Alliance would live by leading the Silver Tribe armies away, and paying with his life. Calamity fell in a blistering glory of energy to the chaos-infused Ignitus. Dark Lightning sacrificed himself at the ambush site in the Thieves Forest, to ensure the Gold Tribe continued on. This victory was paid for with the blood of many. Guardia didn't think she'd ever forget the sacrifices of the Pokemon who died along this grand journey. Each death took them one step closer to finally ending this. It went beyond just the Gold Tribe deaths too. This war was payed with the blood of thousands of Pokemon of the Alpha Alliance too. And now, it was finally done.

Having eventually rested and recovered in what was now once again known as Gold City, the survivors of the final fight met up eventually with the Generals and other survivors of the war with the Silver Tribe. They told the story of those who died in the end, and the events that cumulated in Darkrai departing. That night, celebrations began all across Valkaria in honor of the soldiers and the heroes of the war. In some cities, parties went in all the way through the night and into morning. Some Pokemon had trouble adjusting at first, not believing that everything was finally done. The following day, a large funeral service was held in each city for all the soldiers who died during the war, from the very first ones to the very last ones. In Gold City, in the Golden Cemetary, where all Gold Tribe members, past and present, were buried, the remainder of the Gold Tribe ensured that each of their fallen comrades would receive the burial they all deserved. This included those transformed into Sentinels, and those who had died during the initial invasion. Even if a body was never recovered, they all gained their place among the stones of the past protectors of Valkaria. It was difficult to find and name and bury them all, but eventually, the task was done.

The Alpha Alliance and the Gold Tribe also ensured the dismantlement and destruction of all remaining torturehouses throughout Valkaria, the last symbol of the heinous, evil, and corrupt acts of the Silver Tribe during the wars. The following evening and throughout the week, sporadic parties were held in the cities to signify the end of tyranny and the return of what truly made Valkaria special: freedom and peace. After a week of rest, recuperation, and celebration, the long process towards rebuilding began.

The survivors of the final clash with Darkrai each had their own stories during and following this grand undertaking, and when it was all complete, had their own paths to take.

A Magic Word For An Answer
~~~~~

A week. One full week after the battle with the Dark One himself, and Hanso still felt the need for rest. Not a surprise, given the war that lasted nearly three years, as well as the last few, grueling months. The Gallade was sitting on the ground with legs crossed in the middle of a mountain clearing with a stream nearby. The same place where Hanso had met Genevieve alone. It was the only place that meant something to him where he could find peace and quiet.

Hanso's slow breathing quickened as he opened his eyes. This meditation was both restful and frustrating. There was some dim hope in the back of his mind that he'd find some residue of Brynn and Genevieve in the psychic realm. No reason to look back, but Hanso couldn't keep himself from doing so just yet. Accept it already. Genevieve is dead, and so is Brynn...

Well, maybe not Brynn, not entirely. It was time to find Penance. Hanso slowly pushed himself off the ground, mind thinking over Cape City. In a blink, he teleported to the edge of the city's wall. He made his way down the stairs and into the city; if an Affiliate didn't find him first, he'd find Penance's lair.

As the Gallade moved about he would find that Cape wasn't as nearly crowded as it was before for obvious reasons, but in the corner of his eye he would see a familiar looking mon, a certain small Pawniard leaned against a wall and was looking right at him.

Hanso came to a halt as he turned his head, then nodded in recognition. Just what he was looking for. He walked toward the Pawniard and stopped a few feet away. "Hey, Lashire." He knew the war with the Dark One was over, but Hanso still had his usual mental defenses up and ready. He didn't really know anymore what Penance had planned now.

Lashire looked up at him and stood off of the wall, stretching his back a bit, "Hello Mr. Hanso." He said with a nod, "Penance has been waiting for you to come back. I've had to wait in this spot every single day, not good on my back." He admitted as he rubbed a it. "Come on, over here. He's in a house now, the tunnels are sort of chaotic right now, so no use living down there." He began to lead the way through the mostly vacant streets, "How have you been? You disappeared."

"Better than before," Hanso answered as he followed at a short distance. He wasn't about to go on about his reasons for leaving everyone on the second day after the end of the war. During his time in the mountains, Hanso had come back only for the funerals of Brynn and Genevieve. He did mourn for the rest of the Gold Tribe, but on his own time. It had been personal with the two Gardevoirs.

Lashire nodded and led him to a small house and stepped back, gesturing to the door, "Please knock first. He's very busy." With that the Pawniard turned away and went on down one of the streets.

Hanso stood motionless at the door for a few seconds. No, what good would knocking down the door do? He wanted more of a break before resuming any sort of fighting life. With that thought, Hanso knocked on the door twice. The gem that had once been his twin's still hung around his neck.

There was soon a shuffling on the other side and a familiar Golduck opened the door, though bizzarly behind the water type there were walls covered all over with pages. There were mountains of books inside as well. "Oh, hey Hanso!" He said with a genuine smile, "Eh, sorry about the mess. This is what Guardia took out so far. You know, documents and all. Heh, could have used this before hand, but we'll put all of this in the history books. Darkrai and all, please come in!" He stepped back inside, avoiding a small pile of books, "Missed ya when you left. So was it fun? Wherever you were?"

Hanso couldn't help but smile a bit as he stepped inside. "I wouldn't say fun, but it was what I needed at the time." Technically, Penance was still around half his age and had the energy to go with it. Hanso couldn't see how the Golduck's mind matched his age anymore. He glanced at one wall, eyes idly wandering over the information. Circles, underlined sections, other details that looked like planning. "What about you? Having fun?"

"You could say." The Golduck passed a chair and went on over to a shelf and pulled himself up as he balanced himself and then let his upper body hang down from the shelf as he pulled a book over and began to read it, "Yeah, fun here and there. But the most important question." He pulled his book down and stared at the Gallade. "You wonder. You're curious. And you know what about." He pulled his book up and continued to read. "If you say the magic word, I'll let you know for sure."

Aaand, there he goes again. Magic word. Hanso turned and closed the door behind him, thinking over how to respond. Blast it all, stop looking for complexities in his words! He leaned his back on the door and turned his eyes to Penance. "Would you please tell me what happened with Brynn? You mentioned that a sliver of her had been saved."

Penance grinned, "You go the magic word!" He came down and landed on his feet, putting the book away. He puffed out his chest, "Yes I do. You... want to see?" His smile grew, "No psychic mumbo jumbo needed after all." He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Almost... there."

A few seconds passed before Hanso stepped away from the door. He didn't need to probe Penance's mind to know that something was different about it. He waited a few seconds longer. The Golduck opened his eyes again, only now the left eye was a steely gray. Hanso's breath caught in his throat. "Brynn?"

The Golduck grinned again, this time in a different way. "Of course, you silly. Did you think Penance and I wouldn't have a backup plan?"

Hanso took a few steps forward before stopping himself. It would be really awkward to hug the Golduck, but that was the only thing stopping him. His sister was alive!...after a fashion. "Well...you...I never thought you'd be that much taller than me." The Gallade smiled, his first real smile in a while.

Brynn raised her eyebrows, arms raised. "What, too awkward to hug me? Just because I'm inside Penance's head?" When Hanso didn't answer, she giggled a bit. "Trust me, I wasn't used to this arrangement at first. I can't be out long on my own, either. Not all of me is here." Her brother still didn't say anything, so the Golduck smirked and stepped forward like Brynn was going to hug Hanso anyway.

"Nonono, stop it, sis!" Hanso said hurriedly, raising a hand as he backed up. The Golduck stopped and snickered at his reaction. "Just 'cause you're used to it doesn't mean I am, okay? Just, yes, too awkward for me." Hanso's hand went to the gem at his neck, rubbing it absentmindedly. Then a thought struck him. "Have you tried moving to a new body?"

Brynn shook her head as she turned away and walked to one wall. "Even if it was that easy, we wouldn't ask some innocent Pokemon to vacate. This is pretty much the best arrangement I have right now." She turned her head to look back at Hanso. "Of course, you haven't been around for a few days, brother. Maybe you'd want to try something?"

Did he? Hanso looked down, chewing his lip. She was right when she said that they wouldn't ask another Pokemon to effectively die just so Brynn wouldn't be in someone else's mind. A week was long enough that Brynn's body would have begun decaying in its tomb. The only other option Hanso could think of right now was bringing her back into the gem. A cold, hard vault of isolation. He shook his head and looked back up. "No. Nothing would work unless someone just conveniently died any time soon."

"Conveniently?" Brynn raised an eyebrow. "No, you wouldn't dare. So here I'll stay, I suppose."

"Yeah..." Hanso blew a sigh, leaning against the door again. "You know what? If someone really did, eh, die, and left a body in good condition...maybe you'd call me in to help. Though I'd hope she doesn't die for you." The Gallade then reached out with his mind, connecting momentarily with his sister in the mental realm Only there did they hug each other, Gallade and Gardevoir. I know you're an Affiliate, but keep Penance here in check. Who knows what crazy plan he's concocted.

Ooh, I know what plans he has, Brynn replied cheekily. By the way, time's up. Will you come around sometime?

Depends. Hanso withdrew back to the house which he and the Golduck stood in. It wasn't long before the gray color faded from Penance's eye.

Penance took in a deep breath and relaxed himself, "We're going to be working on that. Hopefully as time passes she can spend more time out, probably get to the point where she can spend a day or two in control." He smiled a bit, "By the way..." He went over to a table and pulled up a letter, handing it to over to Hanso, "An invitation. The generals and some of the others might be coming. Essentially, I have a plan going. The fight isn't over yet Hanso. You saw him leave." Penance frowned for a moment, but then grinned again, "We just have to hit him back first. If you want to come, great! I know Brynn is looking forward to see you there. If not then it's all good." He looked about, "Heh, I have a lot of preparations to do, but seriously," He held up a thumbs up and winked, "Good work. Glad to have been there."

Hanso took the letter and nodded. "Right, right..." After a moment, he said, "I know you don't like titles, but no matter how mad you might be, you're still doing your part as a defender. I'll be there, but I'm not making any promises right now." Hanso lifted a hand to open the door. "Anything else?"

Penance was silent for a moment, "Thanks and... I'll take good care of her." He said with a firm tone, though for once Hanso could see the madness usually in his eyes was gone.

There was the Penance Malum that he'd first met. Hanso nodded one last time before walking out the door, leaving the Golduck as he walked back down the street. For that matter, five days of isolation was enough for now. Hanso needed to settle other business. He couldn't exactly be a full-time member of the Gold Tribe if he was going to keep an eye on everyone from now on.

Penance watched him leave and chuckled, "Hehe, he's going to do fine."

Rewind, Back To the Day of the Gold Tribe Funerals...
~~~~~

The funerals performed by the Alpha Alliance for their dead had been held the day after the final battles were finished. Obviously, all of the bodies and lives couldn't have been accounted for, but the warriors who fought deserved their peace as soon as possible. However, for the Gold Tribe, the funeral proceedings came some time after, when all of the bodies and deaths were accounted for. It was difficult to track down each one's location, with there being a bit over a thousand Gold Tribe members at one point. But the survivors had the advantage of knowing most of the dead. And those that they didn't know, a record was kept of each active member in Gold City. Eventually, all were found, and with empty caskets or filled ones, they were laid to rest in the Golden Cemetary. Here, Guardia paid her final respects to her family and friends, including Zane and her father Rey.

She stood before her father's grave, where right next to it his father was born, and his father, Kent "Kaiser" Reed before him.

Less than a week since the final battles, before he ever went back to Cape City, Hanso had left isolation only to be present at the funerals for those of the Gold Tribe. He hadn't yet figured everything out for himself, but there was one thing he needed to do. A sack over one shoulder, Hanso quietly walked along the line of graves until he stopped at Guardia's side. After a few moments, he cleared his throat. "So...the line of leadership continues."

Guardia looked from the grave to Hanso and gave him a warm smile and a nod. She brought her eyes back to her father's grave and sighed deeply. "I'd like to think he's at peace now, wherever he is," She began, but quickly shaking her head. "But I'm not sure I'm cut out to be the leader. I mean, I wasn't before when this all began. If anything, you should do it. You were with Zane since the beginning. And you've got the most experience out of us. Why don't you lead the Gold Tribe?" She asked him. "Well, what's left of it."

A short chuckle escaped Hanso's mouth. "Me? No, it shouldn't be me. I wouldn't be fit to lead the Gold Tribe, not when my training leaned more toward beating anyone I fought than principles."

He turned his head to face Guardia. "You're the one who should be the leader, Lyn Guardia Reed. It was months ago that you assumed you'd automatically be leader when we found you. Since then...since then, you've grown. I'd like to think you know better than any of us what to do with the Gold Tribe. You've been more of a leader than I was during our journey." Hanso smiled slightly. "I know for a fact that Blitzkrieg is going to stick with the Gold Tribe."

Guardia smiled back at the Gallade. "Thanks," She replied with a nod. "I really mean it. I mean, I don't know how well I'll do, but I'll be willing to do my best." She sighed again and stared at the many other graves of the fallen Gold Tribe around. "Scar said he'd stick around too. He said he owed too much of a debt from his Silver Tribe days to leave now. What about you?"

Hanso looked away, hesitant to say what he had to say. "...I can't say the same. I'm still trying to decide where I stand, but I know that it isn't as a member of the Gold Tribe." He pulled his sack round front and reached a hand in. "Do you know of Delnir Blake, also known as Divine Blade? I've found myself thinking he was right about the old Gold Tribe."

The Gallade pulled two Gold Tribe emblems out - his own and that of Penance. "The way I see it, I'm a product of the problem Delnir saw, even if I've changed. You can lead the Gold Tribe down the right path. I'm more likely to hold you back if I remain a member."

Hanso held out the two emblems to Guardia. His next words surprised him. "The old must become new, like the phoenix."

"Like the phoenix..." Guardia repeated, accepting the two emblems and holding them in her hands. The already small numbers of the Gold Tribe lost two more. But at least now, Hanso was leaving for what he thought were the right reasons, and she respected his wishes. After staring at them silently for a while, she finally nodded, and gazed back up at Hanso.

"You'll still come visit though, right, TrueS-, Hanso? You're not going to suddenly disappear off the map, are ya?"

The Gallade swung his sack back over his shoulder. "I'll be gone for a while longer, until I have everything straightened out in my mind. Once that's done, you can expect me to be hanging around." Hanso clapped Guardia's shoulder with a smile. "Do what you feel is best. That's the most anyone can expect from a leader." With that, he turned and began walking away.

Guardia looked on as Hanso began walking away, and suddenly, a thought occurred to her and she shouted after him. "Wait, Hanso!" She yelled after him, running up to him and embracing him in a hug. She shut her eyes tight opening them once to view the emblems in her hands. "You may not be with the Gold Tribe anymore, but you'll always be my brother."

After a moment of surprise, Hanso returned the hug, throat tightening. This was one of the few times when he felt something by the word 'brother'. It also reminded him of his twin, and that opened a whole new floodgate. "...Same with all of you...sister."

This was going to complicate things for him, wasn't it?

Paladin...
What now?
Gold City

Paladin looked on at the other 'mon, partying. Nobody congratulated him. Nobody even recognized him in his stolen body. His two eyes, one red and one yellow, scanned each member of the crowd, noticing common attributes: joy, relief, happiness, for the first time in over two years. Thinking back on when this had all started, he remembered wishing for such joy. Such happiness and relief seemed unimaginable to him; all he had was sorrow, confusion. No. He had nothing is what he had. He was an empty shell of his former self. But now he remembered everything, and he could understand and almost imagine the happiness these Pokemon might be feeling at that very moment. But still, it was unattainable.

Paladin sighed. He'd kept quiet after the battle, barely saying a word. There was no need. After revealing the truth about himself to the remaining survivors, he fled. There was no point in staying. Looking down at himself, he could see the monster he had once been. The red Lucario that was once Blackguard had been infused with splotches of gold and blue here and there, fortunately making him unrecognizable as that demon.

Hey, I wasn't a demon! Well... okay, maybe I was. Hehehe.

Paladin ignored him. As it turned out, taking in Blackguard had come with a price, which he would now have to bear for the rest of his life. No matter. In a sense, he was Blackguard too now. No point in rejecting it. Part of him still loved it: the chaos, the destruction, the thrill of squishing someone. He wanted to do it again and again and again. He chuckled weakly to himself as he thought of these things, the feeling being almost nostalgic. Then he shook his head, and returned to observing the partying civilians. The happiness seemed to be within arm's reach from the Lucario, but if he tried to grab it, it would shy away like a frightened Sentret.

Yeah, there's a reason it does that you know.

Paladin mentally told Blackguard to shut up. One question lingered on their mind, however: now what?

Yeah, good friggin question. What are we supposed to do now? I mean, you got your peace, and me... well, let's just say chaos isn't my style anymore.

He knew he'd changed, not only physically. Paladin and Blackguard, while still separated in some ways, were one and the same now. It would take some time to adjust, but after using their combined powers in combat like that they felt closer than ever. It was a strange sensation, being close to someone you'd hated so much.

Pretty much the definition of a love-hate relationship, eh Pally?

Again, Paladin mentally ordered him to shut up, prompting some sort of rude retort from the Blackguard, but nothing more.

What are we waiting here for again anyway? Blackguard asked after a moment of silence. I forget.

Paladin explained the situation to him, and Blackguard simply sighed mentally.

The kid, seriously? Why can't we just go now?

Paladin rolled his eyes and kept on scanning the crowd. Soon enough, a large, rather rotund figure appeared through them. His expression was hardly the same as that of the 'mon around him, appearing solemn and slightly angered. He held a small bundle in his arms.

The Paladin approached the Excadrill, and the two stood before one another for a moment, in utter silence. The sounds and chattering of the crowd around them seemed to dissipate into thin air, leaving nothing but the two. That was, until the small bundle in the Excadrill's arms cooed, snapping the two out of their trance.

"So... you're Paladin... now."

Paladin nodded abruptly, never taking his eyes off of the Excadrill. He'd known this Pokemon once. He'd helped him out with a few problems. Paladin owed this Pokemon.

"I should..." Paladin began in a coarse, gruff voice nothing like his own. But the Excadrill help up a hand to stop him.

"No need. I... lost everything," he said with some resentment in his voice, but also a deep sadness. "Everything I had is gone now... even with the Silver Tribe gone, nothing will bring it back." He shook his head. "I'm going to end this life. There's nothing left for me now. That, and only THAT, Paladin, is the reason I am doing this."

Paladin nodded again, sighing a bit to himself. He knew that this was because of him.

Hey, don't look at me, it was probably Paradox or something!

Paladin extended his arms, and the Excadrill carefully placed the bundle into them. Then, he took a step back, and sent a clenched fist flying right at the Lucario!

Paladin took the punch in its full force; all it did was rock his head back a little bit, not even causing him to flinch or fall back as his head bobbed back up once more. The Pokemon around the two had frozen and were quickly scurrying away from them, expecting a fight.

The Excadrill simply shook his head and turned around, walking through the thick crowd that had gathered around without another word. Paladin watched him go the whole way, not paying any mind to the faces staring right at him in confusion.

That confusion soon turned to anger.

"Hey... I recognize him!" One 'mon shouted out from the crowd. "Yeah!" Another shouted. "He's that Sentinel! The red Lucario!"

Paladin did not move, even as the Pokemon around him closed in on him. The baby Snivy in the bundle squirmed about a bit, close to waking up from all the noise around him. Paladin bent down, set the baby on the ground, and formed a protective shield of aura around the boy for protection. Then, he stood back up.

We should go now! Pally, what the hell?!

Paladin shook his head. The townsfolk, even those selling goods nearby and simple spectators, had all gathered angrily around the Lucario. And at once, they were upon him like a pack of rabid Mightyena.

~~~~~

Paladin lay on the ground, a pool of blood trickling out from underneath him. He blinked a few times to readjust his vision, which was severely blurred thanks to having his face beat down so many times. Looking about, he saw that everyone had finally left, after what had seem like an eternity of minor pains.

Jeez, what was the point of that?

"Retribution," Paladin grunted as he rose, rubbing at his head. Beside him, he saw the baby still sound asleep under the shield. The aura shield had a few cracks in it; clearly the townsfolk had tried to smash it to no avail. Paladin retracted the aura and took the bundle back in his arms, feeling some slight aches in his joints as he did.

Alright, we got the kid. Now what?

Paladin spoke once again, seeing that everybody had clearly left the area. "We're leaving this place," he said in that gruff voice. "It's like that Excadrill said. There's nothing left for us here either. I would rather the boy grow up far away from all this and what has happened here. He would be shunned for being our son."

Yeah... you're right. He deserves better than we had. But... where will we go?

Paladin never answered the question. He simply began walking away into the deserted streets. By this point, dusk was nearing, and the orange light bounced off of the Lucario almost reflectively. "We have one last matter to attend to here. I think we both know what that is."

~~~~~~

The Golurk still lay exactly where he had last fallen. Its eyes were dark and lifeless, and a sickly yellow hue radiated off of it.

It's going to explode within a few days. You should've known you were a ticking time bomb; it's why Darkrai chose you. He hoped that if you.... if I died, I'd detonate, taking everything but him with me. Creates lotsa chaos, y'know?

Paladin nodded; he understood the situation perfectly. He had for some time now. He looked upon his old body with disdain.

"This thing..." He croaked, "Is the old me. It means nothing anymore."

At that moment, he generated two large sphere composed of aura, one around himself and the other around the Golurk. With a blast of energy the two 'mon rose into the sky at a blinding speed, the air splitting as they did. In a few seconds, they were high above the clouds.

"Here. For all of Gold City to see."

Below him the baby Snivy wriggled about in his arm, but he rocked it a few times sending him back to sleep. Zed certainly was a heavy sleeper.

Let's do it.

At that moment,powerful waves of Aura energy surged through the sphere which contained the Golurk, bombarding it with power, essentially crushing it to bits. It wouldn't last much longer. After a few seconds, the body began to shake violently, and Paladin stopped.

"Alright, let's go down."

With that he zoomed downwards, leaving the Golurk suspended in the sky. Paladin landed softly on two feet and looked up expectantly.

Hehe, now for the fireworks.

Not long after he said this, a deep rumble could be heard from high above, before the sound of a deafening BOOM! resonated throughout the city. Paladin did not flinch, and used aura to cover Zed's ears. The sound was soon followed by a giant, luminescent sphere of dark yellow energy that parted the clouds violently, and shone as bright as the setting sun, casting a warm light down upon the city.

And below it, the Paladin and the Blackguard stood together, basking in the warmth of the body they had once called their own. But the real Paladin was gone, and so was the real Blackguard; both perished in that very explosion. What emerged in turn was something new. Something... better.

~13 years later~

Zed sighed, taking a seat beside his father. "Dad, why are we moving again?" He asked with annoyance in his tone. "It's the third time this year, and I just made a friend!"

His father shrugged, taking a bite from his Oran Berry. "Cuz we can? I dunno," he said with a smile and a mouthful. "Anyway I don't like this place. The women are... mediocre, at best."

Zed punched him in the arm playfully, inadvertently hurting his own tiny knuckles instead. "Oh dad," he said with a slight chuckle, clasping his hand to relieve some of the pain.

"Heh, just kidding, boy," he replied in that same gruff voice as he always had, but more happily this time. "Nah, the real reason's cause I found us a much better place. Civilization."

Zed's eyes brightened with excitement. "Really?! We haven't been to a real civilization in-"

"Five years, I know," said the father. "You know the routine though, right?"

Zed nodded enthusiastically. "Stay beside you at all times, be ready to run if anything happens, and don't die. I know."

His father nodded. "Good. Civilization can be a dangerous place. Little forest villages like this can't compare."

"I know, I know," Zed replied impatiently, making his father smirk just a bit more as he gulped down the last of his food. He stood and knocked some of the dense undergrowth that covered nearly the whole forest out of the way. Zed also stood, but he had no problem with the growth, being a Grass type. It seemed after years of pushing this stuff away, his father envied him for that.

"D'you wanna go fast or take it easy today?" Zed's father asked.

"Fast! Fast as we can go!"

"You sure, kiddo? You just ate, and last time you-"

"Fast!" Zed insisted, his tone almost as gruff as his father's, almost as if in mockery.

His father sighed and obliged, generating a small sphere around the Snivy, and one at least ten times that size for himself. The two were lifted into the air by the orbs, and after a brief warning from the Lucario, were launched away into the distance, splitting the air behind them.

Zed held on to the side of the orb as he looked down upon the scenery below him, marveling at it as he always did. There was something about the dense greenery and the rolling hills far into the distance that never got old. Zed looked to his father, who floated right in front of him in his own orb. He'd often wondered about the Lucario... how could they be father and son? There was no way. They were so vastly different in appearance that it was impossible. Not to mention the strange coloration he had, which was unlike anything Zed had ever seen on a Lucario, or any Pokemon for that matter. And he'd seen a lot of Pokemon on his travels.

Although, as Zed found himself thinking these things, he remembered to look down at himself. There was something they shared after all. He hadn't told his father yet, and had done his best to keep the fact hidden, but a few days prior, he'd noticed that his hand had turned a similar shade of sickly, dark grey.

Hehehehe... hey Zeddy. Guess who?

TO BE CONTINUED