The Children Are Hunted

Esper ignored the lucario. He honestly didn't care what he thought. He stopped and sniffed around. He caught a scent he knew well, and took off after it. He knew Ash and Kira would look after Thomas with or without him. So... he would follow this scent. He came out into a large room. At the other side was that white Arcanine, Garet, at least, that's what Esper had picked from his mind.
"You! Where is that ugly bird!?" Esper asked him.

Trigger was flying through the halls. He had gone to tell Winny to take Van someplace safe, and the two of them had been no where to be found! Trigger was starting to panic now.
"If anything happened to either of them, I'll kill them all!" Trigger said to himself. He looked at those two like his chilren. He hoped nothing happened to them.

Thomas was impatient. He did not like waiting. He fiddled with Volt's pokeball, but gave up when he could not open it. He felt so defenseless! His powers were locked, and he hated it! But how could he fix it? Maybe if Esper helped... No, Thomas could tell that this had been put in place by someone with far more skill than Esper had. So he sat and tapped his foot, waiting for someone to break the door down. He yelled out again.
"Be careful! This door is reinforced wth something! It'll be tough to open!"

The yellow Rattata looked quizically at the human that floated up.
"I'm sorry, but I never got your name! I would tell you mine, but I've been here so long I'm afraid I've forgotten it. Also, do all humans float like that now? I don't think I've ever seen anyone quite like you before," Rattata said. She glanced back at the vulpix and the wynaut. The wynaut was trying to calm the vulpix down.
"I think you're starting to get through to him. Want a Citrus berry? They grow all over the place," Rattata said as she snacked on one of her own.
 
Ash heard this and smiled. "Is it Riley-proof?" She asked the air, releasing her Raichu. "Thomas! Get to the back wall!" The Pokemon got to its paws and she grinned, watching her trainer release Carrie as well. The two of them looked at each other as Raichu took position, and nodded. Riley charged into a Volt Tackle as Carrie fired a full-power Blast Burn.

"M' name is Zaria," the girl told her softly. "And no not all humans float. I'm a ghost so I do. But no thank you. I haven't eaten in a long time." She had an idea of who this was but decided to wait until she was sure. "And if I get through to him, it won't change much. I said I wouldn't influence him and I meant it. If he wants to stay he can."
 
Garet skidded to a halt as he spotted the Espeon. From what he'd just said, this must be the one on the loose. "If you're referring to Trigger, then all I know is that he's somewhere in this base," he growled, his legs itching to just jump at the Espeon. That wouldn't be a smart move, though. If he could throw Garet once, he could do it again. Trying to get close without being mentally attacked would be difficult. Actually, trying to fight at all would be hampered by the Espeon's psychic abilities.

The Espeon had talked, though. "Apparently, you're not connected to your PokeBall, anymore," Garet observed. "Before you ask, I do not know the location of Thomas, either. Got the name from your mental shout."
 
Thomas took cover as the door exploded. He was grinning madly as he stepped out. His whole field of vision was still dark, and he nearly walked into Riley.
"Oops, sorry. Hey, thanks! I'm assuming that this big old Raichu I nearly walked into is Riley, so... Ash? Do you know what happened to Esper? I can't feel him in my head. Oh, and I can't use my powers for whatever reason, not even my light vision. Just a heads up," Thomas said as he smiled at the raichu, scratching the raichu's head.

Rattata looked up at the girl. She wasn't afraid, and she wondered why. This ghost was very nice.
"Oh, well, I guess it was kind of stupid of me to offer you a Citrus berry, huh?" she asked. Winny walked over, and she was visibly distraut.
"I can't fix the damage I did! What am I going to do!? I messed up my best friend, and what was it all for..." she said. Rattata was nonplussed.
"Have you tried hitting him on the head?" she asked. Winny looked at her, shocked that she would say such a thing.
"Kidding. That would not help," Rattata said. She finished her Citrus berry and tossed the other one to Winny.

Esper glared at Garet. What good was being able to talk if the person you were talking to would be deliberately unhelpful?
"Well, I guess we have a problem. You see, I really want to take out, Trigger, was it? And the way I see it, you're in my way. I know you know where he is. If you don't want more of what you got earlier, then I suggest you help me," Esper said. He waited patiently for Garet's answer.
 
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Riley let out a soft squeak, saying. "Nothing is Riley-proof!" She grinned at the scratching and pumped a paw in the air, almost like a fist. Carrie snorted and returned to her Pokeball, as did Kira. They were thanked and reclipped to Ash's belt.

"Yes, that would be Riley," Ash commented. "My cheerful bruiser." Riley grinned. The woman sobered as Riley reflexively wrapped her tail around Thomas' wrist as she used to do to Ash. The group began to walk, Riley making sure not to drag Thomas around. "Yeah... Esper's probably okay, except he got released from being your Pokemon Thomas. He's ticked and went probably after the Devisors. Not sure where he went. We'll find him soon though so you can recatch him."

Zaria just smiled at the Rattata and shook her head. "You were just doing your job," she told Winny and she floated over to Vulpix. Mentally, she wanted to throttle him. Instead she chose to temporarily make herself solid, which she never wanted to do again, and flick his nose. "Honestly calm down!" she scolded. "If you really were going to be attacked, wouldn't we have done it by now? Wouldn't they because you were biting at everyone? God, I know you're paranoid but I didn't you'd lost every shred of common sense and dignity you have."
 
The Amnesia Chronicles: Callings.

We meet our trio, right when we left off.

Umm...sorry, but we don't need an announcer.

Mark was being held onto by a stranger. He didn't know whether to be happy from the rescue, or scared at the person. They had not removed their hat-looking thing. Then it hit him...this person knew his real name. So...they must know something else, something about his powers! Look at how ridiculous he sounded. Shouldn't he at least be thinking about where his real father is? Who he could be? Is he good or evil? He had had enough of evil fathers...to put it briefly, he had hope in this stranger. Had his bad luck run out? The ninja was looking around the factory, to try to find the exit. It was to the right of them, a large door that seemed unmovable. He hadn't even left the factory yet, so why was he worrying about these trivial things.

"This is it. Use your power to give me superstrength. Enough to bring down that door."

He could do that? Make himself stronger? Amplify others. He had barely a moment to think when a dozen AAPM grunts were lined up opposite them. The ninja began to run, headfirst into the wall. Mark could tell even they were nervous by the vibrations going through their cold hands. "Here goes." they collided with the door. The BAM echoed through the halls.

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

Clair looked at the ninja confused, but only one person had ever called her darling in her entire life. But that wasn't possible. The ninja zoomed out of the left wall as if it were made of air. They were out of the holding cell. They looked under themselves to find maybe one thousand feet of air. It was as if the base was floating. Air Base? They began to fall, yet the hooded figure didn't seem worried. They flung themselves down and along the way, she began to laugh.

"Grandmother...how?"

"Oh, darling, it's a terribly long story. Haven't you ever wanted to sky dive?" Emma Dragaunt cackled wildly.

"No! Who is Verus Mens? What do you know about Mark?"

"I'll explain later. Now, there is a certain RV that has seen one of the Black Ones. I have to get you there!" her voice moved back to a more serious tone.

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

Tony dreamt of the strangest things. Then he saw it. The explosion. The Abra cringing as the machine held his limp body in place. There was a man in the darkness. Who was that? He looked closer. The explosion began growing in volume. He could hear the screams of people echoing through the room he was in. The fire illuminated the man's face. He caught only a glimpse of who it was when he was woken up by Mia. His sister?
 
"Tony? Are you ok?" Mia asked, stil shaking him gently. She had been looking after him since the others had left. Marcus was out in the main room waiting impatiently, and Robby was sitting on top of the RV keeping a lookout. Mia hated waiting, and she desperately hoped Thomas would be fine. Ash, Vulpix, and Esper, she wasn't worried about that much.
"How's he doing?" Marcus asked from the front of the RV.
"I think he's starting to come around!" she said.
"Who are you? Really?" she asked in Italian. If he was who she thought he was, he should be able to answer her in Italian.

Van jumped back.
"Ow! That hurt! How would you like it if I flicked you in the nose!" he said angrily. He rubbed his nose with his paw. To Winny's surprise he shrugged a little.
"Don't do that!" he protested. He was still confused, and unsure of who to trust, but these people weren't bad. Not from what he could tell. But he would watch, and remain wary. But... Maybe he would let his guard down one day. Maybe one day soon. Rattata laughed a little at his reaction.
"Sorry, I haven't seen anything like that in a long time!" she said.

Thomas allowed himself to be led by Riley. He hated not knowing where he was going. He hated the fact that his light was sealed away. And he longed for Esper to reach out to him again.
"Hey, if anyone here can use telepathy, would you tell Esper that I said to meet us wherever it is we're going?" he asked.
 
Zaria chuckled at him. "I'd like to see you try," she told him happily. Then she closed her eyes. "Zora... we may need you a moment." These words were kept private.

"For what? Mickey's got Bryan kinda tangled up and I have two kids crying over me." The boy sounded amused.

"Do I want to know?" she thought with a laugh.

"Cerise and David." She sighed. No surprise there.

"Then bring them. Vulpix's head is screwed up. And you got through him before the first time, better than Thomas did at first. Try again."

He sighed. "Fine, I'll be there. Mickey just snatched his siblings. Little rat. Location please." She sent it and after a few moments, Dora teleported the boy there. He seemed unperturbed by the sight of Vulpix, Winny, and the odd Rattata. He smiled placidly at Vulpix. "It's my silly buddy!" If he was scared or angry, or any other emotion, he didn't give it off, genuinely glad to see the fox. "I hope you know you've messed with my plans," he scolded cheerfully as Zari flew over to him, whispering in his ear. He nodded and sat down. "So what's the matter?"

Ash nodded and whispered to Ness' Pokeball. The Metagross passed the message on. Hope the hotheaded little feline gets that," she grumbled. "I am not picking him off the wall or ceiling." Ash grinned at Thomas, knowing he couldn't see it. "Could be worse man," she told him. You could be dead instead of blind."
 
"Oh, I know there are worse fates than being blind. For example, being on the recieving end of Esper when he's in a rage like that. I've never seen this side of him before," Thomas said cheerfully. He looked around, as though expecting to see something. No, he didn't mind being blind. Well, he did, but he would get used to it. His sight would return when his backlash wore off. What he couldn't get used to was his powers being locked away. Even when they hadn't been active, they were still there, silently watching. Now, he felt empty. A second later, he felt something brush his mind. It was rough, but it felt familiar.
"I swear, if this isn't you, Thomas, then I will destroy your mind from here!" Esper said inside his head.
"Hah! You can relax Esper. It's me. I'm having a bit of trouble connecting with your mind right now," Thomas said aloud, hoping Esper would hear him. Thomas couldn't speak mentally without Esper's help.
"It is you?" Esper asked, sounding suspcious.
"Yes, you great dumb cat! It's me! Come find us, wherever it is we're going!" Thomas said.
"I will be there soon," Esper promised. He withdrew the contact. Thomas felt the strain Esper was feeling for a brief second.
"He's pushed himself too hard. Fool. I hope he's alright," Thomas said.

"What? I..." Van said. Great. He had just messed things up. Now... Wait a minute. This was Zoran. Zoran tended to joke around quite a bit. He probably wasn't serious. Winny and Rattata looked over at Zoran. Winny shrank back a little, but Rattata ambled over to him. She sniffed him a little bit.
"So... You're a real human then? Not to say you aren't real, Zaria, but... Ah, you know what I mean! I haven't seen one in a long time. I remember them being smaller than you though. Like, a lot smaller," Rattata said. Van looked at her. She didn't even know these people! How could she trust them so easily? How was he not trusting them? They were his friends! He tried to let go of all the things his mind was telling him. Trigger's words then echoed in his mind.
When your head is confused, you should follow your heart.
Winny grinned. She had gotten those words of wisdom as well. He stopped thinking for a moment, and looked at his friends. That was his answer.
"I... I don't know... I want to go back. I want to go home, if you can call the RV that," Van said softly. Winny was happy to hear him say that. He sounded very shaken, and still scared, but that was it. He was still under the effects of what she had done. He would need someone with more power than her to fix that. But, he was fighting it now. He didn't want to give in to his urge to run.
 
Ash laughed and sighed at the same time. "See Thomas, this is why you shouldn't worry people. Or Pokemon. Hope you have a Pokeball for him." Ash suddenly sobered. She looked blankly ahead and Riley cried out. She walked forward quietly, listening. Ah her senses were dying... ow... backlash... She gritted her teeth and kept walking. It was only a bit strong. She could survive it.

Zoran grinned at him. "That's my buddy all right," he said proudly. The boy looked down at Rattata. "That's right I'm a human. I'm probably older than the human you might know, if I'm thinking of them correctly." He looked over at Vulpix. "If you want to go back," he said softly. "I'll take you home. But you need to come over here. I need you to show me you trust me." He looked at the Rattata and Winny. "You guys can come too if you want."
 
"Yeah I've got a pokeball for him. But it wasn't my fault! I wasn't doing anything rash this time! I promise!" Thomas said, screwing up his voice in a decent imitation of Marcus. He laughed. He was aware that Ash was beginning to feel her backlash. Time for him to do something.
"Need some help up there?" he asked. He reached for his pokeballs and then remembered they were locked. Duh.

"And which human might that be?" Rattata asked. She could barely remember a human. But that was about it. She had lived for 5 years, and most of them were spent here, by herself.
"Ah, who cares! I'm coming too! It's boring being all alone here!" she said suddenly. Winny shrugged and looked at her still bleeding arm. Van had really sunk his teeth in that time!

"Hm... I really have no where to go. When Trigger finds out what I did, and I mean not just to Van, but coming here with him and Zaria, and taking Ash into the base. I even had a little to do with Esper's escape. I, I was kind of pestering Merin with questions while he was fight Esper. A little distraction goes a long way. So... If you really don't mind helping someone that was an enemy before, then why not?" she said. Van looked over at Zoran. He wasn't sure... But he wanted to trust him. He got to his feet, and took a few hesitant steps toward Zoran. And then a few more. Rattata almost wanted to tell him to hurry it up. But that would send him running off into the woods. Van took a few more steps. And then some more. He was in grabbing range of Zoran now. He wasn't sure he wanted to, but he took a few more steps and was practically in Zoran's lap. Winny smiled, and stopped using Destiny Bond. Shortly after coming here, she had thought that maybe she could get through to him that way. But, it hadn't been enough. From the files she read, Zoran had been the first human that Van had gotten close to. Then was the CT that was back at the base, Thomas, right? She groaned. She had forgotten all about that! She wondered how Ash was doing. She was, after all, only one person. And her powers weren't limitless. What if she needed help?
"Sorry, but I have to go check on something real quick. You guys head on without me! I'll be that way soon, I promise!" Winny said as she teleported back to the base.
 
"No," Ash told him firmly, looking annoyed even though he couldn't see it. Honestly, she had survived this before. As long as the sleep feeling didn't engulf her she was fine. Riley let out something akin to a whine. Ash patted her head before snorting at Thomas' voice. "Dude don't try and be like Zora. You are bad at imitating people." There was the sensation of a Pokemon teleporting nearby and Ash grinned. "Hello."

"Is okay," Zoran told the Wynaut as she vanished. It really didn't bother him. Vulpix was practically in his lap now and Zoran reached out and patted his head gently. "It's all right buddy," he told him kindly, scooping him up an the Rattata into his arms. "Believe the girl's name is Mia lass," he said softly as Dora teleported them to the front door of the RV. "And Vulpix? You're reminding me of Alyss." He opened the door after waving at Robby and Alyss got up from where she had been sitting.

"You got him," she said softly, smiling at Vulpix kindly. "And...?" She looked at the Rattata, her black wings unfurling due to her surprise. Zoran nodded lightly and placed both Pokemon down on the floor. Then he straightened and Zaria floated around him. The boy was listening for Ash. She was drooping, poor woman. He gently pushed at her weary body and she smiled softly.
 
"Well," Garet retorted, "my side of the problem is that I don't know his precise location. He could be in the hangar, he could be trying to direct defenses from the center of this base. He could be flying around the halls, for all I know. I was about to fly out when I found out that you had escaped."

The Espeon probably wouldn't believe him, anyways. Garet doubted he could get enough speed up before the Espeon blasted him again. Unless you were a Dark Pokemon, it was often difficult to get around a Psychic Pokemon's psychic abilities if you weren't one yourself.

"Why exactly would you hate being trapped in one of those things?" Garet asked. As he talked, he tightened whatever mental defenses he'd learned during his time as a Deviser. They wouldn't be as strong as a Psychic Pokemon's, but they'd help. A little, at least.

~~~~~

Leo looked up sharply as he heard a distant BAM. He'd just been searching an unconscious human scientist's portfolio for certain information. Since Underoot, who commanded a Pokemon or two who knew unusual attacks, had brought him and the CT here, it was possible that this AAPM base would have some information about one of their own projects. Running into this scientist made that possibility more likely.

His ears swiveled to catch the sound of running footsteps in the corridor around the corner behind him. Leo closed the portfolio and stood up, running down the hallway. He'd look through the rest of it once he had the time. Right now, it was time to find that exit.
 
Esper glared at Garet a while before speaking. The part of his mind that was still sane told him to run as fast as he could. With his senses dulled and his mind tired, he would not survive a fight with him. But the Arcanine didn't know that! Garet had assumed he was at full power! And it was good to see he was wary of Esper. That meant he thought Esper was a threat.
"I must leave now. You got lucky. Stay away from Thomas, and the rest of my friends. If you don't, then you'll get more than just the tap on the shoulder I gave you earlier," Esper said. He turned and walked down the hall again, not listening at all to anything Garet had to say. Some things were more important than a fight.

Thomas grinned at Ash.
"Fine. But you have to admit, I'm not that bad!" he said as he heard someone teleport in.
"I'm here," Esper said as he arrived from down the hall.
"Me too! Let's go! the others are waiting!" Winny said. She walked over and grabbed onto the raichu that seemed to be assisting Ash and Thomas. Esper walked over and pressed a paw to it's back.
"Take us to teh RV," Esper said quietly. He hoped that would put enough distance between him and that voice. As if right on cue, It started talking to him again.
"Before you get out of my range, I wanted to give you a little gift," it said. Esper didn't even have time to wonder what it was talking about. He screamed out in pain. His mind was being burned! Everything went black. But the pain was still there! It was searing away at his mind, bit by bit. Suddenly, it was gone. He felt Winny's calming presence, but his mind was still burning from that attack. He looked up at his friends and realized that he could not sense their emotions! His empathy had been burned away! That wasn't the only thing. He couldn't extend his mind out to scan anymore!
"Esper! Let's get back!" Winny said uncertainly. She teleported them all out of there.

Robby vaulted off the roof and looked at Zoran.
"You get Bryan taken care off?" he asked. Rattata looked up in surprise. There were humans of all shapes and sizes here! And the colors! Two of them had fur a nice bright shade of yellow, just like hers! And that girl. When did humans start getting wings! And that black was so stunning on her. She could smell two more in the back and wanted to see them too! She was ammazed by this RV as Van had called it.

Van himself was not too impressed. Ash and Thomas seemed to be missing. He wondered where they had gone. His mind instantly jumped to the conclusion that they were off getting others to hurt him, something he shoved aside. The two of them wouldn't need any help with that, nor would they do it without a good reason. He telped and took cover under the table when Winny teleported them all back. Thomas collapsed on the couch. Van looked at them all. Esper was in a lot of pain, and the gem on his head was now a sort of dull shade of red, as opposed to the vibrant color it had been. Ash was also out of it pretty bad. Just what had happened here?
"Wow, do humans normally fall from the sky like that?" Rattata asked.
"Oops. It's a lot harder when I'm teleporting a lot of people. But I can't get carried away now! Esper! Where are you?" she asked.
"It burns!" he replied, still moaning in agony. Winy pulled herself out from under the pile she had caused and walked over to him. She did, something, and he stopped moaning, and started breathing softly.
"That should help. Damn Merin! He would try to burn Esper's powers out of him!" Winny said angrily. Mia walked into the room. She began to tell everyone to shut up when her eyes fell on Rattata. Mia said a word in Italian. Rattata gave a hesitant reply. Mia said something else, and Rattata leapt into her arms with an expression of pure joy.
"Sparkles, it is you!" she said.
"Sparkles?" Sparkles said.
"That would be your name in this language. How in the world did they find you!?" Mia asked, after she had recaught Sparkles.
"She found us," Van said from where he was under the table.
 
"Mickey's got Bryan," Zoran replied. "I'll go back so-Asha!" He instantly bolted to her side. "Seven hells what did you do?"He didn't care his composure had slipped even the slightest bit. He went over and Ash almost hit the ground if he hadn't caught her. "Jeez..." he mumbled. She was out cold, the teleport having accidently harmed her due to so many people. Riley seemed to whine and went over to help Zora lift her into the small area where she slept. Zoran cursed foully in Hindi, his eyes burning black. Closing his eyes, the boy abruptly disappeared.

"He doesn't want you to be near when he tells Mickey his cousin's in a coma," Zaria told the group wisely as Alyss went over toward where Vulpix was hiding. She knelt and held out a hand for him to sniff.

"It's okay," the winged girl said softly. "Everything will be okay. You can come out. You're safe with us." Zaria went over, floating hesitantly next to Esper. She had a feeling he couldn't sense her now but she wanted to stay by him just in case.
 
"Wait Zor! You might need... Ah never mind. He's already gone," Robby said. He was a bit mad about what was going on. What had caused Asha to push herself this hard?
"Did it not occur to you that he left you here on purpose?" Esper asked quietly.
"What?" Robby asked, genuinely curious.
"Think about where we've just been. An RDM base. We weren't exactly stealthy, what with me destorying the mind of all who got in my way and Ash beating everyone else senseless, or worse. They know we were there. And we didn't get everyone. I ran into Garet, the Arcanine that came after us before. Also, I couldn't find Trigger. There's even a powerful psychic type that was capable of setting my mind on fire! Now, look at us. Thomas had his powers sealed. Ash is in a coma. I'm next to useless. Vulpix IS useless. Who does that leave? Alyss, Marcus, Mia, and you. And, I'm sorry to say this, but I wouldn't put my faith in Mia right now. Her pokemon aren't strong enough to help if things get really tough. And Marcus is almost the same. I don't care how good Alyss is, but I do not want her out there fighting on her own. And Zor probably felt the same," Esper said calmly. Van looked at the ground.

"Sorry I'm so useless," he muttered.
"I didn't mean it like that. But you really are in no condition to fight," Esper said.
"What about Zaria?" Robby asked. Esper glanced at her standing next to him.
"Dude, she's a ghost. Very rarely are ghosts able to effect things happening here. As much as I hate to say it, odds are that she wouldn't be able to do much of anything," Esper said with an apologetic look at her.
"And don't look at me. My moves are purely defensive," Winny said finally. Once Van was sure that no more people were going to fall out of the sky on him, he came out from under the table and walked ver to Alyss. He hated to admit it, but Esper was right. He was not in any shape to fight.

"So, Esper. What exactly did they do to you? Why can you talk now?" Robby asked after a while.
"They destroyed my pokeball, making me a wild pokemon again. Then, as we were leaving, Merin, as Winny called him, blasted my mind in an attempt to sear my powers away. My thought sensing, empathy, telepathy, and far-seeing abilities are all almost completely gone," Esper said sadly. A second longer, and he wouldn't be able to use his telekinesis or limited future-sight either.
"Hey, Marcus. Would you go in my bag and get one of my pokeballs? I need to recatch Esper," Thomas said from where he had rolled onto the floor. Marcus tossed him one of his own, and Esper allowed himself to be caught. As soon as the ball stopped moving, Thomas released Esper. Esper joyfully rejoined his mind. He was purring happily. Thomas could still feel the pain from where Merin had blasted Esper, and he burned with anger. He began fiddling with Amber's pokeball. He still couldn't get it to open.
"We have another problem. My pokeballs are locked. Until I can get them open, I'm stuck with only Esper," Thomas told everyone. Van looked up from where he was sitting next to Alyss.
"That's not good," he said.
 
"No," Alyss mumbled in agreement with Vulpix. She looked up at Zaria. "Zari... you cursed someone before right?"

The girl nodded. "I cursed the twins," she said slowly. "But I was alive when I did that...oh." She grinned cruelly. "I get you. A ghost can curse again... and it's much stronger."

"And through me," Alyss added, looking sober. "If you possess me again, something could really happen."

Mickey dropped to the ground, clutching someone in crimson chains. It was Bryan. The boy wasn't struggling, but stared blankly ahead, eyes that were once green now violet. He didn't even seem to notice the change in scenery. Dora spun away, looking almost anxious. She leapt up to Ash and examined her. "Mistress will recover," she said softly after a moment. "It will just take time. She'll wake herself up in time."

Mickey nodded and scowled to himself. There was hatred burning his eyes. "Zora will be going on ahead with the mission," he said softly. "He trusts us to handle it. As for the Pokeballs, they're technology so may we can hack them."
 
Garet just watched the Espeon walk away. "I'm sure we'll meet again," he growled. Someday. The Arcanine turned to stalk away, heading for where Devisers turn in reports. Seeing the damage that had been done as he walked down the hallways, he would probably be lucky to find someone who was still fit to write for him. Garet would turn in a full report of everything he hadn't reported on, then he'd look for Agatha, if she was still here.

"Stay away from Thomas, and the rest of my friends." If the Espeon actually considered those humans his friends, combined with how they'd all protected the RV and when Clair and the boy had stepped between his fire and the Dragonair...
It was time to find out from Agatha herself what the purpose of capturing the CTs was.

~~~~~

It wasn't too long before Leo skidded to a halt as his Aura-sense picked up something a little familiar. Extending it, he found that the CT and whoever had helped him escape were near a large door, with a group of AAPM humans nearby. Leo used his Aura-sense to scout out the route there from where he was standing. Nodding to himself, he continued on.
 
The Final of the Amnesia Chronicles: The Black Ones

She spoke in the strangest language. But for some reason, Tony was able to respond with ease.

"Tony. I am Tony. And I believe I'm your brother." he said slowly, remembering the dream or vision he had just had. "I almost saw his face." he whispered to himself. He wasn't sure if she had heard him, but now a different memory came into his head. A kidnapping. The screams of a familiar brother...what had happened to him. His eyes glowed adn he felt some other presence take over the small amount of control over his body he had.

The children alone...don't bring hope.
Unite them by choice or with rope.
The power is given to the one who has won.
The Tournament of the Black Ones has just begun.
​
"The Black Ones? Unite the children? By choice or by rope?" Tony felt himself welcomed back into his old body. He moved his hand up and down to assure himself. It was as if some sort of oracle had taken over his body. "The Tournament? The one run by the AAPM? What does that have to do with power? We need answers, and I bet Mark and Clair will have some."

Somewhere, far away, the hooded figure smiles and hopes the message was recieved by the children it should have been. They wished they could have given them a straight-forward reading, but...those words had been entrusted to them. The leader of the Black Ones waltzed away.

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

The outside of the AAPM was a huge forest. On the left was path into the deep seemingly endless woods, yet on the right was a sea of black water.

"No! This can't be right!" the ninja snapped. They ran into the woods. Mark was confused, but most of all, he was tired. He was reminded that he hadn't had a good night's sleep in ages. He looked at the ninja who then pushed him off their back and proceeded to disappear into the woods. They came back a few minutes later with wood. They began to rub the pieces together to create an ember. Once it was sparked, they blew.

"Here, Volcan, can you use Flamethrower?"

"No. Strengthen the embers, you can do it. Focus."

Mark stared at the embers, then pressed his hand against the wood. The fire began to grow, and grow. It was then Mark realized what he was. An amplifier...useless without someone else.

"Who are you?"

"I am Dust. I am a member of the Black Ones, an ancient group of sorcerers that have strived to keep the world balanced."

"Okay..Dust, is it? What does that have to do with me? Why have you rescued me? Why do we have to get to Venice? Who is my real father?"

"All in good time. I can answer only one of those questions. Which do you choose?"

"Umm...I guess I choose..."

Dust cackled loudly, "I'm kidding. I can answer them all. I just love giving people the idea of me being wise."

Mark was confused. This person didn't seem to be serious. He smiled as he asked this question, "Okay, so....can you start at the top?"

"Yes. My name is Dust." she laughed loudly. Mark tried to quiet her down, now realizeing the hilarity of her answer. He couldn't force down a smile. "Just messing around. You have your Amplification power you see. That is a power granted to most Pokemon, the ability to raise or decrease stats. Such as the move Growl."

"Yeah...soo?"

"Well, it still remains a mystery on why you do have these powers, but when you, along others, was born, the world became unbalanced. That is why Pokemon steadily began appearing more and more in your world. Soon, corporations such as the AAPM and RDM began tearing the world apart leading to our distress. In simple terms, you have disrupted the world."

"Wow. Thanks for that." Mark got up and began to walk away.

"You have no idea where you are going. So come back, and sit down. There is so much more to tell. But maybe we should keep moving, I get the sense that there is someone nearby."

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

Clair realized that they were about to dive into an ocean. The last thing she saw before hitting the water was a mark on her grandmother's shoulder. A fox like face of pure black. Then the SPLOOSH of water made any other sounds impossible to hear. When she washed up on shore, her grandmother was gone.

"Grandmother? Where are you?" she screamed. She had lost her grandmother just like that. She felt something in the sand. She followed it with her toes as she put one wet boot on her other leg. It was arrow. Underneath it were some words.
​
keep in this direction and you'll meet up with your friends. keep smiling, darling.
​
She watched as the tide swept away the final words of her grandmother. At least she knew she would be okay.

​
 
Mia started shaking. Sparkles looked at her concerned about what was going on.
"What did that mean? Power... I know a lot of people with power. Maybe some of my friends have to enter the tournament? But it's being held by the AAPM! That can't be good!" she said when she heard those words. Delcatty meowed loudly and Sparkles walked over to greet her. Then something else clicked.
"Wait, you're my brother?!" Mia said. She couldn't believe it! She had to tell Simon! She calmed down. She got to her feet.
"You want to meet them? Most of them are tired and hurt right now, but they're very nice," she said.

"Hack them? How am I supposed to do that? Wait, don't tell me you guys are hackers too," he said almost jokingly. Vulpix snorted, but didn't move. Thomas was glad that Ash would be ok. He had been worried. He didn't want his friends to get hurt because of him. But he accepted that they would take risks to help him, and he couldn't stop that. It was just how they were. Winny crouched low.
"Esper, do you feel that?" she asked.
"No. My senses were burned out a second ago!" Esper said.
"Sorry," she said. Then they heard Mia shouting about her brother. Esper grinned. Vulpix jumped.
"I wish she would learn to keep her voice down! My ears are ringing now!" he said, sounding a little like his normal self.
"Now they have learned the truth! Thomas, make your move!" Esper teased.
"Oh shut up!" Thomas said.
 
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