“We’re blasting off agaiiiiiin!”

  Zero watched the trio of goons fly away with a satisfying ‘ting’ and a flash of light. Turning around, Zero asked Ash and the rest of the gang, who had now begun to walk over to her, “Are they always like that?”

  Ash nodded, “You get used to it eventually. Anyways, did you manage to relieve some stress?”

  Zero, frowning, replied, “...If anything, it just made me more annoyed…”

  Ash laughed at her response. “Yeah, that’s how it usually goes with them.”

  With that incident over and done with, the gang continued their journey to Saffron City. They passed through a forest path, filled to the brim with life. Zero stared in awe as a flock of Butterfree passed by overhead.

  “They’re really pretty, huh?” Serena asked her. Zero nodded enthusiastically, making Serena giggle. “You know, after being surrounded by boys for so long, it’s nice to have another girl to talk to.”

  Zero tilted her head, unsure of her meaning.

  Serena continued, “We haven’t really got much of a chance to talk, y’know? Everything’s always too busy these days.” A bright smile appeared on the older girl’s face. “But now we have time to talk!”

  Confused, Zero asked her, “About what?”

  “Doesn’t really matter,” Serena told her, “It’s just fun to talk to each other. It doesn’t matter what we talk about, per se. It’s just to...get to know each other.”

  “But I already saw everything about you in Ash’s memories,” Zero said to her.

  “Well, I guess,” Said Serena, cradling her head with her arms, “But those are his memories. Wouldn’t you wanna make your own?”

  Zero looked down, humming in thought. “...Make my own?”

  “Yeah,” Serena replied with a nod, “You’re always making new memories with everything you do. So I was thinking we could talk and make some more.” She trailed off for a second, looking away from the young girl, “I know you’ve had...a tough life, to say the least, and even though you’re free, it seems to only keep getting tougher…” She then turned back to Zero with a bright grin, “I think it’s sad that your only happy memories are someone else’s, so I was thinking we could make some of your own.”

  Zero paused for a moment, mulling over Serena’s words. She stared up at the older girl, then at last, gave her a smile of her own. “My own happy memories...that sounds nice.”

  “I thought so,” Serena said to her, “So, then. Anything you want to talk about?”

  Zero pondered this, placing a hand to her mouth in deep thought. Serena stared at her with a big grin to encourage her, but as time went on, it became strenuous to hold. Serena sweatdropped, staring down at the deeply-thinking girl awkwardly.

  “...Is it that hard?” She asked.

  Frowning, Zero replied, “Sorry...I can’t think of anything…”

  Serena sighed in exasperation. This might be more troublesome than she thought. She wanted to try and bond with the young girl over gossip or something of the sort, but Zero’s blank-mindedness was making it difficult to say the least. Still, it wasn’t Zero’s fault, of course. She was still young and, knowing her...upbringing, she probably had less-than-pleasant thoughts, if any. She also probably didn’t like the attention. Serena sighed once more. ‘Guess I can try again later…”

  Zero spoke to her again, grabbing Serena’s attention. “Sorry again...I can’t think of anything...so can you help me?”

  “Huh?”

  “I can’t think of anything,” Zero told her, “So can you help me think of something to talk about?”

  A smile returned to Serena’s face. ‘So, she wants to talk after all.’ Clearing her throat, Serena grinned brightly at the young girl. “Well, what do you like? I think finding things you like and talking about those can help.”

  “Hmmmm…” Zero pondered. Things she liked? There wasn’t anything in particular that came to mind. She loved the sight of Ash and Riley’s Aura, but she doubted that Serena would care as much since she couldn’t use it like they could. Her train of thought was interrupted by a flashback of the Eevee from yesterday. How it had imprinted on her so quickly, giddily running around at the thought of having a new family. Of course, it apparently wasn’t meant to be. This did give her an idea, however.

  “...You like Pokemon, right?” She asked Serena.

  “Huh? Of course!”

  “...Then let’s talk about that.”

  Smiling, Serena replied, “I’d be glad to. So, do you have any particular favorite Pokemon?”

  Surprisingly, to even herself, it didn’t take Zero long to reply at all. “Eevee.”

  Serena made a surprised ‘o’ at the mouth, not expecting such a quick reply. Her smile faded a bit, but she managed to keep it intact. Serena guessed her answer was based off of...last night’s incident...A wave of sadness at Zero’s expense came over the older girl, but she managed to keep her smile for the younger girl. “Eevee, huh? That’s a wonderful choice.”

  “What’s yours?” Zero asked her, “Your favorite Pokemon?”

  “Well…” Serena took out a Pokeball and pressed the button on the center, releasing her loyal partner and friend Braixen whom she started her journey with. The elegant fox-like Pokemon let out a happy “Brai!” from being let out of her ball. “I don’t like prioritizing one Pokemon over the other. They’re all my wonderful friends who have helped me through thick and thin, but if I had to choose, it would be my partner Braixen.” Braixen smiled gratefully at her trainer’s words.

  Zero’s eyes immediately widened with adoration at the appearance of Serena’s appearance, making an extended “Woah” that made Serena let out a laugh at the sheer adorableness of Zero’s reaction.

  “Of course,” Serena started, “I love all Pokemon as well. They’re mankind’s lifelong partners, and Ash once told me something uncharacteristically wise once.”

  “What was it?” Zero asked, her void-like eyes somehow sparkling.

  Serena giggled at her enthusiasm. “He once told me that anything a person can’t do alone can be done with a Pokemon. They are integral parts of the world we live in.”

  “No way…” Zero said in awe.

  “Yes way,” Serena replied. ‘With how often and ferociously Zero battles, I forget that she’s still a little kid.’

  Serena picked up the young girl and planted her on her shoulders. Before Zero could question her, Serena said, “Take a look around you, and up at the trees.”

  Zero held off her questions and did as she asked. She stared up at the trees, and then her eyes widened like dinner plates. She wasn’t able to see it at her normal height, but now that she was higher, she saw wondrous things. She saw a variety of Bug Pokemon crawling and flying up and down the trees, bird Pokemon making nests for their young, and much more. A world of Pokemon previously invisible to her appeared before her very eyes thanks to Serena.

  “See that?” Serena asked the young girl, “It’s good that you love Pokemon so much. They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”

  Zero, stunned, could only nod. She was too busy taking in the wonderful sights before her. Countless Pokemon rummaged through the trees and high bushes, peering down at the group. A small band of Teddiursa waved down at them from a tree. Zero, giggling happily, waved back.

  ‘Nailed it,’ Serena thought to herself, pumping her fist.

  The group walked along this beautiful forest path until they saw a light, signifying its’ end.

  “Hey, there it is!” Ash exclaimed, rushing to the exit. Riley, Pikachu, and Lucario followed suit. Serena put Zero back on her feet, ushering a short-lived pout from the young girl, and the two of them raced to catch up. Upon exiting the forest, they were met with the sight of a gleaming city from atop the cliffside they were now standing on.

  “Ah, so this must be Saffron City,” Riley stated, taking in the view. As the rest of the group marveled at the city, Lucario was not so ecstatic. He felt something ominous coming from the city, though it wasn’t quite as overtly malicious as what the group had felt from the Lab back in Celadon. Regardless, it still put him off ease. He looked back at Ash and Riley to see if they had noticed it, but they hadn’t.

  ‘So,’ He mused, ‘It’s too weak for them to feel? ...Then why do I feel so...on edge?’

  The sensation was gone as quickly as it came, leaving the Pokemon of Aura bewildered. Normally, such an instance would have been ignored in a situation like this, but Lucario was far from a fool. Activating his Auric Link to Riley, he said, ‘Riley. Do you feel that?’

  ‘Feel what?’

  Lucario shook his head, ‘I guess not, then. I felt a malicious presence down in Saffron City for a moment. It was weak, so that explains why you couldn’t feel it.’

  ‘Yes, that is concer-hey wait, what’s that supposed to mean?’

  Ignoring Riley’s petty ire, he told his partner, ‘You know I am more skilled with Aura. It comes naturally to me. Anyways, I simply felt the need to tell you. Though it was weak, the maliciousness I felt was strong. Nearly as strong as Zero’s when we first felt her Aura from above the Lab.’

  ‘Well, I suppose that is a cause for caution. I’ll relay it to the rest of the group.’

  Riley cut off the link to Lucario and turned to face the rest of the group. “Hey, guys. Lucario informed me that there’s a malicious presence in Saffron City.”

  “Wait, really?” Serena asked, “Did he tell you what it was?”

  Riley shook his head. “He told me it was too weak to identify, but the level of maliciousness it had…” He resisted the comparison to Zero, thinking it would alert them, “...It was immense, to say the least. He thought it was important enough to mention, so I’m mentioning it to you.”

  Ash stared down at the city, deep in thought. “A malicious presence? Could it be her?”

  “Who, Ash?” Zero asked him, having apparently overheard his mumbling.

  Ash jumped, not expecting to be overheard. “Oh-well, it’s-...” He turned back to the city, deep in thought. It couldn’t help to hell her, he guessed.

  “I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, it might be the Gym Leader Sabrina.”

  “What makes you say that, Ash?” Riley asked.

  Ash shuddered. “Well, let’s just put it like this...last time I came here, Sabrina had a few screws loose, to put it lightly. I don’t know if it’s her for sure, since she seemed to get it together after I got her Badge.”

  “That reminds me,” Serena started, “You said you beat her by...making her laugh. How did you do that?”

  Ash went to answer, but found the memory difficult to, well, remember. He, of course, remembered that unfortunate instance that occured, but the rest of it was vague. Now that he thought about it, his memory was terrible. He forced himself to think harder, trying to remember what he did, but kept drawing up vague, blurry images. Smoke was practically flowing from his ears.

  “Geez, don’t hurt yourself,” Serena commented, looking at him oddly.

  “I got it!” Ash cried, “I ended up catching a Haunter to help me deal with her Psychic Pokemon, but it ended up just making funny faces at her instead of fighting. Somehow, that worked, and she gave me the badge.”

  “I see,” Said Riley, “So where is this Haunter now?”

  “It’s still with her,” Replied Ash, “I thought it would be safer to leave Haunter with her to keep her in check. As far as I know, it should still be there.”

  Riley nodded. “Well, that’s fortunate, I suppose. If she goes out of control again, then Haunter should be able to remedy that situation.”

  Serena leaned in beside Ash, and asked him, “By the way, you keep saying she goes ‘out of control’, but what does that mean? What did she used to be like before your Haunter made her laugh?”

  Ash’s blood ran cold at the question. If they found out about the underwear incident, it would be the end of his dignity for good. So, he avoided the question and began marching toward the city, eager to get this Gym Bade and get out as fast as possible. “W-well, time’s a-wasting! C’mon, guys, we’re burning daylight!”

  “Wha- Ash!” Serena protested, running down to follow him, “Hey, wait up! What’s up with you?!”

  Riley could practically feel the embarrassment radiating off of Ash. Whatever happened to him down in that city must have been unpleasant. Shrugging, he motioned for Zero and Lucario to follow him, and the three began making their way down to the city with the others.

  As they approached the gate to the city, they could see that the gate itself had “Saffron City” inscribed on what looked to be golden plating. Riley whistled, commenting “These guys sure save no expense, do they?”

  Ash nodded, “I think all the competition it has with Celadon city for being the richest city in Kanto makes them want to show off as much as possible.”

  Riley nodded, “Makes sense. Business requires people, and tourism inspires business, so they’d naturally want to sell the look of this place as much as possible.”

  “Yeah, that’s all well and good,” Said Serena, looking around what she could see of he city from their position, “But with all this tourism supposedly going on, you’d think there would be more...people?”

  Riley summoned his Aura, and surely enough, there was no one. He couldn’t sense a single living soul. Furrowing his brow, he told the group, “Serena’s right. I can’t sense a thing from in there...not a living soul.”

  Ash tensed up, “I knew coming here was a bad idea...but…”

  Serena stared at him. “But…?”

  Ash shook his head, “I may not like this place, but an entire city of people going missing is definitely something I can’t just walk away from.”

  “I agree,” Riley said with a nod, “It is my duty as an Aura Guardian to protect all life.” Turning to his partner, he asked Lucario, ‘Is that weird sensation still there?’

  Lucario shook his head. ‘No. It hasn’t reappeared since I first sensed it, but the people of this city going missing certainly confirms that there is a very malicious force nearby.’

  Riley nodded at him, then turned back to face the rest of the group. “All right, let’s start investigating. Nobody break away from the group, though.”

  Zero stared blankly at the city, unsure of what to make of it. The group nodded collectively, and began their search. As they began walking through the city, it only became more ominous. Of course, not a soul was in sight. Trash billowed in the howling wind. Countless buildings stood tall in spite of this, though now they served no purpose.

  “Let’s see what’s in Silph Co.,” Ash suggested, “If anything’s still here, it would be in there.” The rest of the group nodded and approached the colossal building. Silph Co. HQ was the largest building in Kanto, and normally, guards and businessmen would be swarming around it. Now, there was nothing. No guards, no entrepreneurs, nobody.

  They approached the building, marvelling for a moment at its’ sheer scale, then walked inside. Or at least tried to. The screen doors, normally automatically opening, were shut tight. They tried the spinning door as well, still with no luck. As the group pondered what to do, Zero, unbeknownst to them, approached the glass doors and promptly punched through them, shattering them with ease.

  “It’s open now,” She stated plainly, walking inside. The group stared at her with a mixture of shock and bewilderment, shrugged, and then followed inside.

  “Woah,” Serena commented, “This place is huge!”

  Within the building, or at least its’ first floor, there was a massive reception area. Large, rounded desks with computer terminals were scattered all over the place. Tables and seats also decorated the room, typically used for customers and the like to talk and eat while they’re waiting for an appointment, but now...it was all empty. Hollow. It chilled Ash’s group to the bone.

  They made their way over to the elevators, and, of course, failed to open them. The electricity had been completely cut off. It looked as if the rapture itself had taken the entirety of this city, leaving no trace of life but the shell of what it used to be.

  “...We should get out of here,” Serena said, starting to shiver.

  Riley nodded. “I agree. This place feels...off, to put it bluntly.”

  Ash sighed in resignation, “...The Gym, it is.”

  They exited the building, returning to the empty wasteland of a city. Of course, still, there was no one. Not a soul existed within the city besides them. Tentatively, they began to approach the Gym. On their way, they spotted the Pokemon Center. From what they could see through the windows, there was still no one. Riley flared his Aura to check the inside for more life. As per his initial scan of the city, there was no one.

  So, they moved on, readying themselves to get to the bottom of this mess. Lucario flinched suddenly and whipped around. Behind him, he could see a hunched-over figure cloaked in shadow. The moment Lucario noticed him, the figure sprinted into an alleyway out of sight.

  ‘Behind us,’ Lucario told his partner, ‘Something dashed into an alley.’

  ‘What? That’s impossible! I haven’t sensed a thing since we arrived!’

  ‘It could be obscuring its’ presence,’ Lucario offered, ‘And if it has that capability, it could very well be responsible for this fiasco.’

  ‘I see,’ Riley replied. He turned to the group next, motioning behind him with his thumb, “Lucario said he saw something behind us.”

  “Really?!” Serena exclaimed, “What was it?!”

  “He doesn’t know yet. It ran into an alley.”

  “Could it be what caused this?” Asked Ash.

  Riley nodded, “I don’t know, but it’s the best option we have.”

  “So, how do we stop it?” Serena asked, “If it can just make people disappear, then what if it does the same to us?”

  “I’ll ambush it,” Riley told them, “You all stay close behind me. If anything happens to me, attack it with all you have. You, your Pokemon, anything you have.”

  “Wait,” Ash cut him off, “If we kill it, then what will happen to everyone?”

  “I don’t know,” Riley admitted, “But I’m planning on interrogating it if I can. I simply don’t want you all to meet the same fate. Trust me, I have no intention of dying, though, if it can be avoided.”

  Ash crossed his arms, humming. It sounded far too risky, but he couldn’t see any better option.Then again, who was he of all people to be reluctant about risk? Especially when the lives of an entire city were at stake?

  “Alright,” Ash said, “Let’s do this.

  Riley nodded and turned to Lucario, who pointed out the alleyway the mysterious figure had run into. He gave his partner a thumbs-up and motioned for the group to follow. Taking Riley’s advice, Ash and the others followed him, but at a distance as to not meet the potential fate of the rest of the city’s inhabitants. Riley hunched up against a wall of a building, right behind the corner the figure had gone into. Steeling himself and calming his heart rate, the Aura Guardian took a deep breath, summoned his Aura along with an Aura Sphere into his palms, and whipped around the corner.

  “Don’t make a move!” Riley roared.

  A terrified scream was the response he got. From inside the dark alleyway, Riley’s Aura illuminated the figure. It was an old man in shaggy, worn-down, and ripped clothes with an equally-worn brown jacket. The man was practically covered in wrinkles, and his skin was as pale as the moon. The old man stared up at Riley in horror, frantically scrambling backwards, but he couldn’t manage to pick himself up.

  “P-please!” The old man rasped weakly, “D-don’t hurt me!”

  The rest of Ash’s group neared and peered around the corner of the dark alleyway, though at a distance they could run if necessary.

  “It’s an old guy?” Serena whispered.

  “Guess so,” Ash replied.

  Zero merely looked on at the man oddly. She felt no power whatsoever from the old man, but then again, it could be a ruse meant to lure them into a trap. Narrowing her eyes, she held her right hand behind her and summoned flames in her palm in case things turned south.

  Riley glared at the man, unwavering from his position. He tried to sense the old man’s intentions, but his Aura signature was too low for him to sense nearly anything from him...or he was obscuring it…

  “Tell me,” Riley ordered, “Are you responsible for what happened to the citizens of this city?”

  The old man cowered, raising his hand as if to shield himself. “N-no! P-please, you have to believe me!”

  If Riley could sense the old man’s intentions, this would be a lot easier. He seemed genuine enough, but evil people were generally good actors when it came to making sure they survived to commit even more atrocities.

  “What’s your name?” Riley asked him.

  “A-adam!” The old man replied quickly, “My name is Adam!”

  “Adam, huh?” Riley mused, “Well, Adam, if you’re not responsible for this, why are you the only one left?”

  The old man hesitated, going almost completely stiff. He licked his lips and raspily inhaled. He frantically looked around as if trying to find an escape route, but as he tried to push off the ground, he fell onto his back once more. His hesitance to answer all but confirmed to Riley that this man was the culprit.

  “Start talking,” He ordered, “Or else. As an Aura Guardian, I can’t just let you walk away knowing you’re responsible for the disappearance of an entire city’s population.” His Aura began sparking menacingly to further his threat, making the man yell in terror.

  “N-no, please! I’ll tell you what I know!” The old man forced himself into a sitting position, creating cracking noises from seemingly every inch of his body as he did so. The group behind Riley, barring Lucario, couldn’t help but flinch at the uncomfortably morbid noise. “...It was the Gym Leader, Sabrina…” The old man rasped, “Her power went berserk and she…”

  The old man was cut off by a sudden coughing fit that made him double over, wheezing desperately for air. Riley contemplated whether or not he should help the old man, but his duty to protect life pushed him to do so, as even if this was a trap, intentionally letting an old man die before him would hardly sit well with his conscience. Kneeling beside the mysterious old man, Riley placed a hand on his shoulder and allowed a small portion of Aura to flow into the old man. He looked horrified at the blue energy, but couldn’t find the strength to avoid Riley’s touch. As the glowing blue energy seeped into the frail old man, his coughing eventually ceased, being replaced with a raspy sigh.

  “Thank you…” The old man Adam rasped, clutching at his chest as he breathed, “But...what did you just do?”

  “It’s Aura,” Riley replied, “In short, it’s life energy. But I don’t trust you yet. What I’ve given you will only last about an hour, unless you can convince me you had no part in this. You were saying something about the Gym Leader, Sabrina right?”

  Adam nodded. “Yes...just two days ago, Sabrina lost herself to her own power. It began growing exponentially about three years ago, just two years after a trainer named Ash had managed to free her from her previous uncontrolled state…”

  Ash wanted to step out of his position at the mention of his name, but Lucario made sure to tug on his arm to stop him from doing anything stupid.

  “Ash?” Riley asked, “I...heard that Ash had beaten her by having his Haunter make her laugh.”

  “You have?” The old man asked, looking up curiously at Riley, “How do you know that? Are you a friend of his?”

  “If I find you to be trustworthy, I’ll tell you,” Retorted Riley, “For now, keep explaining what happened, and I’ll see if I can tell you.”

  “Fair enough,” Rasped Adam, “Anyways...Actually, perhaps I should start from the beginning…”

  “Wait, the beginning?” Asked Riley, “How far back does this go?”

  The old man wheezed out a sad sigh, “...Ever since Sabrina was born, her Psychic powers were incredible. As a toddler, she was powerful enough to crumple metal spoons with her mind alone, and effortlessly at that. As a child, she could pick up a house with her Psychic powers. As a teenager, she could turn a house into a paperweight. But as she got older and older, her powers isolated her from the rest of reality, and she became controlling, manipulating, and cold.”

  The man flinched. Riley surmised it was because of an unpleasant memory of what came next. “...She became attached to an old doll of hers, which she channeled her Psychic powers through. For whatever reason, one that I still don’t know to this day, that doll made her cruel and cold. She turned people she didn’t like into dolls and threw trainers who had lost Gym Battles to her out of her Gym with her powers, uncaring if they were harmed by it. Including her own mother.”

  Adam grimaced, clutching at his heart. Riley made an attempt to help him, but the old man held up his hand as if to say he was fine. “...That was, until Ash’s Haunter had been able to make her laugh,” He explained next, “Her first laughter in ages made her drop the doll, which disappeared afterward and turned Sabrina back to normal. Ash wisely left the Haunter with her to make sure she never became like that again, but…”

  “But?” Riley asked after about a minute of silence from the old man.

  Adam cringed, shaking his head. “...Haunter was able to keep Sabrina in check for about two years. It was always able to make her laugh, never failing even once...until three years ago. One day, Sabrina was in a terrible mood. I believe this to be because her growing power was causing her stress. Haunter, as usual, tried to make her laugh. For the first time ever, it failed.”

  He continued after another long pause, his voice becoming raspier with every breath, “She could no longer laugh. She appreciated the Haunter’s attempt to help, but it simply no longer worked. Then, the Haunter’s joking, instead of having no effect, began having the opposite effect. Haunter agitated her more and more, but she still considered it a friend and tried to keep her frustration to herself. About a week ago, she lost it and attacked the Haunter as it tried to cheer her up.”

  Ash couldn’t help but wince thinking about his old Pokemon being attacked for trying to help. He only knew the Haunter for a short time, but even in that short time, he could tell that Haunter always meant well. Though Haunter lacked the ability to take anything seriously, it still always meant well.

  “The Haunter,” Adam continued, “Fled after being attacked by Sabrina, never to be seen again. Sabrina grieved over the loss of her closest friend, only causing her stress to rise tremendously, along with her ever-growing power. Two days ago, she lost her power completely, turning the entire city, both Pokemon and people, into toys and draining away at their life forces, only leaving enough to keep them alive.”

  “...I see,” Riley said, “Is that all of it?”

  Adam nodded solemnly. “Just about all of it.”

  “How do you know this?” Riley asked, narrowing his eyes, “Are you some kind of accomplice?”

  The old man bowed his head guiltily, “...You could say I was an accessory to this whole mess, yes...you see, I am Sabrina’s father.”

  Serena, Ash, and Pikachu gasped. Ash’s blood ran cold again. This was the man who had forced him to undergo that embarrassing dance in front of his friends five years ago. That incident gave him nightmares for weeks! Though, something else struck Serena as odd while Ash was grieving over the dignity he’d lost that fateful day. The man claimed to be her father, yet he was old and wrinkled like a raisin. She wanted to ask, but knew that abandoning her position could be disastrous.

  “...Her father, huh?” Riley remarked with a disappointed sigh, “And you let her get like this?”

  Adam nodded sadly. “You’re right. When I saw the rate at which Sabrina’s power was rising, I became afraid of her. I was a coward, and my cowardice led me to avoid Sabrina at any cost. This was likely one of the main factors that led to her eventual unleash. My wife, Sabrina’s mother, tried her hardest to keep Sabrina sane, but her alone wasn’t enough. When Sabrina lost control entirely and kidnapped the entire city, she still apparently had enough sanity left to leave us unharmed. My wife finally convinced me to confront our daughter, and together, we did so…”

  Adam gripped at his pant leg, furious with himself. “Sabrina, she-...My wife was very stern with her, while I meagerly stood behind her, unwilling to say anything for fear of incurring her wrath. I think that Sabrina took it hard, believing that her mother’s message was us abandoning her, even though it couldn’t have been further from the truth. She turned her own mother into a doll and tried to do so to me as well. I ran, like the coward I’ve always been, and managed to escape, though not entirely…”

  He tugged at one of his wrinkles. “As you can see, I’m nothing more than a feeble old man now. Sabrina trapped me within this city and has been eating away at my life force from afar, which is why you see me in the state I am now. Were it not for you, I would likely be dead by now…”

  His look of sadness furled into an odd, questioning one. “By the way, why are you folks here? Didn’t you listen to the news?” Ash’s group flinched, thinking they somehow blew their cover.

  “Folks?” Riley questioned, “What are you talking about? I’m by myself.”

  The old man let out a short laugh. “I wasn’t born yesterday, you know. I’ll have you know my Psychic powers aren’t exactly as feeble as my body. My family has been a long line of Psychics for ages. Also, I saw your whole group before I ran in here.”

  Riley sighed and motioned for the rest of the group. Nodding, they entered the alleyway, staying behind Riley in case this was still some kind of trap, or something like that.

  “Well, you got us there,” Riley admitted, “But what’s this about the news?”

  “What, have you not been paying attention to the news lately?!” Adam demanded, “An entire town disappearing is something that would be covered rather quickly, you know. They even sent a platoon of Officer Jenny’s to investigate, and they were all turned into toys when they entered the Gym! After that, I guess they told trainers and travelers to avoid the city.”

  Ash and Serena turned to each other. They hadn’t really gotten the chance to watch the news since the last time they were even at a Pokemon Center was in Celadon. With all the craziness ensuing there and since then, there never really was a moment they could have checked the news.

  “No,” Riley answered for the group, “We’ve been...busy, as of late.” He resisted the urge to look at Zero, just in case it gave the old man any hints.

  “I see,” Grumbled Adam, “Well, then, why have you come here?”

  A question like that posed a paradoxical problem for Riley. If he answered truthfully, then if this man was working with Sabrina, he could tell her with his Psychic powers in exchange for sparing his own life, but Riley had no means of sensing Adam’s intentions since the old man’s life force was so weak. If he used his own Aura to strengthen Adam, he would weaken himself and possibly leave himself open to an attack. The obvious solution was to deny him an answer, but this man could also know a potential weakness of Sabrina that could be exploited to save the city, and leaving an old man to die, potential enemy or not, hardly sat well with him.

  “You know,” The old man said, “I pointed out earlier that my Psychic abilities were still strong even though my body was frail. If I had wanted to cause you harm, I would have blown you away from me to escape once I was cornered.”

  “What the-?!” Exclaimed Riley, taking a step back in shock. He’d read his entire thought process!

  The old man wheezed out a laugh. “Sorry for the scare. I can read minds too, you know. Just one more advantage of bein’ a psychic.”

  Riley furled his lips into a frown, but held back his urge to voice his displeasure as a potentially-crude remark. “I see,” He said, “Does that mean, then, that Sabrina will be able to do so as well?”

  The old man nodded. “She likely already knows you’re all here, and your intentions at that.” He narrowed his eyes judgingly at Riley. “You mean to defeat her, right?”

  Riley hesitantly nodded, unsure of how the old man would react to his answer. Then again, now knowing the man before him was a Psychic, Adam probably already knew the information that he was withholding from him anyways, so there was no longer any point in trying to hide it. “...Yes. We do. We were originally here to obtain two Gym badges for my friends here,” He motioned to Ash and Serena, “But now that we know a more pressing matter is at hand, I believe we’ll save it for a later date if it can be helped. The lives of this city’s denizens are, of course, far more important.”

  The old man nodded, apparently approving of Riley’s answer even though he likely already knew what he was going to say. “I see,” He said, “Well, to be honest, I wouldn’t really mind if you took care of her.” When he noticed Riley’s intent to demand his meaning, he quickly rephrased himself. “Pardon that, I didn’t mean it like that. Sabrina is my daughter, after all. I don’t mean any ill will towards her. All I am saying is that I wish for this chaos she’s stirred up to stop. If that means harming her, then...so be it. All I ask is that you do not kill her.” He looked up at Riley judgingly. “You won’t, will you?”

  Riley scoffed at the old man, turning away from him to walk away. The last thing he said to him over his shoulder was, “You already know, don’t you?”

  He turned away from the old man before he could respond and motioned for the rest of the group to follow him, walking out of the alleyway. The others followed suit, except Ash, who spared one last glance at the old man Adam, not out of spite for the incident when he’d first met him, but out of curiosity. He couldn’t get a handle on what was really going through his mind, or even if what he was saying was true.

  “You know, Ash said, “You really should come with us. It’s your daughter we’re talking about. Don’t you want to help save her?”

  “Save her?” Asked Adam with a curious look on his face, reading Ash to see his meaning, “You mean, save the city folk, right?”

  “Well yeah,” Ash responded, “But I want to save Sabrina as well. From what I’ve heard, she’s had a rough life. You might have read all our minds already, but one of my friends, the little girl who was with us...she had a terrible life up until now. One I can’t even begin to describe to you.” He shook his head. “With the help of my friends, we managed to save her and give her a new chance at life. If I can help it, I’d want to do the same for Sabrina.”

  “Hey, Ash!” Riley called, “Come on, we’re moving onto the Gym!”

  “Just a minute!” He called back, then turned back to face Adam. “My point is, I want to help Sabrina too.” He offered his hand to the old man, who looked at him oddly, then, apparently having read nothing deceitful about Ash’s mind, accepted it. Immediately, a rush of energy from Ash’s deep blue Aura surged through the old man. Adam stared in awe at himself and the energy coursing through his veins. He felt incredible, more so than he did even before his life force was drained away.

  “That should keep you on your feet for now,” Ash said, releasing Adam’s hand, “I may not be able to sense your intentions, but Sabrina is your daughter, and I think that the best thing to help her would be for you to try and help her. You won’t have to do it alone anymore, you know.”

  The old Psychic blankly gaped at him, seemingly awed at Ash’s actions and uncharacteristic wisdom. His entranced look slowly turned into an appreciative smile.”You...I remember you...You’re Ash, right?”

  Ash nodded.

  “I see...yes, I remember you quite clearly. You’re that young trainer I made dance in his underwear all those years back! To think you would-”

  Ash nearly fell over in disbelief, but quickly regained his balance and cupped a hand over the old man’s mouth, cutting him off so, hopefully, no one would hear him. If word of that tragedy got out, he would never be able to live it down.

  “Not so loud!”

  “Ash!” Riley called again, more sternly, “What’s going on?!”

  “N-nothing!” He quickly answered, “I’ll be out in a sec!” He awaited a response, but received none and took it as a sign that the others would still wait for him. Sighing in relief that his secret was safe, for now, he let go of Adam, who was now grinning knowingly at him, and turned to leave. “Could you do me a solid and not talk about that?”

  The old man chuckled. “Well, I don’t know about that. It would be pretty funny to see their reactions, you know.”

  “I’m not laughing.”

  “Alright, alright,” Conceded Adam, “Your secret is safe with me.”

  Ash sighed with relief. “Thank you. So, are you coming with me?”

  The old man hummed in deep thought, but didn’t respond.

  Ash stared at him sternly, but ultimately turned away towards the entrance of the alleyway. As he was about to exit, without turning back to the old man, he said simply, “Just think about it, alright?” and walked away, leaving Adam alone to his thoughts.

  “Took you long enough,” Riley chided, “What did you say to him?”

  Ash merely shrugged. “All I did was ask him to help us. I thought if anyone could get through to Sabrina, it would be him.”

  “And judging by him not following you, I suppose that means he refused?”

  “He said he’d think about it,” Ash told him.

  “Of course he did,” Riley spat, narrowing his eyes.

  Serena stepped in front of him with a stern look on her face. “Hey, what’s your deal? You’ve been in a bad mood ever since we left the alley!”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “I’ve been in a bad mood since I met that cretin,” Riley shot back, “He acts so...apathetic, like nothing really matters to him. Not even his own daughter! What’s more, I couldn’t sense his intentions, so I had no way of even knowing if he was telling the truth about this whole thing.” He turned to Ash, “You gave him some of your Aura didn’t you?”

  Ash nodded. “I thought it would be best. I thought I could win him over with a show of kindness, but…”

  “It wasn’t the case, right? A man like that, who would willingly ignore his own daughter for years and leave her to her torment when he knowed she was suffering-! Even when the lives of an entire city was at stake-!” Riley clenched his fists and teeth, aggravated beyond words. He let out a breath, allowing himself to relax. “I’m sorry for my behavior,” He said, “But as an Aura Guardian, that man goes against everything I stand for.” He stared at Ash with narrowed, but less-intense eyes as before. “You shouldn’t have given him your Aura. I made sure he had enough to survive until we defeated Sabrina and freed the town, so he would have been fine anyways. Giving your Aura to him was a waste. You should have saved it.”

  Ash stared down, unsure how to respond. Being optimistic, about people and the world in general, was how he always was, and he couldn’t imagine not being like that. A part of him knew Riley was right, but another part told him that he should remain true to himself. Helping others, even if they didn’t deserve it, was simply how he was.

  Riley, seeing the internal turmoil Ash was in, put a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, Ash...you’re a good person. Better than me for sure, but...not everyone else is, and they will exploit you for it.. You can do amazing things! Your Aura is unrefined, and that’s natural. You’re still young, after all, but even still, your Aura is far greater than my own, and kinder than anyone else I’ve ever seen. You simply need to know where to direct that power.”

  He lifted Ash’s head up and pointed down at the Gym ahead of them, where Sabrina, and all of her toy captives, lied in wait for them to arrive. “Let me give you another lesson as an Aura Guardian. Right now, your power and kindness needs to be directed there, where countless people are suffering and afraid, including Sabrina herself. We—Me, Serena, Zero, Pikachu, Lucario— we all need you and your power as well. We need it so we can help others. I know this is hard to hear, but there are times where we can’t save everyone, so we, as Aura Guardians, must focus on the majority.”

  “I...can’t accept that…” Ash said, “I want to help everyone, deserving or not! No...everyone is deserving of help. Everyone is deserving of a second, or a third, or however many chances it takes for them to become good again! My Aura...it tells me this. My Aura is me, and I know I’m right.”

  Riley sighed. “I wish that were true. I thought similarly once. When I was first learning Aura. I wanted to learn it so that I could help as many people as I could, but then reality hit me. There are some people who, for helping them, will only hurt you and exploit you. If given the chance, they’d do the same to others, and use the chances you give them to better themselves to hurt even more.”

  He looked like he wanted to say more on that subject, but cut himself off. “Listen, as much as I would like to continue this, we need to get going. The longer we stand around, the longer those people have to suffer, so...we should get moving.”

  Without letting the others respond, Riley turned away and began making his way to the Gym. Lucario gave Ash a quick look as if to say ‘He’s right, you know,’ and followed his partner. Serena and Zero approached Ash.

  “Hey,” Said Serena, “You okay?”

  “I didn’t...expect a speech like that from Riley of all people,” Zero admitted, “Normally, he’s always happy and upbeat, but there...he looked angry for a second...but then he seemed very sad.”

  Ash nodded. “Yeah, I’m alright. And you’re right, Zero. Something tells me…” He looked solemnly at Riley, “He’s been hurt before, badly, to have been able to say something like that…”

  With that, the group began following Riley, readying themselves to take on Sabrina and free the city once and for all. They hoped that Sabrina herself could be saved as well. Little did they know, a certain old man had been listening in on their heated little conversation.

  …

  The doors of the Saffron City gym flung open, propelled by a cyan blue light that sent them crashing into the walls at their sides due to their hinges and eliciting a resounding crashing noise.

  “No room for subtlety, huh?” Serena jabbed as the group stepped inside.

  Without looking back at her, Riley answered, “There’s no point anyways. She already knows we’re here.”

  As if on cue, the doors slammed shut again behind them, making Serena and Pikachu yelp. Another set of doors down the dark hallway opened as well, as if beckoning them...or daring them...to enter. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Riley, Zero, and Lucario stepped forward, whereas Ash took a moment to breathe deeply to calm his nerves. It, of course, didn’t work. The overpowering force of Sabrina’s Psychic powers too intense to simply ignore. Looking over to Serena and Pikachu, both of them looked unsteady as well, but they were trying their hardest to keep up an act.

  “It’s getting to you too, right, guys?” Ash asked them. They nodded.

  “Yeah,” Serena admitted, “I’m trying to keep up a brave face, but having an opponent that can read your every thought is unnerving.”

  “Pii…” Pikachu replied with a look of unsureness.

  “I know, right?” Said Ash, “Taking a look at the other three…” They turned their gaze up at Zero, Riley, and Lucario, who continued on without flinching, in spite of Sabrina’s overwhelming presence.

  “It’s like nothing gets to them!” Exclaimed Serena.

  “I don’t know about that,” Ash replied, “Zero’s seen...far worse things than this. As for Riley and Lucario...I think they’re just really good at putting up an act.” He shook his head, getting rid of his train of thought. “Anyways, we’ve wasted enough time. Let’s catch up.”

  Ash allowed his partner to hop onto his shoulder and made his way back up to the group. Serena, meanwhile, pondered his words. ‘Putting up an act?’ She thought, ‘What would they need to hide?’ She snapped herself out of her thought process, seeing that the rest of her group was nearing the entrance to the next room, and ran up to meet them.

  The doors, yet again, slammed shut behind them as they entered the room with a resounding thud. At first, the room was too dark for them to make anything out, until Lucario and Riley summoned their Aura to shed some light. Ash took it upon himself to do so as well, though his weaker grasp on Aura made it so his hardly meant a thing. As parts of the black walls were illuminated, the group let out a series of horrified gasps. Decorating the walls on wooden rows were dolls, each and every one of them holding a small candle. Incredibly lifelike ones as well. Dolls of average, everyday people. Businessmen, ordinary civilians, a Nurse Joy, that platoon of Officer Jenny’s that Adam had spoken of earlier, and even a wide assortment of Pokemon as well. Ash narrowed his eyes when he came upon a doll of a baby, simply perched up next to a lady Ash assumed was its’ mother. Yet, the mother could not hold it, and the baby could not be held by her. The force known as Sabrina made sure of that.

  “My Arceus…” Serena breathed out in disbelief.

  “It’s...horrible!” Ash exclaimed.

  Riley clenched his fists, and Lucario flared his Aura in apparent fury that Ash and even Serena could feel.

  “Do you like them…?”

  The group whipped their gazes’ at the source of the voice, still cloaked in the darkness. Riley motioned at Ash and Serena’s bags. The two of them nodded and brought out the entirety of their Pokemon teams. They might need them for the battle ahead. Pikachu, Braixen, Infernape, Pangoro, Sceptile, Sylveon, Hawlucha, Clefable, Goodra, and Noivern appeared in brilliant, but fleeting, flashes of light, ready to take on the battle ahead.

  “Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh-!” How a whisper could be so loud was beyond the group. It sounded akin to nails on a chalkboard, forcing them all to cover their ears. It seemingly came from every direction as well, bouncing off the walls to only make the noise more unbearable. The voice finally ended the hissing shush, but spoke again. “Do not wake them! They are sleeping.”

  Suddenly, two of the candles in the hands of the dolls, the ones nearest to the doors, alit. Two more above and below them followed suit, again and again, more and more rapidly with whitish-blue eerie flames until the entire room was lit. Ash could feel his breath get caught in his throat as he watched the candle flames race across the room from left to right and top to bottom. The candles stopped suddenly, after having apparently reached the end of the room. Towards the center of the back of the room, one more candle lit up. A doll resembling a woman was perched on a singular wooden plank, wearing a bright yellow dress. Beneath that doll was a woman—a real one—sitting in a makeshift wooden throne that looked more like woodchips and splinters in the shape of a chair rather than a real wooden chair.

  The woman had long, black hair that draped over her face, and she wore a blue, spotted sundress and ragged slippers that both looked as if they had survived an encounter with a ravenous beast. Her skin was pale, somehow even more so than Adam’s. She rasped out a breath, one so cold that the group could see it appear and disappear in a cloud of fleeting smoke. The pale woman was suddenly surrounded by a bluish-purple glow and floated out of her seat momentarily, and placed herself onto her feet. The moment she broke contact with her ‘throne’, it fell apart.

  “I know why you are here,” She rasped, “You are here to kill me! To desecrate my home, and then kill my children as well!”

  Her hair was blown upwards as she raged, allowing the light of the candles to illuminate her face. Like the rest of her body, she was completely pale, like she hadn’t seen the sun in years. Ash gaped, completely taken aback by the woman’s appearance. If this was Sabrina, she was almost completely unrecognizable from how she used to be. Even when she was evil before, she didn’t look anything like...this! The only things that stayed constant was her eyes. Her glowing, malicious, yellow eyes.

  “Your children?” Riley asked her, “You mean these dolls? Or rather, you mean the thousands of people you’ve abducted from their lives to serve as your plaything?”

  “Silence!” She hissed, “You don’t know anything! You know nothing about us! My children need me! Begone from this place; you’re disturbing them!”

  “Oh, I’m disturbing them?” Riley spat, “That’s rich coming from the likes of you: one who would steal them away from their lives! Hear me, I will save them.”

  Before Sabrina could retort, Zero stepped forward. “You…” She spoke, “You are like me. How I used to be. You are a creature of madness, trapped in insanity by your own power.” She stared down at her hands, clenching them at the memory of what she had done in her own madness. “But...there is a difference between you and I. You had a chance. While I was molded against my will by forces I could not control, you had an average life. You are weak.”

  Sabrina snarled at her, “Who do you think you are, child?! You dare call me weak?!”

  “In spirit, yes,” Answered Zero without hesitation, “I know because I was once weak in spirit too. I had no control over my actions, and I hurt many I care about because of it. Seeing you here, like this, it...reminds me of myself. How I was before I was saved.” She allowed her eyes to open, unveiling her black voids. Sabrina stepped back in shock.

  Serena stepped forward next, “But we still managed to save her! What seemed like an impossible situation was made possible, and together we freed Zero from her torment. If you don’t believe us, you can feel free to read our minds.” She stretched her arms outwards as if to accept the psychotic Gym Leader. “Please, allow us to save you!”

  “Save me?!” Sabrina shrieked, “I am in no need of saving! Here, I am all-powerful, and I use that power to protect my children!”

  “What happened to you?!” Ash demanded, stepping forward, “Sabrina!”

  Sabrina eyes him with shock that quickly turned to malice. “You-! You’re that boy…! The one who gave me-”

  She cut herself off, unwilling to finish the sentence. Sabrina looked as if she was in a great deal of pain, remembering something unpleasant. Or unbearable, more like it. She gripped at her head, allowing her hair to fall over her face again.

  “Haunter, right?” Ash answered for her, eliciting a pained groan from Sabrina. “...What happened to you, Sabrina? When I first met you, you were cold, but not evil. What happened?”

  “Shut up…”

  Ash reached out to her. “Was it your Psychic Powers?”

  “Shut up!”

  “Was it Haunter?”

  “SHUT UP!”

  “Or was it...your dad?”

  A berserked scream tore its’ way out of the maddened woman’s throat, piercing the ears of the group and even threatening to put out the flames of the candles surrounding them. “I told you...TO SHUT UUUUP!”

  Sabrina shot her hand out at Ash, sending an invisible Psychic pulse at him that threw him back through the doors behind them, locking him out.

  “Ash!” Cried Serena, running to his aid. Or at least she tried to. The moment she turned to run, she was stopped in her tracks by an invisible force. Frightened, she tried to yelp, but couldn’t seem to even do that. Every inch of her was held still.

  “Where do you think you’re going?!”

  Sabrina’s yellow eye shone through her black hair as she turned her grip to Serena. “Die.”

  She made a motion with her hand as if she was about to crush something, but Zero quickly took the initiative and bared her fangs, now coated in Dark-Type energy, to attack the Psychic woman and burst off the ground to do so. With her free hand, Sabrina caught Zero in her grip and pressed her against the floor. The force became so intense that Zero felt the air being squeezed from her lungs, and she choked desperately to breathe.

  “Enough!” Roared Riley. He and Lucario nodded to one another and placed their hands together, summoning a massive Aura Sphere between the two of them. “You’ve held the citizens of this city hostage for long enough! I won’t allow you to make them suffer any more, nor will I allow you to harm my friends! If you won’t listen to reason, then I have no choice but to subdue you and force you to!”

  The two partnered Aura Guardians launched the ball of Aura forward, making Sabrina’s eyes widen like dinner plates. She quickly let Zero and Serena go, focusing her Psychic powers on blocking the large ball of energy instead. Zero made sure to let her know just how big of a mistake that was. Leaping off the ground, Zero flipped around mid air and delivered a devastating Dark Pulse attack to her back.

  Sabrina cried out in pain but, to her credit, didn’t break under the pressure from the attack. Instead, she used her left arm to create a barrier to block the attack, but the Dark-Type energy, unaffected by her Psychic powers, rushed through it, colliding with her and giving Serena an idea.

  “Pangoro!” She called, “You’re a Dark Type now! You’re immune to Psychic attacks! Quickly, use Bullet Punch!”

  With a cocky grin, Pangoro nodded, cracked his neck, and proceeded to rush the vulnerable Psychic. With incredible speed, Pangoro leapt over Riley and Lucario, so he was face-to-face with Sabrina, winked at her, and promptly pulled back his fists.

  “GOOOOORORORORORORORORORORORO! GOOOOOROOOOO!”

  The next thing Sabrina knew, she was being assaulted at every single possible angle by a series of punches moving at blinding speeds. What’s more, each and every punch was coated in cold, hard steel. Agony overcame Sabrina’s senses. She let her Psychic powers drop, letting the Aura Sphere impact her. Grinning, Pangoro got a new idea from this. The giant panda Pokemon swerved around and began rapidly punching the Aura Sphere into Sabrina. With a mighty roar, Pangoro shot one last punch Sabrina’s way, shooting her through the roof and sending her flying into the window of a nearby skyscraper.

  “Goro!” Pangoro exclaimed, crossing his arms. He appeared very satisfied with his “handiwork”.

  Serena, on the other hand, sweatdropped sheepishly at her Pokemon’s display of power. “I...think you may have taken it a bit too far…”

  Ash burst through the doors. “Guys! Are you all-”

  He was greeted with the sight of everyone still in battle stances, a very pleased-looking Pangoro, and a gaping hole in the ceiling.

  “...ok?”

  Riley nodded, “Well, we are now, thanks to Serena’s Pangoro.”

  “Yeah, just, don’t stroke his ego too much,” Said Serena, noticing her Pokemon looking more smug by the second.

  Ash chuckled awkwardly. “Well, I guess I was panicking for nothing then. When I was thrown out, the doors locked tight, and I couldn’t get them to budge!”

  “It’s not over yet,” Riley pointed out, motioning to the dolls still strewn across the room’s walls, “They’re still dolls.”

  Serena’s eyes widened. “Wait, she’s not defeated yet?!”

  Pangoro’s smug grin faltered a bit.

  “Either that, or only Sabrina herself can undo it,” Answered Riley, “We should go look for her.”

  “Right!” The group said collectively with a nod.

  The group made their way outside where, to their dismay, a dense cloud of fog had brewed, obscuring most of the city from the group’s view. Though, as they turned up to look at the skyscraper Sabrina had been thrown into, it was, oddly not covered by the fog at all. It looked as if the fog itself, somehow, was actively avoiding it, sluggishly swirling around it.

  “What the…” Whispered Riley warily.

  “I can barely see a thing,” Serena stated, squinting as if doing so could aid her gaze in piercing through the fog, “But that building...why isn’t it covered in the fog?”

  “I don’t know,” Ash replied, “But I have a bad feeling…”

  As if on cue, cracks began appearing from the building, spreading out in the shape of spider webs from the window Sabrina was launched through. Then, to the group’s utter disbelief, the skyscraper split in two; the top half levitating from the bottom. The top half of the skyscraper creaked and groaned as it was bent, crumpled, and shattered, raining broken glass and stone from it. A shrill, metallic screeching sound roared from the crunching heap of stone and metal, forcing Ash’s group to cover their ears and double over.

  A loud crash boomed from the remains of the top half of the building, and then it exploded...yet the debris did not fall. It swirled, ‘round and around one singular source, unknown to the group. Though, they had an inkling. From the center of the swarming mass of shrapnel that was once half of a skyscraper, Sabrina glared at them with such hatred that the group could feel the heat of her angered gaze.

  “What in the hell?!” Riley exclaimed.

  “She’s still up!” Ash followed.

  Serena gaped up at the sheer destructive force of the Psychic Gym Leader, trembling. She could hardly breathe, let alone speak.

  With an ear-piercing screech that seemed impossibly loud for a human to make, Sabrina rained hell onto the group. She had become completely insane, and words would have no meaning. Quickly, Riley, Lucario, and Ash shot a pulse of Aura forward that formed into a barrier, shielding the group from the shrapnel. The smaller pieces had no effect on their shield, but the larger pieces were tougher to deal with. The three of them collectively winced as a particularly large chunk of the building collided with their barrier, but ultimately were able to hold it.

  Fuming at the sight of her attack having virtually no effect on the group, Sabrina screeched and, looking down, made a gesture with her hands as if she was yanking something out of the ground. Then, the bottom half of the building erupted from the ground as well, breaking pipes and uprooting large chunks of the ground with it. Though this time, she had no intention of breaking it apart. Grinning sadistically at Ash and the others, she raised the building over her head.

  “Uh, Riley?!” Ash asked, panicking, “Can we block that?!”

  Riley, just as stunned and dumbfounded as Ash, slowly shrugged his head. “...I don’t think so…”

  With a shrill bellow that hardly sounded human, Sabrina hurled the bottom part of the skyscraper. The group, in turn, winced and braced for impact, but Zero had other plans. Without flinching in the slightest, the young girl hopped on top of the barrier, knelt down, and launched herself up at the building.

  “ZERO!” Ash called to her.

  Zero, ignoring Ash’s call, charged a Hyper Beam between her hands and unleashed it into the building. The ensuing laser plowed through the building chunk as if it was paper mache, racing up through floor after floor and blowing out the windows as it went. Sabrina’s eyes shot open, and she bent backwards at an angle her spine should not have been able to survive to barely dodge the laser, watching it sail into the sky with a mixture of shock and animal-like fury plastered on her face. Though the laser was mighty, it still wasn’t enough to stop the building from continuing forward. Zero scowled, letting out a roar of her own and doubling the Hyper Beam’s size. The building was enveloped entirely within the powerful attack, eradicating it entirely. Sabrina launched herself backwards to avoid the laser that had now grown to a point she couldn’t avoid while staying in one place. What she failed to foresee, however, was that Zero would appear from the beam from above the insane Psychic and deliver a brutal axe Blaze Kick to the back of her head, sending her careening down to the earth below.

  Right before Sabrina collided with the incoming cement, she used her Psychic powers to stop her descent. She whipped her gaze back around at Zero and hissed. Zero merely gave her a toothy scowl of her own. The young, silver-haired girl bolted down towards Sabrina, ready to deliver a Mega Punch to her abdomen, but that was a mistake. She no longer had the element of surprise on her side. Since Zero had no particular Psychic resistance, she had no way of guarding against Sabrina trapping her in a telekinetic hold and sending her flying into another building.

  Sabrina grinned sadistically at seeing her foe disappear into the fog, but her victory was short-lived. A bolt of electricity nailed her in the back, causing her to cry out in pain. Her glare met that of Ash and Pikachu, who had hit her point-blank with a Thunderbolt as she was distracted.

  “Nice job, Pikachu!” Ash commended, earning a happy “Chaa~” from his partner.

  “Don’t celebrate just yet,” Riley warned, “Here she comes!”

  Surely enough, that attack had merely ended up annoying Sabrina, and she was now racing towards them at maximum speed with wild eyes. Ash quickly turned to his Pokemon team.

  “I won’t have time to give you guys orders this time,” He told them, “It’s up to you to make your own strategies! Now, split up!”

  His team of Pokemon saluted their master, then sprinted off in every direction to wait for an opening. Serena looked to her team and thought of doing the same, but unlike Ash, if she were caught completely alone, she would have no means of defending herself. So, she shrugged off the idea.

  “I can’t be following Ash’s every move,” She told herself, “This time, I’ll have to rely on my own strategies!”

  The three Aura users quickly summoned another barrier, stopping Sabrina in her tracks, if only for a moment. She quickly blasted the barrier of Aura apart by making a “splitting” motion with her arms. This, however, gave Ash and the others an opening. Lucario leapt forward onto Sabrina’s back, flipping her forward and then using a pulse of Aura to shoot her backwards. Pikachu took the chance that now awaited him and leapt up, delivering an Iron Tail to her face. Sabrina hissed in pain, clutching the area she had been struck, then glared death at the yellow rodent. With the wave of her arm, Pikachu was sent flying away.

  “Pikachu, no!” Cried Ash. He growled angrily, then took off to attack Sabrina himself. Flaring his Aura, he pulled back a punch. Sabrina stopped him in his tracks, holding him still with her psychokinesis. With a shrill cry, the maddened Gym Leader raised her arm and threw the boy into the ground. At the last second, Sceptile leapt in and caught Ash before the impact, and set his trainer down.

  Ash looked himself over to see if there was any damage, but luckily found none. “Thanks, Sceptile,” Ash said gratefully. His emerald-green friend smirked and gave his trainer a thumbs up before bolting at Sabrina, decking her in the face with a Leaf Blade.

  Sabrina, infuriated, let out a shrill screech that nearly deafened her enemies. Before they could blink, the ground beneath their feet, not just below them, but the entire city’s flooring was uprooted, making buildings, roads, everything you could imagine being in a city float through the sky.

  Riley gaped, both awed and horrified by the scene playing before him. Ash stumbled, nearly falling over, off the piece of debris he was standing on if not for Noivern, who quickly caught Ash and righted him, earning a grateful thumbs up. Serena, meanwhile, was, along with the rest of her Pokemon, desperately hanging onto Pangoro, who was in turn doing the same to a large floating piece of concrete.

  “What is she doing?!” Ash cried, “The entire city’s floating!”

  “I’ve...never seen anything like it…” Riley responded.

  Sabrina gave them no time to get their bearings. With another ear-piercing screech, she lifted an even larger building than before above her head, readying it to be heaved at the band of trainers. All they could do was stare up at the infrastructure-made-projectile in horror, not having the slightest clue what to do in response.

  A blur of black impacted Sabrina’s side, appearing out of another building to her left. This blur was Zero, who was far from out of the count. Zero made a claw-shape with her hand, sparking it with Dark-Type energy. She made an attempt to stab Sabrina, but her arm was stopped by a dark blue light suddenly surrounding Zero. Sabrina grinned cruelly at her and sent her spiraling away with a blast of Psychic energy, then hurled the massive building her way.

  Zero sailed helplessly through the air, crashing through piece after piece of debris, reminding her far too much of her brief midair battle with Ryder the previous night. She blasted flames from her feet and used that to flip around upward, righting herself at last. Though, she didn’t expect yet another building to be flying her way. Thinking quickly, she placed her hands together, summoned another Hyper Beam with both of her hands, and swiftly brought one up and the other down, splitting the building in two and sending the split building sailing past her on either side.

  Sabrina hissed, shaking her fists in an uncontrollable fit of rage. Then an idea struck her, bringing a malicious grin to her face. The mad Psychic clasped her hands together, bringing the two pieces of building together, crushing Zero in between.

  “Zero, no!” Ash cried. Balling his hands into fists, he glowered at Sabrina, then motioned to his team of Pokemon to attack. For the first time he could remember, Ash himself was able to fight alongside his team of Pokemon. They raced forward, hopping between pieces of debris from roads, buildings, and elsewhere, charging at Sabrina.

  Sceptile, given that he was easily the fastest of them, charged first. He leapt up at Sabrina with the intent of hitting her with another Leaf Blade, but she stopped him in his tracks and flung him away. Little did she know that Pikachu was on Sceptile’s back, and by throwing him, she had given the yellow rodent a chance to slam down on her head with another Iron Tail, stunning her momentarily. Noivern took this moment to fly down and allow Hawlucha to grab onto Noivern’s talons. The bat-wyvern and his wrestler-inspired best friend smirked at each other, then Noivern flung Hawlucha at Sabrina, the former striking the latter with a devastating High Jump Kick. Goodra, from afar due to their sluggish nature, fired a Dragon Pulse at Sabrina that blew up in a cloud of smoke. Though, that was when their luck seemed to end.

  The smoke faded, revealing Sabrina cloaked in a dark blue barrier and looking far from pleased. She screeched and, with the wave of her hand, sent Ash and his team flying, save for Sceptile, who had already landed further away. The rest of Ash’s team collided with a large chunk of bent road.

  “Ash, are you alright?” Asked Riley, who ran to him with Lucario at his side.

  Ash nodded, rubbing the back of his head and wincing. “I’m in one piece, at least.” He turned to the rest of his team. “You all okay?” They nodded in affirmation to their master, giving him a look of resolution. “That’s good...but wait, where’s Sceptile?!”

  Ash and his team looked around frantically, but couldn’t find their last teammate. Ash cursed, balling his hands into fists. “Dang it, he must have gotten launched somewhere else!”

  “We’ll just have to trust that he’s alright for now,” Riley told him, “Right now, we need to focus on her!”

  Surely enough, Sabrina came rushing at them with a painful screech, her blackened hair flailing wildly in the wind. Riley and Lucario summoned another barrier, which was, of course, destroyed instantaneously by the raging Psychic. The barrier did give Ash and his team a moment to attack at least, if only for a split second. Pikachu hopped up Ash’s shoulder and pushed off, hitting Sabrina with another Thunderbolt. Unfortunately, this merely annoyed Sabrina more than anything, and she used her Psychic force to swat the yellow rodent out of the way.

  “I don’t think energy-based attacks will be very effective,” Riley told Ash, “Psychic-Type Pokemon are very frail against physical damage, but can take energy-based damage head-on without flinching!”

  Ash grimaced, “So, only physical attacks will work? That might be troublesome.”

  That restriction wouldn’t be any trouble for Hawlucha, but for the rest of his team, it would be one hell of a handicap. Sceptile would be restricted to only using Leaf Blade, an attack Sabrina had already experienced and could easily be guarded against. Infernape could only use Flame Wheel and Mach Punch, Goodra could exclusively use Bide, which was a very situational move, Noivern wouldn’t have quite as much trouble, being able to use Tackle, Dragon Claw, and Acrobatics, and Pikachu could only use Iron Tail and Volt Tackle, but the latter would inflict heavy recoil damage. But only using physical moves posed another issue entirely. It meant they would have to get close to Sabrina, and since she could simply halt your movement with a thought alone, that would be very difficult indeed.

  Sabrina screeched and prepared to blow away Ash’s group entirely, but was interrupted by a hulking figure rushing towards her. She focused instead on the figure approaching, but found that her powers had no effect. The figure rushed forward from the fog, revealing itself to be none other than Serena’s Pangoro. Pangoro shoulder-barged into Sabrina, sending her spiraling away. From the fog behind Pangoro, Serena and her team pursued their largest member.

  “Hey, Ash! Riley!” Serena called, waving to him.

  A relieved smile took hold of Ash’s expression. “Serena!”

  Their reunion was short-lived. Sabrina quickly regained hold over her flight path and summoned a virtual cloud of stone, metal, and glass to propel at her enemies now that they were united, save two. Ash, Riley, and Lucario summoned a third barrier to protect their group, but this time, it wasn’t faring as well as the first. The hail of debris struck their barrier like rainfall, only when a piece bounced off, Sabrina made sure to send the pieces back at the opposite side of the barrier, crushing the group inside a swirling wall of stone.

  The barrier became smaller and smaller with every passing second, forcing the group to inch closer and closer to one another. The three Aura users grimaced. They were being strained to their limit, but if they gave in in the slightest, they would be crushed. Serena desperately tried to think of a way to escape, but could see none that didn’t involve closing off the barrier, and by doing so, they would likely be crushed anyways. Their bodies were now pressed together tightly, and they no longer had breathing room. Serena couldn’t even reach her Pokeballs to return her team, and Ash was far too preoccupied to get his.

  A green laser shot out at Sabrina, forcing her to use one hand to deflect it, thus releasing some strain on the Aura Users and allowing them to expand their barrier outward again. They inhaled deeply, then shot the barrier out with such force that the storm of rubble was obliterated and reduced to unusable dust. Sabrina hissed angrily and turned to the source of the laser. It was Sceptile, who had used Solar Beam. Though it did not damage Sabrina as he had hoped, it did, at least, allow the others to escape from her grasp.

  The Aura users, however, were exhausted. Riley and Lucario were hardened enough so that they could remain on their feet, if not stumble a bit, but Ash collapsed onto his knees, frantically heaving for air. Seeing this, Serena took the initiative instead. “Pangoro!” She ordered, “Throw Hawlucha at her! Hawlucha, use X-Scissor!”

  Though Hawlucha was not Serena’s Pokemon, he knew better than to disobey at a time like this, and he was good enough friends with Serena anyways after their travels through Kalos. So, he allowed himself to be picked up by the colossal panda bear Pokemon and was hurled with incredible force at the Psychic. Hawlucha smirked at the approaching Gym Leader and focused two, light-green blades of energy from his hands and promptly struck Sabrina in a way that made an X-shaped slash. Sabrina was quick to defend, as a Bug-Type attack like that would surely do far more damage than she would accept.

  Sabrina closed her hands together, summoning a dark blue barrier of her own that successfully stopped Hawlucha in his tracks. The attack clashed with the barrier, sending up sparks, but Hawlucha’s momentum was quickly beginning to waver, threatening to make him fall. What’s more, Sabrina was preparing an attack as well, abandoning the barrier to do so.

  “Infernape, Mach Punch!” Serena ordered next.

  The flaming monkey Pokemon gave Serena a thumbs up and, before Sabrina could blink, bolted from the ground and struck Sabrina dead in the face, sending her back a bit and stunning her momentarily.

  “Noivern, catch them quickly!”

  Ash’s flying Dragon-Type Pokemon nodded to her and flew up to the other two of Ash’s Pokemon, grabbing Infernape with his talons and allowing Hawlucha to ride on his back. Though their combined weight was straining on the wyvern, it was able to make it back to the platform the rest of Ash’s group were on safe and sound.

  Serena ran up to the three Pokemon, embracing them in a hug. “Nice work, you guys! That worked out perfectly!” The three of Ash’s Pokemon simply laughed sheepishly.

  “Alright, now one more thing…” Serena’s eye glinted, an idea striking her, “Clefable and Sylveon, use Moonblast!”

  Serena’s two Fairy Type Pokemon nodded and opened their mouths wide, charging two balls of intense glowing light.

  “Serena,” Riley said, “That was great work you just did, but energy-based attacks have almost no effect on her!”

  Serena nodded, “I see, but damage wasn’t what I was going for.” The glint returned to her eye, and she grinned, “Moonblast has a chance to decrease Special Attack. If both of those hit, there’s a good chance that I can weaken her!”

  A grin encroached Riley’s face as well at hearing that. He’d underestimated Serena. “I see. I hadn’t even thought about something like that!”

  Ash, though he was too tired to say it, was taken aback, in a good way, at Serena’s strategic thinking. That time she spent with Lucario and the other Pokemon must have been good for her. He admired her.

  Serena pointed her outstretched hand at Sabrina, who was still holding her head and recuperating from Infernape’s Mach Punch. The consecutive blows to her head must be taking their toll. “Reaadddyyyyy...FIRE!”

  Sylveon and Clefable fired their Moonblasts upon her command, sending the two identical balls of light energy sailing Sabrina’s way. Sabrina, on the other hand, finally managed to shake off her dizziness just in time to see the oncoming attacks and deflect them away, where they sailed harmlessly into the sky.

  It had begun to get dark. Coupled with the intense fog, the approaching night was threatening to leave everyone in complete darkness. Serena’s eager, confident smirk faded at seeing her plan go right out the window, as did the confident looks of the others. Sabrina stared down at them. Her yellow eyes had begun glowing now that the light of day was slipping by, sending chills down the spines of everyone.

  The insane woman snarled like an enraged animal at the group. She placed her hands together, and her Psychic energy began sparking menacingly, sending waves of dark electricity sparking around her. The group, unsure of what to do, simply stared at one another, hoping someone had an answer.

  “What is she doing?!” Serena exclaimed.

  “I believe she’s channeling an immense amount of her power into one single blast,” Riley answered, his face paling, “And I don’t know if we have the means to stop it…”

  Ash forced himself back onto his feet, forcing back a cough. “Well, standing around won’t do anything…”

  Serena turned to him, panic painted on her face, “Well, what do we do?!”

  “The only thing we can,” Ash answered, “We match her power.”

  “Can we even do that?!” Serena exclaimed, staring up at the sparking ball of psychic energy flaring from Sabrina’s hands.

  “We don’t have a choice,” Riley answered, stepping forward, “We either stop this attack or its’ over. There’s no way we can avoid something like that.”

  Ash turned to his Pokemon team, who, albeit looking terrified, gave their master and dear friend a nod, showing that they would follow his every order. “We’ll have to abandon our no-energy attacks rule. Call me crazy, but I don’t think punching that thing would work.”

  Riley nodded, “I agree. Just getting close to an attack like that might take us out for good.”

  “So, then, should we all attack it at once?” Asked Serena.

  “Mhm,” Ash said with a nod, “Let’s show her that we won’t go down so easily!”

  Ash, Riley, and Lucario began using the last of the Aura they could spare to summon an Aura Sphere. Sceptile charged a Solarbeam, Pikachu charged a Thunderbolt, Goodra charged a Dragon Pulse, Noivern charged a Boomburst. Infernape charged a Flamethrower, while Hawlucha, unable to use any energy-based attacks, simply repeatedly used Bulk Up, leapt over to another large piece of debris, picked it up, and came back. Sylveon began charging another Moonblast, Clefairy used Metronome and managed to get Blizzard, Braixen, like Infernape, charged a Flamethrower, and Pangoro followed Hawlucha’s train of thought.

  The night became pitch black, only illuminated by the sparking variety of attacks being summoned, ready to clash. With a fierce mixture between a screech and a roar, Sabrina let her attack loose. In response, Ash and the others released their attacks as well, combining them into one massive beam of light. The floating pieces of debris surrounding them were blown backwards from the sheer force of the colliding attacks, and the pitch-black night was illuminated once more by a blinding light. The clashing forces of energy seemed evenly-matched, neither one giving into the other. Crashes of plasmatic lightning erupted from the attacks, sweeping away anything they happened to crash into. A fierce wind threatened to blow Ash and the others away, but they held fast. Serena grasped Ash’s shoulder, allowing him to take whatever Aura from her he needed to supply the attack. Both sides of the clash were fierce and strong, but one was far more exhausted than the other, and soon enough, Ash’s group’s attack began to waver.

  The dark-blue sparking ball of Psychic energy from Sabrina pushed forward, forcing her enemies to slide backwards a bit, then fall to their knees. Pangoro and Hawlucha quickly ran to the Aura users and grabbed onto their shoulders as well to allow their Aura to be used. Still, it wasn’t enough.

  “We...can’t stop it…!” Ash cried, his knees threatening to buckle any second now.

  “We...have to!” Riley bellowed, though his strength and Lucario’s were fading by the second too.

  The Pokemon fell to their knees, but ultimately kept the attack going. While Hawlucha and Pangoro’s vigor and strength allowed them to continuously allow their Aura to be sapped, Serena was getting dizzier and dizzier. She was approaching her limit quickly.

  The beam of light as a whole wavered, growing weak and wobbly, as were its’ creators. Ash fell onto one knee, keeping his part of the attack going with only one hand, as his other fell uselessly to his side. Sabrina cackled, seeing she was winning. Screeching even louder, so much so to the point that everyone nearly became deaf since they couldn’t plug their ears for fear of giving in to the attack, the Psychic woman plunged every ounce of her power into the attack.

  Ash’s group had no chance now. They were weak and exhausted, while Sabrina was full of energy. Serena fell onto her face, but desperately clung to Ash’s leg to continue to give him everything she had left, even as her eyes dulled. Riley and Lucario fell to their knees, but still gave everything they could. The Pokemon fell completely, but still held their heads up to continue the attack as long as they could. Even Pangoro and Hawlucha fell forward, but held fast. Ash winced in agony. Just holding up his hand felt like he was trying to support hundreds of pounds of weight. He was shuddering and convulsing uncontrollably, yet he refused to give in even as he stared death plain in the face. It was far from the first time...but it was quickly seeming to be his last.

  They closed their eyes as the last of their power began to approach. This was the end. Their time had run out. Serena wanted to whisper ‘I love you, Ash,’ one last time, but lacked the strength to do so. Then, they heard a footstep behind them. They couldn’t turn around to see who it was. A small figure stepped to the front of the rapidly-dying attack and raised their hands up. It was Zero. She was covered head to toe in gray dust and rubble, but it was her.

  Zero glared up past the colliding attacks at Sabrina. “You...you really are like me...how I used to be...that’s why…” The small girl flared her energy, summoning every possible element known to man and Pokemon kind in a beautiful rainbow flare. “I can’t let you continue! I won’t let another me kill anyone else! Especially not my family!” With a mighty scream, Zero unleashed the full force of her power. Awed by Zero’s show of force, the group managed to stand up once more, defiant in the face of death itself, and unleashed the last of their energy as well.

  The beam of light swelled and pushed forward, wiping Sabrina’s sadistic grin off her face. She tried to force more energy into her attack, but it did nothing. Slowly but surely, the white laser pushed her attack backwards. Her ecstasy turned to rage, then to fear. In an instant, her attack was swallowed by the white beam, as well as her. She let out one final scream before the laser overtook her.

  The group collapsed once more, now that they had won. With no more energy to spare, they fell. So too, did the city fall. With Sabrina defeated, there was no one holding the city up anymore. Hails of rubble crashed into the ground like rainfall, kicking up a storm of dirt. Massive skyscrapers, including the towering Silph Co. HQ crashed into the ground as well, breaking apart. The platform Ash and the others were standing on fell as well, now that no one was holding it up. They had no means of stopping it, nor did they have the means to save themselves. Even Zero had used up the entirety of her vast stock of energy. She’d overdone it this time.

  So, the group fell. Fatigue from the battle claimed their consciousness. They no longer cared about falling. They were far too exhausted to. So, Ash and his friends closed their eyes and, quite, literally, fell into a deep slumber. A mysterious, bright blue energy caught the group, setting them down gently. A mysterious figure levitated the group, placing another platform beneath them so they could safely float down unharmed. The figure thought to wake them, but ultimately decided against it.

  “Nah,” He said, “I’ll let ‘em rest. They deserve it after a show like that. Now, where’s that dear old daughter of mine?”

  Violet City, Johto, in broad daylight

  A certain scientist carrying a briefcase was walking through the beautiful Violet City of the Johto Region. He wore a patch over his heart that looked like a blue explosion surrounded by stars. He was bald, save for two slivers of bluish-purple hair. This scientist was the madman, Dr. Charon, who had brought Zero into this world to be a puppet of war and an endbringer to all life. He had made his home in Violet City for some time, only having holographic messages used for his duties in Celadon City...but that time was over. Now, he had a new goal in mind.

  Dr. Charon was on his way to the nearest radio tower. Though the massive one in Goldenrod would be swell to work with, infiltrating a place like that by himself would be next to impossible. So, he decided to take the easier route and use the radio tower of his new home city instead. Violet City was fairly small and very peaceful, so breaking into that radio tower should be simple. The reason he was doing so was personal. Now that his creation had been unleashed onto the world, he only had one goal: to expose the organization who had ordered her creation.

  What Dr. Charon didn’t know is that that particular organization hardly took traitors well, and they already knew of his plans. Ryder, clad in his black armor, now with the hole Zero put in it fixed, stood far away, underneath the shade of a large tree to obscure himself from sight. Ryder pulled out a communications device and called his master.

  “Sir,” Said Ryder with a salute, “I have found the target.”

  “I see,” Replied The Man, “I hope this one goes better than the last. For your sake.”

  If Ryder’s face was showing, he would have winced. Unflinching from his salute, he replied, “I am deeply sorry, master. The girl, Zero, was far more powerful than I could have anticipated. When she broke my mask, I thought the best approach would be to preserve my identity. Others arrived soon after, and I couldn’t risk it.”

  “Your identity?” Questioned The Man, “My orders were clear???, Ryder. Had you obtained the girl, your identity being revealed wouldn’t have mattered. What’s more, you simply could have killed the others, preserving your identity regardless.”

  “Sir,” Said Ryder, “One of them was that boy you’re after. The one that’s been involved with every Legendary Pokemon as of late.”

  The Man seemed interested in this. “He was, was he? That is awfully convenient. But still, you could have killed the others and simply taken them both. Why didn’t you?”

  Ryder flinched and bowed his head apologetically. “I’m deeply sorry, master!”

  “Sorry won’t fix it. On another note, you brought that Weavile with you, correct?”

  Ryder looked down at his side. A small, black Pokemon with a red crown of hair and incredibly sharp claws was crossing its’ arms and leaning on the tree.

  “Indeed I did, sir.”

  “I see.” Said The Man, “You’ve trained that thing yourself, so if you deem it to be reliable, then I’ll accept it...but…”

  “But…? Sir?”

  “That Weavile of yours failed me as well. When that International Police Agent Looker was interfering in our affairs, your Weavile was sent to neutralize him. It failed, and my Tyranitar was forced to step in.”

  The Man narrowed his eyes, making Ryder’s blood run cold, “Since you yourself trained that Weavile, you could say you’ve failed me twice now. You know what happens at strike three.”

  Ryder quickly bowed once more. “I apologize beyond how words can describe! I promise, I will not fail you again! Never again!”

  “You are my most prized asset,” The Man said to him, “So I will choose to believe you. But if you fail me for a third time, you will have proven to me you are no longer useful, and...well, you can imagine what would happen.”

  “I promise!” Cried Ryder, “I will complete this mission, and every other mission forever, without fail!”

  The Man stared at him coldly. “For your sake, I hope so.” Then, he cut connections.

  Ryder trembled like he’s never done before. The thought of no longer being useful to his master was too much to bear. Enraged, he turned his ire on Weavile. Before the Dark Type could blink, Ryder swept it up by its neck, pinned it against the tree, and placed his sword at the base of its’ throat, threatening to penetrate its’ skin.

  Terrified, the Weavile yelped and whimpered. Ryder cut it off by pressing the sword forward ever so slightly. Any more and the carotid artery would be severed.

  “You-!” Raved Ryder, “You useless! Piece of TRASH! You cost me master’s trust!” Ryder inched his thumb towards a red button on the hilt of the blade, making the Weavile’s eyes shoot open in absolute horror. “I should press it! I should end your worthless life right here and now…”

  He slowly slid his trembling finger away from the button and relieved the pressure of his sword from the Weavile’s throat. “But...you still have use.” Ryder dropped the Weavile, who coughed and sputtered for air. Disgusted, Ryder kicked the Pokemon in the ribs, eliciting a pained, choked cry from the Weavile. “Get the hell up, damn you!”

  The Weavile forced itself to its’ feet, stifling a pained cough. Ryder inhaled deeply to regain his composure and once again became his calm, cold, composed normal self. Staring down at the Weavile, Ryder told it, “Your mission is to kill Dr. Charon. He cannot be allowed to remain active. His knowledge makes him too dangerous, and since he released Project Zero onto the world and destroyed the lab, we have deemed him a traitor, and traitor’s must be dealt with.”

  The Weavile nodded, saluted, and turned to leave, but was stopped by Ryder. “One last thing. If you can’t get this done, don’t bother coming back. If you do…” He put his blade on the Weavile’s shoulder, inching towards the neck.

  The Weavile quickly nodded, and Ryder retracted his blade, allowing it to run to complete its’ mission.

  The Weavile bolted from the hill down onto the top of a building. It looked around the crowd of people, then spotted his target. It leapt down into the crowd of people, causing a few yelps of surprise, then began shoving its’ way through, hissing at everyone in its’ way to get them to part.

  The doctor, humming a song to himself as he neared the radio tower, raised an eyebrow as he heard a series of yelps and screams from behind him. He turned around to see what it was, then a wave of panic overcame him.

  “No…” He rasped, “They can’t have come for me this quickly!” He ran in the other direction, shoving people left and right to get them out of the way. By this point, the crowd had begun parting out of the way, seeing a connection between the Weavile and the panicking doctor.

  “Get out of the way!” He bellowed, throwing a woman out of his way. He couldn’t die yet! Not when he was so close!

  “Hey, watch it!” Protested a random civilian.

  “Wait, is that Weavile chasing the guy?” Asked another.

  “What’s going on?!”

  The crowd parted completely, leaving the Weavile and Dr. Charon alone in the center of the road. The Weavile hissed and charged at the defenseless scientist. Or so he thought. As the Weavile neared, Charon threw down a dozen metal trinkets that sparked with electricity. Weavile skidded to a stop, but was unable to stop in time and became trapped by devices.

  The Weavile scowled furiously. It was just like before with Looker. It became a failure that day. There’s no way he’d fail! Especially not in the same way as before. With all of the Weavile’s might, it pushed through the shock traps and escaped, continuing its’ pursuit.

  “Yes, I’m here!” Cheered Dr. Charon, “Now, time to-“ His blood suddenly ran cold. He turned around and, glaring death at him, was Weavile. He tried to run for the door, but an Ice Beam froze the door, and the path shut. Charon slipped on the ice.

  “N-no, please!” Charon begged, “Please don’t!” Charon tried to get back onto his feet, but slipped. He shuffled helplessly backwards as Weavile continued to approach. “HELP!” Dr. Charon cried, “SOMEONE HELP ME!”

  It was then that the civilians of Violet City realized the severity of the situation.

  “Oh my Arceus!” One cried, “That Weavile’s gonna kill him!”

  “Let’s get it!” One of them rallied.

  The crowd, united, began charging to stop the Weavile. But it was too late. The moment they started running, Weavile pounced, and Charon screamed. Part of the crowd stopped in their tracks and screamed at the sight before them. The Weavile was literally mauling Dr. Charon, tearing his body to pieces while he was still alive.

  The other half of the crowd that didn’t stop at the brutal sight continued sprinting to Charon’s aid. The first one to arrive took a branch in their hand and whacked the Weavile across the back of the head. “Get off him!”

  Weavile whipped around, hissing at the man. The crowd member went for another swing, and the Weavile slashed his hand, making him cry out in pain and clutch at his hand in pain. The other crowd members arrived, surrounding the Weavile and reaching for various weapons: branches, stones, and of course, Pokeballs. The Weavile hissed at them, blood staining its’ claws and fangs, and hopped away into the trees.

  The crowd ran to Charon’s aid, but by then it was too late. Charon lied as a blood-covered mess, unrecognizable from how he used to be. His face was mangled, and his briefcase was gone.

  Weavile appeared before Ryder, placing the briefcase down and bowing, holding the now-bloodied badge that had once been over the doctor’s heart. Ryder stared down at him blankly.

  “...Well done. You’ve bought yourself some time.”