A/N: Welcome to my new story! I've got two things I'd like to say. One, to my loyal older readers, I'm sorry, but Guardian of Voyagers is on hiatus for now. I don't think I'm ready to abandon it, but it won't be being updated for some time. However, I think this is a much better story and hope you enjoy it. To any new readers, welcome, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Have fun!
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.
-Thomas Merton
The bandits crouched behind the ruins of the Pokecenter and waited for their prey to come closer. They could smell the presence of other creatures like dogs, and they were dogs. They were far more canine than human, with their shaggy hair and jagged teeth. They were covered in scars and their eyes were bloodshot and infected. Their hands went to their guns and their knives and they fell silent. They listened to the sound of two pairs of feet walking across the cracked asphalt. Then the footsteps stopped. The bandits glanced at each other.
"What-?" one started to whisper, when a blade suddenly sliced his skull in half. Gunshot filled the air as the bandits tried to shoot the green blur that was quickly tearing them apart. They had no chance. Every bullet that got within a foot of the reptilian Pokemon was quickly deflected by its blades. One man tried to stab the Scyther as it ran by. He was rewarded by having his hand sliced off at the wrist, followed by being cut in two. Finally, the Scyther stood in the middle of the ruins, surrounded by severed limbs and gore. Only one man was still standing. He licked his lips and tried to shake the seat out of his eyes. His grip on the gun was slipping and he started to back into the road. The Scyther calmly walked towards him.
"Don't you get any closer, you son of a bitch," he said, whimpering. As the mantis came closer, his fingers started to tighten on the trigger. A gunshot rang out and the bandit crumpled to the ground. Where he had stood, was another man. Someone from our world might have described him as a cowboy wearing a black cloak. He smiled grimly.
"Good job, Sombra." He turned back to the road and began walking down it again. The Scyther followed.
Sombra had followed this human for many sunrises now. She remembered long before, when she had lived with humans who spoke a different tongue. She had been much smaller and they had covered her blades so she couldn't use them. When the humans drank their foul smelling devil water, they would beat her. One night, the sheathes on her blades slipped off. She killed several of the humans before they caught her. She was meant to be hanged, but the man had come and had killed the others. He untied her, then turned back to the road without a word. She followed him, and had ever since. She didn't know where they were going and didn't much care. She would follow the man until her blades were dull and her claws were worn down. Then, she would be buried far under the dry earth and the man would walk on without her. Until then, she simply followed.
Sombra did not remember Before. In fact, it had been so long ago, that her egg had not been laid yet. Yet, deep in her mind, she felt something was wrong with the world. She knew that where there was only an empty, dusty plain, there should be trees and grass. She felt that there should be many Pokemon and animals instead of a few, scrawny, half-dead creatures. Sometimes, she thought of this, but when she did, it made her head ache, so she quickly thought of something else.
While Sombra had not known the world Before, the man had. The man had been a young boy when the change came. He remembered that one day, there had been a dry, hot wind and the sky had been a sickly yellow-brown. The land grew hotter and turned into a desolate wasteland. All the plants withered up and the Pokemon fled. The people starved and in their absence, everything fell to ruin. The man's father had gone looking for food every day. One day, he did not return. The man waited in their home, surrounded by the smell of death, but his father did not return. After a few days, the man left, and never looked back. He knew how to find food and water and how to make a fire. He was strong, fast, and smart. He survived.
Sombra and the man continued down the road until the sun was low in the sky. Weeds grew up through the concrete and they often had to walk around car wrecks and other road blocks. This was unpleasant, as the side of the road was filled with tumbleweeds and cacti that tore at their skin. Even Sombra's hard exoskeleton could be punctured by some of the larger thorns. Finally, they came upon an empty van. The man opened the driver's door and pulled out an ancient skeleton, which he threw to the ground and climbed inside. Sombra sniffed the skeleton disinterestedly. She could find no meat on the bones, so she jumped onto the seat and followed the man into the back of the van. She found him on his side, already asleep, but his eyes moved behind the lids as she curled up across from him. He was alert, even in sleep. Sombra curled up into an odd position so that her blades and claws were sticking out in every direction, the natural way of sleeping for a Scyther, and fell asleep instantly. Unlike the man, she could sleep through an earthquake.
The next morning, the man woke her up and they left the van. It smelled of putrid, rotting flesh, but the man didn't notice and Sombra actually enjoyed it. Even early in the morning, the sun beat down on them and heat was rising from the road. Far off in the horizon, the road seemed to pulse up and down in waves. The man and Sombra walked on.
Around noon, the man stopped dead in the middle of the road and cocked his head to the side, as if listening to a faraway sound. Sombra could hear it too: the sound of heavy breathing. The man walked forward carefully, stepping with his foot flat to keep from making noise. On the side of the road in some bushes, was a Growlithe. It's once pretty red fur was now caked in dirt and dried blood. When it saw the man and Sombra, it made a low whining sound, and tried to limp away, but its back legs wouldn't move. The man's steel blue eyes met the Growlithe's black ones.
"It appears to be in pain," Sombra mused.
Without a word, the man pulled out his gun and shot it in the back. The Growlithe stopped whining and went limp. He stuck his gun back in his holster. "Not anymore." They turned back to the road in unison and walked on.
Sombra had always been able to speak the tongue of humans. From the day she was hatched, she could make her throat and tongue twist to form the words. She quickly learned, however, that this ability was unusual. The humans had thought she was a demon, but they kept her around to fight other Pokemon. The man told her it was because of the Sickness that happened after the Before time had ended. She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts of her past. They buzzed in her head like flies.
That night, they didn't stop to sleep. There was no shelter. To sleep in the road was to rick being killed by a rattlesnake, a hungry Pokemon, or another person. It wasn't a risk the man would let them take. At night, the seemingly endless desert was brutally cold. The man pulled his cloak tight around him. Sombra didn't notice much; she was a creature of the night.
The next day, just as the sun was coming up over the horizon, Sombra and the man began to see something on the edge of the horizon. As they walked, they could see the outlines of tall buildings. They were going to pass through a city. Tall hills rose up on both sides of the road, but occasionally, they could see around them to catch glimpses of the abandoned sky scrapers.
"Do you know where we are, Sombra?"
She shook her head.
"That city up ahead is Goldenrod. We're not far from where you were born."
She narrowed her eyes. "In which direction are we travelling?"
"South." For a moment they walked in silence. Out of the corner of one eye, the man saw movement. "Get ready, Sombra."
Suddenly, buzzing and screeching filled the air. From every direction, huge, red creatures flew out of the hills. The buzzing grew in pitch until it was almost unbearable. The man swore and pulled his gun. He managed to shoot two, who fell to the ground in a crumpled ball. As fast as the man was with his guns, the creatures were faster. Sombra was a bit more successful, slicing through five, but the creatures kept coming. They were swarming.
"Try Razor Wind!" the man yelled over the awful noise of the bug Pokemon. At the man's words, Sombra began spinning rapidly in a circle. The man managed to shoot one of the bugs, but another flew up behind him and bit him on the shoulder. The man cursed and the Pokemon flew away with its mouth dripping with blood.
"Get down!" Sombra screamed. The man hit the dirt and everything went silent. For a moment, he thought he had gone deaf, before he realized the air pressure had caused his ears to pop. After a quick glance around, he got up. All around him lay dead Yanma. A few had bullet or puncture wounds from him and Sombra, but most had been simply blown into the side of the hills fast enough for it to crack open their bodies. The man inspected one of the ones that he had shot. It was much larger than a normal Yanma and had pincers jutting from the sides of its mouth. The Sickness had infected them.
The man raised his lip in a snarl. "The Sickness has spread far. Nothing good can be waiting for us in the city."
"I am ready for anything," Sombra said boldly.
The man didn't reply. Instead, he chuckled darkly. He started walking again and Sombra was quick to follow. As they grew closer to the city, the familiar stench of death reached them. The buildings they were now walking among were so tall, they felt as though they were walking through a canyon. The result was claustrophobic. Goldenrod City was dead quiet. Where there should have been the sounds of cars, people talking, and slot machines, there was now only the sound of the wind whistling through the empty streets. The city felt like an oven. All the metal and concrete absorbed the heat from the blistering sun.
"I believe this must be what hell is like," Sombra reflected.
"I suppose we'll find out sometime," the man responded.
As if on cue, they heard a loud scream. "Maybe sooner than you thought," Sombra said, the ghost of a smile on her face.
The man grinned and they both headed for the direction of the screams. They didn't have far to walk. Only a few blocks away, they found the source of the screaming. A little girl was sitting in the branches of a dead tree. A Raticate was sitting at the bottom of the tree, growling. White froth coated its muzzle and it was clawing wildly at the trunk. Suddenly, the Raticate sat back on its haunches and sniffed the air, twitching its whiskers. It turned towards Sombra and the man, a glint of malice in its beady, red eyes. Without thinking, the man pulled out his gun and shot the Raticate between the eyes. Its brains shot out the back of its skull and hit the ground with a dull squishing sound a few yards behind it. The Raticate cocked its head to the side and charged them. The man shot it a few more times, each bullet hitting its target, but they seemed to have no effect. The Raticate was now dangerously close. "Take care of this," he said to Sombra and stepped back.
Sombra leaped forward and sliced the Raticate with one blade and then the other. The yellow rat Pokemon stopped dead in its tracks. Then, its head slipped off. Sombra went to inspect the carcass, while the man turned to the tree.
"Are you alright, little lady?"
The girl choked back a sob and nodded. She began to climb down the tree, but halfway down, she slipped and fell. She quickly righted herself and approached the man. She walked with the wary gait of an abused animal, wishing for a treat, but afraid of punishment that it doesn't deserve. Her short, black hair hung in her eyes, hiding them from the man's sharp gaze. At that moment, Sombra decided to return.
"The Raticate smells of the Sickness. However, that should not have saved it from your bullets. I am not sure of the explanation for that," she said matter-of-factly. She seemed to notice the girl. "Hello, small one."
The girl's mouth fell open. It opened and closed a few times before she spluttered, "You can talk?"
Sombra blinked. "Apparently."
The girl shook the hair out of her face, revealing light brown eyes. She stared at Sombra with a mixture of apprehension and fascination. Sombra looked back with equal intensity. The man found this slightly unnerving. "What's your name, princess?"
The girl broke eye contact with Sombra reluctantly. "My name is Lucy. What's yours?"
"None of your business," the man said gruffly.
The girl looked at him curiously, then turned back to Sombra. "How 'bout you?"
"My name is Sombra."
Lucy smiled with delight. "That's a pretty name."
Sombra made a happy cooing sound. Lucy giggled and the man grunted. "We should start heading south again." He started walking and Sombra followed him, as always. Lucy quickly started to walk behind them.
"Where are we going?" she asked, wide-eyed.
"Ilex Forest."
"Oh! I know where that is. I went there once with my sister."
The man turned to her. "Your sister? Where is she now?"
Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen anybody in a long time."
The man sighed and turned back, trying to hide a twinge of unease. They walked on. Lucy kept up with them surprisingly well. Luckily, she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt rather than something like a skirt or dress that would be hard to travel in. After a while, though, she started lagging behind. Goldenrod City had been left far behind them and they had been walking through the vast desert for several hours. After the nightmarish stench of the city, the fresh air and open spaces were much appreciated. Still, they were getting tired.
"How much farther?" Lucy asked sleepily.
The man simply shrugged, but Sombra stopped. The man looked at her, nonplussed.
"Would you like to ride on my back?" Sombra asked.
Lucy rubbed her eyes and nodded, before climbing on.
"Careful, little one," Sombra said.
The man stared at her.
"What?" the Scyther asked.
He just shook his head.
Finally, they reached the outer edge of the forest. It sprung from the desert without warning. The dirt and weeds seemed to turn into grass and thick undergrowth with no space in-between. The trees were huge monoliths and with no reference point in the desert, they could have been anywhere from twenty feet tall to two hundred. The road lead into the forest, but it appeared to be very overgrown, almost impassable. Vines and fallen branches completely covered the path and underneath the thick canopy, it was totally dark.
"We'll stop here for the night," the man announced. "This close to the forest, we should be fine." Sombra nodded and very carefully let Lucy's sleeping body slide to the ground.
"I hope it won't be too cold for her," she said quietly.
The man was quiet before saying, "I'm not sure I like her."
Sombra looked taken aback. "What do you mean? She's just a little girl. Why wouldn't you like her?"
"Well first of all, she'd been living in that hellhole for God knows how long with no help from anybody else. She should be dead. Secondly, something about her isn't quite right. She doesn't act like a little girl. She watched you slice apart a Raticate then ran right up to you like you were Mickey Mouse."
Sombra frowned. "I like Lucy."
The man sighed. "I know you do. She just makes me nervous."
There was nothing else to say, so they both settled down to sleep. However, before allowing himself to drift off into the land of dreams, the man noticed Sombra was curled protectively around the girl, her back turned to him. He tried to brush off his suspicion. I'm being ridiculous, he thought. Sombra's right. She can't be more than nine years old. Just a little girl, hardly bigger than a Caterpie. Still, his sleep was uneasy.
The next morning, the man woke at sunrise. He found Lucy already awake, sitting cross-legged and staring at the forest. He narrowed his eyes.
"What're you doing up so early, kid?"
Lucy jumped and turned around. "Oh. You scared me," she said, ignoring his question.
Sombra began to stir. She climbed to her feet and stretched her wings, one at a time. "We gettin' an early start?"
"Guess so," the man said, and pulled his hood low, hiding his scarred face. "Let's go. Hopefully there's something to eat or drink in there. We could use it." He started walking, and Sombra hesitated for a moment, making sure that Lucy was coming. The man pulled the hood even lower.
He wasn't entirely sure what it was that made him so uneasy about Lucy. The facts he stated to Sombra were only the obvious. It was possible she had survived by luck, but the man was under the firm belief that luck was for fools. Destiny, maybe? But destiny often played foul tricks. Maybe it was the child's eyes. Sly and narrow, like those of a fox. In fact, fox-like was the perfect way to describe her. She even had a very vulpine face, her grin full of sharp, pointed teeth….Maybe he was over thinking this. Yet…He let his suspicions slide to the back of his mind. Paranoia was stupid; caution, however, was wise.
While the road had become difficult to follow, it didn't bother Sombra. Though Lucy gave her a smaller range of movement, she could still easily cut through the thick vegetation that had grown across the path. It was dark, but her eyes were well adjusted to dim light. Occasionally, the man would be stopped by an obstacle in their path, like a fallen log. When this happened, Sombra would set Lucy down, slice the object apart, then let her climb back up.
"Why doesn't she just walk for a while?" the man asked once.
Sombra made a noise of disapproval and didn't answer. Still, she had to admit, Lucy was eerily silent for such a small child. When Lucy wasn't on her back, Sombra noticed that she seemed to stare at everything with wide eyes, taking in information and processing it. At one point, Sombra thought she might have seen a gleam of emotion in the child's eye. Something like…contempt? She must have been imagining it. Sombra tried to push such troubling thoughts away, but when she allowed her mind to wander….they haunted her.
Eventually, the already dark forest grew darker. Night was falling. They had seen no living creatures all day and had heard nothing, not even wind shaking branches. The forest was beyond silent. It was dead. By unspoken agreement, they knew they didn't want to spend the night there.
"I think we're almost there," the man said after a long while. By now, it was almost too dark to see. Still, he walked on. If his eyes couldn't see the road, he would get down on his knees and find his way with his hands. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.
"What are we looking for?" Lucy asked suddenly.
The man chuckled. "An answer."
Finally, the man stopped walking. Sombra gasped and fell to her knees. Lucy nearly fell off, but she didn't notice. "What has become of this place?"
Sombra, Lucy, and the man were standing before what had once been a shrine, though it could hardly be called that now. It had once been in a clearing, but now the forest had grown up around it. It was completely covered in a web of vines. The vines were almost serpentine, coiling around the shrine and seeming to squeeze the life out of it. They had a sinister look about them. The horrible part, though, was the dead Pidgey nailed to the front of the shrine. Its small, tawny wings had been spread wide and a nail driven through each one. Its belly was cut open, revealing almost mummified internal organs. Where its eyes had been, were only empty sockets that seemed to glare out at them. Its beak was wide open in a silent scream.
The man's face was momentarily frozen in shock. He turned to Sombra and said grimly, "The amulet."
"Sorry you have to see this, little one," Sombra said and let Lucy slide off her back.
"What's happening?" the girl said with wide eyes.
No one answered her. Instead, Sombra walked up to the man who reached forward and seemed to pull open a piece of her exoskeleton. That spot was a small scale that could be pulled forward and closed again. Scyther often used them to hide treasured objects or bits of food in times of famine. In this cavity, however, was something much more extraordinary. The man reached inside and drew out a small necklace. Rather than a chain, the string was made of old leather. The charm in the middle was a shiny, golden color. Carved into it, was an odd symbol, similar to an Egyptian ankh. The man placed it around Sombra's neck and she began to hum tunelessly. Neither of them noticed Lucy's expression change from curiosity, to fear, to anger. Her hands were balled into fists by her side as the man and Sombra began to chant.
"Guardian of the forest, foe of death, return to this sick land," the man began.
"Naidraug fo eht tserof, eof fo hated, nruter ot siht kcis dnal," continued Sombra.
"First I speak, then my companion does. Human and Pokemon, together as one, call upon you for help. Respect your ancient promise."
"Tsrif I kaeps, neht ym noinapmoc seod. Namuh dna Nomekop, rehtegot sa eno, llac nopu uoy rof pleh. Tcepser ruoy tneicna esimorp."
As they half spoke, half sang the words, a ball of green light materialized inside the shed. Behind them, Lucy's eyes turned red and she began to shake in rage.
"We call upon you, guardian, to heal the wounds of this land. Banish the Sickness. Let life be here once more!"
"Ew llac nopu uoy, naidraug, ot laeh eht sdnuow fo siht dnal. Hsinab eht Ssenkcis. Tel efil eb ereh ecno erom!"
As Sombra spoke the last word, the light from the shine became blinding. Both the man and she looked away. Suddenly, Lucy stiffened, then crouched down like a tiger about to pounce. She leaped forward, a furious snarl on her face, and tried to rip the talisman from Sombra's neck. Without thinking, Sombra slashed blindly at her. Rather than cutting the demon-child in two, her blade turned at the last minute and slapped Lucy to the ground. She seemed to be unable to get up.
"I AM HERE," said a voice. The voice seemed not only to echo throughout the forest, but to also reverberate in their heads, as if it was inside them as well as out. "WHY HAVE YOU CALLED ME? AND WHY DID YOU BRING THAT," the voice somehow directed itself at Lucy, "TO MY FOREST?"
For the first time, Sombra and the man seemed to notice Lucy. They stared at her, shocked, as she writhed on the ground. Sombra stepped forward to help her, but Lucy pulled back her lips and snarled. Her once neat black hair was tangled and full of dirt. She had a bruise forming on the side of her face where Sombra had slapped her and a cut on the other. She looked completely feral. "Get away from me, Sharp Blade," she hissed.
"What are you?" the man demanded.
Lucy giggled, an awful sound. "You have the right to ask what I am, Soft Skin? I am a being far more powerful than you can imagine. You have no right to question me."
"You're not that little girl," Sombra said accusatorily.
"I am not," the child-demon said. "The girl died many weeks ago. I am merely borrowing her body." Both the man and Sombra recoiled in revulsion. "I would've stayed dormant, as I had been, but the amulet has drawn me out."
The man turned back to the glowing, green form by the shrine. "I apologize, Guardian, for bringing this…thing to your home. I didn't know…."
"IT COMPLICATES THINGS. I AM RELUCTANT TO APPEAR FULLY WHILE IT IS HERE. HOWEVER, YOU STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED ME. WHY DID YOU CALL UPON ME?"
"You can't tell?" the man asked helplessly. A gust of wind whistled through the trees, pushing his black cloak against him. It seemed to be a grim sort of laughter. "Guardian, many years ago, the world fell to Sickness. I do not pretend to know why or how, but it has. Our world is dying. I believe you are the only one who can help to restore it. If you don't, we're all doomed." He fell to one knee and bowed his head.
A gentle breeze, almost like a sigh, blew around them. The green light seemed to soften and solidify. Where it had been, was a small, green pixie-like Pokemon with blue eyes. "The fate of the world is not for me to decide, brave ones. I have known about the Sickness for as long as it has been. If it was within my power, I would help you, but alas, I cannot. You say you don't know the cause of the Sickness. I will tell you. The universe has fallen out of balance. You are correct, my children, that this world is dying. The seas will boil and the earth will cave into itself. The very sky will fall. Time and space will lose control. The very forces of good and evil will fall to ruin."
"Then all is lost," the man said soberly.
"No," Celebi answered. "All is not lost. There is hope yet, but it depends upon how strong you and your companion will be. You must seek out all of the legends and help to return them to balance. I am not all seeing, and I don't know all of the obstacles in your path. Your journey will be long and dangerous, but I believe that it is possible. It is your destiny to try, as sure as your name is Isaac."
The man stood up. "Then I will try."
Celebi smiled. "Good. I must thank you now, Isaac and Sombra, for calling me back to this world. I have work to do. I have one final request for you, though."
"Yes?"
"I want you to take the demon with you."
Isaac was shocked. "But why?"
Celebi's smile widened. "Because you seem to be losing your sense of mercy. As great of a fighter as you are, I don't want you to lose yourself. Be careful when you fight monsters, lest you become them. I believe a famous human said that once and it holds true. You may be able to cure the demon. If you wish for my help curing your world, I would like you to return the favor.
Isaac was still for a long time. Then he nodded. "I will try."
"Then my work must begin. Take care Isaac and Sombra."
Celebi began to glow again and this time, the light spread. As it touched the foliage in the clearing, the plants seemed to shrink back into the forest and become beautiful and green again. The light touched the crucified Pidgey and it disappeared inside of it. Suddenly, the Pidgey flew up and out of the light, whistling, whole once again. The silence was broken; the forest was healing.
"What do we do about her?" Sombra said, almost spitting.
The man named Isaac glared at the demon-child before him. She was sitting on the ground, her chin cupped in her palms, the picture of innocence, except for her glowing red eyes and an evil grin. "You know," she said, almost sweetly, "I can do nothing to hurt you, Soft Skin. Why would I or my master want this world to end? That would destroy our fun."
"Your master?"
She clapped a hand over her mouth. "I think I've said too much. Maybe you'll find out one day."
"What's your real name?" Sombra asked suddenly.
The demon-child looked at her, amusement spread across her face. "I have gone by many names, but you may call me Delilah."
"Well," Isaac said, "You'll still be bitch to me."
Delilah roared with laughter. "Your death will be painful one day, Soft Skin. You'll see."
Isaac and Sombra tried to ignore that comment. "So where are we going now, Isaac?"
He thought for a moment. "If we're meant to bring all the legendaries back into balance, we should probably start with those closest to us. As we're in Johto, perhaps we should make a visit to Ecruteak Town…Or what was Ecruteak, anyways."
"That's a long walk, isn't it?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"No reason," said Sombra with a smile.
As the three walked out of the forest the way they had come, they noticed things that had not been present before; a patch of flowers, a small spring where they stopped to gather water, and once, they glimpsed a Butterfree flittering around the tree tops. They stopped to watch the blue and white butterfly play in the branches before flying off.
"I've never seen anything like this, Isaac," Sombra said breathlessly. "Was the whole world like this once?"
"Much of it was," he told her. "Ilex Forest was always especially beautiful, but there were trees and Pokemon most places when I was young."
Delilah clicked her tongue. "Not all the world was as peaceful as this, Blade Sister. The humans made a mess of things too. For example, Goldenrod wasn't much different than it was when we saw it. They're filthy creatures really. If I could've gotten a Pokemon body that wasn't a disgusting Ratatta, I would have."
Sombra hissed in anger, but Isaac touched her shoulder. "Let it go."
That night, as they curled up by the edge of the forest, Sombra whispered to him, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you about…her…it…that thing."
"I barely believed myself."
For a moment, they sat in silence, looking at the night sky. Long before, there might have been constellations. Now, most of them were obscured other than a few bright stars and a hazy moon. The moon appeared blood red. There must be a fire somewhere, Isaac thought absently.
"Do you really believe that one day the world will be like it was in the time before I hatched?" Sombra asked.
Isaac paused to consider the question. "No," he said, "Things can never be the same as they were. To turn back a clock is a fool's errand. But one day, the world will be whole again, and the Sickness will be gone. One day, we'll be able to sleep without fear and find food and water when we need it. There will always be evil in the world. That's part of the balance. You just have to find the good yourself."
"Do you think there will ever be anymore trainers?"
Isaac nodded. "We're the last, for now, but if things get better," he corrected himself, "if things get better, then there will be trainers again. Pokemon and humans belong together. That's also part of the balance. Don't worry about it now. Fate will take care of itself."
The two drifted off to sleep. The next day, there would be travelling once again, as there had been every other day since they had met. However, it would be different. They were on a quest now. As the two companions slept, Delilah lay awake, as she had every night for thousands of years. While the world slept and grew sicker, Delilah planned. If Blade Sister and Soft Skin planned to bring all the legends back to power….Then she would be reunited with her master. In the light of the blood red moon, Delilah smiled. In her sleep, Sombra shivered.