AU where no humans exist. Just Pokemon. Pokemon live in modern times as if they were humans. They've built cities, drive cars, play sports, have nine-to-five jobs, etc.

I know that some people will hate the way I portray the Legendaries in this story. Please keep in mind that this is my interpretation of these Pokemon. If I somehow offend you or your favorite Legendary happens to be portrayed in a way you don't like, my apologies. But once again, this is just my interpretation.

I do not own Pokemon. If I did, Ash and Misty would be married already.

Zangoose looked from his left, then to his right, and proceeded down the dark and dreary alley in one of the big cities of Unova at night.

"This little idiot better be here," he mumbled to himself. "Can't believe I had to catch two trains just to get here."

He came up to a skinny door in between two garbage bins. He knocked. The door immediately opened. There stood Sneasel in the doorway, with a mischievous smile on his face.

"I've been waiting." He silently said. "Do you have what I need?"

Zangoose countered, "Do you have my money?"

Sneasel pointed toward a money bag sitting against a wall in his living room. They both walked over to the abundance of coins, and Sneasel handed the bag to his dealer. Zangoose in return handed over a large bottle of Mystic Water.

"Thank you." Sneasel said.

"Yeah, whatever." Zangoose remarked as he began to exit.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Before he got to the door, he paused, and turned around to ask Sneasel a question that bugged him ever since the two made the deal.

"Just out of curiosity, why is that water so important to you? Sure it's called 'mystic' water, but there's nothing really special about it." He squinted his eyes. "The heck are you up to Sneasel?"

Sneasel took a seat on the carpet of his living room floor, and licked his lips. "On the surface, this water just seems like something that's used for assistance in battle. But you're wrong Zangoose. There is a reason for it being called 'mystic'." Sneasel looked into his dealer's eyes with a fierce passion. Zangoose cringed. "Gosh, why the frick did I even ask?" he thought to himself. "Should have just left this dork to his business." "Mystic water and the sources it can be retrieved from, have said to have originated from a Legendary Pokemon that our world hasn't discovered yet."

Zangoose perked his ears up in intriguement. "So… this Pokemon... is it kind of like the Ultra Beasts? Or something like Deoxys?"

"Yeah, something like that. I've only read a few books about it, but basically, wherever this Pokemon came from, is a world that is much more savage than ours. Every Pokemon there are born and designed for daily, merciless, killing."

"So… what does that have to do with the water?"

Sneasel went from a sitting position, to laying on the floor. He gazed at the ceiling fan slowly rotating as he continued to talk to Zangoose.

"Mystic water is sometimes used by Water types to boost their attacks, right? But what exactly in it does that? It's the cells of that Pokemon that it comes from… and that Pokemon… has cells that enable it to annihilate fire types. Legend has it that this Pokemon was capable of completely destroying its opponent with a single blast of its power. It's also said to have temporarily sealed itself off from its own world and came to ours. It unconsciously created sources where some of its power can be retrieved. That's the very mystic water we're talking about."

Zangoose stared in confusion at the Pokemon laying rag-doll like on the floor. "Come on, Sneasel. You're still losing me."

He quickly got up, and with a agitated voice, said, "Ugh, follow me."

Sneasel took him to a back room where a large weapon was being constructed. The weapon almost took up the size of the entire room, and featured a gigantic, long barrel that looked like it was capable of blowing a huge hole through anything.

"Sneasel..." Zangoose said as he looked at the weapon in shock. "What the hell is this?"

"What the hell do you think it is Zangoose? It's a gun! And a powerful one at that." He slowly petted his creation in adornment and infatuation.

"What do you plan on doing with this thing, guy?"

Sneasel's smile slowly faded as he stared at the wall the barrel faced. "Revenge."

Zangoose chuckled. "Look, I'm all for getting revenge on a 'Mon that did you wrong. But this… this is a little too extreme. Don't you think?"

"Mmm, no. Not at all. Now let me show you." Sneasel took the water and poured it into a small container that protruded out the middle of the weapon. "Now, I just flip this switch and…" He flipped the switch, and suddenly, the entire weapon started glowing a blue aurora around it. "You see Zangoose, this isn't just an ordinary gun. It's a gun that harnesses the power of that Legendary water-type I mentioned. I told you its water has the power to annihilate fire types according to the little-known legend that exist in this world." Sneasel looked back into Zangoose's eyes with that fierce passion again. "That's exactly what I'm going to do."

Zangoose looked back with a glare of his own. "To who?"

"Entei."

"ENTEI?!"

"Yes. Him."

"What did he do to you? Most Pokemon are lucky enough to see him up close."

Sneasel immediately got enraged. "That fool ruined my life!"

Zangoose stared in shock. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the Pokemon that stood in front him. He sensed nothing but rage and sadness that filled the entire room with a negative aura. "He destroyed my village out of pure hatred for us."

"What?"

"When I was just a little boy, the village I grew up in was on the edge of a suffering area. It had been parched of resources and our village was the only place that still had an abundance of food and water. Usually, no one would have any problem with coming to get a drink every once in a while, but…"

"But what?"

"Our village was a dark-type village. It had a negative stigma because of that factor. Only Pokemon desperate enough came for our resources. Soon enough, food and water alike began to cease to exist in our area as well. Eventually we had to cut connections with the other villages to save ourselves." Sneasel looked at his feet. "They… they didn't like that."

"So you mean they had Entei destroy your village or something like that?"

"That bastard Entei was some wannabe hero, going around to lots of places on the planet looking for ways to help others to boost his own ego. Somehow he made it to our village and found out what was happening. Those other villages lied and said that we were trying to starve them. But we were just trying to hold on to what we had until that unusual dry spell passed over. Sure, we were dark-type. But we didn't want to hurt anybody at all." Tears started to drop to the floor as Sneasel continued. "Entei came. I'll never forget it. He said that we were trying to starve the others… trying to 'kill' them. He… he said that 'murder' wouldn't be taken lightly. We begged for mercy. We told him our plan to hold out just long enough until things got better." Sneasel balled up his fists, and looked into Zangoose's eyes with pure lividness. "And you know what he said, Zangoose? He said he 'didn't care'."

"What?"

"He said even if our motives were true… 'the less dark-types, the better.' He mercilessly burned our village down. Tree by tree, shack by shack, house by house. We looked for places to hide. Some of us made it out until the flames died out." Sneasel then showed Zangoose a small necklace and continued. "Most of us didn't. This was my mother's necklace." Zangoose took a look at the necklace. His heart was torn to pieces.

"Damn it. Why didn't anybody tell the Pokemon Justice Division? Cobalion could've done something about it. He doesn't like Entei either."

"I told you before, Entei was going around to other places, cities, and towns whom he deemed worthy of assistance. Our village was so incredibly small, no one even close to our area knew about it. Besides, who would believe our story? Cobalion and the P.J.D. would've been too freaking busy to handle something as small as a little village burning down."

"But innocent Pokemon were killed!"

"Exactly! Trust me Zangoose, if there's one thing I've learned from that experience, is that in this world, justice sometimes has to be taken into your own hands. If none of the Legendaries will do it, if the P.J.D. won't do it, if the local rangers won't do it, I will! I'll kill Entei myself."

Sneasel proceeded to turn off the machine, as well as the light, and walk out into the hallway, leaving Zangoose to contemplate in the dark. He didn't know what to think. Sneasel and him weren't particularly friends, but they've been underground business partners for years. He went out and found Sneasel sitting in the corner of his living room.

"Look, this is way bigger than what you think." He wanted to do his best to smarten him up about this plan for murder. "Do you have any idea the crap storm this'll cause, Sneasel?" Zangoose went up to him and put his paw on his shoulder. "Once everyone on the planet finds out that Entei has been killed, your life is over. Okay? OVER! I'm talking almost every Pokemon on your ass, hunting you down. That's not even including the Legendaries! Imagine his brother Raikou, or his sister Suicune-"

"I GET IT! My life is already over. What else do I have to lose? I'll proudly die defending my village." The two silently sat next to each other against the wall for a moment.

"So what's your plan?"

A smirk grew on Sneasel's face. "I'm so glad you asked." Sneasel got up and handed his partner a flyer that was laying on the dining table. The flyer was for a fighting tournament specifically for fire types only. Any Pokemon could participate in this tournament if they were at least part fire type, and this was the eighth annual tournament. It was relatively popular in the Unova region, and many powerful fire type Pokemon host the games.

"Entei announced he will be there." Sneasel started. "He will be the one to hand over the trophy to the lucky winner." Sneasel menaically chuckled at his own grim thoughts. "But he won't be so lucky. Because once he leaves himself exposed out in the open… I'll pull the trigger… and the deed will be done. Justice will be served."

Zangoose thought it over for a minute as he was beginning to change his mind. "I'm coming." Sneasel turned to him with an intrigued expression on his face.

"You sure? Even after you just tried so hard to convince me to do otherwise?"

"If what you say is true, and this asshole really did kill a whole bunch of innocent Pokemon and got away with it… I wanna have a front row seat at him getting what he deserves."

Sneasel started laughing out loud. "The more the merrier!"

Zangoose put his paw on Sneasel's shoulder. "We're going to need a plan of escape though."

Sneasel frowned and put his claw to his chin in deep thought. "Once the gun has been fired, we'll need to haul ass out of the stadium. Because I have the gun rigged to detonate thirty seconds after it has been used."

"Whoa hold on. We can't have that explosion killing oth-"

"It won't." Sneasel cut him off. "It'll only be significant enough to destroy any evidence of the weapon, and eliminate any traces of me being followed. And once I see Entei's ashes on the ground, I'll finally be able to breathe again…"

The cat ferret Pokemon made his way into the ginormous fighting arena stadium, which had thousands of Pokemon that filled up the seats. Zangoose jogged through the thick crowds and up to the very top of the stadium where the observation deck was. He opened the door into the deck and was greeted by the disturbing sight of an unconscious Machoke laying on the ground. He looked up and saw Sneasel adjusting the aim of the weapon as he closed the door.

"How the hell did you take this security guard out? And how did you get the BFG in here?"

"Don't worry about all that." Sneasel murmured. "I have my… methods." A small chuckle escaped his dark purplish lips.

Zangoose walked over to his partner and studied his actions. Sneasel adjusted the weapon's barrel to point right at the center of the stage where the winner would be standing. Once the weapon was fired, the shot of energy would go through the glass of the observation deck, and straight into Entei. Theoretically, his body would swiftly be vaporized.

"Quick, but it sure as hell won't be painless."

The dark type let out another small chuckle as he made the final adjustment to his weapon. Once everything was finished, Sneasel got on his knees and bowed his head. He held his mother's necklace against his heart as he meditated on the murder he was about to commit.

"This is for my village. This is for us dark types. But most certainly, this is for you… Mother."

Zangoose sat up against the control panel and looked at the current finalists fiercely duking it out. An Emboar and an Infernape were fighting with all they had as Zangoose wish he had bought some popcorn. He enjoyed the sport of fighting and the combat arts. Sneasel finished his prayers, kissed his mother's necklace, and put the necklace around the barrel of the gun. He joined watching his partner spectate the match.

"Twenty coins says the Infernape will win." Sneasel jokingly remarked.

A loud bang suddenly erupted in Zangoose and Sneasel's ears. They looked up to see the metal door flying straight toward them. Thinking fast, both of them ducked before the door hit them, crashing into the wall behind them. They looked up toward the doorway of the room and saw three Pokemon. An Absol. A Xatu. And most surprisingly, the Legendary Suicune.

"There they are!" The Absol frantically said with fear in her voice. "The ones I warned you about!"

Suicune slowly entered the room. She looked at the gun and then back at the two laying on the floor still in shock. Suicune narrowed her fierce red eyes at them.

"What is the meaning of this?" She angrily asked.

Sneasel stood up and dusted himself off. "Your brother is a coward."

"What did you just say?" The Legendary water type asked, surprised by Sneasel's bold words.

He replied. "If Entei wishes to stop his impending death, he should face me like a man."

"Entei knows nothing of this delinquency. He has matters of his own to attend to. And I shall not let it be interrupted by the likes of you."

"Knows nothing?!" Zangoose asked while rising to his feet. "He should know he would get what's coming to him eventually after what he did. Y'know what I'm talking about?! How he burned an entire village down to rubble?! Huh?! How he killed a whole bunch of innocent Pokemon in cold blood?!"

"Your brother should've made sure ALL of us were burned up in those flames." Sneasel added. "Little did he know a weak little bastard like me would pay him back for his deed."

Suicune looked down in sadness. "My sibling has done things that both I and Raikou detest. But his motives are always motivated by the pursuit of the greater good. I'm not saying I was pleased with what he did, but… what happened is in the past. He did what he believed was right."

Sneasel's eyes shot wide open in rage as he processes Suicune's words. "You… you mean… you actually support what he did?!"

The water type looked down in thought and replied. "In the end… everything happens for the glory of a bright future as opposed to a dark one…"

Zangoose's ears twitched in discomfort of what he was hearing. "You Legendaries are supposed to protect us! Not going around killing us! Regardless of what type the 'Mon is!" Zangoose noted the Absol that stood next to Suicune. "What about you?! How does it feel to know that there's 'Mon, like that blue bitch beside you, willing to commit genocide on your kind of people?! Just because of your typing!"

Absol looked at Suicune. Suicune looked at Absol through the corner of her eye. "History proves that we need to be kept in check." Absol glared at Sneasel as she continued; specifically speaking to him. "You will only be proving Entei right if you try and carry out this ridiculous plan!"

"You brainwashed fool. It wouldn't have mattered if I was psychic type, fighting type, ghost type or any other! Regardless of what I was, destiny would bring me here to avenge my family." Sneasel stretched out his claws and ran them over one another, making an eerie metallic sound fill the tense air. "You're a traitor to your own kind, Absol. And as for you, Suicune… I won't let you stop me from avenging my people. NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

"You should watch who you are speaking to. I won't let you carry out this wickedness." Suicune sternly said.

"And you think we'll just walk away and let Entei get away with murder?!" Zangoose extended his claws and gritted his teeth in pure rage. "Not gonna happen, bub."

Everyone posed ready for battle. Xatu's eyes began glowing a bright purple with psychic energy. Absol's scythe began glowing a dark aura around it. Suicune began charging her immense range of power, causing the molecules in the air to thicken, and the ground to slightly shake.

"Attack." Suicune ordered.

Absol and Xatu rushed toward the two. Suicune suddenly felt a presence appear behind her. A low, hatred filled voice spoke in her ear.

"Faster than you thought."

Sneasel moved so fast that no one even saw him dash behind the powerful Legendary. She quickly tried to counter with a swipe, but was met with two sharp claws slashing her in the face. Suicune tried defending herself by firing a flurry of quick bursts of energy. Sneasel dodged them all so fast, he appeared to be teleporting; leaving just a blur of where he once was just a second ago. Suicune was very much bigger than Sneasel. But a series of precise and carefully thought out blows to her body made him seem like much more of a threat than what she thought.

"Keep sti-AUGHHH!" She was cut off by a fierce uppercut and nearly went flying in the air, and toppled over on the floor. She calmed herself and steadied her breathing; trying to figure out a strategy to counter the surprisingly fast dark/ice type. Zangoose was holding his own against Absol and Xatu. Xatu tried his best to distract Zangoose with aerial blasts, while Absol went with more direct attacks. Xatu made a mistake by flying too close to the normal type. Zangoose caught Xatu by the wing and threw him up into the air and before the bird landed on the ground, Zangoose sent him soaring into the control panel with a spinning hook kick.

"Xatu! Are you okay?" Absol frantically asked.

Xatu struggled to open his eyes, but remained lying limp, while embedded into the control panel and let out a sigh of defeat. She looked back at the cat ferret with a menacing glare. Zangoose returned the glare.

"You're next." He said with a low growl.

Absol lunged with her claws outstretched, but Zangoose caught them with his bare paws. He flipped her into the air, grabbed her by the hind legs, and slammed her onto the ground on her back. He hopped onto her waist and began brutally slashing away at her underside. She caught one of his paws in her mouth and bit with all her might, and threw him into the wall.

"GAHHH!" "Damn! That really hurt." He massaged his injured hand and caught his breath. Absol did the same as she fought to compose herself. She could feel the blood seeping from her stomach wounds. Both of them turned to see Sneasel and Suicune still duking it out.

"Enough games!" Absol said. "If you won't give in, I'll show no mercy! RAAAAUUGHHHH!"

Absol began to change form. Her swooped hair grew longer and what appeared to be a set of wings grew from her back. Zangoose let out a war cry himself as he lunged for the mega evolved Pokemon. He unleashed his rage at her with X-Scissor after X-Scissor. Fury Cutter after Fury Cutter. Berserker Barrage after Berserker Barrage. But none of it seemed to be phasing the disaster Pokemon. She remained calm, even though many attacks connected with her body. She finally had enough and attacked. A flash of sharp light froze Zangoose in his tracks. He couldn't tell exactly what it was at the moment, but something didn't feel right. Something felt… missing. He could feel a sharp pain emitting from his left arm. Fear shot into his heart as the pain rapidly increased to the point of excruciation. He looked down and saw his paw lying on the floor. Zangoose lost his breath at the terrible sight. He sunk to his knees, grasping what remained of his arm. Trying his best to catch his breath, which was slipping away from him with every second he contemplated his defeat, he kept his head down as Absol approached him from the front.

"I'm sorry. But you left me no choice."

He could feel the sincerity in her voice and could tell that she was genuine in her apology. However the reality of the situation he and his partner were in settled in more by the second. And he wanted nothing more than to literally slice her into pieces at that moment. Sneasel continued the quick jab-retreat-repeat tactic that he had adopted to fight Suicune. It was the only strategy he had for defeating the Legendary water type. Because he knew that with just one strong enough blow, Suicune would end his efforts right then and there… and he could not… would not let that happen. Not when he had devoted his life to vengeance.

"Absol! Assistance!" Suicune shouted.

Sneasel looked over for a brief second and saw his partner kneeled in a pool of his own blood, holding his arm. Sneasel looked up at Absol and prepared to make her suffer.

"Curse you for that! I'll have you howling in agony after I'm done with you!"

Before Sneasel could move, Suicune froze his legs to the ground. It was just the distraction she needed. Being part ice type himself, he began to manipulate the ice to free himself, but wasn't fast enough at that moment. With all her might, Suicune turned around and hit Sneasel in the back with a full forced double kick. He went flying into Zangoose and they both were laid out on the ground. Suicune launched herself in the air and fired an Aurora Beam at the two of them to finish the job. After it was all said and done, the two lay on top of each other in a motionless pile of defeat. Suicune landed on the floor and immediately started tending to her partners' wounds. She pulled Xatu out of the control panel, and he began to return to consciousness. As she walked over to Absol, she noticed that the Machoke security guard was beginning to recover from being knocked out.

"Ughhhh…" He quickly looked back and forth between Suicune, and the defeated normal type and dark/ice type. "The hell happened in here?!"

Suicune began tending to Absol's wounds. "You've lost a lot of blood." She calmly spoke to Absol. "Hold still while I purify your gashes."

Sneasel and Zangoose were still conscious, but couldn't bring themselves to fight anymore. Zangoose had lost a limb, and Sneasel tried to move his legs, but couldn't. The forceful kick to the back combined with his legs suddenly being snapped from being frozen on the ground, must've injured something serious.

"Z-Zangoose. I… arghh… I can't feel my legs." Sneasel spurted out.

Suddenly, huge amounts of cheering could be heard from the center of the stadium. Entei's booming voice on the microphone could then be heard. He had started his speech, and Sneasel was losing any last hope he had of getting revenge as valuable time slipped away. When Sneasel heard Entei's voice, he panicked.

"N-no! Zangoose! Entei is on the podium! I-I can't move. You have to do it. You have to pull the trigger! Hurry!"

With a growl, the cat ferret summoned up the last of the strength he had left, got up and stumbled over to the gun like a drunken man. Zangoose threw himself onto the gun as he tried his best to stay conscious. He had lost so much blood... he was beginning to lose himself. He focused on what little energy he had remaining, and put the only paw he had left around the trigger.

"DO IT ZANGOOSE! AVENGE MY MOTHER!"

Suicune looked over at the Pokemon that was about to kill her brother.

"No!" She cried out.

She quickly moved and positioned herself in front of the gun. Zangoose pulled the trigger. As soon as the weapon began firing the single shot of concentrated energy, Suicune kicked the barrel up towards the ceiling with her hind legs; redirecting the blast through the observation deck roof and into the sky. The shot dispersed into a black cloud of vapor. Suicune let out a huge sigh of relief. Absol was about to finally relax until she felt a trainwreck hit her head. A sudden migraine began brutally pounding on her head as she felt something horrible was still bound to happen. She looked toward the gun that was beginning to smoke.

"Oh no…"

"What is it?!" Suicune asked.

"T-the gun! It's going to explode! We have to leave now!"

Suicune, Absol, Xatu, and Machoke quickly made it out of the room, leaving Zangoose and Sneasel holding onto dear life. Zangoose collapsed onto the floor and passed out next to the gun. Sneasel used his arms to crawl up to the gun, figuring he could at least try to deactivate the self-destruct sequence to save themselves. The explosion would be small enough to where nothing around the vicinity of the observation deck would be too charred. But as for the deck itself… it would be too much for the two of them to handle. Sneasel made it up to the gun and looked at the numbers on the panel. His heart sunk. "4… 3…" There wasn't enough time to deactivate the weapon. He closed his eyes and prepared for the bitter end. "2… 1…"

"I'll see you soon… Mom." Sneasel whispered before the bursting flames licked away at the two corpses.

One hour later…

The thousands of Pokemon that filled the stadium were quickly escorted out after everyone witnessed the huge blast from the observation deck, followed by the explosion thirty seconds after. In just a little while, the Unova stadium was empty, except for six Pokemon. The winner and loser, Emboar and Infernape, stayed behind out of curiosity to examine the scene with Entei and Suicune. Two members of the local news team, a Smeargle and a Meowth, arrived to make a report to inform the citizens on what happened to ruin their entertainment. Suicune carefully explained to everyone what she went through just an hour ago. The group went into the remains of the observation deck and were appalled at what they saw.

"Is this some kind of joke?!" Entei boomed.

"I-I don't u-understand." Suicune stuttered.

"I don't get it." Said the Emboar. "What are we supposed to be looking at?"

The six Pokemon stood before the room in which the great battle had just occurred. However, the issue was that there were no remains of a struggle in the room. The floors, which were previously painted with splashes of blood, were remarkably clean. No residue left behind at all. The control panel, which was damaged due to Xatu smashing into it, was as good as new. Even the homemade weapon was missing from the room. To top it all off, there were no scorch marks from the explosion, even though the outside of the building was completely charred. One of the only pieces of evidence was the hole that remained in the roof. Suicune walked toward where the gun used to be positioned, and looked up to stare out of the hole in the ceiling. "There's no way they could've survived that blast." She thought to herself.

"This worries me." She said.

Entei walked up to his sister and began questioning her. "Speak, Suicune. What is it that you claim happened here?"

She jumped back. "Claim?! I saved your life! I don't simply 'claim' that truth! I know it for certain!" She huffed and began to walk out. As she made it past the others, she turned her head to her sibling and made her last remarks to him. "You were almost murdered today, Entei. To make matters worse, we have no idea where the perpetrators are. See to this matter in whichever way you choose. It is no longer my concern, neither my responsibility."

Suicune stormed out and left everyone in silence. It was awkwardly quiet for a while until Infernape tried to make a joke to ease the atmosphere.

"Hey, by the way, I got family issues too…" Entei silenced him by simply looking at him through the corner of his eye. "Err… I'll be quiet."

Smeargle readied his paper to begin writing down details. "Umm, Entei? What would you like for us to say in the news report?" He asked.

Entei turned around and began walking out as he finished contemplating the situation. "Do not worry about such a thing. A report is not necessary."

"Not necessary?" The Meowth started. "I'm sorry, Mr. Entei, sir. But a whole bunch of Pokemon are gonna want to know just what the heck happened in here! We have to tell them something! You see what I'm saying?"

"So be it. Do whatever you have to do, but do not tell them what really happened here. If the public were to find out about this, it could lead to a series of vexatious situations that I want no part of."

Entei sighed and left, followed by Emboar and Infernape. Meowth booted up his camera, and Smeargle began to read his fabricated written report to the camera.

"We're live in three, two, one."

"This is Smeargle, with Channel 17 news, hear to bring you a special report…"

The city was bustling with many Pokemon making their daily errands. Loud honks from buses and taxis broke up the sounds of many species chatting with one another. The rumbling of the train tracks above the streets could be heard as well. In fact… wait. Vibrations of a train could be felt too. It was odd. Louder voices began to manifest as well. As if they were really close by. Actually, there was no doubt they were close by. Wait. What was going on?

"GRAAAAAGHHHH!"

Zangoose jerked awake hard as if he had been shocked to life, desperately gasping for air as he came to consciousness. He looked around in extreme panic and terror as he was getting his bearings. He was sitting in the back of a moving train, with everyone on board burning holes into his skull.

"Hey man... you alright?" Someone from up front asked.

Zangoose, still trying to gather himself, patted himself down in confusion. "What's going on here? How the heck am I still alive?" Zangoose continued to pat himself down, until it finally hit him on what he was doing. He looked at his left arm and was shocked to see it fully healed. In fact, there were no scars or bruises anywhere on his body. "This… this doesn't make any sense. It's like none of it ever happened. But I'm sure it did! I KNOW it did! What the freak is going on?!" Zangoose stood up and swiftly made it to the front of the train where the conductor, a Mr. Mime, was focused on operating the controls.

"Hey!"

Mr. Mime nearly fell out of his chair from being startled. "Hwoah! You frightened me!"

"How the hell did I get on this train?!"

Mr. Mime was still shocked by the surprise from the obviously angry normal type. Zangoose saw this and calmed himself down, realizing he wouldn't be able to communicate effectively while being so riled up.

"Alright, listen. I need to know when and how I was put on this train. Got it?! Some weird stuff is going on and I need answers!"

"Okay, okay! The thing is… I don't know myself! This train just began its route about ten minutes ago. You were the first on the train, but I don't remember seeing you get on. I figured I was just getting delusional in my old age!" The conductor chuckled as he continued to go on. "Y'know, my grandkids tell me…"

Mr. Mime droned on while Zangoose thought about what was told to him. "One minute the train was empty, but the next I was on it? But I still don't know how I'm alive. I don't know why I'm fully healed either." The cat ferret looked out the window and saw the vehicle rapidly approaching a familiar street.

"So then my oldest grandchild said-"

"Stop the train!" Zangoose rudely interrupted.

"Wh-what the? Silly boy! I can't just stop the train in the middle of-"

"STOP THE DAMN TRAIN!"

"Hey buddy!" An intimidating Beartic stood up ready to defend the Mr. Mime. "Your mother never taught you to respect the elderly? Back off of him and sit down!"

"I don't have time for this." Zangoose muttered with a growl.

He went to the doors, forced them open with his claws, and jumped out the moving train. He landed in the middle of a bustling street and broke his forceful fall by rolling on his back multiple times. He struggled to his feet and shook his head from the dizziness that overtook him, and swiftly sprinted on all fours to his destination where he was hopeful he would find answers.

Thoughts began rushing through Sneasel's mind as he gained mental consciousness. He kept his eyes closed; he was afraid to open them. He was mentally preparing himself for what the afterlife would look like. Would it be streets of gold? Would it be flowing with milk and honey? Would it be infinite and vast like his elders had told him it would be when he was a baby boy? A grin grew on his face as he thought about these things. Sure, there were nice things to consider, but the thing that brought the most joy to his heart, was the thought of seeing his mom again. Death was something he thought about, and truly never wanted to experience. But like many things in life, he had no choice but to suffer through it. Now that he was sure he had passed on, he embraced the idea of spending eternity with his loved ones. He still refused to open his eyes as he waited for a sound or some voices. But he heard nothing. He even waited to feel a gentle, smooth breeze against his skin. But he felt nothing. And where was the scent of the milk and honey, or other delicious treats he was sure that Pokemon would feast on in the afterlife? His senses fed no information to him. Sneasel opened his eyes, and quickly sat up.

"Wh… wh-what?"

He was in his basement bedroom. He looked down to see himself in bed, wrapped up in his blanket. He threw the blanket off his leg and studied his body. Nothing. There were no bruises on his body and he was even able to move his legs again. Sneasel stared down with wide eyes in shock, trying to make sense of what had happened. "Was it just a dream?" He thought to himself. The color in the room faded to black and white, and it began to grow darker. It startled Sneasel.

"What's going on?!"

"I can assure you, this isn't a dream." An eerie voice whispered. "I would not let your sacrifice be in vain."

Sneasel looked around but didn't see anyone. "Who's there?! Who are you?! You think this is funny?!"

"At ease, my child. Pay attention to my words, and take comfort in them. You're safe in my presence."

"What the?! Are you some sort of Legendary?!"

Sneasel starting thinking of who this Pokemon could be. His mind immediately went to ones like the Destruction Pokemon, or the Pitch-Black Pokemon. He also thought of others that he read in books and folklore that no one knew for sure existed yet.

"..."

He waited for a response.

"Wh-why aren't you answering me?"

"..."

"I need to know!"

"I am the death before life. The end before the beginning. That is all you need to know."

"Y-you have something to do with this don't you? Y'know what happened to me?! How am I not dead?! There was no way I survived that explosion from that close."

"Precisely. You didn't survive. The flames consumed your bodies until its thirst was quenched. But through a surge of my power, I was able to provide mercy… and you with your friend were revived."

"Surge of power? Provide mercy?" "Just what kind of Pokemon are you?"

"..."

Sneasel looked toward the wall and saw sharp shadows being cast across them.

"Listen, I am running out of time…" The shadows that stood against the wall, seemed to have protruded from the wall, and were now surrounding Sneasel. They encircled him as they got closer to his head. Sneasel could feel himself getting dizzy.

"Wait, what are you doing to me?"

"Erasing your memory."

"But why?"

"I do not wish for my children to live in anguish. You will not be able to live peacefully as long as you hold onto the echoes of your mother. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yeah but…"

"Listen carefully, my son. A war is coming in the future. A war that has been prophesied for eons, but ignored by your elders. The Hour of Darkness. This war will be a result of the very reason you were killed… the unjust persecution of the Dark type Pokemon. And I will be the leader of that war. Zangoose is not my child, but as I have had mercy on him, I will also have mercy on others who choose to stand by our side. Those who choose to stand for equality for all typings. By then, my power will have manifested to the point where no one shall stop me. No one shall stop us."

Sneasel's dizziness began to get worse by the second. "W-wait!" The shadows temporarily stopped circling him. "Just promise me something, whoever you are."

"What is your wish?"

"Promise me that when the Hour of Darkness comes, you will allow Entei to die by my hand. When that day comes, remind me of what I suffered through, so that I will be the one to bring him the death he deserves."

"..."

Sneasel closed his eyes and prepared for part of his memory to be emptied.

"When the time comes, you will be on the front lines as one of my head soldiers. And I promise, on that day, Entei will fall dead by your feet…"

Zangoose ran up to Sneasel's door and pounded as hard and as fast as he could. "Sneasel! Are you in there?! Open up!"

After about thirty seconds of more pounding, the door finally opened. Sneasel stood in the doorway with a confused look on his face.

"Zangoose? What the heck do you want? Cops still on us after that last job we pulled?"

The normal type stood in awe and wonder of what was going on. A thought quickly came to his mind on what he should do. "If it was just a dream after all, then the gun should still be there. But if it wasn't a dream…" He was determined to get down to the bottom of this. Zangoose rushed past his business partner and into the room where the gun was supposed to be being constructed. Zangoose went in and of course, the room was empty; the weapon nowhere to be found.

"Where is it, Sneasel?!"

"What's gotten into you, Zangoose?"

"The gun?! Where the hell is it?!" Zangoose frantically looked around the entire house, opening doors to every room with Sneasel behind shouting for him to calm down.

"ENOUGH!" Sneasel hollered. "I don't know what drugs you're on, but I'm busy with my own problems. You got that?! I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Zangoose slowly turned around and regret was he was about to ask.

"Just let me ask one question before I leave."

Sneasel groaned. "What?"

Zangoose got on one knee, put his paw on his partner's shoulder, and looked him directly in the eye. "Sneasel, what happened to your mother?"

The question caught him off guard. Sneasel angrily grimaced at Zangoose. "You trying to be funny?!"

"No. I'm dead serious right now. Please. Answer me, guy."

Sneasel looked down and gulped before truthfully replying to the sudden personal question. He hated talking about the death of his mother more than anything.

"She died in a car accident. Why do you ask?"