Whew. It's been a while. Practically half a year since I've updated. Hopefully that'll be the longest I'll go without writing. These last few months have been rough for me, especially with the destruction of my computer, and effectively all of my notes on this story (not to mention a ton of other things).

I haven't recovered a lot of the story stuff that I lost, but I still technically have the info in my noggin. Having them in actual words made organization and coordinating with the other writers easier.

I'll be honest, the loss (on top of a slew of other things going on in my life at the time) was demoralizing enough to where I didn't feel like I wanted to keep writing this series, but when I look at the reviews you guys leave me and all the support you send, I know you all are worth the effort to keep going.

So if you still have the patience to be there for me, so will I. My updates may not be as frequent, but for the most part, it looks like I'm back in the game.

As usual, I thank Zarrelion for such an excellent job betaing this chapter.

August 18

Dark and ominous clouds carpeted the skies east of the Coronet Mountain Range. The veil proved impenetrable to the watery lunar light, keeping the world below in shadow. Silence reigned at the woods near the base of the mountain. The soundtrack of Sinnoh's nocturnal woodland inhabitants was gradually replaced with indescribable static that swept through the forest like a tempest as the temperature suddenly and inexplicably plunged below freezing in seconds.

The air itself seemed to crystallize as moisture within every leaf of every tree froze into icy spikes. Denizens of the forest swore the trees were splintered by some unseen force as their ears were assaulted by the sound of a thousand cracks erupting from each tree. It wasn't long before they felt the biting cold wash over them like a plague. Those that remained stared in equal parts awe and horror as the forest died around them.

A seemingly endless stream of snaps sounded through the forest, each one marking the fall of countless leaves that rained over the understory. Hundreds of pokémon fled and flew amidst the leafy chaos, unsure of where to run, where to hide and confused as to what exactly was happening. Every heated breath released a patch of mist to join the cries of fear that filled the air until everything gradually quieted down.

Sprawled throughout the woods over a bed of frigid leaves were those too slow to escape the arctic onset. Within seconds, nothing stirred, save the minute twitches of fallen pokémon that surrendered their warm breath to the malicious frigid aura that saturated the air.

It came softly at first, barely a whisper above the agonized groans of the dying forest. Eventually, it grew louder and louder until it became a deafening roar.

Raucous laughter and childish giggles filled the void of silence. Hysteric squeals of glee pierced the frigid night as the demented laugh track continued, taking obvious delight at the massacre. The intended audience for the audible mirth was the one that had laughed to begin with. Said creature was watching high above the forest.

It seemed as though every shade of the purple spectrum swirled lazily beneath the sea of gray clouds. Amidst the lavender whirlwind were black and white figures, speckled dots of pinks, reds, yellows and greens peeking from the amethyst maelstrom. At its epicenter stood a figure that towered over the twister, dark pupils swimming back and forth within glowing scarlet pools.

Gengiga — the name that the giant Gengar now preferred to call himself — flashed his signature Cheshire smile, which grew even wider at the sight of similar grins mirrored back at him.

"So, how was that for a warm up?" he cackled, his comment was quickly met with hundreds of deafening cheers. "Nice to see some things never change," Gengiga mused, chuckling at their enthusiasm. "Now that we've got that outta the way, let's talk about why we're all here." The giant shadow pokémon's eyes played across his audience with a passing glance.

"I recognize some of you," Gengiga said as he eyed his kin. "Others…not so much."

Froslass, Mismagius, Spiritomb and myriad other ghost pokémon of all shapes and sizes bobbed gently around him, their attention undivided as they drank in his icy voice with bated breath. "But in the end, none of that matters. What matters is what we all have in common." Silence overtook the army of ghosts, a feat rarely achieved considering their nature.

Gengiga smiled even wider. "It's often been said of our kind by others — I like to think that it still holds true today — that we like to have…fun."

A general murmur of agreement went through the phantom populace, eventually agreeing on the established word with its ability to encompass and define their centuries long past time.

"An…associate of mine has given us all the opportunity to have…a party." Gengiga giggled at the euphemism and was joined in on the inside joke with several hundred snickers and hoots.

"The best part about our little celebration is that everyone's invited. Tell your friends, tell your relatives, and be sure to get them into the spirit of it. It's a party on this planet and you're all invited, but best of all, the fun will be done whenever you guys want it to be!" Gengiga continued proudly, watching the phantoms roar their approval. The sea of spirits dispersed into every direction at once, cheering as they went. It wasn't until the last speck of purple melded into the horizon that Gengiga allowed himself to sigh and let his shoulders sag.

"Well that's done," Gengiga whispered to no one in particular, drawing a line through the first task on his mental checklist given to him by Uxie.

Mission 1: Organize ghost types to join experiment.

His body slowly sank into the ground, melding into the shadows of the night. The faint pool of darkness that was Gengiga's own shadow expanded and darkened as he sank into it, his body eventually disappearing completely beneath the surface. In his place rested a large black circle that spanned fifty meters in diameter along the forest floor.

Without warning the black spot lunged across the landscape with a speed that belied its size. Travelling this way worked only as long as he had enough shadow to move through, making journeys by day slow and tedious. But at night, when umbral puddles blanketed the earth, he could traverse miles in mere seconds as he jumped from shadow to shadow. Gengiga sped across Sinnoh, his width no thicker than the shadows around him.

"So, why'd you join the bird in his big crusade?" Lugia asked in an attempt at making small talk. He had grown tired of watching the sea rush below them as they embarked on their flight of several hours. Rayquaza gave the diving Legendary a quizzical sidelong glance before shifting his gaze back to the stretch of sea ahead of them.

"I have several reasons why I joined Ho-oh. Like your brother, I am a guardian and the upper skies are my domain." The Sentinel of the Jet Stream kept his gaze fixed to the distant horizon, missing the grimace the crawled across Lugia's face at the mention of the word "brother". Rather than correct him on their current relationship, Lugia let the comment slide and waited patiently for the dragon to continue.

"Over the years the humans and their technological advancements have started damaging the ozone layer," Rayquaza continued as they sped over the whitecaps of the churning waves. "It is an invisible and intangible opponent I cannot defeat with my strength, cunning or speed. With all their intelligence, they must know what they're doing to the atmosphere, but it would seem they care not for the consequences their actions will bring to their future generations. They seem to only care for their immediate enjoyment. They are too shortsighted to see that they are hurting the earth and themselves in the process. However, there is another reason for my allegiance."

The sky-high Legendary sighed, peering deep into the rushing waters below as he dug within his mind for memories he had deeply buried long ago. Rather than pry the answer from Rayquaza's mind with a psychic probe, Lugia waited patiently for him to divulge his reason.

Silence, save for the rushing of air and the sound of waves, reigned. Eventually the Sentinel of the Jet Stream spoke. "A group of humans captured me and tortured me." His voice was a whisper, as if he were confessing to some horrible crime. Voicing it aloud meant acknowledging his weakness, diminishing the strength of his title and role as the ozone's protector. Being made to submit by a human was demeaning, especially to something designated as a Legendary. But to be repeatedly forced into that state brought crippling shame.

"I'm not sure what they wanted from me and why. But I know that if it weren't for Ho-oh's timely intervention, I might still be there," Rayquaza continued.

"…I know what that's like."

Rayquaza's head lifted. A look of surprise was worn plainly on his face.

"I…was captured by a group of humans too. It was a while back, and I'm not sure if it was the same group but if they were anything like the ones that caught me, they might've wanted to turn you into a weapon. They…it was…" Lugia gave a frustrated sigh, unsure of how to put together his next few words.

Rather than speak further, Lugia's eyes glowed and transmitted the memories of his experience at the hands of the Cipher Organization. Rayquaza shuddered as the whitecaps of the waves and rushing air gave way to the sterile, harsh laboratory of Cipher. He felt, heard and saw everything that Lugia went through. The Guardian of the Jet Stream struggled to maintain his speed as the ocean vista gave way to shadowy nightmarish scenes of unspeakable torture. To describe the experience as jarring and disorienting was a gross understatement; the memories of Rayquaza and those of Lugia blended together into a grisly tableau.

But as the Guardian of the Jet Stream sifted through the memories, he quickly found that separating them didn't matter. Knowing who experienced which anguish lost meaning as he realized they had both suffered similar tortures.

"I know the psychics' abilities bother you, but…I just thought you should know. If they're too painful I could try rem—"

"—No. Thank you…for…sharing that with me. That was…personal and not something many would understand. We are more alike than I thought," Rayquaza replied, lips curling into a rare smile that the silver Legendary mirrored.

The first rays of dawn had been Gengiga's signal to leap out of his shadowy pathway, placing him at the outer fringes of a forest and near a scouting group of Beedrill.

"Poor bastards." Gengiga sighed, watching them close the distance and attempt to poison him with their stingers. They came at him all at once, then glowed red like hot embers the instant they made contact before disappearing within his body. Within him they would meet a toxic stew composed of Grimer and Muk. Within seconds, their bodies were liquefied and added to the vile concoction.

"Guess the undampening made them dumber. I'm several fuckin' stories taller than'em and they still rush me," Gengiga muttered, looking around for any other competitors. Finding none, he began sinking back into his shadow once more, the trees of the surrounding forest providing enough shade for him to move freely during daylight.

Finding the main hive was relatively easy. The droning buzz of Beedrill was impossible to hide. They reacted quickly to his presence, discarding whatever previous duties they'd assumed before his arrival to turn and attack him. Gengiga groaned as the charging Beedrill burned red before they were engulfed into the void within his body. To him, this wasn't a battle — it was assisted suicide.

He turned his sights to the wax mountain that was their hive, marveling in its intricacy and scope. The surrounding soldiers took this moment to launch every long range attack they had in their arsenal at him, having learned to switch strategies after the loss of a sizable fraction of their hive from a full-on physical assault.

Gengiga carried on his watch of the hive, paying no heed to the hailstorm of toxin laced needles that the soldiers launched at him. He gradually turned to them, having had his fill of the hive, and found himself slightly impressed that the buzzing horde had switched tactics on him. His pale crimson eyes turned a deep ominous red — the color of dried blood. The sky above — as if by an unspoken command — quickly reacted to Gengiga's action.

Above, a splotch of red began to grow as if the sky itself were bleeding. In a few short minutes, the sun was blotted out by the supernatural red darkness. Silence reigned within the dome as the sounds of life within the forest were extinguished.

Lidless, disembodied eyes hung in the preternatural sky like stars in the night sky. Pulsating and swiveling as their bloodshot gaze swept over the landscape. Nothing was safe from their eldritch gaze.

Another buzzing filled the air as rigid tendrils of light slithered across Gengiga's purple fur.

Mission 2: Eliminate all poison types within each region.

A single white dome reflected off the glossy crimson surface of every Beedrill's eye as they watched the target of their hostility disappear within it. The swarm could do nothing as the incandescent sphere expanded towards them.

Like drawing poison from a wound, Gengiga would eliminate the poison types from the earth.

"Do you see it? There, ahead of us."

"That's our base of operations?" Lugia replied, squinting at the tiny island in the distance.

"That would appear to be the case for the time being, yes," Rayquaza replied. He had no pride in the island — it was out of his domain — but the silver Legendary's criticism was . "Is there a problem?"

"Don't you think…isn't it…a little small?"

"Large operations have small beginnings," the sky sentinel countered, giving Lugia a withering stare.

"Still, you'd think we could do better than a—whoa!" The diving Legendary abruptly stopped as if slamming into some invisible wall.

"What? What is it?" Rayquaza whirled his body around in search of an attacker.

"You mean you don't feel the—never mind! Of course you wouldn't," Lugia muttered, his awe-struck expression quickly morphing into concern.

"Something affecting your psychic sense I presume?"

"Yeah. Except in this case I wouldn't mind lacking it right now."

"How so?" Rayquaza asked.

"They can sense us," Lugia muttered, his brow furrowed as he stared warily in the direction of their final destination.

"Who?"

"Honestly, I don't know. They're definitely psychic, I can tell you that. They've been privy to our presence for a while now, from even before we could even see the island. I'm just now sensing it because they've entered my range and there's tens if not hundreds of them locking onto us."

"Are they hostile?" the serpentine dragon inquired, his tone lightly laced with concern.

"No. In fact it appears that they're gonna try tele—" Lugia began before blinking out of existence, Rayquaza immediately following suit.

"—Porting…us…" the silver sentinel finished, eyes rapidly widening from the sudden changes in his surroundings. Dozens of Alakazam lined the walls around them, floating gently off the ground in a sort of meditative state. At the end of the room floated Uxie who slowly hovered towards them and from what Lugia could sense, was seemingly speaking with each of the Alakazam in the room simultaneously.

Lugia could hear fragments of their psychic messages, astounded by the sprite's ability to carry on so many conversations at once.

"—Berry Forest Muk infestation eliminated by unexpected outside fo—" "—Parasect have unanimously migra—" "— Large caravan of humans detected in Ho—" "—Factories are procee—" "—Clefable and evolutionary population have mysteriously—" "Heretical group heading towards human settlement known as Darkbri—" "—Estimated death tolls have risen for Farfetch'd, Wobbuff—" "—Hunter Sphere production is high and can begin collec—" "—Strike teams have deployed to locate Jira—" "—Massive energy detonation detected in human settlement known as Sunysho—" "—Gulpin insurg—" "—Intense temperature spikes eroding atmosph—" "—Genetic samples of mole evolutionary line have proven dif—"

Lugia shook his head as if to clear the thoughts from his mind, most of the fragments sounding like complete and utter gibberish, while others were more concerning regardless of the context. The act was like trying to read the mind of every Beedrill in a frantic hive.

"Greetings Rayquaza. Lugia. Although redundant, custom dictates apology for involuntary teleportation." Uxie paused before continuing; apparently expecting the brief silence would be considered his formal apology. Although subtle, Lugia could sense the slight irritation not in his voice, but rather in his aura. If Lugia had to guess it would have to be from the transition from the efficient and effective psychic communication for the slow and tedious vocalization of his thoughts.

"Can understand discomfort that comes with travel by teleportation. Necessary when considering time is of essence. See that you have retrieved Lugia's brother, excellent."

"Lugia, this is Uxie. He is Ho-oh's…advisor of sorts. He has been vital in coordinating our assault against the humans. Our most basic ability, to learn, can also be attested to him," Rayquaza said.

"Already know of Lugia's sibling, can skip pleasantries. Exchange of data will be necessary," Uxie replied.

"Charmed," Lugia replied in a deadpan voice.

"This task is then complete. I shall see to the completion of my task and oversee Ho-oh's progress with those who would damage my atmosphere," Rayquaza said, slithering through the air towards the double doors leading into the arena. Lugia threw him a pleading stare, only to find it wasted on the emerald Legendary's back. Uxie's aura fluttered, a sign Lugia could only interpret as his impatience.

Lugia was not the only one who sensed the sprite's irritation, half of the Alakazam in the room had psychically locked onto him. The diving Legendary lowered his gaze to the All-Knowing, bobbing gently off the ground. One of the Alakazam opened his eyes, aiming his glowing blue gaze at the silver Legendary. Without any word of warning, Uxie tore through his mental defenses as if they were no tougher than seaweed.

The silver Legendary felt him sift through his memories, threshing through his mind and extracting what he considered important while casting aside everything else that didn't match his interests. He felt naked and vulnerable, his entire life laid out before a cold and calculating entity who seemed unaware — or uncaring — of his discomfort.

"Is this what the others went through?" Lugia asked himself as Uxie began to peer into every memory he had ever repressed. Images of thoughts he had fought long to bury flashed across his mind like bolts of lightning. His thoughts were being brought up and scrutinized as if they were not one's most sacred belongings but merely curiosities. A line had been crossed and regardless of who this Legendary was and what his entourage of psychics threatened to do, he would not subject himself to his treatment any longer.

"ENOUGH!" Lugia roared, extending his wings and creating a miniature maelstrom within the chamber. A dozen overlapping spherical barriers formed around Uxie, protecting him from any possible danger the gale could've brought to him. With a single mental command from the sprite the shimmering barriers dissipated. As if they shared a single mind, the spoons of every Alakazam in the room lowered in perfect unison.

Lugia's shallow breaths were painfully audible in the chamber, perspiration shining on his silver skin.

"Interesting," Uxie muttered, dragging the word out longer than Lugia was comfortable with. Despite lacking facial expressions of any kind and his closed eyes, the way Uxie "looked" at him sent shivers through his soul. "Sufficient data acquired," the sprite said, swiftly turning from him and floating back to his original spot. Before Lugia could even voice his complaint, he was teleported from the room in a flash of white light.

"My lord, I've just received word of the successful conversion of most of our brothers and sisters throughout the regions. Regrettably…several heretical groups have voiced their refusal to join and there are those who are unaccounted for being as they are enslaved by the humans and thereby harder to locate," one of the Alakazam said.

"Well within calculations. Will ignore dissenting faction for the time being. Tamed pokémon will be difficult to locate. Would be inefficient to divert resources to that facet. Can begin the next phase," Uxie replied.

"What would you have us do?" the Alakazam cried in unison.

"Have uploaded habitats and frequented areas into minds. Repeat logic conversion process as done with your species. High success probability considering logic based train of thought. Recruit…the Metagross.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you think or if you have any questions and I'll endeavor to answer them to the best of my ability. Also, I'd love if you guys sent some love to the other poke wars writers in the way of reviews if you haven't already.