Author's Note: You guys won't believe this: I accidentally erased everything I have! So, I've spent the last day and a half rebuilding it all. I got most of it back, but It may be a while before I can update anything besides this... so... yeah...

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah! Nintendo rox my sox!


Ryan awoke in his bedroom, surprisingly small in size, consisting of only a computer, television (with one channel), a clock and a bed. Since his mother was on her own and being Pokemon researcher wasn't lucrative, they couldn't afford much. Ryan went downstairs to the only other room in the house, the kitchen/living room/dining room. It also had dishes, a table, and a television that could only play one movie.

"Oh, Ryan, you're awake!" Yudelle ran up to her son and hugged him, glad he was ready to start his first official day in his new home.

Ryan was confused with the embrace but accepted it nonetheless.

"Ryan...I don't know how you'll see this but..." Yudelle said with a mixed expression of glee and sadness.

Ryan stood there nonchalantly, confused again.

"I quit my job!" she yelled happily! Ryan's slight confusion evolved into bewilderment. "This means that we get to stay in one spot! I've already found a new job working with the local professor! It pays a lot more than my old research job did! Best of all, the professor isn't too far!"

Ryan smiled and hugged his mom again.

"The best part is...now that I'm going to be in spot, you can train your Dratini!"

Ryan beamed at the words, ready to train the Pokemon his father had left him before he disappeared so many years ago.

"Well, go on! I know you're eager to go off! I've already left you a surprise in your closet upstairs!"

~We have a closet?~ Ryan thought.


Satisfied with his finds, Vinn left the caves and headed back into town. Then he noticed the smoke rising in the distance and remembered that Team Phoenix had been planning a raid today.

"Dammit I'm late!"

Vinn took off with Scynn and Zen close behind.


"NO! PLEASE!" A Team Aqua member yelled as Xadc, Calfrun's newly evolved Combusken, beat the living crap out of him. Calfrun watched proudly as the man slumped to the ground. It was true that Pokémon were just tools. However, one could be fond of one's tools, right? Calfrun looked around at the bloody mess. Team Aqua hadn't stood a chance from the combined might of Team Magma and Team Phoenix. And when his Combusken had evolved...

It was now not only faster than ever, but its attacks were quite effective. Calfrun had seen many lives lost today because of double kick. Though it was true some members had escaped and would call Hoenn for reinforcements, this attack meant that no matter how many members of Team Aqua came, they could be defeated. Of the hundreds of people who went on this mission, there had only been 10 reported casualties.

Suddenly, two members of Team Aqua jumped out Calfrun. He threw his Poké Balls at them, which hit them in their guts and made them have to stop and catch their breath. The balls then opened, revealing the Eevees inside. They flew out and clawed the Aqua grunts' eyes out. Calfrun was overjoyed with it all. This marked a new day for Team Phoenix, and a new day for all of Novien.

Calfrun saw Vinn approaching. "You're late!" he called. "We've already dealt with the majority of their forces, we're just taking out a few survivors. Undoubtedly some will escape, but there's not much they, or anyone else for that matter, can do."

Xadc grunted in agreement.

Vinn smirked. "Then leave the survivors to me then." he said, and with a wave of his hand, Zen and Scynn were off. He turned back to Calfrun.

"Oh and..if any of our men get in my way.." a dark look entered his eyes. "I'll cut through them too."

Calfrun smiled. "I would expect nothing less." He then hear a noise behind him. He turned and saw one of his Eevees, named Exia, playing with something it had found on the corpse of one of the Team Aqua guys. Calfrun walked over and discovered that it was a Moon Stone.

He was now having an even better day. This would go for an amazing price on the black market. He wished that he could use it on his own Eevee, but it would have to like him for that to happen, and he wasn't the most kind of trainers.

Suddenly, both Exia and the stone began to glow so brightly that Calfrun had to look away. When the light subsided, Calfrun turned back and almost fell over in surprise. Where his Eevee had been standing there was now an Espion. That meant that Exia actually did like him. His first thought was of how messed up in the head that Pokémon was. Then he felt something. He wasn't sure why, but he felt the urge to go pet the Espion.

Sickened by this, he returned Exia to its Poké Ball and continued the mission.

Vinn strode through the wreckage with an air of boredom. "*sigh* there really aren't that many survivors. Guess that's what I get for being late." he said to himself. Just then an idea occurred to him. "Scynn, come with me. Zen...have fun."

"Scyther...

"Abra!"

Vinn led the Scyther around a few hallways until he was at a huge vault. This was where Team Aqua held most of their more valuable items apparently. There was a Team Phoenix member guarding it, and he snapped to attention when Vinn approached.

A rookie. Great.

"Sir. Orders are that no one is allowed to enter, sorry." the new guy said. Vinn hummed.

"Well that's just too bad." he said. With a quick twitch of his hand, Scynn lunged.

Vinn walked past and into the vault, ignoring the screams. "Ah here we are." he muttered. There was an abundance of Poké Balls and stones lining the walls. "Jackpot."

So Vinn began picking and choosing as he went. He grabbed a lightning stone, thinking of his Eevee. Then he went for the Pokémon.

Vinn ignored most, he had no interest in them. There was one thing Vinn was interested in, and that was Dragon-type Pokémon. There were a few to select and Vinn did so.

He grabbed a Larvitar, a Gabite, and tucked in the back he found, much to his surprise, a Gyarados. "Well I think this will do." he said, pleased.

"Ha, looks like we had the same idea." Calfrun said to Vinn, after coming in only shortly after him. "Though I don't exactly approve of the way you got rid of the rookie outside, I suppose you did say that you would get rid of ANYONE in your way." Calfrun picked up a three Poké Balls and a Dark Stone. "That ought to do it for now. These three now complete my team of six."

His mistake: he didn't check what was in the Poké Balls first.

"Now." Said Commander Tathesh of Team Phoenix, "we will begin taking over the ares between out three current strongholds, until we control a large, triangular section of Novien..." He kept talking, but Calfrun wasn't really listening. He was upset that the three Pokémon he had grabbed earlier were a Piplup, a Starly, and a BIDOOF of all things. He only had two Pokémon on his team that he considered any good at the moment. Especially since that damn Eevee wouldn't evolve like the other one did. Of course, he hadn't punched the other one.

"In addition," Tathesh continued, "we have recently received two new technologies from different region. We now can not only generate shadow Pokémon by closing the doors of the hearts of normal Pokémon, but also we can MAKE a Pokémon evolve using a stone, no matter what its feelings about its trainer are." Calfrun was suddenly in a much better mood. This day just kept getting better.


A cave lay inlaid into the mountain, hidden by the close trees.

The ground rumbled inside the cave, and Xeno pulled himself out of the makeshift tunnel, shutting the hatch behind him. He shook, his spikes clacking loudly. Once he cleaned himself, he trudged off, deeper into the mountain.

He passed a series of tunnels and ladders, designed to trick anyone who came into the cave. He trudged past the ladders, to the end of the first cave. He picked at the ground, grumbling as he tried to find the next tunnel.

PING

Xeno dug out around the hatch with his claws, then popped the seal and hopped in. He slammed the tunnel hatch shut above him, plummeting himself into darkness.

He crawled through the tunnel, his spikes dragging along the roof of the hole and disturbing his tracks, disguising the fact anyone had ever passed through the tunnel.


Credit for this chapter goes to:

Calfrun

TheHiddenAssassin

Veralice

Xeno Major