A/N. Here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!


Episode 5: Prelude To Battle


Silver groaned as he pulled himself from between the debris and rubble, body aching and blood dripping down the side of his head from an injury he couldn't see, but could definitely feel. His left arm wasn't responding, and he was fairly certain he'd sprained his ankle at some point before he'd fallen unconscious, but it all mattered very little in the face of the fact that he'd been separated from the others by this new opponent.

He'd known that his father's Project Nightmare was supposed to give birth to a powerful pokémon, some tool to help him in his quest for world domination, much like Mewtwo. But he hadn't even considered the fact that this creature could be so powerful. And how much of a fool had he been for letting such a tiny, seemingly insignificant possibility escape him? Giovanni was a man who held only two things above everything else, and the first was money and the second power. If money could not buy you everything, power was the sure answer. And having more of either was never a bad thing in his books. He wouldn't have been above his scientists doing whatever was necessary to create the most powerful pokémon.

But then again, hadn't the pursuit already ended in disaster once. Mewtwo had turned against his father the very instant the man had revealed his true colors, leveled his gym to the ground much in the same way this new creation had leveled the Coumarine Gym, and left Giovanni's pride ground into the dirt beneath his feet like an insect. He would've thought that, maybe, his father would've learned from his mistakes, given up on ever creating such a monstrosity and maybe put all that energy and effort into something else. But his father was stubborn if nothing else, and him being no short of manpower and money, the greatest scientist's that could be bought with a few thousands of pokédollars and their experiments and tests funded with the best labs money could buy. No, his father was not one to give up easy at all. And when one planned failed, what could go wrong with trying yet again?

'Everything, everything can and will go wrong. Dad, you crazed psychopath… How far are you willing to go to see this succeed!?' He thought viciously, shaking his head as his vision began to swim before him and the room spun. His stomach lurched violently for a second, eyes wide as he tried to focus in the newfound darkness of his location, and he took a moment when his head was finally clear enough to survey his surroundings, before checking his person for anything that might've gone missing when he had first blacked out. That new creation of his father's was certainly something.

Powerful, just like his father liked.

"Hey, mind lending me your strength?" he asked finally, pulling out a pokéball from his belt and eying the device, unnaturally warm, even to his covered hands. The capsule shook once, and then again rather violently, the creature inside wanting out and into battle, even though there was no opponent to face at the moment. Silver smiled, reassured as he took one last look at his surroundings, before tossing the ball into the air with a click, the device snapping open and a great brown beast appearing in a flash of light. It roared, powerful and noble in appearance, the exact opposite of Silver at that moment, but he didn't care, far too beat up and bruised to give a single thought to just how messed up he probably looked. "We need to find the others… Can you sense, them?" He asked the great beast, who snorted as if the very fact he questioned it was an insult to its pride, before motioning for him to climb onto its back. He was in no condition to walk very far, and they both knew it. He nodded, a small, rare smile on his face as he pulled himself up, the creature waiting for him to settle down before taking off at a slow pad through a space in the ruins around them. "Thanks, Entei."


"So… you do have one of the great legendary beasts…" Lamia murmured aloud, watching the boy and the pokémon leave from the shadows, fire licking at its paws and spreading slowly with each step it took.

She wasn't surprised, to a certain extent, but she had been confused, stunned slightly at the sight of a creature that had sent so many of her handlers and their coworkers home. Shame and failure were a constant burden on their shoulders as they returned, time and again after a failed mission, curses and swears sharp on their tongues when they stared at their empty hands grasping at air and mumbled about how it had been so close, and yet they had been so far. Legendary pokémon were tricky beasts after all, gods and deities in their world with powers far and vast. It was no wonder that her handlers' precious leader wanted their power for himself, when some even held the ability to rip apart space and bring time itself to its knees. Elusive, illusionary creatures only heard of in stories and tall tales, and yet hunted down like dogs by humans who wanted that sheer, raw, unbeatable power for themselves.

And yet here one was, in all of its powerful glory, and at the side of a mere human child no less.

It all mattered very little though. In the end, she still had her mission, however against it she might've been, and so long as she wore the collar, her orders still stood. The boy would die, along with his friends, legendary pokémon or not.

'Hmm, that could be useful…' She thought, keen eyes focusing on the path ahead of the human trainer. The whole of the facility had been torn asunder to a degree, and there weren't many ways to go from where the human was at the moment. He and his friends had been nothing less than thorough in their destruction that the one single attack she'd used to separate them had caused the whole of Sector B and A, and what might've been parts of Sector D, to practically come down on their heads. They were probably very close to the place where the intruders had first entered, but the entrance they'd made was probably very well blocked by now, rubble and metal shrapnel covering the gaping whole they'd made and leaving it impassable for even the most daring of souls. Much of it was too dangerous for even a rock or steel-type to try crossing, and there was only one clear path ahead of the human to take. Wide enough for the legendary and human to pass together, but also narrow enough that it would be perfect for a sort of ambush. 'But how? Hm…'

Her eyes widened, and if Lamia had been anyone or anything else, she might've praised herself for what some might consider complete and utter genius. But she was not, and she held no pride in any intellect she might've possessed as a pokémon. It was nothing more than convenient; a random pile of rubble just barely being supported by the metal beam that had fallen and caught on the opposite wall, makeshift and easily knocked over to cause a landslide of sorts. The human and legendary would be buried, and if the impact of sheer weight didn't kill them, a decreasing amount of available oxygen would, and with a fire-type out, it would only vanish faster. They'd suffocate, and if the human spared the legendary such a fate, then whoever was left of the grunts and minions that were supposed to guard the lab would dig the corpse out eventually and take all the pokéballs for themselves. A sad fate, but one that was inescapable if her plan worked like it should.

She looked down to her paws, clawed and feathered and began to concentrate, slowly and carefully so that she wouldn't be detected, a glowing white ball of energy appearing. She breathed in slowly, eyes drifting up to check her targets location, before her eyes narrowed slightly. She watched as the legendary pokémon visibly stiffened, fur standing on end as it immediately turned to face her, all too slow and far too late as she loosed the attack; a bright beam of light cutting through the debris and rubble standing in her way and just barely missing the two before it hit the wall and burst upon impact. Smoke and dust rose, obscuring their vision, and causing the human to cuss as the legendary shifted, trying to assess the situation. There was a sharp, loud groaning noise, what sounded like a sharp crack as concrete broke and fell, and the metal beam that had been supporting several tons of rubble finally gave under stress and the ceiling came down on their heads.


"Shit!" Silver cussed as the unexpected attack caused the ceiling to cave in, Entei shifting slightly as a particularly large piece of rubble came crashing down right next to them. The mighty fire-type roared, anger clear in its expression as it jumped out of the way of more falling rubble, before taking off back in the direction they had come. The ceiling was caving fast, and they were running out of places to go quickly, any escape route they might have passed quickly sealing shut as metal, shrapnel, and debris fell in heaps.

They should've been more careful, more wary of their surroundings; there'd been no promise after all, that the pokémon his father had created wasn't still around somewhere nearby, following them and waiting to strike.

"Silver!" The cry came as a shock, causing him to look to the side, and his eyes widened at the sight of his adoptive older sister, Green. He quickly stirred the fire-type through the gap, the beast blasting through whatever was left of what might've been a wall, before coming to a screeching halt on the other side. The older trainer immediately pulled him off of the legendary's back, gathering his dust covered, bleeding and bruised form into a relieved hug, before looking back at what was left of the lab.

It wasn't completely demolished yet, huge sections of it still standing proud and tall against the barren wasteland it had been built in, but much of it was still in ruins, and whatever had caused it to come down like it had had not helped in the least.

"Green…" Silver started, staring at the woman in a mixture of relief and wonder, but was cut short as another familiar voice came, echoing loudly from the depths of the sections that were still intact.

"Is everyone okay?!"

"Yellow! We're over here!" Green called back, waving as the familiar head of blonde hair came into view, a relieved smile on her face as she pulled a very rattled, blue-haired trainer along. The younger girl grumbled, various threats being spat out as the two slid down a small slope of metal to join them, before turning back up to the spot they had come from, hands circling her mouth.

"RED! HURRY UP!" She called out, and Silver couldn't have felt more relieved as the familiar red hat covering black hair showed itself, a still unconscious Gold on the red-eyed trainer's back as he carefully lowered them both to the ground, Blue not far behind the two. Silver smiled despite himself, small and unsure, but relieved to see that everyone was for the most part okay. He and Green had somehow wound up in the worst of their own destruction, but the others had landed in relative, stable safety, though how safe an enemy base was still remained up for debate.

"What the fuck happened?" Blue questioned, taking in the two thieves dust-covered appearance and the smoking rubble that had been whatever was left of where they'd entered. "We heard what sounded like an explosion, were you attacked?"

"I wasn't," Green immediately answered, brushing some of the dirt and grime from her clothes before immediately starting on Silver, "But I definitely heard it as well."

"I think that pokémon my father created… Lamia, she might've attacked me. I couldn't see anything, but Entei definitely sensed something." Silver explained, wincing as Green accidently brushed against one of his many injuries, before continuing. "Whatever it was, it attacked using this strange, white beam of light. Nearly took the both of us out, though it didn't seem to bother Entei so much as anger him… It missed us, but it hit this metal beam that was behind us and knocked some of the rubble down as well. The thing just gave and the next thing I knew the ceiling was coming down."

"Sounds like you got ambushed…" Blue supplied, fingers wrapping around his chin in thought as he took in the explanation. Silver nodded in response, mind flashing back to the instant when Entei had started growling. It was strange that though legendary had sensed the threat, he hadn't been able to completely dodge the attack. Entei hadn't been aware of the attack until the very second before they'd seen it. The legendary beast would've been too slow to dodge out of the way, and that very well should've hit them.

'So then why did it miss like that?...'

"Ha, so these are the great pokémon trainers we were so worried about?" The voice came, shaking Silver from his thoughts and drawing the groups attention towards the speaker. The tone had been cruel and snide, overly confident with no particularly reason to be as such, and it grated on every single last one of his nerves as his eyes landed on the tall, black clad figure standing proudly amidst the rubble. Arms were crossed over a broad shoulder, uniform surprisingly clean and well-kept despite having apparently crawled out from the ruins of the lab, and short, dark brown hair slicked back. His eyes were cold, and while he might not have made for a very impressive or awe-inspiring image, the clothes he wore marked him as one of the more higher ranked of Team Rocket's echelon, not quite an admin., but not that far below either. He was a threat, if only a minor one, and only if they gave him the chance to.

"Who in Arceus' name are you?" Crystal called out, both hands resting on her hips as she glared the man down. He wasn't bothered at all however, did not seem the least bit intimidated, and in fact looked very much like he found her threatening tone to be amusing.

"My name is not so important," the man began in response, voice dripping with buoyant as he waved his hand in a circle, as if dismissing the matter entirely, "That a group of children need to learn it. Especially when they are so close to death." He grinned then, his expression twisting as he stared them all down like they were insects barely worth the time of day. He released a vicious, nerve-wracking cackle then, finding the group as a whole far too amusing despite what was known about them, and jumped down from his perch amidst the rubble, kicking up a bit of dust and dirt as he landed rather heavily on the ground. He continued to chuckle and snicker, circling them for a bit, before finally coming to a stop on the other side.

The entire time, they kept their eyes on the man as best they could, Crystal shifting nervously as her arms moved to wrap around herself, while Yellow glared the man down, not looking the least bit nervous or frightened.

"Shut up, we asked you your name, you will give it to us! Or we will beat it out of you!" Blue threatened, immediately taking a step forward to face the man down, Red not far behind, a pokéball held threateningly in both their hands and ready to be used at a moment's notice. At that the man burst into laughter, holding his sides and guffawing without hesitation.

It took him a few moments to collect himself, a hand coming up to wipe at his eyes, before it fell from his face and came to rest casually on his hip. The man's shoulder's shook still, a noticeable tremble to his form as he continued to snicker away, as if everything they said was some hilarious joke and he was the sole audience to it all.

"Well, since you insist so much…" he began, hands coming up as he shrugged his shoulders, "My name… is Karn." He finally answered, bowing extravagantly in their direction as a hand disappeared behind his back. Silver growled out in warning, already ill-tempered and angry with the man, though he'd only been in his presence for little more than maybe twenty minutes at most. "It is truly a privilege to meet the legendary Pokédex Holders, renown around the world for their feats and skills in their particular areas of specialty… I find it such a shame though… To find that you've come afoul of something quite nasty. You must've had a run-in with our little pet."

"Pet?" Yellow questioned, slipping one of her own pokéballs into her hand as she eyed the man warily, not trusting him as his ridiculous act for a second.

"Yes, quite the wonder, isn't it? A creature born of human ingenuity, I must say those scientists couldn't have done a better job if they tried. Perfectly obedient and powerful, both traits Boss Giovanni adores in the pokémon that serve him. A little monster…"

"You sacrificed the life of an innocent, a child! To make that creature, and then you tortured it! That's not human ingenuity, it's nothing like that!" Yellow cried out, pointing an accusing finger in the man's direction. He looked at her confused, as if she were speaking another language entirely before bursting into another round of laughter.

"Ha! Not human ingenuity?! Innocent?! That child wasn't innocent, she was a menace! And she received the fate she deserved for getting in our leader's way! If it weren't for that little bitch, we would've had Mewtwo already back and under our control, and the world would be eating out of the palm of our hands!" At the mention of the clone, Red's eyes widened, even more startled when one of the pokéballs at his waist shook violently, the pokémon inside threatening to rip out of its confines and tear the man before them apart.

"That poor girl did not deserve this!" Yellow cried out, face twisted in horror at what the man said, before her expression turned to righteous fury. "And that poor pokémon didn't deserve a thing you put it through either! That creature is no monster, it's you!" She called out, about to throw the pokéball in her hand into the air and release the pokémon inside. She was clearly done listening to this man's insane speech, and Silver was fairly certain that the same could be said for the others, himself included. A hand stopped her though, wrapping tightly around the one carrying the pokéball, and forcing it back to the girl's side. Red eyes met brown, a warning hidden in that gaze, before the hand relaxed and Yellow pulled back to stand by Green.

"Enough Yellow, there's no reasoning with someone like him. There's no getting through a thick skull, you know." The man growled at the insult, visibly angry at the words Blue tossed so nonchalantly, before the slow sneer that was making its way across his face morphed into a vicious smirk.

The man chuckled, laughter seeming to be his default response for everything they were saying, before he glared them all down again, eyes dark and shadowed as the sky grew darker and darker.

"Ah, but you see… I have the power now, and with this, it doesn't matter what you think of me. You've all already experienced the power our Project Nightmare holds, especially your little friend over there." At the mention of Gold, Red released a low, near undetectable growl, shifting slightly as he finally put Gold down, allowing the boy to rest against a nearby rock. He was completely helpless, that didn't mean he wasn't protected. They wouldn't let anything happen to the unconscious breeder if they could help it.

The man snorted at the movement, lifting up a hand to reveal some sort of remote, eyes narrowed and a smirk still etched in his expression. "You know that it's useless. All will fall in the face of this power… Isn't that right, Lamia?" The man hissed, and everyone's eyes widened as Karn pressed some sort of button on the device.

There was a high pitched beep from the remote, and almost instantaneously, the ground began to shake and tremble violently, nearly knocking several of them off their feet and causing the rubble to crumble every further than it already had.

"Shit!" Silver cried out, finally hitting the dirt with a heavy thump. He hissed in pain, face scrunching up as he was forced to put weight on his still dislocated shoulder, and watched in barely restrained horror as the rubble he and Green had climbed out of, exploded in a rain of dirt and smoke. There was a strange flash of light, what sounded like a speeding jet zooming by, before the pokémon appeared, hovering at the man's side.

Silver slowly pulled himself back onto his feet, gaze wary as the others followed shortly after, watching the creature that had managed to separate them so easily before, and was the current cause for Gold's powerless state. The red head wasn't sure whether to be angry or not at the sight of the creature, some feeling of pity buried somewhere in the storm of emotions currently wracking his mind that kept him from completely cursing out the creature.

Entei growled at his side, paws spread wide to keep himself from falling like everyone else had, and glaring down the new pokémon, just as beat up and injured as Silver and Green. The legendary released a mighty, earth-shattering roar; some sort of challenge, he was sure. But the new pokémon didn't respond, continuing to hover at the grunt's side silently, expression blank and eyes strangely lifeless.

"Red… That pokémon, Lamia… Something's wrong with it I think." Crystal said, shifting closer to the more experienced trainer, eyes wary and wide with fear as she watched their enemies.

The man released a mad cackle, eyes slightly crazed as he point a finger in their direction.

"That's right! Be afraid! Now, you will see true power!" He yelled, the wind in the canyon suddenly picking up.

"Everyone! Get ready!" Blue called out, tone warning, and as quickly as they all could, everyone grabbed a pokéball from their belts and pockets.

"Lamia, use Psychic!"

"Go!"


A/N. So this turned out vastly different from the original chapter. Hopefully it's much better than its predecessor, though it looks like the big battle will be postponed for another one. I hope you all enjoyed reading it, and thanks so much! Please leave a review and see ya!