Here it is. Chapter 11. This is a major chapter. Half the plot hinges on it. I'm rather proud of it. A good 2,061 words. Here you go. Major thanks to Altoshipper51,Galalithial, shiny eevee4, and iRawr for continuously reviewing. Without further ado, enjoy the chapter to end all chapters.

"Flare!"

I shifted.

"Flare! Answer me!"

I cracked open my eyes, and reached for my radio. "What?"

"What have you been doing? You and Ice have been gone for two days!"

"Spiritomb, I can't come back. Ice… she left…" nothing, then,

"Flare, what did I teach you? You should be loyal to your leader, and to your teammates. If Ice left The Eradicators, then she is a traitor, and you should not miss her. I can pardon you from missions for a few days to get over her, but I'll need you back at base, alright?"

I hesitated for a second, then said, "Fine."

I struggled upward, wincing as my sore muscles stretched. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. "Alright," I said to myself, "east is that way, so I have to go… this way." I ran through the plains, momentarily forgetting the terrible aching in my chest. The wind whipping by me soothing my soul and dulling my pain. I was almost sad when I reached the spot where I had teleported, and I stared at the sky, thinking. Do I really want to leave, and go back to my ordinary life? I snorted, yeah, ordinary. My thoughts drifted to my parents, and the sensation of dull humor evaporated to be replaced by sadness. What would I be doing now if they hadn't been killed? Definitely not this. I wonder what Mom would do if she could see me now… I winced, and immediately stopped thinking about that. If she was as tough as I am, my life would be in jeopardy. I grinned despite myself, And I don't want to think about what Dad would do. I shivered, I really should stop thinking about that.

My thoughts were interrupted by a flying berry pit, which struck me on the cheek. I stood motionless, my cheek stinging, then slowly turned to the left, steaming. Two groups of Pokemon were snarling at each other a few yards away, and one of them, a Scizor, had just tossed the pit, but had missed, and they started arguing. "We found it, so it's ours!" the Scizor yelled at an Ursaring with a scar over his left eye, "do you think you can just take whatever you want from us?"

The Ursaring guffawed with laughter, then held his claws up to his face, and said, grinning, "I happen to be from the city's council, so yes, I can take whatever I want, for who would stop me? Not you, of course, you slum Pokemon will obey anyone just to get a few scraps of food!"

The Scizor growled, and shifted into a fighting stance, and everyone behind him did the same, "Us 'slum Pokemon' aren't going to take that from anyone! Our life is hell anyway, and we're not giving it up without a fight!"

I walked over to the group and said coolly, "What's the trouble, guys?" They all stared at me, and the Ursaring growled, "I'd watch what you call me, you're pretty confident for a measly three feet." a vein in my forehead throbbed, but I kept my cool, although it took me several seconds to be able to speak clearly, "I merely wanted to know what all the commotion was all about, and I do have some connection to higher-ups. They, I'm sure, would be interested if I told them that the slums are revolting."

The Scizor's gaze hardened, and for a moment, I thought my bluff hadn't worked, but he jerked a claw toward a lump of gray stone a few feet away. "We found that stone, but this 'official' took a fancy to it, and decided to rob us of what's rightfully ours." I walked over to it and inspected it's ridges, it truly was fascinating, because every ridge was dotted with holes. I squinted at one of the holes, then, as I watched it, It elongated, then shrunk, then elongated, over and over again, It's breathing! I turned to the group again, and said, "This is not a stone. It's an egg." They both blinked, and said, "For what?"

As I opened my mouth to answer, a clear, pure voice swept over me, and my knees weakened.

We're miles apart
But you're in my heart
I keep you with me everywhere I go

Momma I promise I'll be alright
I'll write to say I love you every night
I'm just tryin' to write the story of my life
You know all about this dream I gotta chase
I get a little closer everyday
The Kanto region's not that far away
I'm not that far away

My trance was broken by something large hitting me in the back of the head. Rubbing the lump, I turned to face the egg, grumbling. I froze, and for a moment, I thought I was hallucinating, for sitting on the ground in front of me was a Jirachi! It looked up at me, a fragment of egg sticking to it's head, and smiled. My brain was working furiously, and seemed to be overheating, This is a Jirachi, I can't leave it here with these two, they'll tear each other apart to get at it, and it could possibly be harmed in the scuffle. But... I know where Ice is, if I leave now, I could probably catch her before she goes too far... But, would she listen to me? I wouldn't, if I were her... Unbidden, the words of Spiritomb rose up in my mind. If Ice left The Eradicators, then she is a traitor, and you should not miss her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Ursaring take a step forward, and I made my choice. I snatched up the Jirachi and leaped forward, spinning around as the Ursaring's claws scored the ground where I had been standing seconds before. I regarded him with distaste, setting the Jirachi down and instructing it to not move. I reached into my bag, pulled out the radio, and said, "Spiritomb? This is Flare, I've located a Jirachi."

"What?"The shout was so loud it hurt my ears, and it was immediately followed by questions, but then, Spiritomb quieted down, and said, "just protect it until I get there." Static. I looked at the angry Ursaring and the bemused Scizor, and said, "Well, The Eradicators are taking custody of this Jirachi, good day." The Scizor stepped into my path, and said, "I don't think so. That's our Jirachi!" He lunged forward, I leaned to the side, grabbed his claw, and threw him into a Mamoswine on the Ursaring's side. All hell broke loose then, and I was the center of it, blowing fire all over the place, burning the field coal-black. I slid under the Ursaring, grabbing his tail, and jerked my head forward, yanking it out. Flipping backwards, I landed on his head, and twisted it with my paws. The crack was inaudible because of all the fighting going on, and I, with a huge effort, shoved the Ursaring forward, he fell on a Scyther that was trying to get at me with his blades. I torched an Abomasnow, and zipped past a Machamp, causing him to slam into a Hitmonlee. Things began to get worse after that, I acquired a stinging cut along my leg from a Gallade, and with his dying breath, a Quagsire doused me in a roaring Hydro Pump. I staggered as a Rampardos narrowly missed gutting me with his horns, and with a greater effort than last time, engulfed him in flames, and sent his body tumbling to the ground.

A Golem and a Magmar hurled a rock on fire at me, and I barely dodged it, slamming into a Gardevoir, and toppling her, I quickly finished her off, and jumped at the Magmar, claws slashing, he fell, and I turned toward the Golem. The boulders crashed to the ground, then his head, I picked one up, and hurled it at a Jynx, cracking her skull. I threw them all, but most missed, in my state of weakness, I had become inaccurate. A Roserade charged me, and I was too slow to react in time. Leaves as sharp as blades tore through me, and my blood ran down my legs, back, and face. I summoned up my last bit of energy, and razed everything around me with my strongest attack. Hellfire. Struggling Pokemon tried to run, only to be consumed by the hungry flames. The screams reverberated, the desperate final calls of those who were being obliterated. The fires died down, and then the smoke, and I collapsed, utterly spent. There were still two left standing, a Charizard, and the Scizor. The latter grinned, walked up next to me, and picked up the Jirachi, which screamed and kicked, but he ignored it. He placed a claw next to my neck, and said, "Thanks for getting rid of that nuisance, normally I'd let you go, but," he leaned close to me and said in my ear, "you took out most of my crew, and I don't forgive people who hurt my gang." His claw started to glow. "So long, runt."

*Warning!* This next paragraph is very graphic, those with weak hearts or have no liking of violence should skip this paragraph and move onto the next one. I better not get any flames about this, got it? Consider yourself warned.

Then, when it seemed death had finally come, the world stopped. No, not the world, for I could still move, and the Scizor was quivering, the glow fading from his claw. He floated away, and into the sky, to float with his companion. Floating between them, was Spiritomb. He looked them over, and with a flick of his finger, the Charizard exploded, blood and organs mixing to form another Charizard with no skin, the beating heart clearly showing as he roared in agony. "Oh, shut up." The Charizard's mouth fell off, causing blood to spray out in ever-increasing amounts, until he went limp. Next, Spiritomb turned to the Scizor, and pulled out his eyes. His wings soon followed, and next, his claws were split down the middle, bent backwards as he writhed in pain. Unable to take any more of this, I closed my eyes, and tried not to listen to his horrible screams. There was another. And another, but this one was higher pitched. My stomach did cartwheels, and I threw up, trying not to imagine what horrible tortures Spiritomb was inflicting on the poor Scizor.

Finally, when the screams had stopped, I opened my eyes to see a pile of blood, guts and bones. The Pokemon had been utterly destroyed. Spiritomb floated over to the Jirachi and picked him up. He looked over at me and sighed, "Flare, you were so promising, a true shame."

"What?" I managed to croak, "you're not going to help me?"

"I have no further use for you, but take heart, you have done well. Think about that before you die." He laughed, a laugh that, for some reason, was familiar. He then turned to the kicking and screaming Jirachi, placed a hand on it's forehead, "There, there," he said in a mocking tone, "Sleep, my little one."

Memory surged into me, and suddenly, I was no longer there.

Watching Smeargle's bones clatter to the floor, I ran toward them, but a hand closed around me. I was lifted to see the face of a demon, who placed his hand on my forehead and said, "There, there, sleep, my little one."

Reality came roaring back. Spiritomb had gone, and he had taken the Jirachi with him. I had only minutes. Feeling as if I was trying to lift a mountain, I reached for my radio, and set the dial to Leaf.

"Leaf! Please pick up!"

"Flare? Where are you?"

"I don't have time to answer questions, just listen to me. Spiritomb killed my parents, your parents too, he kidnapped us to help him find a Jirachi, and now he has! I want you to escape, take everyone and leave. Build a resistance, bring down Spiritomb. And, Leaf? Can I give you my last request?"

I could tell Leaf was sobbing, but she answered, "Of course I will."

My vision was fading, I only had seconds left. "If you see Ice... tell her... I love her... with.. all... my... heart... please..."

The radio dropped from my limp paw, and I stared at the sky. As everything went black, I could almost see Darkrai descending to claim me. "Welcome," said the coming shadow, "Welcome, Flare."

Well, that's the end of Flare. I took Galalithial's advice, and I decided to be kind of mean to my characters. He really deserved that cookie. Which he didn't get. :)

By the way, the song used was Not That Far Away by Jennette McCurdy. It's been modified to fit the mood. Some may think it's in the wrong place, but it seemed like the right song for Ice. It's actually a pretty sad song if you listen to it.

Issac: Eevee!

So, that's it for now.

Espeon Man, signing off.