Firstly, and foremostly, to foxyjosh and Stealthfire001, thank you so much for bothering to read this! I'm on the verge of actually disbanding this story, but then I'm like THIS close to finishing it so yeah. THANK YOU.

I'm sick of disclaimers and writing them so this is the last disclaimer for the rest of the story. Lazy I am yes, but who cares?

DISCLAIMER: NEWSFLASH! I DO NOT OWN THE ANIME THAT THIS 'FIC IS CENTRED ON! HAPPY! PROBABLY NOT...

Forigve me but the ruler things aren't working so I have to use the '---'. Stupid errors.

EDIT 9/10/0 September 10 2006- I fixed the ruler things!

Moonlight's Shadow Chapter 20:

Betrayal

Articuno gazed down with quietly at the Pokemon around her. Never did she think that she would see this day- ever. A soft pain scratched at her heart to think that most of the Pokemon that came into her vision would never live to see another day- or even another hour. It had been a long time since they had sent out the word for war- and that had been between them and the humans. But... this was an even bigger battle, an even bigger fight.

Moltres glanced at her, "This is… isn't it, Articuno?"

Articuno nodded slowly. She could feel the power of the other army- and even now as she looked out unto the plain, her eyes narrowed as she saw the first Pokemon of the enemy marching bravely out. The enemy's army was definitely much smaller- but that didn't say that the Pokemon themselves looked much more powerful then they'd normally should be.

To her left Zapdos stiffened, "There they go…"

Articuno followed her brother's gaze. He was right- A large platoon of Flygons was heading out, streaking through the sky. Behind them, on the ground itself, another platoon of Ponyta ran hard out, their pounding hooves echoing throughout the arena. Finally, almost hidden from view, Articuno saw the ripples through the ground- a platoon of Onix were digging their way through to meet the enemy.

This, all this to do the one thing Pokemon had done for eternity- to survive. Humans nearly tried to wipe them out once- but failed. In the ancient ages came the times, where Pokemon themselves gathered themselves up to fight against each other- a civil war that nearly caused their great race to be assimilated… by itself. Now here they were again, fighting- Pokemon against Pokemon, their enemy under a leader who had not yet shown him or herself.

Both of her cerulean eyes were transfixed on the scene below. She could hear clearly every single heart beat, ever single flap of the wing clearly- for as a Immortal who had lived from the dawn of time, she had embraced each and every Pokemon as her child, no matter how old or young.

They were now only a few footsteps away… Articuno briefly closed her eyes, not wanting to see the great clash between to great armies. But even if the Goddess of Ice did not see… she heard. She heard the painful cry of a young Ponyta who had been slashed. She heard the painful cry of a Dolphan who had been hit by a rock dropped by a Flygon. Even if they were on the other side- fighting against her, she could never wish them harm.

A gentle touch made her eyes open. It was Moltres and Zapdos.

"It is our turn now… We all have to lead our regiments…" murmured Moltres.

"It's for the best…" continued Zapdos, even if he sounded pained.

"Then let us go… and meet again my brothers…" Articuno smiled softly and tried to ignore the screams of battle.

After all… if she did not kill, if she did not fight… many more Pokemon would suffer- and that she did not want. Articuno stretched out her wings and glanced at her destination. A small army was waiting, hidden behind a hill for her, their eyes expectant for their leader to come, their bodies quivering with excitement.

As the great Goddess took off into the air, she briefly wondered how long it would take for that blood lust, that battle hunger to disappear into weariness and cries of unhappiness. No matter even if they were fighting for something good, something righteous no one could deny it- that war was a terrible thing.

And even if Articuno believed it wholeheartedly and had done as much as she could to walk away from this option- she knew, that this day would come. So she would at least charge with all of her might and give her children someone to look up to.

Articuno landed in front of her army. Each Pokemon looked up at her in admiration and awe, the younger Pokemon with innocence in their eyes, innocence that shield them from the terrors of war.

"Let us fight…" she said softly, but loudly enough to be heard, "Let us fight my children."

And with that, with no hesitations, the Goddess of Ice led her army towards the sounds of battle- she was going to lead them into death… and she was going to lead as many as she could out of death.

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Screams and shrieks resounded through the plains. Shadow wanted to run away- run away to the farthest corner of the earth. But she couldn't. She had to fight. From above, beasts of the air clashed and underneath them, carrier birds from sides, dropped boulders and rocks on their enemies. A Linoone suddenly flew through the air at her, teeth bared and was soon scratching and clawing at her face. Shadow knocked it away and found she was surrounded by Pokemon.

She should have expected this- after all, she was the one who was meant to 'kill' their leader, everyone on the opposing team would be out to send her to hell. Shadow gathered energy into her mouth and let it explode- the energy passed over her, but dealt full damage to the Pokemon who had formed themselves into a ring around her. To say the least the enemy was blown right away. Shadow smiled grimly as she saw a large rock crashing down towards her. She jumped out of the way and collided into a punch by a Hitmonlee. Her right leg was held down by the same Linoone that she had knocked away earlier one and Shadow slashed madly at the raccoon like creature.

As she grimly kicked back at the Hitmonlee and slashed at his face, Shadow knew somehow… that she just wasn't going to die here. She was going to die when she killed the Dark Lord- until then, she almost believed it in as a truth that she would not die until then… encouraged by this, Shadow fought back with new fury, her attacks gaining more and more power.

Thrashing and forming a sphere of dark energy in her mouth, Shadow sent the ball spinning right into the chest of the Hitmonlee who was blown away, unconscious. Shadow looked at the flying shape grimly and turned to the Linoone who was still biting at her leg with all his might. He seemed to have evolved recently- he looked young.

Shadow forced the creature off her leg and dangled it in front of her with one paw, studying it carefully. He looked frightened, but he kept trying to bite her paw in vain.

"Why… why are you fighting your own race?" she asked quietly.

The Linoone in reply spat in her face. Shadow blinked, surprised at the brutal nature of the Pokemon. He had to be even younger then her…

"Why?" Shadow asked again.

"Because I believe that it's right!" he squeaked, "I was brought up with my beliefs by my mother- what mother says is right!"

"But… but… don't you think killing and letting your… so called master take over the world… don't you think that's wrong?"

"If mother says it's right, then it's right!" said the Linoone obstinately, "Our lord isn't going to take over the word- he's going to help the shunned and the oppressed…"

Shadow stared at him, surprised that he had such a… cruel view of the world. It was almost frightening but Shadow kept herself calm. He was at her mercy, after all. The Shadow glanced around, the other Pokemon, for now, hadn't taken much notice of her and this creature- she at least had time to try to… talk…

"Kill me! Kill me! Kill me!"

"What!" Shadow was gob smacked.

Most Pokemon at that age, were scared of death- and clung to life dearly.

"Mother says if something like this happens, I should be killed!" cried the Linoone, a somewhat crazy glint in his eye.

"But-But-" but Shadow didn't have time to say anything else for a sudden bolt of dark energy jolted out of her fur and made contact with the Linoone.

The weasel like Pokemon, who had already been greatly weakened suddenly turned limp in Shadow's paw. The Umbreon froze. What… what had just happened…? Suddenly, just like before, blood leaked out of the Linoone's mouth. His glazed over eyes looked up at her- Shadow looked away, her brain still comprehending the death.

It suddenly all clicked together… The blood dripping… soaking her paw… The lifeless eyes… the motionless body… He was dead. It wasn't his fault… she had done it… she didn't control herself… He was so young… he had so much of his life to live-

A wave of nausea overtook the Umbreon and her world faded into darkness.

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Koja looked grimly up at the sun. It was only midday and Pokemon from both sides of the army just seemed to keep coming. He was exhausted. He had just the last two hours fighting… and now he was going to fight… and fight… and fight… This didn't mean to say that he wasn't used to such exercise- fighting was almost second nature to him. He kicked and attacked on reflex- heck he nearly even killed on reflex.

At other times, Koja might have been frightened because of this, but now- his body was an emotionless killing machine. He knew exactly which were the weak points of the enemies who came to him- courtesy all the Pokemon who attacked him when they saw he was an exiled on. He knew which certain attacks and combos would effectively work on his opponents- courtesy the twisted training he had done in his early childhood with… that trainer. He knew that in the rules of combat and war, one must never look into the ears of your opponent- for more then once that would cause hesitation in a killing blow.

So now… all Koja's brain was concentrating on was to kill… It was morbid- but that was what one did in wars, right? Koja slashed at an a charging Meowth before dealing another blow which sent that cat like creature flying into one of his allies.

Suddenly, Koja collapsed against a rock, his body suddenly realizing that he was exhausted and actually using more of his physical body then he was meant to. Fortunately, the Pokemon around him covered his back- they somehow knew that he had done a lot. Koja gazed up at the sky and at the battlefield. At the corner of his eye, two Fearrow was carrying off an unconscious Swampert.

Bodies littered the plains and blood had stained the grass. Koja averted his eyes. He had been taught that if you looked too long at those types of things, you would normally have a fear for battle and death. Koja focused on the living creatures.

There were stragglers here and there fighting, like him. But the original excitement and blood rush had vanished. Koja coughed. Those Pokemon… the Pokemon that he'd fought… they were powerful- extremely powerful.

The only reason why he'd been able to defeat them all by himself was because of his extensive training with that dammed cursed human. It was almost ironic- that that human had actually saved his life… in a very off hand manner. Koja chuckled darkly.

Gone were the days when he was weak and called the runt. Even he could feel the large power inside his body- and it seemed to keep growing. Mysteriously, he had no idea why his body acted like it did when he had fought… a few moments ago.

It was like he had lost control- like if it wasn't him. Koja knew that sometimes whenever he fought- he had an extreme lust for blood and death. It was unnatural, it was-

A large dark shadow suddenly blocked out the sun, and Koja glanced upwards. A glint of steel reflected of the sun and soon Koja recognized exactly who that was: that blasted Skarmory- Skye.

Growling, Koja struggled to get up. He was not letting him get away. Even if his body was near to collapsing in a dead faint, Koja wanted answers- now. The Absol called out,

"SKYE! GET DOWN HERE!"

The Pokemon around him, especially his allies looked surprised but Koja ignored them. He had no reputation here, so he didn't have one to ruin,

"SKYE!"

The Skarmory turned in mid-flight. After looking at the small group of Pokemon gazing up at him he glided down serenely. Koja snarled at him.

"I want answers. You are going to tell them to me- yes. I KNOW you can talk!"

Skye's eyes widened and the Skarmory sighed before he did what Koja expected him to do.

"Yes. I can talk. And- okay, this is not a good time-"

Koja grabbed Skye by the Bird Pokemon's long slender neck and shook it furiously, "I have had enough with your stupid-"

The Absol didn't get any further for he suddenly found that he had been punched and was flying backwards through the air. He crash landed on the ground. What had happened! Koja got up shakily, and gingerly rubbed his left cheek- the target of the punch. A Machoke was standing next to Skye, breathing heavily.

"Don't you dare touch my friend… you piece of trash!" shouted the Machoke, "You were choking him for no reason!"

The Fighting type ran forward angrily. Koja raised an eyebrow- the Machoke was… on the opposite side. This meant… Skye was a traitor! Something must have snapped inside Koja, for the Absol, suddenly conjured a huge ball of dark energy and set it flying towards the Machoke's power belt. The belt snapped in two and the Machoke fell to the ground screaming in pain. Koja ran forward, his eyes in frenzy. He drew back his claw for the finishing kill when-

"You don't need to kill him." Skye blocked Koja's path.

"I can kill both of you… especially you- traitor!" seethed Koja and started to push past the Skarmory.

"If you act like that… then-"

Skye's drew up his wing and with full force and the hard steel feathers crashed into Koja's face.

"I am going to have to officially betray you."