Axel approached the dark lord in his chamber. "It appears that your specimen, Mewtwo, has been defeated." said Axel. "He was the key to your control over the legendaries."
"I've prepared for something like this." said the dark lord. "I placed a second spell under all the legendaries under my captive. Even though Mewtwo is gone, they will still all obey me." Axel was impressed by his lord's preparedness. "Mewtwo was an important piece, however. Perhaps I should have released more of my legendaries."
"What about Dialga. We weren't able to capture him." said Axel.
"Don't worry about that." said the dark lord. "He'll be coming back, for his fellow legendaries. Axel, go and check if the other scouters are alive." Axel obeyed and left his chamber. He headed down the dark corridors, searching for the other scouters.
"Axel!" he heard a yell. He turned to his right to find Shelly and Frederick trapped underneath boulders. Each had their legs crushed from the falling rocks. "Please, let us out. That boy crushed us under these rocks and took our pokemon. We have to find him!" yelled Shelly.
Axel walked up and released his Aggron. He commanded Aggron to approach the two disabled scouters. "What, what are you doing?!" asked Frederick as he saw Aggron lift his feet above their heads.
"You two can't walk from your crushed legs, and you don't have your pokemon. What use are you, now, to the dark lord?" asked Axel. The colors from shelly and Frederick's face disappeared as they realized what Axel was saying.
"No, please, we'll do all that we can! Don't do this!" cried Shelly.
"Sorry, but it's already been done." said Axel smiling back at them. Aggron proceeded to crush both scouters skulls, killing the two of them instantly. "I'll be the one, the only one to protect the lord." said Axel to himself as he left the room.
Axel made his way to Alice's chamber. He saw Zekrom, paralized on the floor and unable to move. Axel knew something had gone wrong. "Where is the girl?" demanded Axel.
"I'm sorry. I failed the dark lord. She was taken by a man with silver hair." said Zekrom.
Axel yelled in anger on the inside. He knew Alice was important to the dark lord, and now she has escaped. Axel walked over to Zekrom and kicked the dragon on the side of his head. "You idiot. We gave you one job, and you screw it up." Axel let out a sigh. "It's not my job to punish you. We'll see what the dark lord deems reasonable. For now, you can waste away here while I go and retrieve that girl."
All the champions from the different regions had heard of the commotion in Sinnoh, expecially Hearthome city, and they have all gathered to help. Cynthia, with the other champions and police officers, traveled down to Stark Mountain to find Lance, Steven, and the two boys. As they arrived at the edge of the forest that led to Stark Mountain, they saw Steven with an eight year old child.
Cynthia was the first to run up. "What happened here?" she asked. "Where are the others?"
"Lance didn't make it." sighed Steven as he held up a bag. Cynthia reached for it and opened it to find Lance's decapitated head. She closed it immediately and covered her face in shock. "What happened to the two boys?" she was finally able to ask.
"I don't know. They both entered Stark Mountain by themselves, and I've never seen them since." said Steven.
"And who is this?" asked Cynthia motioning toward the girl.
"Well, she told me her name is Alice. She was held captive by the dark lord. It seems she has some sort of special power."
"What special power?" asked Cynthia.
"To be honest, I'm not too sure." said Steven, looking down at Alice. Alice looked down at the ground.
"Let's bring her back to hearthome city's hospital, it seems like she's hurt." said Cynthia as she noticed the scratches on her face and the hole in her shirt. The other champions scavenged through the forest, calling out Ryo's and Quinn's name.
They were about to give up and approach Stark Mountain for a dangerous confrontation. However, as Alder was scanning the edge of the forest, he saw a figure approach the clearing they were in. As the figure camc loser, Alder saw that it was a boy with blue hair.
"I think I found someone." said Alder, calling over the others. As Alder looked again, he realized the boy was carrying someone else. Cynthia, Diantha, and Steven ran over and saw Quinn appear from the forest. Put they all stared in shock at the person Quinn was carrying on his back.
"Quinn, what happened!?" asked Cynthia as she ran up to him.
"Ryo…" stuttered Quinn as he dropped the body he was carrying onto the ground.
"This is Ryo?" asked Cynthia as she looked at the blackened body that laid before her. She heard breathing, but it sounded horrible. Ryo was beyond recognition. His whole body had shriveled up and turned black, he was missing an arm, and his face was beyond recognition.
"Please! Bring him to the hospital!" cried Quinn.
All the champions and police officers returned to Hearthome City. Ryo was bandaged and all wrapped up in an operating room. Quinn sat just outside on the hallway bench, staring into the window to the room, wondering if his friend will be okay. He was haunted by what happened just a few moments ago, back in the forest.
Ryo had turned into Arceus, and he had sacrificed a lot for doing so. Quinn couldn't bare to look at the state Ryo was in now. He remembered Ryo's last words. He remembered that Ryo knew he was Dialga.
Quinns told up from his chair. "Why didn't you tell me earlier! Things could've been different if I knew you knew!" he yelled in anger. "I'm useless right now, the way I am." said Quinn as he stared down at his hands. "Please be okay, Ryo. Please."
The surgeon appeared from the operating room. Quinn saw the doctor and ran over to him. "Is he going to be alright?"
The doctor sighed and shook his head. "We tried everything to save him, but he was too far gone when he arrived. I'm sorry, your friend didn't make it." Quinn felt his heart drop. Ryo was the first person to acknowledge Quinn as his friend, and now he's dead.
"I want to be the best pokemon trainer!"
Quinn remembered Ryo's goal, and he was never able to reach it. It was evil. Ryo was robbed of his life by his own hatred and lust for revenge. Quinn remembered what this was all for. It was for Rick. Now, Rick wasn't healed and Ryo was gone. Not to mention, he was also informed recently that Lance was also killed by Mewtwo. Everything about this mission went wrong, and Quinn felt completely defeated.
"Quinn, you'll want to see this!" said a police officer as he burst through the door. Quinn followed him to the police department where they held Rick captive. The officer opened the door to Rick's cell. Quinn walked in and saw a calm garchomp sitting on the floor. Rick looked up to see and Quinn and lunged toward him. However, it was not to attack. Rick wrapped his arms around Quinn in a hug and began licking him, happy to see a familiar face.
Given his situation, Quinn couldn't help but laugh as he told Rick to calm down. It seems that Rick was back to normal. "How long ago did he return back to normal?" asked Quinn.
"Earlier today." said the officer. Quinn realized what had happened. It was when Mewtwo was defeated, the curse had left Rick as well. But that would also mean the legendaries must've been free too! Rick looked down intently at Quinn, and he realized exactly what Rick was curious about. He wanted to know where Ryo was.
"I'm sorry, Rick." said Quinn. "Ryo is….." he hesitated to continue, and Rick sensed what Quinn was about to say next. Rick dashed out of the room and Quinn followed close behind. "Hey, wait!" yelled Quinn, but Rick kept on running, all the way to the hospital.
Rick arrived at the hospital and the people in the building were quite startled to see a land shark appear all of a sudden. Rick smelled Ryo's scent and followed it to the operating room he was kept in. Rick burst through the door and saw Ryo's lifeless body on the bed. Rick purred at Ryo's body, as if hoping he will react, but of course nothing happened. Rick fell to his knees and tears began flowing from his eyes.
Quinn caught up to Rick but stopped at the doorway. He knew he shouldn't interrupt. Rick deserved to grieve over his Ryo. He was his friend as well. Quinn left the room and banged his fist on the wall in the hallway. It might not seem it, but Quinn was even more upset than Rick. Ryo was everything to him, and now that he was gone, what point is there for him to continue this secretive life. Quinn looked up out the window. Perhaps, he should return to Stark Mountain and turn himself in.
"Quinn." said Cynthia as she approached from behind. "A patient in room 315 wants to see you, specifically." Hiding his tears, Quinn turned around and ran up the stairs to the room.
Quinn soon arrived at a room with the numbers 315. He opened the door to see a girl laying in bed. It was the girl from Stark Mountain, the one Zekrom was guarding. Quinn closed the door behind him and walked up to the edge of the bed.
"Oh! You arrived!" said Alice happily as she sat up in bed.
"Hello, um, may I ask for your name?" said Quinn.
"I'm Alice." she said. "I'm glad that you all rescued me from that dark place."
"I had nothing to do with your rescue." said Quinn. "Why did you want to see me specifically?"
"I know who you are." said Alice. Her demeanor became serious. "I know you are the ancient legendary, Dialga."
Quinn stared in shock at this little girl sitting in front of him. "How...how did you know?" he stuttered.
"I sensed Dialga's aura emanating from you. It's a small amount, but I can still feel it. I am familiar with all of the legendaries' auras." said Alice. "And you are not an exception."
"I failed to rescue the legendaries." said Quinn. "I don't think I can do much more than what I already have."
"How did you become like this?" asked Alice. "I never knew a legendary could turn into a human."
"I'm not quite sure how either. I just know Arceus was responsible for turning me into a human a decade ago, right before he was killed by Mewtwo." said Quinn. Alice began fidgeting with her hands. "Where's your parents?"
Alice looked down. "They were killed by the bad man." she said. "I miss them…" Alice began weeping in her hands. Quinn wasn't sure why he did what he did next. He put an arm around Alice's shoulder and began consoling her.
"I know what it feels like to lose someone close to you. You have all the right to be upset. However, don't forget, your parents probably valued your safety over everything else. They would be very happy that you are not hurt.
Alice wiped her tears away and hugged Quinn. Quinn wasn't use to this kind of contact, but he accepted it and sat there while Alice held on. "Thank you again, for saving me."
"I heard you have special powers." said Quinn. "What exactly are they?" Alice was about to speak when Quinn felt a familiar dark aura approach the door.
Alice saw Quinn's change in expression. "What is it?" she asked curiously. Two knocks were heard from the door. Quinn looked over at the door, as the knocking continued.
Quinn went and grabbed Alice by the hand. "Do you trust me?" he asked.
Alice hesitated. She knew that Quinn was a pokemon, specifically a legendary. But she wasn't sure that had correlation with trust. "Yes." Alice finally answered. Quinn pulled her from the bed and walked her to the window. The pounding grew louder. Quinn pulled the window open.
"We're only on the second floor. Can you climb down from here?" asked Quinn motioning towards the side of the building.
"I think so." said Alice.
"You go out first. I'm going to follow right behind you." said Quinn. Alice slowly made her way down the side of the buidling. As Quinn saw that she was safely on the ground, he jumped out after her. Just as he was gone from the window, he heard the door burst open.
"Run!" yelled Quinn, as the both of them disappeared into the woods behind the hospital.
A few minutes ago, Axel was riding Reshiram toward Hearthome. The legendary stopped just outside the city, making sure that they were not seen. Axel got off and headed toward the front entrance of the Hearthome City hospital. He walked in to be greeted by a very peculiar stench. It seems that both of his targets were in the same building. He saw a nurse head into a storage closet down the hall.
Quietly, Axel followed her in. As they two of them were in a secluded room, Axel grabbed her and pointed a knife toward her neck. The nurse yelled in shock, but kept quiet as she noticed the threat.
"Do you know what room a girl by the name of Alice is in?" he asked.
"I….I don't know. Please let me go." she pleaded.
"You're no use to me." said Axel as he proceeded to slit her throat. Axel walked out of the storage room inconspicuously without a single drop of blood on his clothes. He saw another woman heading up the stairs. Axel noticed that she was a doctor by reading her name tag. He followed the doctor into the stairwell, and quickly grabbed her just like he did with the nurse. Luckily, no one was in the stairwell.
"Please! Stop! What do you want!" she cried.
"Do you happen to know a patient named Alice?" asked Axel.
"Yes, yes! She came in today and she was around eight years old. She's currently in room 315" she said.
"Thank you." said Axel as he shoved the knife into her throat. She choked out blood and fell to the floor. "I never said I was going to let you go after. It would be too risky for me." he said to her dead body as he headed up the stairs to the room.
He arrived at room 315 and realized the door was locked. He sensed both Alice and Quinn inside the room. Trying to act natural, he knocked on the door softly. After a few knocks, he knocked harder. Something was wrong. They must've caught on. With haste, Axel used his legs to kick down the door. After the fifth kick, he managed to dislodge the door from its hinges. He rushed into the room to find an empty bed and the window open. He ran over to the window and looked out, only to see a dense forest behind the building.
Axel chuckled to himself. "You can run, Dialga, but Reshiram will find you."
Author's Note: So, will Quinn and Alice escape safely from Axel? And if they do, where will they go next? Will Dialga(Quinn) be able to get his normal body back? As always, please leave a review. The series is approaching its final arc and will be over with a few more chapters.