Sorry about the delay, I... okay, I don't really have an excuse. :P Anyway, I would like to thank those of you still reading this thing, and I hope you enjoy this last chapter before the conclusion of this story arc.

Mastering a New Start

Chapter 26: Forest Chase Part Six;

'I Have a New Purpose!'

Though the area had been a forest that had barely even seen fighting before then, it was impossible to guess that now. The trees had so many chunks gouged out of them that they were nearly unrecognizable as trees. Bits of bark and leaves cluttered the forest floor, and in some places, clouds of flying debris still hung in the air. Suddenly, the largest of these clouds parted as a figure leapt out of it; the being raced through the chaos, its eyes hardened and resolute.

Scyther couldn't help but be annoyed as he fell through the air. How could he have been caught off guard by that? That attack was so obvious! An irritated look spread across the bug-type's face as he crossed into the canopy of the forest beneath him, deftly twisting his body in midair to effortlessly avoid the errant branches as they rushed past him. After a few moments, the mantis spread his wings, beating them just fast enough to slow his descent. By the time he reached the earth, his speed had dropped enough that he touched ground with barely a sound to mark the event.

As Scyther began to inspect his new surroundings, he briefly considered going back up to the plateau to deal with the Versum cowards that knocked him down into the forest. He immediately amended himself, though; the explosion was clearly meant to separate the group, which also meant that the fight would come to him soon enough.

Suddenly, Scyther tilted his neck to the side, allowing a small projectile to shoot past his head and bury itself in a nearby tree trunk with a distinct 'thud'. The mantis took a look at the object, identifying it as one of the strengthened and sharpened leaves of a Razor Leaf attack. Scyther turned toward the source of the shot, speaking in a bored and slightly sarcastic tone as he did.

"I sure hope that was a warning shot, because it would be quite a disappointment to go against someone who can get this close without me noticing, only for their attacks to be as obvious as an angry Rhydon." When the mantis had turned around completely, he found the source to be a green Pokémon slightly shorter than himself. The newcomer had white, petallike growths for hair that waved slightly above his slightly narrowed eyes, and at the ends of arms that were extended slightly in a sort of pre-fighting stance were colored growths that looked slightly like flower bouquets.

"I intend to fight you fairly, but I also wanted to ensure that you wouldn't make for a disappointing battle before we start. I am pleased that you escaped that attack unharmed." Scyther quickly inspected the Roserade standing across from him, determining that the grass-type was easily capable of far better than the attack he had just dodged. The bug-type quickly tensed as the Bouquet Pokémon's body shifted, just as he began speaking again.

"I am the most powerful Pokémon of Versum Agent 407; my apologies, but by order of both my master and Versum, I have to kill you." Just as the Roserade finished speaking, he lashed both stemlike arms forward and out to his sides, sending around a dozen razor-sharp leaves hurtling in Scyther's direction.

The mantis quickly shot to his right, leaving the rain of projectiles to crash into the trees that had been behind him. As soon as the bug-type was clear of the attack, he lunged forward and began to race toward the grass-type. The Roserade reacted quickly, pointing an arm at Scyther and swinging it upwards, launching a spray of needles in the direction of the mantis.

Scyther ducked to the side, allowing the Pin Missile attack to fly past him, ignoring the series of crashes and the showering of bark as the assault struck the trees in its path. The sudden attack only slowed the mantis for a moment, and he quickly started on the Roserade again. The grass-type had other plans, as he swung an arm in front of himself, allowing the flowerlike growth on the end of his arm to release a cloud of yellow dust into the air.

Immediately recognizing the substance as Stun Spore, Scyther had no choice but to back off. Having counted on that reaction, the Roserade pressed his assault, unleashing another flurry of Razor Leaves that forced Scyther further back, and then another. After a few moments, Scyther charged to his right as he began to circle around the grass-type instead. The Roserade continued to follow the bug-type's movements, sending numerous Razor Leaves and Pin Needles after the mantis.

Shards of wood and bark flew through the air as the various attacks slammed into the tree trunks that dotted the area. In several places, the debris filled the air to the point that it seemed to form clouds that effectively obscured the mantis that raced through them. Suddenly, one of the clouds began to swirl, just before a large, green form burst from it. With a determined look in his eyes, Scyther lunged at the Roserade once more.

Once again, the Bouquet Pokémon swung his left arm around, sending a cloud of sickly yellow in the bug-type's direction. This time, Scyther circled around to the grass-type's left and brought up a bladed arm as he prepared to strike. However, the Roserade was ready for that reaction and quickly spun, swinging his right arm around to launch several small, dark projectiles at the mantis.

Scyther shot upwards to avoid the Toxic Spikes attack as it sailed through the spot he had vacated split seconds before. Again, the Roserade continued his assault, slinging another Razor Leaf attack at the newly airborne Pokémon. Scyther quickly turned so that his feet touched the underside of a branch just above him, then kicked off of it to launch himself towards earth. The sharpened leaves went by a split-second later, tearing through the very same branch to send it crashing down.

The bug-type's feet hit the ground with enough force to cause a noticeable 'thud', but he kept moving, quickly making another attempt to close in on the Bouquet Pokemon. Scyther grit his teeth in frustration; this Roserade obviously preferred long-range combat, but he was well-trained in repelling virtually anything that tried to get in close. Obviously he would need something that could force the grass-type's attention from him just long enough so that he could get at him. Scyther had an odd feeling that he already knew something that could do just that, but he couldn't quite place his blades on it.

As the mantis raced forward, a barrage of leaves coming at his right side forced him to move toward the left, when he felt the sharp pain of stepping on something that stabbed deeply into his foot. With a frustrated grunt, Scyther remembered the Toxic Spikes attack that the Roserade had thrown earlier, which had likely been spread over much of the battlefield already. Turning aside all thoughts of what this new development meant, Scyther ducked beneath another Razor Leaf assault and turned to begin circling to his right again.

The bug-type's dash was cut short when a flood of now-familiar, sickly purple objects cut off his path. Unfortunately, the poison infecting his body had already slowed his reflexes just enough that he had a foot in the field of Toxic Spikes before he could manage to stop himself. Scyther forced back a wince as he hurled himself backward, just as another line of Pin Missiles hurtled through the air he had just left.

Another barrage of Razor Leaves came rushing at Scyther. This time, however, he was too late to avoid it, and the bladed projectiles cut long gouges where they managed to find him, their sharpness allowing them to pierce even his bug-type armor. Scyther recomposed himself just quickly enough to notice a second volley of Razor Leaves headed his way, and hurled himself to the left to avoid them.

The mantis wasted no time getting back to his feet, ignoring the pain that emanated from his open wounds as he continued to move around. Scyther quickly looked up, returning his gaze to his grass-type opponent as soon as he could; however, it seemed that his haste was unnecessary, as the Roserade had stopped completely, apparently waiting for the bug-type to make his next move. A long silence passed, broken only by Scyther's heavy breathing and the slow dripping of blood down his body. Eventually, the mantis spoke, addressing a concern that he had only now realized that he had.

"The other Pokémon that Versum sent out, are they as strong as you?" The heavy panting that had filled the clearing stopped as soon as the question was out, a depth of concern that surprised even him causing Scyther to hold his breath as he waited uneasily for an answer. A seeming eternity of listening to his blood trickling to the grass beneath him finally ceased when the Roserade finally replied.

"There is one other Pokémon among us on my level. Since I'm sure you wish to know where he is, I am reasonably certain that he will engage the Marowak that was found with your group." As Scyther gave a small sigh of relief, the grass-type continued. "I don't see why that makes a difference; our research on your group indicated that they would still be no match for the Pokémon we have sent after them."

"Yeah, go ahead and tell yourself that." Scyther was standing once again, a predatory grin on his face as he faced down his opponent. Fighting against the spreading poison as it sapped at his strength, the mantis launched himself into the air, weaving about in as unpredictable path as he could as he made his way toward the Roserade.

Bladed leaves flew past Scyther as the Bouquet Pokémon he was charging towards continued his attacks. Fortunately, the bug-type's erratic flying was enough to evade the constant volleys, but getting in close was going to be another story. And not only that, but the poison in his body was causing it to burn with pain that was growing more and more difficult to ignore.

"Shatterblade, look at this!"

Scyther shook his head forcefully as he quickly turned his attention back to the battle. This was no time to be thinking about old memories! Weaving around another barrage, the mantis turned straight towards the Roserade and began to close in. First dodging a Razor Leaf, and then a Pin Missile, Scyther finally found himself face-to-face with his opponent.

The bug-type's left scythe came around in a forceful Slash attack, a trail of glowing white energy trailing in its wake. However, the Roserade was faster, circling to the outside of the swipe before rearing back his right arm. As the grass-type's arm shot out, Scyther noticed the sickly purple glow surrounding it just in time to begin twisting his body out of the way.

His control over his flight completely shattered by the sudden maneuver, Scyther crashed to the ground, tumbling across the forest floor by the momentum. The bug-type just barely caught sight of the field of Toxic Spikes before he could reach it, and managed to push himself into the air with enough force that he cleared the hazard before colliding into the ground again.

Scyther slowly made his way back to his feet, occasionally having to force his limbs to hold firm as they threatened to collapse out from under him. The mantis grimaced when he was halfway there, noticing a sudden and acute burning pain in his side where the Roserade's Poison Jab had just passed by; apparently, the attack grazed him enough to be effective after all.

Once Scyther was upright once more, he turned toward his grass-type opponent just in time to find another storm of Razor Leaves hurtling toward him. Slowed down as he was by the poison, the mantis had no choice but to take the attack, forcing himself to hold his ground as blade after blade ripped through him, coaxing more and more blood from his body. Finally, the attack ended, leaving Scyther with long gashes all over his body and trails of red seeming to nearly cover him. After a brief pause, the mantis tipped forwards, and fell to the earth with what seemed to be a deafening 'thud'.

"This was a good fight; I'll give you that much." Scyther struggled to regain control of his body from the numerous variations of pain that seemed to paralyze it as the Roserade continued. "However, I am a specially trained Pokémon of the Versum Syndicate. Even if you are one of the more powerful Pokémon in this area, I'm afraid that someone like you… is simply no match for us."

"Hate to disappoint, but there's a reason I can't lose here." Scyther slowly began to stand up, ignoring the blood that continued to steadily drip from his body. "I don't care about the rest of the Pokémon that have been sent after my comrades; if they really aren't on your level, then they'll fail anyway. However, you're like me, aren't you? You won't stop until this mission of yours to kill them is completed, and you're strong enough to do it, too. If I let you win, they die. Simple as that."

"I really think I should point out that the outcome of this fight is well out of your control now." Scyther only grinned at the Roserade's interruption, managing to finally pull himself to his full height before he continued.

"And why is that? Because of this poison? Because of these wounds? Sorry, but they mean nothing to me right now; the man and the Pokémon that you're targeting are the first ones I've known in a long time that I could call friends. Hit me with anything you want, because if it means protecting them, nothing you can do even matters!" With that, Scyther stepped towards his opponent with a shaking leg, and lifted his torn and bloody arms in a fighting stance.

Scyther focused his blurry vision on the Roserade before him as best he could as he attempted to come up with a plan to counterattack. If he could only find a way to distract him from a distance for even a moment, he should be able to get in an attack decisive enough to end the fight. He didn't know much about ranged fighting, but for some reason, he had a strange feeling that he already knew what to do…

"Shatterblade…"

Wait! That was it!

It seemed like an entire lifetime ago; while he still lived with his swarm, and before he had even heard of Shredd. He lived in the forest between Cerulean City and the north Rock Tunnel entrance, living a life as close to peaceful as a Scyther warrior would ever be comfortable with.

"Shatterblade! Come look at this!"

And there was Nightstrike, named because of her quiet thoughtfulness when she was young, a trait that the elder members of the swarm thought would carry over into her fighting style when she was grown. No one ever found out whether that prediction was right or not, as she preferred not to fight. Of course, most people and even Pokémon tended to think that meant she would be shunned by a battle-hungry Scyther swarm, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

"I found another page in Cerulean; this one has some information in it that I think you'll be interested in!"

Nightstrike was smart; without a doubt the smartest Scyther ever to be part of the swarm. She often deduced the best places for the swarm to hunt for food, the sturdiest shelters in which to protect themselves from the elements, and ingenious ways to benefit from the presence of humans without having to actually take on human trainers. Not only that, but she had somehow managed to learn how to read human language; no one knew how she did it, and no one was really interested enough to bother asking.

She would constantly make her way to the places where humans lived, usually Cerulean or Bolt City, to search for pieces of literature thrown away by humans. She would bring back newspapers, bits of Pokémon encyclopedias, and old trainer's manuals. Most of the Scyther in the swarm didn't think too much of the human knowledge Nightstrike brought with her, but he was intrigued.

That interest led to the beginning of a strong friendship between himself and Nightstrike. She would tell him things about Pokémon and techniques that she found out from what she read, and he would tell her about observations he made of various plants and Pokémon during his hunts. And one day, during one of those exchanges...

"It seems that the humans have come up with special training that lets Scyther learn a powerful ranged attack!"

He must've forgotten what he learned that day because he preferred close combat, but there wasn't a choice now. If he was going to protect the friends he still had, he was going to have to use what he learned from the one he had lost. Scyther lifted a blade into the air, focusing his energy into it just as Nightstrike had taught him so long ago.

Ignoring the bemused look the Roserade gave him as he silently looked on, Scyther struggled to remember the steps in performing the attack in time to do them effectively. Finally, Scyther swung his glowing blade, launching a crescent-shaped blade of silver energy at the plant-type before him.

The Silver Wind attack sped toward Roserade as Scyther momentarily paused to catch his breath after the effort he put into the projectile. The blade of energy began to close in, when the grass-type swung a flowerlike arm around to brush the attack aside, causing it to silently disperse. After a small disappointed sigh, the Roserade turned to Scyther.

"That was interesting, but not very impressive. I'm sorry, but I should really get to killing you now." With a grunt of effort, the Bouquet Pokémon forcefully swung a stemlike arm, unleashing a massive Leaf Storm that covered the entire area several feet to each side of Scyther. The whistle of wind was all that could be heard as hundreds of bladed projectiles closed in on the mantis.

Scyther grit his teeth as he faced down the widespread attack, lifting his blade for another effort. If the last attack didn't work, he would just launch another one! With a yell of both pain and exertion, Scyther swung his blade heavily at the Leaf Storm attack that closed in on him.

Mark and the others, they're my purpose now! As long as I'm alive, I will protect them from anything that dares to threaten them!

The Silver Wind attack was larger and more solid looking this time, and easily tore through the leaves of the Roserade's Leaf Storm. As the previously fatal attack was tossed harmlessly aside, the silvery blade kept on going, straight for the Bouquet Pokémon himself. The Roserade held his ground firmly, preparing to shove the attack aside with his right arm just as he did before. However, the Silver Wind wasn't even slowed by the grass-type's efforts, and tore a large gash in his arm as it passed by, the force causing him to backpedal for a few steps.

By the time the Roserade had managed to steady himself again, it was already too late. The grass-type could only widen his eyes in shock as the almost demonic mantis loomed before him; his entire body dripped with blood like some nightmarish beast, and his eyes glinted with seemingly unnatural levels of resolve and fury. The Scyther's pointed teeth glinted as his mouth curled into a vicious smirk, and his blades were glowing an eerie green as they both slashed forward in unison.

The X-Scissor ripped across the Roserade's left side, tearing open two long, ragged wounds in the Pokémon's torso. As the Scyther skidded to a stop behind him, the grass-type could only hunch forward, eyes screwed shut from the pain as blood began to trickle down his side. After a long, silent moment, the Roserade finally collapsed, falling to his knees before crashing face-first into the torn-up earth. Behind him, the Scyther stopped his heavy breathing for a moment to speak, his voice still firm and powerful despite clearly holding back the pain from his numerous injuries.

"I should… really thank you for this fight; I learned the answer… to a question I've been asking myself for a long time. That attack shouldn't kill someone like you; if your trainer is competent, he'll find you before it can become life-threatening." The Roserade gave a wheezing, but sincere chuckle as he struggled to turn himself over to his back; it took several long moments, but he finally managed it. After a few more gasping breaths, he finally replied.

"I see, so you have a lot more determination in you than any of us gave you credit for; I have no excuses for this loss." The grass-type slowly turned his head so that his eyes locked with those of the mantis, showing nothing but respect and sincerity in them. "After such an honorable fight, I would never be able to live with myself if I didn't tell you this. By beating me, Versum will most likely begin to see you as a Pokémon worth seeking out for experimentation. They won't just be after your trainer anymore; they will now seek you out as well."

There was a brief pause as Scyther considered what he was just told before he turned back to the Roserade. The bug-type and the grass-type exchanged a few last silent words before the mantis turned away. Scyther walked slowly into the forest, occasionally having to prop himself up on the trees along his path. Just before he left the Roserade's sight, he stopped and made one last statement.

"You were strong, but I can't lose against someone who is a threat to my friends."