Ch. 28

A blast of lightning comes sheering by me as I dash toward Tia who vanishes before I can reach her. I turn my head to see where she went, but I'm immediately hit on the side of the face by a surprise Iron Tail and sent flying. Watching from the side lines, both Mary and Lucy watch on the sidelines. Ash and Jordan are doing their own training nearby as Brock and Christina cook food for dinner.

We've walked a couple of miles since leaving Eterna Forest, Ash wanted to go back to Eterna City to make sure the residents were okay after the whole fight we had with Team Galactic, saying it was his duty as Sinnoh Champion, but Mewtwo snapped and said we all had to head over to Snowpoint Mountains as quick as possible, this break from walking coming after Darkrai argued we wouldn't have a chance against Team Galactic if we were all tired once we got there and Mewtwo seemed to have relented. As I recover from that Iron Tail, I look over and see Mewtwo stand on top of a hill close by the camp, staring at the Snowpoint Mountains far into the distance.

Mewtwo and I haven't spoken to each other since I stopped him from rampaging in Eterna Forest, I'm sure he's not angry at me, maybe at himself…I don't know. Margret's death really hit me hard, but Mewtwo lost both Margret and the other Legendary Pokemon Mew, I think they were siblings. Staring at Mewtwo, I don't notice Tia coming up being me and knocking me with another Iron Tail.

"Hey, cheap shot!" I say.

Tia smirks. "Well then don't give me a chance to hit you with one then," Tia says. "Come on, show me what you've got."

I shake myself off from the latest hit and run back at Tia, charging up an Iron Tail, and slam it toward Tia who jumps out of the way. Thunder surges around Tia's body as she lets out a Thunderbolt at me, but I fire a Dark Pulse which impacts Tia's attack causing a tiny explosion. Tia stands ready and within the cloud of dust comes a Shadow Ball swirling toward her. "Heh, predictable," Tia says. "Here, you can have it back!" Tia swings around and smacks the Shadow Ball back through the cloud.

"If you were throwing that back at me you have horrible aim!" I yell. Tia, surprised, looks above her and sees me in the air.

From the side of the training area, Mary smirks. "He used the cloud made from the explosion as cover and then used the Shadow Ball as a diversion before quickly jumping up into the air, pretty clever," Mary thinks to herself.

"Getting a lot more strategic in your fighting are we," Tia says as I charge up my Iron Tail. "But you forgot one thing." Electricity begins the discharge all around Tia's body which then shoots into the air above us and as I'm still midair about to hit her with my Iron Tail, I'm hit with a powerful shot of Thunder. Falling to the ground next to Tia, my tail loses its Iron Tail puts her head down to mine. "Don't start to brag until you've actually defeated your opponents."

"You don't…hold back…," I wheeze as a small amount of steam emits from my mouth. Mary lowers and shakes her head as Lucy laughs.


On the other side of the hill, Jordan's Ludicolo fires a volley of Energy Balls toward Miles who dodges the attack in the air before soaring toward Ludicolo and swings his tail into Ludicolo. Ludicolo takes the hit and grabs onto Mile's tail.

"Alright Valentín, use Mega Drain," Jordan commands. A green aura surrounds Valentín's arms before surrounding Miles's entire body. Mile's notices his strength begin to lessen as he looks at Valentín who smiles as his health returns.

From his side of the field, Ash gives off a delighted smile as he watches Jordan's skill at training beginning to rise. "Alright Miles, use Skull Bash!" Ash commands. Miles's grins as he understands what his trainer wants him to do. As Valentín continues to hold onto Miles's tail, Miles extends his body all the way using his wings before pulling back in and bashing his head against Valentín's causing the Ludicolo to let go of the Charizard's tail and wobble back disoriented. "Alright, lets finish this off with Fire Blast!"

Mile's tilts his head back before releasing a large burst of fire toward Valentín who is blasted back toward Jordan, hitting the ground and falling unconscious. "Well, you tried your best Valentín, good work," Jordan says, returning Valentín to his ball. Both Ash and Miles walk over to Jordan.

"You're getting better," Ash says. "Learning what moves to use and how to outsmart your opponent doesn't come easy in Pokemon battling, but once you get in tune with your Pokemon, you can even win battles with even the most headstrong Pokemon." Miles gives a loud huff at that last comment.

A loud explosion erupts from the other side of the hill and the three look to see me high in the air, blown back by another strong attack by Tia. Ash scratches the back of his neck and sighs. "Some of us are still a work in progress," Ash says as I land back onto the ground with a thud.


With tents finally set up and bowls of soup and Poke-food passed around, Ash lays down against a boulder just outside the makeshift campsite as he eats his food and watches the others talk and eat together under the moonlit sky. Brock, with food in hand, walks over to the Sinnoh champ.

"I didn't think, after what happened in Eterna Forest, we'd be able to ever relax again," Brock says leaning his back against the boulder. "So, you think they're ready?"

"Ash takes a big gulp of soup. "After what we saw back in Eterna Forest, not a chance," Ash says. "But they're improving."

"To think Cyrus had something like that up his sleeve," Brock says.

"We saw it before, with that Keeper commander," Ash says, remembering watching Tia fight that Bronzong and not effecting it with even her strongest attacks. "That underground laboratory and prison…who knows how many more there are. You wanna know what worries me the most?"

Brock looks at Ash. "What?" Brock asks.

"If The Keepers have found a way to transform humans into Pokemon, Pokemon that have abnormal levels of strength…what are the chances they might go further," Ash says. Both Ash and Brock remain silent.


As the snow pelts all around the surrounding area, grunts heave heavy equipment to their designated area. Inside the main tent, Ryker speaks to a Keeper grunt about the current status of the machine before as Jupiter sits in a chair by the main table, drinking hot cocoa. After a solute from the grunt, the grunt takes his leave from the main tent as Ryker turns around and walks over to Jupiter.

"Things are going smoothly," Ryker says. "Come tomorrow, our little machine'll be operational and we'll be on our way up the mountain in no time."

"This machine of yours better be important," Jupiter says. "A quality I share with my leader is that I really hate to have my time wasted."

"Ah, you can include yours truly in that group too," Ryker says, sitting down opposite of Mars, his grin as big as possible. "But I'll tell ya, what we're cook'in up here, what you're about to witness first hand, it'll be a beauty."

"You haven't told me what exactly you're creating," Jupiter says. "What are you making?"

"You could say we're gonna try and one up ourselves," Ryker says. "The mineral that Mr. Goodwin found and is using to create our little army of Human-turned Pokemon is going a bit slower than what we like. That idiot Donovan causing us to lose one of our production plants didn't help us either." Ryker stands up from where he's sitting. "The boss was furious when he heard the news, even killed a couple of grunts, and was still seething afterwards. But luckily for the rest of the grunts in the room, Mr. Goodwin's son, Alister, was in the room and even luckier, I was in the room as well."

"I've heard of Alister Goodwin, he was the one that invented the ability-disrupting collars," Jupiter says. "The man's regarded as one of the smartest men in all of the four regions."

"An appropriate title. Ya see Alister had an idea, one that I was bloody on board with the moment the crazy bastard told it to me." Ryker says putting his hand into one of his pockets. Jupiter looks on curiously as he takes out a capsule with a strange pulsating purplish crystal inside. "You know what this is right? The mineral our boss, Mr. Goodwin found and turned it into one of the most powerful weapons the region has ever seen. Turn it into a liquid and once it's in the bloodstream a regular human is turned into a batshit crazy Pokemon. But Alister had an idea, why not go a little furtha and turn the liquid into a gas. Alister and I did just that and after testing it out on some routes, we found it to be much faster than in liquid form."

It only takes Jupiter a few seconds to connect the dots as her eyes go wide. "So you've turned that mineral into an actual chemical weapon?!" Jupiter asks.

"As if it wasn't one already," Ryker laughs as he puts the crystal back into his pocket. "It may have made me in debt to the bastard, but Mr. Goodman liked Alister's plan so much he gave me the title of Commander and had me lead this expedition to kill two birds with one stone, or crystal, if you know what I'm sayin'. While we go up this mountain, my boys will be seeing how a full blown puff of this gasified crystal will do to a full blown city!"

"That kinda publicity is something I thought you Keepers tried to avoid," Jupiter points out.

"That pile o' crap Champion isn't even on my radar," Ryker says. "As far as I'm concerned, The Keepers have been underground too long. This region is big enough for two terrorist organizations to operate out in the open."

Jupiter chuckles as she stands from where she was sitting. "I think two organizations from a similar region had the same idea, don't think it worked out well for them, but then again neither of us are trying to change the landmass…yet," Jupiter says walking out of the tent as Ryker smiles behind her.

Outside, Jupiter watches as Keeper Grunt after Keeper Grunt make their way through the chilly snow terrain. Off to the corner of her eye, Jupiter notices one Keeper Grunt writing stuff down on a notepad off to the side away from everyone else. The moment the Grunt notices Jupiter watching them, the Grunt walks away into one of the smaller tents, causing Jupiter a moment of concern, but she quickly brushes it off as not her concern.


"Keep running!"

I'm running, as quickly as my legs can take me. I can see in front of me Jordan and Ash running ahead of me, both of them as visibly terrified as I am. Running past countless amounts of trees, I trip and fall to the ground. Shaking my head, my body goes cold as I open my eyes and see the menacing Gallade in front of me, its sharp bladed arms showing my reflection.

"Please…don't," I plead as I try to back up, but the Gallade simply walks closer to me. It raises its arm and strikes.

No!" Mew yells as it jumps in between us and takes the hit on, falling to the ground. I look on in horror as Mew's lifeless body falls to the ground.

The Gallade simply walks past the dead Legendary and comes closer to me. I blast it with my Shadow Ball, but it doesn't even faze it, I shoot it again and again, but the result is the same. Out of nowhere, Jordan jumps in front of me, his arms outstretched. "J-Jordan…wait!" I yell, but Jordan doesn't respond. The Gallade gets closer, I try to move and yell out for Jordan to move, but I can't say or do a thing. My mouth is agape in horror as I watch helplessly as the Gallade raises its sharp elbows and strikes Jordan.

"JORDAN!"

I wake up popping my head up, drenched in sweat and hyperventilating. I look to my right and see Jordan sleeping. My breathing eases slowly as I wipe my eyes with my paw and stand up and walk out of the tent. That nightmare was so intense, I have to shake my head again as I sit outside the tent to remind myself it was just a nightmare, none of it was real….well…not all of it. My face turns grim as I remember Mew saving me, Mew giving its life for me. I gulp the memory down as I look up to where Mewtwo was standing earlier and see the Psychic-type Legendary still standing in the exact same spot.


Still looking toward the Snowpoint Mountains in the distance, Mewtwo ponders and reflect on its life as a Legendary. Its time with Mew and Margret, Mewtwo begins to wonder if the only real reason it was ever a part of the Legendaries was because of Mew and Margret, and now that they're gone…

Mewtwo's internal struggle is pushed aside for a moment as Mewtwo looks to its side and sees me walking up to it. "Can't sleep?" I ask. Mewtwo looks at me for a moment before turning its gaze back onto Snowpoint Mountains.

"You should be sleeping," Mewtwo says in an angry tone. "Isn't that why we stopped in the first place?" As I sit down next to Mewtwo, I lower my head. I knew deep down that there was a part of Mewtwo that hated me for what happened in the forest. I just wanted to come to tell it I'm sorry for what happened, but my jaw practically locks up when I try.

"I…I couldn't sleep," I respond. "I had a nightmare." Mewtwo suddenly feels regret for snapping at me, but doesn't show it. We don't say anything for a moment.

"The nightmare, it was of the fight from earlier?" Mewtwo says, hitting the nail on the head. I nod, confirming it, which Mewtwo breathes deeply in response. "You now have an understanding of how powerful our enemies are. This isn't a game where the fight is over once one of the fighters faints, this is a battle of survival." I keep my head lowered as Mewtwo continues to talk. "In these battles, you're going to have to make difficult and sometimes impossible decisions." We both remain silent for another moment before Mewtwo lets out a shallow sigh. "Let me ask you something." I raise my head and look at Mewtwo. "Do you think I blame you for their deaths?" The question makes my heart sink and I can't think of a response. Mewtwo doesn't wait for me to answer as it turns its head to me. "I don't."

A wave of saddened confusion comes over me. "W-what?" I try to say. "But, Mew…Margret -,"

"Died protecting what they saw as something worth dying for," Mewtwo says. "The person I truly blame for their deaths is not you and I don't even blame the Gallade…I blame myself. Like I said, in situations where people's lives are on the line, you have to make difficult decisions in order for the worst case scenario to not happen. I could've decided to help Margret fight the Gallade, but that would've left you defenseless if the Gallade went after you. I decided to slow the Gallade, but that decision ultimately led to Mew's death."

"I just wish, that they didn't have to die for me," I say. "I don't want anybody to…to go that far for me."

"You may not like it but you are the key to defeating Cyrus once and for all, and because of that, there are many people, people sleeping right behind us, who will give their lives for you," Mewtwo says. "I am one of those people."

"No! I won't go into battle if I know people I care about will get injured for me," I yell. "I won't do it."

"Then we will all lose," Mewtwo says, making me drop my head down again. "But, there is a way to not let that happen." I raise my head up to hear what the Legendary has to say. "Train, train until you're the strongest Umbreon in the region - in the world. I was watching you when you were sparring with Tia, you're getting better. But make no mistake, the situation we were in in Eterna Forest will happen again. When it does happen, do me a favor, make yourself ready for when it happens."

Putting on a brave face, I nod to Mewtwo. Content with my nod, Mewtwo goes back to looking toward Snowpoint Mountain, I join in and watch along side Mewtwo as the night sky above is illuminated with the glow of the stars.


Back in Eterna City, the city streets are barren of citizens as all the residents are held up in their homes, fearful of Team Galactic possibly returning. Gardenia herself imposed a curfew to make sure no one was harmed at night. Walking through the empty streets, the former Keeper members, Donovan, Liz, and Scott observe the emptiness around them. Beside the occasional Pokemon scavenging through trash bins and trees, the three see no human around them. As the trio walk past a large building, the trio notice a large plum of smoke rise in the distance.

"Heh, looks like we missed all the fun," Scott says.

"What do you think Team Galactic was doing?" Liz asks.

Donovan observes the plum of smoke before continued to walk in its direction. "Lets go find out," Donovan says.

Walking over to the edge of Eterna City and the way into Eterna Forest, a blockade full of Officer Jennys stops them from entering the forest. Not willing to allow a couple of cops stop him from entering, Donovan casually walks toward the Officers as Scott and Liz stay behind, Donovan takes a Poke-Ball out of his pocket as he gets closer.

The Officers notice the former Keeper Commander walk up to them. "Sir, the forest is off limits at this moment, you need to return to your house," one of the Officers says.

Donovan opens his Poke-Ball, releasing his Bronzong. "Out of my way," Donovan growls. The Bronzong fires a volley of Shadow Balls and soon Donovan is walking over the motionless Officers as Liz and Scott follow.

Inside the forest, the further the trio goes into the forest, the more the environment almost resembles a battlefield. Trees toppled over, massive deforested areas. The trio soon come up to a clearing where many gaps in the ground appear in the ground. Donovan walks over to a side of the clearing and sees two empty containers used to hold captured Pokemon. "This must've been where they were stationed," Donovan says. "But what were they doing here and who were they fighting?"

"Sir, come quick!" Liz yells. Donovan walks over to where Scott and Liz are standing and a large grin grows across the former Commander as they stand over the unconscious body of a Team Galactic grunt.

With a shot of Water Pulse by Liz's Gastrodon, the Galactic grunt wakes up coughing and heaving. His vision blurry, it takes a moment to see the former Keeper trio in front of him. "W-what," is all the Grunt can say before Liz's Garchomp's razor sharp claw digs into the tree inches away from the Grunt's face. "I'm only going to ask this once," Donovan says as he walks in front of both Liz and Scott and bends down to put his face in front of the grunts. "Where is Cyrus?!"