A/N: Hey guys. Sorry its been so long since I last updated. I had a bit of writer's block for this one, but I got over it after a week or so. I promise there will be plenty of surprises in store for this chapter.

Kirito and Ren sped through the woods as they headed for the mountain range. They had yet to meet up with any of their friends, but they had to believe they were still alive. Thinking the opposite would be to painful.

"So who do you think these guys are?" Ren asked as they ran.

"If I had to guess, probably Laughing Coffin" Kirito replied.

"Laughing Coffin?! But didn't we deal with most of them before?"

"They're a skilled PKer guild. They don't leave a job unfinished"

"Great" Ren mumbled. "So now we've got a group of murderers hunting us down"

"Have you ever had to deal with PKers in Sinnoh?" Kirito asked.

Ren nodded his head. "Yeah. There was a group called Team Reaper. They weren't like Laughing Coffin though. They just killed people who got in their way. These guys are much worse."

The two champions continued to run as fast as they could. When they finally saw an end to the trees, a sigh of relief escaped from both of them. It didn't last long though, as they now found themselves at a dead end. In front of the two of them was the edge of a high cliff. If they fell, it would almost certainly guarantee instant death. Even worse than the scenery in front of them was the person in front of them.

"You kept me waiting, champions" the player said. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever show up"

Kirito glared at the player in front of them as he snarled the man's name. "Kira"

"It's been awhile, Kirito" the player known as Kira said in a hollow voice.

Ren got a good look at this Kira person. He had black hair, though his bangs were a bloody red color. His outfit consisted of a long black leather jacket that fell to his knees. His gaze was tilted down slightly so it was impossible to see his face.

"Who are you?" Ren asked.

"He's the leader of Laughing Coffin" Kirito explained. "Kira, The Trainer of Death"

"Trainer of Death?"

"He was practically the inventor of PKing in Unova" Kirito told him. "He mercilessly kills anyone he chooses, be they friend or foe"

"It seems my reputation has gotten quite large" Kira said. "You could have joined us, Kirito. Together, nobody could have stood up to us"

Kirito glared at Kira with hatred in his eyes. "I'd rather die than be like you"

Kira sighed as he lifted his gaze to face the two champions. Ren could now see the crimson color of his eyes. "So be it. I'll grant your wish here and now"

Before Ren could even realize what was happening, Kirito and Kira charged towards each other. They both grabbed a pokeball from their belt and threw them. Kirito's pokeball opened up and revealed his Hydreigon, who he quickly jumped on to ride. Kira's pokemon was a Bisharp. He used Bisharp as a stepping stool to get higher up and delivered a kick to Kirito, knocking him off Hydreigon. As this happened, Bisharp closed in and slashed at Hydreigon's belly. The dragon-type cried out in pain.

"Hydreigon!" Kirito called out. He barely reacted in time to dodge the incoming hit from Kira. In the blink of an eye, the two trainers were locked in a fist fight while their pokemon did battle.

Ren watched this all unfold as fear engulfed his expression. 'This isn't even a pokemon battle' he realized. 'It's a straight up fight to the death. I've never seen anything like this in PWO'

"Die!" Kira cried out as he managed to land a punch to Kirito's gut, forcing him to kneel over in pain. Kira didn't let up as he delivered another painful kick and caused Kirito to fall on his back. He looked over to his pokemon. "Bisharp, time to end this"

Bisharp nodded to its trainer and leaped away from Hydreigon over to Kira. It prepared to swing its bladed arm down at Kirito, but a sudden blast of fire forced both of them to fall back. They looked over to see Ren standing against them alongside his Infernape.

"If you want to kill him, you've gotta go through me" Ren said.

Kira showed an entertained grin. "Very well. Try and make this fun"

Ren quickly gave out orders to Infernape. "Close combat!" Infernape sped forward and prepared to unleash an all-out assault on Kira and Bisharp. Unfortunately, Kira had no plans of letting things be that easy. He grabbed another pokebal and opened it up, revealing a Golurk. The massive pokemon easily blocked Infernape's attack like it was nothing.

"Shit!" Ren cursed under his breath. "Infernape, get out of there!"

Before Infernape could jump back, Golurk reached out its hand and grabbed Infernape's arm. The ghost type lifted Infernape into the air and swung it to the ground with a devastating amount of force.

"Infernape!" Ren cried out.

Kira smirked as he watched Golurk lift Infernape for another swing. "You obviously haven't been in a REAL battle before. Allow me to show you how dangerous fights like these can be."

Kira was so focused on Ren, that he almost missed Kirito getting up behind him. He turned around and dodged just before the fist could connect. "Nice try, champion. But you're too slow. Finish him Bisharp!"

Bisharp charged in and pointed its bladed arm forward, ready to pierce Kirito from behind. Quickly, Kirito brought out another pokeball and opened it up right behind him. Bisharp felt its arm hit something, but it wasn't Kirito. Instead it was a pair of steel swords.

Kira widened his eyes in surprise as Bisharp put some distance between itself and Kirito. "What the hell?!"

"I see you haven't met the latest addition to my team" Kirito smirked as he turned around and grabbed the hilt of the two swords. Violet ribbons wrapped themselves around Kirito's arms as he pulled the swords out while the scabbards magically hovered right to his back. "Say hello to Doublade"

Finally recovering from his shock, Kira showed a smirk. He seemed almost entertained at the sudden turn of events. "Leave it to you to come up with such an unorthodox way to use a pokemon"

"Believe me, it wasn't easy" Kirito said. "It took forever to get Doublade to trust me enough to actually wield it myself instead of simply giving it commands." Kirito pointed one of the two swords towards Kira. "Now then, shall we settle this?"

"My pleasure"

Ren watched from afar as Kirito and Kira battled it out in their fight to the death. He wanted to do something, but his body was completely frozen in fear. It wasn't the first time he had been in a dangerous battle with his life on the line, but he had never been in a battle this extreme. Trainers battling with their pokemon. It was hard for Ren to swallow.

"You obviously haven't been in a REAL battle before. Allow me to show you how dangerous fights like these can be."

Kira's words still remained fresh in Ren's mind. This was what real fights were like. What kind of hell was the Unova region if battles like these were so common? Ren looked over to see Infernape being held down by Golurk, unable to do anything. Its health was already below half.

'Come on, think! I have to do something!'

As Ren tried to think of a plan, his eyes locked with Infernape's. He noticed the fierce determined look in them. Infernape hadn't given up. It still believed in its trainer. Ren and Infernape nodded to each other. There was only one thing to do.

"Infernape, use blast burn!" Ren commanded. Infernape quickly obeyed and blasted the ground beneath it with a powerful wave of heat. Golurk got caught up in the explosion that occurred and lost its hold on Infernape. The fire type quickly delivered a swift kick to Golurk's body, knocking it over.

Kira noticed the explosion and turned to face it with his eyes widened. "What?!"

"Now Kirito! Do it!" Ren called out.

"Right!" Kirito nodded. He charged forward at Kira and readied Doublade to take him out.

Kira quickly jumped back at the last second as Kirito swung the sword down. He quickly grabbed a pokeball and threw it directly at Kirito. "Koffing, use explosion!"

Kirito's eyes widened as the Koffing emerged from the pokeball. Its body lit up and in a split second it exploded in a powerful blast. Ren watched as both Kirito and Kira became swallowed up by the explosion.

"Kirito!"

As the smoke cleared, Ren saw a figure standing. His fears were confirmed when he recognized the player as Kira. In front of him where his Koffing had blown itself up was Golurk, using protect to shield them from the attack.

Kira had a triumphant grin on his face. "And so ends the Unova champion. You fought well Kirito, but I'm afraid I win."

"Is that so?"

Kira gasped as he looked at the smoke in front of him. Kirito was still standing, along with Doublade. A transparent barrier was in front of them, just like Golurk's. Kirito grinned at Kira. "Did you really think you were the only one who could block an explosion attack.

Kira stood there for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter. "Fantastic! Now THIS is what I've been looking for! A battle to make my blood boil! You truly are one of a kind, Kirito!"

"So then, you want to keep going?" Kirito asked. "Because I have a feeling the tables are about to turn against you"

Before Kira could ask what he meant, he heard the sound of rustling coming over from the trees. Asuna, Misaki, Sinon, Liz, and Silica all emerged and stood together, ready to face Kira. The Laughing Coffin leader quickly analyzed the situation and saw how badly the odds were stacked against him.

"We'll finish this another time Kirito" Kira said, returning his Bisharp to its pokeball. He got on Golurk's shoulder and the ghost type quickly transformed into its flight mode. As it began to take off Kira looked at Ren, who was busy checking on his Infernape. "But first, I think I'll get rid of at least one nuisance."

"Ren, look out!" Misaki cried.

Ren looked towards Kira just as he gave out his command. "Golurk, use hyper beam!"

Golurk's arm acted like a cannon as it fired a powerful hyper beam attack directly at Ren and Infernape. The two of them got out of the way of the beam, but were blown away by the explosion from the impact. Ren and Infernape both cried out in pain as they were sent flying off the edge of the cliff.

Misaki's eyes widened in horror as she watched her boyfriend fall into the forest below. "REN!"

Ren felt the wind rush past him as he and Infernape plummeted down. He had fallen from tall heights before, back when the Shadow Fortress collapsed back in Sinnoh. This was much different than that time. Ren felt like he had just gotten shot out of a cannon. And if he didn't act soon, he could kiss the rest of his HP goodbye.

'What do I do? Am I really going to die like this?' Ren asked himself. He knew that by the time he reached for Starraptor's pokeball and sent it out, he would have crash landed and died.

Suddenly Ren felt something from behind him. He turned his head to see Infernape position itself behind him just as they hit the trees.

The impact felt surprisingly comfy considering he had just fallen from a height of nearly thirty meters.

Ren groaned as he shook the black spots out of his consciousness. He was lying on the ground with Infernape lying only a few feet away. Ren struggled to find the strength to sit up, but finally managed it. "Phew. That was a close one, huh Infer-"

The rest of that sentence died on Ren's tongue as he watched his partner shatter into fragments.

A/N: So what did you guys think? Surprises, right? I tried my best with writing out the fight with Kira. Next chapter will have a big change in the story, as I'm sure most of you could guess from that ending.