April's Team: Mars; Burn (Charizard); Thunder (Electabuzz); Happy (Ludicolo); Sam (Riolu/Latios)

James' Team: Gardevoir; Ninetails; Nidoqueen; Sceptile; Corey (Mewvee)

Red's Team: Volt (Pikachu); Jake (Charizard); Marine (Blastoise); Vine (Venusaur); Behemoth (Snorlax); Mewtwo


R/E: Thanks for pointing that out, Dark Wolf Zero. I fixed it, so it should be better now.


I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY. THIS WAS TOO LONG OF A WAIT. I'M SORRY. Anyways, as part of my reconciliation, I made this chapter a bit longer than normal. Now, without further ado, enjoy the chapter.

A/N April was unconscious for about two hours total. Lucien has been fighting for about forty five minutes.

POV: April

I groaned and opened my eyes, my vision blurred and a constant ringing in my ears. I was lying on something soft and gritty…sand. That's what it was, sand. The ocean could be heard directly behind me, gently lapping at the beach I lay on. My muscles ached, and a massive headache kept me from thinking. I winced and closed my eyes again, deciding that lying here and sleeping would be the best option. I was so tired…I just didn't want to move. I was tired of fighting and running. I just wanted to go on my adventure. No more scary stuff, no more life-or-death situations, no more of my friends getting hurt, no more bad guys….My eyes flew open and I sat up quickly, suddenly remembering what had happened.

"Ow….that wasn't a good idea." I muttered, putting a hand to my head and wincing as pain lanced through it. After a few seconds I looked around, careful not to move too suddenly. The thick jungle was in front of me, the ocean to my back. The moon and stars shone overhead. I looked behind me and saw a grey form lying just in front of the ocean.

"Aero…" The form groaned. My eyes widened as I realized that the form was that of Aerodactyl's, who was facing away from me and looked injured. I stood up quickly, with another wince, and stumbled over to Aerodactyl with difficulty. My legs didn't seem to want to work the way I wanted them to. I stumbled and fell, landing face first onto Aerodactyl's hard back. The impact made my ears ring more and the headache worsen, but also caused him to raise his head and glance back at me. "Dactyl." He said, flopping his head back onto the ground.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" I asked quickly, reaching back for my backpack, only to find that it wasn't there. "Wh-what?!" I said, panic rushing through me. That's where all my supplies were. Where was it? I patted my waist absently, only to find that the familiar feel of my five pokeballs was missing. "Where are my Pokémon?!" I nearly shouted. Where were they? I-If I couldn't find them, I….I would…..

"Aerodactyl." He said, looking back at me and then towards the beach in front of him. I scurried around his head, carefully watching his razor-sharp teeth, and spotted my backpack close to the edge of the water. I rushed towards it and lifted it up, revealing that my pokeballs were directly underneath it. I sighed in relief and grabbed Mars' pokeball, letting him out so he could translate for me.

"Woah. What happened?" He asked, looking around, his red eyes gleaming in the darkness. I shook my head, pulling a super potion out of my pack and turning to face Aerodactyl.

"Dactyl." He said. Mars blinked in surprise.

"Woah. Really? That's…..scary." He said, shaking his head and looking at me. "Are you hurt?"

"Yes. Ask him where he's hurt so I can treat him." I said, shaking the super potion in his direction. Aerodactyl grunted, shaking his head and standing up, lumbering towards the forest while holding his left wing gingerly. "What's he doing?" I asked.

"Uh…not sure."

"Aero-dactyl." He grunted, standing in front of the nearest tree.

"He says it's just a dislocation." Mars noted. Aerodactyl positioned himself in front of the tree, letting out a grunt, and then slammed his left shoulder into the trunk with a pained roar and a sickening crack. Mars winced. "Aaaand now it's fixed. How you feeling?" Mars asked, trotting up to Aerodactyl while I just stood there, dumbstruck. The two began to converse a bit, and I sat down, putting my head in my hands. What was going on…..? I turned to talk to James about it, but found myself staring at a length of beach.

"James?" I said. "James! Where are you? James!" I shouted, becoming panicked.

"April! Calm down." Mars said, running up to me. I stopped my frantic searching and stared at him, breathing quickly. Aerodactyl mumbled something as he lumbered forwards, and Mars continued. "Slow your breathing, you'll hyperventilate. Aerodactyl says that James landed somewhere in the forest. Kabutops is with him, so he'll be fine." Mars said. I shook my head quickly.

"B-but they might be hurt! We need to go help them!" I said urgently, standing up quickly. I winced as my head once again shot a lance of pain through me, and Mars shook his head.

"Aero. Aerodactyl." Aerodactyl said.

"He says that you're in no shape to go running off into the forest. None of us are, really. We need to stay here and recuperate. James, if he's smart, will do the same. I'm sure Kabutops will be having the same conversation with him and Gardevoir right now. What if we run into more of the bad guys in the forest? Aerodactyl won't be able to help us, the foliage is too thick. Treat yourself and everyone here first, and then we can worry about James. Ok?" Mars chided. Aerodactyl nodded in agreement, and I stared at them both. They….but...

"You're right." I said, slumping to the ground and putting my head in my hands. "I-I just….I don't…." I trailed off and Mars nuzzled me, lying down next to me.

"I know. Don't worry. I'm here." He said soothingly. I nodded, holding my head in my hands for a bit longer. After a few minutes, the fuzziness in my head began to subside, letting a small, but beautifully clear voice, ring through my subconscious. Sitting around won't do anyone any good. I stood up slowly, blinking and realizing I had been crying. "So what now?" Mars asked as I wiped my eyes.

"I'm going to start healing everyone, and when we're all rested and ready we'll go look for James." I said confidently. Mars snorted and stood up as I tossed out my remaining pokeballs, letting Burn, Thunder, Happy, and Sam out. Burn was tensed, glaring around and looking for a fight, while everyone else collapsed on the sand.

"Don't worry, Burn. There's no one to fight right now. We're going to focus on resting." Mars said. Thunder and Happy both looked relieved, but Burn looked almost disappointed, grumbling a little bit under his breath. Sam was too busy building a small pile of sand to notice. Mars laughed. "Typical, typical Burn." He said, shaking his head.

"I'm going to heal you guys up, and then we're going to rest for a few hours. But don't forget that there's still work to be done. We're still in danger, and as soon as we're rested we're going to go look for James. Do you understand?" I asked. Everyone nodded, though I couldn't tell with Thunder, who was sprawled out in the sand. My heart panged as I looked at them, exhausted and hurt, pushed to their limits. They had worked so hard for me. I walked forwards, grabbing my backpack and pulling out some medicine. Mars and Aerodactyl were right. If we didn't rest, we might get ourselves seriously injured or hurt. But as soon as we were ready to go, I planned to go in search of James.

"I'll get to work then." I said and began treating Burn, spraying super potion on him. This was going to be a long night. Even if we were resting, I wouldn't rest easy.

POV CHANGE: Lucien

We had been fighting for about forty five minutes now, with the first thirty five of those minutes being spent by me trying to absorb moonlight. We still stood in their birthing chamber. I ducked, and dodged, and dove, and rolled, and countered, and fought back with all I could, but the two of them kept coming. Normal attacks and pressure points seemed ineffective on the duo, though I was still holding my own. I ducked under a pink-energy-fueled strike from the Palkia and slammed the blade of my hand into her throat, eliciting no reaction. The white armor that covered her completely absorbed the blow. I cursed and spun away, only to find myself facing Zekrom and a thunderbolt.

"GAAAH!" I yelled, encasing myself with ground energy and enduring the strike. A slight tingling remained in my body as I moved forwards, thrusting my hand forwards and launching a mudshot out of my palm. The attack harmlessly rebounded off of Zekrom, and I cursed once more, ducking as I sensed Palkia swing her fist at me again. My left foot snapped upwards as she passed overhead, catching her under the chin and sending her spiraling upwards with a mega kick.

Suddenly I found myself flying backwards, pain erupting from my chest. I slammed into the wall, creating a Lucien-shaped hole as I did so. Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth as I fell to the floor, already using recover to heal the worst of my wounds. Three broken ribs, two others were fractured. A punctured lung. The ribs snapped back into place, and the hole in my lung closed. I coughed and pushed myself up off of the floor, glowing in a green light and glaring at Palkia and Zekrom. The latter had punched me, and man did he pack a punch.

"Resilient." Zekrom noted. I cursed and stood up, glaring at him.

"Don't mock me, kid." I snapped.

"Give up, Lucien. There's no way you can win this." Namuba noted over the intercom.

"Piss off, would you? I'm busy." I snarled. Zekrom stared at me curiously, but I didn't stop to ask why, instead launching my assault. There was no time for me to absorb moonlight anymore. They had figured that much out, and were now actually pushing me. Purple energy enveloped my right fist in the form of a claw as I moved, though Zekrom and Palkia were already tensed and ready. I smirked and leapt into the air, an obvious move that would be easy to dodge. Palkia dove first, but Zekrom remained, watching me closely. Pop. A burst of psychic energy teleported me directly behind Zekrom, much to his surprise. My fist landed a solid hit, sending him tumbling forwards. I smirked.

"Oh, sorry, did that hurt? Just thought I'd return the favor." I said, returning to my original fighting stance. Palkia snarled and crouched just to my left, though I was prepared for any of her attacks. Zekrom pushed himself to his feet, turning around and staring at me blankly, completely unharmed.

"Hm. That was a forceful punch, but it didn't hurt much. Is that how my punch felt to you?" He asked calmly. I gritted my teeth, stepping slowly into the moonlight. My power level still wasn't sufficient to injure them….damn. And I was at a quarter of my power too. That should at least scratch him.

"Shut up." I snapped.

"The Devil is right, there is no chance that you can win against us." Palkia said, speaking for the first time. The word Devil piqued my interest. "You may be wily and hard to catch, but your attacks don't have the power to hurt us. It may take some time to catch you, but we eventually will. And then, hopefully, the Devil will be satisfied." She said. For a split second I lowered my guard.

"You said devil." I said. BZZZZZAP. Lightning arced across my body as I yelled in pain, falling to my knees and smoking as the attack ended. Palkia slammed her knee into my face, sending me tumbling to the side and into the wall once more. Slowly, I stood up, wiping the blood away from my mouth as it streamed from my broken nose. "Why did you say devil?" The pair remained silent, glaring at me. I clenched my fists. "You mean Namuba, don't you? Your creator, that is. Why do you follow his orders?"

WHAM. My head snapped backwards as Zekrom elbowed it, followed by a straight kick to the chest and another hole in the wall. I broke through the wall, landing in the hallway behind it amidst the rubble. Zekrom stood over me, glaring down at me.

"Stay down." He ordered.

"Why?" I asked, standing up. Zekrom crackled with electricity, and I dashed forwards, teleporting past him and back into the moonlight. Palkia was waiting for me, slamming an aqua tail into me and driving me into the ground as I appeared. I could feel my bones creak and groan, though many were already broken. I couldn't feel my left leg. My right arm was useless by now. My face was probably battered beyond recognition.

"Huh. I didn't expect you to be that predictable. Pleasing that Devil will be easier than I thought." Palkia said. After a moment of silence, she continued. "Are you dead?" In response to her question, I began to push myself up with one arm. A hand clenched around my throat and lifted me up into the air, brining me face to face with Palkia woman. Her red eyes seemed dead to me, even though surprise ran through them. "You're still….willing to fight?" She asked. I responded by charging my knee with energy and slamming it into her, causing her to drop me. I balanced on one foot and ducked as Zekrom came soaring over me, aiming to take my head off.

"Impressive. Even in this state, you still retain the resolve to fight." Zekrom noted. "I admire that. You have my respect, and my sympathies. It is a shame that a man as determined as you must die here tonight."

"Keep your damn respect and your worthless sympathies." I spat. Blood dribbled from the corner of my mouth, and I wiped it away with my left arm, finding that my right wasn't working at all. So I was right, or should I say, left. I withheld a chuckle, instead turning it into rage. "I don't want it. All I want is to know why you fight for him." I snapped. Zekrom and Palkia were taken aback.

"Who…?" Zekrom asked.

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO! NAMUBA! THE DEVIL YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT!" I roared. Palkia stiffened and narrowed her eyes at me while Zekrom remained neutral. "I…I don't know what your story is, and frankly I don't care. I'm so mad I can't think straight anymore." I said, my fists shaking with rage. Without even realizing it, I had activated recover, healing my wounds in seconds. "Anyone, and I mean anyone, who goes along with Namuba with little or no resistance is dead to me. Especially if they see him as a devil." I snarled. The two of them tensed as they sensed my bloodlust. Who would willingly go along with Namuba's plans? Even unwillingly? The concept was beyond me. Death before experimentation. "You're going to die now."

POV CHANGE: Human-Zekrom

The man's eyes glowed with a fierce determination, one that was lacking beforehand. He was in a rage, and his power, the pressure that radiated from him, seemed to double. But it still wouldn't be enough to stop us. Even though that was true, I still felt intimidated. This man, who should be dead, stood before us unafraid. I had watched as his wounds healed as if they hadn't been there in the first place in mere seconds, watched as he pushed himself off of the ground, bloody, battered, and beaten, only to keep fighting. Even now, I wondered how he stood. The rags that had been his clothes were now blackened and tattered. The pants were now shorts, and the shirt….I watched as it crumbled to dust before my eyes.

His body was littered with scars, making me wonder what kind of life this man had led. On his right arm was a series of black bars above a string of numbers. I narrowed my eyes, my right hand unconsciously reaching for the similar markings I knew where on my left shoulder, engraved in my black armor. Palkia did the same as me, and the man moved. In an instant his fist was in my face, and his foot was kicking me in the ribs. The pressure was much greater this time, and I actually felt a stab of pain where he made contact. I flew backwards a few feet, defending myself with a blast of electricity. He was at least twice as powerful as before. Where had that power come from?

"This is what you get for waiting so long. Lucien's power stems mostly from his emotions. Now he's pissed." The Voice said. I hissed and ducked under another of the man-Lucien's-blows. Lucien. So that was his name. Lucien. "By the way, did one of you happen to call me a Devil? I quite like it actually. So tell me, which one of you said it? And when? I didn't hear you." That comment struck me as odd, but I focused on fighting instead. Lucien was a flurry of limbs, fending off both myself and Palkia with incredible speed and ferocity. Though his blows lacked any true power, it was still enough to knock us back.

"What's the matter?!" Lucien roared, launching himself at me. I ducked under his first blow and responded with a strike to his ribs, sending him flying backwards with the sound of many ribs cracking. Lucien just laughed as he was once again surrounded by that green light. His initial rage was starting to subside, and I saw the insane beast that hid itself within him back down, replaced by reasoning. Though I knew little about that. I was more instinctual myself, acting on impulse instead of logic and reason. I paused, wondering how I knew that. All my memories were from after the green tube, so how did I know that much about myself? "Can't hit me anymore? That hardly hurt!"

I glared at him. This man was mocking us, even despite the power disadvantage he had. Now I understood what he meant when he said 'experience.' Lucien had been in many more fights than us, and could keep dancing circles around us for as long as needed, even without the power. I clenched my fists.

"Kill him now, dammit. Don't let him get any stronger." The Voice boomed in my head.

"I know. Silence." I muttered, carefully walking over to where Palkia stood, tensed and ready to fight. I whispered in her ear. "Use your strongest attack to try and kill him. If it fails, I will kill him with mine. I just need you to distract him until I can fully charge it. Understand?" I said. Palkia glared at me.

"Fine. I'll use spacial rend and send bits and pieces of this prick into multiple different dimensions. You won't need your attack." Palkia said acidly. "Besides, we can't risk this guy getting any stronger. It might upset that Devil." She hissed. I nodded in agreement, harboring no positive feelings towards the Voice. Whatever it had done to me was obviously horrendous. If I killed Lucien, then maybe I would be rid of it forever. Lucien suddenly attacked, and I moved as well. Lightning sparked from me, and I clapped my hands together, swathing the field in lightning. Lucien howled in pain, followed by a thud from Palkia's fist as she slammed a glowing pink claw into his chest. He fell to one knee and kicked, sending Palkia flying backwards. His head swiveled left and right as he searched for me. I was already a hundred feet into the air by the time he spotted me.

"GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!" He roared, shaking his fist at me. Lightning began to surround me, and storm clouds began to gather as I charged my attack. Palkia roared, and I spotted the massive ball of destructive pink energy that she was charging from her mouth. Lucien turned his attention towards Palkia too late, as she had already fired. The move was truly terrifying. Inside the mass of swirling death I saw stars and distant galaxies, as if the power of the move itself tore through the fabric of space. Hundreds of thousands of these different images rippled through the pink/black explosion at once, with Lucien in the middle. There was no way he had survived. The attack continued for what seemed like forever, showing suns and distant planets, life beyond that stuck on this tiny rock we called Earth. Wonders that would drive a normal human insane and harsh beauty unlike anything the world had ever seen. Slowly, the attack began to die out.

"There is no way he survived that." I said, but for some reason, maybe out of pure instinct, I kept charging my attack.

"Qu-zzt-it making tha-zzt-t storm. It's messing –zzt- with the electronics. There-zzt-'s no way he –zzt- survived that." The Voice said, less clear now. But I simply narrowed my eyes, glaring at the attack as it faded completely, leaving a black crater and smoke. The top of the entire mountain was gone, blown to dust and ash from the attack and leaving an open plain where Lucien had once stood. "DID YOU HEAR ME?! KNOCK IT OFF!"

"Yeah, I heard you. But I've got a funny feeling…" I said, glaring at the crater. Palkia was breathing hard, and wiped her mouth, grinning. Perhaps I was being paranoid. I began to let the attack fade.

"SHIT! I ASKED IF YOU HEARD ME?! STOP IT!" The Voice boomed.

"YES! I HEARD YOU!" I roared, and then paused. Wait. Could he understand me? It sounded like…the way it was phrased….A freak gust of wind blew, breaking my chain of thought, and the dust was cleared, revealing a black statue of a man standing tall in the middle of the destruction. He coughed, showing that he was still alive. Blood mixed with ash, caking the man and hiding the full extent of his injuries. I cursed and re-charged my attack.

"&-&#$ ...that h-hurt..." He said weakly, barely moving his mouth. It was then that I realized that his entire body was nothing but a giant burn, blackened from the suns that he had endured the full brunt of. "H-how did I….survive….that…..protect failed…..about a...second….in." He wheezed, falling to the ground. His body began to glow with green energy once more, and his body began to heal itself. "B-better….not….sweat the…..details. Work….t-to….be done." Lightning boomed around me, and my attack was fully charged. "Sh-shut up, Namuba….have you ever….survived….a spacial rend…?"

"Impossible." The Voice said quietly. "That's impossible. NO. KILL HIM!" The Voice screeched. I roared and dove straight towards Lucien as he stood, slowly rising. Bolt strike, my strongest attack, was sure to kill him in his severely weakened state. It had to. Lucien's body continued to glow, the color slowly changing. Only twenty meters to impact. I roared, and Lucien turned his face skyward, his expression almost….peaceful. He mouthed a few words and smiled, opening his arms in acceptance. I struck, and lightning obliterated the mountain.

"I accept Death." How could he still be alive?

POV CHANGE: Catherine

Forty five minutes before the bolt strike.

I sprinted through the halls, wondering how exactly I'd gotten myself into this mess. The girl, Yen, and her Zoroark, ran behind me, both looking pretty terrified. I couldn't blame them, considering what was chasing us. I glanced behind us and saw that the human/ Pokémon was still chasing us, freezing the ground wherever he touched. I cursed and held out my hand, shooting a ball of aura at him and scoring a direct hit.

"Left." I said flatly, letting my aura sense guide me. The only place in the entire mountain I couldn't sense was in front of us, and was where I assumed Namuba was. The problem was the human/Pokémon that was chasing us. We skidded around the corner and kept running, not wanting to get into a fight with the abomination, heading towards that chamber. I needed to stall it. I whirled and expanded energy from the palm of my hand, creating a blue wall between us and the abomination. It slammed into the wall full speed, causing my creation to shudder. I made a tsk sound and kept running, catching up to Yen in no time at all. We skidded around a corner, and I paused, sensing that we were right next to the blank spot.

"Here." I said, stopping in front of a large metal blast door. The thing looked like something out of a movie, with the giant metal spinning wheel that you'd think would be in a bank vault.

"How do we get in?" Yen asked cautiously. Her Zoroark grunted and charged a shadow claw, swiping uselessly at the door. It didn't even leave a scratch. I winced as I felt the aura wall break, glancing behind me and listening to the angry howls of the abomination.

"I don't know, but we'd better figure out quickly or make a break for it." I said. As if on cue, there was a grinding sound, and the door slid open.

"Welcome to Hell. Allow me to invite you in." Namuba said over the loudspeaker. I narrowed my eyes. "There's really no time to argue, either get in the room, or deal with that lovely fellow." Namuba said. I turned around to see the abomination pacing from wall to wall behind us, eyeing us like prey, and withheld by some unknown force. My instincts told me to take my chances, but my brain was perplexed as to why Namuba would invite us in. Yen looked pale, and Namuba chuckled. "Don't worry, Yen. I knew who you were the second you asked to join Team Rocket. No harm no foul, eh?" I narrowed my eyes again. No harm? What in the world was he talking about? She had let me and Lucien escape. That had to be harmful.

"Let's go in, Yen." I said calmly. Yen nodded and followed me into the black room, where the only lights were small green and red dots that looked like those of a supercomputer's. The door slid shut behind us, and the lights flickered on, revealing a young girl in chains, six pokeballs scattered around next to her. It was Luna. "What did you do, Namuba?!" I asked, rushing to her side and checking her for injuries. Her face was bruised, but otherwise she looked fine, just unconscious.

"Nothing much. I just found out that she was incompatible." Namuba's voice rang, eerily clear. I whirled around, turning to face the center of the room, where Namuba stood. How…how had I missed that? "Don't beat yourself up. I had the glass blackened so you couldn't see me. See? Glass." Namuba said, tapping the air in front of him. Vibrations echoed around the room, causing me to cover my ears. It was true though, the more I looked, the clearer the glass became, revealing that he stood in an empty tube with a consol next to him. "Oh, and don't try to break it. There's about 2 million amps of pure electricity prepared to blast you into smithereens if you do." He said flatly. He pressed a button on a consol that stood next to him, and electricity could visibly be seen and heard running through the glass. I winced and took a step back, feeling the power. He pressed another button and the current stopped.

"What do you want?" Yen asked bravely, before wilting when Namuba looked at her. The Zoroark growled and took a step forwards.

"I want you to leave." Namuba said.

"What?" Yen asked, surprised. I narrowed my eyes at him, suspecting some sort of trap.

"I said I want you to leave. Take Luna, her Pokémon, and go." Namuba said, tapping another button on the consol. The chains that held Luna released, letting her drop to the floor. I started to move towards her, but Namuba stopped me. "Uh, no. Yen and Luna can leave. Catherine, you get to stay here." He said. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Unless, of course, you wish to see if your depleted aura can protect all four of you for ten minutes straight of white phosphorous." He said, his hand hovering over the consol once more.

"Catherine?" Luna asked as Yen picked her up. The Zoroark helped too, ending up picking Luna up in his arms like a child. I nodded to Yen, who nodded back.

"Excellent. Stand on that square right over there….yes, right there." Namuba said, directing her towards a yellow square in the corner of the room. He grinned and pressed a button, teleporting Yen, Luna, and the Zoroark to Arceus-knows-where. "Teleport pads. So handy. Now, since there's no time to waste, I don't think I'm going to monologue here, contrary to the standard 'super-villain' stereotype." Namuba said, almost pressing a button.

"I know what you're planning." I said quickly. Namuba paused, and then shrugged.

"Sure, you've got the gist of it. But one thing you've got wrong is this; I'm not trying to become Arceus." He said pressing the button. There was the sound of rushing air, and the room began to fill with green gas. I held my breath for as long as possible, looking frantically for a way out, but to no avail. I should've tried covering the vents with aura. I sucked in a breath and began coughing, immediately falling to the ground, my vision going black. "I would much rather watch something crumble than build it up."

Once again; SORRY I DIDN'T GET THIS OUT SOONER. I FEEL SO BAD ABOUT IT. Anyways, just thought I'd say that again. Don't expect another chapter for at least a week and a half, these next two weekends I'll be hunting, and next week is Regionals for Cross Country, in addition to homework and other things. So yeah. But as soon as next week is over, I'm all but done, so I should be back to cranking out chapters every week or so. Just a heads up.

Don't forget to review, and point out any mistakes. I bid you adieu until next time!