Hey guys, NightFall here with the next chapter of HDD. Well, here we are at part three of the season two finale. Well, hopefully this comes out before Thanksgiving as I'm writing this, but I'm not getting my hopes up, to be honest. School right now is in midterms kinda, and one of the classes I have is having me teach a ten minute lesson in Japanese where I actually have to speak the language to five people who don't know a lick of it. This should be fun. But that's not what you're here to read about, so why not get into this chapter. So last time we get a few major things going on: the dorm heads' reactions to what Natsu is able to do, Natsu's past to where he first became the Reaper, and my favorite part of it, Koichi just kicking butt when trying to intimidate the man who sent them out in the first place. But now, the Don's forces have come to the school, and it looks like things might be starting to get a bit more dangerous than we'd like. Enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKÉMON, BECAUSE IF I DID, GHOSTS AND DRAGONS WOULD NOT BE WEAK TO THEMSELVES.


Chapter 51: Killing the Truth, Part 3

Killing as an action is one of those things that can take on many different meanings. However, the one that many people overlook is one translation that says that hating is a form murder. This comes from the Bible, stating that anyone who's hated somebody has murdered them in their hearts, therefore breaking one of the Ten Commandments. If ever you've been told to never say you hate something, it's for this reason. Hating somebody or something is a very strong emotion and can often come with its own baggage later in life. People who resign themselves to hating something usually never grow out of it. It's not like when you're an infant and you grow out of crying every time you want something. Hate tends to linger. Usually these become what people call grudges and from there, the prevention of ever reaching reconciliation. Think about the people who hold grudges in life. Are they the kind of person that's wanted? When all you know how to do is hate, life will pass you by and never look back because obviously if it did, you'd just hate it all the same.


Out of the four of them, Jiro and Mika were the only ones to have ever seen the Don, the completely shadowed man smirking at the group before them. He seemed to be taunting them with just that toothy grin, Judai doing his best to keep under control, Satori watching him carefully to make sure he didn't get too wild. However, amidst all of this, they noticed something. No matter where he was, he was always cast in darkness, no light ever touching him, as though they were drawn to him regardless of any light. They could only see him in silhouette, and as he lowered his fedora from his head, placing it in the lap of his vegetated subordinate, he chuckled slightly.

"What's so funny?" Jiro growled, quickly taking the lead from the dorm heads.

"It's just interesting how your Auras are active even without my help," the Don said, holding up the golden box from before, Jiro quickly holding his hands out in front of his classmates. "Oh, don't try to act so bold, Matsushita. If I wanted to activate this power, you would already be under it. I have other plans for you, but I want you to think about for a moment how you see me."

"Huh?" Mika questioned, her hair parting out of her eyes as she tilted her head. "You want to know how we feel about you? I think it's obvious we don't like you."

"If you did, I'd think there'd be something wrong," the villain stated humorously. "I've become increasingly aware of what you think of me and my beliefs. My…interest with the concept of Aura seems to upset you."

"Trust me, it's not so much 'interest' as it is 'obsession'," Judai said from the back. "And it's not so much upsettin' to us as thinking you're a complete whack-job."

"I wonder about that," the Don started, kneeling down next to the Prince, Zweilous growling from the side as the leader wrenched his head and eyes alert to stare at the group. "Broken Soothsayer, what is it you see from these people?" he asked, the barely conscious, and obviously mentally disturbed man glazing his eyes over at the four dorm heads, holding out his weakened hand towards Judai.

"It's warm…," he said slowly, lifting his head on his own as his unkempt hair fanned out to the sides. "Such a warm Life. The shape is soft…" he continued on, the fire trainer backing away a bit, the wheelchair ridden man trying to go after him, but found his body too weak to do so. "Life takes different shapes, but they're always so soft. It's like a big ball of heat coming from this Aura," he said with a large breath, looking like he was grasping something in the air, and holding it to his cheek.

"What else?" the Don asked.

"Hers…," he said, glancing at Mika. "It's a pretty blue. But there's white in there as well. Right now it's wild, and moving. But if I focus my eyes…I see a shape. I see feathers…flapping…I see wings. Wings of an angel. I see Freedom…" he rattled on, opening the palm of his right hand, his own mind seeing one of the small feathers fall into it. "I want to fly on these wings. They're beautiful. Freedom is such a beautiful thing. I want it."

"He's never met any of you," the underground boss started up again. "He can visualize the very nature of your Aura, and his mind makes shapes out of it. But your psychic trainer incited so much fear into him that he was destroyed by the sight of whatever Aura lays within your friend and my target. And it is now that I demand you stand aside and let me see him."

"Over my dead body!" Judai shouted. "I may be mad at the little guy, but I'm sure as hell not handin' him over to ya!" All of a sudden, a pokéball dropped from his hand, bursting open with a giant eruption of flames spewing from every opening in Torkoal's shell. "Lava Plume!" he ordered, the heated air intensifying as it fell back to the ground.

"Zweilous," the Prince said quietly, the dragon and dark mix explosively acting, releasing two blast of a Dragon Pulse, cutting through the air with its energy blast. As the attack detonated, it was like watching an array of fireworks in the sky, Judai's entire attack overwhelmed by just one. "A part of me thanks…your friend for scarring me," the underground battler said lightly. "Because of this, I'm so much stronger. I see everything…"

"True," the Don said. "In the end, his only purpose here was to see Auras. I had no use for him outside of that. When his mind was destroyed, however, his pokémon became so protective it's far surpassed any other of its type. And maybe even soon, the next time we face each other, you may be staring down the viciousness of a Hydreigon."

"Not if we finish this now!" Jiro shouted, throwing his pokéball like a baseball, the capsule opening up halfway between the two groups, Tauros quickly charging out of the encapsulating light, its horns lowered to almost impale Zweilous.

However, just before it could reach it, one of Zweilous' jaws quickly grabbed onto the spike, and effortlessly wrestled it to the ground. With Tauros unable to get up, the second head rained down a powerful Dark Pulse attack, the normal type getting blasted directly into Torkoal, both struggling to get back up. As the two finally reached their feet, Tauros having to push Torkoal back up, the two looked up and saw Zweilous preparing another pair of attacks for them.

Right as it was about to attack, the dragon pokémon was given a quick attack from an air gust, Mika's newly evolved Pidgeot in the air above it. With one of its heads staring at the airborne opponent, Zweilous began shooting multiple attacks into the air, more of an attempt to keep Pidgeot at bay while the second head continued assaulting the two land based pokémon. Tauros and Torkoal both began rushing towards the dragon and dark mix, the second head continuing to attack at them. Incredibly enough, the frequency of attacks from both independent heads was still enough to keep three pokémon at bay.

As Zweilous reared its head back to prepare another attack, a metallic sheen raced across the battlefield, the large shovel-like claws of Satori's Excadrill splitting into three, slashing across the Prince's pokémon before it could react. With the underground battler's pokémon down, the other four tried to converge on it, both heads quickly twisting themselves out of place and firing random, frantic blasts of energy, the group having to back away to keep from being damaged. That is, however, except for Satori's Excadrill, holding up its metal shears up like a shield, deflecting the unprepared attacks away like they were nothing.

Now completely overtaken by its opponent, Zweilous was struck by Excadrill tucking its head into its claws, its spiraling Drill Run launching it from where it lay over to its trainer's side. The dragon pokémon looked up at its trainer, and both of its heads met the light touch of its trainer.

After returning it to his pokéball, he turned to the ground dorm head, and focused his eyes on her. Satori didn't seem all that amused, her pokémon staring stoically at the underground battle.

"You're strong…," was all he said at first, his own mind showing a clay colored aura surrounding her, making nothing more than an outline at first. "Your Aura comes off of you in waves. It's powerful…because it is true. Your Aura is so strong because it doesn't represent a personality, or a state of being. You have an Aura…of Honesty, a virtue that frees your mind. You don't worry about your decisions because you choose them without deception. You don't let yourself tell lies."

"I've always figured it's just easier to start with the truth," Satori said, Excadrill about to step closer to the two when the Don reached into his pocket, his other hand putting the golden box back into the opposite side of his coat. "And that's why I have no problem in saying that I think your boss is one sick idiot."

"I'll take that as a compliment," the Don responded, another golden shimmer coming from his coat, this one in the form of a small sphere. "But allow me to show you the fruits of my labor and obsession. With this, I will prove to the world that the gods they put on their pedestals are no more than graven images. I will show that the only gods in this world are the ones we make out of ourselves." As he finished his thought, the four dorm heads were slightly confused by what they saw. It looked like an ordinary pokéball, but almost like it was cast out of gold and silver. What kind of pokémon would go into that kind of ball? With a single toss of it, they'd soon find out.


Back in the school building, Kaname's Absol threw multiple slashes of dark energy through the air at both Kazuo's Ninjask and Shedinja. Of the two, the ghost type was more cautious knowing any well placed hit on it could cause it to go out of commission. The dark pokémon growled as it jumped through the air to get behind them, flailing the scythe on its head a few more times to send out its Night Slash attacks. The two bug types immediately dodged and began running after Absol as it disappeared down one of the hallways. Kazuo and Kaname, however, remained staring at each other.

As they did, Ame and Sienna ran past their classmate, Blade and Hyde doing the same, Haxorus and Magneton rushing forward, staring down five more pokémon. Murkrow, Swoobat, Espurr, Espeon, and Umbreon all stared down the two pokémon, Alyssa and Jackie smirking as the odds were considerably in their favor. Without warning, the two flying types swooped down low, trying to get at the dragon type, figuring it to be the strong one, but were quickly met by a powerful electric discharge running through the entire corridor, Sienna's pokémon unharmed thanks to its Protect.

"You may have been able to hold back some of us," Sienna started, cracking her knuckles. "But you've never faced me before." Suddenly, a large amount of energy radiated from her dragon pokémon, swirling around it like a dancing picture. "Bring it on."

"Gemini," Kazuo started, the twins standing back-to-back holding hands. "Find the kid. Do what you have to, just remember you can't hurt any of the other students here."

"No fun…," the two said in unison, none of this group of dorm heads having ever heard them before, taken quite aback by their synchronicity. "Natsu-kun…," they said longingly before running off down the halls to check through the classrooms, Sienna about to run after them, cut off by the other pokémon.

"Ame-kun, can you take care of them?" the dragon trainer asked, the electric trainer giving a quick salute and dropped his other two pokéballs on the ground.

Without warning, Fraxure's tusks lit up with a burning energy, slashing at the two Eevee evolutions, clearing a small path for her to chase the twins down through. With one of their opponents taken out of the battle, Blade and Hyde looked back at Ame and Kaname, only to find the dark trainer nowhere to be found, Kazuo having gone after him as the two went to join their battling pokémon. This left them alone in the hallway with Ame, the electric trainer petting his Manectric maniacally like he was in some kind of spy movie.

"I see you have to come with a simple goal in mind," he said as hammy as he could seated on his Electrode like it was a yoga ball. "Well, I say bring it. You two look pretty strong, and that's always fun for me to play with."

"Don't underestimate us," Blade said, flipping her knife so the handle was in her palm, giving it a quick toss, Jackie rushing forward with her knuckle attachments.

As they got closer to Ame and his goofy grin, he held up his index fingers and pointed them up with a slide-whistle sound, both the blade and the brass knuckles following it like magic. That is, however, until the two underground battlers realized it was Magneton attracting the metal instruments. With no choice, Hyde slipped out of her attachment and just rushed at the electric dorm head, Espeon and Umbreon following her. She threw a swift quick in the air that Ame just grabbed as though it were nothing, Manectric getting in the other canines' path, growling.

"Yes, nice to meet you, too," Ame said, shaking her leg up and down like she'd just extended him a greeting. "Shock 'em," she ordered quickly, both Magneton and Manectric sending another Discharge attack through the hallways that covered just about everyone, Ame included.

As the opponents stumbled backwards, Ame still a tad jittery from the double shot of electricity, Blade commanded both of her pokémon to advance, Swoobat and Murkrow shooting out blasts of psychic and dark attacks, Magneton strong enough to endure them and Manectric fast enough to dodge them. As the two flying types got closer, lined up directly behind each other, Ame's partner jumped up, fire beginning to form in its mouth as it let out a large burst of the blaze.

"And here's the first strike," Ame narrated, the flame engulfing much of Swoobat as it fell closer to the ground, Murkrow smirking until it saw a smaller burst of fire coming at it. "And picking up the spare like a boss!"

Needless to say, the two underground battlers were surprised that his Manectric could use moves like Flame Burst, unsure of what to say to this person that didn't even seem to take anything seriously.

"I guess you could say this battle is beginning to…," he started, flicking his sunglasses back over his eyes. "…heat up."

"Just for that, I'm gonna kill him," Alyssa said, Hyde quickly agreeing as they both got closer to him. With his back turned to them, the two and their pokémon jumped at him, Ame's normal smile turning smaller into a confident smirk.

"Manectric, Thunder!" he shouted, the discharge pokémon suddenly summoning a blinding amount of electrical energy, shooting it directly forward at the pokémon. The giant blast nearly took up the entire hallway, Espurr able to put up a small barrier before it struck it, the other pokémon in its group falling back, both Alyssa's flying types barely able to stand after being blasted to the other end of the corridor.

Umbreon and Espeon were still able to stand, but still damaged, about to attack when they were suddenly bumped from behind. Looking around confused, the two saw Ame smiling back at them, still sitting on his Electrode. Reasserting themselves, the two were about to attack again, the same thing happening, only this time a bit harder, the electric trainer's expression constant, but the two noticed the smile on the electric pokémon's round body was on the opposite side. This time choosing to rush at him, Ame conceded and stood up, Electrode completely disappearing. In that second, its body was covered in dark energy, completely ramming into the two pokémon, even Espurr wasn't safe as it was soundly battered from behind.

Electrode returned to Ame's side with a trail of smoke behind it, the dorm head kneeling down next to it. He stood back up and waved to the two girls, taking in a deep breath before intensifying his glare.

"It looks like a tricky shot," he began to narrate again. "Contestant Yoshoki selects his ball," he continued, placing his foot on Electrode. "It would appear to be a seven-ten split that will require a rather charged finish to make. He prepares the wind-up, and he…makes his play!" he shouted at the end, giving his pokémon a push forward, the electric type barreling at the five pokémon, passing by Jackie and Blade completely.

With it now in the middle of the five opponents, Ame and his pokémon took shelter behind the nearby wall, the trainer looking like he was holding up a small remote control. With an imaginary push down on the button, the volatile elements inside of Electrode's body suddenly charged with power. And in one swift move, the smiling pokémon extended an explosion that covered the group of pokémon, the smoke clearing a few minutes later with them all completely unconscious.

"Ha-ha! Boom-shakalaka!" Ame shouted at the top of his lungs, the two underground battlers astounded at how easily he was able to overtake them.

"We were able to hold these people off for hours in Kalos," Blade said to herself, Ame and his still conscious pokémon staring back at the two. "This guy doesn't even seem human…" she figured, a smile coming across her face.


Down through the hallways, the pair of Gemini Twins peered into the classrooms of other students, registering nobody until they found their ultimate prey. Their blank stares made some of the occupants jolt up in surprise, and then slowly relax when they were gone. Their pokémon followed after them, their faces a tad more expressive, actively sneering at the students, the teachers trying to put themselves in between the two groups.

"Not here…," the two muttered, reaching the end of the hallway, about to turn around when something shot off like a rocket towards them, twirling through the air with blazing tusks, striking both of the airborne bug pokémon. "She looks fun…"

Standing in front of the duo, Sienna and Fraxure tried to put up their own stance, still a little off put by the image of the standing back-to-back holding hands. Without warning, Dustox and Beautifly leapt back into action, sending out a cloud of dust and spores at the dragon type. Suddenly, another sudden gust blew through the hallways, keeping the powder from ever reaching the small therapod. As Fraxure took a small breath, Vibrava appeared above it, having been the one to use Whirlwind.

"I'm not letting either of you two get any further through this school," the dragon trainer boldly stated. "And I'm sure as hell not letting you anywhere near Natsu-kun."

The twins stopped for a minute, their heads angled down, facing opposite directions from each other. They didn't need to order their pokémon as Vileplume released a flurry of razor sharp leaves at the two dragon types, Fraxure jumping into the air and spiraling once again with a purple glow apparent in its tusks. With its Poison Jab protecting it, the dragon pokémon deflected all of the leaves, but found itself directly in Beautifly's path, a powerful vibration coming from its wings that blasted Fraxure into a nearby wall nearest a classroom.

With Vibrava, Sienna grinded her teeth, watching her partner get chased around by Dustox while veritable blizzards of flower blossoms were coming from the other Oddish evolution. With barely enough time to attack itself, the ground and dragon mix soon found a new problem when the other two pokémon focused on it rather than Fraxure. With it being considerably overwhelmed by the constant, continuous attacks, Vibrava and Sienna looked down at their opponents, and a wicked smile suddenly appeared on the Gemini's faces.

Taking it as a silent command, the two bug pokémon gave one giant beat of their wings, the wind gust placing Vibrava into a momentary vice, more than enough time for the twin grass types to blast it with consecutive Petal Dance attacks. At that point, the dragon pokémon fell straight to the ground like an insect smacked by a rolled up newspaper. With both of her pokémon fallen at both sides of her, Sienna stared up at the two girls who were now snickering to themselves.

"What's so funny?" she asked, keeping her hand lightly on Dragonair's pokéball.

"Sister fails once…," one of them started to say. "Sister fails always…," the other finished. Immediately, Sienna lost her breath, clutching onto her pendant. "Sister fails once… Sister fails always…," the two said in unison. "Sister fails once… Sister fails always…"

To some of the people watching from their classrooms, they'd never seen Sienna so terrified. She was beginning to back away, barely even remembering to return her other pokémon. The twins in facing her began walking forward, their shoes clicking in the same instant, sounding like a single step as opposed to two. But to the dragon trainer, instead of footsteps, all she could hear was slashing. Stuck inside of her own head was the sound of claws ripping across different kinds of materials, and with every passing remark of that same sentence by the Gemini, it grew louder and louder.

However, that wasn't the only thing she heard. Somebody was calling out to her, a younger voice calling out to her as she shut her eyes. It seemed to be asking for help, and suddenly, Sienna's eyes snapped open, and Dragonair's pokéball screeched through the air past the Underground Battlers. The capsule exploded open, and before the light even had time to recede, the dragon pokémon's flexible tail shout out and wrapped around Beautifly, tossing it against the window to one of the classrooms.

"Big mistake, you two," Sienna said, her breathing still labored from the earlier scare. "But as long as you make me remember something like that, I'll be able to find something in there that reminds me of why I became this person." As she began to walk forward, her footing was beginning to waver, indicating to everyone she wasn't as resilient as she wanted to appear to be. "And as long as Dragonair's on my side, I won't ever back down."

"Give us Natsu-kun…," the two said, showing a small sign of anger.

"Over my dead body!" the dragon trainer shouted, Dragonair snaking its way around the two grass types, wrapping up both of them in its coils. "As long as I stand for his family, you aren't allowed to see him at all!"

"We were first…," they suddenly brought up in unison, Sienna taking a second to let that sink in. "He belonged to us first… We wanted to break him…"

Hearing that, the dorm head's own mind betrayed her, and her actions were fueled entirely by rage, shouting at her pokémon as Dragonair flipped its tail through the air, sending Vileplume and Bellossom flying through the corridor. However, the lack of focus they shared caused the assault to be less than satisfactory, both grass pokémon charging power while still airborne.

Before Dragonair could do much of anything, Dustox held it down with a powerful psychic influence. With Sienna's pokémon helpless, the dragon trainer was about to return it, only for Beautifly to grip onto the capsule and throw it to the ground with a String Shot. Without any mercy, two eruptions of Solarbeam were fired from the end of the hall, passing by Sienna on both sides, and into her pokémon, launching it almost through the wall, causing a large imprint.

With the realization her pokémon were soundly defeated in one go, the dragon dorm head fell to her knees, the four pokémon of the Gemini surrounding her. As she held herself up with her hands, she stared at the ground, just waiting for whatever they planned for her. After a while, Sienna still felt nothing but that anticipation, and looked up. She was alone. The Gemini had left and once again, she felt she'd failed in her promise to someone. Powerless to do anything, she folded her knees up to her head, and buried her eyes against them.


Outside of the school building, sparks of lightning shot out at random, the devilish Dedenne and its aptly named trainer fighting a two-on-one battle against June's Lairon and Kaoru's Simisage. The two sides quickly exchanged blows one after the other, the grass trainer's pokémon able to move about as fast as the underground battler's, June's Lairon just watching and waiting for the right time to attack.

With a quick strike of its Seed Bomb attack, the grass dorm head's pokémon made a quick climb into the air at Dedenne, the electric and fairy mix releasing blasts of electricity to neutralize the opposing attack. With it preoccupied with that, Simisage crunched down on a berry in between its teeth where its eyes pulsed with power and its fists were encased in a sandy brown color.

As if its punches were concentrated sand, the grass type managed to get directly above Dedenne, and throw its attack straight down. With its Natural Gift typed for ground element, Simisage's power was more than enough to send Dedenne crashing to the ground, Lairon glaring directly straight up in its path. With the command from the blind trainer, the steel pokémon let out a roar that sound like shards of metal scraping against each other, forcing Dedenne to cover its ears.

Obviously, its previous battle was still weighing down on it, the fairy pokémon taking a few breaths while unknowing of a brilliant light forming in Lairon's maw. The steel and rock mix then sent out what looked like a blast from a laser, striking Diablo's primary pokémon while helpless in a freefall. Just after it was hit, the underground battler returned the exhausted pokémon, and then looked out at his two foes.

"So, any questions you want to ask me?" he asked, Kaoru taking a second to figure out what that meant with a confused smirk.

"Why did you come to our school?" June asked, her voice dripping with anger as Lairon counted at the ground with its power heel. "Was it just to get to Natsu-kun?"

"Among other things," Diablo admitted, his disguise meaning very little to somebody who already knew his voice. "Some of us just want to cause a bit of mischief, and maybe some of us want to finally give other people what's coming to them."

"Why do you hate Natsu so much?" the steel trainer questioned further, the underground battler taking in a deep breath before looking off into the distance towards the bug dorm.

"Gemini," he started, speaking into a small headset, both Kaoru and June watching him cautiously. "Our targets in one of the dormitories, I'm sending you the actual location now. And whatever you do, make sure it hurts," he finished, turning back to his two opponents, Lairon and Simisage both furiously charging at him. "I hate him because he forgot what we did for him," he started speaking again, a stray Aura Sphere attack rocketing from the sky into Lairon's side, launching the steel and rock mix into its partner.

Before the grass pokémon could get back up, two Air Slash attacks rained down on top of it, the enemy's Togekiss appearing from the sun above, and directly in front of its trainer.

"He never told you that he was once in the Underground," he spouted off, both June and Kaoru's pokémon struggling to get back up. "That he was taken by the Gemini once before. Those twins are a symbol in the Underground for everything people hate about it. They don't care about anyone, they don't care who gets hurt, and most of all they enjoy it all like an obsession. I was one of the ones who saved him from that world, I helped him get out from their grasp, and now he's able to live with all of you because of that."

"Are you trying to make yourself some kind of saint with that story?" Kaoru asked, taking in a breath as his Simisage finally stood back up. "If you're so noble as to help him, why should he have any further obligation to you? Like it or not, you're still a criminal for what you do. You can't ask that kid to erase who you are."

"Maybe not," Diego said, Togekiss taking back off into the air as Lairon finally stood back up. "But honestly, I wouldn't want to be the one the Gemini are looking for. Once they've locked onto their target, it might be difficult to shake them. And if they actually got their hands on that brat, they're never going to let go."

"Shut your stupid mouth!" June shouted at the top of her lungs, catching Diego off guard a bit as something gleamed in the sky with wings made of sharpened metal, slashing across Togekiss' body as it reached ground level. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt Natsu, especially you."

"Well, then," the fairy trainer started, cracking his knuckles, Togekiss flapping its wings once to return to being airborne. "Shall the two of us have a dance?"

"Kao-kun," June started, turning to her classmate. "Go to the bug dorm, and make sure nobody gets in. I really need you to do this."

"Anything for you," the grass trainer said with a slight bow, and then ran off to where they all knew Natsu was being kept. As he passed by Diablo, the two beamed at each other, both aware that they'd be in the same class if the latter were to really stay at their school. In that one second, it was as if the two created an intense rivalry with each other, Kaoru's grin growing so his teeth were visible.

After he was gone, neither trainer did anything, however, June just taking a deep breath and falling backwards into the snow bank. Both of her pokémon dropped their battle stances and even Togekiss reluctantly came to the ground. The blind trainer's Lairon returned to her side, Diego watching as she stroked the top of its head, Skarmory still watching the other flying pokémon cautiously.

"You seem rather docile for someone who was close to threatening death a few moments ago," the fairy trainer noted, taking a seat similarly across from her, sinking into the mounds of soft snow. "Or was all of that an act for your boyfriend there?"

"Seems like everyone's mistaking people for my boyfriends lately," the steel trainer said under her breath. "Kao-kun and I are just good friends, and now your classmates. Did you honestly think this kind of plan wasn't going to have consequences? I know people say you should keep your enemies closer than your friends, but this is ridiculous."

"The big guy has his reasons," Diego said, lying down in the snowdrift, his arms folded behind his head. "Past experiences have taught me he's not the kind of guy you want as an enemy. Then again, given this whole situation, you've already gotten a big chunk of that, haven't you?"

"Do you honestly think anything this guy says has any grain of truth?" June asked, Diego's smug grin slowly disappearing. "Even you have to admit this guy is nuts for looking at an old legend as a true story."

"I believe him," he said suddenly, confidently. "I've seen too many strange things to not believe him. To some extent you've all seen it, too, haven't you?" he figured, June waiting for him to continue. "You can't see what I see when I watched him battle. Natsu, I mean. If you could see his face when he does that thing, it sends a shiver up your spine, and you just think to yourself, 'is that even possible?' Can you tell me you didn't even feel something?"

"I remember there was a commotion," the steel dorm head admitted, thinking back. "And when we got to the school building, I could hear your pokémon and his going at it. It's just…I didn't know it was Natsu. I think part of me had to know, but whoever was battling wasn't him."

"You might be more right about that than you care to think," the underground battler responded, turning back to look at the school building. "By now, the Gemini are getting close to the dorms. Do you think your pretty boy can hold them off long enough for a counterattack?" he asked, Togekiss sneering as it beat its wings against the ground, clearing away all the snow around it as it took back to the air. "Well, señorita? Do you have the strength to defend someone you don't know?" he questioned, the cold steel of Skarmory's wings picking up and slicing through his wide hat before he even noticed it. "Then let's begin our sad waltz." And with that, the wings of their pokémon met each other in midair, ready to continue their battle.


Back towards the outskirts of the school grounds, Mitsu was left looking at three figures, each followed by their own pokémon. Unsurprisingly, the three leaders of the Archangel Corps stood before her, the ice trainer having yet to meet any of these higher-ups. She did, however, knew they could be as trusted as the underground battlers they claimed to be against.

"Are you here to fight them…or us?" she asked, Cherubim looking down at her, swearing the temperature seemed to drop with her words. "For your sake, it'd better be the latter."

All of a sudden, Ophanim burst out laughing, holding her stomach as though in pain. "Did you think that was cool?" she mocked, Cherubim shifting his eyes to their teammate. "Dealing with kids like you can be pretty amusing. After we get Natsu-kun out of here, you're welcome to come with us. You can be like a travelling comedian."

"What?" Mitsu latched onto. "What do you mean getting him out of here?"

"I believe the current predicament offers some insight as to what we're referring to," Cherubim brought up, directing Mitsu to where they could see June's Skarmory and Diego's Togekiss battling in midair, and down towards the other dorms where Gibson's Seviper and Yue's Quagsire were deadlocked in a close quarters battle with Phantom's Escavalier. "If Mr. Kohashigawa is the target in all of this, the logical action would be to remove him from the premises and keep those uninvolved with the situation out of harm's way."

"Do you really think it's that simple?" the ice trainer questioned, Seraphim the only one not having spoken up. "That by taking him away from here, you can just cleanly send this whole problem to another place? What's your plan for afterwards, huh?"

"We intend to destroy the root of this problem efficiently and quickly," the male commander continued. "Once the group of underground battlers has been far enough removed from the school land, we will deal with the group, and protect your young friend. At the end of this day, you will have nothing more to fear of the Don and his cohorts," he said, the two older Archangels about to step forward, a row of sharp icicles suddenly appearing out of the ground, keeping them back.

"Natsu's not going anywhere," she said, her attempts at intimidation clearly working this time, the two officials taking a few more steps back as another row of frigid spikes appeared, Glaceon glaring at them as coldly as Mitsu was. "As long as he is within our school grounds, he is our responsibility. And we still have to have our own conversation with him. We'll take care of this ourselves."

"I'm afraid that's not something we can allow," Cherubim stated, his Tyrantrum suddenly roaring as it rushed forward, Glaceon releasing a constant beam of frozen energy in defense.

As the Ice Beam attack drew nearer, the rock pokémon's jaw was immediately lit ablaze, thrusting its head forward with a stream of fire extending from it. The two attacks met, and splayed out from each other, the pokémon seeming to be evenly matched in their strikes. However, with a wrench of its neck, Tyrantrum's attack ceased and Glaceon's flew directly past it, between the two commanders and just above Seraphim's head as she slowly raised it.

With it still recovering from the attack, Glaceon only had a second to look up and see Florges sending out a powerful blast of shimmering power. From their vantage point, the ice pokémon was nearly thrown from a small rise in the ground, somehow able to absorb enough of the damage to stay conscious. The fairy pokémon, though, didn't let up, sending out the powerful laser-esque Dazzling Gleam attack, impacting with Mitsu's partner from the side, sending it directly into Tyrantrum's path.

As though waiting for it, the rock and dragon mix stomped on the ground just before Glaceon reached it, and a giant pillar of stone was placed in front of it, nearly impaling the outnumbered pokémon. The ice dorm head watched as her pokémon slid off the top of the spire, and to the ground, holding up her pokéball to keep it from being hurt any further.

"Do you yield?" Cherubim asked, Mitsu's teeth grinding together in her mouth, trying to find something she could do.

"Sneasel can't take on those pokémon," she said to herself, her head quickly turning away. "Florges' fairy typing and Tyrantrum's devastating strength would be too much for her. And I don't even know what that girl has," she thought, looking at Seraphim who just watched her silently…never raising her voice to the slightest thing. However, there was something else. "Is she waiting for me to do something? Does she think Sneasel can actually win against these two?"

Unconsciously, however, the ice dorm head's hand began to stagger towards her other pokémon. As she felt Amaura's pokéball in her fingers, she began to wonder if that would be alright. How long had she kept it hidden? For how much longer did she not want anyone to see? After her battle with Mika and Gabriel, did that even matter anymore? But more importantly, how much longer would she use an innocent as a symbol for something she hated? She slowly looked up and was almost startled to meet Seraphim's eyes, the young girl's expression softening as the ice trainer tightened her grip.

Mitsu clenched her eyes shut, pulled the pokéball off of her belt, and it was sent rocketing into the air, exploding open. The light blue dinosaur lifted its head up, lazily scanning the area and saw both of the clearly stronger pokémon. With a lift of its eye, Amaura looked back at its trainer and gave her an equally expectant and desperate stare.

"Quite frankly, I'm not too excited about this either, but right now you're the only one I can count on," the ice trainer said, hesitantly reaching her hand out, almost looking like she'd pull away just before touching its head. "Just help me out for a little bit, okay?"

Amaura smirked a bit, and looked over at its opponents and shifted its gaze to Florges first. Both the fairy pokémon and its trainer waited cautiously until the ice and rock mix just gave a small motion for them to attack first. Cherubim was about to warn off his teammate, but Ophanim's own impatience quickly got the better of her. Florges quickly released a similar attack as it did earlier, its Moonblast attack easily striking the ancient pokémon with very little effort needed. Amaura slid back across the ground and seemed to be focusing on something, the others assuming it was just in pain from the attack. However, something seemed to change when a reflective light seemed to shine off of its body.

With a tight focus, the ice pokémon released a giant blast of energy similar to the one Florges had just used, only much more powerful. The explosion caused by its impact with the fairy pokémon seemed like something out of a movie, Ophanim looking down at her pokémon in shock, Amaura standing over them both with a giant sneer on its face. Before it could celebrate, though, Tyrantrum was next to attack, throwing its powerful tail and jaws at the smaller opponent, one well placed hit probably more than enough to knock it out.

Amaura tried to fight back, giving off small burst of ice attacks, hoping the dragon half's weakness to the element would slow it down. However, with just the tiniest of movements, the giant slipped past each attack with ease, able to make the small transitions necessary in between each evasion. Eventually, the distance between them was so narrow, all Tyrantrum had to do was open its mouth and release another Flamethrower faster than Amaura's Mirror Coat could come up. The small ice pokémon was blasted across the courtyard, forcing Mitsu and the others into a more open area of the school grounds.

Mitsu's footsteps sunk into the snow with each stride, and quickly reached her pokémon as Tyrantrum was just coming out of some of the thicker brush. As it came into the full view of some of the students still in the school building in the distance, it gave out a powerful roar, the ice trainer and her rock type trying to find some kind of silver-lining to this. Cherubim also appeared, the dip in his step causing a larger hole to be created in the snow, his white clothing almost blending perfectly with the snow.

With his hand cast out in front of him, the Archangel Commander ordered his pokémon to attack once more, Mitsu considering returning her pokémon to keep it from getting hurt anymore. But before she could, the ancient counterpart to her pokémon was already over them. With no other recourse, Mitsu gripped onto Amaura, and just waited for whatever was going to happen.

Just then, literally appearing out of nowhere, a shadow snaked across the snow and ended directly behind Tyrantrum. With its fist already outstretched, the giant form materialized and struck the rock and dragon mix from the side, pushing it away from the two. Mitsu looked up and saw Natsu's Golurk, the ground and ghost pokémon pounding its fists together as it took up a fighting stance in front of Cherubim's pokémon. The Archangel didn't seem too worried as he motioned with his head for an attack, the claws lining Tyrantrum's feet burning with its draconic power.

The two pokémon began running towards each other, the whole thing looking like a clash of titans as Golurk's fist began charging up with power.

"Be on guard, don't lose your form just because the attack rarely works," Cherubim warned, but then looked back again at Tyrantrum's eyes. It wasn't like before when it was focused on battling. The way it surveyed the battle and his orders were methodical and ruled by a rationale. Now, though, they seemed almost too determined. So much so, it didn't look like it would actually dodge. "Tyrantrum! You have to get out of the way!"

The caution fell on deaf ears, however, Golurk's fist much faster than Tyrantrum's feet, the two meeting in the center of their battlefield with the ghost pokémon's punch pushing harder and harder into its opponent's head. The ground beneath them began to give out, and with one more push from both pokémon, a giant crater just suddenly appeared, Mitsu watching in amazement as Cherubim was still rightfully confused.

"Do you have no intention to guard?!" he shouted to his pokémon. "The more you stay connected with that attack, the greater chance of becoming confused! You have to pull away and defend yourself!"

"It…can't," the ice dorm head said in realization, not loud enough for the Archangel to hear, but only so much for just her an Amaura. "We've all been thinking of Golurk as having Iron Fist as its ability since it was always so powerful with its punches, but if you think about it, I can't think of one time it actually ever tried to dodge a move. Golurk has No Guard for its ability." A small smile came over her face as she realized this was probably the best way to battle a person like Cherubim whose pokémon was an expert at dodging. "No Guard is a psychological ability that creates an atmosphere around the pokémon. It compels them to never defend themselves and any attack they use will always hit. In fact, it's the perfect ability for a pokémon that uses moves like Dynamic Punch."

The two pokémon continued attacking each other, neither veering away, accepting each blow as it came, Golurk being constantly scratched up as Tyrantrum was almost pummeled into the ground. For a while, Cherubim remained silent, watching in confusion and a slight hint of defeat at how easily another pokémon's ability could influence and manipulate his own. The other Archangel members stepped out into the open, Seraphim's cloak flapping behind her as she looked out into the battlefield. Her eyes then fell on Mitsu, the ice trainer about to stand back up until the look in their leader's eyes almost paralyzed her.

As the younger girl held the robe closed to protect her from the cold, she tread directly through the path both pokémon were battling in, not even watching as they stepped around her. Mitsu was still amazed even as she knelt down next to her, and placed her hand on Amaura's body. The ice pokémon simply accepted it, both it and the trainer noticing the Minccino on Seraphim's shoulder.

"Pain…," she started out saying, Mitsu lookin down at her waiting for a continuation. "Why do you go through it alone?"

"I'm sorry?" the ice trainer asked, not quite sure what she was saying.

"Why are you always the strong one?" Sera kept going. "Isn't it okay to cry once in a while? Natsu-kun said you have a painful Aura, didn't he? Why do you always have to be strong?"

"I-I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me," the older one replied, the Archangel Leader placing her full palm on Amaura's side, the ice pokémon now finally reacting to the cold touch of her hand.

"She feels it…," the young girl started up again. "She can feel the pain you go through. She feels the shame you have." The smile on her face grew smaller as she looked up from the ice trainer and into the distance, Mitsu looking in the same direction a bit confused. "Pain doesn't have to just make you stronger," she said, returning to the dorm head. "Sometimes it just makes you miserable…but only if you choose to never share it."

Without another word, Seraphim began walking back towards the fighting pokémon. The two seemed to be wrestling each other to the ground, neither wanting to let up due to influence of Golurk's hidden ability. However, as the white haired girl walked up to them, they immediately separated, almost compelled to even more than their instinct to fight each other. She passed between them, and stared warmly at both pokémon, Tyrantrum realizing what it had done and stumbled back to Cherubim. The other pokémon, though, seemed just as interested in what she was looking at as Mitsu was.

She was looking off towards the dorm buildings, the ice trainer a bit worried she knew Natsu was there, but something else became apparent as the four of them waited. The chill in the air was beginning to intensify. Cherubim looked at his teammate and, as if being commanded to, Ophanim shot out a large spit that nearly immediately froze after leaving her mouth. It sunk into the snow in a perfect silhouette, and without another though, Seraphim began walking towards where the cold seemed to be blowing from.

"Please, High Seraphim, you can't go there, it's too dangerous!" the female commander suddenly shouted. "Please, allow one of us to inspect the area first."

"No…," Sera answered. "This is my destiny to complete this task."

The ice trainer just watched as this small girl walked off into what was probably the equivalent of an incoming blizzard. Golurk suddenly turned away from them all, slowly letting its feet track along the snow as it returned to the ghost dorm. Mitsu could still remember when that pokémon would barely listen to Natsu as a Golett, and it'd already come this far as a battler to fight on par with something as monstrous as a Tyrantrum. But the more pressing matter was whatever was going on with the weather. However, from the way Amaura looked into the distance the same way Seraphim did, it couldn't have been good.


Back closer to the school, Ame was walking through the hallways, trying to find everyone, rounding the corner with Manectric in tow. Poking his head out behind one, a stray knife passed directly in front of his face, causing him to just freeze in position.

"Well, I don't have to go to the bathroom no more," he said as the electric pokémon merely took a step away from him. Both looked down into the hallway and saw Kaname and his brother still fighting like maniacs through the corridor. "Ah, brotherly love, such a lovely sight… Just so you two know, I'm heading out for some food, you want anything? Side of fries, a shake, anti-psychotic?"

"Why is it you're only sarcastic to me?" Kaname asked, ending up next to his classmate as his Absol and Kazuo's Ninjask were still fighting in close quarters, attacking each other with their horn and pincers respectively.

"Because I love you," the electric trainer answered comically, a small beeping sound coming out of Shinobi's direction. "He's gonna blow!"

"Yes?" Kazuo asked into a small headset. "I see, that's disappointing. Very well, if that's you say to do." After removing the microphone from his mouth, the young underground battler looked up slowly, Ame doing the same to imitate him. "We'll have to battle another time, Kaname Misaki."

"I'll never give up," the dark trainer added, both third year students dodging past two kunai thrown in their direction, an explosion of smoke clouding the youngest one's escape. As the room became clear, Kaname gave a large sigh, and slumped down into a seated position. "I must be going crazy. I somehow feel more at east knowing where he is more than knowing if he's with the Don or not. As long as I know where he is and what he's doing, I feel safe about him. I'd be more worried if I had no idea now."

"In that case…" Ame started, the dark dorm head backing away, waiting for it to come. "…We can make a club of crazy people, call it the Crazy Cabana, and have team jackets made up. We'll be rich!" Kaname just stared back at him with a smile, finally feeling a bit better about everything, and knew part of that was definitely thanks to his friend. "We should probably find Sienna, huh?"

"Yeah, probably should," the other agreed, the two about to walk forward when they felt a sudden sting in the back of their necks, causing the hairs back there to stand on end. "Did it just get colder all of a sudden?"

"Sorry, can't hear you over my frozen hearing aid," Ame replied, half joking and half serious as he held his gloved hands over his ears to try and keep the appliance from literally freezing. "Sienna's not gonna last long in this cold. We gotta find her now," he suggested, Kaname nodding, knowing talking wasn't going to do him much good.

The two third years took down to the hallways, shouting at the students in their classes to not leave. Given the rule that the Underground doesn't attack outsiders, it made sense the others would be safe in there. It wasn't long until they came upon the dragon dorm head huddled in the corner. She was shivering, but one look at her eyes could tell it wasn't just because of the sudden drop in temperature. It looked as though she hadn't blinked for several hours, her eyes wide, red, and dead. Without stopping to look anymore, Kaname knelt down next to her and tried to snap her out of it.

"Hey, Sienna, come on snap out of it," he said, shaking her from side to side, her neck falling limp as she looked at her two classmates. "This isn't like you to just give up. Weren't you going to protect him? You came after the wonder twins to do that, didn't you?"

"W-What do you mean it's not like me?" she asked, her voice was distant as she turned back to the floor. "All the time we've spent together and do you know who I even am? You know how I live, you know my family, and you know how I battle. But do you really know what kind of person I am?"

"Is now really the time to be having a philosophical debate?" Ame questioned, about to reach for his classmate, Kaname just gripping his arm tightly instead. "And losing blood circulation."

"Let's leave her alone," the dark dorm head suggested, the blond looking at him like he was crazy. "We've both seen this before. She's not acting like herself right now. That means she's resetting herself. She'll come back to us in a bit, just let her work it out," he explained, turning Ame around towards the entrance to the school, hopefully going to be able to find out what was causing this biting cold.

After they left, even with the other students all around her, Sienna felt like she had been isolated, her eyes finally closing as though lost in thought. The words of the Gemini Twins were still echoing in her mind. Suddenly, an image of Natsu being dragged away begging for help came into her vision, her head twitching to the side a bit at the sight of herself trying to reach back for him. She quickly closed that off, and turned around, only to see a similar scene, but this time with Natsu's sister, clutching her younger brother with the Hatter standing over them both.

"All I do is fail…," she said, her breath beginning to slow. "I promised to protect him from these people and I didn't keep it. I failed before, and that's all I'm going to do. Sister already failed once, she always fails now…," she whispered referring to herself, a high-pitched scream filling her ears as she collapsed to the floor. "They were right…"

The Gemini's words were now shouting at her amidst the cries for help, screaming, yelling, all of it taking over her mind as it spun around her line of sight. As they meshed together, creating nothing but incoherent static, another came about. It wasn't really a voice, and instead was like something chomping at the rest. With an insatiable appetite, it was as if the sound of a jaw opening and closing was literally devouring up the others.

"Or maybe I got something right…," she began again, still lying on the floor, her eyes opening slowly, a small trail of tears showing in her eye. "Just one thing I managed to do well…" She reached out her hand, and lightly placed it on what was previously an orange mass of a giant maw, and now the creature she was proud to call her partner.


Outside of the school building, Ame and Kaname saw some of the others gathered. Directly in front of them were Jiro, Judai, Mika, and Satori who all seemed equally as frozen in the current climate. From the side, June was running up to see what was going on, slowly followed by Mitsu. In the opposite direction, the two third years could see Seviper and Quagsire still attacking at Escavalier, Yue actively ordering her pokémon from her window and Gibson watching passively with an apple stuck between her teeth.

Turning in front of them, though, the entirety of the dorm heads present and the students watching from their classrooms could see what looked like an army preparing for war. Evidently the message given to Kazuo wasn't a private one, almost all of the other underground operatives allied with the Don present with the exception of the Gemini and Phantom, already focused on other things. As Mitsu finally made it up to the school building, she found herself staring back at the pitch black shadow of a man she saw briefly in Kalos.

"Quite the audience we've amassed, wouldn't you agree?" the boss questioned mockingly, the others with him sneering at their targets, Diablo the only one without a noticeable grin. "And I must say it is all thanks to your brother that we were able to make this a reality," he directed at Kaname, holding up the gold and silver capsule from before, only something seemed different this time. As he effortlessly flipped it end over end, Kaname could tell it was still empty…or maybe just recently emptied. "Shall I show you all the fruits of my labor?"

"Only if you wait for me…," another voice rang out, the Don turning around only enough to see from the side, smiling at the sight of Yin-Yang, the red-clad battler tossing a pair of nearly unconscious trainers at her feet, the pair she was fighting only recently in the city. "I was hoping they'd be more interesting this time, but seeing this one go back to being so boring," she started, picking Amira up by her hair, "it makes me sick."

"Then I guess it's perfect I have the most bitter medicine for you," the Don beamed. "Would you all like to see what my search will finally send upon you? Or shall it wait until the others of this little band of yours are brought together? Hmm, we seem to be missing Ms. Smith, Sanjero, Hayashi, Volantis, and of course, our young friend Kohashigawa. Then again, perhaps you lot are enough to bring forth my other objective."

"What do you mean by other objective?" Kaname asked, stepping in front of the four originally fighting him, seeing their fear stricken eyes. "Hey, what's up guys? You act like you've seen a ghost."

"Honestly, senpai," Judai started. "A ghost would've been preferable…"

"What're you talking about?" the dark trainer asked, and turned around, the blinding snow behind the Don slowly beginning to dissipate, and come into full view, a giant chill running up all of their spines, the only one able to withstand it somewhat being Mitsu who just held a shrug.

"I've considered facing you many times, you know," the Don started out, pacing back and forth. "But I lacked the correct materials. If a child like the Reaper could defeat an Aggron with a pitiful attack like he did two years ago, any pokémon that can be found just anywhere wouldn't be what I need to mold your Auras. It also wouldn't be a suitable companion for my goals. I attempted to make this clear when my associate attacked you in Snowpoint, Mr. Ryuzaki," he explained, Judai looking over at the burning redhead. "But it would seem I need this to be done the old-fashioned way. Besides, this presence allows me to fully test the upper limits of your true potential."

"What are you trying to build up to?" Kaname asked threateningly again, the Don just belting out in laughter.

"The brave leader," he said. "You'll either live long enough to see your team fail, or you will die first to destroy their morale. What I'm building up to, as you put it, is the very embodiment of power, the very cold that destroyed civilizations years ago."

"I'm done with your games!" the dark dorm head shouted, Absol jumping out from behind, the scythe on its head growing to a near impossible size with its Night Slash. "Take him down while we still have the chance!" he commanded, the dark pokémon making a single thrust with its head, striking something.

However, instead of the slash tracing along his body, the Disaster pokémon looked down and saw itself suspended in the air, unable to move, looking towards its horn and saw it completely frozen. Not just encased in ice, but painfully encapsulating it. Out of instinct, Absol tried to pull away, growling madly until it saw what it was connected to…an arm. A bulky, hexagonal, gleaming arm. It was as if the touch of it burned with pain, especially as Absol pushed against it with its paw, watching almost in horror as it froze as well.

Kaname and the others were all equally stunned, June the only one confused by what was going on, unable to get too close to what it was for fear of freezing herself. The Don's smile became all the more obvious as he lowered his head, those glowing teeth with as much sheen as the ice that comprised this pokémon.

"Meet the very embodiment of the Ice Age, Regice!" he declared, the legendary pokémon giving a mechanical yell as it cast its arm off to the side, Absol entire body now flash frozen, the dark trainer seeing a pile of pokémon next to it just barely thawed out.

"T-That's impossible," Mitsu said, the pokémon registering her voice as it turned to her, the seven yellow eyes beeping rhythmically, a powerful wind coming out of nowhere she had to close her entire body in to endure. "H-How d-did you get that?" she interrogated, shivering uncontrollably as flecks of ice draped along her arm.

"I may be the equivalent of a mafia boss, but at the end of the day, I am a trainer just like all of you," the Don explained. "Capturing pokémon is not against the law in any way, shape, or form. Of all the things I've done in my life, this may be one of the only honest things I've ever done," he said, placing his hand directly on Regice's body, the others amazed it wasn't freezing. "Of course, the fun part was having him register me as his master."

"So those pokéballs actually worked," Kaname realized, his younger brother sneering as the Don kept flipping it up and down in the air. "You used those to capture a legendary pokémon."

"In the pursuit of change, one must challenge the status quo," the Don stated, pacing back and forth between the dorm heads and his latest pokémon. "This is still a pokémon, bound by the same laws of nature these creatures seem to command, but are truly slaves to. That fundamental truth cannot be overridden by the stories surrounding it. Even pokémon as powerful and rare Arcanine were once considered pokémon of mere legend, and now mothers give their children Growlithe as mere pets. One hundred years from now, it won't be odd to find a person who commands the power of even the mythic Lugia."

"You trying to say you're ahead of that curve?" the dark trainer asked, his confidence slowly returning as both Sableye and Houndour were now by his side. "Are you trying to say you represent the next stage in our species?"

"Hardly," the scoundrel chuckled. "What I am merely showing is the truth. The gods we make these pokémon out to be are no more than the same creatures that we call partners and companions. Why should these be considered any less viable a partner than any other? Is it because they're 'legendary' or because we refuse to let go of the thoughts of old?"

"I've heard enough," the dorm heads' leader growled, Houndour running up to the ice pokémon, passing directly by the Don. "Fire Spin!" he commanded, a spiraling vortex of flames erupting from its mouth, instantly destroying the snow underneath it until it reached Regice, encircling it inside the flames. "Better hope it doesn't melt," Kaname said with a confident grin.

"Unlike you children, I choose not to speak thoughtless words when in battle," the Don remarked, the thick walls of the fiery prison beginning to slow in their spiral. "Regice's body is comprised of ice from a time when the cold ruled the world. As if a simple fire would keep it from conquest," he sneered, Kaname and Houndour watching in disbelief as the fire suddenly turned to ice in the blink of an eye.

A small crack appeared in the now frozen, suddenly shattering outward, the monstrous pokémon's arm appearing as the ice around it fell to the ground in large piles. With it free, Regice's attention turned to the fire and dark mix, holding out both of its arms, stoically giving a mechanical cry that summoned a giant whirlwind of frigid air and snow. Out of instinct, Houndour let loose a powerful stream of fire to defend itself, the heated air able to hold back some of the Blizzard's strike. However, the longer the two focused their energy, and Regice refused to move an inch, Kaname's newest pokémon lost its power and was swept up in the swirling mass of wind and debris.

The dark trainer watched as his pokémon was frozen solid, falling to the ground in its icy casket. He looked back at Sableye, afraid to send it out to battle, but just before he attempted to return it, the ghost and dark mix ran into the fray, holding out its elongated claws in a Shadow Claw attack. Once again, Regice's Blizzard attack came forth, the smaller body Sableye boasted enough to dodge past as much of it as possible, only pelted by a few of the chunks of ice. Finally getting up close to its body, Sableye slashed across its body, now behind Regice.

Looking back with a noticeable smirk, the ghost pokémon's expression dropped with intense fear to see no wound or mark from its attack, and instead felt an overpowering pain in its hands. Shifting its focus, Kaname's partner saw it was beginning to freeze into the solid block of ice its teammates were encased in. Without giving it a chance to fight back, the legendary pokémon, without moving its front legs turned completely around as though on an axis, and blasted Sableye with its Blizzard, instantly putting it in the same stasis.

With all of Kaname's pokémon unable to battle, the Don scanned the scenery and saw three other possible victims. "Shall we begin with you, Miss Kurosaki?" he suggested, June jolting up at the sound of her name taking a few steps back. "Your normally quick tongue as seemed to slow down in the past few minutes. Shall I just make this merciful?" he wondered, Diablo watching carefully as the steel trainer began to back away even more.

"N-No, please, don't," she started to beg. "K-Keep it away from me!" she shouted, her Skarmory rushing in from the air, screaming past the Don and over to Regice, its wings held out like swords, slashing across its body all around.

However, just like before, Regice seemed to feel nothing, and held out its hand, gripping onto the metal bird's foot, watching it helplessly try to get away. With the touch of its cold body, Skarmory could feel its entire body freezing until it was overtaken within a few minutes, dropping into the snow with a shocked expression plastered on its face. The Don began walking towards June again, Regice following him, floating a few inches in the air.

"Please don't!" she shouted again, holding her head as though in pain…or cowardice, the other dorm heads watching her in confusion.

"Please, Señor," the fairy trainer suddenly brought up, walking forward. "If I may be so bold as to say, would it not be more fruitful to refocus our efforts on our original target?" he asked.

"Hmm, I guess even I have some human weakness," the Don figured. "Seeing that fear and pain in this one seemed to bring me so much joy, it was impossible to resist. Very well, let's continue with our objective for now. Business before pleasure, I suppose."

The steel dorm head looked a little relieved when he heard the Don walking away, Diego looking back at her, studying her expression before flipping his cape over back to where they knew Natsu was. Before that, though, a sudden fireball shot out from somewhere behind, the Don instinctively moving his head to the side in order to dodge it. As he looked behind him, Maaya's Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee were both standing as her Hitmontop attempted to help her back to her feet, holding up a barely conscious Amira in her arms.

"I still haven't gotten to take a crack at you!" the fighting trainer angrily challenged, all three of her pokémon ready to battle despite their weakened state. "Bring it on!"

"Such an uncouth mouth you have," the underground boss mentioned. "But that is the quality you project. Your Strength, what must it become once it's taken to its limit?" he wondered, beginning to walking forward at her, both Amira and Maaya trying to protect each other. "Best of friend, such a sweet image. Diablo, Yin-Yang, take care of them," he ordered, Natsu's former companions giving a bow in understanding as they sent out their Shiftry and Togekiss.

The Don turned back around and left the area, the other underground battlers instructed to stay behind and keep an eye on the other dorm heads. Kazuo and Kaname stared back at each other, the latter still in terror of what'd happened so easily to his pokémon. To their side, all of Maaya's pokémon were being battered into the snow by Diego and Yuriko, even with Amira's Kadabra helping in their battle, it was clear to everyone watching, they were severely outclassed.

"This is the kind of thing we can't do," Kaname admitted, his brother smirking at him. "If you want to beat an underground battler, you have to be one," he reasoned, the others all nearly collapsing in defeat, the four pokémon currently battling pushed up against a wall with Shiftry and Togekiss ready to finish them off.

The pokémon cringed, waiting for the pain to come, but instead felt an intense burst of heat behind them. The sudden change in light almost blinded the underground battler's pokémon, a giant pillar of fire appearing in the middle of the courtyard. Suddenly, the column snaked across the entire group, the heightened temperature slowly melting the ice that encased Kaname's pokémon, all three letting out a desperate breath. As the snow melted and ultimately vanished from around the underground battlers and dorm heads, they all turned to where it originated from.

"Impossible," Yin-Yang said, staring in disbelief at a flapping black cloak, empty face, and hollow moaning sound travelling on the wind. "It's you…," she continued, a smile coming across her face. "Now things can get interesting."

The thick folds of fabric making up the shroud seemed to melt and inflate with each step he took, the Lampent the entire underground knew as Hades following close behind. But something else had been added. As the Reaper made it to the center of the battle between the students of this school and the Underground he called home, he pointed to the group of villains, but not with its finger, and instead the downturned blade of a giant sickle. With a single breath from Lampent, the shear was set ablaze and everyone around seemed to be hypnotized by it.

"The Underground does not attack outsiders," the Reaper stated, his deep voice terrifying the group of dorm heads, some of who had never heard it before, or even seen this figure. "If you wish to prove your mettle, it will be against one of your own. Let us begin…"


Chapter 51 Complete: FINALLY~! Man, that took a while. Sorry about the wait for this one, but at least I got it out before Thanksgiving. Granted, if you're not in the U.S., that probably means very little to you. But enough of international differences, and let's talk about the chapter. So it's mostly just battles this time around; some big, some small, some philosophical, and one with a very large, icy elephant in the room. I debated for a while if I was going to have the Don battle in this one, and full disclosure, that was back a few chapters ago. But in the end, I thought it was important for him to battle to show just the kind of person he is, and how OP he is (plz nerf). I also wondered for a long time what kind of pokémon he had, and eventually settled on this idea. The biggest thing about this chapter is what the Don says about legendary pokémon is often the opposite of how I feel. I don't like using legendary pokémon in OC forms, nor do I like using them in competitive battling. I think it's cheap, doesn't showcase as much of the trainer's skill when they pack their team with pokémon that are designed to be stronger with little work, and it's just not as interesting to read about when the main character already has this OP pokémon. That's kinda why I like this story so much because the pokémon you guys chose for this aren't the obvious choices. Sure there are some that are a bit more obvious; the Hitmonchan lines, any Eevee evolutions, etc. I'm just grateful nobody opted for Lucario (thank you to Maaya and June's creators for that one). Okay, some other stuff below.

One of the things I want to address is the new story since some of you may have had a few questions about it last time, granted that was about a month ago so maybe you don't even care anymore. Okay, so to clear up some confusion at least one of you had, and I may have already addressed this, the story will feature human characters with a single pokémon partner. Since it's based on the side games, and those have a focus on either temporary team-ups like in Ranger, or the focus on an individual pokémon player like in Mystery Dungeon, I figured it was easier. Also, the prospect of the pokéball is something primarily only found in the main series games where most of the side games, minus Game Cube games, don't have that construct. Like I said, the story will allow you to choose either a good or bad affiliation, and other than that, I can't give too much away without spoiling some of the major plot points. With luck, I'll be able to get that written up this weekend while I'm away from school, get to work on the final part of this season when I get back to school, and start working on the new story itself when I'm back for Winter Break.

Also, you may not remember this because it was probably about a year ago, but I started a dialogue with Gabriel's creator WereDragon EX about possible songs that would fit for the characters in the story. Admittedly, he figured out a few more of those in the past months and I just never addressed them. So I'm going to give the songs I addressed last time with their characters and the new ones this time around. Keeping in mind the majority of these are Japanese songs, mostly to match with the characters ethnicity, the only exception being Amira's, since we figured it would make more sense that her character song would be somebody else singing about her given how quiet she is.

Natsu: Liar Mask, Rika Mayama

Judai: Clear Mind, Masaaki Endoh

Maaya: Mukai Kaze ni Utarenagara, Minori Chihara

Amira: Naraku no Hana, Eiko Shimamiya

Takeru: Itsumo Kono Basho de, Ayane

Mitsu: Tsuki Akari, Sora Amamiya

Jiro: Challenge the Game, Redman

Mika: Overdrive, ZAQ

June: Artist, vistlip

Kaname: Zero, BUMP OF CHICKEN

Sienna:

Gabriel: Lead Me, Sanctus Real

As you can see, the only one we're shaky on is Sienna, at least for the original dorm heads for the moment. Give Sienna is probably of an English speaking heritage, the best kind of song would be one in that language, so if you come up with one you think might fit for her, feel free to leave it in your review or PM me, and we'll see. Also, if you want to suggest a song for the other dorm heads who are just joining, or hey, maybe even for another character, villain, teacher, or otherwise, feel free. For now, though, let's just thanks WereDragon EX for his suggestions. Thanks for reading, and until we meet again, ja na.