A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed!!!! Many things happening in this chapter…Danica belongs to Tigertalon. Enjoy!

Chapter 53: Weapons of War

It's not every day you find out your father's a complete maniac or that he let you watch as he ran your mom straight into a tree. Let's just say…Lauren had family issues, even if she couldn't remember them. But now, another thing had entered her life. Love. The one thing more unpredictable than anything else…the one worst thing to throw in an already horribly thrown off mix. It would be a lie to say that Lauren wasn't going a bit off the deep end…and an even bigger one to say she wasn't actually in love.

Lauren ran through the forest. She dodged stones and trees, swerved and snaked in hard to track maneuvers, and moved like a bird borne on wind. Finally she struck her arm out and caught a tree, using it to swing around and fall to the ground again. She fell to the ground in a pool of tears. What had happened after the crash!? Lauren dug through her memory, trying to find it, but she was met with nothing.

She knew what the cause was. She had let her guard down! Allowed her emotions to show. She should've never kissed Mr. Trist. All it did was distract her from her main goal. There was no time for side plots now. But still, she couldn't find it in her memory. What had happened to her to erase it anyway?

All signs pointed to her father, the evil Keith Reid. Leader of Team Blasters. She was still stunned by the prospect. No wonder he valued her so much, she was his daughter! This brought another wave of tears and she squished herself against the trees, hoping for the merciless bark to wipe them away. Crying would get her nowhere! She screamed into the tree, letting all her emotion out at once.

After a few more screams, she felt much better. She pushed herself away, out of breath. She sat with her hands on her knees, her back against the tree. She tipped her head up, trying to get a look at the darkening sky. The moon was coming out, bright and full tonight. If this was any other time, she would've stayed out to watch its rise and fall through the sky.

Unfortunately, this was not any other time. She lifted herself up away from the tree, beginning to make her way back to where she hoped Mr. Trist still was. She made her way slowly and carefully. She noticed it instantly when a blue object flew past her. She turned to follow it, but it was gone.

Suddenly, it was on her other side. She jumped up, but it was too late. Desperate, she turned in a quick circle and almost ran straight into a Dragonair. "What!?" she yelped, jumping back. She shook herself, quickly getting back under control.

"Hello, little lady," it said, giving a courteous nod. "May I help you?" Lauren stared at it, not sure of what to do.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Why, I am Crimson," she said, bowing, "Helper of the needy and escapee of Team Blasters." Lauren spat.

"I don't need your help, if that's what you're thinking," she said, walking off a few paces. Crimson flew after her easily, surpassing her in less than a quarter of a second.

"Not exactly that," she said, "I sensed something about you. You hate Team Blasters, don't you?"

"Yes, totally," she said, even though that meant she hated her father too. She tried to avoid the ensuing guilt. Crimson nodded, doing a few aerial tricks that seemed more involuntary than anything. Like she was thinking or something.

"Would you mind adding an extra force to your army?" she asked, her eyes lighting up. Lauren looked her up and down. But she was moving so fast, it was hard for her to see her. But the speed was a good thing, and since she was an escapee, she knew she could be trusted. Lauren nodded.

"That kind of help I appreciate," she said and started back towards Mr. Trist. Crimson stifled a laugh.

"He's that way," she said, pointing in the completely opposite direction from which Lauren was going. "I already talked with him."

"Oh" was all Lauren said as she flushed and made her way back, following Crimson.


"I can't see them anymore!" I yelped, getting as close to the shore as possible without stepping into it. I ignored the small pains from standing on wet sand. I was beginning to get frantic. Rachel had been with me since the beginning, if Reo had just gone and taken off with her…well, I wasn't having that. I reared back on my hind legs, focusing my vision on the island at the edge of the horizon. I balanced precariously on my hind legs, stumbling every few seconds. When I was finally able to stand straight, I saw a small point of blue in the distance…with brown close to it. It was them! They'd made it to the island. I sighed in relief and collapsed back onto four legs. When I turned, I saw Seth standing there with his arms out towards me.

"Um…" he said, and pulled his arms back, hiding them behind him. He began to whistle. Rain was shaking her head.

"Toldya it wouldn't work," she mumbled, smacking herself with a fin. I rolled my eyes. It really would've been a good time to knock me into the water. I was about to say something when I was lifted off my feet- and not the lovey-dovey way either.

I was flying backwards at a hundred miles per hour…it felt like that anyway. The water tried to lap at my feet because I was…hovering over it? I yelped, trying to turn and see what was happening, but some strange force wouldn't allow me too. "Help!" I cried, thrashing my claws around, looking for something to grab hold of. The beach quickly came out of sight- all my friends with it. But, strangely, it was like I could hear them yelling.

"Celli!" one of them yelled. "Calm down!"

"What!?" I shrieked. "How can I be calm? I'm being attacked by something that wants to drown me!" The water remained just below me, but I kept my eyes off of it. I knew that if I looked at it, I'd end up paralyzed- not a good thing when you're rocketing through the air.

"Close your eyes!" whoever it was ordered. I didn't waste time in obeying. Anything to make them happy and me safe. "Gently now," it said more quietly than before, like it was talking to someone else. The fast-moving sensation slowly left me and was replaced by a downward motion. Very gentle and slow, almost relaxing. Well maybe, if I weren't sure that I was being lowered to a death in the water, I'd been relaxed. "You can open your eyes now," it said. Reluctantly, I opened them, and at the same moment, sand met the pads on my paws. I heaved a gigantic sigh when I saw the see laying out in front of me. I'd made it. And I wasn't covered with water.

"How'd I do that!?" I asked excitedly, wondering if it was by my own power. I tried to get myself to float in every way I could think of. I even stood on my tiptoes and got up on my hind legs again. I closed my eyes tight and lifted up my arms. It didn't work. All I did was lose my balance and fall down on my butt. I opened my eyes to see Rachel rolling on the sand, laughing so hard I was sure she was about to throw up. I felt a tinge of pink warm my cheeks in embarrassment. Reo sighed. He glared at Rachel, then at me.

"Can we not get this over with?" he asked, his arms crossed and a frown pasted on his face.

"Oh, sorry," Rachel said, pulling herself to her feet. I padded over to join them, still a bit embarrassed.

"Alright, good," he said, then looked to me. "You got here via my powers." He winked. "I told you that was what I was going to do." I stood there like a drunk idiot, then almost fell over laughing as I remembered the last trip- after the ship wreck.

"At least I didn't faint this time!" I proclaimed, earning a giggle from Rachel and an eye roll from Reo. He concentrated on the beach we'd come from and about five minutes later, Seth had joined us, fully bewildered as he was. Next was Rain. Gregor flew over with Timothy being towed by Reo beneath him. He'd recalled all his Pokemon to make the traveling easier.

Once they'd landed, Reo stood in front of all of us. "Now we wait," he said. "According to my sources, the ship will arrive at six PM tonight. That is only five minutes from now. Everyone needs to get in any way they can. This ship will be Pokemon friendly. Find a human and pretend to follow them into the ship like you belong to them. We will meet together again in the cargo hold." He paused, waiting for the unanimous signal of approval which we gave him. "Good luck to all of you," he said and disappeared into the forest.

"Let's follow him," I said and ran into the forest. The others scattered about. Timothy remained on the beach, Rain with him. I assumed he was going to try and appear to be a rookie trainer who'd gotten mercilessly lost. Good idea on his part. He was mercilessly lost.

I ducked behind a palm tree close to the dock I was sure the boat would come in on and waited.

No sooner had I hid than did I hear the loud, echoing horn that signaled the ship's coming to land. I sucked in a deep breath and sunk to the ground, waiting for the shop to arrive anxiously.


"Are the troops ready?" A small Kirlia asked as she ran over to her leader. She moved gracefully, as though her feet never touched the ground. She held a clipboard tight against her side. Her leader was going over various exercises with his main group of troops. The ones that would be in the front line. He whispered to one of his helpers to go ahead and lead them in exercises for now then hurried over to the Kirlia.

"The front line is. So are the third, fourth, and fifth," he said, using his pink furred hand to count them off. He was very young in his looks, and the Kirlia had no doubt he was young in age as well. She nodded as he named off the waves. "You have checked the second, yes?" he asked.

"Yes, Master Mariner, they are ready also," she said. Mariner gave a sharp nod.

"Very good," he said, turning around. "Oh!" he said, moving back to face her. "And don't call me Master. I'm just as good as you are," he said, smiling. The smile lit his eyes, and the Kirlia knew he had meant it. "Get ready, we're leaving tonight, and no one's going to stop me."

"And no one will," Kirlia said, mostly to herself. Mariner had run off, probably to make the announcement. Soon they would be leaving the small encampment they'd made in Lilycove City. With an army of three thousand, Kirlia wasn't sure what to expect, but she knew it would come down to strength. They would be outnumbered the moment they arrived. "No leader was ever as involved with his army as he is," she whispered. She began making her way towards the camp's ampitheatre.


Keith paced in the hallway of Team Blasters HQ, his shoes echoing on the laminated tiles. He had a set frown. A force was coming- he knew it. It would be a large one too. Frankly, he was surprised he'd made it thus far. More than ten thousand combiomorphs filled the halls of his base. Most of them ready to die for their cause. It had been a long, hard time creating them all, but they were to be of last resort. Another some 20, 000 grunts filled the halls as well. Now, he was in the deepest part of the base. The place where the most destructive of weapons were contained- weapons in the form of nearly every legendary in the Pokemon world. And then, there was one final weapon, one of last resort, one that had so much power that she could blow away an entire city in a single move.

Unfortunately, she was a work in progress, and wasn't quite ready yet. She wasn't even going to be ready, supposedly, for another year. It had only recently come to Keith's knowledge that she even existed. As it turned out, she had been in experimentation for several years by his co-founder of Team Blasters: High Commander Danica. Keith had to go on faith that the forces who wanted him dead would not attack just yet. Before he could reach the door to Danica's study, a grunt ran up to him.

"We cannot find them," he reported. Keith nodded; he'd expected as much.

"They'll be back," he answered, then closed his eyes, using a brief future sight attack. He opened them a few minutes later, a grin covering his face. "Very very soon," he added. The grunt looked confused for a second, but still nodded. "Now leave!" he ordered. "This is off limits to all but the admins and the elite."

"Sorry, sir," he said, bowing deeply and swiftly before turning and running back towards the main floor. Keith smirked. The first rule of Team Blasters: Order. He continued on for Danica's study and knocked on her door. "Are you there?" he asked kindly as Danica yanked open the door from the other side.

"Of course, brother, I told you I'd be here," she said, making her way out. Danica had been among Keith's first experiments. After he'd erased Lauren's memories, he'd opened a small lab where his sister joined him. Their parents, only around fifty by then to their thirty, became very concerned when they started becoming so secretive. When they'd been only an inch from discovering their plan, Danica had protected him, and now he couldn't ask for a better partner.

Danica was one of the few combiomorphs who showed close to zero signs of humanity; only the first ones were like that, but Keith deeply regretted using a legendary's DNA when he knew so little about the art of making combiomorphs. She walked on four legs- the legs of Giratina, and had a face resembling the legendary's muzzle. She also had splashes of orange on her and metal bands on her arms and back. Two horns curled out of her head. She was a Giratina/Houndoom combio. "What do you need?" she asked.

"People are going to attack us, Danica, I know it," Keith said, walking into her softly toned room. The walls were a dim gold and they were lined with shelves- many of which the two of them had written themselves. He shook his head, frowning. "I just can't imagine all our work…crumbling into nothing." He gritted his teeth as he fell down into one of Danica's plush red chairs. He held his head in his hands. This was a side of him no one but Danica got to see.

"I know, brother, but it cannot be turned around," she said, sitting in a chair made especially for her deformities. She looked off in silence, her tail moving from side to side occasionally. "You know," she said, finally speaking up, "There are three Pokemon we don't have."

"The lake trio, yes, but what have they got to do with this?" Keith asked. Danica shook her head gently, turning her gaze to the floor.

"Not them!" she said quickly and got up from her chair. She began pacing back and forth across her carpet quickly. "The other three." A look of cluelessness came over Keith's face. It wasn't often that he was dumbfounded, but he couldn't figure out whom she was talking about. "The ones with the most power…" she mumbled, "Time…Space…Power…" Her speed quickened.

Keith shot up from his chair and clapped her on the shoulder. "What is it?" he asked, pulling around in front of her. He stared her in the eyes.

"Why didn't we think of this before, Keith?" she suddenly yelled. "Dialga, Palkia, and Arceus! With them…with them we could control the world!" Keith froze, still staring.

"The…the world?" he said weakly. He imagined the entire world at his command. All the cities renamed…all the people peaceful. Everyone containing so much power within themselves to serve their families and provide their own protection…it would be utopia! And they would all have him to thank…him, and his sister. His face lit up. "We'll be the saviors of the world, Danica!" he cried, smiling.

Danica laughed. "What would you do without me?" she asked playfully. Keith sighed with relief.

"I may have to make you a complete equal to me after this…if it works," Keith mumbled unsurely.

"Wasn't I already?" she asked, patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm serious, Danica, how will we get this to work?" Danica was about to speak, but Keith held his hand up. "What if we don't capture them fast enough?"

"We will," she ensured, her eyes gaining a gleam of confidence. "I will oversee it myself." Keith nodded.

"Stay safe," he said as she began to walk towards the door. She was never one to wait. Even when they were kids she was always impatient.

"When don't I?" she said with a smirk. Keith nodded.

"Never."

A/N 2: Poll: Who do you think will when the battle? Remember: There are 4 forces. Celli and the gang, Lauren and her group, Mariner's Army, and Team Blasters.

I'd like to make the great announcement that there is now a Pokemon Periwinkle RP site! Everything that happens on the site will be used in future installments of the Pokemon Periwinkle series! So let's just say, you'll have a HUGE hand in the next book in the Periwinkle series. Find the link on my profile!

Pika!