Chapter 11 – T.A.R. Project.05

Route 07

In the early afternoon Espeon, Brent, Lisa and I had left Mistralton City while Devon was analyzing the documents we had taken from that underground base yesterday, going over each one with a team to find the next location where we might find either Reiko or Latias within one of the many underground bases left in this region. I remembered looking at a document with map of the region at the side with marked locations near Black City and beyond. I had a clear look at the locations and yet I forgot where the underground bases where. So until Devon calls back we would have to venture out into the region and wait or shut down more Team Annihilation Reborn blockades.

Instead of walking through the tall grass or take the path above, we walked through an empty road I guess was built not too long ago at the side of the route. Usually the roads to and from Mistralton were kind of busy any time day or night, but that day quiet apart from us walking down it to reach Icirrus City. We were walking on this dirt path on the side of the road instead of walking through the main route, finding it unusually quiet and off putting when usually it would be kind of occupied with trainers and wild Pokemon at that time of day, but found nothing but the cold and quiet atmosphere.

"We could play eye spy while we are walking down this miserable road, something to brighten up the start of the day." Espeon suggested as she slowed down and walked beside me as I lagged behind everyone else.

"Nah, that game doesn't seem to go my way whenever I play it." Brent sighed. "I always choose the most obvious of things; something green while walking through a forest the obvious thing would be leaves, something blue when on a boat and it'll either be the sky or the ocean."

"Well you can find something interesting for us to guess but not something too difficult or stupid like a shiny green stone we just walked past a minute ago. It needs to be something we can get and it is in our current range. Like that sign over there;" Espeon pointed with her forked tail at a sign nearly one hundred yards down the road. "You could say something along the lines of 'it will help those who are lost.' Or something like that, but keep it fun and exciting."

"Eh, I suppose so. But from what I can see right now are nothing but endless trees surrounding us, a blue sky up above, and an empty road with no cars or any vehicle seen since we got here. So playing eye spy here limits it." Brent sighed once more, placing his hands in his pants pocket.

"Yeah I guess."

"So this road will take us all the way to Icirrus City?" Lisa asked me as she looked back; I gave her a quick nod. "I have never been to the Unova region before, I mean no in the present when we did come here in the past because of the time travel we did all those years ago. You'll have to show us around sometime, be our guide."

"Yeah, I'll rent a tour bus so we can travel the region and I'll show all of you locations of the region; famous landmarks, historic events that have happened in certain areas, It'll be fun." I joked, finding it amusing to find myself doing all of that. Zack's Unova Tour is what it'll probably be called, yeah but I was done travelling all around this region, especially after five years of doing so…

"And Bent here can be the driver/bodyguard and I'll be tagging along to ensure the guests are safe and no one gets lost on the tour." Espeon smiled at me. "Sound good to you?"

I gave a slight chuckle at the thought. "I suppose. I do have almost a million in cash saved up. So maybe we can get ourselves a tour bus with the soft chairs." Espeon laughed as we continued down this road in silence.

It really was a peaceful road we walked down on, taking in the scenery, the cold air that felt nice to the touch, although it would've been replaced on trying to keep warm rather than enjoy my surroundings. I was happy Aqua gave the cloak to me before I left on this five year search; I would've frozen to death long ago. Espeon, Lisa, and Brent didn't seem to mind the cold. Lisa wearing her warm sweater was understandable; Espeon didn't seem to care much about the temperature of the weather, under the hot sun or the chilling cold it never seemed to bother her. As for Brent, he only seemed to wear the same buttoned shirt with both sleeves rolled up no matter the seasons.

Ever since I first teamed up with Espeon, the first time in six years I had always watched her and the surrounding area trying to protect her from harm, not wanting the same thing that happened to Sakura and Isaac happen to Espeon. Then the numbers I had to watch out for increased to two; Lisa and Brent, always watching them from behind while using a small amount of Psychic energy around them, protecting them. But I let go momentarily to look back down the road.

But in that one small moment I felt something 'off' about something, a feeling that we weren't the only four beside this road. It had been a while since I last looked behind me down the road since Mistralton City could be last seen over the trees. But when I did look back, my eye opened wider when I noticed a man wearing a black suit behind us a hundred yards or so down the road walking at a fast pace with a stick or something in hand. I assumed he was just some guy walking the same way as us towards the next city and chose to assume that was all it was; some random guy walking the same way as us. And then when I turned my head back to look forward, behind me I heard the well known sound of a gun firing, and immediately I turned back around with a powerful Protect to shield us all at the ready.

"Espeon, assist me!" I shouted, preparing to merge our moves together to form a stronger version of Protect… "Espeon?" I turned my head to find Espeon wasn't there, neither Lisa nor Brent could be found. I was alone, I couldn't feel their presence nearby, hear Espeon's voice through Psychic energy, or any rustling through the trees off the side of the road. I then looked back to where the man had opened fired at us to find him just standing there fifty yards down the road aiming a rifle at me. A part of me told myself to run away and hope to find the others somewhere further inside the forest believing them to have escaped, while another part of me demanded I stayed and fight this man. The stay and fight part of me won me over, so I took a step forward back down the road to get closer to the man still aiming the weapon at me. The closer I got I expected him to start firing at me at any moment, or if he had any allies assisting him would come out from the forest and start attacking, but none of those came, instead he simply lowered his weapon, and then I could see his face.

"Greetings Zack Raines. You shouldn't be wandering off all on your own, Dewott boy!" A man I knew to be dead; Juro the leader of Team Annihilation, the first group before Shiny Latias took over. This was impossible, I watched this man be torn limb from limb by his own monstrous creations and yet he was standing here without a single scratch on him. He was an elderly man, white hair and a short beard, wearing a black suit and tie. But despite his age he was stronger than he looked, surprisingly strong for an old man he managed to fight off against Dewott and my other Pokemon during our final confrontation all those years ago without suffering any slowdown or injury. "Changed appearance, have you? Shiny Latias must've done that. She really is a Good girl, always loyal right to the end like all members of Team Annihilation should be." Slowly, he lifted up his rifle once more trying to aim his weapon at me, but I attacked with my scalchop with Razor Shell at the ready. To my surprise, he dropped his rifle and grabbed my Razor Shell and trying to pull the move away with his bare hands.

"What?!" I gasped, shocked how he just grabbed the move like that with his bare hand while the move could easily cut up anything that should touch it, if he applied anymore force into the pull he could slice off his fingers.

"Now's not the time to be playing around! How many times do I have to remind you?" With one swift movement, with his hand gripped tight on my Razor Shell he crushed it in the palm of his hand exploding the move into nothing leaving me wide open as he attempted to punch me in the face with his other hand, but I was punched in the face and I fell back onto the cold road. Juro stepped beside me and stepped on my chest pushing me down. "That was a body double I had hired to risk his life during dangerous situations. As much as I would've liked to activate the machine to rule the world, to change it in my own perfect image, with your allies roaming my base, the black clothed girl named Sakura with weather issues, the blonde haired boy who can speak to Pokemon named Isaac, I had to be wary of those fools should they try anything to halt my plans. I was right to have got my body double to do all the work and die so that I could live. How many times do I have to remind you?"

I grabbed his leg with my paws, trying to budge him off of me. "W-what are you talking about? You died. The Savior's confirmed it was you whose body they pulled out from the mess your monsters left behind." Juro chuckled.

"You believe what those fools told you? They didn't bother telling you about what Team Doom had in store for you two years before Shiny Latias came and changed your life. The amount of files taken from my base after The Savior's came in and took everything, all plans they had in store, they didn't leave the files in a locked up room for a year, they read them all immediately after being brought back. They knew everything what Team Doom would do to you, that is why they sent you back to Team Annihilation's base claiming to have seen Shiny Latias there inside, they sent you alone to deal with the problem with no back up. How many times do I have to remind you of that, Dewott boy?" I glared at the man, remembering why I hated him. He had killed my parents and my sister long before my adoptive mother took me in. Not only did Juro kill them, but he killed me wanting to create more undead monsters for his sick army, but I was the only one to be brought back 'successfully' without being a mindless undead soldier.

"They didn't lie to me. I don't know how you are here, but I am still a member of The Savior's. I will bring you in!"

"You'll do what know?" He chuckled, raising both of his fists. "Back with Team Annihilation because of how rude I am being? Grow up, you imbecile-"

"Stop!" Appearing right in front of me from out of nowhere was Shiny Latias starring right at me, faces inches apart. "You will not attack. Remember who your allies are, Zack." She said oddly in a soft tone of voice. She touched my forehead for a while before patting my head with her paw, before turning to Juro with a harsh glare as she scolded him. "Why did you punch him so hard like that for? You could've killed him!"

"He needed to be reminded of his place." He scoffed "The Dewott boy is a problem. He still hasn't fully let go of his Savior code, fighting to protect, sworn never to kill, sworn to do all he can to save the day… hah! How pathetic is that code. Team Annihilation's code is truly the one code all should follow; and that code is simply-"

"Oh shut up, no one cares about that!" At the corner of my eye walking up beside Shiny Latias shocked and yet confused me as to who had walked up; it was Purrloin, but not just any Purrloin, but the one who had run that gang back in Castelia City. Purrloin had brought Aqua and me in her gang as permanent members, once a member of her gang, always a member or you die was her rule. We explained that we couldn't stay, that my friends and family back home where waiting for us, but Purrloin wouldn't allow it refusing us on leaving. Aqua and I escaped, travelled all over the region to get back home while being chased by Purrloin's gang and herself. Then after I was injured near the beach near Accumula Aqua and I rested at a beach until I could travel, then a few weeks later after I was healed up, Purrloin and her gang appeared and attacked us, we fought them off, and finally killed Purrloin by Aqua with a Razor Shell through her heart.

"Oh, my precious Zack… are you alright my dear?" Purrloin asked, leaning in very close to me and trying to examine where Juro had punched me with her paws, but I pushed her off of me, trying to bypass Shiny Latias' control ability to reach for my Scalchop or use any other move to attack, but I couldn't do anything but stand there slightly hovering my paw over my scalchop.

"Don't touch me!" I shouted before stepping back trying to get into a defensive stance, but Shiny Latias' ability prevented that. Then behind me I noticed two more figures staring at me, one large ten foot tall human in full body armor, and a Rayquaza, both I knew to be dead. The Rayquaza was once a member of Team Doom Eight, his name was Cornelius Stone, son of the leader of The Savior's Clark Stone. He was the first human to be injected with the Doom serum and be turned into a Pokemon.

Standing next to him was a humanoid who had called himself Infinite, wearing white metallic armor from head to toe and a cloak flowing through the breeze. He wasn't from this world but he came from another, a dying world and so Infinite found himself here to our world and tried to absorb all life to live forever.

"What is wrong with the Dewott boy?" Infinite asked Shiny Latias as he approached her. "Will this slow down with our mission?"

Shiny Latias glanced up at him and shook her head. "Zack is perfectly fine; he will not slow down with our mission."

"Yes Infinite, you do not have to eradicate all of our foes and allies just because they cause us a nuisance." Cornelius cackled madly as he flew over us and a little bit down the road. "Just like that woman wanting directions and you just simply eradicated her. I'm sure her children will miss their mother… oh wait! They won't, HAHAHAHA!"

"Geez, why won't that guy shut up? Eh, the guys a maniac so what ya gonna do?" Purrloin shrugged before walk slowly down the road before calling Infinite to follow.

Something was definitely wrong with this, Juro, Infinite, Cornelius, and Purrloin all here when all of them died years ago. Not even Shiny Latias was acting how she would have done instead of preventing me from attacking.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll talk with Zack." She said to the others before they just shrugged and walked on ahead down the road. She turned to me and smiled, but not the usual evil smile I had seen her with almost all encounters I had with her, this time she seemed oddly concerned. "Zack, are you alright?"

"What's going on here?" I asked angrily, already hearing the voices inside my head creep up on me to kill. "How are they alive?" I pointed at the four. "Where are the others?"

"We have been friends ever since we were young." She gave me a quizzical look, cocking her head to the side. "I don't know what you mean by 'others' but this has been our team ever since we started out together."

"Espeon, Lisa and Brent, where are they?"

"Zack… have you forgotten what they did to you? How they just abandoned you after you were turned into a Pokemon? They saw you as a monster, while we your friends have always been there fighting alongside you to fight the enemy, the true mastermind behind it all." Shiny Latias looked over at the others. "I know we don't get along, we argue, we fight amongst ourselves over the little things, but the enemy we fight every day reminds ourselves who our real enemies are. All of us have betrayal in our past; you and I, Juro, Cornelius, Purrloin, Infinite, and so many of our fallen allies lost to the enemy."

"This is wrong. We are not allies, we are not friends. Juro, Infinite, Cornelius, and Purrloin are dead. I am the last active member of The Savior's left within this region all thanks to you and Team Annihilation Reborn killing nearly all of its members."

Shiny Latias gasped and stared at me in shock. "Zack, I haven't done anything but be loyal and truthful to you ever since." She looked down sadly at the concrete floor. "Before I turned you into a Pokemon, I wanted to exact my revenge, but after you had changed I didn't feel the need for revenge anymore, I felt ashamed of myself for that. I have always wanted a friend, someone who could love me for who I am underneath all this. You welcomed me to your home after I came to you and apologized for everything I had done. We have been friends ever since then. Then my sister with the others soon after turned against you. Juro, Infinite, Cornelius and Purrloin came together to join forces to help stop the evil that my sister has done. I was surprised to when I saw them all alive; Purrloin I guess was a Pokemon who had her gang turn on her at some point, showing up in Nuvema Town looking on finding a new life until she found us." Shiny Latias levitated down the road to join the others, looking back sadly at me before saying. "We are not your enemy, Zack. We're friends…"

With her ability controlling me not to attack any of them still in effect, all I could do was stare at them and follow. I didn't know what was going on, one minute I was with Espeon, Lisa and Brent, now the next minute I was walking alongside my enemies Juro, Infinite, Cornelius, Purrloin and Shiny Latias as if we were a team or something. I couldn't sense any tension between us from any of them, nor did they seem to have any recollection as to how they were defeated or badly scared on Shiny Latias' face. I explained all of this to them, Juro killed after I pushed him off a ledge and down into this monster army ripping him to shreds, Infinite being defeated by Espeon, Lisa, Brent and our Pokemon in his dimension, Cornelius defeated by me on top of Team Doom's rooftop, Purrloin stabbed to death by Aqua on the beach near Accumula, even telling them about how Team Annihilation Reborn controlled by Shiny Latias was slowly taking over the region.

But all of this was seen as a dream I had recently, a made up story to pass the time while on the road, an amusing one by Cornelius cackling every now and again, Purrloin oddly happy that I was dreaming about her, holding my paw as we walked, Juro scoffed by correcting me that it was Clark Stone who had been sent into falling down into his creations, Infinite weakened by Team Annihilation after they sent them to kill him. All of the things they said about how things were different, Team Annihilation were still around and active within the region trying to stop the evil The Savior's from taking control, the evil mastermind was Latias taking Shiny Latias' place, and these past villains were apparently the good guys I was travelling with for some time. I tried many times to run away from them to find the others, but Shiny Latias would use her ability to stop me from running away and to follow and be 'ready for anything' as she puts it.

I wasn't sure what was going on, perhaps I had been attacked and rendered unconscious while walking down the road and I was living in a dream… a nightmare might I add were everything was different. Or perhaps we were attacked by a Pokemon, possibly a Ghost type placing us all in a dream-like state. I mean it would explain why my enemies from the past were still alive, Shiny Latias was friendly, and I living in this alternative universe I guess.

I remained cautious while I was walking with them, mainly Shiny Latias as we walked further down the road towards the city, never keeping my eye off of her, but never towards the eyes, but at her paws. Shiny Latias was fast and her claws incredibly sharp. I had been struck by them a few times, having lost my left eye and gave me the first several scars before I would receive a hundred more during my five year search.

"Infinite, perhaps you should grant us all buffs around us. I feel the presence of the enemy approaching." Purrloin purred as she moved in again to try and hug me as we walked.

Infinite held up his hands and all of us were encased by a strange bright light making us feel stronger and agile. I had never seen Infinite use this kind of ability the last time I fought against him since he was fighting alone. "We shall erase them from existence. Their presence within this world disturbs me. Killing them would only mean they are at peace within the afterlife. Should they go to the afterlife where all good go, I shall not be happy about that. Should they go to the afterlife where all bad go, I shall not be happy about that. At peace for eternity, tortured for eternity for all they have done in their life… I would rather have them to be nonexistence, than knowing they exist in another plane of existence."

"So you don't kill your enemies, you erase them from existence?" Purrloin asked Infinite as he nodded in return. "Huh, I'd hate to be your enemy."

"Those who had once existed now erased will never know fear, never again experience happiness, they will never have a thought of those they miss or think about. Those erased from existence have truly earned their just reward."

Because of Shiny Latias' ability preventing me from using my moves against them, I couldn't turn and attack Infinite enraged at the memory of what he did to my friends Cleo and Rhys how he erased them from existence, where only I could remember them. I don't know why I could since I was the only one who could still remember their names, what we did together, and yet their faces and voices slowly fading from my memory.

"Hey Zack, is something wrong?" Shiny Latias asked me, nudging my harm with her head as we walked. "Look, if it's what Juro did I'm sorry, I really am. He just has his way on doing missions with others, wanting to keep others in line and making sure everything runs smoothly, he can be a controlling person when he wants to be. The punching was out of line, I should've stepped in and prevented it from happening, but I misjudged and assumed he wouldn't really do it, but he did and this happened."

"What is this? Juro, Infinite, Cornelius and Purrloin are all dead. You and I are certainly not friends. What's going on?" I asked again, and again she looked confused.

"Zack, you and I have been good friends ever since… well um, after you accepted me after you woke up after turning into a Dewott when I wanted to exact my revenge for destroying my home, but that all changed when I realized that this wasn't what I wanted." She turned her head away, "But please try to at least work with the others. I know you still resent most of them for what they have done to you in the past, but right now we are fighting together to take down a much bigger threat than what all of us combined have dealt with."

After that she flew off to rejoin the others as I slowly caught up keeping at a short distance. I searched my surroundings, up and down the road, the forest surrounding us, trying to find something that was different or see if I could find anything. But I didn't find anything out of place. My initial thought about all of this was 'Perhaps this is some kind of illusion from an enemy. Perhaps a wild Pokemon who so happened to find us on this road and assumed us as trespassers? But what kind of Pokemon can do this?' As I walked closer to them I listened in at what they were saying amongst themselves, Purrloin talking to Infinite about his powers of erasing his victims from existence rather than kill them, revealing that his powers are as effortless as breathing, claiming to be much more powerful than that. Cornelius laughing madly at how he had killed a few others in a town with us was fun while Shiny Latias simply smiled as she flew ahead of the small group.

Try as I could, I had difficulty on leaving the small group to escape or search for my friends. With each try to move my legs to walk the opposite way only resulted on returning back towards group, so instead I had to stay with them for a while or when I had the chance to escape. Cornelius swiftly flew in front of us holding out his arm up high to silence us and to stop us in our tracks. We stood in silence, cautiously looking at the forest surrounding the road we were on for anything that made Cornelius stop like that.

"Cornelius, what do you sense?" Purrloin whispered to him, Cornelius sniffing.

"A scent that doesn't feel right… somewhere in the air, towards the forest… a foe!" he said, suddenly turning from a cautious stance to a more battle ready stance, baring his fangs and claws as the rest of us excluding me all did the same.

Then bursting out from the both sides of the forest and onto the road people and Pokemon emerged shouting and throwing rocks and ordering their Pokemon to attack us. They shouted things at us, mostly 'death to Annihilation' among other things. They didn't look like soldiers or a new team showing up in the region, they just looked like ordinary citizens and trainers fighting us. Juro moved in on them, punching and kicking most of them, surprising to see despite his old age being able to knock those he punched off their feet in one attack. Nonlethal strikes from Juro's end, but Cornelius, Purrloin, and Shiny Latias all delivered lethal strikes against the people and Pokemon who had emerged, whereas Infinite didn't kill any who had attacked him, instead he just shot a strange translucent large bubble at them and the instant it touched them it engulfed them before they vanished leaving nothing behind.

I was stood in the middle of the road watching the fight unfold too frozen to budge and inch to try and stop this, then that all changed when I noticed a familiar face behind me. "Espeon?" She looked different; she had way more scars on her entire body than she normally had. Open cuts here and there, and her left ear cut off.

"You traitor!" Espeon growled at me. "You just had to team up with that shiny bitch! You could've stayed with us; we could've helped you immediately after you turned into a Dewott. But no, you had to join up with them because you thought it would be easier for you, to join up with the creators of the Doom serum, but all it ever did was by turning you from a good guy to a villain like Shiny Latias and her crazy team of monsters! And you of all people joined them!"

"Espeon, wait I'm not with them." I held out both of my paws. "I don't know what's happened. I mean one minute you, Lisa, Brent and I were walking down this road and the next minute Juro, Infinite, Cornelius and Purrloin are alive and travelling with Shiny Latias. This must be a Pokemon doing all of this."

"Shut up traitor!" She snapped. "I will never forgive you for helping that shiny bitch by killing Latias. She was your friend!"

"What? N-no, I would never hurt-"

"Shut up!" She yelled, throwing a rock from the side of the road at my head before throwing another before she pounced at me and fell to the ground, swiping at my face with her claws. "You bastard! I'll kill you, you treacherous Dewott!"

Then running past us I saw Lisa and Brent with their own Pokemon attacking Cornelius and Shiny Latias, each of them wearing different clothing, scars on their faces when before they had none. I managed to push Espeon off with what I thought was a weak use of my Psychic but instead managed to throw her off and hit Juro who countered by grabbing her and throwing her down onto the ground with a heavy slam. Shiny Latias controlled her attackers ordering them to kill each other while Purrloin and Infinite dealt with the others. I watched as Brent fought against Cornelius with all of his Pokemon to battle, but one by one they were defeated, slamming down with his massive tail down on Brent before moving onto the next.

I saw Lisa about to be attacked by Infinite, the same attack he had used to erase his victims from existence, so I used Scald at him, a quick move that would hit and turn his attention on me providing Lisa a chance to either escape or fight back.

Espeon grabbed the Scald I shot at Infinite to prevent him from hurting Lisa to throw it back at me. I didn't block the attack, instead Shiny Latias slashed at the move with a Dragon Claw creating a small pool of water in front of me. Shiny Latias looked back at me and asked softy "Are you okay Zack?"

"He is perfectly fine." Infinite said as he stood beside me after dealing with Lisa. Alive or dead, I couldn't tell from where I was. Shiny Latias' ability had passed and I was free from her control, but I couldn't move. "As for the Espeon and her two allies they will meet the same fate for all who oppose us; erasure from existence. No death, no afterlife, nothing awaits them and no one shall ever know they ever existed, forgotten like the pathetic fools they have been all their meaningless lives."

"Good." Shiny Latias smiled. "Make sure memory of them is gone too from all of us. I do not want to have dreams of an annoying Espeon like this one from making an unwanted cameo, a foolish man with dreams of becoming a writer, and a young woman still crying over the death of her brother."

Espeon gasped but then growled once more, "You monsters! You're not heroes; you're all evil, killing innocent people and Pokemon wherever you go. They will always be those out there in the world who will fight against you. Erase me from existence if you must, but mark my words; all of you will get what's coming to you sooner or later. The Savior's have always been good to people and Pokemon, refusing to give up on anyone… but then you bastards showed up, formed a stupid team and murdered all who ever cast you a glare or whisper behind your backs!"

I looked down at the road and I saw in the reflection in the water that I looked different; I had no eye patch, no scars, or wearing a cloak. My eyes in the reflection starring back at me looked cold, they looked evil. Infinite raised his hand up ready to attack Espeon standing in front of both Lisa and Brent. I broke free from being frozen unable to move and quickly ran over and stood in front of Espeon and held out my paws using Protect to shield her from Infinite's attack.

"Stop! Don't hurt her!"

"Espeon is the enemy. What are you doing Zack?" Purrloin questioned.

"Stop shielding the Espeon and let Infinite erase her from existence already. Her memory right now is giving me an awful headache." Cornelius chuckled.

"She's my friend, you five are not!" I reached for my scalchop and held it tightly, ready to use my moves should they try anything, careful not to look into Shiny Latias' eyes knowing she would try to control me back to them and let Infinite erase Espeon. "I don't know what's going on, but none of this is real. I am not your friends. Juro, Infinite, Cornelius and Purrloin are all dead. Shiny Latias remains as the leader of Team Annihilation Reborn who has locked up her sister away doing who knows what." I looked back at Espeon, finding her glaring at me still with fire in her eyes.

I prepared myself, readying to face all of my enemies I had fought once in the past alongside Shiny Latias, remembering my training in the Kanto region when I would one day face her, I closed my eyes before she could control me again.

Expecting one of them to attack, yell at me to move out of the way so they could finish Espeon off, none of it came. All was silent; I heard nothing, not the wind in the trees or anything. "Leave her alone!" I noticed the air wasn't cold anymore, it was warm… and so I opened my eye, cautiously first at the ground. And I saw something else.

I found myself running down another road similar to the one I was on before; only this one was very close to a beach similar to the one near Accumula Aqua and I stayed at while I was injured. I stopped running and looked back down the road, but there was no one there. No soldiers lying on the road or any sign of battle, it was empty and quiet. "What is going on here? What is this?"

"It's nice here." She said as she held both a sleeping Light and Kairi in her arm. "We get along with everyone here, the Pokemon are friendly, no humans try to catch us, and we are at peace here." Aqua breathed in the air and sighed as she sat back against the palm tree. "When are children have both grown up, they'll be leaving us to go start a family of their own. I'm glad we decided to stay here." Aqua held out her paw to me, slowly I held out mine and touched her paw, she felt warm, and so I sat beside her on the sand.

"Aqua, we didn't stay here, don't you remember? Purrloin and her gang showed up, we fought and defeated them and returned home, but then I had to leave to find Latias and the others."

"Zack, what are you talking about?" Aqua cocked her head and looked confused at me. "Purrloin and her gang never showed up ever again. We have been living in peace here for years now. You gave up on going back so we could live right here."

"No I didn't. I know this isn't real. Juro, Infinite, Cornelius, Purrloin all alive back there on that road with Shiny Latias of all Pokemon travelling together with me, as if we are friends or something… I don't know what the heck that was about." I argued, careful not to raise my voice too loud to wake up Light and Kairi. They shouldn't be here. Aqua shouldn't be here on this beach again, this was all wrong. 'Where was I?' I thought to myself at first, asking myself if this was a realistic dream or a Pokemon might have attacked us while walking down the road.

Jessica a human turned Mew thanks to the Doom project gave her a unique ability to trap her victims into a nightmare world haunted and terrorized by the things we fear until it kills you. Perhaps Jessica did this to me, but it wouldn't make sense since we were friends and working together to stop Shiny Latias. Although Shiny Latias could've caught her recently and used her to get to me, it had been a while since I last spoke with her.

"Mommy, is daddy here yet?" Kairi opened her eyes looking up first at Aqua holding the little Oshawott in her arms, and then turned to me smiling and jumping up at me and hugged me. "Daddy!"

"Dad! I missed you!" Light cheered loudly as he jumped from Aqua's lap and next to her sister as they both gave me a tight hug.

I held them both, the first time in their lives since all I have been doing for the past five years is search for my friends and family captured by the enemy, only ever speaking to them by video calls. They felt cold to the touch and weightless, but Aqua sitting next to me felt warm as she leaned beside me stroking Light's head with her paw. I knew Aqua always felt this warm whenever we sat next to one another, but to my children I didn't know anything, what it was like to hold them, to see them face to face and be this close rather than have a screen and hundreds of miles between us, it didn't do anything to me when I thought it would. I should've been happy about this, but this didn't feel real at all.

"I thought you were going out to get some food for us?" Aqua whispered into my ear. "We're not out of food just yet, maybe a day's worth, but it would be nice for us to rest once in a while." I didn't respond, I only looked down at Light and Kairi in my arms still hugging me.

Carefully, I set both Light and Kairi down and stood up. "This isn't right… none of this is. The road back there with all of my enemies, us on the beach with our children without anymore fighting and being at peace here… this is all wrong, and I know it."

"Again with this Zack?" Aqua shook her head with a disappointed sigh, standing up next to me looking me in the eye. "I don't know what's wrong with you Zack but this is how we have been living for many years now. So just drop it!"

"Why are you getting defensive about it?" I snapped back. "What's going on here? None of this is real…"

"I'm concerned you might frighten them with the things you are saying!" She raised her voice, a tear dripping from her cheek. "Saying none of this is real, we're not real. I'm scared for you Zack, you have been acting weirdly lately… please stop this… y-you're scaring me." she sobbed.

"All of this is weird. One minute I am standing in a road teamed up by my past enemies including Shiny Latias fighting people, Pokemon and Espeon, Lisa and Brent as if we are enemies. And the next minute I am standing on a beach with you, our children living a life as if we never did leave the beach." I looked down at my body to find less scars on my body, before I had left Nuvema Town to look for my missing friends and family. I wasn't wearing the cloak Aqua gave to me before I left. I looked up at Aqua and placed both of my paws on her shoulders, "Are you… Jessica? Did you place me in this dream world either controlled by Shiny Latias or yourself? Perhaps to give me a message, is that it?"

"Jessica?" She cast me a confused look, and I looked around again to search for anything off about this place; the forest surrounding the beach near Accumula for a sign we were being watched, the ocean in search of a boat or anything unusual, towards the cave on the left side of the beach where Aqua and I once lived in for a time when we stayed on this beach while I healed up before we moved on, even at our children playing happily in the sand. I let go of her and turned towards the ocean, feeling lost on what was happening to me.

"Jessica, who is she? A girl you once knew?" Aqua asked as she stood beside me. I had told her about Jessica before, how she was born human, grew up with Team Annihilation, after the downfall joined Team Doom and became one of eight humans to turn into a Pokemon by the Doom serum; she became a Mew with a unique ability capable of trapping and killing her victims into a nightmare world. I told this Aqua all of this, and yet she reacted to it all as if it was the first time hearing it. I didn't fight it this time, argue that I had already told her this and just fell silent. "Why did you think I was this Mew? You two were a thing back then? Before you lost your memory?"

"We started off as enemies for a short while, then allies helping each other out to fight Team Doom, and finally we became friends, nothing more." I turned to Aqua again to find her kneeling down beside Kairi and Light, helping them build a sand castle by providing them with more sand.

"She acts as if this has been our life, no Purrloin, no fighting for me, Aqua and I both raising our children on the beach in peace… I do want this for them, but I know this isn't right." I thought to myself before turning to face the ocean. "I suppose it would've been nice if none of this had happened, Kairi and Light living out here rather than spending their lives indoors in a safe zone until all this fighting was done and over with already. I never did tell Latias about me and Aqua… 'I had memory, lived in Castelia City with a gang for a while, travelled all over the Unova region trying to get back home without a memory of Latias, how we were in love never came to mind. Then one day Aqua and I fell in love, me believing I had no one back home and thinking this was alright.' Yeah, that's what I would probably say to Latias. An awkward conversation and a little difficult to start off with and to end."

Suddenly I turned away from the ocean and looked to the forest at the sound of a voice I heard, as if calling out to me. I glanced down first at Aqua and the children, but they didn't seem to react to the sound I had just heard coming from the forest. I turned my head once more at the sound again, the voice I could hear clearer now. It was Lisa somewhere beyond the trees, and so I took a step forward and began to run towards the forest, but before I could pass the trees, I started to fall. The whole world shattered like glass until all that was left was a black void surrounding me, and then there was light.

I was standing right in the middle of the road to hear the sound of a struggle to the right of me. I saw two soldiers sighting against Espeon, Lisa with her Umbreon, and Brent all fighting them beside a small tent and truck. On the ground I saw a small few soldiers lying on the ground off the road unconscious. Before I could help out the last of the soldiers was defeated.

"Zack, you okay?" Lisa asked as I approached.

"Y-yeah I guess… what happened?"

"Team Annihilation Reborn happened." She said before showing me the canister Team Annihilation Reborn had used on us. "These guys used these on us, released some kind of weapon on us and we all saw hallucinations. We broke free from them and fought them off."

"Everyone here see something else similar to what I saw?" I asked, and they all nodded.

"The first hallucination I saw I was standing on top of a stage in front of many people from the Kanto branch Savior's team, cheering an clapping at what I thought was solely for me, and then I noticed standing beside me were four of my friends who had died during a mission we were all on." Brent sighed sadly as he thought back to the first hallucination he had. "This mission I was on, I was the sole survivor while all four of my friends died. We lived and grew up in the same town together, joined The Savior's together, fought together, only I came back alive. Just seeing them in that hallucination... "

Lisa walked up and comforted him. "I remember you once told us about that mission. I saw my brother in that hallucination he acted as though he were still alive and trying to convince me that what I was seeing was real and not fake."

Brent crossed his arms. "They all thought I was crazy. Ain't right in the head. They told me all sorts of events that never happened after the mission; all of us praised as heroes, reaching the highest rank of The Savior's, and ya know making a difference in the world. I almost believed it until you guys brought me back to my senses."

"I saw my first trainer Eliza, but she was all grown up and ready to leave home to start her Pokemon journey with me." Espeon sighed sadly as her ears lowered. "I knew something was wrong about the whole thing but the things Eliza was telling me, trying to convince me how she wasn't dead and what I was seeing was real, it kind of got to me when she said all of that, tearing up by the end of it upset how I was claiming she wasn't real." Espeon glanced over at the unconscious soldiers. "After breaking free from that hallucination, knocked these guys out, freed all of you from the same experience I had, and now here we are."

"That stuff whatever they used on us was powerful, it felt like it wouldn't let go as I was pushed to different hallucinations every time I thought I could break free from it." I said looking down each road then at the containers the Team Annihilation Reborn soldiers had used to trap its victims. "You guys alright?"

"I feel fine, but we should at least get checked before we move on. If that stuff has other effects we should at least know about." Lisa said as she checked the container with Team Annihilation Reborn used against its victims.

We had called Devon not too long after while remaining on the side of the road. He had sent his team to come and take the weapons Team Annihilation Reborn had used and take the unconscious soldiers away. Shiny Latias' ability to control all whoever looks into her eyes is broken once the victim is either let go by Shiny Latias herself or if they become unconscious regaining control over themselves once more with hardly any memory of what had happened. This road was probably used to capture people driving down the road trapping them in hallucinations first before taken back to be controlled as soldiers for Shiny Latias' army.

The weapon they used to trap their victims was something called The 'T.A.R. Project.05' one of a few weapons created by Team Annihilation Reborn 5o capture more to join amongst their growing ranks. The hallucinations if the victim tried to fight their way out of, the weapon would create another hallucination as long as it could. The effects didn't last too long, only five minutes before the effects began to weaken.

I thought back as we continued down the road, the hallucinations we saw. I thought back to when I was in a team with my past enemies including Shiny Latias thinking back to a time when we thought Shiny Latias could be helped. Latias thought at least so, me not so much after what she did to my mom and controlled her soldiers to kill Sakura and Isaac, and kidnapping and torturing my friends and Latias. I had wished life had been different; Shiny Latias never did any of this, never started up Team Annihilation up again and let Team Doom fall into ruin. But I suppose all in this region wished the battle Shiny Latias wished never to have happened. I wanted this to be over so not only I could get back to living my life free from the fighting but also wanting to have everyone else in this region and others to be free from Shiny Latias and her army.

I didn't know how all of this would end, either me the victor by the end of the battle, or both of us killing each other, or me failing and the region would be under her control. I had hoped this battle would end happily for all of us and this would all seem like a long bad dream.

To be continued…

Trivia:

There were originally five hallucinations Zack saw in this chapter based on different scenarios; Zack's mother alive and well, Latias back home and all is well, and the world was safe. This would've dragged on too much and so it was cut to just two hallucinations.