With Sword in Hand

by BewareTheDragon1

Finn's life sucks. He has no friends, a paralyzed right hand, and the worst luck when it comes to foot placement. But the worst part is that despite having Pokémon training in his blood, he can't befriend a single Pokémon. It's been four years since his tenth birthday, and though he doesn't know it yet, he's about to go on an adventure; with sword in hand.

57. The War Room

When meeting one's idols, it's important to keep your own identity in mind.

It's okay to look up to someone. Good, even. Everyone needs role models, be they gym leaders, champions, celebrities, or otherwise. They help us model our behavior and learn what we aspire to be. Having idols and heroes is a good thing.

But don't compare yourself to them. They're your idols for a reason. They've reached the point where you cannot reasonably expect yourself to get there. Unless your idol is someone close to you, such as a family member, you will probably never acquire the same status as the heroes you look up to. And that's okay. The amount of luck it takes just for an opportunity to reach the heights that champions and gym leaders reach is monumental. It doesn't matter how much spirit, skill, or talent you have if you never get the opportunity to use it.

Another reason not to compare yourself to your idols is because you aren't them. Some feats are impossible for you or me. People like N, who have unique abilities, should never be compared to normal folks. They are so rare, so far beyond normal, that it's not beneficial in any capacity to compare yourself to them. Prodigies like Cynthia Shirona or the ever enigmatic Red Ketchum are similarly rare, and while you can aspire to be like them, trying to reach their level of skill is a pursuit that will take the better part of a lifespan.

So even if you are in a position where you could potentially rival your idols, where you've met that one-in-a-million chances that made it possible, don't let it overwhelm you. They spent their whole lives to get where they are, and you have more than enough time to make your own mark on the world.

---

"Breathe in…"

Finn took in air, filling his lungs slowly.

"Now let it out slowly, focusing your aura into it."

He did as instructed, breathing out slowly and pushing at an intangible force that didn't quite exist. A cloud of dark purple smog emerged from his pursed lips to float in the air in front of him. Finn straightened, refilling his lungs.

"I don't think that was the intention?" Finn looked over at his father with a curious look.

"Well…" Zane walked over to the cloud, stopping for a moment before sticking his hand in. "Huh. It's just like spite. The move, I mean." He pulled his hand out, shaking it in the air. "Hand's numb." Zane shrugged. "This was kind of the intended endpoint? Just, wasn't expecting you to do it so quickly. And by 'it' I mean… anything. That's remarkably fast growth, especially since you only manifested any kind of auric control less than a month ago. It took me years after my first accidental auric discharge to pull off any sort of deliberate attack."

"But what was it supposed to be?" Finn asked, crossing his arms.

"Oh, just a simple breathing exercise. Meant to help channel aura." Zane scratched his head. "I wasn't expecting a result this early."

"It might help that my aura is being influenced by my pokemon, and that I'm getting bits of their know-how at the same time," Finn suggested.

"That's probably-,"

The computer set into the wall of the training room beeped, and Zane furrowed his brow and walked over. He typed on the keyboard for a few moments, then stood up straight, his eyes widening.

"It would appear that I have lost track of time. We have guests arriving shortly," Zane said, glancing back over at Finn. "As a note, I would appreciate it if you kept my abilities with aura within the family. There's going to be more than a little politicking in the coming days – maybe weeks – and being able to tell when someone's lying is very convenient."

"So I'll just say that Sparks has been training me?" Finn asked, glancing over to one corner where the lucario was taking a brief snooze. He had sparred with Finn that morning, and apparently it had been harder on the lucario than it had been on Finn and Athena.

"Yeah, that would probably do it. We will need to talk to our guests about what you're capable of, since it's valuable intel on the enemy." Zane nodded.

"Who are our guests, exactly?" Finn grabbed his gloves and tugged them back on. It was easier to channel aura through bare skin than through clothing, apparently. Finn hadn't really noticed.

"Ummm…" Zane pondered for a few moments. "You know what, I'll leave it a surprise."

"Great." Finn sighed. "I thought you weren't supposed to keep secrets from the champion."

"It's not a secret, it's a surprise." Zane waggled his eyebrows. "Oh, that reminds me, I should tell you what's really going on with the Dragon's Peak."

Zane walked across the room and bent over to wake Sparks up. The lucario stretched, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Zane tilted his head, signaling Sparks to follow.

"Um, it's a dragon sanctuary?" Finn said, confused.

"Way more complex than that." Zane shook his head, making his way to the door. "The ban on flying isn't because dragons are territorial, it's a bit more dangerous than just some dragon type pokémon."

"What's more dangerous than a hydreigon flying at you with murderous intent?" Finn blinked rapidly, surprised.

"You know how a metagross is four superintelligent brains networked together?" Zane asked rhetorically. "Try tripling that. Triple the intellect of easily the smartest non-legendary pokémon. Then give it psychic powers exceeding an alakazam several times over. Oh, and enough raw power to crush a mountain. Add in its preference to be left alone, and you have yourself the reason we don't allow even the strongest trainers to fly on this mountain."

"That sounds… terrifying." Finn recoiled. "What is it?"

"Well, I've only seen it a couple of times, but it's about what it sounds like. Three metagross stacked on top of each other, fused into a single network capable of looking over the entirety of Toreta and then some. Your mother has tried to figure out how that happened, but it despises the idea of a human learning its secrets." Zane shrugged. "We call it the Wardmind, although its true name follows typical metagross fashion on steroids. So its name is like nine syllables long. The League has a centuries-old agreement with it, where we keep random trainers from getting close to it and in return it permits us to keep our headquarters on its mountain. We make deals with it on occasion, and it always asks for something with wide-reaching consequences."

"Like what?" Finn asked.

"Remember when a bunch of Alolan pokémon were imported about a year ago?" When Finn nodded, Zane continued. "Environmental compatibility had almost nothing to do with it. The Wardmind did a favor for the League about four years ago, and it only cashed in the favor we owed in return recently. We did our best and had the rangers lend a hand in order to avoid disturbing ecosystems too much, but there are still problems cropping up. The damn thing is probably going to ask for something similar in return for its help in the coming weeks, but fortunately we've already set up something with Chairman Rose of Galar for that."

"Huh." Finn scratched his head. "Why did it want to import new species to Toreta?"

"Hell if I know. I think it likes seeing how we scramble to prevent total disaster." Zane shook his head. He opened the door and donned his mask, which he had apparently grabbed at some point during the conversation. "But part of our current arrangement is that, starting today, the no-fly zone is nulled. That's how our guests will be arriving."

Zane led Finn through the halls to the entry area of the League HQ. Zane looked up at the big doors, squinted and hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and used the normal doors to the side. The small group stepped out onto the plateau in front of the headquarters to see that the sky beyond the flat field was shrouded by mist and clouds. Zane mumbled something under his breath, Finn only caught him saying 'Tyson', then stomped out into the middle of the field. Also outside was Anthony, who was training Ares the machamp and Poseidon the golisopod against one another. He stopped when he spotted Zane and Finn, his pokémon coming to a stop shortly after.

Finn walked over to Anthony as Zane reached into a pocket for a phone.

"Heya." Finn gave a brief grin as he approached. "What's up?"

"Finn! I heard that you won!" The younger teen's face split in a massive smile. "I guess I'll be training to beat you, huh?"

"You'll have to wait on that," Zane called over, lowering the phone for a moment. "League is in a state of emergency starting in about… three hours, and it isn't letting up until we're done with the Plasma fiasco. All challenges are put on hold." Zane paused, looking down at the phone. "Oh, and I'm going to have to ask you to head inside. There's going to be some classified information passed around out here in a little bit, and no matter how much you want to help, I'm afraid you don't hold the authority to hear that information."

Anthony's face fell, but he nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Actually," Finn said. "I trust Anthony with this."

His father's head snapped towards him, and though Finn couldn't see his eyes from this far thanks to the mask, he could feel the focus. "Why?"

"I just…" Finn looked down at his right hand. "I have a feeling."

Zane didn't say anything for a little while, just staring. Then he sighed, shaking his head. He walked over until he was standing close to Anthony.

"Young man," Zane said. "Can you keep a secret?"

"If I have to, sir. I don't like keeping secrets, especially not if they hurt people, but if you need me to keep a secret to keep people safe, then I can," Anthony said earnestly.

"Very well." Zane reached up and removed his mask. "Then you're going to hear a lot of things that may not make sense at first. You might see things that could be considered classified. If you can keep these things secret, you'll have an easy path to League employment in the future. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Champion Tanner." Anthony nodded.

"Good." A smile tugged at the corner of Zane's mouth. "Just call me Zane. It'll make things a little less confusing. Oh, and recall your golisopod. I hear they're jumpy and that would not be good."

At that, Zane turned and walked away, returning his attention to his phone. He held out his mask and Sparks took it from him, darting inside to put it away. Shortly after the lucario returned, Zane looked up with a grin. He shouted over to Finn and Anthony, then started walking towards the southern edge of the plateau.

"Eyes due south, boys. You're going to see something amazing."

Finn turned towards the edge of the plateau, frowning as he looked out into the mist. Absolutely nothing was visible beyond the drop-off, which was mildly concerning. Having weather like this on a mountain could lead to a lot of damages and death, but Finn trusted that his father would keep them safe.

The sudden appearance of something huge looming out of the mist was thus something of a surprise.

The shape was bigger than the front of the League Headquarters, its edges obscured by the mist. A low hum filled the air as it drew closer. Finn squinted as shapes made themselves clear. A pointed top, a wide base, and a mess of rounded and sharp shapes at the bottom. It was only when it emerged from the mist that Finn started to realize what it was. He picked out the shape of the chimney, the attic windows, and even the front door.

That was the house he had grown up in.

Finn started laughing as the Ferris mansion slowly drifted closer, coming to a complete halt only when the platform it was floating on was touching the edge of the plateau. There was a metallic cacophony as the mechanical mess that was levitating the mansion dug itself into the side of the mountain. Only when the deafening noise died down did the front door open, revealing Finn's mother standing proudly.

Zane strode forwards confidently, wrapping his arms around Athena Ferris' waist and pulling her into an embrace. She reciprocated, the two engaging in a deep kiss for several moments.

Anthony looked at the pair, one hand up and weakly pointing. "Wh-, Oh. OH! Zane Ferris! Oh my god!" He turned to Finn. "Your dad's the champion?"

"Well, ex-champion." Finn shrugged.

"Still…" Anthony shook his head, blinking rapidly in shock. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, I didn't know until after I battled you out here," Finn replied. He shrugged. "Besides, it's… kind of a secret? There's a reason Dad told you not to tell anyone."

"Still… wow…" Anthony just stared for a bit.

When Finn's parents disengaged, Athena Ferris walked across the field to Finn.

"Look at you!" Finn's mother smiled, arms outstretched. She wrapped Finn in a hug. "My son, the champion!"

"Well, it kind of does run in the family," Finn said.

"Hmm." Athena Ferris stepped back, ruffling Finn's hair. "While I understand what you're talking about, the way you said it reminds me of my parents."

"Yeah, Dad told me about that." Finn ducked his head to get his mother to stop. "What are you doing here Mom?"

"Strategic consulting, technically," She answered. "We're planning for war."

"War?!" Anthony spoke up now.

"Ah, you would be… Anthony Nelson. I remember your battle." Athena Ferris got a thoughtful look on her face. "You won first try, but only by a very narrow margin."

"Yeah, that's right." Anthony nodded. "But what war?"

"We have reason to believe that Team Plasma has amassed a force strong enough to rival a standing army. Their leader, Ghetsis Harmonia Gropius, has a history of gathering power and using it to attempt to overthrow legitimate governments," Finn's mother explained. "We are treating his actions as a declaration of war, starting with attempted murder of an important member of the League."

"Oh wow…" Anthony scratched his head, looking at the ground with wide eyes. "I've just been dropped in the deep end, huh…"

"Sorry," Finn apologized.

"Nah, I'd rather know about it than be terrified when it shows up without warning." Anthony shook his head with a heavy breath. "Just… wow."

"Yes, it is rather a lot to worry about," Athena Ferris said. "But we've got the best of the best on it. Things will turn out well."

"I sure hope so," Anthony said.

"Anyways… Finn, Torina hitched a ride with us. Zane told us about your… oddities. Torina's going to be doing a physical and psychological evaluation to make sure you're still…" Athena trailed off, gesturing into the air.

"Me?" Finn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was going to say healthy, but realized that it would still be inaccurate. Regardless, she should be out momentarily. She was taking a nap because she gets motion sick, and only woke up when we arrived." Athena Ferris turned back towards the house as a gaunt, nearly bald man stepped out with several suit cases in hand. Finn's mother increased the volume of her voice to speak to her elderly assistant. "Smith, if you would just… assert yourself on the staff. Thank you." She returned her attention to Finn. "I swear, your father lets the general staff get so sloppy…"

"You know, you never told me where you got that old geezer." A new voice spoke up, and Finn turned to see Daniel Blake sitting on a nearby bench. His arm was draped around the shoulders of Maria, his zoroark. He was leaning back, one leg up and resting on his knee. Maria was mirroring his pose. "I swear he hasn't aged a day in the twenty years since I first saw him."

Athena Ferris scowled. "Family heirloom. When did you get here Daniel?"

"See, she keeps deflecting." Daniel turned his head to look at Finn, a cheeky grin on his face. "What's that even supposed to mean?"

A shout from across the field drew Finn's attention, and he glanced over to see his father jogging towards the small gathering.

"Danny!" Zane slowed to a halt, a wide grin on his face. "Good to see you again. It's been a while."

"That it has." Daniel's grin didn't change, but it took on a more genuine quality. "What've you been up to?"

"League business, politics, ninjas, the works," Zane said with a shrug. "Although I would like to echo my wife's question. When did you get here?"

"Couple days ago." Daniel shifted a bit on the bench, pulling Maria a bit closer. The zoroark complied, resting her head on his shoulder. "A little bit before Finn, actually."

"How didn't I notice?" Zane's brow furrowed.

"Trade secret." Daniel winked. "Nah, simple invisibility. Maria's great at it. I rode in on Lumin's back, despite his complaints. Settled into one of the guest rooms. Nobody ever goes to the end of the hallway."

"Why would you fly on this mountain?" Zane asked, exasperated. "You know why we don't let people do that."

"Yeah, well, dark types don't have to worry about Big Brother." Daniel shrugged. "You'd be surprised how many times I've just taken a quick trip up here to check on you. You never noticed."

"Wait, you're... Daniel Blake. The mayor of Oplens," Anthony said, the gears turning in his head. "And that's Dracul's zoroark… so you're…"

"Whoops," Daniel deadpanned. "Yeah, that's me. Zane's not the only one living a double life where both are extremely famous. Just a fight against a zoroark, huh?"

"I…" Anthony's face flushed.

"He's just messing with you." Maria's voice emanated from the air. She reached over and tugged on Daniel's ear, eliciting a wince from the gym leader. "If it bothered either of us when people got frustrated with the challenge, we wouldn't be doing it."

"Ow." Daniel gently pulled his ear from Maria's grip.

"You know Daniel, I should bring a ton of League regulations down on your head for violating one of our most important rules." Zane scowled.

"Yeah, but ya won't, will ya Aura Boy," Daniel said, sticking his tongue out.

"Are you seven again?" Athena Ferris rubbed her temples.

"I wouldn't discredit the possibility, dear." Zane sighed. "Just get inside, will you?"

"Alright, alright." Daniel stood up, Maria following close behind. The two headed into the League HQ, the door closing behind them.

"I swear that man's going to get someone killed some day. It may even be him." Finn's mother shook her head. "Regardless, I think Torina should be out in-,"

It was at that point that the petite professor finally stumbled out the front door of the Ferris mansion, closing the door behind her. She seemed disoriented, and her hair was mussed up from the trip. Her traditional lab coat was hanging off one shoulder, held up only by her other arm being through the sleeve. She had a pokéball on each hip, probably one for Nero and one for Sera. She looked around blearily, then perked up when she saw the small group to one side.

"Hello Zane." The professor and former champion nodded to each other in greeting. Torina Aspen smiled at Finn. "Hi Finn. How've you been doing? Have you been taking your medicine?"

"I've been doing well. Athena hasn't let me forget my medicine." Finn smiled back.

"That's good." Professor Aspen nodded absentmindedly. "I'd love to take a look at you, and Athena, and another look at Belle and a look at Bastion. And I'll send some of the data on your bond to Professor Oak, since his specialty is the bond between humans and pokémon. But right now, I'm going to sleep on solid, safe ground that isn't humming."

"Alright, sleep well Professor," Finn said.

"Yeah..." She nodded again, turning to head inside. Toreta's resident pokémon expert stumbled into the League HQ and disappeared.

"Is the Professor… okay?" Anthony asked.

"She'll be fine. She doesn't do well with large vehicles," Athena Ferris said. "She hates trains, ships, planes, everything. Can handle cars just fine, but large vehicles just screw with her sleep cycle."

"Huh. Okay."

"Our first prestigious guests should arrive shortly," Zane said, looking down at his phone. "And close together, too."

As if right on cue, a shape flew through the mist. A powerful flap of the wings dispersed the clouds in a single go, the defog far more powerful than normal. The form that was revealed was a large white creature, a pattern of blue and red triangles on its belly. The togekiss swooped in, and its rider dropped off of its back. She was a tall woman, with a head of long blonde hair and black hair ornaments above each ear. Her attire consisted of a full set of black clothing, with a black fur-lined coat over the top. Her piercing gray eyes scanned the field for a moment before she spotted Zane.

She opened her mouth to speak when another presence arrived, a brilliant white metagross with its legs tucked in flying over the field and slowing to a complete stop. Its legs extended and the steel type landed, its rider sliding off and adjusting his suit. The man fiddled a bit with his rings, the metal cuffs on the ends of his sleeves clinking against each other. His steel blue hair was in disarray from the flight – something the blonde woman seemed to have avoided. The pin on his lapel glinted in the sun now that the clouds had been cleared, the keystone on top shining a brilliant array of colors.

"Well, not a perfect trip. But I wasn't exactly expecting it to be," The man said, patting the shiny metagross on its metal carapace. Its eyes flicked towards him, then at the woman. "It's been quite a while since our paths crossed, hasn't it?"

"It's not every day that a force like us is needed." The woman shrugged. Her togekiss landed next to her, trilling happily as it rolled in the grass.

"Ah, speaking of." The man turned his gaze skyward.

Finn followed the newcomer's gaze to see a huge dragon flying in on wings that were far too small to carry its weight. Its orange bulk landed and it turned to look at its rider, a man with a head of spiky red hair. He slipped off of the dragonite's back and adjusted his cape. The rest of his attire appeared to be designed for riding, with sleek aerodynamic designs and heavy padding in certain places.

Only seconds after that another dragon flew in, this one far faster; though that appeared to be due to recklessness rather than capability. Its three heads snapped at each other as it got closer to the ground, its black tendril-like wings writhing. The hydreigon's rider hopped down and pat the center head on the bottom of the chin, stopping the dragon's infighting for a few brief moments before it resumed. The young woman couldn't have been older than twenty. She had dark hair and dark skin, with maroon eyes that hopped from face to face energetically. Her attire consisted of an extremely fancy dress, but a closer look revealed she was wearing riding pants and boots under it. As soon as she saw the red-haired man, she started shouting.

"If it isn't the dragonite specialist!" She taunted.

"Riding in a dress is hardly going to be safe," The man with the dragonite replied calmly.

"Screw you, I'm wearing pants!" The young woman shouted back.

"Oh geeze. I feel very under prepared now," The man with the metagross said mildly. He looked at his pokémon. "Do you think I should have worn something more utilitarian? We don't normally have bumpy flights, but this one was rather eventful…"

A pair of flying pokémon chose that moment to swoop out of the sky and land on the plateau One of them a revived fossil, the aerodactyl letting out a loud screech as it landed. A charizard landed right next to it, leaning over to poke the living fossile with its snout. The aerodactyl's rider dismounted first, his spiky brown hair swept backwards by the wind. He fluffed out his coat and smirked at the charizard's rider. "You know, I never understood how you keep that hat on while flying so fast."

The other trainer said nothing, sliding off of his charizard's back and patting it on the shoulder. He had a head of dark brown hair compressed under his red baseball cap. He was wearing a t-shirt with dark sleeves, a red vest over the top. He had a backpack on, with a device of some sort clipped on to the left strap. Much like his travelling companion, he couldn't have been older than thirty, but was certainly older than the dark-haired girl.

"Alright, looks like that's everyone," Zane said. "Especially since Alola's league isn't exactly stable…" The former champion stepped forwards, arms upraised. "Thank you all for being here. I think we have everyone now."

"No show from Galar and Kalos?" The blonde woman asked.

"Leon let me know that he was having problems with a gigantamaxed snorlax – whatever that means – and Diantha is having trouble keeping people away from something in Geosenge town." Zane said. "So it's just us."

"We're all you need," The trainer with the aerodactyl said confidently. He glanced over at his traveling companion, who had taken an old model pokédex from his pocket and started scanning everyone else's pokémon. "Will you give it a rest? You've already got every living creature on the planet in that thing."

In response, the man in the red hat just pointed the pokédex directly at him. It clicked a few times, then an expression of mock surprise broke through the usual blank stare before the trainer returned his pokédex to his pocket.

"Ha ha, real funny." The man with the aerodactyl grimaced.

"If you could all meet in the war room, we can discuss the circumstances I've called you all here for," Zane said, drawing attention back to himself. He glanced over at Anthony. "You'll have to go at this point."

Anthony just stood, eyes wide and sparking. He slowly nodded, recalled his machamp and walked back to the HQ in a daze. He seemed overwhelmed, but otherwise okay.

Zane turned and started to walk into the Headquarters. Athena Ferris walked alongside him, and Finn followed them. The group of new arrivals recalled their pokémon one by one, then as a group all six trainers followed them into the League HQ.

The group passed through the entry hall and took a sharp turn, entering a large room with an oblong table in the center. The war room was a relic of a long gone age, when Toreta was at war with Unova. Toreta had lost that war, and badly too. It was probably for the best, though, as most historic accounts placed the aggression and wrongdoing solely on Toreta. The only thing that made the war possible was that the dragon of Unova had already split into two. Now, the war room was used for almost nothing. It was a historic artifact maintained out of a sense of posterity.

Zane walked up to the head of the table and gestured for Finn to come over. Finn looked at the table as he made his way to his father's side, seeing the map of Toreta built into the surface. There were already locations marked out in dry erase marker. Notably the badlands between Oplens and Victory Road.

The guests took up positions around the table, and most of them looked to Zane. The former champion smiled and pat Finn on the shoulder.

"I'm afraid I'm not the champion any more. That title goes to Finn here. I'll still be the president of the Toreta League, but I want you to greet the most recent champion of Toreta: My son."

"Hey, good on you kid!" The man with the spiky brown hair and the dark jacket said. "I'm Blue Oak. Yes, that Oak." He waited, seeming to expect a response, then continued with slightly less enthusiasm. "Former champion of Kanto/Johto. This here's Red-," He pointed to his travelling companion in the red hat. "He's also a former champion of Kanto/Johto, and the one who dethroned me. He specializes in pokémon, pokémon battling, and being a mute."

"I can talk," Red said, his voice soft but strong.

"Oh, and add making me look bad to the list." Blue rolled his eyes, grinning to show that he wasn't taking it seriously.

The next one to speak was the man with the cape. "I'm Lance Blackthorn, current and longest holder of the position of champion in the Kanto/Johto League. I am a dragon master-," The young woman with dark hair scoffed. "-despite what others might think. Draconic nature is not just a matter of typing, it is a quality inherent in many Pokémon of different types."

"I'm Steven Stone, former champion of Hoenn," The man with a keystone pinned to his suit coat spoke next. "I'm something of a rock enthusiast and my favorite pokémon are steel types, though to call me a specialist in the type would be a bit misleading. I like studying history. Wallace sends his regards by the way. He would be here, but he got tied up in some political troubles." This last was directed at Zane.

"Hello, I'm Cynthia Shirona," The blonde woman said with a slight smile. "I'm the current champion of Sinnoh, and I must confess I also have an interest in the history of our world." Her eyes took on a faraway quality as she stared into space. "The wonders of our world, with the powers that legendary pokémon can bring to bear. It's fascinating."

"I'm Iris, champion of Unova and the greatest dragon type trainer in the world," The girl with darker hair proclaimed. Lance snorted, and she whirled to point at him. "Shut it!" She returned her attention to Finn. "Anyways, it's great to see young trainers aiming for the top!" She looked across the table to the other champions. "I tried to get old man Alder to come, but he just said he's retired and refused to go anywhere."

"Sounds about right," Blue said with a scoff.

"Anyways, what's your story?" Cynthia asked Finn.

"Well." Finn blinked, not expecting to be put on the spot like that. "I've… I've gone through a lot. Fighting Team Plasma -," There were scowls around the table at the name, especially from Iris. "- Has been a major motivator in wanting to get better. They stole one of my pokémon, and I only got him back after a year. I don't have any type specialties, but I make sure to acquaint myself with any rules and use them to my advantage. There's… more, but I don't know if I should get into that yet."

"Sounds like you've gone through a lot, kid." Blue nodded, a sympathetic look on his face. He glanced at Athena Ferris. "And you, lady?"

"Well, for starters Zane is my husband and Finn my son," Athena Ferris looked at Blue, answering with a neutral tone. "But if you're wondering why I'm here in the war room, it's because I have beat my husband in battle dozens of times since he has become champion. I have challenged and defeated the battle frontiers of Hoenn and Sinnoh, and my team has been trained to, together, rival the power of legendary-tier pokémon. Is that enough?"

"Um. Yeah. That'll do." Blue slowly nodded, respect finding its way to his face.

"Good."

"Since we have introductions out of the way, let's get into the reason I've called you all here," Zane said. "Six years ago, two new gym leaders were appointed to the Toreta League: Mono and Trinity Numer, ghost and ground type specialists respectively. Siblings. A year later, both of them underwent a drastic change. Trinity became far more muscular and aggressive, and Mono developed a skin disease that caused his extremities to rot. At the time this was just odd, but it turned out to coincide with the arrival of Neo Team Plasma in Toreta.

"You all know the story already, but I'll repeat it for Finn's benefit. Team Plasma's second attempt to conquer Unova was foiled by the prodigal rookie trainer Rosa Whitley. She captured the legendary pokémon Kyurem, which is believed to be the remnant of the original dragon of Unova with its truth and ideals stripped from it. With Kyurem, she battled the Unova League and briefly became champion, then practically disappeared and hasn't been heard from in any official capacity since. Ghetsis was believed at this point to be a broken man, though less than a year after his defeat he and the remnants of Neo Team Plasma vanished from Unova." Zane glanced over at Iris, who nodded solemnly to confirm the story. "We know now that he travelled to Toreta to restart his campaign to take over the world. It appears he has once again recruited the morally dubious scientist Colress to assist him, as well as several natives of Toreta with their own skill sets. Among them the Numer siblings, all of whom are talented type specialists; the former Doctor Cyril Tego, who was known for her advancements in technology as well as the unethical experiments that got her PhD stripped from her; and Renard Martin, a former spy of the Kalosian government whose real name we do not know. They have doubtless recruited others in the five years they've been here, but it's not just who they've recruited that's the problem. It what they're doing to them.

"Thanks to some form of genetic engineering, Team Plasma has managed to grant pokémon-like abilities to five-,"

"Six," Finn interjected.

"Sorry, six individuals. Powers such as pyrokinesis, enhanced strength, psychic powers, electrical generation, increased durability, and ghost-like abilities have been observed, and we are certain that more are possible," Zane said.

"This all sounds… a little crazy," Cynthia said, rubbing her chin.

"Yeah, it reminds me of a comic book I saw once." Iris scratched the side of her head. "People using the power of pokémon to battle… it seems like a ridiculous fantasy."

"Finn, if you would." Zane looked over to him, and Finn nodded.

Finn took off his gloves, revealing the scars and discoloration on his right hand to the champions. He removed his jacket too, showing the scar winding up his arm. With all eyes on him, Finn clenched his right hand, and in a flash his entire arm had turned to steel. A flex caused a barrier formed of interlocking hexagons to appear, and he dispersed it with a thought. A wave of his hand and his shadow crept across the table to grab one of the dry erase markers, which he pulled back with a flick of his wrist. He caught the marker out of the air and set it down gently.

"That's just a couple of things I can do. They never experimented on me, this happened due to an accident," Finn said. "The exact specifics aren't really relevant to our discussion right now."

"I want to believe this is real," Blue said, grimacing. "Any ghost types in the room?"

"My only ghost type is in her pokéball," Finn answered.

Blue and Red looked at each other, then Blue turned his attention back to Finn. "Let her out."

"Athena." Finn tapped the aegislash's pokéball, and she appeared in a flash of light.

The reactions to her appearance were mixed. Iris took a step back, no doubt intimidated by the ghost sword's appearance. Lance placed one hand on his pokéball belt. Cynthia just leaned forwards, intrigued. Steven put one hand to his chin, an appraising look coming over his face. Blue just looked to Red. Red stared at Athena for a moment then spent the same amount of time looking at Finn. He slowly took out his pokédex, scanned Athena, and then glanced at the screen. Eventually, after several seconds, he spoke.

"Aegislash are known for possessing trainers they don't like. They're lethal, and extremely dangerous to train. You can see the scars on Finnegan's arm. That said, nobody gets to champion with a ghost possessing them. Someone would have noticed. Then again, he scans as a ghost/steel type. That does not happen normally. His powers line up with the capabilities of an aegislash. You all saw the king's shield. The easiest conclusion would to be that he is indeed possessed, or perhaps using the aegislash's powers covertly. And yet that does not appear to be the case. Faking a pokéball is not a task one can pull off in front of eight professional trainers, and ghost types cannot use their powers through a closed pokéball. That was the real deal."

Everyone stood in silence for a few seconds.

"Well that was the longest speech I think I've ever heard from you," Blue said, blinking rapidly. "Like, ever."

Red shrugged, turning his gaze back to the pokédex in his hand.

"So, Team Plasma has super-powered soldiers," Cynthia said. "That's… bad. But I don't think it poses a threat we can't handle unless there's thousands of them."

"It gets worse," Zane said, his mouth drawing into a thin line. "We have video footage and trustworthy eyewitness reports of what appear to be human-pokémon hybrids. They're stronger than any normal pokémon, possibly at low-tier legendary power. They are certainly stronger than those extraordinary pokémon dubbed as pseudo-legends. Athena, dear, if you would?"

Finn's mother nodded and took a pokéball from her belt, releasing Xollen. The metagross looked injured, which was in itself terrifying. A huge patch on the right side of its face was a lighter shade than normal. The X between its eyes was missing a chunk from one of the tips. A large section of the top of its head was dented inwards, with signs that it was still slowly pushing back up to its normal alignment. Xollen's right eye was closed, the metal lid hanging loosely. The amount of power something needed to actually hurt a metagross this badly was staggering. But this wasn't just a metagross, this was Xollen. This was his mother's metagross, the one he'd seen destroy enemies with ruthless cunning and its invulnerable carapace. How could this have happened?

"Xollen," Athena Ferris said softly, crouching a bit so that she was at its eye level. "I need you to display the video footage we got from that night, okay?"

The huge steel type nodded, then squinted its remaining eye. It began to glow blue, and wisps of light appeared in the air in an attempt to form an image, only to fade. It shook, its legs quivering.

"Allow me to help, please," Steven Stone offered, holding up his own pokéball. When Athena Ferris nodded, he released his white metagross. The behemoth looked around the room, its eyes locking on the injured metagross. "Telzos, if you would?"

"Affirmative. Requesting interface."

Red slowly raised his pokédex, only for Blue to slap it back down. "Cut that out."

After a moment, an image made of light appeared above the table. It took a perspective from high above the subjects. Three figures were visible, facing off against three pokémon. Finn recognized those pokémon as Clarent, Kasparov, and Xollen, but it was the invaders that made him swallow nervously.

The one in front was a hulking figure, all muscle and rocky hide. It was humanoid, though definitely not human. Its left arm was more human, with four fingers and a stubby thumb at the end of a limb covered in rocky armor plating. The right was very much not, with only three fingers. The elbow extended far back, tapering to a rocky spike, while a hole in the palm denoted some sort of projectile weapon. The figure's legs were thick and ended in wide, sturdy feet. Its head was adorned with a pair of horns, one just above the hairline and the other much larger one jutting out of the center of its forehead. The face was the worst part, since Finn recognized it. More specifically, he recognized the murderous glare. That was Trinity.

Behind the monstrous form of Trinity was a much smaller form that at first glance seemed more human. But on closer inspection it was anything but. Its face was hidden, but there were a pair of luminous crimson eyes looking out from a pair of turquoise metal eye sockets. The figure's back held a large domelike protrusion, from which four turquoise metal arms that each ended in three steely claws emerged. This second hybrid's identity was only given away by the mechanical – rather than living metal - hand attached to its left wrist. It was Cyril.

The third Figure Finn recognized immediately, though not because of any defining features. Rather it was the lack of them that he knew. The black bodysuit and the helmet that covered the individual's entire head were those of Renard.

Then the image began to move.

At first it seemed like the gym pokémon were winning, holding the Plasma operatives at bay with stunning displays of power and skill. Kasparov was blindingly fast, Xollen ruthlessly efficient, and Clarent terrifyingly powerful.

But then the tide turned. Trinity managed to blast Xollen with so much power the metagross partially melted, then put her fist through his carapace. Clarent couldn't hold his own defensively while still keeping up an offence, allowing Renard to eventually gain the upper hand. Despite his wounds – which leaked some kind of green fluid rather than blood – the Kalosian spy defeated the aegislash. Outnumbered and outgunned, Kasparov was returned to safety. Trinity raised one hand, and the footage dissolved into meaningless static.

"Xollen only barely managed to save the footage," Athena Ferris said. "I immediately set to healing it, but Xollen insisted on getting into the gym network. The audio feed was deleted, and the entire database was scrambled, but the footage survived."

"Why?" Finn asked, his brow furrowed. "If they got into the system, why not delete everything? I know they have a porygon."

"I don't know," His mother admitted. A worrying thing for her to say, and it made a chill run down Finn's spine. "But we did learn a lot from just this footage. They're dangerous. Extremely so."

"Which is, of course, why I called all of you," Zane said. "These are some of the most dangerous foes I think any of us have ever seen. And this is without a legendary tier pokémon. My alakazam foresaw a great danger coming for us within the next month. We need as much help as we can muster before then."

"If that's the kind of power they're bringing to bear, then I can understand why…" Steven rubbed his chin and leaned forwards, looking at the image. "The large one, it's sturdy when standing still but not when moving. The right kind of pressure at the right location while its mid-attack would easily knock it off balance, as Xollen demonstrated. Higher temperatures can cause a metagross to lose control of its psychic powers and magnetic control, which is what happened to the six-armed one. The third looks like a psychic, so any dark type could probably pose a serious threat to them."

"Of course, if you manage to outnumber one of them with… probably three champion-level pokemon to one hybrid, that would probably do it," Cynthia added.

"And if we train our pokemon to avoid what looks like their favorite strategies, we could counteract them much easier," Iris said, slamming one fist into the palm of her other hand.

"Hey Red, maybe you could call in a favor from-," Blue started, only for the other former champion to slap a hand over his mouth. Red slowly turned his head to glare at Blue, then slowly lowered his hand. "Alright, sorry."

"I think there's something you're all missing," Finn said, swallowing. "There's more than three hybrids."

All heads turned to him. All save Zane and Athena Ferris, who both nodded.

"There's at least four," Finn said hollowly. "One with the abilities of a dusknoir." That got another spectrum of reactions from the foreign champions. "And there's almost certainly more by now. They have a machine that, that can," Finn swallowed again, his mouth dry. "That can combine two living things. I only saw the results with pokemon, but if they made it work with humans – which they certainly did – they have an easy way to make more. So many more-," Finn stopped, his eyes widening. "And that's what he was talking about. Oh God, I'm so…"

Finn turned away, running his hands through his hair. Stupid. Stupid. It wasn't the dragons that Team Plasma was after. They didn't even care. Two must not become one. But the dragons were three. It wasn't the dragons.

"Finn?"

It was humans and pokémon. Humans, which used to be pokémon. Two from one. And now they were being forcibly reunited. That was what would wreak the end of the world. Not any one pokémon, but an army of hybrids.

"Finn!"

And he hadn't seen it. It had been right in front of him and he had missed it. How could he let himself miss that? How could he-

A silken sash brushed across his arm, snapping him back to reality. His eyes refocused, and he lifted his gaze to see a vortex of purple spiraling into a vertically slit pupil. Athena stared into his eyes and lifted his chin with one sash.

"Hey, it's okay," She said quietly. "You don't have to get everything right, Finn."

"It was right there. It was right in front of me and I didn't catch it," Finn's voice was barely even a whisper.

"I know." And she did. Of course she did, they were linked. "But you're not perfect, Finn. Nobody expects you to be. You don't expect us to be perfect. We don't expect you to be."

"I had all the pieces, right in front of me…"

"No you didn't. You didn't know about Kyurem until now. You didn't have everything," Athena soothed. "They've tried to grab the dragons before, you have no reason to think they wouldn't do it again."

"Thank you." Finn leaned his head forward, resting his forehead against Athena's hilt. "Thank you."

"Are you okay?"

Only then did Finn realize that his mother was right behind him, a gentle hand on his shoulder. He straightened, turning to look at his mother. "I'm… tired. I think I've been running on fumes for a little too long, and using my powers really didn't help."

"Okay." Athena Ferris nodded. She looked at Finn's first pokémon. "You make sure he gets some rest, okay?"

Athena the aegislash bobbed in confirmation, then wrapped on of her sashes around Finn's right arm.

"Go get some sleep, kid," Blue said, a sympathetic look on his face. "You can't do everything, not alone. Especially not without taking care of yourself."

"Indeed," Lance added. "You cannot be a good champion if you work yourself to death." The dragon master's lips curled into a small smile. "Take a little time off. We'll update you when you get back."

"You've already made several significant additions to our planning," Cynthia said.

"Yeah, if we want to plan a strategy, having a more accurate enemy count is essential." Steven nodded. "We won't finalize anything without everyone present, so you can always go back through and correct any incongruities."

"And don't put too much pressure on yourself," Iris said. "Being a young champion can be hard. You have a lot to live up to."

Red gave him a thumbs up.

"Yeah." Finn nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay."

Finn turned and made his way to the door. Athena floated right beside him the whole way, her sash still wrapped around his arm. He opened the door to the war room and looked up and down the hallway. With a heavy sigh, he started off.

Only to nearly bump into Daniel, who appeared practically out of nowhere.

"Whoah, hey." Daniel grinned and slid just a little bit backwards. "Where you headed?"

"To bed," Finn answered.

"Ah, alright." The grin softened into a smile. "You take care of yourself kiddo."

Finn nodded, then continued down the hall. He'd let his team out in the yard, then get some sleep.

O-O-O

Daniel watched Finn go and sighed. Maria shifted next to him, still invisible. That poor kid. If there was something Daniel could do to lift the weight off of Finn's shoulders, he'd do it in a heartbeat. But the kinds of stress poor Finn had to bear were exclusive to him, and there wasn't a damn thing Daniel could do to help.

He shook his head and slipped through the door into the war room. He technically wasn't allowed here, but nobody noticed his entrance. They were too busy talking.

"That kid…" The man with the cape – Lance Blackthorn: Dragon master, notorious hardass, had a full team's worth of dragonites, lost to three different preteens – spoke. "He's not well."

"We know," Athena said, crossing her arms.

"Clever though." That was Blue – grandson of former champion Samuel Oak, former champion himself, fossil enthusiast, five counts of petty assault. "I didn't even think about the possibility that something was left intentionally. He caught that immediately."

"You do have to be quite cunning to make it to champion." Cynthia – terror on the battlefield, child prodigy, ties to the church of Arceus, adventure seeker. "It doesn't just happen by accident."

"I can attest to that one," Iris – orphan from the village of dragons, adopted granddaughter of dragon specialist Drayden, achieved rank of gym leader at the age of twelve – said with a wry smile. "Grandpa pushed me real hard before he let me challenge Alder, and it turned out to be necessary."

"I have to wonder, though. What happened to him?" Steven Stone – Geologist, heir to Devon Corp, secret affair with current champion Wallace – asked.

"According to my lucario, a freak accident leading to an anomalous aura." Zane shrugged. Daniel knew he was being misleading, but damn had he gotten good at it. Zane had learned well.

"That… makes sense." Cynthia nodded. When the others looked to her, she shrugged. "Spend enough time with a lucario, you pick a few things up."

The last guest looked up from his pokédex and looked directly at Daniel. Red – former champion, pokémon expert, no official defeats, field researcher, and otherwise a complete enigma. Red lifted his pokédex to scan, seemed satisfied when it pinged, and went back to fiddling with some kind of settings on the old device. It was the first version of the modern pokédex, though various additions and modifications had been made. Red nudged Blue, who glanced over at him, and then the mute tilted his head towards Daniel.

Blue turned to look, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Hey, who the hell are you?"

All heads turned towards Daniel, and he just shrugged.

"Daniel Blake. Dark type specialist. Mayor of Oplens here in Toreta," He said, slowly pacing around the table. He glanced down at the map, then back up at the faces around the table. "I got tired of eavesdropping outside, so I decided I might as well slip in when Finn went to bed."

"And why shouldn't we kick you right back out?" Lance asked, one hand lowering to his pokéball belt.

"Because I'm the best goddamn intelligence agent in Toreta." Daniel unclipped a pokéball from his belt and tossed it across the table to Athena, who caught it. "There's Kas, by the way. Still as much of an absolute bastard as always." He returned his attention to the matter at hand. "Finnegan told you about the dusknoir, but there's also an electivire hybrid. No footage, sadly, since cameras were obliterated immediately. But she's fast. Faster than damn near anything, according to my sources, and that's saying something since my sources include a champion level zoroark and greninja who have both seen a ninjask at work."

Daniel leaned forwards, planting both hands on the edge of the table. "That's not all. There's a kid with enough supernatural pyrotechnics at his fingertips to engulf a building in flames. There's the shadow triad, who have been trying to find out who I am for the past five years without success." He let up, standing up straight again. "Although you all probably knew about the ninjas. But you don't know-," Daniel grabbed a marker and popped the cap off, circling several spots on the map. "About the bases around Toreta. Or the absolute insanity they've been up to. Resurrection, empowerment serum, cybernetic enhancements to both pokémon and humans, fusion of multiple lifeforms into one, weapons development – a classic – and, of course…" He circled the last spot, north of Oplens and south of Victory Road. "Headquarters. Ghetsis has a flair for the dramatic, after all."

"This is the first time you've brought this up, Daniel," Zane said, sighing. "Why didn't you just ask-,"

"What, ask to join the champion's club? Nah, I'd never take that honor from you." Daniel smirked. "As for bringing it up now…" Daniel reached into a pocket of his suit and pulled out a USB. "I didn't get all of it alone. It looks like we've got a man on the inside."

He tossed the USB stick onto the table, and Steven Stone was the one to pick it up. He looked it over.

"I can't say I believe this…" He lowered the USB to his metagross' eye level, and the steel behemoth glowed for a second before it made a low droning sound. "But it seems Telzos does. So I'll trust it. On one condition."

"And that is?" Daniel's brow went up.

"Stop skulking around, and tell your zoroark to dispel its illusion. It's messing with Telzos' focus."

Daniel grinned, and Maria appeared next to him.

"Alright," Cynthia said, a smile tugging at her lips. "Let's hear what you have, mister spy."

"And cut the bullshit, Danny." Athena shook her head, but Daniel knew she was suppressing a grin. "We don't have time for games."

"Well, let's start with the enhancement serum." Daniel tapped one of the circles he made on the map. "They called it Talos…"

---

A/N:

The big guns have been brought out. The champions are here, but that doesn't mean we're in the clear yet. Hopefully I've managed to characterize these canon characters well, since I've spent almost the entire story with OCs.

I decided to give Steven's metagross a name, since as stated in this chapter they have their own naming conventions in my canon. Not all of the champions' pokémon will get names, and in fact I'm going to avoid naming them if possible.

The Wardmind is an idea I thought of a while back. If metagross is just four beldum, and mega metagross is just two metagross temporarily combined, what happens if three metagross fuse permanently? You get something that can rival most legendary pokémon.

Finn's been pushing himself nonstop since he woke up from his coma. Training his pokémon, training himself, and planning. He needs a bit of a break.

This chapter passes the 100,000 word mark since my return to writing. It shouldn't be nearly that many before the end of the story, but who knows.