A/N:

Putting my author's note before everything else because the next five chapters are parts of a whole. It's a messy, violent whole, so warning: there's a lot of fighting, some swearing, and there may be disturbing imagery in the following chapters. It's not much worse than anything already in the story, but I figure a warning is due.

These chapters were written over the course of about a month, so there may be inconsistencies or plot holes. If you find one, don't be afraid to drop me a review or a PM to let me know.

I've only been on one battlefield in my life so far, and it was that day. If you live in Toreta, you probably know what I'm talking about.

That day.

The day the earth split open and monsters came forth.

The day the League brought to bear forces never seen before.

The day Team Plasma fell for the third time.

That day.

I was not on the battlefield for very long. But while I was there I saw awful things. I saw amazing things. I saw terrifying things. I saw brutality never permitted in any pokémon battle, perpetuated by creatures that were partially human. I heard that there was an entity that has evaded human eyes for centuries, and another that was once the most sought-after creature on the planet. I saw things that I'm not even legally allowed to write down. In fact, I'm pretty sure this particular passage isn't going to make it to publication.

As I said, I was not on the battlefield very long. I had other places to be. But while I was out there one thing was clear to me:

If you have to choose between being on the side with Athena Ferris, Red Ketchum, and Cynthia Shirona, or being against them, pick the side with the world-renowned heroes. At the absolute worst, you'll have picked the victors.

"Hello everyone, thank you for gathering here today. I want to preface what I'm about to tell you by saying that I appreciate your efforts. All of you have completed the gym circuit, which takes a great deal of skill and shows amazing strength of character. For that, each and every one of you is to be commended.

"But it's not all good things today. As some of you have probably heard, Team Plasma is a constant threat to the wellbeing of our League, our nation, and even perhaps the fate of the world. I'm sure you've all heard the story before. The League is understaffed, and the threat we face is big enough that we cannot handle it alone. That's where you all come in.

"I want to begin by saying that if you do not want to be part of a large-scale conflict, you are free to leave now. No judgement will be passed. There is a risk of bodily harm, both to you and your pokémon. It is not cowardice to value the wellbeing of yourself and your team. If you want to get out of here, head to Oplens. The flying ban on this area has been lifted for the duration of the emergency, so you can get there as quickly as possible. For those of you who stay, listen close.

"What you see today, you cannot tell anyone. There will be horrible things, monsters you might call them, and they will try to hurt or kill you. I repeat, you cannot tell anyone. Aside from those here today, who have not left for their own safety, this is a secret that must be kept. To protect everyone involved.

"I must also ask that you do not maim or kill your foes today. If you absolutely must in order to survive, do so, but refrain if possible. The people and creatures on the other side are, as best we can tell, people. Ghetsis Harmonia, leader of Team Plasma, has a device capable of controlling the minds of those exposed to it. The enemy is not willing. They are not themselves. They are afflicted with changes and manipulation that they did not pick for themselves. It may be possible to save them. Again, if at all possible, avoid leaving crippling injuries or killing.

"That's not to say that you cannot defend yourself. We expect you to. Our foes are durable, at least as much as a pokémon if not more so. Use any trick you know to disable them without killing. Hazards, status conditions, binding moves, weakening moves; all are fair game. Do not hurt each other. There may be normal humans among the enemy as well. They can be identified by their Team Plasma uniforms.

"Now, this might all sound intimidating – and it is. What lies ahead of us today is scary. I won't lie to you. You could get hurt. You might get killed. But to those who stay here to fight, you will be remembered. Your names will go down in history for your efforts in defending Toreta. Any injuries or losses you suffer will be covered by the League. And when this is all over, you'll be awarded with one-of-a-kind honors. Of every trainer in Toreta, those who fight alongside us will be the only ones to hold this glory.

"Now then, brave defenders of Toreta, today will be a day of combat, and fear. But also one of glory and honor! We can stop Team Plasma! We will stop Team Plasma! Together, we can show them what the people of Toreta are capable of!"

With that, Zane Ferris raised one hand in a fist above his head, and the assembled ace trainers cheered. Zane stepped down from the stage to one side, allowing Finn's mother to take center stage.

"Before things get dangerous, let's talk strategy. I know you've all won against me, but by the same token you all know that I wasn't fighting you with my main team. Even then, I recognize a few of those faces in the crowd, and I remember how many attempts you took. You all might be among the best trainers in the region, but you still have room to improve. That's why I'm here."

Finn tuned the speech out at that point. The message wasn't for him. He looked over at his father, who stepped behind the stage and slipped off his mask. Zane wiped his brow, looking over at Finn. "About three hours until the chaos starts. You doing good?"

"Just fine." Finn nodded. "No aura usage today, to keep myself fresh for when I really need it."

"Good, good," Zane said. "It's not too late to-,"

"I'm going to do it," Finn interrupted. "I'm not backing out. Someone has to go into that base, and it's going to be me. I'm the best candidate."

"Still…" Zane trailed off, then sighed. "Finn, you don't have to throw yourself into dangerous situations just because you're terminally ill."

"I know, but I've already made up my mind." Finn shrugged. "I'm going to make a difference. The biggest difference, if I can."

"Okay." Zane took a deep breath, then sighed again. "I just… I want you to have as good a life as possible."

"I understand," Finn said.

There was an awkward silence between the two of them for a while, then a third person cleared their throat. Zane jumped, whipping his head towards the source of the sound. The former champion scowled.

"For the love of God Daniel. Stop doing that!" Zane exclaimed.

"I didn't even do 'it' this time. I was literally just sitting here," Daniel complained. "You're just not paying attention."

"You are, somehow, completely invisible to aura sense," Zane said, running a hand through his hair. "It's not fair."

"Stop relying on your supernatural senses then," Daniel teased, walking over and leaning against the back of the stage.

"You don't make noise when you move," Finn said. "Which is really weird, because you always wear those fancy shoes and a coat over the top of your suit."

"It's an acquired talent," Daniel said with a smirk. "Except for the aura thing. That's on accident. Pretty sure anyone could do it if they spent enough time with dark types."

"Nobody in their right mind spends that much time with dark types," Zane said with a huff.

"I'm not sure I like the implication." Daniel's smirk faded to be replaced with mock hurt.

"I said what I said." Zane shrugged. "I seriously doubt you can actually prove me wrong."

"You'd be… correct," Daniel said. "I can neither confirm nor deny any issues with my mental wellbeing."

"Are you okay?" Finn asked. "Serious question. Are you doing okay?"

"Lotta stress working with both the League and the Oplens government. But other than that, I'm probably going to be okay." Daniel gave a wan grin. "How about you, kiddo? Lots of fighting ahead of you."

"I'm not too worried about the fighting. I can handle a hybrid, I think. I'm more worried about what might happen if I fail," Finn said.

"If you're sure." Daniel glanced down at his wristwatch. "I need to get going."

"You're not going to be helping?" Finn asked.

"Oh I am, just not by fighting," Daniel answered. "I've done my part on the information-gathering front, and to be quite honest my pokémon aren't very well suited for head-on combat. I'll be watching from a distance and relaying enemy troop movements, but I'm not going to be in the fray."

"You're not going to give the old knuckle dusters a go?" Zane raised an eyebrow. "You were pretty good at it back in the day."

"I'm sure I wouldn't know what you're talking about. The heir to the Blake fortune most certainly has never gotten into fights with rival gangs in Oplens, and especially never used something as illegal as brass knuckles to punch out a crime boss, no sir." Daniel brushed imaginary dust off of his suit.

"Wait, did you really?" Finn asked in surprise.

"What? No. I just said I didn't." Daniel winked. "Anyways, I'm off. Good luck you two. Don't… don't let anything bad happen."

With that, Daniel walked away. Finn watched him go, only looking away when the dark specialist turned invisible.

"Oh, I just remembered!" Zane reached under the stage and pulled out a plastic case, about a foot in height and width. He popped it open and handed it to Finn.

"It's… pants." Finn raised an eyebrow and pulled out the article of clothing. "Cargo pants."

"Remember when I said I'd get you something for taking on the extra challenge of registeel? That's it." Zane grinned. "Not just pants. They've got an internal item storage, bigger than your bag. Just link them up and you can transfer everything over. You can still use the bag as a port, but the pants are much better."

"Huh…" Finn appraised the pants with a new eye. "That's pretty cool. Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it. I suggest you put those on ASAP. As for me, I had better get going. I think I hear your mother calling." Zane slipped his mask back on. "I might be busy for the rest of our prep time, so if I don't get to talk to you beforehand…" Finn's father trailed off, then reached out and put a hand on Finn's shoulder. "I love you. I'm proud of you. I believe in you."

And then Zane turned and walked back around the stage. Finn could hear his father's voice as he addressed the crowd of ace trainers.

Finn leaned back against the back of the stage, closing his eyes. So much had happened already, and the action hadn't even started.

O-O-O

It was a quirk that Finn had noticed before, but any time that Red wasn't doing something else, he was spending time with his pokémon. At first glance this was pretty typical behavior of a top-level trainer, but after several days of interacting with Red it began to stand out just how much time Red dedicated to his team. Any time he wasn't needed for something official, Red was training with his team. His team was with him whenever he was asleep. He had at least one pokémon with him when he ate. Red spent almost every waking hour with his team.

Finn couldn't blame him.

Right now, two hours out from the projected start of the conflict, Red was sitting on a rock with his pokémon surrounding him. They were all close together, all of them within arm's reach and the pikachu perched on Red's shoulder. Red was talking quietly to his lapras when Finn approached, but went silent as soon as Finn was in earshot. He looked up at Finn, an eyebrow raising.

"Hey, uh…" Finn scratched the back of his head, glancing sidelong at Athena. He didn't want to be away from her today. Just in case. Finn hesitated as he tried to think of what to say, only to decide to just be straightforward with it. "Are you an auric?"

Red furrowed his brow, looking up at Finn. A quizzical expression came over his face.

"I only ask because, well, it's kind of… odd. The rainbow around your aura. How you can hide your aura as a whole. The way your whole team shares that rainbow edge to their auras." Finn paused, looking through Athena's eyes for just a moment. "How you've managed to meld all seven of your auras together, which I suspect is how you give them commands in battle without speaking. It'd be kind of weird if you could do all of these things without being an auric, but weirder things have happened. Like my whole, well, everything."

Red didn't speak for a few moments. He put up one hand and his pikachu climbed down from his shoulder to sit in his lap. Red pet the rodent behind the ears, eliciting happy squeals from the pokémon. Another moment, and Red spoke.

"I began my journey some fifteen years ago now. Just me and Pikachu. We didn't like each other much. Both of us stubborn children. We got into a fight with some wild pokémon, and… I couldn't stand to let Pikachu get so thoroughly thrashed. I threw myself into the fray. The two of us wound up washed down a river. I protected Pikachu, and Pikachu protected me. We surfaced from that river, beat up and practically dead. Pikachu was so beat up he couldn't move. I wasn't much better. That's when I saw it." Red looked Finn in the eye, the intensity in Red's gaze holding Finn in place. "One of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen. It looked like a bird with a rainbow on its wings. Just seeing it filled me with life. I was still wounded, but I was able to make it to a pokemon center, thanks to someone who later became a good friend lending me her bike."

"…Ho-Oh…" Finn breathed.

"Yes. I had been visited by Ho-Oh." Red nodded. "I hadn't known it at the time, but Ho-Oh's blessing was placed upon me that day. I had been marked as Ho-Oh's Rainbow Hero. And that's who I've been ever since.

"So to answer your question, Finn. I am an auric. A wildly talented and incredibly potent one. But I've never trained my aura much. I don't know how to focus it into an attack like you can, or sense other people's auras. I can hide my aura, but that's as obvious as letting it flare wildly. What I can do, though, is link with my pokémon. I think it's called battlebond, but I've never looked into it much." Red shrugged, stroking his pikachu's fur. "I can't do what you do. I can't understand them exactly or use their powers. But we both become so much stronger when we link."

"Thank you." Finn took a deep breath and nodded. "For telling me. I just… wanted to know if there were any tricks we had missed. Anything else we could do to make things work out better." Finn ran his hand through his hair, blowing a breath out through pursed lips. "I… why did you tell me? Why not just say that you have a battlebond?"

"Because I'm pretty sure you also have a pact with a legendary pokémon."

Finn's eyes widened, and he drew a sharp breath. "How did you know that?"

"There's a… feeling." Red waved a hand. "I've only seen a couple others who have that… intensity. Ethan Gold, for example. He had a silvery power to him. The winds moved when he spoke. I think he was the chosen of Lugia. Rosa Whitley was another. She had convinced Kyurem to move for her. Being in the same room as her made me shiver, but she never noticed the cold. You," Red pointed at Finn. "Scare me. My heart speeds up, I start sweating, and I want to leave. It goes away after a while, but seeing you always makes my heartrate spike. Given that legendary pokémon usually stick to one champion at a time, and I know that Dawn Berlitz is the chosen of Giratina, I'd guess that Darkrai picked you?"

"Y-yes." Finn swallowed. "He did."

"Then it's probably for a good reason. The last champion of Darkrai was a hitman who passed away fifty years ago. He stabbed one of his targets with a metal spike that drove him insane. The hitman was caught, and wound up hanging himself in his cell." Red paused to let it sink in. "The target was a wealthy businessman. He was admitted to a psych ward, and shortly afterwards he was investigated for unrelated issues. The sorts of things they found out he was funding… Human trafficking, pokémon poaching, smuggling, and a terrifying amount of funds devoted to an apocalypse cult that had managed to get ahold of a slumbering Yveltal.

"Darkrai picks people who get the job done, it seems. Not necessarily good people, but ones that get good results. And then they die," Red said. "I think you're a good person, Finn. I really hope you manage to survive this. The world could always use more good people."

"Well… No guarantees," Finn said quietly. "But I'll do my best."

"That's all anyone can do, isn't it?" Red shrugged. "We'll hold the line as long as possible. Might pull out a few tricks that I wish I didn't have to."

"Are you going to call Ho-Oh?" Finn asked.

"Hah, no. Ho-Oh despises conflict. Besides, part of our pact is that I'm the one who solves problems. That's what being the Rainbow Hero means. If Ho-Oh makes an appearance, it will be after the fighting is over to heal the injured. If we're very lucky, she might even resurrect anyone who died in the fighting. She doesn't do that very much anymore, since it tends to give people the idea that she can just do it whenever." Red shook his head. "No, even if I could I wouldn't call Ho-Oh. But I have other friends who might be able to help, and if I really need to I'll call them."

"Okay." Finn nodded. "Um, thank you. For explaining it to me."

"I don't have many people to share this sort of responsibility with," Red said. His charizard lumbered over and rested its head on his shoulder, prompting Red to reach up and scratch behind its horns. "It's good to talk about it with someone. I have my team, but no matter how well you get to know a pokémon you can't really hold a conversation with one." Red's Pikachu made a sad noise, its ears drooping. Red pet the electric type between its ears. "It's not your fault, buddy. I envy you, Finn. I wish I could talk to my team without spending hundreds of thousands of credits on talker collars. Cherish that ability."

"I do." Finn took a deep breath and looked at his phone. "I think I need to get going. We're supposed to get our final arrivals soon, and Aelius wanted me to be there to greet them."

"Go on ahead. I'll be there when the action starts," Red said, waving Finn off.

Finn complied turning to leave. He stopped, blinking as he looked into the shadows. He could've sworn he'd seen someone. An old man in tattered black robes. But he wasn't there anymore. Finn shook his head, then continued on back to the camp.

O-O-O

Aelius, Tyson, and Nik were standing around a giant battery set up almost half a mile outside the camp. Standing over the battery was the massive form of Alter the xurkitree, siphoning electricity from the ground into the battery. As Finn approached, the ultra beast disconnected from the ground and stood up. Its arms unlatched from the battery, and it waved them in the air to let lightning spark through the sky for a bit before it settled down. The three elites looked over, and Aelius waved at Finn.

"Heya kiddo. Glad you could join the welcoming party," Aelius said. "Just got off the phone with Carsen. He should be here in a few minutes. How you holding up?"

"I'm doing fine," Finn answered. "Just anxious. What's with this?"

"A prototype of one of my designs," Nik said. They picked up a huge device, looking like the electric cannon that they had used to zap one of the ninjas. The huge thing was composed primarily of metal coils wrapped around the cannon, with two huge triangular protrusions that extended out the front of the barrel. "It uses a magnetic field to channel the electricity into a stable plasma blast, although it can also be fitted with metal flechettes to puncture through anything less than a foot of titanium." Nik paused, apprehensive. "Although I'm sticking to the plasma blasts. They're basically concussive force mixed with a burst of heat. I don't want to kill anyone."

"Huh, Is it like, a gauss cannon?" Finn asked.

"Gauss cannon?" Nik raised a confused eyebrow.

"It has the rails out front, like your vikavolt's mandibles." Finn pointed at the end of the cannon.

"Oh. Huh." Nik lowered the cannon to the ground, scratching their head. "Gauss cannon. Yes. I guess it is."

"Experimental weaponry aside, where's Lee?" Finn looked around. The fighting elite was nowhere to be seen.

"Moping, probably," Tyson said with a snort. "We don't want him here. He does nothing but disparage Nik. He's probably trying to appeal to Zane or something."

At that moment a phone went off, and Aelius dug his phone out of his pocket. "Oh hey, Carsen's-,"

Before he could even finish his sentence, there was a flash of pink light and a ripple in the air. A moment later, there was a man standing ten feet away. Clad in a grey plaid waistcoat, a forest green suitcoat, a pair of dark grey slacks, and a red polka-dotted tie was an individual of average height. He had a golden pocket watch in one hand, a chain connecting it to his waistcoat. At his side was a kadabra, its eyes dimming back down to normal.

"Right on time!" Carsen snapped the pocket watch closed. "Aelius, Nik, Tyson, a pleasure to see you again. And you…" The psychic type gym leader squinted his eyes and pointed at Finn. He waggled his finger. "Finnegan Ferris. I suspected I'd see you again, but I wasn't quite sure. You seem to be doing well. Quite a bit more muscular than the last time I saw you, and apparently you've made it to champion. Very impressive!"

Finn shrugged. "It wasn't overnight. It took a lot of effort."

"Still, a monumental task!" Carsen grinned, lowering his hand.

"Carsen, did you bring the things?" Aelius asked.

"Uh… nnnooo." Carsen slowly shook his head, his grin diminishing. "The Library doesn't like giving up its finds. And honestly, I don't blame it. Some of that stuff can get really out of hand if you don't use it very carefully. So I'm going to have to say no, I didn't bring any of the 'things' you asked for."

"Did you at least bring a good team?" Aelius raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes!" Carsen's grin returned. "The Library didn't want to give up its collection, but it did lend a little bit of help. You'll see."

"Rrrright." Aelius sighed. "Alright then. I think Zane wanted to see you, so you'd better head over and see him."

"Then I shall go and assist him." Carsen nodded. "I wish all of you well."

Carsen and his kadabra started off, walking towards the camp. After a little bit, Aelius turned towards Finn and the other elites.

"Did any of you notice how he talked about that library as a living thing?" The fire specialist asked.

"Yes." Tyson said at the same time as Finn, while Nik shook their head.

"Yeah. Real weird…" Aelius grimaced. "Always does that. Last psychic specialist did that too. Something weird is up with that library, and I can't help but wonder how much of it is shared psychosis and how much is real."

"I dunno, that library… The building itself has been around since the founding of Skolar, but the inside has construction trends predating Toreta as a whole…" Tyson rubbed his chin. He dropped a bag on the ground and started rummaging through it, pulling out a pair of heavy weather goggles and a heavy-duty cold weather cap. "I think the working theory is that the building is a portal to a place that's… old. Very old."

"Ugh, portals and other supernatural crap. I remember when things were simpler. No portals, or demons, or any of that stuff." Aelius ran a hand through his hair.

"Actually, supernatural activity in the Toreta region specifically predates the current civilization. Geistom, for example, is constructed close to a portal to the distortion world that is housed within a temple that is at least a thousand years-," Nik started.

"Okay, let me clarify." Aelius put up one finger. "I miss the time when I didn't know about all this supernatural shit. When all I had to worry about was making the press every week, good or bad."

"That sounds awful." Tyson frowned, tugging the cap onto his head. "I get nervous just battling on television. How do you live like that?"

"By taking hard drugs and drinking dangerous amounts of alcohol," Aelius answered immediately and without shame. "Never do it." Aelius laughed, trailing off into a rough cough. When he recovered, he shook his head. "Awful for you."

"Does anyone else hear that?" Nik furrowed their brow, looking up into the sky. It was a clear day, at least for now.

"My eardrums are shot, what is it?" Aelius asked.

"Buzzing."

Now that Finn listened closer, he could hear what Nik was referring to. A low buzz, quiet enough that Finn was sure it was quite a ways away. He looked into the air, trying to locate the source.

"Oh, that's probably Lorenzo," Tyson said.

Eventually, Finn located the source of the buzzing. A massive cloud of tiny shapes hovering in the distance, so thick that the center of the cloud was little more than a black mass. As the mass of shapes drew closer, the buzzing increased in volume. When they got close enough, Finn could pick out individual shapes in the swarm of bug types. The mass of combee and beedrill collecting around a central figure.

The cloud of insects lowered to ground level, gently dispersing twenty feet away. The bugs calmed quickly, landing in clusters based upon their species. In the center of the swarm was a vespiquen of prodigious size, holding in its arms an elderly man. He was just a little bit portly, with a pair of spectacles perched upon his nose. The vespiquen set him down, and he winced as he slowly hunched over. Lorenzo put on his sun hat, smiling at the small cluster of people there to greet him.

"So, what did I miss?" Lorenzo asked. The bug type gym leader slowly took a pair of heavy work gloves from the pocket of his overalls, slipping them on as he approached.

"Ninjas, hybrids, super powers, terrorists, and superweapons," Aelius answered. "While you were having a vacation, you old bastard, we were busy."

"Do my ears deceive me? Is Aelius Fiere, the Aelius Fiere, accusing me of taking it easy instead of working?" Lorenzo feigned shock. He looked back at his vespiquen. "Cleopatra, do you remember when Aelius brought his tour to our city? He did one show, and if I remember correctly spent the next month on the news because he was partying so hard."

The vespiquen nodded, her mandibles clicking.

"Besides, last I checked we're almost the same age you senile fool. I've just had a more productive life than you," Lorenzo said smugly.

"What happened to humility?" Aelius muttered.

"What happened to passion?" Lorenzo countered. "I'd have thought you'd be all about pursuing pleasures."

"You're impossible." Aelius threw his hands in the air, turning away.

Lorenzo laughed, turning his attention to Finn. "Hello Finn. It's good to see you again. Tyson, you're looking well. Nik, it seems you have one of your projects right here?"

"Yes! I've had Alter charge a battery to power a coil-based plasma gun. Thanks to Finn's suggestion I've called it a, uh, gauss cannon." Nik glanced over at Finn. "I could load it with metal projectiles to make it penetrate almost any armor, but I'm mostly going to use it to fire concussive blasts of plasma. I can't bring the battery very far, so this spot right here marks the line that we have to defend."

"And where will Team Plasma be coming from?" Lorenzo raised one brow.

Finn looked out over the badlands, squinting. After a moment, he pointed.

A moment later, the ground shook. Off in the distance there was a spray of dust and dirt, and from the cracked soil of the badlands emerged a shape. Nik gasped as it shed dirt, the shape becoming clear as it rose from the ground. It was some kind of massive spiked torus, crackling and sparking with electricity. As it ascended, the structure beneath the device made itself visible. A massive tower, carved out of black stone or something that looked like it. The tower rose high into the sky, and after a minute of its elevating the rest of the structure emerged from the dirt. A fortress, made of the same black stone and bound in iron, ruptured the earth. As the dark fortress rose from the ground, electricity crackled in the air around it. It came to a stop, a black monument to Team Plasma in the badlands.

"There it is! My electrical defense system!" Nik pointed at the spiked metal construct on the top of the tower.

"Well it seems to be working," Tyson said. "For better or for worse."

Finn ignored them, taking a single step towards the Plasma fortress. He furrowed his brow.

He had known that the fortress was going to be there. Right there. And he wasn't quite sure how.

O-O-O

The front lines of the League assembled half a mile from the fortress. The front-most lines were composed of the champions, elites, and gym leaders. Those professional battlers whose teams were strong enough to maybe, just maybe hold ground against a legendary. All of them were armed with at least six pokémon, the normal limit ignored for the time being. Filling in the holes in that line were the ace trainers of Toreta, most of them releasing pokémon to stand beside them.

Finn was behind the front lines, pacing back and forth. He had released Nyx in preparation, and knew from a multitude of tests that she would easily be able to carry him the distance needed to get to the laboratory entrance. But as the deadline ticked closer, anxiety was ticking up. What if something went wrong? What if Nyx was shot down?

It was as he paced restlessly that Anthony approached, rushing and out of breath.

"Finn!" Anthony came to a stop, panting. "Finn, finally!"

"Anthony?" Finn raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"I've been looking for you, for a while-," Anthony took a deep breath. "I tried to find you up at the League HQ but you were always busy or in the staff only areas."

"Is it important? Because we're about to have to deal with Team Plasma…"

"Yes!" Anthony finally seemed to catch his breath. "I found something, under the mountain. In the tunnels. A door, I think it's to the Plasma base."

Finn stiffened. "What? Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I tried, and nobody would listen to me," Anthony said. "But I think we can get in through there, and if we can get in via a secret entrance we might be able to bypass the big lightning dome thing."

"Anthony, we already have a plan." Finn shook his head. "I'm going through the lightning dome, using Nyx's immunity to electricity and my ability to shield myself. We got internal info that there's an entrance unguarded."

"Well then I can go in through the secret entrance," Anthony suggested.

"No," Finn said sternly. "We only know of one unguarded entrance. The secret entrance could be heavily defended."

"But you need backup-," Anthony began.

"No. I don't. If you try to get in through there, you could get killed. I have combat training, Anthony. I can handle myself."

Finn turned away, ignoring Anthony's shocked expression. Eventually the younger teen left, leaving Finn to himself.

Anthony was wrong. Finn didn't need anyone besides himself and his team. At least once he got into the base. Finn did appreciate Anthony's thought, but he didn't need it. Anthony was just going to get himself seriously hurt if he tried to help in this way.

A little bit later, and three more people came over to talk to Finn. He looked over to see Lance, Iris, and Cynthia approaching.

"Alright, we need to be quick," Lance said. He activated a pokéball, releasing a dragonite. The dragon waved happily as it appeared from a bubble of coruscating lights. "Dragonite will provide an updraft when all else fails."

Cynthia was next, her garchomp summoned to the task. "Rhea, I need you to get Finn in that door. Once you do, return to me. Okay?"

"Tetra," Iris said, releasing her hydreigon. "Keep Finn safe on his trip, okay? Then you can go and fight until you're satisfied."

The dragons all nodded, then turned towards Finn.

Finn didn't get a chance to say anything before the earth began to quake. The three of the other champions took up combat-ready stances. Finn looked past the front line of the League's forces to see what was going on.

In the empty fields between the League and the Plasma Fortress, the ground began to crack and rupture. Three giant fissures opened in the earth, and for a moment everything was still.

Then, from within the center-most fissure, emerged a humanoid figure. It moved so fast that it was almost impossible to trace its movement, even faster than the likes of Kasparov or Maria. It hovered in the air for a brief moment, the air buzzing around its invisibly fast wings. The humanoid hybrid was across the barren field in an instant, twitching gently as it hovered in the air. It reached forwards, then flinched. Its whole body jumped to the side, then it let out an angry screech and in the blink of an eye flew back to hover above the fissure it emerged from.

Moments later, havoc erupted.

From within the central fissure a swarm of misshapen figures emerged. Crawling, flying, running, hovering, and slithering across the badlands with a unified war cry of two hundred or more screams of rage. The army of hybrids moved in an uneven front, different physiologies causing them to move at different speeds.

From the fissure to the left was a similarly sized swarm, but this one had few to no humanoid forms. Hybrids of pokémon and pokémon only, but these things combined anywhere from two to four different species in one creature. Like the human hybrids, they charged as a single unit, evidence of the mind-controlling device that Ghetsis was using to command his army.

The fissure on the right had the most terrifying product, though. From within emerged a shambling hulk, a tyranitar with a gaping hole in its chest. The moving corpse had a luminous purple mist flowing from the holes in its body. There was a bright green orb glowing in the chest cavity. Behind it was an army of smaller creatures, climbing out of the hole in the ground. All of them dead, animated by some malevolent force with those same glowing orbs and mist.

Cynthia swore under her breath. "They have a spiritomb. I can't even let Legion out."

"Why?" Finn asked, gesturing for Nyx to ready to carry him.

"Because if you put two spiritomb together, they merge. And whichever has more members takes all of the power." Cynthia released her togekiss, which whisked her away to her position in the League forces.

The other two champions followed suit, releasing their own pokémon to carry them into position quickly. Iris a salamence, and Lance another dragonite.

"Ready Nyx?" Finn asked, reaching out.

"Ready." Nyx pulled Finn around and onto her shoulders, rising up into the air on her tail.

In front of Finn, his father pulled a master ball from his belt. From within he released the registeel, the invincible titan. The steel automaton made a distorted warbling noise, its arms outstretched to its sides.

"Hold the line!" Champion Tanner shouted, releasing Darling and Cookie to cover his flanks.

Up and down the front lines pokémon were released. Steven's shiny metagross hovered into the air with its magnetic powers, while the champion himself was guarded by his claydol and cradily. Cynthia released a lucario to complement her togekiss. Iris released her haxorus, which alongside her salamence made for a formidable force. Lance added another dragonite to his defensive forces. Red released his entire team, all of them standing around him and Blue in a defensive formation. Blue, for his part, sent out an arcanine, a gyarados, and an aerodactyl. Finn's own mother was there, wearing a full set of platemail and holding a hammer made of turquoise metal. She was stood atop a fully recovered Xollen, with Clarent floating behind her and Kasparov standing close by. Carsen had his kadabra by his side, and was working frantically on a diagram in the dry dirt of the badlands. Lorenzo was surrounded by his swarm of insects, his vespiquen high above. Tyson had his aurorus by his side, with a vanilluxe at his shoulder and a weavile crouched in front. Nik was further back, with their xurkitree and vikavolt standing by as the gauss cannon in their arms hummed. Aelius on the other hand was near the front, a guitar in his hands and an amp at his feet. His salazzle was on one side, while a delphox took his other side.

And then there was Lee, who had not released a pokemon. Who was standing dangerously close to Finn's father.

But Finn didn't have time to deal with that. It was time to go.

Nyx launched into the air, carrying Finn over the battlefield.

The wind rushed through Finn's hair as they hurtled towards the Plasma fortress. The dragons flew in a tight formation around Finn and Nyx, providing a living shield. The dragonite used its weather manipulating powers to keep just enough of an updraft for Nyx to maintain height and speed.

As soon as they were above the hybrid army, the ride got bumpy. Projectiles of all types launched from the horde, from fire and lightning to hardened wind and projectile spikes. The dragons whirled around Nyx, battering away projectiles and energy blasts with attacks of their own. Cynthia's garchomp batted a ball of poison away with its tail. Iris' hydreigon fired pulses of darkness to block psionic interference. Lance's dragonite created a bubble of wind around the small group, forcing non-energy projectiles away entirely.

About halfway across the enemy forces, a humanoid shape burst through the air bubble. Its limbs and neck twitched as it kept pace, the wings on its back hummed just loud enough to be audible over the rushing wind and the battle cries of the hybrids below. Its body was bare save for a tattered leotard, and what was visible was a patchwork of skin and hard exoskeleton. Where skin and exoskeleton met the skin was red and inflamed, but otherwise it was pale and pallid. Its legs were too malformed and slender to carry any real weight, though its arms were far more developed. The creature's hands ended in claws that spasmed and twitched like the rest of it. The hybrid's face was just human enough to be unsettling while still being primarily composed of insectoid features. Its eyes were multifaceted red gems, moving within their sockets in a way that they shouldn't. Its mouth was hidden behind a set of mandibles that looked like some kind of facemask, while a pair of chitin ridges ran from the center of its forehead to its temples.

The thing stared at Finn, hovering just out of reach. Then it flinched, and let out a chittering screech before lurching forwards to attack Finn. It swiped with lightning speed, but its claws couldn't penetrate Finn's jacket. The force behind the blows wasn't even enough to bruise.

Nyx whirled, swiping at the ninjask hybrid with her tail. The hybrid was forced backwards, just enough to clip the bubble of air with its wings and get whisked away in an instant.

Another hybrid lunged up from below, a large shape that collided with Cynthia's garchomp and was promptly blasted with dragon energy for its trouble before dropping back into the horde. A third levitated upwards, floating on psychic power as it attempted to manipulate Finn with its powers. Iris' hydreigon was the one to shoot it down, firing a dark pulse that sent it careening back to the ground.

And then the hydreigon and dragonite fell away, and Finn quickly realized why. His hair was beginning to stand on end, and the cause was obvious.

The lightning dome and the tower that it stemmed from was looming ahead. Finn closed his eyes and channeled his powers, creating a bubble of spectral energy around himself and Nyx.

There was a horrific sound, the electricity crackling as it bounced off of his shield. Like a thousand insects skittering across the barrier, it nearly deafened him.

And then he was in, and Nyx was flying over the main body of the fortress to land on the other side.

Finn dismounted, glancing back over at the electrical dome and shuddering. He returned his attention to the eastern wall of the fortress, where there was a heavily reinforced metal door set into the wall. As the messages had promised, it was unguarded. At least from this side. After looking at it for a moment, Cynthia's garchomp landed next to him with a heavy thud. It stomped over and slammed the door, causing the metal to crumple and collapse inwards.

"Thank you," Finn said.

The garchomp nodded, then leaped into the air to fly back through the electrical barrier and back to the battlefield.

Finn took a deep breath, steeling himself. Nyx stood next to him. It was time to go.

Finn walked into enemy territory, ready for whatever would face him within.

O-O-O

Zane Ferris was no stranger to conflict. Not even the life or death kind. He had fought before, and come out on top even if only by the skin of his teeth. Combat was something of an old acquaintance.

But these… hybrids. They were abominations. They should not exist. Their auras were both human and pokémon at the same time, and it gave Zane chills. He had the same reaction to Finn's aura, at least at first. But he had gotten over it quickly. Why wouldn't he? Finn was his son, after all.

These things, though, he didn't think he'd ever adapt to the sensation of an army of creatures that were both human and pokémon rushing him down. That's what registeel was for.

Zane glanced up as Finn and his gliscor soared overhead. Guarded by three dragons, all trained by champions. Zane could hardly imagine a safer place on the planet.

Except, possibly, directly behind a giant metal automaton.

Still, it wasn't safe yet. He still had a spy to deal with.

He was faintly aware of a simmering aura behind him, the anger so intense that it boiled over and became tangible. Or whatever the auric equivalent to touch was. Zane wasn't quite certain of the terminology.

It was a problem he'd have to address quickly. Before the enemy forces got close enough to engage.

"Registeel, defend this position. Do not let any enemy forces pass you," Zane ordered. The golem beeped in confirmation.

That taken care of, Zane glanced over his shoulder. He put on a grin. "I noticed you don't have any pokémon out. You planning to go into the fray with your bare hands?"

"In a manner of speaking," Lee replied. Oh, that made the man's aura flare. He'd ticked him off somehow. But then, he knew from experience that just asking if Lee was doing well could anger the elite.

"Hm, well good luck with that," Zane said with a shrug. He looked to the sides, giving Cookie and Darling nods to let them know he could handle what was about to come. He returned his gaze forwards, pretending to ignore Lee.

He could feel Lee moving closer, feel the anger of the man's aura battering against him. Felt the intent to harm. But he waited until Lee made the first move.

The first punch only missed by a hair. He had only moved just enough to avoid impact. But he needed to make sure Lee made the first punch. This would be talked about later, he knew.

The second punch didn't get a chance to land. Zane whirled, swinging a kick into Lee's outstretched arm. Lee's anger turned to shock, his ability to retaliate hampered by surprise. It really didn't matter that he had reached the peak of human physical ability, the mind couldn't keep up with this sort of thing. Zane's foot collided with Lee's upper arm, and he felt it give as he forcibly dislocated Lee's arm from his shoulder. Anyone who trained as hard as Lee would have experienced this before, and it was far easier to dislocate one's shoulder the second or third time. Zane knew from experience.

While Lee was in pain and shocked, Zane made a decisive open-palm blow to his sternum. The impact wasn't very hard, but it didn't need to be. Lee froze. He could breathe, speak, and blink, but not much else. Zane bent one finger, tugging on Lee's aura to bring him to one knee.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Zane asked rhetorically. "That I wouldn't notice how you intimidated every challenger, to make sure that none of them came to me? That the only challengers to reach me in the past five years were my wife and my son? I bet you were hoping it would make me weak. Underprepared for the trouble to come."

"How?" Lee said through gritted teeth. He was probably in immense pain. Zane was merciful, though. He pulled on Lee's aura, pulling it away from the injured shoulder to numb the sensation.

"I'm an auric, Lee. Though you've probably already noticed. I'm self-trained, but quite good at it." Zane shrugged. That made rage bubble in Lee's aura, and in his eyes too. "Ah, there it is. Finn told me how envious you were of his abilities. Is that what they offered you? I know you have no need for more money, and that fame really isn't your thing, but you've always been after power. And that forbidden fruit of auric powers, specifically."

Lee nodded, pain in his every movement. He was fighting back, and quite well. But with his grip on the man's aura, there was nothing Lee could do to fight Zane.

"Well, we'll have to decide what to do with a traitor." Zane tilted his head, noticing how rage melted into terror. There was no change in Lee's expression, but he could feel the man's fear. "Don't worry, you'll live through this. Who knows, maybe your terrorist friends would be able to get to you?"

Zane reached down to his belt with his other hand, releasing Fezzick. The alakazam bowed deeply.

"Fezzick, I need you to take him somewhere safe, but hard to escape. I don't know how quickly he'll recover, but if I did it right he shouldn't be able to move for twelve hours," Zane said.

"Yes sir." The alakazam raised both spoons as Zane withdrew his hand. In a flash of purple light, Fezzick and Lee were gone.

Then, a moment later, the alakazam returned.

"Thank you, old friend. Would you mind lending your efforts to this battle?" Zane asked.

"Not at all." The alakazam twirled his spoons, floating up into the air in a cross-legged sit.

Zane returned his attention to the front lines just as the first hybrid collided with Registeel.