The Shapeless Vanguard.


Six years ago:

The young woman knelt in front of Inyssa and smiled warmly, the arm resting on her knee extended forward. There, in her hand, she held a cozy-looking white hat.

"Here, you can have this," the woman said with a smile. "You see the pink Pokeball symbol on it? That's the mark of a trainer, and it now belongs to you." She raised a hand and turned it into a fist. "Think you're up for the task?"

Inyssa stared wordlessly at the hat, hands shaking from excitement. She tried to put it on but realized it was just a tad too big for her, and it covered part of her eyes.

"Yeah, I am!" she yelled, still wearing the oversized hat. "Thank you so much, Miss! I promise I'll become the best trainer ever!"

Another pair of eyes watched the scene from only a few feet away, narrowed ever so slightly. The second young woman had a bad feeling, one she couldn't quite shake off.


The scream reached her before the storm did.

The strange girl disappeared into the sea of people walking through the main streets, and yet at no point did Inyssa stop looking her way. She'd vanished as soon as she had invaded her sight, only leaving in her mind that flash of pink that seemed so familiar to her.

But she wasn't thinking about that, nor about the blood staining the girl's arm or her rugged appearance. Her mind was completely focused on that bright, maybe imaginary golden hue that for a fraction of a second had appeared behind her eyes. Had she imagined it? It was probably just a trick of light as she exited the dark hallway, or maybe the oppressive aromas all around her were messing with her head. But still she didn't believe her mind could make up such a powerful color, not even for that second.

Part of her was debating whether to follow her, when the scream rang out behind her.

She turned around fast, feeling a chill run through her body. Had she imagined that too? All around her, people kept walking as if they had heard nothing.

Inyssa closed her eyes and concentrated; a few seconds passed without any change, and just when she convinced herself it had been her imagination another scream reached her. This time the cry was more faint; she turned around and entered through the same dark space between houses the girl had appeared from, running towards the source of that sound.

She spiraled between the strangely shaped alleyways around the nearby houses until she came out at the feet of one of the smaller side streets, leading north toward the city's exit. She ran in that direction, wind roaring in her ears, until she finally got past the last house at the edge of the town and saw Route 205 unfold before her. An even wider patch of flowers grew in every direction, with no buildings to block the view. Focusing her sight on the side of the route she spotted the figure of a girl next to one of the many robust oak trees which gave shade to the road. The scream she heard came from something hidden between its leaves.

As she approached it she could make out the girl's appearance; she was short and lanky, wearing the same body suit as those wackos she'd encountered in Jubilife City.

"Hey, Galactic clown!" She yelled as loud as she could, making the girl stop in hertracks and turn to look at her. "Leave that tree alone!" she said, only after realizing how lame of a one liner that was. "I mean, leave alone whatever is up there. You're not gonna steal another Pokemon on my watch!"

"Oh great, it's you again," she spat back, face red with anger. She took a Pokeball from her pocket and pointed it at her. "I don't have time to deal with you, so run along before I hurt you."

"Again?" Inyssa knit her eyebrows. "Oh! You were one of those losers back in Jubilife! Pisces, was it? Well I'm sad to disappoint you but I'm in a bad mood and I don't feel like running from a weird cosplayer with anger issues." She also grabbed a Pokeball from her belt, a smile pasted on her face. "How about another battle? One on one this time."

"I'm Pyxis!" she yelled. "You... agh, you trainer brats are all the same! No point in talking; I'm gonna have to force you to leave."

She opened the Pokeball, and from it emerged a winged oval figure, purple and with a huge gaping mouth, sharp fangs glistening with poison. The Golbat soared in a circle above them, waiting for his master's orders.

"I'm going to see that in my nightmares," Inyssa whispered, eyes set on the horrible creature. "Kuro, take that thing out of the air!"

The Shinx appeared from the flash of light, and the moment he came into view a deep roar came from his mouth, shaking the grass around him and unnerving the bat Pokemon.

"Oh right, Intimidate." Pyxis bit her lower lip. "Good move, but I'm prepared for that. Air Cutter!"

"Spark! Right on his dumb mouth!"

Kuro ran at full speed towards his opponent, crackles of electricity covering his fur. Only a few feet from reaching him the Shinx jumped with all his strenght while Golbat batted his wings at incredible speed toward him. The wind created by his opponent cut Kuro's momentum short, sending him back towards the ground before he had a chance to land a hit. The Golbat suddenly stopped and his wings started vibrating quickly, coating them with a blue-ish glow as he prepared his next attack, the energy emanating from him being much stronger than Inyssa thought possible.

"Oh... right, Air Cutter is pretty strong." She bit her lip. "Kuro, try to dodg-"

Before she could finish her sentence something flew in between the leaves of the nearby tree and towards the Golbat. A small stone hit him right between the eyes with enough force to break his concentration. The energy from the attack he was readying dissipated into the air. He began to fly in circles, shrieking in pain.

A high pitched voice came from the tree, startling both trainers. "Yeah, take that you dum-dum!"

"Oh hey, it wasn't a Pokemon," Inyssa whispered, curling her lips into a smile. "Kuro, use Spark again!"

The Shinx didn't have to be told twice; before she even gave the command he ran once more towards the Golbat, and this time as he jumped he tackled him with so much force that the electric impulse sent him falling onto the bed of flowers at the side of the route. Pyxis' mouth gaped, her face turning red as realization came to her.

"Aaand the yellow devil Kuro takes his first official win against that flying abomination!" Inyssa yelled with her hands around her mouth, imitating a commentator's voice. "So Pisces, do you have any more Pokemon or was that all you had to offer?"

She looked up at her, waiting for a response. Pyxis simply returned the Golbat to its ball and looked at it... sadly? It didn't last long, that familiar anger soon taking over her expression once more.

"You sure love humilliating people you don't even know. Makes you feel powerful, I assume?" she asked, poison in her tone. "Well, enjoy it while you can, asshole."

She shot Inyssa a look that was a mix between anger and frustration, and without further ado she turned around, running east towards a side path of Route 205. Inyssa took a deep breath, a satisfied smile on her face, and returned Kuro to his Pokeball for a deserved rest. She walked towards the tree that the noise was coming from an looked up to see two almond eyes set on her.

"You can come down now," she told the kid, trying immitate Sarah's calming tone. "I scared the bad girl so she won't be bothering you anymore."

She heard a faint whimper coming from up there, and slowly the little girl started making her way down the tree, her limbs trembling. Inyssa put her hands up and helped her down by grabbing her legs as she slid towards her. Part of the girl's hair got on Inyssa's face as she fell on her arms, dark brown covering her vision and making her cough hair. As she placed her feet on the ground Inyssa could finally see her appearance; the kid must not have been more than eight. She was skinny and was wearing a green sundress with brown boots. Her breathing was heavy and her lips trembled with fear.

"Th...thank you Miss." She spoke almost in whispers, trying to form a smile. "You were really cool!"

"Heh... well, what can I say." Inyssa scratched her cheek, face reddening slightly. "All in a day's work I guess. Anyway, are you okay? Why was that loser chasing you, did she want to steal your Pokemon?"

"I'm Katie." She introduced herself, vowing down slightly. "I don't have Pokemon. She wanted to take me back, you have to help me Miss!"

"Hey, calm down." Inyssa placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You're safe now, okay? And you can call me... Niss." She paused for a second. "Huh, I guess it does sound kind of like Miss..."

"No, you don't understand, you have to help me!" Katie turned her hands into little fists and pouted. "Those people have my dad! I ran away and then she chased me but dad is still there!"

"Those Galactic guys kidnapped your father?" Katie nodded, her eyes welling up with tears. "Where is he?"

"He was working and I was there, and then those people appeared and they didn't want anyone to leave," Katie explained, talking faster and faster. "They're back there in the... wind thingies." Inyssa could see the kid trying to remember the place's name, but it wasn't necessary; she had studied the region's map very closely.

"You mean the Valley's Windworks?" she asked, and Katie nodded. "That's not too far from here."

"Dad is all alone and he needs help!" she cried, her voice breaking. "And the other lady's in there too! She was there and then she wasn't herself and it was scary and I..."

"Katie, listen to me," Inyssa whispered, looking her in the eyes. "It'll be okay, I'll get your dad, but I'm gonna need your help, okay?"

She nodded once more and Inyssa started to form a plan in her mind. If Katie's father was in trouble then the faster she moved the better, but she didn't know how well guarded the place was. Although even with a dozen of those fashion disasters running around she was pretty sure she could handle them as long as she was careful; besides, that would certainly look good on the news when the story spread around.

"Do you know where the Pokemon Center is?"

Katie pointed west, towards the main street of Floaroma. "Yeah... it's over there."

"Good, I need you to run there and tell the nurse what happened," Inyssa said, trying to sound more confident than she was. "Make her call the police, and if you spot a blond kid my age, with hair that looks like a banana, tell him too and explain to him where I am."

"Y-yes Niss." The kid smiled nervously. "Are you gonna go there alone?"

Inyssa twitched one corner of her mouth into a smile, and took a hand to her hair, attempting to look cool.

"I can handle it, don't worry about it," she assured her. "Now hurry before more of them show up."

Katie did as she was told and started running as fast as she could towards the city, her long brown hair waving behind her. Inyssa stood still on one knee, thinking. She felt a strange, cold shiver in her stomach but she did her best to ignore it. As she stood up her gaze turned toward the east, where Pyxis had run to. Without thinking twice about it she started walking in that direction, towards the Valley Windworks.


The air became heavy as she approached the building, the unique geography of the valley turning the place into a wind maelstrom. She needed both hands on her hat at all times just to prevent it from flying off, and pieces of grass were constantly hitting her in the face, forcing her to walk with her eyes half closed. On the bright side there was no way they could see her coming with so much dust in the air. The Windworks lay only a few feet from her; a wide, sturdy building with only two floors and almost no windows, the few it had being purposefully hidden from the wind's direction.

The first sign that something was wrong came to her as she saw the door wide open, the frame going forwards and backwards, slamming itself repeatedly due to the wind's strength. The inside looked like a poorly illuminated hallway, leading towards a bigger circular room in the middle. Inyssa stood in the door for almost a minute, thinking about how to proceed. Something inside her was telling her to turn around and leave; her legs were trembling and her lips were dry, but she attributed that mostly to the wind. Slowly she grabbed one of her Pokeballs, and stared at it for a few seconds.

"I can do this," she told no one, the wind swallowing her words. "I can do this. Steven, come out!"

The flash of light illuminated everything around her as the bird Pokemon appeared from it, his body instinctively adjusting to the powerful wind. Without much trouble he started flying in the same direction as it, moving his wings accordingly.

"Listen carefully, I need you to cover my surroundings," Inyssa told him when he came down to her shoulder. "I'm gonna go in and I don't know what's inside. You'll have to fly around the building and spy in between the windows. If you see people coming for me then distract them, and if the police or Barry come here you'll have to guide them to me. Do you understand?"

Steven nodded with his little head, and gave Inyssa a small peck on the cheek with his beak. She smiled, happy to have such a smart Pokemon around, and with a movement of her arm sent him upwards where the Starly began flying in circles once more.

Not wanting to put it off any longer, she entered through the door, her feet moving slowly and her eyes open wide as to take everything in. As she advanced the sound of the wind began to dissipate, the thick walls blocking any sound coming from the outside.

When she reached the end of the hallway she leaned her body against one of the walls and carefully looked around the corner, ready to grab a Pokeball in case of any trouble. But the lobby was empty, only a spacious circular space filled with nothing but pots, a couple of sofas and an empty receptionist's table in the middle. At the sides of the back right wall there were two other doors, one of them leading deeper into the building and the other one opening to a staircase which led to the second floor.

She ran through the circular room, and as she made her way through the narrow path she ignored all the office doors that she saw, focusing on the door leading to the main lab room. When she finally arrived she forgot to hide herself and busted through the door by kicking it.

The place was small, only containing two huge, strange-looking machines at the sides of the room and safety rails on the middle, forming a small path that led toward the next room. Inyssa came expecting a fight, and it seemed that's exactly what she would get, considering the two other people in the room. Pyxis and Orion, the Galactic grunts, turned sharply toward her, eyes wide in surprise. The former seemed to be holding onto the girl, whose face was crinkled in pain. A closer look told Inyssa that there was a shallow cut on the side of her right arm.

"Oh... it's you," said Orion, his tone a lot nastier than she remembered. "Should've known this was your fault."

Inyssa stopped in her tracks and gulped, hand going to the Pokeballs on her belt.

"I only beat her in a Pokemon battle," she said. "If later she tripped and scraped herself that's not my problem. Now tell me where you have that girl's father before I make you." She tried to sound fierce, but an odd feeling in her chest made her words sound dull.

"You... you really came here alone," whispered Orion, shaking his head in disbelief. "I mean we knew you were a stupid brat but this is..." He frowned. "Doesn't matter; when she shows up you'll be done for. She's going to..."

"No one is going to harm anyone else here."

The voice came from the other side of the hallway, filling the entire room and startling both grunts and Inyssa. From behind the door appeared a tall, bearded man dressed in a brown suit and hat. His facial features made him look around thirty, and although Inyssa could see most of his face, part of his eyes were obscured by his hat and flocks of brown hair.

"You two will cause no more harm in my laboratory." He spoke with a calm, low pitched voice that made Inyssa felt a small shiver on the back of her neck. "Greetings Miss, I assume you were the one to beat this... well I hesitate to call him a trainer," he said as he looked down at Pyxis.

Orion's face went from surprise to confusion, and for a second he seemed to be about to say something, but the tall man shot him a puzzling look and the Galactic grunt closed his mouth. Inyssa stared at him for a couple seconds, refusing to drop her guard.

"Yeah, I'm the one," she replied, head high. "Are you the girl's father? She told me you were being held prisoner."

His mouth twisted into a strange smile as he let out a small laugh. "Ah yes. Katie, that wonderful angel. If it weren't for her I wouldn't have had the chance to set myself free, but with only one of these idiots around that ceased to be a problem."

Inyssa's body relaxed after hearing Katie's name, and she allowed herself to smile.

"I'm glad I could help out. Your daughter... she's a very brave girl."

"I guess she got that from her father." The man smiled, slowly walking closer. "Where is she now? Did she make it safely to the city?"

"Yeah, I made sure she went straight to the Pokemon Center," Inyssa explained, putting her hand away from her belt. "She was going to tell the nurse to contact the police, so they should be here any moment now."

"Perfect, that should wrap up things here." He slapped his palms together and smiled, perhaps too brightly, while close to him Orion trembled with fear. "I believe that would be those shapes approaching from the west, don't you think?" He pointed towards the window at the back of Inyssa, eyes covered in shadow.

"What? Oh yeah they sh..." She turned around, gaze trying to focus in the outside of the building.

There was no one there.

She didn't have time to process what happened. Her entire body trembled as the air around her became heavy and she was suddenly unable to breathe. Her limbs froze and her throat turned dry. A hand grabbed her by the forearm and lifted her upwards with almost enough force to dislocate her shoulder, taking her feet of the ground and forcing a painful grunt out of her. Before she could react she felt another hand taking grabbing her belt, and with it all of her Pokeballs.

"To be honest..." The voice behind her spoke slowly, savoring every word. "I didn't think the person who defeated Pyxis would be so easily fooled by a trick like this."

She tried to turn around but as soon as she did the person holding her threw her forward, her body flying a few feet toward the hallway's entrance. A sharp pain pierced her left arm as she fell on it, her mind going momentarily blank by the impact. She heard a couple of voices near her, and the vibrations of someone walking towards her resonated inside her head. Painfully she tried to get up, only managing to sit, right arm supporting the rest of her body, gaze looking upwards to the man who had just assaulted her. She could see his eyes now, a dull, muddy red looking down at her, as his lips were contorted into a cold smile. On his left hand he held Inyssa's belt with all of her Pokeballs in it.

"Wh..." She tried to speak, but her voice came out weak. "You... give me that back!" She yelled with all the strength she had. "Aren't you the girl's... are you on their side?"

"I'm afraid I... ah, pulled your leg, metaphorically speaking." He laughed at his own joke, placing a hand over his mouth. "But no, I'm not Katie's father, he is safely tied up in the back room, waiting until this all blows over," he explained, his voice melodious. "As for my true identity... well, just see for yourself. I'm sure that will be much more educational than a boring explanation."

The man took a step forward, positioning himself a few inches from her. He closed his eyes and raised both arms to the side. For a moment nothing happened, but just when Inyssa was about to stand up she heard it; a horrible, reverberating sound filled the air as the man's body began to melt. She couldn't find another word to describe it; she watched in horror as his skin, hair and clothes began to bubble and shift as if they were made of rubber, turning into a bright, pink substance. The strange blob contracted and began accumulating on the stranger's shoulder, forming what appeared to be an irregular flat body with two dot eyes and a stretched mouth which was a simple line.

What a few moments ago was a tall, dark haired man now appeared before her as a young woman dressed in almost the same uniform as the two Galactic grunts behind her, with a Ditto sitting on her shoulders. Her hair was the color of blood, and her face was angular and slim, a long smile pasted onto her thin lips. In the back of her mind, Inyssa couldn't help but think that she looked familiar. The only thing that hadn't changed about her were those cold red eyes, now set directly on her.

"What... what the fuck are you!?" The words came out of her mouth without her realizing, and she unconsciously started sliding backwards, away from the strange woman.

"You may call me Mars," she said, performing a short, mocking bow. "I am one of Team Galactic's four commanders. And this right here is my dear companion." She looked to the side at the Ditto on her shoulder, who's expression was still blank. "He doesn't have a name, so feel free to call him whatever you want, all right?"

She slowly walked toward Inyssa, whose body had frozen by the horrible chill in the woman's voice. Behind her, Pyxis had pushed herself as much as she could against the railing, trying to steer away from her.

"Get away from me!" Inyssa's voice came out as a shriek, until she realized that yelling was pointless. That woman called Mars still had all of her Pokeballs, and even if she tried to run she wouldn't get far. She had to think of another way out. "I... I mean... how did you... do that?" She tried to sound collected but her voice was breaking from fear.

Mars smiled as her eyes glanced towards the Ditto. "I'm afraid that's a secret," she replied, crossing her arms playfully. "If I went around telling everyone then no one would find me interesting! Let's just say... my Ditto here is a very cooperative fellow."

Inyssa frowned, not understanding a word out of the woman's mouth. She looked everywhere, her mind racing to think of a way to get out of the situation she was in. Maybe if she just bought some time the police would arrive and save her.

"Who are you people?" she asked, hoping for a long answer. "What are you trying to do here?"

"I've been told you've heard of us before, but just in case, we are Team Galactic," she explained. "We've been trying to create a new world that's better than this one, or at least that's what our motto says. In truth I'm probably the least qualified person to explain our objective, but we shouldn't let that fact discourage this little reunion of ours..."

She nodded slowly, pretending to understand her words, and when she realized that was the only answer she was going to get on the matter she decided to change the subject.

"Then, if Katie's father didn't break out, what happened to her?" She pointed at Pyxis, momentarily supporting her body against the railway.

"T-hat's none of your business!" Pyxis spat out, her voice shaking.

"Now now Pyxis, don't be rude." Mars raised her left hand toward her and she instantly closed his mouth. "For your information, this is now the third time Pyxis has failed to complete her objective, despite claiming to be a talented trainer. And every time, just before it happened, she assured me that she had everything under control." Her gaze drifted from the wounded girl to Inyssa. "Whether from lies or misjudgement of her own abilities, I don't appreciate being misinformed. So I punished her slightly, as to motivate her to grow stronger in the future."

"A-and I deserve what happened, my commander!" Her high-pitched voice sounded pained and irregular, as if she were having difficulty speaking. "I promise... I won't let you down again!"

Orion frowned at that, looking uncomfortable.

"Y-you did that to her just for that?"

Inyssa's heart sunk, the reality of the dangerous situation she was in finally dawning on her. If this crazy woman had sliced at one of her subordinate's arms... then what would she do to her? She could feel her arms start to shake, any sign of bravery or composure thrown out the window as she lay kneeling on the floor, scared out of her mind.

"Now..." Mars broke the silence, her voice cutting the air like a knife on cloth. "Do you have any more questions, girl?"

She spoke as if she were a teacher prompting a student, but Inyssa could feel the threat in her voice. She tried to think of anything to say to buy a little more time, but her mind was blank. Her eyes darted around the room looking for anything that could help her, and right when she thought she was doomed she saw a speck of grey behind one of the windows near her. Mars couldn't see it since it was behind her, but Steven's silhouette was on the other side, watching Inyssa intently, waiting for orders.

With enormous effort she got to her feet, fingers closed around the bar of the handrail next to her.

"I think that's all; thanks for the information." She did her best to smile, even though her body was still shaking. "Steven, now!"

The window exploded into a hail of broken glass as Steven crashed in, wings covered in energy. Mars was taken aback for a moment as the flying Pokemon's beak approached Inyssa's belt. Unfortunately she was quick to react and was able to get it out of the way just before Steven could reach it. As it was he could only hit one of the Pokeballs with his wings, sending it rolling towards Inyssa. He veered upwards and flew to his master, landing on her shoulders.

"Commander Mars!" Pyxis' voice was heard over the torrent of wind now entering through the window. "Are you okay?"

Mars lifted her left hand towards him, and once again Pyxis stopped talking immediately.

"I'm fine Pyxis, thanks for your concern," she said. "It was my own fault for not paying attention."

Inyssa gripped the Pokeball on her hand as strongly as possible. Her plan had only half worked, she couldn't retrieve her belt but maybe with two of her Pokemon at her disposal she could get the rest back. Steven was chirping loudly on her shoulder, ready to fight, and with both aerial and ground coverage she could probably overwhelm whatever Mars had in store. She pressed the button on the Pokeball and a flash of light invaded the room. She crossed her fingers, hoping Enma would appear, but her heart dropped as she saw the silhouette of a Bidoof forming itself from that light. Bertha emerged in between Mars and her, eyes sunken and a concerned expression on her face.

"Bertha..." Inyssa's tone of disappointment was as plain as day. "It... it doesn't matter, I can still do this," she told herself, breathing deeply. "Bertha, listen! We have to fight to save the rest of our friends!"

The small rodent Pokemon didn't move for a few seconds, looking directly at her master. Her head moved up and down slowly, in what she considered a nod, and with her whole body shaking she turned to face Mars. The woman was simply cleaning off specks of dust of her uniform, not a line of concern on her face.

"A Pokemon fight, eh? I'm a bit rusty on that field but..." She shrugged. "I can't say no after you got me like that." She looked over her shoulder toward the door at the other side of the room. "Hey, how much until we finish gathering all the energy we need!?"

Two figures appeared at the other side of the door; the Galactic grunts seemed to be trying to spy on their boss and the intruder. One of them approached Mars carefully, eyes avoiding hers.

"It'll only be a couple more minutes, commander." He spoke reverently, head down. "We should probably ready our escape."

"Tell Charon to ready the Pokemon, instruct them to teleport us away when it's needed. And as for Pyxis..." She turned to the wounded girl, and for a moment Orion looked like he'd throw himself between them. "Help Orion carry her, and make sure he gets medical care once we're back at the base."

The grunt did as he was told; he grabbed Pyxis by the arm and together with Orion they helped her along. However, just before disappearing past the sill of the door, the girl looked over her shoulder one last time, her eyes meeting Inyssa's. Bitterness alone shone through them, all directed straight at her. It was enough to send a shiver down Inyssa's spine. She was gone a moment after.

"And now that we're finally alone..." Mars spoke with a melodious tone, hiding her right hand behind her back. "Shall we begin?"

From the pocket of her skirt she grabbed a completely white Pokeball, with only a small red line going through the middle. She pressed its button without much fanfare and another flash of light exploded in front of her, taking the shape of a fat, quadruped cat-like Pokemon. His body was quite bigger than it's pre-evolution and his face had lost all prettiness it previously had. The Purugly produced a sound from its throat that was half between a growl and a purr, his expression that of annoyance.

Inyssa cringed at the sight of that thing, her heart pounding on her chest. A fully evolved Pokemon? Even two on one it was going to be a nightmare fighting that thing. But she couldn't let worry consume her now, her friends needed her.

"Bertha, use Defense Curl! Steven, Double Team!" She did her best to put all her will into her voice, even if the wind was covering most of it.

"Faint Attack on Starly." Mars spoke, arms crossed and only barely paying attention to the fight.

The Bidoof positioned herself on the ground, and a strange blue aura started covering her entire body, fortifying her defenses. Meanwhile Steven jumped into the air and his body began glowing, many different fakes of himself surrounding him and obscuring his location. The Purugly simply observed this happen as he lazily walked towards both of them, eyes gleaming with hostility. His body crouched, the muscles on his legs contracting, and with a sudden jump he appeared in front of all the Starlies, claws brimming with dark energy. With a huge arc the slash hit every one of them, effortlessly finding the real one and sending him towards the floor where he barely managed to stay above ground, a deep cut on the side of his body.

"Steven! Shit, I forgot about Faint Attack..." She bit her thumb while thinking about her next move. "Use Wing Attack! Bertha, cover him with Rollout!"

"Fury Swipes." Mars whispered.

The Starly flew as high as possible, and with all the power of his fall he threw himself at the Purugly, wings glowing white. The cat Pokemon prepared himself for an attack, but just before he jumped Bertha started running towards him, turning her body into a fur ball and rolling with enormous strength at him. The impact distracted him long enough for Steven to fall on top of him, pushing him back a few feet and throwing him off balance.

Inyssa thought he was down, but the moment he fell his body sprang right back into action, now moving as if his laziness hadn't existed before. His eyes glowed bright red, and his expression shifted into one of bloodlust. With a mighty roar he jumped right back at his opponents with a flurry of slashes that caught both Pokemon off guard. Inyssa heard their screeches as their bodies hit the floor near her, both Pokemon having deep wounds on different parts of their bodies. Bertha was still conscious and trying to stand up with much difficulty, while Steven was breathing heavily, unable to move.

Her mouth was dry as she watched her only hope being defeated so easily. Mars formed a sly smile and tried to contain a chuckle.

"I..." She didn't want to say those words, but she wasn't going to put her Pokemon in any more danger. "I give u-"

A barely audible growl interrupted her, coming from Bertha. She had managed to stand up, and her eyes were brimming with determination, gaze set on the Purugly.

"You can't fight anymore." Inyssa told her. "It's okay, we'll find another way to..."

It happened before she had a chance to stop it. Bertha started running once more towards her opponent, body turning into a rolling ball which traveled a lot faster than before. Inyssa didn't get a chance to let a word out, she simply searched desperately for Bertha's Pokeball on her pocket, but it was already too late.

"Faint Attack." Mars' voice reached her. The Purugly in front of her formed a wicked smile.

Bertha's body, now covered in blood, accelerated with incredible speed towards the cat Pokemon, as he once more jumped into action, sharp claws brimming with light. The impact destroyed the near safety rails and the dust forced Inyssa to close her eyes. When it finally settled she could see two bodies on the floor, immobile. The Purugly lay unconscious in front of her master, growling in pain, and in front of him...

Inyssa's heart stopped. Bertha's body was motionless, most of her fur covered in a dark red. Her chest wasn't moving.

She fell to her knees, eyes wide open and limbs frozen. A few feet from her, Mars returned the Purugly to his Pokeball.

"What a shame, having to take a Pokemon's life..." Her voice was now slow and contemplating, eyes still set on Inyssa. "I assure you that was not my plan; I'd hoped you would have better control over your Pokemon..."

Inyssa's body moved on its own. While on her knees she grabbed a piece of broken glass that was near her, and before she knew it she began running towards Mars, a weapon on her hand and the sound of the distant wind deafening her scream. She expected the woman to dodge or to call upon another Pokemon, but she didn't move. Inyssa was merely inches from her; she punched the air with the piece of broken glass, aiming directly at her face.

There was a flash of movement, and then an indescribable pain flared throughout her body. Inyssa glanced down, noticing the distinct shape of Mars' left fist buried in her gut. Air escaped her lungs and before she knew it she was on the ground again, face against the cold, ceramic floor. Mars' voice rang above her.

"What an interesting girl you are," she said, laughter in her voice. "You... remind me of someone. As a sign of my gratitude for helping me kill time, I'll return this to you."

Inyssa's belt fell next to her face, full of her unopened Pokeballs.

"I'll be taking my leave now, but I do hope that we'll meet again." For once she could feel a speck of honesty in Mars' voice. "Until next time."

She tried to raise her head, her blurry sight only catching a glimpse of the woman's body as she turned around and left through the door. Her vision began to darken as her body became more unresponsive. In the distance Inyssa heard a familiar voice, Barry's voice, coming from behind her. She tried to respond, tried to say something, but she couldn't even open her mouth.

She finally closed her eyes, her last sight that of Mars' back.


Silver Notes: This is the chapter I've been wanting to get to for so long. I hope you all enjoyed it for what it was, and you can consider this the real beginning of a certain part of this story.