AUTHOR'S NOTE

This story is a sequel to two stories I have already written, those being Corrupted Black and Mysterious White, so characters, plot elements, and settings will not be completely elaborated on. My intention with this story is to make it something that is readable without requiring the prequel(s) to be read, so context will be abundant, but if you would like a complete understanding of the timeline feel free to read CB/MW!

Thank you, and happy reading.

PROLOGUE - UNOVA'S SHADOW

Thump.

Zero let Invictus's body fall onto the charred ground. The Samurott was obnoxiously heavy, even more so when he was unconscious.

Zero had dragged him away as quickly as he could, leaving the crumpled forms of his once-companions unconscious on the ground. If the others had woken up and seen the dictator defenseless, they might have taken action before Zero could. The Samurott was still barely alive, his chest rising and falling shallowly.

The Klinklang had assumed he would have been able to withstand the attack better, but he had overestimated his old leader. A tremor of distaste broke through his normally blank facade.

And yet, at the same time, a twisted rush of satisfaction overcame him as he replayed the scene in his mind. Invictus's howls as white-hot lightning shredded through him still echoed through the silent plateau, even though the violence had occurred miles and miles away. For the first time, Invictus had been subjected to the pain and fear he had inflicted on the Pokemon of Unova. To think that Zero had ever trusted him, that he had even looked up to this pathetic creature… it made him feel something unrecognizable. Bitterness, perhaps.

Zero would do a much better job. Unova needed to be united against fools and monsters like Invictus. If he was the most powerful Pokemon in the region, nobody would be able to attempt destructive uprisings that tore the world apart. Anybody who stood in his way would merely be struck down, for the good of everyone. His uprising would be the last.

For just a moment, the faces of his friends flashed through his mind. His former friends. Rayzor and Golurk and Bean, looking betrayed and horrified and sick. Sheer and Meyers looking as if they wanted to tear him to pieces in the same way he was destroying their common enemy.

Why did they look at me like that? I am saving them. I am putting Invictus to a better use, so he cannot hurt them anymore.

Anybody that stands in my way, he reminded himself. He certainly did not want to tear through any of those Pokemon, mostly because it would make the others sad. But he had done it to Sheer as a warning, and he would do it again.

This time, it would not be a warning.

They were weak, burdened with imperfections and emotional inconsistency. It would not be a problem if one of them attempted to stand up to him. Perhaps… I can convince them to join me instead. That would be pleasant.

Another image appeared in his mind- this time of him upon Invictus's rocky throne, surrounded by the smiling faces of his teammates. Invictus sat hunched in the shadows with dead, empty eyes. He had gained quite the imagination from being around Rayzor and Sheer.

Yes, that would have to do. He would find the others again, after he was done taking control, and they could be together again. Once they tasted his power, his solution, they would understand.

But first, I must harness that power.

He already had a solid plan forming, mostly involving convincing other powerful Pokemon to join him and then sending scouts to bring back more potential allies and put down any rising threats. His targets were outlined in neon blue, their fangs and blades bared as they came forward to meet him. It would be quite simple, knowing the general hive-mind of the public-

The barest noise of something dragging across rock brought his attention back to the present. He turned in a circle, but nobody was visible among the spires of stone.

"I know you are there." Though he couldn't see them, this Pokemon had been following him ever since the shadow of the dragon had turned the world upside down. Though his friends had been immobilized, something else had taken advantage of chaos the same way he had. "You have followed me quite a ways."

After a few moments of silence, the Pokemon finally slithered from behind one of the rock formations, letting the shadows play on her figure and making her appear cold and mysterious. Just based on her appearance, Zero immediately found he considered her as potential.

She was a tall, sharp-eyed Serperior, the dark markings on her face making her a commanding and threatening presence. She was deceptively strong, he could already tell- there was pure muscle coiled in her smooth shape. The way she looked at him, attempting to hide her wariness and curiosity behind a smirk, gave him an idea.

"Why are you here?"

"Well, to be honest, I was curious what you were going to do with that big dead brute," she drawled, keeping her posture carefully uninterested.

"He is still alive," Zero corrected. "I need him for my plans. Perhaps you will be of assistance." The sudden offer should have surprised her into vulnerability.

She gave a sharp, barking laugh and rolled her eyes. "Child, I'm not here to play dolls with cadavers."

He frowned. "I told you, he is not dead. I thought you seemed like the intelligent type."

That shut her up. Her eyes narrowed as she processed the insult. "Well, lucky for you, I am. Fine. What are you going to do with this big… alive brute?"

"Use him to control Unova," he said simply.

He'd been right about her. Immediately, her eyes glittered with cold, calculated interest. "And what does he have to do with taking over Unova?"

"He will manipulate the Pokemon. They are already afraid of him. We just have to guide them in the right direction."

The Serperior looked at him dubiously. "...Right. Who is this, again?"

Zero blinked at her. "You do not know of Invictus? Are you new to the region?"

"Don't mock me," she growled, her pupils narrowing to slits. "Am I supposed to know him?"

Despite all of the time he had spent with Sheer and Rayzor, he still lacked mastery in decoding sarcasm and humor. He could not tell if she was trying to make a joke. "He killed King Satyr. He has been trying to take over Unova for the past few seasons."

For a long moment, the Serperior stared at him blankly, as if trying to decipher his words. "Oh. You're crazy," she finally said disappointedly.

"I am not."

"Unova has no king. We have- had- a queen, but she's dead." She said the last part smugly. "And I think I would've noticed a tyrant roaming around."

"A… queen?" Zero tried to find a reasonable explanation for her words, but nothing would quite connect. King Satyr had been alive for many, many years, and he did not know if there had been any queens before him. Perhaps she was the crazy one. Or was she from a different plane of existence? He had heard theories of time and dimensional travel in his time lurking around Invictus's allies, but all of them were written off as theoretical, and he found it hard to believe himself.

Or…

The flash of darkness and the wings of the great dragon came to him again. I have never seen anything like that. Perhaps it had something to do with this situation.

"Did you come here in a flash of darkness? Did you see the shape of the dragon?" he asked.

She wrinkled her nose at him. "I didn't come from anywhere. I've been here the whole time. It was a flash of light, but I did see the dragon. You saw it too?" The last part came out hesitant, as if she was worried about what he might say.

A thousand different theories were forming in Zero's mind so intensely that they were slowing down his basic processing abilities. Yes, the dragon was responsible, I'm sure. But what could have caused the dragon to appear in the first place? How can I convince her?… Ah.

Invictus had carried a strange artifact with him that Zero had never deciphered the importance of. Perhaps… "The stone," he said, and the Serperior tensed immediately. Victory.

"What stone?"

"The white stone." He considered what she had said earlier about the flash of light, not darkness. A king and a queen. A silent assassin and a roaring dictator. "Or perhaps yours was black."

She had gone stiff and stone faced, staring at him and trying not to betray any emotion.

When she didn't give any further information, Zero tried again. "Nobody else knows about the stones. We are the only ones aware of their power." He didn't know if they had any power at all, but he'd finally found something to crack her.

Her nose turned down, her untrusting gaze never leaving him. "Even if that's so, mine disappeared in the light. Those stupid brats probably have it."

He wasn't sure exactly who the stupid brats were, but he had a feeling they wouldn't be any trouble for the three of them.

Maybe that's where the white stone went, too. I didn't see any of my friends take it, but perhaps somebody grabbed it in the chaos. Perhaps she was lying to him. Oh, that would be unfortunate. If he discovered she'd stolen Invictus's mysterious relic, he'd have to do the same thing to her that he had done to the Samurott.

"Well, there is a possibility I can retrieve your stone, as I have a good idea of where mine might have gone." He extended a gear diplomatically, but she continued to watch him through narrowed eyes.

"You said the stone was powerful. How powerful? How do you know that?"

"I have seen it with my own eyes," Zero told her, carefully skirting the question. "And it is powerful enough to overthrow Unova on its own."

Nothing but more fabrication, but it seemed to do the trick. The Serperior extended a vine and curled around the gear in a display of truce.

Zero gave her his most earnest smile. "Perfect. I know where we must head next. I believe we will be a powerful alliance…"

The Serperior cocked her head and glanced over at the motionless body of the Samurott again. "Whatever you say. And please…" She tilted her head to look down at him, flashing a doe-eyed smile offset by her vicious fangs. "Call me Slytherin."