Fire Wolf86 -- Aw, thanks. And thank you for the review

Gaby Stons -- Ah, hello! Now that the baby has arrived Lance shouldn't be so incompetent from now on. And the name Ryuanna is entirely made up by me as far as I know, so I don't think a lot of people will know it, it's just a connection with dragons. Thank you for your review

The Incarnation Pokemon -- Haha, Wallace has had that Milotic since he was a child and that may be why she has such a cutesy name. And there is a reason why all the children are girls but that won't become apparent until a little while later. Thank you for the review.

Redemmo -- That's a relief then. I always figured most people who read Pokemon aren't looking for chapters this long. Thanks for the review.

II -- Haha, great name you got there. Thanks for the review.

Maia's Pen -- I dunno, your last update was a long one The first part of chapter 7 here was a little ropey but I'm glad you liked it. And you're right; Lance is wonderful. Thank you for your review.

Kigaromaru -- Oh? You've seen my DA stuff? I don't think many people pay attention to that. Thanks for reviewing too!

A/N: Whoo, eight reviewers this time, squeak! That was a nice surprise!

Anyhoo, WOMG! Sorry about this… very late update… we've just been having some medical problems in the family. But things are looking up so here I am! Has it been two months since the last update…?

Notes

"Talking"
Thinking
((Psychic communication))
Pokemon speech
'Phone calls' and
'Tatsu language'

Quite a few notes now, eh? Anyway, onwards!

The Dragon Homeland
Chapter 8

He stumbled back onto the stone floor bracing himself with one arm whilst the other hung limply from his shoulder. Looking up, the shadow of the creature loomed over him and he closed his eyes tightly and jolted himself onto his side to roll away from the blade that pierced the rock he'd been laying against.

Dragging himself to his feet the man gritted his teeth as he gripped his broken arm and whispered something under his breath, harshly. While he was speaking his rushed incarnation and as the soft blue light radiated from his arm a single bullet stole itself through the exposed area of his chest.

Will gagged on his own breath as he held the pistol still aimed at the man across the large room. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he watched the victim crumple to the floor and claw at his shirt in pain. Slowly releasing a shaking hand from the gun's handle he brought his fingers up to cover his eyes and his other hand played with the trigger of the firearm. The moans of the man across the floor filled his ears as the man grimaced and tugged on his tattered jacket covering himself with the blood from the gunshot wound.

Hand trembling violently and without even watching what he was doing he shot the person again and again in quick succession.

"Gotta do it fast! Gotta get it done…!" Will screamed at himself over the noise of the shots.

The shadowed creature dragged itself forward towards the psychic man and covered the gun with sharp hands and snatched it away from the quaking hands. The Psychic Master immediately pushed back from the weapon and the creature watching him. Standing back and watching his shaking hands the Elite First slowly stole a glimpse of his victim only to swallow back the bile in his throat and cover his face.

"I was hoping you wouldn't use this firearm" the creature stated "but rather your own power. Look, this human crafted object can't even take a life and do what is designed of it. You are above using such menial weapons Morag. I am deeply disappointed."

Will shook his head as his hands rose up to grip his hair. "S-sorry… Master Ryuin… I just don't think I'm able to take this… assignment. I will only disappoint again."

The dark dragon grinned. "Nonsense! Taking the life of one of your comrades is a simple enough task, you have the power to do so. Do it and you will be in full control of your powers! The fear of the power overtaking you will be all but a distant memory! Do it! Kill your former comrade!"

Ripping his hands free from his scalp the Psychic Master strode across to the injured man and held out a hand to him. Looks of bewilderment and fear watched the hand as the injured body heaved. While still reaching out to his team-mate a light purple aura surrounded both bodies and painfully slowly the injured man sat forward and bowed down on his hands and knees at the Elite First's feet. Coughed up blood and tears of pain mingled together as the aura grew to overtake control of the man's mind. With a flash from purple eyes the man crumpled and the aura subsided.

Will jumped back swiftly and covered his mouth with the hand he's just used to commit murder. His eyes darted around the room and then from the body to the dragon. "I-I-I-" he broke off and slid to the floor in a pain of his own.

Ryuin too looked around the room with satisfaction. "Brilliant. Killed without causing a horrendous mess. Good. It is good to have more talent on our side."

The Psychic Master mumbled and shivered as he tried to tare his eyes away from the prone form in front of him. He'd killed another fellow trainer… what would his Pokemon think of him now…?

He hung his head.

Lorelei bolted from her light sleep as a horrendous scream reverberated across the Plateau. Instantly she stared across the long room to the baby's cot. Looking back down she gripped the bed sheets and held them up to her chin, frowning. Glancing to her left the space in the bed her husband usually slept was still empty. Dragging her legs over the edge of the mattress she paced across to her daughter to check everything was fine with the newborn.

"You're a little sleeper, aren't ya?" she smiled fondly down at the little bundle. Looking back across the room to the bed she furrowed her brow. "But, what was that scream?" Exhaling she chuckled softly. "Look at me; talking to myself" she turned back to lean over the cot, "daddy is still up… there's something wrong with him too… you don't know do you, Ryuanna?"

The Ice trainer hadn't seen her husband since they'd got back from Indigo Public Hospital earlier that morning. He was acting odd around the baby and kept glancing looks at the baby's face and eyes, he was even acting different her too. At first she'd just thought he was nervous about hurting the baby as he'd told her Master Len of Blackthorn continuously dropped him, Vance and Clair, by accident of course, and they were old enough not to be too badly hurt. She'd always laughed at the two Tatsu whenever that subject came up.

Vance was a hypochondriac so he kept insisting he had short-tem memory loss every time he forgot even the smallest thing, and blamed his shortcomings on the Dragon Elder. It was nonsense really. He just never trusted the man again after the Gyarados incident.

Clair was just short-tempered with the old man, often scratching at his ankles after she'd hit the floor, or just jumping to her feet and storming off ranting all the while in Tatsu. Lance just sat there. Watching the other two for a while but usually followed after his cousin when she left; she was defiantly the 'leader' of the three. The two younger Tatsu never held a grudge like their eldest did, however. Since they weren't allowed outside the Dragon's Den there seemed no point to ignore one of the few different people they had to talk with.

Lorelei heaved a sigh. "I hope your daddy spills what's the matter with him soon. I'm not raising you alone!" She laughed light heartedly.

The door to the Elite First's bedroom flung open as Abby and Blue stormed into the darkness. Covering her eyes the blond girl knocked her Vaporeon out of her way and walked further into the room.

"Will? Will, are you okay? You… just screamed, right?" Peeking between two fingers she scanned the room.

The Psychic's bed was ruffled like the man had been tossing in his sleep and the many small things on the bedside table had been scattered across the floor. A small glass of water had been thrown against a wall as the liquid was draining from the wallpaper to the carpet among the shattered glass shards on the floor. The man's gun was laying halfway across the room, the metal reflecting a small purple light.

Abby followed the direction of the light from the gun with her eyes while still keeping a clear break to the door. Slowly her gaze met that of Will's across the small room. Blue hissed and crouched in front of her Master baring her teeth and puffing out the webbed collar around her head in an attempt to intimidate. The pair of glowing purple eyes fell to slits and resized a few time before Will dropped his head and retreated into the darkness.

Knitting her brow Abby pushed further into the room leaving a confused Blue at the door. "Will?" she ventured in a small voice. "A-Agatha said, said if you aren't… feeling well you should go see her straight away."

"I can't disturb her at this ridiculous time."

"But-but, Agatha said" Abby mumbled like whatever the elderly woman said was law.

Will dragged his gave to Abby. "You really shouldn't put so much trust in a single person… they'll only disappoint you in the end." Falling to sit on the floor he pulled his legs up to rest his face on his knees and rap his arms around his torso.

The Elite Third huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "Oh stop moping! It's not the end of the world!"

"How little you know" Will laughed through his knees. He continued chuckling to himself and rolled his forehead.

Abby backed away from him a step. "You're starting to freak me out, Will" she said as the man continued to chuckle to himself and roll his head.

"I killed him!" He suddenly shouted, standing up and causing Abby to shriek in shock.

The scream from her Master was all Vaporeon needed as she launched into an attack and dashed across the room to tackle the Psychic and pin him to the floor in the blink of an eye. Abby shook her head and jumped forward again to look over Blue at the psychic man.

He was laying calmly under the paws of the Water Pokemon staring up at the ceiling, still with glowing purple eyes. Blue snarled down at him and clawed at his bed shirt with dangerous eyes and snorted out a breath of hot air into his face as another warning.

Abby stood back up. "I-I'll go get Agatha. Can you keep him, Blue?" The Vaporeon nodded never once taking her eyes off of her captive. The girl nodded and dashed out of the room.

The Elite First shifted under the weight of the Pokemon and turned to watch her. "You're a good Pokemon aren't you Blue?" The Vaporeon narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Why don't you let me up. I think I'm resting on some glass from the light bulb." Blue glanced at the light to see that it had been shattered before looking back at Will and growling deep in her throat. "Yes, you are a good Pokemon. Letting me up would be defying your Master. Of course she did only ask you, not order you." He winced as Blue clawed heavily at his shirt again.

"Prroreon!"

Will smiled, "yes, yes. I get it."

The wide open waters passed swiftly under him as Ryuin sped further away from Sootopolis city with the Red orb safely tucked away in his jacket. The orange hue of his powers still surrounded him in the night's lightas he slowed down slightly after he'd gained some distance at the new speed. Eventually he came to a halt and turned back to look to the North.

"Soon I will have both the orbs, Mr Riverer. And there is nothing neither you nor the Elite can do about that" he gloated quietly. His musings were shortly interrupted as a shrill ring pieced the air. Dragging his eyes away from the direction of Sootopolis he pulled out a devise from his jacket. "What?" he barked into it.

The caller on the other end of the devise chuckled richly. 'Always with the pleasantries Ryuin.'

"Is there a reason or something you want, to be calling me when I specifically ordered you to remain back, Lawrence" Ryuin stated automatically.

'As a matter of fact I do have a valid reason to call you' Lawrence said smoothly, 'my ship cannot stay airborne much longer due to your unforeseen complications.'

Ryuin growled. "Do not contradict me."

'I am merely informing you of my status' the man replied with his rich voice. 'If we are to reach the objective of this task I suggest you return to the ship at once before she depletes her fuel supply.' He waited a long moment before speaking again, 'that is of course just a suggestion.'

"I will not be belittled by the likes of a human. What is your position?" the dragon demanded.

'Exactly three-hundred miles South of Sootopolis; our agreed position.'

Ryuin snorted. "Very well. Hold your ground." He flipped the small devise closed and slid it in a pocket adjacent to the pocket holding the Red Orb inside the snagger's jacket. He looked back towards the Water City. "Soon we will have you, Mr Riverer."

Taking a sudden boost of energy he shot across the surface of the sea kicking up water as he travelled faster and faster with ease. With no obstacles in his way he was free to push his limits and test his stamina. After a sort period of time he curved up and broke through the cloud layer to come face-to-propeller with a huge yet magnificent airship.

The vessel wasn't like the average airship; this bore more resemblance to a castle than a ship. It was almost as if a person had attached six windmills to each leg of a castle and brought it up into the sky.

Ryuin hovered around the propeller and blasted up to the side of the observation deck making sure to avoid the whirring machines, the crushing winds proving a mere annoyance rather than a dangerous obstacle. As he reached out to tough the thick metal shell of the deck his aura exploded in a white light and he snapped back into sight at the head of the room.

The tall Lawrence III turned from the large window to look at the dragon. However, unlike a lot of the humans around the Tatsu Dragon, he didn't approach but waited for the black Pokemon to approach him. Whether Ryuin knew it of not; Lawrence was always calm, refined and in control, and in charge of himself. He wouldn't pander to anyone's needs or even to this Dragon's ego. And he was the only being that found it particularly easy to manipulate the Pokemon without it knowing otherwise.

Ryuin glided across to the man swiftly. "Is everything ready for the assault?" he snapped.

Lawrence smiled. "It is. However, I must say that this is a truly foolish attack."

Ryuin slowly turned his head on his long neck to look at the man. "I did not ask for your opinion" he said throatily. Swishing his vicious tail close to The Collector, who never even batted an eyelash at the motion, he stalked up to the viewing window himself.

Lawrence watched his body language. "Something troubles?"

The dragon leaned forward and pushed his face flat against the glass to get a clearer view of the ocean that lay ahead of the ship. "They have Kyogre" he stated.

"Mn, yes. We cannot underestimate them."

Ryuin turned his back to the glass. "But I have Groudon."

Lawrence crossed his arms over his chest and cupped his chin in a hand. "Perhaps we should just pick-up Groudon and leave Riverer be for the time being" he mussed. "The ship doesn't have a sufficient amount of energy to launch an attack on an already dead city." He looked blankly at the dragon to convey the hypocrisy of it all.

"The City is not dead" Ryuin replied dangerously, his eyes flashing. "It is very much alive. The people of Sootopolis aren't weak. And their Gym Leader is a strong human - physically and mentally. I could sense his resolve when I levelled the area. He will prove to be a problem if he chooses to pursue the Orbs and yet… he cannot be harmed…"

"What's this?" Lawrence feigned shock. "Ryuin complementing a human?"

The Psychic suddenly howled with laughter. "And by how he deserves it! I haven't even begun with my plans and already he's provided me with a problem!" He shook his head and re-fixed his eyes on the vast body of water again. "He also has Kyogre under his command. And if it were not for these Orbs he would stand above me in the climb for command of both The Creator of the Seas and The Creator of the Lands" he rumbled darkly, the glass under his watch began to creak and crack slightly.

"Ryuin! Do not damage the screen. Any weakness in the structure of my ship will result in an inconvenience later in time." Lawrence said then turned to press a small button on the control bay to bring down the shutters over the glass. As the heavy armour clicked into action he sat down behind the controls in a large thrown-back chair and waited.

"We are returning to the volcano" Ryuin stated. "I must have the Blue Earthly Orb."

Lawrence squinted at the dragon but sat back in his seat and crossed his arms across his chest again. The whirring of the engines was silenced by the glass windows and the heavy gray shutters; the whole observation deck was drowned in a placid green light as the navigation system lowered a monstrous monitor showing the immediate area with the current programmed path shown in little red tracks.

"We have an estimate of twenty minutes to remain in Sootopolis airspace with enough energy to return to Tatsu." The Collector informed the dragon. Maybe if you would take our suggestions and obtain a base in the Johto region we wouldn't have this inconvenience.

The Psychic Dragon whipped his head around to the man and glared. "The soil of these lands are ripe with filth and decay. Only the land of Tatsu is pure. Only there will I remain. Of course, if you'd done your job we would have Legendary power to feed from."

"And I presume Vance has been doing his fare share of the work too?" The rich voice questioned.

"Vance has been frequenting the Plateau, yes" Ryuin hissed. "The Master humans are too dim-witted to tell two different people from each other." The dragon shifted back from the shutters and strode to the middle of the floor space. "Have you secured the Lugia egg?"

Lawrence refrained from frowning at the question. "Of course. However, since she is a mere egg she has been taken to the incubator. When she emerges she will be placed into the devise. The incubator should accelerate the hatching process."

"Very well" Ryuin whipped around to look through the window shutters. "And soon we will have the power of Groudon and Kyogre. Secure Groudon first; it's power can be used to our advantage against Riverer."

A/N: Sorry about the length of this chapter, but I did want to update to show that I haven't just left this. Next chapter will be the usual longer length. I can just never decide if I want to write this or do those Dolls I do over on Serebii. But, awww, no Lance or Isaac this chapter

There seems to be a lot of scene switching too Sweatdrop I also guess this is TOTALLY an AU since we have Lawrence's ship, the Colosseum Crew, Indigo and Hoenn League all in the same time period, heheh, my bad.

Hm, plently of mysteries and stuff tooXD They'll all be explained eventually though!