Author's Note: Hey everybody! Sorry about how long this story took to update, my life's been a little hectic lately. But I'll try to update this more often, K? anyway, I don't really have much to say, but I do want to address something...The one review I've recieved for this story posed the question, 'Is he God'. I'm sorry to spoil any suspense, but the answer is flat out no. I may be presumptuous enough to try and write God into my fiction, but I am not gonna create a character that's supposed to be him. Sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or the battle frontier.

Note: "Speaking"
Thinking
Psychic conversations
Flashbacks
YELLING!

Chapter One:

Begin Anew

-smoke, flames-

"-blunt force trauma to the-"

-screeching tires, a dull thud-

"-morphine, he's coming to! Nurse, suction that-"

-something terrible is happening! Must-

"-Stand back folks, he's waking up. Sir, I need to-"

-Organ music coming from…somewhere?-

"-Dearly beloved-"

-Take me-

"-Dearly beloved, we are-"

-Take me-

"-Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today-"

-Take me, damn it!-

"-Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the-"

"Nooooooo!!"

With a thud, the man called David rolled off the bed. Groaning, he shook his head to clear the last vestiges of his nightmare, then stood. David rubbed his shoulder, sore from impact. Then, as if his fingers had a mind of their own, he ran them along his bare chest and the horrific testament to his grief. David closed his eyes, reliving the dream.

"Si lati lasita sila latias! LASITA!!!"

David glanced over at Whisper. The small dragon was thrashing on the bed, lost in her own nightmare. David considered waking her, but thought better of it. Sometimes bad dreams were the only place where loved ones still trod.

David sensed motion behind him. Hearth wandered into his field of vision. "Grrowrr…" he rumbled, holding David's clothes out to him.

David took his clothes with a silent nod. As cloth slid over flesh, they transformed from mere garments to armor, powerful and unyielding. I am David bar Yahweh, he mentally whispered.

As Hearth, now fully dressed, walked to the bed to wake whisper, Iceberg finished wrapping the scarf around her neck. Whisper gasped awake, then shook herself and started dressing. Iceberg glanced at David and trilled inquisitively.

David bowed his head in thought for a moment. "I was thinking we'd take on Lucy first, she's the easiest."

The others nodded. David inhaled deeply, the let his breath out slowly. "Ready?"

Whisper, Hearth, and Iceberg rumbled their assent. David looked up, dark purpose dancing in his eyes. "Let's go."

OOOOOOOO

Lucy yawned. She hated annual status meetings. She hated the people that attended even more. Huffing impatiently, she eyed the other five frontier brains who were present. Pussies, she mentally sneered. One little trainer makes mention of the seven of us, and they're running around like Pidgey with their heads cut off.

She was momentarily swept by a feeling of pity for the poor sap. Very few trainers made it far enough to face a frontier brain, only four had ever faced all seven. Any trainer who made it to the brains was defeated, warned to stay quiet about them, and sent on their way. Those who refused to stay quiet were…dealt with. Lucy shivered as she considered what that dealing with would look like for this poor boy, and his family. However, such was the way of the frontier. She locked her emotions away in a cage and refocused on the meeting.

As usual, the other frontier brains were competing to see who could yell the loudest and longest. So far, it looked like Brandon was winning by default—most of the frontier brains were either too small or too out of shape to keep up with him. Lucy could, if she wanted, outpace his mouth, but she couldn't see the point. That left only one other brain who could silence him, her cousin-

"Annabel!"

Lucy watched as Annabel walked from the door to the head of the table. Finally, she thought. Annabel signaled to the rest of the frontier brains that the meeting had begun. She took a deep breath.

"Here's what we know. There is a man staying in one of our hotels. He has with him a Charizard, a Lapras, and a Latias. He's—"

There was an instant uproar over the last. Annabel's voice rose above the chaos, sharp and commanding, "PEOPLE! PLEASE!"

The other brains quickly stopped speaking. Annabel swiftly surveyed the occupants of the room, then continued.

"Man in our hotel. Charizard, Lapras, Latias. He's calling himself David bar Yahweh, no idea what that means yet. And when he checked in, he referenced us directly. He pretty much threatened us."

There was silence. After a moment Greta stood up, causing Lucy to wince. Deceptively young and small, the petite amazon was easily the most violent of the frontier brains. Whatever she was about to say, it would be bloody.

"It seems to me," Greta said in a quiet voice, "that we are slipping. Why haven't we hunted this…boy's family down and sent a few body parts to his hotel room yet?"

Annabel sighed in frustration. "We've tried! We can't find anything on him!"

Brandon pounded the table. "What do you MEAN we don't have anything on him! We have the BEST INTELLIGENCE IN THE WORLD! WE HAVE SOURCES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE LAW, IN FOURTEEN REGIONS, ON THREE CONTINENTS! A TOGEPI CAN'T TAKE A DUMP IN THE WOODS WITHOUT US KNOWING! SO HOW IN BAAL'S NAME DON'T WE HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON HIM!!!"

Brandon took a deep breath, preparing to continue. But then he made the mistake of looking in Annabel's eyes. The two wrestled visually for a few minutes, then Brandon cast his glance away and sat. Annabel kept her gaze on him until he looked back up, then said, "in the future, Mr. Pyramid King, please refrain from such outbursts, since they distract the rest of us."

Inside, Lucy shivered. Each of the frontier brains was dangerous in their own way…Greta being a prime example. But Annabel was one of the worst…Annabel was by far the most ruthless. One had only to look at the remains of the former salon maiden, frozen in plastic next to her quarters, to know that. Lucy was very determined to keep far away from her cousin.

Annabel shook her head dismally. "In answer to your question, Brandon, no, we don't have any information on him. We've hit up all the sources we have, and they know less than we do. No name, no past, no family, hell, we don't even know what port he left from to get here! The kid's an enigma!"

Spencer stood up, the ever-present fanatical gleam tainting his eyes. "I say we forget about our sources, forget about what we don't know, and just kill him in his room!"

Annabel shot Spencer a condescending look. "We may have half the planet in our pockets, but not even the Battle Frontier can wantonly kill one of its guests and get away with it. Both the free world and the organizations we own would take offense at it…they'd have to."

Noland stood up. "So what do we do about him?"

Lucy allowed herself a small smile. Of all the frontier brains, she liked the Factory Head the most. He was a cold, practical scientist who cared not one bit for human life, but at least he wasn't evil. So long as he was able to pursue his research, he left well enough alone. Sometimes, late at night, Noland was the only person on the island she could talk to. The only person who was able to help her sleep.

Annabel allowed herself a momentary expression of evil. "We fight him. We beat him. We let him go. When he's far enough out, we kill him and take his pokemon. Simple as that"

Heads around the table nodded, and Frontier Brains stood and started walking away. Lucy stood up and stretched, running her hands down her body. She preferred to wear form-fitting clothing in bright colors…it fit her. Shaking her hair out, she starting walking back to her quarters.

"Lu?" said Annabel.

Lucy turned around, her interest level escalating rapidly. Annabel hadn't used her pet name for Lucy since she was eleven, and to do so now meant she wanted something really big from her. Lucy walked up to the head of the table. "What's up?"

Annabel shuffled papers nervously, another out of character action. "This bar Yahweh guy? He's headed your way now."

Lucy quirked her right eyebrow up. "Yeah? So?"

Annabel looked directly into Lucy's eyes. "Don't lose."

Lucy stared at her cousin in shock. It had come out as a command, but Lucy knew Annabel well enough to understand when she was pleading. For the first time in years, Lucy stared directly into her cousin's eyes, and looked past the coldness on the surface to find…fear! Annabel was afraid of this guy!

Lucy bowed her head. "C'mon Anna, you know I'm the weakest link! I'll do my best, but no promises."

Annabel nodded grudgingly. Lucy turned around and walked away, allowing herself the smallest of smiles. Ice queen's got a crack in the armor, she thought to herself.

OOOOOOOO

David stood in front of the Battle Pike's gaping maw. He glanced back at the pokemon behind him. "You ready?"

The three pokemon nodded their assent. David nodded sharply. "All right. Let's go."

The four trudged into the mouth of the building, ready to do battle with whatever they might find inside.