The 18 Masters

by StZushi

Strange things have been happening across the regions. Rainstorms and hurricanes punished cities. But something is off: Those things are not natural. Gary, Dawn, Ash, Serena, May, Drew and their friends are the ones chosen to find people to help solve this problem. Little do they know this will prove to be much harder than they thought. Currently re-writing!

4. Chapter 4 - Fallen to Ruins

A/N: Aaaaaaand I'm back at it! And yes: you can blame the COVID-19 pandemic (and all the online D&D sessions that happened because of it) for both my absence from writing and return. But anyways, chapter 4 is ready, and is not just ready. As a friend of mine says: "It's so SPICY I swear I burned my hand when I touched it!" Honestly, he is kind of a dumbass, but I'll be damned if he is not my friend (aaaaaaaand taking that vine reference out of my bucket list, hell yeah!). I would also like to say this: Thank you for reading! Writing is just a hobby for me, but it keeps me going through a lotta stuff in my life, and to know that there are people out there that enjoy this madness that I birthed from the mess that some may call my mind simply warms my heart!

Well, I guess that's it! Get yourselves a drink (this time I actually suggest alcoholic beverages though lmao just kidding. Don't drink, kids.), some snacks maybe, WASH YOUR HANDS (and remember to practice social distancing, and keep your hopes up because one day this pandemic will end for real!), and read on!

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Chapter 4

Fallen to Ruins

Part 1: A Chance Encounter

Hoenn, Lilycove City's Department Store

As May and Drew headed inside the enormous, and progressively less crowded department store yet still very much crowded, they set their minds on their objective: finding anyone with a Celebi tattoo.

As it is a common problem with most of the stuff their friends and them do, the task was easier said than done, which came to them as unsurprising. "It would be great if they just showed up at the main entrance, in the most dramatic way possible just so we'd be certain it's one of them." said Drew.

"Ugh, tell me about it. I know it's near closing time, but this place is still full of people." was the reply he got from May, a bit annoyed at the still large crowd at the store. "It wasn't this crowded when we were here some time ago."

"Well, things always get crazy around here when it nears closing time."

"I know. Terrible idea of yours to come here." She said.

"But it was your idea!"

"But you agreed."

He laughed a bit, bringing her a bit closer to him as he did so. "Maybe we'll have more luck in the upper floors."

"Sounds good."

They went up to the elevator, surprised to find out that there was no one waiting in line.

"Weird. And the elevator's on this floor as well." Drew said.

"That's not weird, that's good! It means no waiting in line." she said happily as she went up to press the button.

She pressed it. But the elevator's doors didn't open.

"What?" as she said it, she noticed the lift had just started moving as she pressed the button, the little display changing from 'Lobby' to '1st Floor'. "Oh, are you kidding me?!"

Drew just laughed at the annoyed May. "I guess we should take that as hint to go up the stairs."

Sighing, the brunette looked once more at the display "That's complete bullshit!" and she went in the direction of the stairs as a laughing Drew followed her.

As the pair walked up the stairs, a trio walked in through the door.

The one in front, a loud skinny boy, tanned skin, seemed to have a very… interesting fashion sense. The sleeveless brown shirt with the words "Extra for the sake of being more Extra than God".

A very bold choice of words to put on a shirt.

And that wasn't even where it stopped.

The pants were camo, but in yellow, and did not go well with his shirt or his eyes, which were green and brown (right and left respectively). The goatee without a mustache was also a weird sight, but at least it went fairly well with his shoulder length light brown hair, but the hair was highlighted, which made it seem a bit weird on him. So all things considered, the man was a walking fashion disaster that managed to make several shoppers around him gasp in terror.

His friends, on the other hand, seemed to get the idea of style a little bit better than he did.

Or at least the girl did, as she wore what could only be described as designer's clothes, fitting of a very pretty girl. The crimson leather boots, reaching up to just below her knees, complimented her skin nicely, and it went really well with the silk dress, that reached just below her knees as well, the black color giving her a more elegant air, accented by the modest neckline. She also wore a vest over her dress, a very dark purple vest. Around her neck, holding a small pendant that resembled a moth, a thin silver necklace. Her dark brown hair was long, reaching down to her hips, and her amber colored eyes contrasted with the rest of her appearance, like a fire in dark night.

Finally, the other boy wore very simple clothes. Jeans pants that seemed to have been a bit charred, running shoes, a plain black sleeveless shirt, also noticeably charred, and steel neck chains. He was a handsome guy, and was much taller than the other two people with him, not to mention a bit more muscular. The short dark brown hair matching the color of his somewhat fierce eyes. Unlike his friends, he didn't seem very happy to be in this place.

The girl looked up to him and spoke up. "You should at least try to loosen up." Her accent was clearly kalosian, and her voice a bit deep, but very charming. "I know it's been a while since the last time you traveled with any of us, Bernard. But your training is complete now, and it means it's time to join the rest of us."

Bernard seemed to hesitate, not knowing what to say, when the other person with them spoke up.

"She's right, Big B". said the other boy, his voice loud and youthful.

"Don't call me that." Said Bernard sternly.

"Bronard?" the other boy smiled.

"No."

"Saint Berny?" the smile grew.

"No."

"Burning Heart Bernard Haart?" he began to laugh.

"No. And please stop." and Bernard had a near blank expression on his face.

The girl on the other hand, simply laughed a bit. "Alex is just fooling around with you, Bernard. You wouldn't be the first to be the victim of his antics."

"Yeah, man! Just relax, you'll get used to it." said Alex "So we're settling on Big B for now, am I right?"

"I never agreed to that."

"But I did, Big B. You're Big B now!" He grinned. "Come on, Leona" he turned to the girl "help me with this guy."

Leona, the girl, simply smiled as she stood in between them, linking her arms with theirs. "I have a better idea. Let's have a stroll around here. It's been a long time since I've come to Lilycove and I want to know what they have in store here." She began walking, pulling a rather unwilling Alex and a stoic Bernard with her through the lobby.

"Okay, boys. Today is a day dedicated to relaxing, so no talk about 'The Calling', and don't say anything related to pokémon battles. Understood?"

"Yes." Bernard said. Alex shrugged as he grinned.

Just saying "Yes" with a blank face? So he is that inexperienced with people… Doesn't really understand the simple act of fooling around with friends, is polite but at the same time too serious and doesn't talk much, rarely saying more than a short sentence. Looks like I got a handful to work with this time, thought Leona as they walked through the shop. At least it's a good thing Alex is here with me as well, such an extrovert like him may help with someone like Bernard greatly, I just have to make sure he won't go too far with his antics.

As they walked, Leona and Alex almost fell to the ground as Bernard stopped in his tracks suddenly.

He was looking at a mirror.

Just looking, eyeing his image on the mirror curiously.

"What's the matter?" asked the girl.

"I look very filthy."

He was right. His skin glistening with sweat, his clothes full of burn marks from his training, the bruises on his arms and what little could be seen of his chest that seemed like cuts and slashes, not to mention his face. He was a mess, and the smell of sweat and burned fabric was becoming more noticeable.

"That is an understatement. I mean, don't get me wrong, the roughed up look works on you, but I think it's too much as it is right now." said Alex.

Bernard looked around. He was in a department store and all sorts of stuff could be bought here. Including clothes. And first aid stuff to treat his bruises.

You should at least try to loosen up.

Leona's words rang in his head for a moment. Should I? I have basically just met them three days ago. I don't think I should bother them.

He turned to look at them, seeing how they were looking back at him.

Come on, Bernard, let me help you, Leona thought.

"Um…" He began, stuttering a bit. "Could you- uh-".

He was really not good at this.

"Do you want us to help you find new clothes for you?" Leona said, predicting what he was going to say.

"Um… Yes. Could you guys please help me?" He said, ever polite.

Alex grinned like the child he was at heart, while Leona smiled gently.

"Dude, you're gonna love the clothes I'm gonna get you!" said the loud one as he headed out into other parts of the shop, leaving Leona and Bernard.

"I would be glad to help you! Now let me just check something." She released his arm, then turned him to the mirror again, walking off to his left as to stand beside him.

She looked at his posture, doing some laps around him to have an idea of his measures. He seemed calm, even like this, so she continued.

She thought she had a hunch for most of his measures, but she wasn't sure about the pants. "What size are those jeans of yours?"

"There's sizes to these?"

That was not the answer she was expecting.

"What?" he asked upon seeing her rather shocked expression.

"No- Nothing! It's just that they fit you very well. Where did you buy these?"

"I didn't." he said. "I found these. When I was travelling through Unova, there I came upon this weird house close to the Reversal Mountain. There was no one inside. I found a closet with these pants and decided to try them on since my last pair of pants was very old and no longer a good fit. These fit me nicely, so I kept them."

That was the most I heard from him at once. And did he just tell me he went to that haunted house on Unova and "acquired" pants? And he doesn't even know the size, or the size of basically anything for that matter? What the hell?

"You're a very peculiar person. But anyways, I have an idea of what clothes to get you."

"That was quick. Thank you." He smiled lightly.

She smiled back. "You are very much welcome, monsieur. I just hope Alex doesn't go too overboard on the clothes he chooses for you. So just tell us if you think it's too much from us, okay? We don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Alright."

Meanwhile, Alex had gone to the 2nd floor, and was hoarding clothes.

Cargo pants? "Why not?", he said as he took the piece in his arms.

An official Pokémon League hoodie? "I'm sure this will look amazing on him!" he said as he rested the sweater over his shoulder, picking up a pink cap from another shelf as he walked through the shop.

He saw some amazing leather sandals on a corner. "Oh man , talk about a makeover! This is going to be a great day!" he then took the sandals in his hands, turning to walk away a bit too quickly.

Quickly enough to not see that there was someone right next to him, and bumping on to them.

"Ouch!" They both said in unison.

May was a bit caught off guard, as her boyfriend suddenly bumped into someone.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Drew said.

"Yo, I'm sorry, I'm just so excited I didn't see you there!" Alex grinned widely.

Drew was a bit distracted by his annoyance at the individual, but May was interested in something else.

The guy's neck had a tattoo.

Celebi.

Wait a minute… could it be… ?

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just pay attention next time." Drew said.

"Cool." Alex said, sassily dismissing Drew's statement. "Anyways, this was very pleasant, but I gotta go!" and just like that, he left them, several pieces of clothing in his arms.

As he left, Drew was still a bit pissed off.

"What a weirdo." he said.

"Babe."

"He could have hurt someone."

"Babe."

"Or himself"

"Drew, pay attention."

"Yeah, most likely himself."

"Drew!"

He looked at her. "What?"

"Didn't you see?"

He seemed confused for a second.

"See what?"

"He had a Celebi tattoo on his neck."

He looked back at the direction to which Alex left, then back at her. Covering his mouth with his hand, he looked once again to Alex's previous location.

"No freaking way." He said.

"I know!" May said. "I mean, it could be just a coincidence! But-"

"But it could also not be a coincidence and he's actually a Reborn!" he said, completing her sentence. "But there's one problem."

"Yeah, obviously. How are we gonna pass the challenge?"

"That is one problem, yes. But I wasn't talking about that." he said, putting his hands on her shoulders "how are we going to approach him to find out if he really is one of them?"

She gasped.

"I didn't think about that."

"It's ok, I only realised that now."

She looked at the automatic stairs once again, only barely seeing the boy going down to the first floor. "He's going back down, do you think we should follow him?"

He looked to where she was looking.

"We need a plan first. What if he finds us too suspicious? And what if he's not one of them?"

She looked around the store, then back at Drew, then back at the stairs, trying to think of anything.

"Let's get to the first floor again. I don't have a plan yet, but I need to check something out first."

"Okay." he said as they made their way down again.

Once on the first floor, they noticed he wasn't there.

"What?" she said. "Where did he go?"

They looked around for a while, trying to search for him.

Then Drew remembered something.

"May! Men's clothing! He was carrying men's clothing, which you can only find on the second floor! This floor and part of the lobby is for women's clothing, which means he might be in line to pay."

They smiled at each other and then quickly made their way to the lobby, running down the automatic stairs.

They were not expecting to find two more people to be with the boy.

And they certainly were not expecting them both to have Celebi tattoos as well.

The girl had one on her left hand, and the other boy had one on his left arm.

They approached the group, trying to not be seen by them.

"Did Dawn mention them traveling in groups?" Drew whispered to her.

"No! She just told me about the general stuff! I didn't know this was gonna happen!" She whispered back. "There are three of them, what are we gonna do?"

He looked at the three young people in question. "Let's just watch them from a distance for now."

"Alright. Wanna try to get closer so we hear what they're saying?"

"That might alarm them."

"Fair point. Let's stay here then."

Deciding on watching from a safe distance, they waited for any possibility to approach them.

On Alex's and his friends' side, things were a bit more relaxed.

Mostly because of Alex, really.

"I'm telling you, man! You're gonna look amazing with these on!" He said as he held up some blue pants with suspenders and a purple t-shirt, then gave both pieces of clothing to his tall friend. "Also, put these on!" He shoved sunglasses on his face. "And these should also look amazing on you!" he was now holding a suit. A very nice, complete set: tuxedo, pants and button-up shirt, not to mention the blue tie and the traditional leather shoes.

Bernard felt a bit weird, holding more fabric than he was used to, in a somewhat strange environment, and most of the clothing was not to his tastes for a simple reason.

"I think these are too restrictive." he stated simply.

Alex's grin faded for a moment.

"What do you mean"

"I won't be able to move very well in these."

"Oh." the loud one said. "Since this is the case, I brought something that is a bit simpler." He gave him the hoodie and the cargo pants, along with the sandals.

He seemed to be more appreciative to these ones, but apart from that, no further positive reaction.

"The hoodie and the pants are acceptable, the sandals are not."

Very straightforward, the girl thought. "I think I know what's gonna work." she said, as she dug through the pile of clothing Alex brought,

After a minute, she showed them what she had taken from the pile.

A simple sleeveless black shirt, similar to Bernard's current one, but in much better quality. It also had an interesting and subtle leafage pattern. She also had in her hands a pair of jeans, but these ones were the more common blue denim, and not the dark jeans he was wearing. And to top it off, the shoes. Seeing as he generally kept things simple, she figured changing from running shoes to skateboard shoes was a good step towards his loosening up.

She then looked at Alex. "As much as I respect the sight of a man in a full suit, I think keeping things simple is key for Bernard." she looked at the man in question "So, do you like these?"

Bernard eyed the clothes up and down, comparing these new ones to his. He enjoyed using darker clothes, but the blue denim looked nice along the black shirt, and the shoes looked surprisingly good, and a bit more stylish than his old running shoes, not to mention that those were new.

"I like these." He smiled slightly, drawing a larger smile from Alex and Leona. He approached her slowly and a bit nervously.

"Excuse me." He said as he gently took the clothes in his hands and went towards the cashier to pay for those.

As they looked at him go, Alex giggled.

"He didn't even bother to try the clothes on."

"I don't think he even cares about that." said the brunette.

"How did you know he was gonna like the clothes?"

"I didn't. I just…" she paused "I just had a feeling he would enjoy something similar to what he was used to."

As they looked at him, their minds began to wander.

"I wonder how powerful his team really is." Alex said.

"He is the Fire Master. He is definitely strong. We've only seen his Arcanine in action, and it was already super powerful by itself. To think he has five other pokémon that are at least on par with him…"

He laughed "It's a bit scary isn't it? But it's nice! And exciting! I never thought I'd be one of the first ones to meet him."

She looked back at Alex "I am sure that I have a very low chance of defeating him in battle."

"Me too. You'd have even more trouble, though, since you're the Bug Master. Tough luck for you, Leopatra."

She laughed. "It's been a while since I've heard that nickname. But anyways, I think you would be the one to face him for the longest. Being the Poison Master, you could hinder him more severely than the rest of us much more efficiently, I think."

"Makes sense, but I can't be sure of anything yet. We've only seen one of his pokémon. There's five more."

"Yeah, and stop talking about battles, I told you guys this was supposed to be a relaxing day."

"But you followed along when I brought up the topic."

"Doesn't matter." She looked back at Bernard, noticing he was returning, which prompted Alex to look at him as well.

But as he turned to look at their companion, he noticed something else. The people he encountered on the second floor were there, in the lobby.

And looking at them.

Weird. Maybe the guy's still pissed off at me?

And then, as he looked at them, he realised. They seemed very familiar.

Wait a freaking second. Those are…

He noticed the girl's brown hair, the blue eyes, and the sporty clothing. He then looked at the boy he had bumped into, the one with the green hair.

May and Drew noticed the guy they met was looking at them.

"Oh my God, what do we do?" Drew said.

May looked around them, trying to find something to hide them, but to no avail.

Are those guys… ? They look like May Maple and Drew Shu, the coordinators. He looked more intensely, trying to make sure those were them.

Running out of ideas, and perhaps time, May acted quickly, grabbing her boyfriend by the neck and kissing him, catching him by surprise at first, but he quickly caught on.

Hmm… Nah, I don't care. Alex turned to look at his friends. As his taller friend returned, he noticed he was carrying not one, but two bags. "I went ahead and bought first aid for my bruises", he said, lifting up a smaller bag.

"Smart move, man." Alex said, "So, Leona, what else do you want-" he began to ask the question, then he noticed she was no longer beside them. "Where is she?"

They looked around for a few seconds, then Bernard noticed where she had gone. "She is over there." He pointed at not just Leona.

But at May and Drew too, these two having just finished their "panic induced kiss".

Drew looked at May "That was very surprising. But I'm not complaining." He smiled.

"And our cover still holds, I think."

"Does it really, ma chérie?" A deep feminine voice asked from the side, where they wouldn't have seen her approaching.

They both jumped in surprise. "Oh! Uh- H- Hey!" May said, visibly panicked. "How can we help you?!"

Great job, May. Drew thought to himself. And there goes our element of surprise.

"Oh, of course!" Leona took both of them by their arms, in a manner similar to what she did with Bernard and Alex. "Walk with me."

They didn't know what it was that made them follow that request of hers as if it was a command, but they did.

From Bernard's perspective, they just saw Leona take two strangers away.

From Alex's perspective, that meant trouble. Because as always, Leona was always more perceptive than their friends, and probably noticed something weird about them.

And then it clicked for him. These really were May and Drew, the coordinators. Very famous trainers with connections to not only people like Professors, but also the Pokémon League. Which meant there was a slight possibility that they knew who they were.

"Good old Leopatra! Always looking out for us!"

"What do you mean?" Bernard asked. "Are they dangerous?"

"What? No! But there's a possibility that our identities might be found because of them. And let me tell you-" He put his arm on Bernard's shoulder "Leona is one of the main reasons why people haven't found us out for a long time.

Bernard looked at her, visibly impressed. "Interesting."

As Leona walked around with her new acquaintances, she hummed a tune of a song she frequently listened to.

May and Drew walked with her, and never in their lives they felt so much like statues. They have never been that stiff because of someone's presence before. They never felt like every breath they took felt heavier and heavier. And all that because of a girl, quite possibly their target, just disarmed them so quickly.

"You two lovebirds might be wondering: how did this girl find us out so quickly? How did she know?" She said, smiling slightly. "Wouldn't be the first time a situation like this one happened, and I don't expect this one to be the last, my darlings."

"Um, cool." Drew said, realising he had no idea what to say. "So, you-" he paused, not being sure how to begin "you knew we were watching you guys?"

"Well, you weren't really trying to hide it, honestly. At least from my perspective, that is. But the kiss definitely sealed the deal for me. Classic panic kissing, always amusing."

"... So it wasn't a smart move?" May said, a bit sad.

"It was, actually. But not a smart move to use on me. I've seen it before." she said. "And as you might expect… I haven't seen those who tried this before you for years now."

That sounded more menacing than I'd like it to, May thought to herself, and as she looked at Drew, she figured he thought the same.

"So you're Reborns." May said. "You guys have the tattoo."

"We do, yes. They look nice, don't they?" she laughed. "About being Reborns though, I may or may not have a task for you."

The challenge, Drew thought immediately as he heard her say that.

"Do you remember the guy with the green and brown eyes?"

They both nodded at her.

"Good. Now another question: do you guys drink?"

They both gulped. "We are 17." said Drew.

She raised an eyebrow, amused. "I tend to forget that you regular folk follow these rules and laws." She paused, giggling. "But you guys did have alcoholic beverages before, right? Don't tell me that teens, in this day and age, have not had alcohol before."

They both looked at each other. "Yeah, we have." May said, sounding a bit… annoyed. She seemed to know what this girl was implying, and she didn't like it. "I know what you're thinking. You want us to get into a drinking competition against him, right?"

"You're quite perceptive, May. And yes, I want the both of you to do it. After all, I know that guy. And I know none of our friends can keep up with him. So maybe you guys can give him a challenge. There are some rules for you guys, though. Thirty minutes, and no throwing up."

"Only thirty minutes? That seems like a very short time for this." Drew said.

She laughed, making them a bit scared. "Oh, boy. Everyone says that!" She guided them to her friends.

"I believe you two know what is happening right now." She said as she looked at the two reborns.

"You challenged them?" Bernard asked, getting a nod from Leona. "Battle?" he asked, already taking a more serious posture.

"No, mon amie. I thought of something a bit more... relaxing." Devious were these words somehow. She looked at Alex then. "Take them outside of the city, I need to get things ready."

Alex suddenly looked to be deep in thought. Why would she ask me to- Oh. Oh, that makes sense. He seemed to connect the dots. She wants me to battle them and not Bernard!

Maybe he didn't connect anything.

No, wait. Now I get it! It's the drinking competition! She's gonna go get the drinks with Bernard while I get to know May and Drew a bit better!

Yeah, he connected the dots. "Now, you two, May and Drew! Ooh, that kind of rhymes! Nice!" He said as he took the teens from Leona's arms. "We are about to get a bit more acquainted with each other, cool?" He put his arms around them and led them out of the city, all the way to Route 121, leaving Bernard and Leona alone.

"What's going on?" Bernard asked. "I thought it was a challenge."

"It is a challenge, a drinking competition. Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I always do battle challenges."

Oh. That explains a lot more than I expected it to. "So you always battle?"

"Yes."

"That's the only way you do these kinds of things then."

"Um… yes." He answered, a bit uneasily. "It's just that…"

She understood what he meant. It was common for reborns to resort to battling when trying to avoid attention or when they needed money to buy food and other things. She also did it quite often for a time, and some of them, like Isa and Heinz, have never stopped doing battle challenges.

She still enjoys them, just like Alex and their other friends. But when you spend so much time only being able to get close to a very small group of people, battling others, though being the easier option to avoid any trouble, tends to make them a bit weak on social skills.

And Bernard has never done anything other than training or battling.

"It's easier, right? Just getting the job done." She said as they began to walk back into the automatic stairs of the department store, heading to the 4th floor. "I know the feeling, really. all of us reborns do. But here's the thing."

They kept going up the stairs, her taller friend very quiet, listening to her intensely. "Haven't you ever asked yourself what it would be like to actually meet someone, and talk to them like you were… um… you know… normal?"

He didn't respond, but he seemed to be thinking about it. This silence accompanied them all the way up to the 4th floor, only stopping when Leona took a bottle of liquor in her hands. "Do you drink?"

He turned to look at her and the bottle in her hands. "Never before."

"I expected just as much. Do you wanna try this with us?"

"Um... " He paused. The label on the bottle read the word 'Whiskey'. "What's this?"

"A very strong drink. Alex likes it, so I'm getting him one." She said.

He looked around, several drinks beside him on the aisles. He took a random bottle, simply because it looked pretty. "What's this one?"

"That's beer. It's a much less alcoholic drink than whiskey. Well, I don't like it, but if you wanna try it out, suit yourself." She said.

But she didn't expect him to take several more bottles of beer, each one different.

"Are you sure about this? You said you never had these kinds of drinks before."

He just looked at her. "You told me that it was important to try new things."

"I know I did, but I really think you shouldn't have so much alcohol on your first day drinking."

"Why?"

Am I really having this conversation with a 19 year old? What even is today? She asked herself, in mild disbelief.

Hoenn, Route 121

Alex took them a bit further down the route, going past the Safari Zone. Upon finding a clearing in the woods, he activated a pokéball.

Out of it came a Crobat.

He then whispered to the pokémon, and it flew away. "Just told old Belmont to wait around for the others and lead them here." He then sat down, relaxing. "Come on, guys! Have a seat, I don't bite!" He laughed as he released another Pokémon, this time it was a very big Nidoking. "'Sup, Huntsman?" He said, the Nidoking crying out his name in response, smiling as Alex leaned against him. "Time to relax a bit, buddy!" The Nidoking sat down as well.

Seeing as the boy seemed fine, May and Drew took a seat in front of them.

For a while, they just sat in silence. No words spoken. It seemed like May and Drew were still nervous.

So Alex took the initiative. "So you guys might be wondering why we're doing this instead of having a battle."

They looked at each other. "That would be right, yes." Drew said.

Alex looked at the sky, the dusk slowly setting in, some stars now being able to be seen. "People like us don't get to be normal people, doing normal things and all that jazz." He said. "We know there is a destiny for all of us that we don't even understand yet, and we know that until this destiny unfolds our future is uncertain." He then looked at them, smiling slightly.

"We sometimes try to grasp any form of what you guys would consider to be a normal activity for people like you."

"Like sitting down and having a conversation with new people." May said.

"Yeah, like that." He said, his smile widening. "Challenges with no battles are the few chances we get to actually experience something close to being normal. Like, most of us don't even have a family anymore, and those who have rarely get to see them."

"It sounds like you guys live in a different world." Said Drew, taking May's hand in his. "But there's no way you guys are completely unknown, right? I mean, you're trainers, so that means you're registered in the Pokémon League like us, right?"

He just laughed dryly. "Dude, we don't even have cell phones. We're not registered to the league, though we still get to go to Pokémon Centers and Marts, but apart from that, we could essentially be considered outlaws or something like that."

Really puts things into perspective. May thought to herself. They look just like us, but they are nothing like us.

May was about to speak again, but then the Crobat returned, Leona and Bernard slowly following after him, holding several bags.

She handed one to Alex. "Bourbon, 12 years. It was expensive so don't waste it." She then took one of the bags Bernard was holding and handed it to May and Drew. "I didn't know what you guys liked, so I just took Vodka, I hope you don't mind. There's also lots of soda, so pick whichever one you like and mix it with the liquor."

Drew noticed there were three other bags, all of them very full. "What about those?"

She looked at the bags Bernard was hoarding.

Yes. Hoarding.

"These are all full to the brim with bottles of beer." Said Leona, sounding a bit irritated. "He decided to try these. We're not joining the competition by the way." She then took her other bag and opened it, revealing lots of snacks. "I hope you guys like nachos, because there's a lot of these here." She also had those red cups for the drinks, and gave one to everyone.

Drew and May just stared at her. "How much was it?" She asked.

"It's on us." Leona said, smiling. "Don't worry about it."

Soon, the challenge began and the clock started running.

And through it all May and Drew knew just how hard it could get.

Alex was drinking pure whiskey. No ice or any other drink to make it easier to down it. They both noticed it and grimaced as they realised that he not only enjoyed it this way, but could also drink faster than both of them.

So they knew they had to step it up, and began drinking, trying to match his pace.

"Oh, you're matching me! Instead of trying to set up your own pace you decide to adopt mine? Well, drink as fast as you can then!"

May noticed what he was doing "I understood that reference, but you're still going down."

Drew noticed May was actively trying hard. Well, she has always been better than me at this. I just hope she can control it this time, I don't want to experience another episode of "May destroys everything".

Drew knew he wasn't gonna last long, so he decided to simply drink at his own pace, trying to actually enjoy his drink.

Leona and Bernard then approached them, sitting beside them. He was holding a cup full of beer in his hand, while her drink was similar to Drew's, vodka with soda.

Bernard took a sip from his first ever alcoholic beverage.

And he didn't know what to expect. "It's interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"Strong taste, a bit bitter, but… nice." He smiled, then took another longer sip. "I like this beard."

"Beer." She corrected him, giggling.

"Oh, yeah. Beer."

Drew looked at him. "It sounds like you never had this before."

"That's right."

"It's good, huh? I actually really like it too." He looked inside the bags he brought, and took three beers in his hands. "Try these ones after!" And he began to show him the beers and explaining their differences.

May looked at Drew. Haha! Beer appreciation with Drew again! "Drew, it's ok if you want to quit challenge! Leave it to *hic* me!" Oh, hiccups.

"Are you sure?"

"Yesh, leave it to me, I *hic* got this!

Time was also running out, May and Alex on a mission.

Or at least, May was on a mission. Because Alex was almost done with the bottle, showing no signs of being as… altered as she was.

"Well, color me impressed, lass. You're more resistant to alcohol than you look." Alex said, for some reason, with a galarian accent. He then downed another shot. "But it'd look bad for me if I lost, innit?"

"Wh- why are you galarian all of a sudden?" She said in between giggles, the others were also laughing along.

"He does that when he's drunk. He just switches accents all the time." Leona said.

May laughed a bit more as Alex spoke gibberish in an accent that could only be described as a very strong italian accent that sounded more like latin.

Meanwhile, Bernard and Drew were enjoying some beers. "So this one's an IPA, which stands for India Pale Ale. This one should be a darker color, a bit stronger on the alcohol and bit more bitter, but the taste will most likely be stronger too." They both drank the beer in their cups. But instead of having a full cup like before, Bernard had only filled his cup up to a quarter half, as Drew instructed. "So, do you like it?"

He took another sip to try to savor it better. "Best one so far!" He lit up. "It's really good."

"Nice! This one's a Blazer Spice, a bit more expensive than some of the others we had, but a very good one. It's one of my favorites actually!"

Leona noticed they were enjoying themselves. "I thought you said you guys didn't drink, Drew. But May is, honestly, very impressive." She looked at her as she downed another shot, this time pure vodka, and she was still going strong. "And you know a lot about beer."

"Well, to be honest we had just met earlier so it was a bit weird. But we're no strangers to drinking. After all," and he looked at Alex, smiling as he looked back at Leona and Bernard "we're just like any other person out there."

She smiled, thankful that they were being very nice, and that Drew managed to get more out of Bernard through beer tasting.

And that's when she remembered that it was still a challenge. "Hey, Drew what time is it?"

"Oh, it's uh-" He took his cell phone and checked the time. "7:38 pm."

She gasped. That was 20 minutes after their 30 minute time limit.

They passed the test.

And May was still holding on, somehow, but she did seem a bit off.

"Alex, they did it." She said. May and Drew looked directly at her in surprise.

He paused upon hearing his name. "What? Really?"

"Yeah, it's been 50 minutes now, mon amie. I think you know what to do."

He knew, and he approached May, who was still very much shocked to know that she had done it. He then put his hand on her face, "This may sting a bit."

"What?" She then squealed from the rather sharp pain. It was like he had sent a shock through her body. But then the pain faded and she felt fine.

Maybe a bit too fine. No longer hiccuping. No longer dizzy. And most importantly, no longer wanting to throw up. Somehow.

"Wh- What? How?"

He then did the same to himself, but he didn't even flinch, which meant it wasn't the first time and he was used to it. "I'll explain soon enough. Now just relax." He smiled.

They all sat in a circle. "I believe introductions are needed right now, right?" Leona said. "Who wants to begin?"

And Alex immediately took the initiative. "I'll go first." He smiled. "I'm Alexey Yadschkov, but you can call me Alex. I'm 17 years old, and I'm the poison type master. The other Reborns and Celebi call me The Venomous Madness. It's nice meeting you all."

Leona came right after. "I am Leona Reine, and I am 18 years old. I am the master of bug types, and my friends call me Queen of the Hive. C'est un plaisir! And this tall guy over here…" She motioned to said tall guy, still enjoying some beer.

He looked at everyone, finished his drink, and introduced himself. "Oh, um… Hello?" He looked at Leona and Alex for approval, receiving a smile from her and two thumbs up from him. "I'm Bernard Haart. I'm 19 and I am the master of fire types." May and Drew visibly perked up when they heard him say that last part. Dawn said something about the fire, dark and dragon masters being the strongest ones. "And… Celebi bestowed upon me the title of The Knight of Flames."

Alex took a moment, standing up and walking for a second. "So… seeing that you were apparently looking for us, that means there is a reason for doing so."

"That's right." the green haired coordinator replied. "We're on a secret mission. The leaders of the Pokémon League sent us and other trainers to find you and the other Reborns."

May and Drew then explained everything to them.

As they finished, May remembered something. "Unfortunately, we don't have all the data about the distortions, but I wouldn't be surprised if we came upon an area where they're happening."

"It's no problem." said the girl. "We believe you. It's been a while, but we've been observing things. Also, Bernard completed his training." they all looked at him. "That's how the Rebirth Cycle works. The three strongest trainers will complete their training, and from there, evil will present itself to the world after some time. And we are the ones destined to face such evil when it rises."

"We know he is ready," said Alex "but we don't know about the other two, it's been too long since we've last seen each other."

"So, could we treat these distortions as an omen to the arrival of this 'evil' you need to defeat?" said May.

"That may be a way to see it." Leona said. "We might get more clues by travelling and finding the others. But we don't know if there are any of us around Hoenn. Honestly, we were lucky enough to find Bernard."

He just looked at them for a second upon hearing his name, then came back to enjoying his drink. This is really good, he thought to himself.

"So you guys didn't come to Hoenn together?" May asked.

"Nope. I actually arrived from Kanto two months ago. I stumbled upon Leona by sheer coincidence a week later at Slateport, and from then we decided to travel together. But Bernard… We only met him three days ago, and that was the first time we ever saw him."

May and Drew looked at each other, visibly confused. "I thought you Reborns were all friends?" She said.

Alex laughed for a bit. "That can be true for many of us, yes. For a few of us, it can be even more than that, since the Dark and Psychic masters are brothers, and it can be… well… very difficult. The Water master and the Dark master haven't been on good terms for years now, and Leona and I are basically the only people who ever met Bernard."

"He has been a very good travelling companion, even in such a short time period. But communication is a bit weird since he doesn't talk much." Leona said, then Bernard looked at her. "He is very polite, though, and is always ready for any sort of dangerous situation."

He smiled at all of them, taking another sip of his drink. He then stood up and looked at them. "I know this challenge was already completed, but I would like to see what you're capable of."

They all seemed surprised, even his fellow Reborns. "But not against me. Against Leona."

Now Leona seemed even more surprised. "Wh- why me?"

"I've seen Alex battle, and I've seen you battle as well. Battling Alex requires more endurance and resilience, while battling you requires quick thinking and precision. You could pose a formidable challenge to them with a single Pokémon, Alex could too, but it would take longer because of his fighting style."

They didn't utter a single word for a while.

But Leona's brain was on overdrive. That makes sense, my team is among the fastest and most brutal, and dodging quick strikes requires precision, as well as quick reactions. As for Alex, resisting a long time enduring poison while fighting can be extremely taxing, not to mention the powerful counterattacks.

She smiled. "I still find it odd that you talk more about battle strategies than anything else. But I guess you're right."

She turned to May and Drew. "Are guys on board with this? I may or may not go easy on you." She giggled a bit.

May and Drew looked at each other. He nodded at her confidently.

She grinned. "Let's do this."

Alex was ectatic. "Hell yeah! Huntsman!" He turned to his Nidoking. "Prepare the arena!"

Stomping on the ground, Huntsman used the move Bulldoze to shape the ground, making an improvised arena. "You wanna, watch them, buddy?" Nidoking nodded, and then the Crobat landed on top of him. "Belmont too, huh? Alright!"

Bernard also took a seat beside them, on the ground.

On one side, May and Drew were preparing themselves. But even though it wasn't a challenge, they were still nervous. This could be very difficult anyways. They looked at the other side, where Leona already had a pokéball in her hands.

She threw it, releasing her chosen Pokémon.

The red eyes, the claws, the white wings with red tips, the black but rather small body and the face, covered by what resembled a yellow mask. And most of all, the extremely loud buzzing sound coming from the rapidly flapping wings.

A Ninjask.

"Say hi to Cleo, my friends. She is such a darling, isn't she?" Leona said.

From the sides, Alex was genuinely surprised. He then whispered to Bernard. "I thought she was going to go easy on them."

"What do you mean?" Bernard said.

"You haven't seen that Ninjask in action, have you?" Alex wasn't surprised when his taller friend simply shook his head in response. "Dude, that is, quite possibly, the fastest Pokémon to exist."

May and Drew both threw a pokéball each. Her Glaceon coming out, and his Flygon appearing.

"The first move is yours." Leona said.

"Ice Beam!" May said.

"Dragon Claw!" Drew followed quickly after.

Flygon flew up high as Glaceon charged up an Ice Beam.

Cleo's wings began to beat a little bit faster, or at least it seemed so, because the buzzing had gotten a little louder.

Flygon's claws extended, a blue aura covering them as he dove into the Ninjask, and at the same time, Glaceon unleashed a powerful breath of ice towards the target.

Just as Leona expected. "Top Front!" She said.

Cleo moved in a flash, as if teleporting. She quickly positioned herself directly below Flygon, out of Dragon Claw's reach and easily dodging the Ice Beam.

Because of the speed in which it was moving, Flygon couldn't turn to try to hit Ninjask, and instead had to just barely dodge Glaceon's Ice Beam.

"What?!" May said. "That was so fast!"

"She used our Pokémon's attacks against us, with a single positioning." Drew said. "This will be hard."

Leona simply smiled.

"Swords Dance." She said, and then Cleo literally began to dance around the other two Pokémon, as spectral swords shimmered around her for a second, and within that same second of dancing, she returned to her original spot, now even faster than before.

That Ninjask has Speed Boost. May took note of that. This will be extremely complicated.

"Use Swift!" May said, and Glaceon formed a sphere of golden light in front of her. She then hit it with her tail, making the sphere break into several quick small shooting stars shooting straight to Cleo.

An unavoidable move. How predictable, Leona thought. "Slash and Dash on the stars." She said.

Cleo then went towards the stream of shooting stars, and began slashing them down, deflecting them using X-Scissor.

"Oh no." May muttered.

But Drew saw an opportunity. "Now, use Dragon Rush while she's distracted!"

Flygon's body burned with dragon fire as it rushed at Cleo.

When Flygon was about to strike, Cleo vanished from his sight, then suddenly felt a sharp pain on his back, followed by him being knocked down to the ground, and knocked out because of the sheer strength and speed of the Ninjask's X-Scissor.

"What?! But how?" He asked in disbelief.

"That was Slash and Dash. I trained Cleo to be able to use the sound of her wings buzzing as an improvised echolocation. That way, she notices changes in vibration acts accordingly, counter attacking or dodging." She said. "And I guess I should finish this. Cleo, mon amour, use Phasing Strike on Glaceon."

Cleo began to beat her wings even faster, her Speed Boost acting up again. She then zoomed past Glaceon in blinding speed. Glaceon cried out in pain from the sudden strike that she couldn't even see coming, then fell to the ground unconscious.

May and Drew called back their Pokémon to their respective pokéballs as the battle ended.

"That was… too fast." May said. So they really are something else. And that was just one of them.

"I could barely see that Ninjask." Drew said.

Leona called back Cleo. "That's the intention. But you guys did better than I expected. May took the reliable option of using a move like Swift, that is basically a guaranteed hit, to try to strike an opponent a lot faster than her Pokémon. That is a quick but effective strategy. And Drew made a good choice by having his Flygon attack Cleo while she was deflecting Glaceon's Swift."

She smiled brightly again. "The only reason why your strategies didn't work was because we trained so this kind of situation doesn't become a problem for us."

Bernard stood up again, finishing his drink. "I think that's good enough. You guys might learn a bit from us along the way, though."

May and Drew smiled, but then she remembered how Alex basically removed her drunkness. "Um… Alex, right?" he nodded. "How did you do that thing with your hand on my face?"

He smiled nervously. "Do I tell them?" he turned to his fellow Reborns. Leona just sighed, as if knowing there was no way out of it. Bernard didn't seem to care.

"Just do it." She said. "You already did it, anyways, and everyone saw it, so there's no helping it."

He took a deep breath. "Well, us Reborns have what you may call 'special abilities'. They're not necessarily powerful or useful, but they are always related to our type mastery." He said. "My ability is Disintoxication. I am basically an universal antidote. I can cure any poison on anyone, including alcohol. But when I do this, it hurts the person if it's not me. If the toxin is strong, it hurts more. By the way, sorry about that, May, it seemed like it hurt a lot for you."

"That is cool as hell!" Drew said. "So does that mean the others have something like this as well?"

"Oui. But it's all different for each of us. My ability, for example, is called Acute Senses. I can make one of my senses extremely acute by concentrating on it. That's how I noticed you two at Lilycove, by concentrating on my hearing."

So they all have a special skill? Dawn didn't tell me anything about that… Or maybe she never found out about it. May thought to herself.

Bernard noticed Leona and Alex were now looking at him, as if expecting him to say something. "Really? My ability is not cool like yours."

"Come on, just tell them, we all did!" Alex said.

"... Fine. I can't get burned. That's it." Bernard said.

"That makes a lot of sense, honestly.' said Drew, smiling a bit. "It probably helps a lot during training."

"It does. But that's about as useful as it's ever been."

They all simply stood there for a second, the only sound coming from Alex's Pokémon returning to their pokéballs as he called them back.

He actually broke the silence again. "So, where do we go from here? I mean, Hoenn is huge, and there's a possibility that we're not the only Reborns here."

May began to think about it, trying to consider their options. I think we should definitely talk about this with Professor Birch. He might know what to do. And there's also Steven, but I don't know if he'll be available. And finally… Brendan. Damn it.

"We should head to Littleroot. That's where Professor Birch lives. He might be able to help us. It's a long way from here but we can search for the other Reborns along the way, if there are any others here."

"Sounds like a plan." Leona said happily. "You guys on board?" She turned to her two companions.

Bernard simply nodded.

"Yeah, let's hit the road!" Alex said.

---

Part 2: The Ruins

Unova, Unknown Location, Present time

She walked slowly, as she watched the people around her. They all knew her, and their faces, constantly showing signs of exhaustion and suffering, instantly lightened up when looking at one of the people that have been protecting them.

Iris was one of these protectors. And as much as she knew it was important, everyday it was becoming more and more taxing on her and the others. She walked through the corridors, filled with all kinds of people. Families, many of them now incomplete, children, adults, teens, elderly… people from all over Unova. All those who managed to escape to this improvised safe haven, located in the middle of nowhere.

The dimly lit corridor constantly brought her memories of the last two months.

"Come on! We have to get out of here!" She remembered urging Drayden to leave with her.

But she also remembered seeing him die in front of her eyes, as a man dressed in black commanded a Houndoom to attack him.

"I need to get to Hilbert and the others, I gotta go…", she remembered the desperation on the following days, after the group called Team Void took over most of the region, how she kept looking for a place to escape to, to recover and keep moving forward. All communication lost, and still lost to this day. She was unable to call any of her friends. More than ever, Iris was alone.

She kept walking through the corridors of the abandoned building, expecting to find one of her colleagues within the halls.

When I found this place, I was being followed by members of Team Void. They were almost reaching me, when suddenly a blast of fire separated my pursuers from me, forming a wall of fire between us.

Hilbert, the Champion of Unova, grabbed my hand, his Emboar fighting off the remaining hostiles. "Come on, we have to move! Emboar, let's go! Cut them off with Blast Burn!"

Emboar then released a wild burst of fire, completely obscuring the vision of our enemies using the flames.

Hilbert recalled Emboar back to the pokéball, my hand still tightly grasped in his. "Are you okay?!" He seemed extremely tired.

"Yeah! Thank you!"

"Great! I know a place where we may be safe and where you can rest!"

When she got here, she met the few other capable trainers who survived the attacks, those who came to be known as the Protectors of Unova in the last months. The defenders of the resistance against Team Void's tyranny.

She continued walking, and as she did, she realized her fellow protectors were all probably in their headquarters, so she headed there.

After I arrived with Hilbert, he just walked in unceremoniously. It seemed like he had been doing this for a while. "Someone get water and food, quickly! I have found Iris, Unova League Sub Admin! She needs help urgently!" He turned to me. "You'll be okay." He smiled, but I could see he was trying hard to make the smile brighter. I could tell he was worn out.

It then became obvious when he just fell on a mattress on the floor and fell asleep instantly.

They gave me water, some food, and clean clothes.

I walked around, noticing familiar faces here and there. I saw an ex-member of Team Plasma, or at least that's how I could best describe her. Her long pink hair, once neatly done, but now rather wild, was still very beautiful. I think her name was Anthea. But her sister, the blonde girl, wasn't there. I think her name was Concordia. Anthea was helping the children who became orphans and the Pokémon who lost their trainers or owners. It seemed like she was in her element, but she also seemed visibly tired.

I also saw a Gym Leader. He was my friend actually. I would run and give him the tightest hug, but he was sleeping, and his left arm was broken apparently, judging by the cast. Life seemed to have been hard on him the last few days, but Cheren has always been careful, so he probably knew what he was doing. His girlfriend, Bianca, was beside him, with a notebook on her lap. She was writing something down fervorously, but when she noticed me, she smiled brightly, and I did too. I later found out she was the one responsible for the supplies, so she was probably doing a lot of math at that moment.

Seeing another friend and Gym Leader made it easier for me, especially when I stumbled upon Skyla that same day. She was covered with bruises, but she seemed fine. Or at least, I thought she was fine. I heard her crying another day, and when I checked in on her and found out what happened: she was grieving the loss of someone she loved dearly. That's when I realised I never saw Elesa there. Seeing Skyla like that made me so hopeless. Elesa and her were planning on moving in together. But now she is gone. Skyla still keeps a photo of them in her room.

I also found out I would be sharing a room with an Elite Four member. The only survivor among the four of them, actually. It was Grimsley. According to him, the sheer numbers of the enemy overwhelmed the Elite Four, on a scale of 30 to 1, so it was very difficult and damn near hopeless. He had to retreat to survive, and he told me he still sees the others in his dreams. I also noticed his card set was different. Caitlyn's picture for the Queen of Hearts card, Shauntal for the Ace of Spades and Marshal as the King of Diamonds. Grimsley's card was the Joker. I'd never seen him show any expression other than smugness before, but now I only saw sadness when I looked at him.

When I had the chance, I asked Hilbert about Hilda, his girlfriend. He told me she was alive and well, but she wasn't on Unova. Like them, she survived Team Void, but she took it upon herself to try and get help from outside of Unova. "She should be arriving at Kalos within a week." He told me, but I still worried about her. "But how do you know she is okay?"

He smiled. "She told me she would send her Mandibuzz back to us once she managed to safely leave Unova." He then showed me the pokéball. "I just hope she stays safe. We already lost too many friends and family. I couldn't…" I knew what he was gonna say. "I can't lose anyone else." I never agreed with something he ever said as much as I do now.

As she arrived in the Protectors' Headquarters, she saw everyone there, some looking better than others. Skyla and Hilbert were standing on different corners of the room, Bianca was at the table, typing something on the only working computer they had. She scavenged parts to actually get it to run, but she still had no connection to the internet. Anthea was sitting beside her, petting a Lillipup, one of the stray Pokémon she had been taking care of. Grimsley and Cheren were playing cards, and Cheren was obviously losing.

"This is ridiculous, you have to be cheating." He said, after his 7th consecutive defeat. His left arm was still injured (still had bandages), but he could already move it a little bit better.

Grimsley simply laughed. "Buddy, I don't even need to cheat to win against you. Also, this is Blackjack, with the simple rules. Cheating on this is laughable."

He laid down the cards again. Cheren had a total of 15 (a 9 and a 6) while Grimsley had a 19 (King and a 9). "So, what's it gonna be?" He asked smuggly.

Cheren took another card, this one was a 5, bringing him to 20. "Yeah, I'm staying." He said, feeling more confident. And then Grimsley simply laughed. "Yeah, you win this one. I might enjoy gambling, but I know when not to do so."

"Yes!"

Iris passed by them and jokingly took the top card from the pile and looked at it.

It was a 2. Grimsley would have won again with a 21. She looked at him and he simply put a finger up to his mouth, as if to tell her to not say anything about it. She giggled as she put the card back.

"Hey, guys! Any news?" She asked them.

Bianca looked at her for a moment before looking back at the computer. "Actually yes. We were waiting for you. Skyla and Hilbert found a survivor in the forest. He was unconscious, but he's sleeping in one of the beds in the main hall. Also, we managed to grab a hold of extra medical supplies thanks to Grimsley, and with this we can go another 2 weeks without needing to look for more. Finally, we unfortunately can't get any form of signal to connect to the internet or any other kind of service, but I'm trying." She smiled.

"The man, is he someone we know?"

Hilbert then spoke up. "Well, Skyla and I didn't know him. And the others didn't as well."

"What we do know about him is a bit weird and very unsettling." Skyla chimed in. "We found him 7 miles away from here, and the area around him was completely destroyed. Trees were fallen and torn, there were traces of slashing and burns everywhere, and there were several bodies of Team Void members on the ground. Most of them unconscious, some of them were actually dead. It was a harrowing sight, honestly."

"So he fought them alone?" She couldn't believe it, after everything they've been through. "Take me to him. I have to talk to this guy."

Anthea then stood up, the Lillipup still happily snuggled in her arms. "Come with me."

She guided Iris through the corridors. "I took care of some of his bruises along with Nurse Joy." Said Anthea. One of the region's Nurse Joy had managed to survive, and she was more than glad to help everyone else in this hideout. "He arrived unconscious and has remained like that for a while now. His chest has been injured severely, but we managed to fix him up. And he is a trainer. His pokéballs are all beside his bed."

When they arrived, they saw the man was already awake, but he was still visibly tired. His skin was tanned, he was skinny and tall. His body was covered with tattoos, full of skulls, blades and fire. There was, weirdly, a Celebi tattoo among the typhoon of drawings that was his left arm. His black sleeveless shirt had the symbol of the band Magnezone Head (Machine Head) and he was also wearing camo cargo pants. His boots were on the ground next to the mattress. He looked at them, the sight of his piercing red eyes along with his wild and colorful mohawk was intimidating at first, but they could see he was confused through his expression. "... Where am I? I don't- Argh!" He grasped his chest as pain shot through his body. He noticed there were bandages around his chest from underneath his shirt. Nurse Joy noticed him, and immediately came to his side. "Lie down, please. You have to rest."

He noticed his surroundings, and the vision of Nurse Joy calmed him a bit, so he laid down again, wincing in pain from the movement again, but more relaxed now.

Iris approached him. "Hey! Are you doing alright?"

He looked at her. "Um, yeah, I think so."

"Can you tell me your name?"

He froze. Oh, damn. This will be complicated. "I'm Dave. Dave Mustaine." That's another name I won't be able to use in the future. "What is this place?"

Anthea put the Lillipup back on the ground, so it could go play with the other children and Pokémon. "You're in the hideout. This is a safe haven for all people who escaped the menace of Team Void. And now you're one of us."

Team Void? What is she tal- As he was about to finish his train of thought, he began to remember what happened to him.

Unova, Undella Town, Two days ago

Brokk was inside a house, clearly abandoned by the looks of it. The furnishing was good by the looks of it, but there was no sign of anyone being there. Finally, I can rest a bit.

He went upstairs to find a bedroom. It was surprisingly big, and that bed was indeed king size. And very girly, so not to his liking. The entire room was also like that. Full of pink and red decorations.

"I feel like I just stumbled upon Laura's mind by mistake." He laughed at his own joke, then took off his boots and hopped on the bed. It was very comfortable, as he expected. "Not sleeping on the ground feels nice for a change. I really needed to rest after being chased by those Team Void bastards. I hope I managed to lose them." He then fell asleep rather quickly.

The next morning, he woke up very early. Unceremoniously put on his boots and went down to the kitchen to see if he could find anything to eat. He managed to find some bread and cheese, so he made some sandwiches and ate them quickly. As he did, he began to think. What do I do about Team Void? I am basically alone in this region since I don't know where the others are… I know I'm stronger than those thugs, but they're too many, and I know I can't run forever.

He finished his breakfast, filled his water bottle, then went on to leave the house, but just before, he touched the door handle, he heard a sound coming from outside.

"Check this villa next." He heard the sound of a man's voice.

"Yes, sir!" He then heard several voices in unison, then the footsteps as they got closer.

He froze where he stood. Oh s $#! They might catch me! What do I do?" He looked around the house, panicking as he did, but no particular hiding spot came to mind. As he heard the voices from outside, he noticed the same man who gave the command speaking again.

"Any information about the surviving Pokémon League members and Gym Leaders?"

"No, sir. The search teams have been working hard, but it's been really difficult to track them."

"I see. We may find clues in this house, seeing as this one belonged to Elite Four member Caitlyn."

Brokk now understood why the house looked like it did. It was Caitlyn's Villa. No wonder it was so pompous yet surprisingly comfortable. And that's when he remembered.

Comfortable. The bed.

He took off in a blur, going up the stairs as quickly as he could. He managed to disappear into the stairs as the front door opened forcefully.

He made his way back into the room, closing the door as carefully as he could as to not make a sound. He ran again, throwing himself to the ground and crawling under the bed.

That's the most ridiculous plan I ever came up with. He thought to himself.

Downstairs, people dressed in black stormed the house. They were men and women, the long-sleeved black shirts with a big "V" in white on the front, the gray military pants and the black army boots. They also wore caps, also black, with a small white "V" on the front. They all entered the villa, searching for any kind of information.

The man who ordered them slowly entered the house through the front door. His skin was very dark, like his brown eyes. His face would be considered a handsome one, even with the very long and ugly scar that ran down the left side of his face, starting from his hairline, going down through his eye all the way to his clavicle. He seemed to be annoyed at that moment. It was also easy to notice his rank was higher compared to his colleagues. Like them, he also wore the black shirt with the Team Void symbol, but unlike them, he had a coat over his clothes, made of the darkest black leather. His boots were also different, as in they were also army boots, but they had steel coatings, and he had fingerless leather gloves. Unlike the others, he was instead holding his cap in his hand, showing his very short black hair.

"I want every single room of this house searched thoroughly, and burn everything down once you're done. Leave no trace of our presence behind." He said.

"Sir, yes sir!" His subordinates all said in unison.

He kept walking, looking at the house, disgust very clearly showing through his expression. "To think this once belonged to the former Elite Four member Caitlyn…" He took a picture of her and the other members of the league. He just looked at it for a second, then focused his view on Grimsley, and crushed the picture frame in his hand. "You're next, Grimsley. You'll pay tenfold for what you did to me." He threw the picture frame at a wall, shattering it completely. Then ran his left hand through his scar. That bastard… I will enjoy torturing him to his death.

"Sir, this floor's clear. There are no traces of any kind of information about the location of Gym Leaders or Elite Four. Shall we start the search on the upper floor?" A man came up to him. He had very long blond hair and pale skin.

He turned to her, reminding himself about his duty. "No, I'll do it myself, Lieutenant Jones. Prepare the others to burn down the house at my command."

"As you wish, Captain Dusk." The man called the others, telling them the new commands and then they all left the house. The faint sound of pokéballs being activated could be heard from the outside, followed by the sound of several fire type Pokémon.

The captain made his way upstairs, putting on his hat as he did.

Brokk heard someone outside the door to the bedroom. Oh no. He then went completely silent.

He heard the door open, and heard footsteps as someone slowly made their way inside. He slowly turned his head towards the door, allowing him to just barely see a bit of the person's boots.

Captain Dusk looked around the room. He noticed how every single thing in the room was perfectly neat, nothing out of place.

He began to walk towards the bed.

Brokk felt like he couldn't breathe for a moment, as he saw the pair of boots mere inches from his face, and knowing there would be a lot of 'black shirts' downstairs and outside.

He then saw as the man began to leave the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Brokk slowly crawled out from under the bed, trying to be as slow as possible. As he stood up he accidentally made a little bit of noise as he but his hand on the nightstand.

BOOM!

The door exploded, the pieces of charred and broken wood crashing on him, making him fall on his back from the impact. He grasped his bruised arm as he looked back on the door.

There was a raging Houndoom at the door, its mouth releasing smoke, and the man behind it, with a serious expression on his face, knowing he had the upper hand.

"You thought I wouldn't notice that this bed had been used recently?" said the Captain. "What a terrible mistake, wouldn't you agree?" He smiled deviously.

Brokk stood up, immediately activating one of his pokéballs.

"Tyr." He said, as a hulking Bastiodon appeared in front of him. He seemed like he was larger than other Bastiodon, and the "face-shield" also seemed larger. "Get ready."

The Bastiodon cried out, a low growling sound. "Who are you?" Brokk asked, ready to take action at the first chance he could get.

The man laughed, seeing the one before him in a defensive position. "Me? Well… You may call me Captain Jordan Dusk." His visage darkened as he spoke his name. "And you don't look like anyone I was hoping to find in this place, unfortunately for you." His Houndoom began to growl violently. "Fire Blast."

Houndoom formed a ball of fire from his mouth and launched it at Bastiodon.

"Brace for impact, Tyr!"

The explosion shook the building, the fire and smoke surrounding the room, no one able to see a thing. The captain then heard the sound of something moving, and began to see the outline of Bastiodon's head shining in a bright metallic orange. "Metal Burst!"

Tyr then condensed the energy from Houndoom's Fire Blast, channeling it into a bright sphere in front of him, then roared as he released it.

The blast was even bigger than Houndoom's, covering the entire room with smoke. Brokk began to hear the sound of the other Team Void grunts outside of the house, ready to spring into action. He quickly returned Tyr to his pokéball, immediately releasing another one, this time it was a Magnezone. "Saucer, use Flash Cannon to destroy the wall!"

As Saucer charged the attack, Brokk climbed on top of it. He then heard the Captain, noticing he was probably recovering from the blast, and he also heard the Houndoom, but it was noticeably weaker than before. "Hurry up so we can get the hell out of here!"

Magnezone fired a beam of bright light destroying the wall, creating an opening that could get them out of the house. Tyr didn't lose time, immediately going outside, as its floating body led them out. The Captain stood up, recalling his Houndoom in the process.

He made his way to the hole in the wall, and looked on at the figure flying through the sky, but a bit slowly. He then looked at his subordinates below him. "After that Magnezone and the trainer! Alive or dead!"

The sound of dozens of pokéballs activating could be considered deafening. The Lieutenant made his way upstairs and approached the Captain. "Sir, your presence is required at HQ. It's an order from the High Commander." Said Jones.

The Captain looked at his subordinate. He was visibly irritated. "Of course." The scarn could be felt from a mile away from that single sentence. "Take us there at this moment."

"As you wish, Captain." Jones said, as he released a Kirlia, and had it use Teleport. They disappeared in flash seconds after.

As Brokk and Tyr escaped, he began to hear the sound of several flying Pokémon behind them. He turned his body towards the sound and winced from the extremely sharp pain. He put his hand on his chest and noticed an entire shard of wood was stuck in his chest, bleeding a lot. It probably happened when the Captain surprised him with the Houndoom.

So my adrenaline was high enough that I didn't feel that all this time. I'm screwed big time.

He removed the shard from his chest, screaming as the pain increased. It began bleeding, but he resisted it. Somehow. I won't freaking die like this! He thought to himself as he threw away the piece of wood.

He then saw the horde of Crobat, Swellow, Unfezant, Aerodactyl and Honchkrow, every single one of them with a 'black shirt' on its back.

Huh, so that's how it's gonna be... "Valkyrie!" he said as he activated another pokéball, and a Skarmory came out of it. It began flying along with them. "Defend us! And use tailwind, they're faster than us!"

Skarmory flapped her metal wings with great force, creating a strong gust of wind. The wind managed to help Magnezone's speed, allowing it to move faster through the air. "Valkyrie, prepare a Sky Attack, but wait for my command to attack at full power!" The Skarmory nodded, then her body began to glow as it flew beside them.

No sooner than that, he began to hear the sounds of energy being released from behind them, he turned just in time to see a barrage of Hyper Beams from the Aerodactyls.

"Pull up!"

Saucer responded quickly, rising in altitude as fast as it could, as the various beams of energy just barely missed it. But as it dodged, Brokk had already seen it was not over, when he noticed the Swellow, Crobat and Unfezant positioning to flank them, at both sides.

"Wait for my command." He said as he looked at his Magnezone. "You too, Valkyrie! Get ready!"

Skarmory began to position herself directly behind them.

He looked down at the ground, noticing they were approaching a heavily forested area. That's it! But I need to take some of them down first. "Now, Valkyrie, Sky Attack on the group on our right side! Saucer, start going lower, to the forest!"

Valkyrie made a lap around them, her body shining very brightly, the metal wings looking like actual metal blades that came straight from a forge, and then she rushed on the large group of enemies.

Like an actual Valkyrie from legend, she brought judgement upon her enemies, as she crashed against the majority of the group, facing little resistance. Countless Pokémon began to fall to the ground, along with the Team Void grunts commanding them.

"Ride down our enemies, Val." He said as he watched her strike them, a proud smile on his face. He then looked at his left side, noticing the group there was approaching them. "Valkyrie, to me! Quickly!"

His Skarmory made her way back to him as fast as it could, placing herself beside them. Brokk then hopped on Skarmory's back, leaving the Magnezone unburdened. "Saucer, rush them and use Discharge! Valkyrie, you wait for Saucer to finish. I got a plan."

Magnezone rushed in, its metal body being pelted by several attacks. The Swellow all swooped in, talons ready to tear down on it. Crobat began to rush in forcefully, using their large fangs and quick movements to try to bite down on Magnezone. The Unfezant maintained some distance, attacking with Air Slashes and Air Cutters.

Magnezone began to charge up as it withstood the attacks, its side magnets spinning as they generated energy.

The release was very destructive, a wild flash of light, sparks flying everywhere. Skarmory had to dodge out of the way.

Which was exactly what the Honchkrow were waiting for. As soon as they saw that distraction, they all rushed in at the same time Night Slashes and Dark Pulses aimed directly at them.

Brokk barely heard the sound, he turned just in time to see the horde just about 50 feet away from them. "Protect, now!"

As soon as Valkyrie brought up the golden barrier, he returned Saucer to its pokéball. From all sides, all they could see was a storm of dark feathers and shadowy energy, as the relentless and furious attack continued and the barrier was beginning to give in. Damn it! They're too many! He then caught a glimpse of some remaining Crobat, Swellow and Unfezant, he saw the Aerodactyl beginning to approach them from afar as well, and he also noticed they were now very close to the ground because of how much Valkyrie had been attacked. Well, my plan was flying down, but not like this. He noticed his Skarmory was beginning to get tired keeping up the barrier. They need to rest. We barely managed to do that the last few weeks.

He recalled Skarmory, and began to fall at very fast speeds, and getting some slashes from the Honchkrow.

"Argh!" He screamed in pain as he fell. One of the Honchkrow slashed his chest where the wood had been previously stuck.

He fell to the ground, rolling and bruising himself even more. When he stopped, he slowly stood up, unbearable pain all over his body. He only managed to stand up from the adrenaline pumping through his body.

He was surrounded.

One of the black shirts spoke up. "If you surrender, you may keep your life, scum."

He looked at the man who said that. He was riding an Aerodactyl. He had very pale skin, was seemingly bald and very skinny.

He took another pokéball. He threw it.

It's now or never. Break their ranks.

Out from it came a hulking beast, covered in steel. The blue eyes fitting of a monster like it was. Over two meters tall, and the menacing appearance managing to startle their enemies just by the beast being there. An Aggron now stood in front of Brokk.

Brokk put his hand on his now bleeding chest, trying to keep the blood from spilling. He then coughed a bit. He wasn't surprised to find out he had just coughed out a little bit of blood. "Odin…" He began, his voice wavering. "Mega evolve."

Light shone from within one of the pockets inside of Brokk's pants, where he kept a Key Stone.

The same light began to shine from Aggron, as it began to take on a more powerful form. As the light began to fade, Aggron stood there, the steel plates thicker and wider, and he was also taller and seemed to be more buff. The horns on his head were longer and thicker now, even more dangerous than before.

Barely holding on to consciousness, Brokk gave one final command before falling, screaming with all the energy he had left. "Living Weapon, Avatar of War!". He fell right after that.

Aggron took a stance, stomping on the ground, making a strong shockwave, strong enough to make some rocks crack. His body then began to change in appearance, as the plates covering him began to darken assuming a gray color instead of the silver they previously had. His pupils became so small they began to look like a single point in his eyes. He then roared, a loud sound that made several of the Team Void grunts cover their ears, and their Pokémon were also visibly shaken.

"Take that Aggron down!" One of them shouted, all the others rushing in.

One of the Swellow was the first to approach, landing a claw right against Odin, who didn't even move an inch from the impact. Two Honchkrow then came right up to his face.

He struck down both with Thunder Punch, so much strength in that single attack that the thugs were sent flying. One of them crashed on a tree.

An Aerodactyl then rushed in from behind, only to receive a very strong Iron Tail to the face, knocking both the Pokémon and the black shirt to the ground, leaving them both unconscious. Several Unfezant sent Air Slashes and Air Cutters, all hitting him square on the chest. But he still wouldn't move, but his body began to shine faintly, an orange glow beginning to be seen.

"His energy is running out, give it everything you got!" Said one of the grunts, prompting the others to attack at full power as well.

Odin then began to take his after hit, each one stronger than the one before. Exactly how he was trained to do so.

As soon as some Crobat swooped in using Brave Bird, their bodies covered with fiery aura as they approached very quickly, Aggron's orange glow had already become an aura: Metal Burst Overload.

With a scream, he released all the energy he had gathered in his body for the past few minutes, converting it into destructive force, but still doing his best to protect the unconscious body of his trainer on the ground behind him,

The blast crashed down against their enemies like a truck hitting an empty wooden table. The trees around them were being torn to pieces, the rocks and stones breaking, and the enemy falling one by one, each being thrown hundreds of feet away from them.

As the blast ended, Odin had returned to normal, leaving Mega form completely and also regaining his original coloration. He saw his opponents on the ground. All unconscious and defeated. But he knew they were not victorious, as he saw his trainer on the ground beside him, his chest still bleeding. But… somehow bleeding less. And he didn't seem to be paling.

But Odin, like all of Brokk's Pokémon, was also very tired. They have been hiding and running for days without a good chance to rest, the only one being some minutes before, and it was short-lived.

He tapped the pokéball Brokk had used, his pokéball, then returned to it so he could rest for a bit more, but he knew he would need to be ready in case things would go crazy again.

Unova, Unknown Location, Present time

Brokk really had a rough time the past few days. But now he remembered what happened. "Um, yeah. I, uh… thanks for saving me, I guess." He was still very tired, but he was definitely grateful for not being in that hell hole again. He looked beside him and saw that all six of his pokéballs were there. He sighed in relief. "I had a very bad week. Do you have anything to eat? And water?"

Iris turned to Anthea. "I'll leave him in your care for a while if that's okay with you."

"Sure, that's no problem." she smiled. "Tell me if anything else happened at the meeting later, okay?"

"Sure thing!" said Iris as she walked away.

"Wait!" Brokk said. They both turned to look at him. "You're Iris, right? The former champion, I mean, after Alder."

She nodded at him.

"And you, you were part of Team Plasma." He looked at Anthea, who nodded at him as well. "What is it that you guys do here?"

"We are members of a team called 'The Protectors of Unova'. We protect the survivors of Team Void's tyranny and rescue whoever we may find, sometimes battling Team Void in the process. You were one of the rescued. They said there was a trail of destruction where they found you." said Iris, a serious expression on her face.

When she mentioned the trail of destruction, only one name came to mind: Odin.

"Your chest was also heavily wounded when you arrived. Nurse Joy was surprised you were even alive, it was a very deep cut."

He slowly rose a bit, sitting up. He then looked at his chest. That is gonna be one cool looking scar. He then looked at the rest of his scars.

The tattoos were actually scars.

"I would like to help you." He said. "I have friends out there, and they may be facing very difficult situations as well. I know you guys just met me, but I wanna fight! Team Void has to pay! They all deserve to be brought to justice!"

Anthea and Iris looked at each other. They both wanted to answer "yes", but they knew it wasn't that simple.

"That can possibly be arranged." Iris said. "We'll have to talk to the other members though."

"That's… good. Thank you." He smiled.

Anthea then stood up.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

She giggled. "You asked for water and food, remember?" She then turned away from him and made her way out of the main hall.

I guess I did, huh? He laughed a bit, but quickly stopped as he winced from the pain on his chest again. "Yup, that's gonna leave one hell of a mark." He then lied down again, looking at the ceiling, his mind beginning to wander.

Wherever you are, my friends… I hope none of you are here in Unova. But if any of you are, I promise I'll find you.

---

A/N: I like how it only took me a long ass time to write this chapter. You know, no time at all, like, a piece of cake.

Yeah, no. This has been a fight to the death against writer's block and an unhealthy amount of stress… Also the whole Pandemic stuff. But yeah, it's all done now *insert Jake Peralta saying "Nailed it" here*. I hope you enjoyed this, because I sure did! It felt good to finally finish this chapter after so long. And please leave a review! (It's been a while, so I need reviews to improve even more than before)

Also, special thanks to squirtleism, who not only seemed to enjoy the story, but also unconsciously helped with amping up my self esteem! So, wherever you are and whoever you are, you're awesome!

Random Question! (yeah, still doing those): If you ever managed to clone yourself, and then form a romantic relationship with the clone, is it incest, gay or just a really weird case of narcisism?

Anyways. That is all for now! So I'll see on the next one! StZushi out!