Chapter 13 – Mother
Icirrus City – Pokemon Center
It was two hours since we were all taken to be treated for our wounds we received by four members of The Five, another faction of Team Annihilation Reborn waiting for us outside Twist Mountain and beat us all up. Lisa and Brent went to a hospital to be treated while Espeon and I were treated at the Pokemon Center in the city.
The room was filled with several other Pokemon like me and Espeon, most with lesser injuries than us. If they asked us and they did how we ended up like this, we just told them how we were caught up in a rockslide rather than bring up anything about Team Annihilation Reborn and The Five.
"It kind of feels as though we were actually caught in a rockslide. My body feels like every part of me is being crushed every time I move a muscle… but I can manage." Espeon groaned as she turned on the bed to face me. "How are you holding up Zackary?" I didn't turn my head, it hurt too much. Looking up at the white ceiling lying in a bed like this while my entire body felt like it was set on fire reminded me when I first woke up to this form.
"Hurt all over. But I will be fine. By tomorrow we'll be out of this bed and… resting again until we are all ready to leave."
"They were waiting for us. The four soldiers standing atop that cliff. They knew we would be coming out of that cave. I mean why else where they just standing there for?"
"Perhaps when all of us were caught in that hallucination trap Team Annihilation Reborn soldiers had set up on the road they must have called it in. They must have saw us and set up an ambush right outside waiting for us."
"Whatever the reason how they knew we would be there, we were lucky we got out of that alive. But why did they leave us there when Shiny Latias wants you?"
"She wants me to grow stronger before she tries to capture me again." I shrugged. "For five years I have searched for our friends and my family, five years of searching this region and fighting almost every day, and yet she still hasn't decided to hunt me down. It's as if she is waiting for something."
Espeon turned to look up at the ceiling. "Well I did scratch up her face after you were blasted over the edge of the rooftop and into the river, a good few months of recovery and another few months of therapy would slow down production of her mind controlled soldiers. If comics have taught me one thing is that ruling the world requires time and planning; villain raises an army, trains said army, takes over various locations while building the master plan that the hero must put a stop to before said villain conquers all. That is what I think Shiny Latias is doing."
"Like with Juro? The same thing you said also happened with me, Sakura and Isaac during my first year as a Savior."
"Oh yeah… But yeah." she chuckled before turning her head to look at me and smiled. "I wish life were a comic, a comic with a happy ending to it. Our situation going on right now… the ending could be something like this, the evil had faded away as the good triumphed after a long battle, with the sunlight shinning down on the hero after the long battle with the villain ending with the hero and his allies having a peaceful and quiet life."
"And no more fighting." I smiled at the thought. How it could be given to me once I find Shiny Latias and put a stop to her. But with Espeon, Lisa and Brent travelling with me they would be risking their lives. Shiny Latias wants me alive but my allies she wants dead. If I travel alone the others would be safe. Those four soldiers could've killed them, but they were lucky they didn't. Sure the rest of my travels would be lonely; having to half sleep with my scalchops in paw should someone try to sneak up on me, difficult having to handle many soldiers, drones and Pokemon several times in one day without rest sometimes. "It is better this way… that attack was a wakeup call, a reminder of what could've happened. I should never have let them come along… once I am healed up, I'll sneak out of here and leave them behind with a note telling them why I had to leave, they'll understand. Perhaps after all this is over I'll probably get a punch to the face by one of them for my vanishing act, but at least they'll still be alive… better they are alive than dead."
We rested and slept long into the night waking up almost ten in morning as the nurses had already started treating our injuries, well the last finishing touches before they would be fully healed, a long process I thought would be done later in the day and we would be able to leave, but we had to stay for another day. It was fine this way. Fully healed up and fully stocked of supplies and items and I would be on my way was what I thought.
Later in the day I was able to contact Devon on The Savior's device and ask him about The Five some more, who they were, and if his group had ever encountered them before.
"Happy to see all of you are alive after what The Five did." Devon sighing with relief. "The Five have a way on handling their victims; left for dead after a serious beating on which they sometimes kill midway. If I had known they'd be there, I'd warn you all about them, maybe even help you guys get to the city safely rather than through the mountain cave all on your own. I knew some guys who had run into them when The Five made their presence known. Three of them against four of them. The fight was over in a matter of minutes, but after the fight the four beat them up, kicking punching, anything to inflict pain upon them. It's what they do."
"There were only four of them with the fifth member being back at their base. They told us he was their leader trying to hunt Zackary's allies left helping him out. I think Lisa told us about him once; a Vladimir Petrov was it?"
"I am familiar with the man." Devon nodded. "It is true he has been trying to locate us for some time now, two months before we contacted you Zack. Luckily, we have been a step ahead of him before the worse should befall us. We have bits and pieces of information as to who Vladimir Petrov was before becoming the leader of The Five, and very little of information before he was a member of Team Annihilation, the original one before joining its newer version."
"Well that's just great. Another crazy team to fight with an even crazier person as their leader." Espeon leaned back on her bed. "No matter where we go, we always seem to attract all these colorful characters. It's almost as if we are protagonist within a story. Or Arcues hates us for some reason…"
"This Petrov guy, is he just as dangerous as the four who beat us up?" I asked worryingly. This guy was the leader of this group then he no doubt has other soldiers, controlled soldiers at his command.
"Petrov on the file we have on him so far does have something on his methods. Unlike the other four members of The Five, he attacks his targets using their weakness, things that would either slow his victims down or make them lose control so he could have the upper hand. One file states that one of his victims was going after him at one point. A two month search for Petrov ended with him quitting after his parents were killed by soldiers sent by Petrov."
"So Petrov goes after people who are close to their victims?" Espeon asked while Devon, picking up a document from the desk he was sat in front of. "Jeez… so out of the four in this team of five, four are the vicious brutes while we have a man who goes after family members and friends. Won't be a problem for us, right Zackary?"
"Y-yeah…" I glanced up at the ceiling, resting my head onto the pillow after passing the device to Espeon to finish up the conversation with Devon. A few warnings of the road ahead of Team Annihilation Reborn soldier sightings and drones patrolling the forests above. Tomorrow the both of us would be up on our feet again and our wounds fully healed up. But the next day I would leave this city, leave the others behind and go alone, not wanting to risk the lives of my friends.
Icirrus City
In the early morning long before the sun would rise I had already made it outside the Pokemon Center with the intention of travelling alone. It wasn't easy, not because I had to worry about evading security or anything; people were free to leave the center whenever they felt like it. I was unsure if the letter I had left them was enough to put my point across, saying how dangerous it was for them to come with me, that if they returned home they would be safe. I wanted to tell them this in person, but I knew they would argue and refuse to leave. With my bag fully stocked and the cloak on to keep me warm for the winder, I was ready to leave.
The streets were empty this time of day, no people or Pokemon around meant I could leave without anyone seeing me. Last I needed were Espeon, Lisa or Brent finding someone who had seen me and pointed them in my direction instead of back home where they would be safe. It was a quiet and uneventful walk to the gate, taking one last breath before I stepped toward it and pass right through and journey on alone.
But before I could even pass the gate of the city towards the route, Espeon surprisingly jumped from the bushes in front of me, a smile on her face as she panted probably from trying to catch up with me most likely. "Hey Zackary, going out for an early walk?" She asked as she approached me, looking at my filled bag with some suspicion.
"Uh, yeah. The smell of the medicine and the potions, ethers… ugh, I just had to get out of there." I lied, not wanting her to guess that I was trying to sneak away and start an argument, a last memory of her before tracking down Shiny Latias not knowing it may be my last wasn't something I wanted.
"Oh, mind if I join you?" She asked with a smile. I was about to say no and tell her I wanted to walk alone, but I thought maybe I could pretend to walk around the city and wait until she either tires herself out or that she heads back on her own. But my plan to wait for her to leave on her own after walking around the city backfired when she suddenly told me "Because there is no way I am letting you leave on your own Zackary. I know what you are doing out here."
"Listen, Espeon I need to do this alone, it's just I can't risk your lives. Shiny Latias wants me alive, not you, not Lisa or Brent, anyone who is affiliated with me is a target to be killed." I wanted to tell her to leave me alone in a harsher way, out of character for me to use harsher words, anything to get her away from me. She would turn away and I could leave then. But that wasn't who I was.
"I saw you gather your stuff in the center; Potions, medical stuff, food and drink to last a week. You don't need all of that if you are walking around the city. Potions and the medicine, yeah I get that with how Shiny Latias and her mind controlled soldiers are out searching for you, you would be cautious. But food, you were trying to leave again."
"Espeon, if I go alone, no one will get hurt. But if you, Lisa and Brent are with me you will be at risk. Yesterday we were attacked by The Five, you guys were almost killed. I just… I don't want to see you guys hurt or killed." I turned away from Espeon as the thought of Sakura and Isaac flashed in my mind, their faces as we walked, happy to talk about their futures, their dreams, and then fell as they were shot dead by the enemy while I just stood there. "Sakura and Isaac, they were my friends. You, Lisa and Brent, I don't want you to die. It's better if I go out there alone."
"Zackary, what you are doing is stupid. This is what that evil bitch wants. She wants you alone so she can easily sweep you right up and take control of you. And with the low number of people and Pokemon we have on our side willing to help us out on the battle against Team Annihilation Reborn, once she has you under her control then this world might as well bow down to her. All of us are working together to bring this world back to what it once was, heck they are fighting for something better. What happened to Sakura and Isaac was a terrible thing, but sneaking off like that knowing the enemy is looking for you, it's just stupid. You can't do this alone Zackary."
I didn't look up at her, but I could sense she was a little closer to me. I didn't know how to respond without trying to push her away or to come up with something that'll convince her to let me go at this alone.
"What happened with those soldiers back there beating us all to a pulp, almost killed, yeah sure that could've been avoided if we were prepared, fully stocked on healing items instead of being on the verge of defeat, an easy target for them and other threats. Leaving without stocking up was sloppy, like we were asking for defeat/death."
"Even if we are prepared for the next battle, fully healed, stocked with all kinds of potions and others to keep us going, all it takes is for one chance by the enemy, just one chance for them to kill one of you…" I struggled to say, almost hearing the memory of the gunshots play in my head, the ones that ended the lives of Sakura and Isaac. Then I turned my head up and watched as Espeon pull me in for a hug, wrapping her forelegs around my chest.
"We'll do better. We need to work together so we can put an end to the evil that bitch has brought upon us all. We can help save Reiko and Latias together. Let us be a team again, for one last time."
I didn't know what to say to that, my mind balancing on to tell her either a yes or a no on letting Lisa, Brent and Espeon stay for the remainder of the search. They would be safer if they didn't go with me, the search would be hard without much to go on and fight many soldiers, drones and Pokemon all at once multiple times a day. However, the company would be nice, knowing I had someone else watching my back within every city and route we pass through. Each decision had conflict, 'Yes' would result with their lives at risk every day. An easier journey through the region knowing I had others beside me during battle, make things easier. 'No' would result first in argument with Espeon and perhaps Lisa and Brent should they get involved, then I would be by myself knowing they were safe while I alone to do all of the fighting. It would be a dangerous journey by myself, one I had to be careful on if I don't want another ambush like what had happened with those soldiers yesterday, or I encounter Shiny Latias and that would be it, no matter how much training I had ready to fight her.
I probably would've said no if I never turned my head up in the direction of something flying above the city, something, a Pokemon I recognized well. "A Latias?" Espeon turned in my direction and saw the Latias fly somewhere north near the city edge near the cliffs. The Latias be it a red feathered one or a shiny variant was kind of hard to tell from the distance and for how dark it was still outside, but the body shape alone helped us identify what kind of Pokemon it was slightly visible by the light of the city.
"Is that Shiny Latias?" Espeon planted her feet on the ground; eyes careful to avoid looking up at the Latias should it be Shiny Latias, not wanting to be controlled by her. "Ah, can't tell from here. It's too dark to see from here. I don't think she noticed us, otherwise she would come swooping down right in front of us by now and cackle and say something evil like she usually does."
I watched the Latias fly over some buildings until she reached one of the smaller buildings beside the mountain; it was the hotel, closed this time of year. Watching as the Latias flew inside one of the windows of the building I thought this Latias was either a wild Latias living inside the building with other Pokemon since a lot of wild Pokemon living within cities and other settlements tend to live inside abandoned buildings or back alleys, or maybe it really was Shiny Latias.
"Let's investigate." I said after a quick check around the area should anyone be watching us, soldiers if Shiny Latias really was here. "If that is Shiny Latias up there in that hotel, then we have to end this now!"
"We can't go up there by ourselves. Shiny Latias could have an entire squadron up there waiting for the smallest of trouble. We go up there with just the two of us we'll be overwhelmed. We need to get Lisa and Brent."
"The hospital is on the other side of the city. This may be our only chance to get her before she escapes again!" I growled. The voices in my head had started just barely audible all telling me to kill as the thoughts of Shiny Latias and how she killed my mom. "Once she is dead, Team Annihilation Reborn is no more. Reiko and Latias are the last yet to be saved, every day they are suffering because of her! You can go back to the hospital; but I am going after her right now!" I made a run for it to the hotel. Espeon surprisingly ran alongside with me down the path towards the hotel, looking at me as we ran and said gasping in between each word or two.
"Zackary, I know you want to get this evil bitch, but don't you at least plan this out? We should at least call the others about this, let them know we might have found Team Annihilation Reborn's leader."
"Alright fine, we will call it in. Once we arrive outside the hotel, we'll search the area first and let the others know before we enter. We don't know how long that Latias will be inside the building for, but we have to know if it really is Shiny Latias or not."
"That's good; at least the others will know we might be face to face with this evil bitch and perhaps defeating her for good."
Icirrus City – Hotel
We had spent some time outside the hotel, checking to make sure the area was safe first before entering, and no soldier or ambush was waiting for us. The hotel was closed this time of year opening some time after the winter season, so it was a good thing no one was here since a Latias had flown inside the upper floor window of the building that could be our enemy could endanger the lives working and staying inside the hotel. We had told Devon about what we saw enter the hotel, telling him to let Lisa and Brent know, but we couldn't wait for them to show up, not wanting to risk Shiny Latias flying away if it is her in the hotel.
We searched every floor for any trace this could be a trap or soldiers were waiting for us inside. The building from the inside looked as though it had remained untouched since the last staff working in there had locked up till next year. After eight floors, hundreds of rooms carefully searched, we saw found what we were looking for.
What we saw flying up high above the city was what we saw levitating right in the middle of the room, a Latias. But thankfully it was not Shiny Latias but a red feathered Latias. The Latias smiled at us as she saw us enter, her paws hidden away at her sides, even after we had entered the room on our full guard ready to strike at any moment.
The Latias revealed one of her paws and gestured for us to stop. "Fear not Zack and Espeon, I am no threat to you, nor am I an ally of your enemy that is Team Annihilation Reborn and its leader." The Latias levitated lower to the ground so all of us almost were at eyelevel.
"Who are you? And how do you know who we are?" I asked the Latias as she begun to smile.
"My name is Maia; I was born in the Hoenn region with my brothers and sisters almost three hundred years ago. Latias and Shiny Latias' are my daughters."
Espeon and I looked at each other, surprised but mostly shocked at this. In the reports The Savior's had found within Team Annihilation's first base explained the fates of all Pokemon they had captured, Latias' mother was one mentioned as 'Latias no.01' with the words 'Deceased' next to the name listed. The Latias levitated up from the ground and flew over to the other side of the room to rest on the bed. Many including her during an escape attempt in one of the labs were killed. Some escaped including Latias and a few others, and some didn't make it out like Shiny Latias.
"You're their mother? How can you prove this?" Espeon asked as she stepped a little closer to the older Latias resting on the bed. "In the reports salvaged from Team Annihilation from The Savior's it said both you and the father died during the escape most of the Pokemon trapped inside their base attempted, most shot down and executed, a small few survived and turned into Team Annihilation soldiers mainly Shiny Latias."
"Team Annihilation keeps confidential information separate from the ones The Savior's were able to obtain. Reason being is they have use for us. However, some like myself weren't deemed useable by them, not because I was injured during the escape attempt, but they already had a Latias on their team already; my daughter Shiny Latias." Maia sadly sighed, flicking the pillow with her claw. "If we had escaped all those years ago, no one left behind; Shiny Latias would never turn out like this. It may seem strange to hear this, but Shiny Latias when she was young, barely able to form sentences that she loved to hear stories of my homeland, always smiling and cuddling up to us, I thought if I could see them again I could take them back home with me and try to live as a family again. After I managed to escape the second time years later before Team Annihilation fell, I searched for my daughters all over the region hoping to find them, but I never did. Only three years ago by chance I had heard what had happened to both her and Latias. Latias had travelled with a human boy named Zack Raines, and Shiny Latias was the new ruler of Team Annihilation Reborn."
Espeon suddenly leaned in close and whispered in my ear. "I do not sense any energy from her to ready a defensive or offensive move, but we cannot let our guard. How can we be sure this really is Latias' mother? How do we know if this is just some other Latias being controlled by the shiny bitch?"
"We can still ask her some more questions. Maybe something about the old Team Annihilation, crosscheck her information with the files we still have to see if she is right. Since she already knows about the files we got to be careful on what we say if this Latias is being controlled by Shiny Latias to trick us. Until we know for sure we'll have to be cautious." I whispered back. I turned towards Maia finding her watching us in silence, waiting for us. So I began, "Why did Juro capture you and your family? And how did you end up with them?"
"Very well. I came to this region with my mate, a Latios with no nickname. We grew up together in a small clan within the Hoenn region. We were friends, and later on we fell in love. We left the region sometime after a falling out with our families who did nothing but quarrel with one another saying I or my mate wasn't good for the other." Maia shook her head and smiled. "They were wrong on that on so many levels… And so anyway, we left the region and came here to start a family hoping to join up with another clan. We had no luck finding a clan that would accept us, but with the eggs on the way we had to postpone the search for a clan and wait until the winter had passed before we resumed with the search. But then one night without warning we were quickly ambushed by many soldiers, capturing us and taking all of us back to their base, placed in cages with other Pokemon. They never took them from us, only watched, neither of us slept much at all with the fear our children might be taken away from us by our captors lingering over us. And then two months of protecting the eggs, we watched as our daughters hatched from the eggs, a shiny Latias, and a normal Latias. We were with them for four years, telling them stories of our home region, the wonders of the outside world… most which was hard to explain since they were hatched, all they had ever known were cold metal cages and a dirty floor which we used to draw with our claws to describe a tree, a cloud, the ocean. Every night we always told them we loved them, promising one day we would all go home together. Then one night, a Pokemon locked alongside with us organized an escape plan. We broke free, ran from the cages and towards the exit only to be met with an army firing on every Pokemon they saw trying to escape. Latios, a few other Pokemon and I helped the younger Pokemon try and escape, all watching their young in horror for the most of them as they were shot down and killed right before their eyes, while some like Latias had escaped. Latios was shot and killed by the soldiers." Maia lifted up her head to reveal a large scar underneath her snout, and several behind her ears. Another across her left wing, and what appeared to be burn marks under her right paw.
"They did this to me as punishment for trying to escape. I learnt Shiny Latias was too afraid to escape, fleeing back to the cage she had spent her young life inside. She was spared because of this… but knowing the life she lived with Team Annihilation… as painful as it sounds, but Shiny Latias died that day my mate died. When I saw Shiny Latias' a year ago, the smile she had on her face when she killed that family using her own moves… it's hard to believe the sweet Latias I raised became her…"
"Latias had a happy life with us. I mean she was very rarely upset about anything. She was the sweetest and kindest Dragon/Psychic type Pokemon I have ever met, and I have met plenty." Espeon moved closer to the bed and consoled Maia as best she could. "As for her sister… we have some history between us. Apart from her being evil, what more can I say besides her being a complete… um..."
Maia smiled again as a tear rolled down her cheek and onto the bed. "You may not believe it but Shiny Latias wasn't always evil, she was just like Latias once, always happy as you described her life being with you, always cuddling next to her every time the thunder during storms scared the two. But that doesn't change what she is now. Those years are gone now, all that's left are memories."
It was unexpected to hear this about Shiny Latias. One of the evilest Pokemon I had ever met was like that once. A kind young Pokemon watching out for her sister, and now this. It kind of made me reconsider how I wanted to end things with her instead of just kill her. If I could find some way on defeating her without her ending up dead, I don't know; maybe patch things up with her family or something? I wanted things to end peacefully. But how to do that against someone like her who might not listen and will do anything to achieve her goals?
"I only know small pieces of information on what Shiny Latias did while living with Team Annihilation, how a once sweet little Latias had her mind twisted into something so evil within a matter of half a year. The training she went through, the suicidal risk of injecting herself with the Doom serum."
"Yeah. If a Pokemon was injected with the Doom serum, they would either have a high chance at death which was the case for many Pokemon in the old labs, and it has a very small chance the serum will bond with the Pokemon and grant them new abilities. Shiny Latias with the ability to control all who look into her eyes, and Aqua are the only known Pokemon who have survived the injection."
"Oh yeah, Aqua has a foresight ability allowing her to foresee the future of dangerous events yet to come." Espeon nodded her head. "I forgot that she has that ability because of being an ex prisoner for Annihilation when she was young."
"What about Team Doom, how much do you know about them? Or what Shiny Latias' goal was for that?"
"The Doom serum she injected herself with was the necessity needed for her goal to work. Her goal was to finish Juro's work; to rid the world of corruption, 'evil' in her own way on what evil is, and for all to live in peace under her control. With the Doom serum injected into her veins, very risky decision that could've killed her but it didn't. She knew all members of the Team Doom Eight would be granted a new unique ability Pokemon don't have, she wanted her own to keep them all on a leash and with Control as her ability, she could control anyone to do her bidding. With you being the latest member of the Team Doom Eight, the final human to be turned into a Pokemon, a special kind of injection that had the Absorb ability put in place she would use you to be her living weapon, killing allies, friends, associates of you before she would send you out to kill all who dare oppose her."
All this we knew, not once allowing Maia to know we knew this already. We were about to ask her more questions of Team Annihilation, the original one before Maia asked me. "Zack, if I may ask you what was she like? Latias, how was she growing up with you? How did you two meet?" She asked the memories of how we first met and became friends lit up in my head.
"When I was eight years old I found her crashed right into the fence outside of my home in Nuvema Town. My mom brought her inside and healed her up. It took some time but she opened up to me and we have been good friends since. Latias"
"When searching this region for you Zack, I spoke to Pokemon who you had helped before; they mentioned how you were once travelling with Latias, and how happy she was whenever she was around you. She must've liked you a lot, I couldn't be happier knowing she found someone as kind as you to live with." She looked down at me and asked. "Your mother was a kind woman?" I nodded my head in silence. "I wish I could thank her for taking her in and allowing her to live with you. But I know that's not possible now to tell her, but thank you."
"She… my mom treated her Latias as if she were her own." I began to smile at the memory of my mom. It had been so long since I last spoke about her.
"Are you going to travel with us? We could really use your help." Espeon asked Maia, but she slowly shook her head.
"I will help when the time comes. But I need to do something first. Something i need to look into first before i over burden you with so much all at once. But for now, you need to stay alert. Unova isn't safe for you or your allies."
We knew the dangers; we may not have a second chance like we had when the Five had beaten us up outside Twist Mountian. We had to be careful, no room for errors for we would killed and the fight to stop Team Annihilation Reborn would end very quickly with us defeated and the world under the control of Shiny Latias.
Shiny Latias was still her daughter; I wanted to know what Maia wanted out of all of this. Did she want me to kill her, or stop her by finding some way to prevent her from using the ability ever again? "What do you want me to do after we find Shiny Latias? Do you want her alive or…?"
"I know she has done so many terrible things… but with her ability to control all who should glance at her eyes, it would be best to put a stop to her." Amaya turned her head and levitated toward the window, watching the snow fall. "All I ever wanted was a quiet life, me and my mate raising our two daughters together watching as they grew into fine adults ready to start a family of their own. As much as I would like to have my daughters back, especially Shiny Latias, I can't help but remember the terrible things she has done. I trust you will do the right thing, Zack. Just… " She sighed. "Some mother I am, allowing one of my daughters to become this evil, this sick twisted Latias I was with during her young years, only now have I allowed another to end one of my daughter's life. I failed her."
Espeon walked over to her and sat with her on the bed. "Whatever Zackary decides for Shiny Latias, it'll be for the best. It wasn't your fault things turned out like this. Sometimes things just happen. Be it good or bad."
"I… thank you." Maia smiled, her eyes turned towards the window, a single stray tear had fallen. What had happened with her daughter had hurt her a lot. She wanted to stop the fighting just like us. "You can't do this alone, Zack. You need all the help if you want to save Latias and put a stop to Shiny Latias' evil. I shall help out by finding those willing to help before the battle against Team Annihilation Reborn begins. After Shiny Latias' team known as The Five made their presence known to you meant Shiny Latias was nearing her final stage."
"What do you mean?"
Maia glanced over towards the window and sighed after she had noticed it was now snowing. "I had been following Team Annihilation Reborn for some time now, sneaking in to bases to find out what Shiny Latias was doing, anything to help bring her down. Because seeing Shiny Latias as their leader after what they had done to us in the past, I just wanted to put a stop to it. I also helped you two out in one of the bases you went to save your sister."
"So you were the one who defeated all of those soldiers." Me and Espeon looked at each other, surprised to find out it was Maia who had defeated those soldiers in that underground base, almost every single soldier and scientist we found were all rendered unconscious.
"I was going to show myself to you sooner, but I figured you would want to spend time with your sister instead of me." Maia smiled. "And also I wanted to know within the underground bases if The Five had been sent out to hunt you down, only did I find out too late that they had already beat all of you up. I managed to track you down, unsure how to approach. But when I saw you about to leave the city Zack, I made sure while waiting up high in the sky you would see me and follow me inside her, where no one can listen in on us. A good place to talk without interruption. The Five is Shiny Latias' semi final stage in her plan. First it began with the small appearance of the common soldiers, weak even in groups of five or six, but their strength increased rapidly. They brought out more soldiers in the form of Pokemon all mind controlled with the rule of not to kill you, only injure you, but not injure you to the point you will be unable to battle anymore; all wanted to fight you, enrage you to kill and grow stronger, call it training for Shiny Latias."
Espeon and I leaned in close to each other and whispered. "She knows that much about Team Doom, even about Shiny Latias and her goals."
"Controlled people and Pokemon are difficult to track. Shiny Latias can make them learn new skills, listen to all of her commands or give them enough information to be used to convince others everything is normal, lie to them to gain information to infiltrate or gain important information. But they can be found out if you ask them something they don't know, something they weren't told to."
"What else do you think we should ask? Whatever we ask about Team Annihilation or Team Doom we get answers. I mean what if Shiny Latias controlled her to answer everything we ask of her?" Espeon was on to something. The controlled were difficult to track, but controlled do tend to show signs of weakness when used for a long time without rest. When we first entered that underground base a few weeks back, all of the soldiers were knocked out. Maia said she helped us out back there, and if she was under her control by then she would've showed signs already; darkened eyelids, reddened eyes, lack of energy and strength. I told Espeon all of this, and so we talked amongst ourselves if we could trust her or not. After some time we had come to the conclusion Maia wasn't controlled. I guess… call it a feeling we both had.
"And so this semi final stage is to make me fight more?"
"More like weaken you for when Shiny Latias wants to capture you while making you stronger so once you are healed up you will be controlled to do her bidding."
"And what about this final stage?" Espeon asked. "Is it the capture of Zackary? Because if that's the case then we are running out of time if we are already on the semi final stage of this plan."
Maia shook her head. "The final stage is an all out assault on you Zack. All soldiers of Team Annihilation Reborn including all Pokemon controlled by Shiny Latias will come at you, the final test to see if you are ready. And with Latias as her prisoner she will use that to make you come out and face them. I have seen armies gathered in many locations, all travelling somewhere within the Unova region, I believe now we are entering the final stage of the plan for Shiny Latias to seize control over all. You see why you can't do this alone. Her forces will be too much for you to handle."
"She's right Zackary. Together we can fight these guys and protect each other along the way." Espeon placed a paw on my shoulder, and I slowly agreed with her, nervous of the path ahead for us, for my friends.
"What do you plan to do next?" Maia asked as she levitated up off the bed. "I am not asking you to act quick, but we are running out of time. You may call in others to assist you before the battle."
"I don't know." I walked around the room, unsure of what to do next. Originally I had planned to contact Devon about any Team Annihilation Reborn activity going on nearby, maybe find a lead to go on. But after I did contact Devon that morning he didn't, the trail had gone cold, so it was back to search while blind. Espeon beside me had a thoughtful look on her face for a little while before she said something.
"Zackary, I think I have something to go on for what we might do next." She said. "Before I passed out I remember hearing one of the four members of the Five talk. They talked about a lot of stuff; various locations too muffled for me to remember. But I think I have a way to remember what they said."
"Do you mean by using the Dark Place?"
"By the Dark Place." Espeon turned to Maia and explained. "A state in which all Psychic types can access one's own mind, train with their Psychic abilities and go through their memories as if remembering a recent memory. Not sure who named it the Dark Place, but it's something. Have you heard of it before?"
"I think I know what you mean, but I know it by a different name. If you can use that Dark Place then maybe you might find out what the four soldiers were talking about. I only hope this leads you somewhere, perhaps the location of your friend, my daughter, maybe both."
"It's something, the only thing to go on since the trail has gone cold." I sighed, not wanting the search for my sister and Latias to suddenly slow down after already saving Yuri and my dad. I didn't know if the Dark Place would hold some sort of clue for us, but I had hoped. I wanted the others safe before this final assault happened. If the Dark Place couldn't help us, then all we had to do was continue searching and hope we would find them before it was too late.
Maia soon left the hotel after the snowing had stopped, having other matters to attend to first. Espeon and I had something important to do; by entering Espeon's memories we would see memories clearly, not blurry and not muffled, everything viewed clearly as if remembering a recent memory, even past, blurry and forgotten memories can be remembered again this way.
Maybe by entering the Dark Place state we could find the next step to take to save our Reiko and Latias, to put a stop to Shiny Latias for good. But if we didn't find anything, then all we could do was just search and be prepared.
To be continued…
Trivia:
Maia wasn't originally meant to appear within the story at all and was added way late into the development of the story. Originally this chapter was a nightmare Zack would have if he let his anger consume him and accidentally kill his friends after trying to convince them to leave him to hunt down Team Annihilation Reborn alone.