Oh boy. Here we go. This will be my darkest chapter yet. This is the one that I've been looking forward to writing for quite a while. *WARNING: THIS CHAPTER WILL CONTAIN VIOLENCE* *POKEMON AND STEVEN UNIVERSE ARE NOT OWNED BY ME*

The normally busy streets of Lumiose City sat nearly empty this evening as Paul turned the corner. The mandatory curfew was near, but he didn't care, he had already no reason to even be in the city anymore now that the Pokemon League was suspended. In fact, the suspension left all Pokemon Centers closed, which meant he had absolutely nowhere to stay the night anyway.

"Just my luck." he thought looking for a vacant hotel. "The second I finally arrive in this pathetic place, the entire League is shutdown."

As he followed his map, he reached his intended destination.

"Of course." he thought with a scoff seeing construction equipment surrounding the building. A sign dangling from the roof read "Closed for Repair." Clearly the city was still rebuilding after the Team Flare attack against his old rival. "Thanks a lot Ketchum."

As he turned around trying to find a new place to spend the night, he saw her running in the shadows of the alley between two buildings. A girl he strangely recognized.

"Dawn?" he asked out loud mildly interested.

She clearly hadn't seen him as she ducked into the shadows. He knew something was wrongs, Dawn was far too social to see someone she knew and not say hello, even if she didn't like him as much as others. Following her, he realized something even more off. She was gone. But he had clearly seen her, she wasn't a figment of his imagination, he saw her clear as day.

Looking up, he saw the fire escape to the building next door was pulled down, a clear pathway to the roof. He grabbed the ladder and began to climb. He couldn't help but feel intrigued, not that he actually cared about Dawn's well being, that was none of his business, but he did know that where Dawn was, Ash could probably be found nearby, and when the sooner he could find Ash, the sooner he could get back to training.

Reaching the roof was easier said than done even for him. "If Dawn really did climb the fire escape, how did she do it so quickly?" he thought as he reached the final steps to the ladder. He peeked his head over the edge of the building, his suspicions were confirmed.

Standing dead in the center of the rooftop was Dawn, along with two more people. One was a brunette girl with a red bandana on her head that didn't really stand out. But the other man stood out like a sore thumb, on account of his massive ear plugs, partially shaved head, flamboyant cape, but most importantly, his skin was bright pink.

"What the?" he whispered to himself listening in on their conversation.

"You're sure nobody saw you?" the pink man asked Dawn.

"I don't think so."

"What did you find out?" the girl asked her.

"The entire cities on lockdown. But the Homeworld soldiers I did see seem to be headquartered at Prism Tower."

"Makes sense, since Clemont's gone the whole building is basically abandoned." The pink man retorted. He suddenly perked up and looked towards the edge of the building. Paul quickly ducked down.

"What?" he heard one of them ask.

He waited a moment to answer her. "You two head back to the ship. Tell the others to wait for me, I've got some more recon to do."

Paul waited a few minutes after all the noises ceased. He looked up, and saw the pink man was now standing directly above him, looking down. "Nice of you to drop in." he said with a cocky smile.

Paul quickly flipped himself onto the roof landing behind the pink man. "What's been going on?" he demanded to know drawing his pokeball ready to fight.

"Look pal. I don't even know where I am." he answered stancing himself ready to defend himself.

Just as Paul was ready to summon his Electivire, a sudden force bashed into his back, similar to a car crash. Stunned by the impact, he looked to see a Scizor charge at the pink man, who unlike Paul, had a time advantage and was able to jump away from the impending x-scissor attack.

Several energy blasts came from the shadows as a new person emerged. This person was the most ridiculous looking to Paul, with gigantic, green hair, and a green gemstone where her eye should be.

"Captain Lars." she arrogantly said aiming two strange looking pistols at the pink man.

"Emerald." the pink man retorted. "How did you find us?"

"You really thought I just gave up my hunt for you in Quadrant 7A? I promised you I'd find you in time for the invasion, and I am a gem that takes their word very seriously." she gloated. "As much fun as I'd love to put you down right here, I'm under orders to bring you to Giovanni. Scizor bullet punch!"

The pokemon lunged at Lars again, this time he was able to land the attack with tremendous speed. Emerald turned her attention to Paul and aimed her weapons at him.

"Stand you vile organic. You're needed for the sacrifice as well."

"What sacrifice?" Lars asked, struggling in Scizor's grip.

"For Yveltal." She nonchalauntly answered. "The Diamonds seem to have a plan to capture it. And require plenty of "offerings". She answered him menacingly. "And when I find my ship and the rest of your pathetic crew, they'll be joining their fearless leader."

But she was far too busy gloating to realize Paul still had full control over his hands. He grabbed his pokeball and activated it, releasing the beast within.

"Agron!" the pokemon exclaimed in a cold rage, fitting for a cold hearted trainer like Paul.

"What the?" Emerald asked in shock.

"Agron, mirror shot on her!"

Agron looked towards his trainer surprised, but knew questioning him was fruitless, and charged directly towards Emerald.

"Scizor protect me!" she demanded.

Her pokemon released Lars and sped towards his trainer, knocking her out of the way and taking a blount of the blast.

Lars rushed to Paul's side and stretched out his hand to help him up. "Thanks. Look, I've got a ship docked just outside the cit-"

But Paul just stood up and shoved him aside, angrily approaching Emerald.

"Use hyper beam!"

"Dude, she's out, let's go!" Lars protested.

"Do it!"

The pokemon charged it's attack and fired directly at Scizor. The attack landed full force, creating a large explosion on the rooftop.

Appalled by the cruelty of the trainer, Lars was already halfway across the rooftop to safety. But what he saw him do next stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Return." Paul demanded Agron while approaching Emerald. To both Lars and Emerald's shock, he removed his pokeballs from his belt, handing them to her. Then placed his hands to his head and fell to his knees in surrender.

Every bone in Lars's body wanted to go back and stop him. But he it was clear this guy was crazy, and the safety of his crew came first. With a heavy heart, he turned as disappeared into the night.

Emerald was visibly furious her enemy escaped, but she also seemed intrigued by the blatant change in demeanor of Paul. "The battle was yours." she said placing a set of restraints on his wrists "why do you surrender?"

Paul looked at her with no response. The Emerald had just told him they were bringing the legendary pokemon Yveltal directly to him. And he had to be a fool for not trying to capture it, no matter the cost.

The cramped hot air balloon basket floated along the cool breeze of the Sinnoh air s the sun began to set. Lapis stared longingly outwards as the ocean began to take form in the distance, a nervous pit in her stomach. "How much longer Jessie?"

"I don't know." the Team Rocket member answered with a shrug.

"If we don't stop we'll reach Hoenn by mid afternoon tomorrow." Meowth answered fumbling with the air heater.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Zoey complained.

"If it could, do yah think I'd be goin this slowly?" Meowth retorted.

As the others desperately tried to get comfortable within the overcrowded basket, Conway's pokegear chirped. After giving it a quick glance, he looked to everyone with excitement.

"That's him!" he piped up. "He's cracked the codes! He's cracked the codes!"

"What?" Barry asked confused.

"My acquaintance in Hoenn! He's decoded Looker's file I sent him. He's even begun building the warp pad, he might even be done by the time we arrive!"

The environment in the basket immediately lightened up. After all the group had been through, finally receiving some good news was too good to be true for Lapis. She felt she was finally going to be reunited with Ash soon enough, hopefully by tomorrow even.

"Meowth be careful up ahead!" Cilan called pointing forwards.

Following his gaze, the others looked forwards to the sight of a thick cloud of black smoke a few miles in front of them.

"Think there's a fire?" Zoey asked a little concerned.

At the sight of the location of the smoke, Barry just knew where that was. "Meowth land the balloon!" he screamed in horror, rushing to the edge of the basket fast enough that the entire thing nearly fell over.

"Barry what are you doing?" Cynthia shouted while trying to balance herself.

"That's Twinleaf town! That's my home!"

Lapis felt Cynthia place her hand on her shoulder. "Something's not right. Meowth don't stop."

"We can't!" Barry pleaded "My family's down there! Dawn's too! I have to make sure they're all okay."

The others all looked to Lapis. Realizing they were all expecting her to give the final verdict, she knew she had to be the mediator.

"Meowth, take us down. Not in town."

Meowth decreased the fire and descended into the nearest break in the trees surrounding the burning town. Barry had jumped out even before the basket even reached the ground and started running to the smoke, screaming something about giving his family a fine if they were hurt.

"Barry, wait!" Cress called out.

"You guys find him," Chili told the others. "I'll stay and keep the balloon on the ground."

As Chili fastened the balloon in place, the others all ran into the direction Barry ran off.

Cynthia handed Lapis her handkerchief to keep her from breathing in anymore smoke as they entered the town limits. Sure enough, the entire village was reduced to rubble. Almost every building was either completely demolished, or was barely standing. The ash filled air was tinted orange from the dwindling flames of the few fires that continued to burn.

"What happened here?" Zoey asked horrified.

"Hello?" Cilan called out. "Is anybody out there?" Cress and Zoey joined him in calling for survivors as the others stood by the edge of the woods.

"The village seems abandoned." Lapis said.

Cynthia turned to her. "Go back to the balloon with Chili. I don't want you or the child getting hurt."

Just as Lapis began to nod in agreement, everyone's attention came to something coming from the smoke. A short boy came waving his arms frantically approaching them.

"Help! Help me!" He called out finally reaching them, face covered in soot and bruised heavily. After taking a moments to catch his breath, he grabbed Cilan, the nearest person to him, by the arm in a panic. "She's trapped! Please help! I can't-" he stopped when he recognized some of the people he was talking to. "Zoey? What are you doing here?"

"Kenny, what happened? Who's trapped?" she answered.

"Wait, you know this guy?" Cress asked.

"Yeah, he's a fellow coordinator. He's also Barry's best friend."

Kenny's eyes widened with worry. "Wait, Barry's with you?"

"Yes," Lapis answered approaching him. "What happened here?"

Kenny grew even more scared when he saw Lapis, letting go of Cilan and falling over, crawling while trying to get away from her.

"Get away from me!" he screamed. "You monsters won't get me again!"

Everyone looked at each other, knowing this was Homeworld's doing.

"It's alright Kenny." Cynthia reassured him. "Lapis Lazuli is not associated with the ones who did this. In fact, she's in relation to a group that is specifically dedicated to fighting them."

"I promise, you're safe."

Kenny slowly got up still looking at her with worry. "If you're telling the truth, then please help!"

He lead them further into the ruined town. "I was hiding with my friend Dawn's mom at her home, then the roof caved in and trapped her! I can't get her out by myself."

The group made it to a rural townhouse, one of the few buildings that were still standing. Just as he said, the roof was caved in and a large beam was on top of an unconscious woman. Everyone pushed it off and carefully lifted her up, gently placing Dawn's mother on the couch.

"She's still alive." Cilan said checking her pulse. "It looks like she's concussed."

With the job done, everyone rested as Kenny looked to the others. "Thank you. I don't know what I would've done without you guys being here." He then looked at Lapis in thought. "You said her name is Lapis Lazuli?"

Cynthia and Lapis both nodded.

Kenny put his hands over his head in panic. "They were looking for you. They came out of nowhere saying they were looking for someone by that name. They burned buildings, took people. Professor Rowan got as many people out of the city as he could. I was taken and torchured by their leader, but I was able to escape."

Lapis looked from picture to picture on the wall before landing her eyes on one on particular. It was of the woman they had just rescued, standing by her were younger versions of Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Pikachu.

"Kenny, whose mother did you say this was?"

"My friend Dawn's. Where's Barry?"

"He ran off looking for his family." Zoey answered "How did you escape?"

Kenny stood in silence for a moment "They got distracted by something. I took the opportunity and ran." That's when he noticed Lapis's baby bump. His face went from nervous to horrified. "No." he whispered.

"What?"

"You have to get out of here." he said rushing to the windows. "You have to-"

"LAPIS LAZULI!" they suddenly heard an evil voice boom from outside.

Cynthia ran to the window as Kenny backed up into the wall, now looking guilty more than anything. Looking out the window, she saw at least fifty Team Rocket members and Quartzs surrounding the building. Standing in the center of them all, was the Iron Masked Marauder with two people on their knees in front of him. It was Barry and Chili.

"I'm sorry." Kenny quietly said to everyone. "They promised me they wouldn't hurt anyone else if I brought you here."

"You did what?" Zoey shouted, grabbing him by the shirt collar ready to hurt him.

Before Zoey could strike, they heard another voice from outside. "Lapis Lazuli! Come outside!" Lapis immediately identified the voice as Jasper's.

Outside, Jasper turned the the Marauder with impatience. "Do what you've gotta do."

The Marauder nodded as he pulled a single pistol from his jacket holster, pointing it directly at Barry's head. "Lapis Lazuli." he screamed with malice in his voice "You have until the count of three to come out here and surrender. Or else I introduce a bullet to this guy's skull!"

"Don't do it Lapis!" Barry screamed in fear.

"Chili!" Cilan and Cress called out to their brother, opening the door and beginning to rush to them.

The Marauder cocked the gun as a warning, pausing both brothers in their tracks. "Only Lapis." he warned. "One…"

"No Lapis, don't do it!" Cynthia begged.

"If I don't go out there he'll kill them!"

"...Two…"

"I won't let you!" Cynthia screamed in protest. She tried to grab her by the arm to stop her, but Lapis had already barged past her and out the door with her hands in the air.

"Stop!" She screamed "I'm here. Don't hurt them!"

The Marauder pulled the gun back with a satisfied smile.

"Get back inside." she ordered the other two brothers. But Cilan and Cress stayed put with fear for both her and Chili.

The surrounding Team Rocket and Homeworld soldiers all parted for their leader. Jasper emerged from the smoking rubble, instead of her normally intimidating and angry face, she too had on a smile, as if she were greeting an old friend.

"Hi Lapis." she softly spoke with a genuine happiness.

The interaction made Lapis's skin crawl, here she was acting so happy yet surrounded by pain and suffering. She took a deep breath and tried to put on her best neutral face, knowing full well she wasn't in control anymore. "What happens now?"

Jasper placed her hand on her shoulder as if it were supportive, still smiling happily. "Now we go home, and watch the glory of the Diamonds take this world. Together."

Lapis felt sick at this statement.

Jasper turned to the soldiers. "Wrap it all up you pebbles! Giovanni's waiting for us back at homebase. Marauder, make sure she gets on the ship safely." She then said heading back for the ship.

The Marauder looked at her with his usual deranged smile. He approached her, looking at her as if she were his new plaything. "So you're the sweet little thing Jasper has been going across literal universes for huh? Now I can see why she wanted to keep tapping that. I'll admit, I thought we'd never find you. I almost even made the mistake of suggesting she just snatch up one of the thousands of other Lapis on Homeworld. But now that you're back together, it makes me so happy to finally get back to what I do best. But right now I have something super important I need to tell you. You wanna know what that is?"

Lapis gave no response as he leaned in mere inches away from her face. She could feel his hot breath against her cheek, and although she couldn't see them beneath his iron mask, she could tell there was hunger in them.

He now leaned in so close, the cold metal mask was skimming her skin. And with an even more horrendous grin, he whispered the words she feared.

"Three."

Before Lapis could respond, he turned around and fired a single shot directly into Barry's head.

"NO!" Kenny screamed rushing out the door towards his best friend.

The Marauder then turned his attention to Chili, he looked over towards his brothers as if to say "I'm sorry." before he fired another shot into his head.

"Stop!" Jasper ordered from the ship. "We've wasted enough time already. Get her on the ship and go!

Kenny looked up at her mortified "You promised you wouldn't hurt anybody if I brought them to you."

Jasper scoffed "I promised I wouldn't hurt anyone. I never said anything about him."

The entire ship suddenly began to shake. Everyone looked to see Cynthia wasn't in the house anymore.

"Garchomp, draco meteor!" she screamed, the desperateness to keep her pupil safe.

Jasper looked down on her, irritated now. "Gengar, use smokescreen." The mischievous pokemon appeared, and shot a great cloud of smoke around the group. In the moment of confusion, Jasper shoved Lapis into the lower level of the ship. The Marauder tossed the gun and boarded as well.

"Lapis?" she heard a familiar voice in the dark.

"Brock?"

As the weightlessness of the ship taking off overtook them, Misty caught her as she fell over.

"Thank Arceus." Brock said joining them in their hug. "What happened? Have you been here this whole time?"

But having witnessed her friends just being slaughtered, she simply rested in Misty's arms, staring into space with trauma.

"NO!" Cynthia screamed as the smoke cleared, dropping to her knees sobbing.

Cilan and Cress sat by their brother. Unlike Barry, Chili had been shot through the neck, and as such, was barely holding on.

"Hang in there Chili." Cilan forced through tears as he held a cloth to his brother's wound. All Chili could do was choke out some blood in a coughing fit.

Conway went to the brothers to help anyway he could, but Zoey was far too furious. She charged at Kenny, grabbing him by the neck of his shirt and lifting him in rage.

"Do you realize what you've done? You killed her! You killed them!" she screamed through tears.

The traumatized looking Kenny slipped from her grasp and ran back to Barry's body. "They told me if I brought her to them they wouldn't hurt anybody else. Nobody told me she was pregnant! Oh Arceus what have I done? I've killed my best friend! I've killed a child!"

"Not quite." Jessie announced as Cilan, Cress and Conway carried Chili into the house. "They don't know about the kid yet. But we'll need to act quickly before they realize."

"Or if the baby is born too early." Zoey added. "Kenny, did they mention where this "Homebase" was?"

"Yes." he somberly answered "Kalos. They're taking her to Kalos."