Welcome to the next chapter. So, we finally get to go back to the present, and the journey continues! Also, thanks again to everyone who shared your opinions on the last two chapters, it was very interesting and some of you are pretty creative :D That's good though, I like to make people think, and I'll end this author note here.

Chapter 78: Three months at best

One week after Book I

Point of View Black

My eyes clenched shut as I extended my arm with the cast out and a loud saw like noise filled the air. A middle aged male doctor grabbed my arm, and I could feel my cast vibrating as he sawed the cast open. After a moment, the saw noise stopped, and I felt the doctor slide the cast off my arm.

"That's it?" I said in surprise as I flexed my arm out for the first time in weeks, "Arceus, this feels great!" I said excitedly as I put weight on my healed arm.

"I bet it would, must have sucked having that on you twenty-four-seven," Flare said from across the pokecenter room we were in. Sitting next to Flare was Alex, Kana, and… Gray, the very absol I just tended to stay away from. While I did appreciate his apology, I just wanted him to never speak to me, and that'd end that.

"How do you feel buddy?" Alex asked me as he jumped up, and gave me a friendly pat on the back. I was quick to swat away his hand. No matter how much I enjoyed the people I was around, I could still not stand being touched by others, it just bothered me at times.

"You know, this is the first time I've seen a cast marked like this…" the doctor said as he curiously observed the cast that fell victim to Hesh's lousy art. Because of those markings, everyone looked at me funny ever since I had it. Humans would laugh at me, and I could hear people shunning me constantly.

"Yeah…. That wasn't me," Alex said as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Anyways, you're all set to go home, just check out at the desk," the doctor said, as he opened the door for us.

For the millionth time, Alex completed the process of signing us out of the pokecenter, and after that, we headed back to the hotel. Alex's father was nice enough to keep the hotel rented while all of us recovered, and it was great, because shit finally stopped going wrong for once in our damn lives. I could almost say I was beginning to feel normal for once in my life.

"So, how's your arm?" Gray awkwardly asked me as we walked down the streets of Cyllage.

"Fine," I replied, as I quickly looked towards Flare, "So, we'll finally be starting the second gym battle very soon," I said to Flare.

"I know! I can't believe how long it's taking us to get to this. I mean seriously, things just got dragged out with all the stuff lately," Flare responded.

"Yeah, let's not talk about doom and gloom. I've had enough of that for a lifetime or two," I joked.

"Yeah-yeah, you've been so withdrawn from a topic that's still a problem, you know?" Flare said to me, and I just sighed.

"I just can't think about it anymore, that's all. Can we just enjoy what we have going, and pretend we're not all in peril," I said to the fox.

"Sure Black, we can ignore it, but don't cry when a killer riolu almost strangles you to death again," Flare responded with an attitude.

"I told you, we'd train and stuff to overcome this. I mean, I finally got my cast off, and your back is no longer injured. So, let's just enjoy today, and we'll start tomorrow," I said to Flare.

"You two are going to start training now?" Kana said, as she moved closer to us, as we continued to walk.

"Yep," Flare said with a excited nod.

"Well, best of luck to you," Kana said with a smile.

"You should join us as well Kana," I said to the jolteon.

The jolteon smirked, "Sure, why not."

Point of View Naomi

My legs slowly carried me through a forest as I curiously looked around my old home. It amazed me how everything looked the same, felt the same, even smelled the same. This forest had hardly changed since I left, and that was exactly why I hated it here.

"I… I can't do this," I said as I sighed and took very slow steps as I inched my way back to my family's territory. Despite how much I really wanted to see Dante again, I just couldn't stand the thought of being a failure, and being the one everyone was talking about.. Even though it was only a few days to make the trip here, my hesitancy to come back made it take a full week..

"I shouldn't be here," I said to myself, as I felt every muscle in my body fighting, so I didn't just turn around and run. My head hung low as I continued to tread through the forest, as I remembered the circumstances I left under.

"You?" A voice called out from behind me. My ears perked up as I remembered an unpleasant voice, one I despised to my core. My head spun back, and standing behind me was one of my childhood tormentors, that one ninetales I resented.

"Go away," I bitterly said to him as I turned around, and I continued towards my home.

"Easy umbreon, I'm just a little surprised to see you come crawling back here, everybody suspected you were now too good for a dump such as this place," the ninetales said, as he followed behind me.

"Do you have a death with, I said go away?" I snapped back at him.

"Don't be so snobby, since you think you're a hot shot," the ninetales continued on, "Oh please tell me about how successful you are now, tell me about how you live in a fairy tale with all the humans, and coexist in-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, I spun around and I tackled him with everything I had. The ninetales fell to the ground, and rolled onto his back. I let out a vicious growl as I pinned him down with one paw, and held my other paw over his throat, with dark matter forming around it.

"You have no idea what the hell I have been through the past few years," I said in a dark tone as I barely touched his throat, and caused a trickle of blood to escape his throat. "I can't even describe how you and those other assholes made me feel in my youth. I have been driven towards looking for an escape from the pain you've caused me, and I come home to find comfort with my family, and this is what I come home to! Do you know what I've been through, the things I've seen, what I've endured!" I screamed at him. I let the dark matter fade, and punched him hard in the side of his jaw, then turned around, walking a few steps away in tears. "I don't even want to live anymore, and I don't even know why I continue to try!" I screamed with my head facing the ground, trying to vent all the built up emotions from my childhood and the past few years.

"Are you really back, after all these years?" a different voice said behind me.

"Dante?" I said spinning around in surprise. I stared at the leafeon with wide eyes. it seemed like I was looking at a long forgotten memory.

A smile began to creep on to his face, to which I sprinted towards him and tackled the leafeon into a hug. Dante fell over with me on top of him, as I gave him a strong hug, and for the first time in years, I felt his comforting hug. After a moment, I got off of Dante, and the leafeon recovered to his feet.

"Naomi, where have you been all these years, no one had a clue what happened to you?" Dante asked me, as the ninetales moaned in the background.

"All over," I answered Dante, not wanting to be specific.

"You're a psycho bitch!" The ninetales yelled as he got back up to his feet, and I could see a dark bruise tainting the gold of his fur from beneath.

"Just go already, I'm done dealing with you," I snarled at the fox.

"Fuck you!" He snapped at me as he turned around and ran from me.

"Looks like you've learned to handle yourself a bit more," Dante said as I watched the ninetales disappear into the forest.

"I'm hardly considered much of a fighter compared to the others I have seen over the years," I responded to Dante, as I remembered the monsters like Sam.

"Well hey, why don't we head back to our home, and we can catch up there?" Dante suggested. I gave the leafeon a nod, and the two of us made our way through the forest.

After a short walk, we came into a familiar clearing in the forest. Everything here was just how I remembered it. The tree we slept in still had the hollowed out hole in it, and our pond was still there as well.

"This feels like I'm dreaming," I said with nostalgia.

"Well, I'd imagine that happens when you randomly leave in middle of the night," Dante responded to me, "You know, a goodbye wouldn't have hurt?" A frown instantly formed on my face as Dante reminded me of the circumstances I left under. I always knew it was sudden, and I never once took his feelings into consideration, I was more worried about myself at the time.

"I'm so-so sorry Dante, I shouldn't have done that, but I felt like there was no choice at that point," I said with regret present in my tone.

"Well, I've missed you over the years, and me being a big brother, I always worried about you," Dante said, as I could feel the pain he went through over the years for me abandoning everyone.

"I've missed you as well, and I've really regretted the day I left," I told Dante.

"Then why didn't you at least come and visit once in a while, at least let us know you weren't dead. I was actually beginning to come to that conclusion!" Dante shouted at me in anger, and I flinched back from seeing the built up emotions in him coming out all at once.

"Because, I was mad and I didn't think I had a place left here. Everyone practically hated me here, even Dad didn't give a shit about me, and viewed me as a waste of space," I replied to Dante.

"Dad didn't hate you, he was just a bit selfish, and didn't understand what he was doing to you. He didn't realize what he was doing to you, until you snapped, and left us," Dante said to me, and reassured me that I was wanted in this world.

"Where is Dad, shouldn't he be around here somewhere?" I asked Dante, as I began looking in every direction for the jolteon. As I looked around, I noticed a sad look in Dante's eye.

"Dante, where's Dad?"

"Dad passed away last spring, and just like mom, he fell sick," Dante bitterly answered, and those words rung in my ears, as I took it in.

"Dad's… But I didn't…" I tried to speak, but I couldn't form a sentence from the shock of hearing such news.

"I'm sorry, but you came a little late to make peace with him. But, he did want me to pass some final words off to you, in the event that you returned."

"What did he want me to know?" I asked curiously, as I sniffled, and I attempted to hold back any tears, since I didn't want to cry for someone who treated me so poorly.

Dante exhaled as he tried to keep a grip on his emotions, "He wanted you to know that he was so sorry for being a horrible father. He said he should have been there for you, and that you aren't a mistake, and that he was the one who was a mistake. He would always love you. Those were the words he wanted me to pass onto you," Dante said, as he stared me in the eyes.

"Dad said that?" I said in surprise, followed by another sniffle.

"Almost word from word, so yes." Dante answered with a nod.

"He did change," I said in surprise, as a bittersweet smile formed on my face, "I wish I could have seen him one last time, if I would have know our last conversation would have been an argument, I would have done things differently," I said at the smile I had, turned to a depressed sigh.

For a few minutes, Dante gave me silence, until he spoke up, "So what have you been up to these past few years?" Dante asked me, as he sat on the grass, and braced himself for a long story.

"Everything is just repeatedly falling apart," I answered him, as my voice began to become shaky.

"Well, why don't you start from the beginning then, we've got plenty of time."

I gave Dante a nod as I took in a deep breath, and got a grip on myself. "Okay, so I'll start from when I had my mental break down, and I left," I began to say and Dante patiently listened to me, like the caring brother I remembered him as. "So, after I left I went in pursuit of my dream, you know, to work on Neuropsychology. So, I went to Luminose city, one of the biggest cities in Kalos. There I met up with my friend Lance, who lived with his trainer. Lance was an espeon that worked as a pokemon therapist, and he actually managed to help me get into one of those special pokemon schools where they teach pokemon to do things to contribute to society."

"I was still considered a wild pokemon, so Lance's trainer had to pretend to be my actual trainer, luckily Lance was able to convince him to do so, since he can telepathically talk to his trainer. Anyways, the only circumstance of me getting into it though, was that I had to get a full ride through it, since I didn't have money to pay for myself to go through the schooling. So, I took a test, and aced it easily. I was accepted, and I went through daily classes to teach me my line of work."

"So, where exactly do things get bad for you?" Dante asked me.

"I was just about to get to that," I answered him, "Anyways, after a long year of education, I was forcefully dropped from the program, due to me not being an Adequate evolution. They said that no one would have a use for a dark type, even if I was slightly smarter than others," I said with spite. "So, after a year of having perfect scores, getting bashed on for being an umbreon by all the psychic pricks, and spending nonstop hours studying and being the smartest pokemon in my class, I was dropped because of my evolution. Just like that, I didn't get a chance to at least defend myself or prove myself in any way," I said as I felt a ball forming in my throat, and I could feel a stinging in my eyes.

"I was cheated out of my dreams, all because of what I am!" I yelled as loud as I could. Dante's arm quickly wrapped around me, and pulled me into his chest as I began to sob. The fur on his chest absorbed my tears, and as I continued to cry, he held me tighter, almost as if he was trying to keep me from falling apart again.

"I'm sorry that, that happened Naomi, I didn't know that you went through so much," Dante gently told me, as he continued to hold me.

"That's not even the end of the story," I choked out of my mouth, "Things just got worse after I left Luminose, and…" I began to say, but I found myself not able to tell Dante what I've become as I was gone for so long.

"What happened after that?" he asked me.

"I… I can't bring myself to talk about it yet, can we just please talk about something else?" I asked Dante.

"Sure, whatever you want to talk about," he responded, as he released me, and gave an understanding nod.

Point of View Stark

Vincent and I both walked through the woods in silence. He and I needed a quiet place to discuss a personal matter regarding the health problems I have been having ever since I was reanimated. After a long walk away from the pokemon civilization known as Sanctuary, we came into an opening. In front of us now was a giant lake that stretched out for about a mile, and on the other side, another tree line could be seen. The sun was just now setting over the horizon, and the lake reflected the fiery colors of the sun.

It was a surprise to me that he actually got time to help me with my problem. I had a hard time talking to him about it, but surprisingly he was pretty understanding. Vincent's schedule has been pretty full ever since we apprehended Zygarde, and keeping a legendary under mind control took a lot of pokemon. So luckily, he had time to help me at all.

"So, you said you think you have an idea on what has been wrong with me the past few weeks?" I asked Vincent, as I faced him.

The espeon gave me a nod, before he answered me, "We originally had you reanimated to help us, and Genesis engineered you into existence," Vincent stated.

"I know that," I bluntly answered.

"Well, they knew we'd only need you for a few months, and that you'd be a loose end if you lived through everything planned. Of course, I suspect that they've got something up their sleeves with you, I suspected this from the beginning," Vincent told me.

"And you're sure of that?" I asked Vincent, even though I knew for a fact that it was true.

"Positive," Vincent answered, "But don't worry, I haven't told anyone, nor do I plan to," Vincent said.

"And why wouldn't you?" I questioned the espeon.

"I have my personal reasons, plus we'd have to kill you, and I don't view you as a bad pokemon that should be killed," Vincent answered.

I snorted at his remark, "Then you need to check your definition of 'good,' because I'm a horrible pokemon," I replied to him.

"I wouldn't be so sure on that, you're like me," Vincent retorted.

"How're we anything alike?"

"We both did things we didn't want to do, but we had to," Vincent simply answered, "And for our sins, we accept that we'll burn in the afterlife," he answered.

"But I had a choice in my actions, and after a certain point, I stopped feeling weighed down from the murders I've committed," I said to Vince.

"It'll all come crashing down on you one day, believe me," Vincent warned me, "But we should talk about what we originally came here for."

"Right," I said with a nod.

"So lately you have been showing symptoms of constant pains, light headedness, passing out, and feeling weak, and in severe cases coughing up blood," Vincent began to say, and I just nodded as he confirmed everything I've told him about. "I've seen this once before, one of our older members was genetically engineered by Genesis, and I believe you're suffering from the same thing he died from. Shortly after his symptoms surfaced, he lived for about six months."

"Wait, died?!" I spoke back in surprise.

"As a failsafe for some pokemon, Genesis engineers some pokemon to only live past a certain time. This also supports my theory that Genesis is using you. If they are manipulating you, they probably won't want you alive much longer after all of this is over, even if you do escape," Vincent said.

"Are you positive on this?" I firmly asked.

"Everything you have experienced, my friend experienced. Your body is slowly failing you, and to put things short, you're slowly dying," Vincent said, and my head fell low. "The pains you have are probably due to a variety of problems, and coughing up blood can actually occur from a sign of heart failure, which the lack of blood pumping through your body causes you to pass out," Vincent said, and I felt my morale fall even lower.

"Is there a way to stop this?" I asked Vincent.

Vincent shook his head, "A new body and a mind transfer would be the only way, but that isn't an option at the moment," Vincent said, "Sorry."

"How long do I have, six months at best?" I asked Vince, as I looked up at him for an honest answer.

The espeon let out a depressed sigh, "Your symptoms seem to be progressing much faster than my friend's symptoms. Over the past two weeks your symptoms have been getting worse, and I've been noticing almost immediately since I met you, and I didn't meet you long after your reanimation."

"How long?!" I shouted at him.

"Three months, at best," Vincent answered.

"Three months?" I said in a hollow tone, as I slowly rose back up.

"Listen, we can try and get you to a doctor to prolong your life and see if this is really what's up," Vincent offered.

"This is bullshit!" I shouted as loud as I could, and I walked towards a tree. Dark matter formed around my front right paw, and I began bashing my paw into a tree, taking out one chunk at a time.

"Why am I always some damn tool for everyone!" I said as I let out a long yell that scared away the pidgy in the area. As I continued to assault the tree, I felt a pain in my chest, and I fell over coughing violently. My vision began to blur, and I could feel the taste of bloody saliva in my mouth.

"Stark?" Vincent said as he ran towards me, but I held out my paw.

"I'm fine," I said as I spat out some blood, and I slowly struggled to stand back up. I wobbled around for a moment, before I stabilized myself, "I need some time alone," I said as I began to walk away.

"Stark?" Vincent called out to me, and I stopped walked for a moment.

"What?"

"Are you going to be alright? I mean if you need someone, I'm here for you" Vincent offered.

"I just need somewhere to be angry in peace, I'll be back later, if I don't drop dead," I said as I walked away in pure anger.

Chapter End

Author Note: Ah well quite a few things happened this chapter. So... Dante is alive, you all probably didn't expect me to have one character without an entire family that mas massacred? Nah, I'm just kidding of course. Anyways.

Thanks to genericgamer207 for editing this chapter.

Fun Fact: The name Flare was originally just a name I called him until I could come up with a better name. Well, the name grew on me, and I went with it. I was tearing my hair out when I released the chapter revealing Flare's secret, because it seemed so damn corny, but I guess Team Flare is the type of group that would go around naming their pokemon after their organization. Well, as far as I can tell, no one really made a big deal about it, and I think the name is fitting.