Book II: Impending Twilight

Chapter 96: All I have is a dream

Point of View Aiden

That freaky Servine beamed her red eyes directly at me as she kept Ryder ensnared in that nappy mess she calls vines. Both of my fists tightened as we stared at each other, neither of us moving a muscle. Black remained tangled up in the vines, he just looked at me with a bit of confusion, but that seemed masked by horror.

"Well, make a move already," the servine demanded.

"Eager for an ass whooping, eh?" I replied as I kept my eyes on her.

"Don't get cocky just because you have a type advantage, a weakling like you doesn't even intimidate me."

"Then you're in for a rude awakening, I'ma tie you into a knot with those ugly vines."

"Har har, I'ma drown you in in a public toilet while laughing!"

"Whoa…" I meeped as I froze up, "That's a little violent, don't you think…"

"Gah, just shut up, shut up, shut up, you're annoying the fuck out of me!" the psycho yelled as she released Black and dashed towards me.

"Oh shi-" I began to say before I shot a fire burst at her. A blast of fire went at the servine, but she quickly weaved around it as she came at me from the side. I leapt back, barely dodging a vine whip. In mid jump, I shot another burst of flames at her. She dodged to the left, she then twirled upward while releasing a razor leaf.

"Dammit, ouch!" I yelled as multiple leaves stuck out of my body, along with one that stuck right above my eye, but only managed to go about an inch deep. "You could have taken out my eye you psycho!" I winced as I pulled out the razor leaves stuck all over me.

"Oh I'm so sorry," the servine said as her two vines covered her mouth as if she was embarrassed. "Sorry I missed!" Both vines came straight at me as thorns came out of the other vine.

"Oh, Mew no!" I yelled as I ran away from her. The servine chased after me while I evaded those creepy vines. I felt something ensnare my leg, and I face planted into the concrete ground. Blood dripped from my nose as I felt my hard scaly skin ripped open on my face. I was about to pull myself up, but I felt myself get pulled backward. I looked back to see the psycho lady waiting for me with a leaf blade formed from her tail ready to slice me open.

"Bye-bye, charma-" she began to say, before Black jumped onto her, sinking his teeth into her shoulder. Her eyes widened as her legs gave out, and she fell with Black on top of her. The umbreon clenched his eyes shut as he ripped off a chunk of her shoulder, before he spat it out and began to gag a bit.

"You… you… you're going to die for that," the servine panted from beneath him.

"Black!" I yelled as one of her vines released me and went towards him. Black flinched back just in time to avoid the spiked vine. He then opened his mouth, but he just stood their with his mouth open like he forgot how to use shadow ball.

"Remember Blacky, you can't use shadow ball!" The servine yelled as her vine came back around. The tip of the vine slashed his shoulder and the rest of the vine followed, each thorn ripping off another layer of his flesh. Black fell to the ground as blood gushed out of his shoulder.

"Tff, now you can die like a worm, like the rest of your family," the servine panted as she pulled herself off the ground. I too got up off the ground in an attempt to stop her, the servine didn't seem to be paying me any attention. Black laid defenselessly on the ground as blood exited his shoulder, forming a pool around him.

"Look at you, you have the power to be one of the most powerful beings on the planet, yet you chose to piss it away on all these dumb little replacements for your family. You really are pitiful, so I'll end this here," one of her vines went towards Black's neck. The umbreon tried to move, but he appeared to weak. I ran at the servine, but I was to far away, she was going to kill him right here.

"Stay away from him!" I yelled before blood sprayed all over the ground.

Point of View Ebony

I paced back and forth in the pokecenter lobby. Minutes felt like hours while waiting for everyone to come back safely. It wasn't fair that they left me here, I may not be strong, but I couldn't bare to stand around while people I care for are hurt again. Every few seconds I would glance at the clock, only to be disappointed by how little time has gone by. I needed someone to at least tell me everyone was fine, waiting here all night is tearing my sanity to pieces.

To top things off, I was practically alone here. There was a nurse here, but she stepped away from the desk frequently for long breaks. What if they did find Black and Kana and they were injured, then no one would be here to help them.

More time passed as I waited alone in the lobby. My mind went through every bad scenario possible, until the front door opened and my ears perked up as my tail wagged excitedly. My ears quickly lowered and my tail sagged towards the ground as I noticed it was Alex. Not that I don't want to see him, I was just really hoping for someone to tell me things were alright. Alex smiled at me as he saw me, which forced a small smile onto me.

"Eb, I've been looking for everyone all day. Where is everybody? you all just disappeared all of the sudden." A frown formed on my face as I let out a depressed sigh. It didn't bring the slightest form of joy to my heart to discover that no one even checked in with him. I was hoping that maybe he had come to get me and to tell me that everything was going to be alright.

"Ebony…" Alex asked with concern as he kneeled down in front of me. "You don't look so good, did something happen?" Alex questioned me.

I nodded my head slowly, I may not have been able to tell him, but I didn't want him to be more in the dark than me.

"Are they here?" Alex then asked. I shook my head as I bit my lip to help hold in the tears that were forming.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where they are, and I'm worried," I told Alex as a tear trailed down my left cheek.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," Alex told me as he picked me up and hugged me against his chest. My tear quickly absorbed into his red jacket. My sour mood calmed down as I just focused on the warmth of Alex's chest, it kinda reminded me of when I snuggled with my Dad when I was younger.

"Listen Ebony, I'm going to call the police, they'll help us find them," Alex said. Alex stood up with me in his arms as he walked to the front desk.

"Hello, is anybody here?" Alex called out as he went towards the front desk. "Hello? I need to use the phone, this is serious," he called out again, but no reply. "Seriously, we pay tax dollars for you people to work here, do your job," Alex muttered as he held me with one arm and reached over the desk to grab the phone. He grabbed the whole thing and plopped it right in front of him. He picked up the phone and held it to his ear. My ears flickered from the sound of an unsettling beeping from the phone.

"What? You've got to be kidding me," Alex said in surprise as he put the phone back down. Alex walked behind the desk as he headed into the next room. We both entered a hall full of patient rooms, but no one was in sight.

"Seriously, I need to use the phone, is there even anyone here?" Alex questioned as he slowly walked down the hall. He securely held me with two arms, and I practically could see from a human's point of view. "Sorry Ebony, my phone died while I was out looking for you guys all day," Alex informed me.

Once at the end of the hall Alex came upon a door. He knocked on the door repeatedly, "Hey, is anyone in here, this is the employee lounge, right?" Alex only received silence. He let out an annoyed sigh as he opened the door. He pushed it open and almost dropped me from what we saw.

A brown haired nurse lied on the ground. A red liquid stained her white uniform as it spread out on the floor. My legs began to tremble uncontrollably as everything stood still. Alex quickly snatched me off the ground as he turned around and dashed with me in his arms.

"We gotta get help!" Alex yelled as he ran. A shadowy figure came through the door at the end of the hall. Alex came to a quick stop, causing me to almost fly out of his arms. A doll-like pokemon moved down the hall towards us, almost as if it was skipping. Multiple pins stuck out of its body, while a rust worn down zipper formed a smile to go with the menacing blue eyes it had. The creature was none other than a terrifying Banette. The creature stopped about a quarter way down the hall, it yanked a needle out of its wrist and then impaled it in the side of its head. The creatures head fell to the side, almost as if no bone supported it neck. Both of its hands assisted the head back up as he stared at Alex and me.

"Al-Alex… Run…" I begged him as the creature began to trot its way towards us.

"Hey, stay back!" Alex demanded as he stood his ground. The creature stopped in place, only a few steps from Alex. Alex's hands tightened around me with a strong force as he lightly trembled. His trembling didn't compare to the amount I was shaking, but it was still obvious that he was scared.

The banette turned towards the wall, walked into it, and disappeared. An eerie quiet filled the empty hall as Alex and I waited to see what would happen. "I think it's gone," Alex said as I felt his muscles calm.

A loud screech pierced my ears, causing me to go deaf. Alex let go of me and I landed on the ground. My hearing began to recover, but then I felt something wet drip onto me. My head slowly rose upward to see Alex standing in place with a gash in the side of his neck. He grasped the wound to stop the bleeding. Alex looked at something down the hall, I turned around to see the banette licking blood off its claws.

"Alex…" I said fearfully as the creature eyed me. The zipper on its face formed a sneer before it quickly dashed towards me. Every muscle in my body stopped listening as the banette came at me. A hand quickly yanked me into the air and I soon found myself being carried away by Alex. He held me tightly against his chest as he shielded me with his arms.

"Somebody, help!" Alex shouted as he turned a corner. Blood dripped from Alex's neck down onto me. The wound wasn't fatal, but if it wasn't treated…

Alex dropped me as he fell to the ground. I quickly pulled myself off the ground to see a gash in his back leg. The banette just giggled in a demonic way as it moved to his front side.

"Ebony… Run!" Alex yelled to me. "Just go!"

The creature stood in front of Alex, laughing at him. Alex was willing to risk his life for me… why couldn't I? My teeth gnashed together as I fought my instinct to run away.

"Get away from him!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I charged towards the banette. The ghost type turned towards me as I leapt at it. It dodged to the side as I tried to bite him. As I went past him, the creature grabbed the back of my neck and threw me to the ground. It ran at me with a fast speed, which it then kicked me in the ribs, causing me to fly away from Alex and land on the ground. Pain and fear took over my body as tears streamed down my eyes. With my blurry vision I could see the Banatte skipping towards me, while Alex tried to get up to save me, but he was going to be too late.

"Someone… I don't want to die… not like this…" I sobbed to myself. The Banette grabbed me by the neck and forced me onto my back. It held its hands around my neck with its thumbs over my adams-apple as it repeatedly bashed my head against the ground. Everything went black, I couldn't even tell what was going on, I couldn't even feel the pain of having my head rammed into the ground repeatedly. This was going to be my end, I was going to die a timid little eevee who everyone viewed as a shy child hiding behind everyone… I never even got a chance to get over my sister's death, nor Mom and Dad.

For a moment, I accepted the idea of death, but I spark of hope went off and I remembered everyone around me who could use my help if I kept trying to grow stronger, 'No… it can't end here, I can't let it, my life can't end like this, I refuse to leave this world like this!'

My vision came back, but I was blinded by a bright light. The banette covered its eyes as it backed off of me. My eyes stung from the intensity of the unknown light. Some weird force came over my body, I felt a strong sensation changing who I was. The light grew stronger, only for me to realize that I was the source of light. For a moment, I felt like I was going to be torn apart, but I accepted this change. My body became numb for a moment as I felt overwhelmed, I could barely contain this feeling, but before it became too much, it ended. The light died down as I panted in exhaustion. My muscles ached for a moment, but I felt like I had so much energy.

The banette backed even further away from me as he saw my new form. I got myself up off of the ground. I looked down at my slender paws to see my new silky pink fur.

"I'm an espeon," I said with amazement. Alex looked at me from the ground, a small smirk formed on his face.

"It doesn't matter if you evolved child, I'm still going to rip you limb from limb," the banette replied.

"Do I have the power to protect Alex?" I questioned myself as I watched the banette carefully.

"You don't have to do it alone," A voice spoke from behind me. My head turned back to see a leafeon joining the scene with a bandaged up croagunk by his side.

"We heard screaming from the floor above, to think Genesis would attack a hospital, how low of them," the croagunk spoke as he shook his head.

"What do you say you step away from the human, and leave our newly evolved espeon alone," Dante spoke to the banette, "I owe that human for saving me, and I'm not about to let a kid die."

The banette stared at the two. he appeared to be unsure of what to do. The ghost type twiddled his fingers together for a moment, before he exhaled a sigh. "I guess it wouldn't be wise to go against three pokemon at once, but don't think I won't be back with reinforcements soon," the banette spoke before he walked through a wall and disappeared.

"Alex," I called out to my injured trainer who was lying on the ground. Alex managed to sit up as he used the wall for support. I jumped onto his lap as I nuzzled against him. "I thought I was going to lose you!" I cried as tears streamed down my eyes.

"I'm glad you're okay too, I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you," Alex said as he hugged me tightly, while stroking my back.

Point of View Dante

"Let's give those two a moment," The croagunk whispered to me. The croagunk walked down the hall and into the lobby. I stood for a moment as I watched Ebony and that human return their affection towards each other. I didn't know a lot about that human, but if I was to have a trainer, he wouldn't be a bad pick. After a moment, I snapped out of my thoughts and followed the croagunk into the pokecenter lobby.

"So, how're you doing after that little incident?" the croagunk asked me as he nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Oh you know, I only almost died because of that, and the recovery was fun. I could hardly move for days, but, if I had to give a plus, I did enjoy the bed I slept on, it was pretty comfortable," I said as if the conversation was casual.

"You know, I only did that because we thought your sister was a danger to society."

"And you tried to kill her. For that, I have my eye on you… ummm… What were those letter thingies again?"

"W, like waffle, P, like pokemon, and A, as in you're A dumbass," the croagunk bitterly replied.

"Hey, what was that for? Couldn't you at least pretend to be nice?"

"Heh, sorry. I guess I'm a bit grouchy, I got banged up pretty bad the previous night."

"Oh, is that why you're bandaged up?"

"Mm Hmm. An old zorua took down my whole entire team like it was nothing. I was actually the only one who was injured, but for some reason he chose to spare me. He had me at a complete disadvantage, I couldn't even begin to defend myself against him… yet he spared me," the croagunk spoke as he got lost in this thoughts.

"Anyways, a nurse in this pokecenter is dead," I spoke with seriousness.

"I know," the croagunk responded.

"You said Genesis earlier, Naomi told me about them. Why would they be targeting a pokecenter?"

"Simple actually," the croagunk replied as he kept an eye down the hall to watch Ebony and Alex. "They're planning something big, we figured this out earlier. I presume they sent in that ghost type to kill the nurse because it can get in silently without anyone noticing. If they kill all the nurses here, then no one who is injured in battle can heal during the night. Not until someone checks in, calls for help, or the next set of nurses come in. But this could also be why the banette was sticking around, to kill anyone who could heal or expose what happened here," the croagunk said.

"That seems realistic, but the real question is, what now. What exactly does Genesis want?"

"They're after an umbreon, an umbreon who happens to be our boss's son."

"The shiny umbreon?"

"Yeah," the croagunk said with a nod.

"Naomi talked about him quite a bit actually, him and another umbreon she knew that died, but this one was supposedly white with black rings."

"White umbreon huh? I know of such a thing, we've encountered him many times, but for the longest time we never even knew what he went by. Your sister had a thing for this umbreon, you know that right?"

"I do," I said with a small nod.

"Hmmf, glad that monster is dead, he's killed so many of us. Not to offend you, but your sister may be a whore if she actually had a thing for h-"

"Another word and were done here," I snapped at him as I got into his face with a low growl. "You don't ever call my sister that again, ever." The croagunk remained silent for a moment as I snarled at him, barely managing to hold myself back from killing him.

"Think as you wish to about her, but I don't see how she could feel anything for a soulless monster like that."

Point of View Stark

Blood splattered onto the ground as the servine fell to the ground. Her vines fell limp. Had I been a moment later, it'd be Ryder who was dead. I glared down at the umbreon, blood oozed from the wound on his neck. He glared at me, hardly conscious, then his eyes closed.

"You…" the charmander down the street spoke as he slowly walked towards me. "You're one of those Crimson guys, I remember you."

"I am," I bluntly replied.

"You need him alive, you're not going to let him bleed out, are you?" the charmander asked me nervously.

"No," I answered, "I don't have supplies on me though, and neither do you."

"We can find some, can't we?" the charmander asked.

"Their is a pokecenter nearby if I remember correctly, I'll take him there. You do as you please, but if you do anything stupid, you'll join the servine on the ground, we clear?"

"Y-Yeah," he answered.

"Then help me get him on my back, unless you want to carry him?"

"I can't carry him," the charmander spoke as he ran to Ryder's side. I crouched low as the charmander helped get him onto my back. Ryder let out a grunt as he laid unconscious on my back.

"Let's go before he dies," I said as I began to walk.

"Wait!" the charmander called to me. I peered back at him, feeling annoyed by him hindering me.

"We can't just leave her here…" the charmander spoke quietly. "I mean… yeah, she did try to kill us, but that's not important, I can't let her die."

"She's probably already dead," I responded to him. "If you wish to save her, then you carry her, I will have no paw in this if she tries to kill you again though."

"Yeah," he replied as he lifted the servine up. He carried her behind me with her long vines dragging along the ground.

It was about a ten minute walk before we arrived at the pokecenter. During the walk the charmander introduced himself to me for some reason. I couldn't quite understand why he bothered to burden me with such useless info. I didn't bother giving him my name.

The two of us stood outside the front door of the pokecenter. "Well, we made it, hopefully we're not too late," Aiden said as he pushed the door open with his back. I entered in behind him. My eyes stung as I came into a bright atmosphere compared to the dark night. The lights inside were blinding, and to make things worse it reflected off the shiny white floor. To my surprise though, this place was vacant.

"Great," I muttered as I let the umbreon fall of my back.

"What're you doing?!" Aiden yelled as he ran to Ryder in a panic.

"He's dead weight to me right now, put down the servine and help me find a kit to heal Ryder with."

"But-"

"Now," I snapped at him.

"R-Right," Aiden responded as he set down the servine. The two of us made our way through the lobby until we entered an open door behind the front desk that led us to the patient wing. It wasn't until halfway down the hall that I found a blood splatter. I glanced at it for a moment, it covered part of the wall, and a few specs made it to the floor. I looked ahead to see that it later turned into a trail. I followed down the hall until I came to another open door. I peaked inside and froze with a bit of surprise.

"What?" Aiden asked as he approached from behind.

"Nothing," I answered as I walked into the room.

"Wait… No… What the fuck happened here?!" Aiden yelled as he frantically moved away from the bloody corpse that he saw in the room I was now in.

"Just go in another room if you're going to panic, it's just a dea-"

"She's dead!" Aiden yelled in a panic.

He continued to say things, but I just blocked him out as I moved through a blood puddle in the room. At the end of the room I saw a basic trainer med kit sitting on a chair. I moved through the room and retrieved the kit. I exited the room and began walking back towards Ryder. Aiden was still panicking from the dead body.

"Shut up and follow me," I ordered him, "Unless you want to go to sleep next to her?"

"You wouldn't do that…"

"I won't if you help me with Ryder's injuries.

"Fine," he spat out as he followed me. During the rest of the walk he continued to blabber about the dead body in a panic. Again, I just blocked him out… I kind of learned to do this back when I didn't care for Naomi, I use to view her as very annoying, but obviously that changed.

Once back in the lobby I threw the kit in front of Ryder's unconscious body. "Alright, you're the one with fingers here, so treat his wounds."

"You're kidding right?" Aiden with disbelief. "I don't have medical experience past bandages, that and surgeon simulator, but those are two completely different things!"

'Mew, why couldn't I get stuck with the pikachu, at least he knew this stuff, plus he wasn't as whiny and random,' I mentally asked myself. "Listen, just help him and I'll walk you through it. Do you want him to die?"

"No…"

"Then open that kit and get started," I instructed.

The charmander nervously looked at the first aid kit, "Alright, I'll try."

Point of View third person

The battlefield Mandus fought on was now nothing more than the ruins of what once use to be a thriving area in Shalour. Many of the lower parts of the buildings were destroyed, and some buildings were even close to collapsing. A thick cloud of dust covered the air. Off in the distance police sirens could be heard, meanwhile only two Genesis pokemon stood, and four WPA members remained conscious. Zack, Mark, Ada, and James were all that was left, along with a weavile and a xatu on Genesis's team.

"The police are almost here," James the dewott commented as he panted in exhaustion and gripped a deep gash in his side that was covered in a stream of his blood.

"Will they be here soon enough though?" Mandus questioned as he watched the remaining pokemon. "Soon the police will be arriving, and the casualty level of this battle will rise. This city will be a war zone soon. I know Genesis will be sending reinforcements soon: better, stronger pokemon that'll pose more of a challenge."

"Mandus, why are you doing this?!" Zack yelled at the lucario in between heavy breaths. Blood dripped down from multiple wounds, on top of those wounds, a broken hind leg, a few broken ribs, and a minor concussion. The flareon was just barely managing to cling onto consciousness.

"I'm doing this to bring salvation to this world. Many will die, but only by sacrificing many can we save even more," the lucario answered.

"And how does any of this solve shit?!" James snapped at Mandus. "You're strong, but how did killing so many of us bring this world any closer to this salvation bullshit!"

"Hmmf, I wouldn't expect any of you to understand yet. Before you will believe me, your eyes must be opened to many truths. First of which is religious. You must accept that Legendaries do exist. Secondly, turn your back on these Legendaries, they have forsaken us. Lastly, do whatever it takes to achieve our own control over this world. I wish to revert this world back to a more primal state, one where humans don't rule over pokemon."

"And let me guess, you're going to be the king of this new world?" Zack spitefully spoke.

"King, God, leader, I don't wish to be any of those. When I achieve my new world, I don't want any leaders that dictates everything, I want a world where everyone can choose their own futures for themselves. No big governments to control everything humans and pokemon do, just a world that is fair. A world where a pokemon won't be born into my life, born without a chance of happiness."

"You had a chance of happiness, Mandus," Zack snapped.

"You still have many things left for you Zack. You have felt loss, but you've always had something to cling onto, to keep yourself together. All I have is a dream, this is the only thing I have left in this world."

"You don't know a thing about loss! You're just delusional!" Zack retorted with fury.

"Think as you wish, Zackary, but their isn't a spot for pokemon like you in the new world. You too are one of those that I view as destroying this world."

"Destroying this world? That's complete bullshit!" Mark yelled out. "What about all the lives WPA has saved, all the bad humans and pokemon we stopped, explain this to me, tell me how my lifes dedication is destroying this world?!"

"Think about it? WPA is like the guardians of this world in a way. But, I know some truths about WPA no one else does, after all, I am a founding member. If you live past tonight, I will explain if we meet again."

The sirens in the background grew louder, and red and blue flashing lights from the distance could be seen. From another direction of the street an army of blue eyed pokemon approached. Many covered the tops of buildings, while some took the ground, a few even drilled their way up from below the ground, while others flew in and even dropped some pokemon off. At least a dozen police cars came onto the scene. Policemen got out of the car, some of which had pokemon, but mostly humans. About half of the humans were armed, while another half had pokeballs ready in their hands. Both of the two armies faced each other, leaving Mandus standing in the middle with tranquility. Many of the policemen released their pokemon, most of which were canine based pokemon, but it varied from all types. Genesis's side had more of the vicious looking pokemon, from dark to fire types that would pose a serious threat.

"To all of you I offer a glorious ending, but an end none the less," Mandus spoke out loud as both teams glared at the lone lucario. "Bare witness as I show you the power I have aquired, maybe then some of you will see the truth." Mandus reaching into his coat pocket and pulled out a radio and held it near his mouth. "VIncent, commence operation Red Dawn," Mandus spoke into the radio before he put it away.

A moment of silence passed by as everyone watched to see what would happen next. A small tremor was felt from the ground, before it felt as if an earthquake had come. Cracks formed by by Mandus's feet as everyone struggled to keep their footing. A bright lime green light shone through the cracks in the ground. The ground soon opened up and Mandus ascended into the air while standing atop of a mighty serpent.

"Behold, I have achieved the power of a god," Mandus's voice boomed among the armies as the serpent let out a powerful roar that shattered the windows of the buildings. The Legendary known as Zygarde emitted a green aura that lit the whole street. More cracks formed all over the ground in different spots and seconds after large spire like branches broke through the surface of the earth, creating a forest like setting. Many of the pokemon and human scurried out of the way, some were knocked over from the spirelike trees. After the trees fully sprouted, both armies remained petrified.

"You have all witnessed the Legendary known as Zygarde: The protector of the ecosystem of this world. Long ago Zygarde chose to neglect his responsibility to protect the homes of many pokemon, because of that, many have suffered," Mandus spoke as he gave his words a moment to settle in. "Now, unless you all wish to see the power of a God, then submit."

To be Continued...

Chapter End

Author Note: Hopefully things aren't too jumpy in this arc, but I think things are going fine so far, but please tell me if you disagree. Anyways, before people pull out the pitchforks I'd like to state why I had Ebony evolve into an espeon even though it is night. It is true that an eevee needs sunlight and affection or whatever to evolve, but I never really understood the sunlight part... I'd understand that for a leafeon, but I feel that an espeon has little to nothing to do with the sun. So, hopefully this doesn't bother anyone to bad, but in a world where tears bring your dead friends back, I guess this is something minor.

I would like to thank genericgamer207 for editing.