Book II: Impending twilight

Chapter 110: The impending Era

As far as the eye could see a great forest rested below a range of mountains that reached out towards the vast heavens. The sky was twilight, leaving the sky with a complexion of many bright oranges mixing in brilliantly with the cool blue sky. On the edge of a cliff, two friends sat together, both at the peak of their youth and everything ahead of them.

A small blue furred pokemon sat with his legs hanging from the cliff as he stared off towards the twilight with a freshly picked apple firmly in his hand. Accompanying the young riolu was a white four legged creature that was only one year shy of the fighting type's age. Both sat in silence watching over the forest as the twilight darkened over the mountains.

"You're quiet today," the riolu carelessly broke the silence, before biting into his apple and slowly chewed it.

"Oh, sorry," the absol blurted out as she awoke from her pensive state. "I've just been thinking a lot, that's all."

The riolu turned towards the absol and gave her a long stare, "Daaaaaawn. What's on your mind?" the riolu smiled.

The absol shyly turned away "Nothing…"

The riolu's smile turned to a fake frown, "You literally just said you were thinking," the riolu playfully rose his voice as he stood up from the edge of the cliff.

"Well…" Dawn started nervously as she averted her stare from the riolu, "Agghh, I'm not ready to tell anyone yet!" she squealed in embarrassment.

The riolu's eyes widened as he nearly jumped up in shock, "Dawn, do you have a crush on-" before the riolu could even finish his sentence the absol punched her paw into the riolu's gut, causing him to fall to his knees with a cry of pain. "Arceus, why did you just-" the riolu coughed as he looked up towards the absol who was quietly laughing to herself.

"I really didn't mean to hit you that hard," She said while trying to control her laugh.

"Yeah, well you did," the riolu grunted as he slowly got up off the ground..

"Alright, the truth then?" Dawn nervously smiled, "Just promise to keep quiet, kay?"

"Sure," the blue jackal agreed.

Dawn inhaled a deep breath, "I've decided I'm leaving," Dawn shyly told the riolu. The young fighting type stopped breathing for a moment and stared at Dawn in a frozen state as if his heart stopped beating.

"L-Leaving?"

"Yeah," Dawn confirmed.

"Why? You have so much here, family, friends, a home, memories, and what about me. You're my best friend, I don't know what to do without you," the riolu frantically spoke as his throat began to swell up from the inside, making it hard to produce proper sentences.

"Mandus, it's a big world out there, I've had twelve years here, I've gotten an education, I met you, but something inside me yearns for much more. Like a voice is whispering in my ear, telling me that there is so much more to this world, so much more to enjoy."

"Yeah but, what about your family and me?" Mandus quietly asked with disappointment.

"I don't know honestly… I mean I will come back to visit from time to time, I can promise that. You know, I never said you couldn't come with me though. I honestly think the idea sounds fun." Dawn laughed to herself from the thought. The idea of the two learning about the world just sounded too perfect in Dawn's mind.

Mandus flinched back from the suggestion as he sputtered words out of him mouth, "Wha- I can't leave everything behind, I feel attached to this place, it's my home!" .

"I guess it really depends on your definition of home, in my opinion home is where you choose to make it, while it may not have memories it should be somewhere you're happy, and that's what I want to find."

"Are you implying you're not happy?" Mandus cocked his head to the side as he casted a curious glare towards her.

"No, I am happy, I just don't feel content here is all… If that even makes sense. But, if you're happy then please stay, I just have to do this for myself."

"When are you leaving, I mean we still have time together, right?"

"Winter is around the corner, I figured I'd wait for that to pass. Which means I get to start my journey during my favorite season," Dawn smiled.

Mandus's head lowered towards the ground as he tried to take in the fact he was about to lose his best friend, the one person he truly trusted with his feelings.

"Now don't go feeling sad." Mandus was about to reply, but he was silenced by Dawn nuzzling up against his chest. The absol gently rested her head on the riolu's shoulder. "I know this probably isn't what you want to hear right now, but I know you'll be fine without me. Who knows, maybe one day you'll feel what I feel and you can join me."

Mandus felt himself choking up from this inside as he wrapped his arms around Dawn's neck and held her as if he was never going to let go. In the comfort of the moment, Mandus's eyes slowly slid shut. Dawn wrapped her neck around Mandus's neck and the two embraced each other like family. As the moment between the two continued on, Mandus felt his arm go through Dawn as if she was a phantom. The riolu's eyes shot open as he saw that his friend was gone.

"Dawn…?" Mandus whispered as he frantically turned to look around, but as his eyes went over the cliff he completely pushed Dawn out of his mind. "Arceus," was all he managed to get out as he stared off towards the burning fires that were scattered all throughout the place he called home. Crackles similar to thunder echoed through the air, as a few screams could be heard.

"What's… What's going on!?" Mandus yelled as he quickly spun around to run, but froze at the body lying in front of him.

"D-Dawn?!" he cried out as he saw the absol lying in front of him, gashes covering her entire body. Her head just barely moved to meet eyes with him.

"M-Mandus," was all she managed to say, before her body fell limp on the rock ground.

"No-no-no-no, Arceus don't let this happen! This can't be happening!" the riolu screamed at the top of his lungs as he closed his eyes and grasped his head in tears.

The fully grown lucario let out a hard breath as his eyes shot open and a blinding light pierced his eyes. The fighting type squinted as his eyes slowly adjusted, until he could make out the white ceiling above him with a bright light blinding him.

"You're awake," a voice excitedly spoke from Mandus's side. The lucario barely turned his head to make out a large figure standing over his bed with two gleaming blue eyes.

"Whe-" Mandus began, before he was interrupted by his own coughs. The lucario finished coughing and asked his question, "Where am I?"

"Where do you think? We're at a pokecenter in Snowbelle."

In an instant all the memories came flashing back to Mandus, the hunt for Xerneas, the battle with the Legendary beasts, and the wounds that were inflicted on him. "Where are the others?"

"Shh, relax. I'll catch you up to speed on what happened, just take it easy. You honestly barely pulled through your injuries," Zylen gently spoke. "After you and I ran, I managed to shake the Legendary beasts, it was tough but somehow they didn't catch us. You were in bad shape though, so I had no choice but to bring you here, your condition was far beyond my medical skills so we really had no choice. As for the others, I honestly don't know, I'm worried if I go search for them I'll be attacked."

Mandus remained silent as he took in the info. Zylen moved back from the lucario and gave him some breathing room.

"Your injuries were pretty rough. Your collarbone was crushed, I believe they had to replace the bone with something else. Your rib cage was also pretty banged up, about four broken. You received a blood transfusion, and most of your wounds are stitched up and will heal… except two."

Mandus turned towards the zoroark and waited for an answer. "Your eye… the wound they left on it will never heal, you're permanently blind in your left eye." At that moment Mandus noticed the pressure from the bandages over his eye and the lack of vision. Mandus began to raise his left arm to feel it, but before he could he felt a strong sting burn in his entire limb. The lucario let out a loud yell as he bit down and looked at his bandaged arm.

"That's the other wound…" Zylen began. "You have severe burns all over, most won't fully heal, but your arm is by far the worse. You barely got to keep it according to the doctor, just a bit worse and they would have amputated it… I didn't hear much on how it'd heal though, but I can guarantee you'll lose some of your nerve functions in the arm."

Mandus allowed his head to lean back on the pillow and he just gazed up towards the ceiling in complete silence. Zylen watched the lucario for a moment and came to the conclusion that he probably wasn't in the mood for company.

"I'll give you some space, just promise you won't do anything to further hurt yourself?" Zylen asked, but Mandus remained silent. The zoroark exhaled a long breath as he exited the room.

Four days later

"Still no sign of any of them," Zylen told Mandus as the lucario lied in his bed. "I've asked a number of pokemon and I even tried tracking them down myself, but nothing."

Silence came from Mandus as he stared up at the ceiling, almost as if he was an empty vessel with no soul.

Zylen crossed his arms as his patience grew thin. Despite the deal with Mew, he still was getting annoyed with Mandus's somber mood. "I'll be back later with some dinner, just tell the nurse if you need anything.

Zylen left Mandus to himself and went out into the hall for some privacy. The dark type turned in both directions down the hall to make sure he was alone. Once he was sure he was alone he reached into his mane and grabbed a cellphone. He flipped the device open and scowled at the sight of no missed calls or messages from Annie.

"Dammit Annie, call me already. We need to talk." Zylen growled as he snapped his phone shut and shoved it into his mane for storage.

It was due to some Genesis base thing that calls were only able to go out and not come in. Zylen always found this to be annoying, especially when he needed to talk to Annie about things.

One week later

Zylen let out a tired yawn as he opened the door to Mandus's room. At this point the zoroark was burnt out from babysitting the lucario day and night, and flat out furious towards Annie for dead silence. When in Mandus's room, the zoroark saw that the lucario was wide awake, despite it being late at night.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Zylen questioned with a scowl.

"I've had enough rest," Mandus bitterly replied.

"You sure about that? You still look damn near dead in my eyes." Mandus lightly growled from the remark, but instead choose to prove himself by pulling himself out of his bed.

"Hey, take it easy, that wasn't a challenge!" Zylen snapped as the lucario's feet touched down on the floor and he stood up on his own. His form was poor, and Zylen could easily see the pain in his expression.

"Sit back down, you're not ready, I can see your muscles quivering from the pain."

Mandus growled at the zoroark as he took his first step forward, but Zylen quickly grabbed the lucario's right arm firmly.

"Sit down, you're getting there but tonight is not the night," Zylen spoke sharply. Mandus opened his mouth to respond, but before any words could leave someone knocked on the door to their room.

"Not now nurse!" Zylen snapped, but the door opened regardless, revealing someone who was not a nurse.

"Whatever you want I really don't care, get out," Zylen snapped at a taller man in a thick black winter coat with fur lined around the hood that casted a shadow over his face. The older human removed his hood, revealing a middle aged man with a well trimmed beard and a facial scar that appeared to be from some kind of accident. Following in behind the human was a well aged zorua with graying fur.

Mandus's eyes grew wide as he stared at the two that were standing in front of him.

"Now why would I leave when I came all this way?" the human spoke. Zylen's heart nearly stopped beating from the shock of having a human talk back to him.

Mandus's right fist tightened as a aura began to flare around his body, "Ghost, Rhys," he hissed at the human and the zorua.

"Mandus, it's been a while," the zorua stated nonchalantly.

"Wait, you know these two, and how the Hell did he understand me?!"

Mandus took a step forward as he cocked his good fist back and all the aura around his body channeled into his fist.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ghost told Mandus. The lucario paused in mid attack and watched the human with an untrusting glare. Ghost reached into his pocket and withdrew a photo. "Maybe you'll be more obedient after this." The human handed Zylen a picture to pass off to Mandus. The zoroark glanced at the photo and nearly dropped it in shock.

"Go on, show him," The human ordered.

Hesitantly, Zylen handed Mandus the photo and the lucario held it with his one good hand. The lucario stared at the photo of his comrades being held hostage by armed guards. Mandus's grip on the photo tightened, but then he dropped the photo and it slowly fell to the ground.

"One of them is missing," Mandus stated, "Kane, what'd you do to him?" Mandus demanded.

"Nothing," a deep raspy voice spoke from outside the room. Stepping into the scene was the black scyther Mandus spoke of. Both Mandus and Zylen paused in utter confusion as the scyther stood before them with his bladed arms crossed.

"You see," Ghost began with an arrogant smile, "From the beginning Kane was with us, he was an agent we inserted into your ranks to spy on you. He executed his role perfectly, leading to the capture of your friends and the two Legendaries we searched for insatiably."

Mandus's glare turned towards the black scyther who appeared unphased by the reveal. "Kane…" Mandus whispered, "We trusted you," Mandus bit his tongue as he tried to control himself for the sake of the others, but he found that his anger was overflowing though his body and soon it'd be impossible to contain his wrath.

"There is much I have to show you," Ghost said as he turned his back towards the group. "Follow me, Mandus," Ghost ordered as he took the lead and exited the room. Kane gave both Zylen and Mandus a head gesture to follow Rhys and Ghost. The two complied and followed behind Ghost and Rhys, while Kane followed from behind. Mandus struggled to keep up with the human's pace, but the rage burning in his chest numbed all feelings in his body that would stop most.

Ghost continued to walk without looking back at the humans, but began to speak, "From the beginning this was just a smaller fragment in a much grander scheme. Genesis has always hunted for the Legendaries, but such peculiar pokemon are rare."

"While the formation of Crimson was something we never anticipated from you, in the end you merely aided us in our own goals. All along the way we watched your every move, holding your hand like a child, making sure you had everything you needed to do our work. Unknowingly, you were our greatest asset, yet also our greatest adversary."

Mandus and Zylen both remained silent as they neared the lobby of the pokecenter. Once they entered the wide open room, they were shocked to see that the entire pokecenter was vacant. Ghost led the group towards the door, where two armed humans opened the dual doors for Ghost and everyone else. A whip of cold air hit the group as flurries of snow entered the pokecenter.

"You'll be in the company of your friends soon enough," Ghost stated as everyone walked out of the pokecenter and onto the dark streets of Snowbelle city.

The group was silent for a minute as they walked through Snowbelle, until Ghost began to speak again. "Mandus, through this quest for revenge you've truly damned yourself. You've provoked the Legendaries, became a criminal, and an enemy of the world. Everybody wants you dead now, and while you were out making enemies of the world, Genesis was pursuing new research. It took much longer than I anticipated, but our finest scientists managed to give birth to a fourth kind of pokemon and a key that will change the world."

Zylen glared at the human and didn't understand a single thing he was saying. "Just what in the Hell are you going on about?"

Ghost chuckled to himself, "I suppose you're completely in the dark about what the three kinds of pokemon are. Regardless, I see no point in explaining to you, this conversation is strictly between me and Mandus. But I do have my reasoning for bringing you along, zoroark." Zylen bit down from the human's response, but kept his mouth shut.

Mandus's response to all this conversation was dead silence. His eyes stared off with a blank stare, not even fixated on his mortal enemy. From time to time Zylen would glance at Mandus and try to piece together what was going through his mind, but the zoroark couldn't figure out a single thing.

"With the dawn of the fourth kind of pokemon coming, Genesis will no longer have a need to hide in the shadows. With the power of pokemon far superior to normal pokemon, Genesis will be an unstoppable force. Our goal is just within our grasps, the only thing that is left is to wait."

The night fell dead silent, before a strong wind blew through the air. Without further words, the group followed Ghost's lead, until he lead them to a helicopter that was parked in the middle of a opening in the city. Ghost was the first to board the military grade helicopter.

"Get on," Kane ordered as held up one of his blades. Mandus turned towards the black scyther with a defiant glare, but did as he was told. Zylen entered in behind them and they both took a seat on a bench across from Ghost and Rhys. Kane on the other hand leaned against the wall as the two soldiers went up front to pilot the helicopter. Within seconds the flying machine's wings came to life and rose up from the ground.

"Very soon, Mandus, close to this very day, your kind will become obsolete in the eyes of man, the fourth kind will be the beginning of a new dawn." Ghost reached into his pocket and pulled out a rectangular steel case. "Inside lies the key to the success of this new dawn." Ghost clicked a button and the case slowly cracked open. A smile formed on Ghost's face as he slowly brushed his finger along the contents, before turning it to show Zylen and Mandus.

Both pokemon stared at the large syringe in the case. "It's a new strain of nanites we've been developing for the past decade. Only recently has the project reached perfection, a level where we can truly depend on it."

"What does it do?" Zylen asked.

"Nanites that controls the subconscious of pokemon," Ghost answered as he snapped the case shut and held it with both hands like his own child. "With this strain we can change how any pokemon thinks, we can change their very mind to follow a very specific function, or even trick them into living a lie without even knowing it. Similar to a psychics mind control, but studies have shown many flukes in that method. This method though is immaculate, all test specimens have proven to be under our complete control."

Mandus gnashed his teeth together as he clenched his eyes shut and tightly gripped the edge of the bench. Disgust began to build up in the lucario, all he wanted to do was to violently kill that abomination, Ghost.

"So what's your endgame with this?" Zylen asked, "Why go through all this trouble?"

Ghost mischievously smiled at the zoroark, "You'll see when the time comes, the best surprises are kept for later."

Zylen sat uncomfortably as he stared at the human, there was no questioning his evil intent. Zylen and Mandus both waited in a deep thought, until the helicopter touched down on the ground. Ghost stood up and slid the door to the helicopter open and stepped out.

"Follow me," Ghost ordered the two. Zylen and Mandus both stood and walked out of the helicopter and into the opening of a forest. The area around was heavily fortified with trenches and barricades, giving it the look of a fort.

Point of view Zylen

"Arceus, I feel like he's leading us to a grave dug out for us," I muttered, but just as I finished my comment, a spotlight on a tower turned on, revealing all of Crimson and those that were holding them hostage. In the group of hostages were also the Legendaries. In the middle of the group was Vincent. The espeon panted heavily as blood dripped from his nose and Scarlet had to hold him up. Then in the back of the group, a pokemon forced her way to the front of everyone, revealing herself from the crowd of hostages. In an instant the entire situation just went from bad to absolute Hell in my eyes.

"Annie!" I exclaimed as I took off running towards her, but in seconds all of the humans had their guns pointed at me and all the Genesis pokemon were ready to attack me. I came to a grinding stop as I analyzed the entire situation.

"Zylen don't!" Annie yelled towards me as she tried to pull her cuffed hands from behind her back to free herself, but a sandslash with blue eyes forced her on her knees before she could cause a bigger fuss.

"You bastards, I'll kill all of you!" I snarled. Ghost turned to face me and walked towards me. The human stood and stared at me with a victorious smile and leaned in till his face was inches from mine.

"It was my informant, Kane, who also told me of the braixen's connection to you and Crimson, and I am most disappointed in the fact that she's a spy from WPA. I don't tolerate liars, it's an ugly trait that can turn a man black, inside and out," Ghost said as he rose his finger up and touched the scar on his face. "I learned firsthand what a lie can create, it creates monsters, both in ourselves and others." Ghost turned to shoot a glare towards Mandus.

"Do what you want with me, just leave Annie alone."

Ghost backed away from me, but redirected his attention back towards me. "I had my men do their research on the two of you. You're quite some ways from Unova, Zylen."

I flinched back at the use of my true name and homeland, "How do you know that?" I growled quietly at him.

"I have eyes everywhere," the human answered. "I have very little interest in the backstory of a runaway like yourself though, more importantly it's your potential I care about. Zoroark's are some of the most skilled killers known to man." Ghost reached into his pocket and pulled out the case from earlier. The human opened the case and my heart began to pound in my chest. "Fret not though, I didn't bring this here for you, this is reserved for much more important pieces to my plan." Ghost turned his head towards the two Legendaries that remained unphased by the situation.

The soldiers working for Genesis pointed their rifles at Crimson and forced the three pokemon to make a path for Ghost. The human pulled the syringe out of the case and tossed it in the snow as he walked towards the two emotionless Legendaries. Once he reached the two, he held the syringe up in the air, "Tonight marks a new beginning, a beginning where man rules over gods!" The human rose his voice excitedly before he injected the serum between Zygarde's scales. The Legendary flinched for a moment, before he withdrew the syringe and moved onto Xerneas. The chital's eyes grew wide for a brief second as she was stuck by the needle, but within seconds her eyes relaxed.

Silence filled the air for a minute, until both Legendaries looked towards Ghost and bowed. "Behold, on their own they bow towards me, now without any influence from a psychic."

"This is bad," I whispered below my breath as Ghost walked towards Mandus and both Legendaries followed behind him, until Ghost stopped in front of Mandus.

"You have done well for me Mandus. A new era is dawning now, but first dark times of war will come after twilight, but through the change over night, a new dawn will come forth and this world will be born anew. Change will come from the spilling of blood, the very meaning of Crimson Dawn.

"You have lost in every way possible. You've done your part. And now I have acquired everything you have worked so hard for, and now you and all of your followers stand at the brink of oblivion. Yet your followers look up to you, they believe even now you will be able to defy me and save them from their fate.

"I'll ask you once, and only once. Surrender against Genesis, and join us. Together the two of us can change this world, make it a place for both pokemon and humans to coexist in a society free from pain. I know you've known pain, similar to the pain I bare every waken moment of my existence. Like myself, I know you too constantly carry this weight. It's because of this, you and I are the only ones who can truly see this world for what it truly is. We see beyond black and white, we see the true colors of humanity, a darkness darker than the blackest abyss in this forsaken world." Ghost finished, leaving Mandus in a pensive state of mind.

The lucario stared downward as he considered what Ghost said to him. Silence followed as Ghost allowed the lucario a chance to think his words over, but in Mandus's mind the decision was already made.

"I refuse," Mandus said as his head rose up and he extended out his right fist towards the human. In a swift motion the human dodged to the side as he pushed Mandus's hand away from him.

"A foolish mistake!" Ghost yelled as Kane jumped in front of him and swung his blades in an X motion. The lucario stumbled back, but before I could even watch what happened I turned towards Annie and ran towards her. On quick feet, the braixen ran towards the humans and hopped on top of one, and jumped off his head. While in mid air, Annie rose up her legs so she could move her cuffed hands under her leg and have them in front of her, instead of behind.

A mixture of gunshots and elements flew through the air and the forest quickly turned into a battlefield. As I ran towards Annie, a luxray moved in front of me. My form quickly turned into a marowak and I grasped a bone club in two hands as I slammed it into the blue eyed freak. The luxray let out a cry as it flew to the side, just barely conscious. After the luxray, my form changed into a dragonite, one of the fastest pokemon I could think of. The wings on my body flapped as I quickly soared towards Annie. The braixen let out a scream as she turned to see my picking her up in her arms.

"Hang on!" I yelled as I rose her up high enough to climb on my back.

"What about the others?!" Annie questioned.

"I'm worrying about us!" I quickly answered.

Point of view Annie

As I got situated on Zylen's back, I rose up my cuffs and turned them away from Zylen. I blew a small blue flame at the steel as the metal slowly began to change to a bright orange. With all my strength I pulled the cuffs apart until the metal gave out and the chain broke.

Zylen flew low towards the ground as he quickly weaved around trees. While in mid flight, I reached out my hand and pulled off a small branch from a tree, replacing the stick Genesis confiscated from me.

As Zylen continued to weave around all the trees with an accelerating speed I began to feel my stomach turning. "I'm gonna be sick," I whined as I wrapped my arms around Zylen's neck. Just as I began to sink into my spot, a wave of air cut through the branches in front of Zylen. Zylen and I both turned to see the black Scyther from before, leaping from tree to tree as his wings assisted in accelerating his speed.

"Great," Zylen growled, "Annie-"

"I'm on it!" I interrupted as I aimed at him with my stick. I shot out a torrent of flames as the scyther was in mid jump, but he used his wings to redirect is projection and he avoided the attack. "Can't you go faster!?"

"I never thought I'd hear those words from you, but no!" Zylen replied as he spun towards the scyther and and shot out a twister of wind towards the bug. The scyther jumped straight towards the attack and swung his blade at it, sending a wave of air. Both attack collided and cancelled each other out. The scyther continued towards Zylen and he tried to fly up, but before Zylen could escape the bug collided with him. From my position I couldn't make out what happened, but I felt Zylen's body fall limp and we began to fall towards the ground.

"Zylen!" I cried out as I held on tightly to him. My eyes clenched shut as we began to spin towards the ground, until we crashed down and I was sent flying to the ground. I rolled along the ground and my body was cut and bruised over the forest ground. I let out a cough as I came to a stop.

"Zy-Zylen," I coughed out as I looked to see a magenta light flash through the air. "Zylen!" I yelled out as I got to my feet and ran towards the unconscious zoroark. I fell to my knees immediately once I reached him and I turned him onto his back. I gasped at the sight of the stab wound on his torso, while it wasn't deep, it was still serious.

"Zylen, you need to get up, please!" I cried out as I placed my hand on his cheek, and his eyes slowly cracked open.

"Annie?" he whispered, "You're alright, that's good."

I was about to reply to Zylen, but before I could I saw the scyther approaching from the corner of my eye. I quickly spun up as I reached for the twig in my tail, but I was quickly reminded I lost it in the fall. Before I could even come up with a plan B, I felt a cold blade push against my throat. I swallowed the saliva in my mouth and felt the blade even more against my throat.

"Don't you dare!" Zylen snapped as his hand firmly grabbed the Scyther's ankle. I inhaled a deep breath for a flamethrower, but before I did I felt the blunt side of the scyther's blade slam into my temple. My head rung as I fell to the ground, but I used my momentum to roll on the ground and sprang back up to my feet in a swift motion. I then sprayed off an ember towards the scyther, forcing the bug to jump back to safety as he shielded himself with his blade.

"C'mon, just get lost!" I yelled at the scyther as he charged towards me again. The black bug jabbed his blade towards me, and I dove to the left as I shot a flamethrower at him in mid air. The bug jumped over the attack and towards me as he raised his blades. I let out a cry as I rolled out of the way of his attack and got to my feet. Just as the scyther came in for another attack, Zylen came from behind him and wrapped one arm around his neck, and used the other to restrain an arm. The insect flailed around as he fought Zylen for air, until his body fell limp in his arms.

I let out a sigh, before I noticed Zylen holding a bleeding wound firmly. "You going to be okay? That looks like it hurts."

Zylen gave a weak smile towards me before he fell onto one knee, "No, I don't feel anything. I can block out pain, it's just wearing me down."

Zylen and I both waited in silence. My best friend panted as he caught his breath, and all I could think about was all that he was going through because of my problem. If I never asked Zylen to leave to help Crimson then he would have never been in this situation. This is a result of me being selfish and thinking he's invincible. My thoughts continued on, until a crackle of gunshots broke me out of my thoughts.

I just barely whispered, "I'm sorry."

Zylen turned to look at me, "Why?"

I looked my friend in the eyes, "I'm sorry you ended up like this because of me. If I didn't ask you to do all of this stuff you wouldn't be hurt. It was selfish, you're always risking yourself for me and-"

"Alright that's enough," Zylen rose his voice as he stood up. "I'm not blaming you for this, I chose to go on my own. Besides, I learned some interesting things I'd never learn anywhere else."

"And now we're on Genesis's bad side, they'll hunt us down."

Zylen gave a small smile, but the look in his eyes was more somber than happy. "Wouldn't be anything new for me. Now let's go, Genesis isn't going to stop looking for us here, we need to cover a lot of ground by sunrise, and even more after."

"Right," I nodded as I went by Zylen's side and helped support him as we walked through the snowy forest.

Third person point of view

It didn't take more than a matter of seconds for the area where Genesis fought to become a smoky battlefield. Ghost emerged from the smoke unscathed as he pulled a cigar out of his winter coat pocket. The human crouched down next to a struggling quilava with multiple wounds covering his body.

"Heh, so you chose Mandus over us," the human spoke in a cold voice as he used the dying flame on the quilava's back to light his cigar. The injured pokemon glared up at the human. Ghost barely smirked at the sight of the fearful pokemon, but not from the pleasure of another's pain.

"We haven't forgotten you. All those years and this is what you have to show. What wasted time and effort. Still, there is much benefit to having you as a card in my hand. Your friends have abandoned you, and now you're at my mercy, traitor.

"So I'll give you a choice, call it a chance for reconciliation if you will." the human smiled as he stood and turned his back from the quilava. "Take him as a prisoner, I'll see him when I feel the time is right," Ghost rose his voice to the surrounding soldiers. Ghost walked towards the helicopter as Rhys joined by his side.

"No one has managed to capture any of the others, the quilava is all we managed," Rhys informed the human.

"That's fine. All we need is the quilava."

"And what about Mandus?"

"What about him?" Ghost questioned the fox as he entered the helicopter and took a seat on the bench. Rhys hopped up on the parallel bench and looked Ghost in the eyes.

"You're really going to go through with killing him, even after all those years?"

Ghost inhaled some of his cigar and let out a puff of smoke. "Even an eternity of working together wouldn't remedy the years of bad blood between us. Besides, what do you care about him?" the human inquired as he leaned in close to the fox.

"Honestly, nothing. All I hold are invalid memories, can't say any of it ever meant much to me."

"Hmm," the human began as he leaned back, "Just a little longer, our game will be coming to an end very soon. Then this charade can come to an end, everything will be as I envisioned it."

Rhys didn't respond to Ghost and turned towards the window of the helicopter. The old zorua questioned whether what he was doing was what he really wanted, or what he was made to want. Rhys shook the thoughts out of his head as two soldiers entered the helicopter to pilot it. Ghost and Rhys both sat in silence as the helicopter blades spun to life and they lifted off the ground.

Chapter End

Author Note: Well that chapter came out pretty good in my opinion, but onto something more important. As stated in last chapter, I decided I am going on a hiatus for a month or two. I'll be back at the beginning of Nov or the beginning of Dec. This isn't because I'm burnt out or anything, I just have other things I wish to work on for a bit, I'm actually very excited to continue on. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the next month or two.

Special thanks to Genericgamer207 for editing, and thanks to The Melody of Space for catching some of the smaller errors we missed *Round of applause*