=Chapter 25, Viridian=

(Karen's PoV)

"AROOOOOOO!"

"What was that?" Karen shouted, never once hearing a sound like that before in her life as a trainer.

Karen had to admit, up until now her travels with the young Jacob and his lineup had gone amazingly crazy compared to what she had been stuck doing, but that was a story for another day. First of all she had never imagined fighting a bunch of Pokemon thieves like Snagem her first time in Rustboro. Second she had never thought of battling a whole pod of Tentacool and Tentacruel while defending a ferry, nor had she pictured herself seeing all these amazing Pokemon from far and wide. All in all, this was the best year she had ever had as a trainer, and she and Ziggles loved all the excitement and battles they were having.

But that sound, did not sound right. It sounded like nothing she had ever heard of over her years as a trainer, even before catching her second Pokemon! Nothing over the PokeNet or any of the known cries she had looked up and researched ever made a sound like that.

"I don't know, but whatever it is it sounds like it's in serious pain!" Jacob said as he stood up to look around. "Are you sure there aren't any other Pokemon here besides Ponyta and Riolu Levan?"

"Yea, there are only just the two." Levan said nervously. "I've never heard anything like that before."

"So then what could possibly be making that cry?" Jacob asked.

"Well whatever it is, it sounds like it's in pain and its coming from outside!" Karen shouted as she pulled out her team's Pokeballs and started recalling them one by one. "Let's go check outside Jacob!"

"Sara, are you okay to go outside?" Jacob asked Sara as he started recalling his team as well.

Sara nodded in response, responding to him psychically rather than verbally as the rest of their team's did. "Here Levan, can you hold onto Riolu while we go and check outside?" Karen asked as she handed over Riolu, whom she had yet to come up with a name for.

"No problem, but be careful alright?" He said as he took Riolu in hand, both of them dropping their backpacks so they could move freely. "I'd rather not have to fill out papers to put up Riolu for adoption again now that he's finally found a home."

"Rio!" Riolu complained as he strained to get back to Karen as she and Jacob ran to the entrance with their teams in tow.

Karen smiled as she thought of the Riolu fighting to get free; he sure was a tough little Pokemon for being half a year old. He sorta reminded her of her when she first started out as a trainer catching Ziggles. Ziggles put up a fight and she ended up knocking him out with a stick before finally 'catching' him with a net she had made out of string and duck-tape.

But again, that was a story for another time, she thought to herself as she burst through the door and into the blizzard that was now raging outside, causing her to literally kill her momentum because of the sheer cold. "W…what… w…was I t…t…thinking?" Karen said to herself as she clutched herself because of how cold it was. "It is f…f…freezing out here!"

"Karen, look up t…there!" Jacob shouted, shakily pointing at something above them.

Karen looked up to see what he was looking at, and what she saw absolutely horrified and revolted her to the very core of her body.

She had seen this bird only ONCE on the PokeNet, as a simple picture some photographer had taken of the creature while it was in flight on the horizon near sunrise. Its magnificence was rivaled by only the most well-groomed Super Contest Star's Pokemon. Its elegance was something most trainers rarely saw in their life time, and seeing it in flight was something she had only pictured happening in her life time when she was old and gray retired trainer. Yet there it was flying high above her, glittering specks of light every time its elegant blue tail feathers and azure blue wings flapped in the sky.

Above her was an Articuno, one of the Kanto Region's legendary three birds, flying above the Hoenn Region. The so called, Titan of Ice in the Orange Islands, and the legendary bird that controlled the element of ice.

And there it was, crying in agony as three Taillows and one Fearow attacked it, shooting off ice beams left and right, trying desperately to hit the more agile Pokemon that were zooming around it with absolute ease. Its normal blue and light blue body was covered in tiny blotches of red and scars, marring its beauty and destroying its elegant appearance.

The four Pokemon attacking it were showing absolutely no mercy as they dove and struck, diving and weaving around it, preventing the legendary bird from escaping to the safety of the sky that had now become cloudier. Even as she and Jacob watched the sky battle taking place, the Fearow came in and struck once more, giving a slash onto one of Articuno's wings with its beak.

"AROOOOOOOOO!" It screeched in agony, trying to turn fast enough to unleash another Ice Beam, but not fast enough as the Fearow was already gone.

"What kind of Pokemon is that?" Jacob asked as he pulled out his Pokedex to answer that question.

[Articuno, the Freeze Pokemon, Articuno is a legendary bird Pokemon that can control ice. The flapping of its wings chills the air. As a result, it is said that when this Pokemon flies, snow will fall.]

"I don't need your Pokedex to tell me what Pokemon that is Jacob, and I definitely don't need to be told that what's going on with this picture is wrong!" Karen said angrily, forgetting the cold as she saw the sight above her. "Who is ordering those Pokemon to attack, because I know normal Pokemon don't act that way?"

As Karen watched, she saw the Fearow perform a flip to bring its beak to bear against the Articuno once again. As it did she saw something she had failed to notice before because of how high above them the battle was taking place, but she saw a person riding the Fearow. She couldn't make out the distance, but the person riding the Fearow was riding expertly on the Pokemon, apparently giving out orders and instructions to the group attacking the Articuno.

"No way, who in their right minds would hurt a legendary like that!?" Karen shouted angrily to Jacob, ashamed to call whoever was riding the Fearow a trainer, and praying that whoever they were was a Hunter if nothing else! "I don't care how powerful or rare a Pokemon is, no Pokemon deserves to be injured like that! Even the greatest trainers of the past have treated legends with the respect they deserved prior to capturing them! Whoever he is doesn't deserve to even come within three feet of a Zubat, let alone riding a Fearow and battle a legendary."

"Now you know how I felt when I first saw Suicune back in the Petalburg Woods." Jacob said.

They watched for a moment before the battle started shifting and Articuno flew, injured and wounded, toward Mt. Chimney's base, close to where they would have to board a shuttle to climb to the top.

"Come on Karen, we have to stop them!"

"Right behind you!" Karen said fiercely.

They ran as fast as they could to keep up with the battle above them, trying to follow as closely as they could on foot, all the while she noticed Sara holding onto Jacob's shoulder slowly becoming more and more fearful at the battle above them.

"Jacob is Sara alright, she doesn't look too hot?"

"She's not feeling alright, something about the guy up there is really spooking her!" Jacob replied nervously. "I don't know who that is, but I really don't think he's someone I want to meet."

"Well too bad, if I ever get my hands on him, I'll show him a different type of battle that doesn't involve Pokemon!" Karen shouted angrily.

Karen really did not like whoever was riding that Fearow, she really did not like them for reasons that were just too complicated to explain in the few minutes she was slow running toward Mt. Chimney. She had her reasons for wanting to give whoever that person was a taste of her fist as well as her mind, but as they neared a heavily frosted staircase and started to climb it, all she could think was why she couldn't have had a more peaceful journey so far.

*I really, really don't want to be reminded of that jerk.* She thought angrily.

At the top of the staircase they could see more clearly the battle taking place, and three people standing with their backs to them observing it. One of them was holding a PokeNav and apparently calling someone while the other two simply watched. This sight angered Karen greatly, by all rights a Trainer should be aiding Pokemon in distress, and they looked like trainers because they all had two Pokeballs strapped to their belts.

"What are you three waiting for, an invitation, why aren't you helping save that Articuno!" She shouted before Jacob could say anything or ask anything.

This was where she was glad to have Jacob as a traveling companion, not only because he can cook whereas she could only buy junk food, but also because he had a strange gift when it came to interacting with others. He could talk, not only with Pokemon but people as well; somehow he could just talk calmly and smoothly with people. She however was a hothead, always rushing into battle and whenever it came to her anger problems, preferring to act out instead of thinking clearly.

If only she had taken a second to think about what she was looking at, she would have noticed it before they turned around and looked coldly at her and Jacob that they were working with the guy on the Fearow high above them.

"What are you two doing out here?" The guy on the left asked.

"Hang on I recognize you!" The guy in the middle shouted, pointing at Jacob. "You're that brat who treated that Suicune back in Petalburg Woods!"

"You again, what is it with you and hurting Legendary Pokemon?" Jacob shouted, grabbing one of his team's Pokeballs at the same time as Karen. "What did they do to deserve this kind of treatment, just leave them alone?"

While they talked, the third guy was talking on the PokeNav again, and the wind just stopped blowing for a brief moment for her to overhear what he was saying. "We have a situation here, couple of kids and apparently one of them is the one who hampered us last time." He said nervously. "Should we get rid of them or stall them?"

He nodded at whatever response the person on the other end said. "Understood, can you handle it by yourself?" He asked before once again nodding in understanding. "Yes sir, apologies, we'll take care of this quickly."

Karen looked between Jacob and the battle above them, noticing the Articuno getting weaker and flying lower. She took a glance at the guys in front of her and figured they were tough, but also knew that they were just going to stall them long enough for whoever was on the Fearow to capture Articuno. "Jacob, you go on ahead and try and help Articuno out!" Karen shouted, taking two other Pokeballs in one hand. "I'll deal with these three on my own!"

"What are you crazy, you only have four Pokemon Karen, there's no way you can beat these three on your own!" Jacob said. "Let's work together, we can at least beat them if we…"

"We don't have time for this Jacob! That guy on the Fearow could end that battle any second, and these three are just going to stall us until that happens!" Karen shouted. "You go on ahead and help Articuno while I deal with these guys; our job is to help Pokemon and trainers in need! This is what it means to be a trainer; we take risks just by going on the road! Now GO!"

Jacob and Sara were taken aback by her angry shouts, but nodded in understanding. Then Sara concentrated and closed her eyes, before both of them vanished onto the other side of the guys they were facing. "Hey wait!" The guy in the middle shouted, attempting to give chase, but was stopped as Karen released Laura, Shrew and Ziggles to face the three of them.

Without even needing to be told the situation, all three of them glared the same glare as their trainer at the guys they were facing. "Oh you three aren't going anywhere!" Karen snarled as her team prepared for battle. "You wanted a fight, you got a fight! You're lucky Jacob isn't here."

"And why's that you little brat?" The guy in the middle shouted, releasing a Houndoom alongside his comrades, who both released a Mightyena.

She gave only the faintest of smiles before she shared that bit of knowledge. "Because Jacob wouldn't like what my team and I are going to do to you for hurting that Pokemon the way you are!"

(Jacob's PoV)

Jacob ran toward an ever descending Articuno as fast as he could in the knee high snow, with Sara clutching at his arms while he held her in front of him. (Jacob, are you sure we should have left Karen back there?) Sara asked him only after they had gotten out of earshot.

"I don't know Sara, but you heard her voice, she wanted to deal with them alone!" Jacob replied. "I hope she knows what she's doing, that guy from before had a Rhydon and a Houndoom with him. I don't know if her team alone can handle them as well as the two other guys with him."

(She was really angry at them, just before she told us to leave; I felt her anger Jacob…) Sara said nervously. (I don't understand why she was so angry… I've never felt that before even from you towards Snagem.)

"I don't know Sara, but we can figure that out later. Right now we need to do what she said we need to and save that Articuno..."

"Aroooooooooouu!"

Jacob and Sara looked up to see the Articuno, and watched in horror as it started falling out of the sky, headfirst toward the ground, a deep line of red along it's left wing joint. Jacob knew there was nothing he could do to stop the poor Pokemon from crashing, so all he and Sara could do was run in the opposite direction from where it was crashing. Unfortunately it was heading straight for them, and there was no way he could avoid it.

(Jacob stop moving!) Sara said instantly. (I can't teleport us if we're running!)

Jacob nodded and, trying to remain calm as a giant five foot tall bird of ice was tumbling toward them, stopped moving so Sara could concentrate. Just before the legendary crashed into them and crushed them however, Jacob felt an odd sensation course through him, and blinked once just as Articuno was about to crash. Then when he opened his eyes, he was looking at the same scene but from a few feet away. "Nice save Sara…" Jacob whispered as he ran toward the Articuno.

(Don't… mention it…) Sara whispered exhaustedly. (Don't expect me to do that every time now… it takes a lot of concentration with a second person!)

Jacob nodded as he reached the Articuno and searched it to see what injuries it had. From what he knew about avian physiology, which he barely covered with Arky during his lessons, Articuno was suffering quite an extensive number of injuries. The most problematic one though, was the injury to its wing. The cut was deep, barely digging into the muscle. If it were any deeper, the wound would be life threatening, as it is now, there was no way Articuno could fly with an injury this bad.

"Who would do this to a Pokemon?" Jacob asked as he felt the Articuno breathing heavily with his hand on it, and could even hear the pain each breath was causing it just to do that simple task. "What kind of person would do this to a Pokemon, no matter if the injury is treatable or repairable, who would willingly hurt any Pokemon to this extent?"

Sara couldn't answer as she too was saddened at the sight of such a legendary being hurt. The Articuno was still awake as well, and turned its head just enough to look at Jacob with a desperate look of worry, as if Jacob was just going to hurt it some more. "Don't worry Articuno, we'll find a way to help you!" Jacob said as he saw it look at him. "If I can just get to my medicine bag at the Adoption Center I can treat your injuries and you'll be fine!"

"Kirlia, Kirl Kirl lia lia Kirl!" Sara said which translated to. (Don't worry, he's telling the truth and we're going to help!)

Articuno gave a feeble nod of understanding, and Jacob knew it had no choice but to trust what Sara said. Then it looked over his shoulder and its eye widened in terror.

He turned around and saw what it was so terrified about, or more exactly, who it was so terrified of. Landing several feet away was the Fearow, and its rider.

/watch?v=NKSt2YcT4aI – Encounter Team Aqua/Magma Leader Theme

As he got up, Jacob saw the man stand a good six feet, was wearing a long green Jacket with black jeans and matching shirt. Atop his head and covering his messy dark black hair was a similar western style hat that he himself wore. He was wearing glasses that looked slightly smaller than they should have been. As he looked at Jacob before glancing at Articuno behind him, Jacob saw into his deep green colored eyes.

His eyes looked empty, devoid of all life, as though they didn't see anything for the person they were viewing the world for.

The Fearow looked over at Jacob and while he expected the sinister and cruel look that Fearow was known for, he did not expect to see it looking so fiercely. In fact if he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that there was a strange, purple glint in its eyes, that shouldn't have been there.

"So, this is what happens when those idiots he assigned to work under me fail to do their job?" He said, more to himself than to Jacob, taking a step forward and clasping his hands behind him. "I suppose I should commend them for being able to at least do one job right. Now make this easy on me boy, and step aside."

Jacob shook his head as the man approached, standing up and grabbing one of his Harold's Pokeball for battle. "No way, not after seeing you hurt this Pokemon, there is no way I'm letting you hurt it again!"

The man gave no indication of anger or surprise at being rejected; instead he chuckled and looked back at the Articuno before looking at Sara again. "I see your one of 'those' types of trainers." He said, still not changing his confident tone. "You're the boy who healed the Suicune back in Petalburg aren't you?"

He gave a small smirk as Sara suddenly cut off her psychic connection to Jacob. "Your Kirlia is absolutely pathetic, are you even trying to train her?"

Jacob looked at Sara and saw what he meant. Sara was shivering at the sight of the man, barely standing as her legs were practically about to give away under her own weight. She was wide eyed as she stared at the imposing figure before them, afraid to stay still but too afraid to run. "Sara, are you alright?" He said, picking her up with one hand to try and calm her down. "Snap out of it Sara!"

"Sara, you named that thing 'Sara'?" The man said with a chuckle. "I pinned your personality down precisely, you are one of those 'types' of trainers aren't you?"

"So what if I am, you're still not touching this legendary again!" Jacob shot back, trying to hide Sara from view. "That Suicune was terrified and hated humans because of what that other guy and his friends did. It took me everything I had to treat it and show it humans aren't monsters! I will not let you hurt another legendary like that again if I can help it!"

The guy chuckled again as he gave his response. "You're types really are predictable, down to the very response you would give to me. Well before we begin our dance in the battle, tell me boy, what is your understanding of Pokemon?"

Jacob wasn't sure if he was stalling, or curious, but the more time he stalled the better chance he had of Karen catching up and helping. "They are our friends, companions; they can even be family if we treat them that way!" He replied.

Once again the man chuckled before he replied. "Like I said… predictable, down to the smallest detail I could have guessed what you would say, word for word! Wrong boy, they are not as you have been led to believe, Pokemon are nothing more than tools for us to use!"

"Your wrong about that, Pokemon are living creatures!" Jacob shouted back.

"Right you are, but wrong again." He smirked. "Pokemon are nothing but tools for us to use to achieve our own goals. Do you not use Pokemon in your battles, do you not use them to achieve the impossible tasks that you cannot do yourself, are you not using them to battle other trainers who are using Pokemon for the very reasons I just stated?"

He reached into his coat and pulled out one Pokeball, still smirking as he did so. "No matter what region we are in, no matter what challenge we are facing, no matter who they are or what they are doing, people are using Pokemon for their own use! Every challenge, every minor problem that we can, we will use a Pokemon to achieve it! In the end, they are nothing but tools for us to use!"

"Maybe to you but not me, and not to other trainers, they aren't tools to us!" Jacob shouted back.

"You keep thinking that boy, you keep on thinking that." He said with a smile, but as he focused on Jacob some more, he suddenly looked confused. "Why do I have this feeling that you are familiar, I feel as though I've seen your face from somewhere."

After his look of confusion he shook his head slightly before returning his smirk to where it was before. "Well that doesn't matter now, you see I need to capture that Articuno there and time is of the essence. I've spent almost two weeks weakening that Articuno to the degree it is now, and I intend to capture it. Now I'll give you a chance to simply walk away and…"

"No way!" Jacob shot back, tossing Harold's ball and releasing the Grovyle.

In a flash Harold appeared and gave off his battle cry, giving a serious look at who his opponent was.

The man chuckled as he observed what Jacob had sent out. "A Grovyle huh, well this will be amusing to say the least." He said before lightly tossing the Pokeball in his hand.

In a flash a two foot tall, yellow and white Pokemon with spike-like fur appeared. "Jolteon!" It cried, glaring at Jacob and Harold furiously as electrical sparks shot out from the spikes.

While Jacob and Harold were preparing for battle, Sara was barely recovering enough to reestablish her psychic connection to Jacob. The moment she did he felt enormous, uncontrollable fear from her, and it wasn't too hard to guess what the source of it was. But there wasn't enough time to try and comfort her or reassure her, as the Jolteon growled and snapped its teeth at Harold.

"Well boy, let's see if you can stop me from claiming my prize!" He said, pushing his glasses closer to his eyes. "Jolteon, Thunder Shock!"

"JOLT!" It shouted before launching an electric attack towards Harold.

"Harold, dodge it and use Leaf Blade!" Jacob ordered.

"Grovyle!" Harold replied, jumping over the attack and charging the Jolteon with his blade-like arms.

"Jolteon, Quick Attack!" The man ordered this time.

"Jolt!" Jolteon replied before breaking into a fast run and charging toward Harold.

Harold nimbly dodged it, not needing Jacob to warn him about it, but attempted to swipe the Jolteon as it passed him by. His attack missed but the Jolteon didn't attempt to turn around to continue its attack on Harold, instead it charged straight toward Jacob and Sara.

"Wha…" Jacob tried to say, but didn't have the time as it leaped at him, crackling electrical energy all the while.

Sara's eyes glowed and a moment later used her psychic powers to knock the Jolteon back away from Jacob. Harold saw what had happened and took a huge leap to put himself between Jacob and the attacking Pokemon. The Jolteon stood back up, snarled angrily at the three of them, continuing to emit sparks of electricity from its body.

"What was that about, why'd your Jolteon attack me!" Jacob demanded as Harold continued to stay between him and the Jolteon.

All the man did was smile at that response. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He asked. "Well it's not because I don't have it under control, oh no. You see this Pokemon and all the others are under my complete control."

"So why did it attack me?" He asked again. "Pokemon don't just attack people in the middle of a battle, they know their not supposed to do that!"

"I'm sorry for not wanting to indulge in your questions but I am rather low on time." He replied. "Jolteon, Discharge!"

"JooooolteeeeeeeOOOON!" It screamed as it discharged a massive amount of electricity, right to where Jacob, Harold and Sara were standing.

Jacob ducked down and tried to shield Sara from the attack, but it was Harold who beat him to the act as he leaped in front of Jacob and used his own body to absorb the entirety of the attack. The electricity was causing Harold enormous pain, and Jacob saw minor electrical burns and signs of paralysis across the Grovyle's body, but still he refused to move as he kept Jacob protected from the attack. "Harold!"Jacob shouted as the electrical surges continued, racking his starter's body and causing his leafy tail and the leaf on his head to twitch and turn inward.

"Groo…vyle…" He moaned in agony as more fierce jolts of electricity struck his body, causing Harold to only grip Jacob tighter as he did all he could to protect his trainer from the torrent.

Harold's eyes were shut tight as he tried to endure the attack, and Jacob could see he was ignoring the pain as best he could as the Jolteon refused to end the attack long after it should have. Still the attack continued, it refused to end, the Jolteon refused to end the attack and while Jacob couldn't see past Harold's body, he could tell that the Discharge was now being focused, the electrical surges focused to hit a single target, Harold.

Just when it seemed like Harold was going to be zapped into unconsciousness, perhaps even death, the torrential electrical storm finally ended. Harold only released his grip on Jacob though, after he had collapsed from exhaustion into the snow, which had softened and melted from all of the heat created by the electricity. "Harold!" Jacob said, putting Sara down to examine his starter.

Harold was covered in burns caused by continuous electrical surges to his body, his limbs were twitching ever so slightly from being zapped for so long, and his breathing was rapid. But he was at least alive, and in time would recover, but there was no way he would be fighting anytime soon.

"Jol…te…on… Jol…te…on!" The Jolteon panted, causing Jacob to look up and stare at it.

The Jolteon had collapsed as well, a spot of wet snow beneath it caused from continuous Discharge usage, panting heavily as it struggled to breathe and stand while still glaring angrily at Jacob as though it still wanted to attack.

"No more electricity, what a bother." The man said as he held up its Pokeball to recall it. "I had assumed it would last longer, but apparently I was wrong. Oh well, one down."

"How can you treat your Pokemon like that?" Jacob yelled, trying to find Harold's ball to return him before any more harm could befall him. "How can you just let your Jolteon expend all of its electricity the way it did, and why? Why would you hurt other Pokemon the way you are?"

The man chuckled again, recalling the exhausted and defiant Jolteon into its ball before retrieving a second. "Isn't it obvious, they aren't my Pokemon?" He said with a smirk. "So it doesn't matter what happens to them because to me they are just tools. Tools can be replaced by better, more efficient, more powerful tools."

As Jacob recalled Harold, the man tossed out another ball, this time it was a Houndour. "Rauuuuur!" It howled, giving Jacob an intimidating glare that matched its appearance.

The way it looked at him scared Jacob, no Pokemon ever glared that way that he knew of, even the fiercest of Pokemon that were territorial did not give such a murdering look. Still he had to protect the Articuno, the way this man treated Pokemon, even those he used, was something he could not allow to happen. "G… Go Ivan!" He shouted, sending out Ivan's Pokeball and causing his fierce wolf to appear in front of him.

"Rawr!" Ivan growled, giving an intimidating glare against the Houndour.

The Houndour didn't even twitch or acknowledge Ivan's appearance, if Jacob didn't know any better he'd guessed that the small fire hound didn't care about Ivan being there at all. "Houndour, Ember attack!" The man called out.

Ivan, use Thunder Fang!" Jacob shouted.

"Rauur!" The Houndour cried, sending a burst of flame toward Ivan from its mouth.

"Grawr!" Ivan shouted, opening his mouth and letting jolts of electricity course through his teeth before charging forward, dodging the Ember attack as he did.

"Houndour, Bite attack!"

The two Pokemon charged each other, fangs bared, but in Ivan's case he had more momentum and electricity on his side. He easily reached his target and sank his teeth into the tough hide of the Houndour. The electricity that Ivan had built before biting struck the Houndour, but the Houndour fought through the pain of both the bite and the electricity and bit hard on Ivan's leg. Ivan suffered the flinch from the pain and was forced to release the Houndour, flailing to be released.

The Houndour refused to let go, growling fiercely as it continued to bite down on Harold's leg, only now it biting harder, much harder than a normal Bite should have been. "Let Ivan go, call off the Houndour's attack!" Jacob shouted fearfully.

All the man did was smile gently as the Houndour bit down harder onto Ivan's leg, and this time the bite broke through and caused Ivan's leg to bleed! "Rawwwwweeeep!" Ivan screeched horribly, jerking wildly as he tried desperately to break free of the Houndour.

Finally he broke free of the Houndour's grip, using his head and teeth to break free and cause whatever harm he could. Freed, Ivan limped over to Jacob, growling and looking as dangerous as he could in front of his trainer, but the damage had been done. Ivan's leg was too injured for him to move any faster than the small pace he could manage with it. "Why didn't you call off your Houndour's attack, why do you want to cause Pokemon so much pain?" Jacob demanded as he and Sara tried to calm down Ivan, who was clearly shaken that any Pokemon would go to such lengths to win.

"You ask why, because it didn't want to stop, so why would I force a Pokemon to stop doing what it wants to do?" The man said as Jacob recalled Ivan to protect him. "You assume I'm playing by the rules, well to an extent yes I am. I'm giving them instructions, I'm ordering them to attack and what to attack with, but what they do with those attacks is not my concern. As long as they obey me they can be as fierce as they want to be."

Jacob stood up and tried to think of what to do. *What do we do Sara… if we keep fighting…* He thought to Sara, who also was nervous and afraid.

(If we fight… Roran and Coral might be hurt as well as you… all of us might be hurt badly…) Sara thought to him, terrified at what this trainer would do to them after seeing Ivan and Harold so badly injured for no reason. (But we can't stop fighting; we have to help Articuno Jacob!)

*Are you sure Sara… if we keep fighting, we might be hurt worse…* He thought, knowing that he had to fight but still voicing his concerns.

(Look at Articuno, if he wins he'll do worse than what has already been done!) Sara said, gaining strength through both of their convictions. (The others would agree with me, no matter what the dangers, we have to fight! It's like you said, we are a team, and we can do anything if we work together!)

Jacob nodded, and this gave him an idea. He retrieved his only two remaining Pokeballs. "Roran, Coral, you two are up!" He shouted, releasing his Swellow and Milotic.

Both appeared in a flash of light, and through their connection Sara understood that she had to fight as well. She walked up between the two of them, shaking the whole way while under the gaze of the man in front of them. They all looked back to Jacob before nodding in understanding, seeing the ice bird behind them and the man in front of them. "Oh, trying to overwhelm me with force huh?" He replied before retrieving two Pokeballs and releasing two Taillows, all of whom looked fiercely at their opponents. "I guess you have no alternative, your Pokemon are far too gentle to take on true enemies. So in order to have a hope of winning you need to defeat me with sheer brute force, such an amateur trainer. Your team must be absolutely pathetic and extremely unlucky to have you for a trainer."

"Milo!" Coral shouted angrily, sending a blast of water at their opponent's face and missing by an inch.

The man didn't even flinch or move to avoid it; all he did was wipe his shoulder of some stray water that had splashed him. "Touchy aren't we, did I upset you?" He asked calmly.

"You're the one who's the amateur trainer here." Jacob shot back to nods of agreement. "You don't try to take care of your Pokemon, all you do is rely on them to be as mean and cruel as possible! If you tried to work together with them, then they wouldn't have to be so cruel to win!"

The man smirked before he broke into a laugh that sounded more hysterical than actual mirth. "You don't know who I am do you?" He asked after he calmed down. "Well, I suppose I never did introduce myself. Then before you think any less of me, let me tell you my name."

He gave one final smirk before he declared in a calm and proud tone, "I am known by my trainer name as Viridian, I'll let you decide how to see my name, but for the most I'm one of the highest ranked trainers in the Pokemon League."

Before Jacob could figure out what he meant by that he turned his attention back to the battle and ordered his Pokemon to attack. "Houndour, Bite attack, Taillows use Wing Attack!"

All three Pokemon charged forward, heading straight for his team. "Coral use Water Pulse on the Houndour, Sara and Roran use Confusion and Quick Attack on the Taillow!"

"Miloo!" Coral shouted before she let loose a jet of pure blue water at the Houndour, smashing into its face before it could react.

Roran took to the air and easily used his speed to outpace and smack into one of the Taillows, knocking it out of the sky.

Sara was slower to react, but after a moment's hesitation she concentrated, and sent a blast of Confusion against the remaining Taillow. It spiraled out of control and joined the other two Pokemon in collapsing to the ground, but each of them stood back up and either broke into another run, or took to the air and resumed their individual attacks.

The Houndour jumped at Coral before she could release another blast of Water Pulse, and bit hard into her tail, causing her tail to bleed from where the fang dug in. Roran had just done a full swing around to stop one of the Taillow from using its attack on Jacob, taking the Wing Attack for him in his wings, almost breaking the bones with how ferocious the attack had been. Sara had panicked in her desperation to prevent herself and the others around her from coming to harm, and let loose a powerful Confusion attack, causing the Taillow to spiral out of control and crash beak first into the ground.

Coral managed to swing her tail wildly to dislodge the Houndour, before letting off another Water Pulse, determined to end its fight, while Roran did an unconventional Head-butt to force the remaining Taillow to back away.

All three of Jacob's Pokemon backed up to either protect him or nurse their wounds while they could, expecting the under evolved Pokemon to be out of the fight. Yet all three of them, shakily, wearily, and angrily, stood back up and prepared to attack once again. "Why aren't they finished?" Jacob asked as Coral and Roran shivered slightly from their wounds as well as the snow, he could tell that the wounds were more serious than they were letting on. Coral's tail was starting to bleed badly from where the Houndour had broken through her scales with its fangs, and Roran had his wing at a weird angle to protect it from harm.

"Those attacks should have knocked them out at least, or forced you to recall them, how come you aren't recalling them!"

Virdian smiled yet again as his three Pokemon growled or glared angrily at Jacob and his team. "If they want to keep fighting, I'm not going to stop them." He declared calmly. "If a tool wants to work until it breaks in half, so be it. It doesn't matter to me if they break in half or are nothing but pieces by the end of this. As long as I get that Articuno, what happens to them means nothing to me."

Jacob could not believe what he was hearing, how could these Pokemon be willing to fight so hard for someone that CLEARLY did not care about them. He didn't hide that he didn't care about them; he verbally refers to them as tools and belittles them if they can't fight. What kind of Trainer could be capable of this?

(Jacob… something is wrong here…) Sara whispered to him. (These Pokemon aren't acting like normal Pokemon!)

*What do you mean?*

(That Houndour, that trainer… he gave no indication as to who he should attack! Yet the Houndour charged Coral without hesitation. No fire type if given the choice would attack a Pokemon they are very weak against. And I don't understand it… but something is wrong about them… they are far too aggressive for normal Pokemon.)

Jacob knew she had a point, they were indeed far too aggressive for normal Pokemon, especially those trained. They were doing things abnormal for their behavior, attacking recklessly with no regard for their own safety or concern for their opponents.

As he thought, he looked over his wounded teammates and saw that Coral's tail was starting to get worse from the snow. The wound she had suffered needed to be treated or it would get infected. Roran's wing also didn't look good, despite the fact that he had flown back to Jacob to protect him; if his wing wasn't looked at soon it might get worse as the battle continued. He didn't want to do it, but he had no choice but to recall his two Pokemon before more harm could be done to them. "Forgive me Coral and Roran, but return for now!" Jacob shouted, recalling them back into their balls, despite their obvious protests moments before he did.

Now only Sara remained to help protect Articuno, a thought Viridian obviously knew. "So to protect the others you choose to sacrifice your Kirlia." He said with a smile. "Well, it was nice knowing you existed when you did. But I've…"

*Riiiing*

Viridian put on a look of annoyance as he pulled a PokeNav from his pocket and answered it. "This had better be important because I'm busy dealing with the 'problem' that you couldn't handle!" He said.

"Yea hello, this is Karen calling to the jerk that I saw flying around on the Fearow up there!" Karen's voice shouted, causing Viridian's eyes to twitch. "Your goons here need more training, they may have forced me down to my last Pokemon but buddy, you underestimated me. Also three on one is pathetic, if they actually were good they wouldn't have needed to gang up on me! Also, memo, if I get my hands on you, your face better not be your best attribute! Jacob, if you're hearing this HANG IN THERE BUDDY! I'M ON MY WAY, JUST STALL HIM A LITTLE LONGER CAUSE THE CAVALRY'S COMIN!"

Viridian hung the PokeNav and returned it too his pocket. "Well you heard your friend, I've got no more time to waste on children, so I'm afraid I need to wrap this up." He said, retrieving another Pokeball and tossing it out. "I intended to save this one in case Articuno proved to be much stronger than I anticipated, but I've no choice but to put an end to this battle."

Out of the ball came a six foot tall, red and orange wolf-like Pokemon with black stripes across its belly. It gave a loud howl before glaring at Jacob and Sara with its two red eyes, each of which had a faint purple glint in them.

*Arcanine… oh no…* Jacob thought, which put Sara's fear into overload, causing her to panic in terror at the opposition.

On one side, two Taillows that were wounded and hurting but still prepared to attack regardless of their injuries. In the middle, this new and fresh Pokemon that towered over Sara, and on its other side was still the Houndour, fangs still dripping a little of Coral's blood after sinking its fangs into her tail. All this power, brutality, strength and ferocity brought to bear against one Feeling Pokemon that Jacob could feel, wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and disappear at that exact moment.

Sara didn't stand a chance, and everyone present knew it.

"Arcanine, finish them off with Extreme Speed and end this battle!" Viridian shouted.

"Arc!" Arcanine shouted before starting to break into a run, only to be stopped by a powerful blast of water, similar to a Hydro Pump.

Jacob couldn't look away at what he had seen; a mighty Arcanine was stopped by a Hydro Pump. Sara too was in shock, she had all but written herself off as lost, but there was Arcanine whimpering at being blasted by water. Viridian was also in shock; in fact he was wide eyed as he looked at some point behind Jacob.

Jacob turned behind him and practically wept at what he saw, because he had just been saved by someone he had not expected to see.

She was absolutely beautiful, and the way her white streamer-like tails flowed toward her front, the way her purple mane flowed and resembled the Aurora Borealis, and that hexagonal cerulean colored crest atop her head, made her look like the most beautiful creature to ever grace the soil of Hoenn.

It was Suicune, the same Suicune Jacob and his friends had helped back in Petalburg Woods.

*We're saved…* Jacob thought, a feeling shared with Sara who felt his hopes rise upon seeing the legendary appear.

Suicune made one graceful jump over Articuno's limp form, and landed in front of Sara, proud and elegant as her Pokedex entry always described her as.

"Well… this is unexpected." Viridian said, still remaining calm as he observed the Legendary. "My boss will not be pleased about this loss!"

Jacob watched in utter surprise as Viridian recalled his Pokemon one at a time, suppressed fury written all over his face. "You are lucky kid that you befriended a legendary Pokemon that I was not prepared to deal with!" He yelled as he climbed onto the Fearow that had remained stationary throughout the battle. "The next time we meet, I will not be caught so off guard. For your sake… may we never meet again!"

Jacob and Sara watched Viridian's Fearow climb into the sky, which had cleared up now and flew off into the distance. All Jacob could do was collapse onto his knees, speechless at what just happened. Sara walked over to Jacob and joined him, unable to talk at how close they had come to being killed, by another Trainer no less.

(Suicune's PoV)

Suicune continued to stare at the point where the cruel human had vanished, before turning her attention to the human that she had just rescued.

He had collapsed to the ground, exhausted and out of energy from both the battle and the emotions coursing through him. His Kirlia was also with him, the two sharing in a small moment of peace and security that came from surviving a great danger.

Opening her mind and extending her consciousness toward the human, after breaking through the small barrier that the Kirlia had to protect him, she voiced her words to him for the first time.

(Human, rest for as long as you want, I shall protect you and your companion while you do so.) She said to him gently.

The boy shook his head before he slowly stood up and started trudging through the snow with his Kirlia towards the wounded Ice Flyer. "I can't, I need to help Articuno, it's wounded and needs to be treated quickly."

Suicune nodded, and decided to assist the trainer before saying anything else. With his and his Kirlia's help, as well as another trainer's help that joined them, they managed to position the flyer onto her back, and slowly they began to make their way towards a place he called a 'Pokemon Adoption Center', where all of the Pokemon could rest and be taken care of.