-Castelia City Gym, 1:05 PM, Terry's POV-

"Ace, come out!" I shout as I throw the orb into the air. The Watchog appears in a flash of light, glaring in the direction of its opponent, Nidoking. The beast stamps the ground and roars in defiance, but the Watchog remains unfazed. As we wait for the judge to make the call, my thoughts flash back to the conversation I had participated in the night before.

Had I done the right thing, explaining all that? It just doesn't feel right…

My thoughts return to the battle before me as Angel puts her hand on my shoulder. Both she and Axinite are standing behind me, cheering Ace on. I turn a cocky smile to Angel, letting her know that I'm good. Across the arena, Jessie Kinder's other two pokemon, Magnezone and Furfrou, stand on either side of the trainer herself. The crowd is tense with excitement as the judge walks onto the field, reaching his podium in moments.

He nods to the both of us and raises his flags. "Battle begi-"

The rest of his words are turned into a choking scream as a blossoming flower of blood appears on his chest. He topples over into the dirt of the arena as the world dissolves into chaos. Before I know what I'm doing I'm running towards him, Angel right on my heels. In seconds I reach the man. I turn him over onto his back to find a bullet hole in his chest, right where his heart should be.

I back away so quickly I practically launch myself into Axinite. The Boldore shifts so I don't impale myself on one of his rock spikes as I slide off him, shaking like a leaf. Angel leans over me as officers swarm the field, but before I can register anything else the air is filled with even more panicked cries. I look up in horror as a greenish black cloud swirls down to the ground, catching a split second glimpse of dozens of Koffing and Weezing expelling the toxic gas.

Within moments the arena is completely covered, the smoke turning day to a night so black I couldn't see two feet in front of my face. I begin to retch horribly as the gas works its way into my system, quickly covering myself in the remains of my breakfast. Over the sound of my own horror I hear Angel nearby doing the same. Suddenly I hear several cannon blasts, mixed with what sounds almost like a toaster the size of the Lumiose Tower building going off. For a split second I feel like the poison is making me lose my sanity, but several distinct cries tell me that's impossible.

They are the cries of the current pokemon on the field being attacked. Nothing matters anymore as they are silenced and I can sense the minds of the Gardevoir, Boldore and Watchog being pulled away from me as they slip out of consciousness, blinded by pain.

In a desperate attempt to breathe, I unleash a telekinetic wave around me. I have no idea if it would help, but to my surprise it clears the smoke in a clean ring. I push out a much larger force and in seconds the entire arena is devoid of smoke. Looking up, I see six floating devices, each almost the size of a house, flying towards a helicopter. The devices appeared sphere shaped, with a basketball like frame of metal emitting a forcefield encasing my friends. Jessie Kinder's pokemon appeared trapped as well.

A wave of boiling acid seemed to surge through me as I spot the Team Plasma logo on the side of the chopper, threatening to make me vomit again. I force my hands into the sky, charging up a burst of telekinetic energy.

Just as I'm about to release, A white hot spike of pain drives itself deep into the base of my neck, causing me to lose my concentration and fall to the ground, screaming in pain. I manage to turn myself over onto my back, and through teary eyes I see a Dusknoir's cold, unforgiving eye staring down at me, it's arm loosing the telltale glow of a Shadow Punch. I flinch back, as if trying to sink into the dirt. Through my hazy pain, however, I hear a pair of fingers snap, and immediately the Dusknoir backs off.

I turn my eyes towards the noise and spot a smudge of color. I blink the tears out of my eyes and the smudge comes into focus, turning my blood cold.

Craig Barker stands beside me, his hard features revealing no emotion. I choke back a sob as the realization dawns on me.

"Y-you… You work f-for Team Plasma?" I force the words out.

Craig remains motionless, but the corners of his mouth turn up slightly, confirming my question. He stares down at me as if to say Well, you figured it out! Hooray! A tad bit late though, too bad.

A scream builds up and dies in my throat as I start shaking again, but this time from anger. "I will tear you apart, you sorry excuse for a human fucking bei-" The rest is cut off and turned into a scream as Dusknoir lights his right arm up in a claw of purplish fire and takes it down my side, opening me up like a suitcase. Blood streams out of the cut and red and black spots dance in my vision.

Craig stares down at me, his features morphing into a look of disgust and disappointment. He sighs slightly, before turning on heel and walking off, Dusknoir in his wake. I turn my head just in time to see him return Dusknoir to his pokeball, before straddling a floating ladder beside him and flying away.

I struggle to stay awake, but I feel like the fading screams are coming from miles away. The last thing I see is Alder's concerned face as he slides into the dirt at my side, splashing the red mud at my side all over creation.

-6:15 PM, Terry's POV-

I slept fitfully as Craig Barker's face churned in my dream, disgusted with my very existence. Then Craig morphed into Angel, chained up by her arms as demons surrounded her, decorated in tools of destruction. The scene continuously shifted for several minutes, though I had no idea how much time really passed, getting worse and worse until I finally realized I could actually move.

I pushed myself quickly to my feet and inspected my body. I appeared unharmed, wearing a basic white t-shirt and white sweat pants, nothing else. After a moment I realized I had absolutely no idea where I was.

I looked around wildly, which only made me even more confused, but my mouth dropped open in amazement as well. I sat on the floor of a building so large it made the Lumiose Train Station look like a broom cupboard. The area upon which I sat was in a slight depression in the floor, and below me, while the floor felt solid, it seemed to open up into another world. The scene kept shifting, showing me different memories. The night my father disappeared. The night Angel evolved, when we were attacked by a Pokemon Hunter.

But it showed good memories, too. The day Angel evolved into a Gardevoir. Our first kiss within the rubble of Burgh's Gym. Days that we played for hours, way back when she was still a Ralts, where we would lay about for days on end, watching the clouds and having fun in a carefree manner.

Longing welled up inside me, and I forced myself to get up and explore before I got to caught up in my emotions. I climbed out of my two foot deep pit, and immediately the room, which had been in semi-darkness, flared to light. Torches, lit in different blends of color, blazed to life around the walls, which had been designed in a regal way. Instead of just a grand white, however, they flew in a multitude of colors, and the colors seemed to be bending and shifting as I watched, transfixed.

I tore my gaze away as a white light flared to my left. At the end of the monstrous room, a throne seemed to appear out of nowhere. Upon it sat a small form, though I couldn't tell what it was. Fear welled up inside me, but almost immediately the being seemed to respond.

"Do not fear, young one. Come to me." The being said, it's voice floating through my head as a boat would float through a lazy river. The voice held no hint of hostility, and my curiosity got the better of me. I approached the throne, which took a good ten minutes of walking.

When I got within sight of the creator of the voice, my eyes widened. I dashed the rest of the way and knelt at the feet of the Goddess Mew herself. She seemed to find this amusing. Her throne seemed like a wide, couch like seat, covered in a plush velvet cushion. She laid upon it as if bored, like she met with mortals this way every twenty minutes. Only her eyes revealed a slight curiosity, along with a wisdom that I longed to have, though I didn't know why.

"Relax, Terry, and rise." She said in a friendly tone. I rose to my feet, my breathing shallow.

She smiled warmly at me, her tail swishing catlike behind her. "You need not fear me, Terry Collins. You have questions. Ask them."

I was so overwhelmed at being in her presence that I almost didn't process her words. After a moment I coughed and managed to choke out: "Where are we?"

Mew took a moment to gaze around what I believed to be a throne room, before responding. "We are nowhere, to be honest. This is not a real place. I created this mindscape within your head, so I could meet you here."

I vaguely understood that, having heard about a technique that the most skilled of psychic types could do, which sounded very similar. "Are my friends ok?"

Mew winced slightly, and for a moment I was afraid I had said something wrong. Then she sighed. "Callen Iverra and Alex Gates are ok. Zeke Walker is recovering from his injuries, as you are as well… As for your family of pokemon… They have been captured by the group of humans that call themselves Team Plasma. Zeke Walker's… girlfriend… has been captured as well, as have the Nidoking, Magnezone, and Furfrou that Jesse Kinder befriended."

It took a moment for those words to sink in, and when they did, i stumbled slightly, suddenly dizzy with fear. I did my best to straighten back up, then forced myself to look Mew in the eyes. "How do I save them?"

Mew seemed unsurprised by this question. "Child, do you know of the legends of the Trios?" When I shook my head, she continued. "Perhaps I should explain. When my husband, Arceus, created the land, He knew for certain that He would not be able to maintain the world and its many beings on His own. So he created many other strong sons and daughters to do his bidding as He commands it. They are all truly powerful, and immortal."

"But, she added, a bitterness to her voice, "Fate is Cruel. There are rules even beings as strong as He are forced to follow. He was only able to transfer the kind of power, second to only Himself, to twelve of the gifted thirty beings He created to do his bidding. The rest, while they became incredibly powerful, while they still became immortal, they only received a small amount of that power to use."

Mew sighed heavily, resting her head onto her seat. "The beings that have the strong power were split into different groups, as decreed by Arceus, to handle different parts of the world. Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza handle all things related to weather, preventing disasters that could hurt people and pokemon alike. They are spirited rivals, and while they occasionally fight, in the end they protect humanity.

"The Stabilization Trio of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina were given the task of preventing the fabrics of Time and Space from distorting the world. Giratina was tasked with caring for the reverse world and making sure that nothing that affected the fabrics of Space-Time from affecting the world through the Reverse World.

Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem are known as the Tao trio. They are tasked with keeping balance and harmony between humans and pokemon. Reshiram represents Truth, while Zekrom Represents Ideals. These… visions, they hardly ever see hand in hand. Thus, Reshiram and Zekrom are there to prevent wars as best they can, for those wars started by conflict between truth and ideals are the worst of their kind. Kyurem, on the other hand, represents the absence of Truth and Ideals, and is only called in when Reshiram and Zekrom are unable to help further.

Finally we have the Circle Trio. Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde represent the Circle of Life and Death, of Creation and Destruction, and many things that go along with it. Xerneas is supportive of Life, keeping the scale from tipping in favor of Life and thus unbalancing the world. Yveltal, on the other hand, keeps Death reined in and prevents Spirits from merging with the living world. Zygarde is the mediator of the three, hardening the thin, fragile line between life and death."

This was a lot to process. True, we had learned similar legends in Legendary History, but the way they interconnected was new. Something else was nagging at me though as she finished speaking. "Lady Mew," I ventured, "You spoke of only twelve Legends. You said there were at least thirty. I do not see the problem with the distribution of power that of which you already spoke of, either."

Mew's mouth gained the tiniest bit of a grin. "I knew you were smart, young one. And so the story continues. The others were the Legendary Birds, the Legendary Beasts, Legendary Titans, the Lake Guardians of Sinnoh, the Forces of Unovian Nature, and the Original Swords of Justice. It would take three of them to stand up one of the Pokemon that make up the forces that are the Balance Trios. And that, young Terry, is where the problem arises."

Mew sighed slightly, seemingly depressed at the very thought of this 'problem.' "The humans that make themselves known as Team Plasma are targeting the few pokemon humans refer to as 'shiny' because their DNA was given a special gene, a gift from Arceus to a trustworthy soul. They can become exceptionally powerful. If Team Plasma discovers how to use this gene and give it to a human or pokemon of their choosing, they can create an army that would be powerful enough to capture the lesser Legendary Trios. From there, They will power up the lesser Legendaries and use them to take control of the stronger Legendaries."

Mew looked me in the eyes, her features contorting into a fiery expression. "Team Plasma's final objective is to take control of all the Legendaries and use them, while they are powered up by the experiments of the Shiny DNA, to overthrow Arceus and myself."

For a moment the room was so silent that I feared I had gone deaf, then I blinked. "How do I stop them?"

Mew seemed about to answer, but suddenly the room blinked out of existence for a split second, then reappeared. "You are waking." Mew said sadly. "Remember me and do not despair, Terry Collins. Good Luck."

The last thing I saw was her sad smile, a lone tear flowing down one cheek.

-Castelia City Pokemon Center, 9:45 PM, Terry's POV-

I opened my eyes to see myself laid out on a hospital bed. I got a quick view of the basic room before the pain hit, causing me to squeeze my eyes closed and moan in pain. A moment later my eyelids, which had been glowing red due to the bright light shining on them, faded to black as a shadow passed over me. I opened my eyes again to see Callen Iverra's face right up in front of mine, and I immediately flinched backwards, pushing myself deeper into the thick pillows behind me and causing another wave of nauseating pain to flow through my side.

Callen backs off, muttering "Sorry," as he does so. I see that Alex Gates, Zeke Walker, and Alder Confianza are in the room as well, hanging back a bit. I turn my attention to Zeke.

"You trusted him." I said, my voice dripping in venom.

Zeke looks at me, his face filled with despair. "I did."

"I should kill you for letting him near Angel."

"I know."

"Tana the Braxien got taken as well."

"I know."

Maybe it's because his voice is shaky, or his face becomes more heartbroken with each word, or even because he isn't trying to deny it, but my anger fades. "We need to rescue them."

I try to get out of bed, but the second I move my leg, the pain returns with so much force that I screech and retch, nearly releasing whatever else was left in my system. Immediately, Alder is at my side, forcing me back into my regular position.

"You're not going anywhere in that condition." Alder says to me sternly. I ignore him and continue to struggle, panting and moaning from the painful effort. After a moment he slaps me. Hard. For a moment I only see stars as I fall, stunned, back to my pillows.

Alder stares down at me. "Sorry, kid, but you need to listen. First off, I know you're worried about your pokemon, but you need to relax. Craig Barker wasn't the only guy I know that works for Team Plasma. I've got several insiders, all of which are trustworthy. They've reported that we have a few days until the experiments go down. Angel and the other pokemon are being imprisoned until then, but they are being kept in good condition. Now, if you promise not to struggle more, I'll let you go and explain the plan."

I nod and he takes his hands off me. "We'll stay here tonight so you can rest. Tomorrow a special healer is coming in that will be able to restore you of that cut, then we'll set out. Team Plasma's main base of operations is near Lacunosa Town, in a place called Terminus Cave. We can get there well before they are killed and lay siege to the base. That should drive them out of Unova for good, I hope."

I take all of this in, looking around at my friends in the room. All of them wear grim, determined expressions.

I stare Alder in the eyes. "Alright."

(Author's Note: Holy crap, this went way differently than I imagined it would. I'm also sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I didn't have much say in my PC dieing. I'll do my best to get back on track, but I'm not promising anything. Talk to you all soon, Good Luck, and Happy Reading/Writing! -Orthros)