StylishDescent (SD): Hey guys, it's me again! After the hiatus, I'm back with the first actual chapter of the re-write, so let's get to it shall we? Since the other characters haven't been introduced yet (though you may know them), let's get Six to do the disclaimers.
Six: *appears behind SD* Alright.
SD: *jumps* Wah! Where did you come from?!
Six: Does it matter? Though I would let you know that I've been playing Assassin's Creed all day long.
SD: *blinks* O-okay...
Six: Anyway, the author does not own Pokemon and some of the OCs. Their owners will be stated at the end.


Last time on Evolve and Survive...

A secret group's meeting was cut short when the member known as Six received an alarm from his safe haven. As he prepares to leave, he could only hope that the vault had not been breached yet for their grand design might be placed in jeopardy.

Chapter 1: Breakout

Prior to 'visiting' the destination, Riley had thought that the high ranking official would have his secret laboratory hidden inside a mansion or some fancy place. Either that, it was a military bunker that he or she would conduct their twisted experiments in. The teenage girl with purple hair clearly did not expect said official to live in a fairly modest house, much less within the Resistance's area of influence.

Whoever they were, it was a very bold move on their part to place a facility in the middle of enemy territory. Of course, there were some comments on the stupidity of the official which she couldn't deny.

Stupid or not, the other members of the seven-man team she was assigned to could care less. "Listen up," the leader of her group called, gaining the attention of everyone else, "our target is a high-value one and we have no idea who this person is, so we are taking anyone in there alive. Bag 'em and get out quickly and hopefully silently, so it should be a clean job. We'll meet back in the backdoor in an hour."

Everyone agreed with the timing, heading off in separate directions in cells of two. All except herself, unsurprisingly to her. She was officially recognised as a Resistance recruit only a couple of weeks ago, and barely three days have passed since being part of this little rag-tag group so she was not trusting of them and apparently the feeling was mutual, even if they did give her a new place to stay and not throw her into the streets because she was one of those things.

Riley tugged her dark red jacket tightly and pulled the hood down further to obscure the traits she had unwillingly received, shuddering slightly at the resurfacing memory before she suppressed it. Thankfully, many of her more animalistic traits were small enough to be hidden by her clothing, save the small black tail that had grown from where her tail bone would be.

When she finds the culprit of this heinous crime against humanity, he or she would be fortunate to be captured with a pair of broken bones.

Walking down a hallway, Riley could not help but notice the vine patterns of the wallpaper, combined with the largely green colour and leaves give it a forest-esque theme. Potted plants were also placed against the walls, to which she sweat-dropped. Does... does this guy overly like nature or something? she wondered.

At the end of the hallway, she found herself in front of a door. Putting her left hand on the door knob and turning it slightly, the teenager was almost surprised at the fact that it was unlocked. Anticipating an ambush, Riley had her free hand morph almost painlessly into a paw with three toes, and from each toe extended a razor-sharp claw. Considering her age, the Resistance had not issued her a firearm, so she had to rely on her own abilities for defence. Despite disliking her new appendages, they had proven themselves to help her in fighting back more often than not. Eviscerating her foes with her claws was one example. Slowly, Riley turned the knob and gently pushed the door open before peeking inside.

The bedroom was devoid of anyone. Raising a brow, the purple-haired girl sneaked in and took a glance at the 3 by 4 by 3 room. It was nothing too special if one did not count the obsession with plant-life. A framed photograph above the single bed was the only other thing that made it stand out. A picture of a boy and a girl, both about at least a year younger than her, stood in it. Their outfits matched, a silver full-body suit with a utility belt and a dagger each such that Riley might consider them to be modern day assassins preferring more traditional weaponry. Are they child soldiers? Riley questioned mentally, getting on the bed to examine the photograph more closely.

The boy had unusual, disheleved grey hair whereas the girl had an equally unusual teal straight hair that reached slightly past her shoulders. Skin tone wise, his skin was quite pale while hers was a healthy tan. What caught Riley's eyes was the symbol embalazoned on their outfits; a skull in the middle of a four-point star. Her rage built up slowly, unable to believe that they, already an atrocious lot, would indoctrinate children to fight for their twisted cause. All the more reason to find the official and take him out of the equation so that no more would suffer as she and more than likely, the duo in the picture did.

"I swear it, they will pay," she softly declared, unintentionally gripping the side of the frame when she heard a click. Louder clicks followed, after which came the sound of gears moving. The bed suddenly shook, causing Riley to fall off it and onto the marble flooring with a yelp. "What gives?"

By a mechanism she thought couldn't have been hidden that well, the mattress rose digonally until it was at an angle of about forty-five degrees, revealing a staircase leading to somewhere underground.

"Woah," was all Riley could say as she peered into the darkness. As per what her training before her initiation into the Resistance had taught her, her hand reached into the pocket of her trousers to retrieve a walkie-talkie that is of standard issue by the headquarters, but decided against calling the others.

She simply did not trust them enough to watch her back, and as mentioned earlier, it was pretty much the same feeling on her teammates' end. Besides, she would just go down there, have a estimate on the hidden chamber and its occupants if any, and run out to call the rest. Yes, it sounded like it could work. With that she descended into the depths below.

After what felt like an eternity later, the girl had reached the bottom of the stairs and glared at it. "Seriously, how far down am I? For that matter, which maniac designed this?"

Inky darkness surrounded her but her eyes had easily adjusted themselves to the pitch-black area. Too easily, again she suspected it to be her animal-based side. Both her hands were replaced by claws by now, instinct telling her to keep her guard up at all times. This was especially so in the clearly artifical cave, where a large door stood before her. Beside said entrance was a four-digit code lock, to which she grimaced. This could take a while...

"0001?" she questioned as she pressed the respective buttons of the number pad.

"Access denied," came the response.

"0002?"

"Access denied."

"Oh boy..."

Unbeknownst to her, a hidden camera had already spotted her and thus raised the silent alarm.

Twenty minutes of attempting various combinations later and failing all of them, Riley growled in frustration, "Screw it." She promptly tore the number pad open with her frustration-increased strength, the girl ripped out the wires though wincing at the electric shocks. Fortunately, the pain was short-lived as the door became unlocked.

Slowly, Riley entered the hidden chamber which was illuminated by fluorescent lights found near the roof, revealing that it too was empty. However, a styrofoam cup of coffee had been spilled, leaving its contents to stain the otherwise mostly sterile environment. A clue that someone had been here. It was hexagonal prism-shaped with ten metre tall pristine white walls and a huge tank behind a control panel. Light brown fluid that reminded her of aqueous iodine revealed a humanoid silhouette inside the tank, though aside from that Riley couldn't tell any other characteristics.

She moved towards the control pane where a small book was placed on. Curious, she picked it up and skimmed through the hand-written notes until something caught her attention.

"24/12/2115, time-check 1923 hours. This is it, the first Legendary-class Third Generation hybrid," Riley read from the presumed journal, "From our limited deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples, we cannot ascertain the species of our ultra-rare Pokemon. However, we might just have a clue. A sword, pulsating with power, was... produced, lack for a better word, with the awakening of that DNA. Before we could procure it, the weapon disappeared. Such a perculiar development, but no matter, I can ask around and with luck, an answer will arrive."

Legendary-class? Third Generation? Riley wondered, curiosity rousing as she flipped to the next page.

"1/1/2116, time-check 0541 hours. According to my sources from Unova, there existed a group of wandering Pokemon coined the Musketeers or the Swords of Justice, namely Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion. These legendaries were said to possess horns, which are believed to be the 'swords' of these majestic creatures. Until the hybrid is fully developed though, with luck a horn as well, I cannot tell which Sword of Justice is he going to become."

Is this what this guy meant by Legendary-class? Because this 'hybrid' possibly had the DNA of a Legendary Pokemon? But... Pokemon had been extinct for nearly a century! She turned to the next page, hoping to get more answers.

"16/1/2116, time-check 0037 hours. Truly troublesome. This hybrid's horn fits none of the Swords'! Have my colleagues made a mistake, or did I misread somewhere? I pray that neither are not the case as I send them my findings."

"27/1/2116, time-check 2203 hours. Another set of information has been transfered over. I have little time to go over this set, so I'll summarise what I can. Apparently, there was another member that was known to be an apprentice to the Swords of Justice named Keldeo. As luck would have it, they share the same horn, colour and shape. However, the information also stated something about a 'Resolute Forme'. Only time can tell me what it is."

Wait, 27th January? That was only a couple of days ago! Reading further, she also noticed an additional statement, though this one hastily written (or scribbled) so the hand-writing was far more messy than the previous entries.

"I'd recently changed the password for the release protocol but no one is allowed to proceed with the release unless permission is granted. The new password is..."

As soon as the password was keyed in, a sound reminiscent of water being drained from a tub reveberated throughout the room as the iodine-coloured fluid disappeared from the bottom of the tank. A loud hiss followed suit once the liquid was about three-quarters drained as the pistons of the door that kept the tank shut depressurized. Not long after, the door swung open to the coughing inhabitant inside.

"Oh man," moaned the supposed Legendary-class hybrid, "it feels like my head is in a vice."

From what Riley could tell, he was clearly a guy with tan skin and looked to be around her age. Whatever his hair colour and style was now replaced by long red hair that was mane-like. What stood out like a sore thumb was the single cream horn on his forehead. Oh, did I mention he was only dressed in a pair of boxers? No? Well, he was. Riley's face went red as she adverted her gaze.

He blinked his grey-blue eyes, looking around to find his bearings when he noticed the person in front of him, red-faced and trying not to stare. Then he realized that he was one article of clothing from being naked. His face went a bit red. "Hey now, we're both guys here. Unless... you know, you're homo or bi?" [Author's note here: I'm not against LGBT, and if this part offends anyone, tell me through review or PM and I will remove the 'homo or bi' bit. I will apologise in advance.]

Her brow twitched in frustration, tired of people calling her a guy when she was clearly not. At least a couple dozen times, the mistake had been repeated in the Resistance, and many more before her mutations back when life was as normal as it was for her. "Are you gender-blind?! How the hell can you mistake me for a guy?!" she yelled at the boy. Her face was redder, this time largely out of anger.

The boy stared at her in disbelief. If she's a girl, how is her chest so flat?! He gulped when the girl's hands morphed into paws with claws that he was certain they could dismember or rip out his heart effortlessly. "W-what are you, some kind of mutant?"

Riley rolled her eyes, pointing at him. "You're the one to talk, touch your forehead."

Upon doing so, the Keldeo-hybrid yelled in shock. "WHAT THE HELL?! THIS HAS TO BE SOME KIND OF A SICK JOKE! I'M NOT A HUMAN-UNICORN CROSSBREED! Maybe I'm hallucinating, that's right. Calm down Zeliek..." Taking deep breaths to calm down, Zeliek muttered audibly, "Alright, start from the beginning... name's Zeliek Sawyer, age 15, student at Tachion City High, kendo practitioner and definitely not a mutant." He touched his forehead and felt that horn again. "No... this can't be."

Too stunned to make sense of it all, he allowed himself to fall back onto his ass, attempting in vain to convince himself that it was a nightmare he should be waking from in a few minutes. Of course, the female hybrid could sympathise with him, being in a nearly exact predicament as he was.

Approaching the Keldeo-hybrid, the girl kneeled in front of him and snapped her fingers a couple of times. "Listen, Zeliek is it?" When he nodded despondently, she continued, "You aren't the first or only human-turned-freak around here, and I doubt you would be the last, so suck it up for now."

"There are others? Aside from you?"

"Very few in the Resistance, I think," Riley replied, pausing for a moment before adding: "or anywhere to my knowledge, but yes they do exist. Give me a minute, I just remembered something."

Riley reached for her walkie-talkie to update on her status only to receive a call filled with relief from the other end. "Crescent? Thank goodness you're still around," her leader's voice came from the other end, "the others aren't responding and I fear the worst. Meet me at the-"

"Is this the correct channel?" asked another speaker, this one foreign and synthetic.

"Yeah it... WHO ARE YOU?!" her leader questioned, alarmed that someone outside of the group knew their signal.

"Oh, thanks for the response. Sometimes I have problems with this blasted piece of machinery. I mean..." The mysterious person coughed, "Unfortunately for you interlopers, you will not escape this place alive! Before you ask, I have eliminated five of your comrades. Rest assured, as with the others I will make your demises as swift and painless as possible. Good day." With that the interjecting caller killed the connection on his end.

"Dammit! Hurry to the exit!" Her leader too ended the connection.

Turning towards Zeliek, the girl motioned him to follow her. "Come on, we're getting out of here pronto!" The redhead complied, not just because he had no choice in the matter but also the fact that he had no desire to remain in his current location. As they left, the female hybrid held onto the book, figuring that it could of use in the future.

A very long climb to the top later and a couple more mental questions about the sanity of the house owner, the duo got out of the underground, hands on their knees, panting and sweaty. "Remind me... to get this... guy to a mental asylum..." Zeliek wheezed, wiping his forehead. Once they had a brief break, Riley guided them to the rendezvous point. Both of them were naturally on guard, watching out for potential ambushes from their cryptic enemy.

Nearing the exit, they had the back of a man in their sights. Their footsteps alerted him, causing him to whip around with his assault rifle aimed at them, their immediate reactions were to halt movement and raising their arms to calm him down. "Sorry about that, jumpy as hell," he apologised, lowering his weapon. "And I see you've found a civvy."

As he spoke, a shape moved silently behind him, seemingly camouflaged with the environment before the a glint of metal from behind the leader caught the girl's eyes. "Behind you!"

Riley's team leader's eyes widened as pain exploded from his back. As he fell forward, the two hybrids could only watch in horror as the person in white zipped in front of the man and drove something into his chest and pulling out the weapons in a fluid motion. The man dropped motionless in a matter of seconds. With his sixth victim down, he turned his attention to the duo.


Preview:

"I did not expect you to be here. Such a strange turn of events..."

"Have we met before?"

"That's a story for another time, but I need your indecently dressed acquaintance to return back to his tank peacefully."

"Sorry pal, but that isn't going to happen."

"If you won't listen, then perhaps force is necessary for your compliance."

"Bring it on!"

Next time on Evolve and Survive,

Clash


SD: And that, readers, end chapter 1. And let's welcome Riley again, sent from twilightcrystalflame!
Riley: It's been a while author, though it's BlackGeneralNocturna now.
SD: Really? *checks twice* Yep, you're right.
Riley: Where's Serpent? I thought he would be here as one of the main characters?
SD: I'll tell you this much: he's been reborn as another character, otherwise I would be spoiling. Zeliek would his replacement.
Serpent (from somewhere): WHAT?!
SD: Don't worry, your new role is still very important in this reboot! Think of your new form as a... video game boss of a saga?
Serpent: ...
SD: So here ends chapter one, I thank you all for reading. Constructive reviews are appreciated and we shall see you next time. Oh, and an early Merry Christmas to everyone!
Everyone: See you all next time, and an early Merry Christmas!