The following is a eulogy for the recent dearly departed beta, Skye. If you don't want to read it, then skip down to the story. I'm sorry, I have to say this somehow.

Well, it's about 6:00 am on a cold Friday morning, November 5, 2004. I have just buried Skye, my little beta of different colors. The thing is… I don't know what happened to him. He didn't have a disease (that I know of) but I think… I think he broke his neck… his head was at a weird angle, and he was lying on the rocks, not floating up to the top. I thought he was being weird, but when I took him out of the tank, he didn't flail.

As for why I'm telling you all of this without shedding a tear, I don't know. My fingers are affected, I can barely type without typos, and I got teary eyed whenever I buried Skye in the dark, but I'm not getting emotional. I hope I didn't dig another grave up when I buried him… They're so close together and damn near impossible to see in the dark.

So, in light of Skye's death, I wish to make a eulogy. (If you don't care, then go ahead to the story).

Skye was a lively fish. He really was. And he was the only fish I could play with. When he wanted to play, he'd come up to the front of the tank and stare at me for a little bit. And then I would run my fingers across the front and back of the tank and he'd chase them. Heh heh… Lord, he was a really weird fish…

He's also the only beta of mine that hasn't been red. He was so pretty… Blue, white, purple, and a cute little peach face. And he was so timid at first… He was even scared of the little plecko Joe when I first brought him home…

I hope he's okay now. I sincerely hope that he is in his little fishy heaven, and that he'll have fun up there. I love you, Skye. I really do. And I like to think that you liked me. I tried to give you a good home, and I hope you appreciate that. I won't forget you, or any other fish that lives within the walls of my home -ever. Not you, or Squishy, or Dave, or the twins, or Wolfie, or Joe, or Sheik, or Fred -not anyone. My room will seem so lifeless and gray without your little self to brighten up my room with your bright personality and colors.

I feel guilty that you never experienced a big, 5 gallon tank like Squishy, Sheik, and Fred have. You loved your little one gallon, and I couldn't wait to get the new 10 gallon up and running so I could give you more of an open space feel. That little one gallon just didn't suit you. You needed more.

So… Bye-bye, Skye-babe. I love you.

Disclaimer: I own all of the nicknames, personalities and Shayla. Everything else is not mine and belongs to the media. This chapter is dedicated to Skye.

Oh… And it's a little… er… violent in the beginning.

In memory of Skye…

Price for Freedom

Chapter 6

Calm Before the Storm

"'C'mon you lousy excuse for a pokemon!" I heard Master shout. "Hit that alakazam with your bite!!"

I panted and rushed forward, my legs almost giving out each step I took. I never knew a psychic pokemon that could defeat a dark type, but I was at least twenty levels below this one. And he knew attacks that weren't psychic type attacks. Strong ones. But I had to defeat him, because Master told me to. I had to accomplish this for Master.

With desperation and adrenaline on my side, I lunged at the powerful psychic and bit his shoulder, to which he screamed and fainted. And when he fell to the ground before me, something dawned.

I had defeated a pokemon almost twice my level!

I began to jump for joy when Master called me back over. I did, and looked up to perhaps finally see pride and happiness in those perfect blue eyes of his, to finally see that I had done something right for Master, for that was my sole purpose in life. But my smile faded when all I saw was his usual frown.

"You barely won that battle, Absol," he muttered in a condescending tone. "Why do I even spend time trying to get you stronger?" My hopes and five-second dreams shattered spontaneously, and my black webbed tail stopped furiously wagging. Unfortunately, he continued. "You are the biggest waste of my time. Nidoking never gave me this much trouble, and niether did venusaur. In fact, all of my pokemon have been competent enough to be able to defeat another pokemon with such a large type disadvantage." He then pulled out something I dreaded -his whip. He wasn't a tamer, but he was close.

The trainer with the alakazam came up to Master with a large wad of cash in his hands. "Man, that was a fight to remember! I'll be sure to steer clear of absols from now on…" The other trainer noticed Master's whip. "Dude, what's that for?"

Master scoffed and ran a perfect hand through his perfect hair. "I'm going to train this absol some more, it still sucks. It could have been defeated easily if you hadn't gone easy on me."

My eyes went to the ground. I had disappointed Master again. I deserved to be whipped. Even though red wounds littered my white fur, I did not pay heed to them. Master would want me to sustain them until we came across a Poke Center, or maybe after that. Master said that it built character.

The trainer talking to Master shook his head. "Well… My alakazam was almost twenty levels above your absol… I'd say it's plenty strong. If you don't want it, I'll take it."

The mere thought that Master might get rid of me was terrifying in itself. I jerked my head suddenly to look at Master, see what he would do. He contemplated it for what seemed like forever, and then, to my relief, shook his perfect head.

"Naw… I'll keep it for a little while longer, see if it actually becomes strong. A guy in the Elite Four has an absol, so it must be worth while." He then looked at me with his perfect blue eyes, and smiled. I smiled back, completely oblivious.

Time went in fast forward, and suddenly, I was outside, and it was raining relentlessly. Master held the whip in his hands, and he called out my comrade, his nidoking. My mind screamed. I knew what was about to happen. My feet wouldn't move, and I stood there dumbly while Master ordered nidoking to hold me down, with my stomach facing upward. Master was mad at me for ruining his trade. He had almost gotten a pidgeot, an acceptionally strong one, in exchange for me, but I popped out of my poke ball and wouldn't leave Master. I couldn't leave Master. And now I was being punished.

Master scowled angrily at me through the rain. "Now you get your punishment, you fucking bitch." He raised his whip, and brought it down upon me.

I don't know how long he did it. All that remains in my memory is nidoking whispering his apologies to me as lash after lash came down upon my exposed stomach. After his whip had gone through enough skin, he crouched down and began to peel my furry skin off of my muscles. He laughed while I tried to writhe in pain.

And I could not defend myself, for this was Master, and Master was doing what was right. Master wasn't wrong for punishing me. I had been bad and I had to take my punishment, or else I'd be bad and Master would hate me more. Master was never wrong…

And he peeled off little strands of my muscles, laughing at my pain. And I loved him for it.

I was glad.

I sat up abruptly, and my head clashed with something metal. The black scythe on my head began to throb, and the rest of my body began to twitch. I had no idea why -a knock to the head shouldn't have done that to me. Then, a flash of the Magma man popped into my head and I realized what was going on. So the tranquilizer they stuck in me was wearing off…

I stared down at my black, clawed feet and processed the fact that they were in shackles. Strong ones, from the look of them. I gave a grim sigh and began to chew at the chains when the sound of human footsteps and voices. I immediately lay back down to appear that I was sleeping, lest they think I was listening.

At first, I couldn't really hear them. There were two voices, one a burlesque male and the other a furtive female. The male spoke first, although I didn't quite understand what he was saying in the beginning. "…Grou… get… ov… world. Kyog… T… Aq… r…. …est..y… fa… Kai… …ken, then… …ld."

The two then passed my cage and then paused. The woman spoke. "Of course. Kaiyou is a major step for us. Team Rocket may have had their slip with Mewtwo, but they were ignorant and stupid. And since we have their database, we can learn from their mistakes. WE will control Kaiyou and then WE WILL awaken Groudon. If Kaiyou fails, then Team Aqua wins. Kaiyou is essential to our plans."

…Kaiyou…? my mind wondered. What the heck was a Kaiyou? I had heard about the attempt to make a Mew clone, but I thought that was urban myth. Then there really WAS a mad, psycho Mew-thing out to kill everything? Or had he really been appeased? Oh, Lugia, don't let this Kaiyou thing be very powerful…

I heard the woman's high heels begin to clop towards me, meaning she was coming towards the man. "Kaiyou can NOT get out of hand, do you hear me, Ton?" she asked firmly. "I do NOT want another Mewtwo project. We need to assemble as many well-trained fighting pokemon as we can so that if Kaiyou does go wild, we can stop it. If this fails, then it's MY head, and then yours. Understand?"

The man named Ton gulped and then responded, "Yes, ma'am."

I opened my eyes slightly, to see these two. Why had the woman ordered for fighting pokemon? Was this Kaiyou thing ice? More than likely. Or maybe it was a rock type? Apparently, I had opened my eye to where it was noticeable because the man leaned down and stared at me.

"This absol's strong," he commented, his black eyes boring through me. "She's a good fighter, I can tell. Might even be able to beat the crap out of my own primeape."

The woman scoffed. "The only reason pokemon are strong and good fighters are because of their trainers. The absol itself probably can't fight worth a crap without a trainer behind her." My fur bristled. The bitch was saying that I was a complete simpleton! That I wasn't even sentient!!! I began to growl at her and then man began to laugh good-naturedly.

"I doubt that. She's a fighter, that's for sure. I owned an absol once. And even though he was always sickly and eventually died from a disease that he caught, he was one of my best pokemon. He was still such a good pokemon, so friendly and so powerful. Almost makes me wish I were a dark trainer. But I love fighting too much."

The woman scoffed. "I didn't want your teary story, Ton. Now get back to work on Kaiyou or else I'll be feeding YOU to that absol." After that, she clopped away like the cow that she was.

Apparently, my loathing for the cow woman was showing, because the man reached in my cage and smoothed my ruffled fur down. "Don't let her get to you," he said softly. "She's a bitch, but she's alright. Doesn't care much for pokemon, though. Just power. Just keep cool and you'll be alright, Little Miss." He patted my head once, scratched the spot behind my scythe and then left.

I was confused. I had thought that Team Magma was the equivalent to Team Rocket; but apparently, Team Magma actually gets along with pokemon. It was probably because I was a land-dweller, but still.

My mind went back to this Kaiyou thing they were talking about. From what they said earlier, it was essential to their plan of raising Groudon. Now, it was no real secret that awakening Groudon was their plan, it was that no one knew how they were going to do it. Something clicked.

If they were using the data that they got from the Mewtwo project back on Kanto, then they were cloning something to get Kaiyou…

Was it the legendary dogs? None of them had a weakness to fighting. The birds? No… The cow woman said they needed fighting type. No trainer in their right mind would put even an army of fighting types against a cloned, flying legendary. So… what then?

A moan to my right brought me out of my frenzy reverie and I looked through the bars to see Saji. My heart leapt with joy at the sight of the scizor. How could I not see him there? I shook off the question and went to the side of my cage and gently nudged him through the bars. "Saji! Saji!"

He stirred to my proddings, but did not wake up. Slightly frustrated, I sent a small flamethrower at his insect bum, to which he properly responded.

"GYAA!!" he cried, frantically trying to get away from the flame. Of course, he was chained, so he didn't get far. He slammed back to the ground with a mighty thud, and I had to suppress a large urge to burst out laughing. He groggily looked at me, and then stared for a while.

I rolled my eyes. Apparently, he forgot who I was. "It's me, Demi, you retard," I whispered. "Can you break out of these shackles?"

He regarded me like I was crazy, then looked down, and to his surprise, found the shackles I had mentioned. He gave a goofy grin and then turned back to me and said in a low, giggling whisper, "He hee… I have shackles on my claws…!" He began to giggle again, and I stood beside him, mouth agape.

"I can get them off," said a voice beside me. I looked to see a glowing umbreon staring at me with his large, red eyes through the bars of the cages. To tell the truth, it was a little creepy.

I watched in amazement as he retreated into shadows, then came back out on my side of the cage. I had seen darklings do this before, so I wasn't all that surprised, but I figured he had to be insanely strong. Only experienced darks can melt into shadow.

"Can you do it?" he asked me. I didn't really know -I had never tried. So, to make things faster, I shook my head. He merely stared back at me, and then softly said, "Use flamethrower on your chains, and then use slash. They will break off. While you do that, I will go free the others. When you are free, do not attempt to break free of your cage, lest you want to be put into a higher security cage."

I watched him as he melted back into the wall, and then came up in Saji's cage, and instructed him on how to break free of his shackles. I shrugged and then began to work on my shackles.

------

The only pokemon that were awake were now free of their shackles but now restricted to their cages. I had seen Shoko and Tai pacing in their cages, but Amburna was still asleep and badly wounded. I had no idea where Kazu was.

I had found out that there were at least 700 pokemon in the cages around us, in a line against the wall, and stacked on top of other cages. And, from what I heard, all 700 pokemon were at least level 50. I wanted to know how they contained so many.

I began to pace. The Kaiyou thing was still lurking in my mind. What was it? What type was it? How big was it? So many questions ran through my head, and my feet responded to the speed of my thoughts. Soon, the umbreon from before appeared right in front of me, only upside-down.

"Gah!!" I yelped, stopping dead in my tracks. After I gathered my scattered wits, I looked up to his upside-down head. "What is it…?"

He dropped off of the ceiling on to his feet, and looked at me with that piercing stare of his. "Since you are the only other competent dark here, I wish for you to accompany me."

I was speechless. "Um… Okay… Sure, I'll help," I replied in a dumbfound manner. I inwardly berated myself for acting so stupid. He smiled at me and then bowed slightly.

"Others call me Eclipse, Lady Ayako," he said as he came up from his bow. He shook his head when I was about to demand how he got my name. My REAL name.

"I asked your friend over there," he explained nonchalantly, tossing his head slightly towards the direction of Tai, who seemed to be glaring at something in our direction. I assumed he was glaring at me, so I made a face at him. Eclipse saw this, and shook his head.

"He is not glaring at you, Lady Ayako," he said softly. "He is glaring at me."

I was confused by that. "But why is he glaring at you?"

Eclipse looked at me, his dark, ringed face slightly bemused. "Can you not see it?"

I blinked, and he took that for a no. He shook his glowing head and then said, "No time for explanations. It's almost here. We must act fast. I will get certain pokemon that would be helpful to the plan, including a flygon. You may retrieve whom you like. I suggest leaving your espeon friend behind."

He melted into the ground, and I stared at the place where he last stood. Now why didn't he want Kazu coming along? And how did he know that I knew an espeon to begin with…? I shook my head and then collected the names and faces of those that I would gather. Tai, Shoko, Saji, a salamence that I saw, a milotic, and a gyarados would do nicely. But when I was about to spring from my cell, a voice echoed inside my head.

Don't use a door. Use the shadows. Doors will betray you to unfriendly eyes. Shadows are true. Do not fear the Void, Ayako. Your Dark element will guide you.

I blinked and then thought against breaking out. I turned to the shadowy wall behind me, and a wave of mixed feelings rushed through me. I glared at the wall, and then plunged into the shadows.

-----

The Void was creepy. No ground, no sky, no anything. Just dark. I turned my body ina certain direction, and then felt pulled towards it. I went ahead and followed it, and then sprung into the space beside Tai.

"WAH!!" he cried, sending stray sparks of electricity flying every where. He was on his feet, leaning on the far side of his cage, the place furthest away from me. After he realized who I was, he settled down a little bit.

"Man, I thought you were that umbreon guy again," he muttered lowly. At his tone, my brow cocked.

"Do I detect a tone of loathing towards the umbreon in question?" I asked, getting closer to him. He snarled and walked away from me again.

"No," he replied in the same manner, and then plopped back down on the steel floor. I frowned and then came up behind him.

"Why are you like this?" I asked, seriously perturbed. "He's only trying to get us out and you treat him like this behind his back? What's wrong with you?"

He turned slightly, just to the point where I could make out a glare on his face. "I just… don't like him. Is there anything wrong with that?"

The way he said the last sentence ticked me off. "Yeah, there is," I replied tersely, earning a weird look from the jolteon. "I'm not liking the way your treating an allay like this! It's wrong! Would you ever treat Shoko or Amburna like this?"

Tai scoffed. "You don't even know what an umbreon is capable of. He could pull you into that Void and then make you get stuck there. You'd die, and I wouldn't be able to help you." After a moment of tense silence, (which included me trying to find all of the hidden meanings in his speech) he stood up, turned around and then said, "So what does that bastard want you to do?"

-------------------

We had made our way throughout the whole complex, my team including Shoko, Tai, Saji, Kazu, (to which Eclipse strongly disapproved of, but Tai told him to "shove it"), the gyarados, (named Tempest), the milotic, (named Shiro), and the salamence (named Thor). Eclipse had brought only a flygon, Skye, and a golduck, Kappa. We had silenced all of the Magma members that we had run across, and disabled all of the security cameras. Now Eclipse was leading us to the center of the building, where I could fee a great aura begin to surround us.

The aura made me jittery, nervous. Tai noticed it, and then began to take more caution of our surroundings. Other than that, no one seemed to notice, save for Kazu, and he seemed to be becoming tired. How could no one sense this huge presence?

Eclipse flashed his golden rings in a signal to stop. We obliged, and waited for a command. He gave an undefined look to me, and then began to walk very slowly. I then heard his voice in my head again.

Tell the others to wait here. They might not feel anything now, but they will when he awakens. Especially the espeon, he could die. They need to stay somewhere at a safe distance away from the large tube -you see it, right?

I didn't know if I could send telepathic thoughts -that was left to the psychics. But I went ahead and tried. Amazingly, it worked.

Yeah… Yeah, I see it. But why? What's in that test tube?

I felt a slight shudder in Eclipse's response. Kaiyou.

I scoffed. Well, yeah. But what IS Kaiyou? Is he emitting the aura?

Yes. It proves how powerful he is. Come now, it's happening. Although, don't reveal yourself when you see him.

Who? Kaiyou?

No… Another. You will see. Just come closer.

I began to crawl closer to where Eclipse was positioned, when Tai stopped me.

"What do you think you're DOING?" he whispered harshly. He stepped on my paw in order to stop me. I pulled my clawed paw away and frowned.

"I'm going to get a better look. Now, you and the others keep over here, Eclipse says that it'll be bad if you all get too close. Especially Kazu, he could get killed."

Tai didn't take heed to my warning. "Of course he would tell you that! He's trying to get you secluded where you'll be alone and vulnerable! He's trying to-"

I pushed him away and went back on my way. I heard Tai grunt with frustration and he began to corral everyone back. I smiled. It seemed that the jolteon was useful after all.

I joined Eclipse's side to his right and he nodded his head towards the tube. I almost lost my jaw to the floor.

Kaiyou was magnificent. The length of his body was at least twenty feet nose to tail. His body was jet black, with deep golden stripes adorning his fur. His face was the same, except there were two stripes coming from the front corner of his eye and then swept back almost to his ears. The ears themselves were about a third the length of his body. They were black, except for the last quarter, and that part was the same golden hue as the stripes. He was positioned almost standing on his haunches in order to fit in the tube.

I was about to comment on Kaiyou when a deep, familiar, masculine voice interrupted me. I turned to my left, where the sound emanated from. I couldn't see who it was at first, but I dreaded that the feeling from the pit of my stomach was right.

"At last, my comrades, we have finished it. The key to awakening -and controlling Groudon. Let Team Rocket fiddle with their Tinker Toys, let Team Aqua daydream about Kyogre. For today, we have accomplished the one thing people claimed we could not. We have created the most powerful pokemon -it could bring the greatest Legendaries to their knees, even the great Mewtwo himself." He then came into my line of sight, and I almost retched.

My former trainer surveyed the room, soaking all of the approving faces in like a dry sponge. His quaint smile grew to ambitious, and he turned his back on me to face Kaiyou in the tube. "My friends, we have created the first Dark Legendary, Kaiyou."

I didn't want to hear the rest of his words. I had heard enough. Eclipse's warning was thrown out the window when he turned and looked straight at me. And then, he sneered.

I lunged.

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Woot!! I finished!! Yay for me! :) Yay for Pres. Bush, who just got a second term!

Sorry the update took so long. I was busy.

P.S. I am now the proud owner of a lvl. 42 Milotic. ::huge smile::

Ja!