Pokemon The Revolution

by LandofGaming

After years of evolution and drifts and new ages, the Pokemon world has advanced to a modern state where politics and ideals flourished and many Pokemon began searching and striving for the idea of a perfect world. However, due to the corrupted government, a single Pokemon stands up to fight for his freedom...and ends up starting more than even he had anticipated.

15. Ascending Mysteries

Authors' Note: If there are any questions, please leave a review and we will do our best and try to answer it!

Disclaimer: We don't actually own Pokemon.

---

Chapter Fifteen: Ascending Mysteries

Some days after...

"I said march forward. What part of that do you not get?!" Rachiel snapped at the back lines of the Second Regiment. "Let's try this again, and if you, mister..." She glared at a plump Piplup. "... get this wrong one more time, I swear I'm dunking you in barbecue sauce and eating you!"

"Rachiel, don't be harsh on the poor kid..." Xeno coughed. "We probably should've done an age limit on the recruiting sheets..."

"We did!" May called from the other side of the Town Square. "It's 18 and above!"

"Wait, so you're an eighteen-year-old and you still haven't evolved―" Rachiel's growl was cut off as Xeno promptly slapped her.

"Break time, Rachie. Time to stop getting stressed," Xeno soothed. "Better to have soldiers willing to fight than none at all. Besides, evolution comes from experience, not age."

Rachiel scoffed, annoyed, but barked out the order for break time. The regiment cheered and scattered. Rachiel and Xeno retired to a house bordering the Accumula Town Square that the original Revolutionists were using as headquarters.

"You just let him leave?" Victor was yelling at Lumiere. "Without telling us? I'm telling you―"

"What's up?" Rachiel sauntered over. "What did Candle Punk do this time?"

Lumiere scowled and pulled himself away from Victor. "I'll tell you when the meeting starts."

"Whoa, whoa. Wait," Xeno demanded. "I thought you said break time, not meeting!"

"I hate meetings," Jason grumbled as he walked over. "And the Council of Mayors."

"Why? What happened?" Rachiel asked.

Ralph walked into the house. "He poked his nose into the room the mayors were using for the Council of Mayors and they got really mad at him."

"They weren't supposed to be talking about the new episode of Powerpuff Squirtles, were they?"

"They were?!" Rachiel broke into a howl of laughter. "Mayors! Hahaha!"

The door flew open and Charlez, Charnette, Amethyst, Mark, and Victor tramped in.

"We've really gotta put a cap on those silly spells those wimps use," Amethyst grumbled. "You gotta have better goods to join the Fourth Regiment!"

"Agreed. Next Pokemon that does that, we toss into the Tamato sauce pool," Charnette replied and sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the round table that took up the living room of the elegant house. "Well? Are we starting the meeting?"

"Hold on, let me call role." Charlez took out a scroll. "Lumiere?"

"Present."

"May?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Mark?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out."

"Victor?"

"Yup."

"Rachiel?"

"Hurry up, Mustache Girl."

"Um... okay? Amethyst?"

"Here and centa."

"Charnette?"

"Present."

"Xeno?"

"Here!"

"Ralph?"

"I'm here."

"Jason?"

"Waffles."

"Stop eating that. You're going to get fat and you're only... what? Twelve?"

"Aww, man..."

"Marcus is absent..." Charlez checked him off her sheet. Mark had a glum look on his face. "I'm here... Morfient?"

"He went back to Nuvema after last night's meeting," Lumiere answered.

"Okay. Trent?" Charlez looked around and frowned. "Where's Trent?"

"How does one lose a very large green dinosaur?" Rachiel asked.

"He left with Morfient," Lumiere informed them.

"What?" Charlez yelped.

"And Lumiere let him," Victor added. Lumiere glared at him. "Without telling us or anything."

"Could you please stop helping?"

"What? You don't want my help?"

"You call that help?"

"I didn't―you did!"

"I did not―"

"Hold on, guys." Mark raised his claws. "So Trent left with his buddy..."

"Lumiere let him," Victor emphasized.

"... after telling Lumiere and only Lumiere?" he finished.

"Yep," Lumiere replied.

"Can you believe that?" Victor added. The room of Revolutionists went crazy.

"How could he just leave us?" Xeno cried.

"Conspiracy!" Rachiel proclaimed.

"Pardon me, honey, but what is there to conspire about?" Charnette purred. "Are we suppose to be forcing anyone to be a Revolutionist right now? Are we?" she demanded. The room fell silent at her harsh tone.

"Well... no," Rachiel replied reluctantly. "But he was already one..."

"And he still is," Lumiere finished. "That's what I was trying to tell you guys. He went back to Nuvema to help them protect the town."

"Oh." Victor looked somewhat disappointed. "But he... he didn't tell us he was gonna leave. He should've at least notified one of us."

"He did. Me," Lumiere informed him.

Victor looked like he was about to hurl something, but Amethyst cut in roughly. "The dino wants to leave―let him leave. We're not forcing anybody ta do this, 'kay? 'Sides, he did tell Lightbulb Head over there. So it's all chill, got that?"

"I guess you're right," Victor sighed. "Fine."

"And that's all for calling role." Charlez rolled her scroll into a neat cylinder. "Let's start with our first topic. Oh, and let me get the snacks and smoothies."

"Waffles?" Jason asked.

"Even better―poffins!" the Kricketune replied cheerfully.

"Yay!"

The Revolutionists settled down in their seats as Charlez dished out the food. For a second there was only the munching of the cookies and poffins and the slurping of smoothies as the tired generals, lieutenants, and sidekicks attacked the refreshments.

Ralph wiped away a smoothie-and-cookie-crumb beard. "First of all, we need to start thinking about taking back Striaton City," he declared. "Our Regiments, unfortunately, haven't had enough training yet, so we can't retaliate just now. But even if they were ready to, we need a good plan."

"Hold on a sec," Jason said distractedly as he devoured several poffins in one go. "I thought the SFP bombed Striaton, not take it over."

"Where were you the last few days?" Charnette asked sarcastically. "Didn't you hear the news? The Shadow Force set up a military base at Striaton City not long after they bombed it."

"But how did they put out the magic fire?" Jason wondered.

"Magic," Charnette replied.

"No, seriously." Rachiel looked a bit queasy at the mention of magic. "The little guy's right. You said yourself it was magic fire, like the kind that burns eternally. How does one put it out?"

"When I said magic, I meant magic," Charnette sighed. "There's magic everything, dear. Magic food, objects, and elements―like fire. So if there's magic fire, then there's magic water. They probably used the Conjuria Hyagia spell times like, a thousand times, and then summoned a million cubic squares of magic water and dumped it on the entire thing. Besides, magic fire doesn't break the law of conservation of energy. It stops burning when there is no more fuel."

"And why didn't you just do that when they were bombing the city?" Rachiel asked.

"What? You wanted me to drown the citizens?" Charnette snorted. "The Conjuria Hyagia spell means encasing the entire city in a globe of magic water. No air, nothing. Because it's magic water, even Water types would die of suffocation," Charnette replied easily, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Even if it's magic water, you can't put magic fire out within minutes. It takes hours, sometimes days. So any living creature inside would die."

"Oh." Rachiel stared at her claws.

Ralph cleared his throat. "So now that that's cleared up... strategies, anyone?"

"We could use the Conjuria Hyagia spell," Charnette suggested helpfully. "Seal them up in a semicircle of magic water. Everyone would die!" She looked geniunely pleased.

"But we're not the Shadow Force―" May started.

"Well duh, genius," Rachiel said. "We're not the Shadow Force. Thank you for that entertaining piece of new information, Hoopskirt Gal."

"I mean, we probably shouldn't massacre if we're not them, right?" the Gardevoir suggested.

Rachiel looked at her. "May," she said. "This is war. The Shadow Force is trying to kill us, and we're trying to kill them. Massacre is bound to happen, okay?"

"But..." May looked a bit queasy. "Shouldn't we try not to kill?"

Rachiel looked around with a hint of loathing in her sharp gaze. "Oh. So you want us to just sit around like flopping ducks preaching peace and harmony while the Shadow Force marches in and destroys us. Gee, what a great strategy."

"But May has a point," Ralph said. "What makes us different from the Shadow Force if we massacre?"

"We don't purposely put an air-sealed globe on a helpless city full of Pokemon?" Xeno pointed out.

"Isn't that exactly what Charnette wanted to do?" Mark said.

"It was a suggestion. I didn't say we were going to do it." Charnette flicked her tail.

"You act like you were going to..." May murmured.

"Oh, come on. Let's get to the point here, okay?!" Charnette exclaimed, snapping her jaws together with a clipping sound.

"Right... strategy..." Rachiel clawed at the table. "We could attack simultaneously with Regiments One and Four. The First Regiment would attack the scumbags in Striaton City, while the Fourth Regiment patrols the area to cut off supplies and/or reinforcements. We save the Second and Third Regiments as separate waves of reinforcements and deal with them like that. It's a simple military strategy. Let's do it this way."

"Well, then." Ralph glanced at Ron. "Do you have the Mudkip Tanks and Garchomp Cannons ready?"

"Yep. I made enough cannons for the back ranks of a Regiment to use. I also made them a lot more mobile, so it'll be easier to use," Ron answered.

"The First Regiment should use them," Rachiel determined. "In order to have the advantage from the start."

"And the Third Regiment should use the Mudkip Tanks," Mark added. "I'll start training them tomorrow."

"Why not the Second Regiment?" May asked.

"Using the Mudkip Tanks is a risky move," Lumiere explained, "Better we not use them at all. As the Third Regiment is a last resort unit, it'll be more sensible to let them have the more powerful and more unstable machinery."

Mark scowled. "Pardon me, but are you calling my soldiers―"

"They're not experimental Pokemon, bro," Xeno soothed him. "They're just the ones best suited for the jobs."

Mark did not look soothed. "My soldiers use ultimate moves. I don't want vehicles in this."

Ron gave him a pitiful look. "It won't be all of them using the tanks..." he whined.

"Dude, no," Mark said firmly.

"It's perfectly safe... with an escape booter and everything..."

"No, no, Ron don't!"

"And throw pillows! There's even cup holders and a mini fridge inside!" Ron begged. "Pleeeeeeaaaaaaazzzzzzzz..."

Victor looked amused. "Well, general? Let's try it out, shall we? We could always ditch the tanks if we wanted to."

"I hate you," Mark grumbled. "Fine."

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAA!" Ron cheered.

"I guess that's it." Ralph clapped his paws together. "Let's go with that plan for now an―"

The door flew open and Jebodiah marched in, wearing a grim expression.

"What is it?" Ralph asked.

"Clairvoyance. Magic." Vindictus fluttered in, muttering under his breath. "Divination. Quetzalcoatl. Myths. Doom."

Ralph frowned at Vindictus's gibberish and turned to Jebodiah. "What is it? What is he talking about?"

"The Accumula AP Force Unit 12 brought in a refugee that was being chased by some Shadow Force soldiers," the Raichu reported. "She's in the hospital right now, and she wants to talk to all of you."

"All of us?" Rachiel snorted. "How refreshing. I'm gonna go train my regiment. Bye-bye." She got up and headed for the door.

"She did say all of you." Jebodiah blocked her way. "I think she might have important news."

"Then Ralph can go!" Rachiel stormed past him. "I'd much rather train my ranks than talk with another fan begging for attention!"

"I'm with her." Xeno hopped off her seat and edged past Jebodiah. The others filed out, leaving only Lumiere, May, Ralph, Charlez, Jason, Vindictus, and Jebodiah.

"So I guess we're the only ones going?" Lumiere asked.

"I have to admit, I agree with Rachiel," May said reluctantly. "We're all preparing for the battle right now―it's no time to visit Pokemon in the hospital one-by-one. I'm going to go help out in the Medical Unit. Sorry, senpai." She bowed towards Lumiere and glided off.

"Whelp. Guess it's just us now," Jason said.

"Speaking of the hospitalized―how's Billy?" Ralph asked Jebodiah. "Shouldn't he be healed by now?"

"Um―yeah! He's recovering!" Jebodiah said. "He'll join the First Regiment's training with me tomorrow."

"You―oh right. You're in my regiment," Ralph remembered. "Okay, then. Tell him to take it easy."

"Why not do that yourself?" Lumiere questioned. "We're going to the hospital, after all."

"Uh―no," Jebodiah stammered. "He's uh... umm..." He glanced at Vindictus.

"Sleeping," the Noctowl speculated. "Accidentally ate sleeping medicine. Sorry. Billy not awake." He started muttering under his breath. "Silver cauldron. Awakening Potion. Chesto Berry..."

"Oh." Ralph frowned. "Darn it. I guess I'll talk to him later, then."

"I also forgot to bring up something during the meeting," Charlez said. "We need more space for training the Regiments. The Air Forces have it easy―they're doing it in the sky. But we need more space. I don't think the Third Regiment is exactly pleased with having to train on Route 1."

"Right!" Ralph turned around, surveying the Pokemon around him. "Jason, um... Vindictus, and Jebodiah; could you guys search the forests near Route 1 to see if there's a flat piece of land or something big enough for a training center?"

"Sure thing," Jebodiah said. "I'll take you to the refugee and then we'll go." Jason and Vindictus nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Ralphie." Jason chewed on a waffle. "There's another thing―I'm not in any of the Regiments. I mean, all of the original Revolutionists are either back in Nuvema Town, MIA, or generals or lieutenants or medical folks. I'm too young to join the army. What do I do?"

"You could be a messenger," Lumiere suggested. "You're a Riolu, after all. You should be pretty fast, shouldn't you? You could deliver messages between the generals."

"We have the internet," Charlez contradicted. "And we have phones..."

"But the wireless network might be cut off," Lumiere interrupted. "In the midst of fighting, are you seriously sure that the wireless connection would be up? Probably not. Also, I heard of some Pokemon called hackers. They can break into our secret messages and networks and listen in. It'll be better if we have someone like Jason to deliver messages."

"But..." Charlez looked at the little Riolu, not quite ready to let him sign up for such a dangerous job. "We could always use teleporters or Psychic types."

"Have you ever heard of anti-teleportation spells?" Lumiere asked.

"Please, Charlez," Jason begged. "I'll be careful. I won't get into the fighting..." He looked at Charlez with wide, pleading eyes.

"Fine..." Charlez relented. "But don't get into trouble."

"I won't!" Jason promised.

"Shall we go, then?" Jebodiah asked.

"Lead the way," Ralph answered.

As they headed out, Ralph couldn't help but frown.

"What's wrong?" Charlez asked.

"I think I'm getting Rachiel and May's point―what if it's nothing important or if the news is something we already know? Maybe the refugee is a Shadow Force spy sent here. How do we know she's not a spy or just a fan? Is it really worth our time?"

"The First Regiment doesn't start training until an hour after," Jebodiah pointed out. "We need to wait until the Fourth Regiment is done using the Town Square. So we got time."

"But is it really worth it? We could be doing other stuff," Ralph groused. "Other more important stuff."

"I think she's worth it," Jebodiah said. "You should really meet her."

"She might be a spy!" Jason said, "Cool!"

"One of the enchanters already did an aura scan on her. She's not a spy," Jebodiah explained, exasperated.

"She might be a witch too!"

"From what I've heard," Jebodiah said drily, "The aura scan spell is infallible. You can't hide from it."

"But maybe some spells can mask your aura―"

"We've already determined she doesn't have magic. Besides," Jebodiah continued, looking directly at Ralph, "there's something you should know about her."

"Why?" Ralph was a bit troubled and annoyed at the same time. "What's so special about her?"

"She," Jebodiah said solemnly. "is an oracle."

---

Somewhere far away...

Marcus blinked open his sleepy eyes. His bones felt like jelly and his limbs wouldn't work properly―they were as stiff and cold as death. He could dimly hear the crackling sounds of a temptingly hot fire and warm drifts of wind swirling around him. But he still felt cold, as if someone had driven a dagger of ice straight through his heart and froze his very marrow. His vision was oddly sharp and queer―he could see everything 100 times better than he was sure he had been able to see before. It gave him a splitting headache.

The most troubling thing of all was―he didn't know how he got here, wherever this was, or how he had ended up unconscious. He remembered feeling dizzy after transforming from Psycho Eevee back into himself and seeing the beaten officers in front of him. Maybe that was why he was unconscious. But he still had no idea how he got there.

"Are you awake?" A singsong voice reached his buzzing ears. "Here―these stabilizing pills you should take!"

"Huh?" Marcus groaned. "What happened, Melodia?"

"You were out for an entire week―hush now, we're in a dangerous place―don't speak." Melodia floated over, balancing a steaming bowl of soup. She used her tail to help him up and slowly drip the delicious brew down his throat. "You should probably get ready for the tale I'm about to tell you―There are so many things to do..." she muttered to herself, turning away and slither through the entrance of the cave they were in. "Oh!" Marcus heard her delightful shriek. "The rain is stopping! This is―" she started yelling in her singsong voice.

Marcus rubbed his eyes. He still felt a bit queer, as if a chunk of his memory was missing... He didn't remember what happened after the Psycho Eevee streak. He knew something had happened. Something vital and important. He just couldn't remember what.

"So... would you like to know what happened during the week you were asleep? Do you know what was going on while you were in the deep?" Melodia flew around him excitedly. Marcus hadn't noticed it before, but a collection of pendants were strung around her neck, all glowing with different symbols. A cold feeling went through him as he focused on one of the pendants―a glowing green one with a crescent mark in it. He swept an expert eye and saw another glowing silver one with the same mark. Confusion racked his brain. He felt as if he'd seen that mark before... but... He shook his head. Things were getting too complicated for his liking.

"Sure... but didn't you say this was a sensitive place? Or dangerous one? Whatever." He slowly walked around, inspecting his surroundings. "You also said we weren't allowed to talk or something?"

"What―oh right." Melodia frowned. "But I have to bring things to the light..." She glanced outside and pointed with her tail. A band of Shadow Force soldiers―more like an entire Regiment―was marching down the road. "They've been training there since two days ago. Over this time enormously I've seen their power grow."

"We can take them together," he said as he began inspecting what they had from afar.

"No, I want to show you something," Melodia told him as she flew up. "See if your memory rings." she added with a wink and make a crazy, kamikaze dive towards the soldiers.

"ARE YOU STUPID OR INSANE?" Marcus howled and jumped after her. What kind of crazy serpent hippie girl just jumps toward an entire cavalry of death machines on her own free will? He stumbled, his body still weak from not moving for so long. Also, it felt like a spine-chilling fourteen degrees out there. The fur on his body stood straight up as if he'd been electrocuted and he shivered as he staggered after the crazy serpent, who was whooping her head off as she made aimless circles around the enemy.

He met another problem immediately. The cave was located at the top of a cliff. Being half-blinded by the cold and limbs stiffened like a zombie's, he very well might've fallen straight to his death if he didn't trip on a conveniently-placed stick and fall flat on his nose several millimeters from the edge of the cliff.

Darn it, he thought as he helplessly watched Melodia float over the armada with her eyes glowing white. She looked a bit like a goddess floating there, with her pendants clattering around and antennas flowing. The soldiers murmured and pointed, obviously confused as to whether this crazy snake had appeared to battle or party.

Melodia let out a string of some probably very poetic and inspirational words containing her excuse for dive-bombing an army alone. She glanced at Marcus for a moment, her eyes startling bright. Then two rings of glowing yellow appeared around her, whirling in a spinning, insanely fast motion.

Marcus didn't understand. Weren't those... Psycho Eevee's Rings of Discord? The rings that were able to morph into any two objects at will? How come Melodia was able to use them?

Melodia charged at the army. They scattered at the first sonicboom that the rings clapped out. Then the Milotic started thrashing around, smacking soldiers over the head with her tail and blasting others out of the way with powerful beams. The rings whirled around her rapidly, knocking Pokemon left and right and giving them scorching, new tattoos. The commanders of the Shadow Force rank yelled at their comrades, but Melodia flattened them with a single elated yell, sweeping her tail back and forth like a massive broom of abolition. Marcus's jaw dropped. He'd never imagined that a... well, not normal, obviously. What was the word for it? Never mind. He'd never imagined that another Pokemon on this planet could use the magic rings.

Soon, the army had been scattered left and right. Melodia's rings dissipated and she flew back.

"We should probably leave before they call in reinforcements to destroy us," Melodia announced. "And thus―"

"We should get going," Marcus finished and hopped onto her back for a ride. Questions were whirling around his mind at the speed of light. "And make it quick. I need answers."

Melodia let out a little sigh of disappointment, a sign that she'd been preparing an entire arsenal of rhymes to tell him that they needed to leave. However, she forced back her disappointment and flew off as fast as she could, slithering through the air like a flash of lightning.

Marcus narrowed his eyes as he steadied himself on her back, trying not to slip off and plummet to his death far below. "How did you use Psycho Eevee's rings of energy?" he howled over the vicious wind ripping by as they sailed through the air.

"Don't be silly―those rings are just a spell. I made a pendant to harness that magic, and now I can use it as well!" Melodia sang as she swam through the sky. "Now... where was that cave?" she muttered to herself. "Last time, I flew through this passage with my thoughts depraved..."

"Is it that overhang over there?" Marcus pointed with a chocolate-brown paw. Melodia looked up with a start.

"That's it," she answered. "Sorry, I was flashbacking a bit," she said in a quiet tone as she flew over a valley filled with mud and sharp boulders sticking out.

"Flashbacking about what?"

"Nothing much," Melodia muttered. "Just a bad memory." For once, Marcus noticed that she didn't rhyme.

"Uh, Melodia?"

"Yes?"

"You're not rhyming."

"Of course I am!" she huffed. "Do you want to be―"

"No, I was just worried," Marcus hastily added. Being on the back of an angry serpent did not sound good. "Anyhow... what happened during the time I was out? I was out for... how long again?"

"A solid week, my friend. Thankfully there was an end," Melodia replied, landing on a slab of stone sticking out from the cliff. "There is a cave with a pool in there, I think. Go on and have a drink."

"Heh." Marcus hopped off her back and stepped into the cave. It was even colder than the freezing temperature outside. He felt as if he was turning into ice himself. Brr.

"So... where shall I start?" Melodia came in after him. She pulled a matchbox out of her pack. Gripping the match in her mouth, she struck the box and lit a fire. "Thereth some stoneth anth fire materith I bougth from the mart," she mumbled around the flaming torch. "Wouldth you geth them outh for me? Pretty pleath?"

"Sure." Marcus went over to her pack and rummaged around in it. There were several strange potions (at this point, Marcus did not like magic anymore), more pendants (one of them also had that very familiar tip-of-the-tongue crescent mark on it), a small, also very, very familiar diary (how did snakes write, anyhow? With their mouth?), some other bits and bobs of queer trinkets, several large stones that Marcus brought out, and dry paper and logs that he supposed were the burning materials. "Are those it?" He took out the logs and set them in the middle of pile of stones he'd formed into a circle. "How'd the fit so much stuff into your saddlebag, anyways?"

"Magicth," she emphasized, waving the match wildly as she scooted forward and lit a log. Then she tossed the match down and went to her pack and pulled out the dry paper, tossing it down also. Marcus glimpsed a bit of writing on the papers... were the words made of gold?

A strange sensation went down Marcus's back. He didn't get it at all. He'd only met Melodia just a month ago... yet... how come he already recognized so many of her personal items? Like that diary and those pendants.

Melodia let out a huge sigh and grabbed her pack, sliding away from Marcus as she opened her bag and took out the diary. "Here are my notes... what was I going to say again? Let's see... say this... here... when..." She cleared her throat. "I've discovered that Psycho Eevee emerges when you're unconscious―not when you're sleeping―thank goodness. When you sleep without dreams after being knocked out, Psycho Eevee is able to come about. I survived the nuclear transformation with a nifty pendant I made―and I was able to calm that gentlemon and made his rage fade."

"Hold on a sec..." Marcus stared at himself. "Psycho Eevee takes over my body when I sleep?"

"Your dreams are able to keep him at a standstill―but if you don't dream then he will," Melodia explained. "I talked to him and learned about his history... and it suddenly all became clear to me. Psycho Eevee's name was Sir Cressrai―the Knight of Dreams. He was Cresselia's protector, so it seems. His family contained dream blood that gave them the wings, so they could protect the moon goddess in the sky with perfect bearings. However, one day―Darkrai cast a curse. In the Reverse World he wanted Cresselia immersed. Sir Cressrai made a valiant move―he took her place even when she disapproved," Melodia chanted. "He was trapped there forever―ending his line of dream blood Pokemon, but Cresselia never forgot him, even after he was long gone. Since he'd given his life for her―she was determined to let him live forever. So she founded your line of dream bloods, it seems. Luckily enough they were all Eevees. She told them about him and his selfless move―and to take on his spirit, your ancestors approved. However, his spirit was much too strong. You and your ancestors called him a curse―that's just wrong. He gives his hosts an extremely strong magic ability and elegant swordsmanship, but if the host is too weak, then he just leaves them be."

"Hold on again," Marcus said irritably. "The curse kills us. They killed my grandparents... well, except for Noni. She didn't inherit it. It killed my mother, then... well, it's obviously killing me now."

"You were able to harness his power very well. You can summon him, and he you could repel. He is delighted in your endurance, and promised me not to hurt you―that is, if you do what he wants you to do," Melodia comforted him. "Sir Cressrai loves battling, and he wants you to train with me. You will need powerful fighting skills to summon the rings, and even more experience to fly with his wings. He told me that he means no harm, but in case he lost control of himself, he taught me to make this charm." Melodia pulled out a white pendant with with a golden ring in the middle. "With it you can control his spirit and dispel him at will. With it you can control his appearance's nuclear power spills."

"Uh... thanks." Marcus took the pendant and hung it around his neck. "So I'm suppose to control him and use his powers?"

That's about it, Psycho Eevee said, inside his head. Do hurry up, mate. It's been a boring few centuries. If you don't, I will take over that pathetic husk you pass off as a body and use it to annihilate the world.

"So... you can teach me?" Marcus glanced at Melodia, his doubtfulness vanishing quickly. Melodia nodded, and Marcus imagined Psycho Eevee snickering. But for once, the curse didn't make his mind flare with pain. He knew what he had to do. He had to harness the curse's power. That way, he could save more Pokemon from being harmed. He could do this. After all, Psycho Eevee (or Sir Cressrai, whatever) was on his side this time, right?

Quite the contrary, Psycho Eevee said. I'm just here for fun. Hey, might you want to extinguish another person's life force again?

I'd rather train, Marcus thought back.

So be it.

"Let's train," Marcus announced, ignoring the ghostly knight. "I'm ready."

"Sounds like a plan." Marcus looked at the serpent beside him as she spoke. He knew she could not be trusted. He knew he shouldn't trust her. She'd been able to convince a powerful creature like Psycho Eevee to help. Who knew what else she could do? "Let's start this training lickety-split!"

---

At Darkrai's Palace, in Anville Town...

"Yo, Hallows!" The Spiritomb nearly jumped out of his Key Stone at the husky shout. He hopped around to come face to face with a face he'd faced on the face of a magazine cover that face... okay, never mind. Anyhow, he was mighty surprised at the sudden noise.

Wasn't this place supposed to be a secret catatomb maze beneath the palace Darkrai specially built for me? Hallows wondered as he looked at the Krookodile with the goofy grin in front of him.

"Otri, the pop star," Hallows said. "Nice to... see you here. What are you doing in a place like this?"

"You have a Plate, don'tcha, dude?!" Otri sang in his usual hip hop slang. "Oh man, it must be so cool to have a power-up like that! Lemme see!"

Hallows flew backwards in a fit of surprise. He quickly checked to see if the Spooky Plate was still contained in one of the green orbs that floated spirally around his face. It was still there, temptingly powerful. The Spiritomb glared at Otri. "What do you want? Why are you even here?" he asked, a threatening tone in his creepy voice.

"Yo, homie. Calm down. I'm the new general!" Otri spread his stubby arms and beamed. His sunglasses glinted wickedly.

This annoying hip-hop punk... a general? Hallows thought. Darkrai definitely lost his marbles this time... he shouldn't have re-recruited Otri. First the oracle, then the crazy, uncontrollable bat girl... and now... this.

"I thought Darkrai fired you for failing in Hoenn," Hallows replied in a steely voice. "And now you're a general? Again?"

"What can I say?" Otri spread his arms wide. "I'm awesome that way!"

Hallows sighed. He wonder how the other generals had reacted when they found out that Otri, who'd been fired months before, was now back as a new general. They probably weren't exactly happy.

"So anyhow..." Otri rubbed his clawed hands together. "I wanna see it!"

"I don't have it," Hallows said in a steely tone.

"Sure ya do, homie." Otri thrusted his eager hands into the purple fog that made up Hallow's face. "Where is it, droogie?"

"Stop that!" Hallows unintentionally let a crackle of power blaze through his system. Otri was smacked thirty feet back into a wall. A painting of The Creation of Pokemon fell on him.

"I see... it's the Spooky Plate, huh?" Otri looked somewhat disappointed. "Oh well. Let's have some crumble and chai at my new office later, pal. Duces!" He spun around and raced off in a very pompous fashion. Hallows let out a snort of disgust and floated away, deeper into the maze of catacombs.

Otri slowed to a stop as Hallows disappeared out of earshot.

"What a shame it wasn't the Earth Plate or the Dread Plate," he mumbled to himself. "Would've upped my powers tenfold! Man, homies these days." He wandered away, muttering.

He thought he knew everything that was to be known around these parts. He thought that he was alone.

But he didn't see the shadowy shape of Ranark holding a voice recorder hiding in the ceiling.

Or, of that importance, the half-invisible mechanism with a crudely carved crescent mark blinking on his sunglasses, glowing as it recorded his every sound and move.

---

In the Desert Resort...

"Our MIA count is over two hundred... three hundred now! What do we do?!" Annie yelled at Rob as General Nova's Regiment raced through the blazing hot sands of the Desert Resort. "When are we going to stop and do something about this?"

"General Nova―what are your orders?!" Rob hollered as the panicked army followed the frantic general and lieutenant through the harsh environment that was draining all hope, courage, and hydration from them.

Nova shooked her head, looking a bit dazed. Then she shook harder and the focused look came back to her eyes. "Lead the army straight towards the oasis―just keep on going straight," she ordered. "I'll search the attackers from the sky and see what's happening and how they're attacking."

"It's obviously Arena Trap... what else could it be?" Annie grumbled. "We should just get everyone into the air and nuke them all."

"Whoa Annie-girl. Calm down," Jazz said. "First of all, tell me how you're going to get the other Pokemon to suddenly... oh, I don't know. Grow wings and fly into the air."

"Shut up," Annie snapped. "What I'm saying is―we have to do something and we have to do that something now.At this rate, we're gonna lose the entire army."

"Well, then." Nova spread her huge wings. "Off I go!" She flapped her bat wings twice, stirring up a cloud of choking sand, and shot off into the sky.

Annie rubbed the stinging sand from her eyes. "Ow. Okay, where's the oasis?"

"She said straight," Rob remembered. "I guess we just go straight?"

Jazz snorted and charged forward. "Then what are we waiting for? Move!" She barreled across the sandy terrain, kicking sprays of grit as she ran.

"Wait up!" Annie hopped onto Demo, who had not yet fully recovered from his Arena Trap experience, and patted him on the head. "Let's go!"

"Rawhr," Demo mumbled, with no enthusiasm.

"I'm supposed to lead," Rob grumbled and charged forward. On the horizon, he could see a shimmering spray of silver. "Is that the oasis?"

"Uh... is there something wrong with your eyes?" Jazz yelled. "Or is the heat making you hallucinate? That's a freaking valley of cactus."

"I guess we should go around?" Rob suggested.

"Why bother?" Without even asking for permission, Jazz opened her mouth and blasted an amber pillar of Hyper Beam straight through the poor plants. "Let's gooo!" she howled as she charged on, conveniently clearing the path for the stragglers behind her.

"Slow down! I don't think the army can keep up!" Rob watched his pace and fell in steps a bit ahead of the front lines of the army. A fleet-footed Turtwig rushed over. Rob recognized a badge on his uniform that signified that he was the statistician of Nova's Regiment.

"What is it?" Rob asked.

"I've calculated our losses―exactly three hundred and twelve. Our numbers have not declined since General Nova took to the skies. I suspect that our ambushers had been somehow watching us." He let out a snort of disgust. "Anywho, I remember where the oasis is. It's about three miles or so due north. We'd better hurry up. I also suspect that those fiends aren't just using their Arena Trap abilities. I think there might be some Pokemon with the abilities Sh―" Suddenly, he stumbled. "Agh! What is this witchery?!"

"Stop!" Rob barked out, halting the nervous ranks as he gripped the Turtwig by the twig on his head and tried to drag him out. To his horror, the Turtwig was sinking into the sand faster than he had calculated.

"Who is doing this to the Great Statistician of Algebraic Calculations?!" the Turtwig screamed. "Get your dirty grit off of me!"

Rob started slipping into the soft sand that was slowly giving way beneath him. Demo roared with rage but didn't dare to come any closer. Nova had strangely disappeared from the sky. Jazz and Annie ran back to help, cursing all the way.

Suddenly, the magnetic force that was dragging them down stopped. Rob pulled the Turtwig up and deposited him on a favorably placed rock nearby. The Mightyena lieutenant panted, feeling drained as he backed away to survey his ranks.

"Did anyone else go missing?" he shouted.

"No!" someone from the back yelled back. "But can we hurry up?!"

"My precious seedling!" the Turtwig wailed, patting the small sapling on top of his head as he glared at Rob. "Did you have to pull that hard?!"

"Did you want to die?" Jazz asked. "My, my. I had no idea you were so eager to taste the fires of the SPIRIT REALM. Hmm?"

The Turtwig snarled, making no attempt to get up. "I'm thirsty," he complained. "My shell is all dry!"

Annie and Jazz glanced at Rob with exasperated looks. Leave him, they seemed to say.

Rob sighed. As much as he wanted to ditch the stupid turtle, the statistician was an important part of the army. He couldn't leave him behind. "I'll give you a ride, okay?" he suggested as he knelt down so the Turtwig could hop onto his back.

The Turtwig huffed. "I see what you wanna do, wolfie. You're thinking about kicking me off your back at―"

Suddenly, the sand erupted in a solid pillar of sand and granules around the the Turtwig.

"Noooo! NOOOO! NOT COOL! MY SEEDLING!" the statistician screamed. Rob charged the rushing waterfall of sand, but he might've as well charged into a metal pillar. The Mightyena hit the sand and bounced back uselessly as it consumed the miserable creature.

"No!" Rob pawed at the sand as it settled back down, raining gravel all over the troops. "No!" he snarled.

"Personally speaking, I was happy," Annie admitted as she watched from the sidelines.

"You got it, girl. That was rather refreshing," Jazz agreed. "The "noooooo!" and "my seedling!" and then BOOM! Problem gone." Then she noticed that Rob was glaring at her. "What? It was funny. Dang, I should've brought a camera and recorded the whole thing. Curse my forgetfulness."

"Where was the oasis again?" Annie asked.

"Three miles due north, I think," Jazz replied. "Are we going?"

"I thought you just said you were forgetful. How?" Rob stared at the spot where the statistician had disappeared.

"Well, you know. I'm talented that way." Jazz began loping off with Demo (carrying Annie, of course). "Are you coming?"

"We just lost our statistician and it had no effect on you?" Rob snarled. "We lost Gran too, and you two haven't even noticed yet!"

"Wait, we lost Gran?" Jazz gasped. "I had absolutely nooo idea and I was not worried at all!" She glared at Rob with a look that said, I'm worried too, you fool. Leave me alone.

Rob turned away. The ranks no longer cared about missing a Pokemon or two. They wanted to live.

So did Rob. It was a selfish act that a lieutenant should never dare to do, but Rob slowly gave the order to move and ran on ahead.

"You weren't able to see the statistician's disappearance because you were engaged in battle with an invisible opponent, of all things?" Jazz asked as General Nova reported.

"Yup. As soon as I got into the air, I could see the swirling patches of sand disappearing. I flew back a bit to check out if there were any possible clues of the ambushers' whereabouts. Then something like an invisible force hit me and started battling with me," Nova explained. "I fought it for a bit, then it suddenly just disappeared."

"Useless," Jazz muttered. Annie bonked her over the head.

"Hey..." Nova complained. "It's hard to fight when you're completely enveloped by a swirl of sand, you know. The Pokemon I was fighting had this personal singing sandstorm of protection around it, so I couldn't get close without being scorched by sand." She kicked at the dusty grit at her feet. "I hate sand."

"Hold on―singing?" Rob asked.

"Yeah. It was singing while I was fighting it. Pathetic, right?" Nova snorted. "I hate this desert!" she complained. "How come we had to march through this thing?"

"That's what I asked," Jazz pointed out.

Nova ignored her. "I'm hot, and tired, and the water tastes like sand. Can things get worse?"

"Don't jinx it," Rob muttered.

"At least the attacks have stopped and we're at the oasis," Annie pointed out. "We're not dehydrated and dizzy anymore. We can think this through."

"I'm pretty sure the ambushers have an aerial and invisible ally in the sky," Nova determined. "They have some way of contacting each other to warn each other of danger and scouts, I believe. There's no way we'll get them from the air, so we have to―"

"Get them from the ground," Rob finished. He glanced at the hostile and hot environment ringing the pool of water they'd stopped at. "So... an overland mission?" He nodded at Jazz, Annie, and Demo. "I guess you guys are coming with me?"

"Definitely!" Annie said. "We have to save Gran."

"He's a pain in the behind. But we gotta save him," Jazz agreed. "Demo?"

"Rawhr..." Demo whimpered in a very small voice. "Enope."

"No?" Annie frowned. "What's gotten into you? You're a big, strong Exploud now, Demo!"

Demo shook his head firmly. "Enope," he persisted.

"If you're going out there again,"―Rob jerked his head up at the familiar voice―"then you're going to need someone who can teleport you in a clutch. And that teleporter is me."

"Mina," Jazz said. "Still all gothic and ribbony, I see."

"Will you beat it?" the Gothitelle snapped. "It's how I look!"

"Sure I'll beat it. Beat what?" Jazz replied loftily. "You?"

"Jasmine, stop it," Annie said sternly as she turned towards Mina. "I didn't know you were in Nova's army."

Mina bit her lip. "I joined after our secret mission... I mean... Ero... he..." She choked up. "He always wanted to be a soldier, not an assistant of generals."

It got awkwardly silent after that as Group R and Mina briefly mourned the dead comrades killed by that angelic-winged devil of chaos. Annie was first to clear her throat.

"If I'm thinking right, I don't think Arena Trap was the only ability the ambushers had in their arsenal," she declared. "But no matter what trapping ability they have, they won't affect Ghost types. I say we bring some of the Ghost type soldiers along. Some Banettes, perhaps."

"And I'd like you to bring Shock." Nova nodded her head at a Magnezone floating towards them. "He can contact me using magnetic waves which can send a message to my spiffy device over here..." The Noivern general held up a small tablet. "If―Darkrai forbid―anything happens to you guys."

"Sure." Rob got to his paws. "Get packed up―we're going in," he ordered.

---

Half an hour later...

"What took you fools so long?" Jazz snapped irritably. "I've been ready for hours. What took you so long to grab a water bottle, a travelling pack, and food?"

"I brought along some Escape Orbs just in case we do get caught," Annie replied. "And some money, if those freaks want a ransom."

Jazz snatched the money and tossed it at General Nova, who squawked in surprise and caught it.

"Listen, girl. We're going in and we're not paying them to get Gran back. We are going to blast their unforgivable heads off and tie them up and drag them back here like rotten lumps of meat. Don't even think about negotiating with them!" Jazz snarled.

"Well... technically speaking, I think it's a good idea to not go along with the fighting plan," Annie admitted. "Our enemies are invisible and have the ability to trap us in sand and drag us down and possibly suffocate us. Do you want to die?"

"Death in action is honorable by any means!" Shock the Magnezone declared. "Death is―"

"Blah blah blah," Jazz cut him off. "If you wanna die, then I'm not stopping you. But I'm gonna get out of this in one piece, you'll see."

"Speaking of tying the ambushers up, did anyone bring rope?" Rob asked, pulling his muzzle out of his pack as he organized his things.

"I brought several loops," Annie said. "I'm sure the Banettes did too." She glanced at the three Banette soldiers that were floating next to her. "Right?"

"Uh... sure!" one squeaked. "I'm just gonna... uh... go now and grab some rop―I mean, food." She darted off, with her other two companions following her.

"Useless," Jazz commented. "That's all the other soldiers will ever be."

"Jazz, you're more useless than a sack of rocks," Annie said drily. "Those soldiers are the reason the Shadow Force is the most feared and respected military force in the world! They're the reason we exist at all, remember?"

"Nope," Jazz answered. "Guess I'm just way too fabulous for them to compare themselves to."

Annie sighed. "Can we get going now?"

"Wait for the Banettes," Nova suggested as she soar overhead. "You'll need them."

"Here―each of you take one." Annie passed around her Escape Orbs. "Just in case... you know."

Jazz took the blue orb and shoved it inside her pack. "Does it ever... you know, fail to work?"

"I think only Pokemon with the ability Shadow Tag can prevent the orbs from working," Annie said. "Arena Trap can't."

"Oh, so we're assuming that our enemy doesn't have Shadow Tag as an ability?" Jazz asked.

"We're trying to look on the bright side of life here, Jazz," Annie grumbled. "Stop being so pessimistic."

"What? I'm telling the truth!" the Linoone complained.

"We're back!" The Banettes raced over, panting a bit.

"We're all set," one of them said. "Let's go!"

"Let's," Rob growled gloomily.

"We've been walking for like, forever," Jazz complained. "My paws hurt!"

"We've only been walking for half an hour, Jazz," Annie snorted. "Toughen up!"

"The sun's burning my skin off," Jazz grumbled.

"Can you stop complaining?" Rob sighed.

"What else is there to do?"

"Maybe it'd be better if we split up," Shock suggested. "Maybe our enemies don't dare to attack such a large group."

"They attacked the Regiment," Annie reminded him. "So, no."

"I think the Pokemon that attacked General Nova might've been a Flygon," one of the Banettes said. "See?" He held out a book, titled Pokemon Handbook Guide―Desert Biome. "Page forty-two. Flygons are often called 'The Desert Spirit'. They can shield themselves from enemies by flapping their wings, creating a miniature sandstorm around their bodies; this is the reason why most Flygons are enveloped in a sandstorm when flying. When flying or hovering at a fast speed, their wings create a series of notes that sound somewhat like singing."

"So what's a Flygon doing here, attacking us?" Annie asked. "Don't tell me that we accidentally trespassed on its territory or home or something."

"This is the desert, smartypants," Jazz said. "Anyone with sense would build their homes near oasis, not in the middle of the desert."

"Some Pokemon might!" Annie argued. "I knew we should've brought the money! We could've paid off that Flygon!"

"Hold on," Shock cut in crisply. "The Flygon―if it is a Flygon―isn't our only problem, remember? If I remember correctly, our attackers have the ability Arena Trap. I don't think a Flygon would have that ability."

"That's true," the female Banette soldier admitted. "Abilities often change after evolving. I'm pretty sure that Flygon's ability would be Levitate, not Arena Trap."

"Which puts us back at square one," Annie muttered glumly. "Should we split up or not?"

"Let's do," Rob decided. "Alright, let's split into two groups―Annie, Jazz, and you,"―he nodded at a male Banette soldier―"come with me. Shock, Mina and you two Banettes go the other way―"

"But we need a way to contact Nova if anything goes wrong, and Shock is the only one that can do that," Annie reminded him. "What do we do?"

"I can use telepathy, if that's what you need," Mina spoke up. "So either Shock or I should go with your group."

"I'll take Shock, and Jazz can go with you guys," Rob concluded. "We'll both go different directions for half an hour or so before heading back to the oasis."

"Do we go back alone or do we wait for your group?" the female Banette asked.

"Go alone," Rob answered. "It's safer to get back quickly instead of waiting here. Is everything clear?"

"I guess so," Jazz said. "So long, then." With that, she turned and bounded off with her group flanking her.

"Let's go, then," Rob said grimly. "And get to the bottom of this."

Annie clutched her Escape Orb tightly with her paws. "I hope nothing bad happens," she murmured. "Alrighty, then. Let's go!"

Rob turned and sprinted off into the harsh environment. He could hear Annie scrambling along behind him, panting, and Shock muttering complaints. The two Banettes flanked him on either side, looking around worriedly.

"Hey―isn't this place the valley of cactus?" The Banette pointed, showing gleaming golden teeth as he frowned. "I can see the path Jasmine blasted through."

Sure enough, there was a ragged path of destruction curving through the desert, containing imprints of paws and hooves from the soldiers and the torn cacti.

"We are so going to get sued for destroying this," Annie muttered as she dragged herself forward. "What is up with this sand? It's like mud!"

Rob shook some sand from his claws. "Let's go investigate the valley. It looks like a good place for an underground stronghold," he determined.

"How would they build it underground?" the Banette asked. "Wouldn't the sand collapse on top of them?"

"True... unless..." Rob frowned. "What if they built a base outside and teleported it underground?"

"That could work... but how would they do that so fast?" Annie inquired. "We got a sudden notification to go on this march, and that was a day ago. Nobody could build something that fast."

"Unless it was already there," the Banette responded. "I'm thinking that the ambushers might be from the rogues. They must have strongholds all over Unova, and the Desert Resort stronghold must be in the valley."

"That's a lot of "'must's," Annie commented. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," the Banette said.

"Well... what should we do?" Shock asked. "Blast a hole through the ground? I'm pretty sure the government would not be happy about that."

"We are the government," Annie pointed out. "So technically..."

"We're the military. Not government. Government means political stuff," Shock argued. "I hate politics."

"But politics are the center of our government," Rob insisted. "We need politics."

"Screw politics," Annie said. "Let's figure out to demolish this valley first." She plopped down next to Rob, wheezing heavily. "I'm so out of shape," she muttered.

"Hold on..." The Banette narrowed her eyes. "Why are you two so tired?" she asked Shock and Annie.

"Dunno," Annie admitted. "But I feel like my feet's cement."

"My body feels heavy," Shock informed. "I can't hover properly."

"What's wrong?" Rob asked.

The Banette turned on him with a look of frustration on his face. "It's on the tip of my tongue," he said, frowning. "I just can't remember..."

"What do you mean?" Rob questioned, puzzled. "Is something wrong?"

"Something about Arena Traps and Steel types..." he muttered. "I just can't remember..."

"Hey! I'm sinking into the sand!" Shock yelped. Rob whirled around to see the giant Magnezone sinking through the ground like a malfunctioning UFO. "Is this good or bad?"

"Help!" Annie howled, grabbing at Rob and nearly tearing off his fur. "I'm sinking too!"

"I got it! It's Magnet Pull!" the Banette announced. "It traps Steels types and prevents them from escaping."

"That's wonderful!" Annie yelled. "How do we get out?!"

"Your Escape Orb?" Rob suggested.

Annie was sinking even faster than Rob had thought. "It's not working!" she howled. "Someone help!"

"I already sent a message to the general!" Shock shrieked. "Now get us out of here!"

A shiver went of Rob's back. He suddenly understood this entire, malicious trap. It was perfect. Too perfect. There was no error in this ambush.

"There's got to be a way out!" Annie yapped as she flailed around in the sand.

"No," Rob said flatly. "There's no way out." Sand started swirling around his paws.

"Are you stupid?" Annie hissed. "We got Demo out last time! We got that stupid statistician out... actually, we didn't... but that doesn't mean you can't get us out if you'd just stop thinking so deeply and get us out!"

"We were only able to get Demo out because that was only Arena Trap," Rob said. The sand was pulling at his paws now, and he struggled to stay afloat. "This isn't!" He activated his Escape Orb. As he had suspected, it simply flickered and went out without helping him. "This isn't just Arena Trap! This is all of the trapping abilities together!" His eyes darkened. "There's no escape!"

"Um... excuse me, Lieutenant Sir..." the Banette said. "I'm not trapped yet, but I can't possibly get all three of you out. What do I do?"

"Go back to General Nova," Rob ordered, struggling against the pull of Arena Trap although he knew it was useless. "Lead her here and tell her about this trap! Go!"

The Banette nodded and darted off.

"Rob... are you sure that's the right choice?" Annie's face was beaded with exhaustion. She was clearly running out of strength. "Maybe we could've escaped."

"Maybe..." Shock panted. "But on the bright side, we can see where this stronghold is."

"And that Banette's off to ge―" Annie went under.

"Annie!" Rob had to choke back his scream. He hope he'd been right and the stronghold was right under them. She's safe. She'll live, he told himself shakily.

"General Nova will find us," Shock assured him, struggling madly against the force that was pulling him down. "She's smart that way. And I sent her a message to find that Banette to come over here."

"And Mina's group is still out there," Rob determined, wheezing. Although he knew he was going to submerge anyhow, he still fought against the pull of the sand. He didn't quite know why, though. Maybe because a small voice at the back of his head kept whispering to him, "What if?"

What if the stronghold wasn't under them? What if it was just solid, suffocating earth. (Or sand, whatever.) Rob's fur was on end.

"We'll be fine. They can't possibly get that Banett―" Shock suddenly gulped and went under.

Rob knew he was next, but he was sure his hastily-made plan had work. As the ambushers were attacking him, Mina's group would be safe. No trapping ability could snare a Ghost type, so the Banette would be able to show General Nova the way here. And Nova was smart enough to know what to do. He closed his eyes and forced his body to relax, but his churning emotions clashed in his stomach, giving him a nauseous feeling of dread. What if?

"Oh, stop fighting," a calm voice said, accompanied by a soft, melodic sound in the background. Something thudded down next to him, and out of the corner of his eye, Rob spotted the Banette he'd sent out. "This is the perfect trap, isn't it? We've spent weeks doing this to block communication abilities like telepathy and your friend's precious magnetic waves. There's no escape."

Rob glared at the Flygon that had appeared above him. "What do you want?" he demanded. "We're just marching through!"

"Sure thing. What do you think I want?" the Flygon snarled. He looked oddly familiar, although Rob frustratingly couldn't remember his name or where they'd met. "It's all about what I want, isn't it? Or, more like... it's about what we want. Hasn't it become obvious enough to you yet, Mister Lieutenant? It's not about what we want right out of the blue..." The sand shifted around Rob's neck, and the Mightyena struggled to keep his muzzle in the air. "It's about what you took from us!"

The world turned dark, and Rob held his breath as he sunk down into the depths of the desert.

---

At the Accumula Hospital...

Ralph walked cautiously into the patients' room, almost holding his breath. What if... what if... Excitement ran through his body. Having an oracle as a Revolutionist would be a great advantage. They would be able to predict their enemy's moves and all that. The Revolution would be truly successful then.

Sitting upright on the white hospital bed was a green, condor-like Pokemon with ruffled red-and-black marked white wings. Her green body had black, red, and yellow accents, and her almond eyes glowed dully. She reminded Ralph a bit of a totem pole, or a really creepy wooden painted statue left behind by the aboriginal tribes of Unova.

"Is that a... Is she a Xatu?" Ralph asked.

"Xatu," Vindictus said. "Psychic. Flying. Art of Sun Gazing. Future. Past. Crystal ball. Weather... hmm... weather prediction potion... Castform..."

"I am," the Xatu replied in a tired, worn voice. She studied Vindictus with a critical eye as the Noctowl muttered to himself.

"Cool!" Jason cheered. "So you can see the future with your right eye and the past with your left, right? Awesome!"

"Not awesome," the Xatu muttered, then cleared her throat. "Are you... would you please introduce your respective selves?"

"I'm Ralph," Ralph introduced. "Leader of the Revolutionists."

"Jebodiah," Jebodiah said politely. "Subordinate of the First Regiment."

"Lumiere, Head Cleric of Nuvema Chapel," Lumiere presented. "Now a Revolutionist medic."

"Vindictus. Noctowl. Potioneer," Vindictus added.

"And I'm Jason!" Jason hopped in. "Messenger! Want a waffle?"

"No... thanks," the Xatu said politely. "I guess I should... explain myself. I am Quetzal the Eleventh, descendant of Quetzal the First, the founder of the Xatu Divination Services."

"The Xatu Divination Services?" Jebodiah gasped. "The origin of all the current oracles?!"

Although Quetzal's eyes were tired, they held a gleam of pride and authority. "Yes," she agreed. "The group made up of solely oracles who debated about the future and such disasters." Her eyes flashed. "We held all the strings of fate and crossways in our minds, then."

"Hey... wasn't there another oracle group called the Nightmare Intuition?" Lumiere asked. "If I remember correctly, both of them dissolved at the same time... about two years ago, right? Were they the same organization?"

Quetzal shook her head. "The Nightmare Intuition contains some oracles... only one or two. The other oracles were all in my Divination Services. The other difference is that the Nightmare Intuition specializes in mental healing, meditating, fortune-telling, karma, chakras, cleansing of the mind, and such nonsense. Our Divination is a much more serious group, closed to outsiders." She held her head up with pride.

"Oh. So what made them both dissolve?" Lumiere inquired.

Quetzal sighed. "We, the oracles, sensed the awakening of a dark future, which could only be averted if the Shadow Force were to dissolve. We warned the towns nearby of the darkness that the Shadow Force would bring. Then Darkrai brought his rage upon us. We were destroyed... many of our sisters and brothers killed." The Xatu's eyes darkened. "The others fled all over the world, scattering across the regions. Always hiding, always afraid of the open..."

"And what happened to the Nightmare Into... whatever it was?" Jebodiah asked.

"That..."―Quetzal hesitated―"doesn't matter. I sensed a great danger for you if you should ever know of what happened to the Nightmare Intuition. Just assume that they were annihilated." She paused. "But that's not why I came all the way from Hoenn for." She turned to Ralph. "It has been two years since our Services have scattered. During these two years I've tried to locate all of the remaining oracles."

"And did you find any?" Lumiere questioned.

Quetzal sighed. "You mean ones who are still alive? No..." She looked down at her wings. "There was an oracle named Reverie... she was the first oracle I found. The Shadow Force had been tracking me without my notice, and they attacked us some days after I found her. Reverie died protecting me." She took a deep breath. "The problem with finding oracles from the Services is that most changed their names to protect themselves when they fled. Some of my sisters and brothers also know a bit about magic, which makes them harder to find." She fixed her dark brown eyes on Ralph. "But now things are changing. A Prophecy of Doom is upon us. I must find my sisters and brothers. Together, we can find a solution to this terror."

"So... why did you want to see me again?" Ralph asked.

"I heard that Nuvema Town had an oracle," Quetzal replied. "I was actually on my way there, but those Shadow Force soldiers who'd been on my track caught up to me. Luckily, some of your soldiers saved me. I was making up my mind whether to keep on flying to Nuvema or not when I heard that the Revolutionists' leader was here, and he had talked to the oracle I'm looking for."

"You mean Scarlet?" Lumiere suggested.

"Scarlet. Bright red. Orange tinge," Vindictus muttered. "Meaning: courage, force, passion, joy..."

"Shiny Absol," Quetzal confirmed. "Uses tarot cards and a crystal ball. Translucent red cape, perhaps?"

"That's Scarlet," Ralph settled. "But she's not here now. She left a long time ago."

"So she changed her name to Scarlet... wait..." Quetzal bolted straight up in her bed. "She left? Why? Where'd she go? What happened? Was she captured? Hurt?"

"She disappeared some time before the Nuvema Revolution," Ralph informed her. "We got a letter from her soon after, saying she was going off to 'play her part', or something like that. But we haven't heard from her since then."

"Play her... part? Don't tell me..." Quetzal was suddenly quiet.

"Um..." Jason tugged on Ralph's paw. "Should Jebodiah, Vindictus, and I go off?"

"Huh?" Ralph frowned. "For what?"

"Scouting for a training place," Jason said impatiently. "Has your brain gone waffles?"

"What?" Ralph tried to focus. "Scouting. Right. Go ahead."

"Toodles!" Jason turned abruptly and hopped away, followed by Vindictus and Jebodiah.

Ralph turned his attention back to Quetzal. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Quetzal shook herself uneasily. "I'm fine," she said flatly. "If Sh―... Scarlet ever contacts you again, could you pass this package over to her? And tell her that I understand." The Xatu pulled a small red package out from under her wing and passed it to Ralph.

"Sure. And what do you understand?" Ralph asked as he accepted the package.

Quetzal held his gaze. "Everything," she said mysteriously. "That's all I can tell you."

"Um... fine, then." Ralph stared at the package. "What's in here?"

"I don't know."

"What? How do you not know what's in a package you're giving to your friend?!" Ralph yelped.

"More like returning to my friend," Quetzal corrected. "While we were running away from the Shadow Force, Scarlet gave me this package and told me to keep it safe for her until the time is ripe. The time now is certainly mature, and I believe it's time that I give it back."

"So..." Ralph poked at the parcel. It was a small red box with black glitter. "You never tried opening the package or anything?"

"I don't know what's in the package, but I do know it contains three objects close to Scarlet and two of the other oracles. One of the other oracles whose trinket is in there knew a bit about magic, and set a seal on it," Quetzal explained. "From what Scarlet told me, it has to be opened in order. First by her, then the other two, in their special order. Otherwise it will not open. The box is heavily cursed, so if the wrong Pokemon tries to open it... well... let's just leave it at that."

"Oh." Ralph felt as if the Xatu had given him a bomb. "So... I just keep this safe, don't ever try to open it, and give it to Scarlet ASAP?"

"Yes."

"Right," Ralph muttered. "Anyways... could I ask you a question?"

"If I have the answer and the answer would not twist the road of fate, then yes," Quetzal replied.

"I have several questions, actually," Ralph admitted. "First of all... where did all of the oracles go? Did the Shadow Force kill them all?"

"Most of the oracles escaped the Shadow Force successfully," Quetzal replied. "As to their location... well... I believe that some of them have kept in touch with each other. There's one oracle who I know has been keeping tabs on the others, but she refuses to meet me, saying that 'a great disaster' would befall on me should I go there anytime soon." Quetzal let out a small, disappointed sigh. "I will be going back to my search to look for the much stronger oracles, the ones smart enough to keep out of trouble. I hope that by gathering all of us, we can decipher this upcoming doom."

"Right." Ralph nodded. "And what happened to the Nightmare Intuition Pokemon? Were they all killed?"

The Xatu was quiet for a long while. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I cannot answer, because you will misjudge the meaning of my explanation. There are some things that aren't meant to be known at certain times."

Ralph thought as much, but he decided not to argue with her. "And lastly... I know you want to look for the other oracles... but since they're all in hiding or reluctant to meet you... Would you like to join the Revolutionists?" Ralph asked formally.

Quetzal narrowed her eyes distrustfully. "I don't use my foresight for battle," she said, reading Ralph's mind. "I know what you're thinking. You're planning to have me predict our enemies' movements and such. You're wrong. That is not clairvoyance. I see prophecies, or visions of the future. But I cannot predict such a miniscule and mundane thing. Clairvoyance cannot predict specific things, understand? Now, if you got Scarlet to do that with her Absol abilities, then maybe that'd work. But no. Even with my ability to see the future, I cannot see such small things."

"Oh..." Ralph was disappointed. Then he realized the weary look on the Xatu's face and figured that he'd better make like a Weedle and run for it. "Sorry for pressuring you with so many questions," he apologized. "I hope you get well soon. I'll be departing now." He made a hesitant bow.

"You're welcome, and thank you," Quetzal returned. "And good luck."

Ralph grinned. "Thanks," he said, clutching the package. "And good luck to you too." Then he turned and raced off.

Quetzal stared at the ceiling, visions swimming before her.

"So... this is how it's going to be..." she murmured to herself. "Unpreventable war." She got slowly out of the bed and tested her wings hesitantly. Then she looked at the direction Ralph had run off.

"My poor, young friend," she said softly, and sighed a bit. "I know what you're planning... Scarlet..." she spoke aloud. "And I know you're willing to sacrifice your soul in this for the greater good." She paused for a bit, sorrow creeping upon her. "I cannot stop you sister..." she whispered, her voice cracking. "I cannot help you either." She lowered her head sadly, then brought it up. "As you said... we must all play our parts."

Light wrapped around the Xatu, and she teleported away.

---

At Darkrai's Palace's Courtyard...

"Her army arrived hours ago," Ranark grumbled. "Where is that birdbrain?!"

"I heard she went to talk to the Northern Kingdom Queen first," Doomsday replied as she scanned the skies for that familiar shape. "She's probably on her way here. She'll arrive in... hmm... a couple minutes?"

"She also said she had a 'surprise' for us," Ranark commented. "I wonder what that would be?"

"You know Stary better than I do," Doomsday responded. "So you should know. But I like surprises. Especially unpleasant ones." Her fanged mouth twitched into a malicious grin.

"I think she meant surprise as in gifts and stuff. Not tragic events," Ranark returned dryly.

"Meh. Then that's boring. Why can't we have bloody parties?" Doomsday complained. "In the old days, we used to..."

"Enough," Ranark growled. "I hate all of this!"

"All of what? Our alliance? You know full well that you need me in our lovely plan, don't you?" Doomsday laughed.

"Not that," Ranark growled as he paced along the palace's cobblestone path. "I used to be one of the only generals here, alongside Blobby and Stary. Now Blobby is gone, and there are three new... nitwit generals! That pathetic, crazy Nova. The newest general which Darkrai just recruited out of the blue, without a single meeting whatsoever! And then there's you... You're supposed to hate the Shadow Force and you're not even supposed to fight!"

"Please," Doomsday sighed. "The past is in the past, as they say. Anyhow, when did Darkrai ever hold a meeting to discuss the recruitment of a general? Nada!"

Ranark growled under his breath, but didn't reply. He hated all of this... war... and complications... and... just this entire, chaotic thing. Allies could not be trusted. Leaders suddenly changed their minds... and...

"Hey!" The Greninja jerked his head up as a shadowy shape swooped overhead. "I'm heeeere!" There was the sickening shink of metal blades passing over each other as the new arrival flapped her strong wings. Then a gigantic bird landed on the path the other two were standing on. She had bright, sparkling eyes, a whimsical smile on her beak, and was wearing a red scarf with several medals pinned to it. A huge luggage bag was clenched between her clawlike feet.

"Stary!" Ranark exclaimed. "I didn't expect you to come this fast."

Doomsday came over, wrinkling her nose. "Where's your armor?" she asked. "When we had that Psÿche conversation like, five hours ago... or like, a week ago... you had that awesome body armor. Where is it?"

Stary made an unpleasant clicking sound. "For some reason, when I entered the Queen's throne room, I surprised her. And then she blasted me into the wall with some mega-force Strength dainty little royalties shouldn't have."

"Which broke your body armor," Ranark guessed. "Was the Highness's power that strong?"

"If it was enough to break my King's Rock armor, then yes." Stary sniffed, obviously quite miffed at the fact of losing her armor.

"King's Rock?" Ranark asked. "I thought you prefered steel." He nodded at the other general's metal-tipped wings and claws.

"Those?" Stary extended a wing and studied the wickedly gleaming knife-like tip clipped to each outer feather. "Those are made of a special type of steel in Sinnoh. They're better for offense, not defense."

"I'd like extra accessories too," Doomsday commented smugly. "Unfortunately, I'm only good with pendants." She yanked out a collection of necklaces from a pocket of her robe. "Mostly defensive, though."

"I can show you how to make the armor," Stary offered. "And we can find another material for the steel blade-tips."

Doomsday nodded, showing her fangs. "Anyways... what's in your little pack over there? Things for us, I hope?"

Stary laughed delightfully. "Of course!" she said. "Let's go to the picnic table next to the lake, alright?"

"And... where is that?" Doomsday questioned, puzzled.

"It's..." Stary stared at her. "... In the palace's garden? Which is right―"

"There's a palace in this garden?" Ranark asked, then realized his mistake. "Uh... I mean, there's a garden in this palace?"

"I had no idea," Doomsday said. "I thought there were only the creepy catacombs and underground stuff. I never saw a garden."

"Are you kidding me?" Stary exclaimed. "Of all the things in this palace..."

"And then there's that weird theater thingy," Ranark went on. "Broadcasting non-stop videos of the Striaton Bombing."

"Plus that Research Room," Doomsday added helpfully. "And all the machinery rooms. And the armory. And, of course, that secret stash of... what was it called? Dark Star Dust?"

"Yeah. I heard it's an ingredient for a bomb," Ranark replied. "So..."

"Hold on..." The two generals looked at Stary, who'd doubled over laughing. "Oh my Arceus... you guys... seriously don't know where the garden is?"

"Well, no," Doomsday admitted. "We went treasure hunting for all the secret stuff first. Especially the bomb research lab."

"You're in it!" Stary howled with laughter. "Mother of Darkrai! Hah! You two didn't even realize you're in the garden?"

The other two looked around at their environment. Cobblestone paths stretched out in a curving pattern, winding past trees blooming with beautiful purple flowers donning scarlet-streaked petals. A large, serene lake reflected the ultramarine sky, which was dappled with wisps of misty white clouds and the pale, golden circle that was the everlasting sun. The warm wind indicated that spring was here, and the air was tinged with the sharp tint of the late frost, and the faint whistling of Anville Town's trains could be distantly heard.

"This is a garden?" Doomsday asked. "This?"

Stary looked taken back. "Wh... what did you think this was?"

"I thought this was the experimental ground for the bombs we're making," Doomsday replied.

"You got that out of this view?" Ranark asked. "Please, at least I had a much more innocent idea."

"Which was..." Stary face-winged herself.

"I thought that this would be a good place for us to watch prisoners battle to the death or be tortured," Ranark replied matter-of-factly. "Looks just like the place for it, right?"

"You call that an innocent idea?" Stary yelped. "Look at this beautiful place! Are you blind?"

"What? Of course not!" Ranark apparently didn't get Stary's figurative words. "I have perfect vision. What are you talking about?"

"Don't mind me," the Staraptor general groused. "Let's just get over to that picnic table."

Doomsday frowned. "That's a picnic table? Looks like a stretching rack to me."

"Or a beheading platform." Ranark decided.

"That doesn't look like a guillotine, though," Doomsday remarked. "Those are usually taller."

"Can we please stop talking about brutal killing methods?" Stary asked. "I'm going to throw up."

"What else is there to talk about?" Doomsday frowned.

"Here. Sit down," Stary said. "And look at what I brought!"

"Sit down on a guillotine?" Ranark frowned. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"I keep telling you this isn't a guillotine," Doomsday responded. "It's a stretching rack!"

"Guillotine!" Ranark argued.

"Guys―" Stary tried to cut in, but the other two ignored her.

"Stretching rack!"

"Guillotine!"

"GUYS!"

"Stretching rack!"

"Guillotine!"

At this point, Stary finally lost her long lasting patience and flared up. Flapping her metal-tipped wings, she rose into the air and opened her beak. Blasts of violent winds shot out from her position. Her eyes flashed with anger. "SIT DOWN YOU MEDDLING FOOLS!" she shrieked.

"Well, when you put it that way." Doomsday perched herself carefully in one of the chairs. "Hey! It's all... cushiony!"

"This is comfortable," Ranark agreed.

Stary swooped down and landed in the other chair. Her anger forgotten now that the other two had finally calmed down, she plunked her heavy luggage bag down before them and started bringing out souvenirs. "I got these special treats from my military outposts in Kanto and Sinnoh!" she explained. "Here's some Moomoo milk, Berry Juice... oh! And honeyed Energy Roots! And those are Lava Cookies, cans of Lemonade, Soda Pop, and―of course―Old Gateau!"

"Oh, yum." Doomsday was munching delicately on a piece of Old Gateau. "Sinnoh's speciality, I see."

"These Lava Cookies are awesome," Ranark added, taking another cookie.

Stary beamed with pride. "That's not all I got! I brought non-foodstuffs too! They're epic!"

"What's better than food?" Doomsday asked.

"Wait and see!" Stary dug into her pack. "I got a Black Belt for Ranark..."

"I'm a ninja, not a kung-fu martial arts guy," Ranark said. "It's worthle―" He stopped as Stary raised her head slowly and glared at him.

"You're wearing that," she announced, and it was final.

"Oh, boy. Can't wait to see the little ninja all decked out." Doomsday smirked. Ranark tried to smack her, but she dodged.

"And I got Doomsday a special Reaper Cloth outfit―The Reaper Cloak!" Stary proudly brought out a folded dusky purple cloth that seemed to radiate a dark, spiritual aura. "Here!"

"Mother of oracles!" Doomsday snatched the cloth. "This is the outfit that increases speed and accuracy and defense and... thanks so much!"

"I've never seen you so excited before," Ranark muttered. "Usually, you're going 'kill, kill, out with the weak, in with the strong... can't live up to the expectations? DIE!'"

"This is awesome!" Doomsday continued excitedly, taking off her usual cloak and replacing it with the Reaper Cloak. "I won't even need body armor with this!"

"There's also a magical orb in the middle," Stary added. "See that blue jewel? It can let you teleport short distances in battle."

"How come she got better stuff?" Ranark complained.

"Are you whining?" Stary asked.

"Well―"

"You get belt, you wear belt―and, more importantly―you keep belt. Got that?" Stary snapped.

Ranark rolled his eyes. This was why he hated reunion parties. He was always left out. Grumpily, he turned back to the food.

"Yo, yo homies!" All three generals turned at the hip-hoppity voice. "Hey, hey, now. Having a swell time without me?"

"Is that the newest general?" Stary asked. "Darkrai said the newest general never talks."

"That's the one that's in Sinnoh right now, taking up your post," Doomsday replied, slurping a Soda Pop. "This is the second-to-newest one. The annoying soon-to-be-roadkill one."

"What?"

"Oh, hey! My favs!" Otri reached over and snatched the Lava Cookie Stary was about to eat. He bit into it delicately ("Oh, yum.") and shoved the rest down his ugly throat. Grinning as he moved his sunglasses a bit lower down his snout, he beamed at Stary.

Stary frowned. "Who's the jerk?"

"That's Otri, the famous Unova pop star. Now a general." Doomsday transferred her pendants to her Reaper Cloak. "I suddenly don't feel like eating now. I'll be going." The dark general, shrouded in her new robes, turned and walked away.

Ranark felt like leaving too, but he knew he had to keep an eye on Otri. Letting out an unhappy sigh, he sipped from a can of Lemonade.

"Well, pretty birdie. You the caterer here?" Otri asked, sliding into Doomsday seat, reclining comfortably on the plush cushion.

"What language are you speaking?" Stary sounded genuinely confused. "And there's plenty of food here. There's no need to be rude and... oh, I don't know. Steal a cookie straight from my claws, is there?"

Otri slammed into the table with his fists. It didn't budge.

"You've got puny muscles," Ranark commented. "Guess you only worked on your vocal chords, not your upper body strength. Shame." He lashed out at an impossible speed. Otri fell to the ground, his seat sliced neatly in half. "Whoops. I didn't mean to do that. Guess I'm just too strong," the Greninja said in a mocking tone.

"Boys, boys. Settle down." Stary flapped her wings nervously. She didn't like this Otri general. He was much too arrogant for her taste. But she also didn't like civil wars within ranks or quarreling. This was supposed to be a peaceful picnic of some sorts in a serene garden. Now... this Otri was ruining all her fun and excitement just when Stary finally got Doomsday and Ranark to settle down.

"Sure." Ranark hid a smile. He knew that Stary was on the verge of snapping. Doomsday and he had agreed earlier, in a private conversation, that it would be better to have the aerial commander in their secret plans. She was strong, after all, and the senior general as well. If he could turn Stary against Otri... "Cheers, Otri! To a brighter future!" Ranark mockingly saluted and raised a Soda Pop. Stary did the same, not understanding Ranark's true intentions.

"Screw you all!" Otri flipped back up and slammed back down onto the table. This time, a wide fissure appeared in the wooden table and spread outwards, fracturing the table. Ranark managed to grab a pack of Soda Pops before the entire table caved in. Stary flapped backwards in both shock and surprise, her razor-sharp wings shredding the leaves of a nearby tree.

Otri huffed, obviously proud of his performance. "Listen here now, homies!" he roared. "I'm Darkrai's Number One General now! Don't you dare get in my way!"

"You're Darkrai's Number One General?" Stary snarled. Ranark felt a pleasing pulse of satisfaction run through this wiry body. Stary was hooked. She was mad. This was perfect.

"Yeah! Beat that, feather brain!" Otri retorted.

Stary hissed with anger and flew into the air. "You are not Darkrai's Number One General here!" she yelled. "I am! You're the most worthless piece of―" she screeched an unprintable word that would've gotten her beak washed out for a month. "I'm the senior general here! I am the First General, the Commander of the Skies! I stabilized Sinnoh in one fell swoop! You delusional fool―you're just a mangy hip-hop artist with no swag, no class, and most of all―no brain!" She dove at Otri, body-slamming him into ground. Otri screamed and flailed backwards.

It might've ended for the hip-hoppity general right then and there if Darkrai hadn't materialized and intervened.

"Stary!" Darkrai shouted as he flew towards the tussling pair.

The Staraptor pulled herself away from the Krookodile and whirled around to face her leader, her normally serene face flush with both anger and embarrassment.

"You're so done now, homie," Otri cackled.

"I'm so glad you're back!" Darkrai continued cheerfully, with happy gleam in his eyes. "I haven't seen you in so long! Come on! We have a lot to talk about."

"Oh, Lordy," Stary murmured.

"Let's go to the throne room," Darkrai suggested. Ranark was taken back. He'd never seen the dark lord like this.

"M-My Lord," Ranark stammered. "Why are yo―"

"Oh." Darkrai frowned as he caught sight of the other general. "I didn't see you there. Why don't you go train your regiment or something?"

Ranark frowned. "Is that... all?"

"And Otri―" Darkrai turned to the Krookodile with an unhappy look on his face. "Why were you on the ground with my senior, number one general?"

"Wha―she's―wa?" Otri spluttered, his sunglasses crashing forward onto his snout. "Excuse me?"

Stary was quick on the draw. She went straight into damsel-in-distress mode. "He was mad at me for being your favorite," Stary cried. "And then he... just... started attacking me... and blowing up this garden. I brought some special food for you from Sinnoh because I thought you'd want a little taste of home... b-but he..." She hid her face behind her wings and gave Ranark a hidden smile. Ranark secretly smiled himself.

Otri was so screwed.

"WHAT?" Darkrai roared as he turned on Otri. "HOW DARE YOU!? YOU'D BETTER PICK YOUR SORRY, PATHETIC WIMPY SELF OFF THE GROUND, NOW, BEFORE I RIP YOUR FLESH FROM YOUR BONES AND APOLOGIZE TO STARY. NOW!"

"B-But..." Otri yelped, then caught Stary's smug smirk. He understood that his position and rank was at risk here. Darkrai was one step away from disintegrating him. Bowing stiffly, he turned to Stary. "I'm sorry, Stary," he muttered. "It won't happen again."

"That's better," Darkrai huffed. "Now clean up this mess you made. We'll have a talk about your position later, after my meeting with Stary."

Stary threw a smirk over her shoulder as she flew off with Darkrai.

"Are they always like this?" Otri asked, watching the pair go off.

Ranark punched Otri in the gut and sent him into the lake.

---

Somewhere below the Desert Resort...

"Rob, your hind leg's in my face," Annie grumbled.

"It is not. That's a tree branch," Rob argued.

"What's a tree branch doing fifty feet under the ground?" the male Banette soldier accompanying them asked.

"Hey, we're trapped in spider webs," Shock noticed. "I'm guessing this isn't good."

Rob sat up in his tight prison. From what he could see, he was in a dimly lit, sand-colored room. The ceiling was domed, and the room was circular.

In the room, he could see orb-shaped spires of spider webs that contained struggling soldiers. Several Ariados clambered along the ceilings, shooting out random webs of silk and occasionally stopping by one of the prisons to peer in.

The silk prison seemed to be made of special spider silk―so strong that Rob couldn't break through it, but flexible enough for him to squirm around. Unlike normal spider silk, it was also not sticky. His prison was hanging from the ceiling, along with Annie, Shock, and the Banette's. Annie was over to his left, smacking a tree branch sticking out of the ceiling.

"Darn it. Of all the things to be in here, why a tree branch and why is it in my cell?" Annie complained.

"Shhhh," Shock hissed. "Something's happening."

As they watched from far above, a dark-clad Pokemon strode in, her voice strong and clear.

"Send the next load," she ordered. "We've made another prison room in the headquarters."

Rob recognized the voice. "Hey! Isn't that―" He barely had time to say Gala before Annie swung her prison cell around and smacked him.

Don't let them know, she seemed to warn.

Rob bit his tongue, but he could clearly see the Zoura's familiar shape. She was definitely one of the rogues that had ambushed him some time back, which meant that the rogues were the masterminds behind this entire trap. A sudden realization crackled through his mind. The Flygon was also one of the rogues that had attacked him back then! Which meant that this entire thing... this entire plan was designed by the very group from oh-so long ago!

"Have any of them repented?" one of the Ariados hissed.

Gala snorted. "Not yet. But either way, we'll benefit. Brainwashing is rather convenient, I would say. Hurry up with the next group." She took some steps forward and glanced around at the cells approvingly. "How many did you get during this hour?" she asked.

"Just the four at the top. I heard Pyra's group is after another group of four," the Ariados replied. "The rest of the army arrived at the oasis in one piece. We could attack them... but it's broad daylight, and our aerial reports say that they have... ah, 'eyes in the sky', so to speak."

"Hmph." Rob watched as Gala toured around the cells. A shiny Ariados and a Sandslash were piling some cobweb cells onto a huge wagon-like sled vehicle, which was attached to two Scolipedes.

"I really hate working in this place," the Scolipede on the left complained. "Sand everywhere! And it had to be sand... and sand... sand and more sand. There's sand everywhere!"

"Yah, mate!" the other agreed, groaning. "Sand in ya bed, sand in ya cloak... sand in ya food!"

"Will you two stop complaining?" Gala snapped. "Do you think the rest of us like working here? Please!"

"I don't get why we have schedules and team shifts for all of this," the Scolipede on the right muttered. "Look at Team Relic! They get to do whatever they want! Then there's Lunis and Monnie! Spy stuff!"

"Loki, you can spy on a plant for your life," the other one said drily. "Now are going to tow the wagon or not?"

"I've been towing the wagon for the past six hours while you slept in the harness," Loki the Scolipede snapped. "And you ate my poffins at break time!"

"Shut up," Gala ordered. "This is both our groups' last day for this shift at this place. As soon as you fools stop arguing and get all the captives to the portal, we can switch to the mountain outpost!"

"Hurry up, then!" Loki urged and scampered off.

"By the way,"―Gala turned to the Ariados she'd been talking to―"you remember that we have orders to leave the lieutenant and his group alone. We're also suppose to leave the general alone―"

"Don't worry about that. We didn't touch them," the spider replied.

"We got another group!" Rob leaned forward in his tiny cell as a Durant, Vulpix, and Numel raced in, carrying four figures swathed in cobwebs.

"They were easy prey," the Vulpix, who had a blue band around a paw, commented.

Gala went over to check it out.

"Get me out of here, you good-for-nothing sand-breath split-tail jerk from tarnation!" a familiar voice cursed. "And you stupid steel armor pest! How dare you pinch me!"

"That's Jazz," Annie muttered. "That's definitely Jazz."

"You fools!" Gala's voice was sharp with disgust. "I specifically told you, Team PyroClash, to not get the lieutenant or his team, and you bring me back... this?!"

"How were we suppose to know the Linoone was part of the group?" the Durant complained. "She wasn't with the Mightyena!"

"Hold on, the lieutenant is a Mightyena?" the shiny Ariados yelped.

"Yes. The lieutenant's a Mightyena, and his team consists of a Shiftry, a Mawile, a Loudred, and a Linnone," Gala replied. "What's wrong?"

"We screwed up," the Sandslash muttered.

"You did," the Ariados said. "I was doing guard duty."

"You're still part of the group, Veno!" the shiny Araidos snapped.

"Hold on..." Gala whirled around. "Don't tell me."

"Yeah, we got the lieutenant," the Sandslash said reluctantly. "And his pretty little group too."

"Are you stupid?" Gala screeched. "I specifically told you not to get the lieutenant and we get two teams out of the seven teams here screwing up!"

"Hold on, you got Rob?" Jazz asked. "ROB!" she hollered. "ANNIE?!"

"Up here!" Rob called, swinging in his cell.

"ROB? JAZZ?" another voice yelled. "Is that you?"

"GRAN!" Annie cried. "You're alive!"

"It's the lieutenant!" another soldier yelled. "We're saved!"

The room erupted into chaos. The soldiers were cheering, Gala was yelling at the other rogues, Jazz was whooping, and Gran was shouting insults at the rogues. Voices echoed around the circular room, tinged with excitement and hope. The noise filled the dome and swirled around in a thundering, uproarious wave of discord. Vocalizations―racous, orotund, gravelly, jubilant―rang out clearly through the small space, thrumming against Rob's ear drums and sending vibrations through the silk that was his cell.

"What is going on here?" A stern, sharp voice cut through the hubbub. "Gala, what is this? What is happening?"

Gala whirled around. Her face fell immediately. "Z-Zamza!" she gasped.

Zamza!

Rob stared in disbelief as the green serpent slithered slowly into the room, glancing around. The room, sensing that something possibly disastrous or important was about to happen, fell silent.

"Gala, your teammates Isis and Nyx have informed me of the enemy battalion reaching the oasis. Safely," Zamza said expressively. "We were suppose to take them all out except for lieutenant, his team and the general, and now you tell me that you caught the lieutenant and his team?"

"That was Team PyroClash and VenoSlash," Gala defended herself. "Not me! Besides, your teammate, Sandrain, engaged the general in battle."

"I've already talked to him about it," Zamza said calmly. He glanced around the room, his scarlet eyes astringent. "Get the lieutenant and his group out and hold them in the waiting cells, and teleport the others to the main hideout. I will go talk to our leader and ask for her forgiveness."

"And what are you going to do with the lieutenant?" Gala asked. "Kill him, perhaps? If that's so, leave him to me. I'll have my revenge!"

"We're not supposed to kill him," Zamza replied in a montonous tone. "Your shift is in an hour. You'd better have this done, or Isis and Nyx will be mad at you."

"Tarnation!" Gala muttered, and started yelling at the other Pokemon. "Hurry up, you no-good bags of salt! Move it! Get the captives to the main hideout! Veno! Get that pathetic Mightyena and Mawile down here! And nab that Shiftry too!"

"Lieutenant Shaw! Don't leave us!" a Zubat begged as Rob's cell was taken down. "No! Lieutenant!"

"Let me go!" Rob tried to attack the Ariados that was taking him, but the prison restrained him, making him punch himself in the face. "Ow..."

The Ariados tossed him to the Durant, who dragged him down a series of tunnels. The ground scratched and scraped at his hide as the lieutenant tried to get up. Through his blurry vision, he could see that his cell was now attached to a silk string that the Durant was hoisting. His pelt felt like it was burning off as the sandy ground underneath chaffed at his fur. He was constantly off-balance as they whipped around tunnels and went up and down hills. Who knew Durants were so strong?

Rob tried to get a glimpse of his surroundings. All he saw were flickering, electronic screens, glowing bits and bobs that were probably the lights, shapes and forms of countless rogues passing by, and creepy murmuring sounds.

Just when he was about to faint from the flaring pain of burning sand, the silk trap broke open and spilled him onto a hard, cold ground. He fell on his nose and jumped to his toes, just in him to have his muzzle smashed into his head by a flying Gran. The Shiftry flailed as he crashed into him, cursing countless strings of unprintable words. Rob staggered up and looked wildly around. The new room was unlit, and completely dark except for the stream of light coming through a crack in the door. A dark shape was silhouetted against the light. Then the door creaked closed and darkness fell upon them again.

"Who else is in here?" Rob heard Annie's plaintive voice tentatively questioning. "Is it just Group R?"

"I'm here." Jazz's low growl could be heard. "And you're sitting on my back, you metal lump."

"That's not me. That's Gran," Annie argued.

"Hold it, guys. I'm pretty sure I'm sitting on the floor next to Rob, not on anyone's back," Gran retorted.

"Are you stupid or have your senses died?" Jazz asked. "You're sitting on me, Christmas Tree!"

"I am not... Oh wait. Yeah, sorry. I'm sitting on you." There was a shuffling noise, and Gran bumped against Rob as he got off of Jazz.

"Where's the door?" Jazz asked. "I'm gonna bust us out of here."

"It's over here," Annie called. "But it's not budging. And the ground is surprisingly firm. I can't make a dent in it."

"Stand back," Jazz warned. The air around her glowed with power, and she rammed headfirst into the door. It didn't budge, and Jazz bounced off harmlessly. "Okay, that's definitely not going to work... can we break through the walls?"

Grant opened his mouth and used Bullet Seed. The seeds bounced off the walls and were reflected back at the SF soldiers.

"Ow!" Annie complained.

"Sorry," Gran apologized. "Looks like all of this is pretty solid. I don't think we can break out using pure power."

Rob slashed downwards with his claws. They slid harmlessly across the smooth surface. He could tell that this room had been especially made to prevent escape. There was no way they could have enough power to break out. "Conserve your energy," he ordered. "I don't think we can break out of this place, and we shouldn't waste our energy trying to if it's impossible."

"Roger that," Jazz acknowledged.

"Where's Demo, guys? Didn't he come with you?" Gran asked worriedly.

"Demo's a bit... freaked out by the sand and this entire thing," Annie explained. "When we went on the secret mission to check this Arena Trap thing out, Demo didn't want to come with us, so we left him back at the oasis camp."

"I see," Gran said. "Still... how do we get out? And why did the rogues spare us?"

"You tell us what's happening first," Annie told him. "You've been here longer than the rest of us."

"... Right." Gran sighed. "They're shipping all of the soldiers to their main HQ. Apparently, they're brainwashing them to turn against the Shadow Force or something. I also heard some things about mental torture and ritual sacrifices... witchery stuff, I guess. I don't really know. But from what I've heard, the rogues have a series of bases and hideouts just like this all over Unova. Every base has around seven to ten of what the rogues call teams. I think each rogue belongs to a certain team of three to five, from what I saw. They also have something called team shifts where the teams move to other hideouts to help out," he informed them.

"Complicated system," Annie said grudgingly. "But orderly. Why don't we have this stuff in the Shadow Force?"

"Because we do honorable battling in the light of justice, not this treacherous black market stuff," Rob replied. "That's what makes us different from those mangy rogues."

"You don't say..." Jazz murmured, then turned to Gran. "What I want to know is how you just disappeared without a trace back there during the march. Do you have any idea how worried Rob was?"

"What I want to know is how you guys didn't notice me disappearing without a trace," Gran responded hotly. "If you'd notice earlier, you wouldn't be in this position!"

"Actually, we'd still be in this position," Annie pointed out. "We'd go to the oasis camp first to, then come back out here to search for you. So technically speaking, in the name of logic, we'd still be in this position."

"In the name of logic," Jazz mused. "Anywho, does anyone have any idea what they're going to do with us?"

"Gala wants to kill us," Annie said. "But Zamza said no, but..."

"... he might turn back on his word and kill us anyway," Jazz finished. "So we're all screwed either way, huh?"

"He mentioned that he was going to talk to 'the leader' first," Rob noted. "Leader as in the leader of the rogues?"

"Probably," Gran determined. "During my time in the prisons, I've learned that there's the leader of the rogues and the team leaders. The team leaders are..."

"The leaders of the teams the rogues are in," Jazz concluded. "While the leader of the rogues is like the overlord of darkness and death and stuff."

"I like how you went from darkness and death to just plain ol' stuff," Annie remarked. "Didn't your language arts teacher ever teach you not to use 'stuff' in a sentence?"

"What? You're not supposed to use it?"

"Well, in an essay..."

"Can we not talk about school stuff?" Gran asked. "I'm going to puke."

"Stuff can't be used in a sentence. It's not―" Annie protested.

"You've said stuff plently of times yourself," Jazz noted. "Why are we talking about this again? Don't we have a real, non-grammatical or non-school related topic to get back onto? Who talks about school stuff in prison?"

"Annie does, obviously," Gran muttered.

"Hey!"

"Cool it," Rob ordered. "We need to make a plan. We have to get out of here and bring the army here before they send all of our soldiers to the brainwashing station!"

"Are you sure we can do that? I don't even know where we are," Annie commented worriedly. "I blacked out after they pulled me under the sand. I think this place might be magical. What else can explain this?"

"Why are there so many magic things in this war?" Jazz grumbled. "It's too OP. Not fair."

"If they are using magic, though... what can we do about that?" Gran pointed out. "Nothing. We don't have enchanters with us, or magical items. We don't even know this place or our position either. There's nothing we can do but escape with our lives."

Rob bristled aggressively. "No! There has to be a way to save them."

"Why would you think there would be a way..." All four Shadow Force soldiers jumped as the silvery voice whispered. "... if there is no way?"

"Who's talking? I'm tired of all of this mysterious, creepy stuff," Jazz demanded.

"I'm in the control room... watching all of you," the voice whispered. It sounded eerily close to Rob's ears. "So much hope..."

"Let us out right now!" Rob barked. "I command you to! You have no right to disturb us! We're bringing justice down on the rebels―why are you doing this to us?!"

"Justice..." the voice murmured. It was clearly feminine. "Haven't heard that in a long, long time..." The voice was tinged with sorry. "No escape." It dropped into an even softer whisper. "We have to take revenge..."

"Revenge? Why?!" Annie asked. "We never did anything to you!"

"But you did. You took... everything," the voice answered quietly. "Everything." It savored the word. "... everything..."

Rob realized that maybe the Pokemon in the control room didn't want to disobey her superior. Maybe she was a good Pokemon, forced to work for the filthy rogues. "Why don't you just tell us the way out?" he asked sensibly. "Just tell us and we'll get out of here. I know you're being forced to do this."

"But you don't know anything..." the Pokemon murmured. "There are many ways out, and only one way out. There's the wrong way out and the right way out. There's escape but there's no escape... no escape..."

"Hooligan," Jazz muttered. "Why do folks talk this way?!"

"Because... the world is complicated," the voice answered, tinged with loneliness. "So many different points of view. So many different crossways... choices... everything..."

Rob frowned. "Can you be specific?" he asked. "We'd never do you any harm. Please help us out."

"Contradicting yourself... lieutenant," the voice said. "Earlier you said that if you ever got out, you would get your army... scary. Army is scary. Fighting is scary... war... it's terrible. Backstabbing each other. Friends, family, treasures lost. Is it really worth it?"

"You're not making sense," Annie said. "We just want the way out."

"But if I show you the way out, you would bring your army here..." the Pokemon replied. "I don't like armies... they're scary."

"You mentioned that like, three times already," Jazz snapped impatiently. "How about you just show us how to save our comrades and get out of here and leave it at that? We won't bring an army here if you do that."

"We could be friends and get you out of here too," Annie suggested. "Would you like that?"

"One Pokemon's friend... is another Pokemon's enemy..." the Pokemon murmured. "I'm friends with the Pokemon here... which means I'm your enemy. I think you're evil, but you think we're the ones who are evil. What's right? What's wrong?"

Rob was beginning to think that the creepy voice Pokemon was insane. Who thinks about all of that rubbish? "Just show us how! We won't backstab you!" he pleaded.

"If I help you, then I'll be backstabbing the friends who were always there for me no matter what for a couple of friends who just wants to use me..." the Pokemon responded. "Oh... someone's going to go get you now... goodbye..." The was a small crackle, like an intercom breaking a connection.

"Hold it! Don't go!" Rob yelped.

"Jerk," Jazz decided. "She's a jerk, alright."

"She doesn't sound so bad to me," Annie said. "She sounded upset and lonely. The rogues must be forcing her to do all of this."

"So we're going to have to save her from this evil as well, huh?" Gran asked. "Big job ahead."

"Yep. Hush now. I hear footsteps," Annie whispered.

The door creaked open, and Gala the Zorua stepped in.

"Nice conversation you were having," she commented dryly. "Don't even think about getting out. Now, follow me. I don't want any funny escaping business. If you try, I'll be forced to kill you. Understood?"

"No," Jazz replied. "Didn't Zamza specifically tell you not to kill us? So you can't kill us, right?"

The Zorua raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Maybe he changed his mind," she said.

"Oh," Jazz muttered.

"Well... that's not good," Annie murmured.

"Let's just go see what they want," Rob decided. He got to his paws and followed Gala. "By the way... how did you hear us talking in there? Were you by the door the whole time?"

Gala snorted with disgust and indicated with a nod of her head at the prison. "The waiting cell's walls are made of magic. It can also record all your sounds and movements, like a camera. I was watching you the whole time."

"So you also heard the voice?" Annie asked.

Gala gave her a disdainful glance. "Still far from redemption, I see," she said. "The Pokemon who talked to you was one of the victims of the Shadow Force. She's had a horrible time, and she's been trying to turn Shadow Force Pokemon away from violence and Darkrai. In my opinion, she should stop trying. It's better to get revenge by killing all of you!" she declared hotly.

"What did we ever do?" Annie asked. "And why won't you tell us what we did to make all of you so hostile?"

"Because you should know what you didn't. I needn't remind you." The Zorua's eyes narrowed as they turned a candle-lit corner. "Unless that event was just another skirmish for you. The Shadow Force doesn't care about who gets hurt during their attacks, huh?"

"We'd never hurt the innocent," Rob told her. "Show us the way out now, and we'll save you from the rogues. I know that they've been brainwashing the innocent into doing their dirty business."

"So you think we're evil?" Gala snarled. "Why don't you think about what you're doing first? Why are you so narrow-minded? Why can't you see the flaming truth? I chose to join this group for my revenge!"

"Is revenge really the right way to go?" Gran pointed out. "It only brings more carnage."

Gala slowly turned, her gaze startling calm. "Isn't revenge the reason Lieutenant Shaw is here?" she asked slowly, menacingly. "For General Kona?" Then she whipped around and marched on.

Rob felt as if she'd speared him through with a venomous nightstick. She was... right. He was a lieutenant in the ranks of the Shadow Force because he wanted to take revenge against the rebels that had taken Kona away from him. Was he doing the right thing here?

"Mangy fox," Jazz muttered. "Digging out painful history she shouldn't have her nose in in the first place."

Gala ignored her. "We're here," she announced, and stopped in front of a circular white door. "This is the control room." She narrowed her eyes as she spoke. "Zamza and his team are inside, and I'll be guarding the door with my team." As she informed them, the Girafarig and the Seviper Rob had fought so long ago appeared behind them. "Don't think about escaping at all. I don't care what Zam-zam says, I'm killing you if you try."

"Sure. You can try," Jazz pushed opened the door and went in. The others followed her.

The new room was made completely out of black stone, with what looked like shimmering computer screens floating in the middle. Magic, obviously. A table to the far right had the geographic features of the Desert Resort designed on it, and blue fires burned in a ring around the room.

"Creepy place," Jazz commented. "Where are the cookies and milk? I'm starving."

"Welcome to the control room." Zamza slid around the flickering barrier of screens. Rob saw General Nova and the oasis camp on a screen, and the prison room on another. "Sit down. We have some things to discuss."

"I would like to kill them." Rob looked to his left and saw the Flygon who'd attacked them floating out of the darkness. "But no,you had to be all soft," he snorted angrily.

Rob narrowed his eyes, trying to remember back to the ambush so long ago. "You're... Sandrain, right?"

"Oh, did you forget so easily?" Sandrain asked. "Guess I was just another rogue back then. The Shadow Force is so rich, they could care less about what we steal. Shame."

Annie looked around. "Where is she?" she asked.

Sandrain frowned. "Who?"

"The Pokemon that was talking to us from the control room," Annie replied. "She's here, isn't she?"

"Oh, her," Sandrain said, nodding at nowhere. "She's hiding, of course. Soldiers scare her. But she'll be listening."

"Oh." Annie seemed rather disappointed as she sat down. "So can we negotiate?" she asked hopefully. "You return our soldiers safely back to us, and we'll leave you alone."

"Tough decision," Sandrain replied. "Nope."

"Why not? It's a win-win," Gran commented.

"Not really," Zamza said. "See, we can take out your army pretty easily if we wanted to. Also, you have no idea where this is. I guess you could say you have nothing we want."

"We don't," Jazz clarified. "So why are we here again?"

"We need to talk to you," Zamza replied. "It is your last chance for redemption before we go all-out."

"What do you want to talk about?" Rob asked.

"About Darkrai. Why are you following him?" Sandrain responded. "Don't you know what he's planning?"

Rob's hackles rose. "He just wants a peaceful Golden Age for all Pokemon! Why do you all think he's evil just because he's the legendary Pokemon of nightmares? He's a good Pokemon!"

"Oh, boy. Here we go again," Sandrain muttered. "Let's not get into that, then. I suppose we're all clear here, Zamza? They're not going to reform."

"Is that all you wanted from us?" Annie asked. "You just wanted to know whether we wanted to join you or not?"

"Yes," Zamza replied. "Pity it didn't work out that way. We'll send you back now. Safely, of course. Do you have any questions before we do that?"

"Duh. Where's the rest of our comrades?" Jazz questioned.

"Ah. That." Zamza turned away from them to watch the flickering screens. One of them showed a scene of several Ariados shoving the cobweb cells into a glowing blue circle. "Except for the Magneton and Gothitelle who came with you, we're sending the rest back to our main headquarters and try to reform them. If they don't... well, there's brainwashing. And, of course, there's the persecution parlor."

"Persecution? You're going to kill them?" Annie gasped.

"Our definition of persecution is much different. It means the persecution of certain, targeted memories," Zamza explained in a tired tone. "Most of us don't like to kill, so... erasing memories is the most harmless way to go."

"And the brainwashing?" Rob growled.

"It's only for certain... difficult Pokemon. We don't brainwash them into doing things for us, actually. We brainwash them from the dark Pokemon they've become back to their true selves. It's not bad, I'd say. Of course, you'd say different."

"I most certainly do," Jazz muttered. "Brainwashing is always bad. There's no good in it."

"That's all the questions you have for us, correct?" Zamza asked tiredly.

"For now," Annie said mysteriously. "One last one: why are you doing this? Why are all of the rogues so mad at us?"

"We all have our reasons, but I won't tell you," Zamza replied simply. "Because it's something you should've been aware of when you joined and worked in the ranks of the Shadow Force. You should know what Darkrai is doing. And if you don't... well... war is a chess game, isn't it? You're all just the mindless pawns."

"But pawns can become anything," Jazz pointed out. "Except the king."

"Even though that sounded so philosophical, Jazz, I don't think that has a reference to anything of importance," Annie said dryly. "And Zamza..." She glanced at him. "Why are you letting us go? Gala wants to kill us, doesn't she?"

"Most of the Pokemon here would love to," Zamza said. "I have to say I do as well. But it is our leader's orders. You will all play an important part in this next act. We cannot hinder the webs of fate."

"Touchy," Jazz said. "So you're gonna send Mina and Shock back with us, but not the other ones?"

"That's about it," Zamza replied.

"Stop this," Rob said quietly. "Zamza, do you have any idea what you're doing? You're starting a rebellion. You don't want this. You don't want war against the Shadow Force. Return our comrades."

Zamza's gaze was bitter. "I never wanted war against the Shadow Force," he said in a cold tone. "But you did."

"Translation: He's not gonna return the other dudes," Jazz said. "What do we do?"

Rob crouched down, his gaze on the green serpent. "We fight!"

"What?" Sandrain spluttered as Annie immediately heeded Rob's orders and slammed into him. Gran and Rob charged side-by-side and attacked Zamza. Zamza moved with impossible speed, disappearing into thin air, then materializing behind them.

"Don't fight," the Serperior ordered. "We don't want a fight, Robert Shaw! All we ever wanted was peace! Either way, you will not get your soldiers back!"

"Then we'll fight until we do!" Jazz called as she clambered onto Sandrain's back. Sandrain did a helicopter and spun her off.

"You fools!" he hissed. "Don't think you can defeat us! Gala's team is right outside, and several more teams everywhere. You cannot win!"

"Don't tell us what we can't do!" Annie slammed into him. Sandrain howled with rage and whipped his tail around, sending the Mawile flying.

Rob tackled Zamza, but the Serperior had fast reflexes, dodging all of his attacks. Gran tried attacking as well, but Zamza slipped between them and made them headbutt each other.

"We're going to blow up the control room at this pace," Sandrain yelled. "Gala! We need your help."

"Tarnation!" The door opened and the Zorua and her team came racing in. "I swear! Those guys just hate peace!"

"If you want peace, you'd give us back our soldiers!" Rob snarled, getting to his feet. "We'll fight until you do!"

"And blow up your precious control room!" Jazz aimed a Hyper Beam at the flickering screens. It passed through harmlessly.

"Those are magic holograms," Sandrain informed her. "So they're sort of impossible to destroy."

Jazz snorted and attacked him again.

Rob glanced around the room. Gran was fighting off the Girafarig... What was her name again? Isis. The Girafarig lifted him off the ground using Psychic and slammed him into Annie, who was dueling Nyx, the Seviper. The two collapsed, groaning. Jazz was attacking Sandrain with all she had, but the Flygon didn't seem to be receiving any damage. Gala was aiming beams and bolts at Jazz, but the Linoone was surprisingly speedy and managed to dodge all of them. Meanwhile, Zamza yelled at the others to stop. Rob felt a growl rise from his throat.

"Give us back our friends!" he roared, and slammed into the Serperior.

"I'd ask the same of you," Zamza snarled. "Except you can't!"

"I've never done anything to hurt you!" Rob growled. "So why are you doing this?"

"You didn't, but you're in the group that did!" Zamza caught Rob in the chest with a Dragon Tail and sent him into Jazz just as Gala unleashed a Night Daze on them. It slammed into Rob like a wrecking ball and knocked him flying across the room.

The control room was slightly damaged at this point. The ground and walls had craters in them, and the door was burning. The blue fires were flickering orange as they were agitated. Rob managed to stand. On the other side of the room, Gran, Annie, and Jazz staggered to their feet. Zamza, along with the other rogues, approached them.

"Surrender now. We only want to send you back to your army," Zamza said icily.

Rob stared at him levelly. "Not without our other comrades," he snarled.

"Get the Warp Orbs," Gala told her teammates. "Formula D-3."

"The ones that teleport back to the oasis?" Nyx asked.

"Yes, dodo! What else are we suppose to do? Teleport them to the moon?" Gala snapped.

"That'd be fun," Isis murmured. "They'd die."

"Stop them!" Rob ordered. Annie tackled Nyx, while Gran went for Isis. The two rogues turned around, energy swirling around them as they prepared for an attack. Rob braced himself and prepared to attack Zamza. Jazz jumped for Sandrain, while Gala snarled and readied a Night Daze.

"Stop this!" A clear voice echoed through the room. The rogues shifted uncomfortably and stopped their attacks. Jazz paused in mid-leap and crashed to the floor, while Annie and Gran both stopped and looked around awkwardly.

"Zvelana..." Zamza said. "Sorry about the fighting..."

A shiny Dragonair appeared from the darkness, her reddish brown eyes sad. "Don't fight anymore, please," she said quietly. "It doesn't change anything..." She turned to Rob. "Don't try anything anymore. You're not going to get your comrades back. It's fate."

"You're the one who talked to us in the holding cells," Annie noted. "Have you come to help us get out?"

"Zamza-senpai offered to get you out... but then you attacked him," Zvelana murmured. "You'll attack me too... I don't want fighting. It's scary..."

"We'll fight until we get our comrades back!" Rob threatened.

Zvelana floated backwards. Rob could see fear in her eyes. But there was also something else in there―determination―as if she was steeling herself to speak and do the right thing.

"Don't fight. It's useless," she said. "You can threaten all you want, but you cannot control our actions. You don't control us."

"Rob." Annie was next to him. "She's right. Let's get out of here alive while we can."

"We can't leave without the captives!" Rob argued.

"And we can't return them either," Sandrain pointed out. "Stalemate."

"Can we stop referring things to chess?" Gala snapped. "Listen up, you Shadow Force goons! We're being nice here and not killing you. Respect us for that decision, as we respect your loyalty to the Shadow Force. Go back to your army. They need you in the upcoming war. This is only the beginning. Don't think your determination is going to get you anywhere!"

"Yes it will!" Rob argued. "We can do anything if we have enough determination."

"But you can't prevent what's going to come. You don't know the aftermath of your actions. You never think about it either..." Zvelana whispered sadly. "It's our nature to act without thinking. Without considering all of the possible consequences."

"Not now, Zve," Zamza said. "Don't think about that right now."

"Right," Gala said. "Now that you're not hiding, use your magic pendant to send them back. We won't even need to waste the orbs this way."

"Magic?" Annie looked at Zvelana. "You're not seriously going to teleport us just like this, are you?"

"Sorry..." Zvelana held up a shimmering pink crystal strung on a silver string. "Goodbye... maybe we'll meet someday on the battlefield..." she murmured. "Zamza... if you would please...?"

Rob lunged for her, but Zamza attacked with Vine Whip, capturing all the members of Group R in one swoop.

"I brought the other two captives like you wanted." An Ariados appeared in the doorway. "Hold on... why is the door on fire?"

"Sorry, Augo. We had some problems," Gala said.

"Do you have any idea how expensive this was?!"

"Rob!" Mina cried from her cobweb cell. "You're okay!"

"Mina!" Rob looked at her.

"The door's on fire," Shock noticed. "Is that bad?"

"You're okay!" Annie exclaimed.

"Duh," Mina snorted. "What's going on? Why aren't you guys in cells?"

Rob suddenly remembered what was going on. He whirled around just in time for Zvelana to blast him in the face with a brilliant beam of light. Dizziness overwhelmed him as the wind and light wrapped around him, and he fainted.

---

Far away in Unova...

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Marcus screamed as the ground around him rumbled and ruptured in a white-hot blast of energy. Melodia dove in and scooped him off before a crumbling crater that would've swallowed him whole appeared. The Milotic deposited him somewhere away from his newest attempt at magic, and frowned.

"I'm starting to think that fighting with magic isn't your way, wouldn't you say?" she mused. "Perhaps we should do Sir Cressrai's speciality first. It's a trick that probably won't make everything comburst."

"You mean 'combust'," Marcus corrected. "Why do you insist on rhyming everything?"

"It's a habit, hobbit!" Melodia said. "Since training you in magical combat is obviously a waste, why don't we try something that's more to your taste?"

"You're suggesting..." Marcus narrowed his eyes.

"I'm suggesting that you use the wings and fly! Summon Cressrai's wings and take to the sky!" Melodia cheered.

"How, exactly?"

As we are merged right now, my magic blood runs in your veins. Summoning the wings should be easy, Psycho Eevee said. Concentrate on wanting to fly, and wings you shall have.

"Concentrate... how?" Marcus inquired.

"Look at the sky! And the secrets it hides!" Melodia circled around him. "The happiness of being off the ground! The pleasure that makes the world go round!"

Marcus looked at the sky. It was light blue, with traces of gray clouds. The sun shone weakly in the sky, and he could smell frost in the air. Somewhere in the forest, he could hear bird Pokemon singing.

"It's about what you want to do," Melodia sang. "Look at the sky! It's so blue!"

Marcus suddenly filled with longing. He wanted to fly. He wanted see the world from above. He wanted to see everything below him. He wanted to know what it's like to soar. He'd spent so much of his life falling and falling, that he wanted a change. He didn't want to fall. He wanted to fly.

Melodia let out a whoop of delight as glowing white wings made of light formed on Marcus's back. Energy and new sensations filled his body. He flapped him cautiously, and was surprised to find that doing that exact movement felt so... familiar. He flapped the wings harder until he was hovering over the ground.

"You did it!" Melodia cheered. "That hardly took a bit!"

"You're not making sense," Marcus said, but he was elated. He was flying! He, a Grass type Pokemon who was supposed to be afraid of the skies, was flying.It was a wonderous feeling, a sense of adventure. He wanted to see everything like this, from the sky. He wanted to see the world!

"Let's go!" Marcus said, filled with excitement. "Come on! Let's go see everything!" He extended his new, glowing wings and glided gently over the forest. Wind rushed by his body, wrapping around his body comfortably. Sir Cressrai hummed happily in his mind, urging him to go faster and faster. Melodia laughed behind him as she flew on.

I sense the enemy... Psycho Eevee warned.

"What?" Marcus looked around. "Where?"

"I just remembered that the Undella Outpost was near here," Melodia informed him suddenly. "Be cautious and stay aware."

Destroy them! Psycho Eevee yelled. Burn them to ashes!

"Melodia, it might be better for us if we check it out. We might learn more about the Shadowia Bomb," Marcus suggested. "I promise I won't get into any trouble."

Blood sacrifice for the moon goddess! Psycho Eevee howled. Annihilate them!

"Pipe down, Cressrai," Melodia said, and turned to Marcus. "Let's go, then, if you're sure you're not going to die."

"You can hear him?" Marcus asked.

"I can hear most telepathic conversations," Melodia said absently. "Let us go check out that Shadow Force station." She flew off.

She disturbs me, Psycho Eevee said. There's something like a tragic air around her. Something must've happened in her past.

"Isn't that what it's always about?" Marcus sighed, and flew after Melodia.

The pair, using Melodia's pendant of invisibility, snuck into the hideout and entered the control room, where several Crobats and Sableyes were looking at a huge screen surrounded by computer screens.

Marcus lowered his voice to a small murmur. "Aren't those the Three Lakes of Sinnoh?" he asked quietly. Melodia nodded, confirming his fears.

The main screen was split into three sections, showing each of the azure blue lakes.

"Here we go!" one of the Crobats said. "Let's do this!"

"We're doing nothing. You mean let's watch this!" a Sableye corrected.

"I hope the new general knows what he's doing. We don't need another fail with the Shadowia Bomb," a soldier muttered. "It's his first time ever using it. If experienced soldiers like us couldn't set it off perfectly, how can a noob do it?"

The Shadowia Bomb! Marcus thought.

Melodia suddenly tensed up. Her voice sounded in his mind. I should've read the omens! They're going to attack the Lake Guardians! she telepathed.

What? No! They're the Guardians of Time and Space! What in tarnation are they doing? Marcus stared with horror.

Destroy them now! Cressrai yelled.

Melodia, shall we? Marcus asked.

Melodia nodded, her eyes filled with a deep hatred Marcus couldn't quite dissect.

Let's go then, Psycho, Marcus said.

I'm Cressrai!

Whatever, Psycho.

Hey!

Marcus lashed out with a Solar Beam, taking out the Sableyes with a single hit. Melodia fell on the Crobats with a horrifying Aqua Tail, smashing them into the wall. The skirmish was surprising and short. The soldiers never stood a chance as they fell to the ground, thoroughly knocked out.

"That was way too easy," Marcus said. "How do we stop the bombs?"

"I don't think we can stop the bombs from destroying the lakes," Melodia said. "There may be nothing we can do for the Lake Guardians' sakes."

"This can't be!" Marcus smacked the control screen, and then the keyboard. Several lights went on and off, and a screen went dark. A static sound filled the room, but the scene did not change. In the screen, a small object was slowly falling towards each of the lakes, floating down with a devastating sense of silence.

"Mother of Lugia..." Melodia murmured.

"No, no, no!" Marcus yelled. "Stop this!"

"Who are you?" A small image popped up on the right of the screen, showing the face of an Onix, wearing a badge that signified him as a commander.

"You son of a fossil!" Marcus said, trying to grasp the opportunity. "Lord Darkrai sent a message to stop the bombing! Take out the bombs right now!"

"Hmm." The Onix cocked his head to one side. The bombs were nearly touching the lakes now. "Lord Darkrai, is that true?" he asked.

"No," a rough voice said. Marcus shuddered when he realized that the Luxray was communicating with Darkrai via an earpiece. "Who dares to lie to my face?"

"A Leafeon and a Milotic," the Onix said thoughtfully. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

Then the bombs touched down.

The lakes simultaneously exploded with tremendous force, sending mud and seaweed and poor Magikarps flying everywhere. Seaweed fresh from the bottom of the lake went up in purple flames. The entire lakebed shuddered as its water dissipated, evaporating into heat and steam.

"No!" Marcus smacked the control screen. "Why? Why are you doing this?!"

Kill him! Psycho Eevee clamored.

"I'll kill you!" Marcus screeched. "I'll destroy you with my own paws! Who is behind this?"

"General Plasma," the Onix said. "One of the outposts have been sabotaged by a Leafeon and a Milotic."

"GET PLASMA ON THE SCREEN!" Marcus demanded. "I'LL DESTROY HIM!" He'd never felt so mad and helpless before. How dare anyone attack innocent Magikarp and the Lake Guardians?! It was beyond common sense. "This is insanity!"

A Luxray appeared on screech. He had the mark of a general on his badge, and his serious eyes were narrowed.

"I'll kill you!" Marcus declared. "If we ever meet in battle, I'll rend the flesh from your bones and feed them to you! How dare you do this! You'd better be ready, Plasma! I will annihilate you!"

The Luxray fixed his calm eyes on Marcus. The eyes were empty, devoid of emotions. They gleamed dully with a sense of an icy cold heart that did not and would never care for anything. Melodia let out a disgusted hiss, while Cressrai chafed against Marcus's willpower. Kill him!

"I'll be ready," Plasma said quietly. Then the screen went black.

---

In Accumula Town...

"Thanks to Jason and the others, we finally have a proper place to train," Mark said as he sat down next to Ralph. "By the way... why is Charnette's Regiment wearing robes?"

"Because robes are swell, chicken!" Amethyst yelled. She was clad in a purple cloak with a silver R holding it together. "Purple for victory! R for Revolution! Yayyyy!"

"We're called the Mystical Twist Regiment now," Charnette announced firmly. "And there's absolutely nothing you can do about that!"

"Toodles!" Amethyst called, and the two pranced off.

"They seem to be having... fun," Charlez commented.

"It's a miracle they're in such good spirits in such a serious time," Lumiere said. "We should probably be glad they're in high spirits."

The Revolutionists were having lunch on a long picnic table. Ralph was eating there along with Lumiere, May, Charlez, Jason, Victor, Mark, Rachiel, and Xeno. It had been a day packed with yelling and training, but Ralph felt satisfied. Now that they had a real, organized, army, he was sure that they could retake all that had been lost to them.

"I'm still worried about something, though," Charlez said as she took a bite out of her Oran and Pecha Berry taco. "What exactly did the second part of the prophecy mean? It was as specific as the first part..."

Rob looked at the package that Quetzal had given to him. "Maybe we should ask Quetzal later," he suggested.

"About that..." Lumiere told them about Quetzal's disappearance. "She seemed to have fully regained her health and teleported away. Anyways, she's gone now, so I don't think that's going to work."

"Let's just let fate do her work." Rachiel looked up from her pizza. "Thinking about that stuff messes me up. Let's stop trying to predict the future and just do it."

"By the way, Ralph," Xeno added as she stole Rachiel's pizza. "I hope your regiment does better next time. Our regiment crushed the First today."

"Only because the second rank panicked!" Ralph defended himself. "They would've destroyed you if that hadn't happen!"

"Make all the excuses you want," Rachiel said. "We're going to beat you in tomorrow's practice as well!"

"Is that a challenge?" Ralph asked. "Very well―bring it on!"

They challenged and insulted each other in a friendly way for a while, then settled back down. Rachiel and Xeno left to take care of their regiments, while Mark and Victor went off to tend to theirs. It was almost nighttime, and the nights these days seemed to be bitterly cold. Ralph hoped Rachiel wasn't thinking about making her soldiers train during the night.

"We should go," Charlez said, finishing her food. A cloaked soldier from the Mystical Twist Regiment sat down next to Ralph with a plate of food. "Unless you're still hungry?"

"I didn't eat yet," Ralph admitted. "Could you go dismiss the First Regiment? Tell them to get a good night's sleep."

"Sure thing." Charlez got up and went off.

"Waffles," Jason said as he bit into his favorite treat.

Ralph picked up one of his brother's waffles. "Aren't you tired of eating this practically every second?" he asked. "It's a wonder you don't get sick of it." He took a bit of the pastry, his stomach rumbling.

"You can't ever get tired of waffles!" Jason yelled through a mouthful of pastry. "But even if I do, there's still poffins."

"Is that his diet? Waffles and poffins?" May asked tentatively.

"For the last twelve years, yes," Ralph confirmed.

"Sugar. Flour. Waffles," Vindictus said. "Not good for health."

"Don't worry. Charlez makes me eat the stupid healthy food every day," Jason snorted. "Like that disgusting salad and those berries and whatevs. Poffins are better!"

"Heh." Ralph helped himself to a pizza. "You're going to get a stomachache if you eat that much." he warned.

"Never!"

The others laughed as Jason went on eating.

Ralph let out a tiny sigh as he swallowed a bite of pizza.

"What's wrong?" May asked.

"Well..." Ralph stared at Quetzal's package. "You know how Rachiel says to leave things to fate, right?"

"Yes."

"I'm still thinking about the prophecy, though," he murmured. "It looks like there's a bloody time ahead of us." His heart suddenly ached with homesickness. "I miss Nuvema Town..."

"You can take a day off and visit it tomorrow," Lumiere suggested. "I've been going back there every day after the Striaton City incident. The Nuvema Chapel is in good hands, but I still worry about it. It's natural to be homesick."

"Is it?" Ralph asked gloomily. "From what I've dissected from the prophecy, I was thinking that this Revolution might go on longer than I'd expect. I sometimes wish I'd never started this whole thing."

"But so many things have happened since we first started," May pointed out. "We've all met new friends and learned new things. It's exciting!"

"I guess so..." Ralph sighed. "I just wish there was an oracle I could talk to. One who isn't so vague about everything."

"Like Rachiel said, it's best if we don't think too much about it," Lumiere replied. "Let Fate do its thing. It's for the greater good."

"Yeah." Ralph placed a paw on the package. "Which leaves me with the other problem: how am I supposed to get this package to Scarlet? I have no idea where she is. It's not like I can just send this by post. I wish I knew a way."

"Why don't you just give it to her?" the Mystical Twist soldier sitting next to Ralph suggested. "Personally, I say."

"I just explained how I can't," Ralph said impatiently, and turned away. "But I'm worried about Scarlet. I hope she's okay. From what Quetzal said, it seems like the oracles are being massacred right now."

"I do hope she's alright as well," Lumiere said. "Scarlet's a good oracle. I don't doubt her choices, but I'm worried about the entire Shadow-Force-killing-oracles thing. It's not safe out there."

"There has to be a way to get the package to her," May said. "Otherwise Quetzal wouldn't have given it to you."

"I know, I know." Ralph sighed. "I wish I knew where to start looking for her, though..."

"Oh, dear Ralph." Ralph turned around as the Mystical Twist soldier laughed... familiarly. "You never need to look for me. I'll find you." Then the soldier tossed off her cloak, revealing a white Pokemon wearing a translucent robe, with hauntingly sharp blue eyes and a faint smile. Lumiere gasped, and May stared in awe. Vindictus muttered something about flutes and fluttered nervously. Ralph was first to break the silence.

"Scarlet?!"

---

Credits:

alpha2275: LoG Representative on Fanfiction and Fanfiction Manager

MarcusUCOD: Dialogue Writer

Esther Hung: Chief Writer, Editor, Video Maker, and Character Creator

Anisa Krieg: Writer, Artist, Character Creator, and Tweaker

(More TBD...)