Chapter XV: Bound
October 7, 2061 5:01 p.m.
A glass bottle made a thump sound as it hit the wooden table, just a foot or so from the matte black sniper rifle that lay on the counter with four similarly colored magazines lying closely by it. Near the scope of the weapon, a Zorua lay sleeping, her chest rising and falling with her breaths. The old man sitting there wiped his lips with his arm, looking out towards the road leading towards Mt. Moon that his post overlooked on the hill.
"Ah guess those damn things are like vampires, eh? Not comin' out much durin' the day, but ready ta gut us at night." Archer said with a slight dragging of the words. "With them around, we can't go outside this here barrier…I wonder how anyone outside is doin'."
Sentinel looked out through the opening in their watchtower, hidden among the leaves of the trees. The barrier cut the road in half about a half-mile from where they were, noticeable through the slight distortion it created through its bluish, transparent wall. "Probably not so good from what I saw at Viridian, sir."
"Well, that's a given. 'Parently these things aren't hurt by bullets, so you and I are pretty much useless until Dr. what's-his-name can build us a weapon that can do somethin'."
Sentinel looked back towards his mustachioed partner. "You mean Xepher?" "Yeah, him." Archer said while using the back of his hand to wipe his mouth, opening a pocket on his side and withdrawing a carefully folded-up piece of soft fabric. He took a hold of his rifle and held it with the butt of it on his thigh, beginning to dust off the scope.
"You should probably git to cleanin' up yers, Sentinel."
The Umbreon lying on the wooden floor of the tower next to Sentinel's seat looked up drowsily as she felt his bare hand give her a quick scratch behind her long black ear. Sollus blinked rapidly, giving a smile to Sentinel as he picked up his weapon from next to her where it had been leaning against the table they were at. Yawning, Sollus lowered her head back down and closed her eyes.
"Both o' them must've used up more juice than we thought, eh?" Archer said as he slid his scope off its mounts and looked through it before wiping the front lens. "I thought I had seen enough crazy shit since the day I joined up. I've been a sniper for about twenty two years now, but I've never seen anythin' that's had the effect of these things."
"Really."
"Yep." Archer replied, laying his scope on the table to grab the wine bottle sitting on the wood. He took a sip of the red liquid. "The gang riots in Unova nine years ago were chaotic, but they weren't nothin' like this bullshit we're in now."
The end of the scope locked back onto the rifle's utility rail with a clicking sound. Archer peered through the scope and just slightly turned the knobs on the side and on top of it as Sentinel slid a wire with hundreds of tiny bristles down the barrel of his own sniper rifle. The younger sniper sighed as he removed the barrel brush. "Well, look where we are now, holed up in the only city that isn't overrun by those things."
"Yep…Cerulean's the only safe city now, accordin' to…aw fuck, look at that."
Archer leaned forward in his seat, looking through his scope towards the road, adjusting his optic's zoom. In turn, Sentinel picked up his own rifle from beside himself and spied the area where his mentor had his rifle pointed…
A Bellossom on the road ran on the road towards the shield, tears streaming from its beadlike blue eyes as an Ethereal behind it pursued, closing in on it rapidly before it reached out towards it with its claws when the tiny Pokémon was just a few yards from the barrier.
Through the scope, Sentinel was able to see the monster seize the plant Pokémon by one of the leaves that made up its 'skirt'. Falling onto its chest, the Bellossom screamed, crying as the creature grabbed a hold of its head and lifted it in the air towards its featureless, slit-eyed face. The Bellossom seemed paralyzed from looking into the deep red eyes of the Ethereal, opening its mouth to make a silent scream only as the demon used its other set of claws to impale its chest and rip upwards.
"Wow…" Sentinel said, hearing Archer take another swig from his bottle. The Ethereal dropped the dead Bellossom to the ground, kneeling down before placing both of its 'hands' over the mutilated plant Pokémon's chest. The Bellossom's eyes shot open as the Ethereal dissolved into its body, a dark aura forming around it as the Ethereal completely disappeared into it.
"Well, I've seen my share of strange stuff, so I'm not explicitly surprised…but I'll admit, this is some fucked up shit we're seein'." Archer commented dully as the corpse rose up silently from the ground, blood dripping from the hole in its chest as thorns shot up from the blackening leaves on its body, the flowers on its head turning a dark purple as it turned around, seemingly looking right towards the two snipers and screeching with glowing red eyes.
…
*static*
…
*static*
"We need an evac now! There's too many of 'em!" "All air support is tied up at the moment!"
"No!" "Our guns aren't doing anything to these-*static*"
*static*
"What few survivors we're receiving say that some of the creatures possess the bodies of the dead to attack."
*static*
…
"Look, over there!" "Oh my God, oh my God!" "What the fuck, zombies now?"
*static*
"Hundreds of thousands are already dead, and nearly equal amounts are being reported as missing. Right now a massive fire is radiating out into the woods surrounding Viridian Forest, and all power is down in the western area of Kanto."
*static*
"They're just shredding everything and everyone on the ground…" "Looks like it. I really hope none of those things can take down a helicopter…" "…oh fuck. That one is…" "Ripping that Charmander's head off? Just pretend it isn't or something."
*static*
"We've lost contact with the Hoenn, Unova, and Sinnoh regions."
*static*
"No, we haven't heard from Ash. Sorry Misty." "…It's fine. Glad you're okay, Brock…"
*static*
…
(Why do you think I can help you, let alone trust you?)
(…I experienced firsthand that you already have the kind of…'curse' that I have now. All I want is for you to help me either get rid of it or learn how to control it like you have. That, and I know I can help you out since Light was captured.)
(…You know where she is?)
(I know where Namba is. I think we can agree that he'd like to keep a close eye on her.)
(…Fine then. As long as you can take me to where they're keeping her, I'll help you out.)
…
I can only guess that right now, Cerulean City is the only safe place in the world right now. Sinnoh and Hoenn lost communications earlier, Johto's in total chaos, and so far we've only been getting mostly negative news from Unova. Apparently the Golurk and Golett out there are actually fighting off the Ethereal there for the most part, but there's too little of them, and the things just keep coming back.
At least they're doing what they had been created to do over a millennium ago: protect humans and Pokémon.
This is just so very unreal. How could this have happened? Not even Namba could create something to spawn so many Ethereal. No living person could have possibly have done this!
I'll just have to work harder to compress the light energy generators. If I could somehow find a way to create some sort of weapon that channels light energy, be it a gun or even simple sticks, we could fight back against these creatures and find their source.
I must work faster. As much as I'd like to take a break now, I know I cannot, not when thousands of people are dying by the hour because of these monsters…
…So they can't find Shadow or Light, fuck, Ash and Bolt are missing too. I can only pray that they are just out fighting the Ethereal, wherever they may be.
…
"Can you hear me, Light?"
I…I can…barely…
"You have to hold on, Light."
This is like…this is like…
…hell!
"Don't give up, it'll only mean that others will be hurt as well."
At this rate I don't even know if I'm alive or if I'm dead…
"Just hold on. Shadow will find you, I promise."
…
…Shadow…
…
(Here's Pewter City.)
(Damn…It looks worse than Viridian.) Shadow responded as he walked down the path with the Pichu, eyeing the gaping holes in the burning skyscrapers and the bodies of humans and Pokemon that littered the street. Even in the daytime, the city was covered in a nigh-impenetrable darkness by the smoke that floated up from the smoldering heaps of metal and the blackened shells of the houses. Other than the sound of the crackling fires and the wind whistling through the charred wreckages, it was silent.
(…Shadow…!)
The Pikachu stepped out in front of Zero as he stopped in his tracks, twitching visible in his arms as he bowed his head, eyes shut tight while his teeth chattered in his mouth. In the distance, atop the flaming skeleton of a water tower far away, he swore he saw a Pikachu-like silhouette, staring down at them with bright red eyes.
Shadow glared out toward the figure for a few moments, keeping his eyes on it as he slowly walked to Zero's side…
"Just kill him already. You don't need this kid to find Light."
(…Just do what I told you. Focus on one thing.)
One thing…
One…
Dark aura had begun to rise from the smaller electric mouse, though very subtle. As his breathing calmed and he raised his head back up, the energy dissipated into a light vapor that disappeared within a second of leaving.
(*huff**huff*…Every time I get…stressed, this happens…but I'm sure you know that by now.)
(…I know…it happens to me sometimes.) Shadow replied, looking back up to the broken water tower in the distance, noticing that his AntiReal was no longer there.
(I saw that…you killed me, after all.)
(No I didn't. Otherwise, you wouldn't be talking to me.) Shadow said flatly. Zero shook his head and looked right at Shadow, another bright green flash lighting up his eyes for a moment, a twitch quickly following. (You know, it's true what they say about dying. Everything blanks out into a blinding white, and you swear you can see absolutely everything that's happened to you. EVERYTHING. Even some things you might have forgotten. But then…)
He sighed, one of his paws balling up. (…Then there was the feeling of getting yanked out, when you were so close to passing on…then you feel yourself breathing again, followed by an intense, burning feeling…and that's when I awoke in Namba's lab, in the ray of the ECLIPSE generator.)
…
"Good, you're *cough!* back with the living. It would have been a pity to lose you like that, Zero."
"…"
"Don't tell me the fight *cough! Cough!*…with Shadow ruined your hearing, little Pichu. Can you *cough!* hear me?"
"…Yeah…?"
"What's the matter? *cough! Cough! Cough!*…Can't you feel the strength you have now?"
"I feel almost like…I feel almost like I'm on fire!"
"That's just the beginning! Soon you'll have the kind of power *cough!* Shadow had."
"I'm…I'm supposed to be dead right now! Why did you bring me back?"
"Simple: *cough!*…so you could continue on, Zero. Shadow isn't going to be waiting for you. *cough!*…and I'm sure he'll be quite surprised at your new powers."
"Pow…What the…?"
"Augh!"
"Can you feel it burning within you? That is the dark power he has! *cough!* It is the same energy!"
"Augh! Stop it! STOP IT, STOP IT!"
"I can't stop it. It's already*cough!*…"
"…a part of you."
…
(…I should've figured out just how crazy that bastard is a long, long time ago. I was so close…so close to being free of this.) He continued on with the green in his eyes seeming to fade with his mood. (…then he goes and throws me into a living hell.)
(…So how did you adapt to these…transformations?)
(…)
"You never really did adapt, did you."
I don't need your input.
(…Just try to keep it off your mind. Think of other things. Focus on something else. If you let the thought linger, you're going to end up losing control.) Shadow answered at last, looking the younger 'chu in the eyes.
(I noticed…)
(…!)(…!)
The sound of knives ripping from their sheaths along with a zapping sound passed through their ears as they turned from each other and stood back-to-back, Zero raising his right paw over his head while his left stayed in a defensive position over his chest, his thin, curved metallic claws gleaming in the glow of the fires. Bolts of static trickled from Shadow's cheeks, his right arm out to his side and projecting an electrical blade.
The red of Shadow's eyes darted to the left, then to the right, taking in the detail of the half-toppled department building in front of him, the dark green sports car that had rolled to a stop by a blinking traffic light and the chunks of concrete jutting from the ground along several blast holes. The scents told of burning wood and rubber, along with the lingering scent of the people and Pokémon that had once walked the streets not too long ago, running far from those who had been doing battle…
"ugh…"
(!) Zero slid to the side of Shadow as he swung around. Shallow but calm breaths passed into and from their lips, their eyes resting upon a human in Kanto Army garb who was slowly but surely crawling out from the shattered window of a partially collapsed Pokémart. Flakes of cement slid off his flak jacket, dyed a tinge of gray by dust that also powdered his light brown hair and the front of the helmet slung to the back of his head.
A jagged line of red ran down his pale left arm from under his torn sleeve. Weakly, he reached out with his right arm and braced himself on the pavement outside the window, nearly toppling to the ground as he brought his legs out from the wreckage. Still, he made coughing sounds as he hung his head, ragged breaths escaping his mouth as he lay there on his hands and knees…
While various innards hung out from his chest, some partially torn from themselves and coated with dust from the cement.
(He's…) (Yeah, they're all coming out.)
Various groans could be hears as others crawled or stumbled out from the wreckage, all sporting torn and battered clothing over heavily blood-soaked bodies. The soldier who had crawled out from the Pokémart now lifted his head, a mad grin spread across the side of his face that was not torn of its flesh, a bright red glowing in his eyes just as with the others. Almost in unison, the mutilated soldiers and civilians, both Kanto and Rocket alike, screeched with a demonic sound reminiscent of laughter.
(Ethereals…)
They looked back at each other, locking bright green eyes with deep red.
(Ready?) (Let's go.)
…
"It's time to wake up…"
Blue fluid slowly drained into slits in the metal at the bottom of the tank. Wires that reached down from the top of the glass cylinder released themselves from the orange mouse Pokémon. Excess fluid dripped from the bottom edge of the cylinder as it rose, the Raichu within the tube slowly waking up as the collar around her neck buzzed. A small green light on it began to flash as she slowly stepped out from the space she had been floating in.
Even after the bacta, one could still see scars in her fur where numerous cuts had been made no more than a day ago. In the dim glow of the rectangular lights overhead, her eyes, bloodshot and soft, showed a longing, tired quality. As a black-garbed Rocket soldier with a gas mask on emerged from the shadows behind the deranged doctor, her ears drooped down even further, bowing her head. Stepping behind her, the soldier, with an orange glow emanating from the mask's eye holes, silently pointed his AK-159 at her. "Move."
…
This was certainly not the Team Rocket base she had been in. Not the one Shadow had been in for the greater part of his life. The long, metal flooring responded to their steps with a clang sound, reverberating into the ground far below…
Around them, the sound of machinery produced a symphony of gears and ratchets turning, metal scraping together, the sound of large hammer-like objects hammering white-hot metal on conveyer belts. Energy of all kinds could be seen zapping from one instrument to the next, liquids of every color and transparency flowing into and out of glass tubes and pipelines that ran next to the machinery.
Several others in their lab coats and uniforms walked to and fro, adding an element of percussion to the already overwhelming, industrial music. A group of soldiers, fully garbed with heavy black boots, dark gray trenchcoats and gas masks with a helmet on top silently marched past. Light shivered slightly; she felt their presence, a hauntingly cold aura, chilling her like arctic wind. From what she could see of their flesh, a thin strip on their necks between the bottom of their gas masks and the tops of their undershirts, their skin was absolutely pale, like the living dead.
Dr. Namba, no longer confined to the seat of a wheelchair, looked out towards the machinery and smiled. "As you can see, we've done…*cough!* quite a bit of renovation to the inside of Mount Moon. *cough!* …this place is also the place I call home now. But enough about me; tell me what you think."
Light looked away from his gaze in defiance. From his coat, the mad doctor produced a small, rectangular remote, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "You're impolite for being Xepher's little friend."
…Why couldn't she breathe?
Her cheeks began to crackle, but after a moment the sparks suddenly died, just as she reached for the collar. Was it choking her? Was it somehow tightening around her neck? As she felt under the leather, she found that it wasn't very tight at all, though nor was it loose. Inside, she began to panic. Why wasn't she able to breathe?
It was then that she noticed a discomfort, fullness at the base of her neck where the back of the collar touched her fur. Above her, Namba watched dully, a button on the control he held pressed down. "It's an interesting little accessory…*cough!*…isn't it? It taps directly into your nervous system to allow me to control your motor functions and your involuntary bodily functions…*cough!*…so, if I wanted to…I could stop your heart from beating, I could stop your immune system from fighting disease, I could stop your lungs from allowing you to breathe…"
She could see his fingers slide over the control to allow another section of it, containing even more buttons, to slide out from a hidden section of it. The next moment, she felt her hind legs moving of their own accord.
"I could make you jump off the railing to your death."
Despite her efforts to stop herself, despite the will she exerted trying to stop her legs and the rest of her body from moving, she found herself almost willingly balancing on the edge of the metal walkway's guardrail. She screamed in terror inside her mind as her eyes turned down to stare into the bottomless abyss below. Closing them, she began to tear up as her left hind leg began to lift itself with another manipulation of the controller Namba held. The mad doctor grinned fiendishly at the sight of the salty fluid rolling down her cheeks and passed her gritted jaw. He ran one hand through his reddish-orange hair, proud at the sight of his sinister technology working as he thought it should.
Her right leg grew sore, still balancing upon the guardrail. Chills crept up her body as she felt the breath of the madman upon the edges of her left ear, his usually self-absorbed voice now totally emotionless: "Get used to this while you have the time. Your power is no longer yours to use; it is now mine. You will do everything I demand of you, from now until my plans are complete. When that time comes…*cough!* you will no longer be needed."
…no…
The faceless soldier in the gas mask watched silently as Namba back away from the Raichu. Her leg that floated above the rail now made contact and bent with her other leg, making her jump back onto the walkway. Her tail fell limply behind her with a clang of the lightning bolt to the cold steel. Gaze lowered, she stared down into the metal walkway, as if trying to find something…ANYTHING…to make it stop.
…this isn't…
"No matter what you feel, no matter what you think, you will only exist now to complete the weapon. It may take months, it may take years…*cough!* but I will gain the hidden power you possess. You will, from now on, submit to me…and me alone."
…this isn't…
Fur on her body stood on end as he lifted her head to meet his eyes with a palm. Could she hear her own heartbeats?
"The first thing you will do for me…" He said, the look on his face like he was suppressing a laugh, "…the first task I give you…is simple:"
"You will go out…and bring me Shadow. Alive…or dead."
With this statement, he pressed another button on his controller. Even as tears flooded down her face from tightly closed eyes, the Raichu's body betrayed her once again…and bowed down to him. The words that emerged from her mouth were not hers; he smiled in satisfaction of the reply. Even if he couldn't understand what she initially said, the sounds of her speaking in her kind's tongue were quickly translated by the speaker on her collar:
(…It will be done…master.)
…this isn't…
…right…
…
Shadow ripped through and Ethereal with his Iron Tail, grabbing Zero by his arm as he ran for him. As Shadow swung around with Zero held, he let go so the Pichu went soaring into the next Ethereal. His claws swung a jagged, rippling slash through the dark creature.
Jumping again, Zero crossed his arms over each other, letting the short blades spark before ripping them out at a zombified Rocket soldier who ran in with half his face already gone like a giant pair of scissors.
(!)
There it was again, the burning feeling that rushed up through every fiber of himself. Zero ended up hitting the pavement and rolling to a stop, his paws gripping his forehead as his claws dug small cuts into his scalp. Curled into a ball, the Pichu groaned with frustration, bright green emanating from under his eyelids as he slowly opened them.
…da…damn it!
(Hnngh…nngh…RAAAAH!)
Shadow twisted around with his Iron Tail and slid to run back to help Zero, but instead he froze, cursing to himself as his brow furrowed.
The corpses, possessed by the Ethereals inside them, let out pained screams alongside their possessors as they were torn out from the corpses by the near-invisible flash of yellow. It grinded against the road to turn, letting Shadow see the crazed grin Zero sported now, laughing before he left the spot with a shockwave of air after him.
A wide, powerful slash sliced one of the possessed corpses in half, letting it give off a wild, unearthly scream as the Ethereal within it was thrown back, itself screeching from its featureless face as Zero quickly swung around it and made several, lightning-fast slashes that made it appear that the creature had been thrown through a blender before it faded into a purple mist.
Eyes flashing, his rampage certainly did not stop there.
As the next corpse struck out at him, he suddenly appeared behind it, laughing like a maniac as tens of delayed slashes suddenly diced the Ethereal zombie into bloody shards of flesh and bone. Lightning ran off his claws and exploded against the chest of the next formerly living man who dared to run towards him, leaving the same effect as before with a short rain of blood pouring down upon his short, dull yellow form.
More and more came, more and more met their demise at the ends of his claws, his newfound rage, his darkness. As soon as he the tendons from one's neck gave way to the razor-sharp blades of his claws, another Ethereal zombie screeched as its already mutilated arms were stripped from their sockets before an explosion of black electricity blasted it and other behind it into a dark red mist.
He stood still now, looking around himself in an eager fashion as more of the possessed corpses rushed towards him, brandishing everything from chunks of concrete in their pale, ripped hands to assault rifles held by their stocks like bats.
Thunder rumbled overhead from the clouds hidden in the smoke above.
(Thunderbolt!)
Lightning exploded around the Pichu and tore through the demons all around. As dust and flame clouded his vision for that instant, he could see Shadow far in front of him with one arm held up into the air, electricity surging up into the clouds while his eyes focused solely on him.
Thunder continued to create deafening, crackling booms every time another bolt of lightning tore into the earth. Using the electricity that still sparked rampantly across his arm, Shadow formed a Lightning Blade from his paw and dashed forward past the flying, bloody remains of the zombies that had been stricken by his lightning and viciously smashed the electrical blade into an Ethereal who had escaped from the mangled body of one of the soldiers it had possessed…
…
"AAIIIEEEEE!"
The Ethereal that stood bent back with Shadow behind recoiled, black smoke escaping from the massive cut that nearly tore it in half. Its scream grew weaker as it fell backwards, fading into a burst of purplish-black smoke that disappeared just a moment before it hit the blood-stained concrete, a single slab that remained intact around the rubble and bodies.
The scent of the dead hung heavy in the air, from the various Pokémon to the humans, in all their states of mutilation. The defining feature amongst them, from the numerous cuts to the twitching of electrified nerves, was the pool of scarlet coagulating under them like spilt paint.
(…*sigh*…)
(…heh…heh…heh…)
Shadow turned slowly, blood staining his own pelt to face the Pichu, standing just a foot from him, both sets of his blood-stained claws still crackling with dark electricity. The edge of his right ear was missing a part of the flesh, leaving a bloody notch that moved along with a sudden twitch. A mad smile still adorned his face under his glowing, bright green eyes.
(Zero...cool off.)
(Ha ha…ha ha ha…)
The Pikachu kept a calm façade even as Zero slowly lifted a set of his claws to his forehead, arm shuddering like it was going to strike out like a cobra. The tip of the center blade just barely pricked him, drawing a slow bead of blood.
(How was it like at first, Shadow…?)
(How was it like to be cursed before?)
(…I can say that I still haven't totally gotten used to it. You just learn to live with it. Eventually you just learn to control it. Of course, it was probably the same for you as it was for when I first went into it. We were both given this by Namba, right?)
A gust of wind blew through, carrying a wall of dust and smoke past them, standing silent like statues in the middle of the ruined street. Somewhere nearby, the buzzing of broken electrical wiring could be heard with the crackling of dying fires in the smoking husks of the structures to either side of the road.
(…You and me…we're…almost the same, aren't we…) Zero spoke in a near whisper, smile fading into a more serious look.
(…)
His claw shied away from Shadow's head by an inch. (We came from the same group…both just projects for them…both corrupted by them…both betrayed by them…)
(…It just got lonely after a while, too. But then, that's where things get different, isn't it?)
The sharp tip came forward once more, the shining in Zero's eyes fading away to show its natural color, glaring with resentment. (…Unlike you, I never found anyone to talk to, not even the squad I was in before I was taken to Kanto. In all honesty…I hated them. I was a freak even before I was brought back by Namba. For one, like you, I could talk. They hated me for it. They hated me for being so fast, they hated me because I have these claws…)
(On the other hand, you were just deadly on your own. The only strange quality about you that they could see was that you could speak. Your squad didn't truly hate you. I could tell the last time I spoke with your old squadmate Darrel that you two were on decent terms, at least. Then…you had…HAVE, Light…to keep you company.)
The bright green of his irises flared up for a moment. (Finally, Xepher managed to break you and her out of there and give you another life. What did I get? A hole punched through my chest by you…then an injection of dark energy from that fucker Namba.)
(What are you trying to say?) Shadow spoke, ignoring the point which hung precariously in front of his forehead. The Pichu's eyes narrowed before he slowly dropped his paw back to his side, claws withdrawing with it. Glaring at Shadow for a few more moments, Zero walked past him. Shadow turned as Zero continued on, stopping about fifteen yards away and hanging his head, a sigh audible from his unseen mouth. Zero silently looked back over his shoulder.
The Pikachu noticed that the glare in his eyes had become sad, pained.
(…I guess I'm just jealous.)
…
*static*
…
*static* "Does anyone copy?"
…
"Who is this?"
…
"Misty, it's good to hear you."
"Ash? God, I've been worried sick about you...are you and Bolt okay?"
"We're fine, just a couple scratches. How's Cerulean holding up?"
"The barrier's still here, and we're getting a few refugees who managed to make it here. What they're telling us isn't good, though."
"I can tell, there's Ethereals everywhere. It's more than likely that they're killing everything in sight…the team and I have seen that a lot so far."
"Team?"
"Me, Bolt…Charizard, Bayleef, and Pidgeot."
"Oh, okay. Are you heading over here?"
"Not right now, sadly. We're trying to track down Shadow and Light right now."
"Any luck?"
"There are a few signs of Shadow going through the forest with another Pokémon that isn't Light. So far all I can tell is that they were headed towards Pewter City. From what I can see over the horizon, Pewter City's…probably a bonfire right now."
"…Are you…are you sure?"
"Yeah…Misty, I need you to get me in contact with Xepher. I need to know if he can still track where Shadow is."
"What about Light?"
"…Her tracks aren't with his, Misty. I can only hope that she's okay, wherever she is right now."
"…Okay. I'll get Xepher…good luck out there, Ash."
"Thanks. Hope to see you soon."
"Bye."
*static*