Author note: Sorry for the extra-long delay, that all I can say for now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. They belong to Game Freak and Nintendo. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artists as well. With that out of the way, please enjoy this piece of fanfiction.

Moments before the Leviathan's awakening

The agents held their ground as the vibration increased in magnitude. They checked their surroundings, expected some form of ambush from the bandits. They could not utter a word to each other because of a feeling of elevation took whole of their feet. Before they could get a better grip at the situation, the sound of stone breaking appeared from below. The center of the hall broke wide-open, transforming the floor into an expanding hole that stared down a dark abyss. The ceiling tore open, letting the afternoon glow pierce through.

Pieces of tiles and cement dust were speeding to the hole, as if something was breathing them in. The hole on the floor grew and growled, urging the agents to start retreating. The hallway behind them suddenly crushed and mashed into itself, blocked all paths. The wind came from above to below increased in force and velocity. It almost dragged Ray and a few medium-sized agents toward the pit. Catherine immediately intervened. She slammed her fist down, activated her Gravity. The force exerted from what left of the floor pinned the agents, like flies on a windshield. A few second later, the agents franticly fanned themselves out and went for the walls. Their steps were sluggish and pathetic, yes, but it was better than ended up in the hole. The Weavile was the first to hop on the wall. She just sunk her golden claws to it and climbed up. Unlike other, the ice type did not wait for Catherine to reverse Gravity to the walls.

When the last agent was walking vertically, the walls began to crack and compress themselves, though slowly. As sudden as their appearance, the sun light above was blocked away, by mass of concrete, black sludge, and steel seemingly morphed and mashed together. These materials seemed to originated from all the hallways and rooms that they had passed. The pieces aligned in a straight tube, like a digestive system. Sludge and other foul substances invaded the inside through every crack on the walls. The top part of the once-intact mess hall started closing like a set of teeth, biting down.

"Shit!" Catherine whispered, before she began to teleported upward. All other agents, noticed the closing part, started to speed up in their own way. The agents managed to get over the closing part. However, Rick lagged behind. His stubby legs and mass were failing him. To make matter worse, Catherine's Gravity field grew weaker the further things were from her. No doubt, Rick had the weakest gravity at that moment. The Emboar could not see it coming until his feet began to slide downward on the slimy wall. When he noticed it, he fell down. His cry of surprise and hopelessness turned into string that echoed along the tube system.

Catherine halted. She turned back and looked over the shoulders of other agents. Her vision caught Rick clinging onto the wall, a dozen meters away from the closing gate and twice the distance away from her. His hands held the drills that stabbed deep in the blacken wall. Catherine yelled "Everybody grab on to something". Before they could respond, the Gravity field disappeared. Catherine instantly teleported toward Rick; she gave the agents no time to criticize her.

Rick's left foot slip on the wall for the third time, his weight pulled him down even further. His grip on the drill grew weaker. Rick saw how the walls above him were closing and everyone had left him behind. Just as Rick was thinking about giving up, Catherine's hands supported his back. He looked to the left and screamed at her. "What the hell are you doing? Get out of here."

"Don't pull that shit on me! No one gets left behind when I'm around."

"If you're here, then who keep them up?"

Catherine concentrated her mind, created a platform with her psychic glow. She placed it under Rick's foot and started bosting him up. "Don't ask stupid shit. Let's go ya lazy ass." She grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

The Weavile looked down and saw Catherine and Rick's struggle to get closer to the closing slime wall. She decided to leave the agents behind and slid down. In second, she climbed over the decreasing gap and reached Catherine.

Catherine said while moving another inch upward. "Good, thank you for"

The Weavile grabbed Rick shoulder and said with a calm voice. "It's too late."

"What, are you high? The fucking the thing is still opeee…shit." She said as the closed gate obscured the dim leftover light completely. The Weavile did not answer; instead, she pushed her foot against the grimy wall and planted herself firm.

A shift in gravity within the place came. An unknown force from behind their back attracted the three of them. Too soon for anyone to realized what up was now sideway, Catherine and Rick were flung and slammed into the other wall, hard. A lump of metal in the opposite wall hit the back of Catherine's skull, rendered her unconscious.

(The song "Do the evolution" by Pearl Jam begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents.

A Pokémon fanfiction

Genesis

Chapter 16: Kings fall but chaos will ever remains

Back at the present

"Oh, thanks god you're still alive." Rick said while his head hovering above Catherine's vision. Catherine felt a small, sharp pain in her chest as Rick pulled out an empty syringe from her. Rick tried to help her up by supporting her head with his clumsy and rough hand.

"Yeah, argh, appreciate the love, but, please, I can do it myself." She said and slowly got herself up. Her left hand gripped on the back of her head. She felt a hard bump and something wet. She took her hand back just to confirm it was not blood. It was not, it was the sludge. Catherine tried to dust herself, but all she had done was spreading a dark sticky fluid on the fabric of her coat.

Rick stood up and took a step back. "Oh, sorry, for a moment I thought you were out for good."

She said, "Not today it seems" and gave him a chuckle, prompted Rick to do the same. Catherine looked around. This was the first time she got the chance to inspect the world around her. Despite knowing that she was still in the same building, yet the environment seemed to reflect another world all together. The inside of wherever they were, was lit up, though faintly with a few red lights placed in random order and places: ceilings; lined on the wall like stray illuminating ants; and on the floor. Everywhere and everything were moving, but not in a mechanical sense. All this, looked and sounded alive: pulsating; breathing; beating; and contracting. The sludge was the blood and the flesh was the concrete.

At the far left of everything, she saw the Weavile with her arm crossed and her mouth constantly moving. The two gigantic golden claws were placed on the sides of her belt, dangling like two extra limbs. She had a look back and found out Catherine had awoken. The Dark type quickly wrapped up her conversation and headed back to Rick and Catherine.

Catherine heard faint banging on the other side of the pulsing wall behind her. From the other side, Nate was slashing away at the wall with his fire claws. Bits of the walls were stripping away after each visceral and messy strike. However, the impact his assault was pitiful, almost comparable to a cat clawing on a steel wall. "Step aside." The Electivire pushed Nate and reached for the sword on his back. Once he did, he held it up high and charged it up with electricity. The blade turned orange from the heat. After the air around the weapons reached a critical point in temperature, the Electivire struck the wall with all his might, produced and eardrum-bursting thunder and a cloud of smoke. The grey cloud quickly deteriorated, revealing a huge chunk on the wall lost and replaced with char. The pulsing wall may remain standing, but it appeared hurt. The sewage water like blood quickly rushed toward the missing part. Fortunately, it just helped cool down the wound and not doing any crazy like patching itself. The Electivire looked back at the rest of the agents. "If I can't punch through, then none of us can." he said in a raspy tone.

Doc stepped up and inspecting the damaged wall. "Yes, but only for now. The wall is not regenerating itself, which means we can still take it down. Slowly but surely, we can." Doc's comm device then rang.

As he picked it up, Catherine's voice came through. "Hello, Doc, can you read me?"

"Oh, good, you are awake. Yes, I can read you, obviously. Unless there is a disconnection between us that make me read you, but you can't do the same, which renders this part of my conversation pointless, very much like the Arcadian's government or their electoral system."

"Eh, no, I can hear you, just fine."

"Good' he sighed. "I really need to work on my comedy banter after this."

"Yeah, you do whatever the fuck you want, I don't care. Anyway, I just want to know. Where the fuck are we?"

"Well, as far as we can tell, eh, you might want to sit down for a moment." Doc pointed his index finger to the wall. "The reports that I got is, certainly absurd." Doc said while walking away from the wall. The Electivire signaled other Pokémon to come to the wall with him and start slamming the wall open.

Catherine's voice came through after a quick pause "Yup, I'm ready. Fire away."

"E hem, apparently, the asylum, along with the ground, raw sewage surrounding and under it transformed into a giant Ekans. I guess the King had put all those plates into good use. See the round structure and the pulsating structure everywhere? That is a clear metaphor for where we are right now."

"Okay, that explained the, slimy walls and tubes." She started walking around. "Have the outside done anything?"

"They did and still, doing something. The blasting of cannons managed to the slow this thing down. Or at least, that is what I think they were doing."

"What do you mean?"

"Before we announced our "present", the base told all the aircraft to halt all attacks and let this thing be Agni's problem. Nevertheless, after we told them that we are here, they, well, hard to say that in this source of situation. Judging from the wall that stand between us, Genesis's cannon should be able to do more than just, slowing this thing down. But it is all speculation; I have not seen anything yet."

Catherine put her hand on her chin. "Hum, you think that they might have abandoned us?"

"Maybe, but, we never know. They said the thing is self-repairing from the outside. Maybe that is the case. Maybe the inside is this thing's weak point." Doc sighed. "Regardless, we told them that we might be able to stop the King from the inside, so let's hope that they count on that and not leave us behind."

"Seem a bit slim to me."

"Sure. Everyone here already knows that. Let's change the subject while the burly agents figure out how to get this wall open."

The yell of Boomer crashed its way in Catherine and Doc conversation "Oh shit! It's everywhere, literally!" A slapping sound and "Man the hell up" soon followed.

Catherine continued. "Eh, yeah, I have an idea of how that's turning out for you."

"Ignore that, so, who else is there with you?"

"Not much, just me, Rick and this Weavile."

"Oh yes, Noira, good. Have you seen Axel there?"

There was a pause. To Catherine, it was a quick three seconds to look around, but to Doc it was drawn out much longer. "No." she answered

"Oh, then that is bad. We had not seen him anywhere."

"Have you tried contacting him?"

"Yes, but apparently something is wrong with his comm device."

"Shit. What about your end, did anyone else die?"

"Fortunately, not yet. A few were heavily injured during the sudden collision." He looked at a female Inferape with a huge spike gone through her body, she could not scream, just making whimpering noises. "However, if you count Axel."

"He is just missing, I'm sure of it."

"Hope so."

"Okay, so, what do we do now? How do we get out of this thing?"

"Well, we have a plan. We go straight through the belly of the beast and kill the King, then we worry about getting out."

Catherine had to pause. "Eh, that is not."

"If you worry about not strong enough to kill him, hear me out. As soon as we get this wall down, we will join you. Full force, maximum firepower. Not that I afraid or anything, but our odds of success are higher if we working together."

Catherine stuttered, "No, that's not what I meant."

Tammy's voice butted in. "We? We have not agreed on anything, you just assume control and."

Doc looked over his shoulder. "Miss Condi, do you have a better plan? We are trapped, armed to the teeth and extremely dangerous, what else do we do? Walking around and look pretty? We are here to destroy the King and we are going to do just that. That is our prime directive." He then returned to Catherine. "Sorry about that Catherine, so that is the plan we have so far. From our trustworthy information sources, we know that we have cut his absorption time short and the Plates are in separated chambers littered across this creature, far away from the King."

Knowing that Doc would oppose anything that involved "escape first", Catherine pretended to be on his boat and asked. "That is all well and good, but what does it tell us?"

"He putting a strain on keeping this colossus mass together with power he is yet familiar. The King is at his weakest now and this beast is at its weakest here."

Catherine began to see some possibility. "Oh, that's good. If that is the case, we will wait for you guys then."

The Weavile heard Catherine and said. "No."

Rick said. "Eh, what?"

Noira continued. "Catherine, just cut the communication off and listen."

"Sorry Doc, just hold for a moment." Catherine turned to Noira, said, "What the hell are you thinking?"

Noira said. "We need to get rid of this thing as soon as possible. We are wasting time standing here." Noira then hit the wall with her golden claw. "This wall is extremely thick. It would take them at least an hour to burst through. A minute wasted, and the distance between this thing and Igni shorten."

Catherine cut off the line. "Call you back later."

Before Catherine could say anything, Rick commented. "I think it better if we stay behind for reinforcement."

Catherine added. "Yeah, we do it quick, but die quicker wouldn't help. I say we wait and make a sure shot. I faced this guy twice, the outcomes didn't look nice."

Before they could conclude their discussion, the King's voice echoed through the creature. "Oh, you are finally here. Welcome to my domain." The trio turned away from each other and checked the darkness in the distance, all with their weapon held high. "Oh, and you brought company. Lovely, more witnesses. Minions, it is time, to show some hospitality."

From the dark entered three Pokémon. They were the Zoaroak in thin jet-black armor with sharp edges; the Machamp with the speaker now came in full plate and a helmet; and the Sneasel jester, still wearing the same colorful attire. The Zoaroak emitted a cloud of black mist from his right hand. With a snap of his fingers, hilt of blade emerged from the mist. Overtime, a short sword with swirling blade came out. The Zoaroak then held the sword and pointed the tip toward Catherine's general direction. "Any last words?" The Zoaroak asked with a grin.

The Sneasel jester said after a sigh, "I wish I have a bigger roll; in the grand scheme and all."

The Zoaroak slowly turned to him. "What do you mean?"

The Sneasel continued. "Can't you see? We are going to die here. The scene is setting. Our act is over. We are no longer of use to this show and to him."

The Zoaroak held out a megastone covered in strange transparent slime. "But we have this, power. We can take them."

"Yes, and the King has much more power than that. Why doesn't he fight them, then?" The Sneasel strolled forward. "What makes you think we are more powerful than them? You are just a homeless mutant; he's a guy that load boxes and cargos to train; and I just a fool, a comedian in the world where the punch line is a punch to my nuts rather than a piece of social commentary."

The voice of the King echoed in the beast. "What are you implying, jester? Is this, betrayal?"

The Sneasel's head held up and screamed out. "My name is Horace, you bastard! And I shall not die being your pawn. I refuse to end my life behind a false stage, reek of bloodshed and hollow words. The joke here is you. You are no king, and I am still in control of my life!" Horace took out a worn dagger from his pocket and raised it so that Catherine, Noira and Rick could see. "You three, I don't know who pull your strings, but good luck, you'll need it." He then proceeded to stab himself in the heart. Catherine felt a tingling feeling down her back as the worn blade struggled to pierce the flesh and bypassed the ribcage. The Pokémon let out some death gargle before using his last bit of strength to stand on his two legs. His mouth twisted for a smile, the moments his eyes saw something. Without warning, Horace fell down. He lied there motionless. His life might have gone, but his grip on the blade was still there.

The Zoaroak and the Machamp stood still, witnessing as Catherine slowly walked toward Horace's body. She kneeled down and reached her right hand for his face. She gently closed his eyes. Her hand grabbed the dagger then she whispered "Lost Soul of the world. Your body may rot, but your spirit through this memento" She took the dagger and deconstructed it "will find peaceful earth. May you find guidance in the Beyond."

She then stood up and looked at the bandits. "It is not too late for you two, to find rest." The two bandits simultaneously activated the megastones. Both were then engulfed in great balls of radiance, only to turn them into hideous mutations. The Zoaroak's body, upon exiting the light was shaking and twitching. His head crooked a little and a painful grin took whole of his face. From the gaps in his armor leaked his black mist. The mist this time took shape of claws and gnawing jaws. Listen carefully and you could hear these jaws, breathing. The Machamp's transformation was milder. His muscles only grow to an extent that it nearly burst out of his armor. He let out a painful grunt as blood splatted out of his helmet. However, that grunt turned to a battle cry in a smooth second. The two bandit knights then advanced.

Before Rick could fire the first shot, the Zoaroak turned to his mist form lunged toward the fire type. The mist dragged him toward a grimy wall and slammed Rick into the filth-covered metal surface. His back was struck with a burning sensation then numbness plagued his body at a rapid rate. The Zoaroak let Rick's body fall to the floor and formed a black curve sword from his illusionary mist. He then sharpened his two blades by slashing them together. The impact, though produced the sound of real metal, did not made any spark. The Zoaroak materialized, took a few steps back, seemingly winding up for a grand execution. Rick tried to aim his gun, but the position of his body would not allow so. The dark type lunged forward.

A dark hand made of aura bone grabbed the Zoaroak by the head and flung the Pokémon to the other side. The dark type turned back into mist, prevented him from crashing. As soon as he regained his footing, everything got quiet all the sudden. Catherine's aura hands were still clutching on to the Machamp's upper set of arms, while her head turned back to see Noira. Both of her arms were covered in dark aura (similar to Catherine's). The aura stretched, giving the illusion of her hands being elastic. Without a word, Noira dashed toward the Zoaroak. Her aura hands grasped into fists and started pummeled the black mist. The attacks were fluid and fast, but they did not do a thing to the Zoaroak. After the aura hands finished with their barrage of punches, the Zoaroak found an open. He materialized his hands and weapons then started thrusting them in that opening-Noira's rib cage. Noira grunted as the blade touched her rib cage. However, the sword could never break through her bone. Noira quickly blew a gust of Icy wind from her mouth. The ultra-chilled air froze some of the Zoaroak's cloud body. The Zoaroak gritted his teeth as the cold cut into his very being. She retracted her aura hands and delivered an onslaught of aura infused punched to the frozen bits. The ice made the Zoaroak's body tangible enough to receive punishment from her fists. He screamed in agony as chunks of him were smashed. As his brain was overloaded with pain, he was no longer able to maintain his mist form. As a result, Noira grabbed and slammed him to the ground in his physical form, nearly broke his back. Her other aura arm impaled the ground and started spreading. Before he knew it, dozens of small aura hand creeped up from the ground and pinned him down. Some of these hands grabbed his miniature jaws and twisted them, breaking the teeth. He desperately tried to escape in his mist form, but the hands cupped the mist and maintained the restrain. After numerous attempted, his body gave in and stuck at his physical form. The hands then moved around his body. Noira closed her eyes and commanded the hands to grab bits of him and slowly, yet forcefully pull him apart. The sound these hands made resonated with his cry of agony.

His screamed echoed in accord with the clash of Catherine's psychic blades on the Machamp's wrist plates. The fighting type managed to trap her in a lock. His upper arms endured some pain and grabbed the purple blades tights. All while the lower arm over powered Catherine's own arms. Before she could maneuver her way out, he activated his chess speaker. The sound blasted her yards away. Her body was sliding on the grimy floor, drawing a shallow ditch. With her ears still ringing, she concentrated her mind, and teleported away from a ground pound.

He immediately looked around, searching for her. Afraid that she would strike from behind, he immediately turned 180 degree and slammed his upper fists down. The strike caught nothing but the sludge on the floor. Suddenly, his feet could touch to ground no longer. In seconds, his head slammed to one of the light on the ceiling. The hot broken glass fell into his helmet, burned into his bloated flesh. His feet, in a blink of an eye, smashed to the ground. He let out a shriek, as both his legs shatter from the amplified gravity. He fell down on his knees and started crawling toward Catherine. She let out a smirk as she took a few steps back. He tried to swat her, but her speed was much greater than his was, she evaded with a back flip. Catherine sprinted and dropkicked him in the face. She dashed forward and hit him across the jaw with her aura hand, staggered him. This opened him up for attack. Her left aura hand expanded in size, fully grabbed him and pinned the Pokémon to the wall. Her normal hands conjured up a thick and sharp psychic stake. With one decisive push of her palms, she launched the stake straight to the speaker part of his chest. The sheer size of the stake along with Catherine's force was more than enough to punch through the armor and impaled the Pokémon. Afterward, she let him there, nailed to the blacken wall.

Catherine was panting and expecting to hear something from the King. Something in the line of "Hahahaha, oh, I do enjoy the opening show. Come, the main event is still waiting." But alas, she had none. The King was silent and the only sound she heard was the strange hum from the outside. Noira walked passed her and urged. "Catherine, let's go."

"Yeah, sure. In a minute." Catherine she dusted herself and walked toward Rick.

Rick stood up on his own, his face wrinkled with pain. "Wait, don't you want to wait for reinforcement?"

Catherine answered. "You heard it. The King knows we are here, staying means being sitting targets. Let just give him the beating that he wanted, and make him regret it."

Rick made a face while holding on to his back. "Agrh, I don't think I can continue. I think it's time for me to augment my back bone when I'm back home."

Catherine said "It's okay, you can stay and trying to get the wall open with the others. The sooner we get that done, the better."

He said. "Oh, I see, with that comes with reinforcement as well." Rick looked back at the pulsing wall. "Sure, that works for me." Rick said before he summoned his drill. "Good luck, to the both of you."

Catherine said, "Try your best not to break anything else, okay? I'm not carrying you out of this hell hole."

Rick said. "I can walk on my own, thank you very much. Just promise to trade a few rounds with the gangs afterward."

Catherine turned around, wished to say something assuring.

Noira turned back and said. "Catherine!"

Catherine ran toward Noira and said. "I know, I know, I'm coming." She could just make a salute gesture.

Rick said, almost whispering. "Just come back, okay?"

Both Catherine and Noira advanced into the darkness beyond the belly of the monster. Catherine teleported while Noira dashed. Despite the different traveling method, both were never far apart from each other. The lights inside the beast lit up at every bit of progress that they made. They ran pass the tubes, pools of sewage and crushed bodies, finally, approached a large metal gate.

Catherine stopped and began to take off the rings from her boots. She then performed the ritual from Sanctuary and summoned her psychic great sword. Noira did not do anything besides looking at her in silent. Her eyes widen as the blade was forged. Catherine then heard the malevolent voice. "Considering the adversary, would you consider taking it?"

She whispered. "We will see about that."

Catherine stabbed the sword to the ground and held her left hand up. "Corruption!" She yelled and allowed the dark aura to emit from her sleeve and consumed her left arm. The effect transformed her arm to something similar to Noira's. However, the aura this time went a little further. The aura hardened and turned to ragged rock-like armor. The end of her fingertips turned to claws. Her hair grew longer as her heart began to beat faster. The aura moved from her shoulder to her right arm, but the glow from her great sword stopped it and prompted a burning pain in her arm. The voice screamed out as well, forcing her to stop the corruption. Catherine obliged. Despite her right arm was not infected with the aura; she could still feel a surge of power coursed through her vein. That power was enough to allow her to lift the great word with one hand. With the blade rested on her shoulder, Catherine touched the gate. She was about to punch it opened, but the gate made way based on its own volition.

Behind it was something Catherine expected to see and did not expected to see. It was, of course, the King. However, his appearance was a little different. He was in a gigantic crystal ball that hovered above large hole that took the most space of this chamber. The Plates were nowhere to be found in this chamber, but strings of light could be seen, sprouted from the cracks in this broken place and connected to the ball. On the King's back were the Mind plate and a pair of wings made from light. The shape of these wings was similar to the Angelic guard sigil on Catherine's coat. The King gave Catherine a solemn look then said. "You came for bloodshed, here I am, come and get." He said before materializing two psychic rapiers.

(The song Leviathan by NeLiME began to play)

Catherine teleported straight to him in short bursts. Once close enough, she jumped off the floor and reached for the ball. She then clung on to the crystal surface with her dark hand and immediately slammed the great sword on to it. The impact cracked the ball and forced the King to take a fighting stance. With a snap of his fingers, the ball emitted a force that pushed Catherine away from it. Catherine shut her eyes for a moment, experiencing an intense ringing in her head. She then fell down the hole.

The ball flew away from the center hole, heading all the way to the corner of the room. Noira, having anticipated this prior to Catherine's assault, already positioned herself there and prepared to attack. Noira extended her aura-infused arm and grabbed on to the dent. The ice type propelled herself forward by generate an icy gale under her feet. Noira flew toward the ball and broke it with her other arm in a forceful strike. The ball shattered, making the strings of light attached to it snapped and instantly reached for the King's wings. The King emitted force around him; destroyed Noira's attempt of a deathblow with her aura arm. Lucky for Noira, she landed, though roughly, on the floor.

Catherine's hand reached out from below the moment the King flung the broken pieces toward Noira. The Weavile retracted her aura arms. With a firm grip of her claws, the aura gathered and hardened into stone. The broken pieces turned to dust as they smashed on the rock hard surface of her aura. The King, unfazed by this, simply sprinted toward Noira. The King then spun with his blades, turning himself into a small tornado. Noira was hunkering down and continuing to block the oncoming attack. Catherine teleported alongside the hole and headed toward the King. Once Noira's hands were getting tired, Catherine slammed the sword down. The hit caused a small fissure to form on the concoction that was the floor. The blow shook the floor just enough to interrupted the King. He lost his footing and tumbled on the floor. Noira dropped her guard and tried using her claws to crash onto him. The King teleported away then hovered above the hole. He raise his hand, forced a platform that was slightly smaller than the hole to rise up. The panel itself covered in dirt mixed with a questionable amount of skeletons.

The King stood on the panel and taunted the two agents. Noira and Catherine quickly jumped on the platform. The King put his right hand above his head, summoning dozens of pink long swords suspended in the air. He launched the blades toward the two of them. Catherine picked up Cain's saw-off shotgun and started pumping dark aura orbs out. The King just nonchalantly dodged them, while his blades phased through each shots. Catherine, too focus on firing toward him, paid little mind to the barrage of swords. Soon enough, one of the blades struck Catherine's left shoulder, slightly under her joints and collar bone. Catherine kneeled down. Her body was shaking as pain mixed into her blood.

Noira was not falter, instead, taking the King interest in Catherine as a way to advance. She just had to dodge two blades and advanced toward him. Once close enough, Noira's aura hand expanded and threw themselves toward the King. He jumped over one and disappeared in a teleport to evade the other. Noira quickly retracted her arm, a second later a sharp pain cut into her face. The King and his rapiers were right beside her. Noira's arms were still too far to help her. As the King was about to slam a blade down for a decapitation, Catherine yelled "Ally Switch".

Catherine's great sword took the blow in a loud clank. The blade he had launched was still dug deep in her. However, that did not stop her from surprised him with a feral swipe from her left hand. His inner psychic barrier blocked the strike. Catherine did not care and try to dig her claw in deeper. The King kicked her in face, knocked Catherine away. Her head did not hear anything else afterward, but her mouth did tasted strong sense of iron. The King pointed his finger forward, making the sword drag Catherine all the way across the platform. The blade then pinned her to the wall with a thunderous sound. Catherine let out a painful yell as blood gushed out.

While Catherine trying to yank the sword out, Noira got on all four. She let out a snarl while showing her saliva-dyed fang. Noira then pounced forward like a feral animal, hungry for flesh. Noira channeled more of her aura out, to the point that it nearly engulfed her. The dark aura wrapped over her uniform, making her more and more feral-like. The aura made her muscles significantly stronger. The King summoned more blades.

"Noira, wait." Catherine had screamed so much prior this, that what she let out were just weak whimper. Seeing Noira still advancing forward, she tried to pull the blade out. With a determined grunt, she grabbed on to the hilt and ripped it out. She just wish to scream some more, but could not. Catherine crashed on to the cold slimy floor while Noira ran like mad toward the King. The Psychic type lied there for a moment.

The King launched a few blades toward Noira. The dark type wished to maintain her forward momentum, so she just simply dashed toward the blades. Two of them, pinned on to her arm and chest, but Noira keep on charging forward, as if she could no longer feel pain. The King took a stance and imbued his left blade with a bright pink glow, similar to that of Fairy type aura. He pierced his sight toward Noira, searching for an exploitable opening. Noira just bit the blades and yanked them out of her. She jumped, claws stuck out like giant switchblades.

The King just calmly dashed forward and stabbed the imbued blade in Noira's stomach. The blade burned her inside the moment it came in contact. He then lifted the blade up, seemingly presenting the impaled Noira to someone. Noira, was still in her feral state, constantly swiping her claws, trying to swat the King's head. He then slammed her to the ground, forcing her to stop. She did not, after the first impact. He stepped on her and stabbed his other blade into her abdomen. He lifted his left blade and constantly stabbing her. Blows, after blows, Noira's aura became weaker and her aura turned thinner. Just like that, after a moment, she stopped moving.

He then freed his blade and tossed Noira toward the closed gate like a rag doll. Noira's body made a clear thud as she slammed to the metal gate. She lied on the floor, while her inner voice desperately trying to fix the wounds.

"Noira!" Catherine yelled as her throat had just recovered. She dragged the sword before leaping back on to the platform. "You son of a bitch!" Catherine said and charged forward. He shot a few blades toward her. This time Catherine used her great sword as a shield and blocked them.

The King's eyes were gleaming with concern. "Well, how would like me to handle this? Slow, painful, or quick and painful?" Catherine slammed the sword down, pinned it to the ground. "Hum, you picked slow. I will oblige." He teleported and got himself a few inches beside Catherine. He tried to stab her with his left blade. She immediately grabbed it with her left hand. She grinned once saw the King's expression shifted slightly. She tried to snap the blade, but refused to break. The King quickly slashed her cheek with his other rapier. She released his blade. Not out of pain, but rather for her to grab on her sword with both hands. The opportunity of the King being this close would never happen again, and she wasted it. Once her left hand touched the hilt, intense burning occurred from within her palm. This pain made her hesitate for split second. As a result, her sword failed to cut the King open. He teleported away when the sword winded halfway. "Fuck, I'm too slow." She thought.

The King slid across the platform with blinding speed, both of his blades prepped up for an attack. Catherine quickly summoned a thin, tube like grenade. She pulled the pin with her teeth and dropped it on to the floor. A thick cloud of white smoke shot out, concealing her body.

The King stopped his attack. "A smoke bomb, really?" The King said, slightly amused. "You want to play? Sorry, but I'm not in the mood." He emitted his force forward, blew away all the smoke.

In front of him was nothing but the empty platform. "What? Where did she?" He frantically looked around, expecting a hit from the flank. After a few seconds, he could not find her; and that was when a shadow started to lay on him. Catherine shut off the gravity on her soles, the very thing that kept her glued to the ceiling. The weight of the weapon pulled her down at ever-increasing velocity. The King looked up a little too late. The image of the blade bearing down on him was just paralyzing. He could not focus his thought for a teleport. He panicked and could only move back slightly and block the attack.

Their blades meet and her great sword completely shattered the King's left rapier. The leftover shockwave manage to break the inner barrier. The King regained some of his concentration and reinforced his body with psychic glow. With this, he pushed her away. Catherine pretended to be affected by this and pulled her sword back, only to return with another slash. The King dropped his broken blade and two hands his sword to block Catherine's hit. After the decisive strike from Catherine, the two blades came to a standstill; both pressing against each other. "How the hell does THIS flimsy blade stands against my great sword?"Catheirne thought.

The King gritted his teeth while trying to make an awkward smile. "Tell me, Catherine, what are you fighting for?" Catherine did not answer; she instead used both of her hands to put more pressure behind her blade. Despite the hot iron pain comes from the moment her other hand touched the sword; she maintained the pressure with a grit of her teeth. "It took the death of my jester to realize how, astray we all are."

"Have you tried going to hell. That ought to solve it. That's where you belong."

"It is appears so, but, it's not that easy." The King could feel the pressure lessen after each second. He looked at the blades, seeing how his was getting lower and lower toward Catherine's left shoulder. He also noticed the density of Catherine's aura was waning away. "Your strength, is fading my dear, any second thought?"

"No" She said as she made her own blade disappeared. Catherine cracked a smile as the King's momentum forced him and his blade to fall forward. The King's rapier dug into Catherine's left shoulder, slicing into the joint and locked the blade in place. The jolt of pain forced Catherine spat a cheek-full of blood and saliva toward the King's eyes. The fluid stung his eyes, forcing them to shut.

(Song ends)

Catherine using her last bit of strength slammed her right palm to the King's temple. The blow was just enough to break his focus on maintaining the blade. The psychic blade disappeared, dropping Catherine down on her weaken knees. Catherine clawed her hand on to the King's head, used her weight to pull him onto his knees. Her shoulder was far worse from dislocated, the King's blade was momentarily wedged between them after all. Nevertheless, the aura managed to stick her arm together and pinned it in place. The King tried to yank her hand out with his other hand, but Catherine, used her left-aura-infused hand to stop the attempt; she grabbed on to his wrist and squeezed it hard; at least as hard as she could muster with a blade in her shoulder. The king stared her left arm, "Mind lock". He still had enough power to cut Catherine's connection with the voice and successfully terminated her aura. Still, that did not stop Catherine from continue squeezing his crooked arm. The King screamed in her face, nearly burst her eardrums. Her glowing fingers dug through the King's skin on his dome. She whispered. "Show me your pain. And, see whose is bigger." She chanted the memory split incantation.

The King could not do much else but scream and open his eyes wide as memory of Catherine's injuries settling in. The years she spent training until all her knuckles are shattered; the time a group of bandit flayed her natural white dress; the time she was impaled, bitten, violated, burned, maimed and all source of damage imaginable were flooding his mind. Even the times when the King, himself tortured her. He felt them all, fully and vividly.

Catherine, one the other hand, started with the image of him, bursting from a glass chamber. He was terrified. She could felt it through his rapidly beating heart and the short gasps for air. Afterward, she saw visions of Markov putting something on the King's head. What happened afterward was a complete blur to her. She could not see or experience anything. As if what happened next, was not the King's doing. As if the King's brain was numb and memories that did not belong to his were pumped in. She could not understand what was going on. Everything was just blurs and incoherent gargle of audio. It went on for eternity, until, the King, in his voice, said "No". After that, the train of memory sped up. Yet, the images and sound were becoming clearer until it stopped all together at one point: The King standing on the edge of a cliff.

He looked behind him and saw a much younger Markov with a smirk. A smirk that Catherine could not imagine coming from Doc's brother. Someone who was praised as being kind and thoughtful by Doc. Markov was holding a blue crystal rapier; the tip was dipped in blood. Markov stepped forward. Catherine was surprised to hear his real voice, which was eerie similar to the King's. "Well, just look at you, all grown up, huh? You think you can betray me?"

"No, father I."

"Don't call me that!" Markov drew the blade forward, stabbing the King in his shoulder. The King screamed while Catherine experienced a deep string burrowed into her shoulder blade. Markov withdrew the blade continued with a small maniac's grin. "Heh, how disappointing. My creation, failed me. No, worst, it forsakes the gift of life, that I gave it, and stabs me in the back, like an ungrateful Ignian. And for what?"

Catherine saw the King lifting his hand up, a futile attempt to block a future attacks. "Dr. Voynich, I, I can, I can fix it. I made a mistake. Yes, a mistake, I can fix it. Please, give me a chance."

Markov shook his head, slowly. "No, no, no, no, the mistake is all mines. Thanks to you, I now have a new understanding. It is true, then. There is only room for one, Markov in this world. I will find another, method to achieve, my immortality, my legacy." Markov lowered the rapier and approached the King with his other arm opened. Markov put his hand on the King's shoulder, gently. "Well, now, allow me to end, your suffering, your meaningless existence." Catherine could not see much else besides Markov thrusting his other hand upward, stabbing the rapier into the King's abdomen. He whispered in the King's ear. "A creation that failed its purpose, does not exist, in my eyes." Given the King no chance to gurgle, Markov withdrew the blade then gently pushed his clone-self off the cliff. Catherine felt the salty ocean air touched her hair as the King in the past fell to his doom. The memory once again was distorted. In the mist of jumpy and statics and scratched images, there was a shadow, a faceless figure. It said. "Mine, oh, mine, what do we have here? A lost soul? Down on your luck, huh? Let me offer you, a way out."

That moment, the pain in Catherine left arm forced her to collapse, resulted in a sudden disconnection. The King was still screaming from Catherine memory, not realizing that the stream of recreated pain had stopped. However, once he did, he looked down at Catherine, bewildered. He had seen her life and it was not that different from his. His voice was trembling and shaky. "You, I was, wrong about you. We are, the same, we can still." He whispered. Catherine blinked and could not see the King quickly grabbed her hand and put it back to the side of his head. His hand touched Catherine's temple. It glowed bright purple and injected a white flash to Catherine's head.

Catherine was now in an empty white void, quite similar to the combat simulation back at Genesis. The only different here, was that Catherine did not feel the disconnection between the image of her body and her feelings. She truly felt like she was in another place. The changes were so rapid that she almost forgot about the pain in her system.

"We have taken this all wrong." The King's voice touched Catherine's back.

Catherine turned around, seeing the King calmly strolled toward her with opened arms. He was wearing actual royal attire with gold and the finest of silk. Catherine wrinkled her face in disgust and spat: "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I've seen your world, inside your head. Seeing how you and I suffered the same, almost. I couldn't think of killing you. Instead, I wish to talk to you, straight forward. In this room of mind, we are free from the chains of the outside, and our ideas, are free."

"Ha ha, fuck no." She closed her eyes and focused her thought on getting out. A moment of silence, then she opened her eyes. She expected to see the King and the real world in front of her once they opened. She was half-right about that. She opened her eyes and saw the King sitting on a throne, still surrounded by the white empty void. He sat in a laid-back manner, with his palm support his head.

The King cracked a smile and said. "The face when you concentrate is the thing of comedy."

Catherine gave him a sideway look. "I was about to throw a comeback, but you are not worth wasting my dignity."

"Understandable, please, take a seat." The King pointed to her left.

Catherine immediately trailed her eyes along and saw a throne in place. It was the same size as the King's throne and decorated with thin blue veils. "What the fuck is the meaning of this? Just because you think we suffer the same thing that we can just sit here all buddy buddy?" She shook her head. "What do you take me for? You killed countless of Pokémon, enslaved them, mutated them, and you tortured me and my friends."

"Are they truly your friend?"

Catherine had a second thought "Okay, my acquaintances and one of my friends. But that doesn't change the fact that you are a bastard."

The King nodded. "I know, I know. I'm aware of what I have done, but, let's talk this time. Let's not fight for a moment, let not threaten ourselves, but instead, talk and listen."

Catherine touched the fabric, noticed how soft and smooth it was. She proceeded to sit down and locked her hands behind the back of her head.

"Comfortable? Much better than, clinging to every bit of pain, right?"

"No shit." She smiled. "Go ahead, do your thing, talk. I have nothing to give you beside "Fuck off and let me go.""

"I see, thank you for listening." He snapped his fingers, causing two end tables with drinks to materialize; one beside Catherine and one beside him. "It is hard to be born in this world huh? Brought to life, just to be shunned, abandoned and suffer."

Catherine took a sip of her drink, the red liquid burned into her throat. She glared at him, trying to see his angle in the matter. "With a world as screwed up as ours, no one asked to be born here."

"Yes, but the two of us, are different. We were born as freaks, for no other purpose but to be exploited. Your Councils" Catherine felt some muscle in her body tighten when those two syllables were utter: "Council". The King went on "they imprisoned, brainwashed, and tortured a young, beautiful and hopeful young woman. Then after she had served them well and good, they corrupted her to create you." Catherine closed her eyes, fighting back a stinging salty drop to escape her eye. Her hand increased the pressure on the glass. The liquid content within the glass started shaking. The King stopped his smile, instead looking at the ripples of her drink. "Should I give you a moment? You seem to be."

"I'm fine, get your shit over with!" She said through the gap of her teeth.

"Sure, they did so, just for power, a firmer grip on well, a world that refuses to accept their philosophy." He took a sip. "Yet, your mother, she refused to let them, take away her free will. She exerted her strength, over their evil, by give you, love. It is up most, commendable, the spirit of a mother. In that regard, I felt, to be honest, jealous of you. He created me, just so he can live with the knowledge of having a legacy, being immortal, gaining power over death. And that is all, no compassion, nothing."

"Markov." Catherine wished to shake her head in disbelief, but the experience in someone's head had never lied before. For that brief, moment, she felt something, a connection, though small, weak, and faint but a connection nonetheless; and that sicken her. She, Catherine, was feeling some manner of compassion for this twisted creature that decorated his home with carcasses of slaves and the hopeless. Still, in that short moment, she saw more of this Alakazam. He was more than a savage with power; he was a wrapped reflection of her. Both were lost and trying to find a way out. However, one had obviously sunk deeper in sin compare to the other.

"Yes, him. I realized his scheme a little too late, or too soon. I rebelled, but blindly, without sight, without seeing myself becoming him. I just want to take back some control. You through your eyes, you reminded me of how stray I am."

Catherine pointed forward. "Stop right there, you and I are nothing alike. Stop using me as your reference point."

The King, un-flinched by her remark, continued. "You want control as well, yes. A guiding light, lit up by the torch you created."

"Fine, take it that way, but look at us now, it's no longer matter; it is too late. You have wronged this world too much to justify or do anything. If you expect me to give you sympathy and let you go then you are dead wrong."

"It's not. I know I cannot undo all the madness I have done." The King put his drink on the table. "Everything I have done, was senseless." He looked down at his attire. "This entire disguise, it bears no weight, I bear no authority or control. I just play his game and become his legacy in the end. Look at my so call, Kingdom. It is filled with blood and body of the damned; it is no different from his desires." He covered his face with his palm. "All the lives that I have taken away, I couldn't see their suffering. It is indeed too late to undo anything." The King then stood up, prompting Catherine to do the same. She, however, got in a fighting stance. "Now, I see it, now I know what to do. I will disband the Bandits Kingdom. I will find a place for these, bandits. I will help them created their own home, and I shall give them options, instead of playing by the rule of this mess up world. I'll give them something other than being bandits."

"That is nice and all. But what about you? I believe your past, I believe your, um, words. Nevertheless, what are the reasons for me to put fate in that vision of yours? All of us have the vision of controls the options, control the situation, a Utopia, but no one has done it. Wishing to chance things for the better, won't undone the wrong. You did mind controlled my teammate and plated a bomb in his head. He beats me up pretty good, so I am still salty about it. And remember, all the agents, myself includes are here, for your head. We don't know about your intention or anything."

The King smiled faintly. "Yes, glad that we are on the same page. Nevertheless, we have to try. As for me, I shall turn myself in. I know I can't never pay for my crime, but that is the least I can do. But please, let me try first."

"Oh, sure, if you say so. But, that is no easy task, especially with the grand scheme of thing. Genesis deems you a threat, and we are here to crush it."

"Yes, but who give them, the right to do so. And I know, you about to say, common sense dictate that I should be stopped. Axel and everyone else are firsthand experiences. Again, no objection there, but admit it, Catherine, since when life is that straight forward? Since when we could do"

Catherine held her palm. "Just stop. Okay. There are no excuses for your action. Still, I accept it. Now move on."

"Yes. So please, just let me, mend something first."

Catherine sighed. "Okay, sure. Then the question still stands. How, how can you do so? Because once we exit this chamber of the mind, there is no telling of what happens next. I will have to hunt you."

"True but you don't have to." Catherine was about to say something, but she went quiet and listen. The King continued. "This beast was a rush, maddening attempt, a quick and messy way to stop him. But since you are here, it's no longer needed. I can focus on what matter."

"Go on."

"Yes. I will give my redemption before I receive judgment. I will give you back all the Plate, disband everything. You can tell them that you killed me, for now. And after everything is said and done, I will die under your blade, or gun."

"Hum, don't think I have to authority to give you judgement, but fair enough." She paused and pondered. "I think I'm sensing a "but" here."

"Not a "but" but a request. If you are unsure about yourself, you can turn me in to Genesis, only when he is dead." The King took all his courage to make the next sentence. "Could you help me kill Markov, Catherine? He must be stopped. Only then, I could receive my judgment, knowing that things like me will never be created, ever again."

A thunder went up in Catherine's head. She said. "No, absolutely not. I'm not your hired killer."

"But, Catherine. He is the source of my madness. Only time will tell what kind of abomination he could create."

"I don't care." She spat at him and proceeded to advance. Catherine then grabbed the King by the collar and lifted him up. "So all this talk huh? Just a way to use me isn't it?"

The King showed panic in his eyes. "No, you have mistaken, I never would."

"Then what the fuck does it look like? How am I supposed to take this, huh?"

The King calmed down and said. "Oh, I now see. Indeed, it is not the kind of decision that could be made casually. Would you please, let me down?" Catherine did so, but slowly. "Thank you, and I must apologize. Almost make another mistake there."

Catherine reclaimed her composure and nodded; her face was stern. "I think it is better for things to cool down first before doing anything else."

"Yes, indeed, we need more time for this kind of decision. But, it is hard to keep in contact, considering the mess, we are in right now."

"That can easily be solved." Catherine struck out her hand. "Just make a mind link with me then we can telepathically communicate, even miles away. Don't be scared, us Celestians have done this for centuries. There is a catch, though. Once the mind link is established, all of my knowledge as well as your will belong to both of us."

The King smiled at the thought. "Oh, I have no objection for such requirement. If anything, I welcome it. It makes the deal, we about to make, the more powerful and, it will clear both our mind of doubt. Besides, I have already seem a large portion of your, life. Let's do it, all the technique I have learned, all the knowledge from the Plate will be yours." With a faint smile, the King took Catherine's hand. "Friend."

Catherine glared at him. "Don't push your luck. This proves nothing." With a smile of her own, she gripped his hand tight and began chanting her memory share incantation. This time, in the end, she added a few verses. Catherine closed her eyes and let their hands glow as the knowledge began to flow.

Half way through, after witnessing a different parts from Catherine, a gentler and more vulnerable part, the King said: "Gracious, you are something else. It will be a secret, between us."

"Just shut the fuck up, will you? I need to concentrate."

"Oh. That, I will oblige."

The empty white room surrounded them suddenly cracked. A dark red light started to dripping in from the gap. Their connection stopped. "What the hell?" Catherine exclaimed, before seeing a round, red hole on the King's chest.

The King looked down, seeing how the red color began to spread on his attire. "I feel, strange." He started hyperventilate. "I'm, hah, hah, hah, scared." His hand began to slipping away from Catherine's. She tried her best to prevent him from doing so. That did not change the fact that the room is falling apart and pulling him away from her. Soon, everything turned black.

Catherine was back at the real world. In front of her, the King took his final breath and collapsed. Red, shining red was covering his clothes. Catherine did not know what to do, besides trying to help him up. However, she forgot that the pain the King had inflicted was still in effect, and she had lost so much blood during her time in the King's mind. She much so, that the blood actually dripped along her coat and reached for her boots. She tried calling the voice, but it did not answer.

From a far, near the gate, Axel became visible again and ejected a smoking shell, instances before the floating platform supporting Catherine and the King's body plummeted into the hole. Axel looked away from the scope, seeing how the internal of this beast was shaking. Large chunks of tar, metal and glass began rained down, increased in intensity after every shake. He looked down and noticed Noira was moving again. The Snivy quickly climbed down and approached her.

From outside, the Leviathan stopped moving. Its metallic scale began to fall off, while it concrete, sewage, dirt, metal, and glass body decayed and dropped to the ground. The Foundation planes gathered around the beast's head and started priming their weapons.

Axel took out a healing syringe and jabbed it in Noira's chest. The pain and drug immediately woke her up. She sprang up and frantically look around. "What is going on? What happened? Where is Catherine?"

Hesitated for a second, Axel answered. "No time to explain, but she, didn't make it. Anyway, we need to get out, the place is falling apart."

Noira's comm then rang. She picked it up and listened to Rick's voice. "Noira, you are still alive? Nice. The way is clear, turn back now. Tell Catherine too, she didn't pick up my call." Noira did not speak of anything, she just cut off the line. Axel helped Noira get back on her feet. The dark type instantly climbed on the wall and headed back to Rick's location, one of her hands clutched her abdomen. Axel was doing the same, following her steps.

Boomer voice blasted through the beast after the mega fire pig had finished drilling a big enough hole on the wall. "Everything has gone to ass, get the hell out now!"

Doc voice replaced Boomer's "Great observation. What else? The sky is blue?" He poked his head through the hole Rick had just dug. "Come comrade." Doc then backed away, allowing Rick to enlarge the hole. Rick with some difficulties, managed to squeeze through said hole.

After Rick had got through the wall, Noira reached his location. Seeing the absence of Catherine, he asked her. "Noira, where is Catherine?"

"No time, we must go." She quickly jumped through the hole and joined the other agents.

Rick then tried to fit through the hole again. "No way, I'm going back."

Doc grabbed him by the shoulder. "Rick!" He then shook his head. "Basic math dictates that 2 losses is better than 3."

"Screw you math, I'm still going back."

"Rick, be sensible now." Doc said, while his bionic eyes pierced into Rick's panic gaze. "You can punch an ancient Pokémon in the face, but you can't do everything. You can't save everyone." Rick closed his eyes and backed out from the hole.

Leon and Bryan along with the rest of the agents rushed to the entrance, or at least until they reach a dead end. Leon said. "Eh, okay, have anyone actually thought about an exit?"

"Shit!" One agent shouted from the back of the group. Before they could gather their thoughts, the dead end blasted open, knocked most of them back. Once the agents' eyes opened, they could see blinding sunlight from the outside again.

Rave voice blasted through the comms. "Guys, I have just blown the thing head off."

Another pilot came in the line. "Hey, asswipe, WE've blown the thing head off."

Boomer screamed at the top of his lungs. "You assholes! That almost killed us."

The previous pilot said. "Ah, well, just blame it on Rave. He was the jackass that came up with the idea."

Rave responded. "Screw you!"

Doc jumped out, not before saying. "Argue later, help us out immediately!"

From the hole under the King's chamber

"You motherfuckers! I'm not dead. Hello, is anyone there?" Catherine screamed from the bottom of the hole. She tried the comm, but just like her voice, it refused to answer. She blamed it on the kick from the King. Seeing how after a few drawn out minutes and no one had come, she decided to stand up and rescue herself. First, she must find an anchor. Catherine crawled forward with her right arm. Surrounding her was nothing but darkness and the sound of crumbling walls and sludge. Her hand got a grip on something hard and covered in goo. She used it as a lever and slowly got back her on feet while mumbling something. As she stood up, Catherine could felt every fracture in her bone responded. Nevertheless, those pains are nothing compare to the dangling left arm and disjointed shoulder. The voice returned, and demanded to know what had happened. She ignored that and commanded the voice to heal her arm, but fell apart joints could not be fixed with just regeneration. At most, the aura hand crawled out and acted as binding for her left arm. She slowly advanced forward, hoping that was actually toward the exit.

After a few dozen steps, her head bumped into something. She reached her hand out and felt it. "No!" said her as she found out what beyond the darkness was a metal wall. She punched on the wall and received a loud echoing sound. Her hand retracted. She then found out that her hand had made a dent on the wall. Realized that the wall might not be as thick as she had thought, Catherine summoned her laser cutter. "I'm not going down without a fight." She grabbed the cutter and aimed it forward. "Arghhhh!" She cried out as her right hand alone struggled to get the thing to operate. The cutter dropped to the ground. Before she could pick it up again, something swiped the cutter away.

"Here, let me give you a hand with that, lady."

Recognized the voice, Catherine turned back and seeing a smirking Snivy behind her. "What, the fuck, took you so long?" She said with a glare.

"Deciding whether to ignoring your, heart breaking plea. You definitely grip my heart at the "Motherfucker" part"

She sighed. "Now is not the time. Please, get me the fuck out of here."

With a grin, he prepped up the cutter and said. "Sure, just rest, okay? I'll take care of everything."

Catherine nodded. "Thanks."

"Now, just loosen your muscle a bit. It will stop the bleeding."

Catherine nodded and started breathing slowly. When her pulse slow down to a normal rate, Axel's vines extended and made their way toward her. "Argh, what the fuu" He wrapped his vine around her, securing her hands and feet to her body; turned her to a cocoon of vines. "Eh, this arrangement is slightly."

"Creepy, I know. Just don't tell Celeste and we are good." Axel covered the cocoon with an extra layer of vine, leaving a big enough hole for Catherine to breathe and see. Once that done, he moved to cocoon to his back and started shooting beams toward the thin wall with the cutter. The plasma melted away and punctured several holes on the thin sheet of metal. Axel punched the sheet open once enough holes were made. Afterward, he bolted. He soon found an opening that led to the part decorated with the remains near the mess hall. He accelerated, telling Catherine that they were close. Their surrounding was collapsing with ever-increasing speed. From time to time, Axel had to dodg a quick lump of structure that fell down. Finally, when the slime walls were closing on Axel, he found the blasted-open exit, marked by sunlight. He used his last bit of stamina and sprinted toward the light. He jumped, when the structure collapsed entirely and found himself stories above ground. That was no trouble for him, because he had the kinetic orange orb the slowed him and his cocoon's landing.

After his feet felt the hot dirt, Axel laughed. "Hehe, oh my god! We made it! We were almost in that." He said while turning his head over his shoulder. "Catherine? Eh, Catherine? Hello?" Axel shook the cocoon a bit, no answer. He quickly un-wrapped her and found Catherine's eyes had shut tight. The aura that kept her arm together was gone as well. The gaping wound on her shoulder had stopped bleeding and the blood had hardened. He touched her neck and sensed nothing. "Quick, call the medic!" he shouted. Lazarus ran toward him while summoned his equipment. He calmly kneeled down and checked Catherine's status.

A few days later

Axel was walking in the medical wing of a Genesis base. Beside him was a group of three Pokémon, one being Markov and two Chansey nurses. The group was pushing a hospital bed. The lumps on the covering sheet indicated a body of an unfortunate soul. The air around them was heavily sterilized and filled with heat coming from the staff running back and forth.

Markov shook his head. "What a shame. She had put up a great fight the past few days. Yet, her valiant effort, was in vain. Another agent lost, terrible shame. Well, at least she had no family. Not that we know of."

Axel kept his head down, a solemn look on his face. "No one wanted this, but pretty much everyone expect this, yes?"

"Of course, a price to pay for the future, I guess. Well, I will see you, at another time, Axel."

Axel bowed. "Sure will, Doctor Markov."

Both then parted way. Markov and the Chansey headed for the morgue while Axel made a sharp turn. He traversed the hallways occupied by nurses and doctors running back and forth. He stopped at room 403. He knocked on the door. The cheery voice of Celeste came out. "Come in."

Axel turned the knob. In the room was Celeste sitting on floor, combing Catherine's hair and weaving some metal rolls and coils onto the Psychic type's hair. Catherine sat still, eyes gazing at the fabricated sunlight and sky made by the window screen. She only had a hospital pants on while her upper body was covered in clean bandages. Bits on her left shoulder were letting out a metallic shine.

Axel walked toward an end table and fabricated a flower vase. He said "How you ladies been doing?" before putting the vase down.

Celeste said. "Pretty good, right, Catherine?"

Catherine turned to Axel, said. "That depends on how my hair looks from your end, Axel. Is it okay?"

Axel crossed his arms and puckered his lips. "That's a tough one, considering the fact that you look like you have spring rolls stuck in your hair."

Catherine turned back, glaring. "Doubt is seeping in, Celeste."

"It will look gorgeous when it done. I promise."

"Hah, why do I care? Even if I go bald, no one would notice anyway."

"I would and don't say that." Celeste then turned to Axel. "Axel, did you bring the drink?"

The Snivy slapped the back of his head. "Oh, dang, I forgot. Can you go and do that for me, please." He said with a smile.

"Fine." The Eeveelution stopped what she was doing and walked to the door. "See you later."

"See you." Axel and Catherine said.

Once Celeste had left, Axel said. "So, how are you doing lately Catherine?"

"Pretty good. The metal felt weird when I try to move. Swear to god, I hear it clank when I move my arm." She shook her shoulder, winced at the pain.

"Uh huh, it's normal. Don't worry though, after a while, it will stop. I got two implants, so you can be trust my words."

The silence then set back in for a moment. "Un huh. So does that mean I can wield bigger guns?"

"No. You are only protected from mild recoil. Don't be too excited, just mild recoil, not even bone crushing recoil so, yeah I afraid no railgun for you."

"Fuck. I thought it was something like Doc when they said cybernetic."

"It would, if you pay extra. Oh that reminds me."

Catherine spat. "Stingy asshole, I'm in a hospital for god's sake."

"Yeah, just kidding. And forget about it; it's not what I'm here for anyway." He fabricated a small blue velvet covered box. "I have something for you." He handled to box over to her. The Snivy gestured her to open it and she did.

Inside was a simple silver locket. "Oh, it's a…locket." She opened it up and read what was written inside. "Alexander and Daniel, um, the fuck?" She turned to Axel, her look contained a mixture of confusion and fright.

"Well, one of those name could me mine, or somebody else. I don't know what they come from, but I know for sure that this locket is a piece of my past."

Catherine closed the box. "Wow, I am flattered, but, eh, this is super creepy. You have a girlfriend outside, buying drink and I'm already taken. So, you can have it back." She pushed to box to him.

"No, just take it, because your life might depend on it."

Catherine had some trouble keeping her jaws shut. "Okay, it went from creepy to absolute fuckery and fuck-off-from-this-room disturbing."

Axel snickered. "This is not for that purpose. This is my apology."

"Apology, Apology for what?"

"You know, during the escape on the Bandits' Monster. I did not thinking about saving your life. I was about to just leave you there, in that hole and downright leave."

Catherine squinted her eyes. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" was in her head, but she remained, silent.

"But, I still did, didn't I? Yet, I still feel pretty guilty about it, so I just have to make sure that I would never second guessing about saving you."

"Seriously, so you apologize, with this? Bribing? Heh, you are so god damn high."

"Don't flatter yourself Catherine. I don't even know you for that long."

"I feel insulted, but fuck it! If I were in the same situation, it would ditch you as well. I own you nothing after all. Well, not anymore, cause I obviously own you on this one." She took the locket from the box. "But yeah, I'll take it." She tried to put it on but immediately put it back to the box. "Wait, don't you want to give this to your girlfriend."

"She don't need it. She is my future, so I will always save her. You on the other hand"

"Fuck, putting more salt on my pride will ya?" She deconstructed the box. "This thing it's super tacky, so, might not wear it. But, you better not forget though." She pointed at him.

"Oh, I won't. Just don't ram your head into trouble too often."

"Pf, no promises there."

Shortly after, Celeste went in with two bottle of something on her feelers. Catherine, for the rest of the day, smiled while hiding away a conversation within her mind.

"Should I tell them?" She said.

The malevolent voice answered in the same manner as always, calculated, cold and straight forward. "Considerate all these factors and answer it for yourself. No one would believe you. Only you and the King were in that conversation. Markov is still one of the elites in this company and he had not done anything that affects you directly. The bandit Kingdom and its members are now no more. Is there any point to continue that rushed plan of his? The answer is, don't think about it. Enjoy your life with these strangers and move on. Just as how we agreed upon the day that we set foot in this place. Our own interests are the only factors in this world."

"It's easy to say that, without sight. Many lives were lost for seemingly reasons; it's too hard for me to ignore. But you are right on one thing. Others won't do much help for me. I will have to root out the truth by myself then decide, for myself."

"I told you, this world is senseless, all the killings are senseless. It is better to be part of the killing rather than thinking about it, and then be killed. But fine, do as you please. Can't say that I didn't warn you. However, I would be crossed if I somehow ended up in a jar made by Genesis. And the only way for that to happen, is you, paying the price."

A few hours later, in the wreckage of what was once the Leviathan

Genesis had established a giant holographic field that covered up a large area that included the creature massive body; tents for Genesis's scientists, grunts and clean-up crews; Killians planes; and other vehicles. All Genesis's personnel had their work cut out for them. The grunts were looking for signs of living bandits, who somehow miraculously survived the transformation of the Leviathan and the collapse, but atlas, all they could find were bodies showing signs of decay. The clean-up crews worked alongside with the scientists and engineers. They performed the task of heavy lifting, stripping away the excess metal and gunk, allowed the scientists to perform their search for useful data. While the others were doing their jobs, Markov was gently searching the scrap metals for something else. He had instructed all the personnel to leave him alone.

He worked his way toward the arena where Catherine, Noira and the King had fought. The clean-up crew had already taken way the ceiling, giving Markov an easy time to find the battered body of the King. Normally, one would be torn apart from seeing a splitting image of oneself as an empty, hollow and rotten shell. That did not ring true for Markov. A grin slowly pushed up the wrinkles on his cheeks, folding them together.

"Oh, how disappointing. Possessed all that power, and he used it for this, bombastic beast."

A calm voice entered the scene. "Indeed. He didn't have any of your ambitions; just pure unsophisticated vengeance. Very much like his lackeys."

Markov jumped a little and turned his head back. He saw an Eevee walking on two legs looking through his shoulders. The normal type was wearing a black business suit and a tie with the Infinity logo. "Oh, didn't know you were here."

"Hehehe, that is just how I carry out my business." The Eevee then took a gander at the King's body. "Hah, look at that, after all that effort, we finally got him, the thorn in our sides."

"Indeed. You have no idea how please I am to see this.'

"Well, you might be surprise, but, that satisfied grin on your face has told me everything."

Markov chucked a bit more before facing the Eevee. "So, what is our next step? My clone might have, sped up the Plate, gathering process. But the amount of pawns, he costed us is too much."

The Eevee pondered. "Hmmm, indeed. But, look on the bright side. Because of his monopoly on bandits, plus the incompetency with his indoctrination technology, the bandits in the Outlands are weaker than ever. Without him, they lose the master control and cannot do anything besides being converted."

"Interesting thought. Do you know the location, of their leftover bases?"

The Eevee shrugged. "Sadly, I don't. I told you, I'm no god, just a guy who is good at observations. As for your question, there should be some intact database in this wreckage. From what we gather from Sanctuary, these data would prove more useful than just making bandit round-up easier."

"Oh yes, the Megastone recreation, and the Infinity tech. Yes, those would be upmost welcome."

"Look like we have what we need to fix this world. Well, except some time to recover and strengthen ourselves."

"That is a must, no doubt about it." Markov paused. "Is there anything else you wish to tell me?"

The Eevve smiled. "Afraid not, just checking in and unwind some of your concerns, like I always do."

"Good, then I must ask you to leave. Be careful on your way out. Don't want to draw any suspicion." Markov looked back at the body. His face shifted from satisfied to concern. He was thinking of what his next steps going to be, what assets he still had. Noticed how things were awfully quiet, he looked behind him and found out the Eevee had disappeared. "Huh, I would never get used to that. But you, on the other hand" he looked back at the body "I could easily get used to live without you pestering me and my goals."

From a far, the Eevee looked back at the wreckage through an old binocular. The device somehow pierced through the illusion, giving him the full vision of everything. He looked at Markov, as he took something from the King. "Another scapegoat bit the dust." The Eevee muttered while his shadow on the sand began to morph into a different Pokémon.

End of part 1

Author's notes:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to updates these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is my first ever story so please forgive any possible mistake in the future and help me fix them.

Wow, I have gone pretty far with this story. I don't know what to say but, thank you for joining me along the way and have a pleasant day.