(A/N: Alright, so I have some somewhat bad news. Due to finals coming up next week and two papers, don't expect me to update too often. I don't know if I'll be able to finish this chapter before hand, so if it doesn't, I apologize.)

Chapter 15: An Unexpected Reunion

"Get down!" Chris yelled as the ground shook even harder. He held Sadie and Pikette close as the bombers above outside flew by. Once everything had settled, they quickly got to their feet.

"I don't believe the bastards," Sadie said. "They attacked without warning."

"Apparently they had this planned," Pikette said. "At the same time, we ended up losing half our squads stationed here."

"What's important now is that we get ourselves out of here and find somewhere to regroup," Chris said and the three of them headed back onto the first floor. Amazingly, the hospital was still standing, but many others nearby hadn't fared as well. Not to mention the power was out. "EMP burst," Chris then said, as people started coming out from where they were hiding.

"How do you know?" Sadie asked.

"Look," Chris said, picking up a rifle. "Laser sight is gone. Damn, they've shut everything down."

"Well, as long as they can shoot, then it's not a problem," Pikette said.

All of a sudden, bullets came flying from the front entrance of the hospital, causing everyone to hit the ground again. "Sadie!" Chris yelled.

"Got it!" Sadie responded as both of them got on either side of the doors. Unfortunately, they were at a disadvantage due to the fact they were outnumbered and that all they had were the pistols in their holsters. Things were going to get difficult.

As each of them alternated taking shots while the other took cover, Chris then said, "Sadie, how you holding up?"

"Good," Sadie said as she took out another soldier. "Tango down. I'm running a little low on ammo though."

"Here, take one of mine," Chris said, sliding one of his magazines over to her.

She took the magazine and slid it into the chamber. "Thanks." She then glanced over to her left. "Chris, ten o'clock."

"Got it," Chris said, going around and shooting another soldier straight in the head. After a couple more minutes, the gunshots ceased. Seeing that it was now clear, both Chris and Sadie came out of their spots.

"Guess that takes care of them," Sadie said.

"Yeah," Chris said. He then looked to her. "Sadie, I'm sorry. Sorry that I worried you."

"It's alright," Sadie said, giving him a hug. "Just give me a heads up next time, alright?" Then, something caught her eye but before she could do anything, a gunshot rang out, and the figure, which was a remaining soldier, fell to the ground.

She then looked to Chris, who had fired the shot. "You gotta be quicker," he said with a smile.

"Right, I'll keep that in mind next time," Sadie said, giving him a kiss. Once they broke the kiss, she then said, "So, what do we do now?"

"Not sure," Chris said. "We won't be able to contact anyone. We're on our own now." He then looked to Pikette, who had gotten out of hiding. "Pikette, when did the attack start happening?"

"Not too long ago," Pikette said. "Perhaps maybe twenty or thirty minutes ago. Somehow that airstrike got past our defenses."

Chris' heart just stopped. Past their defenses? How so? Unless... no, it couldn't be possible. Did he do what he thought he did? "Chris? Are you alright?" Sadie asked.

"I..." Chris began. He looked to her and then Pikette. "I am a fool."

"What do you mean?" Pikette asked.

"The airstrike, the sudden attack, everything is my fault!" Chris said. "The contact I was with, James, I thought he was on our side. I gave him the codes to our own defenses."

"You did what!?" both Sadie and Pikette said.

"Chris, why the hell would you do that!?" Pikette almost yelled.

"I didn't know!" Chris said defensively. "How could anyone have known? It seemed too convincing that he was with SIP."

"Wait, there's one thing I don't get," Sadie said. "If James is with Zena, then why did he have you attack enemy targets?"

It was a good question, but Chris already knew the answer. "To gain my trust," he said. "Zena knew if they could use me like they did, they'd be one step closer to what they want in this war. And I fell for it."

"Chris," Sadie said, taking his hands. "It's not your fault. There's still a chance we can end this."

"You're right," Chris said, letting go of her. "I'm heading back there right now."

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Pikette said. "You can't go back there by yourself, you're going to get yourself killed! You're going to need backup."

"No," Chris said. "There's a chance I might be able to get into the lighthouse without confrontation, so I have to go by myself."

"Well, you do have a point," Pikette said admittedly. "And like you've said, this is your fight."

Chris smiled while scratching her behind the ears. "You've been paying attention after all." He then looked back to Sadie. "I'll come back as soon as I can."

"Alright," Sadie said. "Just... come back in one piece. I love you."

"Love you too," Chris said, giving her one last hug. He then turned around and went outside. He managed to find his bike, which appeared unaffected. Starting it up, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed back towards the Vista Lighthouse.

Once he got there, he parked a small distance from it, just in case his theory proved wrong. He scanned the area, and saw that it was clear, which was either a good or bad thing. He slowly and cautiously went towards the entrance. Once the doors opened, he had his gun out and ready, but there was no one inside as well. Something didn't seem right. Security was offline as well. He started walking through the lighthouse, up the stairs towards the elevator. Pressing the button, the door opened and Chris went inside. If James was still here, he was up to something.

Once he reached the top, the doors opened and Chris went out. Just as he expected, James was there, staring out into the ocean, reflecting the night sky. He then turned around. "Ah Chris, what an unexpected surprise," he said. He then saw that he had his gun pointed at him. "Oh, I definitely wasn't expecting this."

"Cut the crap, James," Chris said. "I know you were behind that attack. You used the codes to get past our defenses. I figured you were shady, but definitely not part of Zena."

"True, I am indeed part of Zena," James said. "However, if you knew the truth, then you would understand."

"Truth? What truth?" Chris asked.

"There's one thing I have to ask you, Chris," James said. "You never knew your father? Your true father?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Chris asked.

"When I had heard what happened, three years ago, I couldn't believe it," James said. "I had heard you had crossed into this world. And for once, I actually felt a small bit of happiness inside me."

"What are you talking about?" Chris demanded.

"There's a reason I asked you about your father," James said. "You see, and this may seem hard to believe at first, but... I am actually your father."

There was an awkward silence. But Chris then broke the silence. "You think I'm going to fall for that?" James then took something out of one of the drawers. It was a piece of paper. He went up to Chris and handed it to him. "What is this?"

"Your birth certificate," James replied.

Chris looked at what it said. It stated his full name, except for his last, which said McFadden. Not just that, but his birthday, where he was born, and the name of his mother, Jenna. "This, this can't be real," he said, who was now starting to shake.

"But it is," James said. He then gave Chris a hug. "It's good to see you again, son."

Chris, who was too shocked for words or actions, just stood there as the gun he was holding fell out of his hands. "Dad?" he said as tears came to his eyes. He didn't even know what to say.

"I'm sorry, that it had to come to this," James said. "Allow me to explain. It all started when I was about eighteen. I had gotten into a major car accident near Jubilife. I was rushed to the hospital immediately, for I was seriously injured and was losing blood fast. But unfortunately, the hospital didn't have at the time the blood I needed. At that point, the situation looked hopeless. But then, one doctor came up with an idea: what if Pokemon blood was used? The doctors found it ludicrous, but decided to do it anyway since there was nothing to lose. As it turned out, the blood did work and I survived. Of course, there were some drawbacks."

He then changed form, and now in front of Chris stood a Ninetales. "And this is what happened. Apparently, I had gotten blood that was part of a Ninetales. While I feared what I was at the time, I soon became used to it and decided to put my studies toward it. I thought maybe perhaps there was a way to infuse Pokemon blood with human blood without the eventual side effects. That is when I joined Zena, and conducted many different tests, based on type and species. And of course, this was around the time when a new discovery was made: nanomachines. At the time, I was told that maybe perhaps they would be able to help against the side effects, or at least some of them. Of course, that led to new complications, because the nanomachines were meant for human blood. Remarkably though, I still live, even through today. Soon after that is when I met your mother, Jenna."

"Is she still alive?" Chris asked, hoping maybe to see his real mother.

"No," James said, sighing. "She died of leukemia, almost a year after you were born. She was beautiful, loving, everything that you could see in a mother. After that, I was the only one who could take care of you, and working with a pharmaceutical company, it was no easy matter. That, and I had SIP breathing down my neck for what we were doing. It was at that point, when the strange occurrences were happening. In this case, portals. When I found out how they connect to a world similar to ours, I ended up making one of the hardest decisions I could ever make. I asked one of my colleagues to take you there, to be safe from SIP, and you would end up being adopted by the Johnson family. At that point, I figured I would never see you again."

"But there's one thing I don't understand," Chris commented. "If you were trying to protect me, why did you send Summers in to kill me?"

"That was not my doing," James said. "Sector 7, as you know them by, were the first group of people from your world to come here. It is true, Summers was once part of Zena, but he and I didn't see eye to eye. He feared that the governments in your world would try to come here and conquer everything by force, and Summers believed we had to strike first. I, of course, found it completely ludicrous, stating that igniting a war would not solve anything, and that they had a much larger force. But Summers didn't listen, and soon he would be involved with Sector 7, turning them rogue. Then came the major events. The portals began appearing in different places more than usual, and as a result, Pokemon ended up caught into it. And Sector 7 would find them and do terrible things to them. Although, I cannot say what we did them to here was any better. The process of nanomachines is usually a painful one."

Chris then thought back to when Pikachu and Pikette first showed up, all those years ago. "But, if everything was resolved back then, why start attacking us?" Chris asked.

"It's simple really," James said. "SIP took the initiative to attack one of our own facilities. When I heard you were the one to do it, I knew the situation I was in. I knew they would find out who you were and use you against me as a way of payback. Of course, you didn't know at the time. I had to do what was appropriate, and if SIP wanted to fight, then let them. But, domination was not on our minds."

"And what was?" Chris asked.

"To make SIP learn that they cannot just engage someone in battle due to their own opinions," James responded. "I wanted to make them learn their lesson, even if meant killing some of their own men."

In essence, James had a point, and Chris couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for him. Is this how SIP made him? Programmed to take Zena down for good? "So, what do we do now?" Chris asked.

"Actually, I need your help Chris," James said. "The past couple of years I had given up looking for a way to make the nanomachines more suitable to the body and have instead been looking for a cure, a way to destroy the nanomachines without harming the body. I am really close to finding the ultimate cure, a way we can finally be free of such a terrible fate, but there is one thing I need and unfortunately, it's in a well secured area."

"And that would be?" Chris asked.

"Phenylacetic acid," James said. "It has been found to be an active auxin, which is a type of plant hormone, predominantly found in fruits. It was a chemical we had in large amounts at one point, but no longer. At least, not enough to make for all those with the nanomachines. However, SIP does have large amounts of it in their labs, but of course, they're highly secured."

"So why can't I just ask them for it?" Chris said.

"Because what would you do with it?" James answered. "It would look rather suspicious that someone, especially you, would be dealing with such things. I hate to do this, but for this to work, I'm gonna have to have you go undercover as a Zena trooper."

Chris didn't say anything. Doing that would result in going against his own men. Of course, it didn't mean he had to kill them, but they would certainly try to kill him. "Alright," he said. "But only to save those who still have the nanomachines in them."

(A/N: WHOA! No one saw that coming, did they? This was my little twist in the plot, and things are only gonna heat up after this. You'll see very soon. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and remember, winter is only fun when you're not sick.)

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