A large, humanoid being, his body hidden beneath an ebony cloak, swept past the trees of the Hoenn region, his glowing eyes peering seriously at the environment around him from under the shadows of a concealing hood. Like a lone knight banished to the shadows of the dying day, the being's long amethyst-colored tail swished behind him as his feet danced across the branches of the trees, sending his body flying through the air with barely a whisper of the wind snapping behind him.

He knew danger was near.

His three-fingered hands slowly supported his weight as he touched down on the forest ground in a kneeling formation, his shaded eyes scanning the area around him, giving him the impression of being a skilled and stealthy predator on the search for his prey. However, he wasn't hunting for purposes of food, but instead for the last few Legendaries he was sure hadn't been caught yet.

Their power…it was all diminishing right before his eyes, the images of them being captured by metallic monsters flashing through his head whenever his eyelids were closed. He was trying to focus on them, trying to spot a clue that would give him their location, or possibly a clearer portrayal of whatever was hunting them down.

Nothing…whatever the imposing monsters were, his mind could not track them, and he sneered silently to himself for this.

He knew they had taken his sister, as her power waves had dissipated from his range, therefore he could no longer sense her presence anywhere among the land. His eyes opened, narrowing instantly as he stood up, his hands clenching in anger. Despite the few pieces of information he could obtain from his failed attempts of tracking the unidentified enemies, he knew one thing for certain, and such a thought sprang through his mind as he continued his fast trek through the trees.

The Legendaries were in danger.

And he had little time to warn the few that were still left.

The sky among Newmoon Island grew brighter in color as the sun rose from the horizon, dubbing the land in a waking gold and somehow convincing the ocean to gain a small aggressive touch upon its waves. The island trees shook with morning glory, such whisks of soft wind causing Raikou, who was snoozing away in the sanctuary of Darkrai's cave, to raise his head up, smacking his lips together to clear his mouth of dryness before opening it entirely to release a large yawn.

"Morning, kid," Darkrai mumbled from the corner of the cave. His arms were crossed, his shoulder leaning up against the entrance wall to outside as his sea-green eyes admired the beauty of the early day. Raikou got up on all fours, stretching each limb to relieve himself of cramped muscles before groggily making his way to his island-mate, who turned to eye him with amusement. The said thunder tiger was stumbling over his own claws, nearly tipping over completely because of it.

"So…I…suppose…I…should get to work…" Raikou managed to murmur out incoherently, sleepiness lingering within his droopy eyes. Darkrai wasn't surprised of such a thing, seeing as how the thunder tiger had stayed up late to spend time with Suicune the day before, although the said water dog had gotten up earlier to explore the island a bit. Darkrai was quite bewildered by the fact that Suicune was pushing her luck when she had decided to stay at the island for the night; but, then again, he knew that Arceus was usually never aware of anything unless someone told him, and therefore she was safe when it came to that fact. Regardless of all this, though, it was still pretty risky.

The nightmare Legendary turned to Raikou, an expression of hopelessness colliding with his annoyed one. With a bottled sigh, he then forced himself to reply, "Eh, don't worry about it, kid. You can take the day off."

As if his words were some sort of alarm clock or energy boost, Raikou's face brightened with happiness, causing his tiredness to dissipate into thin air. "Really?" he then squealed with joy, obviously wanting to confirm such a decision that seemed oxymoronic for Darkrai.

The dark-type sighed again, although now it was more of a groan of regret, before he slowly nodded. "Yeah, yeah, go spend the day with Suicune." He turned around, obviously not wanting to see the thunder tiger's gratitude, as he was quite the despiser of sappy, friendship thanks for the sake of doing favors.

Immediately Raikou rushed out of the cave, his intentions obviously set on finding his counterpart, and Darkrai only rolled his eyes at the sight. When the thunder tiger had disappeared behind the bushes, though, the nightmare Legendary sighed through his nostrils, thoughts of love beginning to run through his head –

"Good morning, Darkrai."

Darkrai jumped back in shock, breathing heavily as Cresselia emerged from the bushes, a laugh erupting from her lips at the look of surprise that covered her counterpart's facial features. Darkrai quickly regained his serious expression, however, crossing his arms before snorting in repugnance. Cresselia ceased her chuckling at this, although amusement now glittered from her eyes.

"Don't sneak up on me," Darkrai muttered simply, and Cresselia couldn't help but cock her head slightly at the slowness and zombie-like feeling that had occupied his tone. Usually when she annoyed him he would lash out at her with a harsh voice and snooty comments, but now it was almost as if he didn't care at all. Darkrai, who obviously noticed her bewildered state, only turned the other way, eyes now locked onto the brightening sky above.

Cresselia slowly moved closer to her counterpart, now somewhat concerned. "Darkrai, are you okay?"

"What?" Darkrai mumbled emotionlessly, although he shook his head as if removing thoughts and escaping from his trance. "Oh, yeah, yeah…I'm fine." He focused his eyes towards the ground, and with the large amounts of misery that now hovered above him, Cresselia was more worried than before. Such an attitude was unlike of him.

"Okay…" was all she muttered, however, deciding not to push the conversation she had no right to be involved in any further, and instead hovered closer to him until she was right by his side. Then, with her own depressed expression, she turned to look at her counterpart, whose pondering eyes were still focused on the grassy ground.

Love is a worthless emotion…

Darkrai's head turned up, as if he had just realized something – as if the strange feeling he felt whenever he saw Raikou be with Suicune, or any other Legendary couples -

He slightly turned to gaze upon Cresselia, who didn't seem to notice his attention.

- or Cresselia…

Was he…? How could he be? It made no sense for him to be!

He snarled silently to himself as he shook his head away, obviously desperate to cause such thoughts to diminish, and the feelings that worked alongside them. He didn't want to have such feelings; he was a loner, and he worked alone. It was obvious he was destined to be alone, that such feelings didn't belong in his head…or in his heart.

But why? Why were they still there, no matter how many times he had tried to deny it over the years?

He turned to look at her again, his face now expressing that of a yearning romantic.

How could he be in love with his counterpart, Cresselia?

Raikou ran through the bushes, his muscles pushing themselves to the limit as his need to see Suicune grew bigger. He began to pant, although a smile still graced his face as he emerged into the familiar clearing between the trees where his counterpart had confronted him the day before, telling him of her plan to make him a Legendary once again. Such an idea was still frowned upon by him, as he still somewhat believed that his forgiveness wasn't deserved; but, as Suicune had assured him, maybe it wouldn't hurt to put some thought into it.

His ruby eyes scanned the grassy grounds of the clearing, stopping and beginning to glow with brightness when they soon locked onto Suicune, who was slowly examining the sky above her, obviously admiring its beauty. Raikou smiled mischievously as he crouched low, the long grass concealing his large figure as he then used his cat-like instincts to sneak through the weeds, gaining closer to his oblivious counterpart inch by inch.

"Gotcha ya!"

Suicune squealed when Raikou suddenly pounced on her, bringing them both to the ground in a laughing heap. Their bodies rolled across the floor until stopping by a tall tree, and Raikou found himself on top of his counterpart, while she was glaring at him from below his caging paws, her back being comforted by wet grass. All the water dog could see before her eyesight was Raikou's towering head, which bore a cheesy grin of childish attributes.

"You're horrible," she muttered, her frown tight, obvious annoyance radiating from her stern expression, while Raikou only somewhat chuckled. He then leaned forward to nuzzle her in the snout, which seemed to contort her impatience into a gain of affection, as she only nuzzled back.

Raikou, with a slight blush across his cheeks, pulled away and allowed his counterpart to return to her feet. With sudden bewilderment, as if remembering the question just now, he asked, "Hey, does Entei know you're here?"

"Eh…kind of," she replied, "I told him that I was going to the Kanto region to investigate a location, as 'supposedly' requested by Arceus, and that I would be back in a while."

"He believed you?"

It was now Suicune's turn to grin immaturely. "Yup."

"Wow -"

Their conversation was brought to a sudden end when the loud bellow of an explosion tore through the air, instantly snapping Raikou and Suicune's attention away from each other and bringing it to rest upon the sky, where a large smoke trail was seen rising from a far location on the island. Exchanging nervous glances, Raikou slowly took a step forward as if to try to examine the rising trail of smoke more clearly.

"What the hell...?" he managed to mumble out, confused and surprised by the sudden strange interruption, his thoughts now circulating on what was the possible cause behind the distant explosion. Suicune seemed to ponder on it as well, as she moved even closer to the view than he.

Instantly worries of Darkrai and Cresselia's safety rushed through her head, as well as the horrific possibilities behind the explosion, which brought her eyes to rest upon Raikou's bewildered face. "Come on!" she then cried out before swiftly taking off into the bushes, heading straight towards the origin of the smoke trail. Without question or a stumble of surprise, Raikou took off in the same direction just as quick.

It wasn't long before Raikou and Suicune, who were running through the tangles of the island's forest side-by-side, felt the radiating heat of a feeding fire prance across their skin. With looks that displayed more worry than before, they quickened their speed, stopping instantly and in horrific awe when they emerged into the crimson mesh of burning trees, the flames rising the temperature to a blazing level as orange and red danced across the Legendary and exile's widened eyes and gaping mouths. For those split seconds of being surrounded by a rampaging forest fire, they were without movement or sound.

Suddenly, a crash was heard nearby as a Charizard tore through the burning trees and bushes, its mouth snarling with ferociousness, hints of burnt residue covering its lips. It was quite obvious that it had been the starter for the fire, which was slowly advancing across the trees and surrounding plant life.

However, as Raikou and Suicune gazed upon the orange dragon, their mouths gaped even wider, utter disbelief colliding with the horror that lingered among their eyes.

The Charizard's robotic arm, which went alongside the other cybernetic appendages among its scarred body, clenched as black smoke blew from its socket holes, the corresponding robotic wing that flapped slightly from its back covered in intimidating spikes that were already drenched in dried blood – blood that Raikou didn't want to bother pondering on who was its possible owner.

With an electronic roar emitting from its mouth, which squeaked open as screws turned to allow such an action, the Charizard rushed forward, its gleaming cybernetic eye flashing with approval. It didn't take long for Raikou or Suicune to know what it had been doing.

It had been hunting for them.

Immediately Suicune broke off and rushed into the bushes, quickly retaliating as she used such a distraction to launch a powerful Water Gun towards the cybernetic Charizard, who was thrown backwards from the rush of water, crashing into the burning trees. Raikou only allowed his eyes to dart in every direction as nervousness froze him on the spot. Suicune stopped right by him, shooting him a serious look before returning her narrowed orbs to the crash site of the cybernetic Charizard.

She, however, found herself frozen as well when the Charizard rose from its fallen position, its body displaying no injuries of any sort, its status in perfect condition. Eventually it snarled viciously, turning its head to eye Suicune like a crazed serial killer. Suicune instantly gaped at the sight – she had caused no damage to it whatsoever!

With another robotic roar, the cybernetic Charizard launched itself forward with even more speed than before.

"Run!" Suicune spat, and Raikou quickly dodged to the side as the Charizard whizzed past him. The robotic beast turned around swiftly, though, and Raikou froze with fear as it headed straight towards him like a speeding bullet.

Suddenly Suicune intercepted it, jumping into the monster right before it made contact with her counterpart, and dragging it to the ground. With snarls and flailing limbs, the Charizard struggled to escape from Suicune's grasp as she tried to lock it in place against the ground, refusing to give it freedom despite how much it squirmed. She knew she couldn't hold it for long, and therefore she turned to her counterpart. "Run!" she repeated, although a harsh, commanding tone now occupied her voice.

The thought to do such a thing was subsided, however, when a Sceptile and Feraligatr, who all had robotic appendages that gleamed scarlet in the encompassing fires, emerged into the battleground, expressions stern with viciousness as they immediately launched themselves towards Raikou. The thunder tiger, who was growing more desperate for answers, quickly jumped to the side as the said cybernetic Pokemon rushed through his prior spot. Simultaneously, Suicune was forced off when the captived robotic Charizard pushed her roughly away with its robotic arm, bringing itself to its feet.

"What the hell are these things?" Raikou cried out to his counterpart, who was by his side, backing away from the Charizard, and the Sceptile and Feraligatr when they emerged from the bushes once more.

The thunder tiger was suddenly forced to the side when Suicune nudged him into the bushes, putting them into a full-out run as they tried to escape from the imposing cybernetic monsters. The ruins of a living forest surrounded them as the forest fire raged on, seeming to go on for the miles they ran in a desperate attempt to flee from the robotic Pokemon that seemed unbeatable. They felt their breaths quicken once again when the said cybernetic Pokemon tore through the bushes right beside them, causing the both of them to move off to the side unexpectedly.

"How are they finding us?" Raikou yelped out to his counterpart, who was too busy trying to keep up with him and out of the reach of the chasing robotic Pokemon to provide a plausible theory – if such was even possible.

They eventually emerged into the opening of the beach, the waves overlapping anxiously across the sand as if the ocean was scared itself. Immediately their eyes fell onto the far corner of the beach, where a large boat was docked, a dozen robotic Pokemon surrounding it and pulling in two large objects that were secured in cages onto the ship's deck. Raikou didn't need to examine the captived objects closely to know what they were…or rather: who they were.

"Darkrai! Cresselia!" Raikou screamed out, although with the fact that the two said Pokemon had been knocked out and thrown into cages, his plea hadn't been heard by them…

…but instead by the robotic Pokemon that surrounded them.

Immediately the cybernetic Pokemons' eyes turned to the distant figures of Raikou and Suicune, in which some growled ferociously before taking off towards them in breathtaking speed. Raikou gasped, while Suicune struggled to look for a proper way out, her worries of Darkrai and Cresselia's captured condition colliding with her theories on a safe way away from the robotic predators.

Suddenly, though, a cloaked figure materialized beside them, causing Raikou to jump back and Suicune to only stare bewilderedly. The being's face was concealed by a hood, although the connected long cape failed to cover his amethyst-colored tail. Without bothering to introduce himself, the being raised his hand up, clenching his ball-ended fingers together and in response soon launching a large Shadow Ball towards the incoming robotic Pokemon, which some were thrown back by the hit.

The Charizard, Sceptile, and Feraligatr that had been chasing Raikou and Suicune before soon emerged from the bushes beside them, and the cloaked being struggled to force them back with his psychic abilities, tossing them away to the side with a strong use of telekinesis. Despite all this, though, the robotic Pokemon displayed no major injuries from the powerful hits, and kept on approaching. Raikou could hear the cloaked being growl behind gritted teeth in frustration as he edged closer to them, like a guardian protecting his or her designated targets.

The being suddenly turned to face Raikou and Suicune, a look of pondering displaying amongst his shaded eyes, as if he was debating on a decision in his mind. Meanwhile, Raikou and Suicune both switched their glances between the surrounding robotic Pokemon and Cresselia and Darkrai, who had now been secured tightly within their cages among the deck of the boat.

"Hold on tight," the being suddenly muttered, and before Raikou or Suicune could reply about Darkrai or Cresselia, the being, while shooting a look towards the captived Legendaries, added, "It's too late for them." He suddenly grasped onto Raikou and Suicune tightly with his fists, and with his eyes closing slowly he focused all of his energy onto himself and the Legendary and exile.

The cybernetic Pokemon, who were advancing closer to them like brainless zombies, launched themselves forward with bullet speed, ready to pounce on their prey altogether.

They gained closer…

Suicune shut her eyes, feeling her muscles suddenly lose all of their strength...

Closer…

Raikou could feel himself become weightless, as if he was lifting into the air…

A split second before contact…

Raikou, Suicune, and the cloaked being disappeared into thin air, causing the robotic Pokemon to glare at each other bewilderedly, and at the spot where their targets used to be.

They were gone.