"Hello, Raikou…"

Raikou blinked, and as he turned to face Atsila, watching in interest when the Charizard walked closer, a serious, yet soft tone gracing his emerald eyes, he only brought his gaze downward and away from his. He focused them on the cold stone beneath his paws, feeling the air brush across his fur in light wisps, but this didn't seem to ease the stress that was running through the thunder tiger's body. Atsila waited patiently for a response, and in the act of it turned his reptilian head to examine the surroundings around them.

The sky had grown red and orange, meshing together with the blackness of night as the sun began to disappear behind the mountains overhead, reaching tall like the colossal gates to a new world. Because of this the air was cool, the stone of the valley rocks growing cold and damp with shadows, which helped the army that were spread out across the valley rocks, talking with one another about the battle, possibly wishing good luck to their comrades while others fought their urges to decline joining the fight. It was obvious they wanted to save the Legendaries – the very beings that made the earth they walked upon – and because of this forced themselves to be brave – to be strong.

"A lot has happened…" was all Raikou could say, and Atsila nodded almost absentmindedly. It only felt like yesterday he was meeting the thunder tiger, hearing his pleas to know what was happening to the Legendaries, and he helping him in his feud with Bouldarin, who was now an ally he could count on.

Now, however, the real enemy had been identified, and the army to fight was ready.

"Indeed…" Atsila grunted in agreement, seeming to be out of words to say, appearing dazed as he gazed somewhat-happily at the Pokemon around him.

He was proud of the army and their bravery, as well as Raikou for his need to save the Legendaries even after they had exiled him from their council. Bouldarin was also proud, and he was standing under a stone archway, talking to Ulrik the Luxray, who was serving as the leader of one of the army's many groups of soldiers.

The Charizard could feel himself sigh, though. The air right now was quiet and uneventful – it was the time where he had mentioned that it wouldn't be long before they followed Heatran and Drendan towards the Rocket base and attack. Because of this the army was preparing, saying goodbye to their friends and family who were joining the fight…

…in case one of them wasn't coming back.

No doubt would the battle be big – turning the valley into a bloody battlefield where death lived around every corner. Everyone was showing symptoms of fright – they all knew the risks that came with participating in the fight, yet they were proud to do it anyway.

The time is now, the war is here. Once we go, there's no turning back. Some of you might not return, so if there's anything you always wanted to do, it would be best if you do it now...

He had muttered these very words to them all, which had brought fear into his own heart. The Pokemon of the army were now talking because of this, emitting last whishes and requesting for others to pass them on if he or she didn't return. They knew the percent of death would be high, and it was a sad sight to see…

Fathers hugging their children one last time…

Brothers and sisters sharing a last 'I love you'…

And lovers showing affection to each other one last time, or simply admitting to the one they had always loved that they held feelings towards him or her-

Atsila suddenly blinked, finally realizing something, and he slowly turned his head around, scanning the grounds.

Where did Flame go?

Flame the Charmeleon sat quietly on the small cliff not far from where the army was preparing. He could hear the distant echoes of their voices, but even then the air was peacefully soundless, and his emerald eyes stared relaxingly at the sun. It was setting behind the mountains, the valley that outstretched from beyond his high view slowly growing darker as daylight dissipated. Of course, with where he was sitting, he could see through a small crack in the mountains, therefore able to witness the sun sink below the actual horizon.

His tail flame blew slightly in the wind, seeming to reflect his emotions – calmness with slight worry of what was ahead. He knew that he was dedicated to fight by his father's side – to prove that he deserved to be the next clan leader apart from the family bloodline, although he was still quite frightened if he would be able to do it or not.

In fact, for some reason, despite that he was prepared to fight, he felt like something was missing. He had heard his father mutter that if anybody wanted to do something, now would be the time since when they marched into war there would be no going back until it was finished – if they came back, that is.

He sighed, slowly tracing his claw against the cold stone he sat on. Something was missing – there was something he wanted to do, but for some reason it was only a feeling in his gut he couldn't interpret. He wanted to know what it was so he could fulfill it before it was too late, but no matter how hard he thought he couldn't find out what it was. Because of this he felt slightly depressed, knowing that if he didn't figure it out now it would only make him regret it later in a time where such a thing would be very distracting.

"…Flame?"

Flame blinked, turning his head around to notice Shadow coming up from behind him. Her voice was perfectly clear, the distant army not affecting it in the least and therefore making her words more enjoyable. She stopped in movement a few feet away, obviously wondering if she should invade on his private time, but if this moment was possibly the last they would be together…

…she could feel herself sigh at the tragic thought.

She didn't want to think like that, but she knew that it was true – that one of them might not come back. Because of this she was aware that she had to enjoy as much time with her crush as she could, and she was happy that they were alone, at least. Of course, she was still frozen in place, waiting for him to signal that he didn't mind her company – she didn't want to risk barging in at a time where he probably wanted some space.

She could feel herself sigh in relief, though, when Flame smiled, patting the stone next to him, which she followed and sat on the direct spot right by his side. She didn't notice the Charmeleon gaze at her lovingly, finally realizing that the one thing he wanted to do before they went into war was to spend time with her. He didn't really care that she was on the borderline of a nervous breakdown – both from the war and with the fact that she was barely an arm's reach away from touching her crush's scaly red skin.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he muttered, and she blushed slightly, turning her head to eye him – only to notice that he was staring at the sunset. She switched her gaze to this, understanding why he had said that – the view he had was perfect!

However, despite the quite romantic view, she knew that more serious matters were in front of them. "Are you scared…?" she found herself asking, and she could somehow sense it when he brought his eyes to her with slight curiosity gracing them. He eventually turned them downward, though, emitting a sigh of depression.

"Who isn't?" he then replied, his voice now carrying sadness instead of happiness. "It's obvious that the war is going to play a big affect on us – well, that's just if we win…"

Shadow sadly nodded, not wanting to agree with him, but had no choice to. Even if victory was at hand…the fatalities would be devastating…

She jumped slightly, though, when a laugh suddenly emitted from Flame's mouth, bringing her to stare at his joyful expression with a mixture of bewilderment and shock. He eventually calmed down, though, although a smile still occupied his snout.

"Look at us," he chuckled, "acting so negative."

Shadow couldn't help but roll her eyes, thinking that the Charmeleon's outburst seemed out of place in such a serious moment, although she even agreed that, in dark times, it was best to laugh at anything than nothing at all. Because of this, as she thought about it – how depressed they both seemed…it was kind of funny, and she could feel a smile come to her own face.

Of course, when she noticed that he was laughing more than what seemed normal for such a situation, she slowly asked, "What's so funny?"

He forced himself to dissipate his giggles, and even in the wake covering his mouth with his claw. Of course, when he ceased them successfully, he answered, "Oh, I was just thinking about all those times you were a klutz."

Shadow frowned, thinking over his words. "Hey!" she suddenly snapped, scowling as his emerald eyes met her scarlet ones, a smirk now on his snout. He loved to tease her – it was what he did best, although he usually felt guilty about it later, despite that happiness took over when it convinced her to chuckle at her own antics.

Now, though, she was displaying pure annoyance. Regardless how much she loved him, she had yet to grow tolerant to all of his ways…

"Aw, come on, Shadow." He grinned like an immature child. "You know I'm just trying to make you laugh." His voice grew soft, his eyes matching the gentle tone. "Besides, I like it when you smile…"

She definitely blushed on that.

Oblivious to this, Flame continued. "Yeah, when you smile it makes you look…um…" He quirked his eyebrow, trying to think of the right word.

Shadow cocked her head slightly, quirking her eyebrow as well, emitting the one word that guys usually wanted to say. "Beautiful?"

Flame blinked, and he suddenly put his claws up as if in defense. "Whoa now," he said in an uncertain tone. He then suddenly smirked, however. "Not on our first date."

Shadow rolled her eyes at his irrelevant childishness. "You're such a dork," she then muttered, although she had done it with a slight chuckle in her tone

"Aw, but you know you love me that way," he replied, putting on a fake pose of arrogance, which made Shadow giggle. Even she enjoyed his more humorous side that he didn't put on often because his daily life required him to be serious, but now that he was 'away' from his work, his fun side was allowed to show.

In spite of all this, Shadow no longer felt nervous around him, and as he turned to look at her with arrogance in his eyes, she, being absentminded, didn't even notice she had replied.

"Yeah, I kinda do…"

And, as if something was controlling her, she began to lean in.

Flame, noticing this, changed his smirk into a slight smile, his next words coming out with sly playfulness. "Do you now?"

He began to lean in as well.

Their faces grew closer and closer, eventually feeling each other's hot breath across their mouths, and as their eyes slowly closed they –

"Flame and Shadow, sittin' in a tree, k-i-s- Um. Something, something...something?"

Flame and Shadow snapped away from what they were doing, only to turn their eyes to Jefferson Drewyer Roselia and Skyler the Flygon, who were standing behind them. Jeff had a big smile on his face, his mouth open, which signaled that he had been the one singing the quite-butchered song, while Skyler was chuckling like a giddy two-year-old. Eventually Jeff joined him, and as Flame and Shadow realized they had been watching the whole time, the two Pokemon allowed blushes to cover their faces as they swiftly pulled away from each other.

"Aw, don't mind us, dudes!" Jeff then chuckled out, holding his stomach since his giggles had caused it to cramp. Skyler was laughing hard as well, almost falling over.

Flame's smile suddenly turned into a frown, and he closed his eyes as if to help suppress his anger, despite that one of his brows were twitching. "Can I kill them?" he then hissed between gritted teeth, Jeff and Skyler still laughing since they weren't able to hear him.

Shadow was doing the same thing, her eyebrow twitching even harder. "Please be my guest."

After finishing his talk with Atsila, Raikou made his way down the path, maneuvering through the groups of army Pokemon that were conversing with each other until he spotted Mewtwo leaning against a rocky wall in the far corner. With slight curiosity to know what was running through the manmade Pokemon's head, the thunder tiger made his way towards Mewtwo, which was when he noticed that his eyes were closed, frown deep as if trying to ponder on something serious.

In fact, the manmade Pokemon was pondering on something serious.

His dream.

He was constantly debating if it was real or not – that if the post-apocalyptic setting he had seen would soon serve as the new Earth if Terotrey was allowed to pull off his schemes. Such a thought made him antsy to convince the army to head in faster, despite that they were all already set to attack at nighttime when the Rocket base was less awake and aware. Such a plan was soon to happen – the sun had already disappeared behind the mountains and the sky was starting to turn black because of it, the cloaked moon coming out of hiding.

Raikou's presence snapped Mewtwo away from the thoughts about his prophecy-like dream, which he had yet to tell Raikou, Heatran, or even Deoxys about. Sticking to his old reasons for not telling them on the spot, he knew that such a thing would only add disheartenment to the group, and therefore kept the vision inside his head.

With a short sigh he turned his eyes to Raikou, who had placed his gaze on the army. It seems the Pokemon were performing their last few tasks – some were already practicing their fighting moves as they all began to organize in a manner easy to control.

Raikou turned his head to Mewtwo. "Scared?"

The manmade Pokemon eyed the thunder tiger with a quirked eyebrow, even seeming slightly offended although the question wasn't intended to tease him, but instead check if he was okay. There's was lots of things Mewtwo was scared about, such as the usual: the outcome of the battle, to his own personal demons that included his strange dream. Of course, he would never admit any of these – he knew that, to win a battle, one must be strong and not allow their fears to get in the way. He already was aware of this, but to make sure Raikou did, he asked him.

Raikou shrugged, which was mostly to hide the fact that he was scared, despite that he knew this battle needed to be fought. Before he could answer, though, a slow "I think we all are," came from the back, convincing the exile and manmade Pokemon to turn their eyes to Heatran as he emerged from the shadows.

"I think it would be oxymoronic if anybody here wasn't scared…" he then said, narrowed eyes focused on Raikou. "We're about to go into war, right? You'd have to be a zombie not to feel fear in these times…"

Suddenly Raikou didn't feel so cowardly, and all Mewtwo did was nod slightly.

Since he had checked on the last of his allies, Raikou broke off from the group, leaving Mewtwo and Heatran behind as he approached the cliff he was by. He sat down, worried eyes eyeing the mountains as they hid the sun, allowing night to take over. The air seemed to get colder as the moon lit up, its silvery light drenching the land in a misty color, which this only made the thunder tiger even more nervous than before. He could hear Atsila announce that it was time to move forward, and the constant sounds of feet slapping against the stone signaled that every Pokemon were getting into position, preparing to go.

In only a few minutes they would be marching forward.

In only a few minutes they would be infiltrating the Rocket base.

In only a few minutes they would be fighting hordes of Rockets and robotic Pokemon, and all for the sake of the Legendaries.

Somehow this all made Raikou feel more confident. He had made an oath to them – to make up for his shame by saving them, or at least die trying…

'Die'…that word scared him a lot now.

He slowly turned his head behind him. The first thing he saw was Mewtwo, only this time Deoxys was with him. She was showing signs of depression – possibly from the upcoming war, and before Mewtwo could utter a word she threw her arms around him, pulling him into a powerful embrace – a one in which true love radiated from like the very light of the sun. Mewtwo immediately hugged back, obviously not caring if someone saw them. He cared for her, Raikou could tell.

The thunder tiger smiled slightly at the sight, which reminded him of a certain water dog he had grown to love.

He then turned his eyes to Heatran and Drendan, who were preparing themselves for the upcoming fight. He noticed how they talked, nodding to each other, saying words of honor to one another. It was then when the Lucario held out his paw, a small smile on his snout, and Heatran smiled himself before raising his claw and lightly touching it – a sort of handshake in Pokemon terms.

A symbol of true friendship.

Raikou smiled at that, too, since it reminded him of a certain nightmare Legendary that had taken him in when no one else would.

Heatran was right – everyone here was scared, but they were all prepared to fight. They all had come a long way since the beginning of their journey, but now as the end approached they were more than happy to live it through no matter what it took.

They were strong, brave…

And Raikou wanted to be just like them.

It was their attitude that made the Legendaries heroes.

It doesn't take a Legendary to be a hero…

Raikou rose his eyes up to the moon, and a frown of determination covered his face.

It was time to fight – it was time to win.

But it does take a hero to be a Legendary…

And he was going to prove that tonight – they all were.

"Suicune, Darkrai…Guys, I'm coming."

Every essence…they were all his.

The Legendaries were weak, sucked dry of the substance that made them who they were, and were imprisoned behind cages that didn't even need shocking barriers to keep them locked in. They were all too tired to even stand.

They deserved it for all the harm they had done – for how many lives were taken away by their stupidity.

Soon only one Legendary would exist – only one god.

And it would be him.

Terotrey Horrifiance eyed the circular canisters that sat below Arceus' orb-like cage upon the extraction machine. Every circular container was now filled with a smoky, liquid substance – a glowing essence that Terotrey swore called for his name. He would soon be their new owner, using the power they gave for actual good – for dominance under rules he could control.

It wouldn't be long now –

"Uh, sir?"

Terotrey snarled to himself. "What. Is. It?" he hissed between gritted teeth, spacing out each word to emphasize his anger. The grunt gulped, but forced himself to say the quite weird, yet important information he had run from the surveillance room to inform the silver-haired scientist about.

"I think you should come look at this…" the grunt replied, and Terotrey rolled his eyes before following the man to the surveillance room, where groups of grunts were already gathering around the large screen that showed the viewpoint of the security camera outside. Terotrey, with slight impatience, forced his way through the crowd, and when he brought his eyes to the screen, eyeing what stood in front of the base in the beginning of the night, his eyes slightly widened.

Raikou.

The thunder tiger was standing firmly on a cliff that overlooked the base, eyes narrowed. Terotrey, despite that he was surprised that the exile had seemed to find his base randomly, the silver-haired scientist let out an impatient sigh.

"It's just that essence-less Pokemon," he muttered. "Go send a robotic Pokemon at him or something…"

He turned to leave.

"But sir?" a grunt, who was controlling the camera outside, murmured.

He stopped. "WHAT?" he then roared, his patience entirely gone.

"There's something else."

Terotrey, with a groan of annoyance, turned back around and stood directly behind the seat of the grunt that controlled the camera. He kept his eyes on the screen, waiting for the grunt to point out what the 'something else' was.

The grunt, seeming nervous slightly, slowly tugged at the lever on the console he sat in front, which made the camera shift its view to the left…

…and revealed that hundreds of Pokemon were standing right behind Raikou, snarling viciously, obviously ready to charge forward.

Terotrey's face fell.

"How…how is this possible?"