Okay. I lied. The fact is that I have too much homework and not enough free time. I'm swamped with the constant onslaught of assignments and requests, and a once a week update is a bit much to uphold. I've had to replace quality with quantity. Retribution won't be regularly updated every week; I hope to get a chapter done every other week, but that plan may be shot too. I sincerely apologize to my readers; I'm afraid that's the best I can do.

This is the shortest chapter I've written thus far; a result of my hurry to get it done on time.

On a happier note; Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers: Twilight - The Moon Spirit, bobdaduck, Galalithial, and Laci Cullen! I'm truly honored!

I'm still accepting OCs for Retribution, in case anyone is interested.

Chapter 8

Rejuvenation

Kael shouldered the light pack quietly, his eyes downcast as the dawn peaked over the horizon. Double checking the straps that kept his pack secure, the white Lucario glanced over his shoulder towards the door at the end of the stark white hallway, his eyes inevitably drawn towards the window in hopes of seeing what was inside. He sighed, lowering his gaze at the inevitability of it all.

"Leaving already?"

Kael's ears perked upwards towards the voice, his eyes quickly following suit.

Syhn leaned easily against the wall, his green scales casting a stark line against the gentle white wallpaper. The Sceptile eyed Kael's pack with a scrutinizing gaze, his arms folded lightly across his chest in a gesture of goodwill. Tilting his regal head upwards, Syhn cast his yellow eyes down towards the room that held their master, a small smile trailing up his features. "Neine has arrived." He announced calmly, scratching his arm absentmindedly with his claws. "With her abilities and the human doctors' help, Emayla will be well enough to travel within the week."

Kael answered with a slight grin of his own, but it quickly disappeared as the weight of his mission once again dropped upon his shoulders. "I have no doubts that you and Neine will do an admirable job. Neine's natural gifts as a Meganium are certainly no laughing matter. But," Kael paused, shifting the weight of his pack around in thought. "There is something I must do. It cannot wait until the lady Emayla is well again."

Syhn cocked his head at this notion, but he did not press the subject. "Emayla will not be pleased by your absence, brother."

Kael chuckled. "I know." The two friends stood in silence for a moment, each dwelling in their own private thoughts. The rising of the morning sun tipped into the window, bathing Kael's fur in a halo of golden light. The Lucario sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, allowing the sun's gentle touch warm his tensed body. "When I'm gone, I trust the safety of lady Emayla to you, Syhn." Kael murmured, his eyes still closed in pleasure.

"I will do my best, brother." Syhn replied evenly.

Kael smiled. His red eyes opened slowly. "Also, have Skye scout around the town. Rowell and Keiva have taken Thomas to the outskirts of Pewter to teach him how to use his powers. I don't know when they will be back, but it's best that you know beforehand." Syhn nodded. "And, brother," Kael continued, his tone growing serious. "Keep and eye out for Xavier. He still hasn't come back from his task in Viridian. He's always been a willful Charizard; I'll give him that, but something amiss has been plaguing the world of late. We need to know what happened to him."

Syhn's scowl darkened at the mention of Xavier, but he nodded in agreement. "I'll send word out to Alithe to keep an eye out for him. If anyone knows where he'd be, it would be her."

Kael smiled once again. Reaching up with his black paw, the Lucario gripped Syhn's raised forearm in farewell. The two broke contact within the moment, allowing Kael to turn on his heel, and walk down the hallway to the elevator beyond. "I'll be back in a few days." He stated solemnly as the electric doors to the elevator swung open to allow him admittance. Slowly the red gaze of the white Lucario disappeared behind the sliding grates of the elevator, revealing the worry within to the knowing Sceptile.

"Be safe, brother," Syhn called as the doors shut. "And may the winds be at your back."

EC

Thomas cried out in surprise as the angry form of Keiva appeared to his right, her massive paw slamming hard into the tiny Pichu, causing him to spiral backwards in the dirt. Tumbling end over end, he skidded across the dusty earth, his paws scrambling with every movement to try and halt his momentum. He came to a skidding halt several feet away from his starting point, his normally bright yellow fur blackened with sweat and dirt. Tear spilled down his cheeks, splashing onto the baked earth below with subdued vigor. Thomas coughed several times in an attempt to clear his lungs of the dust that wafted up his nose.

"You're still not paying close enough attention!" Keiva growled, her teeth barred in frustration.

Thomas lifted his small head, his eyes misted over in pain and humiliation. Their battleground stood in hazy confusion past his gaze, its featureless, flat expanse hardly registering in his mind. Off in the distance he could see Rowell, the Ampharos standing utterly still, his paws raised slightly in the air as he waited. The far mountains that held Pewter city looked like the remnants of a far off dream, their glittering arms shining bravely in the sun. A flock of Spearow cawed overhead, their dark wings causing a deep blot on the clear blue sky, their confidence instilled by their sheer numbers.

Keiva's snarl snapped Thomas back to his battle, his head swerving around in time to see the Luxray's electrically charged paw ram into his stomach.

The Pichu crumpled forward in agony as the electricity surged through his body, his shoulders shaking with sobs.

Keiva's tail flared angrily with suppressed energy. With a toss of her head, she stalked back across the battlefield, placing several feet between her and the defeated Pichu. "Get up!" She commanded.

Thomas wearily placed his paws on the earth below, pushing up with all his might to raise his weakened body to a standing position. He swayed slightly as he attempted to balance himself, his small black tail flaring out behind him to keep him aloft. Eyes still glistening with tears, Thomas stared forward at his teacher.

Smirking, the Luxray crouched down, her shoulders bulging as she stalked to the side. Her tail flicked slightly, indicating her next move. Keiva's ears twitched, then suddenly she sprang forward, her sheathed claws giving off several sparks.

Thomas tried to twist away, but his movements were too slow in comparison to the battle hardened Luxray. As he started his body along the trows of a dodge, Keiva's paw caught onto his shoulder, locking the Pichu in place. Once again the punishing electricity coursed through his body, its touch as unforgiving as the last time. Thomas let out a tiny whimper, unable to summon more than a whisper to declare his pain.

Keiva roared in frustration as her student once again buckled forward in agony. She snapped backwards, her now revealed claws digging deep ruts into the dirt. "What do you think you're doing?" She snarled. "You're an electric Pokemon!"

Thomas lifted his head slightly, her words slapping hard against his consciousness.

"I have already told you a dozen times; you can absorb my attacks!"

Thomas blinked in confusion at her declaration, his mind still hazy. He gazed up at the fuming Luxray for an answer.

Keiva growled. "Rowell has taught you how to control your abilities, right?" The Pichu nodded. "Instead of allowing my attack to simply maul you from the inside out, direct it!"

Thomas paused for a moment, thinking to his lesson from earlier that day. Memories of the controlled energy surged through his mind at his call, reminding the Pichu of his potential. He nodded again, his eyes flickering with understanding.

"All power needs a direction," Keiva continued, her rage slightly abated at Thomas' recognition. "As an electric Pokemon, you have the ability to guide, and create, electricity. Since you're still a Pichu, you couldn't even make enough volts to charge a light bulb. Take my attacks and direct them in your body. Store them!" Keiva crouched down again, her claws once again sheathed, her veins tingling with her inner power. "Get ready!" She snarled, her usual roughness easily returned.

Thomas mimicked her, determined to make his teacher proud. The Luxray wrapped around to his side, her eyes following his every movement, waiting for the right time to strike. The Pichu shifted his weight on his paws, slowing his momentum down. Keiva exploded forward, her paws outstretched.

At the initial contact, Thomas felt the now familiar burst of pain. Ignoring the discomfort, he directed the powers along his inner funnels of energy, allowing the electricity to be absorbed by the pouches on his cheeks. The electricity readily obliged, all traces of its destructive path dissipated from his body.

Keiva stood back, her maw pulled into a rare smile. "Good job."

-Later that same evening-

Thomas took a final bite on his oran berry, swallowing the rejuvenating fruit with a rapturous expression on his face. He leaned back slightly, feeling the warm fur of Rowell behind him.

The Ampharos glanced down with a smile on his lips. "You did well today, Thomas."

Thomas grinned up at the older Pokemon, the blue juices from his dinner still splashed across his face.

The day waned slowly into night, the moon peaking over the far peaks of the distant Mt. Moon. Stars began their ascent in the sky, their arms bleaching the darkening heavens. Shadows slowly crept across the valley, their reaches expanding rapidly as the day came to a close. The day-roving Pokemon crept down into their homes, falling asleep easily in anticipation for the new day, allowing the nocturnal Pokemon free reign. Murkrow rose from their daily hovels to start their nightly routines, their calls reverberating across the rocky landscape. A lone Lunatone breached the sky, its crescent shape misleading in the heavens against the brilliant moon. An Aggron lifted its massive head from its nest, its bellow carrying far. Wormdam crawled out from the dust, their bodies covered in a new layer of protective earth.

Thomas yawned slightly, his eyes half-closed.

"Don't fall asleep yet, Thomas," Rowell said, a laugh trailing his voice. He playfully ruffled the Pichu's fur, the light emanating from his tail glowing brighter. "I have a surprise to show you."

Thomas' ears perked upwards, his eyes widening in wonder. "Surprise?"

Rowell chuckled. "Yes. But you have to wait until Keiva gets back."

Thomas nodded excitedly, his gaze immediately trailing out to the arid landscape beyond, searching wildly for any sign of the savage Luxray. His small, black tail wagged in joy.

Rowell smiled again, shaking his head in amusement.

An hour passed slowly, Thomas' eyes once again dropping in the first trows of sleep. The Pichu angrily shook himself to stay awake, determined to see the surprise that Rowell had promised. His endurance was rewarded, however, as Keiva came trotting easily into the pool of light given off of Rowell's tail. The Luxray tossed her head in greeting.

"They're coming." She simply stated.

Rowell smiled. "Good." He stood, the sudden absence of his presence causing Thomas to topple backwards into the dirt.

The Pichu hastily picked himself up, hardly bothering to shake the loose earth from his fur. He gazed expectantly at his two guardians, his face pulled into a wide smile.

Rowell bent down, laughing, scooping Thomas lightly up into the air, and placing him onto his shoulder. "Get ready." He whispered.

Thomas held tightly onto Rowell's ear, looking around in slight confusion. "What-?" His words died in his throat as a light rose on the horizon.

Rowell dimmed his own light as the spectacle rose into the heavens, sharing an amused glance with Keiva as Thomas was rendered speechless.

Hundreds of thousands of individual lights rose into the sky, their flickering dance covering the land like stars. Volbeat and Illumise tickled the air with their lights, twirling about one another with practiced grace. Each light held a different shade of colors, the sheer variety of pigments painting a picture across the sky.

Several of the blue lights rose higher than the others, their shining message pulling above the rest like a celestial string. Different shades of green followed suit, their own colors intermingling with the blues to form completely different colors as they occasionally overlapped; not a single color matched. The Volbeat that gave off reddish hues circles around the teal variations, forming several rings around the first, their flight mimicked by yellows on the other side of the circle. Soon the frenzied flights of the Pokemon mixed in shades, the different colors merging into a single, brilliant white light.

"Woah." Thomas whispered, the lights of a thousand bug Pokemon reflected on his small eyes.

EC

Blackfire tightened the ropes of his trap, grunting with effort as he shouldered his pile of firewood with his other hand. His various cuts and scrapes still bled as he worked, but the stubborn deserter continued his tasks with a grim mask set upon his face.

With a satisfied grunt, he pulled away from his snare, his eyes trailing around the ravaged remains of the Viridian forest. The blasted trees stood weakly in the night air, their blackened trunks bleeding sap from the agony of their destruction. The proud undergrowth that had once blanketed the forest floor was no longer in existence, leaving the charred dirt exposed to the unforgiving elements. No Pokemon whispered in the darkness; nothing existed in the blasted land.

Blackfire stood, his knees popping from over an hour of forced servitude. He stretched his back freely, sighing with relief as he heard several pops issue from his spine. Carefully picking his way around the myriad of traps he had set, Blackfire trotted back to his temporary shelter with his ample supply of firewood in hand. As he twisted around the multitude of destroyed trees, something whispered off to his right. He cast a casual glance towards the disturbance's way, unsure if it was a passive or dangerous Pokemon; either way, he didn't want to scare it off before it had a chance to get entangled in one of his traps.

Sure that he could tackle whatever dared challenge him, Blackfire strode easily away, his back exposed to engage a challenge.

Nothing presented itself. The former Rocket lieutenant made it back to his camp quite unharmed, much to his displeasure. Creed weakly lifted his head at the approach of his master, letting out a faint welcoming bark as the human came into view. The Houndoom's tail thumped on the ground a few times before he was forced to lay it back down, the draw on his weakened reserves of energy too much to maintain.

Blackfire tossed the firewood to the side, skirting around the small fire to the side of his wounded Pokemon. Not wanting to take the chance in Viridian now that he had no faction on his side, the former Rocket lieutenant had fled to the deep recesses of the woods he had destroyed before Creed had fully healed. Now, three days out without medical supplies and decent food, Creed was beginning to falter. The once proud Houndoom now lay in an improvised bed of Blackfire's own making, his festering wounds leaking blood and puss with every breath.

Not even having made it halfway through the blasted forest, Blackfire was forced to stop to tend to his dieing partner. Flood was safely tucked away inside his own Pokeball, his condition kept stable by the intricacies of the machine, but Creed lacked salvation. Creed's Pokeball had been destroyed years ago. The Houndoom let out a pathetic whine as Blackfire tried futilely to clean the infected wounds.

Blackfire snarled in frustration. Though he had managed to find a decent supply of water, his food reserves of surviving berries was running low. If his traps didn't manage to catch them anything, then Creed didn't stand a chance. But nothing lived in this forest; not anymore. Blackfire had made sure of that.

Even as he stewed in his own misfortunes, a scream ripped into the still air, causing both partners to freeze in anticipation, their ears trained towards the direction of the voice. Several moments went by without a whisper, then the air was once again filled with a terrified moan. Grinning, Blackfire rose from his crouch, kicking more wood onto the fire to keep Creed warm.

"I'll be back," He growled, taking his knife in hand.

EC

Kyron slipped down the side hallways of the castle, his back firmly pasted to the stone walls as he moved. The narrow channels twisted around every room, a subtle breeze passing along the primitive air-conditioning system; the sounds coming from the heart of the building easily masked Kyron's passing. He ducked over a support beam swiftly, his plumed hat brushing madly across the stone in his haste. Tirus was a fool to doubt his plans.

Kyron came to a sudden halt at a thick wall, the unyielding surface stating the end of the journey to a casual passerby. Smirking, he trailed his fingers along the stones in a intricate pattern, his thumb and forefinger coming to a slight halt just centimeters above his eyes. A thin tail of light opened in between his two fingers, gradually opening up into a simple archway, the darkness beyond revealing nothing of the intricacies beyond. He took a single step into the shadows, halting for a fraction of a second as he pondered over the implications of his anticipated actions. With a confident snort, Kyron slipped in the abyss beyond, his form enveloped by an even darker force.

The floor vanished from beneath his feet, leaving the conniving man floating in mid-air, his arms sprawled out on either side of him. Kyron closed his bloody eyes, lifting his face towards the hidden heavens. Slowly he fell, twisting deftly in the swirling darkness with his descent. A gentle, warm breeze twitched against him, halting for a moment before whirling by again; the breath of a great beast warming his body.

The earthy floor subtly halted his movements, the weightlessness of his descent vanishing with the blink of his thirsty eyes.

Kyron tugged absentmindedly on the sleeve of his garment, his eyes not yet accustomed to the din; a sign he was not welcome. Not yet.

Swooping his hat off his head, Kyron bent into a deep bow, his mouth pulled into a wicked smile. "Salutations, Ghethar."

A guttural growl reverberated from the very heart of the darkness. The heat level in the chamber rose drastically, sending Kyron's hair into a flurry above his head. "You..."

The clever man straightened his posture, returning his hat to its position on his head. He leaned back on his heels, clasping his gloved hands behind his back. "Yes. Me." He paused for a moment as the growl grew in savagery, his smirk trailing up farther his visage. He continued his bravado as the echoes died down. "Ghethar, I have another job for you."

"No more." Ghethar snarled, the deep tones of his voice ripping into Kyron's very soul. "I have repaid my debts."

Kyron tilted back his head, letting out a chilling laugh. Ghethar's own murmurings were silenced by the sheer power of his voice. "No. Never shall we be equal, my friend." Kyron lowered his gaze, staring hard into the inky darkness. His red eyes narrowed in enjoyment.

Ghethar snarled once more, but said nothing.

Kyron grinned. "It's very simple, you see." His head shifted forwards. "Eliminate Amarri."

EC

Kael glanced over his shoulder towards the fading city of Pewter, his eyes narrowing in despair. Exodus powered over the rough terrain, his hooves pounding deep grooves into the earth. The white Lucario eased back, his motions matching that of his steed to keep his balance on the saddle. He clutched a single paw to his chest, gripping tightly to the smooth sphere. His own Pokeball gleamed in the evening light, the shining red surface reflected in his eyes.

Mt. Moon rose slowly over the horizon, its gigantic, hulking shape casting a jagged shadow across the sky. Kael eyed the highest peak with a worried glance.

He needed to know.