Ok, so this first bit is going to be a bit more violent than I will usually do, so just be warned.

Chapter 12

"What do you mean, you failed…?"

The two grunts glanced at each other hesitantly. The woman took the dare.

"We're sorry, boss, but we were unable to subdue Prof. Rowan like you had requested."

Silence echoed throughout the stone-cold meeting room as the older man with spiky, blue hair gazed out his wall-sized window into the streets below.

"We share a common dream, do we not?" he finally said. "A dream of everlasting peace in this world, liberty from the bonds that have ensnared humanity for as long as its existence." He cast an unemotional glance at the two terrified grunts. "This is a bold, round-breaking goal we pursue, is it not?"

"Y-yes, sir," the young woman stammered, "This is truly a noble cause."

"Indeed." He began to walk towards the grunts. "It is very noble…" He paused, now standing directly in front of the young woman. "Do you know what the prime reason noble causes go defeated instead of victorious, Number Twenty-Six? Mostly, it is due to the weaknesses of the ones pushing the 'noble movement' in the first place. In other words, the weak links."

She swallowed in fear.

"Forgive me, boss, but humanity as a whole can be considered nothing but weak links, can it not? That is why we are pursuing such a goal."

The older man raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed. Excellent philosophy, Twenty-six, I'm impressed. However, your argument defeats itself. If everyone is weak, then no one can be considered overly weak, and the label of 'weakest link' falls to the weakest of the weak. In particular," a hot flare of anger could now be heard from his voice, "those who cannot perform their duties towards our ideals."

"I can assure you, sir," she explained, "it will not happen again."

"Oh, I believe you won't, Twenty-Six. However, just to be sure…" His hand went to his pocket, and before she had time to blink, the older man had pulled out what looked like a Pokémon fang, maybe from a Crobat. Before she could react, he turned to his right and, rather than lunging on her, ran the dripping fang through the man next to her.

He didn't even make a sound, except for the gasp that came from his lungs as the venomous fang sank right through his heart. The older man casually ripped it out of the man's chest and started walking back to the window as the grunt's friend rushed to his limp form, a cpot of red growing through the man's shirt.

"Mike? No… No, stay with me!" Tears welled up in her eyes as the light in his faded quickly. "Mike, no!"

The older man waited a few seconds for the woman to fall silent.

"Mars has assembled a crew to accompany her on the assault on the Valley Windworks, and they will be leaving in just a few hours. You will accompany them, and will act as the first line of defense against any interference that may arise from these…children." He almost seethed the last word. Noticing the lack of response, he turned to see her still holding the man's corpse. "Be lucky it was quick-acting, for if you should fail me again, I will not hesitate to poison you with slow-acting venom. It might take a few hours, or even days. I get to choose. I suggest you report to Mars immediately, while I'm still in a good mood."

Realizing his words, tears still streaming down her face, the woman laid her friend's head on the floor and took off down the hall, spots of blood still on her hands. As her friends rushed to catch her, her boss calmly went over to the sink and washed the blood from his hands. After he did this, he reached for his pocket mic.

"Numbers 49 and 50, there's been a little spill in my office. I expect it to be removed within the hour." He returned his gaze to the window.

No more interference. The time for Team Galactic's reveal is nigh. We shall create our new world, no matter the cost.

"Blazer, use Sky Uppercut!"

"Blaziken!"

With a strong punch, the boulder disintegrated into tiny pebbles. Matthew pumped a fist.

"Great job, Blazer!"

The group had been hiking for a whole day again, and they began to notice the large plume of smoke coming from one of the mountains.

"No doubt about it," Sam remarked. "That's Mt. Chimney over that way. We're in the very center of western Hoenn right now."

Well, all these rocks are getting me confused," Ryan exclaimed. "They could have gone in any direction from here."

"Not exactly," Matthew noticed. "Look at the smoke and ash column. It's blowing northward pretty hard right now. I bet no one is anywhere near the routes up there."

"That means they would have to move east or west…"

"Exactly. However, they wouldn't want to risk being cornered somewhere to the west like Rustboro. Most likely, they would have moved east. That's the most likely scenario."

"That," Ryan continued," and Mightyena here believes the same thing."

Matthew nudged Sam on the shoulder, grinning.

"See, what'd I tell you?" His jeans pocket started vibrating. "Oh, hang on a second…" Pulling out his Pokenav, he saw a picture of his girlfriend Nicole on the screen. "Hey, it's Nikki! Can I take this?"

"We've got time to kill, man."

"Ha, ha…" Answering it, "Hello, gorgeous."

"How would you even know I looked even remotely presentable right now? For all you know I'm drenched in mud."

"Are you?"

"No…"

"Ok, then," he chuckled. "What's up?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you, silly. It's been too long…"

"I agree, Nikki, it has. You know me: always busy…"

"Yeah… Well, I decided to take a little vacation in Sinnoh for a while. I'm taking Emily with me."

"She'll definitely like that."

"Oh, yeah, she will. I just hope the waters aren't too chilly right now. I'm still trying to blubber up, you know?"

"Well, nature is what it is." He looked at the setting sun. "Hey, I've gotta go. Hope you like your vacation."

"Maybe you can come and visit us when you're done over there."

"Oh, I plan on it. Love you."

"Love you, too."

Hanging up, he quickly ran over the conversation. So, Nikki and Emily are on their way to Sinnoh now. That's good. I hope they'll be ok… He smirked at her comment on 'blubbering up.'

"Oh, Nikki," he muttered, "you never change."

As an almost-professional swimmer, Nicole was always preparing her mind and body for whatever challenges she would come across. In particular, the temperature of the water would have a big enough impact on her performance that she stated a ritual of seasonally gaining and losing weight as the seasons past. It wasn't a lot, really, around 10 or 15 pounds, but the extra or less insulation allowed her to better adapt to the temperature of the water, letting her keep her best times no matter what. While she often got weird looks from people as she gained or lost visible weight, most would accept it after receiving an explanation. Even Matthew understood her reasoning behind it.

"All right, team," he called out, "let's keep going! We can get a few more miles in before dusk, right?"

John woke to a sea of void.

Oh, no, not this again… He could see nothing, not even his body. Unlike before, though, his soul wasn't being sucked into the void this time. He was just stuck in limbo.

"Hello? Anyone!"

No response.

"Tell me what this is all about!"

Suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the corner of his vision. The bright blue streak went diagonally to the upper-right. As it went by, it made a swishing sound, and it left a trail in the pattern of the darkness in the same color.

"Woah!"

Suddenly, another one shot in the same direction but in a different spot, forming a pair of parallel lines. Several more streaked past him, and then even more, growing in number and volume, until his entire field of view was obstructed by light-blue. He saw a moving pattern in the color, though, a pattern of moving light that flowed in the same direction as the streaks. As he gazed into the beautiful and strange pattern, though, he felt a familiar tug in his chest.

"Aw… Do I have to leave now?"

The void answered him by turning off the lights.