AN: For those of you returning, yes, I've changed the title of the story. I was meaning to do it a long time ago, but I was busy / distracted. Also, I meant to get this chapter up earlier, and I'm sorry for that too. Two of the classes I'm taking are accelerated courses, which means 16 weeks of work compressed into half the time... Not fun. Anyway, to top that off while I was visiting family in vermont, my computer did one of those restart self things, and I didn't realise until several hours later that it had destroyed almost 4K words of work from my NANOWRIMO file (which is where I'm writing everything right now to get a wordcount). Because of that, I stopped writing for several days, so yeah. No NANOWRIMO for me this year. Oh well. Next chapter is almost done, as well as the second chapter of the epilogue, but there's still one in the middle that needs to be written. Lols. Sooo... yeah. Enjoy.

PS- welcome to the story TitanVoid! /AN

Chapter 16: The Ultimate Weapon

Johnny hid his smirk as the spinning brown blur that was his boss flew by once more, trailing a stream of curses in his wake. Really, he couldn't blame the other agent- he was still a little tipsy from his last glide across the base. At least the teleporters in the Galactic bases only left you disoriented instead of nauseous. While he wandered in the direction Looker had disappeared, he considered their situation. They'd brought 15 other officers, most of which were now dispersed throughout the base, chasing down the grunts that had scattered when Looker had ripped their 'secret' door off its sliding track in a release of frustration.

"Hurry up Johnny!" Looker growled loudly from up ahead, and the sandy-haired agent grinned as he carefully hopped over the trick panel in the arch of the hallway, his Luxray padding along silently behind him, glowing golden eyes seeking out more of the annoyances.

"You okay Looker?" Johnny called, surprised to see the hallway continued to another turn, which probably meant his boss was extremely dizzy by this point. He was about to step in front of an intersection when Luxray nipped at his sleeve. Glancing down, Johnny saw the faint discoloration that marked one of the spinning tiles. Glancing down the other hallway, Johnny spotted Looker sprawled against the wall, a pair of Team Flare grunts pinned underneath him.

"I had a soft landing." Looker replied with a dark smirk. Shaking his head in amusement, Johnny hopped over the trap panel and joined his boss and the two new captives.

"So the entrance to the base is hidden around here somewhere, right?" Darius asked, glancing around the quiet town as he did so. "Should we evacuate the town, or is stealth a better plan?"

Michael stared up at the three pointed stones that marked the dead-center of the town. Darius glanced over at him, but didn't try to distract the boy. A few seconds later, Michael tore his eyes away from the stones and glanced around at the houses built in a rough circle around the landmark, obviously considering.

"I don't know how much has been changed by my presence." Michael admitted. "Most people fled the town when the machine activated, but several were still killed, and many more were severely injured. If we can get them moving now, they should have enough time to get clear."

Darius nodded, dividing his attention between glancing around the town and keeping an eye on his junior. "Alright. Since stealth isn't a problem, I'll work on finding an entrance. While I do that, you should hit the PokeCenter and warn the people there to start the evacuation. Tell them to contact the police in Lumiose if they refuse. Once I find the entrance, we can meet up there."

Michael frowned and held up a finger. "One problem; how will I find the entrance after you?"

Darius smirked even as he began turning away. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you can't miss it."

Once he was away from Michael, Darius found a good rock out of sight to lean against. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and reached out. The inhabitants of the town were calm, easily going about their daily business. From the PokeCenter he sensed a familiar energy tainted with desperation fear-of-failure, which he knew to be Michael. Around him was disbelief indignation hidden-fear, although there were a few sparks of recognition real-threat among them. Probably people that had heard Lysandre's missive. Gently, Darius turned his attention away from those people, letting them fade into the background as he pressed away from himself in search of a gathering that might indicate a hidden base.

It took him several minutes of searching before he realized they were all underground, and then he spent several more minutes tracing their movements, trying to build a basic map in his mind; looking for a weak point. He was so focused on his task that he barely heard the draconic voice echoing through his mindscape the first time. It took several tries of Rayquaza growling at him before Darius noticed.

/What are you doing hatchling?/ Rayquaza snarled, his angry growl somewhat startling the young man.

/I'm trying to figure out the best way to get into the base./ Darius replied in confusion. /Is it a problem?/

The dragon snarled angrily, and over the deep ocean, several crew members manning a cruise ship glanced at the sky, wondering if they'd imagined the great spurt of flame jetting out from a clear sky. /It is a problem when you leave your body! You are so focused outside yourself that your subconscious is distracted from maintaining your breath and your heartbeat! Right now your body is dead!/

Shock filled Darius's mind, and he quickly released his focus, shivering and gasping when the awareness of his body slammed back into him like a freight train. His hands and feet prickled with a thousand tiny needles, and little black spots danced across his vision as his head swam. Wincing as the blood rushed to his extremities, Darius decided against trying to stand, though he did kick his legs out in front of him to better flex his toes. Even if every movement sent more stabbing needles up his nerves.

/You must be more cautious./ Rayquaza warned wearily as Darius tried to blink away the black spots that took up over half his vision. /If your body fails while you are outside of it, your mind and spirit would be cast adrift./

Darius nodded despite the fact that the dragon could not see him, wincing as his frantically beating heart slowly began to settle. He'd have to wait for several minutes for his body to readjust, but he didn't mind. He needed the time to think. He hadn't really thought about it; not since the confrontation in the Ice Caves.

But he still had a job to do. Darius took one more minute to settle his thoughts away, and make a note to have a controlled freak-out later. In other words, when there wasn't a lunatic gang leader plotting the destruction of the world. Sighing and mentally thanking the grumbling dragon, Darius opened his eyes and rose to his feet, reaching for his Pokeballs. He'd sensed one person moving steadily down, which implied elevator shaft. And there'd been only one shaft, which meant that was probably the entrance to the underground base.

Ice-blue eyes glittered as the agent smirked. Time to make an entrance.

Johnny winced as the lump on the back of his head throbbed. He refused to make a noise however; determined that the guards would feel no satisfaction for having managed to catch one of their intruders. Even if the only reason they'd caught him in the first place was because he'd misstepped onto the most convoluted pattern of spin panels to ever exist. And then proceeded to become nauseous upon stopping. He hadn't been quite coherent enough to register the fact that he was being dragged until he'd already found himself inside a cell.

Curiously, he cast a quick glance over his shoulder, checking on the hulking figure that stood pressed into the corner of the cell. The man, if it was a man, was over 7 feet tall, at least. His clothes were ragged and his long white hair looked more like bleached moss than actual hair.

"Hey." Johnny tried, watching the hulk for a sign of movement. The man didn't so much as even twitch however, and Johnny sighed, looking back out through the bars of the cell. He spent the next several minutes calculating the pros and cons of Looker finding him in the cell.

Michael sighed in relief as he watched the people from the PokeCenter dispersing among the buildings to warn the other townsfolk. For a while, he'd thought no-one was going to believe his warnings, but then one person had spoken up, mentioning Lysandre's public declaration of intent. Several others followed soon after, and finally they accepted his words as truth. Although, he still didn't know where Darius was. The other agent had said he wouldn't be able to miss the entrance once Darius located it, but he wasn't sure exactly what that entailed.

Michael was just about to head back to the center of town when he heard the first scream. Thinking Team Flare had somehow found out about his advance warning and decided to attack the townspeople, Michael went charging in the direction the scream had come from, releasing Broga as he ran.

Thus, he was somewhat surprised to find several people dressed in the Team Flare uniform scattering, all with looks of pure panic on their faces. Glancing over at Broga, Michael pointed at one grunt who was further away from the others. The Greninja nodded and leapt up atop the roof of the nearest building, and several seconds later the Pokemon returned, one webbed hand smothering any shout the man may have made while the other arm pinned his arms to his sides.

"What are all of you running from?" Michael demanded of the man. Broga lowered his hand just enough to let the man speak, but luckily the man seemed too scared to think of screaming again.

"Our base." The man practically whimpered. "There's a demon. It knocked on the secret entrance, asking us to let it in, but we said no so then it picked up the boulder and ripped the steel door off the hinges. And it was smiling. And it asked us to let it in again, but we said no again, so it just started taking the walls apart! And it kept asking!"

"A demon?" Michael asked, frowning. He already figured what the man was talking about, but why was it a demon? The grunt quailed under Michael's scrutiny.

"You know how the legends go! Demons have to ask permission to cross a threshold. That's why it kept asking to be let in! But I don't know if thresholds still apply when your walls are gone, so I booked it right out of there!" The grunt shook his head and began squirming again, and Micahel signalled to Broga. The frog rolled his eyes, but he released the terrified grunt, who quickly fled out of sight. Michael glanced back in the direction the man had originally come from. He could hear more terrified screams.

"I suppose we better go before Darius decides he's done with the front door."

So maybe it wasn't his most conservative use of energy ever, Darius thought absently as he pulled on the thick woven steel cord. It was still an effective method to clear a decent number of guards from the base. Those that hadn't fled out had fled down, bringing their panicked words of blue demons at the doors into the heart of the bees' nest. And since stealth wasn't an issue… Besides, he'd needed something that Michael wouldn't mistake for anything but Darius making an entrance. And speaking of the exasperated, but still amused, agent…

"I was expecting things exploding." Michael said from behind Darius. The blue-haired agent glanced back at him, but he didn't cease his continuing reel of the cord in his hands.

"This is more fun." Darius admitted, glancing back and grinning when his quarry finally rose into view. Beside him, Ayashii grabbed the cord from him with her psychic power and gently guided it back onto the pulley system it had originally been part of. That done, Darius turned and smirked at Michael, tipping an imaginary top-hat.

"Is this really the only entrance?" Michael asked warily, even as he stepped past Darius and into the kidnapped elevator. Darius and Ayashii followed after him, and the doors closed with a polite ding as they started to descend.

"Like an anthill." Darius said with a smirk. "One entrance makes it less likely for people to stumble into the place, but now they have no means of escape. Only an idiot builds a base like this."

"Either an idiot, or someone who doesn't think he'll be exposed before his plan is past the point of no return." Michael agreed darkly.

Serena grinned as she carefully trotted down the underground hallway. What few grunts that had run by her were screaming something about a demon at the entrance, and they hadn't even noticed her in the hallway, nevermind that she wasn't even wearing the uniform as a disguise or anything. One part of her mind wondered at what kind of Pokemon could have spooked so many criminals into thinking it was a demon, but it really wasn't her problem either way. Just a very convenient distraction.

Spotting another door further ahead, Serena darted forward, pressing herself to the wall as she activated the door's opening mechanism, waiting to make sure nothing would come out before she peeked around the frame to see inside. She was somewhat disappointed to find rows of empty desks with dark computers sitting on them. Nothing she could really use, and no one to eavesdrop on for information.

Sighing in disappointment, she leaned back out and let the door close. Taking a moment to mentally trace her sneaking path through the base, she frowned. She had the oddest feeling that she'd been accidentally turned around at one point. Well, if she found the elevator, then she'd have her bearings again, and then she would be able to find more rooms to raid for information. As she turned the corner however, she froze.

There was a figure in the hallway. If she squinted, she could make out a black form, vaguely human-shaped, but terribly distorted. A grinning mouth of sharp, glinting teeth sat above the body, just underneath the crazed blue eyes of a lunatic predator. A swirling, writhing mass of blue topped it off, and Serena stumbled back, her eyes wide in shock and terror. This had to be it. This was the demon that had sent Team Flare scurrying. A small squeak escaped her lips, and the demon glanced at her, and she thought she saw it cock its head to the side, as if considering whether or not to eat her. It lifted one clawed hand and waved at something behind it. Another demon? The Flares had only been screaming about the one, but it would make sense in a way, wouldn't it? If they travelled, or hunted, in packs.

And then Ark walked up beside the twisted shape with a look of pure amusement on his face. The demon's spell over Serena was broken as she spluttered at the completely random appearance of the young man. At least he seemed as surprised as she was, though he seemed completely oblivious to the demon standing calmly in the middle of the hallway.

"How'd you get down here Serena?" Ark asked, frowning and striding over to her. Serena shrugged, trying to watch him, but her eyes were being drawn back to the demon. Waiting for them to lower their guard so that it may pounce, no doubt. Beside her, Michael frowned before he glanced back at the demon.

"Very nice." He complimented the thing blandly. "You're giving me a headache."

"You have no idea how fun this is." The demon said in a perfectly normal-sounding voice. Seconds later, Serena blinked, and where there had been a demon, was simply a man, wearing a black coat and dark grey jeans. A blue haired man that seemed oddly familiar. Suddenly Serena felt embarrassed for having mistaken this plain human for some kind of supernatural predator.

"How were you doing that?" She demanded, somewhat angrily, mostly so she could stop feeling embarrassed. The man shrugged nonchalantly.

"I had a psychic-type distorting your view of the space around me. Add that to making sure everyone's thinking about a terrible demon come to eat you, and the human mind fills in the blanks for you. Quite effective. Also fun."

Serena frowned, but found she couldn't think of anything to argue. Luckily, Ark stepped in with a roll of his eyes. "What are you doing down here anyway?" He asked again. Serena glared at him, crossing her arms.

"You're not the only ones who can do something about Team Flare." She countered. "I remembered that there were a lot of the grunts running about this town, so when Lysandre made that announcement on the Holocaster, I decided to come here. After that I just tailed a few of them until they led me to the entrance. What about you Ark?"

The dark skinned agent looked confused for a second before blinking in comprehension. "Actually, it's Michael." This time it was Serena's turn to frown in confusion. Before she could ask, Ark, or Michael or whatever, shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't really matter whether you call me Ark or Michael, but Michael is my actual name. Ark was more of a codename."

Serena sighed, but she nodded all the same. "Well Mr. Identity-Crisis, if Mr. Demon would like to lead the way to clear out trouble, I can show you what area I haven't checedk out yet. There's probably something more interesting down there anyway." Off to the side, Darius grinned sharply before tapping a pattern on the lid of one of his Pokeballs. A second later, his figure blurred again, and Serena had to suppress the urge to flee from the smirking demon lurking in the hallway.

"Let's go say hello." Darius said happily.

Most of the agents had scattered when Darius slammed the door in. Several were cowering under their desks, but none had actually tried to get between their boss and the demon stalking across the floor. Fighting the nauseous feeling rising up in this throat, Michael stood beside Serena, and tried to keep his eyes on Lysandre as the man made his little speech. But his eyes were being drawn to the giant window behind the man like iron filings to a magnet. He could see the machine, the core of the Ultimate Weapon, beyond the glass. Off to the side, Lysandre was still talking, but Michael wasn't hearing his words. His eyes were glued to the dark shape in the centre of the machine.

"Michael!" Serena whispered loudly, grabbing the agent's shoulder and startling him back to the present. His green eyes met hers. There were tears glimmering in her eyes, and Michael briefly wondered just what Lysandre had said earlier. Glancing over, he saw Lysandre with a calm face releasing a Meinshao, while a furious-looking Darius released Ayashii.

"Darius is fighting Lysandre, but we need to find the legendary Pokemon the machine is drawing energy from." The girl was saying, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the stairwell leading down. "As trainers, we're protected by Pokemon, but that means it's also our jobs to protect Pokemon in return, right?"

Michael glanced over at Darius and Lysandre, and then nodded.

"I have an idea of where to find it, so let's go."

Looker glared at the veritable swarm of children that he had somehow managed to accumulate. Two lunatics in white suits and masks, an orange haired kid with his nose glued to what looked like a Pokedex, and a larger boy who seemed fascinated by every move the Pokemon made, whether they were ally or enemies. And then of course was the little girl in the pink shirt that was entirely too sneaky for a little girl her age. Her favourite trick seemed to be running ahead, startling several grunts, and then tricking them into chasing her; leading them into the swarm of battlers that made up their ridiculous pack. And if she didn't lead them to the group, she tricked them onto the spin panels and sent them careening into walls or simply dealt with them herself.

It was like Stellon had been shrunk and turned into a girl. It was annoying. Although, she was very effective at drawing out the grunts. But still annoying.

"Hey boss!" Johnny's voice called from a different hallway, and Looker glanced over to see his subordinate jogging as he grinned and waved at his scowling boss. Behind him strode a shabbily dressed mountain, and even Looker had to do a double-take at the sight. Looker could see Johnny's smirk grow.

"You'll never guess who I found!"

Serena frowned at the steel door that blocked their path. Michael swore when they reached the blockage, kicking the base of the keypad stand in frustration. Serena couldn't blame him. She knew they were almost to the bottom. The Pokemon they were here to rescue could very well have been on the other side of this very door, and they had no way of getting through to rescue it.

"I don't suppose you know how to hack locks." Michael grumbled, hitting a few of the keys and eliciting an angry 'beep' from the device. Serena shook her head, glancing around for something that they could try to use to lever the door open. Now there was a thought.

"Do you think our Pokemon could break it down?" She wondered aloud, trying to think if any of her Pokemon had that kind of power. Meowstic could use psychic power to crush the door, and Delphox could try melting it, but both Pokemon were exhausted from battling every grunt and admin that had tried to stop them on the way down. And she already knew Michael's Pokemon were just as tired as her own.

The boy paused, however. He blinked several times, and Serena saw his face fall carefully blank. Slowly, one of his hands reached down, and he took hold of the one Pokeball he hadn't called on during their charge. She vaguely remembered him staring at it in the same way before when they'd met up in the haunted house.

"It's almost time." He muttered softly to the Pokeball, and Serena had to bite back the urge to question him. Time for what? But the boy continued speaking, seemingly oblivious to her presence beside him. "You brought me here for a reason, and I'm trying. Maybe I've already done enough in your eyes, but at this rate, people are still going to be hurt, and that's not good enough for me. From what Darius says, you're strong. You put so much power into making sure I could be here to help. Please, give me a little more power. Give me the chance to save as many as I possibly can. Give me the chance to protect the Pokemon I couldn't help back then."

Serena was quiet as Michael stared at the Pokemon in the Pokeball, biting her lip as she watched. For a second, nothing happened, but then, with a flash of red light, the Pokeball opened. As the light faded, Serena saw a small green Pokemon floating between the teens and the door. Its body was light green, and its large blue eyes were rimmed in black. Tiny clear wings fluttered on the Pokemon's back, and small green hands were clasped before the Pokemon's front. Michael sighed in relief and Serena saw him smile.

"I was angry with you earlier, but now I want to thank you." He said to the Pokemon. "I think I understand why you chose me. I don't understand it well, but I think I get it."

The Pokemon blinked bright blue eyes, and nodded calmly before turning in the air to press tiny green hands against the steel door. For a second, Serena didn't see any change, but then she saw it. The paint was losing its colour rapidly. And even as she watched, the paint began flaking, falling off the door as the metal underneath also became discoloured. Rust bloomed across the door, and it crackled and groaned as it shifted. In less than thirty seconds, the Pokemon had a hole through the door, and it turned back and smiled as it fluttered to the ceiling. Michael stared at the door before looking up at the Pokemon.

"Thank you Celebi." He said calmly before stepping through the remains of the door.

"I don't understand." Serena said as she followed Michael through the door. "Isn't that your Pokemon?"

Michael shook his head. "She was never mine." He told the girl. "Celebi is a legendary Pokemon who has the power to travel through time. I wasn't sure why she stayed with me this whole time, but perhaps she knew we would need some kind of help at the last minute."

Michael could tell Serena still had more questions she wanted to ask him, but he held up a hand, indicating for her to be silent. Before them stood a huge pedestal covered in wires both thick and small. Most of the thickest cords looked old, but there was some new circuitry hooked up as well. In the centre of the platform was a huge ovular shape, the faint pattern of diamonds running down the front recognizable. Between them and the pedestal however were several Team Flare admins. One of the female admins smirked.

"I'm afraid you children are too late." She said, and the group behind her laughed, which only made Michael angrier. "The Ultimate Weapon has already drained 99% of the legendary Pokemon's energy. Soon it will be ready to fire, and the world will be cleansed!"

"Not if we stop you first!" Serena shouted defiantly, releasing her Delphox and her Meowstic. Beside her, Michael snarled softly as he released his entire team. Across from them were a total of 6 Admins, and each of them released two Pokemon each. It was 5 versus 12, and Michael and Serena's Pokemon were already tired from fighting their way in. But nonetheless, they fought fiercely.

As the battle raged, Michael and Serena glanced at each other. Michael flicked his eyes at the cold grey shape sitting on the pedestal, and Serena glanced at it before glancing quickly back at the destroyed door and then pointedly at Michael. Michael nodded slightly and they both quickly turned their attentions back to the battle. Slowly, Michael began to ease away from where Serena stood, and the girl began shouting insults at admins loudly enough to be heard over the fighting. While they were distracted, Michael pressed himself against the far wall and began ducking behind the thick cords of wiring, keeping to the shadows as he used Serena's distraction to get close enough to free the Pokemon. 99% of its energy though… And earlier, Darius had said something about that energy being akin to life-force. Could the Pokemon that Lysandre had harnessed survive with that much of its life stolen? Either way, Michael intended to free it.

Finally, he reached the pedestal behind the battling admins, and Michael quickly glanced up again at the dormant shape, wondering just which of the Pokemon Lysandre had decided to use. Glancing down again, he found a control panel and began pressing buttons, trying to figure out how to release the Pokemon. He'd just managed to find a sequence that looked promising when there was a startled shout from behind him, and suddenly several of the admins were on him, trying to pull him away from the machine. Gritting his teeth and kicking one of them in a very uncomfortable spot, Michael lunged forward and slapped the last button. And the machine exploded with light.

Pain.

Several floors up, Darius dropped to the floor, clutching his chest and gasping for breath, eyes gone wide in shock.

Exhaustion.

Where earlier there had been a complete void, there was now raging feelings, powerful and hurt and screaming and undeniably dying.

Denial!

Michael must have freed the Legendary Pokemon. It was free, but obviously the machine had taken its toll. Dimly Darius was aware of the beaten Lysandre standing against the wall, hands cuffed and head tilted quizzically. Darius just hoped the man didn't take this chance to bolt. He was going to jail and possibly therapy for all this crap; Darius was going to make sure of it. Forcing the sense of pain dying don't-understand from his mind, Darius began to rise to his feet.

"You've failed." He informed the orange-maned man. "The Pokemon has been freed, and your machine has not fired. It's over Lysandre." Lysandre's face remained calm as he nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, it seems the machine has been disconnected. However." Before Darius could move to stop him, Lysandre brought his arm up and tapped the screen of his Holocaster.

"This is not quite over."

Heart in his throat, Michael kicked away the few admins that had continued after him once the machine had ceased its drain and the cocoon on the pedestal had unfurled with an agonized shriek. Michael hastily scrambled up the side of the pedestal, kneeling next to the black beak and horns, wary of the thick grey mane that spread from the back of the Pokemon's neck.

Finally able to see the Pokemon fully, Michael recognized it from the reports he'd helped sort through. It was Yveltal, the Legendary Pokemon of Destruction. Also known as the Pokemon of Death. Reports of what had happened to everything caught in Yveltal's shadow conflicted in his mind with the sight of the giant winged form shuddering and keening in pain before him. Almost without realising it, Michael reached out and gently ran a hand along the side of the Pokemon's neck.

"It's okay now." He whispered to the omen of death. "The machine is stalled; I'm not going to let Team Flare hurt you anymore. You're safe." One cold blue eye focused on Michael for a second, and the teen allowed himself to smile. Yveltal was free, and Lysandre's plans had been stopped at the very last second. Everything was going to be fine.

And that was when the machine whirred to life for a final time. Michael, Yveltal, Serena and the admins all looked up at the base of the weapon high above their heads as it began to glow with an unearthly red light.

"The ultimate weapon is activating!" One of the admins cried triumphantly. Michael shook his head in disbelief. It couldn't be activating; he'd freed Yveltal, it didn't have another source to draw from!

"It must be using the energy it already stole!" Serena cried out, and Michael knew it had to be true. He rose unsteadily to his feet as the very earth shook with the force of the weapon activating, and behind him he heard the sounds of the members of Team Flare fleeing. Serena ran up to the base of the pedestal, waving her hands to get his attention.

"Michael! We have to get out of here; I doubt it's safe this close to the machine!" The agent glanced down at her, and then his eyes went back to the Pokemon shivering by his feet. He shook his head.

"You go out ahead of me!" He shouted to her so she could hear him over the sound of the machine. "I have to get Yveltal out of here! Tell Darius what happened and make sure everyone else gets out of here." Serena stood still for a second while Michael knelt back down next to the Pokemon and tried to figure out how to lift the enormous body. For a second he thought she would argue, but then he heard the crunch of her stepping though the disintegrated door, and he sighed a breath of relief. Slowly he began to stroke Yveltal's neck again, drawing the pain-filled eyes to himself.

"You're not going to be alone." He assured the Pokemon, feeling a cold calmness settling over his heart. It wasn't the same painful chill as what he'd felt near Lumiose, but something almost soothing in its numbness.

On the outskirts of Geosenge, Darius froze, drawing Serena's and Lysandre's gazes to himself as he twisted around to stare in horror back at the town. The gleaming crystal flower flared with light, woven through with the red light of Yveltal's stolen life. A massive ball of energy formed in the heart of the flower, and with a mighty shockwave of sound that ripped trees from the ground and sent civilians sprawling, the fireball launched into the sky.

In Lumiose City, Special Agent Looker stood beside his partner Johnny, watching the strange light rising up from the west. The children that had helped him raid Lysandre's laboratory stood huddled in a group nearby, while off to the side the giant man Johnny had found clutched at the tattered orange hat he'd pulled off his moss-like white hair.

"The weapon has been fired." The man intoned in a deep voice that was rugged from lack of use. "The time has arrived."

AN: Muwahaha! Yeah, this chapter jumped around alot, but that's the way it was playing out in my mind, and there were so many characters to check in on! All in all, I think it came out really well! I'll have the next one up... sometime. Shorter time than before, this would be a horrible cliffhanger to leave you with, wouldn't it? Mind you, I might leave it for a little while... But only so I can work on editing the next one! The next one's pretty long too, but I think this one tops it by a couple hundred or so. There were so many places I wanted to cut off in this chapter, but then instead of one massive chapter I'd have had like 5 or 6 super-mini chapters, and I didn't like that. So here you go!

/AN