This chapter may seem a bit confusing. Most of it takes place about two weeks before the previous chapter, whereas the beginning happens about a month later. Just wanted to clear that up.
` Sometimes, Talo looked back to the day he'd first met Mr. Pondera and wonder. He would wonder about those deep blue eyes, the graying hair, despite the man's youth, and what would have happened if he'd accepted that invitation. He considered all the times when he'd been outnumbered or outmatched before someone-usually Seth Burns-came to his aid. Would it have been different to have partners, maybe even a full team at his side in those moments? He liked that idea, being a leader. Sure, he let Seth take charge usually, as the boy seemed to enjoy his role, but standing behind someone else wasn't really his forte. That was why he worked alone most of the time.
` But to be an actual team leader? That was something different altogether. As much as he might have denied his need for a team, having a bit of backup when the Hybrids got out of hand was sorely tempting.
` And that was exactly what he'd been offered: A chance to be a leader of men. A chance to be important.
` And he'd thrown it away.
*Several weeks earlier*
` "So I figured we could do something tonight, maybe go to my house and play video games" Ben spoke to Talo without looking up from his game device. "I just got the new Super Pikachu Bros. game, and I wanted to try it out."
` Talo sighed. "Isn't there anything you ever think about besides video games?"
` Ben thought about it. "The Hybrids. I think about them a lot."
` Talo backpedaled, knowing that he was drifting into dangerous territory. "Look, I'd love to play, but I'm busy tonight. I need to get stuff ready for when my sister gets home."
` "I thought she wasn't getting back until next week?" Ben asked, still not looking up. "Why would you need to get ready so soon?"
` Talo thought for a moment, but before he could answer, Ben did something unexpected: He paused his game and looked up. "You're going out again, aren't you?"
` Talo nodded. "I got a tip from a guy in the park yesterday. He says there might be a whole nest of Hybrids in an old warehouse off of 34th avenue. I have to-"
` Ben held up a hand. "Talo, when was the last time you slept?"
` Talo considered it for a moment. "I'm not sure."
` "Was it last night?"
` "...No."
` "The night before?"
` "...No."
` Ben waved his hand as though that was the only proof he needed. "You can't keep running yourself ragged. Your grades have been going down, and you walk through the school like you're a zombie. You need to take a night off." He unpaused his game, returning to playing.
` "Alright, after tonight I promise to get some sleep. But this lead is huge, I don't wanna blow a chance."
` "Fine" Ben nodded. "But after that, no more adventuring until next week."
` Talo nodded. "Fine."
-X-
` The warehouse looked like a scene out of a Pokestar Studios film. Old and apparently abandoned, it seemed like the perfect place for a group of hybrids to hide out. Talo looked over its cracked windows and rotting timbers, almost feeling sorry for the hybrids. He walked carefully toward it.
` "A sorry sight indeed" a voice called from behind him. Spinning in an instant, Talo's eyes locked onto a man standing behind him. The man had graying hair which seemed to match his ashen suit quite well. Despite this, there was a youthful vigor in his intense eyes. He walked with a cane, matching shoes clapping against the pavement with each step. Under the suit, Talo noted a white collared shirt, done up to the top, a light-green tie hanging from his neck. He watched Talo with a look that almost seemed like amusement.
` "The Hybrids are, I think, a very difficult group to understand. Each is gifted with amazing powers, but they are shunned by humanity. People see them as mistakes. True, many of them use their gifts to cause mischief or destruction, but there are some which are not destructive in any way. No matter who they are, however, we are prejudiced. At the first mention of Hybrids, most people will either cower in fear or disgust.
` "But those who are able to see both the good and bad in these beautiful creatures; those are the truly blessed. They are the ones who can make a difference."
` Talo stared a bit longer. "Why are you telling me this?"
` The man grinned. "Because I believe that you, Talo Zeph, are one of those few. You fight for honor in a world where many in your place would do evil. For that, I truly thank you."
` "You know my name" Talo noted. "Does that mean you've been watching me?"
` The man inclined his head. "I've approached others like you before-heroes who could become great. I am known as Haedan Pondera. I am an acquaintance of Seth Burns, and a friend."
` Talo frowned. "Are you trying to stop me then? With all your talk of pacifism, you don't want me to flush the Hybrids out of this building?"
` Haedan chuckled. "My dear boy, I have never once considered myself a pacifist. But why should that mean I don't want to stop you attacking my allies?"
` In a flash, Talo's PokeFuser was spiraling into its gauntlet form. "You've befriended the Hybrids in this building, then. For all I know, you could be one of them."
` Haedan shook his head. "I am indeed a friend to those residing within. You might even say I'm their leader. But as I said before, I am a friend to you as well."
` Talo gritted his teeth, hand wavering just above the device on his wrist. "Prove it."
` Before anything else could happen, a beeping noise came from the gauntlet, as well as from somewhere in a pocket of Haedan's suit. Twin mechanical voices crackled to life, declaring in unison: "Hybrid detected."
` Haedan nodded. "I'm assuming that whatever it is, it's not one of our lot. Let's call this a trust exercise, shall we?"
` From behind Talo, two floating figures appeared. Hovering side-by-side, they were covered in rocklike purple skin dotted with what looked like exhaust pipes. They were joined at the hip by a smaller sphere, covered with the same protrusions. The skull-and-crossbones symbols of Weezing were apparent on the larger one, while the smaller simply had a white ring around its stomach.
` "I am Smog!" Declared the larger, obviously male one.
` "And I am Haze!" the smaller one declared, probably female.
` "Together, we will destroy all who oppose our master!" They cried together.
` Haedan nodded. "Conjoined twins. Not all that uncommon in Hybrids, actually." He turned to Talo. "Not to put pressure on you, but now might be a good time to Fusion. They're obviously here for us."
` Talo frowned, still sizing up the two. "I'm not sure these two are even a threat." He'd barely finished saying this when both twins opened their mouths and proceeded to spew acid in his direction.
` "Alright, if you're not going to make the first move, I will" Haedan declared. He reached into his suit and pulled out a golden pocket watch. He clicked the knob meant to open the timepiece, and the world flashed.
` In a second, Haedan was gone. Replacing him was a figure in flowing gray robes and a black mask with golden spokes on all sides. The figure held a mace topped with an orange sun-shaped figurehead in one hand, and a scythe with a head like a crescent moon in the other. Upon closer observation, Talo realized that they were patterned after a Solrock and Lunatone.
` "Ice Beam!" the figure declared, pointing his scythe. Waves of freezing energy shot from it, hitting the twin Hybrids and coating Haze's lower body in ice.
` "How dare you?!" Haze growled, before vomiting another wave of acid. The warrior barely avoided the wave, which stopped just short of Talo's shoes.
` "That's disgusting" Talo retched as the combined smell of acid and sick wafted over him. "I'd say it's about time to blow you two away! Fusion!" The last word was accented by tapping his PokeFuser. Light engulfed him for a moment, before his Fusion Form burst from it.
` "Sludge Bomb!" Smog called, launching bullets of goo from his hand at the two. Pondera simply parried the blobs with his weapons, while Talo had to maneuver around them.
` "Leaf Storm!" Talo's Grovyle weapon opened the mouth on the front and launched a tornado of leaves. These hit the twin enemy, knocking them back and blowing away most of the stink. THeir response was to spew even more acid toward him.
` "I think I just might puke as well..." Talo rasped, feeling a bit lightheaded. "This is like fighting a sewer, but one that can kill us!"
` "Enough with the quips. We need to take care of these two before they can do permanent damage to the buildings" Pondera warned. "I have a plan, but We'll need to knock them out to use it. Have you got any Fusion Moves?"
` Talo nodded. "There's one I've been practicing, but it's a bit risky. It just might do the job."
` Pondera nodded. "Good. Let's stirke together on my signal." He pointed his two weapons at the twins. "One, two, THREE! Cosmic Exceller!"
` "Storm Rush!"
` As Pondera launched two balls of orange and blue power from his mace and scythe respectively, Talo rushed forward, air streaming around him like a protective bubble. His sword flipped around, the blade growing straight and emitting golden light. Pondera's spheres combined, striking Haze in the stomach. But Talo's blade, aided by the gale-force storm around him, took Smog in the neck. The Pokemon DNA in Smog's body saved him from decapitation, but the combined energy of Talo's Fusion Move caused ripples of power to course through him. As his twin was engulfed in light which both froze and burned, Smog's eyes rolled into the back of his head. Soon, the stress caused the duo to fall to the earth, leaving a crater in the ground.
` "A blast like that would have killed a human" Pondera commented as he defusioned. "But it merely left these two unconscious. Such a marvel Hybrids truly are." He gestured toward the warehouse. "Let's take these two inside. We can see to them there."
-X-
` In a sort of front area of the warehouse, Talo met Rager, a Garchomp Hybrid who looked like a perfectly normal teenage guy. Rager claimed that he'd been living in the back-alleys of Sootopolis City until "Lord Pondera" had rescued him. When Talo commented on his lack of Garchomp-esque features, the only reply was a smirk and "Just wait until I get angry."
` As the two were talking, Haedan had retrieved several objects from another room-two large silk sheets and twin metallic bracers which somewhat resembled much thinner versions of Talo's PokeFuser.
` "You're going to repress them?" Rager asked.
` "Of course" Pondera replied. "Once they've come around, they can decide for themselves whether to keep their abilities or leave to find regular lives."
` "What do you mean?" Talo asked. "What are those things, and what does repress mean?"
` Haedan smiled at him. "These little beauties were designed after the abilities of a PokeFuser much like your own. But instead of allowing the wearer to fuse with a Pokemon, it represses or restores the Pokemon DNA of a Hybrid. Your own PokeFuser has this ability as well, though it drains the energy from it much faster."
` Talo frowned. "So you're going to "repress" their DNA?"
` "Exactly" Haedan beamed. "Now, let's hurry before they wake." He strapped a bracer over each twin's wrist before pressing a button.
` "DNA Repression Online" the same metallic voice that often informed Talo of a Hybrid's presence chirped. After a few seconds, there was a quick pulse of light. When it faded, two perfectly normal teenage children lay on the floor.
` Talo gaped in amusement for a second, before turning away in embarassment as he realized that both Children were naked. He waited until the sheets were firmly fastened toga-style around both of them before turning back. By that time, the two were coming around.
` "Where am I?" Smog asked groggily.
` "My mouth smells like puke" Haze noted.
` After a few seconds, both children turned toward each-other and yelped.
` "We're normal!" Smog cried.
` "We're not attached!" Haze cheered.
` "I think they will be just fine" Haedan grinned. "Now, let's see about some proper clothes for you two."
-X-
` Talo had never seen so many humans and Hybrids together in one place before. Some of them wore the silver bangles which marked them as former Hybrids, while others chose to remain in their Pokemon forms. A small minority even wore PokeFusers.
` "We keep the bangles on, because they allow us to switch between human and Pokemon form" Rager explained. "When a Hybrid is Repressed, the DNA is still iside of them. So the bracers can be used in a manner similar to PokeFusers. When we are in battle, we can take on our Hybrid forms if we desire. Others either do not want to become Hybrids again, or choose to remain as such.
` "There are more of us than you'd expect, and one of our main goals is to defeat any Hybrids with malicious intent. If they are able to see the light, they either join us or go out into the world as better people. If not, we refuse to return their Hybrid powers. That way, they can do no more evil deeds."
` Talo nodded in amazement. "So you're a lot like Seth, going out and saving people from the Hybrids-some of them the Hybrids themselves. Is there a name for your group?"
` Rager led him back toward Lord Pondera's room. "We hold the informal title of the Fusion Knights. We're like an underground team of heroes, with the same intentions as other Fusion Warriors. For example, your friend Seth seems to share our ideals."
` Talo scoffed. "With all this hero talk, I'm surprised you haven't tried to recruit him already."
` Rager paused. "We have, actually. He declined, on the grounds that he preferred to be a part of his team." Rager looked at him very seriously. "Talo, I want you to think about something very carefully. You are hands down one of the most powerful Fusion Warriors I've seen. If you chose to, you could work alongside us as a Fusion Knight. You would be able to lead your own team and everything. Would that interest you at all?"
` Talo thought about it. He thought about how happy Seth seemed with his team of heroes. He thought about the pride in the young man's eyes every time they completed another mission. For a second, he replaced the boy's face wtih his own.
` But he wasn't Seth. He definitely didn't want to be Seth.
` "No" he said aloud. "I'm thankful for your offer, but my answer is no. I work alone when I can, and I'd prefer not to change that."
` "I see" Lord Pondera nodded, emerging from his room. "You prefer to be on your own, and I respect that. But just know that our offer still stands in case you ever change your mind."
` Talo nodded. "Thank you. If I ever decide that I need a team, I'll return. But right now, my answer is no." He bowed politely, before stepping out into the night.
` As he walked, he muttered softly to himself.
` "I'll never be him. I'll never be him. I'll never be him..."
AN: This ended up being much longer than I planned it to, but it gives a bit of backstory to some of Talo's choices. I hope you all enjoyed another look into the life of Talo Zeph.
Even Fire and Ice have a Dark side...