I finally got off my lazy ass and finished it! One more chapter down! Hurra! Also, since I have failed to mention this before, I DO NOT OWN POKEMON! I own only any OCs that pop up in this story.

Chapter 7: Glory, huh?

I grimaced, assessing the enemy's numbers. They must have had thousands of soldiers, all ready to fight. And there were only three of us. Not the greatest odds. But we would have to make due, nobody was going to bail us out. We charged the nearest mass, cutting through the entire group and out the other side. I knew the battle was hopeless unless I could find a place to bottleneck them. If they could only fight one at a time…

The horde began to turn, hundreds of eyes turning to face us. Anyone else would have balked at the sight of so many opponents. But not us. Silver maintained his cocky demeanor, Ethan remained full of anger, and I was just plain indifferent. They couldn't kill me, after all. I decided to go onto the offensive, and darted back toward the group of foes in front of us. I felt my instincts take over again, and my vision dimmed. For a moment, I could see nothing. Then, bright light flooded back into my vision.

The bug army had been reduced to half its original strength. Holy shit. I had no idea I was that strong. The entire army seemed to back away, yet they still had an enormous numerical advantage. I still counted a good five thousand, and many of them were well into their evolutionary line. And they were afraid of one person! My eyes narrowed, and they started to run away! But they ran towards Null and Hazle, something I didn't want to happen. Everything was going wrong. I started to run after them when I felt a powerful blow hit my head. I was launched foreword, hitting the ground with bone-crushing force.

I rolled over, turning to face my foe. And surprisingly enough, I knew him. The Shinx that had orchestrated one of my many captures in the lab; that was who I faced now. Except he had evolved. Twice. Well shit. Just like that time, so long ago, he just stood there. I looked behind him, and saw to my horror that he had knocked Ethan and Silver unconscious. Unfortunately, they had reverted to their human forms, easy targets for another assailant. I looked at my opponent warily, and noticed that he was wearing a metallic collar. Just like last time… Maybe I could use that to my advantage.

I glanced one last time at my friends before turning to face my opponent. He glared at me, red eyes shining evilly. "Looks like you're on your own now, eh?" he intoned sharply. I winced; his voice was like a knife to my ears. I smirked. "You don't have a robot to save your ass this time, and I won't hold back anymore. Surrender or I will kill you." He shook his head. "Overconfidence will destroy you. I may be inferior, but I am not weak." I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I can't be killed through normal means. I heal on the genetic level. You cannot wound me permanently. So, go ahead, do your worst."

He lunged, swinging his paw in my general direction. I sidestepped, and rammed my shoulder into his side. The attack knocked him off his feet, sending him sprawling to the side. He rose shakily to his feet, glaring at me. He tried to charge me, jumping into the air as he did so. I simply fired a hyper beam at him, swatting him out of the air like a fly. He was slammed to the ground, head first. I smiled grimly at my success. Such a blow would knock any opponent out.

And yet his prediction came true. I HAD underestimated him. The giant fuzz ball rose lightly to his feet, favoring an injured leg. From the look of it, the leg was broken. He stared at me for a long moment, his red eyes boring into my skin. My own red eyes glared back. We stood there, eyes locked on each other. I was surprised that he could stand my eyes for so long. Very few could. In the end, though, he was the one to look away first.

"What is your name?" I asked. He looked at me as if I had slapped him. "We have no names. We are not beings. We are property, and we do not deserve names." the response came, dark and brooding. Nobody could think that way. Not about themselves, anyway. "Well," I mused. "That fat son-of-a-bitch must have survived. I'm going to have to be more thorough next time." The Luxray smiled. "You have no chance of reaching the master. He is safe from you, now and forever." I suppressed a chuckle. "Not even the gods could keep me from finding him. Not after what he did to me."

The Luxray let out a deep growl, to which I responded in kind. "Enough talk!" He boomed, his eyes lighting from within. "We finish this now!" I shrugged nonchalantly as he charged me, and everything went dark. I heard the sounds of battle, as if from a great distance. When my vision returned, I was standing over the fallen Luxray, poised to kill. "Last chance," I spoke through clenched teeth. "Give up or I kill you." He didn't respond, so I took the initiative. Focusing my psychic power, I shattered the collar around his neck. The result was instantaneous.

His eyes changed, reverting to their deep yellow colour. He looked around, confused. "Where am I?" he asked. I relaxed, moving away from the wounded Pokémon. I looked to see Ethan and Silver trying to stand. Ethan caught my eye. "What the hell happened?" he asked. I shrugged. "Long story short, I got a visit from an old friend. We, uh, got reacquainted while you two were asleep." Silver groaned. "How many of these 'friends' do you have? I am sick and tired of fighting fair. I want my unfair advantage back." I smiled, glancing at the recovering Luxray. "Well, guys, do we keep him?" They nodded. "There is strength in numbers. And, well, we have strength without numbers. "With four of us, nothing will stand a chance!"

I watched as the Luxray struggled to his feet. He lurched over, unsteady legs threatening to fall out from under him. He collapsed at my feet, breathing heavily. "You asked me my name. I gave you the wrong answer. I am called Phoenix, and I would be honoured if you would forgive my actions. Those damn collars, they…they changed us." I felt a spur of the moment decision coming on, and punched him in the face. He fell back, stunned. "We're even now, Phoenix. You want to come with us? We could use your skill." He nodded, picking himself up off the ground. "If you mean it, then I will come. But I believe your other friends are in trouble."

My eyes flew open at the remark. "What! Null and Hazle are in danger?" He nodded. "Those bugs have cornered them in a mountain pass a good three kilometers from here. I will take you there if you wish." I shook my head. I looked to Ethan, who nodded. "We'll go find them. You two stay here and wait." Before I could respond, there was a massive flash of light and the two were gone. I glanced once at their fast receding shapes in the sky, envious of their power of flight. "I wonder how it feels to fly…"

Ethan and Silver soon returned, carrying a wounded Null and Hazle on their backs. I noticed that Lyra was still gone. "Uh, guys? Lyra?" The two exchanged glances, and Silver looked back at me with sorrowful eyes. "She…didn't make it." I lowered my gaze. "Damn…" Silver was looking sadly in the direction they had come from. I could tell what he was thinking, and I learned of the relationship the two had. All that was ended because of my failure. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I almost jumped when I heard Hazle's voice. "Did you forget about me already? Come here, I think I broke my leg." I nodded in her general direction when I heard a gasp from Null.

I rushed over to her, finding her curled up in a ball, blood flowing from her various cuts and scrapes. As I reached her, she let out a cry of pain; and she began to shiver violently. I knelt beside her and knew almost immediately what the problem was. Poison. "Aw fuck me sideways…" I noted several quizzical looks from the others. "It's an expression. Now, does anyone have an antidote? Maybe a Pecha berry?" The two humans shook their heads. "Bone dry over here." "Well of fucking course we don't have any antidotes here." Null yelped as the poison destroyed her body from the inside out. I knew she would die if we didn't help her soon. But we had no way to help her. I was close to giving up hope when I felt another presence in the grass around us.

I slid into a defensive crouch as a Latias swept out of the bushes. I sank lower to the ground, ready to spring. And suddenly I was floating up in the air. Psychic. I laughed internally, and shattered the attack. I landed lightly, ready for a follow-up attack. But the Latias smiled. "I'm Rose. Looks like you need help." To punctuate the words, Null let out another agonized scream. I nodded, relief flooding into my veins. I turned away, glancing quickly at my human companions. Both had slipped unconsciously into defensive stances, and Silver had grasped what looked like a knife. They relaxed, slightly, as the Latias went to work healing Null. Hazle, still on the ground, did the same.

"Perfect timing, I guess." I said, walking over to the Espeon. She smiled at me. "What would you have done had she not shown up?" I shrugged. "Not much I could have done. So, I'm not going to burden myself with Ifs." She nodded weakly. "So, are you going to help me? Or wait for her to finish?" I frowned. "I actually don't know if I can heal others. But, there's always a first for everything." I sat down next to her, placing my paw over her injured leg. She shivered on the contact, but remained still enough for me to focus. I closed my eyes, picturing her leg repairing itself. My eyes remained shut; so I was unawares that I had begun to glow slightly. I felt a jolt of pain in my own leg, and when it subsided, I opened my eyes.

Hazle was standing worriedly above me, her leg fully repaired. I rose to my feet, casting a questioning glance at her. I noticed the Latias, Rose, hovering behind her, also watching me. "What's wrong?" I asked, sweeping my eyes around for threats. "You've been on the ground for two hours! That's what's wrong. We feared you were…remembering more… You had a pained look on your face, we were worried." I shook my head. "No, it wasn't more memories. Just regular pain." Rose was looking at the two of us like we were crazy. Her confusion was palpable, and so thick you could cut it. I thought about explaining everything to her, but changed my mind at the last moment. How could I answer questions when I myself did not know the answers? Lucky for me, she made the decision herself. "I don't even want to know…"

I rose slowly to my feet, my legs surprisingly shaky beneath me. "So, how's Null?" I asked offhandedly, searching the surrounding area for threats. I heard a laugh from behind me. "Ask her yourself, Tal!" I spun, sinking into a playful crouch. Null and Phoenix stood there, watching me. Phoenix had a faint hint of suspicion in his eyes, while Null seemed genuinely happy for the first time in ages. She laughed again. "Rose taught me a thing or two about psychology, and now I am my own anti-depressant." I was about to laugh in return when I felt something that did not belong. I turned, but too late.

A booted foot impacted on my face, appearing out of thin air. I was sent flying, thudding into the ground a moment later. I rolled to my feet, glancing around quickly for my attacker. The others did the same. I heard a footstep behind me, and once again spun too late. I heard a noise the likes of which I had not heard in a long time. A gun. Several bullets impacted along my body, a thousand white hot pinpricks. And everything went black.

When I came to, several blue armoured bodies surrounded me. I noticed that they all carried guns. A shooting squad. I resisted the urge to swear, aware that Rose was still around. She materialized in front of me, her eyes immediately locking onto mine. We stared at each other for a long moment, before she broke the silence. "Holy fucking shit! How in Arceus' name did you do that?" I looked away, mumbling "You don't want to know." She recoiled, as if struck. Her eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment. "What happened indeed…" she muttered, blinking herself back into reality. She shook her head violently. "Well, I'm here to stay for a while. Arceus wants me to keep an eye on you." I shrugged, indifferent. "Just stay out of my way."

Examining one of the dead soldiers' breastplates, I found a group of co-ordinates, along with a serial number of sorts. Under that was a name. The name was stamped into all the soldiers' armour, so it could not be a personal name. Infinus. That was the name of the ones who had tormented me. And they had just lead me straight to their base. A dark smile spread across my face. This could be fun.

A new character! Ooh! The story is starting to really pick up now, and this little event is going to lead to a catastrophic chain of events that will end up {CENSORED-}! But thats a long ways off.

I would like to thank a certain guard of the twilight for inspiring me to continue writing LoT. I had all but given up on it until I read some of his stories. Everyone! Go check them out!

Until next time, this is Infinity WEAPON, begging for pie. I mean... signing off. Yeah, thats it... signing off...