The Forest of No Light

by PokeMaster64

After an attack by Team Rocket, Pikachu gets lost in an unusual forest. The gang's Pokemon decide to go in and find him, but soon become overwhelmed by the forest's secrets. Plus, the return and reveal of the mysterious Ryder. Rated T for certain reasons. Lagomorph fluff, ShellPWNageshipping, other mentions of pairings. Sequel to For the Love of Pikachu

40. War of the Darkmon (Part 4: Fall)

The Forest of No Light…completely void of all natural light. The only sources of such illumination came in the form of glowing moss on the side of trees. The darkness was the ally of the Darkmon. They thrived in the lack of light. It was their enemy. It was their greatest obstacle to overcome. Light and Darkness were in an eternal war with each other, both fighting for dominance. This was an endless fight with no victor in sight. One side will always try to enforce themselves over the other and vanquish them from their perfect world. Light and Darkness were two forces that, harnessed to their full potential, can achieve something great.

Now, Dark and Pikachu were going to see who will survived this next attack.

The Lord of Darkmon firmly planted his feet as he stared anxiously at the massive beam of white electricity traveling down his path, specifically for the flower behind him. He could feel the intense aura leaking off it, gathered into a single focused beam of raw power that he would never imagine being released from a Pokémon.

The once dark forest had overcome with the brilliant white, illuminating everything in its magnificent glow. Shadows casted behind the trees in the attack's light. The ground parted and burned with the immeasurable force and power of the aura infused Thunderbolt.

Dark growled internally, once again blinded by an unforeseen light that burned through his eyes. Even so, he forced himself to stare into the light. He will not let it intimidate him. He will stare it down for as long as he needs to. He was going to show the world why the darkness will always blot out the light, starting off by overcoming this massive beam of intense light.

He raised his hands and held them out by his sides, channeling a mass of electrical energy of his own through his arms, infusing it with his evil aura. The electricity bounced off his claws and dug through the dirt, leaving behind smoldering trails. He molded the electricity into a spherical shape, similar to an Electro Ball, only far more potent and brighter.

Within the strong and bright white light was an even stronger purple light channeling through Dark's unrivaled potential. Nothing was going to overshadow him. He wasn't letting some Pokémon upstage him. He is a creature born from evil. He is the master of fear and anguish. He is the Lord of the Darkmon.

He is a force of unimaginable power.

"Take THIS!" He fired the electrical beam, widening it to the same width as Pikachu's Mega Thunderbolt.

The electrical beams with infused aura soon met and collided viciously against each other. Purple and white light mixed into the darkness, lighting one half of the forest with each color.

The beams struggled against each other, trying to gain the edge over the power struggle they were locked into. Both sides were pumping electrical energy into their attacks nonstop. The determination burning within their eyes reflected their desire to defeat the other.

The ground beneath Pikachu's feet gave way from the unbearable pressure being exerted onto his body. He sank into the cracking ground, finding himself in a large crater. He ignored the burning, searing pain that was tearing apart his body. He focused on the goal at hand. He wasn't letting Dark gain the upper hand.

For too long, the Darkmon's arrogant comments against his kind have ran their course, becoming unrelenting in trying to break down his will through the repeated hammering of his evil morals. The mouse has finally lost his patience with trying to seek reason with the evil tyrant.

Now, he had something to prove. It doesn't matter what he said about heroes and their ideologies. Perhaps, deep down, the mouse was trying to deny any possibility that he was right. Maybe there was some part of him that took Dark's words to heart. Even now, questions were left unanswered for the mouse.

One thing was certain in the end: he wanted to prove something to Dark. No matter how many times he brings him down, Pikachu will always rise back to his feet when the going gets tough. When his life is on the line, the life of all he cares about, the life of his family and friends; he wasn't going to let Dark have his win by breaking him.

Instead, he was going to focus every single ounce of strength he could muster from his searing body. Every drop of energy circulating throughout his body. Every bit of willpower exerting from his determined spirit. He wasn't ending this attack until Dark and that flower falls.

His cheeks crackled wildly as he let out an enraged shout, pouring absurd amounts of power into his Thunderbolt.

Dark grimaced, feeling the increased push in Pikachu's attack. It didn't matter to him. He had far more energy than that runt of a Pokémon. The mouse will eventually burn himself out and drop dead from the immense strain he was placing on his body. That was why he will win: Darkmon will always grow stronger. Pokémon had their limits.

So why was the mouse still standing? He should have fallen by now. All the more reason to apply more energy into his attack. He increased the beam's intensity and slammed more power against Pikachu's attack.

Dark grinned wickedly before projecting his voice at the struggling Pikachu, saying, "Just DIE already, you worthless creature! Your body won't survive if you keep this up! Not that I'm giving you the option to LIVE!" He increased the intensity even further.

Pikachu clenched his teeth tightly, the pressure pushing back harder and harder. A tiny stream of blood leaked out of the corners of his mouth. He opened his mouth to speak, spitting some blood on the ground before saying:

"I know my body can't take all this abuse you're putting on me! I know I'm inching my way closer to death!" He snarled angrily. "That's why I'm not giving up!"

Dark snarled back. "Idiot! You're fighting a losing battle! Stop acting brave and just accept your fate! Death awaits you! Death awaits this PATHETIC PLANET!"

Sweat that formed on Pikachu's head quickly evaporated from the electrical heat he was giving off. "I'm not stopping! I'll keep fighting…until that flower is destroyed!" His electricity flowed out like a rapid river, pushing harder against Dark's attack. "I'm not stopping my attack, even if I have to push myself passed the limit!"

Ryder, while unable to see anything from the blinding light, was in awe by the mouse's unwavering determination to defeat the Lord of Fear. Even though his energy was being sucked away from his being, he could still feel the overwhelming power of his aura. Pikachu has surpassed his expectations from this one move alone. Ryder was greatly impressed, feeling a twinge of guilt knowing that there was nothing he could do to lend his assistance, only give his support through silent expressions.

Ryder struggled in his binds, trying to break himself loose. Got to…get out! Got to…do something!

Pikachu narrowed his eyes, then shouted ferociously as the pain building up in him seared to immeasurable lengths. He gave it his all, firing off more and more power into his Thunderbolt. The sheer agony of his burning body slowly went numb, perhaps a sign that he was so damage that even his brain couldn't register what he was feeling anymore.

Dark came to a sudden realization of shock as his electrical beam was being pushed back. He tried to apply more energy, but Pikachu just kept pumping more into his own. Whatever he did, the mouse would increase twofold as a counter.

Where is he getting all this energy from?! Why isn't he dead?!

The forest shook from the overwhelming pressure. Rubble and dirt slowly rose off the ground. The earth itself cracked with massive fractures running along the surface. The immense pressure was too great for the central flower, which ended up detaching off of Ryder and Jade as its vines went limp.

The two panted heavily and pushed themselves up weakly. "We need…to get away from here!" Jade barely shouted, raggedly breathing through her exhausted state. Ryder grabbed her by the hand and led them both away from the Mega Thunderbolts intended path.

Pikachu pushed harder and harder with the Thunderbolt, his body screaming for him to stop. He was going to collapse any moment, but he wasn't letting himself go down until he finished the job. So, with one final war cry, he put everything he had into the Thunderbolt.

The inexorable electrical beam slowly overcame the Darkmon's and cut through like a power saw, tearing away at the path of resistance. Dark's eyes widened as the beam came closer, getting faster and faster as it tore through his own. There was no way he could add more energy into his attack to push it back, much less slow it down.

What! The! DARKNESS?!

He reached the end of his rope as his beam was completely overtaken. He slammed his palms against the beam to absorb it all, but it was pushing too hard to stop. The beam pushed him back into the central flower. Once he rammed into it, he lost his hold on the beam and was completely engulfed in the beam's power. Dark held his head as the electricity burned at his skin, trying not to let a scream escape his lips. Even in agony, he refused to show weakness.

The central flower wished it had that kind of pain tolerance. If it were to speak like the Darkmon, they would hear the sound of screaming as its plant matter state slowly blackened with heat and chipped away from the overtaxing might of the Thunderbolt. Slowly but surely, the central flower began to disintegrate into ash, leaving no bit of the flower alive, from its vines to its roots.

The flower was completely reduced to ash. Dark glared viciously through the beam, staring with lethal intentions clouding his mind. His anger…he could feel anger…he could feel rage boiling up inside of him.

So…this is how you treat a god, you pathetic mortal? The beam's brightness completely whited out Dark, engulfing the entire area in extraordinary light.

---

Chloe kept her guard up in front of Savage as she protectively kept her arms raised, blocking him and his pack of Dark Mightyena from passing her. She kept her eyes narrowed on the hunter, who only stared back with a cheeky grin.

"779…what do you think you're doing? Don't you know you're standing in front of the enemy?" He smirked. "I know today has been a little hectic, given the invasion and everything, but surely you must understand that you're supposed to be aiming your claws at the group behind you."

Chloe merely tensed up as she saw the two Dark Mightyena step forward. "I know what I'm doing…keeping you away from these Pokémon. It's not a mistake."

"779, please consider reason for a moment. These creatures came here with the intention of destroying all of us. Do you know what's going to happen if they succeed? All of us, including you, will die. Why are you helping an enemy when you gain nothing from the outcome? The sun is our greatest weakness. The sun is our enemy of the light. We are the darkness. They are the light."

She shook her head. "I…I can't explain why I want to help them." She narrowed her eyes. "But even you must be getting sick of living down here."

"Why do you think our plan is to infect the world with darkness? Of course living down here will get stale and boring. Our plan is to colonize the human world and claim it as our own, while also eliminating anyone who has…well, less than satisfying views on it. Anyone that defies us will be meant with a swift punishment…" He smirked at the crowd of Pokémon. "Including you two…Meowth and Lady Laura."

The cat stepped back nervously, an audible gulp going down his throat. "L-Listen Savage, we don't want any trouble-"

"I went along with Lord Dark's proposition of inviting a Pokémon into our people out of respect. I didn't agree with it, but I didn't challenge his decision. We gave you only the best hospitality our kind could offer to the enemy…and now we see that all that kindness we offered was all for nothing." He chuckled darkly. "I should have figured. If I wasn't in charge of running our troops and actually got to know you, I would have seen through that façade of yours. You played to your strengths well, Meowth. You kept to acting like a meek cat in order to keep your composure, even manipulating one of our own."

Meowth saw Chloe tense up a bit. He glared at the hunter. "I didn't manipulate her! I was only trying to get her to see things from a different viewpoint! I didn't force her to change! She wanted to help us! She made the decision on her own!"

Savage shook his head. "Showing how weak willed some of our forces are." He then groaned. "Ugh, I can't believe I'm actually agreeing with Fang…that weak fool's annoying, but he did have a point."

Laura stepped forward, fists clenched. "Chloe is not weak! And there's no way we're going along with this extreme plan of yours! This is too much, even for me!"

Savage narrowed his eyes curiously. "Really? That necklace you're wearing says otherwise." She clutched the wooden medallion defensively. "You were fully prepared to become his bride, his wife…his queen. You weak fools let your hearts do the talking rather than following basic instinct: survive and conquer."

Chloe stepped forward, shouting, "Starting a war with the humans won't solve our problems!"

"You're so shortsighted, 779. You're not thinking about the benefits towards our people."

She growled. "And murder is the best course of action?! Our species won't improve if we have to go up against an ENTIRE planet! There has to be another way!"

"I hate to break it to you, scout, but you're helping creatures who thrive in the light. WE aren't capable of living in their world. We are creatures of evil. We rule over the darkness. We can only thrive in the night. No matter how much you try and swing it…" He pointed his club at the Pokémon behind her. "They will always hate our kind. They will always hate you."

Chloe's claws slowly extended out of her paws as her eyes narrowed into a dangerously feral glare. Meowth quickly took notice of this and placed his hand on her. "Chloe, calm down. He isn't worth our time. We need to get to the escape tunnel."

"Yeah, about that," Savage suddenly brought up. He snapped his fingers, ordering his Dark Mightyena to close in around them. "I'm not sure what this escape tunnel business is about, but I'm not letting any of you escape alive." He smirked. "Prey should learn their place in the circle of life. The hunter always catches its quarry."

Krookodile glared at the nearing Dark Mightyena. He raised his left claw and activated Dragon Claw, making sure to keep a secure hold over Buneary. "Come on, you freaks! You don't scare me!"

Quilava gulped. "Krookodile, none of us are in proper shape to take these guys on…" he said nervously, shrinking under the evil mutt's horrifying glare.

Oshawott activated Razor Shell. "I'm afraid we don't have much choice."

Meowth extended his claws out. "Don't worry, Chloe! We aren't letting this guy scare us! You may be a Darkmon, but I know who you really are! You're my friend, after all!"

Chloe blinked. "Meowth…" Her eyes widened as she felt the stabbing pain in her chest again. "Ugh!"

Savage twirled his bone club with narrowed eyes. "Let's end this hunt once and for all." Chloe glared at him and raised her claws. "Dark Mightyena, tear these inferior creatures apar-!"

The group stumbled as they heard a monstrous boom echo through the forest. The sound waves could actually be felt hitting their bodies passively. They looked to the direction in confusion.

Savage gripped his club tightly. "What the heck was-?" He stopped before he could finish his sentence, as a strange wave of unknown origin flashed through his mind. He clenched his head and collapsed to his knees in pain, groaning. Something…Something was wrong with him. There was a strange…array of feelings hitting him like a truck.

In fact, it would appear all the Darkmon were experiencing the same effect. The two Dark Mightyena and Chloe collapsed to the ground, holding their heads in pain. To the dark cat, she could hear an intolerable ringing bashing her eardrums as her mind flooded with unknown feelings.

The Pokémon stepped back in shock. "What's going on with them?!" Pachirisu cried.

Laura narrowed her eyes in thought. Wasn't that where Dark was fighting Ryder and Pikachu? Where the central flower was? Was it possible that…?

"Ugh, what in the name of darkness is going on?!" Savage shouted, thrashing on the ground aggressively. "I feel like my skull is burning!"

Chloe pushed herself up, wrapping her forelegs around her chest in pain. What was going on? Why was she feeling all these…whatever they are?!

Meowth ran up to her side in great worry. He grabbed her by the shoulder blades, saying, "Chloe, snap out of it! What's wrong?!"

The dark cat's eyes widened as her face heated up. This was that exact same experience she felt every time Meowth showed sympathy or concern for her. The heated face, the unknown feeling of surprise and appreciation…it was all there. All…except for one feeling: the pain in her heart.

Why wasn't her heart biting at her? Didn't it only hurt her if Meowth got too close to her or something? Why wasn't it hurting her now? Maybe it has something to do with that strange wave she felt. If so, what did it do?

Meowth pulled her back to her feet. "Chloe, we need to go while they're incapacitated! We can all escape!"

All? All of them? Including her? She knows he said it several times, but…he actually wanted her to follow him to the surface? Why did he care so much for her safety? Why did SHE care so much for HIS safety? There was never a reason for her to care for this creature ever since she met him. The only logical reason she would ever show interest her enemy is if she…

…had…deeper feelings for him.

Her heart skipped a bit, with no pain. Her face heated up as images of Meowth flooded her mind. This…This sweet cat she cared so highly about. He made the effort to know her. He made the effort to show her a new world view of the moral spectrum. Not a world blinded by hate or anger. Not a world governed by evil. A world where everyone could be happy, even scum like them.

46 was the only other friend she had before he was mysteriously killed, if she could even call it a real friendship. Ever since, she just kept to who she was meant to be: a creature of pure evil. Then this good-for-nothing cat shows up and fills her mind with a moral compass that she never wanted, but probably needed. Funny how a creature tied to a criminal organization could give her a reason to stop thinking so one-sidedly.

She glanced over her shoulder and looked at the Meowth closely. Looking at him now, she saw something different. Before, she only saw a lowlife cat with a selfish nature, but a good heart deep down. His advances for a friendship were earnest and thoughtful. He even gave her a new identity to live by. Not as a set of numbers, but an actual creature with her own individuality. She may be a byproduct of evil experimentation, but she was a living creature who shouldn't be tied to listening to one creature for the rest of her life.

Now looking at the cat, she realized just how amazing he looked. That expression filled with concern and compassion. His blue eyes, shimmering with desperation to escape with his friend and her. His tone of voice, a show of good intentions to save everyone and himself. Now she sees why she was so fond of the cat. Now she sees why she was feeling so much pain.

She could finally understand her emotions.

She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly spun her head around as Savage and his pack were slowly getting back up. Savage held his head with an irritated expression. A really, really irritated expression. He charged Hyper Beam at the tip of his club and pointed it at the group.

"It's the end of the line for you scum. Sick'em!"

The Dark Mightyena leaped at the Pokemon, who raised their weapons/claws/hands/whatever, ready for one last fight with what little strength they had left.

Purple slashes cut the two mutts short, knocking them away from the group. Chloe landed on her hind legs and sheathed her claws. "Go," she ordered sternly as she glared down Savage.

"Wha…What about you?!" Oshawott shouted.

"He'll only shadow us when we reach the escape tunnel. One of us needs to stay behind and hold him back while the rest of you make off with your lives." She raised her paws. "I'm the only creature with any chance of surviving this fight."

"But Chloe!" Laura warned worriedly. "What about the sun?! I'm certain that wave you felt was the central flower getting destroyed! If you stay here for too long, the sun will rise and kill you!"

She smirked at the android. "Don't worry Laura, I'm not ready to go out yet. Experienced Darkmon such as me can't be killed so easily. We have our ways of surviving death, even if it looks hopeless."

The other Pokémon looked at each other in hesitance. Yes, most of them barely knew this Darkmon. Heck, the ones that have met her still don't know anything about her, other than she was on their side. Even so, the idea of leaving a comrade behind was hard to go through with.

Still, Krookodile came to the logical conclusion for all of them. "Buneary's seriously hurt. Most of us won't last long in a fight like this. We also have a baby in our care now." He pushed his sunglasses up. "Getting out of here is the only choice we have left. We can't keep getting sidetracked."

As much as they disapproved of this, one of them was unconscious and they won't be able to take any more serious hits before they join their rabbit friend in slumber land. So, they came to a unanimous agreement and nodded at the plan.

"Good! Follow me!" He turned on his heel and bolted in the direction of the escape tunnel, the rest, save for Meowth and Laura, behind him.

Savage darted his eyes at the escaping group and pointed his club. "And just where do you think you're going?!" He fired Hyper Beam at them.

Laura jumped in at the last second and pushed her hands against the beam, burning off her fake fur up to her elbows. She endured the beam's power long enough until it stopped. Savage dropped to his knee and panted, needing a moment to recharge himself.

Meowth grabbed Chloe's foreleg and tried to pull her. "Come on, while he's down!" She shook his arm off with her head lowered. "Chloe?"

"Meowth, I told you…Savage will only hunt the rest of you down. Someone needs to stay here and hold him back. You, Laura, Krookodile…those Pokémon are going to need all the muscle they can to help get through."

Meowth shook his head in defiance. "No way! I'm not leaving you behind! I didn't come this far to watch you abandon us like this! If you're staying, then I'm staying too! Nothing you say will change my mind!"

Chloe didn't respond for a moment, staring at the ground in deep thought. The corners of her mouth twitched up into a grin. "Heh…hehe…"

Meowth blinked. Was it something he said? Why was she laughing?

"Oh Meowth…you…you really are something…no wonder I've been in so much pain around you. It was the flower telling me to avoid weakness. Heh…I'm so glad I didn't listen to its words. I wouldn't want to get rid of a friend as special and sweet as you."

The cat's face lit up red. "C-Chloe?"

She turned around and faced him with a sad smile on her face. It took him by surprise. That smile showed a lot of emotion behind it. It was almost strange not seeing her usual stoic expression with a few dry smiles added in. This one clearly showed she put real, true feeling behind it.

"You really have been an amazing friend. Everything you've done for me…I won't take it for granted. I finally truly understand what you've been trying to teach me. It's so clear now." She looked down at the ground, letting out a soft chuckle. "I'm going to miss you…"

The cat grabbed her with a desperate look. "Don't say that! You can still come with us! We can fight Savage together! It doesn't have to be just you!"

She chuckled again, then looked him in the eyes. She placed her paw on the side of his cheek, intensifying his blush. His whiskers shivered from the chilling sensation running through his skin. She leaned her head close to him.

"You helped me find my path. Now it's your turn to do the same. You may be part of Team Rocket, but I know there's more to you than a common crook. Please live on with high spirits in tow." She smiled. "Consider this…a parting gift from someone who cares about you."

The cat was confused, unsure what she meant. That is, until he got a metaphorical kick to the face as she placed her lips upon his. Shivers went from his head down to the tips of his toes, completely petrified in shock with his face lighting up like he dipped his head in a hot spring for too long.

Laura stood there, her mouth agape in shock. Not as shocked as Meowth, but definitely a close second. She forcibly shut her jaw with her hand, then smiled lightly at the touching scene. Though, it did lead her to frown as she glanced in the direction of Dark with a longing expression.

Meowth was unable to move, as he was unsure what to do next. He had always fantasized about getting his dream girl, but he didn't expect it happening during what was basically the beginning stages of an apocalypse. He was standing in a forest full of deadly plants and equally, if not more, deadly creatures out for blood, with their enemies still trying to get up to attack them.

He wanted to kiss her back, a demand his beating heart was begging him to do. However, she pulled back before he could make that decision, rather disappointed that it ended so soon.

Chloe wrapped her forelegs around his neck with a sad, apologetic smile. "Thank you for everything…Meowth."

"C-Chloe…I…I…" He let out a short gasp as a sharp pain chopped him in the back of the neck. His eyes glazed over before falling unconscious into the awaiting Dark Glameow's hold.

"Sorry," she whispered softly, "but this isn't your battle anymore." Her face shifted back to her usual stoic expression before turning to Laura. "Please catch up with the others and get him out of here."

Laura, with an understanding expression, took Meowth in her arms and placed him over her shoulder. She turned to run, but faced back with some words to say. "Chloe…" She closed her eyes and sighed before saying, "Do you regret having emotions? Wouldn't it be better to not have them?"

She narrowed her eyes at Savage as he was fully recharged and pushing himself up. "I'm only now experiencing them, so I'm not the best Darkmon to be having this discussion with." She closed her eyes. "Still…living with the thought of Meowth grieving, possibly mourning after today, for me will be hard to bear. His safety, however, is all I care about." She smiled at the android. "You're lucky, Laura. You may be a machine, yet you know what it's like to feel alive."

She looked away. "I wouldn't know the feeling…my emotions are artificial…"

"They look real to me. I can't syphon off them, but I can feel your passion when you get angry." She shook her head. "I know you're going through heartache, or whatever you call it, but perhaps that's a good thing." She sighed. "I don't know, this is still a rush to my head." She looked over her shoulder. "This discussion is over. Get out of here while you still can."

Laura stared at her for a moment, before nodding and speeding off in a yellow blur.

Chloe sighed, then glared at the fully risen Savage. He growled at the treacherous dark cat. "You're no different from 46, it seems. Whoever killed them didn't seem to do a good job in purging ALL the traitors." He swung his club. "I'll make sure you're destroyed, for the glory of Lord Dark!"

The dark cat narrowed her eyes onto her target, mimicking a predator hunting its prey, and extended her claws. "You know, normally I call someone names or dishonor them for being pompous idiots…" She stretched her lips into a toothy snarl. "But I'm so freakin' done with today. So, I say we skip the talking and move straight onto what everyone is waiting for." Her eyes glowed red. "My place lies with my friends. I may be born from evil, but I'll gladly use that power to cut you all down." She swayed her body side to side.

Savage grinned. "Alright then…" He swayed his body as well. "Guess we're doing this the old fashion way."

The two swayed for a moment before taking on their battle stances, then snapping their eyes opened, completely red, and calling upon their cloak of purple aura, with red energy seeping off around their bodies.

They grinned sadistically. They may have had their emotions back, but Awakened Evil will make sure those pesky moralities don't interfere with this bloody match.

They lunged at each other and clashed club and claws. The resulting shockwave blew apart the ground beneath them, cracking it with ease. Trees slanted away from the shockwave, threatening to topple over.

"Let's end this pointless conflict!" they shouted at each other. "So I can tear apart your soul!"

---

"MURDERER!"

Fang flew around the air with an annoyed expression on his face. Why wouldn't he be annoyed? He had a full grown dragon chasing him down, screaming for his death like an Exploud blinded with Rage Powder. Honestly, the rage this dragon was exerting was probably worse than what Rage Powder could possibly do.

"Honestly, how long are you going to keep this temper tantrum of yours going?! I have more important things to do!"

Dragonite roared angrily, spewing Flamethrower at the flying scorpion. "Koda did nothing wrong! All he wanted was to be happy! And you took that AWAY FROM HIM!"

Fang dodged the flames with ease. His expression shifted to one of boredom. "Well, he'll be happy in the afterlife…" He smirked. "Well, assuming a creature of evil is allowed a happy afterlife."

Dragonite flew over the Dark Gliscor and rained down a massive Ice Beam that froze the land into an icy field of the coldest of mountains. Fang maneuvered through these beams skillfully and flew right above Dragonite.

He enlarged his pincers and swung them down on his head, but Dragonite, not falling for that move, quickly spun around and grabbed the pincers before they could close down on his head. He could feel how finely sharp the edges were, as he could feel a warm trickle of blood run on his hands. He growled and forcibly stretched the jaws of death apart.

Fang sneered. "You're wearing on my last nerve, weakling." He fired Dark Pulse out of his opened pincer, blasting into Dragonite's face.

He freefell for only a moment before spinning back into flight and taking the skies once more. Fang fired down Dark Pulse to keep the dragon at bay, but he proved to be much swifter in flight than he considered. Fang quickly swung his pincers around, slashed a tree in half, grabbed it by the base, and threw directly over the dragon's head.

Dragonite inhaled deeply and fired Flamethrower down the center, incinerating it until it was a cloud of ash. Fang used this to his advantage and flew away into the trees, hiding himself until he came up with a proper attack strategy. Weak or not, he could see Dragonite was not going to let him get close with his pincers without stunning him first.

Fang snarled. To think, I'm actually playing on the defensive. Ugh, this is so pointless. If that dragon wasn't so gifted in combat, he wouldn't be reading my attacks so decisively, even with the clear gap in speed. He snipped his pincers. But everyone screws up eventually…well, except me of course. He smirked. I wonder how long I can keep this up so I can break down that dragon's will.

Dragonite flew out of the ash cloud and observed the area fiercely. He shot Flamethrower into the air, shouting, "Come on out and face me!"

Fang bent his knees, enlarging his pincers. "Ask and you shall receive." He almost sprung out of the trees, having a clear opening to cut the dragon across the middle. With no advanced regeneration on par with a Darkmon's, Dragonite was going to come down with a severe case of death caused by immediate blood loss.

However, before he could leap out of the trees, something plopped on his head. He shivered in disgust. "Ugh!" He scooped it up with his pincer and glared at it. "How I've put up with this irritating forest is beyond my…comprehension?"

He narrowed his eyes curiously at the goop in his pincer. It was black. Black blood, to be precise. He could tell because this particular goop didn't appear to have any energy left, indicated by its evaporation soon after. Once the blood evaporated, he looked up into the trees in wonder. He could have sworn he saw something shifting in the trees. An amorphous blob of some kind lumbering around mindlessly.

What in the world…?

His curiosity left him wide open for a furious tackle by Dragonite. "Got you!" He fired Ice Beam around his wings, preventing the Dark Gliscor from activating his wing's hyper flight mode.

Fang glared angrily. "Insolent, dull creature!" He rammed Sky Uppercut into his chin, forcing him off. He activated his pincers, but turned them against himself, slashing off his frozen wings.

Dragonite landed feet first on the ground, then flew back up with his teeth bared. Fang's wings regrew before he rocketed down, pincers out front. Dragonite reacted accordingly and caught them, though Fang's speed pushed him down. He fired Flamethrower, completely engulfing the Fang Scorp Darkmon. While most of his body could handle the flames, the inside of his pincers was another story.

He screeched in agony as the flames bit at his sensitive pincers, forcing him to deactivate and close them to prevent further, harmful damage.

He flew himself out of the flames, sprung off a tree with his tail, and jabbed Dragonite's side with Poison Jab. The dragon grunted in pain, but pushed through it to grab the Darkmon by his tail, swing him around, and throw him downward.

Fang landed feet first, the impact shaking the ground, then fired off Venoshock. Dragonite maneuvered through the green liquid and slammed his fists down on his head with the combined power of Dragon Rush.

Fang jabbed his tail into the ground, then flipped back. His tail forcibly pulled out a chunk of earth, slamming it into Dragonite's face. The dragon growled and shot Flamethrower into the infuriating Darkmon's face. Fang shot through the flames with Dark Pulse, easily shooting through and hitting Dragonite right in the abdomen. He then clamped down on his arms and suplexed him, head first, into the dirt.

"Learn your place, mortal creature!" He activated his pincers. "You're no match for the Grim Reaper of the Darkmon!"

Dragonite slammed his elbow into his side and grabbed him by the wrist. He pulled him close, grumbling forebodingly, "I want to make something very clear to you, you insufferable, egotistical, murderous wannabe…" He threw him over his shoulder. "You deserve every ounce of pain and suffering coming your way!" He slammed him onto his back and fired down an unforgiving Flamethrower.

A Dark Pulse slammed against his chest and pushed him back. Fang stood up in the flames, completely engulfed in them. He sneered as he calmly walked out. "Do you have a death wish? Or are you just that stupid?" He activated his pincers, batting the flames off them. "I decided the fate of all Darkmon. I decide the fate of you insolent, pathetic weaklings. I, and only I, decide who lives and who dies. I control destiny. 6746 should have realized this when he fought me. No one escapes my deadly pincers. If the Darkmon can't survive my pincers…" He snapped them shut. "Then no one can."

Dragonite tensed his body and raised his fists. "Yeah, well consider me the first in your line of dead victims!"

Fang chuckled darkly. "Idiotic brute…I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of your fragile body. You should be happy I made 6746's death swift and painless in the end. However, since you insist on defying fate like the blind fool you are…" He opened his pincers. "Then it's only logical that I show you the true penalty for defying natural order!"

He sprung at the dragon, wings blazing. Dragonite barely had time to roll out of the way, feeling the snapping force of the claws boom through his ears. He quickly rolled to his feet and fired Ice Beam, but Fang zigzagged through the icy energy and made a u-turn back to him.

Dragonite took off into the air. He felt one of the claws on his feet getting slashed off. He growled in irritation before firing Flamethrower…well, everywhere. Anywhere he could to torch the smug Dark Gliscor.

Even with the field of flames, Fang proved to be the skilled flyer as he shot through and aimed his pincers at Dragonite. The dragon barely leaned back to avoid them, but at a heavy cost. The pincers may have missed slashing his head off, but they made swift work of slashing across the surface of his chest.

He roared in agony as he fell to the ground. He slammed hard against his back, knocking the wind out of him. He tried to push himself up, but Fang slammed his foot down on his injured chest. The feeling of something pressing against his sensitive tissue burned throughout his body. He roared angrily, slamming his fists on the ground.

Fang smirked, deactivating one of his pincers. "I'm sorry, does that hurt? Here, let me help you." Being the 'kind' soul he was, he sprayed the 'healing' liquid best known as Venoshock onto his searing flesh. Dragonite screamed in anger, trying to mask his pain. This pleased the Fang Scorp Darkmon. "How did that make you feel? Should I apply more?" He sprayed more Venoshock onto his chest.

Dragonite's chest dripped with the green liquid. His wounded chest looked worse for wear, turning black from the harmful properties of the Poison-Type move. It may not poison him, but it burned horribly. He panted heavily, still trying to put on a brave face.

He forced himself to smirk widely. "T-That…all y-y-you got…?"

Fang narrowed his eyes, spraying more Venoshock onto his chest. This time, he suppressed the urge to roar. "It puzzles me that you heroic types enjoy putting on a show with the brave façade you force yourself to endure. And for what? An intimidation tactic on your opponents?"

Dragonite panted heavily as he stared at his smoldering chest. "You…You…" His head fell against the ground. His mind barely clung to consciousness.

The Darkmon raised his pincers, activated their devouring state, and hung them around Dragonite's head. "Enjoy your time in the darkest pits of the afterlife, weakling." He stretched his pincers out and…

…was interrupted by a buzzing behind his back. He looked under his wing and saw the communication piece was buzzing. He growled. You've got to be kidding me! Yes, he could easily decapitate Dragonite, then answer the communication device. However, his partner was very testy about punctuality. He expected EVERYTHING to be done immediately, in a timely and organized fashion. Decapitating the dragon would waste 'precious' seconds.

He took the communicator and placed it in his ear. He clicked the side, then asked, "What do you want, buster?"

The voice behind the communicator chuckled lowly. "My, my…someone's not in a good mood."

"I know you can't see, but I'm in the middle of killing someone here. So, if you could give me a few seconds to finish this, I'll-!"

"That…won't be necessary. Your task is done. Now I expect you to get into position."

Fang growled. "I can literally kill him with one snap!"

"Let him live. After all, the more Pokemon who know about us, the more they'll remember the terror that'll soon follow. Today is nothing more than the end of a terrible storm. The memory of that storm, how it destroyed everything precious to them, will be ingrained in their memories for the rest of their lifetime. Then, once they feel they can finally move on with their lives, the…hehe, 'Perfect Storm' shall arrive and remind them of the world they're living in."

The Darkmon raised a brow, slowly moving his pincer away from Dragonite. "That so?"

"Let the helpless Pokémon live. It's not like it'll matter after I'm through with my plans. Now then, I'll be contacting Giovanni once we're through with this call. I expect you to be at the rendezvous point on time. I expect you to have all the 'chess pieces' in place so we can finish up the beginning stages of Phase 2. I expect success. That's what a true leader needs to exercise to succeed. You want to be the ruler of the Darkmon, correct?"

Fang narrowed his eyes. "…yes…"

"Then quit dillydallying because, according to my timer, you don't have much time left until that forest is gone."

"…alright." He turned the communicator off and stuffed it behind his wing. He looked down at Dragonite with a sneer. "Well, aren't you lucky?" He deactivated his pincer. "I'll allow you to live…for now." He clamped down on the weak dragon's head and pulled him up so they could meet in close eye contact. "Just remember this…the Darkmon are evil itself. You can never destroy evil." He smirked. "But I can erase impurities off this miserable planet." He raised the dragon's head high and slammed it down with a massive boom echoing through the ground.

Dragonite gasped, his head ringing uncomfortably, before falling unconscious.

Fang backed away and, activating his wings, flew off into the darkness.

---

A bright flash of white light. Then everything went blank. Seconds have passed ever since the light encompassed their field of vision. After some time had passed, fuzzy visions made their way in their eyes. Their heads were ringing, like a faint alarm in the distance that was just loud enough to stir someone from a light slumber.

Much like how Dark destroyed part of the forest with his psychic blast, Pikachu's Thunderbolt incinerated just about everything that wasn't alive, though at a much smaller scale compared to Dark's earlier blast. Smoldering dirt and piles of ash littered the ground, remnants of the strong and tall trees that once occupied the bit of land.

One smoldering pile in particular stood out from the rest, as it was where the central flower once laid. Having stood tall as a parasitic, energy sucking flower, it was reduced to that of a harmless pile of ash and burning sludge. Without the flower, the smog would be incomplete. It wasn't stable enough to handle the sun's rays yet. It might hold out for a few minutes, but it would only evaporate once the morning sun shines the rays of a new day.

Within the fog of dust rose a figure: Ryder. He coughed at the ground. His body was nearly exhausted to the point of failure to work. Thankfully, he had just enough left to keep himself awake. His body was sore, but at least he was alive.

"Ugh…my head…" He reached at his arm and ripped off a vine that was wrapped around him, incinerating it with a mild Inferno. He pushed himself onto his rear and sighed. He looked to his right and saw his Electro Gauntlet lying by his side.

Surprisingly, it was still intact. A little scuffed up, but nothing serious. He grabbed it and looked it over. "You've caused me a lot of trouble…but at least I know you work." He placed it in his cloak. He then looked around for Jade, worried if she survived or not. "Jade? Jade, are you okay?"

The relieving sound of coughing guided his eyes to his left, where Jade laid sprawled out on the ground with a tired expression. "No more training, Ryan…I so sleepy…" she mumbled in a daze.

Ryder reached out and shook her gently. "Jade…Jade, get up."

"Nnnooo…" she whined drowsily. "Too tired…too sore…"

Ryder reached under her and pulled up into a sitting position. "Don't pass out on me now."

She sighed, then gave him a tired smirk. "I was the one…who was supposed to save you…"

He smirked back. "Funny how things work out…"

She chuckled weakly, then pressed her tail against herself, emitting Heal Bell's reliving properties. It wasn't going to take away the damage they sustained, but at least it'll relax their bodies so they could walk. She pressed her tail against Ryder and repeated the process.

Ryder flipped onto his feet, though wobbled a bit with slight loss of balance. Jade pushed herself up and cracked her back. "Ugh…man, what did you teach that Pikachu? That was some crazy power there."

Ryder shook his head. "Doesn't matter. The bulb has been destroyed." He sighed. "Pikachu managed to stop the apocalypse from coming."

Jade smirked. "Maybe that's a good thing. If we see the others again, I don't think they can handle you bragging about this."

Ryder chuckled. "I don't brag as much as I…wait, 'if'?" he asked in confusion. "What do you mean 'if'?"

Jade bit her lip. "Oh…right." She sighed, regretting having to delay this bit of news from the hopeful Charmeleon. "Ryder, there's something I didn't mention about me coming here."

Ryder narrowed his eyes worriedly. "What?"

She scratched the back of her head. "The thing is…when Ryan sent me over here…he was doing something and…"

Before she could continue, their attention was drawn to the nearby groaning. They turned their heads in the direction of the sound. Standing on his feet, still as a statue, was Pikachu. His silhouette appeared through the dust.

The dust soon parted, revealing the weary and completely drained Pikachu. His eyes were glassy, almost lifeless. His face was neutral. Even his fur color looked duller. His mouth hanged opened as if he was lost in his own mind.

Jade glanced at Ryder in concern, who reflected the same feeling, before turning back to Pikachu and shouting, "Pikachu! Are you okay?!"

The mouse didn't respond. Instead, his legs gave out on him and he collapsed onto the ground face first.

The two gasped. "He's unconscious!" Jade cried before sprinting over to him.

Ryder narrowed his eyes. I should have figured. He could have killed himself pulling a stunt like that, even if it did save us. Still, his aura is still active. Barely clinging to life, but still active.

Jade slowly warmed up her Heal Bell. "Don't worry, Pikachu! I'll have you back on your feet in no-!"

BAM!

Ryder's eyes widened in shock as Jade was lifted off the ground, held up by the punch that struck her in the stomach. Her eyes bulged in surprised, feeling the wind in her forced out in a fraction of a second. Holding her up with an evil glare glowing from his red eyes was Dark.

He sneered. "You've crossed many lines today. You just crossed the point of no return."

Ryder stepped back in horror. No…NO! He can't be alive after that!

Dark applied heat to his fist, lightly burning Jade. "You've made some mistakes today and now they're going to be returning the favor in the worse way possible."

Ryder made an attempt to sprint over to them, shouting, "Let her go or I'll-!"

"Take another step forward and I'll phase my hand through her body and crush her heart," Dark interrupted with a menacing tone. Both Ryder and Jade paled, the former stepping back to appease the infuriated Darkmon.

Dark closed his eyes, then exhaled smoke with a hefty sigh. "You…Pokémon…have put me through a lot of trouble. Now look at what you've done. You've set the pieces in place to make an entire species go extinct." He growled. "You…heroes…have finally showed your true colors."

"Dark…put Jade down…" Ryder tried to reason with.

"Why am I not surprised? How can I be surprised? This was to be expected. Maybe if you kept that pathetic resolve of yours up, I would have kept you alive a lot longer. As stupid as you morally stubborn creatures are, you could have at least stuck to your gut. No…you went with the 'only' solution: destroy all Darkmon."

Oddly enough, Dark's lips twitched up into a malicious grin. "You've doomed my species. You've doomed me. But that doesn't mean I'm dying empty handed. I got plenty of time to get my revenge on you mortal creatures." He opened his eyes, staring into Jade's with his Fear Glance. "I have until sunrise to get my revenge. Three Pokémon to maim and slaughter until the dust of my minions covers the land."

Jade's eyes glowed red, her face dropping into a scared expression. "Please…don't kill me…have mercy…"

Dark grinned wider. "Mercy isn't my specialty, lass." He held her up by the wool on her head and, using the hand he used to punch her, phased his hand through her chest, sending cold shivers throughout her body. "You can feel it, can you? The cold touch of my ghostly presence."

Ryder shook fearfully. Dark wasn't joking around this time. He was intent on killing all of them. And he was going to start by killing Jade right in front of him. "No…NO! DARK!"

Jade sweated furiously as she stared fearfully at the ghostly arm. Dark made the minutes tick as he amplified his stare's power, implementing more fear through her mind until it drove her mad. Once he pushed her to her breaking point, he'll finish the deed off my turning her vital organ into jelly.

Ryder clenched his shaking fists. "DARK! STOP!"

Dark laughed evilly as he pulled the petrified Flaaffy close. "You heroes aren't brave. You're scared little children who believe you can make a difference. Everything you believe in is a lie. You're weak…you're useless…you're nothing…"

Tears streamed down Jade's eyes uncontrollably. "Please…stop…"

Steam came off Ryder's tightened fists, as his scared expression slowly transformed into rage. "DARK! I SAID LET HER GO!"

"Keep trying to invoke the world with your precious light. Keep trying to make sense of the world by supplementing it with good intentions in mind. No matter how hard you try, darkness will always exist, no matter how high your light reaches the sky. For every shadow that dominates the lightless world, a new brand of evil is born to oppose justice and order."

"DARK! ENOUGH!"

"Even if the Darkmon perish on this day, those who remember the events of today will remember the terror brought upon by our power." He leaned close to her ear, exhaling chilling breath that tensed her nerves. "Darkness exists to snuff out the light. I am here to keep you 'heroes' in place. I'm no villain…I'm the purest form of evil this world will ever see. I embody everything this world despise and fears. I am your worst nightmare."

"DARK!"

The Darkmon lord turned to his counterpart. His hood shrouded his face in darkness. His hands emitted harsh steam, sparking with blue flames. He breathed angrily. Each exhale filled with rage could be felt by the Darkmon, showing him just how much he was pushing Ryder.

Seeing an opportunity to break him, Dark pulled his hand out of Jade. "What's the matter, Ryder? Are you finally seeing the gravity of your foolishness? Now that I have your precious girlfriend, you're too weak-kneed to counterattack." He smirked. "Come on, you know you want to. Get angry at me. Hit me with all your might! Your strongest punch!" He laughed. "Keeping blowing steam until you see, no matter how hard you try, I'll always be superior to you inferior, mortal creatures!"

He waited for Ryder to say something profound or heroic to counter his immoral words. He was expecting it. He could see the rage building in Ryder's aura. He was close to breaking. He was over the edge. He was going to pull a stupid move and get himself, and his friends, killed.

So, imagine Dark's genuine surprise when Ryder took a deep breath and exhaled calmly. It wasn't what he was expecting. Ryder was still angry, so why is it that his body language and expression indicate calm? Was this another façade he was pulling to trick him?

Ryder untightened his fists and sighed. "…I…am a failure."

Dark blinked in surprise. "E…Excuse me?"

"I am a failure. Everything that has happened was my fault. The seed, my friends getting hurt…I was so blinded by revenge that I couldn't see pass what I've become." He held his hand up, staring at it. "How many Darkmon have I brutally pummeled to get this far? I've grown stronger in physical strength, but at what cost? A broken psyche?" He clenched his fist gently. "I hate being angry…I hate being alone…I hate not understanding what's wrong with me…"

He stepped forward, alerting Dark to lift his claws and press them against Jade's throat. "All the mental torture…all the physical abuse I've endured…I kept telling myself that I can handle it, that everything will be alright. I…was wrong." He sighed. "Congrats Dark…you did it." He narrowed his eyes. "You broke me."

Dark lowered his claws in confusion. He expected tears and an emotional puddle of devastation. Not a calm admission that didn't even look like what he expected.

Jade, having faded out of the fear trance, stared at Ryder in worry. What was going on with him?

The Darkmon lord narrowed his eyes. "What's this about? Why are you so calm? Why are you so angry?"

Ryder shook his head. "You broke me, Dark. Isn't it obvious?" He glared. "I've given up on caring."

A tense ambiance of ominous forewarning washed over Dark. The Darkmon glared. "What are you talking about?"

Pressure around Ryder slowly built up as the cape of his cloak floated up, as he forced his aura to rise. The restrictor in his scar glowed purple, forcing his aura to go back down. This time, Ryder was fighting against it.

Ryder clenched his fists and tensed up as he intensified his aura. His scar glowed brightly as purple aura mixed in with his blue aura. He growled angrily as he pushed his aura up higher, fighting against the corruptive aura.

"You sealed away my aura because YOU feared what I would become! You knew you would always beat me if I didn't have access to my most useful ability! Face facts, Dark! You only sealed my aura because you knew I was the only force on this earth that had any semblance of a chance beating you!"

Jade watched in awe. She could see the internal struggle between his aura and the corruptive aura. It was a harsh fight for control. The evil aura was persistent in taking dominate control over his aura, yet Ryder wasn't deterred by the threat. "Ryder…"

The pressure the Charmeleon gave off cracked the ground with the intense stress his aura placed on the scorched earth. Chipped rubble suddenly found gravity flipping on itself, levitating the tiny bits of earth around Ryder.

Veins popped out of Ryder's head and arms as he placed more stress and strain on fighting against the restrictor. "I'm tired of being pushed down by your massive ego! I'm through with all this senseless fighting! All I wanted was to be with Ryan! All I wanted to do was settle down and spend the rest of my life with Jade and start a family!"

Jade's cheeks bloomed red as she stared worriedly at the Charmeleon. His anger was palpable, mixing with the air. The atmosphere was becoming tense.

"Then you came into my life and stripped me of my future!" A wave of aura pulsed off his body, a gentle wave at first. "Everything I've worked for was taken away all because of your nihilist views!" Another pulse, this time leaving behind a trail of cracks that nearly touched Dark's feet, which he stepped away from.

His aura slowly took on a physical form as electricity being emitted from his body. "You set yourself down this path of your own choosing, not even giving a second thought to the harm you've inflicted on this world! You chose this destructive path because you believe the world rejects you! Well, guess what? The world can't reject you because we have to deal with this crap EVERY. SINGLE. DAY!" Another pulse, tearing apart the ground and uplifting chunks of earth.

"So maybe the world isn't perfect! Maybe there's an uneven balance in how the world operates! Maybe heroes aren't all they're cracked up to be!" Ryder glared. "But I refuse to stand here and listen to your arrogant comments about how weak Pokémon are! You're powerful, but I'm stubborn!"

Large chunks of rock that were being pushed out of the ground crumbled into dust from the immense pressure. Dark backed away as the ground nearly collapsed under his feet. He actually flinched from the thickness in the air increasing with Ryder's aura.

Ryder's scar glowed brighter and brighter, still trying to suppress his untapped power. However, much like the rock under his feet, the restrictor was straining from too much power.

Purple beams of light pierced out of his scar as his cloak of aura shrouded him. "You want to prove you're the ultimate lifeform?! Then show me how strong you are…when I'm UNLEASHED!"

The strain on his restrictor wearied to its breaking point. The pressure reached its maximum output as Ryder lifted his arms high. With a mighty shout, he threw them, the purple light of his scar shattering like glass and releasing a massive buildup of power.

Dark raised a rock wall as a powerful storm of dust blew pass him. The ground was torn apart even further from the insane release, pushing dirt back to leave a solid flat surface beneath his feet. Even his rock wall gave out, crumbling by the aura's might. He planted his feet firmly into the ground while keeping a tight grip on Jade, who was covering her eyes in both shock and to keep the dust from stinging them.

Massive shockwaves knocked down nearby trees and toppled them with no remorse. Leaves swirled around the uplift of dust, riding along the strong currents. Even the unconscious Pikachu found himself being thrown up into the air, then rolling across the dirt, barely fazed by the impact due to his numbed body.

Dark glared through the dust as it began to settle, then his eyes widened in shock.

An immense veil of blue aura pierced through the dust, standing out among the gray cloud. Ryder raised his hand and, with a quick swipe, batted the dust away with his aura's pressure. He panted heavily, feeling the strain his body endured from pushing so hard. Even so, it was worth it.

His pupils glowed green while his body shot off bolts of aura lightning, exactly like when he first fought Dark. His vision felt clearer, his senses felt sharper, and he felt an overwhelming surge of power rushing through his body at a rapid rate. To say he was surprised the first time he took on this state, now it was even more fierce that his mind was nearly thrown through a loop trying to wrap his head around it.

He slowly clenched his fist and looked at it contemplatively. He sighed, then looked ahead at Dark. "What do you say? Let's settle this like true rivals. No tricks, no hostages, no assistance. Just you and me."

Dark's eyes shook in awe as he stared at the intense energy overflowing from Ryder's body. He has been training for this long…and THAT'S what his aura looks like?! He should have felt some form of caution warning him to keep on his toes. With Ryder's potential unleashed, this wasn't the same opponent he faced in combat before.

However, one thing kept the Darkmon from falling back: he had nothing to lose anymore.

With an evil smirk, he dropped Jade, who immediately got to her feet and ran over to Pikachu. She could tell something bad, or dangerous, was about to happen. She wrapped the mouse's arm over her shoulder and pulled his limp body up.

With his hands behind his back, Dark advanced toward Ryder. Matching his speed, Ryder walked up to him too. The Darkmon lord's sinister grin contrasted to Ryder's neutral stare mixed with hints of rage inside. Their steps mirrored each other with perfect symmetry.

"There's nothing special about being good! In the end, all life is naturally evil!"

"What's the point of ruling the world if that's all you plan to accomplish?!"

These thoughts swirled through their minds as they neared their opponent. This wasn't about goals anymore. This wasn't about protecting someone you loved. Ryder and Dark were through holding back punches against each other. Now, it was time to show the other just how strong they've become.

They stopped, their faces close to each other as they glared into each other's eyes.

Dark snickered. "You know you're going to die, right?"

Ryder closed his eyes in thought. "…no, I don't think that's going to happen."

"Still acting brave?"

"No…I'm just done playing games with you."

Dark smirked widely. "Then why don't we end this the way it was meant to be?"

"I couldn't agree more."

Their auras rose to drastic proportions, kicking up loose rock and dirt. The ground shook from the immense tremors of their aura passing through the ground. Jade stepped back, nearly choking on the thick and tense air. She could see them focusing aura into their fists, augmenting their striking power. She firmly planted her feet into the ground, expecting the worse to come from this first attack.

Dark pulled his fist back, as did Ryder. Their eyes burned with fury and determination. Fists charged with aura, they threw them against each other in a single, strong collision.

A small flash of light sparked from collision, then the force exerted an intense shockwave that expanded into a massive sphere. The cataclysmic power destroyed the ground beneath them, tearing it apart like paper through a shredder.

Jade got hit with the equivalent of a train as the shockwave crashed into her and the unconscious Pikachu in her arms. Despite her best efforts to keep herself grounded, gravity took the day off and sent her flying into the air. She slammed against a tree, which was weakened by the shockwave to the point of toppling. She rolled across the ground in a panic.

S-Such power! She dug her hand into the dirt, getting dragged along inch by inch. Thankfully, she had the strength needed to keep herself still. She squinted through the waves. R-Ryder?!

The two fists pulled away from each other with the two combatants glaring fiercely. They threw a second punch, creating another powerful shockwave. Fists connected a third time before they went all out, throwing a barrage of nearly invisible strikes at each other.

So far, Dark had the advantage. None of Ryder's strikes appeared to make contact with his body, as he punched against them with his greater speed. With this massive speed advantage, he was landing targeted strikes against the Charmeleon's weak points. The strain and power shooting through the agent's body pushed him back, dragging dirt behind his heels. Even so, no matter how hard the Darkmon lord hit him, Ryder's flow of attacks never slowed or falter.

"I'm not giving up!" Ryder exclaimed angrily. "Keeping punching me as hard as you can! It'll only motivate me to strike harder!"

Dark smirked. "You're an idiot if you think you can match the power of a Darkmon! You've clearly grown stronger, but your little power boost is pointless! My power is immeasurable!"

Ryder burrowed his hind claws into the ground, anchoring himself into the ground like an unmovable statue. "Don't underestimate my true potential!"

The laser focus the two were emitting was incredible, showing the true extent of their competitive natures. The ground continued to be ripped apart by the sheer force of their unwavering might. Dark, of course, was barely breaking a sweat. Superior speed, strength, durability, endurance- he had it all at his command. Anything Ryder could do, he can exceed tenfold.

What a moronic fool! Does he really think anything will be accomplished from all this?! His life is already sentenced to death! He's a Pokémon, for darkness' sake! He'll reach his limit eventually! Once he does, I'll be there to swoop in and end his miserable life, proving once again that evil will always preva-

He gasped loudly, both in pain and in shock. Feeling as if time had slowed to a crawl, he observed his side, the area in which the pain originated from. Connected right against it was Ryder's fist, firmly pressing against him with power expelling from it.

Dark stared at this in confusion. How did he…? I didn't even see that punch.

Time seemed to speed up again, continuing the barrage of punches. However, Dark took immediate note of a drastic change in his opponent. Ryder was hitting harder, as the Darkmon could feel intense power surge through his arms. Not only that, but Ryder was even moving faster. His punches somehow managed to slip by undetected and struck him in similar places the Darkmon struck him.

The Lord of Fear clenched his teeth. What's going on?! Did he just suddenly get stronger?!

"THIS…is what happens when you push a Pokémon over the limit!" Dark glared into Ryder's eyes as the Charmeleon growled angrily. "Push us into a corner, beat us to near death, and even threaten those we care about…this isn't untapped power you're looking at! This is my need to survive taking over! All of my rage towards you…GIVING ME THE WILL TO FIGHT!"

A strong punch from the flood of punches knocked Dark back a few inches. Then another one after that, followed by a third strong hit knocking him back farther. The Darkmon took notice of his opponent taking slow, yet big steps forwards with each knockback.

Ryder was actually pushing him back.

"You're strong…stronger than me…nothing will change that!" His eyes burned green as his aura intensified. "However, there's a massive difference between the two of us! You've never trained a day in your life, relying on the knowledge you've gathered and the power you've taken! I've learned from trial and error to increase my own strength! I've fought Darkmon for the last five years! I've learned how to combat you freaks since Day 1!"

The ground behind Dark tore to pieces with the shockwaves passing through his body. To add insult to injury, Ryder even forced Dark onto the defensive as he turned his body into steel to soften the blows. It did little to slow Ryder's flow of attacks.

"Even if I can't beat you at full strength, I'll go beyond what I'm capable of and force you to give up!" His punching speed increased drastically.

Dark could barely keep himself grounded as a few of the blows nearly knocked him off his feet. He could only glare at his rival in confusion. How is this possible?

Ryder charged a mass of aura into his fist and ended the string of attacks with one final blow, delivering a shockwave that sent Dark flying across the forest. He got into a charge position and sprinted at breakneck speeds.

The Darkmon slammed through dozens of trees before catching himself with his psychic power. He looked at his chest and sighed in annoyance. His metal shell was cracked. "What in the world is this…?" he muttered to himself as he reverted to normal.

He didn't have time to rest as Ryder came flying at him and slammed his fist into his face without warning, then threw a devastating blow into his gut, making the Darkmon cough up blood.

Ryder sneered. "This isn't about heroics anymore!" He punched Dark back with his feet uplifting the dirt. "This isn't about saving the world anymore!" He slammed his elbow against his chest. "This isn't about protecting Jade or any of the others anymore!" He lifted his foot and slammed it up his chin, knocking him into the air.

"You wanted me to stop acting like a hero, Dark?! Well…THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FORCE MY HAND!"

Dark's eyes snapped open and shaped into a glare. He clenched his fist and trapped Ryder in a psychic bind. "That's all well and good, but you're still not strong enough to beat me!" He landed and slammed his hand into Ryder's chest, pushing him back with a high-pressure stream of water. "All you Pokémon are weak!"

Ryder forced himself out of the stream, ducked under it, and raced back to the Darkmon, slamming both his palms against him. A powerful shockwave shot out from behind him. "I expect as much coming from you! You've never been pushed over the edge before, have you?!" He threw a punch into his face, sending him spiraling through the trees.

He pressed his feet against a tree and ceased his flying. He locked his eyes on the agent as he sped over to him, hopping off and from the trees like a nearly invisible black streak. He snapped his claws, levitating sharp stones around him, then fired them.

Ryder's enhanced reaction time saw the incoming stones with ease. He avoided them skillfully, with some just barely grazing his cheek. He kicked off a tree and came flying at Dark, striking him in the chest. The Darkmon gasped, then sneered as he lifted his arms and bashed the agent down to the earth.

Ryder landed on his feet, with the impact creating an uneven crater, then backflipped out of the way as Dark came flying down. He fired Inferno from his hands and dashed at him, using the propulsion of his flames to increase his speed. He performed a jump kick and pushed Dark back. The Lord of Fear anchored his feet into the ground, grabbed Ryder by his ankles, spun around to gain momentum, then hurled him back down the path.

He built up flames in his hands as he formed a smirk. "So you DO have fight in you? This is what I've been waiting for!" He fired the flames down the path, then manipulated them to wrap around the Charmeleon into a sphere of flames. He then pulled the moisture around the flaming sphere and wrapped it around for a liquid casing before dropping the temperature to freeze it. An icy sphere with a flaming center.

Dark laughed. "And for the finishing touch…a lovely explosion!" He snapped his claws, flinging compressed psychic energy filled with concentrated fire power. It pierced through the surface of the sphere, then exploded into a glorious display of blue sparkles and wisps of purple flame.

The Darkmon bowed to his handy work. "Destruction is an art form, dear Ryder. You should know by now that I excel in this field."

A swift breeze blew behind him, along with the appearance of a shadowy presence. "And I excel in speed…"

Dark tried to face him, but the back of Ryder's fist slammed against his cheek and propelled him away. He slid through the dirt, kicking up a path. Ryder jumped above and came down on him with his fists. Dark made his body intangible and let them pass through. With a smirk, he suddenly faded out of sight.

Ryder looked around for him, then got punched in the face by an unknown presence. The presence kept punching him mercilessly, trying to not give the agent any chance to counterattack. However, Ryder wasn't about to let the Darkmon take him down now after getting this far.

He threw his hands up, allowing him to stagger Dark's arms in the air for a brief moment, before bringing them together and slamming his palms into his chest, releasing a blast of Inferno.

A body formed out of the flames before Dark resumed visibility. He psychically blasted the flames off. He jumped back from Ryder's Brick Break, landing in front of a tree.

The Darkmon growled. "Not bad, Ryde…but it's going to take more than that to stop me." He kicked his heel against the tree, perfectly breaking the diameter through the point of impact. It toppled down on him, but he caught it before it could squash him. "Have a load of this!" He flung the tree with excellent speed and strength.

Ryder dashed at the tree, then jumped over it. He landed on the base and ran across it as it flew. Once he reached the end, he leaped into the air, spun around, then brought down Brick Break on top of Dark. The Darkmon crossed his arms over his head and blocked the impact, cratering the ground.

Dark stomped his foot, commanding the roots below to rise. They wrapped around the agent's ankle and bashed him across the ground senselessly. Dark took jumped into the air to gain some distance and time to think.

Okay, as much as I hate to admit it…Ryde's kicking my rear. He clenched his fist tightly. There's no way he can actually beat me. He's a Pokémon. He's good. He's inferior to my power…right?

Ryder was smashed against the ground a few more times before he got his bearings in order. Extending his claws out into Slash, he hacked through the vine. However, he was being thrown down in the process, so the momentum sunk him into the dirt. He hasn't given up yet, though.

He jumped out of the crater and dashed after Dark. The Darkmon took notice and fired volleys of fireballs. Ryder ran around them without flinching from the close range explosions before kicking off the ground and slamming his fist against Dark, who caught it before it could make full contact with his chest.

He smirked. "Now to suck away all that detrimental energy!"

Ryder glared. "Detrimental? Is that a sign of someone losing?" He lifted his foot. "If so, then you're not out of the woods yet!" He slammed his foot against Dark's neck, inflicting massive amounts of pain, and shot him back down to earth.

Dark landed feet first and fired pressured streams of water. Ryder flickered out of the way, letting the water cut through the trees like lasers. He appeared on the ground, then sprinted at him. Dark tried to counterattack, but the Charmeleon proved to be swifter than he anticipated. He threw his fist at the agent, but he blocked it, letting the arm harmlessly slide against his hand and away from him, before throwing a flurry of powerful punches against the lord's chest. One could even see the shockwaves firing out of the Darkmon's back, showing off the strength behind Ryder.

Dark endured the hits as he brought his fists up and smashed them against both sides of Ryder's head. He immediately clutched his head as the world became blurry and unfocused, with a deafening ringing hammering into his mind. The Darkmon raised his foot and kicked Ryder far away from him, sending him smashing through some trees. Not many this time since their battle was turning the surrounding area into a wasteland.

Ryder rolled across the ground and lied there for a moment as he tried to readjust his bearings. Dark flew over him and stomped on his back with great force, cracking the ground under the agent. He aimed his palm at his and fired flames down on him.

Ryder's eyes snapped open. He reached out of the flames and gripped Dark by the neck. He pressed his palm against him and fired Inferno, followed by kicking him across the stomach. The Darkmon clenched his fist and struck Ryder across the cheek, then tapped his chest to send him flying with powerful psychic force.

The agent spun in the air and stretched his cloak out. However, he realized from the many holes torn into the fabric that he won't be gliding anytime soon. Deciding to improvise, he fired Inferno from his fists and used Aerial Ace in combination. He somewhat flew down, merely gliding from the propulsion and aerial capabilities of the Flying-Type move.

Dark crossed his arms, blocking the powerful tackle that pushed him back. He pushed him back, grabbed his face, and smashed it into the ground. However, Ryder didn't go down without returning the favor. Dark suddenly found Ryder's legs wrapping around his neck and flinging him over his body, smashing his head into the ground this time.

The Darkmon pushed against the ground and shot himself out of the dirt. Once he was on his feet, he kicked the ground and buried Ryder in a wave of dirt. The Charmeleon brought his hands together and fired Inferno into the wave, blasting a hole through and engulfing the Darkmon in blue fire.

Dark absorbed the energy of the flames, glaring. He actually felt short of breath. Ryder was really pushing him this time around. He was actually putting up a fight worthy of a Darkmon of his caliber. He clenched his fist. Ryder…you crafty little…

Ryder shot out of the dirt with Aerial Ace and rammed his fist into Dark's chest. He endured the hit, allowing himself to grab the agent and throw him into the air, furthering his trip up with a blast of high pressured water. Ryder crossed his arms and endured the hit at his best.

He pulled out his Electro Gauntlet and jabbed it into the water, scraping up his arm. He turned it on and sent an electrical current of aura down that stream, electrocuting Dark. His body froze briefly from the electricity before he ended his attack and jumped away to recover.

After putting the gauntlet away, Ryder repeated his Inferno-Aerial Ace combo and flew down at Dark. The Lord of Fear flipped back, while briefly tapping the ground to command it to raise large wall of earth. Ryder aimed his feet at it and kicked it apart, distributing his momentum to not only stop his flight, but also send the earth flying into Dark.

He punched the debris into dust, then dashed at the agent and slammed his elbow in between his eyes. Ryder didn't let the blow stagger him as he grabbed Dark by the arm and threw him over his shoulder. While leaving the Darkmon suspended in the air, he threw a barrage of powerful strikes into his torso. The shockwaves fired out of Dark's back as each one left a new painful sting to irritate his body. Even though he was falling to the ground, the speed Ryder was punching at made it feel like an eternity.

For his finishing blow, Ryder slammed his palms into Dark's chest, brought out as much of his power as possible, and lit him up with a massive Inferno that scorched the land in front of him. Dark growled in discomfort as the flames intensified his sore body's pain. The Inferno pushed him back far away from Ryder, rolling him across the dirt as a flaming body.

Ryder dropped his hand to his sides and panted heavily, holding himself up on one knee. The surge of power in his body was going to give out soon. With little to no control over this technique, he barely had a few minutes left to sustain it. Even so, the damage he did to Dark should have eased up the fight for him. Maybe not enough to defeat him himself, but hopefully enough so that someone else could finish Dark off. Worst case scenario, he runs free until the sun rises. Without the forest's thick bundles of leaves blocking out the sun, finding suitable shade will be next to impossible.

Ryder pushed himself back up and covered his body in his cloak. He glared ahead at Dark, who was pushing himself out of the ground.

As Dark patted off the blue flames on his right shoulder, he glared back at Ryder with fury. Why wouldn't he be angry? He was kicking his butt earlier and suddenly he gets this massive power boost because he overloaded the limiter he placed on his aura. He found it kind of impressive, but it still made his blood boil.

No one should be able to defeat the Darkmon Lord. He was the most powerful creature in existence. He was the very embodiment of evil. Does Ryder actually think a menace such as him can be taken down so easily from a quick boost in power?

"Give it up, Dark." The Lord of Fear snapped out of his thoughts and acknowledged his rival, who was looking just as bad as him. "We're on even grounds now. We're just going to pummel each other until we both go unconscious. Considering your current predicament, you have nothing left to save your skin." He clutched his arm as it surged with a throbbing pain. "So…just surrender…and we can handle this peacefully."

Dark's eyes widened for a moment…then his lips curled up into an unnerving smirk. "Peaceful? Peaceful, you say?" He placed his hand against his face and chuckled with amusement. "Ryder…you tell some pretty funny jokes, you know that?"

Ryder clenched his teeth angrily. "Even now, you're still arrogant about your power that you can't even see I'm driving you against the wall?"

Dark let out the last of his laughter and shook his head. "You misunderstand, dear Ryder." He took a bow. "It's clear to me now that there's a bit more to you weaklings than I could ever perceive. It's true, you're matching my current state and fighting me on equal terms." He shrugged. "But I simply can't say I'm the least bit worried. No, I'm having the time of my life." He smirked wider. "I knew I made the right decision to keep you alive for this long. You've showed me that there is something to all this senseless fighting than justice, peace, and protecting the innocent. Like me, you're simply seeking a challenge to better your own strength.

"Not to toot my own horn, but I'm quite the worthy opponent to bring out all that rage inside you, allowing it to manifest into this last stand of yours. Your last resort of mind. Your…Final Focus. Yeah, that's what it is: your aura working into overdrive to take out the opposition by any means necessary, even if it means wearing down your body."

His grin only grew as Ryder stumbled back. The glow from his irises flickered, but only for a moment. His body seemed to be giving off less electric aura than before.

"However, much like last time, there's a limit to how long you can stay like that." He chuckled darkly. "That'll make my job easier."

Ryder raised his fists while forcing himself to ease his ragged breathing. "I still have time left. I can still beat you."

Dark shrugged innocently. "That is true. With the way things are going, my current state isn't sufficient enough to beat your Final Focus." Something about the way he said that made the Charmeleon tense. Dark was usually carefree, but the air of calm surrounding his aura filled him with worry. That trickster had one last surprise in his arsenal of powers.

"That being said…the Darkmon aren't easy to bring down with physical force alone. Your resolve and aura were enough to knock me down…a lot. For that, I am grateful to see that THIS is the best the Earth can offer." He flexed his claws. "Excluding the Legendary Pokémon, if this is the worse I'll expect from the rest of the planet's champions…" He chuckled. "Then my destiny has already been realized."

Ryder backed away with a questioning glare as Dark started to perform some odd, spooky dance. He took immediate note of the Darkmon's aura condensing into the center of his being, pushing it all together through pressure alone. Something about this set off red alarms in his head…

"Witness why the Darkmon are true threats to this world, for we are a symbol of destruction. The enforcers of injustice. The incarnations of evil itself. Cower in awe at the true strength of Darkmon Prime." He pressed his left foot into the dirt and pushed it back, keeping his right forward. He raised his arms into an attack formation, purposely leaving himself open for a direct hit. He was taunting the Charmeleon by this point…and it was having a discouraging impact on him.

Dark lowered his head ominously, chuckling to himself. "Bear witness the true nature of the Darkmon…experience the true darkness buried underneath us…"

Several steps back, yet Ryder felt he was gravitating closer to the Darkmon. He was a force that kept growing, spreading like a wildfire.

"Witness…the Awakening of a Darkmon's Evil!"

A pressure of aura blasted out of Dark's being, instantly turning the destroyed ground to the smallest form of dust possible. Ryder crossed his arms, barely protecting himself as he was flung off his feet and thrown through the trees mercilessly. The pressure was actually hurting him more than the splintery wood that was digging into his back. Just the force of his aura felt like tiny knives relentlessly stabbing him.

He fell close to the ground and stabbed his claws through the ground, anchoring himself in place. He held his arm over his eyes as he squinted through the wind.

Surrounding Dark was a deep purple veil of aura, glowing brilliantly. His body gave off red energy that seeped into the aura, feeding his evil into it. His eyes were solid red, resembling blood with a magnificent shine. Just standing near him could make a normal creature pass out from the suffocating darkness.

Dark's lips were curled into this unsettling, devilish grin. "Do you see it, Ryder? What you're looking at will be the last thing you'll see on this earth." He lowered himself into a charging position. "I didn't want to activate this ability, but you've showed me that you stubborn Pokémon need to be put down by force.

"Take pride in knowing that you're the first Pokémon to not only force me to use the Awakened Evil…but to also die by my hands USING IT!"

He kicked off the ground at alarmingly high speeds, kicking up a wall of sand into the air. Ryder could barely keep track of Dark's movement before registering the powerful blow colliding with his face. If it weren't for his protective aura shielding him, his facial structure would be nothing more than dust.

Dark threw Ryder off his fist, leaving a trail of purple energy as the agent went soaring through the forest, crashing through trees without any momentum loss. He endured to the best of his ability, but the force was almost unbearable to withstand.

It only grew worse as Dark appeared in his flight path and slammed both his fists into his back, completely ending his momentum and sending an agonizing wave of pain through his body. Even the sonic boom that followed him had finally caught up and delivered an extra dose of suffering.

The Darkmon lord grabbed Ryder by the tail and slammed him into the ground relentlessly, smashing up the ground with each hit. Ryder glared weakly at him before firing Inferno in his face once he was raised over his head. It didn't hurt him, but it distracted him enough for the agent to slammed his foot against the side of his skull.

Dark snickered in delight, not at all fazed by the kick. His eye widened, sending a powerful psychic wave through the agent and firing him off. Ryder caught himself using Inferno, but Dark rose to his level at blinding speeds and slammed his knee into Ryder's stomach. He then shot him down with both fists, adding a destructive barrage of psychic beams from his extended claw.

Ryder landed on his hands and feet and immediately dashed away from the raining lasers. He fired consecutive bursts of Inferno to stun him, but it did nothing. The Darkmon lord was fighting on a far greater level than him. He has faced very few Darkmon using the Awakened Evil and considered them disastrous threats.

Dark was a living apocalypse.

Once Dark set his sights on Ryder, he sped over in a flicker and appeared right in front of him. He flicked his claw up and commanded the ground beneath the agent's feet to fire upward. He then kicked him off his feet before slamming his elbow down on his back, burying him into the dirt mercilessly.

He pulled the agent out by his head and laughed. "What's the matter?! Don't tell me you're winded already!" He steadied him on his feet, then punched ferociously at his face, keeping him up straight with some added psychic support. "Come on! Where's that fighting spirit you were showing off a minute ago?!"

Ryder, after struggling to do so, clenched his fist tightly and rammed it into Dark's stomach, staggering and breaking his chain of attacks. He flipped over the Darkmon and blasted Inferno into his back. The lord turned on his heel and punched Ryder, sending him sailing through the forest. He followed after him, flying.

Ryder was prepared this time for his surprised attack and, seeing the fast flurry of punches coming his way, countered with his own series of attacks.

The two punched furiously at each other as they soared through the forest, so close to ground level yet sailing so fast. Dark was wearing down Ryder, evident by the speed of his punches slowing down, while the Darkmon lord himself was becoming more invigorated by the second.

He vanished for a moment, then reappeared behind Ryder. He let the Charmeleon agent fly above his head before slamming his palms directly into his back and releasing a potent beam of psychic energy. The blast shattered the ground beneath his feet while also shooting Ryder into the air at speed of sound levels.

Ryder tensed his body, enduring the beam and the air slamming down on his face. The beam burned at his skin agonizingly. He has been dipped in lava before and that was barely discomforting at the time. This was levels of searing pain he has only felt fighting this monstrous force.

The agent was thrown out of the forest, suspended above the thick mass of leaves. His eyes were clenched shut from the pain. He struggled to open them, barely getting them half open to see Dark flying out of the forest and up to his level.

Dark laughed madly. "You think that hurt?!" Concentrated, heated energy collected around his hands. "Then you're gonna really hate this!" He fired off a massive plume of flames that not only scorched the Charmeleon, but also sent him flying over the forest.

He flew above like a flaming, purple comet. The flames, thankfully, got smothered out from the wind as it raced pass him. No matter how much he tried to endure the attacks, Dark somehow managed to make the next hit after the other a level worse in unbearable. He took the full, unrestricted force of Pikachu's aura infused Thunderbolt…and yet he still had THIS MUCH POWER surging through him?!

Dark flew after the agent, grinning psychotically. "Still conscious? Not for long!" He slammed his fist into the agent's chest.

Ryder gasped in pain, then tried to fire back, but Dark vanished out of view before he could do so and punched him in the back almost instantly. He flickered around the Charmeleon wildly, viciously beating the Charmeleon with a merciless mindset storming through his twisted, callous mind.

Dark appeared above him and kicked him down into the forest, not before firing down a mass of flames with him. The flames not only engulfed Ryder, but they crashed down into the forest and completely incinerated the trees, and any Darkmon that happened to be lingering in that particular spot, into nothing but the finest ashes flame could give. If Ryder's protective aura wasn't still working overtime to protect him, he could have ended up like those unfortunate Darkmon.

He never even got the chance to hit the ground as Dark appeared below and rammed his foot into his back, completely reversing his speed and direction back into the air. Ryder felt blood shoot out of his mouth.

How was he still alive? This aura state he was in must be the reason, but there was no way he could endure anymore of this brutal abuse before the state completely gives out on him. There was no way Dark will allow him time to counterattack or anything.

He was at the mercy of this merciless monster.

Ryder flew so high in the air that flew through the smog blanking out the night sky. Maybe this would be the last time he'll ever get to see the beautiful night sky, the elegantly luminous moon, the gorgeous…

…orange sky?

He narrowed his eyes on the horizon, as much as he could make out of it, and saw the orange glow of the sky rising up from above. But…why was the sky turning…?

Nothing else at the moment was more desirable than answering these important questions in his mind, but he had a prior engagement currently, involving gravity and a certain Darkmon that was waiting for him under the clouds.

He fell through the smog and, sure enough, was met with Dark's fist to the face. Ryder didn't go flying long distances though. Dark caught him in a psychic field, holding the captive Charmeleon in place.

He smirked victoriously. "What. Did. I. Tell. You?" He steadied his hands together and started collecting aura in between them to form an orb of aura. "This is why I don't use Awakened Evil so frivolously like the rest of my species." He laughed evilly. "The battles end too quickly. They're no longer fun. I had much more fun beating you down without it. It takes a real powerhouse to bring down a monster like me."

Ryder couldn't move. His body was frozen in place. Not that the psychic entrapment was doing all the work. Every inch of his body was searing with absolute forms of pain. Describing it would take eons to explain.

"I wish we could have played for longer, Ryder, but this is where your story ends." Dark grinned wickedly. "I told you once and I'll tell you again: evil will always exist in this world. Your quest to protect this world will only end in death."

And just like that, the Charmeleon's vision was blinded in purple light as the aura beam engulfed him.

---

Chloe lunged at Savage, slashing her claws with no restriction in her strikes. All the anger building up inside her, all the rage piling up against her foe, all the bitterness she felt…it was fueling her evil. It fueled her desire to destroy and win. She was a Darkmon after all. Her goal was to eradicate all that oppose her, even other forces of evil like her.

Savage fought back just as strongly, dishing out as many destructive blows as his traitorous opponent. However, in terms of power and experience, he reigned supreme in combat over a low ranking Darkmon such as her. While she clearly showed skill, this fight was in his favor.

He slammed his bone against the cat's claws and snapped them in half before jabbing his weapon into her chest. She didn't show pain, rather she retaliated with Payback, slapping him across the face. Half his face cracked from the force before being flung across the area.

He straightened out and landed on his feet, then rushed at Chloe. He wrapped his arms around her and tackled her through a tree, toppling it over effortlessly. She growled before reaching behind her, grabbing the tree before it fell over, and threw it into the air. Savage's eyes reflexively followed the tree's movement as she did so, giving her time to regrow her claws and slash him across the eyes. He stumbled back in pain, pressing his hands against them.

Chloe crouched down and leaped into the air. She grabbed the tree with her paws and threw it down. The tree pounded the hunter into the ground like a powerful piston. The dark cat then contorted her body and spun down like a drill, tearing down the tree as a tornado of claws. She dug through the ground, cracking a bit of the surround earth.

Savage's eyes healed up, allowing him to look directly into his opponent. He pressed his hands against the cat, ending her drilling, then kicked her out of the hole. He gripped his bone club tightly and threw it at her.

Chloe regained her balance in the air, but immediately lost it as the bone struck her in the chin and sent her falling to the ground. The bone even made a u-turn, as expected, and struck her in the back of the head. She hit the ground face first.

Savage jumped out of the hole and caught his bone. He pointed it at Chloe and charged up a Hyper Beam. "You could have been a great solider in the new world, 779! Instead, you choose to walk among creatures who will NEVER accept who you really are! You may think they like you. They may think you're not all that bad. But I know the truth. You're no saint. Deep inside you…you're a sinful monster that thrives for the thrill of death."

Chloe pushed herself up and shook her head. She smirked as her evil energy spiked. "Well, you got one of those right: I'm looking forward to killing you and shutting your yap."

Savage narrowed his eyes and fired Hyper Beam. Chloe raised her claws and slashed downward just when the beam was in close proximity. The beam parted down the middle and went around her, incinerating two trees instead. Once the Hyper Beam ended, she sprinted at hunter and used Fury Cutter. She slashed the Dark Marowak repeatedly, increasing the power of her strikes with each successful hit and empowering each boost with her corrupted energy.

Savage, having had enough of her insolence, catches her claws, then shoots his knee into her chin. He headbutted her, then jabbed his bone club into her face, knocking her away into the trees. He aimed the club and charged Hyper Beam through it. "You live in a petty fantasy if you believe you can take down the likes of me!" He fired the beam at her.

Chloe leapt down, avoiding the beam, and dashed towards him with Fury Swipes. "I know I can't beat you!" She grinned maliciously. "But I can stall you long enough to keep you down! If one of us has to die, then I'll gladly drag you into the afterlife with me!"

She slashed furiously as him, spraying his blood across the surrounding trees. She jabbed her claws through his chest, then looked him directly in the eye with an evil smirk. With an upward motion of her forearms, she slashed up and cut the hunter's arms off. Savage stumbled back in pain, slowly regenerating through the exposed flesh.

However, Chloe was determined to keep him down. She slashed relentlessly with Fury Cutter, not only halting his regeneration, but also hacking away at more body parts. She slashed off his left leg off, across his chest, down his sides, and even up his back.

Savage hopped on one foot as he growled viciously. "You malevolent cat…if this is how you treat your own kind, I can only imagine your feelings towards those vile Pokémon, especially that Meowth."

Chloe narrowed her eyes. "Meowth is not a part of this battle. And I won't let you do any harm to him. None of you will lay one claw on my friend."

Savage started growing back his arms. "You've already committed too many sins to be redeemed. Proper punishment is in order."

The Dark Glameow sneered. "I don't have any sins to atone for. I know what I'm doing is the right course of action." She leapt with her claws extended.

His right arm regenerated faster than his left, giving him the chance to grab her claws before they could perform their task, then slamming her against the ground. As the rest of his body regenerated, he stated, "You can't wash away your sins, 779." His eyes narrowed. "The Darkmon are living sin. We represent this world's corruption and selfishness. Nothing about that will change."

Chloe pushed herself up and spat some blood on the ground. "I can still fight for my friends."

"What world are you fighting for? What are your priorities aligned with?" He picked up his bone club and spun it in his hand. "You're fighting for a world you cannot exist in. There's no place for our kind. What world governed by a benevolent society would ever accept malevolent monsters like us into their world?"

Chloe snarled. "The same world 46 wanted. The same world 6746 wants. The same world Meowth will fight for!" She rushed at the hunter and extended her claws. "I choose my own fate! I decide my own destiny!"

Savage narrowed his eyes, then sidestepped out of the way. Chloe looked over her shoulder and prepared to turn around, but her vision became clouded with a toxic sludge that sent her tumbling across the ground. Her back slammed across a tree trunk.

She struggled to push herself up, but a wave of nausea and dizziness claimed her mobility. The world around her became fuzzy and unfocused. The forest around her spun, refusing to stay in place. Her breathing became uneven. She couldn't take a breath without panting uncontrollably.

Her Awakened Evil dispersed as she fell onto her stomach, coughing. Across her face was a shade of purple much lighter than her fur color. Poison slowly coursed throughout her body, sapping away her strength.

She looked up at Savage, whose bone club appeared with a toxic coating before reverting to its usual black coloration. He propped the club over his shoulder with a bored gaze. "I could have used that from the beginning. Comes in handy when you're dealing with stubborn prey." He glared. "I spared you the threat of poisoning up until now to give you one final chance, to see the error of your foolish disloyalty to the great Lord Dark."

Chloe angrily tried to push herself up with her forelegs close to giving out on her. "Y-You…you…"

"I gave you a chance, but no. You decided to get caught up in your own head to realize the truth. Your friend will never accept you for who you are, regardless of what he says." He pointed his club at her. "Just like how you didn't stand any chance of defeating me in this fight. I am superior to you and all other lower ranked Darkmon. I am the hunter of the Darkmon. I lead our forces with no mercy to the enemy. I don't act like a self-entitled fool who's so detached from reality that they can't see their fate standing right in front of them." He raised his club and slammed it down on the back of her neck, making her gasp. She clung to consciousness as best as she could.

"You actually thought YOU were going to leave me here to burn up in the sun? Pathetic. You proved to be a competent fighter, but worthy enough to truly defeat me? Inconceivable." He tipped her chin up with emotionless eyes. "The evil that runs through my veins is fueled by my hatred towards the Pokémon. My evil gives me strength. Your evil…you've forgotten that part of yourself that makes you a threat."

Chloe hissed, both in anger and in pain. Toxic was making quick work of taking her down. She wouldn't be able to stay conscious for much longer.

"Fighting for that Meowth with your anger may give you strength, but it isn't enough. If you do want to beat me, then you must fall from grace and abandon those pointless morals. Once you detach yourself from that plane of thinking…then, and only then, will you achieve the strength to rise above your superiors."

He narrowed his eyes, noting that the dark cat was likely not going to get up. He scoffed and dropped her. "What am I saying? You're too far gone to understand what it means to be a Darkmon." He aimed his club at her, charging up a Hyper Beam. "I could let the sun incinerate you, but the thrill of the hunt is finishing off your prey yourself." He smirked evilly.

"Goodbye, 779. May the Legends show mercy upon your pitiful soul. And may the Legends succumb to darkness and fall from grace."

Chloe's eyelids drooped weakly as her vision blurred further. Everything was nothing more than a smudge of mixed colors. Only the black glow of the Dark Marowak's Hyper Beam could be made out. She weakly extended her claws and attempted once more to push herself back up.

Savage grinned wickedly, prepping to fire the deadly Hyper Beam. At least, that was the idea until a figure whooshed down behind him and struck the back of his neck with his tail. Savage's eyes glazed over before he fell unconscious. The figure clutched his arm and threw him over his back.

Chloe narrowed her weak eyes, unable to make out the creature standing over her. However, from the dark aspect and color scheme, it was most definitely a Darkmon.

The Darkmon sneered. "Weaklings like you just don't know when to accept fate." Chloe's ears perked up in question.

"F…Fang?"

The Dark Gliscor, despite not being registered with the Dark Glameow's vision, made his presence well known by pressing his foot down on her head and crushing it through the rock. He smeared his foot down on her head, sinking her deeper down.

"I could kill you here and now, but I won't. My time will soon come and I'll purge the Darkmon legacy of all flaws. I shall recreate this world into my own vision." He smirked. "Too bad your friends won't be coming back. Maybe they still have time to save you." He shook his head. "Then again, they're more concerned with saving their own skin over the life of a murderous creature. Must make you feel terrible that no one cares whether you die or not."

Chloe turned her face out of the earth enough to properly speak. "M…Meowth…c-cares…"

Fang growled and brought his foot down harder, pushing her in deeper. "He cares about the Dark Glameow he made you into. He doesn't care about the monster deep within your soul. He could never love a monster that has lingering thoughts of death in her mind." He laughed.

"I'd just give up and forget about hope. No one's coming to save you. So, make yourself comfortable-" he raised his foot and slammed it down harder, burying the dark cat even deeper into the earth, "-because I want you to lay here and think about all the horrible things I'm going to do to your puny friend when I get my pincers on him. The last lingering thoughts in your mind before the sun claims your life." He snickered. "Until then…take care, 779. As I control your destiny, I give to you permission to die."

He stepped back and took off into the air with Savage safely hanging over his shoulder.

Chloe weakly turned herself onto her back. She panted heavily as her eyelids threatened to shut on her. She couldn't lay here and let that psycho get away with this. She had to catch up with the others. She tried and tried with all her willpower, but her strength had reached its limit. The poison claimed the last of her strength, leaving her in her cat shaped crater. Her grave.

She clenched her teeth. Laura…please protect Meowth. Please keep him safe. Her eyes fluttered weakly, close to shutting complete. Her field of vision became darker as the seconds ticked by.

Meowth…please live on. Do not mourn for me. Your life is far greater than my own. Please…Please take…care. I…I…I…I…lo…lo…lov…

Her mind finally gave out. She slipping into an unconscious state, awaiting the arrival of the sun.

---

Leading the group through the long tunnel dug out, Krookodile said, "We should be reaching the surface soon. Just a little further."

Oshawott looked around the tunnel. They've been crawling for quite some time now. It was really, really dark, too. The only reason they were navigating so well is because their eyes have fully adapted to the darkness and allowed them to make out basic details. It amazed him that the sand croc dug this far out without being detected.

"Got to hand it to you, Krookodile, this is one fine tunnel you made."

"Anything to get my friends to safety. Just so you know, there's going to be a bit of climbing once we reach the end. It was the only way to get up with that massive cliff and everything."

Snivy looked over her shoulder at Laura. "How's Meowth doing?"

She quickly gave a glance at the unconscious cat on her back. "Still out cold."

"That Dark Glameow knocked him out pretty good," Pachirisu commented.

Laura sighed. "I expected her to do something like this. Those two spent a lot of time together ever since we officially became guests."

"Did that she like him or something?" Piplup asked. He then mumbled, "I can't believe that guy managed to get a girl to like him instead of me. An evil monster of all things."

Laura glared venomously at the penguin. "I'd advise you lay off the 'M' word."

Piplup rolled his eyes. "Someone's ticked off. Still mad your little wedding got canceled, you humanity hating-"

He gulped as she aimed her arm cannon at him. "Finish that sentence very carefully. Unlike the rest of you, I don't need air to breathe and I have no qualms against bringing this tunnel down on top of us."

The penguin attempted to plead his case, but Emolga punched his shoulder to regain his senses. "Quit acting scared. She's bluffing."

"And what makes you say that?" the android asked, aiming her blaster at her.

She looked over her shoulder with a wry smile. "Simple…the 'luggage' you're hauling is too valuable to lose in a collapsed tunnel."

Laura narrowed her eyes, giving Meowth another quick glance before reverting her arm to its normal state. "Just shut up and keep crawling…"

Emolga nodded with a proud smirk before continuing down the tunnel. Piplup took a second to wipe his brow of sweat. Oh Arceus, that was close!

They continued down the tunnel before reaching the upwardly curved path, leading straight to the elevated surface above the forest. Krookodile flexed his claws before sinking them into the walls and climbing up. "Anyone that's too weak to climb up, grab onto me."

Axew and Scraggy immediately took up his offer and climbed up his back, along with Quilava and Pachirisu. The sand croc made his way up the tunnel slowly as he didn't want to shift the earth too much. The others followed in his example and scaled up the tunnel, too.

Pignite had a bit of trouble getting a grip on the earth, but managed an efficient method by pressing his hands and feet against the walls and slowly shifting up. The others used their natural ability to climb and raced up ahead. Laura was the last one to follow them up.

It took some time to reach the top, but, once they did, Krookodile punched out a loose patch of grass and pushed himself out. Immediately, Scraggy jumped off the sand croc's back and kissed the grass in relief.

"Oh sweet, lush, and not deadly land! How I missed you!" He collapsed onto his stomach with his arms spread out and let out a long, relaxed sigh.

Krookodile chuckled at his behavior before reaching down the hole and helping the others up. Reaching the surface, they immediately took in the environment they haven't seen in so long. Green grass and, thankfully, significantly less tree!

Laura pulled herself out and dusted her lower half off. "Ugh, glad to be out of that forest…"

Emolga smirked. "Sure, you are~."

The android glared. "What did I say about shutting up? I can and will throw you back down that hole."

"Aww, but what about our truce?" she asked teasingly.

"The deal was we work together and get out of the forest. Since we're out of the Forest of No Light…" She aimed her arm cannon at her. "Nothing's really keeping us from fighting. I can still capture you and send you off to Team Rocket."

Emolga crossed her arms. "Your broken down body says otherwise. Are you being held together by wooden screws or something?"

Laura growled. "You're testing my patience, rodent."

Snivy got between them. "Alright, enough! Both of you! We're not out of the woods yet! In case some of you weren't paying attention, there's still a giant cloud of dark smog over our heads!" She pointed up. "How exactly are we supposed to get rid of that?"

Laura shrugged. "Beats me. Though, I think Dark mentioned something about the cloud needing time to properly settle before it can reflect the sun's rays. The flower releases some sort of special chemical that's supposed to keep it stabilized. Considering the time it was sprayed before the flower was destroyed, I don't think it had time to properly mix with the air."

"So there's still a chance it'll evaporate, huh? Well, that's good."

"Though, it has been out for a while, so I'm not sure how long it would take the smog to evaporate." She shrugged. "Guess we'll find out in a few hours when the sun rises."

Oshawott crossed his arms. "Right…in the meantime, we should race back to the Pokémon Center and see how the trainers are holding up." He looked at Snivy. "They probably had to take on the Darkmon themselves. Do you think they're all right?"

She placed her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sure they're fine. We survived this long, so they ought to do the same."

Laura's ears twitched mechanically before pointing away from the forest. She narrowed in on the location and picked up on a collection of voices and sounds. Most of them sounded like battle commands and cries.

"Well, if you want to be extra sure, then we should head that way!" she shouted, pointing in the direction of the sounds. "I can hear them battling far away, probably with the Darkmon still!"

Piplup balled up his flippers. "We need to hurry and help them!"

"Most of us are in no condition to fight!" Krookodile reminded sharply.

"Yeah, well I'm getting my second wind already!" He punched his flippers together before sprinting towards the center. "Don't worry, Dawn! I'll save you!"

Laura growled. "That idiot is going to get himself killed…"

"Guess we're all idiots then. Let's move!" Pignite cried before tagging along with the penguin. Most of the others looked at each other, shrugged, then raced off after them, shouting battle cries.

Laura face-palmed. "I'm surrounded by twerps and idiots…"

Snivy, who along with Oshawott stayed behind with the android, tapped her chin in thought. "Hey, didn't Pikachu and Buneary mention earlier when they contacted Hank that Jessie and James were with them?" Laura's eyes immediately widened.

The otter looked up in thought before nodding. "Yeah, I think so."

"And SUDDENLY, I'm an idiot! Jessie, James, I swear if you two get hurt, I'm gonna kill you two!" the android shouted as she took off as a speeding blur.

Oshawott and Snivy stared at the aggressive android with sweatdrops and slight laughter. The grass snake turned to her friend and said, "Best we follow and help." She raced off after the others.

Oshawott prepared to sprint after them, but he stopped momentarily when he felt two massive spikes of aura flying overhead of him. He looked up and gasped in shock.

Waves of purple and blue bounced off within the dark cloud, colliding ferociously. The otter's aura training allowed him to see the fast moving auras, but…one of them seemed to be on the defensive. Only on the defensive. The other aura, which was deep purple, was relentlessly pummeling the blue aura. Oshawott could feel the power coursing through that life energy.

And he knew exactly whose it was.

"No…no, no, no, NO!" Oshawott stumbled forward a bit before dashing off into a mad sprint. We need to get out of here, NOW!

---

The Darkmon forces seemed to dwindle a bit. Despite their superior numbers and greater strength, the resisting Pokémon proved that their willpower gave them the strength needed to whittle down their endurance before they collapsed at their feet. It didn't help the evil creatures that they were facing experienced trainers and a specially trained agent and his equally superior Pokémon.

Salamance rose high in the air and rained down a Flamethrower attack, incinerating the remaining Darkmon that tried to perform a final push against the humans. Mamoswine roared and charged into battle, slamming his powerful tusks against the monstrous creatures and sending them flying into the air, leading Heatmor to finished them off with a Flame Burst.

The Darkmon backed away, panting heavily and reaching the peak of their limit. Despite nearing exhaustion, they managed to find the strength to stand. Even so, they found themselves being backed into a corner and losing ground against the humans and their Pokémon.

The opposing side wasn't looking any better. The Pokémon looked close to collapsing over themselves from exhaustion alone. While the humans pretty much remained out of most of the fighting, Hank was taking the worse out of the fighting. His clothes were tattered, his body was battered from excessively combating the Darkmon in head to head matches, and he was reaching his limit with his aura.

He stumbled forward onto one knee. "I can't keep going for much longer…" he wheezed, pounding his chest as a chorus of harsh coughs escaped his throat.

Jessie stepped forward and yelled, "Don't tell us you're throwing in the towel already! Get up!"

He smiled wearily. "That…won't be necessary…" He glared at the Darkmon, who returned the expression. "They know the position they're in. They know the wear being brought down on our side. They're being pushed over the edge, just like us. They may preach they're all powerful….but it…ugh…" He pushed himself back up, painfully. "…appears they're losing steam, too."

One of the Darkmon at the front of the group growled irritably. "How dare you compare us to you filthy weaklings?!"

"Yeah!" another shouted. "You may be fighting us off well, but you can never defeat our numbers!"

"We are a race that'll continue to grow in power so long as evil exists on this planet! Our forces will spread like a plague, claiming the lives of each and every one of you pathetic mortals!"

Ash glared at them. "You have no right to call us weak! When Pokémon and their partners work alongside each other in unison, they can defeat anyone!"

"Spare me the sermon, child! You are in no position to be lecturing us about power!" The group of Darkmon flexed their deadly claws. "Perhaps lacerating you all into tiny pieces will get our point across! No matter how far you think you can go with your Pokémon, you'll still be second rate compared to the onslaught of the Darkmon."

The group raised their defenses as the Darkmon lumbered forward. Iris bitterly said, "Great going, Ash, as if they didn't already hate us enough."

"Hey, it's true. We can still take them if we all stick together and don't back down."

"As encouraging as that sounds, I have to agree with Iris," Dawn stated fearfully, as she reflexively took a step back as the Darkmon inched closer. "Everyone's getting tired and these guys look like they can still kill."

Hank growled, then looked at Salamance. "Can you incinerate them all in one shot?"

Salamance was panting next to his trainer tiredly. "(I need a minute to catch my breath.)"

The slow shamble of the Darkmon quickly changed into a mad sprint. Claws were raised high and eyes flashed menacingly as they prepared to end this battle once and for all. The humans and Pokémon braced themselves and prepared for, hopefully, the final wave.

Two plasma shots flew in right between the two sides and caused and explosion that pushed them all away from each other. The Darkmon looked at each other in confusion, then suddenly got ambushed from behind by Laura, who grabbed the first one she could get her hands on my the shoulder, lifted him in the air, and brought him down on her knee.

Jessie and James gasped happily. "Laura!"

Laura slammed the barrel end of her arm cannons into two Darkmon and sent them flying as charred bodies. She smiled back to them with glee. "Jessie! James!" She ran over to them and wrapped her arms around them.

They reciprocated the hug. "Oh, you have no idea how happy we are that you're all right!" James stated thankfully, tears streaming down his eyes.

Jessie pulled back for a moment to see that Meowth was unconscious on her back. "Meowth! What happened to him?!"

Laura handed Meowth over to James. "He's fine. He was just knocked out earlier."

James sighed. "That's a relief. We were worried he wouldn't make it." He smiled again. "Good thing he had you to watch over him."

"Yeah…me…" She looked away sadly. If only they knew the sadness their friend will feel once he wakes up.

Their attention returned to the Darkmon, who were being tossed into the air by Krookodile and blasted by Stone Edge and Focus Blast, the latter curtesy of Scraggy. Emolga and Pachirisu leaped into the air and rained down Discharge, frying any of the non-Ground-Type Darkmon in range. The ones that survived were met with a Hydro Pump from Piplup.

One Darkmon faltered back in shock. "H-How are you all still alive?!"

Krookodile grabbed him by the head and lifted him to eye level. "Guess you Darkmon aren't all you cracked up to be." He slammed his fist against his skull, knocking him out, then tossed him to the ground.

Ash and the gang smiled brightly upon seeing their Pokemon. "You're all right!" They rushed over and threw their arms around them.

Axew jumped into Iris' arms and hugged her, happy to be reunited with his beloved trainer. Iris squeezed the little dragon happily. "I'm so glad you're okay, Axew!"

"Pansage!" Cilan called out, leading the grass monkey to leap onto his trainer's shoulder and nudge him with his head. "The feeling of your taste buds revisiting a delectable dish that you dearly missed! Oh, how I missed you, Pansage!"

Dawn picked up Piplup and spun around on the tips of her shoes before stopping to hug the penguin. "Piplup, thank goodness nothing bad happened to you!"

Piplup placed his flippers on his hips and looked up haughtily. "(Of course not! Do you think anything could happen to someone as great as me!)"

Dawn laughed, but then her eye caught a new addition to the ground, being held in Pachirisu's arms. A Pichu toddler. Immediately, Dawn's eyes lit up excitedly. "Oh my gosh! Is that who I think that is?!"

Scarlet tilted her head in confusion, giving a slight ear twitch. "Pi…chu?"

"It's Buneary and Pikachu's baby!" She squealed and picked the baby up into her arms. "Hello, you adorable little cutie! I'm Dawn, your mother's trainer!" The Pichu was unsure of what she meant, but if she knew her mother, that must mean she was nice. She certainly seemed like it.

Piplup immediately remembered something and poked at Dawn's leg before directing her to Krookodile. The blue haired trainer was confused, but after following his flipper, she gasped in horror.

"Buneary?!"

She ran over to the unconscious bunny and was horrified to see the state she was in. She was bruised and her right arm looked like it was nearly broken. Or…it is broken. Tears immediately filled her eyes. "Buneary…"

Hank hobbled over and took the bunny in his arms. "We need Nurse Joy to help her, now. We might have a chance to save her before her injuries do anything worse."

Ash looked around intensively before realizing, "Wait, where's Pikachu?!" he asked in shock. After all of this, after seeing his buddy only once since the mission to rescue him, he still isn't back yet?!

This led Iris to realize her recent addition into her team wasn't with them. "Dragonite?! Where is he?!"

Hank narrowed his eyes. "Ryder and Jade aren't back yet…" He immediately looked to Snivy. "Snivy, do you know where the others are?"

Snivy prepared to answer, but stopped when she, along with everyone else, saw Oshawott running over in a panicked state. "(Guys…we need…to get out of here…NOW!)"

"We need to get out of here…?" Hank repeated, confused…and worried.

Ash shook his head. "Sorry Oshawott, but the rest of our friends are still in that forest!" He began to sprint to the forest. "Restricted or not, I'm rescuing Pikachu and the others!"

Hank went into deep thought. "If Ryder and Jade aren't back yet, that must mean…" His eyes widened as he felt a strong presence coming down from above. "ASH! STAY BACK!"

Ash looked back for only a moment before getting thrown off his feet by a massive shockwave caused by something being thrown into the ground with immense power. He peered out of his squinted eyes to see the object…or rather, the Pokémon.

"Ryder?!" Ash and Hank called out in horror.

Ryder, after hitting the ground, ricocheted up a bit from the impact. His face was twisted in pain, clinging onto consciousness as much as possible. However, he was soon bashed back into the ground as another force came crashing down on him at full force.

The sinister grin of the all-powerful Darkmon lord left the humans in shock.

The Pokémon who were in the forest back away in horror at the menacing sight before them. The aura radiated off his body was toxic just to look at. He had very few scratch marks on his body, a major contrast compared to the state Ryder was in. Large scratches smeared with blood, dark bruises all across his body, swollen flesh, etc.

Laura stared at the Darkmon lord in horror. She thought SHE did a number on Ryder when she first fought him. This…This was far worse. "Dark…"

Dark glared down at the agent wickedly. "Come on, Ryder." He kicked his side, knocking him out of the crater. "Don't tell me THAT took you out. You were doing so well. I actually think I felt something with that last punch." He tapped his cheek. "Though, not like it'll leave a mark later."

Hank gaped in alarm. He could feel the power of the aura surrounding Dark. The strength he had…the power he was expelling…this was HIS Awakened Evil. All that power he took over the years. All of that was building up to this state. If Ryder actually pushed him to use his Awakened Evil…

…then they were all doomed.

Dark glanced over his shoulder and smirked at the old man, who flinched in terror. "Hank…long time no see." He looked around the scorched land and fallen Darkmon. "It appears you took out all my Darkmon." He sighed. "What a shame, but it doesn't matter anymore." He glared. "Congrats Hank…seems you and Ryder got what you want. The central flower has been destroyed. The forest will die in the sunlight. We will lose our home AND can't complete a full regeneration without it. I hope you're happy."

Hank clenched his teeth and tightened his fist. "Stay back, monster…"

Dark shook his head. "I didn't listen to your desperate pleas before and I'm certainly not going to listen again." He smirked evilly. "I may be defenseless now, but I still have time to destroy all of you. Besides…I can always find a way to avoid the sun. There are plenty of places to hide out from the sun until night falls again." He laughed loudly, raising his hands in the air.

"I am the incarnation of evil itself! I shall never die! I'll wipe out you pathetic mortals and scatter your lacerated flesh and your freshly spilt blood across this land! I'll paint this entire world in the blood of human and Pokémon! No one can escape the deathly touch of evil! This is the end of your precious light! I shall cover this land in darkness and turn your entire world into a living nightmare!" He threw his head back and cackled evilly. Lightning crackled off his body, adding to the haunting atmosphere around them.

Hank stepped back, unsure of how to approach this. Dark was a powerful opponent, way before he entered Awakened Evil. Now like this, he was an unstoppable force. They didn't have a ghost of a chance beating him, one on one or as a group.

He gasped as a blue blur rushed pass him. "Lucario?!"

The jackal used Bone Rush and leaped into the air, bringing the aura construct bone down on the Darkmon. Dark smirked and effortlessly stopped the construct from slamming down on him. "Useless." He lightly clenched his hand and shattered the construct to pieces. Lucario stumbled back, but kept his ground and fired a close range Aura Sphere.

Dark easily backhanded the attack and grabbed the jackal by his wrist. All in one swift motion, he slammed his palm against his elbow, bending it back and sending a blistering wave of pain up the arm that made the Lucario scream. Dark raised his foot and kicked the jackal into Hank.

Ash gasped at this action, then growled. "That's it!" He sprinted at Dark, raising his fist.

"Ash, don't!" Hank shouted.

Ash got close to Dark and threw his fist at him. Dark didn't flinch as he stopped the fist inches from hitting him with his hand. With a devilish smirk, he tapped the air, creating a small ripple, and sent Ash flying back to his friends, knocking them over.

"So this is where Pikachu got his brash behavior from. No wonder he almost killed himself when he used that Thunderbolt against me."

Ash pushed himself up and glared. "What did you do to Pikachu?!"

"Nothing yet…" He raised his claws. "But I can assure you it'll be bloody."

Ash flipped onto his feet and attempted to charge once more, but Cilan held him back. "Ash, no! He's too powerful!"

"We can't just stand here and do nothing! Someone needs to take him out!"

Dark laughed. "A pathetic human like you thinks he can take me on? You're not even strong enough to endure THIS!" He snapped his claws.

The humans and Pokémon, along with Laura, felt a massive increase in gravity slam down on them. Because of their weakened states and the intense pressure of the gravity field, they immediately fell to the ground.

"What is this?!" Jessie shouted.

Dark twisted his hand and commanded the earth to wrap around their wrists, ankles, and torso before tightening their binds, restraining their movements. "Now…who should I kill first?" he asked as he summoned his electrical blade.

Laura lifted her head and stared at him in horror. "Dark…please…don't hurt Jessie or James! Please don't hurt Meowth!" Her eyes narrowed sadly. "Please don't hurt me…" Jessie and James looked at each other, unsure of what was going on with her.

Dark smirked and gave a little shrug. "Sorry sweetcheeks. No hard feelings and all…but I'm pretty ticked off right now." He walked up to her and lifted her head up by her chin. "I could spare you, though…if you pledge your loyalty to me."

Laura narrowed her eyes fearfully. "Dark…I…"

"What good are these humans to you? To them, you're nothing more than metal that'll rust. Humans can replace you. They don't care about artificial life. All they care about is their personal desires. They don't care for a machine built in some lab." He growled. "That's the problem with this world: anything seen as imperfect will be disposed of immediately, including all that is evil.

"How long will it be before they find a way to keep everyone in line? How long until they purge this world of all evil and create their perfect utopia where everyone can be happy and cheery all they want? The answer…is never. Their precious paradise wouldn't be possible without a malevolent force countering the benevolent. That's why I do what I do…to give this world a piece of my mind. To show this world what it feels like to be the minority. Machine…Darkmon…all that this world sees as imperfect."

He dipped his head down, making close, direct eye contact with the android, whose face glowed with heat. "Quit acting like these humans care about you. Get too close to them…the betrayal will be hundreds of times worse." He let Laura go and stood up.

"You have a choice, Laura. Submit to me and become my Queen of Darkness, so that we can plunge this world into eternal suffering and let evil become the major power. Or…you can stick by the side of your friends…" He narrowed his eyes. "And die alongside them. Make. Your. Choice."

"D-Dark, I…!" She looked between him and Team Rocket, the latter staring at her with shocked, worried eyes. She bit her lip, feeling pressured to make such a hasty decision. Even if she was destroyed, her memory would be uploaded into her emergency database. But…Jessie, James, and Meowth will be…

Why was she feeling like this? Her glitch sent sparks up her body as she tried to decide an answer. Did she want to rule by Dark's side and raze the world that wronged her? Or did she want to stick by her friends' side until the end? Love or friendship? Which one did she want? Which one did she need?

She stared at the ground in panic, trying desperately to work out a solution. Dark treated her like she was his world. He treated her like royalty. He made her happy and offered her the chance to stay by his side forever. Is that even what she wanted? She only knew him for a couple weeks, yet it feels like she knows everything about him.

She could fake love. She could trick others into becoming infatuated with her. She knew how to mess with an opponent's mind. Dark was the only one to ever turn the tables on her and play back the same song and dance she performed. It filled her with a sense of honor, having met someone with a similar tactic to getting what they wanted done. It was like Dark was meant for her.

So why was she having such a hard time making a choice? Wasn't it obvious this was someone that wanted the best for her? Wasn't this someone who cared highly about her? What was keeping her from make that final decision?

The reason why she is here to begin with…that's what.

Even though Dark did everything he could to woo her over, he isn't the one who made her into what she is today. Jessie, James, and Meowth were the first to offer her kindness, despite the shadiness of their organization. They treated her like a living being. The day she was recruited into their ranks was a day that scared her…and thrilled her. It was as if fate gave her the chance to choose her own destiny without succumbing the fate her creator wished for.

They had their arguments, they had their quarrels, and they had their conflicts…but in the end, they were a team, thick as thieves. Nothing could ever make her abandon these lovable idiots, no matter how many failures, blast offs, or disagreements get in their way.

Even though she loved Dark…nothing could replace the people who saved her.

Laura bit her lip. "Dark…you don't know how much I care about you…I wish I could be with you, but…" She clenched her eyes shut for a moment before glaring up at him. "Jessie, James, and Meowth mean more to me in the world than anything you can offer me! If you do anything to harm or kill them, I will do everything in my power to destroy you!"

A veil of silence fell over between the two. Dark stared at her blankly while Laura held her glare on him. It did falter when she noticed the Darkmon's fist tightened.

"I should have figured." Her eyes widened as he raised his electrical blade. "I tried to change things up and tried to find someone who could rule by my side as my equal. I wanted it to be you, Laura…" He glared. "But I guess even you have standards when it comes to vile actions."

Laura lowered her head, facing the ground as her face twisted into a miserable expression. The medallion that wrapped around her neck seemed to weigh down on her more than the gravity field.

Dark pointed the electrical blade point down, staring with some bit of…hesitance. The blade shook in his hand, as if he was having second guesses about destroying her. He clenched his face and shook his head aggressively. No! Focus! Keep it together! Don't let Ryder's aura persuade you! You are evil! Don't show restraint!

His Awakened Evil aura increased in power and became darker. He lowered his hand and glared down at Laura with a wicked grin. An…almost forced wicked grin. "Goodbye, Laura. I truly wished we could have spent all of eternity together." He thrust the blade down.

A hand reached out from behind and grabbed his arm. Dark dispelled the blade and glared over his shoulder.

Ryder breathed raggedly, clearly exhaustion from his slouched stance. He held his breath, pulled himself together, and glared angrily at the Lord of Fear. "Leave…her…alone…"

Dark narrowed his eyes. "You're still alive, eh?" Without warning, he slammed his elbow into the Charmeleon's rib cage, then flicked his forehead, knocking him back ten meters or so. "Why does it never end?" He walked up to Ryder, hands behind his back.

Ryder tried to push himself up again, but Dark made sure to keep him down by slamming his foot down on his sternum. Ryder froze as the pain briefly paralyzed him, not able to breathe for a moment.

"If you're not going to listen, then allow me to beat some sense into you." Dark raised his fist. "You will never, ever beat me. We are not on equal terms. I…am a god." He glared angrily. "And you're a mortal who needs to learn his PLACE!"

Dark violently threw down a barrage of punches at blinding speeds, shaking the earth so much that a random bystander could easily mistake it for an earthquake. Each punch made a ripple across his body. The punches were controlled and targeted to deliver the most amount of pain and suffering as he could dish out. Amplified by the power of his Awakened Evil, Dark was intended on killing Ryder here and now.

Ryder endured the hits to the best of his ability, but he has already sustained damage throughout the fighting earlier. He was barely clinging to consciousness now. Any chance of staying awake beyond this point would be miracle work. He had to stay awake, endure the hitting, until he found the proper opening to finish Dark off.

But how do you defeat and all power, self-proclaimed god?

The trainers and Pokémon watched on in horror as Dark violently pummeled Ryder into the dirt, deepening the crater with each blow. Hank tensed his muscles and tried to break out of his restraints, but they had such a tight hold on his wrists and ankles. The gravity field pushing down on them certainly wasn't helping either. If he couldn't break out, none of the others will be able to.

As Dark pummeled Ryder, he said, "How does it feel, Ryder? How does it feel to be SO close to victory, yet so far?!" Ryder coughed up blood as one of the blows to his stomach was particularly stronger than the others. "What's keeping you awake? Why aren't you dead yet?!" Ryder heard a definite crack in one of his bones. "If this is part of your heroic ethics to protect the innocent, then you've already lost! You can't do anything to stop me! You're a failure!"

Ryder clenched his eyes and pushed himself harder to endure the hits, only angering Dark further. He amped the speed of his punches, becoming practically invisible to normal eyes. It looked like shot of compressed air were firing down on Ryder from seemingly nowhere.

"There you go again acting like you still have a chance! Stop acting like a hero and just die already! It's over! Quit clinging to that stupid thing you call hope! Happy endings will only lead to misery! Everyone would be better off if they just skip that all together and face reality! Evil will never die! Heroes will always fall from grace!

"Darkness…will consume this world!"

Dark raised his fist and delivered one final punched down on Ryder's abdomen, shooting the air right out of him and bouncing a shockwave that shattered the surrounding earth into a cloud of dust.

Everyone shielded their eyes as the dust rolled over them. Once it parted, they stared in dismay as Ryder laid in the crater, practically motionless. Anyone that could see aura knew he was still clinging to life, but not by much.

Dark panted heavily from his ranting before standing up straight and cracking his neck. He scoffed. "It's so sad to see a hero so adamant on proving the benefits of goodness when…it's all pointless in the end." He lifted his claw and psychically lifted Ryder's body until he was at eye contact. He glared at the agent. "You're STILL alive?"

Ryder's breathing was heavy, but quiet. His eyes were barley open, almost a squint. Everything in his body ached with pain. It hurts to move. It hurts to BREATHE. Even he was surprised he was still conscious.

Dark groaned, then smirked exasperatedly. "Darkness…you sure are a tough one to put down." He snapped his claws and summoned his electrical blade. "You proved to be a tough, worthy, and, might I add, stubbornly durable rival, Ryder. You shall be remembered fondly after I incinerate this world." He aimed the blade over Ryder's heart. "As my one act of 'kindness', I shall allow you any final words."

The weary Charmeleon looked up at Dark with an exhausted, defeated expression. He sighed, then took a moment to clear his throat. Yeah, that hurts to do, too. He then spoke:

"Dark…all I ever wanted was to defeat you at my best. It seems…even with my aura potential finally released…even that isn't enough." He bowed his head. "I could never beat you in a fair fight."

Dark smirked. "Finally! Now you're talking some sense! Doesn't it make you feel better to admit that there are those you just can't defeat. I could shed a tear seeing how much you've grown out of your heroic stage. You're finally facing reality like a true mortal should." He laughed mockingly.

Ryder stared at the ground, then his lips twitched up into a grin. A little chuckle escaped his mouth, catching Dark's attention. "I don't recall ever being this injured. I might…" He coughed harshly, spitting up blood on the ground. "…might actually die here…" He sighed shakily. "Even after reuniting with Jade…" He laughed a little louder. "Guess happy endings are false hope…"

Dark narrowed his eyes. "Okay…you're accepting this a little too well…"

"Here's the sad truth, Dark: your little world of destruction is YOUR happy ending. Meaning…it's not going to come true." He looked into the Darkmon's eyes with a cold, unforgiving glare that made Dark almost flinch.

"I didn't come this far, to get beaten to near death…to reunite with Jade…just to lose it all in this fight. I'm sick and tired of all this fighting. Now…I'm ending it. Not for justice…not for goodness…but for the hatred I feel for you."

Dark grinned wickedly. "And what, pray tell, are you going to do about it?"

"I told you…I can't beat you with my strength. I'm wiped out…but there's something that even you will crumble under the power of. The one thing that'll send you screaming. The one thing that'll turn the tides of this battle. I only have one thing to say to you, Dark." He glared directly into the Darkmon's eyes.

"Rise and shine."

Dark's heart skipped a beat in confusion and trepidation. Suddenly, he took notice of something reflecting off the Charmeleon's eyes. A ray of light…peeking out from the clouds above.

"No…it can't be…" He turned his head around in a panic, then his eyes widened in shock. In the sky, with the dark clouds floating above, was a beam of sunlight seeping through as the clouds slowly evaporated.

It was morning.

Dark stepped back in horror. "How…How is that possible? The sun shouldn't be up for another four or five hours! Why is it morning already?!" He stepped back more as a ray of light casted down close to him. He growled. "I need to get out of here and find cover-!"

He gasped as he felt a foot kick his back. It didn't take a genius to know it was Ryder, but the force of the kick implied there was still fight left in him. Dark, in stunned silence, flew into the sunlight.

"You…son of a bi-!"

He fell into the light and screamed in pain as his entire body caught fire. The loss of concentration deactivated his Awakened Evil and ended his psychic hold over Ryder. The Darkmon lord clutched his head as he felt the stinging rays burn away at his skin.

Ryder weakly pushed himself up with his arms shaky, threatening to give out on him. Seeing as how this was his one and only chance of putting an end to Dark, he heightened all his aura at maximum power, sending newfound strength throughout his body. He growled in pain as the boost in power was wearing down on him. He won't be able to keep this up forever. He had precious minutes to finish the job.

Dark got a hold of himself and jumped backwards. I don't know what's going on, but I can't stay here! The clouds will eventually evaporate entirely! I need to find somewhere to hide out!

His backwards trip ended when Ryder tackled him from behind and shoved him back into the light. Dark seethed with pain and rage, glaring at the agent. "How…are you still…ALIVE?!" He forced himself out of Ryder's hold and threw a punch.

Ryder directed it away from his face and threw a flurry of punches at Dark's face. With the sun harming him, Dark was unable to think properly, otherwise he could easily block these attacks. What's worse, with the sun killing him, his body was slowly becoming dust, meaning his defenses were withering away by the second.

Refusing to let that happen, Dark caught Ryder's wrists, then bashed his skull with his own. He then reeled his arm over his shoulder and threw him over to the restrained humans and Pokémon. He formed an Aura Sphere and fired it at Ryder, hoping the damage would finally knock him out. He turned his back to them and leaped into the air.

Unfortunately for Dark, Ryder wasn't out yet. He caught himself on his hands and flipped to his feet, landing near Hank. Without warning, he reached into the old agent's back pockets and retrieved four metal items that he quickly stuffed into his cloak. "I need to borrow these!" he shouted before rushing after Dark.

Hank's eyes widened. "Ryder, just forget about him! You're going to get yourself killed!"

Dark was in the midst of flying away as his skin slowly regenerated. I need to fly as fast as I can if I want to get out of here!

He felt a hand clutch his tail. He glared in shock as Ryder had apparently jumped high enough to reach him. "I'm not done with you yet!" Pouring aura into his arm, Ryder threw him back down to the ground, directly into the light. Dark's landing shattered the ground. He growled in pain as his skin caught fire once more. He glared ahead as Ryder landed and made a full-on sprint towards him. "I'll put an end to you!"

With an angry shout, both fighters threw their fists back and unleashed a barrage of punches, completely ignoring any desire to block or defend. To them, this was an all or nothing fight now. This was a test to see who was the superior fighter now.

Dark growled, shouting, "This is how you decide to beat me, Ryder?! Taking the coward's way out and using my only weakness against me?!" He sneered angrily. "What kind of fighter are you?!"

Ryder didn't say anything, preferring not to answer. He just clenched his eyes shut and increased the flow of his strikes.

Dark roared in rage increased the speed of his strikes. "DIE, DIE, DIE!"

Their punches were moving at invisible speeds. Both sides had their blood splash against the ground from the immense ferocity of their intense physicality. Shockwaves wildly blasted off of them that destroyed the ground around them and even reached the humans and Pokémon, shattering their restraints. Since Dark lost concentration during his initial bathe in sunlight, the gravity field pushing them down was also gone.

Everyone shielded their eyes as dirt, sand, and rocks washed over them. "W-Wow! They're incredible!" Ash commented, nearly getting thrown back by another shockwave.

"They're so strong!" Iris shouted, then screamed as the ground crumbled near her.

Cilan glared from between his eyes. "A combination of two polarizing ingredients, mixed to create such a wild and unpredictable serving of explosive proportions!"

Dawn fell onto her back, with Piplup catching her from behind, barely keeping her from flying off. "They're going to destroy the land!"

Despite being in the same boat as the gang, Jessie, James, and Laura couldn't help but stare in horror at the sight they were witnessing. Collectively, their faces reflected the horrifying realization of what they went up against in their last encounter with the Charmeleon. This was the Charmeleon that pushed them around back in Sinnoh. Showing everyone the true extent of his power.

For Laura, it was both that and the fear for the fate of Dark. Even if she chooses to stick by humanity's side…the sadness developing inside her reminded her of her deep feelings towards this malevolent terror. She clutched her medallion tightly as the fight pressed on.

Ryder and Dark were wearing down on each other rapidly. Even though Ryder was significantly more hurt than Dark, the Darkmon lord was being beaten down by both his rival AND the sun's harmful rays, which only grew as more of the dark clouds evaporated. He wanted to end this quickly and finish off his persistent rival for good.

Luck was no longer in his favor, though.

With the sun wearing down his body, Dark's defenses dropped to the point where his hand became as fragile as…well, an arm made of dust. Ryder threw a punch through his right arm, obliterating it into a cloud of dust.

Dark gasped, then roared irritably as he fired flames from his left hand and spun on his heel. He made a complete turn and slammed his elbow against Ryder's face.

Ryder wiped his bloody lip before tackling the Darkmon lord. He gripped his shoulder tightly and relentlessly punched his abdomen. Dark pulled his other fist and fired an uppercut into his chin before kicking him back. Dark then charged up a ball of aura before firing it into a beam.

Ryder sidestepped, but got his entire left side caught in it. He screamed in pain, nearly collapsing from the searing pain. He forcibly endured it, doing his best to ignore the scorching pain that screamed at his body. He lunged at Dark and punched him with all his might, sending more dust particles scattering in the air.

Dark punched Ryder in the stomach, but it barely fazed him. The adrenaline pumping through his veins was pushing his body pass one hundred percent of his maximum limit. Much like Pikachu, he was forcing his body to go beyond what it could handle.

He was tearing his body apart to end it all.

Ryder clenched his eyes shut as he took more hits from Dark. I can't take this much longer! I need to finish this…with one final attack!

Dark struck Ryder with everything he had left. "What do I have to do to put you down?! You're nothing! Your justice will never achieve peace! Evil will always return!"

Ryder's eyes snapped open into a sharp glare. "Then I guess this last attack will decide it all!" He gripped tightly on Dark's remaining arm and threw him into the air.

Dark glared before realizing the Charmeleon threw him out of the sunlight. He smirked evilly. "What's your big plan?! Eliminating your only chance of beating me?!"

Dark's eyes widened as he saw Ryder slip on his Electro Gauntlet. Switching it on, Ryder pulled out four shurikens, which he took from Hank earlier. The electric aura passed through the gauntlet and absorbed into the shurikens. "Take…THIS!" He threw the shurikens at full force.

The Lord of Fear tried to use Shadow Step, but his body was still searing from the sunlight. The shurikens stabbed into his skin and emitted a painful electric charge that stunned his body, rendering him incapable of moving a muscle.

What…What is he up to?!

Ryder took a deep breath before positioning his hands back. I have to try! I need to pour all my aura into this! I couldn't master it with my aura potential locked away! Let's see if I can use it now!

He poured all his aura throughout his body and transferred it down his arms, then focused it around his hands. He growled as he tried to form the aura attack.

A spark of blue flickered in between his hands. Ryder pushed harder, pumping more power into creating the attack. The blue spark flickered erratically, shifting and shaping in a tiny form. In spite of its small size, the glow it emitted was blinding. As more energy poured into the spark, it began to grow and shape into a sphere.

The surrounding area glowed in blue light as Ryder's Aura Sphere enlarged. He pressed his hands against the sphere and concentrated all the power he had to make this his final shot.

The gang behind him gasped in awe. They could feel the potency of his power mix with the air. They stepped back as the aura he was generating uplifted the earth and cracked the ground. Hank could see that Ryder wasn't giving any slack in his attack. He was going to fire it all in one concentrated blast.

He's going to kill himself…

Ryder clenched his teeth tightly as the strain on his body nearly made him falter and lose his concentration. He had to pour more into this attack. He can't hold anything back.

Dark struggled to move his body as the electricity couldn't to paralyze his body. He moved his hand towards the shurikens in his chest and attempted to pluck them all out. I need to get out of here!

"Dark!" His eyes widened as Ryder glared up at him with furious eyes. "Everything you've done to me! All the pain and suffering! All the misery you've injected into my life! All of that…all of my fury and sorrow…fired at you beyond my power!"

Dark growled vehemently. "YOU INSUFFERABLE HERO! I CAN NEVER BE DESTROYED!"

Ryder growled back. "Not this time!" He poured the last of the strength he had left to muster into the Aura Sphere. The ground beneath him cracked from the intense pressure shooting out of his body. He shifted his footing on the ground and pulled the sphere back.

"Aura…SPHERE!" He thrusted his hands out and fired it, creating a powerful sonic boom along with it.

The attack came in so fast, Dark nearly missed it. He forced his arm out and pushed his hand against the sphere. He could feel the overwhelming power pushing against him. All that raw power stacking up against his weakened body.

Dark clenched his teeth as beads of sweat dripped down his face. If I can absorb this, there'll still be a chance! He attempted to absorb the power, but…

"AAAAHHHH!" The clouds above him had finally evaporated and bathed him in sunlight. His body caught fire has his body slowly turned gray.

He glared at the Aura Sphere, which was pushing hard against his arm until it shattered his hand into dust. The sun was taking away his strength. He couldn't push back any further. The Aura Sphere tore down his arm, slowly pushing and destroying him.

The rage in Dark's heart…it boiled fiercely. I can't lose…I can't lose to an insignificant mortal! I'M THE INCARNATION OF ALL EVIL! I CAN NEVER LOSE!

The Aura Sphere was nearing down his arm. It bubbled violently, showing signs that it was about to explode. Lightning shot off the sphere and scorched the ground below Dark. It glowed brightly, blinding everyone in sight.

Dark growled murderously before shouting, "EVERYTHING YOU LOVE! EVERYTHING YOU CHERISH! EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR TO YOU! EVEN IN DEATH, I WILL DESTROY ALL OF YOU! EVIL WILL NEVER DIE!"

The sphere reached maximum brightness before exploding in a violent blast. Everyone was thrown off their feet and slammed against the destroyed Pokémon Center, with even that getting torn down from the blast. The ground burst open and sent showers of sharp rock fragments flying everywhere, even cutting some people. Everyone kept their heads low to avoid any more harm that could come to them. The Pokémon, having better durability than their trainers, instinctively protected them from any possible dangers.

A chunk of earth was blasted out of the ground and sent flying at them. Krookodile raised his claws and slashed through it with Dragon Claw. Piplup fired off Bubble Beam and destroyed any more incoming dangers that posed a threat. The others just kept themselves in front of their trainers for protection.

After what felt like eons, the blast finally died down, allowing everyone to see the state of the land. The ground was scorched, burning with charred remains of grass. Flickering embers bounced off the devastated ground. Smoke rose off the burning ground, swaying with the wind.

The humans and Pokémon pushed themselves up and stared in shock at the destroyed land around them. Laura collapsed to her knees as her eyes dilated in horror, her lip quivering as if she was going to break out into tears, something she wish she could do right now to reflect the stinging pain that now stabbed at her.

Hank stood up and looked ahead at the blast zone. He saw no trace of Dark anywhere. Even if his blood was scattered somewhere on the ground, the sunlight was beginning to fully peek out of the clouds. The blood would evaporate the moment light touched it.

"Is it really over…?" he mumbled. He then turned to Ryder, who was standing where he fired the Aura Sphere with his arms still thrusted out. "Ryder?" He limped over to him. "Ryder, are you-?"

Ryder teetered on his feet. His arms dropped to his side. His eyes were glazed over. After everything he put himself through, he finally gave out. He fell onto the ground, unconscious.

"Ryder!" Hank limped over faster and picked him up. He placed his hand on his chest and sensed for his aura. He clenched his teeth tightly. "This is bad…" He stood up and shouted. "We need to get Ryder to the Pokémon Center in Undella Town! Now!"

"What about Pikachu and the others?!" Ash asked worriedly. It's not like he didn't want to help Ryder. Quite the opposite, actually. But his poor buddy, along with Dragonite and Jade, were still stuck there with no indication of their current conditions.

"I'm sure they're fine! Right now, we have two Pokémon who need serious medical attention!"

Ash looked at Ryder and Buneary with looks of sympathy before nodding. "All right! I'll take him over there myself!" Considering the old agent's condition, he didn't object. He handed off Ryder to Ash. The raven haired trainer turned to Krookodile, who was holding Buneary. "Let's go!"

"(Right!)" The two went into a full sprint and ran to Undella Town as fast their legs could carry them. The others looked at each other worriedly before falling after them at their own pace.

---

Down in the forest, everything was burning. Darkmon were running around on fire as they tried to find shelter from the sunlight. The screamed in agony as they slowly turned to dust and splatted against the ground. Nowhere in the forest was safe anymore.

Jade, with Pikachu slung over her back, watched as the Darkmon ran pass her in a frenzy. They didn't care about her anymore. All they cared about was escaping their burning home alive. However, even though they won't admit it, they knew the truth. There wasn't any escape for them. It was just their minds telling them there might be a chance.

Even though they were ruthless and cruel, Jade couldn't help but feel a twinge of sorrow for the Darkmon. She had never seen them so frightened in her time seeing them. She didn't think she'd ever see a Darkmon fleeing in terror. She chose to ignore it, blocking the screams out of her head.

I need to get Pikachu out of here. She stared at the mouse's aura. He won't be able to hold on for much longer. I need to pick up the pace.

She sprinted across the burning land, aiming for the cliff. She didn't want to make any stops. Getting Pikachu to a Pokémon Center was her top priority at this moment.

However, her eyes glanced slightly to her left before she stopped. She gasped in shock as she saw a Dragonite laying on the ground. "You've got to be kidding me!" She ran over to him. "Hey, are you-?!" Her eyes widened.

Dragonite's chest looked like it was burned with acid. The blackened state told her he was hit repeatedly with an acidic fluid. From what she could see from his aura, he was close to joining the same fate as Pikachu if she didn't get him the medical help he needed.

Jade frantically looked between the dragon and the cliff she would have to climb. How was she going to climb with two injured Pokémon of differing sizes up that large cliff? She gulped audibly before mumbling to herself, "Just my luck…"