A/N: Alright, this is going faster than I thought it would. I'm also exhausting Author's Note material too quickly, so I'm just gonna let you read now.

'I am out of my damn mind.' It was times like these where I questioned my mental state. Here I am, not an hour after getting slashed by a Scyther, without any real chance for a rest. And the first thing I do? Challenge the same Scyther to a fight, why not? With no real training to use a sword except for a few days fighting Aurora, versus an intelligent scythe-armed mantis with instinct on its side. This will end well, right?

"Well? I'm waiting." I dropped into what I hoped was a decent defensive stance - this was not going to be fun. Now, I always knew that Scythers were fast as a whole; they always went first for me in the games, anyway. But it's a whole different story when you have one, actually ready to fight, rushing at you. The most I had time to do was shift the angle I had the blade at before its scythes clanged against the metal, sending a shock through my arms.

Wincing just from the impact, I managed to keep those bone-cutting blades away from me... barely. But I realized something very quickly: it wasn't straining at all. The Scyther wasn't really trying - why would it need to? I was just an average, untrained human with a replica sword. Actually, scratch that - a below-average, untrained human with a sword. 'The bugger's toying with me.'

That ticked me off. Sure, I wasn't exactly a fighter, but that's just crossing into arrogance. And as a certain Jedi once said... "Your overconfidence is your weakness." The Scyther actually seemed confused; maybe it was my bad Skywalker impression, or that without my train of thought it made no sense. Either way, for just a second it wasn't focused - and I was.

Ignoring my side's loud protest to moving this much, I tilted the blade just enough to have the scythes skid off to the side while I jumped back. The Scyther quickly regained its balance, and locked its sights on me again. I could tell I'd gotten it mad; or just determined, for once I couldn't tell. Then air started swirling around its scythes - as in, I could see dust swirling with the wind near its arms. That's when I remembered that Scyther's aren't just up-close fighters, even in the games.

With a sharp cry, it slashed both scythes at me. What looked like crescent-shaped 'sonic boom' waves - like what you'd see in... any show, really - came shredding through the air at me. Obviously, I had no time to dodge something moving that fast; think about it, if it's parting the air, it's probably faster than a bullet. Luckily, the first 'slash' missed... barely. The second... not so much.

The wave hit me in the left arm, just above my elbow. First was the impact itself, which sent me spinning to the ground face-first. Second, I found out that wind can cut you. There was maybe a 6-inch long slash in my arm that was already starting to bleed. "Why a Scyther... why not a Squirtle, or something?" I muttered to myself, pulling myself up with the sword as leverage. At least the Scyther had the decency not to kick a guy while he's down.

About that time, Dad decided to throw the sliding door open. Holding - when did he get a revolver? Holding the gun aimed at the Scyther, he shouted "The hell is going on here!?" The Pokémon - Aurora and the Scyther both - looked at him in surprise for a moment. He looked over at me, the barrel of the gun never wavering. "This another of your 'Pokémon', Dave?"

Instead of answering, I ignored my arm for a moment. "Dad - and Aurora, this goes for you too - back off. Watch if you want, but this bug thought it'd be a good idea to ambush one of my friends at my house." Aurora looked at me in surprise this time, but I just shook my head; I was serious.

Dad, though, wasn't having any of it. "David, you are out of your mind if you think I'm letting you fight that... thing."

I shook my head - typical. Stubborn father is stubborn, as always. "Let me be blunt - you pull the trigger, you're just gonna piss it off. These things take lasers to the face and flamethrowers to the chest, and get right back up. You think a bullet is going to do anything?" I pulled the sword back out of the ground, holding it with just my right hand now. "Besides, once this starts again, you're more likely to hit me than it."

As I was talking, I was watching the Scyther. It had backed up, putting Aurora, Dad, and myself all in its view. Beyond that, it was just watching - I knew it could understand us, so it was probably waiting to see what would happen. "So let me try this again - back off, and let me deal with this." Whether it was my logic - hah! - or the idea that he might shoot me, Dad got my point. He lowered the gun slowly, glaring at the Scyther.

But of course, he had one more thing to say. "David, kick its ass or you're grounded."

I laughed, despite my arm and side screaming at me to calm the hell down. Waving the sword to grab its attention, I looked over at the bug. "Are we finishing this, or what? I have lunch in a few minutes." Something changed, then, in either the Pokémon's stance or expression. It bolted at me, scythes up and out to both sides. The blades gained a green glow, and it threw them into a cross-slash. I brought up my sword, but instead of trying to just block I slashed it through where the scythes would meet.

Like I thought, the blades just clanged off of each other, and for once I didn't get cut. What surprised me was that instead of slashing again, the Scyther dashed back. It almost looked like... it was having fun! This was just a game now; well, time to kick it up a notch. So I decided to do something stupid - I rushed the Pokémon, bringing my sword around in a momentum-driven upwards slash.

The Scyther brought up an arm in time to block, and I could swear I saw it grinning. Yeah, it was definitely having fun with this - that was good. It meant that it probably wasn't trying to kill me anymore. Actually, it obviously wasn't; I figured that out when it just pushed the blade down, and sort of folded its scythes back. Then it threw its head back and made an odd chittering sound. Was it laughing?

It turned to look at Aurora, who at some point had moved to the wall near my dad, and started talking. All I heard was variations on 'Scyther' - that, at least, hadn't changed from the series. But whatever it was saying, it was something good; Aurora actually cracked a smile. Guessing the fight was over - for now, at least - I stabbed the sword into the ground and leaned on it.

Then it occurred to me: I was bleeding. From an air-caused cut on my arm. "Hey dad? Get mom, will ya?" When he looked at me, I laughed weakly. "Because I'm about to drop. Air hurts, who'd have thought?!" With that, I slumped to the ground. Sleep was sounding pretty good right now.

***********************Pokémon World***********************

"Oh no..." I came all this way, from the other side of the region practically, to see if Professor Rowan knew anything about what was going on. And what do I find when I finally get here? Ruins. Sandgem Town was almost unrecognizable - where I know buildings should've been, there was that damn purple void. Whatever rifts had come through here were gone, but what was left looked like a Tauros stampede had hit.

My team had similar reactions - Kairi was stunned silent, Jagged had the same stoic face he always had when something bad happened, and Verden was just shaking his head sadly. Aurora- wasn't here, right. I was still getting used to her not being around - kept expecting her to come in with the rest of them.

"David... what are we going to do?" I turned my head to look back at Kairi. The Gardevoir was scared; all three of them were. And who wouldn't be - the region, maybe the world as far as we knew, was literally being torn apart. The problem was, I didn't know what we were going to do - my team never failed, but this wasn't a battle. This wasn't a fight to win anymore; it was running to survive.

So I said the only thing I could. "We make it through the day. Then we make it through the next. We keep going, and we don't lose anyone else." I looked back over Sandgem, so close to my home town... was my mother alright? Feeling something on my shoulder, I turned around - of course, it was Kairi.

She gave me a small smile and gently squeezed my shoulder - I swear, sometimes she's just like mother. "Make it through the day. And you won't lose anyone else." She must have let the others hear because Jagged nodded in agreement, and Verden stomped the ground once - he was always right with me.

"H-help...!"

I whirled around - that came from the town! "Kairi - scan for anybody still alive, thinking, whatever." She nodded once and closed her eyes, gaining a faint pink glow. I waited for nearly a minute - who could have survived this? Then she opened her eyes again, looking worried.

"In the Pokémon Center - but we need to hurry. It's a child." I just nodded, and she grabbed my arm. An instant later we were inside what was left of the Center - the computers were shattered, the 'Healer' gone entirely. The building itself was in shambles, half gone and the rest crumbling. But that wasn't important - Kairi pointed to the collapsed stairway. "Under there. I'll help."

As I started hauling what rubble I could away from the pile, larger pieces or groups started floating on their own. "Just a second, kid..." I said, hopefully loud enough to hear. It took maybe a minute, but we cleared enough away to see the kid - a new trainer, from the looks of it. The tattered backpack and Pokéball belt gave it away. He looked up, blinking slowly. I let out a sigh of relief - of course, the survivor would be a kid.

He used one arm to clear some more bits of stair away, and I pulled him up. "Thank you, thank you! I was worried I'd never get out of there!" The kid was alright - a little beat up, and more than a little shaken, but he was alright. He looked around, suddenly worried about something. "Have you seen my Rattata? He went to find help, and didn't come back..."

My relief faded for a second. I wasn't sure the kid's Pokémon was even alive... but I couldn't tell him that. "No, didn't see him. But come with me - I'll help you find him." I didn't have to force concern or hope - I wanted to find him, wanted the kid's friend to be alive.

Perking up immediately, like he hadn't just been covered in rubble, the kid was almost bouncing. "Thanks, mister! Oh, I'm Joey, and my Rattata's Nibbles - he's the best Rattata ever!"

I smiled for the kid, leading him over to Kairi. "That is my Gardevoir. She'll get you out of here, and I'll be right behind you." Joey stared up at her in awe - the kid must not have gotten that far. She gave me a sad smile, and they were both gone in a flash of light. Alone, I glanced around the Center for a moment, then I walked over to the entrance. Half-buried, just inches away from making it through the door, a thin purple tail gave away what I was looking for.

Taking out a notepad and pen from my pockets, I scribbled something onto a page, tore it out and set it on the ground next to the small pile. I looked at it, then speared the top of the page with my pen - I had plenty, anyway. I stood back up and took off my hat, quietly reading what I wrote. 'The best Rattata... the best friend.'

For only a few seconds I stood there, then I had to leave. If I came back with so much as a tear streak, Joey might pick up on it. I couldn't stand to tell him his friend was dead.