A/N: Alright, this might appear to be a 'tad' out of place this... late? into this story, but I have to say it. A massive thanks to all of you readers, reviewers, my friends (You know who you are!). To be quite honest, I don't know if I'd have gotten as far as I am with this without the feedback I get, the ideas I've been given. So... yeah, just felt I had to throw that out there if I haven't already. I'm done here - Mephiles, out.

Edit: I just realized I HAVE said this already. But you know what? It deserves being said again. NOW I'm done.

This human - Dave - was... interesting, is a good word. It was not difficult to tell that he was not suited to extreme situations... yet. I had also quickly discovered that he could adapt to nearly any circumstance, given the chance. He had earned the respect of his Scyther, as well as the other trainer's Lucario. That was no average feat in itself - but then, something told me that he was no average human... not anymore.

"So, Darkrai... what's the situation?" I heard Dave ask over the crackling fire. He had mentioned the necessity of staying away from the roads for the moment, and we had settled down to 'camp' for the night. When I did not react, he repeated himself. "I know you can hear me - what's going on?" This time, I turned to look at him. But what I said did not exactly answer his question.

"You do not even know what you intend to do." I said quietly, as always. But he obviously heard me, because he blinked once before looking somewhat confused. "When you find her - Giratina. Do you expect to fight? Perhaps you could manage a clumsy slash before being torn apart." His confusion changed to anger faster than I could blink, but I continued. "Or, will you talk - force her to make amends however impossible it may sound? That could be good for a chuckle."

I expected the impulsive slash, and easily sidestepped before the blade could touch me. "Who the hell d'you think you are?! Do you even know what I just went through?" Ah, there was the anger I knew he had been hiding. Perhaps what I was doing should have fallen to Mesprit, or even Mew - Arceus help him if that were true - but I was here, and they were not.

"Yes, in fact I do." I held out a clawed hand, and his next slash recoiled off of a translucent barrier. "You asked what was going on - I assume you meant in my world. Well, your answer is simple: destruction. It was being torn apart when I left." When he lowered his blade, I lowered the barrier and continued. "I was sent here under orders from Arceus to assist you. You do not have to like it, or me - but that is a fact. And from what I can see, you will need all the help you can get."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

I was surprised to hear the defensive tone, and even more so when I saw that it was the Lucario who had 'spoken'. But I quickly recovered and said "Simply that he must decide what he is going to do. And whatever he decides, he will need help." Not precisely what I meant, but it would do for a simple explanation.

For several seconds, both human and Lucario glared at me - surprising, considering who I was. But then Dave sighed, saying "You've got a point. Can't just keep running on reflex forever." As soon as he said that, I felt something... strange, and very close by.

It turned out I was not the only one, as the Lucario seemed to detect it as well. "Dave, something is causing a disturbance in the Aura here."

For some reason, he looked down at her with something between worry and... pride? He smiled and quietly said "Aurora, you don't even know how proud I am of what you just said. And you don't even know why, that's the sad part." For just a moment, he sounded genuinely... not happy, but content. Then in the blink of an eye, it was gone. "What is it? Something dangerous?"

In the corner of my eye, I could see the other trainer, David - strangely, they had almost identical appearances, and even similar names - tense up, ready for anything to go wrong. That was interesting... it implied that he had been through quite a lot. I would need to get the story behind this little group. Unfortunately, I missed whatever Aurora's reaction to his... strange comment was.

"I... don't know." So, the Lucario could not find it. But I recognized the feeling... I had felt it once, in the presence of one of the most mysterious Pokémon in existence, ones that quite honestly stumped even Dialga in regards to their origin. 'Could they have been here? The Unown...' All that I knew about them was that together, they could perform... incredible feats, some that could elude Arceus himself if enough of them gathered.

"What d'you know, Darkrai?" I shook myself out of my thoughts, and focused again on Dave. "I may not be a Legend, like you, but I'm not stupid. You know something - what?" Well, now - he was perceptive, this one. The trouble was, my instructions were very... vague, leaving much to my own discretion. Meaning if I said too much, it was entirely on my head.

After a few moments, Aurora let out a low growl. "He has earned my respect, Darkrai. He deserves yours. Do not try to deceive him, or you will answer to me." This group was just full of surprises. And I have only spoken with two of them.

Instead of answering, I ultimately held my hand out to Dave. "Your sword. I would like to examine it for a moment." That surprised him, and he took a step back. At the same time, he raised the blade again - he was a bit paranoid, in my honest opinion.

That was nothing compared to the Scyther, however; I had almost forgotten that he was there, but the sudden feeling of metal against my back reminded me. I started to turn, but in return the Pokémon's scythe-like arm started digging into my back. "Don't move. Or do, actually - go ahead, I've never gotten to fight a Legend..." Something about the Scyther's voice made me think he was serious - he wanted to fight me.

"I am not here to make an enemy of you. If I intended to harm you, I could have done so numerous times before now." It was true. No matter how well trained these two may be, this entire group could do no more than scratch me. "Now, give me your blade - I only want to confirm something."

For a full minute, we were in a standoff - Aurora and Dave in front of me, and the Scyther behind. Then I heard a voice identical to Dave's, but not his. "Let him see it." It was the trainer, David; why he was backing me, I was unsure, unless it was by virtue of my status. That seemed to be all it took, however - with some reluctance, he motioned for the Scyther to back off and the rather... unique looking blade was placed in my claws. Immediately I felt the 'presence' again, and much stronger.

'Well, this is unique indeed... a human possession, imbued with raw, ancient power. Those creatures, always so unpredictable.' I allowed myself a hidden smile - they had known much, and if there was one thing the Unown were known to do, it was to act on what they could. No matter the circumstance. Still smiling, I handed the blade back to Dave, hilt-first. "Thank you for cooperating."

Taking the blade, he asked "Well, what is it? Anything important?" In response, I simply shrugged.

"Nothing at all. It is merely an ordinary blade - well crafted, but nothing more." He seemed to accept this easily enough, believing my outright lie. I was feeling more and more pleased to have been chosen for this job... important events would surround this human, and I would enjoy watching them unfold.

However, I did not fool Aurora. I could see her almost interrogative look - she knew I had held back something. Well, good for her - if she could detect my own deception, then perhaps this group stood a chance. 'No, more than a chance - perhaps they can win.'

"… so, let me make sure I have this right. The Pokémon world is, in fact, real - something I'd kinda figured out by now. The barrier between it and our world is crumbling, and none of you know why." When he gave an admittedly tired nod, I continued. "This is gonna make your world bleed into ours, making... something else, with one hell of an apocalypse along the way. And you're telling me there is jack shit anyone can do about it?"

"Yes, Keith. That is exactly what I am telling you. Arceus is, contrary to what any other Legends may believe, dying. At first, it was somewhat minor - the equivalent to a cold, for you - and nobody noticed." He seemed to sigh, letting his cloak almost lazily wrap around him again. "Then, perhaps a month ago, it jumped ahead. Now, the creator of our world is suffering from what you might call a cancer. And I personally doubt he will survive."

Lightning flashed outside, which was odd since there wasn't enough water falling to fill a thimble. And it was purple, that was odd too. Mewtwo seemed to think so too, because he glanced at the cave's entrance before continuing. "At this point, even if we were to stop the worlds' merging, our world would crumble and disappear... forever."

"Shit... so your only shot is here in our world, and surviving the impending apocalypse..." That was actually a really dire situation if there ever was one - Pokémon went from existing in the first place to extremely endangered pretty much overnight, as far as our world was concerned. "Well, I guess I'll do what I can to help, since I've probably lost my job on account of being a madman. But I've got a question - why me?"

His response was another laugh, but there was no tone of superiority to this one. "Now, that is quite simple. You already knew what was going on, and despite what you may think, you already know what to do. It just takes a bit of... research."

I had to stop and think for a moment. 'Yeah, I guess I did figure out what was going on early, but I'll be damned if I know what I'm supposed to do...' My thoughts were interrupted by something thudding on the ground in front of me - a backpack? I looked from it to Mewtwo, and saw a faint smile on his face.

"You've done it before, researcher. Years ago, from behind a screen."

It took me several seconds to realize why the 'pack seemed familiar - it was the Trainer's backpack, styled after Pokémon Red's version. Then what he said fell into place, shockingly quickly. "Whoa, hang on there - you're telling me the best thing I can do right now... is be a Pokémon Trainer?"

Again with that weird, echoing chuckle - it was actually getting annoying, although I guess it was better than having him pissed off. "Exactly. To ensure the persistence of your world, or what will be left of it, you will be forced to face off against many Pokémon... some that even I would have difficulty fighting alone. And the only thing that can defeat a Pokemon..."

"Is another one, right." It was true, mostly - it'd probably take a cannon shot to just annoy most of them. "And let me guess... I'm not the only one. I remember enough about games to know that in an apocalypse, there's never one hero." When his smirk widened, I figured that I was right on track. "Yeah, thought so. Now, I've just got one more question - don't quote me on that, though - you expect me to be a Trainer without a Pokémon?"

As soon as I said that he seemed to shift, like he was hesitant about something. "Not exactly. You see, I was unable to bring another with me, as my departure needed to be discreet. As a result... for the time being, I will be forced to travel with you." If I hadn't been sitting down, I probably would've fallen flat on my back when I figured out what he meant.

"Hold on a second - you're gonna be my Pokémon?!" He shot me a glare that sure shut me up - and made one thing perfectly clear: I didn't own him, he was just coming along. "Alright, alright! No need to... psy-rant me to death or anything, I get it!" I let out a sigh of relief when he huffed and turned away - I also made a mental note to watch what I said around this guy. "Now, you said traveling with me - where? I've honestly got no idea what to be doing, except maybe finding whoever else got thrown into- hold up, did you hear that?"

Both of us fell silent for a moment, listening to... at first, nothing. Then, faintly echoing into the cave came a happy-sounding "Vee!" I turned around, and saw a little Eevee looking in from outside. "… well, I'll be damned - you the one I found on the road?"

I wasn't sure if it would remember, even if it was the same one. Of course, that was thrown right out the window, since it yipped again and ran right up to me, jumping up so that I'd catch it. "I'll take that as a yes..." But as I held the Eevee, I noticed Mewtwo had an almost worried expression. "What's wrong this time?" I asked, absently scratching the little ball of fur behind the ears.

"There is something else here. And it is blocking his mind from me, somehow." he replied, gesturing at the little guy - I figured a Psychic would at least get gender right. But that was worrying - supposedly one of the strongest Psychic Pokémon in existence, and he couldn't read this little Eevee's mind? Now, that just wasn't normal. "What is normal right now?" … Damn mind-reader. Still, he had a point.

"Well... this isn't your world, so I can't just let 'im go on his own. You, more than most, know that Mewtwo." I got an audible growl out of him from that - I wasn't aware Mewtwo could growl, but there it was. "You did remember to bring along Pokéballs, right?" Accompanied by a quiet 'hmph', a simple red and white orb floated out of the backpack, and dropped into my hand. I looked down at the Eevee and asked, "You wanna come along? Could get a bit dangerous..."

In response, he leapt out of my arms and landed back on the ground. For a second I thought he was going to bolt, but instead he just turned to look at... nothing? When the little guy started talking, I glanced at Mewtwo for an explanation. He looked just as confused as I was. "He is... talking to someone. Umbra, he is calling them... but you can plainly see there is no one else here." Yeah, that was pretty obvious - this Eevee was talking to air.

Whoever he thought he was talking to, they must've convinced him to come along. He looked up at me and nodded once, yipping happily. I chuckled and muttered, "Alright, that's pretty clear... now, hold still." It occurred to me I was going to get to see a Pokéball actually work - might sound simple, but it was cool. I knelt down and pressed the button of it against his head, and almost dropped it despite having a good idea of what would happen.

The Eevee turned into a red silhouette of itself, and then the energy just... went into the ball, just like that. It shook once in my grip, then with a single beep it was still. I took a moment to look over the device, quite a bit smaller than what just went inside it - I'm a scientist, I do things like that. Then I pressed the button again, and the energy shot out and reformed into the Eevee - and, just for a second, something almost three times his height. But when I blinked, it was just the little guy, staring up at me happily.

I think I was starting to lose it. Things were getting screwy all over the place - makes sense that even Mewtwo could be affected, right? Still... there was definitely something up with that Eevee. Better to keep an eye on him, rather than have him loose if he was dangerous.

Humans... humans think they can harm me, that they can defeat me. And yet here I stood idle, watching them struggle to even gain my notice. As their pitiful weapons spat useless lumps of metal, my mind went elsewhere - that power, that which I had been ORDERED to retrieve... why take it back to him? To the one that dared to capture me! No, I would take it for myself; without my jailors to stop me, I could return to what I once was - the ruler of my own world.

'Except this time... the world would be living... anarchic... amusing.' One of the metal shots struck my mask, jarring me from my thoughts. I took a thundering step forward, crushing one of their large metal weapons, and fired yet another blast of pure energy, wiping more of the nuisances out of existence. When the smoke faded to reveal an empty devastation, I allowed myself a malicious smile. 'Any who defy me... Arceus himself cannot save them.'

The sky flashed with cracks of violet, and my smile faded. 'Then again... my world might not be around much longer.' Something tugged at my mind; something nearby, almost... calling to me. For just an instant, I saw what was around me clearly: once a town, now a ruin. Buildings crushed or blown away, the stone painted red... all my doing. In that instant, I nearly felt that perhaps I'd gone too far... had I?

But the feeling was gone seconds later. Survival in my 'kingdom', my prison, had taught me one thing - nothing was 'too far' if it meant freedom. And this time, I would fight this entire planet before I gave that up. Giratina would never be captive again...