A/N - Alright, I've got good news and bad news for you guys. As usual, I'm going to get the bad news out of the way first - this is the last chapter of Unstable Transitions that you're going to get for quite a while. Now, before you throw tomatoes and grenades, hear me out - the good news comes next.

This is the last chapter... because this 'book' of the story is over. See, this one really ran away from me over time, evolving far beyond what I ever expected it to turn into. So, I'm cutting this one off here for now while I take my time to think about how the next segment is going to play out; get my thoughts and plans together, etc.

On that note, I'm thinking about changing the style for Part Two - a single PoV for each chapter, rather than the normal multi-PoV thing I've been doing for this. This will probably be determined by what you guys think would work best, so please leave your opinions in the reviews.

Finally, I don't know when I'm going to get to Part Two; I need a break to begin with, then I'll get to work on planning it out best I can. I can only assure you that it will get done. With that out of the way, my announcement is over - I give you the final chapter of Unstable Transitions, Book One.
(Please note, subject to editing - because I don't actually have an editor to check over this thing.)

"Sir, this plan is absolutely ridiculous." I said calmly, looking back up at the boss from the papers he'd given me. "Trying to merge two worlds together was one thing... true, it worked, but you had no guarantee of that outcome." I was in an increasingly familiar situation - standing in the doorway to his room, speaking to the darkness he always concealed himself with. 'Seriously, are there even any lights in here at all?'

"But something like this... you're asking for a complete change in this world's physics, the fundamental rules that govern how things work!" I continued, shaking my head and flicking the papers back onto his desk. "I'm sorry sir, but there is no technology in this world or any other that could manage such a thing."

For several seconds he was silent, and I almost feared that I'd angered him. Then I heard a very innocent question. "Weevil, how much do you know about the Pokémon World?"

I hesitated, looking for any trap in the question... and found none. "… little, sir. I know that the creatures are powerful beyond belief, but of the world itself... little." I answered, shifting slightly. 'He won't get rid of me. I'm far too useful.' I assured myself.

"Then allow me to... provide some illumination on the subject." A bank of fluorescent lights switched on with a crackle, blinding me for a moment. When I could see again, my eyes were drawn to a strange plate held inside a glass dome - it was no material I could identify, and had a royal purple tint to it. "Do you know what this is?"

Shaking my head, I replied "No, sir. Could you explain?" His faint smile made me worried - he only was happy when it meant others were going to be quite... unhappy.

"Gladly. You see, this is known as an 'Elemental Plate' in their world - this one, specifically, holds the power of the Dragon-class energy." he began, waiting to ensure I was keeping up before continuing. "These were said to have been created - and utilized - by a Pokémon known as Arceus. The creator of their world."

It took me a moment - only a moment, mind you - before I deduced where he was headed with this. 'Oh, let me be wrong - this is beyond anything we should be tampering with, please let me be wrong...' I thought, hiding my worry.

His smile grew, seeing the realization on my face. "There are sixteen of these... one for every energy class. Alone, they are said to greatly empower 'moves' using that energy. Together... well, Arceus managed to create an entire dimension." He stood up, brushing some dust off of his black business suit - I always thought about saying it was a bit... obvious, but decided against it - before walking over to the glass dome.

"This world... is not yet complete. It's broken, a puzzle with ill-fitting pieces. Unacceptable." he continued, resting his hand on the glass. "Weevil, I am redirecting your department." The dome was lifted, and he gingerly picked up the plate before holding it out to me. "Study this - and find a way to track the others. I want them all... and with them, I will perfect my new world."

With no choice, I took the plate and turned to leave. As I did, I looked back at him as the lights snapped off. "Sir... you are beyond playing God now. I would advise against taking this much further." Before he could dismiss me - a poor decision normally, but this warranted it - I walked out the door and let it slide shut behind me. '… what have I gotten myself into...' I wondered, looking at the smooth object in my hands.

"Hey, Greevil. Move it, I'm seeing the boss." I looked up sourly, seeing TX-001 'Predator' striding down the hallway towards me. In his clawed hand was a glowing red chunk of crystal, but more interesting were his wounds - the fact that he had them to begin with. "Before ya ask, things got a bit dicey in the Halls. Beyond that, none of your business." he added, pushing past me to get to the door.

"… it's Weevil." I spat, uncaring whether he was injured or not - the fault of his recklessness, no doubt. The door slid shut behind him, and I let out a sigh. "… I had better get this to the team. And then... perhaps I should turn in my resignation papers." I muttered to nobody in particular, walking down the hallway.

-Hall of Origin-

It's been two days. Two days since David - my twin, alternate self, whatever you want to call him, died. Two days since that damned 'Predator' showed up, and nearly killed me over a sword. And, according to just about everybody in the Halls that paid attention, two days since I last got some sleep. And today, I was exactly where I'd been those two days - in the same chamber of the Halls, away from everyone else, training.

"David, you need to rest.You know as well as I that too much physical strain will severely hamper your ability to train - sleep deprivation will make it far worse." Mewtwo, of course, was trying to get me to stop training myself again - like he knew anything. I was bloody useless; two glancing blows, one Aura attack, and I was almost out of the fight. I ignored him, and tried to focus again on the attack I'd used on Predator.

The blade flickered, and for a second there was a huge sheath of blue energy around it, but it died as quickly as it'd shown up. The end result - I felt even more drained, and with nothing to show for it. "David, listen to me!" I whirled around to glare at him, almost making myself dizzy in the process.

"First, quit calling me that!" I snapped after my head stopped half-spinning. "Second, I know damn well what I can and can't handle - that much has been shoved in my face plenty of times by now!" Mewtwo sighed, shaking his head before holding one hand out towards me - then I was floating in the air, my blade forcibly removed from my grip.

"First, I will call you whatever I choose - in this case, your name." he began calmly, though I was convinced he was mocking me. I opened my mouth to say something, but my voice just didn't want to work. "Second, I understand that you feel that you have been little more than a failure, or a liability. This is not true - you likely saved several lives that day, if my assessment of that hybrids abilities is any judge. Few among us would have fared well against him, I believe -victory would not have come easily."

I felt whatever was restraining my voice lift, but I settled for continuing to glare at him - and trying not to let my eyes close. "You need training - we understand this as well. However, this is not how it is done." He paused for a moment before setting me down, adding "I will make an arrangement with you. Prove that this is working - strike me once, and I will allow you to continue. Fail, and you will rest."

Of course, sleep-deprived as I was, my judgment... was not great. "Right then - bring it, ya damn clone!" I spat, picking up my sword. His expression hardened when I said 'clone' - figures that'd be a sore spot for him. I ran forward, half-stumbling along the way, and never even got close; a slight psychic push sent me off balance and sprawling to the ground. "Gah... uneven floor..." I muttered, using the sword to pull myself up.

"David, this is faulty thinking on your part." he said flatly, not having moved an inch from the doorway. I ignored him, repeating my rush forward - and repeated my getting thrown to the ground. "I have only your interests in mind - your self-imposed isolation is not doing wonders for you. Nor is it helping anybody else... particularly Aurora, who already has quite enough to worry about."

I stopped in the middle of getting to my feet again, before letting myself slump against the wall I'd just been dropped next to. "… didn't know you cared, 'Two." I muttered tiredly, half in danger of falling asleep right there. "'sides... they know where I am..."

Mewtwo shook his head slightly, glancing behind him for a moment. "Correction - I know where you are. Palkia likely does as well, but that is beside the point. You did not choose the most out of the way chamber in the Hall at random." He walked away from the room's entrance until he was standing in front of me. "Until now, I respected your choice - I did not like it, but I doubt saying so would have changed anything. However, it has been two days; return to the others, and sleep."

"… hell with it. But I'm too damn tired to walk all the way - if I even knew the way." I said finally with a weak nod.

"That will not be a problem." he replied before placing one hand on my head. Then I can only assume he Teleported us, because a second later I was sitting in the middle of... a huge bedroom? "To answer your question, Palkia managed to 'convince' the Halls to accommodate your group. You simply never utilized this - or never knew."

I wasn't listening to him - by the time he'd finished talking, I was already next to the bed and in the process of flopping down onto it. "Yeah... great. Send her a card for me... I'm out." Before my head even hit the pillow, I was - just like I said - out like a light.

Before I could even ask for entry, Palkia's voice came through the large doorway. "Come on in, Dialga." Of course - she would know exactly where I was at any time. With the invitation extended, I walked into her chamber of the Halls. "You're here for the update, I take it?" she asked, not quite in my view yet.

Despite not being able to see, I nodded. "Indeed. With everything as chaotic as it has been, I am wondering how you are 'holding up' as the humans would say." Her response was a genuine laugh, and she stepped into view. Her dismal appearance that had become so common recently was gone, now replaced with her 'former glory' - at least, that is how she would describe it.

"Look at that, Dialga - you're using human-talk! There's hope for you yet." she joked, which in itself was another good sign. If only to humor her, I cracked a thin smile before motioning for her to get on with it. "Yeah, I know - structurally, it's all good. The dimension's stable, no cracks or anything. Which is nearly a miracle, because get this: this world's got no Distortion World to keep it in line!"

That was surprising - no support, for an entire dimension? "I suppose it is no wonder that its barrier was weakened over time, then." I said with as good as a shrug as I could manage. But Palkia quickly shook her head.

"No - it doesn't work like that. These things only break if something breaks them - on accident, or on purpose." She let that sentence hang for a moment before adding "And this was no accident. You remember that human, Cyrus I think his name was?" My eyes narrowed, and I nodded once - that human had once tried to enslave us, to make his own 'perfect world'.

Palkia's own expression darkened. "A month before our world's collapse, I detected a single pulse in the fabric of the Distortion World. Of course, so soon after that incident, such things were expected - I thought nothing of it." She paused, clenching her claws together before continuing. "I think that was the last push for our world - and it was right around the time Giratina vanished."

It took no time for me to understand the implications. "You do not believe that she caused this, do you?" I asked, something close to shock crossing my face. "She only has power over her own dimension, nothing more. How would that be possible?"

My counterpart held up a hand to stop me. "Let me finish, brother. This goes back to Cyrus - I think his actions weakened our world's dimensional barriers... and something on this side broke through." she said grimly. "I always knew something was off about all this..."

"I agree. The question, however, remains - what did this?" I stated with a sigh. Then a thought occurred to me, and I amended "Or, more correctly, who." As soon as I said it, pieces began falling into place - there was somebody in this world, someone who had stumbled into the Distortion World. They learned about our world there, and... "It is happening all over again." I muttered, making Palkia look at me in intrigue.

"What d'you mea-" she stopped herself, looking off into the distance. "… well that just makes no sense." Now it was my turn to inquire what she was referring to, and her response shocked me. "I just felt the presence, activation, something... of a Plate."

I could only say one thing in response to that - a single question, the answer to which made all the difference in the world. "Where?"

-Real World: Ninetales' Den, ?-

"How's the kid doing?" I asked when I noticed the Ninetales - we'd learned her name was Amber - climbing out of the sizable hole in the ground. "Any better?" She nodded her head enthusiastically, a genuine smile on her face.

"He is doing very well, Verden - the wound will scar, a shame for such a young age, but he will survive." She laughed quietly, adding "It is a very good thing you encountered me on the way back from gathering. There is little in any direction from here for a long way."

I couldn't help but raise an eyeridge - something the humans often did when they were confused by something. "And... why's that amusing?" I asked wryly, not letting on that I was only messing with her. "You're referring to a life-or-death situation for this kid."

Immediately her laughing ceased, and she looked down at the ground. "Right... my apologies. It isn't." I let out a rumbling laugh of my own, shaking my head.

"No, it's fine Amber - I wasn't being too serious." I assured her with a smirk. That expression quickly faded with my next question, though. "And... Kairi? How's she holding up?" This time, Amber looked simply disappointed.

"Not as well. She's spoken little, however she has eaten." she replied, shaking her head. "But I fear she might be... what was the word humans used..." It took her a few seconds to remember the word. "Depressed, that was it - and it is not healthy, especially for a Pokémon like herself."

"You're right about that one... but I'm not sure what to do." I let out a sigh, glancing back down at the den's entrance. 'I hope she doesn't fall too far into this...' I thought, not wanting to think about what could happen if she did - Gardevoir were said to have... incredibly destructive abilities, when unstable.

"… Do you hear something?" Amber's question made me bring my attention back, straining my hearing for a moment. It took a second, but I did - a pulsing sound, along with that odd 'ticking' that cooling metal always seemed to have.

In response, I started following the sound - it wasn't far off. I only walked for maybe a minute, Amber following curiously alongside me, until I found something half-buried in the grass; at least, it wasgrass. In a circle maybe three feet across at most, the ground was black and almost scorched. And embedded in the center of the area was the source of the sound, an angular slab of fiery red... metal?

I reached out with a vine to pick it up, and immediately recoiled - it was still hot, enough to burn if I'd actually grabbed it. "What... what is this?" I wondered aloud, eyeing it warily. "Has this always been here?" The question was unnecessary, but it wasn't like I had anything else in mind to say.

"No, it hasn't... in fact, I have never seen anything like it before." she answered, just as confused as I was. "Although... something about it is definitely strange; it gives off heat, somewhat like... solid fire, somehow."

"No kidding..." I muttered. "Whatever it is... hm. Kairi always put effort into learning the humans' legends - maybe she knows something we don't." As soon as I finished talking, I noticed a change in the lighting - not from the slab in front of us, but in the sky. Far in the distance, near a snow-covered mountain, a thin pillar of violet light stretched into the sky, lingering for a few seconds before fading away. "What in the Distortion World was that!?"

While I was staring at where the pillar of light had been, Amber cautiously walked up to the strange object and wrapped one of her tails around it before tugging it out of the ground. "I am not sure, but this has something... ancient, about it. Hopefully the Gardevoir knows more than we do on the subject."

-Hall of Origin: Tree of Beginning-

It was times like these where I was glad nobody paid attention to where I went. The important one, Dave, could have that spotlight for all I cared. Meanwhile, I was content to just walk through the Halls with Neureon shadowing me - or in this case, exploring the huge stone tree that seemed to be sticking through one of the walls.

"Talk about weird... if I had my equipment right now, I'd be having a field day with all this..." I muttered, looking around at the red veins of crystal running through the 'walls' of the tree. "What kind of material is this, anyway?"

Neureon, of course, thought I was asking him. "I don't know... but it feels creepy. I don't like it in here..."he said, using the telepathy he'd so quickly gotten used to. "Do we have to be here?" I couldn't help but chuckle - this guy was an enigma to the Legendaries from what I overheard, and yet he was creeped out by an empty stone tree. '… although, it is kinda eerie, I guess.'

"You didn't have to follow me, ya know." I said, glancing down at the purple 'hybrid'. "But I can't let something like this..." I gestured around me at the tree in general. "… go unexplored. I'm a scientist, or was - it's kind of what I do."

"Unown...!"

I sharply turned my head, ducking just in time to avoid a... flying exclamation point? "What the..." The thing stopped a few feet behind me, then quickly flew in front of me - it was trying to block my path. "Get out of the way, will ya?" I said, irritated - I was being denied by a freaking exclamation point with an eye.

The... thing, started shaking almost like it was afraid. "Un. Nown, Unown!" I didn't understand a thing, but whatever it said seemed to worry Neureon.

"Oh, that's not good - no, not at all! Keith, we should go; the Unown says bad things are going to happen!"I looked back at him, confused.

"Unown? So that's what this thing is... and you can understand that?!" I shook my head - of course, I would focus on the least important part of that sentence. "Doesn't matter... what kind of 'bad things'?" I instantly regretted asking - the corridor, branch, whatever we were in started rumbling as soon as I finished my sentence. "Damnet, Murphy..."

The crystal 'veins' lining the walls started glowing, and a weird gel-like... thing, emerged from the section closest to me. It morphed into the vague form of a Kabutops - one of the early Generation ones, which was the only reason I remembered it - and attacked me! "Ah, what the hell?!" I shouted, falling backwards and barely avoiding its sickle-like arm. I wasn't sure if those were sharp, being made of gel-stuff, but I didn't want to find out!

That, as weird as it might sound, was not what caught my attention next - no, that 'honor' went to the red root-like things that I noticed creeping up the corridor towards us. "Ooh, that's not good. Neureon... I suggest we run." I said before scrambling to my feet, turning around and doing just that.

"I told you we should've left! I told you, I told you!"the Eeveelution called, quickly darting after me. "No one ever listens to little me, no - I'm too young to know what to do."Right... he was still basically a kid. And they always rub it in whenever they are right about something.

"Fine, you were right - now can you help us get outta here?!" I really should've remembered that he had almost no real control of his abilities yet - Mewtwo was supposed to train him on that point, but he'd vanished into the labyrinth-like halls about a day ago. But whatever else there was to say about Neureon... he tried to help.

The response I got was a blue glow surrounding me, the Eeveelution himself... and everything else within about ten feet. From my view, everything stopped for a second, then I felt like I got literally ripped into bits. A second later, I was in the same section of corridor... but it wasn't connected to the rest of the tree. Instead it was balanced on the ground of one of the Hall's chambers - from the pink, floating cat in front of me, most likely Mew's.

For the first time since I'd seen her, she had an almost angry expression. "What did you do?!"

"David, wake up!"

Aurora's shout made me bolt upright, thankful that I'd fallen asleep in my clothes. "Where's the fire?" I slurred, barely awake enough to think. My response was a stinging slap across the face that quickly changed that situation. "AH! What the hell?!"

Aurora was standing next to the bed, looking at me with a combination of relief, anger and urgency. "Don't you ever vanish on us like that again!"she snapped, one paw seemingly ready to hit me again. "Two days... three, counting how long you have slept! Were you trying to kill yourself?"

"It'd take a lot more two-" she cut me off, shaking her head. Great, can't even get a word in edge-wise.

"It does not matter right now. Lady Mew is calling everyone to..." she hesitated for a moment - what was going on? "She is calling for everyone to leave the Halls."

"Wait- WHAT!?" That came right out of left field - why would we need to leave? What was so serious that Mew - happy-go-lucky Mew - decided to take charge of something? A lot of questions flew through my head at that point, but I only asked one. "Where to?"

It turned out, we were gathered in the last place anyone expected... and somewhere I bet no one besides a Legendary has ever been to. "… Arceus' chamber. You're kidding, right? I'm not going to... I dunno, burst into flames or have my face melt off when I walk in?" I asked Darkrai, who'd shown us where the huge, impossible-to-miss double doors were.

"No. You will be fine - now enter." He was obviously in no mood for screwing around, because he used one hand to push the door open and the other to flat out shove me through it. 'Sheesh... a little rough,there...' Inside, in a half-circle in the center of the room, all the other Legendaries were already talking to each other. I came in just in time to overhear what was probably the cause of all this.

"This is unbelievable... how did the Tree get out of control?" Mesprit asked, directing the question at Mew. "Isn't that your job, making sure it doesn't happen?"

Darkrai floated in beside me, and got their attention. "Ahem. Perhaps we should explain to these two what has gone wrong?" They all turned to look at us, apparently not having seen us enter. "And an explanation of the current plan would do as well, I think." he added before taking up a spot in the group. "As this is Lady Mew's idea... would you?"

The pink Legendary flew forward a few feet, and I was surprised to see a worried expression on her face. I was even more surprised when I heard what she said. "We're running out of time, so I'll give you the short version. The Tree of Beginning is... well, angry and hungry - a very bad combination. A piece of its core was taken - according to the Unown- and now it's trying to feed itself."

"'Feed itself'? On... what?" I asked was going to like th answer. Spoilers - I didn't.

"Whatever it finds. It's spreading its roots, but it was never meant to be here. Mix energy-draining roots with 'Spatialstone' as Palkia calls it..." She shrugged, looking over at the mentioned Legendary to finish her statement.

Palkia sighed, and switched to telepathy as well - it was sorta hard to understand roars, after all. 'Seriously, does everyone here know telepathy? Is it... a requirement for being a Legendary?'

"Spacialstone, the material the Hall is made out of, is a very... temperamental rock. It doesn't like being targeted by moves - in fact, it tends to throw them back at you. However, if you add a continuous energy draining effect, it starts to loop around repeatedly and... boom." By the end of that explanation, I was starting to feel pretty damn nervous about being here. Hell, it was overriding the awe I should have had from being in Arceus' room.

"Alright, so I get why we're leaving." I said, looking at Palkia. "I've got two questions - first, where the hell are we gonna go? And second, how long until this place goes up in flames?" All of them began glancing at each other, ultimately ending with everyone looking at Mewtwo.

"I have already determined a temporary base location for us." he said simply. Then he glanced at me, adding "I decided... perhaps it would be good to have some familiarity during all of this." Um... why was he looking at me when he said that? "In fact, I sent the researcher and his hybrid ahead - to ensure it was safe as I believed it to be. According to the last contact I had with his 'Neureon', it is."

"Great, that's answer one. Now who's got answer two?" I asked, crossing my arms and trying not to look worried beyond all belief.

This time it was Mew who answered. "The Tree can handle a lot... maybe a month, two at most." It was really odd, hearing her talk so... seriously. "Hey! I can be serious when I want to!" she snapped, glaring at me - though I got the feeling she wasn't really angry.

I clapped my hands together once, startling Aurora who was standing next to me. "Alrighty, then! We've got... well, I wouldn't call it a plan, but we've got a backup." I looked over to Palkia, adding "You're the Space one - let's warp." Everyone looked at me in surprise - I guess I did just tell a Legendary what to do, but who really cares at this point? "What're we waiting for - chop-chop, guys."

Shockingly enough, Palkia nodded. "Right - everyone, hang on to something." she said, before raising one of her claws into the air. It gained a bright pink glow, then she slashed through the area in front of her with it, literally tearing through the air. 'So that's Spatial Re-eeaah!' The rift she made expanded faster than I could blink, swallowing up almost the entire room. For a moment, we were all floating in purple-black... nothing-stuff.

When that moment ended, we were standing in the middle of a ruined town. The streets were cracked, the buildings were rendered to nothing but rubble - it was almost flat, really. "You picked... a ruined town. A demolished town is going to be our 'base' for all this?" I shook my head, letting out a drawn-out sigh. "Mewtwo, do you even plan?"

"David, do not underestimate my intelligence. This place is already cleared away, out of sight in relation to other locations. Quite a lot could occur here, and nothing would be thought of it." he said plainly, looking at me with a smug expression. "So yes, I do 'even plan'."

I gasped in mock-surprise, hiding a smirk. "He understands humor - we have a chance!" My expression turned serious again as I turned to the others. "Alright, so what're we-" Surprisingly, they weren't looking to Dialga, Palkia, or any of the other important ones for what to do next - no, they were looking at ME. "Why are you all lookin' at me? Did I suddenly become Commander, or something?"

Darkrai floated up to me. "Actually, in a sense, yes." he said calmly. "To be entirely honest, you seem to - against all of our preconceptions about humans - know what you are doing. This is not our world, either; it is yours. You know it better than we do." I had to admit, he had a point - these guys wouldn't know what's out of place, or anything. Speaking of which...

"That reminds me - you, Timelord!" I pointed to Dialga. "Something's been bugging you this entire time. What is it?" He looked at me in surprise - probably didn't expect me to pick up on that.

Shifting his feet, crushing the rubble underneath him in the process, the huge Temporal Pokémon nodded. "You are all aware that Lord Arceus possessed sixteen 'Plates', each containing the fundamental power of a single Type. Am I correct?" The question seemed mostly directed at me and Aurora, and I nodded once. Aurora didn't, but I wasn't too surprised - really, who actually remembers the details of these legends, anyway?

"Well, that legend is indeed true. It was with those Plates' abilities that he created the Pokémon World, as well as all of us." he explained, and I quickly got the impression that I was getting the abridged version of this little tale. "Further details are unnecessary, but I will tell you this: shortly before we were forced to leave, Palkia sensed the activation of one of these Plates - the energy surge is great enough that it is nigh impossible to miss."

Connecting the dots in my head, I interrupted. "Let me take a wild guess; you're worried that the same guy that sent Predator, the one who wanted my Unown-boosted sword, is also after these Plates - worse, that he might already have one, and has started using it. That about sum it up?" I swear, if the situation wasn't so dire already, I'd have doubled over laughing at the shocked-blank looks that everyone gave me. "It's an age-old setup, guys."

"… that is... actually exactly it, yes." Dialga managed, nodding. "And that changes this... game, entirely. No longer are we allowed to merely survive."

"Right, then; we're just switching from Survival to a race against the clock - we don't know how far this guy's gotten in finding 'em, but we can only assume he's got us beat with a score of One to Zero." I said after a moment. "That... and we're on our own time limit - two months, max. Then the Tree and the Halls light up like the Fourth of July... and that's not going to go over well, either."

Everyone just looked at me, presumably waiting to see where I was going with this. 'Are they really so screwed that they're looking to a 19-year old human for directions? Oh, how the mighty have fallen…' I thought with something between pity and amusement - more in the situation than anything else. "Great. Well, if I'm in charge - which apparently I am, despite the super-powered gods standing in front of me - then I say we get this place in shape!"

Before I could actually give any orders, I heard Keith's voice calling me from across the street. "Hey, David! You might want to look at this..." I looked over, and saw he was standing in the middle of one of the ruined buildings, holding... something.

"One sec, guys." I said quickly before running over to him, Aurora following behind. "What is it?" I asked, right before he held out the object to me. It was a battered rectangle of hard plastic, and through the numerous scratches and scrapes I could see it used to be black and blue. There were two differently sized slots on it, with the wider one placed on the bottom end of it. 'I recognize this thing...'

A quick memory of me on a bus, playing on this same handheld, flashed through my head. Just to check something, I looked at where the charging port should have been - and just as I expected, it was melted together, with the corroded remains of a cord connected to it. "This is my DS..." I muttered, slowly looking back to Keith. Neureon was standing next to him, looking at me oddly. It didn't take me long to figure out where we were.

Without another word, I turned and started stalking back to the Legendaries - specifically, Mewtwo. "What did he wish to show-" I interrupted his question with a straight punch to the face, leaving me with a stinging fist and him with a look of utter shock. Then the shock turned to anger, and he looked like he was ready to tear me apart. "What in this world has gotten into you?!"

"My hometown - you picked the ruins of my home to be a base for us?!" I snapped, making him shut right up. "If this is your idea of a joke, you've got a shitty sense of humor." I felt Aurora tugging on my arm, trying to pull me back. But Mewtwo, to everyone's surprise, didn't lash out at me - in fact, his expression seemed to soften slightly.

"I did. I gleaned the information from your mind, and determined it would have a certain symbolism to it - where it all started, as it were." He paused for a second before adding "Perhaps it was not well-judged."

I shook my head in disbelief - he was supposed to be the smart one! "It doesn't matter... I've got bigger things to deal with." I snarled, giving the clone a dark look before turning my attention to other Legends. "We're on a time limit, and we've got nothing to work with. Quick ones - Bird trio, Entei and Raikou, Rayquaza - do so. We need to know what's going on, and if there's any more Plates found."

I nearly surprised myself with how... authoritative I was being, commanding Legendary Pokémon - but the mentioned ones all nodded before splitting off to talk things over with themselves. "Well, those years of playing strategy games paid off... Palkia and 'Gigas, you're construction. We're not living in ruins - make us a base, one that can actually fit us all. You've got the materials, get working." Again, the looks of surprise at how I was taking charge, but nobody objected.

"The rest of you are getting food - you're smart enough to know what's poisonous and what isn't. Latias, you used to live in a garden - you're in charge of that." The mentioned dragon gave me a weak smile, and I remembered that this hadn't been hell just for me. "And guys... whoever this is, they've brought both our worlds crashing down. He's committed one hell of a crime... so let's get ready to pass Judgment."