Nobody came to visit Akuma after he'd regained consciousness, and that was what he preferred for now. If Akashi or Chad had stopped by they would have asked about his condition or how he was taking the loss. If Fuji or another hunter had come in they would have asked for a mission report. He didn't want to answer either one at the moment, even though his mind was fixated on the two. He had not been caught off guard when he was ambushed, the enemy had hidden perfectly. Perhaps if his rage hadn't blinded him into recklessness he could've fought better though… no, he would have still lost. The Pokémon he fought were all of the highest levels and the enemy was a master strategist. Even at his best he would not have won, but maybe if he had been able to restrain himself more then Ariados wouldn't have…

Akuma pulled the pillow over his face so the walls wouldn't see his tears. Ariados wasn't a fighter, but it was a highly valuable member of his team. Aside from Gastly when invisible it was the most suited team member for stealth. It could bring down multiple opponents before anybody saw it, before he could spot it even. Akuma had gone back to Fuchsia City multiple times for special training specifically for Ariados from the ninja master Koga and his daughter. Captured as a Spinarak, Ariados was a late addition to his team, but Akuma had put so much time into training together that few of his other Pokémon could match their closeness. In fact, Ariados was perhaps just as much a family member to him as Gastly. Akuma's biggest regret however, was that he had never spoken this truth to his Pokémon. Sure they rarely spoke to each other, opting for silent respect, but Ariados deserved to hear those words all the same.

Feeling empty inside while seething with rage, Akuma remembered the face of his enemy during the battle. Smug, arrogant, confident, and without equal, he fought Akuma not as one would fight an enemy, but with an attitude of casual indifference as one would flick away a slowly approaching bug. Akuma wasn't supposed to be broken in that battle, it was a warning. It would be no problem to simply dispose of him if the two were to encounter each other again. The man was beyond justice or retribution as a single man. There was no force able to contain him save for those Pokémon of mythical lore, but he would have no desire to face those creatures so his power was guaranteed to remain unmatched for all time. Perhaps he had not even meant to kill Ariados, but it happened anyway by accident which made his power all the more worrisome. Akuma remembered the last blow he'd seen his friend take, and it was probably the one that did his friend in. The blow from the enemy colossus would have given almost any Pokémon a fatal injury and Ariados had flown through the air like a wet rag upon impact. Not even the opposing Pokémon were trying too hard to win. If the battle had been taken seriously from the other side there might not have been a corpse to recover when the rescue team arrived.

It was all the more clear to Akuma that his fate would be to win in due time, but there was no way to do so. He could train for years and pass beyond his enemy, but surely that would be predicted. His opponent was obviously still bettering himself as well and who was to say he would merely stop at a whim? Akuma already couldn't fathom the levels of power he had fought so there was no way to know how much training he would need to do to begin with. Even if his resolve had been strengthened again it was impossible to match that kind of raw power on his own. Nobody in existence fought like that man did. No trainer or Pokémon was that powerful, that brutal, that barbaric, that…

Akuma's thoughts suddenly broke. He was wrong. He had faced an opponent of that power before; three times in fact. The first time he had been outmatched to this degree was on top of the sky tower when he'd battled Rayquaza. The second time was when he explored a small group of uncharted islands where his chances of survival were all but gone. And the third one was…

He slowly and fearfully looked over to his equipment across the room. Nestled inside a secret pocket within his vest, sleeping within a blood red colored poké ball was the third enemy; the insane, bloodthirsty, murderous Pokémon that he had not only defeated, but managed to capture. Three times he had faced death of the same brutality he'd been subjected to a few days ago and come out alive and victorious. He carried what might have been the answer to his victory, but did he dare to use it? Was the only way to defeat a monster by using another? At least the recent enemy had a sense of reason and strategy while this option was simply that of pure unopposed destruction. And yet, perhaps that made his enemy the more dangerous of the two as well. Even if he did choose to resort to that option there would still be the matter of how to deal with the one left over, but it seemed to be the only way at this point.

Akuma forced himself to take a long calming breath. He didn't have to feel rushed in his decision right now. He would take his time to recover and while he did there would be plenty of time to go over the options available to him. The hardest part was finding the one right answer among all the impossible choices.

After Akuma had finally recovered enough to leave his room, he did so. Nobody had come to visit and so he paid no one any mind as he walked down the halls. All those he passed took notice of him, but said nothing and stepped to the side. Whether it was out of respect for him or in memory of his fallen companion, he didn't know or care at this point. He made his way to a special room reserved only for him where he shut himself up for a number of hours. When he came out there was a special belt across his chest and waist which carried every Pokémon available to him. Again he walked through the halls unchallenged until he found his way to a large freezer. Quickly he entered and left this room, bringing out a box shaped coffin containing the body of Ariados on a wheeled cart. From there he went straight to the elevator, finding the halls now deserted. He ascended to the ground floor in silence, ready for a long walk to Pokémon Tower where he would forever lay to rest his companion. When the doors opened however, Akuma had to bite his lip hard to keep his emotions back.

Lined up down the hall on the left and right, hunters of every age and rank stood at attention in militaristic fashion in honor of Ariados. Most were human, others were Pokémon that Akuma knew had either sparred with or befriended his Pokémon at some point. He paused for a moment to calm his nerves before slowly walking down the formation. As he approached, each of those in line snapped their feet to attention and raised a hand in salute. Akuma wasn't able to make it halfway down the hall before he felt a tear in his eye, and for once he didn't hold it back.

Akuma brought Ariados down the line until they came outside where the line soon came to an end. Also standing at attention outside the doors were Akashi, Chad, Fuji, the Survivors, and surprisingly Brianna, all of whom showed the same display of respect and appreciation from those in the hall. As expected however, they were not quite as composed as the soldiers who had preceded them. Mr. Fuji himself was waiting at the end for the pair, showing no sign of anything on his face, though he was leaning heavily on his cane with both hands. As Akuma came to a stop before the wizened old man, his teacher brought forth a decorative medal which he placed at the head of the coffin. In the center he placed a hammer and chisel as well.

"The grave waits for him on the topmost floor of the tower," Mr. Fuji told him. "The honor has been rightly earned, but the epitaph is yours to carve. Take however long you need, we will send no one for you. You will climb to the top this time."

With those words the old man stepped to the side, stood as straight as his old body allowed him to, and raised his hand up with the rest of them. Akuma bowed his head and allowed himself the smallest of smiles.

"Thank you," was all he said in a whisper as he walked toward the tower in the distance.

At the doors to the tower Akuma paused and brought out every Pokémon he owned. It seemed right to him that all those closest to him should help escort Ariados up through the tower. Besides, even the strongest ghosts wouldn't dare come near to him with a force this large at his back.

Charizard walked out in front, opening the doors and leading the way through the unnatural fog within the tower. As they ascended the stairs the fog became thicker with the presence of ghosts, but the fog suddenly parted as the army came nearby. Akuma didn't recognize a thing about the tower from when he had met Gastly, but it wouldn't have made sense for everything to stay the same after more than a decade either.

Things steadily grew more weathered and worn the higher they climbed while the fog grew thicker as well. When they came to the level where Akuma had stalked the ghosts with his Gastly in disguise the fog seemed no more deadly than those the group had passed before. Akuma quietly wondered if it was because of those he walked with or if it was an indication of how strong they had become, but he brushed the thought aside. It wasn't time to reminisce at the moment. On the sixth floor just before the stairs that would take them to the final room the ghosts moved as if to bar the way threateningly until Charizard gave a growl informing them he was not in the mood. The fog moved aside much quicker than those which had parted earlier.

On the seventh floor there was no spectral fog since even wild Pokémon knew to respect those buried here. There were very few graves nearby so it was easy to pick out the place Mr. Fuji had reserved. It was, like those nearby, not a simple grave, but not especially remarkable either. A statue of the future occupant was carved in place on the top of the headstone in a similar way to those nearby. Akuma didn't look at the neighboring tombstones. He would pay his respects to them at a separate time, but it would be disrespectful of his purpose for coming if he did not give this one his undivided attention.

Those of his Pokémon who were able, lowered the grave into the hole. Being within a tower the hole was actually made of dirt which had been filled into a very thick floor. When the coffin was laid to rest within, Akuma placed his poké balls on the ground behind the group. Though he didn't say a word, the others knew to leave when they had finished saying their quiet goodbyes to their companion. After a short time Akuma heard the first of his Pokémon leave. He didn't turn to see who had left. As the group steadily became less and less, Akuma thought about what Ariados had been to the team and to him. He closed and opened his eyes many times as he allowed the memories and thoughts to wash over him until he was ready to finish the task. Surprisingly, the only Pokémon left with him at that time was Magmortar.

Akuma was sure he knew what his Pokémon was thinking about, and that neither of them wanted to bury their friend for good. After much effort they finally began to cover the coffin with dirt, the medal resting nobly in place on top, and placed the paving stones over the soft earth when the hole had been filled. Magmortar took only a few more seconds before turning away to be with the others after the job was done. All that remained was to carve the final words into the stone.

"You know," Akuma said to the grave as he knelt down with the chisel, "we never talked much, just the two of us, but you were like a brother to me. Even though you were young compared to most of the rest of the team I felt like I'd known you for a long time. I wish we could've spoken a bit more, now that there isn't any time left, and I know I don't need to say anything but you know that I know I can't do that. For all the people and Pokémon I've known, you were the real hunter. The tracking, capturing, and everything else when it came to finding our targets, you were the best at them. You were like me it seemed, but you had more of a conscience than I. I always resorted to brute force to finish things, but you were always the subtle one, finishing things without doing more than what was necessary. I think that might have been the only way we were different though. If I didn't know any better I'd say you might have been my reincarnation had we lived in different times. I'm rambling I guess, but I can't leave without telling you these things. My real family wasn't good enough to be considered one, you know. Well I guess you would know, wouldn't you? After all… Anyway, I'm trying to say that I appreciated you I guess. And I'm sorry I waited to tell you that until now; until this happened. Some people say it's better to regret saying something than saying nothing, but I wish I'd told you this stuff earlier. I guess that's all I've got to say then, but I'll get him for this, Ariados. I promise. I know what I have to do to win now, and even if I don't succeed I'll make sure someone else will. One way or another, I will beat him, I'll humiliate him, and I'll make him so afraid of me that he'll regret what he did to the both of us. I only wish you didn't have to die so I could figure it out. For that, Ariados, thank you. You gave me the key to end it all. I am very grateful for what you've done for me over the past years and even into death. You were like friend and family to me, and I'll always remember you as such. Goodbye."

With that, Akuma placed a now empty net ball at the base of the tombstone. Standing up straight he also saluted the grave before he departed in silence.

ARIADOS

SOLDIER, COMPANION, AND CLOSE FRIEND

KILLED WITHOUT REASON

GAVE AN ANSWER IN DEATH

HE WAS CLOSER THAN A BROTHER TO ME

AND WILL BE REMEMBERED AS FAMILY