A/N: Geez, I am really sorry for how long this chapter took me to write out you guys. On the bright side, it's a much longer one and will have some moments I'm sure you will enjoy.

Despite the guru of the Mega Evolution temple saying it wouldn't take trainers too long to complete their trials as compared to Ren, the amount of them was still making take a while. On average, they were each taking only a few hours, but there were ten of them in total, not counting Ren. Since only three could take the trial at a time, it left them with a lot of time to kill.

Currently the last one of them, Sinon, was in the process of taking the trial. The others had all managed to complete it and return.

"Judging by the time it took us, I'd say she'll be done in another hour." Asuna said.

"So what do we do after that?" Clair asked. "Sure we'll all have Mega Evolution, but what's our plan? We have no idea where Laughing Coffin is, and we still have two weeks before Kagutsuchi throws whatever plan he has at us."

The entire group was quiet, none of them having an answer. Simply training didn't seem like enough. They were all plenty strong, and something told them all that regular training wouldn't be enough to help them win their way to freedom. So what could they do with the two weeks they had left.

"There's something that's been bothering me." Kirito said aloud. "How did Laughing Coffin find a way to break through the protection of the safe zone. That shouldn't be possible, no matter how strong they are."

"I remember Team Reaper doing the same thing back in Sinnoh." Misaki said. "But they had one of the people that worked on PWO in their ranks. I don't think Laughing Coffin has the same resources, especially considering there's only three of them now."

"Ok then who else could bypass the system?" Liz asked.

Ryota's eyes widened as he realized the answer. "It's Kagutsuchi. He's working with them."

"What?!" Asuna gasped.

"Think about it." Ryota said. "Who else could bypass the system so easily, and has no concerns about morals whatsoever?"

"But why?" Silica asked. "What does he get out of it?"

"Us." Ren realized. "He's had it out for me ever since I stopped his plans in Sinnoh. I don't know why, but I think he can't kill me as easily as he wants. So he's using Laughing Coffin to do it for him."

"Why does he want you dead so badly though?" Kirito asked. "What did you do to him in Sinnoh?"

"It's because of me." Ryota said suddenly. All eyes turned to him as he lowered his head. "The truth is… Kagutsuchi is my father."

Everyone with the exception of Ren, Misaki, and Clair widened their eyes and gasped. All of them were stunned into silence at the sudden revelation.

"The creator of PWO is your father?!" Asuna gasped. "But why?! Why would he put his own son in danger like that?!"

Ryota shook his head. "I didn't know about it until we were already in the game. My father left my mother and me when I was still little. I never knew him. And the first time he and I spoke face to face in PWO, he told me I was his son." Ryota's fists clenched tightly. "And when I meet him again, I will end this nightmare he's created. I swear it."

"Ryo…" Kaitlyn gasped. She didn't know what to say to him. She finally understood why he and Kagutsuchi seemed to know each other back in Coumarine City.

Kirito looked at Ryota with a serious expression. "This fight could force you to kill your father. Are you prepared for that?"

Ryota nodded his head. "I plan on killing him. We may be related by blood, but he's no father of mine. I will put an end to him when I face him."

"But back to the topic at hand, there's still two weeks before that happens." Akio said. "What do we do until then?"

"I don't know, but I know one thing that can kill a little time at least." Misaki said as she stepped forward. "I need to battle." Misaki turned to Akio. "I want a rematch. You and I need to settle things, or I won't be able to move forward."

A smirk came to Akio's face. "You really think you can beat me? Do you remember how quickly I kicked your butt earlier?"

"That won't happen this time." Misaki said sternly. "And besides, win or lose, I need to see our battle through."

Akio let out a small chuckle. "Alright then. I'll gladly show you the difference between us again. And this time, I'll make sure you remember it."

"Oh, I want to battle too!" Kaitlyn said with a happy cheer, proving she didn't feel the seriousness in the air like everyone else did. "Ryo and I can battle!"

"What, like right now?"

"Sure! Why not?"

Ryota stared blankly at Kaitlyn, trying to figure out a way out. He sighed in defeat and lowered his head. "Fine. I'll battle you."

"Yay!" Kaitlyn cheered.

The group went outside of the Tower of Mastery, with Silica, Liz, and Yui staying behind to wait for Sinon to finish her trial. Ryota and Kaitlyn went to the beach for their fight. For Akio and Misaki however, they went to the woods bordering the city, just like where their battle had been before.

Misaki stared Akio down. "Ever since I first met you, I've never been able to stand that big ego of yours. It's time you were put in your place."

"Ha! Well one of us will be put in their place." Akio grinned. "But don't worry there's no-"

"I swear, if you make another pokepun"

"-Shaymin losing."

That was it. Misaki had heard enough. She grabbed a pokeball from her belt and threw it out into the air. "Shut this guy up, Dusknoir!"

The pokeball opened up and Dusknoir appeared onto the field. It let out a cry from its stomach-like mouth.

"So, that's your mega pokemon, huh?" Akio asked.

"Not quite." Misaki said. "I won't be using my best pokemon to beat you. This Dusknoir is all I need."

"Oh really? Who's got the big ego now?" Akio asked as he grabbed a pokeball as well. "Well if you won't use a mega, then neither will I. Let's do this, buddy!"

Salamance emerged from the pokeball and landed on the ground as it let out a powerful roar. Misaki readied herself, knowing that a Salamance would be a tough opponent to beat. 'I can't let my guard down and have this end like last time.'

"Dusknoir, use ice punch!"

"Use flamethrower!"

Salamance unleashed a powerful stream of fire from its mouth. Dusknoir evaded it and went in for an attack on its opponent. The ice punch connected directly with Salamance's face.

Misaki grinned to herself. "How's that? Let's see you make your way back from that kind of damage."

To her surprise, as well as everyone else's Akio began laughing at her. "You think so, do you? Well let's see how well your theory holds up."

"What are you-" The rest of the statement died on Misaki's tongue as she gasped, seeing Salamance hold its ground, despite having Dusknoir's ice cloaked fist pressing against its cheek.

"No way!"

"Night slash."

Misaki gasped as Salamance shrugged off Dusknoir's attack and slashed past it with surprising speed. Ren and the others widened their eyes in surprise.

"What the hell just happened?" Asuna asked with widened eyes. "Salamance is a dragon and flying type! How'd it shrug off that ice punch like it was nothing?!"

"Forget that, what was up with that speed?" Clair added. "Salamance shouldn't be able to move that quickly on the ground."

"You're both forgetting the biggest concern." Kirito said. Both girls looked at him in confusion. "Salamance isn't a pokemon that can learn night slash."

Asuna widened her eyes, realizing Kirito was right. "Then does that mean Akio found some kind of hack in the system?!"

"Not exactly." Kirito said.

"Then what's going on?" Clair asked.

"Just keep watching." Ren told them, knowing what the answer was along with Kirito. "You'll see soon enough."

Misaki felt a sweat drip down from her forehead as she contemplated how she was going to win. She had thought Dusknoir's ice punch would be able to put Salamance on its last legs, but it barely seemed to do a thing. Instead, Dusknoir had been the one to take massive damage due to Salamance's night slash. Not to mention that surprising speed.

"What's the matter?" Akio asked with a smirk. "Can't handle the power of my pokemon? Where'd all that bravado go?"

"We've still got plenty of fight left in us, right Dusknoir?" Misaki said. The ghost type replied with a nod as it stood firm. "Right then. Use shadow ball!"

"Block it."

Dsuknoir launched its attack at Salamance. As the projectile was about to hit however, it seemed to be blocked off by an invisible force. Misaki gasped as Salamance was pushed back, but still stood firm as the shadow ball pressed against it.

"Alright, what the heck is going on?!" Misaki asked. As she looked at Salamance, she could see flashes of black and red fur pushing against the shadow ball. "Just what kind of cheap trick are you using?!"

Akio let out an amused laugh as he nodded to his partner. "Looks like it's time to drop the act buddy. Go ahead and show her your true form."

The Salamance nodded as it finally managed to push away the shadow ball attack. Its body began to glitch and distort. Its shape changed and it was soon covered by red and black fur, with a long fox-like tail sticking out.

"No way…" Misaki gasped.

"Oh yes way. Allow me to introduce you to my good buddy Zoroark." Akio said as he made a gesture towards the dark type, who snickered at Misaki's priceless face. "And now that introductions are out of the way, Zoroark use night daze!"

Misaki quickly tried to snap out of her surprise and help out her pokemon. "Dusknoir, get out of there!"

It was too late however as Dusknoir was hit by Zoroark's attack, which sent it flying away and crashing into a tree. Dusknoir's HP was at its limit as Misaki returned it to its pokeball. "Don't be sad Dusknoir. You were great."

Akio let out a sigh. "Well that was disappointing. Kinda expected more of a fight there." As he reached for Zoroark's pokeball, a thought came to his mind. "I have an idea. Why don't me make this a battle where we each use two pokemon. Maybe your mega can give me some entertainment."

Misaki glared at Akio. He was mocking her, treating her as some source of entertainment. But at the same time, she wanted to beat him. If this would give her a chance, then she would take it. She grabbed her most trusted partner's pokeball and threw it out. "Fine then. Just don't go crying when you lose." The pokeball opened up and Empoleon landed on the ground as it let out a powerful cry.

"Well better get this over with." Akio said. "Don't want this fight going into the Eevee-ning."

Misaki internally groaned as she heard the annoying pokepun. She wasn't sure what she hated about Akio more, his ego or his pokepuns. "If you want to make this quick then fine. We'll go all out right from the start." She held out her left arm, with a bracelet around it that held a keystone, though much duller than the ones on Ren's and the other champion's bracelets. "Here we go, Empoleon! Mega Evolve!"

Empoleon became cloaked in light that came from Misaki's key stone. The shape of the water and steel type changed as the light intensified. When it was done, the light shot out all at once, revealing Empoleon's new form.

The points on the crown Empoleon had now included a red jewel. Empoleon was also much bulkier now. The two fins it had were even larger than before, almost as if they were two massive shields. Empoleon didn't seem to have any trouble holding them up however as it showed off its power with a loud cry.

"How do you like my Mega empoleon, Akio?" Misaki asked with a smirk.

"Big deal. There's no way something that big will be able to move around much, so all I have to do is hit it hard enough." Akio smirked. "Let's go Zoroark! Night Daze!"

Zoroark roared as it unleashed a powerful shock wave towards Empoleon. Misaki grinned to herself as Empoleon waved one of its fins and shrugged off the blast like it was a simple gust of wind.

"Flamethrower!"

This time, Empoleon held out its fin to block the attack that came for it. Empoleon didn't seem affected in the slightest by the intense flames pressing against it.

"Get in close and use night slash!" Akio ordered.

Zoroark sped in and unleashed a full assault on Empoleon, attacking everywhere it could strike on its body. But nothing seemed to make a scratch.

"I think it's our turn to attack." Misaki grinned.

"Shit! Zoroark, get out of-"

"Metal claw!"

Zoroark didn't even have a chance to react as Empoleon suddenly swung its fin at it. The blow hit like the force of a freight train as Zoroark was sent flying away, crashing through one of the trees as it laid on the ground with barely any HP left.

Akio growled as he returned Zoroark to its pokeball. He looked over at Misaki, seeing the smug grin on her face. He reached for his next pokeball. "Don't get too cocky, girl. You're still going to lose this in the end."

"Bring it."

""Oh it's brought. Consider it on like Bronzong."

"Goddamnit will you stop with the stupid pokepuns!" Misaki yelled.

"Hey don't hate me cause I'm hilarious."

"You're not hilarious! Your puns are terrible!"

"That's your opinion."

"No, it's a fact!"

"Yeah, she's kinda right man." Ren said with a nod, followed by the nods of the others watching the battle. "Your puns make people wanna bash their head against a wall."

"Then I'll consider that an advantage in battle."

Ren and the others groaned as Akio ignored them and threw out his next pokemon. His Sceptile emerged onto the field and stared down at Misaki's Mega Empoleon.

"We're gonna have to go all out right from the start, ok partner?" Akio said. Sceptile nodded and Akio touched his key stone on his champion's bracelet. "Alright, here we go! Sceptile, mega evolve!"

Light emerged from Akio's key stone and surrounded Sceptile. The transformation took shape, until Sceptile was born anew. It's tail was even bushier than before, and had a sharp point at the end. It's features were sharper than ever, including the leaves on its arms. It was now Mega Sceptile.

"Well this should be interesting." Kirito said. "Mega pokemon versus mega pokemon. The first of its kind in PWO."

"It'll be a battle of offense against defense." Ren nodded. "And since Empoleon is part steel type, grass moves aren't super effective against it. Empoleon on the other hand has ice beam, a move that could devastate a grass and dragon type like Mega Sceptile."

"One wrong move could spell the end for either of them." Asuna said.

Akio wasted no time in giving out an order. "Sceptile, use dragon pulse!"

Sceptile unleashed a full blast of the dragon pulse and shot it towards Empoleon. The water type didn't even budge as it stood firm and blocked the blast with it's heavy fin. The attack collided with it creating a huge blast that kicked up a cloud of smoke.

"That all you got?" Misaki grinned. "My Empoleon won't be taken down that easily."

"I wasn't going for damage there, stupid." Akio said. "Go for it Sceptile! Leaf blade!"

Empoleon widened it's eyes as Sceptile sped it for an attack through the smoke. Empoleon managed to block the first strike in time, but Sceptile unleashed a never ending assault of leaf blades on it. Empoleon could only hold up its two fins to defend itself. Sceptile's speed gave it no openings to counter attack.

"Damnit." Misaki muttered under her breath. "I can't let this go on."

"Now Sceptile! Leaf storm!"

Sceptile jumped back from Empoleon just a little bit as it fired the cone-shaped bush from its tail at Empoleon. A stream of leaves flew behind it as it collided with Empoleon, who desperately tried to hold it back. Sceptile's power was not to be underestimated however as the leaf began to push it back. Empoleon dug its feet into the ground as much as it could.

"Hang in there, Empoleon!" Misaki called out. "Send that thing flying!"

Empoleon dug into every ounce of inner strength it could find. The water type let out a loud cry as it swung its fins out, deflecting the drill-like tail projectile of had both of its fins out, with a determined look in its eyes.

And that was just the moment Akio was waiting for.

"Leaf blade, now!"

Misaki widened her eyes as Sceptile appeared in front of her Empoleon while it stood exposed. Sceptile sped past its opponent, delivering a powerful slash from its leaf blade in the process. Empoleon grunted as it fell to one knee, but didn't fall down for the count. Akio showed a confident smirk, seeing victory within his grasp. Misaki racked her brain for a plan. Suddenly, an idea, came to her.

"Empoleon, ice beam on the ground!"

Empoleon wasted no time as it followed Misaki's instructions. The entire ground around them soon became covered in ice.

Akio smirked. "If you thought making it tough to move on the ground would work, you were wrong." He called out to his partner. "Jump into the air Sceptile, and use dragon pulse!"

Sceptile nodded and used a nearby tree to jump off from as it hovered in the air. A powerful stream came from its mouth as its dragon pulse attack came towards Empoleon.

"Skate along the ice Empoleon! Head towards one of the trees!"

Using the ice to move around easily, Empoleon moved along and headed towards one of the trees. Akio didn't know what Misaki was planning, but he had no intention of letting her do it. "Chase after it Sceptile!"

Sceptile tried to give chase to its opponent, but the ice was making it difficult to move around. Empoleon on the other hand had a much easier time moving on the ice, but its heavy weight was slowing it down. Empoleon was only slightly faster as it moved along the ice field.

"Metal claw on the tree Empoleon!" Misaki shouted.

Empoleon's fin became cloaked in a metallic sheen as it slashed at the trunk of the tree. The cut caused the tree to slowly lean towards it and fall. Empoleon quickly skated out of the way while Sceptile was left falling hook line and sinker into Misaki's trap.

Akio smirked to himself. "Not bad, girlie. But not good enough. Dragon claw!"

The tips of Sceptile's claws became cloaked in an emerald aura as it slashed at the tree falling down on it. Sceptile stood firm as the tree was cut in half and fell around it. As the tree crashed into the ground, the ice near it shattered. Finally Sceptile could move freely again.

"Metal claw!"

Sceptile widened its eyes as Empoleon came out of nowhere and decked it in the face with a metal claw attack. The grass and dragon type was sent flying into a tree. It let out a weak moan as it stood up.

"Let's end this, Sceptile!" Akio said. "Leaf blade!"

"Use ice beam!" Misaki ordered.

Empoleon launched its ice beam attack as Sceptile sped towards it. Just as the ice beam looked like it would hit, Sceptile ducked under it and continued running towards Empoleon. Misaki widened her eyes as Sceptile unleashed its attack on Empoleon, bringing her partner's HP to its limit. The mega evolution cancelled out and Empoleon automatically returned to its pokeball.

"Damn." Misaki muttered under his breath. "Almost had him."

Sceptile returned back to its original form as it let out a victory cry. A smirk came to Akio's lips as he returned Sceptile to its pokeball. "Nice job Scep. Way to show her who's boss." He looked over at Misaki with a smug grin. "So, you satisfied now?"

A sigh escaped Misaki. "Yeah. I still don't like that I lost, but I tried my best. Now I know what I can do."

"Well you never really had any chance at winning. After all you were fighting THE Akio." Akio grinned. "But for what it's worth, I guess you did a pretty good job."

Misaki narrowed her eyes at the Hoenn champion. "Did you just compliment me?"

"Don't let it go to your head."

Ren walked up to Misaki and put a hand on her shoulder. "You were great out there. And your Mega Empoleon was amazing."

"Thanks Ren." Misaki smiled. "Now how about we go and see if Ryota's battle is still going on. I really want to see how much better he's gotten."

Ren nodded his head. "Yeah. Let's go check it out."

The group all walked together out of the woods and headed back to town where Ryota and Kaitlyn's battle was going on right now.

"Garchomp, dragon claw!"

"Tyranitar, use focus punch!"

Both pokemon swung their arms at each other with their attacks, creating a huge shockwave that threatened to blow Ryota and Kaitlyn away. Ryota had known Kaitlyn was tough from all of the times he had watched her battle during their travels. But this was the first time they had ever fought against each other.

"You really are strong, Kaitlyn." Ryota said as he caught his breath.

"So are you, Ryo." Kaitlyn grinned, clearly just as tired as Ryota.

Garchomp and Tyranitar finally broke off their stalemate and put some distance between themselves. The two pokemon stared each other down. Both were powerful on their own and either one could end up winning a battle of strength between them.

"So why'd you want to battle, suddenly?" Ryota asked.

"Huh?"

"I know you Kaitlyn. You're impulsive, someone that lives in the moment, doing whatever comes to their mind. But I saw you come out of the trial. You were exhausted. Yet barely a few hours pass before you act like you're ready to battle." Ryota said. "And when you said you wanted to battle, I could feel you looking my way. So what's your reason?"

Kaitlyn stayed silent for a few moments before staring down at the ground. "Why do you want to kill your father so badly?"

Ryota blinked in surprise. "Why? Because he's an evil human being and deserves it for everything he's done!"

"But that doesn't mean you have to kill him!" Kaitlyn argued. "Maybe he is a bad person, but no son should ever want to kill his dad! You can stop him without killing him!"

Ryota shot a small glare towards Kaitlyn. "My family is none of your business Kaitlyn, so butt out. I'm going to kill him with my own two hands and nothing is going to stop me."

"I'll stop you!"

"What?"

Kaitlyn shook her head. "Ryo… you're not a murderer. You're a really nice guy that I like. The Ryo I know would never kill anyone."

"Well then I guess you don't know me as well as you think you do." Ryota said. "Ever since I found out who he was, I've wanted him dead. And that conviction has only grown stronger over time."

"Ryo…"

"That's enough." Ryota said. "You can't stop me from going down this path Kaitlyn. I'm going to face him, and when I do I'm going to kill him."

Kaitlyn stared down at the ground. Slowly, her hands shook. "No, Ryo. I won't let you do this." She tapped the key stone on her bracelet and her Tyranitar began to become enveloped in light. "I'm going to bring back the Ryo I know! And you can't stop me!"

Ryota shielded his eyes as the light from Tyranitar grew brighter. When he could finally see again, Tyranitar was replaced with its mega form, Mega Tyranitar.

"Finally getting serious I see. Well then, let's see if you have the power to beat me." Ryota said as he tapped his own key stone. Like Tyranitar, Garchomp began to glow in a bright light, turning into its mega form. When the mega evolution ended, Garchomp let out a furious roar. "Show me that you actually can bring back this so-called version of me that you know."

"Fine then." Kaitlyn said. "Tyranitar, let's do this!"

As Tyranitar roared, a huge sandstorm kicked up on the beach due to Tyranitar's Sand Stream ability. Ryota smirked at this. "You know all this does is give me a greater advantage, right? Mega Garchomp's ability is Sand Force. Your sandstorm only serves to amp up my power."

"Of course. But that's exactly what I want." Kaitlyn told him.

"Huh?" Ryota blinked in surprise.

Kaitlyn looked at him with a caring expression. "Ryo… you're my friend. Most people find me weird and eventually leave me. I won't lie, I know others see me as an oddball. But that's never seemed to bother you. You've always stayed with me, despite everything."

"Kaitlyn…"

Kaitlyn's expression turned serious. "So that's why I want to be there for you. I want to help and support you. But I won't let you turn into a murderer. If I ever see you going down a dark path, I'll be there to pull you back into the light."

For some reason, Ryota found himself unable to look Kaitlyn in the eye anymore, and kept his glance away from her. "My path isn't yours to choose.I'm sorry Kaitlyn, but this is the path I've chosen. No matter what happens, I'll do what I have to do."

"Not if I can help it." Kaitlyn told him. "Tyranitar, use rock slide!"

Looking above Garchomp, Ryota could see several large rocks falling down towards his pokemon. "Dragon claw!"

Garchomp roared as its claws extended and became veiled in an emerald light. One by one, it smashed apart the rocks threatening to crash down on top of it.

"Hyper beam, Tyranitar!" Kaitlyn ordered.

Tyranitar unleashed a powerful blast from its mouth as Garchomp was destroying the last of the rocks. The attack hit the dragon type full blast and sent it flying back. It slowly stood back up with its health in the yellow.

"Use draco meteor!" Ryota called out. Garchomp shot a blast up into the air, which exploded and sent several meteors crashing down onto the field.

"Tyranitar!" Kaitlyn exclaimed as she watched her pokemon get pounded by the attack. Despite the damage it took though, Tyranitar stood firm and let out a powerful cry. Kaitlyn knew this couldn't last. "It's time to end this, Ryo. Once and for all."

"You read my mind." Ryota said.

Both Ryota and Kaitlyn called out the same move simultaneously. "Earthquake!" Despite the fact that they were on a beach, the rumbling of the earth could be felt drastically with both pokemon using the move. Bursts of sand popped up around them as the layout of the beach began to change.

"Dragon claw!"

"Focus punch!"

Both pokemon charged forward at the command of their trainers. Garchomp and tyranitar both roared as they unleashed their attack on the other, both hitting each other in the face.

A silence overtook the beach as both Ryota and Kaitlyn waited to see the outcome of the clash. Kaitlyn's eyes widened in fear as Tyranitar began to fall, but the rock type quickly saved itself by falling down to one knee. Garchomp on the other hand had no energy left and fell to the ground, collapsing onto the sandy beach.

Ryota sighed as he returned Garchomp to its pokeball. "Guess I still need to get stronger before I can take on Kagutsuchi."

"You're wrong."

Ryota looked across from him and saw Kaitlyn walking towards him. "Ryota, no matter how strong you become, you won't be able to win. There's something you haven't realized yet."

"And what is that?" Ryota asked.

"You're not valuing your own life." Kaitlyn explained. "You think you can just go on and battle your father because no one will really care if you fail and die." Tears began to form in the girl's eyes as she grabbed his hands. "But you're wrong! There's people that don't want you to die! There's people that need you here, alive and well for when we all go home!"

"Like who?"

"ME!"

Ryota blinked his eyes in surprise as he stared at Kaitlyn. "Come again?"

Kaitlyn threw herself at Ryota, embracing him in a tight hug. "Ryo… No. Ryota. I don't want to see you die. I don't want to see you letting revenge control you. I want you to stay the kind cool guy that I know you are."

"Kaitlyn…" Ryota gasped.

"Oh just kiss her already, you idiot!"

Ryota widened his eyes as he looked towards the edge of the beach, where Misaki and the others were standing, with Misaki being the one that had shouted the comment just now. A deep blush became clear on Ryota's face as everyone looked at him with Kaitlyn hugging him while crying. "H-How long have you guys been there?"

"Oh, long enough." Misaki grinned. "But I suggest you stop focussing on us and focus on Kaitlyn right now."

Ryota looked down where Kaitlyn's head was buried into his chest. A sigh escaped him as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close while a smile came to his face. "I guess I'm stuck with you for life now, huh? The one girl that's actually able to stand me."

"That's fine. Cause you're the only guy I could ever feel this way about." Kaitlyn smiled.

The two of them slowly drew their lips closer to each other, ending things with a kiss. The sight of it brought a tear to Asuna's eye as she quickly dried it.

"So Ryota finally got himself a girl. Who'd of thought it?" Ren said with a grin.

"Says the guy who faked his death and went MIA for over a week." Misaki reminded him.

Ren let out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "Fair point."

Out of all the cities in Kalos, Lumiose City was by far the most populated. The main reason for that was because so many players had lost the will to keep fighting. Everyone had assumed that everything would be over once the Pokemon Leagues in each region were finished. But they had been wrong. Oh so very wrong. And because of that, they had given up on using their own power to try and escape. They had no choice but to hope it would all end soon and they would be able to return to the real world.

"Pathetic fools, all of them." Kagutsuchi said to himself as he looked down at the city below from the top of Lumiose Tower. "As if I'd ever allow them to leave my realm. I am the god of this world and no one will be able to change that."

"Except for Ren."

A scowl came across Kagutsuchi's face as he heard Kira walk into the room. "You should learn to hold your tongue, boy. Don't forget your position."

"Oh I know my position quite well." Kira said with a grin. "Right now, I'm the reason you're able to do anything at all. You don't have the confidence you can beat Ren right now with your limited access to your GM power so you're having me and my friends do your dirty work for you."

"And yet you still lost. Not even to Ren, but a different trainer."

"Yes, the Hoenn champion. Akio was his name if I remember correctly." Kira said. "He was quite strong. Frankly, all of the champions could become potential problems to your plan. Especially since they seem to have joined forces."

"It won't matter in the end." Kagutsuchi said. "Once I regain control of my full powers as the GM, none of them will stand a chance against me."

"And exactly how do you plan to do that?" Kira asked.

"There's a program running around, under the disguise of a player. She's the one restricting my access."

A small chuckle escaped Kira. "So your own creation has even turned against you. You sure don't seem to have any talent for inspiring loyalty."

"It was an error on my part." Kagutsuchi admitted. "To pass regulations, I was required to have a program to help with the mental health of players. But I had no real need of such a thing, so once PWO launched, I restricted its access, forbidding it from interacting with players. But then that same program ended up blocking me off from my full power, thus allowing her to escape. Now she roams PWO, not even knowing what she really is."

"So you need to get her back." Kira realized. "Sorry but my team and I aren't the type for fetch quests. I'm only interested in fighting the other champions." Kira turned around and began to walk out of the room. "You can find her yourself. I doubt she can put up that much of a fight."

"It will involve bringing a fair amount of suffering to your old friend, the Unova champion."

Kagutsuchi's words caused Kira to stop in his tracks. "... I'm listening."

Kagutsuchi snapped his fingers and a screen appeared, revealing a young girl with long black hair in a simple white dress. "Recognize her?"

"The brat that travels with Kirito and his friends? That's the program?" Kira questioned.

"Indeed." he nodded. "I need you to retrieve her for me and bring her here. It should be a simple task for you, since I've given you the ability to travel to any city or town instantly."

Kira chuckled as he walked out of the room. "Very well. At the very least, it will make Kirito come to us. It'll be done as you wish, Kagutsuchi."

The door closed behind Kira as he walked out of the room. Kagutsuchi huffed to himself. "Pompous fool. He forgets who is in control here. Once I retain full access, I'll be sure to remind him the sad truth of his weakness."

A/N: Well that's the chapter everyone. Hope you liked my design for Mega Empoleon. Don't know when next chapter will be updated, since school has me busy, but hopefully I can get back to a regular update once summer arrives.