-Chapter XXIV: Old Friends Meet New-

-Connor-

He nearly burst into tears then and there. Vincent was alive! He could hardly believe it!

"Vince! I thought you… We all thought you-"

"Yeah, I do that a lot, don't I? Well… I'll admit, it took forever to find you guys. I've been trying to get out of here, but anyone who leaves is put into this massive databank thing, then everyone is scanned by an Alakazam before they go… Phoo... I can't pretend to be someone who's here and leave without getting caught, and the whole thing with Tyranitar at the mountain base proved how hard it is to get accepted in the first place."

Alice gasped with disbelief. "You were there?"

"Of course. How else would I have known to find you here?"

"Then why didn't you do anything? Getting your face blasted off by a dragon pulse hurts, you know!"

"You saw how many pokémon there were in there! If I'd blown my cover, I'd probably get caught or killed, too. Besides, I knew you had a reviver seed. Sneaky, hiding it in the fur tufts on your legs. I never would've thought to look there."

"How did you know I had a reviver seed?"

"Mind reader, sweetums. Did you already forget? It hasn't even been a week! Well, it might've been… It's hard to keep track of time nowadays."

"...Oh."

"So how are you still alive?" Connor questioned.

He stood up and transformed into a Braviary in the blink of an eye. A lot faster than any other time he had before.

"And how did you transform so fast?" Connor asked immediately afterwards.

"Ends up these guys aren't just all talk. Most of them know how to fight. I picked up a few tricks while I was here. I'll explain it all when we get back."

Grovyle and Basileus climbed onto Vincent's back, and Connor rode a boulder with Ancient Power while Tyranitar sprinted after them, carrying Alice in his arms.

-Amber-

"Briar. It's getting late." she said.

"No it's not. It's only been thirty minutes. My mate and son are more than capable of defending themselves."

They waited inside of the jungle base they had set up and listened to Dawn relaying what was going on.

"Whoop! They're good! Alice is alright, and I sense another pokémon with them… That's weird. But everyone's alright!" She grinned and high-fived Celebi.

Atlas pulled Dawn into a hug. "Thank goodness… They're alright…"

Dawn kind of stiffened up at the sudden gesture. "...Why did you hug me?"

"Because… You're actually not that bad. I just… wasn't ready for change, I guess. But now… I dunno. You're alright. You've got a temper, but hey, so do I. We'll work through it, I guess. These guys don't know what's about to hit them once we get our full strength back."

Dawn seemed to hesitate before smiling, and Aaron perked up from his resting position. "I feel a powerful pokémon closing in fast."

Briar closed her eyes, then raised her eyebrows in a puzzled expression. "Connor? Tyranitar?"

Amber concentrated, then she felt it too. "No... Not them."

Briar's leaf blades began glowing while Galvantula appeared in the blink of an eye and draped a camouflage webbing over himself. "Let's just… wait and see what happens. I'll sneak attack them from behind. I've got four days' worth of electricity stored up."

Atlas shook his head and stood up. "Remember what happened last time we waited? And besides, why aren't you with Grov-"

Then he was picked up by a blur of yellowish-green and thrown through the roof without any warning, cutting his sentence short. Briar rushed forward alongside Vulcan and Dawn, but the pokémon didn't even stay still long enough for her to slow down time and chase after it.

Galvantula took the webbing off and tilted his head at the new machamp-sized hole in the roof. "Uh… What just happened?"

-Atlas-

When he landed, he had broken through several trees and plowed a trench about thirty feet long into the ground. He laid there for a moment, trying to process what had happened.

"...What…"

"Stand up!" A commanding female voice resonated throughout the forest before he was grabbed and thrown again by a towering green figure.

He was prepared this time. He landed on his feet and used his hands to stop himself from sliding too far. He stood up and looked around wildly, activating all three elemental punches, one on each fist, and leaving one for a regular dynamic punch. "Who are you?!"

"I am Arturia!" Another blur of green, and a sickening sound like a blade slicing through flesh was all he heard before his upper right hand fell to the ground. He gasped as the stump on his arm began spurting blood, and as soon as the pain registered, he cried out in absolute agony. He knelt on the ground, clasping his hand over the severed limb, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. Then the figure that had thrown him appeared. A Haxorus towered over him and crossed its arms in discontent. "I had hoped you'd put up more of a fight, Atlas. I'm disappointed."

He groaned in pain as she kicked him in the side with her clawed feet. He let go of his arm and struggled to stand as his vision began fading.

I'm going to bleed out… I can't let that happen… Alice is alive… I have to see her! He superheated his bottom right fist, and before he had the chance to second guess himself, he clamped down on the nub with his white-hot hand, cauterizing it instantaneously. He screamed in pain as the blood evaporated and the skin melted together, but he remained conscious. The Haxorus observed him and laughed cruelly. "So you do offer some resistance… Your tolerance for pain is respectable. You would make a great addition to our group."

"Hey!" Atlas perked up at the voice, and the Haxorus was enveloped in a pink glow before she was slammed into the ground, then had three trees uprooted and thrown into her from three different directions. Dawn teleported between the Haxorus and Atlas, extending her arm out towards the attacker. "Don't touch him!"

The Haxorus groaned and got up rather slowly, and upon seeing that it was a Ralts, it seemed… afraid. Why?

"Most pokémon don't know about my evolutionary line's fairy-typing. I got it last time I visited Luminous Springs. Now tell me… Are you familiar with moonblast?"

The Haxorus growled and pointed at Atlas as she began backing away. "This isn't over."

Dawn shook her head. "Oh. Yes it is. You leave us alone."

The Haxorus was thrown to the ground with psychic again, and a massive pink moon appeared above them, and the attack was followed by a hundred pink rays of light piercing straight through the Haxorus, pinning it to the ground like a bundle of transparent harpoons.

Dawn nodded in content as the Haxorus stayed on the ground, but just afterwards she was hit from behind by a metallic fist that sent her flying forward, tumbling across the ground. A Hitmonchan darted between the trees that Dawn uprooted with unreal speed and hit her again, this time in her face. She shouted in pain as she flew back another ten feet, but she sat up and raised her arm in an attempt to use psychic, but a Drapion ran out from behind the nearest tree and blocked the psychic attack. It grabbed her in one of its pincers and chuckled with amusement. "This is the little runt that Mordred's been obsessed over?"

She hit the Drapion's arm feebly with her fists, but she was already broken by the Hitmonchan's bullet punch attack, and none of her psychic-type moves worked on the new pokemon.

Atlas was helpless… and he hated it. He hated being helpless as much as he hated losing. He had never been put in a corner like this until about five days ago. And he refused to ever let anyone die on his watch again.

Without a second thought, he unclipped his belt buckle from around his waist. Instantly, a blast of energy surged from within him, filling him with a newfound power. He stood up and rushed forward, since both of the opponents had their backs turned to him. I won't let her die… Not while I can help it!

Apparently the Drapion wasn't expecting the attack. He charged a focus punch in one hand and a dynamic punch in the other as he ran forward as fast as a Lucario. He ignited one hand and grabbed the Drapion's arm, burning it as well as crushing it in his iron grip. The Drapion shouted in pain and released Dawn. She fell to the ground and teleported away. That was good. The Drapion whirled around and grabbed Atlas' neck with his other pincer, but he broke its wrist with his dynamic punch, its arm only being held together by a thin strand of muscle, leaving it dangling flimsily. He stomped the ground and used earthquake, the entire ground heaving back and forth, sending cracks between the trees. The Drapion fell to the ground and shouted out, "Have mercy! Please! Gak!" He grabbed his broken arm and cried in agony.

Atlas growled and hit its face with the focus punch. Its entire head cratered inwards, but its poison-typing stopped the attack from killing it instantly. Atlas held it up with his fiery hand and glared at him. "Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't kill you right now."

It coughed up pitch-black blood in response, and Atlas growled and clenched his fist down tighter, digging into its exoskeleton. "Wrong answer. I've been dying to hit something for a while now. And this power surge is the best thing that happened to me all week."

It croaked once, then cried out, "Lady Weavile!"

Atlas hit its head again with a regular karate chop, but with his absolute power, it still did critical damage. He could hear its exoskeleton snap under the pressure.

He winded his fist back once more, ready to finish the job, but he felt something sharp slice across his chest. When he turned, a Weavile was crouched down in a fighting stance, glaring at him. Atlas laughed and dropped the Drapion, turning to the Weavile. "Oh? You're AWD? I expected you guys to be more of a challenge, given your reputation!"

The Weavile smirked and uncrossed her arms. "Your expectations are flattering. But I'm not here to fight. Drapion here has been acting out on his own recently, and I've come to reclaim him. " Her voice was slightly raspy, and not nearly as feminine as he had pictured.

Atlas laughed and ignited his fists. "Likely story."

The Weavile puffed out her chest and walked straight past him. "It's true. Now come, Drapion. A reviver seed will heal your arm… Oh, and Atlas… My team won't bother you again. You have my word."

The dark and poison type stood up weakly and limped after her, complaining the whole time until they were a dot in the distance of the forest. Atlas growled and turned back to the Hitmonchan, who was buried up to its chest in solid earth. He grabbed its head and pulled it straight out of the ground like a potato. He noticed in the back of his head that his skin was turning solid red and steaming, but he put the thought aside and grabbed its arms with two of his and began pulling. "Tell me where Mordred is, or your day is about to get a whole lot worse."

"I don't know!"

Atlas rolled his eyes and pulled slightly harder. "Try me. What I did to Drapion is only gonna be a fraction of what I do to you."

The Hitmonchan tried to break free of his grip, but he clenched down harder, crushing its arm bones to gravel. It cried out in pain, and Atlas heard a voice behind him. "Atlas, stop!"

He shook his head. "No! He deserves to die!"

"Stop! NOW!" Briar commanded him. He hesitated, but loosened his grip on the Hitmonchan. He turned to face the Sceptile and threw the fighting-type to the ground in front of her. "There… You happy now?"

She tossed his belt to him and pointed to his chest. "Your entire body is burning away. Put your belt back on."

He hadn't noticed, but his skin had started charring and had several dozen welts and bumps the size of oran berries all along his arms. He quickly put his belt back on, and the energy surge faded. He instantly lost consciousness.

"Atlas…"

Huh? Who's…

"Atlas…"

Alice?

His eyes fluttered open, and when he looked directly above him, Alice was smiling with tears in her eyes. He ignored all the pain in his body and pulled her into a hug. She laughed with joy, and he looked at her once again. "You came back…"

"I told you I can take care of myself…" Then she leaned in and kissed him. Roy floated out of the shadows and made a gagging noise. "Blech. Get a room or something."

Atlas found himself actually smiling at Roy's jesting. "Heh. So… What happened, Dawn?"

"What?" Dawn asked with a shocked tone. "Oh. You don't… Remember." She sounded disappointed, but Atlas shook his head. "I remember that you were in danger… And then… Nothing. It was like a giant blur."

Dawn tilted her head down, and Briar scowled at him. "You're lucky I found you when I did. You unleashed your raw power by removing your power belt."

"Is that what happened?"

"Yes. Your body can't handle the amount of power coursing through you when you do that. Your skin had begun corroding away, and from the looks of it, you don't remember anything about the experience. So I presume that there is substantial brain damage as well."

He rolled his head to the side groggily and tried to sit up, but couldn't find any strength. "Geez, how long was I out...? Actually, Dawn, what happened to that Haxorus?"

"She escaped," Dawn said. "I thought she was immobilized at least, but… yeah… I think she had other friends that helped her out after we left."

Atlas growled slightly, then gasped. "My hand! I remember…" He looked at his upper right hand and saw something that surprised him: his hand was back, but it looked… different. He tilted his head at it, then flexed his fingers experimentally. When he did that, the shadows cast by Vulcan and Amber's tails swirled together into one circle of darkness about a foot across. His eyes widened as his fist gave off a pitch-black spectral glow, and he looked at Roy and Dusknoir. "Did you…?"

Dusknoir floated forward and explained. "While you were unconscious, I used shadow-healing to create a new hand for you that is similar to my own. You can use it as if it were a normal hand, as well as manipulate shadows similarly to Roy and I with it. Just… not as well."

He closed his fist again, and the shadows exploded around the room like dancing pillars of darkness. "Huh… I'll need to practice..."

His body was in an unspeakable amount of pain, but right now his happiness and amazement made him block it out. Alice was alive, and his hand wasn't gone. Or, at least he got a new one. That was almost just as good.

"Atlas." Grovyle began. He raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah?"

Then, he melted into a puddle of green liquid. Atlas shouted in surprise and almost rolled out of the bed, until it solidified into a familiar shape. The colors returned to normal, and his best friend smirked. "Ha! I got you good, didn't I?"

Tears of joy forced themselves out, and he stood up shakily and fell on top of him after his legs gave out once again. "Vincent… Vincent! You're alive… Oh, Arceus..." he laughed with joy as his face became streaked with tears of happiness.

The Smeargle smiled and teared up as well. "Heck yeah I am… And I'm glad you're doing alright, too, buddy…" He looked around at the large group of pokémon and quickly looked back at Atlas. "And what are seven Temporal Guardians doing here? I thought there were, like, only twelve or something. Don't they have other things to do?"

Atlas shrugged. "I dunno. They felt like they needed to help us out, so… Yeah. Why are you complaining?"

Vincent laughed, "Oh, I'm not… I'm just curious... " then he looked to the ground as his smile lessened. "And… I heard about Noc and Magnus… And… Rose."

Atlas teared up slightly. "Yeah… I miss them, man…"

"Magnus' unorthodox style of cursing was entertaining, to say the least." Vincent said with a pained smile.

Then he looked at Aaron and bobbed his head down slightly. "You guys have been busy, I see… Already got two new recruits. I hope you weren't trying to replace me!"

Atlas nodded slowly and laid his head back down on the bed, his eyelids becoming unbearably heavy. "Yeah… Um, listen, Vince… I'm really happy to see you… But… I'm getting really tired, so… yeah…" his eyes shut, and he passed out instantly.

Good evening, guys! Sorry for the late chapter, my family was visiting from Maine. I live in Texas, so I was spending lots of time with them. So what did you guys think of the chapter? Vincent and Alice are alive, and even though Atlas lost a hand to Arturia, Dusknoir made him a new one that can bend shadows... So is that good or bad? You decide. :P As always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you have any questions, comments, concerns or theories about what might happen, feel free to tell me about it in the form of a Review or PM!

Also, if you'd like, feel free to let me know how I can improve on my character development. I've noticed that with over twenty-five main characters to keep track of, and with the number only growing as the series goes on, I might be slacking a bit in the development of the individuals. I don't know though. That's for you guys to decide. I'm just really nit-picky when it comes to this sort of stuff. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not a professional, so it's ok if it's not perfect. :P I don't know if I tell you guys this enough, but thank you for being here and reading my stories. It really means alot to me. Until next time! Much Love!

-PL