Pokextinction

by THE CREATOR and Hydra

The world is on the verge of collapse when a man who despises Pokemon with a burning passion and the ruthless rampaging Necrozma threaten world destruction. With tensions rising between every single Legendary Pokemon, even Arceus and Mew won't be able to stop the coming fire... And when all hope is lost, the world will turn to Ash.

11. Chapter 11: Zero

Hall of Origins

Once again, Arceus gathered the Legends. It seemed to him, and everyone else present, that this was happening far too often. Of course, only one dared to voice his opinion about it.

"So," Giratina spoke with obvious ire, "What happened this time, father? It must have been quite something if you're allowing the man-made bastard child of Mew to be here."

Arceus paused, overlooking the legends before him. Lugia and the three birds were still out of commission, but Xerneas no longer had to strain herself with their healing. Yveltal was, of course, absent along with the masters of land and sea that Arceus had sent off to search for the Wing of Death. Rayquaza was being pestered by Xerneas about his wounds, but he was refusing her aid. Arceus surmised that Rayquaza possibly still felt guilt at his failed battle with Necrozma and decided to keep his wounds as self-punishment. Mewtwo had apparently decided to ignore Giratina's insult, and was propped up against the pillar Mew stood on, crossing his arms. Letting out a long-winded sigh, Arceus began.

"Like Giratina, I'm sure you all are wondering why I gathered you all here once more. I assure you, I too feel that these meetings are far too common." He pointed at Rayquaza. "As I am sure you are all aware, Rayquaza isn't exactly in the greatest of conditions."

Rayquaza looked down in shame.

"I assume you all can guess the reason why," Arceus continued, "Necrozma has struck once more. Mewtwo and Rayquaza attempted to fight him, but were unsuccessful. Yveltal was injured as well, and his whereabouts are currently unknown."

Rayquaza hissed, "And there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it! It was as if I was nothing more than his...plaything!"

Giratina scowled at the injured Sky Dragon. "Really? Some guardian you are."

"I...have no words…" Rayquaza replied, bowing his head in shame.

"Do not be ashamed," Arceus spoke, "You fought valiantly, with all your might. That's all I could ask of you...however…"

"However?" Asked Rayquaza.

Arceus closed his eyes. "...Rayquaza, I hereby revoke your status as guardian against Necrozma."

Rayquaza winced, guilt and shame plaguing him.

"This is not a punishment, Rayquaza," Arceus continued, "I simply realize now, that stopping Necrozma was an impossible task. Despite this, you managed to distract Necrozma long enough to secure the safety of Mewtwo, along with his underlings. What's more, you were able to stay conscious during his ruthless onslaught. Tell us. What kind of power did he have? You fought him longer than I did, after all, and the only other four sources we have are still unconscious."

The other Legends had to do a double-take.

"Wait just a damned minute," Giratina spoke, voicing the other Legends' thoughts, "Did you just say you already fought Necrozma? And he's still at large?!"

Arceus sighed, "Yes, I had dueled with that monster for a short time, but as I previously said, Necrozma injured Yveltal and sent him flying off to who knows where. After that, the demon escaped."

"So, even you couldn't take him down, father?" Giratina spat, "If even you are incapable of taking him down, what chance do we have?"

Giratina's remark was only meant to provoke Arceus. He expected his so-called father to lash back at him, saying something like 'I am entirely capable of bringing Necrozma down. Don't try to look down on me, or anyone else here! After all, you rank the lowest.' Or something similar to that...but Arceus's response made even his blood run cold, as well as everyone else present.

"To be honest, you have a point." Arceus conceded, "I am not entirely sure that I can defeat him."

"WHAT?!" Giratina bellowed, "You...you can't be serious!"

"As much as I hate to agree with Giratina," Xerneas spoke up for the first time, "Surely, you cannot truly mean that, father!"

The queen of Pokemon, Mew, even looked distraught at Arceus's message. Hardly anything phased her, or took her out of her cheerful demeanor, but the news that their godfather wasn't even sure that he could take down this threat was enough to shake even her. "Arceus…"

Cries of protests rang throughout the Hall from the legends. The look of panic and terror on their faces stung the Alpha Pokemon. It was as if their world had suddenly crashed around them. The news that their seemingly-invincible father was unsure of their survival was too much to bear.

"I do mean that," Arceus replied, sending a wave of silence throughout the hall, "But do not think for a second that hope is lost. While I, alone, may not be able to take Necrozma down, I truly believe that us, as a combined force, are more than up for the task...Rayquaza, would you resume?"

Rayquaza nodded. "Necrozma, he...it's power is far beyond anything I could have imagined in my most twisted of nightmares. With his finger alone, he turned an entire forest into a crater with seemingly no bottom. When I tackled him from space with my Dragon Ascent, he blocked it with a single hand and…"

The once-proud dragon shuddered for a moment, "It was as if I were nothing more than a ragdoll in the hands of a deranged child. With the casual wave of that thing's hand, the entire landscape was reduced to literal ashes. I questioned how I could survive the onslaught, but then I figured it out. He was intentionally healing me with every attack he dealt to me just so I wouldn't die, and that monster could continue to use me as a plaything for its amusement without accidentally breaking me. Necrozma's cruelty knows no end nor mercy. Without a doubt in my mind, he, it, whatever Necrozma is, will not stop his onslaught until our planet no longer amuses him, and then he will eradicate each and every one of us without batting an eye. He sees all life, all of existence as nothing more than toys he can break at his leisure."

The Legends, barring Arceus, had dread essentially painted across their faces. For all of their millenium or longer-lived lives, the Legends were at the top; the apex. The ones above all. The gods of their world, but now their facades of invulnerability and immortality were coming to a close. Necrozma would come for them all, and if they were the gods, who would they pray to in their time of need?

"That reminds me," Arceus spoke up, "Solgaleo and Lunala. You had mentioned to me that you might have further intel on Necrozma's machinations. Now that the Hall has gathered, would you care to enlighten us about what you might know?"

Solgaleo spoke up first, "It's only a hunch, but we still feel it is important information, even if it is not actually true."

Lunala followed suit, "We only felt it for a brief moment, but it was as clear as day: Both of us felt a connection to Necrozma."

Arceus raised a brow, "Oh? In what way?"

"Well," Continued Solgaleo, "As you know, we are not from your world. We came to this world from another dimension called Ultra Space, but we had never told you the full story."

"It's not that we meant to keep secrets from you all," Lunala followed swiftly, "It's just that we had never thought our origins needed explanation beyond that."

Arceus caught Giratina about to say something, likely more accusations and yelling, so he sent a glare his way to keep him quiet, to the Reverse Dragon's chagrin. Still, it kept him quiet enough for now.

"Long before we came to this world," Started Lunala, "Solgaleo and I lived together in the Ultra Dimension in weaker forms called Cosmogs. Cosmogs were weak, frail little creatures that couldn't fight, let alone defend themselves, and thus they either ended up as food or collateral damage in the wake of the Ultra Beasts that reside there."

Solgaleo spoke again, "Besides Lunala and I, there was another Cosmog that lived with the two of us. The three of us spent every day trying to scrounge up whatever leftover scraps we could find lying around to survive. Every day was a vicious fight for survival, and our little trio went more than our fair share of days without food or water. We became sick of it rather quickly."

"So, we began to look into ways to escape from the Ultra Beasts, and found out about these things called Ultra Wormholes that would appear every so often randomly and briefly, serving as portals to other realms. So, we made a pact to do whatever it took to survive until we could find an Ultra Wormhole and escape our hellish lives."

"One day, the third Cosmog had went out alone to find food, as Lunala and I were far too weak to move, and it was as if some deity took pity on us. An Ultra Wormhole had appeared directly before us, in our own home! Instantaneously, the two of us were whisked away into the Ultra Wormhole, where we briefly became beings we called 'Cosmoem', a comatose state to survive the intense energy of the Ultra Energy that we were subjected to in the wormholes, and finally we wound up in your dimension on opposite ends of your planet. I, Solgaleo, came into contact with intense sunlight whereas Lunala came into contact with glistening moonlight, and the stockpiled Ultra Energy the wormholes subjected us to reacted to the two different energies and transformed us into the state we are now."

Lunala gazed downward, "But...the third Cosmog was left behind. We believe that third Cosmog eventually found another wormhole and became Necrozma, and the suffering he endured in Ultra Space while completely alone drove him mad."

"It's only a theory," Solgaleo followed, "But, the energy we felt from Necrozma, although it only lasted a fraction of a second, felt exactly like the energy of the third Cosmog, only now it's shrouded in a kind of energy that could only be described as a void."

Arceus hummed in thought, "So you believe that Necrozma is your former friend who believes he was abandoned, and thus is on some vengeance-crazed warpath?"

"Again, it's only a theory," Solgaleo replied, "But we believe this information was necessary now more than ever to be shared with everyone here."

Lunala nodded, "Even if it doesn't necessarily give us any information about Necrozma's potential weaknesses, it does give us a theory about his motivation at the very least."

Deoxys balled his hands into fists, enraged. "So, it wasn't about my planet after all, huh? Wasn't even an afterthought to that damned monster!"

"Deoxys, please." Arceus chided.

"Please don't take it personally," Solgaleo said in an attempt to diffuse the situation, "We don't even know if Necrozma even is our lost friend."

Arceus spoke up as well, "It doesn't matter what his motivations are. Deoxys, I know the destruction of your planet has caused you immense pain, but turning your anger against one another will only weaken us. We don't need another Lugia on our hands."

The DNA Pokemon stifled a breath for a moment, then sighed in acceptance. "You're right, Arceus. I should have known better than to let my emotions cloud my judgement at a moment like this."

Arceus nodded, "Then this meeting is over."

The Legends, still shaken up, tentatively began to make their way back through the portals that would take them back to their homes until their lord spoke up once more. "Before you all leave, I have one last thing to say. Be ready. At any moment, Necrozma could strike again. When that happens, I will summon all of us that can fight, and we will all strike at Necrozma at once to end him once and for all!"

As the Legends returned to their homes, Arceus noticed that Rayquaza had stayed behind. "Rayquaza? Is there something else you need of me, or are you uncomfortable about returning home?"

Rayquaza shook his head, "No, milord, it is something else. I didn't know if it was just me hearing or seeing things, but something else happened during my fight with Necrozma. I wasn't sure if it was a hallucination or not, so I didn't want to mention it during the Meeting of the Hall and decided to speak with you when you were alone."

Arceus sighed deeply. "You lot have a terrible habit of leaving out important details until it's inconvenient, you know that?"

Rayquaza bowed his head. "I apologize, but again, I just thought it was a hallucination and not terribly important enough to bring up during the meeting."

"Whatever," Arceus said dismissively, "What is it that you wanted to say, anyways?"

"During my battle with Necrozma, I was about to use up the last of my energy with a Dragon Ascent attack when all of a sudden, I was in an area of pure white emptiness. An endless pale void. In that void, a somehow-brighter white...entity spoke to me, telling me "It was not my place to die" and suddenly my energy returned to me. I'm unsure if it was just my imagination, though, as my attack barely fazed Necrozma."

When Arceus was silent, Rayquaza looked up and saw that a mystified look had overtaken the Alpha Pokemon's features; an expression of awe that Rayquaza had never seen on his master's face ever before. "Lord Arceus?"

Arceus spoke with a voice that sounded as if he was out of breath, "Go on. What did it look like?"

"It...was formless," Rayquaza replied, "It was unimaginable. I couldn't begin to describe what it looked like because I couldn't comprehend it. I did, however, see an arm reach out to me before the vision ended."

Arceus turned his gaze away from Rayquaza in shock. He could scarcely believe what he was hearing. Feelings of fear and confusion like he had never known began rushing throughout the Pokemon God's body. If what Rayquaza was telling him was true...then...he couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen. That being...was utterly unpredictable.

"Lord Arceus?" Rayquaza spoke, "Are you alright?! What, does this vision actually mean something?! If so, what does it mean?!"

"...It could mean two things," Spoke Arceus, "It either means this war of ours is already won...or Necrozma will be the least of our worries…"

---

Ash's eyes slowly drifted open as the rising sunlight happened onto his face. He was greeted to the sight of Serena's head lying on his leg, and Pikachu curled up into a ball on the opposite side. However, something else had its head lying on Ash's chest. Someone with white hair-

Ash inwardly gasped. Visions of the previous night flooded his vision. The shrieks, the blood...and her. He tentatively dared to look down at the girl lying on his chest, and only succeeded in confirming his fears. That girl from the facility...Zero...the being that slaughtered an entire army of Team Rocket Grunts and their Pokemon singlehandedly, was now asleep, resting her head directly on top of him.

Thousands of a particular type of word that would have gotten him killed by his mother for uttering would have escaped his mouth, but the terror of what this girl would do to him for waking her without warning forcefully choked those words back down his throat.

He looked around desperately for anything he might use to escape this situation. He looked to his left. Serena was sound asleep. Waking her up would no doubt lead to screaming, so that was out of the question. He looked towards his right where his bag was. If he could get that, he could have one of his Pokemon help lift her up, hopefully without awakening her and having her kill everyone. He stretched his arm as much as he could, but to no avail. It was out of his reach. He looked up, hoping to find a low-hanging branch or something to slowly pull himself up with, but the branches of the tree was lying down by were all at the top.

Getting desperate, Ash frantically looked around but found nothing he could use to distance himself from the ticking time bomb sleeping on his waist. Ash gulped, mustering the remaining resolve he had. Tentatively, he slid his hands underneath Zero's cheek at an agonizingly slow pace. His heart skipped a beat when he actually managed to lift her head up. She started suddenly, making his blood run cold. Zero shifted her hand onto Ash's leg, which he was in the middle of attempting to slide out from underneath her.

With his other hand, he lifted up her own off of his leg and slowly shifted it towards the ground where it had been previously...until she suddenly began gripping his hand. Truly, the world was dead set on ruining this poor young trainer. Furthering the world's apparent sudden hatred of Ash, Zero's eyelids began to lift.

'OH FU-'

Zero yawned, letting go of Ash's hand to stretch...and opened her eyes. Ash's terror-stricken face and Zero's void-like eyes greeted each other at last. At first, neither of them moved. One was too fraught with terror to move, while the other stared blankly and thoughtlessly up at the other. Zero's face contorted suddenly and she pushed off of Ash onto her feet. Her expression was a mixture of rage, pain and confusion; the same expression that had been plastered on her face during the previous night's... incident. She let out a screech that awakened Serena and Pikachu and began clawing at her face. She charged at Ash without warning, forcing him to leap out of the way, narrowly avoiding an ice-covered punch that sent the tree behind him careening down the hill behind them.

Pikachu hopped in between Ash and Zero, sparking his cheeks menacingly, all the while Serena wasn't sure what to do. Every instinct told her to scream and run, but she knew doing that would just alert Zero to her presence. Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt at the silver-haired girl, only for a barrier to appear around her and negate the attack completely. Zero roared, sending a jet of flame out of her hands, which Pikachu narrowly evaded.

"Pikachu, stop!" Ash commanded, "Attacking her will only make it worse!" Pikachu looked at him hesitantly, as if asking him if he was serious. Ash gave him a stern look, which prompted Pikachu to obey, even if it went against the rodent's judgement.

Ash confronted the young girl slowly, like how a trainer would confront a raging animal in an attempt to get closer to it. He held up his harm towards her while shifting his feet ever so slightly to close the distance while Pikachu and Serena watched with bated breath. Ash closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Come on, aura," He whispered aloud, "Don't let me down…" In response, the familiar blue flames of Aura began swirling across Ash's body once more, rendering Zero almost hypnotized.

Without Zero's realizing, Ash managed to grab her hand, allowing his Aura to come in contact with her. In an instant, Ash's calm blue flames were met with crimson red and pitch black flames of Zero's own. Zero was coated in a soothing dance of cyan whereas Ash was tormented with the agonies Zero had been subjected to over the course of their lives. Their aura's mixed, and their memories were shared.

Ash fell backward, clutching at the arm that had made contact with Zero and screamed in agony as the memories of constant, unending torture at the hands of that madman Charon, and the memories of all the Pokemon that had been killed by his hand to further Zero's development. He saw visions of a younger Zero playing with various Pokemon in the facility, only for men in suits to drag her away and inject her with a multitude of substances: the DNA of innumerable Pokemon. He saw each and every one of them cry out in fear before their lives were ended and they were turned into liquidated materials to be injected into the poor young girl. He saw the younger Zero refuse to harm the other Pokemon even after the tortures they had put her through, and then he saw them dig out her eyes. With more Pokemon DNA: she learned how to see without eyes, but still the torture never ended. Not until her mind broke and she became the killing machine those men had wanted.

Zero meanwhile saw the memories of Ash's travels up until now. She saw his first reaction to a Pokemon battle as a young child. She saw him meeting his lifelong partner, Pikachu for the first time. She saw Ash make friends with Misty and Brock, She saw him gain new Pokemon to get more Gym badges. She saw how he went from a selfish young boy who only saw Pokemon as means to get new Gym badges, to a kind young trainer who put the needs and wants of his Pokemon and friends before his own. She saw the trials and tribulations he had gone through over the years to make his dream come true, but never at the cost of his Pokemon's suffering if he could help it. He treated his Pokemon as if they were his own family, and actively put himself at risk to save his Pokemon and other people for nothing in return. She saw how his dreams of fame and glory turned into dreams of adventure and helping out as many people and Pokemon as he could, with glory being a welcome side effect of his travels. And she saw the myriad of people Ash had befriended along the way. She saw the terrible people he had met too, but also that Ash had put a stop to it each and every time. She saw what this wonderful world had to offer through the eyes of a wonderful human being.

As Ash broke contact with Zero, she was snapped out of her visions, but still remained entranced by their memories. "Ash!" "Pika!" Serena and Pikachu called out as they raced to their friend's aid, no longer caring about the potential danger of doing so. Riley and Lucario appeared as well, also racing over to help their fallen friend.

"Hey, Ash!" Riley called to him, holding him still as the young trainer continued to agonize over his arm and the torturous memories of Zero. Riley gripped onto Ash's wrist and channeled his own Aura into it to combat the swirling red Aura of Zero. "Easy, easy," Riley said, "...Arceus, this is the worst I've ever seen."

"Huh? Worst what? What's happening to him?" Serena inquired with worry.

"Worst Aura. Not in terms of strength, mind you, this is one of the most incredibly powerful Auras I've ever felt, but in terms of negativity...I've seen orange Aura from injured, raging Pokemon before, but...never crimson...usually, all Auras start off blue and become darker and redder due to negative feelings. I've only ever heard about crimson aura before, but never seen it until now…" He looked over to the entranced Zero, "...I can't even begin to comprehend what she's been through, but…"

"But?" Asked Serena

"Ash might not be able to say the same. I think that's what's harming him. They're sharing memories, and experiencing them at that. It's as if she used Pain Split or something."

Serena's face whitened, "Oh Arceus, you mean he's going through what she did?!"

Riley shook his head, "He might be experiencing some of it, but he's luckily not skilled enough with Aura to even be able to fully experience someone else's memories, and I'm combatting her Aura that's implanted on him right now. If he was able to fully experience her memories, we'd likely have two Zeros to deal with."

Zero blinked out of her trance and stepped back, causing Riley, Lucario, Serena and Pikachu to snap their gaze towards her, which made Zero flinch. She was dazed, unsure of what to do next. So many thoughts clouded her mind like a blood clot preventing any blood from flowing. Between Ash's and her own memories, it became hard for her to distinguish what thoughts she should think, or even be able to think. The madness still clawed at her mind, but she no longer felt the urge to embrace it. She attempted to speak, but only choked fractions of words could escape from her. She hadn't spoken normally for years, after all.

Pikachu sparked his cheeks warningly and growled at Zero, while Riley and Serena simply stared at her, unsure what to do next. Zero attempted to step forward towards Ash, and Pikachu in return nearly fired a Thunderbolt her way to keep her back, but Ash placed a hand on Pikachu's head, scruffing up the mouse's fur.

"No need for that," Ash said, sitting up. He pushed himself off of the ground and stood up, but winced as another surge of Zero's tortured aura wracked through his arm once more. Zero tried to make herself step forward towards him, but something stopped her. Guilt began to plague her as she looked down at Ash's arm that was being tormented by the crimson red aura. Her aura that she had inflicted onto him when he tried to stop her from killing him.

Tears as black as ink began dropping down from her void-like eyes and she started to shudder. "I...I-I'm…" She attempted to mutter through shaky sobs. She clenched her fists with rage, though for the first time she could remember, this rage wasn't directed around her. It wasn't the same rage that had been constricting her like puppet strings and forcing her to slaughter everything that moved. She felt a hatred she had never known before, and she had thought she'd known every hatred imaginable. This rage, this hatred could only be directed at herself. She hated herself for giving into the tortures of her creators. She hated herself for killing the only friends she'd ever known. She hated herself for allowing herself to become a mindless weapon for that bastard Charon's works, and she hated herself for harming the only person to ever show her kindness. What's more, she had been freed from Charon's grasp, yet the first thing she did with that freedom was attack the people who had helped her gain that freedom, and continued to be the living weapon her creators desired.

Ash clapped a hand on her shoulder, ushering a small gasp from Charon's creation. She dared to look up and expected to see a fist or another attack of some sort heading her way. She expected retaliation, and flinched, but didn't move. She deserved it, after all. When she dared to open her pitch-black eyes, she saw neither fist nor any other kind of attack. She saw her savior smiling down at her, as if nothing was wrong.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Ash said, as if he was reading her mind, "This is nothing compared to some other stuff I've been through, and you didn't mean to do it, so it's no big deal."

An inky tear flowed down from her cheek and onto Ash's hand as Zero looked down away from Ash. She tried to force herself to break away from him, but her body wouldn't listen...it never did. Ash knelt down to be eye-level with Zero and wiped away her tears. "...I saw what they did to you. It's not right. Something like that...I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Not that I have many, I hope, but even if I did...well, you get my meaning. Anyways, my point is, you shouldn't let that stop you from living your own life?"

Zero opened her eyes. "My...life…?"

Ash nodded, "Your life is yours to live any way you choose. Not my choice, not your creators' choice or anyone else's. Only you can choose how you live, but if you want my advice, I wouldn't let your past decide your future."

Ash lifted the small girl off of her feet and onto his back, giving Zero a view of the rising sun from the hilltop they were on. Her eyes glittered as she gazed upon the bright morning landscape. The sunlight rising over the mountains beyond and glittering off of the metal and glass of the nearby city. The various bird Pokemon awakening from their sleep to begin their daily flights and birdsongs.

"This world is full of beauty! I believe that you should live alongside this world and experience all that it has to offer. Not all of it is like this, though. There are people and Pokemon that act selfishly and of their own accord, but I don't think you need to be told that. My point is, just because there can be a lot of evil in this world, it doesn't mean that the good in this world is meaningless in comparison. I think you'll be happy if you can live like that."

He hoisted the young girl off of his shoulders and held her up so that they were facing each other. Though Zero wasn't smiling as he'd hoped, she definitely had a spark in her eye that told Ash that she was on her way away from her past. "You don't have to forget what happened before," He said, "Those memories, although they might be painful, are still an important part of who you are. Never forget your past, but don't let it control you either. They'll hurt for a long time, sure, and I don't expect it to ever stop hurting either. Pain like that might not ever heal, but overtime, I promise you'll notice it less and less so long as you keep on having happy memories to go alongside them."

Zero stared at him in thought for a moment, and then nodded.

Serena, meanwhile, was watching this scene play out with an odd smile. "Huh. Who thought he'd end up being good with kids?"

Riley nodded. "Yes, I didn't expect him to have this kind of attribute. And what's more, he's already learning how to use his Aura to soothe others." A smile appeared on the Aura Guardian's face as the sunlight rose up to meet him, "He's coming along faster than anticipated, and I've barely began to train him!"

He turned to his partner with a knowing grin that said 'Told you so', to which Lucario faked a scowl. In truth, he too was beginning to become interested in Ash's development.

"I don't think it's just his Aura," Serena said, "Ash has always had this kind of aptitude for helping others." She closed her eyes and remembered her first encounter with Ash when she was injured and stranded in a forest. Ash had come out of nowhere, patched up her injury, and guided her back to safety of his own accord, without asking anything in return. "He's always been like this for as long as I've known him."

"Perhaps you could be right," Riley replied with a small chuckle.

A few hours later

The group, after becoming accustomed with their new member, decided not to continue their travels just yet. It was important to help Zero train with her powers so she wouldn't become a ticking time bomb under stress, and being able to train Ash with Aura and the group's Pokemon for further battles wouldn't hurt either.

"So," Started Riley, "Now that we've agreed that today is a training day, I say we should split up into groups. I was hoping that I could train Ash with Aura today, so Serena and Lucario should be in charge of the Pokemon."

"Me?" Serena asked, "I'm...still not very experienced, you know. I might not be the best at training Ash's Pokemon since I'm not as adept of a trainer as he is."

"Well, you'll never get better if you don't start somewhere," Ash pointed out, "And my Pokemon have been journeying with us since we started in Kalos, barring Sceptile, but I wouldn't worry about him anyways. He likes to train on his own anyways. The rest won't give you any trouble, right Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped back with a nod. Ash handed her his bag with his Pokemon in it. "You'll do great! You're a better trainer than you give yourself credit for, you know."

Serena shyly rubbed the back of her head, "You think so?" Ash replied with a nod and thumbs up.

Zero raised her hand, "...Will I be…" She stopped for a moment, mulling over her next words for a moment, "..."Training" with you?"

Riley nodded, "Indeed you will, but you will be alternating between training with Ash and I and training with Serena and the other Pokemon."

Zero raised her hand again, to which Riley nodded her way. "What does training mean?"

"Well…" Riley started, "It's like...exercising and fighting to get stronger and more skilled."

Zero drooped her head a little, "So, I have to fight again…?"

"Well, not fighting in the way you...have…" Riley replied, "You certainly won't need to kill your opponent. Think of it like...playing roughly, yeah? It's just so you can experiment with your powers more and learn to control them better."

Zero's eyes furrowed, clearly not quite understanding his meaning, but she could at least understand "You won't need to kill your opponent," which made her happy. "...Ok."

Riley nodded and continued, "You'll be starting with Ash and I first to help with control over your powers. I feel that control is the most important aspect someone could have. That way, you're less likely to hurt yourself and others if you can help it."

Zero's void-like eyes somehow glistened as she heard "Less likely to hurt others."

"Lucario," Riley continued, "Will be assisting Serena and training with the other Pokemon."

Lucario nodded wordlessly and began following Serena.

"And that will be all." He pointed at Zero and Ash, "You two, come with me, please." Riley led Ash and Zero away from the others into a thicket of enclosed forest. Zero looked up in wonder to see the leaves bristle gently against one another with each breeze that passed by. A few Bug Pokemon came out of their hiding spots to peek out at the trio, but quickly went back into hiding once they saw Zero, causing the young girl to frown. Noticing this, Ash put a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry about them," Ash said, "Give them time and they'll warm up to you."

Zero replied with a down-toned "Hmm…"

As the leaves surrounding them became more and more scarce, they entered a small opening. The sky was still blotted out by the leaves, but a circular opening with a few tree stumps in the middle lay beneath the trees that seemed to curve inward around the circular opening.

"This should be a good spot," Riley commented, "Not too much light, but not too dark to see either, and those stumps should provide good seating for meditation."

"Medi...tay-shun?" Zero asked, "What's that?"

"It's probably better for you to see for yourself," Replied Riley, "But that will come later anyways. For now, we should work on being able to summon our Aura and manipulate it. Ash, you seem to already have a fair grasp about how to do so, right?"

Ash nodded and closed his eyes. With a few deep breaths, the small blue flames of Aura appeared around him once more, surrounding him in a dance of cyan blue fire, and opened his eyes once again.

"Woah," Ash commented, "I haven't really been able to see what this looked like before. I was always only able to summon it when I was in danger and couldn't really appreciate what it looked like, but now….wow…" Zero, too, looked in awe at Ash's Aura.

Riley started again, "Good, then this will be easier. As for you, Zero, your...past might have negative influences on your ability to summon your Aura. I saw before that your aura was a deep crimson red, and very erratic. You are certainly powerful enough to use it, but doing so would likely only end up in your harming yourself and others."

Zero frowned and looked down, but Riley continued, "That, my dear Zero, is why I think it's best to start off elsewhere. I recall that Doctor from before said that you could use Pokemon attacks, so if you can learn to control those, you might be able to control your Aura."

"Wait, then wouldn't it be better to have had Zero go with Serena to train with the Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"No, there might be a chance that she would become stressed in a noisy environment like that and break down again. She might be docile now, but she could easily become volatile once more if we do this wrong," Replied Riley, "Not only that, but Aura seems to have a mesmerizing effect on her, so we can easily calm her down. I trust Lucario to be able to do so as well, but this is still the safer option."

"I see," Said Ash with a nod, "Right. So, how should we start?"

"You've already learned a basic deal of control over your Aura on your own, and unlike Zero's, yours isn't volatile in the slightest," Riley started, "So to teach Zero control, it might be better if we show her rather than tell. So, Ash, care to test out your Aura on me?"

"Like, a battle?" Asked ash, to which Riley chuckled and replied, "Yes, something like that. Only this time, it's the trainers duking it out instead of their Pokemon."

Ash nodded and grinned, "Alright, I think I get it. Hey, Zero, pay close attention. This should give you an idea where to start." Zero nodded, so Ash continued, "Alright, I've seen other Lucario's do this before, so now it's time for me to give it a try!" He cupped his hands at the side of his hip and charged his Aura between the palm of his hands. "Aura Sphere!"

As a stream of auric blue flames were channeled down from Ash's arms and into his palms, a blue sphere came into existence with a swirl of light guiding it, causing Zero to stare in dumbfounded awe at the sight of it. The stream of flames stopped suddenly, signifying that the attack had been completed and was now ready to be utilized. With a battle cry, Ash thrusted his hands forward and released a brilliant blaze of blue from his palms that…

...fizzled out uselessly into smoke and disappeared without a trace.

Riley sighed exasperatedly, "No, no, no, your whole stance is wrong. Why are you cupping your hands, are you trying to imitate some anime character or something? Cupping your hands like that makes the streams of Aura from your arms clash against each other when forming the sphere, and what's more, it makes the sphere form outside of the in-between area of your hands that it should be forming in."

Riley walked over to Ash and brought the boy's arms up in front of him so that one hand was higher than the other and the palms were facing one another, but the fingers were open and curved rather than closed and cupped, and his arms were outstretched directly in front of him. Zero watched intently, as if she were a young school student eager to learn the alphabet for the first time.

Riley stepped away from Ash and held his own arms out in the same fashion. "You start with your arms outstretched and fingers curved in toward each other to help guide the Aura easier." To show what he meant, Riley began forming an Aura Sphere of his own for Ash to mimic. "Follow along with me, Ash. You're supposed to start the stream from your core, not your arms. If you summon Aura from your core beforehand, it will spread all throughout your body evenly and allow a flow to manifest itself easier."

He demonstrated by flaring up his deep cyan Aura around himself in a miniature cyclone of fire. The flames quickly began spiraling around his arms and then to his fingertips, then using the curve of his fingers to send it forward from there. "By having one hand above the other, the trails of Aura won't clash. They'll spiral around in a circle until a sphere is formed." Lo and behold, the aura dancing at Riley's fingertips began circling around each other into a ball. Next, Riley moved the ball behind him using his arms, but not directly touching it. "After the first step is done, you should bring the orb behind you. By doing so, you can continue to charge it while also being able to keep an eye on your target and lessen the chance of them attacking the orb to destabilize it. I can see why you started here first, since Lucario and I are so fast at doing this that it looks like the first step is done instantaneously."

"Wait, what do you mean by destabilizing it?" Asked Ash, to which Riley nodded in apparent approval of his asking. "Great question," He replied, "In fact, this is a good question for you as well, Zero."

Zero nodded eagerly.

"You see," Continued Riley, "This trait isn't uniquely exclusive to Aura. All Energy-based attacks can be destabilized with another energy attack. Even an attack 1/100th of the strength of an energy attack that's being charged can destabilize it and cause the accumulated energy to be disrupted and explode. Think of it like a rushing river being suddenly stopped by a falling rock, so the river, having nowhere to go, begins overflowing."

The Aura Sphere in Riley's hands climaxed, and so he stopped the flow of Aura and allowed the sphere to float between his hands. He brought it forward to allow Ash and Zero to look at it for a moment, then fired it off towards Ash suddenly. Ash's eyes widened and instinctively, he broke out of his stance and held out his palms to block the attack. He shut his eyes to brace for the impact, but it never came. He hesitantly opened his eyes, and saw that the sphere was now harmlessly floating in front of his palms. Both he and Zero stared with awe.

"You see, Zero," Riley said, appearing behind the young girl and scruffing up her hair almost instantaneously and without her even noticing until he had touched her, "That attack could have seriously damaged Ash, but due to both my control and his instincts and reflexes, that attack became harmless. This is why control is so important. It can be the deciding factor between harming someone you care for, and not."

Zero could only respond with a light, breathy gasp that sounded like an extended "Woah" as she stared back up at him.

"Hey, Ash!" Riley called up to him, "Speaking of control, your first lesson will be to control that Aura Sphere I gave you. Wave it around, maneuver it however you want, but don't lose track of it or let it die out. If it gets too far away from your hands, it could fly off by itself or just fall apart."

Ash nodded with a grin, accepting the challenge, "You got it!"

"Also, your goal is to be able to successfully create one of your own before we head back to the others. Moving that thing around should help you figure it out for yourself." Ash nodded again, "All right, I understa-"

"But if you can't, you don't get any dinner when we head back, so it's probably in your best interest not to lose it, got it?"

Ash's heart sank immediately at he thought of losing out on a meal. "Wait, WHAT?!"

Riley simply laughed at Ash's expense and turned himself and Zero away from the now-terrified boy. "Now, Zero, that you understand the basic function of control and why it's necessary, would you like to try it out for yourself?"

"Try out Aura?" Zero asked excitedly. Riley smiled sympathetically and shook his head, "No, like I said before, Aura might be beyond you right now." When Zero frowned, Riley ruffled her hair again and crouched down so they were face-to-face. "But, we can start off with regular Pokemon Attacks for now, and if you get a good handle on those, we can try Aura later."

Zero stared blankly at him in deep thought for a moment. "...You tell me to "Attack?", right? Those men, my creators...they told me to do the same, and when I didn't, they…" She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence and clenched her eyes shut, vigorously shaking her head. "I...don't want to...be like that again…"

Riley stared at her with pity. 'Man,' He thought, 'Poor Zero…' He ruffled her hair again and summoned his auric flames around the two of them in a dome of brilliant blue light that slowly swirled round and around. "Hey," He said gently, "Open your eyes, will you?" Zero stood still for a few seconds, but ultimately obeyed and was met with the beautiful, mesmerizing Aura that she couldn't help but love. "You really love Aura, don't you?"

Zero nodded her head.

"That's good. Aura is the essence of all life, and all of existence as well. Loving Aura means that you love all life as well as this world we all live in. But…" He shut off the flow of Aura surrounding them, causing Zero to become distressed once more. Not because of her previous thoughts, but the sight of it fading away. "...If life begins to die out, that means existence might die out too. If existence dies out, Aura dies out. You love Aura, don't you? That means you love our world."

Zero appeared to be in deep thought once more, until Riley began speaking again, "But, there are some people who think our world is theirs for the taking, and would harm life to control it. That is why good people fight too: to stop the evil people from destroying our world. You don't want this world to be destroyed, do you?"

Zero vigorously shook her head, earning a smile out of the Aura Guardian. "Then you should learn to fight. Not to destroy and kill others, but to protect our world and the life that lives in it. That way, the Aura can stay too."

Zero pondered his words. To her, "Fighting" meant killing, and killing those she cared for at that, but here, this man was telling her that fighting could mean protecting? Fighting could mean that life is saved rather than ended? She still wasn't sure how this could be true, since every time she was told to fight, many lives were destroyed, but the young girl was curious if such a thing could be true. She closed her eyes, and like always, the only thing that she could see was a pile of corpses and liquid crimson staining the walls and floors. The thought that fighting could mean anything other than this was unimaginable to her, but… She looked up at Riley and then to Ash who was attempting to throw the Aura Sphere, and upon succeeding, vigorously rushing to catch it so it wouldn't dissipate. ...These people did save her. They risked their lives so that she could gain one of her own. And that meant something, right? If their fighting saved her, could her fighting save others?

"...Okay," She said at last, "I want to learn how to fight...so that I can protect life…"

Riley grinned at her response approvingly and patted her shoulder, like a coach to one of their players. "Great! Then, first, we should get a handle on what you're capable of."

Riley stood back up to his full height and walked a few steps away from Zero, then turned around to face her. "Say, do you know the names of the attacks you can use?"

Zero tilted her head in confusion. "Names?"

"I'll take that as a no. Every attack that a Pokemon can use has a name to it. Here, I have an idea. Use an attack, say, at that tree stump to my left. Then, I'll tell you what it's called."

Zero nodded with a humm, turned towards the stump and summoned bright orange flames to her fist. She stared down at her fist for a moment as if contemplating if she should even use it, then shook her head to clear her mind of such thoughts and launched herself forward at the stump. With a swift upward motion, her flame-coated fists uprooted the stump as well as much of the ground around it and incinerated it with a pillar of flames that followed the initial punch.

Riley stared at Zero with his mouth agape for a moment as he witnessed the stump being reduced to less than mere ashes in an instant. He coughed into his hand and brushed off his surprise. 'Somehow, I keep forgetting there's a demon behind that child'

"That," Riley started, regaining his composure "Was Fire Punch."

"Fire Punch…" Repeated Zero, looking at her once-enflamed hands, "...I want to learn more names. To understand my powers better, so that I can protect more things."

"Well, let's continue, then," Replied Riley, "Fire off a new attack. First one that comes to mind, besides Fire Punch again." Zero nodded eagerly and clasped her hands together, forming an orange sphere between her fingertips that continuously became larger with each passing second. Riley's blood ran cold when he figured out what attack she was using. "H-hey, wait, that one might be a bit too-" He was cut off when Zero aimed her hands upwards and fired. A massive orange laser tore through the trees, blowing back anyone or anything nearby and sending bird Pokemon for miles scattering.

A rainfall of small debris hailed down on the trio for a few seconds as Zero ceased the attack, then all became silent. Zero turned around with a grin, as if nothing happened. "So, what was that one called?" Riley and Ash hesitantly stepped out from behind some badly-bent trees, with the former checking his hands to see if the Aura Sphere had remained in his hands, only to find that it had been blown away.

"That was...Hyper Beam…" Riley said with a dry chuckle.

"Hyper Beam!" Zero chirped back happily, "C'mon, let's do more!"

Riley was quick to halt this mess."I'm gonna have to stop you right there," He said, "Remember that whole lesson about control?" Zero nodded. "Well, restraint is an important part of control." Riley motioned with his hand at the trees that were nearly blown over by the force of Zero's attack. "Sometimes, it's necessary to hold back. It can be fun to let loose, sure, but it can also be dangerous if you're not paying attention to your surroundings, otherwise you might hurt someone you don't mean to. These trees are living things too, and even more life relies on these trees to survive."

Zero looked down and hummed in thought. "...Don't use too much power...okay, I get it."

Riley nodded, "Then it's okay. Just be careful from now on."

"So, what's next?" Asked Zero. Riley pondered their next course of actions for a moment, and then an idea struck him. "Before we continue with offensive attacks, we should try defensive attacks and focusing attacks."

Zero tilted her head in confusion once more, "What do those mean? Offensive and Defensive?"

Riley charged another Aura Sphere in his hands to show what he meant. "An offensive attack is something that can damage- er, hurt others. They're what most people consider to be "attacks". They're like Fire Punch and Hyper Beam, yeah? Defensive Attacks are like...shields and stuff. They can protect you and others from danger." He shifted the Aura from the Aura sphere into a cyan screen in front of him. "There are also healing attacks which can undo damage to things."

Zero's void-like eyes widened, like her very world was expanding. "Ooooh, so you mean…" She looked around at the nearly-flattened trees surrounding them, "I can undo this?"

"An excellent question," Riley replied, "Which brings me to my next lesson. Undoing damage is far more difficult than doing damage. You could heal all the wounds you inflicted on these trees, but that wouldn't entirely "fix" them, per say. You would still have to put them back upright but even that might hurt them or make it worse, since the dirt underneath them was blown away too. You'd have to replace all the dirt around them as well, so their roots can be used again properly as well. The same can be said with people and other living things as well. If you destroy the home of something or someone, even if they survive, they'll still be without a home. Undoing that damage would mean you would have to help rebuild their home as well, and no Pokemon move would be able to do that as well as it could inflict it." He clasped a hand on her shoulder. "That is another reason why control is so important."

Zero nodded in understanding, "I...see...Damage can be inflicted easier than it can be healed…"

"Right," Riley said with a nod, "And there's something else too. Some damage can never be undone. You should know that better than anyone, with what you've been through. You already know that fighting can kill, so there's no need for me to remind you. But there's also another kind of damage that can never be undone. Damage to someone's mind."

Riley knelt down and poked Zero on her chest over her heart, "You know what I mean. If you hurt someone too badly, even if their body is healed, they will never be able to cope with that kind of damage, and they'll break…"

Zero frowned deeply, "You mean they'll...become like I did?"

Riley nodded, "Mhmm. I'm not saying it isn't impossible for them to recover. I mean, look at you. You'll never forget what happened to you down there in that lab, and that's okay. You shouldn't ever forget, and I doubt you ever could anyways, but you're on the path to recovery. Some people might not ever have the chance of recovery. That's why it's important to control yourself and what you can do with your powers."

Zero slowly nodded, staring down at her heart. "I...don't want anyone to be hurt...like I was…"

"That's good," Riley said with a smile, "Wishing suffering upon others is how people who have suffered want to cope. They want others to feel what they've felt, and to understand what they've been through, even if some will never admit it. But, wishing suffering upon others will only damage you even more, and you're liable to become even more damaged yourself. You should never have to return to that dark place, Zero, and controlling your powers so you can help others will in turn help you."

"...Why do people cause suffering, then? If it hurts themselves and others, but helping others lets people help themselves, then why do people not just help each other?" Zero asked, to which Riley sighed and smiled dryly. "The age-old question...I don't think anyone has that answer. The cycle of suffering comes with life, as does the cycle of kindness. They're two sides of the same coin. You can't have one without the other, but it's better to stay on the brighter side, I'd say. So, how about we take this whole thing from the top, eh?"

Zero nodded eagerly. "...Yes, let's…"

Four hours later

The sun was now on its way to setting, and with its' setting approaching, so too came the ending of Ash's and Zero's lesson.

"Alright, Ash," Announced Riley, "Time's up. Let's see that Aura Sphere."

Ash, pale as snow, shakily stood before Riley while desperately trying, and failing, to hide his terror. Since he'd lost Riley's Aura Sphere during Zero's Hyper Beam, he was unable to get a real grasp on the attack and was now dreading the loss of his end-of-the-day meal he'd loved so much.

"Ash. Aaaaaash!" Riley called out to him, "Any day now. The longer you keep us waiting, the colder your dinner will be…" Riley smiled devilishly, "If you get one, that is."

Ash snapped out of his stupor. A new determination rushed throughout his blood; one unlike he'd ever known before. A determination that superseded his ambition in the Pokemon League, a determination that dwarfed his dream of exploring the world, a determination that even came close to rivaling his determination to meet new Pokemon and journey with his friends: The determination to enjoy dinner.

"That's it!" Ash bellowed, flaring his Aura, "I'M GONNA MAKE AN AURA SPHERE SO AMAZING, I'LL BE EATING YOUR DINNER AS A REWARD!"

With a mighty battle cry, the young trainer thrust his arms forward, spiraling his aura into the shape of an orb, plunged his arms behind him and with his full, unbridled power, shot his arms forward and released all the Aura he'd stockpiled into one single, powerful, mighty, unbridled, UNCONTAINABLE cyan blue ball of pure Auric Power, then shot his hands forward and released…

...yet another useless fizz of blue smoke.

Ash collapsed onto his face, both in disbelief and exhaustion.

Riley sighed dramatically, putting a hand to his forehead for emphasis. "And thus, dinner evaded the poor young boy…"

Ash let out a muffled, exasperated moan without picking his head up from the ground.

"We'll keep working on it," Riley assured him, "Now, Zero for your final test for today…"

Riley shifted into a battle stance, flaring his Aura in violent spikes of swirling energy around himself. "Show me what you've learned."

Zero's eyes widened. "You...want me to fight you…?! I can't-"

"You can!" Riley shot back, "And you will! You've been nearly perfect at learning everything I've taught you. You've memorized at least eighty attack names and what they all do, and you've learned how to temper your power. If you've learned anything, then taking me down should be a cakewalk with your power."

Zero shook her head. "You're confusing me! I thought I was learning to fight to protect my friends, not to…" Visions of her Pokemon friends from the underground facility lying in pools of their own blood flooded her vision as she closed her eyes again. "I don't want to…"

"This brings me to my final lesson," Riley announced, "Sometimes, hurting the ones you care for is unavoidable. But they'll likely be more understanding than anyone. You won't have to kill me, only immobilize me or get me to admit defeat. This will be nothing compared to the horrors you've gone through, and defeating me without killing me will only prove that you're on your way from moving on from what you used to be. You're not a weapon anymore. If you can defeat me without killing me, you can prove that you're not just a weapon either!"

Zero attempted to retort, but was met with a blast of Aura that knocked her down.

"And here's an extra lesson: In a real fight, your enemy will never relent! To defend yourself and others, you must fight back!"

Riley leapt up into the air and aimed an axe kick down at the young girl. Just as the Aura Guardian was about to deliver the blow, a jet of fire shot out from underneath him, forcing him to stop the attack and instead use his Aura to propel himself out of the way.

Zero stepped back onto her feet with a dark look on her face. Thought this time, it was not one of murderous intent. It was one of determination and grit. She dug her heel into the dirt and leapt forward at Riley. "Fire Punch!"

Riley was quick on the uptake. With a cocky grin, he closed his eyes and flipped over Zero, letting her sail harmlessly underneath whipped around and sent a Focus Blast his way, which he again dodged without looking. Becoming aggravated, Zero raised her arms and summoned a hail of stones from above her mentor. "Rock Slide!"

Riley chuckled and, still without opening his eyes, sent out a pulse of Aura from his hand to push him out of the way. "You're going to have to try harder than that," He taunted. Zero growled in irritation and leapt up at him, but Riley simply used his Aura to fly upwards out of harm's way. Now Riley went on the attack. He charged a barrage of Aura Spheres and sent them hurtling down at Zero, forcing her to go on the defensive with a Protect, but it became increasingly more difficult to keep the barrier up as it went on. She gasped at air as she quickly became exhausted, but didn't abandon the shield. Finally, she let out a gasp and was forced to let the shield go. Immediately, she was hit with an Aura Sphere that sent her sprawling.

"Protect may be an absolute defensive measure," Riley spoke down to her, "But it becomes increasingly difficult to manage as time goes on and saps away at your stamina. It should only be used in short bursts so you don't exhaust yourself. If you let yourself become defenseless, then there's nothing stopping your opponent from doing...say…"

Riley bolted down with another Aura Sphere in his hands. He raised his arms over his head, allowing the orb to grow continuously bigger so he could crash down on top of Zero with the attack. "THIS!" Riley shot the orb down in front of him and flipped around so he was upright. As the ball impacted Zero and exploded upon contact, Riley shot down at her immediately afterward with a kick to her back that elicited a short pained cry and pinned her down.

"Carelessness in battle will always lead to defeat. If you are careless, both you and those you are trying to protect will be left defenseless."

Zero growled with fury. "Discharge!" Riley leapt off of Zero and summoned an auric barrier around himself just in time to defend against a blast of electricity that shot out of Zero in all directions and kicking up smokey dust around the area as well.

"I can admire your strategic mind," Riley commended, "But, I can sense your Aura and I know that you're currently using Dig to go underneath my barrier. It would have been a foolproof plan...if you were facing an amateur!" Riley ceased using the barrier and leapt up the moment he felt the ground beneath him twitch. But he was taken aback when nothing appeared out from the hole. He heard the ground crunch beneath him as another hole was torn out from underneath it, but as he whipped around to see what had come out, he was met with nothing yet again. Several more holes began appearing around the battlefield one after another, but still nothing appeared from any of them. "Tch." He remarked in annoyance. The Aura Guardian's eyes lit blue as he attempted to find out Zero's location with his Aura, but to his surprise, he found there were several of her Aura Signatures. "She must be using Double Team," He said to himself, "But if they're fakes, then the strongest signature must be re-" He was cut off suddenly by a blow from behind that sent him flying through the air.

He flared his Aura to stop himself and tried to sense Zero's Aura again from where he'd been attacked, but found nothing yet again. Another blow struck him from underneath. Then another one from above quickly after. Riley cursed and summoned a barrier in time to see a blur strike his shield, leaving a flash of light for a moment as they collided. Another blow struck the shield, and then another, and then countless more invisible strikes hailed against the blue barrier without relent.

'So, it's not Double Team after all…'

He continued to hold the barrier, but it became increasingly more difficult to maintain, so he quickly shut off the barrier and attempted to bolt down into one of the holes Zero made, only to be grazed slightly by another invisible strike that made him wince for a moment, giving Zero the only chance she needed. A barrage of the invisible attacks blitzed the now-defenseless Riley from every possible angle before Zero appeared at last with a Fire Blast aimed directly at Riley. Riley's eyes shot open with fear and he quickly countered the incoming attack with an Aura Sphere that, upon colliding with the Fire Blast, made both attacks explode into a plume of smoke. Sensing Zero's presence rapidly approaching, Riley landed back onto the ground and prepared his barrier again, but it wasn't enough. Zero appeared in a flash out of the smoke that had gotten caught in Riley's barrier with her feet aimed in his direction. Riley's senses flared in an attempt to let him avoid the attack, making the world appear as if it were in slow motion. However, as much as he tried to move out of the way, Zero honed in on him even faster. Faster than the eye could see, Zero impacted Riley square in the chest and sent him spiraling into a tree.

"If Offense and Defense alone don't work," Zero said with a cocky grin, "Then I'll combine them with speed. Extreme Speed."

Riley chuckled and pushed himself off of the tree, brushing off some splinters that had gotten caught on his jacket. "Impressive, Zero, but it's not over yet!" He flared his Aura around himself once more and prepared to charge at Zero, but noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped the flow of Aura around him and looked up at the now-orange sky.

"...Scratch that. I think we got a bit carried away."

Zero looked up at the sky as well. "...So what? Let's finish this!"

Riley shook his head, "Think of it as me surrendering."

"Surrendering?"

"It means I'm giving up, and so you get the win."

Zero furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Does...that mean I stop?"

Riley nodded, "It does. I know I've said I'd given you your final lesson two lessons ago, but let me give you one last one before I send you back to Serena and the others, and this one is very important. It could save you from...going back to your past self."

Zero awaited this last piece of information eagerly, especially when she saw the fierce seriousness in his gaze.

"...If your opponent surrenders, no matter how terrible they are, if you've defeated them and they give up and can no longer fight...do not kill them. Never kill them. If you kill them after they give up willingly, then you are a murderer, and you will never be able to forget their face in your dreams. It will haunt you for as long as you live."

Zero pondered his words intently, then asked, "...How do you know this?"

"...Take my word for it."

Zero stared at him blankly, as if judging him. Then, she remembered. The faces of her Pokemon Friends pleading for their lives before she cut them down. Many of them refused to fight her and begged for their lives, but she cut them down all the same. She winced at the memory and vigorously shook her head to rid herself of it, then she replied. "...I understand. You're right."

"...Good," Riley said, allowing a smile to appear back onto his face after an intense period of silence and that endlessly-serious look plastered on his face, "Then we're done for the day. Head back over to Serena for the next part of your training. You'll just be sparring with the other Pokemon. Sorry I kept you for so long. We were supposed to be done an hour ago."

Zero shook her head, "It's no problem, but…" She looked down with embarrassment, "...How do I get back there?"

Riley chuckled and turned back to face Ash, who had been staring out into space for a while now after watching Zero and Riley's fight, "Figure it out. Retrace our steps or something. Think of it as an extra test or something."

Zero wanted to retort, but knew that she would get nowhere, so she simply pouted and turned to walk away. Then, an idea struck her. If she used Gust or another wind move to fly, she could spot the group easier. Giggling deviously, she hopped into the air and summoned Gust beneath her feet to keep her airborne.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Riley called out to her. Zero retorted with, "Says the guy who was using Aura to fly during our fight!" and promptly flew away without letting Riley retort.

Riley tried to be angry, but could only let out an exasperated sigh followed by a chuckle. "Well, it's at least nice to see her coming out of her shell a bit."

He turned around a snapped his fingers in Ash's face to snap him out of his stupor. "Hey, up and attem."

Ash blinked and stumbled backwards. "Wh-what? Huh?"

"Zero finished up with her training," Riley told him, "But you still owe me an Aura Sphere and until those skies turn black, I'll keep you here as long as it takes."

Ash's eye twitched. "...Goodbye, sweet dinner, it was nice knowing you…"

…

Zero, with an ear-to-ear smile plastered on her face, stared down at the world below her in awe. At her height , she could see almost anything. She saw Pokemon running around and playing, Flying-Type Pokemon, like their name suggests, flying around beneath her, and trees for what seemed like miles. She also saw a silver glint in the trees out of the corner of her eye that seemed like it was following her, but the moment she looked at it, it vanished. It didn't take her too long to spot Serena and the other Pokemon either, and it looked as if there was some kind of massive free-for-all going on between them all. Eager to join in, she began descending down until something else caught her eye. A little ways away from Serena and the others, she could see what appeared to be a boy and a Pokemon fighting another Pokemon. Ash had told her about Pokemon battles before, and she saw them in his memories as well. Her interest peaked and so she dipped away from Serena's group and floated down towards the boy.

...Though, as she began to land, it didn't look so much as a Pokemon Battle as much as it looked like some poor Pokemon was getting mercilessly beaten by the boy's larger Pokemon. Hesitant to engage the situation, she simply floated a few feet above them to gauge what was happening, as well as hear what the boy was saying.

"Tch. You weak, useless dumb little RAT! What kind of Eevee are you anyways?! I caught you because I thought Eevee's were supposed to become strong and cool like Umbreon, but you're too weak to even fight! Rhydon, give it another Mega Kick."

Zero couldn't believe what she was seeing. A poor, Eevee that looked tiny even for its' kind was being ruthlessly beaten down by that boy and his Rhydon. The Eevee attempted to run away, but whenever it got back onto its' feet, the Rhydon was told to Mega Kick it again and again, sending it flying helplessly all over the place.

The Eevee whimpered weakly with tears in its' eyes. "V-vee.." It cried, as if begging for mercy, only to receive an umpteenth Mega Kick to its' abdomen that sent it hurling into a tree. Zero's vision flashed back yet again to the laboratory where she was created.

"V-veee!" A small brown Fox-like Pokemon huddled against the cold, steel corner of the room she was contained in. Surrounding it, hundreds of Pokemon corpses, some mutilated and dismembered beyond recognition, lay in piles on top of one another. The cause was Project Zero. The Eevee couldn't fathom why she was doing this though. The last time Eevee had seen her, she was the kindest person Eevee had ever met. She had always loved playing with all of the other Pokemon in the lab and had refused to hurt them, but now….

"VEEE!" The Eevee cried desperately to try and reach out to her friend, but to no avail. Project Zero, now splattered in the crimson of her countless victims' innards, snapped her gaze towards the terrified creature that had once been her friend. She took one step towards them, reached out her hand, and turned it into nothing more than a stain on the wall. The booming laughter of Dr. Charon echoed throughout her mind.

Unable to stand the memory any longer, Zero bolted down at the Rhydon and, before either the Pokemon or its' trainer could see anything, sent a Mega Kick of her own with such force that the rock plating that covered Rhydon's chest shattered, and the rhinoceros-Pokemon was sent hurtling into the forest nearby.

"W-what in the hell?!" The trainer cried out in surprise, "What happened to Rhydon?!"

Zero closed her eyes, let out a long-winded breath, and turned to face him. She tried to remember, forced herself to remember her teachings from just earlier that day. 'Don't kill him,' She told herself, 'Just get him to stop,' Without opening her eyes as to not shock the trainer, she spoke to him, "Why...why are you doing this?!"

The trainer scowled, "Why?! Who the hell do you think you are, kid?! And where did you even come from?! Brats like you need to learn to respect their elders and mind your own damned business!"

Zero took a step towards him and repeated herself, "Why are you doing this?"

"Tch," The trainer spat, "Fine. If you must know…" He pointed at the Eevee behind Zero, who was coughing and struggling to get back on it's feet. "That piece of shit behind you is nothing more than a useless weakling who doesn't deserve to be on my team. I wasted a Luxury Ball on that thing so I could get an Umbreon, but that shitty Eevee is too weak to fight!"

He shrugged with a sadistic chuckle, "Ordinarily, I would just abandon that weakling with some lame excuse like "Oooh, don't worry! I'll be back for you, so just wait here!" and then leave their sorry asses behind to starve to death for all I care. Haha! It works every time."

Zero took another step forward, which the trainer didn't notice.

"But," He continued, his scowl returning, "Not this time. That Luxury Ball cost me two-thousand Pokedollars, and I'm not letting it go to waste! That piece of shit Eevee is going to evolve tonight, or it's going to die! So, get your dumb little bratty nose out of my way!"

"Or what?" Zero hissed, earning a mocking laugh out of the trainer that reminded Zero far too much of that bastard Charon's laugh.

"Or what?! I'll tell you what!" The trainer took out his remaining five Pokemon and released them. In flashes of light, Venusaur, Arbok, Alakazam, Onix and Primeape appeared from the trainer's Pokemon with sadistic grins on their faces. "You'll end up just like that Eevee! I don't care if you're a kid or not! No one crosses Damian: the greatest trainer in Kanto!"

Zero's eyes widened at that name. When she intermingled memories with Ash this morning, she distinctly remembered that name in particular; the name of a brat who left his Charmander to die out in the rain because he deemed it too weak. Were it not for Ash, that Charmander, now a proud and mighty Charizard, would have died long ago because of this selfish trainer.

Zero scowled for a second, but a sadistic grin that made Damian and his Pokemon momentarily flinch replaced her scowl soon after. "Damian, huh?" She cracked her knuckles. "I'm going to enjoy this."

Damian growled angrily in response, "Pshh! Alright, boys, teach this dumbass kid a lesson! Trash 'em!"

"Oh?" Asked Zero, "You're not even gonna wait until your Rhydon returns, or even bother to check on it?"

"I don't know what happened to it, but if it lost, then it's not worth keeping around!"

Zero frowned. "I see. So you throw away your Pokemon at your leisure, but what will happen when all of your Pokemon lose? Will you throw them all away and start over? Seems like a flawed plan to me."

"That'll never happen! I'm the greatest Pokemon Trainer in Kanto! I'll never lose!"

"Tell that to Ash," Zero shot back, causing Damian to flinch momentarily.

"W-what?!"

Zero flared up her fists with brilliant blue lightning and rocketed at the nearest of Damian's Pokemon, which happened to be Arbok.

"What the hell?!" Damian exclaimed in shock, "What is this girl?! Arbox, use Poison Sting to stop her!" The purple cobra-like Pokemon obeyed its' master and released a flurry of poison-coated needles from its mouth, which Zero stopped by spitting a Fire Blast from her own mouth that tore through the needles with ease and blasted the snake dead in the face. From the smoke of the explosion, Zero emerged and clocked the Arbok over the head with a Thunder Punch, knocking it into the ground where it laid still. She felt a pang of guilt from harming it, but shook it off for the time being.

"Poison sting, huh?" Zero mused, "I wasn't taught that one. Maybe I should give it a try."

Damian and his team collectively stepped back in fear after seeing one of their members struck down in an instant. "What in the…" But, an idea suddenly struck him. "She's using Pokemon attacks, so she must be some kind of rare talking Pokemon!" A devious grin emerged on his face. "New plan! Turns out the girl's actually just another Pokemon that learned how to talk! I should have guessed from that pitch-black body of hers. It's only her face that looks human!"

He took out a yellow and black Poke-Ball. Or in this case, an Ultra Ball. "We'll catch it! Looks like that useless Eevee was good for something after all! I'll be getting one hell of a prize!" With the wave of his arm, he sent out orders to his team. "Alakazam! Immoblize her with Psychic! Venusaur, use Stun Spore! Primeape, while she's immobilized, use Dynamic Punch repeatedly to weaken her. Onix, you charge up a Hyper Beam at maximum power and fire it at that thing once Primeape's done!"

His four remaining Pokemon roared in unison after receiving their new orders, then rushed off to attack. Zero suddenly found herself unable to move as some kind of invisible force began squeezing her from every angle. "What's...happening?!" She cried out between clenched teeth. "I can't...move!" She'd barely had any Psychic Types be used for her experimentation, at least compared to the others, so she had nearly no experience with this type of attack, and no idea how to guard against it either. Damian's Venusaur shot a yellow fog of spores from the large flower on its back, paralyzing Zero as well. The fog seeped its' way onto every inch of her as well, so when it no longer clouded the air, Primeape stormed over towards her with a sadistic sneer.

Zero tried to scowl defiantly at it, but the paralyzing effect of Venusaur's Stun Spore coupled with Alakzam's Psychic kept her from moving in the slightest. A myriad of attack names came to her mind and she tried her hardest to summon them to her aid, but the paralysis kept her locked from doing anything. The Primeape cocked back its' arm and shot it at full power, directly at Zero's abdomen. She would have winced or cried out in pain, but, even still, her immobilization stopped her from doing even that.

Visions of the laboratory flashed in her vision with every punch. She first saw a series of needles containing the extracts of countless Pokemon slicing into her skin, then a vision of her being trapped in a room where fire seemingly-endlessly barraged her from underneath. Then, the memory of the scientists fastening her to a table came next. As they walked out, the room filled with those evil people, the one's in black suits with red R's. They grabbed hold of her and beat her, laughed at her, subjected her to every violation and torture imaginable. With every punch that Primeape delivered to her, another one of these memories flooded her vision. Over, and over and over she was subjected to brief flashbacks of those tortures from the lab of her creation she'd only just escaped today.

The Primeape finally stopped after more punches than she could count. Damian laughed, causing yet another flashback to the lab. Of her creator laughing; always laughing. Through all of her tortures, he was laughing endlessly, and never stopped. She could not stand it any longer. She could feel the hate and rage return, scouring every inch of her body. Her blood boiled, she bared her fangs against the effects of the paralysis, and fired a swirling dark mass of energy from her mouth at the Alakazam holding her in place, causing it to disappear in a blast of smoke. She fell to the ground on her knees, where she stayed motionlessly. Her face was coated in a dark shadow. Damian's cocky grin faltered as his Alakazam suddenly flew back out of the smoke and landed somewhere behind him.

Primeape's eyes widened as it watched its' comrade fall, then turned around and charged at Zero in a blaze of blinded rage. It pumped back for yet another Dynamic Punch aimed for her head. Zero's arm shot up and caught it. She allowed her eyelids to rise at last and stared up, animalistic fury plastered on her face, and stared death with her endlessly-black eyes directly into the now-terrified Primeape's eyes.

"...No more mercy…No more holding back…"

Primeape attempted to step back and run away from Zero, but she gripped onto his fist relentlessly. The sickening crunch of breaking bones was followed swiftly by Primeape's agonized cry in pain, but Zero refused to release it. As the smoke from Zero's Dark Pulse cleared, Damian could now see his Primeape's hand being ruthlessly crushed and scowled.

"Onix, fire off that Hyper Beam! Venusaur, use Solar Beam too!"

The two remaining able Pokemon of Damian's team fired off a massive orange beam and a green one respectively aimed towards Zero and, by extension, Primeape, who was now desperately crying and pleading for mercy from the girl who it had mercilessly beaten into submission just previously. Zero faced towards the two oncoming attacks and held up her free hand in their coming wake. Without batting an eye, Zero blocked the attacks with a Light Screen and threw the Primeape away from her into the nearby forest.

"You would intentionally harm your Pokemon to attack me…? You really are scum."

Zero stepped forward towards Damian and his two remaining Pokemon, who all looked absolutely mortified. The combination of their two strongest attacks were effortlessly blocked, after all. With every step Zero took towards them, she began releasing more and more energy. A swirl of fire, then ice, then lightning, then water, and more surrounded Zero in a cyclone. It might have looked beautiful if the only witnesses to this showcase of raw power weren't practically choking on their own terror more and more with every step she took towards them. With the single wave of her hand, Onix and Venusaur were sent flying away alongside the debris of whatever was unfortunate enough to be in the way of the attack.

"And then there was one…"

Damian choked back his fear as much as he could and stepped back away from Zero with every step she took towards him. He stared at the Ultra Ball in his hands, as if trying to decide if it was worth it any longer. Shaking his head and scowling, he shouted to Zero, "You may have beaten my useless team, but I'm not leaving here without my prize! Go, Ultra Ball!" Damian brought his hand back and pitched the ball like a baseball player at Zero. To both of their surprise, the ball actually opened upon contact with her, and she was sucked inside the darkness of the ball.

Zero awoke in what seemed to be a black void. She looked around her and down at the endless blackness, but found nothing. Was this the interior of a Pokeball? It was almost suffocating. No wonder Ash's Pikachu couldn't stand being in these things. How most other Pokemon could stand it was beyond her. She heard Damian's voice from above and looked up to see that the top of the Pokeball was actually similar to a screen. As she floated upwards, she could make out the surroundings, only now, everything outside looked much larger. She surmised that it was since she was shrunken down to fit inside this thing.

"Alright!" Zero heard Damian exclaim giddily, "I caught this thing! It may have cost me the rest of my team, but who needs them now that I have this?!"

His voice was like nails on a chalkboard to her. She'd be damned to let Damian of all people control her. She placed her hand on the screen and found that there was hardly any resistance. Raising an eyebrow, she wondered why any Pokemon would willingly stay within one of these. Or maybe there was more resistance when it was dealing with weaker Pokemon. With a mighty blast of flames from her hands, she tore open the top of the ball and escaped.

Just as Damian was about to pick the ball containing Zero up, it exploded violently and he was knocked backwards a few feet, and onto his back. "W-what?!" Damian exclaimed, "There's no way! The ball stopped shaking! How could she escape?!"

"The answer is simple,"

Zero stood back to her full height from within the spiraling violent flames and stared Damian down, showcasing the endless voids that were her eyes, sending a deathly chill down his spine.

"I cannot be contained. Not by you...not by anyone! My days of serving others against my will is over! Now I decide my own fate!"

Damian desperately attempted to scramble to his feet and run away, but he was knocked flat onto his face by shockwave from Zero.

"You're the worst. You catch Pokemon exclusively for your own ends and discard them once they fail to meet your impossible expectations."

Damian resorted to trying to crawl away on his hands and knees, but Zero's pace outsped his and she was quickly gaining ground.

"Someone like you doesn't deserve to have Pokemon at his side. I spared yours, you know, even against what the voices in my head tell me."

Frantically, Damian grabbed at a rock and threw it at Zero. It exploded from the heat surrounding her.

"Do you know what they tell me? They tell me to kill. They tell me to destroy everything. They've told me that for years, and only now have I gained the strength to deny them."

Panicked tears welled up in Damian's eyes. He scrambled onto his back and kicked away from Zero as much as he could. "G-get AWAY FROM ME!"

"But you know what? I've been thinking...This one time...just this once...I should listen again. Just to send them off with a smile, y'know?"

Damian screamed and tried to get onto his feet once again,and this time, he was successful. Zero ceased the flames surrounding her and, in the blink of an eye, grabbed hold of Damian by the throat and pinned him against a tree. With her free hand, she summoned a Focus Blast and held it up near his face, eliciting a terrified scream.

"You should lament upon the ways you treat your Pokemon in hell. And when my time is up someday, well, with everything I've done up until today, I'll probably be following you."

She held the glowing white ball as close to his face as she could without touching him.

"Good night."

She brought back the Focus Blast behind her head and waited while Damian uselessly struggled against her clutch around his throat. She let him. She intentionally let him experience his final, terrified moments for a painful amount of time. She would make him drown to death in his own fear long before she gave him it's embrace. After what must have seemed like hours, she drove the attack forward and aimed at his head. He didn't even have time to scream, and shut his eyes.

…

…

…

Damian slowly dared to open his eyes. Zero had stopped the attack just before it made contact with his head. She hissed abruptly and pulled away from him, letting him sink to the floor and clutch at his throat and cough for the air he'd been starved of.

"You should consider yourself lucky," Zero spat as she turned away from him, "A dear friend of mine told me just before I met you to not kill someone who has no chance of fighting back." She shook her head, "After meeting you, I disagree with him a little...but…" Visions of her Pokemon Friends lying dead at her feet appeared before her for a split second once more. "...I've already taken far too many lives. In my blinded rage, I killed many friends of mine...Now I've been freed of my rage, or at least most of it...I don't want to return to the way I used to be...so, get out of my sight."

Damian, needing no further incentive, scrambled to his feet and fled into the dark woods of their surroundings. Zero looked back and noticed that he'd left all of his Pokemon behind. Hopefully that meant he'd never dare to become a trainer ever again. With a deep sigh, she allowed her tenseness to fade and relaxed herself. It was then she'd noticed that the Eevee from before had ended up collapsing, so she quickly ran to its aid. She knelt down beside it and used Heal Pulse, one of the first moves Riley taught her, on he collapsed Pokemon. It took a few minutes, but the wounds eventually did recede and the Eevee began to stir once more.

Zero closed her eyes to avoid frightening the small brown Pokemon and smiled down at it. "You're all right now," She reassured the Eevee with a soothing tone to her voice, "I saved you. That trainer won't ever harm you again." The Eevee's eyes welled up in happiness and it nuzzled the young girl affectionately on the cheek, purring a "Veeeee".

"Maybe it would be best if I took you back with me," Zero said, picking up the small Pokemon, "I doubt this forest is very safe, and I have a big group of good friends. They...rescued me, so I think I should rescue you too."

The small Eevee didn't even hesitate. It jumped out of her hands and smiled brightly at her, running around her in circles eagerly and causing the young girl to giggle. "Right," She said, pointing over to her left, "I think they're over this way, so we should start heading over now that it's getting dark. I just know they'll love you!"

The Eevee chirped happily and, eager to meet its' new family began running off in the direction Zero pointed towards.

"H-hey wait!" Zero called out to it, "Wait for me! It's dangerous!"

The Eevee stopped in its' tracks and looked back at her, wagging its' tail. "Vee! Eevee!" It chirped at her, as if telling her to hurry up. Zero stood back up and began making her way over to the Eevee. "Geez, you're really eager aren't ya? Well, don't worry! When we get there, we'll have nice food, a warm place to sleep and the other Pokemon will help protect you from guys like Damian. And Ash, Serena and Riley are really nice people too! I think you'd like them! Oh, there's also-"

KRIIIING!

A silver flash rushed across Eevee suddenly, followed by the ringing of metal. Eevee stumbled forwards shakily for a few steps, then stopped. It tried to turn around to face Zero, but collapsed halfway. Zero's blood ran cold. "Eevee!" She called out to it and attempted to run to its' aid, but another silver flash rushed in and dropped something green and metallic next to the collapsed Pokemon. Right as Zero made it to the collapsed young Pokemon, the green object detonated and sent her careening away and onto her back.

Zero grit her teeth and tried to force herself back onto her feet when she began to hear clapping from in front of her. Out from the smoke, a shadowed figure emerged before her. It was hard to make out its' figure since it was coated in a nearly pitch black armor. They had a sheath for a sword on their back, and a mask with a dark, intimidating visor covering their face. What's more, there was an all-too-familiar patch he had over his heart. The same kind Dr. Charon always had on: It was a picture of a blue explosion in the middle of space, surrounded by other stars.

"I'm impressed," The figure spoke, still clapping, "I had heard from our master that you were powerful, but as I watched you struggle against that boy's team of Pokemon, I began to doubt his words. But, it seems like my worries were for naught after all."

He spread his arms outward to his sides and laughed, "But then you revealed your true power! Once you had abandoned your worthless morals that Aura Guardian taught you, you were able to strike him down without batting an eye."

He stepped forward and offered his hand to her, "But, that ending was terribly disappointing. You could have finished him off easily. Let us go back to our master. He will rid your mind of those pathetic platitudes that so-called Aura Guardian filled your head with, and together we will show you how to properly rise to your greatest potential!"

Zero got back onto her feet and snarled at the dark figure. "Who the hell are you?! What did you do to Eevee?!"

The figure let his arm fall back to his side. "Who I am is not important. As far as you are concerned, I am but an envoy of our master's will. As for that disgusting filth you call Eevee, it's nothing more than a burnt stain coating the ground behind me. Why, did you care for it? What made that one in particular so special compared to the thousands of others slain by your hand?"

Zero let out an enraged roar and charged at the figure, only for him to disappear from sight. She whipped her head around furiously to find him, but he was nowhere to be found. She felt a tap on her shoulder and as she whipped around to let loose with a Fire Punch, she was kicked square in the face, sending her backward, but she'd managed to stay on her feet that time and slid backwards.

"There's no need for that," The figure chided, crossing his arms as he appeared in a blur once more, "After all, we are like siblings, you and I. We are both creations whose purpose is to serve our master's will."

"I serve no one!" Zero shot back, "You're with that monster Charon aren't you?! I'll never go back to his side, so get the hell out of my face!"

The figure shook his head. "I am not referring to that madman, and I assure you, if you come along with me, we can personally hunt him down together. Our master has deemed him no longer useful now that your creation is complete."

He extended his hand to her once more. "You'd like that wouldn't you? A chance for vengeance against that man for all the suffering he's caused you? Alone, you may never find him again, but our master knows everything. He can find that madman in an instant, and together we can strike him down."

"Like hell I'd believe you!" Zero shot back, "Especially not after what you did to Eevee!"

The figure shrugged. "That waste of space you call Eevee is nothing more than a weak link. It would hold you down from true potential and the potential of mankind. There is no longer room in this world for Pokemon."

"You're insane!" Cried Zero, "This world needs Pokemon as it needs all life! It can't survive without it!"

"Who taught you that? The Aura Guardian?" The dark figure shook his head. "That man is a fool. An imbecile. He's taught you nothing but lies!"

"How would you know?!" Demanded Zero, "He's taught me so much already! About how life and the world are all interconnected! And he taught me to use my powers!"

"I know because I've been watching your every move ever since you walked into this forest. Ever since you escaped Charon's lab, I have been keeping close eyes on you until you were isolated so that I could reveal to you the truth of your existence, and your purpose in life! I know these things because they are identical to my own. You were created by Charon so you could be made into a tool for my master's use, just as I was tempered into one. Your purpose is to be a weapon at his disposal so that our master can accomplish his goals!"

"Who even is this "master" of yours?!" Zero demanded, "I will never be a weapon for the likes of him! I don't know his goals, but if he's anything like Charon, then you and him can go rot in hell for all I care."

"Be careful what you say," The figure warned, "You can direct any insults you wish at me. They mean nothing to me, but I will not tolerate you insulting our master."

Zero crouched into a fighting position and sparked her hands, one in fire and the other with lightning. "Try me."

The dark figure reached for his sheath and pulled out a curved ebony blade. "I was there to watch over your creation in that lab over the years, and I will be more than happy to assist in your deconstruction. Master can fix whatever I do to you anyways."

The armored man disappeared from sight and sliced at Zero's neck at speeds faster than the eye could perceive. Just as his sword was about to cut into her throat, Zero summoned a Protect around herself for a split second to deflect the attack. The figure disappeared into the forest afterward and so Zero gave chase, activating Extremespeed to pursue him.

The two clashed amidst the surrounding dense, dark forest, rushing from tree to tree as nothing more than blurs that clashed continuously as they leapt from tree to tree. They raced throughout the forest, slicing anything that came between the two of them into ribbons. To anything that might have been nearby, it looked as if a storm of white streaks was tearing the forest to pieces, followed by loud clashes of metal that drowned the area in screeching.

"Impressive," The dark figure commended, "Your speed is impeccable, but…" He appeared before Zero instantaneously, with his sword aiming down at her, "You lack skill. You're nothing but pure power!" The mysterious man slashed Zero across the chest and kicked her down, her momentum causing her to barrel through a row of trees until she came to a crashing halt.

The man blurred above her and aimed his sword down, pointing the edge of his sword at her back. He raised the weapon above his head and thrusted it down down to impale the young girl, but Zero suddenly pushed herself off the ground and front-flipped, using her leg to kick the sword into a tree behind her. She then followed up by activating Extremespeed again and aimed her fist at his visor, but he blitzed out of the way and retrieved his sword once more. Zero whipped around and shot a Flame Burst from her fingertip at the armored man, which he countered by slicing directly through it and allowing the embers to split off into the trees. A leaf began sizzling from the heat.

"Impressive!" The man exclaimed, "Looks like those years of torture weren't a waste after all!"

Zero scowled at him murderously. "Tell me your name! That way, I'll know what to put on your headstone!"

The armored man simply laughed at her threat. "Yes! There's that murderous intent! Now, if you must know, my real name no longer means anything. I've abandoned it long ago, but the name our master has bestowed onto me is "Ryder".

He shot forward at Zero again, slicing up at her from below. Zero whipped out of the way and tried to counter with a Blaze Kick, but to her surprise, he grabbed the kick, unperturbed by the flames, and planted her into the ground, still holding onto her foot to keep her from moving out of the way as he prepared another downward stab. Zero quickly spat a Fire Blast at him, forcing him to jump out of the way.

As he leapt back, Ryder flipped around and pushed off of a nearby tree with his feet to stab at Zero again. This time, he was successful. Zero cried out in agony as Ryder's sword sliced through her leg. Not giving her any respite, Ryder heaved his sword over his head, with Zero still attached to it, and brought it down with a thunderous crash, slamming Zero into the ground on her back. He pulled the sword out of her leg and planted his own onto her chest to pin her down, then pointed his sword at her throat.

"We're done here." he announced. With a swift motion, he planted the sword through her throat and swiftly pulled it back, spinning the blood off of it and then sheathing it once more. Zero laid there, eyes open in panicked shock as she coughed and sputtered helplessly for air, then stopped suddenly, unmoving. With his mission complete, the man pulled out a small radio device and clicked a button.

"Master," He spoke through the device, "I have successfully neutralized the project. She put up a fight, but I was able to take her down without much trouble."

The voice of The Man replied soon after. "Excellent work as always. The rest of your platoon just arrived and delivered your findings from last night as well. You truly are my greatest asset. Now, bring Project Zero here at once. There is much work to be done."

"I am not worthy of such praise," Ryder said with a bow, "Thank you, master. I will deliver her to you at once."

He pocketed the device and turned to face his master's newest prize, only to see that she had disappeared.

"What the-?!"

He was cut off by a blow from above that knocked him over and sent the radio device spinning out of his grasp. The Man demanded to know what happened, but was silenced when a Fire Blast from above destroyed the radio. Zero dropped from a branch above Ryder's head and sent him flying away with a Blaze Kick to his ribs. Ryder quickly got to his feet and, though his face was covered by his mask, Zero could feel his glare.

Wordlessly, he reached for his sword and drew it out so fast that it lit up the air around him for a split second. "How are you still alive?!"

"Heal Pulse," She replied simply.

The two readied their battle positions once more. There was no further need for words. The two blitzed at each other, creating a blinding array of streaks with each of their countless clashes and dragging up loads of debris with them . They rose up above the trees and into the dark night sky, the moon now illuminating their battle. Zero shot a Flamethrower from her hand at Ryder, to which he pushed off a piece of debris to dodge at and sliced at Zero from above. Deftly, Zero summoned a Reflect screen to block the attack. Ryder shattered it instantaneously, but was still left open to a counterattack. The young girl shot forward at Ryder with a Mega Punch aimed at his gut, and so he countered by hopping over the attack and slashing at Zero's back.

Zero hissed in pain, but managed to mostly ignore it and blasted a discharge at him that he had no means to escape from. He grunted in pain as the electricity wreaked havoc on his armor and body, and so Zero followed up with an array of Poison Stings from her fingertips. They weren't very effective…

Ryder easily blocked the attack with his metal suit and sliced Zero diagonally cleanly down her obsidian-colored chest and drawing blood. Zero collapsed onto her knee, unable to withstand the pain silently and she cried out. The man in black kicked her off the piece of debris, but she quickly undid most of the damage with a heal pulse and, using Flamethrower from her feet to keep herself airborne and flying at Ryder to deliver a Mega Punch. Ryder bent backwards, but the blow still glanced his chin and chipped off a small part of his suit.

Enraged, Ryder grabbed Zero's arm and slammed her through the flying piece of debris they were occupying, sending her careening into another one. He followed up with a downward stab that his enemy just barely avoided, and she kicked up at his gut to get him away from her.

Zero shot up at Ryder and, summoning crackling, green, spiking energy around her hands, used Leaf Blade to try and sever his neck. He blocked with his blade, sending sparks flying around them. They stared murder into each other's faces. Zero's endless voids met Ryder's faceless, empty mask amidst the moonlight, and then they clashed again. Zero's Leaf Blades and Ryder's long, ebony blade sparked against one another with a loud metallic ringing. They struck at each other again and again in a desperate struggle to gain some kind of slight upper hand, but neither could find a weakness in each other's attacks.

Finally, one of Zero's Leaf Blades glanced Ryder's sword and sliced across his mask while Ryder managed to cut a clean slash across Zero's cheek. Ryder looked at his reflection through the metal of his arm. Zero wiped her cheek and glanced at the blood on her hand. The both of them shook it off, stared down each other again, and continued.

Zero raised her arm over her head, summoning crackling white energy that took the shape of a ball, becoming a Focus Blast attack. She heaved the attack at Ryder who cleanly sliced through the attack, cutting it in two. The two pieces of the Focus Blast exploded behind Ryder, and then he ducked down to slash at Zero's legs. In return, she used Mega Kick to deflect the blow and sent Ryder's blade spinning away into another piece of falling debris, but at the cost of a nasty cut across the front of her legs that made her hiss in pain and stumble. Ryder snapped his attention over to the blade and leapt up at it, but Zero fired a Flamethrower that destroyed the falling rock and sent both Ryder and his blade falling back down into the forest.

Ryder cursed and pushed off another rock, managing to catch the blade at the cost of a rough collision with the ground. Zero crouched down from on top the piece of falling debris, tipped it over so that she was facing Ryder,and rocketed down at him with an Ice Punch. Ryder stared up at her and, without moving from his spot, sliced up at Zero and causing her to skid past him. Whipping around, Ryder then hurled his sword at Zero and managed to impale her arm into a tree. She winced and forced back a pained scream. Ryder kicked off the ground, flipped forward so his feet were facing her, and kicked her through the tree. He quickly grabbed his sword out of the air and attacked Zero with a flurry of blade swings at speeds she couldn't counter, then finished with a kick to her ribs.

Zero winced in pain, clutching at her gut. Like she had always been every day of her life, she was now coated in blood. Only now, for the first time she could remember, it was her own. She roared and spastically threw Focus Blast after Focus Blast at her enemy, to which he deftly ducked and dodged around every single one while appearing as if he was simply walking towards her.

She growled and summoned her Leaf Blades around her hands again. Ryder appeared before her faster than she could react, and she tried to jab at him. Her blade never met its' mark, while his dug its' way through her stomach. Her face contorted in agony and she couldn't help but let out a scream to match it. To add insult to injury, Ryder twisted the blade in her stomach. Black tears streamed freely from the young girl's void-like eyes. Finally, he pulled the sword from her, but made sure to be agonizingly slow to extend her suffering for as long as possible.

As he pulled the last of his blade from her stomach, Zero collapsed onto her face and clutched at her stomach to heal it, but Ryder swiped up at her hands and pinned them against the tree with his sword. He kicked her right in her chest where he'd stabbed her to further her suffering, eliciting an agonized cry of pain that was all-too satisfying for Ryder.

"You're strong," He admitted, "Far stronger than I...but…" He shook his head. "You are unskilled. Untempered. You're like a blade fresh from the forge. You could kill anyone, but when met with a truly tempered sword in combat, you break like a twig."

He kicked her again. "Your power alone could never compare to my skill and speed. That is what our master will change. Once you become his weapon, he will turn you into a perfect tool for his use. Your potential will be fully realized!"

"I-I…"Zero sputtered weakly, "I...won't…"

He kicked her open wound once more. "You won't have a choice. You never did. When you were completed, you were his. Before you were even created, you were his. From the very moment you were nothing more than an idea, you belonged to him."

He pulled his sword out of the tree and let her fall to the ground, only now she was too weak to reach for her wound.

"It's over," Announced Ryder, "You won't have to feel that pain for much longer. Master will surely repair any damage I could possibly inflict on you."

Zero pathetically attempted to move her hand, to which Ryder stamped down on it with his boot. Black tears dotted the ground. For as long as she could remember, she knew nothing but agony and hatred. She was forced to slay her own friends for the amusement of her creators, and only now had she received the freedom from that hell...but it had only lasted a day. One measly day was the only respite she'd gotten from her torment. She remembered the memories Ash had shared with her. The wondrous journeys he had and the friends he'd laughter, the happiness, the experiences she'd never know outside of the memories of someone else. She remembered her friends. Her saviors. They had risked their lives for her and did everything in their power to save her from herself, but now…? It was for naught. Useless, useless, useless USELESS USELESS! What had it all been for?! Was she damned by some force that refused to let her find peace and happiness?! Zero clutched at the grass beneath her hand furiously. It can't end like this. After only one day?! Zero's vision flashed to the laboratory once again. This time, she was in her pod. She awoke suddenly, and Dr. Charon followed by some pitch-black figure came into the room.

Dr. Charon entered the laboratory basement, cackling heartily. "Here she is!" He exclaimed to the dark figure behind him. "The greatest artificial lifeform ever created!"

"A young girl?" The figure asked, "You must be joking. You expect me to show this to Him?"

The dark figure reached for something behind him, and the mad doctor quickly stopped him for fear of his life. "Wait, wait, wait!" He cried fearfully, "She's more than just a girl! Right now, she contains the DNA of almost every Pokemon both extinct and living! We've been liquifying hundreds of Pokemon by the day and injecting them into her! She can use over two-hundred documented Pokemon attacks right now, and she'll only get stronger!"

The figure relaxed in response to this information. "I see. Then, how is her combat sense? Her aggression?"

The doctor continued. "Well, we're still...working on it right now. It's difficult to get her to attack the other Pokemon. We believe she feels some natural kinship towa-"

"I don't give a damn about what she feels," The figure snapped at him, "Master wants a weapon, and you'll give him one." The figure took out an object and pointed it at Dr. Charon, causing him to back up in fear. "Do whatever it takes to get her to fight. If you can't, I can find someone who will, and you will no longer be useful."

"N-no, please! I'll do it! Anything it takes! I'll do everything I can to turn her into the weapon!" Charon pleased as he fell onto his knees.

The figure hesitated for a moment, then sheathed the object. "You'd better." Then he walked away.

The doctor shuffled over to Zero's pod, breathing heavily. "You...I won't die because of you! You hear me?!* He pounded his fists on the pod. "I'll break you! I'll fuckin' break you, dammit! I won't die yet!"

Zero's eyes shot open, and she pushed herself off the ground. Gone was the terrified face of a young girl on the verge of death. In her empty eyes, only pure, beast-like malice remained.

"Hmph," Ryder exclaimed mockingly, "Still got some fight left in you?" He swiped at Zero, but to his shock, she caught the blade. Her grip on it threatened to break it as it creaked and groaned under the pressure. He quickly pulled the blade away from her and got in a battle stance. Zero stared down at the gaping hole in her chest and placed her hand over it, activating Heal Pulse once more. Ryder quickly went to slash at her hand, but a fiery aura suddenly erupted from around her, preventing him from coming near.

Ryder cursed in frustration. It didn't take long for Zero to undo the damage done to her and removed her hand to reveal that the hole in her chest was now gone. She stared back up at Ryder. Her face contorted to match that of an enraged beast and the fiery aura around her began sweltering the surrounding area and casting it aflame. Ryder had to shield his face with his arm from the heat.

With a shrill battle shriek, Zero bolted off the ground with such force that the trees behind her were completely swept off their roots. Ryder just barely dodged the incoming blow by jumping backwards. Zero's gaze shot up at him and she took off from the ground, gripping him by the throat. She then flew across the forest floor, dragging Ryder across it so that he took the brunt of every impact they encountered. Every last tree, rock and anything else in their path.

Zero then threw Ryder forward, sending him helplessly careening into a small cliffside. Upon impact, he was embedded into it. He struggled to free himself from the rocks, but Zero would have none of it. Not after the suffering he'd put her through. She thrust both of her hands forward and sparked the entire sum of her energy around her. Every possible element and type swirled around Zero in a mass of multicolored death.

She then focused that energy into the palms of her hands. The sheer force of their constant collisions sent up mounds of debris from underneath her into the sky. An orange coating surrounded the ball of energy and Ryder looked on in helpless terror as Zero warped the world around her with her strength. Between her bared fangs, she mightily bellowed: "HYPER BEAM" and the world went red.

A colossal beam of pure unbridled raw energy burst from Zero's hands. The ground and sky were set aflame from even being near the attack. It crashed through the cliffside Ryder was embedded in as if it were tin foil. Everything in the laser's path was reduced to mere ashes instantly and without mercy. Zero could feel the attack wearing down on her, but her rage forced her to keep pushing. She had returned to the old self that Ash and Riley had tried so hard to tame. With a bellowing scream, she forced her body to keep up the attack. That bastard had to pay.

Zero's legs collapsed from underneath her, ending the cataclysmic attack. She heaved between coughs for air desperately. An intense cloud of smoke now covered the entire area, blotting out her vision of the rest of the world. She, still, seethed with rage. It hadn't subsided with the attack, no, it only became greater. With every passing second, the voices in her head continued to return, louder and louder. She clutched at her head in agony. They yelled at her, screamed at her to kill. To destroy. To burn the world and everything in it.

"Shut up!" She cried, shaking her head to try and rid herself of the voices, but they only continued. They grew deafeningly loud, and Zero started losing the will to deny them.

They were quieted suddenly by the sound of clapping. From the smokescreen, a dark figure covered in metal began walking towards her. "Well done," Ryder commended, "That attack was astounding. I even thought I was dead for a second!" He blitzed at her and grabbed her by the throat, hoisting her up in the air. She gasped in pain and grabbed his arm, but lacked the strength to pry his hand from her throat. "But...your power means nothing if you can't even hit your opponent."

The voices screeched in her mind again like metal nails across a chalkboard. The urge to kill, destroy and utterly annihilate everything overtook her, and before Ryder could blink, her fist collided with his his visor at speeds unimaginably fast. She managed to shatter a fraction of it, causing him to stumble back and grip at it, dropping her in the process.

"AARGH!" He hissed. He dropped his hands down at his sides and stared murderously at his enemy. As the concentrated glass pieces fell from his visor, Zero saw Ryder's yellow eye glowing brightly due to the moonlight. He bellowed furiously and swung his sword down at her. Zero could only close her eyes and wait. The voices kept telling her to kill, but she no longer had the strength to move, and so she awaited the end of her short life.

A blue sphere shot out from the smoke. Forcing Ryder to shift his attack and instead slice the sphere in half. Out from the smoke, many figures came running. "Zero!" One of the figures called out to her. Slowly, Zero managed to raise her head at the call of her name. "...Ash…?"

Ryder scowled and sheathed his sword. "This isn't over. You cannot escape your purpose. Look at the destruction you've caused. You will always be a weapon." With those harrowing words, Ryder disappeared from sight.

"Zero!" Ash called out to her again. Zero tried to get onto her feet, but collapsed. Ash quickly caught her before she could fall.

"A...Ash?" Zero asked weakly.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I'm here! So is everyone else! We came to look for you after you never showed up, and…" He stared down at the Zero's bloody cheek and winced. "My Arceus, what happened?!"

Riley, Serena and the other Pokemon quickly followed behind Ash. Serena gasped in horror at the state Zero was in. Countless slices decorated her body and blood, some dried and some fresh, adorned the young girl almost completely. Riley clenched his fist.

"What happened?" He demanded, "Who did this?!"

The voices kept plaguing Zero's mind, but now that Ash and the others were here, they seemed to die down. Maybe she was meant for this world after all. At least if she had them. "I…" She sputtered weakly. "There was...a man...in line...with Charon…" A vicious coughing fit cut her off suddenly, making the group wince.

"Hey, Riley, can you help her?" Serena asked.

Riley nodded and stepped towards the young girl. "Yeah, I might be able to. Grab her some water, will you?"

Serena nodded and took a bottle of water from her bag. As Riley came to heal Zero's wounds, Serena came over to her and lifted the bottle to her mouth. "Here," She said, "Drink this. It should help."

Zero happily drank the entire bottle and heaved out a satisfied sigh. Riley places his hands on Zero and allowed his Aura to flow from his arms and into Zero, mystifying her as sparks of cyan blue flames danced around her and healed her wounds. After a few minutes, Riley sighed and stood back up.

"That should do it," He said, "But I couldn't heal them all. Especially that nasty one on your cheek. That one might never go away."

Zero wandered over to a nearby puddle and stared down at her reflection. Most of her cuts were gone, but like Riley said, the slice on her cheek remained. She grit her teeth in frustration at her inability to finish him off.

Ash looked at Zero solemnly. His heart ached at seeing her like this. "Zero...what happened?"

Turning back to the group, Zero opened her mouth to tell them about Damien and, of course, Ryder, but a thought struck her suddenly.

"...I'll tell you in a sec. There's something I have to see first."

"Huh?" Serena asked, "What is it?"

"There was a Pokemon I met...I want to see if it's alright…"

Zero pointed off in a direction and and started walking, motioning to the group to follow. They simply stared at one another for a moment, shrugged and followed. As they made their way back to the clearing, the trio of trainers and their Pokemon stared in awe at the destruction they found on the way. Zero winced and clenched her eyes shut in shame.

They found the clearing at last and, having seemingly found what she was looking for, Zero perked up and started running towards something.

"Hey, wait up!" Ash called and the group began running after her.

Zero crouched down next to the Eevee and held it close. When the group spotted the fallen Pokemon, they shared a collective look of horror. Riley clenched his fist in rage, Serena had to choke back a scream, and Ash simply looked on in sorrow.

"Is...Is it…?" Serena started, but couldn't bring herself to finish the question.

Riley nodded. "...There's no Aura signature from it...it's gone…"

Ash began walking over to Zero.

Zero used Heal Pulse on the fallen creature, and while its' wounds subsided, it did not stir. She tried again. And again. And again...for minutes, she kept pumping her energy into the Eevee, refusing to give up. "Come on…" She begged, "Get up…" Her stamina began failing her again, since it hadn't been that long since her clash with Ryder. Still, she refused to give up on the young Pokemon. "Please…" Black tears began appearing from her eyes. "You can't go yet…we both just had our new lives to look forward to!" She tried, and she tried and she tried but the Eevee still remained motionless.

As Ash walked closer, he began to feel tears of his own threaten to spill out. He saw the Eevee in Zero's arms. It was small, incredibly small for its' species. He frowned sorrowfully at the thought of it being a very young one. Its' fur was almost entirely blackened and burned as well.

"Please!" Zero cried, her black tears now flowing freely, "You can't go! We can be a team! We can go on adventures, and laugh with our friends...and…" She sniffled hopelessly, "...We can be friends! F-forever…" She buried her head in its' fur and rapidly shook her head in denial. "Y-you...y-you can't go…You were just...like me...If I got a chance...why didn't you?!"

Ash put a hand on her shoulder, and to his shock, she immediately leapt up at him, hugging him tight. "I...I tried to be strong…" She sputtered, "I tried to save it...like you saved me..I tried to fight...I tried my best...but I just can't!" Her tears flowed freely. Powerful as she may be, she was still just a child. Ash looked down at her empathetically and hugged her tightly.

"I've...never had to experience something like this.." Ash said, "There have been close calls, but none of my Pokemon ever…" He wiped away a tear of his own. "I may not be able to fully understand the extent of what you're going through. I can't even begin to imagine what this must be like with everything that's happened to you...but there's always a tomorrow to look forward to." He rubbed her hair in an attempt to console her, "One day, everything will be better. Tomorrow is always brighter if we have faith it will be." Zero kept crying into his shoulder, unable to say anything, try as she might, to acknowledge what he said. Faith was something that eluded her, except for one tiny sliver she desperately gripped onto: Her rescuers.

Serena, now crying too, ran over to the two of them and shared in their hug. Pikachu and the other Pokemon soon followed suit, though Sceptile simply stayed on the outskirts of the circle. Riley looked down at Lucario.

"Are you going to join in?" He asked his partner through their Auric bond.

Lucario shrugged. "Are you? Personally, I think I'll sit this one ou-ooooooOOOUT"

Riley put his arm around Lucario's neck and forcefully dragged him into the group hug despite his protests while the rest of the group, barring Sceptile, weeped freely with Zero.

---

An all-too familiar dark shadow darted across the cloud-coated night sky. Necrozma, having given the leader of the so-called Legends his declaration of war, now had to relay this message to the rest of his fleet.

"Xurkitree," Spoke Necrozma into the crystal on his arm. A holographic image of Necrozma's right-hand man, the wire-like Ultra Beast Xurkitree, appeared at his command.

"Yes, milord?" Xurkitree replied with a bow.

"There has been a slight change of plans regarding my 'partner.'"

"Milord?"

"The pawn has proven himself unwilling, and therefore, not useful. By having the gall to attempt to give me an order, he has forfeited his position, his life, and his world. This is no longer simply a search for those three I'm after. From this point on, we are here to destroy this worthless planet."

Xurkitree, unmoving from his bow, replied, "Understood, milord. I assume you calling me about this means that you will want to drag this one out to the end, rather than simply destroying it in an instant. Am I correct?"

Necrozma chuckled darkly, "Right you are, Xurkitree. I expect you all to be here within a week. Have the Beasts ready for battle by then."

Xurkitree rose from his bow. "It shall be done, Lord Necrozma." With that, Necrozma's right-hand man exited the call, and the projection returned back into his master's crystal.

The Lord of the Ultra Beasts looked up from his arm and down below at the lights of the city below. A cruel eye-grin found its way onto the demon. "This world's days are numbered...now let's see what I can do to entertain myself until then."

---

Creator- Well. Well well well. Well well welly well well welly well. At last, we have returned, and with an actual schedule at that (unless school fucks me over). Though this chapter was only half the behemoth Chapter 10 was, Chapter 10 probably should have been two chapters to begin with. I hope the action scenes in this chapter were up to par and the sad scenes tear at your heart strings. This chapter was, of course, centered around the first really fleshed out OC, Project Zero. There have been others before her, like Christopher Lee and Ryder (Who was the sword guy from the end of chapter 10) and probably more to come, but they've yet to be fully unveiled. But trust me. They'll get their time in the future. There is also the case of The Man, but is he an OC? Or is he someone we all know very well? We'll find out in time.

Hydra- Well well well it feels goooooouuuud to be speaking with all you lovely readers again. I hope you guys have all been doing great and haven't been too angry for the lack of any updates, hmm? What, was it 5? 6? 10 months? Ehh something like that lol.

Creator- Now onto the reviews of the poor souls who've stuck with us! Lookin at you, Amourshipper, you're easily our most loyal fan. We appreciate it more than you can imagine.

Hydra- Ah yes Amourshipper my good friend sorry to keep you waiting for so long hopefully this 20,000 word chapter will make you forgive us for the hiatus.

Thor94- "impossible to read that wall of compacted sentences"

Creator- Indeed. T'was nothing more than a glitch, I assure you. We have since fixed it by splitting Chapter 10 in twain.

Hydra- Yeah sorry about that, when we had originally uploaded the chapter. I guess it was way too long so the site couldn't handle it and the result was that huge mess of sentences.

Amourshipper35- "Welcome back I liked seeing Ash and Serena getting their rainbow badge and stop team rocket again and I liked that they tried to save Project Zero"

"Wow I am glad everyone made it out and how Pancham evolved"

Creator- Glad you liked it. We aim to please you most of all.

Hydra- I'm really glad you enjoyed last chapter; it was very tedious at first when we originally started to work on it but after a while we became inspired to finish it.

Hall Gowrt- "this behemoth kept me busy for the majority of a working day. Great job!"

Creator- Sorry it was so hard to read before we fixed the glitch, but I'm glad you enjoyed it regardless

Hydra- thank you very much for the compliment I'm happy you enjoyed it. :)

Sinserta-"Holy hell, Chaos is a good name for this chapter. Its chaotic to read. Just one giant chunk. Please fix the punctuation and what not"

Creator- Were it not for you, I would have never discovered that a glitch had ruined our hard work and it would have stayed like it. I assumed thor94 was initially just referring to the size, but when I saw yours, I knew something was wrong.

Hydra- I just gotta say I laughed so freaking hard when I read your review because the original upload of the chapter sure lived up to its name lol.

Guest- "Based off the title and description, I almost thought this would be a crossover with Warhammer 40k. I mean, the beast could be an Ork warboss, a Tyrranid bio-ship, or a C'tan. And the man could be an Inquisitior with Exterminatus authority, or even the Emperor himself."

Creator- I haven't the foggiest idea of what any of it means but it sounds cool. Also thanks for the review.

Hydra- yeah I gotta agree I don't know too much about warhammer 40k but it does sound like an interesting game I may have to look it up one of the days, but nevertheless thank you for reviewing. :)

Tis suks kys- "I thought I told you faggots to stop writing Kill yourselves noobs"

Creator- Well you succeeded for nearly a year, so that has to count for something, right?

Hydra- Dang, it's almost been a whole year and your still sending those messages lol good to see you too buddy.

Creator-Now before we go, I owe you an explanation for my absence, and it was for a multitude of reasons. The first one was that my creative writing class didn't turn out to be what I expected. I thought I'd use it to work on the fic, but my teacher had other things for me to do. The second reason is that while in my creative writing class, I came up with an idea for a completely new, original story and got carried away with the worldbuilding for that. After this fic is completed, I'll likely be turning it into a publishable novel series, if I can. The third reason is that it's nearly impossible for me to concentrate at home. Whenever I'm at home, my mind just goes "Free time" and I cannot, for the life of me, focus on anything I consider "work". I also lost some inspiration over time in favor of my original story, but now I'm completing this so I have more experience.

Hydra- Anyways, thank you so much everyone for reading. I cannot wait until you guys eventually get to see what this is all building up to. Have a fantastic day and stay lit.