Latias gazed down into the fiery abyss with horror. Surrounded by a great many people and Pokemon with Psychic, she had, at the very least, managed to save some people. Yet those she had failed to save, and their cries as they fell beyond her reach, did not leave her.

Turning away, Latias soared down with them and dropped them along the outer edge of the chasm. Without a word, she then shot off toward the tree, unable to bear the sight any longer. She needed to find Ash.

As she disappeared into the smoke, the people and Pokemon she had left behind gazed at one another with blank expressions. Their minds fuzzy from all that had happened, they stared with slack jaws and wide eyes.

A Black Suit at the rear of the group reached for the handgun of one of the lower ranked soldiers and took aim. Just as a Sunflora went to bridge the gap between the two groups, a loud bang rang out, and it fell. This was all the others needed as inspiration to return to battle.

Gradually, all along the chasm edges, those who survived continued the war. Zekrom smacked a tank over the edge with his wing. The four Guardians of Alola did not cease their rampage. Diancie and Victini shielded their heads as they tried to escape the madness.

Fierce winds blew past Latias on her way to the tree. Shooting through its fractured, leafless branches. Her gaze shot in every direction. Yet there was no sign of Ash. Just as the dread she was holding back with all of her strength was about to set in, she spotted something else. Something blue.

Ash, Serena, and Paul caught their breaths. They stood upon what was once the wall of a tunnel, now turned into a steep floor that was difficult to keep their balance on.

"What…" Serena paused as she glanced around at the lopsided tunnel. "…Just happened?"

Paul shook his head and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Whatever it was, we don't want to mess around and wait for it to get worse. Let's move."

The other two trainers nodded. As they moved forward into the tunnel, the way it naturally curved had been turned on its head, making the tunnel's curved walls into steep slopes difficult to navigate.

It was especially troubling for Ash, who did not have the full use of either his limbs or his Aura for the sake of keeping Mew alive. Just before the tree had began its sudden tilt, Mew seemed to twitch horribly in her sleep over something before going silent once again.

Now Ash felt nothing from her. It was his Aura and that alone which kept her alive. But he could feel it. He was on his last legs. There was not much left of his Aura that he could spare without it affecting his own life. But then again, if Mew died, the rest of the world would go with her.

As the trio of trainers slid down the tunnel walls, they soon found themselves faced with a cloud of smoke. They coughed, sputtered, and tried to shield their face from the oppressive gas before it could strike at their eyes and lungs.

Their sliding took them into a smoke-filled chamber. They could feel heat all around them. As if what Thorn had reduced the last chamber into hadn't been enough of that.

Beneath their feet, wilting flowers decorated the ground, laying upon a mass casket of withered grass. Flames along the edges of the chamber licked away at the botanical gravesite. And within the rising smoke that evidenced the flowers' sorrows disappearing with the wind, there were toys.

Shaun recoiled with a gasp upon recognizing where they were. The young Ralts buried his head in Serena's neck, turning away from the area.

Serena adjusted her arms to hold him, rocking him in her arms. "Huh? What's wrong?"

At the center of the chamber, a large pile of toys towered high. The flames ate away at them, turning the cotton or wood within them into the mournful cloud of smoke overhead. Memories, gone to the winds beyond. Shaun sobbed into Serena's shoulder. Mew still did not move.

At the base of the pile of toys was another memory. A group of men. Ash and his friends readied their Pokeballs as they spotted the Nova Corporation insignia upon their suits. At last, the soldiers turned to face them.

Red targeting beams pierced the smoky clouds and landed upon the three trainers. They fell to the ground just before a hail of bullets flew over their heads. Then, suddenly, a voice from amongst the men rang out.

"Hold your fire! I want to talk to them first."

So, the shooting stopped. Ash was the first to rise, keeping the Pokeball of Greninja ready in case anything needed to be done. As his friends followed suit, the men approached. One of them stepped ahead of the others.

"Hey, hey, hey," They spoke, holding up their hands, "Let's not get carried away with those Pokeballs or my boys here will have to get carried away lining you with lead."

Though the trainers scowled at them, seeing the other soldiers moving to surround them made them at least lower the balls, if not put them away. Nevertheless, it seemed to placate the leader of these soldiers.

In the shadow of the flames, it was difficult to gauge what any of these men looked like. But as their leader drew yet closer, toward Ash, his visage became more clear.

Sporting dark blue hair, the man that stood before them was covered in metal. Half of his face was steel, with some red orb in place of an eye. One of his arms and both of his legs had been replaced by cybernetics. On his head, he wore a pair of binoculars with crimson lights.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Ash." He glanced down at Mew in his arms with the hunger of ambition in his eyes. "And quite the prize you've brought."

Ash wasn't sure how much Aura he had left to spare for a barrier. Then again, he wasn't sure if he had much of a choice if he didn't want his friends to be riddled with bullets. Until then, he humored this man.

"I don't suppose we could forget we saw each other and be on our way?"

Of course, the bizarre mechanical man only laughed at this. "And squander this 'ere moment? Not a chance." He looked past Ash, meeting the fiery stares of Paul and Serena as he searched for something. "Where's the kid?"

Ash inquired, "Kid? What do you mean?"

"The kid!" He shouted again. "Little silver-haired freak. Wore all black, I think." His face furrowed into a scowl. With his only remaining arm, he held his mechanical one in longing. "Don't play ignorant with me, Ash! You and that brat are the reason I'm like this!"

Serena squinted her eyes as she tried to figure out what he meant. "Silver-haired…?" A certain realization struck her that made her wince.

As Ash caught up to her train of thought, a deep frown grew upon his face. Especially as that train led him down the tunnel of recollection as to who the man standing before him was.

"You're Damian, aren't you?"

The blue-haired man scoffed. "Took you long enough. If you thought an inhuman freak and a bunch of useless Pokemon could get rid of me, well…" He shrugged with his mechanical arm. "…Then you've underestimated the great Damian."

Ash's narrowed eyes shot wide. "You're…"

Damian grinned and crossed his arms. "What's the matter?" He asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I've…" Ash shook his head. "…Been seeing a lot of those lately."

The blue-haired man tilted his head, but decided not to press the matter. Instead, he opted to press another matter. "Whatever. Anyways, you can guess 'ere by the positions of my boys what I want. So you're gonna tell me where that little freak is, or-"

"Her name is Zero."

Serena had blurted that out all of a sudden. At that, Damian's head tilted past Ash toward her. "Zero, huh?" He asked. After mulling over the name, he chortled. "Fittin' name for a monster like that."

Snarling, Ash retorted, "You're more of a monster than she ever was."

A mechanical arm was raised into the air. At his signal, the men readied their guns. In the shadow of the flames, Damian's half-flesh half-metal grin painted him exactly as the monster Ash described him as.

"Let's not be too rude with our words now, eh?"

Ash snarled, but did not reply. So, Damian began to pace around the group. "And speaking of rude, I dunno what you see in that freak. It's the reason I'm like this."

To make his point, Damian waved his remaining arm over his body to accentuate his point. "That inhuman monster's what reduced me to this, ya know. That, and those useless Pokemon I picked up last time we met."

Eyeing him as he circled them, Ash, replied, "I don't blame them after what you did."

Damian suddenly stopped and turned to him. "But I can! Traitors and abominations shouldn't be in this world. I was taught that when I was brought in by these guys."

It was fitting to the point of disgust that Damian of all people had managed to fit in with the worst people on the planet. Despite that, there was still something about their connection that did not make sense to Ash.

"You know what these guys do, don't you?" Asked Ash. "Even you shouldn't be on their side. How can you be the strongest trainer if there aren't any Pokemon to train?"

But Damian waved Ash off with a chuckle. "That crap is long dead. You're right about one thing. I'm gonna be the strongest." He raised his mechanical arm. As he clenched it, it made a loud ringing sound. "But I know better about Pokémon now. They were never worth the trouble."

In his remaining eye, there was a shine to it. "On that day, when my Pokemon refused to acknowledge their rightful leader, there was somebody who taught me what real strength looked like."

Ash gave him a questioning look.

Clenching his fist, Damian continued. "I was saved by a guy who taught me I didn't need no stinkin' Pokemon. With just a sword and some fancy armor…" He slashed his arm across the air. "…That guy cut down all those backstabbin' Pokemon by himself. Brought me to these guys and fixed me up nice and good. All for the purpose of taking down that little-"

"She's dead."

That sudden remark from Ash led to a silence that hung in the air for a while. Serena looked away and hid her face with her hand. While Ash had a grimace frozen upon his own, Damian's shifted slightly as he mulled this over.

Scratching his chin, the blue haired man hummed in thought. "Well. That's a bit of a shame." A grin crept up his face. He lowered his mechanical arm. "I was hoping to see the look on her face…" With a barrage of clacking sounds, his fist retracted into his arm. In place of it emerged six open barrels. "…When I filled her with lead. But you'll just have to do instead!"

One of Ash's Pokeballs opened before he could release one instead. Charizard emerged and swept the flame of his tail in a circle. Serena and Paul ducked, but the surrounding soldiers did not. They cried out as they were knocked onto their backs.

Then, Charizard craned his neck down before Damian. His reptilian eyes peered deeply into the flesh and metal of his past trainer. Flames licked at his lips as he snarled in Damian's face. Damian backed away from the dragon slowly.

He raised the gun on his arm. "Get back!" He warned. Then, a realization struck him as he glanced back and forth between Ash and Charizard. "You're…!" Then, he suddenly barked out with laughter and took hold of his arm to steady it. "You've gotten quite big, eh, Charmander? But you're just as useless now as you were then!"

Another of Ash's Pokeballs erupted of its own accord. With his remaining arm, Hydreigon latched onto Damian's new gun and threw him down on his back like the rest of his men. He barked out a feral roar of hatred he hadn't felt in months.

A spark of pity flashed across Ash's face. "Hydreigon. Charizard." Both of these Pokemon of his had been terribly hurt by this miserable man in the past. Charizard, abandoned. Hydreigon, abused to the point of insanity. It was no wonder he and Zero had gotten along so well.

And no wonder why being in the presence of Damian made Ash's blood boil. Even with his Aura weak, their intense emotions were his own, and he reciprocated fully. That being said, he did not share their intentions even if he fully understood their reasoning.

As he looked around, he saw Serena and Paul handling the other soldiers with their Pokemon. Serena's Sylveon wrapped one soldier with its ribbons while her Braixen held one up with Psychic. Paul had the other two already in the claws of his Drapion.

So, Ash set his sights on the recovering Damian. The second Damian raised his gun, Ash ordered, "Hydreigon, use Return!"

As soon as Ash gave the instruction, Hydreigon surrounded itself with a pure white light and, sensing the intention of his trainer, swiped his hand through the air just in front of Damian. The result was the half-mechanical man being swept off of his feet again by a potent gust of wind.

Mirroring the expression of his two friends, Ash glared down at Damian. "Each time we meet, it seems like you fall to new lows instead of learning from your mistakes. At first, negligent. Then, you're an abuser to get your way." He clenched his fist angrily. "And now, you've gone off the deep end."

Damian snarled as he rolled onto his stomach. "Learning from my mistakes?" There was a wheezy chortle from him as he planted his gun arm into the ground to prop himself back up. "Oh, I've learned from my mistakes alright." And as he rose back to his feet, he swayed as he laughed.

"I've learned…!" His flesh and bone hand clamped around his steel elbow, sending Ash and his dragons on edge. Damian again set his gun spinning in his arm, then raised it to his enemies. "That you can't trust any miserable beast to do a human's job!"

Ash opened his mouth to reply. But then, something entered his senses. What little life he felt from the Tree of Beginning became a cold nothingness near the entrance to the chamber. The surrounding flames swayed in wake of the cold of the void.

Staggering back, the boy instinctively held Mew tighter. "I-It's him. He's here!"

Paul took his attention off of the soldiers in the grasp of his Pokemon to ask Ash, "Who's here?" But then, seeing the pale on Ash's face, he realized. "No. He can't have found us already!"

"Ash, look out!"

Stunned, Ash had forgotten the threat before him for the greater one that approached. Taken by his emotion, Charizard and Hydreigon were much the same. That was something the former threat took advantage of.

Laughing loudly, Damian kept his arm trained upon Ash's back. "Join that freak in the grave where you belong!"

A small Moonblast flew through the air, impacting Damian in his remaining human arm. The explosion and ensuing cry were enough to bring Ash back to himself. As he whirled around to see his enemy writhing on the ground, Serena came running up beside him and grabbed him.

"If that guy is coming, we need to get moving! Let's go!"

When she let go, she turned and ordered her Pokemon, "Toss them away and their weapons into the fire, then let's get out of here!"

Sylveon and Braixen nodded and did as instructed. While the men were tossed aside, their weapons were separated from them by the crackling flames they themselves created. Then, they took off after Serena. Paul silently nodded up to Drapion. The giant scorpion Pokémon picked up the soldiers' fallen guns with its tail and did the same before haphazardly flinging the men over its shoulders.

While they fell upon the flowery grave, Ash and his friends sprinted for the nearest exit to the chamber. Ash felt a growing cold running up his spine as he felt him approach. At last, they ran into the next tunnel, leaving the soldiers behind.

Just as the last of Ash's group had made it into the tunnel, a leg emerged from another into the chamber.

"That little-!" Cursed a seething Damian. "The second I see them again, I'm gonna…"

For some reason, his words failed him all of a sudden. The soldiers, pushing themselves to their feet, all felt their breaths catch in their throats when they spotted something. Damian could not explain the feeling. With wide eyes and a slack jaw, he could not bring himself to move, breathe, or even think.

In his peripheral vision, something black walked into view. It looked like a man. He couldn't tell. It was like a perpetual shadow covered the man. There were a myriad of footsteps that followed, none of them from him.

"At ease."

With those gruff words, Damian could suddenly move again. He, and the other soldiers, heaved over for the breath that was lost to them. They could suddenly think again. With wide eyes, Damian suddenly backed away. He saw the man was not alone, but had five men in red suits with tubed gas masks with him.

With trembling, Damian cried, "Wh-who are you?"

The shadow turned to him at last. At first, he did not respond. Instead, he opted to look past Damian. Despite his trembling, Damian managed to turn to look also. He stared up at the burning pile of toys, watching as the flames consumed the button eyes of a stuffed Teddiursa.

As this went on, the other soldiers retrieved their weapons from the flames. Built with this war in mind, they would not break so easily.

"You are the one Ryder picked up near the war site seven months ago."

Damian whirled around to see the shadowy man facing him. It chilled his blood, but nevertheless, he answered, "Th-that the sword guy's name? Yeah, he picked me up. B-but who are you?"

The shadow studied Damian for a moment before pointing at him, making the mechanical man look down at the patch of an exploding star on his chest. "That patch on your suit tells you what I am. Now follow me."

"B-But what-?"

As Damian raised his head to ask more questions, the man was gone, with the other men in red disappearing into one of the tunnels at breakneck speeds. Damian could not begin to make sense of this. Without any semblance of a clue as to what was going on, he shook his head and took off after them. The other soldiers followed suit.

As Ash and the others ran, they could feel him at their backs. In the reflections of the dying crystals lining the tunnel walls, they saw a shadow walking after them. In each one, he appeared closer and closer until they could scarcely see the outline of his face.

For each corner they passed, he approached the one before. They could hear something else chasing them. Wisps of wind and the crackling of stone as something ran after them, leaping from wall to wall. Their own gasps for air as they sprinted as fast as their legs could carry them filled the endless tunnels.

Sylveon took it upon itself to periodically shoot the roof of the tunnels behind them to collapse them. With each loud crash that followed, the fleeing trainers and their Pokemon felt the chill on their bodies worsen. But then, they at last saw an exit.

When they emerged, they found themselves upon a stone bridge stretching from one of the tree's branches to its base. Countless of these bridges seemed to reach between the tree's trunk and its branches, leading to unending tunnels. Many of these bridges had been reduced to rubble at their center.

Serena and Shaun yelped at the sheer height they stood at. As the former peered over the edge, she could see the tree's tilted form in full. And what it now dangled over by its roots. Volcanic smoke billowed up into the air without cease, mercifully being blown away from them before it could reach their heights.

"Wh-what…?" She looked out across the battlefield, seeing little more than the chasm and smoke. "What happened? Where is everything?!"

However, these howling winds proved to be just as much bane as they were boon. Serena felt her balance jeopardized by a hot gust and she quickly stepped away from the edge.

"We don't have time for that," Paul reminded her. "We need to get moving!"

She nodded, following the boys and their Pokemon with her own across the bridge. Before they reached the other side, Ash's Aura flared a warning and he whirled around. Emerging from the tunnel they had just left, the five bizarre men in red stood aside for someone else to pass.

And then, Nova walked after them into the open.

Ash recalled a similar situation he had faced here years ago. The Lucario belonging to Sir Aaron, Riley's predecessor, once prevented the trio of Regis from pursuing them upon one of these bridges. Just laying eyes upon the man before him made Ash instinctively repeat this.

Ivory flames gathered to his free hand. Serena's eyes shot wide. "Ash, no! You can't afford to spare any more-!"

But with a yell, Ash compulsively hurled the Aura Sphere in his hand down upon the center of the bridge. A loud crackling noise rang out as its pieces rained down into the chasm. Its crumbling caused Serena, Paul, and their Pokemon to back away.

From behind Nova, a certain blue haired man and his entourage of soldiers waltzed out. They yelled with fright as they saw the bridge beginning to collapse.

Seeing Ash not moving, Serena again cried out to him. "Ash, move!"

But Ash did not. Neither did Nova. Their eyes were locked upon one another. At last, the bridge ceased crumbling when it reached their feet. A large gap was left between them. Despite Serena's urging, Ash could not bring himself to move. His eyes were locked upon the shining crystal on Nova's neck.

Nova brought up his wristwatch. He fiddled with it for a moment. Then, he returned his gaze toward Ash. Then, he moved toward him. A shadow fell over Ash, Serena, and Paul, causing them to recoil as they saw its source. High above, the branches of the tree twisted and curved into impossible shapes.

The entire side of the Tree of Beginning Nova stood upon seemed to soundlessly move toward Ash's side. It moved until the two sides of the bridge reconnected, leaving Nova leering down upon Ash. As Ash finally managed to step back, Nova and the men in red stepped onto his side of the bridge. Damian and his men hurried after them.

Just as the last foot stepped off, Nova snapped his finger. Then, the tree returned to normal. Its bark and branches, twisted in space, returned to normal in an instant. There was no flash, nor gradual return, nor even a sound. It was warped one moment, and normal the next.

A red blur sped throughout the tree's branches. Beside it was a blue one shrouded in red. Latias searched for any trace of Ash she could find. Thus far, her only success was Keldeo. She was astounded to see him alive after their encounter with that man in armor. Mutually, they decided to search for Ash together. Latias's eyes suddenly went wide as she spotted something.

Eyeing Mew in Ash's arms, Nova's face furrowed deeply beneath the shadow. He reached inside his coat and brandished his gun, pointing it directly between the unconscious Legend's eyes. Just as he pulled the trigger to initiate the charging mechanism, Ash and his friends were swept out from beneath by a red glow.

Damian and the soldiers cried out with shock. The wind nearly sent them over. With wild eyes, they noisily scanned the tree around them in search of where Ash and the others had gone.

Scowling, Nova set his sight upon another bridge higher. He kept his hand upon his wristwatch but, seeing Latias already set them down, decided against using it for his planned purpose. Instead, he concocted another plan.

Everyone let out a collective sigh as Latias laid them down. She glared down upon Nova and asked, "Who's that creep?"

"He's the reason for this all," Ash answered. His own expression matched hers. "The Nova Branch. Or 'Corporation' as he calls it. He's been manipulating everything."

Keldeo stomped his hoof down eagerly. "Which means, when we beat him, everything ends."

"Everything will end when you do."

Everybody flinched collectively as a voice seemed to boom from every direction. Nova's voice. A sudden pressure fell upon their bodies. With Ash's fading Aura, he could hardly stand. It was only Serena, quickly rushing to his aid, that stopped him from collapsing.

"The time of Pokemon is over."

Upon Nova's neck, his crystal continued to shine brightly. Power leaked from the tiniest of cracks along its bottom edges. Yet still, nobody could summon the strength to move even as Nova took a step onto empty air toward them.

"This ends now."

From behind Damian, his soldiers, and the Red Suits, there was a spark in the air. Ash and his group gradually looked past Nova as a golden ring emerged behind him. A wily-looking Hoopa poked out their head with a smug look on her face.

While Nova continued to monologue, Hoopa silently floated down to the underside of the ring. Gradually, it expanded in size above her head until it dwarfed the width of the bridge.

"Hee-hah!"

Hoopa suddenly brought down the ring upon Nova and his men. In one fell swoop, they were taken through its rift, bridge and all. Hoopa quickly forced the rift closed and shrunk the ring back to its normal size before flipping it onto her horn again.

Dusting her hands together, she raised her head with pride. "That takes care of that." Glancing up to Ash and the others, she added, "Pretty sweet, huh? Those losers didn't even see it coming."

Behind her, a silver-colored ring fizzled into existence. Hoopa's proud smirk quickly faded into horror as she turned to see the men she had sent over the chasm floating in the smoke.

Quickly, Hoopa lurched up toward Ash's group, summoning her ring once again. Nova took hold of his silver ring and hurled it up after her. The crystal on his necklace shined with greater brightness as Nova's ring drew closer to Hoopa's.

They met in a cross, their rifts merging. Ash and his friends cried out as they felt themselves being lifted. A blinding light shot out from the merged rifts. And, when that light faded, they found themselves within the tree once more.

Above their heads, there was a billowing cloud of smoke floating across a colossal gash. The further up the blackened walls went, the more it seemed to bend and fray. Around them, they found themselves in what they could only describe as a blackened valley.

Serena peered over a nearby cliff. "Wait…" Beside her, there was a hollowed stretch of ground that reached to the cliffside. Below, a massive crater outlines the valley. "…Are we inside or outside the tree?"

Shaun looked from place to place. His quivering voice squeaked out with horror. He recognized this place. Beside Serena, there should have been a river leading to a waterfall. All around them, there should have been trees and grass. Below, there was a massive lake. There should have been Pokemon frolicking with their families.

But it was gone. All gone. All, save for themselves and their enemy.

Keldeo, Latias, and Hoopa stood protectively in front of the trainers. Behind them, Ash, Serena, and Paul released the remainder of their Pokemon. Opposite of the dried river, there were four common soldiers anxiously holding their weapons, a half-mechanical man leering at two dragons, five men in red suits with their faces obscured by gas masks, and a man draped in shadow.

Nova glowered down at his crystal. Its glow gained irregularities. He frowned and turned away from Ash. "It's growing unstable. You lot, take lead."

At his command, the Red Suits stepped in between him and Ash's group. Seeing this, Damian and his squad unsteadily followed their example. When they took aim with their weapons, the trainers' Pokemon readied projectiles. The Red Suits matched the three Legends when they readied their own attacks.

The resulting clash was a blur of colors. A thunderous explosion succeeded the collision of all manner of elements and bullets colliding in the air. In the chaos, the ordinary humans were thrown down.

The Red Suits dove straight to Ash and Mew, aiming to put an end to the war once and for all. A red glow coated the four momentarily before tossing them every which way.

As one landed, it skidded back on its boots. Sceptile and Greninja darted in from its sides with a Leaf Blade and a Water Shuriken at the ready. In turn, it surprised the two Pokemon by shooting a Vine Whip from its palms at the two of them.

When the vines ensnared the two Pokemon, Serena's Pangoro stomped toward the Red Suit rapidly and pulled back his fist for a Focus Punch. The Red Suit's gaze became like that of a reticle. Using Lock-On, it swung the two Pokemon in its grasp into Pangoro's sides.

The three Pokemon crumpled as the impact left them bereft of air. With a trembling arm, the Red Suit summoned draconic energy to its hand to form Dragon Claw, but when it went to spear the fallen Pokemon, it stopped upon noticing the air become white with frost. From behind, Paul's Froslass manifested from the frost and shot an Ice Beam to freeze the Red Suit solid.

Keldeo's Sacred Sword met repeatedly with the Leaf Blade of one of the Red Suits. "What the-" He slashed again, making a loud buzzing noise as his elongated horn met with the emerald sword. "-Heck are these things?! Are they humans or Pokemon?!"

Above her head, Hoopa summoned a rift to stop one of the oncoming Red Suits with a Shadow Ball. "Whatever they are…" Her eyes went wide as the man in red coated its fist in swaths of darkness before driving through it with a punch. She dove headfirst into her own rift to dodge the oncoming Brutal Swing attack and reappeared behind. "…They are total freaks."

Seeing the soldiers and Damian steadily regrouping, Charizard smirked. Flapping his wings, he took off toward them, keen on being the one to take down his first trainer.

Damian's human eye widened as he saw the dragon. Quickly, he pulled up his gun arm and shouted, "Open fire!"

But Charizard's tail smacked his arm away, sending him stumbling. While Damian was distracted, Charizard quickly went after the others. With his claws, he swiped up one of the men by their legs and tossed them at another.

There was a click as Charizard turned. The other two men aimed their weapons. Quickly, Charizard tucked his head into his wings. Rapid blasts of gunpowder ensued, pelting the dragon with bullets. His tough body prevented him from being damaged too greatly, but he could feel the scrapes and bruises amassing swiftly.

With a roar, he puffed out his wings and sent up a gust of wind that knocked them onto their backs. Flames spewed from between his lips as he readied a Flamethrower attack, but he had forgotten already what his true goal was. Behind him, Damian's gun arm spun in place, pointing straight at Charizard's back.

With a triumphant grin, the cyborg roared, "I've got you now, traitor!"

Far below, from the cracks of the crater, a myriad of dull, red ooze blobs began to arise in great numbers. Sluggishly, they dragged themselves toward the cliff's edge. One of them attempted to shape itself into a Kabutops for its claws to scale the wall, but its form fell away into shapeless sludge.

Amidst the chaos, Ash could barely see a thing. He, Serena and Paul had their backs pressed to one another, surrounded by their Pokemon. It was either that or the Red Suits would manage to break past even the defenses of the Legends and come to slay Mew once and for all.

Ash's gaze flicked from place to place, attempting to gain a glimpse as to the location of Nova between the countless attacks being thrown every which way. His breath ran rampant, growing more intense by the moment.

He looked to the left, and there was a shadow. Then, it was gone. He then turned to the right and there was another which vanished in a plume of fire. All the while, Mew continued to sap away at his declining Aura. Everything was fuzzy. The world around him felt so quiet and yet boomed deafeningly all at once.

Where was he?

Where was he?

A hand clapped on his back, making him gasp out. As he looked back, he saw him. That shadow of a man. Instinctively, he pulled away. But, as he did, he suddenly saw differently. The shadow was gone, and Paul was in his place.

"What are you doing?" Demanded the irate trainer. "Get your head in the game. If you lose your mind now, we're all doomed." He, too, glanced cautiously around themselves with narrow, piercing eyes. "That monster could be anywhere. Keep your eyes and ears open."

At last, Ash felt as if he could breathe properly. "Y-you're right." Standing up straight, he looked to his Pokemon who were ferociously attempting to fend off the Red Suits. "He's gotta be orchestrating the movements of these guys from somewhere."

Though Serena could scarcely stop herself from voicing her concern for Ash, something else bugged her. In her head, she saw what happened to Riley over and over again.

"What if this is a distraction?" She wondered aloud. "What if these red guys are just to give him an opening for another shot at Ash or Mew?"

One of the Red Suits suddenly paused. A shadow fell over its mask for a moment, and then it turned toward the soldiers battling Charizard. Spotting an unused Toxic Charge on one of their belts, it used Vine Whip to rip it off and toss it over the heads of Ash's group.

The other Red Suits quickly retreated back as they saw this. Ash's Auric senses suddenly spiked with danger warnings. Bringing its hands together, the Red Suit that had thrown the Toxic Charge shot up a Flamethrower into the charge.

In desperation, Ash shouted, "Latias, protect us!"

Latias craned her head up, and her eyes widened upon seeing the flaming fluid raining over the heads of her friends. Her eyes gleamed red, causing the droplets to freeze in the air. Then, a Red Suit leapt behind her with its arms crossed before slicing into her back with an X-Scissor.

Her pained cry warned of the impending poison globs' fall. Paul quickly shouted, "Froslass, use Blizzard! Everyone, keep your heads down!"

At his call, the icy maiden flew into action and spewed a wide wave of freezing winds that encased the toxic material. Ash and the others ducked and covered their heads to avoid being stricken by the resulting hailstorm from above.

The ice-encased poison rained down around them, now rendered mostly harmless for the time being. Spotting the Red Suits piled together, observing, an idea came to Paul.

"Drapion!" He called. The Poison-Type Pokemon twisted its accordion-like body toward him. Paul pointed toward the Red Suits. "Let's give them a taste of their own medicine! Use Toxic Spikes and destroy them midair with Pin Missile!"

Nodding, Drapion swerved back around to face the men in red. Its claws grinded together, becoming more encased in poisonous material. With a sharp sound, its claws separated and a cascade of jagged, poisonous spikes flew into the air. Then, its claws shined white, and it unleashed a veritable swarm of writhing, barbed edges that impacted the falling spikes.

A toxic rain over the heads of the Red Suits ensued. A few droplets rained down upon them, resulting in sizzling all along the scarlet colored material covering them. For one of them, a drop began to eat into the double gas canister on their back.

The Red Suits dashed into action, responding to the poison with overwhelming aggression. With flames and sparks and claws and beams, they dove headfirst into the group of Pokemon with even greater aggression than before.

The lingering Auric instincts of Greninja flared with warning. His eyes shooting wide, the ninja-like Pokemon reared his head back as a Thunder Punch from one of the Red Suits rode past his chin. On the tip of his tongue, he could feel the attack's sparks crackling.

Latias and Hoopa engaged two of them. The former held them still with Psychic while the latter opened a golden ring, aiming to fling them into the unknown. But, when she went to pull, something pulled back. Hoopa's wild grin faltered as she slowly turned to see a third man in red gripping her ring with Vine Whip.

In a flash, the Red Suit pulled itself up onto the ring's edge. It stomped down upon the ring, tilting it down so it could face Hoopa and Latias with the swirling dark mass in its hand. A Dark Pulse engulfed the two Legends before Latias could repel it with Psychic.

"Latias! Hoopa!" With a scowl, Keldeo snarled at the Red Suits and dashed toward them. His Aqua Jet knocked the first away, where Paul's Electivire, Ninjask, and Ursaring were ready to pounce. Then, he swiped at the other with Sacred Sword. When it leapt back, he went for the third.

"Eat this!"

The Red Suit, seeing him approach, lunged at him. Quickly, Keldeo leapt up. With a triumphant shout, the lone Sword of Justice speared the abomination upon his heroic blade. He held up his head, lifting his enemy high.

Proudly, Keldeo laughed at the Red Suit. "Not so tough now, are you?"

It appeared like the creature draped in red was stunned. Its arms froze and its back arched backward as it dangled upon Keldeo's horn. Ash cried out and clutched his head upon being stricken by a sudden sensation from the Red Suit. It was Aura. Life. Only, this Aura was unlike any he had felt in a long time.

Suddenly, the Red Suit lurched forward and took hold of the Sacred Sword. Its hands sparked with lightning that shot down the length of the blade. Though he gasped, Keldeo was unable to disengage the attack before the lightning could reach him.

Keldeo snarled as burning bolts coursed throughout his body. His Sacred Sword fell away, freeing the Red Suit. Upon falling gracefully onto its boots, it was met with another of its kind who held out its gloved hand and sent out a Heal Pulse. Steadily, the wound closed shut.

Gradually, Keldeo managed to shake itself free from the paralyzing lightning, only to be met with a ferocious kick to the chin from one of the Red Suits that sent him careening into a wall. Then, the five Red Suits again set their eyes upon Ash.

As one, they lunged for him. One of them, holding the struggling Froslass of Paul in hand, hurled the Pokemon into Ash's Noivern as it intended to impede them. Its body struck Noivern before he could unleash a Boomburst, making him choke upon the sound waves in his throat.

What happened next was a blur. The trainers' Pokemon put themselves between their trainers and the Red Suits. They dove into one another, yet no matter how hard the Pokemon fought, their adversaries seemed to match and surpass them at every turn.

Finally, one broke through. Slipping past Serena's Rhyperior, the lone Red Suit leapt high and set its empty gaze upon Ash and Mew. In its hands, an orange light surged to life. Noticing this, Hydreigon yelped with fright and shot up into the air.

The Red Suit's Hyper Beam was met with Hydreigon's to match it. Their attacks were so potent they did not even clash. Instantly, they exploded outward into a plume of smoke that draped over the field of battle.

Again, Hydreigon yelped. The Red Suit fell upon him, slashing at him repeatedly with Dragon Claw. The squealing hydra flailed, agonized. But his trainer was in danger. That was more than enough inspiration to keep the Red Suit from getting past him. So, Hydreigon piled all its might into his remaining arm before driving a full power Return into the creature's face.

A loud crunch echoed across the tree's decaying interior. Steadily, a wounded, panting Hydreigon floated down. He eyed the shadow of his adversary in the smoke cautiously. When the smoke at last faded, and Hydreigon, upon seeing the exposed face of the Red Suit, recoiled and cried out in despair.

Almost all eyes fell upon Hydreigon, then to the Red Suit, and they gave similar reactions. Serena's eyes went wide, and she nearly fell to her knees. Ash doubled over and clutched his head as memories of an ailing Aura wracked his spirit.

Even Paul could not stop his face wrinkling as he saw it. "What the heck is that thing?"

Charizard's claws wrapped around the straps of a soldier's suit. With a furious growl, he picked the man up and planted him into a wall. Around him laid the unconscious bodies of three others. Covered with wounds, the dragon was eager to send the man to sleep via a Headbutt attack.

But then, he heard the telltale whir of Damian's gun arm. Looking back, Charizard saw it aimed not at him, but at his distracted master.

"That's right, lizard," Spat Damian. "Take a good look at your precious trainer while you can!"

Charizard's heart sank. Bellowing in despair, he tossed the man aside and dashed to put himself between Ash and Damian in time. As bullets began to fly Charizard brought up his wings like a shield. His eyes shut tightly in wake of the pain. The bullets threatened more and more to pierce his scales, adding more and more wounds to his body.

All the while, Damian howled with laughter at the state of his former companion. "How d' ya like that, traitor?! Once I'm through with you, your buddy's ne-" Just as soon as Damian titled his head to look past Charizard, his eyes fell upon what had stunned Ash to begin with.

Any blood that was not already cold as ice within Damian fell to that point when he saw the face of the Red Suit. His bravado vanished. When he tried to speak, his lips quivered.

"Wh-what?" He stammered quietly. "No. N-no! Those eyes…!"

Bereft of its mask, the Red Suit' s face was left plainly in view. It was the hollow, wrinkled face of a girl. Only without a mouth, nor a nose, and no eyes. Vague outlines of these things were in their place. And its eyes…

Damian instinctively stepped away, inching closer to the cliff's edge unknowingly. "You! They told me you were dead!"

It was the face of Zero beneath the mask. Even bereft of its features, no one who knew the girl could mistake those hollow, black voids where there should have been eyes. It was enough to drive Damian mad.

With a hoarse cry, he shifted his aim from Charizard. "I'll send you there myself then, you freak!"

But then, the ground fell away beneath his ankle. Damian fumbled out a noise in confusion, quickly turning to a scream of terror as he fell down from the cliffside. But there was no impact once he reached the bottom. Instead, he landed upon something soft.

"What the-?!" When he sat up, he found himself laying upon a red, gelatinous blob. Instantly, he flew up from them and went to scale the wall. But one of them latched onto his hand. "G-get off me!"

The cells, starved for energy, trembled with delight as sustenance at last entered their grasp. Another one clutched onto Damian's gun arm. Two more latched on hungrily to his leg and pulled him down. As he went to scream something, a fifth one swallowed his head.

There, at the bottom of the cliff, Damian squirmed and raged against the inevitable as more and more cells piled onto him. He let out a final, muffled cry that no one heard until he was, at last, silenced. He was dissolved; brought back to zero.

Author's Note

Pokextinction Fact of the Day: If Zero had survived the war, her genetic deformities would have likely aged her to the point that she would have become an adult by now. Or at least to being near the physical age of Ash and Serena. At this age, she certainly would have been a menace capable of throwing down with most Legends and at least emerging alive. If not outright victorious. However, this would have come at the cost of a drastic shortening of her lifespan.

Creator: This chapter was a bit short, but then again, so was the last. With what we have planned next, we likely won't see another short chapter in a very long time. I hope you all enjoyed the callbacks to a forgotten friend in the story. Zero is dearly missed. Hydra and I often wonder how she would have turned out if she lived. All things considered, though, it was probably best to kill her as early as we did.

Hydra: For a short chapter though this one still had a lot going on. It's the first one in a long time where it mainly focused on Ash without a cut to something else going on. Damian left as quickly as he arrived, a fitting end for someone like him.

G: "Wow, you uploaded another chapter in record time, well, it was very brutal and awesome to see the last stand of the Burned man against Moltres, as both enemies were clearly pushed to their limits, as both showed be notably injured, tired, broken and weakened, making this final battle between them more prolonged and detailed.

Even, it was a nice touch to show some flashbacks from the Burned man and Moltres during the battle, as manner to show us the inner thinking of each one, giving them a more human side, than only see them like a ruthless and vengeful cyborg and an aggresive Legendary pokemon.

Adding that it was interesting to see Moltres recognizing the Burned man like Harper, the guy that was burned by the Fire bird during the Battle of the Orange islands, as with this finding, the Fire bird basically understood that its sadism to burnt him slowly with its wing, than killed him quickly, leads to that it inadvertently created this monster known as the Burned man, who brought misery to many others Pokemon, like Keldeo and Latias, making that Moltres could possibly feels some responsability for this problems caused by the Burned man.

And talking about culpability, ironically, in this occasion when Moltres had the Burned man to its mercy, instead to finishes him, Moltres chooses to show him mercy this time, something that ended implying a high price; the Burned man managed to self-destructed, leading to destroyed a portion of the Tree of Beginning, making that Moltres indirectly commited another mistake regarding the Burned man, in this case by showed him mercy, ironically.

Also, regarding to your point the Creator, about Yvetal, i agreed that his relationship with Ash wasn't good to starters, to considers that the only time that they met, Yvetal attacked them, and even almost kills Pikachu if Xerneas wouldn't intervened. Adding that by his imprisonment and torture inflicted by the Nova Branch, the chance that Yvetal and Ash could build some functional and good relationship, was certainly destroyed, as now Yvetal is clearly a pokemon that hates the mankind, meaning that he could even be capable to kills Ash in cold blood if the Chosen one tries to stand in his way.

And regarding to your point Hydra, thanks very much for this chapter, i really liked to see the battle between the Burned man and Moltres, i really liked the development that they both had in the story :)

Keep the good job."

Creator: Thank you! We figured this was the chapter you were waiting for so long. You've stuck with us for years, and it was our aim to deliver. Now, I admit that we couldn't really figure out how to use all of your ideas, but you were certainly a big inspiration for making Harper VS Moltres bigger than initially intended.

My original plan was for Harper to fight Registeel, Latias, and Moltres at the same time and Latias's desire for revenge would have endangered Moltres and gotten it caught in the blast radius as Harper's crystal exploded. Hydra wanted the Regis to die before the regular Legends were introduced into the war, so we used Keldeo instead of Registeel.

You can also thank Hydra for that last chapter. It was never my plan to give Harper a dedicated 1v1 with Moltres besides the beatdown that happened prior to the 3v1 since I couldn't imagine Moltres pushing Harper that far alone.

In the end, Moltres wasn't alone, so I suppose I was right.

And yeah, Ash doesn't really stand much of a chance winning Yveltal over. He took revenge into his own hands and got what he wanted. If Ash survives and manages to win this war, maybe that could at least be a foot in the door.

Hydra: I'm really happy you enjoyed it! I had always envisioned Harpers and Moltres' last fight to be big. It was one of the biggest rivalries in the story so it makes sense that it would have a fiery conclusion. I'm not sure if what Moltres did was mercy for the Burned Man, I think it was just him seeing how decrepit and burned Harper was that he realized anything else he could do to him would be pointless. Here's a question for you and Silverwolf, which part of the story has been the saddest for you guys so far? Any scene that resonated with you in particular emotionally?

SilverWolf1130: "Cause of what you said at the review response last chapter, I assumed you meant the confrontation of Mew and Nova. But nope. It was Moltres and The Burning Man. My bad.

Man, what a brutal and unforgiving battle. I was constantly fearing for Moltres here.

I do like the addition of the flashbacks for both characters here. Made their final clash more impactful. Though I do wonder why Ryder's flashback from last chapter wasn't in italics.

And with one last move, both of them are gone. The Nova Corps lost an asset and the Legendaries lost the last of the Bird Trio.

Man, seeing Moltres die must've really crushed the Pokémon's morale.

Poor Mew. Just when she finally starts to care, she is completely powerless to do anything.

Alright. Calling it. Next chapter will be Nova's revelation."

Creator: Apologies, but no revelation of Nova in this chapter. Yet. Instead, there was one in regards to Zero. Why do the Red Suits look like her? Is that why they can attack like Pokemon? What will Nova say on the matter?

Why was Ryder's flashback not italicized? A few reasons.

One, we don't often do flashbacks in this story. Rather, we usually have a character do or say something that references the past or have them outright project it visibly instead of outright taking the audience into the past alone. Such as Arceus and Aura describing the history of existence through their perspectives or Mew finding the Time Flowers. The last time we had a dedicated flashback without an observer in the present was way back in Arc 1 with a flashback of Infernape. Remember when Infernape was part of the story? Good times.

Two, because we don't often do flashbacks, we weren't quite sure how to structure them. I now believe it was better to not in Ryder's case and to italicize it in Harper's. Mostly because, with Ryder, it was one big scene whereas with Harper and Moltres, they were smaller scenes divided across their fight. Thus, I felt there needed to be more contrast between the past and the present.

Third, in retrospect, reading the full backstory of Ryder in only italics would have probably been difficult on the eyes. Something about italics on a computer screen is hard to look at for an extended period of time. Is this only me?

Hydra: When I was envisioning that final scene with Moltres slowly withering away I was listening to all kinds of sad music from Mass Effect to Ori and the Blind Forest. I really love sad scenes cause it pulls at the heart and feels more realistic instead of everything constantly working out for our heroes. I won't reveal too many details but there is a scene coming in the next couple chapters that you're gonna absolutely love. It's the end of another long running side plot that you've been fond of :)

Creator: Next chapter, Rayquaza and Mewtwo will reawaken. Where had their final clash taken them? A third figure will interrupt their battle. Who could it be? Ash will be forced to flee from Nova, who is hot in pursuit. The shadowy man's crystal…seems to be not working properly anymore.

Will all of his friends survive? Or will there need to be sacrifices in order to get Mew to the Aura Stream in time? Find out next chapter of Pokextinction.

Hydra: That's the end of this one folks. Once again we hope your enjoying the story and we look forward to hearing your reviews! Things are gonna start really ramping up again so get ready for some big reveals.