Another bloody riddle.

"Nathan, are you okay?" Korrina asked, noting the way his lip curled upwards.

Riven ignored the question as he was too busy being caught up trying to piece together jagged pieces of an ancient puzzle that seemed to get vaguer the more he thought about them. Even so far as Kalos, there were similar markings found, hundreds of miles away from Hoenn, spanning seas and mountainous terrain. The fact something relating to the azure sphere could be found in what was, at the time, a dinky hole in the ground- only reinforced the notion that whatever he'd stumbled upon in Dewford held larger implications for the world than some local, long forgotten civilization would.

This race, this civilization, didn't exist as a small little cluster of human activities or cities. Far from that. This civilization probably controlled the world. Conjectures mostly, but there wasn't a better explanation. If this was a culture, then that meant the people had a way of communicating over long distances, or at least were capable of long distance travel by sea or land. Possibly. He doubted they had modern technology to get around quickly either. Swimming or flying across continents wasn't feasible either, unless your ride happened to fly at supersonic speeds, and or happened to be a legendary bird. Not technically impossible and some pokemon were rumored to be capable but… it didn't seem likely. In that regard, airships and cruise liners several hundred years back or more also didn't.

If they did, he'd swallow a knife.

This though… this was here. A sign of people who came before.

And yet, absolutely no mention in history books at all. No ruins anywhere but for select locations that seemed innocuous at best and needed a special item to so much as access. At first glance what appeared to be innocent markings and carvings actually told a story, alluding to some kind of event or happening that occurred in the past. All of it in pictures, visions, and riddles- the spheres acting like keys notwithstanding. Shit, it was almost… almost like they were trying to hide something apart from those human evolution stones. That or they tried being mystical and vague on purpose, for no other reason than to be massive dickwads.

Still, the stones were a remarkable discovery in and of themselves but-

Something didn't sit well. That couldn't have been the end of it, to go through all this trouble. Riven was certain there was something these people were trying to hide as well. But hide from whom, and what, exactly?

No clue at all. He did, however, have in his possession a sphere that opened stuff like this. Well, Steven had it, but semantics. All he had to do was call him-

Oh, that's right. The guy had already left for Hoenn a week prior. Damn.

Steven probably wouldn't be too thrilled if I told him to take another trip across miles of open sea for something that could amount to nothing. I'll call later, this place isn't going anywhere.

Looking back at the carving, he pursed his lips, brow furrowed. Only when two fingers jabbed him on the shoulder did he break out of his trance.

"Nathan!" Korrina repeated, waving her other hand in front of his face.

His brain finally gave him the signal to pay attention to his surroundings and turned to face her, blinking. "Huh? Did you say something?"

Korrina put her hands on her hips as her grandfather let out a chuckle. "This one's more of an archeologist than a trainer, I see," he said wryly, with a hint of a smile. "Recedes into a private world just like they do. Nice catch, granddaughter."

The gym leader gave her elder a dirty look.

"Uh, okay. Erm..." Riven laughed nervously, gesturing up at the carvings. "Lately I've been getting caught up investigating things like this. Never know what you might find, right?"

"I suppose," Korrina said, calming down. "People have tried figuring out what the words mean by legends and such, but no one's ever really figured it out. We thought it had something to do with mega-evolution but I guess not."

"Hmmm. It's still a possibility…" Riven ran the palm of his right hand over the smooth stone, tracing sunken depression in the wall with a finger. "Doesn't this look like something belongs in here? A key perhaps? Taking a wild guess I'd wager something… spherical?"

Korrina and her grandfather both tilted their heads in unison. Lukan didn't seem to care, preferring to lean against the wall and pick the dirt out of his paws instead.

"We thought the same thing too," the older man nodded, understanding. "But anything we tried didn't seem to work. Keystones and more amounted to nothing. Eventually we gave up also. Why, got an idea?"

Oh yes I do.

Hesitating for a few moments in the guise of thinking deeply, he wondered whether telling them would be a sound idea. The coincidence that these markings and the first known evolution stone were found in the exact location couldn't just be chalked up to chance. They somehow related to each other in one way or another, that much was certain. At least, logically speaking it seemed that way. Given that, telling Gurkinn and his granddaughter might have been rather harmless, but he barely knew them and couldn't risk a leak. Those Singularity assholes already beat him to one piece, best not risk them finding another and turning one of their own assholes into a super powered asshole.

Better play it safe then. Keep it local.

Riven shook his head slowly. "Unfortunately, no. Could be anything, if this does even open anyway. I'd imagine if someone wanted to conceal something, they wouldn't leave the key lying around for the taking. You didn't try tearing the walls down?"

"And risk the ceiling caving in on us and destroying the history of the location? I'd die before allowing something of that nature to happen. This is a historical place, not to be defiled by drills or excavations," Gurkinn answered sternly, curling a lip in contempt at the thought. "Team Flare tried once. They deeply regret doing so, I assure you. I'm glad those two kids put a stop to it."

Taking his word for it, Riven headed back up stairs with them, placing the Diancie stone in his bag. As large as it was now, just holding it in his hand made him feel nauseous. Thanking Korrina and Gurkinn for their hospitality, Riven headed back to Shalour. Korrina probably noticed something was up, but as thigns were, she couldn't really act on those impulses. Good thing too.

Walking along the long bridge back to the more populated side of town, his mind still on markings, but more importantly, the depictions.

The images shown were… unpleasant to say the least. Because seriously, when are figures of people burning in freaking flames ever a good thing? The message was that man had been punished, that much was clear, but the lingering question of "why" remained.

Then there were the figures at the top. All of the images were of Claydols descending from the sky, with rays of light coming down from the heavens with them. And then the burning people at the bottom. Heh, hellfire and brimstone. Not ominous or foreboding at all, right?

So Claydols really are dicks. No surprise there.

Pulling out the holo caster, he quickly dialed the number under the menu item that read, "Stone."

Riven snorted. Of course he wouldn't place his entire name in there. The guy had a pathological tendency to avoid people. Well, not that Riven was any better in that regard, but he was technically a criminal and possibly, maybe a terrorist according to some people. He had a damn good excuse.

A few rings later, Steven picked up, sounding a slight bit distraught. "Riven, please tell me you aren't calling me to tell me something else happened in Kalos."

"Apart from the usual crap that happens around me?" Riven chuckled.

"The usual is what scares me," Steven said dryly. "Your normal usually involves something getting stabbed, blown up, or destabilized. Catastrophically so."

"That's not- alright, maybe it is true," Riven admitted begrudgingly. "A little."

"Right. So, did you call for anything relatively disastrous so I can prepare myself something to calm myself with?"

Steven held in a breath, then sat down just in case.

"Sadly, no. Disappointing, I know. What do you know about the Tower of Mastery?"

Steven paused, recalling his trip to Kalos to study mega-evolution and its origins. "I distinctly remember it was where the first recorded non-legendary mega evolution occurred. The gym leader's grandfather's grandfather, I believe. A Lucario."

"You ever go downstairs? Where the Diancie stones are?"

"A few times, yes. But nothing of value except for a few pictures and such."

"Those pictures didn't stand out to you?" Riven inquired, wondering how they missed Steven's sharp eye. "The whole burning in flames didn't? Not even a little?"

"They are worrying, yes, but so far no one has found any meaning to them," Steven said, reiterating what Korrina had said previously. He heard a groan on the other end. "Something irritating you?"

"Yes and no. What's irritating me is how vague these things are but the silver lining is that no one really had any pieces of the puzzle before. We do."

"Is that so?" Steven went quiet momentarily. "If this is what I think you're implying, do explain."

"The markings along the walls in there, they had the same pattern that the peoples' robes in the Dewford cave did. When I touched the sphere, it gave me some kind of vision, I guess? I don't really know what it was, but their clothes were glowing with the same patterns. Think the human evolution stones might be related to mega evolution in some way. And the messages can only be seen by others who can't be evolved, like me and others from my time."

Steven's eyes widened. "Keystones…" he whispered, almost too faint to hear.

"Come again?"

"Keystones!" Steven repeated. "We always speculated why mega evolution needed a human partner to occur, with a sufficient link. At first scientists proposed this type of second energy to mega evolution, one that was found in humans instead of pokemon. We analyzed the wavelengths of the energies, but didn't find anything that stood out. They seemed to be one and the same. I think- I think that whoever these people were, they were trying to bring back something lost. Something we humans as a species, lost at some point in our irregular evolutionary habits."

"Humans acting like keys themselves, without the need of keystones? They were keys?" Riven guessed.

"Well, in a sense, humans are already keys." Steven stated. "We just require a keystone to allow us to unlock a pokemon's potential. At first we thought that the keystones themselves were the keys, but really, they're just the means. A tool. I believe it's because we are naturally very weak "keys". Akin to pure water being a poor conductor, but if ions are dissolved in a solution, a current flows through perfectly. Without these keystone mediums, we wouldn't be able to induce mega evolution correctly. But if-"

"-we were to become more like pokemon it would make it hell of a lot easier to do. Our potential would increase by a frightening degree, right?"

"Yes… yes it would," Steven said, pacing around his office. "While also giving humans access to the same range of abilities pokemon have. Both conduits and keys."

"Which would in turn increasethe chance for lunatics with god complexes to abuse that power," Riven gravely concluded. "Seeing what mega evolution can do, I'd be a little concerned about who got access to this. That's why those mercenaries and fanatics getting that artifact piece is concerning."

"With good reason. Perhaps that's why everything is so secretive?" Steven mused. "The creators of the spheres foresaw the same thing and deemed it as too dangerous." Or someone else did.

"Don't blame them," Riven growled. "You saw what a few of us could do with powers like that. Entire forests and cities burned to cinders isn't something to take lightly. I never saw mega evolution in my time though. Why weren't the Roses keys themselves? There were plenty of fire pokemon they used."

"Did you see any Charizards or Blazikens?" Steven asked.

"No."

"Then that's probably why," Steven said firmly. "Apart from that, what if the Roses did know, but you didn't? You did say you only fought with Mightyena and human weapons. They probably didn't see you as enough of a threat to warrant using such power. I've seen a mega evolved Charizard's power first hand. It's quite intimidating."

"I bet." Riven gave a short grunt. "If I was them, I certainly wouldn't have used my trump cards against us either. As hard as we fought, we lacked manpower and pokemon, for one. Although, I'm just now figuring out there's a lot I didn't know that would have made our life unbelievably less shitty. Probably would have given us a fighting chance too."

A long sigh.

"Anyway, there's a spherical indentation there in the wall. I think if we used our sphere on it, it might open something. Problem is getting down there without anyone noticing. Lucario's have scary detection abilities."

"You didn't warn Gurkinn and Korrina about what you knew?" Steven asked, surprised. "You don't trust them either?"

"It's not that I don't trust them. She's a gym leader, that already puts her one above most people, it's just- if they knew a little too much, people can come after them. Dead gym leaders would cause a regional destabilization, like in Sinnoh. Then we might as well throw any hope of discovering more about this into the nearest deep sea trench."

"That's certainly different from your attitude in Lavaridge," Steven remarked, sounding impressed. "An improvement, I have to say. It sounds like you actually care."

"Whoa, hey. Don't jump to conclusions there. I've had plenty of time to think and get used to this world. Running around a city like Lumiose for the better half of a year and dealing with questionable people behind the law's back builds up your skills of discretion," Riven replied casually. "As for what happened back in Lumiose… that was about as discrete as a cart full of explosives. But to be fair, that wasn't really my fault. There were like six parties clashing at once, then shit went to even further shit."

"I'm definitely not blaming you," Steven affirmed. "We were fortunate it was mostly property damage and disgruntled citizens. Your intervention was appreciated, even if none of the Elite Four knew who really was behind the warning."

"A crazed trainer wrongly accused of being allied with a terrorist organization or cult of psychopathic children?" Riven said dryly.

Steven shook his head, a slight chuckle escaping him. "Yes, that."

"Heh. Regardless, you should check out the Tower if you have the time. You deal with dropping the bombshells on Korrina and her grandfather. If I do it they'll think I'm full of shit for not telling them anything when I had the chance."

The former champion held in a groan. "I'll notify you if I find anything then. I can head over there some time next month. I'm still in the process of researching mega evolution here in Hoenn, so I have some other matters to attend to."

Huh? "There were stones in Hoenn too?" Riven asked, honestly taken off-guard. "No one ever told me."

"You weren't floating around the higher trainer circles, or even interacted with people much, so I'm sure you wouldn't have," Steven jabbed. "But if you say that the spheres are related to it in some way, it'd make sense if they were also found in Hoenn, no?"

"Well… yeah, I guess. Also, do you happen to know any ruins or locations with sightings of Claydol anywhere?"

"Claydol?" Steven wondered where that question had come from. "A few places, All in ruins, yes. Among other places. Why? Looking to catch one?"

"Not necessarily, they're kind of assholes."

"I own a Claydol," Steven frowned.

"Does that in any way diminish your pokemon's brothers' dickery? Psychics as a rule of thumb put me off," Riven hmphed.

"Don't you have a Gallade? That's a bit contradicting," Steven pointed out.

"He knows he's kind of an asshat anyways. And he's part fighter. They're marginally less dicks so he's fine. I can be hypocritical when it suits me, leave me be."

The stone collector sighed heavily, already much to used to his antics. "I'm not even going to try to argue with that. What will you do now then?"

Riven looked out towards the sea, watching the trainers play in the sand with their pokemon. Then turned back towards the pokemon center, deciding. He drew one of Efrain's blades, lining up the crimson edge with the view of the sun on the horizon.

A reminiscent smile appeared on his lips.

"Cut my chains."

Riven's sudden call came as no surprise to both Cormac and Isole, both simply waiting until he decided to call again. He'd been gone for most of the month already, barely coming into the home if at all. This time he'd been gone for nearly an entire week.

The older male mercenary picked up with a casual stroke of his finger. The younger mercenary's voice came through, steady and resolute.

" I'm-"

"-leaving? Finally," Cormac answered casually, peering at his fingernails. "My nails are pretty long, maybe I should trim them. I should go to the store later, pick up a nail filer too."

"Wait, what?" Riven stammered. "You knew what I was going to-"

"-Yes," Cormac cut in again. "You've only been gone for fucking ever, it was bound to happen anyways. We all knew it. The moment that tracker got fucked by that one Tesla guy, you could have disappeared into the wind. Only a matter of time before you got fed up with Nera's bullshit, really. I get tired of her shit sometimes too, honestly. Oh that nail is going to become an ingrown, I just know it."

A loud, frustrated groan that sounded like a mix between a Mightyena and a Growlithe puppy whining and growling brought a shit-eating grin to Cormac's face.

"He had a long, epic 'go-fuck-you-and-your-couch' speech cooked up didn't he?" Isole asked with a slight amusement. "Hah."

Cormac shook his head, grinning his ass off. He held back tears of laughter as he heard Riven ranting in the background.

"I DESERVED AN EPIC GO TO HELL SPEECH, DAMMIT!" He yelled into the holo caster, frustration growing as Cormac's laughter became hysterical cackling. He stormed out of the pokemon center to spare the young'uns from language that could taint an antiseptic chamber."This is bullshit. It's mandated that when it comes to things like this, I have to say something incredibly awesome before leaving and you… That was my chance, damn you."

"Ahahah… hah... ah. Let me catch my breath… Okay, there we go." Cormac breathed in deep once again, trying not to burst into a fit of giggles again. "I have to say, screwing with you is hilarious. What did you think this was some kind of novel? Haha!"

"Go die," Riven growled. "Rehearsed it like twenty times too…"He muttered under his breath, followed by another string of curses. "I was ready to dare you to stop me then-"

"-we'd have a climactic two on one battle, cause hundreds of thousands in property damage, spout unbelievably cool one-liners and turn our backs to explosions as they occur randomly out of the sheer badassery of our glorious selves and manly declarations of resolve?" Cormac chuckled. "That'd be fun. You know, if we were in a movie or something. But we're not. Damn shame too. Although, leaving like this it seems like it was a giant waste of time bringing you here in the first place. You did do some good here for us to be honest, and the city too. Not that it matters much since most of Centrico is totally fucked. Disappointing how things turn out, eh?"

"Very," Riven sighed, mood deflating rapidly. He ran a hand down his face. "Skitty's out of the bag now, I guess. Or has been. Yes, I'm going to fuck off. Nera hasn't given me anything concrete in the slightest, and I'm going to try and chase my own leads from now on. Don't even try following me. I doubt you will, but still. Leave me alone. I also wouldn't say this was a complete waste of time to me. That mercenary work did let me make plenty of connections though, so thanks for that."

"So that's what he's been doing," Isole said, raising her voice so Riven could hear her. "Connections that worked fantastically, because that old cuntstick Cyril didn't so much as warn you that he'd be setting you up too."

"Oh, don't worry," Riven said darkly. "I'm expecting to pay him a little 'visit' soon. I helped put him where he is, I can tear apart his entire organization if I wanted to. He knows a shit ton more than he's letting on, and I intend to make that skeleton spit it out."

"Argh." He frowned. "This though… is so anticlimactic it's not even hilarious."

"Thus is life," Cormac shrugged, to which Isole agreed and went back to making another ice sculpture. "So you're going back to Hoenn then? Visit your girlfriend?"

"Not yet," Riven said, ignoring the second comment. Getting real tired of denying this. "My name still hasn't been cleared there, and I have to tie up loose ends here. Probably establish an ID that I can use to get to Hoenn safely. Might take a while, sadly."

"Alas, also life," Cormac agreed, stroking his chin due to a general lack of a long, white beard. "Riven," he said, tone serious. "You know what this means though. If we see you anywhere else, and you're in our way, we won't show you any mercy because we know you."

"I'm aware," Riven said evenly. "Just like you told me on the plane, you don't trust me and I don't trust you. That's how mercenaries operate. Keep in mind the same goes for both of you. Get in my way and I'll beat you into the floor or cut you to pieces. If Nera gets in my way, this time I will kill her. I didn't enjoy getting treated like a mutt on a leash. Especially from a Rose, as if her family hasn't done enough to me and mine."

"Good," Cormac replied, a sliver of pride in his voice, even if he rather be caught dead than admit it. You're learning, kid. "Want me to send Kai your regards?"

"Don't have to. I already told him about this a while ago. He knows. But do tell him thanks. For everything. Especially, that."

"That? Oh? You both swing that way?"

"Shut up, Cormac. He's a good guy, and tell Isole to make up with him already. They're practically siblings."

"And here I thought they were lovers," the older man blinked. "I've been showing off for nothing? She was mine all along?"

"I still highly doubt that, but you do have your head permanently stuck up your ass," Riven teased. "Far up enough that it reaches where your head is supposed to be."

"Ouch. Harsh coming from the guy that keeps women waiting. Those are the worst kind. Tsk, tsk. You're not even suave."

"If you're the definition of suave, you make sandpaper look comfortable."

Cormac snorted. "By the way, even though Isole's been making these snide little comments about your criminal misadventures, she says hi. And making kicked Growlithe eyes that you're leaving, by the way. Sickening."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Riven scoffed, hearing a loud smack then a complaint from the offender. Followed by a very large face to table like sound. "Anything else you feel like saying to me?"

Isole snatched the holo caster away from Cormac, switching on projection mode while doing it. Cormac's head was buried face first in a desk, which was also partially frozen over, with her hand holding him down. She had a serene smile on her face before punting him to the side.

"Stop freezing Kai's furniture," Riven frowned. "It stresses him out."

"You destroyed half his house," Isole countered, raising a brow.

Riven twitched, then coughed. "Lies."

"Sure," she said, smiling. "To avoid dragging this out, I'll just say bye for Sharpy here. Take care of yourself, dark boy. We'll tell Nera you slipped away on a boat in Coumarine. I'd say don't get yourself into any more stupid and life threatening situations, but that seems to be what you excel at." Her tone was chiding, but not without a hint of humor in it. "Planning on anything right now?"

"Nice try," he snorted. "I got a few plans. A few… more or less somewhat a teeny-tiny bit attention grabbing."

"Remember to keep the explosions tame," Isole said, raising a finger. She hesitated before continuing, "listen, Riven. If you want to contact us, not Nera, feel free to do so. We can give you some favors if needed. But not now. We don't tell her everything. You got it?"

"I'll keep it in mind. See you around then. Hopefully not trying to murder each other."

"Don't count on it," she smiled. "It is you."

"Yeah."

The call ended and somehow, Riven didn't feel any different. Isole and Cormac were supposed to be his handlers, but really, they were about as watchful and restricting as a Slakoth. Honestly, he could have left ages ago. The only concern he had was that tracker, and once it was off, well, Isole and Cormac stopped asking him about his absences fairly quickly afterwards. They weren't really friends, per say, but allies. You never quite knew with mercs.

Breathing in the salty breeze of the ocean, he stretched, once again reclining on the edge of Shalour's stone bridge. He'd remained there for a few days, resting and training with Efrain on the beach, enjoying the town's pleasant atmosphere. But it was time to do things.

Efrain rattled lightly, still sheathed.

I sense some maliciousness from you, prince.

"You can do that?"

Ghosts can sense it fairly easily. We are attracted to despair and lingering malice. It is in our nature to be so, he said evenly. I have a sneaking suspicion you are going to attempt something underhanded.

"I'm going to go talk some 'sense' into a local crime lord based in Lumiose who thinks he can get away with throwing me under the bus," Riven hissed. "And you're going to help me."

Is that wise?

"Of course! After all, I put him in power," the trainer mentioned as casually and as cheerfully as possible. If Efrain had a mouth, he'd have choked on his own spit.

You are indeed, the worst prince I've ever seen.

"Blake," the Director called out, stopping the scrambling scientist in his tracks.

"Yes, sir?" Blake answered, fixing himself. "Is there something you need?"

"What have you been able to deduce from the blood sample? Anything definitive to our cause?"

Blake pursed his lips before beaming. "Plenty, sir. I don't mean to bore you but for one, it's… outstanding. The human genome is full of nonfunctional junk. I mean, we use less than ten percent of it. The rest of it is just there, with no practical purpose. But this… it has more much codons for complex proteins not usually found in normal humans. And… uh, it's immensely similar to a pokemon's DNA. If we could replicate this, then we'd be able to engineer people with the abilities of a pokemon!"

"I see," the Director replied, intrigued. "How long do you think this could take?"

"Ironing out the kinks… years maybe. At least five or so with sufficient funding. Less with more people working on this than just me. Genetic experiments are finicky. Ever since Mewtwo and Team Rocket, it's hard getting people on board for that kind of stuff. Who knows what kind of kids this will create."

"Mewtwo was different. They had no templates," the Director explained. "You do. If this sample comes from a natural source, some kind of… mystical, human-pokemon hybrid, then theoretically this should work. The normal disasters that come with human pokemon genetic experiments can be avoided. Should we succeed, we can surpass our limits. But this for the children of tomorrow. For us, who exist as we are, it seems the past holds the key."

"Did you- break the Claydol?" Blake asked apprehensively. "Is it all right, at least?"

"Do not worry about the psychic, Blake. That is not your job. It is fine, physically. Its mental state can be argued over, but ultimately it is not our concern. We extracted what we needed and my mercenaries retrieved what we wanted. The operation didn't go as smoothly as we envisioned. It seems someone caught on to what we were up to and prevented the trainer from… well, that has no relative importance now."

He placed a firm hand on the scientist's shoulder. "Keep up the good work, Blake. You and Yun are proving to be very valuable assets. When you have spare time, I'd like you to look at the artifact the mercenaries brought in, perhaps you can shed some light as to its meaning?"

Blake nodded. "Yes,sir!" He turned around and left for the laboratory.

Taking a long, heaving breath, the Director clenched a jaw.

Who stopped that trainer? And how did they find out? I lost some mercenaries too. Thankfully none of them knew what we were up to, but not knowing who knows about us is worrying. A rival group, perhaps? Or a lone wolf? Tesla looked ecstatic when he returned, as if he had too much fun.

It wasn't a rare occurrence for him, but he was never this gleeful. He had practically skipped into the laboratory, humming a tune without a care in the world. It struck him as odd. Unfortunately, mercenaries like him weren't ones that could be intimidated, or coerced to cooperate like other grunts. Tesla had only reported what he wanted to, which was rather minimalistic most of the time.

Still, he had other agents and a far reaching network. With time, they would spread their influence.

When they did, the light of progress would shine through, guiding the lost through the valley of darkness.

Man should never be held down by fate.

"Stop him!" Thugs yelled as a blur of black charged through the warehouse.

A wave of yellow flashes zoomed by the figure as it seemed to move with the dark itself, cloak flowing behind it. Crimson shone in the dim light as guards fell quickly, the desperate grunts silenced abruptly in mere seconds.

Glints of silver came from the shadows before the figure dipped behind a crate, the metal daggers embedding themselves into more thugs as they tried to stop him. The remaining men brought out several pokemon to help them. Houndour and Houndoom snarled and snapped, backed by growling Manectric and screeching Golbat.

"Give up and we'll kill you nicely," the men warned, approaching the crate with guns in hand.

The hooded man simply walked out from behind them, hands raised. While doing so, the dark pokemon took a step back, stunned. A vicious smile broke out on his face, followed by deranged cackling.

The thugs noted the pokemons' behavior and took a step back instinctively, beginning to sweat. "Why the fuck are you laughing?"

"Because you're going to die for someone who really isn't worth it," he said, with a grin that was all teeth. "I'll give you three seconds to surrender and leave."

In typical fashion, they responded how he expected them to. "Fuck you!" One of them exclaimed, then ordered his Houndoom to incinerate him.

"Shame. The irony is quite hilarious isn't it, Efrain?" The figure laughed once again, dodging the blazing burst of fire that careened into the wall behind him, turning the metal into searing hot steel, heating the very air around him into a heavy haze of heated gas.

Before they could react further, a deep voice sent a shiver up their spines.

Why, I think it's hysterical.

The next incinerate was cut short as a crimson blade shot down from above, into the Houndoom's neck, with the second emerging from behind one of the men's shadows. What followed was a confused mess of random attacks, with utter disregard for the safety of their own ranks. Men screamed as fire and bullets crossed, ending in a self inflicted slaughter.

Only the pokemon were left, unsurprisingly. Leaving the injured pokemon on the ground, the hooded man walked past them all, the Doublade responsible for the confusion coming to his side.

Kicking down a door, he traded glances with the man he was looking for. Cyrille.

Men stood by him, all armed with stronger and more ferocious pokemon.

"Prime," Cyrille said, giving him another one of his spine wrenching smiles. "You look troubled. Killed everyone, did you? I was hoping you died."

Riven smiled under the hood, not bothering to speak, simply throwing one of Efrain's sword at him like a lance.

The old man didn't move a centimeter as the blade connected with the wall adjacent to him carrying enough force to crack through reinforced concrete.

"You missed," He smiled. "So much for your revenge. So you have a Doublade. What good will it do you with a room full of Fire and Dark types. You will die here."

Waving a hand, his henchmen gave the order and a collective stream of flames advanced towards him, immolating the furniture and goods between them in a synchronized display of hell incarnate.

Riven chuckled. "You should hire more trainers."

Fire roared, filling the large warehouse room with blinding light and heat. Shadows seemed to burn away, leaving no room for ghosts to hide. The amount of fire reminded Riven of the Arcanine and what Nemos must have seen before death.

He would have been equally as dead. Would have. Pokemon made all the difference.

Flames eased and dissipated, leaving scorched earth, ash, and molten metal in their wake. For a moment, everything was quiet.

It was only interrupted as Cyrille screamed.

Riven appeared alongside him, left hand gripping the embedded sword, his other holding its twin, which dripped red fluid from its edge. On the ground lay a severed arm, sliced cleanly through the middle of the forearm.

It shot up, edge on the old man's neck, staining his wrinkly skin with his own blood. "Doublades can be in two places at once, all it takes is a pursuit and they can instantly connect again. Your lackeys should really pay attention. Tell me about the mercenaries who took the artifact. I know you know them. Seeing the precious cargo you have back there, you made quite a lot of money from that profitable exchange. Mega and keystones worth millions. Start talking, you're going to need medical attention soon. Better get it quick."

The men and pokemon tensed, easing only when Cyrille shakily ordered them to stand down. "Charaph. That's all I'm going to say. That's what they were called." He groaned in agony, grimacing at his bloody stump.

Riven smirked, stepping behind the man, blade still next to his throat. "Good. By the way, consider this a warning not to betray your allies who worked ever so hard to put you where you are."

"I'm going to destroy you, Prime. You'll pay for this," Cyrille snarled venomously.

"I'm looking forward to it," Riven said. Slashing upwards at a light with a shadow claw, it fell from the ceiling, cast a shadow on Efrain's embedded sword. It began to glow with violet light, shadows seeping around it from the wall itself. As pokemon and trainer were about to step into the shadow, he warned, "Cyrille. You really should leave. I mean, it would be such a shame if this place exploded for no good reason."

The crime lord's eyes widened as Riven was gone.

Reappearing in the alleyway behind Sycamore's lab, he entered the lobby. Dropping a small dufflebag on the counter before walking into another shadow, he waved at the girl in front of the main desk, who looked bewildered.

Excitement broke out as Sycamore rushed out to the main lobby, wondering with awe who returned the stolen key and megastones. He looked around and outside, but saw no one. The secretary followed him, and in his happiness, he gave her a bear hug.

Riven emerged on the lab building's rooftop, watching them from above. Removing his hood, he sat down with his feet dangling over the edge as he waited, giddy as a child.

Two minutes later, a large explosion rang throughout the night on the far side of Lumiose, leaving a trail of smoke and fire high into the air.

Fireworks.

Ah, it felt good to be free.

Was going to get this out yesterday, but the power went out for an ENTIRE day yesterday. A fuse box in my neighborhood freaking exploded. It was like something out of a Michael Bay movie, sparks and everything. Shite you not.

It was great though. I did get to see the outer rim of the milky way when it was dark. Beautiful to say the least. And I practiced sneaking around like a damn Assassin with my hood on. Fun stuff.

Next chapter there will be stuff. In a nice, warm place.