Night had begun to fall upon us before we got to the berry clearing. I had found the exact speed I went was based on how complex the illusion was. If I dropped the invisibility I could move at almost double my current speed, but I was hesitant to do so. While I was fairly certain the Altaria wasn't trying to track us down with how injured she was I didn't want to chance it.

So, slower than if I were to run, we made our way back towards our training area. It made me wince, but it was also a chance for Lucas and I to regain our strength. We would also be taking off as soon as we've eaten towards the Kingdom in the mountains south of us. Somewhere in those mountains was Absol's mother and I planned on fulfilling my promise to the little shiny.

Absol and Lucas were still asleep in my arms. Lucas' barrier was almost filled with energy again so I knew the little Riolu would wake up soon. Absol was young so she should sleep longer, but she was also a Dark Type like me who needed less sleep than other Pokémon, 'Better get food and then wake them up. We got a long night ahead of us.'

As the clearing came into sight I took note of the more nocturnal Pokémon treating themselves to their breakfast. The sight of so many Pokémon gathered always brought a smile to my face.

'Wonder if any of these Pokémon even know about the supposed Kingdom they're a part of?' I thought to myself as I moved the invisible, illusionary platform down through the trees and landed inside the clearing just over a few of the Watmel Berries. Below me a Houndour and Murkrow were chatting about some battle between a Nidoking and a Ryhorn they had seen in the battle clearing.

I double checked that I was hidden from both those outside and inside my sphere of influence before I extended my sphere to include the budding plants below us. The two Pokémon continued talking like nothing happened and I took that as a success. I reached out with my illusion and grasped four of the fruit with freshly created invisible hands. As the illusion touched them they disappeared, but no Pokémon noticed.

With a smile on my muzzle I brought one of the fruit up to my mouth and munched away on it. I let the berry's sweet juice dribble down my chin as I savored the taste, 'Food, check. Now I have to find Honchkrow and see if he knows about this Kingdom to the south.'

With the berries by my side, held by my illusion, I pulled my sphere back in and moved the platform back into the sky, 'Shouldn't take us too long to get to the training area. I'll wake them up there.' as the platform began to rise I froze, 'Almost forgot.'

I moved the platform around looking at the berries. As my eyes scanned over the clearing it took me a minute to find the one I was looking for. Around the small tree that grew the Chesto berries I could see a Noctowl quietly picking off pieces of his own Chesto berry.

Repeating the same motions as before I grabbed two of the small berries. They were just bigger than a walnut, but they're supposed to be able to wake up sleeping Pokémon, 'Let's see if that Altaria can make me go to sleep now.' with the backup plan secured I started rising back into the air.

After a few minutes of flight, at a much slower pace than before because of my illusion being more complex, we arrived at the training area. It was thankfully empty. I set us down in the middle of the clearing before standing and stepping off the illusionary platform. I let it fade away and I felt a pressure I hadn't even noticed fade from my mind.

'Maybe I should let my illusions rest for a while. We'll travel to this so-called Kingdom in the south after they're done eating and I've asked Honchkrow a few questions.' I set the Chesto berries down and started moving towards the tree line when I spotted someone was already there.

Resting on a tree branch with his eyes closed was Honchkrow. Feeling his energy it was the same one we always passed and said hi to on the way to and from the berry clearing.

'Perfect I don't gotta go find him... but why is he here?' my small amount of joy was snuffed out by suspicion.

I extended my sphere to include the older Pokémon and made an illusionary copy of myself appear a few feet in front of him on the ground. Honchkrow seemed to notice something was up as his eyes opened and he glanced around before spotting my copy, "Oh Zoroark, did you find the little Absol's mother?"

The genuine sounding concern in his voice made me relax a little as my clone answered, "No, when we got there an Altaria attacked us." then a thought struck me, "How did you know it was me? You've only seen me as a Zorua."

"My trainer always wanted one of your line and would talk about Zorua and Zoroark whenever he got the chance. I'm probably one of the few around these parts that could tell you were training your illusions." He said with a smile as he looked lost in the memories for a moment, "Now, what about Absol's mother."

I nodded my head at his words, if I had more time I would ask him about my own species, but I wanted to get moving some time tonight, "We think her mom might have been taken by some Kingdom in the southern mountains."

"Ha! Kingdom. More like a group of dragons with inflated egos." His face fell and his eyes gained a sad look, "That is terrible to hear though. Such things are rare here on the preserve. It's sad to see some Pokémon just can't be peaceful even when they have everything they need to survive and thrive."

'This is a preserve?' was the first thought that came through my mind, 'That explains why things here have been more peaceful than I expected them to be. Shit how bad is the world outside of this preserve then?' I shelved that thought before asking him, "Do you know anything about a prophecy? Altaria wouldn't shut up about it."

"Oh yes. It's not much of a prophecy as much as it is a prediction." his eyes furrowed, "The Altaria went after the little one didn't she?" I nodded my head and he shook his in disappointment, "Some Pokémon just can't leave well enough alone. At the beginning of the year an Absol with a powerful Future Sight saw that the 'Kingdom'-" he used his wings to give the word air quotes, "-will be brought to ruin by two individuals."

"Oh no." I moaned out seeing where this was going.

Honchkrow's beak pulled up into a smirk, "Yes, the two might sound familiar. The youngest and strongest Riolu born in the range and an Absol of different coloring than their kin. Together they will bring a darkness to the Kingdom that will bring it to ruin. With you being a strong Dark Type you can see where this is going."

"Oh damn it. It's a self fulfilling prophecy." I groaned and let my illusion fall, surprising Honchkrow, "Figured I'd be careful since these two were asleep." I sat down slowly where I was and felt the relief of finally letting my illusion fade rush through my mind.

He nodded his head at my reasoning, "After fighting the Altaria I would be wary of others too. Reminds me of the time I came back to my nest to find a Pidgeot in it. They were tired and mistook it for their own but I slept with an eye open for a week afterwards just in case."

"Anything else you can tell me about the Kingdom down south?" I asked as I carefully leaned down and set Absol and Lucas onto the ground beside the berries I had gathered.

"There used to be a family of Dragonite that watched over the area, but about a year or so back a new blood became the alpha of the range. Nasty piece of work he is. Paranoid as can be, a temper that could make a Gyarados look like a Skitty, and if you believed his boasting he's practically Arceus' gift to the world. Can spin quite the tale though." Honchkrow explained as I stretched out my arms.

"How strong would you say he is?" I asked, stretching my arms above my head and listening to the joints pop.

"Not as strong as you." He said with mirth in his voice, "You scared the whole forest when you evolved. Word of warning though, suppressing your power like that will impact the power of your attacks. Used to be on a team with a Persian that would suppress his power so as not to scare off any mates." he shook his head, "Took him getting his tail handed to him five times before he stopped suppressing it in battle. If you plan on attacking the Dragonite leader you'll have to let it all out and flow through you. Once you do that though the whole den will come to his defense." Honchkrow warned.

I brought a Watmel berry to my mouth and took a bite, 'I didn't notice anything different with my moves earlier against Altaria, but I've also never trained with my moves while I wasn't suppressing my power.' the thought that I was handicapping myself was surprising, 'If I let my power out in full just how fucking strong would my attacks be then?'

"Is there anything else you wish to know? I'm feeling a bit famished myself." Honchkrow spoke up.

"Do you know how many dragons serve under the Dragonite?"

"About a dozen strong fighters and a couple dozen more if you include their whole families."

"What kind of Pokémon are they?"

"Mostly Dragonite and their line, but there is also the Altaria line, a few of the Flygon line, and finally a single Noibat." at my questioning look he continued, "Noibat are Dragon Types. Last I heard though he was more of a servant than a fighter."

I nodded my head, "Do you happen to know all their moves off the top of your head?"

He laughed and shook his head, "I'm smart, but I'm not all-knowing."

"Fair enough. How far away is the den and in which direction?" I asked as I finished eating my second Watmel berry.

"South by south east and it'll take you all night to reach on foot. They're in the second biggest mountain peak. They always have a few Dragons flying overhead, trying to imitate humans and their guard patrols. If you go further south you'll run into Mt. Silver. It's larger than the rest of the peaks by a mile. If you see it you've gone too far."

'Mt. Silver huh? So I'm between Kanto and Johto. With how far south I've gone, Mew must have dropped me near the damn Sinjoh Ruins.' I thought to myself, 'Talk about the middle of nowhere.'

"If that's all?" Honchkrow questioned as he raised his wings.

"Last question." I dreaded asking, but I had to, "Do you think her mother is still alive?"

A sad look passed over his face, "Probably not, but keeping her alive would lure in the little one so there is hope. It's those two right there the king is after. Maybe not Riolu, but with all of you together all of those in the den will think he is the one from the prophecy." He answered honestly while gesturing his wing towards the sleeping children, "Good luck and if I don't see you again, safe travels."

I nodded to him as he took off. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh, 'Damn it... no time to lose then.'

"Hey." I said as gently as I could, "Time to get up you two. I got us some berries."

With a little bit of shaking Absol woke up softly and looked towards me with droopy eyes, "Wha?"

"I have a berry for each of you." I placed the Watmel in front of her.

Absol stood and stretched out like a cat would before she rested a paw on top of the berry to hold it in place while her other paw rubbed her eye. She let out a yawn before starting to munch on her berry.

"Lucas." I said as I gently shook him awake, "Time to get up. I got a Watmel berry for-" Lucas shot up to a sitting position. His eyes were wide open and quickly looking around, "Calm down." I rested a claw over his head, "You held her off long enough for me to wake up." I could see his shoulders sag in relief, "Absol is safe and eating right there so everything is fine."

His jaw clenched and he looked down to the ground. I saw him nod his head and I gave him the last Watmel berry. Since he didn't look like he wanted to talk I continued talking, "After I woke up I gave Altaria one last hit before running off with both of you. Thanks to Altaria's talking though we know where Absol's mother is. She was taken by the den in the southern mountains like we feared."

"Do you know why she kept talking about a prophecy?" Absol asked as she looked up from her berry.

"Yes actually." I answered by making both of them sit up straighter with Absol staring at me intensely, "I had a talk with Honchkrow a few moments ago. Long story short the prophecy foretold both of you bringing a darkness that would destroy their Kingdom."

"So you're going to fight them then?" she asked with hope in her voice, "You're going to save my mom?"

It pained my heart as she looked up to me with her eyes full of hope, 'Please be alive Ms. Absol.' I thought before answering, "I'll try my best."

"We'll be staying here though, won't we?" Lucas asked quietly, drawing our attention to him. I saw tears going down his face, "Cause we're too weak to help. We'll just get in the way." He was right, but I would burn in hell if I said that out loud. Since they were the targets though they would be safer with me than off somewhere else where I could lose them. Worse comes to worse I could always run away under an illusion.

'A few Pokéballs would be amazing right now.'

"Lucas." I said softly, "Look at me." he brought his eyes up to mine, "You did a damn good job, you know that right?"

He broke eye contact and looked back to the ground, "I lost. I couldn't even take one attack from that Altaria. Quick Attack wasn't enough, I should have been stacking my Iron Defense while you were fighting, I-"

Faster than he could react I grabbed hold of the crying Riolu and held him tight to my chest, "You, Lucas, held her off just long enough. Your cry for help is what woke me up. You did what I asked and held your ground to protect Absol. I'm proud of you Lucas."

He gripped my fur and pushed his head more into my chest, "But I-"

"But nothing. That Altaria was giving me a fight and you've only been training properly for a week. Just like I told Absol, you're still a-young, you're still young. Let us Adults handle this." I almost fumbled my words as I realized he might not like me calling him a kid even if he was in my eyes.

I looked up to see Absol was watching with a longing in her eyes. I cast my illusion and rested a glowing hand on her head, "We will find your mother Absol. I made you a promise didn't I?" she nodded her head and gave me a sad smile as I let the illusion fade.

"You both will be with me." I started making Lucas look up at me with red eyes, "I'm not leaving anyone behind. Until this is all over neither of you are leaving my sight. If it comes down to fighting we'll run away instead. The fight with Altaria showed that no one can track me in my illusions." I released Lucas and sat him down on my leg before handing him his berry.

Lucas shifted his gaze down to his berry and started quickly eating it with one paw while the other wiped his eyes. Absol's berry was torn apart at the same speed. Within a minute both were done and wiping the excess juice off their muzzles.

"Alright, all finished up?" I asked, after a nod from each of them I stood and started casting a simple illusion. Off to my side a dark blue nimbus cloud straight out of Dragon Ball hovered just off the ground. While the original was yellow I went with dark blue to try and blend into the night sky, "Here's our ride."

As I sat on the cloud I felt the weight limit of the illusion. Just like the trip home earlier I could tell a bit more pressure than our combined weight and we would fall through. I didn't know its top speed now as I was no longer making the whole thing invisible.

"What is that?" Absol asked while Lucas was already climbing up and into my mane.

"Well this is my illusion. It's shaped into a Nimbus, a cloud a hero from a story back home used to fly around. When we traveled back from your den we were on something similar though it was also invisible." I explained as I leaned over and picked her up with my claws.

"Wow." she said as I set her down between my legs and on the fluffy cloud, "This is soft. How fast is it?"

"I don't know yet. It wasn't very fast when I had it, and all of us, invisible as the more complex my illusions are, the slower they are." I said before I slightly turned my head to look behind me, "Lucas the wind is going to be throwing my mane everywhere so come up here." I offered my paw over my shoulder for him to grab.

Lucas was silent as he popped out of my mane and grabbed either side of my arm with his paws. Absol scooted over and I sat him down on the cloud. The little Riolu then sat down on my right leg and leaned onto my stomach.

I smiled before a thought struck me, 'Almost forgot!' my sphere of influence spread out towards the center of our training clearing. I conjured two hands and grabbed the Chesto berries on the ground, 'I really need a backpack for this crap, one that doesn't fade away with my powers.' the two berries came to a stop on top of the Nimbus beside Absol

"I almost forgot I got some Chesto berries for myself. Like to see that Altaria put me to sleep now." I smirked.

"Don't eat them, got it." Absol nodded her head.

The Nimbus started to ascend and gain speed. I started to feel out how the illusion's integrity was holding up. I made the Nimbus able to hold us with a little bit extra give for safety's sake and pushed everything else into speed. Slowly as we left the ground behind I increased our speed to my illusion's threshold.

Absol put her paws on my left leg and looked out over the forest with stars in her eyes, "This is amazing!" her tiny red tail was wagging as she looked out. Lucas was quiet but was also looking around in wonder. With my mane billowing in the wind behind me I decided the wind was already starting to get annoying.

I made the edge of my illusion as solid as I could make it and the wind died down to manageable levels though our speed took a minor hit. Below us trees quickly turned to rocks and slopes that would have been hell to travel through on foot and I didn't want to tire myself out flying around like Bleach characters.

A distant flash drew my attention to the west. The storm I had smelled earlier today was off in the distance. I could see the edge of the rain slowly creep over the mountains like a curtain. Thunder rumbled in the distance drawing my two companions to also look towards the storm.

Getting an idea in my head I smiled, "Okay you two, you see that storm over there?"

"Yeah, it's really far away though." Absol turned to me and answered while Lucas just nodded his head.

"Well there's this method that I was taught as a kid to see how far away a storm is." As we weaved around a rocky mountain peak I kept my eyes on the storm, "Now let me know when you see a flash of lightning." They didn't have to wait long as only a few seconds after I was done talking a flash of light lit up the western sky.

"There!" Both of them said quickly but Absol continued, "There was one!"

Out loud I started counting, "One, two, three, four, five, six," Lucas and Absol were now both staring at me, "Seven, eight-" the sound of distant thunder rolled over us, "The storm is about eight or so miles away." I smiled as they both looked from me to the distant storm clouds.

"That's cool." Absol said as she looked towards the storm. Another flash of light and I heard her start quietly counting to herself.

"Will we have to fly through that?" Lucas asked quietly.

"The mountain peaks from this range should break up the storm. If it does reach us it will only be some minor showers." I said softly, "I know you two just woke up not too long ago, but try to get a bit more sleep."

"I'd rather not sleep any more." Lucas said as he looked away from the storm and leaned into me.

"It's fine if you just want to watch the scenery. We can talk about this prophecy that Honchkrow told me about." that grabbed Absol's attention from the storm, "It's short and to the point, but its still a problem for us. The youngest and strongest Riolu born in the range and an Absol of different coloring than their kin, together they will bring a darkness to the Kingdom that will bring it to ruin."

"But, I'm not the strongest Riolu." Lucas looked up to me.

"You could be Lucas." I said as I placed my paw on his back, "You just got down Iron Defense after only a few days. I think you could take on any other Riolu in this range and come out on top." he slowly smiled while I smirked before ruffling the fur on his head.

"It doesn't make sense." Absol said, "We're only going there for my mom."

"It's called a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'." I started, "Where those who were given the prophecy try to stop it, but by trying to stop it they turn out to be the cause of it happening. That's why if you ever hear anyone talk about prophecies just don't listen to them."

"But doesn't knowing the prophecy help us? We know why they took my mom now." Absol tilted her head to the side as she looked up to me.

"Yes it does help us now, but I'm just saying in the future if you ever hear of a prophecy ignore it or you might end up causing it to happen. Fate is a b-" I stop myself as I remember who my current company is, "I'm not a fan of fate. Let's leave it at that."

"What's fate?" Absol asked.

"It's your destiny." Lucas spoke up, "It's what you're meant to do in your life."

"I've never liked the idea of fate." I say as another flash of lighting lit up the distant sky, "It demeans your own accomplishments and others if you say it was all because of fate. If fate were real then how could free will exist?"

"Free will?" Lucas repeated questioningly.

"Free will is the belief that we are always in control of our own actions. That no matter what it is up to us to decide our own path through life, to make our own destiny." I said as I looked down at both of them, "Remember this you two, no matter what both of you can choose what you want to do in life."

"What if someone wants to be evil though?" Absol asked quietly.

"There will always be consequences." I then noticed her confused face, "It means that whatever action you take, or decide not to take, something will happen that you have to live with."

She nodded her head while Lucas spoke up next, "What if it's a good fate we have?"

I brought my left paw up to my chin, "Then let it happen, but that is your choice. Not every fate is bad, but simply having a fate doesn't mean you're chained to it. That's what having Free Will means."

"So if we're to bring darkness to the kingdom then wouldn't that mean you're going to end up fighting in the den?" Lucas asked while Absol turned and started looking at the storm again.

"That's where prophecies are crap. The ending is vague and can mean a lot of things." I look out to the approaching storm, "While I might be a powerful Dark Type I don't see myself doing anything to the den beyond rescuing Absol's mother. Afterwards we're leaving this range completely."

"What else could the prophecy mean?" Absol asked, turning her head back to us while Lucas nodded his head also at a loss.

"Well, lets say we get in and get your mother without a soul seeing or hearing us. The lead Dragonite will probably become paranoid and a desperate search for us ensues. They never find us and the 'Kings' paranoia grows until he's suspecting those in his own den of plotting against him. No one trusts anyone anymore and the den falls to infighting and fighting for the leader's position. We had nothing to do with it, but the Kingdom still falls to ruin."

"So no matter what the prophecy comes true?" Absol asked.

"No." Lucas answered first, "He's saying that the prophecy was so vague that if anything happens after we leave they'll say it was part of the prophecy."

"That's confusing." Absol said as she shook her head, "Why don't they just ignore the prophecy if nothing happens?"

"They can." I state, "Like I said the only fate we have is the one we make ourselves. If this Dragonite realizes there is no danger things can go back to the way they were before we were ever here."

"So, the prophecy..."

"Is only useful for telling us they wanted you and took your mother. I don't trust a word of it beyond that." I finished, "Now then we've traveled past a few mountain peaks, do either of you see one that's exceptionally taller than all the others?"

Both of them began looking around at the peaks around us. Another flash of lightning lit up the sky, illuminating the sheer breadth of the range we were in.

'Wonder how this place compares to back home? Only ever saw the bottoms of the Appalachian Mountains when I went to Tennessee for my sister's wedding.' I looked off to the East and could see the rocky peaks stopped and tree covered ridges stretched out into the dark night. I looked over the edge and below us were deep ravines and tall peaks of jagged rock.

Through the darkness I could also make out a figure moving along the mountain side. A blue blur that I could barely make out in the distance, but it was very obviously following us.

'... Is that a-!' my thought was cut short as I ball of blue energy rushed towards us. My only action I could perform in time was grabbing Absol and Lucas. The ball hit the bottom of the Nimbus and struck my ass as I held Lucas and Absol to my chest.

Glass breaking washed over my ears as the blast wave washed over us and my illusion shattered.

'Fuck!' Almost immediately I had another illusion up and hide us from view as we fell through the air. I formed a platform under us to stop us before we gained too much speed. We landed hard, but the platform held, 'How was that attack so fast?'

My eyes snapped to our pursuer on the ground and saw the blue Pokémon charging another sphere, this one noticeably larger than the last.

"Lucas." I started as I put up an invisible wall between us and our attacker, "Were there any other Lucarios in this range besides your family?"

Lucas looked up to me from where I had him and Absol hugged tightly to my chest, "What?"

"Answer the question Lucas." I said sternly as the Lucario below us released her attack, 'Looks like an Aura Sphere.'

The attack hit my illusionary barrier and tore right through it like it wasn't even there.

"No, just-" He was cut off as I jumped off the platform we were on. The sphere sped passed us, but I kept my eye on it. I watched as it took a ninety degree turn and began barreling towards us again. My body twisted away from the attack as my core charged up a Night Daze attack. The moment it hit minimum power I let it loose.

A ball of black energy with hints of crimson and pink bolts shot out from my body. An explosion washed over us as the Aura Sphere met the attack and detonated. Knowing another might be coming I leapt off the platform and did a half flip for my legs to meet another platform mid air.

My eyes locked with Lucario, and like I thought she was firing another Aura Sphere up at us. I jumped from the platform and rocketed down towards her with another Night Daze charging in my core. I could see her eyes open and scanning the sky as the four dreadlock-like aura sensors on her head were hovering and glowing slightly.

'Her eyes are still open though, might be able to get away with this.' I thought as she released the Aura Sphere. My gaze shifted from her to the attack, when it was too close for comfort I let loose my charged Night Daze.

The two attacks met in the air and I heard one of my two passengers give a short cry of fear. I used the ensuing smoke to form another illusion, one of myself without the two children charging the Lucario with a Night Slash. I cut through the smoke right behind my illusion with only a few feet between it and myself. Another Night Daze was charging in my core as I descended.

Through the illusion, something I'm only just now realizing I can see through if I will it, I saw her take a fighting stance. Her two paws lit up blue and the steel spikes on her body glinted with the new light source. Her eyes scanned my illusion rapidly and she minorly adjusted her stance.

Faster than I would have liked we clashed. She ducked my illusion's telegraphed Night Slash and both her paws joined together to strike my illusion's stomach. I felt the force from the Force Palm attack wash over me as the illusion of myself faded. Despite the power I felt from the attack I smirked.

I flipped and brought my legs between us. She seemed to realize she didn't hit me as she started to raise from where she kneeled to strike. My feet struck on either side of her chest spike and my momentum carried us onward.

Her back scraped along the ground as I kept myself steady on top of her. The rock tore apart under us as we slowed. I felt her paws grip my invisible leg and then I released my fully charged up Night Daze.

We were forcibly separated as the Lucario was forced down into a crater and my momentum carried me forward. My claws scraped along the ground, tearing up rock, as I came to a stop.

"Lucas, hide with Absol." I said quickly as I placed the two of them on the ground.

He looked up to me and then back to the crater and nodded his head, "Come one Absol." He led the scared little shiny up the rocky slope.

I wasn't able to see where they went as I turned my attention back to the attacker. An illusion formed just in front of me and started speaking, "You know that's a rather rude way to say hello."

Tearing herself out of the rock, Lucas' mother, Cobalt if I remembered correctly, leveled me a hard glare. I watched as her power circled in her duel Fighting and Steel Type core. She let out a slow exhale of breath and I felt that power raise noticeably.

'Calm Mind.' the name of the move jumped to the front of my head. My illusion shot towards her with a Night Slash while I started casting Hone Claws, 'Now that I know what Calm Mind feels like at least.'

The sensor dreadlocks started hovering around her head and she shot forward through my illusion, 'Fuck.'

An Aura Sphere charged in her paws and she shot it forward. A Night Slash quickly formed on my arm and I backhanded the sphere as it got close. I felt my barrier take a hit and my illusion shattered as the smoke obscured my sight. Immediately I made another illusion sphere. Despite not seeing her I felt her enter the expanding sphere, still moving directly at me.

'Not winning this without trying something stupid.' I thought as I started charging two different Night Dazes in my claws while I jumped backwards.

Sound waves of some kind pierced through the smoke while a screeching sound echoed around us. The attack washed over the spot I had just vacated, missing me.

'Metal Sound. She's buffed her Special Attack and Defense while trying to lower mine. I'm sure if I try to make some space she'll keep powering her stats up. Again I'll have to play this aggressively.' my lip rose in a snarl at my lack of moves.

I shot forward as I let the power in my core start to slip purposely. The more it slipped out the more I could feel the bottle neck I've been putting on my moves. The two Night Daze balls in my claws grew to full power quickly while I released just enough energy to match hers in strength. The last thing I wanted was to shoot up a flare of energy stronger than hers when we were so close to the Dragonite den.

Cobalt seemed to have not been idle herself as the smoke cleared and I could see her core was now even stronger. She crouched low and a silver aura covered her body. Her eyes locked with mine.

"!" There was no chance to react as she slammed her shoulder into my chest with Extreme Speed. Glass breaking reached my ears while I flew back in the air, but I grit my teeth and held onto the energy I'd gathered. I flipped and another illusion formed around me.

Mid air I hit an illusionary platform and formed boots around my paws to hold me in place. While slightly tilted I looked back to Cobalt to see her about to use another Calm Mind.

I'd learned from my illusions that my willpower, what I want when casting, has power over how my moves work. With that in mind I slammed the two Night Daze attacks together and imagined a condensed beam striking the Lucario with enough force to blast her off the mountain. My arms came together and the two orbs of Dark Type energy combined between my claws.

For the first time I felt my core expand and a flood of energy flowed into the attack. The world seemed to shrink in on itself as Cobalt's eyes shot open. As fast as she had been with her Extreme Speed a beam of pure black slammed into her chest and carried her through the stone and down the mountain slope.

My body vibrated with the energy I was putting out. My senses felt both heightened and muted with the amount of energy coursing through me. My hearing cut out as the explosive sound of my attack slicing through the wind and rock muted everything else. The Dark Type energy was so heavy I could smell it in the air. The beam attack was as wide as her chest and looked like the Kamehameha Wave was dipped in ink. Stone fragments of all sizes went flying and started a miniature avalanche of rock as Cobalt was forced down the mountain side.

I cut the flow of energy when she hit the bottom of the slope. Between us now was over a hundred feet of torn up rock and dirt carved through the mountain.

My breaths were shaky, my arms were twitching involuntarily, and my core felt heavy. My vision became unfocused before I blinked a few times and then it righted itself. Lastly, a name for my attack came to mind.

'Oblivion.' The name seemed to cement itself in my head as my body started returning to normal, 'Is this the recovery stage? Like when pokemon use bigger moves like Hyper beam do they all go through this?' I then blinked a few more times before it dawned on me I wasn't moving when I should be right on top of her still attacking.

I jumped down from my illusion and shot down the mountain with Pursuit flaring around me. The rocks below me blurred as I sped down the slope. My vision tunneled as I watched Cobalt pull herself out of the rock and stumble forward. Her right paw was on the side of her head like she was nursing a headache.

She looked up to me and I saw her eyes widen. Her paws shot forward between the two of us but I knew she didn't have time to charge an attack.

Then a green barrier of hexagons appeared between us.

I tilted myself and slammed my shoulder into the Protect wall and then fell to my feet. My face winced as a dull ache shot through my shoulder. Energy for two Night Slash attacks gathered around both my claws as Cobalt shot forward with her own paws glowing.

Thinking quickly, and fearing a Close Combat, I made an illusion and had it jump back while I recklessly charged forward. After a fraction of a second I also had the illusion disappear like I had gone invisible.

My trick worked as she closed her eyes and her aura sensors started to rise. She didn't even pay me any mind before I struck.

My left arm crashed down on top of her head, the Night Slash attack forced her to lean forward. Then the tips of the Dark energy dragged through her chest before my right claws struck her chin with a devastating uppercut. She was lifted off her feet and started tumbling backwards.

I brought my claws above my head and charged the quickest Night Daze I could. Before she impacted the ground I brought the small sphere down on her stomach.

Her eyes shot open and spit flew from her mouth as I made a Lucario-sized crater.

I quickly backed off and started charging up the two Night Daze attacks for another Oblivion. While I charged the attack I started an illusion of my clone charging another duel Night Slash.

As I charged the attack I was slightly surprised to see Cobalt slowly getting up out of the crater. She was breathing heavily and looking at me with a glare of pure hatred.

My illusion met her glare while I took the moment to feel out her energy core as she looked on her last legs. My thoughts were proven right as her barrier was down to around ten percent.

'Did Oblivion do that damn much? Even with her natural resistance against Dark type moves?' I thought to myself before I realized how saturated the air still was with Dark Type energy, '...Oh no.' A quick feel of my own core brought my fear to life.

Not a single bit of my energy was suppressed any longer.

With this much Dark Type energy rolling off me I was practically shooting up a flare saying 'Come and get me'. I canceled both my attacks and began frantically pulling back my power.

"Don't you... dare disrespect me." Cobalt suddenly said, "I'd sooner... die than let you... take my son... to that bastard." Her paws lit up with a glowing white energy and she rushed my illusion.

My eyes widened as I made my illusion begin dodging faster than Cobalt could chase after it. I extended my illusion sphere and sat down to focus better.

"I'm not taking him to anyone!" I had my illusion shout just before it was finally struck with the attack.

"Lies!" Cobalt shouted as I had another illusion descend on her from above with glowing claws. She rolled to the side as my illusion missed and struck the mountain, "You brought him right to them!"

"Because he's safe with me." my illusion said as it stood and stared her down, "If you didn't have your aura sight we would still be hidden and that dragon den would never know we were here."

"I'd say the entire range knows you're here now." she said before she blitzed forward covered in a bright silver light. The Extreme Speed smashed through my illusion and another took its place at the edge of my sphere of influence.

"Thanks to you shooting us out of the sky!" my illusion crossed its arms over its chest, "We're only here to get back Absol's mother, I couldn't give a shit about some paranoid Dragonite."

Her eyes widened as she stood taller, "You have them both!? Why would you bring them here? Do you have a death wish for them?"

"Only your aura sight can see through my illusions." I was reasonably sure of that anyway. I've not been testing as much as I should have since I've evolved, "You can ask your son if you don't believe me. I've been training with him for the past week."

Her eyes narrowed at me before the dreadlock aura sensors on her head began to float.

'Shit I'm still not done suppressing my power.'

"I'm currently trying to suppress my power again." My illusion quickly cut in as Cobalt's eyes shot over to me just a few feet away from her, "The plan had been to sneak into the den while everyone was asleep. That has been shot as they no doubt have been woken up by us fighting."

"Get rid of this illusion and tell me you mean no harm to my son." Cobalt said with an edge to her voice as she raised a single paw towards me.

'Oh right, aura is also a bullshit lie-detector. Shits the biggest Ex Machina in this universe.' I stood, halting my efforts to reign in the rest of my energy. About three fourths was put away putting me significantly weaker than Cobalt in front of me.

I took a deep breath and let the illusion fall, "My name is Chase Blake, nicknamed Big Boss. I've been helping your son train since he tried to fight me a little over a week ago. We were asked by an Absol pup to help her find her mother and that led us here."

As I finished I watched the tension fade from her body, "So, you don't know of the prophecy?"

"No, I know." her eyes narrowed and her muscles tensed again. I held up my claws in surrender, "But those two up there are much safer with me than anywhere else. Like I said, only your aura sensing has been able to see through my illusions."

"It's still foolish to bring them here." Cobalt said as she crossed her arms in front of her, "I was happy when Riolu left, he would be safe away from this range until my trainer sent for me. Then you brought him back, to the place that despises him for merely existing. If any dragons from that den see the three of you together he'll be marked for death, just like that little Absol with you."

"Too late for that." I said, matching her glare, "We fought an Altaria outside Absol's den. She lost but escaped before I could finish her barrier."

"You're useless." she said as she started walking back up the slope.

"At least-..." I cut myself off and shook my head, 'She's not worth it.'

"At least what?" she turned and stared at me, challenging me.

I rose to that challenge, or took the bait, depending on how you look at it, "At least I don't sabotage my charges' training just to keep them weak." her eyes narrowed and aura flared around her paws, "So I'm right? Lucas has a drive that surprises even me at times, I knew you couldn't have trained him properly."

"It was for his own safety." Cobalt's aura died down and she turned away, "Something which you seem to have no concept of." she started jumping up the mountain slope.

A growl escaped me as I started jumping after her, "Did you do something to his aura too? Are you the reason he can hardly use it?"

She didn't reply as she put more force into her jumps to put distance between us. I gnashed my teeth together and a growl escaped my muzzle before I could stop it. This Lucario was somehow able to hit every one of my buttons and she was pissing me off to no end.

As I crested the ledge we had started our fight on I was greeted by the sight of Lucas in a fighting stance with Absol cowering behind him. Cobalt seemed to have frozen at the sight of her son looking at her with hate in his eyes. Looking at them myself I was taken back by how angry he seemed. His eyes darted to me and I saw the tension fade from his shoulders, but he didn't entirely relax.

"Lucas, your mom is... a jerk." I finished weakly as I rethought what I was saying as I was saying it. It had the intended effect though as he smiled and his tail started wagging the barest bit.

"You all need to leave." Cobalt started as she stood taller, "It isn't safe for you here. Whatever plan this idiot-" she shot a pointed look at me, "-has filled your heads with isn't worth risking your lives."

Absol pushed her way passed Lucas, "But my mom-"

"Is dead." Cobalt cut her off. Absol looked like she had been struck and stepped back away with her tail between her legs and head hung low. The sight broke my heart, "And you will be too unless you leave."

Lucas took a step forward and in front of Absol, "You're lying!"

"I can assure you I'm not." Cobalt said calmly, "Calm yourself Riolu-"

"My name is Lucas!" He spat back with vitriol in his voice, "You don't get to blast us out of the sky and just start acting like my mother again!"

Cobalt took a step forward with a growl in her throat, "Everything I've done has been to protect you!"

"By keeping me weak! How does that keep me safe!?" Lucas shouted back, "After Boss started teaching me I knew there was no way you taught me right!"

My attention was brought away from the family drama shouting match as I noticed Absol had started to cry behind Lucas. Hearing their yelling bounce off the mountains and echo back slightly I also realized this is not the place to be having this conversation.

"You were going to be taught properly when my trainer finished their business and retrieved us in the fall! To do that though you have to live until then!" Cobalt's paw formed a fist, "You think I wanted to do it? To see you try ten times harder than your brothers and sister and never progress? It had to be done."

I formed an illusion around us and made the edge as solid as I could to block sound. Next I moved behind Lucas, picked up Absol, and let her cry into my chest. The two family members were currently in a staring contest that just made me sad to see.

"We're going to that mountain." I saw to break the silence making both of them look towards me, "Whether Absol's mother has passed or not-" my heart ached as the little one in my chest cried more, "-we will see that her remains are given a proper burial."

"No." Cobalt said with force, "He-" she pointed to Lucas, "-will not be going anywhere near that mountain."

"The mountain is the last place they'll expect us after this farce." I stated as I looked towards the looming peak. My eyes widened as I noticed a number of dark shapes against the night sky, "We've got incoming."

Cobalt and Lucas looked towards the mountain. Cobalt turned and a growl rose in her throat. Lucas took a small step towards me, but adopted a fighting stance. Serious moment or not, he looked adorable.

I turned back towards Cobalt with a snide remark on my lips before I saw her face. It was the first time I had seen her eyes hold anything other than disdain or anger, and they were filled with fear.

I let out a sigh before I spoke, "Cobalt, stay close and they can't see us." she stole a glance at me then looked back to the sky, "You want to make sure your son stays safe? Then come with us. With me they can't see us and with your aura sensing you can tell us if someone is nearby. We could be in and out of that cave in just a few minutes."

"I told you that Absol is dead." she snarled but her eyes never left the approaching pokemon.

"No she's not..." Absol said so quietly into my chest that I think only I heard her. I used my free paw to stroke the fur on her head while her tears were still soaking into my fur.

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you. Now we're going." I offered a claw to Lucas and he grabbed hold. I gently sat him down in my mane then returned that claw to petting Absol, "You can come with, or deal with those dragons on the way here. The choice is yours."

She snarled at me, but took one more look at the approaching dragons before stepping towards me, "Not much of a choice."

I tilted my head and shrugged my shoulders in a 'what can ya do' way, "Stay close, my sphere of influence is only a few feet right now."

"I'll be fine."

With a nod I turned towards the mountain and started running. From the sounds of paws striking the rock, Cobalt was right behind me. The terrain was uneven and I had to use my claws to dig slightly for safe purchase. The small peak we had been at fell away to a ridge line we traveled on top of towards our destination. The thought of using my Nimbus again drifted through my head, but I'd rather be on the ground with the dozen or so dragons in the sky.

From up above I saw a Flygon swoop down towards where we had fought, but I didn't turn to watch. We only had so long of so many dragons being outside of the cave. Glancing up at the sky I counted about a dozen of them against the night sky. Not all the Pokémon I saw were fully evolved either as I saw a few Dragonairs, a Swablu, and two Vibrava.

'This past day has been a clusterfuck.' I thought to myself as I kept a steady pace towards the mountain, 'I really hope Cobalt is lying just to try and keep Lucas safe. Absol deserves to be with her mother.'

After a few minutes of travel with the sky occasionally lighting up with distant lightning Cobalt spoke up, "Why did you name him?" she asked.

"He wanted a name." I said back simply, "We went through a few before we found one he liked."

"You're not human though so why did you give him one?" Cobalt asked, her tone lacking the anger she had earlier.

"I used to be human." I stated, "Then I met a drunk Mew and it's been a learning experience ever since."

She was silent for a moment after that as Absol looked up at me from my chest. Her red eyes met mine as I glanced down at her briefly. I moved one of the claws I had resting on her back to kind of pet her while still making sure she was safely secured while I was moving, "Sorry, it never came up." I said after glancing down at Absol again.

"Lucas." Cobalt surprised me asking Lucas by name, "Have you checked to see-"

"If he was lying?" Lucas' interrupted as his head popped up out of my mane, "Yes, he fully believes what he says and after seeing the places and things he can do with his illusions I believe him." I heard Cobalt 'hmm' to herself and she stayed quiet as Lucas retreated into my mane once again.

A few minutes pass in silence as the looming mountain draws closer. From our position running across the ridge line from the last peak to this one I could make out a few different dark spots on the mountain that could be cave entrances. I'd have to make a platform for us to get up to them with how sheer the sides of the peak were.

Just as we reached the base of the peak we wanted into, Cobalt started growling, prompting me to look back at her. She was staring off to the side before snapping to me, "It's nothing, let's get this over with quickly."

I raised an eyebrow but nodded. A flat sheet of metal formed beside us with just enough room for us to stand, "This will take us up to one of the entrances. Can you sense Absol's mother inside?"

She looked towards the mountain and closed her eyes. The aura dreads on her head began to levitate as her paws became encased in a blue fire. After a few moments of silence Lucas popped out of my mane to stare at his mother. Absol kept her head buried in my chest, I wasn't sure if she was asleep, scared to look, or trying her best to block out Cobalt for what she said.

"I can't tell if it's her, but there is an aura in there on death's door with a weak aura beside it. We can start there." Absol's ears perked up as Cobalt stepped onto the platform, "The highest entrance will put us closest to the auras."

"Any chance of running into some dragons on route?" I asked as I joined her on the sheet of metal. With a mental nudge it began to rise slowly through the air.

"None. It seems they sent the families into the base of the mountain for protection while all the fighters are out looking for us." I looked towards her with a questioning gaze, "Generations of Rock and Steel Types made the caves their home before the dragons came along. Their ambient energies made the tunnels more reinforced than human bomb shelters." Cobalt explained as distant lightning flashed, lighting up the mountain side we were ascending. It was followed very quickly by the sound of thunder.

"So, can you make out anything about the weak aura with the... other weak aura?" I asked, running off the assumption that if anyone would be on death's door in the middle of this self-proclaimed kingdom it would be Absol's mother.

"Whoever it is, they're too weak to even be a guard." Cobalt looked up and watched as the top entrance slowly came to us, "This ability of yours is useful."

"And I've only been training it for a week." I replied as the cliff passed by slowly in front of us.

"Then how are you so sure that only my line can see through your illusions?" Cobalt shot a glance towards me and made me regret my boast.

"I've trained it a lot." I replied.

"Yeah, he trains more than anyone I've ever seen." Lucas popped up out of my mane, "For the past week we've done nothing but eat, train, and sleep."

He said it with a tone of pride, but it sent a small red flag up in my head, 'Got to remember to take a few days and just relax at some point. If not for myself then for Lucas.'

"There were some days where he did nothing but meditate to train his illusions." Lucas continued on.

"Maybe you should follow his lead and join him." Cobalt said as she continued to stare at the approaching cave entrance.

"Maybe if I could fully use my aura I would." Lucas spat.

"The psychic block can be overcome, you just need to focus. You're already able to tell lies from truths aren't you?" Cobalt shot back.

"Psychic block?" I asked, as lighting flashed again, this time closer to us, "You put a psychic block on him?" it was baffling the absurd logic she was using to protect her son.

"Yes. With my second oldest always teaching him the right way when I wasn't around I had to take drastic measures." thunder sounded and Absol jumped in my arms at the loud sound.

"Auntie Espeon helped you?" Lucas asked quietly from in my mane. His tone damn near broke my heart.

"We both agreed that you would get too strong too fast to avoid attention so it had to be done." Cobalt closed her eyes as I felt the first few drops of rain against my fur.

"That's fucked up." I stated plainly, uncaring of the curse word in this situation, "You could have explained this to him at least rather than making him feel crap."

"You've seen his drive to be stronger, his impatience, do you really think he would have stopped training?" she asked as we finally came to the cave entrance.

"That doesn't sound like your decision to make." I said as we both stepped off the platform and onto the smooth cave floor.

She turned her head to me, but then seemed to rethink her words. Then she turned towards the cave and started walking forward, "Let's just get this over with, stay behind me. We need to be fast."

I followed her lead as she started running into the cave. I stayed only a few feet behind her, but I extended my illusions range to double the distance between us to be safe. It was a weird experience for me as we passed by multiple cuts in the wall with a small fires burning in them, casting light along the tunnel. It was the first time that I had seen something so human made by Pokémon and I stared at them as we passed.

The edges were clean cut and seemed to be made meticulously smooth. At the bottom was a small gem that looked like a quartz piece with a small fire roaring overtop of it. At the back was a rough carving of a Dragonite's head staring back over the flame. I wanted to ask several questions, but I could ask when we weren't sneaking around later.

Looking down the tunnel past Cobalt I could see the end of the tunnel and a lot of light blocking out whatever lay beyond. As we crossed the boundary my eyes adjusted to take in the sight before me.

We were in a wide, domed room with a roaring fire in a pit in the middle. The fire was smokeless and I could make out dozens of those quarts gems in the pit acting as fuel. Four stone pillars rose to the ceiling from the corners of the fire, casting four long shadows to the corners of the room. Opposite of us was a beautifully cut, stone throne with fur acting as the cushion. On either side of the room were two more tunnel entrances.

On every surface, from the pillars to the throne and walls, there were carvings in the stone. Depictions of dragons either fighting or flying. Great battles were depicted on the walls where dragons triumphed. A single, scared Dragonite, seemed to be prevalent through all of them.

Cobalt said nothing as she quickly made her way to the right path. I took one more glance around the room before we left, taking in the strange sights. I had never expected Pokémon to do such things to decorate their den, but I suppose this was part of a reserve so there were a large concentration of Trained Pokémon here. Some cultural bleed over was bound to happen eventually.

The new tunnel we found ourselves in had a few rooms that looked small and claustrophobic, 'Must be near the edge of the mountain on this side.' I reasoned. From the glances I got going past they were well lived in with makeshift beds and carved stone furniture, 'More evidence of human things made by Pokémon.' The last doorway we came upon was a long way away from the previous and it made my stomach drop.

The room was round and about a dozen feet wide with a dome roof. In the middle was a raised stone altar, or a horrible bed, that had an Absol on it. Beside our, more than likely, missing mother was another Pokémon, a bat that was small enough to fit between the stone bars that stood between us. They were holding a Sitrus berry to the Absol's mouth.

"Please eat, you need your strength." the little Noibat said as he tapped the berry against the Absol's muzzle. The only answer the little guy got was a small exhale.

I looked into the Absol's eyes and saw nothing. A thousand yard stare that looked through all in front of her. The stare of someone who was already dead and just waiting for her body to catch up.

My mane shifted and I felt Lucas fall to the floor. I could feel him off to my side, opposite of his mother, approaching the bars in silence. He came to a stop and watched on in what I could only think of as horror.

"You think what I've done is cruel?" Cobalt asked quietly, "This is cruelty. To be drained of your energy until you become little more than an animal on death's door." she growled as her claws lit up white, "Don't stay in the room too long." her claws started to cut through the stone bars, "There's gems in the walls that are sucking away any nearby energy. Direct contact can disrupt a Pokémon's energy system, not letting them actively use moves and abilities. Prolonged exposure sends the Pokémon into a comatose state as even the energy they use to live is sucked away."

I could feel Absol in my arms trembling, probably torn between looking at her what might be her mother and not wanting to accept reality. I broke my gaze away from the sight, "Please tell me this isn't common."

"No, in all my years this is only the second time I've seen the gems in use. That doesn't make them any less horrifying." Cobalt finished cutting the tops of the first few bars and started on the bottom.

"Please Ms Absol, you need to eat to get some energy, for your little one at least." the Noibat begged.

I felt Absol fidget in my arms as she turned her head to finally look, "MOM!" she pushed off me and lept to the floor, through the bars since she was small enough. Noibat's ear twitched and he turned around to see the approaching shiny. He gave a small squeak and took to the air as Absol jumped up to the stone altar where he had been.

"Mom?" she nudged the muzzle of Ms. Absol, slowly shifting the head of the unresponsive Pokémon, "Mom, I'm here." she pushed her head into her mother's fur, "I'm sorry I didn't run away like you told me to, but I brought help."

Cobalt put aside the three bars as she finished cutting them, "Be quick, the dragons could be back at any moment." She then stepped aside to allow me entry.

My steps were soft as I walked into the cell. My core felt like it had static running over its surface and my illusion dispelled. Noibat gave another squeak in shock as he stayed as close to the top of the room as he could. As I came to the altar I kneeled down and placed my paw on Ms. Absol's fur.

It was cold to the touch. The small, shallow breaths she was taking left no doubt in my mind. She would be dead soon.

"Mom, please say something." Absol rubbed her face into her mothers neck fur, "I'm sorry mom... I'm sorry."

"Absol..." my voice was quiet and low. She turned to look at me with tears running down her face, "We have to leave soon. Can you ride in my mane with Lucas while I carry her?"

"No-she's gonna wake up." she turned and started nudging Ms. Absol with her head again, "She's gonna wake up. She has to."

Behind me a roar echoed through the tunnels, snapping my attention back to the door. Cobalt was looking back down the tunnel with narrowed eyes. In front of her Lucas had adopted a fighting stance, 'Fuck.'

"I'm sorry Absol, I really am, but we have to go now." I used my claws to carefully pull her away from her mother. I was glad she didn't fight me as I placed her in my mane. I felt her shift around and immediately poke her head back out to watch me.

Carefully I picked up Ms. Absol and brought her to my chest, one arm supporting her chest and the other behind her back legs supporting her rump. I turned and made my way out of the room, forcing an illusion up through the drain of the crystals.

"Noibat," I spoke suddenly, looking up at the scared little Flying Type, "You have my thanks, for trying to help her." I turned back to the door before I could see his response and left the cell. From the sounds of his wings he began to follow me out of the room.

"Are you sure your illusions can block out scents?" Cobalt asked as I neared her, glancing down at the Absol in my arms.

"We'll be fine." I spoke with resolve. Even if I didn't really believe it I had experience being my family's rock and knew how to lie like a professional actor, "Lucas, climb back into my mane." He looked like he wanted to argue, but a look from both myself and his mother made him look away. As we started walking down the tunnel I felt him climb up my hair and join Absol in looking forward.

We walked down the tunnel quietly and slowly, ready to react if a dragon decided to make its way down the tunnel. Ahead of us I heard voices talking, but with the echoing of the cave I couldn't make out what was being said. Several voices were talking at once, each carrying a threatening tone.

"ENOUGH!" a voice roared down the tunnels, "Get back out there and find them! Search the surrounding mountains! Search the entire range! Just get out there and search!"

"That's the King." Cobalt whispered to me. A growl escaped me and I found a rising heat worm its way into my core. The sounds of multiple Pokémon quickly leaving echoed its way to us as we came to the tunnel's entrance.

My eyes landed on the 'King' as we left the tunnel. He stood at almost seven feet tall, his yellow scales were marred with scars. His blue wings were tattered at their edges and were held tightly to his back. The most striking feature though was the 'R' that had been branded onto his back just below his wings.

'Fuck.'

The King snarled and turned towards us. I ignored the shiver that went down my back and calmly moved to the side of the entrance with Cobalt beside me. We made our way towards the throne as he stomped towards our tunnel.

"Noibat! Get over here!" he yelled down the tunnel as we made our way around the fire pit.

The little bat in question fluttered down the hall and quickly landed in front of the King, "Yes sire?"

"Is the mutt dead yet?" he asked quieter, but with anger still in his tone.

"No, sire." Noibat said without hesitation, "She still-"

"Shut up." King interrupted, "If she isn't dead by dawn I'll toss her off this mountain myself. If only I could do the same to the rest of her damned, disaster bringing kin."

We made our way to the tunnel we entered from. I could hear the sound of rain and thunder echoing down the tunnel towards us. We were just a couple dozen feet away from the cliff edge and freedom.

"Uh, sire, Absols don't actually-" Noibat was cut off by a loud crash that made all of us turn around.

The little Noibat that had helped us was now in a crater in the stone floor with a Dragonite fist still pushing him even further, "I will not!" he raised his fist and brought it back down, "Be corrected!" he did so again, "By a weakling!" The third time I watched as the barrier around Noibat broke and the little bat lost consciousness.

Beside me I saw Cobalt tense up as the Dragonite's fist raised again, a very small silver aura starting to cover her form. I knew if the King moved to bring his fist down again his target wouldn't be there and things would get a lot more complicated.

Thankfully that didn't happen. The King stood back up to his full height and looked down on the knocked out Noibat with an expression I couldn't see. Then he spit on the poor little thing and started walking down the tunnel towards the cell.

"Grab Noibat." I stated, "We're not leaving the poor guy here." Cobalt said nothing and was quick to rush across the room and pick up the little Pokémon. I illusioned up a piece of cloth and handed it to her. She didn't need to be told what to do as she started wiping him clean.

We made our way down the tunnel at a jogging pace. The amount of Pokémon we were carrying made me wish again that I had a few Pokéballs right about now.

As we came to the end, and felt the wind and rain on our fur, I looked out over the valley and sighed, 'Dreary sight for a dreary night.'

A sheet of metal appeared in front of us and we quickly boarded it. A roar of rage echoed off the walls behind us as I started to lower us down to the ground at an angle, taking us away from the mountain as well. I heard a sharp inhale from Ms. Absol that brought all of our attention to her. The dying Pokémon was looking up to the clouds as the rain fell down on us, her eyes still unfocused.

"Uhg..." Noibat groaned out, surprising me as his barrier had only just started to recover. The rain began to soak our fur as the little bat shifted in Cobalt's paws. A flash of lightning immediately followed by the crack of thunder made the group flinch. Noibat looked around from his position cradled in Cobalt's paws, "Where am I?"

"We couldn't just leave you back there, not with that monster." I state as I brace myself against the strong wind striking us with rain. The thought of making a solid sphere around us crossed my mind, but it would bring our speed down to a crawl and I wanted to get away from this forsaken mountain.

"You... you're taking me with you?" Noibat looked up at me with big eyes.

"Yes, we're leaving this range. Then heading east towards Kanto." I state just before another roar pierces the air behind us. I don't have to look back to know the King is now out in this storm looking around for us.

"Where are you, coward! Show yourself!" he shouted many things into the wind that I ignored.

All I had to do was get to Oak and then make this the league's problem. I'm sure Lance would be very interested in a Dragonite branded by Team Rocket.

As we neared the bottom of the rock valley the Dragonite yelled something in the wind that made us freeze, "If you don't come out and fight me I'll order the deaths of all Absol and Riolu in this damn range!"

I turned to Cobalt, "Would his dragons follow that order? Could he pull it off?"

"No." Cobalt said she started rolling her shoulders, "His dragons wouldn't follow that order, if not for their own pride and conscience then for the retaliation it would bring on them. Killing your opponent is something only a feral would do."

"You should get back to your kids just in case." I said as we disembarked the sheet.

"You seem to forget you have one of them." she stated, shooting me a side glance, "But you're right. Will you be alright traveling with so many and only yourself to protect them?"

"We'll manage. Probably fly low through the night and then find a place to lie low when we're closer to a human settlement." I answered as lightning lit up the mountain. When no thunder followed I looked back up towards where we had come from.

The King seemed to have lost all his composure and was launching attack after attack into the clouds and air around him. Seeing his temper tantrum made me smirk. As he retreated into the mountain I felt the energy in my core settle down. I could tell that it wanted me to fight him, but I'd rather not leave everyone out in the open. He'll get what's coming to him, I'll make sure of it.

"We need to find somewhere for Ms. Absol. She deserves somewhere to pass in peace." I say softly as I look back down towards the Absol in my arms.

I then jump the tiniest bit as she is staring into my eyes with her own clouded ones, "Mmm..." the sound coming from her is almost overshadowed by the storm around us.

"Mom!" Absol crawled on top of my head to look down at her mother. I watched Ms. Absol's eyes locked on her daughter. As they met I could see the relief in her eyes, though her body hadn't reacted at all. Staying completely limp in my arms.

I illusioned a simple bed and made a solid glass dome above us to block out the rain. Gently as I could I put down Ms. Absol and her daughter was quick to follow her.

"I knew you'd be alright, I knew it!" Absol said as she nuzzled into the fur of her mother.

"Shhh." with the smallest of head movements, Ms. Absol returned the affection as best she could, "My... beautiful pup." her voice was small and soft, "Where I go... you can't follow..."

"What? But we rescued you. You're safe now." Absol said as she stared into her mother's eye, "You're going to be alright."

"No... my time... has come..." she said as her lighting flashed overhead followed by thunder a few seconds later. Absol pushed her head into her mother's neck and began crying once again, "Listen... little one... I saw again... my last... vision..."

The hairs on the back of my neck rose up. Touching moment as this was I did not want to have a prophecy hanging over Absol's head her whole life.

"I saw you... happy... and surrounded... with family..." her eyes slowly blinked and as she opened them they were on me, "With someone... always watching... over you..." I relaxed and nodded my head before her eyes returned to looking at her daughter, "Be strong... my be-... beautiful pup... I... love you..."

"I love you too mom." Absol said as she pushed her head deeper into her mothers fur, "I'll be the strongest Absol ever, I promise." Ms. Absol closed her eyes and moved her head closer to her daughter.

The sight made my heart ache.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cobalt suddenly look off to the side, drawing my attention to her. She looked back to me, "My second oldest must have sensed Lucas as well, he's in the valley over, climbing the ridge to reach us."

Lucas looked over to his mother as I spoke up, "Do you know what he wants?"

"Yes, he prepared a gift for Lucas that he never got to give before he ran away. I assume he's trying to give it to him now." Cobalt said as she looked back into the distance, "I should go get him before he gets spotted by a dragon." She raised Noibat and put him in my mane.

"Could they really spot a little Riolu in this mess?" I question as I felt Noibat move around in my mane.

"No, but I'd rather get him here sooner so I can go back to all my children faster." She said before she took a step towards the edge of my illusion.

"Wait!" Lucas spoke up, drawing his mother's attention back to him. She quietly regarded him while he hopped out of my mane, "Can, can I come with you? Just to get Riolu."

Cobalt's eyes widened and then softened, "I'd like that." For the first time since I met her, a small smile spread across the Lucario's face. She offered a paw and Lucas grabbed it with his own. With a pull up Lucas wrapped his arms around her neck and the two took off into the night.

I watched them go and with a sad smile myself. I could only guess that seeing Absol losing her mom made him think about how he was about to leave his own. I could only hope Lucas and Cobalt find some closure here. My eyes found their way back on the two Absols. Ms. Absol was still breathing, though shallower and slower, and little Absol was still crying into her mother.

"Hey, Noibat." I said softly as I looked away from the scene.

The little bat fidgeted his way to the top of my mane, his ears seeming to get caught a lot, "Yes sire?"

"Don't call me that please, you're not my servant." I state as I twist my head to look at him with one eye, "You also don't have to come with us if you don't-"

"I'd rather come with you." he said quickly.

I blinked a few times as I hadn't expected the quick answer, "Alright then. My name's Chase Blake, but the rest of the family call me Big Boss or Boss for short." as the word left my mouth I realized that might not be much better than being called sire, "Call me whatever you want, just not sire. I don't want to be like that Dragonite in the mountains."

"Okay, Chase." the little Noibat said quietly.

Silence stretched on after that. Above us the sky churned and rain poured down on the dome I had made. I looked up at the dome and watched the rain slide off the surface as a pit started to form in my stomach.

I'd been in this situation before. A parent passing in a bed while I could only wait for the inevitable. With practiced ease I suppressed the tears that were starting to form. There would be a time and place for them, but now I need to do what I was best at. I was a rock in a storm for those around me.

Minutes passed with only the storm being heard. Then a thought came to mind, "Do you know where the closest forest is from here?" I asked as quietly as I could. I glanced back at him and watched him nod his head, "How close is it?"

"About a half an hour flight to the north, but it'll take another two or three hours in this weather." lighting flashed overhead and thunder rolled through the sky not too long after.

I sighed as that meant the closest forest was back the way we came, "I'd rather not head back that way, but we will. She deserves a proper burial, it's the least I can do."

His eyes grew wide as he looked past my head, "Uh, Chase..." he raised a clawed wing towards the bed. I slowly turned my head back and my shoulders slump with dread.

Ms. Absol had stopped breathing.

I don't know what came over me, but a feeling I haven't felt since my fathers funeral washed over me. I kneeled down and Absol left her spot against her mother's neck. She stared up at me, her fur wet from tears. Nothing needed to be said as I picked her up and held her tight to my chest.

In my previous life I had never been much of a religious person. Never went to church and openly said that organized religion was a scam, but I still believed. I still prayed for my family when bad things happened, I still prayed for my friends when disasters struck, and I still prayed when people passed on.

It was the second time ever though, that I said a prayer aloud, "God, please ferry this poor soul, taken before her time, to a place of peace. Take her now and deliver her unto her eternal rest. May God give us the strength to push forward, and the peace to remember her... Amen."

The area became silent as I finished. I felt horrible that the prayer was so short and a feeling of dread that my words were wrong, that if I thought about it a bit more, better ones would come to mind. I took a deep inhale and slowly exhaled, 'What's said is said. Now we just need to wait for Lucas to...'

My thoughts trailed off as light began to shine in my little illusion dome. A small spark of light that hovered over Ms. Absol's form and threw all manner of colors around the dreary gray mountain around us. I felt the little shiny in my arms turn to look at the light as I felt the familiar presence of Lucas and his family enter my illusion sphere.

From the light a single feather materialized. It had a puffball of white fluff at its base. Then along its length it changed from orange to pale yellow to a vibrant red. Its edges glittered like a rainbow, casting its own light on the bed and dome around us. It slowly twirled in the air as it descended before us.

"A Rainbow Feather..." I muttered to myself as it slowly drifted down onto Ms. Absol's body. I could feel everyone in my illusion was frozen as we watched the feather slowly fall. The light from it threw up a fiery rainbow on the mountains around us and the clouds above.

It touched her body and there was a bright flash of light that completely engulfed our vision. When the light faded the bed and Ms. Absol was gone. The feather, the rainbow light, the smell of death in the air, it was all gone.

Despite seeing a divine event happen right in front of me, I felt at peace. A warmth had spread itself through my body that fought back the cold, biting rain and wind that was pelting us. A content sigh left my muzzle as I held Absol tighter to my chest.

'Guess here prayers can be answered much more overtly.' as lightning flashed overhead and rain fell down on us I let my self relax. The air was calm and I felt... good. Not energized or amazed, but just good. A smile spread across my face as I looked up into the clouds above.

"To be taken by Ho-Ho at the end of their life," Cobalt started as her family approached, "it is an honor that I have heard of, but never seen."

"It was beautiful." Absol whispered in my arms before pushing her face into my fur.

"That it was." I stated as I looked towards Lucas and his family. I couldn't tell if it was because of the rain or not, but he looked like he had been crying too. Contrary to the look though he was sporting a wide smile on his muzzle while he stood next to another Riolu that was just a little taller.

"Are you ready to leave Lucas?" I asked and got a nod in return. I turned to Cobalt, "I think I know someone who will be able to take care of the King up there. It'll take me a few days, maybe a week to reach him, but I'd expect a League response not too long after."

"I don't expect his 'subjects' will be too eager to follow his lead after he lost his prisoner and his composure. Especially not after she was taken by Ho-oh." Cobalt said with a small smirk on her face, "Here." she tossed me an old backpack that she had been holding over her shoulder, "My second oldest got all this together for Lucas. It should help you on your journey."

I caught the bag with one claw and was surprised by its heft. It had to weigh at least twenty pounds, "What's all in this?"

Riolu smiles as he throws an arm around Lucas, "All the things my brother needs to impress his trainer, which is you apparently." I watch as he looks me up and down, then he shrugs his shoulders, "To each their own, my trainer's gonna be the coolest human ever!"

"No matter what trainer you get my trainer can kick their but." Lucas joked as he pulled Riolu into a head lock and started giving him a noogie.

I laughed and I heard Noibat in my mane also chuckle at the brothers. My eyes went back to Cobalt, "Will you be alright until help gets here?"

"We'll survive. If the King tries to find me or my children I'll-"

*CRASH*

The ground we were on shook and dust was thrown up into the air as a large yellow blur smashed into Cobalt. Lucas and his brother were tossed into the air from the shockwave and flew past me as I twisted my shoulder to shield Absol on reflex, dropping the backpack as I did so.

Standing there, with their large foot covering the majority of Cobalt's back, was the King. The scared Dragonite stood tall with his small, tattered wings stretched out. He stood taller than me with his head tilted back to look down on me like I wasn't worth his attention. His lip was curled in a snarl showing off his sharp teeth and his eyes, full of anger and malice, were leveled at me. It was a look I was quick to return.

In as quiet a voice as I could I whispered, "Get to Lucas and hide, both of you." an illusion came to life around me, shrouding the little shiny pup and Noibat from view. No words were spoken as they both left me.

I stood to my full height, but I was still two feet shorter than the angry dragon in front of me. We continued to stare each other down as lightning and thunder roared overhead. The silence didn't go unused as I cast out my energy sense to get a feel of him, and the state of Cobalt.

His core's energy level was higher than Cobalt's when we fought earlier and was turbulent, like a raging sea during a storm. The magic within was fighting to be used, to fight me I assumed. My core raged in much the same way, enough it concerned me as if felt like I was holding back a rabid animal.

Cobalt's core had completely collapsed into the recovery state. She had been very weak after our fight not too long ago and Dragonite's attack must have broken her barrier. She was alive though, that's what mattered in my mind.

With our eyes locked I could see the depths of his hate and something in me snapped. There would be no running from this fight.

'No holding back then' A strange feeling washed over me as my core started flexing its power again. The image of my energy, knotted as it was in my core, coming undone and flowing freely flashed through my mind. There wasn't a gradual increase like when I had to suppress it. One moment it was small, smaller than even the children behind me.

The next moment I watched as the King's eyes widened and the full force of my energy washed over us.

It was a liberating feeling I can't really describe. I felt my barrier, still slightly weakened from fighting Cobalt, heal to full strength. My core felt like it was roaring with anticipation. My energy, now free, refused to still and calm itself. The fur on the back of my neck stood up as the lightning flashed once more.

Thunder rolled across the sky as our claws collided.

Night Slash met Dragon Claw as we both stepped forward. I put up no resistance as his claws collided with mine, twisting with the strike and around his arm while avoiding the claws as they swiped through where I had been standing. My other paw raked its Night Slash through the Dragonite's side as I twisted past him.

His snarl reached my ears just before I felt the impact of his tail into my side. My illusion broke and my world rolled.

I was tossed to the side by the strike. My shoulder hit the ground first and I rolled with my momentum. Rock shot to my sides as my claws dug into the ground. I came to a stop in a kneeling position and immediately I cast another illusion around me.

I dodged one way, becoming invisible as I did so, and my illusion copy rolled the opposite. The earth where I had been moments before exploded in a shower of stone as the King slammed a Thunder Punch into the ground.

His opposite hand became covered in electricity as he turned to follow my illusion. The tattered wings on his back flapped with a power that didn't match their small size. He was on my illusion in an instant, but swing after swing my illusion dodged out of the way. Sometimes contorting in ways that I physically couldn't.

Behind him I charged a Night Daze sphere in my claws as I gave chase, doing my best to keep my illusion sphere as small as possible to keep my mobility. After the fifth missed Thunder Punch he gave a roar and wave of energy shot from him. A pillar of wind started churning around him with purple streaks running through it.

I slid to a stop just before the wall of the cyclone and dug my claws into the ground to stay put. I felt my illusion clone get pulled into the Twister attack and vanish inside. I felt the sheer amount of Dragon Type energy in the air like a weight had been placed on my shoulders. The winds pick up around me threatening to throw me to the ground.

A roar from inside the Twister attack echoed off the mountains around us and I watched as the cyclone of wind and Dragon Type energy shot forward. Far faster than I would have been able to dodge, the cyclone tore up the ground in front of the King. I saw the small sag of his shoulders as he relaxed after thinking he hit me, my toe claws came out of the rock and I leapt towards him.

As the King started to flex his wings to follow his Twister my attack made contact. In the center of his back, between his wings, I slammed the Night Daze orb and released its pent up energy. As the orb expanded I heard the King give a cry of pain.

A crater over a couple dozen feet wide formed around us in a second as the attack spread out with the Dragonite riding the edge down and deeper into the rock. As it finished I fell inside and gripped the rock with my toe claws to stay stationary. An explosion of stone pelted around us as the King used an excessive amount of force to pull himself out of the rock.

His last attack was a wake up call that I had to move this fight farther away from the kids and Cobalt. I let my illusion drop and looked him in the eye as he turned around to face me. Whatever semblance of rationality there might have been was gone now as I could see his pupils practically vibrating with rage.

He was not happy with that sneak attack.

"You should pay better attention to your opponent." My antagonizing comment made him snarl and bare his teeth. I shot out of the crater, opposite of where Cobalt was and away from the kids.

The rain began to absolutely drench our battlefield as the skies overhead roared with lightning and thunder. I followed the path left by the Twister attack and could see the cyclone had yet to dissipate and was climbing into the sky in the distance. I chose to ignore the climbing cyclone for now and started up a new illusion.

As we neared the base of the King's mountain I had a copy continue forward while I slipped to the side and became invisible. I did so just in time too, as the King shot passed me and through my clone the next moment. His whole body was covered in a shining white energy, similar to Lucas' Quick Attack, 'Shit, he knows Extreme Speed!'

The sight of the white energy made me growl in frustration that I had forgotten yet again to start stacking my Attack stat with Hone Claws.

The King's right wing became covered in gray energy and took on a metallic shine, then sliced through the air behind him. When the Steel Wing attack didn't connect and I didn't attack he growled and began whipping his head all around to try and see where I was.

After I finished a second, quick Hone Claws I shot forward. At the same time the King roared to the raining sky. The sound echoed through the mountains despite the storm that raged around us. Just before I reached him with my claws coated in a dual Night Slash he raised and brought down his foot.

I lost my balance and fell forward as my illusion shattered and the world around us shook. I felt the energy from the Earthquake attack seep up from the ground and strike my barrier, taking away almost a full fifth. My claws remained covered with Night Slash to my amazement.

My eyes locked with the King's as the shaking stopped. He took two steps forward, his right arm becoming completely covered in electricity and brought it down.

In the two steps he took I had time to get a knee under myself. I used the back side of my left Night Slash attack to deflect the Thunder Punch while kicking off the ground and slamming my second Night Slash into his chest. The Dark Type energy extended through him even as his scales and barrier stopped my physical claws from doing so. The force of the attack made him stumble backwards, only his tail hitting the ground keeping him from falling.

As I started to move away he became coated in a shining white aura. Before I could get an illusion up he slammed into me with enough force to throw me into the air. As the air whipped around me I twisted myself and brought up my illusion sphere.

Below me a grass path appeared and I dug my claws into it to stop my momentum. As I slowed the torn up grass disappeared as it left my illusion sphere and more appeared behind me. I looked at the Dragonite and saw him staring at me, the hate was still there, but now there was a bit of bewilderment.

I kicked off the grass and into the sky, turning invisible as I did so. I kicked off a second solid illusion, taking me to the opposite side of the King. All the while my claws glowed with another Hone Claws bringing my attack stat up to times two point five. A third platform appeared in my illusion and I jumped off it with all my power, a corona of Dark Type energy surrounded me.

The Pursuit slammed into the King's back, snapping him out of whatever stupor he had been in. Pursuit didn't do nearly as much damage to his barrier, but it felt good to send him through the air. As he tumbled forward I gave chase as my claws became coated with another set of Night Slashes.

His wings flared, bringing his momentum to a stop. With a single flap he shot into the sky. I jumped after him, creating platforms to jump off of as we reached the cloud layer. A lighting bolt flew between us and blinded me. I stopped in the air to blink the after image of the bolt out of my eyes.

After a moment I scanned the clouds for the King and saw he had stopped the same as I, but for a much different reason. He was flying in elaborate patterns, his body slowly gaining a purple and white shine to it. My eyes widened as I realized he was dancing in the clouds.

'I can't let him start stacking Dragon Dance!' with renewed urgency I jumped through the air. As I got closer I could see the aura around him flash and fade. Then it started up again, 'Oh no you don't.'

I struck him, feet first, in the middle of his back. Immediately I stabbed both Night Slashes into the base of his wings. He gave a roar of pain as we began to fall from the sky. The power around my claws faded forcing me to wrap my claws around the wings to stay on the plummeting dragon.

In my core I charged a Night Daze attack while I extended my illusion around us. I fought against the King's twists and frantic flaps for his wings as I created a platform under us. A platform of small spikes.

I braced myself for an impact-we smashed through it like a rock through wet paper.

'How does that not work!? I kick off these illusions with more force than that!' I shout in my head as I begin to release the Night Daze attack.

A dark sphere begins to expand from me-!

The sound of glass shattering rings in my ears as I'm struck in the back by something that felt like a truck. A Dragon Tail attack if I were to guess. The strike throws me from the King's back and sends me tumbling through the stormy night.

My jaw clenched in pain as I felt the world around me twist and turn from my uncontrolled fall. As I start to shoot out another illusion to make something to land I feel a claw grab onto my mane, bringing my tumbling momentum to a painful stop. A glance of an absolutely furious Dragonite was all I was able to see before my world blurred.

I could feel the pull on my head as Dragonite began to spin me around like a toy. The feeling of gravity faded as the force of the spin became all I could feel. I then realized I wasn't doing anything about this and grit my teeth in frustration. Yet another Night Daze began charging in my core.

Before it could even be half charged my spinning motion stopped and I was sent flying through the air. I could see the rain drops rushing past me with the wind howling in my ears. I twisted and squinted my eyes to look at where he had flung me.

I was seconds away from impacting the side of a mountain ridge.

Panic surged in me and an illusion rushed into existence. The idea of what I was going to land on before I had been violently grabbed sprung into existence. An invisible, since at this point it was becoming instinct, rescue cushion rested against the stone wall before I slammed into it.

I felt myself slow considerably from the first impact, but my momentum was still enough to slam through the illusion and become embedded in the mountain side.

Immediately I began using what is quickly becoming the 'Ol' Faithful' strategy. As I was prying myself out of the me-sized hole in the rock I turned myself invisible, but left an illusion clone behind. Quickly I scrambled out of the crater, using my claws to hang onto the steep mountain slope.

My head snapped to the sky as I realized I hadn't looked towards the King in a few seconds, something that is bad even in a regular fight, let alone a magic one. I was able to catch a glimpse of the Dragonite, flying fast like a comet, covered in an aura of pink and purple energy with streaks of orange running through it. The Dragon Rush attack slammed into the crater and the illusionary clone I left behind.

As the rock I was on shook, a smirk forced its way onto my face before my claws lit up with two more Night Slash attacks. I jumped off the stone slope and made a platform in the air for me to kick off of. As my feet touched the platform and my legs flexed to jump at the hole I froze as the Dragonite shot out of the hole.

I gripped the side of the illusionary wall I had made and watched as the King looked around with wide eyes. He whipped his head and body around, looking both above and below himself too. The sight sent a twisted sense of joy through me.

My muzzle broke into a wide smile as I had an illusion appear in the crater below him, "That was a decent hit." it called out, making the King snap to the sound, "Too bad you're such a weakling."

The simple jab did it's job as the King became enshrouded in a silver glow and disappeared. An explosion of rock made the crater in the mountain side even wider as the King slammed into the rock with Extreme Speed. The same twisted joy spread through me.

A large smile, showing all my teeth spread across my muzzle as the King called out, "Stop hiding behind these tricks! Fight me like a male you coward!"

I slowly lowered myself to a different platform on his level as another illusion appeared on the opposite side of him. It was using it's claws to hold onto the side of the mountain.

"Now why would I ever do that?" the clone called out, drawing the King's attention.

Another different clone appeared at the top of crater, standing on a rock that had been forced out of the mountain, but hadn't fallen. It looked down on the King with its arms crossed, "Why fight you in a straight up fight-"

I made myself visible to his left as I leaned on the mountain slope with my elbow, my left claw holding my head up while my right toe claws were stabbed into the stone to keep me from falling, "-when breaking your mind sounds so much more fun." I finished as I flashed him a large smile.

He flinched back, realized he flinched back and then his face became contorted in rage, "I'll kill you." he said in a low voice while staring me down.

The three versions of me surrounding him laughed, making the Dragonite turn to look at us all. He snarled while all of my clone's claws began to glow with Night Slash.

My own claws joined as I made one last illusionary clone, hovering in the air just a foot or two away from the King. The new clone smirked and his own claws were already glowing with a Night Slash attack and let out a loud laugh, "Ha!" the King whipped around and stared down the new clone while his own claws started glowing with Dragon Claw, "Do you think you can win?"

"Are you sure you've even hit me?" the clone opposite of me said. The King's eyes didn't leave the last clone I made.

"Are you sure this isn't a dream?" the clone at the top of the crater said.

"Maybe you finally went crazy, it happens to the best of us." I spoke up, but the King still stared down my last clone, but his antennae were twitching, and a growl was rising in his throat.

My last clone shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe, I never existed, and you're just out here in the middle of a storm, throwing attacks around like a child throwing a tantrum."

The King roared and destroyed my clone as it finished talking. I immediately replaced it, making it hover in the same spot, "Hey, I-" it was destroyed, "have an-" again, "idea-" and again, "how about-" and again but this time when it reformed the King just stared while his arms shook with rage, "I keep track of all the time you fail to hit me."

As the King roared in anger and smashed the illusion again I joined my clones in saying, "We'll start now, so one." He whipped his head around to the clone opposite of him. I could see it in his eyes, the rage did well to hide it, but I could sense it.

His fear made that twisted joy I had never felt before grow.

We all rushed him, a single leap and all of us were within striking range. He slammed his right Dragon Claw into the middle clone, "Two."

I stabbed both Night Slash attacks into his left thigh before swiping them in opposite directions. While his barrier took all the damage the feeling must have been excruciating as he let out a roar and tried to back hand me with his remaining Dragon claw. He missed and I leapt backwards while turning invisible.

"Three~" my last clone said in a singing tone. The King swung around and used his second Dragon Claw to destroy the clone.

"Four!" I shouted as I jumped through the air and off of my illusionary platforms. Lightning flashed as he turned to look into the sky.

The King roared into the sky as thunder roared alongside him. His wings flexed and he was airborne a moment later, on a path for the clouds.

I watched him run and an elated sense of twisted joy washed over me, 'You can't escape now, prey.'

A few seconds passed as I jumped after him, giving me time to try and think of what he was doing. On the far side of the mountain peak the Dragons inhabited I could see the twister my prey had grown in size, making a real tornado. With it heading away from us though I paid it no mind.

He quickly shot into a storm clouds breaking my line of sight with him. I smiled as I followed as fast as I could. The thought of my prey running away in fear made me smile, but I knew he wouldn't run. He was probably trying to stack more Dragon Dance moves.

My own claws started glowing with Hone Claws, this fourth one would bring my physical attacks up to three times stronger. I smirked as I knew, just a few more strikes with Night Slash would end this fight. I hadn't checked his core yet for a minute or two, but I didn't need to. I knew I had more power than he did.

Then I felt the sky shift.

There's no other way to describe the feeling. One second the rain was pouring down, the next the intensity was two fold and the winds picked up to extreme levels. The clouds in front of me started to turn from their path eastward and the air became thick with energy. I was thrown off my platform and had to quickly make a new one to hold on to. The name of the move jumped to the front of my head and sent a shiver down my spine as I felt the Flying Type energy in the air start to assault my barrier.

'Hurricane.'

My illusion shattered and I was thrown into the attack. My barrier began to rapidly deplete as the wind tossed me around the sky like a piece of paper. I grit my teeth and curled myself into a ball to endure the assault as I was also falling towards the ground. Wind was tossing me from side to side like blows from a heavyweight boxer. Each strike drained more and more of my barrier, taking me below fifty percent.

Then the attack ended as I got closer to the ground, either because I left the area, or it was just over. I opened my limbs straight and righted myself before casting my illusion. A slippery path appears below me, an ice path much less detailed than the one I had made fighting Altaria. I slid along it at an angle, bleeding off my downward momentum as it slowly twisted back towards the sky.

As I looked back towards the sky I saw my prey leave the clouds and descend towards the ground. I became laser focused as I noticed his expression, 'My prey shouldn't look so happy...' I then stopped as I rethought that sentence again in my head, 'When did I start calling him my prey?' Something snapped back into focus in my mind and the last minute replayed in my mind, 'Why the fuck was-I'll worry about it after the fight.'

I shook my head to clear it before creating more of the slippery pathway towards the King. As my momentum waned I jumped off the path and onto the rocky ground. The wind was still too strong for me to try jumping around again. A glance above and I could see the storm clouds were circling on their own now. Either they would form another tornado or I was seeing the beginnings of a real hurricane.

It honestly was beautiful in a way, if only it wasn't also terrifying.

The King landed near where the fight had started and stood there, looking around. A fear bubbled up in me that he was looking for the children. I could only hope that they had found a good hiding place as I noted the crater where Cobalt had been was empty.

"Coward!" the King shouted as I came to the bottom of the valley where the fight had started, "I would have words with you!"

'He could shout out trap and be less obvious.' I thought as I closed in on his back.

"I forfeit my Kingdom!"

That made me pause the charging of my Night Daze sphere. I was a couple dozen meters from him when he shouted it. I moved myself to his right while expanding my illusion sphere of influence to include him.

A version of myself appeared in front of him and I saw him snarl at it's appearance, "I want to speak to the real you."

"Not happening, now you're surrendering?" my clone asked with a cocky tone. I took the opportunity to finally check his barrier level. My senses stretched out and I could feel his core.

"I wish to extend an invitation, to rule beside me. Together we could conquer even the Blackthorn valleys to the west." the King offered as a slimy smile stretched across his round muzzle.

My eyes widened as I felt the strength of his barrier and my illusion answered him, "You're a killer, a monster, I'd sooner die than have you as a partner."

'He's only at a quarter health on his barrier.' I smiled.

"Think of my offer. We're the strongest two in this range." he said, still with that slimy smile, "None could stand against us. No female denies a King or his Harold."

"Makin' me hate you more every time you open your mouth." my illusion stated as both our eyes narrowed. My Dark Type energy gathered around my claws, charging up two overcharged Night Slash attacks.

"No male does either." he tried to offer, making my illusion shoot him a deadpan stare.

"This battle is over." my illusion said as I charged the King from the side.

Just before I could reach him he shot back up into the air. I gave chase while gritting my teeth. The wind around us continued to fight against me, slowing my pursuit. He shot back towards the ground, the wind seeming to be no problem for him. I snarled in annoyance, but kept on him.

This game of cat and mouse continued for a full minute as the King darted over the valley. Any time I would get close he would change directions. He would circle where we've been fighting, but he strayed to far. My mind started to go into overdrive, 'I'm missing something here... he's not stacking Dragon Dance cause he's moving too much. I haven't seen him power up a move once either. What the hell is he playing at?'

We were stuck in a deadlock. I couldn't catch him and he couldn't find me. He kept flying over and around the crater where the fight had started. He knew I had to stay around here as the children couldn't have taken Cobalt far, but he refused to try and attack me.

Not for the first time I cursed my lack of ranged moves. I canceled out my Night Slash attacks and threw my caution into the wind. A Pursuit cloak wrapped around me as my speed increased. Each jump from my illusion platforms felt like I was about to slip off. Each time the wind buffeted my side I felt like I was pushed farther from the King. I grit my teeth and push through.

Slowly, even with the King's erratic flying, I gained ground. Slowly my pursuit grew in strength as I pushed more power into it. Then the sky lit up with lightning, multiple bolts spread out across the sky. The King stopped and turned his head towards the sight, a large smile on his muzzle.

I didn't stop to question it as I slammed into him the next moment. Then multiple things happened in the following second.

First, the King I had been chasing started fading away from where I struck him, my mind supplied the word 'Substitute'.

Second, something slammed into me, something strong enough to almost take out the remaining forty percent of my barrier in a single strike.

Third, I slammed into the ground with an explosion of stone and dirt flying into the stormy night, easily making the largest crater in this entire fight as around me the ground was formed into a bowl that stretched from one side of the valley to the other.

It all happened so fast my mind took a second to catch up. Shakily I tried to pull myself out of the crater. My body was crying out in agony after that last attack, but I pushed on. Slowly I pulled myself out and shakily stood on my legs. I looked up to where I had been in the sky and I could see him standing there, the King.

He hovered there as he with a smile on his face as he stared down at me. Around his body energy crackled and little bolts of purple lighting. From the visible Dragon Type energy I assumed he was stacking Dragon Dance while I chased his substitute like an idiot.

'I've lost this...' the thought ran through my head like a shock, 'I had every advantage and I squandered it talking like a fucking anime character.' I grit my teeth and my anger began to rise, my Dark Type core churned and buzzed with energy. I locked eyes with the King, looked at his smug face as he came to the same realization as me, 'I want to cave in his fucking face and kill him.' I felt my core flare and some instinct in me made me open my mouth wide.

A beam of fast moving rings shot forward from my muzzle and slammed into the King before he could react. He staggered back while my mind gave me the name of the move, Dark Pulse.

I smiled as I cloaked myself and left an illusion while I hobbled to the side. A second later that spot was filled with a Dragonite as he slammed into the illusion with another Extreme Speed.

I knew from the pain in my side I wouldn't be jumping around anymore. I cast my energy out and felt out the King's remaining barrier strength. While he whipped his head around in anger I felt my stomach drop. He was back around sixty to seventy percent and his core was pure Dragon Type now.

'He didn't just power up while I ran around like an idiot, he used Roost and fuckin healed. With Dark Pulse being a special attacking move even if I attacked perfectly from here on out he could just disengage and heal again...'

"You're weak now." the King spoke up, "I could taste that fear in the air. I'll be sure to mount your head on my throne." I grit my teeth as plans to find the children and escape ran through my head, "After you will be that bitch Cobalt and her kin." I froze, "Then the little abomination I saw with you earlier." a cold chill gripped my heart as the rain poured down.

My mind raced a mile a minute. I had to do something soon or he would just start going after them to lure me out, 'I have to take out over half his barrier in one shot... One final shot.'

A calmness fell over me as I stood a little straighter. In either hand a Night Daze attack formed. I opened my mouth and started imagining how much this attack was going to hurt the King, how much pain it would cause him. How much pain I wanted it to cause him. Slowly, so as not to fire too fast, a Dark Pulse started to form in front of my mouth. Energy poured from my core like a broken dam. For the first time since waking in this world I felt the ocean of energy I had and my disposal drain significantly.

The King shot up into the sky as the air was so saturated with Dark Type energy even he could feel it, "You don't scare me! I AM THE KING HERE!" he shouted into the night.

The three attacks reached half strength and I smiled watching him whip his head around, looking over the crater where the Dark Type energy still gathered.

"I AM THE GOD OF THESE MOUNTAINS!" He roared into the stormy night as rain came down in waves from the twisting clouds above.

Lightning flashed, outlining my target by illuminating the Mountain Den behind him. Thunder roared a second later, but the world around me was starting to sound muted. The light around me was also slowly fading, not in a 'I'm losing consciousness' sense, but the concentrated Dark Type energy was overpowering what small ambient light there was.

Then, through the muted environment around me, I heard the strangest sound. Over the roaring dragon, the raging wind, the harsh rain, and the muting effect of the Dark Type energy, I heard someone clapping.

As the three attacks reached full strength my mind supplied the name of the move used behind me.

'Helping Hand'

As I felt its effects take hold I slammed the two Night Daze attacks together in front of me. As they connected the Dark Pulse went off, striking the swirling Dark Type energy between my claws. From the front of the swirling energy a beam shot forward.

I doubt the King even knew what hit him as a my perfected Oblivion struck him. The beam was easily wider and taller than the dragon and only grew wider as it traveled. I could feel the pull as my core pumped energy into the attack, the rush was indescribable. My ocean of energy became a pond in only a few seconds.

What a glorious few seconds they were.

When it struck the King there was no stopping the attack, the beam continued on. All other light in the mountains didn't just fade away, it was like someone turned off the lights as everything became pitch-black. Everything in my vision was outlined in a deep purple, but no details could be seen. My claws in front of my eyes were little more than an outline as everything else was the darkest black one could imagine. The only detailed outline I could see came from the dark purple bolts of energy that spiraled along the outlined beam and into the sky.

After those few seconds my attack ended.

The beam narrowed down to a single line no thicker than a thread, then it faded away. Light returned, a light glow settled over the mountain range as the darkness retreated. Everything was quiet enough I could only hear my own breathing. I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted, a black streak, an afterimage of my attack, hovered in the middle of my vision that slowly faded as I blinked.

In front of me was a clear sky with a moon hanging in the eastern sky. I could see the stars and the two star nurseries that were mixing together creating a beautiful tapestry of color. The beautiful sight was only marred by the jagged mountain top, what used to be the King's mountain top. Now it was shorter and two separate peaks as my Oblivion just deleted the top quarter.

I felt myself fall back and impact the ground, all of my muscles screamed in agony at the movement. Spasms worked their way across my body as what I guessed was recoil worked its way through me. I felt my barrier break and shatter and my consciousness faded away.

~Scene Break~

Arceus looked on through the world at the events happening in the Mt. Silver range. Hovering in front of him was a mug full of coffee that read '#1 Dad' that had been given to him by his daughter Mew. He slowly sipped the coffee from the almost empty cup as he watched the top half of a mountain get blown away by a beam of Dark Type energy.

"Mew." he called out calmly. From within the white expanse of his domain a tired looking Mew came through a portal sporting her own cup of coffee that she was pouring something from a flask into.

She looked around for a second before settling on Arceus, "What's up?" she asked groggily as she finished pouring the contents of the flask into her coffee.

"Just how strong did you make your Champion?" He asked calmly as he observed the beam of Dark Type energy continue on through the mountain, through the hurricane overhead, through the atmosphere before finally fading away in the vacuum of space. The storm above them completely dissipated under the attack and revealed the starry night sky above.

"My wha?" she asked as she floated over to observe the same scene he was.

"Your Champion? You summoned him back in April and he's been making his way south towards the Kanto-Jotoh area ever since." Arceus looked down at his daughter, "You do remember summoning him, don't you?"

The look Arceus was giving her went over her head as she stared at the blurry shapes in front of her, "Nope." popping the 'p' as she took a swig of her drink, "Can I go now?"

"No." Arceus began to replay what had happened for Mew to know, "Around the date of April Twenty-Eighth you brought a human here for a second chance, the one you're allotted per century, and left him to fend for himself. You even made him into a Zorua, something we don't usually do in this universe." Arceus stated as both he and Mew rewatched the attack the Zoroark had done.

"Wow. Haven't seen an attack that big since Groudon and Kyoger really pissed off Rayquaza that one time." Mew took another swig of her drink.

"Yes, and he's only been here a few months. So I'll ask again, just how much power did you give your Champion?" Arceus drank the last bit of his own coffee before teleporting his mug to somewhere else within his domain.

"Apparently a fuckin' lot." Mew muttered as she watched the attack stretch into space, "Ow!" she cried out as a rolled up newspaper whacked her on the head.

"Language." Arceus said before returning his attention to the repeating image.

Mew used her tail to rub the spot on her head while rolling her eyes at her father. She then looked closer at the blast that leveled a mountain, "Wow, what move was that?" she asked, sounding a bit more awake and excited.

"One of his own creations, if I were to guess. Seems like a combination of Night Daze with Dark Pulse while reshaping it into a widening beam. Now Mew," Arceus let the event fade away and looked down at his daughter, "You know how the world is with new powers showing up out of the blue. How are you and your Champion going to react to the world hunting him down?"

"How will I react?" Mew scrunched her eyes in confusion, "I'll sit back up here and have another beer." she smiled and downed the rest of the contents of her cup.

Arceus shook his head at his daughter's antics, "You'll have to assist him Mew. You brought him here for a second chance and I've seen in him what you saw, even in your drunken state. He deserves better than to be left out in the woods alone for months."

"He had other Pokémon around. He was fine." Mew said with a dismissive wave of her paw.

"No he didn't." Arceus narrowed his eyes and the pressure in the room became just a bit heavier, "He was left with so much power all the other Pokémon who were near him ran away in fear. He didn't know how to suppress it, he was without his human body, and to him he had just died moments before."

Mew was beginning to feel the pressure now and slightly shrunk in on herself. She gulped loudly, "That's... that's bad."

"Yes, it's bad." Arceus let up on the pressure just a bit, "Isolation is a horrible thing Mew, we've all experienced it at one time or another. I won't tell you how to fix this, but a start might be meeting him when you're not drunk and telling him what being your Champion entails." the flask and cup in Mew's paws disappeared, teleported away. At the same time a super charged Heal Pulse washed over her, taking away her buzz and the hangover she had been drinking away.

"Ahh." she whined.

"Act your age Mew. Now let him rest first then go and help him." Arceus turned and began walking off into the endless expanse of his domain.

"Where are you going?" Mew asked, trying to put off thinking about the problem as much as she could.

"I'm off to meet Giratina for breakfast while we watch the newest episode of our drama show." Arceus said with a happy tinge to his voice while Mew rolled her eyes, "Good luck Mew." with his final words he disappeared and left Mew alone.

Mew let out a loud groan as she let her head roll back. She followed the motion through and tumbled softly backwards through the air. She righted herself before opening a portal to Mt. Silver letting the cold wind blast through, "Damn it past me." a newspaper hit her in the back of the head, knocking her through the portal.

"Language." Mew heard her father voice in her head call out as she entered the frigid weather.

The portal closed behind her as she felt the cold winds dig into her pink fur. She reached out with her core and started exciting the air around her with Fire Type energy. A small distortion appeared around her as the air heated up, "Could really use some cinnamon whiskey right about now." she mourned as she started towards her Champion's location.

Author's Notes: Holy Fuck that took forever. I've had this done since early July but I just couldn't find the time to do any proofreading. I also got a little to into a different story that might never see the light of day. Spent a whole week just typing out over 60k words for a Destiny/Hollow Knight crossover. Why you might ask? No idea but that is neither here nor there. It'll probably take me another few months for the next chapter, but I can tell ya we're finally heading home to Kanto.

Let me know how you all thought of the fight scenes. I tried to keep the pace more than describe what's happening in great detail as a Pokémon battle at that level wouldn't have much time between attacks. It also just feels like it flows better if I don't add in seven different flowery sentences to describe move in greater detail. A few descriptors and the imagination takes it from there. Easier to write and I hope easier to follow what's happening. Let me know.

Current Team Roster:

Chase 'Big Boss' Blake (Zoroark)
Level: Fuckin High
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Illusions
Moves: Scratch, Fury Swipes, Hone Claws, Pursuit, Night Daze, *Flashbang, Night Slash, Dark Pulse, *Oblivion

Lucas (Riolu)
Level: 14
Nature: Hasty
Ability: Inner Focus
Moves: Quick Attack, Foresight, Counter, Iron Defense

Absol?
Level: 3
Nature: Timid
Ability: ?
Moves: ?

* means the move is either only found in this fic or an altered move that is distinctly different from its base move.