The figure in front of them appeared to be in an admiral's uniform. It was hard to discern his build from the shadows around him and his gray stone skin. He had no visible ears. His face was enough to terrify even the most hardened of men. He had no eyes, yet it felt like he stared into your soul. His brow instead gave away his inner thoughts. However, his smile, that nightmarish grin, was made out of dozens of needle-like teeth. All of this combined into this facsimile of a living being. He wasn't Pokémon, he wasn't even human. He was exactly what everyone said he was. A monster.

"I apologize for my rather gory entrance, but that poor little Bisharp's time in the spotlight was over." he said. He then outstretched his hand and caught a minuscule piece of ash in his hand,

"Lovely weather today, isn't it? It is the sands of change of my creation." Upon hearing this, Infernape's senses kicked into overdrive,

"What have you done?"

"Something worthy of remembrance." Donquixote insisted. The statue then floated off of the ground and slowly flew off of the hill, monologuing as he did so. "I understand your fear and concern but you will see the kindness in my actions." Donquixote then floated down towards the ground, never once looking away, staring into their souls.

Gengar then rushed in front of the group at surprising speed. Infernape watched as Gengar fervently argued with Donquixote,

"Well, we appreciate it and it's been a really good talk, but, as you can see, we've got everything handled" His voice sounded desperate, quickly spitting out what he meant to say. Infernape's eyes widened in realization. Was this why Gengar was gone? Was he working for the Phantom Corp? But then why was he protecting them? Why wasn't he alongside Donquixote and doing whatever he wanted him to do?

Dreadnaught leaped to Donquixote's side,

"This is none of your concern," he growled. Donquixote then lightly gestured for Arong's silence before speaking,

"Now, Jester, you understand just as much as I do how much this means to me. I can't just stop now." Gengar shook his head,

"And-and-and you can keep doing that! But, you know, there are other more important places!"

Genger was struck by Donquixote, being sent flying across the town. The group screamed out in horror as Gengar crashed into a house, the entire structure collapsing on top of him. Ampharos sprinted over to the rubble. He feverishly struggled to lift up rubble as Aggron and Garchomp rushed to his aid. Ampharos eventually pulled off a block of concrete off of Gengar's face, after which he was met with,

"R-Run! Please!" before coughing violently. Amapharos, in horrified disbelief, shook his head,

"I'm not gonna leave you!"

"I've fucked up enough as it is. Just do me one solid and fucking run!" Gengar hissed.

Infernape turned around furiously. Donquixote simply laughed,

"Just as I figured, you have gotten soft, haven't you, Jester?" Infernape then snapped at the statue,

"Get out of here, Donquixote!" Donquixote then hmm'd,

"How do you know my name? I don't recall us meeting?"

"Wh-What? You met me! You said that me killing Pangoro was something worth remembering." Initially, Donquixote raised an eyebrow to the claim, then his brow perked up,

"Oh, I see what happened here. You remembered."

What was he talking about? Remembering? Forgetting? He sounded insane yet his tone of voice was so chillingly smooth, it sent shivers down Infernape's spine. However, evil always has a tell. And in that same voice laid a sinister undertone that remained. Infernape's mind began to wander, he did not suffer eight years of trauma and fear, just to bow before this…thing. He hesitated to even call him a person.

Donquixote then peered past Infernape and smiled,

"Oh, look at that. I believed that is the hybrid Dreadnaught told me about." Lopunny recoiled, glaring at him. She remarked,

"What about our deal?!" which made everyone look to her in confusion.

"Deal?" asked Infernape worriedly, "What deal?. Lopunny froze as she realized what she had said. Donquixote ignored the question then looked to towards Vida,

"Your call." The Vespiquen fluttered down to Donquixote's level, never once losing eye contact with Lopunny. Infernape stepped back to protect her. Vida then said,

"As a geneticist, I cannot ignore the opportunity to study a hybrid."

Infernape lunged at Donquixote. His eyes were almost completely red. Only his pupils remained normal. Gardevoir reached out to stop him,

"NO!"

"DO NOT TOUCH HER!" Infernape roared.

The sickening crack that followed echoed throughout the town, rattling through the remains of buildings. It seemed that all other sounds were completely drowned out. Everyone's jaw's hung, unable to believe what had just happened. Like a mourning family, denial set in. It had to be a trick. A bad viewing angle gave the illusion that it happened or maybe that sound came from a snapping power cable. However, eventually, the grisly truth unveiled itself in its horrific glory.

With one backhanded punch, Infernape's neck was snapped.

The fire type was thrown into what remained of a shop. His body disappeared into the debris. He laid motionless, his face with a expression of shock. Everyone stared at his body for a few precious moments before turning back to Donquixote. A black and red aura began to surround him, burying him in a demonic glow.

"It appears I will have to teach you a lesson."

Gardevoir immediately turned back to her family and screamed at the top of her lungs,

"RUN!"

Donquixote burst towards the group in the blink of an eye. Aggron immediately mega evolved and jumped to protect his friends. He raised his arms in defense just barely in time to stop a punch from crushing Ampharos. What sounded like an explosion erupted from the impact, shockwaves ripping apart the group, sending everyone flying away.

Aggron silently gasped after the impact. He couldn't block it in time, instead his stomach took the blow. The sheer force from Donquixote's strike was enough to shatter his ribs, turning them effectively into a shotgun inside of his chest. The pain was searing, debilitating, like a hot iron had been shredded into dozens of infernal pieces, only to be spread across his torso.

With barely even a wheeze, Aggron collapsed to the floor. He crumbled like a paper bag as Donquixote moved on. His eyes locked onto Druddigon and Sableye. The two froze in horror as they saw this stone monstrosity staring at them. With a simple smirk, Donquxiote said,

"You must be the rest of that uncouth Darkrai cult. You know what that means, right? No loose ends." Donquixote then rushed towards the two. Druddigon quickly shoved Sableye out of the way. Sableye heard a loud crunch before a warm liquid splattered all over him. Sableye stared at his hands to see them coated in blood. He screamed in horror, but was silenced by the sight of one of Druddigon's spikes being stabbed into the ground. Looking up, he saw Donquixote smiling at him, his crimson coated body illuminated by the sunset.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" begged Sableye as he backed away. Two black and red beams shot through his legs. Sableye screamed in pain, falling to his knees. With tears in his eyes, he looked up to see Donquixote raising his hand in the air, summoning a spinning saw blade made from black and red energy. Donquixote just smiled and said,

"How many past failures have led you to this end?" before lowering his hand, turning around, and walking away. The horrible sounds of Sableye's death fill the evening air.

Realizing just how bad the situation was, Ampharos and the rest elected to run only to be assaulted by a black and red saw blade. The others managed to avoid it yet Ampharos couldn't make it in time. His back was sliced open. He gasped in pain before tumbling to the floor. Lopunny stood as the exception. Refusing to leave until she avenged Infernape. Gengar pulled himself to his feet, struggling to breath and stared down the statue. Donquixote didn't even flinch and simply stared back at Gengar. The two squared off for a few precious seconds before Donquixote remarked,

"How disappointing. After all I've done for you, you reject my teaching's for…these weaklings"

"Shut your goddamn mouth!" Gengar snapped.

Gengar then fell into the ground as Lopunny jumped up into the air and formed a wall of ice beneath her. She screamed in fury as she kicked the wall, sending blades of ice crashing down towards Donquixote. However, he simply took every single piece of ice, ignoring it as though it were the rain, instead focusing on Gengar. Donquixote fired a blast into the ground in front of him.

The resulting explosion felt like a missile had exploded right on the town. Lopunny was thrust into the air like a plastic bag. Rubble skyrocketed into the air as well as Gengar. His bloodied body flew up into the air, but Donquixote squinted at it. Turning around abruptly, he raised his forearm just in time; the real Gengar had snuck behind him. Gengar was horrified and could only watch as Donquixote raised his hand, his fingers morphing into claws.

Upon impact, Gengar was catapulted across the village. He left behind a trail of blood spilling out from three slashes on his chest before slamming into the cliff, leaving him stuck in a crater. Donquixote then chuckled to himself before turning towards Lopunny and projected his voice,

"Do you know the best part of this? This is but a meager fraction of my power. If I had to put a number to it, I would say…5%"

Lopunny saw what had happened. She knew she stood no chance. Given what she saw, she had every reason to believe that 5% power thing. However, she wasn't going to abandon Infernape, Aggron, Gengar. The fact that Donquixote was now after her didn't matter to her anymore. She was either leaving with her friends or not leaving at all.

Donquixote had other plans. Within seconds, he was already in front of the rabbit. Lopunny immediately braced for impact. Donquixote punched with a calculated precision yet Lopunny was prepared. She had learned from the others' mistakes and preemptively dodged. Once Donquixote's fist passed her face, she latched onto it and started freezing his arm. The ice quickly spread across Don's arm until it reached his shoulder. Lopunny gripped onto him tightly and, with great force, shattered his arm.

However, Donquixote didn't react. In fact, he smiled that monstrous smile. Suddenly, the frozen pieces began to fly back to their original position. Lopunny's hope plummeted as the pieces melted, freeing the stone they had imprisoned. They began to fit together, piece by piece, restoring his arm as if nothing ever happened. Donquixote chuckled to himself before grabbing her by the leg and throwing her to the ground. His shapened fingers shredded through Lopunny's flesh, leaving horrific wounds on her leg.

Lopunny landed with a violent crash. She lacked the energy to even react to the pain. Her vision began to blur and fade away.

"N-No," she whispered as she tried to stand, perhaps as a self defense mechanism, her body refusing to move, "I-I have t-to get up." Alas, she couldn't win this fight as her eyes shut.

Donquixote turned to see the remaining members of the group. He grinned before pointing his fingers at them. A thin beam of light rocketed towards them, blasting over hundreds of feet in a few short seconds. Garchomp looked back and saw where it was going, straight for Gardevoir's heart. Acting on instinct, she dove at her, pushing her out of the way and closed her eyes.

The beam slashed across Garchomp's eyes, thankfully missing her left one. Garchomp roared in pain, collapsing to her knees as Gardevoir stopped to help the dragon. She got onto her knees and tried her best to soothe her but to no avail. Garchomp was panicking, especially now that Donquixote was approaching.

"Oh, it appears I missed. Here, let me fix that." He said as he raised his hand and shot five small beams that shot clean through Gardevoir's chest. She fell onto the ground in agony.

The Jigamasa family took her side. Her sisters tightly hugging onto her for protection. They cried into her chest, pleading for her to save them..

This couldn't be happening. She couldn't even properly put into words how horrible then all was. She stood no chance. No one stood a chance. They couldn't die here; it was too soon. Especially for Tsumi and Fushigi, the trauma that she imagined them going through broke her heart. Gardevoir tried to move, but she was frozen. She was helpless as she watched that man-no, that demon approached slowly. That horrible grin embedded itself into her subconscious like a parasite.

"S-S-Stop!" A voice cried out. Gardevoir looked up to see Ampharos in front of her and her family, outstretching his arms to protect the Jigamasas. He sniffed and stifled his sobs, shaking violently, back pouring out blood, yet he still stood there. Donquixote landed in front of him,

"My, that is adorable. However, I would appreciate it if you step aside," he ordered. Ampharos shook his head and, while stuttering and fighting off fearful tears, told Donquixote,

"I-I'll never…leave them behind!" Tyrantrum and Liligant soon joined them. Chrona's tears betrayed her smile as she saw the wall protecting her and her family.

Silence filled the air for a few moments. Each side stared each other down. Donquixote simply stared, giving them no way to read his emotions. But, all this did was slowly break their nerves. What was he going to do? Why was he just standing there? When presented with unknowns, the mind panics. Slowly, each one began to openly fear Donquixote, trembling with increasing intensity.

Then Donquixote began to laugh. The sound of each cackle seemed to etch itself into their very soul. Donquixote then began to float back up into the air before pointing his finger towards the sky,

"Like animals before their end by a butcher's hand, you fail to comprehend the greater truth of reality. Your memories are a poison, and they have led you to your demise."

Just above his finger, a black and red ball appeared. It began to grow larger and larger. Every second, its shadow consumed more and more. Ampharos, the remaining Senshi and the Jigamasa's could only watch as the orb of destruction blocked out the sun, turning the sky into a chilling crimson. The crackling sounds of corrupted lightning jolting off of the Donquixote then yelled from his throne in the sky,

"If you all somehow survive this, do me a favor and forget this ever happened." and threw the ball at them

Suddenly, they vanished. Donquixote gasped in subdued surprise and stopped the attack just before it hit the ground. He looked up to see a faint yellow figure in the sky: Alakazam. The psychic panted as he stared at Donquixote; what in the world was that? It certainly wasn't a Pokémon.

Donquixote then smirked as he rushed towards Alakazam, but the psychic teleported away just before he was struck. Rushing wind howled from the force of Donquixote's strike. The man was panting faintly, obviously trying to hide it. He floated back down to the ground and saw that the unconscious Aggron, Gengar and Lopunny had vanished too. He scoffed yet he was satisfied. In the grand scheme of his magnum opus, their survival did not matter. Most of the country's survival didn't matter. All that matter is that the world realized the truth of pure, ultimate freedom.

"Master." Vespiquen yelled. Donquixote turned to see his secretary pointing towards her right.

"There's one that got left behind."