Author's Note:

Here it is the second part of the master of illusion arc and the part which includes an evolution. I now want to explain why I picked this movie for this part of the story... this is the mid-point for the Plasma arc where we need to ramp up the tension. Like how I turned the Jirachi movie into a civil war between Aqua & Magma, this was the most fitting one to adapt for the story I was trying to tell. Obviously, its a new year & also a not so new US president... if it wasn't obvious, my version of Ghetsis has been heavily based off the orange one and with a side order of First Lady Musk... oh, and its just been my birthday too. Not much else to say, I really just want to get more of this arc out. Remember to vote in the poll & with this, let's begin!

Chapter twenty-three: Zoroark, Master of Illusion P II

Running and sliding down off the stage, he slipped two Pokéball's off his belt. In a flash of light, his starter and Xatu appeared. With a loud roar his fire flying type shot into the long beak Pokémon. Tackling him into the sky. His psychic flying type looked at him for directions.

"We need to get this crowd out of here!" He instructed. "They'll just get in the way."

"Maro?" his ground type muttered.

"Thanks for volunteering on keeping them safe-" He nodded to the bone keeper. Before he could protest, his psychic flying type eyes burst with ESP. In a bright flash, the crowd & Marowak was gone, including his companions & his uncle. "Issue one, down. Now-"

He unclipped two more devices and released his Jolteon and Machamp. Both Pokémon stood, looking to him for instructions.

"Rico's attacking-" He shouted. "Look out!"

Tyranitar stomped behind them and opened his mouth. A hyper beam forming in front with a loud roar.

Jolteon shot forward and tackled him to the ground, as Machamp spun on a heel. Running forward, he lept and kicked the kaiju's chest.

Landing behind him, his back hands held his head up. The hyper beam shot into the sky as he turned around.

Using his two lower arms, he unleashed a flurry of punches coated in fighting type energy. Causing him to cry out in pain and thrash about.

His tail must've thrown the weight balance off as Machamp was knocked sideways. Landing on his chest, he pushed himself up with an angry growl.

Charging at the rock dark type, he used his raw strength to knock him off balance. The two entered a battle of strength, stumbling back and forth.

"Help out with some thunder waves-" he whispered to the electric eeveelution. With a bark, he took off with sparks jumping off his body.

Pulling himself up, he turned to see Charizard still fighting the Fearow. Although the long beak had superior speed and acrobatic ability. Watching them fight, it became clear the predator bird was aiming for the small dark type beside N on the stage.

"Piloswine-" He released his final team member. "Go to his jeep. We can't give him chance to escape again."

The ice ground type nodded and scuttled off towards the jeep. A loud roar drew his attention, and it was from his starter.

A series of sharp rocks shot up from the pseudo and struck the fire flying type. Leaving him in a defensive position as Fearow dived towards the stage.

"Gwaaa!"

Zorua panicked as she leap from one side of the stage to another. Narrowly avoiding the brown feathered bird as he swooped in talons first. Hearing a declaration from the predator, she spun on a heel and tackled N out of the way.

Landing in his stomach, she spun to see an orange dragon fighting off the predator. Floating in place, he used a searing flamethrower to attack from range and would slash with his claws as they got close, within striking distance.

"Come on!" She barked, tugging on the boy's shirt as he stood back up. She hopped and forth in front of him.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked.

"We need to fight!" She declared, emphasising her point with an exaggerated snap of her jaw. His eyes fell and she followed them to the smashed device on the stage. "That doesn't matter! We can still win this!"

"Fighting will only bring about more pain-" He sighed. Closing his eyes and turning around.

"If we don't fight then we lose!" She cried, feeling the tears sting her eyes. "Please! N!"

A loud squawk echoed, and her head shot around to see the brown feathered bird. Jumping back as his talons clutched into the floor. The long beak blew white and jabbed forward, hitting her stomach. Curling up into a ball on instinct, she crashed onto the floor with a heavy thud.

Looking up with the world spinning, she saw the sharp talons moments before they clutch into her body. Howling out a cry, she tried to snap her jaw onto part of the predator but couldn't reach.

As the ground got further away, she tried to wiggle out of the constraints. The force of swinging upwards caused her to stop resisting as she came face to face with the orange beast and smears of flames from his snout, just barely not burning her whiskers.

In a matter of seconds, the ground was so far away she squeezed her eyes shut. Feeling the wind rush past, she would've been fooled into thinking that she was dropped if not for talons digging into her body.

As they let go, she went flying and crashed into something heavy and fuzzy. Flopping down onto the floor, she groaned in pain as the cold metal embraced her body. Her eyes fluttered open as a barred cage slammed shut with the bird stood on the other side.

Pushing herself up on wobbly legs, she charged but wasn't quick enough to escape as the door slammed shut. Throwing her full strength behind the tackle, a surge of electricity flew through her body, and she was sent flying back.

"Save your strength-" the brown fur Pokémon whispered. "Your gonna need it."

"H-How are you so calm?" she stuttered as the static sizzled her hair ends.

"My trainer-" He gestured over to boy N often talked about. The engine roared and soon the entire arena was disappearing from sight. "He has a plan and it's why he sent me here first. Just remain calm and everything will turn out alright."

Nodding in understanding, she took a deep breath to recover from the electrical shock. Watching him walk to the back of cage. Closing his eyes, he seemed tense as gathering energy. White balls of energy formed in front of him, outside of the bars. Blasting it out, it struck the ground and faded to reveal a rock.

"Might I suggest you brace for impact-" He insisted. "I'll do my best not to hurt you but-"

Another rock fired off and his body glew white. Easily doubling, if not tripling in size. His full body pushed against the cage walls. Diving between his legs, she climbed onto his back one as the vehicle swerved to the side.

Squeezing her eyes shut, the horrific sounds painted a vivid image of the crash. Once she felt the wind stop, she opened her eyes and found the concrete earth beneath them.

Jumping down below the large Pokémon, she saw the green haired man, covered in bloody marks with the wreckage of his vehicle off to the side. Taking out some Pokéballs, she found herself and the newly evolved Pokémon outnumbered again.

"Wha-what's the plan?" she gasped.

"Hold 'em off for my trainer-" He growled, unleashing an artic blast.

"And that'll work?" she asked.

"He had one advantage at the arena, the element of surprise," he explained, "well, now the shoe's on the other foot."

She couldn't help but gulp at his unwavering belief in his trainer. She wished she could say the same thing but after what happened with N today... it's difficult to have faith in anyone. Maybe he was right about humanity all along... maybe they're all as bad as each other.

Bright flashes of light drew his attention back to the poacher and he swallowed hard at the sight which he saw. Two new Pokémon stood in front of him, one he reconsigned from his fight against Blair... a Krookodile but this one looked far more menacing with an intimidating glare.

While the other one was a bipedal, reptilian Pokémon. Oval, wide-eyes with small pupils and grey eyelids; small nostrils and a wide mouth with bared teeth made up the face, which seemed to have a permanent sneer. A red crest sat on top of the head, in similar appearance to a mohawk. Baggy yellow skin hung off the shoulders; falling halfway down the back, which it pulled up over the head like a hood of some gangster. The body was primarily orange, with thin arms and a grey; scaled stomach. His lower body and tail were covered by loose yellow skin resembling baggy trousers. While the tail had a single red scale. He pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the new opponent:

Scrafty, the hoodlum Pokémon. The final evolved form of Scraggy. Groups of them beat up anything that enters their territory. Each can spit acidic liquid from its mouth. It can smash concrete blocks with its kicking attacks. The one with the biggest crest is the group leader

"Jolteon! Pin missile for cover!" He shouted. "Machamp or Charizard! When either of you are free, we could use the help!"

His electric type eeveelution shot in front of him and flared his spiked fur. Rows of small stingers tinted with bug energy shot out and rained over the duo.

Crying out in pain, Krookodile shot forward with fangs bathed in dark energy. Moving in such a way to block Scrafty from his view.

Jolteon shot to the side, using his superior speed to dodge the crunch. Charging forward, he crashed into the fighting dark type with an electrical charge.

He refocused on the menacing ground dark type as a grey blur landed in front of him. Stumbling back, he noticed Machamp now picking the intimidation Pokémon. Kicking off the ground, they spun in a summersault before crashing back down with his seismic toss.

Picking himself up, Krookodile's tail swung and hit the fighting type's chins. Wobbling back, the croc scurried away into a hole in the ground.

Before he could react, the dark fighting type shot up and whacked Machamp with his hands, knees, and feet. Blowing him onto his back.

"What the-" he uttered as the static dispersed. Pulling out his Pokédex again:

Ability: Shed skin allows the Pokémon to heal different statues conditions

Jolteon's cry drew his attention. His eyes widened as the dark ground type erupted under him. Snapping his jaw around the electric eeveelution.

With a flick of the head, he went skipping over the ground. Pulling out his Pokéball, he quickly recalled the voltage Pokémon. Eyes locked with the croc.

The dark ground leapt to him with a wide open jaw. Standing his ground he refused to move. His fighting type tackling from the side.

Landing on top of the intimidation Pokémon, his front fists clenched with fighting type energy. Punching down onto the opponent.

"Scrafty!" He shouted. "On your left!"

Sitting up, one of his back hands caught the fellow fighting type. In one swift movement he forced the hoodlum where Krookodile was.

Although the dark ground type used the moment pause to scurry underground. A slight after shake caused Machamp to wobble, allowing Scrafty to escape.

"We got the prize-" Rico's voice echoed. "Let's get outta 'ere."

Turning his head, he caught sight of Fearow near the cage before shooting back into the sky. His beak piercing Charizard's shoulder as he dived.

Tyranitar let out a loud roar and there was a bright flash. Next thing he saw was the chest of his pure fighting type. His four arms surrounded him, and the rushing wind of the explosion blew past him. As the aftermath faded, he heard the rumble of the vehicle once more. Shooting out from beneath the superpowered Pokémon, he caught sight of his team scattered around as the jeep far off in the distance.

As he stepped forward, he pulled out his Pokéballs and starting returning his team... Jolteon and Machamp, while Xatu and Marowak were teleported early on with the crowd. He turned to Charizard, who crouched low ready for him to climb on. Pulling the last device off his belt, his eyes widened.

Piloswine had gone!

Frantically, looking around. He only saw N up on the stage looking down at him. Closing his eyes, he began to walk away, and he felt an adrenaline rush.

"No! Noooooooo-" He ran after the boy. "When I say no you turn back around! N!"

"What's the point?!" he asked. "You can't win."

"I know! And!" He cut him off. "Winning?! Is that what you think this is about?! I'm not trying to win!"

"I'm not doing this because I want to beat someone! Or because I hate someone or-or because I want to blame someone! It's not because it's fun! It's not because it's easy! It's not even because it works because it hardly fucking does! I do what I do because it's right! It's decent! And above all, it's kind! It's just that... just kind... If I turn back right now, good people and Pokémon will die! If I stand and fight, some of them might live... maybe not many, maybe not for long... fuck, maybe it won't make a difference at all... but it's the best I can do... and so I'll do it! And I'll stand here doing it until it kills me... but you're gonna die someday too, N! How will that be? Have you thought about it? What would you die for?!"

"Who I am is where I stand... where I stand... its where I'll fall-" He sighed, wiping his face with his hand. "Stand with me, please. The people and Pokémon here are terrified. Zorua more than most. Maybe we can help, save her... Why not? Just at the end, just be kind."

He studied the boy face, and he couldn't even begin to wonder the thoughts going through his head. It was like he could see the cogs turning behind his eyes but gave away no clue to his thoughts.

After what felt like an eternity, N turned and stared him down. Tears burning his eyes, which held an unbridled rage.

"Your version of kindness... forcing Pokémon to fight for human's entertainment-" he sighed. "To trap them... take them from their home... if that's your definition of kindness, I'd hate to see your version of evil. Zorua is already lost in this war... all I can do is push forward and work for a better tomorrow for the Pokémon who remain."

Biting on his inner cheek, he turned and stormed over to his starter. He wanted to stay here and debate with the boy until he was blue in the face. If he did that, however, then both of the Pokémon would be lost forever.

Climbing onto the fire flying type, it took a few seconds for them to reach the sky. Flying over the streets, he peered over the shoulder of his starter. Watching the streets pass beneath as he looked for the jeep. Flashing lights of police cars racing towards the site of the attack.

Charizard roared!

Turning his attention back to the streets, a load of black smoke piled into the air. Holding on tight, his starter began to dive, and the sight became clear. A Mamoswine stood against the Krookodile; Scrafty and Tyranitar with Zorua behind.

"Destroy his vehicle!" He shouted, unclipping the device from his belt. Machamp materialised and threw himself down.

Landing on the jeeps engine, it broke through with a heavy thud. Gathering all the adversaries attention as he climbed out of the scrap metal.

"Flamethrower and ring 'em in!" He yelled. Adding the thought. "You won't get away from me again."

Slowing his decent, he took a deep breath. Raining a stream of flames down, creating a wall of fire with all of the Pokémon on the inside.

"Go for Scrafty." He instructed his starter.

Charging back down, he noticed the pseudo charging a hyper beam. Machamp charged from behind, pulling his head back and sending the attack off in the other direction. Kicking off the ground, his full body strength forced the kaiju onto his back.

Spinning around to straddle the rock dark type. His superpower Pokémon unleashed a flurry of close combat punches onto him with all four arms.

Scrafty came charging in from the side, but they tackled the dark fighting type in their landing. Clutching him with both claws, his starter, now in a standing position let out a blood curdling roar. He slipped off his back as a grunt drew his attention.

Turning, he saw the Krookodile charging at him with an open jaw. Holding his arms up in a defensive position, he saw the Mamoswine charge and knock him from his attacking leap.

Sending him flying through the fire wall, it broke a part of it open. "Restrain Rico! Now!"

His presumed ice ground type continued forward and lifted a front leg, knocking the man over and putting it down on his chest with enough weight to prevent him escaping without causing serious damage to him. Watching him helplessly scurrying around in a futile attempt to escape caused him to smirk as he walked over and looked down on him.

"It's easy to talk big when you hold all power but not so fun when the shoes on the other foot-" he stopped as he noticed the man's fingers tipping a burning branch. Walking over, he stepped down on his wrist, preventing him grabbing it. Slowly adding more pressure until his voice cried out in pain. "Look at me!"

The man squeezed has eyes shut as he cried in pain, letting the branch go. The corners of his lips flickered up as the pathetic man.

"Look at me or I'll tell him to put his full weight through your chest."

"Every hero falls-" He scoffed, opening his eyes as he let his foot up from his wrist. "So now you gotta let me go, with a slap on the wrist? Don't do it again?"

"I'm not a hero, I'm a high functioning sociopath," he uttered, squatting down to look him in the eyes. Seeing his pupils study his face, he inwardly smirked as fear sunk in to the Pokémon poacher. "As for what we're gonna do with you... I really don't know. Depends what your gonna do for me."

"You want money?" he asked, panic clear in his voice.

"Not quite... I want information-" He stood up and looked to the sky. "You see, I have a theory. The person bank rolling your endeavours here in Unova is some green haired narc with an affinity for abusing his adopted son. Someone who preaches liberation but just wants to be an authoritarian-dictator."

"Ghetsis-" He gasped. "Are you nuts! If I talk about him... He'll kill me!"

"And I won't?! Why does no-one believe me when I tell 'em I'm a sociopath?" he asked. "But you didn't deny my claim or sound shocked or amused by the deduction so I can presume I'm on the right path. Alright Mamoswine. If he won't answer my question, I've got nothing to gain from him. Now since the cops are under Ghetsis thumb, the question becomes how we stop little Rico here from hurting anyone else."

"Heh, and I thought you we're a hero." He scoffed.

"I'm not but you made one mistake-" he loomed over the man. "You attacked me! Stole my Pokémon!"

"Alright! Alright!" His voice cracked in panic. "I can give you Ghetsis! My phone is in my pocket! It's how he contacted me for each job!"

"Kay Mamoswine, ease up-" He commanded. His ice ground type barely lifted his foot an inch. "If he doesn't hand me the device then you can impale him on your tusks. It'll be an accident that happened during the commotion. Shame really."

Seeing him nervously swallow, he slowly moved his arm and pulled out a crumbled mess of a flip-phone. "It must've broken under the things weight."

"Convenient-" he utter, taking the bits from him. He quickly examined it. "But the sim card is good. I should be able to recover the data provided its true."

Turning his back, he took a few steps away when his twin tusks stumbled back in a panic. He turned to see Rico scurrying up to his feet as he clutched fire stick from before. Exiting the fire wall, he tossed the branch to side and the field burst into flames. It quickly travelled in a river-like pattern up to the destroyed jeep. His mind went blank as he realised exactly what was happening. His eyes widened as the wrecked jeep caught fire.

It travelled up to the scrap metal and both Machamp and Charizard ran in and blocked his view. The explosion was loud as the wind blew them over.

Hitting the ground hard, darkness fill his vision. The sound of far off syrones filled his ears as the world faded away from him.

She stumbled back as the grey muscular Pokémon and orange dragon entered another fight. The commotion and thrill bubbling through her body. Stepping out from behind the mammoth, she knew she'd just get in way if she tried to fight.

Glancing around, she noticed a street camera up on street light, scanning down on them. She couldn't be sure why, but something was nagging at her.

While she didn't know why, she knew what she needed to do. Closing her eyes, she felt her fur extend out as the illusion tingle spread out over her body. Completely blocking the cameras vision of the display. Looking back to the field, her eyes widened.

"Convenient-" Drake uttered, examining something in his hand. "But the sim card is good. I should be able to recover the data provided its true."

Standing back up, he turned around to walked closer to her and everything took place in one go. Rico swung a fire stick and caused the mammoth to stumble back. The green haired human scurried up onto his feet, running out of the fire wall.

A massive explosion took place, and all the Pokémon surrounded the boy in an attempt to protect him. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to engulf them in a protect shield. As she opened them, she saw him hit the outer protect and slump to the floor.

Quickly dropping the protect, she scurried over to the boy who laid motionless on the floor. Sniffing cautiously, she felt her eyes water.

"I-is he-" she uttered.

"He'll be fine..." the muscular one declared with a hint of questioning in his voice. "Right boss?"

"We should get him some help-" the dragon instructed. "Machamp, you carry him. Make sure he's secure. I'mma fly ahead and get some help!"

Flexing both wings out to the side, he shot off into the air and zoomed over the city. Feeling a lump in her throat, she watched the grey one carefully pick him up and cradle him in his front arms.

"Lead the way big guy-" He instructed.

Walking alongside between the two larger Pokémon, she felt a horrible pool in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes kept darting up to meet him.

"Kay, Shadow. What's eat'n yah?" he asked.

"Huh?!" She gulped. "Me?"

"Well, he's not being very talkative right now... not that much of a difference come to think of it-" he gestured down to the human in his arms. "Although he is burning up."

"Why?" she asked. "Why did he fight? He could've run and he'd never would've lost Mamoswine. You'd all be safe-"

"But you wouldn't... and the next lot they attacked wouldn't," he replied, "I know he acts like the coldest and hardest but that's because he has the softest heart of all. He pushes away anyone willing to show him the tiniest bit of love because it just reminds him how big and empty that hole his old man left actually is."

"B-but I thought every human-"

"Let me stop you right there. There's over eight billion humans and the only thing they have in common is how different they are." He cut her off. "He knows the pain of being abandoned... and he'll be damned if he lets someone else go through it. He might not have my muscles but he for sure is stronger than me."

"Whoa."

"And he'll adamantly deny it if he heard it." He continued.

"How do you know it then? she asked.

"Because actions speaks louder than words." He smirked. "And his actions are always pointing towards the good."

She bite down on her inner cheek and mulled over his words. She was beginning to believe the Plasma lines about humanity, but these Pokémon... this boy... he is like the antithesis to their core. He went so far out of his way to fight for her and even tracked her down... while N smashed her Pokéball and left her for the poachers fate... maybe she should-

"Gwa-" the boy screamed as he shot up.

Sweat poured down his forehead. His eyes were wide as he tried to take in long deep breaths. His head looking around in a panic.

"Calm down champ..." the fighting type uttered as the boy did just that. Hopping down from his arms, he stumbled back as the muscular Pokémon caught him. "Careful, you was knocked out. Could've had a concussion or-"

"I-I'm fine... I think-" he muttered.

"Did he just understand you?" Zorua asked.

"Nah, he gets the general idea of our intentions and that's stronger the longer we've been with him," the mammoth explained.

"Zorua... good-" he uttered. "Now where's Charizard?"

As if on cue, flashing bright lights and syrones came charging down the road. Some fire engines shot past with some police and a couple ambulances. One Police car and a paramedic car stopped beside them. A man in a long brown coat climb out as did a paramedic.

"What happened?" the medic asked, running to Drake's side with a green bag.

"Banged my head... there was an explosion-" he uttered. "Just woke up."

"You might have a concussion-" She flashed a torch into his eyes as she looked into them. "I can't see one, but it is bright out. We should take you in for observation."

"Thanks, but no thanks-" he pushed the torch away. "I'm fine... and don't exactly have a spare arm available to pay for it."

"That's your right but I heavily recommend you reconsider," she replied, "head injuries are extremely dangerous."

"I said no." He growled.

"Well son, you can refuse her company but not mine-" A man in a long brown trenchcoat announced. "-and I've got questions to ask you."

"Looker," he uttered.

"Glad you remembered me-" he smirked. "Now why don't you tell me about what happened here?"

"Ghetsis paid a Pokémon poacher called Rico to attack his presentation and steal N's Zorua-" he gestured down to her, so she let out a bark to confirm. "I defended myself and the crowd when he took off with Zorua and my Piloswine."

"Piloswine?" he asked, glancing to the mammoth.

"He evolved and knocked the jeep off course," he explained, "I pursued on my Charizard and rescued my Pokémon."

Before he could respond, an officer Jenny climbed out of the car and walked up with handcuffs out. All eyes turned to her as she walked behind Drake.

"Drake Ketchum, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you."

"Marble what do you think you're doing?" Looker asked.

"The officers called in from the wreckage," she explained, "the jeep was blown up. One dead, presumably Rico and two in critical condition with intensive burn marks."

She stumbled back as the world froze. Her eyes widened and mouth went dry.

Thanks for reading... Please Favourite, Follow and Review. Also, feel free to ask any questions through PM, I will answer them all, although don't expect too big of spoilers. Don't forget to vote in the polls. I really appreciate the support. Thank you and see ya next time...