The Legendarian Chronicles

by Chibi Pika

After witnessing Team Rocket's attempt to capture Entei, a young trainer named Jade finds herself unwittingly tangled up in a conspiracy bigger than she could have ever imagined, with double agents on both sides and the looming threat of all-out war on the horizon.

22. Desperate Hour

Chapter 22: Desperate Hour

A distant rumble reverberated throughout the air, dragging me out of a deep sleep. What was that? Don't tell me someone was battling at this hour? I sat up, blinking slowly in the darkness. My eyes caught the faint hint of movement—Swift or Firestorm waking up and looking around, most likely.

"Did you guys… hear that?" I asked.

Then the alarm sounded. An earsplitting siren, assaulting my senses out of nowhere. What the hell? Why was the fire alarm going off? I threw my hands over my ears, desperately trying to block out the awful noise, but there was no stopping it. A bright red light flashed in the corner of the room, highlighting both Firestorm and Swift as they glanced around apprehensively. Firestorm was saying something, but it was impossible to tell what with all the noise.

What on earth was going on?

I stumbled my way out of bed and rushed to the door as quickly as I could, throwing it open. A half dozen kids had already emerged from their rooms and were running down the hallway, a few of them still in pajamas. My dazed brain was still trying to process what the heck was going on when my nose caught the scent of… smoke? There was actually smoke in the air. This wasn't a drill, this was a legit emergency, holy crap. It took several seconds for the reality of that to properly sink in. And when it did, everything went into overdrive at once as I bolted back inside.

"We're evacuating!" I announced, grabbing my bag and shoving things into it randomly.

"*What?!*"

But I just grabbed their Pokéballs and recalled the two without saying anything else. It'd be faster getting out if it was just me. And… they'd be safer in their balls. I threw on my shoes and rushed out the door, pulling my arms through the sleeves of my jacket as I fled down the stairs, jumping two or three steps at a time.

Damn, there was a lot more smoke down here. I pulled my shirt over my mouth as I pressed on, following the arcing hallway to the stadium lobby. Was this where the fire was? I didn't want to run straight into it, but at the same time, this was the fastest way out of the building. I rounded the corner into the lobby and completely ground to a halt, gaping in disbelief.

The entire front entrance had been demolished, chunks of concrete and glass scattered throughout the lobby. I strained my eyes to try catching a glimpse of what had caused this, but with half the lights blown out and all the dust in the air, it was impossible to tell. A couple of kids bumped into me as they bolted past and disappeared into the dust cloud that had once been the entrance.

And then my blood ran cold as gunshots tore the air.

What? We were under attack?! I dropped to the floor and ducked behind the wall, my heart pounding furiously in my chest as my mind raced. Deep breaths… I had to calm myself and figure out something to do. There had to be some way out of here… deep breaths.

A sudden thud to my left. I whirled around to see what it was and—oh god, what. Reed had crumpled to the ground in an awkward heap, his eyes wide and staring and a bullet hole in his head. I blinked stupidly at the sight, unable to process it until the blood started to pool on the ground around him.

What. This couldn't happen. In all the times… There was always danger, but… no one had ever… How many kids had just run outside? They didn't have Pokémon out, they couldn't use Protect, oh god.

Another group was approaching the lobby from the opposite hallway. I couldn't see them clearly, just their silhouettes through the dust cloud.

"Don't go outside! There's Rockets out there!" a voice called out behind me.

"What do we do?!" one of the kids across the lobby yelled. A girl's voice… Kris? Oh god, her teammate was dead next to me and she couldn't see him, oh god.

"I don't know, just don't go that way!"

I turned around to see a half dozen or so rebels gathering in the hallway behind me, almost all of them from different mission groups, which meant they were missing teammates. I recognized Liam and Zoe, although their third teammate, Alec, was nowhere to be seen.

Where were Ray, Mai, and Sasha? They'd be able to figure out a plan. Where was Stalker? He'd be able to fight the Rockets off. Where were Rudy and Darren, oh god, why hadn't I wondered that yet, where were they?

I forced several deep breaths to steady myself. Had to focus. Couldn't lose myself now. I'd done this before. I'd been in the line of fire before. I could handle this. This wasn't like being trapped in the detention cell. I had options. I had Pokémon. I couldn't lose myself.

My eyes snapped open, and I whipped out a Pokéball to release Chibi. As soon as the Pikachu materialized, he glanced around in alarm, folding his ears back from the noise. "*Shit, what's going on?*"

"We're under attack," I said. "The Rockets have us cornered—our main exit is a death trap."

"What about the fire escape?" Zoe piped up.

"They'll definitely have agents back there too," Liam replied.

Chibi glanced between me and the other rebels, then closed his eyes in concentration, flattening his ears with his paws. After a few agonizingly long seconds, he said, "*Our best bet is busting through a side wall. They won't be expecting that; it might buy us some time.*"

Zoe nodded before putting her hands on the sides of her mouth and calling out, "Tell everyone you meet to avoid the exits and break through a side wall. We'll meet up in the forest outside!"

"Okay!" one of the rebels on the other side yelled back.

"*Alright, let's go!*" Chibi barked, taking off down the hallway.

I jumped to my feet and raced after him, followed by the rest of the rebels in our group. All the while the blaring alarm and flashing lights served as a constant reminder of just how wrong all of this was. How many rebels had run out the front entrance and been gunned down? I didn't even know if Rudy or Darren was among them, and the only thing I could do was push on with the others and desperately hope that we'd be able to find a way out.

The smoke was thicker in this direction. The fire had to be at the back of the building, which meant they'd definitely been trying to drive all the rebels in the direction of the main entrance. I held my shirt over my mouth and squinted as the smoke stung my eyes and it got harder to breathe. We'd be out of here soon. I just had to keep telling myself that.

"*Right here!*" Chibi shouted, waving at a portion of wall far ahead of us. Strings of electricity leaped off his fur as he gathered energy. Then, with a flash of light and a crash that was somehow even louder than the alarm, he fired a lightning bolt clear through the wall, shattering it into chunks of concrete and drywall.

"We've gotta make a break for it. Don't stop to use Protect—our best chance is to keep moving," Liam said.

"*I'll attack all the Rockets I can,*" Chibi added. "*Anyone with priority attackers should send them with me, they'll be too fast to get shot.*" Not a second after he'd said it, a half dozen flashes of light appeared all around us as the rebels released Pokémon to join him.

"*Now go!*"

With every inch of me screaming not to, I followed the others through the gaping hole in the wall and out into the cold nighttime air. I coughed hard, forcing deeper breaths now that we'd left the smoke and pouring all my focus and effort into running as fast as possible. Chibi's makeshift exit had put us facing the outdoor training grounds, with scattered bits of forest in the distance across the battlefields. Completely open and exposed—no cover until we made it to the trees.

I flinched as gunshots rang out, clenching my teeth and forcing my legs to run faster. On either side of me, Pokémon darted around, so fast they were a blur as they struck down targets that were nearly invisible in the pitch-black night. Just had to keep running and let them handle it. Just had to keep running. We'd made it out of the stadium, we were going to be alright, just had to make it across the battlefield and—

A high-pitched screech tore the air. I whirled around just in time to catch a blinding flash and somehow my legs skidded to a stop right before a Hyper Beam struck the ground dead ahead of me. The shockwave knocked me off my feet, sending a jolt of pain running up my spine when I landed flat on my back. Dazed, winded, and ears ringing, I slowly picked myself up from the ground only to stare openmouthed at the smoking crater just five feet in front of me as clumps of dirt and grass rained down from the impact.

Holy crap that was too close. Damn it—humans were easy enough to knock down with a Quick Attack or two, but Pokémon? With all the bullets flying around, it hadn't occurred to me that the Rockets' Pokémon were more dangerous in this situation. Chibi was the only one that could knock them out fast enough.

"Over here!" a voice called out. I snapped my head in its direction and caught sight of a human silhouette waving to us from within the trees. Every few seconds, the shimmering flash of a Protect barrier gave enough light to reveal several other kids standing in the area, and an assortment of Pokémon clustered around them defensively.

We weren't the only group to make it out. There were others!

"Jade!" Rudy's voice. Rudy was alive. Holy crap, thank god.

I jumped to my feet and sprinted over as fast as my legs would carry me before ducking around one of the Protect users and slipping inside the circle. I was immediately met with paws on my shoulder and dog breath in my face as Ebony reared up on her hind legs to greet me.

"You're okay!" I exclaimed breathlessly, avoiding the Houndoom's tongue and flashing Rudy a relieved smile.

"Heck yeah, I'm not going down that easily," he said, forcing a grin.

My face fell. Had… had he not heard what had happened to the rebels that ran outside the front entrance? Should I tell him?

Ebony hopped down from my shoulder and happily barked out a small wisp of flame before joining the rest of the Pokémon defending our group. She took position alongside Wartortle, who had just finished surrounding himself with Protect and was now panting from exhaustion, glancing back at Rudy with an anxious look on his face.

I scanned the rest of the group, an uneasy feeling creeping over me. "Where's Darren?"

Rudy's face fell. "Haven't seen him yet. I thought he'd be with you."

Crap. We couldn't just leave without Darren. Not to mention all the other rebels that might still be trapped inside the stadium.

I flinched from the ping of bullets against Protect and instinctively ducked down to put more of myself safely within the circle of rebels as the Pokémon all around us alternated between shielding the group and attacking the enemy. By the light of Ebony's flames, I caught a glimpse of several squads of Rockets, nearly invisible amongst the trees. Even harder to spot was the shadowy mist that formed behind two of the squads right before two large somethings appeared from the darkness and knocked them to the ground. I barely caught a glimpse of the culprits—a flash of green and red wings here, a white, four-legged blur there—before they vanished into the shadows once more.

By this point, another group of kids had escaped through the hole in the stadium and was now racing toward us. Chibi bolted all around them, unleashing wicked thunderbolts at the Rockets' forces while the rebels' Pokémon kept them distracted with blindingly fast maneuvers. The moment the kids reached the treeline and ducked inside the Pokémon circle with the rest of us, a wave of frantic shouting ensued.

"What are we gonna do?!"

"My friends are still trapped inside!"

"What was wrong with the main entrance? My teammates ran through there!"

"Listen to me, everyone! If you can fly or teleport out of here, then do it!" a voice called out, grabbing everyone's attention instantly. I whirled around to see that Ray's team had suddenly appeared right outside our defensive lineup. So they had made it out. But that left one huge question—where was Stalker?

"Where should we go?"

"Somewhere safe, like a Pokémon Center," Ray said, and in that moment, for the first time, he looked just as lost and scared as the rest of us. "Anyone who's still missing teammates, stay here and keep our defenses up."

"I'll teleport back inside and see if I can find any stragglers," Sasha added, motioning to her Alakazam before the two of them disappeared.

Darren had a teleporter. He couldn't possibly be trapped inside. Right?

An unearthly screech filled the air, freezing everyone in an instant. A scarily bright orange glow lit the night sky, and then the brilliant form of a blazing phoenix soared into view overhead. My stomach tied itself into knots just looking at it. Moltres. They'd brought Moltres with them? We couldn't fight Moltres!

With another terrifying screech, the firebird craned its neck back before unleashing a massive fireball right at Midnight Stadium, engulfing the entire rear wall. In the light of the flames, I saw several flying Pokémon fleeing the building through open windows, carrying riders on their backs. Time slowed as Moltres snapped its attention to them. It drew itself back, inhaling deeply—no, no, no, this couldn't be happening—and shot out a vicious stream of fire, completely incinerating two of the fleeing Pokémon and their riders.

I gaped in horror, jaw hanging open. What were we supposed to do if a Legendary Pokémon was targeting us? We'd never faced anything like this! How could we possibly make it out of here?

A pulsating burst of violet dragonfire shot out of nowhere, striking the phoenix right in the heart. Moltres reeled backward, more stunned than hurt, whirling its head around wildly to locate its attacker. And then a thunderous roar echoed across the island, and an orange dragon soared into view from the forests to the east. On its back was a trainer wearing a long, black, hooded cloak that concealed nearly all of their body from view. But there was no mistaking who it was. The firebird fixed its blank, emotionless eyes on the newcomers, watching them closely. Charizard flared her wings outward to slow her flight, staring down the Legendary in return.

And then it hit me—Stalker was challenging it. The Legendary Bird of Fire was here, and he was going to fight it. What the hell was he thinking?

Without warning, Moltres shot out a blazing Flamethrower at the opposing fire-type, who nimbly ducked out the way and launched into a high-speed loop around the firebird. I'd seen Charizard fly—she was fast, but I'd never seen her fly this fast. The dragon was practically a blur, streaking around, spitting more violet flares at her opponent, but the Legendary wasn't remotely fazed by any of it. I held my breath as Charizard only barely managed to swerve away from another burst of flames. Her flight path zigged and zagged through the sky, almost like Stalker was trying to force Moltres to pay attention to them.

But… why? They couldn't possibly hope to put a scratch on the Legendary. And if they got hit by even a single one of its attacks, they'd be done for.

Except if Moltres was focusing on him, that meant it wasn't focusing on us. That's what he was banking on! The light of the flames now consuming the stadium clearly illuminated the silhouettes of several flying Pokémon taking to the air.

I obviously wasn't the only person to notice this, because Ray spoke up saying, "If you're gonna fly away from here, now's the time to do it. Send your Pokémon back once you reach a safe distance away—we'll need all the help we can get."

I caught the sound of wings buzzing behind me and turned to see Aros flying over to join us, closely followed by Stygian.

"*Take it I'll need to fly some of you out of here?*" the Flygon asked. The same Flygon that had once made such a fuss over letting me on his back.

"I'm… honestly surprised to see you volunteering like this," I blurted out without thinking.

Aros scowled. "*This place is our home too. And it's under attack. Why wouldn't we be involved?*"

This place was their home. I'd always thought the experiments merely tolerated us, but they actually liked it here, didn't they?

A yellow blur slowed to a stop in front of me, revealing itself to be Chibi, panting and out of breath from dashing around and knocking out so many of the Rockets' Pokémon. Sparks leaped off his fur at random—so he was already nearly drained? The Pikachu shook his head to get his bearings, then stood up and glanced between the two clones, his face falling. "*Where's Razors?*" he demanded.

Aros frowned. "*Haven't seen him.*"

"*What?*" The hybrid's eyes went wide, and he glanced around frantically. "*No way… I have to find him!*" he yelled, racing off.

"Wait, come back!" I cried, but the hybrid didn't stop. Damn it, why'd he have to do this now? There was no telling what'd happen if I lost sight of him—especially with him being so low on power already.

"Find Darren and I'll meet up with you two later!" I yelled to Rudy before sprinting after Chibi. I heard paws strike the ground behind me, then saw Stygian in my peripheral vision, running at my side. She was coming with me? Whatever, I wasn't about to question that now.

"*Wait, what should I do?!*" Aros called after us.

"Just help evacuate everyone! We'll meet up with you later!" I called out over my shoulder.

The roar of flames filled the air as we sprinted along the treeline. I scanned the training grounds and the forests to our left—it wasn't nearly as hard to see anymore with the all the firelight—but he'd run off so fast that I'd already lost him. Had to keep my eyes out for lightning. That would be my best indicator. Unless he ran out, which was a very real possibility. Damn it, where'd he run off to?!

Stygian and I were nearing the front of the stadium now. I slowed down, creeping close to the trees to avoid catching the attention of the Rocket squads that still remained in the area. I didn't like being here, but this was the most likely spot for Chibi to have run. Still, there was no sign of lightning, and these Rockets likely wouldn't be standing if he'd been through here.

Overhead, the battle between Stalker and Moltres continued, although it wasn't so much a battle as a game of cat and mouse, with his Charizard ducking and weaving around nonstop torrents of flame. The firebird wasn't the only enemy after him now. Dozens of mounted Rockets had taken to the air, sticking close to the Legendary and launching their own attacks at him. I watched with bated breath as Charizard only barely managed to avoid getting zapped by a lightning bolt, right before a jet of water clipped her wing.

My jaw hung open as the dragon spiraled downward uncontrollably, struggling to regain control of her flight. At the last second, the fire-type straightened her wings, and the two of them pulled out of the dive right above the ground, shooting out in a straight line right past me, closely followed by a squad of combat unit executives. This was bad. Avoiding Moltres was one thing, but that was just one thing to avoid, not a dozen executives.

Charizard put on a burst of speed, shooting off into the night sky. But she didn't turn around. Her orange tail flame grew smaller and smaller as she put more distance between herself and the island. Moltres let out a cry and tore after the dragon, followed by all the mounted Rockets.

My heart sank through the ground. No way. Stalker was leaving us?

No—he was leading the Rockets away. He'd only confronted Moltres because that was the most conspicuous thing possible, and the perfect way to get everyone's attention. Of course the Rockets were mostly after him. The rest of us were just an added bonus—that's all we'd ever been.

And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her. There, sitting atop her Arcanine, silhouetted by the flames engulfing the stadium, was the head of the combat unit. My legs froze up instantly and my whole body went numb. No. Not her. Anyone but her. Not right now. Not like this.

Almost like she'd felt me staring at her, Astrid turned and laid eyes on me, and my stomach curled in on itself. Oh god no, why did she have to notice me, why.

For several seconds, neither of us moved. She just stared at me. Something in her face looked downright exhausted. "I am really tired of you, you know that?" Astrid said. And then she hopped off her Arcanine and started walking towards me.

I was paralyzed, terror shooting through my veins like ice. I couldn't breathe. I was back in the detention cell with her standing over me like I was nothing, drowning in an endless torrent of agony with no end in sight. Couldn't move. Couldn't fight back. Couldn't do anything.

"Stay away from me!" I screamed.

And for just a second she actually paused, staring at me wide-eyed with an expression I couldn't place. It was only for an instant—then her gaze hardened and she advanced toward us once more.

"*We need to move!*" Stygian hissed, shoving against me.

Her words barely registered. My brain was caught in a loop, replaying everything that had happened that night, over and over. She was in front of me, but also somehow standing over me, staring down at me. The heat of the flames melted into an endless barrage of lightning. Not again. I couldn't handle that. Couldn't handle being trapped, useless, unable to move, unable to fight back, unable to—

"*Come. On!*" Stygian growled, throwing her body against my knees so that I toppled over onto her back. I barely had a chance to process what was going on and throw my hands out to catch hold of white fur before the Absol was sprinting away at high speed, half-dragging me behind her. My heart was pounding so fast it hurt, my breathing shallow and irregular, and the only thing I could think about was keeping hold of Stygian's mane as she bolted in the opposite direction. Each footfall thundered through my whole body and my feet dragged against the dirt and I had no idea how far Stygian had run, but none of that mattered so long as she took us anywhere but there.

Eventually the dark-type slowed to a stop. I relaxed my grip and let myself slide off her back, only barely managing to catch myself from faceplanting into the dirt.

"*Ugh. I'm not doing that again. That was hard,*" Stygian muttered in between heavy panting.

"Is she gone?" I said breathlessly, picking myself up from the ground.

The Absol rounded on me with an unimpressed scowl. "*What was that? She didn't even attack us and we had a clear escape route. Why did you stop?*"

Why did I stop. Why did I shut down. Why was just the sight of her enough to send me reeling back to that night? What was wrong with me?

"*Focus,*" Stygian growled, staring me dead in the eyes with her face just inches from mine. I swallowed hard and forced myself to stare back at her ruby-red irises, focusing on nothing else. Not Astrid, not the other Rockets, nothing. I wasn't in the detention cell, I was here. I was nowhere else but here.

Footsteps crunched the leaves behind us. I bristled, throwing a glance over my shoulder. Was it her?! No, it was a squad of Rockets half-hidden amongst the trees. Wait—that was actually worse.

"*Oh shit,*" Stygian muttered, her fur standing on end. The Absol jumped in front of me and covered herself in the white light of Protect.

Nowhere to run. Too many for Stygian to fight on her own. The moment her Protect faltered, we'd be sitting ducks.

The buzzing of insect wings was the only warning. A green blur shot out of nowhere, striking all four Rockets with such speed and precision that by the time I had finished blinking, all of them had staggered backward, unconscious before they even hit the ground.

"What the hell," I said, too stunned to think.

The green blur stopped abruptly in front of us, revealing itself to be a tall, armored mantis. I blinked several times, trying to process what I was seeing. It was Razors.

"You saved us?" I said, still reeling from what had just happened.

"*Sure took your time. The rest of us have been fighting since the attack began,*" Stygian said flatly.

The Scyther looked down and said nothing.

"*Razors!*" a voice cried. I whirled around to see Chibi bolting towards us from deeper in the forest. Oh sure, now he showed up. We wouldn't have been in this situation if not for him running off like that.

"*You're here!*" the Pikachu exclaimed one he'd reached us.

"*I'm here,*" Razors said. "*And I'm not running away. Not until everyone is safe.*" He gave the Pikachu a pointed look.

Chibi stared at him in disbelief. But then his eyes lit up and his mouth hung open ever so slightly in a relieved smile.

"Can we get back to the others now, please?" I snapped. Yes, I was glad to see that Razors was alright, but none of this would have been necessary if Chibi hadn't run off in the first place.

I just barely had the chance to register a faint rumble under my feet right before pointed stones erupted from the ground all around us, uprooting trees and scattering chunks of dirt through the air. I recoiled backward, throwing a frantic glance in every direction as the stones rose higher and higher out of the earth, surrounding us on three sides.

"What now?!" I yelled. Just when I thought the worst was behind us—suddenly this?! What even was this? Rock Tomb? Stone Edge?

"Well, look at what we have here. I never imagined I'd be lucky enough to find three of our experiments all in one spot."

What? I knew that voice from somewhere… but where? Razors had gone rigid, eyes wide and unblinking. I followed his gaze in the opposite direction to see a burly, dark-haired combat unit officer standing alongside a Rhydon and a Raticate at the entrance to the stone circle.

I stared, feeling a chill run down my spine. I recognized him. The lead experiment handler. Razors's old trainer—Tyson. What the hell was he doing here? Sure, he was on the combat unit, but… why here? Why now?! We hadn't run into him in months! Unless… unless he knew that a raid on the rebel base would give him an opportunity to recapture the experiments?

As if he'd noticed my staring, Tyson narrowed his eyes at me and said, "Yeah, don't think I've forgotten about that shit you and your friends pulled last time we met. But I'm not here for you." He held up a small, black computerized device.

"*No!*" Chibi cried, unleashing a vicious torrent of lightning. The electricity swerved to the right, missing Tyson completely and zeroing in on the Rhydon's nose horn. The Pikachu took a step back, momentarily dumbstruck, but then let out another cry and rushed straight at Tyson. Rhydon stepped forward to block him, moving way faster than it should have and taking the brunt of a Quick Attack like it was nothing. Seeing this, Stygian leveled her blade at the experiment handler and dashed forward, but before she'd cleared half the distance, the Raticate—a hybrid?—tackled her away from its trainer.

Chibi let out a pained cry, snapping my attention back to him in time to see that the Rhydon had grabbed hold of him with its giant foreclaws, squeezing him tightly while he swung his tail like a glowing blade. With an unimpressed grunt, the rock-type smashed him into the dirt. Once, twice, three times—it kept going. I stared helplessly. It hurt just to watch—each blow felt like a shockwave through my heart. After what felt like ages of that, the Rhydon finally stopped swinging Chibi around and pinned him under its fist, where the Pikachu continued to struggle against its hold.

"I don't have any patience for you today, number nine. You used that up a long time ago." Tyson leered at Razors. "On the other hand, you're the real prize here."

Razors was trembling all over, eyes screwed shut, shaking his head repeatedly as he dug his scythes into the dirt.

"*Let him go! I'll kill you!*" Chibi snarled, clawing at the dirt and swinging his Iron Tail wildly, to no avail. Each swing had less force than the previous one as he succumbed to the pain and exhaustion.

Had to do something. I could have my Pokémon attack him? Steal the device controlling Razors? Something?!

"Might want to think twice about bringing out any more Pokémon," Tyson said, pointing his handgun at me before I even managed to reach my belt. I froze, swallowing hard. Protect wouldn't do me any good if I couldn't even let them out without getting shot.

"So here's what we're gonna do," he said to Razors. "You're gonna listen to me like you're supposed to, you're gonna slice the rest of them to ribbons, including that damned rat, and then I am going to feel infinitely better about things."

Come on, think! I had to do something. Couldn't let out Firestorm or Swift without getting them shot. Couldn't recall Razors without his Pokéball. What to do. What to do?! Recall Chibi and make a break for it (and somehow not get shot in the process)? And leave Razors behind? No way—Chibi would never allow that. He'd just break out of his Pokéball and go back for him. But if he refused to fight Razors, and Tyson got full control of him, then…?

There had to be something! Come on, think!

Razors's frantic struggling gradually faded. The Scyther's eyes glazed over, dull and mindless as his movements slowed to a stop. He then turned to face the experiment handler, calmly awaiting orders.

A satisfied sneer spread across Tyson's face. "Good. Now kill the rat first. That little shit's given me enough headaches to last a lifetime."

Rhydon stepped backward, leaving the bruised, battered, and drained Pikachu lying in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"Chibi!" I shouted.

Razors bolted forward like lightning, blades outstretched. Time slowed to a crawl. I saw Chibi lift his head to stare brokenly at his friend, all fight gone from his eyes. Saw the exact moment he accepted that Razors was going to kill him.

And then the Scyther froze with his blade mere inches from Chibi's face. He blinked, his eyes flickering between mindless and frantic. Numb and in pain. Dead and alive. Every part of his body trembled.

"What are you doing?!" Tyson roared.

Razors locked eyes with Chibi. With a gargantuan effort, he wrenched his face into a forced smile.

"*I'm sorry.*"

In one swift motion, he raised an arm and drew a scythe across his own throat. Dark blood sprayed as his body jerked suddenly, then his legs gave out and his body fell to the ground with a dull thud.

"No!" Tyson shouted, his face instantly going white.

It felt like all the air had been sucked from my lungs. No way. No way. That had not just happened. No way. I stared stupidly at the sight, unable to process it. In an instant, he was gone. Just like that?

Chibi's mouth hung open, eyes wide with horror and Razors's blood splattered across his face. For several seconds, he didn't move—just stared unblinking at the Scyther's dying body, making an awful sort of choking noise. Slowly, shakily, he turned his gaze upward to focus on Tyson.

"*I'll fucking kill you!*"

The Pikachu shot forward, all exhaustion instantly turned into unbridled fury. Rhydon's eyes went wide, and it held its arms out to shield its trainer from the electric-type, but Chibi already had an Iron Tail ready and sent the armored beast reeling backward with a strike right between the eyes. It crashed onto its back, dazed and clutching its face in pain. And then Chibi turned his attention to Tyson, who blanched and recalled the rock-type before taking off running. He barely made it ten yards before the Pikachu caught him with a metallic blow to the leg, instantly snapping it sideways at a grotesque angle.

Tyson screamed. Chibi hadn't stopped screaming since it happened. And he continued screaming the entire time he stabbed the Rocket over and over with his tail as the blood stained his fur and his voice grew hoarse and his movements slowed until his eyes rolled back and he finally succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed.

It was like time had stopped. I stood frozen on the spot, staring blankly with my mouth open, the past few minutes a blur. I had to have imagined it. I had to. I blinked repeatedly, each time willing my surroundings to change. But the scene lay in front of me, the same as it had before.

At some point Stygian trotted over to my side, though I wasn't sure when. My attention snapped over to her, and for a sickening moment, my breath caught in my chest—the Absol was dripping with blood. But then some part of my brain managed to notice how the blood mostly ran down her right side. The side with the blade. The blade itself was covered—it wasn't her blood. My eyes slid behind her, where the experimental Raticate lay motionless aside from its matted fur rising and falling with each shuddering breath.

I flinched. Whatever, couldn't think about that now, had to focus on—I glanced back at where Chibi had fallen, but ended up catching another glimpse of Razors lying face-down in a pool of dark blood, and for a moment it was like that image was burned into my eyes and it was the only thing I was ever going to see again. Fighting back daggers of nausea tearing at my insides, I forced myself to look at anything else as I held out Chibi's Pokéball and recalled him.

"*You have him. There's no reason to linger here,*" Stygian said. Her words held a strange heaviness, and she didn't look me in the eye.

I exhaled slowly. She was right. And yet, for some reason it felt like I'd never be able to move from this spot. Because Razors was here, and we weren't leaving without him, but he was never moving again, so neither could I, and it didn't make any sense, but that was the loop my brain was stuck in.

I felt a nudge at my side, and my legs started walking of their own accord. I reached out an arm to steady myself and loosely grabbed a handful of fur. The Absol squinted at my hand, but didn't say anything.

The roar of the raging fire and the call of emergency sirens filled the air as we wandered in the direction that I'd last seen the rebels make their defense. Neither any Rockets nor rebels remained. I could only hope that meant the latter had escaped, and that the few Rockets that hadn't pursued Stalker had withdrawn after their targets had fled. But I knew better than to hope for the best. Not after everything that had happened so far.

And then Darren appeared in front of us in a burst of shimmering light. His expression was frazzled and anxious, but he was unharmed.

"You're okay?" I asked, taking a step backwards. But then I realized who wasn't with him. "Wait, where's Rudy?"

"He's alive, now come on," Darren said, outstretching a hand. I stared at it blankly until I realized that his other hand was holding his Kadabra's.

"Wait—Stygian can't be teleported and I don't have her Pokéball."

He frowned. "Where is it?"

I threw a useless glance back in the direction of the stadium. If it was still in Stalker's office, then it was long since melted. But wait! Could I put her in a new one?

"Tell me you have an empty Pokéball," I pleaded.

Darren nodded before quickly retrieving one from his backpack and handing it to me. I tapped it to Stygian's shoulder, and her form dissolved into it. Then Darren grabbed my hand and our surroundings melted into distorted light before re-forming into somewhere completely different. We were standing in the middle of the street in a small town. The polished red roof of a Pokémon Center stood out against a scattering of old wooden buildings, and the oppressive heat of the stadium fire had become a cool, salty breeze.

"This isn't… where are we?" I asked.

"Lavender Town Pokémon Center," Darren replied. "Sasha wasn't sure the Midnight one would be safe." I wasn't sure here was that much safer. But right now, anywhere was better than the stadium.

Cop cars and ambulances practically lined the street. A large crowd had gathered in front of the Pokécenter—rebels, Pokémon, police, nurses, bystanders. A handful of medical Blissey could be seen bobbing in and out of the crowd, gathering Pokéballs from some of the rebels. Panicked and crying kids were led inside the center by police Growlithe.

This was all too much. I closed my eyes, trying to block out the details while my brain struggled to process everything. A sickly nausea had wormed its way through my insides and didn't feel like leaving. I suddenly wanted to be anywhere else.

"I think Ray's group told them we evacuated from the fire on Midnight Island," Darren said quietly. "He didn't mention anything about us being targeted by Team Rocket."

I honestly couldn't tell if I agreed with that decision. My brain felt like it had slowed to a crawl, and each thought was like trudging through a mile of mud.

The sound of buzzing wings approached, and for a single, heart-stopping second, my brain latched onto the hope that Razors had come back. But no. That fantasy was dashed the moment I opened my eyes to see that Aros had landed in front of me.

"*Where's Stygian?*" the Flygon asked.

Rather than answer, I just pulled out the dark-type's new Pokéball and let her out. I then wandered toward the Pokécenter, suddenly desperate to get away from the crowd. I couldn't stand being out here and seeing any of this. I didn't want to acknowledge any of it. This was all wrong.

Inside the center was worse. Rebels—kids I'd lived with and battled with for four months—occupied all the couches in the small lobby. Crying, consoling each other, hugging their Pokémon tightly. I saw Zoe comforting Liam along with his Bayleef as he doubled over, sobbing. Kris, hugging her Furret, neither of her partners anywhere to be seen. I'd seen one of them die, right in front of me.

There'd been about fifteen kids outside, and another ten or so in here, which meant… My breath seized in my chest—almost two dozen rebels were unaccounted for. Some of them had fled elsewhere, they must have. But… there was no avoiding the sickening truth that most of them had died on Midnight Island. And that wasn't even counting how many of the survivors had lost Pokémon.

And then, for some reason, I properly realized that both of my partners were still alive.

"You said Rudy made it out?" I asked, turning to face Darren.

"Yeah," he replied. But there was a slight edge to his voice. Something was wrong. Something other than the attack itself.

"…Where is he?" I asked warily.

Darren's face fell, and his eyes shifted a bit. But then he pointed at the far end of the lobby. There, seated on a couch, was Rudy, face buried in his hands, shoulders trembling. My stomach curled inward on itself. He was safe at least, but something was definitely wrong. I walked over, my steps slow and cautious. Ebony was lying next to him, resting her head on his leg. The Houndoom glanced up at me with a worried look as I neared.

"Hey. You… you alright?" It was a stupid question. None of us were alright. Not after what had just happened.

"Wartortle's dead," Rudy croaked.

It was like the air had been sucked from the room. I must have misheard him. I must have.

"What?" was all I could say.

He took several slow, shaking breaths. "The Rockets were all surrounding us. He'd already used Protect a bunch, but… I didn't recall him. I thought he could handle it, I didn't think that… that…"

I sat down on the far end of the couch, staring at the floor in shock. And yet… an insidious voice in the back of my head kept telling me this wasn't shocking at all.

"I didn't want him to get hurt, I swear. I just… I wasn't thinking… I didn't realize…"

He hadn't realized. I hadn't realized. Hadn't realized that it had been like this the entire time. How many times had I noticed him being careless with Wartortle and just brushed it off? I figured it would all work out in the end, because… well, because why wouldn't it? Things had always worked out for him before.

I didn't think anything of it, so I never said anything, and now Wartortle was dead.

The urge to comfort Rudy flared up inside me, but what was there to say? Reassure him that it wasn't his fault? In other words, lie to his face? Pretend like it wasn't both inevitable from the way things had been going and also completely avoidable if anyone, including me, had ever stopped to say, "hey, maybe you should appreciate your starter more?" No, I'd rolled my eyes and thought, "ha ha, typical Rudy," and then ignored it.

Countless opportunities, all wasted. The image of Razors lying in a pool of blood flashed through my mind, distorting into Wartortle.

I couldn't handle this right now. I didn't know how to be there for him when I felt ready to collapse at any moment, and if that made me a bad friend, then I almost didn't even care because I'd already screwed up so many times that this paled in comparison.

"Take care of him, will you?" I said to Ebony, giving her a few half-hearted neck rubs. The firedog glanced in my direction and gave a light whimper. Of course this was hitting her hard—she'd lost a teammate. And on top of that… she was still just a pup, wasn't she? Even as a Houndoom?

I stood up from the couch and shuffled away. But since I didn't know where to go, I wound up wandering aimlessly around the lobby, lost in a daze. The scattered voices and crying all around me had blended into a distorted haze of sound that my brain didn't feel like sorting through. What was I supposed to do now? What were any of us supposed to do now?

It wasn't until my ears caught a familiar voice in Pokéspeech that I felt myself snap back into reality and turn in the direction of the noise to see Aros and Stygian at the front entrance with a rather confused nurse.

"These two say you're their trainer?" she asked.

"*I just said we don't have a trainer, but we're with her,*" Aros said exasperatedly.

I stared blankly for a few seconds before saying, "Yeah, they're with me. I guess." My face probably looked like I was willing to kill someone for a bit of rest. I vaguely wanted to rearrange it into something less hostile, but the message got lost halfway, so I wound up just staring at the floor.

The nurse gave me a sympathetic smile. "You're welcome to head on back to the trainer's dorm if you like," she said gently.

I blinked. "Right. Uh, come with me I guess," I said, motioning to the two clones.

My legs were on autopilot, shuffling against the carpet as I wandered down the hall, rounding the first corner I came to. I was met with a wide dormitory about the same size as the lobby and filled with a dozen or so bunks. A few kids were back here already. Three. That still left around twenty unaccounted for. I hated knowing that.

I stumbled over to the closest bed and plopped down onto it heavily, sliding my backpack off my shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. Aros and Stygian sat down in front of me, glancing around uncertainly.

"*So… uh… do we need to go inside a Pokéball to stay indoors?*" Aros asked in what sounded like genuine confusion.

"I'd feel safer if you didn't," I said immediately. I had no idea what the odds were that we'd be attacked here, but I didn't want to be without the experiments. Not now.

A sudden vibration from my pocket gave me pause. It took several seconds for me to realize that I hadn't imagined it—my R-com had just received a text message. Slowly, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the device. I pressed the button on its front to light up the screen.

It was a text message from Stalker.

By the time you all read this, I hopefully will have been able to draw the Rockets away from you. Otherwise, you won't be reading this.

The biggest danger to any of you right now is being connected to me. For that reason, I will not attempt to approach any of you. It's safer if they think I've abandoned the rebels. Stay in public, and stay together. Don't give them the opportunity to isolate you or single you out.

The Rebellion is over. But your real names and identities should still be safe—I've made sure of that. It's up to you what you want to do from now on. If I never see you again, thank you for being a part of the fight. Whether it seems like it or not, you made a difference. If you want to continue the fight, come to Johto. I lead the Johto Resistance there. I can offer its protection. You've all proven yourselves worthwhile allies. I'd be honored to have you on my side again.

Our identities were safe, he'd said. Not mine. Mine was compromised ever since the day Astrid pieced together who I was. With the Rebellion finished, would I ever be safe anywhere again?

The adrenaline was wearing off, leaving a tidal wave of smothering exhaustion in its wake. I was only dimly aware that I'd unclipped Swift and Firestorm's Pokéballs and opened them. Both of my Pokémon appeared alongside the bed and glanced around in confusion. Somewhere amidst the torrent of questions from Firestorm, I managed to mumble, "Ask them," gesturing vaguely in the experiments' direction. After that, I fell back onto the bed and didn't get up.