Part 5: Darkness Crushes The Sun, A Heaven On The World For One Means A Hell For Many Others
Daylan slowly entered Team Rocket's compound. It was guarded heavily by men with machine guns cradled in their arms and Houndour's by their sides. There were men in towers with sniper rifles, ready at a moment's notice to fire at anyone trying to infiltrate.
Daylan was escorted into a lobby. His Mewtwo was following close behind. They were both frisked and brought through a metal detector before they were cleared to go beyond the mint green linoleum lobby.
The hallway was like going through a doctor's office. Solid wood doors opened into small little office areas. The walls were covered in an awful wallpaper that seemed to have come from thirty years before. The floors were white tiles, smudged with dirt and grime from the shoes of many of Team Rocket's officers walking these halls.
The office and hospital like air and decor was simply a facade though. Because when you got to the end of the area there was a large steel door, guarded by two men and with multiple security cameras panning the room in case trouble came. The door was only opened by a retinal scanner.
One of Daylan's escorts walked to the scanner and placed his eye in it. There was a beep and the door opened up. Daylan and Mewtwo walked into the giant elevator.
It was like the ones you see in fancy hotels. The awful wallpaper returned, but it was also paneled at the bottom with oak and had a gold bar to hold on to.
Daylan and Mewtwo slumped against the back of the elevator as their escort punched some buttons and it descended.
The waves had been lapping gently against the shores of Rock Island, but now the waves had become giant, crashing onto the shore like a beast against it's cage. A storm was rolling in, a giant one. Possibly of hurricane proportions. Lightning fell from the sky and thunder boomed. The twelve battleships around the island were rocking back and forth, being thrown into the air as if they were toys by the waves.
But that was not the concern of the people on board. They were too preoccupied deploying units onto the island and preparing torpedoes to bring the canyon walls down and expose the criminals.
And as twenty men, machine guns cradled in arms and various Pokemon following along ran down the canyon and passed by the body of who used to be their commander, Xarosen, they steeled themselves for the earthquake about to come.
The man commanding the operation stood on the bridge of the command ship and had his hand on a trigger. He looked at the sheer cliff walls before him and grabbed his radio from it's perch on the bulkhead.
"Fire." He pressed down on the trigger and the ship shook for a second as a torpedo flew out of it's firing tube and toward the island.
When the first torpedo hit, shaking the island and blowing part of the canyon wall to smithereens, Sillindra had fallen backward and hit her head on a rock, passing out. Tsubaki ran to her but was tripped up by another rumble of the earth as a second torpedo struck the canyon.
Sean had fallen as well, finding that being on the ground was the optimum place as the canyon walls crumbled into the sea around them.
Oak had fallen and passed out as well.
And then the torpedo hit the canyon, and blew up. And the Godstone's shrine exploded and the canyon collapsed onto it.
Sean smiled. He had it's power. Now nobody else would ever get it. The idiots had destroyed one of their only saving graces.
It took all of a minute before the canyon walls surrounding the circular area of the island had fallen into the sea and the battleships moved closer. And it took only fifteen seconds more for troops to appear and grab the fallen Sean, Oak, Tsubaki, and Sillindra. Sean did not struggle, he was too shook up. And he couldn't do anything anyway when the butt of a gun smacked into the back of his head and darkness clouded his vision.
"It's done. We have captured them."
"Good. Is the Lucario in restraints? Is his power hindered? Because you know what will happen if you fail me."
"Yes sir. They are in the brig and there is no hope of escape. With eleven other battleships surrounding us, even if they did by some miracle escape they would be killed before they could get anywhere."
"There might be a double-agent on board your ship Gare. And if so, I want him exposed and killed. This situation becomes more and more annoying. Oak has friends. And they are in high places. My plans are coming to fruition. Daylan is here with the Darkrai DNA, the assassins are set, and I am sitting in my comfortable chair and enjoying watching everything on the televisions before me. Keep me happy like this, and maybe a promotion will be in order. Get them here, get them into the facility, get them locked up in here and I will come down myself with a shiny new general badge. General Gare, sounds good right?"
"Yes sir."
"Have a good trip home."
"Thank you sir."
Sean awoke with a start. A bucket of water had been thrown at his head and splashed against him. It was freezing. He opened his eyes and gasped, shaking his head. He looked around. All of his friends were crumpled on the floor of the brig, apparently knocked out by the earthquake or by the Rocket member's machine gun butts. He noticed he himself was in a chair, large metal clasps over his hands. He tried an aura sphere, but noticed that he couldn't do it. The power had been sucked out of him.
The man who had thrown the water at him strolled in front of Sean. He bent down and inspected the Lucario face of Sean. Sean flinched away. The man's large hands were slipped into leather gloves.
"You're the infamous Lucario?" The man laughed. "YOU are the one who killed Xarosen?"
"Killed 'im real good." Sean sneered.
The man laughed. He then punched Sean in his stomach. Sean was thrown straight-backed into the chair. Spittle fell from his mouth.
"Right now, you have no power. You have no fight! You have nothing! You are nothing! Xarosen was incompetent, a high school football player who had the muscle, but it was all a facade for the idiot beneath! I'm the real deal!"
"And you seem like the high school pretty boy, a narcissist and thinks he's above everyone else." Sean smiled.
"f*ck YOU!" The man punched the Lucario in the stomach twice. Sean steeled himself for it but the wind was still knocked from him. He was gasping for breath.
"YOU ARE NOTHING!"
Sean spit a bit of blood out of his mouth. "Quit being a puss*. Take the clasps off and get me out of the chair, then let's see who is nothing."
"Gare!" Yelled one of the people on the other side of the brig bars.
"I won't let this piece of sh*t get on my nerves."Gare turned around and walked toward the door. "Oak will be executed in an hour. Decide how to kill him for me."
"Yes sir!" The guard said, saluting Gare.
"And I'll be back for the Lucario later."
Sniper rifles are quite powerful weapons. Case in point, as the assassin stood on the roof of Oreburgh City's largest office building, he squeezed the trigger lightly and watched through the sites as the head of Sinnoh's president exploded like a watermelon full of C4.
The assassin ran for it, opening a Pokeball that contained a Charizard and flew away.
He had left his sniper rifle on the roof and etched onto it's barrel was a large "R". Team Rocket.
All across Sinnoh, assassins were taking out politicians, highly respected Pokemon trainers, and anyone with any sort of political power. And at every murder site a sniper rifle was found resting against a rooftop, an R etched into it's barrel.
PART 6: Weary of Darkness The Light Shines Through (1): The March of Legends
The people grow a dislike to war and campaign against it. But the peace talks, the marches, the anti-war riots that begin in the streets of once bustling towns and cities now reduced to nothing more than open-air insane asylum's fall on deaf ears. The man who ordered the political killings watches on in his office and taps his desk with his index finger, watching the computer before him and the television monitors all over the walls, watching as his men walk through their ships, through their zeppelins, start preparing for the imminent mobilization of an army. They train their Pokemon's in the many facilities found throughout the multiple Team Rocket bases, they start raising their Team Rocket flags in many towns and cities, prompting more riots.
And as the men and women who had once walked the world as prominent business people and writers and owners of households begin to show their rabid side, their bestial side, the Pokemon raging inside, they unknowingly tear their once perfect world down to the ruins they associated with Team Rocket's killings and slow take-over of Sinnoh. They started the fires, they started the violence in the streets, as Team Rocket stood with backs turned to these people, instead preparing the instruments that would bring these people back to their senses, show them that their blaming Team Rocket for all the problems was all for nothing and that the people they blamed were in fact going to bring a much better peace to the world. They may have shot the people put in place to keep the peace, but it was only for the protection of the people.
And as deluded as this sounded to normal ears, Team Rocket believed this. They saluted their flag fully knowing that their actions, though despised by the public, were for the reconstruction of a world that would have been nothing more but burning rubble had a competent leader not been set in place.
And the man in the white mask, the mysterious leader of Team Rocket, was that competent leader. He was the man who would be able to save the world from the threat of the crazy Pokemon that were killing here and there, making walking into the woods at night, or outside of town even, something nobody would think of; creating the town guards that carried rifles and protected their friends, family, and fellow townspeople from the ravenous Pokemon.
It would all play out exactly as the man in the white mask planned. Despite the fact he had been just taken over Team Rocket a month ago, he still had everything set up outside of Team Rocket, had the plans mapped out for months. He had gotten friends in Team Rocket, made his moves, took over. And now, Team Rocket was less a team, and more a militaristic agency.
The people blamed the killings on the war that was going to come, on the slow destruction of the world. But it is not the shot that starts the war, it is the intentions of the people behind the gun. And Team Rocket's intentions were perfectly righteous on every account.
The man in the white mask sat back in his chair and waited for the other team to make their move.
The hull of the ship cut through the giant waves. The storm above had become something of hurricane proportions. The people on the deck of the ship scrambled to the inside. The other eleven ships of the armada played a similar scene. Men and women grabbed ropes and tied everything down to the ship before running inside. Lightning crackled, thunder boomed. Rain pelted the deck, the heads of the navy-men, and hit the sea like bullets from a machine gun with a never-ending clip.
The lead ship tilted to the left and right, rocked up and down as it encountered waves. Tsubaki, Sillindra, and Oak were thrown about the brig, rolling on the floor, thrown against the wall, against the metal chair Sean was strapped into. Sean sat back against the chair, eyes closed and tried to keep calm. He wasn't too happy. He was held in the brig of a ship, he had been beaten by a Team Rocket officer while he was down.
He had promised himself that when he got out of his restraints, once the clasps over his arms that ate at his aura were gone, he would kill Gare. He would find him and show him true pain, show him the true power of a person provoked and pushed to the edge. He would die painfully, as should every member of Team Rocket.
Sean looked down at himself. When this was all over, he knew he was going to leave from civilization. He was going to head off, go to the place his human parents had left him, the place where all the Lucario collected. He would join them and stay there. He would live out a life without the violence and warring he had been encountering the past few days. He would forget everything, his days as a human, this war, and live life like a Lucario. He'd get a girlfriend, he'd just go on and see what the life of a Pokemon was truly like.
Tsubaki cried out as she hit the bulkhead again. She had been rolled around the room enough to frazzle anyone. She was crying. Her Pokemon were being held from her, they sat on a desk where a guard sat, watching videos on his computer. She was sick of everything that was happening. Her world was collapsing around her. She had seen more and more people be killed, she had seen the intent of everyone in destroying her and her friends. She had followed these people not just because she knew she would be in trouble without them, but because she wanted to go on an adventure. But instead of an adventure, she had unknowingly entered a war zone where only three people and a Lucario who used to be a man were the army against the unknown numbers of Team Rocket goons.
She fell to the floor again as the ship rocked and bumped into Sillindra. Sillindra was not crying, she was instead staring down. She had given up crying. She knew it was no good. Crying was only relieving herself of sadness at that moment, it did not erase that sadness that would continue through her life. She would live on with the memory of killing a person, of almost being killed until she grew old and withered. Tears could not erase that, and she could not cry every time the memory returned to her. Tears were worthless.
Oak didn't bother worrying about the rocking ship. On his mind at the moment was his death. It was imminent. There was no escape from this. He envisioned kneeling on the top of the ship, hands behind his heads, cradling the back of it. He envisioned Gare coming to him, pistol co*cked, and placing the cold metal against his head. He then heard the hammer smack against the slide, heard the loud boom that rang in the ears of everyone around.
This thought replayed again and again in his head and the butterflies rose in his stomach.
It seemed a miracle, almost an act of God, when a wave hit the front of the ship and sent the ship sixty degrees into the air. A Pokeball fell off of the desk as everyone was thrown against the back of the ship and the man's computer fell off the desk, crashing into pieces and sliding into the bars of the brig.
The Pokeball though, was small enough to fit through the bars and it was grabbed by Sillindra.
The other Pokeball's were being held onto by the guard who stared dumbly at Sillindra and the Pokeball grasped in her hands.
"Rayquaza, blew the hell out of this ship!" Whether it was a psychic link between girl and Pokemon or just pure luck that she was the one to grab her Pokemon's Pokeball and not the Pokeball of one of Oak's or Tsubaki's Pokemon was up for debate. But Rayquaza appeared in the brig, the room being too tight for him. He smacked his tail into the brigs wall and brought it around into the bars of the brig.
Sean watched this all happen and then watched as Rayquaza flew into the guard, knocking the Pokeballs from his hand. They rolled to Tsubaki and Oak. Rayquaza turned around to look at Sillindra. The body of the guard crumpled behind him, headless, blood spewing from his neck.
"Zangoose! Free Sean!" Tsubaki said, opening her Pokeball . Zangoose fell to the floor, still tilted slightly and ran to the chair. He cut the restraints and the clasps that were sucking the power from him.
Sean stood, rubbing his arms and he felt a feeling almost comparable to a high. His power returned to him, he felt amazing. His vision cleared, his muscles were not numb anymore. He looked back at his friends, all staring at him.
"Let's get the hell off this ship." Sean said. He smirked and he and his friends ran to the top of the ship as Rayquaza was sent to send fireballs at the other ships in the armada.
"Sir, what the hell is that?" Asked a captain on one of the ships in the armada as a giant green dragon slipped out of a large hole in the lead ship.
Gare responded on the lead ship. "Kill that thing! When the hell did they get a Pokemon like that?"
Before the captain on the ship could respond, he was engulfed in a fireball that took the bridge of the ship and destroyed everything on it and in it. Including every member of the crew in it the room or near it.
"sh*t!" Gare slammed the radio into it's holder. Then, his cell phone rang.
"Yes?" He answered.
"You have failed."
"I don't even understand how the hell they got out."
"Nonetheless, you have failed. You better capture them somehow. Kill everyone but the Lucario though. Shoot him in the knees or somewhere nonlethal. Then capture him. It's the easiest way."
"Sir, I wish to beat him half to death."
"Then do so. But make sure he is alive enough to accept my proposal and become my personal Pokemon."
"Yes sir. Enjoy the show."
"As long as the ending is happy, I shall."
Gare closed his cell phone and shoved it in his pants pocket. He grabbed the radio again. "ALL MEMBERS OF THE CREW, GRAB YOUR WEAPONS. SHOOT ON SITE. LEAVE THE LUCARIO FOR ME THOUGH. AND I KNOW YOUR LISTENING YOU LITTLE sh*t....
"...I'LL MEET YOU ON THE DECK!"
Sean vaulted up the steps and grabbed the head of a man coming at him, slamming it into the bulkhead. The man was instantly knocked out. Tsubaki followed with Zangoose and Oak and Sillindra followed behind her.
Sean was the first to enter the bridge. Zangoose ran in next, claws bared. Sean walked through slowly as Zangoose moved at seemingly the speed of light, tearing into the Team Rocket members, blood flying and heads rolling. Sean looked out and saw on the powerfully rocking deck a figure. The man he had promised himself would die.
As he neared the bridges giant window that looked onto the deck, he jumped sideways, leg held out. His leg made contact with the glass and he flew onto the deck, landing on his feet, despite the fact the deck was slanted to the right.
The rain pelted his head. The thunder rang in his ears.
"So the Lucario and his friends escape?"
"Gare."
"Yes?"
"Hell isn't the kind of place a puss* wants to go."
Gare bared his teeth. "You like to poke rabid animals, don't you?"
"I do enjoy the part where they bare their teeth, their eyes are full of artificial hate, and I can tell they have never brought death upon someone themselves, but sent his lackeys to do all of that."
"Let's end your talking!" Gare ran at Sean, fist held up high.
"You look like a little child wanting to get back at a bully."
Gare then slid, and despite the fact the ship was tilting to one side he still stayed on course. He stood when he got in front of Sean and lashed out, a vicious chop to the neck. Sean ducked under and a high kick was then aimed for his chin. He bent back as far as he could as the kick went over him.
He ended up falling on his ass and he was kicked in the face by Gare and sent through the air for a second, then back onto the deck.
Gare walked to him and grabbed his left ear and lifted him up. "You listen here you piece of sh*t! YOU'RE NOTHING!"
Sean looked up at him. "My feet are just dangling there."
"Huh?"
Sean may have been being held up and a foot off the ground, but he kicked high, right at Gare's chin. Gare bit down on his tongue and blood started to fall from his mouth in torrents. He let go of Sean and screamed.
"DAMN YOU!" Gare staggered for a second. He then spit the tip of his tongue out of his mouth, along with tons of blood. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Cat got your tongue?"
"MOTHERFRUCKTHER!"
Gare came at Sean. Sean jumped over his head, spinning. He used iron tail and as he flew over Gare's head he hit him between the eyes with it. Gare flew into the air.
And fell back down, hitting his head on the deck so hard that his skull cracked. Blood flew everywhere.
"Die." Sean stepped on his face, cracking his head into multiple pieces.
Professor Rowan stood on the head of his Gyrados, the reason for the giant waves. He was obscured from the view of the ships by the giant waves he had Gyrados create. If not for the giant waves he was creating, the storm would be a normal severe thunderstorm with some big waves, but not the tidal-like ones that were shaking up the armada that was slowly dwindling in numbers as the Rayquaza blew the ships to pieces. Half the armada had already sunk.
Professor Rowan had watched his friend Oak get captured on a news feed in which Oak was declared an outlaw, a killer, and needed to be executed immediately. He had rode out and found that the storm was perfect cover for the battle about to take place. Little did he know, though, that one of Oak's friends had a Rayquaza.
He had Gyrados head for the armada.
Sean looked down at his legs and noticed glass had been embedded in them. Gare, before his head had been crushed like a tomato, had shoved a handful of glass into his leg. Before Sean could scream, Tsubaki grabbed him and Sillindra yelled for Rayquaza to pick them up. Rayquaza landed on the deck and Tsubaki got Sean onto his back, then got up there herself, followed by Zangoose. Sillindra followed.
As Oak ran for the dragon he heard a cry. He looked over to the side of the boat and laughed. "ROWAN!"
"YEAH! MIND IF I RIDE WITH YOU?" He hopped onto the ship, called Gyrados back to his Pokeball and clasped hands with Oak.
"Great to see you!"
"Hop onboard! Were you and Gyrados the reasons for the waves?"
"Yes! I heard you were in trouble so ran out here as fast as I could to help!"
The two got onto the back of Rayquaza. "Head to my house." Rowan said. "I might have some things you would want."
Sinnoh's army marched. From scattered bases throughout the island they donned their helmets, their camouflage uniforms, their boots, their machine guns. They marched through forests, through valleys, through the remnants of once prospering towns now nothing more than rubble and ash, brought about by the riots and violence of the once peaceful people now reduced to the evil they despised.
They walked with their Pokemon by their sides, ate with their fellow soldiers and their Pokemon, and some found themselves in tears at what was taking place. They held onto necklaces containing pictures of their children, of their wives, of their family. They looked down at the engraved metal of their dog tags. These people,once Pokemon trainers, once business men, once students were now nothing more than numbers.
Through rain, through hail, through winds, through burning suns, through fog, through the night, through the day; they marched nonstop. Their eyes became weary, their muscles were sore. And those few precious hours of sleep they got were usually interrupted by the butterflies in their stomachs, by the cries of wild Pokemon.
The place where the army was formed up was the largest field on Sinnoh. The grass waved in a slight breeze, the sun beat down on the field. The men and women with weapons ready ate, slept, set up camps, and waited here. Team Rocket's army would eventually come, and everyone's morale was raised by repeated chants of "FREE SINNOH!" "SINNOH ARMY IS THE ARMY OF THE WORLD!" and other such cries. The Sinnoh flag was waved and Pokemon battles enlivened the otherwise very dull, but patriotic, days.
"Please, take a seat." The masked man stood from behind his desk motioned for Daylan to sit in the red leather chair on the other side. Daylan took it thankfully and Mewtwo stood beside the chair.
A butler walked into the room with two skinny stem glasses, each bubbling with a clear liquid. The butler placed one before both of the men and bowed before walking away.
"Cheers." The masked man grabbed his glass by the stem and touched glasses with Daylan. They both took a sip of the champagne cheerfully.
Daylan put his glass down first and steepled his fingers in his lap.
"You did not bring me here for this frivolity I hope? You know I am a busy man."
The masked man laughed. "I know quite well that stealing and killing is a very profitable and very time consuming job."
"You of all people would Mr. Leader of Team Rocket." Daylan said mockingly.
"Touche."
"I am assuming you want the Darkrai DNA. And you have a price."
"I like a man who cuts right to the chase, it makes all business transactions so much easier, and saves so much time and so much frivolous talking."
"I would assume you would have had your butler bring champagne in every time I finished the previous one out. Get me drunk, buy the DNA for a small price."
The masked man clapped his hands. "I'm working with a true professional."
"You're not working with anyone...yet."
"I don't want the Darkrai DNA, it's worthless to me without someone who can operate a cloning machine and structure a body for the creature. As such, I wish to hire your services."
Daylan took a sip from his champagne. "Money?"
"Five million up front, seven hundred an hour."
Daylan nearly spit out his champagne.
"That sound good?"
"Get me the machinery. Get me the man power I need and I think we have a deal."
The masked man sat back in his chair. He knew that Daylan was a wild card, he had no idea if he would turn around and use the Darkrai to destroy the Team Rocket base. But a loose cannon made things more interesting. And more than likely, as usually happened, everything would be alright and go exactly to plan.
PART 7: Weary of Darkness The Light Shines Through (2): In Exchange For Freedom They Will Never Experience They Give Up Their Lives
Is there ever a point in time when the people think of their futures as they riot? Is there ever a point in time where the well-being of others, not themselves, is prominent in their minds? Is there ever a point in time when they stop watching the news, listening to the tabloids, taking sides on political issues and battling , and sit down and discuss a plan to make the world better? Do these people ever think ahead to a time when they can work together to build the world up, instead of continually tearing it down in order to build something of equal worth in it's place?
The human race, as a species is a complete failure as many scientists would tell you who read science fiction every day and believe that aliens created them. And the sad thing is, these people would be violently assaulted outside of their homes or work places, their ideas would be shunned. And thus they prove their point that as a species, they were failures. A species should be built to help each other and work together to prosper in the harshness of the world, not add to the harshness.
And as these riots took place in the streets, as the army mobilized in the field, as Team Rocket prepared their army in the hollow bunkers underneath the feet of the people with picket signs and screaming for freedom and peace the people raged at themselves now, instead of Team Rocket as they had been just a day before.
And as the streets became clogged with protestors and enthusiasts a scientist watches down on them, lab coat fluttering out behind him in the breeze and a tear drops from his left eye and drops to the ground like rain. As it patters on the exposed pavement of a sidewalk he himself walks off the building and drops, playing a repeat of the scene of the tear. As the tear struck the ground and exploded in a splash, so too does his head.
Gary Oak held his cellphone in his hand, opened up. His grandfather's number had just been dialed, and he was hoping to speak to him on voice mail. But a woman's automated voice responded that the number he had dialed was out of service.
He was fearful for his grandfather. He was wanted and his face was played on the news almost everyday, a large sum of money being paid for his head.
Gary shut the phone and tilted the chair back a little and let his thoughts connect.
The images being displayed on the television were grainy, as if there was some sort of electrical interference. It showed crowds of people in the street, screaming, yelling, fighting. The police were out there in full force, Officer Jenny at the forefront, throwing gas into the crowd. But the crowd was violent, crazy and forced their way over the police line and started beating the authorities. As this was happening, off to the side of the scene the camera was picking up a man dropped to the ground and his head exploded in a gory mess. The bar that scrolled at the bottom of the screen declared this a nightmare, and the woman on the news that was doing the voice over said that she thought the end of the world could be coming.
Rowan turned the television off and threw the remote onto the coffee table that his feet rested on. He sat back in the sofa in his living room, Oak sitting on the other cushion of the seat. Sean was asleep on the floor like a baby and Sillindra and Tsubaki sat in arm chairs, eyes watery as they watched the world turn into a place no one should live in.
"Why do they do this?" Tsubaki asked. It was actually directed at anyone, it appeared to be more a question to herself, but Rowan answered.
"This is what happens when a people are pushed to the edge. Team Rocket has killed their idols. Political killings, especially of this variety turn people into monsters. Suddenly, the political tensions between both parties escalate beyond when one party had a person in office, and politics becomes a cause for civil war. It's rather pathetic really. These people march in the streets, fighting over their ideals as Team Rocket sits back and uses the turmoil of the people to their advantage."
"It's an ingenious tactic." Oak chipped in. "Turn the people into monsters, turn the people into raging fanatics. Make the religions combat each other, make the political parties combat each other, leave open the seats in government and watch everyone give their two cents. The radicals appear as leaders and the radicals tend toward violence more often than not. And Team Rocket hides behind this to send in their leaders, the radicals more than likely. And then these people get political power and Team Rocket owns Sinnoh. Easy."
"Makes me glad I'm not a human anymore." Sean responded from the floor. The complete story had been told to Rowan as they traveled on Rayquaza to his home.
"I just wondered this Mr..." Rowan asked, intent on finding out a last name.
"I don't have a last name, my parents left me in a cave with a bunch of Lucario and a dog tag that said that my name was Sean and they loved me a lot, but they didn't want me to be in the pain they were going through. Call me Sean, though if you started calling me Lucario I would accept that as well. I feel rather happy not being a human anymore."
"Well, let's say your name is Sean Lucario." Tsubaki looked back at Sean and smiled.
Sillindra was smiling to. "Or maybe we should just call him Lucario. If I could be disassociated with these people I would take that chance."
Lucario yawned and sat up. He grabbed his knees close and looked at Rowan. "You were wondering something Rowan?"
"Yes." He stroked the stubble on his chin for a moment. "I was wondering what your intentions were with this group."
"What do you mean?" Lucario tilted his head to the side, perplexed.
"A couple things about your story stand out to me. Why are you following these people? Why are you fighting Team Rocket when you could easily walk away and go find your Lucario family and live the rest of your life away from everything that happens?"
"Because you need my help. I don't think you could stand up to Team Rocket by yourself. They tried to kill me, Sillindra, Oak."
"But you were just collateral, they didn't have anything against you." Everybody was staring at Lucario with wide eyes. They had no idea if maybe this Lucario was set into the group. Maybe it was all a conspiracy.
"Sillindra had given me a home for six months, had given me a roof over my head! She had bought both of me food. She has done more for me than any human I've ever met."
"What stake do you have in this war? People don't protect each other for petty reasons like that. She was thinking of the scientific implications of discovering why you turned into a Lucario and you knew it. She was after money, she knew it would pay tenfold for your costs in the end."
"That's not true!" Sillindra yelped.
"Rowan..." Oak grabbed him by the shoulder.
Lucario stood, fire in his eyes. "You just come along and save us, we don't even stay in your house a night and you are already trying to start problems. Are you sure you yourself aren't an agent of Team Rocket since that's basically what you are implying? If you people believe that I'm a nuisance, that I'm a loose cannon, that you can't trust me, than you can thank me for saving your asses multiple times when we meet in hell. The only difference when we meet is the fact that I'll have lived out my life after this happened. All of you will have been in hell since I left and Team Rocket killed you all."
Tsubaki ran up to Lucario and grabbed him. "Don't go, we don't believe that." She looked at everyone, staring at her. "At least, I don't. You saved us a bunch of times and beat those two bad Team Rocket guys." She tried to avoid the word "kill".
Lucario looked at everyone else. "Then follow me and we can go destroy Team Rocket. I don't need people on my side who are too busy second-guessing me to care about everything that happens." He looked down at his leg. The glass had been removed an hour before the conversation started.
"Rowan, what the hell are you trying to do?" Oak stood, glaring at his companion in science.
"I'm only trying to protect you. Everyone's stakes in this war seem worthy, except for that Lucario's. He could be the death of you if you don't watch your back. In this war you can't trust anyone." Rowan stood as well and got into Oak's face.
"Then how do we know we can trust you Rowan?" Tsubaki asked.
"I saved you back there, I helped you get out of that tight spot, I helped destroy the armada."
"Collateral damage." Sillindra looked up from her chair and had a menacing smile on her face.
"So we can't trust Rowan." Tsuabki said, still holding onto Lucario's arm.
"Precisely." Lucario muttered. He shook Tsubaki off his arm and in one giant leap landed twenty feet away, right in between Oak and Rowan.
"I've got a family!" Rowan was on his knees now. "They threatened to kill my wife and daughter if I didn't follow their precise instructions."
"What was tearing us apart going to accomplish?" Lucario asked menacingly.
"Assassins were going to take up positions all over and pick you off one by one. You would be captured and taken to the man in charge of Team Rocket..."
"Who leads Team Rocket? What's his name?" Lucario grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him off the ground. "WHO'S BEEN PULLING THE f*ckING STRINGS!?"
Suddenly, in a split second, the window exploded in a shower of glass and Rowan's head exploded all over Lucario.
The girls looked away and screeched. Oak pulled the pistol from his trousers. Lucario threw the body to the side and licked the blood from his lips. His whole face was red.
And then a little girl walked into the house. She saw her dead father, and ran to him, slipping in his blood and falling on her ass.
Lucario walked out. "Sorry kid. You don't want to join him, I'd advise staying low."
The little girl turned her tear streaked face to the Lucario. "THEY KILLED MY MOTHER!" She ran at the Lucario and punching his leg where bandages had been applied from the glass. He fell to the ground and grunted. "YOU'RE ONE OF THEM! I SWEAR TO GOD I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Lucario stood. Tsubaki was crying, Sillindra just watched on. Oak was checking his pistol.
"Hate me kid." He ruffled her hair. "When you're old enough and feel ready, leave a message in this exact place. Tell me a place to meet you and we'll settle it. How old are you kid?"
"Twelve."
"I'll see you soon enough. I'm sorry kid. I'm sorry you were brought into a world like this." Lucario turned around and walked to the door.
"You promise to meet me?" The kid asked.
Lucario looked over his shoulder. "Yes." He then grabbed the door handle.
"What are you doing?" Oak asked. "You want to kill us all?"
"I heard a train stopping at the station. I'll create an aura shield that will get us over there safely. Hop on board, cover my ass because by then I'll more than likely be passed out. That's gonna suck a lot of power from me."
And that's what happened. As they hid in the shield, as bullets bounced off it, Sillindra looked at Lucario, disgusted. "You basically sealed the death of that little girl."
"I've decided I more than likely won't be alive enough to meet her when she feels ready."
They got on the train platform and ran onto the train. Lucario made the shield disappear and lay against the back of the car they had gotten on to.
Sillindra and Tsubaki threw out their Pokemon and looked back at Lucario.
Tsubaki thought his intentions were righteous and that he was the person he said he was.
But Sillindra was growing doubts. And how he dealt with Rowan's kid just helped seal the deal. Maybe there was something more to this Lucario who used to be a man.
Or maybe there wasn't and his intentions were pure. But at the moment, they needed to focus on the problem at hand. The train started to move and they all knew the assassins would not quit their job until Sillindra, Tsubaki, and Oak were dead, Lucario was captured; or the assassins themselves were killed.
"They fell for Rowan like idiots. He was about to rat us out anyway. Do as I instructed and you will be handsomely rewarded." The masked man hung up his phone and looked across his desk at Daylan.
"You usually have problems like that?" He asked.
"The problem will be eradicated soon enough."
PART 8:Weary Of The Darkness The Light Shines Though (3): Human Fallacies Pervert The Minds Of Heroes
Daylan stood before the large tube structure sitting in the high tech laboratory in Team Rocket headquarters. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he looked at the tube, containing a bluish liquid with half a spine floating in it, four cables holding onto it. Yesterday there had been nothing in the tube but the bluish liquid and the cloned Darkrai DNA. And now, a day later, developments were taking place. It was a rather quick development time Daylan thought, looking over at Mewtwo, who sat against the wall, staring at the ceiling. Mewtwo had taken three months to develop in the tube. Perhaps the Darkrai DNA was stronger, more potent. The bluish liquid that the spine was suspended in was able to take the DNA. The liquid could then change it's molecular makeup and turn into whatever the DNA wished. It was a rather slow process, but to think that it was so easy to create a being.
If the public caught wind of these processes there would more than likely be an uproar from some group declaring it was incorrect for humans to create beings. But the only God for Daylan was science. And he clung to her like a baby to the breast of her mother.
He turned around and looked at the rows of consoles against the walls and in the center of the concrete bunker twenty stories under the ground. Scientists in lab coats and some in safety goggles were staring at the computer screens, some were playing with chemical compounds, and others still had their legs up on their computers and lay back with a paperback in hand.
Science. An ever changing religion that did not require a commitment.
The train car was quiet. As the train headed deeper and deeper into the darkness of Sinnoh's night the rocking became worse and worse. The assassins were somewhere, they could be on top, under, to the sides. They were not hired to be up close and in your face killers. They were hired to make it quick.
As Lucario sat back and tried to take a breather he watched the ever changing landscape outside. First it was fields, then forest, now they were crossing a river. He looked over at his companions. He had given up calling Oak and Sillindra friends. Friends didn't have suspicions about their other friend's allegiances. Tsubaki was the only one who thought Lucario's motives were all right. And Lucario was fine with that.
Rayquaza had been flying alongside the train. Zangoose and Gengar had taken up positions up top. It appeared that everything was secure. Maybe the assassins had not followed them onto the train. Maybe they didn't have enough time to pack up their snipers and hop aboard.
Oak stood in front of the left door of the car, staring out at the stars and the landscape. Sillindra slept in the corner of the car opposite Lucario. Tsubaki sat back next to Lucario. She looked at him.
"It's been rough lately. Everyone is on edge."
Lucario looked at her. "You don't seem to be too on edge."
She smiled. "I haven't had quite as traumatic a time as Sillindra. And Oak trusts you. I know he does. He even stood up for you in Rowan's house. We can stay united, we just need to establish better trust I guess."
Lucario lay down on the floor of the car and stared at the ceiling. "Sillindra doesn't like me or my style. Despite the fact she says it wasn't just the money that kept me in the house, she is telling a half lie. She wanted to uncover a huge scientific discovery, she wanted to be famous and make money. Thing is, Team Rocket's advances into politics and attacks against all of Sinnoh would have taken her fame from her in two seconds. She wouldn't have made any money at all because everyone would be too busy rioting and killing each other to care about some guy who turned into a Lucario. Some would probably be envious of my situation. People watching the news from the TV would probably wish they could cast their human chains away and become a Pokemon of some sort, free to live their lives without caring about the human's and their situations and stupidities."
Tsubaki looked at Sillindra. "I think it will take some time, but she will grow to like having you along. You're fun to talk to. I understand what you do. I understand why you did that to that girl, you knew she would want revenge, you might as well play into it. You're a good person at heart, you just show it in a particularly peculiar way. "
"I hate everything about this situation. I hate that we are reduced to this. I hate the fact you got stuck in the situation. I hate the fact Sillindra got stuck in this situation. I still hate the fact Oak got us into this."
"But..."
"He should have been more careful!" Lucario said it without showing any anger. "He should have not worried about science and being rich from watching a man turn into a Lucario. He should have cared more about the safety of everyone involved. He knew he was being chased by Rocket. He's a reckless old bastard."
Tsubaki did not know how to respond. She just lay against the back of the train car and let the gentle rocking of the train rock her to sleep.
"Hey Oak?" Lucario asked when Tsubaki was asleep.
"Yeah?" He asked, walking over from the position he had been fixed at for the past hour and a half.
"Go to sleep. You'll need it."
"Whose gonna keep a watch?"
"The other Pokemon."
Oak sat down. "If this is the death of us..."
"Everyone will blame you for dragging us into this damn mess."
Oak lay back and blew out a long breath. "Alright then."
Everyone woke up with to the sound of helicopter rotors and spotlights playing on them. Rayquaza tried to attack but machine guns tore into it. Oak grabbed his measly pistol and aimed it at the helicopter on the left side. The one on the right descended and a man jumped into the train car from it. He held a katana. He was clad in all black with a bulletproof vest and two pistols on either side of his waist.
Lucario stood and heard a thud. Rayquaza had fallen on top of the train. Zangoose suddenly showed up behind the assassin. But before the Pokemon could attack the man turned around and kicked out, sending the Pokemon through the air and to the back of the car, into Sillindra. She fell with Zangoose in her hands. A sharp snap had been heard when Zangoose impacted Sillindra. Lucario assumed one or two of her ribs had been broken.
"ZANGOOSE!" Tsubaki yelled as the assassin ran at her, katana twirling to his side.
Before it could cleave into her head, Lucario showed up and parried the attack with the spike on his left hand.
But before the fight could intensify there was a shrill screech as a rocket escaped one of the helicopters and blew the front of the train away. The whole train jumped and started to tilt to one side, threatening to fall over.
"Son of a bitch!" Lucario yelped, trying to keep his balance as the assassin tried to cut him up. Lucario dodged under the attack and then another missile went off, blowing the back of the train apart and off the track.
The middle part of the train, the part Lucario and company were fighting on, fell off the track and they all fell to the side as it slid down the grass and stopped when it hit a tree. Everyone in the fallen train car was beaten pretty bad by the slide. Except for the assassin.
A rope fell into the left window, which was now the ceiling of the train car on it's right side. Assassins slid down it and grabbed the girls, then Oak, and then Lucario.
"It's over sir. The targets have been captured."
One of the two helicopters hovered over their heads as they were escorted to the other helicopter. Sillindra, Tsubaki, Lucario, and Oak were handcuffed. Zangoose was left in the train car, dead. As was Rayquaza.
But Tsubaki knew Gengar was around somewhere. He couldn't have been killed in by the missiles that had destroyed the front and back of the train. He had to be alive.
But before she could ponder this any further she watched as Oak was pushed ahead of them and thrown to his knees. The four assassins then pointed machine guns at him.
"NO!" Tsubaki cried.
A tear rolled down Oak's cheek.
And then the machine guns did their job and tore Oak into pieces of meat.
"It is done. Send the army to the fields. The minor nuisances are done for. Declare war. Sinnoh is ours today Team Rocket." The man in the white mask sat back in his leather chair and enjoyed the cries of joy of Team Rocket members all throughout Sinnoh.
Despite the fact it had just begun, it was over. Sinnoh had no chance. It was theirs.
Lucario was still too weak to use any sort of aura attack. He looked up at the sky and noticed a green blur heading toward the helicopter.
The man in the white mask watched the live feed from his helicopters and saw the green blur and nearly spit out his champagne.
Rayquaza ran into the helicopter full force and sent it through the air like a toy. Blood was pouring from it's wounds and it was breathing hard. It's eyes were glazing over, as if it was almost dead.
"NO!" Sillindra cried as Rayquaza looked down at her, then turned back to the helicopter and used the last of it's strength to hurl the biggest fireball it had ever shot at the helicopter. It fell to the ground, dead, as the fireball hit the helicopter and obliterated it.
"Son of a bitch!" The man in the white mask stood and threw his glass at the television screen which showed the fireball one second, and then a black screen the next. He punched the intercom and yelled. "IT'S NOT OVER!"
And the cries of joy and the parties and the beers being passed around all stopped.
Gengar appeared behind the assassins as they stared in awe at the falling dragon. Rayquaza fell to the ground with a wet slapping sound.
Sillindra was on her knees crying.
And as the assassins turned around to face the Gengar, sticking it's tongue out mockingly, Zangoose somersaulted over the body of Rayqauza and used it's claws to snap the handcuffs off of Lucario, Sillindra, and Tsubaki.
One of the assassins turned just in time to get a face full of Lucario foot. The man fell to the ground and Lucario fell on top of him and smashed his head into the ground repeatedly until his brain was so shook up he died.
One of the assassins looked down at his neck only to find the claws of Zangoose through it. Blood spurted from the wound and he tried to scream but only gurgled blood.
Lucario grabbed the machine gun from the hand of one of the assassins and shoved the barrel through his eye, into his brain. The man fell dead, machine gun embedded in his skull.
And then, there was only one, the one with the katana. And he held it out to his side and stared at the Lucario. The Lucario was his first problem. The girls would come next.
The masked man screamed as he watched his assassins be taken out so easily. Only one was left but there was little hope.
"f*ck!" The masked man punched the television displaying the battle between the leader of the assassins and the Lucario. There was a short electric shock, but the man in the mask felt no pain. His suit absorbed the shock.
His butler stood in the doorway to his office and watched all of this transpire with a consistently straight face.
Lucario moved to the side as the assassin thrusted his sword toward Lucario's stomach.
And then, Lucario felt pain. Total pain. His chest had been cut, shallowly, but blood still frothed from the wound.
"NO!" Tsubaki cried as she pulled the machine gun from the eye socket of the dead assassin.
Daylan had hacked into the live camera feed and watched from the camera in the helicopter a scene almost hilarious. Team Rocket was so powerful it was being defeated by two girls and a Lucario.
"I know the boss is pissed. He thought it was over." He said to the scientists crowding around the computer playing the feed. "But it's only just begun."
Lucario fell to the ground and watched as Tsubaki shot the whole clip into the assassin like a true professional. She then fell to her knees and looked back at Lucario.
"She's different from the rest of us. Not in a bad way though." Lucario muttered as the body of the assassin fell on top of him.
The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon when Lucario awoke. And as he stood, he noticed he had been taken away from the scene of the violence. He noticed Tsubaki on the shore of the beach that they were apparently at. He had been laying in grass in front of the sand. He walked over to Tsubaki and looked out at the ocean with her.
"Good morning." She said.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"Sillindra stole Oak's Pokemon and knocked me out. She must have grabbed us and had Dragonite take us here."
"And where did she go?"
"If I told you I don't think she works for Rocket but has an agenda of her own would you believe me?"
Lucario looked at the sun for a moment. "Come on. Let's head toward a city. We'll see her again. I have a feeling we will."
Tsubaki followed him off the beach.
----------------------------
TO: Gary Oak
FROM: Sillindra
SUBJECT: Your Grandfather
I'm so sorry Gary.
I have run from Team Rocket and I am staying at the Pokemon Sciences Research Lab. I have learned much in the past couple days and as such wish to tell the scientific community my discoveries.
I'm sorry to everyone involved. And if you see a girl named Tsubaki and a Lucario please tell them I'm sorry but I need to escape and break away from them. I don't ever want to see them again.
----------------------------------
Sillindra looked up from the computer. She hit send and tears threatened to well in her eyes. The pain from her broken ribs had left her now, but it was the emotions that made her cry as she did.
"I'm sorry Tsubaki, Sean. But I must recreate the Godstone." She pulled a shard of the stone from her pocket. She had taken it on the island before passing out, when the torpedo had destroyed the Godstone shrine, a small piece had slid close to her.
She looked at it.
Science was a religion all scientists said, that had no commitment.
That's because there wasn't a commitment you had to accept from anyone else when you became a scientist. It was a commitment you yourself created.
It's not my best work because I didn't have a plot outline or anything, so I was just as surprised as anyone when characters did what they did. The next book shall have much better flow than this did.
