Battle of the Regions

This story is a direct copy from the Gemakei forums. I wrote the part of Kyle in part two.
It is not edited in any fashion, so please enjoy!

Battle of the Regions PART ONE | Battle of the Regions PART TWO

The Original Story [from D/P]–

In the beginning, there was only
a churning turmoil of chaos.
At the heart of chaos, where all
Things became one, appeared an Egg.
Having tumbled from the vortex, the
Egg gave rise to the Original One.
From itself, two beings the Original
One did make.
Time started to spin.
Space began to expand.
From itself again, three living things
The Original One did make.
The two beings wished, and from them,
Matter came to be.
The three living things wished, and
From them, spirit came to be.
The world created, the Original One
Took to unyielding sleep…

The Final Story–

In the end, there was only
A churning turmoil of chaos.
Before, at the heart of chaos, where all
Places will become one and time will reminisce, appeared a Man.
Having tumbled through the vortex, the
Man gave rise to the Original One.
From itself, two beings the Original
One did take.
Time brought forth the past.
Space merged regions together.
From itself again, three living things
The Original One did take.
The two beings wished, and from them,
Matter ceased to be.
The three living things wished, and
From them, spirit ceased to be.
The world destroyed, the Original One
Took once more to unyielding sleep…

–Prologue–

The man rose from his throne. In front of him struggled the Original One, who was bound in powerful chains.
“Arceus,” the man spoke.
The Original One responded by trying to free itself, evidently hating the man.
“The Prophecy–the Final Story–demands of me to do this. I must create chaos. I must,” he said with gritted teeth, “destroy everything.”
Walking down the steps to face the Original One, the man smiled. “In 168 hours, life as we know it will cease. With your aid, the Five will cause utter destruction, chaos, the end of matter, the end of emotion. Chaos… will rule.”
Angered, the Original One attempted to open its mouth to attack the man, but the chains wrapping around it held it still.
“Time is ticking,” said the man. He laughed.

~Narrator~

Part I — Countdown to Doomsday: 167 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds

With the Original One held hostage by a ruthless man, time is running out. Desperate for any kind of help, Arceus goes to its last resort and triggers the unique effects of its many Plates. Now, Sinnoh is running amok when cities, fields and the underground receive catastrophic devastations. Avalanches erupt near Snowpoint City. Mass swarms of Bug Pokemon fly about near the Old Chateau. In Amnity Square, ghosts appear and frighten passerby. The Plates are causing these incidents, but no one is aware of their existence.

Destiny is bringing forth heroes. These heroes are not special; they are just a group of curious, questioning people whom fate chose to save their world. This is their story.

This is… the Battle of the Regions.

POV: Kaleb
Location: Unknown area after stowing away on an airplane

DAMN! No words can possible describe how happy I was to have gotten out of that suitcase! First of all, it was tight, and made me practically claustrophobic. Second, I got motion sickness, barfed up, and made the case smell one hell of a lot worse. Not that it smelled very good in the first place, it was loaded with extremely sharp smelling perfume. So there I was, Sinnoh. At the time, I had no idea where I was. I needed a map oh so damn badly. I rushed out into town, looking for someone to tell me where I was. This was a huge city, so I didn’t want to get lost. Eventually, I ran smack into some blond girl, who immediately screamed and told me I smelled like barf, even though she started smiling all the sudden, and automatically, this is what came out of my mouth:
“Can you please tell me just where the hell I am?!”
She replied “Can you please not be so rude? Ask it to me nicer”
“Look, I-”
“Ask me nicer”
“OKAY! May you please tell me where I am? There, happy?”
“Now was that so hard? Okay, you are in Hearthrome city, the largest city in Sinnoh!”
“Okay, thanks…” I knew this was gonna be painful, but I had to continue the conversation. I needed to know how to get to Canalave City. I had to go to the Library
“Is it near Canalave City?”
“Oh no. Canalave is miles away, near the west coast. You are dead-center in the middle of Sinnoh. Sorry!”
“Well, shit! That complicates things”
“I told you, DON’T BE RUDE! Well, here’s a map of Sinnoh, since I can tell you are lost. I’m Cindy by the way”
“Kaleb”
“That’s a nice name! How’d you get here anyway?”
“It’s a long story, and I’ve gotta go, so bye.”
“It’s getting kind of dark. Do you need a place to stay? Our house has an extra room, and my parents would be happy to let you in-”
“no, I’ve gotta go. BYE”
“Bye Kaleb! It was nice to meet you!”
Honestly, I would have rather relived the suitcase moment than done what I had just done, but oh well, it benefited me, and then I knew where I was. I then started walking down route 208, as that was the way to Canalave city. Cindy was right, it was getting dark. Before long, it was evening. No one was around except me. I was just walking along. It was then that I heard a growl. Or at least thought I heard one. Soon, I heard footsteps, it was getting REALLY scary. Then, out of nowhere, I heard a roar, and an orange blur was zooming by, when it came towards me and pounced me down to the ground. And when I saw it’s face, it scared the absolute shit out of me.

POV– Comrade
Location– Right outside Snowpoint City
Countdown to Doomsday– 167 hours, 58 minutes, 35 seconds

The one thing I love to do is go trek snowy mountains with Niveus. Why? I don’t know, it’s just something I owe the Pokemon world. Ever since Niveus saved me from an avalanche, I couldn’t help but feel that I was meant for something big. Something that needed me.
And yet here I am, walking down Route 217 with my female Glaceon, enjoying the cold breeze.
We were just passing another hill when a sudden crack in the air caused us to topple on the snow.
“Holy sh–”
“Yuuu!” Niveus cried. Then, thousands of cries erupted throughout the area. I didn’t understand, or was able to, the sudden change of habit of the Pokemon in the route. It was as if they were in pain, including my Niveus.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Nuu…” it whimpered.

And then I saw it. The shiny substance rising from the snow. It rose, standing about 10 feet tall. It looked like some kind of plate… a bright blue one. But I couldn’t think about the color, because now snow and ice circled around it like an orb, until I couldn’t see the plate.
“KINEKLUCLU!” a sound came from the orb. It was like nothing I had heard before. It sounded strained, almost hurt… “KINEKLUCLU!” With another cry, the orb exploded. Even though the diameter of it was no more than two feet long, the explosion caused a ton of snow and ice to fly about, soaring everywhere. My Niveus, although pained, had enough strength to raise her fur so that her whole body looked like a thousand needles. Her sudden move once again saved me, for if she hadn’t done that, I would have been peppered by ice. The needles trapped the oncoming attack, and I shamefully hid behind Niveus.
Clutching her like mad, I kneeled in the same position for perhaps five minutes. After seeing that there was no more flying ice, I sighed and walked to the place where the plate had been.
What I saw again astounded me. Every Ice-type Pokemon I knew of was surrounding the plate, which was on the snowy ground, looking at it with sorrow. My Glaceon left me and joined their service.
What in the world is going on here?

POV–Rena (3rd person)
Location–Celadon City, Kanto
Countdown to Doomsday: 167 hours, 58 minutes, 10 seconds

Rena bobbed her head as she skipped to the Game Corner in the heart of the city. Her single Pokeball clipped to her belt, she proudly swayed, in her tight Rocket suit, and winked at passerby.

“You’re late,” a fellow Rocket grunt…grunted.
“I know,” Rena replied, smiling. “It’s just that–” and she blabbed about what she went through the past hour until the grunt finally moaned.

“ALRIGHT,” he yelled. “Let’s just get going.”

Together, they walked to the game corner, finally rebuilt after Giovanni’s unfortunate demise. The new and also current Rocket leader, Giovanni’s great-grandson, demanded all businesses to reopen so that Project M2 could finance itself through the funds. Rena, only a recruit member, didn’t even know the leader’s name or his location. The only thing she knew was that he was someone to be feared of. Big time. It was rumored amongst the Rocket grunts that the current leader himself murdered his father, the past Rocket leader, but that could not be confirmed.

Reaching the Game Corner, Rena turned on the “Open” sign, to share that the store was open, and her teammate went behind the counter, turning on all the machines and electronics.

The TV flared on, showing the Kanto news reporters in their newsstation.
“It is heard that catastrophe has struck our neighbor region Sinnoh, just barely a few minutes ago. News is that 16 locations throughout Sinnoh are being raged with weird happenings. Our fellow news coverer, Newton, has live coverage in Amnity Square.”

The TV turned to another scene.

“Hey, Denice,” Newton said jollily. “We’re here in Aminity Square, and something strange is really occurring! It seems as if many ghost-type Pokemon have surrounded the Square, all of them circling around a single Plate! We don’t know what they’re doing, but this is only ONE out of 16 incidents where Pokemon and the environment have reacted strangely. When more stuff comes out, we’ll make sure to tell you about it.”

And then the TV switched back to the news station.

“In other news,” Denice said, “Team Rocket has once again brought havoc on Kanto and parts of Johto. There have been bombings in Saffron City, Kanto, killing 20 civilians. Another terrible deed done by the organization is the poaching of flying-type Pokemon. They have shot them down and pinned them across the Celadon Department Store walls, with a sign above their dead carcasses reading, ‘Buy bird skins!’ The officers are trying to calm down the frightened citizens of our beloved Kanto. We hope as civilians that the unjust organization, Team Rocket, will be caught and arrested immediately.”

Rena turned off the TV, wincing. She had almost retched when they showed the dead Pidgeys and Spearows pinned on the Department Store wall.

How could we do such a thing? she wondered sadly.
“People coming,” her grunt mate warned. Rena immediately straightened up, flashing a smile. Her grin turned into a gape when she saw two officers pointing guns at them.

“By the Justice of Kanto, you, under the authority of the Kanto Police, are under arrest!”

POV: Cindy (first person)
Location: Hearthrome city.
Countdown: 168 hours, 38 minutes, and 22 seconds, (countdown started later in the day)
(note, this is Kaleb’s POV from Cindy’s point of view)

That day was such a wonderful and sunny day! I was so excited for the new day, as this morning seemed to be so hopeful that I was sure something good would happen to me! First thing to do, get Fluffy ready! Someone who’s going to be a big, strong boy needed to get ready! He was unhappy that morning, as usual. He seemed very unhappy to have woken up from his dream. I went to eat breakfast, which was my favorite! When I finally got Fluffy outside, we went for a long walk, it was about 7:30 at night when we finally got home. I then went back outside for a little while, just because I love watching the stars appear in the sky. Then out of nowhere, a boy, dressed in nearly rotted clothes with a patch on his left cheek who smelled like perfume and barf crashed into me while running, when he just shouted at me,
“Can you please tell me just where the hell I am?!”
I thought this was very rude of him, so I told him to ask nicer when he said
“Look, I-
“Ask me nicer” I told him back.
“OKAY! May you please tell me where I am? There, happy?”
“Now was that so hard? Okay, you are in Hearthrome city, the largest city in Sinnoh!”
“Okay, thanks…” Then, he paused for a moment, and asked,
“Is it near Canalave city?” It was clear that he was lost and had no idea where he was. How he got here, I have no clue, he seemed kind of… strange. But still, I started to take a liking to him, he was handsome, so I told him nicely that it was on the west coast. Then he rudely cursed at me again, saying that it complicated things! Who does he think he is?! And why does he want to go to Canalave so bad? It’s a boring city. But, because I liked him right away, I gave him a Sinnoh map, then told him my name. He replied
“Kaleb”.
Wow! Isn’t Kaleb such a pretty name? So I told him,
“That’s a nice name! How’d you get here anyway?”
“It’s a long story, and I’ve gotta go, so bye.”
“It’s getting kind of dark. Do you need a place to stay? Our house has an extra room, and my parents would be happy to let you in-”
“no, I’ve gotta go. BYE”
“Bye Kaleb! It was nice to meet you!”
Then, he ran west, and I went back home. I missed the stars that came out of the sky, but this was all worth it. I know, I sound crazy right now, but there was just something about him I liked… Anyway, I went back home. Turns out, it was actually quite late, and my parents were very mad.
“Cynthia! You said you’d be back in five minutes, not half an hour!”
So I was sent to my room, I was too embarrassed to explain why I was so late. Then, I began to worry about Kaleb. What if he might get hurt? He wasn’t much older than me, he can’t just go out into the wilderness at night not knowing where he’s going! He needed a guide, a sidekick. So it was that night, I climbed out of my window, taking Fluffy with me, and ran away from home and had no idea what I was getting into.

POV– Rena (3rd person)
Location: Celadon City, Kanto
Countdown to Doomsday: 167 hours, 50 minutes, 53 seconds

“You’re under arrest!” the two policemen announced.

Rena grabbed her Pokeball. “Not without a fight!” she shouted. “Go, BURD!”

The Farfetch’d exploded out of the ball, naughtily dancing about.

“Poison Jab, NOW!” she ordered. Burd flew at the policemen, who were trying to summon their Pokemon, and stabbed his onion stick at them. The stick turned into a shade of purple as it plunged inside one policeman. He groaned, and sank to the floor.

“Don’t kill him, Burd!” Rena shouted at the naughty Farfetch’d. “Just make them hurt only a little!”
Her grunt mate threw his Pokeball, unleashing his Ekans. He ordered it to use Poison Fang, sinking its teeth into the other police.

It was over. The two policemen, unconscious and slowly being poisoned, were dragged to the basement and tossed down the stairs.

“We just killed two people,” Rena whispered.
“It’s okay,” her friend grunted. “They tried to take us in.”
Rena regretted ever joining Team Rocket, now that she knew what kind of things they did. “I quit,” she announced. She ran from the store and never looked back.

POV Kaleb (First person)
Location, Route 108
Hours left, 166 hours, 38 min, 29 seconds.

It was an Arcanine. It’s teeth were bared, I was pinned down, and could barely even breathe. Then, it’s paw reached up. I was dead for sure, I knew it was gonna strike me. However, it didn’t. It’s paw struck down to my belt, and right on my Pokeball, removing it from me. Then, the Pokeball opened and Tarayonaga came out. The Arcanine jumped off of me, growled, and stared, seeming to be picking a fight. So I said
“Tarayonaga, use Scary Face!” I was hoping this would bring down the Arcanine enough to fight it. But it didn’t. It seemed unaffected. Right after that, the Arcanine took one slash at my Larvitar, and made her loose a lot of fight and become a lot weaker. I then knew that this was no ordinary Arcanine. It was much too strong, yet something deep in my gut told me I had to keep fighting it. So I had Tarayonaga use dig, forcing the Arcanine’s next attack to miss. Yet right before Tarayonaga popped out of the ground, the Arcanine hopped out of the way, countered the attack, and used flamethrower, weakening Tarayonaga even more. Seeing how weak she was, I screamed “Tarayonaga, you are done! Get back! We must get out of this fight!” Yet she did not listen. She started slapping the Arcanine, punching it, and even kicking it. She was determined to finish it off, until the Arcanine stopped her with his paw, and then the weirdest thing I had ever seen happened
“Little one, that is enough. You have already proven yourself courageous and Adamant. If you continue to fight, you will not live. It is time to stop fighting.”

POV: Nico (Third Person)
Location: Canalave City

‘AAAAAhhhhh….” Nico stretched and yawned as he boarded off the ship. He had acome a long way from his home city. He remembers taking the train from Goldenrod all the way to Saffron City, traveling to Veridian City, and taking a ship all the way to the country of Sinnoh, arriving at Canalave. He had saved up money for many years so he could start this trip.

He got off the ramp that led inside the ship, and started walking. He found a nicely placed bench to sit on while enjoying the view of the city and sea, so he headed for it. He reached down to his belt and picked up a rather strange looking Pokeball. It was all black, except for a red strip towards the top, while the middle strip that is normally grey looks more detailed. The Luxury Ball that his parents had given him as a goin away present…it was meant to be his 18th birthday present, what they thought was the most important birthday in a boy’s lifetime, but since Nico left early, they gave it to him before his departure. Pikachu gladly changed Pokeballs.

Nico pressed on the middle button, making the ball increase in size, and then, in a bright flash of golden light , Pikachu appeared, his dark yellow fur sparkling. Pikachu yawned and stretched as well. It had been a long trip.
Nico sat down on the bench and took out a map of Sinnoh that he bought while on the ship. “Ok, so we’re in the western-most coast. I think we could go to Snowpoint City on this ship too, but I dont think I want to get that close to such a cold place. I also dont know if we should challenge the Gym Leaders of Sinnoh…they seem like they are powerful. If we do, we should start slow. I heard the Gym Leader of this place uses Steel-Type Pokemon, and I dont think we’re ready for such a challenge Pikachu…”

He looked at his buddy who looked back at him with a defiant look. “You think we can…? I dont know…we should try some other Gym first.” He looks at the map a little more. “Look, Pastori City’s Gym is Water based…maybe we should try that one. Its pretty far though…well, we can try at Oreburgh City first, on the way there. What do you think?”
“Pika!”
“Great, let’s get going then.” Nico got up and put his map away. Pikachu climbed off the bench and followed his trainer on foot. They headed out the eastern exit of Canalave and down Route 218.

POV–Comrade
Location: Route 218
Countdown to Doomsday: 165 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds

Comrade walked, with his Niveus, down the route, just getting off the jet with Professor Maples.
They were here to research the pink Shellos.

“Sir,” Comrade asked, “is it alright if we take a break? The events throughout Sinnoh is just… too much to fathom. What, sir, do you think is causing this?”

Professor Maples paused, before speaking. “You know, there is this legend. It said that a Legendary Pokemon, to great to fathom–like these incidents–created this world itself. It was said that this Pokemon carried 16 plates. One by one, each plate detached itself from its maker to spread throughout Sinnoh, to protect Pokemon. Now, I believe that the plates need to be protected, meaning that this Pokemon is in danger.”

Comrade looked grave. “Are you saying there’s something going on?”
“Obviously,” Maples replied, chuckling. “Look son, don’t worry about this. There are heroes out there who will save us, if we need to be saved.”

The two continued walking in silence until they met another person. Trailing behind him was a rare colored Pikachu.

“Hey,” Comrade said.

POV: Nico (3rd Person)
Location: Route 218

“Ok, so we go all the way to Jubilife City. That one doesn’t have a Gym, but it seems like a very big place anyways. Then we keep going east, through Route 203 and reach Oreburgh. We can try our luck at that Gym, though it won’t be easy. Rock-types…Then north to Route 207 and east to 208. Something called Mt. Coronet separates both of these routes from being the same one. Then we reach Hearthome City, and south then east down Route 212 to Pastoria….its a LONG way, Pikachu…”

“Piii…” his companion replied, half-heartedly. He walked beside him, bouncing his favorite Light Ball with his tail around.
“Well if we ARE gonna challenge Oreburgh Gym we have to prepare ourselves. Rock-types are often Gorund-types as well, and that puts us at a disadvantage. Also, while you are quite fast, faster than an average Pikachu anyways, your defenses aren’t the greatest, and Rock-types are very strong, physically…don’t look at me like that, its in your nature!” Pikachu looked offended at his comment of his endurance. “It’s complicated, but lets just say that your genes make you faster, but less hardy. Still, being faster you can avoid getting hit more, right?” he added, incorporating his Breeding knowledge. At this Pikachu cheered up more, and started bouncing his Light Ball more enthusiastically, tiny sparks coming from his cheeks. Nico smiled.

“Hey!” Nico turned around. He didn’t think anyone was near them, but then he heard a male voice calling out. He saw a rather strange looking boy, with goggle o n his head, and someone who looked quite professional, dressed as something like a scientist. Nico frowned a little, confused as to what they may want. “They dont look dangerous or ill-intentioned though…” he thought, so he approached them. “Yes?”

POV– Comrade
Location: Route 218
Countdown before Doomsday: 165 hours, 16 minutes, 06 seconds

“Wanna battle?”

POV: Nico (3rd Person)
Location: Route 218

Nico looked down at Pikachu, who had stopped fooling around with the Light Ball, which was hanging off his tail (a string was tied to it), and was in all fours, tiny sparks emitting from his cheeks and an expression that could mean nothing other than “YES!”

“Well, I think we can give it a go. We haven’t had a battle in so long, right Pikachu?” he said. “He knows what Pokemon I use though, so we’re at an automatic disadvantage…whatever, if we want to defeat the Gym Leaders of Sinnoh, we have to be ready for anything” Nico thought.

Nico moved off the road to the side of the street, and positioned himself away from the stranger, holding Pikachu’s Light Ball in his hand in place of a Pokeball. Pikachu stood in front of him, ready to battle. “Whenever you’re ready…I’m Nico by the way!” He yelled out.

POV–Comrade
Location: Route 218
Countdown to Doomsday: 165 hours, 15 minutes, 48 seconds

“And I’m Comrade.” I threw my Premier Ball into the air, unleashing Niveus.
“NUU!” she yelled.
“Go,” I ordered, “Icy Wind!”

POV: Kaleb (first person)
Hours before doomsday, 166, 16 min, 37 seconds.
Location: Route 208

“Wait, what the f*cking hell?!” I screamed. “Did, di, di–. did you jjust, talk?”
“Yeah, you’ve never seen a talking Arcanine before” The Pokemon jokingly replied.
“So, how can you talk? Are you a genetically engineered Arcanine or something?”
“No, an how I talk does not matter. But enough of this idling, you seem to have a pad covering your left cheek.”
“So, why does that matter”
“I would like you to remove it.”
I was hesitant to remove that pad. I kept it on for a reason, and I was afraid it would not come back on if I took it off.
“Well, why should I?”
“Just remove the pad”
“I… really don’t want to-”
“REMOVE THE PAD!”
“O-o-Okay….” I then reluctantly took off the pad, and revealed my jackal headed scar.
“So you are the destined one… I knew that right from the moment I saw you, but I had to make sure, so I decided to see if your Pokemon fit the character”
“So that’s why you attacked me!”
“Yes, exactly. And when I fought your Larvitar, which you seem to call Tarayonaga, I was convinced even further, for she was adamant and brave, ready to remove all doubt and take on tasks that she knew she could not complete, just because she had to finish them. Yet, she was far too weak to fight me any longer, so that is why I told her to stop.”
“But now, she’s lost almost all her fight. She’s wounded and seriously injured. And there are no Pokemon centers near by. She’s going to die! Why didn’t you stop her sooner?!”
“Relax, Kaleb-”
“How do you know my name?”
“I can not explain that right now. But relax, I can reverse the effects of the fight, and I shall.”
The next thing I knew, the Arcanine started to sing. When it, now by it’s voice sounded to be a he, sang, it was by far the most beautiful singing I had ever heard. And as he sang, Tarayonaga began to open her eyes. Then, she got up, dusted the dirt off of her that she gained after having fallen, and began to sing along. Before I knew it, I was humming along too, and any sort of pain I felt at that moment had vanished. It felt as if I was being given a taste of heaven. When the song stopped, I said to the Arcanine
“You are clearly not a normal Arcanine. You must have a higher name than Arcanine. May you tell me what it is?”
“I do have a higher name, but you are far too young to learn it. I actually exist under many names. You may call me Arcanine for now, but you will learn my true name another day.”
“Please tell me, when is that day?”
“I cannot tell you that day, because it is not up to me to decide. It is up to you”
Personally, I had no idea what Arcanine was talking about. I assumed I would know someday, just not today.
“Kaleb, you cannot stay here for long.”
“Why not?”
“You have unfinished business in your home region Kanto.”
“But I was told-”
“You will come back. You just need to go to Kanto first. There is an organization you need to help take down. There is also a sacred item you’ll need in order to complete your task here in Sinnoh. Don’t worry, you’ll not have to stow away in someones luggage in order to go back.”
“Whew! I never wanted to do that again! But what do I do?”
“There’s an old ramshackle inn, located conveniently in the city of Canalave, your next location, I believe. You will know what I am talking about when you see it. Go there after receiving what you need from the library. The door will be locked. Just say that the boy of the Jackal scar needs to come in and commands the door open. It may not make sense right now, but trust me, It’ll get you to where you want to go.”
“Alright. I’ll do it. I’d better be off now”
“So must I. May we meet again sooner or later” Then, Arcanine ran into a nearby bush, and left my sight. Then, I saw someone running in my direction, and when I saw who it was, my stomach cringed in horror.
It was Cindy.

POV – Harnet
Location: Blackthorn City, Johto
Countdown: 170 hours

Harnet laughed. “You’re kidding me.”
“No, I swear. It was right here.”
“But no one comes here. Why would Lance and Clair have their battle right here, of all places?”
“They were both born here. Plus, Clair couldn’t leave her Gym just for a simple battle. I heard that Lance came here because he wanted to see his hometown again.”
“Huh….how did you say they were related again?”
“Cousins.”
“Oh.”
The two youths continued their walk through Blackthorn City, where the famed Indigo League Champion Lance had battled his cousin, the Gym Leader Clair, and won. Harnet was never one to be amazed by a simple battle between two people, even if one of them happened to be a League Champion.
“Hey, Jake.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think Drake could’ve beaten Clair?”
“Drake? Of the Hoenn Elite Four?”
“Yeah.”
“Pfff. Why would you think that?”
“I mean, come on. I’ve heard of plenty of people who have beaten Clair and challenged the Elite Four. What makes that battle so special?”
“Do you know what Clair’s team was?”
“Yeah. Three Dragonairs and a Kingdra.”
“As a Gym Leader, yeah. But she had broken out her competitive team to take on Lance. She’s never used that one as a Leader.”
“Ah.”
They continued down Route 45 rather silently. Harnet knew that Jake would not be able to go with him on his journey to Sinnoh, but this journey meant a lot to him at this point. After all, the fabled legendary Pokemon Cresselia was said to have been spotted roaming around the region. Harnet had never seen a legendary before, and nothing excited him more than to imagine actually catching one.
“Harnet. You going back to Goldenrod?”
“No. I’m going back to Violet to finish packing for my trip to Sinnoh.”
“Sinnoh? Why the hell are you going there?”
“Oh, just to go there. I hear it’s nice and stuff. Plus, it’ll give me a chance to check out that Cresselia that they say has been sneaking around there.”
“Ohhh, I see. It’s never about the sights. It’s always some Pokemon you’re looking for.”
“Heh. Hey, that’s not a bad thing. I got my Nincada in Hoenn when I visited there.”
Jake chuckled. “That’s true. When are you leaving?”
“The boat leaves at 6:00 in the evening. So I have about five hours to get ready and get to Olivine. It’ll probably be another five hours before we reach Canalave City.”
“I assume you’re bringing Shedinja with you?”
“Yeah. I love that thing. I couldn’t imagine going all the way to Sinnoh without it.”
“What about your Destroy Wrist or whatever?”
“Yep. It’s uncharted waters, so to speak, so it’s coming, too.”
“Huh.”

On his way to Olivine, Harnet recalled to himself the stories he had heard about the deities Dialga and Palkia who had created time and space, and were rumored to still be laying dormant to this very day in Sinnoh’s famous Mt. Coronet. He knew at that point that there would be more to his interest in Sinnoh than just one Cresselia.

POV: Nico
Location: Route 218

“Woah! A Glaceon…its not easy getting an Eevee to evolve into that, they must be strong!” he told Pikachu, who just got even more excited to start the fight.

Comrade had begun the battle quickly. His Glaceon had started out using Icy Wind, a pretty strong Ice-type attack.
“Pikachu, use Double Team, quick!” Pikachu created afterimages, and the blast of the Icy Wind hit one of the fake Pikachus. “Now counter with Thundershock!” The afterimages disappeared and Pikachu unleashed a blast of orange-yellow electricity directed at Glaceon. “Piiiikaaaa…chuuuuuuuu!”

PoV: Tsu
Location:  Unknown

“I think we’re lost.” said Tsu. She held up the map, but was unable to tell exactly where they were on it. They had ditched to road half an hour ago. It had seemed like a shortcut, but so far, it sure didn’t seem like it.

Tank grunted, his way of saying something along the lines of “No we’re not. I know exactly where we are.” He wasn’t the brightest of Pokemon, but his sense of direction was infailable. Usually.

“Dude, we’re totally lost.” Tsu argued back, although it was pointless. The ground aroud them was rough and rocky, and the ground had been constantly sloping upwards. The pair plodded on for another ten minutes or so, until they finally reached the top of the hill. From thie height, one coud easily see “Heathrome City! We’re saved!”

Tank grunted, his way of saying “I told you so.”

POV– Comrade
Location — Route 218
Countdown to Doomsday — 165 hours, 13 minutes, 52 seconds [BTW: PLEASE INCLUDE THIS IN YOUR POST, THANKS, AND REMEMBER, THE COUNTDOWN IS ALWAYS, FROM NOW ON, GOING DOWN. FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOWN AND UP, IT’S WHEN THE NUMBERS GROW LESS…    ]

Woah. This Pikachu reacts quickly. Nico definitely trained his Pikachu right. But… my Glaceon is sure to be better.
“Dodge the attack!” I yelled. Niveus rolled to the side, as the lightning bolt struck where she had been only seconds before.
“Go frontal and Tackle Pikachu!” I commanded. Niveus gave a cry and rushed at Pikachu, missing by inches.
Nico’s Pikachu is too small… the only way this is going to work is if Niveus uses a more wide-ranged attack.

Niveus evaded another lightning attack, and bent her head down to take some breaths.

“Niveus, don’t give up!” I encouraged. “Give it your best Icy Wind!”
A frenzy of ice trailed through the air and came at Pikachu with amazing speed.

POV– Nico
Location — Route 218
Countdown to Doomsday — 165 hours, 12 minutes, 42 seconds

Pikachu and the Comrade’s Galceon fought on. Both would not let the other land a hit, but both were also growing tired. Galceon had launched an Icy Wind attack

“Pikachu, Thundershock!”
“Piiiiiikaaaaaaa!!!!”

The Icy Wind and Thundershock met in an explosion. Smoke filled the space between Glaceon and Pikachu.

“Now, Quick Attack!”

Pikachu ran straight into the cloud of smoke, but seemed to change its mind halfway through the field of black clouds. Nico saw Pikachu emerge from one of the sides and circumnavigate the rest of the clouds in hops of catching Glaceon by surprise.

POV – Blaine
Location – Solaceon Town
Countdown – 165 hours, 12 minutes, 4 seconds

“Certainly, here’s your Pokemon. Please come again,” I said as I returned a customer’s Shinx back to him. As they happily departed, I sighed. I turned to Helix, who was resting behind the counter. “Looks like it’s just us again.” The daycare had been relatively vacant for the past few days. The only residents left were a Kricketot, a Stunky, and a Cleffa egg.

Suddenly, two men in black suits came in the door. “In the name of Team Galactic we’re confiscating all of the Pokemon here!”
I knew very well that the Pokemon staying here weren’t very strong and couldn’t help these men anyways. Still, I took a battle stance. “No you’re not! Get ’em, Helix!” Helix jumped over the counter and growled menacingly.
“Oh yeah? Go, Croagunk!” The first grunt yelled.
The second one joined in. “Go, Raticate!”
…We stared each other down for a moment…
“Croagunk, Poison Sting!”
“Raticate, use Bite!”
As they began to lunge at Helix, I could see her fidgeting with uncertainty. “Steady, Helix! Wait for it!” I called to her. When they had gotten a little closer, I yelled, “Now! Iron Tail!”
Helix knew exactly what I wanted. She jumped past the Raticate and slapped it with her glowing tail. She was hoping to knock it into the Croagunk, but her aim was slightly off, and the Raticate flew directly into the wall without getting in Croagunk’s way. The frog then jabbed a poisonous barb into Helix’s side.
Unfortunately, Helix had gotten poisoned. “Hang in there, girl! Use Flame Wheel!” I ordered. Helix stood up straight and grunted. Flames surrounded her body, and she charged at Croagunk. Even as she hit the frog, she didn’t stop. She turned and charged at Raticate, too. Both Pokemon had fainted, but Helix was getting weaker. Please, don’t have any more Pokemon… I thought.
“Dang it! Now what?” The first man shouted as he returned his Croagunk.
“Let’s just go. This probably won’t affect our plan much, anyways.” The second one said rather calmly. They departed.
“Great! They’re gone!” I said to myself. “Let’s go, Helix. You need rest.” Together, we ran to the Pokemon Center across the street. As we ran, I couldn’t help but think, Plan? What plan?

POV– Comrade
Location: Route 218
Countdown until Doomsday: 165 hours, 10 minutes, 00 seconds

Niveus couldn’t see the attack, and to tell you the truth, neither could I. I was frustrated… the smoke from the collision was blocking my sight.

And then, a cry.
“NUUUU!”

“NO!” I shouted. As the cloud of dark smoke faded away, I saw Nico’s PIkachu standing triumphantly over Niveus.
I thrust my Premier ball towards my Pokemon and returned it into the sphere.

“Alright, Nico, you win.” I sighed, disappointed at the turn of events. “So… where you heading? Do you want to join us in our adventure?”

POV– Nico
Location: Route 218
Countdown until Doomsday: 165 hours, 0 minutes, 00 seconds

The smoke cleared. Nico shouted in joy. Pikachu had won

“Piii….” Pikachu collapsed. He was really tired out. “Pikachu!” Nico shouted, as he ran to his buddy’s aid. “Great fight buddy, take a rest” Pikachu reached up with his arms. Nico gave him his Light Ball, grabbed his Luxury Ball, and returned him inside.

“They were both so tired that whoever landed a hit first would be the winner…great fight though” Nico introduced himself again and shook hands, thinking to do this formally rather than the rather crappy introduction before the fight.

“We’re on our way to Pastoria City. Its a long way there, but we thought it’s the best place to start challenging Gym Leaders. Where are you two going? I’m sure we can go along with you, at least for a while. Besides, we’re new to Sinnoh, so a little experienced company wouldn’t be so bad.”

POV–Comrade
Location: Route 218
Countdown until Doomsday: 164 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds

“Alright,” I said. I looked at Professor Maples, who looked passive. He had been so quite this whole time, I actually forgot he was here. “Professor, is it okay if Nico joins us?”

“It’s not like we’re doing anything important,” Maples replied, laughing. “But… Comrade, the REAL reason we’re here is not because of special Shellos.”
I gave him a confused, befuddled look. “Then why?”

“We’re here to save a Pokemon,” Professor Maples whispered ominously.

POV– Rena (third person)
Location– Route 7 (Kanto)
Countdown Until Doomsday: 164 hours, 59 minutes, 43 seconds

Rena stopped running and slowed to a steady walk. She stripped off her Rocket suit, revealing her tight t-shirt and short shorts and also signaling her quitting from the organization.

She was about to scream madly when she saw an old lady sitting on a bench, gazing at a wild Vulpix.

“Where to,” the woman sighed. Rena hesitantly walked towards the woman.

“Could I sit here?” she asked.
“Of course,” the old woman said warmly. “Where to.”
Rena was confused. Was she asking where to, or simply stating it?

“I… am… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The woman laughed. “You seem confused, young child.”
“I am. To tell you the truth, I don’t even know why I’m here. Why I exist. After all the things I’ve seen and done, it is just like my place in this world is nothing but destroying it.”
The woman smiled. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“Do you?” Rena questioned. “Do you know what kind of situation I am in?”

The old lady gave a discerning frown. “Just like the situation of a trapped and forced Arceus.”

POV–Nico
Location: Route 218
Countdown until Doomsday: 164 hours, 58 minutes, 30 seconds

Nico stared at the professor, curious to what he meant.
Suddenly, he felt his Pokeball shake wildly. He grabbed it, and Pikachu came out, still looking tired, but a little better. Pikachu climbed to his shoulder and stared at the Professor, looking quite odd.

“What’s the matter?” Nico asked, unsure if he should direct the question at Pikachu or the Professor, so he said it looking at no one in particular.

POV–Comrade
Location: Jubilife City
countdown until doomsday: 164 hours, 55 minutes, 48 seconds

We had just reached the city.
“What’s the matter?” Nick asked.
Meanwhile, I was wondering why we were going to go to Pastoria City, just so that Nico could battle some stupid gym leader….

The professor, who was walking ahead of me and Nico, stopped.

“What is the matter?” Maples repeated. “The matter is this.”
I nodded. Nico too. Pikachu was staring at Maples with intense concentration that sparks began to flow out of his cheeks. I released my Glaceon as well, and she too was looking at the professor.

“We are in a dying world. People in Sunyshore are consuming most of Sinnoh’s energy on useless cars. What happened to transportation Pokemon like the flying beasts of the air and the sea creatures of the sea? Where is the Lapras, deemed Transport Pokemon, and the Pidgeot? Have we humans lost our connection with the Pokemon who were loyal to us ever since the beginning of Time and Space? I believe so. I believe that the airplanes and cars and boats and all the electronic machines we are creating not only insults the planet with harmful chemicals and gases, but they are insulting the Pokemon themselves. The Pokemon stay in the tall grass so that we can come to them. But now that we are going less and less dependent of them, our bonds are growing fainter and fainter. I can sense it. Did you see the mass of Pokemon in Route 217, Comrade? They are responding to a forgotten Pokemon.”

“But sir, who is this Pokemon you are talking about us saving?”

“Would you really like to know?” Maples implored. “Remember, once you have knowledge, you cannot escape the call of Destiny. Once I tell you, you are bound to your journey. Do you still want to know?”

I didn’t really care, I mean, it’s just a Pokemon. “Sure.”

“And what about you, Nico? Are you ready for this Pokemon’s name?” Maples asked.

POV–Nico
Location: Jubilife City
countdown until doomsday: 164 hours, 50 minutes, 30 seconds

“Of course” he replied. He didnt buy into the seriousness of the situation, nor did he believe in destiny, so he didn’t think twice about his reply. He chanced a quick glance at Pikachu, who still looked serious (he figured the odd expression was seriousness, having never seen Pikachu like this before) and had neither said a word or moved since he had climbed onto his shoulder.

The sky was oddly getting grayer and windier. Nico laughed in his mind at how dramatic the situation had gotten. He even thought he heard distant thunder, but it might have just been his imagination.

POV– Comrade
Location: Jubilife City
Countdown Until Doomsday: 164 48 minutes, 30 seconds

Come on… What’s the freaking name already?

“The name is–” Bam! I looked at Maples, who’s face flushed white and looked strickened..
“Professor?” I shouted. I saw him put a hand to his chest, where blood was flowing out. “PROFESSOR!” I roared. “Quick, Nico, help me hoist him up so we can take him to the Pokemon Center!”
“I thought the Pokemon Center–”
“I KNOW! But the nurses are the only ones who have any experience in gunshot wounds!” I shouted hastily.

Quickly, we took him to the Pokemon Center. The nurse looked up when we entered and sort of yelled when she saw the state of condition Professor Maples was in. “Chansey!” the nurse ordered, show the guests the emergency room!”

We were taken by a Pokemon to the room, where the nurse placed Maples on a bed.

“How did this happen?” she asked forcefully.
“I… I–I” I tried to say what I saw, but the thing was, I didn’t see anything. “I don’t know. One moment he was about to tell us a name of a Pokemon, but then… then… he got s-shot.” I gulped and tried to refrain from crying.

“I’ll do the best I can. Now please, leave me to your professor.”

Me, Nico, Niveus and Pikachu walked out, dreading the upcoming news.

“You know what I think?” I said through tears. “I think that he was shot because he was going to say this Pokemon’s name. This Pokemon… we’ve got to know its name! Come on, we’re going back in there.”

POV– Nico
Location: Jubilife City
Countdown Until Doomsday: 164 hours,  40 minutes, 55 seconds

“In? We can’t, Nurse Joy is working, we should not disturb them…” Nico said, looking stricken at the events. Pikachu seemed anxious and a little preoccupied. “Hmm…”

Nico walked to the entrance of the Pokemon Center and looked around. “This place is so big…no chance to find the one responsible for this.” His hands closed into a fist. “Who could do this? Team Rocket? No…they only vandalize Kanto and Johto, and besides, what would it matter to them. On second thought, its their kind of organization that is always involved with rare Pokemon, and I’m sure the Professor was gonna tell us of a really rare one…” Nico meditated as he looked around, pikachu on top of his head, doing the same. The city was full of tall buildings and busy people walking about.

He went back inside to where Comrade stood. “Maybe we SHOULD go and ask him…it seems like something important. If we know what he wanted to tell us then we could do something…I feel so powerless right now.”

POV – Blaine
Location – Solaceon Town
Countdown: 164 hours, 36 minutes, 23 seconds

“Here’s your Arcanine. We hope to see you again,” Nurse Joy said cheerfully, Helix standing beside her. I thanked her and walked back to the daycare.
When we walked in the door, the old lady was waiting for us. “Where have you been?” She asked sternly.
“Helix got injured, but she’s better now.”
“How can she get hurt? You’re safely inside here,” she protested.
I eyed the charred results of Helix’s Flame Wheel. “We had a battle,” I said simply.
“Even if you DID have a battle here, I’m not surprised you lost. That Pokemon lacks proper training. What makes you think you’ll ever be any good training YOUR way?”
“What are you saying?” I asked defiantly.
“I’m saying that your previous guardians wanted us to train your Pokemon for you. That’s all they were thinking when they sent you here, I’m sure.”
“I’ll show you! I’m gonna go travel and fight others for real!” I shouted angrily. Immediately, I jumped on Helix’s back and rode out towards Route 210.
“I’ll be waiting for you when you fail!” the lady called after us.
Jerk…

POV~ Ace
Location~ Jubilife City- Pokemon Center
Countdown Until Doomsday~ 164 Hours, 40 minutes, 00 seconds

Mm.

It was late at night. About 11, I’d guess. I was just settling myself down for the night at the Pokemon Center in Jubilife. I don’t know where I was heading next. Didn’t really care. Anyway, just when I had gotten myself comfy on two adjacent chairs of the Pokemon Center, these two guys barge in carrying another guy. The whole place lit up, people were screaming, sirens were blaring, you know. So, it looked like I wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight. I went over to one of the guys with a Pikachu on his head and asked, “What are you doing? Don’t you know how late it is?”

The guy couldn’t hear me over all the commotion.  I went over to the other guy who looked a bit disturbed at the time, and asked him the same question, more or less.

POv– Comrade
Location: Jubilife City–Pokemon Center
Countdown until doomsday: 164 36 minutes, 23 seconds

I couldn’t concentrate. I had never seen so much blood before in my life, and I couldn’t believe it was Professor Maples who was shot… He… was innocent.

“You’re right,” I said. “This can or can’t be Team Rocket. But I think it’s the latter… Never has Team Rocket set foot outside Johto or Kanto, so why would they suddenly change their target locations?”
Nico gave me a short shrug, and I looked away. “I think we should go see the professor. It may be our… It may be our last chance talking to him.” I began to walk towards the emergency room.

“What are you doing? Don’t you know how late it is?” a voice shouted. I turned around. It was a 15 year old boy wearing a scarf. Doesn’t he know it’s like, 90 degrees in here? But then again, I’m wearing a pair of goggles…

“It’s none of your concern,” I replied. Nico and I walked to the emergency room, opening the door without knocking.
The professor couldn’t be seen, mainly because a large white sheet was covering his entire anatomy…

“I’m so sorry,” nurse Joy said in tears. “We… lost him. He couldn’t talk, but he wrote this on a paper I just happened to have in my pocket, as this is probably the only cameo appearance I will have in the Role Play.”

I gave her a confused look. What? Role Play? What the hell was she talking about? So, with a shrug, I took the note from Nurse Joy.

“Comrade, Nico. Arc,” I read. “Wait… what?”
“He couldn’t finish what he was going to write,” Nurse Joy whispered.

“We have to find out what this Arc is!” I shouted to Nico. “Come on!”
Walking out to the main lobby, I saw once again the 15 year old boy.
I shouted to everyone, “Does anyone know any Pokemon that starts with the letters, A, R, C?”
“Arcanine,” someone shouted.
The 15 year old boy looked curious. I glanced at him, hoping he’d have the answer… but I had doubts. If this was a legendary even Ididn’t even know about, then how could this 15 year old know?

So, with a sigh, Nico and I walked out of the Center, disappointment clouding our minds.

“Wait!” a voice cried. The 15 year old boy. “Let me help you!”

POV~ Ace
Location~ Jubilife City- Pokemon Center
Countdown~ 164 Hours, 33 Minutes, 39 seconds

“Wait! Let me help you!”

I don’t really know what came over me. I just had this urge to help these strangers. I don’t know what they’d been through, but I did know that they needed help. And I could help them.

The two gents turned around right when I yelled. “You?” The one without the Pikachu on his head asked.

“I know the Pokemon. The A R C one. Yeah.”

The one guy looked pretty shocked. The other one looked kinda sceptical.

“Yeah. Though I don’t know how the other guy found out about the Pokemon you’re reffering to.”

The one wearing a Pikachu for a hat motioned toward the other guy. He whispered to the other guy, “What ‘other guy’?”

The other guy answered, “He means Professor Maples.”

I went on. “Anyway, yeah, he must have been really keen on his research, because I’m guessing he nailed everything on the head.”

“What do you mean?” The other guy with the Pikachu asked.

“Well, everything. Didn’t you notice the recent happenings around Sinnoh?”

“No, I can’t say I’ve seen anything out of the ordinary. Nothing too different from Johto anyway,” said the guy.

The other one spoke up. “Yeah, something weird happened to me actually. When I was walking with Niveus the Pokemon in the area started crying and screaming. It was because of this bright blue plate I’m thinking. Even Niveus was affected.”

“Yeah,” I added, “that’s one of the Plates. Now, follow me.”

Something was not right. If the guy that knew the same thing I did and tried to tell them here, and he had to go to the Pokemon Center, then someone out here doesn’t want anyone to know about the Pokemon. I said to the two guys, “Walk, don’t run. fast enough to get out of here in 2 minutes, tops, but slow enough as to not attract any attention. Got it? Now move.”

We hustled toward the east side of the city sll the while looking as if we were on a Sunday stroll.  As we were walking, on of the guys asked me, “Plates? Just what are you talking about? And what does this have to do with the name of the mystery Pokemon? The Arc one?”

I didn’t know what to do. I and that other guy Maples or whatever were probably the only ones on the planet who knew this kind of info. And that guy was out of commission. Well, if it’s as bad as it looks, then I’ve got no other choice.

“First off, the Pokemon’s name…… Is Arceus. And my name’s Ace, just to let you know.”

PoV– Nico
Location: Jubilife City–Pokemon Center
Countdown until doomsday: 164 20 minutes, 23 seconds

Nico went through his mental list of all the Pokemon he could remember, as fast as possible, and as accurate as he could. Only Arcanine came to mind.

“I can’t think of any others, Comrade” he said. Pikachu, still on his head, sighed. “You don’t happen to know either, right Pikachu”His friend shook his head.

“A-R-C…A-R-C…” Nico repeated the three letters over and over again. “There’s no doubt about it, it has to be a very rare Pokemon. Legendary even. I can’t think of any, though. I do know of some rare Pokemon, like the legendary birds of Kanto and Johto, since I’m from there, and even heard of some Pokemon from Hoenn, but I really know little about the legends and myths of Sinnoh. The only one I’ve heard was the most well-known outside of here, the one about the Time and Space Pokemon: Palkia and Dialga, right?”

He meditated for a second, trying with all his might remembering every mythical Pokemon he could. “There are Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Mew. The ones that are supposed to live in Kanto. Unless you count the abomination that was Mewtwo…that is if you know about him, of course. I dont know how famous Team Rocket is around here. In Johto, the 3 dogs roam the land. There is Suicun, Entei, and also Raikou, and you also have Lugia and Ho-oh to add to the birds. There’s also the time traveling Pokemon, Celebi. As for Hoenn…I only know of Kyogre and Groudon, the creators of water and land, and Rayquaza that lives high up in the sky. After that, only bits and pieces of some other legends, like a Pokemon that grants wishes, or one that came from outer space as a virus, or 3 Pokemon that are just heartless, hollow things made out of rock or other solid materials…even people from Hoenn barely know about these Pokemon, being so rare and talked of very little.”

“Piii…” Pikachu said, impressed at his knowledge of Pokemon. Nico was surprised himself at how much he remembered. He felt as though he did know the names of these other Pokemon…or at least that they did not begin with the letters A-R-C. Although he could just be imagining that. But he felt as though those Pokemon belonged to the region of Hoenn alone, and this felt different..new…

“So do you know of anything from this region that could be behind all of this?” he asked. “I dont think it was Team Rocket…but it definitely was someone like them. This legendary Pokemon seems so mysterious..and powerful because of that…someone doesnt want the public to know about him…we should get out of the streets, especially now that is dark.” It had indeed gotten dark, and rain started coming down very lightly. The wind had only increased in speed since the accident, and though the city was very well lit, the weather had caused the streets to empty and cars to head straight home. It had gone very quiet, except for the sound of the wind. If the Professor was shot during what he guessed was rush hour in Jubilife City, having overhead them, he felt scared of their current situation.

“We really should get out of here…lets head straight out of town, we shouldn’t be overheard by anyone…” he motioned for the others to follow him east, and out of the city.

Somebody from behind them called out “Wait! Let me help you”.
They turned and saw the boy from back inside. “And who are you?” asked Nico, in a voice that was slightly colder than he actually meant, for he had no sort of grudge on the stranger. Ace was his name. And Arceus was the Pokemon.

His senses freaked out. He didnt ask anything. Pikachu tensed as well. He felt being watched. He whispered, “Just be quiet and follow me…dont run, just hurry up.” As though Pikachu read his mind, he got off his head and fit himself inside his jacket, so he would not be an easy target but not inside of his Pokeball so he would be useless to help. Together they half-ran out the city, to the east.

POV – Blaine
Location – Route 210
Countdown: 164 hours, 34 minutes, 48 seconds

As soon as we left Solaceon, I lost track of where we were going. Helix and I leaped up and down a small ridge and wandered past a bunch of tall grass. Up ahead was a small cabin. “Let’s go in there,” I told Helix. “Arr,” she grunted as she began trotting towards the small house. I jumped off of Helix, walked in and, immediately, I heard a loud female voice: “Would you like to buy some Moomoo Milk?”
I looked up to see a woman in a straw hat and overalls. “Sorry, ma’am. I don’t have any money,” I replied. Even if I did have money, though, I’d use it to FINALLY buy a Poke Ball for Helix.
“Well, I might as well give you a sample anyways,” the lady replied with a smile. She handed me a bottle of the cold milk. “You look like you’ll need it.”
“Thanks…” I said quietly. She was so nice I didn’t really know how to react. “What’s it do?”
“It’ll heal that Arcanine of yours if it ever gets hurt,” she explained.
“Oh,” I said, understanding now. “Again, thanks!” Even though I didn’t have a bag or anything to put it in. I began to walk to the door, but she called out again. “Why’s a girl like you wandering around for anyways?”
I stopped and turned back to her. “No reason,” I said vaguely. “Just curious, I guess.”
“Well, a young girl’s gotta have a place to stay. If you ever get tired of wandering, you’re welcome to rest here,” she told me. The offer caught me off guard — she seemed to know that I didn’t have a home anymore. Come to think of it, maybe I never did.
“That’s really nice, but I should get going,” I replied.
“You know what…” she went on. This woman won’t let me leave! “You remind me of my own girl. She went off wandering, too.” She handed me some money. “Take care of yourself. And keep an eye out for my daughter, Shelley.”
“Thanks, I will” I said simply. Believe me, I WAS happy with the $300 she gave me, but by then, I just wanted to be on my way. Helix and I walked out of there, and I jumped on her back. “Don’t worry, girl. Once we reach the next city, you can rest inside your new Poke Ball,” I promised. She grunted as if to say “Don’t worry about it.” She started running towards Route 215, but about five strides into it, I thought I saw something on the ground. “Woah! Hold it!” I yelled as I jumped off her back. I ran to the item and couldn’t believe it. It was an Ultra Ball, lying right there on the ground. I picked it up. It didn’t seem broken or damaged…why would someone leave it here? Oh well. It’s mine now!
“Helix, return!” I called, pointing the ball at her. She smiled as she disappeared inside the yellow ball. I didn’t have a place to put the ball, so I carried it, along with the milk. I was relieved that my Helix, who had always tried her hardest to please me and never complained, could finally rest. I happily continued through Route 215.

POV – Nico
Location – Route 203
Countdown: 163 hours, 20 minutes, 23 seconds

The trio were now running for a while. Once they had gotten out of the city, they felt even more exposed. Route 203 was not the brightest of places. The wind was getting a little cold, and the rain did not help. They had been running away for an hour, and at various points Nico thought he heard sounds and voices of pursuers. He wondered if they meant to hurt them the way they had hurt Professor Maples, but he thought if that’s what they wanted, they would have done so already. There had been plenty of chances to shoot them if they were indeed watching them back in Jubilife. What did they want?

They were close to Oreburgh already, having traveled at such a fast pace, but something seemed wrong. Voices could be heard even closer now. They’d all get caught if something wasn’t done.
“Guys, you keep going, as fast as you can, and alert the Oreburgh police right away. Come back to find me, but we need to delay them. I dont know what they want, but its better if one of us has to deal with them rather than all three.”

Nico couldnt see clearly the expressions of his two companions, but whether reluctantly or not, they accepted and kept on going at an even faster pace. Breathing heavily he turned around and faced the dark road. Pikachu jumped off of him, growling, with a mean expression on his face. Three figures were approaching, all with Pokeballs in their hands. “Pikachu, Double Team.” Nico whispered, and Pikachu split into 3 Pikachus. The three pursuers stopped right in front of them when they came into view. Nico could not make out who they were, nor what they were wearing. They were not Team Rocket though.

The three stared at Pikachu and Nico, laughing evily, not saying anything else. They raised their Pokeballs and threw them. A Poochyena, a Beedrill, and a Zubat appeared. This was gonna be tough.
“Poochyena, use Tackle!”
“Beedrill, use Poison Sting!”
“Zubat, Wing Attack!”

They all charged at the Pikachus. The real one, avoided the Beedril by jumping up, while the Poochyena and Zubat hit their marks, but they were left open. “Pikachu, Thundershock!” Zubat fell, but as Pikachu fell back down to the ground, Beedril landed a Poison Sting on him. “Nooo!” Nico yelled.

“Poochyena, Bite attack!”
“Pikachu, dodge and use Quick Attack!” Pikachu quickly dodged the attack with his speedy Quick Attack and then countered the Poochyena. “Finish him with Thundershock!” Poochyena fell to the floor from the last physical attack that hit him, and a Thundershock quickly followed. It fell as well.

Pikachu was breathing heavily, barely able to stand. “Beedrill, Fury Attack!”
“Pikachu, dodge!” Too late…Pikachu was struck again and again until he fell to the ground. “Grr…” Nico was getting desperate. Lightning lighted the field. The three bandits were wearing black robes, probably hiding the identity of whichever organization they worked for. Pikachu got up and charged at Beedrill again, but he was knocked back to the ground, and attacked by another Fury Attack. He then tried a Thundershock that landed, but Beedrill was strong enough to take it while advancing on Pikachu again, who got hit by Twineedle. Pikachu was being thrown around like a stick.

Pikachu struggled to get up. “Come on buddy, you can do it!” Then he remembered something…how could he forget? The Light Ball isn’t just a toy. “Pikachu, catch!!!” He chucked the Light Ball with all his might. Thunder shook the field. Pikachu lept to grab it, his cheeks sending out sparks. Lightning crashed down and hit the Light Ball the moment Pikachu touched it and sent his Thundershock at his enemies. In a loud, horrendous, confusing explosion of electricity, Pikachu fell to the ground, completely defeated. The three strangers had received as much of the electrical attack as the poor Beedrill, and NIco had been blasted away by the force.

Struggling to get up, he immediately ran to Pikachu’s aid, and without another word, picked him up in his arms, turned around and ran to Oreburgh. He could hear even more voices approaching. The explosion might have alerted their companions. He should have checked who the strangers were, but at the moment, Nico could think of nothing other than his Pokemon’s condition.

POV–Comrade
location: Oreburgh City
Countdown to Doomsday: 163 hours, 17 minutes, 06 seconds

Ace and I sprinted. Fortunately for me, my legs were strong enough to run for days. Ace persisted as well.

We were going to go to the police department when a humongous explosion filled Route 203.
“What… the… hell?” I said. “We need to go back! Nico needs us!”

And once again, we ran to help. I summoned Niveus out of her Premier Ball. Ace released his Pichu.

Weird people in dark cloaks were joining in the brawl. I did what I thought I had to do.

“HELPING HAND!” I roared. Niveus squatted in front of Ace’s Pichu, and Pichu jumped on top of Niveus. Niveus, with Pichu on her back, soar to the air, unleashing Icy Wind from her mouth. Then, Pichu jumped off and used Thundershock. Powered by Niveus’ hoisting, Pichu’s attack hit every enemy and in a bam, they blasted off.

I ran to Nico, who held his Pikachu in his arms. “Nico! Is everything all right?” I looked at Ace, and then turned again to Nico. “Nico. Who were those people? Do you think they’re the ones who killed Professor Maples?!”

POV–Nico
location: Oreburgh City
Countdown to Doomsday: 163 hours, 10 minutes, 52 seconds

“I…don’t kn…know…” he panted, glad to see his companions safe, sound, and ready to help. Taking in plenty of deep breaths, he recovered air and spoke a little more eloquently. “Three attacked us at the same time, they were strong too. A Beedrill alone gave Pikachu a hell of a lot of problems, it wouldn’t go down. And then…..” he stopped talking for a minute, finally appreciating what happened. “I dont know…I gave Pikachu his Light Ball. Its supposed to make his Electric attacks stronger. Lightning struck though. There was a big explosion. And now Pikachu is seriously hurt. We were still being followed…I dont know if there are more behind the ones you just defeated.”

He looked back at the dark road, Pikachu in his arms, close to his chest. He looked down at his buddy and almost punched himself for wasting more time. He turned around and hurried to the Pokemon Center. “Sorry, I gotta hurry. See if you can figure out who they are, and be careful!!!” He called back to Comrade and Ace.

He went into the Pokemon Center, where Nurse Joy immediately took Pikachu to the Emergency Room. Nico waited outside for what felt like hours. Finally the light above the door shut off, and Nurse Joy came out of the room. “Everything is alright. Pikachu seemed exhausted for the most part. He was hurt quite a lot by what I’m guessing was a Bug Pokemon. He had the marks of being attacked by Poison Sting, yet he was not poisoned. He was also depleted of electricity, which is very rare.”
“That’s good news,” Nico replied. “I though he would get supercharged when that lightning ray struck him, but he released all of that electricity somehow” He thought the Light Ball might have helped channel the lightning’s electricity so his body had not been overfilled with it, and he was glad of it.

“Whatever happened, he is alright now. You can go see him in about 5 minutes.”
“Thanks”

POV– Rena
Location: Route 7
Countdown until Doomsday: 163 hours, 09 minutes, 43 seconds

“… trapped and forced Arceus.”

Rena looked at the lady with a curious glance. “Who’s Arceus?”
“Arceus? Well, its–”

BAM. Rena looked at the lady anxiously, who smiled. “Save it, honey. It’s the only way.” With that, she fell. Rena was horrifed; blood was splattered all over the woman’s chest.

“OLD LADY!” she yelled. She ran, and another BAM roared through the air. Rena could feel the bullet skimming her arm as she, just in time, dodged it.
They’re everywhere.

POV – Blaine
Location – Route 215
Countdown: 163 hours, 39 minutes, 12 seconds

I was exhausted. I’d been climbing up and down ridges for almost the last hour. But it all seemed to pay off when I could see city lights up ahead. Frenzied, I began running blindly towards them until a sharp call stopped me. “Hey! you! let’s battle!”
I turned to see who it was–a man in exercise clothes who was eagerly holding out his Poke Ball. He looks kinda tough… I don’t think I have the energy to do this. I thought. No… I suddenly remembered. I left to show the old lady that I could do this. I can handle it. Helix is ready. LET’S GO! I was fired up now.
“All right, let’s do it,” I agreed, taking out my Ultra Ball. I held it high above my head. “Come out, Helix!” I cried. She emerged and gave the man a challenging glare.
The man tossed his Poke Ball in front of him. “Let’s go, Staravia!” He called. A black and white bird came flying out, screaming its battle cry. I recognized it immediately from the daycare and knew that this would be a challenge.
He went first. “Staravia, Wing Attack!” The bird came charging towards Helix.
I wasn’t sure what to do — I’d never fought a flying type before. Its movements were so unpredictable. I decided to play defense. “Helix, Dig!” Helix burrowed into the ground, and Staravia’s Wing Attack missed by inches.
The man, however, seemed to know what he was doing. “Use Double Team!” He ordered. Multiple birds appeared around the first one. Before long, I’d forgotten which one was the original.
I decided to take a chance. “Now, Helix!” I yelled, hoping that she would hit the right one. She burst out of the ground…but hit none of the possible targets. I thunked myself in the head. “Of course! Ground attacks won’t hit Flying types! I’m so stupid!”
My opponent was ready for more. “Staravia, Quick Attack!”
His command woke me from my self-pity. I shouted to Helix, “Flame Wheel!” and her body was covered in fire, luckily, by the time that Staravia attacked. The bird flew directly into the flames, just like I’d hoped, but I heard Helix cry out and I knew that Staravia’s attack had landed. When the flames had died down, I saw that Staravia’s body was singed but it was still standing. At the same time, the Quick Attack hadn’t done much to Helix, but she was breathing heavily. Both Pokemon stared each other down, as if waiting for their opponent to give up.
The man yelled out, “Use Wing Attack!” But Staravia didn’t move. A few seconds after the order, it collapsed. I smiled in triumph, but then Helix, too, fell to the ground.
“Helix!” I called as I ran towards her. She looked up at me with tired eyes. “Poor girl. All this sudden battling is tiring you out,” I figured. The only other battling we’ve ever done wasn’t very serious — just playing around with the residents at the daycare.
“That’s a pretty good Arcanine you got there,” the man said as he returned his Staravia.
“Thanks,” I said. “Well, I better go to the Pokemon Center.” I took out my Ultra Ball and called Helix back into it.
“Hold it. Don’t forget your reward,” the man said.
“Huh?”
“When you beat someone in a battle, they’re supposed to give you money,” he explained, giving me $200.
“Schweet!” I exclaimed. Wait a minute…then those Galactic people ripped me off! Whatever. “Thanks man!”
“No problem. See you around,” he answered as he jogged off.
Happily stuffing the cash into my pocket, I sprinted towards the city. I passed a sign that read WELCOME TO VEILSTONE CITY. THE CITY OF…WELL…STONE. Ha ha, funny. Oh well, at least I know where I am now!

POV–Nico
Location: Oreburgh City
Countdown to Doomsday: 163 hours, 5 minutes, 52 seconds

Nico waited no more than a second over the 5 minutes Nurse Joy told him to wait. He rushed into Pikachu’s room to find him awake, and quite well if a little tired-looking. His friend cheered up at the sight of his Trainer.
“Pi-ka!!”
“How you doing buddy?”
“Pii…” he said, in a way that told him Nico that he was perfectly fine.
“That’s great news…you were amazing back there. I still can’t believe it. You beat 3 tough Pokemon all on your own…especially that Beedrill. I still wonder just how much stronger that thing was than we were, yet you did it! And that Thundershock! It blew ME away!”he chuckled seeing Pikachu’s expression. He seemed very much pleased with himself.

“Well, you seem ready to go…its still dark and stormy outside, but I think we should get back to Comrade. He saved us back there when you were unconscious. His Galceon is quite a Pokemon too, huh? Oh and that Ace kid has a Pichu. You might like him…” Pikachu seemed interested, but as Nico knew, it didnt mean an automatic good relationship between the two Pokemon. Pikachu is quite friendly though, so he wasnt worried. “Wanna get out of here then?” Pikachu sprang to his feet, and Nico took all the wires off of him. Then he offered his arm and Pikachu climbed to his head again.

Together they left the Pokemon Center, thanking Nurse Joy and her Chansey over and over again, and went looking for Comrade and Ace, wondering what happened with the criminals that attacked them.

POV–Rena
Location: Saffron City
Countdown to Doomsday: 162 hours, 59 minutes, 36 seconds

Rena gasped, finally stopping from her fastest and longest sprint ever. She put her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. After a few minutes, she straightened up. She was in a narrow alleyway in Saffron.

Sight-seeing around, she noticed that every few meters of every wall showed a picture of her and her gruntmate with a WANTED sign above their faces. The police were looking for them.

“Shit.”
She was about to run again when a hard metal object poked her on the back of her head.
“Move, and I will blow your brains out.”
Rena’s eyes widened with fear, and then, switching to her acting side, smiled. “How about I blow something of yours?” she said seductively. That line gave her a chance to attack the assaulter when he was vulnerable. She slapped the gun out of the way and kicked him in the genital area.
“Ah…ah.. AHHHH!” the cloaked man yelled, dropping the gun and clutching his balls.
“Don’t ever threaten me again,” Rena said nicely. “I will kill you if you do.”
She picked up the gun, pointing it at him. “Who are you?”
“My….balls!” he roared.
“I asked you,” Rena muttered, kicking him yet again in his testicles, “who are you? And also, where do you come from?”
“My name’s George. I work for the Master!”
“Who is this Master?”
“I don’t know. We only know that he’s in charge of the organization.” He moaned once more.
“What’s the name of the organization?”
“Project Arceus…” he whispered.

“Don’t say that!” Rena uttered. “If you do, you’ll get shot.”
“No. We kill those who say its name.”
Shock filled her eyes. “YOU… killed the old lady?”
“I was ordered to!” he madly shouted. “It’s not my fault!”
“There’s always choice. How about this, George? I let you go. You never kill a person again.”

~Narrator~

The troubled heroes from afar and in Sinnoh find themselves having the urge to rest for the night. They are taking risks by consuming Time, but they must sleep in order to remain strong.

In Sinnoh, Comrade and his friends find shelter in a guest house in Oreburgh City. Rena of Kanto takes refuge in a deserted apartment in Saffron City.

Although there are time zone differences in every region, for nine hours the unknowing heroes slumber.

Countdown to Doomsday: 153 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds

POV–Nico
Location: Oreburgh City
Countdown to Doomsday: 153 hours, 45 minutes, 00 seconds

Nico and Pikachu had looked for Comrade the night before, and found a good place to stay thanks to the generosity of the people from Oreburgh, although Nico insisted that they could stay in the Pokemon Center, even if it werent as comfortable as a nice bed. Now morning, he got up, took the Luxury Ball by the little table beside his bed, Pikachu in it, got dressed, ate some breakfast, and left. He’d come back later when his companions would wake up, but he needed some fresh air and he wanted to see the city

The sky was still gray, and there was a slight breeze, but the worst part of the storm seemed to have gone. He walked through the city, admiring the mountainous landscape, until he came across a peculiar looking building, quite larger than the rest, with a few young trainers and their young Pokemon looking inside through a window, speaking excitedly and eagerly. Nico walked up to it and realized that it was the Oreburgh Gym! He had completely forgotten why they were here after last night’s events.
“I didnt think we’d be challenging our first Gym Leader so soon…I wonder if we should try it.” As he approached it the kids looked up to him, as though checking whether he was worthy of challenging the Gym Leader or if he stood a chance. They looked skeptical, then turned back their heads and kept talking.

Nico went inside. The stadium was nothing extravagant, but still had a very nice battlefield for a good Pokemon Fight, with stands on either side for spectators.
“Good morning, what can I do for you?” a voice called from across the stadium.

“Uh…” Nico started, unsure if he wanted this or not. “Well, I’m here to challenge the Gym Leader. I’m Nico.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Roak. You should calm down, there’s nothing to be nervous about…well, except the forecoming battle…” he added, more to himself than to me, staring up at the ceiling. He seemed weird.

Nico took a place on one end of the field, Roak on the other. The little kids from outside had come in. ‘Great, now I have an audience’
“Begin!!” The referee called out.
“Go, Cranidos!” Roak’s Pokemon appeared. It looked strong and quite intimidating.
“I choose you, Pikachu!” Pikachu came out of his Pokeball, his fur sparkling as usual.

“Interesting choice…although that Pikachu looks strong. This will be an interesting fight.”
“Likewise…”

POV – Blaine
Location – Veilstone City
Countdown: 153 hours, 38 minutes, 11 seconds

“Hmm…hm? Huh?” I opened my eyes. I saw a ceiling above me, four walls, some tables, and…Nurse Joy? I’m still in the Pokemon Center! I must’ve fallen asleep… but then where’s– my pillow moved. “Wah!” I yelped, startled. I relaxed when I heard a familiar voice come from it: “Arr,” Helix sighed. I chuckled. “Oh. There you are.”  
I stood up and stretched. Helix, assuming that we were leaving, did the same.
“Oh, good, you’re awake,” Nurse Joy called out. “If you go to the back of the building and take the elevator up a floor, you can go to the cafeteria and get some food for you and your Pokemon.”
“Gee thanks!!” I exclaimed. People in the real world are so nice! We followed her directions and easily found the giant room filled with trainers and their Pokemon. I ordered a bunch of soup cans and fruit for our trip, and Helix was given some Pokemon food. That’s when I remembered– I don’t have a bag to put all this junk in! I still had that milk that the cowgirl gave me, which was somehow still cold.
I left the Pokemon Center carrying all of our food in my arms until I could buy a bag at the Department Store. I made Helix carry her Ultra Ball since I couldn’t. I left her outside while I went in. I took the elevator to the fourth floor and told the cashier what I wanted. She took out a very average-looking backpack and said “This is the cheapest thing we have in that department. That’ll be $400.”
“I’ll take it!” I said desperately. I dumped all of my junk on the counter and took the money out of my pocket. She took it, I stuffed the food in the bag, and I left. Helix met me outside and gave me her Ultra Ball. I returned her into it and went to explore the city.

POV–Nico
Location: Oreburgh City
Countdown to Doomsday: 153 hours, 15 minutes, 36 seconds

“Cranidos, use Pursuit!” Roak’s Cranidos charged at Pikachu using that peculiar Dark-type attack.
“Dodge it, PIkachu!” It wasn’t so hard, Pikachu was way faster. “Quick Attack!” Pikachu’s jump ended very suddenly and he came crashing down unto Cranidos’ head as it passed below Pikachu.

It didn’t end well.
“Hahaha, you expect a weak physical attack like Quick Attack to hurt my Cranidos, especially his head? Headbutt!” Pikachu, who was still upside down on his head right on top of Cranidos’, was flung upwards and Cranidos quickly jumped and delivered his Headbutt attack.

“Pikaaaaa!” Pikachu was thrown with great force. That Headbutt hurt a lot. “Hang in there! Try Thundershock!” Pikachu got up”Piiikaaa…chuuuuuu!!!” His Thundershock nearly landed, but Cranidos managed to dodge it with ease.
“You expect my Cranidos to do nothing while you attack? We can see your attacks coming a mile away! Rock Tomb!” Cranidos stomped the ground. As if a shockwave approached Pikachu, it caused a stone pillar to come out of the ground. Pikachu jumped out of the way just in time, but the rock still brushed his underside, and the friction of it still hurt.

Pikachu landed on the floor, panting, and as he looked up he saw Cranidos almost upon him, his blue head glowing from the Headbutt he was about to land. “Double Team!!!” Cranidos missed by a fraction of a second. He ran through one of the 3 copies, but he turned to the right, and his tail flicked Pikachu to the side, landing on the ground again. Now Cranidos knew where he was.

“Rock Tomb!” Again, stone pillars came out of the ground, one after the other, and wherever Pikachu went, they followed. He dodged one, another, got hit, dodged one more, and another, another hit. Pikachu was getting exhausted. “Quick Attack, go!”
“It won’t work, I told you…”
Pikachu ran at around the field, now faster and more agile. The Rock Tomb became easier to avoid, and before Cranidos realized it, he had Pikachu right next to him. “Headbutt!” Cranidos attacked Pikachu, but Pikachu swerved to the side. “Thundershock!!” Bull’s eye! Cranidos took hefty damage…but it was still the first attack Pikachu had landed.

Pikachu was exhausted, Cranidos on his way there too. “Pikachu…Chaaaarge!”
Understanding what he meant, Pikachu performed the attack, but charged at Cranidos, pretending his order was to physically attack Cranidos. Roak followed the example and ordered Cranidos to do the same and use Headbutt. Pikachu got hit, and was sent flying back.
“Now finish it with Rock Tomb!!’ As Cranidos stomped the ground, Nico took his chance. “Now, quick, Thundershock!!”

“Pikaaa…chuuuuuuu!!!” His attack, twice as strong as before, landed perfectly on Cranidos, taking full damage, his Rock Tomb ending halfway down its path. But he was still standing. Pikachu landed on the ground on his two rear feet. Looking up, he was slightly disillusioned that Cranidos was still standing, and turned around to Nico as if apologizing and asking what else he could do.”Pikachu, look again!” He did. Small sparks seemed to be emitting from Cranidos’ body…he was Paralyzed! “Pi-KA!” his buddy cheered up.

“Let’s finish this, shall we? THUNDERSHOCK!”
“Piii…kaaa..chuuuu!!!” And with that last attack, Pikachu finally defeated Cranidos.
“The winner is Pikachu and his trainer Nico!” the referee yelled.
Both of them cheered, ecstatic about their victory.
“We did it!!!” “Pika!”

“Congratulations,” said Roak, after returning his Pokemon to his Pokeball. “Here’s your prize, the Coal Badge”
“Thank you!” Nico accepted the badge, admiring its shine and design, and showed it to Pikachu who seemed to like it as well. After some more small talk, Nico departed. The little kids at the stands seemed impressed, and they started talking together again. Nico hadn’t noticed their booing, cheering and whatnot during his fight. They seemed to accept Roak’s defeat now though.

He left the Gym, Pikachu on his head again, and headed out into the city, hoping to find Comrade and Ace.

POV – Harnet
Location: Canalave Inn
Countdown: 153 hours, 28 minutes, 51 seconds

It took Harnet a little while to figure out what had happened on the boat. The last thing he remembered was going to sleep in his cabin after a short Pokemon battle, but he certainly didn’t remember disembarking. And the room that he was in right now looked nothing like his cabin.
He sat up in the bed he woke up in and looked around to find the room completely devoid of any human presence. When he looked out the window and saw a giant harbor city, he immediately thought he was back in Olivine City, and that the boat had crashed or something. He decided to go outside and have a look.
He stepped out of the building, and it became apparent to him that this was not Olivine at all. He began to think that the boat did indeed make it to Canalave and he somehow fell unconscious beforehand.
“Hey, he’s out!”
Three people who were lingering nearby had taken one look at Harnet and came rushing to his side, as though he looked like he was about to collapse. He certainly felt tired enough to collapse again, and he was in no mood to talk to random overprotective strangers.
“Hey, man. You all right?”
“What happened? You were out when we docked.”
“Are you having trouble breathing or anything?”
“How do you feel?”
“Guys, guys! Give him some space.”
They backed off him, but still maintained a close distance. Harnet was relieved, but still too exhausted to formulate a complete sentence.
One of the men continued. “So….hey, man. You feeling OK?”
Harnet shook his head quickly to wake himself up. “Uhhh….I don’t know. Where am I?”
“This is Canalave City. We found you unconscious on the S.S. Marina. Can you remember anything?”
“Well, not really. I got on the boat from Olivine City, walked around for a bit, battled someone, started feeling dizzy, went back to my cabin to lie down, and now I’m here.”
“Oh, so you do remember getting on the boat?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
Harnet thought for a bit before speaking. “Do you know how to get to Mt. Coronet from here, by any chance?”
“Mt. Coronet? I don’t think you want to be there right now.”
“Why not?”
“Well, you seriously should rest or something. I mean, you’re not the only one to fall unconscious like this.”
“Wh….wait, what?”
“It just aired a while ago. Jubilife TV News has confirmed that at least six simultaneous calls have been made to the emergency medical channel about unexplained comas. But the thing is, the S.S. Marina wasn’t in the Sinnoh region when this happened, so I don’t know why you lost consciousness, too.”
“Huh. Well, maybe it’s just something going around, you know? It could be anything.”
“They all had just been in a Pokemon battle, they said.”
Harnet was getting impatient. “Pokemon battles happen all the time; it’s probably just a coincidence. Now, I’m sorry, but I’d really like to get to Mt. Coronet. Can you help me out here?”
The stranger sighed. “All right, if you keep going east here through Route 218, you’ll go through Jubilife City, then Route 203, then you’ll hit the Oreburgh Gate. Just go straight through, and you’ll end up in Oreburgh City. Then if you go to the north side of the city, you’ll see a steep hill leading to Route 207. Then just go east once more and you’ll end up at Mt. Coronet.”
“All right, thanks.” Harnet walked past the men towards Route 218.
One of the men yelled after him. “Hey! You’ll need a Water-type Pokemon to get across the river!”
“No problem!” Harnet yelled back.

When he got to the river, he saw that there were some rocks that he could use to get across about halfway, but nothing after that. However, he noticed a log suspended above the river, but just out of his reach.
He thought to himself, If I can dislodge that log, I can probably get across. Maybe this’ll be a good time to test out the Destroy Wrist. See if it still works.
Harnet equipped the attachment on his wrist and began pushing some of the buttons on it. Some lights began to flash as a whirring sound started up and a screen on the attachment displayed the word “CANNON” in a teal-green hue. The whirring got louder, and energy continued to build up inside the gadget.
“Destroy……CANNON!”
A bright green ball of energy flew out of the gadget towards the log and impacted it. The force of the blast was enough to dislodge it from its position and cause it to fall into the water, thereby forming a makeshift bridge.
Harnet turned off his wrist attachment and put it back in his pocket. Who knows? I may or may not even need my Shedinja at all to find these legendary Pokemon….

POV Kaleb and Cindy (third person
Countdown 153 hours, 27 min, 53 sec.
After a debate with Cindy that was lasting through Dawn, Kaleb still didn’t want Cindy to join him on his quest.
“Look, you’re just going to get in the way. You see? It’s already morning! Look how much time you have wasted!”
“I’m still going with you. You have no idea where you are going, and you need serious help.”
“For the last goddamn time, I am going ALONE!”
“How about I take a bet with you?”
“‘sigh’ What then? Tell me the bet”
“How about a battle?
Kaleb, thinking she would not stand a chance, said
“Okay! Battle! If you lose, you go back home. If you win, you can come with.”
“Alright! Go Fluffy!”
Cindy then threw the Pokeball to reveal an obviously depressed Snubbull. After that, Kaleb sent out Tarayonaga, who was ready to fight. The Snubbull at first used Captivate. After Fluffy did so, Tarayonaga became very weak, so when it used bite, Fluffy wasn’t hurt at all. Yet Tarayonaga used scary face, in an attempt to scare Fluffy away. It didn’t work. Once Fluffy used Frustration, Tarayonaga went down completely. Fluffy hated Cindy that much.
Reluctantly, knowing he had been beat, Kaleb said
“Okay, you can join…”
Cindy was too ecstatic to even make out words. She hugged the frustrated Kaleb, and decided it was time to move on. After stopping in the next Town, they were able to buy two bikes, but before they rode to Canalave, Kaleb asked Cindy
“How did you find me anyway?”
“Oh, I just climbed out of my bedroom window, since I started to worry about you.”
“You do realize that people are probably searching for you right now, worried stiff, right?
“Oh crap! My parents are way too over protective! What do I do Kaleb?”
Kaleb then sent out his Tarayonaga. He told her to cut Cindy’s hair. She then cut a lot of it off, making her hair a lot shorter.
“Okay” said Kaleb. “Now, tie your hair into a knot, you can get new clothes.”
Cindy was very angry, but had to go with this.
“okay…” she said sadly. “I guess I have to change…”
Not long after, a police officer came over and asked
“have you seen a girl with long, darkish blond hair, who looks like this?”
The officer then held up a picture of Cindy. Kaleb then lied perfectly to the police officer, and even asked why he was asking him.
“I’m just looking all over. Her parents are going insane worrying.”
“Alright, I hope you find her officer!”
“Thank you, goodbye!”
After this was over, Cindy asked Kaleb
“How do you lie like that?”
“Years of practice, now let’s go”.
Kaleb and Cindy got back on their bikes, riding right through the metropolis of Jubilife, seeing many lost signs for Cindy, and continued to go west, as Cindy said that led to Canalave. What she forgot, however, was that there was a huge lake in front, and neither of them had a water Pokemon. Kaleb was furious, however, he saw a boy, playing with a weird wristband thing. Suddenly, the wristband shot a green beam at a log, creating a bridge across the water. Cindy, being her curious self, was in awe, and Kaleb then shouted
“Hey you!”

POV–Comrade
Location: Oreburgh City
Countdown to Doomsday: 153 hours, 25 minutes, 08 seconds

I woke, seeing Ace sleeping in the next bed and Nico gone, probably to fight some people. I knew he was going to lose. His Pikachu sucks anyways….

Now, I did the morning routine: Take a shower and simultaneously brush my teeth, take a piss in the shower–I’m not trying to be a bad guest, but hey, this is how I roll–and got out, hair shampooed and body cleaned. I felt refreshed.

I have to avenge my professor’s death. I knew that if I stayed with Nico and Ace, things would not work out. They had other plans. Heh, even Nico, the first guy I met, wants to just battle his heart away. And look at Ace, sleeping. This is not a good traveling group.

So, I walked out the house, thanking the hosts. They waved me off, and I sighed.

I must persevere, I must continue. Never will I quit until I find the killers.

With that good thought in mind, I ran from Oreburgh to Route 207, going north.
If I found the killers, I will find the hidden Arceus and the organization who murdered Maples.

Strolling up the route, I noticed trainers who exerted exclamation marks above their heads whenever they saw me, but I ignored them. That is, until I met the person standing in front of an entrance to a cave. This had to be Mt. Coronet, the biggest Mount in Sinnoh and possibly the entire world.

“Comrade.”
“Buddy.”
“How’s it going?”
“Good.”
“I’m good too, thanks for asking.”
“I don’t have time for you. I must avenge professor’s death.”
“No way, dude. He died?”
“Murdered.”
“That sucks.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me,” I growled, “I have some revenge in mind. Please excuse me.”
“I can’t do that. How about a battle.” Buddy flashed his belt, revealing six Pokeballs.
“SIX POKEBALLS?!” I yelled. “I only have ONE!”
“Too bad, Comrade.” He sneered. “Go, Minion!” A Scyther. Great.
“Niveus, show yourself!” I yelled, throwing my Premier ball.
“Your Eevee’s not really showing herself, it’s more like you’re doing the showing.”
“Oh shut up. And she’s not Eevee anymore. She… is… well, you’ll see for yourself.” The light faded, and Niveus, the beautiful Glaceon, purred.

“That’s right, BlTCH!” I laughed.

POV–Nico
Location: Oreburgh City
Countdown to Doomsday: 152 hours, 35 minutes, 08 seconds

“Well, the fight took about 30 minutes…its still too early to eat lunch…what should we do? D’you think we might as well get going?”Nice consulted his bud. They had returned to the house of the kind people who had allowed them to stay the night. Comrade had left town already, and Ace was still asleep. Their trio had already broken up, and since Nico had no idea what Ace’s plans were, nor just how trustworthy he really was (having met him not long ago, and there hadn’t been much time for talking), he left as well.

“I wonder why Comrade left us though…” he though aloud. “He seemed nice enough…the jerk might just have gotten tired of us…oh well.” He still felt like he owed him something, probably because of how he had helped them out after they crossed Oreburgh Gate being pursued by those robbed men. That was totally irrational, since Pikachu and him risked their hides delaying these people, but he still felt that way.

Without realizing it, he had reached the northeastern exit of the town. They had reached Route 207. They walked a bit further until they came to a sign. If they kept going north, they’d follow Route 206 (featuring a Bike Path) to Eterna City. That wasn’t right. They had to keep going down Route 207, eastward, until they reached Mt. Coronet. He looked east and, no doubt, there it was. The mountain range and the beast that was Mt. Coronet itself. The peak was lost among the clouds. He could hardly believe how big it was.
“Good thing we just have to cut across, through a tunnel in the mountains, and not climb that…”
“Piiiiii….” Pikachu said, just as awed as he was, resting on his head.

As they walked on he began considering their plans. Was this what he really wanted? “Yes, I do…its just…” The day was still as ugly as it had been when he woke up. Gray, unappealing, breezy, cool…he was sure this wasn’t regular weather. This organization, this “Arceus”, Professor Maples…something was going on in Sinnoh, and he somehow felt involved in this. ‘Maybe that’s why Comrade left…’ he thought, thinking again about Maple’s unfortunate death.

It took them a while, but they reached the entrance just as rain started coming down. “If we dont hurry, it’ll soon turn torrential and we’ll get soaked!” Pikachu climbed down his head and ran alongside him. As they approached the entrance to the tunnel that led to Route 208, he saw out of the corners of his eyes two trainers battling it out off to the side of the road. A blue blur caught his eye’s attention, but as he was about to turn his head, thunder roared, he passed a big rock that blocked his view of the off-road area to his left, and Pikachu called out to him. Turning back he almost collided with the wall of the mountain base. He swerved slightly to the left of the path to the entrance. They went inside, hesitating slightly, into the uninviting-looking cave.

POV– Comrade
Location: Route 207
Countdown to doomsday: 151 hours, 01 minutes, 09 seconds (OMG only an hour left until we are heading to the undergroud zomg rofl wtf haha copterskates)

I was about to order Niveus to obliverate Buddy himself, take his money, and run, but I’m nice so I didn’t. As I was going to command Niveus to use Icy Wind, a shudder rang through the earth, making me go woozy.
“Earthquake!” Buddy shouted scaredly. I laughed. Now I wasn’t. I was falling, like a fissure just appeared, eating me and Buddy…

Countdown: 150 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds

What in the world…? All around me were rocks, rocks, and more rocks. And next to Buddy’s presumably dead body was a Plate.
“Buddy!” I shouted. “Get up!” No use. He was out. And I… was inside the underground.
“ROAR!” a Pokemon roared. Great. An Onix.

“Niveus,” I shouted with little enthusiasm, “Icy wind!”

Minutes later, I was still walking, looking for some kind of hope that would lift my spirits up. These plates were doing things I could not understand. What is this all about? Are these plates, Arceus, and my professor’s murder connected? I can only wait for answers.

POV– Nico
Location: Inside Mt. Coronet, Route 207-208 connecting tunnel.
Countdown to doomsday: 151 hours, 01 minutes, 09 seconds

The cave was dark, but not so much that you could not see anything. It was quite maze-like. Rocks everywhere created complicated paths, and there were many cliffs and depressions on the ground, creating a very un-leveled terrain. “Finally we’ve reached the famous Mt. Coronet…we’re much closer to our second Gym Badge Pikachu!” Before they had taken a dozen steps into the cave, before Pikachu had responded in any way to his last comment, before they had met even one wild Pokemon, the world shook violently.

The floor and walls would not stop shaking, the ceiling crumbled, rocks and dust falling everywhere. The noise of the earthquake plus the noise of all the Pokemon and possible human life inside the cave became deafening. Nico and Pikachu ran, but as they avoided falling debris everywhere they went, they separated. He felt getting dizzy, going in who knows what directions, the head-drilling noise coming from all around him, the shaking and trembling that threw him off balance. He almost threw up, but before he could, he felt nothing. He had taken a step into what he thought was firm ground, but instead he found himself level with it, each second falling more and more into nothingness. It had gotten dark. He bumped into the wall and almost lost consciousness. He stopped thinking, he did not see anything, nor hear…the only thing he could feel was him still falling…then a very hard something struck his back with great force, the air in his lung forced out.

His vision returned slowly though, because, for some reason, there was more light. As it did, he saw more rocks falling from way up high. He realized it must have been debris that had fallen through the same crack on the floor as he did, and quickly rolled to the side to avoid them.
He slowly, and with great difficulty, got to his feet and looked around. He could not make sense of what had happened. One second everything was fine, the next the world seemed to be crumbling away. He had actually fallen…yet he seemed to be in a very well made series of underground tunnels. But a sudden thought came to his mind, and he despised himself for having waited so long to remember (though the absurdity of the events drove everything away from his mind).

He turned from side to side, yelling “PIKACHUUU!!!”

POV– Ace
Location: Oreburgh City
Countdown to doomsday: 151 hours, 01 minutes, 09 seconds

You would think an earthquake wouldn’t be the best way to end a nice long sleep, and you would be correct. I ended up somewhere between the floor and the bed, being wrapped up in the bedding acted as a net of sorts. Untangling myself, I quickly got my bearings. Something about me and these two other gents… Oh yeah, then it hit me, like a sack of bricks.

Somebody, or more likely, a large group of people, wanted me dead, as fast as possible, all because of a name! I mean, it’s not like I knew anything about this Arceus. Well, not entirely true, because I had a pretty good hunch that whatever it was had a connection to the disasters happening everywhere. But that was a mere hunch.

Thinking for prolonged periods of time tends to give me a massive headache, so I decided it was better to forget the whole mess. Who knows, maybe that cult group would give up if I just never ever thought about it. Yet, it’s never that simple.

“Did you sleep well?” said a kind woman, also the owner of the house. She and her husband let us spend the night, the kind souls.

“Um, yeah, thanks,” I said. I’m not very open to open people. You would think so, but…

“You sounded like you had a pretty bad dream. You kept twisting and turning, I think you might have had a cold sweat at one point… Harold and I were so worried.”

Must have been my guilty conscience. I’ve never kept a secret this big before. Oh well. “Thanks for being worried for me, but it’s no big. I’m fine now,” I said, trying to reassure her. I mean, she looked pretty freaked. I didn’t really give a care as to why, but I mean, she did give three complete strangers a good place to stay for the night. So, I asked her, “What’s up? You don’t look so hot yourself. Something wrong?”

The lady bit her nails for a bit, then told me, “Ooh, I’m just so worried about Harold! He went into the mines about 4 hours ago to ask his coworkers about this one word, one you kept saying over and over in your sleep… He hasn’t shown up in hours!”

I was a bit curious at this point, so I asked her what the word was. She responded, “Oh, something like… Now what was it… Aseus? Arceas?”

“Arceus…?”

She snapped her fingers. “Yes, that one! He went into the mine, asking anyone and everyone he could find about that word!”

I thought about things then. Maples. The shooting. Blood stains on his lab coat. Running for our lives. Voices. Nico’s sacrifice… Come to think of it I hadn’t seen him since he ran to the Pokemon Center with his Pikachu. What if the cult found him…? Comrade was missing too. They could all be dead now. Harold could very well be next.

I threw up, right then and there, on the floor. Such bloodshed… No. No, no, no. I won’t let them do it. I won’t let them do what they did to Maples, or perhaps Comrade and Nico. No. I won’t let Harold die. Not because of me.

I took her hands in mine, looked her teary eyes in the pupils and told her straight, “I’ll find him. No matter what it takes, I’ll find him. You have my word.”

She understood quite nicely. She gave me a hug, and I was off.

As soon as I was out the door, I ran right to the mine. Grabbing a spare flashlight on a pile of slag outside, I went in. It was just like any other mine, only something was amiss. No activity. No Pokemon, no workers, nothing. Just the sound of my breathing occupied the cave. I waved my flashlight in the air, no Zubat. On the ground I waved, no Diglett. All bad signs.

“Harold? Hellooo, testing, 1, 2, 3…” I called out, but to no avail. “Harold? Come on buddy, your wive misses you!” I searched and searched, but nothing came out. I finally reached the end of the cave. This area had an odd odor to it, like a rafflesia I saw in the Pastoria Marsh once. Then I saw Harold, and the source of the rotting meat smell, all in one gross package.

A picaxe was sticking out of his neck, his body was twisted at weird angles, and blood was everywhere there could possibly be blood. I won’t lie to you, I barfed again, right on the spot. As if a worse thing couldn’t have happened, another earthquake hit, more violent than the last one, if that could be possible.

I lost my footing about three seconds into this one, slipping into my own barf right then and there. What I wouldn’t give to be in a Pokeball like Spade. Though, I doubt either of us liked the sound of cracking, if you can hear inside of a Pokeball. I saw the ground cracking, like a very fast viper quickly making its way toward me. Next thing I know, I’m falling a good 10-15 feet. It might not sound like much, but trust me, it is. Lucky me though, because I landed right on good ol’ Harold’s corpse.

I barfed again, naturally. Then I got my bearings. How exactly did Harold end up below me? Oh well, life never makes much sense.

POV – Blaine
Location – Veilstone City
Countdown: 151 hours, 01 minutes, 09 seconds

“Wow, what a neat city… wanna go challenge the gym?” I asked Helix. But she wasn’t paying attention. She was in the middle of the path, trying to make her way underground.
“Helix, what’re you doing? Didn’t you hear me?” I asked impatiently. She looked at me with the most worried face I’ve ever seen. Then, she promptly resumed her digging attempts. I decided to encourage her, so I yelled to her, “Helix, Dig!” She immediately started digging with more success.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. “Oh, my God!” I screamed. I threw my arms around Helix’s neck and clutched onto her for dear life. People all around us were running and screaming, but Helix somehow remained calm. I put my faith in her and calmed down slightly.
The smallish hole that Helix had dug served a purpose. As the earthquake intensified, the hole cracked up and fell apart, dropping down into darkness. Helix grunted, signaling me to get on her back. I did, and she bravely jumped down the hole. I blacked out somewhere along the way down.

As I woke up, I started questioning what had happened. I remembered the mysterious pawing at the ground, the earthquake, my great Arcanine standing steadily in the center of all the chaos. Like she knew that it would happen. But how? I began to try piecing it all together.
Wait… where was Helix? “Helix??” I tried to call, but it only came out as a whisper. I tried again: “Helix?!?” I whispered, a little louder than the last time. I could feel my panic giving me my strength back. I groaned as I tried to sit up. My left wrist had a decent-sized cut, and was crusted over with dried blood. Then I realized that both of my feet were trapped under some boulders. Great…I can’t move, and Helix is lost. What am I gonna do now?
I sat all the way up, my stomach twisting in fear. “HELIX!!!!” I yelled desperately. I felt something cold on my arm. I turned to see what it was, and to my relief, I saw Helix lovingly nudging my arm with her nose. All of the fear inside me, at that moment, was gone. I would be fine now that I had Helix. I gripped her head and hugged her tightly.
“Helix,” I whispered as I released her. “Can you help me up?” I motioned to my feet. She, without sparing a second, stood up and grabbed each of the rocks (they weren’t that big) and set them aside. Then, she bent over and helped me up. I leaned on Helix for support, but at least I was standing.
“Thanks, Helix. Now, will you let me ride you until they’re fully healed?”
“Arrrrr,” Helix sighed as she helped me on her back. I patted her neck, and we began to explore this mysterious tunnel. I didn’t question where it was or anything–I was just happy that I wasn’t dead.

POV– Nico
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 41 minutes, 00 seconds

The tunnel where Nico had fallen in had two ways to go, both leading to a fork in the path, but Pikachu couldn’t have fallen too far from him…unless another crack in the mountain floor had caused Pikachu to fall and land somewhere totally different. He ran up to one of the forks in the path, at the end of the tunnel he was in. He looked down every possible path, impressed at how far he could actually see. The place was very well lit. But he saw no Pikachu.

He turned and ran back down the tunnel, heading for the opposite end. When he reached it, he looked to his left. Nothing. To his right. Nothing.
He turned, then doubled back. He saw a silverish gray shimmering halfway down the right path, on the wall. He slowly approached it, wondering what it could be. He also saw something else moving towards it, through the corner of his eye, from the opposite end of this new tunnel. It seemed just as captivated as he was, but neither were paying attention to each other. He registered its deep orange color…

“Pikachu!!” Nico tore his sight away from the silverish gray shimmering and looked at his Pikachu, who did the same and looked at him. Pikachu cried in joy and ran to Nico, who extended his arms as Pikachu jumped up to him. They said nothing else, it was understood that they had both been worried to death. Instead they both turned back to the wall, and they saw what was emitting that weird light.

Some silver object seemed to be buried in the tunnel wall, only about a third of it exposed. It looked perfectly flat and polished. Nico reached for it, but it wouldnt budge, so he tried breaking apart the wall that was covering it. He failed miserably, only being able to tear tiny little pieces of rock.

“Hmm…” He pondered how he should get it out, but Pikachu had already  jumped off his arms, walked to the wall opposite the object, and readied himself. He ran at full speed, towards the wall, apparently using Quick Attack, and struck the rocky surface with all his might. Nothing happened, and Pikachu landed back on the floor, rubbing his head from the pain.

CRACK! They both turned back and saw a wide crack expanding from where Pikachu had hit the wall.
“Haha! Awesome job Pikachu…use Thundershock now.”
“Pi!” his buddy affirmed happily, and then proceeded to using his electrical attack.

The surge of orange electricity landed exactly on the spot from where the crack seemed to originate, and it caused much of the rock around the area to crumble away, in a small explosion of dust and rock. When the reddish brown cloud cleared, they saw a pretty big silver rectangular plate-like thing, with something engraved on its front, but he couldnt quite make out what it said. He took it anyways.

“I wonder what this thing is Pikachu…it looks…” he didnt know what it looked like, except that he felt it was something quite important.

POV – Tsu
Location: Hearthrome City
Countdown: 150 hours, 39 minutes, 43 seconds

Tsu lay sprawled out on a couple of chairs in the Pokemon Center, sleeping soundly. Tank lay on the floor nearby. The nurse in charge of the Pokemon Center had been nice enough to let them stay the night. Suddenly, a slight tremor shook the building. Tsu yawned and stretched. “Morning already?” she muttered, apparently oblivious to the earthquake. As she reached for her backpack, she noticed that Tank was up and running towards the door. She figured something had spooked him, although it was quite unlike him to get scared by anything. “Tank, where are you…?” she began to ask, but he had already run out the automatic door. Tsu blinked, then suddenly came to, running after her Rhyhorn.

Tsu chased Tank all the way outside of the city, surprised at how fast his stumpy little legs could carry him. “Wait! Get back here!” she yelled, but Tank either couldn’t hear her or was ignoring her. Suddenly, he came to a stop outside of a cave, Tsu nearly tripping over him. “What’s gotten into you?” Tsu asked him.Tank grunted apologetically, then turned back to the  cave. Tsu still didn’t get what was going on, but got a flashlight out of her backpack as she followed after him as he started to walk into the cave.

POV — Comrade
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 30 minutes, 09 seconds

Earthquakes.

Such marvelous entities. We don’t know what causes them; it’s not like Pokemon actually have the ability to strike the ground hard enough to cause a fissure. No, it’s some natural relationship between the earth and Pokemon. Sinnoh was created. By whom, I don’t know. But it was by something or someone. If this earthquake was part of the natural cycle of things, then it must relate to the beginning of time and space. Everything in our world is connected. Everything.

So I’m calm now. Although I continue to walk in the dark Underground–which itself is completely untamed yet bears a path for me to walk on–I am relaxed, for I know the occurring events are happening for a reason. And I believe this is my destiny, my call. To solve the enigma behind Arceus and the troubling present.

“Hey,” a voice shouts. “Who’s there?” Past the dark void, I see a silhouette of a man.
“My name is Comrade,” I respond. “Who are you?”
“I am Obe.”

What kind of name is that? As the two of us walk closer, I see more and more of the shadow’s anatomy. He’s bulky, very bulky.

“I know why you are here,” he goes on.
I nod. “Yeah, It’s calling us.”
His face, darkened by the absence of light, shows a confused expression. “Calling? No. You are here to steal this!”

No way! I shout in my head. It’s a Plate! How’d this man obtain such a relic?!

“Many things chase me, but they cannot steal this!” Obe exclaims. “I challenge you to a match! You win, I will hand over my jewel. I win… you die.”
I laugh. “I don’t want the plate, Obe. You can keep it. I’m here for other reasons. And my friends could be down here right now, trying to find me. So I must pursue them too. Goodbye. And I advise you to drop that Plate, or else a lot of things will happen to you.” Suddenly my mind blinks. “Wait, Obe!”

Obe, walking away now, stops. “What?”

“When’d you find that?” I say, pointing to the Plate.
“About an hour ago.”
So he caused the earthquake. “Well, put it down. If you don’t, you’ll unbalance the natural equilibrium.”
He ignores me and treads away. I walk the opposite direction, in hopes to find my comrades.

POV — Ace
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 25 minutes

Okay, my head hurts.

That’s what first came to my mind, anyway. Then I brushed myself off the cold floor of what I could only assume was the underground area of Sinnoh. Lots of dust. I’d only been down here once before, but that was a long time ago.

“I was, what, 10, Spade? When we went down here…”

Of course, I was speaking rhetorically. Spade was still tucked inside that red and white marble of his, and I don’t believe they could hear inside that thing. That got me thinking. What was it like? Ah, dark tunnels, mining for oddly-shaped gems and stones, some bearded man- my father? um- a sense of foreboding…

Wait, foreboding? That was new. Hm, probably due to the recent events. Aah, it’s all coming back, a nightmarish wave of recollection. Blood, running, hiding, shooting, more running, shadowy figures, more running, more blood…

I’d throw up yet again, but I don’t have anything left in me to throw up. Speaking of, I should probably change outfits. It’s a good thing I thought to bring all my belongings with me when I went to look for Harold, otherwise I’d be seriously screwed. So, I change on the spot into my summer clothes.

Deciding it wouldn’t be the best option to continue hanging with the now-rotting meat corpse, I walk aimlessly further into the tunnels beneath Sinnoh. My mind begins to overwork as a result of a mixture of fear, confusion, and paranoia. I must be hearing things. Footsteps? No, just the echo of my own feet.

As a testament to my mind, proving that my fear is but an illusion, I stop in my tracks. The footsteps move on without me. I freak. Suddenly I’m in a sprint, running faster than I ever have, than I ever will be. Is it the cult? Shoot, it’s gotta be. They’ve found me, and I’m just going to end up like that professor, or Harold, maybe Nico and Comrade…

Right about then I slam hard into something. Ow, ow owowow. My nose bleeding? Perfect. I clear my head and get up.

“Ah, ah, ow… Hey, Comrade? Is that you?”

POV — Kaleb
Location, Bridge to Canalave City
Countdown to Dommsday 153 hours, 28 minutes, 51 seconds
Suddenly, the kid screamed somethng unintelligible as if he had some secret to hide or something. He fell to the ground in an instant. I immediately went to go check his pulse. No response. I tried waking him up, using CPR, everything, but it didn’t work. Tarayonaga came out, and could just tell that this boy was dead. I was stunned. “Had I killed this boy?!” I wondered. I decided that I didn’t, it was an accident, yeah, that’s all, heh heh… I noticed that the boy had a green watch thing on. When I tried to see what it was, something happened. I noticed that it reacted in a very strange way, and it made me feel… Powerful. I also saw that there was a Pokeball on his belt. Without thinking, I took it, because I knew that the Pokemon could not live on its own. I also saw a wallet bulging in the pocket, and chose to take it, to see an ID in it. “Harnet” I read aloud. What an unusual name! I decided that I’d use it if I needed an alias. Seeing the dead body, I had no idea what to do, and no time to think, because after I got Tarayonaga in it’s ball, I was suddenly swept down at breakneck speed, wondering what the hell was going on. I mushave gone for about 3 hours As soon as I was done, I saw that I was underground, then I wondered
“Where the f*ck is Cindy!?”
Then I saw a small kid with a Pichu and some nerdy kid ahead. The small kid called the nerdy kid “Comrade”.

POV — Comrade
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 17 minutes, 49 seconds

“Hey Comrade? Is that you?” a frightened voice asks.
“No,” I reply. No reaction comes from the other person. What will the person do? Run away? Apologize? Awkwardly stay still?

“Just kidding, it’s me.”
“Oh,” the passerby exclaims. “it’s me, Ace!”

“Aw,” I say happily, “excellent! Wanna battle?” It’s dark here, but what the heck. A magnificent way to enjoy a reunion.

POV — Ace
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 17 minutes, 30 seconds

It’s dark and I’ve just been scared half to death by somebody I thought WAS dead, but eh, I’m game for a battle.

“Alright, Spade, let’s be sure to play our cards right in this one. His Glaceon’s powerful, to be sure,” I said to the Pichu once I called him out. I didn’t care if he couldn’t understand, I was in the zone.

I grinned at Comrade. “Whenever you’re ready.”

POV — Comrade
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 17 minutes, 25 seconds

Heh. Finally, a match worth fighting!

“Alright Niveus!” I yell, letting loose the Pokemon from its captivity. Sometimes I wonder why I keep my Pokemon friend in a sphere. Maybe I should throw the Premier Ball away after this match…

I see Niveus look contentiously at Spade, Ace’s Pichu.

Fighting is Niveus’ lifestyle.

“GO! ICY WIND!”

POV — Kaleb
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 10 minutes, 30 seconds

I tired to shout “Hey! Can you hear me!” but apparently they couldn’t. Selfish douche’s. They decided to have a battle. The tall nerdy boy sent out a Glaceon while the short and young boy used his Pichu. I decided to send out Tarayonaga, and wondered if I could join the battle. I needed one badly.
I wondered where Cindy was. I hoped she wasn’t hurt, or kidnapped.

POV — Nico
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 11 minutes, 00 seconds

Nico and Pikachu walked the dark, desolate halls of the Underground. Recently, they had found a strange object buried in a wall. Nico raised the silver plate in front of him. It seemed to glow. Though the Underground was not completely dark, the few sparse lanterns did little to diminish the amount of unsettling darkness surrounding them. Yet the Plate seemed to emit its own silvery, ghostly light. It was rather eerie.

Then a thought occurred to him. Why was it so dark? When he had first fallen here the place was better lit than the outside world. He thought it had probably gotten progressively darker. They had walked for so long that they probably barely noticed. And even though going back to a well-lit place would be the most logical thing to do, this path felt…right.

They were lost anyhow. They path had taken so many twists and turns…Nico had originally attempted to keep track of how many times they turned, but eventually the list became so long he gave it up as futile. Either way, the place where they came from held no more an exit than where they were now. All they could really do was walk….walk, and walk, and walk. Hopefully they would come across someone or something that would give meaning to all this hell that occurred.

Pikachu stopped, and Nico almost walked into him. They stood there, quietly listening to the darkness’ silence, the silver plate seemingly glowing brighter than ever. Nico felt another presence, but couldn’t see anything.
He took a step forward. Pikachu immediately jumped on his arm and climbed to his shoulder, where he rested there, holding on to the side of Nico’s head for support, looking wary.

Slowly, Nico took more tentative steps. Nothing else happened, however, so he kept going. The feeling of another presence surrounding them followed the two companions as they traveled deeper and deeper into the darkness of the tunnels. Nico’s thoughts turned to his friends as he walked.

‘Where are you guys?’

POV — Ace
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 17 minutes

Nothing could prepare me for the ensuing blast of freezing air that came from Niveus. Agh, shoot. This’ll slow Spade down a bit. Ah well, can’t be helped. I could’ve sworn I saw a Larvitar out of the corner of my eye, but for now I’ll have to watch Comrade’s Glaceon with both eyes.

“Use Nasty Plot Spade!”

You’ve gotta wonder what those Pokemon think when they use that move.

POV — Comrade
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 17 minutes, 02 seconds

I look at Ace. He nods. Our Pokemon fight.

“Nasty Plot, Spade!” Ace commands.

I see where this is going. Ace is clearly building his Pichu up for a Knock-Out hit. I swallow uneasily, and look confidently at Niveus.

“Do what you do best,” I say. I think it’s time for her to do things her own way. That’s the only way she will realize she’s a free being.

They continue fighting, and behind all the raging screams of the creatures, I hear a voice.

“Hey! Double battle!”

My head turns to the source of the voice. A kid. There’s another figure in the background, and by the looks of it, it’s a girl.

I look to Ace. We were in a middle of a fight, but joining forces with Ace would be more satisfying than winning or losing to him.

“Well?”

POV — Kaleb
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 150 hours, 10 minutes, 02 seconds

“Well, let’s fight!” I screamed
“I could’ve sworn there was a girl with you five seconds ago” said a confused Comrade.
“…Where are you guys?…” someone called from the cave in an echo.
“Nico!” shouted Comrade, then a lost boy started comin our direction. Maybe he could be in this double battle…

POV- Ace
Location- Sinnoh Underground
Time Until Doomsday- 150 hours, 9 minutes
I couldn’t help but smile. Our little reunion battle of sorts had turned into a team battle with a stranger and Nico, who I was relieved to see alive. Comrade and I were sure to win; after seeing the combined force of our Pokémon together fighting that shadowy group, I knew this was gonna be cake.

“Yeah, let’s do it!” I said.

Or not. Something didn’t jive right. I looked cautiously at Comrade.

POV — Comrade
Location — Sinnoh Underground
Countdown until doomsday — 150 hours, 8 minutes, 23 seconds

We draw our eyes together. I stand adjacent to Ace, and the kid stands next to Nico. Nico has a wide smirk that looks too unnatural and misplaced, making me wonder what causes him to smile.

“Alright,” Nico says with a low voice. “Go, Kabutops!” The creature emerges from its Pokeball–what?! A Master Ball?! I’m no idiot; I know this isn’t Nico. And by the looks on Ace’s face, neither does he. The kid smiles and summons his own Pokemon.

Are they tricking us?

“Kabutops!” Nico shouts with an indistinct low voice. “CUT!”

Ace and I haven’t even summoned our friends. Kabutops’ arm swipes at us and barely misses.
“RUN!” I yell to Ace. Together, he and I escape the Kabutops’ second attempt to incapacitate us.

After we reach a safe distance, I see not-Nico remove his mask. One of the shadowy organization! He wears the cult’s strange clothes and has disdainful, piercing eyes.
I unleash Niveus from her Pokeball and then toss the sphere away. By putting Niveus in her Premier Ball, I risk danger to myself and thus her. She and I must always be at each other’s side.

Ace’s cute Pichu pops out of its Pokeball and together, the four of us escape the shadowy man’s Kabutops. I really hope that kid manages to survive.

“Boy,” I say to Comrade, “talk about cutting it close.”

Aha, couldn’t resist saying that. We’re well past the danger now, and our pace has slowed considerably. I look behind us. Yup, total darkness. I should’ve taken that flashlight.

POV — Nico
Location — Sinnoh Underground
Countdown until doomsday — 150 hours, 0 minutes, 23 seconds

Sounds…lots of sounds. Loud ones. People yelling. Stranger sounds. Pokemon sounds? None were happy. Some excited, some scared, others panicked.
Anything…anything to escape the silent darkness that had enveloped Nico and Pikachu for the better part of an hour. He picked up a pace, setting off into a trot that turned into a run when he realized the urgency in someone’s voice. A certain someone who he though he knew.

But then he saw a less familiar person being chased by a..a Kabutops? At first he thought it was a wild one, a remnant of an ancient species that might have been living underground. But then he saw another person, dressed in an unfortunately familiar way. All he knew was that this one guy was not to be trusted under any circumstances. He stopped for a second.

Nico’s path crossed another one perpendicularly. The chased kid was running straight down his path (to Nico’s right at the fork). Nico guessed nothing god could come from going to the left at the fork, as for going straight…well, unless he wanted to be enveloped in lonely darkness again…

“Lets go Pikachu…” he said, and they set off again, turning to the right where the Kabutops and the man had gone, running after someone else. The usually dead-silent halls were now noisy from yells of other people, both behind Nico (though he could see no one) and in front, not to mention the annoyingly loud Kabutops. They were not heard as they quickly caught up to the two villains.

“Go, Quick Attack!” Pikachu sped up and quickly overcame the villainous stranger, hitting him in the small of his back. The man fell over, rolling across the floor. His Kabutops stopped dead in his track when he heard his owner’s yell, and turned on the spot, growling menacingly.

“What the…” the man got up, looking ferociously, almost intimidatingly, at Nico and Pikachu. Nico almost took a step back from the ferocious stare, but held his ground.
“Kabutops, False Swipe!”

“Pikachu, Double Team, then Charge!”

Pikachu followed his instruction, creating doubles all around Kabutops, who began randomly slashing at each. Meanwhile, the real Pikachu glowed slightly yellow, charging electricity. The glowing gave his position away, and Kabutops struck him with the dull side of his blade-arms. Pikachu fell back, towards the stranger, facing Kabutops and Nico (they had switched places).

“Kabutops, Fury Attack!”
“Pikachu, Thundershock!”

As Kabutops neared him, Pikachu unleashed a huge surge of electricity…but Kabutops barely slowed down!
‘He’s strong!’
Pikachu continued unleashed his power as Kabutops neared him, at an exponentially slower pace, but nevertheless continuously getting closer. Kabutops had his eyes closed from the pain, but suddenly opened them. At that instead, Pikachu ended his attack and immediately rolled to the side. Kabutops’ blade-arm’s point struck the ground where Pikachu had been a millisecond ago.
But before they could react, Kabutops charged at Pikachu again, pinning him against the wall with his blade arm.

“Pikachuu!!!” Pikachu tried, fruitlessly, to shake him off, but his opponent was to strong. He used Thundershock again…and again, and again, and again, but even if Kabutops was indeed growing weaker, it would not let up on slowly squeezing the life out of Pikachu.

Desperately, Nico looked beyond the stranger to see if the chased kid was still around. He saw nothing, though the darkness was blinding. Without thinking, he chucked the silver plate at Kabutops. With a sickeningly loud crushing sound, it knocked Kabutops down to the floor, seemingly almost unconscious. Pikachu then got near it, panting, and looking at it with hate. His Light Ball glowing, Pikachu unleashed another Thundershock on his opponent, who had been trying to get up, and finally caused it to Faint.

POV — Kaleb
Location: Underground
Countdown: 150 hours, 0 minutes, 5 seconds

Holy shit! I thought. Did that damn thing try to kill us? I was still running after being chased. Nico seemed to be eyeing me suspiciously, as if I was not to be trusted. The imposter was still there, but now he pulled out a gun. Without thinking, I pulled out that green watch thingy I found earlier. It began to say “DESTROY LIFEFORM!” I was about to crap my pants and saw my life before my eyes until it shot a green ray at both the Kabutops and the imposter. The imposter burned alive, in seconds there was nothing left of him. The Kabutops suddenly had awakened, and looked a little dazed or confused. It went to Nico and tried to smell him. Nico tried to run , but the creature showed a little docile, and started to look even more confused, as of to why we were afraid of it. Then it hung its head in sadness.
But after the watch did what it did, everyone looked at me suspicious and Nico yelled out,
“Just who the hell are you anyway?!”
“Harnet, my name is Harnet” I said tentatively, knowing I could not trust these people.
I wonder what that talking Arcanine is doing now, and I wonder what this Pokemon I took could be.

POV — Rena
Location: Saffron City
Countdown to Doomsday ~  149 hours, 55 minutes, 19 seconds

Rena yawned. She just woke up from a long sleep. Looking around at her surroundings (for she had forgotten her location during her slumber), she realized why and how she got here.

I’m being pursued, she thought. Her days with Team Rocket had been enjoyable, until recently. After hearing the news of poached Pidgeys and almost getting captured by the police, Rena couldn’t think of any good reason of staying with Team Rocket.

She took off her clothes and lay naked on the floor. Opening the closet door, she found to her shock some clothes hanging on the rack, as if it was her destiny to wear them. Quickly, she put them on. It fit perfectly.

This apartment has everything! Rena thought. There was a TV, a radio, and plenty of newspapers on the apartment porch. It was as if she was meant to know what was going on around the Pokemon world.

She decided to turn the TV on.

“Good evening,” the news reporter said. “Tonight we have a special report. The current leader of Team Rocket has announced to the Kanto region of her imminent plans.”

Her? Rena thought. My leader is….was a woman?

“She sent us a video message. You can see it here.” The TV screen switched to an enlarged visage. A girl. Not even older than Rena.

“Hello everyone,” she said cheerfully. “I’m Sasha!” Her kiddy voice made Rena want to kill her. “I have some plans. You’re not going to interfere, are you?” A pause. “Well, you better not! Because I’m going to take over the world! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Blink.

“No signs of present danger has arrived, but the investigators say for all people to remain calm. We’ll be right back, after these messages.”

Rena wasn’t fooled. That’s not her ex-boss. That girl–Sasha–was reading off a pre-written script. Her eyes darted left and right, quickly yet visibly. Complete farce. She was being controlled. But by whom?

Rena sighed. After another few commercials, the news station came back on.

“We’ve just another message. In exactly one hour, Team Rocket will strike the region. That is all we know thus far. Civilians of Kanto, please remain calm!”

Dazed and scared, Rena’s eyes became clouded. Would there be heroes? Anyone to rebel against Team Rocket, and that other organization–Project Arceus? Was there going to be… a battle of the regions?

Countdown to doomsday: 149 hours, 39 minutes, 07 seconds.

POV — Sophie
Location: Route 212, almost in Pastoria City
Countdown to Doomsday ~  149 hours, 55 minutes, 31 seconds

Sophie walked along the path, Abbie hanging faithfully on her shoulder. It had been a couple of days since she left home. She accepted the reality indifferently, not at all sad about the fact that her parents kicked her out.

She suddenly remembered the tremor that took place an hour ago. What was that?! She could hear people screaming when it happened… but it hadn’t seemed so severe at the time. Meh, she thought. Maybe someone was battling a ground type at the time.

“Bun.” Abbie’s voice broke her train of thought. “What?” Sophie asked tentatively. “Bun Buneary Bun.” Abbie replied, pointing to a small hole in the ground up ahead. Sophie curiously walked up to it and stared into it. Nothing but black underneath, she noticed.

She shrugged and began to move on, but the ground suddenly fell below her. The shock rose in her throat and prevented her from screaming, but Abbie’s cries could be heard the whole way down.

Sophie didn’t lose consciousness, but she was nearly suffocated from Abbie’s death grip on her. “Ahgy,” Sophie choked. She reached up her hand to calm her Pokemon. Abbie opened her eyes. Realizing that she was killing her human, she released her grip.

“Thank you,” Sophie said shakily. She slowly stood up, warily glancing in every direction, waiting for an attack. When none came, she began walking in a random direction. Abbie hopped after her.

POV — Ace
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday ~  149 hours, 50 minutes, 42 seconds

Augh. It’s been, what, 10 minutes, since we first ran away from the Kabutops? It feels like hours. This place is a maze. Did we turn right? No, that was left. I don’t even know anymore.

As if I didn’t have enough trouble figuring out which way was which, another tremor hit, possibly more violent than all others we’d felt before. Almost immediately Comrade and I were on the floor. I could’ve sworn I twisted my ankle. This one lasted for what seemed like forever. Spade and Niveus were bouncing around the floor like discarded Slinky’s in a stair factory.

Eh, terrible analogy, but the only thing I could think of as I was jostled about. After 5 or so minutes, the quake subsided. Comrade, Niveus, Spade, and I all got up around the same time. Okay, I’d had it. Time to get out of this hellhole.

“Let’s go Comrade! We’ve gotta get out of here!”
He nodded. We sprinted. Not driven by determination, but a will. A will to live. Our feet ever outpacing our minds, we kept running in a straight line. That is, until another earthquake occurred. It only lasted for a second; enough to knock us to the ground, but not enough to cause any serious damage to the Pokemon or us.

I tried to get up, but was held down by a cylindrical, cold object; probably a gun.

“No need to get up on my account, buddy. Really, sit and listen for a spell…” said a man hovering above me. He spoke with an accent, probably southern Jhoto-esque. Couldn’t be younger than 20.

Shoot. “Who… are you, anyway? I can only assume you’re from that cult group chasing us earlier…”

The man snapped his fingers. “Bruce, release the boy. Everyone else, hold his comrade and the other Pokemon. If ace here tries to escape, he’ll prove testament to our… wrath.” I was pulled up harshly by a bulky man, apparently named Bruce. I could look around to our surroundings for the first time since we were caught.

These people were in regular mining outfits, probably to disguise that they’re from a cult. All were wearing standard Oreburgh hardhats and vests. All except this one guy, sitting a few yards from me and Comrade. He was dressed as if he were going to a fancy party. Red tie, jet black pants, all classy garment.

“Okay, lemme answer your questions, ace. Promise it’ll only take a second. Mmk? Good.

“Well, for starters, his name’s not actually Bruce. An alias, if you will. We all have fake names in, you guessed it, our ‘cult.’ Hm, you can call me… Domino, slick.”

I cut in. “How’d you know our names?”

He looked surprised. Although, his shock was quickly turned into a grin. “Oh, lucky guess. Hah, I call everybody that. Nice to meetcha’ Ace.” He was sitting on a pile of coal. Tch, what a waste of a suit.

Domino continued. “Anyway, I don’t see why I shouldn’t kill you both at this point. But, then again, I don’t see why I should, so I’ll continue talking. You both know about the Original One, Arceus. Obviously. I mean, we heard you. Quite the looselips, arentcha’ Ace?”

Oh no. I did this. I got Comrade and Nico in this. And their Pokemon. Shoot, I don’t even know if the real Nico is still alive. Augh…

“Now, you both are probably wondering what the hell we’re doing. Well, I’d tell you, since I’m just talking it up over here, but since you two have proved… persistant in the past, I’m gonna hold off.”

I was pretty mad at this point. Here we were, toying with us. If there wasn’t a loaded pistol still pointed at my head I’d break for it.

“I take it you’re the leader of this cult…?” I asked.

He laughed. “Oh, hell naw. We’re just the backstage crew, the workers behind the scene. Rather, under it. Ha.

“Hey, look. Since you’ve been so nice listeners and I’m in a great mood tonight, I’ll cutcha’ both a sweet deal,” said Domino. He picked a Dusk Ball out of his pocket, and shined it a bit with his blazer. “You, me, and Comrade here,” he pointed to Comrade as if he were a pile of Doduo droppings, “2-to-1 battle. Honest, no tricks. We may be a shadowy cult group, but we’ve got trust.” He grinned. I was beginning to hate those teeth. “I promise, you beat me with this Pokemon in this Pokeball, right here, with that Pichu and that Glaceon. If you guys pull out a win, I’ll pretend we never saw each other. ‘Ace who? I don’t remember such a thing.’ Heh.

“I might even give you this thing I ‘picked up’ earlier ago. Got it from some guy, called himself Obe. Obe, hah. He said he was the best there was, with his shiny Plate and everything. He didn’t last half a second, naturally. Pity; I was hoping for at least 30 seconds. Pah,” He said as he pointed to a pile of ashes on the floor.

Gulp.

Wait, plate…? “What plate?” I asked.

Domino responded, “I can figure you already know. Didn’t all the uncharacteristic earthquakes give it away?” He held up a brown plate in his right hand, the one that wasn’t occupied by the Dusk Ball.

“I give you gentlemen the Earth Plate. Imagine, a mere plate, possesing near-unimaginable power… and it’s a set of 16 too! Perfect madness!” said Domino. “And that’s not even comparable to the awesomeness that is Arceus… But I digress. You in or you out, Ace?”

Agh. We were fried either way. Best to go down fighting. “I accept your challenge, Domino.”

He hopped off the stack of coal. “Brilliant! Boys, let the other guy go. Oh, give em their Pokemon back, too. Can’t have a Pokemon battle without the Pokemon, now can you…”

Before I knew it, Comrade and I were on stable ground. Spade and Niveus were in fighting stance. We looked awesome, and we were gonna kick total ass.

“Ready?” asked Domino. “Perfect. Arright, go, Heatran!”

Heatran? Shoot.

In a blaze of embers, the legendary Pokemon Heatran, said to dwell only in the hottest of caves, emerged. With a roar, actually. An earthshaking boom filled the corridor of the Underground. Bound in powerful red chains, Heatran could do naught but to obey the cruel man controlling him. He stared us down like a starving Mightyena would look to a hapless Girafarig Egg.

“O-okay, Spade, let’s play our c-cards right…”

POV — Comrade
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 149 hours, 32 minutes, 59 seconds

With fear and smoke in my eyes, I can’t but be scared. I improvise on this sudden event by diving at Niveus and protecting her from the stark inferno. To aid myself, I put on my pilot goggles. Haven’t used them for a while, haha! I knew it would help eventually.

“Niveus!” I shout through the blazing roar of the conflagrations, “Show them your moves!”

Niveus amazes me, quick-attacking Heatran before he, she, or it could stomp on the feline creature. I smiled confidently. That is, until I hear Domino yell an order.

“MAGMA STORM!”

Heatran inhales. I can actually hear it suck in air, readying itself for the burst of flames. If Niveus catches herself inside the pool of fire, she’ll faint for sure. Or worse, die from oxygen deprivation or heat intensity!

“Niveus!” I cry. But I force myself not to give any commands.

“Nuuu!” Niveus roars, actually using her Quick Attack move as a substitute for Agility. I laugh. The wave of fire continues in its path and… heads to its next victim.

Spade.

POV — Nico
Location: Underground
Countdown: 149 hours, 50 minutes, 42 seconds

Nico was petrified. He had no idea what had just happen. That Kabutops was basically almost killed, and a human being had been standing in front of him mere seconds before, but had disintegrated. Still wary of the Kabutops that had tried to kill him, Nico turned to this Harnet person, just as weary of him.

The Kabutops kept nudging his arm, and Nico, subconsciously, kept shrugging him off. Pikachu Looked at him threateningly from its other side. Why was this thing so friendly now? Nico was completely flabbergasted by this turn of events, but the Kabutops did not seem to want to go away any time soon. Should he catch it?

Nico turned to face it straight on, taking a step back to give each other some distance. They stared at each other’s eyes. Slowly, Nico grabbed a Pokeball from his belt, and extended his arm so it pointed straight at the Pokemon in front of him. As if he were expecting it, the Kabutops touched the Pokeball’s center with its…snout?…whatever you might call it, it caused the Pokeball to open and Kabutops to auto-catch itself.
Nico had a new Pokemon….

Still unsure of why this had happened, Nico just stood there for a few minutes, pondering about this Kabutops. It didnt feel quite right, but he might be a big help down in these unfamiliar tunnels. Then he remembered something else of great importance.

Turning toward Harnet, he studied him thoroughly. He seemed just, or about, as shocked about what had just happened as Nico was, both with the man and the Kabutops. “What is that thing…?” he asked, pointing at the green watch that had killed a man, with a slightly shaking hand and a trembling in his voice so low that only he heard and quickly corrected.

Whatever Harnet might have said next, it was drowned by a roar of such intensity that the whole of the tunnel shook violently. So violently that Nico thought they were going through another wave of earthquakes. He raised his hands to his ears, trying to drown out the noise, but it was deafening. Pikachu screeched in agony, and Harnet looked just as unnerved as he was. Without a second thought, he motioned to the two of them to follow him. He led the way forward, away from the noise and the path from which he had come from, and on to more dark pathways. Whether leading to an exit or not, he at least knew they did not lead to whatever the source of that terrifying roar was.

POV — Kaleb
Location: Underground
Countdown: 149 hours, 50 minutes, 42 seconds

Nico had a new Pokemon now. The Kabutops really had taken a likening to him! I had never thought I would see a Pokemon catch itself. It was, very awe inspiring. And I realized that I was acting friendly and way out of character, so I stopped.

Nico was still suspicious. I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought that I was on the side of those evil people. They must be part of the danger Red told me to be cautious of. Could they be affiliated with the orgainization “Arcanine” told me to bring down? Is there more of them in Kanto?

I asked Nico, just to see if any answers could come “What is that thing?” while pointing to the watch I found from the dead boy. I then said “By the way, my name’s not Harnet.” but as I said that, some loud roar thingy sounded, and Nico had no idea what I said.

Trusting my instincts and my knowledge, I knew that sound was from a corrupted Pokemon. It seemed to scream “Help! Get this demon out of me!” Corrupted Pokemon are clearly dangerous, and if this one was crying for help, and making a lot of noise an violence, this was no excpetion to the danger, so I screamed “Nico! Follow me!” I remeber the direction in which I came here, and there showed signs of good luck, quite greatly, away from the noise! So we kept walking that way when I began fiddling with my watch. Then I saw an option on their. An option to save ourselves once and for all.

An option to go up.

POV — Ace
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 149 hours, 31 minutes

“SPADE!” I shrieked as my poor Pichu was blasted by the brunt of Heatran’s Magma Storm. I was quick to run to his side, grabbing and spraying a Burn Heal, to heal any burns caused by the attack.

“Hahahaha! The battle’s really ‘heating’ up, innit Ace? Bwahaha, what a pun,” said Domino. “Anyway, let’s get serious. Heatran, Earthquake!”

Heatran’s attack was more powerful than any of the previous tremors combined. Comrade and I lost our footing within a fraction of a second of Heatran’s Earthquake. Even Domino fell because of the intensity. Spade and Niveus were feeling it, too. Spade let out a high-pitched yelp. Shoot, he couldn’t take much more of this…

“Spade! Use… Aaagh,” Heatran’s attack was still going. I couldn’t order Spade to do anything until I’d gotten my bearings. “Okay, NOW Spade. Use Fling!”

Pichu swayed his tail around, building up momentum with his Magnet, then chucked it at Heatran. The legendary was quick to brush off the attack, though I swear it winced. Only half damage? That’s right, shoot.

Domino laughed. “Oh, great attack, kid. Let me show you… Hm?” He looked at his belt. Fastened to it was a walkie-talkie. It was beeping. “Ah, one sec. Take five everybody. Heh.”

Comrade and I looked surprised. So did half of Domino’s team. Everybody listened in on Domino.

“Allo? Ah, yes. You’ve reached Domino. Please leave a message… Hah. You know I’m messin’ around. What’s up?”

The response sounded like complete gargle, but I could make out some of it.

“Sir, we’ve… 2 assumed trainers, both carrying Pokemon… Pikachu, oddly colored…”

‘Wait, a shiny Pikachu? That’s gotta be Nico’s! He’s alive! Or at least his Pikachu is,’ I thought to myself. I looked to Comrade, but he looked as confused as me.

“…Intercept?” Was all that came from the walkie-talkie.

Domino smiled at Comrade and me. “Pah, you guys sound like something out of a police chase. Of course, intercept em! Take no prisoners. We’re in the middle of something, anyway.

“Oh, what happened to that one guy? The one with the ancient fossil for a Pokemon, who was supposed to be doing what you idiots are doing now,” said Domino to the speaker.

“…Vaporized. Some wat–… Kid was wearing,” was all that came in response. I couldn’t understand anything else after that.

Wat-what? Watch?

“Ah well, can’t be helped. Just get the tech guys over at Kanto Labs on Cinnabar and… What? Cinnabar Island is completely underwater? Am I hearing you correctly?!”

Domino crunched the walkie-talkie in frustration. “Agh! Damnit!” He threw the remnants of the handheld transceiver on the floor, next to Spade’s Magnet. His eyes twitched. “I ask you, how can an entire island become engulfed in water?! Is it the Apocalypse? Oh, wait, it is. Ha!”

I looked at Comrade. The end of the world…?

POV — Kaleb
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 149 hours, 31 minutes

Yes! This is just what I needed! Or at least that’s what I thought
“Nico, get over here, I’ve gotta show you something!”
I showed him the screen that said “Dig up out of Underground”
“Well, go up! Don’t just sit there!” He screamed.
I pressed the button, but it did not work. It was malfunctioning or something. I then realized that there were communications being interrupted. However, I began to hear noise coming out of the watch.
“Allo? Ah, yes. You’ve reached Domino. Please leave a message… Hah. You know I’m messin’ around. What’s up?”
Oh yes! Dropping in on a conversation! I didn’t know that this could function as Pokegear!
“Harnet, this is no time for dropping in on random con-” Nico tried to say, but this then game out.
“Sir, we’ve… 2 assumed trainers, both carrying Pokemon… Pikachu, oddly colored…” It was full of static.
“That’s us!” Nico whispered. We had to listen now. It was the only way to prepare. Yet as we were having this realization, we missed part of the dialogue, and only heard the word,
“intercept..?”
“What the hell does that mean?” I wondered out loud.
“Pah, you guys sound like something out of a police chase. Of course, intercept em! Take no prisoners. We’re in the middle of something, anyway.”
Now it was serious. They were after us.

“Oh, what happened to that one guy? The one with the ancient fossil for a Pokemon, who was supposed to be doing what you idiots are doing now,”
“…Vaporized. Some wat–… Kid was wearing,”
It was full of static, but I think he said watch.
“they know!” I whispered to Nico.

“Ah well, can’t be helped. Just get the tech guys over at Kanto Labs on Cinnabar and… What? Cinnabar Island is completely underwater?Am I hearing you correctly?!”

“Well, Yes sir, it was drowned in protest of the murder of a young girl from that island. I think she had an Arcanine, which is ironic since a talking Arcanine sang some sort of song to drown it after evacuating everyone, wait sir, are you there? Can you reach me? Are you there!?”
The conversation stopped.
I think I heard a crush in there
“Nico, that’s scary!” I told him
“Talking Arcanine? Singing an island to it’s doom? What the hell?”
I had no chance to tell him that I knew, because then, I heard a gun cock and a creepy voice say.
“I have you now, jackal boy…!”

POV — Nico
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 149 hours, 16 minutes

Nico turned to his side, and saw a woman pointing a gun at his face, a man by her side.
Pikachu, who was resting inside Nico’s bag, quietly climbed out of the bag and hid behind Nico’s legs. Thankfully, it was still quite dark in these tunnels.

“Now, hand over that Pikachu of yours, or els-” she yelled, and fell over, the gun in her hand falling to the floor. Pikachu had rushed from behind his legs and bit the woman hard on the shin. The man rushed forward to grab the gun, but Harnet hit him in the face with his elbow, causing him to topple over as well.

“Pikachu, return!” His Pokemon, reluctantly, returned to his Pokeball. He was exhausted from the fights and all the running, and he would be safer in his Pokeball. He returned the Premier Ball to his belt and grabbed another one. “Go Kabutops!”

“Go Taryonaga!” he heard Kaleb shout. An oddly-colored Larvitar came from the Pokeball, along with a glamorous sort of sparkling light as it materialized from the light of the Pokeball into its actual Pokemon shape. No doubt about it, that Larvitar was a rare “Shiny” variation.

The two runts drew their own Pokeballs and summoned their Pokemon, an unusually big Arbok and a Nosepass.

“We might as well take the pretty Larvitar of his too, then, along with the Pikachu…” sneered the woman. “You will pay for your guts, kid…Arbok, Bite!”

And so the fights started…

POV — Kaleb
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 149 hours, 10 minutes

“Hey, no one calls her pretty!” I screamed in the face of the woman. “You’ll pay for that you bitch!”
“Well, someone’s a little defiant! By the way, why did you call him jackal boy?”
The other guy had no time to answer, because as he was about to, Tarayonaga began to slap the woman with her deformed and lethal tail.
“You little bastard! Stop hitting me, hit my Pokemon instead!”
“Tarayonaga, use dig on that Arbok! You’ll take it down in no time!”
It did so. It first used Scary Face on it’s own time, stunning the Arbok, and then dug under the giant enemy crab, I mean, snake, attacking it’s weak point for massive damage.
The Arbok was no more and had to return. I noticed Tarayonaga looking a little funny.

“Nico, take down that Nosepass! I know you can!”

POV — Nico
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 149 hours, 5 minutes

“Umm…right…”

Nico didn’t quite know what to do though. “Use Cut!”
Kabutops rushed to Nosepass, swift on its feet, and attacked with a slashing move of his blade-arms. Nosepass flinched, but barely weakened. The Nosepass and its owner were quick to retaliate. “Use Rock Slide!”

Kabutops was thrown back from the force of the attack, but he still stood back up quickly. He looked expectantly at Nico, waiting for an order, but he knew not what to say.
“Agh…what the hell should I do…” he muttered. He then remembered his Pokedex…he never really used it but he was sure it would help. He took it out and frantically searched for some sort of function that analyzes his own Pokemon. He didn’t know which to press, so instead he just pointed it at Kabutops and pressed the largest one he could see.

“Kabutops, the Shellfish Pokemon. This Kabutops currently knows four moves. Cut, Aqua Jet, Rock Tomb, and Sand-Attack”, said the robotic voice.

Nosepass was upon Kabutops, launching a Tackle attack.
“Use Sand-Attack!”
Kabutops did as ordered. Nosepass was blinded and missed its target.
“Try Aqua Jet!”
Kabutops was enveloped in a stream of rushing water and zipped across the width of the tunnel, back and forth, testing his own speed, until he crashed into Nosepass. The latter was sent flying and hit a wall.

“Now Rock Tomb!” Kabutops slammed the ground with his feet. A crack formed and spread quickly towards Nosepass. When it reached the Pokemon, a giant pillar of hard stone sprouted from the floor, viciously striking the Nosepass and taking it out for good.

Nico was amazed at how powerful this Kabutops was. “Great…job…Kabutops…” His new Pokemon growled cheerfully.

POV — Kaleb
Location: Undergroud
Countdown, 149 hours, 3 minutes
After that joke of a double battle was over, the man angrily turned toward the woman with a gun and said
“You f*cking idiot! How did you lose so easily!? And to these teenagers! You don’t deserve to live! I shall take care of Jackal Boy and friend myself!”
He shot her. The woman screamed as she was shot in the stomach. She was still alive, but to die in about 5 minutes. The man threw her over to the edge to get rid of her. Though I hated that woman, I could not believe my eyes. That man was way more evil.
‘Okay, why do you call him ‘Jackal Boy’?” asked Nico. He was utterly confused
“Because of this.
The man ripped off my pad to reveal the Jackal shaped scar.
He of the Jackal scar is the chosen one by the enemy Arceus, the one who must die since he will destroy our plans to our elder!
Arceus? Who’s that? I thought. Wait I thought again, could that be the higher name Arcanine talked about?

POV — Comrade
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 149 hours, 01 minutes, 49 seconds

End of the world. Sounds inconceivable, really. But Domino makes it seem as if though it’s just another day in the office.

I try and get back on my feet after that huge earthly shockwave. I look at Heatran. I see its chains. Compassion fills my eyes and tears come down my face. Since I’m a Pokemon habit scientist, I know what motivates Pokemon to do things. Even against its will. And by the looks of Heatran’s stony face, I know that it is unhappy. I mean, come on, it’s in chains!

Wait. Its chains… I realize that maybe that’s what’s holding the Heatran in Domino’s power. A legendary cannot possibly be bent to a person’s will. Can it?

“Niveus,” I shout through the searing conflagration. “You see those chains? Break them!”

Chemistry 101. Sudden heat, mixed with sudden cold, and then more heat, has the ability and properties to break anything. “Do what you do best!” I shout encouragingly. Niveus nods, opens her mouth, and unleashes a powerful gale of snow. The wind hits the chains, temporarily freezing them.

“Hey you!” Domino shouts at me. “Whatcha tryna do?” I don’t respond.

“OVERHEAT!” Domino commands to Heatran. He’s in for a surprise, I think to myself.

Heatran’s entire anatomy bursts into flames, and the chains break from the sudden temperature change. YEAH! I turn to Ace, and we both smile. I look back at Domino triumphantly, until I see his smirk. Doesn’t make sense. Didn’t I just release Heatran from its captivity?

“Heatran’s chains are there for one purpose,” Domino says. “It’s to suppress its hot power. Heh, excuse me for the puns.” Boy. This guy makes a crapload of them. And they’re not even good!

“Now that you’ve released it for me, I suppose you will all die. Heatran’s too powerful. Now behold its EARTHQUAKE!”

At this moment I wish I were somewhere else.

“Heatran!” Domino shouts. “EARTH–”

Beep, beep. “DAMNIT!” Domino roars. “Who keeps calling me?! Hello?” he murmurs viciously. “WHAT?! Why would you kill her?!” While he’s distracted, I take off my backpack and take out the only thing inside: a flute. Engraved with red paint and fiery design, I for some reason believe it’s part of my purpose. Where’d I get this? Then I remember. Professor Maples, my advocate, teacher, friend, and father. This was his last gift. It was in the last moments of his life…

While Domino keeps shouting, and Ace looks fearful, I draw the flute to my mouth and play. My hands move by themselves, even though I have never known how to play this type of flute. A strange, eerie, almost disenchanted tune emerges, and Ace looks at me confusingly while Domino slowly lowers his walkie-talkie and gives me a strange look. I close my eyes and after a moment reopen them. Niveus stares apathetically, as does Spade. I know this music doesn’t pertain to them. Only to Heatran.

I stop playing. “Domino,” I say quietly. “You have no right to manipulate Pokemon, especially one that is one-of-a-kind. For this, I will never forgive you.” I turn to Heatran. “HEATRAN! FIRE BLAST!”

POV — Nico
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 149 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds

Nico wasn’t paying attention to anything that was being said, his brain was just off on it own world, working frantically to figure something out. He barely noticed the man answering a random question he had spluttered out to keep him from shooting someone else, and even almost missed his chance to act when he was talking through a radio. He caught Kabutops eye, who immediately rushed forward and Cut the man’s gun in half. He did not understand why there were guns around when people could use Pokemon to help them…guns are so impersonal.

“Aqua Jet!” Kabutops tackled the man, forcing him against the wall. “Rock Tomb!” Stone pillars emerged all around the man, pinning him against the wall, unable to move. Nico approached him, grabbed the radio, and elbowed him in the nose before turning around. He pocketed the walkie-talkie.

“Awesome job Kabutops, get some rest.” He held out his Pokeball. “Return!”

POV — Sophie
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 148 hours, 58 minutes, 6 seconds

Sophie continued through the underground curiously, wondering how to get out. Common sense told her that staying under here for too long would cause her to suffocate, but she found breathing to be quite easy.

Suddenly, Abbie froze. Her long ears were standing upright, listening for any distant sounds. “Abbie, what do you hear?” Sophie asked hopefully. She kept listening for a moment, and then turned to her with a worried face. “Bun! Bun Buneary!” she said, and began speedily hopping away. Sophie ran after her without hesitating.

POV-Kaleb
Location: Underground
Countdown: 148 Hours, 58 Minutes, 15 Seconds
A huge band was heard. The wall around the man seemed to have fallen down. It was clear that this man had reinforcements. I think it was a small bomb in his pocket. Right after jumping from the wall, he pulled out a tranquilizer and pointed it at the Kabutops as it was about to go back in the Pokeball. This man was more than what he seemed.
You damn waste of an experiment! We brought you back from the dead! We gave you life! And look how ungrateful you are, you waste of space! I shall take that life away!
The man shot a tranquilizer into the Kabutops. It fell to the floor, luckily only unconscious.
It destroyed my gun, so I couldn’t kill it directly. But now I can kill it with my hands! the man yelled with a malicious smile.
Jackal Boy, you’re next!
But just as he was about to use his hands to murder the Kabutops, a rock flew into his face. This rock was somewhat shiny, pointed at the bottom, and seemed to wear an angry face. The rock, which seemed to say (Yes, I think it was talking) “I REGRET NOTHING!” went straight into the man’s temple. Blood was gushing, the man fell to the floor, drowning in his own blood. When the rock jumped out, it hopped over to me to give me a look.
“Tarayonaga.” I whispered.

POV — Gabe
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to doomsday: 148 hours, 52 minutes, 10 seconds

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Geez, how long is it gonna take you to dink around with that stupid rock?”

“Shh! Cool down. You have to be careful with this stuff.”

“Just let him do what he needs to do, Snorkel.”

The pudgy Squirtle’s arms heaved over his chest and he forced out a sigh.

“Fine…I’m just sick of standin’ around here…”

Gabe’s hands continued to work their way around the red sphere embedded in the rock wall, chipping away with a chisel.

“Sit down, then, lazy-ass!”

The red arm of Snorkel’s Charmander friend slapped him on the shoulder.

“Sit down, then!” the turtle whined in mimicry as he heaved over on his stomach in an effort to relax on the cold dirt.

“Don’t be such a baby,” the Charmander muttered. “You volunteered for this.”

“I know! Seriously…” groaned their Pidgeotto friend. “What did you expect?”

“All right, guys, I’m almost done. Don’t get all grumpy…” Gabe firmly suggested, continuing to chip away at the wall.

“Why did we even sign up for this crap?” Snorkel huffed, limbs slinking into his shell.

“One last trip for old time’s sake,” the Charmander replied, stopping over to peer into the grouchy face within the blue shell on the ground.

“Yea, your sake, Torch…” Snorkel retorted, his wide eyes glaring out at his old friend.

“Oh, pff!” The Pidgeotto ruffled her feathers, hopping a bit closer. “What’s your problem today, bud?”

“My problem, Falco,” Snorkel grumbled, “Is that I’m the third wheel here!”

Falco rolled her eyes fiercely. “Freakin’ typical!” she growled, hefting her wings forth to deliver a gust of wind and topple the Squirtle onto his back. The chubby limbs instantly popped out, frantically struggling to gain composure. Upon realizing the current futility of this, the Squirtle vengefully opened his maw…

“Ohhhh, you’d better not–”

There was a sudden exchange of water and air as two forces collided. The end result was the blast of water being shot back over the Squirtle and splashing all over Gabe, which caused him to lose balance and slam his hammer into the very jewel he was trying to extract. The stone burst into tiny pieces which littered the ground at his feet. Gabe’s brows furrowed in frustration.

“Ehhhh…” was about the only word anyone could manage to utter for moments proceeding.

Gabe’s fist slowly clenched up before slamming into the stone wall.

“Nice going, guys…Real nice…”

The cry of a Pokemon echoed down the hall…Gabe couldn’t quite make out what it was saying, however, but the sound of quickly approaching footsteps approached.

POV — Comrade
Location — Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 50 minutes, 58 seconds

Heatran obeyed. It opened its mouth, produced a vortex of encircling flames, and spouted it over Domino. I was shocked… the man dropped his walkie-talkie before being incinerated by Heatran’s intense heat.

“Heatran!” I shouted. “You are freed.” Heatran gave me a sincere, rather and hopefully grateful look, and stayed glued to the spot. I wonder why it won’t move…?
“You’re free!” I repeated. Heatran looked at me.
“Maybe it wants you to catch it,” Ace suggests quietly. Me? Obtain a legendary?

Thoughts of fame and glory and power come across my head. Controlling a legendary would fit well with my agenda in seeking revenge for Maples’ death. My eyes shone.
But then it fades away. I couldn’t keep a Heatran. I would be doing the very thing Domino was. Heatran deserved a liberating life.

“Go,” I finally told Heatran. “You’re free. Just… don’t kill civilians for fun, okay?” Heatran gave a hearty roar and walked away. Ace gave me a bewildered look but I kept my internal promise. I walked towards Domino’s fallen walkie-talkie and was delighted to see it wasn’t burned.

“Hello?” I spoke through it.

POV — Nico
Location — Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 50 minutes, 30 seconds

“KABUTOPS!!” As the Pokemon fell to the floor, Nico lunged forward and caught him in his arms. He was breathing deeply, only asleep…nothing serious. He briefly tightened his embrace on Kabutops, a mild hug, and then grabbed his Pokeball and returned him to it.

Nico walked up to the now dead man. He looked down at his disfigured, blood-covered face with disgust and kicked him as hard as he could, several times. Once his frustration had diminished a little, he tried to calm down. His breathing was still a bit agitated.

“Thanks for that uh…Tarayonaga, was it?” he looked at Harnet’s Larvitar, and then turned to his owner. “Do you think-”

“Hello?” rang a muffled voice from below him. He looked down, seeing nothing, but then realized it was the walkie-talkie he had pocketed before, and recognized that voice…it couldn’t be though..here? What were the chances?

He grabbed it from his pocket and spoke through it. “COMRADE?! Is that you??”

POV — Kaleb
Location — Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 50 minutes, 5 seconds
Nico seemed to make a connection. That nerdy kid Comrade was on the other line! This was a great sign.

Yet something else didn’t look to be a great sign.

The dead man with a seemingly disfigured face, I don’t know whether I was hallucinating or not, but I thought I saw him fidget, and even reach into his pocket. Was he immortal or something? Was he even HUMAN?

I doubted it. I immediately rushed towards Nico, knowing that if he was not human, that we were screwed, and had to go right away.

“C’MON NICO!!! WE’VE GOTTA GO! I’ve no time to explain! Just talk to Comrade as we run along, just go!”

POV — Sophie
Location — Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 47 minutes, 28 seconds

“Abbie! wait up!” Sophie called as she sprinted after her Buneary. In the darkness, she almost lost sight of her, but Abbie luckily stopped before that happened. Sophie approached her, breathing heavily. “Abbie–” She was about to ask what she found, but then she didn’t have to. On the ground, covered in red scratches and welts, was a blue catlike creature with mermaid fins. Sophie didn’t know what it was, and because of the condition it was in, she couldn’t really care less. She rushed to the Pokemon’s side to help it.

“Ohh, you poor creature… here buddy.” Sophie held out a small berry in the palm of her hand. “Go on, eat it. It’s a Sitrus Berry. It’ll help you.” She raised it to the critter’s mouth. The Pokemon didn’t have the strength to resist and ate the berry. While it was chewing, Sophie took out a Super Potion and sprayed it on the Pokemon’s wounds. It cringed, as the medicine stung slightly, but then it relaxed. Its wounds, now healed, were no longer visible. Good as new, Sophie thought happily.

Finally, Sophie took out her Pokedex. Vaporeon. The Bubble Jet Pokemon. It has evolved to be suitable for an aquatic life. It can invisibly melt away into water.

Wow. A Vaporeon. I wonder what moves it can use? Sophie wondered. Her Pokedex went on, This Pokemon can use Swift, Helping Hand, Water Gun, and Tail Whip.

“Wow, you’re pretty strong,” Sophie said, smiling, as she stood up. The Vaporeon, in return, rubbed along her legs like a cat and purred softly. “I wonder who did that to you…” Sophie pondered aloud. The marks… had looked like burn marks. Electrical burns. Like a cattle prod or something. Maybe it had been abused! Sophie decided, the thought sending a chill down her spine. Who would do something like that?!

The sound of something shattering suddenly rang down the halls of the tunnel. “What was that?!” Sophie whispered sharply. Abbie, curious as ever, began hopping joyfully down the hall to find out. “Abbie! Wait!” Sophie called, running after her. Abbie, not slowing down, turned around and called to the Vaporeon. “Bun! Bun! Bun!” she yelled excitedly, and the water feline also joined the chase.

A while into the chase, they ran into a man, crouched down, with a red lizard, a bird, and a blue turtle standing around him. They all stared at Sophie and her Pokemon expectantly. She looked down, flustered because of her shyness. “Um, hi. We heard a shattering noise… was that you?”

POV — Gabe
Location — Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 42 minutes, 38 seconds

“Um, hi. We heard a shattering noise… was that you?”

Gabe, shaking droplets of water from his hands, flashed the young woman before him a relieved smile. For all he had known, it could’ve been something a lot bigger and a lot meaner.

“Oh, hey…Er, yea…That was me,” Gabe muttered sheepishly.

“Actually, it was really them…” Torch chuckled to himself, nodding his head to his dazed Squirtle companion and irate Pidgeotto mate, the latter of whom whipped a dagger glare his way as she re-ruffled her feathers back into place.

“I was just tryin’ to get a Red Sphere out of the rock here, and…” Gabe rubbed the back of his head in dismay at the bitty pieces of jewel on the ground. “Yeeeeaaa…Had a little accident, you might say.” It was after surveying his loss that he took more heed of the bashful girl before him — she looked to be in her mid-teens, he’d guess. Seemed a bit speechless at the moment, but he supposed he couldn’t blame her.

He noticed the two Pokemon at her side — a Vaporeon and one he wasn’t entirely familiar with…An adorable bunny-like creature of some sort. He waved to the girl and the two Pokemon, who seemed to smile back.

Falco sighed at the awkward silence and flew to her trainer’s shoulder, perching her lean body nimbly.

“Ya gonna just stare at them or what?” she mumbled in his ear.

“Seriously…”

Gabe stepped forth with Falco on his shoulder, extending his arm.

“Sorry…I’m Gabe. Gabriel Holm. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Uh, yea, no…it’s-it’s cool. I’m fine,” sputtered Snorkel from the floor behind them.

Torch grinned at his friend’s misfortune and went over to help him up on his feet.

“Dude, you need to put your girlfriend on a leash,” Snorkel grumbled half-jokingly, dusting himself off as the girl before them spoke to Gabe.

Torch smiled a toothy smile. “That’s part of why I love her.” He wrapped an arm over his old friend’s shoulder. “But we both love you, too, ya know. Don’t get your shell up in such a bunch.” He led his slightly dazed pal to the conversation taking place before them.

POV — Sophie
Location — Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 41 minutes, 43 seconds

Sophie lost track of what anyone was saying for a moment. She was distracted and amused by Gabe’s Pokemon. Based on their dialogue (repeating their names), she could figure out what species they were. Then, she remembered that she was having a conversation.

“Oh, umm nice to meet you too Gabe. I’m Sophie.” She finally replied, shaking his hand. “Porrrr,” Vaporeon purred. The noise startled Sophie–she didn’t even realize that the Vaporeon had followed her. It seemed to be talking to Gabe, and he smiled in return. Sophie couldn’t help but feel like she was missing something.

“Those are cute Pokemon you have there,” Gabe told her. “Would you mind introducing them?”

“Of course,” Sophie said quickly, pleased by his comment. “This is Abbie, my Buneary. And this…” she stared thoughtfully at her Vaporeon. She had to think of a name quick! “This is… Bue,” she decided. Easy name. The blue feline seemed to approve, as he opened his mouth and sighed, seeming to say, “Yep. She means me.” Abbie hopped over to the man and, with a wide smile, spun around, posed, and yelled “BUNEARY!” Gabe seemed slightly amused, but Sophie rolled her eyes. Abbie was such an attention hog.

Sophie bent down and gently picked up Abbie. “Umm so, who are your partners there?” she asked Gabe, somehow feeling the need to return the question that he asked her.

POV — Gabe
Location — Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 43 minutes, 56 seconds

“Oh,” Gabe turned his head to his Pidgeotto and glanced down at his other two Pokemon. “The Charmander here is Torch.”

“Nice to meet ya,” Torch greeted, hand clenched over his chest as he bowed.

“Hey,” Snorkel half-groaned, rubbing his sore head.

“That’s Snorkel. He’s a Squirtle.”

“Yea, ‘cuz I’m sure she couldn’t tell-oof!” Torch slapped the back of Snorkel’s head to cease his grumbling.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sophie,” said Falco quite sweetly, nodding her head.

“And this is Falco. She’s a Pidgeotto.”

“Can we leave now?” Snorkel huffed hastily. “Please?”

Gabe shook his head and smiled at the pathetic mannerisms of his friend. “Yes,” he laughed. “We can leave now.” He shifted attention back to Sophie. “Are you lost down here or something? We can help you get back outside.”

POV — Comrade
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 39 minutes, 23 seconds

“Comrade! Is that you?!” a voice responds after a bit.
That sounds awfully like Nico’s voice. And he knows my name, too. …Wait..
“NICO!” I shout with joy. “It’s me!”
I gesture at Ace to to stop walking for a bit. He kneels down with his Pichu, and I lean against the earthy wall.
“Where are you?” I ask. I get a static response.
“…Underground…Get out… of here… now…”

I’m confused. There’s nothing remotely dangerous to us right now… unless… there is. I look at Ace.
To Nico, I respond: “Alright, sounds good.” After I utter the last word the walkie-talkie goes dead. Great… now how are we going to get out?
“Ace, let’s keep moving.” We continue walking until we see a bright light. A crack from the earth! This must be another spot of where the earthquake split open the ground!

Sinnoh above ground, here we go.

POV — Nico
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 39 minutes, 0 seconds

“Where are you?” Comrade’s voice rang from the walkie-talkie, unusually clear. He could even hear someone else with Comrade.

“I’m in the Sinnoh Underground. Let’s meet up so we can get out of here quickly. Now, where are you? We need to meet up!”

“Alright, sounds good” The line went dead after that.

“Wha…Comrade! COMRADE?!”
Nothing.
“Agh, stupid thing!” he chucked the walkie-talkie against the wall, where it broke.

“I don’t think he understood right, and if he did, we still dont know where they are…we might as well try to find a way out ourselves, Harnet. Any ideas?”

POV — Sophie
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 38 minutes, 42 seconds

“Uh, actually, yeah… we kind of fell down here, and now we’re lost,” Sophie explained sheepishly. She realized that ever since she found Bue, the thought of how to get out hadn’t even crossed her mind. And wait… how exactly had Gabe known what Snorkel was saying? Sophie had heard of trainers almost being able to understand their Pokemon due to their strong bond. And now that she thought about it, she could remember times when she knew exactly what Abbie was saying. His bond with Snorkel must be REALLY strong then, she thought.

Bringing herself back to the conversation, she went on. “Did you say you could help us get out of here?”

POV — Kaleb (lmao, I just cut and pasted this, whoops)
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 38 minutes, 15 seconds

For some reason, Nico seemed completely oblivious to the fact that we were running like hell. When his walkie talkie broke, he suddenly looked at me for advice.

“Well, that’s obvious! Weren’t you paying attention before? My watch seems to activate as a Pokégear! Let’s see if we can get some signal down here!”

I turned on the watch and searched for a signal. I toggled through the watches list of options until I found “Map” (we had stopped running, I was sure that the zombie grunt was far away by now). When I turned on the map, it seemed to have a full size map of wherever the hell we were in detail! It even had these dots, so we could pin point wherever a person was (the map showed up in a hologram). I noticed there was a zoom in feature, so I used it, showing Nico, and I had it pointed to where it said “You are here”. When it got down low, I noticed that I saw perfect figures of us, looking at the map, then looking really excited, then having WTF expressions. Was I seriously that dirty? I looked as if I was chucked around in a suitcase belonging to a woman, oh yeah, I was, heh. I toggled with the map a second and just to check, went to get a look at the area we once were.

I saw a puddle of blood, and even a ton of rocks where the man must have been pinned, but no man. This means that he was either a zombie like I had thought, or some grunts found him and are now even more on to us.

“Nico, I don’t think that where Ace and Comrade are accounts to much of our worries….”

POV — Gabe
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 37 minutes, 21 seconds

“Lost, huh?” Gabe scratched his chin and he pulled out his map to plan a course of action. “Yea, we can definitely help you get out of here.”

As Gabe meticulously retraced their steps, Falco looking onward from atop his shoulder, Torch struck up some idle conversation with Sophie’s Pokemon.

“Wow, this girl just saved you?”

“Less with the talking, more with the ass-hauling!”

Sophie blinked timidly at the shouting Squirtle, completely in the dark as to what was going on.

“OK!” Gabe tapped his map, spun about face, and nodded to himself. “Going back the way we came, we just need to take a left at the next turn, then a right…”

Torch shrugged to the Vaporeon beside him. “Guess that’s the plan, then.”

Snorkel grimaced as the bunnie-like Pokemon before him prodded at his shell and tugged on his tail. He could’ve sworn that she was giggiling at his irritation.

“Yea…yea, this is real fun…” As Torch waved Sophie to follow and passed Snorkel by, he grinned.

“For old time’s sake, I know.”

POV — Sophie
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 36 minutes, 54 seconds

They began walking down the long tunnel. As excited as Sophie was to get out, she couldn’t be sure what she would do after that. For obvious reasons, she couldn’t return home. She didn’t feel confident enough to take on a gym leader. Heck, she didn’t even know the basic geography of the Sinnoh region. Maybe I’ll just wander around till I find something. she thought.

She looked around. Bue was walking next to her, very close to her feet. He seemed reluctant to give her space. She guessed he had a Mild nature.

Sophie turned her attention to Abbie then. She was cheerily hopping next to Snorkel with a curious look on her face. In the next couple minutes of walking, Abbie’s expression never changed. Suddenly, she hopped towards him and quickly poked his shell before hopping back. In return, Snorkel turned to her. “Squirtle Squirtle Squirtle!” he scolded. Abbie simply laughed at her amusement. “Char, Charmander,” Torch said lightly. Falco glanced in their direction but said nothing. Then, Gabe smiled in Torch’s direction. “Yeah, she does,” he said, chuckling slightly.

We came around the turn.

Sophie knew that Abbie was socializing the only way she knew how, but it could take some time to get used to. “Abbie,” Sophie said softly. When the Buneary looked up, Sophie patted her own shoulder, motioning Abbie to get up there. Abbie obeyed, and Sophie pet her head once she was up there. “Just try and stay out of trouble till we get out, ok?” she whispered. Abbie rolled her eyes as if to say, “Don’t you know me better than that?”

Sophie had to smile at her partner’s sense of humor, but then something occurred to her. So I’m not crazy after all. Gabe totally just understood his Charmander’s actual language. Either he’s known Torch since birth… or… what could the other option be? she thought to herself. She narrowed her eyes slightly, thinking hard. Finally, she decided. Maybe I’ll stick around these guys for a while. I can see this being an interesting adventure.

POV — Gabe
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 33 minutes, 08 seconds

“Good riddance…”

“She’s just trying to be friendly,” Falco snickered.

“Don’t hold it against her,” Gabe suggested with a glance.

“How far is it?” asked the Vaporeon trailing behind them.

“Eh…” Gabe scratched his neck thoughtfully. “It’s not too far, but it’ll take us a little while yet.”

“So, how’d you end up down here?” Torch asked Sophie, gazing up at her pensively.

She blinked back at him, wide-eyed. “Umm…”

“He’s asking how you found your way down here in the first place,” Gabe explained. “We’re on a bit of a vacation of sorts, you could say, and I wanted to get a souvenir from this place to take back home…”

“Yea, for a certain someone!” Falco giggled.

Gabe blushed ever so slightly and shrugged his shoulder, tilting his bird friend a bit.

“But anyway,” he retraced his dialogue, “what are you doing around here? Where are you off to?”

POV — Sophie
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 32 minutes, 37 seconds

“Well,” Sophie began, looking at the ground. “We left home after my parents decided that I stayed inside too much. They wanted me to go out and experience something exciting or something. And then we fell down here,” she said. Then she smiled jokingly. “We don’t really have a goal in mind, unfortunately.”

Gabe was listening intently, so she continued. “That was just Abbie and I though. I met Bue shortly before I met you.” Sophie shot him a sidelong glance. “But you already knew that, didn’t you? Bue told you.”

He looked slightly surprised with her question, as she seemed too shy to be so straightforward. Even so, he answered honestly. “Yes.”

“Forgive me, but would you mind explaining how you do that?” she asked. “I’m curious.”

POV — Nico
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 31 minutes, 03 seconds

“Uh…yea, I really wanna get outta here now…I hate this place…and where the HELL did that guy go?!” he looked around, as if an answer was about to show itself to him, or the guy would slowly walk towards them, soaked in blood, like the living dead.

He felt his belt shake. He looked down just as his Premier Ball sprang from his waist, increased to palm-size and opened. In a flash of golden light, then shiny sparkles, a mass of dark, gleaming orange fur appeared before him. Pikachu looked at Nico reproachfully, pretty much telling him that he should not have made him get in the Pokeball, much less for so long. Nico guessed he had kept Pikachu waiting in there too long. “I’m sorry Pikachu, in all this worry I didn’t want you to come out yet…that is, until Kabutops was knocked out…” he held out a hand toward Pikachu, but the latter crossed his pudgy arms, humphed and turned his head sideways, avoiding his eyes.

“Oh c’mon…” he extended his arm a little further. He could tell Pikachu was debating what he hated more, not being with Nico again or having been kept in the Pokeball for so long when they both should have been together. He hesitated for a moment, glanced at him and, when they made eye contact, decided he could not stay mad at Nico. With a defeated, though happily relieved look, he jumped up his arm and climbed his way to the top of Nico’s head and settled there.

Nico grinned, his eyes pointed straight up, then remembered their situation.

“Sorry Harnet…let’s keep going…we need to get out of here as soon as possible” he said, looking around again, this time to really check they were not being watched or followed.

POV — KALEB!
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 30 minutes, 30 seconds

“Okay, uh…, let me get to the right option, okay, untweak, no, unwind, no, uh, uoferus! What the hell does that mean!? Finally! U-”
I’m back, and will get you both!
Nico and I didn’t know whether or not to shit ourselves or just feel sorry for this man. He lost A LOT of blood, and was now merely tumbling along. Did I mention how much blood he seemed to have lost.
“Okay, I am really not taking this seriously, let’s just get the hell out of here.”
Then I pressed the button for up.
“Dammit! It doesn’t work!”
Then I learned what “Up” actually meant. The watch seemed to say “DESTROY   UP!”
It shot a ray up into the rock ceiling. It started causing a large tumble of rocks, then the bloody man shouted

I don’t understand! Why doesn’t the Jackal Boy act like he would in the prophecy!? Is it wrong!?
This is when I began catching on. Maybe there was no prophecy. Perhaps it was a placebo, and maybe this man with the Russian accent who was apparently immortal was just a tool to push me and my friend along.

I was about to run a certain way, but I couldn’t, it was blocked. Nico and I were caved in.

POV — Gabe
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 30 minutes, 30 seconds

Gabe’s three companions all gave him raised brows and humored glances. It was explanation time. Again.

“Heh, yea…” Gabe shrugged as their journey continued through the tunnels. “Honestly, I’m not a hundred percent sure, to tell you the truth…”

“Buuuuut…”

“But,” he continued, “I’m pretty sure I have some idea.” Gabe gave Sophie a puzzled look as he made an observation. “Generally when people first see me, they’re intimidated.”

“Why?” she squeaked.

“Because I’m different,” he noted plainly, pointing to his cheek. “I mean, look at me: dark skinned. Have you ever met anyone else with skin like mine before?”

Sophie seemed a bit perplexed, and Gabe could see her mind trying to crank out an answer. Whichever the answer was, he decided to continue.

“Well, suffice it to say, my kind isn’t real common.” Gabe took in a deep breath, reflecting on the whole matter. “Anyways, to answer your question, I think it’s in my blood. Ever since I was a kid, I could always understand Pokemon. So did the rest of my family. When I eventually learned that most people couldn’t, I thought it was so weird. I couldn’t comprehend how that could be, you know?” He shook his head to himself, bemused. “All my parents could tell me was that it had to do with our heritage. I still don’t entirely understand it, but there aren’t many of us around anymore…And I have a feeling there’s a reason why.”

“A bad reason, if you ask me.”

“Yea…A bad reason.”

“Ehhh,” Snorkel growled, tossing his arm. “People can be stupid. Don’t let it get to ya — you’re here today, that’s what counts.”

“Yea…” Gabe exhaled his deep thoughts. “Anyways, a few years ago I decided to dedicate my life to protecting Pokemon rights. I can understand them — and they’re not stupid. They’re people, too…”

All three of Gabe’s best friends beamed with pride.

“Damn right!”

“So how did you meet your Vaporeon friend, there?” Gabe wondered. “And if you don’t have a goal, well…Was is it you want out here on the road?” He figured there had to be something.

POV — Sophie
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 26 minutes, 19 seconds

Sophie hesitated for a moment, trying to take in all of this information. Finally, she answered. “Bue was barely conscious when I saw him. Abbie led me to him because she knew something was wrong. The poor guy was all covered in scratches and bruises and such… he couldn’t even stand up. I gave him a Sitrus berry and a Super Potion. He was just awake enough to eat the berry, thank God.”

“He’s lucky you got there in time,” Gabe offered.

“Pigoooo,” Falco trilled softly. Torch and Snorkel were staring at Sophie with bewildered looks on their faces.

Sophie didn’t want everyone to get caught up in the sad moment, so she continued. “About your second question… I really don’t know. I’ve been away from home for a couple days now, and apart from meeting Bue and you guys, nothing really interesting has happened yet.” She paused, and then continued. “Since that’s what my parents want for me, I feel like I can’t return until I find some excitement.” She gave Bue a sympathetic look. “Maybe, along the way, I’ll find out what happened to Bue… because I’m almost positive it wasn’t a wild Pokemon attack.”

POV — Ace
Location: Route 218
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 25 minutes, 59 seconds

Ah, finally out of the Underground. I think I was down there for about 3 hours. The evening sun glistened in my eyes as I looked up at the sky. The light was blinding compared to the pitch darkness of the Underground, but it brought a glowing warmth, a warmth I missed while in the depths of Sinnoh. Indeed, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone…

Comrade and I paced in the knee-high grass as we thought of where to head off to next. We couldn’t stick around here; who knows when the cult would realize we’d left the tunnels? They’d come after us sooner or later. We could swim east to Jubilife City, but after the hostile reception Maples got from that “Arceus Cult” I wasn’t exactly willing to go back there any time soon. Plus, neither of us had any Water Pokemon, and nobody swims without Pokemon these days.

Right when I was about to suggest heading west to Canalave City, I was jumped by a large purple blob. That’s right, Pokemon like to hide in grass like this. I looked to my attacker. A Gastrodon; it looked pretty irritated. Eh, I would be too if my hangout got busted by a couple of humans and a Glaceon coming out from a crack in the earth.

Rather than set my already-weak Spade out against the Ground type, I decided to dig in my backpack to see what I could use to pacify this thing. I ended up with just a few Quick Balls. Comrade stepped back a few yards, as is customary for trainers. Just me and Gastrodon…

“Okay, here goes nothing!” I yelled as I threw the ball. It hit the wild Gastrodon with a solid thud. In it went. The Quick Ball wiggled in place for a few seconds, then remained dormant. I caught a Gastrodon…? Oddest capture of my Pokemon career. But hey, might as well keep onto this little guy for awhile, I thought as I shined my Quick Ball in the same fashion that rogue Domino had, back in the Underground.

I motioned for Comrade to come back. “How about we head to Canalave? It’s not too far from here, actually,” I said as I thought about current circumstances. “We might want to head out to sea. Maybe the Arceus Cult wouldn’t bother us on other regions…?” Eh, couldn’t help to dream.

POV — Nico
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 30 minutes, 00 seconds

They were trapped! Against a wall, slowly being approached by a never-dying man, one that should have been incapacitated to move a very long time ago. Would they have to cut him to pieces to get rid of him? He was almost upon them…

“Why doesnt your stupid watch take us up then?!” They both started messing with it frantically, the watch screaming (or so it seemed) command after command. The mix of words made no sense to Nico, until he heard the one he wanted to.

“UP!”

Just “Up”? No “Destroy Up”? The man’s hand was an inch away from Nico’s throat, then black. He felt like he was spinning. He could see nothing, hear nothing. Not even breath. It felt like he was being pushed through a very small tube, one he would not naturally fit through. He thought he’d suffocate. Did the man finally grab him? Was he being strangled? He was gonna die! What about Pikachu? Would he be able to escape?

All this ran through his mind in one mess of overlapping thoughts, for a second or two, though it felt like an eternity, after everything had gone black, he felt the pressure escape, his throat opening, light returning to the world, as well as sound.

Nico got off the floor and looked around. Pikachu was close to him, just starting to wake up. On the opposite side, a bit farther, was Harnet, already halfway up on his feet. Looking around, he realized they were, though it took him a while, for the sun had just set. They were back at Oreburgh City.

POV — Comrade
Location: Route 218
Countdown to doomsday: 148 hours, 28 minutes, 28 seconds

Internally, I was shocked to see Ace catch a Gastrodon. Without even damaging it… It was impressive. I wondered if the Pokemon letAce catch it. Funnily… the Quick Ball wiggled only two times before it turned immobile. Gastrodon seemed friendly enough, then.

“How about we head to Canalave? It’s not too far from here, actually. We might want to head out to sea. Maybe the Arceus Cult wouldn’t bother us on other regions?” Ace said after messing with his Quick Ball.
I nodded my agreement and we walked down the path until the city became visible. I stopped a bit as a sense of foreboding crept through my back. Usually, this only happens when a Pokemon is near. I think we were being watched.

“Let’s run to the city,” I said to Ace in a tense manner. He shrugged, and off we went. It felt good to run, especially since I was unable to in the Underground. Our running made me remember the days when Professor Maples took me in at a very young age. He taught me how to breathe when jogging. He taught me how to breathe in life.
I bent my head low so that Ace couldn’t see the tears. But I knew he could.

When we reached Canalave City, the tears had stopped.
“Let’s go see where we can go to,” I suggested. We walked towards a sailor. “Hello, could you kindly tell us when and where the next ship is heading?”

The sailor turned to us and anxiously yelped. “Um, it’s going to Hoenn. Unfortunately, it won’t be here until another forty minutes. I can reserve two seats for you two, however. Come back in about thirty minutes.”

He turned away from us after that quick conversation, and mumbled: “”Dar… Dark… Is watching me…”
My ears twitched. “What did you say?”
“It’s watching… It’s been watching ever since my grandfather had his unending nightmare…”
“WHO?!” I shouted, louder than I wanted. But I had to get it out of this man. He… it could be another hint towards finding the mystery of Arceus.
“Dark…” the sailor stopped abruptly and looked behind us. Ace and I looked to where he was gazing but found nothing there.
“He’s mad,” Ace whispered.

I shrugged, half-disappointed. We walked away from the sailor man and checked out what the city had for us. Surprisingly, this place was vibrant in culture — a clear defiance to the controlling, suppressing ways of the Arceus organization.

“There’s a library here!” I said happily to Ace. “Let’s check it out!”

POV — Kaleb
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 30 minutes, 00 seconds

After that ridiculous incident, and wow, the look on Nico’s face when he saw the man was hilarious! If anyone was scared of him, he just didn’t know better! Silly Nico!

I looked around myself and saw a new city. This must have been where Nico was before. Well! So the watch favors Nico over me! I mean, I am so much more awesome and more attractive than Nico! Why would it take that kid?!

I now decided that I was going to somehow find Cindy before I left for Kanto. Nico, I don’t need him. Nor do I really care what happens to him. I chose to go left and somehow figure out where I was until, of course, I was attacked out of the blue by Arcanine. He didn’t do it until I was out of site as well, then he began talking in a muffled whisper.
Do you even know what you’re doing?!
He sounded pissed off at me.

You’ll get killed if you go out alone! Especially in the dark when no one else can see them

“Them? Wait, what do you mean by ‘them'”?

Anyone who’s out there right now willing to kill you. They all support different sides, but it’s still dangerous to go near any of them. When the organization recently found out that you were NOT the only chosen one, and found up to five more, (one of them you are traveling with, so you should stick with him for a while), so they began kidnapping innocent bystanders to kill any of them they can find or anyone who supports them.

“So wait, who’s the ‘other side’ I need to worry about

Those are the rebellious few who support the basilisk renegade. The one from the other world that you are not yet ready to learn about. They’re trying to kill those that support the Shadowy organization, since their call is to rebel against authority whenever they’re ghostly leader tells them to. Only problem? The rebels are ignorant and paranoid. They will try to kill anyone they can point their guns at or have the ability to kill, well, most people, some decide to see if it looks like an evil one first. They are trying to destroy the organization once and for all. You can go back to Kanto soon, it is very important that you go there, but you must first be finished with Nico. By the way, what is that one your wrist I may ask?

“Uh, just a watch…”

What kind of watch, I may ask?

“It uh, does stuff with some cool green ray thingy. Destroys shit”

Oh, I know exactly what that is, I was just making sure you did. I want to make it very clear to you, that watch can be very dangerous. Get rid of it if you get the chance. Not now, obviously, but when it cannot be taken.

“But, why?”

How did you get that watch, I may ask?

“Well, that’s not import-”

This question is essential to my point. How did you get it?

Well, I found it lying on the ground, and I thought, wow, cool watch!-”

You may be capable of lying to your friends, but you are not capable of lying to me. You’re sweating already. How did you get this watch?

“I saw a boy and called his name for a battle, but he had a heart attack, so I went over to him to see if he was okay. He was not. I took all of his stuff, including his wallet, this watch, his Pokemon, and even his name!”

You have to understand why that boy died. It was because of what he said about the watch. He assumed his watch could replace his Pokemon. It could not. The watch then backfired on him, killing him instantly. Well, not the watch itself, but the watch’s designer. This designer is a dark spirit who causes nightmares in all proportions. Some of them so terrifying it will result in death of the actual body. That’s what he did to Harnet. He put him in the worst nightmare ever, stopping his heart and killing him. That’s why I want you to find a good place for this watch. If you get too dependent on this watch, it may murder you.

I then knew that Nico needed me. I ran back over to the place where he was, but he had left. Without hesitating, I entered the city, looking for him.

POV — Nico
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 15 minutes, 00 seconds

Harnet walked away before Nico was even able to get up fully. It was dark, and they were not in a very well-lit part of the city. It seemed to him they weren’t out of the city, but off to the one of its edges.

Getting to his feet, Pikachu by his side now, they turned around and walked the opposite direction of Harnet. He wasn’t bothered by his departure. He didn’t feel any specific way towards the person, though the memories of his time spent Underground with him would never be washed away. It did seem rude to just leave like that. A simple goodbye would have been better than just walking off. Felt like Nico did something to offend him.

But who cares anyway? They were free, back in the real world. He just realized his exhaustion too, but he did not want to sleep. Despite being tired, he felt all his adrenaline trying to make him go on. This day had been an emotional rollercoaster in every sense of the phrase. No…they had to recover ground. They were almost at Hearthome City when they fell down below.

“Pika?” his friend said concernedly. Nico turned to him and smiled. “We’re not about to back away, are we Pikachu? We can make it to Hearthome, right?”
“Pi!” he answered, nodding his head vigorously.

“Hearthome it is, and we’re not sleeping until we at least get to Mt. Coronet!”
“Pika!!” he sprang forward, and Nico followed.

They were almost out of the city when they heard footsteps off the side of the road. This part of the city was much less populated, having crossed the entire length of the city (they had appeared around the southwestern corner of it). He felt that uneasy feeling he had after they left Jubilife City. They couldn’t be watching him again? He shifted his gaze around nervously. Pikachu had noticed as well, but had not let his guard down at all. In fact, he looked defiant, challenging anyone to attack them again.

He felt safer this time though. He thought they had proven how tough they were Underground. Hopefully word spread of how many times they escaped the clutches of the Cult. Pikachu is also stronger now, and they had Kabutops as well, who he thought should be better by now.

With these encouraging thoughts giving him courage and strength, he and Pikachu kept on walking, but then louder, approaching footsteps could be heard. They both stopped dead in their tracks, and turned on the spot, Nico’s hand flying to his belt to retrieve Kabutops’ Pokeball, and Pikachu’s cheeks emitting sparks furiously, a vicious growl escaping his mouth.

Harnet was back…he was running towards them. Nico replaced the Pokeball and Pikachu calmed down. Harnet stopped in front of them. Him and Nico looked each other in the eyes, sizing up the one opposite each other. Nico thought he knew why he was here.
He motioned with his head.

“So you’re coming with us? We’re heading to Hearthome City…” he didn’t wait for an answer though, for he didn’t think they should dwell in one place for too long. He started walking backwards, slowly, and motioned again for him to follow him, trying to make him understand the reason with his eyes.

POV — Ace
Location: Canalave Library
Countdown to doomsday: 148 hours, 8 minutes, 47 seconds

Canalave City, while but a simple port town, was one of two locations where one could leave Sinnoh. The rest of the region was surrounded by sharp, large croppings of rocks. From here, we could leave Sinnoh until things cooled down a bit. Comrade wanted to visit the library in the spare time we had until we departed for Hoenn, and I was eager to visit as I’d heard the library was filled with books on Sinnoh folklore and myths.

The Canalave Library, as it was formally called, was the only building that hadn’t changed in Canalave’s advancements over the years. It still surprises me the building still stands after hundreds of years, probably more than I can fathom. Their collection had been rumored to not have changed since the library was created.

As Comrade and I ascended the two flights of stairs to the third floor, I wondered if we could find answers to the questions we were asking. Who or what is Arceus? Why is the cult determined to stop us from knowing? They’re so bent on silence, killing the professor and nearly charring us with a Legendary Pokemon.

All the while the two of us were haunted with this sense of foreboding. Never before had I felt so scared, so fearful of every move I made. The stairs creaked under our weight, making a hee sound. Hee, hee. Hee, hee, heee… Laughing. Someone, or something, was watching us from the shadows. I broke out in a cold sweat.

“C-c-comrade… Do you feel th-that?” I asked. Comrade was trailing behind me a few steps back. I could tell he was worried too. He looked like this before, when we started running to Canalave. No, Ace, snap out of it, I thought to myself. You wouldn’t want to end up like that nervous wreck of a sailor, back at the dock…

“Hee hee…”

More “laughter” from the stairs. Only, it was more pronounced, more real. I had to be hallucinating, I reassured myself. We’d reached the third floor anyway. Phew. I wiped my brow. Now where to look…? I began rummaging through the various shelves, looking for any books that might quench our unyielding thirst for the truth.

I found one that seemed to match our query. A book on the bottom shelf of a bookcase in the corner of the room. It seemed to read “The Original One.” Domino was talking about how we knew about “The Original One, Arceus” so this had to be the book for us. Comrade and I took the middle table of the room. Niveus curled up by Comrade’s feet, and Spade took a spot on my shoulder.

Opening the dusty book on the table, we began to read.

POV — Kaleb
Location: Oreburgh city (get your locations right Santiago!)
Countdown to Doomsday: 148 hours, 15 minutes, 00 seconds

Oh, Hearthrome! What a wonderful place! Please someone shoot me! I really don’t wanna go there! Oh well, I’ll go with Nico anyway.

“Fine, I’ll go!”

We started walking down the path to Hearthrome. I noticed that there were still lost signs for Cindy. Wait a minute, Cindy! Maybe we could find her! I soon remembered that I had to go to Canalave, by the time we got to route 208. I grabbed a lost sign and was going to motion for Nico, but then I remembered that I could get killed in the night, I should really wait ’till morning.

Balls.

Guess I have to go to the dreaded Hearthrome now. Now memories of being locked in a perfumey suitcase and barfing in it are coming back to me.

POV — Gabe
Location: Sinnoh Underground
Countdown to Doomsday: 147 hours, 14 minutes, 34 seconds

After quite a hike through the Underground’s tunnels, Gabe and the rest of the group finally found their exit point. Gabe had been translating for Sophie Bue’s tale which led him to the tunnels. He claimed to have been roped into a cult, but had refused to battle efficiently, so they had abused him for fear of the Pokemon rebelling against its owners and left it in the Underground and had attempted to kill him and leave him for dead.

“Sounds like a friend of ours,” Torch reflected with some relief in the solace that both Pokemon under such conditions had managed to find a way out.

“Yea, Claws is a Meowth friend of ours who rebelled against her owners and ran off before they could retaliate.”

“I recall some retaliation,” Snorkel pointed out matter-of-factly. “It was just against us.”

“She used to be a real bi***,” Falco chuckled. “But she turned 180, for sure. It’s a good thing we were there for her, huh?”

“Falco was just saying that it’s good that we rescued her,” Gabe explained to Sophie. “She used to be a real mean-spirited person, but I mean…What do you expect when you’re stuck in a cycle of abuse?”

Having finally reach some grass outside of the cave entrance, Gabe stopped and gave Torch a rough pat on the back.

“I still remember how much of a little twerp you were when we met…” He reflected with a smirk.

“Were?”

“I’ve found that too many people think of Pokemon like pets and wild animals — that you just use them for your own purposes like tools. But if you don’t treat them well, they’ll often end up emulating that. I mean, humans are the same way.”

Gabe shrugged his shoulder, a cue to Falco to flutter off and land on the ground, giving him the opportunity to rest in the grass himself. He lifted his backpack off and set it in his lap.

“Oh, is it food time? It better be food time…”

POV — Sophie
Location: Route 208
Countdown to Doomsday: 147 hours, 11 minutes, 35 seconds

The group sat in the grass, and just as Snorkel suspected, Gabe started removing some food items from his bag. There were sandwiches and fruit and cookies– Gabe had come well prepared. Even though he hadn’t originally expected to be feeding more than his own team, there was enough food even for Sophie, Abbie, and Bue.

Sophie bit into a sandwich. “Um, thanks for feeding us,” she said politely. “Just let us know if we’re eating too much of the food. I wouldn’t want you guys to run out.”

“Nonsense,” Gabe replied. “There’s plenty.”

Sophie ate for a while in silence. The Pokemon were talking among each other.

“Porr,” Bue said.

“Charmander, Char.”

“Squirtle…”

“Char.”

“Pigoo?”

“BUNEARY!”

Sophie giggled at her Buneary. She had no idea what Abbie said, but she doubted that it required yelling. Then she looked at Bue. She couldn’t believe what had happened to him… and was even more shocked that Gabe knew another Pokemon it had happened to. She blinked her eyes in angry confusion. What’s happening to the world these days?! she thought.

Gabe stood up then. “Okay, everybody done?” The noise snapped Sophie out of her frustration, but the Pokemon nodded at him. “Ok then, let’s pack this up.”

As they worked to put away the garbage, Sophie looked up. “So, where are you all headed to?” she asked. “And would you mind if we came along?”

POV — Comrade
Location: Canalave Library
Countdown to Doomsday: 147 hours, 08 minutes, 39 seconds

We’d gone over a lot of books.

I took out another thick one, and turned to a page that rang familiarly in my ears.

“Long ago, when Sinnoh had just been
made, Pokémon and humans led
separate lives.
That is not to say they did not help
each other. No, indeed they did.
They supplied each other with goods,
and supported each other.
A Pokémon proposed to the others
to always be ready to help humans.
It asked that Pokémon be ready to
appear before humans always.
Thus, to this day, Pokémon appear
to us if we venture into tall grass. ”

Professor Maples touched on this when Nico and I first met. He told me that our connection with the Pokemon were slowly dying…
Perhaps that was what this is all about. Our decreasing faith in the Pokemon we once loved.
Now I understand why Arceus is crying for help. Not for Its sake…

Ours.

“Comrade!” Ace whispered. “Check this book out.”
Opening the dusty book on the table, we began to read…

“In the beginning, there was only
a churning turmoil of chaos.
At the heart of chaos, where all
things became one, appeared an Egg.
Having tumbled from the vortex, the
Egg gave rise to the Original One.
From itself, two beings the Original
One did make.
Time started to spin.
Space began to expand.
From itself again, three living things
the Original One did make.
The two beings wished, and from them,
matter came to be.
The three living things wished, and
from them, spirit came to be.
The world created, the Original One
took to unyielding sleep… ”

“What does this mean?” I asked Ace after we finished reading aloud.
Before he could respond, a man shouted from outside.

“SHIP TO LEAVE FOR HOENN! SHIP TO LEAVE FOR HOENN!”

Without thinking, I stashed the book we just read into the bag.

We were off.

In the depths of the azure ocean resides a Pokemon.
This Pokemon has the power to manipulate the rushing currents and falling rains —
it has the ability to control the entire element of water itself.

In the rugged earth of the Terra Cave sleeps a Pokemon.
This Pokemon has the power to erect large masses of ground, constructing continents.
It also can bring heavy sunlight onto the planet, eradicating even the ocean.

In the Sky Pillar lives a Pokemon.
This Pokemon has the power to make peace with the Continent and Sea Basin Pokemon.
Without it, if ever the two former Pokemon should dare meet…

The world is sure to witness its last hour.

~Prologue~

The two organizations sat down. On the one side of the table was a man covered in an onyx and scarlet cloak. Opposite of him was a woman wearing a blue bandanna and a loose jacket. The rest of the people — a sea of red, black, and blue — watched silently.
“Do you have it?’ the man inquired.
“Of course,” the woman replied curtly. “And yourself?”
“We’ve had Groudon since yesterday. Now it’s time to execute our procedure.”
“Right,” the woman nodded. She bent over and picked up a laptop from her suitcase. She typed something. “Excellent. Project ‘FLOOD’ for Kanto and Project ‘DROUGHT’ for Johto are soon to initiate.”

Countdown to Doomsday: 143 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds

The story thus far:

A man in a high position of power has seized “control” over the legendary Alpha Pokemon, Arceus. He’s fulfilling an alleged prophecy that calls for him to destroy the fabric of reality using the power of the Original One. His followers are a bunch of shadowy cult members, helping him fulfill said prophecy.

The majority of the public is oblivious to the cult, the man, and Arceus. They are only witness to 16 different environmental disasters spread across the region of Sinnoh. Few do know of the catastrophe, however. Seemingly regular people, like an elderly woman sitting on a park bench, or a Pokemon professor, have seen the signs and prepare the heroes for the worst.

The cult tries to prevent this, as quickly as possible. Any people committing suspicious acts seen as trying to violate the prophecy will be targeted by the cult. Weapons, Pokemon attacking trainers, anything and everything to prevent the Arceus out of the bag. Innocent people have been killed in the crossfire.

But there are heroes. Heroes willing to risk it all, and then some. Some are worried for their own lives. Some worried for their Pokemon’s sake. One driven by revenge of the death of a mentor. Another on the vengeance of a broken promise. Others still driven by numerous other factors, such as protection of a confused lass, or growing stronger physically and mentally with Pokemon.

All are chosen by the almighty power of the Original One. Activating the power slumbering within the legendary Plates, Arceus calls for help. Earthquakes strike the mining town of Oreburgh. Harsh blizzards whip nearby passerby heading to Snowpoint City. Power outages plague Sunnyshore City… again.

A few Sinnoh civilians find themselves in the Underground. Acquaintances are split when uncontrollable factors partake in the heroes’ destinies. The cult appears to be everywhere, attacking the protagonists here and there.

However, in the end, the characters successfully exit the Underground. They bask in the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the rain. Little do they know, though, that these necessities will soon become overbearing…

~Narrator~

Part II — Countdown to Doomsday: 143 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds

Six days. Exactly 144 hours left until the fabric of reality collapses on itself. Already the surrounding regions have heard of the chaotic activity having occured in Sinnoh. Minor deaths and suicides have been reported, but on the whole, Sinnoh is unaffected.

Nothing previous could compare to what will soon happen to the region of Kanto, though. As if a threat by Team Rocket on the entirety of the region isn’t bad enough, warning signs of unrest between regions are seen. Johto, fearing the disasters may spread to its entirety, close all ports and communications with the other regions. Hoenn is enraged. Johto is the only place to get exports such as Spinerak silk or Mareep wool. Without these exports, Hoenn could not fashion things like Silk Scarves. Items of this fashion play an integral role in Hoenn’s economy and without them, Hoenn would face a massive economical breakdown.

With the shutdown of Goldenrod’s radio tower, the other regions suffer from lack of communications with one another. Johto is the only center for radio waves, both in and out. Without the tower up and running, other regions have to resort to cruder tactics of communications, such as carrier Pidgeys. Although this increases time consumation, it brings hope for the relationship between man and Pokemon. Perhaps humans will start to appreciate the Pokemons’ grateful gifts.

But Johto, despite cutting trans-communications, has dilemmas and quandaries within it. Little does it know – Team Rocket is already in the region, where it plans to bring about another component to the imminent Battle of the Regions…

POV — Comrade
Location: Somewhere in the seas
Countdown to Doomsday: 143 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds

I looked out the ship. The island of Hoenn was coming near, and I felt a strange feeling in my stomach. What exactly held in store for us there?
Glancing at Ace, I became a little more relieved. It was better to be with someone in a crisis.
“HOENN APPROACHING! DOCKING IN FIVE MINUTES!”

Our adventure awaits.

POV — Kaleb
Location: Hearthrome
Countdown to Doomsday: 140 hours, 00 minutes, 59 seconds

Nico and I just decided to go in an inn for the night. It seemed cheap, had a two room complex, and just provided the best for us. However, this Inn was quite obscure, no one was there, and everyone in town had never heard of it before. I climbed in the bed, it was quite comfortable, and the room had some weird but great smell to it. After that, I don’t know what happened. I was just knocked out. I had some sort of a strange dream. There was some horse being chained to a large pole with a man in front of it, somehow talking to it, even making plans with it in a way. I wonder if Nico had a dream like this…
Next, I was in a pond like area, where everything was bright and clean, where there was a big pink thing that I could not describe. I was at peace here. Then it turned black and rusty when the pink thing changed into a ghostly piece of darkness with some sort of a red necklace. It even began to talk in a hissing voice

Heh heh, did you know that it was a new moon before you slept?! Silly boy,
you should have stayed awake, you never know when I may come… now you will pay the price

Next thing I knew, I was thrown in several directions, first one being my dad being drunk and pushing me into a fireplace, in real life, I was able to dodge it, but get my face burned and get this scar I have, but here, I fell in and began burning. Then, I was underground, and the half dead man was on me, chewing off my limbs, scathing my head with his overgrown fingernails. I then witnessed a couple more horrific sights, including the Kabutops cutting everyone in half, my watch incinerating me very slowly, but none more horrific than the last one. The whole world was burning, innocent people being scorched to death alive, shady men torturing others to death, everything wrong. And I was on top of everything, with a scepter in my hand, crown on my head, in a throne, enjoying it all somehow. After all, I was on top, and everyone alive, was bowing, to me. I was becoming more and more happy by their following until the spirit snapped his fingers and said

You see what I just showed you? That it what will happen if you and everyone else who received this dream tonight, including the one you traveled with, don’t do what is necessary to stop it. Now, how horrific was that last dream?

“It made the other dreams look like heaven on a plate!”

Also, remember how much you enjoyed that in your dream? Everyone else will feel the same in their dream. But in reality, that it how he will feel

“He?! What are you talking about?”

You and your friends will find out later. We may also meet in person someday. Just remember this. And it may sound irrelevant. But never think you are more powerful than your other friends who have received this dream. For you are not. Not at all. Think that, and you will be drawn to his side. Again, you will not be the only one to hear this, so do not take it personally. I will be leaving.

“But wait, I have more questions! I’m still confused!”

Tough. I do not care. I have to go away.
I woke up. I still did not open up my eyes, but I had time to think.  Who else besides Nico would that ghost visit? Was he telling the truth when he said that he just said that to everyone, or does he come up with a message for everyone? Most of all, who is he, the one the dark spirit talked about?

…Or was that just a dumb dream? Yes, a dumb dream, it had nothing to do with reality.

Then I opened my eyes, and realized that maybe it was real…

I was now in Kanto, sleeping on a field near an abandoned power plant.

POV — Sophie
Location: Route 218
Countdown to Doomsday: 139 hours, 56 minutes, 43 seconds

“Ok, just one more hill and we’ll reach Canalave,” Gabe announced. “And then we can catch a boat to Kanto.” Sophie was relieved–they had been walking for a really long time. “Thank goodness,” she sighed.

They reached the top of the hill and prompty found some darkly dressed gentlemen waiting at the top. Sophie didn’t like the sneaky looks of their faces.

“Those are some pretty cute Pokemon,” one of them observed. He shared a smile with his partner. “Especially that Vaporeon.” Bue narrowed his catlike eyes in resentment. Sophie observed the eye contact between them. “You… are you the person who tried to kill him?” Sophie asked. The two men smiled at each other again. “Either way, it looks like he’s learned his lesson now,” one said. “We can take him back.”

Gabe glared at them, preparing to defend Bue, but Sophie jumped in before he could say anything. “You can’t have him,” she said bitterly. She couldn’t believe she was actually meeting the same people who did such horrible things to Bue. One of the men raised his eyebrows. “Oh really,” he said while reaching for is Poke Ball. “Then I’ll have to take him.” The other man took out a Poke Ball, too. They released their pokemon–a team of two Sevipers.

“Abbie, will you protect Bue?” Sophie asked, knowing that fighting off these two men wouldn’t be easy. Torch, Snorkel, and Falco each prepared themselves, also. Bue stayed by Sophie’s side.

But before the battle could begin… “ZANGOOSE!” A trio of white-and-red mongoose-looking animals jumped out of the grass and charged at the Seviper, who eagerly lunged at them.

“Geez, not more Zangoose!” A man cried frustratingly. “Seviper, you’re attacking the wrong Pokemon!” Gabe nodded his head, knowing what was happening. “Seviper and Zangoose are mortal enemies by nature,” he explained to Sophie, who was watching the battle with a horrified look on her face.

The Zangoose and Seviper were wrestling ferociously. The three Zangoose were using deadly claws to attack, while the two Seviper were lashing at them with their fangs. The Zangoose teamed up and defeated one Seviper by each using Slash. The other Seviper lunged at them with a Poison Tail attack, which they dodged just in time to use another team Slash to defeat it.

The men returned their Seviper and ran off without looking back. Two of the Zangoose jumped back into the forest, but one of them stood in front of Sophie, staring at her.

“Zangoose,” it whispered. Sophie looked curiously at Gabe, who translated: “She’s waiting for your command.”

How strange. This Zangoose didn’t even belong to her. Oh well, she thought while pondering what she could tell Zangoose to do. She decided not to have it attack the men–there was enough violence around even without that. She finally smiled, having decided what to tell Zangoose.

“Come with us,” Sophie offered.

“Zangoose,” she replied with a fierce smile. Sophie was extremely confused as to why this Zangoose took such a liking to her, but having her around wouldn’t hurt. Torch, Snorkel, Abbie, Bue, and Falco each waved hello to the new member.

Gabe came up behind Sophie with a smile. “She said her name is Merit.”

POV – Kaleb
Location: Somewhere in Kanto
Countdown to Doomsday: 139 hours, 30 minutes, 43 seconds
I was so confused that someone describing a trip on acid would make me less dazzled. I was sleeping in a bed in Hearthrome city, now I was all the sudden in some pretty scary place! Everything was dark, pollution filled the skies. The fields grass was parched dry. But the power plant was the scariest thing there. Because it was abandoned, that obviously meant it was dangerous. I even saw blood-red letters across the building saying “condemned”. But I couldn’t resist. I had to enter the building. I knew that something was fishy, and something told me that this building had the answer. I was about to go near it when I realized that my scar was completely visible. I remembered that I still had the patch in my pocket, so I covered it up. God, I felt so much safer. As I walked up, the whole damn building had evil written all over it. But did I give a crap? Hell no. I found that the front door was blocked up by a bunch of planks, but I wasn’t going there anyway. I walked to get around the building, only to find a small ladder, dangling from this window about 20 feet above me. Hell Yes. I thought. This was perfect, and I was great at this stuff. I managed to grab the ladder, it was climbing it up that was gonna take skill. As I climbed up, it began to creak. The hinges of it had rust on them! I was in deep shit for sure. All I could do was climb up fast, I even had to break the window and hold on to the edge of it! The ladder broke off, falling down on its side. Damn! I was glad no one was around to catch me around here! They would’ve heard it! After climbing though the window, I was in this small room. Seemed safe enough. There was a door which looked pretty weak. I thought it would work to kick it down, I mean, it would be easy, and nothing would happen! So I did.

Wow, that was the most retarded thing I had ever done. Ever.

Good evening young intruder… I see that you have found our hideout. Smart young man. Now now, what are we going to do with you?

POV – Nico
Location: Somewhere…
Countdown to Doomsday: 139 hours, 30 minutes, 43 seconds

It almost surprised Nico how quickly his recent joy and happiness had completely drained away..in just a matter of minutes really. How could it have come to something like this? He thought they had escaped their problems after escaping from the Underground, and had not met up with any other of those mysterious people again, yet….

He thought back, how he had gotten here, in the middle of a dark forest…

Harnet and Nico had made it to Hearthome City with barely any problems, but the thought of food, and, for some, a nice comfy bed. They quickly found an inn, and each got their own room. Harnet seemed to have passed out almost immediately, but Nico couldn’t sleep, and instead went to get some food, along with Pikachu, who also seemed unable to sleep, though, unlike Nico, he seemed rather troubled.

They had passed the Hearthome City Gym on their way to get some food, but their stomachs were their first priority. When they were done and making their back to the inn, they noticed it was still open. He found it odd that the Gym was open this late at night. He considered it for a second…it probably hadn’t been smart to have such an intense battle then, but they went for it anyway.

They challenged the Gym Leader, Fatina. He didn’t remember the details, except for the battle itself.

Fatina first called on a Duskull. Kabutops was his opponent.
Fatina had started, quickly making sure we knew who was in command.
“Will-o-Wisp!”

Duskull had shot a ghostly fire aat Kabutops. “Aqua Jet!” Nico retorted, and Kabutops was engulfed in a stream of water, protecting him from the fire. He then charged at Duskull with incredible speed and sent him flying across the room, but it quickly regained ground.

“Future Sight, Duskull!” The ghost seemed to have close its eyes and started meditating or something. “Quick, use Rock Tomb!” Kabutops slammed the ground, so that stone pillars began rising everywhere, aiming to strike and trap Duskull, but it was too late. It had finished preparing its attack.

“Shadow Sneak..” Duskull disappeared. Nico felt it move, he could not see it, but he felt him move, knowing where he was…but it didn’t make him feel much better. As fast as Kabutops’ Aqua Ket had been, Duskull quickly made his way behind Kabutops and struck him with some shadowy energy. Kabutops was sent flying, head first, across the ground. “Strike back, Aqua Jet!”

“Shadow Sneak!”

The two went at it, trying to outspeed the other. A blue blur crossed the battlefield from one place to the other, while an invisible presence did the same, trying to find room to strike Kabutops. It seemed as though Nico’s Pokemon was faster, and he was about to overtake Duskull, when, out of nowhere, he froze. His eyes were closed, as though in pain. The Future Sight had taken its toll.

“Duskull, Will-o-Wisp!” Kabutops could not move this time. “Rock Tomb!!!” The fire was almost upon him, but Kabutops regained control before it reached him. A stone pillar rose and blocked the fire. “Again! Everywhere!” Kabutops began forming pillars everywhere. Duskull was fast and dodged his attacks with Shadow Sneak, but Kabutops, though exhausted, had  figured out how to turn it in his favor. He could not see Duskull, but he could feel him, and there was a certain lag between its movements, its rematerializing, and then its attack. He felt Duskull creeping behind, and, without turning, he caused the stone pillars to rise behind him, trapping Duskull inside.

“Aqua Jet!” He knew Duskull could just easily escape the prison, but they’d know exactly where, and they were ready. The moment Duskull did and Kabutops felt him, he smashed him with Aqua Jet and did not let go until they crashed into the wall. That was it.

Duskull was returned to his Pokeball. “Go! Mismagius!”
The very elegant Pokemon disposed of Kabutops quickly. He was tired and this Pokemon was no fool. A mere Shadow Ball did the trick. Kabutops was too tired to escape using Aqua Jet, and the Rock Tomb he used was not strong enough to block the Shdadow Ball.

“Return!” Nico turned to his Pikachu at that moment. His buddy responded by chargnig forward, without even looking at Nico, as though he hadn’t expected anything else. But Fatina wasted no time, and immediately attacked.

A Shadow Ball was sent flying at Pikachu. Quick on his feet, Pikachu jumped out of the way, but while he was in the air, Mismagius shot a Psybeam that struck its mark. Pikachu plummeted to the floor, but stood back up immediately. Nico wasn’t sure what had happened, but Pikachu was acting so fierce every time he felt a battle was imminent lately.

“Quick Attack!” Nico knew Normal-Type attacks didn’t work, but the speed of the attack would let Pikachu approach Mismagius.

“Don’t let him get close, Shadow Ball!” The ghost shot a constant barrage of Shadow Balls at Pikachu, forcing him to dodge instead of approach his enemy. Mismagius could not stand the constant attacking though, and stopped to catch its breath. Pikachu took that chance.

“Thundershock!”
The ray of lightning struck Mismagius, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.
“Psybeam!”

Again, the quick beam of psychic energy shot at Pikachu, but this time we saw it coming. “Double Team!”
The beam missed its mark as it struck an illusion. “Psybeam again!” Fatina cried, and Mismagius continued attacking every possible Pikachu. In the meantime, Nico had ordered Pikachu to use Charge. He had managed to learn to use this attack without making it clear which of the Pikachu-copies the real one was, though it took him longer. Nico was proud of his little buddy.

“Argh…this is idiotic! Magical Leaf!!”
Nico groaned. This wasn’t good.

Mismagius backed slightly and shot a stream of razor-sharp leaves glowing with a ghostly aura around them. They seemed to be controlled or something, for rather than striking one place, they all targeted every Pikachu facing Mismagius, until the real Pokemon was inevitably struck. It was unavoidable, though, luckily, not a major setback in Pikachu’s health…although Mismagius now knew where he was.

From the smoke created from the impact of Mismagius’ last attack emerged a ball of dark energy that flew straight at the only Pikachu now in sight. Pikachu’s ears perked up, and, in the blink of an eye, jumped to his feet, cheeks sparking. He cried and release a giant bolt of electricity that cut through the Shadow Ball and straight to Mismagius.

The attack was intense. Nico and Fatina were blinded by the amount of light and electricity surrounding the field. Where did that come from? Even after Charging, Pikachu’s Thundershock was never that strong. Unless…

Mismagius floated lazily towards the floor, obviously hurt by the latest attack. Fatina growled in frustration, and called out another Magical Leaf attack, but Mismagius couldn’t move. Her paralysis was all the motivation they needed.

“Pikachu, finish this with another Thunderbolt!”

He watched with satisfaction, as Pikachu used his new great power to finish off their powerful opponent.

And so had their latest Gym Battle ended. Nico walked out of the Gym with a new badge in his possession, Pikachu looking extremely exhausted, but incredibly proud and content with himself. They then returned to the inn to get some sleep.

The problem was, Nico, and he was sure that, by extension, Pikachu, didn’t end their rest very well. A horrible, ominous dream filled the latest hour of his sleep. He didn’t want to remember it, but he knew when he awoke, after speaking to a very strange and scary figure, he was not at the inn anymore.

He got to his feet. Pikachu jumped from somewhere to his side and climbed to his shoulder, looking extremely wary and scared. The forest was not dense, but dark. It was still night. Nico spotted a house far up ahead and followed the trail to it. As he approached, a man in a white lab coat came out of the house, watching him approach. He was very familiar-looking, but after all the recent events, his mind was barely working. However, an image of an oak tree entered his mind.

“Hello there!” greeted him the Pokemon Professor.

POV — Kaleb
Location: Power Plant
Countdown to Doomsday: 139 hours, 00 minutes, 23 seconds

I was staring at a kid. Seriously, a kid. He was no older than 8. But how could he look so important!? What is he doing here? And why did he threaten me? I was going to figure out even if it killed me.

“Okay, who are you, why did you threaten me, and what are you doing here!?”

Relax, I’m not threatening you, I’m just wondering what to do with you, that’s all! As of for how I got here, it all started back when I was a child, my fath-

“BUT YOU ARE A CHILD DAMMIT!”

Don’t use that kind of language! And what do you mean? I am old enough to be your father.

Okay, either this is a midget and a eunuch at the same time, or this kid’s batshit insane. I’m going with the latter

Anyway, I was a child, and my father ran this overly corrupt organization! I mean, do you know what he did?! He tried to help Pokémon, and gained no profit whatsoever! He never focused on the power the Pokémon could bring us, the power that could save us. He just let them live however they wanted! Doesn’t he know that Pokémon have no feeling, that we come first!?

“But they do hav-”

That’s great, back to me. Apparently, this corruption had started with my grandfather. Before him, my great grandfather kept this organization exactly what it should’ve been. Anyone who opposed it would most definitely regret it, and his profit and use for Pokémon was just excellent! He’s the best man who ever lived! However, this man was being overthrown. Two children who used colors for their names began to take him on. Their codenames were Red and Blue, though their is some evidence of their real names being Ash and Gary. My great-grandfather’s stupid followers were no match to these tenacious idiots, they got my great-grandfather arrested under false charges and went about with their lives, Blue even taking my great-Grandfather’s gym! No one really knows what happened to Red. Anyway, the organization, called Team Rocket, still managed to survive. My great-grandfather, named Giovanni, went missing after breaking out of jail. Three years after his arrest, more colors began to grow. A girl named Green was around before, though no one minded her. It was two punks named Gold and Silver that brought attention. Silver used to have a heart like Giovanni, but Gold was bad right off the start. Silver simply believed in power, the right thing to believe. Gold had a belief that Pokémon were all friends, and tried to stop Silver after he stole a Pokémon from the lab. They had a long conquest, but in the end, Silver was brainwashed. Though against Team Rocket in the first place, he began to adapt Gold’s way of thinking. He treated his Pokémon with respect, and helped Gold overthrow the remnants of Team Rocket. Gold was murdered in the final battle, Silver still remaining. Though refusing to disclose his name, Team Rocket found something far more important than his name, in fact, there were no records of him even having a name, though it was discovered that Gold was named James. His genetics were directly linked to Giovanni. This boy, Silver, was my grandfather. Who could’ve guesses that a brilliant man like Giovanni could have produced such a gutter of a human! This red haired punk who fought authority! Anyway, the tragic news of Giovanni being found dead came about. His corpse was in perfect condition, no evidence of a murder. He was even smiling when found dead. Wonder why. My grandfather, as a result, was chosen to be the leader of Team Rocket. Team Rocket was changed from an underground force of prosperity to a weak charity providing well being for the environment and Pokémon! Team Rocket was awarded several times, and many stale lives were kept by my grandfather. Soon, his red hair turned gray, his eyes sunken in, and he was no longer able to keep up. My father took his place, as Silver and his beloved Feraligatr died in peace. My father was no better of a man. He kept the new Team Rocket up, saving even more scum from their deserved death. Right when I was born, I knew something had to be done. But my mind couldn’t decide what until six years of thinking. I had devised a plan to rid Team Rocket of my father. I still remember his screams when I sent out Zangoose on him. My father had fallen dead, his body was no more. When it was discovered that a new leader must be chosen, I was the only heir to the crown. Being only 8, taking up the job was quite alarming, but I took initiative. Team Rocket became what it should have been a long time ago. Slowly and gradually. The death rates went up. Our profits were exceedingly higher. It was a dream to be. You should see Team Rocket now. A ha, it is good!

I could barely speak. I was talking to an absolute sociopath here. I didn’t even know if this was all true. It was so alarming. I barely even got a chance to think when is mouth opened up again.

Say, would you like to join our organization? You seem good for it. Only condition is that this place must never be mentioned again. Would you like to take this offer?

This could be a chance. The only chance to take down Team Rocket. I was good at lying. I could definitely do it. I nodded my head and whispered “yes” underneath my breath.

Excellent. I have an escort to Saffron city for you. It will get you there in no time. Follow me. Ah, here she is!

It was a Zapdos. It looked hurt and confused.

“I’ll take it”

Good, good. Here’s a badge to get in. Just don’t think about betraying Team Rocket. Once you’re in, you cannot get out. Understand?

“Yes, goodbye”

I took flight on the Zapdos. A second later, I seemed to be on the outskirts of Saffron.

“Hey there, are you okay?”

ZAAAP!

“Here, I’ll save you.”

I used the watch on it. I couldn’t see it with my eyes, but I’m sure that chains had fallen off the Zapdos. It suddenly was happy, sped up to the sky, and disappeared in a bunch of sparks.

Now getting to Team Rocket Headquarters.

POV — Comrade
Location: Somewhere in the seas
Countdown to doomsday: 138 hours, 58 minutes, 50 seconds

Our adventure awaits.

Or so I thought. Out of nowhere, a dark cloud encompassed the sky, drowning out the sun like a heavy mist. It might have been just me, or the entire island of Hoenn was cut off from my sight by the cloud. I turned around, but I could see nothing but walls of compact liquid, things lightly called clouds. These, these weren’t clouds. They were animate objects ready to kill.

I gave a grim look at Niveus, who responded with a pout frown. Ace was nowhere to be seen, but I didn’t worry for him. He was a smart guy… he would be able to handle the storm.

“Let’s go, Niveus.” She nodded, and we retreated to the back of the vehicle. “Captain,” I shouted, now that a heavy downpour commenced, splashing against the wooden floor of the deck. “What should we do?”
“What?!” he yelled, cupping his hand into his ear.
“What should we do?!” I repeated with the fullest intensity.
He did not hesitate: “Abandon ship!”

A sudden gale swept me off the floor and brought me to the bow of the ship. I was barely able to see Niveus dash towards me faithfully, bringing me a smile. Now that I was in the middle of the disaster, I could hear shouts and cries. A kid was kneeling, crying besides his mother, who lay cold and dead. Maybe she became unconscious by hitting the mast.

“HEY!” I shouted. The kid glanced at me and then started to cry again. I gave up and went to another fallen person, this time an old man. “Mister,” I yelled. “Is there anyone with you?!” Lightning became visible for a split second and I saw the illuminated visage of the man, and its brightened eyes were unmoving.

“Niveus,” I finally said after sinking the reality in. “Niveus. Use Icy Wind. Try to steer this hurricane away from us. Can you do that for me?”
She nodded curtly. She exhaled a cold breath that blew away some of the heavy clouds, but it didn’t help much.

The storm was getting worse. I could only see to the length of my arm. The rain hit less harshly, though, but the fog persisted. It looked eerie… like this ship was the vehicle of a ghost.

And then the rain stopped. I was shivering, my clothes drenched on my goose-bumped skin. Niveus looked fine, lucky for her. I waited for the clouds to part.

“Mommy,” a voice whispered. The fog was still here, so I called: “Hey! Is anyone still here?”

The same voice, belonging to a child, spoke again: “Pidgey! Defog!”

Thank the gods.

POV — Nico
Location: Route 30
Countdown to doomsday: 138 hours, 55 minutes, 50 seconds

Nico was sitting in a comfy house/lab, in a corner, at a table. He was holding a big steaming cup of tea with both his hands, absorbing its warmth, his expression incredibly grim and pensive. Pikachu laid on the table, right in front of him. He had dozed off about 5 minutes earlier, and Nico let him sleep. Their recent adventures have taken a toll on all of them.

Professor Oak was by the computers, trying to make a call. The problem was, and it was rather apparent, for the house was lighted by candles, there was no electricity. Oak finally gave up an sat in front of me.

“Hmm…I’ve been stuck here for a while now. I was hoping the backup generator had kicked in, but even that doesn’t seem to work. I think it’s burned out. The thing is that if I have no power, I’m willing to bet the nearby cities and towns don’t either…”

He blanked out for a while. Nico said nothing. He didn’t feel much like talking.
Professor Oak had told him where he was. Route 30…it took him a while, because of the unlikeliness of the situation, but that meant he was back in Johto, his home country.

How he had gotten there he had no idea. Nor did the Professor, but he seemed not as shocked as Nico was. Did he know something Nico didn’t?

“Professor Oak–”
“Please, call me Gary. Professor Oak was my grandfather”
“Right, er..sorry…”
Nico hesitated for a moment, but Gary Oak interrupted him.

“We need to check out the surrounding area, and I’ll need your help Nico. I’ll go to Violet City and see if my Electivire and I can help. Would you mind going south to Cherrygrove City? If they have any problems as well, you will have to go to New Bark Town, just east of it. I have a feeling Professor Wood will know a little more. New Bark Town, though small and humble, does hold a big generator near the outskirts, and its key in the power of the southeaster corner of Johto”

Nico was taken aback by the request, but he didn’t refuse. He was here, and for whatever reason, he happened to come across people in need. The dream..the nightmare…it suddenly rushed back to him.

“Of course, Pikachu and I…” he trailed off as he turned to his friend, now snoring from exhaustion. Growling, more like. Pikachu seemed to have undergone some changes. Nico wondered if there was some sort of Pokemon puberty, sort of like humans. He noticed his fangs stood out a little more. But as his completely distracted mind kept on thinking these thoughts totally unrelated to his present situation, Pikachu’s ears twitched, and his eyes flew open. He looked up at Nico, and seemed to realize that they had to leave already. Pikachu stood. ‘Ha! I was right..his fangs do look different’
One of them seemed to slightly show, even when his mouth was closed. His expression also seemed wilder. A tinge of fear gripped Nico, but then he relaxed. Whatever changes he was undergoing, Pikachu was still his closest friend.
“Ready?”
“Chuu..”

They all stood and went towards the door. Gary Oak, Nico, and Pikachu all walked together south, until a fork in the road met them. Gary Oak would take the western path, which turned north. Nico and Pikachu would go south some more.

“Nico, take this Pokeball.” Oak reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pokeball. The top half was black streaked with a golden H. A slightly darker black mark sat right on top of the button. A ‘U’.
“In this Ultra Ball is a Cyndaquil. I’m sure it will come in great help. I mean, its still very dark, and there I’m willing to bet the other cities are also powerless…” he saw Nico looking skeptical at such a generous gift “Think of it as a thank you for the help in advance!”he looked around and then turned back to Nico, sighing, “This night is darker than any I’ve ever seen before.” Nico saw his eyes cloud up.

“Thank you Professor” he said, taking the Pokeball. Gary looked at him, but let this one pass. He understood the respect with which he thanked him, and did not pester him about calling him a ‘professor’. Vaguely, Nico wondered what does he want people to call him, but the thought wasn’t important enough, and it quickly vanished.

They shook hands and wished each other good luck, then turned and each walked down their own path.

Pikachu walked by his side, looking up at him. Nico was admiring the sleekness of his new Pokeball.
“Well, we might as well say hi to my new Pokemon…”
He threw the Ultra Ball up, lightly, and it opened in a flash of gold light that materialized in front of them.

POV — Cindy
Location: Slateport City
Countdown to Doomsday: 139 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds

“So, who are you and what can you do to help me?”

I kept on screaming but no good. Oh, what am I going to do!? Well, um, okay, let me break down what just happened. It was the weirdest thing ever! Alright, so, Kaleb and I were gonna take on the kid in front of us, but then it looked like the guy had a heart attack! What the heck?! But that is not even close to as weird as this next part, After Kaleb went to investigate, he disappeared! I was so confused! It was as if he went underground or something! I called out for him soo many times, but nothing happened, then I felt a huge whack on the side of my head and everything went black!

Next thing I knew, I was being dumped out of a bag into this room with a bunch of people who looked really shady. They were dressed in red and blue, discussing things about flooding a place called Kanto and putting a drought to a place called Johto. They also talked about interrogating me, seeing if I knew anything.  Now I know why my mommy and daddy wanted me home… They tried to take Fluffy! I had to let him out of his ball. He used frustration, and managed to beat up a lot of the guards, but he seemed no match at first. Then, he transformed. He turned all purple and scary! I still loved him though. Then he beat up all the guards, and reluctantly got me out of the ropes I was tied too (did I mention they were holding me hostage!?). I didn’t know where we were, so we just walked out. The land was so strange. Then I saw a sign that read “Welcome to Slateport City”. It was rusted and falling off. I was scared! I wanted Kaleb to be around. But all I had was Fluffy. The city was huge, and near water as well. I went around this city with Fluffy. However, a guy, kind of nerdy, probably 12, came out of a house nearby and said
Hey!

“Hey!” I called back.

You look lost. I can help you out

“Alright…”

I walked over to his house. This guy had a ramshackle place that was filled with Pokémon. He was taking care of them somehow.

You want one of these guys? I think that some of the babies need new trainers

“Alright. I don’t know which one to take though”

Here. I think you’ll like this one

He then showed me an egg. I didn’t know what was in it, but I could tell that it was for me.

“Well, what’s in this one?”

Ah, that’s for you to figure out

“So, who are you and what can you do to help me? Also, what do you do?”

POV — Comrade
Location: Somewhere in the sea
Countdown to Doomsday: 139 hours, 28 minutes, 59 seconds

The air cleared up again. I looked at the child, who now had a Pidgey perched on his shoulder. It was the child who was crying for his unmoving mother during the storm…

I walked to him, feeling a bit tense and a little nervous, too.
“Hey,” I said. “You alright?”
“Where’s mommy?” he asked.
Should I have lied? “I don’t know, to tell you the truth.”
The kid opened his mouth to respond but another voice intruded. It was a gigantic roar, coming from the skies. It sounded angry.

“We better go,” I told the kid. “What’s your name?”
“Skylar.”
“Cool beans,” I said, smiling. “I’m Comrade. This here is Niveus. She’ll help us get out of this mess.”

Niveus jumped to the ledge of the ship and used Icy Wind into the ocean, which was enough to produce mini-icebergs. I opened my backpack and took out two pairs of ice skates. The smaller pair was mine, but I handed it to Skylar. The bigger one was Professor Maples’. I put them on, for a second remembering my master’s legacy.

“What about mommy?” Skylar asked.
“You know… I think your mom got out of this mess earlier. Y’know what, I bet she’s already in Hoenn right now, waiting for you!”

I jumped off the boat and landed unsteadily on one of the icebergs. Skylar jumped hesitantly, holding his Pidgey, who helped slow his fall. Sooner or later we were skating across the seas of Hoenn while Niveus constantly used Icy Wind to create an icy path before us.

Sounds improbable, but hey, it worked.

POV — Sophie
Location: Canalave City
Countdown to Doomsday: 139 hours, 24 minutes, 48 seconds

“Sweet, we’re here,” Sophie said out loud, gazing at the city around her. Abbie was bouncing with excitement.
Gabe looked at the boat schedule. “Okay, the next boat to Kanto leaves in about an hour. We have just enough time to get something to eat.” And they began walking to the Pokémon Center.

As they walked, Sophie reflected on the past events. Those men who attacked them seemed so aggressive… in fact, Sophie noticed that most of the people she walked by looked the exact same way. Merit was giving them all death glares.
Then, they passed the bridge. Abbie decided the really liked the bridge. She stared at it with such interest as she walked. Suddenly, she couldn’t handle the anticipation anymore. “Buuun…EARY!” she exploded. She began hopping towards the bridge, yelling “Bun! Bun! Bun!” with a big smile the whole way.

Sophie rolled her eyes. “Abbie, come back!” she yelled, even though she knew that Abbie very well wouldn’t come back. She sprinted after her Buneary, Bue and Merit not far behind. As Abbie approached the bridge, it began to light up. The man standing there held up the DO NOT CROSS sign, since the drawbridge was coming up. But Abbie was already past him. Sophie tried to follow, but the man stopped her.
“Sorry miss, you have to wait for the boat to pass,” he said firmly.
“But that’s my Buneary!” Sophie protested as she fought to get past him. He fought, also, to keep her from doing so. The struggle was getting so heated that Merit jumped in and used a mild Knock Off attack to push him back. Now free, Sophie dashed up the bridge after Abbie, who was now out of sight. The drawbridge was still rising, so it wasn’t too steep yet. She jumped over the small gap and ran down the other side. Bue was right behind her, and Merit followed him down.

Sophie called. “Abbie!” Louder. “Ab-bie!!” Still no answer. “Por!” Bue said sharply, and he ran into the pedestrian traffic. Trusting his feline senses, Sophie squeezed through the crowd of people to follow him. People stepped on her toes and elbowed her sides, but she pushed her way past them. Finally, she saw the familiar blue mermaid tail that meant Bue.
“Porrr!” Bue signaled. He had found Abbie. Sophie dashed to her and scooped her up in a tight huggle. “Abbie, someday your ADD is gonna get us killed,” Sophie whispered lovingly. Abbie was smiling, ovbiously proud of what she did.

Suddenly, the ground moved. Sophie panicked and looked around her to see what was going on. Then, she realized: in all the excitement, she didn’t realize that Abbie had run straight onto a boat that was loading. The boat was now leaving. Sophie checked around her. Ok, Bue’s here, Merit’s here, Abbie’s here… so at least we didn’t get separated. She relaxed. Then she remembered.

Gabe. Oops.

POV — Cindy
Location: Slateport City
Countdown to Doomsday: 138 hours, 40 minutes, 23 seconds

Let’s just say I’m Emerald, call me Rald, and that I don’t know what to do

“Rald… I don’t think that’s your real name, but if you wanted me to know that, you’d tell me. Well, okay, what’s all this then?”

I get pretty lonely. I kinda have to breed in order to get friends

I don’t know why, but something about Rald seemed a little… off. He was depressed or something. It must have taken him time to get all this, but he was only twelve, or at least he looked it. Then he told me.

It’s hard to live here since the evacuation

“Evacuation!? Wait, does that mean this place is dangerous?!!”

Not at all. It’s just hard living in this region. Very hard Everyone is leaving by ship, one by one the groups go on, to different regions, where they can own food and a house at the same time

“What do you mean?”

Our economy fell down. Foreign communication is beginning to end, so people are leaving. I had to stay. People don’t even use ships anymore. They just fly away on these new airplanes invented and even rockets. SO as a result, this harbor of Slateport is the most devastated of all. No one is here anymore. No one but me and the dangerous thugs in their hideout, the ones who captured you.

“But what about your family? You’re, like, twelve, how can you live like this?”

Er… um… let’s just say I don’t have a family, my family went away a long time ago, and I can live in any situation.

This was unbelievable. Something was up with this kid. He was living on his own, knew EVERYTHING that was going on, and lived in this run down junk of a house. Did I mention it was full of drawings? They showed some red dinosaur type thing, this big blue whale thingy, and this green snake.

“Well, one more question, what are those drawings all over the floor?”

Those? I don’t even remember… They keep coming to me in a dream. I can never remember what they are trying to tell me…

“How…strange. Well, I need to somehow get out of here. You seem to know your country quite well. Anyway you can lead me to a plane or something?”

He began to look perplexed, as if he was being choked.

Um… no, you see… plane tickets are very expensive, as well as the trip to, err… get there is very dangerous since the planes are, um, located out on an island, and, well, we just can’t go there!

Dammit I thought to myself. I’m not one to curse, but I had to. This kid was no help. I began to walk out the door with my new egg when he yelled

WAIT! Come back! I think I have a plan to get you out of here!

“Yeah, well, what’s that?”

Just follow me. I need help too. I think we can make a team. Your reward, you get out of here, but you have to follow me. Okay?

“Alright. Shall we go?”

Yeah, we better get moving. Just come with me. Oh, and if there are any suspicious people dressed in blue or red, ignore them completely. Just do as I say. We’ll get you out of here and I can finally be mort-

He caught his breath, obviously saying something he didn’t mean to say.

…ified no longer at an evil, uh, thing, yeah, that is going on, and hurting Pokémon and, uh, people! Let’s go!

He ran out the door and I ran after him, not knowing what I was getting into, hoping that Fluffy and I could trust this guy and get home safely.

POV – Kaleb
Location – Outskirts of Saffron City
Coutdown to Doomsday – 138 Hours, 15 minutes, 45 seconds
Alright, I was here. I had no idea where to go or what direction, I forgot this place almost completely, it seemed like the land was completely different now. I know, Saffron is where I lived, but I almost completely pushed this city out of my memory. Then, before I knew it, I was jumped on by, do I need to tell you?

Sorry for the slight change in plans, I just was misinformed that’s all.

“Wait, what the hell are you talking about?!”

I was informed that there were actually plenty of more chosen ones than you. What  said before was not going to happen. I apologize that you had to sit through that nightmare, it was only necessary so you could-

“Okay, I get that part, but I need to ask a question. A big one. WHO THE F*CK ARE YOU?! You keep following me, never leave me alone, and send me through hell to do some task, and you won’t even tell me what it is. Who are you and what do you want?”

Well, my name starts with an “A”

“So is it Arce-”

His paw was swiped to my mouth.

Don’t say that! And no, that is not my name

I didn’t know why not to say it, I figured I would find out later.

“Well, what is it!?”

Red is my fire, scorching hot until the end, burning everything it sees to ash. I will be seeing you later, I’ve got to go.

“So wait, you’re just gonna leave me with a stupid riddle and leave me confused?”

I just told you my name! I thought it was quite obvious how I said it.

Then he jumped in a bush and left.

Gr… he is so annoying.

Well, I then walked, trying to go in the right direction. I stumbled near a blackened city, with barbed wire around houses and a huge black building in the middle, looming over everything.

I took out the pass key the 8 year old gave me. I was going in. Here’s the plan, I’m going to become a Rocket Grunt, mislead some high up members, then bring it down. That’s my call for this time. It’s going to be the first time I do something important in these horrible events.

Oh boy I am sooo f*cked.

POV — Ace
Location: Somewhere in the seas
Countdown to doomsday: 138 hours, 58 minutes, 50 seconds

Hee hee…

Nng. What…? Where am I? I’m… er, floating in space? But where’s all the stars? I can’t see anything.

My dreams… are your nightmares. My peace is your… calamity. My hopes are… your prophetic ruin.

Who are you? Where the hell am I?

Drifting between the boarders of consciousness and stillness…

So I’m asleep, is that it? Everything’s really dark. Aren’t dreams supposed to be more… I dunno, lit up?

Dreams are the elicitation of one’s inner happiness. However, this is not a dream. Rather…

Gotcha, nightmare. Freaking perfect. So what, aren’t I supposed to be in my underwear or something? I’m not really afraid of the dark, savvy?

Hee hee. Such false confidence… Dreams and nightmares alike are composed of one’s prior memories; his or her trauma’s, accomplishments, wishes, and fears, all recorded in one’s mind to be replayed at one point or another.

However…You are a special case. You’ve locked your past deep within your mind, so tightly not even I can reach within its bowels.

…So? W-who cares? You’re n-not scaring me. When I wake up, you’ll be gone from my mind, and I can hide whatever the hell I want to (even if I don’t realize it myself).

Hee. Hee. Heeeeee. Such simple-mindedness… A nightmare in itself is trivial, yes. But I can orchestrate thousands upon thousands of blood-curdling thoughts, until your mind has cracked under the strain of my torment, and you’re left a babbling fool.

Allow me to demonstrate a fraction of the power I possess over you.

…..A-ah! It burns, so-aah! So much-Everything, from the tips of your toes to your hair, to your innards, yes, every organ, is now lit ablaze. Agh! Can you feel it? The scorching flames of malice? Urrrgh! These are the emotions you hold within you. Your innermost hatred. Your hatred of the ones who assailed you and your friend. The rage of losing that which you cannot remember. Gyah! See now, how it turns upon you! How it assaults your pious flesh!

G-gragh… What… What do you…?

What do I want with you? I may or may not hold responsibility for the end of the world. Perhaps the prophecy for the end entered the catalyst’s mind in a dream, or rather, a nightmare. Hee hee…

So… You’re responsible for the end of the world? Bas…tard…

Consider this: if all conscious things perish, then what about those in the subconscious, who thrive off the former? Surely, the latter would perish as well…Regardless, I refuse to reveal my part in this play he’sstaged. Whether I am a spectator or a puppeteer shall be left to mystery… for now. Hee hee…

Wait a sec, why tonight? Will this happen again? Why are you telling me this? And who the hell are you?!

Hee… Hee… Heee… Best of luck…

I woke up not on the ship, but gagging for air under ocean water so dark, I might as well have been still dreaming. My vision was quickly failing, which didn’t help. I fumbled for a Pokeball. With my last breath of CO², I shouted, “Gastrodon, Dive!” Anything could’ve gone wrong. I could’ve, in my blind state, summoned Spade instead, or, beneath the water, Gastrodon might not be able to make out me telling him to dive. He might not even know how to Dive. And even then, I could’ve been under too much water to make it to oxygen in time.

Thankfully, none of the above happened. Before I knew it, I was on the back of my Gastrodon with semi-clear skies above my head and murky sea water below. After surveying the land–er, seascape around me, I noticed a melting path of ice. I guessed it was Comrade’s Niveus who made the makeshift bridge to land, or at least someone with some common sense. “Alright Gastrodon,” I said with a slight smirk, “let’s Surf to Hoenn and see if we can beat Comrade there!”

I thought to myself, oh, hell yes. I’m back in action.

POV – Kyle
Location – Makeshift Port in Sinnoh
Coutdown to Doomsday – 139 Hours, 0 minutes, 19 seconds

My family is dead. What turned out to be a normal visit to my grandparents was nothing short of a nightmare. Someone or something burned that house to the ground, and my parents refuse to answer the phone. They are dead to me along with the rest of the world. At least, that’s what I’m told. The details escape me, but the people around me want to leave Sinnoh ASAP. I decided to join them in hopes of returning to Johto, but I’m told they are pretty much on lock down. My best bet is to return to Vermillion or head to Saffron… who knows what will happen… who knows what to do.

I looked down at Eevee and saw the sparkle in her eyes. She knew that we would make it, everything would go okay.

“Time for a groom?” I said quietly to Eevee. She let out a purr of excitement.

I groomed her coat until it sparkled in the dim light. “Time to leave skipper, we’re heading through hell to get to Vermillion. I suggest you put your Pokemon in it’s poke ball.” He headed towards the shore before I could say I didn’t own a poke ball. Eevee was the only Pokemon I would ever need, and she never was nor will be in a poke ball. Although, I’m not sure if she would like it or hate it.

All 8 of us got to the shore and boarded the small vessel that can hold up to 12. We were assigned to stay in our rooms and wait until we arrived. Signs everywhere said no battles, but where’s the fun in that? Everyone had big Pokemon that appeared to be strong when I saw them on the beach, but size, in this case, doesn’t matter.

“Hey! Wanna battle kid?” said a man across the hall. I shook my head and Eevee jumped into the doorway.

“Names Kal” said the man.

I stood and took a step forward, “Kyle”

Kal threw his poke ball in the air and out came a Persian. I was glad it wasn’t his Dragonair, and the battle began.

“Quick Attack!” Persian didn’t even attempt to move, direct hit.

“Swift!” said Kal

“Dodge! Iron Tail!” I said.

“Persian!” said Kal and Persian used protect.

“Keep going Eevee!” as Eevee kept attacking with Iron Tail.

“Bite Persian!”

“Eevee stop! Bite!” Both went for a bite but Eevee was small enough to spin past Persian for a bite at the neck.

Persian fell to the ground and let out a faint mrrw.

Eevee was feeling good, and I knew time was going to fly.

POV — Comrade
Location — Pacifidlog Town
Countdown to Doomsday — 138 hours, 49 minutes, 01 second

“You four must be exhausted.”

We were. My feet hurt so bad, I bet if I made one more move my legs would be done for. But the kid with the Pidgey, Skylar, looked more tired than I. He had probably never skated in his life.

We were inside a Pokemon Center. The nurse looked at us with a shake of her head, as if we were a duo of delinquents. She spoke again. “Where did you kids come from?”

Kid? My age was nineteen, thank you very much. “We’re from Sinnoh. Our boat was headed towards a port in Hoenn — I forget which one — and as soon as we saw land a cluster of storm clouds swallowed us whole. I think we were the only survivors. Do you –”

“Where’s mommy?” Skylar interjected.

Oh… crap.

“She’s off to a better place,” the nurse said gently. “You just be good and stay here for a while. We’ll take good care of you. And your Pidgey.”

Skylar’s disposition smoothened, and he closed his eyes, falling asleep in a matter of seconds. I wanted to, too, but I guess being a grown-up has its responsibilities. I.E. no sleeping whenever you feel like it. Damnit. Kids get it good.

“So where are you heading off to now?” the nurse asked me as she stroked the sleeping child’s hair.

“To tell you the truth, I have no idea,” I admitted. “The past two hours have been rather traumatizing. I kinda forget what I’m here for.”

“Well, why don’t you go on a trip, to ease your mind? A bunch of folks from town are going to sail east for a ride. If you’re lucky you might spot the Mirage Island!”

A sea trip? I could use that. “Sure!”

“They’re leaving in…” the nurse checked the clock. “Oh yeah, right about now. Better get a move on!” She smiled.

I groaned as I lifted my legs. Even when I want to do something relaxing I have to expend energy like it’s my job…

POV – Ace
Location – Route 131
Coutdown to Doomsday – 137 Hours, 45 minutes

About this time, the trail of Comrad’s went cold… Or, more accurately, it melted. Well, more like “was broken by a Wailmer” but you have to appreciate the irony. Gastrodon slowed to a stop; we were now surrounded by rocks. “Well, eff,” I spoke aloud to my Gastrodon. “Looks like we’ve lost Comrade. …And civilization.” I shrugged. “Ah well, life gives you berries, make Berry Juice, or something.” I’m not a Pokemon Trainer for nothing, I told myself.

“We should probably find someplace to camp out for a bit, give you a rest, huh?” Gastrodon was beginning to sink. I didn’t expect him to last very long, considering he was a fresh catch. I helped him paddle us over to a small island before returning him to my Pokeball.

It was about that point I noticed I was being blanketed by a huge shadow… Stemming from an equally huge tower, nonetheless. Curiousity got the better of me, and I went in. Most of the floor was cracked; the entire tower was in a state of disrepair. “Hellooo…? Anybody in here? Hellooooo…” I called out.

“As a matter of fact, yes: someone is already occupying this tower. But not the kind of company you would prefer.”

At that moment, something blunt hit the back of my head, and I passed out.

POV – Sophie
Location – Somewhere in the sea
Coutdown to Doomsday – 137 Hours, 18 minutes, 53 seconds

We’ve been on the boat for a good 2 hours now, I thought. And I still have no clue where we’re going.

I was sitting on a bench looking out on the foggy water, Abbie in my lap. Merit sat next to me and Bue lay at her feet. We all stared out into the sea as if in a daze.

I knew the Pokemon probably weren’t worried about our situation. They’re all strong and brave and adventurous. I was the one causing them to worry. Even Abbie sat still (for once) so she could try to be there for me. Be strong, be strong, be strong, I repeated over and over in my head, but I couldn’t let go of the thought that every minute in this boat took us farther from home, from everything that was familiar to me. It took all the effort I had to keep from breaking down.

“Miss?” I heard a voice. I turned around and saw a woman in uniform. “Aren’t you cold? Would you like to come inside?”

No, I wasn’t cold. I had a fuzzy bunny on my lap and a giant mongoose next to me. But, meh. “Sure, thanks,” I replied as I stood up, holding Abbie in my arms. Bue and Merit stood up to follow me, probably relieved I wasn’t gonna stare into the fog all day. “By the way, where exactly are we going?”

“Did you get on the wrong boat?” The lady asked.

“Umm… sort of?”

“How unfortunate. May I see the ticket for the boat you intended to get on?”

“Well, umm I don’t have a ticket. I didn’t mean to, but my Buneary ran on–”

“Then we must take you to security and get this settled at once.” She said sternly. Then, she flashed a huge smile, grabbed my wrist, and led us inside.

Fudge. Now I’m in trouble, AND I still don’t know where we’re going.

POV – Cindy
Location – Route 134
Countdown to Doomsday – 137 Hours, 32 Minutes

“Come on! I’ve got a feeling that we need to go east!”

I didn’t see much over to the east, it looked as if it were covered by water. Not only that, but this water was in a current!
I mean, how would be pass that?

“What?! But that water is running all fast and stuff! We couldn’t just Surf over it or use a boat or something! Come on!”

“You really think that I haven’t figured out a way yet, do you?”

All of the sudden, he took one of the Pokéballs from his pocket and unleashed some kind of weirdo dragon type I had never seen before!

“What’s that freaky thing supposed to be?!”

I don’t know why, but he looked kind of impatient with me. Kinda mad too… aw…

“Why, it’s a Flygon! Where do you come from anyway? Everyone who grew up over here knows what it is!”

“Oh, Sinnoh! Right over in Hearthrome City! It’s soo great! ”

“Right… I took you for one of those Sinnoh people… so ignorant with their dumb looking native Pokémon…”

“Huh?”

”Nothing. Anyway, I know the area pretty well, and there’s a town over these rapids. Pacifidlog. It’s one of the few inhabited towns over in Hoenn. However, still trust no one, got it?”

“Got it”

We got on the Flygon’s back and flew over the rapids. My egg seemed to be moving a little, that always made me happy. And poor Fluffy! He must have been miserable being all alone! Plus, he can’t be used to his new form yet!

THUD

“Can you believe this? A town made entirely on the sea! This is a pretty cool place if you ask me. No wonder everyone lives here now.”

“Hm, what’s this?” I asked. I saw a flyer on one of the boards. It looked pretty cool! So I decided to read it aloud.

“Ready to have the sailing trip of your life? Then come on the sailboat and go to the Mirage Tour! It’s called that because if you’re lucky, you might spot the MIRAGE ISLAND! One of the most interesting islands ever! It’s a lot of fun, so just head to the harbor on Pacifidlog! Might be a once in a lifetime chance! See back of flyer for details. Well, this sounds fun! Come on, we should go on it! Not like we have anything better to do anyway!”

“All right, let’s go. The back of the flyer says it leaves about now, so we better get a move on. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a wild Wynaut!”

“A what?”

“Oh, right, I forgot, you’re from Sinnoh. Well, forget I said that, let’s just go, right now.”

So, we ran across town, got some information from residents. We found these two kids, one a pretty tall teenager, one just a little kid, coming out of a Pokémon Center. I heard the big one say something about going sailing, then I realized that they were planning to go on the same sailboat we were! I know Rald said that we can’t trust anyone, but we can have a little fun, right? So I shouted to them

“Hey! We’re going on the sail too! Up for a Double Battle when we get on board?!”

POV – Ace
Location – Sky Pillar
Coutdown to Doomsday – 136 Hours, 30 minutes, 42 seconds
And so begins the Fool’s Journey…
“H-huh?” I slowly woke to the sound of someone’s voice. Funny, I didn’t remember going to sleep… Until I remembered being hit in the back of the head sometime before. My wrists felt constrained, as if I was chained up. I didn’t dare open my eyes yet, though. Better to eavesdrop on whoever was talking than struggle now.
“But why? If he knows of the God of Judgement, why would he resist His wonderful plan for the world?” Were they-whoever they were-talking about Arceus…?

Someone else spoke up; a gritty, annoyed tone was in his voice. “Some people merely cannot comprehend His judgement. Not even Pokemon are immune to such idiotic tendencies of self-preservation… Take, for example, the Moon: has she not fled to the vanishing isle out of fear?”

“Regardless; it matters not,” said a third voice; it was soft, with a tinge of remorse. “The Hermit has been imprisoned, and it’s only a matter of time before the Emperor and Empress destroy the world. After all, the Final Story only demands the world ends. Whether or not it is by His power seems a trivial point, no?”

There was a bit of a drawn out silence. Finally, the first voice spoke again. She had quite a melodic voice, but her words seemed heavy.

“…Correct. But the Five have not yet awakened. Whatever may destroy the world surely will not succeed until the allotted time–”

The third voice interjected. “But surely, aiding the world in its destruction will grant us better favor with Him. We need only exterminate the Lunar Pokemon. When humanity can no longer dream, then–”

“Pardon,” said the first voice, “but our guest is awake. He’s probably been so for awhile now. Enough to hear more than anyone outside of The Order should hear.”

Well, this sucks, looks like somebody caught on. At this point, it’s probably best to play dead and hope for the best. And so I did.

“…Are you positive? I believe he died in his sleep.”

“I concur. He’s probably dead of exhaustion by now. Though, to be sure, we may desire a conclusive murder.”

“…No. Stand still, the both of you, and you may be able to hear the pulse of his heart. A keen ear may be able to hear his slight breaths. You both lack the strength to feel it, but I assure you, he is still with us.” And with that, she walked over to me and gave me a swift kick to the ribs.

“…Nng!” I gave a quick yelp. I knew at this point, I had to act, so I opened my eyes and drew out my Pokeball.

Three people were in front of me. A slender, red-haired woman, a lean man with a scientist’s lab coat and a pair of glasses, and a young man, who might’ve been about my age, with mellowed blue eyes and a relaxed figure.

“What shall we do?” asked the scientist guy. His gaze was fixed upon my Pokeball, and he looked frustrated. “We’ve spilled the metaphorical beans, and it doesn’t appear as if he will give up without a fight…”

The first girl stepped forward. “Well, why not join us, Ace?” She seemed really calm about everything, and even had a faint smile on her face.

“Wait, what?” I was more than a little bit surprised at the sudden offer. “Weren’t you guys trying to kill me a little bit ago? But now, everything’s all fine and dandy?!”

The mellow guy spoke up. “But that was the past, no? Now that you’ve heard everything, surely you see the truth like we do; this world shall end in less than six days. There is no hope for the current world, so we must cling to the hope Arceus will bring our souls to the next life.”

“Of course,” said the scientist, “some have been blessed by Him with the gift of Knowledge; they know the last days are upon them. Some, like the Pokemon Professor, try to deny The Final Story, and we eliminate them as needed. Others, who cannot comprehend the power Arceus has granted them, die as He wishes. Like Albert– or rather, Domino. He tried to wield the Chariot Pokemon, Heatran, but could never understand Heatran’s potential. Fitting, how he died, is it not?”

“Though, keep in mind, this is all for a better world,” said the chick. “When He builds a new world from the ashes of this old one, piteous souls such as the aforementioned two have no place in Paradise.”

“I… I dunno what to say…” I really didn’t. Everything just seemed so… so hopeless now. Why try doing anything when the world will just end anyway? Was everything up to this point just a waste? What mattered anymore, now that everything was going to die?

“Perhaps we should give him some more time, yes?” said the mellow guy. “I suggest we bring him along to Mirage Island. He’s shown he can at least keep his own against a legendary, and we might require his assistance against Cresselia.”

“I agree. Call up a helicopter and we shall all leave posthaste.”

I forgot, I was still in chains. “Uh, I don’t mean to sound rude, but can somebody…?”

The girl released me from my bondage. I rubbed my wrists a little bit. Other than feeling a bit sore in the back of the head, I felt fine.

“So, uh, what are your guys’ names? I mean, you know mine, so it’s only fair, right?”

Everyone was silent. I figured now wasn’t the best time to ask. I had some time to think to myself before the chopper arrived. They seemed like nice people, once you got past the whole “end of the world cult” deal. But, killing a legendary Pokemon…? What have I gotten myself into?

POV – Kaleb
Location – Saffron City-Rocket Headquarters
Coutdown to Doomsday – 136 Hours, 15 minutes, 45 seconds

All right, so I went to the looming building. I think it was called “Silph Co.” when I was young, but it now just said “Rocket Headquarters: Protecting the World from Devastation All the Time, 24/7”.

Wow, what a freaking lame headline. So, at first I couldn’t find the door. Then, I found the slot where my key card would go. Based on what I told the kid, my keycard said something like

“Name – Harnet
Title – Rocket Grunt
Height – 6″2
Weight – 155 lbs

Further notes: Excellent Physical shape. Also seems to show a level of intelligence by the way he wound up here. That information is classified. For these reasons, it would be recommended to keep a close eye on him.

Not good. I was new, and yet they were already suspicious. Oh well, I put my card into the slot to see what would happen.

Next thing I knew, I realized I was standing on a platform, which began to spin, putting me inside the building. Some grunt lady walked up to me and said,

“Hi! Welcome to Rocket Headquarters! We protect the world from devastation to unite all people within our nation! Identity please?”

“Yeah, here”. I flashed the ID, which got this out of her.

“Elevator is over there! Go to the 15th floor! You’ll get out of those grungy rags and put into something a wee bit more presentable. Thank you for choosing Rocket Headquarters!”

Then she was gone. Anyway, the front was bustling. There were people in black uniforms all around me, all seemed to look at me with a greeting, as if I were an outsider. Anyway, I ignored everyone’s greetings with a simple “F*ck off”, got to the elevator, and went to the elevator.

Thank god that there was no receptionist in the elevator, just me and a computer. And the computer didn’t talk, another plus.

Anyway, I hit 15 on the pad, then there was text on the screen that said “Floor 15. Home of the rookie training stations. Going up.”

I walked out and was greeted by yet, ugh, another person, this time a man, who said in an overly friendly voice,

Hi! You’re a new face! You must be the new recruit! Our boss told us about you. Been a looong time since we had one. Now, how about we get you suited up, eh?”

“All right, can we please just finish with the pleasantries and get my goddamn suit on? I’m getting a little impatient here!”

“Now now, no need for hostility!”
He brought me over to a room quite specifically titled “Male rookie changing room”. He also handed me a box of clothes and just ran off again, probably never to be seen again. Well, I was the only one in the rather large room, pretty good for me. I also inspected for any security cameras, though what was I gonna, do, destroy them with my watch? They’d see. So nevermind. I got my clothes on, which honestly looked kinda badass on me, put my stuff in them (again, glad for privacy, now I can keep things) then put my older “rags” back into my box. Oh, and did I mention that I finally got a shower?

Anyway, I came out, and some older woman, thankfully with a more bitter attitude, said,

“All right, let’s just get this over with, rookie. Now that your extra long welcome in the changing room is done, you’ve got your first assignment”

She gave me two test tubes, one labeled “207” and one labeled “114”

“All right, and what the hell are these for?”

“Shut up, questions are for later. Take these two tubes to floor 23. Someone will meet you there. He’ll tell ya what to do. Now scram, I’m done wasting my time with someone like you Damn rookies, always gettin’ in my way… I though we were rid of ’em…”

Finally, someone with a little bit of sense. Definitely the best person I had met so far.

Anyway, went to the elevator. Floor 23 was “Home of Genetic Experiments”. Going up.

At the door, I held up my ID and was approached by a scientist who was probably around 35.

He said,

“Hey! New guy’s here! Anyway, we should probably get to know each other, since I’ll be working with you on a lot of this. Anyway, name’s Brian. Feel free to call me ‘The Messiah’! The boss told us you were Harnet.

“Yep, that’s me!”

“Well, since we’re working together now, and we’re gonna have to get used to one another first, how’s about a little battle to start things off? I’ve got an Aipom and a Vulpix. Think you can take that?”

“Please, I’ve got a Pupitar! And… the other one’s a surprise! I’ll kick your nerdy little ass! Let’s go! I’m gettin’ battle-deprived over here!”

POV — Nico
Location: Route 30
Countdown to doomsday: 136 hours, 15 minutes, 00 seconds

Cyndaquil looked up at Nico curiously, then at Pikachu, then back at Nico.
“Wow, a Cyndaquil! What a gift…”

Nico squatted down in front of Cyndaquil and pet his head. “Hey buddy, Professor Oak thought you’d be able to help us out..” They both looked at their surroundings simultaneously. It was really dark. Cyndaquil faced him again and nodded, the flames on his back lighting up. A warm glow surrounded them, and the ominous darkness retreated a little. Nico felt a little safer.

They walked on south, heading to Cherrygrove, Nico lost in his thoughts. It really was very dark…he knew the power was out in this area, but even so, it wasn’t usually this dark on the road. The sky was pitch black. No stars, but no clouds either. The moon was there, but it didn’t seem to be lighting anything. He also noticed the quiet and inactivity out in the wild.

He noticed Pikachu’s tension. His ears were perked up, his head turning from side to side as they walked. That recently acquired wild look in his eyes was mixed with apprehension.
Cyndaquil was…totally normal…maybe he was used to this by now? How long had the situation been like this?

Cherrygrove came out of nowhere, spit out by the darkness ahead. Not that it was any less dark here though.
The houses looked empty. He figured people would light candles and go about their business. Now he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out what time it was. His watch had stopped working at some point.

Still, the lack of movement and activity in the city disturbed him. Towards the eastern edge of town, he noticed the Pokemon Center. No electricity either, but he saw lights inside. Fire…candles? Pokemon? They went inside.

It was fairly packed. People all around, some with their Pokemon. Candles were lit all around He felt the people that were still awake stare at him as he walked in, and then turn away again. They didn’t seem that interested…or happy really. The mood was depressing for sure. Pikachu’s ears drooped. Cyndaquil seemed ok with it.

“Maybe it has been like this for quite some time…everyone’s spirits seem dead” he whispered to his Pokemon. “Let’s go find the nurse…someone’s gotta fill us up a little more.”

POV — Comrade
Location: Pacifidlog Town, Hoenn
Countdown to doomsday: 136 hours, 14 minutes, 59 seconds

“Hey! We’re going on the sail too! Up for a Double Battle when we get on board?!”

I turned around. A silly-looking girl, with a friend, was running to catch the ride. They managed to climb aboard, breathing heavily.

Double battle…?

Looking at Niveus, I grinned. She purred, she looked ready. I turned to Skylar to ask him whether he wanted to do a double battle too. But then I remembered… he had only a Pidgey… And it might not even know any moves asides from Defog.

However, the look the boy gave me was one of fierce determination. Something that I guess only happens to a few people this early in their lives. We nodded simultaneously, knowing what the other was thinking, and faced our opponents.

“NIVEUS! LET’S GO!” I shouted.

“CHARIZARD!” Skylar yelled. “COME… ON… OUT!”

A Charizard?! Hah, this should be interesting…

“My name’s Comrade,” I said, “and my friend here is Skylar. I hope we don’t beat you too badly.”

POV – Cindy
Location: Pacifidlog Town, Hoenn
Countdown to doomsday: 136 hours, 12 minutes, 42 seconds

“Oh, you don’t know what we’re capable of…” Rald decided to say. Of course, I didn’t know either, but I just said

“Yeah, take that! We’ll crush you! For my name’s Cindy, grandaughter of the champion Cynthia! And this here’s Rald, one of the most elite trainers here! You don’t stand a chance! COME ON, FLUFFY!”

I threw it and there Fluffy was, now all purple with fangs. He looked a lot happier now… Oh boy, I sure hope  that frustration doesn’t get weaker!

Well, how’s about a little of this? GET ON OUT, AGGRON!”

He threw out a scary looking Pokémon, all huge and dark! The other boy’s Charizard was scary, but I wonder about this?!

Your move. Come one, I dare you…

POV – Nico
Location: Cherrygrove City, Johto
Countdown to Doomsday: 135 hours, 55 minutes, 51 seconds

“So you haven’t had any power in over a week?!” Nico gaped at Nurse Joy, who looked worn out, with big bags under her sunken eyes.

“No…its been terrible. I can’t run the hospital in these conditions, I’m not much help for seriously sick patients.”
“So what’s with all the people here?” he asked, looking around. “Why aren’t they in their homes?”

“I guess…it gives them…a sense of community. We pool our efforts to get through these times. Drinking water is hard to come by now. We need fires for meal and comfort. Room to shelter people who don’t have these resources in their homes. And…well…” her face darkened even more, with the flickering light of the fire casting playful shadows on her face.

“You came from outside…didn’t you notice anything…odd?”
Nico thought about this.
“Well…it certainly didn’t feel..um..homey, heh. Its unsettling outside.”
“Daytime isn’t much better. The sun comes out, but never seems to shine like its supposed to. Often its just covered by dark clouds, but it never rains. I fear a terrible drought coming. Johto’s closed off all its ports, we’re not even getting any supplies. You can’t blame these people for feeling so hopeless. Despair just hangs in the air here…”

They fell silent for some time, each contemplating the situation. Cyndaquil was standing up on the counter separating the two, looking peacefully at them. Pikachu rested on his head, looking around at the people packed in the Pokemon Center.

“So uh…I heard something about a generator powering the area..?”
“Yes, right. I don’t know the specifics, you’ll have to go to New Bark Town east of here. The backup generator here is fried. It gave out shortly after the blackout.”
“Yours too? I hope we’ll be able to fix this…We should get going. The faster this is taken care of the better.”

Cyndaquil jumped off the counter and followed Nico out the door. Nurse Joy caught up to them before they exited and handed them some medicine and Pokemon food. “I don’t have much left, but take this. I hope you won’t need it, but just in case. If you can solve this problem…” She trailed off. They both looked at each other, nodded, and parted ways.

“Let’s go guys…”
And the darkness swallowed them again.

POV – Kyle
Location: Vermillion City, Kanto
Countdown to Doomsday: 136 hours, 11 minutes, 30 seconds

We had all made it from Sinnoh. No one said bye, we all just went our separate ways. I’m just glad it’s over. Three hours on the open sea, and me and Eevee hate the sea. We always feel sick, which is why we only battled 2 people.

“So, why not head to the Pokemon Center and then we’ll decide where to go from there?” I said to Eevee. She gave me a yelp of excitement.

We headed to the Pokemon Center where everyone was calm as could be, but you knew they knew.

“Here you go! Your Pokemon are all healed! I hope you have a nice day!” said Nurse Joy.

“Thanks.” I said, but she seemed to look a little depressed.

We headed outside and decided to go north towards Saffron, hoping to cut through to get to Cerulean City. I noticed no one was on the road there, usually trainers are ready and able to fight. Hoping that Saffron wasn’t closed, we headed into the city and noticed that ‘Silph Co’ was now “Rocket Headquarters: Protecting the World from Devastation All the Time, 24/7”.

“How long were we gone from Saffron? A year or two?” I looked at Eevee and she gave me a little shrug.

“This can’t be good.” I said as I ran towards the building.

The door was no longer operational and a circular pad sat at the entrance. A slot was on the wall that appeared to be able to use a card.

“Hey Eevee, think that Silph card Prof. Oak gave me still works? He said it was almost older than him.” I noticed Eevee was no longer at my side, but sitting on the pad. She must think Team Rocket is still that dumb.

“Well, here goes nothing.

I put the card in the slot and took it back out. We stood there for about 5 seconds before the pad spun around. Next thing we know, we are inside an empty room of the building. Team Rocket never took the card out of the system, and they never got rid of the basement floor. A pair of Team Rocket clothes were laying next to me, something their high ranked Rockets would wear. Eevee was over by a door, howling. It appeared to be an elevator door.

“Think it works?”

Eevee jumped and hit the button next to the door. The elevator came down and the door opened. We looked inside and noticed a only a computer. I walked back to where the Rocket clothes were and put one on over what I was wearing. I wasn’t wearing a backpack, so it looked okay. We got in the elevator and the door closed.

“What’s the top floor?” Eevee shrugged.

“Let’s start at 30 and work our way down.”

I typed in 30, nothing happened. I tried 29 through 26 and nothing happened.

“Well, maybe 25.” I typed it in and the elevator was on it’s way up. Little did I know, floors 26 through 30 were for high level Rockets. Floors 22 through 25 were the labs. All me and Eevee knew, was this would be fun.

POV – Sophie
Location: In a boat
Countdown to Doomsday: 135 hours, 45 minutes, 53 seconds

The lady had taken us to a back room, where a few men in security uniforms joined us.

I didn’t like it. This secluded area made me feel anything but safe. My grip on Abbie tensed, and she, sensing my fear, began to tremble ever so slightly. Bue warily eyed the men, and Merit squinted at them as if to say Go ahead. Make my day.

The man on the end studied my Pokemon. “The Vaporeon and the Zangoose leave the room,” he ordered.

“What?! But why?” I asked desperately. Now I really didn’t feel safe.

They ignored me and moved towards Bue and Merit to escort them out. My Pokemon stood their ground, their eyes making it clear that they weren’t leaving without a fight.

The man was willing to take them on. He tossed a Poke Ball calmly. “Come out, Gallade.”

The Pokemon that emerged was one that I’d never seen before. It was green with blades for arms, and it appeared very agile and athletic. I decided it looked way too powerful for me to be battling. I did what I had to to protect my Pokemon. “Bue, Merit, it’s okay. Go. I’ll be fine.” They glanced at me, knowing I really wasn’t sure about that, but I guess they could tell by looking at my face that I needed them to obey. Merit gave a huff and allowed herself to be taken away while Bue passively followed. Now it was just me and that man with the Gallade.

The man seemed to relax now. He pulled up a small chair. “Have a seat.” Hesitantly, I sat in the chair. He kneeled in front of me. “What’s your name?” He asked with a smile. I could tell he was trying to get me to loosen up. I tried convincing myself that there was nothing to be scared of, and they would understand the situation as soon as I told them. With a deep breath, I answered. “I’m Sophie.”

“Sophie,” he repeated. “Now, would you mind telling my why you felt the need to sneak on this ship?”

“Well, the thing is I didn’t mean to–”

“You don’t have to lie, Sophie; you’re not in trouble.” He stood up and strolled around the room. This was getting creepier by the second. “Just tell me why you wanted to go to Kanto.”

So that’s where we’re going. “Honestly, sir, I didn’t even–”

“DON’T LIE TO ME! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!” I jumped at the loud noise.

That was all the opportunity Abbie needed. One moment, she was sitting in my lap, and the next, she was flying across the room with a vicious Quick Attack. The man was knocked back, and his Gallade took a battle stance.

Abbie turned around to face him. This Abbie I saw was unlike any Abbie I’ve seen before. There was fire in her eyes. All I could do was sit there in awe at the change in her. Finally, as fierce protectiveness took over her, she began to glow.

“Abbie,” I whispered, tears in my eyes. As the light died down, the small pudgy bunny was gone, replaced by a tall, very feminine looking rabbit with long arms and legs. My new Lopunny took a stance against her enemy Gallade.

I ran to her side, positive that we could take it on

now. Let’s do this…

[Was to be continued…]