Know to Understand.

Chapter 4: Friends Forever.



It was like staring into the eyes of death as he laid his eyes back on me. It wasn't the fear of me dying that scared me, but the failure of everyone weigh the most of all in my heart. The thought of all the people who I've failed and am going to fail started pouring into my mind.

I didn't want it to end like this, but I'm more than sure that I wouldn't be able to outrun him. Especially if I have to carry Krystal with me. On top of that, I don't think anyone will be coming to our rescue either unless they want to meet an early end.

There was no escape from the impending doom that loomed over us. My mind tried running over a few scenarios of what would happen if we did and none of them were going to end well.

As soon as Dr. Shine took his first step towards us, a huge ball of flames landed in front of him. The fire ball exploded and seems to just sweep completely over his body. The heat was so intense that I had to shield my face with my arm.

Once things settled a bit and I was finally able to lower my arm my eyes lit up with relief. There stood both Phoenix and Squirts looking like they were ready for action. I could assume that the fire ball belonged to Phoenix the Ninetales for the obvious fact that she is a fire type.

I've almost never been this happy to see someone right in the nick of time. But their arrival seemed to be a little too perfect though. Just when we were about to be killed that's when they decided to help...right after Sapphire was murdered.

Shaking my head and starting to use my logic I knew that I couldn't just blame them for the death of Krystal's mother. If anything I should be on my knees thanking them for coming. I doubt Krystal will see it that way though.

Sapphire...shit, even though she wasn't a good mother towards Krystal, she was still Krystal's mother. And even before her end Krystal showed that she loved her. The first thing she did was ran to her aid when she saw the condition of the city. Krystal may try to act tough in front of me and also Sasha, but deep down we had always known that she loved her parents.

Fuck, now when she wakes up I'm going to be the one to have to tell her that her mother is now dead.

Shaking my head once again I turned my attention back towards the situation at hand.

"Squirts, maintain a distance from him. Don't let him touch you either,” Phoenix barked out. She turned half her narrow slit gaze towards me and added, "Young master if you can still fight we'll need you for this.”

Slowly standing to my feet, I made sure not to tip over and lose my balance on this uneven surface. My body was in a catastrophic amount of pain. "Yeah,” I wheezed. "I'm a bit winded, but I should be able to lend a claw...” reforming the ice over my paws, "or two.”

"Alrighty boi-o dats what I-ee like to heeya!” Squirts yelled puffing out his cheeks in anticipation.

Phoenix nodded with a slight smirk on her face, "Squirts, I'm going to need you to control an area of ten foot radius area him. I don't even want oxygen moving in there.”

"You guys know that's my father, right?” I said reaffirming the facts.

"I felt as such,” She then gave me a sideways glance while adding, "Since you weren't able to tell us what happened before you had left.”

To be honest with everything that had transpired when Krystal and I met them, actually remembering to tell them something about this sort of slipped my mind. But Phoenix is a smart Ninetales I'm pretty sure that she could read my mind and pieced it together. I was just happy to see them and the fact that they remembered me...for an instance had taken away all my troubles.

Also the fact that she was trying to embarrass me when we were about to depart didn't help either.

"My father and sister stole my body.” I said short and frankly. "And I really don't care what happens to it either.”

I didn't think there was any time to try and explain what had happen. Assuming that we even survive this I will provide them with all of the information that they wanted.

Dr. Shine wiped his claw in front of him and immediately obliterated the flames. There was a small shockwave that swept through the area.

There was a horrible chill that went from the tip of my tail to the tip of my head. It was the feeling as if when something that kept a watch over you and could easily spells the end if you moved wrong.

Quickly phoenix stepped in front of Squirts and me while fluffing out all nine of her cream colored tails. Suddenly an enormous bright white barrier appeared in front of us.

"Hang on!” Phoenix shouted.

Looking down I grab Krystal and held her in a tight embrace. Gazing at what was happening around me I saw that all of the debris was violently blown away. The noise was so loud I went temporarily deaf.

"Whoa nelly!” I could hear Squirts croak as my hearing slowly returned to me.

When everything was settled I could see that there was a deep impression within the ground. There dug within the ground was a large crater. Nothing I could do or say would properly explain how terrified I had just become of that monster.

What surprised me even more was the fact that Phoenix's shield manage to hold up against such a horrendously strong attack. I remember that she was strong, but able to stop something like that is unheard of.

Letting go of Krystal's form once more, I giggled slightly at a realization. I wasn't going to let one of my mother's Pokémon up stage me! My emotions were conflicting with each other...I guess this is what it's like to logically think about how you're doing something that's suicidal.

The barrier slowly dispersed with a low hum. Phoenix let out a long deep exasperated breath that she seemed to be holding in. Her tails all fell backwards behind her, but she never took her gaze off of Dr. Shine. It was one of a deathly intent.

To be honest the longer this drew on the more terrifying I realized this battle was going to be. I saw that I was completely out of my league here.

"Easy d-er boi-o, da ole girly is no kit. Girly have mo experience dan all us put togeda.” Squirt said looking straight ahead while resting a paw on me.

Something about his word felt reassuring. Standing up as tall as I could, start growing ice over my paws. "So what's the plan?” I asked.

Phoenix was the first to respond while maintaining her gaze, "First, I'm going to need time to charge for a Solar Beam...-"

"First thang first, da ladies nee to geet to safeta,” Squirt croaked loudly.

"Squirts, have you lost your wits!?” she yelled back at him, this time actually breaking her gaze towards my father.

"Phoenix, geet da human girly, da masta and I-ee is gon take eet from heeya.” He retorted back with a lot of conviction in his voice.

Phoenix remained in silence for a brief moment contemplating a reply. "If we team up we just might be able to beat him together.”

I could only nod in agreement with Phoenix's wisdom. For the most part since I've known her on a more personal level she has yet to say anything wrong.

"Aye Phoenix yoo jus miaght be riaght...but yoo seem to forgot the human girly. She be a sittin' target, we gon has to fiaght wit out any distractions.” He looked back to me with a serious face and added. "I-m' sho dat da masta would agree.”

Now that I've heard his reason behind his logic I could totally agree. I needed to get Krystal to safety, because fighting while watching out for her would be impossible.

Looking towards Dr. Shine I saw that he started making his approach towards us. He was taking one painful step after another. Raising one of his claws he swiped down in a hard cleave. There was a large distortion in the air. That seemed to ripple with a heavy entity that reeked of death.

"Move!” I could hear Phoenix yell.

Taking a quick dive backwards I quickly covered Krystal's small form with my body. Bracing myself for the next intense explosion that would soon rack the area, but nothing.

I could feel an evil presence all around me. Looking back, I could see that Squirts with one of his paws in the air. He had a strained look on his face and his arm was shaking profusely.

Snapping his head around in an awkward angle he yelled, "Go, now!”

Phoenix could only nod at the command as she raced over to me. She nodded as I picked Krystal small body up and placed her on top of phoenix. They were almost the same size or that was just Phoenix's tails making it seem that way. Phoenix then used her tails to fasten Krystal to her own body. Within a few heartbeats they were gone in a burst of speed.

Turning around I could see Squirt was having a hard time holding up whatever he was holding. Quickly making my way over to him I spat a Hydro Pump towards Dr. Shine.

He swung his other arm upwards to catch the massive blast and divert it away from him.

That's when I notice something about him that could potentially be a weakness. But first I'm going to test it out to confirm it.

"Squirts, keep it up I think I may have an idea.” I said imperturbably. He was doing all that he could from being killed I didn't want to sound like I wasn't thinking of anything to help.

"Aye, masta meek it quick.” He said with a heavy strain in his voice.

Taking a deep breath, I waited for the chill build up in the back of my throat. Once it was at its peak of its storage I unleashed the most powerful Ice Beam I could muster. As I saw it make its way towards him I immediately fired a quick Water Gun to follow suite.

Like the first time he flicked his left claw while remaining his other claw pressing down with an invisible force. Most likely is what was causing Squirt his pain. The Ice Beam to a harmless liquid state that splashed on the ground. The Water Gun soon followed with a much stronger force.

He tried to flick his claw to divert it, but covered the ground far too quickly. The best Dr. Shine could do was shielding his face with his arm. When the force of the Water Gun collided with him, it pushed him backwards. He released his grip on Squirts to regain his balance.

"Aye, spot on masta!” He yelled with a hint of relief in his tone.

"That's it!” I yipped excitedly. For the first time in a long time there was a ray of hope in beating him. "Squirts, He can't defend three attacks at once.”

Squirts mouth of gaped for a moment then just nodded in agreement. "Oi, ow yoo wonna go bout dis?”

I notice that we had a moment to breathe. "We need to split up and attack him from all angles, that way he won't be able to defend himself.”

He gave another nod.

I tilted my head towards the building across the street, signaling where Squirts should go. I knew that I would have to stay and keep him busy. Especially after that attack he will most surely start coming after me.

Squirts, was very quick about making his way across the street and into the tall building. As he neared the entrance, Dr. Shine remained in his unbalanced stance. Squirts made a mighty leap on to the top floor in an open window.

Dr. Shine was standing at an impossible angle. His entire body was positioned as if he was falling off of some stairs. He turned his deathly gaze towards me with a long penetrating stare. With the mask he wore reflected his evil monstrous look even more so.

I didn't take my eyes off of him as I just assumed that he was flying with his suit. There was no way he could stand like that without some sort of ability, probably from the claws/wings he obtained. Even so...something about his movement didn't seem right. The way he made each movement felt painful and artificial. It was like something every twitch of his body that he made required a massive amount of thought.

He then in a sudden violent spasm and twitches he straighten his body out. With his eyes trained on me he soon saw that I wasn't going to back away.

"Good...good! I don't want to create a world where there is fear in Pokémon!” he yelled maniacally. "I want you to come at me with everything you have!”

"Are you completely mad!?” I was more horrified with what he just said than the imminent threat. "You can't do that! Even with all that power you will never be able to do something like that!”

He just shook his head, "I don't need a Pokémon to tell me what I'm capable of,” he then raised one of his claws towards me. "I'm going to be the savior of this world!”

Not taking any chances I immediately shot an Ice Beam towards him. Once that it was making its way towards him I then quickly followed up with a concentrated Hydro Pump.

Raising both of his arms up he was able to produce an invisible barrier field to completely surround him. There was a slight glimmer from the force field; I think it may be coming from the sunlight. Soon the Ice Beam crashed with the barrier, followed by the Hydro Pump. With the force behind both attacks hammering him at once I could see that he was starting to buckle.

Suddenly another set of Hydro Pump and an Ice Beam came from above. I assume that it must have been Squirts because these attacks were massive in comparison to mine. I finally understood what it meant to be one of my mother's Pokémon...I finally understood why they would wait for the rest of eternity for her to return to them. It only took that one attack for me to see that, for further evidence back when Squirts was holding up Dr. Shine's attack on his own. Squirts to have such power would be completely ridiculous by other trainer's standards, but I can understand why he's like that.

My mother was a trainer skills was beyond that of anyone else's in the region...no in all honesty I believe the world. Not only was she a powerful psychic, but she had a special connection with her Pokémon that no other trainer had. Helping her Pokémon break their limits and go to a point beyond their normal capabilities. Since Squirts was a part of that special group that mom hand trained...I'm more than sure we should be a match for my father.

"AUGHH!!!” Father yelled as the other attack bombarded him from his sides.

My father's barrier that he held around himself shattered as if it were glass. My Ice Beam vanished with the initial attack along with the Hydro Pump. I wasn't expecting it to hold up just to be a distraction and to also test my theory over whether or not attacking him from multiple angles would work. Thank goodness it did, with Squirts and I working together seem to be more than a match for him.

Once the attack was finished the only thing that remained was an icy silhouette of what once was my father.

I took a deep sigh of relief when I saw that. I got the feeling that he wasn't dead yet, but it did calm the high tension that was in the air. I knew that I was going to have to finish him off myself... All it would take is a single hard slash to the head to seal the deal. It would have to be hard enough to completely take his head off.

Taking a deep breath, I clear my mind and began to make my way towards him. The thought of being able to end this hellish nightmare of an existence seem more like a rapt dream than a reality.

Closing my digits together on my hand I focused the ice on my right hand to a single point. The ice mended together into one large ice-sword of sorts.

Charging at him fiercely I swung my arm widely behind me while making a tall leap forward towards him. Within an instance I brought my right arm back in one mighty cleave; it had the force of all the weight, speed, and hatred that I carried towards him.

Just when I was about to connect to him I suddenly stopped. It was just like before except nothing about this didn't' make any sense...he was completely frozen! Even if he were some sort of master psychic, (which he's not) being frozen the way he was would have killed him!

Suddenly the ice formed around him started to crack. I soon realized what was about to happen and tried my best to jerk away from him. Unfortunately he wasn't budging there was nothing I could do, but stand there and watch as he kills me.

"Oi, Masta run!” I could hear Squirts yell.

Then the ice shattered like a mirror, while I was hoisted into the air by an invisible arm. I knew that this was the end for me. Then with in unbearable force slammed me down in to the pavement, and then shot me across the crater that left behind from one of Dr. Shine's previous attacks.

The first thing I connected with was the window of a department store. The glass shattered around me followed by a hard thud on the marble ground. Slowly sitting up my head was spinning like crazy, blood began to drip into my eyes, and I think my left shoulder is completely dislocated.

Even with all of this going on I finally manage to sit up and look around me while wiping the blood from my eyes. The store was completely empty save for a few mannequins hanging about.

Once I was able to stand I limped over to the window. Holding myself up on a counter that protruded from the wall near the window, I let my gaze sweep the area.

I couldn't understand what was going on...Dr. Shine was standing in the center of that pile of debris. He didn't move an inch after he sent me reeling. I couldn't understand why he has more than enough time to come and finish me off.

That's when I saw hovering far above Dr. Shine with one of his paws held out as if it were on a flat surface. Suddenly the ground where Dr. Shine was standing compressed until it was in the shape of a Politoed paw-print.

Dr. Shine himself was sent straight down flat against the ground of debris.

Squirts fell towards the outer area of the crater that circled Dr. Shine. He began to frantically leap towards me with all of his speed.

"Masta!” He yelled looking around the area. "Wher yoo be!”

"Over here Squirts!” I stammered back.

I could only hold myself up against the counter near the window. If Squirts weren't talking to me, I'm pretty sure I would have blacked out by now.

When Squirts made it to where I was he stopped and said, "Oi, afta wha yoo don did yoo needa lil shoppin time.”

I wanted to laugh, but I was in far too much pain to respond back to him. But I then notice that his face went from a cheerful one to a dark mournful one.

"Masta, I want yoo to leave...yoo shoul no dat attack won be enough to stop him.”

"What?” I asked, not entirely sure if I heard the absurd request.

He looked towards me crestfallen with despair. "Dis aint no reques dis an order. I'm tellin yoo to get yo ass to da ladies!”

When he put it like that I could see that trying to argue with him would be futile on my part. He saying that made me realized that I was now the weak link in the newly bonded team. But if I am to stay we'd both get killed, but if I were to leave I would at least I stand a chance at survival for another day. Squirts on the other hand will be surely killed I know that he's strong, but he doesn't have nearly the amount of power to match Dr. Shine. He will most likely wound up dying just like Krystal's mother.

"Fuck...Squirts, why do you have to such a hero?”

Jumping backwards Squirts raised both arms into the air and started beating on his belly in a rhythmic fashion.

I didn't understand what he was doing at first, but then the swirl on his stomach began to glowing bright red. Then it started spinning around so fast that it was no long visible, just a large red outline.

He then closed his eyes and reopened them in dramatic way. His eyes were to glowing, but they were solid white. "Because I'm protecting the people I love.” When he spoke his voice was deep, beautiful and very refine. There was not even the slightest hint of his weird accent or speech impediment.

"I understand my friend. I only truly known you for a short time, but you're one of the greatest Pokémon...no, friend I have ever had the pleasure of understanding.” I said truthfully.

"Master Max, we will meet again maybe not thing lifetime, but in the next I know we'll still be friends. Now go to Phoenix and Krystal,” he hesitated for a second. "Tell Krystal I forgive her and to try and find peace...and tell Phoenix....” He turned to face Dr. Shine once more, who was now standing up from the crushing blow. "Tell Phoenix that I will always love her.”

I could only nod my head somberly.

"Master Max, find your mother. With her help you will be able to put an end to all this madness.” He then turn his head slightly to the side while adding, "Now go!”

With that, I started to slowly limp my way through the department store looking for the exit.

(Squirt's POV)

With my final words said I made peace with myself and was ready to face destiny. I knew that I wasn't going to be walking away from this alive but I needed to buy Master Max as much time as possible.

"Come and let me show you what the real voice of a Politoed sound like!”