Know To Understand

Chapter 7: All together



After hitting the ground for the tenth time, I figure that she was probably going to kill me. This became quickly apparent as I noticed that I was spitting out a lot of blood and teeth. The only thing that was keeping me from yelling at the top of my lungs was Hydro. He was suppressing the pain that would naturally flow through my body. If he didn't, Phoenix would come and all hell would break loose. I can't have that if everything is to work out for me in the near future.

"Princesse!" Shouted the shadowy figure that was standing on the roof. "I believe he's had enough."

"Tristan, shut up! You know what he's done to my family, to my life!" She retorted back to him.

I slowly started sitting up and standing to my feet once again. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to move around too well for a while or eat solid foods. I think I'm about to pass out; even though I don't feel anything physically I could feel my body wanting to give out. Before I fade into unconsciousness I was going to set things straight...I needed to make things right between us. I just didn't know why she hated me so much I didn't do anything to our family our father was the one to cause all the problems in our lives.

"Rebecca..." I said coughing a full mouth of blood that I didn't even know was there. "I didn't do anything to our family! I loved you, dad, and mom. What because I decided to fall in love I'm suddenly public enemy number one?" The rage inside of me started to build slowly as I stood to my feet. "You and that son of a bitch killed Sasha for God sake..."

Suddenly my feet were swept from underneath my feet and I landed roughly on my back. A long blade was then jammed in my neck.

"Careful there Max, the next words that come from your mouth have better be good ones. Or I swear I'll make sure you never speak again..." The blade pressed down even harder on my throat.

When I got a good look at my assailant I gasped in surprise. It was an Absol...a very large Absol. I really hope he isn't who I think he is because if so. This will get even messier than I had originally thought.

"Sasha is my sister, and from what Princesse Rebecca speak of you know where she is. Now tell me...Where is she!?" He said that as if he didn't hear my earlier statement.

"Are you kidding me? Rebecca, didn't you know?" I said looking towards her.

Her mask then pulled backwards and receded back into the rest of the suit. Her face was full and radiated with certain brightness about it. I could only assume that she must have been doing well for herself this last month we hadn't seen each other. She seems to not know what happened to Sasha...and this is her brother. I don't understand what was going on. This seemed a little too weird and coincidental for this to just happen.

"She's dead?" Rebecca murmured somberly.

Just then I could feel the blade being pulled back from my throat. The large Absol took a few steps backwards in disbelief.

Without waiting for an approval I immediately stood up. I could assume that Sasha's death wasn't something that they were expecting...I could probably use this to my advantage.

"Yes, she was killed in the final attack that Dr. Shine fired," I then sigh dejectedly as the memories of how Sasha saved my life came back to me. "The attack was meant for me, but Sasha being the heroine that she was, jumped in the way to protect me and was killed in the process." Looking directly at Rebecca I added, "Rebecca, you were there didn't you see what happened?"

"Of course not!..." She quickly shut her mouth before going into further details.

I don't think that this Absol knows about her and my father working together to kill me. With the help of Rebecca, father killed Sasha. I'm sure Rebecca wants to keep that under wraps though.

"It doesn't matter now...all you need to know is that Father killed her just like he's going to kill everyone else if you don't help me out." I said pleading to her. I hated the way I sounded and more than anything I wanted to tear her apart, so I really had to fight those urges. "Rebecca, I don't know what father may have said to you, but you're my sister dammit!" I shouted standing to my feet and starting to let my anger flare. "And as your older brother I'm telling you I need you to help me."

She paused for a brief moment, looking down at Tristan the Absol for some sort of wisdom. But he was too distraught over Sasha's death to be of any help to her. She looked back to me with a panic stricken face unable to decide on what to do.

"Rebecca, if you care anything about the memory of that fallen Pokémon you will join me...we need to find mom and put things back the way they were."

She seemed unable to hold herself up and just fell to her knees. The confused look never left her face. She looked to be waiting for an answer to come to her out of thin air, like a robot that needed to be directed on what to do.

Cautiously I approached her with my right hand held out. I made sure to keep an eye on both her and that Absol as I continued making my way towards her. Suddenly the Absol moved, but it was away from Rebecca and towards an abandon looking building. When I finally reached Rebecca I then placed my hand on her head. I then knelt down to her level and asked, "Rebecca what happened between you and father?"

The only thing she could do was nod her head and explain what had happened. Basically long story short about a week or two after the last battle we had with each other. My father didn't have any arms left to do anything, so she gets the bright idea to go take some from a Lugia...of all Pokémon. So that would explain why father had those demonic looking wings/claws. That would also explain why he now has psychic powers and abilities now. Upon her going to capture the Lugia she had a run in with Tristan and actually manages to capture him. After that she somehow or another subdued a Lugia and harvested its wings and placed them onto father. She then explained how she and Tristan have grown close in friendship...(a little too late in my opinion compared to all of the damage she's already have done.) Soon after my father woke up and went mad and tried to kill her. She managed to escape and come here where she's been living peacefully for some time now.

"The plan was to let him track you and the people that hurt him and kill you all." She said with a devious grin.

Taking a deep sigh, I then glared at her with my most frustrated look I could manage. Right now I'm more than sure I'm letting my emotions get the better of me. Phoenix will probably be coming soon, but I don't give a shit about that. Cocking my right arm back, I came across her face with all my might. She fell straight to the dirt without moving. I swear if she so much as twitches I'll tear her throat out before she can look at me funny.

"Rebecca, you've done some stupid things growing up, but this! This is what makes you into that monster!" I stood and turned away I couldn't bear to look at that sorry excuse for a sister of mine. "You refuse to let anyone in except mom, you treat everyone like shit! Then when it comes back to you, you act like there's something wrong with everyone else." Taking my hand I massaged my snout gently, I knew the pain was going to come back ten folds when this is over with when Hydro stop maintaining the pain. "God give me strength," I murmured to myself. If there was ever a time I would need the extra strength to carry on, it would be now. "You know when you gave him those wings; the first place he went to was Blackthorn City. I can't count how many people were killed there. I lost another good friend because of that massacre, he, just like Sasha, saved so many lives by sacrificing his own for everyone." I then let out a light giggle. "What am I doing? A monster like you wouldn't know anything about sacrifice. All you know is how please yourself and that monster of a father. Guess the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree."

At the point I was done talking to her just seeing her face was making me sick to my stomach. I just wanted to walk away and leave her right there with my words to marinate in her mind. But I can't not now, not when I've come this far.

"I'm...not...a...monster..." I could hear her murmur underneath her breath.

I pretended that I could not hear her and ask, "What was that?"

"I'm not a monster!" she yelled.

"Then prove it to me Rebecca and help me make this right!"

"No, not before you tell me...who is my mother?"

I was completely baffled about what she just asked. Who the hell did she think I was talking about this entire time? And I thought I was the one that had amnesia.

"What do you mean, 'Who is our mother?' You should know who she is." I turned around to face her. She was standing up looking at the ground with tears pouring from her face. I will admit it that I didn't like making girls cry, but she needs to think about what she's been doing to people.

"I...don't...know...anything...Max" She said sobbing. "I can't remember anything about us when we were kids. Only the bad things, only the things that drove me to hate you."

"You're not making any sense. What are you talking about, 'Drove you to hate me.' Rebecca I have never done anything to you for you to hate me." Stepping closer towards her I added, "Rebecca I would have killed for the two of us to go adventuring together. I wanted to see the world with you, that's because I loved you!" Shaking my head, I realize that I was using a past tense word. One of my mottos is that I can't move forwards while I'm looking backwards. "No, Rebecca I still love you." I said drawing her into a tight hug.

"Max...I'm scared, my God, and I killed Sasha. God because of me I all of those people are dead." She then looked up at me in the face. "Please Max...kill me. It's the only way I can make amends for what I've done."

I shook my head, "No, I won't allow you escape that easily. You will face the consequences of you actions. First I want you to go to Tristan and tell him the truth. Then I want to come with me and do as I say for now on. Am I clear?"

"Yes...big brother." She said solemnly.

Suddenly a large explosion erupted south of the town. It came from the direction that Krystal and Phoenix were in.

Whipping my head around I could see everything unfold before me. As dirt and debris flew past my face, I saw something that was truly terrifying. My mind couldn't understand how this could be happening.

There stood my father...or I think it was him. He was wearing an all-Black Suit that seemed to be in the shape of some Pokémon that I've never seen before. His eyes were sparkling crystal blue, with a small muzzle with a few tethers running from his cheek down to his neck. It had some sort of static electric field emitting from it. He had two large black wings protruding from his back, along with some sort of black and blue orb like growth coming from his lower back. The more I examine this guy, the more I realized that it's not father.

He seems to be looking at Rebecca, who was still staring in confusion. Tristan reared up and started bearing his fangs in anger.

"Are we so blessed to have more of you two family drop in?" Tristan asked obviously more peeved than annoyed.

"Never seen this guy in my life." Turning to look towards Rebecca, "How about you?"

"Me neither. Dr. Shine has never told me about any other suits that he worked on." She took a sec to think before adding, "Or anyone that he was working with. Where did he come from?"

Suddenly the guy the black suit bent his head down and reached up and touched his ear. "T-Black this is T-White over..." there was nothing I could hear in responds. "Copy that, target on my end has been found as well. Radio in for P-Queen, target has been found."

Something was telling me that, something bad was going to happen soon. I didn't want to wait for any of his attacks. I needed to act now, and making sure what where Krystal is now my top priority. I'm sure I'm going to need Rebecca and that Absol's help.

Taking a deep breath I charged up a quick Ice Beam and fired it. It made short work of the ground; all I wanted it to do was see if it connected with my target. I know he was going to avoid it or do something else with it, but I needed to do see what this guy was capable of.

He without even trying stepped out of the way and leaned his head over to one side. The beam passed harmlessly over his shoulder leaving only a few tidbits of ice shards that sprinkled on the ground. "Wow and I didn't even introduce myself yet." He spoke with some sort of metallic synthesizer. "Well if you want to play Pokémon I'll be more than willing to accommodate you." He added deviously.

Raising his hand high into the air a Pokéball formed in it. Making its obligatory opening noise formed a creature I haven't seen in ages. A large area of heat swept passes me as if the sun had temporarily risen next to me. The creature was a Typhlosion, and it looked to be a very experienced one. It even stronger with the large 'X' mark painted in the center of its chest. Just because I hold the type advantage doesn't mean I have the upper hand here. The Typhlosion seemed calm a little to calm for it to be an ordinary Pokémon...

"Max, do not fight that Pokémon. Something is not right about this guy." Rebecca said walking over to where I stood. We were soon joined by Tristan who was growling deeply.

"Oh, so you all want to gang up eh...fine how about the two of us versus the three of you." I could hear him chuckle a bit. "That seems like a fair fight."

"With the power of understanding..." was all I could hear Rebecca chant before being completely carried away by a powerful lighting strike.

That suited guys had one of his arms raised, as lightening dances about his palm.

"Princesse!" Tristan yelled as look took a quick glance behind us. There was a fire ball colliding with his face. It burst like a balloon would and knocked him back to where Rebecca landed.

I knew that I couldn't turn away from these two. Or that would spell the end for me as well. It would seem that this guy can generate lightening through his palms. His Typhlosion seemed to be a very powerful one. At this point beating him in a heads up fight would be impossible the only way I will stand a chance, if I were to...

"You must be the infamous Max I've been hearing about. Damn man I thought those were just rumors about you being a Pokémon, guess they had some truth to them after all."

I was completely caught off guard by this. How did he know my human name? I didn't know what to do...just how much does this guy know about me.

"Don't worry I'm not going to kill you or anything so just relax," He looked over to where Rebecca and Tristan now lay he added. "Well if you hadn't attacked me I would have just waited for P-Queen to come. I'm sure by now she and T-Black should be finished with your other companions by now."

'You could only be talking about Krystal and Phoenix. How long have these guys been following us? What the hell is going on? Why they are attacking us? Who the hell is P-Queen and T-Black?' The more I thought about it the more questions appeared in my head.

"How do you know about us?" I asked.

"Hmmm...we know all about you Max. Trust me when I say we're on your side, but you don't have to take my word for it. You'll see soon enough. Besides you didn't notice anything odd about this town?"

Taking a quick look around, I saw that there was nothing out of the ordinary. "What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong here."

"Yeah, except the fact that there's no people here...hell there barely any Pokémon here. This is all of our doing. Again you'll know everything soon enough."

This guy wasn't making any sense at all, but for some reason I kind of believed him enough to lower my guard just a bit.

"Oh yeah, by the way I didn't kill them. P-Queen told me all about how powerful that girl was so I didn't want to take any chances. Hope you can forgive me." He said in a pleading way.

I think I was more surprise by the fact that he was not freaking out or anything about how I could talk. Normally people would make a big fuss about that little detail. But now that I think about it, this entire time has been nothing, but one large trap. Shit I fell for it to...I knew something was wrong when I entered this place. But that doesn't explain why Rebecca fell for it as well; she's been living her for some time now. She should have known something was up if there were no people out here to investigate the commotion that we caused.

"Ruption, I like how you have been controlling that temper of yours lately." The guy known as T-White said as he walked over to his Typhlosion and rubbed it on the head. "We need to talk later, okay buddy."

Ruption nodded and gruffly added, "Sure thing."

Suddenly his mask came off as T-White recalled Ruption back into his palm. When his mask was fully off I was able to see his face. He looked very young probably about eighteen or nineteen. He had the same skin color that Rebecca had, very light, but not too pale skin complexion. His Mohawk that he sported was the only thing that gave a somewhat intimidating appearance. The rest of him just reminded me of a kid with too much confidence...that'll likely get him killed one day.

He looked towards me and said, "What's wrong?" He took a moment to ponder why I was looking at him. "If you're wondering about your sister, don't...if anything she won't remember what happened to her when she wakes up. Let's try to keep it that way, please."

"How do you know that she's my sister? Who are you?!" I yelled as the amounting questions were not only becoming annoying, but tiresome as well.

"In time my friend, in time."

We waited for about an hour or at least what felt like it. I didn't want to do anything yet, because I needed some answers and also he's far too strong for a heads up fight. So all I could do was wait, wait, and wait some more. That's when I notice that there was nothing happening...anywhere. Just a while ago there was an explosion in the forest where Krystal and Phoenix were. I can only hope that they are okay. I can only pray that this T-Black and P-Queen were as easy going as he was because I can't afford to have anything happened to the ladies. Not now after we've come so far to having everything go so well for us. I can't have them taken away from me.

'Master, I sense someone very familiar and powerful coming this way.'

"Is it Krystal?" I asked quickly.

"What you say?" The Mohawk guy asked.

"Nothing, ignore me..." I said trying to sound as acquitted as possible.

Suddenly there was some rustling amongst the trees that lead into the forest where Krystal and Phoenix were. I could only hope that they appear through those trees.

The first person that made it through was some other person wearing an all-white suit, similar to the one the Mohawk guy was wearing. This person had an almost identical design to the suit that the guy in all black was wearing except that the wings were attached to his arms and he had white bulb-like growth hanging from his back. It was surrounded in an intense looking heat that was emanating from his body. He looked a bit more savage than his companion because of the razor sharp looking claws hanging from his hands and feet. His eyes had the bright orange glow from them as well.

"Target has been found and captured." The guy in white spoke.

Wait what did he mean by captured he could only be talking about Krystal. Oh shit I think I just might have to try and rescue her now. I'm going to have my work cut out for me if I have two of them to deal with. Either that or I'm going to die trying.

Before I was able to get a word in the guy clad in black stepped forward and slap the guy in white in the back of the head. The guy in white mask immediately came off. He looked almost exactly like the guy in black, except his hair was shoulder length.

"Brian how many times must I ask you, 'to stop talking like that' when you're in front of me. You know that annoys me, I really don't see the point in radio chat while talking face to face." He said sounding very annoyed.

"Hey!" Brian retorted. He regains his composer from the slap to the head. "Brandon, please remind me to kill you later. Anyway P-Queen is coming with the girl." He huff a large sigh of relief.

"Something tells me she didn't obey so easily." Brandon added.

"Pssh with these suits not even Krystal can harm us." Brian said smugly.

After a bit more rustling in the bushes Phoenix suddenly appeared. She was looking very cheerful and happy. She looked towards me and made a dash for my direction.

"Hey Phoenix, what's going..." I was cut off by her tackling me to the ground. With a huge lick to the face, she bounced up and down on top of me.

"Master Ferali!" She looked down at me and took a good look at my face. "What happened to you?!"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," I wheezed.

"Oh sorry I'll get off you now," she said stepping off of me. "Guess who we found!"

Suddenly standing above Phoenix was Krystal. She had a small smirk on her face as she looked down to me. Krystal then looked behind her. My eyes followed hers to see what she was looking. Then my eyes grew in size literally.

The only thing I was able to whisper before a river of tears then poured down my face. "Mom..."