Vecransyh sits alone, by himself, under a dead willow tree. He sits simply staring off into the vast field of wilted flowers and dead grass around him. Hanging his head his mind returns to the moment where he gave himself to Giratina.

"Are their lives so important to you that you would leave yourself behind to save them?" Vecransyh stands fully and nods taking his hand off of his bloody wound,
"I'd do anything for them." Vecransyh closes his eyes as he feels himself drift away from consciousness and his body becomes enshrouded in a black aura, "So let's go."

A sigh escapes the Prince's mouth as he is approached from the side by his other self. He leans on the tree next to him and follows his gaze before he begins talking, "Why are you always hanging around this place? You really should take a look at your kingdom at least once." Vecransyh says nothing as he simply listens to the voice, "Didn't expect you to respond. You haven't spoken in... how long has it been? Just about two and a half years I'd say. Heh, it's like you've lost all hope. Can't blame you, even your dream world looks like this now... you have all the power in the world and yet you turn it away because you still believe your friends can stop me and save you. Sad... you're pitiful Vecransyh. Sure you made Giratina leave them alone but once we finally locate them they'll be wiped out before they know what hit them." Vecransyh's other side simply stands there in silence for a little over a minute before a black portal appears next to him and he walks through it.


In an unknown location in Sinnoh Aticus walks into a room with a few other figures. He wears the purple robe of a Mismagius that is very dusty and his hat is strung to his back. His hair is dirty and spiky and he bears a black strip of cloth around his forehead as a headband. Around him the room is connected to many other rooms some with beds and some for storage. He wears two sheathes on his purple human legs with daggers in them and he carries a large wooden box. Heaving a loud straining sigh he sets it down on a large wooden table in the dimly lit room and begins taking various metal objects and a few pieces of fruit from it. Eira, now a fully grown Froslass walks over to him and looks at the items letting out a soft sigh, "At least it's something Aticus..." Aticus nods slowly and puts the box next to a pile of similar boxes,
"Yeah but we still haven't found any of the others..." Drake looks up from his position of leaning against the wall with his arms folded,
"We're all missing people we care about. As long as our hope stays alive we'll find them." Latias emerges from one of the rooms with a sad look on her face,
"He's right. No-one knows of our location yet and with you being a ghost you can walk freely while avoiding detection." Aticus punches the table and growls,
"I feel like we're just delaying our own deaths... Drake... all you have left is your Blaziken to fight with... we have quite a bit of power on our side with all of us but still... if another one of the ghost parties finds us we're done... especially if one of the lord's Pokemon leads it..." Eira touches his shoulder and speaks softly,
"He's still our father Aticus..."
"He's not your father anymore. The Vecransyh we all knew is long gone maybe even dead." All eyes turn to Yakira emerging from one of the other rooms. Her mask is turned to cover her right eye and is tied to her head by a grey cloth strip now and her dress is a light grey color instead of the snow white it used to be. Her left eye still shows through the right eye hole, "Yes, there is still hope and some of that hope lies in Celebi. She helped us to accelerate your ages, Eira and Aticus, but what we need her for now is a chance to change this future." Drake closes his eyes,
"We can't find Celebi if only Aticus is able to move around. They're on the lookout especially for Froslass' now and we haven't found Xylina yet. We can't move until we've found more allies. You know that as well as I do Yakira." Yakira closes her eye and looks down,
"Things should never have ended up this way... it's pointless for us to stay here anymore! If we want to have any hope of finding them we need to move!" A puff of smoke escapes the nostrils of a pitch-black Typhlosion leaning against the wall, who had been listening to all of them,
"Yakira... it's thinking like that that caused Styx to die. We only got out of that fight because he sacrificed himself. If we get into another situation like that then we might not be able to get back out again and it's like Aticus said, if we run into one of Vecransyh's Pokemon we'll have an even lesser chance of winning." Drake opens his eyes and looks at Thanatos,
"So what you're saying is we need someone who gives us an upper hand?" Thanatos nods,
"Yes, that would at least improve our situation here." Latias looks around at everyone and nods,
"I'm sure we're all thinking the same thing... we need to find Neo at least. As much as we want to see our friends again our first priority needs to be survival." Yakira sighs,
"He would most likely be defending his home but the only one of us who would know where it is would be..." Yakira falls silent as Latias looks at her with a glare that would drop the most adamant person to their knees,
"You will not speak his name." Yakira pauses for a few moments before she nods,
"What about Altomare? You can speak to those who've crossed over using the Soul Dew right?" Latias looks away,
"The garden is long since destroyed... both my brother and Shaymin fell to the ones who came there... I don't know the location of the Soul Dew." Thanatos speaks up once again,
"What of Victoria? We'd have three legends again." Drake responds this time,
"I'm not sure if she's alive anymore..." He then looks to Yakira, "When it all comes down to it you're our leader Yakira so you decide what we're going to do." Yakira nods and closes her eyes thinking for a few minutes while the rest remain quiet and watch her,
"Aticus. Since Neo is so close to the darkness it's more likely then not the ghosts have stayed away from him. That being said simply asking around could prove fruitful for us. If his home is a safe area then moving there could be a possibility." Aticus nods and heads into an unoccupied room. Everyone returns to doing what they were doing before except for Drake who heads into Aticus' room and sits on his bed next to him,
"Hey... I know I ask you this every time but..." Aticus turns to look at Drake and nods,
"I know and I'll keep my eyes open. Arcanine and the rest of them are plenty strong enough to defend themselves. They're out there somewhere." He then stands up and smiles, "It's always darkest just before the dawn... I'm sure the sun will rise eventually." He then walks out of the room leaving Drake alone. Drake stands and head into his and Latias' room,
"How's our daughter doing?" An 18 year old female Latios sleeps in one of the two beds in the room. The covers are tightly pulled over her and she has a pack of cold water on her forehead. Latias sighs, her hand holding her daughter's, "She's still sick but it's not as bad as it was a few days ago. She should be back on her feet in a week or so... Drake..."
"Hmm?"
"I feel bad about forcing her to become this age..." Drake nods and embraces her from behind,
"I know... once we change this future she'll have a normal life. We all will." Latias turns and kisses him softly,
"I hope you're right..."

Aticus pushes a few branches aside as he walks through a forest of trees. One of the branches swings back and hits him in the back of the head making him fall over onto his hands and knees, "Dammit..." He stands back up and brushes off his dirty purple cloak and continues walking. Before long he finds a group of ghost types and nods with a slight smile, "Good. A scouting party." He then freezes in his steps when he sees a Banette. None of the ghost Pokemon in the world were able to evolve to their final stages now so he knows that she's Vecransyh's Banette. The cold feeling in his gut vanishes when he hears her cheerful voice directed towards him,
"A Mismagius? Well congratulations on evolving. Dusk stones are pretty rare now but it looks like you found one. Anything I can help you with?" Aticus nods a bit shakily and forces a smile,
"Thank you very much. How long have you been evolved?" She smiles at him,
"I'm one of the originals actually. I answer only to the Lord of Demons himself." Aticus bows to her,
"Well then I am honored to be in your presence." He blinks a few times, "Oh yes, you can help me actually. I'm looking for a Mr. Neo." Banette's expression goes blank,
"Neo? Do you have a deathwish?" Aticus blinks,
"I was told to do a bit of update scouting. Is he really that dangerous?" Banette rolls her eyes,
"There's a reason we haven't been able to eliminate him yet. As of now the only one who could hope to defeat him is either Giratina or the lord himself. There was an attack on his estate about a year ago and we suffered a fairly high number of casualties. Neo's side suffered none." Aticus nods and lets out a sigh,
"You're right this is dangerous... but I must accomplish my update scouting. I'll have to take the risk." She shrugs and sighs,
"Fine, fine if you really want to die that badly then I'll give you a map to his location." Aticus waits a few moments as she finds and hands him a map with a red X on it that says 'Forbidden', "Head there and hopefully you'll come back in one piece." Aticus nods and folds the map into his pocket,
"Thank you very much." She nods to him as he continues through the forest,
(Nice to see that they're not evil and bloodthirsty... they're still themselves just... under Vecransyh's control.) The Mismagius lets out a sigh as he continues through the brush, "You know... come to think of it I might be walking into instant death." Aticus begins going through his bag before he takes a white rag from it and snaps a small branch from a tree. He ties the rag to the branch and makes a makeshift flag, "Surrender flag... pretty much all I have going for me since I look like this."
Two days of walking later Aticus reaches one final tree and peers through to see a large clearing with a large mansion in the center, "Found him." Aticus simply observes while he waits for any signs of movement from the house but a cold shiver runs up his spine and a cold sweat drips down his face when he feels a tap on his shoulder and a very angry voice speak,
"You must be pretty strong if you've come here." The figure behind him looks down and notices the white flag in his hand, "Hmm... are you alone?" Aticus slowly nods. He's never been more scared then he is right now, "Stand. Come with me." Aticus instantly stands and feels a push on his shoulder to make him go forward. The figure stops him when they're about halfway between the house and the forest and he walks in front of the scared Mismagius, "What is your business here?" Aticus looks up into the black hood of Neo who stands in front of him. Even with his ability to see in the dark the hood shrouds the face before him. Aticus' long silence is broken by another question, "Who are you?" The thought then runs through Aticus' mind that maybe Neo had forgotten about them. He had only heard the name Aticus a few times so how could he possibly remember?
"M-My name... is Aticus." Aticus flinched and closed his eyes waiting for the imminent attack but after a few moments he slowly opened his eyes and looked, once again into the chilling darkness of the hood,
"You are Aticus..."
"Y-Yes."
"I see. Then I shall ask you one more question." Aticus shakily nods,
"A-Anything."
"Which side are you on?" Aticus pauses but then realizes that thinking too long about his answer would most likely get him killed,
"Yours. I was sent from the resistance headquarters to find you." To Aticus' great relief Neo nods,
"I sense the honesty in your voice. How many are there?"
"There's seven of us in total Neo. We were hoping that you could potentially let us move here where it's safer." Neo pauses and slides his hood down. He's virtually unchanged from the last time Aticus saw him,
"I'm not sure how safe this place really is... it's only a matter of time before Vecransyh brings his darkness upon this place again." Aticus nods,
"Better then where we are where even a scouting party could wipe us out... we lost Styx when we were found the first time. Any more casualties on our side would result in devastation in our already low morale. Having you would boost everyone's spirits tremendously." Neo nods in response,
"I never said no. It would be nice to see at least some of my old friends again..." Aticus looks down,
"I was told that there was an attack here... who else is here with you?" Neo let out a very deep sigh. His voice full of sadness as he speaks,
"Me, my daughter, Allie, Angela, Luna and her daughter." Aticus blinks a few times,
"Who's Angela? And... Luna has a daughter?" Neo nods,
"Angela is my sister and yes, Luna has a daughter. I'm sure you can guess who the father was." Aticus nods,
"Yeah... but how are we going to transport the other six here? I'm the only one who can walk around freely." Neo doesn't even pause before he responds,
"No ghost will come near me. All I need to do is come with you and we'll be there and back without any trouble." Aticus smiles,
"That's going to work great! If we run into a party or something just say you're holding me hostage; quick and simple."
"Alright we'll head out once I explain the situation to everyone inside." Aticus stands there waiting for a few minutes before he walks back outside with Allie standing next to him. The Lucario looks just the same as she always has and she walks up to Aticus looking him over before she looks back at Neo and blinks,
"Well it's really him but how did he get to be this age in only two and a half?" Aticus sighs,
"We found Celebi momentarily and got her to speed up the ages of the children that were in our group at the time. She refused to permit any of us to return to the past though." Allie smiles how she always does,
"I can't wait to see how pretty Eira looks now." Aticus nods,
"When me and Neo get back we'll fill everyone in on the situation now." With a short goodbye Aticus and Neo begin walking through the woods heading back towards the headquarters of the resistance, "Hey Neo? Why don't you just fly us there?"
"It's part of the reason Vecransyh hasn't personally paid me another visit. I have a deal with him that as long as I keep to my Umbreon form and not engage any of his minions unless they draw first blood then my house will be a safe area. None of my friends and loved ones are dead but they are held hostage. They will remain so unless I violate the agreement so I remain this way to ensure their safety. Most of them were wounded in the battle though so I'm not sure how many of them recovered from their injuries." Aticus nods listening to all of this,
"I see. We'll decide what to do when everyone has moved there. Why weren't you able to stop them from being taken?" Neo closes his eyes before he responds,
"Because it was Vecransyh leading the attack. All but the ones who are there now were overpowered and taken away. I tried to go after them but I was confronted at that moment by Vecransyh himself and that's when we made the deal... I've seen what he is now. He's not anything like we remember but that causes me to wonder why he kept me alive."
"Maybe there's still some of the old Vecransyh left in him?" The two of them continue walking in silence for a few hours as night begins to fall, the dark grey landscape turning to pitch-blackness with only the full moon in the sky to light their way.

Two days pass and back at the headquarters Yakira paces back and forth and Eira watches her with a concerned look on her face, "Mom... he'll be back. You don't need to worry so much." Yakira stops and looks at her daughter before letting out a soft sigh,
"I know but... I can't help getting worried when he's gone for so long." There's a sound at the entrance and both Eira and Yakira look to see Aticus and Neo standing in the doorway,
"Worried about who?" Eira walks over and hugs her half-brother and smiles,
"Worried about you Aticus." Neo smiles as his gaze drifts to Yakira and he drops his hood,
"Been a while Yakira." The Froslass nods and cracks a smile as she walks over to him,
"I'm so glad you were able to come. How are you faring?"
"I am well. My home will be more then enough to accommodate the resistance." Yakira looks to Eira and smiles,
"Wake up Drake and Latias. We should move as quickly as possible." Eira nods and heads into their room. Yakira looks back to Neo, "Have any of the others come to your house?" Neo shakes his head and looks apologetic,
"No, sorry. Who is still missing?" Aticus answers for her,
"We're still missing Kazamaru, Scarlet, Victoria, Drake's original team of Pokemon, Tara, Onym and Xylina. We're really looking for anyone that doesn't want to kill us." Drake walks out of his room and grins putting his hand on Neo's shoulder,
"Good to see you again my old friend." Neo smiles and nods and his gaze turns to Latias who walks up and looks at him,
"How is Luna?"
"Luna's fine." Neo pauses and smiles softly, "Her daughter is fine too." Everyone just looks at the Umbreon except for Yakira, who speaks,
"She was pregnant?" Neo nods and sees the humanoid female Latios yawn and walk into the room,
"Apparently so were you Latias." The girl pauses as she sees the Umbreon and hides behind Latias,
"Are we under attack...?" Neo smiles in response and shakes his head,
"I've come to take you all to a safer place. My name is Neo Eon. I've been friends with your Mom and Dad since before you were born." He looks back to Drake, "Celebi?" Drake nods and Thanatos walks out of his room looking at Neo,
"Sup kid?" Neo nods to him,
"You're looking as bulky and dangerous as ever Thanatos." Thanatos chuckles,
"You're looking as skinny and underestimatable as always Neo." Neo laughs and grins,
"Touché." Latias looks back at her daughter a bit worried as she touches her cheek,
"Are you sure you're well enough to make this journey? It's going to be dangerous." She simply nods and touches her mother's hand,
"You don't need to worry about me. I can make this trip if it means we'll be able to sleep on more then leafs and straw tonight." Neo nods to her,
"Comfy beds all around." She giggles and smiles happily,
"Sounds great!" Neo then looks around at everyone and slides his hood back up over his face,
"Alright everyone, the sooner we get there the better so let's head out!" Each of them gathers a few of their personal things and follows Neo to the outside where they all begin their trek towards their new headquarters.

The Lord of Demons smiles to himself as he stands atop the Spear Pillar and sits in a throne made of crystal laying his arms on the arm rests at the sides, "I wonder how long it will be until we locate them?" Giratina, who towers above him looks off into the distance,
"They will turn up my Lord. Patience is key now so we must wait until one of our scouting networks finds some traces."
"I see... and what of the lost ones? Any news on them?" The Lord looks up to see the legendary ghost nod,
"Indeed. We may have a lead on the whereabouts of Kazamaru and the girl who travels with him. It appears there is also a child with them." Vecransyh smiles darkly and folds his hands,
"Send Sableye." His hands leave one another before he snaps his fingers, "Oh yes, one final thing. I want you to bring me that ghost Lucario and that ice Lucario from the dungeons." Giratina nods and fades away into darkness. The Lord takes the Eclipse blade from the sheath at his side and smiles looking at his reflection in the blade, "One year of endless nightmare... I wonder how their minds are now..." A moment later Giratina reappears and two portals of darkness appear in front of the Lord; the two Lucario rising from them. Their heads are down and they wear shackles made of darkness binding their hands together and their feet with very little slack. Dark Vecransyh looks at them a bit oddly as he releases them from sleep with the light half of the blade, "You weren't having nightmares..." Blizzard and Asia both open their eyes and look upon Vecransyh before Blizzard speaks,
"The training we've gone under makes us all but immune to the effects of your torture." Vecransyh chuckles and looks at his blade touching the tip before looking over to Asia,
"That's quite the interesting story... Blizzard was it? So what you're saying is that both of you and the rest of Neo's little family are immune to my darkness...?" He watches as Asia averts her gaze and he puts a hand to her chin forcing her to look at him, "But how do your minds fare against real fear?" Asia simply looks directly into his eyes with defiance and Vecransyh takes a step back over to Blizzard sliding the tip of the blade lightly down across his torso making him twitch, "Ms. Asia..." She looks at him with the same look of defiance, "How much do you care for your big brother?" A look of fear begins creeping onto the Lucario girl's face,
"More then anything... I cherish my family..."
"I find you special Asia and I'd like to make you an offer." Asia gulps as the blade slides down Blizzard's arm cutting off many hairs in the process, "But before I tell you what it is I want to tell you what will happen if you say no." Blizzard suddenly looks to Asia with a glare and a look of panic on his face,
"Don't give into his words Asia!" Blizzard is bashed in the head by the flat end of the blade and falls silent glaring at Vecransyh with a bit of blood leaking from his mouth,
"Well I'm sure you can guess Asia... I'll kill your brother if you refuse." He walks back to her and leans in till his face is inches from hers, "Join my side." Asia falls silent and she looks down. Blizzard stares at his little sister for a number of minutes before Vecransyh breaks the silence, "Should I take your silence as a no?" Blizzard looks down and gulps,
"Asia... don't worry about me. You can't give him any more power!!" Vecransyh walks back to Blizzard and tips his head up with the blade as he grins madly meeting the Lucario's eyes with his fiery red hues,
"Then I suppose--"
"Wait!" Blizzard and Vecransyh both look at Asia to find her crying as she nods, "Please... I don't want any more suffering... I don't want any more pain... no more blood..." Blizzard suddenly gags and coughs up a large amount of blood as the sword pierces his heart coming out the back of his body. Asia screams Blizzard's name in horror as her brother falls off the sword to the ground coughing up large amounts of his own blood while more spills from his wound. Vecransyh cleans off his blade using Blizzard's fur and returns it to its sheath as he walks back over to the crying girl. He takes a knee to be eye level with her and tips her face upwards smiling at her as she looks at him,
"You should really learn to answer people right away when they ask you a question." She looks away and continues sobbing and Vecransyh slowly wipes her tears away, "There, there... I can make you forget all about this little incident if you'd like. All you need to do is join me. A simple nod will do." Her gaze returns to the Lord of demons and she slowly nods continuing to cry. Vecransyh lets out a light breath making her fall asleep and fall to the ground and he points his palm towards the bloody Lucario causing him to combust into black fire screaming in agony before he's nothing but dust blowing away in the wind, "Oh Neo... you'd be able to sense your friend's death if you hadn't given up your powers in exchange for our deal... now then." He walks back to Asia and closes his eyes wiping her mind of the death of her brother and wakes her up looking down at her, "I have a very simple rule for you. None of your friends will die if you follow everything I tell you to do. Understand?" Asia slowly nods and wipes the tears from her eyes as she stands back up feeling the shackles fall from her limbs disappearing in a puff of black smoke, "Good... you must be starving having had so little to eat after all this time." He looks back to the massive Sphinx behind him, "Giratina! Fetch our new friend anything she asks for to eat and drink." Vecransyh looks back to Asia and puts a hand on her shoulder, "I believe in time you'll come to enjoy serving me Asia." He looks back to Giratina, "Also I want you to notify everyone that Asia is now one of us." Giratina glows and transforms into a humanoid form before bowing and walking over to them,
"As you wish Lord Vecransyh. Miss Asia what do you desire?" Asia remains silent and turns away from them walking to the edge looking off into the distance,
"I don't care... anything is fine." Giratina vanishes and Asia sits down dangling her feet off the edge, "What happened to my brother?" Vecransyh walks back to his throne and sits down,
"He was sent back to the dungeon. One final thing Asia: If you decide to visit Neo at his estate you are to reveal to me exactly what you find and do there. Telling him you've switched will result in the death of one of your friends are we clear?" Asia nods,
"Yes I understand."
"And I want you to address me as Master. The dungeon is the only place that is off limits to you. You will also have a limited time away from here."
"Yes Master." A few hours later Asia has eaten and has returned to looking off into the distance before she looks back to Vecransyh,
"Master? I want to leave now and go see Neo." Vecransyh simply nods and the female ghost Lucario stands before leaping off the spear pillar running across Shadow Balls like a staircase, (I'm sorry brother but this was the only way I could keep you and everyone safe.) When she reaches the bottom of the mountain she begins running through the trees heading straight towards her destination.


Neo bursts through the trees to see his home come into view and smiles as he walks down the slope into the wide, open area, "Welcome everyone to Château le Neo!" The female Latios squeals in delight and runs towards the house and begins talking to Allie out front. Everyone else heads inside and Neo walks over to the two of them smiling, "I don't believe I caught your name before." She smiles happily at him,
"My name's Naomi Mr. Neo." Neo smiles and nods,
"It's a pleasure to meet you Naomi. Allie? Let's head inside and get some real food into our friend's stomachs." Allie smiles and heads inside with a wave to the two who enter moments after her.
Neo, Luna and Allie spend the next hour preparing a large amount of food and everyone sits down at the table before they begin eating. The only ones not in the room are Allie's and Luna's daughters. Naomi scarves down everything that's put in front of her drooling a bit at all of the mixing flavors before she finally leans back in her chair patting her stomach with a satisfied smile on her face,
"I have never eaten that well in my entire life!" Luna then notices that Latias has finished her food and is now staring out the window,
"Latias? Is something wrong?" Latias blinks and looks at everyone now looking at her and shakes her head before smiling,
"No, I'm fine." A few hours pass and Latias is exploring the house by herself before she rounds a corner and runs into Luna. Both girls fall down and stand up rubbing their heads. Latias blushes and scratches her head, "Sorry about that. I was lost in looking at all of the interesting things there are here." Luna smiles and nods and pokes her in the forehead,
"No worries Latias. A person spacing out in this place happens all the time. You know... back in the dining room you looked like you were thinking of something. May I ask what it was?" Latias nods,
"I want to meet my granddaughter." Luna smiles softly and points to a door at the top of the stairs,
"Her room is right there. She's so beautiful but she is afraid of meeting new people." Luna looks off to the side, "When Vecransyh came we hid them both from him so he wouldn't take them. They were both too young to have their lives changed so drastically so soon... I... I never told Lucia what happened to her father." Latias closes her eyes and looks down,
"Has she asked about him?" Luna looks back to her and nods a few times,
"She believes that he's off in another region fighting with another resistance... I've wanted to tell her the truth but..." A single tear falls from her eye, "It's hard for me to talk about it..." Latias hugs her close and nods closing her eyes,
"I know Luna... I won't tell her if you don't want me too." She lets Luna go and the shiny Umbreon smiles at her wiping her tears away,
"Thank you Latias." Latias nods and walks up the stairs standing in front of the closed door simply staring at a small sign on it that reads 'Lucia' in hand-drawn letters.

Yakira sits on the edge of her bed in a robe since her dress is being cleaned for her along with her mask. Her newly washed purple hair sits against her back as she looks out the window into the dense forest at the edge of the area, "Maybe we're really safe here..."
"I think we are." Yakira turns and sees Thanatos standing in the doorway and watches as he walks over to her sitting on the bed next to her, "All of us together... we're pretty damn strong. This place is a safe haven for us as long as the ghosts fear Neo." They look toward one another and smile at each other,
"Thanks Thanatos." He nods and tilts his head a bit,
"So what's on your mind?" Yakira blinks as she looks at the Typhlosion with a bit of curiosity,
"I'm not sure what you're talking about."
"Well I've noticed the past few days that you've been just staring off into space not really saying anything to anyone." She looks down,
"I've just... been thinking about a whole lot of things... it's still hard to believe all of this happened." Thanatos puts his arms around her and holds her to his fur as he closes his eyes,
"If you ever need a shoulder to cry on... I'm here for you." Yakira slowly closes her eyes feeling her body lean into the soft fur as she's held and she blushes lightly,
"This is the... first time you've hugged me... thank you Thanatos." The legend of Johto smiles as his hug loosens and Yakira moves back to where she was and they look at each other,
"Don't be afraid to ask me for anything." Yakira looks down and is silent for a few minutes, "What is it?"
"Can I have more hugs?" Thanatos can't resist laughing a bit as he puts his arms around her again hugging the Froslass to his fur as he smiles,
"You can have as many as you want Yakira." His smile slowly fades though when he hears her begin crying into him and Thanatos closes his eyes hugging her tighter, (She's so strong but she has so much pain bottled up inside of her...)

Meanwhile Aticus and Neo are in the backyard sparring as Eira watches lying in a lawn chair relaxing. After Aticus deflects a shadow ball with his Keris' Neo walks up to him and the two bow to one another and Neo speaks, "So Aticus; I'm surprised you all haven't been able to find your mother yet." Aticus lets out a long sigh as he slides the daggers back into their sheaths nodding to the Umbreon boy,
"We've been looking everywhere but she's just nowhere to be found... we gave up after a few months. We believe she's dead." Neo nods and walks over next to Eira with Aticus,
"Can I ask... a difficult question to you two?" Both of them nod with curious looks on their faces, "Have either of you ever been tempted to join your father?" Eira shakes her head in response,
"No... I know that our father is still in him somewhere but he's not who he once was... What little memories I have of him are so much different then how he is now." Neo looks over to Aticus,
"And you; Aticus?" The Mismagius sighs and nods,
"There have been a few thoughts over the years... about futility and such. I know though that no matter what I may want to do I am a valuable member of this rebellion and without me along with everyone else... we'd quickly fall and have no chance. Over the recent months I've grown too loath my father... I despise what he's become and to think that he willingly chose his fate simply adds to my hatred. I would willingly go back in time and kill him if I got the chance simply to stop the suffering and death he's caused."

Latias slowly opens the door to Lucia's room and sees the girl facing away from her lying on her bed. Her form is that of a solid black Lucario with longer ears and glowing silver rings. Her tail is poofy like an Umbreon's but as long as a Lucario's. The paw lying on her side has no spike on it and she's apparently sleeping, "Lucia?" She slowly blinks her eyes and rolls over looking at Latias, one of her ears droops forward covering one of her eyes while the other is fixed on Latias,
"That's me... and you are?"
"I'm your father's adoptive mother. I'm your grandmother." Lucia pauses as she shakes her head a few times and sits up,
"You... you're my grandma?!" Latias simply nods and walks over to the bed sitting down still looking at her,
"Yes."
"Mom's told me so little about him... can you start from the beginning and tell me what he's like?" Latias is silent for a little under a minute before she smiles,
"Okay. It's a long story so get comfortable if you're not already." Lucia gets up and sits back down cross-legged as she smiles and Latias begins her story recounting her father's life.

Drake stands in the front yard across from his Blaziken in a fighter's stance. They run at each other and Drake begins parrying and countering the strikes hitting his Blaziken with aura covered punches before he gets slammed in the chest by a Fire Punch getting blasted back and flipping back to his feet, "Still can't avoid that right hook!" Blaziken folds his arms and smirks as his trainer runs back towards him and the two begin trading blows before Drake is blasted away again by a kick. He hits the ground hard and rubs his head as he sits up. Blinking he takes the hand offered to him by Blaziken and stands up taking a bottle of burn heal from his pocket and curing himself with it, "That'll do for now." Blaziken nods and the two of them sit down on the ground and begin meditating.

Neo suddenly freezes and throws his arm out grabbing a figure that had jumped from the trees by the neck, "Who are--Asia?!" The ghost Lucario smiles at him as he loosens his grip letting her feet touch the ground, "Allie!! Asia's here!!" Allie runs out of the house a moment later and glomps her sister, both of them falling to the ground as she cries,
"I thought I'd never see you again!!" Asia giggles and looks up at her,
"I'm fine Allie! I came to see everyone!" Allie gets off of her sister and the three of them look at Aticus and Eira who have confused looks on their faces. The two Lucarios stand up and Neo walks over to them looking at Asia oddly,
"How did you escape from Mt. Coronet? It's an impenetrable stronghold." Asia smiles and forms a shadow ball in her hand,
"Ghost beats Ghost of course. It was tricky but I made it." Neo smiles and hugs her tightly,
"How is everyone doing?" Asia pauses before nodding,
"They're all alive for the most part... they feed us poorly and we're barely alive at all... Instead of direct torture Vecransyh used his sword to put us all into nightmares so our minds destroy themselves." She smiles happily, "Your training to help us fight against them has lessened the torture to mere sleep." Neo nods and loosens his grip letting her go,
"I see... I'm so happy to see you're back Asia." Asia looks to Aticus and Eira,
"So who're our guests?" Neo smiles as he introduces them,
"This is Aticus and Eira; Vecransyh's children. You remember them." Asia smiles as she walks over to them,
"Hi there I'm Asia." Eira smiles at her but Aticus gives her a suspicious look,
"You're a ghost?" Asia nods,
"Umm... yeah."
"Then you'll have to earn my trust." Eira looks over to her brother as he walks back to the house,
"Aticus don't be that way!" Luna exits the house walking past him and heads over to Asia patting her on the head,
"Nice to see you're back girly." The two of them high-five,
"Likewise Luna. How's Lucia?" Luna nods,
"She's fine. Latias is upstairs talking to her right now." Asia blinks,
"Who else is here?" Luna shrugs at the question,
"Drake, Yakira, Thanatos, Naomi; Drake's daughter, Eira, Aticus and Latias. That's everyone."
"So we're the rebellion I take it?" Angela, a humanoid Espeon in the same type of cloak as Neo drops down from the roof and looks around at them all,
"Yep. We've got a fun little stronghold here." Asia closes her eyes as she feels something pierce her mind and she hears Vecransyh's voice fill her senses,
"Your time's up. I'll be retrieving you in a few minutes. Get everyone to gather outside."
(Yes Master...) "Hey Neo? I want to see everyone can you go get them?" Neo shrugs and nods before walking into the house. After they gather outside and talk a bit with Asia about her stay there's a sudden explosion of black energy and both Vecransyh and Giratina appear across from everyone. Giratina stares down at them all towering over them and Vecransyh has his sword in his hand smiling darkly at them all,
"You're quite a brave little girl knocking out the guards and escaping like you did." Neo steps in front of Asia and growls at him,
"We have a deal Vec! You're not supposed to come here!" Luna looks at him in shock,
"What deal?!" Vecransyh chuckles and holds out his hand,
"I must say... I love these fearful and shocked expressions you all have. I honor my word Neo; I've come for Asia." Yakira steps forward locking eyes with the Lord,
"It's been so long since I've seen you..." Vecransyh holds up his arm and Giratina growls at them,
"Yakira, Aticus, Eira... I want to give you this opportunity to join me." Asia gasps as a sudden wave of darkness curls around her making her disappear and Neo calls out her name. The three ghost types remain silent and a moment later Vecransyh lowers his hand and returns his sword to his sheath, "I have what I want. One more thing you foolish people..." they all meet eyes with him as a portal appears behind him, "I've sent Sableye to kill Kazamaru and those who travel with him. You can save him if you can find him but not telling you where he is makes it more fun for me." He creates another portal of darkness and Yakira reappears in front of him with a shocked look on her face as she looks into his blood red eyes. The Lord leans forward and kisses her cheek making her yelp from the sparking pain of black fire burning her from the touch. Vecransyh's fingers ball into a fist as he speaks, "None of you are under protection outside of this area. If you want to save him... you must be willing to put your own lives in jeopardy." Yakira gags as the fist slams into her stomach making her fall to her knees crying as Vecransyh turns and disappears into the portal followed by Giratina. Neo lunges forward as the portal begins to close and Angela grabs his arm holding him back,
"No Neo!! None of us can stand against him... even together we stand no chance." Neo closes his eyes and looks down,
"Dammit..."

Everyone gathers in the dining room sitting around and Neo walks around the chairs sighing as he speaks to them all, "Vecransyh returned and kidnapped Asia again... and to make matters worse Kazamaru is in danger of being killed by Sableye and no doubt many ghosts accompanying him." Thanatos looks over to him with a serious look,
"If we go out looking for him we'll be walking right into a trap!" Drake growls slamming his palms on the table,
"Are you saying we should just let Kazamaru and Scarlet die?! There might be more with them!!" Yakira nods to him,
"It's true. Getting them back here would prove to be helpful in the long run but to avoid being seen we need to keep the party light and fast if we want to get there before Sableye does. Strong enough to fend off Scouting parties and defeat Sableye's group and also difficult to track." Yakira looks over to Angela who's lying on the counter flicking her tail back and forth as she listens, "Do you think you can give the party a general direction of where to go?" Angela looks at her and puts her own chin into her palm,
"Yeah I think I can do that. We should decide who's going though." Neo leans against the wall behind him as he looks at everyone,
"A light but strong party... how many would we need for that?" Yakira stands and looks over to him,
"As leader of this rebellion I volunteer." Aticus begins to stand up but Thanatos stands next to her and glares at him,
"Sit down kid. I've got a bone to pick with these ghosts so I'll be going too." Drake looks over at the two,
"Two of the legends... that seems like it would be enough but should we risk your lives?" Yakira speaks again,
"Me and Thanatos are the only ones who can match Vecransyh's Pokemon in power so anyone else going would be a pointless addition. As small as it looks there's a high chance we'll be underestimated and that will make it easier in the long run." Thanatos grins as his neck flares up,
"Besides the fact that Sableye was Vecransyh's seventh strongest. Killing even Sableye would take out a major powerhouse against us." Neo nods,
"Then I suppose that settles it. You two should leave immediately."

A few minutes later in front of Neo's home Thanatos and Yakira stand next to Angela and Aticus who is focusing and when she opens her eyes they're glowing and she points ahead of them, "They're about a few weeks from here in Hoenn. They're safe in hiding for now but I can't pinpoint Sableye's location so I'm not sure how much time you have." Thanatos and Yakira nod to each other and Yakira slings a backpack over her with their food in it,
"How should we travel?" Aticus responds to the question,
"As you know ghosts are stronger at night so you should travel as far as you can by day and once the sun is gone you must stop immediately and find a safe place to sleep for the night. Even with Thanatos with you you're only one ghost against many if you're discovered. Keep in mind that you may come across one of Vecransyh's other Pokemon while you are on the move. Judge their strength by which one they are before you think of engaging them in battle. Keep going straight and don't lose your way." Yakira and Thanatos nod before Yakira hugs Aticus tightly,
"Thank you Aticus. We'll return when we complete our mission. If we don't return in one month we're either captured or... otherwise." Yakira now wears her white dress and mask tied to her head by a now black cloth. A few minutes later they dash into the forest and are gone.

Two weeks later the two of them have entered Hoenn and have been making their scheduled distance every day, "What was it like seeing him again?" Yakira leaps over a log and continues looking ahead and she remains quiet for a few moments,
"He's a ghost of his former self... pardon the pun... he would never have punched me like that and when he kissed my cheek... it burned me." Thanatos slides under a branch as he continues running,
"Are you okay now though?" Yakira nods blasting a hole in a tree with Shadow Ball and jumps through it,
"I'm fine. I've just finally accepted that he's not the one I once knew anymore... if there's any of the old Vecransyh left in him it's weak and slowly dying. There's no hope for saving him and so going back in time is our only chance."
"But if going back in time is our only chance why are we going around getting people together?" Yakira responds immediately to the question without having to think about it at all,
"Let's say we find Celebi and Vecransyh finds her too. He could go back minutes before we arrive back in time and take us down before we can do anything to change the future." Thanatos falls silent at the realization, "We have to kill Vecransyh. And we will also have to kill Giratina. Our plan in the end is to pick off Vecransyh's Pokemon one at a time and then take down Giratina... finally we have to confront Vecransyh and if all goes well... he'll die a painless death." Thanatos looks at her as they run,
"A painless death...?" He then sees a few tears fall from Yakira's eyes, "I can tell how hard it is for you to think about him like he is now... even after two years. You can't afford to have your vision blurred right now Yakira... please stop crying..." Yakira wipes her tears away and nods looking at him briefly before she smiles,
"Thanks Thanatos. You're right." Hours pass before the sun is almost fully set and the two of them stop to find a place to sleep for the night, "Do you see anything?" Yakira walks around a few trees looking for the black Typhlosion. She hears a whistle and turns peering through a few trees seeing Thanatos smiling as he stands at the front of a cave,
"This place is fairly big it should work for tonight." Yakira smiles and walks over to him looking into the large cave,
"Good work Thanatos. It looks fine."
Nightfall comes and soon the moon is high in the sky. Yakira lies deep in the cave hugging herself as she sleeps a bit away from Thanatos facing away from him. A light wind enters the cave and Yakira shivers waking up, (I'm an ice type I shouldn't be cold...) Yakira rolls over and smiles seeing the Typhlosion facing her sleeping soundly. She reaches forward and touches his warm fur and he opens his eyes looking at her smiling softly making her blush,
"Need a bed?" Yakira nods silently feeling him take her into his arms and roll over onto his back laying her on top of himself looking into her eyes, "Better?" Her hand lightly runs up and down through his fur as she smiles closing her eyes nuzzling against his neck as she snuggles into him,
"Much better..." She slowly opens her eyes again and they look into each other's eyes,
"I'm... glad..." They move closer together and slowly close their eyes before there's suddenly an explosion outside making them both jump. Yakira and Thanatos stand up and Yakira puts a finger to her lips as she walks slowly to the front of the cave looking out to see a lone figure fending off several haunters with electric and water attacks. Yakira watches as the figure forms water around his body and lunges towards them hitting them with ice beams and thunderbolts shattering them with Brick Breaks only stopping when they've all fallen and cease movement. Yakira lays her hand on the edge of the cave and a small rock falls and hits the ground making a few clacking noises and the figure turns towards her firing an ice beam. Yakira counters the attack with a blast of Sheer Cold and the figure groans before she hears a thump as he hits the ground. Yakira walks into the shadows and she drags him into the moonlight seeing the Luxray patterns on the Floatzel laying in front of her unconscious, "Azura..." She picks him up and brings him into the cave, "Thanatos... it's Azura." The Typhlosion leans him against the wall of the cave and examines him,
"I saw your attack... it looks like you only hit him with that attack because you caught him off guard. His body is in perfect condition he's just a bit cold."
"His body is fine? He took down six Haunters by himself and they didn't even touch him...?!" Thanatos looks back to her,
"Well he'll be out until dawn so we might as well go back to sleep." Yakira nods and watches as he walks back a few steps lying down again. She smiles and lays back on top of him snuggling into the warm fur,
"Night Thanatos." The Typhlosion closes his eyes as he smiles,
"Night Yakira." She kisses his cheek lightly and the two of them drift off to sleep.

The next morning the two of them jump to a loud 'Hey!' from next to them. They both sit up and look over at the Floatzel staring at them with his arms folded, "Who are you two and how were just one of you were able to overpower me?" Yakira looks directly at him,
"Azura..." He begins sparking with electricity as he glares at her,
"How do you know my name?!" Yakira smiles,
"It's me Azura. It's Yakira and Thanatos." Azura's expression goes blank as he stares at them both,
"Are... are you really them?" Yakira opens her arms,
"It's really us." Azura jumps into her arms and hugs her smiling,
"I've been alone for so long... I thought everyone else was dead..." Yakira rubs his back as she hugs him,
"We're on our way to find Kazamaru and Scarlet right now. I'm sure Drake would be overjoyed to know that you're safe and sound." Azura's smile fades,
"What of my parents?" Yakira shakes her head,
"We haven't found any of the four yet but we believe that they're together wherever they are. If you can keep up we'd like you to join us right Thanatos?" Thanatos nods and stands up along with Yakira,
"If you're not up for coming with us we can point you in the direction of Neo's house." Azura stands up and the three of them walk out of the cave into the crisp morning air,
"I want to come with you. Let's not waste any time and you can fill me in on the situation when we start." Azura looks the same except for a navy blue headband around his forehead. The three of them nod to each other before planting their left feet forward and sprinting forward into the trees becoming lost from view of the cave.


Giratina bows slightly, "Master... this would be an ideal time to strike. Yakira and Thanatos have both left Neo's home and are on the move to intercept Kazamaru and those who travel with him. I highly recommend you send more then simply Sableye to deal with them. Perhaps Gengar would be an acceptable choice?" Vecransyh looks up at the massive ghost legendary and folds his hands looking off into the distance past the little female Lucario who's dangling her feet off the edge,
"Perhaps... It would be nice to rid ourselves of two of the legends after all. I have faith in Sableye's strength. They won't defeat him without some casualties I guarantee it. Kazamaru and Scarlet are weak and frail without their Pokemon so that is what I'm expecting to happen." Vecransyh grins darkly as he thinks about Sableye tearing apart the helpless Pokemon of the two trainers and laughs madly to himself, "It will be a bloody reunion to be sure. Asia!" Asia jumps at hearing her name called so loud and gets up quickly walking over to him,
"What do you wish of me my master?" Vecransyh smirks as he looks at her,
"I have a mission for you to prove your loyalty to me." This request shocks Asia and she looks down,
"But Master Vecransyh... I have already pledged my servitude to..."
"Not another word Asia!" The Lucario girl stops immediately and Vecransyh nods, "As I was saying, I have a mission for you to carry out. My spy network has informed me that Cresselia was last spotted near Oreburgh city. Your orders are to find and eliminate her." Asia takes a step back looking at the lord of demons in fear not believing the words she was just told,
"I... I have to kill Cresselia?! But why?!"
"Because she is a legendary Pokemon and is therefore a threat. I have spent countless lives of my followers hunting down legendary Pokemon and now that one is this close she shall be destroyed! Do this and you will have earned my trust. When you return I want you to bring me the crescent moon on her head as proof. If you return without it..." A dark and bloodthirsty smile creeps onto his face, "I will kill three in front of your eyes and you will receive a punishment of your own do you understand me?!" Asia silently nods as a tear falls to the ground, "Then off with you. Start your search at the two islands north of Iron Island at the far west of Sinnoh. Do not fail me." Asia turns and begins walking towards the edge,
"I won't..."
"Hold!" Asia stops and turns to see Vecransyh stand and walk over to her placing a hand on each of her shoulders, "I almost forgot. You're no match against her without my power." Asia begins radiating with dark energy as it channels into her body and she cringes in pain as it feels as though it's penetrating her very soul,
"Please master... stop..." Vecransyh takes his hands from her shoulders and grins,
"Once you see the power you now hold. You will find your task over quickly." Asia nods as the radiating darkness disappears and she turns and leaps off the Spear Pillar like before using Shadow Balls as a staircase.


Riketz looks up at the stars taking a bite out of a chunk of meat, "Hard to believe it's been this long..." A figure sits across from him wearing a long, black cloak that covers his body and a hood over his face. Two pointy ears are also cloaked under the custom hood,
"How can you stand eating that stuff raw? At least have the decency to cook it over the fire like I do." Riketz chuckles and waves the raw ghost meat in his face,
"I'm a Zangoose. We can stomach pretty much anything. Why do you wear that hood all the time? Not like I've never seen your face." The figure looks down at the chunk of cooked meat in his paw and eats it saying nothing, "Meh, I suppose we all have our reasons. Tell me again why we're in Johto while Yakira and the others are in Sinnoh?" The figure looks at Riketz as the Zangoose looks back down at him with a puzzled expression,
"I thought since you were over 500 years old you knew everything."
"You can be as old as time itself and still not know everything. Forgetting things is as much a part of life as death is."
"For most. Not you Riketz." The Zangoose nods,
"Sad but true... Immortality is a horrible curse..." The figure begins eating again as he falls silent, "Anyway, why are we here?"
"The others have Sinnoh. We're looking for the missing ones here in Johto along with the remaining legendary Pokemon. We'll need all the help we can get even being as strong as we are." Riketz chuckles and tosses a bone into the woods,
"Speak for yourself."
"Still... I feel like we should check on them... just to make sure everyone is somewhere safe. That cave they were in can't have remained secret all this time." Riketz nods and unsheathes his claws putting dirt on the fire to put it out before he stands up,
"Then we'll return here after a checkup with our old friends." The figure stands up, His cloak is the same type as Neo's and he chuckles, his teeth shining against the blackness,
"Some friend you were to them. Not even helping when Giratina was beating them all senseless." Riketz shrugs and sheathes his claws,
"It was against destiny for me to aid them. The same is said for Neo and Luna. I did my part; I killed Armageddon." The figure's red eyes flash inside of his hood,
"You know how much I hate that name." Riketz laughs and waves his paw at him,
"Yeah, yeah... well come on, we've got Hoenn to pass through so we'd better get going." Riketz and the figure take off into the trees and are gone in a burst of speed, "I wonder if they know that Neo's alive yet?" The figure shrugs as they run through the trees,
"He can hold his own... I have more important people to see..." Riketz cuts down a tree in his way as he continues running,
"You're more concerned with seeing Luna again right? I only saw Neo when I was there. It's possible she was taken by Vecransyh too." The figure laughs and looks at him,
"Luna is way too powerful to be taken prisoner by him. She's with Neo."
"Have you thought about what you're going to say?" The figure shakes his head,
"What's there to say to her? I mean..." Riketz nods as the figure's hood drops because of the speed revealing the face of a black Lucario, his fur shining in places to make him seem to have the appearance of stars in the moonlight.