Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon
The Plan
"Hey, it looks like there was a rockslide ahead!" Dusknoir looks back as he hears Angela's words and follows her finger as she points ahead to many fallen stones and rubble. Above it is the faint light of the sky and Dusknoir throws up his arm forcing them all to stop,
"I'll check it out." He floats ahead and after pulling off a few boulders he turns around and urges everyone forward as he continues removing rocks. Steadily, the form of a bloody and battered Mewtwo comes into view to them, "A legend..." Neo pushes forward and past Dusknoir before he kneels in front of Mewtwo,
"Is he dead...?" Dusknoir closes his eye as he slowly shakes his head,
"This legend has no life force... From the look of his injuries he was struck down by one of Vecransyh's Pokemon." Neo punches the ground as he growls,
"Dammit!" Bane steps forward and simply stands, looking at Mewtwo for a few moments before he kneels and places his hand on the legendary Pokemon's chest; after a few seconds his eyes widen and he places both of his hands on Mewtwo as the Gallade's palms begin to glow,
"He's alive!!" Latias rushes over to add in her own Recover ability as Neo looks over to them,
"What do you mean?! He has no life force!" Luna smiles softly as she looks at Mewtwo,
"I've only heard of something like this... he is alive out of pure will to live." Dusknoir looks back at her with a confused look,
"Regardless of the will to live that he has..." He looks over to Mewtwo and quickly senses his life-force, "He had no life-force at all. There is no way he could have been alive." Luna shakes her head,
"Some things in life simply cannot be explained. Like a ghost that lingers in this world instead of leaving to the afterlife, he still had business here." Latias looks up at them as she stands,
"His body is also very strong and being a psychic legendary is helping his recovery." Dusknoir points ahead,
"Someone carry him. We need to stay on course so we can get back to headquarters."
Back at the Spear Pillar, Asia lets out a loud yawn, lying atop the crystal throne. She hops down a moment later and sits on one of the arms materializing a map of the four regions into her paws, "Master Vecransyh?" Vecransyh's eyes open and he looks over to her looking at the map in her paws,
"What is it Asia?" He watches as she points to a few points on the map,
"What are these areas? I noticed that Neo's home is marked in the same way." Vecransyh simply nods,
"Those are areas that scouting parties have never come back from." Asia tilts her head,
"Why do you think that's so?"
"The case of Neo's residence is simple, he killed them all with the others who were living there. The space center in Hoenn... I'm not exactly sure. It's as if they all just vanish. I assume they're being killed by something. I've lost around twenty or so parties before I stopped sending them."
"And that spot in Kanto?" Vecransyh shrugs and shakes his head,
"That is the entrance to the catacombs under the regions. They got lost and died... something killed them, I'm sure of that. The two spots other then Neo's home are sources of high amounts of power but the fact that whatever is at the space center hasn't moved makes there be no need for me to take action... that is where I believe Deoxys to be. But even he couldn't have taken that many waves of ghosts and survived. He has some strong help." Vecransyh pauses as a portal appears in front of him and Banette steps out of it bowing to him,
"Lord Vecransyh I bring news." Vecransyh nods saying nothing, "My party has just come from Neo's residence and it seems that those who resided there have vacated. There seems to be no trace of them."
"Teleportation remnance?" Banette shakes her head,
"Nothing. Perhaps they have fled to the underground?" Vecransyh folds his hand as he grins,
"I see... leave them be for now. I have a feeling that they will all be coming here in a matter of time." Banette bows to him and melts into the floor leaving them alone.
Stratos looks over to Luna as she walks, finding her fidgeting with her hands, "Something on your mind?" Luna nods slowly and looks up at him,
"Why don't you tell everyone you're alive? It would be a weight off of their shoulders." Stratos laughs slightly as he scratches her head,
"What, you think I should just pull down my hood and just keep walking and wait for people to notice me?" Luna only nods to him and Stratos sighs, "Fine then I guess I can't keep this up forever." Stratos slides his hood down and simply continues walking at the back of the group with her, "Azura was actually the first to know." Luna blinks and looks ahead at the Floatzel,
"Really...? I suppose that's why he was acting so strangely when the subject came to you."
Neo, Angela and Allie continue walking in a line ahead of Stratos and Luna, Neo putting a paw to his chin and Allie smiles taking his hand, "Penny for your thoughts?" Neo nods slowly letting his paw fall back to his side,
"I've just been thinking about our mystery guy... for all we know he could be a spy... and we're leading him right to the base of the AOTU!" Neo turns and looks back blinking as he and Stratos meet eyes, "Wha... you?!" Angela and Allie turn and look at Stratos who has his hood back up and he tilts his head looking at them,
"What's the matter Neo? You look like you've seen a ghost." Allie looks back to Neo and tilts her head,
"Did you see something Neo?" Neo walks backwards, his face slightly pale as he points at Stratos,
"It's... it's him!" Stratos motions for the three to walk over to him and drops his hood looking at the four of them,
"Now then, Luna suggested that I reveal myself and give everyone a morale boost. But personally I like this a bit better as you, Neo, were the one who had the most skepticism about who I was and what my intentions are. I hope that revealing myself to you, Angela, and Allie will put aside these thoughts and bring you all to trust me. We will talk more when we reach the headquarters. For now I want the three of you to continue walking ahead so as not to arouse suspicion." Neo, Allie and Angela all nod and Stratos smiles to them all, "It's really nice to see you guys again." As Neo, Allie and Angela return to where they were, Allie leans against him slightly as he puts his hood back up,
"Did you see dad's face?" Stratos chuckles as he holds her hand,
"Priceless." Dusknoir turns to them all as a massive chamber appears with many different paths,
"Welcome all to the Johto underground. We should be at the entrance to the AOTU fortress by tomorrow."
In his quarters, a rather large room carved out of rock with a large bed and normal room necessities, Gengar stares into his mirror for a few minutes before closing his eyes and leaning against his reflection, "We should have been stronger..." Gengar punches the mirror hard and a large fist mark and many cracks appear and Gengar takes a step back watching as the mirror mends itself, "We're all just waiting around... occasionally killing a legendary... mostly just out looking around and reporting nothing of any real interest..."
"Thinking of changing sides?" Gengar jumps and turns looking at the always-menacing form of Dusknoir floating in his room, "Even thinking so is considered an act of treason against the Lord." Gengar shakes his head leaning a hand against the wall as he grins,
"Just thinking out loud really. No thought has ever crossed my mind you can be sure of that." Dusknoir closes his eye, shaking his head slowly,
"I've seen you... especially when we were killing Mewtwo's clones. You've never seen the point in it. I understand your feelings but you must know this Gengar... there is no escape from this world... other then death. Look at Sableye, a routine mission and then he was dead--" Dusknoir snaps his fingers, "Just like that. Then Rotom... then Giratina and no-one saw that coming. Who's going to be next?" Dusknoir opens his eye and growls, "You?! Me?! Drifblim?! Not to mention your beloved Banette. You and I both know that we are the strongest of the originals but there are only five of us left now..." Dusknoir leans against the wall, closing his eye again, "It's just hard... knowing that any one of us could die tomorrow..." Gengar pauses as he watches Dusknoir bring his hand up to his eye and the reaper Pokemon sighs,
"Dusknoir... changing sides wouldn't change our fate... it wouldn't change anything... regardless of any of that though... they wouldn't take us in. They wouldn't have any reason to trust us and so we would most likely be killed right when we revealed ourselves." Dusknoir floats to his doorway and sighs looking down,
"Sleep on it... my friend." Dusknoir closes the wooden door behind him and floats down the dark halls leaving Gengar alone, now sitting on his bed deep in thought.
Dusknoir raises his hand when a darkened doorway comes into view. Standing in front of it is a girl with her eyes closed and she opens them as she hears them approach, "Who's there?" Dusknoir nods to her and moves out of the way revealing the rest of the group to her,
"The other resistance has agreed to join with us." The girl slowly scans the figures in front of her before her eyes widened and she grins happily running towards Drake,
"Drakey~!" Drake takes a step back in surprise as Jinx wraps her arms around his waist tackling him to the ground as Latias laughs holding her own arms around her stomach,
"Well there's a familiar face!" Drake struggles reaching up as he groans,
"W-Why me...?!" Jinx purrs as she releases him and looks at him with her arms pinning his shoulders down,
"Hello? Biggest fan here!" She blinks and gets off of him coughing into her hand as she looks at the rest of them embarrassed and blushing deeply, "Erm... sorry everyone ^^' Anyway..." She turns and opens the door revealing a well lit and enormous area with many different rooms and paths, "Welcome to your new home! The leader should be summoning you in a little while so go ahead and find a room for yourself and wait until he calls you over the intercom." Yakira blinks as she tilts her head,
"How is it you all have intercom?" Jinx smiles lightly,
"We have a generator and a lot of our stuff was salvaged from a few Pokemon centers. We got a full load of beds from one." They all walk in and in a few hours they've all settled in their rooms, Drake and Latias have their own room and Drake's Blaziken and Naomi have their own. Kazamaru and Scarlet have their own and each of their Pokemon has their own rooms with the exception of Flygon and Ollie who are sharing one and Crudon also has his own room as well. Yakira and Thanatos have their own room and Aticus and Eira have their own rooms. Luna and Stratos have their own room along with Neo and Allie. Lucia and Azura have their own room along with Ceri who also has her own room.
A few more minutes passed before everyone was settled in and the intercom beeped a few times before a neutral-sounding, male voice could be heard, "Newcomers please come meet me in my office." The group leaves their rooms and are lead to a single door by many copies of a Porygon-Z that all form back together and warp through the door and it opens revealing a boy of around Drake's age with his hands folded on a desk. A few bookcases of books are against the walls along with a scythe with a blade of dark purple. Behind him is a shelf with six Pokeballs, one of which Porygon-Z disappears into. Once the group has files into the enormous room and the door is closed behind them he stands up and walks around the desk leaning on it,
"Who do you recognize as your leader?" Yakira steps forward and takes his hand as he outstretches it,
"I am. my name is Yakira." The boy nods and retracts his hand once they had finished shaking,
"I know who each and every one of you are. My name is Jack of the Agents. Seems like you haven't met the rest of the people here... no-one was informed of your arrival so you have me to blame for that. Regardless of that, you will have time to all get acquainted. Is my information accurate that Styx of Kanto is dead?" Thanatos and Yakira both nod and Jack brings a hand to his chin, "I see I see... The fourth is here, Victoria is her name?" Yakira and the rest smile happily,
"Really? She's here?!" Jack nods and waves his hand to her as a sign to calm down,
"Like I said before, you'll all have a chance to get acquainted with those who are here. Now we are here to discuss business." Jack clears his throat and hops up sitting on the edge of his desk, "First things first..." Jack points directly at Stratos, "Go ahead and drop your hood... Stratos." All who weren't aware turn in shock as Stratos drops his hood and nods to everyone,
"How is it you have so much knowledge about us? Especially knowing who I am?" Stratos looks at Latias who has tears in her eyes and takes a step back, "We'll have time for this later!" Latias suddenly grabs him in a tight hug and Stratos gags, "Come on...!" Jack chuckles and folds his arms,
"Perhaps I should have waited till later to reveal that." Stratos pushes her arms apart and drops back to his feet,
"Ya think?!" Jack shrugs and clears his throat loudly to make everyone turn back towards him,
"Keep your emotions in check for a little while. First Stratos' question about my sources... I gathered pretty much all of the info I have on your resistance group from a Zangoose by the name of Riketz. He will return here once he finishes wiping out a few more parties of ghosts. Now then on to the matter at hand; Vecransyh." Jack presses a button on his desk and a giant hologram map of the four regions appears showing detailed locations of points of interest, "First of all, Neo. Your home was destroyed upon word spreading to the Lord of Demons that neither you nor the others resided there anymore." Neo lets out a sad sigh as he looks down, "But if this mission succeeds, we will all be able to change this future." Neo looks back up and nods,
"Okay..."
"Phase one is almost completed but it will be completed while the mission is taking place: Amassing every last bit of strength we can find. The mission will begin in the underground tunnels until we reach the Hoenn region where my final contacts await at the Space Center. That will complete phase one. On to Phase two now... what is going to happen is that we are going to be surfacing at the edge of the Sinnoh region so as to allow ourselves the highest amount of time before Vecransyh learns of our actions. Next we will all be fighting through the thin waves of scouting parties we may, or may not, encounter along the way." Jack points to the map as routes and lines appear on it showing the course, "Not then... once we reach the outer perimeter of the Tower of Lost Souls the next step will be entering it." Jack nods to Kazamaru, "Your Aggron and other Pokemon will be a lot of help at this phase. Once we are inside Phase three is complete. The next will be the most difficult of all: Making it to the top of the Tower. Expect to encounter wave after wave of ghost Pokemon as we ascend. Taking them down shouldn't be much of a chore as I believe that Vecransyh will be keeping the remaining five of his originals with him at the top expecting to take us all down at once up there." Kazamaru gives him a quizzical look,
"He only has five left?" Jack nods in acknowledgement,
"Rotom, Sableye and Giratina are all dead." Everyone looks at him in shock, "Yes, Giratina has died from an unknown cause." Jack takes a drink of a glass of water on his desk before continuing, "Giratina dying is nothing short of a major stroke of luck for us. Now, there is a cellblock around halfway up the tower that holds the rest of Neo's family and Pokemon that once resided at his home. Freeing them is essential if we are hoping to reach the top. Let me just tell you this all now... There will be casualties along the way." Jack pauses as he stares at them all, "Help each other on the battlefield but continue pressing forward at all costs. If something unexpected happens and I am unable to continue with you, which will most likely happen at some point you are to continue on with the mission as planned. If one of us or you is injured on the battlefield... it is crucial that you leave them behind to fend for themselves. Do not be a hero and do not let emotional ties replace your dedication to the mission. Do you all understand what I'm saying to you?" Each of them slowly nod in agreement, "Although not all of us will die, we will slowly break apart into a smaller group as some of us must stay outside to take on the scouting parties. Now then... when we break through to the top of the Tower Vecransyh will most likely have the remains of his power with him most notably of these are Gengar and Dusknoir. When the rest of them are dead we are to be VERY careful about how we approach killing Vecransyh. Once he is dead then the day is ours and Celebi can be summoned to bring those left to the past." Jack pauses for a moment, scanning everyone slowly, "Any questions?" Drake nods to him slowly as he takes a step forward,
"When is this going to be taking place?" Jack moves back around to the back of his deck and sits down, sighing as he folds his hands,
"We will be setting out in one week."
For the time being everyone returns to their rooms except for Stratos who now stands in the room with Drake and Latias. Latias is first to speak as Stratos leans back against the wall, "Why wouldn't you at least tell us? We're your parents Stratos... no matter what." Stratos sighs, looking down as he closes his eyes,
"I really wanted to tell you but... I didn't feel like it was the right time." Drake raises an eyebrow listening to this,
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. If I had simply thrown my hood down and went 'look everyone! Stratos is here!' it would have boosted Morale, sure, but it also would have distracted from what we had to be thinking about and that would be surviving. I would be another person you would both be looking out for... everyone would be looking out for me a lot more then themselves just because of my sudden return and I couldn't have that." Latias nods and hugs him closely,
"I'm just so glad you're alive and here with us..." Stratos smiles and blushes softly,
"I'm glad to be here with everyone too... it's weird though..." Stratos looks up as Latias releases him from her hug, "I feel like I'm meeting you all for the first time but I have all of these memories... I know I'm real and that I'm really me but..." Stratos looks at his paw, "Something just feels different..." Drake tilts his head slightly,
"What happened after... that thing killed you?" Stratos shakes his head,
"That's where my memories stop. Just a cold feeling and then I remember waking up with Riketz standing over me. I suppose I might have amnesia of some sort because I only remember bits and pieces of things... but I remember everyone and who they are to me... mom... dad..." Stratos smiles as he looks up, "I suppose I have a sister and a daughter to meet." Stratos waves as he walks out of the room leaving Latias and Drake smiling at one another.
Thanatos smiles as he watches Victoria and Yakira hug one another tightly both almost to tears, "We're together again. And nothing is going to change that." They both look at him and smile before they both walk over and hug him, pushing into his warm fur and Victoria smiles as she nuzzles him,
"I've missed you both so much... to know you're both alive and well... it makes me so happy..." She looks up at both of them, "Let's all fight our hardest for Styx." The two of them nod as they smile.
Stratos walks into Luna's room with a smile on his face and sits on the bed with her laying across her lap, "I'm a father... the feeling is incredible." Luna smiles and tenderly rubs his ears and head,
"She asked about you all the time. I'm sure it was a big relief to her that you're here now. Oh, how is Mewtwo doing?" Stratos nods with a happy smile,
"He's being taken care of. He actually regained consciousness a little while ago. Turns out he was attacked by both Drifblim and Dusknoir." Luna smiles and purrs gently as she runs her fingers up and down his chest, now that he no longer wears his coat,
"If we're going to be leaving in a week... I suppose then it's important to get our affairs in order~" Stratos looks up with a quizzical look before Luna kisses him with a deep passion and smiles, "What do you say, my love?" Stratos closes his eyes as he sits up, his back to her opening his eyes again as he sighs,
"Luna... I feel like my mind is so scattered right now... I just... I need to figure some things out first." He looks back at her, "Is that okay?" Luna nods slowly and gives him a light kiss,
"Of course, Stratos." Stratos stands up and smiles to her,
"I'll be back in a little while. I'm going to go talk to Mewtwo." Luna nods and watches as he leaves before plopping down on the bed with a light 'poomf' sound.
Stratos closes the door behind him and walks down one of the halls towards Mewtwo's room, his feet making light taps against the stone as he steps. As he reaches Mewtwo's door he stops and sighs, "Riketz..." Riketz leans up from leaning against the door and stands in front of him, unfolding his arms as he shakes his head,
"Stratos. I know that your mind seems scattered and that you have a lot of questions but..." Riketz looks down, "I want you to think about this before you go in there." Riketz looks up again, "These memories you have now. They will all be gone." Stratos pauses as he takes a step back,
"I'm right... I'm not Stratos. I never was..." Riketz shakes his head,
"You have his body, voice, and memories for a reason. If you go in there and let Mewtwo in then... just think of those who depend on you to be him." Stratos nods,
"My memories are fake..."
"Your memories belong to the real Stratos. If you have Mewtwo return your real memories you will still look the way you do now. This is the real you, your voice and your form are the true you. Your memories are the only oddity." Stratos sighs,
"So I could still pretend to be him."
"You could... but it wouldn't feel right to you." Riketz steps aside and Stratos looks at the door,
"I have to know..." Riketz opens the door and watches as Stratos walks in,
"Well said..."
Stratos walks into the room and sees Mewtwo looking up at the ceiling, his body in bandages and he looks over to Stratos before nodding, "The Lucario... so what brings you here at this late hour?" Stratos sighs before closing his eyes,
"I was hoping that you could look into my mind and... tell me who I really am. The memories I have now aren't my real memories and I need to know..." Mewtwo nods to him and raises his arm, laying his three-pronged hand on his head,
"Of course. I have no way of telling whether you will like what will appear but your true memories will return."
Mewtwo then pauses before he begins to recount how he would always keep an eye on Stratos. Always staying out of sight but never once doubting his abilities. He had even arranged with Ho-Oh to appear to grant him his very first legendary attack. His memories began to change to be him watching Stratos instead of the memories through Stratos' eyes. Finally a name appeared in his mind, Exos.Chapter End Notes:Dialog up the ying-yang on this chapter but I had to cover a lot -.- anywayz I hope you enjoye
"I'll check it out." He floats ahead and after pulling off a few boulders he turns around and urges everyone forward as he continues removing rocks. Steadily, the form of a bloody and battered Mewtwo comes into view to them, "A legend..." Neo pushes forward and past Dusknoir before he kneels in front of Mewtwo,
"Is he dead...?" Dusknoir closes his eye as he slowly shakes his head,
"This legend has no life force... From the look of his injuries he was struck down by one of Vecransyh's Pokemon." Neo punches the ground as he growls,
"Dammit!" Bane steps forward and simply stands, looking at Mewtwo for a few moments before he kneels and places his hand on the legendary Pokemon's chest; after a few seconds his eyes widen and he places both of his hands on Mewtwo as the Gallade's palms begin to glow,
"He's alive!!" Latias rushes over to add in her own Recover ability as Neo looks over to them,
"What do you mean?! He has no life force!" Luna smiles softly as she looks at Mewtwo,
"I've only heard of something like this... he is alive out of pure will to live." Dusknoir looks back at her with a confused look,
"Regardless of the will to live that he has..." He looks over to Mewtwo and quickly senses his life-force, "He had no life-force at all. There is no way he could have been alive." Luna shakes her head,
"Some things in life simply cannot be explained. Like a ghost that lingers in this world instead of leaving to the afterlife, he still had business here." Latias looks up at them as she stands,
"His body is also very strong and being a psychic legendary is helping his recovery." Dusknoir points ahead,
"Someone carry him. We need to stay on course so we can get back to headquarters."
Back at the Spear Pillar, Asia lets out a loud yawn, lying atop the crystal throne. She hops down a moment later and sits on one of the arms materializing a map of the four regions into her paws, "Master Vecransyh?" Vecransyh's eyes open and he looks over to her looking at the map in her paws,
"What is it Asia?" He watches as she points to a few points on the map,
"What are these areas? I noticed that Neo's home is marked in the same way." Vecransyh simply nods,
"Those are areas that scouting parties have never come back from." Asia tilts her head,
"Why do you think that's so?"
"The case of Neo's residence is simple, he killed them all with the others who were living there. The space center in Hoenn... I'm not exactly sure. It's as if they all just vanish. I assume they're being killed by something. I've lost around twenty or so parties before I stopped sending them."
"And that spot in Kanto?" Vecransyh shrugs and shakes his head,
"That is the entrance to the catacombs under the regions. They got lost and died... something killed them, I'm sure of that. The two spots other then Neo's home are sources of high amounts of power but the fact that whatever is at the space center hasn't moved makes there be no need for me to take action... that is where I believe Deoxys to be. But even he couldn't have taken that many waves of ghosts and survived. He has some strong help." Vecransyh pauses as a portal appears in front of him and Banette steps out of it bowing to him,
"Lord Vecransyh I bring news." Vecransyh nods saying nothing, "My party has just come from Neo's residence and it seems that those who resided there have vacated. There seems to be no trace of them."
"Teleportation remnance?" Banette shakes her head,
"Nothing. Perhaps they have fled to the underground?" Vecransyh folds his hand as he grins,
"I see... leave them be for now. I have a feeling that they will all be coming here in a matter of time." Banette bows to him and melts into the floor leaving them alone.
Stratos looks over to Luna as she walks, finding her fidgeting with her hands, "Something on your mind?" Luna nods slowly and looks up at him,
"Why don't you tell everyone you're alive? It would be a weight off of their shoulders." Stratos laughs slightly as he scratches her head,
"What, you think I should just pull down my hood and just keep walking and wait for people to notice me?" Luna only nods to him and Stratos sighs, "Fine then I guess I can't keep this up forever." Stratos slides his hood down and simply continues walking at the back of the group with her, "Azura was actually the first to know." Luna blinks and looks ahead at the Floatzel,
"Really...? I suppose that's why he was acting so strangely when the subject came to you."
Neo, Angela and Allie continue walking in a line ahead of Stratos and Luna, Neo putting a paw to his chin and Allie smiles taking his hand, "Penny for your thoughts?" Neo nods slowly letting his paw fall back to his side,
"I've just been thinking about our mystery guy... for all we know he could be a spy... and we're leading him right to the base of the AOTU!" Neo turns and looks back blinking as he and Stratos meet eyes, "Wha... you?!" Angela and Allie turn and look at Stratos who has his hood back up and he tilts his head looking at them,
"What's the matter Neo? You look like you've seen a ghost." Allie looks back to Neo and tilts her head,
"Did you see something Neo?" Neo walks backwards, his face slightly pale as he points at Stratos,
"It's... it's him!" Stratos motions for the three to walk over to him and drops his hood looking at the four of them,
"Now then, Luna suggested that I reveal myself and give everyone a morale boost. But personally I like this a bit better as you, Neo, were the one who had the most skepticism about who I was and what my intentions are. I hope that revealing myself to you, Angela, and Allie will put aside these thoughts and bring you all to trust me. We will talk more when we reach the headquarters. For now I want the three of you to continue walking ahead so as not to arouse suspicion." Neo, Allie and Angela all nod and Stratos smiles to them all, "It's really nice to see you guys again." As Neo, Allie and Angela return to where they were, Allie leans against him slightly as he puts his hood back up,
"Did you see dad's face?" Stratos chuckles as he holds her hand,
"Priceless." Dusknoir turns to them all as a massive chamber appears with many different paths,
"Welcome all to the Johto underground. We should be at the entrance to the AOTU fortress by tomorrow."
In his quarters, a rather large room carved out of rock with a large bed and normal room necessities, Gengar stares into his mirror for a few minutes before closing his eyes and leaning against his reflection, "We should have been stronger..." Gengar punches the mirror hard and a large fist mark and many cracks appear and Gengar takes a step back watching as the mirror mends itself, "We're all just waiting around... occasionally killing a legendary... mostly just out looking around and reporting nothing of any real interest..."
"Thinking of changing sides?" Gengar jumps and turns looking at the always-menacing form of Dusknoir floating in his room, "Even thinking so is considered an act of treason against the Lord." Gengar shakes his head leaning a hand against the wall as he grins,
"Just thinking out loud really. No thought has ever crossed my mind you can be sure of that." Dusknoir closes his eye, shaking his head slowly,
"I've seen you... especially when we were killing Mewtwo's clones. You've never seen the point in it. I understand your feelings but you must know this Gengar... there is no escape from this world... other then death. Look at Sableye, a routine mission and then he was dead--" Dusknoir snaps his fingers, "Just like that. Then Rotom... then Giratina and no-one saw that coming. Who's going to be next?" Dusknoir opens his eye and growls, "You?! Me?! Drifblim?! Not to mention your beloved Banette. You and I both know that we are the strongest of the originals but there are only five of us left now..." Dusknoir leans against the wall, closing his eye again, "It's just hard... knowing that any one of us could die tomorrow..." Gengar pauses as he watches Dusknoir bring his hand up to his eye and the reaper Pokemon sighs,
"Dusknoir... changing sides wouldn't change our fate... it wouldn't change anything... regardless of any of that though... they wouldn't take us in. They wouldn't have any reason to trust us and so we would most likely be killed right when we revealed ourselves." Dusknoir floats to his doorway and sighs looking down,
"Sleep on it... my friend." Dusknoir closes the wooden door behind him and floats down the dark halls leaving Gengar alone, now sitting on his bed deep in thought.
Dusknoir raises his hand when a darkened doorway comes into view. Standing in front of it is a girl with her eyes closed and she opens them as she hears them approach, "Who's there?" Dusknoir nods to her and moves out of the way revealing the rest of the group to her,
"The other resistance has agreed to join with us." The girl slowly scans the figures in front of her before her eyes widened and she grins happily running towards Drake,
"Drakey~!" Drake takes a step back in surprise as Jinx wraps her arms around his waist tackling him to the ground as Latias laughs holding her own arms around her stomach,
"Well there's a familiar face!" Drake struggles reaching up as he groans,
"W-Why me...?!" Jinx purrs as she releases him and looks at him with her arms pinning his shoulders down,
"Hello? Biggest fan here!" She blinks and gets off of him coughing into her hand as she looks at the rest of them embarrassed and blushing deeply, "Erm... sorry everyone ^^' Anyway..." She turns and opens the door revealing a well lit and enormous area with many different rooms and paths, "Welcome to your new home! The leader should be summoning you in a little while so go ahead and find a room for yourself and wait until he calls you over the intercom." Yakira blinks as she tilts her head,
"How is it you all have intercom?" Jinx smiles lightly,
"We have a generator and a lot of our stuff was salvaged from a few Pokemon centers. We got a full load of beds from one." They all walk in and in a few hours they've all settled in their rooms, Drake and Latias have their own room and Drake's Blaziken and Naomi have their own. Kazamaru and Scarlet have their own and each of their Pokemon has their own rooms with the exception of Flygon and Ollie who are sharing one and Crudon also has his own room as well. Yakira and Thanatos have their own room and Aticus and Eira have their own rooms. Luna and Stratos have their own room along with Neo and Allie. Lucia and Azura have their own room along with Ceri who also has her own room.
A few more minutes passed before everyone was settled in and the intercom beeped a few times before a neutral-sounding, male voice could be heard, "Newcomers please come meet me in my office." The group leaves their rooms and are lead to a single door by many copies of a Porygon-Z that all form back together and warp through the door and it opens revealing a boy of around Drake's age with his hands folded on a desk. A few bookcases of books are against the walls along with a scythe with a blade of dark purple. Behind him is a shelf with six Pokeballs, one of which Porygon-Z disappears into. Once the group has files into the enormous room and the door is closed behind them he stands up and walks around the desk leaning on it,
"Who do you recognize as your leader?" Yakira steps forward and takes his hand as he outstretches it,
"I am. my name is Yakira." The boy nods and retracts his hand once they had finished shaking,
"I know who each and every one of you are. My name is Jack of the Agents. Seems like you haven't met the rest of the people here... no-one was informed of your arrival so you have me to blame for that. Regardless of that, you will have time to all get acquainted. Is my information accurate that Styx of Kanto is dead?" Thanatos and Yakira both nod and Jack brings a hand to his chin, "I see I see... The fourth is here, Victoria is her name?" Yakira and the rest smile happily,
"Really? She's here?!" Jack nods and waves his hand to her as a sign to calm down,
"Like I said before, you'll all have a chance to get acquainted with those who are here. Now we are here to discuss business." Jack clears his throat and hops up sitting on the edge of his desk, "First things first..." Jack points directly at Stratos, "Go ahead and drop your hood... Stratos." All who weren't aware turn in shock as Stratos drops his hood and nods to everyone,
"How is it you have so much knowledge about us? Especially knowing who I am?" Stratos looks at Latias who has tears in her eyes and takes a step back, "We'll have time for this later!" Latias suddenly grabs him in a tight hug and Stratos gags, "Come on...!" Jack chuckles and folds his arms,
"Perhaps I should have waited till later to reveal that." Stratos pushes her arms apart and drops back to his feet,
"Ya think?!" Jack shrugs and clears his throat loudly to make everyone turn back towards him,
"Keep your emotions in check for a little while. First Stratos' question about my sources... I gathered pretty much all of the info I have on your resistance group from a Zangoose by the name of Riketz. He will return here once he finishes wiping out a few more parties of ghosts. Now then on to the matter at hand; Vecransyh." Jack presses a button on his desk and a giant hologram map of the four regions appears showing detailed locations of points of interest, "First of all, Neo. Your home was destroyed upon word spreading to the Lord of Demons that neither you nor the others resided there anymore." Neo lets out a sad sigh as he looks down, "But if this mission succeeds, we will all be able to change this future." Neo looks back up and nods,
"Okay..."
"Phase one is almost completed but it will be completed while the mission is taking place: Amassing every last bit of strength we can find. The mission will begin in the underground tunnels until we reach the Hoenn region where my final contacts await at the Space Center. That will complete phase one. On to Phase two now... what is going to happen is that we are going to be surfacing at the edge of the Sinnoh region so as to allow ourselves the highest amount of time before Vecransyh learns of our actions. Next we will all be fighting through the thin waves of scouting parties we may, or may not, encounter along the way." Jack points to the map as routes and lines appear on it showing the course, "Not then... once we reach the outer perimeter of the Tower of Lost Souls the next step will be entering it." Jack nods to Kazamaru, "Your Aggron and other Pokemon will be a lot of help at this phase. Once we are inside Phase three is complete. The next will be the most difficult of all: Making it to the top of the Tower. Expect to encounter wave after wave of ghost Pokemon as we ascend. Taking them down shouldn't be much of a chore as I believe that Vecransyh will be keeping the remaining five of his originals with him at the top expecting to take us all down at once up there." Kazamaru gives him a quizzical look,
"He only has five left?" Jack nods in acknowledgement,
"Rotom, Sableye and Giratina are all dead." Everyone looks at him in shock, "Yes, Giratina has died from an unknown cause." Jack takes a drink of a glass of water on his desk before continuing, "Giratina dying is nothing short of a major stroke of luck for us. Now, there is a cellblock around halfway up the tower that holds the rest of Neo's family and Pokemon that once resided at his home. Freeing them is essential if we are hoping to reach the top. Let me just tell you this all now... There will be casualties along the way." Jack pauses as he stares at them all, "Help each other on the battlefield but continue pressing forward at all costs. If something unexpected happens and I am unable to continue with you, which will most likely happen at some point you are to continue on with the mission as planned. If one of us or you is injured on the battlefield... it is crucial that you leave them behind to fend for themselves. Do not be a hero and do not let emotional ties replace your dedication to the mission. Do you all understand what I'm saying to you?" Each of them slowly nod in agreement, "Although not all of us will die, we will slowly break apart into a smaller group as some of us must stay outside to take on the scouting parties. Now then... when we break through to the top of the Tower Vecransyh will most likely have the remains of his power with him most notably of these are Gengar and Dusknoir. When the rest of them are dead we are to be VERY careful about how we approach killing Vecransyh. Once he is dead then the day is ours and Celebi can be summoned to bring those left to the past." Jack pauses for a moment, scanning everyone slowly, "Any questions?" Drake nods to him slowly as he takes a step forward,
"When is this going to be taking place?" Jack moves back around to the back of his deck and sits down, sighing as he folds his hands,
"We will be setting out in one week."
For the time being everyone returns to their rooms except for Stratos who now stands in the room with Drake and Latias. Latias is first to speak as Stratos leans back against the wall, "Why wouldn't you at least tell us? We're your parents Stratos... no matter what." Stratos sighs, looking down as he closes his eyes,
"I really wanted to tell you but... I didn't feel like it was the right time." Drake raises an eyebrow listening to this,
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. If I had simply thrown my hood down and went 'look everyone! Stratos is here!' it would have boosted Morale, sure, but it also would have distracted from what we had to be thinking about and that would be surviving. I would be another person you would both be looking out for... everyone would be looking out for me a lot more then themselves just because of my sudden return and I couldn't have that." Latias nods and hugs him closely,
"I'm just so glad you're alive and here with us..." Stratos smiles and blushes softly,
"I'm glad to be here with everyone too... it's weird though..." Stratos looks up as Latias releases him from her hug, "I feel like I'm meeting you all for the first time but I have all of these memories... I know I'm real and that I'm really me but..." Stratos looks at his paw, "Something just feels different..." Drake tilts his head slightly,
"What happened after... that thing killed you?" Stratos shakes his head,
"That's where my memories stop. Just a cold feeling and then I remember waking up with Riketz standing over me. I suppose I might have amnesia of some sort because I only remember bits and pieces of things... but I remember everyone and who they are to me... mom... dad..." Stratos smiles as he looks up, "I suppose I have a sister and a daughter to meet." Stratos waves as he walks out of the room leaving Latias and Drake smiling at one another.
Thanatos smiles as he watches Victoria and Yakira hug one another tightly both almost to tears, "We're together again. And nothing is going to change that." They both look at him and smile before they both walk over and hug him, pushing into his warm fur and Victoria smiles as she nuzzles him,
"I've missed you both so much... to know you're both alive and well... it makes me so happy..." She looks up at both of them, "Let's all fight our hardest for Styx." The two of them nod as they smile.
Stratos walks into Luna's room with a smile on his face and sits on the bed with her laying across her lap, "I'm a father... the feeling is incredible." Luna smiles and tenderly rubs his ears and head,
"She asked about you all the time. I'm sure it was a big relief to her that you're here now. Oh, how is Mewtwo doing?" Stratos nods with a happy smile,
"He's being taken care of. He actually regained consciousness a little while ago. Turns out he was attacked by both Drifblim and Dusknoir." Luna smiles and purrs gently as she runs her fingers up and down his chest, now that he no longer wears his coat,
"If we're going to be leaving in a week... I suppose then it's important to get our affairs in order~" Stratos looks up with a quizzical look before Luna kisses him with a deep passion and smiles, "What do you say, my love?" Stratos closes his eyes as he sits up, his back to her opening his eyes again as he sighs,
"Luna... I feel like my mind is so scattered right now... I just... I need to figure some things out first." He looks back at her, "Is that okay?" Luna nods slowly and gives him a light kiss,
"Of course, Stratos." Stratos stands up and smiles to her,
"I'll be back in a little while. I'm going to go talk to Mewtwo." Luna nods and watches as he leaves before plopping down on the bed with a light 'poomf' sound.
Stratos closes the door behind him and walks down one of the halls towards Mewtwo's room, his feet making light taps against the stone as he steps. As he reaches Mewtwo's door he stops and sighs, "Riketz..." Riketz leans up from leaning against the door and stands in front of him, unfolding his arms as he shakes his head,
"Stratos. I know that your mind seems scattered and that you have a lot of questions but..." Riketz looks down, "I want you to think about this before you go in there." Riketz looks up again, "These memories you have now. They will all be gone." Stratos pauses as he takes a step back,
"I'm right... I'm not Stratos. I never was..." Riketz shakes his head,
"You have his body, voice, and memories for a reason. If you go in there and let Mewtwo in then... just think of those who depend on you to be him." Stratos nods,
"My memories are fake..."
"Your memories belong to the real Stratos. If you have Mewtwo return your real memories you will still look the way you do now. This is the real you, your voice and your form are the true you. Your memories are the only oddity." Stratos sighs,
"So I could still pretend to be him."
"You could... but it wouldn't feel right to you." Riketz steps aside and Stratos looks at the door,
"I have to know..." Riketz opens the door and watches as Stratos walks in,
"Well said..."
Stratos walks into the room and sees Mewtwo looking up at the ceiling, his body in bandages and he looks over to Stratos before nodding, "The Lucario... so what brings you here at this late hour?" Stratos sighs before closing his eyes,
"I was hoping that you could look into my mind and... tell me who I really am. The memories I have now aren't my real memories and I need to know..." Mewtwo nods to him and raises his arm, laying his three-pronged hand on his head,
"Of course. I have no way of telling whether you will like what will appear but your true memories will return."
Mewtwo then pauses before he begins to recount how he would always keep an eye on Stratos. Always staying out of sight but never once doubting his abilities. He had even arranged with Ho-Oh to appear to grant him his very first legendary attack. His memories began to change to be him watching Stratos instead of the memories through Stratos' eyes. Finally a name appeared in his mind, Exos.Chapter End Notes:Dialog up the ying-yang on this chapter but I had to cover a lot -.- anywayz I hope you enjoye