Watcher of Arceus

Disclaimer: I don’t own Pokemon. Only the idea and OC’s.

Author Notes:
-x- This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.
xXx This will identify where each paragraph breaks.
‘Character Thought’
(Pokemon speech)

Disclaimer: Don’t own Pokemon, never have, never will. Only the idea and OCs behind the story are mine.
Co-author: Catsithx

xXx

Chapter 16

Sarah was a bit preoccupied trying to call home on her new phone to notice her umbreon’s worried actions, merely telling him to calm down a bit as the man with the knife continued walking towards her. Just as she was about to hit the call button though, her umbreon bit down on her pants leg trying to pull her out of the store, but she didn’t get what he was trying to say. “Calm down boy, knock it off.” Sarah stated with a firm tone as she quickly went to check her pocket, her wallet still there so she saw no reason for him to act this way.

Thomas was already running across the street Radara right behind him as they tried to reach Sarah, having called back Rebecca right away, despite the few words she got out against it.

Umbreon tried once more to get his trainer’s attention before Sarah hit him softly on the nose, giving him a firm warning to stop, the man watching intently as he waited for the perfect moment to strike. Seeing as how his trainer wasn’t listening though, he quickly took a stance between Sarah and the man, a move that the knight did not approve of when Sarah finally turned to see what had her umbreon all worked up.

The knight knew he lost his element of surprise and quickly moved in, umbreon quickly going to snap at him as he drew close. He was faster though, with a quick boot to the side of umbreon’s head, he disoriented umbreon as Sarah gasped out when she saw the knife, the man already having the blade pulled back.

The world seemed to slow down for Sarah as she watched the man quickly kneel down, blade already coming down and catching her umbreon in the side, before the blade was jerked down a bit. Thomas had already barged into the store, but he was too slow to save the umbreon as he called out to Sarah. He quickly rushed the knight, grabbing the collar of his coat and pulling him off the umbreon and into the air. Just as the man was too quick for the umbreon for the stop him, Thomas had already thrown the man headfirst into a glass counter. Before the man could recover, Thomas picked the man up again, before slamming his boot into the man’s back, sending him over the counter as well. He looked over and saw that Sarah had rushed over to her umbreon, crying out loudly as she held him close. “Sarah, call him back now.” Thomas shouted as he turned, another person coming into the phone shop as an alarm finally sounded. Thomas clenched his fists as Radara quickly knocked all of the security cameras out of alignment, all of them now pointed towards the ceiling.

“You die today demon.” The lady who had rushed in shouted calling out her pokemon, a haunter while she drew her own weapon, a rapier that Thomas could already smell the poison on. Thomas was easily able to recognize the woman as well, she easily fit the description that Macy had given her, the butterfly tattoo on her neck a dead give away. Radara was already on the offensive as a few other trainers called out their pokemon in the confusion.

Radara knew that now was a time to use her powers properly, a powerful blast of psychic energy washing over the haunter as Thomas charged towards Claire, having drawn his blade. He quickly ducked under her thrust, picking up a small bit of cloth. Not caring where it had come from, but it was all he needed to reach up and grab Claire’s blade as he used the small barbs on the back of his blade to grab part of Claire’s pants. With the barbs now in her pants, he quickly jerked himself back, tearing a good section of Claire’s pants as well as knocking her off balance, even disarming her all in rapid secession. He wasn’t finished yet though as he quickly turned around throwing her blade into the corner of the room, his eyes flashing as he turned back to Claire, one of the counter’s that she had been next to quickly falling over on her.

Thomas wasted no time quickly looking to Radara who had trapped the haunter, not holding back as she had pinned the haunter against the wall, keeping it from using any of its abilities. Thomas quickly nodded to Radara as her eyes flashed, everyone looking her way with the exception of Thomas and Sarah falling quickly to Radara’s hypnosis, one right after the next. “Sarah, we have to move.” Thomas was already at her side as he looked her over, covered in blood from her umbreon’s wounds. He could already tell that he was too late to do anything, the knight had gone in right for the kill. Thomas had to pull her away as Sarah continued to cry for her lost pokemon. He quickly pulled her to the street, several people already looking in.

Before any of them could try to ask what happened, a pair of charmeleons broke into the small clearing in front of the phone shop. Both of them opened their mouths and let loose flamethrower attacks, but they never hit as Radara quickly put up a barrier again. The charmeleon’s trainers quickly ran up as panic broke out on the street.

“What the hell are they doing?” Thomas growled looking to Radara. “They never attacked me openly like this, are they insane, they’ll kill anyone who even gets close to me.” He quickly looked around for an exit, but seeing none right away, he knew a fight was inevitable. He nodded to Radara as he set Sarah down calling out Juno as well as Rebecca. “Rebecca, get Sarah out of here.” He told her.

‘No Thomas, I’m not leaving you here.’ Rebecca tried to counter quickly taking a battle stance.

“Rebecca, there’s no time for this.” Thomas growled. “You’re powerful, yes, but you hardly have the experience for this. I can’t protect all of you, and Sarah’s in shock, her umbreon is dead.” He explained as he quickly looked around for anything he could use to his advantage.

Rebecca gasped a bit at the news. “Look, just get her out of here, I can’t protect her and fight the knights at the same time, and Radara can’t hold this barrier up forever. This isn’t a regulation battle, this is life and death, I can’t make any promises that I can keep anyone alive in this.” He shouted as he quickly grabbed an extension cord that was powering a sign outside the door and snapped it in two. He then took the live end and quickly started draining power from the store charging up an attack.

“Rebecca, take her and go, I just need to buy a bit of time for her to get out here, the knights will kill her if they get their hands on her.” Thomas stated right as Radara dropped the barrier, quickly throwing his free hand out, a wave of lighting showering the two charmeleons as well as their trainers. He held himself back enough to keep from hitting the crowd which had backed up considerably to give this fight room, many just plainly fleeing in terror at the battle.

Thomas could already hear the sirens going off as police tried to get in past the crowds. He quickly looked around, his glasses having fallen off in his last attack as he once again looked to Rebecca. “Go now, I’ll be right behind you.” He shouted out once again draining lots of power from the cord in his hands as he pointed to an alleyway with his free hand. Already more knights were charging from one side, the police coming from the other way.

He quickly launched another wave at the incoming knights, many of them taking cover, even the police quickly taking cover, not sure who was doing what, all they knew was that there was a powerful electric type in the area and they didn’t want to get caught by it.

Rebecca gave Thomas one last look before Juno grabbed her hands with her tails and dragged her over to Sarah who was just barely recovering. ‘Come on, let’s go.’ Sarah was slow to act, but as soon as she was on her feet, Rebecca and Juno both dragged her down the alleyway. Radara quickly picked up a mail box with her powers, throwing it towards a knight who had tried to sneak up on them as Thomas quickly looked around. He bit his lip in his agitated state of mind, charging up one last attack. “This is the last thing we need.” Thomas shouted as he fired his attack at one of the oversized TV screens that the local department stores used for their ads.

Thomas’s attack hit dead on, the entire screen shattering in a rain of sparks and glass, the supports already bending as it started to fall over and into the street. The knights all ran back to avoid the screen as it fell and Thomas quickly ducked into the alleyway, Radara having already blocked off the police from getting to them, having pulled several cars from their parking spots and making a quick barricade with them.

Thomas quickly ran down the alleyway with Radara right behind him, catching up to Rebecca, Juno, and Sarah. “Move.” He shouted quickly grabbing Sarah and Rebecca’s hands and dragging them both along through the alleyway to another street. The commotion from the phone store had already spread, several police cars all around them trying to get the scene of the fight, several other people running away, others trying to get closer to figure out what happened.

They ran down a few more city blocks before stopping. Thomas quickly flagged down a cab, and Radara took control from there, quickly hypnotizing the cab driver. Radara’s influence was strong this time, they had no choice as the cab quickly took off from the city and headed north. Thomas was constantly looking around now, making sure that they weren’t being followed. Once the car had left the city, Radara made sure that the driver used the less traveled roads, after a half-hour, finally stopping in the middle of the forest.

They all quickly got out, Radara giving the man one last set of instructions as Thomas dropped a pair of hundred dollar bills in the seat next to him not really caring how much he threw at the man, just wanting him gone. Sure that they had gotten away for now, Thomas quickly dragged them all into the forest, away from the road. Once he was sure they were safe for now, he turned to Sarah.

“Sarah, are you okay?” Thomas quickly looked her over, her cheeks soaked with her tears, her shirt and part of her pants stained with the blood of her umbreon.

“Thomas… t-they killed m-my…” Sarah stated looking at him, her eyes red from crying so hard.

Thomas nodded lightly. “I’m sorry.” He said slowly. “They’ve never done this before, not openly. I had no way to know this would happen.” He looked down, slamming his fist into the dirt, his whole body sparking a bit. “That liepard was right, they are corrupt, they don’t care who they hurt anymore.” He said as he got up and paced around a bit. Radara quickly moved next to Sarah as Rebecca tried to work up the nerve to talk with Thomas. She had never seen this kind of anger in him before, his mind torn every which way. Looking to his aura, the only real feeling he had was anger, and much worse then the anger Eric Falston had given them back at the mansion, and it scared Rebecca as she looked on. His eyes were now blue near the center, but the outer edges of his eyes were completely red, pulsing a bit even as if some dark force had taken him over. If Rebecca hadn’t seen been looking at his aura, she may not have recognized him, but even his aura was changing a bit now.

‘Sarah, I am sorry for you loss.’ Radara said slowly as she took one the pokeballs from Thomas’s belt while he was pacing. Radara let out Aqua and called her over. ‘Let’s get you cleaned up.’ Radara stated as she got out a towel and wash rag, having Aqua wet the rag and then wipe her chin of the blood on her.

Thomas was quickly letting his anger take control. “Those religious bastards.” He growled slamming his hand into a tree, leaving a dent, but also tearing his hand up a bit. “What the hell were they thinking, they may be extreme, but they always cared for those they thought were innocent. They could have killed everyone there. And how dare they attack Sarah like that, no warning, just going in for the kill. Have they lost all trace of humanity? How bad have the gone.” He let out a loud roar of anger a wave of electricity surging in front of him, several wild pokemon quickly running from all directions away from the camp.

Rebecca quickly ran up and hugged him from behind. ‘Thomas please, calm down, you’re scaring me.’ Rebecca whined a bit. Thomas was about to let out another blast of electricity, but feeling Rebecca there hugging him, he stopped, even though his anger was still very much there. He let his arms fall to his side slowly.

Radara looked to him as she left Aqua to try and clean up Sarah a bit, letting out the rest of their pokemon. She quickly filled them all in, all of Sarah’s pokemon moving in to comfort her.

‘Juno, can you please dig a small fire pit, Razor, we could use some fire wood.’ Radara stated, her own mind just as troubled as Thomas’s, but instead of anger guiding her, it was fear. Although she looked calm, fear was the only thing truly in her mind right now. ‘Blaze, please look for some berries, sceptile, please join him. Dragoniar, if you would just sit with Sarah, let her know that she’s not alone in this. She needs comfort right now. Lapras, please help to try and comfort Sarah as well.’ She asked as she quickly tried to start on the tents.

While she was easily able to move the towel, wash rag, and pokeballs, putting the tents together proved hard for her. As she finally began to think things over, the more she began to fear the future and what it held. The bars used to build the tent frame were unsteady and wobbling lightly as they moved in the air, showing how distracted she was as her own memories began to emerge. She was glad more then ever now that she had chosen to evolve into an espeon this time around rather then a vapereon, her psychic powers had been the only thing to save them several times over this incarnation alone.

Her thoughts continuously turned as she tried to remember everything she could about this ancient evil, the abomination that was behind the War of Legend as she continued to try and put the tent together. Thomas was still very much angry, but with Rebecca there beside him, keeping him in check, he walked over and took the bars out of the air, merely nodding at her, her cue to take it easy, just sit back.

Thomas was able to put the tent together easily enough as Radara curled up on his sleeping bag. “Get some sleep Radara.” Thomas commanded. “You… no, we all need it.” He corrected himself as he quickly sat back against a tree stump. He looked around, this forest so calm, so quiet. He quickly readied an attack though hearing the bushes shift a bit, and let out a sigh that it was only Razor along with Blaze and sceptile. Razor quickly put all the wood in the pit Juno had dug and started a large fire.

‘I will take the first watch.’ Juno stated, Radara having sent the words to everyone. ‘Blaze I would like your help keeping an eye over everything, if you so much as hear anything, investigate.’ Blaze nodded. ‘Thomas, get some sleep, we shall watch the camp, you have done enough. Sarah, I suggest that you do the same while you can. We … we…’ Juno’s words were slow now. ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t have much time here, and as much as it pains me to say this, that time is better spent preparing to leave again.’ Juno stated firmly, her voice showing just how painful it was for her to say it, rushing a bit with her words.

“Juno is right.” Thomas added slowly looking to Sarah. “We have to move soon, they’ve already proven that your just another sacrifice in this, your life means nothing to them.”

Sarah looks to him slowly, no real emotion visible in her face now as she tries to comprehend what Thomas was saying, but all she can really do is just clutch her umbreon’s pokeball tightly. Over and over again, she shouts at herself that this can’t be real in her head as she looks to what she is holding. The pokeball is no longer polished red and white, but rather very dark, even looking a bit rusted already, the button to open it having turned completely black, showing that it was now partnered with a deceased pokemon. She can feel her pokemon around her, but she’s afraid to look at them, afraid that it would just confirm that this was all real, and not some nightmare. Her pokemon all move a bit closer to her.

Each of her pokemon think of their fallen comrade just as Sarah did, still unsure how to take the news. Dragonair curls lightly around Sarah, taking the news just as hard as her. While all of her pokemon were friends with each other, dragonair had grown up right beside umbreon, the two of them always getting into trouble together. Dragonair can’t help but think that he can’t get into anymore trouble now that his partner in crime is gone.

Thomas watches as Sarah and her pokemon all mourn their fallen friend. He can do little to ease her pain now, realizing more then ever how much distress that he has brought to her life. He never meant for any of this to happen, but looking at her now, he can’t help but think of the others he had hurt. Never before had the knights attacked him so openly, they were always shadows, waiting until they could catch him alone if possible so that he couldn’t use anyone as a shield. This time though, they had attacked him right out in broad daylight, in the middle of a crowded city.

As much as he knows he wants to stay, he doesn’t even realize he had already began packing up his things, only thinking about all those he had hurt over the years. His hands move on their own as they pack for him, his thoughts only thinking about the past. He has always tried to keep others at a distance from him ever since the days of the traitor, not wanting others to get involved in this war he was in. Yet time and time again, many were injured helping him, protecting him instead of him protecting them. Too many times he had seen them die in his place knowing that he was more important then they were.

His mind quickly snaps at the thought. No, he wasn’t more important than them, it was because of what he was, the abilities he had. What made him so special compared to others. Over the years, he had seen so many die at the hands of the knights. His brothers and sisters, their fellow pokemon partners. It wasn’t fair, why did they have fall to save him, him of all people. He questions what all he has been fighting for all these years, never truly thinking about it before. Why was it important to hold back to these fools who are the true trouble of the world, dark thoughts slowly forming in his head.

Wasn’t it his job to rid the world of them? Wasn’t he supposed to protect the world from evil? From those who would oppose the will of Arceus. Shouldn’t he just eliminate all evil in the world, not to hold back. He could easily do it, he was more powerful than those humans, he could easily…

Radara’s voice finally registers assaulting his mind. ‘SOULAR! Stop those thoughts now!’ Her voice echoes powerfully in his head as he looks over startled by her words. Now fully aware of himself, he can fell his back pack over his shoulder, small bits of air running over his body from where he had let his power singe and burn holes into his shirt, but most of all, he can feel Rebecca pulling on his arm.

He turns to look at her, her own face full of tears as he questions it a bit only to see that she was reading his aura. His previous thoughts quickly catch up to him and he can tell why she was so upset now, able to tell just how connected she was to him now. All those feelings of hate, despair, hopelessness, she had felt them all in him.

‘It was never your fault… Soular.’ Radara says slowly in his head, obviously picking to him by his mothers birth name to try and remind him of who he was. ‘You couldn’t have foreseen us being betrayed like that. You can’t still hold that fee-‘ Thomas quickly cuts her off before she can finish.

“I can’t? That’s a load of bull and you know it.” He growls, just barely able to hold back the harshest of his words. “It was all taken by our inability to fight back. We could have ended this centuries ago. We could have wiped them from existence. It would have made our jobs so much easier, to protect those around us.”

‘Thomas, you can’t believe that it would be easier.’ Radara quickly returns to calling him by his current name feeling how his birth name set off a bit of a rage in him. ‘Someone else would have come along and it would have been worse then it is now. At least with the knights, we had some control.’

“Control?” Thomas questioned her. “They attacked me in the middle of the city. Look where we are now Radara.” He starts shouting. “I can’t even protect those who wish to help us. I know I said I wouldn’t allow this to happen, but look around. Why must we still cower to these fools? Why should we hide in the shadows? They should be the ones to cower in the shadows. They should fear us.” He snaps, several pokemon who originally had the courage to stay from his previous bit of rage quickly run off now. He doesn’t even notice the laughter in the back of his head.

Rebecca takes a few steps back seeing his aura changing growing darker and corrupt. She whines a bit more as she looks at him holding herself, never having felt such a darkness before. ‘Please Thomas… stop this, you’re hurting me.’ Rebecca says slowly.

Thomas turns to face her, never expecting to hear her pained voice. He looks her over once more, his mind clearing up seeing how much he was scaring and hurting her. She was connected to him more then ever, able to feel his happiness, his joy, but right now, all she felt was his sadness, his anger. He knew that lucario got close to their mates, but it had been so long since he had felt that kind of bond, he had nearly forgotten just how close and powerful it truly was. Looking at her, he could tell that his feelings were hurting her more then any battle injury now as he quickly begins to fear himself more then anything, fearing what he was becoming, one of the very things he swore to defend the world against.

He can finally feel the taint in the back of his mind as he calms down and walks over to Rebecca and tries to comfort her. She backs away though and Thomas can’t really blame her.

‘Thomas, let me talk to her. You need to calm down. Go for a walk, please, you need to calm yourself. You can patrol the area to make sure we don’t have anymore surprised.’ Radara says slowly as she moves toward Rebecca.

His first thoughts were to tell her no, but he quickly realizes that she is right. Nothing he can do or say right now will help with his aura as dark as it for now, his emotions as out of control as they are. He was hurting the one he finally chose to love and protect, and the thing she needed protected from most right now was himself. “I’ll patrol the area. Juno, Blaze, can you please do the same.” Thomas says slowly as he lets his bag drop from his shoulder, but still hung onto his sword.

Both of them nod as he leaves the clearing though. Blaze gives his trainer one last look, but he knows that he has to protect her right now as he gives her one last gentle nudge with his muzzle before he turns and follows and Juno.

-x-

Sarah is still reeling from the loss of one of her pokemon, one of her friends. The reality of it still has yet to fully hit her, but it is sinking in now at last. To lose a pokemon, it wasn’t uncommon for a pokemon to die protecting their trainer from a burglar or a criminal. Yet to die at the hands of some fanatical monster like that. She can’t help but think if she had paid more attention to him, then she could have protected him.

Once again, she feels more tears coming and no matter how hard she tries to stop them, they come anyway. He was so loyal to her and yet, she didn’t pay attention to him when she needed to. It had cost him his life to protect her, to make sure his trainer was safe. She couldn’t help but think that maybe it was sign, to let her know that she should leave now.

Before she had learned what he really was, she just plainly enjoyed traveling with Thomas, her time spent traveling with him was often some the best adventures she had. He had a way of getting to places that she thought were always out of reach. And then she learned what he was, and Arceus herself asked her to join him, to help him, and about his relationship with Rebecca. She couldn’t think about anything else but the new adventures she could have with him, even if he was in love with someone else.

She couldn’t help but hope that this was a bad dream as she gripped the darkened pokeball tighter, hoping to feel her umbreon licking her face wanting to feed him and his snorlax appetite.

A hand gently shook her and she first thought that it was Thomas, not looking up until her name was called. Rather then Thomas though, it was Eric. She gasped a bit looking at him, quickly looking around, only her pokemon were there with her, Thomas and all of his pokemon not there in the clearing.

“I found you Sarah.” Eric smiled, his face was gentle, but his eyes, there was something odd about them. “Look, come with me and you will be safe. I can protect you.” He held out his hand for her.

For a brief second, she actually considers his offer, not caring about the world around her, the promise of safety sounded hard, even though she wanted to stay with Thomas. Her hand moved up slowly, shaking a bit at first, until she finally became aware of her pokemon’s actions.

Dragonair quickly wrapped his tail around her hand to pull it away, and she went to yell at him, only to have an image her umbreon flash before her eyes. She quickly looked them all over, all of them holding back, but around her having taken to defending her, growling lightly as they looked around, the dragonair focusing a lot on Eric. Blaze still wasn’t there, but Sarah knew that something must held him back and was now worried for him just as much.

Eric gave her pokemon a mean look, as if trying to threaten them to back off, some sort crazed look in his eyes. She quickly got up, pocketing her umbreon’s pokeball and quickly drawing her kubotans.

“No, I’ll stay.” She said firmly, despite the tears still in her eyes.

Eric stands slowly, shaking his head. “I tried to save you.” He said. “I will try not to hurt you too much then, but if it takes another of your pokemon to see the truth of that demon, then so be it.” He raises his hand and several knights quickly stand up all around them, her pokemon moving closer to her, all of them ready to fight. Sarah turned just in time to see Blaze and Juno jump two the knights, not holding back as the rammed the knights into the trees.

-x-

Radara sees Thomas leaving to patrol as she turns to see Sarah crying for her umbreon. She remained quiet for now though, leaving Sarah be knowing that it was best to leave her alone though. Nothing she could say could help her. She turns once again to see Rebecca walking out of the clearing, quickly following her. She couldn’t help but feel a real connection with Rebecca, and while Rebecca wasn’t her mate, Radara still felt that she was her mother and quickly moved to follow Rebecca.

She can’t help but think how much like Thomas she was, having closed herself up considerably over her past few incarnations. She finally caught Rebecca in another clearing, not paying to how far they had gone from Sarah and her pokemon.

‘Rebecca, you need to calm down. I know your just reeling from your connection to Thomas. He is going through a rough time now, I know you want help him, but… it’s just harder then you know for him right now. I…’ Radara stops, unsure what to say next. She knew now that Rebecca was her daughter, she had helped her grow up, watched over her, always made sure that Rebecca had the best chance. It was a new feeling for her, she had never truly had a daughter, having only given birth to the vessel for her next life, always dying with in days of the egg hatching.

This new feeling was powerful, and while it was welcome, it was very hard as she once felt the alakazam once again in her head. ‘I can give you what you always wanted, a family, a mate who is your equal, a partner who will never leave you. I can give you happiness.’ She couldn’t help but break a bit at the words, like Thomas, who finally had that chance, she wanted a real mate herself. Despite knowing how evil he was though, her longing for a real companion actually had her thinking about his offer.

The fur on the back of her neck felt like a shock as she felt her mind slowly get reinforced, pushing those thoughts out. She looked up to see Rebecca there, on her knees holding her, letting her aura flow over her. Although it would hardly keep the alakazam out, it gave her the push she needed to take control, sealing her mind to the intrusive thoughts, and stayed like that for a minute, both of them just sitting there, needing the other’s company.

Radara suddenly became aware of something, muffled thoughts and minds all around her as she quickly broke from Rebecca’s embrace. She quickly gathered her power, once again readying herself for combat. She had no time to try and get Sarah’s or even Thomas’s attention though as she prepared herself, three knights quickly rushing at them from the bushes.

’Welcome to your final days fools. None shall miss your stupidity.’ She said not even realizing the taint that was there in her mind as the entire area in front of her was blasted by a psychic force, something other then her own power helping her though.

-x-

Thomas quickly walked off from the clearing, sword in hand as he adjusted the straps on it. He was busy sorting through his own thoughts as well as those minor thoughts of his past life, his own unique sword style coming back to him bit by bit. He merely walks for a few, trying to calm his mind as his sword is now resting over his back. Rather then in a traditional manner, the tip of the blade was resting by his left shoulder, angled over his back with the hilt resting his hip, next to his right hand.

He gently gripped his blade allowing some of his power to flow into it, trying to recall more of his sword style, hoping to take his mind off of things. He was trying hard to calm down, not only for his sake, but also from Rebecca, her bond with him was strong, and he could still feel it, still feel his own anger and despair fading into her.

He goes over his various attacks in his head, repeating the same actions over and over again and again in his head, trying to busy himself and his mind in a bit as he walks along when he becomes aware of something. While he can still easily feel Rebecca, he has lost contact entirely with Radara.

Just as he acknowledges the fact that something is wrong though and goes to turn to face the camp, a shadow jumps up from behind him. He cries out in pain as he is grabbed from behind, the mons barbed arms digging into his skin. He turns his head back just enough to try and bash his captor, only to see that he is a too short to get to the cacturne. He doesn’t know how, or care how the cacturne is so much taller and larger then him, he already knows that the others are in trouble as another knight charges at him, the knight already having his dagger out and going to plunge it into his chest.

He cries out, he was not going to die here. Rebecca still needed him, as did Radara. They would kill Sarah and all of their pokemon no less, all innocents, but they wouldn’t be spared just because they knew him. He cries out, releasing a giant lighting bolt from his body, knocking the knight off his feet and into the underbrush.

The cacturne, while very shaken still holds onto Thomas though, blood running down his arms from the cacturne’s barbs as it grips him tighter. Thomas quickly uses it own strength and added height against it though, lifting his legs out as he grips his sword harder. The cacturne quickly leans back a bit, even taking a step back to keep its balance thinking that Thomas was trying to flip it back, but Thomas just smiled. He quickly rammed both of his boots into the cacturne’s forward leg, the heels of both boots slamming back hard on the cacturne’s knee as the knight recovers.

-x-

Juno lets out a blast of fire, the fireball flying past an ivysaur who quickly launches a razor leaf in return. Juno easily jumps over it, charging up an iron tail, but not for the ivysaur, instead knocking a tree over with it cutting off a riachu that charging for Blaze as he had his hands full fending off a nidoking. Even in the few seconds that she has to look at him, she can easily see the change in him, how he is letting his instincts take control, no longer waiting for a command, just acting now. Her attention is quickly adjusted though as she drops down completely and rolls under an ice beam fired from Sarah’s lapras. The attack goes on to hits its real target, freezing two pokemon in place. While mostly stationary, the lapras is putting up a powerful fight though, Sarah’s dragoniar helping to defend it along side Aqua.

Razor is busy helping Sarah as she fights with Eric, her actions much smoother then against that rocket elite as she keeps forcing Eric to back up. She lashes out at him, nearly landing a blow, all he has are just his strange bracers that the knights had given, easily able to parry her attacks, but did little against Razor as he jumps up ready to slash him with his claws.

Another stray attack is launched at Sarah and Eric again, Razor quickly jumping and pushing Sarah out of the way of the fire ball, but Eric takes a partial hit as he yells out, a knight finally able to join him handing him a sword as he goes at Sarah. “You must be ready to strike, she may be beyond saving.” The knight yells at him as he goes in to try and hit Razor, only to have the zangoose quickly get behind him and jump off his back, but not before slashing him with his claws.

“No, I can save her.” Eric roars out, his eyes even more crazed now as he goes running towards her as she Sarah quickly tackles her lapras, getting her to duck down under a hyper beam attack.

The forest is already on fire as Sarah gets back up, the clearing hardly even recognizable now as she has to parry a blow from Eric, her lapras finaly getting a good hit on him, the hydro pump attack throwing him back over a burning log.

-x-

Radara let her full power lash out at the three knights who tried to attack her and Rebecca, large dents all over the trees around her, even some visible cuts as she picked up one knight and threw him into other two. She quickly takes their pokeballs and throws them as far as she possibly could into the distance in different directions. She had no time to deal with them as she made short work of them quickly turning in Thomas’s direction, finally able to feel him. ‘He needs your help, go.’ Radara quickly pointed Rebecca in the right direction as she turned to head back to the clearing already knowing that Sarah and the others were in just as much trouble.

Rebecca ran as fast as she could in the direction Radara had pointed her, easily able to feel Thomas, but something was wrong with him as she moved.

Thomas quickly freed himself from the arms of the overgrown cacturne as he quickly drew his blade quickly charged the knight. With his blade drawn facing downward, he quickly ducked under the knights knife and slashed at the knight’s knee, going threw his leather armor with ease and leave a nasty burned gash. His blade more then easily carried his electrical power, not only disabling the knight as he called out a second pokemon, but also knocking him unconscious. The newly summoned vileplume was quick to attack Thomas as Rebecca made it into the small clearing.

Thomas wasted no time raising a hand and letting a surge of lighting flow over the vileplume as he ran up and roared out, slamming the hilt of his blade into the side of the vileplume’s head, quickly kicking the vileplume back into the trees.

The cacturne had finally recovered, but instead of going for Thomas, he went for Rebecca since she was closer. Thomas turned just in time to see the cacturne try to attack Rebecca and quickly threw his sword at it, impaling the mons arm into the tree right behind it.

In his head, he could feel all sorts of dark thoughts forming, dark images and ideas quickly flooding his mind as he rushed the cacturne. ‘Go on, finish it, kill that fool who would attack what is yours.’ The voice echoed in his head, and in his rage, he almost listened, already by the cacturne, one fist in its gut, his other hand quickly tearing his blade free and preparing a finishing strike before he froze seeing what he was doing and backed up. Rebecca could feel it too inside him, a dark presence, the same evil that had taken over that rocket elite was inside Thomas, his aura almost entirely masked by the evil. ‘Strike it down, finish the job, put them out of their misery.’ The voice echoed in his head again, but Thomas finally noticed something about it, while it was mostly definitely the same voice the rocket elite had used, he could also hear faint traces of his own behind it.

He took a few more steps backward looking himself over, he had a faint aura visible around his body, black in nature as he watched it fade away, a new truth dawning on him as he remembered something else from the days of the traitor. A single image flashed through his head, an image of Tavu from the temple in his head, the same similar dark aura around him as he attacked everyone.

“We’ve all been corrupted.” He said quietly, finally able to understand why his changes had been coming early over the past few incarnations. As he slowly returned to his former power, the evil that had been part of him had been doing the same, boosting his power along sides its own with each passing reincarnation. More images followed the first as he recalled the War of Legend itself, its final day. He had been right there in the very same room as that ancient evil, helping Gali to restrain Lugia while a few of his fellow watchers restrained the other legendaries that the evil had used to protect itself. When Tavu had used a blade forged by Arceus’s power to slay the evil’s current body and seal it away, they had all been corrupted in the wave of dark energies that it had released with its dying breath.

He fell to his knees at the thought, the knights had claimed several times in the past that he was a demon, his possessed dark and ancient evils within him. Like all of his brothers and sisters, he merely passed it off as their own theories, their hatred for him. Rebecca quickly came running to him as more and more images flashed through his head, images of their higher knights making their accusations. He had always got the worse of it, even when traveling with others of his kind after the days of the traitor, the knights always tried so much harder to kill him, and at last it all made sense. With all of these new thoughts and memories springing up in his head though, they were quickly over whelming as he cried out in pain holding his head. He couldn’t even hear Rebecca’s cry as he was over whelmed passing out in her arms, but she couldn’t help but smile a bit. His aura was once again his own, no traces of anger or hatred in it for now.

-x-

Radara had quickly joined up with Sarah and the others, all of them having their hands full. The forest was a blaze around them, several various attacks leaving large chunks of ice, craters in the ground, and traces of various other attacks littered the area. One of the pokemon quickly saw her approach and charged Radara, only to be picked up and thrown right into the middle of fight, Radara unaware of her taint taking control in her.

She quickly lashed out at the knights who tried to stop her, their head bands, normally able to stop her powers not protecting them from her new dark attacks as they fell over clutching their heads. Everyone turned to face her as the fight seemed to stop for a few as she walked closer to them, the jewel on her head entirely black.

She growled as her words echoed in their heads commanding them to leave or die. The knights all knew that she was dark now, quickly ignoring Sarah and the others going in to attack Radara as she took a seat.

Juno could tell what was going on, somehow that evil had gotten into Radara as she charged back into the fight, the rest of them quickly following her. Radara was easily able fend off the attacks, throwing the knights and their pokemon back with ease, the few dark types there getting the knights tossed into them.

While Blaze led a new assault from behind and Sarah went after Eric, still wanting answers from him, Juno made a mad dash right towards Radara, using her most powerful fire attacks to knock anything out of her way.

Radara was just about to lash out at her as well, but recognized Juno soon enough to keep from attacking her. This was Juno’s only chance as she rammed her shoulder into Radara knocking her back and pinning her down as fast as possible, quickly using her own hypnosis to try and calm Radara down. Juno took the few attacks that Radara used to try and push her off, thankful that Radara was holding back against her, but refused to let up herself.

The battle around them vanished slowly as Juno blocked everything else out, trying to do the same for Radara to calm her.

Blaze and the others made short work of the battered knights and their pokemon, but they still managed to get away, Blaze chasing them a small ways, but quickly returning to the clearing.

Sarah had to stare in confusion watching as Juno finally put Radara to sleep, before she fell over herself, the act of calming Radara taking a lot out of her. Before she could even question the sight though, Rebecca was calling out for help. Aqua and lapras quickly went to work, using their water gun attacks to try and put the blaze out, doubly so around Rebecca who had gotten trapped while carrying Thomas along side her.

Sarah moved in to help get both Rebecca and Thomas out of the burning bushes they got stuck in while Blaze and Razor quickly tried to clear a path for them to get out. Sarah could hear something in the distance, looking up, a few lights over the burning trees, recognizing them as a pair of Ranger Helicopters, no doubt attracted to the clearing from their fight.

‘Juno says we need to move now.’ Rebecca stated, with Radara out cold, she was the only one could translate for them right now. Razor and Sarah’s sceptile had already run over to grab and save their bags, but their tent was on fire, everything else that had been pulled out was scattered as well.

Sarah quickly called back everyone but Blaze as she put her backpack on, Rebecca taking Thomas’s pack. Sarah then called back Aqua, Razor, and even Radara as she counted on Juno and Blaze to lead them to safety, while she helped Rebecca carry Thomas out of the blazing forest.