Daieoskail

[bullados]

It's more like he acts so much more mature than the other two that he appears some amount older. I know that the three are the same age. It just doesn't seem that way in this particular chapter, particularly in the way he can think through the situation so logically and come up with really the best plan they have available.

 

[meditite rox]

I'm really getting confused with all of these characters, though.

 

[Burninating_Torchic]

Chapter Sixteen: Revolution​

Madrid, Spain

It had been over a day, and the crown princess of Spain and her bodyguard were still hiding in the small bomb shelter beneath the castle. The shelter was stocked with enough food and water to supply them for at least a week, but the space was quite cramped. Cristal had managed to get a couple of hours of sleep on the room's single plain, white, rectangular bed, but Gaspar had remained vigilant for well over twenty-four hours.

"Gaspar, you should get some sleep." Cristal said concernedly.

"Do not worry, Princess. I'm not tired." Despite the confidence with which he spoke, his drooping eyelids and frequent yawns indicated that his statement was false. Suddenly, the sounds of the vibration of Gaspar's phone from within his suit pocket filled the quiet, mostly empty room.

"Hello?" He answered the cellular device, "Yes. We're in the bomb shelter. She is unharmed. Really? Are you certain? That's excellent news! I'll talk to you when we get there."

"What? What is it?"

"The intruders have been repelled. We can return to the surface now!" Without hesitation, he walked over to the perfectly vertical staircase on one of the walls, climbed up it, and undid the locks on the circular lid on the ceiling. The lid opened and he climbed out into the royal hallway above, followed quickly behind by the princess. Before he could reseal the shelter, however, a bullet whizzed by and barely missed his shoulder.

"What?" The royal guard turned to see a man in similar attire to himself standing a few yards down the hall. The man wore a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes and a yellow bandanna over his chin to conceal his facial features, and held a smoking gun in his hand. Gaspar quickly drew his own gun from his waist, but did not fire.

"Princess, run!" He shouted. Cristal quickly ran in the direction opposite the disguised man, heading for a large red door at the end of the hallway.

"I feel obligated to inform you," The man said in a thick Spanish accent, "This gun is a formality." He made no attempt to chase after or shoot at the fleeing princess. Instead, he threw his gun, which hit the nearby wall and landed on the floor with a "clank". Confused but unwanting for an explanation, Gaspar prepared to use his own firearm. The bandanna-wearing man held his arm out and flicked his wrist, and the bodyguard's gun was torn from his hand, forced into a fate similar to that of its kin.

"A Demi-Pokemon?" Gaspar asked, looking over his shoulder quickly and noticing that Cristal had safely passed through the door at the end of the hall, "But all of Spain's Demi-Pokemon were apprehended last year. There was a thorough search... the only way that you could be a Demi-Pokemon is if..." A ball of lightening was forming in the mysterious man's hand. Without warning, he launched it at Gaspar's feet. Smoke filled the small section of the hallway in which they were standing, pouring into the bomb shelter as well.

"Too easy." The man said in his thick accent. He began to walk back in the direction from which he had come.

"I suppose I should inform you, then," The man froze upon hearing the supposedly deceased bodyguard's voice, "My gun was a formality as well." A blue blur shot out of the smoke at jetlike speed, rammed into the bandanna-wearing man, and sent him flying several feet away. When the man stood up and regained his balance, he saw a figure towering over him: the figure of a wingless blue dragon standing on two feet, with fins on its back and forearms and a head resembling that of a hammerhead shark.

"What? You're also a Demi-Pokemon? But how? You said yourself that..."

"My family has protected the princess' for generations. My father and grandfather before me were not Demi-Pokemon... there was no need to check me, according to those conducting the search."

"Tch... well, no matter. You needed to transform to block my attack, so clearly, you are not as strong as I!" The man extended his arms, and various metal weapons displayed on the walls broke free and flew towards Gaspar. The newly transformed dragon Pokemon easily blocked all of the incoming weapons with his claws, head, and tail.

"Why did you attack the princess and I?" The ever-devoted bodyguard demanded.

"Did you notice that I did not chase after the princess?" The other man asked with a smirk that extended above the edge of his bandana, "My task was simply to engage you."

"You're trying to separate us." Gaspar quickly realized.

"That's what it seems like, doesn't it?"

"I have to..." Gaspar turned and began to run towards the door at great speed. The untransformed Demi-Pokemon gave chase and hurled several bolts of lightning at his escaping target. Unconcerned, Gaspar continued to run in a straight line and let the bolts strike his backside.

"You figure that because you're a ground-type, those bolts will have no effect on you..." His target was too far away to hear him, so the pursuer was clearly talking to himself, "But what if there were some metal shavings mixed in with the electricity?" He came to a sudden stop and extended one of his arms. Without warning, the shark-like dragon's movement stopped for a brief moment, then reversed. Gaspar flew through the air, back towards the other Demi-Pokemon. The bolt-flinger stepped out of the way, and the man he had caught within his magnetic field came crashing down onto the floor next to him.

"You're not going anywhere." The untransformed Demi stood over the fallen dragon, waiting for him to rise so that they could continue their fight.



Dallas, Texas

A swirling vortex of dark energy opened several feet above the ground, just outside of the band's long metallic tour bus. Caroline, Howard, Wes, and Percy, who had all reverted to their human forms, fell rather ungracefully out of the spiral and onto the ground. Damian, still in his Pokemon form, followed them out of the portal, but unlike his companions, hovered in midair and did not succumb to gravity. With a wave of his clawed hands, the dark vortex disappeared.

"Dude..." Wes said as he slowly stood up, "What just happened? What are you, Damian?"

"Me?" The dark-type Pokemon asked in a voice that seemed to be a merging of Damian's and something completely different, "What about you? All of you transformed first!"

"He has a point," Howard said casually, "I'm kinda curious about that one myself."

"Yeah..." Percy agreed, "I wasn't a Demi-Pokemon before. I don't know what happened."

"Hey..." Caroline spoke up, "You guys... you said you noticed your powers yesterday, right?"

"That's right." Wes nodded his head.

"We all got powers yesterday... and there's one thing we all did yesterday."

"What?" Howard was completely puzzled.

"The chalk," Percy realized, "The unlabeled chalk. We all smoked it."

"Yeah, that's right." Caroline said with a faint smile.

"But what about Damian?" Wes asked, "He didn't smoke any of it."

"He was different, though, right?" Howard said thoughtfully, "Damian, you never transformed until just now, right?"

"No, I didn't," Damian replied, "But what the heck's that got to do with anything? That doesn't tell us what the heck's going on. This is all pointless..."

"Hey," Wes interrupted, "Shut the heck up. We're trying to figure this out, and your negativity isn't going to help."

"Whatever," Damian floated towards the door to the tour bus, and the dark cloak of his Pokemon form faded away, "I'm going to bed. If Shawn comes looking for me, tell him to go screw himself." He quickly opened the door, entered the bus, and closed the door behind him.

"He really is a jerk." Percy remarked once the doors had been closed.

"This is nothing, for him," Wes replied, "Heck, he's been relatively docile this entire tour. He's usually even worse. He's so full of himself, he doesn't even realize that even the fans don't like him any more. The guy needs serious help."

"Well... we shouldn't have to be the ones to give it to him," Caroline said adamantly, "I'm tired of this. He treats us like total crap... why do we still put up with this? We should just kick him out of the band."

"Wha-... Caroline, that's..." The bass guitarist was at a loss for words.

"I'm going to go smoke." She walked to the front of the tour bus and disappeared as she rounded the corner.

"She's never voiced her opinion like that before," Wes said after a few moments of silence, "And at the performance tonight, she was as confident as I've ever seen her. She's... she's like she was before the breakup."

"It's thanks to you, right?" Howard asked Percy, "You've been helping her practice a lot recently. I think... you helped her get her confidence back."

"I don't know about..."

"Don't be humble, dude," Wes interrupted, "You know it's thanks to you. Be proud of it. Both of us are grateful to you."

"Why?"

"You made our friend smile again." With a smile of his own, he began to walk away from the tour bus and back towards the bandshell, "I should probably make sure Shawn and everyone's alright."

"I'll make sure Damian isn't overdosing himself to death," Howard added, "You should go spend some time with Caroline."

"Thanks, guys." Percy smiled and walked towards the front of the tour bus, where smoke could be seen rising into the night air.



Madrid, Spain

Cristal ran through the twisting corridors of the castle as fast as she could. She had no particular destination in mind, other than anywhere but the hall in which the bomb shelter was located. Every room and hallway was deserted and dark; it seemed that not only had the intruders been cleared out of the castle, but everyone else had been evacuated as well.

The princess' hand grasped the handle of the door leading out of the hall she was in, but the metallic projection would not budge. On the other side of the door there was only an ordinary courtyard; there was no reason for the door to be locked. Suddenly, she heard the door at the other end of the hall, from whence she had come, slam closed. She quickly turned to see a figure masked by the darkness slowly approaching her.

"Who goes there?" She asked nervously.

"It is only I, princess." A small flame appeared in the man's palm, and he lifted it to his face in order to illuminate his identity.

"Ah, the International Federation's chief of security," Cristal recognized him, "Iñigo Fernández." Despite her recognizing the former stranger, the princess did not lower her guard in the slightest.

"Why are you wandering these halls alone?" He asked in a tone of concern that was clearly a ruse, "Where is your bodyguard?"

"We were attacked by a man who hid his face. Gaspar told me to run, and he stayed back to fight the man."

"He hid his face?" Iñigo seemed intrigued, "Was there anything about him that make distinguish him and make him easier to identify?" As he spoke, the security chief drew closer to the princess.

"Yes, there was," Cristal replied, "He had a very thick accent, thicker than most people in our country."

"Oh? I'm sure that there are many citizens with thick accents. If he has escaped, we may be unable to identify the man that attacked you."

"There was one more thing about him, that I noticed just before I left the room," Cristal spoke as if she was about to reveal a startling truth, "He was a Demi-Pokemon. Mr. Fernández, your agents are the only Demi-Pokemon remaining in Spain, are they not?"

"Very perceptive," Iñigo clapped his hands, extinguishing the small flame he held in the process, "Bravo, princess."

"It was you, wasn't it? It's the International Federation that has been behind my father's strange actions over the past few months. You even removed all information from the library that could be used to hold you suspect."

"Once again, I congratulate you on your impressive detective work," Iñigo said mock-congratulatorialy, "Not that it will do you any good. The public despises you and your family. They won't listen to any speeches you make to try to redeem yourselves."

"They may not listen to unfounded claims," Cristal countered, "But they'll listen if I show them proof of what you've been doing."

"Proof?" Iñigo scoffed, "You have no proof. You admitted it yourself, we've done an excellent job of hiding our tracks."

"Up until now," The princess smirked confidently, "Have you forgotten, security chief? You hid this miniature microphone in my dress," She lifted the bottom flap of her dress slightly to reveal an almost unnoticeable circular black spot, "I'm sure it was so that you could snoop on me while I was conducting my research, but now it's turned against you. Our entire conversation has been recorded. When I broadcast it to the public, my family's name will be clear."

"It appears as though your surprising revelations are neverending," Iñigo said, showing no sign of fear at the princess' threat, "Unfortunately, none of that matters if I silence you." Both of his hands blazed with a fire much more intense than the one he had used to illuminate his face. Giving Cristal little time to react, he hurled two large fireballs in her direction. She quickly stepped back, and escaped the attack with nothing but a singe on the bottom frill of her dress.

"It's a shame that your parents thought Pokemon training was unladylike for a princess," Iñigo taunted as he prepared another round of fiery missiles, "If you had some Pokemon, you might be able to fight back!" Small fireballs shot rapid-fire from his palms. The princess ran in an almost dance-like fashion through the little space to move that she had, and barely dodged the majority of the projectiles. She quickly found herself cornered, and the security chief descending upon her, eyes and hands ablaze with flame.

"Oh no..." Cristal thought, "Is this... is this the end?"

"Princess..." A gentle, kind-sounding voice rang through her head, "Don't give up, princess. I can help you. I am the revolution of the great one's people against the darkness. I am the being of the full moon. I am Cresselia!" The girl's frail body gave way to a swan-like blue body with a yellow underside. Her legs disappeared, and her arms were reduced to two small pink paws. A yellow ornament resembling a crescent moon adorned her now pink and yellow, somewhat avian head. Three pink, translucent crescent rings extended from her body at different angles. After completing her transformation, Cristal let out a faint cry, and crescent-shaped waves of pink energy shot from the rings on her body. Iñigo jumped backward several feet and dodged the attack.

"So... it was you, after all." His face and tone were virtually emotionless, "We were told that a Demi-Pokemon of great power was hiding somewhere in Spain, but to think that it was the crown princes... now, it almost seems like torturing all those citizens was a waste."

"Torture?" Cristal asked indignantly, "You tortured citizens?"

"But of course," Iñigo replied slyly, "Anything to find you, my precious specimen. And now that I have... you're coming with me."

"You scum... you will pay for what you have done to the people of this nation!" Cresselia reared her head and let loose a beam of rainbow-colored energy. Iñigo held up one of his fiery hands and countered the ice-type Aurora Beam attack with fire. Before he could launch a counterattack, however, the lunar Pokemon disappeared, and reappeared in an instant behind his back. She let loose another wave of crescent energy blasts that cut at the security chief's back, and in a matter of seconds, he fell to the ground. His suit was drenched with blood from the deep wounds caused by the cutting psychic blades. He was dead.

"I have to find Gaspar..." Cristal reverted to her human form and headed back in the direction of the door from which both she and Iñigo had entered the hall.



Somewhere in the Central United States

Mikayla and Lucas, along with a small cadre of both transformed and untransformed Demi-Pokemon, sat in a circle around the ashes of what must have once been a strong fire pit. The stars shone bright overhead, but they were the sole source of illumination for the small barren clearing.

"I'll ask one more time, then," The dark-skinned female on whom all eyes were focused said, "Are there any objections to a mass gathering of all Union members in the country?" For several seconds, all was quiet.

"Excuse me," A mustached man sitting in the circle spoke up, "I do not object to the gathering itself, but I'd like to know what its purpose is. You've been keeping us all in the dark about that."

"Its purpose..." Mikayla paused, "Its purpose is what we have been discussing over the past few days. We will gather our ranks in full on the Californian coast... and we will mount an attack on the International Federation's naval headquarters."

"And then what do you think we'll do? The International Federation's headquarters is an invincible fortress. We'll all be killed if we attack it head-on!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Mikayla snapped, "The injustice that is the International Federation must be brought to an end once and for all! Our people must be free!"

"Cut the bull, Mikayla!" Lucas stood up in an uncharacteristic fit of indignation, "You don't want to do this for the good of all Demi-Pokemon. You want to do this because you have a grudge against them."

"It's not like you to be so adamant, vice president," Mikayla stood up as well, and, completely unthreatened, looked up directly into her husband's eyes, "Is it so wrong for me to bear a grudge against them? My grandfather was one of the founders of the International Federation, and when he died, how did they honor his memory? By capturing and killing my parents! We all have reasons to hate the International Federation. I started the National Anti-Trainer Union with that in mind, so that people like me, who lost their loved ones to those monsters, could come together and support one another! And now, the time has come for us to realize the goal we've had since the beginning - the dismantling of that wretched International Federation!"

"If you'd like to take down the International Federation," A young female voice came from the bushes on the edge of the clearing, "There's better ways to do that than to attack their naval base."

"Who goes there?" Mikayla said as she turned to face the rustling bushes and bared her fangs. Out from the bushes stepped the busty teenage Texan, clothed in her elaborate grass-type Pokemon-inspired dress.

"I remember you," Lucas recalled, "You're from the rally in Fort Worth... Victoria James."

"At your service, Mrs. President and Mr. Vice-President." She bowed.

"Explain yourself," Mikayla had no desire to be any kinder now that she knew the identity of the newcomer, "What is this other way we can take down the Federation?"

"It seems as though, recently, some of the federation's top agents have been pursuing a new goal," Victoria explained, "I became aware of this goal while investigating the house of one of the police cadets involved with the Gottenski case. It turns out that the cadet was an agent of the International Federation in disguise."

"And you got him to tell you about their new goal?" One of the other untransformed Demi-Pokemon asked eagerly.

"No, actually, he knocked me unconscious," Victoria cleared her throat to show her disappointment with herself, "But I woke up some time later, and another Federation agent was walking around me. I kept my eyes shut and stayed still to fool him into thinking that I was still unconscious. While he was examining the apartment, he mentioned that he was looking for something, or someone, called a Super Demi-Pokemon."

"A Super Demi-Pokemon?" Mikayla asked, "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Neither had I," Victoria responded, "So I trailed him for a little while. After he left the cadet's apartment, he found a dark alley to hide in and made a phone call to one of his fellow agents."

"And what did they talk about?" Yet another eager NATU official asked.

"I really hit the jackpot listening in on this phone call. The other agent had just found out some new info about the Super Demi, and this guy had a habit of repeating parts of what his fellow agent was saying."

"So what did you learn?" Mikayla was becoming impatient.

"There's twelve of them," She held up her hands and stuck up one finger from one hand and two from the other, "Three of them have awakened, and they've identified a fourth."

"Awakened? What does that mean?" One of the NATU officials preemptively asked the question on all of their minds before Mikayla could ask it in a ruder way.

"I don't know that much," Victoria said apologetically, "But if we can learn more about these Super Demi-Pokemon and why the International Federation is after them, we might be able to use them to our advantage." After the youth finished speaking, everyone remained silent, awaiting their president's verdict regarding the plan.

"Alright," Mikayla finally decided, "It's indirect, but it could work. Everyone, you're dismissed. I want you to do everything you can to learn more about the Super Demi-Pokemon, and report back to me if you find anything."

"Right!" The faithful union officials bowed.

"As for you, vice president..." The president turned to face her husband, "We're going to have a little chat."



Manhattan, New York

After about half a day of preparation, the psychedelically-robed psychic and nervous crime witness were ready to depart from the apartment that the latter had not left in a week. Despite his wishes, Cecil had been convinced to conceal a gun under his shirt for self defense.

"The note told us to go to warehouse #12 near the docks," Nendomaru informed his companion, "They picked the most clichéd crime location possible, it seems."

"What if it's a trap?" Cecil asked worriedly, "An ambush?"

"It's obviously a trap," Nendomaru replied, "That's why you've got that gun."

"A-Are you sure about this?" The hazel-eyed Italian was discomforted by the Asian's statement.

"Relax. I won't let them capture you." Without another word, he telekinetically opened the heavily bolted door and walked into the hall, followed hesitantly by Cecil.



It was dark. It was the night of the new moon, so there was barely any light shining down from the sky. Most of the streetlamps surrounding the concrete docks were flickering or broken, so there was very little illumination. The pair cautiously approached the intimidating metal warehouse. Above the large cargo door, "12" was painted in big black letters. The two men walked up to a small door that stood alongside the cargo door, and, Nendomaru put his ear to it to hear what noises were coming from inside.

"It's silent," He concluded after several seconds, "Let's go." He quickly opened the door and snuck in; the reluctant Italian followed closely behind. The warehouse was darker than the docks outside. Even with a little bit of light shining through the open door, the pair couldn't see two feet in front of their faces.

"It's too dark, we should..."

"Shh," Nendomaru hushed Cecil, "Be quiet." He snapped his fingers, and they began to glow with a bright purple light that illuminated everything within a ten foot radius. It was a typical warehouse; there were crates everywhere. Not a soul was to be found, however.

"They're going to ambush us, I just know it..."

"I said be quiet!" The psychic Demi-Pokemon repeated, "Follow me." They crept slowly through the warehouse and approached the side opposite where they had come in. The crates, stacked almost to the ceiling, created a maze of sorts, so the duo was forced to make many twists and turns in their path.

"We're almost to the back." The Asian informed the Italian. He turned another corner and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Hello there." The rat-faced fedora-wearer greeted him. Icy wind sprayed from his palms, giving the man in the purple robes little time to react. The little time was enough for Nendomaru, however; he conjured a shield of psychic energy to block the attack and retaliated with beams of violet energy shot from his fingers.

"Oh, crap, oh, crap... I knew it was an ambush..." Cecil stepped back a few feet, but hit something. He looked up to see the face of the bald mafia member.

"What's up, kid?"

"You...!"

"I hope you remembered my name this time." He wrapped one arm around Cecil and positioned the other so that its hand's palm faced the ground. A jet of water shot out of the palm, and he and his bounty were propelled into the air. He landed on top of a row of crates and began to run along them, effortlessly carrying Cecil under his arm.

"Let me go!" The crime witness exclaimed. He struggled to reach for the gun tucked under his shirt, but his arms were in a position that did not allow him to withdraw it.

"Sorry," Ponzio said, "Gotta take you to the Don first."

"Cecil!" Nendomaru shouted, noticing that his friend's friend had been captured.

"Focus, focus!" Malvolio exclaimed maniacally, reminding the psychic to concentrate on the battle at hand by launching several large icicles from his hands.

"Tch..." The psychedelically-dressed Asian countered with lasers emitted from his fingers, "Why do you want that kid so badly?"

"Because the Don wants him," The fedora-wearer replied, "And if the Don wants it, we get it for him."

"You're just mindless drones." Nendomaru said accusingly.

"Watch your tongue." Angered by the comment, Malvolio slammed his fist into the floor. Miniature icebergs shot up all around Nendomaru, trapping him in an icy prison. The mafia member clenched his other hand like a fist, and the icy projections came together, freezing their prisoner in a solid block of ice.

"Heh, heh, heh..." The rat-faced man snickered, "Another one bites the dust."


---
Note: Reference Timeline: Spain #1-Tuesday night, Dallas-Tuesday night, Spain #2-Tuesday night/early wednesday morning, somewhere in the central US-early wednesday morning, New York-early wednesday morning. Yeah... lots going on into the wee hours of the morning =P.
Note: Yeah, I think it's safe to say I've kinda stopped taking timezones into consideration in terms of the chronological order of things. Ah well.
Note: If Victoria's math isn't adding up, keep in mind that she eavesdropped on the conversation earlier on tuesday - before Damian or Cristal had awakened, but not before Damian had been identified.

Oh, and by the way, the title pattern is, indeed, just that they all start with 'Re'.

 

[charmander rox]

This is just plain awesome.

Now we have five. Seven more to go...

 

[meditite rox]

I think Cecil is a Super Demi

 

[charmander rox]

Naturally. All of the main characters are probably Super Demis. Why? Because they are the main characters!

 

[Burninating_Torchic]

Chapter Seventeen: Return​

Madrid, Spain

The deep blue shark-like dragon stood in the center of the hall, staring down the still untransformed Demi-Pokemon with the bandanna over his face. The two Demi had been fighting for nearly an hour, and both were breathing heavily.

"I can't take much more of this..." Gaspar thought, "I hope that the princess has reached safety..."

"Jajaja!" Despite being short of breath, the man with the thick accent was still able to laugh heartily, "It's been a fun fight, but it seems as though our time together is drawing to a close."

"What?" Confused, Gaspar looked at what little of the man's face he could see and realized that the intruder was looking behind the bodyguard. The latter turned and saw Cristal, in her human form but with glowing pink hands, entering through the doorway she had used to escape.

"Princess!" He shouted, "Get out of here!"

"Gaspar?" She asked nervously, "Is that you? You're a... Demi-Pokemon?"

"Princess, what about you?" He asked, equally concerned, "Your hands are glowing... what does this mean?"

"It means that fool Iñigo did something right for once... and now it's time for me to finish the job." He held out one of his arms, and even though she was at least twenty yards away, Cristal was lifted off of her feet and came flying towards him.

"Excellent, you're still wearing that microphone we hid in your dress," The government agent snickered as the princess continued to fly helplessly through the air, "It's made using Probopass hairs, you know. They're the most magnetic substance in the world."

"Princess!" Gaspar ran towards the man with the magnetic hands and prepared to attack.

"Sorry, too slow," The man said as both Gaspar and Cristal drew within two yards of him, "Explosion." Suddenly, massive amounts of nuclear energy radiated forth from his body as it exploded into millions of pieces. White-hot energy filled the hall, engulfing both the princess and her bodyguard completely and giving them no chance to defend themselves.



Giza, Egypt

In a flash of light, the head of the search branch appeared once more in the golden underground burial room. There were fewer people moving about than usual, but her cloaked superior remained, as always, watching over Daieoskail like a statue. As soon as she appeared, Gardenia noticed that both spheres in the two-sphere row farthest from her on the stone slab were glowing: one glowed bright pink, and the other, somehow, glowed an eerie black.

"Damian Spiner and one other have awakened." She said, both to alert the cloaked man to her presence and to make it clear that she knew the meaning of the glowing spheres.

"Indeed." Her superior replied.

"Would you like me to identify the other one?"

"There is no need," The disguised man replied in his usual detached and wise tone, "The being of the full moon has been identified as the crown princess of Spain. She has been incapacitated and captured, and will be brought into our custody in a matter of hours. We have more important matters to attend to. Of the five great beings that have awakened, we have succeeded in capturing only one."

"We have Megan Bishop, as well."

"I have not lost confidence in your abilities as a searcher, but as of now, she has shown no signs of being one of the twelve. We are continuing to monitor her, but so far, we have been unimpressed. She appears to be nothing but an ordinary girl."

"I'm sorry." Gardenia apologized for her apparent failure.

"What is important now is that we double our efforts, and find all the others before they can awaken. Do you think you could try to identify two beings this time, instead of one?"

"I'm getting more and more used to Daieoskail's power," The fair-skinned woman replied, "I can try." She walked over to the stone slab, and, as she had done several times before, placed her hands upon it. Shimmering rainbows of words circled around her head, and even as they moved, they were clear to her. Her head did not pound, and her knees did not buckle. She was completely accustomed to the ancient tablet's power.

"Luna Delarose. Milwaukee, Wisconsin." She said after less than a minute of word searching.

"Excellent," The cloaked man nodded, dismissing one of the few other people in the room, "Can you find a second name?" Gardenia's eyes clenched tightly shut as she attempted to increase her level of concentration. It felt as though Daieoskail was trying to push her away, as if to tell her not to be greedy, and to come back another time. Her symptoms from the first time she had identified someone using the artifact began to return, but she pushed on. Suddenly, her eyes shot wide open, and she fell back onto her rear end. She was breathing heavily and sweating.

"Are you alright?"

"I- I'm fine," The mother of one replied, "I guess it won't let me identify more than one of them at once."

"Very well," The cloaked man said with a small sigh of disappointment, "If you can stand, you are dismissed. Please return when you feel that you can identify another of the twelve."

"I understand," Gardenia said as she stood up, "Thank you, sir." In a flash of light, she disappeared just as she had appeared.

"I fear that Mrs. Bennet's services are not working fast enough," The cloaked man said to no one in particular once Gardenia had disappeared, "It is true that they are reliable and accurate... but we do not have time to wait for her to recover after every identification."

"What do you suggest?" One of the few plain-robed men in the room asked.

"Perhaps the best way to capture these... 'Super Demi-Pokemon', as some of my subordinates are calling them... is to alert the public to their presence."

"Are you sure that's a wise idea? Won't that just cause chaos?"

"If the reports regarding Groudon and Kyogre's awakenings were true, then it seems chaos is ideal for awakening these great creatures."

"I suppose..."

"Inform every news broadcasting station in every country. We'll flush the rest of them out of hiding... and the prophecy will be realized."



Miami, Florida

"You're under arrest for causing a disturbance in the galaxy!" On the television screen, a colorful character dressed in clothes decorated with moons shouted and held up a badge of some sort.

"Who are you?!" A character obviously designed to look evil asked in a fit of outrage.

"We're... the Lunasol Star Patrol!" Another character, dressed in an outfit with the sun as its theme, replied.

"Yeah!" Jinn shouted, "Go Lunasol Star Patrol!"

"Alright! You get him!" Next to the young boy sat a dark-skinned man who appeared to be in his forties and wore a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. He shouted and cheered, just as enthusiastic as his son. As the evil-looking character on the television began to speak once more, a ringing sound came from behind the sofa on which the father and son sat.

"Oh, it's the phone," The older of the men stood up from the sofa and walked in the direction of the ringing, "I'll get it."

"Hurry up!" The younger exclaimed, "You'll miss the big fight!"

"I'll try to!" He turned the corner, walked into the kitchen adjacent to the room with the television, and picked up the plain white telephone attached to the wall.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Aggrey?" A female voice spoke frantically.

"Gardenia? What's wrong?" The father spoke softly so that his son could not hear him over the sound of the television.

"It's Jinn."

"What about him? He's right here with me, watching TV."

"No," She replied, "Remember that special assignment I'm on that I told you about?"

"Yeah, identifying those twelve special humans. What about it?"

"Jinn's one of them."

"What?" Aggrey was barely able to keep his voice from rising, "Are you certain?"

"I've never failed a search before, Aggrey."

"What about that young girl, Megan Bishop? You told me that you identified her using that stone tablet thing, and she hasn't transformed yet."

"But she could still be one of them," Gardenia's voice was distraught with stress and worry, "And so could Jinn. We can't take any chances, Aggrey. I don't know what they're planning on doing with these twelve... but it can't be good."

"Alright," The husband said after a few moments of silent thinking, "What are we going to do?"

"I'm coming home right now. They've identified some of the others without my help... we need to do everything we can to make sure they don't find him somehow... I think we should run."

"Isn't that a little extreme?"

"It's our son, Aggrey! Aren't you concerned about his safety?"

"Of course I am, but... if we run, and they catch us, Jinn won't be the only one in trouble."

"I'm really scared, Aggrey... I don't want them to take him from us."

"They won't," The man in the horn-rimmed glasses said confidently and with strong determination, "I'll make sure of that."



Dallas, Texas

Uriel sat on a beige couch, facing an average-sized television screen mounted on the wall. Gousuke and Hayato sat in comfortable-looking armchairs on either side of the couch, but neither one was paying much attention to the television; the former was half-asleep, and the latter was looking around the room. Various symbols of the Christian faith could be found everywhere he looked, from crosses of all sizes and materials to miniature statues of religious icons like the virgin Mary. The noise of banging pots and pans and a sizzling stove could be heard coming from the next room.

On the television, a man was walking back and forth on a stage, speaking into a microphone clipped to his t-shirt. Occasionally, the off-camera audience responded to what the man said with no small amount of laughter. The teenager on the sofa, too, laughed along with the television audience.

Suddenly, the screen changed abruptly. The youthful comedian on the poorly-lit stage disappeared, and in his place, there was now a venerable, wrinkly-faced old man with gray hair. He wore the traditional attire of a cardinal of the Christian church: a black simar with red buttons, a red sash around his waist, a red zucchetto, and a silver cross on a chain around his neck. He stood behind an ornately designed lectern, and was all but surrounded by men in suits who were obviously security guards. Bars of text scrolled along the bottom of the screen, but the contrast of white letters on a red scrolling bar made them virtually illegible unless one paid special attention and concentrated on them. Larger, more easily readable text, appeared over the lectern for a few seconds: "Cardinal Bishop Manuel Aquae".

"Hey, mom!" Uriel called, "Cardinal Aquae is on the TV!"

"Oh?" Paige appeared from the kitchen and walked over to where he son sat. She crouched down, rested her head on the edge of the couch, and stared at the television.

"Good evening, my fellow Christians," The man spoke in a dignified manner, "I apologize to those of you at home whose television broadcasts I have interrupted, however, I believe that you will find that my announcement takes precedence."

"Must be something really important." Uriel said casually.

"We are all familiar with the wretched abominations of nature known as Demi-Pokemon." Both cheers for the cardinal and exclamations of disgust for his subject of discussion could be heard coming from the off-camera crowd on the television. "I regret to inform you that there is now a new breed of the horrible creatures roaming God's precious Earth."

"Hm?" Uriel tilted his head out of curiosity. He looked behind him to check his mother's reaction, and found that the emotion she was displaying was quite different from his: she was gripping the edge of the couch with both of her hands, and her face was wrinkling out of anger. "Mom, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," She replied as she tried to wash away the emotions on her face, "It's just..."

"I know, mom. It's okay."

"These new Demi-Pokemon," Manuel began to speak again, "Are being referred to by the International Federation as Super Demi-Pokemon. They are incredibly dangerous, and the International Federation seeks to capture them as quickly as possible." More booing was heard from the television crowd.

"I know that some members of the Christians Against Pokemon and Evolution think the International Federation to be hypocrites, and dislike the thought of working with them," The crowd's jeers grew louder, "But now is not the time for personal feelings to affect your judgment. The Super Demi-Pokemon must be found and turned in to the International Federation. If they are allowed to roam free, it will mean the end of the world as we know it!" The crowd went wild. After several minutes of the cardinal's security guards trying to calm them down, finally, it was relatively quiet once again.

"There are twelve Super Demi-Pokemon in all," Manuel began again, "But make no mistake, their small numbers do not make them any less dangerous. One of them has been taken into custody already, and four more have been identified. All four of them are somewhere in the United States of America. Here are their faces." With a wave of the cardinal's arms, four pictures appeared on a white screen behind him: the faces of Grayson, Kayden, Rachel, and Damian.

"Ohhhh dang," Uriel gasped and pointed at the television screen, "The one in the upper left is Flint's brother!"

"Seriously?" Paige asked in disbelief.

"I gotta go call Flint!" The teenage boy leaped from the couch and ran out of the room.

"This concludes our special announcement. Pictures of the four Super Demi-Pokemon can be found on the Christians Against Pokemon and Evolution official website." A monotone voice came from the screen, and several seconds later, the television returned to broadcasting stand-up comedy.

"Paige..." Hayato spoke up, "I didn't want to be rude and interrupt earlier, but... are you okay?"

"Oh, you mean about earlier?" The woman sighed, "Yeah. I'm fine. I get worked up whenever someone mentions Demi-Pokemon."

"Why?" Before Paige could answer, Hayato added a polite remark to his question, "Oh, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine," The mother stood up, "It's just... my husband was killed by a Demi-Pokemon."

"I'm so sorry!" Hayato responded instantly.

"It's okay, Hayato-kun. Really..." Her eyes shifted to the ground, and it was obvious that she was thinking about something. Moments later, an alarm from the kitchen interrupted her silent thoughts. "Oh, dinner's ready! I hope you're hungry!" She bolted from her place and headed for the kitchen.

"Mmm..." Aroused by the smell of food, Gousuke awoke from his light sleep, "I'm starving." Hayato sighed and looked at the floor.

"You're always starving, you big oaf."



Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Jimmy, Rose, and Dart stood next to Dart's large vehicular Pokemon in the middle of a Subterra lot. The lot was on the edge of Rose's neighborhood; it was not uncommon for a neighborhood to have its own lot that serviced everyone living there. Although it was supposed to be for everyone in the neighborhood, its location was inconvenient for many residents, and even the residents closest to it had to walk through a wall of trees to get to it.

"I'm gonna call Sabrina before we go," Jimmy said as he pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket, "She said she had band practice today, but I want to make sure she got home safely."

"Dude, come on," Dart rolled his eyes, "Don't you think maybe you're being too overprotective of that chick?"

"I don't want her to get captured by the government!"

"Neither do we, but we aren't calling her every ten minutes!" The boy in the light green t-shirt turned to his female friend for support, "Right, Rose?"

"Hm?" She looked up from the ground which she had been staring at, "Oh, yeah. Right."

"Are you alright?" Jimmy took a break from dialing numbers into his phone, "You seem kinda... out of it."

"N-No, I'm fine..." The girl shook her head, and her gaze returned to the ground once again.

"What's the matter?" Dart tilted his head and asked.

"It just feels like..." Suddenly, a shard of ice fell at an angle from the sky and landed just in front of Rose's foot, interrupting her sentence. All three of the teens turned to see a pair of women near the edge of the Subterra lot approaching them. One wore a heavy blue snow jacket, and the other wore a light green tanktop and a miniskirt.

"Tell me, young man," The one in the winter jacket spoke in the cracked yet wise voice of an old woman, "Who is this 'Sabrina' you're talking about, and why might she be captured by the government?"

"What?" Jimmy was shocked that the pair had been eavesdropping from so far away, "Why do you..."

"Relax!" The younger of the approaching women exclaimed, "We aren't here for this 'Sabrina' chick, Mr. Overprotective."

"What do you want?" Dart asked angrily as he pulled a Pokeball off of his belt and prepared to throw it.

"Her." The woman in the tanktop casually pointed at Rose.

"What?" Rose stumbled backwards out of surprise.

"I don't know who you are, but you picked the wrong trainer to mess with! Let's go, Crobat!" He threw the Pokeball in his hand into the air, and his purple four-winged bat Pokemon appeared. It and the previously released Onix zoomed towards the oddly dressed pair, the former in the sky and the latter on land.

"Bad choice!" Beverly exclaimed almost maniacally. Razor-sharp leaves that glowed several colors shot from her hands and cut into Onix's rock-hard body, causing the Pokemon to fall to the ground, defeated. Meanwhile, Gloria, too, held up her arms, and icy bullets shot from the tips of her fingers. The bullets hit Crobat and froze parts of its wings on contact, causing it to fall to the ground.

"Onix! Crobat!" Dart returned his defeated Pokemon to their Pokeballs.

"Now then," Gloria said as she and her partner continued to draw closer to the teenage trio, "Luna Delarose, you're under arrest. Please come with us peacefully so that no one gets hurt."

"What? Why?" As she asked these questions, Rose began to slowly walk backwards in hopes of increasing the distance between her and her would-be capturers.

"Come on, girlie!" Beverly shouted in a tone of voice that still bordered on maniacal, "Don't make us do this the hard way!" She made an upward gesture with both of her hands. Suddenly, pink flower petals sprouted from the ground behind Rose, who was still walking backwards.

"Rose! Look out behind you!" Jimmy shouted. It was too late; by the time the girl turned around, she had already walked into the government agent's trap. Hundreds of pink petals shot up out of the ground and began to dance around Rose as if she was at the center of a high-speed tornado.

"Ah!" She screamed.

"Try not to move, darling," Beverly cackled, "Wouldn't want that pretty little skin of yours to get all cut up."

"This isn't good," Dart thought aloud, "They're Demi-Pokemon. Regular Pokemon aren't going to do anything against them."

"Then what do we do?" Jimmy asked frantically.

"Life-or-death situations like this are supposed to trigger the awakenings," Gloria told her partner, "Should be any minute now."

"Want me to cut her a little, see if that speeds things up?" Beverly asked with a maniacal grin.

"I have a better idea!" A deep male voice came from above. All eyes looked up to see the silhouette of a large winged creature flying overhead, its color and exact shape masked by the brightness of the setting sun. Fire rained from above and burned all of the petals surrounding Rose but completely avoided singing the girl herself.

"Who are you?" Beverly asked, extremely annoyed that her attack had been so easily defeated.

"I am the great one's return to a place long forgotten in order to sort out his thoughts. I am the being of Yang. I am Ho-oh!" With several mighty wing flaps, the creature descended, revealing its form as it landed next to Rose. It stood over twelve feet tall, and resembled a primarily red phoenix with a white underside. Yellow tail feathers extended from its backside, and a yellow crest resembling a peacock's rose from its head. What was most remarkable about the magnificent bird was that the feathers extending from its red wings glowed all seven colors of the rainbow.

"Well, you're not the girl we were told to capture," Gloria remarked, "But you're one of the twelve beasts all the same. Beverly!"

"Yeah, got it!" Beverly quickly waved her hands, and countless flower petals rose from the ground all around the rainbow-winged beast. Gloria took in a deep breath and then exhaled, blowing a flurry of snow and ice crystals towards the new target. Ho-oh merely flapped its wings, and all of the flowers and ice crystals melted away.

"Tch," Gloria cursed under her breath, "We're at a type disadvantage, and these things are powerful enough to cause us trouble even without that. We need to fall back."

"No way!" Beverly replied, "We've found one of the twelve Super Demi! If we beat it, we'll get promoted to the highest level for sure!"

"This is not the time to think about promotions!" Gloria shouted in an aggravated tone, "Our lives are in danger if we fight this thing without backup!"

"Don't be such a scaredy cat! I could take this stupid bird with my eyes closed!"

"Beverly, don't be a cocky fool! As your superior, I order you to retreat!"

"Please," Beverly laughed, "You can't order me to do anything! I'm not some human punching bag that'll do whatever her superiors say like Leanna was." Gloria's pupils dilated upon hearing the name at the end of her junior's sentence.

"Don't you ever talk about Leanna like that, you insubordinate whelp." Without warning, she snapped her fingers, and icicles shot up all around Beverly, much to the surprise of the other three humans and the Demi-Pokemon standing several yards away from them.

"We'll be back for you." She said in a still-aggravated tone as she pulled a small cube out of her pocket. She raised the cube into the air, and in a flash of violet light, both she and her frozen-in-place partner disappeared.

"What... the heck just happened?" Dart asked, incredibly confused.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Jimmy replied, equally puzzled. They both turned to see their female friend petting the phoenix-like bird's beak.

"Hey, Rose, be careful!" Jimmy exclaimed, "Just because it saved you from those agents doesn't mean that thing's..."

"There's something... familiar about this Pokemon," Rose's eyes were closed, as if she was in a trance, "Its scent... I remember it from somewhere." She removed her hand from the Pokemon's head, and suddenly, it shrank to about half of its original height, and its wings receded into its back. As its feathers gave way to human skin and clothing, Rose looked up at the face of the man that now stood where the Pokemon had.

"Luna..." The albino man said in a deep but gentle voice, "Is that you?"



----
Note: Reference Timeline: Spain - very early wednesday morning, giza - wednesday midday, miami - wednesday, dallas - wedensday evening, milwaukee - wednesday evening
Note: A simar is like... a clothing item. Google it. And a zuchetto is a type of hat.
----

And even though PokeGym doesn't allow them in signatures... the banner.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2636/holdenbanneraf7.png

 

[charmander rox]

Nice banner.

In this fanfic, does Explosion literally cause the user to blow up into smithereens, never to be seen again?

 

[Burninating_Torchic]

Yes.
I try to combine real-world physics with the bizarre and fantastic properties of Pokemon attacks.
Explosion causes all the chemical potential energy in the user's body to be converted to nuclear energy, causing a small-scale nuclear explosion that destroys the user's body and causes massive destruction all around.
Those hit with an explosion attack at close range would certainly take heavy radiation damage (comparable to a nuclear bomb), if not killed.

 

[charmander rox]

So...

why would an ordinary battler ever want to use such a move, if it results in killing yourself and your opponent?
Electrode doesn't want to explode anymore...

 

[meditite rox]

Electrode can somehow withstand the force alive, only becoming knocked unconsious?

 

[Lucario EX]

You know, this is getting dull. It's quite obvious that Luna is Lugia, Holden is Ho-Oh, Jinn is Jirachi, and Megan Bishop is Mew. I'm not as sure about the others. The first two letters of the character's name and the Pokemon's name being the same is BORING. C'mon BT, how stupid do you think the average Pokegymer is?

EDIT: And Cecil is Celebi. Your banner makes it even more obvious :/.

 

[Burninating_Torchic]

You know, it's *kind of* the point that people should be able to guess who's who by now, at least in part.
This isn't a primetime drama, for pete's sake (Where did that expression come from, anyways?). While it was nice to keep the Super Demi shrouded in mystery for a while, I'd rather make it so people can speculate and make educated guesses and predictions about what's going to happen. Forgive me for not being as good as the average television show when it comes to balancing mystery with predictability.
Frankly, the mystery of who's a Super Demi shouldn't be the only exciting aspect of the story anyways.

 

[charmander rox]

This is actually WAY better than the average TV show.

 

[Burninating_Torchic]

Chapter Eighteen: Remembrance​

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

As the bird Pokemon shrank and its wings receded, feathers turned to skin and cloth, and the form of a tall, pale-skinned man stood before Rose.

"Luna..." The albino spoke gently despite his naturally deep voice, "Is that you?"

"You're..." Rose stared into the man's red eyes, and an expression of shock appeared on her face, "I don't believe it... Holden?"

"Holden?" Dart asked, equally surprised, "You mean your brother? The one that was kidnapped when you were a baby?"

"How do you even recognize him?" Jimmy asked. It was evident by his tone that his question was one of surprise, not of skepticism.

"Those eyes... and his pale white skin... I'm sure its him." Rose stepped forward and put her arms around her long-lost brother's waist, who responded by putting his arms around her shoulders.

"I can't believe it, Luna..." Holden seemed to be at a loss for words, "You look... just like the picture."

"Picture?" The younger sister looked up.

"I've been looking for you for years now," The older brother explained, "Yesterday, I met an age progression specialist, and she drew a sketch based on a baby picture of you I had." He broke his arms away from the hug in order to retrieve the drawing from his pocket and show it to his sister.

"Wow, it really does look like me," She said softly after gazing at the picture for a few seconds, "But how did you find me so quickly?"

"I just had a feeling that you'd be here."

"And... what about... that bird you transformed into..." The girl's concern was audible in her voice, "You're... a Demi-Pokemon?"

"I really don't know how it happened," The older sibling replied, "I had never been a Demi-Pokemon before. But when I was entering our neighborhood on my Dodrio, I saw those women attacking you, and... I heard a voice."

"A voice?"

"It asked me if I wanted to save you... and the next thing I knew, I had transformed."

"Yeah, but what was that thing?" Dart interjected, "I've never seen anything like that before!"

"Maybe..." Jimmy said thoughtfully, "Maybe it's one of those new Super Demi-Pokemon they're talking about on the news."

"A Super Demi-Pokemon?" Dart asked, "Aren't there only like, twelve of those in the entire world? And we know one of them?" His excitement was boiling over, "That... is so... awesome!"

"Just try to be a little more quiet about it than you were about Sabrina..." Jimmy said, putting his hand to his forehead and sighing.

"Oh yeah," Dart said in a hushed voice, as if to compensate for his previous yelling, "Sorry about that."

"I can't believe that I finally get to meet you after all of these years." Rose said with a warm smile.

"Do you still live with mom and dad?" Holden asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah! They'll be so happy to see you!" Rose exclaimed. She eagerly ran a few yards toward the edge of the Subterra lot. "Come on, this way!"

"What about your friends?" Holden asked, ever polite.

"Don't worry about it, we were just dropping her off at home anyways," Dart replied, "We'll let you guys go."

"Well, it was nice to meet you..." The albino paused, "What were your names?"

"Dart."

"Jimmy."

"Nice to meet you, Dart, Jimmy. I'm Holden... though I suppose you already figured that out," He turned and began to walk in the direction that his sister was moving, "I'll see you again soon, I hope?"

"See ya." Jimmy waved briefly.

"Later, dude." Dart tipped his head. As the pair of siblings disappeared into the foresty wall that divided the Subterra lot from the neighborhood it serviced, the boy with the headband tied around his arm reached for a Pokeball on his belt.

"Oh, dang!" He realized, "Onix got knocked out in that fight!"

"You're hopeless," Jimmy sighed, "Guess we'll have to walk to the Pokemon Center."

"Ahh, man..." Dart groaned.



Dallas, Texas

Flint and Michelle sat side by side, with several feet between them, on top of a tall brick wall that marked the boundary of their school's grounds. Their legs dangled off the edge of the wall, but their feet were still about a yard off of the ground. It was dusk, and they were virtually alone on the school grounds, save for the group of kids smoking illegal substances at the back of the school.

Flint was talking on his cellular phone, and Michelle was watching the changing expression on his face, with a look of concern on her own.

"Are you sure?!" The boy exclaimed.

"Yeah, dude," Uriel replied, "You can check CAPE's website. It's a picture of Grayson."

"Oh, man... and he hasn't been back home in a couple of days... I better call him."

"Yeah, probably should."

"Thanks for the heads up, man." Flint pressed a button on the cellular device to end the phone call.

"Is everything alright?" Michelle asked, concerned.

"It's my brother," Flint turned to her and said solemnly, "They're saying he's one of the Super Demi-Pokemon."

"Oh my god," The female replied, "That's terrible." Of course, the young government agent already knew of this fact; she had witnessed her friend's brother's transformation firsthand. She knew, however, that even the slightest hint that she already knew about the predicament could give her away, so she acted as surprised as Flint had.

"He should be with his friend Kayden," Flint hopped off of the wall, "I'm going to give them a call. I'll be right back." He walked alongside the wall for about twenty yards, then turned a corner. Once he had disappeared, Michelle decided to take advantage of her solitude and made a phone call of her own.

"Tyler?"

"There you go, calling me by my actual name again."

"Were you aware that the identity of the Super Demi-Pokemon we encountered has become public knowledge?"

"Yeah, just happened today. The boss decided to... oh, yeah, I was supposed to tell you about that. Right. Sorry 'bout that."

"Why do they even report information to you? You never bother to remember it."

"I've got seniority," Tyler replied matter-of-factly, "Or, if you wanna use those agent numbers you used to be so fond of, mine's seventy-four less than yours."

"Whatever," Michelle was uninterested in her partner's mockery, "How are we supposed to effectively capture them, if everyone in the world is after them now?"

"Oh, yeah, I knew there was something else I was forgetting to tell you. The Asian one - Kayden, or whatever his name is - is a cop. We can track him using his badge, if he's got it on him."

"Finding him isn't what I'm worried about. I've already..." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Flint coming back around the corner, "Look, I'll call you back when I know more."

"Hey, wait, what are you..." Michelle quickly ended the phone call and returned her phone to her pocket.

"What's up?" She asked as Flint approached the section of the wall where she was sitting.

"They already heard about the news," Flint replied, "And Uriel forgot to mention that Grayson's friends Kayden and Rachel are both Super Demi, too."

"Seriously?" Michelle continued her act of ignorance, "What are the chances of that?"

"I don't know, but it's true. They're hiding, now, because they're afraid of being found and turned in to the government."

"Where are they hiding?" The girl asked in a tone of curiosity and concern, as if she had no ulterior motive for knowing the location of the Super Demi-Pokemon.

"He wouldn't tell me," The boy answered, dismayed, "He said that they can't risk it."

"Oh... I'm sorry..."

"Screw it," Flint said, aggravated, "I'll find him, whether he wants me to or not."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I don't know. But somehow, I will." He turned and began to walk away from the school.

"Can I come with you?" Michelle asked as she jumped off of the wall.

"Yeah," Flint replied unhesitantly, "If you want to."

"I do." She walked up beside him.

"Thank you." They faced each other. For several seconds, all was quiet. Then, slowly, they drew their heads closer together, and their lips met.



Miami, Florida

Gardenia stood just outside the doorway of her luxurious house, wearing her casual clothes and an overstuffed backpack. Aggrey stood inside the house; there was no backpack on his back, but there was a solemn look on his face.

"Are you sure you're sure about this, Gardenia?" He asked in a serious tone.

"I'm positive. I have to make sure they don't get him."

"We can't expect them to believe you just died all of a sudden. They'll use other searchers to see if you're still alive."

"And they won't find me anywhere, confirming that I'm dead," The wife replied confidently, "I'm the head of the search branch. Other searchers can't locate me."

"What about Jinn? What if they search for him?"

"Why would they? They have no reason to suspect him of anything."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"It's our only hope, Aggrey," She paused, "You know what to do, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'll tell them the news after you leave."

"Hey, mom! I'm ready!" Jinn came walking down a staircase near the door, wearing a backpack as overpacked as his mom's on his own back.

"Are you going to tell him the truth?" Aggrey whispered while his son was still too far up the stairs to hear him.

"No," Gardenia whispered back, "As far as he knows, we're just going on vacation for a little while."

"And what if your plan does succeed? Isn't he going to wonder when you're coming back home?"

Gardenia sighed, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Jinn reached the bottom of the stairs, and walked over to where his parents stood in the doorway.

"Alright, buddy, let's go." Gardenia smiled at her son.

"Bye dad!" The boy gave his dad a hug, then excitedly ran out the front door.

"Good luck." Aggrey said with a nervous sigh. He kissed his wife goodbye, and she walked outside, following Jinn to the edge of the driveway, where she released a pair of passenger-carrying quadrupedal Pokemon. After the pair had disappeared down the suburban street, he walked over to the nearby telephone mounted on the wall and dialed a number on its keypad.

"Hello, boss?" He spoke into the phone, "It's agent four-zero-one-zero. There's been a terrible accident."



Outside of Dallas, Texas

The members of Retrodark and their contest-winning companion sat on the floor of a cold, damp, dark cave, amidst a maze of stalagmites. Shawn was frantically pacing back and forth nearby. The band's tour bus, instruments, and other stage crew members were nowhere to be found.

"This is lame," Damian complained, "Why the heck are we hiding in this cave? It reeks."

"Because, idiot," Wes sharply retorted, "You're on the I.F.'s most wanted list. We had to ditch the rest of the crew and all our stuff to save your sorry butt."

"Shut the heck up." Damian stood up and walked deeper into the cave in order to be alone.

"Are you sure this cave is safe?" Percy asked, "I could've sworn I saw a ranch farther up the mountain."

"The ranch is gonna be closed for at least a couple of weeks," Wes explained, "A herd of Tauros went wild up there and totally wrecked the place. Besides, one of Shawn's psychic Pokemon is masking the entrance, so people outside can't see it."

"Alright," Shawn approached the four people that were still sitting, "I just got off the phone with my friend. He's going to sneak food and other necessities up here for us. You all are so lucky I'm you're manager..."

"Are you sure he's trustworthy?" Wes asked skeptically.

"Absolutely," Shawn replied, "Hank's a member of NATU. He'd never turn a fellow Demi-Pokemon in. He trusted me enough to tell me his secret, I trust him enough to keep ours." It was obvious that the phone call had taken a lot of stress off of the band's manager, for he was speaking in a much more relaxed manner than usual.

"NATU? The National Anti-Trainer's Union?" A hint of disgust was evident in Wes's voice, "We're associating with them now?"

"You're Demi-Pokemon hiding from the government," Shawn replied, "You're practically members."

"Hey," Howard interjected, "Do you know how high up in NATU this Hank guy is?"

"He's in the president's inner circle." Shawn replied proudly.

"Do you think, maybe..." The drummer scratched his chin, "Do you think he could get us a meeting with the president?"

"Why?"

"I'm thinking, if anybody would know how to help us out of this mess, it's NATU's president," Howard explained, "And I'm sure the leader of an organization dedicated to taking down the I.F. wouldn't mind meeting with someone the I.F. is going out of their way to look for."

"I'll see what I can do." Shawn retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and walked back over to the area where he had been talking on it before. Before he began to dial a number onto its keypad, he called back to the group sitting on the floor. "Hey, somebody go make sure Damian isn't looking for a back exit, or something."

"I'll do it." Wes said unenthusiastically as he sluggishly stood up from his sitting position.



Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Beverly sat with her legs extended in front of her at the peak of a tall, grassy hill. From where she sat, she could see entire neighborhoods stretching out in any given direction from the recreational park whose boundaries the bluff was within. At the foot of the miniature mountain there was various playground equipment, and children of varying ages were playing under the protective watch of their parents.

"I'm disappointed in you." The young woman did not need to turn her head to know that her partner was walking up behind her.

"Yeah, what's new."

"You were too reckless. We were at a disadvantage, the smart move was to fall back."

"Weren't you paying any attention in New Mexico?" Beverly's voice showed no signs of viciousness, and actually sounded as if she was somewhat apologetic for her behavior, "That's how I am in battle. I can't help it."

"In New Mexico, we had the advantage. There was little to no risk," Gloria's voice, too, had lost the critical edge it had possessed the previous day, "Yesterday, you could've gotten both of us killed."

"I told you," She raised her voice out of distress, "I can't help it! It's like... it's like another person takes over when I start fighting."

"It's those drugs," Gloria was sympathetic for her partner, "They gave you more power than any top-ranked agent, but at such a cost..."

"It's my own fault. I chose to sign up for the experimental trial. I knew there might be side effects."

"No... it wasn't your choice. You never choose anything in this federation... you don't choose your partner, you don't choose your assignments, and you don't choose your fate."

"Hey..." Beverly said after a minute of silence, "I'm sorry about Leanna. About what I said, and about what happened."

"Don't be. It's not your fault," Gloria sighed and smiled weakly, "You know, you kind of remind me of her. She was concerned about her appearance, and her status in the federation, just like you... and when she was younger, she loved fighting, too. Even before we joined the federation..."

"No sense dwelling on sad memories," Beverly stood up as she tried to comfort her partner, "Let's go back there and make a good one - capturing that Super Demi."

"We can't be rash like yesterday," Gloria wiped her eyes, "We need to call for backup first. Ho-oh alone was strong enough, if the girl transforms too..."

"Ho-oh isn't with the girl," The younger partner said with a confident smirk, "My subordinate's been spying on them since this morning. The girl's alone with her two trainer friends. We'll sneak up on them, and capture her before she knows what's going on. There'll be no risk."

Gloria let out a small chuckle, "Just like New Mexico?"

"Just like New Mexico."



The trio of friends walked along a path of woodchips that ran through a poorly-illuminated forest. Dart had suggested that they go to the Virtucade, but Rose had wanted to remain close to home, so they had decided to take a walk in the nearby recreational park. With the exception of the three teens, the nature trail was empty; due to its winding paths and damp ground, it was not a popular location to be until late at night, when young hooligans would take refuge under its treetops and engage in illegal activities.

"So, where's Holden?" Jimmy asked.

"Oh, geez, are you going to be as protective of him as you are of Sabrina, now?" Dart asked sarcastically. Rose giggled, then answered the question.

"As expected, my parents totally freaked out when he came home. They've been spending every minute of every hour with him since last night."

"You didn't tell them about... y'know... did you?" Jimmy's eyes hinted at a bit of concern.

"Of course not. And he promised he wouldn't tell them, either."

"That's good." The boy wearing the unzipped red jacket walked ahead of his friends and began to walk backwards so that he could talk to them face-to-face.

"Hey, speaking of Sabrina, I didn't see her in school today," Dart said thoughtfully, "Shouldn't you be going crazy by now?"

"Hah, hah, funny," Jimmy replied sarcastically, "I talked to her yesterday. She said she thought she was coming down with a cold, and that she was probably going to be home sick." As he continued to walk backwards, he did not notice that several pink flower petals were mixed in with the dull twigs and leaves on the path ahead. Before any of the teens noticed it, Jimmy had fallen into the government agent's trap. Countless petals rose from the ground and began to spin about him like a tornado.

"Jimmy!" Rose shouted.

"Aw, I got the wrong one," Beverly's excited and slightly lunatic voice came from the treetops above, "Better than nothing, I suppose."

"You!" Rose exclaimed as Gloria walked out onto the path from behind a tree, "What do you want?!"

"We've come to fetch what we failed to capture yesterday," Gloria explained, "You."

"You'd better let him go..." Rose said nervously, "Or I'll call my..." She paused, realizing that the agents might not yet be aware of her relation to Holden, "... that bird, again!"

"Nice try, sweetie," Beverly leaped from her high perch and landed gracefully on the ground, "But we know he isn't with you right now. No one's going to save you... so just come with us." She snapped her fingers, and pink petals rose from the ground around rose, trapping her in a windy, flowery vortex identical to the one holding Jimmy captive.

"Don't even think about it." Gloria said, noticing that Dart was reaching for a pair of Pokeballs on his belt.

"Dang..." He returned his hands to their resting positions.

"Alright!" Beverly shouted, "I'm not going to make the mistake of hurting the girl and triggering her awakening... but there's no reason I can't kill her friend!" Her eyes shone bright with bloodlust.

"Wait, Beverly!" Gloria held out her arm, as if to stop her partner. It was too late.

"Don't you dare hurt him." Rose said in a commanding voice that was only half her own.

"No!" Gloria cursed, realizing what her comrade's foolish threats had done.

"I am the great one's remembrance of how and why he first became great," Rose continued in her supernaturally aided voice, "I am the being of Yin. I am Lugia!" Rose's arms grew into large ivory wings with five finger-like appendages at their edges, and as they grew, a tremendous amount of wind was generated and blew away the feeble flower petals. Her body soon followed in transformation, becoming silvery white on top with a blue underbelly. Her neck extended, a long tail grew from her backside, and her body continued to grow until she was over seventeen feet from her head to the tip of her tail. She resembled some sort of cross between a dragon and a bird, with a streamlined appearance, save for some black spike-like protrusions running down the length of her back and at the end of her tail. Once she had finished transforming, Rose flapped one of her wings lightly, and a powerful gust of wind blew away all of the petals surrounding her friend.

"Dang it, Beverly, look what you've done!" She looked over and saw that her partner's bloodlust had not subsided at the sight of the Super Demi-Pokemon's transformation.

"Heh, heh, heh... this one doesn't look like a fire type... we've got the advantage, right, Gloria?"

"Beverly, it's still a flying type! Don't fight it!" The elder agent's words fell on deaf ears. Balls of glowing green energy appeared in the younger agent's hands, and she ran towards the draconic bird as fast as she could.

"You're coming with us!" She shouted maniacally. Lugia glanced at her angrily and opened its mouth. As Beverly drew closer, the titanic creature drew in massive amounts of air in an incredibly deep inhale. Beverly leaped into the air, preparing to punch her target with her glowing green fist. Lugia exhaled. A colossal beam of wind-based energy burst forth from its mouth, tearing the oncoming agent to shreds in an instant and drilling through the ground below her.

Gloria could only stare at the scene in horror. For the second time in a matter of months, her partner was dead. She helplessly collapsed onto the ground, crippled by the terrible sight she had just beheld. The silver avian creature turned its gaze on her, but she could do nothing to try to escape. The creature opened its mouth, as if preparing to launch another of its deadly wind blasts.

"Rose!" Jimmy cried, "She can't even move! She isn't going to hurt you!" After a few moments of consideration, the beast closed her mouth, and quickly shrunk back into her human form.

"Jimmy," She asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," He replied with a smile, glad to see that his friend had not lost control in battle as her enemy had, "I'm fine."

"What are we gonna do about her?" Dart pointed to the paralyzed woman in the winter coat.

"Let's leave her be," Rose decided mercifully, "I won't stoop to their level and be cruel to someone who's just experienced loss."

"Are you sure?" Dart scratched his head, "I mean, you just took out the other one like it was..."

"She threatened to kill Jimmy," Rose replied in a solemn and serious tone, "I'll never..." Suddenly, her legs began to wobble, and her eyes closed. Jimmy, who was standing closest to her, quickly caught her before she could fall.

"She fainted."

"Transforming and using that attack must've taken a lot out of her," Dart guessed, "We should probably take her back to her house."

"Yeah," Jimmy agreed, "Let's go." The two boys worked together to pick the girl up, putting one of her arms around each of their backs and walking off in the direction from which they had come. Gloria sat perfectly still, remaining alone on the darkening forest trail.



--------
Note: Reference Timeline: Milwaukee #1 - Wednesday Evening, Dallas - Wednesday Evening, Miami - Wednesday Evening, Outside of Dallas - Thursday, Milwaukee #2 - Thursday late afternoon
Note: Bwahaha, Pokemon Centers exist too.
Note: Even 80 years from now, they won't have a cure for the common cold. Beware!
Note: If you're wondering why I sometimes use periods in the abbreviations and sometimes not, it's like this: if I use periods, the character is spelling the abbreviation out (They say I.F. like people say F.B.I.), if not, they're saying it like a word (They say NATU like people say NAFTA).

New Banner:
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9031/rosebannerkt2.png

 

[meditite rox]

...its already there.

 

[Burninating_Torchic]

Chapter Nineteen: Reversal​

Unknown Location

"Where am I?" Cecil asked as his eyes slowly opened. His arms were tied behind his back, and his torso and legs were tied to a wooden chair. A relatively wide-ranged spotlight shone down on him from directly above, but everything outside of the light's range was completely dark.

"Can't tell you that." A voice replied from behind him. The voice sounded similar to one he'd heard before, but not exactly the same.

"Who said that?" The Italian prisoner struggled to turn his head, but his bindings made it all but impossible.

"It's me." The voice replied. Cecil heard footsteps moving from behind him, and a man in psychedelically colored robes similar to Nendomaru's walked into his line of sight. His skin tone and body structure were nearly identical to Nendomaru's, but his facial features were different, his hair was longer and shaggier, and he appeared to be no older than twenty.

"Who are you? You look just like..."

"Nendomaru Sugimori?" The young man asked, "Yeah, that stupid cousin of mine stole one of my robes. These things are expensive, you know. Soon as he comes to, I'm gonna make him pay me back for that..."

"Cousin?" Cecil asked curiously, "You're Nendomaru's cousin?"

"No, man, I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob," The man replied in a bizarre and sarcastic fashion, "Anyways, that's not what we're here to talk about."

"What, are you going to interrogate me or something?"

"Oh, brilliant deduction, Sherlock. You're tied up to a chair under a spotlight, so I must be interrogating you mafia-style," The robed man's voice was highly sarcastic, "Come on, this isn't a twentieth century gangster movie. No, I'm actually here to tell you something."

"Tell me?" Cecil was puzzled, "What?"

"I was getting to that, Impatient Irene. Huh. 'Impatient Irene.' Doesn't have quite the ring to it that 'Nervous Nelly' does, does it?" Cecil just stared at the man, thoroughly confused. "Oh, fine, fine! Don't laugh at my jokes! Everybody's a critic... alright, I'll get to the point. You ever heard of Tsuguyoshi Yamato?"

"Tsuguyoshi Yamato?"

"Yeah, that's what I said. Ever heard of 'im?"

"No."

"Cripes, you're useless," The man sighed, "Alright. Basically, he was the leading researcher on Demi-Pokemon when they first arrived. Brilliant wartime strategist for the I.F., too. Before that, he was a world-renowned player of the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Wasn't much of a grandfather, though. Died before he got a chance to give me any presents."

"Why are you telling me about your grandfather?" Nothing the man was saying was helping to make Cecil any less confused.

"Aw, come on, dude!" The youth said in a fit of mock-outrage, "All of that, and 'grandfather' is all you take out of it? Didn't catch the 'leading researcher on Demi-Pokemon' or 'brilliant wartime strategist' parts?"

"Okay, so... why are you telling me about him?"

"Because," Nendomaru's cousin replied, "Like good ol' granddad, I'm a psychic Demi-Pokemon in the employ of the International Federation. And you..."

"Wait," Cecil interrupted, "The International Federation? But... the last thing I remember, I was being captured by a member of the Italian mafia."

"Agh, you really are an idiot," The self-proclaimed psychic spoke as if he was disgusted by Cecil's lack of knowledge, "You don't get it? Let me spell it out for you. Those mafia members, they were Demi-Pokemon, right?"

"Right."

"And they didn't have to transform to use their Demi-Pokemon powers?"

"Right."

"That right there is a dead giveaway. Any Demi-Pokemon that can use his or her powers without transforming is an agent of the International Federation. Well, 'cept those new Super Demi I keep hearing about, but that's besides the point..."

"Wait," Cecil realized, "Nendomaru could use his powers without transforming."

"Really? He could?" The man seemed intrigued, but not surprised, "Dang, he must've stolen some dust when he stole my robe! I'll have to get him to pay me back for that, too."

"Dust? What dust?" Cecil decided that he was going to take advantage of the government agent's tendency to go off on tangents and learn as much as possible.

"You know, Demi-... oh, wait a minute, I see what you're doing! Nice try, but I'm not telling you any more about that. Back to the point... the mafia is under the control of the International Federation."

"What?" Cecil thought, "All this time? Did Niccolo know..."

"No, your friend didn't know," The psychic unexpectedly replied to a question that Cecil hadn't asked out loud, "Yes, I can read your mind. They don't tell underlings about their association with the federation. It'd be bad for business, y'know." Cecil was speechless.

"Alright, as I was saying before we got sidetracked," Nendomaru's cousin began again, "Like granddaddy Yamato, I'm a psychic working for the I.F. I have a nifty power, see: occasionally, random bits of useful information that there's no way I should know pop up in my brain, and lately, they've been very relevant to the I.F.'s current goal. One of those bits of information, that I got a few weeks ago, was that you're gonna be useful. And, lucky me, the boss recently confirmed that."

"How?" Cecil asked, "How am I going to be useful? Nendomaru said it, too, but I don't get it!"

"Then allow me to shed some light on the situation. You're one of the super-special Super Demi-Pokemon that the government's looking for. The being of time, as luck would have it. Guess what that means you can do?"

"The being of time?" Cecil asked confusedly, "What, does that mean I can time travel or something?"

"Bingo!" Yamato's grandson exclaimed, "Or at least, you're going to be able to, eventually. Now, let's think - you're going to be able to time travel, and here I'm telling you about how great my dead grandpa was. Can you guess what the I.F. wants you to do?"

"You want me to go back in time and find Yamato." Cecil realized.

"Right again! Man, you're Einstein all of a sudden! Looks like I'm done here." The man in the psychedellic robes walked away, and soon disappeared into the darkness.

"Hey!" Cecil shouted, "Where are you going? What am I supposed to do? Come back!" There was no answer.



Dallas, Texas

The president of the National Anti-Trainer's Union stormed up the winding path that ran up along the side of the mountain, an incredibly inconvenienced look on her face. She was flanked by Lucas, Victoria, and one of the members of her inner circle whose most notable clothing features were a pair of baggy blue pants and large orange gloves.

"This had better be worth it, Hank," Mikayla snapped, "Are you sure one of the Super Demi-Pokemon are going to be here?"

"Positive," The man wearing orange gloves replied, "You probably haven't gotten a chance to watch the news lately, but their identities are common knowledge now. There's no mistaking it, this guy's one of them."

"Who is he?" Lucas, who, like his wife, had not been keeping up with current events, asked curiously.

"Damian Spiner," Victoria answered, "He's the lead singer for Retrodark." The group of four continued to walk until they reached the end of the path, where sturdy-looking metal guard rails stood to help prevent falls.

"I don't see it, where the heck's the entrance?" Mikayla asked impatiently.

"I apologize, Mrs. President," Shawn's voice came from within the rock wall of the mountain, "Sorry to keep you waiting." Suddenly, a small section, about the size and shape of the average doorway, opened in the face of the rock. NATU's President hurriedly walked inside, the three people accompanying her followed, and the opening in the mountainside disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Inside, all four members of Retrodark and the contest-winning Chicagoan sat on uneven stump-like rocks, each in their own casual pose. The band's manager stood by the entrance to the cave, bowing his head to the NATU officials and shaking the hand of his friend. The four newcomers walked over to the area where the band sat and found rock formations of their own on which to plant their behinds.

"So, the infamous president of the National Anti-Trainer's Union shows her face to the likes of us," Wes said sarcastically, "What an honor."

"More like this woman is lucky enough to get a meeting with us," Damian responded in his usual bitter and angry tone, "Why the heck are we doing this, again?"

"Good question." Set off by the lead guitarist's comment, Mikayla stood up and took a few steps back in the direction of the cave's entrance.

"President Mikayla, please," Victoria quickly leaped from her seat, stepped into Mikayla's path, and tried to talk her out of her rash decision, "He's going to help us with your plan to take down the International Federation."

"Hmph," Mikayla snarled out of displeasure, but turned around and sat back down, "My organization's got more members than your pathetic band will ever have fans." Damian opened his mouth as if he was about to reply, but Wes spoke before his fellow guitarist could.

"I don't believe it," He said in mock-amazement, "I didn't think there was anyone on this planet as stuck-up and egotistical as Damian, but here you are."

"Hey, guys, enough!" Shawn shouted, "We're not here to fight. We're here to work together. Howard, this was your idea, tell us all what we're trying to accomplish here."

"Right," The drummer bobbed his head, "So, here's what I'm thinkin'. You NATU folks are all about takin' down the International Federation, right?"

"Yes." Mikayla replied unhesitantly.

"And we're basically forced into wanting to get rid of them to save our own butts," Howard added, "So it only makes sense that we work together."

"That's exactly what I was saying." Victoria responded.

"Now, it also makes sense that we team up with the other Super Demi-Pokemon, right? They should have the same goal as us."

"Yeah," The teenage girl nodded her head in agreement, "Exactly."

"Did you guys get a chance to see the news, to see who the others are?"

"No," Victoria shook her head, "All we know is there's three more."

"Three more they don't already have, and that's as of two days ago," Howard held up three fingers on one of his hands and two on his other, "There's one that they already caught, and by now, there might be even more. Twelve of 'em in total, but seven of those are ones that even the I.F. doesn't know about yet, or so we assume."

"So, what, do you think we should try to find the rest of them before the I.F. does?" Victoria guessed.

"Yep," Howard confirmed with another bob of his head, "We should start with the other three who we know about: Grayson Quinn, Kayden Yu-Hai, and Rachel Andrews."

"Grayson Quinn and Kayden Yu-Hai?" Victoria asked in a state of complete disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Do you know them?" Hank asked.

"Grayson is Flint's brother, and Kayden is the cop whose house I broke into!"

"I thought you said the cop was an undercover agent for the I.F." Mikayla pointed out, disturbed by the discrepancy.

"He must've lied," Victoria decided, "But... Flint's brother... what the heck?"

"Think you can get us a meeting with them?" Howard asked.

"I'll call Flint right now." The teen shot from her seat and headed for a corner of the cave.

"In the mean time, let's take some time to get to know each other," Shawn suggested, "Because we're going to be sticking together until all of this is resolved."

"This many people?" Mikayla acted repulsed, "You have no intention of moving around with the least bit of stealth, do you?"

"It's no bigger than your usual circle of officials," Hank called the president's bluff, "You just don't like the guitarist duo."

"If it's any consolation, we don't care much for her, either." Wes replied. Mikayla responded by smiling an intentionally phony smile.

"Oh, this'll go over well..." Shawn said sarcastically as he covered his face with the palm of his hand and shook his head.



Flint and Michelle stood just outside their school grounds; it had been two days and they had only moved several feet from where they started their search. Flint was drawing upon every resource he could to try and discern his brother's location, but given the circumstances, his access to such resources was extremely limited. Going to an International Federation embassy to locate Grayson and his friends psychically was out of the question. Asking just about anyone for help was out of the question, too, thanks to the public news media's nearly constant broadcasting of the trio's faces. Neither Flint nor Michelle, nor Uriel, the only other friend that Flint could trust, had a psychic Pokemon. The boy had no idea where to begin.

The male teen stomped about angrily, huffing and puffing as he struggled to think of possible help sources that he could go to.

"I'm sorry, Flint." Michelle said sympathetically. One look at her eyes made it obvious that she really meant it, too: despite her duty as an agent of the International Federation, it was as if the reason she wanted to find the three Super Demi-Pokemon truly was to help her friend. Suddenly, a ringing noise came from Flint's pants.

"It's Victoria," He said as he looked at the Caller ID displayed on the phone's small LCD screen, "Should I even bother answering it?"

"She's been gone from school all week," Michelle replied, "It could be important."

"What do you want?" He answered the cellular device rudely.

"Flint?" Victoria asked, "Hey, it's Victoria."

"I know," The boy was uninterested in smalltalk, "Why haven't you been in school all week?"

"That's actually what I was calling about... see, I'm with President Mikayla right now..."

"Pre-" Flint stopped himself, realizing that his newer friend did not know of his membership in NATU, "Why are you with her?"

"She's got this plan to take down the International Federation, once and for all," Victoria explained ecstatically, "And for it, she needs the help of the Super Demi-Pokemon."

"Take them...?" Flint continued his conscious effort to remain vague in his speech, "Is she crazy? She can't..."

"Flint, you have more reason to want this than anybody, or at least, definitely more than me. You..."

"Please don't bring that up," Flint interrupted, "But seriously... does she honestly think this could work?"

"We've already got Damian Spiner on our side, and we're going to look for the other Super Demi. They told me to call you to see if you knew where your brother and his friends are."

"I don't."

"What do you mean, you don't? It's your own brother, shouldn't you..."

"I just don't." He repeated.

"Ohh, I get it, you're with somebody who doesn't know about you, right? You don't want them to know you're talking about Grayson and NATU and get suspicious. Is it that new girl? The nerdy, flat-chested one... what was her name? Mi... Mildred? Miranda?"

"Shut up." Flint abruptly hung up his phone and returned it to his pocket.

"What did she want?" Michelle asked curiously.

"She was just being her usual dumb, jerk self." Flint replied. He began to pace again. There was yet another ringing noise, but this time, it came from Michelle.

"Sorry, this should only be a minute," She put the phone to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hey, Michelle," Tyler's voice came from the other end of the line, "I haven't heard from you in two days. It isn't like you to be so irresponsible."

"I've just been... with a friend," She, like Flint, had to be as ambiguous as possible, "What do you want?"

"Oh, yeah, that 'boy you've been befriending', right? The being of land's brother? Heh, heh, ah, that's rich."

"What do you want, Tyler?"

"Well, since you weren't making any progress, I went ahead and got a location on the I.F. standard tracking chip they plant in all the police cadets' clothes. The cop's wearing the same shoes he wears with his police uniform. And yeah, I know it's a shocker that I actually did any work, but the boss has really been on my butt about this one. Anyways, I'm sending the coordinates to your phone now."

"Really?" Michelle asked in a tone of disbelief and joy, "That's great!"

"Geez, I've never heard you this excited about a mission," Tyler seemed completely oblivious to the fact that other factors could be influencing his partner's reactions, "Anyways, I did my part, you can go make sure the cop didn't just leave his shoes in a swamp somewhere. If you find 'em, call me up. I'll be getting ready for the fight. Don't forget to call me back, now."

"Bye." She quickly hung up the phone and returned it to her pocket.

"What was that all about?"

"I think I might know where your brother is!"

"Really?" Flint's first reaction was one of hope, but it quickly turned to one of skepticism, "Wait, you told somebody about Grayson?"

"Don't worry, we can trust him." Michelle replied, not even thinking about how utterly ironic her statement was. She would deal with the complications caused by her job later; right now, the only thing that mattered was that she was going to help her friend find his brother. "Let's go!" She tugged on his arm in order to get him moving, and the two ran off in the direction opposite the school.



International Federation Worldwide Headquarters

Tears fell from Gloria's face and onto the artificial grass that covered the floor of the International Federation's Agent Cemetary. Conveniently located within the walls of the Worldwide Headquarters building, its ceiling was painted with a special paint, made from the oils of a Kecleon's scales, that changed colors to match the conditions outside, giving the illusion that it was an open-roofed room. It was a rather large room; it had to be, for it was filled with the tombstones of every agent who had been killed since the federation's founding, whether their body had actually been recovered or not.

The ice-type Demi-Pokemon, who had removed her winter coat and wore a plain outfit of a blue t-shirt and blue sweatpants, sat cross-legged in front of two adjacent gravestones. They were identical to every other gravestone in the room: plain, rectangular, gray slabs of granite sticking out of the ground. On each tombstone, only the agents' names, identification numbers, and dates of birth and death were carved out. Her eyes glanced at one of the stones:

"US Tracking Branch Agent 0470: Leanna Springfield. December 21, 2013 - December 24, 2083"

Then, they shifted their gaze to the other:

"US Tracking Branch Agent 4536: Beverly Springfield. March 20, 2053 - May 25, 2084"

"Just like your mother, even to the day you died..." She said softly.

"I thought that you might be here." Gloria turned to see a middle-aged, tough-looking man in a plain looking, tan-colored, government-issued robe, similar to the ones worn by some of her fellow agents.

"Hello, sir." She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, stood up, and bowed to greet the man.

"You certainly don't have the best luck in the world when it comes to partners, agent four-seventy-one."

"I suppose not." She replied, trying to regain the cool, calm, and detached attitude she was supposed to show in front of her superiors.

"Well, hopefully you'll have better luck with this one."

"What?" The old woman was confused, "What do you mean?"

"Your new partner assignment has arrived. You're back on the Super Demi-Pokemon mission tomorrow."

Gloria was even more shocked and puzzled than before, "Sir, what about...?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry you couldn't get a mourning break like you did after agent four-seventy," Whether he actually cared or not, the tan-robed man certainly sounded like he was sorry, "But with those Super Demi on the loose, we need all the high-ranking agents that we can get out in the field."

The seventy year old woman stood silent. She wanted to mourn her partners' deaths. She wanted to scream, and hurt the man who so cruelly was sending her back out into the field after only a day. Most of all, she wanted to quit her job. But she knew that she had to follow the very advice she had given the now-deceased Beverly: in the International Federation, you don't choose your partner, you don't choose your assignments, and you don't choose your fate.

"Anyways, you should have better luck with this new partner," The superior officer said as he turned and faced the nearby exit, "Come on out!" He called. As a figure stepped out of the doorway and began to walk towards the venerable agent and her boss, the man continued to debrief the old woman on her new partner.

"Just recruited her the other day," He explained as if he was already proud of the fledgling agent, "She's a young one. Almost as young as agent fifty-three-oh-nine... I think you encountered her in Texas. Anyways, this one should be especially helpful, given which Super Demi it is that you're tracking."

"Nice to meet you," The young girl said as she walked up and stood beside her boss, "My name's Sabrina."



Miami, Florida

Aggrey sat alone on his luxurious couch, watching what appeared to be Pokemon playing some variation of baseball on the television. His boss had seemed to believe his story of how Gardenia had been in a fatal car accident, and he had been granted a mourning leave of two months.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. He pressed a button on the nearby remote control in order to pause the television show he was watching, stood up, and walked over to the door. Standing in the doorway was his beglassed partner, dressed in his work attire of a gray futuristic suit with velvety blue edges.

"Oh, it's you," Aggrey said, as if relieved, "Didn't the boss tell you? I'm not going to be coming in to work. Yesterday... my wife was... in a terrible accident..." The dark-skinned man conjured up fake tears and put on quite a convincing act of sorrow, but his partner remained silent and stoic.

"... So, I won't be coming into work for a few months." Aggrey concluded. His partner remained statue-esque, piercing Aggrey with a look that seemed to indicate that he knew better than to believe the false mourner's stories.

"It isn't nice to lie to people, agent four-zero-one-zero." A chill ran down Aggrey's spine. He quickly turned around to discover Gardenia's full-body-cloak-wearing boss sitting on the back of his sofa.

"You! You're..."

"I am a boss who cares about his subordinates enough to know when they are dead - or aren't." The cloaked man's tone was not particularly harsh, but it did convey the feeling of superiority and condescension that came with busting a lying employee or student.

"What are you talking about?" Aggrey tried to remain calm; he was not yet prepared to take down his façade.

"Even a low-level tracking branch agent such as yourself is aware of who I am, I presume."

"Of course," Aggrey replied respectfully, "Your reputation proceeds you."

"Then it should come as no surprise to you that, despite what your wife may think, I am capable of psychically locating anyone - even the head of the United States Search Branch."

"What are you getting at?"

"Your wife is not dead, Mr. Bennet, but of course this should come as no surprise to you," He paused, "And please, do not try to act like you were not aware of this fact, as you were planning on doing."

"How did you know I..."

"The same way that I know that your son is one of the twelve Super Demi-Pokemon. Mind reading is a very, very simple task for one who has lived as long as I."

"Tch... fine. So you know that Gardenia took Jinn and ran?"

"But of course."

"Well, can you blame her?" The anger in the father's voice was growing, "He's our only son, are you surprised that she'd go to such lengths to protect him from you?"

"Not at all, Mr. Bennet," The cloaked man replied in a surprisingly understanding tone, "It is her maternal instinct. She knew that her child was in danger, so she fled. That's all well and good, but it gives us the time-consuming task of tracking her down and inevitably fighting her."

"Us?" Aggrey wondered, "You can't expect me to go with you and capture my own son."

"Of course not," The disguised man said nonchalantly, "It was my grammatical mistake, I should have clarified. By 'us', I do not mean you and I. Your partner here will be accompanied by another agent. One who is less... emotionally attached to his targets." Footsteps could be heard coming down the nearby staircase.

"How old is this kid, Aggrey? I could've sworn he was twelve, but he's still got a racecar for a bed, for crying out loud. I must've been mistaken." The man descending the staircase wore the standard government-issued futuristic robe, but his was pure black and appeared to be very silky. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and bore a strong facial resemblance to Gardenia. Like the head of the search branch, he had longer-than-average blonde hair and green eyes.

"You!" Aggrey's level of frustration and rage immediately shot up, "You call him emotionally detached? You can't send the kid's father, but it's okay to send his uncle?"

"Aggrey, you know what the difference between you and me is?" As if he was a young child, the man leaped on to the outer banister of the winding staircase and slid down it for about five feet, all the way down to the floor. "You care about foolish, trifling novelties like family. I don't."

"When I offered this mission to the top executives of the tracking branch, I was quite surprised by the head of the branch's will to participate. He isn't usually enthusiastic about such assignments."

"It should be interesting," The head of the tracking branch said as he walked towards Aggrey, "The prodigal twins, reunited again, but on opposing sides this time. Should be one heck of a battle, even though she never was much of a fighter." With an almost sadistic smile on his face, he walked right past his brother-in-law and out the open door of the house. Aggrey's partner followed him, and closed the door as he left.

"As for you, agent four-zero-one-zero," The cloaked man said once the door had been shut, "For attempting to hide a fugitive agent of the International Federation, as well as a suspected Demi-Pokemon not in the employ of the International Federation, I hereby sentence you to the only punishment befitting to an agent who commits a crime against the federation: death."



Unknown Location

"So wake him up." Cold water splashed against Cecil's face, and suddenly, he jolted back into a state of consciousness. He must have dozed off, he thought. His sleep schedule had most surely been off, for he had had no perception of time since he was captured. As his eyes opened lethargically, he saw the familiar figures of Ponzio and Malvolio standing in front of him.

"You guys..." He said wearily.

"Put on your best face, kid," The rat-faced man said, "The Don's comin'." Out of the shadows stepped a fairly short, clearly overweight man, with greasy jet-black hair and equally dark irises, who appeared to be in his mid-fifties. He wore a very expensive-looking black suit, matching pants and shoes, and a wide-brimmed black fedora. A thick brown cigar was carefully balanced in his mouth, though he occasionally withdrew it with his fingers in order to exhale a smoky breath.

"So," He spoke in an almost stereotypically thick Italian accent, "You's the kid everyone's been talkin' about, huh?" Cecil remained silent.

"Hey, kid, you talk when the Don talks to you!" Malvolio snapped. The man tied to the chair continued to refrain from speaking a single word.

"This kid's a man of principle," The Don spoke as if he understood what was going through Cecil's head, "He don't want to say nothin' he don't need to. And neither do I. Whaddo we have to do to get this over with?"

"The I.F. agents I talked to said shooting him ought to do the trick." Ponzio offered.

"Alright, that's what we'll do, then," The mafia Don turned around and walked back towards the edge of the light's radius, "Make it quick, boys." He disappeared into the shadows.

"Before we do this, I thought I oughta tell ya, kid," The rat-faced man snickered, "We caught that psychic friend of yours."

"Nendomaru?" Cecil wondered in terror while still saying nothing. Before he had time to contemplate on the matter, both of the henchmen withdrew guns from their belts.

"Wait," Cecil was suddenly eager to speak, if it would mean the sparing of his life, "You aren't actually going to-"

"See ya later, kid." The muscleman chuckled as he and his partner readied their firearms.

BANG.

"I am the great one's reversal of the tide of battle. I am the being of time. I am Celebi!"



----
Note: Reference Timeline: Everything's Friday
Note: Not that you care, but I actually did my research and looked into the future (so to speak). Using the fact that Gousuke was competing in the Natsu Basho sumo tournament (which always starts on the second sunday in may, which is may 14th in 2084, if you care) as a base, I calculated what day it'd be when Beverly died. >_<
Also: Morbidly enough, the first time I mention exactly what year it is in this story, it's on a tombstone. Scary...
Another calender related factoid: Beverly was born on the Vernal (spring) Equinox of 2053. Leanna was born on the Winter solstice of 2013. And if you haven't figured it out, Leanna and Gloria were twin sisters - hence why their agent numbers were only 1 apart (Bonus Fact: Their agent numbers are also the pokedex numbers of their Demi species!), and their birthdays are the same.
Note: Kay, so I'm not sure beglassed is actually a word. I couldn't find it in any online dictionaries, but there were a decent number of results for it on google. Could be one o' them new words. I like it. There needs to be a single-word adjective for "glasses-wearing".
Note: If you're wondering about all the calculations people have been doing regarding the IF's capturing of Super Demis (going back to the CAPE broadcast), it's as follows: Cristal is the one that they've already captured, and Damian/Grayson/Kayden/Rachel are the four they know about but don't have. This is information as of Wednesday, prior to Holden and Rose's awakenings. Megan Bishop is not being counted in any totals released by the IF, because Gardenia's boss still doubts that she's actually a Super Demi.
Note: I know I've been referring to Japanese names in the Japanese name order (Family name then given name), but that's not the case for Yamato. His family name is Yamato, his given name is Tsuguyoshi; in this chapter I put his given name first. He is also referred to (and will be referred to almost exclusively) as just "Yamato", even though that's his family name. That's because that's what everybody knows him as in the Pokemon TCG community.
Note: I am the eggman, they are the eggman, I am the walrus. Goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob. <3

Banner Update:
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/9655/cecilbannerhm0.png

 

[charmander rox]

Bit of a random walrus reference.

Now you've added Yamato into the mix. How odd.

 

[bullados]

bespectacled is probably the word you're looking for.

 

[Burninating_Torchic]

Chapter Twenty: Rebellion​

Unknown Location

It was a beautiful day. The sun shone bright overhead, and a gentle wind blew through the area to keep people cool. People of many ages and ethnicities were standing, walking, and running around a large rectangular building. Colorful balloons and other decorations depicting various Pokemon characters were plentiful.

A glint of bright green light appeared in the sky above the crowded convention center. A small, green, fairy-like creature with a comma-shaped head and a pair of translucent wings rocketed down from the sky and landed in a line of bushes beside the barbed-wire fence that marked the edge of the convention center's property. Nobody was particularly close to the bushes where the creature landed, and nobody walked towards them after the landing, so it was safe to assume that nobody had witnessed the event.

Several minutes later, Cecil stepped out of the bushes, disoriented. He brushed the woodchips, leaves, and other debris off of his clothes and tried to regain his bearings.

"Where am I?" He wondered as he looked around at the crowds of people mere yards away. Not only was he in broad daylight amongst lots of people, but the mafia members were nowhere to be found. "Did I... travel through time?" Eager to test his hypothesis, the hazel-eyed Italian dashed towards the crowd and approached the person nearest to him. It was a teenage boy with curly brown hair, who wore a black baseball cap, a green t-shirt, and a pair of tannish cargo pants.

"Excuse me," He walked up beside the boy and said, "Could you tell me where we are?"

"What do you mean, like, where in the resort complex? We're just outside the convention center."

"No, I mean, what city? What state?"

"Uh... San Diego, California." The boy was obviously slightly puzzled by the older man's lack of knowledge about his own whereabouts, but didn't make a point of it.

"And what year is it?"

"Two thousand and eleven," The boy answered, still slightly bewildered by the man's cluelessness, "Are you okay?"

"Two thousand and eleven..." Cecil repeated in his head, "I did time travel!"

"Do you need some water, or something?"

"I'm fine, thank you," He turned and saw a pair of glass doors with posters hanging all around them, "What's going on in there?"

"The Pokemon TCG World Championships."

"Pokemon TCG..." Cecil thought, "Nendomaru's cousin said that Yamato played the TCG!"

"Thank you!" The Italian exclaimed as he took off in the direction of the building's entrance.

The inside of the building was even more crowded than the outside. Just inside the entrance was a hallway, and the hallway led to a grand ballroom which was practically filled with people, tables, and chairs. On the walls, projectors displayed ever-descending green numbers on black backgrounds. Above the digital timers, the text "Time Remaining in Top 8" was displayed. In the center of the room, a three by four grid of tables was set up. Chairs were set up for three people to sit on each side of each table, but some of the chairs were empty. Almost as soon as Cecil entered the room, a young Asian man with spiky black hair; who wore an unzipped red letterman jacket, a black t-shirt, black pants, and black sneakers; stood up from one of the tables and thrust his arms into the air.

"Looks like Yamato just won." The Italian overheard someone near him say.

"That's Yamato?" Cecil asked himself, "I have to talk to him! If I can get him on my side, and take him back to the present with me... maybe he can help me fight those guys from the International Federation, and save Nendomaru!" As the Asian exited the area where the grid of tables was, the Italian headed over to intercept his path.

"Excuse me," He said, "Are you Tsuguyoshi Yamato?"

"Y-Yes, that's me." While Cecil was fairly fluent in English, Yamato's English was broken.

"Great!" Cecil exclaimed, "I need you to come with me. I can't talk about it here, but if you don't help me, the mafia will..." Yamato stared at him as if he was crazy.

"Sorry, I don't speak English." The trading card game player used his nationality as an excuse and quickly fled the apparent lunatic.

"Wait!" Cecil shouted to no avail, "Shoot. What am I going to do now?"



Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Present Day

Holden stood in the kitchen of his newly re-found family's home, sipping water out of a glass. Due to his vagrant lifestyle over the years, he was trying to make as little of an impact on his family's budget and lifestyle as possible, even though his parents' limitless happiness to see him was causing them to shower him with gifts and clothes. At present, his parents were out shopping for even more presents for their long-lost son, and his sister was out with her friends. Though an invitation had been offered to him by both parties, he had foregone them both in favor of spending time getting accustomed to his new home. From the kitchen, he could see the television set on the living room wall, which was broadcasting the only thing he cared to watch: the news.

"And our top news story today," The charismatic, well-dressed male anchor on the television began to speak, "By now, you're probably all familiar with these four faces." Damian, Grayson, Kayden, and Rachel's pictures appeared behind him.

"Well, now we have two more to add to that list." His female co-anchor added. Holden and Rose's pictures appeared, covering the entire screen and blocking out all of the other images. Holden's glass fell to the linoleum floor and shattered.

"Their names are Holden Delarose and Luna Delarose," The anchorwoman continued, "And like the previous four, they're a new breed of super-powerful Demi-Pokemon that must be caught at all costs. If you have any information about the pair, call the International Federation's hotline immediately.

"I have to warn Luna!" The albino man rushed to the telephone on the wall next to the television and immediately began dialing a number into it. Before he could complete the call, however, the ring of the house's doorbell interrupted him. He walked over to the door and peered out the peephole to see a raven-haired teenage girl standing on the doorstep. The years had made him a very trusting man, particularly of those younger than himself, so he opened the door slightly and stuck his head out.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm a classmate of Rose's, and I got her address out of the school directory," Holden's grew nervous, "And she told me I could come by today and pick something up for a project we're doing together." The pale-skinned man breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door wider.

"Come on in," He said, closing the door after the girl entered, "She isn't home, but we can go see if whatever it is is in her backpack." As the girl took her shoes off, the man quickly snatched up the nearby remote control and turned off the television so that the girl, whom he assumed did not already know of the recent news regarding him and his sister, would not discover their secret.

"You know," The girl said as she followed Holden into the living room, "You're pretty trusting of people you've never met before."

"Because I let you in? You seem nice enough, I have no reason to believe you aren't Luna's friend."

"Well, not just because you let me in," The girl replied innocently, "But because you did that even though you and Rose are on the International Federation's most wanted list." Holden stopped dead in his tracks. "I really am Rose's classmate, if you were wondering. I just happen to be an agent of the I.F., too."

"What do you..." Holden began to turn around, but before he could finish his sentence or his rotation, he noticed a single snowflake falling from the ceiling above him. The snowflake hit his forehead, and his entire body became immediately frozen in a thin layer of ice upon contact. Gloria stepped into the room.

"That was a great plan," Sabrina said respectfully, "Using an agent he hadn't seen before to lull him into a false sense of security."

"Don't you feel any remorse about it?" The elder agent asked, "Using his trust and lack of knowledge against him?"

"Of course not," The younger agent replied, "Why would I? We captured him, didn't we? Let's get him back to headquarters before he defrosts."

"Dang it," Gloria thought to herself, "How much of that drug did they give you?"



A large, tannish, dragon-like Pokemon with disproportionately small wings landed in the middle of the street in front of Rose's house. Jimmy, Rose, and Dart deboarded the massive Pokemon, walked onto the sidewalk, and waved to the teenage boy who was piloting the creature.

"Later, dude!" Dart shouted.

"Later!" The dragon's only remaining rider replied, "Up we go, Dragonite!" The bulking dragon Pokemon flapped its tiny wings, somehow miraculously managed to lift itself into the air, and flew away.

The trio of friends walked up the concrete sidewalk that led to Rose's doorstep. Before they reached the door, they noticed that a piece of white paper was taped to it.

"What's that?" Rose wondered, not remembering any such note being attached to her door when she left earlier that day. She walked up to her door, and up close, it became clear that a note was written on the paper in blue ink.

"Luna Delarose," The note began,

"I will make this short and simple. I have kidnapped your brother. He is currently being detained at the International Federation's US Headquarters in Dallas, Texas. While I hate to make this sound like a clichéd ransom note, you are fully aware of what we are capable of, and likewise, you are fully aware of our profound interest in your brother's powers. Please report to our headquarters as soon as possible, or your brother's safety will not be assured.

Signed,
Gloria Evergreen, or, as you know me, the International Federation agent whose partner you killed."

Rose's eyes grew wide.

"What's it say?" Dart asked.

"The International Federation got Holden," She replied solemnly, "And if we don't go to Texas immediately, they're going to kill him."

"Texas? How are we going to get to Texas quickly?" Jimmy asked, "Sabrina's still got a cold, she isn't going to be able to fly us there."

"Lucky for you," Dart smirked and pulled a Pokeball from his belt, "I finally decided to get a metal coat for Onix last night. He's a Steelix now, and he can travel almost ten times as fast as he could before. We'll be there by tomorrow, if not sooner."

"Thank you, Dart." Rose smiled out of appreciation.

"Let's go!" The three friends dashed down the street, heading for the nearby Subterra lot where Dart could release his newly evolved transportation Pokemon.



Florida-Georgia State Borderline

Gardenia and Jinn rode down an old, empty, two-lane highway on a pair of small giraffe-like Pokemon known as Girafarig. The riding Pokemon's fur color was split at their midsection; the front half of the Pokemon was yellow, and the back half was black. They each had a line of pink spikes running down their back and a pair of white antennae on their forehead. Their pitch-black tails were tipped with spherical objects resembling heads, complete with eerie yellow eyes and smiling mouths. Jinn's Pokemon was equipped with a saddle and reins to make it easier to control. Gardenia knew that it would have been safer and faster to teleport herself and Jinn to a safe location, but even despite the circumstances, she did not want to reveal her true job and her Demi-Pokemon status to her son until it was absolutely necessary.

Suddenly, the older of the riding duo spotted a figure in the distance, standing in the middle of the road. As she and her partner drew closer, she recognized the figure as that of a stout cat-like Pokemon.

"That's... that's Aggrey's partner!" She immediately realized. Though she did not voice her realization, she did vocalize her accompanying decision. "Jinn, we're going to get off the highway now."

"But there's no road there." The boy astutely pointed out.

"We're going to go cross-country," Gardenia said, barely managing to mask her nervousness, "It'll be fun. Come on!" She patted her mount on the head, and in response to the telepathic message she had secretly sent it, it veered off into the overgrown grass beside the highway and began to run almost perpendicular to the road. Jinn tugged on his Pokemon's reins, and it followed its fellow Girafarig.

Unfortunately for Gardenia, her plan was a failure: the rotund feline immediately noticed its targets' diversion in course and dashed after them. Despite their bulking mass, Purugly, the Pokemon species to which Aggrey's partner's Pokemon form belonged, were incredibly quick and agile creatures. The transformed Demi-Pokemon quickly gained on its victims, and by boosting its speed even further once it drew near, it overtook Gardenia before she had time to react. The mass of the Purugly's girth slammed into the frail Girafarig, and the weaker Pokemon and its rider were hurled across the ground.

"Mom!" Jinn hastily pulled on the reins to order his Girafarig to brake. As Gardenia's skid came to a halt, she realized that she had stopped at the feet of a man who wore a silky black robe that nearly touched the ground.

"How have you been, Gardenia? How's the search branch been working out for you?"

"You!" Gardenia rose to her feet as quickly as possible and leaped back in order to distance herself from the man.

"Huh. Same reaction your husband gave me." He shrugged his shoulders.

"What are you doing here?" Gardenia asked, infuriated by the mere sight of her brother, "And why are you wearing that robe?"

"Come on, I know you've been keeping yourself as sheltered as possible within the secluded little castle that is your branch, but even you must know that I became the head of the tracking branch shortly after you became head of the search."

"You... you died!"

"Is that what they told you?" Jinn's uncle seemed slightly amused, "To keep you from worrying about me? Hah! Come on, if someone with as little will to fight as you could become head of a branch, it's crazy to think that I couldn't."

"You're still talking about power and the will to fight, after all this time... you haven't changed a bit."

"Of course not!" The black-robed man smirked widely, "But I see you have. Back in the day, you'd do anything for the federation... now you're trying to run away from it. You know that we're the ones they based the new tracking branch pairing system off of, right? One that loves battle, one that loves work. But boy, if the old man could see you now..."

"Shut up, Gary..." The normally cool-tempered Gardenia was becoming extremely aggitated by her brother's taunts, "What do you want?"

"The boy, of course." Gary replied matter-of-fact-ly.

"You won't take him from me."

"Then you'd probably better go defend him." Gary nodded his head up to indicate that Gardenia should look backwards. Jinn was being encircled by Aggrey's still-transformed partner; his Pokemon had been easily knocked out and he was now immobilized by fear.

"Jinn!" The mother shouted out of concern.

"Oh, come on, it's just a run-of-the-mill government-employed Purugly Demi. You should be able to make quick work of it with your superior psychic powers," Gardenia stood still, "What's this? Why aren't you going to your son's rescue? Could it be that you haven't told the boy the truth yet?" He let out a highly exaggerated gasp of mock-surprise, "For shame, hiding your job from him, even when it could mean the difference between life and death!"

"Darn it..."

"Still not going to do anything? Alright then," Prompted by his sister's continued inaction, the head of the tracking branch decided to make his move, "Attack the boy!" Jinn cowered in fear as the Purugly Demi unhesitantly leaped forward.

In a flash of majestic violet light, the transformed Demi-Pokemon was hurled backwards by psychic power. Jinn slowly looked up to see his mother in front of him, levitating several feet above the ground. In front of her was a wide circular shield of purple psychic energy.

"M... mom?" He asked in a tone of surprise and lingering fear.

"I'm sorry, honey," Gardenia apologized in a heartfelt tone, "I lied. I don't really work for a water bottling company."

"That's more like it!" Gary clapped his hands as he passed the body of Aggrey's partner, who had fallen into a state of unconsciousness and subsequently returned to his human form, "I must say, I was even a little bit impressed by that! I knew you were powerful, but knocking him out with a single attack? You must've grown even stronger over the years!"

"Mom..." The twelve-year old was clearly still frightened, "Who's that?"

"That's your uncle," His mother answered solemnly, "My brother, Gary."

"I thought you said you didn't have any brothers or sisters," Jinn was beginning to get slightly frustrated, "Just how much did you lie to me about?"

"I thought I didn't have any either, Jinn," Gardenia replied sincerely, "I promise, I'm not lying about that."

"Well, isn't this touching," Gary mocked, "But come on, Gardenia. Enough with the mushy family reunion crap. We've got to get this show on the road." Without warning, he disappeared, and before his afterimage could fade completely, he reappeared behind Jinn. He lifted his right arm and moved it diagonally downward in a slashing motion, and a vertical wave of bright pink psychic energy generated by the motion went flying towards the young boy. With reflexes as quick as the attacker himself, Gardenia, too, teleported to a location behind her son, and blocked the incoming attack with a small, instantaneous shield.

"Good, good!" The degree of Gary's lust for battle was evident in his tone of voice, "You're almost an even match for me! But that just means I'll have to be even stronger!" His arms turned green, and sharp green blades extended from the back of his elbows.

"Tch, he's transforming." Gardenia thought. Her brother's head, lower torso, and legs became pure white, and the top of his torso became dark green. His hair also turned green and took the form of a helmet, and a grayish blue spike protruded from the center of his head, adding to the helmet-like appearance. A red horn protruded from his chest, and an identical one shot out of his back. After his transformation was complete, he let loose a pair of diagonal waves of psychic energy generated by the slashing of his now blade-like arms. Gardenia conjured yet another shield, but this time, the attacks overwhelmed her, shattered her defense, and sent her flying backwards. She recovered from the impact and halted her motion in midair just in time to avoid hitting Jinn.

"Mom!" Jinn exclaimed out of concern.

"Don't worry, Jinn," Gardenia said as her arms and hair became light green, "I'll protect you." Her robe became one with her skin, and became more flowing and elegant-looking than it had before. A pair of red spikes, almost identical to the ones that had grown on Gary's body, grew in the same location on Gardenia's. Immediately upon completing her transformation, she waved her frail green arms around, and a hemispherical shield of purple energy formed around Jinn. She waved her arms once more, and a pair of translucent bluish projectiles shot forth from seemingly nowhere at Gary. The male Demi-Pokemon slashed at the projectiles with his razor-sharp arm blades, causing them to dissipate.

The twin Demi-Pokemon began to teleport around each other in order to gain tactical advantages, and continued to launch various psychic attack at one another for several minutes. Jinn, meanwhile, could only look on in awe, unable to move as he watched the spectacular battle.

"You're not bad, sister," Gary said as he an his opponent came to a stop temporarily, "But you're still no match for me." Despite his talk, he was just as short of breath as his sister.

"I'll do whatever it takes to protect him." Gardenia said between heavy breaths.

"Yes," Gary smirked, "And that's what makes you weaker than me." He slammed his fist into the ground, and shockwaves rippled forth from the spot he punched. The ground shook violently, and massive fissures began to open up in the ground. Guided by the Demi-Pokemon's psychic powers, the fissures grew in Jinn's direction, and before Gardenia had time to react, cracks in the ground were opening beneath her psychic barrier.

"Mom!" Jinn shouted frantically as the ground fell out from beneath him.

"No!" As soon as she noticed, the boy's mother teleported herself closer to the psychic bubble, but her son had already fallen through the cracks.

"I'm sorry," Gary said insincerely, "Under normal circumstances, I would've just taken the boy and left. But since the head of the search branch didn't confirm him as one of the Super Demi-Pokemon using Daieoskail's power, well... I was ordered to make sure he really was one before bringing him in. Wouldn't want another fluke like Megan Bishop."

"What did you do?!" Infuriated and enraged, Gardenia turned back around and faced her brother.

"Just watch." The transformed Gary pointed a finger at the crater that Jinn had fallen into. A beam of glowing light blue energy shot up from the crater and into the sky, and as it began to fade away, a small white fairy-like Pokemon appeared in its center. Two yellow streamers extended from the Pokemon's back, and it wore a yellow star-shaped headdress with three teal tags hanging off of it. On the center of its chest was a curved line, which resembled a closed eye in some ways.

"I am the great one's dark side's final rebellion being vanquished. I am the being of space. I am Jirachi!" A supernatural modification of Jinn's voice echoed throughout the area.

"And there it is," Gary smiled, "Now it's just a matter of bringing the brat in." He began to move as if he was about to teleport or attack, but before he had time to complete whatever action he was preparing for, a burst of glowing white energy shot forth from the new Super Demi-Pokemon's headdress. The ball of energy struck Gary and sent him crashing into the ground.

When the smoke caused by the impact cleared, Gary had regressed to his human form, and it was obvious that he was either unconscious or dead. Jinn descended from the sky, and reverted to his human form as his feet touched the ground. Gardenia, who was levitating nearby Jinn, returned to her weaker form as well, and hugged the boy as he landed.

"Mom... what just happened?" Like the young child he was, Jinn was frightened by his transformation, perhaps even more so than he had been by his mother's and uncle's.

"It's okay," She held his head to her bossom, "Everything's going to be alright now." Suddenly, it felt as though the gravity in the area had multiplied by at least three times, and both mother and son were slammed onto the ground.

"Now, now, Mrs. Bennet," A familiar voice came from above, "Don't make false promises to the boy." Shackles composed of violet psychic energy appeared on both Gardenia and Jinn's wrists and ankles, binding each set of arms or legs together. The cloaked man descended from the sky, and landed on the ground just in front of the pair he had enchained.

"Darn it..." Gardenia struggled to break free of her restraints, but it was no use.

"Now nine have awakened... only three remain," The cloaked man said eruditely, "The time is near." In a flash of light, he, his prisoners, and the two incapacitated bodies of his subordinates disappeared from the area.



Outside of Dallas, Texas

Flint and Michelle waded through the shallow, stagnant, greenish murky water, holding their noses to prevent the repulsive smell of the swamp from entering their nostrils. Tall, ancient, moss-covered trees were everywhere, but small, annoying bug Pokemon were even more plentiful.

"Maybe Tyler was right," Michelle spoke in the off-tone voice that accompanied the holding of one's nose, "Maybe the cop did just leave his shoes in a swamp."

"Wait," Flint pointed to something behind a abnormal-looking criscrossing wall of trees in front of them, "What's that?" Sure enough, behind the unusual growth pattern of trees, there was a shoddily-constructed wooden shack.

"The radar's pointing right there," Michelle glanced at her cell phone and informed her friend, "That must be where they are!" Excited, Flint ran towards the house, splashing swamp water everywhere as he went and crawling through small gaps in the fortress-like wall of trees when necessary. Michelle followed closely behind, but stopped as soon as she crossed the tree barricade and stepped within twenty yards of the hovel.

"I... I don't think I should go any farther than this." She said hesitantly.

"What?" Flint turned around and asked, "Why not?"

"Because, they..." She paused to come up with an excuse, "They know you, so they won't be afraid of you, but they don't know me. They'll think I'm trying to capture them."

"As long as you're with me, it'll be fine. I'll just tell them you're my friend. Come on, after all, you're the one that found where they are."

"... Alright." Michelle decided after several moments of silence. Slowly, she followed her friend towards the wooden shack, all the while thinking about the possible consequences of her decision to try to convince a trio she had formerly tried to capture that she was their ally.

Flint banged his fist on the wooden door, since the old, run-down hut lacked a doorbell.

"Grayson!" He called, "Grayson, it's Flint! Open up!" After a good few minutes, the door finally creaked open.

"Flint, how did you find us?!" Grayson asked in a tone of great surprise as he opened the door slightly.

"My friend helped," Flint turned to face Michelle, who was still keeping her distance from the house, "Come on, Michelle. Don't be shy." Grayson poked his head out of the small opening he had created in the door and turned to look at the female that Flint was addressing.

"You!" The door swung open and Flint's brother stepped outside. His hands transformed into Groudon's ruby claws, and he adopted a fighting stance.

"Wait!" Michelle exclaimed, "I'm not here to hurt you!"

"That's bull!"

"Grayson, what's gotten into you? How do you know Michelle?" Flint was both confused and worried.

"Your 'friend' is one of the agents of the International Federation who caused all this mess!" Grayson replied angrily, "She used you to find us!"

"What?" Flint was shocked, "Michelle, you..."

"No, it isn't like that!" The accused agent replied, "I... Flint, I just wanted to help you find your brother! Please, believe me!"

"But... you are an agent of the I.F.?" Flint asked hollowly, "You're... you're not denying that?" Michelle lowered her head and looked at the swampy ground beneath her feet.

"I'm sorry, Flint. I couldn't tell you. But I wanted to... I really wanted to, because... you're the first person I've ever trusted. Flint, I..."

"Told you to call me!" Suddenly, the young agent's partner fell from the treetops above and landed right in front of her, "But I knew you wouldn't. I'd be proud of you, disobeying the federation for the sake of a boy, if our jobs - and our lives - weren't on the line with this mission."

"Tyler!"

"Tyler?" Flint recalled that Michelle had mentioned the name during the phone conversation after which she received the coordinates of Grayson's location, "Your partner in the I.F. is the one that told you where Grayson was hiding?!"

"What's up, ground man?" Tyler shouted and waved his hand, "Why don't you tell your friends to come on out, and we'll have a rematch!"

"Yeah!" A voice called from the treetops, "An' this time, you better believe we're gonna win!" Elliot leaped out of the trees and landed next to Tyler. Seconds later, Marcus stepped out of the underbrush nearby and took his place next to his partner.

"What the heck is going on?" Flint stammered.

"You guys, stop!" Michelle shouted.

"What's the matter, Michelle?" Tyler asked with a grin, "Don't you want to capture the Super Demi? It's for the federation!"

"But, Flint is..."

"Flint is, coincidentally enough," Tyler interrupted with a small chuckle, "One of the names on that list of regular NATU members that it seems no one but me bothered to read."

"What?!"

"So now, Sir Montague and Madame Capulet," Tyler was so pleased with his discovery that he felt the need to mock his partner's situation, "Do your family names justice... and fight to the death!"



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Note: Reference Timeline: San Diego("Unknown Location") - August of 2011, Everything else - Saturday in the present timeframe
Note: Yeah... "comma-shaped head". I couldn't think of a better way to describe Celebi's head. x_x
Note: Perhaps its just me, but I find Tyler referencing Shakespeare incredibly amusing.

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