Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Pokemon: Elemental Legacies: Olemenun Academy

Chapter 22​

It had only been ten minutes since the battle had started, and already, very few Pokemon remained to oppose David. Even though David and Geraldo had captured the titans relatively effortlessly, Chey and her allies' Pokemon were no match for them under David's training. Most of the trainers only had one or two Pokemon left, and the majority of the remaining Pokemon were greatly weakened. The only Pokemon that remained virtually unscathed was Procter's Rhyperior.
"Now, time to finish this!" David shouted. "Titans, attack!"
"Perhaps it cannot be helped, then." Procter closed his eyes and sighed. Without saying another word, he reached for the five Pokeballs remaining on his belt and threw them into the air. In a flash, his Gliscor appeared, along with a Swampert, Steelix, Nidoking, and Nidoqueen.
"Procter's other Pokemon..." Mrs. Searle gasped, "He never sends out any of them besides Gliscor and Rhyperior... He must be taking this really seriously!" Procter merely waved two fingers in front of his face without opening his eyes, and his Pokemon charged forward. Steelix dove into the ground and quickly popped up under the moving Registeel, sending it flying into the air. A well-aimed Rock Wrecker attack from Rhyperior crashed into Regirock, halting its movement by knocking it off of its feet. Regice's Ice Beam was met by an equally powerful Ice Beam from Swampert, and Regigrass' Solarbeam was stopped by a powerful Hyper Beam from Gliscor. A Megahorn from Nidoking and a Superpower from Nidoqueen easily toppled Regiside and Regiquake. The titans tried to fight back, but surprisingly, they were no match for Procter's Pokemon. Procter had the advantage, and if the battle kept going as it was, he would win.
"Enough fooling around," David held the Master Ball out in front of himself, "Regigigas, take care of these fools." In a flash, the gigantic white and yellow behemoth appeared behind the other titans, provoking nothing but looks of awe from the various trainers on the other side of the room. Its monstrous hands easily lifted Nidoking and Nidoqueen, flinging them against opposite walls. It trudged over to Swampert and Gliscor, threatening to flatten them with its giant feet. Instead, it sideswiped them with its arm and sent them flying across the room. Next, it turned its attention to Steelix, whose back was to it. It grabbed the long, snake-like Pokemon by the end of its tail and began to swing it around, knocking Rhyperior off of its feet in the process. It then let the Steelix go, sending it crashing into Swampert and Gliscor.
"What?!" Procter was nearly dumbfounded, and for the first time in a long time, it seemed that he was actually losing his cool. While Regigigas had been defeating his Pokemon, the other titans had recovered and defeated the other trainers' remaining Pokemon, leaving the trainers defenseless.
"Chey, it's..."
"I know," She interrupted her father, "It's up to me now." She stepped out of the group of trainers, passing by the unconscious bodies of several Pokemon.
"Hah! Do you hope to defeat me by yourself now?" David let out a loud chuckle. "Don't make me laugh!"
"Hyah!" Chey stabbed the ground with the white staff, and cracks in the earth spread forward from where the staff had made contact. Bright light shone from the cracks, and soily figures began to rise from them. The figures took the shapes of various Pokemon, both those that belonged to the ground-type classification and those that didn't. With a flick of their summoner's staff, they dashed forward, charging at the titans that had been weakened by Procter's Pokemon's assault.
"What is this nonsense?" David stretched his arm out. "Regigigas!" The king of the titans punched the ground, sending shockwaves of a huge magnitude rippling forth and knocking the Pokemon replicas off of their feet. As they fell to the ground, they fell apart, and the white glow inside of them faded.
"No!" Chey shouted. She lifted her staff out of the ground and stuck it straight up into the air. "Then let's try this!" Suddenly, the bodies of Procter's defeated Pokemon began to glow. The Pokemon slowly opened their eyes as they regained consciousness, and they began to move once again.
"We'll never get anywhere if she just keeps doing that," David realized, "So the solution to this problem is clear." With a snap of his fingers, all seven titans began to move towards Chey. Procter's Pokemon managed to fend off the first six, but no one stood to stop Regigigas. Chey flung her staff around, and beams of light shot from it, but they seemed to have no effect on the king of the titans. It grabbed ahold of the white staff and ripped it from the girl's hands with such force and speed that she was lifted several feet into the air before letting go. She fell to the ground, landing on her back.
"Ah!" She yelled, reaching out in vain, trying to grab the staff unsuccessfully. The large white and yellow titan effortlessly threw the staff over the back of its shoulder, and David caught it.
"Now, Regigigas, let's get what we came for!" The large titan moved toward the orange stone slab that guarded the matching altar.
"No way!" Paris began to run toward the titan as if to try and stop it, but he hit a glowing, semitransparent wall. He turned to David and saw the boy's Gallade and Serafimask standing in front of him, creating a box around Chey and her allies with their psychic powers. All eyes turned back to Regigigas as it slowly but surely lifted the stone slab that could supposedly only be moved by the power of the orange staff. As the majority of the opening was revealed, the slab crumbled, unable to handle the pressure exerted by Regigigas. The large titan Pokemon slowly repeated the process on the other five slabs, opening all six of the rooms that contained altars. The other six titans entered the opened rooms, and moments later, exited them, carrying the entire platforms from the centers of the rooms that the altars rested on.
"Later, suckers!" David laughed as he exited the room, followed by the small army of large titans. Gallade and Serafimask exited the chamber last, allowing their master and the titans to get far enough away before the box that they had created faded due to the distance between it and them.
"No!" Mrs. Searle exclaimed. "They got the altars!"
"And Chey's staff, too!" Paris added.
"What are we going to do now?" Various students and Gym Leaders asked, very worried.
"At any rate, we should make sure that they do not get the black and white altars, too." Procter decided as he regained his calm and cool composure that he had lost when his Pokemon were defeated. The trainers returned all of their unconscious Pokemon to their Pokeballs and quickly exited Victory Road from the north exit, heading for the Pokemon League building.

Matt and Nosfrostu stood alone on the small circular landmass known as Zen Island. It remained unchanged over the years; its abnormally colored grass still gave it the appearance of a Yin Yang, and the black and white altars still rested opposite eachother in the Yin Yang's small circular sections. On a small patch of grass that stuck off of the island and disfigured its nearly perfect circular shape stood the ninth altar, where Nitroneutra had been summoned fifteen years ago. The fact that it had appeared meant that all eight staves were active, so Matt and Nosfrostu knew that they had to defend the altars with their lives.
"Who should we be on the lookout for?" Nosfrostu asked her companion.
"A couple of young boys. One of them carries a sword on his back." Matt answered.
"Right." Nosfrostu nodded her head. Suddenly, an unidentifiable fiery object came crashing down from the sky, creating a lot of smoke as it hit the ground. When the smoke cleared, its form was easy to identify.
"Vampyro!"Matt exclaimed. In the center of the island, between him and Nosfrostu, stood the latter's counterpart and brother. Vampyro's entire body was ignited with white-hot flames, and his fiery shuriken were equally hot and similarly colored.
"Hello... sister. I suppose you know why I'm here..." He pointed to the white altar that sat behind Nosfrostu, "If you don't hand it over... I'll kill you." As Vampyro glared into her eyes, Nosfrostu saw no traces remaining of the Pokemon she once knew as her brother. The fiery vampire had truly been driven mad by the desire for the staves' power, and he was willing to go as far as killing his own sister to obtain it.
"Matthew... stay back." Nosfrostu approached her brother, "I know you want revenge... but this is my fight." An intense, frigid white aura burst forth from Nosfrostu's body, and as she conjured her icy chakrams, they grew both in size and in power. She closed her eyes, and when she reopened them, there was no cornea, iris, or retina. Instead, a pure, icy blue light shone forth from her eye sockets.
"Fine... we will settle this now." Vampyro blinked his own eyes, and a similar transformation took place, but the light that shone from his eye sockets was red and demonic. In an instant, both vampires disappeared, moving so fast that they were invisible to the human eye. All Matt saw were two fast-moving blurs that constantly collided with eachother in midair whenever they became visible.
"Tch... there must be something I can do!" Matt thought aloud.
"Well, you could try keeping your eyes on the altars, but I suppose it's too late for that now, isn't it?" Matt turned to see a young boy with the black staff in his hand standing near the white altar.
"You...! You must be..."
"The one and only." Stephen grinned evilly as the black staff began to glow.
"You won't take these altars!" Matt ran towards the boy, but by the time he swung his staff, Stephen had disappeared. He reappeared behind the wielder of the orange staff, and wasted no time, sending dark projectiles from the tip of the black staff. Matt narrowly dodged the attack by jumping into the air, and as he fell back towards the ground, he swung his staff at Stephen. The boy easily countered with his own staff and stood his ground, not moving a single inch from the force of the attack.
"What?!" Matt was shocked. Stephen flung him away, and he landed perfectly on his feet, but he could not get over the shock that the boy had been able to block his attack so easily.
"You're wondering how I blocked you so easily, even though your staff makes you a master of physical combat... aren't you?" Stephen inquired. "You're forgetting that I was trained by a man who accomplished that feat on several occasions."
"Michael... I knew that style looked familiar." Matt gritted his teeth. "Alright then... how about this?!" He disappeared, moving with great speed. He reappeared behind Stephen, but the boy had predicted the attack. A wall of dark energy rose up behind him, blocking the attack from the orange staff.
"Honestly, did you think that that would..." Stephen looked up, and surprisingly, Matt was already descending upon him from above. The boy quickly rose his staff, generating a shield of dark energy that blocked Matt's aerial attack just in time. Matt somersaulted backwards, landing on the ground a few feet away from Stephen.
"Now, normally I'd take that staff of yours, but I've already got enough to carry." Stephen laughed as a dark portal opened behind the white altar. The suction force that it generated began to pull the ground around the altar apart, and soon, the altar itself was sucked into the vortex. Matt helplessly looked around as two more portals appeared behind the other two altars on the island, absorbing them as well.
"No!" Matt rushed towards Stephen one last time, but the boy disappeared, reappearing in behind him.
"So long!" Stephen waved the black staff, and a final vortex appeared, allowing him to escape into it. Matt ran towards the dark portal that Stephen had entered, but just before he reached it, all four of the vortexes disappeared.
"No!" Matt slammed his staff into the ground, frustrated. He looked up and saw that the vampiric siblings were still fighting, but they were obviously getting tired, as their movements had slowed to a point where Matt could see them.
"Give it up, Nosfrostu! You cannot defeat me!" Vampyro exclaimed as he slashed at his sister with one of his shuriken.
"Vampyro... please, listen to me!" Nosfrostu replied as she countered with one of her chakrams. "You have to snap out of this!" Vampyro glanced down, noticing that the altars were gone.
"My job is done." The male vampire unexpectedly started flying away from the island, heading southeast.
"What...?" Nosfrostu looked down, noticing the absence of the altars. "No!"
"We have to follow him!" Matt exclaimed. He was already on the back of his Staraptor, ready to fly. "If they're not planning on summoning the Elemental Pokemon from the right locations, they must be going to Team Rocket's Headquarters!" Nosfrostu nodded. The pair began to fly in the direction that Vampyro had, putting all of their effort into flying fast enough that they would not lose sight of the fleeing vampire. Matt whipped out his cell phone, quickly dialing the phone number that Mr. Procter had given him.
"Mr. Procter! The altars of Hydreath, Oxyglife, and Nitroneutra have been stolen from Zen Island!"
"They have? Damn..." Procter paused, taking a moment to think, "The other six altars have been stolen as well. Do you have any idea where they might be going?"
"The only place I can think of is Team Rocket's Headquarters!" Matt replied.
"Hmm... Yes, I agree. We'll meet you there." Procter hung up his phone and immediately announced the situation to the rest of his group. The large group, whose ranks now included the Elite 4, quickly scurried out of the building, releasing their recently healed flying Pokemon and taking to the skies.

A dark portal opened in the doorway of the computer room in Michael's mansion, and Stephen stepped out of it, his Duskarrion by his side as always. Hector was busily typing on several computers at once, and looking to various screens throughout the room.
"What do you want?" He asked bitterly without turning around.
"Just came to check on how things were going."
"I'm not about to tell the likes of you."
"Hey now, you don't have to be so nasty about it." Stephen said sarcastically. He walked up behind Hector and looked at some of the screens.
"Hmm, looks like it's progressing quite well. However..." He rose his staff to the back of Hector's head, "I'm going to need you to finish in the next hour."
"The next hour? Why? That's impossible!"
"Our enemies are on the move. The final battle is approaching rapidly."
"Our enemies? What the heck are you talking about? Your enemies, maybe, but not mine!" Hector was getting angry and losing his usual calm and sarcastic attitude. "That's it, I'm through with this. I'm just going to turn myself in, and let them expel me. It's better than doing whatever the heck you expect me to do."
"I'm sorry to hear that." The black staff began to glow with an intense dark aura, and the violet feathers atop Duskarrion's head began to glow similarly. A dark hand shot from the tip of the black staff and grabbed onto the top of Hector's head. It sunk into the computer genius's head, and his eyes went blank.
"Now... finish the project."
"Yes sir." Hector began typing even more rapidly than before, rushing to finish his assignment in the time that Stephen had ordered.

Bobby and Elissa had been flying through the Chasm Mountains, heading northwest, when they received a call from Matt. He had told them to meet him at Team Rocket's Headquarters, so they had to change direction and go south.
"Crap... this means that they got the altars." Bobby said, annoyed and slightly angry.
"Then... aren't we just helping them by going there?" Elissa wondered. "If all eight staves are gathered there, then the altars will..."
"That's why we have to stop them before the altars get set up," Bobby explained, "Besides, in the event that the Elemental Pokemon are summoned, it's seven against one. The chances of him getting all of our staves and placing them on the ninth altar are slim to none," He tilted his head back and looked to the sky, "Heck, Michael and his staff might not even be there."
"I guess you're right." Elissa agreed. She kicked her Togekiss lightly, signalling it to move faster. The two flying Pokemon sped towards Balankou City, where they would meet up with the rest of the trainers that would fight alongside them against Team Rocket.

"They took the staff!" Omar exclaimed. The Elemental Six had returned to their hidden home, only to discover that the Draconic Knights had seen through their strategy and taken the white staff.
"What the heck are we going to do now?" Twitchy asked with a twitch.
"We're going to take it back." Ryan held up his right hand and dressed it in a white glove, the same glove that Jacob XII's mother had used to steal the white staff from Mr. Catalano fifteen years ago. As he equipped his left hand with the orange glove that he himself had worn fifteen years ago, the others put on their own gloves. They then proceeded to exit their home and send out their flying Pokemon, taking to the skies and heading for Balankou City.
"It's time to take those fools down." Ryan said confidently.

Michael sat alone in a small white room, presumeably in Team Rocket's Headquarters, propped up against one of the walls. There were no windows or doors; the only way to get in or out of the room was with a teleportation power like Stephen's. All of Michael's Pokemon had been taken from him, but he had been allowed to keep the gray staff.
"This room is lined with ten feet of rubber and teflon," Stephen had taunted, "You won't be able to do anything with that staff of yours." Michael had tested this theory several times, and it had always proven to be true.
"Tch... that little punk," Michael thought aloud, "He's just being used by the knights... they probably offered him revenge, or the ability to get his girlfriend back, or something..." His eyes drifted off, "He doesn't know how lucky he is... his girlfriend just dumped him..."

"Thank you all for coming." The old man at the podium at the end of the center aisle bowed and walked away. Behind the podium was a long, black, open coffin. In it laid a young girl with long, blonde hair. She was dressed in beautiful, white silk garments, and held a bouquet of roses in her arms, which were positioned to hold the flowers to her chest. Pictures of the girl decorated the area, along with countless flower arrangements. A boy of thirteen or fourteen years, the same age as the girl, wearing a black suit and dressy black pants, walked up to the coffin, grabbing the edges of it with his trembling fists. Tears fell onto the edge of the casket and dribbled down the side as the boy wiped his face with one arm, trying to stop their flow.
"Michael... are you okay?" A woman in her thirties or fourties wearing a black dress walked up beside the boy.
"I'm... I'm fine," The boy struggled to speak between sobs, "How... how is Selena?"
"She doesn't understand any of this," The deceased girl's mother replied, "She's only three. We'll have to explain it to her when she's older... but for now, she is blissfully unaware of what has happened."
"But... she was there... how could she not..." The young Michael began.
"She just... doesn't understand what happened. I don't know how to explain it..."
"I guess... maybe it's good that she doesn't understand." Michael decided as he wiped more tears from his eyes. He walked away from the casket, walking down the main aisle in the center of the room. As he approached the door, a man in a brown trenchcoat and a deerstalker hat stepped in his path.
"Excuse me, son," The man with the detective-like appearance said, "Are you Michael Stephens?"
"Y-yeah..."
"I was told that you were a witness to the death of Shayna Muun. Would you mind telling me what happened, exactly?"
"Wh-what?" Michael was startled by the abrupt and blunt question.
"Have you no dignity?" The man who had given the speech at the podium had overheard the detective's question. "This boy is grieving the loss of his dear friend, and you wish to reconjure the painful memories of what happened? He already gave his testimonial."
"Sir, do you honestly expect me to believe that a flock of wild Fearow..."
"It has happened before," The old man interrupted the detective, "Now get out of my funeral home."
"Sir, it's very important that..."
"Do not make me call security. Get out of my funeral home." The white-haired man repeated himself. The detective scowled, but left the room as he had been told.
"I'm sorry about that, boy," The funeral home's owner turned back to Michael once the detective had left, "If there's anything I can do to make it up to you..."
"It... it's fine." Michael replied.
"Alright. Peace be with you." The man walked away, leaving Michael to exit the room alone.
---
Note: Yeah, you probably don't remember, but Michael's last name is Stephens. The only other time it was mentioned was in Chapter one of the original EL. And no, it's not a coincidence that Stephen from ELOA has the same first name as Michael's last name. Well, you probably didn't think it was. If you did, you're t3h st00pidz.
 
Yay! Increasing doom for Hector! I do hope something positive comes his way soon... *cough cough*
 
FINAL CHAPTERZ!!!1oneone1!
----
Chapter 23​

Geraldo peered into a pair of binoculars, mounted on a short silver pole, facing a mostly clear sky through a large window. The binoculars were set up in a large room that occupied the entire ninety-ninth floor of the Team Rocket Headquarters building. The rest of the furniture in the room indicated that it was a lounge of sorts. The black knight sat in a comfortable-looking red armchair near Geraldo.
"Anything?" He asked, keeping his speech to a minimum as always.
"No... not yet," Geraldo replied, "Actually... wait a minute... yes. From the northwest... it's a big group. Probably the ones that David encountered."
"Inform white." The black knight ordered.
"Yes sir." Geraldo scurried to the elevator nearby. It opened immediately when he pressed the button; the knights had probably rigged it for efficiency, as time was crucial.
"I can't believe this..." He thought as the elevator began to descend to the eighty-seventh floor, "I mean, I kinda wanted revenge on Troy when I decided to go with Hector and Stephen, but that's all I wanted... I didn't want to get caught up in something like this!" The elevator doors opened, and he walked down the long, empty hallway to the Draconic Knight's room.
"Hector... I hope he's okay... by now, he's probably snuck out of Michael's house, and gone to get help! Yeah... or maybe he knocked Stephen unconscious! Yeah, that's probably what Hector would do..." He opened the glass double-doors, and the illusion of the small, empty, white room immediately disappeared. Obviously, the white knight had disspelled the illusion as soon as she recognized that it was Geraldo.
"What news do you bring?" She asked. She now sat in the red knight's throne instead of her own, as it was more fancifully decorated. She casually sipped a soda can, something that Geraldo was shocked to see her doing instead of the blue knight, who was nowhere to be found.
"A large group is heading this way. It's probably the group that David fought in Victory Road."
"... Very well." The white knight said after thinking for a few seconds. She set her half-finished soda can on the floor and got up from her seat. She clapped her hands twice, and the glass double-doors opened. Geraldo turned to see two people standing in the doorway. The first was a tan-skinned woman in her twenties, and the second was a teenage boy with short brown hair.
"Danielle. Joe. Our guests are on their way. Is the stage set for them?"
"Yes m'am," Joe answered, "Balankou has been evacuated, and all other buildings have been leveled."
"Excellent," The knight began to walk towards the doors, and the other three people in the room stepped out of her way, "Danielle, ensure that the blue knight is at her post. Joe, round up the grunts."
"Right!" The two that had most recently entered the room left to do what they had been told.
"Um, excuse me?" Geraldo shyly asked.
"What is it?"
"Why are those swords mounted against the wall? What happened to their owners?" Geraldo pointed to the back wall, where the swords of the red and yellow knights were mounted. Above each of them was a Pokeball, containing that knight's dragon Pokemon.
"Ah... do not worry about that." The white knight walked over to the wall and removed the two Pokeballs. She placed them on her belt next to her own dragon's ball, and began to walk towards the door.
"Oh, I almost forgot..." The white knight stopped walking as she approached the boy, "Call Stephen. Find out where he is."
"There will be no need for that." Stephen's voice echoed through the room as a dark portal opened near the thrones. Stephen stepped out, with Duskarrion on his shoulder, but the portal did not disappear.
"Ah, Stephen, good," The female knight looked around, "Where is...?"
"Right here." Stephen snapped his fingers, and Hector stepped out of the portal. Geraldo immediately noticed that his friend's eyes were blank and that a faint dark aura surrounded him.
"Hector!" Geraldo exclaimed as he ran towards the college student.
"Now, now," Stephen waved the black staff slightly, and a wall of dark energy rose between Geraldo and Hector, "Don't worry. Hector was being noncompliant... I merely had to... point him down the correct path."
"What the heck are you talking about?!" Geraldo shouted. "Noncompliant? Listen to yourself! What happened to you? When we started out to find Michael... well, there was comradery between us! We were... we were friends! But now, you're acting like you're his boss!"
"Geraldo..." Stephen looked to the boy, then shot a quick glance over to the white knight, who nodded her head. "You will thank me for this later." The black staff began to glow, as did the feathers atop Duskarrion's head. A dark hand shot from the tip of the staff, and before he knew what was going on, Geraldo was under Stephen's control.
"So, did he complete the project?" The white knight asked as the wall of dark energy faded.
"Yes. Just now." Stephen replied. Hector's arm rose, and in his hand he held a Pokeball. Instead of red, the top of the Pokeball was black, with neon yellow lines running around it in intricate patterns. In the center of the front of the ball was a neon green V.
"Excellent," The white knight began to walk towards the door once again, "David should already be outside."
"Right." Stephen understood that he was to find the boy with the sword. He quickly walked over to the doors, opening them for the white knight and allowing her to exit before him. He then exited the room, followed by Geraldo and Hector.

The large group of students, teachers, and Gym Leaders landed in a small clearing just outside of Balankou City.
"This is it," Mrs. Searle announced, "Is everyone ready?" Various verbal responses as well as nodding heads indicated that the group was.
"Then let's go!" She exclaimed. The group walked down the short dirt path surrounded by trees that led from the clearing to the city. When they reached the other end of the path, however, they were shocked by what they saw.
"Wh... What the heck?!" Tess shouted. Where many buildings had once stood, there was now nothing. The Pokemon Center, the PokeMart, the Gym, and even the residential houses were all gone. The only building that still stood in the dirty, desolate wasteland was the Team Rocket Headquarters building, on the opposite side of town, ominously facing the group of trainers. Arranged in two lines in front of the entrance to the lone building were eight of the Elemental Pokemon's altars, with the ninth nowhere in sight. A huge dust cloud blew through the air, causing many of the trainers to shield their eyes. When the dust subsided, an army of Rocket grunts stood in front of the group. Behind them was the gigantic white and yellow behemoth, Regigigas. Both of its arms were outstretched, with its palms facing up. In its right palm stood Joe, and in its left was David.
"You! What did you do to Balankou City?!" Tess yelled furiously.
"We merely... made it more suitable for battle," David replied with a smirk, "But don't worry, its residents are all safe. They've been... temporarily relocated to Mizaqua City."
"You..." Tess was very upset by the destruction of her hometown.
"Where is Chey's staff?!" Paris asked demandingly.
"Why, it's right here." David reached into his sheath, and instead of pulling out his sword, he retrieved the white staff. "But, as you may have guessed, I have no intention of giving it to you until the others get here."
"That isn't up to you..." Paris responded, "Because we're going to take it by force!" As Paris spoke, all of the trainers released their Pokemon. In response, Joe waved his arm, signalling the myriad grunts to send out their Pokemon as well. The two armies dashed forward, engaging their opponents in combat.

Suddenly, after roughly ten minutes of battle, an enourmous fireball fell from the sky, landing right in the middle of the army of Rocket-owned Pokemon. The powerful flare singed even the most flame-resistant Pokemon, taking the vast majority of the army out in an instant. All eyes turned to the sky, and none were surprised to see Bobby and Elissa approaching from the northeast. Their flying Pokemon swooped down onto the battlefield, letting them off in the front lines rather than near the back where the other trainers were. The staff-wielding duo immediately entered the fray of battle, taking out countless enemy Pokemon with the power of their staves.
"Tch... they're here sooner than I expected," David muttered, "Guess I'll have to buy us some more time." He threw the six Dusk Balls into the air, revealing the other sixth behemoth titans. Once the titanic sextet had joined the battle, David himself drew his sword and placed the white staff in the king of the titans' hand. He then leaped from his perch, landing on the battlefield. He charged forward, slashing at Bobby, who blocked with a wall of fire. The battle raged on, but it was clear that the Rocket members' Pokemon were winning, if only due to their sheer numbers.
Meanwhile, behind the front lines, the staffless trainers stood helplessly, unable to help their Pokemon in any way.
"Damn... if only I had my staff, I could help them..." Chey thought aloud, "But how am I going to get it back?"
"That shouldn't be a problem." Came an unfamiliar voice from behind. Several trainers turned to see the Elemental Six arriving on their flying Pokemon. As Elissa was thrown back to where the other trainers stood by a powerful wind attack, she noticed the arrival of the new trainers.
"You're...!"
"Don't worry," Alex interrupted, "We're here to help. And if you don't believe me..." As Alex spoke, Ryan held up his right hand. The white glove began to glow, and the matching staff floated upwards and out of Regigigas' hand as if by magic. Ryan motioned with his hand, and the staff flew towards him. Before anyone on the opposing side could do anything to stop it, the staff landed in Ryan's hand. He walked over to Chey and gave her the staff with a nod. She nodded back, and dashed forward, joining the battle.
"Damn!" David cursed, angry that he had so easily lost the stolen staff. "I need to get that back, or..."
"Don't worry about it." David turned to see Stephen floating in the air above him, standing on a small, rotating disc of dark energy. He had appeared just moments ago near the back of Team Rocket's army, and had left Geraldo and Hector under Regigigas' care.
"Stephen!" Unfortunately, David was not the only one who had noticed the arrival of the wielder of the black staff. Stephen jumped into the air just in time to narrowly avoid a blast of fire from Bobby's staff.
"Well, hello to you too." Stephen threw his own Pokeballs into the air, revealing that his Houndoom had evolved into Houndevil. It had grown to over twice its previous size, and it now had three heads, all of which bore ferocious and demonic teeth and horns. Flame designs marked its feet, and it now had three tails to go along with its three heads. Overall, it matched the stereotypical description of a hellhound fairly closely.
With Stephen's Pokemon involved in the battle, it became clear very quickly that the trainers on Chey's side stood no chance. As if Stephen's overly powerful Pokemon weren't enough, Hector and Geraldo's Pokemon as well as the Pokemon that Michael had lent to Geraldo joined the battle as well.

"Crap... this isn't good." Bobby thought. After another half hour of battle, he, Elissa, and Chey had managed to take out all of the grunts' Pokemon with the power of their staves, but the majority of his team's Pokemon had been defeated as well. Chey fell back to the back lines, disengaging from the battle so that she could focus on reviving her teammates' defeated Pokemon. She managed to bring the majority of them back to consciousness, but they were easily defeated once again by the legendary titans and Stephen's Pokemon. The titans were finally felled by the power of the staves, but Chey was becoming exhausted from using her staff so much.
"Keep the ones with the staves alive," Stephen commanded his virtually unopposed Pokemon, "But I don't care what you do to the rest of them!" The powerful Pokemon marched forward, rapidly approaching the wave of trainers. Bobby and Elissa stood to defend their friends, but they, too, were becoming exhausted.
Suddenly, an orange blur streaked through the battlefield, in between the good trainers and their would-be attackers. Before they could even begin to comprehend what was going on, the oncoming Pokemon were thrown backwards by a blast of wind. The Pokemon were greatly weakened by the attack, and were left open to a follow-up attack from Bobby and Elissa, who were quick to take advantage of the oppurtunity. The other trainers' eyes turned to the place where the blur had stopped, and discovered that it was none other than Matt.
"Matt!" Jeremy exclaimed, happily surprised to see his friend.
"You and I have some unfinished business." Matt said as he turned to Stephen. In a flash, he disappeared, reappearing in front of the youth. Stephen was completely unfazed, and easily blocked the orange staff's attack.
"Where is Vampyro?" He asked as he parried Matt's onslaught of attacks. Matt merely smirked, and continued to assault the boy.
"We caught up to him," Matt explained after several minutes of silence, "Rest assured, he won't be interfering with this fight."
"Damn..." Stephen braced himself as a powerful attack sent him flying backwards. He landed on the ground, only a few feet away from Regigigas. Joe, Geraldo, and Hector jumped off of the titan, allowing it to move forward. The army of grunts quickly scattered, allowing the powerful legendary Pokemon to approach Bobby and Elissa.
"No sweat," Bobby said, despite his heavy breathing, "This'll be easy."

The blue knight stood in a wide hallway somewhere in the Headquarters building. She stood in front of a section of the white wall that was marked by black lines in the shape of a door, even though there was no door that could be opened. Danielle and the black and white knights rounded a corner and approached the blue.
"She's here." Danielle said upon noticing the teenage girl.
"You expected me not to be?" The blue knight's question was directed more at her fellow female knight than at Danielle.
"I just wanted to make sure." The elder knight replied. She then turned to the black knight and Danielle, who had been walking behind her. "You two should join the battle. Most of the normal Pokemon are probably unconscious or dead by now."
"Right!" Danielle agreed without hesitation. She quickly ran down the hallway from which she had come, heading for the elevators. Though the black knight's eyes could not be seen, it was obvious that he was giving the white a suspicious glance. Nevertheless, he walked away, following Danielle at a slower pace.
"And what about me?" The blue knight asked.
"I was under the impression that you did not want to fight."
"You know that's not what I meant."
"Patience. Your wish will be granted once the battle is complete. For now, stay here."
"It's not like he's going to break out or anything." The blue knight said in a tone that made it clear that her mind was wandering.
"You are correct. And that is why I'd like you to give me your dragon."
"What?"
"You said it yourself. You won't be needing it," The white knight replied, "And we will need all the power we have in this battle."
"Hmph. Whatever." The blue knight removed the single Pokeball from her belt and handed it to the white, who began to walk away immediately afterwards.
"She had better keep her end of the bargain..." The blue knight muttered once the white knight had disappeared into the elevator at the end of the hall. She leaned against the wall opposite the door-like markings and pulled out her nail file, acting as bored and preoccupied as always.

The white knight stood alone in the elevator, her eyes closed. The Pokeballs of four of the five legendary dragons rested on her waist, next to her longsword's sheath.
"Soon... very soon, their power will be mine..."
Suddenly, the elevator began to shake violently. A loud crashing sound echoed throughout the elevator shaft as a hole was blown open in the top of the elevator car. When the smoke from the blast cleared, the elevator had stopped moving, and an Infernape stood in the corner opposite the white knight.
"What is the meaning of this?!" The white knight wondered. As the fiery monkey Pokemon lunged forward, she drew her longsword, and batted it away with a quick slash. The elevator doors conveniently opened just in time for the primate to go flying out of them and land perfectly on its feet on the carpeted floor outside of the elevator. There, just outside the doors, stood a blonde-ponytailed girl in a cowgirl hat and overalls.
"... You're!" Before the white knight had time to finish her sentence, vines grabbed ahold of her arms and dragged her out of the elevator. The source of the vines was a Torterra, who stood right next to the Infernape and an Empoleon and Luxray a little ways down the hall. Once the knight was out of the elevator, the car was sent flying upwards, and a Garchomp and a Staraptor jumped out of the shaft. The car, its ropes having been cut, began to plummet back down towards the ground floor once the force of Garchomp's throw had worn off and gravity had taken control.
"Miss me?" Katie asked sarcastically as she lifted the tip of her hat slightly with her thumb.
"You... I killed you!"
"Look who's stupider than a male Primeape now!" Katie exclaimed. "While you were sending out that fancy dragon of yours, Garchomp was digging a hole in your floor and then fixing it so you wouldn't notice!"
"Damn... how was I outsmarted by the likes of this girl?" The white knight thought as she struggled to break free of the grass Pokemon's vines. Though her arms were tied up, she could still move her wrists, and was able to slash through the vines using her sword. She jumped backwards, landing right in front of the elevator shaft just as its doors closed.
"Attack!" Katie commanded, pointing her finger at the knight, and her Pokemon dashed forward, attempting to catch their target off-guard before she could regain her stance.

Another twenty minutes had passed, and Bobby, Elissa, Matt, and Chey had finally managed to take the seven titans and Stephen's Pokemon down while fending off Stephen, David, and the black Draconic Knight, who had only recently joined the battle. The knight had not sent out his legendary dragon; it was almost as if he was waiting for a signal from the white knight.
"Damn... they're better than I expected," Stephen muttered as he jumped backwards to dodge an attack from Matt, "And the other two are nowhere to be found... guess it's unavoidable." He turned to where Geraldo, Hector, Danielle, and Joe stood.
"Hector! Send it out!" He shouted. Geraldo and Hector were still under Stephen's control, as Duskarrion had retreated from the front lines before being rendered unconscious.
"Right," Hector nodded his head and raised the Pokeball with the V on it above his head, "Destroy them... Virusynth!" As the Pokeball opened, instead of the usual red light, dark energy flowed forth from it. The energy materialized into a pitch-black, almost humanoid creature with a plethora of wavy tendrils on its back that was even larger than Regigigas. In the center of where its face would be was a glowing, neon green circle. An intricate pattern of neon green lines began to spread out from the circle as the Pokemon moved forward to attack. As the lines reached its back, the tendrils grew in size and flexibility, allowing them to fly forward and attack people. The staff wielders struggled to fend off the powerful creature's attack, but they soon found themselves completely overwhelmed.
"Virusynth is the fruit of my labors," Hector explained, "The higher the emotions of the people around it, the larger and more powerful it becomes."
"And it goes without saying that emotions are running pretty high right about now." Stephen added with a laugh.
"Damn..." Bobby muttered.
"Now, finish them!" Hector commanded. The dark behemoth let loose another blast of tentacles, aiming one at each member of the large group.
Crack!
An enormous hemisphere of vines had sprouted from the ground, shielding the entire group and blocking Virusynth's attack.
"What?!" Before Hector or his creation had time to react, myriad icicles and leaves came from the sky, crashing into the large Pokemon. Huge vines sprouted from the ground around its feet, causing it to trip. Before it could hit the ground, ice covered it completely, freezing it in place. Dan and Tatiana fell from the sky, stabbing their staves into the back of the frozen creature and causing it to shatter. Virusynth was no more.
"You!" Hector exclaimed. He then turned to the black knight. "How... how did they do that?! You're supposed to be an expert at reading emotions! How did they defeat Virusynth so easily?!"
"Love." The black knight replied. All was silent.
"Damn... Virusynth must have been incomplete due to my rushing you, for it to have been defeated by such a weak emotion..."
"You're wrong!" Tatiana responded. "It wouldn't matter how strong that Pokemon was, our love would have defeated it!"
"Dan! Tatiana!" Elissa exclaimed as the vines protecting her and the other trainers receded into the ground.
"Hey, Dan said with a smile, "Now that we're here... let's kick some butt."
"Heh heh heh... you're wrong, my friend!" Stephen cackled. "Now that you're here... the real party begins!" Suddenly, columns of appropriately colored light rose from the eight altars in front of the Team Rocket Headquarters building.
"What?! How is that possible?!" Bobby wondered. "Where is...?!"
"Michael is inside the building," Stephen explained, "And is close enough for his staff's presence to be sensed by the altars. Now... rise, Elemental Pokemon!" Light energy above the altars began to materialize into spherical shapes that everyone recognized as the eight Elemental Pokemon: Sparxeno, the red master of fire; Radove, the blue mistress of water; Neonatur, the green commander of nature; Psykrypt, the purple medium of psychic energy; Argorund, the orange ruler of the ground; Helitening, the yellow controller of thunder; Hydreath, the black king of darkness; and Oxyglife, the white queen of light.
"How are we going to capture them? We don't have any Master Balls!" Chey exclaimed.
"You need not worry about capturing these weaklings," Stephen responded, "The real prize has yet to come." He disappeared, reappearing in front of the door to the Rocket building, inbetween the rows of Elemental Pokemon. He drove his staff into the ground, and the top layer of soil blew away, revealing the ninth altar.
"Now, normally, the staves must be placed in the ninth altar for Nitroneutra to be summoned, but if our friend the white knight would bother to show up..." Almost on cue, Katie came crashing through a window on a fairly low floor, landing on her side a few yards away from Stephen. The white knight jumped out of the window after her, landing perfectly on her feet next to the Elemental Pokemon, who hadn't even made an attempt to attack anyone yet.
"Ah, good, there you are." Stephen said, paying no attention to the cowgirl trainer who was probably now unconscious or dead.
"Black knight!" She called. The black knight walked over to where she and Stephen stood. "Your dragon, please." The black knight handed the white the Pokeball containing his dragon, and the white walked over to the ninth altar. She placed the five Pokeballs containing the five dragons on the altar, and it began to glow.
"I offer to you the five dragons that calmed the Pokemon of the world long ago! By the power of the eight Elemental Pokemon... Nitroneutra, awaken!" The ground began to rumble, and the ninth altar began to glow with all of the colors of the rainbow. A wave of elemental energy corresponding to each of the eight elements shot up from the altar, and once the final wave had disappeared, Nitroneutra floated above the altar.
"Now... seal away the eight elemental Pokemon with your infinite power!" Stephen commanded. Eight of the orbs surrounding Nitroneutra flew out and absorbed the matching Elemental Pokemon like a Pokeball, then flew back to Nitroneutra.
"What? Why is he doing that?" Tatiana wondered. "He just summoned it, and when it seals away the other eight Elemental Pokemon, it'll disappear, too..."
"No... it won't," Elissa said as a horrified look grew on her face, "The third time that Nitroneutra seals away the Elemental Pokemon... the great balance of the world will be summoned."
"The great balance?" Tatiana asked.
"The being of pure good and the being of pure evil... Molycure and Darxide."
"Now, accept the final sacrifice! Only once the balance of good and evil has been returned to normal will the Pokemon of the balance appear... so balance that scale once again! I offer you a being with nothing but evil in their heart... I offer you... the white knight!"
"What?!" The white knight was completely shocked by the double cross. Nitroneutra's empty orb flew forward and swallowed the knight whole as the other orbs had swallowed the Elemental Pokemon. The orb flew back to Nitroneutra, and all nine of the Pokemon's orbs began to glow.
"Yes... now that you have been satisfied, Nitroneutra, call forth your brothers! I summon you... Molycure and Darxide!"

-------

Chapter 24
(Final Chapter)​

Michael stood in the empty white room, his ear pressed against one of the walls. The walls were great insulators of electricity, but they weren't completely soundproof, and he could hear the battle going on below.
"None of this would have happened... if I hadn't trained him... if I hadn't taken over Team Rocket... if I hadn't summoned the Elemental Pokemon fifteen years ago... if I hadn't... if I hadn't..." He fell to the ground, "... Shayna..."

A young girl of about thirteen with long, blonde hair stood in the middle of a small clearing. Opposite her was the green bug-type Pokemon resembling a praying mantis, Scyther. Behind the bug Pokemon was a boy of the same age as the girl, who had short brown hair. The girl wore silky blue garments, and held an icy blue rapier in her hand. An infant girl of about three sat on a red bench under a nearby tree, a large smile on her face.
"Again!" The thirteen year old girl exclaimed.
"Shayna, we've been out here for hours... don't you think we should call it quits for the day, or at least take a break?"
"No! I have to train!" Shayna replied. "I need to become strong so that I can be a Draconic Knight like mom!"
"Why do you want to do that, anyways?" The young Michael asked. "It just sounds like a ton of hard work to me."
"But it'll be fun!" Shayna exclaimed, "Protecting the balance of the world and all of that... I can't think of anything I'd rather do!"
"You're crazy..." Michael said jokingly as he rolled his eyes, "But alright. Scyther, Slash!" The Scyther dashed forward, swinging its blade-arms. Shayna parried every attack with her rapier, and countered with a stabbing attack to the bug Pokemon's forehead.
"Wait, no! Shayna, you can't aim for its face!" Michael shouted.
"Why not?" Shayna wondered, turning to face Michael as she withdrew her sword from the Pokemon's head.
"The blood will drip into its eyes and make it see red, and it'll go berserk!" Michael then realized that it was too late, for the Pokemon was already beginning to get restless, shaking its head around furiously. "Shayna, get out of there!" Shayna turned back to face the Pokemon, and saw that it was beginning to go berserk. She quickly began to run from the Pokemon, and Michael fumbled around his belt for the Scyther's Pokeball.
"Scyther, return!" Michael threw a Pokeball at the enraged Scyther, but it merely batted the ball away with one of its arms. As it opened its now blood-red eyes, it charged towards Shayna, slashing its arms much more furiously than before. Shayna turned and continued to run backwards as she attempted to parry the enraged Pokemon's slashes. Suddenly, she tripped over a small rock, and fell to the ground.
"No!" Michael reached his arm out in vain. Scyther descended upon the girl with a quick and powerful slashing attack.
"SHAYNA!"

The gray staff crackled with electricity as Michael moved towards the side of the room that he had identified as facing the inside of the building. Painful memories continued to surge through his head, and the intensity of the electricity around the staff rose.
"Stephen... I won't let you get away with this!" He swung the staff at the wall, letting loose an incredibly powerful blast of electricity. The electricity blew through the ten-foot-thick wall, opening a hole in the other side, much to the surprise of the grunts that the blue knight had stationed there.
"What was that?" One grunt asked, looking into the hole. Before he had time to react, he was knocked onto the floor by the fast-moving staff wielder. As Michael entered the hallway, he let loose a wave of electricity that knocked all of the grunts in the immediate area to the ground. He dashed down the hall, heading for the elevators and attacking grunts with his staff as he went. As he neared the elevators, an rapier came stabbing at him from around a corner, and he barely blocked it.
"You're..."
"Michael... we both knew this day would come." The blue knight said in a serious tone. Michael drew his staff away from his opponent and stepped back.
"We're not enemies, you know. I know you're not just lined up behind the white knight's ideals. You don't want to destroy the world... in fact, you should want to save it! Why are you helping the white knight?"
"To bring her back," The blue knight answered as she charged towards Michael and stabbed at him with her rapier, "To bring back my sister... that you killed!" She let loose an onslaught of furious attacks, all of which Michael blocked almost effortlessly.
"I didn't kill her!" Michael exclaimed. "It was an accident! I want to bring her back just as much as you do!"
"No!" Tears began to pour from the blue knight's eyes. "You killed her! That's what... that's what the white knight told me!"
"The white knight lied!" Michael replied. "Look, I know that you want to bring your sister back, but you can't just believe anyone that tells you they might know how to do that! The white knight used you! She and Stephen are going to take over the world... and she has no intention of bringing Shayna back to life!"
"But..." The blue knight stopped attacking.
"Together, we can stop the blue knight! And then... we can bring her back!"
"How do I know you're not the one that's lying?!" The blue knight asked, skeptical of Michael.
"You just... have to trust me... Selena." The blue knight's eyes widened as she heard Michael say her name, for this was more than the white knight had ever done.
"Let's do this." Selena decided after a minute of silence. She turned to a nearby window and stabbed at it with her rapier, breaking it into thousands of pieces. She and Michael jumped out without hesitation, heading for the battlefield below.

"Now, Nitroneutra, I call forth your brothers! I summon you... Molycure and Darxide!" As Stephen spoke the final words, the ground began to shake much more vigorously than any earthquake that anyone had ever felt before. Nearly every trainer and Pokemon on the desolate battlefield lost their balance and fell. Nitroneutra began to ascend into the sky, stopping about ten stories above the ground. Two orbs as large as its main body appeared beside it; one of pure light and one of pure darkness. A form became visible within each of the spheres, and as the orbs faded away, the details of those forms could be made out.
From the sphere of light came a small humanoid with a black and yellow body and the proportions of a child. Its head was round, and small yellow orbs lined its forehead. The top of its skull, above the yellow sphere, was yellow, and its face was white. Two yellow circles were raised off of its yellow stomach like buttons on a jacket. The small Pokemon shone with a brilliant white light; this was Molycure, the being of pure goodness.
From the dark orb came another humanoid, with a larger and more segmented body. It had yellow legs, hands, and shoulders; it had white and black arms, neck, and torso; and its head was yellow and white. Its head was similar to Molycure's in terms of shape, but its face was slightly less round, and it wore a much darker expression. It emitted a dark aura; this was Darxide, the being of pure evil.
"Why have you called us?" Though Darxide did not open its mouth, its telepathic message could be heard by everyone in Balankou City, and its malicious tone gave away its source.
"It is time for a new world order. One in which your infinite power rules this world with an iron fist... and I, Stephen Schwartz, shall be the vessel for that power! Lend me your power, great balance of the world, and the earth shall be ours!"
"Very well," Darxide replied telepathically, "You have summoned us, so your power must indeed be great... perhaps you will be of use to me." The tall humanoid disappeared, reappearing before Stephen while its afterimage still lingered. Stephen stepped back, shocked by the Pokemon's speed. Darxide reached its arm out, grabbing Stephen's face with its right hand. As its hand began to glow, Stephen began to quiver. Meanwhile, Molycure floated in the air and did nothing, as if it could not act while Darxide did.
"Do not be afraid... is this not what you wanted? For me to control your body... and take over the world from within you!" Both bodies began to glow, and Darxide's split into millions of individual molecules. The molecules stood still in midair for a moment, then began to drift towards Stephen's body, as if they were going to fuse with the boy.
Crackle!
Bolts of lightning struck the ground all around Stephen, causing Darxide's molecules to back off. All eyes turned to the sky, and saw Michael and the blue knight flying towards the ground on Michael's Duskarrion. Darxide's molecules recombined in an instant, and the Pokemon looked to the sky as well.
"Who dares interrupt I, the very darkness within human hearts?"
"If you are the darkness within hearts, who better to defeat you than one who has conquered the darkness within their own?" Michael launched a bolt of lightning at Darxide as he hopped off of Duskarrion's back, letting the bird Pokemon fly the blue knight over to where the other trainers were located. Darxide rose its right hand, effortlessly conjuring a shield of energy to block the attack. Michael continued to launch attacks as he fell, but the evil Pokemon blocked every one of them. To further prove that blocking the attacks was an effortless task for it, Darxide turned its head to the side, looking at Stephen, who had scurried over to where his teammates stood. The dark Pokemon's glance shifted to the black knight, who had been standing calmly by himself the entire time.
"You... you are a much better host than the boy, are you not?" Darxide disappeared as Michael approached him, causing the gray staff to hit the ground instead of its intended target. The dark side of the balance reappeared in front of the black knight, and the wind generated by the Pokemon's reappearance caused the hood of the knight's cloak to blow off. Everyone that witnessed the sight was shocked to the point where they could not even attempt to speak.
"For you are not a human at all... or rather, while you once were a human, you abandoned your humanity long ago... you became one with the species of Pokemon that magnifies the darkness within human hearts... you became one with the Duskarrion."
The black knight's face was highly deformed. Duskarrion's five characteristic dark feathers extended from the back of the man's head instead of hair, and his nose and mouth had been replaced by a beak. His eyes were bright yellow like a Duskarrion's, and he had no ears. Not only were some of his characteristics inhuman, but the condition of his face made it look like he had lived well past the normal human lifespan.
"Behold... when the human soul withers away completely into the darkness, the Duskarrion will be there to feast on the carcass of the soul... and when that happens, your humanity will be lost to the darkness, and your body will become nothing more than a hollow shell... a hollow shell in which the magnificent carrion bird will lay its eggs and take control."
"You mean... this entire time..." The blue knight was one of the most shocked by the revelation of her former comrade's identity.
"Yes... since a time before this man entered the organization known as the Draconic Knights, he was one with the Duskarrion that feasted upon his soul. He is nothing but pure darkness, pure emotion... he is the perfect host." Darxide split into millions of molecules once again, and this time, no one reacted fast enough to stop it. The molecules entered the black knight's skin as they touched it, going through his cloak in the places where his skin was not revealed. The knight's body began to glow with an ominous energy, and darkness enveloped the area that immediately surrounded him.
"What... what's going on?!" Stephen wondered, completely unable to comprehend the situation.
"Do you see what you have done?!" Michael asked the boy. "Because of your selfish actions, not only has Darxide been freed, he has found a host body that will magnify his power a thousand times over!" The black knight's transformation was making a terrible howling noise, so the staff wielder was forced to yell.
"Is there any way we can stop him?!"
"Just one." Michael grimaced. He rose his staff into the air, and he and Stephen disappeared in a flash of lightning. They reappeared on the other side of the desolate battlefield, where the other staff wielders stood.
"I'm going to need you all to trust me once more!" He shouted.
"Of course!" Bobby responded. "You know you've earned our trust!"
"You guys... we're going to try to destroy Nitroneutra! Chey, Stephen... it's up to you to control Molycure if we fail!"
"How do we do that?!" Chey asked.
"Molycure is the opposite of Darxide! Its power comes from positive emotions, and the good within people's hearts!"
"But...!" Before Chey could finish her statement, the other six staff wielders had disappeared, leaving she and Stephen alone.
"Chey... this is all my fault," Stephen said in a surprisingly calm voice considering the situation, "If I hadn't been such a jerk to you..."
"Stephen, it isn't your fault!" Chey replied. "I've regretted breaking up with you since the moment I did it! I know that no relationship is perfect, and... I'd really like to give ours another try."
Stephen was speechless. Neither one of them needed to say anything. They stared into eachother's eyes for a moment, then nodded their heads, knowing what they had to do. Stephen waved his staff, opening a dark portal for them to step through. They reappeared by Molycure's side, floating on a disc of light energy that Chey had created. Up close, it became obvious that Molycure was sleeping.
"Molycure! You have to wake up!" Chey exclaimed, shaking the child-like Pokemon lightly.
"... No..." The Pokemon responded with an faint but audible telepathic message. It sounded like a scared child.
"We need you, Molycure! Why won't you wake up?!"
"If I do... he'll... he'll be mad, and..."
"Who will be mad? Darxide?" Stephen asked. "You don't have to worry about him! You're just as strong as he is! In fact... you can help us defeat him!"
"But... I'm not supposed to defeat him, because then there won't be any balance, and..."
"There won't be any balance if you don't stop him!" Chey exclaimed. "He's trying to take over the world, and you need to stop him so that the balance of the world can be maintained!"
"He's... he's too powerful... there's too much hate..."
"No..." Stephen thought about his words carefully before he said them, "There will always be hate in the world, but there will always be love, too. And here, today... our love can overpower his hatred!" Stephen reached out both of his hands, grabbing hold of Chey's in the air above where Molycure floated.
"Chey... I love you."
"Stephen... I love you too." As Chey spoke, the couple's hands began to glow along with Molycure's body.
"Yes!" Michael noticed what Chey and Stephen had done, even though he, the other staff wielders, and the blue knight were quite a ways away. He turned to all of his friends, and they had begun to glow, too, as they announced the names of their loved ones.
"Tatiana..."
"Dan..."
"Bobby..."
"Elissa..."
"Bethany..."
The trainers on the battlefield below joined in, adding their love into the chorus that the staff wielders had started. Molycure floated upward, glowing more and more intensely with each declaration of love.
"... Shayna." Michael and Selena concluded the list, saying the same name at the same time. Molycure exploded in a burst of light that enveloped all of Balankou City for an instant.
"What?!" The black knight, who was now completely controlled by Darxide, turned to the sky to see Molycure flying towards him in a bullet of light.
"The balance of good and evil... I won't let you disturb it!" Neither Darxide nor his host's body could react in time to do anything about the incoming Pokemon, and the two forces collided. An even brighter light than before filled the area, and everyone was forced to cover their eyes.

When the light subsided, Balankou City had been restored to normal. All of the buildings were back, the altars were gone, and the city's residents lined the streets. The Team Rocket grunts were presumeably inside the headquarters building, but everyone else that had witnessed the battle (Except, of course, for the black and white knights) stood on the roof of a large building. Everyone's injuries had been healed, and their Pokemon had returned to their Pokeballs. David and Hector were hardly surprised to find the legendary titans and Virusynth had disappeared along with the Pokeballs that they had been captured in. What most of the trainers were surprised to find, however, was that Brandon was no longer in a wheelchair.
"You... you can walk!" Paris exclaimed.
"I... I can!" Brandon was equally shocked.
"It must have been Molycure's doing." Chey interjected.

Meanwhile, Procter and the other teachers of Olemenun Academy stood beside David, Geraldo, and Hector.
"Mr. Sabel... Mr. Lucan..." Procter stroked his chin.
"Yeah?" David asked.
"I think, given recent events... that Olemenun Academy can afford to reinstate the two of you."
"You mean... we're not expelled?" Hector responded.
"Assuming you can be on your best behavior for the rest of your time at Olemenun Academy... no. No you are not."
"No way! Dude, that's awesome!" Geraldo shouted, happy for his friend. David merely nodded his head respectfully, which was much more than he had ever done for the faculty before.

"Looks like its finally over, for real this time." Bobby said as he looked out to the horizon. He stood alongside Dan, Elissa, Matt, and Tatiana.
"What do you mean?" Elissa asked.
"Didn't you notice? The staves are gone," Bobby answered, "When we defeated Jacob XII fifteen years ago, the staves returned to us after the battle. But now... they're gone."
"Hey, you're right!" Tatiana exclaimed.
"What does that mean?" Dan wondered.
"It means that this is all over, and the Elemental Pokemon are never coming back." He turned to Matt, who was looking into the distance in another direction. "Hey, what are you looking at?"
"Look!" Matt pointed in the direction that he was looking. Two humanoid figures with wings were approaching rapidly, and everyone immediately recognized who they were.
"Nosfrostu!" Tatiana shouted, waving her hands.
"Hey!" Nosfrostu responded as she and Vampyro landed on the rooftop. The trainers immediately noticed a change in Vampyro; he no longer gave off an evil aura. Instead, he seemed normal, even pleasant.
"Vampyro... is he...?" Matt wondered.
"He's back to normal now." Nosfrostu answered.
"Nosfrostu, we have to fill you in on what happened!" Elissa exclaimed. Apparently, the blue and purple staff holders had bonded with the female vampire a little bit while they traveled together, though this was the first time that the men had been made aware of it.
"Matthew... I'm very sorry about..." Vampyro began to apologize.
"It's... it's okay," Matt interrupted him, "It... wasn't your fault." The male vampire and the former wielder of the orange staff moved to the side to have their own conversation.
"Hey... who's that?" Dan asked Bobby, pointing to a different corner of the building. In the corner stood Michael, conversing with the blue knight and another female about Michael's age. She had long, flowing blonde hair, and was dressed in blue silk garments similar to the blue knight's. Bobby just smiled, saying nothing to answer Dan's question. He looked up to the sky, admiring the beautiful sunset.
"And so, the tale of the Elemental Pokemon and the eight staves of power comes to a close," He said to himself after several minutes, "I'm sure that Elissa will record it into the history books, so that many years from now, if the world is in a time of turmoil or if the world is in a time of peace... people can look back and remember what happened... they can remember... the Elemental Legacies."
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Note: Yeah yeah yeah, walls of text, blahblahblah. Like I said before, I decided to stick with the same paragraphing style that I've been using since EL.
Note: Molycure and Darxide can be found on Esepibe's deviantart; esepibe.deviantart.com
Note: Okay, if this thing was made into a movie, the scene where Molycure awakens would DEFINITELY have "If Everyone Cared" by Nickelback playing the background. Like, seriously, that song is just too perfect for it.
Note: Yes, I know it has a corny ending. Most movies/books do. Deal with it.
Note: I prolly forgot to tie up some loose ends in the final chapter, knowing me... if you guys can think of any, let me know.
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Epilogue​

Fifteen more years passed, and the children and adults involved in the fiasco with the staves moved on with their lives.
Both Bobby and Elissa retired from their jobs as the league champion and head professor of Olemenun respectively. They now reside in Michael's old mansion in the mountains, which Team Rocket paid for the refurbishing and redecorating of.
After completing his education at Olemenun Academy, Drake challenged the Elite 4 once more, and became the new league champion in Bobby's stead.
Jeremy became the new professor of Olemenun, taking Elissa's place as she had taken Professor Pine's.
Professor Pine himself now spends his days in a retirement home along with Eric (Dan's father) and Matt Catalano.
Dan, Tatiana, Sebastian, Mr. Lawson, and Mr. Pennington are still department heads at Olemenun Academy. A few new additions to the staff have been made, as well; David is now the teacher of several battle-oriented classes, Hector is the second in command of the technology department, Geraldo is head of the foreign language department, and Nicholas and Rachael work in the Social Studies and Law department.
Procter retired from his position as principal, handing over the title to Mrs. Searle.
Troy, Joe, and the rest of Troy's old flunkies became grunts of Team Rocket, which has returned to its status as a benefactor to the community.
The Elemental Six are now Top admins of Team Rocket once again.
The eight Gym Leaders and the Elite 4 (Excluding Bobby) have retained their positions.
Danielle was banished from the Poisawa Town Gym by Paris, and was never heard from again.
Katie returned to the region of Sinnoh. She is now Sinnoh's league champion.
Chris and Emily were married, and have been touring the world ever since.
Vampyro and Nosfrostu returned to Skuakko Island along with Matt. The three of them now head the Sevorg Research Institute, which has become world-renown for its production of unusual Pokeballs.
New Draconic Knights were not appointed to replace the deceased, and the weapons and traditional clothes of all five knights were donated to a local museum. Their secret room in Team Rocket Headquarters was replaced by a beauty salon for the female members of Team Rocket.
Team Rocket was left in the capable hands of Selena, who suddenly became much more enthusiastic about everything after the incidents that befell.
Stephen and Chey's relationship continued to be rocky for a few years after the incidents, but eventually became stable thanks to the therapy that Stephen began going to regularly. They are now married, and live in a beautiful mansion in Balankou City. While neither of them are officially registered as members of Team Rocket, they are often referenced as well-trusted advisors to Selena.
As for Michael and Shayna... well, to this very day, Michael continues to do what he loves most: fight. The international battle center, centrally located in the ocean between the major regions, was founded by Michael as a place where trainers from all over the world can come to face challengers of all levels. Michael himself will battle anyone that manages to defeat the one hundred trainers that he has declared "the best of the best" - and, while several trainers have achieved the right to battle Michael, not one has ever scored a single knockout against his Pokemon.
 
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