Phew...I never thought I'd be posting these here. I've been writing these for only a few days, yet I have a feeling I might be able to go on with these (unlike most of my other series that I attempted). Chapters will be updated every Saturday/Sunday, depending on my schedule.

However!

This fanfiction contains some violence in several chapters. If you are incapable of handling this violence, I suggest you not read it, since I choose NOT to be responsible for scaring anybody.

Well, here goes.

“An invasion. It’s coming. Every pore of my body…every hair on my skin…they’re shuddering with the anticipation of war.”

“Impossible. They…it cannot happen.”

“False. It most definitely can. After all, this is all about war, isn’t it? Even if we did wipe out the humans generations ago, everyone’s thinking of domination.”

“I understand, but…you’d think they’d have better judgment.”

“That’s not the case. They do have good judgment. Yet I’ve seen this coming from the start.”

“But since we eradicated the humans, we’ve been at ceasefire. How did you know…?”

“Ah, that’s the beauty of it all. Had I been but a useless pawn in this game, I wouldn’t have known about this. Seems like you happen to be in the position, hm?”

“S-Sir! Are you saying…?”

“Indeed I am. Their clan may be a large one, thus a powerful force, but it won’t take long for them to crack.”

“B-but s-sir!”

“No buts. I’m sure about this as my great-great-great grandfather was that they’d wipe out the humans.”

“He…was confident?”

“No.”

“What?”

“He wasn’t confident…he was completely out of his mind with how sure he was. Confident doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

“…”

“After all, all I needed to do was bait the trap. Little does he know…meeting her here will drop the sword of Damocles right upon his head. And then the Tri-treaty will be broken. I’ve got this all figured out; they’re so predictable.”

“Sir…”

“Trust me. This will be as easy as taking a snooze.”

“…Sir. I…”

“Enough of you. Go rally the troops. Tell them we got a little target practice coming up.”


The sun had just begun to rise over the Hoenn sky. The cities were bustling with Grass Pokemon running the streets. They enjoyed their freedom; it hasn’t been much like this until the Grass Pokemon conquered the world. But much had changed since then…

“Sir, I have brought this message. It is from an Ally in the Johto region,” Roselia, one of the top leaders of the Hoenn region, had woken up early that morning to the noise of clamor out in the streets of Verdanturf Town, where the government base of the Hoenn region was located. News had been slow since the new leaders were appointed, thus the Hoenn administration wasn’t receiving quite as much mail as they used to; peace had remained in the Hoenn region, along with the Johto region and Unova region far away. However, war had broken in other places; the Kanto region was recently invaded by Sinnoh troops, and much destruction had occurred. Hoenn government had chosen to stay out of it, but their allies in Johto are in a different case, being neighbors to Kanto.

“Sir…if you could be so kind to open the door…?” Roselia repeated. She had stood in front of the leader’s door for quite some time.

“Sir, I can come back later…” Roselia faltered. The door opened slightly, and Roselia slowly opened further so that she could enter.

“Is something wrong?” Roselia asked. Grovyle, the leader, walked slowly out of the bathroom and took the message, only to leave it on his desk unread.

“I know you Grovyle, something’s troubling you. What is it?” Roselia asked again. Grovyle walked past Roselia without a word, uttering no words. Roselia followed him, beginning to feel angry that she had been brushed off so callously.

“Grovyle!” Roselia shouted, “Please answer me!” Grovyle looked back at her with an angry glare. Roselia, taken aback by Grovyle’s reaction, began to weep slightly and sniff. Grovyle stood a while, loosening his glare but showing no sympathy. Roselia’s weeping soon grew to a small wail.

“Roselia, I’m having a meeting with the others in the boardroom. Feel free to come in if you’d like, but be snappy about it. I’m already late as it is, and I don’t need you holding me back from my administrative duties.” With that, Grovyle walked down the hall with much haste, disappearing around the corner before Roselia could even get a word in.

“He’ll never understand how I feel…” Roselia thought. Roselia went down the hall and turned the corner.

“Grovyle, you seem very preoccupied today. Mind paying attention to the issue at hand, please?” Shiftry, one of the representatives, urged to Grovyle. Grovyle popped his head up in surprise. All eyes were on him.

“Erm…I’m terribly sorry.”

“Well, then, about the budget…” Shiftry continued. Grovyle attempted to keep with the conversation, but his mind kept straying. His thoughts were trying to be concentrated on the budget, but to no avail; instead they kept drifting off in unknown directions. Roselia stared at him worriedly, wondering if he was always like that at the formal administrative meetings.

“Grovyle, what do you think the budget needs to be more focused upon?” Shiftry asked. Grovyle’s head bobbed up again. Grovyle looked around, trying to find a way out of answering, but all eyes were on him yet again.

“W-well…um…” Grovyle stuttered, “There’s been lots of war, so…maybe in military defenses?” The whole administrative board stared at him as if he was out of his mind.

“Um…was it something I said…?” Grovyle asked, diffidently. Shifty and Cacturne, another representative which was usually silent and never uttered a word, were looking at each other nervously, Roselia sweat dropped, and the others just stared at him.

“As the secretary of the military, I feel I should say something,” Breloom interrupted. Breloom was a war veteran himself, and became a general early in his life. Breloom had been very intelligent with how to handle the military and when they were necessary.

“Well, Grovyle, you’re already putting a huge amount of Hoenn’s revenue into the military. In fact, over 500,000 Poké is going into keeping the military stable every day. And since we’re at peace, we should be halving that amount.” Grovyle’s mind continued to wander, and all that he could identify was:

“    ”

“…Grovyle?” Breloom shouted to catch Grovyle’s attention. Grovyle stood horrified at the faces all staring at him. He continued to stand for quite a while, sweat slowly dropping from his head. A million thoughts rushed through his head, and Grovyle was trying desperately to find the correct one.

“Er-hem…” Shiftry said suddenly. “It appears we’re not going to finish this today. Grovyle if you could…?” Grovyle immediately broke his train of thought and gave his executives their duties for the day. Meanwhile, Roselia sat worriedly, wondering if Grovyle had was okay. As the executives got up to leave, Breloom looked back at Grovyle. He had sat back down, holding his head in agony.

“Grovyle, sir, your lack of respect for the conversation held today will weigh heavily. I can already tell that many of us are discontent with the way you’ve been running the Hoenn region, and we’ve been letting it slide since you still are very young. But we’ve held high hopes for you since your father was such a strong ruler. I guess that strength skipped a generation.” Grovyle picked his head up, and uttered, “Quiet, you…just leave me alone.” Breloom slowly left the boardroom, looking back on several occasions to see if he was all right. Roselia left as well, leaving Grovyle solitary in his despair.

Several minutes, which seemed like hours in Grovyle’s perspective, passed by before Roselia returned to the boardroom with the message she was to deliver to him earlier. Grovyle looked up a moment as she came in, but lowered his head again immediately after.

“Grovyle, this message, could you please take it?” Roselia asked him again. Grovyle laid out his hand, which beckoned to her to give him the message. Roselia set the message on his idle hand, and backed away.

“Mrrrrrrmmmm…” Grovyle croaked in agitation. He opened the letter with his one idle hand, ripping the whole envelope altogether as a result. A small device emerged from the pieces of shredded paper. Grovyle looked up in curiosity.

“THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY JOHTO’S OWN BAYLEEF.” the device announced in a monotone voice. Grovyle continued to stare at the device.

“Hello? Is this thing on? This is Bayleef,” the device continued, except not so monotone. Instead, the voice of Bayleef, ruler of the Johto region, was heard. “I hope you are well, Grovyle, and that there’s no hard feelings between us for my executives pestering you for donations to help us assist Kanto in their war against Sinnoh. But with that out of the way, I just received word from the Unova region after much technical difficulty.”

Grovyle’s attention was soon captured. He was now all ears, with Roselia listening in as well with an honest interest.

“The Unova region leader Servine apologizes for all the difficulty getting the message across, and he would have sent it to you first, if the connection between you two regions weren’t so terrible. But he told me to transfer his message to you, and he wants to have a private conference with us in his region. He has proposed our meeting to be held in Sanyou City.”

“Sanyou City, eh…? I’ve always wanted to see what that place was like…” Grovyle thought. Roselia was intent on her new idea. Go with Grovyle to Sanyou City.

“Sanyou City…even if it such a simple place…with Grovyle…it’ll be so romantic…” Roselia daydreamed. Roselia blushed at the thought.

“Servine has asked us to find our own way to get there, as he is unable to provide any sort of transportation to us. So, if I may, I might need to borrow Tropius, if you don’t mind.” Grovyle nodded. Tropius was his secretary of transportation, and always took him to all of the meetings in other regions, and this time would be no exception.

“Nonetheless, I still need your permission, so I request that you give my administration a call. By the time you listen to this, I’ll be on a ship to Hoenn’s Slateport City, and I wish for you to be there when I arrive tomorrow morning. If you are unable to accompany me to Unova, then please tell my administration so that I can re-direct my ship to immediately head to Unova. Also, Servine requests this be a leader-only meeting, thus, none of your secretaries are allowed to accompany you to the meeting. You may bring any of them to the trip there, but they must stay behind in Castelia City if you do so.”

Grovyle continued to nod, while Roselia was tearing up. The mention of not being allowed to attend the meeting was horror to her ears. Roselia continued to sob without Grovyle’s notice, for his mind was focused totally on the task at hand.

“If only you could have been that focused during the administrative meeting and not focused now…then you could have brought me to Sanyou City! Will my love for Grovyle never occur to him?” Roselia thought with a hint of melancholy.

“And that’s about it. Thank you for your time, and please contact my administration as soon as you can.” With that, the device shut off and the play button popped off. Grovyle put both in the trash can, and walked out of the boardroom into his computer room, with Roselia close behind.

The computer room of the Hoenn government building was a mass infrastructure of high-tech computers, each with its own specific purpose. On one showed a map of the entire 4-region area: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. On another computer, the map of Unova was displayed. Grovyle walked to long hallways, computers on either side, with Roselia in close approach. Finally, Grovyle reached the door containing the master computer, entered the passcode, and entered. Roselia was shut out, as she didn’t know what the passcode was.

“Jeez, can’t Grovyle trust me with anything?” Roselia wondered. “I’ve been with him since I was little, yet he still can’t trust me…”

The master computer, which was dubbed the “MC” by the government, contained all of the hardware, software, and information stored in the other computers, plus a few other features, including the communications system, and the “last resort” system. The “last resort” system was never in the history of their republic used, and they never wanted to, as it was only for “last resort”. The purpose of that system was, in the chance that someone managed to hack the entire system of computers in the Hoenn government building, the system would automatically override all data on every computer, leaving them with absolutely no information, and technically starting from scratch all over again.

Turning on the computer, Grovyle saw the message, “WELCOME. PLEASE ENTER PASSCODE.” Grovyle took his MC Key, inserted it into the back of the monitor, and it automatically granted him access (the passcode was very secretive, there was over 500 letters in the entire passcode).

The computer then displayed, “WELCOME, GROVYLE. YOU HAVE 1 UNFINISHED TASK.” Grovyle clicked the “1” in the message, and an icon came up, labeled “Confirmation of Tri-Region meeting in Sanyou City”. Clicking it, a video screen came up, which said: “SENDING SIGNAL TO JOHTO BUILDING (GOLDENROD). PLEASE WAIT…”

After nearly 10 minutes of waiting, the screen popped up with an image.

“Hello? Who is this?” Grovyle looked up at the screen. It was one of Bayleef’s best friends and secretary, Sunflora.

“Hello, Sunflora. It’s me, Grovyle,” Grovyle responded.

“Oh, hello Grovyle! It’s been a while! I haven’t seen you since last month’s meeting. How’ve you been?”

“I suppose I’ve been well, thank you.”

“Oh, oh, tell me, how’s everyone else? Getting along all right?”

“Yes, indeed. Government’s moving smoothly as can be.”

“Oh, how I envy you guys! We’ve been reaching problem after problem in Johto…assisting Kanto in their war against Sinnoh is really taking a toll on our budget, and the Sinnoh region army is quite strong…I have a bad feeling Sinnoh may attempt a direct attack on us.” Sunflora’s usually cheerful composure began to take a darker turn.

“I see…have there been any attempts at it already?” Grovyle asked.

“No, only indirect. But Sinnoh has been pirating our trade ships recently, and they’ve also been blocking all Kanto trade ports, like the one in Vermillion.”

“Oh, right! We didn’t get your last shipment of machine parts. Were they…?”

“Yes, Sinnoh pirated them. They’re keeping all of our trade ships at bay right now.”

“I see…have you had any other problems?”

“Yes, recently, our connections to other regions have suffered some sort of random fluctuations. I’m not sure what’s causing them though; it may or may not be Sinnoh’s doing.”

“Oh, then I want to get right to my point, the-” Grovyle was cut-off by Sunflora.

“Grovyle, Jumpluff would like to say hi.”

“Oh, Jumpluff! Yes, send her in, please,” Grovyle said. Jumpluff was another really close friend of Grovyle, in fact, they had a relatively intimate relationship.

“Hi, Grovyle, you cutie!!!” Jumpluff squealed as she appeared on the monitor. Jumpluff was another secretary of Bayleef’s.

“Oh, h-hello Jumpluff. How are you?”

“I’m wonderful, now that I’m talking to you, cutie~!” Grovyle began to blush even more.

“Oh, right! My point. I’d like you guys to notify Bayleef that I’ll be able to meet her in Slateport with Tropius for the meeting.”

“No prob! We’ll get it done as soon as we can,” Sunflora said affirmatively.

“Oh! Oh! Can I come with you~?” Jumpluff asked intently. Grovyle colored to an even darker red.

“Uh, sorry, no, Servine specifically asked us to come alone, and that if we brought anyone, they would have to remain in Castelia City.”

“Aw, come on~! I wanna go too!” Jumpluff pleaded, her puppy-dog eyes growing large and innocent. Grovyle began to perspire. Jumpluff was really intent on coming.

“Y-you can come along if you want…I guess…I don’t why you’d want to, but…sure?”

“Yay!” Jumpluff squealed with delight. Grovyle, however, remained worried. Was she going to be by herself in Castelia?

“No…that’s incorrect…” Grovyle thought. “Roselia’s going to want to go too…and if they both have to stay together, that’s going to cause a riot…”

Suddenly, the screen began getting all fuzzy. The picture, sound and all were being distorted by some sort of fluctuation in electrical power.

“G-Grovyle!?” Jumpluff screamed. Grovyle fiddled around with his keyboard to get the computer to do the refresh command, but the keyboard was also infected by some sort of malfunction, and he was shocked by the electricity.

Soon, huge explosions could be heard outside of the Goldenrod Building. Sunflora tried shouting to Grovyle, “It’s happening! The Sinnoh army’s on a full-fledged attack on us! We have to talk later, if I come out of this alive!” Grovyle gasped, shaking his keyboard to try to get something to work. He kept dropping it because the static shocks kept coming back. Suddenly, the computer completely shut off.

“No! This is impossible!” Grovyle shouted.

“Grovyle!? What’s wrong!?” Roselia shouted through the door. “Why has all the power died?”

“I don’t know!” Grovyle responded. Grovyle attempted turning the MC on again, but to no avail. Grovyle growled in anger and frustration. He threw his keyboard down and ran back to the door. But he forgot one important detail.

“Oh no! The door!” Grovyle shouted in absolute horror. Roselia panicked as well.

“The door won’t open! It’s not responding to anything!” Grovyle yelled. “Roselia! Go to the others and tell them to get the generator working! Hurry!” Roselia ran down the hall and turned the corner, past the boardroom.

Grovyle looked back at the idle MC. “Impossible…” Grovyle thought, “The MC cannot shut down on its own…but it couldn’t have been hacked…”

“Or could it!?”

Grovyle struck the keyboard with his Leaf Blade, and the keyboard released a huge amount of electrical energy around him. The energy blasted everything; breaking the tiles on the floor, rocking the MC back and forth, and breaking parts of the walls. However, not enough energy was there to blast the door open.

“HEEheeHEEhee!” an ominous voice shouted, echoing through the dark and empty room. Grovyle stayed furtive. The culprit of all the technological problems they had may very well be right behind him.

Grovyle turned around and struck the door’s passcode panel.

On the panel read:


Grovyle stared at it with confusion. It looked like texting language to him. Turning around, the MC had started up again, sowing a huge red screen that read:


Grovyle remained confused. The error code was the one for a basic error, so it was definitely not hacked. Looking up, the screen changed again to a yellow screen, which read:


“What on earth…” Grovyle thought. Since the computer came back on, he decided to try the door again. Typing on the mangled keyboard, he entered the correct password several times, but instead of letting him through, it displayed:


“Grrr…it’s not hacked, and yet…it seems so…hacked…” Grovyle gasped, with little to say.

“Hacked? Oh, definitely not, dear Grovyle,” the menacing voice snickered. Grovyle looked back again. The MC was off.

“Sh-show yourself!” Grovyle growled in frustration. He seemed so close, yet so far. The cackling voice seemed to echo around the room, but it was peaking at one part of the room.

And to get it would to destroy the MC.

“No…come out, quit hiding you…you…” Grovyle faltered. He knew it wouldn’t expose itself that easily.

“Kekeke! What’s wrong, dear Grovyle? What happened to your bravado? Come on, attack me.”

“Y-you! You’re hiding behind the MC! Don’t you trick me, I’ve gotten you figured out!”

“Heh, I’m not that easily found out at all. Though you figured that part out, I’m afraid you’re not quite done yet.”

“W-What does that mean!? Don’t you play any tricks on me! You can’t escape!” Grovyle taunted, feeling slightly more confident. The menacing laughter continued.

“Escape? I don’t plan on leaving for a while, and you won’t be for a while either,” the voice continued to taunt. Grovyle, whose confidence already dissipated with that ominous remark, walked backwards to the door.

Suddenly, the MC turned on again.

“Wh-what!? I thought I…” Grovyle wavered. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the computer key. “How did it…turn on?”

“Now, my dear Grovyle, listen up, ‘cause I’m only saying this once,” the voice said, in a grim voice. Grovyle stayed as furtive as ever. “I’m listening…” Grovyle murmured angrily.

“Now then. I’m going to give you a choice.” Suddenly, the MC turned blue. On the computer, “JAILBREAKING 0% COMPLETE” in big, bold, red letters. Grovyle was taken aback. If the MC was jail broken, the hijacker would have every bit of classified information in the entire computer system within the Hoenn region.

“Y-you fiend!” Grovyle roared. The voice continued to laugh.

“I said you had a choice, remember? My dear Grovyle, I thought better of you…where’s the Grovyle that I know, who was so calm and suave?”

Grovyle didn’t respond to the given question.

“Now then. Grovyle, listen patiently, because the more I’m interrupted, the longer the explanation is going to take. And with the time you’ve already wasted, the jailbreaking process is already 5% complete. So, as you see, I’m jailbreaking the MC, something no one but me is able to do. And now that I’m already doing so, you have a choice. You could either destroy the MC, lose all of your information but save yourselves from having your data exposed, or you could let me take the data and keep all yours as well, but then everyone will know the structure of your entire computer system. It’s your choice.”

Grovyle stood stunned. He was deadlocked between both parts of his conscious mind, each telling him to do something different. By now, jailbreaking was 8% complete, and gaining speed.

Grovyle did the only thing he could do, and tried to stop the process. The electrical charge had completely gone out of the keyboard, so it was unresponsive. Grovyle stuck the computer key in, but turning the dial to “on” did nothing. Grovyle collapsed with futility. “How…can I fix this? Either way…Hoenn is at stake.”

Grovyle continued to ponder. There was no way he could stop the process. His mind was backed up with tons of thoughts that it became too much for his mind to process. Clutching his head, Grovyle fell to the ground, overcome by grief, and fainted.

And all the while, the MC was slowly being conquered.

…20% COMPLETE…
…30% COMPLETE…
…50% COMPLETE…
…75% COMPLETE…
…90% COMPLETE…

“Grovyle, wake up.”

“…come on Grovyle! You can fight this!”

“Please…Grovyle, you can’t leave me…”

“Oh! Look! I think he’s coming to!”

“Oh, Grovyle!”

“Set him up right! We got to keep his air flow moving!”

Grovyle opened his eyes to chaos. Breloom, Roselia, Cacturne, and Shiftry were gathered around him, looking either distraught or angry with worry. Grovyle looked around him.

“Where…?” Grovyle tried to speak. His voice was hoarse though; his words were indistinguishable. “Right…I was in the MC room…” he thought.

“Grovyle, you son of a…” Shiftry seethed. Breloom pushed him aside, and looked upon Grovyle’s defeated face. Cacturne looked from afar, with an angry expression.

“Feel lucky, man,” said the usually silent Cacturne. He looked away and walked off. “Maybe next time you won’t be so lucky…” he said as he was walking away.

“Where…am…I?” Grovyle croaked. Breloom reached into his pocket, pulled out a cough drop, and gave it to Grovyle.

“You’re in your room. After we found you unconscious in the MC room, we were worried…” Grovyle suddenly jumped up, though it pained him to do so.

“Woah! Grovyle, sit down!” Roselia shouted. Grovyle cringed in his own pain, and knelt down.

“The…MC, and…that…annoying…little…brat…ugh…” Grovyle murmured. He fell down to his fatigue and breathed slowly. Breloom and Roselia pulled him up right again.

“Grovyle, the MC is fine. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Breloom comforted. But that news was torture for Grovyle.

“But that means…that brat…took…the…” Grovyle gasped, and fell over again, out like a light. Breloom sat him upright again, and poured a little water down his throat. Grovyle gagged and woke up again.

“Grovyle, who’re you…?” Breloom asked. Grovyle looked up at him.

“That…brat…he took all of the MC’s information…” Grovyle gagged. Breloom stared shockingly at him, saying nothing. Roselia paled, and nearly fell backwards with shock.

“I-It! What! Why!” Breloom gagged. Breloom knelt down in absolute horror.

“W-wait!” Roselia stuttered, “You’re saying that someone else has all of our information!? Wh-why didn’t you stop it!?”

“I t-tried…but that brat was hidden, and I couldn’t grab a hold of it…”

“Grab a hold of it!? You were fainted in the MC room; don’t you play this game with me! I can read you like a book, Grovyle, and your eyes tell me that you’re just spitting out a whole bunch of lies!” Roselia shouted. Grovyle was taken aback.

“Roselia…” Grovyle thought, “I know you. And no matter what I’ve done, you always seem to trust me…but why now? Why must you distrust me now?” At last Grovyle spoke.

“I tell no lies. What I said is the utter truth.”

“Then how do you explain being passed out, Grovyle!? You’ve surely got an explanation for that, correct!?” Roselia shouted, still not believing Grovyle’s words.

Grovyle stopped in his tracks; if he confessed, he would face less chastisement later. He knew that if he told them why he was passed out, no one would be able to take him seriously, and as the government leader, losing this seriousness is the only thing separating a stable government with a collapsed one.

But Grovyle was steadfast. His hard-headedness with something that defined his character, and normally he wouldn’t give up a fight as easily unless it was really necessary.

“Very well…Roselia, you win,” Grovyle sighed. Grovyle then collapsed on the floor and went limp. Roselia, shocked at Grovyle’s sudden passing out, took action and tried to snap him out of his unconsciousness.

“Let him be, Roselia. Grovyle needs rest; it’s been a long day for him,” Breloom intervened. Roselia stood perfectly still.

“No, Breloom. I need to be here for him. He needs me…” Roselia whispered.

“Why the change in attitude? Weren’t you cross with him just a moment ago?” Breloom asked.

“Breloom, you’ve never been in a relationship…you wouldn’t understand…” Roselia said. “But…when a girl like me loves a man…it’s like no matter what, you have to stand by his side through thick or thin…and it’s no different here. Grovyle needs my help, whether he likes it or not. He may be stubborn and headstrong, but he knows he’s weak, and I know it too. So I’ve got to stay here.”

“I…I understand…” Breloom whispered. “Roselia, I feel like I’m beginning to envy you. I’ve only learned to be cruel and heartless to my enemies and to be unrelenting on my allies…but it appears there is something more deep in it.” With that, Breloom walked out of the room.

The next day, the news was swelling with calamity. Johto was struck with a sudden siege of attacks from an unknown source, although Sinnoh was the prime suspect.

However, Unova became a suspect too. The bombs that were dropped upon Goldenrod City and several other locations were Unova-native. Dubbed “briar-bombs” by the media, Unova disclaimed all suspects that they had stabbed the Johto government in the back by dropping them upon the cities. These briar-bombs were known to cause great damage, as upon initial impact, it releases many small bombs from the exterior of the shell in many different directions, which would allow a huge area to be destroyed in a mere matter of seconds.

Hoenn was now in a panic. If Sinnoh had destroyed a huge urban area of Johto, it may not be long until Sinnoh pulls an attack on them as well. However, if Unova had truly attacked, Hoenn would be possibly safe from harm, as long as Hoenn can agree to be their ally as stated in the Tri-Treaty.

The morning after the bombings, Grovyle was rushed promptly to Slateport to meet Bayleef at the docks with Tropius. Secretaries that remained at Verdanturf Town continued to work hard to discover who pirated all the information on the MC, while two members, Shiftry and Cacturne, were sent to Fortree Base Command to check on how the Johto region was recovering, since all electrical power in the Verdanturf Building was overloaded and lost.

As Grovyle continued to head for the docks with Tropius, Grovyle’s portable message recipient mechanism, or PMRM, began to respond. Grovyle stared intently as a fuzzy sound emitted from it. Shaking it, the mechanism finally responded.

“Hello, Grovyle. I assume you recognize this voice, correct?”

“No…!” Grovyle gasped. Tropius stared back at him.

“What’s the matter!? Is something wrong!?” Tropius panicked. Grovyle didn’t respond, as he was breathless.

“Well, then. Grovyle, the information that the MC provided has proven most convenient to us. And I thank you!” the voice continued. Tropius’s jaw dropped.

“You…gave them information!?” Tropius flared.

“N-no! It was stolen…!” Grovyle objected.

“Impossible! No one can infiltrate the MC!” Tropius shouted angrily.

“I swear, Tropius, I…!” Grovyle gasped, but couldn’t finish his sentence. The message continued.

“Based on your information, you’re meeting up with Bayleef at the Slateport docks, correct? Well then, we’ve already disposed of that problem.”

Grovyle was stunned. What did they mean, “We’ve already disposed of that problem.”? “No…” Grovyle thought, “It can’t be…”

“Looking forward to seeing you again, dear Grovyle. You must tell me more!” With that, the PMRM shut off.

“N-no…NO!” Grovyle shrieked.


Johto was in rack and ruin. The government building had completely collapsed under the bombs, and whole cities throughout the region were flattened by the briar-bombs. Many had sustained minor injuries by shards of rubble and glass, luckily.

“Everyone, follow this way! There’s shelter over here!” Sunflora called out to Johto’s panicked citizens. “Just follow this pathway! Don’t push or shove, please, there’s plenty of room for everyone!” Sunflora knew that what she said was false, but she didn’t have the heart to say it. Shelter was scarce in this destroyed city.

“Move! Out of the way!” yelled a noncompliant citizen. Sunflora gave chase to him, yelling, “No, stop! Wait!” It wasn’t long before the police officers shot the noncompliant Pokemon and killed him on the spot.

“Everyone in line! Don’t move out or we WILL shoot!” the peace-keepers called out. The citizens rustled in discontent. Many stayed completely rigid in their spot, often forgetting to move when the line moved. However, refusal to move was considered noncompliant, so any Pokemon forgetting to move for too long was also shot.

“We’ll take things from here, Sunflora. No need to worry about the noncompliant bugs; we got them all under control,” the peace-keepers called over to Sunflora.

“Well, do you really need to shoot them?” Sunflora asked.

“Hey, we don’t tell you how to do your job, now do we? Now we will drop the subject right here and now, unless you want to join these bugs for squashing!”

“Is that a threat, sir!? Why, you…you little…” Sunflora began to steam with rage.

“Sunflora! Leave them be!” Jumpluff restrained. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. Let these guys do what they’re doing.”

“You can’t really believe that, Jumpluff! What they do to innocent byst-” Before Sunflora could finish, another civilian was shot 3 times in the face and chest, who instantly fell dead.

“Y-you see!?” Sunflora whispered loudly. Jumpluff looked worryingly at the peace-keepers, but they didn’t seem to notice her glance.

“I-I know it’s not right, but do you want to get shot yourself? I don’t think so, so I’d keep my mouth shut if I were you. It’s still beyond me why Bayleef finds them useful; I think they’re more of a burden.” Sunflora nodded. She dropped the conversation and nothing more was said about them. Noncompliant citizens began to drop one by one. When all the acquiescent citizens looked for shelter, the peace-keepers began killing off some of them to make room for others. “Any volunteers? For the good of Johto!” the peace-keepers called to them, as if they were venders. Nobody ever stood up; instead, the peace-keepers shot them at random.

“Hey, Jumpluff…you got a minute?” Sunflora asked quietly. Sunflora and Jumpluff hid behind the rubble, afraid that the peace-keepers might shoot them, thinking they were people talking of rebelling.

“Yeah…? What’s on your mind?”

“Could you call Bayleef? We need…we need her back.”

“I don’t think that’ll work. For all we know, Bayleef may be headed for Unova right now.”

“Urf…but we have to try!”

“Go ahead, but she probably won’t be back for a couple days.”

“True…”

“And the military will be able to track you. You know they have those towers that’ll pick up your signal. They’ll know every word you say.”

“Er…right. I guess I’d better not.”

“Good call.”

Suddenly Sunflora rose. Jumpluff tried to pull her down, but to no avail. Sunflora walked like a Pokemon possessed towards the peace-keepers, who faced in the opposite direction as her.

“No, you fool!” Jumpluff said in a loud whisper. Sunflora didn’t seem to hear.

“Excuse me?” Sunflora said as she walked up behind the peace-keeper. He immediately swung around and pointed his gun right at Sunflora’s forehead. Sunflora cringed in fear, throwing her arms up in the air. Jumpluff nearly screamed, but kept her mouth shut and her body out of view, out of fear that she might be next.

“Stand there! Don’t move!” the peace-keeper shouted, beckoning for the other peace-keepers to surround Sunflora.

“P-please, sir! I only wanted-” before Sunflora could finish, she was slapped across the face by the peace keepers one free hand and shot a warning fire in the air with his other. Jumpluff was restraining herself from screaming; she soon found herself trembling and chattering her teeth. “No,” Jumpluff thought. “I can’t blow my cover…sorry Sunflora, but you’re on your own now. I’m sorry.”

“Speak only when spoken to, worthless, good for nothing figurehead. You don’t deserve to hold the hand of authority.” Sunflora nearly stepped back in fear.

“What do you m-mean? What’s all this about?” Sunflora asked tentatively. She braced herself for another blow to her cheek, but it never came.

Instead, she was kicked to the ground.

“You dare question me!? You’re worse than worthless; you’re noncompliant, coquettish, and sack of garbage as far as I’m concerned,” the peace-keeper kicked Sunflora once again, sending her limp body a few feet, into the foot of another peace-keeper.

“So, sir, what shall we do with this?” the person asked, rolling his foot along Sunflora face. Sunflora could do nothing but groan silently.

“Well, look at that. The runt’s still conscious. I thought surely you knocked her out already.”

“Haha, true. Well, this oughta end things here.” With the remark, the lead peace-keeper held the gun to Sunflora’s neck.

“Any last words, little runt?” called one of the peace-keepers. Sunflora tilted her head to the fallen wall where she and Jumpluff hid.

“J-Jumpluff…help…” Sunflora moaned.

“Jumpluff, eh? Well, she ain’t around no more, so say yo’ prayers!”

“N-no…it can’t…please, no…”

“Master will pleased with this report. Time to finish things up here,” the leader proclaimed. He aimed his gun at Sunflora’s forehead.

“No…Bayleef…told you…to?”

“Bayleef’s had no control over any of us! Heck, Bayleef's just as ignorant as you!” one of the peace-keepers shouted. Sunflora, stunned with Bayleef’s ignorance of the peace-keeper's plan, fell limp on the floor.

“V-very well…do one thing for me though…tell Jumpluff…what transpired here…” Sunflora whispered, with tears forming in her eyes. Those would be her last words, she thought with defeat.

“Hmph. We’ll do no such thing.”

The leader pulled the trigger, and silence ensued.

X

"Grovyle…you thought you could hide this!" Tropius shouted angrily, as the waited on the docks of Slateport City. Grovyle looked down at the water, staring at his own reflection as it twisted and writhed in the waves.

"Answer me, stupid rogue! Answer!" Tropius bellowed. Grovyle stared at the water without replying.

"Do you know what you've done! The entire fate of Hoenn's in someone else's hands…do you know what this means! I'll tell you, you self-centered brat! You've left us all to suffer under the hand of Arceus-knows-what; they're controlling us, and for all we know, that Pokemon might be out to kill us! Grovyle, idiot, stupid brat, you've left us to die!" Tropius screamed. Grovyle made no motion; he continued to stare, blinking occasionally, afraid that the few microseconds he blinked, Tropius may fire another tongue-lashing to him.

"Grovyle, you impudent brat! You…YOU!" Tropius screeched. Tropius then knocked Grovyle over, and stepped on him repeatedly. Grovyle could only squeal helplessly as he found himself at the mercy of his executive.

"GROVYLE! When Sceptile had you for a son, I thought ONCE we might have a chance of surviving…but you went and BLEW it ALL! WHY, you insolent, foolhardy idiot! TELL ME!" Tropius growled as he squeezed the life out of Grovyle. Grovyle could only let out a hissing yelp. Tropius squished harder and harder as passers-by stood around, confused and frightened. Spit slowly started to fall off the sides of Grovyle mouth, as he was unable to swallow.

"YOU!" Tropius continued. "If you didn't go and blow it all…WE'RE ALL DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" Grovyle's hissing became nothing more than a whistle.

"Tr…" Grovyle hissed.

"Oh lookie. The little idiot brat can hiss. Not for long." Tropius now grabbed the barely conscious Grovyle and held him out over the open water. Grovyle grasped whatever air he could, as he knew it would soon be his last.

"This is it, fool…" Tropius sneered, with a murderous glint in his eyes. "I'm sick and tire of living in the same world as you…you've brought the whole Hoenn region down…you've brought me into your little mess, and I can't go a single day without Pokemon jeering at me for a disaster I didn't even begin…if you just weren't so STUPID!" Grovyle thrashed about over the water; in the near-unconscious condition he was in, he wouldn't be able to swim out of this predicament. He looked at his reflection now; it was a messy scrawl of Grovyle: he had created a mess, even the ocean knew so. Grovyle knew what he did was wrong. But he wouldn't let himself die. Not now, when the Hoenn region needs a leader more than ever.

Grovyle's mind was made. He just needed one chance.

"Well this is it…I knew from the beginning that this may happen…and I'm glad I'm the one who's doing it…you wanna know why, fool?" Tropius asked. Grovyle laid limp in Tropius's grasp. "T-there's more!" Grovyle thought.

"I'll tell you. Now, when the region'll hate you most…I'll kill you…you'll be dead…not only will I be out of this stupid dirt-sack you've forced me to endure a lifetime in…but I'll be revered…the one who killed the dark lord Grovyle…I'll be held as a deity!" Tropius shouted. Grovyle looked in Tropius's eyes.

"You…you're mad!" Grovyle gasped, horrified at the gaze Tropius set upon him. His eyes were pupil-less: the eyes of a madman.

"Not mad, dear Grovyle!" Tropius screeched. "Just smart! Something YOU'LL never be! FACE IT, Grovyle! You've failed! Because I'm here!" Grovyle tried resisting. What suaveness he had before had dissipated to ashes, what logic he planned on using was gone.

"The fact that you even THINK for a second that you'd make a fit ruler…I'd have to be really insane to think anything of the sort! After all…after serving your father as a young boy, I've building up this anger from his debauchery, just for this moment!"

"Wait! Tropius!" Grovyle stopped Tropius. Tropius raised an eyebrow quizzically, his eyes retaining his maniacal look, and yet his face showed some sign of reason.

"What, wretch! I don't have any times for your little games to play, little boy. I've got an empire to run."

"I thought…you revered my father, didn't you! His rise to power and our conquering of the humans…you were there as a child! You were there when he began to raise me…you were there when he died! The TV broadcast of his coffin being pulled onto the airplane to be dropped at Sinjoh Ruins…that was you that was on the sidelines, saluting him! So how…how could you…" Tropius looked down at the ground for a moment.

"Tropius…you hated my father…this was all a giant act to get you to stay into government for my reign…wasn't it!" Grovyle shouted. Tropius continued to look down. He chuckled, then it grew to laughter, then he was cackling like an insane asylum patient.

"WOW, Grovyle! I'm surprised you took this long to figure out my whole act! You must be really dense to be fooled for this long!" Tropius shouted, his mouth large and bellowing with crazy laughter. Grovyle fell into a feeling he never felt before.

"C-calm down, me!" Grovyle thought. "W-what's this!" Grovyle eyes closed to a stinging sensation in his eyes. There was no mistaking it.

Grovyle was perspiring.

"Grovyle, fear! You've never heard of such a concept!" Tropius screamed. He sounded angry, and yet he was smiling with pearly white teeth protruding from his mouth.

"Never mind that, Tropius…are you really willing to take my life? With so many witnesses? With everyone knowing that you hated my father from the start? You must have something up your sleeve…don't you!" Grovyle growled. Tropius giggled for a moment.

"Indeed, Grovyle," Tropius murmured. Grovyle clenched his teeth and braced himself.

"Grovyle, you're so tense!" Tropius joked. "I have far more to say." Grovyle laid limp in Tropius's grip. "There's more?" Grovyle thought. Then it struck him.

"Y-you…YOU!" Grovyle shouted. "You're the one who hacked the MC, aren't you!"

"Hmph! No way," Tropius asserted. "In fact, I still am clueless as to who did."

"Coulda fooled me."

Suddenly, Tropius loosened his grip for a split second, nearly sending Grovyle plummeting off the dock. Tropius began to become angry.

"Insolent BRAT! How DARE you! Even at the brink of DEATH, you have the nerve to be as impertinent as to MOCK me!" Tropius bellowed. Grovyle stared down at Tropius; he wasn't backing down, no matter what.

"Hmph, Tropius. They called you cool and collected. So much for that."

"Grrr…" Tropius grumbled. "You listen here you little squirt! Your death is final. I'm sure of it. As smart and intelligent as you may be, I am totally ready for whatever you throw…"

"How can you be so sure?" Grovyle asked, with a mocking tone.

"Because I'm taking you down…by sacrificing myself."

Grovyle gasped.

"HAHAHA! THIS IS IT! I'M DONE WITH YOU! PREPARE TO DIE!" Tropius screeched. He pushed his weight down on Grovyle, pushing him toward the open ocean.

Tropius then loosened his grip. Grovyle found his chance that he prayed he would have.

"DIE!" Tropius shouted. His body had already bypassed the dock, with his body completely on top of Grovyle. Grovyle grabbed Tropius's body, and then thrust himself towards the docks. His body swung back, and then landed on the docks, while Tropius fell in the water.

Grovyle quickly ran into the porthouse, as Tropius climbed out of the water, in close pursuit of him. The passers-by were knocked carelessly over like a bunch of dominoes. Grovyle tried closing the door behind him, but the attempt would be too close. He would have to confront Tropius dead-on. Tropius knocked the door open as Grovyle ran to find something to protect himself, while Tropius closed and locked the door behind him. He then looked at Grovyle, his eyes angry, tortured, and bloodthirsty.

"GROVYLE! YOU WILL DIE! FOR MAKING MY LIFE A LIVING TORTURE CHAMBER!" Tropius blasted. Grovyle looked behind him. Just sea water, some tables, a chair, and a vending machine. But it would suffice.

Grovyle, with great swiftness, grabbed the chair and left himself guarded with the chair, holding out its legs in front of him. Tropius closed and locked the door behind him.

"SO, you're gonna fight! Bring it on!" Tropius bellowed, charging at him. Grovyle ran in the opposite direction, toward the vending machines.

There was too much weight for Grovyle to carry the chair. It was slowing him down, and Tropius was gaining distance, with his tongue lapping out like a dog's out a window, a crazy look in his eyes, bloodshot and without pupils. Grovyle chucked the chair at the vending machines, breaking the glass and spilling glass bottles out the front. Grovyle grabbed a piece of chipped glass and pointed it at Tropius. Tropius, undaunted, continued to charge at him.

"Tropius! TROPIUS!" Grvoyle shouted. He charged at Tropius with the piece of shrapnel. Grovyle swung his arm in front of him, catching Tropius's leg, and splattered a puddle of blood as a result.

"G-GRAAAAH!" Tropius screamed, stopping in his tracks. Grovyle was now behind Tropius, with his piece of sharp glass, tainted with blood at the tip. Tropius's leg bent and rested in the blood puddle that the attack left, and was soon frozen, bleeding pools of sickly red blood. Tropius was stopped, but not done. He slowly turned around, straightened out his injured leg, and began to charge again. Grovyle, again, ran in the opposite direction. Though he was running towards the exit, he knew he wouldn't be able to reach the exit before Tropius caught him. Grovyle jumped on top of the table, making him about as tall as Tropius, take a few inches. Tropius turned for him. His insanity had past the line of no return; he would charge incessantly, whether it meant destroying the walls, the innocent Pokemon outside, or plunging to a watery grave. Grovyle waited for Tropius to get close enough.

"GYARGRAAAAAH!" Tropius screamed, incomprehensively. He threw his bleeding arm up in the air, preparing to knock the table down. Grovyle jumped as the force of Tropius's swing cause Tropius to fall over. Grovyle took his piece of shrapnel and dove down towards Tropius. After a few seconds, which felt like minutes, the glass made contact, piercing through Tropius's skin like a butcher knife cuts through meat. Tropius screamed in total agony, and then went limp, like a sack of garbage left on the corner. Grovyle slowly gasped, standing over Tropius's limp body. Looking down, he saw that the shrapnel was broken, the smaller end wedged in Tropius's back, and the larger end cutting Grovyle's hand. Bleeding profusely, Grovyle staggered away from Tropius, to grab a glass bottle of water to disinfect his hand. He grabbed one of the bottles that had fallen out of the vending machine, opened it, and washed his hand off. The shrapnel was still slightly lodged in his hand, but Grovyle wasn't about to pull the glass out, or it might bleed more. As much as it hurt, he knew he had to endure the pain.

"Nnnn…NNNNnnn…" came a murmur. Grovyle looked back. Tropius was in for another round. His back was drenched in deep red blood, and his arm trickling gore from Grovyle's first attack. And yet, he was still walking. Grovyle stared in disbelief. He looked like a zombie in the state he was in; his face was distorted with bloodlust, pain and insanity, his body seemed pale, and he staggered just the way he saw zombies in the movies walk. Grovyle, in a panic, threw a water bottle at Tropius's face. As it made contact, water, with a mix of blood and glass, splattered across the room. Tropius simply stared at Grovyle, his tooth shattered from the force of the hard glass's impact. His eyes were bleeding from the inside, and his tongue hanging out, a red blood dripping from its end. Grovyle grabbed a sharp piece of the bottle and ran past Tropius. Tropius gave no movement. Grovyle jumped on Tropius's blood-drenched back, and climbed to his head. He then thrust the bottle on Tropius's head and face until the bottle shattered. Grovyle then slipped off, falling to the splintered and blood-stained ground. Grovyle got up, his back burning with pain from the sharp pieces of glass on the floor. Grovyle looked to Tropius's face. It seemed the same as before, except bleeding more profusely. Soon enough, Tropius fell again, this time blood spilling out all over the floor. Grovyle panted. The face of his victim seemed to stare at him, even if it was as dead as it'd ever be.

"G-g…" Tropius gurgled, as blood spilled from his mouth. Grovyle couldn't take any risks. He took the chair he threw earlier, and beat on Tropius's head and face, body and arms and legs. Grovyle grunted with each blow, shouting subtle murmurs of "die!" with each attack, all the while, Tropius made no movement or reaction. Grovyle discarded the chair and picked up more shrapnel, stabbing Tropius wherever blood didn't stain his body. Grovyle's eyes were wide with fear, his arm thrusting hard and strong, making sure every slice shed Tropius's blood. After stabbing and cutting here and there, Tropius's body was nothing more than a feeble, severed mass of red. Grovyle sat on the chair, which was now dented and bloody, and panted exhaustingly and slowly. Grovyle looked at the hand where the shrapnel had injured him. It was bleeding more than before, but Grovyle didn't think of washing it off. Instead, he stared at the lifeless mass that was his secretary of transportation. The Pokemon who had been in his life since he was born.

"D-dad…" Grovyle whispered to himself, "I'm so sorry…I'm so, so sorry…" Grovyle looked at the mess he'd made. The destruction, pain and death he had carried out. He was the cause of it all; what would his father think of him if he saw him now?

"No…I cannot go regretting this all now…" Grovyle affirmed to himself. "If I regret my actions now, I'll never move on…I'd better forget my losses and move forward."

After a while to collect himself, Grovyle grabbed Tropius, and discarded him into the port. The body slowly sunk down as it became less and less visible.

"Well, looks like I've won, dear Tropius," Grovyle murmured. "Sorry it had to come to this. But I can get to Unova just fine without you. Sure, I may have almost died just now…but business comes first." Grovyle walked away from the sinking corpse of Tropius, as he pulled out a cell phone from his pocket. He dialed a number, and awaited the caller to pick up.

"Yes. Ludicolo? It's me. Could you pick me up at Slateport Dock? Thanks."

XX

"S-sir? Where…are we?"

The city was barren and lifeless. What was once a bustling city with tourists as far as the eyes could see suddenly felt like a ghost town. The sky seemed to be shrouded in a perpetual somber and lackluster aura, which never lifted, never illuminated or obscured, but remained stagnant for all of perpetuity. The structures were rotting away to dereliction, and the streets were cracked everywhere, as if some sort of gargantuan creature stampeded through the expanse of the metropolitan area. There was no indication of the past, and there was no future in a neglected place such as this, except to decay away and someday, when no one was watching, it would disintegrate to dust. And nobody would care.

"Ah, but dear Whimsicott, aren't you the one who has done all the research for our government?" Servine asked his assistant. Whimsicott looked around at the desolate city. Not a single feature caught his eye, besides all of the despondency of every noticeable feature.

"I daresay, sir…I do not recognize any of this. This is unlike any town I have ever read about, or ever even…seen in pictures. This is completely new to me. How could such a place become as dilapidated as this?" Whimsicott commented. He caressed the walls of a lone building, which shook to the touch of Whimsicott's hand. Servine sighed.

"What, you've never heard? This is Nimbasa City."

"N-Nimbasa City! The grand bustling city, whose splendor and beauty is only counteracted by Castelia's! Impossible!" Whimsicott gasped. He looked around. Nothing seemed even remotely close to what the books had shown him. He thought Nimbasa as the great, traveler-attracting city of grand proportions. But this? This seemed like a city that became lost in the march of time, and was left behind to die and decay, forever and ever.

"Yes, Whimsicott. This is Nimbasa. If you look over there, do you see something?" Servine asked, expecting Whimsicott to answer. Whimsicott looked to his left.

"W-what? What is that? That light that seems to penetrate the gloom…what is that?" Whimsicott asked. Servine smiled.

"I'm surprised, Whimsicott. I thought you'd know of these things. It appears your books have taught you nothing." Whimsicott stammered, and looked closer at the light. It had some sort of ominous presence, almost as if it were unreal. It's light didn't have much effect on the surrounding city; in fact, the light didn't even reach the ground. It casted no difference in color except for the source of the light, and even so, the gray became only slightly illuminated. But what took Whimsicott by surprise was it seemed to overcome him with a sense of darkness, even if it was a shining light in the darkness that was Nimbasa City.

"No, sir. I've never seen anything like this."

"Well, Whimsicott. I'd best teach you. That is the Illusionarium," Servine replied. Whimsicott looked at him, confused.

"I've…never heard of such thing. In all the books I've read, never has an 'Illusionarium' ever come up. But it seems to have some sort of ominous tone to its name."

"Indeed."

The twosome looked at this Illusionarium for a while. Its ominousness seemed to overcome both of the two with strange thoughts and feelings. Totally mesmerized, their eyes remained open as they stared at this luminescent thing.

"Say…Servine…" Whimsicott murmured as his eyes remained gazed on the bright effigy. "Why…do I feel like I am…? I feel…a great sense of peace…yet some sort of fear…I don't know how to describe it…" Whimsicott began to subconsciously smile. "I feel like…this thing…its taking my brain…and shapeshifting it…" Servine laughed a little.

"That's just the Illusionarium's power at work. Lots of history behind it, dating back to the days of the Element War," Servine commented. Whimsicott snapped out of his state of mesmerism, and looked at Servine.

"The Element War…there was a battle here, now that I think about it. That was the Electric Army, attempting to defend themselves from the Dark Army. If I remember properly, the Dark Army fell, correct?"

"Correct, Whimsicott," Servine said. "However, this bright light…believe it or not, it was created by a member of the Dark Army." Whimsicott nodded.

"Ironic that something so mesmerizingly bright could be created by the black soul of a Dark Army leader. Who made it?"

"Admiral Zoroark."

"Zoroark…the phantom ruler…" Whimsicott murmured. "Why'd he make such a thing like this?"

"Whimsicott, it's all about war tactics. He survived the Battle of Nimbasa, and fled to his home in Illusion Forest. From there, he created the Illusionarium. By entering and offering a peace of the black soul within the Dark Army, one would be able to see illusions."

"But…how does that effect war tactics?"

"Simple. The Illusionarium took Zoroark's ideas…and showed him illsuions of what would happen if he carried them out. It was the guidance of the Dark Army, and it was what led them to survival through so many years before they finally fell to the powerful Fighting Army."

"I see." The two stood momentarily, continuing their gaze at the bright ball of light. Whimsicott soon asked Servine, "Why are we here?"

"Pardon?"

"You know, you brought me here for a reason. What is it?"

"We're going in the Illusionarium."

"Are you sure that's wise? After all, you never were in the Dark Army."

"I know. So we must go to Illusion Forest first."

"Why?"

"You'll see in due time."

Illusion Forest seemed as desolate as Nimbasa City. The trees were all drooping and dying, the stream that ran through the forest was parched, and the grass was brittle and crumbled away upon touch. Servine and Whimsicott walked deep into the forest, where the abundance of vines and thorned plants became more evident. They appeared the only things living there. Nothing croaked or chirped like the forests of the two Grass Pokemon's childhood. It was, like Nimbasa City, destined to be lifeless, forever, and evermore.

"Here we are," Servine announced. Cutting away the wall of vines with his Leaf Blade, Servine walked into a clearing with Whimsicott, and they saw a trailer. Whimsicott looked at the lone trailer in confusion.

"What is this trailer doing here?" Whimsicott asked. Servine said nothing and walked in the gray, ancient trailer. Whimsicott, confused and worried, followed Servine with utmost caution. Walking in, it seemed much like any other trailer; there was a small amount of room, a sink, oven, cupboards, bathroom, and some chairs and tables. They had all seemed to grow ugly and timeworn with history. He attempted sitting on the chair, and it crumbled to a few measly pieces of wood. Servine opened the bathroom door, which unhinged, and went inside the compact room. Whimsicott looked inside, and was horrified at what he saw.

There was a skeleton, accompanied with some sort of talisman and a butcher knife. The walls were stained with blood, and the skeleton seemed to have been put deliberately inside the toilet to rot.

"J-Servine!" Whimsicott whimpered loudly. Servine looked back at him, as if nothing was wrong. He bent over picked up the skeleton, and grabbed the talisman out of its hands. Servine then dropped the skeleton callously, and walked out of the bathroom.

"J-Servine, what is that?" Whimsicott asked, stammering, as he pointed at the talisman. Servine looked at it briefly.

"It's the Abysmal Talisman."

"W-what! That!" Whimsicott shouted in disbelief. "I thought it disappeared after Zoroark mysteriously disappeared…wait, wasn't that Zoroark's skeleton back in that trailer!"

"Sure was."

"H-how! Even after all that's happened…how did you know?" Whimsicott asked. Servine giggled for a moment.

"I consulted the Illusionarium."

"I see…is this how you got all of the information I didn't know?"

"Yep. But I should explain further. With the Talisman, the Illusionarium functions more accurately. I was lucky enough to find the location of the Talisman by the Illusionarium, but that was only a lucky stroke. However, with the Talisman, its chances of error are slim. I plan to take advantage of it. Come, Whimsicott. We have some scavenging to do."

Re-arriving in Nimbasa City, the two walked to the abandoned Ferris wheel, which had been the main attraction of Nimbasa City until it fell to abandonment. The wheel stood high and mighty over the years, but there was no telling when it would become worn and destroy itself as a result of time. Slightly above the Ferris wheel was the floating sphere that mesmerized the two; it was the Illusionarium.

"Are we…going on the Ferris wheel?" Whimsicott asked, gazing up at the tall structure. Servine nodded silently. He went up the control pad and pushed some buttons.

"Believe it or not, the Ferris wheel still functions perfectly. It may creak due to the rust on the wheel, but as a whole, it's not going to be wrecked anytime soon," Servine assured, as he pressed buttons. Suddenly, a loud screeching noise was heard, and the Ferris Wheel began to move. Servine and Whimsicott hopped on one with a broken window, and sat patiently.

"Say…the Illusionarium doesn't seem to have an entrance," Whimsicott commented. "How do we go about entering?"

"We just walk on in."

"Really?"

"Yup."

The Ferris wheel turned and turned until Whimsicott and Servine's cart reached the top. The two climbed out from the broken window, and on top of the cart. They then jumped into the light sphere, and was pulled in by some sort of negative-gravity field.

After a few minutes of waiting, the two ended up in some sort of dark chamber. Whimsicott looked around. It was grand and spacious, with statues of intimidating gargoyles that stared into the center from all sides. In the center was an illuminating 5-pointed star. Servine walked up to the center stage with the talisman, while Whimsicott remained paralyzed.

"A-are you sure this is right! This is the Illusionarium!" Whimsicott gasped. Servine giggled again.

"Indeed it is, Whimsicott. This 5-pointed-star is the Illusion Core, which activates our illusions." Servine took the talisman, and placed it in the center of the star. The Talisman glowed momentarily, and then began to float. Dark electricity then pulsated out of each point of the star, and was concentrated on the talisman. Almost in an instant, the talisman then dropped to the ground, and the dark electricity was gone. Servine then took out a dagger.

"W-what do you plan on doing with that?" Whimsicott asked, worried and afraid to hear the answer. Servine giggled for a moment, then turned and faced him with a rather content smile.

"Like I said, it requires a piece of soul. As in our blood. I need blood for the Illusionarium to function properly." Whimsicott trembled, and tried to stop Servine, but was too afraid to get in his way. Servine took the dagger, and carefully sliced an opening into his finger. Wincing in pain, Servine dropped the dagger and held his hand out above the star. It dropped a single drop of blood, which was absorbed by the star, which now illuminated in a fiery red color. Servine sucked the blood from his finger, and then turned to Whimsicott.

"Well, Whimsicott, now comes time. I need you to ask me a question. I shall ask the Illusionarium the question, since it only accepts questions from those who pay the price. So Whimsicott, what will it be?"

Whimsicott stammered. He had a look of fear and horror in his eyes, and looked for a way out. Looking behind him, he saw nothing but an endless corridor of darkness. Looking ahead, all he saw was Servine, this demon bloodthirsty star, and the statues of demonic creatures that scared Whimsicott down to the bone. He sweated, and gulped. Servine waited patiently as Whimsicott panicked like a child, lost in a huge maze with frightening features.

"I…don't know…" Whimsicott murmured. Servine nodded.

"I don't know? That must be implying a question. Say…what shall you do to clear your mind? Yes, that's a good question."

Whimsicott jumped in surprise. "I…said no such thing!"

"Nevertheless, I will ask the question. Unless you have any objections?" Servine asked. Whimsicott said nothing.

"Very well. Oh Great Illusionarium!" Servine yelled, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. "Hear my call! How shall my friend Whimsicott clear his mind and show him the way to happiness!"

Minutes went by without any response. Whimsicott sat down in relief that an illusion had not occurred. Servine stood stationary in his position, his head held high and his arms spread out like a bird's.

And then, out of nowhere, the walls seemed to spiral out of control and the gray and black statues, floor, and walls seemed to flash to a yellow and white color. Whimsicott stood, mesmerized by the hypnotic spiral of colors. Servine remained standing in his stationary position. As the colors stopped spiraling, the fire seemed to spread throughout the entire chamber. Whimsicott looked around, panicked by the wall of fire that surrounded him. Then out of nowhere, silhouettes of what appeared to be Pokemon appeared, either face-flat or lying back on the ground Whimsicott walked on. There was around five or six in total.

After seeing these silhouettes, a strange liquid surrounded his legs. He knelt down and picked up some on his hands. There was no mistaking it.

It was blood.

And then appeared a mirror, within all of the fire. Whimsicott examined the mirror, showing not his reflection, but yet another silhouette, carrying a dagger. It seemed, in the mirror, that it was standing atop all of the lying Pokemon on the ground. Whimsicott stepped away from the mirror, horrified by his experience.

And then the illusion was over, almost instantaneously. He found himself in the monochrome chamber yet again. Everything was as it was before, except he was flat on his back, and felt sore all over his body. He looked at the ground. No silhouettes, no blood. He looked ahead of him. He saw Servine, with a worried look. No wall of fire, no mirror; just Servine, standing there.

"Whimsicott, are you all right? I was worried for a moment there," Servine said, kneeling down. "You feeling alright?"

Whimsicott nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright…just a little disoriented with what I just saw."

"I saw it too."

"You what?"

"I saw it. The blood and silhouettes on the floor, the mirror, the wall of fire, all of it. What that had to do with your happiness…I have no idea. The Illusionarium seems to have played a little mind game on you, possibly," Servine said.

"Did you see…?"

"See what? The silhouette in the mirror?"

Whimsicott nodded. "It was…it was…"

"Yeah, I know. It was you, wasn't it?"