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(Author's Note)

=Character thought=

"Human Speech"

'Telepathy between characters'

{Pokemon Speech}

Example: "Ni nine tai tails ninetails ine?" is what a human would hear.

{What do you mean you can't understand me?} is what other Pokemon, and certain humans would hear.

|| * * * | | | * * * || = End Chapter

// // = Major Time/Scene Change

* * * = Scene Change

Chapter 15:

Everything was quiet.

A chilly breeze blew through the woods, lightly stirring the snow into small columns before they fell back, rejoining with the rest of the snow. The large pines helped to hide the group of four men as they moved through the forest, weapons at the ready.

Not even their eyes were showing, due to the goggles that they wore. Their black clothing shed any snow that landed on them, allowing them to blend into the growing shadows as they moved. Soon, lightly crunching through the snow, they came to the forest's edge, and they silently took up positions.

One of the masked men looked around, and as his gaze passed over each of the men, they nodded. Looking forward, he lowered his HK417, reaching a hand up to the mic he had on. Pressing a button, he started speaking. "This is Charlie One, Charlie Five, are you in position?"

After a second, a faint crackling reply came back. "Charlie One, this is Charlie Five. We are in position, awaiting go-no-go."

Charlie One looked at his team again, and they nodded. Pressing his finger down to open the communication again. "Charlie Five, you are clear to engage." Releasing the button, he shifted his stance, taking ahold of his rifle, and held up a fist. With that command, he watched as the second team moved out of the wood line on the far side of the cabin, spread out and moving one at a time.

Opening his fist, Carlie One turned his hand and waved forward twice, standing up as he did so. Tucking his rifle into his shoulder, he moved out of the forest's edge, into the clearing. He moved his head around nervously, not liking how exposed, and how long they were exposed until they got to the cabin. Suddenly pausing after five meters, he went to one knee, keeping the barrel of his gun trained on the cabin, moving it from window to window, searching for movement.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charlie Two move forward, stopping after moving forward, and going to one knee as well. To Charlie One's other side, he saw Charlie Three move forward. The Charlie Four moved forward as well, leaving the four of them in a scattered line, all of them watching the house.

Taking a heartbeat, Charlie One saw the other two squads, led by Charlie Five and Charlie Nine, also moving into the house. They too were moving in a staggered line, advancing quickly but precisely.

Snapping his attention back to the cabin, Charlie One stood up, hunching over his rifle. Taking ten measured steps, he paused again, going to his knee again, waiting for the rest of his squad to move up. They all moved up, one at a time, until they were again in a staggered line.

When Charlie One made to move again, he saw something in one of the windows, and his eyes went wide. He only had a moment, and he shouted "Move!" Standing up and sprinting towards the cabin.

Just as he shouted that, several shots rang out of the house, the muzzle flash illuminating one of the windows briefly. A grunt sounded out from behind Charlie One, but he didn't dare take the time to look back, springing for all he was worth towards the cabin, each hard press of his booted feet kicking up puffs of snow behind him. Holding his rifle out in front of him, he continued to sprint, until he slammed against the wall.

All the while, gunshots were roaring out from the rest of the men in team 'C,' each one being returned from the shooter within the cabin. A second later, Charlie Three and Four also slammed into the wall next to the leader, looking back. Finally taking a moment, Charlie One looked back over the clearing, and cursed loudly when he saw one of his men laying on the ground, unmoving.

Moving along the wall, he and the rest of his squad ducked past a window, moving towards a door. Peeking into the window quickly, he ducked back down, slipping to the other side of the door, leaning against the wall. A faint shout came from inside the house, and he pointed the barrel at the lock of the door, and fired.

The report echoed, and he pointed his rifle away as Charlie Three kicked the door open, Charlie Two entering the house, sweeping with his HK XM8, a futuristic looking rifle. Pausing, he jerked it back and forth, looking at the two doorways leading out of the kitchen, before focusing on the larger door. Taking a second, he jerked his goggles off, revealing his blue eyes, and they narrowed as he stepped into the kitchen proper.

Breathing slowly, he saw the front door get breached by the other team, and Charlie Two spun on his heel to face the other entrance, expecting Charlie Five and his team to clear that side of the house. Still looking down the sights of his weapon, he called out "Küche klar, umzug in die halle."

"Why the hell can't that guy just speak English," Charlie Three muttered to himself, readying his own HK XM8.

"You can understand him, so what's the problem?" Charlie One said, following Charlie Two into the kitchen.

"Nothing, except that I don't want to have to always translate in the middle of an operation," he whispered, scanning his rifle around the kitchen.

Charlie One chuckled, making Two look at him. "How do you think he feels?" Suddenly, gunfire erupted, and Charlie Seven cried out in pain. "Shit," Charlie one shouted, "Two, move your ass!"

"Ja sir!" Charlie Two called, moving down the hallway quickly. Suddenly pausing, he looked back at Charlie One, "Sir, nur einen weg nach oben!"

Charlie One cursed at that, making Three look at him questioningly. "Only way up are those stairs," right as he said that, another wave of gunfire came down the steps, making everyone scatter away from them, taking cover in the kitchen, hallway, and living room. "But as you can see, it's a bit of a funnel."

A faint call came out, just audible to Charlie One. "Ira! Get your ass down here! Got a whole shit ton of guys trying to kill me!"

Growling under his mask, Charlie One pointed at Charlie Nine. "You, flashbang up the steps, then have Ten take that AA of his and sweep the halls.

Nodding, Charlie Nine pulled a cylinder off of his vest, tugging the pin out. "Flash out!" He yelled, throwing it up the steps.

"SHIT!!" Came a shout from above, and the sound of someone diving to the ground made Charlie One smile under his mask. Then, a quick succession of bangs, and flashes came down the hallway. No sooner then they sounded out though, and Charlie Ten moved up the stairs, AA-12 leading the way. A few seconds later, and close to a dozen 12-gauge shots having rung out, Charlie Ten suddenly landed on the couch in the living room, neck snapped. "Take that you bastard!"

Then, bullets rained down into Charlie Ten, sending blood flying and shredding the couch. An Irish sounding man suddenly spoke up, "Was that necessary Carter?" There was no answer, and Charlie One was in shock that they were talking so casually, "guess it was."

"Screw Craddok," Charlie One muttered. "Charlie Team! Kill 'em all!" Taking his rifle, he emptied the entirety of his twenty round magazine into the floor above him. "All men, move, move, move!" Taking the lead, he charged up the stairs, just seconds after slapping in a new clip.

"Shit, Carter!" Just as Charlie One came to the top of the stairs, he saw a redhead pointing a rifle towards him, and he could only watch as the SCAR was leveled at him. Three shots roared from the rifle, catching Charlie One in the chest, making him stumble back, gasping as the kevlar absorbed the lethality of the bullets.

They did nothing to block the pain though, and it still hit like a baseball bat though. Falling back, he heard the Irishman curse again, shouting. "Kevlar! Damned mercs are wearing kevlar!"

Following a heartbeat behind Charlie One, Charlie Two leveled his sights on the Irishman's chest, eyes narrowing. The Irishman, his rifle still pointing in that direction, simply shifted his sight, and fired once, catching Two square in the forehead. Charlie Two's head snapped back, hands going limp as he fell down the stairs, forcing Charlies Three and Four to jump out of the body's path.

Looking over his shoulder, the Irishman called out. "Carter! We have more coming up the stairs!"

Coming up behind the Irishman, a slight ting sound as a pin was pulled. His arm moving, a sphere left his hand. "Get down, Ira!" Carter said, hitting the floor and covering his head.

"Grena-BOOM!" Someone called out, the explosion rocking the house, cutting them off.

Charlies Three and Four were both thrown off their feet, Three shouting as shrapnel from the grenade tore through his leg. Falling up the steps, he took his rifle, and started firing randomly, blindly, shouting as he did so. Spent brass spat out of his rifle, until it suddenly click empty. Cursing, Charlie Three dropped the empty gun, going for his pistol when he looked up, his eyes going wide.

In front of him, laying on top of the Irishman, Carter raised his MP5 and fired, killing Charlie Three instantly. Tapping the Irishman, Carter knelt, holding his gaze steady on the stairway as the Irishman recollected himself. "Ira, you alright?"

Coughing once, the Irishman picked his SCAR back up, leveling it against his shoulder. "I'll be better once we finish the rest of them."

Carter nodded in agreement, standing up and moving down the hallway, still facing the stairway. "How many do you think?"

The Irishman tilted his head, doing some quick math in his head. "Well, teams of four, three of them from the other directions, two coming up the ravine," he clicked his tongue in thought, "Five killed in the ravine, three left there, and five just now, leaving..." he exhaled, keeping track of the math, "seven. Seven plus three leaves at least ten left."

Carter shook his head briefly. "Damn. Well," he chuckled "least we have the home field advantage." The Irishman looked at Carter for a moment, before giving a small huff, looking back down the hall. "Hey, Ira," Carter suddenly thought of something, "did the guys in the ravine have climbing equipment?"

The Irishman stopped moving, staring at Carter. "Oh bugger," he said quietly, spinning on his heel, facing down the hall just as something smashed out the window at the end. Hearing something rolling along the hardwood floor, he saw a grenade clacking towards them; for some reason, he had a moment where he just stared at it. "Move!" he shouted, slamming into one of the doors, and hearing wood splinter.

He just barely got out of the hall before the grenade went off, a brief, fiery explosion ripping through the hall, licking around the edges of the door. Slightly stunned from the concussive force of the explosion, the Irishman groggily sat up, rifle laying a meter away from him. Rubbing his forehead, he blinked, trying to clear his head, and brought a hand up looking at it.

Torn and bloody, his palm slowly dripped the crimson substance to the floor.

Still dazed, he looked around, taking in the peaceful looking room. A white painted room, the walls were covered with paintings; paintings that looked exactly like photos. Gasping slightly, the Irishman slowly stood up, bracing his palm against the off-white carpet, leaving a crimson palm print on it. Standing up, still holding a hand to his forehead, the Irishman saw a long table, covered in half-finished paintings.

A faint noise behind the Irishman made him turn, stumbling against the wall. A second later, the front part of a Saiga-12 came around the corner. As soon as the Irishman saw it, he grabbed it, jerking it forward and then back, the man holding it grunting as he lost his grip.

Bracing one hand on the barrel, the Irishman swiped it up, catching the mercenary under the chin with the butt of the shotgun. Continuing to spin the gun, he brought it to his shoulder, firing into the mercenary's chest, knowing that he was wearing a kevlar vest. The shot still sent the mercenary back, and the Irishman raised the gun up a touch, firing and blowing away the man's head with a spurt of crimson blood.

With merciless precision, the Irishman rounded the corner, blasting two more shots down the hallway. He saw one man fall to the ground, the buckshot having gone into his exposed side, tearing through the mercenary; a second had taken it full on in the chest. As the second fell, his arms splayed beside him, the rifle firing as he inadvertently pulled the trigger, chips flying from the wall as they buried into the wood.

A searing pain suddenly tore through his shoulder, the force of the bullet hitting him making the Irishman spin about. Behind him, coming through the window, another masked mercenary was kneeling, HK UMP roaring to life again. The Irishman could feel as another bullet grazed his arm, and still spinning, he threw the Saiga at the mercenary.

Caught off guard by the random move, the mercenary held his submachine gun sideways to block the oncoming shotgun to the side. His gaze had followed the weapon though, and by the time he realized that the Irishman was coming at him, it was to late.

Grabbing the mercenary by the throat, and lifting him off his feet, the Irishman then slammed him into the wall, cracking the wood. Releasing his grip, the man fell forward, and as he did so, the Irishman brought an elbow into the base of the mercenary's neck, snapping it instantly.

Looking down the hall, the Irishman's eyes went wide, and he grabbed a revolver that was at the dead mercenary's waist before jumping into another room, just avoiding the hail of bullets heading his way. He landed roughly on his wounded shoulder, and he screamed out in pain, gasping as the blinding pain ripped through him like fire.

"Ira!" A shout came from elsewhere in the house. "Take this you bastards!" Dozens of gunshots roared out, deep shotgun blasts and rifle shots. "It's gonna take more than that you fucks!" Faintly, the Irishman heard a battle roar, and several cries from the mercenaries. Then, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. A quiet tink of a pin being pulled, and Carter shouted again. "I'm not going out without taking you sons of bitches with me!"

"CARTER!!" The Irishman shouted, the pain in his arm becoming nothing as he gripped the revolver, standing up. Before he even made in to the door of the room he was in, another explosion ripped through the house, rocking it again. Rounding the corner, the Irishman stopped, seeing not just the two he'd killed, but now four more mercenaries laying dead or severely wounded, smoke coming out of the hall that he'd seen Carter jump into not even a minute ago.

With a sudden, terrifying calm coming over him, he leveled the revolver at the survivors, three shots roaring out. The one who'd been just about to stand fell back down, blood pooling around him. Letting the revolver hang limply in his grasp, the Irishman stumbled down the hall, stepping over bodies and through the blood. Looking into the room, he held a hand up to his mouth to keep from gagging.

Inside, the bodies of three men were unrecognizable, blood, shrapnel, and charred wood covering the room. The last grip that the Irishman had on the revolver left him, and it fell to the blood covered floor, sending some of the stuff up before coming back down. He stumbled out of the room, down the hallway, over more dead mercenaries, bracing against the wall every few feet. Reaching the top of the stairs, he fell to his knees, gasping as he sobbed.

* * *

Kasha, who had been watching the whole battle unfold with her powers, fell to her knees, eyes snapping wide as she gasped for breath. Everything around her was suddenly lifted up as her powers went haywire.

Deep down in her chest, she felt a terrifying emptiness suddenly grow; grow, and seem to consume her.

She did not hear Aura, or Spike, or Tine as they called to her, trying to draw her away from the hole that the Gardevoir felt in her heart.

Roughly shoving the Lucario away, Kasha stood up, tears streaming down her face. Stumbling towards the wall, her fist glowed with power as she slammed it into the wall, shattering the concrete face, large cracks extending from the epicenter of where her fist had hit.

She could feel nothing, save that clutching feeling deep in her chest; a void that was rapidly filling with hatred and anger, pushing away the despair that had come over her.

With a single, terrifying shout, Kasha vanished, the dust from the shattered wall swirling slightly, all the furniture she had picked up with her power dropping back down, many of the wooden frames cracking.

As the Gardevoir vanished, Aura slowly stood up, still reeling from the sheer power that had been displayed. Her entire body was shaking, and she forced her aura-powers to stop, suddenly cutting her sight to her physical eyes alone.

Gasping for breath, the Lucario managed to find her own feet and stand. But when she did so, she staggered for a moment, falling back to her knees. Small tears were running through her fur, dripping down her nose, hanging on for a dear moment before releasing their grip, falling and splashing against the floor.

{Aura,} the Houndoom called out quietly, making her way over to the Lucario. {Aura? What's happening?}

Aura, still gasping for breath shut her eyes tightly, trying to regain herself before she answered.

{Pain. Such pain,} she finally managed to whisper, making Tina look at Aura in concern. Suddenly, the Lucario jumped up, running for the door. {No!} She shouted, slamming her shoulder into the wooden door, shattering it.

Following close behind her, Spike and Tina bounded up the stairs, skidding for a moment on the tile floor of the kitchen. As they regained their balance, they saw Aura running out the door, into the yard, and they scrambled to their feet to follow.

* * *

Kasha could feel as the world zipped by her, as she passed through the walls and floors of what had been her home. The feeling only lasted a moment though before she once again could comprehend the physical world, standing ankle-deep in the snow as she watched a man stumble away.

The masked man was holding a hand up to where his ear should have been, and his staggering gait showed that he was quite injured. "Craddok! Craddok! We have taken heavy casualties! I need more men!" He suddenly stumbled, falling face first into the snow, panting heavily. Almost whimpering, he called out again, "Craddok!!"

Kasha watched him for another moment, before holding up a hand, her eyes flashin violet with power. The man suddenly screamed in pain as his earpiece shattered, ripping through his mask with a small burst of blood. Charlie One flipped over, crawling back, pushing with his feet and scrambling to find purchase with his hands as he attempted to get away from the slowly stalking Gardevoir.

With tears streaming down her face, landing and freezing in the snow by her feet, Kasha waved her hand again. This time, the man's mask was ripped off, revealing a bloody, sweaty, dark-brown-haired face, his green eyes wide in fear. "No! No! Please!" He whimpered, stumbling up, trying to run away.

Suddenly jerking her hand towards her, Charlie One screamed as he fell to the ground, ankles jerking together by an unseen force. As he tried to crawl away, Kasha stepped forward, until she was standing over him. The air around her was crackling with power, dark sparks briefly flashing in the night before vanishing again.

Charlie One shouted as he was forced onto his back by the Gardevoir's powers, and he faintly registered that the cabin behind her had a faint, fiery glow coming from within. Jerking her hand up, shouting, tears still streaming down her face, Kasha lifted the man into the air, holding him, he felt, by his throat.

Growling deeply, she pulled him close, leaning in close to him. {You're going to die now. And there is nothing you can do!} She shouted, throwing him away. Charlie One shouted again as he hit the frozen ground, and rolled along it before coming to a stop just before the woods, a tree the cause of his abrupt stop. Stalking forward again, Kasha held out her hands, and deeps cracks sounded throughout the field.

Charlie One's eyes went wide as he looked around for the source of the cracking, head jerking around franticly. That's when he saw the tree he was resting against, the trunk contracting, cracking, expanding, giving in to the invisible powers bombarding it. When it started slipping though, he tried to scramble away, only to find himself held firm by Kasha's power. Staring at her, the grief and anger filled face of the Gardevoir was the last thing he saw in this world, before all went black.

Kasha could only stare at where the massive tree was resting, a red stain slowly spreading out from underneath it. The snow and branches around her were still spinning randomly, creating a veritable blizzard at the edge of the woods. As suddenly as the anger had come over her, it vanished, leaving an even larger hole in her heart as it left her.

Falling to her hands and knees, Kasha sobbed loudly, her shoulders shaking with the force of each. Her vision was blurred by the tears in her eyes, but still she watched as they fell to the snowy ground between her hands, leaving small holes in the snow in their wake. She never even heard as Aura came up behind her, kneeling quietly by the Gardevoir.

When the Lucario rested a paw on Kasha's shoulder though, Kasha leaped into Aura's arms, crying as the pain in her heart continued to spread, slowly engulfing her. Aura held her, wrapping her protecting arms around the Gardevoir, closing her own eyes. Slowly, Aura started rocking, just a little, even as she hummed a slow, quiet song deep in her throat. Kasha could feeling the rumble of Aura's throat as she sobbed into the Lucario's chest fur, the sound helping her tears to slow.

As they were sitting there, a rough voice suddenly laughed, limbs snapping as someone came through the woods. {So there you are!} A male Lucario's voice said, a dark chuckle leaving him as he stepped out of the woods. {Well, well, well! Looks like I'll get a couple of playthings tonight!} He said, a dark joy edging his voice.

Aura snapped her gaze to the newcomer, dreadlocks shooting out behind her as she focused her powers. Kasha could only whimper, holding tighter to the female Lucario, her powers still haywire as her emotions roller-costarred.

{Bah,} Rain suddenly said, spitting to the side, {you're both mine!} He shouted, leaping towards the two females, aura-spheres forming in either hand.

Shoving Kasha to the side, the Gardevoir not reacting as she landed against the crystalline snow, Aura leaped at Rain. With a battle-roar, she threw a paw up to knock his incoming attack away, quickly spinning about with a round-house kick to catch him off guard and off balance.

Rain had expected this though, and was following his arm as it was knocked away, easily dodging under the incoming kick. What he didn't expect was for Aura to follow through, her leg suddenly burning as it caught the male Lucario in the back. The power of the fire-type move, plus the force of the kick sent him sprawling, shouting as he face-planted in the snow.

Quickly planting her foot into the snow, steam escaping from the fast melting snow, Aura powered an aura-sphere, tossing it almost point-blank into Rain. The male shouted as an explosion erupted from the hit, pushing him into the frozen ground. Before the smoke had cleared, Aura jumped into the air, feet glowing with power, and she came down with all her power. Her eyes widened in surprise as, instead of flesh and bone, her leg sunk into the frozen ground, dirt clumps and snow flying up, slightly stinging her leg.

Suddenly out of the smoke, Rain came, a blue sphere swirling in his hands, an evil glee in his eyes. Aura had no hope of dodging the attack, instead throwing up her arms to minimize the oncoming impact; when Rain's attack connected, it pushed Aura back, leaving deep gouges in the snow.

Throwing her arms to her side, Aura readied herself again, a snarl forming on her mouth as she watched Rain seemingly dance, waiting for her to make another move.

His cocky smile just pissed off Aura even more.

As she went to hold her paws together though, she caught something leaping at her out of the corner of her eye, and sidestepping, she barley avoided as a Mightyena leaped past her, making a wild swipe. When he landed, Aura, instead, threw her aura-sphere behind her, catching an oncoming Houndoom right in his open maw, sending him flying back into the woods.

With another shout, Aura spun her leg around, catching the Mightyena right in the side of the head as he leaped at her again. The Lucario smiled as she felt and heard the crack of her foot connecting, the Mightyena's head snapping to the side in a way that it probably shouldn't have. She did not let up though, following through with a force palm to the canine's chest, sending him into the clearing, rolling a couple of meters before finally coming to a stop.

She heard the sound of the male Lucario coming up behind her, and she knew that nothing could protect her from the oncoming blow. Still, Aura wrenched her body to the side, making a sure direct hit into a glancing blow to her side. There was still enough force behind it though, that her breath was still taken away.

Seeing that she was facing in the direction of the clearing, Aura suddenly smiled as a plan came to her. When Rain came around to hit her again, aiming low, she jumped up, making him curse as his attack wasn't stopped. Landing lightly on his shoulders, Aura pushed off, focusing her powers and utilizing her extremespeed, before abruptly stopping it, already ten meters away, and still in mid-air. Arms held out, Aura lightly landed on the snow covered ground, turning on a heel, dragging her other paw through the snow as she once again faced Rain.

He had stood up, and was rubbing his jaw as he glared at Aura, a primal look in his eyes. Pushing with his paw, he cracked his neck to one side, abruptly changing sides and cracking his neck in the other direction. Slowly flanking him, Houndoom and Mightyena both stood there, growling at Aura, who had placed one paw at the small of her back and held the other toward the three canines, spike facing down.

Suddenly, Aura heard the sound of snow crunching behind her, and she could faintly smell that it was Tina and Spike. She held her position, even as her two allies took up flanking positions themselves. Now, all six canine Pokemon glared at each other in a veritable Mexican showdown, all of them waiting for the others to make the first move.

* * *

High up in the pines, a set of golden-amber eyes watched the battle, the leaf on the back of the Grovyle's head twitching slightly. Hidden by the branches, Liam had watched as the two Lucario's had dueled, seen how the female they were after was acting, making sure that the Gardevoir was out of the way before entering battle.

Now though, his gaze traveled to the Gardevoir, his eyes narrowed in thought as he watched her, and how little she seemed to react. {Almost as if she's in shock,} he muttered, leaf twitching again.

The sound of a branch snapping made him snap his head down, but otherwise not move. When he saw that it was only the Weavile making her way up, he sighed. {Hello Violet,} he said as she finally reached him. {Do you know where all the humans are?}

Coming to rest on the other side of the truck, placing a steadying hand on it, Violet took a quick breath before answering. {They're still way out. Want to ensure that there will be little if no opposition by the time they get here.}

Liam scoffed, turning his gaze back to the soon to be erupting battle. {They're damned cowards, all of them,} he said, quickly spitting to the side.

{That may be,} Violet said, crouching down slightly, her one hand dangling in front of her, {but they saw that a coward will live to see tomorrow.} Suddenly digging her claw into the truck, she made to jump down. {Liam, if you want to save that Gardevoir, you might want to go get her before Scyther does.}

That made Liam's eyes go wide, and spinning on a heel, he dashed to the tree next to the one he was in, a couple of branches lower. Quickly repeating this, until he was five meters off the ground, he braced against the trunk of the tree, and pushed. With a shout, Liam burst through the branches, using a quick attack to gain even more ground. Spinning tightly, and closing his eyes so he didn't get sick, his sensitive leaf felt the ground coming nearer, and he opened up his roll, landing perfectly, knees bending to absorb the impact, one hand bracing against the ground softly.

Standing up straight, he started walking through the snow, towards the Gardevoir, even as she stumbled back towards the cabin. A flutter in the snow next to him made Liam look, and curse inwardly as he saw Scyther standing next to him, an evil smile on his face. {So, Liam,} he said, licking his lips as he continued to gaze at the Gardevoir, {I know you don't like how we do things, so how 'bout yo let me handle this one?}

Liam swallowed, and glared at Scyther out of the corner of his eye. {And how abut you let me handle it?} He growled, turning on the bug.

{Hahahaha!} Scyther laughed, throwing his head back as he did. {You? "Handle" it? Yeah,} he continued laughing, shaking his head as he did so, {and how will you do that?}

{Gentler than you ever could,} Liam muttered, turning away. {Now, you go help Rain and those two mutts, they'll need your help more than me.} With that, Liam crouched, leaping away in a flutter of snow.

Growling at the imputes, Scyther turned away, arms ringing as they slashed through the air. Turning towards the others, he came up behind Rain, joining in on the standoff. Looking at the female Lucario, Scyther roared a battle cry, leaping at her, right arm shooting forward.

This was the cue everyone had been waiting for, and all hell broke loose. Spike was soon clashing with the other Mightyena, growling, snapping, clawing at him; Tina and the other Houndoom were quickly engaged in a clash of fire and claws, slashing and throwing fire attacks at each other; all the while, Rain, Aura, and Scyther became engaged in an explosive three-way duel.

Aura could spare no time to see how her allies were doing, ducking, bobbing, weaving, to avoid not just the male Lucario, but now the Scyther and his vicious arms. Each wild slash from Scyther was either dodged, or deflected away with a steel spike, even as she would spin about to block a punch from Rain, only to spin back around to dodge a scythed arm as it passed inches from her face. Already slightly winded from the earlier duel with Rain, Aura could only pray that she could find an opening.

* * *

Gasping, the Irishman stumbled down the blood slicked steps, a pistol he'd taken from one of the dead mercenaries in hand. He saw more bodies, killed by the grenade that Carter had thrown earlier, laying on either side of the main doorway, almost looking like guards.

He tried to increase his pace, even as he heard another explosion, this one a distinctly fire-on-fire sound. With a grunt, he leaned against the doorframe for a moment, attempting to catch his breath, using his good shoulder. Looking out the door, he saw the massive battle unfolding, and he gripped the pistol in his hand even harder, stepping out into the snow. Sweeping his gaze, he saw Kasha sitting in the snow, even as a Grovyle closed in on her. The Irishman cursed, knowing in his current state that he wouldn't be able to hit the Grovyle from the current distance; he also knew that he had to do something quickly.

With a grunt, the Irishman stepped out the door, stumbling towards the dueling Pokemon, his thumb flicking the safety on the pistol to -fire.-

As he moved closer though, a dark shape stepped into his path, making the Irishman hold his pistol to the shape. Looking up, no emotion in his eyes, Umbreon sat there. Blinking his crimson eyes slowly, he actually smiled. {You would be doing me a favor. Shooting me,} he said, still sitting there, blinking.

The Irishman's hands shook, the sights shifting on and off the Umbreon's head as they faced off. {You know, the Gardevoir really is in good hands,} the Umbreon continued, looking towards Liam and Kasha, another ghost of a smile passing over his face. {It's your Lucario that you should be worried about,} the dark type said, turning his gaze to the massive battle that still raged. Taking a deep breath, and then slowly exhaling it, Umbreon stood up, shaking the snow off his fur. {No matter what happens, Kris shall die this night.}

The Irishman stared at the Umbreon, having understood every word spoken. "If I promise to kill Kris, will you help me?"

The Umbreon smiled, a cruel, vicious smile, and nodded. {Swear that his blood will stain this ground, and I shall help your friends,} the Umbreon said, stepping close to the Irishman.

The Irishman needed no time to think, holding out a hand to the Umbreon. Reaching up a paw, the Umbreon lightly cut the Irishman's palm, a sign that a pact had been made. {Now, I shall help you,} the Umbreon said, bowing his head.

Grimly smiling, the Irishman readied his pistol, once again limping towards the Pokemon, who were still fighting. As he got closer though, a sudden gunshot, and a plum of snow and dirt stopped him in his tracks. Falling into a firing position, he jerked his pistol around, searching over the wood line for the shooter. His eyes narrowed as he saw Craddok step out of the woods, AUG in his hands.

"Well hey there," Craddok said, grinning as he pointed his rifle at the Irishman. "Don't look like you're doing so well, do ya?" Readjusting his grip on the weapon, he stepped forward. "I have a proposition for ya: tell your 'mons to stand down, and you surrender, and I'll make sure you're treated with respect."

Out of the wood line, the Irishman saw as several more men stepped up, all pointing their weapons at him. Craddok looked at the men flanking him, two to his right and one to his left, before bringing his gaze back to the Irishman. "No matter how fast you are with that pistol, you'll be dead before you can kill us all. And depending on who you kill, we might not be able to protect your 'mon," Craddok's grip on his weapon tightened, "it's your choice."

Still sweeping his pistol from target to target, the Irishman thought. Looking, he saw Umbreon walk up to a young kid that had a G36 pointing at the Irishman. Umbreon looked pointedly at the Irishman, the Umbreon then looked to the mercenary. The Irishman nodded, slowly shifting his pistol over to Kris. "You've broken promises before, Craddok. What's to keep you from breaking this one?"

"Well, that's a risk you'll have to take, isn't it?" Craddok said, watching the Irishman closely.

// //

Walking through the streets of New York, Jayden looked at the ground in front of him, relying on his instincts to keep him from bumping into people. The cool night air sent a chill down his spine, making his entire body shiver briefly.

Still reminiscing on the abruptly cut short call with Carter, Jayden could just feel that something was wrong. Kicking a tin can he saw, sending it skittering down the sidewalk, Jayden continued walking, thinking on the events of the past days. Walking, he suddenly paused in front of an electronics store, looking at the news.

Reading the subtitles, Jayden quickly gathered that they were still talking about the assassination of Senator Rossi, and that there were absolutely no leads at all.

Jayden sighed, glad, but also annoyed that there was no information on who had killed the Senator.

Or why.

That was the question that kept ringing in Jayden's mind. =Why did they kill him and not me? It would have been so easy for any half-decent shooter to have killed us both,= Jayden shook his head again, knowing that he would not get any answers by running circles.

But, there was still something even more pressing on his mind. Where was Aura?

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So many questions! More clifhangers! I'm so mean at times....

So, comments, votes, favs, adding to groups: all are wonderful ^.^

legal: we should know it by now, but I'll say it again. Pokemon is not mine. They belong to the people that do own them. Original characters though, those are mine, as is this story line. Please ask me before using those.