LOVE AND SACRIFICE

Side Story 2 - Yiana Naventa

Despite the fact that my uncle is the head of Team Rocket, it was never expected that I would come this far. While women had become prominent members in the armies, women of my status were expected to do other things, desk jobs, basically.

But I had always loved war; it is the embodiment of what humans and pokemon are, a true struggle so that the strongest can emerge and take their rightful positions as leaders of the world.It was not hard to persuade my uncle to give me a pokemon early, then hire the best tutors for me. With my parents dead, he had to take care of me, but had other matters to see to. Behind his back, I enrolled into the Kaitan Academy, where I vowed to find my own elite group. The best of the best.

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A fifteen year old girl with sharp green eyes prowled the hallways of the academy. Most people kept away from her, knowing her status, and she sought the new recruits, the children too young to know who she was and who she had a slight chance of befriending.

She spotted a boy that she decided must be new. Few that had been there long enough found pokemon drills interesting enough to watch outside a window. "What is your name?" She asked, leaning against the window he stared out of.

For a moment he ignored her, apparently captivated by the routine exercise. "My name is Reix," he said, and Yiana caught the slightly upper class tinge to his words. He had this arrogant air to him.

"When did you get here?" She looked out the window, now close enough to him so that their bodies almost touched.

He glanced at her, noticing that she was much older than him, already a teenager. What did she want? He tucked a lock of his slightly long brown hair behind his ear. "A few days ago."

"Think you can make it?" Yiana could tell that he would make it. He had an air of purpose. He knew why he was here, and he knew how he would make his way to the top.

"Of course."

Now they both looked at each other, and Yiana had the feeling that he was one step ahead of her. "Do you know how to fence?"

The boy smirked, and Yiana graced him with a feral smile. They found the fencing room and fought. Yiana won, but Reix had won a different fight. She might have thought he was charming a young newbie, but he had known who she was right from the start. He charmed her.

----------------- Three years later -----------------

"Graduating, are you?" Reix asked, his hands clasped behind his back as he walked by Yiana's side.

"I could have graduated last year, or the year before." She pushed her bangs away from her left eye, looking at the boy clearly. "You'll graduate in three more years."

"And you're so sure?" He smiled a little, wondering if Yiana knew how arrogant she came off as. And people still admired her despite of that. Behind the arrogance, she had this... this aura of "follow me".

"Of course. You and a few others that came in your year." She smiled too. "You will work for me after you graduate."

"Don't be too sure," he said, and his tone showed that he was quite serious. His plans differed from her plans. Working together might get in the way of things.

"But I am." She looked at her watch and stopped walking, right in the middle of the hallway. "I have to go now." She titled her head to one side, her eyes twinkling a little. "Till next time."

"Till next time," he repeated.

She walked off toward her quarters, and he returned to his, smiling the entire way. Yiana opened her door and found herself greeted with the sight of a rose on her desk. A note lay by the red flower, and she picked it up.

You may still be better at fencing, but I will win one day.

Congratulations on graduating, by the way. Most people take two more years.

Reix

Yiana raised her eyebrows, very amused by his words. "We shall see, little jolteon. We shall see."

End Side Story

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Love and Sacrifice(v2): Enter Zentai

Yiana looked around with a smile on her face. All the leaders of the Kaitan Alliance were present, all the peace seeking ones, anyway. If things went as planned, the second act to this play would be able to start.

"Your Excellency." Haris saluted. "The others are ready. It's time."

She smiled, smoothing back her short black hair with one hand. Carefully, she adjusted the red rose pinned to her uniform. "Let's go." Walking to the meeting room with a serene look on her face, Yiana Naventa did not give the appearance of a leader of a secret group planning a coup. Rather, she looked like the part she was playing, the leader of an elite military group going to a peace talk. "Keep calm Haris," she said quietly as they entered the room and took their places.

Standing at the podium in front of everyone was Jarith Oak, the grandson of the legendary May Oak, and grandnephew of the also well known Gary Oak. How the family had made it into the Kaitan Alliance, no one knew, but it had not taken long before they became a highly respected bloodline, and one that people always took time to listen to, even if they did not agree.

"I believe that we should make peace with the other continents. These recent attacks are not, I believe, a complete reflection of their feelings. I think that, rather, they hope for peace even more than we do, and that we should disarm ourselves, and concentrate less on military development and more on peace."

"How do you expect to maintain peace without some way of controlling the other continents?" Haris challenged. "We need the soldiers and pokemon to help keep them in line." He would have gone on, but Yiana placed a hand on his shoulder, silencing him.

"But it is the presence of these military armaments that helps bring about wars! We must put an end to this! I'm sure that if reasoned with, those rebels that have been attacking us will stop fighting."

"Talk is cheap," Yiana replied, somehow managing to keep her cool, while Jarith seemed to be slightly flustered. "The strong must rule. The way we can prove our strength and rule well is to have our army."

"That is exactly the kind of attitude we don't need! If people think that way, wars will never end!" Jarith sighed, but brightened a little when murmurs of agreement were heard.

"It is both human and pokemon nature to fight." Inwardly, Yiana smirked, noticing that the ever-eloquent Jarith Oak was at a loss for words at the moment.

One of the Elite soldiers and his arcanine partner ran in, heading right for Yiana and saluting. "Your Excellency, the base is under attack!" He panted, wiping sweat from his brow.

The large monitor behind Jarith was switched on, and it showed the base being attacked by as of yet unseen enemies. Following an explosion, a youth riding a black rapidash with a black charizard behind came into view. He turned towards the monitor and winked, right before blowing up the camera.

"The hybrids..." Jarith gasped, looking at the now blank screen with wide eyes.

Yiana seized the moment. She was going to have to act quickly if things were to go as planned. She stood up, addressing everyone. "We have an aircraft that can be ready for you to leave on in a few minutes. We cannot risk your safety."

Jarith seemed suspicious, but nodded anyway. "Thank you."

She smiled slightly, then turned to the soldier who had run in earlier. "Go get the jet ready."

He saluted, then ran out with his growlithe and returned five minutes later. "Your Excellency, the jet will be ready soon," he said, saluting once again.

"Good." She turned to Jarith with her little smile still on her face. "After you."

Jarith once again looked at her suspiciously, but he and the other Kaitan Alliance leaders left, following the soldier to the plane.

"Are you not coming?" One of them asked Yiana as he exited.

"No, I need to stay and help defend the base."

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Xeth, clad in all black, flame-proof material, rode on his Rapidash, Demon, up to the base. In his arms was a machine-gun, which he used to shoot any soldier or pokemon that came close. Beside him flew Devil, his charizard, who was using firespin on whatever living thing he saw.

"This is too easy..." He muttered to himself as he swerved Demon to avoid getting hit by an ice attack. "Where the h*ll is Indenki?" He looked around, searching for the strange arasian boy he had traveled with.

A bomb exploding, bringing down the gate to the base, answered him. Out of nowhere, Indenki rode in on his raikou, electrocuting anyone who came near.

"Impressive," Xeth commented, riding in after the electric hybrid. "But not as impressive as the Angel of Death." The hybrid touched the locket hidden under his shirt, then got ready to wreck havoc as usual.

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Aita flew in on her Articuno, Vair sitting behind her. They had been somewhat surprised to realize the base was already being attacked, but decided that meant less work for them. The blue bird swooped down, landing just outside the base and allowing the girls to jump off. Aita recalled her, then noticed that the gate to the base had already been blown up.

"I guess we don't need this then, do we?" Vair looked at the bomb she held. "Then what do we do with it?"

"We'll find something," Aita replied. "They've probably realized they're being attacked by now, and if we don't hurry, they'll leave." She ran through the gate when she finished talking, and Vair had no choice but to follow.

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Jorvis too flew in, and was more than just somewhat surprised when he had spotted two girls, one with green hair, the other with pale blue hair, riding in on an articuno. He immediately landed his aerodactyl and followed them in, noticing that someone had already taken care of the first line of guards.

"Hey! Stop!" A male voice called out from behind him, and he turned to see a boy about his age riding in on a Steelnix. The boy jumped off, then recalled the massive pokemon. When he walked closer to Jorvis, the rock hybrid realized that the boy seemed quite frail next to his own huge frame.

"And you are?"

"Blade Keisuke, the steel hybrid. And you?"

"Jorvis, the rock hybrid."

"I thought as much." He looked around, absently tapping his two steel blades together. "I suppose we should be going in, shouldn't we?"

"Sounds good to me." Jorvis mounted his Aerodactyl and got ready to fly in. "Are you gonna take your steelnix in?"

"No." The smaller boy sighed. "Sahn is too big and I can't attack efficiently on him." Blade saluted. "See you inside the base!" And he ran in.

-----

Siana and Psyris teleported in, surprised to find the lightning and fire hybrids already in the base grounds and attacking. They quickly erected a shield around themselves, and started using psychic attacks against the pokemon that the soldiers had. Well used confusion attacks muddled the pokemon's brains and tricked them into attacking each other, and their trainers. It was a brutal way to get rid of one's enemies, but an efficient one.

Psyris seemed disgusted by the carnage, but he bore it well. He was created to help Siana fight, and that included being able to stand seeing people killed in large numbers. Wishing not to distract his partner, Pysris muted his thoughts and continued attacking.

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Swift flew in with his fearow, savoring the feel of the wind on his skin. He went to each mission with the attitude that this could be his last time flying, and he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. Turning behind him, he nearly stopped flapping his wings when he spotted a dark blue haired girl with leathery wings flying with a dragonite.

"Hey!" She called, waving. "I'm Merideth!"

/Such a beautiful voice... She must be a good singer./ He thought absently, as he was wont to do. "I'm Swift!" He yelled back, slowing down so that she could catch up with him.

/He must be from Eurel with that accent. And he's got such beautiful eyes, exactly like the sky.../ Blushing slightly from her thoughts, Merideth quickly looked down and thankfully noted that they were at the base. "We've made it."

"So we have..." Swift replied, hovering in the air.

"How do you do that? Stay in the air without moving around? I have to keep moving or I fall."

"I have a very light frame, so it's not hard for me." He dove, gracefully swirling down to the base with his fearow.

"He moves so elegantly, doesn't he? I think I need more flying lessons..." She told her dragonite, flying around in a circle.

"Dragonite!"

"What?" Merideth looked behind her, continuing to fly in a circle at the same time. "Hi! I'm Merideth!"

Hali blinked, before answering, stammering a little. "H...hi! I'm Hali."

"Scyther?"

"They're friends. Don't attack," she told the scyther.

"Nice to meet you Hali! I'm going down now though, care to join us?"

"Sure!" She smiled brightly. She had not gone alone on a mission for ages, and it *would* be nice to have a 'friend' to go with, so the two hybrids swooped down together with their partners.

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Devin had already been in the base, masquerading as a soldier, when he had heard the explosions outside. /What's going on?/ He asked himself, looking out of a nearby window, and being rewarded with the sight of two boys riding in on unusual pokemon. Not too long after, two girls flew down on an articuno, followed soon by two more boys. "I must be dreaming... Six of the other hybrids, all in one place?" He transformed into a spearow and barreled through the window, flying in and following where the hybrids had gone.

He found them fighting the second line of soldiers defending the base. Deciding that he might as well, he transformed into a rhydon and joined in the fray.

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A soldier found himself grabbed from behind, knocked out only moments later. Surprised, his comrade stopped commanding his pokemon and turned in surprise, looking for the attacker, only to be knocked out cold in the same way.

"Well gengar, it's not as dishonorable when I don't kill them, right?" Tevix asked the ghost pokemon, somewhat anxiously.

"Gengar, gengar."

"I knew you'd see it my way. However, I can't go on like this." He made himself visible, and took out his gun. "I hear something coming from the other side of the base. Sounds like a fight..." He floated towards the noise.

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"Can't use my poison attacks with the other hybrids around..." Kaor bit his lower lip in frustration. "I still have these though." He pulled a case of throwing knives out of his backpack, glad that he had learnt how to use them not too long ago. Two guns also sat in his bag, but their range was not far enough. He opened the case, and from where he stood, hidden behind a tree, threw a knife at a soldier who was about to shoot at one of the hybrids that had bright red hair.

Surprised to see a soldier a few feet away from him fall with a knife in his throat, Xeth looked around and grinned when he saw the poison hybrid with his tri-colour hair. "Thanks!" He yelled, before ordering his Rapidash to use a fire attack on the grass pokemon that was attacking Indenki's raikou.

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On top of her gyrados, Corvet rode in, disappointed yet pleased to find the battle already raging. Disappointed because it had started without her, but pleased that the other hybrids were around. She had no chance of infiltrating a base during the day on her own, for her water attacks were next to no good on humans. She was a pretty good aim with guns, but one could not rely entirely on weapons.

"Go Jaws!" She commanded the huge water pokemon, who immediately charged in and joined the attack. There were a couple of fire pokemon on the Kaitan soldier's side, and Corvet was sure that the others would not mind her help with those.

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"See ya later Kenji-chan," Erian said as she burrowed into the ground with a sandslash and a dugtrio. The fighting hybrid could only stare in surprise as they disappeared below the ground and dug their way to the base.

He shook his head, not understanding the ground hybrid. Continuing on, he rode his motorcycle up to the base, then dismounted and ran in. The fight had already started, and he decided that it would be wiser to use his machamp, rather than attack on his own.

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A dark figure slipped through the base. While the other hybrids fought outside, he was free to steal some information on the Kaitan Alliance and Team Rocket. He had been in the base for about an hour now, having snuck in earlier. Of course, he had to kill a few soldiers, but they were on their break, and would not be noticed until some time later.

After hacking into the computers, he had found some valuable information which he printed out. Mainly just the locations of some of the bases, but then he also found some secret files about a coup... His green eyes darkening slightly, Shadow read the documents, his mood worsening by the second. This whole attack was all a trap. Although, not necessarily a trap so much as a trick... The peace-seeking members of the Kaitan Alliance were to be 'accidentally' killed in this attack, mostly likely by one of the hybrids.

Printing it out quickly, Shadow got up and was about to leave when he noticed a figure in the doorway. Automatically, his ears flattened themselves against his head and he hissed silently.

"So, one of you managed to sneak in." The figure was female, with black hair and hard, dark brown eyes. There was a slight smirk on her face as she looked over the dark hybrid. "So you're Project H/C Type #15... For a while, we thought you were dead after that attack on your original base. Seems you really did survive."

Shadow stayed silent, one of his hands moving slowly to where his gun was.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She took out her own gun and aimed it at him. "But I'm not going to kill you." She lowered it, momentarily puzzling the hybrid. "I have a plane to catch." She turned, leaving a stunned Shadow behind.

What was she trying to pull? Why hadn't she killed him? And who was she? He pushed those thoughts aside, remembering that he had to get outside and warn the others not to attack either of the aircrafts that would be leaving.

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Indenki spotted an aircraft leaving the base. He frowned and immediately pressed the button on his collar, releasing his Zapdos. Standing up on the raikou, he leapt onto the electric pokemon and flew up, straight at the aircraft. Had he released the pokemon a few seconds later, or if he had not noticed the aircraft just then, he would have heard the dark hybrid yell at him to stop.

But he had not, and he had therefore mistaken the aircraft for one of the Zentai jets. With his zapdos, he built up a high charge, more than the voltage he would need to self-destruct, and released a joint electric attack on the jet, effectively jamming its controls and bringing the aircraft to the ground, where it caught fire.

When he landed, he was greeted with the serene face of the dark hybrid, which seemed to be sad for one brief moment.

"It's a setup. Jarith Oak and his supporters are in there." He spoke with no emotion in his voice, but the words hit Indenki hard.

The lightning hybrid froze, his eyes widening slightly in shock. He... he had been tricked? "No..."

Corvet immediately took action, riding on her gyrados quickly, hoping to put out the flames and maybe save some lives. Xeth too followed, for the fire would not bother him too much, and he could easily slip in.

The others, however, were all in shock. So much so that when a second aircraft left, they barely noticed.

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"The second act has begun," Yiana said, looking down at the base. What they had done to the hybrids, tricking them into killing the very people that they supported, had been cruel. Yet this was a war, and every now and then people had to lower their standards a bit to get things done.

Some people might be wary of her survival, but the uproar over the 'terrorist hybrids', and her next move, would keep people busy long enough to forget their suspicions. The human race was so fickle, and therefore so easy to manipulate sometimes.

Haris poured a glass of red wine and handed it to her. Gracefully, she accepted it, holding it up to check the color, then taking a delicate sip. "Good wine," she said, taking another sip.

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All over Arasia, Zentai soldiers who had been under the guise as the 'Elite Force' began to fight those who they had previously worked with, the Alliance soldiers. In a very controlled coup, the major bases were each attacked from the inside, allowing Zentai to now take center stage.

"What's going on?" An alliance soldier asked, hearing the noise outside. Turning to one of his fellow soldiers in confusion, he saw a scyther standing in front of him, threatening to slit his throat. "Jim, call you scyther off me!"

"I'm afraid not, Sam. Zentai's taking over. Surrender, or be killed."

"Jim..."

"I'm serious."

The alliance soldier raised his arms above his head, surrendering, unprepared to die in such a pointless way.

Vaela peeked in, casually pushing her bangs out of her eyes. Noting the Z on Jim's shirt, she nodded. "Is this area secure?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good." She re-mounted her rapidash and continued to check through the base.

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Reix rode up to the main building of the head base in the region he was in. "Will you surrender?" He yelled up to the man in charge of the base.

"Never!" The man yelled back, loading his gun.

"Very well," Reix replied. "But know this: The Kaitan Alliance is no more! Zentai is now in command." And he kicked the rapidash he was riding sharply, causing it to rear up. "Soldiers, attack!" He commanded his troops, and they started an all out attack on the base.

Finally realizing that resistance was futile, the base's leader surrendered, not wanting to see his men slaughtered.

"Glad you've come to your senses," Reix replied smoothly. "Make sure the base is secure though." He told a group of his soldiers, who immediately spread out to inspect the area.

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The hybrids managed to rescue three of the men who had been in the aircraft, among them Jarith Oak. Unfortunately though, Jarith was likely in a coma... Unable to stick around, the hybrids fled after rescuing the men. Kenji offered to let them spend the night at his Dojo, for there was plenty of room in the underground area, and they had agreed, for they were too tired to travel back to where they stayed.

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