LOVE AND SACRIFICE
Love and Sacrifice: Stopping By
It had been three months since the hybrids spent those precious
thirty hours together, thirty hours they would never forget. In that
short time, friendships that would last lifetimes were started, and
they began to form a sort of pecking order.
In the three months that passed, they had once again spread out
through the world, doing as much damage as they could to the growing
organization, Zentai, which bloomed and started to tighten its fist
around not only Eurel and Arasia, but Corse and Farica, the two
nearest continents to them.
The hybrids were regarded as terrorists, and handsome rewards were
offered to anyone who could capture even just one of them, preferably
alive. There were those who respected the outcasts, who knew that
they were working for the good of the people, and who knew that Yiana
and her like could not be trusted. But they were heavily outnumbered
by those who actually supported Zentai, for it seemed to be a
trustworthy organization, much more so than the domineering Kaitan
Alliance.
-------------------
Resting peacefully against the soft bellies of her charizard and
fearow, with her persian snuggled in her lap, Donari gave off the
image of your average teenage girl resting on a veranda with her
pokemon.
But she was not your average teenager anymore, and those were not
your average pokemon. Sacrifice was the sole son of Flame, a
genetically altered charizard whose intelligence nearly matched that
of a dragonite's, and whose fire-power could only be compared to that
of a moltres. His father was no bull-headed charizard either, and had
too been a prized specimen, also killed in the attack on the lab
those many years ago. With parents like that, Sacrifice was a pokemon
many would die to have their hands on, but only few would ever know
about. With his psychic abilities, Sacrifice's worth was near
immeasurable.
The fearow was large, to say the least, big enough to fly with about
four adults on its back and not feel stressed. Like the charizard, it
too had enhanced brainpower, though not as noticeable. Love, the
persian, had no special skills, but owned a rather big heart and
tenderly bouncy personality for its normally cold species of pokemon.
Any family that could raise a 'sweet' persian was nothing short of
remarkable, and that was exactly what Donari's family had been.
She had not heard of her parents for what seemed forever. Normally,
one would have expected the capture of important figures such as them
to be on the news, but no, there had been no reports. It seemed as if
they had simply dropped off of the world and this upset her greatly.
They were probably dead. Silenced before they could go public.
Although she had grown up knowing about the war, especially with
having an 'older brother' being trained as a perfect soldier, the war
had never been as real as it was now. She had witnessed attacks in
person, something so much more real and shocking than the television
broadcasts.
With a slight creak, the door opened, and a young woman, maybe in her
early or mid-twenties, stepped in, looking around briefly before her
eyes rested on the young girl. "Donari, there's someone here to
see you."
Puzzled, she stood up immediately. "But this is a secret
location!"
The older woman smiled slightly before opening the door for Donari.
"I think you'll understand when you go."
Still puzzled, she gently shoved the persian off her lap and
re-called the other two pokemon into the locket on her necklace. Who
on earth could it be? Curious as a meowth, she raced into the
building and down the many staircases to the bottom floor, skidding
to a stop when she saw who it was.
"Xeth!" With the hyper affection that had never left her,
she ran up to him and leapt into his arms. "How've you
been?"
He grinned, catching her and giving her a small kiss on the cheek.
"I've been good. I mean, I've narrowly avoided capture, torture,
and death a couple of times, but I'm fine." Putting her down, he
looked behind himself and frowned slightly. "Devin, Tevix, get
over here!"
Confused, Donari looked around for who he was talking about, and then
started as she saw a young, pale teenager materialize behind him, and
a brown haired girl take shape from the rattata that had been at his
feet.
"Meet Tevix and Devin."
Tevix bowed, and Devin pretended to curtsy. "Pleased to meet
you," the latter said, eyes twinkling.
Xeth came in-between them and put his arms around their shoulders.
"These two are my partners in crime. Tev's a living ghost and
Dev's a ditto."
The girl snorted and stepped on Xeth's foot. "I am not a
ditto. I'm only about half a ditto. I'm as much a human as you
are."
"Ignore 'her'. Dev's a little sensitive when it comes to
discussing what she is." The fire hybrid removed his arms from
their shoulders and walked up to Donari. "So, what's the little
princess been up to? Seen Shadow lately? Or Indenki?"
At the mention of the lightning hybrid's name, she blushed and
averted her eyes. "No, I haven't see either of them for the last
three months."
"You haven't?" He frowned. "That's weird... I could've
sworn..." He looked at her briefly, then at the other two
hybrids, who shrugged. "Oh well. We just need somewhere to hide
during the day, and we needed to know if you guys wouldn't mind our
hanging around the area?"
"Leah?" Donari turned to the older woman.
"They can stay so long as they leave tonight."
"We will," Tevix responded, walking, or rather, gliding
over to her. "We would like to speak to you later though, before
we leave."
"Sure."
"Later then!" Xeth waved, then pushed the other two out the
exit.
"Interesting group." Leah remarked after they were gone.
Smiling, Donari nodded. "Very."
"Are all the hybrids like that?"
She shook her head. "No. They're some of the more 'cheerful'
ones. Most of them are a little more on the... grim side?"
The woman nodded, understand fully what the young teen meant.
"They're soldiers. Even those three. They all know that fighting
is their life, it's what they were bred for..."
Sadly, the girl nodded. /Sei... You knew that your life was
meaningless, yet when you turned to us to help you find something to
love, to live, and maybe to die for, we turned you away... Why don't
you come find me, Sei? If they could, you could too.../
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Xeth, please tell me that I can trust you to be a little more
'tactful' while we talk to Leah?"
The fire hybrid pouted, hurt by what the ghost hybrid hinted at.
"Are you saying I don't have tact on a regular basis?." His
lower lip quivered, and he threw himself at Tevix's feet.
"Tevix, you don't love me anymore? I thought we were friends,
buddies!"
Sighing, Tevix de-materialized and floated higher above Xeth.
"No, that's Devin."
"Tevix! You've pierced my heart with a knife and twisted
it!" Dramatically, he rolled over so he could look Tevix in the
eye, and he clutched his heart, grimacing in 'pain'.
"Get up, Xeth! All I'm saying is that this is a serious matter
that needs to be dealt with carefully." He floated down and
knelt by his friend's side. "We can't keep going on as we have.
We're only seventeen teenagers, funded and maintained by seventeen
tiny groups. Sure some of us have human/pokemon back-up troops, but
put together we make a very tiny army. In there," he pointed
over the fading horizon "hundreds of troops are just waiting to
be commanded! Sure they're a very tiny army too, but they've got the
supplies, and they've got secret funding."
The fire hybrid had sat up by now, and looked intently into Tevix's
pale blue eyes. "I know, I know...Help me up?" He held out
a hand, and the ghost hybrid grabbed it and lifted him up.
"Let's go, Devin's been waiting for too long."
---------------
They made it to the base by the time the night was pitch black and
their only light source came from Xeth's tail. Waiting for them
outside was Leah, the light brown-haired and green-eyed leader of the
Arasia Resistance, formerly part of Zentai. She had quit a few years
earlier, disgusted by their true intentions, and quickly became a
leading force in the Arasian rebel force.
"So, what was it you wanted to discuss?" She asked, folding
her arms across her chest.
Tevix stepped slightly in front of the other two and spoke. "As
you may know, our mission is to destroy Zentai. Those are, and always
have been, our orders."
"And?"
"We need your help; there just aren't enough of us. Zentai has
grown over the past three months, and there hasn't been much we can
do to even just halt their growth, and we're getting desperate.
Everyone thought this would be a short war, but it seems that's
wrong, because it's not. This is going to last a long time if we
don't make a big move."
She had listened carefully, and had heard his every word, but sadly,
she shook her head and sighed. "We're not a suicide group."
Turning halfway, she looked at them sideways. "Get yourselves
killed for no reason if you want, but don't try to suck us in."
The three watched as she left, a little shocked by the way she had
quickly dismissed the idea of an alliance, yet not entirely surprised
by the act in itself. Her refusal had been a warning for them, a
warning that they were against a ruthless enemy.
Xeth closed his eyes for a moment, focusing his thoughts within his
mind. She was right to decline their offer. It was not time. When
would it be time? Would it ever be time? He opened his red eyes and
looked at Tevix and Devin, equally grim expressions on each of their
faces. What were they doing here, three youths from a continent
entirely different from this one? They were lost.
---------------------------------
Love and Sacrifice: Test of honor
"These 'pokedolls' go against everything I believe."
Sitting behind her desk, Yiana stared defiantly at Duke Dylan, the
former leader of Team Rocket, the current leader of Sai, and her
uncle. Her left hand, balled into a fist, lay in her lap, out of
sight. Her right hand, calmly lying on her desk, did not betray the
near uncontrollable anger boiling within her. Green eyes, sharp and
deadly, were her only traitors.
"You have no say in this! The only reason you were able to
become the leader of Zentai was because of your relation to me!"
The man, aging but trying to hide it, had little of Yiana's control.
His fury at her lack of servitude was displayed for all the world to
see in the way he leaned too close to her desk, the way he spoke too
quickly, often running words together. He was a rabid gyrados; she
was a provoked arbok.
"It was not," she said calmly, but with force. "I am a more
capable leader of this organization than any of the other candidates,
and you know it." She paused, taking a deep breath and regaining
her composure. It was not her nature to express anger so blatantly.
"However, I do not like the idea of these pokedolls. What is the
point of battle if fought between lifeless pokemon? The whole beauty
of battle is the soldiers and pokemon willing to give up their lives
for their beliefs."
"Who cares about the beauty of the battle? The whole point is
that we won't lose any lives, and they are much more efficient than
real pokemon!" Standing up, he smoothed his coat and looked
coldly at his niece. "That is that. We shall be sending the
pokedolls into Farica, Corse, Indeli, and Jarlis tomorrow. We've
already started secretly deploying them in Arasia and Eurel." He
turned, walked to the door and opened it, adding one last line.
"Oh, and the hybrids might try to stop the shipments, so set up
some sort of decoy so we can try to get rid of the little terrorists
for once and all."
Eyes still blazing stubbornly, she watched him go and then sighed,
picking a single red rose from her vase on her desk and twirling it
in her fingers carefully. "Don't worry, Duke Dylan, I'll take
care of the hybrids, but I am still against your precious
pokedolls..." Pressing the com button to Haris's office, she
ordered him to take over the task of destroying the hybrids the next
day. She doubted they would get rid of all of them, but she at least
needed to distract them for a while. She had other things to do.
---------------------------------
"So, Lord Kehin, how are you planning on luring the hybrids to
the transport ships?"
Haris turned, regarding the lady, the same age as him, nineteen, and
answered in a cold voice. "Instructor Demis, nice to see you."
Most could sense the sarcasm disguised as formality. "I'm going to
have three shipments of the pokedolls. One by air, one by water and
one by land. The hybrids keep a close watch on us, and they should
catch up on the information and try to stop them, but we'll have some
pokedolls and regular human and pokemon troops waiting. That way, we
should be able to get the shipments through, but at the same time get
rid of most, if not all, of the hybrids."
She nodded, ignoring the slight look of superiority Haris gaveher.
The two of them somewhat respected each other, but there was a hidden
rivalry that went on quietly between them. "Her excellency
ordered me to hang around and make sure everything goes as
planned."
The disappointment that flickered briefly through Haris's eyes was
blatantly visible to Vaela, but she ignored it as she was too worried
about Reix, who would be leading the land troops.
"Fine," the blonde man replied, returning to his planning.
"Just don't get in my way."
Behind his back, unable to contain herself, Vaela rolled her eyes and
stuck out her tongue.
------------------------------------------
Indenki looked at his orders, his eyes wary. Deep down inside, he had
a feeling that something was up, but orders were orders, and even if
there were back-up troupes, the pokemon could not be much of a match
for his zapdos and raikou. A few minutes ago Shadow had contacted him
to let him know that he too had orders to go after the land shipment,
and he had a feeling that Xeth's little group who had would be making
an appearance too. More than adequate back-up, he thought.
------------------------------------------
"Another convergence of us damned creatures to the battlefields
we are condemned to live on..."
"Swift!" Taken aback, the dragon hybrid stared at the
slightly older boy that was hovering by her side. She had
re-encountered him several times over the last ninety or so days, and
each time had caught a glimpse into his deep, poetic personality. He
was not one to waste his words on meaningless things, yet unlike
Shadow or Indenki, he did not really save his words for the absolute
necessary, but to observe some sort of abstract event with carefully
chosen words so that the right impact he wanted to carry out was
achieved. At times, she noticed that he could be slightly on the
morbid side, but he loved to try and find beauty wherever possible.
One thing that took up most of what he said was flying, for to him,
nothing could compare to the joy of feeling the wind rustling his
feathers.
"Forgive me Meri," he said with a regretful smile,
"but you must admit, it's true, and we all know it."
Sighing, she continued to fly around in circles, the only way she
could stay in the air without really going anywhere for a long time.
"I know, I know, but still..."
Raising his gaze from the ground far below them, he turned to look at
her with his sky eyes, and suddenly grinned, playfully blowing a lock
of stray hair away from his face. "I'm not the happiest of
company all the time, am I?"
"No, you're not, but you're a lot more cheery than Shadow any
day..." She muttered, remembering a time last month when the two
of them had found themselves on the same mission, and he had kept his
distance as much as possible.
Swift's grin faded, and his eyes gained the thoughtful glaze they had
whenever he went back into a thoughtful trance. "Shadow has been
through a lot. Genetically created to be silent, paranoid, and
deadly, and then hurt in the way he so obviously was in the
past..." A deep sadness washed over the flying hybrid and it
flooded over to his companion.
Fluttering below them, Hali, the frail and tiny bug hybrid, dared to
interrupt them. "I know I've come right in the middle of
something, but I thought you should know that the aircrafts are
coming in, followed closely by the trucks."
"Thanks Hali!" Merideth said brightly, pleased to see her
small friend there, and healthy. Despite the fact that Hali was
stronger than she looked, the dragon hybrid still found it hard not
to be a little overprotective of her.
"Ready to battle?" Swift reached up to his silver collar,
depressing the button and releasing his powerful fearow.
"Ready as I'll ever be," she replied, watching Hali swoop
down before releasing her dragonite.
----------------------------------------
Silently, dead green eyes watched the three winged hybrids in the
sky, and the others quietly gathering to their assigned positions.
Shadow stooped down and rested two calming hands on the necks of his
pokemon, telling them to relax, that it was not yet time to attack.
Over their time together, they had bonded in the peculiar way only
dark pokemon could, and were just about as close as they ever could
get. Actual love and affection were emotions generally unknown, yet
not unfelt by them, and friendship was just about as deep a love they
could ever feel for one another. Shadow and his pokemon understood
each other somewhat, and their situation, and realized that with each
other their life purpose could be fulfilled, and they would feel
needed to the world in a way.
"Umbreon?" The dark eevelution inquired, licking a paw
nonchalantly. "Breon." It added.
"We're going to attack from the sidelines. They're bound to have
large pokemon, and if we go out into the open, we'll be too
vulnerable."
Understanding, the pokemon nodded, shifting restlessly on its feet.
"Doom," the other stated, looking over the horizon and
pointing out to Shadow that the battle had somewhat already started.
"Now," he commanded, releasing his hands from their necks
and starting to give them orders.
---------------------------------------
On top of his steelnix's neck, Blade had a perfect view of the
battlefield, from the bright spectacle of Indenki and his two
legendary electric pokemon, to Tevix and his Gengar wrecking havoc
where they could. What puzzled him was those new pokemon he was
seeing... He could have sworn Zentai did not have such large forces
to deploy for only the transportation of some new pokemon... What
could be in those vehicles that were so important?
"Go lower," he commanded the gigantic pokemon so that he
could see what was going on a little closer. Was it just him, or did
some of the pokemon they were using just not seem... alive? He was no
psychic, yet he somehow felt that they were not really alive, just
hollow shells that had orders being fed into them. When injured even
by his steelnix, they did not cry out, and merely continued battling
until they were defeated. "What are these?" He asked
himself, furrowing his brow in puzzlement.
/So you've noticed too?/ Siana mentally asked him. /So have some of
the others... I believe Zentai has come up with a new weapon./
Blinking, the steel hybrid looked at the pokemon troops they were
facing, then up at the sky where Siana rode on her lugia. /Then that
just means we need new strategies./
--------------------------------------
Blue eyes blazing indignantly, Indenki looked up as he saw a man he
knew only from his files. Reix, the top soldier and trainer of
Zentai. Wordlessly, the two assessed each other's skills and pokemon,
noting that they both were using lightning types. Realizing he was at
a disadvantage in mobility by being on his Raikou, Indenki swiftly
switched to his zapdos so that he and Reix had equal chances at
winning.
And they fought, their air-born pokemon rushing at each other full
speed and releasing powerful lightning attacks. Forgotten were the
cargo they were supposed to protect or destroy. This was a battle
between only them.
Gripping tightly to the neck of his own zapdos, Reix was thoroughly
enjoying the battle. It had been a long time since he had met anyone
with the training skills and the pokemon to match his own. If he were
to die right then, he would be happy, for he would have died in a
glorious battle.
----------------------------------------
"Damnit!" Haris cursed as he banged his fists on the
control panel. Despite the fact that the pokedolls were a lot more
powerful than the average pokemon, they were still dropping like
flies. All of the hybrids, except the lightning type, were crushing
his troops with little effort.
"What now?" Vaela asked, leaning back in her chair and
stretching, displaying her lack of interest openly.
Frustrated, he glared at her, but then smiled when an idea came to
his mind. He knew that all the hybrids carried some sort of radio
communications system, and getting a message to them would be easy.
"Call the 099 base in Arasia!"
----------------------------------------
*Attention all hybrids*
Startled, Blade's mercury eyes flicked to the screen attacked to the
neck of his steelnix that had suddenly switched on. /Kernel Haris?
What the...?/
*I admire your strength, but if you really value the lives of those
you're fighting for, maybe you should stop.*
Flying up next to him, Hali exchanged confused looks with Blade.
*I'm sure you're all aware of the exploding power of voltorbs.*
"He couldn't... he wouldn't!" Blade exclaimed, his mind
quickly grasping the threat implied in that statement.
*I know some of you were created in Arasia, and even if you weren't,
I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate the southernmost province being
obliterated.*
"That bastard!" Hali exclaimed. Normally, Blade would have given
her a shocked glance for such vehemence, but she had good reason.
*So if you recall your pokemon and surrender, the people of that area
will be safe; however, if not...* The man trailed off, and then shut
off the connection.
-------------
/Arasia... Donari!/ Shadow's eyes widened slightly as he looked
around the battlefield and realized that the others had all stopped
fighting, and like him, were looking around with bewildered
expressions on their faces.
Swift recalled his fearow and slowly fluttered to the ground beside
Merideth and Hali. "Should we surrender?"
"No," Blade answered as his steelnix deposited him softly
near the three. "We can't surrender. Think what they could, or
rather, would do if they got a hold of us! How many of us are
carrying technology somewhere on ourselves that would be dangerous
weapons in their hands? Or worse, we all know that it is possible for
a psychic pokemon to be able to control another pokemon, so why not
one of us? We can't surrender. We can retreat, but we can't
surrender."
"He's right." The dark hybrid spoke from the branch of a
tree nearby.
"We can't endanger Arasia!" Kenji exclaimed, his eyes
blazing angrily.
"Is that one of the professors?" Jorvis, who had been
completely silent up to now, pointed at the screen he carried on his
wrist like a watch, and the other hybrids immediately turned to their
own.
High up in the air, briefly pausing in his heated battle, Indenki's
eyes were glued to the monitor. His Professor was talking:
*I surrender, but I will not give up my hybrid or the pokemon. I
repeat, I surrender, but I will not give up my hybrid or my pokemon.*
Around him, everyone else who had been listening was confused, but
the hidden message to that was clear to Indenki. Resting his head on
the neck of his pokemon, he stroked its feathers softly and closed
his eyes, building up a concentrated charge of electricity.
"No!" Reix sensed what the boy was doing, and kicked his
zapdos sharply, commanding it to back away.
The electric hybrid lifted his head up, and with his eyes still
closed, let loose the electricity he had generated, creating a huge
explosion that knocked him off his zapdos, and they both fell to the
ground at an alarming speed.
Shadow did not think. He did not have time to think. He leapt out of
the tree and caught Indenki in the air, curling up with the younger
boy in his arms as they landed so they rolled safely instead of
crashing to the ground. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed the
zapdos being picked up by the Zentai troops, but there was nothing
they could do right then. It was probably dead, anyway.
"Everyone, scatter! They're distracted!" Blade yelled,
hopping back onto his steelnix. "Shadow, get on."
Looking up, Shadow stood slowly, realizing immediately that if he did
not go with Blade, he would have a slim chance of escaping fast
enough, especially with Indenki in his arms. Carefully, he laid the
comatose hybrid over the back on the steelnix then got on after
recalling his two pokemon. "Just drop me off a few miles from
here."
"Why not just come to Eurel with me?" The steel hybrid
asked. "We have the resources to take care of Indenki."
Shadow was about to decline when Blade turned around, his eyes
meeting Shadow's. /He's a bad influence.../ He thought to himself,
nodding anyway. /Don't get too close./ He reminded himself. /It hurts
more when that happens./
---------------------------------
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