Last chapter of the current story arc; hope you all have enjoyed it.

CrisscrossAnime, glad to hear you like this story. Regarding hearing some things from the Pokemon's point of view, I think I'll recommend another story that has a lot of that. 'Never in the Wrong Time or Wrong Place' is another story that has a great deal of the story in Pokemon POV; Griff4815 focuses more on drama than I do, so that's something if you're big on that.

Anyway, here we go.

Mastering a New Start

Chapter 27: Forest Chase Part Seven;

Bone Keeper's Hunt and Aftermath!

The night had fallen completely, covering everything in a veil of inky black. The only thing that made an attempt to break through the gloom was a dimming light held by a lone figure with a posture slumped in exhaustion stumbling along a worn path. The form began to collapse at one point, but an arm shot out almost reflexively to brace itself against a tree. Despite its obvious fatigue, the figure barely stopped for a moment before continuing on.

Fortunately, Mark and Jolteon didn't come across any opposition after beating the Primeape that had apparently been sent after them. The trainer was certainly not up for another fight just yet, as his legs burned from walking nonstop after an already exhausting battle. Jolteon wasn't faring too well either, as the last-ditch attack she used to defeat the fighting-type seemed to have taken more out of her than Mark had expected; he eventually had to recall the tiring electric-type in order to keep going.

However, there was no sign of any of Mark's other Pokémon either. In fact, there wasn't much of anything around him other than forest. The field of trees stretched in all directions, and if any Pokémon did happen to be in any of them, they were hidden well enough that Mark couldn't detect any trace of them.

After several minutes of walking, Mark came across signs of a very recent battle. Thick, deep gashes were dug into a few trees, there were spots everywhere where dirt had been torn up, and scorch marks littered the landscape. The trainer was just beginning to look around for the participants when he heard the unmistakable sound of a blunt weapon against flesh. Mark quickly turned to follow the sound past a nearby wall of foliage, and burst through it into a large clearing.

Five minutes earlier, two Pokémon burst through that same shrubbery into that same clearing. One figure was dark orange with lizard features, and he was viciously swinging the sharp claws on his forearms and the scorching fire at the tip of his tail hoping to strike his opponent. The other figure had some lizardlike qualities, but this one was a sandy brown color with a bone white head; his face held a more subdued ferocity, and seemed content to hold off his opponent's attacks with the bone he was using as a makeshift club.

As the two combatants landed in the clearing, they quickly broke away from each other, rolling across the soft earth for a short distance before springing back to their feet. For a few moments, the two stood their ground, each sizing up their opponent. Both Pokemon's breathing came deeply, both of them having taken a few injuries from the fighting they had done already; the Marowak had a few scorch marks and the Charmeleon had bruises developing in several places. The fire-type was just readying himself to attack, when the Pokemon before him casually spoke up.

"So, what do you want with the human?" The Charmeleon scoffed at the question, giving a derisive snort before he replied.

"Even if I knew what my masters want with him, why would I tell you?" Despite the less than cooperative response, the Marowak merely smirked, as though he were already expecting that answer.

"Just thought I'd ask, though it doesn't really matter either way. If you guys want him, I'm going to make sure you don't get him."

The Charmeleon, having lost all patience, opened his maw to unleashing a stream of raging flames at the Bone Keeper. Boneyard was faster though, dodging the blazing Flamethrower with an effortless sidestep. With an angry snarl, the Flame Pokemon continued his assault by spewing another torrent of fire at the Marowak, this time in the wide, twisting shape of a Fire Spin.

Boneyard lifted his bone club toward the incoming attack and, with a single smooth swipe, slashed through the flame with enough force to make it scatter and fade. A few embers managed to land on the ground in a few places, but the nearby plant life was, fortunately, all much too green to burn that easily. Having evaded the Charmeleon's attack, Boneyard turned back towards him, a mocking sneer on his face.

"Funny, I figured a Pokemon sent after me by Versum would know that they would have to do a lot better than that." The Marowak extended an arm toward the fire-type, beckoning to him in a 'Come and get me' gesture. "Try again, and don't embarrass yourself this time."

His already boiling anger having been stoked still further by his infuriating opponent, the Charmeleon was all too quick to take the invitation. With as much of a roar as a Pokemon of his size could manage, the fire-type leapt forward at the Bone Keeper, releasing another blazing Flamethrower as he closed in. Boneyard held his ground as the Charmeleon charged at him, a subtle fury evident in his features.

Just as the streams of flame were about to reach him, Boneyard flung his bone club into the incoming assault, causing the flames to harmlessly disperse around him. The Bonemerang attack kept on going, forcing the Charmeleon to end his Flamethrower so he could duck out of the projectile's path. However, the fire-type continued to close in, and quickly found himself in melee range of his opponent.

Having gotten too close to the Marowak to effectively use most of his fire-based attacks, the Charmeleon chose instead to lash out with his claws, wreathing them in silver energy as he did so. The Metal Claw went wide though, the ground-type ducking to the inside of the attack before launching a punch of his own. Pure reflex saved the fire-type, causing him to backpedal just far enough for the strike to come up short of its target.

The Marowak didn't let the failed attack stop him though, as he pressed his attack with another punch. The Charmeleon's quickness came into play again as he managed to catch the Bone Keeper's arm by the wrist, stopping the attack; the Flame Pokemon attempted to follow up with another Metal Claw, but following the fire-type's example, Boneyard caught the Charmeleon's arm in mid-attack as well. For a few long moments, the two Pokemon held their positions, each attempting to overpower the other.

As the struggle continued, the Charmeleon soon heard the whistling sound of something flying through the air behind him. Instantly realizing the position his opponent had maneuvered him into, the fire-type let go of the Marowak's wrist and twisted himself so that he was facing the area behind him. As he reached out in an attempt to snatch his opponent's approaching weapon out of the air, his arm that was still in Boneyard's grasp was whipped downward, sending the Charmeleon crashing face first into the ground.

As quickly as he could regain his bearings, the fire-type pulled his head from the earth to look up, finding his opponent standing over him with his weapon back in hand. Out of desperation, the Charmeleon unleashed another stream of flames at the Bone Keeper. Though the Marowak dodged the assault with little difficulty, it accomplished what the orange lizard had intended, having forced the ground-type to back off long enough for him to get back to his feet.

"So, that's all you got, then? What a disappointment; at least that Scyther had enough drive to make the fight interesting." The Charmeleon heard the dissatisfied words before he was completely up, and by the time he was facing forward again, the Marowak was already there. The fire-type tried to attack, to defend himself, something, but the attack had already begun.

Boneyard was a blur when he closed in on his adversary, the arm holding his weapon drawing back as he prepared to strike. In a symphony of blows, the bone club thrust out numerous times seemingly all at once to smash into the Charmeleon all over his face and torso. After a few moments of the Bone Rush attack, the fire-type was caught in the chest by a brutal swing of the club that sent him falling backwards.

A thick arm hammered into the Charmeleon as he dropped, crushing him to the earth once again. Unable to move through both the pain and the powerful arm still holding him down, the fire-type could only look up, finding the Marowak nonchalantly sitting over him, his form silhouetted against the briefly uncovered sun with one arm grasping his club that he had slung across his shoulders. Without warning, the downed lizard was grasped by the neck and pulled up until he was face-to-face with a grim-faced Bone Keeper.

"Now, there's been something I've wanted to know, and I think I'll see if you can tell me. Now, I like this name you Versum guys have dubbed me with, and how you have it presented; ''Boneyard' the Marowak: wanted alive for one thousand dollars', it's a kind of attention that a warrior can appreciate, I think. However, having to constantly deal with your black-suited idiots is really getting aggravating." The Marowak's face darkened further as he pulled in the Charmeleon even closer, the subtle anger burning behind his eyes becoming more and more evident as he continued speaking. "Now… who is the son of a Muk sending you all after me?!"

Rather than answering, the Charmeleon began to build up heated embers in the back of his throat, keeping the activity hidden behind bared teeth. However, the moment he opened his maw to unleash the Flamethrower, his neck was roughly jerked to the side, forcing the fire stream to fly in a direction that didn't involve his opponent. After a few moments, the fire-type stopped his attack, and immediately felt his neck being turned to the side again.

"Wrong answer," was all the Charmeleon heard before he saw a large bone club swing towards his face, and then all went black.

Mark finished forcing his way through the foliage and into the clearing just as a red-orange lizard hit the ground, unconscious. Moving into a guarded stance, the trainer eyed the still-standing Pokemon with its back to him, trying to determine whether the creature was friend or foe. After a few moments, the Pokemon turned around, and Mark instantly recognized the Marowak he had met just before the Versum agents appeared. The human remained slightly wary, but he was able to mostly relax as he addressed the ground-type.

"That guy was from Versum wasn't he? Thank you for stopping him; after the fight I was just in, I don't think I would've been able to take him myself." The Marowak nodded in acceptance of the gratitude, but Mark noticed several dark looks the Bone Keeper cast in the downed Charmeleon's direction as well, and quickly determined that the Marowak had his own reasons for fighting. Hoping that the conclusion he had just jumped to wasn't completely off target, Mark spoke up again.

"You don't like these Versum guys either, do you? Y'know, if you come with me, we can help you; not to mention that, the way things have been going for us, you'll get plenty of chances at 'em, too." The Marowak didn't take long to think about the idea, quickly rejecting it with a shake of his head; Mark wasn't particularly surprised by the reaction as he continued. "I figured not, just thought I'd ask."

After a moment to nod respectfully to each other, Mark and the Marowak walked out of the clearing, each following a separate path back into the forest. The trainer had decided that he would continue on to Vermillion City and hope that his Pokemon would get the same idea. As Mark walked, he fingered the empty pokeballs on his belt worriedly, his thoughts going out to the friends that he could do absolutely nothing to help.

Fortunately, Mark's idea of continuing on his previous path was a good one, as it wasn't long before he conveniently started to come across his Pokemon. First finding Poliwag, then Onix, and then Pidgeotto, the trainer was grateful to see that, while they were exhausted and had injuries that made it clear that they had just been in a serious fight, they didn't seem to be in any immediate danger. Just to be safe, though, he recalled them to their pokeballs soon after finding them.

Mark continued on down the path with a considerably brightened mood after finding Pidgeotto. It was true that Scyther was still missing, but the mantis was more than capable of taking care of himself, and his tracking abilities were superior to any other Pokemon on Mark's team. The trainer had no doubt that he would cross paths with the bug-type again soon enough.

After several more minutes of walking, Mark was stopped when a patch of foliage in front of him began to rustle. With only that for warning, a slouched figure burst out of the bushes, its red and green-streaked form stumbling into the trainer's path. Looking as it did, it took Mark a few moments before the horrible realization of just who stood before him sunk in.

Mark rushed toward the heavily injured Scyther as he began to tip over, just managing to catch the bug-type before he hit the ground. As he examined Scyther's shredded and battered body, Mark felt a growing cold in the pit of his stomach as his mental list of the mantis' injuries grew longer and longer. His exoskeleton was riddled with long, ragged gashes that leaked enough blood that his entire form was streaked with it. Not only that, but a number of the wounds were also oozing a sickly purple fluid, something he recognized as being a symptom of severe poisoning.

Forcing himself to keep from shaking in anxiety, Mark searched his backpack, finally producing an Antidote spray. As the trainer applied the healing substance to the half-conscious Pokemon, his mind raced as he thought about what to do. There wasn't much he could do to help Scyther at the moment; the Antidote he was using wasn't intended for cases this bad, and it was unlikely to do much more than slow the spread of the poison.

Mark recalled Scyther to his pokeball, glad that the sphere's properties would also help slow the deterioration of Scyther's condition as long as he remained inside. The trainer's face hardened as he looked down the road, realizing that Vermillion City and the Pokemon Center there were still some distance away. There would be no time for breaks or interruptions now; Scyther needed help immediately, and Mark wasn't about to let him down. Pausing just long enough to readjust his backpack, the trainer set off at a pace as fast as he could manage.

"Agent 402, what have you to report?" The addressed operative struggled to remain calm as the man on the videophone screen waited for an answer. 402 was particularly displeased at his failure, seeing himself as being above that kind of thing; then again, having no idea how the higher ups would react might have also had something to do with it. Taking a deep breath, 402 finally managed to begin speaking.

"In accordance with our mission, we tracked down one Mark Rowley en route to Vermillion City. Upon finding him, we managed to separate him from his Pokemon and proceeded to send our own in to detain him. However..."

The Agents found 432's Girafarig in the middle of a large, grassy clearing. The unconscious Pokemon had a twisted ankle, and a massive bruise covering most of the side that was visible marked a spot where several ribs had been fractured.

Agent 402's Primeape was found tangled in the trunks of two trees, and singed spots peppered his fur. The fighting-type twitched occasionally, but not much due to its cramped position and its half-conscious state.

The curled up form of Agent 407's Raticate was at the base of a tree, cracked spots in the tree's trunk indicating that he had been slammed into it with impressive force. Both of the rat's sides were forming large bruises, and he was bleeding from several spots where the bark cut into him.

A large pile of fallen branches and debris marked the area where Agent 432's Ledian was found. The bug-type had small dents all over its exoskeleton, and a particularly large indentation in her chestplate.

407's Roserade was fairly easy to find, as the area all around it was devastated to being nearly unrecognizable. The unconscious grass-type was prone on the ground, a peaceful-looking smile showing on his face despite laying in a small pool of his own blood.

402's Charmeleon was eventually found in the middle of another clearing, next to a section of forest with numerous scorch marks. His front was nearly covered in small bruises, and his jaw was broken.

"However, our Pokemon were all defeated. The mission was a complete failure." Silence settled over the area as the three Agents waited anxiously for an answer from the man on the screen. Of course, it lasted only a matter of seconds before the massive form of 407 shot forward, his insistent voice booming out.

"But we'll keep trying, sir! No matter how long it takes, we'll get him! Even if we have to follow him to the ends of..."

"You will do no such thing." The authoritative command from the other end of the line promptly shut the large man up, and the businesslike voice continued. "You will receive a week of leave for you and your Pokemon to recover, and you will then be expected to proceed to your next mission immediately afterwards. Are you clear on that?" Knowing better than to answer any other way, the three agents answered in unison.

"Yes, sir."

Upon terminating his connection with Agents 402, 407, and 432, the man dialed in another number. Within moments, the screen of the videophone brought up the image of a shadowy figure; the being was silent, obviously waiting for man who called to begin. With a nearly emotionless, businesslike tone, the man did just that.

"I have just received word from 402's team; it seems that they were unsuccessful in capturing Mr. Rowley. Those three should have been enough for the job according to the report I had received from Scout 32, but it appears that I had misjudged the rate of his progress." The shadowy man was silent for a moment, apparently considering the information he was just given before he finally spoke.

"Your recommendations?"

"We could try again, I suppose. However, I believe that most of the agents we have that are higher ranked than 402 are needed for more important tasks right now. If you think that it is really necessary, I could reassign some tasks to Agent 289 in order to free up a few Agents for a second attempt."

"No, that won't be necessary. Based on his background, it's unlikely that he will be able to deduce anything important about us at this time. We will postpone Mark Rowley's capture for the time being."

"As you wish, sir."

In the Vermillion City Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy and her Chansey were enjoying a fairly uneventful evening. True, the nurse enjoyed healing Pokemon more than just about anything else, but there was a certain satisfaction in knowing that all of the Pokemon in the area were perfectly healthy. With little else to do, Joy busied herself by going over a recent medical report featuring new psychological treatments for schizophrenic Exeggutor.

However, the woman was soon distracted from her reading when the doors leading into the Center burst open. Joy's eyes widened as the newcomer stumbled through the doorway; the man was, to put it kindly, a wreck. From the looks of him, it seemed as though he had bathed in a mud pit and tried to dry himself off with a patch of bushes; as he lurched closer to the counter, the large bags under his eyes became more evident, as well as telltale signs of overexertion and lack of food.

Though Joy found it odd that a man in his condition would come to the Pokemon Center rather than the hospital, she was never one to turn away a patient, Pokemon or human. However, when the nurse begin to come out from behind the counter to help the newcomer, she was stopped when she heard a loud 'thump' coming from the counter. As she turned around, she found that a Pokemon Trainer's belt had been thrust onto the counter, the five pokeballs attached to it the only clean items she had yet to see on the man's person. With that, the trainer turned toward her, his worn and exhausted face intense as he weakly spoke.

"Help them..." As though the need to say that had been the only thing keeping him going, his eyes immediately rolled into the back of his head, and he fell to the floor, unconscious.