Author's Notes: 10.10.10

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRONICLES OF FATE!

Yes, today is the one year anniversary of Chronicles of Fate: The 17 Knights. And I know that says "10.11.09" as the publish date, but I live in a different time zone, so at my time I posted it on the 10th but got it on the 11th. Oh well.

Because of the incredible 10 for the date, I have a little game you all can play.

The first and tenth person to send me a PM will get the next chapter of the fic to their OC for character development. This is what you have to include in your PM:

- Subject has to be "Happy Birthday" or anything along that line, so I know you're participating.

- Include the name of your OC that you submitted. (Full name please). If you have not submitted an OC for this fic, then please give me the name of the OC you would like me to dedicate the chapter to. You can visit my forum (link on profile) and check out the OC submission thread to see villain OCs.

And that's it. Thanks everyone so much for a year of awesomeness, and enjoy the next chapter!

Energy's Masters

Ivory was shaking as she woke up in the middle of the night panting and sweating, the Ryker Siblings haunting her dreams. Rubbing her temples, she sat on the edge of her bed, her vague dream floating away from her. She could hear Azura stirring in her sleep on the top bunk of the bed, grinding her teeth in her sleep. Sighing, Ivory laid back down and closed her eyes slowly.

"Painted leaves of an oak tree in the autumn…" she thought to herself, but despite as much as she tried she could not picture the image in a positive way. Growling to herself, she felt her eyes water. Beauty and elegance; That was all she wanted back. The memory of her parents ripping her canvases was so vague now, just like her dream. They were the reason she could no longer recognize beauty. It had to be them.

Ivory looked at the back of her hands where her shards were embedded. She felt the power surging, as if they were a part of her blood now, circulating through her. Ashton Ryker's face came to her mind, how at that time she looked up to him, as if a lost soul that found God. His hand that was held out to her, his small smile, his single eye that was a black stone; to Ivory he was her savoir that had given her power.

But that was then. Though a small remainder of her feelings remain, Ivory felt that he had damned her; that he was the reason she was shunned from the world of art she loved so. Ivory sighed and wiped her tear.

"Ashton…" She snorted once and laid on her side, quickly closing her eyes and letting the darkness take her into her nightmare once more.

Fey, Jojo, Katie, and Demetrius were the only ones in the deserted lobby besides Raikou. They were called down earlier at the crack of dawn, three out of the four—which all were coincidently females—were on the verge of falling asleep, each having their own unique, negative reaction that Raikou effectively ignored.

"Ah, this brings me so many memories of my last four pupils…." Raikou spoke calmly as he stood majestic as always. "Though last time it was three males and a female instead of the other way around…"

"Your point?" Jojo blurted rudely. She seemed to be extra cranky from the lack of sleep. Raikou only chuckled.

"You are very similar to Ignis, the original Knight of the Flames." He sighed. "Actually, all three of the Fire Knights seemed to have the same qualities."

"….your point?" Jojo growled again. Fey sighed in unison with Katie.

"Let's just get past this…" Katie, speaking in a monotone voice, adjusted her square-rimmed glasses lightly. "Why are we here before the sun is even up…"

"Well, tell me then, what do your four Soultributes have in common?" Raikou grumbled. "Ah, I guess I should explain that."

"Please do," Fey spoke up.

"Well… how should I put this… Celebi usually is better at this but…" Raikou cleared his throat. "You all know that Pokémon have types, yes?" Everyone nodded. "Those are called 'attributes'—it's what you humans call 'Pokémon Type'. Pokémon can have multiple attributes, some can use moves of other attributes, and attributes react either positively, negatively, or neutrally to each other."

"And thank you for telling us everything that is obvious." Jojo rolled her eyes. The others did also, but most likely at Jojo instead of with her. Raikou took a moment to look at her, then continued.

"Soultributes are, however, different than attributes. They are the attribute of the soul, which has little to do with type. Pokémon with a fire attribute can have a poison Soultribute, regardless of species, age, or gender. There's not many ways you can find out a Pokémon's Soultribute—but one way you humans have discovered is by the Pokémon move 'Hidden Power'." Fey's and Jojo's faces lit up to show they immediately understood what Raikou was saying. "Hidden Power is a move that uses the type of the Soultribute. A lot of professional trainers use this to their advantage to get a Pokémon to use a certain type move that otherwise it cannot use."

"So… that's the real explanation behind Hidden Power?" Katie's indifferent voice was softer than usual. "It surely does make a lot more sense now."

"Exactly." Raikou shifted into another position. "Now, humans originally had attributes, but with the misusage of it, His Excellency took it away from them. However, humans' Soultributes still remain. Those medallions you see there not only let you communicate with Pokémon, but they awaken your original attributes. This brings us back to why you are all Knights.

"In order to qualify as a Knight, your attributes and Soultributes must match up exactly. It's rare that it happens, so that's why finding you all took us so much time. We had to travel back in time because it is possible that in a generation there is not a single person with matching attributes and Soultributes. You all are truly one in a million."

"Pff. I knew that since I could walk." Jojo rubbed her nails against her teal dress and examined them coolly. The others grumbled in unison.

"So that brings us back to why we're here, I'm guessing?" Fey spoke up. Raikou nodded. "Well, I don't know what Fire, Electric, Poison, and Fighting have in common. And I know my types well."

"Well, you see Feylene…all you are the Knights who are energy dominated. You all must constantly be aware of how much power you have and how much you are going to use. If any of you don't monitor yourselves, you won't last half as long."

Raikou took a moment to pause and look at all four. He nodded at their confused faces and faced an angry Jojo with the utmost calm. "Joanna. You Fire Knights have great abilities. You're able to take the fire energy of others and convert them to your own. However, one thing you have to be careful of is the amount of fire energy already existing within you." Jojo didn't say anything, but merely raised an eyebrow in question. "You are only able to absorb as much power as it takes to 'refill' you up to one hundred percent. In other words, you're like a gas tank." He chuckled a bit. "You're built to always be in action—the center of the battle."

"…fantastic…" Jojo mumbled with a small smirk. Raikou went ahead and faced Fey now, who was standing not too far away from the fire girl. He gave a small smile.

"Like Joanna, you also have the ability to absorb energy—electrical energy to be exact. But unlike her gas tank concept, you are able to absorb more energy that your maximum. In fact, that is what you are built to do." Raikou took a moment to think out his words. "The Fire Knights and Electric Knights share a deep relationship. The Fire Knight is built to constantly be in offensive combat, never running out of energy. The Electric Knight, though, is built defensively—you begin with zero energy and absorb attacks for your comrades, then proceed to release it all at once. While Joanna must watch her power level to know how much energy she is able to absorb, you must watch how much energy you have already absorbed and how much energy it takes to execute a certain attack. You have to be careful of what you do offensively because you cannot produce your own electrical power without a source, and you cannot store much energy for use later on either."

"So while the Knight of the Flames can constantly be offensive, the Knight of the Thunders can constantly be defensive?" Fey mumbled loud enough for all to hear.

"Right on," said Raikou, "All the Knights have relations to one another. As a whole, they are the perfect team. One Knight's weakness is another Knight's strength, and it is important you all learn them." Raikou glanced between Katie and Demetrius now, as if thinking about who he should face first. "…Katie…" he began, "Although you might not have too deep of a relation with either one of those two Knights, your abilities also depend on your energy. You must distinguish which energy within you is positive, and which is negative, according to your purpose. Poison is a mystic thing—it can make one fall into a fatal illness, or it can cure one from a fatal illness. There are toxins that can counter other toxins, like how positive energy can counter negative energy to create neutral energy.

"You are able to absorb toxins and not be effected, Katie. Not only that, but you are able to store it for future use, unlike the last two. You don't have to worry about how much energy you have, but rather the different types. Each genus of Pokémon have their own type of poison, and it is your job to keep track of what kinds of poisons you have absorbed. Certain combinations can be deadly, others can be perfectly neutral. I'm sure that you are able to tell the difference between reptile poison and herb poison easily, with your intelligence, so you are already built nicely for the Knight of the Toxins."

Katie merely nodded and muttered indifferently, "I work with a lot of Poison Typed Pokémon, so I have a fair amount of experience."

"Perfect." Raikou finally took a look at Demetrius, who hasn't even spoken a word since he arrived. "And Demetrius…"

"Sir?" Demetrius spoke strongly, keeping his eyes on Raikou's at all times. The Electric Beast took a step forward to meet Demetrius on an eye-to-eye level.

"You seem to have much experience with your energy level."

"Yes, Sir," spoke Demetrius. "I am in combat for a living."

"Celebi told me. You meditate, yes?" Demetrius nodded. "Then I have nothing much to explain. You already know that your max energy can be expanded, and like the previous two Knights you have used meditation to help you do that."

"Sir," Demetrius muttered. "Meditation is all about energy control."

"Then if you all understand your places…" Raikou took in a deep breath, "We'll begin our training."

Xande's grin was awfully wide, sharp, decaying teeth peeking out from behind his lips. He was in his large stone throne, his surroundings dark and dusty. The smell of cold dirt filled the air, moist almost, and as Xande curled his fingers over the arm rest he let out a chuckle, eyes shifting to a floating misdrevious nearby.

"I feel him again…" Xande muttered to his Pokémon lowly. He chuckled again and closed his eyes. "I can feel his soul entering the spirit realm… he is wandering…" He smirked. "He'll have to wander no more… I will find him."

Letting himself loosen and lay back against the stone, Xande sat still, as if to fall asleep. He channeled his energy to his core, a low, controlled breathing being the only thing he heard. And as if he had reached death, his breathing has stopped, and the misdrevious sighed lightly, slightly satisfied that her master was gone.

Or at least for the moment.

"B…Big Sis!" The loud cry was desperate and frightening at the same time, echoing throughout the mountain range. A large fireball blasted from the shouter's beak, a large shriek of revenge fueling it. Moltres darting in towards her enemy—who she feared more than any enemy she had ever faced before.

"No, Moltres!" Articuno shouted out. Her sweet voice sounded tainted, sad and muffled. She pounded herself into the bars surrounding her, preventing her wings from spreading; only managing to make it shake. The humans in black sent an electrical shock the metal that pierced her and make her cry out loud in pain, Moltres' anger firing up even more. But she could not take her eyes away from the Pokémon of the woman she was fighting—whom seemed to be the leader of them all.

"Big Sis—" her words barely had time to let out her words when a large wave of electrical energy hit her head on, not only making her cry in pain, but paralyzing her and causing her to fall to the earth. The Togekiss that took her down didn't even wait for a minute-long breather, and began sending glowing leaves at the fire bird, none missing the target. Moltres was cut everywhere, unable to move and only able to shift her eyes up to her sibling.

"Big…Sis…"

"Moltres!" Articuno cried, eyes filled with tears. "Don't fight them, my dear, they will only hurt you mor—"

"I can't let us be taken like this!" Moltres' shriek cracked her throat. "Never!"

"Our brother will find us... he will never let damnation settle upon us, my sister, and he will break these bars that shall hold our wings and he shall let us fly…Believe in me." Articuno's gentle, motherly voice softened Moltres' angry eyes, her own filling with tears. "Believe in our brother."

"What if they've got him? What if he's—"

"Moltres," Articuno whispered, "Even though we have had our conflicts, even though there were times where you saw me as an enemy…that is what having siblings is about. You must believe in me, in him…" Her eyes grew droopy as she felt herself grow weak. "In His Excellency. Praise His name…"

With that, Articuno grew limp and weak, soon passing out on the cage floor, the humans in black snickering and whooping in success. Moltres, although filled by rage, could not even move a wing, and could only let the darkness sweep over her as a dart was shot into her neck. The last thing she saw was her enemy—the woman—walking over to her, light brown bangs covering her eye and long ponytail swishing behind her. She had returned her three Pokémon along the way, and slipped the miniaturized Pokéballs into her shirt pocket over her chest, a giant diamond patch covering it.

"You're mine now, Moltres," She spoke lightly, a small smirk covering her face. "All that's left is Zapdos…and then check mate."She started snickering louder and louder, Moltres throwing a glare that didn't seem to affect her at all.

"And then that's it." She examined her nails casually. "Lugia will be mine."

*Ah! Adrienne got to Moltres and Articuno too!

And yeah, sorry for very little development. I had to explain some things and I hope I got everything explained fine. And don't forget about the PMs! Thanks everyone for reading!