AN: I retract my statement about uploading a chapter every Wednesday. I never will succeed. Anyway, enjoy the first battle since Realgam tower.

Ein could tell he was not going to like his new co-worker. He frowned as a man with black, curly hair strolled into his lab, ignoring all health and safety instructions (not that Ein obeyed them) including the one about knocking on the door before entering. He wore a black suit and would likely take the title for best dressed in Cipher after Selena's untimely demise.

Ein's new office in Cipher's main headquarters was smaller than his old one. He had a simple square room with a metal table and a hard chair. There was a window on the side of the room's door that stretched around another side overlooking his small lab. Another window—this one behind his desk—was covered by blinds and gave a view into project zero's cell. The room was uncomfortable and Ein regretted not picking up more of his old furniture. The one good thing was that, since the completion (and destruction) of the Chaos machine, he had managed to get some rest.

The man took a brief look around the lab, then opened the door into the office. "Certainly not the immense lab I expected," he commented in a rather posh accent.

"Wasn't my choice to blow up the old one," Ein replied coldly. "Do you put on that accent specifically when criticising people?"

The man laughed at this. "Not at all. This is my normal accent. It's a darn sight better than the common tongue of Orre though. I spoke to your assistant earlier. Lovely girl, but I couldn't for the life of me understand what she was saying."

"You're clearly not from Orre, in that case. Where are you from and why exactly did you choose to join Cipher?"

"Why, my dear fellow, I'm from Kalos. I came to join Cipher because I heard great tales of it's incredible exploits."

Ein laughed. "That's a lie if I ever heard one. Cipher are shit and you know it. We are simply Orre's resident evil team."

The man stared at him as he said that. "Really? So you've lost a few times?"

"'A few times' is an understatement."

"And what of these shadow pokemon." The man tapped a pokeball. "You created a being that relies on aura alone. A being of terrifying proportions. And if that's not enough, you successfully created shadow humans too. Cipher may not be successful, but it's only a matter of time before we become too good for any hero to defeat us. Cipher can prevail and I have always believed that."

He paused and Ein found himself lost in thought. The man continued; "That's my story. What about yours? You are clearly not from Orre. I would say you were from Kanto. Correct?"

"Indeed, I am from Kanto," Ein replied. "I joined Cipher before they became known as the 'buttmonkey' of criminal organisations when they offered me a well paying job which involved working with pokemon.

"Alright then, who exactly are you replacing then? Snattle or Merton? Or did somebody kill Dakim for being too loud?"

"And how do you know that I am merely an admin and not your new replacement boss?"

"The advisers are going out of their way to get new heads for team Cipher. I think I'd know if you were my new boss."

"Very well then," the man said. "I am Blickley and I am one of team Cipher's new admins."

"One of them? Who else is an admin?"

Blickley tapped his nose. "You'll know when you see them. Or maybe you won't..." He then stepped out of the office and started snooping around the laboratory. Ein glanced at him and decided to just go back to his work.

Marcia drove as fast as she could. Ten minutes ago, Michael and herself were heading back to her apartment for lunch. When they saw Wes' bike was missing, they began to worry. However, upon reaching the floor of her apartment, they found the entire place left in a terribly messy condition, as if someone had been looking for something. Upon the kitchen counter was left a simple note; 'If you wish to see your friend again, bring yourselves to warehouse 14 on the east side of Pyrite.'

They had spent the last two weeks attempting to rid Cipher's presence from Pyrite—and deliver the captured Cipher pokemon to Sherles. For a while, they thought they had succeeded, although they still had no idea where Cipher's base was. Now it was clear that Cipher still lingered, waiting in the shadows. And they had struck. Wes had moped around for the two weeks, still mourning Rui.

So it was that Marcia and Michael arrived at warehouse 14. The building was large, grim and in dire need of repair. Two large wooden doors were set into one side, one of which was open just a crack. They dismounted the bike and cautiously crept inside.

What they found inside shocked both of them. "FUHOHOHO! Darlings, you're just in time for my Super Salsa performance!" A strange man with a red and white afro danced about the room. With him, four Ludicolos wriggled and jived. To one side, two equally strange men in weird attire stood, watching and clapping. In the centre of it all, Wes sat, looking rather agitated, tied to a chair with several cuts and bruises on his face and a gag covering his mouth.

"Miror B!" Michael yelled. Miror b was put off and missed a step, causing him to trip.

He picked himself off of the ground and brushed his clothes off. "Oh oh oh, stop the music!" One of the men pressed a button on a stereo, stopping the rather obnoxious salsa music. "Oh! How rude of you to interrupt my dazzling performance." He looked at the two newcomers. "My oh my! If it isn't the heroes who stopped Cipher at Realgam tower. And you know my name as well."

"You know perfectly well who I am, Miror b," Michael said flatly.

"Oh. Umm...Are you my...err...cleaners?" He turned to one of the men, the one wearing what appeared to be a life-jacket. "Trudley, who are these people?"

"Dunno boss," he replied. "Probably some obsessive fans who wish they knew you."

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Well, they seem to be interrupting something, so we'll have to take them out." Miror b gestured and his four Ludicolos followed him. A weapon appeared in each of their hands. Trudley and the other man—Folly—drew guns and joined in.

Marcia and Michael were surrounded. "Let the music play!" Miror b shouted. A strange piece of disco music began playing on the stereo. Then, Miror b, the Ludicolos, Trudley and Folly disappeared, leaving just Wes, tied up as before, and the stereo.

There was a giggle from somewhere in the warehouse. Marcia glanced warily at the crates piled about. She ran towards Wes whilst Michael ran to the stereo.

Before either could reach their targets, two figures appeared in their respective paths. "I've been practicing that one all week," the figure in front of Marcia said. Her features fully formed, and she appeared to be an adult in her mid-twenties, straight blonde-hair tied up in a ponytail hanging from her head.

"Well, of course you have," the other said, switching the stereo to a more sinister track. She had similar blonde-hair, but it was wavy and not tied up. "You always prepare. I prefer going out on a whim."

"Which is why you are so obsessed with giving everything weapons, sister. You need to learn the art of trickery and deception too, you know."

"Who are you?" Marcia asked, still stunned from the sudden disappearance of Miror b.

The straight-haired sister smiled. "I am known as Alpha. My sister here is Omega. However, you should refer to us by our formal name, for we are not two, but two halves of one whole." Her sister began talking at the same time for added effect. "We are Gemini."

Omega took over, pulling out a gun and gesturing for Michael to move back to the centre. "You have something we want."

Alpha continued. "Two things, as a matter of fact."

"Both a trifle, really."

"And then you, and your friend will go free."

Marcia frowned. She knew something was up.

"Simply, a fancy rock with intricate patterns," Omega said.

"It shouldn't be too much to give up."

"They call it the relic fragment."

"That's all we want."

"And, of course, a purple orb of no consequence."

"The God catalyst, that is it."

Marcia glared at them. "Even if I had them, I would never give them up to scum like you."

Gemini's collective eyes widened. "Then you will tell us where they are," Omega said.

"And you will remember," their voices became one again, "we are Team Miror b. Not Team Cipher. We oppose them and will be able to defeat them with your cooperation."

"We will never tell you anything, you lying bitches," Michael said, fearsomely.

"Team Miror b, eh?" Marcia pondered. "I have someone who has a bone to pick with you, then." She sent out Lombre who glared at the twins.

Gemini glanced at the Lombre. "So, it's a battle you are wanting."

"Very well. We will give you one."

"But, we only do double battles."

Tossing a pokeball up in the air and catching it, Michael grinned. "I wasn't going to sit this one out."

"Then, as our boss always says-"

"Let the music play!" Omega switched the tracks again, this time to a fast-paced track that made the battle all the more epic. Gemini's outfits switched in the blink of an eye from fairly unassuming clothing to silver, glittery dresses. They seemed to have put on make-up as well.

"I really find this whole magic-thing confusing," Marcia commented.

"I don't think they're magic," Michael replied, sending out his Ursaring. "They must be psychics with a strong grasp of illusion."

"That explains why they consider themselves connected. They must be telepathic."

Alpha studied the competition. Producing the pokeball from seemingly nowhere, she sent out a Honchkrow. Omega on the other hand, simply picked Mismagius at random.

"Ha!" Michael laughed. "Just like all other twins, they're going to use pokemon that are often paired up." Omega growled, but Alpha seemed to give a devious smile. "Ursaring! Use slash on Honchkrow."

Ursaring lumbered up to Honkrow and struck...absolutely nothing. Honchkrow appeared behind Michael and cawed. "Hey! You can't cheat just because you're illusionists!"

"We did not specify any rules," Omega cooed.

"Well then, maybe we should," Marcia replied. "Twelve on twelve double battle? No illusions."

"That would give our entire strategy away to you," Alpha complained.

"But they won't get another chance to battle us once we're done with them," Omega replied.

"We can't take that risk. Four on four. No illusions. Winner gets your friend." Wes looked at her, concerned.

"Aww."

"Very well then," Michael said. "Pick your second pokemon now." He separated his Jolteon's pokeball from the rest on his belt.

Alpha nodded and a second pokeball appeared on her rather stylish belt. Omega did the same. Marcia chose Salamence for type coverage. Nothing beats dragons, she thought to herself, especially Salamence.

"Okay then," Alpha said, "begin!" Neither of the Gemini twins announced their attacks (presumably due to their psychic abilities). Mismagius started singing in a voice that caused all competitors as well as their trainers to cover their ears.

"Perish song!" Marcia cried. "We have to finish this quickly, Lombre. Hydro pump on Mismagius!" Lombre spat the hydro pump, blasting Mismagius back a few feet. The ghost, however stayed up and summoned some psychic energy that embraced both it and Lombre. After a moment, Lombre felt as though he had been on the receiving end of the hydro pump. "Pain split? This thing's a trickster."

Meanwhile, Ursaring was trying to strike Honchkrow, who flew into the air to avoid the attacks. "Come down here you craven coward!" Ursaring yelled.

"Raven?" Honchkrow replied. "I'm no raven! I'm a Honchkrow!" It dived, striking Ursaring who was unable to dodge out of the way. However, Ursaring stayed standing and grabbed Honchkrow, crushing it's wings. "Let go of me, you brute!"

"Okay then." Ursaring tossed Honchkrow into a pile of wooden crates which toppled on impact. Ursaring decided to go and check to see if Honchkrow was still standing, but when she tried to move, she found her legs stiff and heavy. "What the-"

"That would be quash," Honchkrow said. He hovered behind Ursaring. "I guess it's a bit of foul play. No wait, this is foul play." He struck her with her own strength. Her legs buckled and she fell. "You've lost!"

"No," she replied with a yawn, "I'm just tired." Honchkrow gasped as she dropped off to sleep in the middle of the battle. He decided to knock her out, assuming she was just using rest. However, when he moved close, Ursaring started babbling in her sleep. Then, she struck him hard with a thrash attack.

"Fine then," Honchkrow said in pain, moving away. "Let's see if you can hit me from here." He began to unleash dark pulses, forcing the dark energy to descend on the sleeping bear.

On the other side of the room, Lombre fired another hydro pump, hoping to finish the Mismagius for good. However, the move arced wildly to one side of the ghost. She cackled and spat a strange dark energy at Lombre. The energy engulfed him, yet seemingly did nothing. "Hmm?" Then he tried to fire another hydro pump, only to find himself unable. "Spite."

Now, Mismagius conjured fire out of the air and launched it in an inferno attack. Unsurprisingly, unlike the hydro pump, it was a direct hit, doing massive damage and burning Lombre. He yelped in pain.

Mismagius was about to launch a finishing hex at him when, suddenly, they both heard her voice singing again, this time softer. Lombre watched her faint first, almost as if through choice. Then, he felt the overwhelming urge to collapse, and did just that. Honchkrow, sadly, did not get the opportunity to finish off Ursaring like he wanted and Ursaring simply slipped off into something deeper than sleep.

The four competitors returned their pokemon and glared at each other. The battle so far had given none of them an advantage. It all came down to their final pokemon. Michael and Marcia released their most powerful pokemon confidently. Alpha and Omega grinned at each other, then at their opponents. They pressed the buttons on their pokeballs simultaneously...

And two massive pokemon appeared in the warehouse. One was a blue stag with antlers that glowed in all of the colours of the rainbow. The other was a large red and black avian with a tail shaped like it's wings and claws on all three appendages. A grey ruff billowed around it's neck. "Hey!" Michael raged, "I said no illusions!"

Marcia tapped him on the shoulder. "Michael, I don't think they're illusions."

"You mean they have Xerneas AND Yvetal!"

"Maybe we underestimated Miror B." Marcia paused. "I don't suppose Jolteon could take on Xerneas?"

"No way! I'm going for good old-fashioned type advantages. Jolteon, zap that over-sized wyvern!" Jolteon nodded, unleashing vast amounts of electricity straight towards Yvetal.

The wyvern zipped around the seemingly unavoidable lightning bolt and hit Jolteon with a powerful sucker punch (or claw). Angry at the cheap hit, Jolteon retaliated with a discharge, forcing thousands of volts through Yvetal.

It's reaction was not what Michael or Jolteon had expected. Yvetal shrugged the blow off as if it were nothing and snarled at Jolteon, the sound waves doing damage to the electric bunny dog. "Oh, come on!" Michael yelled. "This is clearly a ground type under one of your illusions!"

"We are not doing anything," Omega replied calmly. Yvetal began charging up a focus blast. Michael ordered Jolteon to use agility to evade the powerful attack.

Once Yvetal was fully charged up, Jolteon stood still. "Bring it on!" she yelled. Yvetal complied, launching the huge energy-based attack in her direction. It struck so fast that Michael did not get a chance to see if Jolteon had dodged.

The explosion on impact was both blinding and deafening. A small, smoldering crater was left in the floor with no sign of Jolteon. Yvetal was surprised by a number of sharp pains in it's back. Jolteon stood behind it, launching sharp pin missiles from her own hair.

Irritated, Yvetal swept downwards to strike Jolteon directly. This was a mistake, as Jolteon dodged, then struck out with a double kick. Despite it's typing, Yvetal flinched.

"Dammit Yvetal," Omega cried, "use another focus blast!"

"What!?" Michael exclaimed. "You'll destroy the entire building! And probably miss Jolteon."

"I'll use whatever's effective."

"But it wasn't effective! It missed. You're a bloody spammer!"

"I prefer to think of it as utilising the top tool for the job and only that tool." Yvetal began charging energy again.

"I think it's time for our finale, Jolteon," Michael said, grinning. Jolteon nodded and began to charge up power for a hyper beam.

They both fired, their attacks passing through one another and explosions engulfing both pokemon. "Huh?" Michael said, confused. "I thought the attacks would collide."

Whilst Jolteon and Yvetal plunged into battle, Marcia found herself at a loss as to what to do. She was about to give Salamence an order when Xerneas began a swagger. "Salamence," Marcia shouted. "Don't you dare-" Salamence became enraged, yet confused. "-fall for that."

"Salamence, come to your senses and use flamethrower!" Salamence shot flame everywhere, setting fire to a number of crates. Xerneas, dodging a rogue fireball, summoned rain inside the building so as to put out the fire.

The fire receded. Salamence continued to unleash it, however, to minimal effect. "Salamence, that isn't working. Try a double edge." Salamence shot off to one side, diving head first into a pile of crates, disappearing under the large amount of wood.

Xerneas looked into the pile, wondering if he had already won the battle. He was proven wrong, however, when Salamence shot through the wood, senses cleared, striking him with a powerful double edge. "Yeah! Take that sucker!" she screamed.

"Good hit, Salamence!" Marcia praised. "Now go for a zen headbutt." Salamence charged forward and struck out with her huge head, channeling what little psychic prowess she had into hurting Xerneas.

Putting his sharp antlers out in front of him, Xerneas stopped the psychic headbutt, hoping to dig into Salamence's skull. Luckily, her skull was rock hard, allowing her to ignore the pain. Instead, Xerneas switched tactics. It's rainbow-coloured antlers all turned purple. An explosion rippled from the other battle, but neither pokemon budged.

Salamence's strength began to weaken. She found herself unable to keep hold, so she rolled to one side. His momentum conserved, Xerneas surged forward, hitting the stereo. The fast-paced music continued to play, however.

"What have you done to me!" Salamence cried, suddenly feeling slightly sick. Xerneas ignored her and formed a grass knot, tripping her over.

"Toxic?" Marcia pondered. "Why is that so strange?" She glanced back at Xerneas and snapped her fingers. "Of course!" She looked up at Alpha and said aloud; "That's not a Xerneas at all!"

If Alpha was surprised by the exclamation, she did not show it. "Salamence," Marcia said, "dragon claw!" Salamence glanced at Marcia, confused due to Xerneas being a fairy type, but complied, striking Xerneas with a powerful claw. It most certainly effected him.

Another explosion reverberated through the room. As the dust cleared, Michael saw a Zoroak where Yvetal had been floating. Jolteon was out cold, however, unable to take the focus blast.

Marcia was not surprised to see Xereas' form fade into that of a Zoroak. "Looks like you've lost!" she cheered.

"Really?" Alpha replied. "Because his Jolteon fainted and your Salamence is poisoned. Our Zoroaks still stand."

"I thought we said; 'No illusions'," Michael commented.

"We promised not to use illusions," Omega noted, "our pokemon did not."

"This changes nothing," Alpha said. "Zoroaks, time to transform!" The two Zoroaks intertwined their arms. Then, their forms started glowing and expanding. The light became blinding and a shock wave shot out from their much larger body mass.

The result that Michael and Marcia saw as they became able to open their eyes again was startling. A huge grey humanoid figure stood, it's head inches from the relatively high ceiling. There was little detail to the figure, but all were aware of the huge claws. It raised a foot and stomped the ground hard, causing a ripple of dark energy to form around said foot. It laughed a deep throaty laugh, opening it's mouth to reveal a dark red tongue and sharp, white teeth. It's eyes were bright amber, staring intently at Marcia, Michael and Salamence—it's prey.

Salamence was about to attack when Marcia recalled her. "I think we've been too lenient on them, Michael," she said. "It's time we broke the rules ourselves."

"And what about Wes!"

"I'm fairly sure we'll all die if we keep following the rules!" She picked a pokeball from her belt. Tropius burst out and gasped when she saw the huge monstrosity. "No time to explain, we're going for an aerial assault."

"What-" Tropius began, but a roar from the monster told them that talking time was over. Marcia climbed onto Tropius and they flew into the air. She glanced to her left to see Michael on his Dragonite, flying beside her.

He nodded and they were about to attack when a cry from the floor stopped them. "They're cheating!" Omega shrieked.

"That they are," Alpha agreed, casually. "It seems as though they have some intelligence."

"We should cheat back!"

"Very well then." Alpha sprouted a pair of white, feathered wings and flew up to the ceiling in front of their foes.

"Don't fly too close to the sun, Icarus," her sister joked. She grew a pair of pixelated wings which were so out of shape that nothing could use them to fly. Omega, however, still managed to reach the ceiling—even faster than her sister and without flapping her wings even once. The pixels continued to randomly pop in and out of existence as well as change colour.

"We have agreed to remove the rules," Alpha said, "since we may not have been clear from the beginning."

"However, we will do everything in our power to stop you." Omega laughed psychotically.

"If you can take down our 'Malivicious', you win the freedom of your friend."

"But if you lose...We get you! Hahahaha!" The twins flew to either side of Malivicious and began forming energy balls in their hands. They fired them and the balls shot towards their two opponents.

Dragonite flew upwards to avoid the oncoming energy ball. Tropius misjudged the timing and moved slightly too slow. The energy ball hit her in the stomach at full force. "At least we know it's not an illusion," she groaned.

"Unless the pain is an illusion too," Marcia noted.

"What!?" Tropius said startled. Then she sighed. "This is too complicated." She banked as another energy ball came towards her. Suddenly, a shadow fell on the duo. "Oh crap." Tropius had seconds to dodge out of the way of Malivicious' arm as it fell towards them.

She made it, the grey skin just brushing against her side. Michael and Dragonite re-appeared at that moment. "What should we do?" Marcia asked.

"Well, that thing would probably be a dark-type...if it is a pokemon any more."

"Hold on," Marcia exclaimed. "It may not be a pokemon, but the Zoroak retained their dark-type when they were disguised as Xerneas and Yvetal."

"Does your Tropius have anything effective against dark types?"

"No, what about your-" Malivicious struck out with it's claws flailing wildly, forcing Tropius and Dragonite to separate. "Okay, Tropius. We need to find a weak spot. Try the eyes."

Tropius charged up a solar beam and let it loose, hitting Malivicious' right eye directly. The blast, however, did nothing other than get it's attention. It roared and ran towards their position. Tropius flew higher, hoping to get out of the reach of it's massive claws.

However, she did not take into account it's mouth. Malivicious' head shot forward, mouth wide open and somehow growing to an even greater size so it could easily accommodate Tropius. It tried to crush her in between it's teeth, but Tropius was too fast, managing to fly into the mouth as the white gates crashed shut.

It was clear where Malivicious wanted them to go. It's gullet widened exponentially and it's tongue tried to scrape them away from the teeth. As Tropius flew around inside the dripping mouth, the mouth became smaller, so as to force them down the throat. Marcia wondered whether they would actually get digested, or if it would just be an illusion.

Tropius hovered over the gullet. She knew she only had seconds before the tongue would try to push them in. She was already battling against a sucking force as it was. She charged as strong a solar beam as she could and fired it down the hatch. Bursts of light illuminated the shaft and Malivicious began choking.

In a fit of coughing, it spat up Tropius and Marcia, much to their relief. They were not in the clear, however, as it struck out with it's claws. They only just managed to dodge that when an energy ball came their way. "Give us a break!" Marcia screamed.

That was when Malivicious unleashed a huge night daze that battered everyone in the warehouse. The upset in balance for Alpha and Omega, coincidentally, gave Marcia the break she wanted, since Malivicious became interested in Dragonite who had just fired a dragon pulse at it.

Regaining her hold on Tropius, Marcia noticed Malivicious' feet, far below. "I have an idea Tropius. Let's see if an earthquake will upset it's balance." Tropius nodded and flew towards the ground.

Once upon the ground and near to Malivicious, Tropius unleashed an earthquake. The tendrils shot through the warehouse floor and struck Malivicious' two feet. It slipped and fell over forwards...straight onto where Marcia and Tropius were. "Shit!"

Tropius was off in a flash, managing to shoot between Malivicious' legs. A crash erupted as it collided with the floor. The creature looked dazed, burbling as it lay upon the ground. Michael flew up to Marcia. "Nice! I should have thought of that."

Marcia glanced at the floor. "Hold on a minute. Where's Wes?"

They looked at the floor carefully. Both of them looked at Malivicious at the same time. "Wes is-"

"Dead." Marcia swallowed.

There was no time for mourning, however, as the twins were still up and about. "Dammit!" Omega exclaimed. "They are such cheaters."

"It was a perfectly legal move," Alpha mused, "not that we have any rules at all. Go distract them. I'll fix Malivicious and ensure that won't happen again."

Omega glanced at where the two enemies were. Then she looked at the walls either side of them. "If it ain't dead, just add turrets." And low and behold, huge rocket launchers emerged from the walls.

"We may not be in the clear," Michael said. The rocket launchers fired rockets at high speeds towards them. They flew off in different directions, hoping to lower the number they would have to deal with.

Marcia had three on her tail. Tropius tried to dodge in between a number of still stacked crates (somehow). "You won't get away that easily," Omega said, carelessly letting the rockets collide with crates...only for them to pass through and continue their journey as if there were no crates there at all.

The rockets nearly managed to collide with Tropius, however, Malivicious rose again and, unfortunately, Omega was floating above it. She was knocked aside and yelled at her sister. Her concentration broken, the rockets—and their launchers—disappeared.

"Sorry, sis," Alpha said sarcastically.

This time, the twins unleashed much smaller energy attacks, but at a faster rate. "We know what to do, Tropius," Marcia said. The two flew to the ground and Tropius quickly unleashed an earthquake.

Unfortunately, before the tendrils could strike, Malivicious stuck it's razor sharp claws in the ceiling and used them to raise it's feet off of the ground until the tendrils dissipated.

Alpha, breaking her continuous fire and leaving Omega to continue, flew to the floor and caused electricity to spark from it. The electricity expanded, quickly engulfing the whole floor. Tropius only just managed to take off in time to avoid it.

Malivicious dropped back to the ground, completely oblivious of the electricity surrounding it's feet. Marcia flew up next to Michael again. "There has to be a way to weaken it."

"Hmm..." Michael thought for a moment whilst Dragonite dodged Omega's projectiles. "Zoroak can only sustain so much damage before their illusions wear off."

"But we don't seem to be doing any damage to this thing. And I can't safely let off another earthquake."

"Would attacking Alpha and Omega do anything?"

"Maybe, but the Zoroak might be sustaining the illusion themselves."

"Yes, but they must be telepathically giving it orders."

"I think that thing could still fight without orders. We need it to revert." Malivicious unleashed another night daze. The energy battered both of them. "I don't think Tropius can take too many more hits."

"Maybe we should try to do as much damage as possible." Dragonite charged a hyper beam which struck Malivicious square in the stomach (with no visible effect) and then attacked with an outrage.

Marcia was about to give Tropius the order to attack wildly when she had a brain-wave. "Tropius! Fly close to the floor!" The two began to dip downwards, out of the range of Malivicious' huge claws. Marcia pulled another pokeball off of her belt. She stood up and moved her finger onto the release button.

Suddenly, a large whip of some form of energy crackled past her head, nearly causing her to fall off. Regaining her balance, she saw Alpha in front of Tropius, holding the aforementioned energy whip. "It seems you forgot about me." She smiled and swung again, forcing Tropius to bank to one side. "Just what do you plan on sending out? I guess you'd want a flying type."

"A flying type?" Marcia laughed. "I have something that your illusion down on the floor won't touch."

"Oh. Pray tell what that would be."

"A ground type!" Marcia triggered her pokeball. Steelix appeared on the ground. She was indifferent to the electricity coursing through her body. "Steelix, use earthquake!"

"What a waste of time," Alpha replied, lashing out with the whip again. It struck Marcia right in the face and she fell back, grabbing hold of Tropius' tail.

Alpha turned towards the Steelix foe, knowing that Marcia would take time to recover. By this point, Malivicious was hanging tight to the ceiling as the earthquake tendrils faded out. She summoned a flood, covering the floor with water.

"Is this just a running trend for battles nowadays?" Michael asked as he spiraled away from Omega's energy attack.

Steelix looked at the water now covering her with indifference. "Milotic used to try and drown me all the time. This is nothing."

Alpha turned back to Marcia, who was struggling to climb back onto Tropius. Alpha raised her whip and struck at her, barely missing, the blow being inflicted on Tropius instead, who writhed in pain.

Marcia glanced down at the electrified water below whilst hanging from Tropius and began to wonder why she ever got involved in these sort of things. She turned to Steelix, who was striking the huge mass of illusionary darkness. "Steelix, use earthquake again-"

"Will you ever learn?" Alpha chided. She raised her whip again.

"-but this time," Marcia continued, "use wrap on that things leg first!" As soon as she had finished speaking, the whip came down, striking her hands. The force caused her to let go, plummeting towards the electrified water.

Tropius tried to dive down to save her, but Alpha was having none of that. She struck Tropius with the whip, directly in the face.

Meanwhile, Steelix obeyed her master's call and wrapped herself around Malivicious' leg. It roared and tried to stick it's claws into the ceiling. Steelix yanked hard and the demon toppled down to the ground, bringing down a chunk of ceiling with it. She followed up with the earthquake which, at such close proximity, inflicted massive damage.

Watching the abomination fall, Alpha decided to decrease the gravitational pull on Marcia, allowing her to gently float towards the ground. As Malivicious' form faded into the two small forms of the Zoroak, so too did the water and electricity fade.

Steelix roared at the two tired out Zoroak who cowered backwards, ducking behind their owners, who had just landed. Tropius and Dragonite landed next to Marcia. She was still somewhat dazed by the last few attacks. "You killed Wes!" Michael bellowed at the two twins.

The twins returned their Zoroak. "It would have been two deaths had my sister not had sympathy on Duking's daughter," Omega noted. "I'm very disappointed in her."

"That aside," Alpha said, "you were the ones to kill your friend. Had you not fought against our Malivicious, Wes would be alive. Well, to an extent and probably not for a vast amount of time. You just think about that. Okay?"

The twins faded with a spectacular explosion, like that of a smoke bomb. When the smoke receded, the warehouse was just as it was before, only with a number of smashed crates.

Marcia glanced around. "Where's Wes' body?"

"I don't see it anywhere," Michael replied.

"Wait a minute! This was a trick! They never had Wes at all! They used an illusion to trick us into coming here!" Marcia stomped the ground angrily. "He must have gone off somewhere else. No wonder his bike was gone."

"Err, Marcia," Michael said, nervously. "We might have a bigger problem."

She turned to see the warehouse doors wide open and a number of people standing there. One wearing reasonably smart attire (for Pyrite) looked devastated. "My crates! You vandals have smashed my crates!"

"It wasn't our fault, sir," Marcia said.

"Lies! Liars! Let's see what Sherles has to say about you evil-doers!" The people around him grabbed Marcia and Michael and dragged them off to Pyrite police station.