Hello and welcome to my newest entry into the Pokemon archive. This one unlike my previous entries will be much darker and full of plot twists. In short, Calem is the main playable character and Serena is the rival. Calem gets captured by Team Flare and has to suffer for his loss against them.

Without further ado, enjoy. I do not own Pokemon.

Desperation was a varying emotion. Some people relied on it to save their skin, others rarely tapped into its abilities, knowing that it was likely to be unsuccessful. It often clouded judgment and common sense.

In a Pokemon battle, desperation meant having one Pokemon left with ineffective moves and their back against the wall.

Desperation was what the trainer Calem was feeling, in the most intensive Pokemon battle he had ever done and this is the one he could not afford to lose.

Standing tall, he wasn't overly muscled or slim. His black hair went down past his ears, covered by a red hat with a pair of sunglasses perched atop. He wore a jacket and blue jeans with a pair of sturdy boots laced onto his feet.

Those who met Calem would often compliment not just his looks, but attitude. Sure, he was a very handsome young man, being an eye turner for many of the opposite gender, but his true impression was his undeniable integrity and attitude. Being backed in a corner and in his own panic was completely new, to him, to Lysandre and the two girls watching the battle swing quickly in the Flare boss' favor.

Lysandre was Team Flare's founder and boss. He had orange hair and wore a sleek dark jacket outlined in red trim. His left middle finger had a Mega Ring of his own and now he had a trio of cybernetic arms sprouting from behind. His eyes were set in a joyful expression, although hidden by optics. The leader of Team Flare was getting very close to achieving his goal of a utopian world and now one of the strongest trainers he had ever faced stood in his way.

The Mega Gyrados was a juggernaut, having eliminated two of Pokemon already and about to claim its third. However, Calem refused to surrender, even when defeat was inevitable.

"You certainly got a blazing fire in you kid!" The leader of Team Flare said, "I'll give ya that, but it's all over!" He signaled the Gyrados, whose head lowered and charged at a blinding speed in the steel-typed Iron Head.

"Not yet." Calem muttered, eyes focused, "Chesnaught, dodge it!"

Chesnaught was his very first Pokemon; having stood by his side from the beginning of his journey months ago. Like Calem, he was stoic and calm, but could also be a fierce battler. He ducked low to the ground, allowing the massive beast to pass right over him.

"Good." Calem continued, "Now use, Needle Arm!"

The Mega Gyrados had just turned when Chesnaught slammed its thick limb straight upwards into its midsection. It let out a howl of pain as the highly damaging move connected. The force lifted it up before it regained its balance, coming again opposite the Armor Pokemon.

"Aqua Tail!"

"Spiky Shield!" In a motion faster than Calem could recognize, Gyrados' tail spun around. His Chesnaught barely got his protective weapon in time. Without any time to avoid his swinging tail, Gyrados once again recoiled and fell to the ground in an earth shaking impact.

Lysandre brought his hand to his chin and Calem thought he saw a hint of a smile play. "Use Outrage."

Outrage was a highly damaging attack and it couldn't be evaded forever. Since he had just used Spiky Shield, Gyrados would likely find a way to bypass it. Any attempts to counterattack wouldn't really work either.

Chesnaught raised its arms in defense as Gyrados rampaged straight into it. The Grass type flew backwards, tumbling to Calem's feet and ending up on one knee. It looked at the triumphant Mega evolved enemy in defiance before collapsing.

Calem found himself breathing heavily. He had just lost. Sure, he had taken his share of defeats, but this one, where the lives of countless people hung at stake stung. It seemed to be even worse when Shauna…and Serena were watching it unfold right behind him.

Chesnaught rumbled, trying to stand once again despite its injuries. It sent a glare to the Mega Gyrados before readying its left arm in prickly needles to resume the fight. Before it could launch an attack, Calem placed his hand on the right arm. He shook his head when he was looked at in confusion.

"No. I know you want to continue, but the battle is lost. It's not your fault."

"That is true." Lysandre's expression remained unchanged despite his huge victory, "You fought very well. You would have made one formidable Champion. However, now with my ultimate weapon nearing firing strength, that won't happen."

He smiled finally before turning back to the pillar above.

"We have to do something!" Serena cried.

"But what?" Shauna replied.

Calem recalled Chesnaught. "Follow me." He turned and took off running from where he had come from. Serena and Shauna on his heels.

Lysandre looked up in triumph at the ultimate weapon, a clear giant flower shaped behemoth that had sprung seemingly out of nowhere in the center of town. From his earliest knowledge, he had known that it was located here and thus set up an underground complex specifically for the purpose of this moment. It would be savored for the remainder of his life, which after this, would never fade away.

He glanced backwards, hoping to see the three behind staring in awe. Instead, he saw a door being shut.

"No!" He shouted, already recalling his Gyrados and breaking into a dead sprint after them.

"What's your plan?" Serena asked as they began to descend down once more. The Flare complex was a complete nexus of twisting corridors of namely dark walls that were dankly illuminated by lights. The other two seemed to already get lost. However, he never forgot all the turns and twists.

"I battled this guy named Xerosic earlier." Calem explained, "He gave me a choice of two buttons. One red and one blue. I chose the red, which had activated the weapon."

"So you're saying that the blue one could turn it off?" Shauna asked.

"I doubt it, but it's all I've got."

Another corner rounding and they came to the vast wide room that held into where the ultimate weapon was powered. The buttons stood on either side of two metal blocks where they were backed by machines that made a low humming noise; being doubtlessly at work.

"I know!" Shauna jumped up and ran right between the two sides of the machine. There was a bit of mist hanging through the air that was blurring his vision.

"Shauna wait!" Calem halted right before the opening and darted right up to the blue button. Serena came up behind him, already anticipation creeping into her veins.

"Serena." He turned around, staring straight at her in the eye. His steel grey eyes met hers.

"What are you waiting for?!" She shouted, "Stop it already!"

"No! Listen!" He reached into his bag and pulled out six pokeballs. "My Pokemon. Take care of them."

He eased them into her bag. She looked back up when he finished and put her hand on his shoulder, "No. We go together."

"That's not an option. I'm taking the precaution." He turned back to push the blue button. Initially nothing happened, causing his heart to sink. Now he was out of ideas on how to stop the world from destruction.

"I don't want to be remembered as a hero by everybody for stopping Flare." He said, almost in a whisper. "Just by you."

Before she could respond, the machines began to suddenly drop in pitch. Calem and Serena froze, as if they were under surveillance while it shut down. Finally, an eerie silence descended across the room.

"It worked!" Both trainers turned to see Shauna bounding out again. She held a clear crystal in her hands about the size of her fist. It seemed to radiate immense energy, yet unharmed as it contacted her skin.

"What is that?"

"Looked like a crystal used to power the weapon. Team Flare must have found a way to boost its output. So I had my Greninja sever its cords with Water Shuriken and sure enough, it cut the power."

"You know that having that means that Flare will be onto us?"

"Yep." She didn't need further explanation and took off in a different direction.

"Let's go." Serena waited until her footsteps had faded when they stood and briskly dashed to the exit.

The Mega Gyrados' tail struck without warning. Serena had luckily been a mere four feet in front of Calem when it swept the boy right off his feet. He found himself airborne for a second before he impacted the ground. His left arm was extended fully in reflex and he felt a tremendous amount of pain shoot straight through as he fell right on top of it. Letting out a cry, he gritted his teeth, trying desperately to blink away the rapid flow of tears that came to his eyes.

"No!" Serena shouted, seeing what had happened a split second later. She attempted to rush to his aid, but found herself being restrained, thanks to a pair of Flare Grunts who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Let go of me!" Her squirming served only to cause them to tighten their grips.

"Even once you are defeated in battle do you continue to interfere with me!" Lysandre had now lost his calm composure and his face was in a frightening expression of white hot anger. "Now I shall make you pay for that. Your ring now means nothing."

The Mega Ring. Calem's hard-won prize was on his left arm, the one that was seriously injured. As Lysandre continued to stride forward, intent on taking it from him, he reached over and began to pry it off his wrist, letting out a wince of pain as fire shot straight through his arm.

"Serena, here!" Calem had only one shot at this. He weakly took it with his right arm and tossed it as best he could.

The female trainer shifted right, allowing her restrainers to move with her and suddenly, she twisted left, using the opposite motion against them. Shooting out, she felt the ring slip into her fingers and jammed it inside a pocket in her bag before anyone else could react.

Lysandre stopped at this action, taking no notice of the grunts once again recapturing Serena. Calem was now barely conscious, the pain in his arm stronger than before. He knelt down and looked over him.

"What a hero." There was no emotion in his voice. The emptiness was nearly equal to the Yveltal he attempted to release. "You're good. Really good."

"CALEM!"

"Get her out of here!" Lysandre shouted. "Make sure she doesn't come back!"

"What about the ring?" One of the grunts asked.

"Doesn't matter now. I was never truly after it anyway." Upon his response, the grunts nodded and began to escort a still struggling Serena away. Before she was out of sight, she cast one final glance at Calem, regretting that she wouldn't be there to help her friend.

The Flare leader looked down when the grunts and Serena had vanished. His victim had now relaxed, lying limply, but still kept his steel eyes on him. His head lay on the floor and the only movement he made was the steady breathing of his chest that slowly rose and fell.

"What a pity. You could have voluntarily joined with me. You had to continue opposing me didn't you? Now you don't have a choice. You belong to me now."

Lysandre brought his boot right on top of Calem's face, causing him to see nothing but blackness.

Hello and welcome to my newest project on the Pokemon archive!

It has been a long time since I was last on here, but thanks to the release of Pokemon X and Y, I have busied myself with a story entry to that series.

This is the pilot chapter, meaning that all the feedback, whether positive or negative will ultimately determine if I will make any more chapters. Honestly, I am expecting a mixed bag, since this is the first time I've come back with a different approach to writing. Everyone may not be used to it. I know everyone reading may not be a Halo fan, but do check out the Blades' stories in that archive to see more examples of my work if you would like. That way I can adjust also to see what my readers can/will expect.

Thank you very much for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.