A/N: Long author's note, skip down to the usual "XxX" if you wanna get straight to the story!

First off, since I don't feel like I say this enough: THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS. Whether it's a simple "I loved this!" or a whole, entire paragraph (you know who you are, SO MUCH LOVE FOR YOU GUYS) for every single chapter (seriously, that's fucking amazing, every one), I want to say thank you! I appreciate all the feedback you guys give me too. Two of you pointed out errors that may have led to understanding problems in the last chapter, and several more commented on what you thought about the story flow and assuaged many of my worries. You're all my lifeblood.

So again, most emphatically, thank you.

On a less related note, remember when Xanxus, Dino, and Tsuna had dinner on the ship? I wrote at the beginning that Dino was having lasagna, and then later he was twirling spaghetti around his fork. I found it so dumb and funny I decided to not go back and change it. It's like the case of the missing bicycle. So in all, I probably won't be going back to change minor things like that, but if I make an error that leads to a real understanding issue? Please let me know!

Again, thank you, and enjoy!

XxX

"Do I have your attention now?" The intercoms blasted the man's voice across Jubilife City. As they made their way towards the TV station, Tsuna passed several panicking people yelling at their Poketches for friends and family.

"Stay at the Trainers' School, okay, sweetie? Don't go anywhere." A woman, presumably a mother, rushed past them, relief clear on her face. Several paces away, a man had sunk onto a bench, hand pressed against his mouth as tears dripped down his face.

"We need to hurry," Kawahira murmured. Tensioned lined his frame, and his lips were pursed shut as he took long and purposeful strides towards the station. Tsuna had to jog to keep up with them.

"Why would they attack now?" Dino asked. "We aren't inconspicuous. They must have something up their sleeves if they're willing to commit such a large scale crime with two Pokemon League trainers in the city."

Xanxus snorted, and a fierce smile began spreading across his face. "Who the fuck cares? We kick their asses and we capture a Commander."

"Whichever fool planned this, it works in our favor," Kawahira concurred.

When they arrived, though, the situation wasn't as simple as they had expected.

A giant hole had been blown into the side of the building, likely the source of the explosion. Burnt and melted metal was bent inwards, live wires that had been ripped roughly out of the wall sparking wildly. Positioned at the opening were multiple men and women in Team Genesis uniforms, each sporting Pokemon that glared at the crowd hostilely.

Attached to the Jubilife TV station was a giant screen, with a bright red 'LIVE' flashing in the lower right corner. Tsuna had seen it earlier from the air sporting different ads and entertainment shows. Now, though, it was focused on a tall man with spiked blue hair and dark blue eyes. He was rather pale and wearing a long blue coat that swept to his knees. A self-assured smirk was plastered across his handsome face as he looked down at the screen. He looked uncannily like Mukuro and Chrome.

What Tsuna saw beside him, though, was what really froze the blood in Tsuna's veins.

A small group of people sat huddled beside his legs. Their mouths were bound in white cloth, tears in their eyes, frozen and afraid to move. Pacing around them, like a pendulum, was a large, dark blue furred creature. Its fur was spiked out wildly around its head like a mane, out of which stuck two light blue round ears. Over its face was a metal mask that curved cruelly over a mouth full of sharp, metal fangs. Each step was accompanied by the click, click, click of oversized metal claws.

"What is that?" Dino asked, horrified. "It looks like a Luxray, but…"

"But mutated," Kawahira finished tersely.

"Tut tut, don't think of attacking, or else dear Primo will tear these poor civilians limb, by, limb," Daemon purred. The Luxray's growl rattled around its metal mask.

Tsuna saw the grunts shift uncomfortably, and one held up a small device that he spoke through. Daemon's smile suddenly morphed into a frown and he focused his attention somewhere far off, as if listening intently to something. He held his hand to his ear, where a small black device was attached. The frown deepened, and his attention focused back on the camera.

"It seems we have some unusual visitors. Apparently the esteemed Pokemon Champion Kawahira and dark type Elite Four Xanxus have joined us. Well, this was outside my plans." He pursed his lips unhappily and glanced back at his Luxray and the hostages. "No matter," Daemon muttered, a slow smile slithering across his face. "Will they dare act, I wonder, with lives on the line?"

At an unspoken signal, the Luxray lunged, bowling over a hostage. Its claws sank into the woman's shoulders, but her gag muffled her screams. Its maw opened, saliva dripping down long, glistening fangs. Just as it was poised for a Crunch, Daemon gave a sharp whistle, halting it in its tracks. It retreated slowly, obediently, and resumed its pacing. The woman scooted backwards hastily, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Well, I won't kill anyone yet," Daemon said carelessly, holding out his hands and shrugging dramatically. He shook his head slowly, "But who knows what will happen if anyone interferes? Drop off all of your Pokemon in their Pokeballs in front of this building. That's all we require, and everyone goes free."

The bystanders still hovering around the station turned towards Kawahira and Xanxus as one, and they started whispering at each other, slowly rising in volume. Tsuna was suddenly pushed out of the way by a man.

"Please, you have to help us, my son is in there!" the man begged, hands reaching to clutch onto Kawahira's kimono.

Another woman screamed, "My husband is right there on the screen! You have to do something!"

Xanxus' expression kept getting darker and darker, but Tsuna suspected it wasn't because of the hostage situation. One brave soul grabbed his shoulder, but Xanxus only twitched violently. He glowered at the owner of said appendage. "Don't touch me."

"Please, you have to calm down," Kawahira announced over the growing panic. "We have this situation under control, so please let us do our job."

"My child," someone stressed.

Xanxus visibly held himself back from attacking them, ire bubbling and rising like a volcano. His hands began to clench as the crowd pressed around them, invaded their space.

Someone grabbed Tsuna's bicep. He yanked it back and lashed out, but his elbow was caught easily.

"Come with me," Dino hissed, tugged again. Tsuna allowed himself to be dragged away from the two Pokemon League trainers. Dino brought them over one street and into an alley, where they were hidden in the shadows between two buildings.

"W-What are we going to do?" Tsuna stuttered. He wrung his hands. Even Reborn was sitting straight-backed, eyes focused on Dino. "People could die in there!"

"It was smart of him to call out Kawahira and Xanxus like that," Dino muttered, tuning out Tsuna's worrying. "It draws attention to them, so now they're unable to sneak around behind Team Genesis' backs." Dino tched, thumb drifting up to his mouth unconsciously, where he began chewing his skin with his teeth. Seeing this act of vulnerability only made Tsuna feel worse. "Their hands are tied. They can't do anything now without everyone knowing about it."

"But you can," Tsuna intuited. He grabbed Dino's hand away from his mouth and shook it slightly. "You can. If everyone's focused on them, they won't notice you sneaking about."

"I'm only one person," Dino argued, "with much weaker Pokemon than either of them. The only entrance to that building right now is the hole they blew into the side of it. I can't do anything."

"There can't be only one entrance," Tsuna argued. "No building only has one set of doors. Engineering a building like that is stupid, what are people supposed to do in case of an emergency?"

Dino blinked slowly down at Tsuna as if realizing something. "I can't do anything," he said slowly, coming to a realization, "but you can."

Tsuna blanched. "M-Me?!"

Dino waved absent mindedly at the building, staring at it although his brain was clearly a hundred kilometers away. "The vents. I can't fit in the vents, but you can."

Tsuna's stomach dropped. "You want me to infiltrate a heavily guarded building through the vents?!" Are you crazy? went unsaid.

"Well, I can't certainly fit in there," Dino replied defensively. "I don't like this either, Tsuna, but you'll have to. Get in there, scout out the enemies. How many hostages, how many people, how many Pokemon you see. You're a smart kid with a scary sharp intuition, see if you can spot any weaknesses."

Tsuna felt like someone had just told him that they expected him to face Arceus unarmed. "You're crazy."

"Can you think of any other idea?" Dino shouted, temper spiking. Tsuna shrank from the uncommonly angry man. Dino took a deep, shuddering breath and covered his eyes with a hand. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted."

"W-We're all stressed," Tsuna excused. He gnawed on a lip, and a burst of iron on his tongue told him he'd broken skin. "What after, though? Say I do come tell you that information. What after?"

"We'll figure it out," Dino said firmly. His eyes narrowed at Jubilife TV station. "We'll have to be quick about it though. We don't know when Spade might start killing hostages. We might have to convince people to actually start surrendering their Pokemon to buy time."

"This is a horrible idea."

"It's our only choice. Scout it out, and then we act. I'll start brainstorming," Dino murmured. He stepped back out onto the large street. The moment Tsuna left the alley, it felt like all the noise of the city rushed back in a blur of screams and anger. "Follow me."

They took several backroads, edging around the crowd until they were out of everyone's eyesight. Near the back of the Jubilife TV station, they found an unobserved spot. Dino squinted at the edge of the roof against the sun.

"Hopefully they didn't put anyone up there." He dug a Pokeball from his belt and released a familiar large brown bird. "Ivan, take Tsuna up to the roof, then come back. Remain unseen."

The Noctowl clenched one large claw against Tsuna's skinny arm, the other around Reborn's small torso. Tsuna hurriedly shrugged off his backpack and threw it at Dino, who caught it and set it on the ground.

"How will Xanxus and Kawahira know?" Tsuna asked. His heart was beating fast in his chest, blood rushing through his veins.

Dino waved his wrist, which sported a yellow Poketch. "I'll message them. I can't get near them, or my cover'll get blown. I'm sorry for dragging you into our business again."

Tsuna shook his head, which made him woozily realize that the fear and stress was making him faint. "No problem," he lied.

The ground fell away from his feet, and a short ride later, his knees collided with harsh metal as his legs buckled beneath the impact. Reborn landed on crouched legs. Ivan hooted softly before leaving as quickly as he arrived. His silent flight was eerie, especially against the chaos in front of the building.

The good news was, the room was empty. The bad news was, the roof was empty. Tsuna frowned at the smooth floor, not spotting any conspicuous holes or metal meshing covering a possible vent. Reborn paced along the edges of the building, ears cocked and nose to the ground, as if looking for something. He wandered to a corner, where he barked quietly but sharply. Beneath his feet, Tsuna noticed, was a metal grate, almost seamlessly merged with the rooftop.

"Nice," Tsuna praised Reborn. The Houndour only smugly grinned. Tsuna found a little catch in the seam of the lid, and he lifted it with a faint screeching noise. He glanced around, but thankfully nobody seemed to notice it over the shouting of the crowd.

Tsuna peered into the dark drop and exchanged a look with Reborn. Reborn's 'after you' made him swallow harshly. With one last look at the blue sky and prayers on his tongue, he eased himself over the rim until only his fingers were clinging to the side.

"I-I'm not so sure about thiiiiiis!" Tsuna cut off his cry when something that felt suspiciously like little Houndour teeth nipped at his fingers, making him release the edge and drop several meters. He slid against the side of the vent, which leveled off at a split, one path heading straight, the other heading right. Behind him, there was the faint skitter of claws against metal, and Reborn crashed rather clumsily into Tsuna.

"Hey, you hear that?" drifted from an opening in the vent. Metal bars were slanted across the opening, leaving only thin slits to peer through. Tsuna shushed Reborn and crawled silently until he was hovering over the beams of light.

Below him stood two Team Genesis grunts. They were positioned near a door, standing side by side, probably to act as guards.

"Stop freaking me out." A man, tall and lanky and dressed in the blue uniform, scowled. He shifted, and at his feet a red, bug like Pokemon with a ridiculous moustache and brandishing green, oversized metal scythes shifted. It scratched against the floor with a shnick, schnick, tearing the carpet to ribbons. Tsuna gulped.

"I'm already freaked out, man. The Commander moved this raid up by a week cuz he was too eager to please the Boss, but I think the Boss'll just be mad," the other man, more heavily built in a way that reminded Tsuna of a brick, grumped. "A whole week! Not all of us got kitted out in new Pokemon. I think the Commander jumped the gun."

"Shut up, you want him to hear us?" Tall and Lanky hissed. He glanced at the door as if expecting it to open any minute. "If he thinks we're ready, we're probably ready."

"Yeah, but did you hear? Two from the damned Pokemon League are right outside the building," Brickman said. He shifted when the Pokemon chittered melodically. Green started creeping up from its scythes to the rest of its body. Another mutant, Tsuna realized. "Even with these Pokemon, we aren't gonna stand a chance against them."

"That's what the hostages are for." Tall and Lanky rolled his eyes. "You think they're going to just attack us when the Commander could lop off their heads in a second?"

"I just don't like it," Brickman said, scuffing his feet against the carpet and nudging against a flap of felt the bug Pokemon had ripped up.

"Just think about the free week we'll have," Tall and Lanky assured. He smirked. "Haven't you been looking to take that girl of yours out for a while? You'll have the time to bring her on a real date."

Brickman flushed as bright as Tsuna's assigned nickname, but a big, silly smile spread across his face. "Yeah," he said, dreamily. "It'll be nice. Finally can get away from this business for a while, spend some time with the family."

Tsuna shuffled away from the gossiping duo and took a left so that he'd be right above the room they had been guarding. There was another grate only a couple of meters further. Tsuna crept on his stomach until his nose was pressed against it, Reborn a warm weight at his side.

Daemon stood almost directly below him. To his left the hostages and the still pacing Luxray. Back and forth, back and forth, steadily. Daemon was watching a small TV screen. Tsuna couldn't see what it was showing, but he assumed the crowd in front of the station was being monitored.

"Yes, that includes you too, Champion. Please drop off your Pokeballs in a cart, be a dear for these sweet, scared men and women, hm?" Daemon asked. "I, personally, would feel so much safer if you were separated from your Pokemon. If you would be so kind as to comply, I'm sure these wonderful men and women will return without a scratch."

There seemed to only be the one Luxray out of its Pokeball at the moment, although there was a second Pokeball attached to Daemon's belt. Six hostages and one free man on the fourth floor, guarded by two grunts. Tsuna memorized the information and scooted backwards as quietly as he could to report to Dino.

His elbow banged into the side of the vent.

Daemon's head jerked up, eyes narrowed. The Luxray leapt, claws outstretched and shining in the artificial lights. With a mighty swing and the sound of metal ripping like paper, it tore apart the ceiling. Tsuna fell through the hole, the edges of the vent catching on his arms and tearing his skin.

He landed with a painful thud. Pain shot through the shoulder he landed on, and his head cracked against the carpet.

"Well, now, what do we have here?" Daemon asked, attention switched from the TV and focused on Tsuna like a raptor staring at its prey. The Luxray screeched behind its metal mask, simultaneously muffled and more disturbing than any cry Tsuna had ever heard before. Daemon's feet nudged Tsuna's ribs, inciting another wave of pain through his side. "Has a little Rattata come out to play?"

Tsuna stumbled to his feet while Reborn leapt from the vent, legs spread and ready to attack or defend. He growled, smoking already drifting from his jaws, but compared to the giant Luxray, he seemed so little.

Tsuna grit his teeth and tried to paste as innocent a grin as possible, although he suspected it came out more as a grimace. "Would you believe me if I said I stumbled in on accident?"

"Amusing! But no, I wouldn't," Daemon replied. He negligently waved a hand at Tsuna, and his next sentence chilled Tsuna to the bone. "Get rid of him, then, Primo, quickly."

The Luxray lunged and was met in the air viciously by Reborn. Despite the Luxray's size, Reborn was smaller, quicker, and more controlled in his actions. He ducked and weaved agilely between the Luxray's thundering paws.

Tsuna winced and simultaneously threw all his Pokeballs but Yamamoto's on the ground, flooding the room with red light. Yamamoto wouldn't fare well with no source of water, but everyone else would be in fighting shape.

Besides, there were no rules about one on one battles in the real world, were there? Even with Yamamoto out of the picture, Tsuna had the advantage in numbers. Xanxus' lessons had come in handy after all.

Daemon looked entirely too amused despite the odd numbers. "You think little first evolution Pokemon will stop Primo? Let me even out the count a little, then. Secondo!"

He retrieved the other Pokeball strapped to his belt, and out came a Charizard, but looking all wrong. Its usual red hide was scarred by deep burns in a jagged pattern, like lightning had cracked against its skin. It had sparse black stripes across its back, and its horns faded to yellow, with bulbs at the ends of each.

It roared, and electricity crackled in its mouth.

"I had to capture a great many Shinx and Charmander before I finally created these masterpieces. Let's see how long you last, little trainer," Daemon taunted.

Reborn was preoccupied with dueling with the Luxray, but Gokudera took on the Charizard with Lambo. Lambo shrieked and released uncontrolled sparks of electricity that made no visible impact on the course of battle, shrilly screeching with each lash of the Charizard's tail. One particularly vicious swing impacted with Lambo's side, throwing him into the wall. Lambo didn't get up again.

Barely twenty seconds into the battle, and already Lambo was out for the count. Tsuna recalled him with trembling fingers.

Tsuna glanced around and analyzed the situation frantically. Gokudera was holding up surprisingly well. He was dodging deceptively agilely for such a small, clunky Pokemon. Tsuna was outmatched, drastically, but maybe…

"Gokudera, keep on the Charizard. Ryohei, Chrome, Reborn, take out that Luxray!" Tsuna barked.

Daemon snickered. "Is the wee little trainer giving out orders? Cute."

Ryohei was releasing Stun Spores, doing his best to dodge each of the Luxray's swipes. One had caught one of his pink petals, clipping off a section. Green liquid was starting to ooze from it. Reborn was holding up admirably, but even he was growing exhausted, a bit slower, a bit less sharp with his movements. Tsuna knew that he wouldn't last much longer.

Chrome though…

Chrome was floating, stock still, and staring at Daemon with honest to Arceus hatred in her eyes. Tsuna had never seen such emotion from the Gastly in their short acquaintanceship.

"Oh?" Daemon asked, finally noticing the light blue Gastly. His eyebrows rose. "Well, look at who we have here. Isn't it experiment No. 96?"

Chrome screamed, and the room began darkening. The hostages gave muffled cries of horror and shrank against a corner, still relatively unharmed despite the chaos. Chrome began burning in the dim lighting, a bright blue, sparkling will-o'-the-wisp. Shadows grew on the walls. Tsuna recognized the beginnings of a Night Shade, but unlike a regular one, it was generalized to affect an entire area, and ridiculously stronger than the typical Night Shade too.

"Why, if it isn't my pet project," Daemon continued, unfazed. "I remember when I created you. Too bad my lab was raided in my absence. You were one of my favorites."

Daemon twirled a strand of hair around his finger consideringly, but after a bit of contemplation shook his head in mock sadness.

"Too bad, though. You've been replaced with newer and better models," Daemon said, spreading his arms to indicate his mutant Pokemon. They also seemed affected by the Night Shade, shaking their heads irritably as if trying to get rid of some phantom image. "I'm afraid I have no use for outdated specimens like you."

Chrome threw herself at the man. Tsuna also darted at the Commander, his bad shoulder crashing into the man's legs. Pain screamed through his body as he knocked over the man.

Daemon grunted in surprise and roughly shoved at Tsuna, throwing Tsuna to the ground. The Commander staggered.

There was a whine, and Reborn skidded across the carpet, coming to a stop in an unconscious heap beside Tsuna. Gokudera and Ryohei met similar fates soon. Tsuna could see the Charizard opening its mouth, fire and electricity sparking on its tongue.

The wall blew inwards, throwing the two experimental Pokemon and Daemon off balance.

Kawahira stood on a giant, dark blue dragon with a red underbelly and a shark fin on its back. It roared.

"Genkishi, Dragon Rush!" Kawahira yelled over the sound of crumbling plaster.

The dragon threw its whole body at Secondo, crashing through another wall. There were screams and yells. The air abruptly grew chilly.

"Luss, Ice Beam!" Tsuna heard Xanxus yell, and a Weavile opened its mouth wide before a blinding column of ice and wind encased the Luxray in a solid block of ice.

Daemon hissed a curse. He roughly knocked Tsuna away and ran towards the Charizard. "Primo, Secondo!" he barked.

"Stop him!" Tsuna yelled, but the dust made him choke and cough. Nobody heard him over the noise and chaos.

Daemon climbed onto the Charizard's back and recalled the frozen Luxray.

"Tch, a failure." Daemon kicked his foot into the joint of the Charizard's wing. It let out an ear shattering roar and took to the skies. "I'll see you again, children. Play nice!"

"Kawa-" Tsuna coughed, trying to get their attention through the dust and plaster in the air. However, he couldn't pick up their figures through his watering eyes. Where was the Champion?!

"I've got him," Xanxus growled, and he released his Honchkrow. "Fran, let's go!"

They took off. Each beat of Fran's wings cleared the dust more and more, giving them a clear view of the retreating Charizard's back.

The giant bird was only several meters into the air when a burst of electric fire shot at them. The Charizard had stopped momentarily to take aim at them. Xanxus and Fran slowed, the Honchkrow unable to pick up speed due to its passenger, and Xanxus cursed. "Fucking smug ass piece of shit," Xanxus snarled. They swerved wildly when another blast of electricity struck Fran's wing. It screeched and dropped like a rock towards the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't a far fall.

Kawahira waved his hand through the air, squinting from behind his glasses that were covered in a thin brown film. He took them off to clean, mouth twisted in a dissatisfied moue.

Tsuna breathed out. His ribs ached, he was pretty sure something went very wrong in his shoulder, and he was getting dizzy from a very possible concussion. He laid on the floor, staring up at the ripped ceiling, where he'd fallen through the vent.

Kawahira squatted, and beside him his Pokemon held out its hands. "We need to get you and your Pokemon to the hospital as soon as possible."

Tsuna was lifted with deceptive gentleness into Genkishi's arms and blacked out before he even made it out of the building.

XxX

His dream was dark. Pitch blackness spread out in every direction, but Tsuna was surprised to see there was no purple mist.

"Chrome? Mukuro!" Tsuna yelled. His voice echoed endlessly, but there was no presence of either Pokemon.

He began walking in a random direction. His feet touched nothing, and nothing of his surroundings moved. He felt like he was just waving his legs uselessly.

What happened? Were they okay? Where did they go, after Kawahira and Xanxus had arrived? Tsuna nibbled at his lip and kept walking.

In the distance, he saw a small lump, just floating there. As he got closer, he wished he hadn't. There were two children, limbs intertwined with thick silver chains. They both had long hair that floated like they were suspended in water, with masks fastened over their noses and mouths. An IV line intertwined with the chains and the children, wrapped around their necks. One child had a mutilated right eye, and the other's right eye was scarred and puffed, an irritated red.

"Mukuro? Chrome?" Tsuna called softly. He reached out a hand, and his fingertips skimmed one of their faces.

"You should leave them alone."

The two figures disappeared with a pop. Tsuna looked to the side to see Mukuro and Chrome. The girl's face was buried in Mukuro's clothes, fingers clenched and shaking. Her shoulders were trembling. Mukuro's face was stony.

"A-Are you okay?" Tsuna asked tentatively and immediately regretted his question. Of course they weren't okay.

Mukuro closed his eyes. "Do you want to know how they combined us?" he asked. He hugged Chrome tightly. "I invaded his sleep, once, to try to scare him. I wanted him to let us go, or make him abandon his stupid fusion project. I was young and naïve, and wholly unprepared for it.

"He turned the dream against me. He's a very bitter man, and he's lost so much." Mukuro breathed deeply, although in the dream, he didn't need it. "His mind…it was dark. Hopeless. I was lost the moment I stepped foot inside of it, and he turned it around on me. Incapacitated me in his own mind, with my own attack.

"He figured out how to manipulate Pokemon consciousness because of me," Mukuro spat. "Psychics and ghosts were the easiest test subjects, mostly because their intelligence matches human intelligence the most. All he needed was a willing ghost or psychic, and he could invade Pokemon's minds and perform his experiments.

"He figured out how to fuse consciousness. Something about the mind and the body being tied together, I never truly understood, but he used me as his main test subject because I was powerful and resilient. There were five before Chrome. Chrome was the sixth, the most flexible and weak of his subjects, so one day, he took her eye and put it in mine."

Tsuna only listened quietly. If helping Mukuro and Chrome work through their trauma would help them, then he'd stay and listen, even if he felt like vomiting.

"He tried to form a connection using our consciences. Our physical bodies joined into a single form because of the connection, but our minds remained separate. Those other experiments," Mukuro sneered, "he must have somehow completely fused them. They were insane and feral, with little intelligence even for a Pokemon. Just wild beasts. It's disgusting."

Tsuna was speechless. He wanted to say something, anything, but what could he say? That he'd make them forget the past? That he'd do better? That he'd keep them and never do something so horrible to them?

No, they already knew that. The only thing that could heal this kind of wound was time.

Tsuna closed his eyes and dipped his head. Mukuro understood him anyways.

"Just leave us alone for a while," Mukuro said, almost gently. "Don't call us. We'll come when we're ready."

They faded before Tsuna, one scarred little boy wrapped around a scared girl protectively, like they were the only two left in the world.

XxX

Tsuna woke up bright sunlight shining painfully against his eyelids. His mouth was dry and tasted like a Zigzagoon had gone and died in his mouth. He hefted himself up onto one arm, and something tugged at the crook of his elbow. A small needle attached to a line led up to a bag of clear saline hanging from a metal rod. A headache seared through his head, making him gag with nausea. Both of his arms were wrapped tightly, and Tsuna could feel the dull pounding of the lacerations underneath. At the foot of his bed, Reborn was curled, breathing in, out, in, out, a reassuring rhythm that made the panic in Tsuna's throat recede a little.

He was lying in a stretcher being wheeled towards the entrance of the Pokecenter. There were various other people, some injured, some helping people limp to their destination, and others carrying injured Pokemon.

"Oh, good, you're awake," the paramedic wheeling his stretcher said briskly. He got them into the Pokecenter, where people were piled into waiting chairs. Several beds holding people in various states of injury were lined against the walls. "You have a concussion. Stay put while someone comes to check you out."

"M-My Pokemon?" Tsuna croaked. His voice cracked. He scrabbled against his belt, where only Yamamoto and Lambo were stored. Lambo needed medical attention too.

The man shook his head. "I don't know, young man. You'd best be worried about yourself first."

Reborn lifted his head wearily. He didn't look hurt, and he moved with relative ease. Hopefully only a few bruises then.

Tsuna held out his arms pleadingly, desperately wishing for some kind of comfort, and Reborn curled in them snugly, head rested on Tsuna's chest as if listening for a heartbeat.

They waited seconds, minutes, hours. Patients, both Pokemon and human, where brought in and out, crying and distressed. It all passed in a blur, measured only the breaths Reborn took. In, out, in, out.

"Tsuna!"

Tsuna looked up drunkenly to see Dino rushing towards him, relieved. Trailing behind him were Gokudera and Ryohei. Mukuro and Chrome were nowhere to be seen.

Dino arrived at his bedside, harried and weary. "Good thing I found you. I've got the rest of your Pokemon, but I have no idea where your Gastly went."

"Don't call us." Their wishes echoed in his mind.

"That's fine," Tsuna said. He sat up, but he wavered as Reborn slid down to his lap and vertigo hit him.

"You've got a concussion," Dino scolded, but he propped Tsuna up with a sturdy arm. "The Pokecenter is overcrowded right now, but you were one of the first ones in. I can pull some strings, get you seen to first."

Tsuna shook his head. "No, let the ones who are hurt worse go first."

Dino furrowed his brows but nodded acceptingly. His hands drifted over Tsuna, as if he wanted to help but didn't know how to. He finally settled on talking.

Apparently, when Tsuna had been crawling through the vents, Jubilife City's citizens actually had been gathering their Pokeballs, according to Dino's directions and under Xanxus' and Kawahira's watches. They had been dumping them in boxes guarded over by several grunts. It was during this process that Tsuna had dropped through the ceiling, distracting Daemon. Kawahira and Xanxus had immediately jumped to action, taking advantage of Daemon's preoccupation, and wiped out the grunts they could see and broke into the lower floors. Dino had gathered all the hostages he could find and guided them out safely while the two Pokemon League trainers had proceeded to mercilessly defeat every single Team Genesis member they could find. It had resulted in significant structural damage, but luckily the building hadn't collapsed. However, fighting their way up the floors had taken too much time, so Kawahira proceeded to forcibly create a shortcut directly to Daemon.

"Do you know what happened to those grunts guarding the room?" Tsuna asked.

Dino shook his head bemusedly. "No idea. They're either captured or severely hurt right now. Why?"

He has a family, Tsuna thought, somewhat inanely, and he was planning to go on a date.

Dino left him with the rest of his Pokemon. The Officer had to take order, fill out reports, and help the people.

Tsuna rested his head on the flat stretcher. Gokudera wiggled under his hand, and Ryohei settled on his other side.

He drifted back to sleep, surrounded by noise and chaos, under the comforting weight of his Pokemon.

XxX

A/N: Love you guys. Thanks!

I figured, since I've revealed all of Xanxus' Pokemon, I'll make a list of trainers and their Pokemon here for clarification:

Xanxus, the dark type Elite Four of Sinnoh, featuring Squalo the angry Sharpedo, Bel the Drapion, Lussuria the vain Weavile, Levi the overprotective Tyranitar, and Fran the troll Honchkrow.

Dino, the prodigy Officer of Sinnoh, featuring Enzo the giant Torterra, Romario the trusty Rapidash, Ivan (who is actually canon) the Noctowl, and a mysterious fourth.

Kawahira, the Pokemon League Champion, featuring Genkishi the Garchomp and the rest of his team.

I am planning on using no named OCs in this fic. Everyone mentioned by name is either KHR canon or Pokemon canon. Also, last chapter I said Hibari shows up the chapter after next, which means he's next chapter! And there's like, only a little angst! And it's all cute and fluffy and new characters everywhere!

Thank you for reading! I appreciate every single one of you!

Sincerely,

haplesshippo