Note: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. *looks around* Hey peoples! :D

Chapter 5: Commander Saturn.

Cynthia stared at the Glameow and Purugly.

For whatever reason, the two cats stared back.

Cynthia blinked, motioning to walk away. The cats both arched their backs and hissed furiously, making Cynthia stop. Then without warning, they pounced on the foolish human that dared to walk into their alley, earning a scream from her.

"G-get off of me!" Cynthia shrieked, trying to wriggle free from the Purugly's grasp. The constant struggling between the terrified woman and the furious cats caused the Orb to roll out of Cynthia's small bag which Dawn had given her to keep it safe in the first place. Seeing this, Cynthia frantically grabbed it and transformed, the blinding light getting the cats off of her. Seeing the humanoid Giratina form, the Purugly arched its back in horror, its fur standing upwards. The tiger cat then ran off meowing pitifully in fear. The Glameow...not so much.

Cynthia stared at the cat in disbelief, while it stared at her like it really, really wanted to put her in the hospital. The Glameow started growling and hissing viciously, its claws obtaining a purple aura, Cynthia knowing full well what attack the darn cat was readying.

"Oh great..."

Cynthia let out a scream of pain as the Glameow slashed her with Shadow Claw. It hurt way more than normal, but that was because Giratina just so happened to be part Ghost. And so, the brave cat took down the human trespasser disguised as a Legend, and then walked off after its friend, feeling quite pleased with itself. Cynthia, on the other hand, lay on the ground with her tail occasionally twitching, while her eyes stared off into space, as if she was wondering what had just happened.

"Cyndy...you done getting utterly destroyed by cats now?"

Cynthia's Murian form promptly melted away and she slowly got up, as Mars walked into the alley. With her Purugly by her side. Cynthia suddenly locked eyes with the creature, and it backed away, wondering why the human in front of it looked so darn mad. "Cynthia...?" Mars inquired, then she realized what was wrong. Hastily, she pulled out a Pokeball and recalled Purugly to it, but that wasn't enough to stop Sinnoh's Champion from tackling her in rage.

"Um...guys?" Dawn inquired, walking to the alley while carrying a small tray of food, "What's going on? Do I even want to know?" She watched the fight, finally deciding she didn't want to. "Ah, oh well..." she said somewhat jokingly, "More for me..." She then walked off, chewing on a mozzarella stick as she did so. Piplup, who happened to be out of his Pokeball, nodded in agreement. "Piplup!" he declared to further emphasize the point.

Later...

"C-Commander Mars?" the receptionist shrieked as Mars, Cynthia, and Dawn walked into Galactic Headquarters. "Ex-Commander..." Mars corrected, feeling a tad embarrassed.

"...What is it you need?"

"We're here to see Saturn. Is he here?"

"Commander Saturn hasn't been well..."

The way the receptionist's lips quivered worried Mars greatly, and she quickly asked, "W-what do you mean?" The receptionist held her tongue for a moment. "He...he's locked himself in his office and hasn't come out for a couple days now..." she answered, "He won't let anyone come in, and he's been screaming and sobbing... Miss Mars?"

Mars had at this point made a mad dash through the building, headed towards Saturn's office. Dawn and Cynthia quickly ran after her, despite the receptionist's protests.

"Saturn! SATURN!" Mars cried as she made it in front of the door, "Answer me!" She waited for a full minute which seemed like an eternity, and got no response. "Saturn! Are you in there?" she shrieked, getting no response again. Dawn and Cynthia had caught up to her by this time, both of them panting from the running. Mars simply ignored them, instead trying to open the door. Naturally, it wouldn't budge.

"Stand back..." Cynthia warned, as she released Garchomp from his Pokeball, "Garchomp...break that door down." The shark dragon didn't question; he slammed that door hard and knocked it down. He then grinned, quite pleased with himself. Mars promptly dashed into the room, and the other three followed. What they found was what looked like a humanoid Azelf lying on the floor, clutching his forehead and trembling. Blood, both dried and fresh, was on his fingers and his forehead. Some of it had also dripped to the floor.

"S-Saturn!" Mars panicked, running to him while Garchomp was busy putting the door back. Dawn and Cynthia walked towards the two as Mars lifted the young man's head off the floor. "Saturn! Say something!" Mars cried, too horrified to think clearly. Saturn made no response; he only trembled. Cynthia got down on her knees and gently grabbed Saturn's wrists, pulling his hands from his face. Saturn's eyes slowly opened, and he immediately struggled to free his wrists from Cynthia's grasp. Cynthia promptly let go and scooted back as he started kicking at her. He then began struggling against Mars as well.

"L-let me go!" Saturn wailed, proving to the three he was the real Saturn with his voice. "Stop struggling!" Mars cried, "You're fine! Please, calm down!" Saturn didn't listen at all; he managed to slam the back of his head into Mars' head, making her let go. He then made a mad dash towards the desk, possibly with the intent of hiding under it ( unless he kept a weapon in that thing; but it seemed unlikely for him to get it now), but Garchomp promptly grabbed him and held him tightly. He struggled against Garchomp's grasp, but was too weak to break free from it.

"Saturn..." Mars said as calmly as possible, "No one's going to hurt you... Please, just calm down..." Saturn continued to struggle against Garchomp, but his shoulders slumped and he stared at Mars for a moment, finally recognizing her. "Mars...?" he breathed, "P-please... Leave me alone! Go away! All of you! JUST LEAVE!"

"Saturn..."

"I don't want to hurt any of you!"

"What? Why would you..."

Saturn let out a shrill scream as the jewel on his forehead glowed, blinding Garchomp for a moment, and a psychic blast hit one of the shelves, demolishing it. Once that happened, the three realized just how wrecked the room itself was. As the energy from the blast whithered away, Saturn slumped to the ground, thanks to Garchomp's currently loosened grip. He promptly grabbed the jewel, more or less clawing at it.

"S-stop that!" Mars cried worriedly, prying his hands away from it, "Just calm down... We can help..." Saturn was quiet, though Mars could tell he doubted they could do anything. Cynthia walked closer to him. "Just focus on going back to normal..." she started, "Don't let fear or doubt cloud your thoughts..." Saturn looked at her quizzically, but obeyed. He closed his eyes, his once tense features loosening themselves as his frantic breathing calmed. In a matter of seconds, the pixie-like form dissipated and he was back in his Galactic outfit, 'human' again. He slowly opened his eyes, shocked and overjoyed at this revelation, before noticing the dark blue orb with red stripes was in his hands.

"AGH!" Saturn screamed, dropping the Orb and backing as far away from it as he could, like it was a parasite that he had finally managed to remove. Dawn casually bent down and picked up the Orb, putting it in a bag as she stood up straight. Saturn looked at her like she was insane for a moment, but then was curious as to why it didn't possess her. "...Can someone explain to me what's going on?" he finally asked, the expression on his face showing quite clearly that he didn't expect a logical explanation. Logic went out the window when he touched that blasted Orb. "Navi could probably explain it better than we can..." Cynthia answered.

"Who's Navi...?"

Dawn's hat then went flying, and a pink Celebi promptly flew out of it. The hat then landed perfectly back on Dawn's head, much to her surprise and delight. "I'm Navi!" the fairy cried, but Saturn was unable to understand her. "That's Navi?" Saturn cried in disbelief, "And she's going to explain things better? Sorry, but I don't speak Pokemon..." Mars shook her head. "Merge with the Orb and you can understand her." she told him, but that was probably the wrong thing to say.

"Merge with that...that thing again? NO!"

"Come on Saturn... I assure you no random psychic blasts will plague you. All you really need to know is how to control it."

"But it's...!"

"Saturn..."

"...Fine..."

Dawn handed Saturn the Orb, and he reluctantly took it and merged with it. He then looked at Navi, as Cynthia and the others merged with their respective Orbs. Garchomp blinked, having not seen this before. "Um...I'd like an explanation too." he said, and Saturn stared in awe at him, amazed that he actually understood what the shark dragon had said perfectly. "Did you ask for one, first?" Navi inquired, again earning a look of surprise from Saturn, who couldn't believe his ears.

"No, I didn't. And I'm willing to wait. Now talk or I'll eat you."

"O-okay! Sheesh!"

Garchomp grinned smugly as Navi explained everything to the Murians.

Later...

"Whoa whoa! Hold on a second!" Saturn cried, "You're telling me that these Orbs came from an ancient city hardly anyone knows about, and that they grant their holder the form of a Legend or Mirage? And that demons will probably want my blood now that I have unintentionally merged with one? Agh! I knew that thing was trouble when I first laid eyes on it..." Cynthia sighed. "It's all true..." she said, "I'd say your Orb is Azelf's, by the way."

"How quaint..."

"Now, would you mind telling us how you got this Orb?"

Saturn was silent for a moment, looking frustrated. "We had uncovered a door to an underwater room within Lake Valour..." he explained, "This room had nothing but a pedestal and a few ruined paintings on its walls. The Orb was resting in the pedestal, and we took it back here to study it. I chose to do that myself... The rest is history." His hand then hovered over the jewel for a second. "What were you doing at Lake Valour, anyway?" Dawn inquired.

"There had been some peculiar things going on around that area. We figured Azelf was linked to them, though for whatever reason, he wasn't in the cave. If he was, we didn't see him... When we left the cave, we noticed the door plain as day, and chose to investigate it. Is that better?"

"Could you explain any of those peculiar things that supposedly were happening?"

"Eh... Travelers claimed to hear voices in their heads when they passed Lake Valour. The people at the Resort Area claimed to hear chanting coming from there. There were also reports of people...some...not exactly human...walking through the woods, from multiple people. Oh, and a tremor shook that area, and witnesses claim to have heard a monster roaring when it happened."

"Did you see or hear any of these things?"

"The tremor barely reached here, but we felt it. But other than that, we saw and heard nothing. Though I have to admit...the whole atmosphere there was eerie, like something evil was taking place..."

The conversation abruptly ended when Navi was busy hiding behind Dawn, squeezing her neck a little. "Ack!" the girl cried, trying to pry the fairy off. "Not to sound like a creep here," Cynthia said quite plainly, "But what Saturn just described sounds relevant to our interests." Everyone stared at her. "...Why do I have this feeling I don't have a say with what happens next?" Saturn inquired, a worried look on his face.

"If you mean joining us on our quest to who-knows-where... You've merged with an Orb. You really don't have any choice in that matter, sadly."

"...Great... Just great..."

"Hey, look at the bright side. You've got us!"

Saturn stared long and hard, letting Cynthia know that was not comforting in any way to him.

Somewhere else...

A woman whose skin was gray frantically looked around a room, her yellow eyes filled with panic. The top of her head was pink, and had four dreadlocks, and a red jewel was embedded in her forehead. She had two flat tails with jewels as well. "Oh come on!" she cried, as the ceiling above her lowered itself to crush her, "Is there any way out?" She looked some more, but found none. "No... It can't end like this!" she yelled.

Then for whatever reason, the ceiling stopped lowering itself, and a door opened.

The boy who had saved the woman was similar to her in the sense that he had gray skin, two tails with jewels, and a red jewel embedded in his yellow, bowl-shaped head. His eyes were closed, but presumably yellow. "B-Barry?" the woman cried, shocked to see the boy. "Phew!" Barry cried over-dramatically, "That was close! You were almost a Jupiter sandwich!"

"...Kid, seriously. Lay off the video games."

"Well, obviously my unhealthy addiction came in handy! Now let's go!"

Jupiter and Barry then went to leave the room, only to run into an obstacle. And not a simple one to get past, either. Namely, a creepy guy in a cloak. The man stared at them emotionlessly. "My... I haven't seen you two in what seems like years..." he said, his voice laced with pure venom, "Why don't we catch up on last time, hmm?" He raised some kind of gun, and things suddenly went black for Jupiter and Barry.

Note: ...Yeah. Mesprit and Uxie Murians are next on my agenda, quite obviously. I wanna get the Dragons and Pixies together as soon as possible, which is why I seem to be introducing Murians way too fast. Well, once they're all together, I'll start to pace things better. Oh, and the 'Jupiter sandwich' scene was a spoof/homage/knock-off of the famous 'Jill sandwich' scene in Resident Evil. I don't play RE, but when I read about this scene and saw that Jill's 'knight in shining armour' was named Barry ( or something similar; gosh, my memory's gotten bad lately), I literally thought of Pokemon's Barry. Go figure. So, I decided to throw that in.