*Who's ready for this? :3 For Vengeance is finally here! :D :D (because I have eight chapters completed which is enough of a buffer, I think. Who knows with school...) Without further ado, Chapter 1!*

Chapter 1

The man sat upon the lonely side of the mountain, which was dull with shades of gray and blue. His Pokemon stood beside him. Almost absentmindedly, he scratched his Glaceon behind the ears, hearing its soothing, rumbling fur as it rubbed its cool body closer to his. A Gengar watched the dawning sun with him, creepy red eyes utterly focused on the sky, which was painted with light hues of red, pink, yellow and violet; beginning to drown out the gray of night.

The man's black cloak was worn and torn from battles and endless travelling. He looked disheveled, untidy, as if hadn't bothered to wash or even brush his hair in weeks. His silver eyes were concentrated deep in thought, in memory, in planning. The past month had been a long one for him. He'd never thought a loss- a concept so rare to him that he thought it was almost impossible- could taste so bitter.

A month ago he had been defeated, humiliated by the very boy he had tried to make his obedient puppet, almost destroyed by the two Pokemon he had made his slaves. Rei touched the long, ugly burn on his cheek, stretching down the side of his whole face, only just sparing his eye from the damage. It was a scar that served as a constant reminder of his failure, his goal to go back for revenge. And not only revenge, but victory. He was still going to be king, absolute ruler of the world, Pokedex Holders be damned. This time, he would make sure they'd all burn in hell for defying him, and then everyone else would bow before him. They were his only obstacles, the only challenges in the way. There would be no room for failure this time, and he would not lose.

He wondered why he'd even bothered with Hoenn- after all, in this new region, he had the power to bring back his queen. Hoenn had only held the key to physical creation, the land and the sea, and while powerful, they were far from gods. The true creators, of time, of space, of the alternate dimensions, and everything itself, lay hidden in the secrets of Sinnoh.

Why hadn't he seen it before? Why had he aimed for Hoenn when this region's pickings were richer and greater? Not to mention, the obstacles were far fewer. The other regions were far, far away. It had taken him a week to get here, constantly flying on his Salamence after escaping a good couple hundred meters away with his Gengar's teleportation. It'd been like a sleight of hand- it only took good timing to fool those watching his 'death.' He hadn't kept it completely secret though. Through an accident of some sort, a drop or two of his blood had mixed in with the Amethyst Orb, and he'd been connected with it when Ruby had held it. He'd proclaimed his revenge as he lay, burned, shamed and defeated. Hopefully the boy had heard him- heard him and shook with fear.

Unfortunately, his timing hadn't been perfect, and he'd been forced to hide in some bushes for hours nursing his burned face, hoping the Pokedex Holders wouldn't have the brains to search for him, having his Glaceon gently blow Icy Winds to soothe the pain. Groudon's flames were worse than his Houndoom's, hotter and more intense. Sometimes, Rei could have sworn the scar still burned him despite having healed over as best it could. He'd had to release all of the legendaries he had caught- Groudon, Kyogre, and even Latios and Latias. Otherwise, it would have been obvious he was alive. But that wasn't what mattered now. The past was the past- except for his revenge, he was done with wallowing over his defeat. He had a new plan, a new strategy for his victory.

It might have been a surprising thought to him before, what he was about to do. He was the one to play with his enemies, his victims, as if they were his puppets, slowly wearing them down until there was nothing but defeat, and let them die, slowly, twisting the marionette strings grotesquely into the final, ugly result. But this? He'd never considered joining with the enemy before, no matter how evil his true intentions were.

Of course, there was real reasoning behind his actions. The ancient books about the gods of space, time, and utter darkness were hopelessly vague and contained more myth than truth. Add the fact that they were nearly indecipherable, the pages disinigrating into dust at his touch, and it made them worthless to him. He didn't need fantasy stories you told a kid before you tucked him into bed- he needed facts, a method to wake the gods and make them his. And there were three people who had all the information he could ever need. They had seen the gods he sought- interacted with them even, been their partners in battle.

He'd been quite lucky, actually, to pick up on their location. If it weren't for his ever alert ears and the gossip of a well-placed butler, he wouldn't be sitting here on this mountain at the crack of dawn, waiting, waiting for his new victims to appear.

He wasn't a very patient man- he regretted coming out this early. His targets wouldn't be here for hours- a little bit of poking around told him that one of them always woke up hours after the other two. And they were all resting in a place a distance for his forlorn outcrop, but he didn't mind too much. It was more realistic and more convincing if he was on the mountain.

After all, he was going to pose as a fellow researcher, which wasn't exactly a lie. He knew the trio was going to investigate Spear Pillar and the great myths of Sinnoh, the tales of the gods of time, space, and the other dimensions. They'd lead him right to the legendary Pokemon, where he'd summon them by force and begin his revenge. It would be easy, simple, and he'd be the king of not only the world, but of everything. If luck was with him, he'd even be able to retrieve his queen from the wretched grasp of time.

He closed his eyes, envisioning the nearby future. He saw himself standing in front of a majestic quartet of legendary Pokemon, saw them destroy all in his way, saw them give him the world. Of course- he wouldn't let them destroy everything- there was one pleasure he'd save for himself. He'd stretch it out slowly, string it out to the last possible moment. As payback for his defeat, Rei would save killing a particular red-eyed, black-haired boy for last. There would be no death so painful, no torture so unrelenting. The very thought brought a smile to Rei's lips, and his silver eyes burned with a bright, eager light. Oh, vengeance would be sweet.

"How long do you think it'll take Dia to wake up today?" asked Pearl, stretching on the couch and studying the morning cartoons on the TV in search of new jokes. "Another ten minutes? An hour?"

"I do not like taking such bets," answered Platina, sipping delicately at her hot chocolate while watching the show with Pearl. She bit back a laugh as the characters went through a hilarious prank, trying hard not to snort her drink. It was most un-ladylike, and she was glad Pearl didn't see it. "He'll wake up when he wakes up."

"You know you were betting on an hour," said Pearl, scribbling notes for his next manzai, orange eyes alit with excitement. Platina could almost see his brain working out how to perform the jokes. "Dia never gets up before ten. It's only eight-fifty."

Platina rolled her eyes. She often wondered why her best friends were teenage boys, though Pearl did guess right. Her first thought had been 'an hour', but she'd decided to answer like the lady she was. She did not answer such petty questions, she did not- oh, who was she kidding? Of course she did. If only her parents hadn't given her that speech on 'behaving right' and 'upholding the family name' before she left home for the trip. It would have helped her before meeting her friends for the first time in months, made her more relaxed. Instead, she was acting like a snob.

"So, how was Unova?" asked Pearl curiously, unaware, or at least ignoring her unintentional brattiness. "I've heard they've got a couple of good comedians over there."

"I went to help research, Pearl, not watch shows, remember? Not everything is about comedy," reminded Platina, her mind still swirling from all the knowledge she had obtained. It had been a great trip- it would have been better if Pearl and Dia could have come with her, but one couldn't have everything, even if they were the heiress of the richest family in Sinnoh, maybe even the world. "The Pokemon there are extraordinary- they have unique abilities I've never seen before, new moves, and of course, they're very different from here in Sinnoh. Here, look at my Pokedex! I recorded a ton of data!"

She handed him the device after opening it to the 'Unova' tab- the section was far from completed, but it enough to give a basic idea of the species there. She'd spent little time in the wild and more in the labs with the tamer, more common Pokemon such as Lillipups and Patrats, examining their behaviors and recording information on their attacks and abilities.

"Some of these Pokemon look really weird!" commented Pearl, who was flickering through the Pokemon at a rapid pace, not bothering to read the descriptions Platina had spent hours typing. Of course, what else could she expect from her ever impatient friend? "I wouldn't imagine a garbage bag as a Pokemon. What kind of moves are new?"

"Ever heard of the move 'Work Up?'" she asked, remembering the Lillipups she had worked with, the strange way they had upped their body and mind power by a simple dance-like movement. "It-"

"Increases the Attack and Special Attack of a Pokemon by a stage each," Pearl finished for her, grinning. "My dad's a Frontier Brain, remember? He knows about a lot of different moves, and he taught me almost everything he knows."

"How about 'Retaliate?'" quizzed Platina. Lenora, a librarian gym leader, had demonstrated the move in battle with her powerful Stoutland. "What does that do?"

"It's an attack that doubles in power if used after a teammate faints," said Pearl, sounding as if he were reading from some dictionary stored in his mind. "Next!"

"Hex?"

"A ghost-type attack that doubles in power if the opponent has a status condition. Again!"

"Dragon Tail?"

"A dragon-type attack that forces the opponent to switch out. Harder one please?"

"Inferno?!"

"A high-power, low-accuracy attack that always leaves the opponent with a burn."

"You already knew all this?!" she asked incredulously, feeling almost cheated. Of course, Pearl was an expert on moves and predicting them, but at least she had known the moves he'd named during their journey together. It'd taken her a few months to learn all of the new moves and what they did on the battlefield. Of course, she'd learned a lot more than just moves, but still...

"I can't recognize them in battle well, if at all," admitted Pearl, scratching at his head. "It would take me a while to figure it out- I've only seen them like once each. I only know them because my dad was trying to get me interested in maybe becoming the Tower Tycoon one day. But the moves are so strange!"

"They are pretty funny, aren't they? I taught my Pokemon some of them though, like Scald, and I even-"

"Good morning," said a bleary-eyes Diamond, stumbling into the room with a big yawn. His black hair was all messed up, sticking out at random angles, and he looked like he'd been waken up several hours early- which, in a way, was true. "You said you wanted to leave earlier today, right?"

"I did say that," said Platina. She hadn't actually expected Dia to get out of bed almost an hour early though- at most, ten minutes. "But you didn't actually have to get up now-"

"It's fine," said Diamond sleepily, shrugging on his jacket while Lax grabbed him food. "Pearl said I've got to learn how to wake up earlier anyways. Apparently the next manzai tournament is reaaaally early in the morning."

"Eight o'clock," affirmed Pearl. Only to Dia would that be 'reaaaally' early. But Pearl preferred to have some practice time in the morning. He already planned for a five o'clock alarm. "But that's a month away- more than enough to do the research trip around Sinnoh."

"I hope you two do this seriously," said Platina, taking out notebooks from a heavy bag. "I expect you two to help me fill out these journals- there's still a lot more to be learned about Spear Pillar. We need to learn how to prevent such a disaster from happening again."

"Mmph," nodded Dia, who was busy stuffing his mouth with warm steamed meat buns. When he finished chewing, he continued, "I'll try my best."

"Just remember, we need time to practice our manzai as well," said Pearl, taking a gulp of coffee. Which, in Platina's opinion, was a bad idea since Pearl was hyper enough as it is. "Speaking of Pokemon!'"

Dia shrugged, keeping in line with the script. He was still the funny man of the manzai, even through all the years. Pearl had actually managed to do decent fake slaps now. Dia thought they were much better than the real ones in any case."Speaking of Pokemon!"

"The legendary Pokemon of Sinnoh are simply amazing!" said Pearl, smiling, his voice loud and clear. "There's a lot of them, but my favorite is Palkia! Palkia controls space!" Gesturing with his hands, Pearl motioned to the air around him as if he were the Pokemon god, looking at Dia.

"Simply amazing!" Dia nodded vigorously, and Platina noticed that they had greatly improved since that first year they met. They were even more synchronized in a funnier way, and she felt a giggle coming on at Pearl's exaggerated smile and voice, Dia's just-as-funny imitation.

"Gee, if I had Palkia, I could do all kind of things! I could make my room bigger, give myself a giant house, go to different universes! After all, it's the spatial Pokemon!"

"A special Pokemon?" repeated Dia, purposely messing up. "I have a special Pokemon that makes space too!"

"How so?" asked Pearl, his curiosity sounding genuine. Well, it was impromptu.

"Like this!" Picking Lax up off the ground, Dia threw him up onto the table, and the Munchlax's eyes quickly grew with greed and hunger. Without any further ado, the Munchlax devoured just about every scrap of food on the table, leaving behind only the plates (though, some appeared to be missing) and the table itself. "See! There's a lot more space now! My Lax sure is special!"

"Baka!" Pearl hit Dia, and the boy feigned stumbling backwards into the nearby couch. "I said spatial, not special! Now what're we going to do about breakfast?"

"What are we going to do?" asked Dia, completely honest, staring at the empty table sadly. "I haven't eaten yet." He looked over to his Munchlax, who still appeared to be chewing. "Lax, do you have any leftovers?"

The Munchlax shook its head, rustling through its fur in an attempt to find any food for its owner, finding nothing, not even a single berry.

"Lax," whined Dia yawning, feeling a rumble in his stomach. While a big steamed meat bun would be enough breakfast for most people, to him, it hardly constituted as a snack.

"I can order more food," said Platina, grabbing for the phone on the table and dialing the kitchens. "After all, the Berlitz family owns this hotel!"

"Make it take out!" said Pearl, finishing off the last of his coffee. "Dia'll spend the next hour eating unless we bring it with us- right, Dia?"

"Depends on what it is," said Dia, looking slightly upset. "But I'm okay with eating on the way- get us lunch too, Missy."

"You can call me Platina- you're not my bodyguards anymore," she said as she waited for the kitchen to pick up. "After all, I call you two Dia and Pearl, don't I?"

"Gotcha," said Pearl, smiling. Though it wasn't really like he said Missy or her name much anyways... He'd always just looked right at her strange but pretty silver-gold eyes and started talking away, knowing she didn't need her name to know he was talking to her. Dia was another case- it was just a habit. "Platina it is!"

Her name sounded nice on his tongue, Platina thought as she ordered food for the day. She liked the way he said it- as if he were full of conviction, with no hesitation.

"Platina..." repeated Dia slowly, trying to let it sink in. It was hard to force old habits to kick the bucket. He was so used to calling her 'Missy' that 'Platina' almost sounded strange. "I'll try my best."

"Okay, we just need to pick up the food after we pack up- do you two have everything?" asked Platina, lifting her heavy handbag.

"Yeah, right here." Dia pointed to his backpack, where he stored snacks and clothes.

"Of course!" Pearl tossed his satchel over his shoulder, walking quickly to the door. "Come on, you two! Stop being Slowpokes! I've got a feeling that today's going to be a great day!" And then he was gone, already far ahead of them.

Platina rolled her eyes- she missed being with her friends. Their antics, their personalities, and just their fun little quirks. Some things would just never change, and she loved that.

*Hopefully I got the Sinnoh Trio right. X) I haven't had time to reread their arc... (and every time I try somehow I find myself reading R/S. :X) But now we know a bit of Rei's plans for Sinnoh and have a good idea on how they'll meet, right? ;) I have a few review replies from the end of Memories Lost I want to get to!

blazelight790: What a long review to reply to! XD I won't be killing off Rei for a while... I like him. And he's not one to go down easily. He reminds me of my favorite character in another series... *is shot* I liked the scene where Ruby shouted at Gold too! XD It was so fun to write... I like writing angsty things. :3 Green is forever alone. He doesn't care either. :V His character has always felt like a loner's one to me. (Silver's doesn't. He's always calling Lance or Blue...) Sapphire changed in front of him because she couldn't stand the dress and she's just clueless as usual. XD Emerald...? I dunno... I've never heard of a pairing I like involving him before. X) And yes, I am a total Haughtyshipper! (love!) I can't stand Dia... He's too plain for my tastes and Pearl is hyper! He's awesome!

Graysparkles: Thank you! :D I agree with you about Chosen... Does it really matter that Blue's two years older? She's the oldest Dex Holder (correct me if I'm wrong) I think. That Gengar is a danger. :3 But I bet Rei can think of others way out... after all, he's more prepared this time. ;)

wolfeclipse25: I couldn't believe I'd finished it either. X) But luckily, I had this to work on! Ruby is messed up. :3 Kind of... This takes place about a month or so afterwards and he mainly hangs out with Sapphire, so he won't be all explodey. (most of the time.) You'll probably see him next chapter or so! (I forget which Chapter he appears first in. XD)

Gur40Goku: Thanks! :3

RaDiaNTFreezez: XD Because I'm a sadist, that's why~

Kimiko Heroux: I hope you like it so far! :D

spiritgurl21: I do that all the time, don't worry about it. X3 I hope you'll enjoy the sequel!

killfith: Thank you! :D

Mimishee Lee: XD Hand to hand combat was hard to guess, wasn't it? Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon... But of course, he's not going to get that way alone... *cough* *FRANTIC* *cough* Who knows? ;)

SniperGYS: I don't think the Gengar's that evil. X) It really is Rei... maybe. XD Of course Rei wants revenge! He's not going to just live the rest of his life defeated... (I'm sure he has in mind something very evil...) Thank you!

Guest: Shoot. I completely forgot about the Latis... OwO So I edited this chapter saying Rei released them. X) Thank you for pointing that out!

Light-Sakura: I think of Ruby's mind now more like a bomb with a trigger. He won't be triggered except in certain cases... but he's certainly a lot darker now and could quite certainly act like Rei in some situations. It's more of an unconscious thing though- he wants to go back to how he was but he can't control the darkness. :D

Next chapter we get to see to see Ruby and Sapphire! :D And we also get to see Silver... OwO What have they been up to? ;) Please review! Next update will be in a week!*