Disclaimer: I'm in a hurry, so I don't own Pokemon. Now shut up and stop suing me. Ryli He was…dead. As I watched the Golem lift itself off of his crumpled body, I knew it. Cray was dead. I was frozen to the ground with shock and horror, but the Golem wasn't standing still. It looked around for more enemies…and saw me. It began to charge at me, hoping for a two-for-one deal, but a small brown-and-white shape darted between us. It was the little Eevee. It was actually trying to fight the Golem! This rallied me to some sort of consciousness, enough to reach for Angel's pokeball. As I called her out, the Eevee was doing a wonderful job of distracting the beast, darting this way and that, evading every attack, and nipping at the creature's feet from time to time. Angel came out just in time to catch a punch that had missed the Eevee. The blow knocked the Dragonair back at least ten feet. As she struggled to recover, the Golem moved in, happy to have a target that it could actually hit. Just as Angel recovered enough to see the thing coming, it put her out with another Mega Punch. I had no choice but to recall her. The Eevee, however, was still holding its own, from nothing but its agility. The beast tired of the fight, and decided to ignore the Eevee. It began to walk over towards Cray's body. I shuddered at the thought of what it would do to the lifeless husk, defiling that which it had ended, but the little one wouldn't give up so easily. It ran in front of the Golem, and stood defending his friend's body. The Golem simply swatted him aside, and lumbered on. The Eevee, however, got up again, and began to glow. As the glow faded, it revealed something impossible…a Flareon. The newly evolved Pokemon easily got the Golem's attention, with a Flamethrower attack. This was the first attack in the whole fight that had actually hurt it, and it made it angry. Very angry. Not that the Flareon actually gave a damn. It was full of a rage that burned a thousand times hotter than its flames. It followed up the Flamethrower with an attack I had never seen before, almost like a blade of solid wind. I had no idea how it could have that kind of attack, but I was glad that it did, as it actually put a crack in the Golem's shell. The beast roared and charged, but evolution had taken away none of the Flareon's agility. It dodged easily, then spun around and used a Twister attack. That knocked the Golem out. The Flareon. Walked over to it, and confirmed it was out, as I ran over to Cray. I looked for any signs of life, but I found what I expected. Nothing. As I turned around, I saw the Flareon, with tears in its eyes, and I began to cry as well…when I heard a voice speak behind me… ************************************************************************ Samuel " The council is somewhat disappointed in you, Samuel. We expected more from on of our senior members." My voice showed my desperation as I replied, " I couldn't have beaten Isaac alone! He's one of our most powerful, or was. Anyway, that's not even the important part. He confirmed our fears. There is now a Wind elemental, with the potential for absolute control. What will the council do about that?" The shadowy figures in the chamber around me did not answer for a moment. When one of them did, his voice was grave. " We have made a greater mistake then we first realized. Yes, he is a Wind elemental, but we combined his genes with a Fire strain. When Fire and Wind combine…you know what is created." I gasped. No, it couldn't be… " The council member nodded. "Yes. And when he finally comes into his power, gods help us all." ************************************************************************ Cray I felt like I had just had a ton of rocks dumped on me. Possibly because that's exactly what had happened. " Cray?" I turned around to see Ryli, with a Flareon at her side, looking at me in absolute amazement. A little scared too, but with happiness mixed in somewhere. I groaned as the fiery feeling faded, leaving a headache in its place. "What happened?" I asked. She was still looking at me like I was a talking tree, but she responded, " Don't you remember? You were dead." "No, I just felt like it. What happened?" She shrugged. "I don't know exactly what happened. All I saw was the Golem jump at you, then start fighting us. And also, how your Eevee evolved without a stone. Do you know how that happened?" I grinned. " I was a little occupied at the time, remember? But anyway, I've never heard of that happening before, except some old crackpot legends, and I really doubt those." She shrugged. " Couldn't hurt to try. Any explanation is better than none." I shook my head. " Don't say I didn't warn you. According to the legend, there was once an ancient tribe of Eevees. They were divided into different sub tribes, one for each evolution. The main difference between them and modern Eevees is that the ancient ones were dual element. They were Dragon and Fire, or, as they called it back then, Wind. Anyway, these Eevees would fight other Pokemon, sometimes starting tribal wars with Pokemon who should've been twice as powerful as them. But the Eevees were incredibly agile, and the almost never got hit. And in the most difficult battles, they would evolve. They didn't need stones or anything; the heat of battle would be enough of a catalyst for evolution. And what they evolved into would be determined by which tribe they came from. As the legend is usually told now, the Eevees eventually lost their second element, and then Silph Co. began experimenting on them, back in the early days of the company, and they corrupted the genetics so that they could evolve by stone. But the new kind of evolution was nowhere near as powerful as the old, so the modern Eevees and their evolutions are much weaker than their ancient ancestors. But like I said, it's just a crackpot old legend. Nothing serious." Ryli started getting a weird look on her face, like she was struggling to keep from laughing, then she just burst out in gales, laughing her head off. I chuckled. " The story isn't that bad, is it?" It took her a couple minutes to calm down enough to answer, but when she did, it wasn't what I was expecting. " Actually, that's exactly what happened. The legend is true, or at least most of it. The genetic line of the Eevees in the forest must've been kept really pure over the years, virtually unchanged, but still, it's the most likely option." I shrugged. " Ok, I'll take your word for it." I looked over at the Flareon. " Do you want to come with me?" I guess he was offended, because he torched me for even asking. {How could you question my loyalty?!?} He asked. " Ok, I'm sorry. I'm glad that you can talk though; it will help quite a bit. Do you have a name?" {My name was to be given to me by the Seer of my people. Since I got lost, though, I never got a name. I was only three weeks old when it happened, anyway.} " Three weeks? Wow. I had no idea you were that young. Do you want any help picking a name?" {I would be honored if you would lend your suggestions.} " How about Aeon?" {It is a good name, I think. It will do.} I smiled. " Ok, Aeon it is then." ************************************************************************ Dakk "Action must be taken. We must destroy the subject immediately." I blanched upon hearing this. They couldn't be serious! But what could I do? "You're always so indecisive!" That was what I had heard almost every day since I was a child. It hurt at first, to be thought poorly of, but eventually I got used to it. But it almost kept me off of the council. Indecision has always been my biggest fault, and here I am reaffirming it! No longer… " I would ask the council how we can be sure that he will follow this pattern. There is no guarantee that he will become corrupted besides the ancient philosophies and the opinion of a select few. We cannot murder a child who has done nothing wrong based on these alone." The council's leader, Darius Karakin, glared icily at me. "May I ask why, Junior council member Dakkarn?" Damn, I was close to croaking under that gaze of his. But if I didn't say something, I'd never have a chance again… " Because it's unethical." I said in a weak voice, "If you can prove that he'll succumb, and therefore try to follow the Heretic's course, then I will go along willingly. Until then, you shall not have my vote, and I would hope that the rest of the council would agree." " Council member Dakkarn, you are dismissed. Your seat on the council will be reconsidered. Leave us." My jaw dropped, but not because I was surprised. I knew he'd do this somehow, but in the middle of council? Such audacity! " I would ask council member Darius whether or not he has the right to enforce such sentences on the basis of someone disagreeing with him in an open debate." I looked around for the one who was supporting me, and saw that it was none other that Miranda Neris, one of the most ambitious of the newer generation of the council. Why was she defending me? I barely knew her, and if she took a stand on this, she'd be in the same boat as me! " Council member Miranda, I would suggest that you mind your own damn business." Swearing in council? That was slightly forbidden… I spoke up. " Would the council members please remember the prohibition of coarse language in the council chamber? If you recall, the penalty is loss of position and review of membership." I knew that memorizing the rules would come in handy some day… " This does not apply to the leader of the council. And weren't you just dismissed?" I smiled slightly. " Begging your pardon, sir, but it does apply to the leader of the council, and it nullifies all penalties put into place by the offending member during the last twenty-four hours. So I was not dismissed." There was a long silence in the council chamber. Karakin had dominated the internal politics of the council for years, and I had just practically unseated him in one blow. That is, if he would follow the rules… " Council member Dakkarn, I challenge you to a duel, without out elemental abilities. My second will be council member Samuel." A duel? Oh shit. There was no way that I could outfight Darius, even without his elemental powers. And where in all seventy hells was I going to find a second? Anyone in the room could've beaten Samuel, but no one would openly oppose Darius, except… " I volunteer my services as council member Dakkarn's second." Of course, Miranda. I must forget things when I'm nervous or something… " I accept the challenge, with council member Miranda as my second." This was going to be easier than I had thought. In a council duel, the combatants and their seconds fought at the same time, and could assist each other, as long as their own opponent was still standing. So it just be a matter of keeping Samuel alive long enough to let us gang up on Darius. Which wouldn't necessarily be that easy because the fighting style Miranda used was very, ah, well, eccentric, but also very effective. She used a katana as her main weapon, and as an off-hand blocking weapon, she used a wrench. Specifically, a crescent wrench. It was thick enough to easily block any sword, or even axe while the end could be used as a sword breaker. It was an incredibly strange, but incredibly effective setup. I had no idea what Samuel used, but I was pretty sure he hadn't used whatever it was in about twenty years anyway, so it didn't matter. As for myself, I just used a sword-sized kindjal, and for an off-hand weapon I used a dirk. Darius was definitely the most striking in a battle, as he used a six-foot o'dachi sword (I hope I spelled that right). If a Machamp had used it, they would've had to call it a three-handed sword. It would be an incredibly mismatched fight if we ended up one-on-one. Hopefully that wouldn't happen though… " The judge for this duel will be council member Joshua. The council members participating will be allowed to use their personal weapons. Begin on my mark. One, two, three…mark." Samuel came out rushing, swinging a slightly rusty katana around in a two handed grip. The rest of us just watched as he ran forward, tripped, and accidentally stabbed himself through the shoulder. I was torn between laughing at his stupidity, and crying because I was about do die. Miranda hauled the idiot off of the council chamber floor and out of the room. Once they were gone, Darius grinned maliciously and began to advance. Apparently, he shared my opinion of who was going to win the battle. But he seemed to be a little off for some reason… His first strike was supposed to be his last. He broke into a run, brought his sword above his head, and jumped, hoping that I would be stupid enough to try and parry, or just stand there like a deer in the headlights. I was really considering those two options, but just then, without my mental permission, I stepped to the side, and Darius didn't have time to adjust the huge blade's trajectory enough to hit me. I proceeded to start attacking him with my kindjal, thinking that with a lighter and faster blade, I might be able to slip through his defenses. All I ended up doing was cutting his robe a couple times, because although his blade was large and a kind of slow, he wasn't. He made up for his lack of parrying ability with an incredibly display of dodging. After a few minutes of totally ineffective fighting, we separated, both winded and really angry. He opened his mouth to taunt me, but my left hand flashed with a quick motion…and almost instantaneously, my dirk was lodged in his throat. Everyone was absolutely still for a few moments, then someone finally whispered, " Shouldn't he have fallen over by now?" Half a second later, Darius fell over, blood squirting from his neck, pretty much dead. I walked over, pulled my dirk out of him, wiped it on his robe, and sheathed it along with my kindjal. Then I turned to the appointed judge. " Council member Joshua, do you find this duel fair?" He considered for a moment, then responded gravely, " I find this duel unfair in many ways, but the disadvantaged have won, so it does not matter. Council member Dakkarn, you are the new leader of the council." Well, that's a good thing…right? ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ ************************************************************************ well, I know it's kinda hard to follow that last part, but it'll make more sense later. Hopefully. Anyway, tell me what you think of it! Please review! I haven't gotten a review since chapter 1, so I'd like to at least know that people are reading this.