.

Okay, first off I want to address the intended change in chapter format for Book III. The traditional "reveal" at the header of each chapter was to be replaced with a snippet of Enzo's autobiography; expanding his backstory as the main narrative carried on as per usual. Enzo relates his backstory as a list of events and highlights; his first victory in a pokemon battle; the first pokemon he captured; yada, yada… Basic character building BS.

But every entry in Enzo's log was to be finished with a supposition; reflection leading to doubt; doubt leading to rationalization; rationalization ending in submission. Enzo's early days are pretty miserable, what with him combating starvation, homelessness, dysentery, solitude, shame and confusion; but there are brilliant moments of relief that Enzo sought to exploit to their fullness.

Despite the misery of his circumstance, young Enzo is portrayed a happy go-lucky introvert; who slowly begins to realize that he has utter mastery over his impulses during times of duress. Whereas most others panic and defer to compulsion under stress; Enzo enters a calm and analytic state. This curious behavior allows Enzo to keep his cool during even the most gruelling of challenges, and as he grows more accustomed to the mannerisms of his fellow trainers during battle; Enzo begins develop his "gameface".

Long and short of it: Enzo proves to be a hard card to read, and rather apt at interpreting and predicting both his opponents' intentions and their next moves. Realizing this advantage, Enzo formulates his competitive roster with countering in mind, rather than committing to a lineup that's designed to overwhelm his opponents through subversion (like Theron's team) or establish victory through attrition (like Zane's team).

As such, Enzo prove to be a rare flavor of strategy, one that is almost impossible to match in the lower ranks of the League. In seeking to improve his approach to battles, Enzo begins to horde information in regards to both the Para-Kingdom and Human psychology. This leads to Enzo self-educating himself in advanced scientific fields. While his education lacks the cohesion and discipline of orthodox academia, Enzo's quick wits and innovative perspective compensate for most of the discrepancies in his methodology.

Later in his League career (after he'd made a substantial profit), Enzo began to explore genetics and psonicology; finding his true calling in the development of experimental "procedures". While his early attempts at genetics were admittedly crude (lots of selective breeding and amateur gene-therepy), Enzo did realize a lineage of "superior" pokemon; pokemon that had been bred exclusively for battles, who bore exaggerated traits that aided them in such contests.

These were technically the first "Chimera" pokemon, which Enzo began to market on commission, which provided him with a modest and stable income; enough that when combined with his League earnings, were able to fund the construction of his very first official lab (Think Breaking Bad's Trailer Meth Lab; only with unethical biological experimentation in mind, rather than meth production).

The very first "true" Chimera pokemon produced by the Davinci Lab was a mutated Axew; a male dragon bearing a notable discoloration and heightened levels of intelligence. Dubbing this prototype "Tenacious," (given the Axew's sheer stubbornness), Enzo administered his first full-scale gene therapy to the hatchling; both conditioning it for prolonged battle and accelerating its growth.

Tenacious soon became the star of Enzo's team, and established a fierce rivalry with Darmy, Enzo's first pokemon/best friend. Though Darmy approved of Tenacious's skill in battle, the wise Darmanitan viewed the dragon's temperament as a liability, and sought to curb Tenacious's warlust with discipline.

Though Darmy was only partially successful in his this venture, Tenacious did learn enough self-control to empathize with both Darmy and Enzo; forming a fast friendship between the three. Discovering the advantages of Darmy's discipline when applied to battle, Tenacious began to emulate Enzo's competitive conduct. Due to Tenacious's borderline sapient intelligence, the young dragon became almost as accomplished as his Trainer in developing and enacting stratagems.

This similarity in approach casted the illusion of a master trainer and his masterfully trained dragon; however, the truth is that this union is maintained by mutual tactics complimenting each other in execution. While there is both respect and affection between Enzo and Tenacious, Tenacious doesn't truly "obey" Enzo; they just think and act so similarly during battle that it's impossible to discern command/function from function/function.

But in traditional TSoK fashion, something bad always follows something good; and in this case, Enzo's lifelong friend and companion dies in a Championship match. RIP Darmy.

Grief has an adverse effect on Enzo, and the loss of his final family member, compounded with the Trainer's guilt of having put Darmy in the situation that took his life; ultimately breaks Enzo.

Enzo as good as loses his mind. While he may have come across as a bit eccentric before he lost Darmy, true madness takes Enzo, and the nigh incomprehensible lunatic burns down his own lab before a grief-stricken Enzo releases all of his pokemon back into the wild to keep them "safe from himself".

But when it comes to releasing his number 2, Tenacious, things don't go quite as… intended.

Tenacious is greatly offended by Enzo's abandonment, and the furious Haxorus refuses to be denied his birthright. Having been born and raised a dragonslayer, Tenacious's ambitions include the conquest of the Indigo League's decade long reigning Champion: Lance Drakengard.

And not even Enzo's senseless snivelings are going to dissuade Tenacious from his throne.

Tenacious knocks Enzo out, and drags his unconcious Trainer to the Indigo League Seasonal Finals. Essentially threatening to kill Enzo should he attempt to abstain from participation, Tenacious forces entry into Victory Road trial; with only a terrified (and clinically insane) Enzo for support.

Despite their obvious disadvantages, Enzo and Tenacious make it through the Victory Road trial with flying colors; and upon entering the Qualifying Round, Enzo rediscovers his state of mind in the duress of competitive battling. Acting as more of an advisor and consultant to Tenacious than as a commander, Enzo affords his dragon with the advantage of paradigm analytics; similar tactics developed from distinctly different perspectives.

Between Tenacious's nigh-exclusive hereditary advantage; dragon-pedigree; fierce intelligence, unshakable confidence, and Enzo's encyclopedic knowledge, the pair literally waltz through the worst the League can offer, stunning everyone spectating the unexpected slaughter.

After crushing Giovanni in the fourth-quota victor finale, which followed the defeat of the Elite Four, Enzo and Tenacious establish themselves as overnight legends. The writing is on the wall; Enzo Davinci is the last contest that Lance Drakengard will answer as Indigo's Champion.

But Enzo's sanity is still very much absent, and the disturbed analyst has been straining himself to ensure Tenacious's survival throughout this reckless foray into the League Finals. The stress is further compounded by the commercial race to buy Enzo. Hit from all sides with ludicrous offers and invasive political stunts, Enzo snaps yet again, and pulls out of the final match at the very last moment. Never announcing his forfeit notice, and failing to attend the match as expected, the League is thrown into utter hubbub, as wild speculation and mass confusion feeds the hysteria…

...Until a report from Celadon City comes in, having located the missing Enzo Davinci in a Donut Shop, casually binging away on his favorite trash food.

After having generated so much drama with his spectacle in the League, Enzo retires from competitive battling and commits himself to his favored pastime: playing up the mad genius in a laboratory. His legendary exploits in the League garner lavish commissions, and over time, Chimera Industries builds up around Enzo Davinci.

Having discovered a sense of clarity in rebuilding his relationship with Tenacious, Enzo returns to his eccentric status, though his madness is still apparent in his social interactions.

From there, Enzo meanders over many of his defining moments in Chimera, from receiving an Indigo Commissioned Grant, which funded development of the Waterloo Division; A Chimera subsidiary that researches and develops warmon for Indigo's military divisions; to his work with the Devon and Silph Companies in developing artificial pokemon (Beldum and Porygon, respectively).

The successes of Waterloo are the primary focus in Enzo's reflections though, as his military grants ultimately leads to Enzo's inclusion in numerous Black Projects; one of which included the attempted weaponization of a former Black Project's "failure."

The only stable analogue developed during the Mew-0 Project: Ditto.

Though Waterloo fails to weaponize Ditto, the unique and curious properties of the artificial organism prompt an obsession from Enzo Davinci, spurring him on to piece together what little public information is available of the leaked and decommissioned Mew-0 Project.

This pursuit of undisclosed information ultimately leads to a familiar face from Enzo's past in the League: Giovanni Delimonto, who was suspected of serving as the Director of ACE during the Mew-0 Project's commission.

Despite the highly controversial and extremely sensitive topic, Giovanni Delimonto privately debriefs Enzo on the Mew-0 Project, going as far as to state the project's intentions and snippets from the recorded itinerary of the project's Chief Science Director: Doctor Fuji.

Recommending that Enzo takes the matter up with his ACE contacts in Waterloo, Giovanni silently grants Enzo a vote of confidence; which saves Enzo from his likely assassination when the matter is breached with the current Director of ACE.

Volunteering to pick up where Doctor Fuji left off, Enzo's fascination with the Mew-0 project (and his conflicting views on religion and science) leads to the project's official revival.

Waterloo commits the majority of its available assets to this revived project; and ACE entrusts Enzo with the most valuable remnant from the Mew-0 Project: Zygote Zero.

Having been artificially constructed from the sourced genetic codes of all known pokemon species, Zygote Zero represents a half century's worth of phylogenetic cartography and gene identification/acquisition. Having traced the junk genetic codes all the way back to the original sequence, Zygote Zero was painstakingly crafted to gestate into the original pokemon: Mew.

However, Zygote Zero is highly unstable. Once gestation begins, the zygote undergoes exceedingly rapid and uncontrollable mutations. Most offshoots of Zygote Zero go terminal before they can achieve stable development; sometimes the most the mutations realize is rapidly decaying viral organisms; and very, very, very rarely do the mutations actually result in a stable organism, such as Ditto; which can't even come close to achieving the Mew-0 Project's stated goal.

Zygote Zero is missing some vital links in its phylogenetic sequence, and Enzo realizes that the zygote could potentially be stabilized by filling in these missing links; but the only analogues that presumably carry such vital genes are exclusive to the Lima-Index; Pokemon that were so successful early on into their evolutionary history that they have remained both unchanged and dominant in whatever ecosystem they inhabit.

Unfortunately for the Mew-0 Project, these genes are not only exceeding rare, but deemed "impossible" to retrieve, given the incredible dangers associated with encountering a pokemon from the Lima-Index.

But a fresh acquaintance from the Ranger Corps ultimately scores Enzo the paydirt he needs to finish the Mew-0 Project; Second-Lieutenant Zane Bastard of the Ranger Corps achieves the impossible by slaying a Lima-One specimen: Articuno.

Waterloo acquires the deceased specimen, and the Para-Kingdom's phylogenetic tree is grossly expanded, thanks to the genetic profile of this one previously unobtainable specimen.

Identifying a completely new phylum, presumably exclusive to members of the Lima-Index, Enzo discovers direct parentage from Mew in Articuno's ancestry. With an almost flawless genetic model to draw from, Enzo begins patching the numerous flaws in Doctor Fuji's Zygote Zero; making dramatic headway in the revived Mew-0 Project.

With the Mew-0 Project finally in a state where it can develop without his constant supervision, Enzo elects to take a holiday. Due to his correspondence with Zane Bastard, Enzo shocks Indigo by announcing his intention of returning to the Indigo League Finals; not as a competitor, but rather as a spectator. Enzo completes his biography to the present day; optimistic of the future and carefree as to the ramifications of the Mew-0 Project.

Acknowledging this particular League season as exceptional, due to a pair of nigh-mythical Trainers (Zane and Theron) competing for Indigo's Throne, Enzo confesses his excitement, and states that he hopes this world is ready for Zane and Theron's contest.

*From this point on, the Chapter "reveals" work themselves into the main narrative's timeframe; returning more or less to their original role as background devices. Enzo remains the primary focus in these reveals, though rather than relate his story through first-person reflections, the reveals' narrative assumes a third-person perspective of current events.

Book III resumes from Zane's perspective; location Viridian City. Lieutenant-Captain Zane Bastard is prepping for his final Gym Challenge with Giovanni Delimonto. Every Gym Battle since Celedon has been a farce, thanks to Darwin, but due to the location of Giovanni's arena…

...Darwin is going to have to sit this one out, and Zane will be taking on a Quad-Flame Champion's six mon team with only five mon.

Giovanni's Gym differs drastically compared to many of his League colleagues. As mentioned prior, Giovanni only accepts and recognizes Unrestricted Championship Challenges; all other contests aren't worth his time. Giovanni's Gym matches are always private, no recordings or spectators permitted.

Due to Giovanni's status as a Quad-Flame finalist with a consistent record of Elite Four Wipes throughout the two decades he's competed in, Giovanni is recognized as one of Indigo's most accomplished League Competitors. Thanks to his reputation and the requirements for challenging his Gym, Giovanni's challengers are treated to an exclusive experience, quite unlike the experiences offered in any other Gym.

Before the contestants are even shown the stage, they're treated to a private banquet with their host. To say that Giovanni assumes a more personal approach to hosting his challengers is a bit of an understatement. If a Trainer has both the guff and the balls required to meet Giovanni in the ring, then they've earned a courtesy dinner from him.

Needless to say, the paparazzi isn't even allowed on the Gym property, so after muscling his way through the fanatic crowd, Zane is brought directly to the Gym compound's dining hall, where his host awaits.

The wait staff may be unusually bulky, and perhaps too heavily scarred to be butlers anywhere else, but Zane writes it off as Giovanni's interest in security. It's only after the first course is served that Giovanni deigns it appropriate to strike up a conversation with Zane.

Apart from a formal introduction, Giovanni is all business. While other Gym Leaders have paraded an image, Giovanni makes no such compromise. Giovanni is confidant in his capabilities, but not cocky. He acknowledges the possibility of his defeat, and from stating that possibility, Giovanni petitions Zane for his plans following such a defeat.

Impressed with Giovanni's demeanor and accommodations, Zane abstains from his endorsing typical abrasive attitude. Respectfully filling Giovanni in on his plans to seize Indigo's Throne, Giovanni reveals an unnerving awareness of both the Ranger Corp's and ACE's role in Zane's ascent.

Giovanni is not an ignorant man, by any stretch of the imagination; he is intimately familiar with the going ons of ACE, and even breaches League Confidentiality to drop a curious little nugget of information Zane's way.

Zane is not the only high-priority contender in the 1,075th Indigo League Seasonal Finals. Another contender with a legendary background has been working in the shadows to secure a foothold in the ten-seventy-fifth as well.

Lord Theron Virgil Halcyon, who privately decimated the entire Johto Gym Division in little less than a week; going as far as meeting multiple Gym Challenges a day, all with same registered team.

While Zane seems surprised to discover that Theron is competing in the Indigo League, he cannot afford to ponder it now. The final course is almost finished, and his host demands the fullness of Zane's attention.

Hinting at the possible consequences of a foreign statesmen claiming the Indigo Champion's legislative powers, Giovanni stresses the need for Theron to be stopped. Stating that he himself will be competing primarily to see Theron's downfall, Giovanni confides that the likelihood of himself (or any other Gym Leader) besting the Eidolon King are slim.

Commenting that the League is currently prepping its best to take out Theron, Giovanni announces his reason for debriefing Zane.

As it currently stands, Zane is Indigo's best counter to Theron's ascent, and this Gym Battle will determine whether or not that faith is well placed.

Leaving the dining hall and making the rest of the journey by private shuttle, Giovanni leads Zane to his subterranean arena; a location far too confined to accommodate Darwin's massive scale.

From there, the Gym battle commences. Zane leads with his recently evolved Tyranitar, Ramses, in response to Giovanni's monstrously oversized Nidoking lead.

Though the ensuing battle is grueling, the Bastards start off on a strong note, and they never forfeit that advantage. Zane, Ramses, Mac, Vauban, Cortez, and Damascus all prove their worth, toppling Giovanni's Championship team. Pleased with the reaffirmation of Indigo's Guardian, Giovanni grants Zane the Earth Badge, and the journey to Indigo begins.

From there, the narrative cuts to Indigo, where the Finalist hopefuls are amassing for the Victory Road Trial. Among the many names are familiar faces; Derek has earned his eight badges and greets Zane heartily; Brock finally shakes Zane's hand in congratulations; Misty refuses to even acknowledge Zane; Lt. Surge can't help but humiliate Zane; so on, and so on.

But one familiar face is less eager to meet with Zane, at least not in public; Theron Halcyon does his damnedest to avoid Zane's familiar advances, but once the pair are alone…

...Their exchange is far from the expected hostility.

Greeting Theron as he would a brother, Zane reports that everything has gone according to plan. While he's known for ages that Theron would be competing in the League (Since Vermilion City at any rate), Zane is a bit concerned about the possibility of them crossing paths in the competition. Theron surprises Zane by stating that the two competing against one another was part of the plan all along.

Zane is disturbed by this reveal, and asks if this means that Theron is going to throw the match; seeing as Theron and Zane planned to have Zane claim Indigo's Throne.

Theron replies by saying that because of recent developments, he must relinquish the role of failsafe. When they meet in the competition, Theron will be coming at Zane with everything he has.

Furious at the change in plans, Zane demands an explanation. Theron only gives Zane a dire hint:

Against the odds of causality, ACE had a landslide development in Operation Wounded Hearts quite recently; a development that could potentially render Theron and Zane's roles in the unfolding operation obsolete. It has become imperative that the strongest succeeds in the League, now that Zane and Theron no longer have the luxury of ACE's dependency on them.

Though he's still pissed at Theron for the mutual divergence in their agenda, Zane takes Theron's assessment at face value. While Zane would rather avoid the legislative responsibilities of Indigo's Champion, he'd much rather manage that responsibility than let the Eidolon King claim it. Confidant in his ability to best the Theron, Zane sets off for the Victory Road Trial's starting line.

The Victory Road Trial hails back to tradition; it is the first contest in the League, intended to weed the weak from the strong. The Victory Road Trial is not a battle between trainers, but rather, a trial held to determine their preparedness for the competition.

Spanning an enclosed reserve populated by some of the most dangerous species of mon known, the Victory Road Trial is a wilderness survival race through hostile territory. Trainers have one day to get from the starting point of the reserve, to the finish line at the Indigo League Coliseum.

Nearly thirty-five kilometers separate the starting point from the finish line; there are no roads, no waysides, no accommodations, and the only paths through the rugged and uneven terrain are the game trails made by the indigenous mon.

Trainers are only permitted to carry the standard wilderness survival kit and their registered League Finals Team. How Trainers cross the terrain is up to personal discretion; straight as the Murkrow flies, or as sneaky as a Sneasel. Trainers are forbidden from using their flight pokemon for aviation, any violators will be disqualified. In the event of impending peril, a Trainer can request aid from League Watchmen; but any aid granted will disqualify requestees, so this is generally reserved for life or death circumstances.

Given the stakes, many ambitious Trainers have perished during the Victory Road Trial when their pride came before a fall.

For Ranger Corps trained Zane, the Victory Road Trial is child's play, made even more menial by Cortez's pathfinder skills. For Theron…

...Well, the rules were never written in awareness of Typhon's Distortion Shepherding capabilities. Thanks to Typhon's exclusive privilege, Theron crosses the finish line mere seconds after the race began.

Needless to say, both characters make it to the end without conflict, preserving their pokemons' health and strength for the competition where it is needed.

Zane and Theron pass the qualifying round without a hitch, though the competition begins to show its strain during the first quota stage. During the quota stages, challengers square off against one another to progress through the League Finals. Challengers who failed to pace themselves in the Victory Road Trial are already exhausting their teams, and those that have made it this far are willing to throw everything on the board for a chance at making the first quota victor rank; where they will have the predilection of which Elite Four member they wish to challenge first; all in the hopes that they can secure at least one Flame on their Finalist License.

I'll spare you all the suspense (and me the time); Zane and Theron achieve the first quota victor rank in their respective divisions, humiliate their Elite Four opponents (Zane starts with Bruno; Theron starts with Agatha), proceed to the second quota victor rank in their divisions, beat the next Elite Four member (Zane tackles Lorelei; Theron takes out Bruno); before making it to the third quota victor rank, and beat the snot out of the next Elite Four member (Both Zane and Theron wipe out Koga).

Getting this far in the Finals takes about two weeks, and once the fourth quota stage picks up, the amount of active contenders have been reduced to a fraction of the original roster. At this point, even the Bastards are slipping up, due to both exhaustion and prior injuries. Nevertheless the event proceeds smoothly, right up until the penultimate match in the fourth quota stage.

It is in this match that Zane squares off against a Kurosawa Ninja, who may not actually be competing for the throne.

The final bout of the match has forced Zane into deploying Vauban, just to have a prayer against his opponent's Toxicroak and its poisoning antics. Damascus was too slow to do anything but exhaust himself, Darwin can't coordinate an attack on such a nimble adversary without razing half of the Coliseum (cons of being gargantuan), and Mac's only recourse is to sleep off the toxin while the Toxicroak recovers.

Zane doesn't realize it, but he's played right into the Ninja's hands. Once Vauban is deployed, the Toxicroak commits to a suicidal attack, which curiously involves envenoming Vauban; a tactic that the Ninja should know is ineffective, given the Saboteur Class's constitution for all things poison.

But Vauban handily dispatches the reckless Toxicroak, and wins Zane the fourth quota victor title; right before everything starts going to hell.

Vauban wasn't injected with venom; the Toxicroak's venom glands had been surgically altered to deliver an artificial secretion…

...A secretion comprised of the hormones required to stimulate septic overload and hyper-metabolism in the Saboteur Class.

Zane knows that something has gone very wrong when Vauban begins to seizure after the League announces their victory. When the bloody froth oozing from her mouth begins to display signs of internal necrosis, Zane finally figures out what's happening to his little girl.

Vauban's biomass is rapidly converting itself into a virulent aerosol. Once her body fills with enough gas, her abdomen will rupture, spilling a payload of lethal spores and toxic allergenics over a wide radius, while her dying bulb vents as much of the accumulating poisons as it can.

Zane's worst nightmare has come to fruition: Vauban has been turned into a bomb, and all Zane can do is helplessly watch as his little girl undergoes priming for detonation.

Word gets out that the Indigo League Coliseum is about to become ground zero for a Waterloo Saboteur, and panic reigns. Despite the futility of escape, everyone is attempting to vacate predicted parameters before detonation. All except for Enzo Davinci, who understands what's happening and knows how to stop it.

Enzo and Tenacious fight through the mass hysteria to the arena grounds, where a desperate Zane is doing everything he can to save his Vauban; completely forgetting his own well-being or the well-being of Indigo's population. When Enzo steps in to help, Zane experiences a moment of relief.

Damascus's Savoir is here; the Lunatic Hippie of Legend; the man who designed the Saboteur Class, and knows such beasts inside and out.

So you can imagine Zane's reaction when Enzo's first order of business is to order for Vauban's decapitation.

Which Tenacious carries out, as Enzo forcibly pulls a screaming Zane away.

While severing Vauban's spinal cord has prevented detonation, her remains are still undergoing conversion. Dragging Zane away from a delicate situation, Enzo does his best to console the stricken Ranger, who is has having difficulty accepting the death of his little girl.

After cutting some onions, the narrative shifts to a private meeting between Zane, Koga, and Theron. Koga pleads ignorance of the attack, stating that he authorized no such action. Theron backs this up with his own account, stating that an investigation into the offending ninja's proclivities revealed connections to ACE; which Koga had no prior knowledge of.

The motive for the attack is made clear by Theron: ACE commissioned their mole in the Kurosawa clan to carry out the activation of a Saboteur unit, with the expressed goal of assassinating Lord Theron Halcyon; who at the time, was within the effective radius of the Saboteur's dispersal.

It seems that the Black King and the White King are no longer required for realizing Operation Wounded Hearts; if anything, the Black King represents a threat to the Operation, and ACE is willing to kill hundreds of thousands just to remove him from the picture.

This leads to Theron and Zane tracking down the Kurosawa ninja's ACE handlers. Agent Stockholm, Denethor, and Matusik get one last shot at screen time, before Theron graphically murders them all. From there, Theron utilizes the deceased Agents' communication device to contact the Director of ACE, with Zane in silent attendance. Theron then proceeds to goad an explanation out of the Director: Enzo Davinci has resolved ACE's need for underhanded political tactics, because Waterloo's latest Black Project…

...has put ACE is a position where they can do whatever they please.

Meanwhile, Enzo has bailed on the League, and is returning to his office at the Ranch. The formula used to trigger the Saboteur units was secretly developed by Waterloo; as such, Waterloo and the Indigo Military are the only organizations who should even have the stuff. A thorough check of Waterloo's inventory and their shipments to the Military confirms a "misappropriated" delivery, whose report was blackout by ACE personal.

Enzo puts two and two together, and realizes that ACE just about killed him and a city's worth of civilians. No longer trusting their intentions, and realizing the threat represented by ACE owning a resurrected Lima-Two, Enzo immediately begins to shutdown the Mew-0 project and destroy all of its research and assets.

Which draws the attention of ACE, who send their Whitetails out to clean up the liability known as Enzo Davinci.

With Enzo distracted by an unexpected call from the Director of ACE, the Whitetails move in. Enzo isn't dumb or unprepared however, and the lunatic hippie puts his Ranch on lock-down, while he evacuates his staff by "firing" everyone.

As the ACE Director attempts to stall Enzo while the Whitetails make their way through the Ranch's security, taunts turn to furious outbursts when Enzo seizes Zygote Zero, and in an act of self-sacrifice, injects it directly into his neck.

Killing the zygote is far from easy, due to its highly adaptive traits; subject it fire, and it will instantly build up a tolerance for those temperatures. Hit it with a hammer, and it will instantly build up a carapace. Now that the zygote has been stabilized, it can evolve faster than Enzo can kill it.

So if Enzo can't kill the zygote, he'll have to settle for contaminating it. Intending to let his immunity system's response to invasive material taint the culture, and thereby destabilize the zygote, Enzo sacrifices himself to incite malignant mutations in the zygote, which will sooner gestate into a giant tumor before it will a Mew clone.

To Enzo's credit, he succeeds in destabilizing the zygote. Unfortunately, while it was irreparably corrupted, the zygote assimilated Enzo's biology into its adaptive formula, and the resulting abomination led to the development of the Mew-1 prototype; a weaponized adaptation of Zygote Zero that displays a psionic latency far beyond the Mew clone's predicted capabilities.

Despite this obscene potential, the Mew-1 prototype is far from perfect. Due to Enzo's sacrifice, the Mew-1 prototype is trapped in a perpetually critical state; its biologics are constantly failing, and only constant artificial life support and daily organ transplants can keep it alive.

While Enzo's brain was incorporated into the zygote's adaptive formula, ACE had him lobotomized before the mutation could completely assimilate his identity. Caged in a neural inhibitor harness specifically designed to restrict the Mew-1 prototype's bio-EM reflexes, Enzo is as much a prisoner of the mind as he is a prisoner of ACE.

Cut back to the League. ACE is still unaware of Theron's accomplice in Zane. Keeping their cards close to their chests, Theron and Zane agree that so long as ACE assumes that Zane is still working for them, then the pair have a plan B should something unexpected occur.

Zane and Theron topple the last members of the Elite Four, and both achieve the rank of Fourth Quota Victor; of which there is only ever a maximum of two. In order to Challenge Lance, one of them must secede from the competition, and the traditional way of settling this dispute is through combat.

Zane and Theron are slated to battle one another for the first time. Having lost Vauban in the closing round of the fourth quota stage, Zane has only five exhausted pokemon to battle Theron's team with. The League Analysts have already stated the likelihood of Theron's victory, though many remain hopeful for one of Zane's controversial comebacks. Among the Zane hopefuls is Lance Drakengard, who in a private address to Zane; swears to throw the Champion match should Zane defeat Theron.

Clearly more interested in seeing the Eidolon King kicked out of Indigo than he is with maintaining his title, Lance confesses that he doesn't have the beans required to stop the Eidolon King. Acknowledging the murder of Vauban as an event that cheated Zane of a fair fight against Theron and Lance, Lance wishes to both incentivize Zane into beating Theron, as well as make recompenses for the injustice that Zane suffered in the League.

The day of battle however, reveals a curious twist. Out of respect for Zane, Theron benches Grigori at the very start of the match, evening the playing field out for Zane with a five-on-five match.

The battle that follows is as terrifying as it is emotional. Zane is putting everything he's got left into the fight, and Theron is showing no further mercies. First Ramses falls, then Mac avenges her by taking out Demeter. Mac then falls to Thanatos. Damascus barely defeats Thanatos, but he still manages to put a dent in Pariah before going down. Then Cortez finishes off Pariah, before Typhon reaps the field.

With only Darwin left, Zane pits his Midgard Serpent against Theron's Oceanic Monstrosity, and though the battle is close, Darwin defeats Typhon.

Leaving Zane with only a wounded Darwin to challenge Theron's unmarred Exodus.

For the first time since the Kalosian League, Theron triggers Exodus's Mega Evolution, and the White Shadow rises to contest the might the Midgard.

The Battle ends with Theron's victory and Zane's first defeat.

Zane doesn't spectate Theron's match against Lance, but it goes down as you'd expect. Theron crushes Lance without even using his keystone, and claims the seat of Indigo's Champion.

Following the public "celebration" (no one is happy that Theron took the throne), Zane invites Theron to a private celebration that is far from celebratory. When Theron's opening statement is:

"I've had Vauban's ashes interred in a private cemetery for you."

...It kinda sets the mood.

During the exchange, Zane finally empties the last bit of Colonel Howe's gifted scotch, sharing it in a toast with Theron.

But rather than congratulate Theron on his victory in the League, Zane instead toasts the health and happiness of their better halves…

...A toast that curiously subdues Theron.

When Zane inquires as to their plans from here on out, Theron sighs, and informs Zane that his part is over. Zane has earned his rest, and Theron will take over from here. Inquiring as to whether or not Theron intends to uphold his agreement to support the Ranger Corps as Indigo's Champion, Theron laughs, and confirms that he's already reviewing Indigo's proposed budget plan, and paying a close eye to the amount allocated to the Ranger Corps.

With one last pat on the back, the two characters depart.

In the months following the Indigo League's 1,075 Seasonal Finals, Theron is pronounced King of Kalos when a desperate Allan Arturia attempts to match the Eidolon King's claim to sovereignty, and summons an Aegislash, which beheads him and ends the civil dispute in Kalos.

Zane meanwhile, returns to his duty in Corps, and lives out his childhood dream as a Blackhat; a bit more somber now, without Vauban's cheery face at his side.

And then the bittersweet ending you all thought this was leading up to is dashed, when Theron goes missing, and the Brink begins to destabilize.

The nature of the Brink is FINALLY explained to the audience. It is an Einstein-Rosen Bridge that appeared in earth's atmosphere above Oceania some fifteen hundred years ago. While the Brink was initially perceived as too incohesive to manifest a wormhole, an unexplained anomaly triggered a collapse at its event horizon, and the Brink literally vomited up an alien world's (or possibly worlds') detritus and debris.

Earth was swimming in a deluge of alien planet mass; which carried with it a miraculous passenger:

Life.

Incredibly resilient and highly adaptive organisms, later dubbed "Pokemon," were introduced to Earth's ecosystem courtesy of the Brink Collapse.

And when these organisms attempted to assimilate with earth's indigenous ecosystem…

...They dominated all of earth's indigenous life forms.

Which almost resulted in the extinction of mankind.

...And if the latest telemetry on the Brink is anything to go by, a second collapse could be imminent.

Which brings Zane to an emergency ACE debriefing. ACE knows why the Brink is reacting after having lain dormant for so long:

Something at the Helios Brink Observatory is agitating the Brink, and ACE suspects Theron Halcyon's involvement.

Zane and the rest of Blackhat Team Seven are marshaled into Oceania as scouts, while ACE attempts to calm tensions among the various governments and rally troops for responding to the potential crisis of a Second Collapse.

The Brink is only growing more agitated by the day, and if whatever is transpiring at the Helios Brink Observatory can't be stopped, earth will be subjected to another extraterrestrial invasion.

Given the mass extinction event that accompanied the First Brink Collapse, it's understandable why nobody on earth wants a sequel.

Due to the current agitation of the Brink, occasional slippage is passing through the wormhole intact. The area around the Helios Brink Observatory is being bombarded with extraterrestrial materials and inundated with foreign organisms, presumably pokemon, which as good as turned Oceania into a Ranger warzone.

Blackhat Team Seven braves the fallout, losing the majority of their members in the foray, including Lt. Col. Rionaldo and Captain Lewis. Lt. Roscoe musters the remaining members into a cover force for Lt. Cap. Bastard, who ends up proceeding to the ancient Helios Brink Observatory alone.

And guess who's waiting for Zane when he gets there?

Theron, as a character, has regressed into his devilish ways. Taunting and goading Zane (Book II's Prologue covers some of the dialogue), Theron lays out his reasoning for aggravating the Brink:

Humanity is about to repeat its mistakes. Unknown to the general population, humanity triggered the first Brink Collapse, much the same way that Theron is attempting to trigger a second. Humanity nearly brought about its own extinction, and now a certain faction intends to repeat this event, in order to seize control of the governments and declare a war on the Brink itself.

Operation Wounded Hearts was nothing more than the prep work for a total war on monkind. ACE intends to martial humanity against the invasive monsters that claimed earth fifteen hundred years, and free mankind's fate from foreign influences once and for all.

The total extinction of the Para-Kingdom on earth; that is Operation Wounded Hearts' end goal. But in order to do that, ACE needs to shut the Brink for good; and they've been consolidating their all efforts into doing just that.

But what ACE doesn't realize is that this has all been tried before. In the past, humanity attempted to shut the Brink using the same methodology they designed to open it…

...And the Brink responded to humanity's threat by releasing the Lima-Index.

Contemporary humanity didn't realize that they were responsible for the Terra Divide as well as the Brink Collapse. Theron was only able to realize such with the aid of the Prophet's Eyes. Causality is a fickle beast, but if one can observe its machinations across multiple dimensions…

...Then one can see the truth of the past as clearly as one can see the truth of the future.

Theron is convinced that the Brink itself is sentient; it knows when its existence is being threatened, and it responds to such threats like any self-aware entity would. The Lima-Index was the Brink's response to humanity's threat; the Terra Divide was the "fever" that pummeled humanity into submission.

And as cocksure as ACE is in their plans to shut the Brink…

...Earth won't survive another Terra Divide, and not even ACE's super weapon can save the planet from obliteration; if anything, such a weapon's deployment will only expedite the process.

So why is Theron targeting entire world, and not ACE specifically?

Because ACE isn't the only organization with the intent or capabilities required to enact this self-destructive plan. If Theron was to wipe out the entirety of ACE, another organization would rise to pick up where they left off.

So why can't Theron just commit to the obliteration of such institutes?

...Because Theron is running out of time. He estimates that he has less than a decade left to live, and without the Prophet's Eyes and his considerable resources, it's unlikely that anyone else would be able to respond to the threat with the same impunity that Theron can.

From Theron's perspective, he is humanity's last chance for prolonging their survival. If he dies before eliminating or hindering the repetition of history…

...Then no one else will have the means required to counter humanity's hubris.

By inciting a Second Brink Collapse, Theron is attempting to pummel humanity back into the Dark Ages, just to save the progressive species from themselves for a few centuries longer; just to waylay the inevitable repetition of history.

For that end, Theron is willing to play the role of a devil; for that selfless purpose, Theron is willing to be recorded as the villian.

And the only noble legacy Theron can even hope to leave behind…

...Is the Legacy of the Hero, who shepherded humanity through the darkest days of the Devil's trial.

Zane's intended role: The Hero.

Despite acknowledging Theron's stance as a "commendable solution, if a necessary evil," Zane refuses to let Theron damn so many innocent lives to hardship. Convinced that he and Theron can defeat ACE, and stamp out all who follow in ACE's footsteps, Zane proposes an alternative…

...Which Theron dismisses, because Zane had his chance to prove the alternative's likelihood of success…

...And Zane failed to defend the plausibility of his solution at the Indigo League's 1,075th Fourth Quota Victor Finale.

The debate is over; words have no more meaning. If neither will submit to the other's logic…

...Then establishing submission through violence is the only avenue left.

An all out battle between Theron and Zane commences; no League Codes are observed, all honor forgotten. Zane and his unit fights Theron and his Ghosts as they would the feral mon; and Theron fights back with the martial training he received in Royal Guard.

Theron may gone a bit soft in his recent diplomatic lifestyle, and Zane may be a cripple, but the two give each other absolute hell as the Brink begins to unfurl…

...And the scuffle between Zane and Theron is dragged into the confines of the Brink…

...To a place that Theron identifies as the "Cradle of Worlds".

Their battle is postponed as both men drink in this alien dimension's properties; Zane views the sterile womb with trepidation, knowing full well that men have been before and never returned; Theron looks upon the earthen skies with wonder, as his eyes reveal the shifting nebula of causality, far detached from the bias of Distortion.

The state that Theron and Zane currently exist in is somewhat similar to the states they enter upon converging with the Distortion; however, the profane nothingness of the Distortion has been replaced with the myriad sea of possibilities.

For Zane's eyes, the empty core of the Brink is a bit of a disappointment. To Theron's eyes however, it's the first truly beautiful thing he's seen since the Prophet's Eyes were first opened.

The debacle between the two men threatens to resume, but Theron informs Zane that it's already too late; their convergence here is proof that the Brink Collapsed on earth; and as Theron takes in more of this universe's peculiar properties…

...He begins to identify a pattern; a network of Brinks; all connected to different points in space time; highways to different worlds…

...All converging here, at the Cradle of Worlds.

An explanation for the vastly different species of the Para-Kingdom is finally provided: the Brink didn't pull the monsters from one particular world; it dragged them from a multitude of ecosystems, through the byways of the Cradle of Worlds.

The Brink isn't just a cosmological event connecting two points in space-time: it's a network between multiple planets, millions upon billions of planets…

...And both Theron and Zane are the first humans to see and realize it.

The moment is interrupted by a shift in causality that even Zane can feel; and Theron remarks that the final act of the Devil's role has finally come.

The Third King has arrived, and the Kingfisher of House Halcyon intends to cut off the snake's head.

Enter ACE with the Mew-1 prototype; too late to stop the Second Collapse, but still planning to incorporate it into their agenda.

Theron and Zane finally meet the Director of ACE face to face, and the pleasantries don't last long before the ACE Director orders his Mew-1 prototype to destroy both Theron and Zane.

Using his Ghost's ability to manipulate causality, Theron initially proves to hold an advantage in this contest. Extending his protection to Zane, who stands as Theron's staunch ally against ACE, Zane and Theron coordinate their attack on ACE and the Mew-1 prototype.

Unfortunately for Team Zane/Theron, the Mew-1 prototype still has a bit of Enzo Davinci in it…

...And the faculties of a genius quickly realizes how to replicate Theron's causality manipulation with the ungodly power of a Lima-Three.

So it is that The King of Death and The King of Sorrow are pitted against The King of Madness, as the three vie to establish the fate of earth.

The contest grows exceedingly dire as the proponents grow increasingly desperate; though through the exchange of blows, Zane and Theron identify a means to counter ACE's Trump Card.

The pair decides to shutdown the Mew-1 prototype by taking out the ACE Director, who holds the control module for the Mew-1 prototype's neural inhibitor harness. Attacking on two different fronts, Theron and his Ghosts do their damndest to preoccupy the Mew-1 prototype, while Zane and the Bastards contend with ACE's personnel and their mon.

Again and again, Theron's Ghosts are effortlessly destroyed, but thanks to Typhon and a Mega Evolved Exodus's combined Distortion capabilities, Theron's Ghosts can be reconstituted instantaneously, matching the Mew-1 prototype's unstoppable force with an immovable object.

But the stalemate can't last forever; Exodus and Typhon have their limits, and the Mew-1 prototype can exceed them. This war of attrition favors ACE, and everyone knows it; which is why Zane commits himself to a last-ditch effort to take out the ACE Director.

Zane manages to capture the Mew-1 prototype's control module, but the suicidal interdiction leaves him exposed to retaliation. Responding to the interdiction, ACE Director shoots at Zane…

...Only for Theron to abandon his end of the field and bodily intercept the bullet.

The last blow of the battle is dealt, when Pariah beheads the ACE Director. The Mew-1 prototype abstains from combat, and Zane shuts off its life support, finally letting the remnants of Enzo Davinci to pass on.

Theron meanwhile, is bleeding out from a bullet wound to the liver.

Zane quickly attends to Theron's wounds in a desperate attempt to save him, but Theron has had enough. He succeeded in his mission, and he'll die a devil.

Despite his submission to fate, Theron can't help but weep in bitterness. He may have bought humanity time, but it came at such a great personal cost; and it's only here, at the end of the road that Theron finally questions whether or not it was worth the sacrifice.

As Zane cradles his dying friend, the Five Knights form up around Theron. His journey is over, his mission complete; now it's time for Theron to pay his final due.

Though he's terrified of what awaits him, Theron would have Zane's final memory of him bear some likeness to dignity. Requesting Zane's aid in standing, Theron moves forward to address his Knights, while a helpless Zane stands by.

Falling to his knees before Pariah, Theron makes one last request of his most faithful Knight:

"Show me her future. Show me that this wasn't all for vain."

Whatever vision Pariah grants Theron seems to inflict him with equal amounts loathing and joy, but the vision and its portents are for Theron, and Theron alone.

Taking up his sword, Pariah places the point against Theron's breast…

...And impales the Eidolon King through the heart, before dragging his corpse away into the Distortion.

With the Eidolon King dead, the remaining four Knights are freed from their oaths, and they immediately direct their attentions on the grief-stricken Zane.

But before they can haunt him into an early grave, Grigori intervenes, and shepherds Zane out of the Brink into a newly ravaged earth.

Book Three ends where Book One started; with Zane addressing the media over the events at the Helios Brink Observatory. Just as Theron predicted, history will record him as an inhuman devil; the Harbinger of the Second Brink Collapse; a label that Zane venomously refutes on the behalf of his departed and tragic friend. Zane, meanwhile, is commemorated as a Hero, a title that he reluctantly assumes with full recognition of its bearing.

To the remnants of humanity, Zane is a symbol of hope; someone who can deliver humanity from this hellish war with the newly flourishing mon.

It's a duty that the King of Sorrow readily accepts, but even Heroes need their time to grieve.

The closing scene of TSoK takes place at a private cemetery in Johto; the cemetery where Theron had Vauban's remains interred. But Vauban's stone doesn't stand alone in this humble plot. Buried beside her is Valerie Le-Faye, the beloved wife of Theron Halcyon.

Zane, accompanied by Melissa, Darwin, Cortez, Damascus, Machiavelli, Ramses, and Grigori have all come to this hallowed place to inter one more friend in the earth, right beside the woman he loved.

But all that Zane has left of his brother is a necklace; a crude necklace, a child's necklace…

...A necklace that Theron gave to Zane right before he died.

So they bury that necklace beneath a stone that bears Theron's name…

...And The Crossed Arms is etched into this particular stone's header.

Darwin is the first to take his leave. Then Melissa departs, accompanied by Mac. Damascus and Ramses follow in short order, and after a great while has passed, Cortez too retreats from the graves.

But Zane and Grigori stand side by side until the sun sets, paying their respects to the family members that they loved and lost.