Slaves and Soldiers

Chapter 29: Family

"What?!"

Ethan stood in both confusion and shock as he saw the mighty Reshiram standing before him. Even Giovanni had total confusion all over his face at Reshiram's sudden presence. But Reshiram didn't look like how she was supposed to.

Zekrom, still tired from the battle but still standing and recovered from his confusion, only saw his beloved in horror. "No… no. No! I knew Victor said this, but… no. Reshiram… How could they…?" he cried.

At this point, she was almost completely submitted into her cyborg side programming. One could barely even tell that the mighty Reshiram was underneath so many parts. Was her sliver of hope even left?

A robotic headpiece with only an opening for her nose and mouth.

Arm cannons replacing her regular arms and wings, as well as energy-seeking missiles still on said wings.

Her torso covered with a metallic looking armor along with her statistics and vitals shown.

Her tail massively increased in power via implants to reach the speed of Mach 1.

Her feet now turned into powerful jet boots that could produce flames.

In fact, the only natural parts left uncovered were her hair tails and neck. Other than that, everything else had some sort of metal part screwed into it.

"She… she has even more parts on her than I remember…" Typhlosion said in horror.

The sound of an evil laughter interrupted everyone. Everyone right there turned around to see the sound of it.

A bald man wearing a red cloak caught their attention. On the chest of his cloak was the same red mechanical eye with that aurora of evil that Victor had seen earlier.

"Xaphan… What are YOU doing here?!" Giovanni ordered him to tell.

"Isn't it clear by now?" he said in a uncomfortably friendly tone of voice. "Our mission is to robotize all living Pokémon. That includes everyone here. And we'll fix that Raikou up right this time." he scowled, glaring at Raikou.

"And what about me?" Typhlosion rebelled. "You know, your stupid little prophet that refuses to go along with any of this!"

"Nothing a simple little brainwashing can't fix." he laughed. "You're the prophet and you WILL fulfill your destiny by killing off the Infernape of Morality."

"You mean Victor?" Typhlosion grit his teeth. "If you even think that I would even so much as physically hit him, then you are sorely mistaken!"

"Again, that's what the brainwashing will be for. Anyway, I'm spending too much time yapping my mouth. Reshiram, use Blue Flare. On ALL of them!"

Reshiram tried to resist, but still obeyed the orders. She exhaled a blue flame from her mouth, severely burning everyone except for the Fire-type Typhlosion that was still standing… but this time, the attack also targeted the HUMANS as well. Ethan, Lyra, and Giovanni were all on the ground, grasping themselves in pain.

"You bastard… how dare you betray me! I sold Reshiram to you and this is how you pay me back?!" Giovanni yelled in anger, still writhing in pain.

"Wait…" Zekrom clenched his fists, despite the severe burns. "YOU SOLD HER OFF?!"

"Don't take it too personally, Giovanni." Xaphan assured him. "Sure, you sold her to me, but nothing was ever stated that I couldn't use her against you."

Giovanni grit his teeth. "Fine. You leave me no choice. It's time for me to finally send out my last Pokémon." he said, grabbing his Pokéball and tossed it, still on the ground. "Go, Garchomp!"

Giovanni's final Pokémon was sent out. Garchomp, along with Raikou, Typhlosion, Zekrom, and Alakazam, were the last forces standing against this evil cult. This was truly the final battle, and a battle that they couldn't afford to lose.

Currently, Raikou, Zekrom, and Alakazam were suffering from their extreme burns, which would cut their attack power and lower their energy every once in a while. While the burns didn't cripple Raikou and Alakazam as much due to them using Special Attacks, it completely crippled Zekrom as he relied on Physical Attacks.

Nonetheless, everyone left had to step in and battle to save the humans and the rest of the Pokémon from being cyborgified. And they had to be quick before either Reshiram or their burns take them. Right now, it was the good side's turn to attack.

Alakazam was the first to react. "Thunder Wave!" he shouted, using the move to paralyze Reshiram.

Raikou quickly went next. "Thunderbolt!" he yelled, using a strike of lightning to hit Reshiram. Slowly, Reshiram's health began to chip down.

"SolarBeam!" Typhlosion yelled, charging his attack to blast the Reshiram with a powerful SolarBeam if he could withstand the next one, as he wasn't suffering from a burn.

"Bulldoze!" Garchomp said, not wanting to use Earthquake to damage his temporary allies. He came down onto Reshiram with force, dealing moderate damage and bringing her health to under 50%. As a bonus effect, Reshiram's speed also went down.

Zekrom only stood there, unable to move in shock. He couldn't attack. He didn't want to attack. He couldn't even bring himself to attack his beloved. Instead, he started begging; trying to reach whatever humanity Reshiram had left.

"Reshiram! Listen to me! It's me, Zekrom! Your loved one! Please, listen to what I have to say!"

Xaphan only laughed. "You poor, naïve fool. She won't listen to anyone except her Master."

"Please! I… I'm sorry." Zekrom cried. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you! The reason why you could never find me that day… our wedding day… I had to leave with Giovanni to protect you. Otherwise, he would've blown you up. That bomb… that bomb was implanted around your neck. Was it removed, Reshiram?"

Xaphan smirked. "Whatever you say doesn't matter anymore. Nothing at all. Now, Reshiram! Blue Flare!"

Reshiram was just about to attack and knock them all out with a Blue Flare… but she stopped for a moment. Curiously, she felt around her neck with what used to be her arm. That bomb wasn't there. Did that bomb never exist, or… was this Zekrom telling the truth?

"You have to understand!" Zekrom insisted. "I never knew what happened to you! For six years… for six years, I've been enslaved under Giovanni's hand! I never knew that he sold you off to this cult! He betrayed his promise to me! That you would be safe and unharmed if I cooperated! And… and I thought you were still in Unova all this time until a few days ago. Please… understand. Please forgive me. I never wanted this to happened." he continued, crying once more.

"Reshiram! Did you hear me?!" Xaphan yelled. "Use Blue Flare!"

Reshiram was still once more. This Zekrom's words… she could hear them. But what did they mean? Zekrom… she knew that name.

"…ZeKrOm?" Reshiram finally spoke.

"Yes! Reshiram! I know that you are in there somewhere! Your true spirit is still in your heart! But you need to fight! You have to escape from their clutches! Because… Because I love you. I want you back. Please…"

"Reshiram?! What are you doing?! Obey your Master! Ignore him! Attack them!" Xaphan screamed angrily.

"ObEy… FiGHt… ObEy… FiGHt…" Reshiram started talking, confused and trying to understand.

Zekrom continued to give words of encouragement. "Yes! You can do it! I believe in you! Know who truly are! We can go back to normal! We can still have a marriage together! But we don't even need guests! Or cake! Or anything! We could be out on the streets and I would still love you! Because you're everything I care about."

"…EvErYtHiNg yOu CaRe aBoUt… EvErYtHiNg… Z-Z-ZeKrOm? I… I dOn'T wAnT tO FiGHt aNyMoRe… I… I… wAnT tO gO bAcK tO nOrMaL…"

Reshiram started slowly walking towards Zekrom.

"No, no, no! This isn't supposed to be happening!" Xaphan screamed.

"Reshiram, I… I love you." Zekrom stated.

"ZeKrOm… I… I LoVe yOu, tOO." Reshiram managed to say.

Zekrom cried tears of joy. "Thank you. We can go back to normal. We can… urgh…" Zekrom muttered, before fainting due to his burn. Reshiram caught him in her arms.

"Why aren't you attacking?!" Xaphan shouted angrily. "You should be totally under my control!"

By now, the burn had worn off on Ethan, Lyra, and Giovanni, with all of them getting up. Giovanni was the first to grab Xaphan by the scruff of his neck before he could escape. "You rotten dirty bastard. You're not getting away."

Lyra quickly got up next, running inside the Pokémon Center to help get nurses for treatment and possible surgery to heal Reshiram.

Ethan was the last to push himself up, using his Pokégear to call the police. "Hello, Goldenrod City Police Department? Could you get over to the back of the city's Pokémon Center as quickly as possible? I have a criminal here that you might be interested in…"

Fortunately, the police seemed to be competent this time and arrived to arrest Xaphan.

"I can't believe it…" he muttered as he was cuffed. "How could Reshiram have broken through? She shouldn't have! I had complete control! You should all be dead now!"

"I think that's enough, Mr. Xaphan." the Officer Jenny there said, locking him into the back of the police car. Without the cult's leader, and with a police investigation, everything about the cult would collapse and the Johto and Kanto regions wouldn't have to worry about this menace anymore. The cult was finished.

But… one thing still haunted Ethan's mind.

"What about our bargain?" Ethan asked Giovanni. "We never finished our battle."

Giovanni stood silently there for a few moments. Being the leader of Team Rocket, he was surely going to be arrested along with Xaphan. After all, his slavery of Pokémon was a serious crime.

"Ethan… I admire you. I must admit, I've seen you as something like a second son to me. But… a man knows when to fold his cards and admit defeat. I'm no coward, and I'm always a man of my word. Every single Pokémon, both yours and everyone enslaved by Team Rocket… they're all free to go. Team Rocket will fall apart once more without me, so there is no point in keeping them enslaved any longer."

Ethan was speechless. Giovanni was forfeiting? He was letting all of the Pokémon go? It couldn't be true.

Giovanni turned to face Officer Jenny. "I'm well aware that you are going to arrest me as the leader of Team Rocket, and I will face up to my crimes. As for the enslaved Pokémon, my secret base with them is hidden deep beneath Mahogany Town. Free ALL of the enslaved Pokémon. I have no more use for them since I'll be arrested. I may as well save you the trouble."

Even Officer Jenny seemed to be speechless, but quickly recovered herself. "Got that written down." she said, now cuffing Giovanni and opening the police car door.

Giovanni turned to Ethan as he stepped inside. "Ethan. It was nice knowing you." And with that, the car door shut. It then drove off, heading for the police station.

"So that's it, then." Alakazam said. Everyone turned to him. "It's all over. It's all finally over."

"Well… almost." Ethan said, looking at Reshiram. "Even if we've shut down Team Rocket and this cult for good, there are still a few things we need to do."

Walking over to both Reshiram and Zekrom, Zekrom was laid down on the ground, still unconscious. Pulling a Max Revive out from his backpack, he administered it to Zekrom. He woke up shortly after.

"Urgh… huh?" Zekrom stirred, now waking up. "Is it over? Reshiram…" he muttered, still a bit dazed. Seeing the mechanical armor on Reshiram snapped Zekrom out of his daze, however.

"Oh man! That's right! Reshiram, why don't I get that armor off of you? And then we can go home. Finally. Have a happy life together. I'm so glad to finally have this chance after so long…"

Reshiram nodded, walking inside with Zekrom. "I'll give you some anesthesia, and it'll be over before you know it."

Ethan and everyone else followed the duo inside… except for Suicune and Alakazam. "Hey… Alakazam?"

He turned. "Yeah?"

"I… um… I just remembered that promise Entei made for you. That once this was all over, I'd agree to go see Eusine with you. Well… it's all over now. So I'm ready. A promise made is a promise kept."

Alakazam nodded. "Yeah. I'm quite ready to go home after all of this. It's been a long day. I'll teleport you back here when we're done. Let's go."

And with that, they teleported straight to Eusine's house.

It had been a long day for Eusine, too. When he had discovered his Alakazam had disappeared so suddenly on him, he became worried sick. He had looked all over Celadon City for him for several days, but to no success. He even put up many 'Pokémon Missing' signs, offering an extremely handsome reward of $100,000 if anyone found him.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." Eusine said to himself, deeply regretting his foolish actions from several days ago. He knew that Entei had escaped, and that would've only been possible if he had outside help.

Like from Alakazam.

He shouldn't have been surprised. He WAS keeping the Entei for ransom. Alakazam was probably disgusted with him, and helped Entei out, and probably ran away somewhere. Most likely never to be found by Eusine again. It was only in hindsight and after Alakazam had left him had he truly realized how foolish and selfish he had been.

His obsession with Suicune had gone too far, and it cost him his best friend. He collapsed on his couch after having searched all day.

"Why?" Eusine asked himself. "Why was I so stupid? Why did I keep a Pokémon for ransom? I was just so selfish and blind…"

He closed his eyes, simply resting for the moment… until a flash of light occurred. Opening them, he turned to see what had caused it. And he couldn't believe his own eyes.

"Eusine. I'm back."

There he was. Alakazam. He actually came back. Eusine ran up to him with tears in his eyes, kneeling and facing his head down in shame. He honestly didn't even notice that the Legendary Suicune was only a few feet away as she watched the scene.

"Alakazam. I… I don't know what I was thinking. I was being so selfish and foolish. I wanted Suicune, but my obsession went too far. What I did was wrong. I never thought about your wellbeing or Entei's wellbeing. I… I just… I'm so sorry. I won't ever let my obsession get the better of me ever again. Please. Forgive me."

Alakazam smiled, hugging Eusine back. "I forgive you, Eusine. That's all I need to hear."

"Th-Thank you." Eusine stuttered.

"And Eusine?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"…There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Alakazam released the hug, as Eusine finally took notice of the Legendary Beast of Water. He couldn't believe it. After spending so much time looking for the Beast years prior, the Beast of Water was now staring Eusine straight in the face.

"S-Suicune? That's… that's really you?"

Suicune nodded. "Yes, it is. Pleasure to meet you."

Eusine felt joy flow through his veins at finally meeting Suicune in person for the first time… only to be stopped by a dagger of guilt.

"I… You probably can't forgive me after what you just heard. After I tried to use your brother Entei as ransom for you to come and get him. So that I could capture you. But I see now that I should never try to capture a Pokémon as beautiful and free as you. There's no excuse for what I did."

Suicune smiled softly. "Eusine. While what you did was… inexcusable… we all make mistakes that we learn from. I can tell that you truly are sorry for your actions and what you've done. And I'm not roaming Johto and Kanto anymore. Our trio is back in Ethan's hands and… well, we couldn't be happier."

Eusine smiled as well. "If anyone deserves you, it's a trainer as great as him. I wish all of you guys the best of luck. Oh, and tell Entei… tell him that I'm sorry about everything I did. Uhh, but before you go…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you… do you mind if I take a picture? With me next to you? Just… just something to remember all of this by."

Suicune smiled again. "No. I don't mind at all."

Alakazam smiled as well, speaking up. "I'll go get the camera."

After a brief moment, Alakazam returned, ready to take the picture. "All right, guys. Smile for the camera."

Both Eusine and Suicune made their best appearance for the camera, with Eusine kneeling to the left of Suicune and petting her mane with his right hand. The camera flashed as both of them displayed genuine smiles, with both of their worries over.

"I hate to interrupt, but I need to get back to Ethan." Suicune stated.

"No worries. I understand. May we meet again someday." Eusine replied. "Alakazam. You know what to do."

"Of course." he nodded. Surrounding only Suicune in a pink light, he teleported her back to the Goldenrod City Pokémon Center, with Alakazam's role in this adventure over.

Suicune re-appeared at the Pokémon Center, at the back where they had teleported from earlier. Walking inside, she noticed how much darker the sky was, turning into twilight. She made her way back up to where Ethan was staying and where Victor was recovering, with Reshiram now fully recovered from her surgery that Zekrom had done while Suicune was away.

Zekrom smiled. "Good, Suicune. You're here. Before Reshiram and I leave, there are a few things I want to say. Thank you. Ethan, Typhlosion, Buddy, Victor, Raikou… everyone here. I can't thank all of you enough for everything you've done. If it wasn't for you guys, I'd still be part of Team Rocket, and Reshiram… she wouldn't be here with us. All of you had your own vital parts in helping out. And now, not only is the cult and Team Rocket shut down for good… but I also have my beloved back."

Reshiram continued. "Everyone, thank you. Zekrom and I are going back to Unova to get a new start on our life. Good-bye."

Zekrom opened the very large window to the room, which the dragons squeezed through. Together, they soared off into the sunset, ready to begin anew.

Raikou also turned to Ethan. "Ethan. Our trio has decided to stay with you. We want you back not as our trainer, but as family."

Ethan laughed as the Beasts playfully tackled him, happy to be with him once again.

"And… we'd like to be part of your family, too."

Typhlosion and Victor stood up, both of them smiling at Ethan.

"You guys sure?" he asked.

"Ethan, I finally figured out that I was that Cyndaquil that disappeared when you first became a trainer. After all our time together, it just added up." Typhlosion confessed.

"And I'm sticking with Ty as well." Victor said. "I don't have any family to go back to, having lived with Team Rocket my whole life. But I'm willing to be a part of your family, if you'll accept me."

"And uh, we're a package deal." Typhlosion chuckled.

Ethan smiled. "Wow. I'm glad for all of you guys. After all of this craziness, it'll be nice to finally get back to training. I still have Kalos to go explore. And I'd love to see it with you guys. Thank you, everyone."

Pokémon © Nintendo / Game Freak

And that's it. The finale to this long epic that I'm proud to conclude. To all my long-time readers, thank you for staying with me for so long. I'm so happy to give you the conclusion to the story. I've been writing this one for 3 and a half years, and I'm just so happy to finish it all. Look for more to come.

AuraWielder