With a gust of wind some of the Paras were reduced to shreds. But for every one Paras they killed two more took its place. Carmen threw a fireball at their brittle bodies, causing them to let out high pitched wails that tore through their eardrums. Meanwhile Sean tore through each and every Paras that came close to them with his dagger, enchanting the dagger with wind magic that caused the Paras to explode into chunks of rotten flesh.

Zubair blew the Paras aside with his wings, the razor-sharp wind tearing through them and reducing them to shreds. Meanwhile Patricia pushed them aside, their bodies hitting the walls with a sickening crack that made her feel nauseous.

"Do something old man," Jenna told Martin. She had her sword drawn, ready to fight at any moment.

"I am," Martin exclaimed.

Amidst the hordes of Paras, the three ponged staff of Martin flopped around. While it didn't do anything, it was pretty good at enduring as hordes of Paras stepped on it and nothing happened, it didn't break or tear.

Jenna sighed. "You're a magikarp mage, aren't you?"

Martin smiled. "My wife always did say I was patient."

Jenna started dancing, swerving through hordes of Paras with her blade drawn, slicing them in half as she twirled through their mangled limbs and rotten hands. She even had her gun drawn, blasts of water shooting through their heads as she swirled and dodged the Paras, her robe billowing behind her like a white flag slowly turning red with the blood the Paras.

Zinnia screeched causing the Paras to turn amongst themselves, attacking each other instead of Carmen and the crew. Carlotta used her psychic powers to launch the Paras at Jenna who tore through them with her swords dance.

But no matter how hard they fought more and more Paras appeared. Some even managing to grab Sean or Jenna, but a well-placed fireball from Carmen or a gust of wind from Zubair and they were dealt with ease.

"There's too many of them," Carmen said, launching a fireball at a Paras that was inches away from him.

"We have to get the hell out of here!" Carlotta exclaimed.

"Agreed," Sean said, his dagger drilled through another Paras, its blood splattering across his face. "Anybody who has wings, grab someone and fly overhead. Jenna and I will clear a path for you!"

"I-I'll help," Patricia offered.

"No," Sean said. "We'll do it. Your magic is not strong enough."

"Will you be alright?" Carlotta asked, tossing a Paras that got too close to Zinnia.

Sean nodded. "I will."

Carlotta grabbed Carmen much to his objection. Meanwhile Zinnia grabbed Patricia and Martin held on to her as she took off causing her to stumble.

"Get off me you idiot," Zinnia said.

"No," Martin said, clutching on to her leg. "I'm stupid not suicidal."

"I'll grab the old man," Zubair said.

"I'm 35!"

"Will you be okay?" Zubair asked.

"Yes," Zinnia said, kicking a flailing Martin who was caught by Zubair.

They hovered above a sea of flailing hands, each of them trying to grab a hold of them. Meanwhile Jenna and Sean tore through the hordes of Paras. Jenna being bathed in blood and Sean slicing through them and blowing them apart with wind magic. Carmen helped them by tossing fireballs at the Paras horde to thin them out.

Jenna was slowly losing steam. Her attacks were getting slower and clumsier and after a while she came to dead halt. She was tired and had used a lot of magic to tear through the horde. A Paras was about to grab her but Sean quickly leaped in the air and stabbed it in the head, the Paras writhed, its limbs flailing and then it stopped completely.

Zubair sensing Jenna was low on energy swooped in and grabbed her.

"What about you Sean?" Jenna asked.

Sean nodded. "I'll be fine," he said. Although the beads of sweat dripping from his face and the deep heavy breaths he was taking said otherwise.

"I can carry you too, if you want," Zubair offered.

Sean waved him aside. "I'll only slow you down."

"But..."

"I said go on without me," Sean growled.

Zubair nodded and flew off with Jenna on his back. Meanwhile Sean turned, dagger drawn and faced the horde of Paras in front of him.

...

Sean had always wanted to die.

As a kid he had a father who was focused on profits with a mother that loved money more than him. His dad died when he was young and rather than handing over the estate to a more capable relative, his mother insisted that Sean take over.

From a young age Sean had always been taught how to act, how to talk, how to sit, how to walk. It was always about presenting an image. A shallow, superficial image devoid of passion.

All his life Sean only knew money. He didn't know passion. His parents saw him as a tool to inherit the estate so that their money wouldn't go to their relatives, they never loved him.

So, it was always the estate. The accounts. All he ever knew was a piece of paper and a calculator. His only escape was the library with rows of dusty books, books about love, books about adventure, books about passion.

One day he had enough, enough of living out the same day over and over again, enough of wasting his life behind the greed of his mother. He ran away from home, knowing his magic was of the wind affinity he bought his trusty dagger from a vendor and headed to Pallet (the town of plebeians and savages as his father used to call it) to register for the league. There he met a peculiar short boy of the charmander disciple who defeated a man two times his size to skip the line and not soon after defeated Blue Oak, the grandson of Samuel Oak and the mage everyone expected to win the Tournament.

And there he saw two men, two men so full of passion and a love for life. Two things Sean had been severely lacking in that prison of a manor.

So, Sean trained, and he trained hard to be worthy of a spot in any of their parties.

And then he ran into both of them by chance on Route 22, on his way to inquire about the gym leader of Viridian City. He saw them both ready to start a fight and he saw his chance.

He watched the battle with great awe, both parties giving it their all. He could see why people believed Blue Oak to be the next Champion of Kanto, he fought with a mixture of tactics and brute force he had never seen before. He could've easily chosen to join Blue's party and won the league with them.

But something about Carmen, something about how he carried Patricia away from danger stuck with him. Something about how, even though he was at a severe disadvantage he persevered and fought on, much like the warriors in the books he used to bury himself in.

And through them he learned how to live, how to enjoy life. He only knew them for a week but they felt more like a family than the "parents" who raised him.

And now fighting through the hordes of Paras, blood staining his body. He wanted to live. He wanted to fight.

He tore through them, ducking under their grabs, slicing them across their body. He wanted to live. He wanted to fight.

As he fought through the horde, he thought about the day his father died, how he hadn't felt anything. He thought about all the times he spent in the office, setting up balance sheets, talking to lifeless advisors who only befriended him because of his fortune all the while his mother donned herself in lavish clothing and slept with god knows who while all remnants of his childhood faded away from him.

He wanted to live. He wanted to fight.

Carmen launched volleys and volleys of fireballs like meteors. Sean was stained with blood, his dagger now painted crimson with all the enemies he tore through. Sean fought and fought, not giving in to the exhaustion that slowly washed over his body like a lake. Not giving in because giving in would mean dying and Sean didn't want to die. He wanted to live. He had never felt so alive in his entire life, never felt so happy than when he was with Carmen and Patricia and Carlotta.

From above he heard Carlotta call. "C'mon Dork, you can make it."

And he would, he would make it. He would help Carmen's Chief and after they dealt with all the Rockets, they would have a merry old time around a campfire.

Ahead he saw light, ahead he saw Zubair and Zinnia and Carlotta and Carmen all waiting for him. Ahead he saw life.

The Paras had thinned out, all he had to do was get there and then he would rest.

"Look out!" someone (Carlotta? Patricia?).

A massive claw swiped at him tearing the jagged cave walls around him.

Behind him he saw... not a human. Not anymore. He saw a husk of a man where claws had ripped through his arms. Red fungus threatened to eat him alive and, on his back, he carried a massive mushroom, lugging it around like a snail.

He stared at the man's eyes. Hollow whites that looked like oblivion. Carmen tried rushing to his aid but was suddenly stopped by Zubair.

Sean wanted to run but his legs gave in. Turning around he saw the monster, the Parasect's mushroom shrivel up and expand, releasing white spores that slipped through his nose.

"No," Sean mumbled, as exhaustion started speeding through his body like a violent river. "No, no, no."

He fought to keep his eyes open as exhaustion washed through his body. He fought to stay awake as the Paras got their rotten hands on him.

Carmen tried fighting Zubair, even going so far as to burn him and rush toward him but Jenna sung. Sung her beautiful melody through the tears that streamed through her face. Tears at seeing the man she loved so hurt.

The light of the cave was slowly fading. The Paras tore into him, his intestines spilling out of his stomach, his arm being ripped from his socket.

Sean tried fighting but he couldn't. He wanted to live, he wanted to fight but it was hopeless.

The last thing he saw was the hollow eyes of the Parasect, and the mouth of its host twisting up into a smile.

...

Giovanni was wrapped inside a large sphere, hardened from the mud around him. He knew that the monster would probably tear through it but before the monster did, Giovanni burrowed underground.

Giovanni appeared behind the monster as his sphere melted in a burst of blue flames. Giovanni tossed a poisonous dagger that struck the monster in between the wings before burying himself down again. The monster turned and launched a blue fire blast towards empty space.

Giovanni was ready again to appear behind the monster but the monster was made aware of his tactics. Before he could even appear from the ground, the monster appeared in front of him almost as if had teleported and tossed him across the crater.

But it wasn't done yet. Like a rocket it burst out on top of him and knocked him downwards with a punch that felt like a mountain.

Giovanni let out a moan of pain as he landed in a crater created by the impact of the monster’s blow. The monster dived for a finishing blow. Giovanni tried moving but his body refused. He braced himself for impact but then...

In an explosion of blue flames, the monster was no more, standing in its place was a frail old man who plummeted to the ground and landed with a sickening crack.

He could hear breathing coming from the man-sized crater Hitokage left, although the breathing was ragged.

Giovanni crawled towards the man, almost as beat up as he was and although his body rebelled, he sat up.

"That was intense, old man," Giovanni said.

"I... won't... let... you," Hitokage said through pain breaths, trying to summon a flame but conjuring only sparks.

"Rest, Hitokage," Giovanni said. "Or should I say Master Hitokage, you've done the best you could."

Hitokage's breathing was defiant. He breathed heavily, trying to fight as death came over him. As Darkrai or Cresselia bought upon the eternal sleep upon them as the Sinnons believed.

"Why... why don't you finish me off?" Hitokage asked. His voice raspy, his breathing getting shallower and shallower.

"Because I respect you," Giovanni said. "That was one hell of a fight."

"C... Carmen," Hitokage said. "M... My son... w... where are you?"

Giovanni stared at him, a little pang of sympathy in his heart as the old man died. From the poison, from the mega evolution he had just out his old body through. If he hadn't gotten in his way, this wouldn't have happened.

Hitokage's breathing stopped. His chest stopped heaving. In his last moments he looked ten years younger and at peace.

Giovanni held the moonstone in his hand, fiddling with it. He looked over at Hitokage who's eyes were wide open. Giovanni ran a hand over them to close them.

"Rest well, old man."

From his pocket he removed a pager, sending a message for a helicopter to pick him up. It was going to take a long time so he sat with the old man, crossing his arms closing his mouth gently.

...

The mouth of the cave collapsed in order to prevent the Paras from overwhelming them. When Carmen awoke, he immediately burst.

"We could've saved him!' Carmen growled, walking toward Zubair. "And if you and Jenna hadn't interfered, I would've saved him!"

"Don't be an idiot," Zubair said. "Not even our best warriors can take on the Parasect, let alone a measly charmander like you."

"But Sean didn't have to," Carmen choked up. "He didn't have to..."

Die. Carmen wanted to say die but the words were caught in his throat. Sean couldn't be dead. He was smarter than Carmen, if anything it would be Carmen that died first and not him. Not Sean.

Carmen fought back the tears. It was unfair, so damn unfair that Sean died. That he would be eaten alive like the stories said.

"Hey shorty you okay?" Carlotta asked. Her voice was shaking and her face was pale. She had just been getting to know Sean, behind that asshole facade of his and then with just a snap of fate's fingers, not even a flash or a bang, just a snap and he was gone. Just like that.

"Y-yeah I'm okay," Carmen said. Though the quivering of his lips and the tears welling up in his eyes said otherwise. "L-let's just..."

Jenna tried talking to him, apologizing for putting to sleep but Carmen ignored. Patricia meanwhile was quiet, trying her best not to cry. It was so cruel, Sean dying and the way he died. It had no dignity, no grace. There was no funeral and the only Patricia, Carmen and Carlotta were there to mourn his deaths.

"Let's head to the crater," Carmen said. "My master is there."

"No," Zubair said. "It's best you rest. Losing somebody isn't easy. Especially a friend."

Carmen shook his head. "I know." He turned and faced Zubair. "And that's why I don't want to lose anyone else."

"But we don't know how many Rock..." Martin said but was interrupted by Carmen.

"To hell with Team Rocket," Carmen said. "I don't want to lose my master too."

They were outside the caves, atop the cliffs of Mount Moon. Jagged rocks jutted out of the smooth surface like daggers piercing the sky. Amidst the rocks was the crater of Mount Moon like a bowl, the sun beating down upon it. Carmen suddenly saw a black speck in the sky and then a burst of flames.

Carmen didn't need to see who was falling to know it was his Master. Carmen burst into a run much to everyone's surprise.

"Carmen where the hell are you going?" Carlotta said, flying towards him.

"My master," Carmen said. "He's in danger."

"We shouldn't rush..."

"I don't care," Carmen said. "Now get out of my face."

Carlotta sighed. "I'm going with you, idiot."

Carmen stopped. "You are?"

Carlotta nodded, fluttering downwards and grabbing both of his hands. "I can't lose someone else..."

Carmen looked down. "Thank you..."

"Besides somebody has to make up for your short ass," Carlotta said.

Carmen was too tired to interject.

"C'mon Shorty," Carlotta said, fluttering above him. "We don't have time to lose."

Before Carlotta could fly off Carmen quickly said something.

"Look I'm sorry," Carmen said.

Carlotta hovered above him. "For what?"

"For saying those things," Carmen said. "About your tribe."

Carlotta waved her hands. "It's fine Shorty."

Carlotta hovered above him. "Besides," she said. "If there's anyone you should be apologizing to, it's Jenna."

...

Rune and Seth tore through the Rocket Goons like a hot knife through butter. Though it was Rune who killed the most. Much to Seth's surprise he fought even better than the Charizard soldiers. He pierced through one of the Rockets with his horns, right through his heart, blood staining his face. One of the goons tried sneaking up behind him but he launched a burst of fire from his tail, burning him and causing him to run over the cliffside.

Using the body on his horn as a shield, he launched fireballs at the other Rockets before yanking his horn away from his chest.

"You're a monster," Seth said. Rune's white cloak was stained red, his horn had blood running down from it, bathing his face with blood. His claws were like crimson daggers and the look in his eyes made it seem as if he was enjoying this.

Suddenly the sky was alight with blue flames and the insane glint in his eyes was replaced by one of concern.

"Master," he said. Suddenly he blazed ahead as if Seth and the Rockets around him didn't exist. Seth also followed after him, not because he was concerned for Rune's safety but to make sure Rune didn't do anything stupid along the way.

...

Carlotta began to carry Carmen across the craggy valley beneath them when suddenly she was hit by what felt like a meteor.

On top of her was a man wearing a black shirt with a big red emblazoned in the middle. The man scratched at her but Carlotta dodged his swipes. Before he could go in for a finisher Carlotta tossed him aside with a psychic wave.

"You're a feisty one ain't you?" the man said. He had two ears and a rat-like tail swinging behind him. His whiskers were sharp like needles and he had a sinister grin on his face. When he talked, he showed his front teeth which were as sharp as razors. A mage of the Raticate disciple. "I like you already."

Carmen was about to launch fire balls at him but Carlotta shook her head and told him to continue. Carmen looked like he wanted to object but he fought back the urge to fight. Carmen started running.

"You and your friend over there ain't going anywhere," the Raticate said. He disappeared so fast; Carlotta had no time to stop him but Carmen launched a fireball directly at his face.

"Fuck," the Raticate cursed. His face burning. Carlotta took this as an opportunity to fly away but suddenly a sharp pain flew up her leg. Carlotta looked down and saw a dagger in her thigh.

"Shit," she said, pulling out the dagger and fluttering downwards.

"The boss will deal with your friend," the Raticate said, his face bright red from the flames. "That means I have you all to myself."

Carlotta ignored the pain shooting up her thigh and stared at the man with a fire in her eyes.

"Sorry but I don't do men with whiskers," Carlotta said.

"A clever one eh?" the Raticate said. "You know my ex was a clever one and you wanna know what happened to her?'

"I don't care."

"I killed her," the Raticate said, laughing. "Same thing's gonna happen to you if you don't shut that pretty little mouth of yours."

"You know for a man who's calling me gorgeous at every opportunity you sure are raising a lot of red flags," Carlotta said.

The Raticate laughed. "I'm gonna have fun ripping that clever lil mouth of yours."

Carlotta smirked. Her hands enveloped in purple. "You can try."

The man drew a dagger from his belt, his sharp teeth twisted into a grin. "Oh, I will."

...

The rumble of a helicopter snapped Giovanni awake. From above, a helicopter buzzed, blowing dust against the remains of his suit.

From inside the helicopter came a giant man with full body armor who came running towards Giovanni with mighty steps that shook the ground beneath him.

"Giovanni!" he exclaimed. He wrapped Giovanni in his arms almost crushing him. "It's so nice to see you!"

"Rex," Giovanni said. "Please stop, you're crushing me."

Rex put Giovanni down with a thud. The horn atop the helmet Rex wore glowed in the sun. The jagged surface was indistinguishable from the mountain surface around them. The heavyset armor made Rex look larger than he already was.

"Who's that man?" Rex said, pointing at Hitokage's lifeless corpse. "Should I step on him?"

Giovanni sighed. Like the rhyhorn his armor was named after, Rex was an idiot. "No Rex, he's worth ten times more than you are."

"By Kanghaskhan I don't have time," Kayla said from inside the helicopter. A dark-skinned, well-built woman from the Kanghaskhan tribe.

Giovanni smirked. "Not until I see the man who told me the Moon stone would be here."

"You heard the man," Kayla said. "Brock, show your face."

From inside the helicopter, Pewter Gym leader Brock emerged his face entirely covered by a helmet but Giovanni knew, they all knew that the only reason that Brock could call himself a gym leader was because of Team Rocket.

"Please don't call me that," Brock said. "I still have an image you know."

"I'm well aware," Giovanni said. He walked toward Brock, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But my friend, Team Rocket is still in need of your services."

Giovanni whispered in his ear with a dangerous smirk on his face. "You know that, don't you?"

Giovanni turned to Rex. "Rex stop poking the dead body and get in the damn helicopter."

Rex let out a sad moan and walked towards the helicopter. The helicopter barely containing his bulky frame.

"God that battle was exhausting," Giovanni said. "Can't wait to get back to Celadon and take a nap."

"You monster!" someone screamed.

Giovanni sighed. "What now?"

He turned to see a criminally short boy with bright orange hair and an orange tail with fire at the end.

"You killed him!" he roared. "You killed my master!"

"And what if I did?" Giovanni said. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to kill you!" the boy growled, summoning two fireballs and running towards him.

Giovanni sighed. He really wanted that nap.

To be continued...