Worlds Apart
Change of Heart, Change of Destiny


A large white room stood empty, apart from one, large platform. Around the platform, twelve circles in varying colours lay empty, with a centralised pool, in which various images appeared.

A young boy ran through the lush fields of a foreign world. Darkness surrounded the boy, and slowly, one by one, skeletons dug their way out of the earth, aiming directly for the boy. Silver flashed as a sword was drawn, turning the frail skeletons into dust which blew away on the winds. On the hand of the boy, three triangles, two side-by-side, the other on top of the other two, glinted and shone with a golden light as the boy fought, the lower-right triangle shining more brightly through the darkness.

A teenager handled himself like a man. Fire burned in his eyes as he pointed a finger towards a strange creature. At his command, a second creature attacked the first, shooting a jet of pressurised water at the first. As it was hit, the creature was born backwards as it bore the brunt of the attack. Slamming against a stone embedded deep within the earth, the stone cracked where it had been slammed with the body of the creature. As the water slowed down and disappeared, the creature slid to the ground, its eyes closed in the sting of defeat.

A girl was walking along the golden shore of an island, gazing out onto the seemingly endless abyss that was the sea. Looking up at the sky, the girl, soon to be a woman; brushed red hair out of her eyes. Her dreamy blue eyes sharpened as she saw a star falling towards the ocean. A pink aura surrounded the girl as an invisible power stretched out towards the shining light, before retracting into the heart of the girl. Her looked changed to wistful, as she looked down once more, and trudged along the sands once more.

A blonde girl carried herself like a queen. Walking elegantly down the halls of an ancient castle, she stopped occasionally to gently touch a picture or artefact on display. Entering into a grand room, she walked directly to the object on display in the centre of the room; an instrument coloured a royal blue. Eight holes dotted the surface of the instrument, and a small pipe led out from the egg-like body of the instrument. Taking the instrument out of its case, the girl began playing a tune that seemed to hold the power of time within its notes.

A brown-haired boy was within a strange machine. His eyes were closed, and as he slept, the room around him pulsed and changed. Within the boy’s mind, memories were returning as he began remembering who he was, and his place within the universe. A light shimmered around his right hand, forming into the outline of an enormous key, before dissipating into the still air. The sounds of fighting could be heard echoing up the hallway to the room, but within it, the boy continued to sleep.

Swinging a small device towards a computer terminal, the teenage boy cried out. A portal appeared on the face of the computer, and as it slowly appeared, the boy disappeared, his body being transformed into digital data. One of the most important things in his life was within the computer; his soul, his best friend, and his destiny. To this boy, adventure meant no bounds as he was taken to a world within a world, a world made out of the pure hearts and digital coding of the technology of the world.

Walking within a forest, a cat-like creature hummed a soft tune to itself, taking in the soft, natural colours of the thick forest. A bright flash of light caught the cat’s attention, and with no further warning, it took off towards the source of the flash. Reaching its destination, the cat found a small group of teenagers dusting themselves off and looking around. A look of happiness crossed the face of one girl as she caught sight of the creature. On the belt of the girl, a small device shone with a white light, displaying a symbol that was connected to the creature.

A ball was kicked towards a man swimming within a gigantic sphere of water. Instantly taking the ball in his hands, the man kicked his feet in a swift swim. Aiming for the goal of his opposing team, the boy caught sight of a shadow just behind him and threw the ball to another player on his team, just as he was tackled from behind. A buzzer sounded as the ball was sent into the goal by his team-mate, and even underwater, the man let out a yell of elation. Giving his team-mate a high-five, he went to his position in preparation for the next ball.

A woman in her mid-twenties was facing down a monster almost five times her size. Aiming her double pistols, she fired bullets that seemed to rent the fabric of time and space as they shot through the air. Alongside the woman, two others, a blonde woman and a grey-haired woman set up for their own attacks. A sword flashed as it sliced the air, quickly followed by two daggers stabbing into the monster’s flesh. It was finished y the woman’s shots again, and with the bullets, the monster fell to the ground, multicoloured orbs floating from its body.

Giving a small berry to a mouse-like creature, a young teenager laughed as the creature roasted the berry with a sharp flash of lightning. In response to the static electricity zapping through the air, the boy’s hair began standing on end, until all of his hair was standing on end. Apparently used to this, the boy ignored it, playfully poking the creature, provoking it into another bolt of electricity. Easily dodging the lightning, the boy laughed again, tagging his partner in an obvious game.

And then, around the pool, things were simply there. With no warning, the twelve pedestals were full.
Three beautiful women, one with red hair, one with blue and the last with green. The three looked similar enough for them to be sisters, but each seemed completely separate from the others, and yet, as one with them.
Three creatures flashed into existence. A pink kitten, a green creature that resembled a plant in more ways than one, and a third that was an odd mixture of flesh and metal. While they looked small and harmless, they radiated an undeniable aura of power.
A small boy appeared alone on a circle, but two other humans appeared alongside him within a second. Looking carefully at the boy, a dragon could almost be seen. The woman to his left look carefully around, while the man on his right shuffled closer to the boy.
An angel with eight wings appeared, with another woman, this one with the same eight wings and two smaller white ones. Behind the two, an enormous, rabbit-jester hybrid creature floated, looking like an angel, yet giving off an aura of power and magnificence.
And without warning, a large voice, echoing throughout the emptiness of the chamber, said simply; “The Heartless have been released once more.”

Each being within the chamber did nothing. A charge in the air seemed to convey messages, but there was no-one to hear these messages apart from the other beings themselves. A feeling of united consent had collected, and when all had agreed, the chamber became empty again.
Booming out once more, a voice that echoed through the ages and passed space, the voice said two, simple sentences that would change the universe.

“The call has been sent out. The Crest Holders are about to Awaken.”

Chapter One
Radiant Light Surrounding You


Everybody wants to be a master,
Everybody wants to show their skills.
Everybody wants to get there faster,
Make their way to the top of the hill.

Each time you try,
Gonna get just a little bit better.
Each step you climb
Is one more step up the ladder.

Pokemon Johto
Totally Pokemon


The Pokemon World; an ancient world that still held the beauty of nature in every corner of the globe. Within the humid Hoenn, common Zigzagoons played with each other, eating the occasional berry and enjoying the sun, while it lasted. Within the Johto region; within the Dragon’s Den, a powerful trainer; the leader of all Pokemon Trainers of the region trained her Dragon-Type Pokemon, building them up to be the ultimate power. Dashing through the Kanto region, the mythical Suicune stopped suddenly beside a dirty pond of water, dipping her horn into the murky waters. Within five seconds, the water cleared, looking as clean and new as freshly fallen rain. Sailing in the sea of the Sinnoh region, Manaphy, the Prince of the Sea, protected an ancient temple submerged under the waters of the ocean.
And on Southern Island; one red-headed teenager was currently experiencing the worst thing any teen can; being woken up.

“Ok Sam, it’s past midday, and you’re getting up. That excuse ‘I was up all night training’ is not going to work this time. Now, get up.” Looking with bleary eyes at his mother, Sam raised his eyebrow, wondering if she was serious. “Don’t give me that look. Get up; you have a call coming long distance.”

That did it. Looking up more energetically, wondering who was calling him long distance; Sam dragged his reluctant body from his bed, following his mother out into the dining room. Picking up the phone, he let out a husky, ‘Hello?”

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Within the Chamber of the Gods, one of the pedestals; the one with the picture of the pink, kitten-like Pokemon lit up, showing a vibrant blue. In response, the creature appeared on the pedestal, blinking as it became accustomed to its new surroundings.

‘The Trials for the Forger of Friendship are about to begin. The Pokemon World holds the most capacity for the Forger of Friendship, and as such, candidates are being selected to undertake the Trials.’

Giving a nod, the kitten let out a soft ‘Mew’. Waving its paw, the pool at the centre of the pedestal change from the smoky whiteness of clouds to the compelling call of everlasting darkness. Giving another wave of its paw, a speck of light appeared in the pool, growing bigger until it formed another pedestal, stretching out of nowhere. On the face of the pedestal; a vividly blue bird perched, its wings spread in a war-like pose; Articuno; the Titan of Ice and one of Mew’s personal servants.
Constructing the trials, Mew thought about what he was doing and how it would impact the Universe. Done incorrectly, the Trials would scare off the selected Forger of Friendship, and done too strictly, it would set the Forger too much into their path.

The Trials were to be held in one of the most dangerous, yet, safest, places in this, and any dimension. Right on the brink of eternal darkness, the Trials would be held on the border of the Realm of Darkness and the Realm of Light. It was dangerous, because one false move and anyone on the platform could fall over the edge to be consumed by the darkness. Safe because nothing would be able to kill anyone on the platform; It would be watched over by the creators of this Universe to make sure that the candidates were safe.
Finishing the first part of the Trials, Mew summoned up images of the candidates. They moved; as the images were showing just what the candidates, or, formally, the Crest Seekers, were doing at that point in time.
A man with black hair and a Pikachu on his shoulder was sitting and reading a book. The Pikachu seemed content to read the book over the man’s shoulder, and together, they made a perfect, contented picture.
The scene changed to a young girl with blonde and purple hair. She was currently polishing a Coperagon, who seemed to be buzzing its pleasure. In the background, a small, blue dragon was flying around the fan on the ceiling, making it spin fast as the air currents moved it around.
A red-head boy, with blond highlights was talking on some kind of machine. Cocking its head to the side, Mew felt a power calling to him. This boy was psychic, and Mew confirmed it when it saw another strange machine hidden within a band around the boy’s wrist, a machine designed to boost psychic powers.
On and on, images passed by, as Mew studied each of the Crest Seekers. When the pool went black, Mew nodded. Raising its head to look at a sky that wasn’t there, it opened its mouth, letting out a ‘Meeeeeeew!’ that seemed to echo through the ages.

‘As you wish.’

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“Ok, great. I’ll see you then.” Removing the phone from his ear, Sam looked down at it as he hung up. Giving a sigh, he placed it back in its holder, trudging back to his room. Collapsing on the bed, he stared up at the ceiling, ordering his traitorous body to wake up. He had to admit, a bed, especially one that you owned, was definitely on your Top10 List of Favourite Things after nine months of travelling around, getting sunburnt and sleeping on the ground. Looking sidewards at his chest of draws next to his bed, a small smile appeared on Sam’s lips as he looked at the photos clustered on it; six Pokemon in a group, with Sam in the middle of them. An aquatic Pokemon, orange and blue, standing on its hind legs as it braced its front paws on Sam’s knee. A blue bird perched on Sam’s head, and a yellow sheep was just staring into the camera. Above the group, a cloud hovered, but if you looked closely, you could just make out a face. A small fox was posing aggressively next to Sam, while a small cat with wings hovered next to Sam’s head. It was Sam’s Pokemon Team, but this picture had been taken just before the Diamond League Competition. Since then; a lot had changed.
The blue, fish-like creature was Sam’s starter; Artemis. Artemis had been a Mudkip until the final round of the competition, where he had evolved into a powerful and fast Marshtomp. The cloud was Sam’s second Pokemon, Zeus, the Colombolos. The small cat next to his head was Angel; the Holipus. Leto was the small Eevee, who looked strikingly like her mother; Diana. The sheep was Helios, the Mareep, while the small bird was Hera, the Polienix and a present from Sam’s sister.

Sam’s reminiscing was very rudely interrupted in that, singular, moment when he was hit with a jet of pressurised and extremely cold water. Being pinned to his bed; Sam looked blankly at the ceiling as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.
A cackling laugh reached his ears, making Sam raise his head. Spying his ‘beloved’ and ‘true’ partner, Artemis, Sam’s eyes narrowed into a death glare that caused some part of Artemis’ brain to scream and die, resulting in Artemis continuing to laugh to himself.

“Ok, I’m up.” Sam groaned. Sitting up, he was shot back down by another blast of water. “I said I’m up!”

Giving a shrug, Artemis smirked. “Yeah, I know. Just getting rid of stress.” Walking off, the Marshtomp laughed to itself, obviously happy that it had succeeded in its project of waking Sam up.

Muttering, Sam wiped the water from his eyes. “Mental note;” He remarked to no-one. “Take Artemis to the Child-Care Centre and leave him there for the day.” Starting to shiver in his pyjamas, Sam looked around for the nearest pile of clean laundry. Grabbing his clothing, he got dressed in record time. As he was about to leave his room, he looked back at it; it was a mess, pure and simple, but now had water covering the entire place. Turning around with his hands on his hips, Sam frowned. Placing two fingers within his mouth, Sam let out a whistle that went throughout the house. Changing its pitch and tones several times, Sam finished a small tune; summoning one of his Pokemon. In response to his call, the room began filling with mist that collected in the centre of it, forming into the fluffy shape of Zeus.

“Hey Zeus, lunch is served.”

Giving a grin, Zeus stayed in place, floating over the drenched room. Satisfied with his actions, Sam left to look for his own food. Zeus, being a cloud, fed on evaporated water, meaning that he could dry the room faster than anything else Sam could think of right now.
The kitchen was in a similar state of disarray. All of the Sapphire children were home right now, which not only meant that there were five human children, but roughly twelve Pokemon to deal with as well; not counting the family pets; which added three more to the total. Blinking at the chaos happening just in front of him, Sam shook his head. The majority of the trouble was being caused by Artemis and Angel; Artemis throwing things at Angel and Angel avoiding them. Coughing to gain attention, Sam coughed for real when he got a ball of flour in the face.

“Ok, do any of you have respect for your leader?” He asked, wiping off the white powder and dusting off his clothing.

“Nope.”

“Naddah.”

“Zip.”

“Do we really have to grace that with an answer?”

Raising an eyebrow, Sam looked at Artemis. Ignoring the glare of his Trainer, Artemis grabbed another handful off flour, intent on throwing it at Angel when the half-full bag of flour suddenly flooded out of the bag on its own accord, covering the water Pokemon from head to toe in flour. Giving Artemis a triumphant look, Sam dodged his way through the Pokemon and into the kitchen. As he went through the crowd, various food articles and cutlery began floating around the kitchen. Doors opened up of their own accord, and the items put themselves away. As they were, other such things came floating out; all the stuff Sam needed to make his food.
And with that started yet another day in the Sapphire Household.

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Name: Samuel James Sapphire

Age: Sixteen

Alliance: Crest of Friendship Seeker:
Due to the effects of his life as a Pokemon Trainer, one of the key factors in Sam’s life is friendship. Experiences in the months since he became a Trainer have caused him to have Friendship as the leading force in his life.

Powers: Ambient Psychic Powers that radiate from a neighbouring Dimension. Previously, he had only Class 3 Powers, but since a breakage in the Dimensional Walls, his powers have bonded with his counterpart’s in that dimension and grown stronger.

Party:
Artemis, Marshtomp
Zeus, Colombolos
Hera, Polienix
Helios, Mareep
Leto, Eevee
Angel, Holipus

Achievements:
Ran the Rebel Efforts against Team Flora when they resurrected Gaios with the Seeds of Chaos. This led to his death, before the timeline was altered by the Wings of Council.
Top Eight at the Diamond League

Overall Ranking: 4th

Overall Report:
Sam is capable of handling the Crest of Friendship. He won’t be able to use it instinctively, but he will be able to use its powers after working with them for a minor amount of time. His value comes from his way of thinking; where he will often predict what is about to happen and reacts accordingly to it. Physically, he does not pose a threat, but mentally, his intelligence will prove an asset to the team.

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The computer beeped within Twilight Town. Looking at this new information, a small, mouse-like creature nodded. This information had been sent by the Powers That Be, to him; so that he may react accordingly. Tapping a few keys, a picture of Sam, as well as his party and a further list of his achievements showed on the screen.

“Allied with a Heleon, recommended by Mew, naturally disposed towards the supernatural, impressive.” The mouse said to himself. Seeming to have finished with Sam, he clicked on the number ‘3’ along the side-bar of the screen, bring up another profile.

Name: Katrina Churchill

Age: Fifteen

Continuing to go through the names, the mouse bent his mouth to the side. “Let those who have the overall ranking of One through Five begin to undertake the trials.” He said, looking up at the roof, to an unseen presence.

“As you wish.”

Chapter Two
Backdoor Hacker

Heading off on a Digital Trip
And that’s what I plan to do.
Going away to a Digital Plane
And I ain’t coming back real soon.

The whole thing is electrical.
It’s running through my veins.

I’m going Digital.
Completely Digital.
Now I’m invincible.
Let’s all get Digital.

‘I’m Going Digital’
The Digimon Movie Soundtrack


And it was in that pivotal moment that the fate of the Universe was changed. The Dimensional Walls, damaged by the war of the Elementals and the Trainers, split momentarily. Realising that the war would destroy the Universe, Palkia and Dialga, the mythical lords of Space and Time; took the World from the Dimension that was newly opened and took it to this, our, Dimension. Celebi, the Monarch of Time, and Jirachi, the King of Space each then commanded their subjects, though it weighed heavily in their hearts, to take all the Elementals from the new world and imprison them within technology. In penance for their actions, the humans of that world had their magic taken from them and were left to their own imagination.
The Myth of the Pokemon War, from the Book of Uxie


The Digital World was unique in that its appeal was not on the outside, but on the inside of its technology. Since the creation of the ‘Internet’ and Network Connections, the clumps of Data within the systems had merged together to form an entire world within a world. Creatures, large and small, known as Digital Monsters, or Digimon, infested the World, relying on the outside influence of the ‘Users’ in order to survive and evolve.

“Today, many Scientists are unsure why the Data Clumps act this way. The fact that any Data piece will instantly fuse with another has been a source of interest since the creation of computers, and soon these clumps were named ‘Ghosts’. These ‘Ghosts’, once large enough, seemed to form its own personality, often interacting with other programs. With the introduction of the Internet and Virus-Scan programs, these ‘Ghosts’ have all but disappeared from everyday computer systems, but can sometimes be found in computers without adequate protection.”

Looking up at the teacher, keen interest in his blue eyes, Takeru, or just TK, nodded and took notes on his paper. The fact that he had had dealings with these ‘Ghosts’ and interacted with them almost daily fuelled his interest in the subject. Almost ironically, one of these ‘Ghosts’ was in the room right now, in T.K’s backpack, actually. The Ghost, or rather, the Digimon, went by the name of Patamon, and was currently peering out of T.K’s bag, listening to the lecture with interest.

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“The Crest of Hope has Awakened, situated within the realm of Magi-Earth. Five candidates for the Crest are being chosen as we speak. Are the Trials ready?”

Giving a soft ‘Mew’, the Pokemon God waved its hand one, last time over the pool. The pool shone back at the Pokemon as the final Trial was completed, and with a sigh, Mew closed its eyes, as if tired, before levitating itself over the pool. It looked skyward, seeming to communicate silently with the dismembered voice that could be heard throughout the Chamber of the Gods.

“Yes. Within a day, the Seekers will be taken to their respective Trials. I am summoning the Patrons as we speak. They will be there momentarily.”

Nodding once, Mew waited in silence. Minutes passed and as they did, the Chamber began filling with nine other creatures. Once ten beings were in the Chamber, Mew took its position on its own platform. Once there, Mew clapped once and as it did, the darkness outside the Chamber changed. Dotted around the pedestal the Gods were on were several others, shimmering with different lights. It’s bright, blue eyes surveyed its work from afar.
Around the platform, three symbols began glowing. The first, that of three triangles arranged to form one, larger triangle, yielded an impossibly beautiful woman with hair that cascaded like water. A strange, archaic symbol drew the Dragon Lord, Bahamut into existence, while the final one, a picture of a yellow sun, exploded outwards; an eight-winged angel stepping out of the light that poured from the pedestal.

Bahamut, the leader of Spira’s Gods, the Aeons, revelled in his draconian form, wings outspread. His arms crossed across his massive chest, Bahamut was the very image of power and majesty, the sense of power rolling off of him in almost visible waves.
Beside him was the more passive, but equally impressive figure of Seraphimon. Seraphimon’s domain was in the Digimon World, where he had attained a position that made him the guardian spirit of the entire Digital World. Where Bahamut’s power had shone, Seraphimon’s beauty filled onlookers with a sense of beauty unparalleled by any other in the universe.
The final deity, Nayru, the Hylian Goddess of Wisdom, was present to represent the sacred trinity of Goddesses as a whole. While in that chamber, Nayru controlled, not only her own, limitless wisdom, but also unbeatable power and endless courage. Together, these three essences formed the very stuff that was needed for the coming moments; magic in vast amounts of power to hold the edge between darkness and light.
Sharing a brief look with Mew, the three Gods’ eyes met; a brief moment passing as they communicated without words. With no warning, they transformed, turning into vast balls of energy; purple, gold and blue respectively. Seeming to gather it’s strength, Mew underwent a similar transformation, turning into a ball of pink light, joining the other deities in their roles as guardians, and activators, of the Trials of the Crests.

The first batch of Crest Seekers, the Seekers of Fire, would come from the world of Hyrule. However, there were certain people who would also undergo the Trial, yet, now belong to Hyrule or Termina. Bahamut approached this Trial with his power outstretched, purple tendrils reaching out to envelop the five platforms that would play host to the Trials of Courage. Where they had once been a stark white, the platforms slowly began changing colour, eventually becoming the deep red of a wisp of flame. Upon the platform becoming completely colour, the central platform, the other four forming a square around it, shot a beam of red energy into the endless sky. Miles up in the air, it spontaneously exploded, sense jets of light in all directions of the sky.
The Trial of Friendship was energised in a similar manner. Nayru’s power seeped into the material of the platforms, tainting it a vivid, sapphire blue. The platforms, arranged in the same pattern as the Trials of Courage, began pulsing as they reached their peak, eventually sending out a similar beam to the Courage Trials, this one a brilliant blue. Water began pouring from the tops of the platforms, pouring into the endless abyss of the darkness that the trials were near.
Flying around the Trials of Love, Mew looked towards Seraphimon, catching its eye as it similarly looked over at the fellow god. Drawing close together, the two Gods, kitten and seraphim, touch, their hands barely brushing each other when they turned a blinding white. Where the two bodies had been distinctly separate, they melded together, the light fading to reveal a tall, armoured figure that had pink skin, white armour, wings and a tail. In its new form, the fusion raised its armoured paw, sending out a wave of pink light that infused the Trials. Slowly, the wave began descending in a visible mist around the Trials, blocking the view of nothingness that below the Trials. A pink streamer was drawn out, combusting itself and spreading around the Universe to summon the seekers to complete the Trials.

Back and forth, the Gods gave their powers into the Trials, placing enough magic into them to stop time, and prevent anybody who died near them from passing on. Below, the darkness pulsed, sending out various tendrils as it began searching for the new sources of power that were now near it. As the dark tentacles came close to the bottom of the Trial of Sincerity, a green vine snaked out, slapping away the adventurous nothingness.
Looking down at the darkness, Nayru, Bahamut and Messiahmon simply watched it, plainly trying to figure out if the darkness would envelop the Trials before it was time.
But it seemed the answer would be no, because, as one, the three disappeared from sight. Below, the darkness pulsed as it was deterred yet again. In time, the darkness would advance, but now would not be it.

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The pulsing of the school bell jolted the blond-haired boy out of his sleep. Wiping a hand over his face, and to his disgust, learning he had drooled slightly, he sleepily swept everything on his desk into his bag, walking out the door with the rest of his school mates. He was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he walked out the entrance of the school. The students of Mulwaree High were chattering happily, and making their own plans for the weekend. Since it was Friday, Matt could easily understand their excitement, which extended to feeling it first hand.
Emotions pulsed around Matt, and like an emotional sponge, he soaked it all in, fighting to keep track of his own feelings among the turmoil of emotions that filled him. Empathy, the ability to feel the emotions of others, wasn’t the easiest magical power to master.

Walking to a secluded area, Matt looked around, ensuring that no-one was watching him. Once he felt safe, he relaxed inwards, and without warning, his surroundings changed from the brick walls of his High School, to the less safe surroundings of his own home. As usual, he was the first home, and as usual, he took advantage of that, quickly raiding his sister’s stash of two-minute noodles. By the time his sister came home, the evidence of his deeds would be missing, and hopefully half digested.
Five minutes later, Matt was stirring the flavouring into his noodles, staring intently at them as he wandered towards his room. When something moved on the horizon of his vision, he looked up, and blinked at the small, black creature that stood in front of him. The two stood, looking at each other, Matt assessing what was in front of him, and the creature, well, he had no idea what the creature was thinking.
Its claws flashed forward with a blinding speed as it abruptly broke the stillness. Thanks to years of karate, Matt’s reflexes kicked in, and the creature wound up with noodles on its head as Matt teleported himself behind it. There was no way he’d be able to defend himself if this was something magical, and there was a good chance it was.
Teleporting himself again as the creature leapt to the attack, Matt put himself beside his family’s Book of Shadows. Opening it up, he rifled through quickly, keeping an eye on the dark animal that was following him around the house.
As it came towards him again, Matt moved space and time again as he transported himself, and the Book, into his own room. It was smaller, but it’d take longer for the thing to find him.
Still sifting through the pages, a ‘pop’ made Matt look up, finding himself face to face with the creature once more.

That was when the Book jerked in his hands. Sprawling open, the pages rapidly flickered by, and stopped on a spell in the middle. Looking down, and trusting whatever magic that had just guided the book, Matt looked at the creature and began chanting his spell.

“Light surrounding me, head that way.
In my presence, darkness cannot stay.
My heart will now set me free,
As the light makes shadows flee.”

Pointing at the creature, a bolt of white light shot form Matt’s fingertip, engulfing the creature. Giving a silent scream, it writhed momentarily, before exploding into gobs of purple light. Now in an empty room, Matt sighed. The sound of the front door closing told him that his sisters were home, and for that, Matt was truly thankful.

Chapter Three
Until the End of Time

Like every tree stands on its own;
Reaching for the sky, I stand alone.
I share my world with no-one else.
All by myself, I stand alone.

I know the sound of each rock and stone.
I embrace what others fear.
You were not to roam in this forgotten place.
Just the likes of me are welcome here.

'I Stand Alone'
Bryan White


The winds whistled across the plains of Hyrule, tugging on the clothing of its inhabitants, whistling through the manes of the horses and soaring past the jaws of Hyrule's more dangerous creatures.
The wind could not make it deep within the groves of the Lost Woods, however, try as it may. The woods, having been left to its own power for the better part of the entire history of the world, had long ago developed a life of its own, and it did not appreciate invaders.
Deep within the ancient groves of the Lost Woods, magic pulsed and rippled, heading towards one, central cluster of trees. A wooden stump was nearby, which seemed to play as a signpost to the area. Animals and creatures watching the area quickly took off in alarm, not turning back for several hours as the magical forces that governed the forest fluxed, eventually reaching their peak with the arrival of a young boy and his horse.
Link, the Fairy Boy; more formally known as the Hero of Time, and Saviour of Termina, looked around the clearing with wary, blue eyes. The last time he had been here, chronologically, three days ago, magically, many months ago, his horse had been stolen by one of the most potent evil forces in the world. Since then, he had destroyed that force, which had been trapped within a mask, releasing it harmlessly, and without form, into the world it had tried so hard to destroy.
But it had not reckoned on facing the Hero of Time. Nor had it reckoned on facing the Hero of Time and the Goddess of Time joining together to defeat its efforts. Majora's Mask, the physical embodiment of misery and suffering, had tried to pull the moon of Termina into the earth, destroying the land, but had been beaten back by a boy, his fairy, and a collection of masks that were filled with the happiness, joy and laughter of the citizens of the country of Termina.

Stepping out into the darkness of the forest, Link tugged on the reins of a young, brown horse that trailed beside him. A chestnut mare, she shook her head impatiently as Link made his way tentatively through the Lost Woods. It had taken them three weeks to get here before, and even now, there was a good chance it would take longer to get back. The Songs of the Temples, in particular, the Minuet of Forest, a song designed to bring the musician back to the fabled Forest Temple of Hyrule, did not work outside of the boundaries of Hyrule, something Link had crossed long ago.
A rustle in the bushes nearby had Link moving almost automatically. With blinding speed, he had his bow out with an arrow nocked on it, ready to shoot at the first sign of danger. Link's movement had seemingly scared whatever it was off. Hearing no further movement from that direction, Link moved on, replacing the arrow in his quiver, but keeping his bow hooked over his shoulder. Whether he could hear it or not, the Lost Woods still had dangers that would easily kill the unwary traveller.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The pedestal that showed a green triangle began to glow, signalling the arrival of the Goddess it represented. In the next moment, a gust of wind blew, bringing with it, the clean smell of an endless forest, the burnt ash of a volcano, and the crisp saltiness of the sea. A world of possibilities and adventure seemed caught up in that wind, but for Farore, the Hylian Goddess of Courage, none of that would be possible unless the Crest Holders were summoned.
The Crest Seeker Trials had been completed, Farore was unsure when. It may have been a day, or an eternity ago, but to an immortal being, time was meaningless.

Outstretching her golden hand over the central pool of the Chamber of the Gods, Farore summoned to her the images of the most courageous beings within the universe. A boy, leading a horse through the Lost Woods, was the first being to appear. Farore knew this child, he had been her chosen one since the time of his birth. He was the bearer of the Triforce of Courage, and the power of Farore ran rampant in his veins.
Staring into the pool, Farore concentrated her powers, bridging the gap between the world of Hyrule and here. The horse would have to be put into a sleep until her owner was done with the Trials, otherwise she would wander off, and possibly put herself into harm while her master was otherwise occupied.
A collection of red energy collected at the end of Farore's hand, as the divine magic she used was called into being. Down in the pool, the boy froze, and to all appearances, disappeared, along with his horse. Working quickly, using magic far beyond that of mortals, Farore warped the fabric of time and space, and in less than a second, her Champion of Courage was on the first pedestal of the Trials of Courage.

Link had blinked. And that was all it had taken for the Lost Woods to have changed to a place of darkness, with five pedestals that seemed to float on nothing.

So much to do... So little time...

Drawing his sword, the mythical Kokiri Sword, Link's instincts screamed for him to be prepared. In all of his years of existence, a relatively short twelve, he had learned never to be comfortable in a place where a voice was coming out of nowhere.

The tides of darkness are coming. You, the first Seeker, have come to this place to earn your birthright.

The pedestal began rumbling. Shaking on wobbly feet, Link plunged his sword into the hard surface of the Trials, holding onto it to stop himself from being thrown off during this strange earthquake.
Or was it? Looking around the platform now, he saw three raised surfaces, and on each, three symbols of the Trials of his childhood.

The Kokiri's Emerald, a gem of endless value, filled with the patience and strength of the forest. To earn this, you had to witness the death of your surrogate father, the Great Deku Tree. It was this crystal that led you to the Princess, however, and was the first step to your true self; the Hero of Time.

Staring at the crystal, Link's mind showed him the many challenges he'd had to face to earn the Emerald. Images of Mido, the self-proclaimed leader of the Kokiri taunting him. Entering the Deku Tree himself, after learning of the curse that the Great Tree had been inflicted by. Diving underwater as spikes rotate overhead. And killing the source of the curse herself. Queen Gohma, a creature of darkness, had eventually fallen to Link, but by then, it had been too late for the Deku Tree.

The Goron's Ruby, the Spiritual Stone of Fire, filled with the fires of passion and speed that only flame possesses. The Gorons were saved by your actions within the Dodongo's Cavern, and you gained a Sworn Brother.

The final crystal, which shone a vivid blue, pulsed lightly as Link looked at it. Three actual gems made up the Spiritual Stone of Water, with an intricate moulding of gold keeping the three joined.

The Zora's Sapphire, or for you, the key to the heart of Princess Ruto. You saved her, and the patron god of the Zora's in order to obtain this gem. However, the destruction you saw to the Zoras only heralded the greater destruction that would soon occur to the entire country.

Looking down, Link stood up, pulling the Kokiri's Sword from the ground as he did. Expecting to see a hole in the ground, he was surprised to see the hole seal itself, leaving no indication it had been there.

The experiences of your childhood have changed you, and even the world, forever. The damage Ganondorf inflicted upon Hyrule was felt by everyone. But, to you, there was one group who was hurt more than the others.

Nodding his head, Link's attention went back to the Goron's Ruby.

Both times Ganondorf attacked the Gorons; he nearly wiped out their entire civilization.

Nodding, Link felt the embers of anger building in him. Ganondorf had nearly destroyed the entire world just to get his dream. He had hurt, and killed, immeasurable people along the way, and for that, Link could never forgive him.

You have chosen the people, Link. In spite of losing your family, and losing your friends, you are most anger by losing an entire species of people. For this, you have passed the first Trial of Courage.

The Spiritual Stones abruptly disappeared as the pedestal shook again. Looking down at the ground, Link saw a picture that made his heart pang; Darunia, his Sworn Brother, the leader of the Gorons, and the Sage of Fire. Darunia almost looked real to him, he mused. A ringing sound filled the air, making Link look up. A blue portal of light had appeared in the middle of the pedestal. Knowing what they were, and feeling a sense of familiarity form it, he stepped into the circle. A crystal spread up to envelope Link; and within a few seconds, he had appeared on the second pedestal of the Trial, this one showing a picture of a strange bird, seemingly made of fire, with rainbows behind it.
Up in the Chamber of the Gods, Farore smiled, as gentle as a cloud, and as terrible as a storm. The Trials were underway, and everything was going exactly as the Gods wanted them to.
The voice that had spoken to Link in the Trials spoke again, however, this was information that only the Gods were able to hear. From deep in the forest of New Island, Mew, exhausted from creating the Trials, awoke with a loud keen. Deep within the Farplane, Valefor retorted with a screech of rage of its own. Magnadramon let out a wail of despair, while Farore, the Goddess of Courage, trembled in fear.

The Nobodies have awoken...

Chapter Four
The Queen of Hearts

A thousand words call out through the ages.
They'll fly to you, even though I can't see,
I know they're reaching you.
Suspended on silver wings.

A thousand words, one thousand confessions,
Will cradle.
Turning all of the lonely years
Into only days.

They'll hold you forever.

1000 Words
Jade from Sweetbox

Staring passively at her surroundings, Kairi, formerly a Princess of Heart; did not looked surprised. On the contrary, she looked like she had seen this place before.

The Second Trial of Love begins now.

A shimmer of magic clustered together at the centre of the platform. A picture of a silver bird, with small blue tags on its back and spikes on its tail roared up at her from its place on the pedestal. However, the magic that was being created stood above that picture, manifesting into the form of a boy Kairi had long forgotten.
Her heart knew him though. It leaped into her throat as she looked at him, brown hair messed up, and in clothes far too small for him. He looked to be sleeping, and no matter how hard Kairi tried, she could not get close to him. An invisible force field separated the two, and in the end, Kairi slumped against it, trying to break open the barrier she couldn't see.

The only thing keeping you and Sora separate is your heart Kairi. Open your heart, and then you will be reunited with the Protector of Power.

Staring at this boy, no, at Sora, Kairi smiled sadly. She didn't know why he was so important to her, only that she missed him terribly.

Two years ago, she had been kidnapped from her world. All she could remember was wandering in darkness for ages, before coming to the light in a castle. But how did she get there? Kairi's memory failed her there, and right now, staring at Sora, she knew he had the answers.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The third Trials of Love have begun. Our first and second choices, Aerith Gainsborough and Phoebe Halliwell, have failed the Trials, and have been removed back to their home planets. The third candidate, Kairi Hart, is undertaking the Trials as we speak.

Nodding her head, Magnadramon, the Patron God of Love replied. The first voice seemed to pause momentarily, as if considering its answer.

No, we have not summoned the fourth candidate. Should Kairi fail with her Trials, Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom will be summoned. Unless you wish it otherwise, of course.

Flicking her tail as she thought, Magnadramon considered the implications of having two Crest Seekers on the Trials at the same time. Her answer came soon after that.

I see. I will summon the Princess immediately. Would you like the fifth Candidate present as well?

Shaking her head, Magnadramon showed her opinion.

As you wish.

The voice seemed to depart, leaving Magnadramon to oversee her Trials. The other two candidates had also failed here; Aerith had been unable to open her heart to Cloud, and Phoebe had been unable to open hers to Cole Turner. The two had spent far too long here, and had been removed as a result.

Even from her lofty perch, Magnadramon could feel the emotions unfurling from Kairi's heart. Because of her age, Kairi had not yet had the time to lock her heart away from pain, and because of that, the platform Kairi was on pulse pink as the barrier around Sora went down. Rushing to embrace him, Magnadramon watch the stirrings of consciousness within the boy, but quickly moved Kairi to the third Trial just as Princess Peach arrived at the first.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Searching for Sora, Kairi gulped back her tears. Sora... She knew him, remembered him, and she had no idea how she could have forgotten him. He had been her best friend since they were little, he had saved her life, and she had loved him like no-one else could.
Her focus was broken by the feeling of fabric around her hands. Bringing them up to eye level, she raised a confused eyebrow as she studied the new gloves that had appeared there.

The Papal Gloves...

The voice whispered through the air, and instantly, Kairi knew that she was wearing the Papal Gloves. Moving her right, gloved hand through the air, she watched, or rather, felt, the glove move through something other than air.

The Papal Gloves have the ability to absorb and diffuse any form of magic surrounding the wearer. They are made of pure magic, and as long as the bearer wears them, they will always be protected from any magic aimed their way.

A cloaked figure appeared at Kairi's feet. She could almost feel darkness rolling off of him, her, it? Crouching down, Kairi outstretched her hand, slightly wary of touching the person. And almost as if they could sense they were above someone, the Papal Gloves began to glow a pearly white that drifted slowly over the person. The darkness began receding, and giving a sigh of relief, the person disappeared from sight.

The Papal Gloves allow you to remove the taint of the Heartless from a person's body, as well as being capable of healing any wound. By birthright, you are capable of wielding this weapon, as well as any privileges you would receive as Queen of Hearts.

"The Queen of Hearts?" Kairi asked, looking up at the endless black sky.

Two years ago, your powers as a Princess of Heart were unlocked, allowing you and the other six princesses to unlock the way to Kingdom Hearts. As Queen of Hearts, you have become the leader of the Princesses of Heart, and can even bring a person back to life if they have become a Heartless. You performed that duty on Sora, after his death at Radiant Gardens.

Looking down, Kairi bit her lip. "I remember." She whispered.

But now is not the time for that. To summon the Papal Gloves to your side, you need to collect all the feelings of love within your heart. Once you have done that, the Papal Gloves will appear for you.

Looking down at her hands, Kairi blinked in surprise as she realised the gloves were not there. Looking on the ground, as if expecting them to be there, she shook her head.

Gather the feelings of love...

Sighing, Kairi shut her eyes. Sora, Riku, her mother and father. The feelings of love, both platonic and emotional, surged through Kairi, rushing through her to collect in the palms of her hands. Opening her eyes, still caught in the thrall of love, she watched white wisps of magic, looking like a mist, twist around her hands, coming into a corporeal form as the Papal Gloves.
Smiling in satisfaction, Kairi looked up at the blackness. "What now?"

The element assigned to the Papal Gloves is Aether, the higher, purer air of the Gods. As the Lighter of Love, you will be able to control Aether, using it to heal wounds at its best, and at its worst, you can generate the Aether into a magical form, using it as a destructive weapon.
To do this, imagine a bolt of energy leave your hand.

Frowning, Kairi thrusted her hand forward, not expecting anything to happen. Seeing no crackle of energy, no bolt of lightning, she raised an eyebrow.

Imagine it, and it will happen.

Sighing, Kairi threw out her other hand, visualizing a pink ball of magic leaving her fist. As she did, it happen. A pink coloured ball of lightning split the air, journeying on until it seemed to hit a wall of blackness. Tearing a hole through it, the ball of energy continued on, eventually exploding outwards. As it moved outwards, the darkness fled from it, leaving an enormous space free of the darkness.

Excellent. To use the powers of the Lighter of Love, just imagine. Your imagination is your most powerful weapon, use it, and you can accomplish anything.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Princess Peach has failed the first Trial. We have summoned the fifth candidate, Serena Usagi, to attend the Trials.

It troubled Magnadramon that so many of the candidates, especially the ones most likely to defeat the Trials and win the Crest, were failing. The emotion of love was in an omnipresent state at all times in the Universe, and yet, so few people seemed to grasp it.
Waving her forepaw at the viewing pool on the pedestal of the gods, Magnadramon summoned the information on Kairi.

Name: Kairi Elizabeth Hart

Age: Sixteen

Alliance: Crest of Love Seeker:
Currently one of the seven Princesses of Heart, Kairi ascended to the level of Queen after the last closing of Kingdom Hearts. Since then, she has all but forgotten the boy she loves due to the magical spells of her Nobody, Namine. Due to her time as a Princess of Heart, Love has becoming on the leading forces in Kairi's life.

Powers: The ability to, along with the other Princesses of Heart, open Kingdom Hearts.
All the powers and abilities given to the Queen of Hearts.

Achievements:
Placed her heart within that of Sora's, the Keyblade Master.
Restored Sora to his body after he became a Heartless.

Overall Ranking: 3rd

Overall Report:
Kairi is easily capable of handling the Crest of Love. She will not be able to use it instinctively, but she will bond with it faster than many. Her value comes from her selflessness, she will often help those who need it without being asked. Similarly, her abilities as a Queen of Heart can prevent far more losses to the Crest Holders than any other person can. Physically, she poses no threat, but magically, she is one of the most powerful within this Universe.

Giving a sigh, Magnadramon dismissed the information. Unless Kairi passed the Trials of Love, they would have to rely on someone who may even reject the Crest of Love to carry it. For the fate of the Universe, indeed, for the fate of the Crest of Love, she hoped that would not come to pass.

Chapter Five
Awakening

There's a feeling deep inside me.
And it's always there to guide me.
It's in my heart, and in my soul;
Leading me to the ultimate goal.

You can try your best, it might be fun.
But you'll be down in defeat before you're gone.
Oh, I'm unbeatable.
Oh, I'm undefeatable.

Pokemon Advanced Battle Theme

Glancing up at the building in front of him, Sam Sapphire quirked his mouth, going over his strategy in his head. Since returning from Dictioy, Sam had made it a minor goal to beat the Red League; the Pokemon League that governed Southern Island. He had already won two of the four badges he needed, and today, he was aiming for his third.
The Frostbite Gym, named for its dual specialty of Ice and Darkness, was commonly known as the toughest Pokemon Gym on Southern Island. And for that, Sam had bought along the three Pokemon he knew he'd have an advantage in using; Zeus; the fluffy cloud Pokemon, Hera, the small, blue-winged Polienix, and Angel, the small winged kitten of the Holipus species.

Looking sideward at Angel, Sam scowled back at Angel, her slitted eyes focused on him in a look of disgust. The Holy / Flying type was unusually fussy for her species, complaining if anything touched her without some kind of hospital grade disinfectant being added to it right away. In this case, Sam had 'accidentally' splashed her in a puddle, revenge for her attempts at giving him unwanted acupuncture.
"Ok Angel, you have two choices; in the Pokéball, or going invisible." Sam offered, holding out her Pokéball. Knowing that she'd sulk for a while, he didn't expect an answer, but when she turned invisible with a small 'Pop', he grinned.

Opening the door to the Gym, and feeling the small currents of wind being generated by Angel's wings, he looked around. Each gym tended to have a certain Trial that needed completing before the Gym Leader could be faced, in this gym was no exception. Before he could react, Sam felt his feet slip out from underneath him, and within a few seconds, he was sprawled on his back, looking at the ceiling and having to listen to Angel's cackles of mirth.

"Yeah yeah." He muttered, swatting in the general direction of Angel. Getting shakily to his feet, he glanced around, trying to peer through the darkness that this gym had introduced.

"Welcome to the Frostbite Gym, Trainer. You have five minutes to complete this trial and move onto the next room. Past this time, you will be teleported outside and unable to face the Gym Leader. Only one challenge can be made to complete the Trials per day. Your time begins now."

Blinking, Sam heard a shuffle as whoever it was moved away. Shaking his head, Sam wondered just how much this Gym relied on Beginner Trainers challenging it.
Reaching down to his right, his fingers trailed over three spheres that were attached magnetically to his belt. Pulling on the first one, Sam enlarged it, releasing the creature it contained.

"Ok, Zeus, gimme a lift here."

Sam could almost feel Zeus's signature grin from where he was. Giving Zeus a few seconds to make himself capable of bearing Sam's weight, Sam walked forward, arms outstretched, until he felt the fluffy matter that Zeus was made off. Flattening his palms on top of it, Sam hoisted himself up onto the Thunderhead Pokemon, rearranging his skewed clothing when he was on Zeus properly.

"Ok, Angel, can you light this place up? Slowly, otherwise we'll be dazzled."

"I am no newborn kitten, Samuel. I'm not stupid." Angel retorted huffily. From where she was floating in the air, she focused energy into her wings. Because she was invisible, all that appeared was a white ball of light, apparently hovering in midair. Looking around the room with the newfound light, Sam spied a door, urging Zeus to head that way.
Looking down at the slippery ice as they travelled, Sam felt like he was cheating, just a little. He was mostly used to hard Trials that forbade the use of Pokemon, but here, there weren't any rules. Setting down on the patch of floor in front of the door, Sam looked around warily as he began sinking through Zeus's mass, eventually landing lightly on the ground.

"Thanks Zeus. Are you guys ready?"

The white orb of light that was Angel bobbed maniacally. Looking to Zeus, he nodded his body once. Reaching out a tendril of mist, he touched his Pokéball, bringing himself back into the temporary travel pod.
Resting his hand on the door, Sam winded as the cold bit into his skin. Pushing down on the handle, Sam started a little as the door caught on the ground. Muttering, he wrenched it hard, opening it enough to just slip through.

Looking up, plainly in surprise, the Gym Leader wondered how this young boy had gotten here this fast. Making a face, the seventeen year old boy felt a touch on his shoulder; Angel had decided to rest on it, it seemed.

"Not a newbie then." He heard the Gym Leader say, seemingly to herself. "Well done, Trainer. It'll be a knockout competition, the first to two knock-outs win. Acceptable?"

Nodding, Sam felt down at his belt again. On him right now, Zeus was his most powerful. But with Hera, they'd have a huge type advantage.

"Ok Hera, let's show this Gym how we did it in Dictioy!"

An explosion of red energy swarmed out of the Pokéball, manifesting into a small blue bird with a yellow beak and claws. Flapping her wings, she kept herself in midair, choosing to keep that advantage.

Reaching her arm up dramatically, the Gym Leader clicked her fingers. Instantly the lights dimmed. Waving his hand in front of his face; Sam frowned. 'Hera? Can you still see?' He asked telepathically.

'Yes. The girl is about to throw a Pokéball.'

'You got it.' Looking forward at where he assumed the Gym Leader still was, he got rewarded with a blinding flash as the Gym Leader's Pokemon was chosen.

'Hera, I can't see it. What does it look like?' Sam sent. Squint as he might, he couldn't even see an outline of the opposing Pokemon.

'Black fur, long claws.' Hera said, before dodging to the side with an angry shriek. Flapping herself up high above the arena, she lifted her head up, sending out a long beam of light that flooded the entire arena, lighting up Hera's target. Seeing Hera's opponent, Sam swallowed, suddenly nervous.

'Be careful! It's a Sneasel, they're known for eat small birds and their eggs!'

'They eat WHAT?'

Apparently infuriated by this new information, Hera swooped down, performing a complex twist as she flew. Her Aerial Ace struck true, and with an ear-splitting scream, the Sneasel struck back, its claws glowing ominously.

"Ok Pickaxe, use Death's Scythe!"

Looking at the hidden Leader, Sam realised how much he was trying to rely on his eyes here. Shutting them, his ears instantly began working overdrive, picking up far more than they would normally. Pickaxe's claws split the air, cutting through soft material. Sam's eyes flickered open in alarm, and instantly he began straining again to see how Hera was.

'I'm ok. He only got a few feathers.' Hera's voice entered Sam's mind. Calming down, Sam smiled, shutting his eyes again.

"Ok Hera, use Photon Swoop!'

Drawing in breath, all the light in the room, very little as it was, went out. The room went absolutely pitch black around Hera as she collect every speck of light within sight. The result was Hera's body began glowing, a golden colour edged in white. Sam's eyes sent frazzles of pain up to his mind as they were exposed to light after such a blanketing darkness. Pickaxe let his own yell of pain, covering his eyes with his claws. At last, Hera was ready, and with a song that rained down on the Pokemon below, she swooped, hitting Pickaxe with deadly aim. She wasn't done though, as she wheeled around again, hitting the disorientated Pokemon a second time. Turning one last time, she opened her mouth, and a beam of pure light engulfed the Sneasel, lifting into the air, his body succumbing to the overriding light. Now at the tip of his flight, an explosion sounded out, and when the smoke had cleared, the darkness was back, but Sam was absolutely sure that Pickaxe had been knocked out.
The lights turned on slightly, displaying just enough light to show the ravaged battlefield below. A dark form lay on the ground, while a panting bird landed; her wings and head drooping.

"Pickaxe the Sneasel has been knocked out. Victory one goes to the challenger!" A voice called out, echoing around the icy room.
Returning her Pokemon, the Gym Leader scowled. "Ok, fine. Come out Pandora!"

The lights dimmed instantly. The standard explosion of red happened, and as before, Sam couldn't see. Reaching up his hand, Hera's Pokéball still in it, Sam let out a yell, letting Hera know she was being returned to the red and white sphere.

Feeling over Zeus's Pokéball again, Sam threw it into the fray. Zeus would be as blind as he was, but he made up for that by being able to attack the whole field if he wanted.
And Zeus was in prime battle mode. Small bolts of lightning dripped out from under him, while streamers of the stuff rippled across his cloudy surface. Giving a grin, Sam pointed upwards, forgetting he wouldn't be seen. The action jostled the Holipus on his shoulder, who gave an opposing growl.

"Zeus, let's rain on their parade!"

Taking the hint, Sam hoped, Zeus hovered up until he was against the ceiling. Collecting water from the icy surfaces around him, Zeus built it up, until he let loose, coating the whole field with chilling rain. Angel let out another indignant squawk as some of the rain pelted her, while Sam covered a grin.
This was an old strategy of Sam's and Zeus's, and Zeus took the initiative on his next action. His whole body rumbled, and with a flash of light, he electrocuted the whole arena, keeping it within the set square. Sam had closed his eyes in preparation for this but he could see the whiteness from behind his eyelids. A crack of thunder split the air, making the whole room shake. Whatever had been on the field would have been hurt, badly, at the very least.
This didn't seem to be the case, however. Zeus began glowing bright enough to show the whole battle when a large boulder came barrelling at him. Raising his eyebrow, Zeus simply let the rock go through his cloudy surface. Venturing down, and using Zeus's light, Sam saw what they were facing.

Adapis were rare Pokemon that had the ability to transform, much like Mew or Ditto. However, their unique little trait meant they would only change their types, and it varied with their mood. An angry Adapis might be a fire type, while a sad one may be water.
But from what Sam could see right now, this one was a Rock or Ground type, something that would have easily withstood the powerful blast of lightning Zeus had let out then. However, Sam still had the advantage here.

"Zeus, use Cyclone!"

Whipping the winds around the room, Zeus created a small funnel of air that spun in the middle of the room. The Adapis looked unwavered at this, and began stomping towards Zeus, mud forming in its hands as it prepared another attack. Zeus waited patiently, much like a Spinerak would wait for a Venonat, and once the Adapis was within the cyclone, he added water to the equation. Raining down on the cyclone, the spinning funnel of air swept all the water Zeus released into it, washing the mud out of Pandora's hands and buffering the Adaption Pokemon. This attack was doing damage, Sam could easily tell, but nowhere near enough.
Jumping the air, the Adapis, amazingly light for being a rock, tried swiping at the cloud Pokemon hovering above it. Loosing its footing, it was swept up into the cone and began spinning with the water.

"Zeus, change that Cyclone into a Typhoon!"

Sam could almost hear Zeus chuckle. Instantly, the temperature in the room dropped even lower .Sam could hear the whir of machinery as the Gym’s defensive measures were activated, an invisible wall of psychic energy were erected between the Pokemon battling and the Trainers.

Spreading himself as far out over the field as he could, Zeus let out the last of his rain, calling on ever last reserve of water he had access to. The ice shuddered and melted as Zeus called it up, and by the time he was done, the field was underwater by about a metre.
Now Zeus did the opposite of what he had done before. Breathing in deeply, he blew a gust of frigid air that froze the water. The Adapis, having fallen to the ground when the Cyclone had disappeared, was now trapped within the ice.
And now came the lightning. Crackling with energy, Zeus's body began glowing, hotter and hotter as he gathered the energy he needed. While he was charging, he sent out a thin bolt of lightning, using its white hot edge to cut the Adapis from the ice. The wind, still moving from the cyclone, began batting the Pokemon around like a cat would a toy, slamming it into the walls of the arena, and then died altogether. Zeus was now ready, and with one grin directed at the Gym Leader, Zeus seemed to explode, three incredibly heavy bolts of lightning striking out and hitting Pandora. Giving a cheer as the opponent's Pokemon disappeared under the glow of the lightning, Sam abruptly stopped, covering his ears. Angel had already fled to her Pokéball in anticipation of what was about to happen.

Looking across the field at her opponent, the Gym Leader frowned. "What's wro-?'

Her answer was cut off as the thunder followed the lightning. Even with his ears plugged, Sam's ears ached beyond anything, the ground vibrating under his feet for a good ten seconds. Once it was done, he cracked open an eye, looking at the field.
A deep hole in the ground had settled where the lightning struck, its edges outlined in black. The walls separating the battle and the viewers lowered immediately as the Gym Leader rushed onto the field to search for her fallen Pokemon. Stepping over the line of the field himself, Sam wandered over to where Zeus was, who looked like a very thin fog right now.

"You right mate?"

Panting, Zeus shuddered his body, his equivalent of a nod. Giving a smile to the pooped-out Pokemon, Sam held up the Ultraball he had captured Zeus in, returning him to his capsule.

"I think I won." Sam said plainly, looking over at the Gym Leader, who was hugging the fluid body of her Adapis. Giving a frown, she dug into her pocket, flipping a blue and black badge to Sam.

"Cool, thanks." He said simply. Heading to the door, he looked back. "You might want to get your Adapis checked out, Typhoon isn't a fun attack to withstand." Not waiting for an answer, he left, leaving the too cold Gym and its leader.

Once outside the Gym, he looked around, letting out a tired sigh. He knew that Zeus was the one who was the most tired out of either of them, but Sam was as well. It was at that point a strange nagging began at the edge of his mind. Frowning, he turned, just in time to see a small creature, completely black, leap out at him, claws aimed to scratch.
Giving a yell of surprise, Sam flinched, raising his hands to protect his face. What he wasn't expecting was the flare of blue energy as the creature collided with a blue shield that sprang into existence around Sam, protecting him from harm. Peeking over his upraised arms, Sam looked at the creature in surprise; it was now pacing around his shield, scratching like a Growlithe trying to get in. Looking down at his hands, and then at Angel, who had come out of her Pokéball in the Gym and had instantly resumed perching on his shoulder, he frowned.

"Did you do that?"

It was a simple question, once that was answered with Angel becoming visible, looking as confused as Sam felt. "It wasn't me Sam."

"Um, ok." He said, plainly lost for words. "Maybe if we disappear, it'll go away?"

"What do you mean, disap-?"

Not waiting for the rest of the sentence, Sam gathered his psychic energy, teleporting himself and his flying kitten back home. See no wall of blue fire, Sam smirked. "Well, that was weird, but it's gone now. That's a good thing, right?"

Giving a shrug, Angel took off, heading indoors through an open window. The sounds of hissing and spitting soon followed, when he heard his younger sister crying out "Kitty!"

Laughing, Sam opened the front door, intent on relaxing. A bath for Zeus sounded good, get him some energy. Giving a shrug, he moved off to get to the bathroom, passing a glaring Holipus in the arms of an eight-year old. Not making eye contact, Sam moved off, leaving Angel to deal with her own problems.

Chapter Six
Dream of the Fayth


Looking down at the endless seas that lay on the world of Spira, Bahamut felt a spark of love and affection for the world his power had helped to create. While the seas only ended at the one landmass that was Spira itself, there was enough variety in the Spiran continent to keep everyone occupied.
Each of the Spiran Gods, creators of the Universe in their own right, were magically and physically attached to this world in some way. To Shiva, the ice and cold of Macalania and Mt Gagazet were the places she called home. For Ifrit, the powerful fiend of Fire, the realms of Kilika Island and Bikanel Island were his. The skies were home to Valefor's power, but for Bahamut, his power lay all over Spira, invested within the homes of its people.
Unfortunately for Bahamut, he was spending far too little time here for his own tastes. He was back in his world, but it wasn't for pleasure. The last two Crest Holders were here, but because of what fate had dictated, this world had blocked the magical call. The Crest Holders had all been awakened, but there was the small matter of bringing them all together. They each had the power to move worlds if they ever had to, but they couldn't move through space.
Other than one. One of the Primary Crests, the Crest of Friendship, had the power to created bridges that could span the empty recesses of space. The World Highways hadn't been activated in over 10,000 years, but the time had come to put them to use again.
Giving a draconian sigh, Bahamut swept down, his majestic form deflecting the light of Spira's sun. Moving the light away from his form magically, he shimmered out of sight, his body turning utterly invisible. This way, he didn't cause panic within Spira's citizens. It had been five years since Yu Yevon had been defeated by the power of the Spiran Gods, but even now, in the time period known as the Eternal Calm, the people still feared his return.
Performing a tumble turn, the King of Dragons landed heavily on his clawed feet, the curved half-moons digging into the carved stone of Remiem Temple. The temple was home to one of the five lesser Gods of Spira, one of the ones strictly bound to Spira itself. They hadn't been there for the creation of the Universe, and their power didn't extend past the world borders.
But this wasn't a social call. This was a temple that belonged to the bloody past of Spira, and for them, it was better left forgotten.
Bahamut's form warped and changed, turning into a young boy. Shrugging his shoulders as he got used to his new body, Bahamut winced. It was always uncomfortable in a new body, for the first few minutes anyway. Venturing up the steps that led into the temple, Bahamut's thoughts were broken by one of the sisters who lived in the temple.

This is our domain Dragon. Why is one of the Creators deigning to visit us in this, the Temple of Blood?

Giving a decidedly human snort, Bahamut stopped at the centre of the temple.

This world was created for you and the people who made you as you are, Ladybird, and as such, this Temple belongs to me and my brethren. It was been designated to you so that you and your sisters may guard the Signal.

That caught their attention. Three flowers, one red, one blue, and one yellow, appeared in a triangular formation around the God of Men of the Universe. Exploding outwards in a shower of petals, forming into the figures of three women.

The Signal?

Heaving a sigh in his human body, Bahamut shook his head.

The Crest Holders have been called, Sisters. The Forger of Friendship does not yet have the knowledge to Forge the World Highways. In order to bring the Crest Holders together, we must send out a temporary Signal.

The Goddesses betrayed no emotion on their faces. To Bahamut, however, their emotions must have been detectable from the far reaches of the Digital World.

We see.

The air around the temple, previously still, began a small movement around the holy beings that were centred in the temple. The wind streamed from the Chamber of the Fayth, streamed from the depths of the Farplane itself. Outside the Remiem Temple, lightning snapped, and a downpour flooded into the temple. The roof, while covering most of the temple, had small slits that let the water come through. Around the edges of the stone floor, a circular pit slowly filled with water. When it reached the edge of the stone pedestal, the rain stopped, and the water swirled around, spun by the wind that came from the Farplane.
Outside the temple, a tremor within the Earth had a disastrous effect on the rocky spires that littered the outside of the temple. The larger ones fell, slamming into the cliffs that held the temple up, knocking away large boulders that had covered three strange runes, each in the colour of the three sisters. In response to the sunlight that now shone on their faces, the runes collected the energy, projecting it outwards into three beams that slammed into the walls of the temple, shattering them to punch through and collect in a ball of energy directly above Bahamut. Stretching a hand upwards, a faint claw seeming to be visible around it, Bahamut directed the energy upwards and out, projecting the energy through the roof of the temple.
Higher and higher it stretched upwards, a solid column of light that stretched out into space. On and on it went, until it split into four beams, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and headed off in different directions.
As the beam shot into separate directions, they encountered a seemingly invisible barrier. The energy pooled against the wall, acting more like liquid than anything. However, the beams, which had easily crushed the walls of Remiem Temple, soon performed the same action against the World Walls. Within a few seconds, the walls shattered, and the physical pieces of it began raining down on the planets they had protected.

Looking out of his window, Sam Sapphire frowned. There had been no reports of a meteor shower for tonight, but one seemed to be happening. Multicoloured balls of light shimmered as they fell from the sky, scattering around everywhere. Watching one fall into the street in front of him, he witnessed it simply bounce harmlessly off the road, coming to rest in the front yard. Coming up beside him, a larger form, Nick Stone, joined in Sam's frowning as he took in the sight of the meteor shower.

"Wha-?" He began, but was cut off by Sam holding a hand up.

"I don't know. They aren't meteors, that one is obvious." Sam muttered, more to himself than anything.

Back on Spira, Bahamut looked up at the ball of energy glowing above his head, a smile breaking the features of his young body.

The Signal has been sent. The World Walls have fallen, and the Primary Worlds are open to the Heartless.
It has started, brothers and sisters.

Chapter Six
Downfall

You hear a voice that's calling;
It's telling you to make a change.
It's time to fly, and say 'Goodbye';
Move on to a better place.

I know you've gotta take the first step
To get to where you wanna be.
Just get on track, and don't look back;
'Cause it's the only way that you're gonna be free.

Hold On
B*Witched


The ground trembled ominously. Looking up from the book he had been reading, Sam arched an eyebrow at the shaking walls. He had been through earthquakes before, sure, but this was the fifth in a line of small shakes that wracked Southern Island over the past few days; ever since the strange meteor showed that had, in a weird twist, not had a meteor in sight, but strange, soft pieces of a substance nobody knew. Sam himself had found at least three, well, not so much 'found' as 'tripped over'. The meteor shower, while also spreading into Hoenn, had been mostly centralised within the Southern Island area. Additional showers had also happened in Metone, the great southern continent of the world, Kanto and Janera.
The quakes hadn't actually done anything yet. They were nowhere near strong enough to destroy housing, but they were powerful enough to take down paintings, knock things over and affect the TV reception.
Oh, and the family's pet Growlithe hadn't shut up for days.

The trembling abruptly stopped, and with an eye cocked on the walls, Sam returned to his book. With a buzzing noise, the TV, which had been on in the background, resumed its programs. Right now it was in the middle of 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles', something Sam had no interest in. Without taking his eyes off of his book, he flicked his fingers, changing the channel telekinetically. 'Psyduck Tales'? Nope. 'Humphrey U Ursuring'? Nope. 'The Mighty Morphin' Poke-Rangers'? Definitely not, even though Sam had loved the show growing up. Looking up at the TV, Sam quirked his mouth, wondering how here could be nothing on. When he passed by a channel playing the news, a picture popped up in the second he was on the channel, making Sam freeze and backtrack to it.

'-new Pokémon. These Pokémon, which are currently unnamed, have appeared worldwide, despite having not been seen before. Attempts to capture these Pokémon have proved futile, with Pokéballs only seeming to be absorbed into their bodies."

Giving the viewers a grin, the news announcer seemed to be amused by this, the small window that contained a picture of what Sam knew was a Heartless changed into an odd little piece of jewellery. 'In other news, Silph Co has developed a new kind of Pokémon Translator that can translate Pokémon smells! This item, in the form of a nose stud-'
Switching the channel off, Sam fought down the feelings of panic that were bubbling inside him. It hadn't been a dream then, or if it had, it had been a prophetic one, a kind Sam had never had before. He doubted it had been prophetic, however. The psychic abilities of psychometry and premonitions weren't passed down in the Sapphire family. Shuffling his sleeve up, Sam exposed the newest little device he had gotten for his birthday from his family, his Pokétch. He had gotten it to replace both of his broken PokéNavs, which had taken quite a beating during Sam's final days in Dictioy. But all the upgrades cards in his PokéNavs had survived. Right now it said the time was 12:16pm, which meant a majority of the Pokémon in the household would be asleep by now. Most of his family were out doing the grocery shopping, while Nick was currently at Rayquaza City, challenging the Gym there. Biting down on a nail, Sam worried.

Seers and Premonitions weren't exactly common among the human population of the world. Sam had no idea what his dream had meant when he first had it, but then again, he had always had random dreams filled with things that had no connection to each other, as dreams tended to do. Giving a sigh, Sam got up, heading for the kitchen. He was getting hungry, and biting his nails didn't accomplish anything to keep that sated.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Within the tall grass of his home island, Mew looked into a pond that was tucked away in one of the corners of the landmass. Waving its small paw, it called up images of the Forger of Friendship. The Heartless had been quick to invade this world when the World Walls had been shattered, but then again, Mew had expected no less. The Pokémon World was one of the five primary worlds, one of the first five worlds to have been created after the start of the universe itself. That meant the Heart of the World was incredibly powerful, any Heartless taking it could easily be transformed into a Lv 100 Heartless, no, a Behemoth, at the very least, Mew corrected itself quickly.
The island he resided on, Faraway Island, had been removed from the normal world, by the power of Mew several eons ago, for tow purposes. For one, it was Mew's home, and he did love it dearly. The second being that the island held one of the most important things on the Pokémon World; its Keyhole, the portal that led to the Heart of the World.
Giving a sigh, Mew floated upwards, above the island. If he wanted to save the Universe, the Pokémon World had to be destroyed. It was the only way the Forger would be able to enter Spira, unless he somehow discovered the power of the World Highways. Even then, he did not know about the other Worlds, and would be unable to create the Highways.
Raising its arms up, Mew felt the protections around his island as a physical presence. Inching his powers under the rim of the shield, he lifted, and as one, all the Heartless in the world, from Johto to Hoenn, from Southern Island to Oore, turned to face Faraway Island.
With the knowledge that he had just doomed his world to the never-ending darkness of the Kingdom Hearts, Mew fled the world, entering the Chamber of the Gods. His powers told him that the other Gods of the Pokémon World; Lugia, Ho oh, Groudon, Kyogre, the many powerful legendaries around the world, called up their own power, leaving the Pokémon World to head for other worlds. In response, the Pokémon World, its protective deities gone, was left defenceless to both the Heartless and the ravages and furies of the natural world.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Eyes widened, Sam looked skywards. For some reason, it felt like something was intensely wrong with the world. It felt like something; he didn't know what, but something was missing. The world seemed less potent, less powerful, and judging by the keening wail from inside the house, his Pokémon had noticed the same thing.
Sam had given up on trying reading inside. The tremors had continued, and were steadily getting worse. 'Groudon must be tossing and turning in his sleep.' Sam thought grimly. It was commonly acknowledged that Groudon lived within Hoenn, and as such, was close enough to affect Southern Island as well. The rustling of grass caught Sam's attention, making him turn his head. Abrupt reflexes made him teleport away as dark claws flashed; gouging narrow strips of wood out of the Oak tree he had been leaning against. Now that he was further away, he could easily study the creature who had tried attacking him.
His mind told him that it was a Heartless, but this one was very different from the ones he had had to fight in his dream. The dream ones had had small, squat bodies, with dark streams coming from their heads. This one looked like the older brother of the ones Sam had fought. They looked the same, except this one was more stretched out, much taller, and seemed a bit muscular.
Putting his fingers in his mouth, Sam let out a piercing whistle, this one a different tune from the one that had called Zeus to him. This was just an abrupt whistle that would call all of his Pokemon to him.
And they came quickly. Hearing the shatter of breaking glass, Sam knew they had broken his window to get to him. Leto the Eevee was the first around the corner, dashing past Sam to ram into the Heartless. Recovering quickly, Leto backed away slowly, letting the stronger Pokémon let loose. A torrent of icy water shot over the head of Leto, blasting the Heartless into the fence around the Sapphire's property. Several volts of lightning swarmed around the water, add electricity into the mix as both Zeus and Helious, the Flaaffy, used their own special attacks. Hera swooped up above the Heartless, flapping her wings, and then swung them as if cutting the air above the Heartless. A visible wave of energy followed her wings, wavering through the air to collide with the Heartless. A tiny ball of yellow and green fur yipped, sending out a tiny stream of lightning to join Zeus's and Helios’s. Hermes, the brother of Leto, was still a little too young to do much damage, but he played his part as well. Angel the Holipus began glowing with an intense light, and within a few seconds, turned into a yellow streak as she used 'Divine Judgement', a Holy type attack. A similar, red streak paired up with Angel as Indy performed 'Extreme Speed', and the two Pokémon tackled the Heartless simultaneously. This seemed to have been enough for the Heartless as it gave a silent scream and vanished in a collection of purple orbs.
Giving a grateful sigh, Sam sat down, his knees trembling beneath him. The collection of Pokémon instantly reacted, coming over to see if their Trainer or Master was fine. Indy, while not Sam's, was Sam's Pokémon to take care of while he was at home. Even now, he had a lot of love and affection for his old master.

"I'm fine guys. I'm ok." Sam whispered, stroking Leto gently. The small brown and white fox, her fur sharply angled as a result of her father; a Manetric, leapt into Sam's lap, giving him a lick up the face.

"That wasn't a Pokémon." Artemis commented lightly. "That wasn't anything of this world."

"That was a Heartless." Sam replied. His mind seemed distant while his mouth rambled on. "I dunno where they come from, but that's what it's called; a Heartless."

"Old friend?" Hera asked, swooping down to land on top of Artemis's head. Once then, she began preening herself. Below, Artemis went cross-eyed as his eyes attempted to focus on Hera's tail, which was currently on his nose.

"Not exactly." Sam responded. Opening his mouth, he attempted to continue, but was thrown up in the air and backwards as the promised earthquake finally hit. Pain surged through his body as he flew through the air, but instinct lashed out, his mind spread out, engulfing all of his Pokémon and lifted them into the air. Slamming into the wall of his house, he let out a gasp of pain as the brick scraped his back. With his mind off of his focus, the Pokémon, and Sam, slipped. Catching them less than an inch of the ground, he hovered them up higher, taking stock of their situation when he blinked the tears of pain from his eyes.
Artemis seemed to be fine. In fact, he had been cackling with laughter since the earthquake hit, apparently immune to its power due to being a ground type. Zeus was fine, he floated normally anyway, as did Hera and Angel. If anything, it was Helios, Indy, Leto and Hermes who benefited the most from Sam's help. Releasing Hera, Zeus and Artemis from his mental grip, he sighed with relief. Drifting over, Zeus arranged himself until he was below Sam and Leto, the Eevee having been thrown along with Sam. Dropping himself into the solidified cloud, he froze as he heard a violent cracking and groan behind him. Turning slightly, he watched as his childhood home collapsed under the stress of the earth tremors. He was calmer than he expected he would be, it seemed the series of unfortunate events had left him little room to be shocked. Instead, he gave a sigh of annoyance, outstretching his hands and snapping his fingers, summoning his, Nick's and Ani's Trainer Packs to his side. He thanked Mew that he had gone shopping and restocked his pack a few weeks ago. Nick and Ani on the other hand, he had no idea about.

"Ok Zeus, we need to get downtown. Let's go." Sam yelled above the noise of the earth. Looking behind him, Sam blanched as he realised he had almost left his Pokémon behind. His hand reached down, touching five of the seven Pokéballs on his belt, returning the majority of his team to their Pokéballs.
At the same time, he reached out, bringing Indy the Growlithe onto his lap. "Good to go."

Giving a shudder, Zeus set off, trusting Sam to find a way to hold on. Being a cloud, he could summon speed when he needed by riding the winds, which were in excess now with all the crumbling buildings. Grabbing a hold of one of the thunderhead type's fluffy curls, his other keeping a hold on the wriggling Growlithe.
Rolling and pitching as the wind buffeted him around, Zeus gave the equivalent of a frown when he saw the destruction of the localised earthquake. Dodging around a church spire, hearing a ripping sound as something on his back caught on it and tore, Zeus kept going ahead. He had heard Fiona, Sam's mother, saying they were heading for the mall, which Zeus knew the location of. It was a good place for food, having a fountain in the middle of it. He had been chased out a few times, the first with a broom, the second with a vacuum cleaner, Zeus was more afraid of the latter than the first; Zeus collected his cloudy mass into a narrow strip, lowering his wind resistance.
Sam had long since closed his eyes, simply trying to maintain his hold on Zeus. The speed they were going at made Sam felt like his organs had been left about five miles back, but he knew it was a necessity. It was the stop he wasn't prepared for. The first sign Sam got that they had stopped was the sudden absence of Zeus beneath him. Flying through the air, Sam let out a yell when he was caught barely an inch from the rippling ground. Within seconds, a combination of pink and purple energy had Sam protected from the power of the Earthquake as Ani and Manessah used their powers to summon Sam to them.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking down on the planet they had abandoned, Mew, Celebi and Jirachi watched with a muted silence as the planet tore itself apart. Without its elemental protectors, the legendary Pokemon, there were no forces to keep the fury of Mother Nature in check. Waving its paw across the seeing pool in the Chamber of the Gods, Mew called up a vision of Faraway Island, located near Metone, the great Southern Continent that played home to Alara, the meeting place of the legendary Pokemon of the world.
Even now Heartless were approaching at impossible speeds to be the first to take the world's heart. The resulting Heartless would be incredibly powerful, but Mew and the other Gods had banked on the Forger of Friendship being powerful enough to destroy it. Watching the Heartless race across the sands of the Metonian Central Desert towards Metone’s East Coast, Mew turned its head to catch the eyes of Celebi and Jirachi. Giving a silent call, it pointed its paw at the distant island, joined quickly by Celebi's leafy hand and Jirachi's silver one. Beams of power shot from their finger tips to collide above Faraway Island, and in its wake, a keyhole shape appeared above the rock. This seemed to infuriate the Heartless even more, as the moved even faster than before.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Looking around, a nervous, fluttery feeling collected in Sam's stomach. Nick was meant to have been here a few minutes ago. The earthquake hadn't disappeared, if anything, it had gotten worse, and that made Sam worry.
A shrill whistle made Sam almost snap his neck as he turned. A grin of relief spread over his face as he spied Nick, levitating in the air with his psychic Butterfree hovering behind him. A violent cracking split the air, and a particularly bad shudder racked the earth. Gulping, Sam turned back to Nick, beckoning him into the protective bubble that Ani and Manessah were holding above the ground. Nick's Butterfree seemed to comply, and once its owner was in the bubble, it returned itself to its Pokéball.

"Hi Sam, interesting weather we're having." Nick said, a strained note of cheerfulness coming through his voice. Rolling his eyes, Sam nudged over Nick's Trainer Pack. Picking it up with a sigh of relief, Nick winked at Sam. "Nice sunset."

Looking in the direction of the sun, Sam frowned. Sunset wasn't for hours yet, but the sun was approaching the horizon already. It looked strange as well; a curious red that looked like it was dying.
As if on a signal, the earth stopped as the sun dipped below the horizon. Looking down at the suddenly dark land, Sam's sense of fright increased. "Guys, what's going on?"

The ground had transformed into a strange mass of purple, flowing energy. Around them, houses sunk into the goo, turning into energy themselves. A strand of the stuff shot out of the ground to curl around the bubble. Beside him, Ani and Manessah let out screams as their power as attacked. More and more tentacles came to the aid of the first one, pulling the bubble to where the ground was.

"Oh, we're screwed. We are definitely screwed." Nick muttered fervently.

Grip the ties of friendship.

Looking around, Sam tried to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It was the same voice from his dream.

Call on your friends!

Giving a shrug, Sam held out his hands. It had worked once, and it had gotten rid of the Heartless. Maybe his dream could help him again.
Pictures flashed through his mind. Images of Nick and Katrina laughing, Artemis playing tricks on Brendan, Zeus and Electra arguing. The visions surged through Sam's mind at his command, a familiar tugging on his heart becoming the result. The tug grew, leaving Sam breathless. Just as he thought he couldn't hold the feeling any longer, the sensation of polished wood filled his hand. Opening his eyes, he looked with wonder at the staff that he held.

Nirvana...

The name whispered through the air. With the staff in his hand, Sam smiled, suddenly not afraid of the shadows.
The bubble they were in was now half-submerged. The darkness pounded as it tried to make its way into the bubble to the people inside of it. Raising his staff, and nearly knocking Nick out with it, Sam willed something to happen.
And sensing its master's need, something did happen. A brilliant light shone from the staff, loosing itself as a wave that spread past the bubble, striking at the darkness. Successive waves shot out, and before long, the bubble was gently resting on a patch of ground. The intermingled colours of pink and purple faded as Ani and Manasseh let the shield go. Looking around this small sanctuary, Sam quirked his mouth.

"Ok, Sam, it's a very pretty thing, but where did you get it?" Nick said simply, pointing at Nirvana. Positioning it so that the butt-end of the pole was on the ground, Sam looked it up and down.
The furthest end was capped in a golden metal, a small, tiny bubble on top of a much larger bubble that had the pole coming out of it. The wooden staff seemed to be made out of oak, a smooth, polished surface that held no chances for splinters. At the top, an elaborate working of metal, with tiny tassels of blue string hanging off of the edges completed the staff.

"Um... eBay?" Sam retorted. A stunned silence followed, after which Nick chuckled.

"Ok, I'm giving you that on- eh?"

The ground started to churn again. But this was different from the waves of an earthquake. This was more of a rumble. Before Sam, his shadow stretched out, apparently from nowhere since there wasn't a light source. As it stretched further and wider, Sam's eyes widened themselves as his shadow moved above the ground, becoming a giant Heartless.

The primary power of the Forger is that of a Summoner. Using your Crest, you can call friends and allies to your side at any moment.

The voice seemed to speak again, but Sam knew it was his memory filling in the blanks. His Trials had prepared him as a Summoner, and it had been there that he had summoned his first ally. Raising Nirvana up again, Sam stepped forward, angling to stave towards the creature.

"ARTICUNO!"

Nirvana began to glow again, this time a sapphire blue. The wood shifted and changed under Sam's hands, warping and contorting until it became the legendary Titan of Ice, Articuno. Giving a screech, Articuno stood high, its wings outstretched. It looked to the Heartless with a cool and emotionless eye, as if sizing up its target. Furling its wings, it stood at attention, facing its opponent.

"Holy cr-"

"Articuno! Ice beam!" Sam quickly said, cutting Nick off before the impressionable younger siblings could hear the rest of that sentence. Hearing Sam, Articuno nodded, and then took off into the air, gaining altitude until it wheeled around, shooting a beam of pure cold at the Heartless. It hit square on, trapping some of the creature within a thick block of ice.

The elemental alignment of the Crest of Friendship is Water. To use this element, hold out your hand and think of the element, and will it to come out of you.

Holding up his left hand, Sam narrowed his eyes. This had required more concentration than summoning, but he had achieved it. Thinking of the tides that regularly beat against Southern Island's shores, of the Great Dictian River, in Dictioy, and the Lake of Tears, he willed water to come to his aid.
Before, in the Trials, it had come out as a physical sphere of water. This time it changed form. Above them, rain clouds formed, and at once, shed their load of rain, drenching the group with icy water. Taking advantage of its foe being wet, Articuno let loose another blast of ice, again freezing it.
At that point, a strange vibration filled Sam. Looking down at his suddenly shaking hand, he blinked, and then flew backwards as the Heartless exploded in a way of power, shattering the ice and sending Sam back towards the Heartless energy that had engulfed the rest of the planet. A pink bubble blocked Sam's passage, making Sam bounce harmlessly off of it and onto the dirt. Looking up again, Sam winced. Articuno had continued its assault, but the Heartless had begun fighting back. Balls of black came out of its hands, some hitting the wheeling and dodging ice bird, while the others flew past to land harmlessly in the warped landscape.
The vibrations came back again, but these ones seemed to be coming from a different direction. Looking skywards, Sam saw a ball of red, purple and black energy hovering above the curve of the earth, sucking and pulling everything towards it. Getting to his feet, Sam dove into the crowd that was his family, pulling them close with his powers. Articuno, noticing the same thing Sam had, shot downwards, turning back into Nirvana as it did. Stretching out his hand, Sam caught the falling staff, and as he did, a field of blue energy spread out, surrounding the group of people. Spinning, twisting and turning, though Sam didn't know how he knew, the bubble around them warped, steadily glowing more brightly. Pulsing and throbbing, the bubble suddenly flashed out of existence.
Looking outside of the bubble, Sam frowned. The desecrated landscape had been replaced by a field of darkness, this one a natural kind. Stars peppered the skies, and with a lurch, Sam realised they were moving at a very high speed.

"Well, this is interesting." Nick said quietly, looking around them. "Not sure if I prefer this or our place."

"Next question; how are we still breathing?" Ani asked, looking at the back of Sam's head.

Without turning around, Sam knew they were all looking at him. Giving a shrug, he looked at his new little staff. "Don't ask me. Ask this thing."

"I would, but I bet its responses may be a little wooden." Nick returned, rather dryly.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Pokémon World has been destroyed, and the World Saver Project has been initiated. The Forger, as well as those close to him, is headed towards Spira, wrapped in the power of the Crest Weapon. They should arrive within minutes.

Looking down at the seeing pool, Mew fought back a feeling of sadness, agony and happiness. The Pokémon World, the centre of his power, was gone. All the powers of creation, and it had disappeared within the course of a few hours.
At that moment, the pool slowly dried up. Recognising the arrival of the owner of the voice who had spoken to each of the Crest Holders in turn, and who had reported the circumstances of the Universe to the Gods, Mew floated gently to the ground, landing lightly upon the tips of his long feet.
Sparks of purple energy floated out of the nothingness that surrounded the Chamber of the Gods coming together over the space where the Pool of Seeing had once been. A tall being stood there, its eyes calming surveying the three Gods that stood before it.

Mewtwo, once, he was simply a clone of Mew. He had inherited all of Mew's God-like abilities, and had even more power than his predecessor. If it had only been Mew in his way, he could have easily taken over the Universe.
However, what Mewtwo hadn't taken account for were the other Gods.
Knowing he had been out powered, Mewtwo had instead volunteered to help the Gods out. In exchange, he was granted omnipotence and the full spectrum of human emotions; something his creators had been unable to do.

Meeting his clone's eyes, Mew conveyed a silent message of sympathy. Mewtwo would have been far more upset about the destruction of the Pokémon world than he would have; a result of his having greater powers than Mew.
At that moment, Bahamut entered the Chamber. His draconian bulk filled his pedestal, but quickly changed as he reverted to his child-like form.

Hyrule has been destroyed. He said simply, leaving the implications to the rest of his brethren. They did it as the Pokémon World was destroyed, to hide their tracks.

And the Crest Holders?

Safe. Farore returned to the world as the last phases of its destruction took place.

Celebi stepped forward this time. Hyrule held great interest to Celebi; it held one of his greatest works there.

And the Seal?

Bahamut shifted, troubled. Dissolved. The Six Sages died during the destruction of the world, unable to use their powers to journey off world and keep the Seal intact. The Juror of Power has escaped back into our Realm.

Jirachi waved its silver paw impatiently. That is of no consequence. He has no powers, other than those he naturally has. With Hyrule's destruction, the Triforce is gone, meaning Ganondorf no longer has unlimited power. We can worry about him after this mess is done. The Protector of Power should be able to deal with him easily.

Giving a sigh, Celebi nodded, floating back into place above its pedestal. Very well. The Crest Holders are converging on Spira. What is the status of the other Crest Holders? Celebi abruptly turned back to Mewtwo.

The Protector of Power and the Lighter of Love are being directed to Spira. Using the power of the Queen of Hearts, Kairi has entered Gummi-Space and is being drawn to Spira. Yensid is currently dealing with the Protector of Power and he will be sending him to Spira as well. The Crests of Friendship, Courage, Knowledge, Determination and Kindness are either heading to, or are on, Spira already. Our only problems have been summoning the Sentinel of Sincerity and the Holder of Hope. As their world has long been using magical powers, the Heartless have been beaten back easily.

Nodding, Mew began floating once more. With the Protector of Power present, they should have enough magic to activate the World Savers.

And if not? Mewtwo asked.

Mew hovered silently. We can only hope that none of the other Primary Worlds have been destroyed.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"What's that?" Nick asked suddenly, pointing out into the darkness of space. Narrowing his eyes, Sam focused on the point Nick was indicating.

"I think it's a planet."

"No way." Nick murmured. As they shot closer to it, Sam's eyes began to tell the difference between the last masses and the oceans. It was when they went by what had to be a moon that Sam looked around nervously.

"Uh, how do we stop this thing?"

Chapter Eight
Land of the Fayth

You’re a real tough cookie with a long history,
Of breaking little hearts like the one in me.
That’s ok; let’s see how you do it.
Put up your dukes, let’s get down to it.

Hit me with your best shot...
Come on and hit me with your best shot.
Hit me with your best shot...
Fire away!

Hit Me with Your Best Shot
Pat Benatar

Landing had been painful.
Looking around him, Sam spat out a mouthful of the golden sand which was spread everywhere. Ani and Nassy’s shield had shattered upon impact with the ground, and they had splayed outwards as they hit the sand. Giving a groan, Sam pushed himself off of his stomach and onto his knees, dusting off his clothing. Looking around for the staff he had been holding, he frowned when he saw it was gone. A few feet over, Nick was coughing, holding his arm. For the most part, they had escaped unscathed.
Getting to his feet shakily, Sam looked around, now that he was at a better vantage point. The beach was small, but covered in golden sand like he’d expect around the equator back in the Pokémon World. There were several plants he had never seen before, but the most interesting thing was the ruins that were overgrown with the plants.
Listening, Sam frowned. There were no birds whistling... No shuffling animals through the underbrush, there was nothing. Just silence.

It was the groan of Nick that pulled him back into the present. Remembering what had happened, he rushed over, kneeling next to Nick. The next few minutes were spent checking his arm for breakages, but in the end, Sam could guess that all he had done had sprained his shoulder.

“We’re lucky.” Sam said quietly. Looking up at Sam, sand covering his face, Nick blinked, before realising what was so lucky about the situation.

“I know. Coming through the atmosphere and hitting the ground at the speed of a comet? I’m surprised your sisters managed to hold it.” Nick replied, getting gingerly up. “You check your sisters out, since you and them are psychic. I’ll check the others.”

“Ok.”

“Healtia, we need you.” Nick yelled, grabbing a Pokéball from his belt and throwing it. The result was a pink ball, with a nurse’s cap on its head. Healtia, the evolved form of Blissey and the last in the four-line evolution. Taking in the situation with the calm, warm eyes of a practiced doctor, Healtia rushed to Josh’s aid, while Nick checked Daniel.
Giving a sigh, Sam walked over to his sisters, who had passed out side-by-side. Kneeling down, he extended his hands, holding them above the two prone forms. Anyone with the ability to see psychic powers would have seen an intense wave of blue fall from Sam’s hand to fall on Ani and Nassy as Sam mentally checked them for damage. Physically, they were unharmed, but their minds and powers were at very low levels, a result of their shielding. His eyes closed, Sam ignored the outside world until the sound of a gunshot rang out. His eyes blinking open, he stood up, pushing out with his psychic powers on instinct more than anything. A woman, brown hair, and in her mid-twenties, flew backwards, guns clattering out of her hands. Looking over, Sam saw a quailing Healtia trembling behind the smaller body of Nick. The look of fury on Nick’s face was one Sam had never seen before, and without a word, Nick marched forward.

“What the hell are you doing?” Nick roared at the woman. Getting up with a speed that implied that she was used to being knocked down, she grabbed her guns, focusing eyes, one a beautiful shade of ocean blue, the other a forest green, Sam was interested to note, on the group. Looking at the guns, Sam bit his lip, extending his hands to show they were empty. At once, his staff appeared again, manifesting in a shower of blue lights. This form was different though. Instead of having an intricate network of metal strands everywhere, this one had a Pokéball with wings stretching out from the top of it. The staff was polished wood again, this one oak. At the bottom was a cap identical to the one on Sam’s last staff.

‘Nirvana, Crest Form.’

Looking around at the whispering air again, Sam rolled his eyes. Extending the staff, he narrowed his eyes on the woman. “Shoot those guns and we’ll see what kinds of elements I can blast back at you.”

Raising her eyebrow, Yuna smirked. The boy was looking to be in his late teens, so she seriously doubted he could do anything much to hurt her. Memory then surged through, reminding her that she herself had destroyed the greatest that Spira had ever faced at the age of seventeen as well. From what she could tell, the fiend behind the blond boy wasn’t doing anything to hurt him, but that didn’t mean anything. Still angling her pistols at the pink creature, she arched an eyebrow in challenge to Sam.

“She wasn’t doing anything to you.” Sam said quietly, Nirvana still levelled at the woman. “Put your pistols down. She isn’t any threat. She’s here to heal us.”

Yuna frowned. “It knows white magic?”

Responding with a frown of his own, Sam looked over to Nick, who shrugged. “Magic is all fakery.” Sam returned. “She heals people by using a highly selective branch of psychic power.”

“And how were you planning to ‘see what kinds of elements you can blast at me?’ Yuna said dully. That froze Sam for a second.

“I’m not sure. I’m still figuring that out.”

Giving a sigh, Yuna shook her head. “It’s ok.” She said. “Look, I’m putting down my guns.” Since she was crouching, she simply dropped them. Relaxing as he felt relief surge through him, Sam knelt, putting Nirvana down between Ani and Nassy.

“I think we need to talk.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sitting on the ground in front of his and Yuna’s tent, their home when they were in Besaid, Tidus basked in the sunlight that was soaking into his bronzed skin. It was very rare that he ever got the chance to relax like this, between playing for the Besaid Aurochs and being one of the infamous Gullwings. It was a good life though, and best of all, he lived it with the woman he loved.
His small musings were broken by the sound of running feet. Opening his eyes, he brushed blond hair from them, looking at the slightly chubby figure of Keepa, his team-mate on the Besaid Aurochs.

“Hey, wazzup?” Tidus asked, yelling in the direction Keepa had gone. Backtracking, Keepa jogged on the spot, red-faced from the effort of running.

“Yuna found a bunch of strange people on the beach, and most of them are knocked out.” Keepa said; his voice relatively light. Blinking, Tidus frowned, getting to his feet. This he had to see.
The path to Besaid Beach was long and winding, going through small, rainforest areas and through one or two waterfalls before it reached a cave which had been sealed until recently; going past that led you to the beach. Depending on how fit you were, it could take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour to get there, assuming you weren’t attacked by fiends.
Cold steel snaked out, striking at an unnoticed fiend. Jumping, Keepa looked in awe at the blade embedded in the skull of the fiend, who gave a howl of anguish, before exploding into several, glowing orbs which floated off. Pulling Caladbolg back, Tidus looked grimly at the place the fiend had been. Tidus was known for being one of the fastest people in Spira, in the Blitzsphere and out. Oddly, he had only seemed to be getting faster lately, seeming to know the layout of the land better than people who had grown up on the island.
They had only gotten halfway there when they saw a small procession heading their way. Squinting slightly, the sun was in a bad position; Tidus shielded his eyes, attempting to make out who was there.
The brown-haired form near the front of the party had to be Yuna. However, she was dwarfed by the two figures beside her, one blond and one a red-head. In all his travels, Tidus had not met anyone in Spira with red hair, other than Wakka and his offspring. At least, not a red like this. Behind them, some people were supporting some litters which were holding some people, while another two seemed to be floating just behind Yuna, how, Tidus didn’t know. He could see a faint glimmer of blue under the ones behind Yuna, but that was about it. Jogging forward, Tidus met the group face-to-face, Keepa a small distance behind him.

“Hey.” Yuna said, as Tidus came up to her. Giving him a small smile; and a quick peck on the cheek, ignoring the colour he turned, she looked around. “Sam, Nick, this is Tidus.”

“Hi.” The red –head said, waving. “I’m Sam.”

“And I’m Nick.” The blond butted in, hot on the trail of Sam’s words. “Nice sword.”

Looking down at Caladbolg, Tidus gave a small shrug. “Yeah, I guess. Sharp too.” He added a serious look to his face as he looked pointedly at the two.

When Nick blinked, Tidus let out a burst of laughter. “Nah, I’m kidding. It’s great to meet you.” He said; a grin on his face. Looking Nick and Sam up and down, he raised an eyebrow. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Looking at Tidus, Sam shook his head. Are we THAT obvious? He asked himself sarcastically. Outwardly, he smiled. “No. Um, a weird question, but do you know what Pokémon are?”

Tidus frowned. “Not a clue. Is it Al Bhed or something?”

“Al who?” Nick asked, looking confused.

“I don’t think so.” Sam added. “Here, I’ll show you.” Grabbing a red and white sphere from his belt, he hesitated as his eyes fell on Tidus’s sword again. “Uh, under no circumstances can you attack him, ok? He’s not gonna hurt you.”

Tidus exchanged a look with Yuna, wondering what this kid was on about. When she nodded, he gave a shrug, giving Sam his own nod.

Relaxing, Sam threw the ball up in the air. Following its trail with his eyes, Tidus jumped as the Pokéball suddenly seemed to exploded open, a jet of white energy pouring from the inside of the object. Rushing to form near the ground, it turned into a small blue and orange creature which was standing on its back legs.
Looking down at the creature, Tidus blinked. This was new. He had heard of Fiendtamers, even seen one in action, but never met one who carried the fiends around with him.
Matching Tidus’s stare, the creature looked back at the man, and then focused on his sword. Turning slightly, it turned to Sam, a quizzical look in its eyes.

“Marsh, mar, shtomp, stomp stomp, Marshtomp?” It said in a questioning tone. Looking down at the creature, Sam shook his head.

“No, he’s safe. That shot you heard earlier was from her.” Sam jerked his thumb at Yuna, who grinned sheepishly. “She shot at Healtia; it’s all cleared up now though.” Nodding its head, the creature turned back to Tidus.

“Marshtomp? Marsh, marsh Marshtomp!”

Nick and Sam promptly burst out laugh. Giving Sam a curious look, Tidus frowned when Sam waved his inquiring gaze away.

“Don’t worry. He was just commenting on your clothes.” Sam said.

“You can understand him?” Yuna asked her voice quiet. Looking at her, Sam grinned, moving his hair back to show his right ear, which had a small, blue stud in it.

“This thing. It’s got a special kind of technology in it that translate a Pokémon’s speech, and then passes it into the ear.” Sam explained. Leaning in, Yuna studied it intently for a moment.

“You have a machina?” Yuna asked, frowning as she looked at it.

“Machina?” Nick asked, frowning. “We have machines, but this is fairly low-levelled stuff. With our big machines, we’re capable of healing wounds and stuff almost instantly, as well as giving people psychic powers if they don’t have any.”

Yuna and Tidus shared another look, Yuna’s amazed, Tidus’s excited. “Ok, you need to meet a friend of ours.” Yuna said, taking off at a jog. Looking behind him, Sam shook his head. They still had to get his family to somewhere comfortable. Carefully moving forward, taking care not to jostle Ani or Nassy, he followed in Yuna’s direction, wondering just where they were. Something he hadn’t noticed until he had tried using his powers was the gravity was lower here, he was capable of jumping a lot higher here than he was back in his world. It also made it easy to levitate Ani and Nassy without using much psychic powers at all. Giving a sigh, Sam moved them forward, preferring to have them in front of him rather than behind.
Slowly, they made their way through the island. When they came upon a bluff, Sam gasped quietly. While the small village below wasn’t the largest he had ever seen, it just looked very quaint and seemed to fit in perfectly with the lush landscape of the island.

“Besaid Village.” Tidus said, coming up next to Sam. “The smallest town in Spira, and home to the Grand Summoner.”

“Who’s that?” Sam asked, cocking his head to the side.

“The Grand Summoner is the Summoner who defeated Sin once and for all.” Seeing Sam’s confused look, Tidus grinned. “Sin was a giant monster who ravaged the land, going after machines and machina. For a thousand years, he destroyed cities, towns, generally every place that had a lot of people.”

Sam shivered. “And the Grand Summoner got rid of Sin?”

Tidus nodded. “She, along with six others, found a way to get rid of the thing forever. Before, the only way was to do the Final Summoning, something that killed the user. The thing summoned would then become the next Sin. We found a way to get inside Sin and kill the Aeon that had become Sin.” Tidus’s mouth drew thin, as if he were reliving bad memories.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “We?”

Tidus smiled dreamily, staring off at the ocean from their vantage point. “Caught that, huh? The Grand Summoner is Yuna, and I was one of the six people with her. We were seventeen at the time.”

Sam whistled softly. “That’s how old I am now. Gotta say, the most I’ve done is broken dimensional walls and all that.”

Tidus raised an eyebrow. “Whatever you just said made no sense to me, but anyway. We’re getting left behind.” Leaning backwards, Sam looked down the slope that led to the village. Nick and the others were a fair distance away. Sam could almost hear Nick chuckling evilly. Rolling his eyes, Sam caught Tidus’s eyes.

“Race ya.”

That seemed to be the only sign Tidus was waiting for. He took off at an incredible speed. Waiting until the man was almost in the group; Sam felt a familiar tingling sensation spread throughout his body. A flash of sapphire light, and Sam was among the group, looking back at Tidus. “Wow, Tidus, you’re slow man.” He said innocently. Pulling up short of Keepa, Tidus blinked, looking behind him, then back at Sam.

Giving a laugh, Sam pushed past Nick, racing into the square of the village.