Mark watched Lugia turn its head to look at Nate, following his eyes to him. The disheartened look on Nate's face pulled at his heartstrings before Nate tilted his flask and hastily drank it down. The second Nate passed out from drinking the alcohol too fast, Mark started to rush toward him. Zoey shot him a glare that made her eyes glow with a red light as she bared her sharp fangs at him. Skidding to a stop, he raised his hands in surrender, asking guilty. "Is he ok?" Zoey scooped Nate up into her arms, growling back at him. "No. He's not. But what do you care?" Mark lowered his hands, stating out seriously. "Hey! I do care! Whatever happened to him because of my Team wasn't me! I'm not... my Team." Zoey's eyes turned back to normal, before coolly sneering out to him. "And yet you stand there in their colors, talking just like them." Zoey carried Nate to the edge of the shore, giving Lugia a respectful bow that Lugia returned. Then she laid him down to put his legs in the water. Cyndaquil trotted along after her, snorting in a cute disgusted way at Mark.

Mark stood there feeling dirty. The words had poured from him like a reflex. Zapdos draining the power grids had been a problem... but they had used their own pokemon to keep eggs warm. Their own electric pokemon had managed to supply the back-up generators with enough power to help them save the injured pokemon in surgery. Yet, his Team had been angry over the incident because it had happened. Anger that he hadn't realized he had absorbed until now. He felt ashamed of himself. What would his dad think of him? Removing his hat, he crushed it in his hand as he thought about all the times that he might have hurt someone with his actions. From the water, Lugia addressed him in a warm voice. "Mark... The past is in the past. How you move forward is all that matters." Mark saw Cyndaquil trying to get water, but he was scared of it because the black sand of the shore kept threatening to pull him into the water as it shifted under his weight. Licking his lips, Mark moved to the shore and kneeled down.

Cyndaquil dashed away to huddle up by Nate's side with distressed squeals. Putting his hat down, Mark cupped his hands to collect water and turned slightly to see if Cyndaquil would come back for it. Zoey stared at Mark with a cautious look, but after looking at Lugia, she tapped Cyndaquil to go. Cyndaquil crept forward nervously, ready to dash back to Nate in a second's notice. Mark stayed still, watching Cyndaquil timidly touch his hands with his tiny front paws. Leaning over, Cyndaquil quickly began to drink and then dashed away. Zoey removed a water bottle from her bag, tossing it to Mark as she asked a bit guarded. "Fill that for me... Please." Mark caught the bottle and began to fill it. Nearby, Sean asked Lugia bluntly. "You didn't answer my question." Lugia looked away from Nate to answer in a soothing tone. "It's not my place to tell you. You want to know? Ask him yourself." Sean huffed, sitting down on the rock to say bitterly. "He'll lie." Lugia lowered his head to eye level to say bluntly in return. "Have you ever tried asking him? It's true, he may lie... but don't people lie because they don't trust each other?"

Pryce smirked, listening quietly to Lugia. After a minute though, Pryce tensed, asking curtly. "What the-?" Lugia looked away from Sean without fear. From a small tunnel at the end of the cave, a small group of pokemon were approaching Lugia's lake. A pink pokemon that looked like sea coral, bounded over to the shore to set down a small glinting scale. A Corsola with a Prism Scale. As Corsola left, another pokemon that looked like a small red crab moved in to put another scale down. The Krabby dropped the scale from one of its pinchers then retreated away. The last pokemon, an Omanyte, quickly crawled over to give up yet another scale. Omanyte had a large helix spiraled tan shell on its back and ten small blue tentacles. It timidly set down its scale and began to scramble away as Pryce rose and uttered out. "An Omanyte? They are supposed to be extinct!" Mark snorted, handing the water bottle back to Zoey as he blurted out in a chuckle. "Maybe in your time. They are pretty common around the island." Pryce looked shocked, then crept after the pokemon to get a good look at him. Omanyte noticed him following, stopping to look at him with just as much curiosity.

Lugia's deep chuckle from watching them touch each other made Mark smile. Sean slipped off the rock to collect up the scales, asking Lugia with a perplexed look. "These are Prism scales... We were trying to collect these. Why are they giving them to you?" Lugia tilted his head, answering just as curiously. "I do not know myself. I've never seen anything like them. But I feel a strong power within them. Much stronger than any of the legendries that I know... I suspect that the pokemon are afraid of them. So, they are bringing them to me to keep them safe." Sean blinked, holding up a scale as he said softly. "Are you saying these scales came off of a legendary pokemon?" Pryce stood up from watching Omanyte to interject curtly. "Necrozma... Great. I brought a pissed off legendary through time..." Lugia tilted his head with sudden concern, upon stating out. "Necrozma?" Lugia seemed to be lost in thought. Whether he was reading Pryce's mind or deep in his own thoughts, Mark didn't know.

A sudden tremble in the ground made Mark crouch down to stay balanced. Sean set the scales down on one of the rocks, asking everyone nervously. "Earthquake?" Pryce staggered on his feet, answering as the trembling stopped. "Maybe...? Or that Ruby Steelix is back." Lugia looked up at the ceiling, his body tensing as he announced loudly. "Neither." Whirling around in the water, Lugia glared at the waterfall behind him. Mark stared into the falls, seeing a large dark shadow rise behind the curtain of rippling clear water. From a center point in the shadow a rainbow hue began to glisten. Mark slowly rose up to his feet, uttering out in shock. "Oh, shit. It found us!" Lugia raised his wings, letting out a challenging bellow as its eyes turned white. From the curtain of water, Necrozma's massive black body moved out into plain sight without a trace of fear over Lugia's aggressive stance. Lugia rose up over the water, telling Necrozma seriously. "Necrozma. I can sense the pain of your injuries. You are welcome to stay and heal... but only in peace."

Necrozma's long black fingers curled menacingly as it repeated its name in various forms of phrasing. Lugia suddenly gasped, drifting back to bring its wings forward to attack, but Necrozma acted too fast. Rushing into him, Necrozma's hands grabbed Lugia's shoulders in an iron grip. Lugia thrashed and bellowed out in distress as Necrozma's fingers dug into his flesh to keep him still. Lugia turned its head slightly, yelling out at them in a strained voice. "RUN!" Necrozma jerked Lugia enough to draw his eyes back to him. Everyone watched in horror as Necrozma's prism face began to sparkle and glow until a beam hit Lugia's eyes. Zoey rose to her feet, screaming out in distress. "NO! LUGIA! LOOK AWAY!" Lugia's eyes turned a blazing red and his white body began to darken to a pitch black. Lugia's blue belly and fins on his back turned an ashen grey, before Lugia let out a distorted cry that was frightening. Lugia's cry sent out a blast that knocked everyone off their feet and out across the black sand.

Mark staggered to his feet, watching Necrozma's body break apart into pieces and latch onto Lugia like black armor. Mark exhaled all the breath in his body as Lugia's pure aura turned into something dark and angry. Zoey coaxed Cyndaquil back into Nate's pokeball, then pulled Nate to his feet. Nate's leg wasn't broken anymore as they ran across the shore toward the small tunnel. Pryce and Sean followed him. While Mark watched the Shadow Lugia swoop over the shore to snatch up the Prism Scales with his back foot. After collecting them, it watched the others retreat into the tunnel, then dived into the water. Taking a minute to process what just happened, he breathlessly mumbled out. "Oh no... This is bad... really bad!" Snatching up his hat, he took off down the tunnel after the others. The tunnel opened into a large portion of cave, where the others were panting heavily. Mark didn't waste time. Pointing back where they had come from, he rushed out between breathes. "Did you see that? It possessed Lugia!" Nate huffed, unwrapping his leg to look it over with fascination as he sarcastically retorted. "Ya... Tell us something we don't know."

Taking a deep breath, Mark curtly told them seriously. "Guys... You don't understand... Lugia controls the sea! He keeps the harmony between the legendary birds!" Sean suddenly tensed, straightening up slowly as he said nervously. "Oh shite... If they see Lugia as a threat to their islands..." Sean drifted off, but Nate continued on dryly. "They'll all fight until only one is left standing." Mark put his hat on, panting out shakily. "We've got to get out of here and stop this Shadow Lugia before he leaves Shamouti island. If the other birds even see or sense him... We're in some serious trouble." Pryce backed up to lean against the cave wall, mumbling out to himself. "Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning... Lest these titans reek destruction upon the world in which they clash." Nate narrowed his eyes on Pryce, snapping out. "What are you mumbling about now?" Pryce looked up with defensive eyes, replying a bit numbly. "The prophecy we brought about. The one Slowking predicted. I thought it just meant the three Teams. After all, the three Teams started the Great Pokemon War... but... I didn't realize until now."

Pryce tilted his head back against the wall, saying grimly. "The harmony between the legendary birds is Lugia. And we brought that monster straight to him... It's too late. We can't stop this from happening. It's already destined." Mark looked at the others. Their faces were grim with defeated looks. Even Zoey's ears were laying flat with a brokenhearted expression. Clenching his jaw, he shook his head, defiantly snapping out. "No. I'm not just going to accept that. We can still try. And I intend to." Turning on his heel, he strolled up beside Nate. Placing a hand hesitantly on his shoulder, he told him in an apologetic voice. "I'm sorry." Squeezing his shoulder briefly, Mark dropped his hand. Walking away, he began to walk up a rocky incline to head for the first tunnel that caught his eye. Reaching the top of the incline, Mark looked over his shoulder. He was pleasantly surprised to see both Sean and Nate following him up. Pryce groaned, but started to follow as he told them darkly. "This is pointless... but fine."

Sean moved around him to lead the way. Touching the walls, Sean headed down the tunnel he was going to take. For a bit no one said anything, until Mark broke the silence by asking Nate curiously. "What did happen?" Nate sighed softly, avoiding his eyes with a regretful expression. Zoey moved up between them, warning Mark protectively. "None of your business." Nate gently pushed Zoey back a bit, his voice a bit broken when he said openly. "It's alright, Zoey. It... It doesn't matter anymore." After a shaky breath, Nate admitted to them all in a semi clear voice. "I fell in love with a Valor who used me to steal the Mystic Treasure. When Blanche found out... She had some men drag me up to Articuno' s mountain. There I was judged and sentenced. Articuno watched as they beat me bloody. They tore off my colors and Articuno took me from the island to drop me into the sea." Sean slowed in front of them as he listened closely to their conversation. Nate ran a hand over the wall, absently continuing on. "I was half frozen from the snowy mountain before I hit that water. I nearly drowned... but... I was saved by a Magikarp."

Pryce snorted with amusement, but Nate shot a glare over his shoulder, warning him lightly. "Watch it. I still have him, and you wouldn't laugh at him now." Pryce raised his hands, not wanting to get into a fight. Nate brushed him off, grumbling out to Mark. "The point is that these Teams operate like any other gang. You break the rules... and they break you. To make sure that no Team would take me in or show me sympathy, Blanche spread rumors around Shamouti about me. She called me a traitor. Told people that I gave the jewel over to Valor. That I was double dealing. People believed her. So, I had no choice but to work in the mines with the civilians." Sean glanced over his shoulder, asking in a low firm voice. "How do we know that you're not making that up. Blanche would never do that. She's a scientist." Nate shrugged, snapping back. "What reason do I have to lie?" Sean shrugged, saying a bit coldly. "Well, you said you wanted to see the Teams destroyed. That's a pretty good reason to spread your own false truths."

Nate rolled his eyes, growling back. "Whatever. They didn't believe me then and I don't expect people like you to believe me now. So, bury your head in the fucking sand for all I care." Quickly butting in, Mark asked Nate in a cool tone of voice. "And Giovanni?" Nate was caught off guard by the question. Briefly locking eyes with him, Nate blushed a deep red. Upon turning away from him, Nate mumbled out in a shy voice. "What about him?" Mark smirked a little. Nate was cute when he blushed. He was like a completely different person. Shrugging, Mark commented gently. "Did he believe your story?" Nate refused to look at any of them as he promptly said. "Yes. Unlike anyone else, he looked into the truth for himself." Mark raised an eyebrow, when he noticed Pryce drawing his finger across his neck in a kill gesture behind Nate's back. Mark didn't get it. Pryce rolled his eyes, discreetly hand gesturing what might have been someone beating someone else. When Nate followed his eyes to look at whatever Mark was looking at, Pryce faked stretching out his arms. His act didn't fool Zoey though and she gestured to her eyes before pointing at him with a narrowed look.

Mark chuckled to himself, until Sean dropped low at the end of the tunnel. Waving for them to get down, they all crouched down low. Just outside the cave, they could hear metal clanging and pokemon wailing in distress. Nate and Mark inched up beside Sean. Over his shoulder, Nate whispered to Sean discreetly. "Team Rocket?" Sean shook his head, peeking through the leaves of a thick bush as he whispered back. "Valor." To Be Continued...