Pokemon ran from the motorcycle that was roaring down the long, windy path in the plains of

Licentia.  They had no idea what the machine was, or who was on it.  The person who was

driving it, of course, was Aries.  He had needed to get away from the base, since the doctors

had finally cleared him.

So he had come to the plains, taking a motorcycle to ride.  The bike had a lot of power, and he

was going as fast as the stupid thing could, though he wished it could go faster.  He was

running.  Running from the thoughts of recent events that plagued his mind, simply because he

didn’t want to reflect on them; he would though.  He had no choice.

He wasn’t wearing a helmet, instead just a pair of sunglasses.  He only wanted the sun out of

his eyes, he didn’t plan on crashing.  He blinked, and his mind wandered, leading him to

thoughts about the one who got away, Nikita.

Nikita.  Why had he liked her so much?  Stockholm syndrome that was what Brandon had

attributed it to.  He was probably right too, although Aries assumed at least part of it had to do

with Nikita’s looks.  He’d chased her wildly until the Christmas party, when he’d decided that he

would give up on her for a while.  He had, and then he’d been injured again.  Brandon had

then taken the liberty of telling Aries that there was no chance he would ever get with Nikita,

and that he needed help.  The boy now attended therapy regularly, though he saw no point

to it.  The shrink hadn’t really helped him.  It was more calming for him to spend time with his

friend Victoria.

Victoria.  The small girl whom he had met at the park in Stratford; she had been crying over her

dead parents’ bodies.  Aries had chased down the hoods that had killed them, beaten them

until they revealed their base of operations.  He took Victoria back to the base, then diverted

his attention to the highrise, where he’d made what he’d almost thought would be his final

stand.  His life had flashed before his eyes when he’d been tossed out of the window by the

Tyranitar.  Attila had caught him, and Attila had saved him.

Suddenly, Aries came to a complete halt.  He didn’t know why but he just stopped, and the

bike was lifted into the air, and he was thrown off of it.  Suddenly he regretted choosing to not

wear a helmet.  He collided with the ground and jumped to his feet as quickly as he could, less

hurt than he assumed he would have originally been.

He turned a glare onto what ha d thrown him off.  He froze when he saw it had been an Entei;

he wasn’t afraid, he was just shocked.  His time with the Chosen had numbed his sense of fear,

leaving him with only his pride and his honor.  Both of those emotions screamed at him to stand

and fight this beast.

Live or die, at least he’d go out with honor.

His common sense overrided his pride on one point: He would not, at least not immediately,

attempt to fight the Pokemon with his fists.  Instead, he chose to snatch Beowulf’s Pokeball off

of his belt, summoning the Pokemon to his side.  The giant, purple, horned beast stood before

his trainer, waiting for his orders.  “Rip it in half,” Aries growled, sticking a finger in the Entei’s

direction.  Beowulf’s deadly teeth showed as a feral grin crawled across his lips.

The Nidoking turned to his enemy, surveying the prey.  He was able to sense that it was a

legendary.  A true test of his abilities!  The Pokemon’s pride caused him to roar, and the Entei

roared back, accepting the challenge.  Beowulf charged him, claws outstretched.  The Entei

ducked under the arms of the lumbering beast, and then sliced upward with his claw, dragging

it along Beowulf’s stomach.

For the first time in a long while, Beowulf knew true pain.  He howled and the Entei spat flames

into his opponent’s face.  Beowulf shut his eyes as the fire tore over him, his face suddenly

aflame.  He collapsed, defeated for only the second time in his life.  The Entei batted him aside

effortlessly, like a kitten would a ball of yarn and then turned his attention back to Aries, daring

him to approach.

Aries gawked at what had happened.  Beowulf the invincible, Beowulf the mighty had fallen.

The Entei hadn’t even broken a sweat either, and he seemed ready for more.  Aries clenched

his fists at his side, angry welling up inside of him.  [i]How dare this fucking [b]thing[/b] do that

to his Pokemon![/i]

He bit down on his lip to try and quell the fury that was growing in him.  He didn’t [i]really[/i]

want to fight the Entei, not one on one anyway.  That would be suicide, and he wasn’t that

close to the edge yet.  He had—or at least hoped he had—people back at the base that cared

about him.

Licking his lips, he returned Beowulf to his Pokeball, and grabbed the next one, tossing it on the

ground.  Out popped his battle-hungry Fearow, Attila.  “Go.” On his commander’s words, Attila

rushed at this new Pokemon, attempting to stab its eye out with his horn.

The Entei was much smarter than Attila had expected, and snatched the bird by the beak.  He

closed down with powerful jaws, slamming the bird into the ground once, twice.  Attila was

then released, and collapsed to the ground, in maddening pain.  Aries returned him silently, his

lips twitching into an enraged snarl.

He had but one Pokemon left that would even pose a moderate threat to the Entei.  Did he

want this?  Not necessarily.  No.  What Aries wanted to do was attack the Pokemon himself.  If

you want something done right, you’ve gotta do it yourself!

All common sense was thrown out of the window as Aries reached to his side, his hand closing

around the cold steel of the gun he always had on his person.  The weapon had never failed

him before, nor would it fail him now.

He drew it and pointed it at the Entei, storming toward the Pokemon.  He would kill it now and

be done with this madness.  Yes, that was what he would do.

[i]Aries, stop.[/i] A voice invaded his head.  A new voice, not the one that encouraged him to

kill; it was strange and it surprised him.  The gun clattered from his hand, landing harmlessly on

the ground.  The Pokemon began to approach him, fiery paw prints being left on the ground as

he did so.

[i]Yes, I know who you are.  My name is Remus,[i] The Entei spoke calmly, benevolently.  Aries

reached out unconsciously, reaching for the cloud-like substance on his back.  Remus watched

his hand, following it with his red eyes.

Aries, seeing that the Entei wasn’t fighting him, snatched the cloud into his grasp.  Almost

immediately afterward, his mind was flushed of all the hatred and anger that had been festering

in the back of it for ages now.  He was at peace with himself again, for the first time in far too

long.

“T-Thank you.” Aries stammered, having no idea what words he could use to truly convey his

gratitude.  Remus nodded, pulling away from Aries; and the boy shook himself, doing his best to

stop the shock.  Remus licked one of his paws, watching the boy with a look of amusement on

his face.  He didn't really understand why humans thought that the Legendaries ability to clear

their minds was such a big deal, but he [i]had[/i] been watching Aries for a while now and

knew that the boy had some serious mental issues.

[i]Do you wish to go for a ride?[/i]  Remus asked, nudging Aries' hand.  Aries stared, unsure if

the Pokemon meant a ride [i]with[/i] him, or a ride [i]on[/i] him.  Either way, Aries was nervous,

but it would be worse if he were to ride on the Pokemon.  Remus shook his head, the great

mane moving back and forth with his motions and he smiled.  [i]On my back.[/i]

Aries nodded again, slowly taking the cloud into both of his handds the lifting himself onto the

great, lion-like Pokemon's back.  [i]Ready?[/i]  Remus questioned, and the youth gave a nod.

With that, the volcano Pokemon took off, jumping this way and that, the ride being rougher to

Aries than the time he had crashed a helicopter.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Aries demanded, feeling like he had been stabbed in the back by

this Pokemon.  He had trusted him, and now he was trying to kill him!  It wasn't fair!

[i]Just hold on, Aries,[/i] Remus murmured into his mind, and he picked up his pace.  Aries

grunted, but his months of training with the Chosen had built up unparalled amount of muscle

and the Entei was finding it much harder to throw him than he had anticipated.

Within a few minutes, Remus decided it would be best to give up on throwing him, and so he

did, coming to a stop atop a cliff that looked out over the ocean.  He leaned down and Aries

slid off.

"What the hell is your problem?!" He shouted, glaring at the Entei.  "Were you trying to [i]kill

me?![/i]"  Remus just pushed at his hand again.

[i]I've chosen correctly.[/i] The same soft voice invaded Aries' mind again and he looked at the

Entei with a clueless, blank look.  [i]What I am talking about is unimportant.  All you need to

know is that you have been chosen.[/i]

Aries bit back a retort, then closed his eyes, rubbing his temples.  "Whatever.  Can I go home?"

 His eyes remained closed and he breathed deeply through his nose, exhaling through his

mouth.  Keeping himself calm was important.

[i]Yes, but I have to come.[/i] Remus nudged a Pokeball on Aries' belt, trapping himself in the

ball. The ball rocked, and Aries was too shocked to stop it before it clicked.  The man shook

himself and released Remus, climbing back onto his back.

The Entei started to run, galloping through the plains on a highspeed run back to the base.

The ease with which the Pokemon went to the base frightened Aries; because it showed that

the Pokemon had been there many a time before.

Aries slid off the Entei a few hundred yards before he entered the Chosen terroritory, and

returned the Pokemon.  He would jog the rest of the way, and then he would show Brandon

his newest companion.

Oh, Aries was a happy--if curious--boy indeed.