Sir Aaron had known Rin for the past twenty years, and he knew she would sooner die than abandon her people. She was very much like her father in that respect. Aaron had no desire to abandon his people either, but he realized that this war would likely be the end of Rota. He thought of the countless people he had protected in the Kingdom over the years.

He thought of his people. He thought of his family. His pregnant wife, his son Riley, and his coming child. 'The only thing that can save us now is a miracle… Wait, that's it!' he thought.

Glancing back to the sky for a moment, he scanned the fog. "Hmm." Raising his staff into the air, a cry from a giant tan bird, a Pidgeot, was heard as the massive bird swooped by the balcony. And Queen Rin watched in shock as her bodyguard lept off the balcony onto the bird's back and began heading away from the palace towards the Tree of Beginning. 'He can't be abandoning us...' she thought in disbelief.

As Pidgeot raced over the forests of Rota, Aaron's mind raced. 'My love, Riley. Please forgive me. What I go to do, I do for you...' Sparing a glance down to his right, he saw the majority of the Johtean army, armored in red, marching around the base of the mountain to their right, and the forest to their left. To his left, he saw another army, the Ores horde, barely making out their pale green armor in the fog.

But what alarmed him were the three Skarmory breaking off towards Pidgeot and himself. Aaron could simply hold on for dear life as the three tore by, Pidgeot expertly dodging them as he continued towards his goal, the Tree of Beginning. Unfortunately, this meant its attention was elsewhere, allowing one of the Ore Skarmory to fire off a powerful Flash Cannon attack at the Pokémon's back, nearly hurling Sir Aaron off its back in the process.

Pidgeot managed to regain control briefly, returning to his original course, but the Skarmory wasn't finished yet, not wishing to have any Rotans or Johteans retreat from their conquest. Coming in quickly with a strong Steel Wing attack, Pidgeot was struck hard and was sent plummeting toward the rough mountainside. It struggled to regain control as it rapidly approached the ground.

Aaron briefly wondered if his quest to save Rota would be cut short if Rota was destined to fall into this unwanted conflict. Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he focused on the mountainside, as Pidgeot managed to give a final burst of energy to stave off a direct crash.

Leaping off, the Aura Guardian decided he was close enough, hoping that the decreased weight would allow Pidgeot to land safely. Pidgeot, however, continued its unsteady course directly into a series of bushes nearby with a cry. Aaron stood and was about to continue on his way when he felt a familiar Aura approaching quickly.

Sprinting up the mountainside at breakneck speeds was his near-constant companion and apprentice, Lucario.

"Sir Aaron!" he heard in his mind, realizing Lucario was close enough to use Telepathy. "I knew you'd come!" he said as he reached the bottom of the mesa Aaron was standing on.

What bothered the human, however, was the fact that Lucario had yet to open his eyes since arriving, appearing to only be using his Aura to navigate. "Lucario, what happened to your eyes?" he asked the blue jackal.

"Don't worry about me, Master," was his only response. The final word though, master, had struck a nerve with Aaron, causing him to turn away.

"Don't call me that. I'm no longer your master. I have abandoned the Queen and the Kingdom. I'll never return…"

Lucario froze in disbelief, shock pinning him in place. "But… That's impossible…"

Aaron took off running, towards his original goal; The Tree of Beginning. Lucario finally managed to regain his motor skills and took off after his companion and master.

"Master, wait!" he called as he ran up the slopes after him.

Hearing Lucario following him, Aaron turned and hurled his staff into the ground, landing just in front of the Pokémon causing him to stop. Suddenly the staff began to glow bright blue and white. Clenching his teeth, Lucario stared up, eyes still closed at the other Aura Guardian.

"Sir Aaron!" he cried out. The staff continued to glow brighter as a blue beam shot into the Pokémon's chest, causing him to also turn the color and begins to fade from sight. He felt as if he was drawn into the fist-sized crystal at the top of the staff, his vision shifting as the fractal shape of the crystal began distorting it. He was pulled further away from the surface. "Why, master?! Why…?"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Rin stared out from the ramparts of Cameran Palace towards the faint outline of the Tree, feeling as if her whole world were falling apart. On the wind, she heard a strange note begin to pick up, a low, mournful wail barely on the edge of hearing.

"That wail. It's coming from the Tree of Beginning… It's crying," she realized. The fog began to break, and in the massive valley between the Palace and the Tree of Beginning, she saw the two armies break upon each other.

'Why did he leave us?' she thought to herself. 'Did he truly abandon everything he's ever known due to fear?'

Hearing the cry of a Pidgeot, her heart leaped as she scanned the skies, hoping that Aaron had returned. As the massive Bird Pokémon landed upon the railing of the balcony, Rin's heart fell again as she noticed two things; The lack of Aaron upon Pidgeot's back, and his staff being held in Pidgeot's beak.

'He's had this for years...' she thought, glancing sadly at the short staff.

Roughly two-thirds her height, it consisted of a wooden shaft, a series of black steel rings, one circular that expanded from the shaft, and a large half-sphere that connected around the top of the first ring, similar to an equator. In the center of this was a large crystal from the Tree of Beginning, expertly cut into a twenty-six-sided rhombicuboctahedron. Completing the design was a pair of large, teardrop-shaped weights where the two rings connected, reminiscent of the appendages on Lucario's head.

She remembered when he built it, years back when he still dreamed of completing his Aura Guardian training. He was so excited when he showed her and Able the crystal that Delia had cut for him. Back when the four of them were all just friends. Back before he found Lucario, still a young Riolu.

Taking the staff from Pidgeot, he returned to the skies as quickly as he came, leaving Rin with the staff and her thoughts. She saw her reflection in the light blue crystal surface, and questions with no answers appeared. "Aaron…"

Just as she was about to give up hope and resign herself and her kingdom to its fate, she took one last look at the Tree of Beginning. And right before she accepted that all was lost, the Tree of Beginning lit up with a strange bluish-green light. As the Tree continued to glow, the crystal formations began spouting the same green light into the air in powerful shafts, burning away the fog. She looked around rapidly in wonderment as the crystals that the palace was built around began to glow and release shafts of light.

'Could this be what Aaron went to do?' she thought to herself. 'Maybe he didn't abandon us after all...'

As the light continued to grow, a massive green energy pulse worked its way from the Tree of Beginning, covering the valley in waves of green energy.

Below, the entire battlefield froze, looking up at the shining peak. Silence spread across the land, from the peak to Cameran Palace. Humans and Pokémon alike stood in awe as the morning fog melted away from the valley and forests.

'He did it,' she thought to herself as she felt her eyes grow misty. 'He did it. He saved us.'

As tears began to fall, she realized that Sir Aaron had gone to the Tree of Beginning to ask Mew to help her kingdom and people. She looked down on the field and saw that the battle was over, with people and Pokémon alike laying down their arms. And she silently hoped that he had managed to survive to see the miracle he'd brought his country.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

A few centuries after the War of Rota occured, in the Kanto region, another situation had piled up as night had fallen over the vermilion city.

( ~Knock~ )

( ~ Knock ~ )

Misty knocked on Yellow's room a few times.

It had been 8 hours since she last talked to yellow. Bringing a tray of food upto her room, Misty considered her appraoch to talk to her friend.

While she didn't know the pain of having her heart broken by someone she loved, she was still going to be there for her friend.

To support and comfort her.

After a few knock concern and a sense of dread, began to build up in Misty's mind.

" What's wrong, Misty ?" Brock asked as he rubbed his neck that Zubat had abused with leech life when he tried to hit on Nurse Joy.

" Brock, Yellow isn't opening."

" Maybe she is asleep."

" Come on, Brock you know she is a light sleeper."

Hearing the concern in Misty's voice, Brock said," I am going to get Nurse Joy to open this door. She must have a spare key."