Within only mere milliseconds, Shin jolted out of the way of Anonymous' snapping jaws. The sudden shift of the man's weight sent the large canine tumbling swiftly over to the opposite side, giving Shin enough time to distance himself from his attacker. He could hear Elizer's rumbling laughter through the blood rushing in his ears. "Spectacular! It hunts even humans without hesitation!" he cried. "We've only been able to test it with other projects, so this will serve as quite useful data!"

Anonymous heaved over, his back hunched over like a feral animal. His drenched snarls echoed like gunshots amidst a bloodied barricade. "Run and dodge! Test its power! See where the goal of our satisfaction can lead us!"

Shin refused to believe what he was seeing.

"What did they do to you...?!" he breathed, backing up from the prowling Lycanroc. Elizer grinned.

"Impressed? The chemicals we injected into its body allow for anyone with the correct brainwave inputs to control its actions with ease." The older man held up a small device in his left hand with a large red knob, now drenched in glossy sweat. "Project A is far too special to just simply sell to the market. I will keep it... We will keep it for our protection. To aid with testing the other subjects of their strength and killing off the weak. A natural selection factor! Yes!"

As he rambled on, Shin clambered about desperately, keeping himself from being crushed by Anonymous' powerful teeth. He barely dodged the lashes of his ravenous claws by mere inches at most, only being able to look on in horror at his beloved friend. His eyes refused to believe what he was seeing.

This was not the Anonymous he knew all those years ago.

No, this wasn't him.

Shin's trembling hands gripped at a wheeled cart beside him. Gritting his teeth, he swung it in the Lycanroc's direction and landed a hit square in the abdomen. To the man's dismay, it only did little to faze the Pokémon, however, it sparked a flash of relief within him when Anonymous instead began to tear at the sturdy legs of the cart as if it were raw meat. Shin took this time to jump to his feet and sprint to the other side of the room, soon feeling an item topple from the holster of his belt onto the cold ground. He could only glance back for a second before looking back to Elizer's wrinkled face.

"That Pokémon's species is definitely a unique one, having two forms of midday and midnight, both equally powerful in so many different ways. In fact, out of all of the Pokémon here, this one's forms seemed to have proven the closest to omnipotence!" the older man praised, gazing at the uncontrollable brawl between Anonymous and the cart. "Not only can it harness the powers of the z-crystals, but with its forms influenced by the Sun and Moon gods themselves... it was perfect as a prominent candidate in our research!

The amount of Lycanroc that we had to go through just to produce such a creature with its strength. We made sure each parent had every possible chance to give it just that. And when born, we gave it every chemical it needed to be able to evolve not just once, but twice at will! Imagine being able to utilize both night and day, loyalty and insanity, all with the flip of a single switch... a mutation! Although we would have to default it to midnight to access more efficient control, it was the GFML's greatest discovery...

...And as soon as we thought this was our chance, it opted to just... run away."

His curled face unraveled into one of disenchantment. It was as if the happiest man in the world had lost his will to live, all in just mere moments. Elizer could only gape at the nothingness in front of him with fogged eyes.

"For five years, Project A had been AWOL without any signs of its whereabouts-- Its tracker can only be sensed if it is still present within the territory of this town. I'm surprised that it had lasted that long, living down here for all its life before. With that immense spirit came to a sense of liberation, I suppose."

Shin felt lava boil in his rising chest, and rage pounded in him like a thunderous drumbeat. "So that was why he was injured... That's why he was so afraid of everything...!" he spat. "This hell was all he knew! He was born out of spite because of you!"

Elizer cocked his head, gears of calculation whirring in his brain. A husk chuckle escaped his lips.

"Ah, so it was you!" he remarked. His breaths grew into a ferocious howl of laughter like a bubbling pot of water. "I've always wondered why it came back so fragile and unwilling! It was almost as if it had gained the humanity that it had never experienced! What a wonderful show this will certainly be now! Oh, I can almost taste the electricity that will surge from you soon!"

Something about his manner sent a twinge of trepidation through Shin's entire being. He could have never fathomed such a tone to be possible by any human, especially one as soulless as Elizer. Yet here he stood, listening to laughter only conceivable by a demon until his leg gave way and he staggered towards one of the tanks to steady himself. As he whipped his head up to face the other man, his thin wisp-like hair followed suit like feathers.

"Let me tell you another story of this Pokémon that you may find... interesting." Elizer's voice was a boulder against the roughest sandpaper, seemingly making the entire air rumble intensely. He then slid his finger onto the knob of the device, causing a ghostly hum to resonate from Anonymous' direction. The Lycanroc suddenly dropped its metal prey, bounding over to Elizer's side and stationing himself like a mindless soldier.

Shin stared helplessly into his glowing red eyes.

"Before you two were acquainted," Elizer began. "We had an unfortunate 'incident' occur a few years back-- lost a good friend of mine in the process. He seemed so invested in my research unlike anyone in my branch! It was as if he had a driving force empowering him through all the unethical motives I presented him, like phantom hands guiding him through with his actions! I was so curious... When I heard of his background, I couldn't help but ponder about such a feat. A man with such a clean conscience willing to make the Pokémon he cherished so deeply suffer... just for money?

As I said, human satisfaction can hold such magnificent complications!"

He motioned to Anonymous, droned out into space as he waited for his next order.

"Your 'friend' here had decided to stage a little escape that day. My assistant took measures into his own hands and blocked the opened exit, and... It was terribly unfortunate that someone so loyal had to go so soon-- and in such fashion! The blow wasn't suited for someone like him, especially from such a small Pokémon at the time."

"What does this have to do with anything?!" Shin found himself demanding, droplets of sweat hanging off of him like fruit. "What are you trying to prove?!"

Elizer's feet sauntered across the room. "How horrible it was to carry him off, clean up the mess, tell his loved ones... Oh, but it was so long ago, and I've had so many people working for me.

I can barely remember his name... Anderson, was it?"

Shin flinched, his skin becoming as cold as ice.

"...How do you know that name...?!" His question was a stammering whisper in the dead of night.

"Shin, my boy..." Elizer hissed. "Did your mother not tell you anything?

Anderson Harper was killed by your Rockruff.

Your father was murdered by this monster."

Shin's breath hitched as if it had been caught in a trap of thorns, soft and halting. It shook within his throat like an earthquake that had sent his entire world into oblivion. He could only shift his head down with his blackened eyes wide, all the while his insides felt as if there was nothing there, nothing to need feeding, nothing to have need of anything at all. He couldn't tell if he was hyperventilating through the ringing of his ears, if even he was breathing. All he could focus on was the room spinning around him in an endless whirlpool, sucking his soul in.

At that moment, his mother's voice began to rip through his memories:

"...Your father was killed by a monster."

Elizer seemed to be drinking his shock all in. He was fueling himself from Shin's expression of trauma. He allowed himself to turn the knob against his thumb once more, sending Anonymous prowling over to the motionless officer.

At that moment, the older man stretched his leg out and hooked his foot on the gun that had found its way onto the ground. He kicked it over to Shin's direction and it clicked against the surface of his leather shoes. Elizer squinted his eyes commandingly as if he were the ringmaster of a circus.

"Go ahead. Shoot it."

His words repeated through Shin's head.

"It killed your father, Shin. It sank its stone teeth right into the arteries of his neck. It broke him like a toothpick. It made him suffer until he could bleed no more. You'll die to this animal if you don't act soon... Don't you want revenge?"

Without thinking, Shin's fingers had already wrapped around the handle. It stung against his palm as he pointed it at the approaching attacker and stared him down with his unblinking eyes.

Elizer straightened himself with a wide grin, preparing for the final lash. With a last push of the knob, Anonymous bared his spit-coated fangs, his scarlet fur bristling at the sudden burst of energy inside of every muscle in his body.

With a powerful leap, he began to lunge for Shin on all fours, his jaws ready to clamp down on his quivering body and engulf him forever...

"Anonymous."

The Lycanroc froze at the sudden mention of his old name. He pressed his claws against the floor which made sharp squeals as it resisted his previous action.

Elizer paused, his hands tensing at the unexpected reaction of the Lycanroc.

It was then that Shin gazed up at Anonymous, his face docile like it was when he was an innocent boy. Warm. Welcoming. Understanding. The memories that he had blocked from himself for so many years started rushing back into the his reservoir of his heart.

He lowered the weapon in his hand.

"Hey, buddy. Don't you remember me?" he uttered softly.

His voice was trembling, full of air, but he spoke with such a gentle hum that Anonymous could only manage to look on in speculation.

"My name is Shin. Remember?"

His foot reached forward

"You protected me from the rain after we met. You used your powers to keep me dry even after I frightened you," Shin quietly urged on. "You were so frightened of everything... I was so scared of making you run away. But you didn't. You were someone who stayed by my side for the first time in my life."

Low growls emitted from the Pokémon's chest in threat, but the man hushed him, taking another step closer to the creature.

"We played on the beach... right? Near the ocean off the coast of my town. And we would make sandcastles and flower leis for hours." He let out a reminiscent smirk. "You always liked the red ones."

Soon, he was only a few feet away from the hostile Pokémon. Razor claws edged out, ready to swing at any moment on Shin's pale flesh.

But he only kept beaming, as if nothing had ever gone wrong in their lives.

"And when it rained, we would sit on my bed with a bowl of oran berries... And I'd tell you stories until you fell asleep."

The hard clank of the gun hitting the metal floor resonated through the chamber.

"We'd hide from Mom and practice drills if she ever came in."

The man was now defenseless.

"I thought I lost you forever on that night," Shin continued, his face becoming sullen and filled with umpteen grief and regret. "I didn't know what to do after you disappeared. Even after so long, I couldn't accept my mistake. Now I finally get to see you again. I never imagined it would be here, like... this."

Shin ceased his movement when he could go forward no farther. Anonymous' gleaming eyes were dangerously in front of his. They reflected off of the man's glossy orbs, tinting them a shimmering lavender.

A hoarse breath escaped him. "I know you didn't mean to hurt my father... but he did terrible things. You just wanted to get out of this place, and I would've done the same. It doesn't make any difference the way he went. I know that I can let go of it knowing that you're alive.

All that matters to me now is you."

His hand began to reach out, tilted to one side.

"I should have never hit you. I should have never put my life before your's, ever. You were the one who rescued me from the shadows. You were my best friend, you still are, and you will always be. I don't care what anyone says."

He placed his fingers on the tuft of white adorning Anonymous' ears, as he had always done when he was a Rockruff.

It was his favorite spot, one that would lull him to sleep at any time.

"You and I are not under his control. You and I are not afraid anymore. I know you know what's right."

Shin finally pulled the Lycanroc's colossal head into his now exposed neck for a warm embrace. He felt the soft mane of his body brush up against his arms, every rise and fall of the Pokémon's back from each precious breath it took.

His fear had long since melted away, and the acceptance of whatever was to come flooded through him.

He cherished every second of his imminent demise.

"Please, Anonymous. I just want you to be happy."

There was complete stillness. Even the heavy panting of Anonymous' rage had quieted entirely. There was no whispering noise or rustling. It was as if something had conspired to keep Shin in the dark, not daring to whisper the result of his desperate act.

And it was then that Shin could sense a shift in the posture of the Lycanroc. The texture and size of its spine began to change steadily along with rigid stones that had begun to sprout from his neck in place of his mane. The quadruped stance of the Pokémon became more natural, and Shin noticed that the piercing red fur that had rested between his fingers were desaturating into a light brown that started covering the rest of Anonymous' new body.

The man pulled back and gaped in astonishment at the transformation of his old friend.

His demeanor looked much more majestic and composed than his previous form. He was sleek, slim, with a narrow and sturdy face that brought strength to him. The light had faded from his eyes into a deep, calming blue like the clear oceans of Alola he and Shin had played in so long ago.

All stood to a stop until the Pokémon leaned over Shin's astonished face and gave his nose a tender, reassuring lick that brought warmth welling up in the corners of the man's eyes.

The heat soon streamed down the curves of his cheeks like a flowing river and he let himself bury his face into Anonymous' comforting chest to catch them. He found himself smiling beneath the cover of fur, and for the first time in a while, letting out chuckles of genuine sobs. Shin hugged him tighter as Anonymous placed his head onto his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," Shin murmured through his chokes. Anonymous let out short whimpers in response, shutting his eyes to hear Shin's heartbeat against his.

At that single moment, it was as if the light had finally blessed their meeting once more.

Time had stopped just for them to hold their long-awaited embrace.

They had finally reunited, broken free of their heavy chains...

At long last.

"...It killed who you loved! It ripped you from your sanity! It is no longer the Pokémon you knew! I heard it all!" the frantic hollers of Elizer erupted through the quiet. "You're just as mad to make it understand you...! You're a monster just like it!"

He reached for his device, finger pressed against the knob.

"I won't allow this happen! Not after everything! I won't lose it again!"

Hums screeched from Anonymous' head, and growls of agony soon followed after...

The glow of red and the cracks of bones filled the area...

Teeth snared open like a trap door...

It was as if all that happened immediately after was an instantaneous blur of light.

A shrill bloodcurdling scream echoed endlessly throughout the metal room, seeming to bounce off in every direction possible.

There was crimson that rained on the earth below, staining it with its heat, and the thud of a body hitting the splatters like an old rag doll.

Hiccups of anguished gasps and retches...

And then, silence.

Anonymous watched as the fiery luminescence faded from his eyes. His mind was still hazy from the sudden burst of force that had hit him. He released whatever he had clamped down with weary movements.

His tongue tasted oddly metallic.

When he turned to face the wreckage of his doing, he could feel his heart cease all functions at the sight before him:

Red from the deep openings of the punctures in the man's forearm gushed endlessly like a trickling river with shattered bones peeking through the clotted plashets.

Patches of the sanguine liquid imbued the fur of the Pokémon's pastel coat around his mouth, dirtying it with the most unimaginable sin.

The blood began to stain the black cloth of the outfit as it leaked into a saturated puddle below his unmoving torso.

He was deadly limp.

Anonymous could only stare on in morbid dread at his motionless friend. He could feel the weight of what he had done crush him into dust from all sides, relentlessly, disintegrating each limb into utter senselessness. His lungs seemed to be unable to breathe, or rather, refused to let the Lycanroc continue living with the atrocity he had committed.

The Pokémon let his legs lumber back as the sweltering burgundy puddles seeped under his snowy paws. The voice inside of him trembled with mortification.

What have I done...?!

His ocean irises, now wide with his pupils as the smallest of ink drops, seated on Elizer's twisted figure.

What have you done?!

His vision only focused on that man. The man who had shut him out from the outside world. The man who had made him torture and murder so many lives in his growth.

The man who had taken everything away from him.

A savage snarl escaped from Anonymous' clenched fangs, and his arms felt like battle flails charging momentum as they swung from his sides. The skeleton within him splintered and elongated as he rose to his hind legs, the numbness taking over like a plague. However, it was different this time. The Lycanroc felt as if he could tame the demons that had once influenced his mind and body. His memories and consciousness did not leave him, as it did all those times he snapped before. Instead, he felt it: That fire within him burning him into dominance.

He refused to let this monster have it his way now.

No, not this time.

Not ever.

He pounced, a familiar sensation filling his teeth as he bit down on Elizer's neck. The screams that followed were drowned by the rage that flew through the Pokémon's soul. Although the man below him screeched and howled with writhing curses and damnations, Anonymous pressed forward, applying an acute force of pressure.

The sound of a single snap was all that filled the room afterward, and the body against him went still.

After a long moment of recollection, Anonymous felt his fur flatten. His jaws released the bleeding nape of the doctor. Despite the satisfaction that shot through his being,  he dared not look at his brutal kill. It felt wrong if he did so-- as if Arceus would gaze upon him and shake its forboding head in dismay. He stepped backward to distance himself, catching his breath while his body began to twitch to transform back into his midday form.

Unfortunately, he could only pause for an instant before stampeding footsteps came thundering through the hallway from the adjacent door. A mob of men and women, all draped in tattered lab coats came filing out like water. Each bore their own expression of either panic or anger when their beady eyes settled on the bloody mess in front of them.

It was then that one finally shouted, commencing the hurricane of discord to ensue:

"Stop it! Contain the project at all costs!"

Bodies raced towards Anonymous' direction, sending a pang of alarm through him. He haggardly dodged each of their attacks in an attempt to not harm anyone else, but the ambush was too chaotic. Hands grabbed at his pelt and he growled with pain, nipping at each that managed to snag ahold of him.

For the most part, he was able to drive off a good amount of scientists with just those defensive lashes, but that was when he noticed that some began darting off in other directions. They soon ripped open drawers and cabinets, desperately trying to find a weapon to immobilize him with. Anonymous spotted that one man had acquired a handgun, and with a jolt, he ducked just in time for the lethal bullet to miss.

But, in a flurry of movements, Anonymous could hear the sound of breaking glass, chemicals spilling onto some sparks...

...and within seconds, an intense flood of light and heat washed over the vicinity.

Walls of blazing infernos manifested from the machinery as smoke billowed in the cramped area, sending hacking fits into the air. It was almost as if someone had conjured the powers of hell itself to destroy this cursed lab once and for all. Nothing held the flames back. They continued to swell feet and feet above the pitiful spectators below with no means of coming to an end.

The scientists, now frightened to the core at the new threat, suddenly changed their goal; all of them raced to the exit in a congested amalgamation. To Anonymous' surprise, most of them managed to squeeze through in a matter of minutes, however, some chose to break open the large tanks that surrounded the hallway. It spilled gallons of blue liquid as they heaved the unconscious specimens inside out with them and through the exit. Very soon, some unlucky individuals became victims of the falling debris and were lost under the clouds of ash from the impact.

Anonymous could feel his chest stinging from the dark fumes, his form still handling his current midnight form as if he had always had control over it. He fought to hold back his animalistic instincts of self-preservation and instead focused on his next course of action.

In an instant, his mindset soon clicked as the stab of anxiety pierced his core.

With a few short glances around the burning room, he soon spotted the silhouette of Shin's body. Anonymous seemed to move mindlessly as he dashed over to the injured man and surveyed his condition. He was losing blood fast, but if he were quick enough, he could get Shin out in time to save him from a possibly crueler death.

The Lycanroc hastily scooped up the man with his long arms and slung him over his shoulder. He began to run towards the exit, which was now holding a heavy metal vent that had begun to collapse. The only things keeping it from falling to its doom were a few scrawn wires that had already caught fire.

With as much strength as he could muster, Anonymous bolted over to the cracks of moonlight shining through the door. The rays of illumination began to paint him in rising hope...

Suddenly, the moans and cracks of the wires whipped loudly, and the tube crashed down in front of the Pokémon, forcing him to come to a halt in order to save himself. Dust flew up along with charred particles that scratched at Anonymous' throat, but the fiery feeling inside of him denied the thought of giving up now.

He placed Shin down on the floor, taking a swift second to summon a familiar barricade of rocks to shield him from the plummeting rubble, and began to lash out at the fallen structure with all his might. Boulders were thrown into the thick walls of the vent, shards of stone shot up from the earth to puncture the dense debris, and his razor-sharp claws persisted on the metal until they were dull and nicked.

But to his regret, nothing he tried made any progress. The makeshift walls of the lab had them sealed hopelessly in the grasps of a blazing chamber.

The glowing flowers of ember continued twirling in its fiery dance, growing ever more in strength. Plumes of clouds were rising like a hungry serpent devouring all in its path, and it began cascading over the perimeters of the lab to hide the walls under its cinder blanket.

Anonymous could feel himself weakening from the lack of oxygen. His lungs began to yearn to expel the poisons that had made its way inside of him, painfully killing him from the inside. He was only able to step back in despondency at the unbreakable barricade as the world burned around him.

Then, the Pokémon turned around and rested its gaze on the idle figure under his stone canopy.

Shin had not moved since the attack, nor did he even stir to make a single sound. He only laid there, cavernous holes littering a large chunk of his left arm, his life pouring out from each one. His shirt was crusted over with dried up blood from before and continued to gather the rest that leaked out like a tainted dishrag.

As Anonymous crouched down on all fours, the revelation of his inevitable demise began to sink into him like his browning fur. The weight of his failure had crushed his drive just as his spine started to adjust to his now quadrupedal stance, and his tufts of hair hung over his eyes just as death hovered close behind him, patiently waiting to seize him into a suffering end. He knew the fire that had once burned so passionately so many times before had finally perished within his heart.

He never thought it was still possible for a demon such as himself, after all of this time of submission and bloodshed, but he found that a simmering heat had slowly cupped under his eyes. Beads of salty water rolled down his matted flanks from his grief-stricken face. They spilled until they created taps around him, barely audible by the screaming flames.

The Pokémon soon made its way towards Shin, footsteps dragging like his legs were being hauled back by a lead ball and chain. The very existence of gravity was beckoning him to his knees, but he persisted, arriving only inches away from Shin's soot-dusted face.

With the tenderness of gently falling snow awning an evergreen meadow, he planted a tepid lick on his nose.

Something inside of him wished, begged, pleaded for the man to open his eyes, to take a gasp of life and place a hand of reassurance on his muzzle to tell him that everything was going to be alright.

Forlorn whines winced from the back of the Pokémon's throat. His head tryingly nudged at Shin's cheek.

He did not move. His life was paralyzed in time.

Anonymous felt himself collapsing onto Shin's side. The impact of the fall did little to unsettle his desensitized body, yet the single feeling he could manage to discern was the heat of the man's body cradling his own. As the canine looked up at the peaceful face of his partner, a certain wisp of tranquility spiraled within his chest, like his favorite hibiscus blooming in the quiet mornings of spring. It soothed him, and the violent sounds around him died with ease to a soft ring.

At that moment, he had finally chosen to accept his fate with welcoming certainty.

The air began to feel tranquilly cold among the dazzling light of the flames.

How idiotic of a way to go, he thought after a while, burning with someone he could have saved. Someone he loved who was dying from a sin committed by him, a mere puppet on strings. In a few minutes, there would be no way to atone for what he had done. He would have to go on to Arceus knows where, separated once more from the one person he had been yearning for all his life, possibly forever this time.

But he knew he would die knowing that he did his best, that he tried his hardest to fight to live on with Shin as they did so long ago. He would die with the memories of seasons and times passed amidst the wonders of the Earth... and the sweetness of mother nature's jewels upon his sensitive tastebuds... and the feeling of the sand stroking his ocean-soaked paws... and the colors of the marvelous sunsets etched into his recollections... next to his first and last ever companion...

That he was truly happy with everything, just as he would have wanted.

If he could tell him... If he could listen somehow... He knew it would have been bliss.

And like a whisper of a breeze, he could hear the little boy say in his mind, as he always did on those wonderful days where the tears of the gods drummed the glass panes of his childhood windows:

"I love you."

The words that he had been blessed enough to have graced him in his damned life surrounded his entire being like a blanket of angels...

And he smiled back.

I love you too, Shin.

Thank you.

And then there were sirens.