Please read the authors notes, they contain information on my plans.

A/N – Whoa, is that an update? Of a new chapter? IN LESS THAN 7 MONTHS?! I think I need to wake up, because there is no way in hell that this is happening. Well, guess what? It's finally here. The next chapter will be the final chapter of 'Times Change'. I'll tell you guys now; I plan on finishing the next chapter if it kills me. Not finishing this story always left a bad taste in my mouth, so I had to come back and finish what I started. I decided to end it here for two reasons. My first reason is kinda stupid, but I want to end it with 10 chapters. Second, I see nowhere else to take this story. I've taken all the paths I've had presented to me, and finally, there is only one left. I think I chose the right paths, because so far the next chapter is looking pretty sweet. It won't be like my last story where it just drops off. I have managed to fit in a climax. Enough of that for now, let's answer some reviews from the thoughtful readers who still read my story and even take the time to review.

Zohaku – I'm glad to know that even after all this time; somebody was still reading my stories. Hopefully all your questions are answered in this chapter.

Markrock18 – I never really intended on explaining the workings of her blood. I just kind of planned to associate it with a random birth abnormality. I'm not really well versed enough in the workings of a human's body to actually explain how something like that could be possible. Maybe when the blood flows through her brain, it triggers something that enables her to understand these kinds of languages? I'll leave it to the imagination.

BYoshi1993 – You've got pretty much everything down, but it wasn't Ruta that bit her. Katie got bit a while after she met Ruta. Also, Ruta was a Vaporeon when Katie got bit. It was pretty much just a random Eevee. I probably would've put a lot more thought into that part if I had known the story would end like this.

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When Ruta walked into his home, he almost cried at the sight of it. Everything had remained untouched by time, other than the thick layer of dust covering the room. Looking around, it seemed as if something was missing, but everything seemed to be in place… He waved it off to not being home for so long.

He walked around to the eating room, which was just a table with a clear space around it, where they would sit and talk while eating the days catch. He remembered back to when his father had taken him on his first hunt, and they had made a Beedril nest fall into the river. His father had told him to be more careful, but he never really listened. Thinking back, maybe I should have taken his advice…

He pushed the thoughts about Katie out of his head. If he wanted to be happy here, he would have no other choice. I wonder if they're doing alright… As hard as he tried to stop thinking about it, his choices came back to haunt him. Running into the pantry to see if there was any alcohol left over from his fathers parties, he found a note taped to the wall of the inside of the large tree. Some of the letters were faded, but he could still make it out.

Dear Ruta and Kardon

If you are reading this, then that means you should expect the worst. Chances are good that you may never see me again. As I write this note, Darkrai is outside destroying our entire army. I don't know why he is suddenly doing this, but I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I'll never see you two again. I'm afraid I won't live to see you grow up, find a mate, and eventually protect your own children. This is just my selfish wish as a father, but I at least want to give you the chance to experience this by yourselves.

The world is a wonderful place, filled with opportunities around every corner. When I met your mother that fateful day in the woods, I thought I would never witness a happier day in my life. And then you two were born. You were nothing more than hatchlings, so exposed to the dangers in the world… Which is why I vowed to devote my life protecting you. Now that this has started, I can't follow through with that, but I can at least go fight knowing I raised you with the skills you need to live your life.

Before I leave you to live your lives on your own, I want to impart a little wisdom. Always listen to your heart. Even when all logical sense points to something else, just follow your feelings to the end of the earth. This will lead you to people that you can share your dreams with. Once you have these people, never let go of them until the day life snatches you away. If you can manage this, you will have no regrets when you finally have to give up. I know I don't have any.

Sincerely,

Your Loving Father

He read the note over as many times as he could, until he had absorbed every last word of it. Suddenly, a drop of water fell onto the paper. Ruta looked around to find the source of it, until he realized that he had been crying. If only I had listened to Kardon! I could have been here! Dad could have been here! None of this would have ever happened to Katie… His head perked up. I may not be able to fix those other things, but it isn't too late to save Katie.

Ruta ran out the door as fast as he could, not looking back once.

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When Katie opened her eyes, everything seemed oddly grey and dark. She tried to sit up, only to find out she was an Eevee again. Oh yeah, I'm color blind. Remembering her dreams, she tried taking a calmer approach to what was going on. She had barely moved, and the prison cell she was in was extremely dark, so she could still pretend to be asleep if the need arose. Turning her head slightly, she opened her eyes just enough to see in front of her. Outside of her cell, there was a guard moving down the aisle way at a leisurely pace. He didn't look as if he could be reasoned with, so she left him alone, only waiting until he had his back turned to move.

Her cell was surrounded by bars on all sides, but it looked like she was underground. She wondered how it was possible that a couple of Pokemon to build this entire village, but a memory flashed in her brain showing that these were actually ruins built around 1,000 years. It must be Darkrai filling in the blanks for me. After that memory, she seemed to have a better understanding of the layout in the prison. Unfortunately, she could feel Darkrai's presence in her head lift. That must have taken a lot out of him, since he was already so tired.

Looking to her right, she saw Amara sleeping in a separate cell. Trying to move as quietly as possible, she slowly slid over to the bars.

"Psst, Amara… Amara…" She whispered through the bars. "Amara, wake up!" She said in as quiet a voice as possible so as not to alert the guards. When she heard the door to her cell open, she knew she was apparently not quiet enough.

"So you're awake, eh? I was instructed by Lord Kardon to bring you to Town Square when you wake up. Should be a fun EXECUTION." Katie felt disgusted. This man was obviously taking pleasure in her suffering. Fortunately, this was enough to wake up her sleeping friend.

"If she's going to Town Square, then I wanna go to!" Amara protested. Katie was touched that Amara would stick up for her even in these conditions. The Glaceon guard seemed to find this funny, because her comment managed to bring forth a small chuckle.

"Do whatever you want missy, you aren't even a prisoner. Of course, there's enough death penalties to go around if you wanna die with your friend here…" Katie knew the guard was just making a dark joke, but something about it bothered her. She turned around to see if Amara was looking as if she might back down. The look in her eyes scared her more than anything due to the amount of determination in her eyes. She couldn't possible be thinking about… No…

As they were being escorted by the prison guards, Katie sidled up next to Amara to talk. Again, that look of courage in her eyes was completely alien to Katie. She had never seen her friend so focused on one thing before.

"Amara, what are you doing?" She asked with a voice that had more fear in it than she intended to show. Amara picked up on this quickly and said something that she probably meant to comfort Katie with.

"I'm not just gonna let you die, Katie. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but there is no way that I'm going to leave you alone on all this." Again, this level of maturity was usually so far beyond Amara, but she had seemed to tap into an unknown resource of wisdom with the current circumstances.

"Amara, just let it go. I don't want you to get hurt by all this. I'll think of something, I promise!" She tried to put on a smile for Amara, but she wouldn't buy into it. She looked like she was going to say something, but sunlight came pouring into the underground hallway as the doors in front of them were opened. Waiting for them in the Town Square was Kardon on top of the same podium that was used by the previous mayor to banish Ruta from the village.

A/N – Kind of a short chapter, but it's mostly build up for the last chapter. So far, I'm enjoying writing it. It's full of lots of things I never would have thought possible for me to write 2 years ago, but here I am now. Also, I would like to bring your attention to a new story I have in mind. With the way things usually go for me, I may not finish it for a while, but it's made with the idea of compiling every skill and every idea I have into one story. I plan on it having violence, romance, paranoia and just all out drama. Gonna have to bump up the rating by a bit because of the violence in the first chapter, but I don't think you guys would mind too much. Tune in next week when I finally finish this thing! Bring popcorn.