The Path to Light and Darkness: Rated PG 17

[Kerjo]

The boy grabbed an empty pokeball from his jacket pocket and tossed it at the weaken pokemon. The ball made contact with the point on his head and the Nidoran was sucked in…

Jake stood up, holding a pokeball in hand. Inside it he could see the Nidoran looking up at him, his eyes wide with fear. The boy sighed and tossed the ball into the air, releasing the rabbit-like pokemon. It stood in front of him, not knowing what to do. The boy approached it, kneeling down and carefully petting it's head.

"It's ok. We won't hurt you, right Macey?" The boy turned to his partner, who rushed over to the two and started to play with Nidoran's ears. "Marill! Marill!" She cried out happily while playing with the Nidoran's ears. He seemed irritated at first, but then he feel victim to Macey's charm and laughed. Jake chuckled under his breath, releasing Nathan, who had evolved into a Beedrill.

"Alright, guys! We have a new addition to the team and so, we're going to have a little name-giving ceremony…" He stopped and looked around the dark depressing scenery of the woods. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "But, considering the place, let's make this quick."

He approached the Nidoran again. "From the moment on, you're going to be known as Hagi." The Nidoran looked up at him for a moment…then back at the ground and at Macey and Nathan. He pawed the ground for a second, as though he was thinking about his new name and chirped up happily at Jake.

"Nido!"

The boy laughed, returning Nathan into his pokemon and letting Macey jump onto his shoulder. He half turned, giving Hagi some time to catch up to his side and continued the trek into the forest. As they walked, Jake noticed that everything was before more distorted and that it was noticeably getting darker. Still, pushing bad vibes behind the boy continued without hesitation. But as he did, darkness began to flow from his body swirling around him. Hagi was the first to noticed and stopped upon seeing it, but Macey kept her cool.

"How long are you going to follow me without attacking?" The voice shot through the forest, sending shivers down the spines of the pokemon hiding in the area. Jake turned, shooting a cold glare at the man in the black cloak behind him. The darkness around the boy intensified and then vanished. The man laughed.

"Hey, don't be so tensed. I'm just here to play around with ya, kid." The man teased, holding up a pokeball. Jake turned to fully face him, a look of displeasure on his face, but then he smirked as light traces of the darkness returned to him. He didn't notice, but the man did and found himself staring, as he felt something bad was going to happen to him.

"Play? Haha! You seriously followed me out here to play? Or was it because Beo ordered you to?" The boy, still smiling, shrugged. "Meh, either way, you're just a pathetic little pawn in his game to torture us." The cloaked man scowled, angered by the words of the boy before him and brought out a pokeball from under his cloak. "Shut up! You don't know a thing! If we had the command we could kill you at any moment in time!" Jake laughed again, setting Macey off of his shoulder. The mouse looked up at her trainer, worried. She didn't understand what was going on, but she knew that a battle was coming.

"Justify yourself all you want. That still won't change that fact that like the rest of us, you're just a plaything in this game. But no more words! Come, bring forth your pokemon and let's see which one of us is the weaker pawn in this game!"

Angered by the boy's words, the man released his first pokemon in a rage. Responding to its trainer's anger the pokemon itself let out a great roar. The pokemon resembled Houndour, only its build was taller and it had a longer snout. Where there was a skull-mask on Houndour's head, this pokemon had two large curved horns and what seemed to be a necklace with a skull pendant around its neck. Jake smirked, pointing pokedex at it.

"Houndoom, eh? Macey, let's go." He tone softened up, allowing his pokemon to relax and Macey stepped up in front of the boy ready to battle. She took a deep breath, growing in size, trying to intimidate the Houndoom. The cloaked man laughed. "Houndoom, use thunder fang!" Jake's eyes widen as the dog howled and charged towards Macey, sparks jumping from its mouth.

"Hit it back with Water Gun!" Macey took a small jump back and shot a stream of water at the large hound. The attack looked like it was going to hit, but the dog crouched at the last second and continued its charge under the stream of water.

"Watch out!" Quickly noticing that something was wrong, the Marill stopped her attack and slammed her tail on the ground, propelling herself away from the area just as the Houndoom lunged. It missed the mouse by a few seconds, but the lightning bolts spewing from its mouth caught one of her legs, and she winced in pain.

"Now, tackle!"

"Howl!"

Macey, spun in mid-air, changing her direction towards a tree nearby. As soon as she reached it, the mouse pokemon banged her tail against it, shooting herself like a bullet towards the recovering Houndoom. It turned to face her and opened its jaws, producing a ear-splitting scream, that made the mouse wobbled in the air. She crashed into the dog's chest and both fell to the ground.

"Argh! Get up and take it out with Thunder Fang!" Out of breath from the tackle against its chest, Houndoom rose to its feet, lightning bolts once again crackling along its teeth. Jake called out to Macey, trying to get her to move, but the mouse pokemon was still dazed from the howl attack. She screamed as the Houndoom bit into her side, sending shocks throughout her body. Jake tensed up, watching the dog shake Macey around like a rag, before spitting her out at its feet.

"Now, who's the weak one? Houndoom, finish it with another thunder fang!"

"Now, while you still can! Water Gun!" The cloak man's eyes widen as the mouse spat out a rather large spray of water into the Houndoom's electrified mouth. The water became charged when meeting the Houndoom's teeth and it screamed loudly as the electrified water ran down its throat.

"Once again! Water Gun!" The cloaked man watched as the Houndoom was battered with the blast of water and angrily stomped the ground as it writhed with pain. He called it back to its pokeball and Macey dashed over to Jake.

"Good for nothing piece of trash." He glared at the boy. "This isn't over yet! Haunter, go!"

Macey took a step forward but stopped when jake placed his hand on her head. She look up at the boy. Through the dark energy that was visibly swirling around him and through the crazed smirk on his face and the dangerous look in his eyes she could see her trainer.

"Hagi. Let's show them what you got." The Nidoran's ears stood up and twitched. He looked at Jake then glanced over at the Haunter, shivering a bit. "Don't be afraid. You're with us now, so if things get a little bad, we'll be there to intervene. Now let's start out with a leer!"

"Nido!" Hagi jumped out, reassured, and glared at the Haunter. The ghost pokemon gave a hiss at it made eye contact.

"Hypnosis!" Haunter pointed the palm of it right hand at Hagi. There was a faint glow around it as it sent out the attack.

"Get out of the way. Then use focus energy!" Hagi cried in response, quickly dashing off to the side and into some nearby bushes. As he did his body was surrounded in a light purple glow. The cloaked man turned his attention away from Jake, looking and listening for Hagi.

"Haunter, to the left! Use Night Shade!" The ghost pokemon laughed as it shot dark energy into the bushes. The man smirked at Jake, knowing he had hit the little rabbit-pokemon, but his smirk disappeared when he saw the large grin on the boy's face.

"Now! Peck!" Hagi sprung from the bushes behind the cloaked trainer and Haunter, his horn glowing white. The man yelled out, trying to warn his pokemon, but it was too late. The horn stabbed into the ghost pokemon's side, catching its attention, but not affecting it much.

"Lick!" It smiled, lashing its tongue out at Hagi. He shook as the tongue slid against his face, and remained frozen on spot.

"Now, night shade!" Hagi cried out as he was pushed back from the attack. He stopped a few feet away from the Haunter and glared at it as he struggled to stand up. Jake clenched his mouth shut, wanting to take Hagi out, instead he order the pokemon back into the bushes with focus energy. ' Come on…just a bit more.'

"Haha, so that's how you're going to play! Fine, Haunter doesn't need to see him to use this attack. Haunter, Curse!" The ghost turned to the man, giving him a concern look. Upon seeing his glare at the trainer, it turned back and proceeded with the attack.

Jake watched as the ghost brought its hands close. Its eyes glowed red as a small dark purple ball formed between its hands, slowly forming the shape of a Nidoran. Once the ball was completely transformed the Haunter devoured it and shrieked. Jake winced, covering his ears in pain as purple energy flowed from the screaming ghost and over the area. The dark energy around the boy intensified, as if trying to protect him from the Haunter.

The screams stopped and the energy disappeared. From within his own cloud of darkness, Jake could see that both the cloaked man and Haunter were waiting for something. Jake knew what it was and he called out to Hagi. The poison type pokemon limped out from the bushes to the right, clearly affected by the curse.

"Well, kid. It's all over for your Nidoran. Haunter, put it out of its misery with another Night Shade." The Haunter was happy to cooperate. As it prepared the attack a blast of water shot from the bushes behind the man and crashed into it. Weaken from the curse, the Haunter fainted after being hit with the pressurized water, but the man laughed as he recalled it.

"Just because you won this battle doesn't mean you're better, kid. In fact, the boss says that it's almost time to end your pitiful existence, and I'll…"

A loud roar shook the forest, stopping the man in mid sentence. He turned towards the direction of the forest, shaking a little. "Ra! Gir! RAAAA!!!!" The forest shook again and the man turned back to look at Jake. The boy saw a little fear in the man's eyes as he waved at the boy as shadows surrounded him.

"Later, kid!" And he was gone, leaving Jake to tend to Hagi and Macey's wounds as the roaring got louder. The boy shook a little himself, wondering if the others had heard it. After treating his pokemons' wound he stood up, with Macey back on his shoulder. The dark energy that had surrounded him was now gone.

The ground shook, causing the boy to drop to his knees and the roar intensified. Jake cried out in pain as he covered his ears. Whatever it was, the thing was getting closer.

"Do not fear it."

"Darkness will protect you…"

"Don't be afraid…"

"It calls out for you…will you just ignore it?"

"Stand and face your future!"

Jake became lightheaded as the voices in his head overcame the roars. The dark energy began to swirl around the boy, almost invisible to the eye, and he stood up again. He looked over at Macey and Hagi, giving them a slight smile.

"We're going to keep forward, but your safety, you guys have to return to your balls." Hagi nodded slowly, but Macey was ready to protest. She stomped her foot on the ground, ready to defy her trainer, but was forced back into her ball against her will. Jake smiled as the balls.

"It's for the best." Without hesitation, the boy ran off towards the center of the forest. He didn't know why he was going forward, knowing the danger of the situation. In the back of his mind he knew he should have turned around. But something was making him go forward, no; he was willing chasing after something.

As he got closer to the center of the forest the scenery worsened. The ground itself began twisted and broke up, floating in mid air and stopping the boy in his run. Leafless trees hovered in mid air, some upside down. There wasn't a single thing moving in the area, but Jake knew something bigger was going on. Something was twisting the forest around. Above him the clouds were darker and twisted in the same fashion as the trees.

Jake stopped in his walk, taking a look at everything before him. There was something there, something was watching him. Fear took his heart once again, squeezing it and Jake found himself gasping for air. The air became dense, weighing the boy down and dropping him to his knees. His eyes widen as he knew this sensation. He looked forward, seeing the man in the black cloak standing in front of him. His back to him, as usual.

"What do you want?! Who are you?!"

There was a laugh.

"Just wait. All will be revealed to you soon enough. But I see that push did help out with your development."

The man then vanished, leaving nothing but a spreading darkness. Jake swallowed his spit, shaking. Within the darkness he could see something moving.

"RAA! GIR!! RA TINAAA!!!" The ground shook as the roar blew wind pass the boy, knocking him onto his butt as he caught his first glimpse as the nightmare before him. Two red eyes peered down as the boy, but that wasn't what caught his attention.

The boy could see the outline of the thing before him. It was large and the shape of it was indescribable. Darkness oozed from its body, spreading as it made contact with the ground. What resembled wings, had 6 red conical objects, three on each wing, that made them look like claws. They looked like they were ready to strike the boy.

Out of breath, Jake scrambled to his feet to run away, but fell back to the ground as a shadowy claw gripped his ankle. The boy yelled out as his face made contact with the ground. His world was spinning, up was down and left was right, everything in his vision blended together, showing him no hope of escape. Pain pounded his head as laughter filled his ears, seeming to come from every direction.

"Time's up!" A voice called out, but Jake's ears didn't register it. Darkness had already swallowed him, returning him to the dreadful abyss that he was now becoming familiar with.

 

[§acred†Beo!]

Kerjo: Good post! I can tell how much Jakes personality has begun to change since receiving Macey! Anyways Macey grew to lvl 16! Macey wants to learn rollout, delete a move to make room? Hagi grew to lvl 10! Hagi learned double kick!

Note to everyone: New chapters are up!

Volume Two​

Separate Paths, Same Fates​

Chapter 1​

Kabir's Path​

As you lay there in the darkness that is Mt. Moon thoughts begin to roll through your head like a tidal wave crashing upon an unsuspecting city.

1: Why in the world would you choose the side that was losing?
2: Had the other trainers from Oak's lab been asked the same question?
3: And finally what was going to happen to Zypher since the rest of the Clan had been killed.

You almost start to consider giving in and just laying in the darkness until Beo returns after all you knew he would. But sometimes "FATE" has other things in mind as you notice a light up ahead, a very dim light but it's still a light and you once again have the urge to move rushing towards it when you finally make it to the light you realize it's an exit out. As you enter to the outside you are relieved to have just a bit of light back instead of complete darkness and you realize maybe Zypher was right that even the slightest light can bring hope to the person on the furthest brink.

Route 4

You are now standing on Route 4 just outside of Cerulean City, the Route is just like the rest that you've seen, dark, dead, and full of dark and poison type pokemon.

Wild Pokemon:

Common:

Koffing
Lvl 13-16
Moves: poison gas, smog, smokescreen, assurance

Grimer
Lvl 13-16
Moves: disable, pound, poison gas, mud-slap

Uncommon:

Exeggcute
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Barrage, leech seed, uproar, hypnosis

Rare:

Poliwag
Lvl 13-16
Moves: bubble, hypnosis, water gun, double slap

Post 2​

As you come to the outskirts of Cerulean City you notice a damp feeling a realize as you look around that the whole route is flooded making it more of a swampy area. You then notice a strange older man standing next to a boulder with a light tan trench coat and matching hat hiding his face. You don't know why but you walk up to the man. He grins softly.

"Ah a young trainer" the man says in a raspy voice as if he had been smoking for years. You ask the man who he is, and what exactly he is doing.

"The names Zane, and I've come in search of Misty the gym leader here" Zane says as you question if the gym leaders were still even around.

"Now's not the time for that, but I feel soon you will understand" Zane says as he urges you to follow and you finally come upon Cerulean, or what Cerulean used to be.

Sitting where Cerulean once was, is a giant lake. Although it's not your usual blue lake no the water here is just like the rest of Kanto, dark and gloomy. One thing you can notice as you take a glance down into the darkness is ruble of buildings and bodies laying everywhere. You begin to yell in anger wondering what happened here.

"They refused to become apart of Beo's new vision of the world, and there doom was to suffer the same fate as the type of Gym leader that controlled it" he says. "The fact is, is that Misty was one of the four gym leaders to oppose Beo before Zypher and the Clan came along, my job is to see if she's still alive" Zane says as you ponder how exactly he was going to find her.

"I'm going to swim" he said pointing to the middle of the lake and you can see the slightest reflection of the cerulean gym still intact.

Before you have a chance to ask anymore questions a dark brotherhood member appears before you and sends out two Houndooms. You immediately reach for two of yours but the man stops you, he can tell that you are beaten and lost at the moment and so he calls out two of his pokemon.

Zane's pokemon:

Nidoking

Nidoqueen

Zane then quickly makes mince meat of the Dark Brotherhood member who vanishes without any of there usual snide remarks. You actually are in a shocked state as you didn't think they were many strong trainers who opposed Beo left in Kanto. You ask him once again who he is.

"Haha" Zane begins laughing as he removes his coat and hate to reveal an old beaten suit with a red R over the top pocket and slick black hair, it was none other then…..

Giovanni.
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Volume 2 ​

Separate Paths, Same Fates​

Chapter 1​

Cain's Path​

As you lay there going in out of consciousness, the only thing keeping you awake is the random sparks of electricity lighting up the darkness, but for some reason it still gives you hope. There you were laying in an abandoned power plant full of darkness, a psycho pathic man just tried to kill you, but the little bit of light was giving you hope. You realize maybe Zypher was right that even the slightest light can bring hope to the person on the furthest brink.

So beaten, bloodied, and bruised you find the strength to stand up and carry on exiting the power plant. Once outside you notice the sign that states exactly where you are at.

Route 10

Route 10 is very dark gray area, no grass, no water, no life at all just a bunch of rugged rocks surrounding the old power plant which from the outside looks more like the outside of something from a horror movie, which basically suits the hard tough type pokemon on the route. Ether way you know what you must do right now and that is rescue the only man that can stop Beo. But to do this you must rescue him from Beo, himself.

Wild Pokemon:

Common:

Hoothoot
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Peck, hypnosis, foresight, tackle

Spinarak
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Night shade, leech life, scary face, constrict

Uncommon:

Poocheyna
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Tackle, howl, bite, sand-attack

Rare:

Mankey
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Karate chop, low kick, fury swipes, Focus energy

Post 2​

As you near the end of the route you notice that there is absolutely no way over the cliffs in front of you and the only other option would be to jump down into the cavern below that used to be a river and follow it out. But before you get the chance a Dark Brotherhood member comes out of no where you slightly laugh knowing you can beat one of them by themselves. He throws out a pokeball and just grins, suddenly three more dark brotherhood. You and your only pokemon get ready to take on the four of them when suddenly a strange woman with a white vest covered in lighting bolts jumps from the sky off fearow and lands next to you.


"Go Blastoise!" she shouts throwing out a pokeball as a huge intimidating blastoise stands next to you. You want to ask the women who she is but you have no time for that.

"Hey you wanna take that one over there I'll get these three" She shouts as her fearow circles back down and the two pokemon easily take out the three of theres. Now it's time to do your part.

Dark Brotherhood Pokemon:

Sneseal lvl 16
Moves: Faint attack, quick attack, taunt, scratch

After defeating the four members they quickly vanish before the mysterious women gets to them.. She pounds her fist off the ground in anger.

"Where are you hiding him!?!?" She yells angrily as you wonder who she is talking about when suddenly she turns to you.

"Cain i'm guessing right?" the women asks as you wonder how she knew that. She chuckles a little bit.

"Don't worry I know all about you from the files, I know how it is being the only girl in a group of first time trainers" she says before you quickly question who she is.

"I'm Sly, the third trainer that left that year with Beo, and Zypher… Leader of the Lightning Mercenaries!" Sly says swinging her fist to the air as you now have a new role model in life. But you still have many unanswered questions, like where the heck has she been for five years? And who are the lightning mercenaries?
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Volume 2​

Separate Paths, Same Fates​

Chapter 1​

Mathias Path​

Fate is a funny thing, if you were meant to die you'd die, if you were meant to save the world you'd find a way right? Right, fate has a way of catching up to you even if things are done differently then they should have been. Ether way at the moment you have no drive to do anything but lay motionless on the dark wet cave floor of victory road. You no longer have any use of your arm at the moment after your encounter with Beo, you figure eventually you would just bleed to death. Suddenly though the flames begin lighting up all around you as you notice torches lining the victory road walls and wonder how exactly they got lit?

"TRES!" a loud roar is heard as the cave becomes lighter as a big flame covered bird flies over your head and turns to look it you, it wanted you to follow it!

With this awe striking sight you are once again filled with hope as you remember what Zypher once said "even the slightest light can bring hope to the person on the furthest brink".


After a few moments of chasing slowly behind the humungous flaming bird you are now standing in what used to be the lobby of the Indigo Legue stadium, and the flaming bird pokemon is no where to be seen.

Since the Indigo league was shut down after Zypher and Beo's match it has become over run with various wild pokemon.

Wild Pokemon:

Common:

Yanma
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Sonic boom, double team, quick attack, foresight

Taillow
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Wing attack, quick attack, focus energy, peck

Uncommon:

Vulpix
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Will-o-wisp, quick attack, ember, roar

Rare

Aipom
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Tickle, baton pass, scratch, astonish

Post 2​

Eventually you have made your way onto the arena floor of the Indigo League, and as you stand there you get a sense of how Kanto used to be, and how you would give just about anything to get it back to the glory days when the Indigo League stadium was full of powerful trainers and pokemon, hundreds of fans cheering in the stands, but like I said earlier that was not your fate, your fate is what lies before you now, a once great region in ruin. It almost brings a tear to your eye before you get that feeling of someone watching you again.

"Poor kid, wanna tissue?" Tai says as you turn around and clench your fist yelling at him asking him what else he wants.

"I'm proud of you, you were able to turn down Beo and live… But the reason I'm here is he has Zypher and you want to save him right?" Tai asks as you realize that Zypher may be the only one in the world who can stop Beo, but in his current state that would be tough. You ask Tai how he can possibly help Zypher out.

"There's a pokemon I'm after who can change everything in Kanto, but since I've given into the darkness it is alluding me… It used to roam on a far away island where it couldn't harm anyone but when Kanto become shrouded in darkness it quickly fled here to make this it's new home, I want that pokemon!" Tai explains with a huge grin on his face wondering what pokemon could possibly stop Beo, and how could trust Tai? Maybe it was the flaming bird pokemon you saw?

"The pokemon is said to haunt people's dreams, so all I want you to do is go to sleep for awhile" he says as you tell him you will not go to sleep when suddenly a loud roar comes from outside the arena and suddenly three wild Nidoking's come charging in.

"You relax I've got this" Tai exclaims sending out a snorlax, and a steelix, who quickly make easy work of the wild pokemon. Tai then laughs.

"Listen Mathias just do this and I promise this once great stadium will be full of people again" Tai says as you realize maybe Tai can stop Beo if he had this pokemon so you get ready to fall asleep.

"One last thing hold onto this while you sleep" Tai says handing you a strange moon shaped rock. And you suddenly doze off with a final thought.

"What pokemon was Tai after, and how would it haunt your dream?
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Volume 2​

Separate Paths, Same Fate​

Chapter 1​

Grecko's Path​

You have now chosen a life with the Dark Brotherhood. You may be feeling many emotions or none at all. One thing do start to feel regardless is the darkness consuming your soul, it's like a cold chill going up your spine but at the same time it suddenly becomes oh so sweet, the darkness after all is like a drug… A very addictive drug and once you get started there's no turning back.

You look around to see a few of the other trainers from Oak's lab are wearing cloaks now, and you wonder if they had always been there or if Beo got to them as well… The place was currently in an uproar of cheers and celebration as the Clan of Hope was destroyed and Zypher captured. All of a sudden the cheers softened as Beo stood before the crowd removing his hood. His pure white eyes and spiky long black hair made him all the crazier looking.

"Today will go down in history! We have finally stopped all rebel forces and can now make our final plan into swing" Beo says as he steps away putting his hood back over his head, as a huge grin came across his face. And then he vanished. A few moments later a dark cloaked man comes to you and takes you to what is now your new room. Which basically just consisted of a cot to sleep on, since you wouldn't be spending much time hear anyways.

You lay down in your bed only to quickly fall asleep. A few hours later you are awoken by the creepy feeling of being watched and you look over to see Beo sitting in a chair all cocky like legs crossed and arms folded.

"You need to do something for me" Beo says snapping his fingers as your are once again flung through the shadows landing face first on the ground… Only now you're outside in a very unfamiliar place, suddenly a piece of paper floats down to you as you open it up it has instructions.

Look for a man named Koga he'll know what you need to do.

Reading the note you then realize you are on the outskirts of Fuschia City.

Route 18

Wild Pokemon:

Common:

Sunkern
lvl 13-16
Moves: Absorb, mega drain, grasswhistle, ingrain

Sandshrew
lvl 13-16
Moves: Swift, rapid spin, defense curl, scratch

Uncommon:

Machop
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Foresight, karate chop, low kick, focus energy

Rare:

Tauros
Lvl 13-16
Moves: pursuit, horn attack, rage, tackle

Post 2​

As you enter Fuschia city you look around and realize that every building is still in tack, and there are actually people walking around. You start to wonder why Fuschia was still in tack, granit the darkness was still shrouding over it but there wasn't that sense of death or destruction, something was different here.

"I struck a deal with Beo" A voice says from behind you as you turn to see a man in a ninja outfit.

"I pledged my loyalty to him and he kept this city running, same with Lt. Surge, Sabrina, and Blaine we made the right decisions, unlike the other four who stood to defy Beo and in return there people suffered a deathly fate" the man says as you realize he is Koga, you then show him the note from Beo.

"Ahh yes so your Grecko eh, I've heard a lot about you from Beo but that's besides the point you need to take care of something for me" Koga says as he leads you to the gym.

"Take off your cloak you need to be in your street clothes for this" Koga says as he then reaches over and grabs a dagger handing it to you.

"It seems the Johto Region has decided to get involved finally and has sent someone over to inspect the current state, I need you to kill him but get some information off of him first that's why you can't wear your cloak we need him to think you're a normal trainer" Koga says and with that he tells you to head to the shore line just south of Fuschia.

As you make your way to the shore line you see a younger man standing at the edge looking out over the water, a pidgeotto flying over his head. The man then turns are sensing your presence and it turns out to be none other then Violet City Gym Leader Falkner.
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Volume 2​

Separate Paths, Same Fate​

Chapter 1​

Jake's Path​

Shadows are always there watching over you like a mysterious person. But what if the shadow of a person took over the personality and became that person? That's basically what you've just done to yourself by choosing the Dark Brotherhood.

You look around to see a few of the other trainers from Oak's lab are wearing cloaks now, and you wonder if they had always been there or if Beo got to them as well… The place was currently in an uproar of cheers and celebration as the Clan of Hope was destroyed and Zypher captured. All of a sudden the cheers softened as Beo stood before the crowd removing his hood. His pure white eyes and spiky long black hair made him all the crazier looking.

"Today will go down in history! We have finally stopped all rebel forces and can now make our final plan into swing" Beo says as he steps away putting his hood back over his head, as a huge grin came across his face. And then he vanished. A few moments later a dark cloaked man comes to you and takes you to what is now your new room. Which basically just consisted of a cot to sleep on, since you wouldn't be spending much time hear anyways.

What felt like ten years was actually only ten minutes as you lay back on your bed unable to fall asleep. You begin questioning why you chose to come here, you also consider saving Zypher but figure that would fail… You start to realize you don't belong to ether of the groups but now you were stuck with what was probably the worst choice.

"Jake, Jake, Jake" that scary voice once again ringing in your ears as you turn to see Beo sitting next to you with a bit of a concerned look on his face.

"I found myself asking why you chose to join me, you just don't seem the type... Which is why I would like you to prove your loyalty to me" Beo says sitting there all calm waiting for a response.

"Your wondering how you could actually prove yourself to me right? It's simple I just need you to kill a prisoner of mine" Beo says as a grin comes across his face, you ask him what would happen if you refused.

"Well then we'd have some complications, and nobody wants complications… get the drift?" Beo says as he motions for you to follow him. He leads you down a dark hallway to a door at the very end… Water was dripping from the ceiling above you making things even creepier.

"Now once you kill him then I will no longer question your allegiance" Beo says before handing you a dagger. As you get ready to enter the room you begin to wonder one thing.

"Just who exactly was behind this door?"

Post 2​

As you enter the room you can see the faint figure of a man chained to the walls… It was completely pitch black in there and as you go to flip the light switch on a siren begins ringing, as right behind you several wild pokemon bust through the walls of the base.

Wild Pokemon:

Common:

Rhyhorn:
Lvl 13-16
Moves: fury attack, stomp, horn attack, tail whip

Uncommon:

Ponyta
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Tackle, Growl, ember, tail whip

Rare:

Teddiursa
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Faint attack, Fake Tears, Scratch Covet, lick

After you defeat one of the wild pokemon or catch it you go back into the room slowly closing the door behind you. You were taking deep breaths now, there was some human being in front of you, who you now had to kill or face being killed by that psychopathic Beo. You are also wondering why and how wild pokemon attacked the base, but the moment you flip the light switch on you understand. For the man chained up in front of you was none other then.
-------------------------------------------------------

Volume 2​

Separate Paths, Same Fate​

Chapter 1​

Gil's Path​

Darkness, an eternal life of nothingness, you'll become overwhelmed with power, anger, and hatred for everything but it doesn't really matter this is the path you've chosen. What is it that makes a person chose one path, while another chooses a different path? Simple its fate, and everyone has one. Your fate has yet to be uncovered but your path to that fate has been chosen through darkness.


You look around to see a few of the other trainers from Oak's lab are wearing cloaks now, and you wonder if they had always been there or if Beo got to them as well… The place was currently in an uproar of cheers and celebration as the Clan of Hope was destroyed and Zypher captured. All of a sudden the cheers softened as Beo stood before the crowd removing his hood. His pure white eyes and spiky long black hair made him all the crazier looking.

"Today will go down in history! We have finally stopped all rebel forces and can now make our final plan into swing" Beo says as he steps away putting his hood back over his head, as a huge grin came across his face. And then he vanished. A few moments later a dark cloaked man comes to you and takes you to what is now your new room. Which basically just consisted of a cot to sleep on, since you wouldn't be spending much time hear anyways.

Unfortunately your to hyper to sleep, your adrenaline pumping through your veins as hard as you try you can't fall asleep so you decide to check out the Dark Brotherhood's base. As soon as you exit your door there is none other Tai Fayling standing up against the wall across from your door with a smug look arms folded across his chest.

"Hello there again" he says, something seemed different about him though he seemed to be getting a bit more eager and anxious about something. You begin to ask him what his deal is.

"Listen kid, Beo needs you to do something for him" he says as you wonder what it is.

"I nee… I mean Beo needs you to go into the reverse world for him and get his staff" Tai says. As you questions what exactly the reverse world is, and what staff, you've never seen Beo with a staff.

"The reverse world is the reason Kanto is the way it is, and how Beo controls the shadows but I'm saying to much just go get me that staff, so I can give it to Beo" Tai says with a big grin across his face. You start wondering if Beo really even wants this staff.. or if Tai is just using you but at this point you really don't care your adrenaline is pumping so fast you need a little excitement, plus it would be interesting to see the reverse world.

"Ok, i'll let you into the reverse world, the exit will only stay open for half an hour so you gotta hurry up or you'll be trapped there" Tai says as an unown starts circling you and suddenly you black out.

Post 2​

As you awaken you look around to see everything is strange, just like viridian forest only worse, there was ground standing in the air, buildings and trees twisted etc.. You also find the air very thick and hard to breath as if the gravity here was ten times worse then in Kanto. This place was worse then Kanto, but in a way this is what Kanto was doomed to become if Beo wasn't stopped soon.

You realize that you were never actually told where the staff was located, and since you only had half an hour and counting you needed to move fast, unfortunately there are also wild pokemon here which makes it even harder to find that damn staff.

Wild Pokemon:

Common:

Ralts
Lvl 13-16
Moves: double team, teleport, growl, confusion

Uncommon:

Duskull
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Astonish, foresight, disable, night shade

Rare:

Riolu
Lvl 13-16
Moves: Feint, foresight, Force palm, counter

Finally as you begin making some head way through this maze like confusing world you hear a footstep from behind you and turn around to see a Skarmory standing there. This wasn't just any Skarmory though it was a different colored Skarmory, a shiny one… There's only one person known to have caught a shiny Skarmory.


With a big evil grin Shaun Tess steps out from behind the Skarmory.


"Hey baby brother" he says with an evil exclaimed grin.
------------------------------------------------------------

Volume 2
Separate Paths, Same Fate
Josh's Path
(Charizard_Man has yet to give me his side)​

 

[Kerjo]

"You guys hold things down while I'm gone, alright?" A young boy, about the age of 13 stood at the edge of a lake, peering at the bank on the other side. The sun shone brightly, almost blinding Jake as he looked up at the sky. He quickly turned his focus back to the young boy in front of him.

"No problem! Jake and I will have no problem! We'll be training and waiting for your return so that we can finally take out that stupid Dark Brotherhood!" A boy around the age of 15 piped up. Jake lowered his head, sighing. He couldn't believe that Wes and he had actually given into his younger brother's wishes. He looked back at Vince, who was smiling at him with his usually grin.

"I'm glad you guys can trust me. Chris said that going to Johto to become a trainer won't do anything. But if I stay in Kanto, they'll probably kill me before I can achieve anything." Jake still didn't respond. He hadn't taken part in the argument since it started, but he supported his younger brother in his desire to leave Kanto. While never saying it out loud, Vince knew that Jake thought it would be for the best. Wes and he couldn't protect the boy in his trainer when they were going to become new trainers as well.

A roar caught the attention of the group of boys and they all turned to look back at the lake. A large blue pokemon was swiftly swimming across the water from the other bank. Squinting, Jake could see a man in a white lab coat on the bank side, it must have been Prof. Elm. He looked at his younger brother and gave him a small nod.

"Be safe, and don't get into any trouble while you're gone." The boy spoke up as he approached Vince. In one quick movement he hugged his younger brother, and then moved away, giving him room. Vince chuckled a little and Was stepped up and gave the boy a simple handshake.

Another soft roar echoed the area as the Lapras reached the bank. Vince thumbed his nose, doing his best not to cry as he headed over to the giant water pokemon. He climbed upon its shell and turned back to his brother and friend. They were giving him looks of reassurance. He choked up a laugh.

"Hey…Jake. Please be careful and don't go running off after that guy, okay? I don't want to have to come back and knock some sense into you before I'm done training." Jake looked at the ground, not sure of what to say. Instead he gave Vince as thumbs up. "Wes, I'm counting on you to watch him while I'm gone."

"No problem!" The blonde hair kid called out.

Jake rolled on the hard ground, groaning as he did. He slowly opened his eyes, but saw nothing but red. His hands roamed the ground, tingling at the heat of the rock beneath him. Sweating from the heat, the boy furiously pulled at his jacket, almost ripping it off. There was a laugh and he looked up, his vision becoming clearer.

There, no too far away stood the one and only Tai Fayling. As Jake's vision settled more he could see that the man's usual grin was replaced with an expression that was rather unpleasant and Jake turned around groaning at the thought of listening to whatever made the man mad.

"Well, you quite the lucky one today, aren't you?" His tone was completely different from the expression his face gave. He walked around so that the boy was facing him again and reached out his hand to help him up. Jake glared at Tai, gripping his hand and standing up. Once he was up brushed himself off and then turned his glare back at the man.

"Lucky? Oh no, if I was lucky I wouldn't be here." Tai smiled at the boy as he continued his rant. "I've been attacked by these ridiculous cloaked trainers more times in these past few days than the whole nine years before! My own brother even joined them in their harassment of Kanto. Then we arrive at this "Clan of Hope" base to see nothing but a bunch of warned down trainers and a sickly man who sends us to the forest to face off against whatever the hell that thing was back there! Don't you dare say that I'm a lucky person…cause even the dead have more luck that I do!"

Tai chuckled under his breath. "You're lucky that you're still alive at this moment. You've come close to dying in more ways then you know." The man was calm, collected and didn't seem to be affected by the recent events unlike Jake, who was now looking around at the change of scenery. He turned back to Tai.

"Where are we anyway?"

"Beo separated you away from the rest of the group." Jake twitched for a moment, a million thoughts running through his head.

"So, planning to take us out one by one, eh? Well, I'll say that Beo is a smart one. After all, dealing with a group of people is much more difficult than dealing with an individual." Tai laughed at the boy's thought, laying his hand upon his shoulder.

"Your view on things creep me out sometimes, kid." He tightened his grip on Jake's shoulder, catching all of the boy's attention. "But, on to more important matters. Beo's going to come after you soon and he's going to be bringing you an offer that you absolutely cannot refuse!" Jake scuffed as dark energy rose from his body.

"I have the freedom to do whatever I want! Anyway, why should I accept an offer from him?" A frown joined Tai's urgent expression. "Because if you refuse, then he'll kill you without question! So I suggest that you accept his offer."

Jake shrugged, throwing Tai's hand off his shoulder and strolled about. "It depends on what the offer is. Sometimes death isn't a bad option either. But what I want to know right now…is why are you telling me this? What are you after, Tai?"

The man laughed. "You're quite the curious comedian aren't you? Well, to answer your question, you could say it's because you are Kanto's last hope…and I don't want to see you die." He brought his hand to his chin. "Or, I could have an agenda of my own, who knows? I'll let you decided on that."

Jake sighed, turning his back to Tai as he began to ponder the choice. He cocked his head to one side, popping his neck and then cocked it to the other side, popping the other side. Spinning on his heel, he called out. "What agenda could you have?"

There was no answer as the man was gone, seeming to have vanished into thin air. Jake bit his lip, before turning back around. He was curious about what possible agenda Tai would have and about the offer that Beo was going to present. He wanted answers but he knew that he was going to get them anytime soon.

"Oh well, guess I should just go on." He pulled at his shirt, the heat finally having affects on him. "I need to get out of this place fast!" The area he was in was bright, much brighter than the scenery he was used to being in. The ground beneath him was a reddish-brown color and stem rose from cracks in it. There were pools of boiling lava scattered throughout the area, the intense heat creating visible waves that played with the boy's sight. Towards the center of the island the land rose up, creating a cone shape structure, which Jake assumed to be a volcano. Blake smoke bellowed from the opening of the hole of the volcano, covering the sky. Thanks to the smoke the only light the area had was the lava, which made everything look red.

Jake swiped sweat from his forehead and tied his jacket around his waist. Seeing a sign ahead, he ran up to it. He frowned as he read the worn letters on the sign:

Volcanic Island located Southwest of Cinnabar. Anyone reading this should immediately make their way to the other side of the island and use the emergency radio to get help.

"Really, a radio on the other freaking side of the island!" Jake sighed, reaching for one of his pokeballs. He looked at it sadly as the thoughts of the recent events ran through his head. He then reached into the bag under his jacket and got out a small piece of paper and wrote something on it. He held the ball up and pressed the middle button on it.

In a blue light, Nathan appeared before the boy, confused. He turned to his owner who was weakly smiling at him. "I'm sorry, but this is where we part. What's going to happen ahead from this moment forth isn't going to be pretty. I hope you'll understand and one day, forgive me." The Beedrill buzzed at him. "But I want you to do one last thing for me."

Jake tied the letter to a string, making a necklace and placed it around Nathan's neck. "I want you to go and find Wes for me. Give him that letter and after that, you're free to do whatever you want." Nathan buzzed again, trying to reason with the boy, but he shook his head. "You can't come along now. GO!"

He shot his hand up and pointed what he believed to be north. Nathan buzzed sadly, but slowly took off, flying away from the island. Jake swallowed his spit, turning away and walking on, unable to watch his former partner leave. He lowered his head and whispered a short prayer for it, before continuing on his trek to the other side of the island.

If it wasn't for the heat and the unstableness of the ground near the pools of lava, the trip wouldn't have been so bad. However, Jake wasn't so lucky and the first few times he walked by the lava pools, he found himself scrambling for clear ground as the land beneath him gave away. His hands were now peeling from the blisters formed by contact with the hot rocks and the salty-water known as sweat made the blister sting even more. His clothes were slightly singed from rocks, but nothing had been caught on fire… yet.

Along the way he saw many fire-type pokemon, but didn't stop to observe them. He didn't even think about battling them as it would just be too much effort to concentrate or move around in the area. He knew a battle would tire him out quickly and even though Macey was water-type, the countless Slugma and Nomels he saw had a clear advantaged in the area.

After a while the boy decided to take a breather. Of course, it really couldn't be called a breather as the hot air was difficult to breathe in. He ended up gasping for air, as though he had just finished running an 800 meter dash in about 2:09 while out of shape. He reluctantly placed his hand on a black rock with glowing red holes next to him, figuring that nothing worse could happen to his hands.

Upon contact, the rock moved and white smoke belched from the hole on top of the rock. It rose; revealing itself to be a Torkoal, but Jake didn't stay long enough to figure that out. Upon seeing the smoke and hearing the angry cry, the boy had darted off, trying to distance himself from the "smoking black rock of doom" as quickly as possible.

Eventually the boy stopped, needing to rest. He looked around, seeing the same old scenery that he had seen when he first arrived and sighed. "It…just…doesn't…make any…sense…" He gasped out. He looked up at the mouth of the volcano. The smoke was drifting in a different direction, meaning that the boy was making some progress, or that the wind was blowing in a different direction. Jake hoped that it was the former, because he would be very upset if the wind was blowing and he wasn't feeling it. 'Then again, it may blow hot air on me…'

"Why in the world would anyone place a sign on one side of the island and have the radio to call for help on the other side!? I swear…"

"Torchic!" The boy whipped around to see a small chick-like pokemon standing behind him. The orange and red feather bird chirped again, walking closer to Jake, who slowly backed away, waving his hands in front of him. "Oh no…no, no, no. I'm not here to battle, just passing through." The bird pokemon chirped curiously and walked closer to the boy. Twitching, the boy turned and ran off and the Torchic followed right behind him.

As he continued to run from the Torchic, Jake began to have a feeling that something was about to happen. That feeling that he got every time Beo or one of the cloaked trainers appeared before him. His racing heart began to beat even faster as he felt the need to get to the other side of the island as soon as possible. Driven by thought of meeting Beo again, he ran faster, knowing that his hope of escape wasn't too far away. In fact, he could see a building ahead. Behind him he could still hear the Torchic chirping behind him.

As he neared the building his feelings got worse and he slowed down. 'What…what if this is all a trap? What if Beo is in there waiting for me?' As if the act upon his thoughts, shadows rose from the ground in front of him and out from them Beo appeared, with a Charizard behind him.

"Speak of the devil and he shall come." Jake glared at the man. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!?!?!" He clenched his hands into fist, ready to strike at the man, but was held back at the thought of being attacked by the Charizard. Beo clapped, laughing at the boy.

"You know, I think it's funny. And quite entertaining that you fools think that you're actually making a difference in the place. But I'll let you in on something, boy. In this reality, it's hopeless. None of you are even strong enough to defeat me blindfolded." Jake clenched his teeth together. Inside he knew the man spoke the truth as the Charizard behind him was overflowing with power. Having caught up, the Torchic stood behind Jake, cowering in fear. Darkness began to appear around Jake and Beo's eyes widen in interest.

"Well, I came here with an offer to you and now…now I see that it's an offer that you would accept if you're smart. To start off, I see the potential of you becoming very strong, but my young friend, it can't happen if you're fighting on the wrong side." Jake raised an eyebrow. "I see the power of darkness has already acknowledged you, and you could have all the power you want if you just accept it and let it grow inside you, like I did."

Jake spat at the man's feet. But before the salvia could hit the ground, something shot out at Jake, cutting him across his cheek. He quickly brought his hand to his face, as blood flowed from the wound. He glared at the man, seeing dark energy flowing about his hand. He snarled, sending a death glare at the man before him.

"What…what could the darkness possibly do for me?"

"Don't deny the darkness!"

"Give in!"

"Submit!"

"You belong in the dark, it's where you'll find comfort, a place to rest!"

"You'll never be one of those goody-two-shoe people in the light. You are a part of DARKNESS!!!"

Jake winced and gripped his head as he fell down to one knee. His world was starting to spin once again as shadows rose from the ground and danced about the area, now singing some lullaby that was slowly driving the boy mad. He yelled out in rage, his eyes flashing red with malice. Beo smiled at the boy.

"I see you're having conflict with the darkness within yourself. You see, if you join me, I can help you handle that darkness. The whispers, the hallucinations, that man who's always standing before you…" Jake looked up at Beo, his eyes wide with surprise. "Join me and along the way I'll show you how to harness that darkness within you to do your bidding. You'll be able to return to how you used to be before this all happened…" Beo extended his hand out for Jake to shake.

"All you need to do is grab my hand."

"Ah, I am very pleased with your decision." Beo laughed as shadows reached through the darkness surrounding the boy and the Torchic, flinging them into a void of sorts before dropping them into a new place. Jake landed on his back with a grunt and groaned as the Torchic fell onto his stomach. He looked around seeing a whole new place, and before him were many people wearing black cloaks. Looking down upon himself, Jake found himself in the same black cloak, with black gloves covering his hands. He felt better, as if the blisters had disappeared.

Cheers to the left caught the boy's attention and he turned to see two cloaked trainers carrying Zypher down a hallway, the sickly man's white robe covered in blood.

Getting up to his feet, Jake began to wonder about the mess he had gotten himself into.

 

[§acred†Beo!]

Kerjo: Good post! I can definitly see why Jake was torn between the decsions... And oh poor Nathan! Nathan was released! On the other hand a lvl 12 female torchic has followed Jake! Jake joined the Dark Brotherhood!

 

[tim0789]

V2 C1 P1: Darknessnessnessness...

As Grecko stood there he watched as the brotherhood members dragged Zypher through there lair. Next thing he noticed was that a few other of the new trainers from Oak's lab were also present, and this kind of bothered him. "What's there reason for being here..." he thought to himself as he stared over each of them.

The next thing he saw was a suprise, the dark brotherhood members began to converge in front of some podium type thing, where their sadistic leader took the stand. "What does he have to say now" Grecko smirked waiting for the man to say something.

"Today will go down in history! We have finally stopped all rebel forces and can now make our final plan into swing" Beo says as he steps away putting his hood back over his head, as a huge grin came across his face. With that Beo was gone leaving Grecko to ponder what exactly their final plan is.

"Hello Grecko" a familiar voice says from behind as a hand touches the boy's shoulder. He quickly swings around to see another cloaked man, but he remember him as the man from Viridian Forest. "Erytin?" Grecko questions as he wonders what the man wants. "I told you it was destiny boy, now I'm here to escort you to your room." he stares at the boy awaiting his response. "Ya Destiny...right...let's go then." Grecko mutters back as he follows Erytin down a hallway.

Erytin stops at an unopened door and thrusts it open, "This is where you will be staying while your here...although you won't be here very often." He laughs as Grecko turns around to see just an empty room with a cot. "Well this is.." he begins before turning around and noticing that Erytin has vanished. "Why do they feel the need to do that all the time" He angrily squeezes his fist as he enters his new home and shuts the door.


Grecko lays down in the bed, not expecting to fall asleep but he is to overwhelmed and exhausted to stay awake. A few hours later he's awoken by the creepy feeling of being watched and looks over to see Beo sitting in a chair all cocky like legs crossed and arms folded.

"You need to do something for me" Beo says snapping his fingers as Grecko is once again flung through the shadows landing face first on the ground… "AHHH..." the boy disgustingly yells as he stands up and notices he is someplace else and holding a note.

"What the hell is this thing..." Grecko spits out blood as he opens up the folded piece of paper.
Look for a man named Koga he'll know what you need to do. "If i'm looking for Koga...I must be near Fuschia City" Grecko says after remembering the lecture his father gave him on all the old towns and the gym leaders that belonged to them.

"Huh?" Grecko states after hearing a rampaging type sound. He looks over and sees a Tauros darting his way. "These wild pokemon always want to fight...well he doesn't know who I am. Go Cyndaquil!" Grecko exclaims tossing out his newest addition.

"CYNDA???" it yawns confusingly as it emerges from the ball. Grecko looks down at the pokemon for a second because he to is confused. The darkness is starting to consume his soul and somehow he knows that because since he agreed to beo's offer he was changing, especially his personality. But it seems as if Grecko's overwhelming love for pokemon is also blocking some of the darkness. He kneels down next to Cyndaquil before forcing on a smile..."Hey buddy...you see that Tauros coming? We need to stop it ok? Were on a very important mission, so how about an ember attack?"

"CYN!" Cyndaquil smiles as it jumps in front of it's trainer and begins to shoot flames at the Tauros. "TAAAARR!" The Tauros yells as it continues to dodge the flames. "Ah ok Cyndaquil new tactic...slow it down with smokescreen!"

Cyndaquil then quickly shoots out an area worth of smoke that the Tauros can't dodge. "Tar?" the pokemon stops in it's track as it now has no idea where it is. "Ok Cyndaquil use ember again!" Grecko quickly commanded.

This time the Tauros could not see the ember attack and could not dodge it. The Tauros was thrusted into a nearby fence where it now laid unconcious. "Great job Cyndaquil...really...I appreaciate it...now take a rest" the trainer stutters to finish his sentence as he realizes how hard it is to show compassion.

The boy then walked over to the unconcious Tauros, "Here..." he says as he drops an Oran Berry, and continues on his way to meet Koga

 

[Underoos]

The multiple things that flashed through Kabir's mind made it very difficult for him to concentrate, but finally he was able to single out one issue and attempt to deal with it. What the hell had he been thinking? He had just picked a side that seemed to be on the brink of losing, and that didn't seem like something that would benefit him in the near future. Kabir sighed heavily and closed his eyes, deciding that he had already made his decision and he wasn't going to go back on it now. Another thought hit him from the dark; what about the others? He mused silently, wondering if they had been asked the same question as well. And if they had, what had they picked? Kabir sighed, deciding that it didn't matter either way. They weren't close to him and he wasn't close to them. He was about to close his eyes and relax a little, but he thought of something else. Zypher. What about him? Kabir groaned and snapped his eyes shut, rubbing them furiously.

He sort of started to think about just staying there and letting Beo return, but something was nagging at him and telling him that was a bad idea. In a way, Kabir had to admit that he agreed with his gut. He didn't want more of his blood to be licked by that psycho. With a grunt, Kabir sat up on the cold floor. He glanced around, and then finally pushed up from the ground, cursing when his arm burned with pain. Kabir sighed once more and grabbed one of his white shirts from his pack and ripped its sleeve, then tied the heavy cloth around his arm. Kabir tugged it tight with his teeth, and then looked around again. He was about to give up hope of seeing an exit, when suddenly he saw a dim light just outside of the place. Kabir blinked slowly, and then walked towards the light.

He went at a slow, cautious pace at first. When the area grew brighter, however, Kabir shot into a run. He was ready to get out of the dark and horrible place, ready to face whatever the hell was out there waiting for him. Just as he was almost out, Kabir tripped over something and did a flip over himself, flying out of the cave and skidding to a halt in the grace. He groaned in pain, and cracked open his eyes that he had shut during the fall. It was bright, oh so bright. Kabir lay there for a few moments, simply relishing in the slight warmth that it providing. He sighed and pushed up from the ground once more, surveying the area. Though it was lighter out than the cave, whatever route this was was still dark and horrible, most likely full of poison Pokemon and such. Kabir stretched, cursing softly as his arm gave a slight pang.

The first thing Kabir wanted was water. He trudged over to a small pond nearby, and crouched down. He leaned over a little, looking at his own reflection in the water. His face was covered in dirt and grime, giving him an animalistic look. Kabir duly noted that he needed to shave, but wasn't too concerned with that. His clothes seemed to be stained as well, so Kabir sighed heavily. He hated getting super dirty, because that would mean having to do too much work to get clean again. Then Kabir shook his head and, without another thought in mind, cupped his palms and pushed them into the water. He splashed it on his face a couple times, wiping the excess dirt off on his already dirty shirt. Kabir took a couple sips too, then fell back on the grass. He stared up at the sky.

Kabir was tired. He just wanted to lie there and sleep comfortably. He sort of wished he was at home again, in his own bed and with his shower. Kabir really, really wanted his shower. He rolled over in a slightly curled up position, watching the dead grass flick back and forth in the gentle breeze. Kabir was silently willing himself to get up, though it was very difficult and not working. Instead, he closed his eyes and relaxed. Kabir figured it wouldn't hurt to take a little...nap. Just as he had nodded off, however, Kabir heard a soft sound and then felt water dripping on his brow. Kabir opened his eyes.

Standing in front of him was a little blue Pokemon, a swirl on its belly and a large tail behind it. Kabir stared at it without much comprehension. "Poli?" it questioned, cocking its entire body to the side. Kabir simply groaned and shut his eyes again, silently willing the thing to leave him alone to sleep. The thing, however, had other plans. "Poli!" it chirped, turning around. Kabir wasn't looking though, and was rather surprised when suddenly he got slapped by a tail.

"OW!" he snarled, eyes snapping open. However, he couldn't quite bring himself to get up. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Poli," the Pokemon mumbled, looking at the ground.

Kabir stared at it for a moment. "You're just an odd little fellow, aren't you?" he muttered, grunting as he finally was able to get up. Kabir stood on wobbly feet, and then looked down at the very short Pokemon. "Well, good bye. Thanks for the slap." He turned to leave, but a quick glance over his shoulder made him stop. The Poliwag looked so miserable, standing there all forlorn and whimper-like. Kabir looked the Pokemon up and down, wondering what had happened to make it this sad. For some reason, Kabir didn't like the look at all. Poliwag shouldn't be sad, there wasn't a reason for it to be. "What's wrong?" Kabir questioned.

"Poli. Poliwag."

"Uh...huh." Kabir scratched the back of his head. "Well..." he trailed off, not knowing what to do. He wasn't just going to leave it there, looking all depressed. "How about this. We have a little battle, and if you win then you can do whatever. If I win, then I'll catch you and see what happens."

The Poliwag looked at him, still curious. Kabir waited, until finally the Poliwag chirped its name happily and shot a burst of water in Kabir's direction. Kabir, because he was still feeling rather off, didn't manage to duck and got hit square in the face. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance, but he was smirking as he grabbed Geodude's Pokeball. Yeah, it was a bad match up, but Kabir didn't care. Geodude needed experience, and there didn't seem to be a better opportunity presenting itself.

"Geodude, use rock polish!" Kabir called, tossing Geodude's Pokeball. In a flash, the heavy boulder-like Pokemon appeared. Kabir watched as Geodude sort of dug some dirt out of the ground and began to rub it on himself. "Wonder if it'll work," Kabir grumbled. "Now head in with tackle!" he ordered.

Geodude charged in, but Poliwag looked like it was ready and expecting the attack. The water type yawned and, moments later, shot another jet of water out of its mouth. This time, however, it was directed more towards Geodude than anything else. Geodude grunted and launched itself to the side with its large hands, then continued its hopping charge of a tackle attack. Poliwag turned, water spraying towards Geodude once more. This time, Geodude leaped over the water. Poliwag, not realizing what Geodude had just done, blinked and cut off its attack, looking around furiously for Geodude. Seconds later, Geodude fell from the sky and slammed into Poliwag, making the water type cry out in pain. Poliwag, however, was not to be deterred. It shot a water gun at Geodude, forcing him to retreat.

"No worries, Geodude," Kabir said. "Just watch out for its attacks, dodge water gun when you can. Tackle if you see an opportunity!" Kabir, in the meantime, decided to survey the surroundings just to see if there was anything around that could help them in the battle. Geodude was sort of losing, even though Kabir didn't want to admit it.

All that Kabir could see was dead grass and the small pond, which wouldn't really prove to be much help. He saw a few trees, but was unsure of how sturdy they were. Just as he began to think about that, there was a loud grunt from Geodude. Kabir glanced over, cursing when he saw Poliwag was using a bubble attack. Kabir glanced back at the trees and bit his lip, trying to think if there was any other option. Once he realized that he was basically at a large disadvantage and there wasn't, Kabir sighed. He figured that the tree would be the way to go, lest he wanted Geodude to get his butt kicked.

"Alright Geodude, head for that tree!" Kabir called, pointing to the one closest.

Geodude glanced at Kabir unsurely, but then seemed to shrug and hop off towards the tree. Poliwag jogged after it, shooting a spray of water as it did. Geodude somehow managed to dodge the attacks, and arrived at the tree quickly. It hid behind the tree to avoid the water, and while it did that Kabir looked at the tree. He wasn't sure if what he was about to do would work, but figured that he might as well try.

"Climb the tree, Geodude!" Kabir ordered.

He heard Geodude give something akin to an outraged cry, but then the Pokemon began to attempt to get up the tree. Poliwag was nearly on Geodude's side by now, and Kabir had basically made his Pokemon a sitting duck. He licked his lip as he watched Geodude swing on a branch and narrowly miss Poliwag's hypnosis attack, something that would've surely brought the battle to and end. Kabir carefully looked from Geodude to Poliwag, and then figured that the distance was just about right. Kabir watched Geodude swing back and forth, slowly but surely. It seemed Geodude appeared to have caught on. Poliwag couldn't hit it with a proper water gun because of Geodude's odd swinging patterns, but while Poliwag stood under the tree it was a perfect target.

"Tackle!" Kabir said quickly, not wanting to miss a rather great opportunity.

Geodude roared and let go, using the momentum from his swinging to greater the force of his tackle. Poliwag yelped and attempted to scramble away, but Geodude crashed into the Pokemon in the last second, rolling them both over on the ground several times. They ended up stopping in a heap just a ways from the pond, something Kabir realized was a bit of a mistake. Poliwag got up slowly, wincing and cringing. It looked like it wasn't going to give up, however, and immediately turned and leaped in the pond. Kabir groaned, tugging at his hair in annoyance. As Geodude looked around for Poliwag, Kabir was unsurprised to see the jet of water fly from the pond.

"Watch out, Geodude!" Kabir screamed, watching as the attack bolted right for his Pokemon.

Geodude blinked slowly and attempted to dodge, but instead rolled into a ball and let the water attack hit. It shoved him a ways in the surrounding mud, and Kabir was a bit afraid that Geodude was finished. Just as he went to grab Kadabra's Pokeball, however, Geodude snapped out of the ball and grunted. Kabir let out a breath of relief, and then looked to the pond. He still couldn't see where the hell that Poliwag was, and didn't think that winning the battle would be possible with Geodude because of this. Kabir pondered his options, but finally decided that he'd just have to lure the water type out.

"Geodude, c'mon," he said loudly, hoping the Poliwag could hear from under the water. Kabir figured it could. "Let's go. It won't come out, and I don't want to waste our time."

Geodude glanced at Kabir unsurely, then back to the pond. Finally it trudged over to Kabir, looking a bit sour about leaving the battle unfinished. Kabir turned and had just started to walk when he heard a loud splash. "POLI!" The cry made Kabir glance over his shoulder. Standing there, battered on the water's edge, was Poliwag. It was panting and giving Kabir a harsh look, something that Kabir didn't think fit the Pokemon that was oh so curious just minutes ago. Kabir, however, was glad to see that it didn't want to just quite. He found a lazy smile appeared on his face as he and Geodude turned around, once more facing the water type.

"So you still want to battle, huh?" Kabir said softly. Poliwag huffed, nodding its body. "Fine then. Geodude, use rock polish and then tackle."

Geodude did the weird dirt thing again, and then began to charge into a tackle. Kabir watched as Poliwag's eyes narrowed, the water type staring intently at Geodude. Geodude was moments away when suddenly Poliwag's cheeks expanded and it unleashed a stream of water. Kabir had been expecting it, and apparently so had Geodude. The rock type leaped away, but then went straight back into his tackle. Poliwag, who hadn't really suspected Geodude to react that fast, was caught off guard and hit by the tackle attack. It cried out as it slammed into the ground, lying there without moving for a few moments.

"Good job, Geodude," Kabir commented. He grabbed one of the Pokeballs that was empty and held it for a moment. Poliwag glanced over at him tiredly, and Kabir looked into the Pokemon's eyes. Then, without another thought, Kabir chucked the ball and watched as Poliwag was engulfed in a flash of light. The ball began to shake.

 

[§acred†Beo!]

Tim0789: Nice post, Grecko's really having a hard time with the darkness consuming him. Anyways Cyndaquil grew to lvl 12!

FrostBite: Great post! Geodude grew to lvl 12! Geodude learned rock throw! Kabir caught a lvl 13 female Poliwag!

 

[Wolfwhispers]

"Beo," the one called Shaun intoned. "I brought you a little gift... but you know I demand rewards..."

Gil watched in silence, not wanting to be noticed as he took everything in with a bit of awe. Murkrow shifted on his shoulder but stayed silent as well, feeling the same respect Gil was feeling for being in such a powerful presence. That black Charizard was something, and it really belonged to this boy? He didn't look any older than Gil!

The boy, Shaun, Gil believed, smirked as he gazed at Beo, knowing full well that everyone was staring at him with jealousy in their eyes. His own dark eyes glanced at Gil and stared deeply. Gil's dark circled eyes became half lidded as he gazed at the other boy with curiosity. He wondered what else this boy had in his party.

"I'm waiting," Shaun growled, finally turning his back on Gil in a show of disinterest.

"Of course," Beo growled, giving Shaun a warning look. The dark man reached into a pocket and pulled out a red disk, drawing murmers and even more jealous glares. It was TM, and although Gil had been lucky enough to find one, they were incredibly rare to find in the wild or to be man made now a days. "Fire Blast, as promised," Beo purred.

Shaun took it, a sadistic grin coming across his feature's as he tossed it at Charizard. The fire dragon caught it. The disk glowed for a moment before turning to dust, showing that the power had been transferred. "I will take my leave," Shaun announced, returning the beast to his pokeball and leaving without another word. The crowd made a path, obviously not wanting to get in the way.

"Kid," a gruff voice said into Gil's ear before it yelped as Murkrow gave the man a good peck. "Little beast!" the man snarled as Gil turned around as soon as Beo disappeared thanks to his shadows.

"What do you want?" Gil demanded, glaring at the man, Murkrow having the same look on his face as they stared haughtily at the man.

The man glared with watered eyes as he held his nose. It was bleeding. "I'm supposed to take the new recruits to their room," he sneered, jerking a thunb at a few wary looking boys and girls. Gil recognized some of them from back at Oak's lab, even the boy who had said he was touched in the head. Gil sneered at the boy, feeling sadistic pleasure as the boy truly looked frightened. He had come a long way.

"Let's go," the man commanded, leading them to various rooms and soon Gil was introduced to his own room. It was small and had room for a single cot and small dresser.

"Krow," Murkrow commented, leaving Gil's shoulder and landon the bed where he padded about, pecking at the not so soft looking pillow.

Gil sat down with a sigh, knowing he wouldn't be able to rest. So much had happened, so how could anyone expect him to relax when his blood was pumping? "Return," he murmured, pointing Murkrow's pokeball at the dark type where he returned to his pokeball. With another sigh, Gil left the room, body hunched and hands in the pockets of his robes. As soon as he stepped out, he came across a very familiar, but unwelcomed, face. "What do you want?" Gil asked rudely.

"I see you manners have yet to improve," the man drawled. Standing in front of Gil was Tai, a very annoying cockroach. "I need you to do something, boy."

Gil scowled. "Why?" he demanded. "Aren't you with the Clan of Hope?"

"Perhaps if you do this for me, I'll tell you."

"I'll need more than just the knowledge of where your loyalties lie," Gil said, folding his arms. "I want something more."

"Ah, you saw that little display with the Clawed Assassin, didn't you?" Tai gave a tight smile. "Beo needs you to go to the reverse world and retrieve his staff, and unfortunately for me, I was sent to find a candidate, but for you this may be good fortune. The reverse world is the reason why Beo can control the shadows, and in this demented little world there are very powerful pokemon." Tai gave Gil a knowing look. "After tha little display, I know very well you want the same power that other boy had."

Gil narrowed his eyes, thinking of that black Charizard. He thought about his own fire type, wondering if the small fire pup would ever gain powerful fire moves. "I do want power," he admitted slowly, eyes never straying from Tai's.

"Very good," Tai murmured. He snapped his fingers and a portal was created, right there in the hallway for any passerby to notice, making Gil wonder just who else could control the shadows. He had thought only Beo could control the darkness in such a way. "The portal will last for only a half hour, so don't waste it," Tai told him before retrieving an item from his pocket. It was a stone that seemed to made out of hardened flame. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.

"No," Gil said slowly, eyeing the stone.

"It's called a Fire Stone," Tai told him patiently. "It can evolve that Growlithe of yours. If you retrieve that staff, rewards like this just may happen to you in the future." He pocketed the item and gestured for Gil to enter.

Gil gave a bitter sneer, knowing he was a fool for trusting this man, but the portal's darkness just seemed to give off the vibe that what Tai said was true. It would lead him to the reverse world, but Gil knew that fire stone wasn't in his future. He hadn't known Growlithe could evolve from a stone, so he would just have to get one on his own. Tai was leading him on with these false rewards, but he still gave him information, and that's all Gil needed at the moment.

"Good luck," Tai called mockingly as the shadows surrounded Gil and took him away...

 

[§acred†Beo!]

WolfWhispers: Very good post! And the is a reason Tai is able to control the shadows, but there's also a reason why he can only do it for a limited time don't worry everyone's questions about the RP will be answered in the upcoming chapters!

 

[Kerjo]

Jake cocked his head to the side as he took in his new surroundings. There were a lot of Dark Brotherhood members in the room and they all seemed to be cheering about Zypher's capture. Looking around Jake saw other trainers from Prof. Elm's lab in black cloaks as well. He raised an eyebrow as he saw them. 'Did Beo get to them as well…or have they been with him the whole time?'

He shook his head, dismissing the thoughts to the back of his mind. Uproar of cheers caught his attention and he looked over towards a large group of cloaked trainers. More trainers were gathering around and Jake guessed that something important was going on. He strolled over to the group, not really interested in what was happening, but a bit curious. The torchic followed quietly behind him, not wanting to get lost in the new surroundings.

Then he spotted Beo, the leader of the group that was terrorizing all of Kanto at the moment. As he approached the group, the members began to quiet themselves, ready for a speech. Jake felt himself growl at the man's appearance. If it wasn't for the fact that that man was going to help him control the darkness that was taking over him, Jake probably would have attacked him by now.

"You shouldn't be quick to attack your brethren. It controls darkness well, and soon, so shall you…but only with his help…"

Jake mumbled under his breath as the voice whispered under his breath. Had he been himself he probably would have been dead by now, but no. The darkness had taken over him, become him and now he was siding with Beo and still on the verge of losing his insanity. He shook his head. No, that wasn't quite right. It was he, himself, who decided to join Beo in hopes of finding a way to control himself.

"Today will go down in history! We have finally stopped all rebel forces and can now make our final plan into swing!" Jake snapped away from his thoughts turning his attention to the cursed man. His hood was down, revealing his messy black hair and pure white eyes. Jake slightly shook his head, thinking that there was no way he could look any crazier at the moment. Beo took a step away from the group, putting his hood back on as a large grin played on his face. Then without another word he vanished.

Jake sighed, turning away from the group that was beginning to cheer again. 'What is it with these guys and appearing and disappearing. It's that what's in now?' He chuckled at the thought.

"Well, well, seems like you finally see the situation the same way I do, eh, Jakey." A hand was placed on his shoulder and Jake stopped walking, bottling up the need to turn around and hit the man behind him in the face. Instead he turned his head so that the man was slightly in his peripherals.

"I don't have time to waste with trash like yourself, Chris!" He voice was thick with malice and he jerked his shoulder away from his older brother's hand. His brother however, didn't take to lightly to Jake's mood. In a quick movement, he spun his brother around and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, lifting him into the air. Chris's eyes were dark with anger.

"Chic!" Chris grunted in annoyance as the young chick pokemon began to peck at his foot. He looked down at his and kicked it away. A low growl escaped from Jake's lips.

"Now you listen to me and you better listen well, little brother. I was here before you and Beo and the other members here trust me a lot more than they do you! Now you will start to show me some respect around here or you won't live to see another day!" He tightened his grip on Jake's clothes and the boy laughed.

A wicked look returned to his eyes and darkness sprung forth from his body. Surprised, Chris dropped him to the ground and backed away a little. Quickly, before anyone made another move, the torchic moved beside Jake, puffing up and trying to look tough. The darkness around the boy lashed out at Chris, wrapping tightly around his neck and lifting him into the air before Jake. The younger brother looked up, smiling psychotically at his brother.

"No, you'd better listen well. I couldn't care less about how Beo or any of the other 'pawns' here favors you! You expendable, do you hear me, EXPENDABLE!" The shadows tightened their grip around the man's neck and tears started to form in the corner of his eyes. "And if you want respect from me, then you damn well need to start showing some to me first. Until then, don't think I'll think twice about ending your pitiful existence."

The shadows disappeared and Chris fell to the group, choking and rubbing his neck. No longer wanting to hang around his brother, Jake turned and walked up, the Torchic following right behind. He was planning on wondering off when another cloaked man stepped in front of him. Jake glared at him. "And what do you want?"

The man had a partially bloody nose and seemed to be a little shaky. He pointed over to a group of people, in which Jake saw two of the trainers he 'met' at the lab back in Pallet. He gave the man an odd look. "Well?"

"I'm here to show the new recruits to their rooms. So just followed me." Jake shrugged and quietly followed the man. He then stopped and looked at his feet. The Torchic was still following him. He sighed and continued to follow the man until he showed him his room.

The room was small and the only thing in it was a cot and a desk. Jake gave the man a weird stare before shutting the door behind him. The Torchic jumped on the bed as the boy set his things on the table. Hagi and Macey popped out of their pokeballs and gave their trainer a concerned look. He shook his head and quickly returned them to their balls. He looked at the Torchic.

"Well, it seems you've got dragged into this by following me." He reached for one of his empty pokeballs. "I guess I'll have to keep you, unless you want to stay with another person here…" He said it teasingly, giving the Torchic the option. She looked at him for one second, then the next she sprung forth at him, knocking her head against the ball in his hand and getting sucked in. He chuckled to himself and placed the ball next to the others.

With a sigh of relief he fell on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Even though he had only been there for a couple of minutes, to him it felt like it had been years since he shook Beo's hand at the island. He turned onto his side, deep in thought. For a split second he thought about Zypher. The sickly man was being held captive at the moment and who knew what Beo was planning to do with him. Jake felt sick to his stomach and he sat up, thinking about saving the man. He stared at the wall for a second and laid back down, knowing that it was useless. He was in Beo's territory now. Fighting the man would be like a rabbit fighting a lion.

Staring at the ceiling, his thoughts to turn why he had chosen to join Beo. Was it really out of his desperation to learn how to control the darkness that he was cursed with? He mumbled as the turned to his side. Was it because he wanted to live, so that he could see Vince and Wes one more time…even if it was as their enemy? Was it for power or perhaps all three? He shook his head. It didn't matter anyway, for now he'd just tag along until he could control himself. That's when he would make his move and if he got stronger in the process, well that would be a bonus.

Then a thought ran across his mind. Where would he go? He knew for certain that he wasn't someone who belonged with those in the Clan of Hope. Sure they were good people and they would probably accept him, but he just didn't fit in with them. He'd be the black sheep among the white herd. But he really didn't belong where he was now, after all he wanted to return Kanto to its former days. He sighed. The Dark Brotherhood was definitely the worse of the two, but now he was stuck with it, so at least he'd best benefit from it.

"Jake, Jake, Jake…" The boy sighed upon hearing Beo's creepy voice ring in his ears. He turned over in the cot and sure enough the man was sitting at his bedside. Jake frowned when he saw an expression of concern on the man's face. With his power, what could he be worried about?

"I've been thinking and I found myself asking why you would choose to join me. I know you're dealing with the darkness, but you just don't seem the type." He rubbed his chin. "This is why I would like you to prove your loyalty to me."

Jake sat up, rubbing his eyes while giving the man a curious look. "Ah, so you're wondering how you can prove that you're loyal. It's simple really; I just need you to kill a prisoner of mine." Beo stated while smiling widely. Jake's blood ran cold at the proposition. He knew he was to do things that he wasn't going to like in the future, but so soon? That and his first task was to take away the life of someone who was being tortured by this man beside him? His mind raced. Surely Beo wasn't going to have him kill Zypher. That would be…

"What would happen if I refused to do this task?" He swallowed spit, already having some idea of what was to happen. Beo's grin grew wider. "Well then, we would have some complications, and no one wants complications…catch my drift?" Jake nodded slowly and the man rose from the bed. He walked to the door, signaling Jake to follow.

The hallway was dark, almost as dark as it was outside at night. Beo waited for a few minutes before the boy could see and then he led him down the hallway. As they walked the building's condition worsened. There was a door at the very end and the ground before it was wet with water that dripped from the ceiling. Jake shivered as he continued to wonder who he was to kill. It sounded wrong…the person he was to kill. 'What if it's one of those kids from the center…or Wes! What if it's Vince!'

"Now, once he's dead I will no longer question your allegiance, got it?" Jake nodded and Beo smiled grabbing something from within his cloak. He brought out a dagger in a scabbard and handed it to the boy. Jake stared at it, before promptly tied it to his belt. He then drew the dagger, the blade reflecting the little light that was cast upon it. The silver blade was double-edged and about 7 inches long. The pommel of the dagger resembled a dark purple stinger or fang, which was connected to a leather-covered handle. From the feel of it, Jake could tell that it was made of wood underneath.

"Like it? Complete this task and that'll be yours." Jake looked at the man, then back as the dagger. He turned and reached for the door, his hand trembling horribly. He mind was still focused on one thing.

Who was behind the door?

 

[Underoos]

Finally it quit, and Kabir smirked a little. He was glad that he caught the Poliwag for some reason. He figured it would help him out later, in any case. Kabir walked over and scooped it up, then put it away and turned to his tired Geodude. He thanked his Pokemon quickly and then recalled it as well, deciding that he'd best get a move on.

It didn't take him long to reach the outskirts of some city. He still didn't know what city it was, but soon he found out. There was a old, worn down sign that had some letters missing. Kabir, however, could still figure it out. He stayed silent for a moment, and then turned and looked at the city. It looked like a swamp, and Kabir soon began to feel water through his thin Converse. He looked down at his feet, unsurprised to find that the ground was wet and marsh-like. A soft sigh escaped from his lips before he looked back up to the city. Just as Kabir was about to go on forward and see if he could find anything, he spotted someone sitting on a large boulder. Kabir paused in his steps, looking at this man with even curiosity.

The man looked older than Kabir, that was sure. Kabir also regarded his light tan trench coat and matching hat silently, a bit unnerved that they didn't show his face. He sort of hoped it wasn't some Dark Brotherhood guy ready to ambush him in disguise. Kabir narrowed his eyes, but then finally made up his mind. He began to walk towards the man, though he didn't really know what had plagued him to do so. Kabir saw a grin appear on the man's face, and that made him rather nervous.

"Ah, a young trainer," the man said in a raspy voice. Kabir wondered if he smoked, because his voice sure as hell made it sound like he did.

"Who're you?" Kabir asked softly, keeping crisp with his words.

"The name's Zane, and I've come in search of Misty, the gym leader here."

"Gyms? You mean the gyms are still around?" Kabir questioned, glancing away from the man and to the heart of the city located just behind his back. Kabir couldn't believe they were, what with all the darkness and such.

"Now's not the time for questions, but I feel soon you will understand," Zane said in a calming voice. "Now come with me, let's go take a look at the city." Upon Kabir's skeptical look, Zane sighed. "Trust me. Come on."

Kabir, though it was probably a bad idea, followed the man. The little voice inside his head was screaming at him, calling him stupid for trusting this unknown man. Kabir shrugged it off, however, and followed him into the real Cerulean City. It wasn't at all what he had expected, because Kabir had really imagined a city. However, instead of a city, there was a giant lake. Kabir's eyes widened slightly as he looked at the water, noting that it was just as dark and gloomy as the rest of Kanto. Kabir vaguely missed the ocean and its beauty, but then glanced away from the water and to the rest of the area. It was just as bad. Bodies and broken buildings were everywhere, not making the atmosphere of the once famed city much better.

"What...what the hell happened here?" Kabir questioned in a sharp tone. He wrenched his gaze away from the broken looking city and back to the Zane guy.

"They refused to become apart of Beo's new vision of the world, and their doom was to suffer the same fate as the type of gym leader that controlled it," Zane said calmly, staring into the water. Kabir clenched his teeth and looked down as well. "The fact is, Misty was one of the four gym leaders to oppose Beo before Zypher and the Clan came along, and my job is to see if she's still alive," Zane stated. Kabir's features wrinkled into that of wonder. How was he going to find her in a giant lake anyway? Zane, seemingly knowing what Kabir was going to asked, smirked. "I'm going to swim," he said, pointing down towards the middle of the lake. Kabir kneeled and, through the darkness, saw the glint of the once famous gym down there.

Kabir had opened his mouth to ask another question, when suddenly he felt a presence right next to him. Kabir yelped and shoved away from the cloaked man, just before he sent out two Houndoom. Kabir cursed and grabbed for Poliwag and Geodude's Pokeballs, when suddenly Zane held up a hand. He shook his head, and then grabbed two Pokeballs of his own. Kabir watched in awe a the Nidoking and Nidoqueen appeared, roaring their battle cries. After that, it seemed easy for them. The Houndoom were decimated in less than five minutes, and the Brotherhood member had cursed and vanished without much else. Kabir was surprised, so surprised that he was still staring at the two large Pokemon. He didn't think many people could've beat the Dark Brotherhood, so who...

"Who...who are you?" Kabir said, still clearly in shock.

"Heh," Zane laughed softly. He then whipped off his coat and hat, revealing to Kabir a suit that he had seen once in stories. It was Giovanni, the famed leader of Team Rocket. His slick black hair and the red R were a dead giveaway, but Kabir didn't know what would happen next.

 

[§acred†Beo!]

Kerjo: Great post! I can definitely tell how Jake is having a hard time figuring out who he is!

Frostbite:Another great post! I like how you described the cerulean!

Anyways everyone seems to be moving at a good pace, but will still have to wait for Swan, and Monochrome to catch up becuase there storylines are just as important to the overall story!

 

[{Swan}]

((Cookies for who gets the reference to my favourite poem C: End was rushed, my bad))

Cain was really getting sick of walking around in the barely lit Power Plant, getting shocked every few seconds and not really getting anywhere. And she had that creeping feeling of being watched, again. People should stop following her, because really, it was getting old. More lights flickered up ahead, leaving her in brief but terrifying moment of darkness followed by flickers of light casting gloomy shadows around her.


Just as the light flickered off again Cain's toe connected with a piece of machinery making her cry out in pain. "Oh for **** sakes!" She exclaimed, completely devastated. She was never really going to get out of the maze of a Plant. She was ready to just collapse in on herself and give up. Another old spark ran up her arm making her muscles contract painfully. She could see the shine of Pandora's big diamond eyes looking at her questioningly, wondering when she would start to move again.


"How big can one Power Plant be Orre?" Cain questioned but Pandora just cocked her head to the side, waiting for her master to make a decision. "Oh come here!" Cain threw her arms around Pandora, hugging her tight. She felt the strange feeling of the part-ghost's body and clang onto it, more for herself than for Pandora.


"You know, sometimes it's just really not worth it," she told Pandora, who just looked up in question. "I mean, I wanted to save the world, and look where that got me. Stuck in an old plant getting zapped every how many seconds. Maybe there is no saving the world Orre." Cain sighed but Pandora clawed at her hand in defiance. "What?" Cain asked surprised. Pandora had been the last creature she'd thought to hold positive thoughts like that. "All is good and well Pandora, but we're still stuck here. We're not going to do any good starving in here, never finding a way out, now are we?" She sighed again, rubbing her arm and trying to get her muscles to relax fully again.


Just then all the lights went on. Just like that. No bang, no snap, no nothing. They just all flickered on as if there was nothing even wrong with them. And in front of her stood the one person she had been running away from. Beo. Cain protectively clutched Pandora tighter to her and glared into the man's eyes defiantly. If she going to go she wasn't going to go lightly. She wouldn't starve to death in a Plant, she would die trying.


"You are very amusing, do you know that?" Beo laughed and Cain's mouth almost gaped open. That was the last she'd thought he would do. She'd thought he would sneer, threaten or try to entice her into joining his side. But he laughed at her. Anger boiled up inside her, how dare he laugh at her?!


"What the hell do you want?" She spat. "What is so funny?"


"Your delusions, that's what's funny. You all just decide to cling onto the little hope you have, not knowing that it's that which is killing you. Trying to fight for good," He laughed at the words. "To make a difference!" He laughed again, as if it were the funniest thing on earth that they should try to save their decaying world. He started clapping and Cain felt disgust. How could this be the man that her brother worshipped?


She looked behind him to see a menacing Charizard, but there wasn't enough room for it to move around freely so it just looked crowded between the machinery. That didn't make it look less dangerous however. Part of her was feeling it, part of Cain knew that it was futile. But there was another part, a flame that just refused to stop burning. A flame that burned brighter the more it was covered. Her stubbornness refusing to accept whatever the man that corrupted her brother had to say.


"As you might be able to guess, I am here for a reason. A proposition of sorts, one you cannot refuse." Cain thought back to Tai, how he had told her not to refuse. She shook her head and removed his memory, who was he to say what she should and should not do?


"Cain oh Cain. You have potential, I can see it in you, the potential to be very strong. Stronger than your brother. You have something he doesn't have, you have a will, and a strong one. Will is a good something to have as long as you know when to use it, and more importantly, when not to. Do you Cain? Do you know when to reign in that tremendous will of yours, that spirit? Are you wise enough to know when not to go against the current?"


"I am wise enough not to be a fish in the water. I won't become one of your puppets Beo," Cain glared at him while tightening her protective hold on Pandora, as if her arms could protect her against the evils of this man.


"See? That is exactly what I mean. I don't want any more puppets, I have plenty of those. I need someone to be able to take initiative, someone who is, say, a strong swimmer in the fast currents if we want to continue that metaphor. You're fighting on the wrong side, Cain, on the losing side. You're fighting on the side that has already been defeated."


"If you are such a good judge of character, you should already know my decision," Cain spoke in a forced calm voice. She hated herself for the slight quiver of it, for her inability to keep it steady as she walked out on very thin ice. She knew that every word she spoke was another crack, but she couldn't help it. How could she even consider joining this infectious man? Could she even think about making the same mistakes as Judas?


"What are you afraid of Cain?"Suddenly the lights started flicking and then they all hissed out, leaving the Charizard's flame as the only light source. "You don't have to be afraid of darkness if you become darkness. It has nothing to hide when you are one with it. Cain, you can live without fears, if you join with me there is nothing that will ever hold you back! You will be limitless Cain, the world will be in your hands!" The lights all flickered back on and just then Cain realized that she hadn't taken a breath since the darkness came.


She took steady breaths and forced herself to look Beo directly in the eyes. "This is the way the world end, not with a bang but with a whimper."


A look of rage came over Beo's face as he took in exactly what she implied. It took a second for him to regain his posture and he smiled. "You would have been great Cain, your spirit is one I admire. But helas, you have made your choice." Just then Cain felt herself being yanked to her feet and she dropped Pandora who landed on all fours, hissing. She felt the darkness before she saw it. She couldn't move as it crept up, keeping her legs and hands bound tight. A tendril of darkness covered her mouth and Cain instinctively struggled against it, trying to make sounds but not making anything but muffled noises.


She tried to spew out every vile word that she knew but nothing reached farther than the darkness, everything kept inside. "When will you learn Cain?" He asked, and he almost sounded like he regretted what he would do next. "You can't fight, it's impossible. You can't fight a war that has already been won."


He took out a dagger and with a start Cain recognized it as the same dagger that he killed Oak with. She shuddered at the memory and Beo smile widened. "I would pretend that I don't like this part, but that would be a lie." Cain looked up in his eyes, fear mixed with fury in hers. She saw him for the sadistic bastard he was and struggled again against her bounds. She would go out with a bang. Not a whimper.


"Tsk, tsk. It is inevitable Cain, you made a choice and now you must see the consequences." He angles the dagger just so, slicing a part of her shirt as his smiled widens and turned entirely sadistic. Cain closed her eyes, waiting for the final sting when a voice rang through the Plant. "Beo, sir!"


Cain looked up to see a saluting Brotherhood member. "The Clan of Hope base has been destroyed, every member killed, Sir."


"Zypher?" Beo asks impatiently.


"He's been taken captive, sir."


"Good." Beo said and turned back to Cain. "I'm sorry Cain, but we'll have to resume this some other time. Fare you well until that time, I will be looking forward to it. Don't worry, I'll be back."


He disappeared and so did Cain's restraints. She fell to her knees, legs weak and heart beating faster than it should. She emptied her stomach on the ground, shuddering as all of her repressed fears all came out at once. Then she slumped against a machine, her mind blank, refusing to think, refusing to acknowledge. Refusing to face the truth.

 

[§acred†Beo!]

Swan: Good post! Even though it was rushed at the end, it was still a great ending XD.. Cain has chosen the path of light!

 

[Kerjo]

The door creaks as Jake slowly pushed it open. Water dripped onto his head, gaining a groan from the boy as he wiped his hair. It was dark in the room, but on the other side he could make out a faint silhouette of a man chained to the wall. Jake reached for the wall, his hand reaching along it, looking for the light switch.

Fumbling with it, he started to lift it when a loud banged sounded out followed by a siren. Forgetting about the man in the room, Jake spun on his heels and looked back down the hallway. There were several pokemon in the hallway and they were heading right for him.

Instinctively the boy reached for a pokeball at his waist. His eyes stayed on the incoming pokemon as he released Hagi, the small Nidoran stretching for battle. He tensed up calling out to the pokemon to get ready for a battle.

"Flamethrower…"

"Night Shade.."

"Ice Beam!"

"Dark Pulse!"

"Confuse Ray!"

A series of attack seemed to appear out of nowhere, pushing the pokemon away from the boy. Shadows crept up from the ground, revealing several Dark Brotherhood members and their pokemon. They turned, giving the boy a nod to continue on with his task. Jake didn't budge, instead he watched as they turned and battle the invading pokemon.

A growl from behind caught the boy's attention and slowly, he turned his head. In his peripheral vision he could see a Rhyhorn standing behind him, ready to end his life. He chocked down a nervous laughter as he took a step away from it while turning to face it. It stomped the ground, making the hallway shake a little. Now facing the pokemon, Jake glared at it.

"So, you wanna play too? I'm game! Hagi, let's go! Leer!" Hagi sprung from behind Jake, facing off against the gaint pokemon. His eyes glowed as he made eye contact with the Ryhorn. It took a step back, before turning around and wagging its short tail. Jake snickered under his breath at the sight, unconsciously relieved of the delay in his task.

Hagi followed the Rhyhorn's tail, confused and irritated. He gave a bark and Jake nodded. "Alright, Double Kick!" Hagi barked and charged the Rhyhorn, who turned around with its horn glowing. Hagi leaped up, and delivered a quick kick to its face. It growled and charged forward, catching Hagi in the middle of his second attack. He yelped as the horn hit his side, knocking him back.

He landed on his side, a little dazed. Suddenly something grabbed him, sending his whole world spinning. There was a large crash and the room shook again.

"You ok?" The poison pokemon look up to see that he was in Jake's arms. He looked over at the spot where he was once laying, only to see Rhyhorn's giant paw there. "You gotta be careful. This one's out to kill." Jake mumbled as he crouched down to let Hagi back onto the ground. The Nidoran nodded in response.

"Alright, let's use focus energy and hit him with another double kick!"

"Nido!" Hagi lowered himself to the ground, glowing white as his muscles seemed to grow. He carefully watched the Rhyhorn as it turned to face him and Jake. That's when both trainer and pokemon noticed that it was having trouble moving in the small space of the hallway. Jake smirked and whispered something into Hagi's ear. He nodded and returned his attention to the Rhyhorn.

"Rhy!" It started to walk towards the two calmly. Hagi took a step forward and the stuck his tongue out at it. The Rhyhorn stood, surprised and then reddened with anger. It stomped the ground again, knocking Hagi off balanced and charged.

"Alright, you know what to do!" Hagi cried in response as he recovered. The Rhyhorn drove its horn at him and he dodged to the left. It turned slightly attacking again and again, only to miss its small target. Jake watched closely, observing the Rhyhorn's position in the hallway. Hagi was slowly driving it to the side, where it would be difficult for the Rhyhorn to move and the effects were showing as its attacks were becoming slower.

"Now! Double kick!" Hagi cried out, leaping up and kicking Rhyhorn square in the face. The pokemon roared out as it was knocked back into the wall. The next hit landed right on it left cheek, sending it completely sideways in the hallway, blocking the way to the room.

Jake took off, taking a hold of the Rhyhorn's side and launching himself over it. As he did he called out for Hagi to use double kick once more. The pokemon quickly responded, kicking the Rhyhorn in its neck and back, landing on the same side as Jake, between it and the door.

Jake grabbed Hagi once again and threw the poison pokemon as the wall beside the door. "Give it everything you've got! Double kick!" The first kick crashed against the wall, creating a large hole. Hagi then flew off and used the momentum from Jake's throw and the launch from the wall in his second kick against the Rhyhorn's side. It yelled out in pain as it was sent flying down the hall, crashing against several of its comrade in the invasion.

Breathing heavily, the boy returned Hagi to his ball. He turned and looked back as the door as chills paraded through his body and butterflies danced around in his stomach. Slowly he made his way back to the room and he breaths quickened as he was swallowed in the darkness when he closed the door behind him.

A figure was standing in the darkness before the man chained to the wall. His back was to Jake, but the boy already knew who it was. He gripped his chest as his heart was rocketed with pain.

"Calm yourself, boy. I'm here to tell you something."

The man turned and for the first time, Jake saw his eyes. The red orbs glowed in the darkness of the room and seemed to stare deep into the boy's soul. He took a step back.

"Whether you believe it or not, you made the right choice. And because of that…we'll be meeting face to face…very soon. Until then, do not stress yourself over such small matters as this task before you…"

With that he was gone, having disappeared right before Jake's eyes. Of course, he was never physically there in the first place, but his words worried the boy. He had believed that the man was a figment of his imagination, born from his own contact with the Dark Brotherhood and his nightmares. But the man said he was going to meet him soon…

Jake shook his head, trying to focus on the task ahead. Through the dark room Jake could see the man's silhouette move slowly, signaling that he was alive indeed. He bit his lip. There was nothing to interfere now and he was at a crossroad that was deadlier than the former. At least there may have been a chance to get away then, but now it was either kill this man, or be killed by the psychopath who was probably watching.

As he reached for the light switch the boy also though about why wild pokemon would attack the base. He hissed a bit as he turned on the light, becoming momentarily blind. After a few seconds he blinked and stared at the man chain to the wall and everything began to make sense.

The man chained to the wall had long black-blue hair and looked like he was definitely on steroids. He was shirtless, only sporting white pants that were dirty from grime and a little bit of blood. He, himself, didn't look to be in much of a good condition.

In the back of his mind Jake was relieved that it wasn't anyone close to him, like Wes or Vince, and he felt guilty for it.

The man…was Bruno, of the Elite 4.

 

[Underoos]

Kerjo: Very nice post =D Hagi grew to level 12!

 

[tim0789]

V2 C1 P2: Intruder

"Fuschia City....it's the most amazing thing i've seen since coming here." Grecko said as he stared at the beautiful city. The buildings were still in tact and the people looked happy as they walked about. "I don't believe it something isn't right here..." Grecko thought to himself as he made his way to the pokemon center.

"Thanks Nurse." Grecko put on a fake smile as he grabbed his pokeballs.
"I struck a deal with Beo" A voice says from behind Grecko as he turns to see a man in a ninja outfit. "I didn't know Beo was interested in recruiting the circus. No i'm kidding...judging by your outfit you must be Koga." Grecko again remembered the things his father taught him.


"Watch your mouth kid." Koga spit at Grecko. "Whatever...Why is your town so nice...and why are you helping Beo?" The boy asked all of his questions at once.
"I pledged my loyalty to him and he kept this city running, same with Lt. Surge, Sabrina, and Blaine we made the right decisions, unlike the other four who stood to defy Beo and in return there people suffered a deathly fate" Koga says back.

"Ahh yes so your Grecko eh, I've heard a lot about you from Beo but that's besides the point you need to take care of something for me" Koga says as he leads Grecko to the gym. "Ya sure" Grecko said back...not really trusting the man.

"Take off your cloak you need to be in your street clothes for this" Koga says as he then reaches over and grabs a dagger handing it to the trainer. "Whats this for?" Grecko was confused...he didn't know he would need a weapon.

"It seems the Johto Region has decided to get involved finally and has sent someone over to inspect the current state, I need you to kill him but get some information off of him first that's why you can't wear your cloak we need him to think you're a normal trainer" Koga says and with that he tells Grecko to head to the shore line just south of Fuschia.

"Hmmm...the Johto Region is getting involved?...I wonder what took them this long." Grecko started to ponder why no one else has yet to help Kanto. As he approached the shore line he knelt down behind a sand hill and looked over at his opponent. "So...it's...no way" Grecko was stunned, because the man on the beach was none other then Falkner the Violet City gym leader.

 

[Underoos]

tim0789: Oh noes, it's Falkner! =O But anyhow, good little post =)

 

[Wolfwhispers]

"Wait!" Gil tried to cry out as the shadows encircled him, transporting him to this reverse world. "Where is the stupid staff!" he tried to yell, but it was too late. Tai, the bastard, was already gone, and Gil was now in this reverse world.

Warily, Gil looked around, shivering as the shadows slithered about him in a way that made Gil think of pokemon that didn't want to wander to far away from their master. These shadows were sticking to him like a flies to trash, and it worried him. What worried him even more was this 'reverse world'.

"Weird," Gil commented, walking carefully, head swiveling about to take everything in. The trees were gnarled and twisted, almost as if a giant had taken some clay and twisted it to make these large trees that reached even the skies. The ground was horribly dusty, and each time he kicked up some dirt it seemed to float away, almost as if gravity were a foreign concept here, but that was strange in itself because the air around Gil felt much heavier. It was hard to breath, and he was starting to tire already from just walking.

Oh, and lets not forget about the eyes. Red eyes were absolutely everywhere, gazing at him like he was meat. Gil had a feeling that those powerful pokemon Tai had told him about, baiting him into going, were a lot more dangerous than the man had forewarned.

"Who's there?" Gil barked as the sound of a branch snapping filled the otherwise quiet world. He looked around, actually gulping as he realized the world had several floating 'islands of land', and he was very close to the edge.

"Riio," a voice crooned, one of the pair of red eyes coming closer with a sense of curiosity. They blinked a few times before an actual body appeared. It was a blue dog with black dangles and black fur across its face making it look like a burglar. "Riolu!" it barked, cocking its head and prancing about on slim paws. Its lengthy tail wagged happily as it gazed at Gil, obviously wondering where he had come from.

Gil's eyes became half lidded as he stared at the strange pokemon. Once, a long time ago in a different world, he could remember when the League had still been running. He could remember watching on the television a trainer battling with her Lucario against a Steelix, and he could remember what power that blue pokemon had. He gazed at the smaller pokemon, wondering if this was its pre-evolution. If it wasn't, either way, he wanted it.

"Go!" he yelled, tossing his pokeball high into the air.

With a burst of white light, another blue pokemon appeared with a happy bark. "Mud ki!" the female Mudkip cried. She paused to look around and give Gil a big, happy grin, and Gil actually felt a small smile be given in return to this energetic pokemon, before Mudkip turned around to face Riolu.

"Mudkip, Mud Slap!"

"Riol!" Riolu laughed, flipping away with the ease of a professional. It kept its legs tucked to its chin as it rolled in the sky, away from the blast of dirty mud Mudkip kicked up.

"Kii," Mudkip growled in annoyance, not liking that its attack was so easily dodged. With another loud bark that seemed to make the surrounding red eyes come closer, Mudkip turned around and kicked up even more dirt with vigor. "Muud!"

The blue dog gritted his teeth, closing one red eye and narrowing the other as he lifted an arm to block the mud from hitting his face. "Ri," he spat, soon becoming annoyed from the never ending onslaught.

"Keep it up," Gil ordered, watching with a cocked head.

The blue dog pokemon growled angrily and, using its raised paw, began to smack the onslaught of dirt. It began moving forward, continuing to smack its paw against the dirt until it was within a foot of Mudkip. "Rioll," Riolu grinned, red eyes wide as it lifted its paw. Mudkip turned around, eyes wide in fright before Riolu struck. "Riolu!" Paw slamming down, Mudkip was sent spinning across the ground.

Gil winced as his pokemon struggled. That Force Palm had been powerful. "Mudkip, Water Gun!" he shouted quickly.

"Mud ki mud!" Mudkip barked eagerly, wanting revenge. Mouth wide, her whiskers twitched eagerly before a cool blast of water shot out of her mouth and straight at the blue dog.

"Ri! O! Lu!" Riolu gave a loud yell for each jump as he dodged the Water Gun, laughing like a delighted child. The strange dangles on his head were strangely stiff, and his red eyes held a blue hue to them, making Gil wonder what it was doing.

"Mudkip, Tackle!" he finally cried.

"Kip," Mudkip grumbled, agitated that another one of her long range attacks hadn't worked, so with an angry growl, she launched herself at Riolu, knocking the excited pup in the stomach and relieving it of its air.

"Lu!" Riolu choked, eyes wide as it grasped its stomach and staggered back before those red eyes narrowed. Its closed fist glowed a brief blue before, with a wild "Riolu!" the blue dog slammed his fist straight into Mudkip's face, sending the water type reeling. Counter…

"Water Gun," Gil commanded smoothly.

With a gasp, Mudkip took in a shaky breath of air and launched another Water Gun. Riolu grinned at the incoming water attack and jumped to the long, twisted trees and hung there for a moment. "Muu," Mudkip growled, glaring at the laughing pokemon. "Kii!" Mouth wide, Mudkip continued to launch blast after blast of Water Guns.

Riolu continued to jump from tree to tree, his laughter echoing in the area. The red eyes came closer, but the shadows were still too dark for Gil to take any notice or to see their body. He didn't care about them, right now. All he cared about was knocking this Riolu down.

"Mudkip, kick up the power," he snarled, pointing angrily.

Encouraged by the sound of her masters voice, the blast of water increased in speed, much to Mudkip's happiness. Riolu, whom had just jumped to a new branch, turned around in shock. Its eyes were wide and a choked scream escaped from his mouth as the Water Gun finally slammed into him, sending him falling to the ground.

"Rii…" Riolu hissed, holding his arm in pain as he staggered toward Mudkip, one eye closed as he glared. Gil was actually surprised by the amount of tolerance to pain this pokemon had, and was even more surprised as, with a loud cry, Riolu managed to slam its palm into Mudkip with a speed that had Gil blinking in shock. Both he had Mudkip hadn't even seen it coming.

"Muu," Mudkip moaned in pain.

Gil gritted his teeth as Mudkip stood on shaky legs, looking like it would go down any moment. "Return," he said stoically, relieving the water type. "Growlithe, Ember," he commanded with a deadly hiss as his next pokemon was released.

The fire pup howled loudly and opened his muzzle wide. A blast of hot Ember's shot out, slamming into a stunned Riolu. It was a drastic change from the cool water that it had been battling previously. "Growl!" Gil took that moment to finally open his pokedex to get more information about this pokemon.

Riolu, the aura pokemon. Its body is lithe yet powerful. It can crest three mountains and cross two canyons in one night.

Wow. If Gil had been impressed before, he was downright awed.

"Luu," Riolu moaned, staggering back with hurt eyes. It grit its teeth, and the once wagging tail was drooping. Instead of impish laughing it was breathing heavily, and once light footed steps were slow and careful. The Riolu was losing his strength, but that didn't mean his will was any less weakened. "Lu!" it cried, running straight at Growlithe, paw raised for a Force Palm.

"Bite!" Gil cried out, grinning a fanged grin as Growlithe bit down with saliva coated teeth onto Riolu's incoming fist.

Riolu's eyes widened as it stared at the awkwardly grinning fire pup, as if it were unable to believe that its hand was inside Growlithe's mouth. And then the pain came. "Rliu!" he cried, raising his arm high and bringing the fire pup into the air. With a loud yell, Riolu slammed Growlithe into the ground with absolutely no mercy.

Gil let out a "Che" sound as Growlithe immediately let go, looking winded from the attack.

"Lu," Riolu spat, jumping a good few feet away and glaring down at Growlithe. It paw was heavily bruised, but it was ignoring the pain.

Gil titled his head, wondering what it would take to finish this unbreaking pokemon. "Growlithe," he began, only to find his breath hitched as haunting laughter began to fill the air. He looked around wildly, shivering as the murderous red eyes seemed to get closer to him. Their laughter… it sounded so familiar… so hauntingly familiar.

"Dusk…" the voices seemed to hiss.

Gil jumped and raised a hand to his mouth, feeling bile rising. He sank to his knees, eyes wide as he panted. Dusk… Dusk… Dusk…

"Riol?" Again Gil jumped, but this time it was because the Riolu was petting his arm, looking at him with wide red eyes that were so different from these other red eyes. He swallowed heavily and heard distantly his pokedex making a comment.

It has the peculiar power of being able to see emotions such as joy and rage in the form of waves. The aura that emanates from its body intensifies to alert others if it is afraid or sad.

Riolu continued to pet Gil, looking confused before it gave the surrounding red eyes a vivid glare. "Luu," he growled at them, as if daring them to come closer.

"Lllii," Growlithe growled as well, sensing that his opponent was not his only worry as he too gazed at the eyes, noting as they came closer.

Gil raised shaky hands to his head, hating how weak he was becoming. What was it, and why? He had thought he had finally overcome this!

"Dusk…" came the voices again, making Gil swallow.

"Dusk…"

"Riolu!" Riolu snarled, and then there was silence for a moment. Red eyes turned thoughtful as it gazed at Gil before it gave an impish grin. It raised its strange paw and pressed against one of Gil's pokeballs.

Its enemies were coming, and this human didn't need him as an enemy as well in the moment. It seemed that they both had a common hatred and enemy, and they were coming closer. So, with a last grin, Riolu turned into red energy and got sucked into the pokeball.

Gil gapped, wondering what the heck just happened. The Riolu willingly went into the pokeball? Why?

"Dusk…ull…"

Gil flinched, eyes straying from the shaking pokeball and raised wide eyes to the incoming red eyes before they narrowed in hatred. His teeth were bared like an animal as skull like faces came out, but then another figure came out, one that made Gil want to shrink into a ball in a hole and never come out.

"Dusk…noir…"

And the pokeball still continued to shake…

 

[Underoos]

Wolfwhispers: This is very interesting, wonder how he'll take the two ghosts. Anyway, Mudkip grew to level 14! Growlithe grew to level 18! Gil captured a level 14 Riolu!