I looked back at Spence, "Don't worry man. I won't change for anything." I smiled, "Besides, someone has to still be look-out for you. See ya on the other side."

I nodded at Slowking and Gallade. They both closed their eyes and concentrated. Soon a purple-pink aura surrounded the three of us. I felt a slight spinning sensation then solid ground and new sounds. People were running around in panic as these thieves were taking the domestic Pokemon. We ended up teleporting right in front of a bakery that was across from the center square.

I saw Cat and Nick fighting off a Toxicroak. "Time to tear it up Vaporeon." Vaporeon jumped out of her Pokeball and landed gracefully in front of us. Gallade made his fighting stance as a Machoke started running up to us. Its fist was glowing brightly as it closed in on us. "Take care of it Gallade." He nodded and sprinted to meet the Fighting type head on. His fists were sparking with electricity as he made a swift punch to the Machoke's side. The Machoke took the hit but still managed to continue its attack as well. Gallade took a hard Dynamic Punch. The Machoke shook with paralysis as Gallade stumbled back from the blow. "Use Swords Dance now!" Gallade honed his body and closed his eyes for a moment. He opened his and struck at the air with his bladed arms, a new vigor in him. "Finish it with Psycho Cut." Gallade slashed at the air, sending a psychic blade of energy at the unmoving target. It struck the Machoke in the chest and it went down for good.

I drew my blade as we walked towards Gallade. "Now we have to find its owner."

Lyrica let out a deep rumble, swinging her tail like a battering ram and casually whacking an attacking Drapion, the scorpion's pincers clacking harmlessly off her hard scales, its attempts at poisoning her bouncing off the Nidoqueen without even making a dent. "Good job girl." I praised while watching Draco and Nick's Chase work together, the two Garchomps causing havoc among the enemy Pokemon.

A flurry of movement caught my eye-- humans hauling crates of Pokeballs, fleeing into a warehouse by the docks, one normally used to store boats being repaired, and using a wall of Poison and Fighting types to cover their escape. They must have come by sea...

"Lyra, Belle!" The Espeon peered up at me from her perch on Skipper's head-- the Swampert was using his giant forepaws and gouts of water to keep enemy Pokemon at bay while Belle picked off the drenched Pokemon with precision Psybeam and Shadow Ball attacks-- while Lyrica grunted a query as she smacked a forepaw into a Skuntank. "Clear us a path to the warehouse. Draco, you cover them."

The two Pokemon nodded as Belle jumped onto Lyrica's head, Draco roaring a challenge and biting down into a Venomoth's wing with fire-shrouded teeth, making the moth squeal in pain. Seeing what I was doing, Nick ordered Chase, Kamala, and his Rhydon, Tank, to join them, while yelling to the others.

"Guys! They're escaping to the warehouse, we have to stop them!"

((Large post ahead. Feel free to ignore it, it's a sidequest.))

Spence ran into the forest with his Reuniclus leading the way. Squishy had picked up on something. Spence couldn't tell what it was because Reuniclus couldn't telepathically tell him, but he was distressed. It just couldn't go ignored. And so, they headed into another direction into the reserve area, far from the others.

"What are you doing?! I'm coming with you!" The young lady with black long hair caught up with them. Spence grumbled, but regrettably
argeed. It was safer in a group anyway.

"What's your name?" Spence looked back to her, no time to slow down.

"It's Elizabeth!" She followed, running into the woods together.

---

A distance away in the forest, a small girl cried and whimpered sheltering her starter pokemon, Pichu. One of the thug's towered over her with a pistol drawn, his sinister shadow creeping over her. "Now, hand over the pokemon..."

"Never!" she screamed.

The thug grinned wickedly, "So be it..." he loaded the chamber, aiming the gun to her head.

From nowhere, Spence lept from the bushes. The thug jumped back in a startle as Spence shielded the girl and her pokemon. The thug fired at them, only to be ricocheted by Spence's swordplay.

"Gothitelle, Psyshock!" Elizabeth commanded her gothic psychic type. That pokemon... is she a Unova trainer as well? A sudden bolt shook up the thug, battering him around until he collapsed. The gun fell to the ground in front of him. Spence lifted his sword, striking the gun clear in half.

"A sword's no better than a gun, it's a weapon to kill," Elizabeth said blankly as she walked over.

"That's true, but," Spence sheathed it, "In the right hands, the opposite is true as well. This sword is used to protect. That's all I've ever needed/wanted to use it for. It's the reason why it was handed down to me."

Elizabeth glared at him as Spence turned his back. "Hmph," Spence looked to the unconscious man with pity, "To do such an awful thing... It proves how stupid people can be. It's these kinds of acts that make pokemon distrust humans to begin with. Come on, let's go. We have to find somewhere safe for now."

---

Beyond the trees laid and small vacant cabin. Spence and Elizabeth brought the man and the girl inside. Elizabeth spoke and tried to make sure the girl was okay as Spence handled the thug.

"Leech Seed, Jazz," the Whimsicott on his shoulder sprouted two seeds. Vines suddenly shot from the wooden cracks in the wall and tied up the man, "Good job, Jazz."

"Hey," Elizabeth placed her hands to the girl's shoulders, her Pichu tightly wrapped in her arms, "It's okay now. Everything's going to be just fine. You two are going to be safe with us." The girl continued to whimper silently.

Spence watched, sighing sadly as he turned to the unconsious man, glaring, "That bastard... He scared her half to death."

"Why do you even care?"

"Huh?" Spence turned in question to Elizabeth's response, "What are you talking about?"

"...Nothing."

"Well, in any case..." Spence brought up his Xtranceiver, dialling someone in a far away land.

"Oh, Spence. How are you and your pokemon doing?"

"Professer Juniper, I don't normally ask of this, but it's an emergency. Can you take a few of my pokemon from me and possibly heal them? Something's gone wrong on the island. A group of thugs are stealing pokemon and we came out here straight away to help, however, I've come in with already weakened pokemon from the Gale Collosseum."

"Sure, I can do that for you. Just message me the pokemon and I'll warp them back to the lab. Please be careful. I'll let your family know you're okay."

"Please don't!" Spence laughed nervously, "Please, I don't want to worry them! And you know how Cindy's like! Hahaha!"

"...Fine, Spence. Well, I'll keep it a secret for now. But eventually this will be all over the news. There's no other way to support you, except to say... Be true to yourself. No matter what happens, stay strong and keep going with your pokemon! See you!"

Spence nodded with a grin, "Yeah!" They ended communication as Spence proceeded to message her. Squishy, Jazz, Twinkle and his Hydregon were the only pokemon who weren't tired. Alphonse, Bananas, Kimberley, and Falcon had to go back and get healed immediately. He requested that Brucie, his Conkeldurr, and another be sent back to him. Spence put the phone away, taking out the pokeballs before they teleported on queue back to the lab. Two pokeballs returned to him.

---

Back at the lab, the Professor noticed something strange on the PC, "...Now, why in the world was Spence carrying more than six pokemon...? And why does he have her Dragonite...?" she spoke under her breath, "Well, no matter... Come on you four, let's get you healed up," she smiled, taking the four pokeballs from the transfer machine and into her care.

---

Spence put his pokemon away as he noticed the man's grumble as he awoke. Spence walked over with an unhappy look over all three of their faces, Jazz and Squishy, "...Now tell me, why in the world would a group of idiotic thugs come to this island hoping to get away with these people's pokemon, when it's common knowledge this island's full of the most toughest trainers in the world? It doesn't make sense. You knew you'd never get away with this. What the hell are you guys plotting anyway?" he glared.

The man chuckled darkly.

"Tell me, dammit!!" Spence snapped, grabbing the man by the collar of his shirt.

"Th-They..." the girl whimpered, the Pichu gazing to her sadly.

"Huh?" Spence and Elizabeth turned to her.

"Th-Th-They have my Grandma..."

Spence's eyes widened, his heart sinking. The man laughed darkly again. Spence turned, witnessing a firm gaze in this man's eyes, as if they had already won, "Gotcha..."

"WE HAVE THE CABIN SURROUNDED!!" A voice threatened from outside, "COME OUT WITH YOUR POKEMON, IN THEIR POKEBALLS, OTHERWISE THE GRANNY GETS IT!!"

"Sienna!!" An old lady's voice from outside before her scream was muffled by force.

"Grandma!!" The girl cried, too scared to move.

Spence clenched a fist, ordering Jazz to Leech Seed the man unconsicous and tighten the vines over his mouth. He paced over to the wall and punched it, "Damn!"

"Now what?" Elizabeth glanced over, holding the girl in her arms as her Gothitelle looked at him questionably herself.

Spence sighed, pondering it over. It wasn't long before he made his quick decision, his head held high, "I'm going."

Elizabeth became faintly confused, "...But you'll be killed."

"...So be it. While I'm breathing, I'm going to protect everyone I can, people and pokemon. I made a promise to myself. Please, Elizabeth," Spence turned to her in a soft, caring grin, his voice firm and strong, "Please take care of her." Elizabeth's eyes questioned him every second. Was he really... true to his word? Would he really sacrifice himself? Without a doubt.

Even to the beckoned cries of the Whimsicott and Reuniclus, Spence smiled sadly to each of them as he returned them to their pokeballs.

---

Spence slowly opened the dark cabin door as the sunlight creeped in, in his arms, his pokeball belt and his sword together in front of him. He glanced over. A distance away was three thugs all with guns. Two had rifles. On either side were two Machamp grunts. The guy in the middle had Sienna's Grandma kneeling on the ground.

"That's it, easy does it... Place the blade and the pokemon right there. Now, take a few paces back."

Spence did so, sighing in frustration.

"Now, turn around..."

Spence did it, secretly rolling a pokeball from his sleeve. A small grin swept his face.

"Now die."

Before the thug could pull the trigger, a blast swept from in front of them. ...Elizabeth?!! It was all so quick. Five of her pokemon blasted them. Spence rolled for cover, ducking with his sword and pokemon, back to where they belonged. ...It was incredible, Spence couldn't even keep up. Gothitelle, a Samurott, Lilligant, Cofagrigus... Another pokemon unseeable. They all used there ultimate attacks, working off of each other as a team as a storm of attacks flew in every direction. She was definitely a Unova trainer... One of the most impressive trainers he had ever meet from that region.

---

Moments later, as the dust began to settle... The three other thugs, including their fainted Machamp, were tied up with Leech Seed inside as Sienna and her Grandma were happily reunited outside. Jazz and Squishy gave Spence a huge hug as well, "Haha! Come on, guys! Cut it out!" he chuckled, turning and smiling to Elizabeth, "...Really, I couldn't thank you enough, Elizabeth. I had a plan up my sleeve, but..."

Elizabeth pouted, turning away, "...I didn't do it to help you, I did it to save that poor girl's Granny."

Spence rubbed the back of his head, "Well, ouch... I mean, of course. I don't know what you have against me, but I'm sure you have your reasons. ...Anyway," Spence turned to the child and the Grandmother, who were very grateful as well. Pichu was defnitely happy. Spence smiled, turning to Elizabeth, "Could you take these guys to the Pokemon Center? I'm going to go find the others."

Elizabeth glanced to him, and back to the people they saved, "Yeah, we'll get there safely using Gothitelle's Teleport. ...You don't have to worry."

Spence nodded with a smile, turning around as he waved them off, running back into the group's last location, "Thanks! Hey, let's battle someday!!"

"...Yeah," she gazed blankly.

"Ready Fury?"

<Are you?> Fury replied with a smirk as a purple glow enveloped her and myself. The colosseum faded and we were soon standing in the square. As I looked around I saw a group of the thieves start to head down a side road.

"Jolt! Volt! Stop them!" They materialized and took off, hitting the thieves with weaker Thunderbolts to paralyze them. They soon came trotting back looking quite satisfied with themselves.

"Guys! They're escaping to the warehouse, we have to stop them!" I looked over and saw that it was Cat who had called out. As it sunk in I looked towards the warehouse and saw a group of thieves close the doors behind their Pokemon.

"Jolt and Volt stay here and take out any thieves and their Pokemon. Don't be nice, but try not to kill them." As they ran off I released Quake. I climbed on and Fury sat behind me. "Take us to the roof of the warehouse." Quake growled and flew us to the roof. We were standing there in no time.

The four of us started making our way towards Cat until I saw her point to the warehouse. We directed our attention there and began running towards the fleeing thieves.

"Return Machoke!" I turned to see the owner of the Machoke and he began running at us, bringing out his gun. "Slowking use Water Pulse fast." Slowking concentrated a ball of blue water between his hands then threw it at the thief. He had no time to react as the ball of water exploded in front of him, sending a large wave of water roaring into him. He slammed into the wall of the bakery and fell unconscious

We resumed our run to the warehouse. I saw as Silas flew overhead on his Flygon. Just then three thieves appeared in front of us. "There's no way out of this kid. Hand over the Pokemon now." Before he said another thing I said a command. Vaporeon's eyes flased a light blue as she flicked her tail and a dense fog formed around us. "Nice job of a Mist girl. Now Haunter give us a hand." Haunter materialized in the fog and began laughing. "Hypnosis on the three of them then Nightmare." I thought for a moment, "And you can use Dream Eater if you want to as well." Haunter laughed more as he flew into the fog. There were several yells then it fell silent.

Vaporeon ended the Mist and the three thieves laid on the ground twitching in their sleep. Haunter floated over them, his hands absorbing purple energy from their bodies. "That's good Haunter. Thank you." Haunter kept absorbing their energy. "Haunter that's enough!" Haunter shook his head a moment as he came back into his senses. He looked at us with a frown. "It's ok. They're still alive but they'll be asleep for a while. Come on."

We began to get closer to the wall of hostile Pokemon. "Slowking use Calm Mind and Gallade use Swords Dance. This will be an all out war by our standards." The two of them began mentally prepping for the oncoming battle.

I saw Silas rocket overhead on his Flygon, before Red and his Haunter and Vaporeon joined the fight. "C'mon guys, we can't let them get away." I urged my team-- Lyrica nodded once then lowered her head, charging straight for the opponent Pokemon and sending them flying as she bulled into the warehouse, Belle keeping them away with blasts of Psychic energy.

We burst into the warehouse to find men loading crates of Pokeballs onto a pallet-- Belle hissed and launched a Shadow Ball attack that dropped one man to the ground with a curse. "What d'you think you're doing, girl?" he snarled, reaching for a Pokeball at his waist. "I'll teach you a lesson!"

A Raticate leaped from his Pokeball-- before Lyrica could react, Hektor was there, punching the oversized rodent into the nearest wall. To my surprise, the rat got back up again, looking a bit dizzy but still baring its fangs viciously at Hektor.

<Trainer! This Pokemon is... wrong!> I heard the Lucario call to me as he grappled with the Raticate.

"What do you mean, wrong? Lyrica, to your left!" The Nidoqueen roared and smashed her ice-covered fist into an attacking Fearow's beak in response.

<It's all... dark! Something is wrong with it!>

Cat and her Pokemon managed to get ahead of us while we were delayed by the three thieves. The doors to the warehouse were broken from the battering her Pokemon gave it. As soon as we got into the building Slowking stopped. "Something is wrong here. Something.....feels unnatural. Be very careful Red." I felt a little uneasy about the heaviness in Slowking's warning.

We were met by a team of thieves and several Golems. "Oh this will be easily taken care of. Slowking Water Pulse and Vaporeon use Whirlpool." Both of them unleashed their water attacks. The Water Pulse combined with the heart of the Whirlpool, causing it to explode in a wave as it crashed into the men and their Pokemon. The Golems easily fainted from the strong double water attack and the thieves laid sprawled on the ground groaning.

One thief ran up. "I'll take care of this." He threw out a Pokemon and a mean looking Smeargle appeared. "There's something wrong with that Pokemon. Whatever I'm sensing it's from that Pokemon." I looked really hard at the Pokemon, trying to find something that set Slowking off.

Spence ran through the forest, looking east and west, tryng to find his bearings. Certain words were stuck in his mind.

"A sword's no better than a gun, it's a weapon to kill," Elizabeth said blankly as she walked over.

"That's true, but," Spence sheathed it, "In the right hands, the opposite is true as well. This sword is used to protect. That's all I've ever needed/wanted to use it for. It's the reason why it was handed down to me."

--- Lacunosa Town... I was nineteen, then. After Lance and Cindy gave me the confidence to continue my journey, after the defeat at the hands of my brother at the Pokemon League, I continued travelling the rest of the region of Unova, to train my pokemon and better myself. Stories and legends of this particular town convinced me to stay and try to help these people. It was this town that changed everything for me.

"A monster?" Spence questioned.

"Yeah. But... we try to stay quiet about it. We never know who will be taken next. Actually... please, forget I said anything." The frightened man quickly walked away.

---

Spence walked along, the afternoon sun setting in the background, giving the white town a beautiful shade of yellow and orange.

"Hey, you!" An old man beckoned from the safety of his home.

"Huh?" Spence turned, being taken by the arm and led inside.

"It's dangerous at night. Please, you're welcome to stay."

"Oh, okay. Sure," Spence agreed, noting the man with a long white beard and robe. He reminded him of a sensei.

---

"Tea?" the man offered.

"Sure," Spence smiled, sitting humbly on the floor of his living room, a small dining table in front of him. A tradional Japanese home. The Pokemon World had picked up American ways, to be more convenient to this modern multicultural world. It was nice to see some of the old culture every now and then. Spence left his boots by the door to be respectful.

The old man brought in the tea, placing it down in front of him. The aroma of the tea whiffed in the air. He sat down, pouring his guest a cup.

"Thank you," Spence bowed a little, placing his gloved hands around the tea cup. This part of the region was always so cold. The cup filled him with warmth as he took a sip, after waiting and watching the man take his own.

The old man looked to Spence from across the table, "So, why have you come here, young man?"

"I'm a Pokemon Trainer. I'm travelling the region to become the best I can be."

"I see," the man smiled, "A noble quest."

"If you say so," Spence chuckled, looking around the room. Statues of warriors, swords, weaponry bounded to the walls. Hardly a photo of family in sight, "...I wasn't planning to stay this long. Route 13 is my next goal. But this town... everyone's been afraid of something. I want to help out anyway I can. It's just the right thing to do."

"I see..." the old man placed his tea cup down, sighing, "Then, allow me to tell you a tale of this land. A long time ago, it is said that a large meteor came from the sky containing a terrifying monster. Always at night, the monster would appear in the town along with bittering winds, taking someone, anyone, away. The residents of the town surrounded Lacunosa Town in a wall to keep the monster out and at bay, and rule was then set on the town that forbade anyone from leaving at night and encouraged people to stay in their homes. However, this monster became angry. As punishment, the wall was destroyed, and almost half our people were taken away. Presumably, killed."

"Then, it's my goal to find this monster."

"That's very brave, child, but there have been millions of attempts."

Spence gritted his teeth, looking away, "But I can't just sit by and do nothing. Where does this monster dwell?"

"...The Giant Chasm. North-East of this town."

--- The following morning...

Spence thanked the man for his generosity, turning to leave.

"Please, wait. Take this with you."

"Hmm?" Spence turned. The man came back with a sword, "Whoa, what?"

"Please, use it to protect yourself and others."

Spence jumped, "But it's such a big sword!!... How will I even lift it?!"

The old man laughed, smiling, "You remind me of someone I once knew. I'm sure, if anyone can wield it, you can. If anything, it will help you in your training. It's said that this sword can light up even the darkest of hearts. Please, be safe. I will be praying for your safe return."

---

He continued running, Spence's eyes wondering in space as he recalled that memory. Suddenly.

"Oof!!" Something fast, something too quick to see tackled into him, throwing him rolling and skidding to the ground. Spence got up as quick as he could, witnessing a Scyther a distance away. Spence glared as the Scyther glared back, its eyes menacing. This Scyther... wanted to kill him. There was something seriously dark about this pokemon.

Spence slowly reached for his back, the handle of his sword... The Scyther jumped at him. Spence gasped, its scythes straight for Spence's neck.

((Ack, life is so demanding.  Sorry for not responding.))

Suddenly, the wind stopped.  All was quiet for a split second until a piercing siren burst through the air.  Some of the other trainers began to panic, unsure of what the noise could be.  Hopkins was rolling around on the ground with his hands clenched over his ears, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"What's happening?" I asked, to no one in particular.

Cora teleported in with an Xatu right at that moment.  She explained that some thieves were attacking the city, trying to steal people's Pokémon.  I sure hope it isn't Team Galactic, I thought.  Because it's not like they weren't aggravating enough back home.

She set off with the Colosseum trainers for the woods, and asked us to defend the city portion of the island.

Some of the other trainers were using Psychic types to teleport to the action, which seemed like a good idea.  I returned Lazarus and the still screeching Hopkins to their Pokéballs, and brought out Stephanie instead.

"We need to get to the city- and fast.  There's an emergency."

<Right away,> she responded, and a flash of bright light later, we were in the middle of a showdown between Pokémon and Pokémon, human and human.  Whoever these people were, they certainly weren't Team Galactic.  They'd have weirder hair if that was the case.  I recalled Stephanie, who was getting tired from so much usage of her psychic power.

"Maloc, go!" I shouted, as I released the Armaldo from his Pokéball.  He was the only one I hadn't used yet, and as a result, was already pumped and ready to go.

A group of the thieves had noticed the new arrivals. 

"Hey, that kid's got an Armaldo!  Kid!  Fork over the Pokémon and get out of here.  We don't want any trouble."  A couple of Primape came to their side.

"Well unfortunately for you," I said, adjusting my glasses.  "Trouble is my middle name."  With that, Armaldo roared with might as explosions of earth shot up beneath the feet of the Primape, sending them flying.  "Actually though," I smirked, "It's Sebastian.  Not that it's going to matter.  Keep up that Earth Power Armaldo!"

"Not today kid," came a voice from behind me.  I began to turn to face the attacker, but was hit with a swift blow to the chest.  I fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of me.  I landed on the ground, not able to move a muscle.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a man with a Conkeldurr, both of them grinning maliciously.  Something's just not right with that Conkeldurr, I thought.  Pokémon can be trained to be mean from birth, or forced in some way, but they're never actually this pure evil.  What on earth could be happening?  The group slowly closed in on me, the battered Primape regrouping.  [i]If I could just get my finger to her Pokéball and.... Click!  Dima roared as she appeared next to me.  I caught Maloc's eye, and nodded, and he knew what to do.  The two prehistoric Pokémon's eyes glowed with power as chunks of rock tore from the ground and formed a floating wall around us.

"Unleash that Ancient Power now!" I shouted with my last bit of strength.  The Mamoswine and Armaldo unleashed the boulders, shooting them in every which way.  They slammed into the thieves and their Pokémon, sending them hurtling into walls and buildings.  For a glorious second, I thought we had won, but to my dismay, the Conkeldurr rose up from the rubble.  There was something really wrong with Pokémon.

Dima scooped me up with her tusks, and together we made our way to the hotel.  I turned to look behind, and saw that the Conkeldurr had given up its chase.

When we got to the door, Dima let me down.  I tried to open the door, but it was locked tight.

"Go away!" came a worried voice from inside.  "We're not taking any chances!"

"I think I might have a broken rib," I pleaded.  "I was hit with a slab of concrete."

It was silent for a moment, then the sound of a lock, followed by the door opening.  Inside was the man from the front desk.

"Come in, quickly," he said.  I stumbled in, followed by Maloc and Dima.  He hurriedly re-locked the door behind us.

"Come here," he motioned, beckoning to a back room.  "There's a cot in here that you can lie down on for now.  There's a doctor I can call, but he won't be able to get here until after the fighting's subsided.  For now, you might as well rest."

"Thanks," I said, as he left the room, but I knew that I probably wouldn't be able to sleep after the rush of adrenaline from the fight.

As Hektor continued to wrestle with the Raticate, the rodent Pokemon proving far more vicious and resilient than normal, we were suddenly assaulted by the Fearow that Lyrica had punched earlier, and a Beedrill. Belle reacted at once, flinging the Bug-type out of the way before its venom-dripping stingers could reach me, but the Beedrill came back for another round. Out of the corner of my eye, I realized that there were far less men than there should have been in the warehouse and swore angrily, directing my Pokemon to keep pressing on. They responded valiantly, though I had to return Skipper because the Swampert was exhausted from the Colosseum battle and this fight. Anomander replaced him, the black Charizard materializing onto the field in a blast of flames that incinerated the Beedrill on the spot before its stingers could hurt the panting Belle, who I recalled to let her rest.

"Nice work, Dari." I had never liked Bug types, and Beedrill in particular were known for being aggressive and flat out mean-- he growled a pleased-sounding reply then continued the fight, using his tail and flames to clear a path for us, though it wasn't that easy since Nick's team and mine were tired by now.

We arrived at the edge of the docks just in time to hear the fading echoes of a submarine engine and I hissed angrily, knowing the thieves had escaped. "Curse it, they got away."

"Hey, it wasn't a total failure." Nick pointed out, indicating a few crates of Pokeballs that had been dropped beside the loading dock. "We saved -some- of the Pokemon."

"Yeah, good point..." I acknowledged as I recalled my Pokemon, Hektor having finally disposed of the Raticate and grabbing it and its trainer by their scruffs, dragging them along with him. "Let's go see how the others are doing."

Spence locked blades with Scyther, managing to lunge it away. Spence took a deep breath, looking into the pokemon's eyes. It's eyes were dark, and somehow, familar. They scared and worried him at the same time. What could've happened to this pokemon for it to act this way? Not even a wild pokemon acted so aggressively. Suddenly, a flashback bought on a splitting headache. Spence clunched his head in pain.

"The hell--- !! Make it stop!!" Spence fell to his knees, tossing a pokeball in front of him. Squishy appeared, sending a Psychic blast ahead to which Scyther only just quickly dodged through, leering and hissing at the Reuniclus. Spence looked ahead, unconsciousness setting in, "Scyther...!!" Suddenly, he gasped. For a moment, those Scyther's eyes... they reminded him... of his brother!! The blizzard, the gunshot... Everything resurfaced for just a moment.

Scyther engaged Squishy, using X-Scissor. Battered, Squishy took it to protect his master, using Recover. But another quick Slash made quick work of Spence's pokemon.

"Squishy... No... Return, my friend," Spence took out another pokeball, "Brucie, it's your turn!!"

Spence summoned his unbreakable wall to his need, his Conkeldurr. It smashed the concrete pillars down into the ground, flexing into a Bulk Up. Most pokemon who couldn't match Brucie's size found this imtimidating, but not Scyther. Scyther charged an attack. Something Spence could never have imagined. It's scythes emitted with this darkness that pulsed the time it was ready. Scyther flung them, a shadowy scythe that pierced into Brucie's chest. He groaned in pain.

"Wh-what is this pokemon...?!" Spence gasped, gritting his teeth, "Match his speed, Brucie! Mach Punch, now!!" Brucie left his pillars, throwing a volley of punches. Scyther took it, giving a cry. He quicking got to its feet, bouncing back. "Finish it up with Stone Edge!!" Brucie turned, grabbing one of the concrete towers and swung it into the Scyther. Scyther got beated, flying and crashing into a tree. It fell to the ground, leanng up in a hiss, before falling back, finally fainting.

Spence and Brucie sighed as the leaves fell from the tree the Scyther laid unconscious under. That was before the headache kicked back in again. Spence grunted, standing to his feet. He withdrew a new pokeball, stumbling. Brucie caught him, looking down with worry at his master. Spence chuckled sadly, looking up at his pokemon with a smile, "Thanks, Brucie. I'm fine." He turned to the fallen Scyther, throwing a pokeball which beamed the bug pokemon inside. The pokeball fell to the ground, shaking violently. Spence and Brucie gazed at it. It felt like forever until, finally, the Scyther gave in. The light of the button of the ball submitted. Spence sighed in relief.

"Just... give me a moment to rest," Spence fell back onto the tree, now breathing steadily. His splitting headache was vanishing, until finally, it subsided. "...Well, no rest for the wicked," Spence got back up, smiling to Brucie before he returned him. He looked at Squishy's pokeball with sorrow, "...I'm sorry, friend. I didn't mean for you to take that kind of punishment." He walked over to the dark Scyther's pokeball, picking it up with uneasiness. He reflected on the battle, "What happened to you...? And what exactly was that shadowy attack? Did you come from those thugs that were attacking us?" he looked up, "Well, there's no time to think. I better go see to the others."

---

Spence panted, finally catching up with Cat and Nick at the docks. Heckor had caught a Raticate and its master. Was Raticate the same way as Scyther...? Lucario were certainly a powerful species of pokemon. Spence walked over to speak with the two, "Hey, there's something dead-wrong about these pokemon. This definitely wasn't like anything I've ever encountered before. I think we should all regroup. Judging by your faces, they almost all got away, huh?..." Spence cut a look to his feet, sadly thinking of all the pokemon they couldn't save. He looked back up, "I'd like Red's opinion on this, and if there is one, I'd like to see a Champion as well to clear this all up. But we should scan the island. There may be still a lot of battles to be fought."

I glanced at Spence as we walked out of the warehouse, brushing back a piece of hair as he spoke. "Yeah, there is something wrong with these Pokemon, I don't know what. Hektor said the Raticate felt 'dark' and 'wrong', and Dari had to smoke a Beedrill before it attacked Belle. No sane Poison-type barring a Drapion, Nidoking or Nidoqueen would go up against a fully evolved and spitting mad Psychic."

Hektor dumped the unconscious Raticate on top of its master and folded his paws over his chest to stand guard-- there was a roar from overhead and we looked up to see Champion Larsen, mounted on his Salamence, overhead, clearly having just arrived. The man's brown hair was a mess and Jormun bore a few marks of combat on his scaly hide, but they looked reasonably fresh. I saw Malcolm's eyes flick to Chase and Draco, both the powerful Garchomps standing protectively behind Nick and I-- murmuring praise and thanks, I recalled Draco into his Pokeball, Nick doing the same. Things were already chaotic enough without a three-way Dragon battle erupting in the middle of the plaza.

Nodding thanks, he nudged Jormun into a landing, then climbed off the Salamence's back, folding his arms behind his back and fixing us with a calm stare. "Report, trainers."

Nick quickly filled him in on the fight, the mysterious 'dark' and unusually aggressive Pokemon, and the fact that we had managed to save a few crates of Pokeballs. "Sorry we couldn't save any more, sir."

A portly man with a Steelix stepped forward as the crowd flooded past us into the warehouse to try and find their Pokemon, giving Nick a glare and opening his mouth-- the only reason why the Pokemon was still with him, I mused, was probably because it was way too big to carry off. Nick's Rhydon, Tank, stepped forward with a gravelly rumble, spreading his forelimbs wide, ready to wrestle, as Kamala's eyes narrowed, the Medicham preparing for a fight.

"Stop, Todd." Malcolm's voice was conversational and the man hadn't even moved a muscle, but it was enough to make the civilian stop dead in his tracks-- an impressive display of the level of respect Malcolm commanded. "They tried their best. Look at their teams, those Pokemon are all worn out. They could easily have continued with their Colosseum challenges, but they came here and risked life and limb to help. Show some respect."

"Hmph..." Todd grumbled something under his breath but turned away, recalling the Steelix. Tank and Kamala relaxed before Nick recalled the big Rhydon.

"Champion Larsen, what happened in the forests?" I inquired.

"Malcolm, please." He grimaced, running his hand through his hair and making it stand on end. "Tactics Colosseum was hit first. Cora went over to check it out."

As if the mention of her name had summoned her, the Aerodactyl's screech rang out again, and we backed away to give the big Fossil Pokemon room to land. Cora climbed off, her blond braid disheveled-- and that was when we realized she was riding double, the Tactics Colosseum's leader Rafael Avila sitting behind her. The man was sporting a spectacular black eye and plenty of bruises, and looked much the worse for wear.

Malcolm arched an eyebrow at him, frowning in concern. "You look like a herd of Tauros trampled you. What happened?"

Rafael shook his head to clear it, wincing as an injury protested. "They overpowered me with those strange, dark and extremely aggressive Pokemon. My team tried hard, but they couldn't stop them. They took Jira..."

My eyes narrowed, remembering the Tyranitar was his star Pokemon, and Nick hissed between his teeth sympathetically. Just then, Hektor put a paw on my shoulder, speaking on a wide band so everyone could hear him, even if they couldn't respond.

<Trainer, if I might interrupt? We can track the thieves.>

"Huh?" I turned to blink owlishly at my Lucario. "What do you mean?"

<I have memorized their Aura, and I am fairly sure that Belle has a lock on their psychic signatures, as would any other Psychic type who fought today. We can track them, if we have the proper supplies.>

Nick glanced at Kamala-- she nodded once, curtly.

"Well." I couldn't help but smile a little. "It looks like we've got a lead already."

Spence could do nothing but shake in frustration. Why would people do this to pokemon...? It made him sick to his stomach. Spence sighed, giving in to these feelings. He murmured, "So much for battling and having fun... Everything's all messed up now. That girl, these thugs, and now these poor pokemon..."

"Listen; Elizabeth, another trainer and I captured a few of those guys in a cabin in the woods. You guys should squeeze out as much info out of them as you can, and also, I have something to add," Spence stepped up and spoke to them all, addressing the Champion mostly who looked like he had a grasp of the situation, "I battled one of these pokemon as well. As well as increased speed and strength, the pokemon also used a unique attack..."

Flashbacks of the Scyther using the shadowy move against his Conkeldurr flooded back.

"They use these Shadow moves... These moves are to be feared. Whether physical attack or special attack, they cut through a pokemon's defenses no matter any special buffs a pokemon has placed. I didn't quite grasp it myself, but it seemed like they used that dark aura, that should've been invisible to me, around or inside their bodies, until they unleashed it in a special way... I'm not sure if it's different from species to species... But these... Shadow Pokemon are something to be worried about, let alone the thugs that are controlling them."

"Other than that," Spence glared, "They're still pokemon. Whatever happened to them, they deserve to be saved. I recommend catching them if you get a chance, and maybe, hopefully we can find a way to restore them to their former selves."

"Lead? What are you talking about?" Spence turned to Cat, realising she was talking to Hektor, "Well, fine by me. But we need to find the others and heal our pokemon first. My Reuniclus is really hurt. These thugs ambushed Elizabeth and I once. There's no telling how ruthless and cunning they really are."

The thief smiled, "Attack him!" The Smeargle charged at Slowking at an alarming rate. "Psychic!" Slowking's eyes glowed a light blue as the Smeargle stopped in its tracks, frozen by the Psychic attack. "This is beyond easy. You thieves don't stand a chance." The thief laughed, "Don't be so arrogant kid. Use your powers Smeargle."

"Red something is wrong with this Smeargle. It's using a power I've never encountered before. I can feel it breaking through my hold." And as soon as Slowking finished his thought the Smeargle was encompassed with a dark energy. It looked at us with hating eyes, freezing my very soul. The Psychic hold was broken as the Smeargle hit the ground running at Slowking, who was immobilized by the intense power that broke his attack. It was surrounded by a dark aura as it sped towards my dazed Slowking. "Gallade, Close Combat. Protect Slowking!"

Gallade sped in front of the oncoming Pokemon, arms ready to strike. Gallade got in close enough to begin his attack, colliding with the dark aura surrounding the Smeargle. Gallade stopped the Smeargle, but the Shadow tackle managed to harm him a bit. "Drain Punch!" Before Gallade could land a hit he was frozen in place by an energy field. I looked at the Pokemon shocked.

"Looks like Smeargle Sketched your Slowking's Psychic. Seems that you didn't know about Smeargle's adaptability. That's why it was one of the first chosen Pokemon." I looked at the thief, "Chosen? What are you talking about?" The thief shook his head, "That's none of your concern. Now Smeargle, finish this." The Smeargle nodded and lifted its hand, throwing it forward. Gallade rose and flew into the wall. "No! Gallade return." I recalled Gallade and looked at Slowking. "I'm fine, but this will be a challenge."

"Smeargle use Shadow Rush again." The Smeargle repeated its dark tackle move. "Well let's fight fire with fire then. Slowking use Shadow Ball." Slowking released several Shadow Balls at the Smeargle. It took several direct hits to cancel its attack. It stumbled a bit before shaking off the attack. The Smeargle flexed its hand and a blast of Psychic energy shot at us. "Deflect it with your Psychic!" Slowking did the same and the two attacks collided in an explosion of debris.

Slowking and I laid against some crates and the thief and his Smeargle laid across from us. A hole was made in the side of the warehouse closest to the harbor. The Smeargle got up with little difficulty but I could tell it was getting weaker. "Alright Slowking, we have to go all out on this last attack. It's time to end this." Slowking nodded. "Use Calm Mind then Surf." The thief stood up and told a command to the dark Pokemon. It began charging at us with an intense shadow attack. "Hurry Slowking!"

Slowking opened his eyes, showing the end of his mental prepping. The gem on his shell glowed, then there was a rushing sound. The Smeargle was halfway across the warehouse when the wave struck. It crashed through the opening like a flood as it engulfed the Smeargle and knocked it against the thief. By the time the attack was over both the thief and Smeargle lay unconcious. "Do you have enough energy to carry those two outside?" Slowking nodded and used Psychic to pick them up.

We walked outside the warehouse and saw the others across the way. We ran to them and Slowking dropped them on the ground with the two that Cat brought. He swayed a little. Do you want to rest in your Pokeball? "No. I want to know what is going on. I can wait to be healed." Alright. You did good Slowking, the Old Man would be proud to know what became of his Slowpoke. "......I know......Thank you Red."

I looked at the others, "So what am I supposed to do with this?"

I searched the trainer's pockets till I found the Raticate's Pokeball, and recalled the unconscious Pokemon with a frown as Red appeared, his Slowking looking exhausted too. "That Raticate scared me, to be frank, it probably would have chewed through concrete to get at us. Thankfully Hektor's stronger than any old rodent."

"We can detain the thieves here, separate from their Pokemon." Malcolm mused. "Those of you who 'caught' those dark Pokemon should probably keep them separated from the rest of your teams, since we don't yet know what happened to them or what they can do."

"I can take care of that, and Valerie will want to help with the questioning." Cora continued with a rather evil glint in her blue eyes, before becoming serious once more. "Rafa, you got any Pokemon left?"

"Yeah." He nodded, indicating the five Pokeballs at his belt. "They got Jira, but the others are safe. I can always switch in one of my PC Pokemon anyway."

"Good." The blond woman turned to look at Nick and I. "Your Pokemon can track the thieves?"

Hektor stepped forward and bowed courteously, then nodded. <Yes, Leader.>

She nodded, then looked back at Malcolm. "How's this for a plan, Mal. All of you get your Pokemon healed up first, then you and Rafa go after the thieves with the kids, and we'll call you if we get any useful information." Sensing Nick's frown, she explained, Crash bobbing his head as if to emphasize her words. "Not that we're underestimating you, Trainers. You did a good job today-- you fought bravely, and we thank you. But we don't know what else the thieves have up their sleeves, and if today was anything to go by we'll need all the firepower we can get."

Malcolm nodded. "It sounds good. Trainers, go heal your Pokemon, we'll regroup here in half an hour, then get going."

Kamala turned her eyes on Nick-- the black-haired man listened for a moment, then spoke up. "Make sure you bring a water Pokemon, or something capable of swimming, with you."

Letting Cora's Colosseum Trainers take charge of the Raticate and its trainer, I recalled Hektor to his Pokeball, then started heading off to the Pokemon Center to get my team healed up.

"Quake, use Earthquake. Take us through the roof." Quake jumped up and slammed down one the roof, punching a hole straight through. "Good job bud." I noticed one of the thieves walking towards us withan Ambipom. "You think an Ambipom can take a Flygon and a Medicham?" I yelled at the thief.

"I geuss we'll find out, won't we?" He replied with a cocky grin.

<Silas, there's something wrong with that Ambipom. It feels... unnatural.> Fury cautioned.

I took a closer look at the Ambipom and noticed that it did seem different. "Lets not take any chances then. Fury, use High Jump Kick. Quake use Dragon Claw. Put it in its place." Fury kicked the Ambipom, hitting it square in the face, and it staggered back. Quake followed up with its Dragon Claw and the Ambipom was knocked over. However, it quickly got back up and attacked with a Double Hit forcing Fury and Quake to back off. "It shouldn't be standing." I muttered. "Fury, use Psychic. Hold it steady. Quake use Outrage."

Fury's eyes began to glow and the Ambipom was surrounded by a blue aura, stooping it in its tracks. Quake was soon cloaked in a red aura and began pounding away at the Ambipom. After several hits it finally collapsed. Quake also collapsed out of exhaustion. I noticed the thief start to run. "Fury, catch the thief. Freeze him with an Ice Punch if you need to." Fury nodded and bounded off. I recalled Quake and brought out Claw. "Bring the Ambipom and follow me."

I headed out of the warehouse. I joined the rest of the group and Jolt and Volt soon joined me. I let out a sigh of relief seeing that they were both relatively uninjured. Eventually it was decided that we would follow the thieves. I left the Ambipom and its trainer, who looked like he might have a little bit of frostbite on one side of his face, under the care of the leaders and headed to the Pokemon Centre. I had my team healed and swapped out Jolt, Volt, and Hunter for three others that I thought might be useful.

Spence was relieved Red and Silas were OK. Slowking looked a little worse for wear, but Slowking was a tough pokemon. He was Red's pokemon, afterall. Spence walked over as Silas left, sighing behind him as he took off. Ambipom was left unconscious for Cora's trainers to take care of. He frowned. Was Spence the only one who pitied these poor pokemon?

Spence turned to the Smeargle and its apparent trainer, "You don't mind do you, Red?" Spence enlarged a pokeball, capturing the Smeargle. He offered Red the pokeball when he picked it up, "I caught a Scyther with the same thing. We need to find out exactly how to revert them back. And there's no other way to do that, but to have one of these guys tag along in our team for the meantime. Will you help me?"

---

When Spence entered the pokemon center, he was greeted by Elizabeth, "Hey, how are Sienna and her Granny?"

"They're fine," she smiled a little before looking away. She was confusing as ever.

"Good," Spence smiled, giving Squishy and Brucie's pokeballs to the care of the nurse. Since his Reuniclus and Conkeldurr were a must have for his team, he needed to decide the party of six pokemon right away. Whimsicott, Starmie, Hydriegon, the Shadow Pokemon Scyther, and the Assassin's Dragonite were on his person... Hydriegon had to go back to the Professor's.

"We'll heal your pokemon right away. Thank you for all your efforts reguarding the island's attack." The nurse praised him. At least she was more thankful than the Collosseum trainers.

Spence chuckled, a little embarassed, scratching the back of his head, "Hey, I'm a pokemon trainer! ...It's the least we can do."

The nurse bowed honorably, taking his pokemon into care.

"So what, you're a hero now?" Elizabeth glanced a glare, only to be shocked by Spence's gloomy appearance, "...What's wrong?"

Spence's eyes traced the hospital's floor, sadness in his eyes, "...A lot of pokemon were stolen today. Maybe even more than what we managed to save... To top it off, the thugs were using these pokemon who had this strange aura about them... Shadow Pokemon. It was as if the Scyther I was fighting had completely shut its heart off to humans... And now I can only wonder if those pokemon who were stolen... will they be abused the same way? Who knows..."

"...Hmph," Elizabeth walked right passed him, showing no signs of remorse after Spence's thoughts, "Don't pretend like you care."

Spence darted around, his voice filled with anger and frustration, "What's your problem with me?!" Before he could get an answer, she had already left. Spence gritted his teeth, turning away. What the hell was going on? Spence hadn't a clue.

As the Nurse ran my Pokeballs through the healing machine, I watched the conversation between Spence and the female Trainer with a raised eyebrow. Getting up, I snagged a couple bottles of water, passing one to Nick before wandering over to Spence and passing him one, twisting off the cap on mine. "Here, you look like you could use a drink, too. You know her?"

While waiting for him to reply, I glanced at my Pokeballs, frowning slightly. "It worries me, what they may have done to those Pokemon... Shadow Pokemon, for want of a better name. The species we met today were reasonably non-aggressive, except the Beedrill and your Scyther... so what happens if they make an aggressive species like a Nidoking a Shadow Pokemon?"

Just then, Malcolm walked over, strapping on what looked like a typical Pokeball shoulder bandolier, except it held far more Pokeballs than usual, at least two teams' worth. "Two important things, Trainers. First, for the retrieval mission, I am authorising you to carry as many of your own Pokemon as you feel comfortable having on hand at once."

Nick stared, then grinned, jogging off to the PC-- I raised an eyebrow at him, and the tall Champion explained. "What Cora said earlier. We need all the firepower we can get, and I do not want anyone to endanger themselves by the lack of a potentially crucial Pokemon. Second, if you have one of those dark Pokemon and intend to bring it, I request that you not use it unless you have no other options. It is too dangerous for both you and everyone else around you."

"Yeah, being bitten by a rabid Raticate isn't exactly my idea of fun." I muttered. "It wouldn't listen to me even if I did try to calm it down..."

I looked at the Pokeball in Spence's hand. "I'll give it a shot. You're right about helping them. The Pokemon didn't ask for this." I took the Pokeball and looked at it. The most adaptive species of Pokemon besides a Ditto. Now I know why they picked it to become dark.

Slowking and I walked slowly to the Pokemon Center, consulting on what to do now. "This Smeargle must be used with caution." I'm fully aware of this. "Then you know that this Smeargle already knows the strongest Psychic attack, an attack that we don't even know what to call, and possibly more. Smeargle's can learn almost any move." Spence asked me to help and that's what I plan on doing. Besides, I've been trying for two years to catch a Smeargle in Johto. They're very sneaky Pokemon. I smiled at Slowking and he smiled back. Now let's get to the Center and get you and everyone else fixed up.

As we were walking up the path to the Pokemon Center, an agitated woman stormed out. She bumped into me and said to move out of her way. I muttered to Slowking, "Wonder if she's sore that she's not going with the team."

We walked into the Center and saw the others waiting for their Pokemon to be healed. Malcolm walked in shortly after me and told us we will be able to carry more than six Pokemon. This was great news for me, meaning I can cover all my type disadvantages. I walked over to one of the PCs and logged into my storage. I withdrew my Sceptile, Butterfree, and Magmar, some of my more seasoned fighters.

I walked up to the counter and handed Nurse Joy all of my Pokeballs. She smiled and said, "Judging from the amount of Pokemon you're healing I'd say you're joining the fight." I nodded, "Yes I am." "Well I wish the best of luck." I thanked her and turned to Cat and Spence, hearing the last of what Cat was saying. "I don't blame you for fearing a rabid Raticate or a psychotic Scyther. At least all I have to worry about is being painted on by a Smeargle." I laughed lightly, trying to brighten things up, despite the events of the day.

"Heh." I flashed Red a quick smile. "The Raticate's not my Pokemon anyway. If we can fix it, I'd be happy to release it back to the wild and have its trainer tossed in jail."

Just then, the Nurse called my name-- going over to the counter, I took my Pokeballs back, Hektor and Belle popping out at once. Belle began investigating the other Trainers busily, going up to Red's Slowking first to say hello, while Hektor tilted his head at me, waiting for orders as I hooked my main team's Pokeballs onto my belt and the Irregulars' Pokeballs onto the shoulder bandolier I carried in case of emergency.

"Hektor, go to the PC and get... let's see... Isaiah, Nova and Amara." Combined with Lyrica, Terra, and Belle, that would make a second complete team, and cover just about every type I really needed to worry about.

The Lucario barked once and padded off as Leader Avila, having been patched up by the Nurses, walked over to Malcolm, conversing with the man softly while we waited for the others to get ready.

"Thanks," Spence smiled vaguely to Cat as he took her generous offering. Suddenly, fatigue started to kick in. Spence quickly took a seat down on one of the lounges. He took a sip of cold refreshing water. He sighed, "I guess battling Scyther took a lot out of me than I realised... And the freightening thing... Scyther's eyes reminded me of a dream I had... My brother had the same eyes. Dark and cruel... But sad, too."

"Yeah, her name's Elizabeth. I don't know much about her... But she's a formidable trainer. However, it seemed like she was more interested with me and rather than the situation... I don't know what her deal is, but she has it in her head that I'm not being myself. That's the gist of what I gathered."

"I don't even want to think about a pokemon like that, Cat. I have enough of a bad time fighting dragon types." Flashbacks of catching and training his Hydriegon as well as capturing Dragonite in the collosseum came back to him, he chuckled lighty, "If one were a Shadow Pokemon, I don't think I'd stand a chance."

Spence sighed before he noticed Red come in. His new rival always seemed to lighten his spirits. He couldn't quite stand up yet to shake his hand, but he chuckled at the Smeargle comment nevertheless. On a serious note, Spence spoke, "Whether Pidgey or Haxorus, we owe it to the pokemon as trainers... No, as human beings, who believe in the bonds of people and pokemon, to save as many of these Shadow Pokemon as we can."

Just then, Malcolm stepped up, "You're Spence, right? From Unova?"

"Yeah, that's me," Spence looked up. It seemed the Champion was already prepared.

"Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear. I converse with Alder, the Champion of Unova from time to time, so I know a little of the goings-on in that region. I'm not sure if you knew, but Elizabeth, the trainer you speak of, she was involved in a tragedy that took place in Lacunosa Town."

Spence's eyes widened, "...Tragedy? Lacunosa Town?"

"...Yes, about two years ago. Unfortunately, a lot of people and pokemon were killed in an incident that took place there. Some, family and friends of Elizabeth. She became a pokemon trainer thereafter. I suppose becoming a trainer has given her the strength to carry on. That's what Alder and I summarise."

"What...?" Spence was left with nothing but shock. He didn't know how to take this in.

"Anyway," Malcolm turned to go back and speak with Leader Avila, "I've heard great things about you as well, Spence. Perhaps Elizabeth just wanted to meet another trainer like her from the same region."

"Like... me?" Malcolm left a lot of answered questions for Spence to contemplate. Lacunosa Town... the people there... hadn't he saved them from the monster? Spence gritted his teeth. Another splitting headache coming as he stood back up, only to fall back down again. The nurse came back with his pokemon only to see Spence's condition.

"Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

"No, I don't like the look of you. Please, come inside and lay down."

"No!" he snapped, giving her a quick glare, "I'm fine."

"I suggest you do, Spence," Malcolm spoke from behind him, Spence suddenly feeling shaken up, "We'll be waiting for awhile. A team were fighting off a Conkeldurr in town and we'll be waiting for them yet. I'd use this time to rest. You don't have to push yourself in front of us."

After a moment, Spence reluctently agreed, "Okay..." He got up with the help of the nurse, taking him inside. Spence's eyes travelled along the hall, trying to think straight. Taking him to a spare room, Spence laid down on a bed. The wind blowing a white curtain from the open window.

Sensei... did you...? Were you killed as well...? Did I really fail you...?

Spence rolled over, ashamed of himself.

---

"I apologise," Malcolm addressed Spence's friends formerly, "I was not aware Spence was involved in that area. I know what I said, but when it comes down to it... if he needs more time, we'll have to leave without him. There are pokemon out there that need us. There was hardly any supporting evidence to make the claim, but we believe the incident involved an experiment Team Plasma and the Shadow Triad left behind that suddenly left on a rampage. We would like to bring them in for questioning, however, they've disappeared without a trace." He left them all with that, speaking again with Avila.

After Nurse Joy returned my Pokemon she walked over to Spence and took him into the back. I listened to what Malcolm said. After he turned and began talking with Avila I looked over at Slowking. He was communicating with Cat's Espeon, looking deep in thought. I sent him my thoughts, apologizing for interrupting their conversation.

He contemplated for a moment then replied, "It seems that this Lacunosa Town is the cause of Spence's distraught as well as a dark mystery. You'll have to get more information from him once he has recovered. I doubt that Malcolm will be any help in finding more information about the incident." I nodded in agreement with him.

I walked over to Cat, "So what do you think about all this? The Shadow Pokemon and the incident in the town in Unova, it's all a lot to take in."

I listened quietly, smiling absently as I watched Belle interact with Slowking, the Espeon purring and softly mrowling to illustrate a point she was making in the telepathic conversation. When the bipedal Pokemon turned to look at his trainer, I held out a hand-- Belle rubbed against it, then jumped lightly into my lap for some attention. "What do you think, girl?"

<I think this is a lot more than what we signed on for...>

I laughed at that and scratched behind her ears. "You're right about that, but we can't just stand by, can we?"

<Nope. That's why we're going with you.>

Glancing up at Red as he addressed me, I smiled faintly. "They could be linked somehow. What if that 'experiment' was a powerful Shadow Pokemon? Druddigons are pretty deadly from what I hear, never mind Hydreigon or Haxorus... After all, the incidents in Orre with Cipher and Snagem were so long ago, I didn't think I'd ever hear of Shadow Pokemon outside a textbook, let alone see one on the battlefield."

I nodded at Cat, "Very true, but it did happen twice in Orre. I guess it was only a matter of time before some evil team found the technology."

I thought for a moment. "During my travels in Sinnoh I managed to read on that history. Seems that these Shadow Pokemon are easily captured compared to regular Pokemon. Canalave City's library had a large amount of information on other nations. I stumbled on Orre when I was reading about Johto. It seemed that Team Snagem stole Pokemon from Johto when the Shadow Pokemon were first being created. Of course it was stopped, but then it started back up. They took Pokemon from Hoenn and created even more Shadow Pokemon. I guess now they're stealing Pokemon from tournements to get a wider variety of regional Pokemon."

After a while sitting in the room, I heard a knock at the door.  A tall, clean-shaven man in a lab coat came in, carrying a briefcase.  He extended a hand to me as I stood up.

"My name is Doctor Cameron," he said.  "I got here as fast as I could, although I had to wait for things to die down before I was able to leave the clinic."  He opened up the briefcase and removed a couple of medical instruments.  "It's Jeremy, am I right?  I was told you were hit with a slab of concrete from a Conkeldurr, correct?"

I nodded.  He felt my chest and pressed on the ribs in certain areas.

"Do you feel any sharp pains in any of these areas?" he asked as he made his examination.

"Not really," I replied.  "I can feel a little bit of dull pain on my right side, but other than that, it doesn't hurt too bad."

Doctor Cameron stood up.

"Well then," he answered.  "It doesn't seem like you've broken anything, but you might have a small fracture in one rib.  I'll need to wrap it so that it doesn't complicate anything."  He began to wrap my abdomen with a roll of gauze tape.  "You should be able to move around easily," he continued, "but you can't put too much strain on yourself, or you might make matters worse."

"So... does that mean I'm not going to be able to go out running for a while?" I asked, sheepishly.

"Unfortunately, yes," the doctor admitted.  "I'd advise you to completely take it easy, but I know you're competing in the tournament."

"That reminds me," I said suddenly, as I rose from the bed.  "I need to go find my friends.  I haven't seen them since the fight, and I need to see if they're okay."

I put on my jacket and turned to leave.  "Thanks again Doctor Cameron!" I shouted.

"Any time, Jeremy.  Just doing my job.  Be careful out there."

I found Dima and Maloc waiting outside the room.  I returned them to their Pokéballs and headed for the Pokémon Center.

--------------------

When I arrived, I found everyone else waiting in the Pokémon Center discussing something.  Champion Larsen was there, along with Cora and a beat up man who I recognized as Circuit Leader Rafael from the Volcano Ceremony.

As I approached, I heard the group mention about Shadow Pokémon.

"Sorry I'm so late guys," I apologized.  "I got sort of... caught up.  Let's just say that concrete slabs really pack a punch."  I grinned sheepishly, before wincing.  I walked up to the counter where Nurse Joy was healing trainers' Pokémon.  I handed over my team, and she gave me a half-hearted smile as she placed them in the healing machine.  "So what happened back there anyway?  What was the point of randomly coming in and attacking the city?"