Thunder clasped in the sky following the slithers of lightning that came before it. In the forest that was being assaulted by the downpour of drenching rain, were three fleeing figures. They ran and ran, hoping to get away for whatever the reason.

"Hurry Angel! Pick up the pace!" one of the figures shouted out behind him.

"I'm r-running as fast as I can!" a feminine voice yelled back, struggling at best to keep up as her feet pounded against the wet, muddy ground. Her crystal sword jingled in the sheath case that was strapped over her shoulder.

Lightning struck out from the clouds and downwards, clashing with one of the many trees of the forest. The area was lit well enough for the time being, giving a chance for the chased to be seen. In the lead was a Grovyle, it's hand waving for it's two companions to hurry up. Behind it was a pink Celebi and a teenaged human girl.

"Come on, Angel, were almost out. We can lose them...just keep running!" Celebi assured the teen, giving her a faint smile. A smile she knew was forced.

"Are you sure about that?"

The Celebi was left confused by the sudden words, knowing they didn't leave Angel's mouth, only to run head-first into Grovyle's back. "Youch! Hey, Why'd ya sto-"

Celebi noticed that Grovyle had remained unmoved, choosing to continue to stare out in front of him.

Angel frowned at his partner's silence (as if she wasn't doing so already). "Hey, Grovyle? What's the big holdup?"

Grovyle flinched slightly, slowly turning towards her with worried eyes that seemed to be trying their best not to blink. "They're here."

"What!? N-no freaking way! We had to have outrun them by now!" Angel shouted in disappointed anger, her exhaustion now catching up with her.

"And that's where your wrong, my dear." the mysterious voice spoke once more.

I knew it! Celebi thought sharply to herself. That voice! I-it's Dusknoir's!

Grovyle swiftly turned his head in every direction, trying to pinpoint exactly where the voice originated from. Suddenly, rustling could be heard in every direction, the bushes all around them starting to shake. "SHOW YOURSELF!" Grovyle yelled furiously, the leaf blades that branched from his arms now glowing an emerald green.

Only silence was present for the next few seconds before Grovyle's demands were finally met.

"Very well."

About seven feet in front of them, a shadowy figure slowly rose from out of the ground, only to change into a solid form. A large pokemon with one eye now stood before them.

"Dusknoir." Grovyle silently spat out, as if mentioning his name aloud would cast a curse on them.

"Well, well? Now, look at the three of you. You've managed to get this far- now I'm a bit impressed." Dusknoir admitted bemusedly, sweeping his hand forward to call forth his henchman.

The bushes that shook all around them earlier suddenly had Sableye rushing out of them, surrounding the defending three in a circular formation.

Celebi hovered closer to Angel in an attempt to keep her safer in defense, while Angel reached behind her and unsheathed the sword from it's case, holding it tightly in her hands. Hands that were visibly shaking.

"Ugh...how many are there?" Angel asked worriedly, her eyes darting around to see if any of the Sableye would attack. The pink Celebi turned around in a 360 degree spin, slowly accessing the number of Sableye that surrounded them.

Celebi visibly shook with a extremely worried expression on her face. "Too many..." she whispered incoherently.

"How many, Celebi!?" Angel asked again, her anger rising unintentionally due to the panicked situation they were in.

Celebi fearfully shot her eyes back at the teenaged girl. "T-twenty-six! There's twenty six of them! I-I'm sorry Angel..." Celebi pressed her hands boldly against her head and closed her eyes tightly. The pressure was finally getting to her.

Angel immediately noticed her mistake, and lowered her sword slightly. "Celebi...I-I'm so-"

Dusknoir couldn't help but chuckle at the emotions unfolding in front of them."Ha! This is ALL very touching, but can we please get on with the show?" the one-eyed Pokemon said humorously to them.

"If that's what you want...then it's what you'll get!" Angel yelled as a great amount a energy she had been storing up was spent dashing at a fast speed past the offending Sableye and straight at Dusknoir. She raised her sword above her head and struck down at him, the crystal sword glowing a bright sapphire.

Dusknoir caught the blade just as it was about to slash at his neck, and held it firmly in his hand. However, Angel didn't stop there. Immediately after, her right hand let go of the sword and with all she had left, launched it at Dusknoir.

Without trouble, the Dusknoir caught her speeding fist, bending it towards her.

"Arrghh!" Angel grunted in reaction to the slight, sharp pain that came next. Dusknoir laughed darkly at her last attempt, the Sableye around them all joining in.

"Why don't you give up? Your petty attempts at heroics are going to get you nowhere...even with a sword made by Dialga himself." Angel only growled back.

But then he purposed something else.

"Say, why do you hang around these failures of the future?" Dusknoir asked with a seemingly genuine curiosity.

Angel's anger quickly turned to one of confusion, the shadow Pokemon loosening his grip on her balled-up fist.

"What?"

Dusknoir continued to explain. "Why resist us? The darkness is easily in the advantage, and the new Dialga isn't going to cease his plan...the phase of distorted time will not stop. So why don't you just join us, Angel?"

"What!? NO! Don't listen to him Angel! You have a promise to keep, remember?" Celebi reminded her, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Don't worry, I have no such plans to join this dimwit and that overgrown stomach of his!" Angel proclaimed back, her frown etching into that of a smile. Something both Grovyle and Celebi haven't seen in what seemed like ages.

Celebi smiled right back, a genuine smile that showed glimpses of her once peppy and upbeat attitude coming back.

Dusknoir, however, wasn't sharing the same mood.

"Very well, foolish human. How do you like the sound of...might I say torture? Spend the rest of your pathetic lives in a cage?" Dusknoir offered dryly, which sent a cold chill down Angel's back.

Grovyle, careful not to hit his comrade, stepped forward and launched a Razor Leaf attack at the Dusknoir, which he took surprisingly well. Dusknoir reflexively let go of her hand, causing her to stumble backwards onto her back.

"Your going to have to kill us right here and now if you want to accomplish anything." Grovyle shot back.

"That really shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Angel rose back on her feet and backed away as Dusknoir stepped closer to the three, cracking it's neck from left to right as if to relive any stressed muscles. "Now, Sableye...tear them to shreds!"

"Weheheheh!"

The Sableye grew in closer to Grovyle and Celebi while some slowly crept towards Angel, who was now outside of the "Sableye formation". Angel readied herself to take on the advancing enemies, but found herself unable to defend herself properly, given Dusknoir still had her sword.

Almost on cue, the sapphire sword began to glow a bright pink, slightly confusing Dusknoir as he observed it.

"Hmm? What's th-Aruughh!"

In a matter of seconds, the sword was wrenched from the Dusknoir's hands and levitated back over in front of Angel's face. Grabbing the sword with her two hands, she looked at Celebi with a slightly dumbfounded look.

Celebi, whose hands were surrounded by the same pink aura, gave her a welcoming wink.

"Celebi...your powers are coming back!" Angel thought to herself cheerily.

Dusknoir gripped his sore wrist with his other hand, staring at the Celebi with a bloodcurdling glare. "Sableye...KILL THEM!"

The Sableye menacingly grew closer. Angel, who was now a good fifteen feet away from her comrades, knew that the sheer amount of Sableye would not allow them to regroup together again.

For the three, it was now or never.

"Celebi!?" Grovyle shouted, rummaging through his sash for something. "Yup?" Celebi replied almost nonchalantly, which surprised him a bit.

"Remember the escape plan we rehearsed?"

"Sure do!"

Finally finding what he needed, Grovyle pulled out a blast seed and threw it at Dusknoir, who didn't have time to react. It hit him head on in the face, sending him reeling back.

"Do it now, Celebi!" Grovyle ordered, running towards Angel.

"Alright! Flash!" Celebi screamed, a bright, hot-white light overwhelming the whole league of Sableye, causing them to cower and recollect themselves.

"We won't get another chance at this guys, let's go!" Angel reminded them, moving into a sprint away from the ambush as she saw Grovyle and Celebi following from behind.

"NOT SO FAST!" a dark voice called out from behind them. Before they could turn to towards the bellowing voice, a dark ball of pure energy was sent crashing between Angel and the two pokemon, sending them in separate directions.

"YOU ARE NOT ESCAPING TODAY!"

Knowing that they were too far away to regroup once more, Grovyle screamed at his human companion to run.

"Angel, run away! We'll meet up again soon! But we'll have to lose Dusknoir first!"

Without anytime to think, Angel sprinted further into the forest, the pouring rain tapping against her skin as she fled. She could hear a feint 'boom' in the distance behind her. Then another. And another.

Although she was admittedly thinking the worst, she purposed a more positive suggestion. Maybe that's Grovyle throwing more Blast Seeds...or him launching his Leaf Blades...or...

Angel was nearly at the brink of tears. Ever since her arrival in this dimension, nothing seemed to be going right. Well not all the time. She met good friends and found hope that maybe, just maybe, there would be some way to stop Primal Dialga's reign of destruction and terror.

But everything changed when that...that twisted bastard Dragalge...lied to everyone and told them that I was the cause of the destruction...and anyone who had sided with me was seen as the enemy as well...

Grovyle...

Celebi...

Maylene...

Angel hadn't seen the Haxorus in a long time, ever since she was captured by the now Primal Dialga's special forces regime; the Excaliburs. She had in exchange gave them her cooperation in exchange for Grovyle's, Celebi's and Angel's escape.

She had posed as their allies for a good while before being discovered.

"Weheheheh!"

Angel's memories were promptly disrupted as she heard the feint laughter. "Oh no...they tracked me!" she quietly screamed as she rose from her kneeling position and started to dash.

"Oh man, I hope Grovyle and Celebi are safe...and Maylene...please be alright." Angel silently prayed as she began to pick up speed in her run.

~X End of Chapter I X~