Magikarp with his trainer Platinum strolls through Pastoria city on their way to route 212 to train for their days regimen, snow or shine. Or possibly both, this weather's rather unpredictable this time around. Earlier that day Platinum had been talking over with his team for the coming year. It was December 1st, close to when towns were about to get more condensed with people shopping for christmas, which would leave less room for training. That's where this comes into play. On arriving to route 212, snow hit in a storm; nothing unusual, Platinum had just hoped it wouldn't be this bad for once.

Under the bridge out south and to the west, the training regimen starts: Bibarel, Wooper, and the occasional Roselia; a challenge to be saved for last. Platinum spots a Bibarel in the distance, perfect! "Go, Magikarp!" He yells releasing the ever so trained Magikarp into battle. "Magikarp, use Bounce!" As Magikarp rears to bounce up, the Bibarel charges up a mighty tackle. Able to outrun the Bibarel, Magikarp bounces down on the wild Bibarel as its finishing its move, landing right where the Magikarp had been. In one clean sweep Bibarel goes down wihout another time to strike.

"Hey, good job yo." Plaitnum praises his Magikarp. "Karp karp!" is his only response, although it isn't as if there would be any other… "Let's go try to find someone else to battle" Platinum suggests, as Magikarp hops on on its trainer's shoulders. Across a marsh close by, the trainer spotsa Roselia, awfully reared up for battle. As they approach, Magikarp immediately knew what to do, and rears up to bounce up high. While in the same moment, Roselia uses a very strange colored leaf attack… "No!" Platinum yelled up to Magikarp, but it was too late. The Magical Leaf attack hit straight on and managed a OHKO.

Bringing back Magikarp, he releases another Pokemon of his; Bidoof. Bidoof ends the battle just then with its glare. Roselia freezes at eye contact, and with this advantage, Bidoof reered back and Gave Roselia a Giga Impact straight on, for a trade-off OHKO fest. After the fight, Platinum decided to give the day a rest and trekked back on to Pastoria city. While there for the last portion of the day, the sorrowful yet indigent trainer stocked up on supplies for the training planned for the next day.

The next day, December 2nd, Platinum woke up in his house to the sound of the TV just downstairs. Walking down, He heard his mother watching the news; at the time it seemed to be giving off a weather report of the area… when the news reporter suddenly began to describe a new place called "Inaba". "Inaba?!" Platinum said to himself, eyes now intently fixated on the television. "Inaba?" He says again, asking his mother this time around, but she didn't seem to have heard it. "No son, he was actually just describing Hawthorne, and it seems it should be sunny out today!" But yet as soon as apples fall of the Tree, the reporter announces, "For this week in Inaba, expect a thick fog to cover the area. Rain is also to be expected." "…No?" }Platinum says to the mother. He approaches the tv even closer, this time intently looking into just what this is. Fog? Inaba?! Fuck fog!

This day turns out to be very much identical to the last – Magikarp has a few good battles, but ends up bested by a battle ready Roselia. That night the trainer decided to stay up; besides, tonight Conen O' Brian is on! Great stuff. Either way,he stays up tonight. He watched up until right about midnight, when he was planning on going to bed. With the tv off for the night, the clock strikes midnight… and something very very peculiar happens. The television turns on all by itself, but yet it's just some static. WEll okay, the trainer thinks to himself. On the screen, he depicts…. Magikarp?! What's he doing there? As Platinum approaches, the ground begins to shake, and with him and his pokemon on him, they vanished from his living room.

As Plati- wait, no, where's Platinum?! Not sure what happened to him, so let's turn over to Magikarp! …Well, he seems to be out of his pokeball already. That works What stood before him seemed to be a pond… no? Well it looks like it, but it's shaped in a labyrinth. Magikarp decides to traverse it, as there does not seem another way… well, anywhere really. "Odd…" He begins to say, "WAIT WHAT?!" He screams out, noticing he could vocalize his own words. "Well that's new. Sort of."

ANyways, beginning to go around this maze, he finds these shadowy figures coming out and vanishing into thin air all around him. Not sure what this is, he swims on, trying to find a way out. As he furthers in, he finds a stairwell leading downward, actually in more of a waterfall ACTUALLY in more of a slip n' slide than anything. So he takes the slip'n'slide down to what seems the next floor (next is rather relative, ya know?). In there he swam on until it opened up into an ACTUAL pond like structure looking thing. At the end tho, he spots… himself?! Well, a golden him at least. That bastard… He approaches him, and the other him starts making stabs at him,

"HHHAH! YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SPECIAL MAKING YOUR WAY HERE?! LOW-LIFE MAGEEEKARP. YOU'RE NOT POWERFUL YOU'RE NOT BIG AND STRONG. LIKE ME."

"No no no no no, stop! You're lying!" the Magikarp recants with some trouble.

"AHAHAHAAAAA, WORTHLESS. I'M YOU AND THERE'S NOTHING FOR YOU TO DO ABOUT IT."

But Magikarp had had it. "Nnnnnnnnnn-O! YOU'RE NOT ME!" And in that moment, the other him- the shiny Magikarp turned into a pitch black Magikarp, with eyes white as white, reared up ready for a fight. Fins extended five feet out the sidea where normally would not be that length. Without Plat- Platni- Plati- what, who? Magikarp couldn't remember, all he knew stood before him. And as that, the long awaited battle begins…

Shadow Magikarp rears for a frontal attack, so Magikarp did what he knew best: bounced. A successful hit soon followed, taking the breathe out of his foe. The Shadow Magikarp takes this chance and lands a clean tackle against the side fin of Magikarp. "Cccchhh…" He mumbles trying to bite the pain, as he immediately sets up another bounce attack. Before Shadow Magikarp could respond, Magikarp came down for a finishing blow to its head.

"So you really were the real deal…" as Shadow Magikarp conceited defeat. "So… you really are me, huh? Shadow and all, yeah, I know, I'm not that tough. I'm just… Magiakrp, and I know that. Should have seen it earlier, but you're right, you ARE me." And just then, SShadow Magikarp gets swallowed up in a transformation light, turning into a Red Gyarados. "I am now yours. Yours to use whenever battles would make you weary."

"But please use me responsibly. Out." And turned into a card for Magikarp to keep-oOOOHHhhh wait no it disappeared again… okay… 'At least I still have it', thought Magikarp. As he was leaving the labyrinth, off in the distance he could hear voices, so very faintly, "Namatame! Get him!" That's all he managed to hear…

~ END CHAPSTER~