Chapter 1
Esslar's search for new pokemon, or at least new information on them, led him to a thick, dark
forest. The forest was so thick that the slender elf was having trouble getting through it. The
thick canopy nearly blocked out all of the light. The overall effect was quite erie.
Esslar was beginning to consider going back to the less dense areas of the forest and using
Gryphix or Pegasus to fly over it. Just as he was about to do so the forest abruptly got much
thinner. At least enough for the 6 foot tall elf to stretch a bit.
Now that the canopy had cleared enough to show some bits and pieces of sky, Esslar could see
that the sky had turned that brilliant shade of violet that always accompanies a sunset. He
decided that this was as good a place as any to set up a camp for the night and he started to make
a camp fire.
Later that night, long after he had eaten and the camp fire turned to smoldering coals, he sat
gazing at the stars. Being an elf he needed very little sleep and so he usually spent his uneventful
nights star-gazing.
This particular night however would prove very eventful. As he sat studding the constellation
Draco, his sharp elven ears picked up the sound of a twig snapping behind him. In a flash, he
was on his feet and looking for the origin of the sound. However, his equally sharp eyes couldn't
pickup anything among the foliage. Eventually, he settled back down and returned to Draco.
Later that night, after he had moved onto Cancer, he started to get the feeling that something
was behind him. He toke careful note of it but continued to study the constellation. Shortly
after, he heard another twig snap, this time about 10' behind him. He continued to pretend to be
star-gazing. Then his elven ears started to pick up the sound of footsteps behind him. It wasn't
hard considering the amount of dry leaves on the ground. He waited until the footsteps were
about a foot behind him. Then he turned and attempted to tackle the unseen shadow. He ended
up flying through the air (he had thought his opponent of equal height with himself, evidently, it
was much shorter). As he flew over the shadow, his fingers brushed up against something solid
and he instantly grabbed on to it. When he landed (rather roughly) he found that, while he felt
something in the space between his fingers, when he looked there all he could see was air.
Whatever he had grabbed now realized that it had been caught and attempted to struggle. It was
in vain. The elve's grip was like iron.
After about half an hour of struggling the shadow realized that it couldn't escape that way, so
it changed its tactic. It revealed itself. One moment, Esslar was pinning some unseen opponent
to the ground, the next he was looking at a previously unknown pokemon. It was humanoid,
completely black, and about 3' in height. Its eyes were large, blue and pupil-less. It had a tail
that one day might become prehinsile.
The pokemon's tactic worked, at first. As soon as it made itself visible, Esslar was caught by
surprise and released his grip. The pokemon was on its feet in a second. It was running
frantically, trying to escape. Esslar soon recovered from his shock, however, and began pursuit.
As he ran, he took out one of his personal poke-balls. It was a design he had perfected over 500
years. A blending of modern technology and elven magic.
With his longer gait, Esslar soon began to overtake the pokemon. As soon as he could, he
through his poke-ball. It hit the pokemon square in the back and quickly captured it.
With the chase over, Esslar calmly walked over and retrieved his poke-ball. He added to the
other poke-balls on his belt, the ones with Gryphix, Pegasus, and Trentim in them. The next
morning, as he started out again, he decided to name to pokemon Shade after the Elemental of
shadow. It seemed a fitting name.
Esslar's search for new pokemon, or at least new information on them, led him to a thick, dark
forest. The forest was so thick that the slender elf was having trouble getting through it. The
thick canopy nearly blocked out all of the light. The overall effect was quite erie.
Esslar was beginning to consider going back to the less dense areas of the forest and using
Gryphix or Pegasus to fly over it. Just as he was about to do so the forest abruptly got much
thinner. At least enough for the 6 foot tall elf to stretch a bit.
Now that the canopy had cleared enough to show some bits and pieces of sky, Esslar could see
that the sky had turned that brilliant shade of violet that always accompanies a sunset. He
decided that this was as good a place as any to set up a camp for the night and he started to make
a camp fire.
Later that night, long after he had eaten and the camp fire turned to smoldering coals, he sat
gazing at the stars. Being an elf he needed very little sleep and so he usually spent his uneventful
nights star-gazing.
This particular night however would prove very eventful. As he sat studding the constellation
Draco, his sharp elven ears picked up the sound of a twig snapping behind him. In a flash, he
was on his feet and looking for the origin of the sound. However, his equally sharp eyes couldn't
pickup anything among the foliage. Eventually, he settled back down and returned to Draco.
Later that night, after he had moved onto Cancer, he started to get the feeling that something
was behind him. He toke careful note of it but continued to study the constellation. Shortly
after, he heard another twig snap, this time about 10' behind him. He continued to pretend to be
star-gazing. Then his elven ears started to pick up the sound of footsteps behind him. It wasn't
hard considering the amount of dry leaves on the ground. He waited until the footsteps were
about a foot behind him. Then he turned and attempted to tackle the unseen shadow. He ended
up flying through the air (he had thought his opponent of equal height with himself, evidently, it
was much shorter). As he flew over the shadow, his fingers brushed up against something solid
and he instantly grabbed on to it. When he landed (rather roughly) he found that, while he felt
something in the space between his fingers, when he looked there all he could see was air.
Whatever he had grabbed now realized that it had been caught and attempted to struggle. It was
in vain. The elve's grip was like iron.
After about half an hour of struggling the shadow realized that it couldn't escape that way, so
it changed its tactic. It revealed itself. One moment, Esslar was pinning some unseen opponent
to the ground, the next he was looking at a previously unknown pokemon. It was humanoid,
completely black, and about 3' in height. Its eyes were large, blue and pupil-less. It had a tail
that one day might become prehinsile.
The pokemon's tactic worked, at first. As soon as it made itself visible, Esslar was caught by
surprise and released his grip. The pokemon was on its feet in a second. It was running
frantically, trying to escape. Esslar soon recovered from his shock, however, and began pursuit.
As he ran, he took out one of his personal poke-balls. It was a design he had perfected over 500
years. A blending of modern technology and elven magic.
With his longer gait, Esslar soon began to overtake the pokemon. As soon as he could, he
through his poke-ball. It hit the pokemon square in the back and quickly captured it.
With the chase over, Esslar calmly walked over and retrieved his poke-ball. He added to the
other poke-balls on his belt, the ones with Gryphix, Pegasus, and Trentim in them. The next
morning, as he started out again, he decided to name to pokemon Shade after the Elemental of
shadow. It seemed a fitting name.