Diana blinked, opening her eyes and looking up at the clock. A Pidgey popped out and chirped 8 times.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed. "I'm going to be late!"
"Keep it down," growled her sister Julie. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"
"But we're going to be late!" the 13-year-old repeated. Actually, she was almost 3 years late. But she had decided to wait for her sister until they both were of age. Several of their friends, she knew, were coming along on the journey as well. Lizzy, who was, like her, 13. Rene, Lizzy's little sister, the same age as Julie. She just hoped they wouldn't encounter Annoying Al, one of the worst boys in the world. He didn't deserve a Pokemon!
"Oh!" cried Julie, leaping out of bed. Recently, a large shipment of Pokemon had arrived, and rumors were flying that it included all the Pokemon discovered so far, excluding legendaries. On TV, Professor Cedar had confirmed that he would give out the three starters from each region. He had also mentioned three "bonus" Pokemon, but nothing more. Naturally, the four girls wanted to get there as soon as possible. Diana chuckled as Julie hurriedly brushed her teeth and changed her clothes, then remembered that she herself hadn't. Leaping out of bed, she pulled on her glasses and joined in. Soon, they were ready. They even made their beds!
Lizzy and Rene were already waiting for them on the doorstep when they came out. Both girls had pieces of plastic combs stuck in their hair.
"Don't laugh," warned Lizzy.
"We-heh-won't-heh," replied Julie. Rene rolled her eyes.
"LET'S GO!" screamed Diana excitedly. "What are you waiting for?"
Later, on their trip, she tried to look into a tree, and ended up having her glasses pecked by an angry Spearow. Yipping, she ran away while everyone stared.
"I wanted to see if there was a Hoothoot!" she explained. Everyone rolled their eyes as she sulked along behind.
"I thought you were the one who wanted to hurry up!" snapped Julie. Rene giggled, and Diana tried to chunk her in the head. Ducking, the younger girl kicked at her shin, but Diana grabbed her foot as it came up. Before she could flip Rene over, though, Julie attacked from behind, only to be pulled away by Lizzy. Soon, the girls were caught up in a frantic, fun, and boisterous battle.
After they finally got to the lab, they found out that all of the three "bonus" Pokemon-Eevee, Absol, and Skarmory-had been taken, and only the starters were left. Diana was disappointed: she loved all three of those Pokemon. However, she also loved the three Fire-type starters, so she decided to pick one of those. Julie and Rene had wanted Eevee, so that they could evolve them into Espeon and Umbreon-the Friendship Pair. Lizzy had no real preference, so she turned her attention to the pictures of Pokemon on the walls in order to make a choice. As the two younger girls argued with Cedar's assistant, she noticed a glass cupboard with what appeared to be Pokeballs in it.
"Hey, Diana!" she hissed. "Look at this!" Her friend crept over, and they looked into the cabinet together.
For some odd reason, all of the Pokeballs had a keyhole on the button, and when Diana tried to open one labeled "Absol," it would not open.
"Hey, what's this one that says, 'Lab'?" asked Lizzy curiously. Grabbing it, she tried to pull it out, but found it stuck. Thinking it was jammed on something, she jiggled and turned it-and the entire cupboard opened into a dark passageway.
"Wow," whispered Lizzy. "Hey, Torch, we need you!" Drawing a Pokeball from her pocket, she pressed the button, and a baby Moltres appeared. Lizzy's father, an archaeologist, had found five legendary eggs on one of his archaeological digs, and given the red one to his older daughter. When Torch hatched, he had first seen Lizzy, and thus was imprinted upon her. Unfortunately, the rough handling and testing of scientists had altered his genetic makeup so that he would never be able to battle or use any attacks other than the occasional Flamethrower. Diana's was a pretty young female Articuno named Glimmer, Rene had a fiesty male Zapdos named Spark, and Julie's was a proud male Ho-oh named Bonfire. Sadly, the baby Lugia was a stillborn, most likely from the experiments. (A/N: More on the "pet legendaries" later)
Torch's flames lit the way down the passage, which became lighter, until eventually Lizzy could return Torch. However, the light was an eerie purple, and peeking through a doorway, the two girls saw a horrifying sight.
A muzzled Absol was chained to a glowing platform, and there were rubber sheathes over its two blades. The chains, four leading from a collar around its neck, and two on each leg, rendered it practically immobile. A tube stuck into it was feeding some sort of dark purple energy into it. As the energy was fed into it, the Pokemon started to change. Its claws grew long and deadly, and changed color to dark purple, as did its face. Its irises expanded and its pupils shrank, until its eyes were pure red. Its fur darkened to light purple, and its two blades grew long and deadly, ripping through the sheathes. They, too, had turned dark purple.
"It's becoming a Shadow Pokemon!" whispered Lizzy in fear. Diana was already withdrawing Glimmer's Pokeball. Her eyes were fixed on a tank containing what seemed to be the Shadow energy.
"Glimmer, this will be hard, but please! Use a powerful Powder Snow on the tank!" She threw the ball into the air, and her pet was released. Glimmer flapped boldly into the air, and opened her beak, hitting the tank again and again. Eventaully, the abundance of strikes froze and shattered the tank, which exploded. The tube slumped to the ground, and the Shadow energy seemed to drain from Absol, who sagged with relief. Glimmer drifted down and used more Powder Snow attacks, shattering the chains. Diana ran up to the Absol and removed the muzzle and collar. Thankfully, it licked her face, also helping the collapsed Glimmer to her feet. She gave it a grateful look.
A flash of light from Convinient Plot Devices, Inc. lit up the room, revealing Prof. Cedar standing there with a smirk on his face.
"So...you've destroyed the Shadow energy tank. All the Pokemon I've converted and who are locked up in here are free. But...I'm sure you saw those locked Pokeballs? They contain unpurified Shadow Pokemon! Go! Shadow Hoothoot! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" A Hoothoot with dark purple feathers and light purple eyes materialized. Its beak was fine and sharp, and its talons long and deadly. Also, it had an odd purple glow the same color as the energy.
"..." went the girls, a bit weirded out by the professor's evil laugh. Suddenly, the Professor's assistant came barging through the secret passage, followed by the two curious-looking younger girls. The latter were chanting "Eevee! Eevee! We want Eevee!" But all three stopped when they saw the scene.
"Professor Cedar..." his assistant whispered in horror. "So this is what you were doing with the shipment!" Sudden fury seemed to take over him, and he threw a Pokeball into the air, yelling "Go! Dewgong! Ice Beam!" The beautiful seal Pokemon materialized, and immediately obeyed his command. However, the strike seemed to do almost nothing to the Hoothoot.
"Shadow Hoothoot! Retaliate with Dark Blast!" The small Pokemon opened its beak, and a dark purple torrent of energy flowed from it. Hit, the Dewgong tumbled over and over, finally fainting.
"But..."
"I thought you knew. Shadow Pokemon have no weakness, and their attacks are powerful beyond compare! Your Dewgong cannot win!"
"This looks serious!" muttered Julie. "Bonfire! Attack with Fire Blast!"
"Spark!" cried Rene. "Use Thunderbolt!"
The two Pokemon rose into the air, and released their attacks. Shadow Hoothoot didn't even acknowledge them, except to strike them with Shadowbolts. Both of them were knocked back and fell to the ground. Prof. Cedar laughed and picked Bonfire up by the scruff of his neck.
"You can't beat me. Don't even try." He laughed, but Diana remained silent. All the while, she had been analyzing the situation, and had noticed that the Shadow Hoothoot never moved a single step. And then she looked at the Pokeball. The translucent part was a dark purple that looked oddly like liquid. And were those thin veins?
"Absol!" she whispered. The Dark-type padded to her side. "Use Faint Attack on the Pokeball!" Nodding, the quadrupedal Pokemon suddenly vanished, only to reappear beside the Professor. A quick strike, and the Pokeball shattered. Dark energy spilled over the floor, and the Hoothoot's glow faded. Before its claws and beak could return to normal, it spun around and struck the Professor, sending him falling back. He hit the ground and fainted.
The assistant appeared, carrying more Shadow Pokeballs. "I'm going to call the police!" he said. "I'll leave you kids here-you seem reliable."
"Absol, would you mind destroying these as well?" asked Diana. Nodding, the Pokemon set to work, and in a few seconds, all the Pokemon were standing there-free. Absol bounded to the side of another Absol, and the two licked each other happily. They're mates, Diana realized. "Absol, do you want to go with your mate?" she asked.
"Sol, ab ab absol," growled the first Absol. Its mate nodded, and they turned to Diana and Lizzy.
"I think they want to come with us!" cried Lizzy in surprise. "Okay then, here you go." She took two Pokeballs from the assistant, and tapped each Absol. They were sucked in without a fight. Rene and Julie ran up happily, followed by a pair of Eevee.
"We pick them!" cried Julie. The Eevee nodded happily and leapt into their new trainers' arms.
Diana bent down and looked at her Absol. The shape of the blade was more curved, and the eyes were rounder. "You're a female, right? Can I call you Feather?" The Absol nodded shyly, looking down at her paws.
"I'll call you Scythe," Lizzy declared. Her Absol nodded as well, approving the choice.
Julie stroked her Eevee. "What's this one's gender?" she asked curiously.
"They both have fluffier collars and smaller eyes," declared Lizzy. "Both of them are..."
"Females!" finished Rene.
"No," said Diana. "Actually, they're both males." The two younger girls looked surprised, but then nodded.
"I will call mine Solace," said Rene. "He'll become an Espeon!"
"Then mine will become an Umbreon," said Julie, "and I name him Crescent."
Both of their Eevee nodded, satisfied.
"Now we just need to wait for the assistant to come back and get our equipment!" declared Lizzy happily.
Here's some more info about the various Pokemon and trainers (Pokemon listed directly below their trainers):
Diana-Reading-obsessed teenage girl with dark brown hair and eyes, loves Hoothoot. Julie's older sister, Lizzy's friend. Wears glasses, thinks Dark-types are beautiful. Very loyal and usually calm tomboy, may snap unexpectedly at people.
Glimmer-Pretty female Articuno. Enjoys being around friends, and makes new ones easily. Young, has only one crystal on forehead, tail shorter than adult's. Can only use Powder Snow.
Feather-Shy female Absol. Scythe's mate. Prefers being around her mate only.
Lizzy-Hyper teenage girl with black hair and brown eyes, enjoys writing stories that never come to an end. Rene's older sister, Diana's friend. Wears glasses, but doesn't badly need them. Normally calm, but amused by Diana's fierceness.
Torch-Adventurous male Moltres. Likes to make friends and explore new things. Slightly hyper. Young, but oldest of all the young legendaries. Eyes round and large, flames smaller than adult's. Can only use Flamethrower.
Scythe-Tough male Absol. Feather's mate. Prefers being around his mate only.
Julie-Hyper young girl with dark brown hair and eyes, loves annoying people. Diana's younger sister, Rene's friend. Gets into fights a lot. Loses temper easily.
Bonfire-Proud male Ho-oh. Somewhat haughty, but has a kind heart under his fierce appearance. Young, only one crest feather, fewer wing feathers. Can only use Flamethrower or Fire Blast.
Crescent-Friendly male Eevee. Solace's friend. Is willing to help anyone in trouble he comes across. Protects Solace from being taken advantage of. Will become an Umbreon.
Rene-Hyper young girl with black hair and brown eyes, enjoys playing games and leaving off in the middle, as well as annoying people. Lizzy's younger sister, Julie's friend. Often has good-natured arguments with Julie.
Spark-Fiesty male Zapdos. Has a lot of energy, and often expends it by chasing people around. Really friendly and good-natured. Young, with less spiky feathers. Can only use Thunderbolt.
Solace-Friendly male Eevee. Crescent's friend. Will go out of his way to help anyone in trouble, even if he has to face ferocious Ursaring in the dead of winter. Often taken advantage of before meeting Crescent. Will become an Espeon.