Hello everyone, this is the first time I have written a Pokemon fanfiction, so I'm rather excited to have it posed here. While I'm no stranger to the series, I am one to this fandom. Therefore, I would like to say that it is an honor to be here, and I hope that I can receive lots of constructive criticism from seasoned writers of the fandom to help me improve my writing skills even further. Thank you in advance, and I hope you will enjoy the prologue to my story.
Prologue: A Ghostly Encounter
It was already past midnight, and the moon was high above the tranquil Academy City of Bilgin in the Kalos region. It was the time when most students had already turned in for the night after a hard day of study and research.
Most of them.
In the currently empty streets of the campus, one young man was running as fast as his feet could move underneath the pale moonlight and in the midst of the chilly night air. His breathless pants could be heard echoing throughout the desolate streets, yet none were present to help lift whatever trouble he was running away from.
"Stop!" he rasped, voice coming out more like a whisper, evidence of his exhaustion. "I'm warning you!" he added, but once again, his voice lacked authority.
Only the eerie silence of the night answered his call, and yet, to his frightened mind, he felt there was something in the cold winds, taunting him with their bone-chilling gusts.
Quickly making a left into a dark alley in hope of losing whatever was after him, the young man then stopped for a while to catch a much-needed breather.
"That…" he panted as he muttered, wiping the numerous beads of sweats running down from his forehead, "That should be…far enough."
Leaning heavily against the stony wall of the lightless alley, the young man then dropped down. His feet were aching terribly after the overexertion they had been put through. The young man was, in short, utterly exhausted.
"I…" he muttered again, a smile on his pale face, "I made it…"
It was then that he felt something strange. The wind suddenly picked up, and the temperature – he could not tell if it was his mind playing trick on him or not – then dropped even further, sending an unusual sensation of chill running up and down his spine.
The man, in a feeble attempt to shield himself against the cold air, wrapped both arms around his body, adding as much warmth as he could offer to himself, a task that his plain tee shirt and jeans failed to at the moment.
"C-cold…" he breathed into his fists and rubbed his hands against one another. "I need to get back…"
"Tim…" came a sudden whisper in the air that made the young man's blood run cold and his entire body numb. He tried to convince himself it was just a trick of the mind, but then, he heard it again, the same disembodied voice calling out for him - one that sounded like it could only come from the darkest, deepest and most terrifying of nightmares that only one Pokemon alive would be capable of conjuring.
"What are you?" he yelled suddenly, trying to appear tough and salvage what was left of his dignity in this situation. "Show yourself, you coward!" he added before standing up and darting his eyes around at the empty alley.
"Timothy Foster…" said the voice once more, further driving the young man to a state of hysteria.
"What do you want from me? Who are you?" he yelled and backed away, frantically looking around to locate the source of the sound.
"Someone you know…rather well…" the voice replied.
"Curt? Bradley? Is that you?" Tim asked, voice shaky.
"I'm afraid mister Jenkins and mister Olson are unavailable at the moment, would you like to leave a message?" said the strange whisper once more, sarcastic and taunting.
"Whatever this is, it ain't funny. Show yourself!" Tim shouted more in hope of rousing someone nearby. His efforts, however, were all for naught.
"Oh, I already have…" the voice said again after a brief pause.
It was that exact moment that Tim could feel something behind him, something dark and sinister. He could feel a pair of eyes piercing straight into the back of his head, yet he refused to turn around, fearing that those eyes would be there the moment he did.
Unable to control his nerves any longer, the young man broke into a sprint and dashed out of the alley, making a beeline for the park, hoping that he could take a shortcut to the police station near the area and ending this nightmare.
"Ah…the boy wants to play tag…Alright then…I'm 'it'…" said the voice again, this time echoing inside Tim's eardrums, in the same teasing manner. The young man was now very frightened, not knowing what was happening anymore. The only thing he could do was will his body to run from whatever it was in the dark.
"I'll count to ten, then I'll come to catch you…1…2…3…4" Tim heard the voice again inside his head, and covered his ears.
"…5…6…7…" the count continued.
Tim continued running, fighting against his exhaustion.
"…8…9…" the count went on.
"Shut up! Get away from me, you freak!" Tim yelled.
"…10…Ready or not, here I come…"
By then, Tim had already reached the park, and the police station was only a few miles away. If he could just reach that place first, he could find help and maybe…
"…I see you…" said a sudden voice, which came from directly behind him. The whispered syllables made him flinch, and he swore he could feel a touch on his shoulder – a cold touch. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that a pair of glowing red eyes staring at him from inside a trash can nearby.
He also swore he could see a malicious grin as well.
"Get away!" Tim shouted once more and swung his hand at whatever was behind him at the time, but his elbow only touched empty air.
There was nothing behind him.
"Tag. Now, you're 'it'," said that ghostly voice again, once again from behind his position. Tim whipped his head around, and this time, he saw it – a small individual clad in a dark-colored hoodie was standing underneath a street light, the hood completely obscuring their facial features except the haunting amber eyes glowing in the shadows.
From the distance, it was impossible to tell if the enigma was male or female.
"Your turn, Timmy," the individual grinned, showing teeth that greatly resembled those of a shark. "Catch me, if you can that is."
"W-What in the world are you?" Tim muttered, terrified.
"Me? Oh, nobody really. Just someone who's taking out the trash at night."
Tim, having run out of ideas, took out two pokeballs from his belt and held them forward.
"I'm warning you, man. If you don't stop this, I'll hurt you, for real," he threatened, but like before, fear completely took over his speech, and all that came out was a pathetic squeak.
"Hmm, you remind me of a cornered rat I once encountered a while ago…What was it called again? Oh yes, Curtis Jenkins…oh, the look in those eyes were priceless."
"Curt? What did you do to him, you creep?"
"Nothing too grand, actually, I just sang him one of my favorite lullabies and gently put him to sleep – a very, very long sleep. And now, it's your turn, Timmy" the enigma replied, his grin growing even wider – too wide to be humanly possible.
At that sight, Tim lost his composure and threw his pokeballs forward. From the objects, one Houndoom and one Honchkrow emerged, both roaring mightily in their master's defense.
"Hmm, fascinating…Alright, if you want, two can play at this game," the mysterious figure smirked and snapped his fingers.
A Dusknoir, as if on command, then emerged from behind a tree nearby. Though this one seemed a little different, for there was a dark and ominous aura surrounding its body.
"A ghost-type?" Tim asked, letting out a nervous laugh, "My pokemons are both dark-type, so this battle is as good as over!" he added, trying to convince himself more than talking to his opponent.
"Bravo, mister Foster, it appears that you know your textbooks well, and I must say I am greatly impressed by the fact that you even read. That being said, textbooks are simply theories, let's see if you can put that to practice, shall we?" the hooded figure taunted again.
Angered, Tim's face turned into a scowl and he shot a murderous glare.
"I'll make you regret ever messing with me, creep!" he yelled.
The battle began, and Tim made the first move.
"Let's finish this in one move, Houndoom, use Dark Pulse!"
Immediately, the hound unleashed a stream of pure dark energy directly at Dusknoir, but the owner of the ghost appeared unconcerned.
"Psychic – Earth Pillars!" he ordered, and Dusknoir obeyed.
Eye glowing, the ghost then unleashed its psychic power, not on the enemies or the incoming beam, but on the ground beneath. The earth shattered. Subsequently, six huge pillars emerged around the ghost, effectively shielding it from the attack.
Houndoom's Dark Pulse hit the pillars directly, and it was powerful enough to reduce all of them to rubbles. Unfortunately, its power was not enough to bypass the makeshift shield to reach the conjurer far behind.
"Is that all?" the ghost user taunted again, further aggravating Tim.
"Darn it! Honchkrow, use Night Slash!" he commanded, and the bird obeyed, its wings turning dark as it gathered the dark energy necessary to attack its foe.
The ghost user simply grinned.
All of the sudden, the shadow beneath Honchkrow started to move in an unusual manner, shocking Tim and his pokemons at the same time. Before they could make out what was happening, the shadow behind the bird seemed to come alive and rose up. The same pair of red eyes and that sinister grin appeared once more from the erected mob of darkness, right behind the dark bird.
"What the…" Tim gasped, shocked.
"Peekabo!" said the hooded figure slyly.
At a flick of the ghost user's fingers, the shadow then quickly took form, and from the blob of darkness, a Gengar appeared. Honchkrow, surprised by the sudden emergence of another opponent, wildly swung its wing. Sadly, Gengar was much faster, easily leaping forward and dodging the attack effortlessly.
"Dazzling Gleam!" said the enigma.
A burst of blinding light flared up, blinding Honchkrow and by extension, Houndoom and Tim as a result. A pained cry coming from the assaulted bird could be heard seconds later.
"What's happening?" Tim asked, covering both eyes at the sudden burst of light.
"Noir," he faintly heard the eerie voice of the ghost user far away, "Brick Break."
Seconds later, the pained cry of Houndoom was heard, just seconds before Gengar's attack disappeared.
When the light was no more, Tim saw, to his absolute horror, both of his pokemon had been defeated. Honchkrow was knocked out by the point-black Dazzling Gleam and Houndoom was incapacitated by Dusknoir's Brick Break when it was still momentarily blinded by the fairy light.
"Im…impossible…This cannot be…" Tim muttered as he looked at his fallen partners.
"Oh, I can assure you, this is very real!" said the enigma. However, he was not standing in front of Tim. No, this time, he was directly behind the poor man, grinning down on him with his sinister grin, his shark-like teeth and otherworldly amber eyes gleaming under the pale moonlight.
"But…how…" Tim asked incoherently, unable to stop the shaking of his body as he peered directly into the glowing orbs of his opponent. Those eyes seemed to paralyze him on the spot and instill a sense of fear like none he had ever experienced into his very soul with one single look.
"Simple really, a well-timed and perfectly executed Shadow Sneak from Noir before your Honchkrow could even perform its move, allowing my Gengar to approach your Honchkrow via the stretched shadow. Gengar then gave your crow a little light show, and boom, blackout. After that, Noir got close and chopped your doggy with a fighting maneuver, and voila."
"That's not…that's cheating…" Tim tried to protest.
"I can assure you, it was not," the shadowy figure grinned again. After all, I showed you my Gengar before the battle even began, remember?"
Even in his terror-filled mind, Tim could vaguely recall the pair of eyes in the alley and the similar eyes from inside the trash can.
"Well, that Dazzling Gleam truly lives up to its name, I must admit, and I'm sure the police will be here soon. Therefore, I must finish what I came for, fast…"
"What…What are you going to do to me?" Tim gulped, scooting back, but there was no escaping the ghost user.
"Like what I did to your friends, mister Foster…" the figure whispered in a low, menacing tone that could easily send chills to the core of one's being. The enigma then leaned further down and whispered in that same chilly tone into the terrified man's ear.
"Good night, mister Foster. I'll see you on the other side."
It was the last thing Tim heard before the ground underneath him disappeared, replaced by a strange portal.
The man's anguished scream could then be heard loud and clear, even from miles away. When Officer Jenny arrived only moments later, she only saw two passed out Houndoom and Honchkrow as well as a pair of running shoes on the scene.
"It's happened again…" she muttered, face turning into an indignant scowl, before calling for backup.
"Yes," she said into her phone, "we have another case…It seems that…the Nightwalker's appeared again…"
Unbeknownst to the officer, a hooded figure was perching on top of a tree nearby watching her every movement, an inhumanly wide and sinister grin along with a pair of glowing amber orbs gleaming ominously against the shadows of the night.
...
