The heat penetrated his fur as blood started dripping from his open wounds. The riolu has been constantly fighting shadows the whole night, helping people escape the burning town. He saw everything he held dear, crumbling to pieces in front of him.

"Who could have done this?" he thought to himself. The town hasn't been attacked by shadows in years, and never in this magnitude. He dragged around his sword, having imbued it with all the aura he has in his body at the time. He wondered how Melody and Joseph were, if they were safe or not.

He continued to wander around town, looking for survivors. Another question popped up in his head, where was the guardian during all of this? Wasn't he supposed to protect the town? All the questions made his head hurt. He knew something was very wrong here.

A shadow ran up to him at a blazing speed, grunting and making unintelligible sounds. It leaped when it was close, trying to get at the riolu's throat. He landed a force palm at its dark chest before it could get on him. As it landed on the ground, He plunged his sword through its skull, making it stop its constant screaming. It laid there, not moving, on the ground, until it evaporated into air.

The riolu breathed a sigh of relief. He continued to walk, recalling the guardian's talk about shadow attacks. There is usually an alpha around the place. They don't usually run and attack in large groups like this. There HAS to be someone controlling them.

He continued to walk until he saw something. He couldn't believe his eyes. The guardian was here, standing amidst the flames. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him at the mewtwo.

"Sir Matthew," The riolu gasped for air, out of breath. "We need to find survivors, the shadows are all over the place!" The mewtwo just stared at him, without expression.

"…Sir?" the riolu said, looking at his teacher. Suddenly, the mewtwo swiped his sword at the riolu, giving the riolu barely enough time to block it and jump back defensively.

"Sir! What are you doing?" the riolu said confused, readying his sword. The mewtwo raised his hand, summoning two muscular black beasts from the ground. The riolu gasped in horror, slashing the two shadows as they rushed at him.

"Sir… Why?" the riolu said sadly. "…He promised me he will bring her back. I have no choice." The mewtwo said in a low voice. The mewtwo rushed at him, slashing his sword down. Their swords clashed, making a metallic sound as sparks flew everywhere.

"But why attack the village? We were your friends!" The riolu shouted, dodging a shadow ball. "…I have to. If it will bring her back, so be it." The mewtwo said, using his psychic powers to make spikes come out of the ground, making the riolu dodge it.

"I've seen so many pokemon die already… And you're doing this for just one pokemon? How could you!" The riolu shouted in anger. Before the mewtwo could reply, the riolu charged at the mewtwo, raising his sword. When he was in range, he swiped down his sword, but the mewtwo blocked it. The mewtwo then punched him in the gut and hit his face with his knee, making him wither down in pain.

The riolu just didn't give up. He couldn't give up. He picked himself up and he charged straight at the mewtwo again, this time with an aura sphere in his paw. Before he could land the aura sphere on the mewtwo, he caught it when he sent his aura punch at him, grabbing and crushing the riolu's fingers.

"ARRRRGGHHH! The riolu screamed in pain as he felt a shadow ball burn his stomach. He starts shaking because of the pain, blood started to drip from his mouth. He laid there on the floor, shaking intensely. Tears started streaming from his eyes.

The mewtwo walked up to his withering body, raised his sword in the air, holding it upside down.

"F-f-fine. K-k-kill me i-if y-y-you have to." The riolu said, giving the mewtwo a hateful stare. Before the mewtwo plunged his sword through the riolu's stomach, he heard shouting and footsteps running toward him. "Stop! You can't escape!" he heard a voice say. The mewtwo looked at them, took a step back, and teleported out of sight.

"Matthew, how could you…" The riolu uttered as he passed out.

He opened his eyes slowly, his head was pounding intensely.

"Ugh, am I dead?" The riolu said as he sat up. He looked around. He was in a makeshift hospital of some sort. He was lying in a nice, soft bed, overlooking a window letting the sea breeze in.

He looked at himself. Bandages wrapped most of his body, even his head.

He got out of the bed slowly. It was a little bit hard to stand, but he could still walk. He limped slowly out of the tent, into the morning sun. Outside, he saw pokemon carrying wood and constructing buildings, a happy chattering sound filled the air.

He looked around. He recognized this place. This is sunshine plains.

"Hey look!" He heard a voice say. "Torren's awake!" Everyone clapped and cheered. Torren was still rather confused. Questions filled his head. "Where am I" "What happened?" "Am I dreaming?" These were all questions that ran through his head.

"Torren!" he heard a familiar voice scream. He saw a chikorita and a treecko run at him. The chikorita leaped and gave Torren a big hug. "I was so worried!" the chikorita said, tears streaming down her big red eyes. "Melody, Joseph, your alive!" Torren said, pleased. "It takes a lot more to take us down." Joseph the treecko said. "Anyway, I'm happy you're awake."

Torren gasped. He suddenly remembered what made him faint in the first place. "Matthew! He started the attack! He commanded the shadows!" Torren said quickly. "What? You mean the guardian Matthew? Our teacher? Are you joking?" Melody the chikorita said, giving Torren a startled look. "I think he needs a little more rest…" Joseph said, shaking his head. "No, really! Its true!" Torren said, trying to convince his friends.

"What he's saying is true" they heard a voice say. They turned around. They saw a grovyle, one of Matthew's partners, with bandages wrapped around his stomach. "What, you can't be serious!" Melody said, shocked. "It's a sad truth, really." Grovyle said, shaking his head sadly.

"But why could he do such a thing?" Joseph said softly, looking at the Grovyle intently. "He was corrupted by darkness, given an offer he couldn't resist." Grovyle said, he grunted in pain, holding his bandaged area.

"What happened to you?" Torren said. "He stabbed me. He tried to kill me. Unfortunately, I didn't die." Grovyle replied, sadly. "But my brother did…" "I'm so sorry…" Melody said, with a sad look on her face. There was a moment of silence. They looked at each other.

After some time, Joseph piped up. "So, let's feed this guy some poffins shall we?" He said, patting Torren on the back. "Yah, you must be hungry!" Melody said. Then they walked away, keeping in mind what they just witnessed and how lucky they were to be alive.