Lycanus walked through Viridian Forest, continuing on his search for Darkrai. It wasn't as much that he wanted to catch the dark Pokemon, so much as it was out of control and he was sent to stop it. He had recieved small clues and hints from the lirbrary in Canalave as to where it could be found, but these were all enigmatic and pointed at several places at once. He had found small hints along a rarely used path that told him he was going in the right direction. A Rattata twitching from feverish nightmares here, a Pidgey doing likewise there. It was high noon, but it was as dark as midnight. He was getting close.
Lycanus stood at an even six feet, wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt, combat boots, and a black trenchcoat that came down to his knees. Completing his style of dress are a pair of dark sunglasses hanging from his shirt's collar and a cowboy hat. There were only two Pokeballs attached to his belt. One had a wolf's head engraved on it, and the other a sea serpent. Lycanus kept one hand on what he called his 'Wolfball', not knowing when they were going to meet the demonic Pokemon, and wanting to be prepared in any event.
He trudged along in silence, hoping to find Darkrai off guard. Unfortunately, the farther he went, the darker it got. If this kept up, he wouldn't be able to see at all. Lycanus released his Lucario from the Wolfball and filled him in on what had happened until now. "You're still better than I am at using Aura. Can you see anything?" Lycanus whisperd to Lucario. He had Lucario teach him how to use Aura, and he had the basics down, but he would never be anywhere near Lucario's level.
Lucario closed his eyes and looked out into the forest, seeing the Aura in all the things around them. After a while, he opened them again and shook his head. 'I'm afraid not, Master.' he responded telepathicly. 'However, it seems as though the sleeping Pokemon grow more numerous if we go farther that way,' he said as he pointed down a side path barely noticable in the deepening shadows.
"Thanks," Lycanus said as he tried to peer down it. He couldn't see anything down the barely lit path, and he could only see a few feet down on top of that. "Care to lead the way?" he asked Lucario with an unseeable grin. He always had some sort of amused expression on his face; whether it was a grin, a smirk, or an actual smile, his face was cracked in some fashion.
The Aura Pokemon nodded, and his eyes went from the usual crimson to a glowing, golden yellow as he reached out with his Aura. 'Of course, Master.' Lucario began walking down the path slowly, not wanting to get too far ahead of Lycanus. Lycanus began to do likewise, but the glow was so faint that it only turned his normally blue eyes green. The pair edged slowly into the deepest part of the forest, constantly scanning the surrounding area for any sign of Darkrai.

'I wonder if Socoro's having any better luck,' Lycanus thought to himself. They had split up and gone two separate directions. Lycanus was heading south from Pewter, and Socoro was heading north from
Viridian. He was getting close to the half-way point, so he should be meeting up with Socoro pretty soon.

****

Socoro stood outside the Viridian City Gym, pounding on the door, oblivious to the sign that clearly said 'CLOSED'. A Weavile stands nearby, toying with a Rattata, bored out of its mind. "Let me in! I know you're in there!" The Weavile grabs Socoro's wrist and looks at the watch. They had been standing out here for half an hour, and Socoro showed no sign of leaving any time soon. His style of dress was even more plain than Lycanus's. Socoro wore a black hoodie with 'I LOVE SHINOBI' in white lettering, blue jeans, and tennis shoes.

"Weavile!" the annoyed Pokemon said at last. "Wea Weavile!" He pointed at a sign that hung near the door and made a slashing motion across his neck.
"Huh?" Socoro finally turns his head so that he can see the sign. "Well that sucks. Oh well. It's not like the guy's part of some evil organization and he's out trying to take over the world or anything. I guess we should go meet up with Lycanus now." Socoro returns Weavile to his Pokeball and heads north to exit the town.

****

One thing to say about Lycanus, is his stamina sucked. That said, after about twenty minutes of wandering the winding side path his ability to use Aura was depleted. He was now completely blind and following Lucario by the sound of his footsteps. For some reason, despite the warmth his coat provided, he was shivering. "See anything?" Lycanus whispered. In the stillness his voice still seemed devastatingly loud.
'No, Master. Its almost as if Darkrai-' Almost in response to the name, a shadowy arm erupted from Lycanus's coat and slamed into Lucario's back with a Dark Void. Lucario dropped to the ground, twitching with the same nightmares as the rest of the sleeping Pokemon in the forest. Darkrai flew out of Lycanus's trenchcoat and into the darkness before them.
Lycanus rushed to his fallen comrade's side. "Lucario! Are you OK?" Lucario remained silent except for the occasional growl caused by whatever hellish nightmare Darkrai induced. Lycanus heaved Lucario up and on one of his shoulders to carry him. He wasn't sure if it was just an adrenaline rush or if it was something else, but Lucario was as light as a feather. On top of that, his clothes were starting to feel loose and ill-fitted. He put it all aside. His minor discomfort and newfound strength could wait until Lucario was safe.

****

Socoro paced back and forth in rage, practically pulling his hair out. He had challenged a Bug Trainer and was now regretting it. The Bug Trainer's Butterfree was hitting Socoro's Weavile with every concievable status effect it could. It had used Stun Spore, Poison Powder, and Sleep Powder, and it was now pelting him with constant Gusts. Socoro stormed over to a thin tree and kicked it, and woke up a small hive of Beedrill. Weavile, groggy, sore, and numb, finally woke up and climbed up shakily to his feet. Socoro ran by, grabbed Weavile's hand and drug him along confused as hell.
Socoro ran through the forest, constantly being chased by the swarm behind him, when suddenly, they broke off the chase. It was as if they didn't dare get any closer than that, and they returned to their hive. It was now pitch dark outside, and the farther Socoro and Weavile went, the darker it got. Even he was smart enough to realize he was getting close to Darkrai. They crept cautiously now, and Weavile was slowly recovering from the battle. Ten minutes had passed, and he hadn't seen so much as a Caterpie. Suddenly, a shadow shot forward, nailing the confused Weavile in the forhead with a Dark Void and vanishing as quickly as it came.
Socoro tossed his other Pokeball and summoned Blaziken. "Darkrai went that way! Don't let it get away!" he yelled as he pointed down the path. Blaziken sprinted down the path, giving off a bit of illumination as he went. Socoro turned to tend to his fallen partner. He picks up Weavile and carries him farther down the path, away from Darkrai. As he went, Weavile began to grow heavier and his clothes looser and baggier. Eventually Weavile got too heavy for him to carry and his clothes too difficult to move in and he stopped to wait for Blaziken to get back. After a few minutes passed, Blaziken's familiar glow could be seen coming up in the distance. From the other direction, he heard awkward footsteps making their way forward.
As the footseps approached, Socoro could hear Lycanus talking. 'Rasn-frasn Darkrai. Hide in my jacket and ambush Lucario like that, will it? I oughta' beat its face in.' Lycanus arrived in the small clearing, supporting his Lucario. 'Uh, Socoro?' Lycanus said hesitantly when he looked up. 'You look different.' Lycanus's voice sounded a little harsher, and it sounded more like it was coming from inside Socoro's head than from Lycanus's mouth. 'I know Weavile is your favorite Pokemon and everything, but turning into one is taking it a little far.'
Socoro looked at Lycanus in confusion. Thanks to the high collar of Lycanus's trenchcoat and the wide brim of his cowboy hat, the shadows were still to dark to see Lycanus's face, but his style of dress was unmistakable, sort of. His clothes were much baggier in some areas and much tighter in other places. Socoro looked down at himself and noticed that his clothes were in the same state as Lycanus's. And then he saw the claws. "This is not good," he said, suddenly not liking what was happening. "What
happened to Lucario?"
'Darkrai cheap-shotted him and ran off,' Lycanus said with simmering anger. 'Looks like it did the same thing to Weavile.' Lycanus took off his hat to scratch his head, and finally felt his new ears. 'Blast hat hair and the way it itches,' he said as he tried to smooth them down.

Socoro put his new clawed hand to his mouth to stifle some laughter. "I don't think that's hat hair. Those are ears." The shadows had begun to slowly lift as Darkrai fled the area and went on to parts unknown. "It looks like I'm not the only one who's become my favorite Pokemon."
Lycanus reached up and touched his ears, and then his face, and then looked at his hands. 'This is not good,' he echoed Socoro. A look of realization crossed his face after a moment of thinking. 'Or, this could be totally awesome. But first, we need to get to a Pokemon Center.' He returned the thrashing Lucario to his Pokeball and placed it on it's clip on his belt. 'There's no telling what Darkrai did to our Pokemon, or to us for that matter.' Lycanus pulled out a pocketknife and cut a small hole in the back of his pants for his new tail, tightened his belt, and buttoned up his trenchcoat which now hung down to his ankles.
Socoro carefully did likewise with Weavile. Carefully, not because he didn't want to harm Weavile, but because he now had claws instead of fingers and he didn't want to accidentally destroy the Pokeball. "This is going to take some getting used to." A burst
of fire flew over their heads as he finished saying this. "And that would be Blaziken."