Prologue

VS Murkrow

"It is believed that seeing this Pokémon at night will bring about ominous occurrences."

~Pokedex entry for Diamond

Something doesn't feel right. Even Aipom seems to be noticing it. The poor little guy can't even concentrate on his appeal. Normally Aipom concentrates really well here on the Sunyshore Beach training resort. "Murkrow!" The harsh screech of a Murkrow distracts me. Looking up at our only source of illumination, I notice the Darkness Pokemon sitting on the lamp, giving me a cold stare.

Ignoring the presence of the bird, we resume our night training. "Okay, use Shadow Ball again." I order. The purple monkey put his two arms in front of him, a ball of dark energy now forming between them. "Now, toss it into the sky and use Shadow Claw!" I follow up, hoping that this will work. Previously, I just had him slash it right in front of him. Maybe, just maybe, this will give him the right momentum needed for this.

Just as I had hoped, the combination of the ghost moves caused a glitter effect. Now, once Aipom is properly groomed, it should look even better. However, the Murkrow doesn't seem to approve. "Murk..." he crows, in a mournful tone. If I remember correctly, Murkrow are supposed to be a sign of impending danger. Oh well. Folklore, nothing more. "Your appeal has improved quite a lot...Kouki." Someone compliments.

I'd know that voice anywhere. Hikari. I turn around to face the bluenette beauty, and I cannot help but feel as if I am in some sort of trance. I've known her for quite some time now, probably going on three years, and each and every time I see her, I fall even more in love with her. I'm not the kind of person who is comfortable with the word love, so the fact that I feel I can say it to her; I must like her a lot. "H-hey Hikari." Smooth...not.

"Hey, Kouki. I came to ask you a favor." She lightly speaks. Something isn't right here. Normally she can speak confidently, but her voice almost seems shaky. "Anything," I promptly respond. She nervously looks around. She's completely out of character. This bothers me. "I was uh...wondering if you would...battle me?"

Not the question I had been hoping for, but okay. I nervously laugh. "Me battle? Hikari, you know I'm no good at that." She shakes her head. "You know that's not true. Come on, just a quick battle. For me?" She asks, giving me a saddened look. Oh she has learned how to control me, and I don't care to be honest. I sigh, "fine."

Her expression doesn't change. We both walk to opposite ends of the small field, Aipom following right behind me. At least I am positive of the outcome, though, it seems a little unfair to be pitting my Pokemon against Hikari's, who are trained very well. "I guess I'll start off with Aipom." I say, looking over at Hikari. She silently nods, then releases her first Pokemon. I kind of figured she would choose her starter. "Torterra!" The giant grass turtle roared. Aipom is immediately intimidated by his presence. I can't blame him. "Earthquake!" Hikari orders.

Torterra begins to stomp his front foot on the ground, but before the attack could be truly launched, I countered. "Bounce!"

Aipom does a speedy back flip, lands on his tail, then springs into the air. Earthquake missed completely, and now Aipom has the advantage. Torterra can't look up, and this move will be super effective. Hikari must realize this, since she doesn't bother to give an order.

Bounce successfully lands, but considering Torterra's high level, it doesn't do much. "Leaf Storm," she orders. Luckily for me, I already thought of a counter for this. "Use Claw Sharpen to counter!" It's a new move we recently learned, but if my theory is correct, it should be a good counter.

The tree on Torterra's back begins to glow, and a rush of leaves then flow at Aipom. However, Aipom's tail grew from chubby 'fingers', to sharp claws. As the leaves rushed at him, he began to slash at them, making the move useless. Well, at least we're holding our own for now.

Another strange occurrence, Hikari orders Leaf Storm again. I do find it weird that she used the move so early on, especially since it cuts his special attack, but for her to use it again? Something isn't right here. Again, I counter with Claw Sharpen, and this isn't working in Hikari's favor. Aipom's attack is now up by two stages, along with his accuracy. "Aipom, use Bounce!"

I know I am taking a risk by using a two-turn move, but as long as Hikari doesn't have Torterra use Withdraw, we should be fine. Though, I think it's her only option right now. "Withdraw." My assumption was correct. However, it is going to take Torterra some time to retract himself into his shell. The grass turtle begins with his legs, looking at each of them as they retract, almost as if he is making sure he is doing the right thing. Before he could put his head into his shell, Aipom falls from the sky, and smacks him hard on the head.

Torterra looks completely stunned. I too feel stunned. There is no way just one Bounce was enough to knock him out... "Torterra, return." Hikari says, returning the Continent Pokemon. It can't be possible. Aipom isn't that strong. No offense to my Pokemon, but I know he isn't as high leveled as Torterra. "Garchomp, you're up."

Now we're in trouble. I haven't known many people to beat Hikari's Garchomp. Their bond is very strong, and if I'm correct, he's her second strongest Pokemon. "Dragon Claw." Hikari orders. The dragon's claws began to glow blue as he races towards Aipom. "When Garchomp gets close, use Double Hit!" It's my only hope. Just as ordered, when Garchomp drew close, Aipom began to furiously slap his face with his tail, but it wasn't enough to stop his attack. In one hit, Aipom was out cold.

I return Aipom to his Luxury Ball, then try to think of who to use next. I'm using a lot of my newer Pokemon, so they don't know a ton of moves. I know Garchomp knows Fire Fang, so my grass Pokemon would be of no use yet...only one option. Grabbing a Net Ball from my side, I proceed to toss my next Pokemon into the ocean. "Fee...bass..." the Pokemon mumbles, surfacing near the shore. "I see you're trying to drag me into the water. Nice strategy, Kouki." Hikari says, her voice very monotone.

I just recently caught this Feebas, but he has proven to be very useful. He may seem like he can't do anything, but he is actually pretty powerful. If only I could get his beauty level up so he could evolve. Oh well, he's perfectly fine as a Feebas right now. "Swift."

I'm not liking Hikari's monotone. Usually she's a lot peppier about all of this. Something is obviously bothering her. I should ask later. "Retaliate with Mirror Coat!" Feebas' body becomes outlined in a blue light, and as Swift collided with him, it was sent back at Garchomp, dealing twice the amount of damage. "Head into the water and use Crunch."

I smirk. I had been hoping that she would do that. "Boiling Water!" I order. Judging by Hikari's face, she doesn't know what this move does. Feebas' expression grows sullen, as the water around him slowly begins to grow warmer. As soon as Garchomp is fully in the water, Feebas makes the water completely boil, to the point where steam is rising from the water. It's easy to see that Garchomp doesn't like the temperature, and it only escalades when Feebas spits some of the superheated water at him.

Garchomp hurries out of the water, but from what I can tell, he received a burn from the move. I'm glade that we took the time to learn this move. Hikari doesn't seem to be showing any emotion though. Again, it worries me. She orders Garchomp to use swift, probably trying to bide her time till the water cools. Well, this next move could make or break this battle. "Ice Beam!" With Garchomp's double weakness to the move, it's a sure knockout.

As I assumed, Garchomp was knocked out instantly, though, Feebas isn't faring to well. Though I have to say, I'm doing much better than I had anticipated.

Next she sends out her Infernape. The last time I saw her, she had just evolved into Monferno. Before I even have time to give an order, Hikari has Infernape use Thunder Punch in the water, shocking Feebas.

My only hope now is Empoleon. I send out the metal emperor penguin, knowing full well that I am at a disadvantage. Empoleon may be my strongest Pokemon, but I know Hikari doesn't mess around when it comes to training. "Close Combat!"

"Swords Dance to dodge!"

Infernape hurls herself towards Empoleon, but just as quickly, Empoleon beings to dance around, dodging every kick and punch thrown at him. "Now use Fire Punch." Dawn orders. Interesting choice. "Swords Dance again!"

Just like before, Empoleon dodges using Swords Dance, but what I didn't expect was for Hikari to comment on this. "Kouki, would you stop battling like this is a contest? This isn't the time to show off Empoleon's agility, this is the time to fight." He voice begins to crack as she continues. "Fight me Kouki, don't try to dazzle me."

Now I'm really worried...if it is possible for me to be even more worried. She has never once commented me on my battling style. Last time we battled, she seemed to like the way I battled. I'm sure she did since it was the time I made a complete fool of myself. "Close Combat!"

I sigh. If it's a fight she wants, it's a fight she gets. "Use Iron Defense to grab her!" I order. Empoleon's metallic body seems to glow in a silver light, weakening Close Combat, and he then uses his giant flippers to grab Infernape. "Now use Waterfall!" Hopefully this will be a quick turnaround. Still holding onto Infernape, Empoleon cloaks himself in water, and then tosses Infernape away. In the next second, Empoleon rushes towards the female ape, and nearly knocks her out.

A flaming red aura surrounds Infernape, signaling that her Blaze ability has activated. If I don't act quickly, Infernape could be my ultimate demise. If she knocks out Empoleon without getting knocked out as well, I'll have no quick Pokemon to knock her out. "Flamethrower!" Hikari orders. At the sight of flames cloaking Infernape's mouth, I call for Empoleon to use Bubblebeam.

Both Pokémon were hit with the moves, and both were out cold. I commend Empoleon for his work, while Hikari silently recalls Infernape. That's not like her...she always thanks her Pokémon for their work, even if they lost. I shake it off. Sooner or later I'll find the reason.

I'm curious as to whom she's going to send out. We're both down to three each, and she could be waiting to see who I'm going to send out. I know just who to send out. "Go, Wanda!" I send out the giant, pink Clefable. She giggles as she is surrounded by a plethora of multi-colored confetti. It seems that I have forgotten to take off her capsule. I am really out of it today.

A very small smile tugs at the corners of Hikari's mouth. "Cosmo, you're up." She says, releasing her Clefable. I smile. Our Clefable have a bit of history to them. A long time ago, Cosmo was my Clefairy, and Wanda was Hikari's Clefairy. Just before Hikari went to challenge the Pokémon League, we traded Clefairy. The reason she gave me for wanting to do this was, apparently she wanted something to remember me by in case we wouldn't see each other for awhile. We had given the Clefairy nicknames because we tended to battle together a lot, and it began to get confusing with the orders.

I don't exactly remember where we got the names, but I think they're fitting. "Cosmo, use Ice Beam!" For once, Hikari's voice almost sounds normal. Like she's actually enjoying the battle. "Retaliate with Icy Wind!" Confusion is evident on Hikari's face. Ice Beam may have more power than Icy Wind, but Icy Wind will have a different effect. Wanda has a higher speed stat, so her move goes first. The air around Ice Beam becomes frozen, rendering the water in the air useless for Ice Beam.

"Follow up with Attract!" With any luck, I just may win this battle...wait...me win? Against Hikari? Champion Hikari, the champion who's regarded as one of the strongest champions? Impossible...now that I think about it, how in Arceus' name did I even manage to get this far?

Wanda gracefully bounces over to Cosmo, and pecks him on the cheek. A deep blush covers Cosmo's face, and he seems fixated by Wanda. Funny. He reminds me of myself, swooning over Hikari...though I'll never admit that...aloud anyways.

Hikari winces. I think she realizes the situation she's in. At least right now I stand a chance at winning against Cosmo. Though I am worried about her Skuntank. I'll leave it at she puts the 'tank' in Skuntank. "Flamethrower!" Hikari desperately orders. Nothing. Cosmo is too busy twiddling his fingers over his infatuation. "Focus Blast!"

The bright blast of orange light knocks out Cosmo completely. I can tell that Wanda is a little upset having knocked out her friend.

Just as I was dreading earlier, Hikari sends out her strongest Pokémon: Skuntank. "Skun-tah!" She hisses in a proud tone. She shifted her weight back and forth, as if she were a boxer. "Slash!" Hikari orders.

Quick as a flash, Skuntank bounds towards Wanda. Wanda shudders at the sight of the oncoming attack, and closes her eyes. "Use Bounce to dodge!" I yell. Wanda's ears twitch, signaling that she has heard me. She shrinks down, and just in time to dodge, she leaps high into the air.

A smirk plasters itself on Hikari's face. "Make a pool of Toxic for when she returns to the ground." She says. Skuntank's fur begins to become coated in a sticky toxin, and as she zigzags across the ground, she leaves pools of the toxin. Has Hikari forgotten Wanda's ability already? Hikari sure is acting strange.

Wanda smacks into Skuntank, hardly doing any damage, and when she lands in the toxic pools, a teal aura surrounds her. Her ability Magic Guard is protecting her from Toxic, but Hikari should have known this would happen. "Now use Icy Blast!"

Hikari doesn't seem fazed by my choice. She has obviously seen my last contest where we came up with this combo. This move is a combination of Icy Wind and Focus Blast. First, Wanda will power up Focus Blast, and while she holds it between her hands, she covers it in Icy Wind. The combined power is great, in both regular battling and contest battling. The freezing effect is usually enough to cripple the opponent, to the point of freezing.

The only downfall of this move is, if Hikari orders Skuntank to attack her while she powered up, the attack would fail, and probably hurt Wanda. Hikari orders nothing, so Skuntank stands her ground.

I cringe a bit as I watch Wanda throw the Icy Blast at Skuntank. Skuntank topples over...but...it doesn't seem like she's knocked out. There is no way we knocked her out this easily! She has to be near her nineties, if not in them! Something isn't right here...if I haven't said that enough already.

"Skuntank return." Hikari says. She then glances down at Scarlet, who has been patiently waiting by her side the whole battle. "Scarlet, you're up." With a purr, Scarlet rushes out to the field, and begins to paw at the ground. Scarlet...Hikari's last Pokémon. There's no way I'm going to win this. I may have three Pokémon left, but I can't win! Hikari is the champion...she's supposed to wipe the floor with me...

"Scarlet, use Double-Edge!" Hikari orders, a note of fierceness in the background of her voice. Faster than I can blink, Wanda out for the count. Strange, behind such a tiny Stunky, is a powerful little beast. She may appear cute and innocent, but when it comes right down to it, she's one Stunky I'd never mess with. Goes to show, looks are very deceiving.

"Amazing job Wanda," I congratulate. She certainly deserves a few Poffins after this. I could use Camerupt, but I'd hate to make him battle his daughter. I'll only use him as last resort. My newest grass Pokémon should do. "Grovyle, you're up!"

The grass lizard comes out of his Friend Ball with a sharp hiss, and a flicker of the tongue. I swear, he acts more like a snake than a lizard. Though, according to the Pokedex, he's actually a Wood Gecko. Grovyle is a weird one.

"Acid Bomb!" Hikari calls. "Dodge!" I retaliate. With his great agility, Grovyle dodges the oncoming acid. "Sunny Day!"

Even though it is night, Sunny Day will still work, it just works a little differently. Instead, the moon becomes much brighter, whereas during the day the sun would get bright. The air temperature around us also rises a bit. "Devastate." Hikari simply orders. I should have suspected a fire move. Now, with Sunny Day in effect, the power is double. Fortunately Grovyle is faster. "Use Acrobat to dodge!"

A boiling ball of fire forms at Scarlet's mouth, and when she sends it at Grovyle, he does a back flip, then uses that momentum to gain altitude. "Now use Solarbeam!" This move could either make or break this battle...

Against the moon, Grovyle seems to stay in one spot as he absorbs the moons energy for this attack. The strong grass energy is fired at Scarlet, but it doesn't knock her out. At least Grovyle is able to land on the ground safely, while Scarlet is in a daze. "Devastate again."

What to do now...I guess only one thing to do. "Solarbeam once more, Grovyle!" Strangely, the long leaf on Grovyle's head also begins to glow, making the move almost super powered. When the moves meet, fire overtakes the grass move, but it continues its path towards Scarlet. The grass-fire mixture sends Scarlet flying out of the battle area, into a small sand dune. I won...

I won...

I blink multiple times...surly this is all one big, fake dream. I'll wake up soon; tired after a long day of contest training...none of this actually happened...

When I see Hikari duck her head, almost in shame, I know this is all too real. Grovyle and I watch as Hikari goes to return Scarlet into her Poke Ball. She walks back over to me, tears in her eyes. No. She shouldn't cry. Hikari has never been one to cry. "W-well, it looks like you won." She mumbled. Grovyle takes a few steps back. He seems to sense something. I wish I knew what it was, but right now, Hikari is more important.

"It was a fluke, that's all." I softly replied. She shook her head. "No, you won. You're...you're the new Sinnoh Champion." My eyes go wide. I'm not the champion. I'm not ready for this kind of responsibility, and I'm certainly not capable of following her legacy, even if it was a short one. Instead of saying either of those things, I make the mistake of just shouting, "No!"

My outburst doesn't faze her. "Yes you are...and you'll be better than I was. Promise me you won't make my mistakes." She pleaded. I nod a no, and timidly place my hands on her shoulders. "Hikari...no. I can't be the champion. I'm not good enough. You're the champion. This wasn't even an official champion battle anyways! I'd have to go through the Elite Four, and win all the regions gym bad-" she stops me short. "The rules actually state that I can choose who the next champion is, even out of the official battle. Please Kouki, be the champion...d-don't make the mistakes I made." She mumbles, her voice softening.

"Kari," it was rare that I used her nickname. Usually it was Jun who used it, but on occasion when I was confused, upset, or trying to comfort her, I would use it. "I'm sorry Kouki," why is she apologizing? She has to reason to be doing that.

She looks at me straight in the eye, and for a painfully blissful second, time seemed to stand still. There was no passion behind it...it was all meaningless, but that doesn't stop me form getting caught up in the kiss she has granted me.

When she pulls away, she grabs my hand, and places Scarlet's minimized Poke Ball in it. "Take care of her for me...and another thing, don't come looking for me."

When she ran away, I tried to follow. I tried to find out what was wrong, but she continued to run. When I tried to get Grovyle to stop her, she sent out Skuntank. I knew she hadn't actually fainted. Grovyle was severely injured, and I couldn't follow her any more... Sunny Day faded, and I now felt colder than ever...

I saw her only once after that...

I vowed to never stop searching for her...

But, I might as well been thrown shackled into the Luxray's den.

I'm not a battler, but I was forced to be one.

Contests are now a figment of my past...

I will spend years if I have to...

Hikari can't just disappear from the planet like that...

I love her, and I won't give up on her...

Not that easily. Even though being the champion has caused me to double my training daily, I can't give up...not now, not ever.

Well, that was the prologue to my newest story, In search for Light. I called it that because, 'light' is basically what the name Hikari means. According to Bulbapedia it's something like "first light", but you get the idea.

All the chapters will be formatted like this one. It will be VS _ (Insert Pokemon in the blank) followed by a Pokedex entry from some game.

This is alright, better than some of my work, but this story is almost like a guinea pig. I need to work on my angst writing, since I kinda suck at that, so with this story, I will try to make it a bit angsty. Obviously, I am the kind of person who can't stay away from the cheesy-ness for too long, but yeah. The chapters won't come too fast probably, with the revise of Platinum Bound on the way.

I hope this story turns out good, and feedback is always awesome, but I'm not to require it. ^.^ The fact that you took the time to read this is enough for me.

(Preview of the next chapter)

Houndoom- "If you are burned by the flames it shoots from its mouth, the pain will never go away." ~Pokedex entry for Gold.