team enforcers: legend of the 16 plates

by ShadowKingDrago

in the beginning arceus made 16 plates...

Team Enforcers Legend of the 16 plates

Prolog 1

There once was a dark world.

This world was once ruled by an evil Pokemon. The sun never shone, the wind never blew and trees never grew. It was truly a dark and miserable place. Then, a hero appeared. He was determined to save the world from the travelled the world, searching for ways to rid the darkness. Eventaully he found it. Traversing through time and space, he reached a world of light and convinced the inhabitants there to assist him. It took him many years, but he had finally found an answer. After that, the hero returned back to his world of darkness, a solution ready. With the help of two others, he scaled the tower in which the evil Pokemon resided and slew it. Light flooded back into his world, spreading joy and happiness all over. The sun started to shine, the wind started to blow and the trees started to grow. Across the world, Pokemon cheered and praised the hero for his brave actions. The hero's name would be forever remembered as the Legendary Grovyle.

The Legend of the Sixteen Plates

Arceus created sixteen plates. They were to keep the world in balance. He selected sixteen Pokemon to guard these plates. They scattered around the world, hiding their treasure wherever they deemed fit. Now they wait for someone with particular qualities to receive these plates and use their powers. But no-one knows what these qualities actually are...

Our story takes place one thousand and two hundred years after the events of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. Grovyle's tale has descended into the path of legend and now everyone knows about him, but not of his four companions. The world has changed dramatically during those years. Gone are the small, sleepy towns with hardly any technology. Cities have sprung up over the lands and are wired with electricity, running water and toilets that aren't just smelly bogs in the ground. The Pokémon world has become a bizarre mixture of rural areas and urban areas. Bustling metropolises live alongside ancient forests with thousands of years of history! There are absolutely no skyscrapers, except for one place which is rather dangerous. There is hardly any air pollution because of the miracle known as solar energy. However, common human inventions such as guns and cars don't exist because there was no reason to invent them. Seriously, why would you need a gun when you can fire blasts of energy from your fingertips?

Now then, let's meet the main protagonist, shall we? In a city known as Treasure Town (which isn't the same Treasure Town from one thousand and two hundred years ago), a young Grovyle snored under the covers in his bedroom in his two-story house. His name was Gaia and he was the leader of Team Enforcers, an exploration team consisting of himself and his two best friends. They were rather new and had just graduated from Master Dusk's Fighting Academy a month rolled over and started drooling on his pillow. If he could see himself now, he would have died of embarrassment. Right now he was having a rather strange dream.

He was somehow a Treecko, the species he was before he evolved. And he was standing in a stone platform hovering in space. Around him, he could see stars and galaxies swirling around him. "I'm a kid again," he whispered, looking down at himself and gasping, "I'm also in space," he wondered too, "Shouldn't I be dead by now?" There was a flash of light on the other side of the platform, making him shield his eyes with a hand. A figure appeared and slowly started walking towards him. It was coated in darkness and Gaia couldn't see what species it was."Who are you?" he said. The figure didn't say anything, but it did extend a black hand towards him. "Huh, do you want to shake hands?" Gaia asked. The figure nodded."Well, I guess it wouldn't do any harm to?" He cautiously extended his hand out and the mysterious figure vigorously shook it. Gaia was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected the figure to be that enthusiastic. There was a sudden bright flash of light, and Gaia quickly let go and shielded his eyes. When it disappeared, the figure was gone."What the…where did he go?" Gaia quickly started looking left and right, as if it would bring the mysterious figure back, "And the hell just happened?" he asked himself.

SLAM!

The door to Gaia's bedroom was flung open and hit the wall with a loud noise, awakening the Grovyle from his slumber."Huh, what's going on?" he asked confusedly. female Gabite stormed into the room, and she did not look happy. "GAIA!" she roared, "Get your sorry ass downstairs right now!" Her name was Alice, and she was the second member of Team Enforcers. She was smaller than the average height for her species, but that didn't stop her from mowing down anybody that got into her way. A purple crystal necklace hung around her neck, signifying that she was from the Rage Dragon clan, a group of Dragon-types who were respected and feared for their temper and their strength. She had a crush on her team leader, but that didn't stop her from being angry at him when she needed to.

"Owww…" Gaia moaned irritably, "Do you have to be loud in the morning?""Yes!" Alice shouted, not bothering to drop her volume, "Because it is now nine o'clock and we're going to be late!"

"Nine o'clock? That's not so—holy shit we are late!" Gaia suddenly realised that today his team had an escort mission to do at nine thirty. A quick glance at his bedside clock confirmed his lateness. It was now 9:02 He shoved the covers off him and climbed out of bed in a hurry. He grabbed his item bag off a cupboard and raced downstairs, Alice behind him. A Sableye was sitting in the kitchen, calmly reading a newspaper. Once Gaia rushed inside, he looked up and smiled. "Morning fearless leader," he greeted happily.

"Good morning Seth," Gaia replied, searching for something in the refrigerator and thus didn't bother turning around, "Do you know where all the milk went?""Oh yeah," Seth said apologetically, "I sort of drank it all for breakfast.""Dammit!" Gaia growled, "Well, looks like its leftovers for me!"

"I ate that too," Seth said nonchalantly, "Those chicken slices were nice."Gaia grew even more frustrated. A scowl grew on his face. He grabbed some raisin bread and slammed the fridge door shut and stalked over to the pantry, where he took out a few muesli bars. He then sat down and started eating his relatively meager meal.

"This is all your fault," Gaia said through mouthfuls of bread. He was a bit annoyed."What is?" Seth asked innocently with a small smile.

"That bloody video game that you gave me," Gaia growled, "It's so addictive that I spent half the night playing it on my computer."

"Oh, you mean Ninjas vs. Pirates?" Seth grinned, "Well yeah, it is a bit addictive, but it's not my fault that you can't control yourself."

"The first thing that I will do when we get back from the mission is uninstalling that game from your hard drive," Alice said, speaking for the first time in a few minutes.

"No you are not," Gaia gasped as he stood up and threw the muesli bar wrappers into the bin, "Do you know how much money I had to bribe Seth to give me that game?"

"Gaia, if that video game hinders your exploration skills I'm not going to just sit by and let you play it." Alice replied flatly.

"You're suddenly a lot calmer," Seth noted, "Is it because you're talking to Gaia and not me?"

Alice turned around and stared at him, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it's because everyone in town knows that you have crush on him and—" He saw the angry look and the vein throbbing on her forehead and decided it would be a good time to stop.

XXXXXXXX

Five hours later, in which they met with the client and escorted him through the dungeon, they emerged from the entrance of the Outer Arid Zones. "That," Seth began, "Was the worst mission ever."

"Worse than the one where we had to find that hyperactive Clefairy?" Gaia asked, "Remember, it took us ages to find her. I remember her playing hide-and seek with us."

"It was definitely the worst mission," Alice growled, "I thought it was going to be easy. All we had to do was to take that bloody Nidoran on a trip through the dungeon. But no, he starts running off and attacking Pokemon who are stronger than him and getting himself knocked out. Because of that, we've lost all our Reviver Seeds." She reached into her bag and threw some yellow seeds onto the ground, "These are the remains of the Reviver Seeds which cost us an arm and a leg," Alice said bitterly, "And now they are all gone. I swear, if I meet that Nidoran ever again I'm going to kick his ass!" She angrily stomped on the seeds, turning them into yellow paste.

"Alice, no killing the client." Gaia chided."I wasn't going to kill him," she objected, "I was just going to kick him a little."

"No kicking the client. Or hurting him in any way for that matter."

"Dammit...this really sucks! We lost some really important stuff all because of him! Worst of all, we can't do anything about it!"

"Well, we can tell everybody about how he's such an idiot and warm them to not take missions requested by him." Seth suggested, "It's the least we can do."

"Now that's a good idea."

Treasure Town: Once small and quiet, now large and bustling. Pokemon of all sorts gather here.

Master Dusk's Academy: A fighting school located in Treasure Town. Master Dusk (A Dusknoir) often picks up orphans and takes them here to become strong fighters.

Dark City: A skyscraper-ridden metropolis eternally shrouded in darkness. No sunlight shines on this place. Many Ghost, Dark and nocturnal Pokemon live here.

Lei Qu: A village located in an area once known as Amp Plains. Thunderstorms frequently strike this place, particularly in summer. Many Electric and Steel Pokemon live here.

Sage Forest: A forest with a mystical aura to it. A small town has been placed in the middle of the forest and many Grass, Flying and Bug Pokemon live here.

Aqualantis: A city partially submerged underwater. Whirlpools occasionally appear, Ice and Water Pokemon like living here.

Arid Zones Village: A village that is located on the edge of a desert. Water restrictions are heavily increased here. Many Ground, Rock and the occasional Steel-type Pokemon live here.

Examples:

Name: Gaia

Species: Grovyle

Gender: male

Age: Teenager

Signature Moves: Leaf Blade, Detect, Thunderpunch

Rank: Bronze

Personality: Gaia is a strong-willed person. He will stand up for what he believes is right. Gaia cannot tolerate anyone who picks on others (i.e. bullies). He will attack anyone who he sees bullying others, which has landed him some accidental bounties in a few cases. Despite this characteristic, he has a habit of being sarcastic, which sometimes makes those around him feel hurt. When one his friends is threatened, Gaia's rage increases and he's likely to do anything.

History: Gaia was dumped on the doorstep of Master Dusk's academy. Master Dusk took him in and raised him to be a strong fighter. During his youth, Gaia hardly ever talked. This automatically gave him the nickname 'loner'. When Seth arrived, Gaia instantly took a liking to him and became more animated. 4 years later, he and Seth met their other friend Alice, who was crying in the academy grounds. She joined them and years later the three them graduated from the academy as a three-man team. Now Gaia is spending his days going on missions with his friends.

View on Main Characters:

Seth: One of my best friends. He really livens the place up. Without him, it would be really depressing around here.

Alice: The only female in my life. No, I am NOT attracted to her (blushes a bit). She's a good person, but her temper scares me.

Other: None

Name: Seth

Species: Sableye

Gender: Male

Age: Teenager

Signature Moves: Shadow Claw, Shadow Sneak, Role Play

Rank: Bronze

Personality: Seth is the cheerful one of the three main characters. He likes having fun and often goofs off. This irritates Alice to no end. Despite his personality, Seth is smart and perceptive and is able to come up with plans very quickly. He is also very loud, another characteristic that irritates Alice. He often bickers with her. When he wants to, Seth can become serious. This usually occurs on the battlefield. He'll get angry if he sees any of his friends getting hurt.

History: Seth was born in Dark City. After living there for a while, his parents couldn't stand the shadowy atmosphere and moved to Treasure Town. Seth then enrolled in Master Dusk's Academy at the age of 7. There he met Gaia and became close friends with him. 4 years later, the two of them met Alice, who was crying in academy grounds. She soon became close friends with them afterwards. He graduated from the academy at the same time as Gaia and Alice. Seth is now working with his friends in a three-man team.

View on Other Characters:

Gaia: My best, leafy, green friend. He and I share something in common: pranking others! Wait, that's not it...

Alice: She's violent and crazy, but she's my friend. Don't tell her I called her that, or she'll kill me.

Other: One of his self-devised moves is combining Recover with Role Play, enabling him to heal his teammates.

Name: Alice

Species: Gabite

Gender: Female

Age: Teenager

Signature Moves: Dragon Claw, Sand Tomb, Fling

Rank: Bronze

Personality: Alice, to put it simply, is a blunt and serious person. She is not afraid of speaking her mind and will insult people if she feels like it. Because she is from the Rage Dragon Clan, Alice can become seriously violent and angry if someone pushes her buttons. However, she is trying to keep her rages under control. She does have gentler and sweeter side which she only shows to her family and friends.

History: Alice was born in a family of Dragon-types famous for their incredible strength and temper. Her mother died when Alice was 5. Two days after her mother's death, Alice enrolled in Master Dusk's Fighting Academy. When she was 9, Alice's father married a shiny Dragonite. This was against her mother's wishes and one of the clan's most sacred laws, so Alice took to hating her father and stepmother. She cut herself off from everyone else, saying she didn't need anybody's help. In reality, she was very lonely. At the age of 11, Gaia and Seth found her sobbing in a corner of the academy grounds. They asked if she wanted to play and she gladly accepted. They became good friends from then on. It turned out that Alice' stepmother was a famous criminal in disguise. Alice, Gaia, Seth, Master Dusk and Alice's father all engaged in combat with her. During the battle, Alice's father shielded his daughter from a near- fatal attack. Alice grew enraged at her stepmother for this and went on a berserker rage, which resulted in the shiny Dragonite getting heavily wounded. Master Dusk finished her off. Luckily Alice's father survived.

Alice graduated from the academy at the age with Gaia and Seth and is now working with them as Team Enforcers.

View on Other Characters:

Gaia: The male in my life. He's a good guy (blushes a bit). What do you mean I'm blushing? COME BACK HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE! (attacks)

Seth: My really annoying teammate. He pisses me off sometimes, but I guess he's alright.

Other: Alice wears a necklace with a purple stone around her neck. This signifies that she's from the Rage Dragon clan. She also has a small crush on Gaia, but she won't admit it

PROLOGUE DON AND PAIKUS

"Thank you for escorting me!" said a male Nidoran. Team Enforcers and the client were at the academy."It was no problem." said Seth while smiling and rubbing the back of his head.

"Just give us the damn reward already!" growled Alice. Her face was a mixture of tiredness and anger. She was really annoyed that the client had almost screwed up their mission. It took all of her willpower not to attack him. Do not kill the client. she silently reminded herself, Do not kill the client. The Nidoran turned and looked at her quizzically, "My, my, your teammate is so rude. Is something wrong with her?"

"Just ignore her," said Gaia in a low voice, "She's pretty annoyed that you went charging after enemies and getting yourself killed, not to mention that you wasted 10 Reviver seeds. Besides, Alice is a member of the Rage Dragon clan, so that should explain a lot." He was pretty annoyed too, but he was smart enough not to show it. In fact, Seth probably was the only who wasn't annoyed. If he was, he hid it really well."What are you talking about? I never went charging after enemies."Gaia just stared at him.

Flashback

"Hey look! A Trapinch! I'm gonna KO it!"

"No, don't!" Gaia said this too late. The Nidoran had already been knocked out by a Bite from the wild Trapinch. Luckily, the Reviver Seed brought him back to full health. The bad thing was the client kept stupidly attacking the enemy. Of course he fainted and got revived. Gaia had to shoot an Energy Ball to save him.

Repeat for all 10 floors of the dungeon.

End Flashback.

"Never mind. Now, about that reward..."

"Oh yes." The Nidoran produced a sum of 2000 Poke and a bag, "This is your reward: 2000 Poke and a bag containing 5 Reviver Seeds. I'm truly sorry for the way I used up all of your seeds, so I went to Kecleon Mall and bought some new ones."

"Eh, it's okay," smiled Seth while taking the reward, "Everyone makes mistakes."

"You're such a good boy. How I wish your teammate was like you..."

"AND WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" shrieked Alice. Willpower flew out the window. She lunged forward towards the client with a Dragon Claw ready. Gaia had to hold her back. The Nidoran screamed and ran away. After he was gone, Gaia turned to his female teammate, "Alice..."

"I know, I know." said Alice miserably, "I'm supposed to keep my temper in check when taking to a client, right?"

"I won't deny that he was an idiot, but you should still try to keep calm."

"Okay, I'll try harder next time."

"Good."

"Well, since that's all cleared up..." Seth yawned and stretched his arms, "It's getting late. Let's go and eat out! I fancy Spinda's Cafe."Alice nodded. "That sounds good."

"Hooray!" shouted Seth. He got up and raced out the door.A few hours later, at the well-known restaurant known as Spinda's Cafe, Gaia, Seth and Alice were seated at a table. A Kirlia waitress came over to them. "What can I get you?" she said sweetly."I want the egg and mushroom omelet." said Gaia."Do you have anything spicy?" asked Alice."Well..." the waitress took a look at her menu, "We do have the Chicken Schnitzel,"

"I'll have that then."

"Give me a burger deluxe meal!" shouted Seth. The waitress took a few steps back. "Uh...okay." She left the table rather quickly. When she was gone, Alice gave Seth a piercing glare."For the love of Arceus, do you have shout so loud?" she hissed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" said Seth, a bit frightened, "Please don't kill me!" he cried childishly.

"Break it up, you two," said Gaia wearily, "Or else I'm not paying tonight. And I don't think you guys have any cash on yourselves." Seth and Alice instantly shut up. A few minutes later, their food arrived. Gaia calmly ate his food at a moderate pace, Alice did the same. Seth's eating style was very different. For starters, he didn't bite his food, his shovelled it in. He also seemed to be incapable of chewing. In less than 30 seconds, Seth had finished eating."Finished!" he said cheerfully. Then he felt a sick feeling from the pit of his stomach and screwed up his face in disgust. "Uh, I think I need to go the toilet." He left the table and ran as quickly as he could to the lavatory. Gaia groaned and rolled his eyes. It was very late when the three of them got back to their house. Ever since they graduated from the academy, they decided to live together to make everything convenient. This privilege didn't come easily. Both Seth and Alice's parents objected to this, especially Alice's father. But after a lot of persuasion they relented in the end. "Are you done emptying your stomach?" asked Gaia. "Oh, I'm just tired," said Seth nonchantly. It was like his previous throwing up hadn't affected him in the slightest. "Let's get inside and get some sleep." He took a few keys from his bag, selected one and unlocked the door. The house was pretty spacious, each member of Team Enforcers having their own bedroom. It also had two floors. The three of them headed into their respective bedrooms, said goodnight, got into bed and fell asleep instantly, tired from today's mission.

XXXXXXXX

The next morning...

Briiinnng!

Gaia's alarm clock rang loudly. He sat up in his bed and slowly opened the curtains, letting sunlight flood the room. More of those dreams again. He thought. For the third time in the past two months, Gaia had been having strange dreams. He could never piece together what those dreams were about, but he picked up words like 'plates' and 'sixteen'. It was almost as if someone was speaking to him via the dreams. He checked the clock. It was 6 in the morning. Alice and Seth were probably asleep right now. He wasn't hungry and he didn't want to wake the others. So he decided to go down to the nearby training grounds and do a bit of extra training. After all, it was why he set his alarm clock so early.

XXXXXXXX

Now Gaia was at the training grounds, repeatedly punching and kicking a wooden dummy. He had run six laps around the grounds to build up his stamina and now he was training his fighting skills. Punch, kick. Punch, kick. He kept doing this until he heard someone walk into the training grounds."Good morning loser."

"What do you want Don?" Don was a Luxio Gaia had known since the day he had arrived at the academy. For a reason that he couldn't remember, Don had always been mean to him. Eventually the two of them began solid rivals in everything."I just came here to train," Don said casually, "But upon seeing you, I decided not to. Your stench is killing mood, you know?"

"Whatever," Gaia said back, "I was about to leave. Your ugly mug will ruin my concentration."He left the training grounds and made his way back home. Alice and Seth were already eating breakfast in the kitchen. "Were you training again?" Alice asked."Yeah." Gaia poured himself some cereal and some milk and started to eat. He didn't bring up any more conversation."What sort of mission are we going on today?" Seth said."I dunno. We'll just find what we can."An hour later, Team Enforcers was standing in the mission room of the academy. Here job requests and outlaw notices were pinned onto two bulletin boards. "Let's see. Which one should we do?" Gaia scanned the Job Request board in search for a good mission. "Found one." He removed the piece of paper from the board and read it. "I need some people to guard my vault until the security people arrive. Signed: the Mayor of Sage Forest Village."

"That sounds good," Seth smiled, "Let's do it! We just have to stand guard for a few hours right?"

"Err, no. We have to stand guard for the whole night and there's a dungeon we have to go through before we even reach the village,"

"Aw, dammit!"

XXXXXXXX

Much later...

Team Enforcers was standing in front of the entrance to the Sage Forest dungeon. "Is everyone ready?" asked Gaia. "Yes" said Alice."Affirmative!" said Seth. Gaia nodded. "Okay, let's go-" Before he could take another step, someone or something ran into him from behind. Gaia turned around and saw a Elekid scowling at him. "Out of my way!" the Elekid growled. "Wait, just who are you?" Gaia asked. "That's none of your business!" the Elekid retorted. "Tell us, or I won't stand aside. It's really not that hard."

"Fine! My name is Paikus. Now get out of my way!" The Elekid angrily pushed aside Gaia and entered the forest. There was a moment of silence. "Freak." grumbled Alice. "Do you think he'll be alright?" asked Seth with a concerned look on his face. Gaia stared into the depths of the forest. "Well, we can't do anything about him now," he replied, "If he gets killed, that's his problem."

PROLOGE SAGE FORIST

Team Enforcers were standing in the first floor of the Sage Forest Entrance dungeon. "How many floors is this dungeon again?" Seth asked. "You've forgotten already?" Gaia said, "The dungeon has five floors."

"Oh, okay then." He turned to his left and saw a Gloom staring at him. "Hi there!" He charged up a Shadow Claw and it hard, knocking the Pokemon out instantly. "Let's go!" On the floor, they covered a bit of distance before being attacked by a Tangela. Alice immediately smacked it away with Dragon Claw. Gaia finished it off with two slices of his Fury Cutter. They picked up an Apple and a Sleep Seed and climbed up the nearby stairs. On the second floor, Gaia had the misfortune to step on a Poison Trap. Purple, foul smelling sludge burst out from a metal tile and sprayed all over Gaia's body. Immediately he felt himself retching out his breakfast. "Dammit..." he groaned. He took out a Heal Seed and swallowed it. The nausea receded. "Are you alright Gaia?" Alice asked."I'm fine." he said. They moved on. After defeating a pair of Tropius, they found the stairs. On the fourth floor, a Meganium attacked Seth with Body Slam. He retaliated with a Shadow Claw to the face. Meanwhile, Alice and Gaia were dealing with two Nuzleaf. A Dragon Claw and a Fury Cutter finished the two of them off. The fifth floor had no enemies. It did have a treasure chest. Alice rushed over to it and opened it. Inside was an Oran Berry. "An Oran Berry..." Alice said slowly. 3, 2, 1...Gaia and Seth thought. "AN ORAN BERRY? ARE YOU (beep)ING KIDDING ME?" Rage consumed her and she smashed the treasure chest to bits, along with the Oran Berry which became berry mush. It was exactly what her teammates expected.

XXXXXXXX

When Gaia and Seth and Alice exited the dungeon, they saw the Sage Forest Village. It was surrounded by a wooden fence with two Ivysaur guards blocking the entrance. "Halt!" cried the first guard, whose name was Bob, "State your business."

"Oh, great." groaned Gaia while shaking his head, "Medieval guards. Just what we need."

"Why have you come here?" demanded the second guard. His name was Tim, "These are sacred grounds."

"I assume you take a popular tourist attraction to be sacred grounds." said Gaia calmly. "Just state your purpose already!" yelled Bob. "We're here for an A-rank mission."The two Ivysaurs stared at them for a few seconds. Then they started to laugh and laugh, pissing Gaia, Seth and Alice off. "Get real!" snorted Tim, "A-rank missions are for grown-ups! There's no way brats like you could possibly—" His words were cut off when Alice grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against a tree. "Listen you motherf*cking son of a bitch," she hissed, "Do you know who I am?"

"N...o..." the Ivysaur choked out. Alice held her up her necklace. "I am from the Rage Dragon clan. That's right, one of the most prestigious and powerful clans in Treasure Town. Not only that, my father is one of the clan's most important members. When he finds out I've failed a mission because of you two f*cktards' idiocy, he'll be pissed big time. And you know what happens when our clan gets angry..." Alice squeezed the Ivysaur's neck tighter and made his face turn blue. "Should we stop her?" whispered Seth. "No," said Gaia, "This is actually entertaining. We'll stop her if she kills someone."

"Okay, okay!" panicked the second Ivysaur guard, "You can come in! Just leave my friend alone!" Alice immediately dropped the guard on to the ground. "There," she smiled sweetly, "That wasn't so hard, was it?" The Ivysaur guard shuddered. Without any other words, Team Enforcers entered the gates. "Wow! This place is so cool!" Seth was taking the amazing sights of the Sage Forest Village. The whole village was built in trees, and there didn't seem to be any sight of anything urban around. "I'd love to live here!" he gasped. Alice nodded. "This place really is awesome. I used to come here with my mother when I was 5. When she died, my father forbade me coming here..." She looked down at the ground. Gaia, sensing her discomfort, walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay Alice," he said soothingly, "You don't have to talk about it." Alice looked at him and smiled a bit. "I'm fine now. Come on, I'll take you guys to something cool." The three of the of them kept walking through the village until they reached a large clearing with a statue of a Leafeon in it. "You took us here for a statue?" cried Seth, "Why?"

"Are you saying that you don't appreciate my efforts?" asked Alice dangerously. "No!"

"This is the statue of Princess Leafia," explained Gaia, "Legend says that it was made to protect something."

"Hey look! There's something written on the bottom of the statue!" Seth peered in for a closer look. "It says: 'I love you...' and the rest of it has faded away." Seth looked at smiling figure of Leafia, "I wonder who she loved, he must have been pretty special." Gaia looked at the sky. "It's about noon right now. Let's go to the village elder's house." The three of them set off.

XXXXXXXX

While walking down the streets of the Sage Forest Village, Alice sensed someone lurking the shadows. "Guys..." she tensed up. "GAIA-DEAR!" screamed a voice. Alice groaned. "I knew it." A pink Grumpig jumped out of nowhere and glomped Gaia, pinning him to the ground. "Did you miss me?" said the Grumpig flirtatiously. "Hey, I know you!" exclaimed Seth, "You're Alex from team what-its-name...um, I think it was called Screw-ups!"

"For the love Arceus," moaned another voice, "Do you have to that Alex?" A Kirlia wearing a black ribbon choker necklace walked up to them. "Sorry for my teammates behaviour," the Kirlia said, "She tends to do that a lot."

"Oh, hi Zyphra," groaned Gaia, "Can you tell Alex to get off me?"

"Alex, get off Gaia." Alex obeyed. "Alex," Zyphra said sternly, "I'm pretty sure that pinning Gaia to the ground and causing him pain is not going to get him to love you."

"Sorry Zyphra," Alex giggled, "But Gaia's so hot!" Her eyes turned into pink hearts. Everyone shrank back except for Zyphra. "You're not even in the same egg group. What makes you think you'll have a chance with him? We all know that Alice has a crush on him. Not only that, she's been his friend for seven years."

"True love always finds a way!" Alex declared, posing in a dramatic pose. "I've said it before and now I'll say it again: Alex, you're weird." Gaia said.

"Oh, I know that you can't resist me Gaia-dear!" she said flirtatiously, "You really could get away from that ugly bitch Alice."

"What did you just call me?" growled Alice, cracking her knuckles menacingly. Alex shrieked and hid behind Zyphra. "Well, this is certainly ironic," Zyphra commented. Alex was larger than Zyphra, yet she was cowering behind her. "So, did you guys complete a mission?" asked Seth, trying to prevent anything violent from happening. "We did, although I thought we would fail. Guess I was wrong."

"Did you meet any handsome guys? I thought that it's about time that you found someone." Another big mistake for Seth. "IDIOT!" She hit Seth across the face with a Fire Punch. Seth was sent flying backwards. "DON'T THINK ABOUT STUFF LIKE THAT!"

"Are you a lesbian?" This time, Zyphra hit him with an Ice Punch really hard. "Why are women so damn scary..." Seth mumbled before he passed out. Gaia got up and dusted himself off. "Glad to see that you haven't changed, Zyphra."

"No problem Gaia."

"We better get going. Alice, can you carry Seth? Later, guys!"

"Catch you later cutie!" winked Alex. Zyphra muttered something under her breath and dragged her teammate away.

XXXXXXXX

After a few minutes walking, Team Enforcers was standing in front of a large wooden house. "I guess this is the elder's house," said Gaia, "Let's go in." When they got inside, they saw a Torterra with a mass of scars on his face inside. "Are you Team Enforcers?" asked the Torterra. "Yes sir!" said Seth while giving the Torterra a mock salute, trying not to look at his scars. The Torterra raised an eyebrow, "I see. Let me introduce ourselves. I am Trevor, the town elder. I take that you three are aware of the mission."

"We are." said Alice. "Then let me take you to the vault." Trevor started walking away as Gaia, Seth and Alice followed him. They stopped inside a library. "Where's this?" asked Alice. "This is my library, where I keep records of all Grass Pokémon in the world."

"So this is the vault?"

"No, this is only an information room. The vault contains extremely detailed records, for example one's worst fears and weaknesses."

"Okay, then. Where's the vault?" asked Seth. "For security purposes, we cannot show you where the vault is." explained Trevor, "Your job is to stand guard here until tomorrow morning."

"What! This is the worst mission ever!" complained Seth. "You only have to do it at night. Besides, you get free accommodation and food."

"Hooray!" exclaimed Seth, "This is the best mission ever!" He started whooping and cheering and doing some sort of dance. Trevor looked Gaia and Alice, who were trying to conceal their shame. "Your teammate seems, kind of, odd."

"Just ignore him," mumbled Gaia, "He's always been like that."

XXXXXXXX

Team Enforcers exited Trevor's house. They had free time until the sun went down, so they decided to tour the Sage Forest Village. The three of them walked around Sage Forest Village and when they got hungry, they stopped off at a cafe. One of the workers there asked if Gaia and Alice were a couple. This earned him a knuckle sandwich from Alice. After their bellies were full, the three of them walked back to Trevor's house to begin guard duty. Many hours later, when Seth was asleep in one the rooms (Gaia and Alice were standing guard outside the library), he a string tied on his hand being tugged. He bolted up, awake and alert. Aw, man! He silently complained, Is it time already?

PROLOGE VS PAIKUS

Paikus was sneaking through an air vent. His small body was able to squeeze through the narrow spaces. This is just too easy. He thought I can't believe the security here is this lame. So much for wearing those Dark City Night Vision goggles. I bet I could do this in the dark! Paikus almost smirked at this comment. But he had no time for such frivolities. He had a mission to do. When Paikus found the grate that led to the library, he carefully opened it and jumped through. The Elekid landed in the middle of the library, not making a sound. Good, no-one's here. I have to find that file, quick. "Sand Tomb."

What? Sand crept from behind Paikus and quickly towered over him to form a massive tomb of sand. Shit! I didn't plan on this. Paikus was trapped inside. He tried shooting Thundershock attacks at the sand walls, but there was no effect. Suddenly, two holes were formed in the sand walls and a Sableye and a Grovyle ran inside. Seth recognized Paikus instantly. "You!" cried Seth. Paikus didn't waste any time talking, he threw a Sleep Seed like a knife at Seth. The seed hit its target dead on and, with a poof of pink smoke, Seth was lying on the ground, fully asleep. Gaia, enraged, lunged forwards with a Quick Attack and socked Paikus in the stomach. Paikus counterattacked with a Thunder Wave which Gaia dodged with a swift Detect. The two of them rushed at each other, locked fists and pushed each other away, not looking away at least once.

XXXXXXXX

Outside the Sand Tomb, Alice was standing there, focusing her energy to keep the tomb up. She was worried. The intruder was smart and stealthy enough to find a way through the heavily guarded house. If it weren't for Seth's shadow wire traps, the intruder might've stolen some important documents and make the mission and complete failure. Worst of all, there was no knowing how strong the intruder was. Dammit! She thought angrily, Seth, Gaia, you guys better not die in there. If you do, I'll kill you both!

XXXXXXXX

Gaia and Paikus were fighting furiously. They rushed at each other with respective Thunderpunches. Gaia's Thunderpunch was much stronger than Paikus. This was a result of hours of secretive yet intense training at the academy. All students there were encouraged to train whenever there was free time. Gaia and Paikus collided fists. Gaia then shoved Paikus away behind Seth's body. Looks like I've found a worthy opponent after all. Paikus thought. He was about to make his next move when Seth suddenly got up and hit Paikus in the crotch. SMASH!
"OOOOWWWWW!" Gaia used Paikus's extreme pain to kick him in the stomach and whack him on the side of his head, knocking him out. "We're done here. Alice, put down the Sand Tomb!" Gaia cupped his hands to his mouth and called out.

XXXXXXXX

Finally. Alice thought.

XXXXXXXX

The sand receded and Alice was standing there, arms crossed. "Who's the guy?" Then she realised who she was seeing. "That guy...we saw him at the edge of Sage Forest! What's he's doing here?"

"I don't know." said Gaia, "We'll just have to ask him some questions when he wakes up."

"You..."

"Hm?" Everyone turned to the beaten Elekid, who was struggling to get up. "You...guys...WON'T STOP ME FROM GETTING MY REVENGE!" Paikus took out a grey-colored ball from his weapons pouch. Gaia's eyes widened. Crap... Paikus threw down the ball. Smoke instantly filled the air. "Gah!"

"Ack!"

"Urk!" When the smoke cleared, Paikus was nowhere to be seen. Strangely, he hadn't taken anything. "Aaargh!" screamed Alice, "He got away!"

"Yet he didn't take anything." said Gaia, thinking hard, "I wonder why?"

"Well, we can't do anything about him now." said Seth, "I think it's Gaia's turn to have some sleep. I'll take his place." Gaia nodded and left the library for the guest bedroom.

XXXXXXXX

A long away from the house, Paikus was running through the Sage Forest Entrance. He was trying to put as much distance between the Sage Forest Village and himself. Damn that Grovyle! He thought bitterly I won't forget this!

XXXXXXXX

The next morning, Trevor wanted to speak to Team Enforcers. "Did you encounter any difficulties?" he asked. "No." said Alice sleepily. She and Seth had been up all night standing guard. The Gabite was desperately trying to stay awake while Seth leaned on her right shoulder and snored. If the two of them had been awake, she would've pummelled Seth. Trevor looked at them suspiciously. "I see. In that case then, here's your reward: 5000 Poke." He gave Gaia a cloth bag full of 100 Poke coins. "Thank you." said Gaia sincerely, "By the way, are there any hotels nearby? I'm sure my teammates need some well-earned sleep."

"There's one down the road."

"Okay, thanks. We hope to serve you in the future." When Team Enforcers got a room and entered it, Seth and Alice immediately crashed on the beds and slept like the dead. Gaia was left by himself until they woke up. He decided to go for a walk. There were some parts of the Sage Forest Village that he hadn't visited. A while later, Gaia found himself in the southern outskirts of the Sage Forest Village. If we continued south, he would enter the Sage Forest dungeon. He had no intention of doing that, as he heard it was 50 floor dungeon with many traps and high-level Pokemon. "Urgh..." Gaia whipped around to the direction of the voice. It came from some bushes near a large tree. Curious, Gaia went over to have a look. He did not expect what he saw. He saw a Chikorita lying there, clearly unconscious. Gaia instantly recognized who the Chikorita was. Her name was Leala, and Gaia had seen her around during his time in the academy. She was given the nickname 'loner' and true to her name, she didn't have much friends. When it was break time, Leala would just sit in the corner, watching others play. She behaved much like Alice before Gaia and Seth befriended her and added the Gabite to their team.

What happened? Asked Gaia to himself. Did she enter the Sage Forest dungeon and get knocked out? Whatever it was, she definitely needs to get to a hospital. She won't survive out here. He picked Leala's body and left. While walking down the streets of the village, Leala's body caused quite a stir. Some Pokemon though that Leala was Gaia's girlfriend, and had fainted. Gaia shot those thinkers with a 'shut-up-or-you're-dead' look. And shut up did they indeed.

XXXXXXXX

Gaia walked through the doors of the Sage Forest Hospital and went to the front desk. The clerk looked at Gaia holding Leala and smiled at him. "Is she your—"

"No, she is not." interrupted Gaia before the clerk could finish her sentence, "She's a friend, and needs to go into medical care." With that, he gave Leala to the clerk and exited the building. An hour later, Gaia was standing in a queue at a kebab and wrap shop. When it was his turn, he ordered two beef wraps and one chicken. "You're that guy who's in a team with that female Gabite, right?" The Kadabra at the counter was trying to make conversation. "Yeah, so?"

"You also carried that Chikorita to the hospital, right?" Gaia narrowed his eyes at the Kadabra. "What about it?"

"Just how many girlfriends do you have?" Gaia glared at him, punched him on the nose and calmly walked away with his food.

XXXXXXXX

"So, what happened?" Seth and Alice had just woken up. It was around noon. "Oh, nothing much. " said Gaia while handing Alice a beef wrap, "I just walked around town for a while and punched some guy on the nose."

"That sounds like typical Alice behaviour." Alice let out a low growl. "Anyway, didja meet anyone we know?" asked Seth, his mouth full of chicken wrap. "Well, I met Leala."

"Leala, the loner?" Seth and Alice were a bit surprised. "What was she doing out here?"

"She was unconscious in front of the Sage Forest dungeon. I wonder why."

"I don't know either. So are we leaving after we have lunch?"

"Yeah. We'll head back to Treasure Town and get those points applied to our badge. Maybe we'll reach the silver rank this time." Gaia continued eating his beef wrap, then thought of something. "Hey, Seth, how did you not fall asleep when fighting that Elekid?"

"I ate a Chesto Berry before the fighting. When that guy threw the Sleep Seed at me, I only pretended to be asleep."

XXXXXXXX

Leala woke up. The first thing she saw was the white ceiling of the hospital. The second thing she saw was the bed she was lying in. "What happened?" she mumbled dazedly. "Oh, you're awake!" said a Chansey nurse, "Some Grovyle brought you in for medical care. He even paid the fees!"

"Some Grovyle?" Leala's heart began to race. Could it be...? "I think his name was Gaia. He said that you were his friend and you needed to be taken care of." Leala flopped down onto the pillows, a huge smile on her face. Gaia thought her as a friend. Gaia the Grovyle, the one she had always admired but never had the courage to talk to. This day had started out horrible (she had failed her mission) but it just got better. Maybe, just maybe, she had a chance of winning Gaia's heart.

PROLOGE ACCIDENTAL BOUNTIES

A few hours after the whole of Team Enforcers had eaten, they were back at the academy. "I just received an email from Mayor Trevor." Master Dusk was speaking to Gaia, Seth and Alice. "It seems that you have completed the mission successfully. Therefore, I now upgrade your team to the Silver Rank. Congratulations!" There was silence for a few moments, then... "HOOOORAY!" Seth started whooping and cheering and dancing like he had done in Sage Forest. Gaia was punching the air. Alice had a large grin on her face. "Let's celebrate!" shouted Gaia. The other two agreed. They quickly rushed out the front door and made their way Spinda's Cafe. Master Dusk shook his head and smiled.

XXXXXXX

The three of them were sitting in Spinda's Cafe, eating their meals. Gaia was calmly eating his steak sandwich, Alice was munching her way through chilli burger (her clan loved spicy food) and Seth was wolfing down his bowl of spaghetti. Alice moaned in disgust and snatched Seth's fork from him. "Hey, give that back!" whined Seth. Alice gave him a frosty look. "Not until you learn how to eat slowly."

"I need time!"

"Too bad."

"Gimme back my damn fork!"

"NO!"

"Um..."

Gaia turned to the source of the new voice. "Oh, hey Leala. What are you doing here?" The Chikorita blushed a little. "Can I sit with you? All of the other tables are full." Gaia looked around. Sure enough, all the tables were full or partially full. He knew that Leala was shy person and probably afraid to sit in a table full of strangers. Since Leala only knew them, it was logical that she wanted to sit with them. "Sure, why not?" Leala blushed some more and sat down. The four of them continued to eat in silence until Gaia spoke. "Hey Leala, what team are you in?" Leala's face turned red. "I'm-I'm not in any team." Gaia was surprised. "Why?"

"Because no-one wants me in their team..."

"Have you ever tried to join another team?"

"Um, no."

"Well..." Gaia turned to Seth and Alice, "Hey guys, do you know any teams that have two members?"

"I think Team Screw-ups have two members." Said Seth. "But I'm afraid of Psychic Pokemon..." Gaia shrugged. "Then you have face your fears. Alice was once afraid of her stepmother but she got rid of her fears by-mmpphh!" Alice slapped her hand over Gaia's mouth. "That. Is. Our. Secret." She hissed. Then she removed her hand. "Sorry, Alice." apologized Gaia, "Anyway Leala, give it a shot. You might like Zyphra and Alex, even if Alex is retarded in one way or another." Leala smiled. "Thanks Gaia."

XXXXXXXX

After Gaia, Seth and Alice had finished their meal and said goodbye to Leala, they headed back to their house. It was rather late in the night by this point and everyone was tired. Except for Seth that is. "HeyGaiawhatareyougoingtodo? Huhuhuhuh?" He had eaten 5 bowls of coffee ice-cream while at the cafe. Gaia and Alice had tried to stop him, but to no avail. "Areyouguysgoingtosleep? I'mnotgoingtosleep. It'stooearlyforthat! Justdon'tdoanythingwithAlice!"

"For the love of Arceus" groaned Alice tiredly, "Will you please be quiet?"

"SorryI'msoexcitedabouttommorow'smission. BythewayAlice, whydoyoulikeGaiasomuch? ?"

"SHUT UP!" Alice clobbered Seth on the head, putting an end to his caffeine-induced crazy talk once and for all. What Gaia didn't see that Alice was blushing. "Well," she said, "He's knocked out. Let's get him to bed." Gaia nodded. "I'll leave the task to you."

"Wait, what?"

"Goodnight Alice!" He ran to his room and slammed the door shut. Alice frowned and started on her task of carrying Seth to his room, which according to her was rather disgusting.

XXXXXXXX

The next morning...

Seth woke up in his bedroom with a massive headache. "What the hell happened?" he mumbled, "I have a helluva headache."

"You ate too much coffee ice-cream again." said Gaia, who was leaning against the wall.

"Oh," said Seth while picking at a drowsy eye, "Why didn't you guys stop me?"

"We tried, but you resisted. I guess resistance isn't futile after all."

"Sorry about that. What time is it?"

"9 in the morning. Alice and I already have eaten breakfast yet. You better get down quick, or Alice will start breaking things."

"Righto. What's today's mission?"

"There is no mission. We're taking a break today."

"Why?"

"We're still celebrating. After all, we didn't get much time yesterday."

"Oh, all right then. I'd better get some grub, or Alice will kill me."

"WHAT WAS THAT?" shouted a voice from the kitchen.

XXXXXXXX

"Who cooked this stuff?" asked Seth as he poked a piece of bacon with his fork. "Alice did." said Gaia as he drank a cup of water, "Why?" Seth immediately spat the piece of bacon he was eating out. "Are you kidding me? Call the police, this might be poisoned!"

"Seth," said Alice sweetly, "Do you know my clan practises in castration?"

"No." said Seth cautiously.

"Well, when a male offends a female by insulting her cooking, the female takes a pair of rusty scissors, pins the male down and cuts his balls off." Seth started eating his breakfast as quickly as he could.

XXXXXXXX

After Seth had eaten his breakfast, the three of them left the house and walked down the street. "So what are we going to do?" asked Alice. "We are—" started Gaia but he was cut off by a loud voice from behind. "GAIA-DEAR!"

"—running away from an obsessive Grumpig fan girl. Go!" He shot off into the distance, leaving a trail of dust behind. Seth turned around and saw Alex running towards him, her eyes freakily shaped like hearts. "Oh shit. WAIT UP GAIA!" He too shot off into the distance. Alice followed suit. Gaia, Seth and Alice ran down a few streets and alleys until they burst into a large building with a Kecleon's face on it. "Think we lost her?" panted Gaia. "I think so. Are we at Kecleon Mall?" said Alice. Gaia looked around. Kecleon Mall was a large shopping centre owned by the Kecleon brothers. It had virtually everything, from good food to items for teams. "Well, since we're here, why don't we have a look around? We can watch a movie or go shopping or-"

"HEEEEELLPPP!" Gaia, Seth and Alice turned to the source of the screaming. It came from a small corridor. "I'm going," said Gaia while cracking his knuckles, "to earn an accidental bounty. Anyone want to come?" The Eevee was terrified. Her mother had brought her to the mall for shopping, but she had wondered off and gotten dragged into a small corridor. "Please don't hurt me." she whimpered to her three kidnappers, "I don't have anything."

"Aw, don't worry honey," chuckled a Raichu nastily, "We only want to rape you and hold you for ransom."

"Hey douchebags!" yelled a voice from behind, "Why don't you guys pick on someone your own sizes, like us?" The Raichu and his comrades turned around and saw a Grovyle, a Gabite and a Sableye glaring at them. "Finish them," said the Raichu and went back to terrorising the poor Eevee. "Who are they?" Seth whispered. "I think…I think they're called the Rapist's Gang." Gaia whispered back. "The Rapists Gang, The Rapists Gang?" Alice laughed, "You mean the worst gang in entire history? And I actually thought this would be a challenge!"

"I think these guys suck hard." Gaia noted, "Emphasis on hard."

"Hey," shouted an Electabuzz, "We do not suck!"
"You're right," Gaia agreed, "In fact you totally fail!"

"Shut up! We'll crush you brats!"

"Looks like we actually have to fight. I'll take one the Electabuzz on the right." said Alice. "Then I'll have the Marowak on the left." said Seth. Gaia nodded. "Let's do this."
Alice stepped up to her Electabuzz opponent. "You're such a cutie," the Electabuzz winked at her and stuck his tongue out. "Too bad I'm going to have to beat you here. It's nothing personal."

"Right," growled Alice, "When I pick you up and throw you out that glass window, I want you to know that it's nothing personal either." The Electabuzz laughed. "Like you could do that."

"You asked for it." So Alice rushed forward with Agility, grabbed the Electabuzz by the torso and threw him out of a window. "AAAAAHHH!" CRASH! Meanwhile, Seth was facing off his Marowak opponent. The Marowak was swinging his club at Seth, but he was missing every time. "Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah! You can't catch me!" Seth taunted, as he weaved and dodged the Marowak's blows. "Aaargh! Stand still you brat!"

"Time to end this." Seth smirked at the Marowak, then disappeared. "Oh, hell! Where did he go?" The Marowak looked around desperately. CRACK! A solid punch flew out of the shadows and smashed the Marowak on the back of the neck. He fell down unconscious. "Heh, gotta love Shadow Sneak," Seth smiled as he re-appeared. "It's over!" yelled Gaia to the Raichu. "Give yourself up!"

"Never!"

"It's your choice then." Gaia rushed forward with a Quick Attack and punched the Raichu in the stomach. He then threw the Raichu up and sent an Energy Ball attack flying after him. POW!
The Raichu fell down from the air, his fur smoking, and his head banged against the floor. There was silence. "Wow mister!" exclaimed the Eevee, "That was so cool!"

"Who are you?" asked Gaia. "My name's Edina!" grinned the Eevee. Her smile faded a bit, "But I got lost. Will take me back my mum?"
"Sure, why not? But, uh, where is your mum?"

"I think she was at the nice place with the Kecleons!"

"Must be the Kecleon Shop. Okay, we'll take you to your mum."

"Yay! Thank you!" Edina jumped on Gaia and tackled him to the ground. "Get...off...me." groaned Gaia. Seth was killing himself laughing. Alice took her mobile phone out and took a picture of the hilarious scene. Gaia made a mental note to get back at the two of them later. "Mummy!" cried Edina. She ran over to an Espeon and nuzzled her. "Oh my darling Edina!" sobbed the Espeon, "I was so worried."

"These three strangers saved me from the bad men!"

"Hmm?" The Espeon turned to Gaia, Seth and Alice. "Oh, these three. My name is Elizabeth. What are your names?"

"Gaia."

"Seth."

"Alice."

"Thank you Gaia, Seth and Alice for saving my daughter. Please take this as a token of my appreciation." Elizabeth handed Seth a blue stone. "I must go now. Goodbye." She started walking away. "Bye Gaia! Bye Alice! Bye Seth!" said Edina as she followed her mother. Seth fingered the stone between his fingers. "You think this will taste nice?"

AN ANGRY MOB

"No, Seth, you cannot eat this stone."

"But it looks so tasty!"

"It was a present from that Espeon. Would it be respectful to eat it?"

"No, but..."

"You are not eating this stone and that's final." Gaia was arguing with Seth over the blue stone that Elizabeth gave them. "Can I have it?"

"You're going to sell it, aren't you Alice?"

"Damn, how did you know?"

"Because I actually paid attention in biology class."

"What was that?" growled Alice. "Nothing, nothing." Before Seth or Alice could make a grab for it, Gaia shoved the stone into his bag. "Okay, let's go somewhere else. Where should we go?" Alice looked around and saw a clock. It was now 10 o'clock. Apparently beating up the rapists had taken a while. "Let's go and get some ice-cream?" Gaia looked at her. "Ice-cream?"

"Well, why not?" Apart from spicy chilli peppers, ice-cream was one of Alice's favourite foods and she would jump at any chance to get it. "It just seems strange to suggest it out of nowhere. Oh well, let's go and get some ice-cream. How about that stand over there?" Seth turned to the aforementioned ice-cream stand and saw Pokémon buying an ice-cream, eating it and immediately throwing up. "You so sure about that?"

"On seconds thoughts, maybe not."

XXXXXXXX

The three of them found themselves sitting on a wooden bench in a park, licking ice-cream. Gaia had mint, Seth had chocolate (Alice threatened to bash his face in if he ordered coffee) and Alice had vanilla. "Good morning bronze-rank losers, what are you doing out here?" The three of them turned to the source of the voice. It was Don and his teammates, Chris the Charmeleon and Wart the Wartortle. "Why do you care?" asked Gaia. "We don't." smirked Chris, "Tell us anyway."

"We're sitting in the park and eating ice-cream. Are you guys really that dumb as not to figure that out?" Realizing they had just been insulted, Don and his teammates instantly scowled. "Oh yeah, but you're still bronze rank!"

"You so sure about that?" Alice held up her team badge. "See the silver-color in the middle? It means we're silver rank. Now get out of here before I pummel your faces in with my ice-cream!"

"Whatever," Don scoffed, "We can't stand your ugly mugs anyway. Right guys?" Chris and Wart both nodded. They walked away, sticking their tongues out. Seth gave them the rude finger. "Nice talking to you guys too!" Gaia said sarcastically. "What an asshole." grumbled Alice. "I think we already know that." Said Seth. The three of them continued eating the ice-cream in silence. They kept doing that until a certain Kirlia came up to them. "Yo." Zyphra said drawled. "Oh, hey Zyphra. What's up?"

"Master Dusk wants to see you. Dunno why."

"Thanks." Gaia got off the bench, "Okay team, let's go." Seth and Alice got off the bench too. "Say Gaia," said Zyphra as she watched the three of them leave, "Did you send Leala after us?"

"I did."

"Nice work man. Really good job. She fainted two seconds after she met us."

"...Say what?"

"You heard me."

"You can't be serious."

"I am."

"Let's just go already." said Alice, tugging on Gaia's arm. They left the park.

XXXXXXXX

A few minutes later, Team Enforcers arrived at the Academy. Strangely there was a huge crowd of many Pokémon at the entrance. They all seemed to be yelling about something. Gaia, Seth and Alice couldn't through. "What the hell is going on?" growled Alice. She looked around for some familiar faces and spotted a Sneasel with two feathers on her head and a Machamp holding a toolbox full of what seemed to be Apples. Alice went over to the Sneasel. "Hey Janua," said Alice, "What's up?"

"Alice? You're here? Good. You have to come in immediately. Master Dusk is waiting for you."

"That's fine, but what the hell is happening on?" Alice gestured to huge mob of Pokémon, "Why is there an angry mob in front of the academy?"

"Uh, well..."

"What?"

"Do you know about the upcoming expedition?"

"No, we were in Sage Forest for a couple of days. Did we get chosen or something?" Gaia joined the conversation. "That's exactly what happened. You see, all the slots but one had been filled, and lots of other teams wanted it. But Master Dusk put your team in."

"What?" Gaia was puzzled, "There are a lot of other more experienced teams out there. Why did he choose us?"

"I don't know."

"We better go in then before a riot breaks out. Where's Seth?" Alice looked around and saw Seth sitting on the side of the road, having some sort of eating competition with tje Machamp. "Oh, for the love of...I'm going over there. Wait for me." She cracked her knuckles and marched towards Seth. "SETH!" she screamed. "Wah! Alice! What are you doing here?"

"We're going now! Come on!" She started pulling on Seth's arm. "Can't I finish my eating contest with Mitt first?" Seth whined. "NO! Do you want to get diarrhoea again? Or killed by an angry mob?"

"I rather get killed by an angry mob."

"WHAT?"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" He wrenched free of Alice's arm and started walking away. "Wait for me!" cried Mitt. He ran after them. Team Enforcers, along with Mitt and Jauna, weaved their way through the crowd until they saw a Typhlosion with a blue headband. "Leave now!," he barked to the crowd, "Team Enforcers has already been chosen, so don't bother trying to replace them!"

"They're not here yet!" shouted a Pikachu, "So we still have a chance!"

"Actually," said Gaia, "We are here." He turned to the Typhlosion, "Hello, Sensei Embers. He and his teammates all bowed to the Typhlosion. "Ah Gaia, Seth and Alice, you're all here!" Embers glared at the crowd, "Okay, Team Enforcers is here! Leave immediately!"

"You can't seriously be letting these brats into the expedition!" cried a Raticate. Alice immediately had him a choke-hold. "What did you call us?" she roared. "Ack! You're choking me!"

"That's the point, dumbass! Now apologize! No-one, no-one, NO-ONE calls us brats and gets away with it. GOT THAT?"

"I'm...sorry..." Alice immediately dropped the Raticate on the ground. "Thank you. Now, if you'll all excuse us, we have some mission briefing to do." She pushed past Embers and entered the academy. "Is she your girlfriend Gaia?" Mitt teased, "She seems quite the violent one."

"Shut up Mitt."

XXXXXXXX

The mission briefing room was a large room filled with computers, file trays and tables. It was used whenever a big mission or expedition came up. Right now it was used in the way it should be. Team Don was waiting inside (Gaia and Don had a glaring contest). Team Claw, a team made of a Scizor, a Vigoroth and a Zangoose, was also inside. Unfortunately for Seth and Gaia, Team Psyclone (Screw-ups) had also been invited. Alex immediately shrieked and chased after the two boys, but was scared away by Alice motioning a strangling movement. Jauna and Mitt's other teammate, Raydir the Gallade, was also waiting inside (Their team was called Team Super Cool). Raydir, as usual, was wearing a helmet on his head and elbow guards on his elbows Seth immediately jumped on a computer and started trying to find some games. Gaia went up to him and turned off the computer. "Why did you do that?" moaned Seth, "I was having so much fun playing Grass types vs Ghost Types!"

"To prevent you from uploading a virus and erasing some files. You did that at least three times when we were in the academy."

"Those were accidents!"

"Settle down, settle down!" Everyone snapped to attention as Master Dusk and Embers entered the room. "Sir!" all the teams cried and bowed. "There's no need to do that," chuckled Master Dusk, "You have all graduated from the academy, after all."

"I know sir," Raydir began, "But..."

"You haven't changed at all Raydir." The Gallade's face fell a little at this comment. "Why so serious? Lighten up. Anyway, I think we should get down to business. Open your maps." The sound of maps unfolding filled the room. "South-west of Burning Plains, there is a mysterious valley called the Valley Below Wind. Many strong gusts of wind rush down it, making it impossible to explore. However, it is rumoured that these gusts of wind stop every 78 years. "

"And when's that gonna happen?" asked Don. "In five days time. It will take approximately three days to reach the village. Prepare yourselves, get a good night's sleep and meet Embers and I at 6 p.m. Sharp tomorrow morning. Dismissed!"

GETTING PRAPARD FOR EVERYTHING

"So, what are we going to do first?" Gaia, Seth and Alice had just exited the academy and were walking to Treasure Town. Seth was leisurely strolling down the path with his hands behind his back, Alice was serious as usual and Gaia had a slightly feral grin on his face, something that was a bit unusual. Alice noticed the grin on the Grovyle's face. "Gaia, are you alright?"

"Me, oh I'm just feeling excited. Don't worry."

"You're really excited are you?"

"Hell yeah. I mean, we haven't done something this big forever. I mean, we've been doing have been small scale missions. This is our time to shine!"

"But there's always a chance that we'll fail…"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Gaia's grin faded.

"Okay, fearless leader." Seth spoke up, "What are we going to do now?" Gaia turned and looked at the sky. It was now afternoon and the sun was going down, turning the sky a beautiful shade of orange, "Guess that meeting took a while. We need to hurry or all the shops will be closed. Alice, you go to the Orb shop. Seth, head home, pack some supplies and place them in Kangakstan storage. I'll go to the bank and withdraw some money. Then I'll buy some items. Okay, let's split!" The three of them headed in different directions.

XXXXXXXX

Seth unlocked the front door to the house and stepped in. He was going to miss this place. Then again, they would only be gone for at least seven days, three days to get to Valley Below Wind, a couple day of exploring and three days heading back to Treasure Town. Seth immediately hurried to the kitchen and opened the door to the pantry. There were many dungeons in between Treasure Town and Valley Below Wind. This meant that there were Kangakstan Rocks in which food and water could be stored. He took out long-lasting food like instant noodles, beef jerky and cans and put them on a table. He also filled a couple of bottles with clean water. he decided to pack some luxuries, so Seth took a few chocolate and muesli bars and added them to the food pile. Cooking equipment was next. He searched through the cupboards and found some pots and matches. That would be enough. Seth then grabbed a trolley from a storage room, piled all of the supplies on it and ran to Kangasktan storage, hoping that he would make it before closing time.

XXXXXXXX

Alice was waiting in a queue and was bored. She hoped that there wouldn't be much people buying Orbs but she was wrong. I wonder what the others are doing. She thought.

XXXXXXXX

Team Super Cool was in their own base, getting everything organized. "No, Mitt," Raydir calmly said, "You cannot bring a whole toolbox full of apples."

"But why?"

"Because we already have some food stored in Kangasktan storage. Not to mention that apples go off quickly."

"But why?"

"Because bacteria consume the fruit and make it go rotten."

"But why?"

"Are you trying to annoy me?"

"Yes."

"Stop it."

"No."

"You're just like Gaia's other teammate, Seth."

"Seth, huh…" Janua's face turned a bit red. This didn't go unnoticed. "Ooh," said Mitt with a devious grin on his face, "Do you like Seth?"

"No!"

"Really? I think you do have feelings for him."

"N-n-no! I most certainly don't have feelings for him!" Then she realised what she said. "Oh, snap."

"Ha! I knew it! You do like him!"

"Shut up!" Janua blushed again. "Seth and Janua sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"I said, shut up!" Janua's face had turned so red that it could be used a beacon. "Are you two planning to get married? I can just hear the wedding bells!"

"Mitt," said Raydir, "Stop teasing Janua or I won't allow you to date my sisters."

"Okay then. Sorry Janua, it was wrong of me to tease you."

"So Raydir, are you really going to let Mitt date your sisters?" Janua was blushing heavily and was really glad to change the topic. "Of course not."

"Dammit!" cursed Mitt.

XXXXXXXX

Gaia was feeling satisfied. He had beaten Don to the item shop in Kecleon Mall and successfully bought 6 Reviver Seeds and 5 Max Elixirs. It cost him a pretty penny but then again, he had gone to bank and withdrawn quite a fair bit of Poke from Team Enforcers graduation money. As he exited the store, he noticed a poster with a familiar Elekid on it.

Name: Paikus

Bounty: 1000 Poke

Crimes: Attempting to steal important documents from Sage Forest.

So Paikus is now a criminal, thought Gaia, How interesting. I wonder if we'll see him again. Gaia smirked a bit. Paikus had been a worthy opponent and he really wanted to meet him again. The next time we do, I'll be ready. He stopped looking at the poster and ran home.

XXXXXXXX

Hundreds of miles away, Paikus the Elekid sneezed.

XXXXXXXX

"About time." The queue had finally moved enough for it to be Alice's turn. "Give me a Petrify, Foe-Hold, Foe-Fear Orb please."

"That will be will be 1800 Poke please." Said the Sandslash cashier. Alice eyed him dangerously, "Are you lying to me?" She said in a menacing tone. The Sandslash glared back, "No, I'm not."

"Then why are the prices so high?"

"Sorry, prices have gone up. There's a huge demand for these rare orbs."

"Rare orbs? Are you kidding me? These things are as cheap as dirt! You find them everywhere in dungeons!" The Sandshrew just shrugged, "Sorry lady, these are the prices. Take it or leave it." Alice narrowed her eyes at the Sandslash. "Fine, I'm leaving. I'll be sure to tell this to my father." The Sandslash's eyes widened, "Your father?"

"Oh, yes." Alice held up her purple stone. "You do realise what clan I'm from? Do you realise who my father is?" The Sandslash backed away in fear. There was a famous saying around Treasure Town: Anger a Rage Dragon and you Anger Death. "Now, are you going to give me the correct prices on do I have to beat the crap out of you?" She slammed her hands on the counter and gave the Sandslash an extremely nasty smile. "Okay, okay! It will cost you 900 Poke! Please don't hurt me!" The Sandslash was completely terrified right now. Alice handed over the money and smiled sweetly at the cashier. "Thank you, I'll be taking the orbs now." She scooped them into her bag and left. She hated using her clan as leverage, but she hated people who cheated people out of money even more.

XXXXXXXX

"So, you guys get everything done?" Gaia, Seth and Alice were eating dinner (fried rice cooked by Alice) in the dining room of their house. "Eh, carrying the food was boring and heavy; same old, same old." Mumbled Seth through a mouth of food. "Some guy gave me hassle at the counter," said Alice darkly, "I had to scare him a little to get the orbs I wanted."

"Ah, well. You find those sort of idiots every now and then," said Gaia nonchalantly as Don's face popped into his head. "So how did things go for you fearless leader," said Seth while smiling, "Did run into any hot girls like Alice? I bet she wouldn't be happy if you did!" Alice punched him in anger. Seth moaned and used Recover on himself. "No," said Gaia, trying to ignore the fact that his Gabite teammate had punched Seth, "But I did saw a wanted poster of Paikus,"

"Paikus, that Elekid we fought in Sage Forest? He's a criminal now?"

"Apparently so."

"Wow." They continued to eat their meal in silence. "Say," Seth suddenly spoke up, "I wonder how the other teams are doing."

XXXXXXXX

In the base of Team Psyclone (aka Zyphra's house), the aforementioned Kirlia was checking through Alex's bag. To her horror, she found a whole lot of perfume and ribbons in it. "Alex," she said through clenched teeth, "What the hell is this?"

"Oh, those? Those are for making me look good in front of Gaia-dear!" replied Alex happily. Zyphra promptly turned around and threw the perfume and ribbons into a bin. "Noooo! My ribbons!" wailed Alex, "I have to look good in front of Gaia-dear!" Zyphra sighed and shook her head. "Why me?" she muttered.

XXXXXXXX

"Mitt," said Raydir seriously, "Put down that scarf and go to sleep. We have an early start tomorrow"

"Awww…"

XXXXXXXX

"Seth," Gaia said calmly, "Put down that game controller and go to sleep. We need to get up tomorrow."

"Do I have to? I'm nearly up to the final boss!"

"You can play Kingdom Luvdiscs later okay? Preferably after the mission."

"Fine, fine…" Seth turned off the PGS2 (Pokémon Game System 2) and headed off to bed.

"Try not to wake up Alice."

"I know, I know."

XXXXXXXX

Day 1

5 pm

Gaia yawned, got up and stretched. Expedition time. He drowsily thought. He was tired but some coffee would wake him up. He grabbed his bag from the top of his bedside cabinet and stumbled to the kitchen. "Morning," Alice grunted. In her hands was a steaming mug, "Coffee?" she asked. "Two sugars please." While Alice was busy making the coffee, Seth entered the dining room, yawning. "Is it time already?" he mumbled, "Alice, could you make me some coffee too? Three sugars this time."

"Sure." A few minutes later, Alice gave the two boys mugs of coffee and went over to the cookers to start preparing breakfast. "When are we leaving," said Seth, while slurping down his coffee and somehow not burning his throat. If he did burn his throat, he hid it well. Over at the cooker, Alice rolled her eyes and reminded herself that Seth would need a lesson on how to drink coffee. "As soon as we finish breakfast." Alice came over to them with three plates of hash browns, bacon and eggs. After their breakfast, the three of them prepared themselves and left the house for the expedition.

XXXXXXXX

Team Enforcers arrived at the front of the academy at 6 pm sharp. All of the other teams had already arrived. "You're late Gaia!" jeered Wart. Zyphra checked her watch. "Are you sure? I think they're right on time."

"Shut up!"

"AHEM!" Master Dusk cleared his throat. Everyone stopped what they were doing and paid attention. "As of now, the expedition has begun. You should now that we are going to the Valley Below Wind, so plan your routes properly." Gaia opened his map. "I think the closest route to the Valley Below Wind is through the Blue Mountains, then through Burning Plains. Wait, Burning Plains? Aw, crap."

"Any alternative routes?" asked Alice.

"Afraid not. This is the quickest way. Now let's see where the others are goi—" He looked around and saw that only people in front of the academy were them. "Aw, crap. We're late! Come on guys, let's go!"

"What about Burning Plains?"

"Eh, I'll survive it. I hope."

CROSSING THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Gaia, Seth and Alice walked down a rocky path until they reached the base of some mountains. The mountains were called the Blue Mountains and true to their name, they coloured of various degrees of blue. "Wow," said Seth in complete awe, "These mountains are so blue!"

"I never would've guessed," Gaia said, "After all, these mountains are called the Blue Mountains. "Great sarcasm there," Smirked Seth while giving a thumbs-up. "Thank you."

"Let's just go in already," growled Alice, trying to stay on track. "Okay, but let's check our stuff to see if we need anything." Gaia checked his bag. Reviver Seeds, check. Oran Berries, check. Heal Seeds, check. Max Elixirs, none. "Arceus dammit," he growled. He must've lost or forgotten his Max Elixirs back at the base. Well, there was only one thing to do. "Now where's that Kangaskhan Rock," he murmured. After quickly scanning the area, Gaia found the rock nestled in a cluster of boulders. "I'd like two Max Elixirs please." he talked to the rock.

To any Pokémon that wasn't an explorer, Gaia may have been seen as completely crazy. To other teams, he was doing something completely normal. The stone rumbled for a bit and then a hole opened up in the middle of it. Gaia reached inside with a green hand and pulled out two murky-colored bottles with white tags on them. "Perfect." Gaia smiled and shoved the Max Elixirs into his bags. "You ready Gaia?" shouted Seth from behind him. "Just about. Okay, let's move out!" The three of them entered the dungeon.

The first floor was pretty uneventful. They defeated a few Pokémon and grabbed 56 Poke and an Oran berry of the ground. The second floor was eventful. When she materialized on the second floor, Gaia, Seth and Alice found themselves surrounded by various Flying-type Pokémon. Gaia turned on his Detect and slammed a Swablu hard with a Thunderpunch. Seth dove into the shadows with Shadow Sneak, knocked out a Xatu standing a few feet away and returned to his original position. Alice grabbed a Skarmory and threw it into another one. She and Gaia then finished the two of them off with a Dragon Claw and a Thunderpunch. Unlucky for Gaia, a Swellow came by and used Wing Attack on him, sending him flying away. "Yaaaah!" he screamed as he was knocked back. Alice roared and slashed it heavily, knocking it out. "Are you alright Gaia?" asked Seth. "Just about," groaned Gaia as he got up, "I should've been paying more attention." They traversed through the floor and soon found the stairs. On the third floor, Seth had the misfortune (or fortune) of stepping into a Spring Trap. The spring launched the Sableye high into the next floor.

"WAAAAAHHHH!"

CRASH!

Gaia and Alice looked at the trap, shook their heads and then felt the darkness closing in.

They got lucky on the fourth floor as they arrived in the room right near the stairs. There was also a blue berry lying on the ground. "Finally!" cried Seth happily, "I'm hungry!" He picked up the berry and dangled it over his mouth. Gaia recognized what berry it was and panicked. "No Seth," he shouted, "Don't!" Too late. Seth swallowed the berry and smiled. "See, nothing happened!" then he felt something bad in the pit of his stomach. He coughed, gagged and threw up. "I tried to tell you," said Gaia in a 'I-told-you-so' tone, "But did you listen? No. You ate an Oren Berry, not an Oran Berry."

"Oh, shut up!" They walked up the stairs. On the fifth floor, the three of them arrived in a single room. "Where is this?" Gaia asked. As if to answer their question, an Altaria swooped down from the sky and landed in front of them.

"Hey there!" Seth called out, "Do you know where we are?"

"Why, you're in the fifth floor of the Blue Mountains," the Altaria answered with a pleasant smile on his face. "We know that," Alice growled, "Just who the hell are you?"

"Who am I?" the Altaria asked in mock surprise, "Well, I don't really want to tell you three my name. Anyway, you guys three want seconds before I beat the crap out of you all?"

"What?"

"You heard me." With that, the Altaria took aim and fired a wave of Dragon Pulses at the team, knocking them back. Gaia recovered and lunged forward with a Thunderpunch. The Altaria dodged swiftly and let loose a stream of blue fire. He didn't see Seth firing a Power Gem at him. He also didn't see Alice attacking from behind with Dragon Claw. The two attacks sent the enemy skidding along the floor. "Heh. You guys are good," the Altaria laughed hoarsely, "I guess I'll see you all later..." He vanished in a swirl of feathers. "What was that about?" asked Alice with an annoyed expression on her face. "I don't know." mumbled Seth. He was checking his bag to see if anything was stolen. "Well, if we see it again, I'm gonna smash it's face in!"

"Calm down..." On the sixth floor, Alice grabbed a Blue Gummi and 60 Poke before getting attacked by a Staraptor. A Dragon Claw and a Slash finished it off. They moved on, with Gaia finding a Heal Seed. On the seventh floor, Gaia, Seth and Alice encountered a rare Dragonite. It was no match for a triple of combo of Dragon Claw, Power Gem and Thunderpunch. The Dragonite dropped a TM 37: Sunny Day which Seth happily took. On the eighth floor, the three of them quickly found the stairs after walking through some rooms and beating up a Xatu and a Skarmory. Then they finished the dungeon.

The three of them walked down a stone path leading to the base of the mountain. Stopping to rest, Gaia reached into his bag and pulled out his map. "Well," he said, "We've crossed the Blue Mountains. So he have to cross this plain before we reach the Burning Plains dungeon." He sighed, "This is just great." he muttered. "We can take another path," suggested Seth.

"Nah, it's fine. We need to get to the Valley Below Wind as soon as possible." He turned and looked at the sky. It was now night. "Let's find the Kangaskhan rock as soon as possible. We need to eat." They started to walk across the plain. After a while, they found the familiar rock. Seth ran across to it, told it some commands and took three packets of instant noodles and a cooker from it. "Let's eat!" he cried happily. "You forgot the water" Gaia pointed out, "Not to mention the matches too."

"Oh, yeah. My bad." He reached into the rock and those things from it. Seth then dumped the instant noodles into the pot on the cooker, filled it up with water and started heating it with the matches. Two minutes later, the noodles were finished. Gaia, Seth and Alice instantly started eating. After the meal, the three of them decided to go to sleep. "Goodnight Seth. Goodnight Alice." said Gaia as he lay down on the grass.

"Goodnight Gaia. Goodnight Seth." said Alice as she laid down next to Gaia. "Goodnight Gaia. Goodnight Alice." said Seth, "Don't try anything, you two." Gaia had to restrain Alice from pummelling the Sableye.

In a stone room with sixteen statues, fifteen figures gathered there in a circle. "It has been a thousand years since we last gathered like this." an Alakazam declared. "It has indeed," A Froslass replied, "I assume you've called us all here for a specific reason, correct?"

"That is true," the Alakazam said, "Darkness is rising again and we need a new hero."

"And do you know who this hero is?" A Shedinja asked. "I do. His name is Gaia and he will receive the power of the plates and drive away the darkness."

"Gaia, eh?" An Altaria looked thoughtful, "I think I know that guy. I attacked his team in the Blue Mountains."

"Why did you do that?" A Tyranitar questioned. The Altaria shrugged, "I was bored. Anyway, according to what I heard, that kid is heading towards the Valley Below Wind, where my tower is."

"So you're going to challenge him, eh?" A Floatzel smiled. "Precisely. Well, I'm off to get ready. You won't see me again." With that, the Altaria disappeared.

Later... Gaia, Seth and Alice reached the edge of Burning Plains. "Halt!" cried a Arcanine who was blocking their way. "Who are you supposed to be?" asked Gaia sceptically. "Me? I'm a border guard."

"Well, can you let us in?"

"You're a Grass-type. Charging into Burning Plains is suicide! Unless you have a few Reviver Seeds of course..."

"We do have some Reviver Seeds."

"Oh, that's okay then." The Arcanine stepped out of the way, "Try not to end up like that other Chikorita that passed through here." This got everyone's attention. "Chikorita?" asked Seth. "Yeah. A Chikorita came through here. I tried to stop her, but she pushed past me anyway."

"What did she look like?"

"Well, she had an eye patch over her left eye. No other distinguishing characteristic though." Gaia, Seth and Alice took this in. Then they realized the same thing at the same time. "Leala."

"Leala's in trouble!" shouted Gaia, "We have to go in right away!" They pushed past the guard and ran into the dungeon.

CROSSING THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Gaia, Seth and Alice walked down a rocky path until they reached the base of some mountains. The mountains were called the Blue Mountains and true to their name, they coloured of various degrees of blue. "Wow," said Seth in complete awe, "These mountains are so blue!"

"I never would've guessed," Gaia said, "After all, these mountains are called the Blue Mountains. "Great sarcasm there," Smirked Seth while giving a thumbs-up. "Thank you."

"Let's just go in already," growled Alice, trying to stay on track. "Okay, but let's check our stuff to see if we need anything." Gaia checked his bag. Reviver Seeds, check. Oran Berries, check. Heal Seeds, check. Max Elixirs, none. "Arceus dammit," he growled. He must've lost or forgotten his Max Elixirs back at the base. Well, there was only one thing to do. "Now where's that Kangaskhan Rock," he murmured. After quickly scanning the area, Gaia found the rock nestled in a cluster of boulders. "I'd like two Max Elixirs please." he talked to the rock.

To any Pokémon that wasn't an explorer, Gaia may have been seen as completely crazy. To other teams, he was doing something completely normal. The stone rumbled for a bit and then a hole opened up in the middle of it. Gaia reached inside with a green hand and pulled out two murky-colored bottles with white tags on them. "Perfect." Gaia smiled and shoved the Max Elixirs into his bags. "You ready Gaia?" shouted Seth from behind him. "Just about. Okay, let's move out!" The three of them entered the dungeon.

The first floor was pretty uneventful. They defeated a few Pokémon and grabbed 56 Poke and an Oran berry of the ground. The second floor was eventful. When she materialized on the second floor, Gaia, Seth and Alice found themselves surrounded by various Flying-type Pokémon. Gaia turned on his Detect and slammed a Swablu hard with a Thunderpunch. Seth dove into the shadows with Shadow Sneak, knocked out a Xatu standing a few feet away and returned to his original position. Alice grabbed a Skarmory and threw it into another one. She and Gaia then finished the two of them off with a Dragon Claw and a Thunderpunch. Unlucky for Gaia, a Swellow came by and used Wing Attack on him, sending him flying away. "Yaaaah!" he screamed as he was knocked back. Alice roared and slashed it heavily, knocking it out. "Are you alright Gaia?" asked Seth. "Just about," groaned Gaia as he got up, "I should've been paying more attention." They traversed through the floor and soon found the stairs. On the third floor, Seth had the misfortune (or fortune) of stepping into a Spring Trap. The spring launched the Sableye high into the next floor.

"WAAAAAHHHH!"

CRASH!

Gaia and Alice looked at the trap, shook their heads and then felt the darkness closing in.

They got lucky on the fourth floor as they arrived in the room right near the stairs. There was also a blue berry lying on the ground. "Finally!" cried Seth happily, "I'm hungry!" He picked up the berry and dangled it over his mouth. Gaia recognized what berry it was and panicked. "No Seth," he shouted, "Don't!" Too late. Seth swallowed the berry and smiled. "See, nothing happened!" then he felt something bad in the pit of his stomach. He coughed, gagged and threw up. "I tried to tell you," said Gaia in a 'I-told-you-so' tone, "But did you listen? No. You ate an Oren Berry, not an Oran Berry."

"Oh, shut up!" They walked up the stairs. On the fifth floor, the three of them arrived in a single room. "Where is this?" Gaia asked. As if to answer their question, an Altaria swooped down from the sky and landed in front of them.

"Hey there!" Seth called out, "Do you know where we are?"

"Why, you're in the fifth floor of the Blue Mountains," the Altaria answered with a pleasant smile on his face. "We know that," Alice growled, "Just who the hell are you?"

"Who am I?" the Altaria asked in mock surprise, "Well, I don't really want to tell you three my name. Anyway, you guys three want seconds before I beat the crap out of you all?"

"What?"

"You heard me." With that, the Altaria took aim and fired a wave of Dragon Pulses at the team, knocking them back. Gaia recovered and lunged forward with a Thunderpunch. The Altaria dodged swiftly and let loose a stream of blue fire. He didn't see Seth firing a Power Gem at him. He also didn't see Alice attacking from behind with Dragon Claw. The two attacks sent the enemy skidding along the floor. "Heh. You guys are good," the Altaria laughed hoarsely, "I guess I'll see you all later..." He vanished in a swirl of feathers. "What was that about?" asked Alice with an annoyed expression on her face. "I don't know." mumbled Seth. He was checking his bag to see if anything was stolen. "Well, if we see it again, I'm gonna smash it's face in!"

"Calm down..." On the sixth floor, Alice grabbed a Blue Gummi and 60 Poke before getting attacked by a Staraptor. A Dragon Claw and a Slash finished it off. They moved on, with Gaia finding a Heal Seed. On the seventh floor, Gaia, Seth and Alice encountered a rare Dragonite. It was no match for a triple of combo of Dragon Claw, Power Gem and Thunderpunch. The Dragonite dropped a TM 37: Sunny Day which Seth happily took. On the eighth floor, the three of them quickly found the stairs after walking through some rooms and beating up a Xatu and a Skarmory. Then they finished the dungeon.

The three of them walked down a stone path leading to the base of the mountain. Stopping to rest, Gaia reached into his bag and pulled out his map. "Well," he said, "We've crossed the Blue Mountains. So he have to cross this plain before we reach the Burning Plains dungeon." He sighed, "This is just great." he muttered. "We can take another path," suggested Seth.

"Nah, it's fine. We need to get to the Valley Below Wind as soon as possible." He turned and looked at the sky. It was now night. "Let's find the Kangaskhan rock as soon as possible. We need to eat." They started to walk across the plain. After a while, they found the familiar rock. Seth ran across to it, told it some commands and took three packets of instant noodles and a cooker from it. "Let's eat!" he cried happily. "You forgot the water" Gaia pointed out, "Not to mention the matches too."

"Oh, yeah. My bad." He reached into the rock and those things from it. Seth then dumped the instant noodles into the pot on the cooker, filled it up with water and started heating it with the matches. Two minutes later, the noodles were finished. Gaia, Seth and Alice instantly started eating. After the meal, the three of them decided to go to sleep. "Goodnight Seth. Goodnight Alice." said Gaia as he lay down on the grass.

"Goodnight Gaia. Goodnight Seth." said Alice as she laid down next to Gaia. "Goodnight Gaia. Goodnight Alice." said Seth, "Don't try anything, you two." Gaia had to restrain Alice from pummelling the Sableye.

In a stone room with sixteen statues, fifteen figures gathered there in a circle. "It has been a thousand years since we last gathered like this." an Alakazam declared. "It has indeed," A Froslass replied, "I assume you've called us all here for a specific reason, correct?"

"That is true," the Alakazam said, "Darkness is rising again and we need a new hero."

"And do you know who this hero is?" A Shedinja asked. "I do. His name is Gaia and he will receive the power of the plates and drive away the darkness."

"Gaia, eh?" An Altaria looked thoughtful, "I think I know that guy. I attacked his team in the Blue Mountains."

"Why did you do that?" A Tyranitar questioned. The Altaria shrugged, "I was bored. Anyway, according to what I heard, that kid is heading towards the Valley Below Wind, where my tower is."

"So you're going to challenge him, eh?" A Floatzel smiled. "Precisely. Well, I'm off to get ready. You won't see me again." With that, the Altaria disappeared.

Later... Gaia, Seth and Alice reached the edge of Burning Plains. "Halt!" cried a Arcanine who was blocking their way. "Who are you supposed to be?" asked Gaia sceptically. "Me? I'm a border guard."

"Well, can you let us in?"

"You're a Grass-type. Charging into Burning Plains is suicide! Unless you have a few Reviver Seeds of course..."

"We do have some Reviver Seeds."

"Oh, that's okay then." The Arcanine stepped out of the way, "Try not to end up like that other Chikorita that passed through here." This got everyone's attention. "Chikorita?" asked Seth. "Yeah. A Chikorita came through here. I tried to stop her, but she pushed past me anyway."

"What did she look like?"

"Well, she had an eye patch over her left eye. No other distinguishing characteristic though." Gaia, Seth and Alice took this in. Then they realized the same thing at the same time. "Leala."

"Leala's in trouble!" shouted Gaia, "We have to go in right away!" They pushed past the guard and ran into the dungeon.

THE VALLEY BELOW WIND

It was the day after Team Enforcers had arrived at the Valley Before Wind village. Now they were eating the breakfast Alice had prepared in their hotel suite. "Are you sure these toasted sandwiches haven't been poisoned?" Seth asked sceptically. He had forgotten what Alice had told to him a couple of days ago. Alice gave Seth a sweet and evil smile. "Seth, would you like me demonstrate one of clan traditions?" Seth considered this for a moment, remembered what Alice had said before and started eating his breakfast as quickly as he could. He didn't bother to swallow.

XXXXXXXX

Now Team Enforcers were having a walk around the village because they were bored. The village was a very modern one, most of the houses were made of wood and the hotel they were staying in only had a few light bulbs. Seth thought that this was lame. Gaia disagreed; he thought that the fresh air and lack of tarmac was rather refreshing. As they rounded a corner, they saw a Kirlia and a Grumpig staggering towards them, both bruised and weary. It was Team Psyclone. "Holy crap!" Gaia exclaimed, "What happened to you two?" Immediately Alex screamed "GAIA-DEAR!" and went tearing after the Grovyle. Unfortunately, her injuries were too severe and she fell to the ground like a ton of bricks. What the hell...thought Gaia. "We were attacked by a shiny Umbreon..." rasped Zyphra. She too fell to the ground like her partner. "Aw, crud." said Seth. He ran over to the fallen Psychic Pokémon and applied glowing palms to their foreheads. "How are they?" asked Gaia. "They'll be fine. A good night's sleep should fix them up. But..." Seth turned to his leader, "Who do you think that Shiny Umbreon was? Never heard of anyone like that." Gaia shook his head. He didn't know, "Alice, do you know?" Alice closed her eyes and thought for a while. "Yeah...I think I may have heard about her."

"Her?"

"That's right. I think that Umbreon was Nasuada, the Criminal Queen of the Night. She's a very dangerous outlaw, with a rank of 5 stars." Seth clicked his fingers. "Oh, yeah. That' right. I have heard of her. Dammit Gaia, what do we do now?"

"We take the both of them to a hospital. I have a feeling that they won't be joining us for the rest of expedition. Alice, can you carry them?" Alice nodded and slung Zyphra and Alex over her shoulders. "Dear Arceus," she grumbled, "Alex is heavy."

"One more thing," Gaia stated, "When we go home, we won't be going through Burning Plains."

XXXXXXXXX

After Team Enforcers had successfully dumped Zyphra and Alex at the local hospital, they met up with the other teams and Master Dusk. "Hey loser," Don said "What happened to Team Psyclone?"

"Oh, nothing," Gaia said calmly, "We just dropped them off at the hospital."

"You haven't exactly answered my question, idiot."

"They got attacked by Nasauda," Don stared at Gaia in shock. "What?"

"What?"

"Did you say that Team Psyclone was attacked by Nasauda, the Criminal Queen of the Night?"

"I did. So?"

"That's horrible!"

"I'm aware of that. But panicking isn't going to make things better. Besides, we're on a expedition, not a bounty hunt."

"It's good to see that everyone's getting along," Master Dusk interrupted Gaia and Don's conversation cheerfully. Gaia couldn't figure out whether he was being serious or sarcastic, "But now's not the time for idle chatter. We have plans to do. I'm sure that you all know why we're here?" All of the teams nodded, "Good, because the final stage of the expedition starts now! I want all of you to gear up and then enter the Valley Below Wind dungeon. If you see anything remotely suspicious or strange, contact myself or Sensei Embers immediately! Dismissed!" The teams scattered into different directions.

XXXXXXXX

"Oh man, I am so excited! Hurry up Gaia, let's go already!" Seth was bouncing about with excitement (annoying Alice at the same time) and urging the Grovyle to go, as he stood in front of the Kangakstan Rock getting their supplies ready. "Could you please shut up?" Alice scowled, "This is a serious expedition, not one of your video games!"

"I know, I know, but think of the things that we could find! Gold! Jewels! Ancient Artifacts! We could be famous!"

"You do realize that there has been many expeditions to the Valley Below Wind in the past, and all of those failed?" Gaia said. "Damn you, Gaia! Why do you keep ruining my fun!"

"Because this is like Alice said, rather serious." Gaia zipped up his bag and put it on his back. "I'm ready, let's go."

XXXXXXXXX

Team Super Cool were at a local shop, waiting in the queue for supplies. "Do you have any Reviver Seeds?" asked Janua. "No, sorry." said the Arcanine shopkeeper. Janua glared at him, punched him on the nose (causing the shopkeeper to howl in pain) then stalked away angrily. "Was that really necessary?" Mitt questioned when Janua got back to her team. "I'm sorry," Janua sighed, "It's just that it really pisses me off! We don't have any Reviver Seeds! That could mean that we fail the entire mission!"

"Let's ask if any of the other teams have Reviver Seeds." Raydir suggested. So they went searching for the other teams. When they asked Team Claw, the members of that team merely scoffed and told them to get lost. Team Don had already entered the dungeon so that they beat Gaia. When Team Super Cool met with Team Enforcers, Mitt dropped to his knees and begged, "Please Gaia, Seth and Alice, will you give us some Reviver Seeds?" This caused much embarrassment for Janua and Raydir. Gaia, Seth and Alice stared at Mitt with huge sweat drops on their faces. "You know Mitt," Gaia said slowly, "You don't have to do that."

"Sorry, I've always wanted to try that out. Anyway, can we borrow some Reviver Seeds?" Gaia thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He reached into his bag and took out some small yellow seeds. "Here you go."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" Mitt grabbed the seeds with two of his hands and started doing a little dance. More embarrassment for Janua and Raydir. "Uh...yeah, we'll be going now." Team Enforcers entered the dungeon.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, the Altaria that had attacked Team Enforcers in the Blue Mountains was watching the scene and was killing himself laughing. Unfortunately (or fortunately) no-one could hear him unless he chose to. "Oh dear Arceus," he cackled, "That was hilarious! I haven't laughed this hard since that incident with Yuxai!" The Altaria wiped a tear from his eye, "Anyway, it seems those three are entering the dungeon, eh? I better get everything ready? After all, I wouldn't want them to miss it." He disappeared in a swirl of clouds.

XXXXXXXX

The Valley Below Wind Dungeon was, to put it simply, bleak and barren. The treacherous wind currents that usually flowed down here ripped away most plant life. Only a few grasses survived. "Even in a place full of wind currents," Seth noted, "There's still Pokémon."

"Come on Seth," Gaia urged, "Let's go."

"Coming!" The three of them started walking through the dungeon. On the first floor, Alice picked up 45 Poke and got shocked by a Xatu's Psychic attack. Seth defeated it with a Shadow Claw. Gaia found that the Xatu had been concealing the stairs underneath its body. He motioned the others to follow and ran up them. On the second floor, Alice Slashed a Murkrow that had used Wing Attack on Gaia. Seth picked up a Heal Seed that was in the room. After walking down a path south-east of the room they were just in them, they found the stairs room. On the third floor, they fought a Staraptor that landed some heavy blows onto the team. Gaia eventually defeated it with a well-aimed Thunderpunch but it was clear that he was suffering. "Eat this!" Alice tossed Gaia an Oran berry. The Grovyle caught it in his mouth and swallowed it. "Thanks Alice."

"Let's go!" They continued exploring. After a few encounters with some Taillows and finding a Warp Orb, they found stairs and went up them. On the fourth floor, they found the stairs without any incident. On the fifth floor, Gaia took a single step forward when the ground under him caved in. "Whoa!" Gaia instantly jumped back and got into a guarding stance. He then felt rather silly when he saw that some stairs had emerged. "Hidden stairs?" Gaia said, "I guess we better go in."

XXXXXXXX

Team Don had just finished the 25-floor valley below wind dungeon and now they were at the other side of the valley. "Hey," Wart cried, "There's nothing here except a few rocks!"

"Back to the dungeon we go!" Don declared, "We can't let team Enforcers outdo us!"

"Right!"

XXXXXXXX

When Gaia, Seth and Alice emerged from the stairs, the found themselves on the high ground that overlooked the valley. "Where are we?" Alice asked nobody in particular. "Who cares? Check out this slab!" Seth was peering at a nearby stone slab. Gaia was with him, "There's something written on the slab," Gaia noted, "The power of the wind lies within the tower. Huh. Wonder what that means." Gaia reached out a brushed the stone slab with his hand. All of a sudden, the ground began shaking violently. "Gaia," Alice growled, "What the hell did you just do?"

"I didn't do anything!" Gaia looked like a child who had just been caught stealing cookies. "Quite daydreaming you two and run!" Seth screamed.

XXXXXXXX

The whole of the Valley Below Wind was in panic. Well, everyone except for Master Dusk and Sensei Embers. They were trained to handle such situations in a calm and orderly fashion, even though something like this happened once in a blue moon. "What is going on?" Master Dusk whispered.

XXXXXXXX

Team Super Cool was exploring through the tenth floor of the dungeon when an earthquake happened. Chunks of stone dropped from the ceiling and Raydir, Janua and Mitt had to run around to avoid them. "We're leaving!" Raydir shouted and used and Escape Orbs. Pillars of light teleported the three of them out of the dungeon and into relative safety.

XXXXXXXX

Gaia, Seth and Alice were running away when the tremors stopped. Cautiously, Gaia turned around and gaped. "Wow. Look at that!" Seth and Alice turned around and also gaped. A blue tower with carving of Flying-type Pokémon had risen from the ground. It seemed to touch the sky. Seth saw a large inscription on the front of the tower reading: Tower of the Wind. "Dear Arceus," Gaia said in a hushed voice, "This must be the secret of the Valley Below Wind." He turned to his teammates with an excited look on his face. No-one had ever seen him like this. "Come on guys, let's go! We have to find out what's at the top!" They hurried into the tower.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, the Altaria looked down at Team Enforcers with an amused look on his face. It was strange how the young Grovyle reminded him so much a dear friend he once had...

TOWER OF WIND

When Gaia, Seth and Alice stepped into the Tower of the Wind, the first thing they noticed that it wasn't your average mystery dungeon. In fact, it wasn't a mystery dungeon. "Whoa," Seth cried, "Check it out!" They were standing in some sort of main hall. Two statues of Altarias stood on opposite ends of the rooms. There was a large locked door on the far end of the room with two small unlocked doors on the left and right sides of the room. Because there was a hole in the roof, light shone down, illuminating the room. "I think," Gaia started, analysing every aspect of the room, "that this is a normal dungeon."

"A normal dungeon?"

"Yeah." Gaia then began explaining parts of Pokémon history, "You know how there are mystery dungeons everywhere, but hardly any of those large dungeons you hear in myths? That's because when the original mystery dungeon spell was created, there suddenly was a way to create dungeons without much effort."

"So basically the creators of the dungeons got lazy and only created mystery dungeons because it was so easy," Alice deadpanned. "That's pretty much it. But it seems like whoever made this dungeon did go through all that effort. I'm guessing that there are some puzzles in here."

"Does that mean we actually have to use our brains?" Seth said, horrified."Yes."
"Aw, man!"

"Let's check out that door." Alice pointed to the locked door on the far end of the room. They ran over and looked at it. The door had some wings painted on the front and had two locks. "Two locks huh," Gaia muttered, "And there are two doors on the sides of this room. I guessing the two keys are hidden in those rooms."

"Split up?" Seth suggested. "No, it's too dangerous. If we split up it means someone will be solo and a group of two. Without backup, it's likely that whoever goes solo will be taken out by a strong enemy, if there is one."
"Oh…"
"Let's start with the door on the right." The three of them left the locked door and entered the small door on the right. They found themselves in a stone room with separated in two by a large basin. On the opposite end was a key. "There's the key!" Gaia said, "But how do we get to it?" He started to think. Seth took a look around and saw a blue lever on the wall. He went over and pulled it downwards.

CRACKA-BOOM!

It started raining heavily. Actually, 'heavily' isn't the right word. It was pouring as hard as fast running waterfall. In no time at all, the basin was completely filled with water. Seth and Alice gaped at the basin full of water. "How the hell did that happen?" Seth asked stupidly. It wasn't everyday that you saw it rain like a waterfall, not to mention that it actually rained indoors. Gaia didn't respond. He had jumped into the water and was now swimming to the other side. When he got to the other side, he climbed out. Instantly, steel bars rose up behind him, trapping him on the other side. "Oh, crap." Gaia got into a fighting stance. Something or someone had rigged these bars to rise up when he got there. His suspicions were confirmed when a Swellow flew from its hiding place and started attacking the Grovyle. Gaia jumped back and lunged forward with a Thunderpunch. The Swellow dodged swiftly, then smashed an Aerial Ace into Gaia's chest. He was knocked back. "Don't you dare lose to him Gaia!" Alice screamed from the other side of the room. "Yeah! Remember what Master Dusk told us!" Seth yelled. Gaia thought for a while, then remembered what Master Dusk had taught during his time at the academy. "When fighting quick Flying-type Pokemon, go for a feint, then strike it hard!"

"Thank you master." Gaia murmured. He got up and into a fighting stance. The Swellow swooped down with another Aerial Ace. Gaia used Detect to dodge, then slammed a Thunderpunch into the bird's right wing. The Swellow howled in pain and tumbled to ground. Gaia ran up to it and slammed another Thunderpunch into it's left wing. The Swellow let out another cry of pain, then exploded into a bunch of feathers. "What…the…hell." Gaia said. The bars sunk back into the ground. Gaia stared at the feathers for a moment, then grabbed the key. He swam back to the other side and reunited with his teammates. "GAIA YOU IDIOT! YOU ABSOLUTE BLOODY IDIOT" Alice slapped Gaia's face. Hard. "YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED!" she shrieked into his ear. Then she hugged him. "Please don't do that again." She breathed. "Okay, okay," Gaia declared, "I was an idiot back then, you right. I won't do that again."
"Thank you." Alice whispered. "I hate to break the romantic moment up," Seth said loudly, "But don't we have something to do?"
"You're right Seth." Gaia and Alice released themselves from the embrace and followed Seth out of the door.

XXXXXXXX

They were standing in small room on the left side of the large room. A lot of mirrors were propped on pillars. Some were even on the ceiling! There also was a painting of the sun on the opposite end of the room. "Okay Seth, you're the smartest, go and figure out the puzzle."

"Do I have to?" whined Seth. "Yes, you are the smartest." Gaia said "I am not!"

"Yes you are." Gaia remarked, "You got the highest on the I.Q. test last year."

"That does not mean I'm the smartest."

"Yes it does."

"Does not!"

"Seth, go and figure what the hell is up with these mirrors or I'll rip all of your teeth out," Alice growled. She had enough of this pointless bickering. They were on a mission for Arceus's sake! Yet Gaia and Seth were arguing. She would never understand boys. "Okay, okay!" Seth made his way to the pillars. After observing them for a while, he figured out that they could rotate on the spot. "Hmm…I wonder." He walked over to a section of the wall. "This part is cracked. Okay then." He charged up a Shadow Claw attack and slashed the wall, tearing a hole through it. Sunlight shone through. "Ow! My hand!" Seth's hand did not go unscathed by the wall. He quickly used Recover to heal himself. "Now then, let's do this." He grabbed the pillar closest to the wall and turned it around to face the hole. Sunlight bounced off the mirror, travel up to a mirror on the ceiling, went to another mirror on the ceiling and reflected down to another mirror on a pillar, which reflected the sunlight onto a wall. Seth heaved the mirror to face another mirror, which reflected the light back and forth to both mirrors. He then made the other mirror to face the painting of the sun so that the sunlight was shining on the painting. The painting of the sun quickly faded away. A key was left behind. "This place is just crazy," Gaia muttered, watching Seth pick up the key and put it into his bag.

XXXXXXXX

Gaia and Alice were standing in front of the large door back at the main hall. After failing to open the large door by turning the keys one by one, Seth came up with the idea that they should turn the keys all at once. So they did that. After keys were turned, Gaia noticed that the locks were glowing red. "Everybody run!" he shouted. The three of them dived out of the way. They were just in time too. The locks exploded.

KABOOOMM!

The door was blown to pieces. "What is this I don't even…" Gaia moaned before getting up and limping through the newly created hole.

XXXXXXXXX

Now they were in another large room. The walls were coloured sky-blue with carvings of various Flying-Type Pokémon on it. A large door lay at the opposite end of the room. One small door lay on the left side of the room. "That large door is locked," Gaia observed, "And there's no keyhole."

"Where should we go?" asked Alice. "We only have one option and that's the other small door over there. Let's start with that." They entered the small door. The room was small with a treasure chest at the other end. "Ooh, treasure!" Seth exclaimed. "Hehehe…you want my treasure?"

"Who's there?" A Skarmory appeared in a whirl of feathers and smiled maniacally at the three of them. This treasure is mine," he giggled, "But you can try and take it from me, if you dare…"
Iron bars covered the door behind them, preventing escape. The treasure chest sunk into the ground and disappeared. Gaia, Seth and Alice got into fighting stances. "Hehehe…let us begin." The Skarmory flapped his wings and sent a wave of a sharp objects at the ground. "Spikes..." Gaia whispered. This was going to get ugly. "HEHEHE! TAKE THIS!" Skarmory flapped his wings again and called up a massive whirlwind attack, sending Team Enforcers lying away. Gaia and Seth crashed into a wall. Alice was thrown to the ground. The spikes prodded her hide, but it was too thick to do much damage. It still hurt though. Alice felt like that needles were poking through her skin. "Grrr…" She got and lunged at the Skarmory, but another Whirlwind sent her flying into a wall. Seth got up and thought. The Whirlwind was strong enough to send the three of them flying, so the only option, he thought, was to make them heavier. Glancing around, he noticed three large rocks on the floor. He walked over and picked up one. "Gaia! Alice! Pick up these rocks!" Seth called. "Why?" Alice called back.

"Just do it!" Gaia and Alice made their over to the rock pile and picked up a rock each. The Skarmory tried to blow them away with his Whirlwind but because the three of them were holding heavy rocks, they were too heavy to be blown away. "HAHAHAH! You guys are pretty good! But can you take this?" The Skarmory swooped down with a wing glowing white. It was a Air Slash attack. In retaliation, Alice lobbed her rock at him. "Haha! You missed!" His words were cut off as the rock, thrown by Gaia, smashed into his body. Gaia, Seth and Alice run up to the fallen Skarmory and attacked him with Thunder punches, Slashes and Power Gems respectively.

"Ow, Ow, Ow!"

After enduring a minute of this brutal treatment, the Skarmory couldn't take it any longer and burst into silver feathers. The iron bars sunk back into the ground and no longer blocked the door. The treasure chest rose into sight. Gaia went over and opened the chest. Inside were three stone braces. "This is the treasure?" Seth asked sceptically. "There's something written on the inside of the chest," Alice said, "It says: Up is down and down is up." She took a look at her brace. There was part of it that could slide up and down. "Let's give it a try," She slid that part of the brace up. Instantly, she felt something press down on herself. "What the hell?" she cried, "Why do I feel so heavy?"

"You feel heavy?" Gaia asked, surprised. "Yeah! All I did was move part of the brace up!"
"Okay, this place is just crazy. Oh well, let me try." This time Gaia moved the brace down. He felt himself rise from the ground. "Whoa! I'm flying!" Then he landed on the ground. "I guess not…" he said disappointedly, "But maybe." Gaia jumped up. He felt himself rise into the air and slowly descend to the ground. "So this thing increases and decreases gravity." He stated. He switched the brace back to its normal position. "That's nice," Alice growled, "But the thing is, I think I'm going to fall through the floor because I'm so damn heavy!"
"Sorry." Gaia walked over to Alice and switched her get her brace back to normal.

XXXXXXXX

"Hey, the lock is gone!" Gaia, Seth and Alice were standing in front of the large door. Seth had just noticed that the lock was missing, despite the fact that Gaia and Alice had pointed this out ten seconds earlier. "Thank you Captain Obvious." Gaia said calmly. "No problem fearless leader!" Seth smiled while giving him a thumbs-up. "Shall we go in?"
"Yeah!" Gaia shoved the double doors open and stepped into the next room. Seth and Alice followed. They were now in a room with a weak air current flowing up through the room. "What do we do now?" Seth shouted. "Make yourselves go light! We're going up!" Gaia switches his brace to 'light' mode and floated up. Seth and Alice did the same. It was a strange feeling, being as light as air. The three of them rose through the floors of the tower, seeing many carvings and statues of Flying-Type Pokémon. When they reached the top of the tower, they found themselves face to face with the Altaria that had attacked them at Blue Mountains. "Hello there," the Altaria said, "At the risk of sounding clichéd, I've been expecting you guys."

VS UNNAMED ALTARIA

"Hey!" Seth cried, pointing his finger, "You're that Altaria!" The Altaria looked offended. "Hey, I have a name you know!" he objected. "We don't care," growled Alice. She glared at the Altaria, "Just who the hell are you?"

"And why did you attack us in the Blue Mountains?" Gaia continued. The Altaria shrugged. "Well, you could say I was bored."

"You were bored?" Alice shrieked, "You attacked three of us just because you were bored?"

"I did have some sort of business to do. Besides, it is awfully boring cooped up in this tower all day. There isn't any television. Anyway, all conversation aside, are we going to fight."

"Fight?" Gaia, Seth and Alice were confused by this, but nevertheless they got into fighting stances anyway. "Of course. The only reason you three are here is because of my treasure, right? That would make me the guardian of this tower. And as all stories and myths go, you three have to fight me to get my treasure. So let's start."

"Wait a minute," Gaia interrupted, "Just what are you?"

"Didn't your teammate ask that question before?"

"No, she asked who are you. I'm asking what are you. Two different things."

"Me? I'm a dead spirit anchored to this world to protect this tower for a reason." The Altaria grimaced, "Me and my big mouth," he growled, "Oh well, it's not like you guys will figure out why I'm anchored to this world or why I'm the guardian anyway. Prepare yourselves." The Altaria leaned back, opened his mouth and let loose a massive blast of blue flame. Gaia, Seth and Alice jumped out of the way to avoid it. "Power Gem!" The gems on Seth's body glowed and shot out gem-shaped beams, all heading for the Altaria. "Protect!" The green shield appeared around the Altaria and blocked the gems. The Altaria grinned and started swaying his body from side to side, as if he was dancing. "Look out guys," Gaia cried, "It's a Dragon Dance attack!"

"Correct, kid. Can you survive this?" The Altaria hovered in the air and flapped his wings at an incredible rate.

WHOOOOOOSSSHHH!

It was a massive Whirlwind, ten times stronger than the one produced the Skarmory they fought earlier. Luckily Team Enforcers managed to switch their braces to 'heavy' mode before they were thrown off the tower. The Altaria stared at them for a moment. "You guys managed to find the Gravity Braces?"

"These things are called the Gravity Braces?" Gaia asked. "Yes. Pretty cool name, huh?"

"Is this some sort of game to you?" Alice growled. The Altaria shrugged. "It could be." He opened his mouth let loose another stream of blue fire. The three of them switched their braces back to normal and jumped out of the way. When the fire cleared, the Altaria was nowhere to be seen. "Where did he go?" asked Seth, looking left and right. "Sky Attack!"

"What?" Seth looked up and saw the Altaria firing a massive blast of air at them.

KABOOOOMM!

The blast of air crashed in the ground next to them and created an explosion, sending the three of them flying away and creating a hole in the ground. Aargh, Gaia thought as he slowly got up, The way this is going, we'll all be killed. This guy isn't just strong, he's fast too! I need an Oran Berry. But when Gaia reached into his bag, to his horror he found that everything in his bag was gone! "Heh. You want an Oran berry, do you?" the Altaria taunted with a cruel smirk, "I'm afraid that's impossible now. This tower has a curse that prevents any items from being bought in." Shit… "Dragon Pulse!"

"Gah!" Gaia swiftly dodged to the left and the red and blue beam narrowly missed him. He looked up and saw that the Altaria was still in sky. I've got an idea... Gaia switched his brace to 'light' mode. When the Altaria shot his next Dragon Pulse at him, he sidestepped to right, leaped into the air and slammed a fist charged up with electricity into the Altaria. "Take this!"

"Yowch!" The Altaria howled in pain and dropped to the ground. Alice, watching the whole thing, ran forward with a Dragon Claw attack and slashed the Altaria's left wing. Seth followed with a quick Shadow Claw to the Altaria's right wing. The Altaria slowly got up, wincing with pain all the way, and flapped his wings. A strong Whirlwind blew. But due to the lack of stamina, the Altaria couldn't blow as hard as he could before. Gaia and Alice switched their braces to 'heavy mode' but Seth switched his brace to 'light' mode and jumped over the whirlwind. When he was directly above him, Seth switched his brace to 'heavy' and dropped like a lead ball onto the Altaria, pinning him to the ground. He then took off the brace, laid it on top of the Altaria (so he wouldn't escape) and blasted him with Power Gems. Gaia and Alice ran forward and smashed him with Thunder punches and Dragon Claws. "Okay, okay!" shouted the Altaria, "I surrender!" Gaia, Seth and Alice stared at him for a moment, not dropping their fighting stances. "Wow, you guys are good. Looks like I made the right choice after all," the Altaria chuckled, "I wasn't going to surrender, but I think I'll change my mind. Here you go, kid. You can have your Gravity Brace back." The Altaria tossed the brace towards Seth, "Heheheheh... you've won. I really enjoyed that fight." the Altaria laughed. This guy really thinks it's all a game…Gaia thought. "It's a fitting end for me, being defeated by a bunch of kids. Each generation catches up to the last, huh? Anyway, take my treasure. You've earned it." The Altaria flapped his wings and chanted a spell. A sky-blue stone plate appeared in mid air in some sparkles and floated to Gaia. He grabbed it. "That's the Sky Plate," the Altaria said, "This is the treasure of the tower. I'll also let you keep the Gravity Braces, as a reward for defeating me."

"Wait." Gaia said. "What?"

"You said that you made the right choice earlier. What do you mean by that?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the Altaria smirked, "You kinda remind me of my best friend. He was just like you, y'know? He was so strong. Anyway, I can feel death creeping up on me. Since I'm so nice, I'll also give you three an Escape Orb to leave the tower. I guess I'll see you all in the afterlife." Laughing, the Altaria disappeared in a whirlwind of feathers. A blue orb was left behind. There was silence. "Well," Seth remarked, "That happened." Alice took the Sky Plate from Gaia and studied it closely, "What do you think this thing does? It just seems like a slab of rock to me."

Suddenly, the whole tower began shaking. "What the hell?" Gaia gasped, "Did this guy rig some sort of self-destruct mechanism?"

"Oh crap," Seth cried, "The tower's collapsing! Quick Gaia! Use that Escape Orb!" Gaia shoved the Sky Plate into his bag. He ran at the blue orb and activated it. In three bursts of light, Gaia, Seth and Alice disappeared from the tower and re-appeared at the front entrance. "Run!" Alice shouted and began running across the plain. Gaia and Seth didn't need any further encouragement and ran after her. They ran for their lives, putting as much distance from the tower as possible.

BOOOOOOMMMM!

A sudden shockwave threw them off their feet. They collapsed on the ground. After a while, Gaia staggered up and looked behind him. The tower had been reduced to rock and rubble. A lot of archeological importance had probably been lost forever. But Gaia didn't care at this point. He was far too tired. He was asleep before he even hit the ground. "There they are!"

"Quick, let's get them to a hospital!"

"Do we have to?"

"Yes!"

XXXXXXXX

"Mpphh…" Gaia opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling. He looked down and saw some sheets of a bed He turned to his side and saw Seth and Alice, each in beds. Apparently they were in some sort of hospital. "Hey," Gaia croaked, "Are you guys alright?"

"Just really tired," Alice moaned back, "Have you still got that plate?" Gaia looked to his right and saw his bag. Hurriedly he grabbed it and searched through it. After some rummaging, he found the Sky Plate and took it out. "Wow," Seth said. "We are awesome." Gaia declared, holding the plate towards the ceiling.

XXXXXXXX

A Magmortar, a Froslass and a Shedinja were meeting in a forest. "So Aeros has died, huh?" the Magmortar stated, "That lucky bastard."

"Be patient Wes," Froslass scolded, "Our time will come."

"Shut up Yuxai."

"Where's the Leafeon?" the Shedinja asked. "She's crying over his grave."

"I see. Shall we send out that Gengar?" The Shedinja spoke 'Gengar' with a clear tone of pure hatred. "You really do hate him, do you?" Yuxai remarked, "We will send 'that Gengar' out. It's time that we put that kid to the test."

Completely unrelated skit I thought up.

Two years ago...

Gaia and Seth were visiting Alice at her house. Gaia had gone to train with Alice out back and Seth was having a snack. "Hey, you're name is Seth right?" Seth turned around and saw two female Gibles looking at him.

"Are you two Alice's siblings?" Seth asked. "We're cousins, actually. But can you tell us about what Alice was doing?"

"Doing what?"

"Last morning," the second Gible spoke up, "We found a wet spot on Alice's sheets. We asked her about it, but she didn't answer." Seth instantly knew what had happening. Alice had had an erotic dream about someone and produced some liquids. "Well, you see kids, when a man and a woman get together they..." Seth sat down and started explaining the facts of life to Alice's cousins. Big mistake. Gaia and Alice were busy sparring in the back courtyard. Being a high-ranking of the Rage Dragon clan, Alice's father was quite rich and could afford a large house. "Alright Alice," Gaia smirked, "Let's do this!" Suddenly, Alice's cousins burst into the courtyard. "Alice, Alice! Is it true that when a man's penis enters a woman's vagina a baby is formed?"

"And is it true that sometimes you've been having erotic dreams about Gaia?" Gaia and Alice's faces both turned deep red. Gaia never knew that Alice sometimes had erotic dreams about him. Come to think of it, she didn't knew that sometimes he had erotic dreams about her! "Who...who...who told you about this?" Alice cried in a voice that was slowly becoming a scream. "That nice Sableye did!" Alice stared at her cousins for a moment. Then she inhaled and exhaled and...

XXXXXXXX

Seth was just about to enjoy a nice can of lemonade when he heard the kitchen door being broken down. He dropped the can in fright. Alice stood behind him, her eyes positively blazing with fury. "Wah, Alice!"

"SETH!" she screamed, "HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING MY COUSINS ABOUT THE FACTS OF LIFE?"

"Um, Alice?" Her two cousins and Gaia appeared behind her, "Are you going to beat that nice Sableye up?" Alice turned around and gave the three of them a sweet smile, "Don't worry you two. I'm now going to give both of you a lesson on fighting!"

"Oh yay! I love fighting lessons!" Alice's cousins were jumping for joy. "Alrighty then, let's start." She turned to Seth, her eyes blazing with fury again, "YOU WILL PAY!" She charged at him and...

CENSORED.

XXXXXXXX

When Master Dusk learned that his Sableye student had been put into the hospital in critical condition by his angry Gabite teammate, he only sighed and covered his face with his hands.

ITS GRADUATION TIME!

"Hnnnggg…" Gaia yawned and opened his eyes. A whole week had passed since their adventures at the Tower of the Wind. The Sky Plate had been taken in by the academy for analysis but Team Enforcers were allowed to keep the Gravity Braces, since they had no archaeological importance. "I better get some breakfast." Gaia said to himself. He got out of bed and opened the curtains. Light flooded into his room. He then headed downstairs to the kitchen.

XXXXXXXX

In another part of Treasure Town, namely Master Dusk's Fighting Academy, a Glameow was snoring peacefully in her bed. That all stopped when her alarm clock rang.

BRRRIINNNGGG!

The Glameow rolled over to her side and pressed the stop button the alarm clock. "Is it time already?" she mumbled groggily. She pushed the covers off her and got up. Her name was Fau and she was seventeen years old, which was the age most explorers graduated. Fau was one year younger than Team Enforcers. "I must not fail like last time," she told herself, "I will not fail like last time. Iw will pass the graduation exam and become a full-fledged explorer." It felt a little silly talking to herself, but she did feel a bit better. Satisfied, Fau exited her room and made her way to the mess hall.

XXXXXXXX

"So, it's graduation day, huh?" Gaia, Seth and Alice were sitting at the table, eating bowls of oatmeal. For once Seth decided to use his brain and not comment about Alice's cooking. "I remember our graduation exam," Alice said, stirring her oatmeal with a spoon. "Oh, yeah!" Seth smiled, "You barely passed the written exam by two marks!" Alice shot him a glare. "And you Seth," Gaia stated, "Completely failed the cooking part of the skills exam. If I remember correctly, the examiner was throwing up for a whole hour."

"Yeah, well, that's why I leave Alice to do the cooking! Besides, I aced the fire making part, right?"

"I liked the physical exam." Alice recalled. "Because you pounded your examiner into submission? And the fact that you were smiling creepily the whole way?" Gaia asked. "Mostly. He tried to hit on me before the exam."

"So he totally got what was coming to him." Gaia slurped the last of his oatmeal down his throat and got up. "Hurry up you guys. Master Dusk is waiting for us."

XXXXXXXX

The Master Dusk's Fighting Academy graduation exam consisted of three parts: fighting, intelligence and skills. The physical exam had you fighting against an already graduated member. The skills exam requested you to demonstrate the various skills of living away from civilisation, such as cooking food or making fire without using any moves. The intelligence (or written) exam involved your answering as much questions in 40 minutes. There were 200 questions and each one increased in difficulty as they increased in number. Only one person had ever finished all questions and that was Seth. Even so, half of his answers were wrong. He had also cheated. Team Enforcers had been picked as one of the examiners, since they had already graduated and they wanted the extra 50 points. "Has the physical exam started?" Seth asked. They and Team Super Cool were sitting outside the written examination room. Team Don and Team Psyclone were out on missions. "Not yet," Raydir replied, "Calm yourself. It's still the written exam."

"That's boring…"

"Shut up."

XXXXXXXX

Fau was having a glorious time here. She had studied intensively for the last two months and knew most of the answers. There wouldn't be enough time to answer all of the questions, but she thought she could at least answer half of them. She was up to the forty-fifth question.

How do you defeat a Shedinja? (2 marks)

What an easy question. Fau wrote down: 'Attack it four times with normal attacks or use any sort of Dark, Ghost, Fire or Flying type , use any sort of attack item.'

XXXXXXXX

Next was the skills exam. To pass it, all of the examiners had to cook a pot of half-decent chicken curry over a fire they had to create themselves. It wasn't a hard exam, and only the stupid would fail it. Gaia and Alice didn't have any problems tasting their pots of curry. Unfortunately for Seth, his examinee was stupid. Seth was given as bowl of curry that was black as night. It smelt of burnt toast. "Do I have to eat this?" Seth asked Sensei Embers. "Yes, you do."

"But it looks poisonous!"

"It's in the rules. For all you know, it could taste nice."

"I highly doubt that." Seth muttered as he spooned some of the burnt curry to his lips. He braced himself and instantly, his face turned a sickly shade of green. "Aaargh!" Seth choked, "This tastes horrible!" He spat the burnt curry out into a bowl and put two fingers down his mouth to force himself to throw up. "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! Someone call an ambulance!"

"Overkill, much?" Gaia muttered as he watched Seth hurl his guts out.

XXXXXXXX

Fau nervously handed her bowl to Raydir. She had tried her best, but she was still worried that she would fail. You had to pass all three exams to graduate? What if she failed? She wasn't a very social person and failing the graduation exam meant being teased for another whole year. "This is good," Raydir said calmly, making Fau jump out of her thoughts, "You pass." Fau sighed with relief.

XXXXXXXX

"Okay, it's now time for the physical exam." Sensei Embers was addressing all of the graduates with Team Enforcers, Team Super Cool and some other teams at his side. "All graduates must now reach into this white cardboard box," Embers held up a white box, "And pick out a name. You will be facing that person for the exam. Please be aware that you do not have to defeat that person; whether you pass or not will be judged on how well you fight that person. I will now come around with the white box." Fau was extremely nervous. She had heard that Team Enforcers and Team Super Cool were strong. If she failed this exam, she would fail entirely.

What Fau most feared was Alice. The Gabite had beaten Fau up because she said that Gaia couldn't do a hard mission. They were 13 at the time. She heard that Alice could control her temper most of the time, but she was still scared. The box came around to her. Trembling, Fau put a paw into the box and took out a folded up piece of paper. Unfolding it carefully, she stared at the name on the sheet: Gaia. Relief flooded over her. She actually liked and respected Gaia, unlike his two other teammates (Seth had played a prank on her when they she first came, and she had avoided him since). "Fau, you'll be fighting Gaia after Yuna's fight. Please wait here until I call you." Embers said.

XXXXXXXX

"Would Fau and Gaia of Team Enforcers step into the fighting arena, would Fau and Gaia of Team Enforcers step into the fighting arena?" Embers called. Fau's stomach tightened. This was it. Time to show the world what she was made of. She walked into the arena and faced off her opponent. "Don't hold back," Gaia said simply. "I won't," Fau replied. "Begin!" Embers commanded. Fau immediately threw a Sucker Punch. Gaia dodged it and countered with an Energy Ball. Fau responded by lunging forwards with a Shadow Claw and dispelling the Energy Ball by slashing it. She then attacked Gaia with the Shadow Claw on her other paw. Gaia blocked with a Thunderpunch. Smirking, Fau smashed the other Shadow Claw on her previous paw into Gaia's stomach.

The Grovyle screamed in pain and staggered back. "Nice feint." he gasped, "But now it gets serious!" He used Agility to make himself faster and ran towards Fau at incredible speed. One moment he was on the other side of the arena, the next he was in Fau's face, slamming a Leaf Blade into her flank. Fau was sent flying away. She landed on the opposite side of the arena. "Come on," Gaia said, "I know you can do better than that." He rushed forward with another Leaf Blade, but Fau was ready this time and she sent out rays of psychic energy. "No way," Gaia moaned before he slumped to the ground and fell asleep. "The winner is Fau!" Embers declared, "She passes!" Fau felt like she could jump for joy.

XXXXXXXX

Master Dusk was addressing the students who had passed all three exams at the assembly hall. "I hereby declare that Fau the Glameow is now an official explorer. Master Dusk said, "Would Fau please come up and receive her official badge?" Fau walked up to the front and Master Dusk handed her a badge. "Congratulations Fau, you've graduated!"
It was happiest moment in Fau's life before her mother had passed away

XXXXXXXX

Fau was packing all of her things into a suitcase. She would be moving out of the academy and into a small apartment Master Dusk gave her. He could afford it, as only a couple of students passed each year and the fact that he gained 70% of all exploring profits. Someone knocked on the door. When Fau opened it, she was surprised to see Gaia standing there. "Hi," She said. "Hi." Gaia replied, "I'm just here to say congratulations on graduating. After all, you did beat me."

"Um, thanks?" Fau wasn't sure how to reply. "No problem. What team are you in?"

"I'm not in any team..." Fau said, her face going a bit red from the embarrassment."

"Wow, really?" Gaia closed his eyes and started to think. When he opened them, he spoke, "Do you know someone called Leala?" he asked. "The loner?"

"I'd like it if you didn't call her that. Anyway, he's without a team, just like you. I was thinking whether or not you'd like to join her?"

"Join Leala?" To Fau, this sounded like a good idea. Leala wasn't larger than her which meant that Fau wouldn't be scared of her and her Grass-type attacks would be useful in many dungeons. "That sounds good. I'll think about it."

"Great. I've got to go now, there's an important mission I have to go on." With that, Gaia left Fau's room.

XXXXXXXX

Many hours later...

A Shiny Umbreon and a Pikachu with star-shaped mark on his forehead were walking down a forest road. "Are you sure this path leads to Temple of the Ancients?" the Umbreon asked. "I'm pretty sure," the Pikachu replied, "I checked Pokeworld Earth, so it should be very accurate."

"Nice work Kika," the Umbreon complimented. The two of them rounded a corner and saw a Grovyle blocking their path. "Who are you?" the Umbreon asked curiously. "Are you Nasuada, the Criminal Queen of the Night?" the Grovyle asked back. "So what if I am?"

"I'm here to arrest you." the Grovyle got into a fighting stance. Nasuada smirked, "Are your two friends hiding in the trees also here to arrest me?" Damn. How did she know? Oh well, no hiding now. Gaia put two fingers to his lips and blew. From two trees jumped out Seth and Alice. "Now that you three know me," Nasuada said, smiling, "Would you mind telling me who you three are?"

"We are Team Enforcers!" Alice growled, "And we are here to arrest you!"

"Team Enforcers, eh?" Nasuada grinned, "I've been meaning to face you in combat for quite some time. I assume you're Alice, and your two teammates are Gaia and Seth? Well, this should be rather entertaining. It was getting boring walking down this path. Bring it on!" She charged forward with a Quick Attack directly aimed at Gaia...

VS NASUADA AND KIKA

"Hehehe, do you three really think you can beat me?" Nasuada boasted, "I am the Criminal Queen of the Night. I have taken down Platinum Rank teams all by myself. You guys have no chance." Seth put his hand up. "Can we try anyway?"

"Sure, why not? Let's go Kika!" With that, the two of them launched themselves at Team Enforcers. "Seth, Alice, take the Pikachu," Gaia ordered, "I'll deal with Nasuada!" Seth and Alice nodded and ran at Kika. Nasuada opened her mouth, showing off rows of sharp teeth and tried to bite down of Gaia's arm. Gaia used Detect to see the attack and dodged to the right, then threw an Energy Ball. A green shield formed around Nasuada and dispelled the Energy Ball. Gaia could see the smug expression on Nasuada's face. "Don't get too cocky," he growled. He glared the criminal queen until she put down the shield. Then he charged the leaves on his arms with nature energy and charged at Nasuada. The Umbreon emitted a stream of darkness from her body and lunged forward. She got quite a surpise when Gaia ran past her. She got an even bigger surprise when Gaia suddenly turned around and up-slashed his Leaf Blade right on her backside. Nasuada was knocked into the air. She quickly regained her balance mid-air and landed on the ground, staring at her opponent the whole way. This should be really fun. She thought devilishly, using Moonlight to heal her wound. She charged forward again.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Seth and Alice were fighting Kika. The Pikachu had boosted his speed with Agility and was very quick. "Stand still will you!" Alice growled, swiping her claws at Kika. "Nope, sorry!" replied Kika, giving her a smile. This only made Alice even more angry. "I'LL KILL YOU!" she roared. She began ran forward with a Dragon Claw attack which Kika dodged and countered with an Iron Tail. It hit her on the side of her face, whacking her backwards and leaving a wound. "Focus Alice!" Seth shouted, "He'll only use your anger to your advantage!" Seth's right! Alice thought suddenly. Instantly she calmed down and actually used her brain. I can't let this idiot set the pace. I have to remain calm and think about this. She began to think hard. The Pikachu can't use any Electric-type attacks on me, but there's a high chance he'll know some sort of TM move. What can I do? Dig? Too long. Dragon Claw? Might miss. Sand Tomb? That's it! Calling up her power, Alice clapped her hands together and soon a wave of sand had risen around Kika's feet. It soon covered his entire body except for his face. "How did you do that? You don't have any sand on you!" Kika choked out. The sand was really tightening his body. He felt as if he was going to faint. "I used the minerals in the ground," Alice explained, "Sand is made of the same minerals earth is made of. You're finished."

"Oh yeah?" Kika opened his mouth and shot out a wave of light-blue coloured orbs at Alice. They hit its target dead on, knocking Alice back into a tree and rendering her unconscious. "ALICE!" Gaia and Seth shouted, both horrified. "Don't get distracted!" Nasuada laughed as she unleashed a wave of purple orbs at Gaia. He managed to dodge most of them, but some hit him.

"Hidden Power Ice?" Seth growled, furious at what happened to Alice, "You sick, sick bastard! That was low!"

"Meh," Kika shrugged, "All's fair in love or war, as they say." He gave Seth a cheeky grin. "That's it! I'm gonna make you pay for hitting a female teammate. Even though I do sometimes wonder if Alice actually is female, but anyway!" He disappeared into the shadows, leaving Kika stunned. "Crap! Where did he go!" His words were cut off as a fist slammed into him at the back of his head, knocking him out. Seth emerged from Kika's shadow and kicked him in the balls before spitting on him. "You deserve to die." he growled before running over to Alice's unconscious form. He had to heal her. Gaia and Nasuada were still fighting. "You're very tough, little Grovyle," Nasuada remarked, "Can you survive this?" She opened her mouth and a massive glob of darkness began forming inside it. "Dark Pulse," Gaia whispered. He would be finished if he got hit by it. He prepared himself for a Detect.

"Take this!" Suddenly Nasuada jerked her head sideways and fired the Dark Pulse at Seth, who was healing Alice's wounds. He was too busy kneeling over Alice to notice the blob of darkness coming at him.

"No!" Without thinking, Gaia jumped in front of Seth and took the Dark Pulse for him. He screamed loudly as the darkness seeped into him. "Bitch..." he choked out before collapsing to the ground.

"GAIA!" Seth shouted. He got up and ran over to his fallen teammate, "You bitch!" he swore at Nasuada.

"Now, now, now, don't swear," Nasuada taunted. If she had a finger, she would've been waving it. "Well, this is getting awfully boring," she yawned. "I think I'll end this right now." The rings on her body glowed yellow and Seth found himself going dizzy and his vision being obscured.

"What's going on—"

Nasuada shot a Dark Pulse at him and he soon collapsed. She smiled evilly as she looked over her work. "That was fun. I better wake up Kika, I need someone to help me rob these idiots."

"Heheheheh..."

"Eh?" The criminal queen turned and looked at the source of the voice. It came from Seth. She was rather surprised. Not only was he still conscious, but he was actually smirking!

"You're the idiot, you crazy bitch." he grinned painfully, "Did you really think we would come here alone?"

"What?"

"Hello Nasuada, it's been a while." A voice came from the darkness. Nasuada grimaced at that voice. She had encountered it on her very first mission as an outlaw. It had chased her through her nightmares. It was the voice of the headmaster of the Academy.

"Master Dusk..." she said through gritted teeth.

"Indeed I am." replied the voice. An aging Dusknoir stepped from the shadows and stared at Nasuada. "It has been a while, Nasuada." Master Dusk said calmly, "Now it's time for you to pay for your crimes."

"For stealing that apple from you two years ago?" Nasuada said, getting into a fighting stance.

"That and more. But enough of this idle chatter. Shall we get started?" He also moved into a fighting stance.

"Hmph! Just don't die of a heart attack you foolish old man!" Nasuada ran at Master Dusk, using Agility to boost her speed. Master Dusk simply put one hand out in front of him and stopped Nasuada in her tracks.

Holy crap! How did he do that? Nasuada was really shocked. No-one had stopped her this easily before. She had heard of Master Dusk's reputation for mastering every move a Dusknoir could know and 15 TM moves, but she didn't believe any of it.

"You are too slow." Master Dusk brought one hand back and charged it up with fire. He then slammed it towards Nasuada, sending her crashing into a tree with burns on the side of her body.

"It is not over yet." Master Dusk disappeared into the shadows and reappeared beside Nasuada, then powerfully jabbed two fists at her, dealing massive damage to the criminal queen and knocking her unconscious. The fight was over.

"I better get these five to Treasure Town..." Master Dusk went over to Nasuada's unconscious form but suddenly stopped. He sensed someone nearby. "Who's there?" he demanded.

"Sssssoooo, you are Massstterrr Dussskkkk." A Banette holding a strange box appeared.

"Ah your name is Pandora, is it not?" Master Dusk recalled, "Are you here to fight me too?"

"Nnnnooooo, I ammm not. I ammm going to do ttthhiisss thooougghhhh." Pandora raised one her arms to the sky and chanted a spell. Instantly, the scenery around both of them started to swirl and become distorted.

"Trick Room?" Master Dusk asked.

"You aaaarrreeee cccorrreccttt. However, I ammmm onnllyyy here to take Nasauada anndd her Pikachuuuu boyfffrrieennd home." Pandora sighed, "Whattt a shaaaame. I realllyyyy wannnted thhaaaat Sableye aassss my partner."

"Don't you dare touch my students." Master Dusk snarled.

"Whhaatttevverrr. I'lll getttt him innn the ennndddd." Pandora threw down a grey-colored ball. It exploded into a heap of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the three criminals were nowhere to be seen. Master Dusk sighed, "So, the mission was a failure. No brooding about it now. I better get Team Enforcers to the hospital."

XXXXXXXX

"Huh?" Gaia found himself standing at the entrance of temple. It was a large temple, full of many Pokemon statues. Most of those were ruined. At the very back of the temple there was a stone door with runes carved onto it.

"Where am I? Am I dreaming" Gaia asked himself. He tried to move, but his legs wouldn't budge.

Kid, come closer.

Gaia blinked as he heard a voice. "Huh? Who's there?"

Come closer...

"Who are you?"

Come closer...

"I can't!" Gaia yelled in frustration, "My legs won't move. Just who the hell are you anyway?"

Come closer...

Gaia felt the temple around him fading away. He also felt himself blacking out.

XXXXXXXX

"Mmmphhh..." The young Grovyle slowly opened his eyes and saw a Chansey nurse standing over him. He looked to his side and saw himself in a bed.

"Oh, you're awake!" the Chansey nurse cried, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired, I guess." Gaia replied, glad to see someone who wasn't trying to kill him, "Where am I?"

"The hospital, of course!"

"What happened?"

"Master Dusk brought you and your friends in and told us to take care of you."

"Where are Seth and Alice?"

"Over there," the nurse pointed to two beds on her right, "You were the last one to wake up. That Gabite was quite worried about you."

"Did Master Dusk have anyone else with him? A Umbreon and a Pikachu perhaps?"

"No."

"So the mission was a failure." Gaia groaned, "Just great."

"What's more important is that you three came back alive," the nurse said stiffly, "Now you stay here and get some rest. I have some visitors I need to take care of." The Chansey walked towards the door and opened it. She then walked through, not bothering to close it behind her.

After her footsteps had receeded, Gaia turned over to his side and faced another bed.

"Hey Seth, are you alright?"

"I'm OK." Seth said.

"I'm not," said a voice besides Seth's bed."

"That you Alice?"

"Yeah."

"What's wrong?"

"We failed the mission," Alice said spitefully, "Even with Master Dusk's help we still failed. He said that some sort of Banette showed up and took Nasuada and that Pikachu away."

"Yeah. But at least we're still alive. If weren't for Gaia, you and I would be dead right now." Seth said, trying to lighten the mood.

"That's right," Gaia smirked, "And you guys officially owe me. The next time we go out to eat, you two are paying."

"Hey, shut up! I never said we owed you!"

Gaia laughed, even though it hurt to. "Anyway, did anyone visit us?"

"Alex did," Seth said, "She brought this massive bunch of flowers for you, but the nurse said they might give you hayfever."

"Typical Alex..." Gaia sighed.

"My parents came in. They brought us some chocolates. Alice and I ate most of them, but we saved some for you. They're on the table on the left."

"Thanks. Did Alice's father come in?"

"No," Alice said, "He said he would be coming today." Just then, they heard an argument outside. Because the door was left open, they could hear it clearly.

"I demand to see my daughter right now!"

"Sir, please. It's the middle of the night. We don't allow visitors at this time."

"I do not care! If you don't allow me to see my daughter I will push you aside and find her room myself!"

"Sir, I'm trying to be reasonable here. You can see your daughter in the morning."

There was a sickening crunch. It sounded like someone's arm had been broken.

"I demand to see my daughter right now."

"Ye-es sir..."

There was the sound of someone stomping towards their room. It got louder and louder with every second. Finally, a male Garchomp with a purple stone necklace burst into the room, slamming the door behind him.

"ALICE!" he cried.

"Father." Alice said softly. The Garchomp rushed over to her and hugged her. Tears streamed both their faces."

"Are you alright my dear Alice?" the Garchomp whispered.

"Father please. Do you have to hug me like that? I am not a child any more."

"You will always be my little baby," The Garchomp hugged Alice even tighter.

"Father! My friends are here! Don't embarrass me!"

Gaia grinned at the sight. Typical Sir Garrett and Alice. Still, this scene is pretty cool. I wish someone would do that to me.

"What happened to you three?" Garrett asked. He had let go of Alice but his eyes were still wet. Apparently he had been very worried about his daughter.

"We went after Nasuada and lost." Alice said bluntly.

Silence.

"Alice, did you just say you and your friends went after Nasuada, the criminal queen of the night?"

"We did. And we failed."

"Who organized your mission?" Garrett said in a low voice.

"Master Dusk did."

More silence. The look of pure fury on her father's face made Alice think that she probably shouldn't have said that line. Gaia and Seth could practically see the killer intent ooze of Garrett.

"I'LL KILL DUSK!" he roared.

It took 30 minutes for Team Enfocers to convinve Alice's father that killing the headmaster of the Academy was probably not a good idea.

Dark City...

"Urrrghhh..." Nasuada woke up and found herself lying in her bedroom. Pandora was standing over her.

"Sssoooo. You're aawwaaakke."

"Dammit Pandora!" Nasuada shouted, "I told you not to interfere!"

"Yooouuu were beaten baaaaadddly. If I haddn't shhoowwwnn upppp you would be in a jjjaaailll ceellll rrriiight now. Yooouuu shhooouullldd be thannnking me."

"Grrrr!" Nasuada growled and looked out the window, "Master Dusk! I won't forget this!"

HOSPITLE HAPININGS

Since Gaia, Seth and Alice's injuries need to be treated, the doctors ordered that the three of them have to stay in the hospital for at least a week. Gaia accepted this with out any complaint, Seth was quite happy since he could play video games all day long but Alice was annoyed since she couldn't train for a while. She was a very active person. Still, there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Day 1 at the hospital.

Gaia, Seth and Alice were sitting at the cafeteria, eating their dinner. Seth inserted a spoonful of fried rice into his mouth. He immediately spat it out.

"Is there something wrong?" A Blissey nurse came rushing over to him.

"Yes, this food tastes horrible!"

The nurse shrugged. "Too bad. We only have this. You'll have to deal with it."

"Screw that. I'm leaving to get some better food." Seth got up from his seat, but he forcefully pushed down by the nurse.

"Sir, you are not allowed to leave."

"Why not?"

"Because the doctors said so. Now eat that food or you'll go hungry."

"No way!"

"Yes way. Eat that food or I'll call cafeteria lady. You can tell her how you feel about your food." Seth stared at the cafeteria lady. She was a very large Miltak with arms the size of tree trunks.

The creepy slasher smile on the nurse's face made Seth reconsider what he thought. Why are women so damn scary? He thought miserably, spooning the tasteless fried rice into his mouth.

Day 2 at the hospital.

Seth was snoring loudly in his bed. It has preventing his friends from sleeping.

Alice got out of bed, dragged Seth out of his bed and then dumped him outside the ward. She then proceeded to climb back into her bed and fall asleep with a smile on her face.

Day 3 at the hospital.

Seth was sitting in his room, playing a video game on his Portable Pokemon Game Machine (PPGM). He had to stay in bed for catching a cold. Somehow he had been dumped outside the ward last night. He blamed it on Alice, but she denied everything.

"Seth, stop playing that video game. You've been doing that for over three hours now." Gaia had entered the room.

"Shut up Alice!" replied Seth, his eyes not once leaving the screen.

"Okay, that's it. The radiation from the screen has fried your brain. You seriously need a break." Gaia walked over to him and snatched the PPGM from the Seth. Then he ran away.

"Hey, give that back!" Seth cried. Then he remembered he couldn't get out of bed.

Day 4 at the hospital.

Gaia was walking down the hospital corridors, holding a can of lemonade.

All of a sudden, a Chansey nurse zipped by and stole the can. "No drinking soft drinks." she said firmly.

Gaia looked crushed.

Day 5 at the hospital.

"GAIA-DEAR!" Alex screamed as she barged into Gaia's room.

A nurse picked her up and threw her outside, bouncer style. "No glomping the patients." she said while wagging a finger.

Coincidentally this nurse was the same one who stole Gaia's soft drink.

Day 6 at the hospital.

Alice was at the training grounds, repeatedly bashing a wooden dummy with her claws. She had sneaked out of his hospital just to come here.

"Alice, what the hell are you doing?" She turned around and saw Janua standing behind her at her. "You know the nurses said you shouldn't be training. You're still injured."

"I don't care!" Alice shot back, "I'm going to train to my fullest and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

"Oh, really?" Janua ran off. 15 minutes later, she came back with Alice's father right behind her. "Alice, stop this at once and go back to the hospital!" Garrett said sharply.

The Gabite sighed. "Yes father." she said gloomily. She could sneak out of the hospital and disobey the nurses, but there was no way she could disobey her own father.

Day 7 at the hospital.

"You three are officially discharged from the hospital." said the Alakazam Doctor.

One second later, Seth was gone and there was a trail of dust in his place. The doctor blinked. "Where did he go?"

"Never mind," Alice sighed.

XXXXXXXX

After 7 days of torture (in Alice's case), Team Enforcers was finally discharged from the hospital. So now they had to go back to normal missions and such. But something was still troubling Gaia. He had been having a lot of dreams about a mysterious temple. A voice had always appeared in his dreams telling him to 'come closer'. Gaia had no idea what it meant. Whenever he had one of those dreams, he tried to observe his surroundings. The problems was that every time he woke up, he couldn't remember a single thing about what the temple looked like. Oh well, he was sure he would find the answer some day. For now he had to concentrate on raising his team's rank and doing missions.

XXXXXXXX

"So you think we should do this mission, eh fearless leader?" Seth held a piece of paper in his hands and was reading it. They were standing in front of the Job Bulletin Board in the academy.

"Yeah, a nice easy B-ranked assignment. We should get it done by today."

"I'll read it out loud. 'Help! The team I was exploring with dumped me in this dungeon. Please rescue me!' The client is a Gengar named Shayd and the dungeon is in Storm Valley. He's on the 9h floor."

"The one that comes before Lei Qu?" Alice asked.

"Yup."

"Let's get moving already." Gaia said.

XXXXXXXX

Now they were standing in front of the entrance to a valley. There was hardly any vegetation and all the trees were dead. Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the distance.

"It's been a while since we've been here," Alice noted.

"It has." Gaia agreed, "Let's do this." He entered the dungeon. His friends followed.

On the first floor, Gaia slashed a Electrike with Leaf Blade, knocking it out. He grabbed the Oran berry that it dropped. Alice and Seth used Dragon Claw and Shadow Claw to finish off a pair of Pikachu.

The second floor was easily traversed as the stairs were nearby. On the third floor, Team Enforcers had the misfortune to land in a Monster House. Gaia rolled his eyes and threw down a Petrify Orb, stopping all of the Pokemon in their tracks. He noticed that Alice was tensing up.

"All yours, milady." He said.

"Thank you." With a roar, Alice charged and unleashed her fury on the Pokemon, which involved using Sand Tomb to immobilize them (something which was trivial since they were already stunned) and smashing them on the head. Within 30 seconds, she had successfully knocked out all enemies in the room. The group picked up any items that were left behind and headed for the exit.

On the third floor, they found TM 12: Taunt which Seth gladly picked up. A Leaf Blade from Gaia took out a nearby Pikachu in one hit.

On the fourth floor, the three of them had the luck to run into some hidden stairs. They ran up them and emerged in a hidden room. Six treasures boxes lay in the middle of the room, waiting for someone to pick them up.

Seth was extremely happy. "Yes! Treasure!"

"Let's take them all!" Gaia said. The three of them hurriedly stuffed the treasure boxes into their bags, as if they were afraid the boxes would suddenly grow legs and run away. After that, they climbed up the stairs and into the sixth floor. On it, a Manectric bit down on Seth's arm with Thunder Fang, sending electricity searing through his body. Seth retaliated by using his other arm to slam a Shadow Claw on the Manectric's head. Alice threw a Raichu into a nearby pool of water, teleporting it into another part of the dungeon. Gaia saw the stairs nearby and headed over there.

On the seventh floor, Gaia stepped on a Seal Trap. Instantly he began to feel his head start to throb with pain. He collapsed to the floor, trembling.

"Gaia, are you alright?" Alice asked worriedly.

"I think I just forgot how to use Thunderpunch. Oh well, it's not like I'll need it though." He glared at the Seal Trap. "You guys stay away from it, okay?" Seth and Alice nodded. They continued on. After walking down a corridor, they found the stair room. A Electabuzz blocked their path. Gaia knocked it down with Leaf Blade and made his way to the stairs.

On the eighth floor, Gaia picked up a Yellow Gummi and Alice found a Heal Seed. Seth shot down a Fearow with Power Gem. The three of them walked through the rooms and down the corridors until they found the stairs.

"The Gengar should be here," Gaia said. They were now on the ninth floor.

"Problem is, Ghost-types can walk through walls. He could be stuck in a wall right now, starving to death. And we would never find him." Alice noted.

"That's why I brought this." Gaia held up a pair of X-ray Specs, "We can use this to see where the Gengar is." He put them on and started looking around. Seth thought he looked like a real nerd wearing those glasses. A minute later, Gaia took the specs off. "The Gengar is south-west of where we are. Let's go!"

After traversing a few rooms and corridors and beating up a few Pokemon, they found the Gengar huddled in a corner. "Help me..." he moaned.

"We're Team Enforcers!" Gaia said, running over to him, "Are you the Gengar that requested a rescue?"

"Yeah! Can you get me out of here, please? It's so scary!"

"Okay, let keep still." Gaia shone is explorer badge onto the Gengar. In a flash of light, the Gengar was teleported away.

"Let's get out of here, unless you guys want to keep exploring?" Gaia suggested. Seth and Alice shook their heads.

"'Kay then. We're leaving." He tossed down an Escape Orb and exited the dungeon with his friends.

XXXXXXXX

"Thank you for rescuing me!" The Gengar and Team Enfocers were back at the academy, waiting for the Gengar to give out the reward, "Unfortunately, I don't really have a reward." The Gengar said sheepishly.

There was silence. It was broken by a very angry Alice. "WHY YOU SON OF A—!" She grabbed the Gengar's throat and started to strange him.

"Ack! Let go of me!"

"Stop it Alice!" Gaia and Seth dragged Alice back.

"What the hell is wrong with your teammate?" The Gengar gasped, massaging his sore neck.

"Oh, her? She's from the Rage Dragon clan. I'm sure you'll understand."

"Well, that okay then. If she's really desperate, I guess I can give you this." The Gengar took out a very old piece of brown paper and gave it Gaia. He looked at it.

"Is this a map?"

"It is."

"Doesn't look like any place I've seen." Gaia turned the map upside down and tried to read it. Alice, her rage gone, peeked over his shoulder.

"I've been trying to figure the secret of it for ten years now.," The Gengar spoke, "Since I've already given up, I decided you three can have it. Well, I best be off now. It's getting late." He waved goodbye and walked away. Gaia kept staring at the map. The map was covered in colorful drawings of places and Pokemon. Some places looked familiar, other didn't.

"Hey, Gaia! We're going!" Seth called out.

"Oh, right. I'll be right with you!" He stuffed the map into his bag and followed his friends back to their house.

SPLASHING ABOUT

Gaia stared at the old map in front of him. One week had passed since the Gengar gave him the brown piece of paper. So far he had not figured out its secrets. The land pictured on the map was like nothing he had ever seen. He had compared it with a map of the Southern Lands (the land in which he and his friends lived in) but there was no resemblance. He had rotated it 90, 180 and even 360 degrees, but it still didn't resemble any part of the Southern Lands. He had flipped it over to check if anything was on the back, but the map was one-sided.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Gaia said.

Alice entered his room. "Are you still studying that map?"

"Yeah. I've tried everything Alice. I've rotated it, compared it to other maps and flipped it over. I've even stuck it inside the microwave."

She raised an eyebrow. "You stuck the map inside the microwave?"

"Just in case if it had invisible ink," Gaia sighed. He couldn't take it any longer. This map was consuming too much of his time. "I've been thinking about giving up. Maybe we should give it to Master Dusk."

"Why didn't you give it to me?" Alice said crossly.

Because you would get mad and rip the map up. Gaia thought, but he didn't mention it. He did value his life. "It didn't cross my mind." He replied, "Sorry Alice."

"Nah, that's alright. Give it to Seth, he'll know what to do."

XXXXXXXX

"Do I have to?" Seth whined. He had been busy playing Kingdom Luvdiscs on his PGM when Alice had come over and switched the game machine off. He had just beat the final boss too. Needless to say, he was angry until Gaia explained the situation about the map to him.

"Yes. You're the smartest guy here."

"That doesn't mean I have to do every problem…" Seth pouted.

"Look, if you figure out the secret behind this map, you won't have to do the washing up for at least a week."

"It's a deal!"

So Seth took the map and went up to his room to study. Thirty minutes later, he came out of the room and into the kitchen with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Yes!" he cried, "I did it!"

"You figured out the secret of the map?" Gaia asked. He and Alice were drinking cups of lemonade.

"No, I got a new high score! See?" Seth waved his Game Machine around.

A vein throbbed on Alice's forehead. "Are you saying that you were playing video games in your room the whole time?"

"Uh, yeah?"

THWACK! Alice slapped him on the cheek and snatched his Game Machine. "GET BACK TO WORK YOU IDIOT!" she roared.

"You're mean…" he grumbled. He went back to his room again.

Another 30 minutes later, Seth came out into the kitchen again, this time holding the map. "I've figured it out." He said, much more seriously this time.

"Really? What is it?" Gaia asked. Seth held the map above him so that a light was shining down on it. "If you hold the back of the map to a light, you can see some words." Sure enough, there were some words inscribed onto the map.

Gaia and Alice took a closer look. "I've never seen any words like this before." Alice said, "Do you know what they are?"

"I think they're reversed Unown letters ."

"Do you know what they say?"

"It says: Behind the underwater waterfall."

"The mapmaker went through all this trouble of making this dummy map just to write four words?" Gaia said disbelievingly, "Whatever is behind this waterfall must be something important." He paused for a moment to think, "I think that an underwater waterfall is in Aqualantis. Let's go there tomorrow."

XXXXXXXX

The next day, Team Enforcers prepared themselves for an expedition and set off for Sandy Beach, where a gateway to Aqualantis was. During the way, they bumped into Leala and Fau.

"Hey Leala," Gaia said, "What's up?"

"I've finally found myself a team!" The Chikorita said excitedly.

"That's great! Who are your teammates?"

"Fau!" Leala pulled the Glameow towards her. She had a slight look of terror on her face, "She came asking me about forming a team. I accepted. Now we're Team Destiny!"

"Sweet!" Seth said, giving them a thumbs-up, "Good luck on your mission!"

"You too!" Leala and Fau walked past them. Team Enforcers continued to walk to the beach. When they got there, they walked up to a Swampert with a headband on his head.

"Are you three going to Aqualantis?" he asked gruffly.

"Yeah."

"That'll be 500 Poke." Gaia handed the money over. The Swampert then closed his eyes and focused. A portal opened up in the middle of the ocean. "Enjoy you visit." Team Enforcers stepped inside and walked through a tunnel of swirling water. When they emerged from it, they found themselves standing inside an underwater city. There were white stone buildings littered around. A protective bubble was formed around the city, preventing water from coming in.

"Now, where is that waterfall..." Gaia started.

"I think its over there," Seth pointed to the west, "It's some sort of tourist attraction. Let's go." He made a move to go there, but was held back by Alice's hand.
"Hold on. We have to get the Breathing Underwater Spell. I don't know what's behind the waterfall, but I bet we might need to breathe underwater."

"Alice is right." Gaia said, "We have to get ourselves sorted out." So the three of them walked to the north instead of the west. They reached a shop appropriately named the Magic Spell Shop. Exploration Teams could have various spells applied to them there. One of the most used spells was the Breathing Underwater spell which did exactly what it was named—it allowed the applied person to breathe underwater. The three of them entered the shop and were greeted by an old Emploeon.

"Hello there! Are you three here for the Breathing Underwater spell?" His name was Amit and he was in charge of the shop.

"Yes, we are."

"Then that will be 400 Poke." Gaia handed over the money. "Please keep still." Amit clapped his flippers and chanted a spell. A blue aura flowed around Gaia, Seth and Alice's bodies for a few seconds, then disappeared. "Okay, now you three can breathe underwater!"

"Thanks!" The three of them then exited the shop and started walking towards the Underwater Waterfall. It was a popular tourist attraction and a few Pokemon were gathered there, taking photos and staring at the waterfall. "So this is the underwater waterfall." Gaia said, "What do you think it means by behind the waterfall?"

"It probably means we have to jump through it." Seth said.

"Would we hit the wall behind the waterfall and smash our heads?" Alice asked.

"Hopefully not."

"Let's do it." The three of them got into sprinting stances. "On my count," Gaia started, "3, 2, 1, GO!" He and his friends ran at full speed towards the waterfall and jumped through it, much to the amazement of the nearby public. What was even more amazing was that three of them didn't smash their heads on anything and fall back unconscious

XXXXXXXX

Gaia, Seth and Alice were swimming through a stone tunnel filled to the brim with water. Gaia motioned the others to follow. This way. His hand signals said. The three of them kept swimming through the tunnels. It took them through many directions. Left, Right, Left again, Right again, Left. Eventually they emerged into a cavern. The three of them got out from the pool of water and had a look around.

"Where are we?" Alice asked. She noticed some writing scrawled on a rock wall nearby. She went over and read it. "This says: Splash Caves. Is this a normal dungeon?" She wondered.

"It sure looks like it." Gaia replied, "Let's go through that door over there." He pointed to a stone door with a symbol inscribed on it. The three of them walked over to it. Alice used her strength to lift it up and let her friends go through. Then she backed until she was on the other side and then let the it fall to the ground.

SCHINK!

"What the hell!" She cried. As soon as the door had reached the ground, iron bars rose in front of it, blocking the way out.

"Great. We're stuck in here," Gaia moaned, "Looks like we have to go forwards." He took a proper look around the room. It was the interior of a cave, with a stalactites hanging from the ceilings. Luminous moss clung to the cave walls, lighting up the room. Two pools of water lay on the left and right of the room. The door at the opposite end was unlocked. He took a step forward. He then gazed in horror as the ground in front of him collapsed, creating a hole leading to inky blackness. "Whoa! The floor gave way!"

"Let me try." Alice took a step forward and sure enough, the floor beneath her feet collapsed. Luckily she stepped back just in time. "What the hell is with this place?" she whispered.

Seth was busy looking around the room. He took a single step and like what happened the other times, the floor beneath his feet gave way. "I thought so." He muttered.

"What?" Alice asked. Seth pointed to the stalactites. "I noticed that it's only the ground under the shadows of the stalactites that gave way."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Here, I'll prove it." He deliberately stepped on a piece of ground that was under the shadow of a stalactite. For the fourth time that day, the ground underneath his feet gave way. "See? All we have to do is walk around the shadows of the stalactites. Then we'll be home free." So the three of them carefully walked around the shadows. This new path took them in a zigzag pattern towards the door. They entered the door when they reached it.

XXXXXXXX

Now the three of them were standing in a large cavern with a waterfall through the middle of it. A single door stood on the right of the room. "So, where should we start?" Seth asked.

"Well, there's no way we can scale that waterfall, so we'll just have to go to the door on the right." Gaia replied.

XXXXXXXX

When Gaia, Seth and Alice stepped through the door on the right, iron bars instantly rose up behind them and blocked the way. "Not again," Alice groaned. They were standing in the middle of a room with lots of stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

"What is this room for?" Gaia wondered. His question was answered when water started dropping from the ceiling. "Huh?" The water dripped to the ground, and then suddenly joined together! It formed the shapes of numerous Water-type Pokemon.

"Crap! Enemies!" The three of them dropped into the fighting stances. They were outnumbered twenty to one, but they weren't going down without a fight. Alice immediately started hacking away with Dragon Claws and Slashes. Gaia jumped from enemy to enemy and slashed them with his Leaf Blade. Seth ducked into the shadows and slammed his fists into the enemies with Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch. All of their attacks had no effect. As soon as one of their attacks connected, it simply passed through the enemies' bodies.

"It's no use!" panted Gaia. They were back in the middle of the room. "How can we stop them?"

Seth suddenly had an idea. "Gaia! Use your Mega Drain!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Gaia obeyed and stretched his palms out. From them came two green tendrils that wrapped around the water enemies' bodies and squeezed them tight. Energy flowed from the enemies' and into Gaia's body. Immediately he felt relief and the enemies' started to shrink and collapse. He kept doing this until all of the enemies were defeated.

"That was close!" Gaia gasped. He was mentally tired from controlling the Mega Drain attack. "Is everyone alright?"

"Who cares? There's a chest here!" Seth was pointing to a chest that had mysteriously appeared after all of the enemies' were defeated. "I'm going to open it!" He ran over and threw the lid open. "Eh? What's this?" There was nothing inside the treasure chest except for a swirling icy mist. Thinking that the treasure was underneath the mist, Seth put his left hand into the chest.

"Gah! This is really cold!" His hand was starting to freeze up and turn numb. He couldn't feel any pain but nevertheless it was very uncomfortable.

"Urk! Yah! AAAAARRRGHH!" Seth gave a cry of pain and yanked his hand out of the chest. He saw ice sticking to it and spreading rapidly. Suddenly, without any warning, the ice went through Seth's hand and didn't come out. He arched over, panting.

"Seth! Are you alright?" Gaia cried.

"I'm fine," He said back, "But I think I just learned Ice Punch!"

XXXXXXXX

The three of them were standing inside the main large cavern again. "So you say you learned Ice Punch?" Alice said skeptically.

Seth nodded. "That's right."

"Okay, freeze this waterfall."

"Sure!" He walked over and charged up his fist. Icy wind swirled around it and ice formed on it. "ICE PUNCH!" He slammed his fist into the waterfall and froze it solid.
"Yes!" He pulled his fist out of the waterfall and did a little victory dance. "Oh yeah, Oh yeah, Uh-huh, Uh-huh," he chanted. Then he noticed that his teammates were climbing up the waterfall. "Hey, wait for me!"

XXXXXXXX

Now they were standing at the top of the waterfall. A large door with a picture of a water droplet was in front of them. "You guys think this is the boss room?" Gaia asked.

"You know," Seth said, "This dungeon was kinda short."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it most video games, at the end of a short dungeon there's always a really tough boss."

"Are you saying that the boss of this dungeon is going to be really strong?"

"It's possible."

"Oh come on Seth, what are the odds of that?" He pushed open the door and walked through. Alice and Seth followed him.

XXXXXXXX

They were in a large room with a pool of water in the middle. As always, iron bars rose up and blocked the exit.

"Welcome all…" A voice rang through the room. Gaia, Seth and Alice looked around for the source of the voice.

"Who's there? Where are you?" Alice demanded.

"You have done well to get this far, deciphering my map and traversing these caves. Now, it's time you faced the boss of this dungeon."

A Floatzel burst from the pool of water using Auqa Jet and landed in front of Team Enforcers. He had a slightly demented look on his face. "I am Myde, the guardian of the Splash Caves! If you want the Splash Plate, you'll have to go through me! Come on!"

VS MYDE

"Die!"

Myde channelled water through his body and lunged at Gaia, Seth and Alice. The three of them dodged out of the way to avoid the crazy Floatzel. He flipped off the wall behind them and came attacking again with his Aqua Jet. He rammed into Gaia and pinned him onto the ground. Gaia gave Myde a swift Thunderpunch uppercut and threw him off himself. Alice picked Myde up and slammed him into the ground. Then she threw him into the pool, making a splash.

Seconds later, Myde crawled out of the pool, an insane smile on his face. He didn't seem injured in the slightest. "This is fun!" he giggled maniacally, "You're fun! Let's have some more fun!"

He clapped his hands together. A massive wave rose up from the pool and towered behind him.

"Watch out guys!" Gaia shouted, "He's going to try something!"

"Flood!" The wave crashed down and washed the three of them into different parts of the room. It also filled the room to the brim with water. Luckily the Underwater Breathing Spell allowed them to not drown. Unfortunately they had no way of communicating with each other since only Water-types could speak underwater.

Myde cupped his hands together in Gaia's direction. "Water Pulse!" The water rippled in a wave and knocked Gaia down to the floor. He tried to get up but to his shock he felt very dizzy. What…what's happening to me?" he thought dazedly. He tried to get up but immediately fell down. Above him, Myde as grinning like a loon. "Sound! It's sound! Do you know what extreme sound does to someone? It disrupts the liquid inside your eardrum, causing you to be dizzy. Water Pulse is an attack solely based on sound. Now, how about we test that theory again!"

He didn't notice Alice floating behind him and slashing him heavily in the back with Dragon Claw and creating a large gash.

RRRIPPPP!

Fur tore away and pain seared through his body, but to Alice's shock, no blood came out. What the hell? She thought. To her horror the fur with some water swirled back into the newly created hole and filled it up again, making Myde's back uninjured.

"Oww…that really hurt!" He swifty turned around bit down on her arm with Ice Fang, then slammed her to the bottom of the room with an Iron Tail.

Gaia had just gotten rid of his dizziness when Alice crashed down on top of him, pinning him to the floor.

Seth was the last one standing—or in this case, floating. "And then there was one," Myde whispered viciously. He sent wave after wave of Water Pulses at Sableye. He used his Shadow Sneak to avoid them all. Dammit, what is he? Nothing comes out of him when he's wounded. Doesn't he have any blood? Unless...an idea came to Seth. It was crazy, but if he was right, they would be saved. Time to try this. He charged an Ice Punch in the direction of Myde and just before the punch was fully charged up, he opened his palm. Ice shot through the air towards the guardian and fully froze his right arm. What's more, the ice seemed to be spreading.

"You son of a..." Myde growled and used his left arm to rip the other arm off. It slowly fell to the floor with a clink. I knew it. Seth thought. Instead of blood, he has water. Now he had a winning strategy. He used his 'Ice Palm 'to freeze any blasts of water coming his way. When he found an opening, he froze Myde's other arm and both of his legs. Now he couldn't move.

"How dare you...how dare you...AAAARGHHH!" Myde roared and his frozen limbs started to crack. They fell to the bottom. "I don't need any limbs," he growled, "I'll just bite you to death!" He made his way to Seth, which was rather difficult because he didn't have any arms or legs. He was just about to clamp his jaws down on the Sableye when a transparent green tentacle came out of nowhere and constricted his body. Turns out Gaia was using a long distance Mega Drain to suck energy from him. Alice swam up to limbless Floatzel and with a mighty yank, tore his head off.

Myde's decapitated head fell to the ground to join his frozen limbs. The water flowed back into the hole and Gaia, Seth and Alice landed on the ground, staring at the remains of the dead Floatzel.

"Well, that happened," Seth broke the silence and put his hands behind his head, grinning.

"How in the name of Arceus did you do that?" Alice demanded.

"Do what?"

"You froze that guy's arm! How did you do that?"

"Oh, you mean that." He suddenly realized what his teammate meant, "You know when you tore that guy's back open, and no blood came out? I figured that he doesn't have any blood—just water. I was able to freeze him with ice that way."
She stared at him in wonder, "Why is it that you have such a large brain and yet you never use it?"

"Uh, genetics I guess?" Seth scratched his head, "My dad was a prankster too."

"Guys," Gaia started.

"What?"

"We're not done yet." The three of them started in horror as water flowed out of Myde's decapitated head and joined his limbs together. With a groan, he pulled himself together and angrily stood up.

Alice glared at him, "You want some more?" she asked and got into a fighting stance, "Come on, I'll kick your ass!"

The Floatzel just stood there, scowling at the three, "Can't believe you three managed to beat me," he muttered, No-one has ever done that except for the original wielder of that sword…"

Something ran through Gaia's mind. A sword? Had he heard of something like that before? It was certainly familiar.

"But rules are rules and I have to abide by them." He put his hands up to the air and chanted a spell. Water condensed together to form a small bubble. Inside it was a plate colored like the sea. "Just take this damn plate and go. I still can't believe I lost to you three, especially that Grovyle without that sword. Oh well, at least I get to die now." Myde fell to his knees and collapsed to the ground. His body slowly liquefied and turned into water. Then his body collapsed, splashing water all over the floor. There was nothing in the room except for the water, the plate and Team Enforcers.

Gaia walked over and picked the plate up, then shoved it into his bag. "Splash Plate," he read, "This is the second one we've found. Let's get out of here. I think the pool leads somewhere." He took a running start and dived into the pool. Alice did a surprisingly graceful dive and Seth jumped with full force, creating a huge splash.

The three of them swam through the murky depths, following tunnels. They were tired and wanted to sleep, but they didn't dare because the Breathing Underwater Spell was going to wear off soon. Eventually the three of them emerged into a dark cave.

"Another cave?" Alice moaned. She was too tired to growl, "I'm really getting sick of these things."

"Hold on, I think I recognise this place," Gaia limped through the cave until he reached the entrance. It was a rather small cave. He stepped through and walked out into the beach where the entrance to Aqualantis was. "Come on guys," he called back, "We're nearly home!"

Alice and Seth walked out. "Huh, we're at that Aqualantis beach," Seth noted. He looked at the sky. It was now night and many stars twinkled in the sky.

"It must be really late, I'm feeling really sleeeepppyyyy…" He pitched forward and fell face-first into the sand, where he started snoring.

"Oh man," Gaia shook his head, "Well, let's get ourselves home. It's really late and cold right now."

XXXXXXXX

Back in the stone room, a statue of a Floatzel trembled, cracked and split into two. The head and the torso fell to the ground. Thirteen Pokemon were silent.

"Ha, so Myde is gone," a Mawille said, "I always knew he would be one of the first to go." She shook her head,

"So, what do we do now?" A Magmortar asked.

"We tell Gaia everything," the Alakazam said simply, "It's about time he knew. Wes, you're going to be the one telling him."

"Fine. See you all later," The Magmortar disappeared in a swirl of flames.

XXXXXXXX

After walking back to their house (dragging a snoring Seth all the way), Gaia and Alice fell asleep as soon as they hit their beds.

The next morning, at around nine o'clock, Janua rang their doorbell. She hadn't seen Team Enforcers after she had gotten back from yesterday's mission and was quite worried.

There was no response. She rang it again. Still no response. She rang it yet again. This time, a very weary looking Alice opened the door.

"Oh hey Janua," she mumbled tiredly.

"Where were you guys?" the Sneasel asked, "We didn't see you yesterday."

"We got a secret map from a Gengar and deciphered it. Then we went to Aqualantis, where we found a hidden entrance to a dungeon. After going through it all, we fought a crazy Floatzel and won, gaining us a Splash Plate. Then we came back here in the middle of the night." Alice explained.

Janua stared at her. Then she laughed. "Very funny Alice. Just tell me where you went."

The Gabite shook her head, "I just told you. We did find a hidden dungeon and fight a crazy Floatzel."

"Wait, you were actually serious?" Needless to say, Janua was surprised.

"Yeah. I'm really tired now." Alice put a heavy emphasis on 'really', "So please don't disturb us." She turned around and slammed the door.

XXXXXXXX

Janua went back to her team, who were at the academy, scanning the bulletin boards.

"Hey, hey, what happened to Team Enforcers?" Mitt asked.

"According to Alice, they went to Aqualantis, where they found a hidden dungeon. Inside it was a crazy Floatzel, which they defeated and got a Splash Plate. Then they came back to Treasure Town in the middle of the night," Jauna explained.

There was silence.

"Was Alice joking?" Raydir asked.

"Raydir, this is Alice we're talking about. She never jokes around."

XXXXXXXX

Around noon, Seth aroused from his slumber. He was in his bed and in his room. The last thing he could remember was standing on the beach and being really tired. "Guess Alice picked me up and took me back here," he said to himself. He was hungry right now and went down to the kitchen for some breakfast. He didn't see Gaia or Alice around. Maybe they were still asleep.

After a healthy breakfast of cereal and milk, he decided to take a walk outside. He couldn't play any video games because he was afraid of angering Alice and he had no interest in reading books, despite having a large I.Q.

Seth walked down the roads of Treasure Town, whistling to himself and keeping his eyes out for any rabid Grumpig fangirls. Most of the teams had left to go on missions so the town was half deserted. He ended up in Kecleon Mall, where he bought some more supplies for the team.

As he was walking out, he caught an eye of a brightly-colored poster.

The annual Treasure Town Dance is coming in ten days!

Find a girl or guy and show your moves on the dance floor.

Tickets are 50 Poke per person. The venue is at Spinda's Café. The dance starts at 6pm and goes until 11pm. Contact 1800-32623 for any details.

Seth realized what this was about. Every year, there was dance event in Treasure Town. Many Pokemon attended and it was said to be good fun for everybody. Well, everybody excluding those who couldn't dance. Unfortunately, Master Dusk always scheduled a night-time exam on that day, much to the horror and despair for the hormonally charged teenagers of the academy. Seth had come up with a theory that Master Dusk couldn't dance. It had been accepted by everybody.

"A dance huh," Seth said, "I wonder if Janua is available."

UPCOMING

Gaia was sitting in the kitchen, eating an early lunch of chicken and rice. Alice was still asleep in her room. She had been sleeping for eleven hours already and she was bound to wake up soon. After all, there was one limit for how long one could sleep. He didn't bother to wake her. The last time he did, she quickly and silently beat him up and then slammed the door behind her. Waking a Rage Dragon from their slumber was not the best idea in the world.

Seth wasn't around; he was probably outside somewhere. His dirty bowl was in the sink. Needless to say he expected either of them to clean it.

He had just spooned the last morsel of food into his mouth when someone unlocked the door. It was Seth. He ran into the kitchen panting and slammed a piece of paper into the tabletop.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Slow down man!" Gaia said.

"Sorry!" Seth apologized, "But look at what's gonna happen! Take a look at the poster!" Gaia read it. It had information about an upcoming dance at Spinda's café.

"A dance?" He asked, "Why is this so important?"

"Meh, I just thought we should attend." The Sableye replied.

"Is Alex going to be there?"

"Probably."

Gaia made his decision instantly. "I'm not going." He said flatly.

"Okay, why not?" Seth asked, "The dance isn't going to be that bad. There's going to be great music, good food and even beer! It'll be fun, just trust me!"

"Seth, after that incident with the coffee flavoured ice-cream," Gaia interrupted, "There's no way Alice or I will let you near a single drop of alcohol. Besides, I actually have dignity,"

"And what does that have to do with anything?" Seth asked skeptically

"I spent six years at the academy trying to prevent from that obsessive Grumpig fangirl from glomping me to death. I have no intention of dying, nor do I want Alex as my girlfriend." Gaia deadpanned. He shook his head, "Thank Arceus Alice was there," He remembered the times where Alice saved him from that fangirl.

Flashback

Four years ago...

"GAIA-DEAR!" Alex screamed from the other side of the computer labs. She rushed towards him, but was thrown back my an annoyed female Gabite.

"Get out of our way," Alice said harshly "The three of us have work to do."

Two years ago...

Shit, shit, shit. Gaia panicked as he crashed into a dead-end. How the hell did I get into this mess? Two minutes ago, he had been searching for his Exploring Level 3 book in one the academy's classrooms. Alex had somehow hid herself in one of the desks and Gaia opened that the cover of that desk up, she jumped out of it and tried to kiss Gaia.

Thank Arceus for Sensei Embers's evasion classes.

Gaia swiftly dodged the kiss and ran for his life out of the room, not bothering to look back. He didn't stop when Alex shouted that she had textbook.

So now he was stuck at a dead-end. Alex was coming closer. Damn, she could run fast. If he wasn't the victim here this situation would be somewhat funny. He closed his eyes, waved goodbye to his dignity and said hello to total humiliation. Suddenly, there was a sound like the ground had burst open and the sound of someone being choked. He opened this eyes and saw Alice standing in front of him, her right hand crushing Alex's neck. A hole in the ground was behind her.

"Don't even think about it," she growled.

End Flashback

Seth sweatdropped after hearing the tales of Alice and Alex, "Okay, maybe she was completely obsessive and insane," he admitted, "But if you find yourself desperate, she'll be there!"

"Are you guys talking about me?" Alice had finally woken up and was now standing in the hallway leading to the kitchen, leaning against the wall.

"No, we're not," Gaia said quickly, "We were talking about Alex,"

Alice's eyes narrowed, "Why are you two talking about Alex?" she asked suspiciously. Gaia passed the poster to her. She took a minute to read it, then slowly and deliberately tore it up. She scrunched up the nearby pieces of paper and threw it into a bin. Seth was furious.

"Hey!" he cried, "What was that for?"

"Simple," Alice replied, "You've read it, Gaia's read it and I've read it. It doesn't need to exist it any more. And before you ask," she added warningly, "I'm not going to the dance."

Seth crossed his arms. "Okay, why not?"

"Because I don't like dancing," Alice said bluntly, "It's a waste of time and energy,"

He threw his arms into the air, "Am I the only one who is considering going to the dance?" Seth groaned.

"Yes you are," his two teammates said at the same time.

XXXXXXXX

Two days later, Gaia was buying groceries at Kecleon Mall. There was a calendar back at in his house that decided who would do that each week. It was his turn today.

He was on his guard today. Alex could pop out anytime out of anywhere and glomp him to death. Then she would probably ask him out. Alice would kill him if he said yes. He didn't know how why he knew this, he just had a hunch.

"GAIA-DEAR!"

He looked up and saw Alex jumping off the third floor while carrying a parachute. Gaia grabbed his plastic bags full of food and ran for his life and his dignity. Was there no end to her craziness? Besides, how did she know he was here? If stalking was a regional Pokeathlon event, Alex would've brought the gold medal back to Treasure Town! He quickly turned and ran for it.

Five minutes later, Gaia was running down the road that lead to his house. He saw Alice open the door and come out of the house. He quickly used Agility to boost his speed, run through the front door and slam it behind him.

Alice and Alex were left standing on the front lawn.

"Alex," Alice growled, cracking her knuckles, "Have you been stalking Gaia again?"

"No miss!" The Grumpig ran away as fast as her stumpy legs could could.

XXXXXXXX

Three days later, Team Enforcers got back from a short mission involving a Gloom escort and Arid Zones. Alice cooked dinner consisting of mashed potatoes and chicken when they got back to the house and the three of them sat down to eat it.

"So Seth," Gaia said, swallowing a bit of chicken, "Who are you going out with?"

"Janua," Seth said without any hesitation.

"Have you even asked her out yet?"

"Fair point." He picked up a nearby phone and dialled Team Super Cool's number.

XXXXXXXX

Janua was sitting on a couch in the living room, watching T.V. She heard the nearby phone ring and she picked it up.

"Hello?" she said.

Seth's voice came from the other end, "Hi Janua!" he said. She instantly felt herself blushing.

"O-oh, hi Seth," she stuttered, "What's up?"

"Would you like to go to the dance with me?" Seth asked.

Janua stopped. Did Seth ask her to go out with him, "Wait, what did you just say?"

"I asked you if you wanted to go to the dance with me. But if you don't want to I guess that's okay…"

She panicked. There was no way she was going to let this chance pass by! "Yes! I want to go to the dance with you!" Janua almost screamed.

"Okay, then! Catch you later!" Seth hung up.

Mitt came into the room, holding a can of soda. "Hey Janua, who were you talking to?"

She gave no response.

"Janua?"

Thump.

"Hey Janua! Why'd you faint like that? Wake up!"

XXXXXXXX

It was the day before the dance. People were excitedly talking about the dance. Everyone, except for Gaia and Alice, that is. Alex was still stalking him and it was becoming extremely annoying. She had even tried to break into their house once. Thankfully Alice caught her before she could.

To make things even worse, some random girls that Gaia had never knew about had started asking him out. Apparently his team's findings of the Sky Plate and the Splash Plate had been made public, despite their efforts to keep it a secret.. Some, like Shia the Glaceon, were slightly jealous but others thought it was really cool. He had a hunch that Seth was the one responsible.

He sighed. The way that everyone had been talking about the dance had made it sound fun. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. He sat in his bedroom, which was where he was, and thought about it. He got up and made his way to Alice's room. There something he needed discuss with her.

Knock, knock.

Alice opened the door. "What is it, Gaia?" she asked.

He stared at her. If he did this wrong, he would be beaten up and thrown down the stairs. He liked Alice, he really did. Maybe he liked her more than just a friend. They had been together for seven years already and the two of them grew closer every year. She wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world, but there was something about her that he just liked. During the years, she had hugged him multiple times. For some reason, he always enjoyed those hugs and wanted them to never end. It was weird.

"Hey Gaia, what are you doing, staring at me?" He snapped out of his thoughts and saw that Alice was narrowing her eyes at him. "Is there something you want?" she asked.

This was it. Gaia gathered up his courage and opened his mouth, "Alice, will you go out with me?"

THE DANCE

Alice stared Gaia. She stared at him for he felt like was an eternity. He felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of the head. Finally, she opened her mouth and said, "Are you serious?"

"Yes I am," Gaia said carefully.

"You sure about that?" Alice said with a extremely serious expression on her face, "Because if this is a joke, I won't hesitate to beat the crap out of you."

"Look Alice, I am completely serious about the fact that I want to go out with you!" Gaia burst out, "Just answer the damn question already!"

Alice thought for a moment, then smiled a bit, "Well, I have been thinking about the whole thing and somehow the dance doesn't seem so bad after all. Okay, I will go out with you."

Gaia grinned, "Is that a yes?" he asked.

Alice nodded, "It is. Now please don't disturb me any further, I was reading a really good book." She walked back into her room and shut the door behind her. Gaia was left standing there. He gave the door a very wide smile, then walked back downstairs to the living room where Seth was watching T.V.

"The dance is tomorrow night, fearless leader." He said, "You coming?"

"I am," Gaia said confidently.

Seth raised an eyebrow, "Who's your date?"

"Alice." Seth jumped out of his seat when he heard this, dropping the remote control in the process, "Gaia, are you serious? You're really taking Alice to dance tomorrow?" he said.

Gaia smiled, "I am."

Seth stared at him for a moment, then broke into cheering."Yes!" he cried happily, "I won the bet!"

"Wait, what?" Gaia stared at Seth confusedly, "What's going on?"

"Well," Seth explained, "I told Mitt that you would ask Alice to dance. He said that there was no way in hell you would do that, so I challenged him to a bet. I'm proud to say that because of you, I have won 100 Poke!" He quickly hugged Gaia, then grabbed a nearby telephone and called Team Super Cool's number.

"Hello? Hey Mitt, this is Seth. Guess what, Gaia said yes so I win! Hahaha! You have try harder next time! See you at the dance!" He slammed the phone down and went back to watching T.V.

"Wait, did you two bet on me?" Gaia said slowly.

"Yeah, so?" Seth replied.

"YOU TWO BET ON ME?"

XXXXXXXX

The next day, Gaia was out shopping in Kecleon mall when he heard someone running up to him from behind. He sighed and waited. He timed it just right so that when he turned around with two fingers out, they pressed firmly on Alex's forehead and stopped her in her tracks. "Alex, would you please cut it out?" he said firmly, "It's really getting annoying."

"Please Gaia-dear!" the Grumpig dropped to her knees and kowtowed. Gaia sweatdroppped. Passersby stopped to watch, "Please let me go to the dance with you!"

"I'm hate to break this to you," Gaia said, "But I'm going out with Alice."

"What?" Alex jumped back as though she had been electrocuted. There was an expression of pure horror on her face, "No, no, no," she gasped, "There's no way you can be going out with that bitch!"

Gaia glared at her, "What the hell did you just call Alice?" he growled.

Alex realized her mistake, "Sorry Gaia, I didn't mean it!" she quickly apologized.

"Like all the other times?" the Grovyle said bitterly. His anger was boiling up inside his mind. Screw being polite, no-one insulted his friends and got away with it! "Alex, I've got something to tell you: get the hell out of my face." The Grumpig stared at him, shocked, "I don't have any feelings for you and every time you call Alice a bitch, I like you less and less. Stop stalking me and if you insult any more of my friends, I will make sure you suffer!" he roared. He didn't realise he was doing that, but his anger had raised his voice. Alex ran away crying. Gaia stormed out of the mall, not caring about what others thought.

XXXXXXXX

Ding-dong! The doorbell to Team Psyclone's house rang. Zyphra opened the door and saw Alex sobbing loudly. "Alex, what happened?" she asked worriedly.

"Gaia rejected me!" she cried.

Zyphra took her friend inside and closed the door, "Tell me what happened." She said. The two of them sat down in the living room and talked. It seemed to calm down Alex a little. She stopped crying so loudly but tears were still streaking down her cheeks. When she had finished telling what had happened, Zyphra simply said, "Well, I can't deny that you deserved it."

"What?" Alex cried.

"Look," Zyphra began, "You have been chasing Gaia ever since you hit puberty. You've called Alice a bitch many, many times and that probably didn't help your position with Team Enforcers. In fact, I'm surprised that he didn't do that sooner,"

Alex stared at her. She was hurt, "Zyphra, I thought we were friends!"

"It's because we're friends that I'm telling you this," the Kirlia said impatiently, "I've told you this a million times in the past, but you need to move on and find someone else. There are plenty of fish in the sea,"

Alex was silent, save for her sniffling.

"I'm going to leave you alone for a while," Zyphra continued, "Think about your current situation, okay?" She got up and was about to leave the room, but something Alex said made her stop.

"Zyphra, are we still friends?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course we are."

XXXXXXXX

It was now six at night. The dance was approaching soon. It would take at least thirty minutes for Gaia and Alice to walk to Spinda's Café. Seth had already left to pick up Janua from Team Super Cool's house. That and he wanted to see if the rumours that Raydir was going out with Zyphra were true.

The two of them were standing outside their house. They started walking down the path to the café. Five minutes later, Alice started holding Gaia's hand.

He stopped, "Alice, what are you doing?"

"I'm holding your hand, what else do you think I'm doing?" She replied calmly.

"Okay, why?" he asked.

She gave him a strange look, "Isn't that what couples do, hold each others hand?" she said, "Come on, let's pick up the pace, we're going to be late,"

Twenty five minutes later, the two of them arrived at Spinda's Café.

"100 Poke please," a Ryhorn bouncer said. Gaia took some notes out of his bag and gave them to the bouncer, "Enjoy your night," the bouncer said mechanically, as if he had said it over a hundred times before.

The inside of the café had been redesigned. Tables had been moved away to leave a circular space in the middle. Stereos were placed in various places. Mitt and a Glaceon were standing behind two tables covered in velvet. A turntable was placed in front of Mitt and a bowl and cups were placed in front of the Glaceon. Apparently they were the DJ and the punch server, respectively.

Gaia and Alice found a nearby table and sat down. He saw Seth and Janua at a table to their right. Seth was chatting with Janua, who was blushing hard and desperately trying not to faint in front of him. Looking to his left, he saw Raydir and Zyphra at another table. So the rumours were true. He couldn't see Alex anywhere, nor could he see Leala anywhere. Strange.

A Prinplup waiter came over to them, "What would you two like?" he asked.

"Can I have a beef casserole?" Gaia said.

"I'll have the spicy spaghetti," Alice said.

The waiter wrote down their orders on his notepad, then bowed and left. Gaia realized something, "Wait, when does the dance start? I thought it starts now!"

Alice lightly punched him on the arm, "Silly, it starts in one hour. We still have to eat." The two of them began to talk. The two of them talked about random things, such as exploring and local gossip. When their food arrived, they eagerly tucked in.

At seven o'clock on the dot, the Spinda manager of the café wobbled his way up to a stage and spoke into a microphone, "Welcome to the annual Treasure Town dance!" he said, "This dance is held every year on the day when this town is built. It is a time to have fun fun and a chance for many young couples to dance. Let the music begin!" Mitt immediately turned on the music. A piece of classical music played from the stereos. Couples got up from their seats and made their way to the dance floor. Alice tugged on Gaia's arm. "Come on," she said softly, "Let's go."

Gaia was surprised, "What, now?"

"Yes, now!" She pulled harder on his arm and literally dragged him onto the dance floor. Then she grabbed both his hands and started to dance. The two of them started to waltz. Gaia was surprised at how good Alice was. She claimed that she hated dancing, yet she was so good at it! It didn't make much sense. He moved his head slightly to the right and saw Raydir and Zyphra dancing gracefully. The Kirlia seemed to be enjoying herself, which was also strange since she wasn't 'romantically involved' as she put it herself. He looked back at Alice. She met his gaze and winked at him. She also seemed to be enjoying herself.

The music faded out and stopped. Gaia and Alice were tired. "I'm thristy," gaia stated, "I'm going to get some punch,"

"That sounds good," Alice nodded. The two of them joined the queue in front of the Glaceon. When they reached her, she smiled at them. "Hello Gaia, hello Alice," she said.

"Hi Shia," Gaia said, "Are you going out with someone?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm just working here for some extra pay. Do you two want some punch?" The two of them nodded. Shia used her front paws to scoop some sweet-swelling juice into two cups. Gaia and Alice walked away and Janua, who was in front, walked up to her.

Shia's face hardened. She and Janua had been rivals since the day they had met, like Gaia and Don. Why they were rivals was a mystery, but Seth claimed that Janua had beaten Shia in a Ice-type move contest and had gloated about her victory for the rest of the day.

"Hello Janua," she grinded out through clenched teeth, "Would you like some punch?"

Janua shot here a frosty glare, "Yes, I would."
Shia scooped some punch into a cup, making sure that she spilt at least half of it. "Get out of my face," she growled. Janua stuck her tongue out at her and walked off.

Mitt played a new track on the turntable, "Four legs only!" he shouted. The ones who were bipedal sat down at various tables and watched the four-legged Pokemon dance. It involved partners skipping around each other and leaping on top of the other. Gaia thought it was weird and a bit wrong, but he was a bipedal creature, so who was he to comment?

Don went over to the punch table. "Hi Shia," he said, "Would you like to dance with me?"

"No," Shia said bluntly, "I'm just here to serve the punch,"

"Oh, come on!" Don pleaded. Shia stared at him. "Fine, but if you try anything, I'll kick your ass." She jumped over the punch table and onto the dance floor.

XXXXXXXX

The four-legged creature dance was over and a jazzy dance was starting. Alice pulled on Gaia's arm to tell him to get up. This time he didn't resist.

XXXXXXXX

It was now nine o'clock. The dance was ending. Punch cups littered the floor and cleaners were sweeping up the mess. Mitt was packing the turntable in a case. Shia was carrying the punch bowl on her back. Seth and Janua had left already. Gaia and Alice were both sweaty and tired, but also elated. The two of them had a good time. When they walked out of the café, cold air hit them in the face and refreshed them. They held each others' hands as they walked back to their house. This time, Gaia didn't complain.

They entered and walked up the staircase to the floor where the team's rooms were.

"Well, that certainly was fun," Gaia commented, "Did you have fun, Alice?"

"Yes, I did," she said, "Thank you for taking me."

"No problem," Gaia smiled, "I enjoyed dancing with you. You're a really good dancer."

"Thank you. I also enjoyed dancing with you," Alice then did something unexpected, something that left Gaia completely stunned. She kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Gaia." She said softly and entered her room, closing the door behind her. Gaia stood there, contemplating what just placed a finger on the place where Alice had kissed him. He swore it was tingling slightly. A wide smile slowly blossomed on his face.

Super cool time

The sun shone through the window and the sleeping Grovyle woke from his slumber. Gaia blinked twice and sat up in his bed. He was still thinking about last night. He had gone out with Alice to a dance. During the dance, she had dropped her usual serious demeanour and actually smiled a lot. She even claimed to have fun. When the two of them had gotten back, she had kissed him on the cheek. His fingers gently brushed the kissed area.

He tried to remember his dreams from last night. They had included lots of people he had met during his life, including the teachers from the academy. He remembered that Alice had been the most prominent figure, but he didn't recall what she had been doing. But he did know that when Alice began whatever she had been doing to him, he had blushed.

Oh well, I suppose it's nothing important. He thought. He pushed the covers off his legs and climbed out of the bed, heading towards the kitchen for some breakfast.

He saw that Seth already sitting at the table, rapidly eating his bowl of cereal like always. Thankfully, He had no coffee with him. Gaia considered his secret plan a success. There was a reason why he stashed the entire stock of that brown powder under his bed. "'Orning," Seth said, his voice muffled from the cereal in his mouth. A couple of milky flakes shot out and landed on the table top.

"Aren't you going to eat Alice's cooking?" Gaia asked.

"Nah," Seth replied, swallowing the tasty mix of corn flakes and milk, "I'm too hungry to wait."

"You do realise she's going to beat you up, right?"

"Meh, I can handle her," Seth said casually, "I've done that for the last seven years."

At that moment, Alice walked into the kitchen. Seth dropped his spoon. It landed in the bowl with a milky splash.

"You really should keep your mouth shut," Gaia remarked.

To their surprise, Alice did not go on a rage. She didn't do anything that would be considered intimidating. She didn't even do anything to Seth. Instead she said, "Good morning," to both of them and went to the fridge and took out some bacon. She then turned on the gas stove and started frying the bacon in a stainless steel pan, smiling and humming the whole way.

Gaia and Seth stared at her in stunned silence.

"Holy crap," Seth whispered. He pointed a shaking finger in the direction of the female Gabite.

"What?" Alice said without looking at him.

"You're smiling!" Seth gasped, "You smiling is like, is like, uh um," He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, "It's like Zyphra actually liking a boy! There's no way it's possible!"

Alice dumped the bacon into a ceramic plate and stared at him, "Seth, I have smiled plenty of times in my life,"

"When?" he asked.

She passed the plate over to Gaia, who was ravenous and immediately started to eat the slices of dead pig, "Remember you and Gaia found me crying in the schoolyard and comforted me? I was smiling after that,"

"Well, uh," Seth tried to counter her argument, "You were only grinning back then, not really smiling!"

"Okay, what about when we and Master Dusk killed my bitch of a stepmother?" Alice put down another plate of bacon opposite from Gaia. She went over to the fridge again and took out some bread, a box of butter and a jar of strawberry jam.

"I couldn't see your face back then. You could be frowning for I know." Seth was still continuing the argument.

"That makes absolutely no sense," Gaia interjected, "If your father came back to you after being deceived by an evil Dragonite, of course you would be happy,"

"And what about when we graduated?" Alice said, "I was really happy back then. People smile when they're happy," She sat down and started buttering a piece of bread.

"Uh, uh, er," Seth was speechless. He couldn't think of anything else. For his large I.Q., Alice had completely beaten him.

"You lose," Gaia remarked calmly, "Alice: 1, Seth: O."

"Shut up!"

XXXXXXXX

After Gaia and Alice had eaten their breakfast, Team Enforcers left the house and made their way to the academy, where they would select their daily mission and go on it.

"So," Gaia said as the three of them walked down a road, passing by many Pokemon, "How was it with Janua?"

"Oh, it was okay," Seth said. He didn't say anything else.

There was silence for a while.

"What do you mean, it was okay?" Alice asked.

"Well, after I took her home, I hugged her for about five seconds," Seth recalled, "When I let go, she was unconscious! I must've hugged her too tight. Not only that, her face was completely red! I carefully laid her on the ground and ran for my life, because Raydir and Mitt would've killed me if I had stayed there for any longer."

Gaia and Alice stared at him, "Seth, I don't think Raydir or Mitt would've beaten you up. In fact, I think they would understand it perfectly," The Grovyle said finally.

"Why is that?" Seth scratched his head and tried to figure out the answer.

"Don't you think there might be another reason why Janua fainted?"

"Nope. I can't think of one," Seth said nonchalantly.

"How is it that your I.Q. is higher than the two of us yet you are so stupid?" Alice asked.

"What?"

"Okay, we're here!" Gaia stated, ending the newly formed conversation to a grinding halt. The three of them walked through the very familiar door and made their way to the mission room, where some teams were.

They spotted Team Super Cool. Janua instantly blushed when she saw Seth. When he waved at her and grinned, she desperately tried not to faint.

Alice went over to the Job Bulletin Board and checked out the remaining jobs. There were a few. One of them was labelled as 'Anonymous'.

"Let's take this one," She said, taking the piece of paper off the board.

"No," Gaia grabbed the paper out of her hands and pinned back up.

Alice looked pissed, "What do you mean, no?"

"Look, what happened the last time we took an anonymous mission?" he asked.

"We got a really old map," she recited.

"And what did that lead to?" Gaia continued.

"We fought a demented Floatzel and got the Splash Plate," Alice answered.

"We almost got ourselves killed," Gaia said, "That dungeon was full of traps and that Floatzel was no pushover. I'm not placing you guys in any sort of danger again." He pointed to another job, "Let's take that one."

Alice could see his argument. If she died, her whole clan would weep and cry over her death. Then they would probably go and kill Master Dusk. He had been like a second father to her and she didn't want that to happen, "Fine, we'll take that one. Seth!" she called, "We're going!"

"Coming!" The Sableye ran over to them, "What mission are we doing?" he asked.

"A normal rescue," Gaia replied, "Let's go."

They left. Team Super Cool were still searching for a suitable job. Mitt came up with the idea that they should do the anonymous request that Team Enforcers has rejected. Janua frowned at his suggestion.

"I don't know Mitt, it seems a bit dangerous."

"Oh come on," the Machamp persisted, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"We could get trapped in a dungeon like Team Enforcers," Raydir said.

"And what are the chances of that?"

"Slim to none," Raydir admitted, "The first time was probably a coincidence and the second time got an old map. They could have thrown it into a bin, but they followed it,"

"See! It'll be perfectly harmless!" Mitt said triumphantly.

"Mitt, this dungeon is in Mt. Pakupaku. That's a lava dungeon. It'll be an absolute hell for me," Janua stressed.

"Eh, just eat some Passho berries and you'll be fine,"

XXXXXXXX

After Mitt convinced Janua to go the dangerous lava dungeon, Team Super Cool exited the academy and made their way to Mt. Pakupaku. Mt. Pakupaku was a rather dangerous place, with lava bursting out from the tip of the mountain at regular intervals. Not surprisingly, there wasn't a village at its base. A series of tunnels ran through the volcano, creating a mystery dungeon. Of course, it meant that all explorers had to explore it sometime in their lives.

"So, is everybody ready?" Raydir asked. Team Super Cool were standing in front of the entrance to the dungeon.

"Yeah," Janua said.

"Roger!" Mitt saluted.

"Good. The client is on the tenth floor, so let's go!" The three of them entered the dungeon.

The extreme heat shook through Janua's body like electricity passing through steel. She immediately took out a blue berry out from her bag and bit down on it. The heat was replaced by a calming coolness.

"You okay Janua," Mitt asked.

"I'm fine. Let's go." As expected in a volcano dungeon, there was a lot of Fire-type Pokemon. Water was replaced with magma. However, the ground wouldn't turn orange and red until much later. The first floor was rather uneventful. Mitt used his Dynamicpunch, which had one hundred percent accuracy due to No Guard, to knock out a Magcargo. Janua found a Special Band and Raydir spotted the stairs, which they went up.

On the second floor, Team Super Cool found a Monster House. They weren't all that surprised, since this dungeon was notorious for them. Raydir told his teammates to get out of the room, then used Earthquake. The shockwave toppled over every Pokemon in the floor and knocked them up. Janua quickly flashed Raydir a thumbs up, which he responded with a nod, and ran into the room and up the stairs.

The third floor was less eventful than the first. The stairs were right in the room where they landed.

On the fourth floor something finally happened. The three of them encountered a Camerupt and a Combusken. Mitt took out the Camerupt with a Cross Chop. Raydir and Janua used Psychic and Slash to knock out the Combusken.

They were on the fifth floor. Strangely, it there were no enemies and there was no maze-like structure on the other floors.

"Where are we?" Mitt asked.

"Not bad at all,"

"What?" The three of them got into fighting stances, "Who said that?" demanded Raydir.

"Let's celebrate by forcing you into a dungeon!"

The ground below them rumbled and gave way, sending Team Super Cool into darkness.

XXXXXXXX

"Urgh..." Janua slowly opened her eyes and stood up. Her body ached the whole way. The fall she had taken must've been huge.

"Where am I?" she asked herself. Looking around, she saw Mitt and Raydir lying on the floor, also unconscious. Relief flood through her body. At least she wasn't alone here.

She spotted writing on a nearby wall. Looking closer, she saw that it read, 'Lava Fortress'.

"Lava Fortress," she repeated, "Are we in some kind of dungeon?"

lava fortress

"Wake up Raydir, wake up…"

The Gallade groaned and slowly opened his eyes. There was a foul taste in his mouth like the insides of a sewer. He saw his two teammates standing over him, concerned looks on their faces. "Where are we?" he croaked.

"We're in the Lava Fortress," Janua answered. A look of confusion crossed Raydir's face, "Lava Fortress?" he repeated confusedly.

"It says that on the wall," Mitt replied, pointing, "I think we're in some sort of dungeon."

"Didn't some voice say that we did well and that we would celebrate by falling into a dungeon?" Janua asked.

"I think so…"

Raydir groaned and licked his parched lips. He was thirsty, "Does anybody have any water?" Mitt reached into his and took out a plastic bottle. Raydir pressed it too his lips and drank greedily. When he was finished, he gave the bottle back to Mitt and stood up.

"Okay, let's get out of here," he said.

"Where are we going?" Janua asked.

"Considering what you guys said and what Team Enforcers told us, we have to make our way through the dungeon and reach the exit," He started walking towards a hole in the wall.

The three of them emerged into a large room. As to be expected for being in a middle of a volcano, it was stifling hot. The walls were coloured a deep red. A large chandelier with many candles hung from the ceiling. Two Magmar statues stood at the left and right ends of the room, both with a fierce expression on their faces. They seemed to be glaring at Team Super Cool. A staircase ran up to a slightly elevated platform, where a treasure chest resided. There were no doors.

"Okay, where is this?" Janua asked again.

"It resembles the description of the entrance to the Tower of Wind." Raydir noted. He climbed up the staircase and approached the treasure chest. Janua and Mitt did the same.

"There's writing on the lid of the chest," Mitt said. It was tiny and in Unown letters. Thankfully, he had taken extra language classes in the academy and could read Unown. He read the message out loud.

If thou shalt recklessly enter the fortress of the gods of fire, thou shalt carry the pendants of flames.

"Well, that's weird," he muttered.

Raydir threw the chest open. Inside were three pendants, just like the message said. Their jewel was bright red and in a flame shape and the cable was made of metal. The three of them took one each and put them on.

"Do you guys feel any different?" Janua asked.

"No, do you?" Mitt said. He was fiddling with the end of the pendant.

"Nope. So, what do we do n—"

The floor beneath them suddenly collapsed into itself. The three of them were dropped into a black pit. Mitt and Janua screamed the whole way. Seriously, who wouldn't after being suddenly dropped in a pit? Raydir didn't scream, because he's a really calm person.

After falling for a nearly half a minute, Janua saw red, hot magma at the bottom. Her eyes widened.

SPLASH!

She fell into the magma pool and flailed around. For some strange reason, she had not been melted into goop by the intense heat. However, this didn't register in her brain as she was too busy swimming to the edge. She hated magma, which was to be expected as she was an Ice-type.

She climbed out onto a rocky bank and gasped. Her body was burnt in various places and she was sweating heavily What the hell just happened here? She thought. She turned around and saw her two teammates also climb out of the magma pool. Like her, they were burnt and sweating buckets.

"Are you guys alright?" she asked.

"Just about," Raydir said grimly, "But we seem to have been burned by the magma."

"Why haven't we been melted to death?" Mitt wondered, "Magma is over 4,000 degrees hot and can turn a lump of steel into a liquid in under two minutes."

Janua fingered her pendant, "I think these pendants protected us. Remember that message? It said that we need the pendants to get through the fortress."

"So they're Fire Pendants, huh?"

"We better not lose these. They could save us from death," Raydir said. He saw a door at the far corner of the room. "Let's go," The three of them opened the door and walked through, coming into a room with magma pits, a magma river and a wooden bridge above it.

"What a strange place," Janua muttered. Not sooner after those words were muttered, a couple of Macargo burst from the magma and slowly oozed towards them.

"Leave now…" they moaned in deep tones. Team Super Cool recoiled a little,"You do not belong here. As part of our duties as a minor guardian of the Lava Fortress, we must stop you…" With that, they opened their mouths at shot out streams of fire. Janua, Mitt and Raydir all dodged. Mitt charged forward and smashed a hard Dynamicpunch into the first Macargo. The lava snail wailed and its shell broke, causing it to faint. Raydir punched and kicked the second Macargo in a Close Combat style. It was knocked out instantly.

The third Macargo recognized Janua as an Ice-type and smirked devilishly. Before her two teammates could react, it shot a large Flamethrower towards her way. She jumped over the flames and landed behind the snail. She then charged her claws up with darkness and slammed it into the hard shell. The Macargo roared and turned around. Janua ran behind it with Extremespeed and used a another Night Slash attack on it. It screamed, twitched and burst into flames.

"Nice work," Raydir said.

"Thanks," Janua replied. She pointed at the bridge, "C'mon, let's go." The three of them abandoned the corpses of the Macargo and walked across the bridge. On the way, Mitt noticed that there was a Fire Pendant attached to a post of the bridge.

A steel door was on the other side. They opened it and walked through it.

XXXXXXXX

Now they were in a room with two staircases on the left and right sides leading up to two doors on ledges, with a wall of flames at the very front.

"What now?" Janua asked Raydir.

"Up the left staircase," he replied. They ran up the staircase on the left and came face to face with a locked door.

"Dammit," Raydir growled, "Oh well, to the one on the right," They ran down that staircase and ran up the one on the right and entered the door.

The three of them arrived in a room teeming of angry-looking Charmanders.

"Oh, crap," Mitt muttered. The Charmanders charged forward and the battle began. Raydir slammed his fists on the ground and created a large shockwave which knocked out the first wave of the red lizards. Mitt charged up and swung his four fists everywhere, sending Charmanders flying. Janua weaved in and out of the slashing claws, only pausing to punch a Charmander or slash it across the belly.

There were quite a lot of those violent red lizards and it took a long time for them to be all defeated. Whenever one of them died, it would explode into flames. This was bad news for Janua, who had to constantly run back and forth every time she defeated one.

After around twenty minutes of intense fighting, all Charmanders were destroyed. Team Super Cool slumped to the ground, panting heavily. A small silver key dropped from the roof and landed on the ground.

Janua dragged herself over to the key, picked it up and limped out the door. Her teammates followed.

XXXXXXXX

CLANK!

The lock on the door fell to the ground and shattered into tiny pieces. Raydir pushed open the door and walked through.

The three of them found themselves in a long hallway with a treasure chest at the end. "What does this room have?" Mitt asked out loud.

"You have three seconds," a voice rang out. It was the same voice that had dropped them into the Lava Fortress.

"Three seconds to what?" Raydir demanded.

"To run. Three…"

Crossbows appeared from holes on the sides of the walls.

"Two…"

The crossbows armed themselves with arrows.

"One…"

Raydir's eyes widened. "Crap! Run!" He took off. His teammates followed at full speed.

"Fire!" The crossbows let loose with a hail of bolts. Every time a member of Team Super Cool took a step, two crossbows behind them would fire. That means that there was no chance that they would be hit. Of course, they didn't know this because they were far too busy running for their lives.

Raydir, Mitt and Janua ran to the end of the corridor where the treasure chest was and where they would be out of the crossbows' range. No sooner had stepped inside the chamber a wall of flames rose up behind them, blocking their only exit.

They were trapped.

"Son of bitch!" Mitt swore, "Now what do we do?" He looked at Raydir, looking for advice.

Raydir thought for a while, then said, "I heard from Gaia that there always was an item in the dungeon that would help him in some way. He found a brace that would alter gravity in the Tower of the Wind and Seth found a chest that gave him the move Ice Punch in the Splash Caves," He stared at the chest, "Maybe the item we seek is in this chest."

"I'm opening it," Janua said. She forced the lid open. Inside was a small metal disk. She took it out and inspected it.

"TM 10: Hidden Power?" She remarked, "Why would this be here?" As soon as she uttered those words, a blinding flash of light shone out of the disk and onto her face. Raydir and Mitt stepped back in shock. The light faded away and Janua was left standing there, unharmed. She closed her eyes and processed the information that the TM had gave her.

"I know," she said slowly, "I know what I have to do now." She walked over to the wall of flames and formed a blue orb in her hands. Then she flung the orb at the flames, extinguishing them and leaving behind a trail of steam. She turned around and grinned at her teammates.

"Hidden Power Water, huh?" Raydir said. He was grinning a little.

"Yeah."

"Nice work Janua!" Mitt gave her a thumbs-up.

XXXXXXXX

They were back in the room with all the staircases. Janua threw a blue orb at the wall of flames. The flames were extinguished and a door was revealed. The three of them entered it and exited into a room separated into halves by a magma lava river.

"What do we do now?" Mitt asked.

"I've got an idea," Raydir said, "Janua, use Hidden Power on sections of the lava."

She obeyed and flung blue orbs at the magma. Where the blue orbs struck the magma solidified and turned into floating platforms.

"Wow!" Mitt said, impressed, "That's cool!"

The three of them hopped to the other side using the platforms, being careful as to not fall into the hot magma.

There was a door on the other side. They pushed it open and entered it.

The three of them were standing in a round room. Paintings of flames and volcanos were depicted on the walls.

"Where are we?" Janua asked.

CLANG!

The three of them turned around and saw that the door was blocked by a set of metal bars. "Son of a bitch," she swore.

"You're pretty good," rang the familiar voice.

"Show yourself!" Raydir demanded.

"Sure, why not?"

A tower of flames appeared in the middle of the room and when it cleared, a Magmortar was standing there. "My name is Wes and I—" He suddenly realised something. "Wait a minute, you're not that Grovyle!" He narrowed his eyes at Team Super Cool.

"Grovyle?" Raydir growled, "Do you mean Gaia?"

"Correct. He was the one who was supposed to come here."

"We're friends of his. Just what do you guardians want with him?" Janua said.

"You're his friends, eh? Then maybe you can deliver a message to him."

"What kind of message?" Raydir asked skeptically.

A cruel smirk grew on Wes's face. "A message that I will tell you after you've defeated me!"

Vs wes spirit sowrd

"Come here, I'll make it hot stuff!" Wes taunted. He pointed his two 'cannons' of his arms at Team Super Cool and shouted, "Burn, baby!"

Fire poured out and created a large and imposing wall of flames. They towered to the ceiling and took up the width of the room. Janua gulped and stepped back a step.

"Forward!" Wes waved his arms in the direction of the three Pokemon and the wall of flames slowly approached them.

"Shit!" Mitt shouted, "Now what do we do?" The flames were coming closer with every second. Already they were beginning to sweat.

"I got this!" Janua formed blue orbs in both her hands and threw them at the wall of flames. With every hit, the flames receded a little. Unfortunately it was not enough to completely extinguish the flames.

"It's coming closer!" she said, "Now what do we do?"

Raydir made the critical decision instantly, "Jump!"

The three of them ran towards the flames and leapt at the least moment. However, Janua didn't jump as high as she wanted and her foot was signed by the flames. Coupled with the fact that she was an Ice-type and the Magmortar boosted his power by using a Fire-type move, it hurt a lot.

Wes dashed behind her and pointed his arms at her. "Take this!" he shouted and charged up a massive blast of fire. Quick as a flash, Janua spun around and fired Hidden Power Water into one of the cannons. The orbs not only put out the fire, it damaged Wes enough to make him flinch. Raydir ran forward and hacked away with Psycho Cuts, which flung his opponent to the other side of the room, where Mitt was waiting with a Dynamicpunch. The force of the punch sent Wes sprawling into the centre.

"Not bad," he smirked, slowly climbing to his feet, "Let's kick things up a notch!" He suddenly disappeared in a whirl of flames.

"What!" Janua cried, "Where did he go?"

"Ha!"

Wes dropped down from the ceiling; his entire body covered in flames and slammed his body into the stone floor. The fire spread in a wide circle and knocked Team Super Cool off their feet. A purple energy surrounded him and he grabbed Mitt and threw him into a wall. There was an audible crack and he pitched forwards face-down onto the ground, out for the count.

Janua painfully staggered to her feet and glared at Wes. He was fighting Raydir, countering his Psycho Cuts with Fire Punches. Janua gathered more blue orbs in her hands and flung them at Wes's back. They burst into wisps of steam when they hit their target. Wes howled in pain and whirled around, pure murder in his eyes. Raydir took advantage of this distraction and slashed the Magmortar many times. Wes spun around and fired a Flamethrower at the Gallade, severely burning his torso. Janua growled and formed a blue orb in her hand. She then rushed forward with Extremespeed and a claw glowing with darkness. She forced the orb into Wes's face and slashed his chest with the claw. Wes was knocked back into a wall. Unlike Mitt, he soon recovered and rushed forward with a Fire Punch. Janua didn't see it coming and took the attack dead on. She screamed and landed on the floor a few feet away.

"This ends now," Wes spoke harshly and charged up his left cannon. Janua was terrified. She was heavily injured and had no other tricks in her arsenal. She didn't want to die here. There was so much she had wanted to do, like marrying Seth (she would kill anyone who found out about this, but at that point it didn't matter anyway). She closed her eyes and waited for the fire to consume her.

"YAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

All of a sudden, Mitt jumped out of nowhere and slammed a DynamicPunch on the back of Wes's skull. He then struck many karate chops on his back, defeating the guardian at last.

Wes collapsed on the floor, unconscious. Mitt ran forward and brought Janua to her feet. "Am I dead?" she asked blearily.

"No silly, you're still alive," Mitt grinned, "I've defeated Wes, there's nothing to worry about." At that point, Raydir groaned and slowly got to his feet.

"Are you alright Raydir?" Mitt asked. He ran over to him and held him up.

"I'll live," Was the Gallade's short reply.

"You guys really are strong…" The three of them turned around and to their horror, saw that Wes was conscious. Did he want to fight them again? There would be no contest if they did.

"Is Gaia as strong as you three are?" Wes continued, "I really hope so. It's his duty to defeat the darkness, you know."

"Defeat the darkness?" Raydir demanded, "Just what is going on here? How do you know Gaia? And why are you so interested in him?"

"Why?" Wes said in a calm voice that was unlike his own, "You ask why? I cannot tell him that, but I can answer your other questions. We have been keeping an eye on Gaia since the day he was born, to find out if he was truly the wielder of that sword. It is our duty to test him and to make him grow stronger." He took a deep breath, "If you want him to find out the truth, take my plate and the other ones to the Temple of the Ancients and place them into the stone wall. Have him pull out the sword and then go to the Psychic's Chamber, located in the far south. Kinesis the Alakazam waits for him."

Wes shuddered and coughed up blood. His time in the land of the living was almost up. "Here, take this…"

A small ball of flame appeared in the air and it hovered for a moment, before dropping a red plate.

"This is the Flame Plate," Wes said, "Now, go." He sank to his knees and moaned. Flames burst from his body and burned it up. In the end, there was nothing but a pile of ashes.

Raydir walked over and picked the Flame Plate up. "Just what is going on?" he wondered out loud.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the stone room, a statue of a Magmortar spilt in the middle and the top half tumbled to the ground. The remaining twelve guardians were silent.

"So, Wes has gone," a Froslass muttered.

"Are you sad Yuxai?" an Ampharos smirked, "Sad that all your old friends are leaving you? Aeros and Myde have already left us. And now it's Wes's turn. Maybe you're jealous of them."

"No," Yuxai replied, her voice devoid of any emotion, "I am not sad or jealous at all."

XXXXXXXX

A portal took Team Super Cool back to Treasure Town, where they immediately checked into a hospital. The next day, Team Enforcers visited them in their ward.

"Hey guys!" Gaia said, "Are you feeling alright?"

"We're fine, but we could be stuck in here for a while," Raydir replied.

"So, how did you guys end up here?" Seth asked.

"It's a long story," Mitt said.

"We've got time,"

"No we don't," Alice growled, "We have a mission to go on,"

"Awww..." Seth whined.

"Actually, you might want to stay here for a while," Raydir remarked,

"Raydir, have you forgotten the third rules of the academy? The mission comes before—"

"Everything else, I know," the Gallade interrupted, "But this is extremely important. You must listen to me. It mostly concerns Gaia.

"What?" Gaia said.

Alice gave him suspicious look, "Fine, I'll listen to you. But if you're not serious, I swear I will kick your ass from one end of this hospital to the other,"

Raydir sighed. So much for the rumors of her old angry personality disappearing. He launched into an explanation of yesterday's events. He told Team Enforcers about the anonymous mission and the Lava Fortress. He told them about the fight with Wes and the message that he left behind. When he finished, the three of them looked completely shocked.

"So let me get this straight," Gaia said, "Those guardians have been spying on me since the day I was born and they think I'm supposed wield some sort of sword and fight darkness?"

"That's pretty much it," Janua said.

"And now I have to go to the Temple of the Ancients, where Nasuada kicked our ass near that place—"

"Don't remind me," Alice muttered.

"—to pull out that sword and go to the Psychic's Chamber, wherever that is?" he finished, "Is that your story?"

"Yup," Mitt said.

Gaia sighed and buried his head in his hands, "Why do I feel that something terrible is about to happen?"

"So fearless leader, what are you going to do now?" Seth asked.

"I'm going to the Temple of the Ancients and find out what the hell is going on," Gaia said, standing up and walking out the door.

XXXXXXXX

After he had retrieved the Sky Plate from the academy and the Splash Plate from his home, Gaia and his teammates set out for the Temple of the Ancients. It was a short trip and they arrived at the temple in a short time.

"Wow, this place is so cool!" Seth exclaimed. He had never been to the temple, due to a scary rumour that had circulated around the academy when he was fifteen. According to the rumor, once you entered the temple, the door would shut behind you and monsters would drop down for the ceiling and kill you. This rumour was proved further when many exploration teams heading towards the temple never came back.

"I can't imagine why a temple would be built on the edge of a forest," Alice said.

"We're about to find out." Gaia replied. The three of them pushed open the heavy stone door and entered the temple.

They were greeted with a horrifying sight. The inside of the temple lavish and okay enough, with statues of proud-looking and rare Pokemon lining the walls and a beautiful red carpet leading to a wall inscribed with runes. The terrible thing was, the rotting corpses of many Pokemon were littered everywhere. Expressions of horror were permanently etched onto their faces. A terrible stench filled the air.

"Wha-wha-what the hell?" Seth cried, "What's going on here!" He felt like throwing up.

Alice looked a bit queasy herself. "I—I don't know," she stammered. She was going to have a hard time sleeping tonight.

Gaia looked scared as well. He was about to back away slowly when he heard a voice.

"Wielder of the Spirit Sword, do not be afraid. Gather your courage and go forth…"

Gaia shook his head and closed his eyes. He was never going to get to the bottom of this if he was afraid. He opened his eyes and felt no fear. He made his way towards the wall on the opposite end of the temple, careful not to tread on any corpses. When he got there, the inserted the three plates into three rectangle holes on the wall.

The plates glowed brightly and the temple shook. Gaia stumbled back, uncertain of what was going to happen next. The plates dropped from the wall and it slid away, revealing a secret chamber.

Inside the chamber was a sword wedged into a wall at the very back, with sixteen holes spread in a circle around it. Thankfully there were no corpses. Gaia stared at the sword, completely mesmerised. He felt his legs moving his body forward and approaching the wall. In a dream like trance, he grabbed the sword out of the wall. It was sharp and shiny, with a silvery-white blade and blue hilt. It was heavy enough for him to have to hold it with two hands. The words 'Spirit Sword' were carved on the grip. He lazily gazed at it, taking in its beauty. Somehow, he felt happy, as if he had been waiting his whole life to receive the sword.

"Hey, hey!" Seth's voice brought Gaia back to reality. "What have you got there?"

"Oh, this…" Gaia showed the Spirit Sword to his teammates, "This is that sword that Raydir was telling everyone about."

"Does it have a name?" Alice asked curiously.

"It's called the Spirit Sword." He replied.

"Sweet!" Seth exclaimed, "Can I hold it?"

"Sure…" Gaia held out the sword to Seth. He tried to grab the hilt with his hand, but somehow the sword shocked him!

"Ow!" he cried, "That sword hurt me!"

"Don't be ridiculous, only the blade of the sword can hurt you." Alice said. She tried to grab the sword as well, but it shocked her too. it wasn't an electric shock, but rather a burst of pain. "Gah! What's with this thing?" she growled.

"I don't think it likes you guys," Gaia noted, "Then again, I feel really complete with it, so I won't give it away,"

"That's fine," Alice said, "But how are you going to carry that thing all the way back to Treasure Town? It looks heavy."

"Well…uh…" As if knowing what he was thinking, the sword disappeared in a flash of light. A star-shaped mark was imprinted on his right hand.

"What the hell!" he panicked, "It disappeared!"

"Try calling it back!" Seth suggested.

"How?" Gaia asked desperately. He felt a bit empty without it.

"I don't know, just think about it reappearing in your hands!"

Gaia closed his eyes and quickly thought: I want the Spirit Sword back again!

Instantly, the sword reappeared in his right hand. Gaia stared at it. "Wow," he muttered.

Thats a huge sowerd

Gaia focused and felt the Spirit Sword fade back into his hand. He then concentrated and willed the sword to be back in his hand. It appeared in a flash of light and he grinned at his reflection on the blade.

Alice looked at him, annoyed. "Oy, could you stop doing that? That's the fifth time already."

"Sorry," Gaia apologized, fading the sword away, "It's just that it feels really comfortable doing that,"

"That sounds really wrong," Seth noted.

"What do you mean by that?" Gaia asked.

"Well, you have a huge sword and everyone knows that sword means—"

"No sexual innuendos, please." Alice growled. She had had enough from the other students during her time in the academy. Especially one named Vincent.

"You just want Gaia to stick his sword into your—" Seth said, but he had gone too far. Alice punched him in the face, breaking his nose and spraying blood everywhere.

"Finish that sentence and I will break you into fifty million pieces," she threatened. But she had her back facing Gaia and he couldn't see her blushing heavily. Seth healed himself and attempted to change the subject.

"You're making me jealous, Gaia" Seth pouted, "You get a huge awesome sword and I get nothing. Why is it that you always get the good stuff?"

"You know Ice Punch, I don't," Gaia pointed out.

"It's nothing compared to a freakin' huge sword that can slice through people!" Seth said.

"You mean pierce women," Gaia joked. Alice shot him a fierce glare but didn't move.

"Can we just leave already?" she growled, "I want to find out what exactly is going on here and why Gaia gets a such cool sword,"

"Are you jealous?" Gaia asked.

"In more ways than one?" Seth added.

"Both of you, shut up," she hissed.

They took the three plates from the wall and left it behind them. They walked across the red carpet and towards the exit. Suddenly, they saw the doors slam shut by themselves.

"What the hell!" Gaia exclaimed.

There were sounds of moaning and groaning and three of them looked around in horror to see that the corpses were slowly getting up and lumbering towards the trio.

"Oh crap, zombies!" Gaia shouted. He had fought many species of Pokemonin various mystery dungeons and training grounds, but none of them had ever been undead.

"It's not your sword. It's mine…" a half-eaten Swalot grated. Maggots dripped out of his nose and mouth as he spoke.

"We searched so long for it. Now give it to us…" the skeleton of an Ivysaur rasped. Patches of decaying skin were still stuck to its ribcage. The three of them were extremely shocked. Was this another trap that was designed by the sadistic and possibly evil architect of this temple?

"Uh, Gaia? Now would be a really good time to use that sword." Seth said fearfully. The Grovyle quickly flashed the sword back into his hands and got into a fighting stance, using two hands to hold the sword to his right. Then the zombies attacked.

A Magmar with a rotting head lunged forward and tried to bite Gaia's hand. He reacted quickly and sliced off the zombie's head. It twitched and exploded into wisps of black dust, which fell to the floor.

What the hell? Gaia thought. Zombies were supposed to fall to the floor and not move when they were defeated, not transform into black dust.

"Uh, Gaia? Little help here?" the Grovyle turned around and saw Seth holding off a bunch of zombies by firing Shadow Balls at them, without any effect. He couldn't risk close combat because he didn't want to be bitten. Gaia quickly ran to his friend and sliced and hacked into the zombies, destroying them instantly.

"I need some help here!" Alice was fighting some zombies by grabbing them and throwing them into their comrade with Fling. Like Seth, her attacks weren't very effective. A skeleton Manectric with a rotting body jumped forward and was just about to bite her head when Gaia sliced it in half. Like all the other zombies, it exploded into black dust.

"Thanks," Alice gasped. Gaia nodded and quickly slashed a lumbering Hypno. Alice and Seth both realised that they could do nothing right now and let the sword-wielding Grovyle do all the work. Thankfully the zombies 'died' in one hit which made Gaia's job much easier. But it was still tiring work. He wasn't used to holding a sword.

By the time he was finished, the floor was covered in black dust and he was sweating from head to toe. He was also gasping heavily. He saw the doors swing open by themselves to reveal the forest outside.

Gaia sat down on the ground and sighed. He stared at the sword in his hand. "Oh man, I'm not used to handling this," he puffed.

"Do you want an Oran Berry?" Alice asked, holding the blue berry in her left hand.

"Sure, that would be—wait a minute, you mean that I could've used items back there?" Gaia said.

Seth looked down sheepishly, "We only found out when we watched you cut up those zombies. I took out a Heal Seed to cure myself from any bites and then Alice pointed it out. We were about to tell you, but you had already killed all those zombies."

Gaia groaned, "I really need to pay attention to my stuff next time," He checked his items pouch and found an Oran berry. He ate it and stood up.

"So, now what?" Alice asked.

"To Psychic's Chamber," Gaia said grimly, "I really have to know what the hell is going on." He faded the sword away and started walking towards the exit.

XXXXXXXX

Once outside into the beautiful and away from the creepy temple, they checked the Wonder Map. According to it, Psychic's Chamber was located in the south, at the base of some mountains relatively close to where they were. It was now early in the afternoon and the sky was turning orange. Seth estimated that it would take five hours to reach there and by the time that they did, it would be night. Luckily he spotted a small village nearby where they could rest and stay for the night.

So they set off straight away. The three of them passed through Sage Forest and crossed the Blue Mountains (again). They walked along the bank of a recently flooded river and across a small swamp. They reached Sensory town at around seven at night.

"Where should we stay?" Seth asked.

"Considering that this place is not a hot tourist attraction and there's only one hotel here…" Gaia began.

"I get it, I get it." Seth said, "Let's go and find that hotel."

The hotel was of three-star quality and the food there was less than tasty, but the three of them had faced worse in survival training when they were fourteen. That, and they were really determined to find out the mystery behind the Spirit Sword and the Plates.

The next morning, the three of them got up, ate an unsatisfactory breakfast of cereal and milk and headed towards the Psychic's Chamber. On their way, they were stopped by a crazy Medicham.

"Are you three going to the Psychic's Chamber?" he asked.

"Yeah, we are." Gaia said, "So what?"

The Medicham jumped back in fright, an expression of pure horror etched on his face. "No... you must not! Evil spirits lurk there! No-one comes out alive! It's suicide! Suicide, I tell you!"

"Get out of our way," Alice shoved the crazy guy away and the three friends continued on their journey. They walked through the stone arch carved in a mountain and entered a large chamber lit up by lots of purple fire torches. A stone wall rose behind them and locked the way out.

"Just like before, eh?" Gaia muttered. He strode to the far edge of the room and saw some writing.

"The power of the sword stems from the plate," he read. What does that mean? He felt really tired. Maybe he would close his eyes, have a nap and then figure it out.

He never realized that he was falling into unconsciousness.

Thump.

"Hey Gaia! Are you alright?" Seth and Alice ran over to the unconscious Grovyle. The Sableye checked his pulse. It was weak.

"Dammit! He needs CPR right now!" he shouted.

"I'll do it!" Alice volunteered and pressed her hands on his chest. She then pressed her mouth towards his.

XXXXXXXX

Gaia was standing in blackness, and yet he could still see himself. "Where am I?" he whispered.

He saw purple wisps gather away from him to form a figure. He couldn't discern what sort of Pokemon it was. The figure whipped out a Spirit Sword, exactly like Gaia's, and a Flame Plate. It them touched the plate with the sword's tip and watched as red light ran up the sword. It then extended its sword to double the length and charged it up with fire. The figure then screamed and swung its sword forward, slicing at the darkness.

Gaia stared at the whole scene. Something registered in his mind. "Flare Blitz...I know...I know what to do now."

XXXXXXXX

He woke up. And saw Alice's lips firmly pressed onto his. His eyes widened and he quickly shoved Alice off him and gasped, "What the hell!" His face was bright red. Seth was watching the whole thing and desperately trying not to laugh.

He was failing miserably.

"I was giving you CPR!" Alice replied. Her face was also red. "You were unconscious back then!"

"Never mind that! I know what to do now!" Gaia got up and flashed the sword back into his hand. He took out the Flame Plate and touched the sword with it. He then faced the wall and concentrated. Fire ran up the blade and it extended to twice its length. He swung the blade at the wall and knocked it down, revealing another chamber.

"Man! That is a huge sword!" Seth exclaimed.

"That had better not be a joke," Alice mumbled.

The three of them entered the second chamber. This one was lit up by light-blue torches and there was a door at the other end blocked by some vines. Gaia walked over to it and felt himself go dizzy. "Aw, not again." he moaned and fell down.

XXXXXXXX

He was back in the blackness and the figure was standing in front of him. It took out its sword and touched a Sky Plate. Light-blue energy ran up the sword. Then it swung its sword forward. Well, that was what Gaia thought it did. He didn't see the swing! It was simply too fast.

A new technique was suddenly implanted in the Grovyle's mind. "That was Aerial Ace. Huh."

XXXXXXXX

Gaia woke up, took the Sky Plate out and touched to sword with it, then instantly cut the vines in less than a second, revealing the door to the next chamber.

The three of them continued through. This time there was a waterfall, with the door and a stone switch at the top.

Gaia felt himself falling unconscious. Again.

XXXXXXXX

He was standing behind the figure. He watched as it took out a Splash Plate and touched it with its sword. He looked on in amazement as the figure charged forward while swinging its sword, its entire body covered in water.

"That was Waterfall..."

XXXXXXXX

Gaia woke up. He copied what the figure had done and charged up the waterfall, then stood on the stone switch. The waterfall disappeared to reveal a staircase that Seth and Alice climbed up.

"This place is weird," Alice said.

"All of the dungeons are," Gaia replied. He looked at the door in front of him. "Will this be the last one?"

He pushed it open. He walked into a chamber, larger than the previous ones. A fountain stood in the middle of the room and there were numerous trees scattered on the edges. Strangely, the floor was stone. An Alakazam was meditating before the fountain. When Gaia and his friends arrived, he opened his eyes and stood up.

"Hello Gaia. My name is Kinesis. Let me be the first to welcome you to the Psychic's Chamber."

"That's nice," Gaia said sarcastically, "But I'm not here to gaze at the scenery." His sword was flashing in his hands and he got into a fighting stance. Seth and Alice did the same, "Raydir said that you have the truth about everything that's been going on. About this sword and these freaking plates! So tell me, or I'll fight you for it."

Kinesis grinned. "You wish to know the truth? About the Spirit Sword and what Wes meant? Why there are sixteen plates in sixteen dungeons?"

"Yes! Tell me!"

"Very well. I shall tell you. I warn you, it's rather long."

The truth about everything

"My tale is a long one," Kinesis said, "You may want to sit down."

The three members of Team Enforcers sat down on the grass and waited. Kinesis put his hands out in front of him, "To have you all understand fully, I must go back to the beginning. One thousand years ago, two hundred years after the darkness ended, there was a kingdom called Destonia,"

"Wait, so the legend was real?" Gaia interrupted, "About the Legendary Grovyle saving the world and everything?"

"Indeed," Kinesis replied, "I researched heavily about that particular topic when I was alive. But enough of this," He took a deep breath, "Destonia was a prosperous kingdom. It was peaceful and everything was well. I worked as the chief librarian in the Royal Palace and was liked. However, the good times did not last," He sighed.

"So, what happened?" Alice asked impatiently.

"I am getting to that. One day, a Poliwhirl that was completely black attacked the palace. It was extremely powerful and many of the guards were defeated by it. However, one young guard slashed the Poliwhirl and it instantly died. That guard eventually became the wielder of the Spirit Sword."

"No way!" Gaia exclaimed, "You mean that the Spirit Sword existed a thousand years ago?"

Kinesis gave him a strange look, "Of course. Can't you see how old it is?"

The Grovyle formed the sword in his hand and inspected it, "No not really. It's too shiny to be old."

Kinesis shook his head, "Never mind then. I studied the myths and the body of the dead Poliwhirl and came up with the following conclusion: it was a Shadow Pokemon,"

"Shadow Pokemon?" Seth was confused. He had read lots of stories when he was younger, but none of them had been about Shadow Pokemon or Pokemon that were completely black.

"After the darkness ended," the Alakazam explained, "The souls of everyone were filled with light. But the darkness had to go somewhere. It lurked in the deepest and most dangerous parts of the world, gained intelligence and powers and bodies, thus creating the Shadow Pokemon." His tone suddenly became bitter, "I was ridiculed for my theory. I was demoted to an assistant. I was so furious that I barely spoke to anyone. Only one person believed me, and that was the young guard."

He sighed again, "Two months later, a herd of Shadow Pokemon attacked a nearby town and destroyed it. All were killed and no bodies were left behind." He shuddered, "What was left was a huge crater in the ground, filled with the dark creatures. Anyone who came close was killed and eaten. Not surprisingly, I was believed and action was taken. I researched more and discovered that the Spirit Sword was very effective against the Shadow Pokemon and could destroy the weaker ones in one hit."

"Man Gaia, I never knew your sword was that badass." Seth grinned.

Gaia smiled at him.

"Shut up and listen," Alice growled. She wanted to hear more.

"The king immediately selected a list of candidates who might be able to wield the Spirit Sword," Kinesis continued, "They were strong and admired by everybody. Unfortunately, none of them were able to take it out of its pedestal. That was when the young guard came up to the pedestal and yanked the sword right out of it." He laughed at the memory, "Everyone was shocked. So was the young guard. I remember him staring at it, then turning around and saying, 'What? Did I do something wrong?'. He was immediately forced into a strict training regime. After he was finished, he went to war."

He took another deep breath, "What I theorized was true, the Spirit Sword was extremely effective against the Shadow Pokemon. He fought alongside the others and became stronger. Thanks to his efforts, we managed to seal the majority of them inside an orb called the Life Orb. Everything returned to normal and we were all happy."

"What happened next?" Gaia asked, "Is that the end of the story?"

"No, it is not. A corrupt noble overthrew the king and enslaved him and the royal family. He smashed the Life Orb and sent the Shadow Pokemon back into the world. Worst of all, he used them to do his bidding!" A look of anger briefly flashed across Kinesis's face, then it disappeared and he returned to his calm nature, "He sent out a death warrant for the wielder of the Spirit Sword. Having no choice, the young swordsman fled Destonia. Three years later, he came back, stronger than ever and with four comrades. During his absence, the kingdom had gone to the dogs. The new king killed anyone who stood in his way. It was truly a kingdom of darkness."

"Wow, that must have sucked," Seth muttered.

"Thankfully, the young swordsman had the sense to organize a rebellion against the king. It succeeded and he was executed. The old royal family was released and the Shadow Pokemon were locked away again. Everything returned to norma. Then he came," Kinesis's face darkened.

"Who?" Gaia asked.

"Darkrai," the Alakazam answered.

"The king of nightmares?" Alice asked skeptically, "I thought he is a good Pokemon, despite what others say,"

"You gotta be kidding me," Seth shook his head, "Nightmares are bad things!"

"So?"

"Enough," Kinesis said, "I must finish before my time runs out. Darkrai used his powers to break the Shadow Pokemon free and control them. He strengthened them with his dark magic and laid waste to other kingdoms. We tried to stop him, but even with the power of the Spirit Sword we couldn't kill him. So I devised a plan,"

"What sort of plan?" Gaia asked.

"There were sixteen warriors in Destonia who were opposing the darkness, the original wielder and myself included. We were the strongest in the land. My plan was to have guardians use the sixteen plates of Arceus and the power of Spirit Sword to banish Darkrai into an opposite dimension: The Dark World. The guardians would remain chained onto the land of living for eternity, watching and making sure that Darkrai could not escape. Since we were the strongest, we were suitable for the job. Some of us were reluctant. They did not like the idea of not dying and living forever. But eventually they agreed and the ritual took place. I asked the king to erase any memory of us, so that no-one would try and set Darkrai free. He agreed and the ritual took place. We sealed Darkrai and the Shadow Pokemon away. The world grew peaceful and all was well, until now."

There was silence. Then Gaia spoke, "That was interesting, but does this have anything to do with me?"

Kinesis stared at the young Grovyle. He was every bit naïve as the first one had been, "We cursed the place where we placed the Spirit Sword so that unless darkness was creeping into the world again, it would kill anyone who entered." He said.

"I still don't—wait a minute," Gaia said. Fear rose up in him, "Don't tell me…"

"You seem to have figured it out." Kinesis said, "Gaia, you must save the world from the darkness."

More silence. Total and utter silence. Seth and Alice stared at the Alakazam. Gaia's expression was a look of shock and horror. His mouth was open so wide that you would fit a tennis ball inside without touching the sides.

"No…no way. No fucking way," Gaia whispered finally, "Something like this is too huge. I can't do it!"

"The Spirit Sword chose you because you had certain qualities. You having it is proof that you are ready."

"What qualities?" Gaia nearly shouted, "I'm not as strong as Alice or as smart as Seth. I can't smash bricks or decipher codes or—"

"You underestimate yourself too much," Kinesis retorted, "You have an excellent balance between those two. Not only that, you have courage."

"Courage." Gaia said slowly, "Courage. When I have displayed any form of courage?" he asked.

"Why were you chosen as team leader? Why were you chosen as the head school representative for the competition against the Pokemon Town academy? Why did the younger students look up to you?" Kinesis challenged.

"You've been spying on me?" Gaia yelled, outraged.

"Of course. Ever since you turned eleven, we guardians have been watching you to see if you were suitable to wield the Spirit Sword. When you turned eighteen, we decided to take action."

"That fight with Aeros and Myde and those three dungeons…" Gaia said, "You guys set them up, didn't you?"

"Correct. And there's more. The Gengar that gave you the map leading to the Splash Caves was Nightmare, the guardian of the Nightmare Labyrinth and the Spooky Plate. Don't you understand? There was no way for you to avoid this,"

"I…I…" Gaia was at a loss for words.

"If you don't accept, Darkrai will break free and the world will be destroyed!" Kinesis was on his feet and he was shouting, although the didn't realize this, "Do you want that? Do you want your home to be destroyed? Do you want your friends to die? Don't you want to marry Alice?"

"What?" Alice shouted. Gaia was blushing heavily. Seth was chuckling, despite the grim mood.

"Gaia, do you really want to marry me?" Alice demanded. She too, was blushing. "Answer me!"

"I was eight years old at that time," he said defensively, "I wasn't thinking right."

She glared at him, "When this is over you and I are going to have a conversation."

The Grovyle turned back to Kinesis, "If the world isn't saved Darkrai will break free and everyone will die?" he asked.

"Yes," Kinesis replied.

"And I have to be the one to save the world? Only I can kill him due to having Spirit Sword?"

"Correct,"

Gaia sighed, "Fine. As much I don't want to, I'll do it."

Kinesis gave him a warm smile, "I knew you would accept. You remind me of the original wielder in more ways that you can imagine."

"So, what do I have to do?" The Grovyle asked.

"You must find the remaining thirteen plates, then find the gate to the Dark World and slay Darkrai. I have complete confidence in you. I also have a gift for you." He called up his powers and concentrated. In a flash of purple light, a pink-colored plate fell from the air and landed on the ground. "This is the Mind Plate. It is now yours."

"Will this teach me Psycho Cut?" Gaia asked as he picked it up and put it into his bag.

"No. but it will teach you an upgraded version of Mirror Coat. This version forms a barrier in front of you to reflect most projectiles and hurt anyone who comes close."

"Neat," Seth commented.

"Do I have to fight you for this?" Gaia got his sword out and prepared a fighting stance.

"No. My purpose was to tell you the truth, not to shed your blood. My work here is done; it is time for me to depart for the afterlife. I hope my family is forgiving…" With that last comment, Kinesis faded into sparkles of purple light.

No-one spoke. Gaia sat on the ground, staring the blade of his sword. Finally Seth broke the silence, "So Gaia, about that thing of you marrying Alice—"

"Dammit Seth! I was eight years old. EIGHT YEARS OLD!"

XXXXXXXX

Back in the stone room, a statue of an Alakazam split in half and fell to the ground with a crash. The remaining eleven guardians were silent.

"Kinesis is no longer among us…how I envy him." A Shedinja remarked.

"Hmph, I never liked him anyway," A Tyranitar said harshly.

"So, what now?" Nightmare asked.

"We go back to our temples and wait," Yuxai replied, "There is no knowing which one Gaia will find next,"

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in some tropical islands in another part of the world, Latios was down on the ground, nearly dead. His sister, Latias had been killed.

"Why you," he gasped, "We've know each other for years! We weren't the best of friends, but we weren't enemies either! We were born from Arceus's hand. Why must you kill me?"

"Silly Latios," the mysterious figure grinned, "Do you really think that I was the original one? You are in the way of what I seek and that is enough reason to kill you."

"No…NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Latios took his last breath and died. The mysterious figure searched around the islands and found a blue orb. "At last, the Soul Dew is mine! Only seven more to go!"

XXXXXXXX

Team Enforcers exited the dungeon and headed towards the Treasure Town. The whole time, Gaia didn't speak. Seth tried to make him talk, but the Grovyle would always give one word answers and fall silent again. Alice soon got fed up with the silence.

"Okay Gaia, what is wrong with you?" she asked, "You've been silent the whole damn time!"

"I don't know," he said slowly, "I guess I'm scared."

"Exactly what I thought. Listen, don't be. Everyone is counting on you, including me and you can't afford to be afraid. That Kinesis guy said that you had courage, so put it to use!"

Gaia frowned, "You're making me even more nervous,"

At that point, Alice turned around and stared Gaia in the eye, her expression unreadable, "I know you can do it. I know you can save the world. As corny and clichéd as this sounds, I believe in you."

Gaia was surprised, "Wow, really?"

"Really. If you succeed I might even kiss you." She grinned at him in a playful fashion, unlike the calm and serious (and violent) demeanour she usually had.

The Grovyle decided that he now had more than one reason to save the world. "Thanks Alice, I feel much better now."

XXXXXXXX

When they arrived at Treasure Town after a couple of hours of walking, they were surprised to see that it was totally silent and deserted. No-one was around. It was like a ghost town.

"Okay, where the hell is everybody?" Alice growled.

"Hahahahah…"

Gaia heard the sound and twitched, "Guys, did you hear that?"

"Yeah," Seth said.

"It came from over there," Alice pointed towards the direction of the main square. Let's go!" The three of them ran. As they ran, the sounds grew louder.

"Hehehehe…"

"Fresh meat…"

The three of them arrived at the square and saw a horrifying scene. A group of Pokemon, completely black and trailing shadows behind them, were dancing around a group of defeated explorers. Among them were, Fau, Shia, Zyphra, Alex and a Bayleaf Gaia didn't recognize. All of them were unconscious.

He formed the Spirit Sword in his hands, "Hey Shadow Pokemon!" he shouted, "Let's fight!"

Fighting the shadows

The Shadow Pokemon stopped what they were doing and faced Gaia. He had his sword out in a guarding stance, challenging them to fight. His teammates were also ready.

"What's this?" a Shadow Sandshrew said maliciously, "Fresh meat?"

"This is good. Very good," a Shadow Raichu giggled.

"All of you, stand aside," A Shadow Purugly ordered. She seemed to be the leader and somewhat stronger, "The child is mine,"

The other Shadow Pokemon groaned, but stood aside. They did not want to get in an argument with their boss. The Purugly stepped forward and looked at Gaia. "So, you are the one who wields the Spirit Sword," she hissed,

Well, at least we know they're capable of speech. Gaia thought.

"You don't seem to strong. Maybe this will be easy." Her words were cut off as he lunged forward and stabbed her.

Everyone froze. The Purugly looked down and saw that purple-black blood was leaking out of the wound. "You…" Gaia quickly yanked his sword out and slashed it downwards, beheading her.

The head rolled to the ground, a look of complete shock on her face. Then it collapsed into a pile of black dust. Her body soon followed. She was dead, if that term could be described to something that was neither alive nor dead.

The other Shadow Pokemon stared at the space where the Shadow Purugly had been. "Miss..." one of them gasped. Then Seth chose this moment to fire a Shadow Ball at the Shadow Sandshrew, knocking it back a few steps. Unfortunately for him, the Shadow typing made all attacks that would normally do neutral damage to half-damage.

"I'm killing you first," it growled.

The battle restarted. The Shadow Pokemon ran towards them, crying battle cries. The unconscious explorers on the ground seemed to have been forgotten. Gaia charged his sword up fire and used Flare Blitz, cutting a swath through the enemies. Luckily the Spirit Sword was doubly effective against the Shadow Pokemon, meaning that moves doing half-damage did neutral damage. Gaia suddenly realized that the only way this could be better was that if he had the Tinted Lens ability.

Alice and Seth, realizing that the their attacks only did half-damage, were careful to only take out the Shadow Pokemon they had type advantages over. When facing a Shadow Pokemon they would normally count as neutral, they hammered their attacks and did not stop.

The Shadow Pokemon screamed with agony when the Spirit Sword tore through them. The light from the blade was counteracted with their inner darkness. It felt like their bodies were being torn apart.

After a while of fighting, all of the Shadow Pokemon were defeated and loads of black dust were left behind. Gaia wasn't tired. Neither were his teammates. There wasn't a lot of Shadow Pokemon, only nine or ten. Their strength was equal to the Pokemon found in easy-late beginner mystery dungeons

"That was easy!" Seth said.

"Yeah, but maybe not in the future," Gaia remarked, "I have a feeling that we'll be facing a lot of stronger ones in the future,"

"So, what do we do with these guys?" Alice asked. She pointed to the unconscious explorers.

Gaia thought. There could be other Shadow Pokemon around, and he couldn't fight them if he stayed to take care of his friends. On the other hand, if he told Alice and Seth to stay behind and guard, they could be ambushed by the dark creatures and get killed. He didn't want any of his friends to die. It was too horrible to think about.

Just then, a Shirfty with an eyepatch over his left eye walked into the square. "What's going on?" he boomed, "Where are there unconscious people over the place?" He spotted Gaia, Seth and Alice, "Team Enforcers, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at stadium watching the Pokeathlon tryouts?"

Seth slapped his forehead, "Of course! That's why this place is deserted! I was planning on going, but Gaia was so determined to find out the truth." The Pokeathlon tryouts were held every year to decide the athletes who were able to compete with the Pokemon Town athletes. It was a big event and most people turned up to watch. Acer didn't like turning up because it reminded him of the time he tried to enter and completely failed. It was famous story around the academy.

"What truth?" Acer asked, "And why is there black dust all over the place?"

"I'll tell you later," Gaia said, "In the meantime, could you take care of my friends? Thanks!" With that, he ran off towards the stadium. His friends followed.

"Hey wait! Come back dammit!" The Shiftry shouted as he watched Team Enforcers run off.

XXXXXXXX

As the three of them approached the stadium, Gaia felt a sudden feeling in his gut. It was a bad feeling and it reminded him of sneak attacks during survival training. He stopped.

"Hey, Gaia! Are you alright?" Seth said.

"I…I feel darkness," the Grovyle whispered, "So much darkness." He pointed towards the stadium, "It's coming from there,"

"You can feel darkness? Is that even possible?" Alice asked skeptically. She had heard of Psychic's sensing enemies approaching from a long distance, but she had never heard of a Grass-type doing something similar.

"I don't know. I feel really bad inside. I just know something horrible is going to happen." he replied.

"Then let's hurry!" Gaia and his two teammates kept running towards the entrance. It was blocked by a metal gate that could only be opened by inserting coins into a nearby slot machine. Seth quickly opened his money pouch and inserted the coins and the three of them ran through. After running down a corridor filled with vending machines, an empty food stand and some posters of famous athletes, they emerged into the stands and saw that the whole place was completely normal.

"Nothing is happening," Alice growled, "Gaia, you have just officially dragged us here for no reason,"

The Grovyle shrugged. He was relieved that no-one was being attacked by Shadow Pokemon, "Meh, we probably would've found out and come here anyway," Maybe he could escape this one unscathed.

"The fearless leader has a point," Seth smiled, "Let's grab a drink and relax,"

"Good idea,"

Of course, nothing is ever that simple. Right after those words left Seth's purple lips, a dark hole appeared in the ground. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at it. A grey and black arm emerged from it. Another arm appeared after it. The two arms pressed themselves on the ground, breaking a high-jump stand in the process, and a giant Shadow Aggron that was as tall as a three-story building jumped out of the hole. It flipped in the sky and landed, creating a quake as it did. Then it roared.

The Pokemon stared at it. Then the screaming began. There was a stampede as the spectators and the athletes ran for their lives. People were trampled in the process. The ones could fly flew out of the stadium at top speed. The giant Shadow Aggron started stamping his feet and crushing various equipment.

"Uh, Gaia?" Seth said nervously, "We're gonna run, right?" He was starting to edge towards the exit.

"You guys can run, but I'm fighting that thing." Gaia replied.

"What? Are you serious? It'll flatten you."

"Aggrons are heavy and slow. I'll be fine,"

He took out his sword and started heading down towards the arena.

"Dammit Gaia!" Alice shouted, "You're gonna get yourself killed!" He pretended not to hear her.

"If you die, I'm so going to kill you when I get to heaven!"

For some reason, that worried him. He ran across to where the Aggron was and shouted, "Hey you fat bastard! Over here!" It turned around and glared at him. Then it roared. At that moment, Gaia realized that this may not be the smartest thing he had ever done.

The battle began. The Aggron started off by firing purple balls of energy at him. Gaia was surprised. Aggrons didn't usually use special attacks. Oh well. When the energy balls got closer, he shouted, "Mirror Coat!" and a transparent white barrier of energy reflected the balls back at the Aggron. They hit it dead on in the toros and the giant creature roared in pain.

Sucker. Gaia smirked. Then he noticed the giant steel fist coming down on him. Oh shit. He quickly dived out of the way. He was just in time. The fist smashed into the earth and created cracks. The Aggron tried to pull it out, but for reason it was stuck!

"Hell yeah!" Gaia ran forward and used Waterfall, slashing the arm with a blade covered in water. It seemed to work. The Aggron roared again and yanked its fist out of the earth, then sent it crashing down again. Of course this buried its fist in the ground, again. Gaia smirked and charged his blade up with fire, then hacked away at the monster. The two of them continued to fight, with Gaia dodging the Aggron's attacks and striking when the moment was perfect.

XXXXXXXX

When the spectators realized that the giant Aggron was not coming their way and trying to kill them, half of them filed back into the stadium to see what was going on. They were the braver ones. What they saw shocked and surprised them completely. A lone Grovyle was fighting the monster with a silver sword, and he actually seemed to be winning. Leala, Fau, Shia, Alex and Zyphra had recovered and were at the stadium were Acer.

"That's Gaia!" Leala exclaimed. She was the Bayleaf.

"No way," Zyphra whispered, "Gaia can't do that."

"What do we do now?" Alex asked. She was terrified of the monster.

"We cheer for him!" Shia said with surprising ferocity, "We can't help him directly, but we give him our support!"

She turned to face the arena and shouted, "GAIA! KEEP ON GOING!"

XXXXXXXX

Gaia was dead tired. Sweat was rolling down his face. He didn't know how long he could keep going. He wanted to give up and fall asleep on the ground. The Aggron seemed tired too. Black dust was falling from its body. Maybe that was a good sign. Maybe it wasn't. He didn't know.

Then he heard Shia call out to him. She was cheering for him. Then he heard Alice and Seth. Suddenly, the whole stadium was in uproar, everybody there cheering for him and telling him to keep fighting. Their voices rejuvenated him. He glared at the Aggron. Who the hell was this guy? No-one was going to destroy Treasure Town while he could help it. And he was most certainly not going to let innocent people die here. Kinesis said that he was the one to wield the Spirit Sword and fight the Shadow Pokemon.

Gaia was determined to do his duty.

"Alright you son of a bitch," he hissed, "I've had enough of you. You are going down."

The Aggron seemed to have heard his words and slammed both fists down onto the ground. Of course, they got stuck. It didn't seemed to have learned its lesson. Instead of slashing its arms, Gaia jumped on top of them and started climbing upwards. The Aggron noticed his new tactics and panicked. It frantically tried to pull its arms out, but they were stuck. The Grovyle ran up the arms and jumped onto the shoulder plate. From there he climbed onto the back of the Aggron's neck and charged up a Waterfall. Then he slashed like mad, spewing torrents of black and purple blood. The Aggron howled and raged and tried to shake him off. But Gaia held on and was determined to let go. Eventually, the Aggron lost too much blood and it collapsed into a pile of black dust. Due to the gravity, Gaia fell down to the ground from at least one hundred metres high.

He would have died too, if it weren't for the black dust acting like a cushion.

There he was, smothered in sweat and black dust and holding a sword that was partially covered in water. Half the people of Treasure Town were staring at him, their mouths agape and not sure what to say. He looked around him and saw many craters in the ground where the Aggron had punched. He also saw ruined equipment. No doubt it would cost the managers a hefty sum on money.

"What's up?" he said weakly and passed out.

Intermission

"Ooh…" Gaia slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring at a white ceiling. He looked down and saw that he was a in a bed with white sheets and mattress. Am I in hospital? He wondered. He opened his lips. They were dry and parched. "Hello?" he rasped, "Is anyone there?"

"Oh, you're up!" He recognized that voice. It was Seth's mother, Victoria. She had the same healing abilities as her son and worked at the hospital as a nurse. She was always nice to him and let him stay over at Seth's house during holidays when he felt like it. The female Sableye came over with a relieved look on her face. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Just thirsty." Gaia replied.

"Only that?"

"Yeah,"

"Good. That means I did my job well. Here, drink. Your mouth must be feeling like the Arid Zone desert." Victoria took a glass of water from a nearby table and offered it to him. He drank it gratefully and slowly, letting the cool liquid fall down his throat. When he was finished, she asked him, "What were you doing back in the stadium? The whole town is talking about it. Rumours have been flying everywhere,"

"What, weren't you there?"

"No, I wasn't. I was at the hospital working."

"I fought a giant Aggron with a sword and won. I was also taking the first step in saving the world from darkness," Gaia said bluntly.

There was silence. Victoria stared at him.

"It's good to see that you have a large imagination, but seriously, what were you doing?"

Gaia rolled his eyes. This was exactly what he expected, "Look, you can ask Seth. He knows." Then he realized something, "My friends! Where are they?"

"They're outside," Victoria said and pointed to a door, "I told them not to enter until you woke. Shall I let them in?"

"Yeah, that would be nice,"

She walked over and the opened the door, then stood next to it. Instantly, Seth and Alice rushed in. Then came Raydir, Mitt and Janua. Fau, Leala, Shia, Alex and Zyphra were next and behind them trailed Riley, Garrett and Master Dusk. Gaia was shocked. He hadn't been expecting this much people. Still, it was rather touching that so many people cared about him. He was also surprised to see that Alex hadn't started going all fangirl on him.

"Great! You're awake!" Seth exclaimed happily.

Garrett smiled at the Grovyle, "My daughter was quite concerned about you, if you must know."

Alice scowled and nudged her father in the ribs, "Father! I told you not to say that!" He only smiled and gave her a wink.

Gaia gave her a small grin, "So were you worried about me or not?" he asked playfully.

She sighed, defeated, "Yes, I was." Then she walked over and smacked him on the cheek…hard.

"Ow!" Gaia cried, rubbing the place where he had been hit, "What was that for!"

"For making me worry myself sick!" Alice shouted, "Do you know how terrified I was when you fought that Aggron? I thought you would die! And when you started climbing up its arm and shoulder, I was scared that you fall off and get yourself killed! It was like the Tower of the Wind all over again!" She then went over and hugged him. "Please don't do that again," she whispered.

Mitt grinned at them, "I always knew you had feelings for him, Alice."

She turned around and gave him a glare, "Shut up."

"In all seriousness Gaia," Master Dusk began, "What exactly have you been doing for the past couple of weeks? You disappear for two days, and then you come back with a sword and save the town from a giant Aggron. And then there's the question of what the Aggron was made of. No ordinary Pokemon should collapse into black dust when killed."

"Well, that's because the Aggron was a Shadow Pokemon!" Seth chirped.

Everyone suddenly started paying attention to him, "A Shadow Pokemon?" Janua asked.

"Yep! Shadow Pokemon are born from the darkness in people's souls. They lurk in the most dangerous parts of the world and are capable of speech. All attacks do only half damage to them, except for the Spirit Sword, which does double damage. It's Gaia's duty to save the world from the Shadow Pokemon and everything." He really must have been paying attention to Kinesis.

There was a long silence as everyone processed this information. They all came to the exact same conclusion: Seth was making things up again. "Son," Riley said gently, "I know you have a huge imagination, but this is going too far. We can't joke about things like this."

"It's all true," Alice said seriously, "We met this Alakazam called Kinesis, and he explained everything. He said that the Shadow Pokemon existed a long time ago, and sixteen guardians sealed them away, but for some reason they're coming back again."

The group considered this. Alice was known for being serious. She wasn't known for joking around. That was Seth's job. Garrett walked over to his daughter and fiercely stared at her. "Alice, are you lying to me?" he asked calmly.

Alice stared back at her father with equal ferocity, "No father, I am not." She said with equal calmness. The two of them kept up their little staring contest for a minute, before Garrett pulled away and said, "She's not lying."

"How can you be sure, sir?" Zyphra asked sceptically.

"Her eyes do not lie." That was all the Garchomp said.

"I have a better solution," Riley piped up, "I work for the local autopsy, as some of you may know. One of my jobs is to search people's mind or information." He turned to Gaia, who was still in bed. "Gaia, will you allow me to access your mind for information?"

The Grovyle considered this for a moment, then said, "Okay, but no peeking into my private life. Just go back to yesterday."

"Very well." Riley placed on hand on top of Gaia's head and concentrated. His eyes closed and two of them fell into a deep trance.

XXXXXXXX

Riley found himself standing in a hallway filled with doors. "Good, no mind blocks," he said to himself. He hated it when people did this. They were annoying as hell and destroying them required a lot of effort and energy. Some of the doors were transparent; others were covered in intricate designs. "I must find the memory bank," he muttered to himself. He set off down the corridors. He passed the love, hate, joy and rage rooms. At the love room, which had a transparent door, he stopped to look inside. There was a medium-sized statue of Alice in the middle of the room. It was the only thing there. He smirked before carrying on. After walking past a few more, he found the right door and opened it.

Now he was standing in a round room with more doors. These doors were opaque and looked wooden. But Riley knew how to find the right memory. "Yesterday!" he shouted. The doors spun around and around on the walls until a red one stopped right in front of him. "This is it," He entered it.

He was facing a large glass sphere in front of him. It displayed all the memories from yesterday in Gaia's point of view. He saw Kinesis explain the situation to Gaia and was amazed. He saw Gaia fight the giant Aggron and was astounded by his bravery and the techniques he used. He made up his mind. None of Team Enforcers were lying. He focused and felt himself drifting back to the real world.

XXXXXXXX

Riley opened his eyes. A second later, so did Gaia. "So, what about it?" Zyphra asked, "Is he lying?"

He shook his head, "It's true. All of it. Gaia is the one who will save the world." Everyone gasped.

"Yeah!" Seth exclaimed, "I told you so!"

"Man, why does Gaia get all the good stuff?" Shia complained. First the four plates, now this! She really was jealous.

"Wow. That's cool…" Leala exclaimed. Her eyes were sparkling with admiration.

"Dear Arceus Gaia," Raydir said, "You had better not screw this up."

The Grovyle sweatdropped, "Stop it you guys, you're making me nervous." He muttered.

"So Gaia, what are planning to do?" Master Dusk asked.

He was thrown a bit by this question, "I'm not sure," he admitted, "I guess I'll go and find the plates with my friends."

"I don't think you should be doing that," Riley spoke up.

Gaia was confused, "Okay, why not?"

"I saw the battle. You're not very good at handling a sword, are you?"

The Grovyle flushed and looked a bit embarrassed, "Well, I've only just started using it," he said defensively.

"Riley is correct," Master Dusk said, "I'll have Sensei Bones train you for a while,"

Gaia groaned. Master Dusk frowned, "What the matter? Don't you like Sensei Bones?"

"I would like him more if he stopped shouting in my ear," he muttered. Sensei Bones was in charge of the harsh survival training the students took when they were fifteen. He was known for pushing them to their very limits and screaming abuse in their ear. It was true that he had good intentions, but that didn't stop the students hating him.

"You're the one who has to save the world," the old Dusknoir reminded, "I know that Bones isn't the most liked member of our staff, but I'm sure you can put up with him for a while."

"Yeah, you're right." Gaia sighed.

"So what about Alice and me?" Seth asked, "I mean, we're the ones who fight with Gaia all the time. Do we get special training too?"

"I will train you, if that is okay with your father," Master Dusk replied. Riley gave him a nod of approval.

"My daughter, how would you like to learn some of our clan's more advanced techniques?" Garret asked. Alice smiled and said, "That would be nice, father."

"Can I get out of bed now?" Gaia interrupted, "I want to show you all my new moves,"

"Yep, sure. But before we go, Alex has something to tell you," Seth said, "Isn't that right, Alex?"

"What?" the Grumpig said.

"You want to apologize, right? Go and do it,"

Alex hesitated, then broke into speech, "Gaia, I have realised that my attraction for you was stupid and I apologize for all the things I have done," She said this with a completely straight face.

Gaia stared at her for a moment, "Apology accepted," he said and extended his hand. The two of them shook hands. "Just don't go all fangirl on me, okay?"

"I promise I won't."

XXXXXXXX

Now everyone was at Academy Training Ground Number 14. It was now in the afternoon. Unfortunately for them, a swarm of people had gathered around the hospital and tried to ask Gaia questions. There even some fangirls. Eventually Garrett lost his temper and scared everyone away with his roaring and threatening. Alex and Alice 'helped' the somewhat stronger ones to leave. When they arrived, Gaia had requested for some logs to be placed on the flat surface. He then formed the sword in his hand and got into a guarding position.

"Flare Blitz!" He shouted. His blade of his sword extended to double its length and it became covered with fire. He swung it around and set fire to the log, cutting it to pieces in the process. He cringed with pain and the sword returned to its normal length. "Ow…that hurts," he groaned.

"Why?" Raydir asked.

"Flare Blitz is a recoil move, remember?" He then proceeded to show off his Waterfall and Aerial Ace moves, albeit awkwardly and in an unskilled fashion.

"You really need training," Master Dusk commented, "You're holding the sword in the wrong fashion and your swings are slow and awkward. Do you know how to guard or parry?"

Gaia shook his head, "When do I start?"

The Dusknoir smiled, "Tomorrow."

Omake (Bonus Scene)

Four years ago…

Seth was in hospital, asleep. He was in there because he had been badly beaten up by Alice for insulting her cooking (again). The female Gabite told herself she would apologize once he woke up. Riley and Victoria were visiting him. His other friends had already left.

Riley put his hand on Seth's head. Victoria noticed, "Darling, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to look into his mind. We agreed on it, remember?"

"Okay then, but if you crush our only son's mind I'm never forgiving you."

"I know."

Riley concentrated and soon he felt himself falling into Seth's mind. He looked around. No blocks here. He was going to have a word with his son when he left.

He looked around. The door closest to him was the love room. He went over to the transparent door and looked inside it. Inside it were two large statues of him and Victoria. He smiled. But there was also something else. There was a statue of a Sneasel, and she was smiling.

Riley smirked. "Well, it's about time already." He left to explore the other pits of Seth's mind.

Training

The alarm clock rang. It made a shrill, piercing sound that broke the silence of the early morning like a hammer smashing a pane of glass. Gaia groaned and slowly sat up in his bed. Then he pressed a button on the clock, silencing it. His brain was still half-asleep and his eyes felt they were made out of lead. Damn Sensei Bones and his early starting times. In this case, he was supposed to be at the training grounds at 5.30.

He opened the curtains and looked outside. The sky was beginning to get light but it was still dark. Then he checked his clock. The digital readout read 4:45. Perfect. He got out of bed to head down to the kitchen for some breakfast. He was careful not be loud enough to wake up Alice. If she woke up, she would make sure he would pay.

XXXXXXXX

At exactly 5:30 and 45 seconds, Gaia arrived at training ground 45. It was mostly flat ground, with a few rocks and trees. It was used for one and one sparring Ten feet in front of him he could see a Marowak meditating on the ground, eyes closed and his bone laid out in front of him.

Good, maybe he won't notice me. Gaia took a step forward and trod on a small twig. It made a small snapping sound. Oh crap. Instantly, the Marowak opened his eyes and ran up to the Grovyle, his bone pressed against his neck. "YOU IMCOMPETENT FOOL!" Sensei Bones roared, "HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SAVE THE WORLD LIKE THIS? YOU ARE LATE!"

Gaia answered Sensei Bones after his head stopped ringing, "Sir, I am forty-five seconds late." He said.

"Late is late, no matter how tiny it is!" He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but was still shouting pretty loud, "You like to run, right? Then let's start with ten laps around the ground! Do it now!" He took his bone away. Gaia turned around and started running, with the Marowak screaming abuse the whole time. If he hesitated, Sensei Bones would double the amount of laps. Seth had learned this unfortunate lesson during survival training.

XXXXXXXX

It was now 9 am, and Alice was in the small training ground of her father's house. She was quite happy to train with her father. She hadn't done it for a while. Sure, there was a few months after her bitch of a stepmother was killed, but then survival training, exams and graduation had taken up most of her time. Then she had to go on missions after she graduated.

"So father, what will you be teaching me?"

Garret smiled at his daughter, "I will teach you how to smash rocks, climb up cliffs and breathe fire,"

Alice nodded, "Which one will I be learning first?"

"How to smash rocks. To understand how the move Rock Smash works, you must learn the principles behind it. Listen carefully to what I say, because it is all important…"

XXXXXXXX

Seth was with Master Dusk in training ground 17. He was trying to learn Fire Punch, but without success. He had been given a scroll from the headmaster and told to study it. So far he gotten the fire part right, but kept burning his hand.

He sat against a tree, panting and examining the burns on his purple right hand. "Dammit," he swore, "This is fucking hard," He quickly healed himself. It was now eleven and he had been going at it since eight. He was hot and tired.

"Giving up already?" Master Dusk approached him, an ice-cream cone in hand, "Also please don't swear in front of me,"

"I never said I was giving up," Seth huffed, "I will master it, believe it! I just need some time," He got up and focused his energy into his hand. His hand caught on fire and scalded it. He shrieked and willed the flames to go out. However, his hand was still burnt.

Master Dusk chuckled and licked some ice-cream, "Victoria mastered this, so I expect you to."

"Mum mastered this?" Seth asked, "Then I'm definitely gonna do it!" He gave another shot and successfully creating a Fire Punch.

XXXXXXXX

Day 3

Don and his team were wandering across town when they saw (what they thought was) a hilarious scene. Gaia was standing with a sword in front of him, trying to block Sensei Bones's attack. He looked hot and tired. Beads of sweat were beginning to roll down his green skin. Since the three of them completely hated the Grovyle, they decided to tease him.

"Hey Gaia," Wart taunted as he waved a can of cold lemonade around, "It's really hot today, isn't it? I bet you would love a cold drink."

"We're really lucky," Don teased, "We don't have to train with Sensei Bones like we're fifteen years old."

Gaia growled and muttered foul curses under his breath. He couldn't attack them, because he might get arrested and Bones would punish him. Bones scowled at the three explorers. Those fools! They don't understand the gravity of the situation, do they? He raged inside his Master Dusk had ordered everyone who had come to see Gaia to keep the saving-the-world a secret because it either cause mass panic or it would totally embarrass the Grovyle. The former was more likely to happen than the latter.

"Gaia!" Bones shouted, making the Grovyle snap to attention, "I have a new task for you!"

"What is it sir?" Gaia asked wearily. Behind him, Don and his mates were smirking wide, enjoying the sight of Gaia having to suffer.

"You have to attack the three idiots behind you for interrupting your training," Their smiles instantly melted and three of them looked at each other warily, "You can only use your sword and the techniques that I have taught you up to now,"

Gaia looked at Team Don, then frowned, "Sir, there are three of them and only one of me. I can't win," They breathed sighs of relief.

"No need to fear, I will be helping you." Fear froze on their faces. Sensei Bones was the best swords master in the whole of Treasure Town, so they had every reason to be scared. That and two of their members were weak against Ground. Gaia looked like his birthday had come early. He got into a guarding position.

"On my mark. 3…2…1…GO!" The two of them charged at Team Don, Gaia wielding a Flare Blitz attack. The team screamed and ran for their lives.

XXXXXXXX

Alice was standing over a lake, trying to breathe a full Flamethrower. So far she had only managed small Embers. Why doesn't it work? She growled angrily in her mind. Her energy was running out fast. Do I need to make my energy explode or something? Then she realized something. That's it. She focused all of her energy in her throat and tried to make it explode. Smoke poured out her nostrils and a fireball erupted out of her mouth. It was certainly an improvement, as the Embers she had been previously firing were twice as small as the fireball. However, the price was that her throat felt like it had been covered with jalapeno sauce.

She didn't have any water with her, so she looked around quickly before lowering her head into the lake and drinking from that. If she was caught, she would be in big trouble.

XXXXXXXX

"Hoo! Ha! Ya!" Master Dusk was throwing punches at Seth while the Sableye dodged. The punches came at full force and he couldn't afford to be hit.

The Dusknoir slammed his fist on the ground and created an Earthquake. Seth jumped up in the air and came down when the shock wave had left. "When are going to stop?" he asked.

The headmaster gave him a small grin, "When I say so, of course."

Son of bitch, Seth thought, and narrowly dodged a powerful Ice Punch that crashed into a rock. This is going to take a while.

XXXXXXXX

Two days later, more Shadow Pokemon attacked. Gaia had been walking down a deserted street alone when a Shadow Pikachu burst out of a dark portal in the ground. It tried to shock him to death, but Gaia used his new skills to slice it in half, and then quickly hack into a newly-formed Shadow Ponyta on the left. Now he could hold the sword with one hand for a minute, but most of the time he carried it with both hands. It felt more comfortable this way.

XXXXXXXX

Alice fired a fireball from her mouth in the training ground. It wasn't a steady stream of fire like the Flamethrower, but now her throat didn't feel on fire whenever she used it.

"You have improved," Garrett said evenly. A small grin appeared on his lips, "Very well. I will teach you the next step."

"Thank you father,"

XXXXXXXX

Five days later, Shia lay on her bed, face up, thinking. It was 7 in the morning but she didn't feel like going down for breakfast. She thought about Gaia needing to save the world. She felt slightly jealous. He had found three pieces of historical treasure and a really cool sword. But then again, she thought, he was probably the right man (or Grovyle) for the job. He was strong and he did receive some of the best grades in the academy. But not in maths. She was good at that.

She rolled out of bed (four-legged creatures slept on the floor) and headed down to the kitchen for some breakfast.

XXXXXXXX

"So, which one should we do?" Her, Leala and Fau were staring at the academy notice boards. She had joined Team Awesome after getting bored exploring on her own.

"This one," Shia pointed her nose to a rescue mission and took it down using her tail. It was from a Shedinja called Yang.

Help me! I am stuck in the first floor of Insecto Forest!

Reward: 2000 Poke.

The three of them stared at it with puzzled looks. Nobody had ever heard of someone weak enough to be trapped on the first floor of any dungeon.

"Should we do it?" Fau asked, "It seems weird."

"Let's do it," Shia replied, "It'll be easy." But she let the team out of the academy, she couldn't shake his feeling from her heart that something horrible was going to happen.

XXXXXXXX

They arrived at the start of Insecto Forest. It was consisted out of evergreen trees and a large number of Bug-type Pokemon. However, it was a beginner dungeon so Leala had no fears about entering it.

The three of them went in. They arrived at a single room.

"Okay, where are we?" Leala asked, looking around. Normally dungeon floors had more than one room.

Visitors. I haven't had some for a while.

They heard a voice appear out of nowhere. "Who's there?" Shia demanded. She wouldn't admit it, but fear was rising in her stomach.

Let me take you to my humble home.

Three balls out of light rose out of the ground, then flew towards Team Awesome at alarming speed. They screamed and tried to run away, but the light enveloped them and three of them felt themselves blacking out.

XXXXXXXX

Fau was the first to woke. There was no pain. She found herself lying in front of the gate to a mansion overrun by nature. A nearby sign said: 'Insect Mansion'.

Oh no, she thought, We're in a normal dungeon.

What's this? A scene from the prequel of Legend of the Sixteen Plates, whose name I cannot reveal yet? Best we go and check it out, then!

One thousand years ago.

"Ugh, agh, my head..."

Yuxai the Froslass woke up. Her head throbbed and her throat felt like sandpaper. She tried to remember what had happened. Yesterday everybody in the Royal Palace of Destonia had held a party to celebrate the beheading of the evil king. The one who did it was the wielder of the Spirit Sword. Like all parties, there had been alcohol, particularly wine and ale. Some, like the wielder of the Spirit Sword, didn't drink because getting drunk did not make a good swordsman. Some, like Wes and Aeros, enjoyed enough but limited themselves to not get drunk. Surprisingly, the king got drunk and had to be dragged away by the queen and her daughter.

She remembered that the last thing she did was accepting a pint of ale from her boyfriend, Marly the Roserade. Then there was a gaping blank in her memory.

She looked at her surroundings. The room looked familiar and she was sure if she didn't have a headache she would recognize it.

Then she noticed that Marly was sleeping next to her, a large grin on his face. And she was floating above his bed.

Oh no.

Five minutes later, a terrified Marly threw the door to his room open and ran for his life. Yuxai floated out of it at top speed, her face contorted with fury, "MARLY!" she yelled as she chased the Roserade, "HOW DARE YOU GET ME PREGNANT!"

Mansion of a thosond traps

After Fau had scanned the area, she told her teammates about the situation. The exit to the courtyard was blocked by a stone wall covered in thorny vines, despite the fact that wall don't normally appear in front of the gate. A nearby map scratched on a wooden sign showed that the exit was at the back of the mansion. Pictures of bugs covered the walls. Then there were numerous bloodstains. They ranged from miniscule dots to bloody imprints of hands.

"Man, this place is creepy," Shia commented. They were walking up to the front door. For Leala, her words were merely an understatement. The Insect Mansion was downright frightening, what with the bloodstains and the fact that the place was Bug-type themed.

"I'm opening the door. Be careful," Fau pushed the door open with her front paw and the three of them entered. They emerged into a long hallway. From the looks of it, it hadn't been inhabited for a long time. The walls were covered in moss and other types of fungi. Grass grew from cracks in the concrete floor. There were paintings on the walls, but parts of them had been torn off or chewed by bugs. A broken ceramic vase lay on the ground, shattered into fifty or so pieces. The three of them were the only people there.

There was silence. Nobody moved.

"Wow," Shia finally, "That was unimpressive."

Leala sighed with relief and laughed nervously, "Maybe this place isn't so bad after all."

At that moment, a giant Araidos dropped down from the ceiling, supported by a thick white spiderweb thread. A large and insane grin was plastered on its face.

"YAAAAAAAHHH!" Leala and Fau screamed and jumped back. Shia was also spooked, but reacted instinctively. She fired a barrage of Ice Shards into the giant spider, killing it before it even got a chance to do anything. It fell to the floor and burst into blue flames, then disappeared.

"That was scary!" Leala gasped. As a Grass-type, it was only natural that she was scared of Bug-types. Fau once had a particularly nasty prank played on her when Vincent the Aipom dumped a load of caterpillars on her bed when sleeping. The two of them were trembling.

"Are you guys alright? You're not scared are you?" Shia asked. Fau quickly shook her head. "We're fine."

The three of them continued on, making sure that no enemies were ahead of them. When they nearly reached the exit, Leala stepped on a tile that coloured differently than the rest of the floor. It sank down, and the Bayleaf was surpised. Suddenly, she saw something out the corner of her eye and jumped backwards. Half a second later, a knife with a jagged blade flew towards where she was. It came with such speed that it actually sank into the ground. If it had hit her, it would've pierced her leg and injured her. From the looks of the green slime that was on the blade, it probably would've poisoned her too.

"That was close!" she gasped.

Shia stared at the door in front of them, "I think this place is trying to kill us," A shudder ran down her body, "Let's be really, really careful from now on." She pointed towards the door, "Leala, could you knock this down? I think there's a trap inside."

The Bayleef immediately charged up an Energy Ball and fired. It hit the door and smashed a huge hole in it. Nothing happened.

"Shia, there weren't any traps," Fau said. The Glaceon shrugged, "Better safe than sorry."

The three of them entered a large room. It had a staircase that led up to a second floor. On it was a large wooden door that was locked. On the first floor, there was a hallway in front of them and two doors on the side, one which was secured by two locks. A rusting chandelier hung in above them. Various scratches and bloodstains were on the walls. It really gave the mansion a haunted look.

"Let's go," Shia took a step forward, then quickly backtracked as she heard something fall down. The chandelier crashed into the ground, lay there broken for a few seconds before bursting into a ball of red flame.

"Dear Arceus, this place is insane!" Fau gasped, "We have to get out of here quick."

"There should be a guardian here," Leala noted, "I think we have to defeat it to exit, like Gaia did all those times."

Shia pointed towards the hallway in front of them. "Let's start with that," she muttered. The three of them walked towards the open entrance carefully. Thankfully, no traps appeared. They went through a hallway like the one before, only this time there were no enemies and no traps. There were more paintings, although all parts except the eyes were torn or burnt off. The creepy thing was that the eyes seemed to follow them as they walked.

They emerged into a dining room.

"Oh gross!" Shia exclaimed, a look of disgust on her face.

"I think I'm going to throw up." Fau said, her expression pale as a ghost.

Leala made a retching sound. The dining room was covered in cobwebs. The food was rotten and the cutlery looked as if it been cleaned centuries ago. What was truly shocking were the twenty or so Pokemon seated at the table. All of them were dead, their bodies decayed so far that they were now skeletons.

"Can we leave now?" Leala said in a terrified voice, "This place is scaring me." Shia looked around to see if there was anything useful. She spotted a small key on the table. "I'll get that key, then leave." She leapt onto the table top and shoved the key into her bag.

CLUNK!

A stone wall fell down behind Leala and Fau, blocking the exit. Shia saw the whole thing and exclaimed, "What the hell!"

There was a rattling noise like some bones being whacked together, and to Team Awesome's horror, the skeletons began to get out of their seats and face them!

"We died trying to get the treasure," one of them moaned in a hoarse voice, "And now you will join us!"

"Come with us," another rasped, "It's fun being dead…"

"Let me take your soul…"

They slowly converged on the three living ones, giving them time to react. Shia immediately began firing Ice Beam everywhere, freezing the skeletons in their tracks. Leala and Fau attacked with Razor Leaf and Shadow Claw respectively. There weren't a lot of skeletons which made the fight easier. When they were defeated, they faded into piles of grey dust.

It cost them a few minutes, but they finally took the skeletons down.

"Let's get out of here!" Shia took a step forward, but then heard a rumbling sound coming from above. She looked up and was horrified to see a spike ceiling coming down. "RUN!"

Leala and Fau saw what was going on and didn't need any encouragement; they were already out of the room. The three of them raced down the corridor, which had another spike ceiling coming down. They made into the main room in the nick of time. The spikes crashed into the floor behind them, blocking the dining room from any further entry.

The three of them lay on the floor, panting heavily. They were wiped after their adrenaline-fueled near escape. Leala saw some writing scribbled next to the door frame in what seemed to be blood. "Hey guys, look at that,"

"What?" Her two teammates looked at the writing.

Beware of spike ceilings.

"Should've noticed that sooner," Fau mumbled.

XXXXXXXX

Now they were in a ballroom. They had come here by walking down the corridor from the left door in the main room. It had been filled with lots of decapitated heads mounted on the walls. Each head had a different expression, ranging from horror to depression.

Besides the door leading to the ballroom, there was more writing. It was also in blood.

It will collapse on you.

The ballroom was large; the ceiling supported by four arches and decorated with pictures of forests and Bug Pokemon. It was surprisingly clean, despite the mansion being virtually untouched for years.

"Hey, I can see my reflection on the floor!" Leala exclaimed.

"This is strange," Shia said, "Why is this place clean when the others are so dirty?"

As if to answer her question, a group of Caterpie dropped from the ceiling. Fau quickly counted them and saw that there were five. Since Caterpies are one of the weakest species of Pokemon, the three of them won rather easily. Then a bunch of Metapods fell down. They were also weak, being defeated by Team Awesome in half a minute.

A pedestal rose from the ground and on it was a key covered in mysterious black powder,

"That was easy!" Fau said. She went over and picked up the key.

Fsss…. A flame burst from where the key was and slowly consumed a trail of black powder behind the pedestal. Her eyes widened. "Oh crap! It's a fuse! Run!" The three of them turned around and ran for their lives. When they reached half-way down the corridor, a hidden bomb in the ballroom exploded. Huge chunks of the roof fell down. Luckily none of them hit them. When they reached into the main room, a ton of rubble dropped down behind them, blocking the entrance behind them.

The three of them were sweating heavily and tired. "C'mon," Shia said wearily, "Let's open that door. I don't want to spend another minute in this place…"

They inserted the two keys into the locked door and stepped through.

XXXXXXXX

Now they were walking through a maze. It was made out of rock walls and was lit by a series of torches. It was tricky one and they went around in circles before Leala noticed that more messages were scrawled on the walls in blood. They ranged from 'This way' (with a small arrow), 'Over here', 'Trap here' and 'Enemy next'. In short, they were telling Team Awesome where to go and what to do. Every now and then a random Bug-type Pokemon would jump down from the roof and attack. They were stronger ones, including fully evolved ones like Venomoth and just plain strong ones like Scyther. It took a few hits to take them down. Sometimes there were traps. Fau shrieked when a heap of chestnuts fell on her. Eventually they reached the end of the maze, which was a door that led into a study.

Like the ballroom, this one was clean as well. But it was still pretty horrifying. A cracked mirror Shia opened one of the drawers near a bed and found that there was a heap of maggots inside eating a severed Machop hand.

"Yuck!" She quickly closed the drawer.

Fau opened a large cupboard. There was a corpse of a Pidgeot inside, dangling from a metal wire embedded in its neck. Along it were some rusty knives spattered in blood and a few green bottles containing something suspiciously like poison. She slammed it shut and turned around, her face green with disgust and horror.

A painting was placed above a bed. Most of it had been ripped off. What could be seen was a Shedinja, a Riolu, a Floatzel and a Toxicroak standing next to each other behind a forest. They were smiling. It seemed out of place in the creepy mansion. A sign saying 'Don't touch it' was scribbled next to it in blood.

Leala inspected a large desk. There was a large, blood red eyeball lying on the newly polished surface. A single message was written next to it.

Devil's eye

Sees everything, pierces darkness, detects traps.

It is my one and only treasure, yet I cannot have it any longer.

"Weird." She muttered. She poked it gently, as if wishing for something magical to happen. Which it did. The eye started glowing.

"What the…" It hovered in the air, then flew towards the eyepatch covering her eye. A strange red beam emitted from the eye that burned the black cloth away. It then rushed into the hole where her left eye should have been.

Her vision turned red. White hot pain seared through her body. It felt like she had been struck by an immense bolt of lightning. She felt the eye jiggling in the empty socket. She blacked out.

She didn't know how much time had passed since she had fainted, but when she come to she saw her teammates standing over her, concerned looks on their faces.

"Are you okay?" Fau asked nervously, "Your eye is all red and everything."

"What?" Leala stood up and looked in the mirror. Sure enough, her left eye was blood red. The Devil's Eye seemed to have found a new home.

XXXXXXXX

They were back at the end of the maze. Shia and Fau dreaded having to go through the whole thing again, especially as their directions were facing backwards. But Leala noticed something strange.

"Guys, I can't see the maze." What she saw was a vast room with nothing in it.

"What?" Shia asked, "That's impossible. It's right in front of me."

"Seriously, I can't. Look." She took a step forward. In her vision, she walked across the room. In Fau and Shia vision, she walked into the walls and disappeared.

"Whoa, whoa, stop!" Shia shouted. Leala did. "Did you just walk through walls?"

"No, I just walked across the room."

"Weird. Well, maybe I can do it too!" She slowly walked towards the walls and passed through them. Fau saw her example and went through as well. It was strange sensation, walking through walls. They couldn't see each other, yet they somehow knew where they were. The three of them walked in silence and ended up back at the start in a relatively short amount of time.

XXXXXXXX

"I can't see the door." The three of them were on the second floor in the main room. Leala was staring at where the locked door should be, her right eye squinting but her left eye wide open. She could see a message next to the doorframe, which read 'She's watching you…'

"You sure?" Shia asked.

"Yes."

"I'll take your word for it." The Glaceon walked towards the door she could see and passed through it. Fau did the same. Leala simply walked into the doorframe she could see.

They travelled down a corridor, stripped bare of anything except for torches and more scribbles in blood. It was much longer than the previous ones. They found a door at the end. Like the previous ones, it was an illusion and they stepped through.

They arrived in the pit of an arena. There was no-one in the stands. The floor was covered with yellow sand.

"Hey look, someone's there!" Fau pointed to a body face-down lying on the ground. The three of them rushed over to it and turned it over.

It was a dead Houndoom, its left eye ripped out. Its front paws were covered in dried blood. There was a wound in its chest. The members of Team Awesome gasped in disgust and terror. Who did this? Was this the person who wrote the messages?

"So, you've found him."The three of them whirled around to see a Shedinja floating in front of them, five black swords circling menacingly around her body. Strangely enough, it had a calm feminine voice, despite that most Shedinjas were genderless and mentally unstable.

"My name is Yang. Let me give you all my congratulations for getting this far. Unfortunately I may have to kill you."

"Kill us?" Fau cried in fear.

"Why yes. I killed everyone who lived in this mansion and hid it in the Hidden Land. Still, I did it for a reason."

"You monster!" Shia growled, "Why did you do it?"

Yang tilted her body sideways, "They were evil. I killed most of them, except one. I didn't realize that he survived. Apparently he was playing dead. He's that Houndoom who you see lying there. Strange guy, he was. After I set my own traps, he woke up and made his way through the rooms, writing all those messages as he went. I was most displeased when he touched the group portrait in the study."

"You didn't have to kill them!" Leala shrieked, "No-one deserves to die!"

"They did, because they manufactured Shadow Pokemon."

"Wait, Shadow Pokemon?" Shia interrupted, "Those black things Gaia's fighting?"

This got Yang's interest. "Ah, so you're friends of his. I should've known. After all, I did spend eighteen years watching him." She bobbed up and down in the air in deep thought, "Gaia's training when he should be collecting the plates, right? I guess that's why I teleported you three in the first place. Maybe I could give the Insect Plate to you three so you can deliver it do him. However, it's not going to be that simple."

Suddenly, she sent three swords flying towards Team Awesome. They had to jump back before they got skewered. The swords hit the sand, spraying it everywere.

"The rules dictate that I must be defeated before handing the plate over. So, shall we begin?"

Bonus scene from the prequel

A group of six Pokemon sat around a campfire in a forest. They had just come back after battling a horde of Shadow Pokemon. It was a mission from the Resistance, an organization that was opposing the evil king. The group consisted of Aeros, Wes, Yuxai, Yang, Myde and the wielder of the Spirit Sword. They were dead tired and needed to rest.

"You know, Marly hasn't come back yet." Wes said.

"What's he doing out there anyway?" Aeros asked.

"Getting food." Yang replied simply, "It's his turn tonight."

"I wonder where he is," the wielder asked, "I'm getting hungry."

Yuxai shook her head, "That fool," she said coldly, "He could be attacked by Shadow Pokemon at this very instant."

The wielder turned to grin at her. "Hey Yuxai, are you worried about him or something?"

The Froslass wasn't expecting this and flushed pink. "N-no! He's just a valuable member of the team and we can't afford to lose him."

Aeros gave her a wide smile, "So you are worried about him." He teased, "Is he your boyfriend or something?"

"Shut up!"

Myde looked at the sky and sniffed. "Rain's going to come down in five minutes," he eventually said, "We have to move or we'll get wet. Not that it's a problem for me or anything."

"What about Marly?" Aeros asked, "We can't just leave him wandering in the forest alone. He'll get mad."

"He's a Grass-type." Yang calmly said, "He should be fine. Besides, he can track us."

"Not if he's being attacked by Shadow Pokemon," the wielder replied, "The rain will make it hard for him to see and he can't track us if he wants to."

Yuxai was listening the whole time. She was silent for a while, then got up and said, "I'll be back in four minutes."

The five of them stared at her, "Are you really that worried about him that you will risk your life to bring him back?" Yang finally said.

"Shut up! Don't say a word!" Yuxai said angrily, trying to control her blushes, "He just owes me money. That's all." She put heavy emphasis on the last word. With that, she turned around and went off searching for the Roserade.

There was silence for a while. Then the wielder of the Spirit Sword got up and formed the sword in his hand. "I'm going after her," he said.

"Why?" Yang asked.

"If there really are Shadow Pokemon, they need my help. Wait for me guys."

"Oh no you don't," Myde said, getting up as well, "I'm coming with you. We've been through a lot together and it would be a shame to see you die."

"Yeah, we're going too." Wes and Aeros stood up. "You coming Yang?" the Altaria asked.

Yang shrugged, "I suppose I might as well."

The five friends raced after Yuxai to save Marly from the Shadow Pokemon, who actually wasn't being attacked by Shadow Pokemon and was picking apples from a nearby tree. His friends weren't amused when they found out.

Vs yang

Gaia blocked Sensei Bones's swing with his sword and knocked it back. The Marowak stepped back and swung his bone at Gaia, making the Grovyle block the blow with his sword and step back too. The sun was beginning to go down, signaling the arrival of the afternoon. He could see the sky grow orange. The young Grovyle was learning how to block and parry attacks. He was learning fast, but not fast enough for Sensei Bones.

"Focus, you fool!" he roared, "Stop holding your sword with both hands!"

But it's so damn heavy, Gaia growled inside. Sure, he could hold the Spirit Sword single-handedly for a minute, but he always got tired and had to switch back to two hands. He sighed before blocking a jab from Sensei Bones. I wonder how my friends are doing.

XXXXXXXX

Alice felt neutral about her training. She was behind the lake, practicing her fire-breathing. She had completed three out of four stages and was now trying the fourth. When she cleared it, she would fully master Flamethrower. She took a deep breath, and a steady stream of fire burst from her mouth. She kept at it for fifteen seconds, before feeling a burning sensation in her throat and stopping.

She cursed herself for her incompetence. Her father could breathe fire for over two minutes, while her; his daughter, couldn't get past a quarter of that amount! Glaring at her reflection at the lake as if it had hindered her progress somehow, she opened her mouth and began to breathe fire.

XXXXXXXX

Seth threw an Ice Punch at Master Dusk, which was blocked by one of his large arms. Not giving up, the Sableye gripped his arm and flipped himself up. The surprise in the headmaster's eyes was evident. Seth punched the Dusknoir's head with a Fire Punch, then jumped back onto the ground. He smirked.

Master Dusk felt the small burn on the side of his head, and grinned, "Not bad. Let's move onto the next stage. Now you must try to hit me twice…,"

The young Sableye's smile faded. It had been hard enough to hit the old Dusknoir once, and how he had to hit him twice? This would need some careful planning.

XXXXXXXX

Compared to Team Awesome, Team Enforcers were let off easy. They weren't engaged in combat with a psychotic Shedinja who had put the three girls through a mansion of hell.

"I will enjoy slicing your bodies into tiny pieces," Yang said emotionlessly, the five swords circling around her body. The harsh words sent chills sending down the spines of the three girls. The swords circled around her body, forming a blast of air and firing it towards Fau. The Glameow jumped out of way, just in time of the blast to hit the sandy ground and miss. Leala used this distraction to charge forward, but was knocked back by three of them swords swinging in a circular pattern around Yang's body. She fell onto the sand, a few minor slashes on her chest.

"Leala, stay out of this!" Shia shouted, "You can't do anything here!"

Of course, the Bayleef groaned inside her head, I don't have any moves to harm a Shedinja. She decided to keep out of the battle, healing with Aromatherapy. For some reason, she felt compelled to remove her eyepatch and expose her red eye. Which is exactly what she did.

Shia charged up a Shadow Ball and fired it at Yang. Four swords moved in to block it by slashing it. Fau jumped at the Shedinja with a Shadow Claw and slammed it at the hard back.

It had no effect. The Glameow's eyes widened in horror. A white barrier had formed around the Shedinja's back and nullified the attack. It was the effect of Wonder Guard. "Are you quite done yet?" Yang asked in a bored tone. She swung all five swords around and lashed out at Fau, cutting her in various places and sending her flying into the air.

"X-scissor!" Two of the swords glowed light green and carved an X on Fau's chest, knocking her back down onto the sand. She lay there for a moment, before getting up and checking her wounds. They weren't deep, which was really weird. A small amount of blood was leaking out of them.

"Do you like my Curse Lances? Pretty long, aren't they?" Yang asked. Her voice was utterly flat,"They will only scratch you, but with every slice they will drain a bit of your life away. You might as well lie down and relax. You're going to lose anyway."

"Screw you!" Shia fired another Shadow Ball at the Shedinja. She let it hit, only to have no effect. Once again, the white shield blocked the attack and nullified it.

"It seems that Ghost-type attacks have no effect on me. How strange." Yang turned around and stared at Shia. "But that Shadow Ball annoyed me. So I think I'll cut you up for that." Four of her swords hovered in the air and placed themselves directly above Shia in a vertically fashion. They charged themselves up with green energy.

"Oh, hell." The Glaceon muttered. The first sword shot downwards toward her. She quickly rolled to the left, only the see the second sword come down. She dodged all four of them, before jumping back just outside the range of the fourth sword. She growled at Yang before firing another Shadow Ball at her. Once again, it had no effect. "Why?" she gasped, "Why won't any of my attacks work?"

"I don't know, why don't you figure it out yourself?" The four swords lined up in a long chain and were joined by the fifth sword at the front. Yang swung it around the arena and knocked back Shia and a nearby Leala and Fau. The three of them were sending skidding into the sand, cuts on their body.

The Bayleef moaned in pain and got up. She felt slightly weaker than she had before. She glared at Yang. There's got to be a trick to all this. She thought desperately. Gaia had said that guardian he faced had a hidden weakness. It usually had to do with an item found in the dungeon. For Aeros it was the Gravity Brace. For Myde it was a stream of ice that could freeze his water body. But her Devil's Eye could only see through illusions, nothing else. Unless Yang suddenly used illusions, it would be useless in battle.

Then she noticed that her halo was backwards. Normally Shedinjas had the curvy part of their halos facing towards their line of sight. But Yang had it facing behind her. Leala remembered Sensei Smogsmog telling her class that if you removed the halo from a Shedinja, it would lose its Wonder Guard ability and be helpless. However, no-one had ever managed to do such a thing.

Yang's halo was backwards. Did that mean her Wonder Guard ability was reversed? Leala quickly fired a small Energy Ball to test whether or not her theory was true.

The small green sphere hit Yang, making her flinch and lose her concentration. Shia and Fau's mouths dropped open in surprise. The Shedinja turned around and looked at Leala. "You found out. Congratulations. I have a birth defect that renders my Wonder Guard is reversed, making me invulnerable to attacks that I normally would be vulnerable to and vulnerable to attacks that I normally would be invulnerable to. However, do not think it's that easy."

Her swords flew out of the ground and circled around her body, "All attacks outside Fire, Rock, Ghost, Dark and Flying types only do neutral damage to me, plus I have 300 times more stamina than normal Shedinjas. You better be prepared."

She charged Leala, her swords pointed in front of her like lances. The Bayleef dodged and fired another Energy Ball at her direction. It hit its target and Yang flinched. Fau took this lack of concentration to jump on top of the Shedinja and slash her with her paws. Yang recovered quickly and shook Fau loose, and then sent out a series of blue flames from the hole in her back.

"Now you are burned," she said as the blue flames struck the three girls and left red, painful spots, "It'll make things much easier for me."

Leala smirked, "Not it won't. Aromatherapy!" A sweet and musky scent came out from the tip of her leaf and filled the room. Instantly her and her teammates burns were healed, leaving no mark that they had ever been there. If Yang was surprised, she didn't show it.

"Ah. Aromatherapy. I should've expected that. I guess the only way is the hard way."

Her five swords swirled around her body and started to charge up with energy. Then she disappeared.

"Shit! Where did she go?" Shia cried. Fau couldn't see her either, but Leala could.

"Fau! She's behind you!"

"What?" Suddenly, a Cursed Sword glowing with green energy appeared out of nowhere and slashed her back. She screamed as the life was sucked out of her.

Leala looked up and saw Yang was hovering above them, her swords pointing downwards. "Everyone, run!"

"Why?" Shia asked.

"Just do it!" Since Leala was the only one who could see Yang, her two teammates decided to trust her. They made the right decision. As Team Awesome ran around the arena, Yang's swords fell to the sandy ground, creating shock waves as they went. The three of them barely managed to not get hit.

The five swords swirled around and Yang reappeared. She charged forward, her swords spinning wildly. Leala and Fau both got hit in the sides and chest. Shia managed to dodge them all and lunged forward with an Iron tail, slamming it onto Yang's head and finishing up with an Ice Beam. It left a gaping dent in the Shedinja's armor and Shia swore that she saw Yang's face grow full of pain for a second. However, Yang slashed her swords in a linear arc pattern, much like how a normal person swings a sword, to throw Shia off.

Leala fired an Energy Ball at Yang. She countered it with a Signal Beam formed by three of her swords. Shia leapt forward again, but was knocked back by two of Yang's swords spinning around like tops. Fau used the Shedinja's diverted attention to fire yellow colored orbs at her. It just so happened that these orbs fell into the hole in her back.

"AAAAAARRGHHHH!" Yang screamed out in pain, her face contorted with agony. She swung her swords around to try and hit Fau, but the Glameow had already leapt back at this point. Leala and Shia more blasts of Energy Ball and Ice Beam at her. It hurt like hell. Her swords flew around her body in a circular pattern to try and hit them, but Leala and Shia had run back at this point.

It was at this point that Yang realized that she was getting a case of déjà vu. When Myde and the original wielder of the Spirit Sword had faced her, they had used the exact same tactic: diverting her attention and attacking the hole in her back.

But that didn't mean she would give up. She turned invisible again, but came under fire by some Bullet Seeds, courtesy of Leala. Yang was forced to reappear, and when she did so Shia fired an Ice Beam at her back. It went into the hole and caused intense pain. She could feel herself growing weaker by the second. Suddenly lifting her swords made her head hurt. She couldn't lift them for more than ten seconds at a time. Leala, Fau and Shia noticed this and attacked her a barrage of long range attacks. Eventually Yang decided to give up, she was already at her limits.

"Stop! I surrender, this victory is yours."

Shia glared suspiciously at her. "Are you really surrendering or is this just a ruse?"

Yang shook her head, "Thanks to you three, I have been heavily injured. I cannot fight any longer."

"Thank Arceus for that!" Fau whistled. She had been slashed the most and had more life sucked out of her.

"I would've liked to give the Insect Plate to Gaia himself, but since you're his friends, I guess you will do…"

Yang closed her eyes and concentrated. A light green plate appeared in the air in a flash of light and fell to the sandy ground.

"Take it and leave. The exit is through the gate." A steel gate behind her rose up, revealing a way out. "I enjoyed battling you and watching you navigate the mansion. Goodbye…"

She fell to the ground and faded away into red flames. Her Cursed Swords crumbled into black dust. Shia picked up the Insect Plate, then ran towards the exit. Her teammates followed.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the stone room, a statue of a Shedinja cracked in its middle and fell to the ground.

Three of the remaining guardians were absent. They were in their respective dungeons. There were now seven left.

"So, the psychotic bitch is gone," a Tyranitar stated.

A Flygon glared at him, a vein angrily twitching in her forehead, "What the hell did you just call Yang?" she growled.

"She's a psychotic bitch," the Tyranitar repeated, "She likes scaring people. The fact that she has a eerily calm voice doesn't help either."

A Mawile snorted, "You're the one who's always talking about getting revenge on Gaia, even though he had nothing to do with it! Besides, the respect the dead!"

"Shut up!"

"U-um," A Leafeon said timidly, "Could we please stop arguing? We're all in this together anyway…"

"Piss off Leafia!" The Tyranitar roared, "This doesn't concern you!" The Leafeon recoiled in fear.

"Quiet, you arrogant fool!" The Flygon shouted, charing up a Dragon Claw, "Don't you dare talk to the princess like that!"

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, many miles away…

Mewtwo was standing in the middle of his cave, the Western Cave, fighting off hordes of Shadow Pokemon. He had fighting them for twelve hours straight. He was a powerful being, but even he had his limits. He exhaled ragged breaths and he could barely call up a Confusion attack.

Eventually he fell to the floor, unconscious. A knife came down and buried itself in his throat The dark figure that killed Latios and Latias stood over him.

"Heheheh…it's mine. The Beserk Gene is mine! All mine! Only six left to go!"

Nasuada and kika saga

At the entrance to the Insect Forest, three balls of blue light glowed and deposited Team Awesome onto the grassy floor. It was night and the sky was getting dark. Stars twinkled in the forest sky. Now that the adrenaline rush from fighting Yang had worn off, the three girls were dead tired. The only thing they felt like doing was collapsing to the ground and falling asleep. But they couldn't do that. Not with the numerous amounts of cuts on their bodies.

"How far is it to Treasure Town?" Leala gasped. Shia tiredly reached into her bag and took out her Wonder Map. It seemed that only organic items and orbs were destroyed upon entering the dungeon.

"Twenty minutes of walking," she replied. She looked down at the cuts on her body. "Let's hope we don't faint before we get there."

XXXXXXXX

Twenty-five minutes later, the three girls pushed open the door to the Treasure Town airport and stumbled in. Victoria was on duty and she recognized them instantly.

"Dear Arceus!" she exclaimed and dropped the notepad she was holding, "Leala, Fau and Shia; what happened to you all?"

"Can we talk about this later?" Shia grunted, "I think we're all going to die of blood loss." It was taking her all her strength to stand. Pain raged throughout every nerve in here body. Her two teammates were feeling the same.

"Of course. Just hang there for a moment!" Victoria picked up a nearby phone and quickly dialled some of her colleagues.

"Hello? Hey Ryan, get some people over here now! We have an emergency!"

XXXXXXXX

Thanks to Victoria and another three medics working through the night (and a lot of blood transfusion packs), the three members of Team Awesome were saved from death by loss of blood. The next morning, Victoria called her son and told him to take Gaia and Alice and cover over before falling asleep in a nearby chair.

Team Enforcers entered room 17, which was where Team Awesome was resting. Fau didn't seem to appreciate Alice's presence. Leala seemed to appreciate Gaia's. "So, what happened to you guys?" Seth asked, "Mum said that the three of you came stumbling into the hospital at eleven at night!"

Leala tilted her head sideways to face the three of them. "We got forced into his creepy mansions where we fought an insane Shedinja and got the Insect Plate."

Gaia's eyes widened. "Seriously? Did you guys really find a plate?" He asked excitedly.

"Yeah, it's in Shia's bag over there." Gaia rushed over to a nearby table where three bags lay. He opened one which had the name 'Shia the Glaceon' stitched into it. He rummaged through its contents before taking out a large, light green colored slab of stone. The words 'Insect Plate' were carved in ancient runes at the bottom. He could feel the power radiating off it and was transfixed by it.

He turned around and gave Leala and very wide smile, "Leala, I could kiss you! Thanks a million!"

Leala blushed furiously. Alice did not seem happy at his comment. A scowl was etched into her face. Seth noticed her expression and smirked. "Heh. Looks like someone is getting jealous," he teased. Shia snickered lightly at these words.

Alice shot the two of them a glare. "Shut up." She growled.

Gaia was oblivious to all this talk. He flashed the Spirit Sword in his hands and lightly tapped it onto the Insect Plate. Instantly he felt the blackness coming in and he closed his eyes. It was time to learn a new technique.

A couple of minutes later, he opened his eyes and smiled. Then he punched his fist into the air. "Yes! I did it!" he said happily.

"What, did you learn Fury Cutter or something?" Seth asked.

"Nah, I learned X-Scissor. Pretty cool move." Gaia replied. He checked a nearby clock, "Ah, crap. It's nearly time to go to training." He turned around to face Team Awesome, "Leala, Fau, Shia; I really appreciate what you guys have done. Thanks to you, I'm one step closer to saving the world."

"No problem. We're happy to help." Fau smiled. Gaia gave them a thumbs-up, before exiting the room. Alice and Seth followed.

As the three of them left the hospital, Alice asked Gaia something.

"Gaia, were you serious about kissing Leala?" she said quietly. She seemed a bit sad.

The Grovyle gave her a look of surprise, "No, not really. It was just a metaphor. Why?"

Instantly Alice's brightened up, "No reason. Let's go!"

XXXXXXXX

Towards the north-east, there lies a place called Dark City. It is a mass of skyscrapers, with dark streets and alleys. The place has been given the affectionate nickname of 'a living hell'. Three factors introduced the nickname into the world.

One: No sun ever shines on the place. The city is trapped in an eternal night, even in the day.

Two: A large amount of the residents are Dark, Ghost or nocturnal Pokemon. These creatures have the stereotype of being mean and notorious.

Three: The whole place is controlled by gangs. There is no law system. Unwary tourists who step in there get robbed, and then killed. The only protection comes from being in a gang or being extremely tough, like Seth's father Riley. All missions going there are ranked from five stars to ten stars, the most dangerous of all missions.

Eighteen years ago, Dark City was run by a nasty gang called the Lightning Gang. It consisted of mostly yellow-colored Pokemon and had over a hundred members. They committed pretty much every crime possible. Drugs, robbery, kidnapping…you name it, they did it. Many explorers from outside had met their fates at the hands of this gang. They raked in the cash and were unstoppable.

Or so it seemed. Ten years ago, a shiny Eevee was dumped at the entrance of Dark City with six Reviver Seeds and a Blast Seed. She wandered the streets looking for food and shelter and got in the way of the Lightning Gang. No-one knows what exactly happened next, but it's rumoured that the Eevee killed the leader by throwing the Blast Seeds into his mouth, blowing up his stomach. It is then said that the Eevee proceeded to kick the crap out the gang and win. Halfway during the battle, she evolved into an Umbreon which made her even stronger.

The Lightning Gang disbanded and the shiny Umbreon went around the streets, gloating about her victory. In a short amount of time, a group of Pokemon, who had been oppressed by the Lightning Gang, decided to serve her to the death. She gained more and more followers and built up her skill level. Eventually she became one of the most powerful Pokemon in Dark City.

Her name is Nasuada, the Criminal Queen of the Night.

XXXXXXXX

There is a skyscraper in the middle of the city. It is fifty stories tall. It looks rather ordinary and like the other ones, but everyone knows that it's Nasuada's home. Magic seals are scrawled all over the building to protect against any intruders who try to sneak through the windows. The only way in is through the front door, which is protected by a burly Raichu guard.

At the forty-eight floor, a lone Pikachu lay on his bed, reading a book. His name was Kika and he was Nasuada's right hand man. He had been in the Lightning Gang before, but he had only joined because he wanted to protect his numerous amounts of brothers and sisters. During the battle with Nasuada, he had ordered to try and rape her. She had swatted him and aside and sunk her teeth into the neck of the Pokemon who ordered her. A few days after the battle, she saw him struggling to support his siblings and pitied him. Over the years, his skills grew until his rank rose to one star, the same as Pandora.

Kika liked Nasuada, in more ways than one. He thought she was pretty, cute and rather attractive. Sometimes he would have erotic dreams about her, which are far too graphic to ever be described here.

He sometimes wondered if she ever felt the same way. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. These thoughts would keep him awake at night and make him sleepy the next day. Nasuada disliked a lack of concentration from him, so he tried to keep these feelings locked up inside him.

There was a knock on the door. He got up and answered it. It was Nasuada. She was carrying a bag.

"Miss Nasuada!" Kika exclaimed, "I wasn't expecting you to be here."

"Hey, you don't have to call me miss," Nasuada said with a playful grin, "We're friends."

"Um, okay then. So why are you here? Is there something I can do for you?" he asked.

"I came here to talk to you in private." She went in and closed the door behind her. Then she took out her Wonder Map from her bag and spread it on the ground. A section of it was circled in red marker. "See that spot there? It's rumoured there's a really great treasure there!"

"Well, uh sweet!" A grin grew on his face, "But why are we doing this alone?" he asked.

Nasuada shrugged, "I'm really bored lounging around here all the time," she said, "I need to get out for a while."

"Okay then!" Kika exclaimed cheerfully, "When are we leaving?"

"When you're ready."

XXXXXXXX

Five minutes later, the two of them were standing in the elevator. It was slowly descending to the ground floor. Strange music played at the same time.

"Kika, where is this elevator music coming from and why is it here?" Nasuada growled. A vein was twitching in her forehead. She hated elevator music.

Kika groaned and slapped his forehead, "I bet it was Chase again. I'll have a word with him." he mumbled. But since there seemed to be no way of switching the music off, the two of them had to grin and bear it.

The elevator stopped at the ground floor and Nasuada immediately rushed out. "Lorenzo! Find a way to turn off the elevator music, okay?" she ordered.

"Of course, Miss Nasuada," the Noctowl said, bowing his head, "Is there anything else you want?"

"Tell Nova that he's in charge while the two of us are gone." Lorenzo bowed his head again and opened the door for them. Nasuada and Kika walked into the streets of Dark City, ready to start their exploration.

XXXXXXXX

A few hours later, the two of them were standing in front of a large rock in the middle of a sun-baked plain. The two of them were hot and sweaty. They were also getting increasingly frustrated since the treasure was said to be here. They tried to figure out where it was, but to no avail.

"Screw this!" Kika shouted, "There's no treasure here! We should just go home!"

"We just can't give up!" Nasuada scolded, "My team researched hours for this!"

"What do you expect us to do? Jump through the rock?" Kika shot back, "We tried walking through it, remember?"

A light lit up in Nasuada's eyes. "You know, maybe that would work." Before Kika could say or do anything, she ran up to the rock and jumped at it.

She fell into it and didn't reappear. Kika's eyes widened, his mouth dropped open and soon he was doing the same thing.

The two of them fell down a dark tunnel. It was lit by thousands of torches. They rushed by carvings of torture and death on the wall, but they were moving too fast to accurately see them.

Eventually they fell into a pool of stinky water with a mighty splash. Nasuada climbed out first and shook her fur, spraying more water onto an unfortunate Kika.

"Where are we?" he asked, after he had dried himself in the corner. The walls were covered in green slime so he was careful not to touch them.

Nasuada looked around and saw a sign reading 'Nightmare Labyrinth' on the wall. "I think," she grinned, "We're in a dungeon."

At the very back of the labyrinth, a Gengar opened his eyes and smiled evilly. He had sensed the presence of two Pokemon at the entrance. "Heheheh... he chuckled, "Let the games begin..."

Nightmare labrith

Seth was leaning against a tree in training ground 3. It was now noon and he was dead tired from all the exercises Master Dusk had forced him to do. The hot sun beating down on him didn't make things better. At least he knew he was getting stronger. He had successfully mastered Thunder Punch as well as Fire Punch as his speed and special attacks were getting stronger. Special attacks had always been his weakness at the academy, something that Shia was quick to point out whenever she felt like winding up someone.

He sighed and his stomach growled. Of all the days he had to forget his lunch at home, why now? He forgot it because he had to rush out at five in the morning for training. Apparently sleepiness had a dampening effect on one's mind. He didn't bring any money, because it would only slow him down during training. All of his edible items had already been consumed. He did have a half-filled bottle of water, but that wouldn't help at all.

"Seth! Seth!" He jerked his head around and Janua running towards him, a paper bag held in her right hand. A wide smile blossomed on his face. "Hey Janua! What are you doing here?"

She smiled and sat down next to him. "I brought you lunch," she said, giving him the paper bag, "Gaia rang your mother after he noticed you didn't take your lunch, and she told me to give it to you."

"Wow Janua, thanks! You're a lifesaver!" He opened the bag and took out a large sandwich. He then engaged in combat with it and quickly decimated it, which is to say he ate it in less than ten bites. Janua giggled as she watched him. He reached into his bag again and took out a small plastic box filled with cookies. He ate a few before offering one to her. "Do you want one?" he asked.

"No thanks," Jauna replied politely, "I already had lunch."

"Suit yourself." Seth shoved the cookie into his mouth and continued to eat the rest of them. Once he had finished, he took a swig from a bottle of water and relaxed, content.

"Hey Janua," he began.

"Hmm?"

He hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "Once this is all over, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Immediately she began blushing heavily. "W-why?" she asked, completely flustered. She hadn't been expecting that question.

"Well," Seth leaned back and put his hands behind his head, "You're kinda cute and I like you." He said

"You think I'm cute?" Janua asked, pointing towards herself. Her face was growing redder every second, "Me?"

"Well, yeah." He replied, "You're also pretty as well." A blush grew on his face. Apparently Seth had no troubles stating his thoughts. The same can't be said for his two other teammates, "I really enjoyed going with you to the dance and I'd like to do something with you ag—huh?" He realized that Janua was no longer talking to him. He looked to the side and saw that she had fainted with a wide smile on her face.

"What the Arceusdammed hell?"

XXXXXXXX

Nasuada and Kika walked through a crumbling stone doorway. Steel bars rose from the ground behind them and sealed it off. Kika turned around and groaned. "Great!" he complained, "We're locked in!"

"Like we are in all the dungeons we go to," Nasuada reminded.

"Oh yeah." The two of them had a good look around the room. The walls were made of a dark grey stone. Torches with ghostly blue fire lined up along them, lighting up the room. A locked door bound by chains with an eye symbol above it was placed on far side. There was another door on the left. It was made of steel. A statue of a Dusknoir with the belly on its mouth open was in the middle.

Nasuada spotted the door and the left and said, "Let's go!" She and her partner set off towards it. But before they could open it, they heard a voice.

"Nightmare Labyrinth...here lies Destonia's history of hatred and darkness..."

The two of them froze. "Who said that?" Nasuada cried, whirling around and searching for the speaker. She saw no-one but the statue. Looking closely, she could swear it was smirking.

"Never mind," she said, turning around, "Let's go already." She pushed the door open and the two of them went in.

What they saw horrified them completely, and they were dangerous criminals. The room resembled a torture chamber, with various nasty-looking equipment scattered around the room. There a rack, whips and even a rusty cage with its door snapped off. All of them were covered in smears of blood. There was an overwhelming smell of decaying flesh. But that wasn't the clincher. The scariest thing in the room was the amount of dead bodies in the room. The two of them could see the corpses of a Magmortar, an Altaria, a Floatzel, an Alakazam and a Shedinja. Each of them had various expressions of horror on their faces and their bodies were half-rotted.

"Dear Arceus, I think I'm going to be sick!" Nasuada groaned. She had seen dead people before, but this was just plain wrong.

"Way ahead of you," Kika gurgled. A puddle of digested food and was at his feet.

"My friends...our friends...his friends...the ones who are already dead..."

There was another door on the opposite end of the room. Nasuada forced down her nausea and marched towards it, trying not to look at the bodies along the way. Kika did the same. They emerged in a room with a crossbow on a pedestal. It was made of dark brown wood, with a strange, glowing dark purple arrow in it. There was nothing else in the room.

"Sweet, a crossbow!" Kika exclaimed, forgetting his disgust and horror from the previous room, "I can't wait to show this off to everyone!" Crossbows were ancient human artefacts and were rare and therefore worth a lot of money. He took a step towards it. Nasuada knew what he was thinking and shouted, "No Kika don't! It could be a trap!" But he didn't listen to her.

Without thinking, he ran over and grabbed it.

Nothing happened.

"See, nothing happened!" Kika gave Nasuada a wide smile. She went over and hit him. "Ow! What was that for?" he growled, rubbing his aching cheek. She could hit really hard,

"Dammit Kika!" she shouted, "You could've died back there! Do you know how sad I would be if you did? Who would keep me company every time we go out?"

Kika's anger faded and he grinned and her, "Wow Nasuada, I never knew you cared."

"Well I do!" She said hotly, "So stop being such an idiot." She turned around and stalked off towards the door. Kika smiled. So she did care for him after all. That was nice to know. Then he realised that he was about to go back through the room full of corpses. "Aw, crap."

When the two of them walked back into it, they were very surprised to see that the corpses were standing up. What was even more surprising was the fact that they were actually moving towards them!

"Oh shit! Zombies!" Kika shouted. Nasuada didn't bother to say anything. She immediately fired a Dark Pulse at the Alakazam zombie. But the energy blast simply passed through and hit the wall opposite, burning a hole in it. "Dammit!" She continued to fire more Dark attacks at them, they had no effect. Kika joined in by firing lightning bolts everywhere. Again, they had no effect. When the zombies were three steps apart from them, he had an idea. Pointing his newly-gained crossbow at the Shedinja zombie, he fired at it at point-blank range.

A jet of dark energy shot out of the arrow and sank into the zombie's chest. It howled in agony, and then exploded. Bits of bone and flesh flew everywhere. The other zombies stepped back in shock. Kika wasted no time in shooting them too.

"Wow Kika," Nasuada remarked once there was silence, "I never knew your crossbow was that badass."

Kika grinned and rubbed his new toy affectionately, "I think I'll call it Vera."

"Naming inanimate objects is a sign of madness. Don't do it."

Now that the zombies had been blown to pieces, the chamber seemed much less horrifying. The two of them stepped through the door and emerged back into the first room. Kika saw the eye above the locked door and decided to fire at it. The dark beam hit the target dead on and it exploded, sending a small key flying across the tiles. It was charred black from the explosion. Nasuada picked it up using her teeth and carried it over to the door, where she awkwardly opened it by inserting the key into the lock and awkwardly twisting her neck. The chains surrounding the door let loose of the lock and it fell on her feet.

"Ow!"

XXXXXXXX

Now they were standing in a room with a hole in it. Nasuada looked downwards and saw that they weren't far up from the bottom and jumping down wouldn't injure them. "Let's go!" She jumped down and Kika followed. The two of them landed in a long hallway filled with stone blocks and some parts sealed off by metal grates. There were eye symbols littered all over the place.

"Welcome to the final stage," The voice came back again and Nasuada was sure that if it had a mouth, it would be smiling, "For those who don't make it through it, goodbye!"
There was a rumbling sound, and the two of them turned around to see a wall covered with spikes heading their way! "Oh crap!" Nasuada shouted, "Run!" The two of them took off like rockets, jumping over stone blocks and trying to put as much distance from the spike wall as possible. They reached a section blocked off by a metal grate. Kika looked around desperately and saw an eye symbol on the left wall. He fired at it and the grate rose up.

The two of them continued running. Once, a Cradily zombie tried to pin them down using Rock Tomb. Kika dodged the falling rocks and shot it in the chest. Like its comrades, it exploded with a shriek.

They reached a pool of smelly green acid. Kika saw two eye symbols and fired at them. Two stone blocks fell from holes in the roof and landed in the pool. Nasuada saw them being dissolved and shouted for him to jump over quickly. It wasn't an easy job, as the blocks were somewhat far apart and the fact that the spike wall put a huge amount of pressure on the two. But they made it across and kept running.

The rest of the corridor was still the same, except this time there was a spike ceiling trying to crush them. The spike wall was still coming behind them. The two criminals ran faster, jumping over obstacles and firing at any eye symbols they saw. Sometimes those symbols activated traps, which made things even worse. Eventually they saw the exit and sped up towards it. They slid through just before the spike ceiling would've crushed them.

The two of them lay on the hard stone floor, panting. "Never again," Nasuada gasped, "That was hell for me."

"Agreed," Kika said.

"So, you two have made it." The two of them turned around to see a Gengar floating before them, a scowl on his face. "You two aren't Gaia. Where is he?"

"He's not here," Nasuada said angrily. She remembered the time he and his friends set up a trap for them. The result was that she and Kika got heir asses kicked by Master Dusk.

"Not here, eh? Are you here for the treasure?"

"Yup!" Kika said cheerfully, "We're going to take you down and take the treasure for ourselves!"

"So you're not his friends. Therefore you have absolutely no idea of what's going on." He eyed Kika's crossbow, "And you have the Dark Arrows. My Dark Arrows. They belong to me!" He glared at the two of them, "Prepare to die. You will not aid in the prevention of saving the world! I swear it upon my name of Nightmare!"
He lunged at the two of them and the battle begun.

One thousand years ago, when the Spirit Sword hadn't been taken out of its pedestal…

"I'm gonna do it guys," Marly said enthusiastically. He was eyeing Yuxai, who was standing on the opposite end of the training room, eating an apple.

"You're going to do it," Wes said in a deadpan voice. He shook his head, "Marly, you are insane."

"Come on guys, someone has to do it."

"But at what cost?" the young guard asked, "You could lose your life. Never underestimate the power of women." It was true. Queen Espy hardly ever battled, but she was still of the strongest Pokemon in the kingdom.

"True, true," Marly remarked, "But it's a dirty job, and someone has to do it." He winked at them, "I'm going to engage the enemy. Cheer for me guys!" With that, he strode across the room.

"Woohoo." The young guard said sarcastically. He turned to Aeros. "Fifty Poke she slaps him."
The Altaria considered this for a moment, then shook his head, "No bet."

Meanwhile, Yuxai seemed to have noticed Marly's presence and looked up. "Marly, if this is about asking me on a date, the answer is no." she said.

"Nah, this is about something else." The Roserade grinned.

"What?"

He took a deep breath and gathered up his confidence, "Are you a lesbian?"

Silence. Utter silence. Yuxai's face glowed with fury and steam could be literally seen pouring out of her ears. "What the hell did you just call me?" she growled.

Marly seemed to have not noticed her rage and continued rambling on, "I'm just asking you if you're a lesbian. You never seem to hang out with boys and you're always with girls and all."

Yuxai got up and shouted so loud for the entire room to hear, "I AM NOT A LESBIAN, GOT THAT?"

Marly put what he thought was a sympathising hand (or bouquet) on her shoulders, "Look, its okay to like girls. I can understand that. There's a lesbian bar in town. I'll take you there if you need to go."

That was so the wrong thing to say.

The next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground in extreme pain. His friends were staring down at him. "What the hell just happened?" he gasped.

"After you said that it was okay to like girls," Wes said, "She started beating you into unconsciousness. And she didn't stop after that. She continued for five minutes before leaving." He shook his head, "What possessed you to ask such stupid questions? She's going to kill you one day!"

"Eh, I'm sure I'll get through to her in the end." Then he noticed that there was blood everywhere, "Wait, why am I bleeding?"

"Probably from being stabbed five times by her Ice Shards." Aeros remarked, "That's what she did after she knocked you out."

"And you guys just left me here?" Marly was annoyed, to say the least, "Some friends you are."

"We didn't sign up for a suicide mission." The young guard said flatly, "Tangling with Yuxai is a one way trip to pain." It was partially true. He had a weakness to Ice and Aeros had a double weakness. Wes probably could've stopped her, but Yuxai knew Hidden Power Water, "When Captain Sabaku finds out you are going to be in a hell lot of trouble."

"Meh, I can handle that Flygon."

Arrow between the legs

Alice grunted as her claws sank into the rocky cliff wall. She had mastered Flamethrower and was now learning how to use Rock Climb. Once again, her father had given her a scroll and a short lesson, and then left her to practice it on her own. It was how the Rage Dragon Clan taught skills to their members.

She lifted herself up and placed her feet on wall. Quickly she pulled out her left claw and sank it above the place where it originally was. Her right foot came up as a result of this. She yanked her right claw out of the rock, sunk it up and lifted her left foot up. She continued to do this in rapid succession until she had successfully scaled the cliff and was sitting down on the cool grass at the top.

She absentmindedly glanced down at the grass. It was green, just like Gaia's skin. She smiled a little. She liked Gaia, perhaps more than a friend. There was something about him that made her heart speed up and her face grow hot. Maybe it was his smile. Maybe it was his touch. She wound never admit this to anybody, but sometimes she had erotic dreams involving him and her. Well, she was still growing after all.

As she walked towards the next cliff she had to scale, she wondered what it would be like to kiss Gaia on the lips.

XXXXXXXX

"Prepare to die!"

Back in the Nightmare Labyrinth, a rather pissed off Nightmare was facing off against Nasuada and Kika. But it didn't stop him from smiling insanely.

"Let's do this!" All of a sudden, he disappeared. Nasuada gasped and looked around frantically. "Dammit! Where did he go?" she said. Just then, she felt a fist slam into her back and sent her flying across the stone floor. She quickly got up and growled. "He's invisible! This is just great!"

Kika held up his crossbow and scanned the room. He thought he saw a ripple in the far corner. It was like heat waves from a vent. He may have been imagining it. He decided to not take any chances and fired at it.

There was a cry of pain, and Nightmare reappeared into the visible spectrum. He pulled out an arrow from his butt and winced. "That really hurt!" he growled, "Man, now I know how all those people I shot felt!" Nasuada quickly shot a powerful Dark Pulse in his direction. The Gengar was sent crashing into a wall.

"Fuck! You're strong!" he gasped in pain, clutching his stomach, "Just like Princess Leafia…I could never beat her after the war was over…" He cupped his hands together and a brown ball of energy formed inside it. He then threw it at Nasuada.

Focus Blast is a powerful move with a relatively low accuracy rate. Students at the academy are told to not use this move unless in a one-on-one battle. When Nightmare was alive, he was taught differently. He knew that the attack probably wouldn't hit Nasuada. Instead, it fell at Kika's feet and blasted the poor Pikachu into a wall. His head banged against the stone harshly and he was knocked unconscious. Blood trickled out of his mouth.

"Kika!" Nasuada screamed and glared at Nightmare with pure murder in her eyes, "You're gonna pay!" She leapt forward, her claws streaming darkness into the air. Nightmare chose this moment to turn invisible. He was too late. Nasuada couldn't see him, but she could feel him and gripped tightly onto him, slamming Payback attacks every five seconds.

Meanwhile, the Dark Arrow crossbow glowed white, and Kika jolted out of unconsciousness as if he had received an electrical shock. "What happened?" he whispered. His body ached and there was blood on his chest. Then he saw Nasuada tangling with Nightmare. He quickly aimed and fired. The arrow struck the side of the Gengar and he howled in pain. Nasuada then gathered a large blob of shadow energy in her mouth and lobbed it at him.

Nightmare was sent skidding along the stone floor and crashed into a wall for the second time this day. One of his arms was gone. "Bitch!" he shouted at Nasuada, "You just had to take out that arm did you? It was one I wrote stuff with!" Then an arrow pierced the space between his legs, courtesy of Kika. Blood started coming out of it and the Gengar screamed absolute bloody murder,"Oh dear Arceus, you just had to fire at my dick, didn't you?" he roared.

"Sorry!" Kika apologized. Nasuada couldn't help herself and started laughing. He made a reloading motion (which he didn't need because the crossbow was self-reloading) and fired at Nightmare again. Since the Gengar was too busy clutching the remains of his penis and in total agony, he didn't dodge the arrow, which lodged itself in his head.

"—" And then he pitched forward with a hole in his head, dead before he could complete his last swear word.

There was a small amount of silence as the two of them contemplated their rather easy victory. "Well, we won." Nasuada remarked.

There was a flash of purple light, and a dark grey square slab of stone dropped out of it. It fell to the ground and Kika picked it up. "Wow, this is a pretty cool treasure!" The words 'Spooky Plate' were inscribed on it. Nasuada came over and looked at it. An expression of disgust and annoyance crossed her face. "This is the treasure? It's pathetic!" she growled, "All that hard work and the only thing we get is a stupid plate."

"We also got a crossbow," Kika said, holding up the Dark Arrows.

Nasuada pasued, "Oh yeah. That too. I don't suppose you'll give that to me to sell on the market, right?"

"Nope."

"I thought so."

A blue portal appeared in the far corner of the room. The two of them entered it and left the dungeon.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the stone room, a statue of a Gengar split in half and fell to the ground.

"Well, this sucks." a Mawille declared. Everyone, except for the Tyranitar, were feeling the same.

A Flygon groaned, "Nightmare you idiot," she cursed under her breath, "Why did you have to go and get yourself defeated?"

"Hope might not be completely lost," an Absol said, "My dungeon is in Dark City, where that Umbreon lives. I can tell Gaia to go after her once he defeats me."

"Fine," the Flygon said, "You're in charge of this. But if you screw up, we'll beat the crap out of you and since we can't die, it'll never end."

"Got it."

XXXXXXXX

Ho-oh plummeted out of the sky, a mass of Shadow Pokemon clinging to his wings. He crashed to the ground and didn't move. The mysterious figure walked up to the unconscious legendary and ordered the Shadow Pokemon to move. Then he threw a knife into Ho-oh throat. Blood trickled out and the figure laughed evilly. He then proceeded to remove every single feather of Ho-oh's body.

"Yesssss…the Rainbow Feathers are mine! Only four the go!"

XXXXXXXX

Gaia slumped down on his bed and closed his eyes. It was now nine at night and he was exhausted. Now that he had mastered the basics of fencing and swordplay, he was now learning how to execute aerial combos. He was bad at them and most of the time he landed painfully on his butt, before getting whacked on the head by Sensei Bones's bone. There were numerous dings and bumps on his skull. They hurt, too.

Soon he was asleep and snoring. When he was, he had a strange dream.

He was standing in a barren wasteland. The ground was made of solid rock and the air was filled with dust. There was no sign of life. He looked around.

"Hello?" he called out, "Is there anybody there?"

The Spirit Sword flashed in his hand. He stared at it, and then got into a guarding stance. An enemy must be nearby, otherwise the sword wouldn't appear.

A dust storm suddenly formed in front of him. He could see a figure stepping out of it. It was holding a sword, but the wielder couldn't be seen. Gaia squinted his eyes. The person was getting clearer and clearer and…

He woke up. "Dammit!" he cursed. He was about to see the figure but he just had to wake up, didn't he? It was really annoying. That dream was important; he somehow knew it was.

He closed eyes again and hoped to fall asleep so that he could go back to that dream again. Unfortunately, he didn't.

XXXXXXXX

At five the next morning, Gaia got up to go to training. He ate his breakfast quickly and ran towards training ground 5.

Two hours later, Zyphra the Kirlia woke up in her room on the other side of Treasure Town. She climbed out of bread and sighed. She was thinking about her teammate, Alex the Grumpig. After Gaia had brutally rejected her, she had gone to Riley and asked for him to change her personality. After forty minutes of scouring her mind, he managed to minimize her fangirl part of her brain. The result was a much more serious Alex. Zyphra wondered if that really was the right decision. True, Alex was a lot more annoying before the operation, but at least it never got boring.

One hour later, after a healthy breakfast of oatmeal, the two of them were walking across town to the academy. On the way, they passed training ground 5 just in time to see Gaia fail an aerial combo and land on his butt. Sensei Bones then shouted at him, using words such as 'imbecile' and 'fool' before giving him a sharp whack on the head with his bone. The two girls started to laugh. Gaia heard and glared daggers at them. He received another whack on the head for 'not paying enough attention'.

Alex and Zyphra headed into the mission room, sniggering the whole way. Team Super Cool was there, carefully selecting a job request. Mitt saw the two girls laughing and asked what was so funny.

"Oh, nothing," Alex laughed, "We just saw Gaia land on his ass and get whacked on the headby Sensei Bones."

"Huh, really?" He ran outside, despite Raydir's orders for him to come back. Then laughing could be heard coming from outside, along with sounds of Gaia' protests and Sensei Bones shouting at the top of his lungs.

Meanwhile, Zyphra had calmed down and was carefully choosing a job. She found an anonymous mission and read it out loud.

To: Anybody

Help! I'm stuck in Poison Swamps! Please get me out!

From: ?

"Shall we do this one?" she asked her teammate.

"Sure, why not?" Alex said.

XXXXXXXX

The two of them were standing to the entrance to Poison Swamps, a moderate dungeon containing lots of Poison-type Pokemon. Since they were Psychic types, the mission would be a breeze.

"Let's go." Zyphra said and took a step forward.

Instantly she felt her foot sink into the ground.

"What?" Alex looked down and saw that the ground was sucking them in! "What the fuck!" she yelled. A whirlpool had literally formed into the ground and swirling them around at a fast rate. She saw Zyphra disappear into the middle and not come back out. Soon it was her turn.

She fell through a cave underground and landed in a pool of stagnant water. She quickly climbed out and saw Zyphra standing in front of her, covered in slime. "Where are we?" she gasped.

"I think we're in a dungeon." The Kirlia looked around and saw a decaying sign attached to the ground. It read 'Toxic Underground'. She facepalmed. "This is just great," she muttered.

XXXXXXXX

Rules of the Sixteen Guardians

1. We are neither living nor dead.

Toic underground

It was late in the afternoon. Gaia leapt up into the air and slashed his sword in a wide arc downwards, then dropped to the ground and lunged forward. His blade was blocked by Sensei Bones who forced it back and stabbed forward. Gaia stepped back and blocked the blow, then forced Sensei Bones back and slashed again.

"Not a bad aerial combo," the Marowak admitted grudgingly as he parried, "But you're still holding your sword with two hands!" The Grovyle winced and mentally groaned. He had gotten so used to holding this sword like that it had become a habit for him. Still, when he attacked, he held the sword with one hand. To be brutally honest, Sensei Bones wasn't really concerned about his habit. As long as Gaia could attack quickly and correctly, it was fine. The old Marowak just wanted someone to shout at.

XXXXXXXX

Seth slammed a punch into Master Dusk's stomach and leapt back, throwing a Shadow Ball along the way. The headmaster dodged it and charged forward with an Ice Punch. Seth countered with a Fire Punch and threw another Shadow Ball. It hits the old Dusknoir dead on in the chest and made him groan in pain.

"Impressive," he grinned, "Your special attacks are coming along well and your speed is getting better."

"Heh!" Seth flipped himself up on Master Dusk's arm and jumped forward with a Shadow Claw, "That was just a warm-up!"

XXXXXXXX

Alice and her father were sitting in the dining room of Garrett's house, drinking tea. They had decided to take a break from training. Alice had mastered Flamethrower, Rock Smash and Rock Climb. Now they training her physical and speed, both important qualities for a member of the Rage Dragon Clan.

"Alice," Garrett said suddenly.

"Yes, father?" Alice replied. It was regulation for young members to address their elders formally. Garrett didn't really mind if his daughter didn't follow this rule, but Alice had gotten so used to it that she kept doing it.

"How do you feel about Gaia?"

Alice looked at her father strangely. He should know the answer to his question already. "I think that he is a good friend and an excellent teammate."

"I see." Garrett took another sip of tea, "Do you love him?"

Instantly Alice spat out the tea in her mouth and spluttered, "What?"

Ignoring the fact that his nice clean tablecloth was wet, Garrett repeated his question, "Do you love Gaia?"

"I…what…where did this come from?" She was blushing and there was a look of confusion on her face. She hadn't been expecting for her father to ask that.

"You are blushing and stuttering," Garrett said calmly, "You have feelings for him. I only wanted to confirm my suspicions."

Alice stared at her father from across the table, exasperated. She chose her words carefully. "Father, I do not know whether I love Gaia or not, but I do know that a strange feeling goes through my heart whenever the two of us are together."

"Interesting," Garrett said and gave his daughter a tiny grin, "You obviously like him a lot. If you wish to marry him one day, I will allow it."

"Father!" Alice shouted.

XXXXXXXX

Zyphra and Alex slowly walked through the entrance to the first series of the Toxic Underground. They were covered in foul-smelling sludge and the two of them knew it would it take an inordinate amount of baths and soap to wash it off. Then there was the fact that it seemed to be slowing them down somehow. Bottom line: they were already crippled even before going into the dungeon.

They emerged into a large cavern, feet squishing in the mud that was on the floor. Unlike the previous dungeons, this one had no doors of any kind, only cave entrances with or without glowing magic barriers in front of them. There was a semi-transparent pool of smelly green liquid in the middle of the cavern. Looking closely, Zyphra could see a rusting treasure chest at the bottom. "Where do we go now?" Alex gasped.

Zyphra looked around and saw that there were four entrances in front of them; three of them blocked by purple barriers. Needless to say, there was only one unblocked one. "Let's go over there."

They trudged through the mud and entered a small passageway. It was lit by the green slime continuously running down the walls. The floor was covered by the same green slime. For some mysterious reason the passageway was not being filled up by the muck. The two girls did not have time to ponder the reason behind this.

A Koffing flew down the passageway and grinned at them before opening its mouth. Zyphra gathered up her energy and slammed the Koffing to the ground with a Psychic attack. Normally she would've liked to use her fists, but the fact that the enemy was previously out of her range made her reconsider.

The Koffing gasped in pain for a moment before exploding into a cloud of toxic purple smoke. The two girls covered their mouths and noses and waited for the gas to dissipate. Half a minute later, they continued on, emerging into a stone room with absolutely nothing in it apart from a metal switch embedded into the ground.

"Now what?" Alex asked. Zyphra looked at the switch, then said, "Stand on that. It should activate something." Alex nodded and did what she was told. The switch sank into the ground and there was a short rumbling sound.

"What was that?" Alex asked once it had faded.

"Let's go back and check it out." The two girls ran down the passageway and into the main cavern. They saw that one of the barriers had gone down and the pool's slime level and decreased.

"I think there might be other switches," Zyphra commented, "Come on." They entered the entrance that previously had a barrier in front of them and emerged into a large room. Mud covered the floor, making it hard to move.

There was a humming sound behind them and the two girls whirled around to see that the exit was blocked. "Oh no," Alex whispered, "Gaia told us about this. An enemy is nearby." She got into a fighting stance. Her teammate did the same.

There was a swooping sound from the roof and a dozen Zubats flew down. They bared their teeth at the two girls before attacking. Alex shoved at least half of them to the opposite wall with a powerful Psychic attack. Zyphra fired beams of psychic energy and Thunderpunched any that got too close. The deranged bats dropped to the floor and sank face-first into the mud, where they would eventually suffocate.

"That was easy," Alex declared.

"Too easy," Zyphra reminded her.

"What?" Right on cue, ten Golbats flew down and attacked. These ones were tougher than their unevolved form and resisted the Psychic attacks somewhat, but eventually they were no match. Alex slammed one of them into the walls a bit hard and she heard some tiny bones cracking.

"Ouch," she winced. If it was alive, it was going to feel that in the morning.

There was an angry growling sound, and five Crobats swooped down from the ceiling. They weren't happy bats, judging by the looks on their faces. One Crobat opened its mouth and fired a wave of supersonic sounds. The two girls had to duck and cover their ears to avoid it. Alex quickly set up Magic Coat on her and Zyphra to protect against any Supersonic and poison-inducing attacks the bats may have. Having no other choice, the Crobats lunged forward. Zyphra whacked one into another, causing both to drop to the floor. Alex preferred to slam them into the walls and make their bones crack before dropping to the mud below. After all five Crobats had been defeated; the mud receded into the ground and revealed a switch. Alex stepped on it and there was another rumbling sound.

XXXXXXXX

After going back to the main cavern and seeing that another barrier had gone down, the two girls entered the recently-unblocked passage. There was another long passageway, only this one was completely devoid of light. In other words, it was black as night. "Dammit!" cursed Zyphra, "How are we supposed to make our way through?"

"I guess we're going to have to use your ears and hands." Alex made her way over the wall and placed her trotter on it. She ignored the feeling of the slime and slowly made her way across the dark passage. Zyphra did the same. The two of them walked in silence for an unknown period of time. Suddenly, Alex's foot stepped on something and there was a rumbling sound.

"Did I just step on a switch?" she gasped.

"Judging by the rumbling, I think so," Zyphra said, "Let's go back and see."

They turned around and went back, with Zyphra leading. When they got back into the main cavern, they saw that the slime had disappeared from the pool and the chest could be opened. Immediately Alex rushed over and lifted the chest open. It took a bit of grunting and heaving because it was stuck down by some rust. She threw the lid open and took out a blue flute with a single hole on the side.

"What is this?" she asked.

Zyphra looked at it closely and saw that there was writing on the side, "It says Air Locker right there," she said, pointing towards the text.

"Where?" Alex asked, turning the flute upside down. She didn't realize that the text was on the bottom of the flute.

Zyphra sighed and grabbed the instrument. "I'll take this."

There was a hissing sound, and she saw a barrier go down. "Let's go," she said to her partner. The two girls entered the newly-unblocked passageway and emerged in a large, circular room that had purple slime running down its walls.

"Guardian!" Zyphra shouted, "Where are you? Come out!"

There was cackling sound, and a purple-blue arm burst out from the ground. Another one came out and a Toxicroak jumped from the hole, somersaulted in the air and landed on his feet.

"Heh. So you girls have made it here. Not too shabby, I must say." He grinned, "My name is Arsen. Pleased to make your acquaintances."

"You hold the Toxic Plate, right?" Zyphra asked and got into a fighting stance. Alex did the same, "Hand it over and we won't hurt you too much.

Arsen began to laugh, "I know what you're thinking! He chuckled, I'm both Poison and Fighting and the two of you are Psychics. It'll be easy, right? Well, I'm gonna give you two a big surprise."

He clapped his hands together and it started to rain. Zyphra tensed. Toxicroaks had the Dry Skin ability, which healed them slightly every minute.

"Yup, it's raining. Which means I'll recover health every now and then. And then there's this!" A ball of dark energy formed in Arsen's hand and he threw it at the two girls. They jumped aside to dodge the deadly Dark Pulse attack.

"Do you like Dark Attacks? You'll love them after I hammer attack after attack on your pretty bodies!"

Vs arsen

"Let's do this!" Arsen roared. Zyphra immediately sent forth a Psychic attack she had been charging up but before she could do that…

WHAM!

Arsen's dark-colored fist smashed into her stomach and sent her flying across the room. She struck the wall and fell face-down into the mud. "Zyphra!" Alex cried in horror and helped her up, then wiped the hardening mud off her face. She glared at the Toxicroak. Meanwhile, Arsen was laughing his face off.

"Didja like that?" he chuckled with a very wide smile on his face, "That was Sucker Punch! I like that move, see. It crushes my enemies ribs before they can even attack!" He laughed nastily, then charged forward with a fist glowing with dark energy towards Alex. She dodged to the side and fired a wave of Psywaves at Arsen. He pressed his arms in front of his body and a green bubble formed around him, protecting him against the waves that would've dealt massive damage. He then charged up a load of toxic sludge and spewed it all over Alex.

At the last second, a green dummy poofed into the place where Alex was. She was nowhere to be seen. "What?" Arsen asked, surprised. While he was momentarily confused, Zyphra picked him up into the air using Psychic, flipped him upside down and smashed his head into the ground. It really hurt.

"OOOOOWWWWW!" Half a second later, Alex burst out of hiding and fired a wave of Psybeams at the Toxicroak. The impact of the beams forced him into the air and towards the wall, where he hit and fell towards the muddy ground. Fortunately for him, the rain and his Dry Skin ability healed him a bit, but he was still quite hurt.

I may have underestimated these two, but I still have enough health to shred them, he thought as he got up, Guess I better be a bit more careful. Time some use some of my awesome priority moves!

He leered at the two girls, "You two are pretty damn tough! But here's where the fun really starts!"

One second ago he was on the other side of the room, one second later, he was slamming a fist into Zyphra's stomach. His fists had turned into solid steel, which meant he was using the infamous Bullet Punch. Before Alex could react, he had lifted her up into the air and thrown her to the ground, then fired a Dark Pulse at her belly. She was launched across the room with a smoking chest.

Meanwhile, Zyphra was struggling to get up. She lifted herself off the mud and got up Kirlias and their evolution stages were frail physically and the previous punch had caused a lot of damage. She looked closely at Arsen and saw that the rain had healed all of his wounds. She took the flute out of her bag and inspected it. Now that it was raining, the words on the side were a bit hard to see. 'Air Locker', it read. Zyphra wondered if it gave her the ability 'Air Lock' which shut down all weather effects and only possessed by the legendary Rayquaza.

Arsen was 'owning their asses' as Seth might have put it had he been there, so she pressed the flute to her lips and blew.

A horrid note came out of the single hole in the instrument. It sounded like nails being scratched down a keyboard. Zyphra winced and Arsen and Alex covered their ears in shock. White clouds also poured out the hole and absorbed the rain. Then they quickly condensed and fell to the ground as really large water drops.

"Aw crap!" Arsen yelled, "The rain is gone!"

Suddenly, he felt himself being grabbed by an unknown force. Alex had got up and trapped him in a Psychic attack. She slammed him against the wall, cracking his skull and Zyphra followed up with a wave of Psybeams. This time, there no Dry Skin and Rain Dance combo to heal him.

Arsen was sent flying into the opposite wall and collided with it, resulting in a nasty crack. When he fell onto the even muddier floor, an imprint of his body was left behind. He didn't get up.

"We did it," Alex breathed, "We won!"

Then Arsen got up. He did not look happy.

"Aw, crap."

"Fuck! Shit!" he growled, "You two won! I thought my Dark attacks would crush you both, but you two still won dammit! Stupid rules, having me to give this plate…"

A flash of purple light in the air, and a purple square slab of stone fell out of it. Zyphra walked over to it and picked it up.

"One more thing before I die. Why the hell isn't Gaia here? He should be collecting the plates, not you two!"

"That's because he's training right now," Zyphra answered, "Don't you think he needs to become stronger before saving the world, eh?"

"Well, tell him this! Yuxai the Froslass, the guardian of the Icicle Plate, is waiting for him on Snowy Peak and she's not letting anyone except him and his two teammates inside. So tell him moving already!" With that last remark, Arsen faded into flashes of purple light and disappeared.

A blue portal appeared in the middle of the room. The two girls stepped inside and were teleported out of the dungeon.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the stone room, a statue of a Toxicroak split in half and fell to the ground. All of the remaining guardians knew what that meant.

"I'm going," Yuxai said, "It is time."

"You sure Gaia's going to come?" a Lucario asked, "I don't think he knows about you."

Yuxai sighed, "Aurelis, we over this a dozen times. Arsen was going to tell Gaia or whoever replaced him about me when he died. He has already, which means the plan has worked. Besides my dungeon is the only one left in the Southern Continent. Of course he'll come to me."

"That's not true, you know," a Mawille said, "The Meadow Plate and the Draco Plate are also in the Southern Continent."

"Yes, but we all agreed that Gaia would find these ones last." She looked at a wall opposite the entrance to the room. It was covered in intricate glowing carvings and there were fifteen slots aligned in a circle in the middle, "If he was to face the guardian of the Draco Plate, he would be killed instantly." She disappeared in a whirl of snow.

XXXXXXXX

"Aaaaaaahhhh!" Shaymin screamed in pain and collapsed to the grassy ground, a mass of daggers jutting out from his body. Too much blood was flowing out of him and soon the loss of it killed him.

The dark figure walked up to his body, ripped the pink flower off Shaymin's forehead and shoved it in his bag. "Heheheheh…The Gracidea is mine! Only two more to go!"

XXXXXXXX

Zyphra and Alex appeared with a flash of blue light in a blue tile-lined room. Several Pokemon around them were shocked and took a few steps back. Zyphra noticed that they were all males.

"Where are we?" Alex asked.

Zyphra looked around and saw some shower heads and a toilet cubicle. After putting together her observations and the fact that all the Pokemon in the room except for them were males, she came to the following conclusion.

They were in a men's bathroom. And judging by the splashing noises outside, they were also at a swimming pool.

"Damn Toxicroak," she muttered.

Three seconds later, the two girls raced out of the bathroom, shout and abuse being hurled towards them from behind.

XXXXXXXX

Up in the afterlife, Arsen was watching the scene and was rolling on the floor, laughing his ass out.

XXXXXXXX

The short journey back to their house was rather arduous and embarrassing. Given that the two of them were covered in smelly mud and slime, bystanders pinched their noses and got away from the two girls and quickly as possible. Then there was the fact that the two of them were tired from the battle, which made the couple of hundred metre distances seem like a three-kilometre run.

When they did get home, Zyphra bolted upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom.

"Let me in!" Alex shouted, pounding on the wooden door.

"No," Zyphra replied, her voice partially muffled by the sound of running water.

The poor Grumpig had to wait for thirty minutes until Zyphra was finished. When she got out, she told her teammate that the hot water had run out and she would have to wait another twenty minutes. Alex didn't care and ran into the bathroom immediately.

XXXXXXXX

"Gotcha!" Gaia spun around in the air and slashed his sword downwards, aiming for Sensei Bones's head. He blocked it and countered with a quick slice. Gaia parried the blow aside and leapt towards Bones, executing a perfect jump-slash. Sensei Bones blocked it and slashed again.

"You are never going to let me hit you, are you?" Gaia asked as blocked the blow and countered.

"No, you will have to earn it!" Sensei Bones replied as he countered Gaia's counter, forcing the sword out of his hand. The Spirit Sword flew across the air and landed on the rocky ground. Gaia walked over and picked it up. "I'm going to beat you this time," he said confidently.

"Then have at me!" Sensei Bones roared and got into a fighting stance.

"Hey Gaia!" The two men turned around and saw Zyphra and Alex running towards then.

"Hey Zyphra, hey Alex," Gaia said once they caught up to him, "What's up?"

"We just found another plate!" Alex said excitedly. At the mention of the word 'plate', Gaia got excited. "Really? Where is it?" he asked.

"Here." Zyphra took the Toxic Plate out of her bag and handed it to him.

"Thanks! Wow, Toxic Plate. That's pretty cool." Gaia placed the plate on the ground and tapped it with the tip of the Spirit Sword.

Instantly he felt himself falling into another dream sequence.

The mysterious figure held his sword up into the air. A purple light surrounded it and several caltrops burst out of it. They were covered in poision. Then the figure walked across the caltrops, somehow not damaged by them.

Gaia opened his eyes. "I think that was Toxic Spikes," he said thoughtfully, "Let me try it out." He raised his sword into the air and concentrated. A purple light surrounded it and several spikes burst out of the tip. They were coated in poison. "It works! Yeah!"

"Aren't you going to be afraid of accidentally stepping on them during combat?" Zyphra asked.

"No, the figure that taught me wasn't hurt by stepping on them." Gaia faded the sword away and grinned at the two girls, "So, what happened in the dungeon? How did you get the plate?"

"It's a long story,"

"I've got time."

"No you don't." Alex said, "We've found out where the next plate is."

"Okay, where?" Gaia asked.

"On the top of Snowy Peak. And there's one more thing: the guardian will only let you, Seth and Alice in."

One thousand years ago...

The young guard walked out of Princess Leafia's room, closing the door behind him. His face was completely red and he had a wide smile on his face. Wes spotted him and sighed, "Okay, what did you two do back there?" he asked.

"Do what?" the guard asked innocently, as if butter wouldn't melt.

"Did you have sex with Princess Leafia?" Wes stated bluntly.

The guard pretended to look puzzled, "What makes you think I did?"

"The two of you entered her chambers and closed the door. Soon, there was a scuffling sound and the two of you started moaning. If that's not sex, I swear I'll jump off the roof of the castle."

The young guard shrugged, "Okay, I had sex with her. So what? You didn't ask Yuxai when she made passionate love with Marly. I love Leafia and she loves me. It works out fine."

Wes stared at him as if he was insane, "You're not in her egg group," he reminded his friend.

"So?"

"People are going to think it's disgusting! And King Moonlight will kill you! You have just destroyed the last piece of innocence of his only daughter!"

"Well," the young guard tried to think of a witty comeback, "At least I'm not a virgin," he grinned cheekily.

"That's not the point!"

Snowey peak

It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Classes were nearly over and Seth could hear the excited chatter from the nearby classrooms. He was leaning against a tree in training ground 10, taking a break. A wave of nostalgia washed over him. He fondly remembered playing some of his greatest pranks around this time. It was an unusual thing to be proud of, but Seth was not the usual Pokemon. Who else had a large I.Q. yet was somewhat immature? Sometimes he still felt like pranking people, but his conscience always told him that he was a young man now (eighteen years old) and should be more mature. Besides, people could get hurt.

His mobile phone rang. "Who could that be?" he muttered to himself and took the device out of his bag.

"Hey Seth!" Gaia's voice rang once Seth had put the phone to his ear.

"What's up, Gaia?" Seth responded, "Have you finished training already?"

"Well, sort of. It's time for us to stop training,"

"What?" Seth gasped, "We have to stop training? But I thought we need to get stronger to fight the Shadow Pokemon."

"Yeah, about that…" Gaia paused for a moment, "Zyphra and Alex found another plate—"

"Sweet!" Seth exclaimed.

"And they also found out the location of the next one too. It's on the top of Snowy Peak, and there's something else. The guardian won't let anyone else except the three of us in,"

Seth groaned, "Dammit. Well, I see what you mean. We gotta go and get the next plate, right? I'll just call Alice and tell her about this."

"Nah, don't bother," Gaia said, "I've already called her. Just get to her father's house as soon as possible."

"Why Sir Garrett?" Seth asked curiously, "Why not Master Dusk?"

"Because he's climbed Snowy Peak a dozen times. If anyone knows how to help us, it's him." With that, Gaia terminated the call.

XXXXXXXX

Fifteen minutes later, Seth rapped his fist on Garrett's front door. Almost instantly, Alice opened it. "You're finally here," she said calmly, "Come in, my father is waiting for you."

"Why so formal? It's not like you." Seth asked as he stepped inside. The two of them walked down a large hallway with paintings and photographs on the walls.

"I have to do it," Alice replied, "It is a rule of my clan."

"Didn't you say that your father allowed you to talk normally while visiting him?" Seth said as they rounded a corner.

"Yes, but it has become a habit." They entered the dining room and sat down on chairs. Gaia and Garrett were already there. The occupants of the room were aligned so that Garrett was on one side and Team Enforcers was on another.

The first thing Seth noticed was that part of the table was wet, "Hey, did something spill over there?" he asked, pointing towards the wet spot. This got mixed reactions. Alice blushed a bit and averted her eyes. Gaia shrugged. He was wondering about it too. Garrett just smirked a little, "Alice spilt her tea," he answered, deciding to leave out the fact that it was the result of asking his daughter awkward questions about her love life.

"Oh, is that all?" Seth said. It didn't occur to him that it might have come as a result of something, like sudden awkward questions. He turned to Alice, "You really should be more careful," he chided.

"Quiet," Alice snapped back, "We have important things to discuss."

"That is correct," Garrett spoke up, "Gaia told me that he intends to take both of you to the top of Snowy Peak to search for a Plate." He sighed, then continued, "Obviously, there are a great number of difficulties. Gaia and Alice are weak to the cold, my daughter more so," he shot a glance at Alice, "Then there is the fact that Snowy Peak is a high mountain. Climbing it will not be an easy task. But," he smiled at the three of them, "You three are Master Dusk's former students. I have no doubt in thinking that you will succeed."

"Then how should we prepare?" Gaia asked.

"You will only need a full bag of proper items and your Wonder Map. And there's something I must give you." Garrett stood up, "Follow me."

He led the three explorers into the extravagant back garden, towards a small tree with a number of small, blue and round berries hanging from it. Garrett picked ten of them and gave them to Gaia. "These are Yache Berries," he explained, "They will protect you against the cold and Ice attacks."

"Father!" Alice protested, "You can't give us these! They're far too expensive,"

Garrett smiled, "Don't worry daughter, I have many more. Besides, the three of you need the support." To Alice's surprise, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek, "Be safe," he whispered.

"I will, father." She turned towards her friends, "Come on guys, let's go."

"Thank you sir," Gaia thanked Garrett and followed out of Alice out of his house.

"We'll definitely bring the plate back for sure!" Seth grinned cheerfully and left. Garrett smiled again. The three of them really reminded him of his old team.

XXXXXXXX

Gaia, Seth and Alice were back at their house, and they had dumped their items all over the dining table. "So, what do we have?" Seth asked.

Gaia counted their arsenal quickly, "We have 6 Reviver Seeds, 5 Oran Berries, 10 Yache Berries Garret gave us and finally an Escape Orb each and that's it." He sighed and shook his head, "It's not enough. We need to go shopping,"

Alice glanced at a nearby clock, "It's nearly four. We should have enough time."

XXXXXXXX

"So you three are going up Snowy Peak to find another plate?" Gaia was chatting with Shia in the long queue in front of the Kecleon Mall Item Shop. It was around four-thirty at the moment and this was the time where explorers came back from their missions. Obviously, some of those explorers would be lacking in vital items and would need to buy them. The two of them were rather bored. It didn't help that they were at the back of the queue.

"That's right," Gaia replied, "You're not jealous are you?"

"Of course not," Shia huffed, but deep down she was. Gaia and his team always seemed to get the good stuff and go on exciting adventures.

"If you say so," Gaia said, "How's the exploring going?"

"Pretty good," she replied, "We're nearly at the Gold Rank,"

"What?" Gaia exclaimed, "You guys nearly Gold Ranks? We just became Silvers. Dear Arceus, I'm jealous."

Shia tried to contain her smile. And failed. Finally, Gaia was jealous of her in some way. "Well, we haven't become Golds just yet," she grinned, "Anyway, how's it going with Alice?"

Gaia was confused, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, are you going to her that you love her?" Shia smirked.

"Oh for the love of Palkia, Diagla and Giratina!" he groaned, "I don't love Alice. We're just friends. That's all!"

"Then why are you blushing?" Shia pointed her paw towards his face. Sure enough, the Grovyle's face was red.

"I—" Then Gaia realized that the queue had moved far enough so that now it was his turn to buy stuff, "Sorry, talk to you later. Need to buy some items." He turned around and faced the Kecleon shopkeeper. He took out a sheet of paper from his bag and passed it over the counter. "Can you get all of these items for me?"

XXXXXXXX

Seth and Alice were watching T.V. in the living room when they heard the front door being unlocked. "Did you get them all?" Seth asked as Gaia entered the room.

"Yeah!" He held up a slightly overloaded item bag, "Let's get prepared." Alice switched off the T.V. and three of them headed into the dining room.

"Okay," Gaia said and dumped the contents of the bag onto the tabletop, "6 Reviver Seeds, 4 Oran Berries, 3 Yache Berries, 3 Heal Seeds and a Foe-Hold, Petrify, Rollcall, Escape Orb each. That should do it." Seth and Alice took their share of items and stuffed them into their bags.

"So, what now?" Seth asked. Gaia checked the time. It was 5:20, which wasn't the time for dinner, "I guess he'll relax for the night and get up early tomorrow," he decided, "We'll need all the rest we can get."

XXXXXXXX

At six in the morning, Gaia and Alice got up, ready to start their exploration to Snowy Peak. However, there was one team member missing.

Alice burst into Seth's room and found that he was fully asleep, drooling on the pillow at the same time. His blankets were a complete mess. She rolled her eyes with disgust and leaned towards his ear.

"SETH!" she shouted at the top of his lungs.

"WAH!" He bolted up, completed awake.

"Get downstairs!" Alice ordered in a loud voice, pointing towards the door, "It's breakfast time!"

"Breakfast? Sweet!" Seth climbed out of bed and raced downstairs at a speed that anybody who had just woken up shouldn't be able to do. Alice rolled her eyes again and followed him, at a moderate pace.

XXXXXXXX

Breakfast consisted of porridge with glucose powder on top. Seth had thought about complaining, but the look in Alice's eyes had made him reconsider. The porridge would provide them enough energy for the entire day and would help protect against the bitter cold of Snowy Peak. It had the color of concrete and a bland, gritty texture, but the two boys had no intention of arguing with Alice about her cooking. They had seen what the last person who had done that. He had been thrown into a wall and received several broken ribs shortly after.

Gaia had read the Wonder Map and figured out the route. Snowy Peak was half a day away and climbing half-way up it would take another half a day. He saw a log cabin positioned half-way up the mountain on the map and decided that his team would stay there, at a small fee, of course.

So the team set out. Between Treasure Town and Snowy Peak were a variety of mystery dungeons. The three of them passed through them all easily. The fact that the Spirit Sword had four attacks of different types and that it could reflect special attacks made things even easier.

At three in the afternoon, Team Enforcers reached the Snowy Peak Village, a small town at the base of the mountain. It was the last place anyone could buy supplies before heading up.

"What's for lunch?" Seth asked. He and his teammates were sitting at a small restaurant.

"You'll see," Alice said. As if on cue, a Slowbro waiter came over the three bowls of the same porridge that they had eaten for breakfast.

"This again?" Seth exclaimed, horrified. He had a good reason to, as the porridge tasted and looked like concrete. It wasn't an average person's meal.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Alice asked dangerously. She and Gaia were already starting to eat.

"No miss," Seth miserably spooned the gritty porridge into his mouth.

XXXXXXXX

After their horrible yet nutritious breakfast, they set out to climb Snowy Peak. However, there was a surprise waiting for them at the base of the mountain.

The three of them were standing in a plain semi-covered with snow. The layer of snow increased throughout the levels of the mountain. "Let's go!" Gaia shouted.

As soon as those words escaped his lips, a black hand burst from the ground and a Shadow Pokemon climbed out of it. The Spirit Sword was instantly in Gaia's hand. Black blobs fell from the sky and formed more Shadow Pokemon when they landed. Alice took a quick look at them and saw that they were all Ice-types.

"Just great," she muttered. True, she did know Flamethrower, but she had a quadruple weakness to ice. Taking out a Yache berry from her bag, she bit down on it and winced as the sour juice saturated her tongue. Suddenly, the area didn't seem so cold any more.

Gaia was in a fighting stance and gripped the sword with two hands. "Let's do this." He said in a confident tone.

The Shadow Pokemon attacked. Gaia charged the Spirit Sword up with fire and it grew to twice its length. He then swung it around, destroying the Shadow Pokemon left and right. Alice took a deep breath and exhaled flames, burning the darkness to death. Seth's fist burst on fire and he punched the nearest enemy, sending it flying into a nearby rock and killing it.

The Spirit Sword shrunk into its normal length and Gaia winced in pain. There were minor burns on his hand, caused by the recoil from Flare Blitz. Out of the corner of his eyes, his saw a Shadow Snorut came charging at him. He turned around and slashed its head off, then stabbed a nearby Shadow Glalie. It screamed and burst into black dust. The fight continued for five solid minutes, with Fire attacks being thrown everywhere. Eventually, the Shadow Pokemon were defeated.

Gaia's sword faded back into his hand and he panted heavily, "Let's go!" he said, pointing to the mountain. A Shadow Golbat and bitten him on the arm and the wound was bleeding. He seemed to be neglecting that.

"Hold on, let me heal you first." Seth applied a glowing palm to his forehead and the wound disappeared.

The three friends started to climb up the mountain. They hoped that they wouldn't encounter any more Shadow Pokemon. Unfortunately, they did.

"Need a dispenser here!" whimpered Seth as he lay in the snow after receiving the end of a Shadow Piloswine's Take Down attack.

"Need a what now?" Gaia asked confusedly as he gave the Sableye an Oran Berry.

It got harder as they climbed on. The air got thinner and made it harder to breathe. Gaia and Alice consumed six Yache berries together. Seth didn't need one; he had coped with the cold in basic training. But it struck their skin like a million tiny darts and made the trip very uncomfortable. Luckily it the weather was fine. It there was a blizzard, they would have had to turn back.

Finally, they spotted a small shack in the middle of a flat snowfield. The sun was going down and the air was getting colder. It also made it hard to see, so they were very relieved when they saw the grey walls standing in a field of white. They walked up to the front door and knocked it.

A large Abomasnow answered, "Are you Garrett's daughter?" he asked, pointing at Alice.

"Yes, I am." Alice replied, surprised, "How did you know?"

"My name is Frost and I was one of his old colleagues." The Abomasnow said, "He called to tell that the three of you were coming."

"There's reception up here?" Gaia asked as he stepped into the shack.

"Dark City technology," Frost said, "Most of it is crap, but I managed to smuggle a few high-grade stuff out. I've been trying to construct a T.V, but it isn't going to well."

The interior shack was actually rather nice. Electric lights hung from the walls. Seth saw a heater standing in the corner of the small hallway. There was a kitchen with a fridge full of canned food and coffee inside. "Pretty nice place you're got here," he remarked.

"Thanks."

"Where does the electricity come from?"

"Underground lines," Frost walked over to a stove and started heating up some cans. "Are you guys hungry?" he asked.

"Starving," Gaia replied.

"I thought so. Climbing Snowy Peak takes a lot out of people." After three minutes, the food was ready. He took the cans off the stove and offered them to Team Enforcers. Gaia dug his spoon into a can of corn beef that was warm and greasy on the outside and hard as rock on the inside. "Not bad," he commented, "Much like survival training stuff."

XXXXXXXX

After dinner, Frost gave the three explorers the suggestion that they should go to bed straight away.

"Why should we?" Seth had asked.

"Because there is a blizzard coming in one hour and it lasts for the entrie night," Frost had replied.

"And why is that bad?"

"Because when the snow pounds the walls at over eighty kilometres per hour, it makes a hell of lot of a noise and you won't be able to sleep."

That was enough reason for Seth to be silent. So now the Team Enforcers and Frost were standing in the bedroom. There were four beds, lined up in a row.

"I'm taking the farthest left one," Gaia said, pointing to the aforementioned bed.

"Great," Frost said, "Alice, get in with him."

"WHAT?" The two explorers shouted.

"You heard me," Frost said, completely unfazed, "I want the two of you to sleep together."

"Why the hell would you want the two of us to do that?" Gaia shouted, "Garrett would kill me!"

"Actually, I phoned him earlier and he said it was okay."

"That's not the point!"

"Look, the reason I want the two of you to sleep together is because I don't want the both of you to be cold," Frost explained, "Both of you have a weakness to Ice and when the temperature drops throughout the night, the two of you will freeze to death." He took a deep breath, "I once had a Vileplume and a Golem in here. Both of them were males. They snuggled up to each other in bed." Ignoring the disgusted looks on Gaia, Seth and Alice's faces, he continued on, "Looked gay, but the two of them were toasty as hell and they didn't freeze to death. You two are lucky at one's a male and one's a female. Works with the way of life. Besides Gaia, I thought you liked Alice in more ways than one."

Gaia and Alice both blushed, "Fine, we'll do it." He muttered.

"Good. Now get in bed!"

So Frost and Seth climbed into different beds. Gaia and Alice took one next to Seth. Before they got in, Alice gave Gaia a stern warning.

"If you try any funny business I'll throw you out the window into the snow and leave you there," she growled at him.

"I hadn't even thought of something like that before you told me!" Gaia exclaimed, "Don't worry, I'm not going to rape you in your sleep."

"Good."

So the two of them got into bed and pulled the covers over their bodies. "Goodnight Gaia," Alice whispered.

"Goodnight Alice."

XXXXXXXX

The next morning…

Gaia sleepily opened his eyes. Sun was shining through the windows, signifying that it now was morning. He looked to his left and was very surprised to see Alice snuggling up to him, a wide smile on her face. Her arms and hands were lying across his chest.

"Mmm…warm…" she whispered, making the Grovyle blush heavily. She wriggled around a bit and suddenly opened her eyes. She stared at Gaia for a moment, then realized what position they were in.

"Ah!" She quickly pulled herself away from him and blushed, "I'm sorry Gaia!" she apologized, "I shouldn't have done that!"

"Wait, what are you apologizing for?" To be quite honest, the Grovyle was a bit disappointed that she had woken up so soon.

XXXXXXXX

"I wonder what's for breakfast," Team Enforcers were waiting for Frost to prepare their breakfast in the dining room. Seth was particularly hungry.

Frost put down four bowls of grey, gritty porridge in front of them and grinned, "Enjoy!"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Seth wailed.

"What's with him?" Frost asked, confused.

"No idea," Gaia said, spooning the porridge into his mouth.

XXXXXXXX

After bidding Frost goodbye, the three explorers headed up to the top of Snowy Peak. The trip was harsher as the climb was steeper and Shadow Pokemon scattered on the mountain had the annoying habit of trying to kill them.

But eventually they reached the top. It was around ten in the morning and the sun was becoming fierce. "There!" Gaia exclaimed, "I see a cave!" They scrambled to enter it and slid down an icy side inside.

"Whoooaaaa!" The slide twisted and bended, sending spiralling down a somewhat cylindrical cave.

The three of them slid into a large cavern adorned with a lot of ice statues.

"Where are we?" Seth asked. Gaia looked around and saw an ornate sign placed on the wall. It was made of ice.

"'Ice Palace'" he read, "This must be the dungeon! The plate has to be here! Let's go team!"

Ice palace

Yuxai the Froslass, the guardian of the dungeon, was meditating (or floating with her eyes closed) in a chamber at the very back and she sensed three unknown presences at the entrance.

"They're here," she said. She silently gazed at a row of ice statues lined up in a row in the far corner of the room. They were all her friends from when she was alive, including her beloved Marly. The statue of Gaia's predecessor was partly destroyed. She had accidentally knocked it down when she was training a few days ago. She had planned to fix it after meditation, but now there was something more important to do.

Biting down on her arm, she sucked some blood into her mouth. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated. Particles of ice rose from the floor and formed exact clones of her, only that they were coloured light blue. Their eyes were as blank as a new piece of paper and their expressions were impassive at best.

"Go. You have full reign."

XXXXXXXX

Gaia, Seth and Alice carefully made their way through an icy cave lit up by dozens of blue flame torches. The floor was made of hard stone and slabs of ice lined the walls. Tiny stalactites hung from the roof. Dungeons like these were bound to be full of traps and enemies.

They emerged into a large pentagonal chamber with four stone doors on each side. Steel bars fell down behind them and blocked the way out.

"Well, we're stuck in here," Gaia remarked, "Not that we could climb up the slide anyway…"

What came next was completely unexpected. Four Froslasses popped into existence out of nowhere and leered at the trio.

"What the hell!" The Spirit Sword was instantly in Gaia's hands and his two teammates got into fighting stances.

The Froslasses cackled nastily before floating towards the four entrances. They disappeared into the four tunnels and didn't come back out.

Team Enforcers relaxed and dropped their guards. "Now what?" Alice asked.

Seth thought for a moment. Gaia and Alice didn't dare to interrupt him. He was the smartest on the team and needed total silence to think.

"According to all of the video games I've played," Seth eventually said, "We need to defeat all of those Froslasses, and then the way to the final boss will open."

"Then let's go." Gaia pointed towards the farthest-most left entrance. The three of them cautiously made their way through the long tunnel. Like before, it was lit up with dozens of blue torches and the ceilings and the walls were lined with ice.

Gaia took a step forward, right under a particularly large icicle. There was a cracking sound, and it fell towards the ground, right under his head. Alice saw it coming and sharply grabbed her team leader from behind, dragging him out of the path of the icicle.

The shard of ice crashed to the ground and split into many sharp pieces. Alice let go of Gaia and he turned to face her. "Did you…"

"I did," she replied.

"Thanks." He grinned and flashed a thumbs up. They continued on, this time watching the ceiling for large icicles. Whenever they came across one, they stepped underneath its shadow, and then quickly stepped back. The icicle would fall to the empty space on the ground, harming nobody.

The tunnel twisted towards the right and Team Enforcers emerged into a stone room with snow lining the floor. One of the Froslasses was there, waiting for them. Her mouth was a thin flat line and there was nothing behind her eyes. She looked like a living doll.

More steel bars rose behind them and trapped the four Pokemon in the room. Gaia, Seth and Alice got into fighting stances, waiting for action. The Froslass formed a sphere of ice in her white hands and hurled it at the trio. Gaia and Alice leapt away and landed on both sides of the room. Gaia lunged towards the Froslass with his sword. She dodged it, but she didn't dodge Seth's Fire Punch that came out of nowhere. She was slammed to the ground, yet she didn't make a grunt of pain. A blast of fire whoosed out of Alice's mouth and incinerated her. Again, she made no sound as the hot flames melted her body into water, which soon became steam.

A small hole in the snowy floor was the only thing reminding the three explorers that the Froslass had been there. The steel bars slid back into the ground.

"Well, that happened," Seth remarked.

XXXXXXXX

When they walked backed into the tunnel, they found (to their annoyance) that the icicles had somehow replaced themselves and were firmly attached onto the ceiling, waiting to fall down and pierce someone's skull.

"This is just great," Gaia muttered, preparing to bait-and-switch the icicles again.

XXXXXXXX

Yuxai sensed the life of one her puppets fading away. She felt a bit annoyed. It had hurt to make them

XXXXXXXX

Gaia, Seth and Alice returned to the main room. This time, there was nothing there. "This way," Gaia said, motioning for his two friends to go towards the corridor that was next to the one that they had just exited.

This cave corridor had nothing on its ceiling, but its floor was completely covered in ice. It was slippery and made it hard to walk.

Seth slipped and landed painfully on his butt. "Ow!" he moaned. He tried to get up, but fell down again.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Seth, you really need to be more careful." She extended a hand and helped him up. They continued on. Five seconds later, she stepped forward and slipped, landing on her butt just like her teammate. Seth smirked, "Alice, you really need to be more careful." He mimicked, extending a hand to help her up. Gaia tried to contain himself, but failed and burst out laughing.

Alice glared at the two boys, "Shut up!"

XXXXXXXX

They reached the end of the tunnel. Another Froslass was waiting for them in a stone room. Like always, steel bars rose behind them and blocked the way out. This one had its floor completely covered in ice. Walking on ice was hard. Fighting on it was even harder. Nevertheless, the three explorers got into fighting stances. The Froslass lunged forward at them, a Shadow Claw charged up. Gaia ran forward and slashed with his sword, but the Froslass swiftly dodged him and he crashed into the opposite wall, due to his increased speed on the ice. Alice growled and breathed a stream of fire, but the Froslass dodged again. She opened her mouth and fired off a steady stream of ice at Alice. She dodged it by jumping to the left. She saw a Dark Pulse fired from Seth in the corner of her eyes and moved to the right.

Meanwhile, Gaia lifted himself off the floor and glared at his opponent. She seemed particularly well at dodging attacks, instead of attacking itself. Master Dusks had classified these fighters as 'stallers', which were Pokemon who wore their opponents down by defending and using weak attacks many times to build up the damage. The only good thing about them was their lack of health, but they used evasion-increasing attacks or recovery techniques to make up for it.

Since the floor was so slippery, powerful physical attacks were out of the questions. No Flare Blitz, Waterfall or X-Scissor for him. Toxic Spikes were useless because of Froslass's ability Levitate. The only options were to engage in hand-to-hand combat, or reflect her attacks with Mirror Coat. Then an idea struck him.

He remembered Aerial Ace, the first Spirit Sword attack he ever got. It never missed. Maybe he could use that one. Charging his sword up with sky energy, he slashed forward.

There was a sound like a sword striking a piece of metal, and the Froslass fell to the ground, a gaping hole in her back. She twitched for a moment before collapsing into a pile of ice.

Silence. "Was that Aerial Ace?" Seth asked.

"Yeah," Gaia replied, fading the Spirit Sword away, "How did you know?"

"Your sword glowed sky blue and you didn't miss, despite being two metres away."

"You really are smart," Gaia admitted.

"Thanks!"

XXXXXXXX

After walking down the icy corridor and slipping on their butts on the way, they entered the third entrance of the main room. This corridor was completely normal. No falling icicles, no icy floor, nothing.

"Maybe this one won't be so bad after all!" Seth said brightly.

"Don't bet on it." Alice crushed the optimistic mood with those four words.

"Geez, you're a killjoy, aren't you?" Seth asked.

"Being in an ice dungeon does that to me," Alice growled.

They took a sharp left turn, then a slow right turn and ended up in a small but tall room with pillars of various height placed embedded in the ground. The third Froslass was hovering in front of them and staring at them at the same time.

"Here we go again," Gaia stated, flashing the Spirit Sword back into his hands. Alice and Seth got into fighting stances for the third time this day.

The Froslass stared at them for a moment, then she turned around and started to float upwards the first pillar.

Seth aimed and fired a Dark Pulse from his two hands. It missed and hit the wall of the second pillar. The Froslass turned around and shot and Ice Beam from her hands. Gaia activated Mirror Coat and deflected the white beam back to its owner. She dodged it and started floating backwards. Alice ran towards the first pillar and jumped on top of it. She quickly opened her mouth and shot out a stream of fire. It just nicked the Froslass on the side and she saw part of her body melt into water. Gaia and Seth jumped up as well. Gaia formed an Energy Ball in his hands and flung it. At the same time, Seth charged put a ball of ghostly energy and threw it. The Froslass dodged the first attack, but she didn't dodge the second. It struck her in the 'ribbon' of her body and she plummeted to the ground. She didn't get back up. Five seconds later, her body collapsed into a pile of ice shards.

"Three down, one more to go." Gaia said.

XXXXXXXX

After making their way back to the main room, they started going down the fourth corridor. This one was much longer than the others. After a couple of minutes of walking, the last Froslass suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Ah!" Gaia formed the Spirit Sword and his two friends got into fighting stances.

To their surprise, the Froslass actually smirked at them. Then she turned around and motioned for them to follow. And then she started floating down the corridor at a high speed. The three explorers quickly followed her. The corridor seemed to go on forever. Lefts, right, forks and sometimes they even had to jump over pits full of icy waters. They heard doors closing behind them, which were constant reminder that they had to keep moving. Eventually they emerged into a large room. Behind them a stone door closed.

The room seemed to be a cross between a shrine and an art museum. Ice statues were lined neatly on large rock shelves. One of them was broken and the remaining parts missing. The Froslass floated towards the far end of the room and stood beside another Froslass, who seemed to be praying in front of an ice statue of a Roserade. Her eyes were closed and she didn't seem to notice that there were three more people in her room.

"So, you've made it." She suddenly spoke, "Was the trip nice? I hope I didn't overwhelm you all with my puppets."

"Huh, those were puppets?" Gaia asked.

"Yes. As a child, I always enjoyed playing with dolls. When I grew older, I found ways to make and control my own by using my own blood." She turned around and faced Team Enforcers. "Forgive me. I have not yet introduced myself. I am Yuxai, and I am the guardian of the Icicle Plate."

"Then I guess we have to fight you." The three explorers got into fighting stances. Yuxai stared at Gaia. "You do remind me of your predecessor. He had the exact same look before charging into battle. Very well. I will fight you. However…" Blue thread of magic shot out from her right arms and attached themselves into the other Froslass's back. With a swing of her arm, Yuxai yanked her puppet in front of her, acting it as a shield. Snow started to fall from the ceiling.

"Do not expect it to be easy just because you have Fire attacks. Now then, let us begin!"

One thousand years ago...

Captain Sabaku the Flygon was bored. That alone was very surprising, since there was much to do after the war against the darkness. But during one of the final battles, a blast of darkness from a Shadow Gengar had struck her in the chest, breaking several of her ribs. Two weeks later, she was just about completely healed, but Kinesis had ordered her to rest for another day.

"I guess I'll go flying somewhere." She wasn't completely confined to her bedroom. Her wings were unharmed. So she headed down to the front gardens and took to the skies.

Flying alone was an exhilarating feeling. Aeros constantly said it was tiring, but that had mostly to due with the fact that he was the one to carry passengers from one end of Destonia to another. Sabaku felt that flying was the best thing in the world. She had constantly dreamed about it as a Trapinch.

She landed in a forest. The reason for this was because her well-trained eye had spotted something shiny down below. It was something embedded in the ground. Curious, she grabbed the edges of it and pulled it up.

It was a metal box, its bottom coated in dirt. Along it were some letters. Sabaku recognized them as human writing. She had studied humans as a teenager and knew a bit of their language. She recognized the letters: 'T, I, M, C, A , P, S , L and E'. Now even more curious, she opened the box.

Inside it were a pair of glasses that had black lens for some reason, what looked like a small TM, a strange hunk of metal that had a clear piece of glass and a couple of buttons made of a peculiar element, some coins and a book. Sabaku picked up the book and inspected its cover. There was a blonde human boy dressed in orange and he was standing on a toad. Behind him, a completely red boy shoved his palm behind him.

"Naru—Naru—what does this mean?" She flicked to a random page. There were multiple black-and-white pictures on it. They were separated into different panels. She saw the red boy from the cover send a wave of sand towards another boy with ridiculous eyebrows. For some reason the red boy had a large peanut on his back. The eyebrow boy's arms and legs were crushed by the sand.

"Wow! This is so cool!" She was instantly hooked and kept reading. She didn't stop until she finished it, which was around three in the afternoon.

10 Days later…

Sabaku was facing against Marly in a training match. The Roserade was confident he could win. After all, he did carry that freakishly large scythe around him all the time.

Sabaku pressed her hands together and concentrated. Sand rose from the ground and formed a giant fist in the air. Marly's eyes widened and he gasped in shock. So did Yuxai's. Sabaku smirked. She focused and the sand fist slapped Marly into a wall, where he fell down unconscious.

Sabaku: 1

Marly: 0

Puppetmistress yuaxi

The floor of the shrine was now completely covered in ice, dropping the temperature a few more degrees. Gaia and Alice started to shiver. They did not like the cold. Knowing what to do, they took two Yache berries from their bags and ate them. Instantly the cold left their bodies and was replaced by a slightly warm feeling. Yuxai stared at the two of them with a near-impressed expression.

"Yache berries? Well, it's good to know that the three of you aren't as reckless as my husband."

She swung her arm at them. The puppet lunged forward towards Gaia, its claws glowing with ice energy. Alice took a deep breath and spat out a ball of fire. Yuxai flexed her fingers and moved the puppet to the right, dodging the fireball. Gaia charged forward and swung at it, but Yuxai made the puppet dodge again. However, it didn't dodge the Fire Punch that Seth slammed into its torso.

Since fire melts ice, water started pouring out of the puppet. Yuxai was forced the cut the magic strings and abandon it. Now that there was nothing defending her; she was wide open. Gaia's Spirit Sword was engulfed in flames and grew twice its length. He ran towards Yuxai, his blade in front of him. She floated towards the side, but the Spirit Sword just nicked her twice, making her wince in pain.

"I see. So that's how it is." She hissed. Yuxai raised her hand up to her mouth and bit down on it, the sharp teeth puncturing her skin and letting blood flow into her mouth. She ignored the pain and focused. Ice shards rose from the ground and formed three identical puppets of herself in the air. Blue strings flew from her right hand and attached themselves to the back of her puppets. Now she had three objects that could attack and defend at the same time.

The battle was going to be hard; Team Enforcers knew this already. Two of the puppets flew towards them. Seth waited until one got close, then struck it with a Shadow Claw. It wasn't enough to defeat it. The puppet launched itself on top of him and slammed a hard punch into the Sableye's stomach.

When Yuxai was alive, she wasn't a physical fighter. She specialized in mid-long range combat, which meant she used special attacks the most. Her puppets had only one quarter of her own strength and combined with the fact that her physical strength was low meant that the punch hardly did anything. "Get off me!" Seth shouted before shooting a Power Gem from the stones embedded in his stomach. Rock is super effective against Ice and the puppet shattered into a million tiny pieces, like a baseball hitting a pane of glass.

Meanwhile, Gaia and Alice were fighting the second puppet. Alice slashed a Dragon Claw at it. It nearly connected, but at the last moment the puppet dodged aside. The claw missed by a singled millimetre. Of course, missing in a battle is as useful as a spanner in a set of complicated works. The puppet managed to dodge it because of Yuxai's Snow Cloak ability, which increased her evasion during a hailstorm or snow. Gaia tried to slash it, but he was stopped by Yuxai's third puppet slashing its claws into his side. It scraped some blood from the newly created wound and retreated back to its master. Yuxai leant over to her puppets arm and licked the fresh blood into her mouth. Gaia stared in disgust. Alice didn't notice; she was too busy smashing the second puppet to pieces with her claws.

"Aaaahh…that feels so good!" This got the attention of Gaia's other teammates. Yuxai had an extremely creepy and elated smile on her face. She closed her eyes and focused. Ice shards rose out of the ground and formed a puppet. Blue strings shot out of Yuxai's left hand and attached to the puppet. This time the puppet was standing. And it looked exactly like Gaia, minus the sword and green skin replaced by semi-transparent sky blue ice.

"What the hell?" the Grovyle stammered. He certainly hadn't been expecting this.

Now Yuxai had two puppets, one of Gaia and one of herself. She grinned nastily before flexing her left arm towards the three explorers and sending the Gaia puppet lunging at them. Of course, the puppet only had a quarter of Gaia's strength, but they didn't know that. Gaia swung his sword at his doppelganger. Yuxai made the puppet jump on top of the sword for a second, then jump off again and kick Gaia in the face. The Grovyle fell backwards, blood streaming from his nose. Alice roared and breathed a stream of fire. The puppet dodged around it and sank a Leaf Blade attack into the Gabite's hips. Alice flinched, but retaliated and slammed a hard punch into its neck. Seth rushed forward and smashed the puppet on the head with his Fire Punch. It melted to the ground.

Suddenly, claws slashed him from behind and he fell to the ground in pain. Yuxai's puppet of herself had attacked him from behind and blood was on the fingers of its right arm. Yuxai sucked the blood into her mouth with relish and concentrated. Like before, another puppet was created from ice shard in the ground and blue strings were attached to its back.

"Let's do this!" Yuxai screamed. She lifted her head back and charged up an Ice Beam, then fired. At the same time she commanded both of her puppets to attack. It was hard, having to dodge the beam and the puppets at the same time. Gaia got blasted by the beam in the arm, then had his stomach belted by the Seth puppet's Fire Punch. The Ice Beam didn't hurt as much, the Fire Punch did. What's worse, the punch left a small burn on his chest. It didn't seem like much, but Gaia knew that it would hurt and weaken him at the same time. He quickly took out a Heal Seed and ate it. Then he got up and charged his blade with sky blue energy.

There was a sharp sound of a blade cutting something, and the Seth puppet fell to the ground in tiny pieces. Gaia had used Aerial Ace again. For some reason, that move made his arm move impossibly fast. And because of that, it was now hurting.

Seth and Alice charged at the second puppet, elemental claws charged up in their hands. Yuxai saw them coming and lifted pointed her free hand at them. A large icicle rose from the ground and knocked them back. It hurt Alice more. Even after eating the Yache berry, ice attacks still did double damage against her. Yuxai formed a Shadow Ball and threw it. Just in time, Gaia jumped in its path and used Mirror Coat. The white shield comprised of hexagons reflected the black orb back at its owner. Yuxai used her puppet to shield herself. Unfortunately, the Shadow Ball broke it. She wasn't too worried about this. She pointed her arm again and three icicles rose from the ground, knocking all three explorers back.

Suddenly, there was another sound of a blade cutting something, and Yuxai felt intense pain rush through her body. She looked down and saw that her torso had a large cut in it, and it was bleeding heavily. She looked up again saw that Gaia's sword was charged up with sky blue energy.

"Damn you Aeros…" she growled bitterly. That Altaria had annoyed her with his slightly impulsive behaviour when she was alive. Maybe not as much as Marly or Disaster the Absol, but he was annoying when he wanted to be. A sudden flaming punch to the forehead knocked out of her thoughts and sent her skidding across the floor. Froslasses weren't known for their walling skills. She tried to summon icicles, but found that she was drained of energy. Gaia rushed forward and stabbed her in the chest.

Blood spurted out of the space where her heart should be. She stopped moving.

"It's over," Gaia gasped. He lifted his blade out of the Froslass's body.

"Yes it is." Yuxai slowly got up and faced them. Blood was continuously pouring out of her wounds, "You have beaten me. Congratulations. Let me give you what you came here for."

She raised her hands to the air and concentrated. Blue spheres of light gathered in the air to form a light blue plate, which dropped to the floor. Gaia walked over and picked it up.

"You…" Yuxai pointed her right arm at Gaia. Her words came with ragged breaths and seemed to be at the end of her life. She was fading in and out, like a ghost. "You remind me of your predecessor. He was just as brave and strong as you." She pointed towards Alice. "You're like Sabaku, she was just as violent and caring as you are." She pointed at Seth, "And you remind me of my husband. He was just as obnoxious and likeable like you." And then she smiled. Not an evil smile, not a bitter smile but a true smile that she had when she was alive. "I loved him, I loved him and I loved him. I promised to be with him forever, but eventually I had to break that promise. When the two of us were separated, I could hear his and my hearts breaking. But at last, I can see him again." She smiled again, "Thank you."

With that last sentence, she faded away into nothingness. A blue portal was left behind. Team Enforcers stepped into it and was teleported away.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the stone room, the statue of a Froslass split in half and crashed to the ground.

"So Yuxai is dead," Disaster the Absol stated, "I envy her."

"Shouldn't you be somewhere?" Sabaku the Flygon asked.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. I guess I'll see you guys later." Disaster teleported out of the room, heading for his dungeon in Dark City.

XXXXXXXX

It was raining.

The dark figure that had killed some of the Legendaries was hurrying towards Treasure Town at top speed. A flash of lightning revealed its true form.

It was a bipedal fox, colored greyish-brown with red and black parts. It had a long snout and ears, the insides colored red. A large man extended from its forehead, colored red and black tips dotting it. A green bangle tied the mane on the back.

"Gaia, I'm coming to kill you. I'm gonna rip your guts out and shovel them down my throat." he grinned, "I swear it on my name of Zoroark!"

XXXXXXXX

Garrett was meditating in his garden when he heard a humming noise from behind him. He got up and turned around just in time to see his daughter and her two friends step out of a blue portal.

"Father!" Alice gasped once she saw him, "You're here? Then that must mean—"

"The three of you are in my garden." Garrett replied, "Because the three of you are alive, I assume that you have defeated the guardian?"

"Yeah," Gaia held up the Icicle plate, "We defeated a Froslass and got this."

"Excellent. I knew the three of you could do it." Garrett gestured towards his house, "Let's go inside. I'm sure that you all must be tired."

"We are," Seth said, "Thanks."

XXXXXXXX

Yuxai was travelling along a dark turnnel towards the light. She felt at ease, knowing that she finally was going to die and see her beloved Marly again.

Memories floated back into her mind. Memories that she had tried to forget as part of her duty as a guardian.

She remembered slapping Marly in the face the first time she met him, due to his behaviour.

She remembered the day he deflated a bit and she actually started liking him, as a friend.

She remembered being partnered up with him for missions during the civil war and their friendship eventually turned into love.

She remembered kissing Marly in the medical sickbay after his operation and beating up Aeros and Disaster for playing a prank on her.

She remembered making love with him and the day the two of them got married.

She remembered Marly's touch. She remembered his usual smile. She remembered his kiss.

All of a sudden she heard a voice call her from the end of the tunnel.

"Yuxai! You're here! Come on my sweetheart, I love you!"

She smiled fondly upon hearing the term of endearment Marly used to describe her. "I'm coming Marly," she whispered, "I'm coming, my love."

And when she met him in the grassy plains of the afterlife, no words were exchanged. They simply passionately kissed each other and didn't let go.

They were finally together.

Intermission II\

Gaia slipped himself under the blue patterened covers of the king-sized bed. He was staying one of the spare rooms in Garrett's extravagant house. Seth and Alice were staying in other rooms.

Even though it was only three in the afternoon, he was dead tired from traversing the Ice Palace and defeating Yuxai. His adrenaline rush and ran out not long ago. Finding out which move the Icicle Plate would give him could come later, he thought was he yawned and lay his green lizard head on the white pillow. He closed his eyes and almost instantly felt himself drifting off into sleep.

While he was sleeping, he had a strange dream.

A Grovyle sat in a jail cell, hunched up to its one was completely different. Its eyes were as red as blood and its skin was as dark as night. A black sword lay on the ground next to it. Then the Grovyle got up. It picked the sword off the ground and held it up in the air. And with a mighty swing, it cut the metal bars blocking the way out in half.

Gaia woke up with a start. He was sweating buckets and his hands were clammy. He was also rather thirsty. What the hell was that? He asked himself. He picked up a glass of water on a nearby bedside table and slowly drained its contents. The cool water felt good down his parched throat.

He was almost afraid to go back to sleep again, but reminded himself that he was not a child and his dream was not nightmare, therefore he had no reason to be scared of it.

Within a whole minute he was asleep again. This time he had no dreams.

XXXXXXXX

The next morning, Team Enforcers had breakfast with Garrett. The Garchomp's servants served up a large breakfast of very high quality, including hashbrowns, friend tomatoes and Seth's favourite: sausages. The Sableye cried in joy when he found out that there was none of the gritty porridge he had been eating for the past two days in a row. The three explorers tucked in ravenously. Garrett smiled a bit at their enthusiasm.

After eating in silence for a couple of minutes, Garrett spoke up. "Alice, did you sleep with Gaia like I told you to?" he asked.

Instantly, Alice and Gaia began blushing bright red. Seth started to laugh. "Yes father, I did." Alice replied.

"I see." Garrett took a sip of tea, then out the ceramic cup down, "Did you enjoy it?" he said while keeping a completely straight face. Gaia blushed even harder, if that was possible. Alice just stared at her father. "Father, why must you ask such strange questions?"

"Since you did not say yes, does that mean you did not like sleeping with Gaia?" Garrett asked calmly, completely ignoring his daughter's question. Seth nearly fell out of his seat with laughter. Tears were streaming down his face. Alice was far too embarrassed to glare at him. The same was with Gaia.

"I did not say no!" Alice objected.

"Then is that a yes? My question only has two answers." Alice swore that her father was actually enjoying this.

By this point Gaia was so embarrassed that he wanted to sink into the floor and never speak of this incident again.

"I...what...oh forget it!" Alice kept her head down and resumed eating, trying to mask her blushes. Gaia did the same. It was a whole two minutes before Seth's laughter died down and he began eating again. By this point his bacon and sausages were already cold. He was disappointed when he found out.

XXXXXXXX

After that rather eventful and embarrassing meal, Team Enforcers waved goodbye to Alice's father and headed towards their house. Gaia had tapped the Icicle plate with his sword and learned Ice Shard, a useful priority move. As they walked down a bustling road, a Bayleaf ran up to them.

"Gaia, Gaia!" Leala shouted as she came running across.

"Hey Leala," Gaia said, "What's up?"

"I heard the rumours. It can't be true, can it?" she said wildly.

"Leala, what are you talking about?" Gaia asked.

"Did you really sleep with Alice two days ago?" Leala almost screamed. Gaia hadn't been expecting this and was caught off guard for a moment. "Wait, how did you know about that?" he said quickly once he recoverd.

"It was all over the Internet!" Leala replied, "Seth's profile page on Twatter told us all!"

"What?" Gaia turned around and glared at his friend. "Seth, what the hell did you do?" The Sableye whimpered and took a step backwards. He was scared of his two friends murdering him in the street. It made him think that what he had done last night wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Seth," Alice growled in an incredibly menacing tone, "You are fucking dead!" With a roar, she launched himself on top of him and started to beat him up.

"I'm sorry Alice, I'm sorry!" Seth cried as he felt the pain from Alice's blows, "I was typing up our adventure, that's all!"

"So, did you two really sleep with each other?" Leala diverted Gaia's attention by asking him the question.

"You two slept with each other?" Team Super Cool had heard what was going on and came over to them. Janua was horrified that Seth was getting beaten up and waded over to restrain Alice. "Have you guys been in some sort of secret relationship? Garrett is going to murder you." Mitt asked.

"Are you sure Alice is not your girlfriend?" Raydir questioned.

"Girlfriend?" Leala exploded. People noticed her outburst and were starting to stare at them.

Gaia sighed. This was going to take a lot of explaining to do. "Alright everyone, calm down," he said wearily, "I'll explain everything…"

Five minutes later, the Grovyle had sufficiently calmed everyone down and told them what had really happened.

"So the two of you only slept together so both of you wouldn't freeze to death?" Leala asked for the fifth time.

"Yes Leala," Gaia replied, slightly annoyed, "That's the only reason why we slept together. We are not in some sort of secret relationship."

"Oh good." A look of relief crossed her face and she smiled.

"So, what do we do now?" Seth asked. During those five minutes, he had healed all of the wounds where Alice had punched and clawed him. "We have six plates now. Does that mean we're nearly half done?"

"I guess so." Gaia said, "The problem is, we have no pointers as to where to go or what to do. Yuxai didn't tell us anything."

KABOOM!

There was a loud explosion in the distance and the heads of everyone nearby swilled to face the source of it.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Alice asked. Gaia saw that a large shadow aura was radiating from the place. "Shadow Pokemon!" he stated. The Spirit Sword formed in his hand and he ran towards the source, "Let's go!"

XXXXXXXX

Zozoark was having the time of his life. He was currently firing dark beams of energy everywhere, destroying parts of buildings and causing mass panic. He had even injured a few people. Maybe he would kill them later.

"Hey you!" He heard a voice from behind and turned around. To his surprise and pleasure, he saw Gaia running up to him, the Spirit Sword in his hands.

"Well, well, well." Zozoark grinned nastily, "Look who it is. The weilder of the Spirit Sword."

"You!" Gaia shouted angrily. He gestured to the destruction around him, "Did you do all this?"

"Of course I did." Zozoark laughed, "It was rather fun you know. Those screams of pain and fear were music to my ears!"

This only served to make Gaia even angrier. "That's it!" he declared, "You are fucking dead!" He got into a fighting stance.

"So, you're going to fight me? Sure…" Suddenly, black aura started to swirl around him. Gaia stared at it, then took a step back and gasped. What was standing before him was an almost exact replica of him, except that the Grovyle's skin was black and its eyes were red. He was even holding a black sword.

"Like my ability? It's Illusion, which lets me transform into any Pokemon in existence. I know that you're good at fighting. Let's see how could you are when you're fighting yourself!"

Zozoark charged at Gaia, his sword in front of him. Gaia blocked and swatted Zozark away. He then charged his blade up with fire energy and it grew to twice its length. "Take this!" he shouted and swung his sword. Zozoark jumped back, but the flaming sword slashed him in a few places, hurting him.

"Interesting…" The shadow fox grinned, "But did you know that my ability lets me use your own moves?" He charged up his black sword with sky blue energy and swung forward. Gaia heard the sound of a sword striking and countered with his own Aerial Ace. The two attacks collided into each other and cancelled each other out.

"Take this!" Zozoark fired a stream of sharp icicles at Gaia. The Grovyle activated Mirror Coat and reflected them back at the shadow fox. They struck him in the chest and knocked him backwards.
"You're mine!" Gaia stated as he ran forward.

"No!" Zozoark lunged forward at an impossible speed and grabbed Gaia by the neck. "You are mine…" He laughed. Gaia stared into his eyes. Then he felt himself blacking out. He had just enough time to see Zozoark falling to the ground as well.

A few seconds later, the green Grovyle picked himself up from the ground. "Hey Gaia!" Seth shouted from nearby, "Are you alright?"

The green Grovyle simply grinned at Seth, "I've never been better!" he smiled.

XXXXXXXX

"Ohh…" Gaia opened his eyes. He was in pain. 'Where was he?' was the first question that came to his mind. He looked around and saw that he in a jail cell! The walls were made of white stone and a light bulb hung from the roof, illuminating the room. Metal bars blocked his only way out. A nearby barred window told him that it was now at night.

"What?" he asked himself, "Why am I here?" Then he noticed that his hand was completely black. His arm was also completely black. He gasped with shock and looked at himself in a nearby mirror. A black Grovyle stared back at him.

"No…no…no!" Gaia panicked. He had somehow become Zozoark. But he wasn't Zozoark, right? He was himself. He was Gaia, the wielder of the Spirit Sword. But that shadow fox had done something to him. Now he looked just Zozoark. He slumped against the wall in despair.

What am I going to do now? He thought miserably. He heard snoring from behind him and turned around. An Umberon and Pikachu were sleeping behind him. Gaia recognized them as Nasuada and Kika. So they had been captured too. Maybe they had been arrested.

Then he had a sudden flashback. He remembered the dream he had last night. He had seen a black Grovyle cut down the bars to a jail cell with a black sword. Was he that black Grovyle? He quickly got up and checked the bars. To his surprise, they were cracked in random spots. They looked very weak and seemed like they could be cut down with a slash.

Gaia took a glance at Nasuada and Kika. Maybe they could help him. He knew that they were strong. So he walked over and shook Nasuada lightly.

"What? What do you want?" The Umbreon said irritably, "And who are you anyway?"

Gaia pointed to Kika, "Get him up. We're escaping."

"We are?" Somehow the mention of the word 'escaping' was enough to wake the Pikachu up, "How?" he asked.

Nasuada snorted, "Don't be ridiculous. We can't escape. Can't you see that there are metal bars in front of us?" She told Gaia, "You still haven't answered my question. Who the hell are you?"

Gaia didn't say anything. He formed his sword in his hand. For a second it was in its normal colors, then it was consumed by a dark aura and turned black.

Interesting, he thought. He charged it up with fire energy and swung at the bars. The blazing sword cut through the bars like a knife cutting through a block of cheese. Kika stared. Nasuada's jaw dropped to the floor. An alarm sounded.

"Oh, son of a bitch," Gaia muttered. He gestured towards Nasuada and Kika. "Come on! We're going!"

Escape

It was now midnight. The town was bathed in darkness and stars twinkled in the night sky. It was a peaceful scene. The citizens were asleep, snoring soundly in their beds. Either that or being unconscious from partying too hard and drinking too much Oran Berry wine. Note that only applied to a select group of students, who would surely receive a hefty punishment and a tongue lashing from Master Dusk in the morning.

So they were very surprised when an ear-piercing siren rang through the night air, waking everybody up.

Master Dusk had been snoring away in his large bed, tired after doing a pile of paper work as large as a small chair. He was surprised to hear the shrieking of the prison alarm. It reminded him of the prison break forty-five years ago, when he had been a prison guard for part of his work experience. That had been an absolute nightmare, and he nearly got killed.

He wasn't that surprised when Sensei Embers slammed open the bedroom door, wanting instructions. "Sir! What should we do?" the Typholsion shouted. Master Dusk made his mind up instantly, "Tell the children to get back in bed," he ordered, "I'll go to the prison to see what's going on."

Embers nodded, "Should I tell Smogsmog and Acer to accompany you?"

The old Dusknoir shook his head, "No. Get them to help you." And he rushed past Embers and towards the front door of the academy.

XXXXXXXX

Garrett was meditating in his garden when he was interrupted by the wailing of the siren.

"Fuck." he swore. He hadn't done that for a while. There was only one reason why the alarm was sounding.

Someone had escaped. Garrett had a nasty feeling that he knew who. If the escapist was the person really he thought, then the prison guards would need any form of help.

He picked himself off the grassy ground and ran out of his garden.

XXXXXXXX

Alice, like everyone else in Treasure Town, was rudely awakened by the obnoxious and loud prison siren. She fumbled for her bedside lamp and turned on. The light shone from the metal device, illuminating her annoyed face.

Yesterday, when the black Grovyle had been lying on the ground defeated, the police had shown up and taken him away. They wanted to question him for damaging several building and sending several Pokemon on a one-way trip to the hospital. Unfortunately, he was unconscious, meaning that he couldn't answer any questions. The police refused to kill him. Alice and Seth had both objected, but the police said they had to follow procedure. For some strange reason their Grovyle teammate hadn't said anything. She had almost gone on a rage and remembered nearly shouting herself hoarse, but her father showed up just in time to calm her down.

"Dammit!" she roared, grabbing her explorer bag off from her bedside drawer, "I knew this would happen!" She raced out of her room to wake her teammates up. She didn't need to. Seth and her Grovyle teammate were already up and downstairs. Alice saw them and hurried down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"What's going on?" Seth asked frantically.

"That Zoroark guy has escaped from the prison!" Alice shouted, "We've got to go there now!"

The real Zoroark, the one that was disguising himself as Gaia, nodded. "Then let's go!" He formed a fake Spirit Sword in his hand and ran out the door, Alice and Seth right behind him.

XXXXXXXX

Prison guards ran through the hallways, trying to find the intruder. They were trained and ready. They had spent hours training for an escape like this, honing their skills until they were the best. They could keep the toughest and hardened criminals in line with their fearsome attacks.

But they still weren't ready for 5-star ranked Umbreon outlaw and a black Grovyle with the power to reflect special attacks and could use five other moves that weren't Grass-type.

Gaia, who had been forced to look like Zoroark, raised the real Spirit Sword (but was coated in darkness) and formed a wall of light in front of him. It reflected an Energy Ball and it hurled in the air towards its firer. The last thing the Octillery guard saw before being knocked unconscious was her own green orb of Grass-energy smashing into her head.

Nasuada opened her mouth and fired a powerful Dark Pulse that crashed into a Banette and a Gengar and knocked them out. Kika added to the carnage by discharging electricity from his body, shocking the guards in front of them and paralysing some. Gaia turned around and concentrated. Toxic Spikes spewed from the end of his sword and laid a trap for any guards who were following them.

"Nice," Nasuada gave him a small smile and the three of the continued running. They rounded a corner and kept running, much to the amazement of the other prisoners. Some shouted encouragement. Other shouted offers of help. Gaia, Nasuada and Kika were too busy to listen.

XXXXXXXX

"Okay, we're here. Now what?" Seth asked. Team Enforcers was standing in the entrance hallway of the jail. They could hear shouts and screams coming from various places.

Zoroark thought for a moment. "Let's split up! It'll make things faster."

Seth and Alice nodded without hesitation. The three Pokemon ran off in different directions.

XXXXXXXX

Gaia lobbed a purple-colored Energy Ball at a Poliwhirl guard, knocking it backwards. Nasuada and Kika took out a nearby Hitmonchan by shooting their Hidden Powers at him. The three of them rounded yet another corner and what Gaia saw nearly made his heart stop.

Alice was charging towards them, a look of utter fury on her face and a Dragon Claw fully charged up.

Gaia couldn't hurt her. She was his teammate. She was one of his best friends. The two of them had been together for seven years, along with Seth. They had trained and fought together, experiencing many things along the way. And deep down, Gaia knew that he had feelings for her that weren't just friendship related. He couldn't harm her. It wouldn't be right.

And yet, he had to. If he didn't attack her, Alice would tear him apart and he would eventually be killed. Then how would he save the world? Closing his eyes, he held up his sword in front of him and focused. Shards of ice formed in front of it and zoomed forward. Alice's eyes widened as she saw them coming. She opened her mouth to try and call for help, but the Ice Shards pierced her chest and arms and she fell forwards, roaring in pain. Blood spurted out of her wounds and made a mess on the floor. Her eyes closed and she didn't move.

Gaia stared at his fallen teammate, a crushed feeling in his heart. He didn't even know that he was crying. What have I done? He thought miserably to himself. Of all the bad things he had done in his life, this was probably the worst. He wanted to hug Alice. He wanted to heal her wounds and tell her that he was sorry. He wanted to wake her up and convince her that he wasn't Zoroark.

But there was no time for that. If he stuck around, he would be shoved back into another tiny cell. And the new one probably wouldn't have cracked bars. "I'm sorry Alice," he whispered, "I promise I'll explain everything to you. I promise!"

Along with Nasuada and Kika, he managed to burst out of the back door and run out into the dark streets.

XXXXXXXX

Garrett was running down the prison hallways when he saw his daughter lying on the ground eyes closed, ice shards embedded in her body and blood coming out of fresh wounds. Needless to say, he was horrified.

"No! Alice!" He ran over and cradled his daughter's head in his arms, "Please don't die," he whispered, "Please don't die." Tears flowed out of his eyes. He remembered his deceased wife, Alisa, lying in her deathbed, pale with sickness. He had promised her that he would take care of their daughter until she grew up. And now he had failed. "I'm sorry Alisa," he wept, "I failed you. I failed you!" One of his tears fell down onto Alice's cheek. It was enough to make her wake up.

"Father…?" she moaned weakly. She recognized the voice, but her vision was fuzzy and she was dangerously close to blacking out. Garrett instantly stopped crying and stared at his daughter with relief. "You're alive!" he whispered. Taking an Oran berry from his item bag, he placed it in his daughter's mouth. "Eat this." He said.

Alice shook her head and gestured towards the ice shards embedded in her body. It almost took all of her strength just to do that. "Take…them…out." She rasped. Garrett followed his daughter's instructions and gingerly slid the pieces of ice out of her body. Good thing he took Level 4 first aid training when he had attended the academy. Once all of the ice shards were gone, Alice bit down on the Oran Berry. The sweet juice saturated her tongue and she could feel her wounds healing. Even so, she felt herself drifting into unconsciousness. Well, at least she wasn't drifting into blackness (aka dying).

Garrett smiled at his sleeping daughter. "Rest well." He whispered. Then his face contorted into a look of fury. "I'm going to kill the bastard who did this!"

XXXXXXXX

After running out of Treasure Town and crossing several miles of grassland, Nasuada, Kika and Gaia stopped at a small forest. They were tired and out of breathe. Escaping from prison and running across a whole town tended to do that to a person.

"Okay buddy," Nasuada gasped, pointing a paw towards Gaia, "Just who the hell are you?"

Gaia flashed the Spirit Sword away, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Why the heck did you break us out of prison? I mean, we're international criminals who have committed at least five hundred crimes, yet you still helped us. Why?"

Kika walked over and sniffed at Gaia's body. The Grovyle recoiled and stepped back a little. "Strange…your scent is somewhat familiar. Have we met before?" he questioned.

Gaia hesitated. He remembered getting his ass kicked by those two a few weeks ago. If he told them who he really was, they might attack him and then abandon him. Explorers looking for him might come across him, and then they would take him back to Treasure Town. He had previously escaped from prison, attacked a member of the Rage Dragon Clan and was currently framed for destroying a section of a town. At the very least his powers would be sapped from him and he would be locked up for the rest of his life. At the very worst he would sentenced to death by lethal injection.

Knowing these facks, he came to a simple conclusion. He would have to lie. "No, I don't think we've met before. My name's Gaia, by the way." He said.

He stared at Nasuada, "What, so you guys aren't grateful for saving your asses?" he asked with a slight bitter tone.

Kika thought for a moment, "Well, I'm certainly grateful," he said with a smile, "You did save us from a cruel and horrible death. But I'm not sure if Nasuada is."

The Umbreon sighed. "It's not often that I admit this, but yes, I am grateful to you."

Gaia stared at them for a moment, and then sat down. "Fine. I'll tell you why I broke you guys out of prison. I need your help."

"Help eh?" Nasuada broke into a devilish grin, "What sort of help? Will you pay us if we do?"

"I need to get stronger." Gaia said.

This got Kika interest, "Stronger. What for?" he asked.

Suddenly, Gaia heard a rumbling sound behind him. He turned around to see several Shadow Pokemon emerging from the ground, their black and purple bodies visible in the moonlight. "Heh. It's him." A shadow Ninetales giggled, "He looks like our boss. But he isn't Zoroark. Let's kill him."

Gaia immediately flashed the real Spirit Sword into his hands. Nasuada and Kiak were shocked. "What the hell are they?" Nasuada said. The two of them got into fighting stances.

The Shadow Pokemon charged. Gaia activated Watefall and chopped the Shadow Ninetales's head off. It screamed in pain, despite having head, and collapsed into a pile of black dust. A Shadow Haunter flew towards Nasuada, its long tongue hanging out. She tore it apart with her claws. Gaia was surprised at how easily she won.

I really better get these guys on my side.

Kika fried a Shadow Cloyster with a Thunderbolt. It didn't completely K.O it, much to his annoyance, so he charged toward and slammed his tail into it. It died.

There was silence. Nasuada promptly broke it. "What the hell just happened?" she asked the black Grovyle.

"You're fond of using that word, are you?" Gaia replied, referring to the word 'hell'. He suddenly wondered if Nasuada swore a lot, "Yeah, it's kind of a long story. It's also one of the reasons why I need to get stronger." He sighed and sat down on the grass. The adrenaline rush from running around and fighting had worn off, and he was extremely tired. "Can we talk somewhere else? Preferably with a bed?"

"Fine. Let's go to Dark City. Kika and I live there." Nasuada said.

"Dark City?" Gaia repeated.

"You have a problem with that?"

The Grovyle shook his head. "No. Dark City it is."

DARK CITY

Gaia was standing in blackness. There was no ground, no sky and no light. He was slowly stepping back, disgusted and horrified of the person in front of him.

"Why Gaia?" Alice moaned, limping towards the Grovyle. Blood leaked out of the spots where he had fired the Ice Shards into. It fell to the ground, leaving a red trail behind the Gabite. Her skin was slowly peeling off her face, revealing bone and gristle underneath. "Why did you kill me? Why?"

"No…I didn't…" Gaia whispered, his eyes wide of fear. He wanted to run, but he couldn't. His feet were rooted to the spot. "I didn't want to…"

"I loved you Gaia. I loved you with all my heart And you killed me." Alice whispered, lumbering towards Gaia, her decaying arms outstretched, "You killed me. I hate you Gaia. I HATE YOU!" she screamed.

"No! Alice!" Gaia fell to his knees and tears started streaming down his face, "I didn't mean to kill you! I'm sorry Alice! I'm sorry!"

XXXXXXXX

The Grovyle's eyes snapped open and he bolted up in his bed, panting.

He was feeling hot and his hands were sweaty. "Alice…" he whispered.

Gaia cradled his head in his clammy hands and fought back a sob.

Dear Arceus, what had he done? An image of Alice lying on the prison floor, blood pouring out of her body and a dead look in her eyes flashed into his mind. He knew he had purposely aimed the Ice Shards at non vital spots. But he could tell himself that a million times and there would always be that horrible feeling that he had killed her.

"Alice," he whispered, even though he was well aware that she couldn't hear him, "I'm so sorry. Please be alive…"

He then remembered what happened yesterday. Nasuada and Kika had led him to Dark City. The frontier guards tried to block him for entering, but Nasuada gave them the order to 'Let the kid in or he'll chop you to bits'. Gaia guessed that Nausada was a powerful person in Dark City, since the guards had obeyed her without question. Then three of them had entered the criminal metropolis. Gaia recalled being astonished at the fact that hardly anybody was on the streets. Kika had told him that now was 'night' in Dark City and that everyone was sleeping, despite the whole place always seemed like it was night.

The three of them had headed towards Nasuada's skyscraper, where Gaia was given a room on the condition that he tells everything about the Shadow Pokemon to the Umbreon crime princess the next day. Kika's siblings asked questions about his purple black colored skin and his purple-black sword, but Kika told them to be quiet and not ask any questions.

According to a nearby clock, it was now three in the morning. Gaia got out of his bed and pulled away some nearby curtains. Through the window, he saw the scene of a city at night. Except it was clearly dawn, which only made it more confusing. Yellow and white lights were shining through other buildings, lighting up the streets. Looking down, Gaia saw one of Nasuada's guards beating up a random passerby. He wondered if he should go down and save the poor guy.

However, it wasn't his problem. Things like this always happened in Dark City, he reasoned. Besides, he had other things to do. Like getting stronger. He had to defeat Zoroark. If he didn't…well, the consequences were too horrible to think about. He shuddered at the thought of what that Shadow Pokemon was doing to his friends.

XXXXXXXX

SKLITCH!

Lord Flame, the Salamence leader of the Rage Dragon Clan, fell to the ground beside his king-sized bed, blood coming out of a enormous wound in his back. Zoroark, posing as Gaia, laughed evilly and tore the fake Spirit Sword out of the dead body. He then leaned down and removed a pendant with a fiery red stone from Lord Flame's neck. The fiery red stone was a Dragonstone and it was rumoured to contain magical powers.

"Finally… the Dragonstone is mine!" Zoroark grinned. He felt elated. The dead took in Lord Flame's eyes and the blood everywhere made his heart beat faster in a way that he liked. Then he heard footsteps. "Oh, crap."

Turning around, Zoroark ran and jumped out an open window. It was time to find somewhere to clean his sword, preferably a nearby stream. Good thing it could be hidden almost instantly.

He escaped just in time. Shelgon guards burst into the room two seconds after he left.

XXXXXXXX

It was now seven thirty. Gaia was eating breakfast with Nasuada and Kika in an extravagant dining room. The Grovyle didn't want to admit it, but the food was good. Kika had enthusiastically told him that it was world-class. Judging by the fact that the cooks started preparing a solid hour before the meal, he probably wasn't lying.

"So," Nasuada began after biting half a sausage and swallowing it whole, "Tell us about the Shadow Pokemon."

Gaia paused, holding a tea cup in mid air, "Are you sure the two of you will believe me?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" Kika chirped.

"Probably not," Nasuada deadpanned, "But tell us anyway."

"Fine." Gaia started a lengthy explanation about the Shadow Pokemon and the legend of the Spirit Sword. He told the two thieves everything about the adventures he and his friends had. Still, there wasn't much to talk about because one: He had only been on his adventure for about a month and two: He was terrible at giving lectures. To be fair though, no-one he knew (except for the teachers) was good at giving lectures.

"And that's the end," Gaia finished, "Any questions?"

"Your story is crap," Nasuada said harshly, "Get the fuck out of my building."

"So you don't believe me?"

"Of course not. It's like a terrible piece of fiction a fourteen year old kid would've written." Nausada said, blunt as a rock. Just then, a nearby phone on the wall rang. Kika picked it up.

"Hello? Yeah, it's me. What…are you serious? Crap, this is really bad." The Pikachu put the phone back down and faced his boss, "Nasuada, a bunch of black Pokemon have gathered at the base of the building and they're currently trying to force their way in. Apparently they're looking for someone named Gaia" he said grimly. His smile was gone and he was completely serious. He stared at the black Grovyle, "That's you, right?"

"Yeah." Gaia said. He formed the black Spirit Sword in his hand, "I'm going down to kill them. Where's the elevator?"

XXXXXXXX

After chopping and hacking around fifty Shadow Pokemon into black dust, Gaia faced Nasuada once again. "Do you believe me now?" he asked.

The Umbreon crime princess stared at the scene of destruction. Ash-like black dust was scattered on the dark streets, giving the impression that a miniature volcano had gone off. A black Grovyle was standing in front of her, cuts and bruises all over his body and black blood on his sword. There was only one conclusion that could be obtained from the scene. Everything Gaia was telling her was true. "Yes," she sighed, "I believe you." Then she mentally winced.

She, a notorious thief known for raiding Treasure Town at least once a month, was helping a hero to save the world for the good of everyone. It was totally unlike her.

What was the world coming to?

XXXXXXXX

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

Garrett angrily yanked open his front door and glared at his visitors, then stopped when he saw the purple stone necklaces hanging from their necks. "Good day," he said to the three members of the Rage Dragon Clan, trying to suppress the genetic rage, "What brings the three of you here?"

A female Dragonair decided to get straight to the point, "Lord Flame has just been murdered." She said.

Garrett was shocked. He certainly hadn't been expecting this. Lord Flame was one of the strongest Pokemon in Treasure Town, only second to Master Dusk. And now he was dead. It was enough to freak anyone out. "What? Lord Flame is dead?" he shouted, not realizing that he was doing it, "How?"

A Vibrava shook his head sadly, "We do not know. The police are working on the case right now." He took a deep breath. This would either turn out normally or badly, "Since Lord Flame is dead, our clan is lacking a leader."

Garrett nodded, "That makes sense."

"And after a lengthy selection process, the elders have chosen you to be the new leader." The Vibrava finished.

Silence. Garrett stared at the three messengers. The three messengers stared back, waiting for some sort of reaction. "Is…this…a joke?" The Garchomp managed to blurt out. "Because if it is I will murder you all."

"No, it is not." The messengers suddenly dropped to the ground and bowed, "Congratulations Lord Garrett, you are the new leader of the Rage Dragon Clan. And your daughter is now the princess of the clan." They said in unison, their tones perfectly neutral, "We are now your servants. What is your will?"

"I…what…" Garrett was at a loss for words, but he soon regained his composure, "Find my daughter Alice and tell her the news."

"Yes sir!" The three messengers instantly scattered away, heading towards the Team Enforcers base. Garrett sighed and leant against the doorframe. In the past, he would have told Alice news himself, instead of using other people. This new power needed some time to get used to.

XXXXXXXX

"This is for you." Kika slid the Spooky Plate across a tabletop. Nasuada, Gaia and he were in a conference room, discussing the current crisis. The Grovyle tapped the plate with his sword. Instantly he felt himself blacking out. He slumped in his set and his head lolled forwards.

"Uh, Gaia?" Kika asked, "Are you alright?"

As if on cue, Gaia's eyes snapped open and he sat back up. "I just learned a new move." He stated.

"You learned a new move? By touching that plate with your sword?" Nasuada asked skeptically.

"Yeah…I did that a couple of other times," he paused and appeared to remember something else, "I found out the location of the next dungeon." He eventually said.

"Really, where?" Kika said.

"I think the entrance of it was in some sort of bar and it was close to here."

Kika thought for a moment, "I think that's the Stinky Parrot." He grinned, "Some of my brothers and sisters go there. It's a pretty high-class place."

Nasuada got up. "Then let's go. We have to hurry."

XXXXXXXX

After standing in the elevator for five minutes and getting annoyed at the music there, they exited the building and headed towards the Stinky Parrot. Gaia noticed that the noise and violence stopped as soon as Nausada came out. Everybody gave the three of them a wide berth. The streets almost seemed like normal streets. The Umbreon seemed to have an almost royal status in Dark City. It made him wonder if Nasuada could be persuaded to use her power for good.

When they reached the Stinky Parrot, a large stone building with a plastic dead parrot billboard was its sign, Kika cried out, "Hey, what the hell is wrong with this place?"

There was an ominous black aura coming out from the sides of the front door. It seemed to drain all light away from the world, not that there was much in Dark City.

"Should we go in?" Kika asked nervously. None of his training had prepared him for a situation like this.

"We do." For some reason, Gaia couldn't feel any evilness (like the aura from the Shadow Pokemon) from this darkness. It was as if this darkness was actually good. But that was completely ridiculous. He walked over and pulled the steel door open. He saw darkness ahead of him and bravely entered. Nasuada went in next and Kika was last.

"LET'S DO THIS!" he shouted and then ran in.

The door slammed shut behind him, locking the three explorers inside the building.

XXXXXXXX

DISASTERSIDE

Gaia, Nasuada and Kika were standing in what seemed like to be the back of a bar. A Marshstomp was serving drinks to customers and there were several round tables placed in appropriate spots. Patrons sat on seats around them. A deactivated jukebox stood in a corner, looking as if it hadn't been used for several years.

All of which would have been perfectly normal had the whole place not been so freaky.

Neon light strips of all colours ran up all surfaces, illuminating the whole room. They were the only source of light. The walls and tables were as black as night.

"Okay, where are we?" Kika asked.

He was looking at the strange scenery around them. And he didn't like it one bit. The whole place seemed like something out of a nightmare. "Normal places don't have this much neon."

"I think…" Gaia quickly scanned the area before speaking, "We're in a bar. For a dungeon, this is a pretty weird one." He concluded.

"Ah…visitors. How wonderful." The Marshstomp bartender put down a dirty glass on his bench and turned to face the three explorers.

They recoiled back in shock.

The Marshstomp's eyes were completely white with dark rings around them, no pupils or anything else. A section of his face had cracks on it, like a dry clay doll. His hand was covered in a red liquid that looked suspiciously like blood. "We don't get many newcomers. Let me be the first to welcome you three to Disasterside. It's a wonderful place." He seemed completely unconcerned about the fact that three people had just appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey Pmotshsram!" a glassy-eyed Cacturne called out from where he was sitting. "Look, those little fires are burning again! I wonder what they'll become this time…" He was pointing to a slowly burning fire, which alternated between colours of the rainbow every now and then.

"I think…we'll be going now." Gaia stated, slowly backing towards the and Nasuada followed him. "Do you know where the guardian is?"

"Oh…you mean the king!" The Marshstomp grinned, showing his pale green teeth, "You can find him outside. But be careful. Unlike here, the people outside are reeealll weirdos."

Kika quickly opened the door and ran out. Nausada and Gaia followed suit. The Marshstomp's voice lingered behind them. "Don't stare at the moon, though. It's leaking."

XXXXXXXX

The three of them were standing in a street of the city. Like before, the outlines of every object were lit up by neon lights and the insides were colored black. Several Pokemon walked by, each deformed in one way of another.

"Ahhh…the moon's leaking again…" said a passing Clefable with three arms and blood red eyes.

Then his eyes began leaking as well, "Oh dear…my eyes are leaking too. Guess I'll have to find another one. Ahahaha!" He stared at Nasuada, "Lady, your eyes are leaking too. If you don't plug 'em up, they'll fall to the floor and rot…"

"I instantly regret leaving the bar." She muttered, "I think this is a good time to go to somewhere else. Quickly."

The three of them quickly walked down the street, careful not to maintain eye contact with any other pedestrians. As they rounded the corner, a creature blocked their path.

It was a bipedal reptilian creature, colored green with a cream underside. A yellow stripe ran down its tail and it also had yellow markings around its eyes. Yellow curved structures protruded from its shoulders and bent upwards, giving the appearance that it had a collar. Its tail had three leaves coming out of it.

"What is this?" Gaia asked. He formed the black Spirit Sword in his hands. The creature stared at him. "S…" it muttered.

"Huh?" Kika asked.

"N…"

"What?" Nasuada said.

"I…" the creature was still taking nonsense and hadn't moved. "V…"

Gaia lunged forward and chopped it in half.

He was surprised at how well it was defeated. The two halves of the creature fell to the floor, and then liquefied into a blue liquid.

"Let's get out of here." The black Grovyle muttered. The three of them stepped over the puddle of blue liquid and ventured on.

After traversing more of the streets, they came to a trash-filled dead end. There was a small, dirty door in front of them.

"Should we go in?" Kika asked.

Gaia looked behind them. He saw a crowd of angry Poliwraths approaching them, and they were making sounds like stereotypical zombies. Gaia gulped. "Let's." He pushed open the door and went in. Kika and Nasuada followed.

They emerged into something reminiscent of a nursery.

A Sceptile with an apron around her waist was gently rocking a cot. She looked up and faced the three explorers. "Hello there." She said calmly, unlike the erratic and strange tones the other residents of Disasterside used. "I haven't had much visitors lately. Would you like to see my child?"

"Sure…" Gaia walked over and peered into the cot.

There was nothing there.

"You know…" the female Sceptile suddenly whispered to Gaia, scaring the heck of the Grovyle, "You remind me of my husband and son. Could I rip your soul out to check?"

Gaia sprinted towards the door. Facing a horde of zombie Poliwraths would be better than this! He yanked open the door and he, Nasuada and Kika stepped out.

The street was gone and it was replaced by a balcony. They were on a two story building. A set of stairs ran down towards the ground floor.

"Wow," Nasuada commented, "Not even the scenery is face from this place's insanity." She looked down and saw that some Raticates were lumbering towards the building. "Guys, be prepared to fight." she warned.

They cautiously walked down the staircase. As soon as they reached ground level, the Raticates attacked. Nasuada opened her mouth and fired off a stream of Dark Pulses, hitting five enemies at once. They exploded into a mass of blood when hit. Kika let loose Thunderbolts, frying the other Raticates. They, too, exploded into masses of blood.

"Where exactly is this guardian?" Gaia asked, exasperated once everything had calmed down, "We've been going around in circles!"

Kika was looking somewhere else and seemed to not be paying attention, "It's just a hunch, but I think he's in that really tall building over there." He pointed his left paw towards the tallest skyscraper in the city. It looked a bit like Nasuada's skyscraper. "Should we go over there?"

"Yeah, let's…"

They continued walking down the streets. More Pokemon attacked them along the way. When they were defeated, they exploded into masses of blood, which was weird. Even weirder, the blood evaporated as soon as it touched the ground. One time, the moon leaked too much and drops of green liquid poured of it. They must have been made of a high reactive substabce because they blew up as soon as they connected with the ground.

Eventually, the three of them came across the entrance to a underground tunnel. A nearby sign said: 'Lennut'

"Lennut?" Kika asked skeptically.

"Don't worry about that." Nasuada said, walking down the steps.

The insides of the tunnel seemed like a museum, with many displays hidden behind glass walls.

The displays were either one of two things: sickly dead bodies with expressions of horror on them, or pale white skeletons covered in gristle and blood. It really was something out of a nightmare.

"Hey look…" a Chansey with a masculine voice said to Kika, "Look at those bones. They're my bones, your bones, our bones. Bones…bones…BONES!" He (or she) began laughing in an extremely creepy way. He (or she) sounded like a demented murdered about to kill someone.

Apparently her voice had some ultrasonic properties, because all of the glass cases shattered and the bodies and skeletons fell to the floor. Thankfully they didn't get up start attacking.

"Dear Arceus, let's get out of here." Gaia muttered. They continued on and went through a corridor. They entered a small shop.

"Hey kids!" an Exeggutor shopkeeper called out to Kika and Gaia, "Do you want some rat's eyeballs? Or maybe some frog livers? They're hot and tasty!"

"No thanks." Kika said politely. He was trying to put as much distance between him and the guy as possible. "C'mon Gaia, let's go." But the black Grovyle wasn't paying attention. He was staring at a continuously ringing phone.

"Gaiiiiiaaa…" Alice's moaning voice emitted from the phone, "Why did you kill me Gaia. Why did you? Didn't you love me?" She sounded rather distorted, as if she was underwater.

"No," Gaia whispered, backing away from the phone. This was like his nightmare all over again. "I didn't mean to…" he whispered, "I'm sorry!"

"Hell is so lonely without you." The phone said in a sad tone, "I thought we were friends? I've had enough…I'm coming to kill you." It suddenly switched to an angry tone, "Gaia, I'm going to kill you. Don't you understand? I hate you Gaia! I'm going to hunt you down! I'll find you, I swear! You will not escape me!"

"NO!" Gaia fell to his knees and trembled. Tears started flowing out of his eyes, "No no no no no no…" he muttered feverishly, "You can't be Alice, you can't be Alice…"

"Why didn't you hurt her?" Seth's angry voice came through the phone, "I thought you swore to take care of your friends. You're a bad person Gaia. A liar too! How the hell did you become my friend? Never come back to Treasure Town, because if I see you I will kill you!"

"Seth, I…" Gaia stretched his hand out, trying to touch the phone. Nausada quickly swatted it away.

"The voices coming from the phone are not your friends." She said coolly, "Just ignore them."

"You murdered my daughter, Gaia!" This time it was Garrett's voice, "The Rage Dragon Clan never forgives nor forgets. We are coming to slaughter you! We'll tear out of entrails and roast them over a fire! Do you hear me? Answer me Gaia!"

Kika and Nasuada quickly ushered the shell-shocked Grovyle out of the room and went into another one. This one was bare and had nothing except people in it. Deranged, deformed people.

"You…" a Granbull said, pointing his paw at Kika.

"Me?" the Pikachu asked.

"No, not you." Even though he said this, the Granbull continued to point at Kika, "I'm talking about you. Yes you. The one reading the hero's movements. You're pretty freaked out, aren't you?"

"Sir, what the hell are you talking about?" Kika asked.

"Shut the fuck up you minor character." The Granbull said.

"Hey!"

"Can I sharpen your head?" a Golduck holding a pencil sharpener asked Nasuada, "It'll only take a minute, trust me." Then the freaky stuff happened. The head of the Golduck suddenly split down the middle, yet it still was attached to the neck. One of its arms popped out of his sockets and fell to the ground. Purple colored faeces spewed out of its behind and a sweet scent filled the air. "C'mon, let me sharpen. Sharpen. Nep rahs. Npahers. Srehapn. SEAPRHN!

Nasuada, Kika and Gaia exited the room as fast as they could. They saw another staircase and climbed it fast.

They ran out of the tunnel and towards the tallest skyscraper in Disasterside.

"Well, we're finally here." Gaia commented when they reached the entrance. He was still a bit shaky after the encounter with the phone but had mostly recovered. Gathering up his courage, he pushed opened the door and stepped in.

Inside, an Absol stood in the middle of a large and empty room. There was nothing was a small smile on his face and a scar running down his left eye.

"So, you guys made it. Congratulations."

PSYCHOLOGICAL TORTURE

Gaia stared at the Absol in front of him. "Who are you?"

The Absol just grinned back, "My name is Disaster and as it suggests, I created Disasterside. I am also the guardian of this place"

"Wait, wait, wait." Nasuada gestured to the black and neon-colored room around them, "You created this city? You created all of those weird people?" she growled. She wasn't all that happy about being forced into a place close to a living nightmare.

"Well…sort of," Disaster replied, not dropping his smile, "I took the memories of all three of you, searched through them, found the worst ones and used my powers to create a city of illusions. Isn't that great?"

"You went through our memories?" Kika said, horrified, "You know exactly what we've done in the past?"

"Nah, I just went through all the bad ones. I'm not interested in the good ones."

Gaia formed the Spirit Sword in his hand and got into a fighting stance. "If you are a guardian, then I have to defeat you to get the plate, right? Let's do this."

Disaster stared at him for a second, then yawned. His smile dropped from his face, "Do we really have to fight?" he whined, "I did too much of that when I was alive."

"Well, unless you give the plate to me right now, I see no other choice," Gaia said.

"Tell you what," Disaster grinned, "I'll play a little game with you. If you win, I'll not only give you the plate, but I'll also give you something else that'll make you much stronger."

This got the Grovyle's interest, "Something that'll make me much stronger? He asked. Will it let me defeat Zoroark?" he asked.

"Sure, why not?"

Gaia stared at Disaster suspiciously, "This had better not be a trick."

"Hey, what do I have to lose?" Disaster grinned, "I'm already dead, I want to go to the afterlife and my job is to help people. Just trust me, okay?"

Gaia narrowed his eyes. That smile wasn't very reassuring. Disaster's words were even less reassuring. "Fine, I'll do it." He growled. He did not trust the Absol.

"Then let's go." All of a sudden, black tendrils sprouted from Disaster's body. They instantly grabbed Gaia and covered him completely from head to toe. The Grovyle didn't have any time to react. His sword dropped to the ground. Nasuada and Kika tried to help, but they found that their bodies had somehow been paralysed.

"What the fuck!" Nasuada shouted, "I can't move!" She strained herself, and was returned with a sharp jolt of pain.

"Sorry you two," Disaster taunted maliciously, "I can't let you guys interrupt the process." He then stared at the black tendrils covering Gaia.

"Sweet dreams, kid. And good luck."

XXXXXXXX

Gaia was standing in blackness. The only thing he could see was himself and the heavy darkness in front of him. It was like the dream he had yesterday. "Is this another dream?" he pondered to himself, "Or is this part of the game?"

"Gaia…" moaned a voice.

The Grovyle turned around, and then gasped in horror at what was in front of him.

A wooden cross was pinned to the ground, and Alice was hanging in front of it. Her limbs had been chopped off and her eyes had been gouged out. She seemed to be in total agony. "Gaia…" she rasped, "Help me…"

"Alice!" Gaia ran towards her, but suddenly stopped into a screeching halt by a mysterious force, "Dammit!" he growled, "Why can't I move?"

"Because I said so." A purple portal opened in the sky and Disaster jumped out of it. Gaia glared at him with pure murder in his eyes. "What the hell did you do to Alice?" he shouted.

"I cut her limbs off, gouged out her eyes and chained her to the cross." Disaster replied nonchalantly, as if he had been describing the weather.

"You…you bastard!" Gaia tried to attack, but the mysterious force was holding him back. "Let me go!" he roared, "I'll kill you!"

Disaster stared at the Grovyle with a emotionless look. His happy expression had long since faded, "Do you want heal her?"

Gaia stopped struggling, "What?"

"I said, do you want to heal her or not?"

"Of course!"

"Then you must sacrifice something in return." All of a sudden, Gaia felt himself kneel to the ground. Disaster walked over and stood in front of him. He seemed to be glaring at the young Grovyle. "I will now take your left arm. Is that okay?"

"My…left arm?" Gaia blurted out.

"Yes. Your left arm. Will you save Alice from her torment?"

Gaia closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then opened them. "Take my left arm."

There was a sickening ripping sound, and his left arm was torn away from his body. Blood trickled through the stump and dripped to the ground. Then his nerves reacted and sent pain signals through his entire body. It was agonizing. Gaia screamed and tears leaked from his eyes. But he saw that Alice's left arm was regenerating itself. It somehow dulled the pain a little.

Disaster spoke again, "I will now take your right arm. Without it, you will not be able to wield the Spirit Sword. Is that okay?"

Gaia stared at Alice. One of her arms had been restored, but it was clear that she was still in a lot of pain. "Gaia…" she whispered, "Please…"

He remembered throwing Ice Shards at her. He had been torn with guilt over his decision. And now this was his chance to make up.

"Take it." Gaia whispered, "I'll just fight without the sword."

There was another ripping sound, and his right arm was torn from his body. The pain was just was agonizing at the first time. Gaia couldn't help himself and screamed out again. He saw Alice's right arm started regenerating and this calmed him a little.

"Your arms are gone and Alice's have returned." Disaster said, "But you still have your legs. I will take them. Is that okay?"

"Help me Gaia…I'm begging you…" Alice whispered. Gaia stared at her, then said, "Take them."

He felt himself falling to the floor and blood rushing out of two open wounds below his pelvis. All of his limbs were gone and four stumps were the only things remaining. The pain was much worse than before. He roared in pain until he was hoarse. Alice's legs started regenerating. But there was still one more problem. She was blind.

"Gaia, you are nothing more than a dead corpse. You have gladly sacrificed your arms and legs. But only one thing remains: your eyes. Alice is blind. Will you give up your eyes?"

"Yes, I will." Gaia said without fear.

Disaster looked curiously at him, "Are you sure? You have already been crippled; losing your eyesight will worsen this. If you are going to lose your sight, at least tell me why."

"I promised to myself," Gaia gasped, "That I would always be there for her. Alice had an abusive stepmother and her father was drugged with Dream Dust for a long time. The only place that Alice would escape her loneliness was with us, the students of the academy. I was orphan, so I knew what being lonely felt like. Besides…" he took another breath, "I think I love her."

"You love her?" Disaster asked.

"Well, I think I do." Gaia whispered, as if he was afraid of speaking his thoughts, "Even thought I know she can take care of herself, I still want to protect her and keep her safe. Her smile gives me joy. I want to hug her and kiss her on the lips. If that is not love, then I don't know what is." He stared at Alice, chain to the cross, blood coming out of her eyes, "I would do anything for her. Take my eyes."

"Very well."

Two shrivelled hands appeared out of nowhere and reached into Gaia's eye sockets. With a squelch, they ripped his eyes out. Gaia was blind and in pain. He couldn't see Alice's right being restored, but somehow he knew it was happening.

"You have willingly sacrificed your body parts to help your teammate. You have endured pain, both physically and psychologically. You have shown courage exactly like your predecessor. Gaia, you have passed the test."

Gaia felt himself falling downwards. He could feel things growing from parts of his body and he noticed his sight returning. He opened his eyes and saw that he was lying face-up in the Disasterside room. Disaster was grinning at him.

"You have passed." He said as he watched the Grovyle get to his feet, "I have nothing else to say. Take the Dread Plate. It will allow you to learn Punishment."

Gaia stared at him, "You mean that wasn't Alice?"

"Nope. I just used her for a demonstration."

"You son of a—"

"Don't worry, the real Alice is still alive."

Black and white spheres gathered in the air and condensed. A pure black plate was formed and fell to the ground. Kika scampered over and picked it up.

"Take this too." Disaster concentrated and a swirl of purple energy focused in one spot of the room. It formed a dark purple crystal in the air, which Gaia took. "This is the power I was talking about. Smashing it will teach you Dark Rush, a powerful attack slightly weaker than Hyper Beam. But be careful, it will drain your mental energy." The Absol sighed. "Okay, I'm done here. Time to go to the afterlife."

Suddenly he remembered something, "One more thing!" he said, "After you kill Zoroark, go to Destonia okay?"

"Destonia?" Gaia asked curiously.

"Destonia…" Nasuada's eyes looked a bit misty, "That sounds familiar."

"Yeah. It's my old home. Some of the plates are over there. The remaining guardians are waiting for you." He sighed again, "I'm finally done. See you three in the afterlife."

A wave of black shadow consumed him and covered him fully. When it disappeared, he was gone.

XXXXXXXX

Back in the stone room, the statue of an Absol split in half, fell to the ground and shattered.

XXXXXXXX

After successfully leaving Disasterside and making their way back to Nasuada'a skyscraper, the three explorers crashed into bed and slept like the dead.

The next morning, Gaia climbed out of his bed and inspected the crystal. It was semi-transparent and he could see a swirling black cloud in the middle via the purple covering. "If I smash this, I will gain power." He muttered. He formed the Spirit Sword in his hand. He placed the purple crystal on a nearby table and brought it down. The sword pierced the crystal and shattered it. The swirling cloud of shadow was released and it coiled around Gaia's body. He could feel power rushing inside him. His eyes rolled back in his sockets and he started chanting gibberish. An image of a mysterious figure using Dark Rush appeared in his mind. He couldn't help himself.

He screamed. He had to release some of his excess energy. In fact, he didn't even know he was doing it. He collapsed to the floor, the energy swirling around him.

And then it stopped. The shadow cloud faded away. Gaia moaned and picked himself up. He had learned a new move, but he would need to practice.

XXXXXXXX

After breakfast, Nasuada took him down to an underground dojo. It was where her gang's members trained during their spare time.

"This is Master Skull." The Umbreon criminal princess pointed to a Marowak with a grey helmet, "He will train you."

Gaia stared at Master Skull, "You look like someone I know." He said.

"Who?"

"Sensei Bones."

"Oh, you mean my idiotic little brother?" Skull asked, "Tell me, how is he?"

Gaia gawped at Master Skull, "Sensei Bones is your brother?"

"Does it really matter? Right now we have to train. Nasuada has told me how you fight and I have seen a number of flaws. Let's begin…"

Gaia's training lasted for ten days. Skull taught him how to wield his sword with one hand. He had done this by tying Gaia's left hand behind his back and ruthlessly attacking afterwards. He even taught the young Grovyle how to fight with his left hand. He said that an arm could be broken during battle and using the other arm to fight was crucial.

Skull also trained Gaia in speed. Gaia didn't protest. He knew he needed the extra speed to defeat Zoroark. The training was hard, often having the young Grovyle get up in early times much like the ones set by Sensei Bones and Skull kept him on a strict diet, which was rather gruelling on Gaia's body.

He also taught Gaia a few other moves and strategies.

In the end though, Gaia grew stronger and was thankful for Master Skull for teaching him. He promised to pay him back one day.

"So, are you ready?" Nasuada asked.

"Yeah," Gaia replied, "Let's go to Treasure Town."

He was coming home.

XXXXXXXX

The sky was bright blue and full of clouds, unlike the one in Dark City. The sun was shining and the Flying-types were singing. Literally.

There was a huge parade that was going through the middle of Treasure Town, and it was celebrating the crowning of the new leader of the Rage Dragon Clan. There was a gigantic parade and some of the female members were skilfully executing dance moves that took at least two years to practice.

Still, one person wasn't happy about this. To more precise, she was bored. Alice was sitting in a Rapidash-drawn carriage with her father, and she was bored out of her mind.

She didn't want such a huge celebration. A party with her friends would've done just fine, but the elders had insisted on it. Given the fact that she did not want to anger them, Alice had reluctantly agreed.

She sighed. I wonder how my friends are doing.

In the middle of the humongous crowd, a black Grovyle took out a blue orb from his bag and pressed the button. A harmless red laser dot emitted from it and he swung it so that it was shining on another green Grovyle.

"Hey Gaia," Seth said, holding a can of lemonade and taking a slurp from it, "Do you think Alice is bored?"

"Probably." Zoroark replied.

"I kinda feel sorry for her," Seth continued, "You know how Alice is, right? She doesn't like drawing too much attention to herself. She was really pissed when she heard that she had to go through the parade." Then he noticed the red dot on the green Grovyle's back, "Wait, why is there a laser dot on your back?"

"What?"

The black Grovyle pressed down on a button on the side of the orb and there was a humongous white flash. He felt the molecules of his body teleporting elsewhere, which meant the orb had worked. The green Grovyle also felt the same sensation.

"What…what's happening to me?" Zoroark cried out.

The crowd was starting to panic. They could feel their bodies being flung away into different areas. But no-one could see anything due to the flash.

When the light cleared, Gaia and Zoroark were standing in the middle of a transparent ring barrier, with the crowd standing outside it. What Gaia had used was a Barrier Orb and it was used for one-on-one duels. Once the barrier was set up, it forced all unnecessary people out of the field by teleporting them. The barrier was impenetrable and couldn't be destroyed by any attacks. It would come down if one of the duellers died. Sound could still go through the barrier.

"We meet again," Gaia said. Meanwhile, people around them were whispering.

"Who is that?"

"Why is he black?"

"He looks dangerous. I hope that normal Grovyle is okay…"

Zoroark growled, "Why are you here? And what exactly have you done?"

Gaia stared at him, "Strange. Gaia came fourth in weapon training in his year level. How could he not know about a Barrier Orb?" he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Garrett gasped, "A Barrier Orb! Shit! This is really bad!" He called out to Zoroark, "Gaia! Be really careful! This guy wants to kill you!"

Gaia formed the Spirit Sword in his hand and got into a fighting stance, "Lord Garrett speaks the truth," he said, "I am here to exterminate you."

Zoroark grinned, "Fine with me. I was planning to kill you anyway!"

Gaia frowned, "Strange, that doesn't sound like anything Gaia would say."

"Shut up." Zoroark formed the fake Spirit Sword in his hands and got into a fighting stance, "Let's do this."

Gaia stared at him for a moment, then started to smirk, "I don't think Gaia holds his sword with one hand, don't you?" Sure enough, Zoroark had forgotten that he was supposed to hold his sword with two hands, not one, "You sure you really are Gaia?" Nasuada had told him to plant the seed of doubt beforehand. It was a trick she had used many times.

"Shut up! Why are we talking about this anyway? Let's just fight already!"

"Gaia!" Alice shouted from the audience, "You had better not lose this one. The fate of the world is riding on your shoulders!"

"Keep it down, will you?" Seth muttered next to her, "We're not supposed to tell others about Darkrai."

"Don't worry Princess Alice," the real Gaia said, "I don't plan to."

GAIA VS ZOROARK

When the residents of Treasure Town had come to watch the parade, they had expected to experience a lot of cheering, some music being played out by the clan bands, waving from Garrett and Alice and maybe a large festival stocked with things to do afterward.

They had not expected to see a black and a green Grovyle duking it out in a makeshift arena, trying to kill each other. Still, it was better than watching two idiotic stick-holding Vigoroths beat the crap out of each other.

The two Spirit swords struck each other and Gaia and Zoroark jumped back, glaring at their opponent the whole time.

"Give up," Zoroark said, pointing his fake Spirit Sword in Gaia's direction, "You cannot win."

"How about no?" Gaia replied.

They lunged at each other again. Their swords collided and clanged together. The two of them were trying to push their opponent back, but without success. They grunted and strained their muscles, but the two of them had roughly the same physical strength. Zoroark got his by killing lots of innocent people. Gaia just trained a lot.

The only difference was their tactics. Zoroark may have the ability to transform into other Pokemon and mimic their personalities right down to the tiniest drop, and he was one of the smarter Shadow Pokemon, but that exactly was his problem. He was a Shadow Pokemon and only had half the training Gaia had in his entire life. Shadow Pokemon won battles by gathering in large numbers and slaughtering anything that came into their path, not by carefully calculating things and swiftly executing plans.

In short, they were like the Soul Society affiliated, fight-happy Squad 11 from Bleach. They simply didn't think things through. The only exception was Darkrai, he wasn't even a real Shadow Pokemon. Zoroark had not anticipated that Gaia would return, but still he was rather glad to have an opportunity to kill something.

Gaia brought his fist back and slammed it into Zoroark's face. The green Grovyle was caught off guard, giving Gaia the perfect chance to slash him across the chest. Which he did.

Drips of blood flew into the air as Gaia's sword came downwards and carved into Zoroark's chest. The crowd gasped in horror. Alice growled and let loose a torrent of swear words that were definitely not appropriate for a clan princess and were also far too rude to put into this story.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" she yelled after she regained the ability to do non-offensive coherent speech, "THAT WAS DIRTY!" The crowd roared in approval. Too bad they couldn't actually do anything.

"You bastard..." Zoroark growled once he had gotten to his feet, "That was low! You cheater!"

Gaia just stared at him.

Flashback

Gaia was training with Master Skull in Dark City. The two of them were in a sword lock.

Master Skull brought his hand back and slammed his hardest punch into Gaia's cheek. It was enough to send the black Grovyle flying into a wall. Blood trickled down his mouth. "What the hell?" he gasped, enduring the pain, "How could you do that?"

"I did it because I wanted to." Master Skull said calmly.

"Isn't that against the rules?" Gaia said, getting to his feet.

"So?"

The Grovyle gasped, "Have you no honor?"

Master Skull rolled his eyes and looked bored, "Oh no, not this again. Honor this, honor that. You sound exactly like my younger brother." The Marowak walked over and stared deeply into Gaia's eyes, "Listen kid, you are not a weak, pathetic human. You are a Pokemon. You have powers. Your kind can drain life force and create green energy balls with your hand. You can charge your fist up with electricity and evade all attacks for a brief second. Use those powers."

Gaia stared at him in confusion, "You mean I should cheat in all my fights?"

"No," Master Dusk replied, "When you fight an equal opponent, fight him with all your honor. But when you get into a fight that you can't afford to lose, drop your honor and cheat."

XXXXXXXX

"You know," Gaia started, "I learned something from Dark City." He held him sword up and got into a sprinting stance, "In a fight, there is no honor. Forget rules. Forget fairness. In a real right," he roared, charging at Zoroark, "There is only winning!" Okay, that wasn't exactly what Master Skull had told him and he knew that, but it really sounded cool.

Zoroark hadn't expected the boy to be so fast. Apart learning how to cheat in Dark City, Gaia had also been trained in his speed. Zoroak blocked the blow and proceed to parry. Gaia stepped back a bit and focused. His black Spirit Sword glowed with sky blue energy. And then he shouted, "Aerial Ace!"

Before he knew it, a cut had appeared on Zoroark's shoulder. It seemed that it had apppeared out of nowhere. He turned his left to inspect it. Big mistake.

Gaia pushed his fist back, then punched his doppelganger right in the face, again. This punch had twice as much more force as the previous one and Zoroark was knocked back onto the ground.

"Argh!" he howled and leapt to his feet, "I'm done playing around! Time to kill you!"

Gaia responded by firing three Ice Shards from the tip of his sword. Zoroark shouted, "Mirror Coat!" and a white wall of light appeared in front of him. The Ice Shards were deflected back to their owner. Gaia formed a huge blob of shadowly energy on his sword and hurled. The Shadow Ball smashed through the Ice Shards and turned them into ice crystal. But it still kept on going. Zoroark prepared for another reflecting attack. "Mirr—"

Gaia suddenly appeared in front of him. "Punishment."

The tip of his sword glowed jet black and he brought it down on the white reflective barrier in front of him. The Punishment attack cut through the Mirror Coat like a hot knife cutting through a block of cheese. The barrier shattered like a pane of glass. There was even sound. Zoroark stared in shock. Alice, Seth and the crowd stared in horror. Gaia used this opportunity to slash Zoroark across the chest.

"Flare Blitz!"

Zoroark's sword grew to twice its size and was engulfed in fire. He swung it around, trying to hit his opponent. "Shit!" Gaia leaped back to dodge, but some of the swings still got him and he was cut and burned around the torso and the arms.

"Do you see now?" Zoroark crowed with a wide smile and he ran towards Gaia, "I am the hero and you are the villain! You cannot—"

"Waterfall!"

Gaia's sword was covered in water and he slammed it towards Zoroark. A blast of water sprayed everywhere and extinguished the flames. The force of the attack. also knocked Zoroark back a bit. He growled and pepared Aerial Ace. The trouble was that Gaia used his Aerial Ace the same time. The two attacks cancelled each other out.

Gaia lunged forward and stabbed Zoroark in the chest, then quickly withdrew. "Listen up," he said, "How about we finish this? I'm really getting bored."

"Finish this, eh? What do you have in mind?"

"This." Gaia tightly gripped his sword and focused with all his might. He had to get this one right. "Dark Rush." he muttered.

There was nothing for a few seconds, then shadow started pouring out of his body. It curled around him, forming a protective cocoon. Zoroark stepped back in shock. "What the..." he gasped. Never, in his time as a Shadow Pokemon, had he seen something like this. The darkness that surrounded Gaia was almost like his darkness, but it was pitch black instead of dark purple. It was a natural darkness, the one that appeared at night. It was the good darkness.

Ufortunately, the residents of Treasure Town didn't realize this, because they were all horrified.

"What the hell is that?" Seth shouted. He did not like the look of that. Everyone could feel the power radiating of Gaia. "Gaia! Be careful!"

"Go."

Gaia disappeared. He was standing a few feet away the first moment, and the next thing everyone knew a cut had appeared on Zoroark's side and Gaia was standing a few feet behind him. Then he disapperaed again. More cuts appeared on Zoroark's body and he screamed in agony. Dark Rush allowed Gaia to attack at a super high speed with maximum force, which was exactly what he was doing.

"I'm not done yet." Gaia disappeared, and then appeared above Zoroark's head, ready for a downwards thrust.

"Gotcha!" he shouted and executed his attack.

He missed, but his sword slammed into the ground and created a ring of black flames. Zoroark couldn't dodge them in time and they burned him, creating burns on his arms and chest.

"Too slow."

Gaia appeared above Zoroark again and slammed downwards. Another ring of black flames burst out of the ground and burned Zoroark.

"So long!"

Gaia slammed his sword into the ground for the third time. This time, a whole minefield of black flames went off, and Zoroark was thrown into the air. Gaia jumped up and slashed his sword, executing an aerial combo. How, Zoroark thought, as he fell to the ground. How did this kid get so strong? I should be way stronger than him! And yet, he wasn't.

"Pathetic!"

Gaia lunged forward and struck his opponent while his guard was down. He slashed and hacked into Zoroark, never stopping. Eventually he stabbed him in the chest, right through the lungs.

Blood flew everywhere.

"NO!" Alice screamed. Tears began to leak from her eyes. Then rage overtook her. She roared and towards the Barrier Orb wall. She shoved people out of her way and began to pound on the barrier with her bare fists. Then she realized that a Barrier Orb wall was unbreakable and dropped to her knees. She covered her hand with her face and began to sob. Her friend was gone. Killed by his own enemy. She had loved him too, more than just a friend. It was impossible not to after seven years of friendship. And now he was gone. He was never coming back.

Or so she thought.

Gaia pulled his sword out of Zoroark's body. "You lost," he said. The whole place was silent, save for Alice's sobs. They couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.

"You...how..." Amazingly, Zoroark was still alive. He could still move a bit. But he couldn't keep up his disguise. Dark purple rose off him, taking away the green Grovyle disguise and showing the black and red fox underneath. At the same time, the black skin on Gaia's face cracked and fell off, like a completed jigsaw puzzle being dropped from the top of a small house. They fell to the ground and collapsed into black dust. Gaia was back to normal, green skin and all.

Now the crowd was shocked. Alice stopped crying and looked up in wonder.

"How could you be so strong?" Zoroark shouted, "I copied your personality. I trained every day. I should've been stronger than you. How? Why?"

"You are not Gaia," Gaia said, "I am Gaia. And that's why I could defeat you. The hero always defeats the villain, right?"

Zoroark was getting desperate. He didn't want to die. So he chose a method of last resort, "Why don't you join us? You have dark powers. You could serve Lord Darkrai well!"

Gaia glared at Zoroark with ferocity roughly equal to a pissed Alice, "Don't get me wrong." he growled, "I don't hate the darkness. Darkness is part of a peaceful world, just as light is. Seth and Janua are both Dark-types, and I don't hate them. But what I do hate is too much darkness, and that's what you're kind is trying to do!"

"You bastard...you fucking kid. Darkrai will destroy you! He will hunt you down! He will make sure that you scream and cry before you die! He is merciless. He is evil. He is darkness itself!" Zoroark shouted.

"Then let him come." Gaia replied simply, "I'm gonna destroy him first!" He held his sword up high. "And as for you. I am going to kill you. You copied me. You decieved my friends. I'm pretty sure you murdered Lord Flame too. And you made Alice cry. All of those are unforgivable!" he suddenly roared. The crowd got the impression that Gaia was pissed, big time, "Especially the last one!"

He plunged his sword down into Zoroark's heart and killed him. All Shadow Pokemon turn into black dust when they die. Zoroark was no exception.

The barrier disappeared. But no-one moved. They were staring at the young Grovyle, holding a sword and partly covered in burns and wounds. Gaia stepped over the pile of black dust and made his way to his friends. Dear Arceus, he had missed them when he was away, even though he had only left for slightly under two weeks. He constantly had dreams about them, especially Alice.

Suddenly, blood rose up from his throat and he collapsed to the ground. His strength had left his body. It was due to the recoil from Dark Rush. All powerful attacks had a negative side of some sort.

He felt himself blacking out. Apparently the recoil did quite a number on in. Luckily he didn't feel himself dying.

Oh well, at least I won.

ROMANCE

"Urg…"

Gaia opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling. He was in a room, stuck in a hospital bed. It was becoming something of a weekly occurrence for him. Seven days ago he had been put in Nasuada's medic room because Master Skull had whacked him to the point where he was bleeding and unconscious.

He sat up in bed and looked around. The room had white walls, as always. The pillow and covers were also white. It was so familiar to him. He was glad to be back.

Swivelling his head around, his heart stopped for a moment when he saw a familiar someone resting in a nearby chair.

Alice was sitting there, eyes closed and her head leaning towards her right shoulder. She was asleep and looked uninjured. Peaceful, too. It was the first time Gaia had gotten a proper look at her in eleven days. The one where she had been glaring daggers at him when he fought Zoroark didn't count.

"Alice…" he whispered. Apparently his voice was loud enough to wake people up, which was exactly what Alice did.

"Gaia…" she said slowly, as if she couldn't believe her eyes, "You're awake!"

She ran over to his side, smiling the whole way, and gave him a hug. Gaia caught a bit of her smell and started to blush. It was one of the things he had missed the most.

"How have you been?" she said, "Did you miss me?"

"Yeah," Gaia replied, "I missed you."

Then he remembered he had done to her.

A memory of him firing Ice Shards into her body flashed into his mind. He remembered her falling to the ground, blood pouring out of her wounds and a dead look in her eyes.

He quickly pushed Alice off him and backed up to the wall. She scowled at him. "Hey, what's the big deal? I give you a hug and shove me away?" she growled, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"No…" Gaia muttered, staring into Alice's eyes, "I can't…I can't be your friend…"

"What?" Alice exclaimed, "You can't be friend? Why?"

Gaia averted his eyes. It was almost too painful to speak, "I hurt you…" he whispered.

Alice looked plain confused, "You hurt me? I don't remembered that." Then she realized something. "Wait, that black Grovyle, was it—"

"Why don't you hate me Alice?" Gaia choked out. Once again, tears were flowing from his eyes, "I hurt you. I fired Ice Shards into your body. I broke my promise. I'm not worthy to be your friend." He covered his face with his hands, "I failed as a team leader. You're supposed to hate me!" he nearly screamed.

Alice stared at him for a moment, and then slapped him on the cheek.

"Ow!" Gaia yelled, "What was that for?"

"Gaia, did fighting Zoroark make you stupid?" she asked, "I don't hate you. How could I hate you for everything you've done for me?" She stared right into the Grovyle's eyes. "You saved me from my pit of loneliness. You gave me friendship when no-one else was else was willing to. And I forgive you for firing Ice Shards into my body. I'm just glad that I could help you." She gave Gaia a warm smile. He stared at her for a moment, then reached forward and hugged her.

Unfortunately, Seth chose this moment to poke his head inside the room and see what was going on. "Hey Alice, how's—" Then he realized what he was seeing and grinned, "Woah. I guess I better give the two of you some privacy."

Gaia and Alice both heard him and pulled away from each other, blushing. "Hey Seth," Gaia said, desperately trying to change the subject, "How's it going?"

"Man, it sure is glad back to get the real you back." The Sableye grinned, "That Zoroark creep was a real asshole."

"You were deceived, like everyone else." Alice pointed out.

"He's still an asshole." Then he turned around and shouted into the corridor, "Hey everyone, Gaia is awake! Come in!"

There were sounds and vibrations like a small stampede, and a whole bunch of Pokemon rushed into the room, similar to the way they had did the last time Gaia landed in the Treasure Town hospital.

"You're awake!" Mitt exclaimed happily, "That's awesome!"

"What was attack?" Leala asked, her eyes sparkling in adoration, "It was so cool!"

Garrett, however, did something completely different. He rushed over to Gaia's bedside and grabbed the Grovyle by the throat. Gaia started to gag, making spluttering sounds every second; Needless to say, this shocked everyone.

"Father!" Alice cried, completely outraged, "What in the name of Arceus do you think you are doing?"

"Garrett, put down Gaia right this instant!" Riley shouted.

The Garchomp leader of the Rage Dragon Clan ignored everyone and glared at Gaia right in the eyes. "What class did Alice stop doing when she was eleven and for what reasons?" he asked harshly, as if he was severly and angrily interrogating someone, "Tell me!"

Gaia stared back at him, confused, before answering. It was hard to talk with someone gripping your neck. "She stopped taking flute classes to concentrate more on her training. Why?"

Garrett instantly let Gaia go. The Grovyle slumped down on the bed and started massaging his throat. "What was that for?" he asked.

"I apologize," Garrett replied calmly, act like nothing had happened, "But I needed to check that you really were Gaia. Zoroark could have planted another trap."

Alice huffed, annoyed, "Father, you could have told us from the start."

"I could have, but would have only served to ruin the purpose."

"So Gaia," Riley said, clapping his hands together, "May I have the permission to search through your memories?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I want to know what you have been doing for the past twelve days." And with a swift motion, Riley teleported over to Gaia's bed and placed his hand on the Grovyle's forehead. He didn't even have time to protest before his eyes closed and his head slumped forwards. At the same time, Riley's eyes also closed.

No-one spoke a single word, in case they disturbed Riley. Psychics needed total silence and maximum concentration for a tricky operation such as mind-searching. Luckily, Riley was an expert, but he still insisted on those conditions. That, and everyone was waiting in anticipation.

Five agonizing minutes later, Riley opened his eyes and lifted his palm off Gaia's forehead. "Interesting. Certainly very interesting." There was a grin on his face. "I think his time we sent Gaia home," he said to his wife, "He's fully healed."

"Yes, of course." Victoria motioned for Team Enforcers to leave. "Come on you three, you can't stay here forever."

"Sure." Gaia got out of the bed and made his way towards the door. He was looking forward to going to home. Not a giant skyscraper in the middle of Dark City, but a small two-storey house that suited him just fine.

"Hey Gaia, log on to Twatter and tell us about your adventures, okay?" Janua said, "We'll be waiting." Gaia nodded and smiled.

"Wait," Riley called out, "I would like to speak with Alice alone."

"And why would you want to do that?" Garrett asked. Riley went over to his friend and whispered into his ear. Slowly, but surely, a grin spread on the lord's face. "Okay, you have my permission." Garrett spoke to everyone, "Riley would like to speak to my daughter alone. In private." He put major emphasis on the last word, "I think you all know what that means."

Not wanting to piss the new leader of the Rage Dragon Clan off, everyone filed out of the hospital room.

"Oh, and one more thing," Riley said as Gaia was half-way through the door, "Be wary of the press."

"Pardon?" Gaia asked.

XXXXXXXX

One minute later, he found out exactly what Riley meant. The second he stepped out of the hospital doors, he was mobbed by photographers and news reporters.

"Who are you?"

"What's the deal with the sword?"

"Do you like waffles?"

The camera flashes were blinding Gaia and his head was starting to hurt. It was extremely annoying, especially after recovering from a major battle. "Arceusdammit!" he growled to Seth, "Is the first time they've done something like this?"

"Nah, they did it once you won." The Sableye replied nonchanlantly, "Don't worry. Everything will be fine in a second.

"How is that even remotely possible?" Gaia punched a rabid reporter in the face and sent her sprawling away. This proved to be a big mistake because the questions and the flashes increased in intensity. "Fuck!" he swore.

Then the hospital doors opened and Garrett stepped out. The crowd instantly quietened down. Gaia saw looks of fear on their faces.

"I thought I told you all to leave," Garrett stated, his voice utterly calm. There was no expression on his face.

"You did, Lord Garrett," a nearby photographer said carefully and nervously.

Fury spread across the Garchomp's face and his eyes suddenly screamed pure bloody murder. In other words, he was extremely angry and appeared to want to severely hurt someone. "Get. Out. NOW!" he roared.

The mass of photographers and reporters ran for their very lives. They left trails of dust behind them. Some people were crushed as the terrified crowd ran over them.

Gaia blinked. He turned around and stared at Garrett. "Sir, did you—"

"Yes."

XXXXXXXX

Half an hour later, Alice returned home. There was something strange about her. She seemed to be a bit nervous. Nevertheless, she still cooked dinner for three of them and listened carefully to Gaia's stories.

It was seven o'clock at night, Alice called Gaia to come into her room. The fact that Seth told him this made him a bit suspicious.

"Geez, I wonder what she wants," Gaia muttered to himself as he walked down the corridor to Alice's room. He knocked on the door twice, waiting for a few seconds, then entered.

"Hello Gaia," Alice said. She was sitting on her bed.

"Hey Alice," Gaia said, "What's up." He sat next to her.

She decided to get straight to the point. "Gaia, do you love me?" she asked.

Silence. Absolute silence. Gaia stared at Alice. A blush was growing on his face. Alice was already a bit red. "…what?" was all he managed to stutter.

"Do you love me, Gaia?" Alice repeated, "Do you? We were friends for a long time, but did you think of me than something other than a friend?"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Gaia said frantically, putting his hands up in the air, "How did we get to this? Why are you asking me?"

"When you were tortured by Disaster," Alice said, "You said that you thought you loved me. Is that true?" She leaned closer to Gaia, making him blush harder, "Tell me."

"Alice…I…" Gaia composed himself and took a deep breath. This was a big moment. He couldn't screw this up. Besides, why was he so scared. He had faced down worse opponents than Alice, "Alice, I won't deny that I have feelings for you." He said, looking at her straight in the eyes, "I want to protect you. I love it when you smile or hug me. And I want you to be with me forever. I truly don't know if that's love, but it seems close." He took another deep breath, "I really missed you in Dark City. I had dreams about you. Disaster tortured me with your image. It wasn't you, but it broke my heart to see you suffering."

"Is all of that true?" Alice asked calmly.

Gaia felt like he was going to die. "Yes."

"Good." She said softly. She leaned forward and kissed Gaia right on the lips. The Grovyle's eyes widened. Alice had her eyes closed and she was savouring the moment.

After what seemed like an eternity (it was actually five seconds), Alice pulled away and smiled softly at Gaia.

"Alice…you…" Gaia was at a loss for words.

"Gaia, I've always had feelings for you." Alice smiled, "And I'm glad I gathered up the courage to ask you. And I'm ecstatic that you have feelings for me to. I was so scared when you fell down after killing Zoroark." She leaned closer to him, "I realized that you might die anytime, so I don't want to wait. Could the two of us be more than friends, maybe in a more intimate relationship."

"Alice, I would love to!" Gaia grinned. He was so happy right now. This was the best thing that happened today.

"Good." The two of them kissed again. When they finished, Alice placed her hand on Gaia's heart. "You are my boyfriend and I am your girlfriend. May we be together forever."

They shared another passionate kiss.

"Oh, and there's one more thing," Alice said, "If you cheat on me I'll personally cut off your balls. Is that clear?"

Gaia laughed, "You really haven't changed."

INTERMISSION III

"Alice, Gaia thinks he loves you." Riley and Alice were standing in Gaia's hospital room, privately taking to each other. The Alakazam decided to get straight to the point.

"W-what?" Alice stuttered. She was blushing heavily. She certainly had not been expecting this, "Gaia...loves me? How do you know that?"

"I searched through his memories. During his absence," Riley started to explain, "He travelled to Dark City and encountered a guardian Absol. It used illusion to torture him. In the torture, he saw you, tied to crucifix and limbs chopped off. It was a living nightmare for him."

Alice was horrified. She had no idea that Gaia had been through such terrors. Now she felt even more ashamed for glaring at him during the battle with Zoroark.

"To escape the nightmare, Gaia had to sacrifice his limbs and eyes to you." Riley continued, "He willingly did it. He said he would do anything for you, no matter what the cost. And that's when he said that he thought he loved you."

"Gaia...you..." Alice was at a loss for words. She felt moved by what she had heard. Without realizing it, a tear rolled down her cheek. "Thank you..." she whispered. She made her way to the door.

"What are you going to do now?" Riley asked.

"I am going to kiss him." Alice said calmly, as if she had been talking about an everyday task.

XXXXXXXX

Alice smiled as she fondly recalled what had happened yesterday. "Gaia…" she whispered dreamily.

She was lying in her bed, fully awake with two layers of blankets covering her body and her head lying on a soft white pillow. It was hard to believe that Gaia was her boyfriend now. Not a 'boy friend', as she had put it to deny any sort of romantic relationship between them, but a true boyfriend, one that you could kiss and get kissed back.

What was even more surprising was that she acknowledged all of her past denials as totally idiotic. It seemed so silly right now. Well, there was always time to turn over a new leaf.

Climbing out of bed, she headed downstairs for breakfast. She spotted Gaia in the kitchen, pouring some cold milk from a carton into a glass.

"Good morning Alice," Gaia said as he heard her enter the room.

"Good morning Gaia," Alice said. She walked over to him and planted a small kiss on her cheek. Good thing the Grovyle already had finished pouring his milk, because otherwise he would've dropped the carton.

"Alice, you—" Gaia began.

She smiled sweetly at him, "Did you like that? Isn't that what boyfriends and girlfriends do to each other?" She touched a finger to her lips, "Would you like me to do that again?"

Gaia blushed a little. "Well, could I do that to you?"

"Sure." Alice leaned forward so he could kiss her on the cheek. Except Gaia kissed her on the lips instead of on the cheek. Alice's eyes widened, but she quickly relaxed and savored the kiss. It sent a rush of pleasure into both their bodies and Alice felt slightly aroused. Gaia felt about sticking his tongue into his girlfriend's mouth, but decided against it on the ground that Alice might punch him in the face for violating her. The whole scene would have been perfect if Seth didn't enter the kitchen right at this moment.

"Morning Gaia, morning Alice—" he started, but abruptly stopped once he realized that two of his best friends were making out with each other. He dropped any other thoughts he was thinking and stared in shock. "Holy son of bitch!" he shouted, pointing a trembling finger at the two of them. "You two are kissing!"

Gaia and Alice instantly broke apart and the both of them started blushing heavily. "Seth," Gaia began, embarrassed, "I know what this looks like but there's a perfectly good reason behind it..."

"Look," Seth interrupted, "I'm okay with the two of you making out with each other and I'm really happy for the new relationship, but could you please not do it in a semi-public place, like the kitchen?"

"Sure." Gaia and Alice tried to conceal their blushes and started (or continued, in Gaia's case) to prepare breakfast. Seth went over to help.

"So, are the two of you boyfriend and girlfriend?" Seth asked once the team sat down at the wooden table to eat.

"Yes, we are." Alice openly admitted, which surprised Seth because he thought she would instantly go into denial.

"You're not going to deny it or anything?" Seth said.

"Nope."

The Sableye turned to his Grovyle friend. "Gaia, does Lord Garrett you have been kissing his daughter?" he asked. Gaia froze in mid-bite. He remembered the Garchomp beating him into near submission during the Fighting Academy graduation exam. Except if Lord Garrett decided to fight him a second time, he probably wouldn't hold back.

"…shit." The Gaia remembered that he had the Spirit Sword and could fire Ice Shards. The only problem was if he fatally wounded Alice's father, she—without a doubt—get extremely angry, chop his dick off and finally break up with him. Then there would be the whole Rage Dragon Clan to deal with. By the time they would finish, he probably wouldn't be alive.

"Don't worry; I'm sure my father will understand," Alice said, trying to encourage her semi-terrified boyfriend, "He can be understanding when he needs to."

"Which is nowhere as near as we would like," Seth muttered under his breath. Alice smiled sweetly at him and held up a sharp knife that was used to cut sausages. "What was that Seth?" she asked calmly, "What did you just say."

The Sableye paled. "Nothing, nothing." He hurriedly tried to change the subject, "So, when did this relationship started and everything."

"Last night." Gaia answered, and then took a gulp of his milk, draining the entire glass.

"Oh, so that's what the two of you were doing. I though you guys were talking and stuff."

Gaia stared at weirdly, "Why would be talking?"

"Isn't that what you guys used to do?"

The Grovyle thought for a moment, "Huh, yeah, you're actually right."

Seth finished the last of his toast and stood up, "Well, I'm off to my room to post your new relationship status on Twatter. See ya." He was stopped by Alice's voice.

"Seth, would you like me to beat you up in an extremely painful way?" Alice asked in a voice that was as sweet as honey, not dropping her smile the entire time, "Or shall I burn you some third-degrees burns? I have a boyfriend now, so I could sic him on you." Gaia sweatdropped as he heard the last one.

Once again, the two boys were reminded of how scary Alice could be. Especially when she was mad. A normal person would be fooled by her sweet and kind façade and think that nothing was wrong. Seth and Gaia had been around her for seven years to know that she was lying. So much for calming down after finding a boyfriend.

XXXXXXXX

Shortly after breakfast, Alice left to find her father. At ten o'clock in the morning, she returned.

"Gaia," she said, "My father wants to see you."

The Grovyle started to sweat and promptly gulped. Seth consolingly patted him on the back, "Don't worry, I'm sure it will be alright."

"Shut up."

XXXXXXXX

"Sit down."

Lord Garrett and Gaia were alone in the Garchomp's dining room. Even though he had become the leader of a powerful clan, Garrett still lived in his old house. But he had ordered some additions and some of parts of the estate were being renovated.

Not wanting to anger his girlfriend's father, Gaia sat down. Garrett did the same. A Bagon servant came in and placed down two cups of hot jasmine tea, and then silently left. Garrett took a small sip. Gaia didn't touch his drink.

"Since you have the desire to court my daughter, does that mean you love her?" Garrett suddenly asked. Gaia was expecting this and knew he had to phrase his words carefully.

"You should know that I detest liars. It would be best for you to answer truthfully." Garrett continued.

"I honestly do not know whether or not I truly love Alice, but I do care for her and have strong feelings for her." Gaia responded.

"Since you cannot you say you love her does that mean you don't love her?" Garrett asked calmly.

"I never said that!"

"Then do you love her?"

"No! I mean…maybe…sort of, kinda…"

"Do you wish to marry her?"

"WHAT?"

"Shall I repeat the question?" Gaia stared at the clan leader in front of him. Just how in the name of Arceus did this conversation come here? He thought. He took a deep breath. "I have not given any serious thought to anyone becoming my wife, but I'm sure that Alice would be excellent wife."

"Since you do not consider her for your wife, does that mean you have only engaged with my daughter in a relationship to use her for sex?" Garrett questioned. There was absolutely no emotion on his face. He was perfectly calm.

"What? Are you saying I only want to take advantage of Alice?"

"Are you? Some of the clan members act this way."

Suddenly, Gaia was angry. He was furious. How dare this Garchomp suggest something like that to him! He didn't care if he was the leader of a prestigious clan, no-one was going to slander his relationship with Alice! "Don't compare to those dickheads!" he growled, "Alice is the most amazing and beautiful I've ever seen and I would never treat her as a tool!"

"Interesting." Garrett mused, "No-one has ever stood up and shouted at me, nor has anyone sworn at me."

He was correct. Gaia realized what he was doing and quickly sat down. "I apologize Lord Garrett." He said formally.

Garrett chuckled, "No, no, it's okay. You have my permission to court Alice." He took another sip of his tea, "Have I ever told you remind me of one of my best friends?"

"No sir."

"Do you know of Terra?"

Gaia consulted his memory banks for a second, "He was that Sceptile who was famous around these parts, right?"

"Indeed. We used to be on the same team, just like you and Alice are in the same team." Garrett took his third sip of tea. Now his cup was half-empty. "But one day he took a trip to Destonia and never came back," he said somberly, "It was rather saddening."

"Destonia…" Gaia suddenly remembered something, "Sir, I have to go and prepare for our trip. May I leave now?"

"Be my guest. And don't forget to tell Alice I said yes."

XXXXXXXX

"So did he say yes?" Alice asked.

"He did." Gaia said.

Alice hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "Great!" she grinned and let go on her boyfriend. "Now let's go on our date." She said, grabbing Gaia's arm.

"Wait, you never said anything about a date." Gaia said.

"Well, I have now, so let's go!" Alice started dragging him towards the front door. Seth spotted them and couldn't help smirking.

"But—"

"Come on!" She dragged Gaia out of the front door and closed it behind them.

Seth shook his head, "Man, he is so whipped."

XXXXXXXXX

Since the boat to Destonia took five days to arrive at Treasure Town, that meant there was nearly a whole week for Team Enforcers to rest and relax.

Still, a couple of incidents happened in the five days. They were incidents Gaia wished would never happen.

Day 2

Gaia had just walked out from the front door when an unknown assailant jumped out of nowhere and started beating him up.

"Fuck you Gaia!" Shia screamed as she repeatedly slammed attacks into his body, "This is all your fault. All your fault!"

"Ow, stop it!" Gaia threw Shia off himself, "What the hell did I do?"

"You made Leala cry!" The Glaceon shouted, "Ever since she heard that news that you kissed Alice Leala's been sobbing non-stop!" Then she stormed off, muttering angry swear words under her breath.

Gaia was frozen on the spot. Judging by what Shia had told him, Leala had had a crush on him for quite a while. And now he had broken her heart. Leala was just a friend to him, but he still couldn't help feeling horrible.

He sighed. Maybe there was someone that could help him. Taking out his mobile phone from his small bag, he dialed Alex's number.

XXXXXXXX

Day 3

Gaia entered the conference room. Lord Garrett had called him here for mysterious reasons. And now he was about to find out.

He saw Garrett, Alice and a Salamence and a Shelgon that he didn't recognize sitting down on chairs. Gaia took a seat.

"Is this that filthy commoner that dares to soil the lips of the fair maiden Alice?" the Shelgon said. A vein instantly twitched on Gaia's forehead, "What did you just call me?" he growled, "Shall we take this outside?"

"Very well." The two of them stood up and headed outside. Alice turned to her father, "Father, is this such a good idea?" she asked.

"Maybe not, but it is more exciting than talking."

Once in the outside battlefield, Gaia and the Shelgon got into fighting stances.

"I am Prince Escalus of the proud Mira Dragon Clan!" The Shelgon proclaimed, "Once I beat you, Alice will realize how strong I am and will want to marry me."

"Maybe in some other planet your plan works," Gaia said, "But the thing is, this is Earth." He summoned the Spirit Sword into his hand. "Let's start. I'm going to teach you what we students of the academy call 'Destiny Red'!"

Alice remembered what Destiny Red meant and suddenly felt sorry from the Shelgon prince, even if he had just insulted her boyfriend a few minutes ago. Escalus was screwed.

Two minutes later, Escalue was lying face-down on the ground, Ice Shards embedded in non-vital spots of his body. He had also been cut in five different places. Needless to say, he had lost.

The reason? Destiny Red roughly translated to: 'Keep spamming super-effective attacks until your opponent faints'. Which was exactly what Gaia had done.

Day 4

"Man, this is such a perfect day." Seth said, lying on the couch watching TV with his friends, "Nothing could go wrong."

As soon as those word escaped from his lips, something exploded outside and Gaia could sense the presence of darkness. He glared at Seth. So did Alice.

"Did I do something wrong?" Seth asked, as if had nothing had happened.

Gaia formed the Spirit Sword in his hands, "Kinda. I'm going out. See you guys later." He ran out of the front door, ready to exterminate the Shadow Pokemon. It was so annoying. Especially with the mystery movie nearly ending and all.

Day 6

Five days had passed, and the boat to Destonia had finally arrived. After saying goodbye to their friends and families, Gaia, Seth and Alice boarded the cruise steamer.

"So, it begins." Gaia stated.

"What begins?" Seth asked.

"Another adventure."

The cruise signaled that it was leaving, and moved along into the open sea.

WELCOME TO DESTONIA

Since it took five days for the cruise ship to travel to Destonia from Treasure Town, Team Enforcers had that much time to relax. All three members were relieved that they didn't have to traverse more dungeons, fight the evil forces of darkness and beat up guardians who weren't truly alive. They were grateful for Lord Garrett for paying for the tickets.

During their stay, a couple of things happened that went straight on Seth's MyUniverse page.

Day 1, 1400 hours

The cruise ship had a game room, full of arcade and video game machines. Of course, Seth being himself, went straight there after lunch.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Gaia wandered in and spotted his friends. The Sableye was sitting on the carpeted floor, facing a plasma screen TV. He was holding a purple controller in his friends. He seemed extremely interested in the game.

"Hey Seth," Gaia said, sitting down next to his friend, "What are you playing?"

"Pokeymone." Seth replied, temporarily pausing his game by pressing the START button.

"Pokeymone? I think I saw posters of it in Kecleon Mall." The Grovyle mused, "What's the game about?"

"It's about a human boy named Crimson who goes on a adventure to become the best Tamer in the world. His goal is to defeat all nine Dojo Masters and the Ultimate Five," Seth explained, "He catches Pokeymones in Capsule Spheres and goes up against the evil Squad Spaceship."

Gaia thought over the explanation, silently forming his opinion of the game. "That…sounds kinda lame." He eventually responded. The whole thing sounded like a bad and clichéd RPG that would take forever to finish.

Seth gave him a look of annoyance, "Hey, don't say that," he said, "It's pretty good."

"Whatever," The Grovyle got off the floor and started heading towards the exit. "We have a meeting at five o'clock. See you then.

Day 1, 1700 hours

Seth knocked on the oak door to Alice's room. When no-one answered, he knocked again. "Hello? Gaia? Alice? You guys in there?"

There was silence. Since there no other option, Seth decided to break the door down by force. But to his surprise, it was unlocked.

He walked inside and saw Gaia and Alice sitting on her bed, passionately kissing each other. They were in completely bliss and seemed completely unaware of the world outside. Seth gawked and his jaw dropped. A strangled sound came out of his throat. Alice suddenly noticed his presence and broke away from the kiss.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" she roared, "GET OUT!"

Seth was shocked speechless, "But…but…" he stuttered. Could you really blame the guy for acting like that? He entered the room, prepared for a meeting but what he got instead was his two best friends making out with each other.

"GET OUT!" Alice roared again. Seth didn't need any more encouragement and ran out of the room as quickly as he could. This whole incident was going to take quite a lot of video game time to wash away.

"You know, wasn't there something important we were supposed to do?" Gaia asked.

"What could be more important than kissing me?" Alice said, placing her lips on her boyfriend's mouth.

Day 2, 0900 hours

It was nine in the morning and it was raining outside, making the seas choppy.

Gaia was meditating on the floor of his room. There was reason for doing it: he needed to increase his mental strength. After extensive research and analysis, Riley concluded that Gaia's Dark Rush attack consumed mental energy instead of physical energy. Since the Grovyle was more of a close-range fighter, he didn't have as much mental strength as Seth or Riley. So he was meditating to increase that.

Suddenly, a particularly large wave lifted up the boat. A couple of seconds later, it abruptly dropped the boat. More than a few people on-board were sick. Several threw up. Gaia was thrown across his room and smacked his head on a wall. He groaned it pain.

The boat straightened itself and Gaia picked himself off the floor. "Great." He muttered angrily to himself, "My concentration was broken. Now I have to start all over again!"

Day 3, 1700 hours

Gaia had been meditating for the entire day. It was an important task for saving the world. However, his friends didn't see it that way.

His door to his room was rudely thrown open. Gaia knew exactly who had just come in.

"Seth, what are you doing?" he asked, opening his right eye, "That's the third time you've barged in today."

"C'mon Gaia!" Seth whined, "You can't just meditate in your room all day! You need to have some fun! Why do you think we even got on his cruise?"

"Uh, maybe to go to Destonia?" Gaia half-sarcastically said, "Seth, I'm the wielder of the Spirit Sword. I have to save the world! I need to get stronger! No way is that Zoroark ever going to happen again."

"Okay, you have a point there but still!" Seth desperately tried to convince his friend to get off the floor, "You need to relax!"

"Seth, I'm going to stop meditating and that's final." Gaia said in a determined tone. He closed his eyes and tried to focus again.

"Really, now?" a familiar voice said.

Gaia once again opened his eyes and saw his girlfriend enter his room, "Alice? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I am here to convince you to have fun." Alice seriously replied without any form of emotion on his face.

"And how are you going to do that?"

"By this." She swooped down and kissed Gaia right on the lips. The Grovyle's eyes widened. Then he relaxed, enjoying his girlfriend's embrace and scent. Suddenly, Alice poked her tongue into Gaia's mouth, effectively giving him a French kiss. Gaia blushed fiercely and felt a rush of pleasure inside of him. Alice concentrated on savouring the kiss and tasting the inside of Gaia's mouth.

Seth thought the whole thing was hilarious and yet disgusting at the same time. Eventually Alice broke away from the kiss and smiled. "Now will you have fun with us? If you say yes, I might give you more kisses."

Gaia considered it for a moment, "Okay then," he grinned.

Day 4 1300 hours

"How's things going with Janua?"

That sentence was spoken by Gaia, who was talking to Seth while lying on chairs on the deck. Somehow their conversation had started from the latest exploring tools to their relationships with other people. Alice was taking a nap in her room, resting after lunch.

"Pretty good," Seth replied, "She's a cute girl." He blushed lightly.

"Have you kissed her?" Gaia asked.

"Like you and Alice? No."

"I think you should." Gaia said.

"Why?" Seth asked, "I'm not in a rush or anything."

"Ever heard about the story of the Leafeon Princess?"

"That old children story?" Seth laughed, "What does it have to do with anything?" He thought for a moment, "How does it go again? I forgot?"

"Well, once there was this Leafeon Princess…" Gaia began.

"I think I already knew that." Seth interrupted, "It's in the title, you know. Just give me an abridged version."

"Fine. The princess fell in love with this hero, but the hero was banished to another world before she could tell him about her love. In the end, she was heartbroken and killed herself. End of story." Gaia deadpanned.

"So the moral of the story is to confess your love in case something runs out." The Sableye guessed, "Am I right?"

"Pretty much."

"Interesting." Seth mulled over the story and his current relationship for a little. Maybe he would kiss Janua when he got back.

XXXXXXXX

Day 5, 1100 hours

"We are arriving at Castle Town Port of Destonia," the captain's voice blared over the ship's announcement system, "Please take all your luggage with you."

Pokemon luggage was not like human luggage. The severe lack of clothes made the whole thing much lighter. Gaia, Seth and Alice hadn't brought any heavy personal belongings, such as laptops or books. In fact, the only things they brought with them were a bag of money and their explorer kits.

Five minutes later, the three of them were standing on the land section of the port. "So, this is Destonia eh?" Alice said. It looked similar to the Treasure Town port. "Looks a bit like home," She silently wondered if there were any great clans here.

Gaia took out a piece of paper from his exploring bag and unfurled. It was a map of Destonia he had purchased on board the ship. "Let's see. The main city in the middle, we are on the east side, the royal palace is on the north side…got it." He shoved the map back into the bag. "So, who's up for a bit of sightseeing?" he smiled.

"Sightseeing?" Seth repeated, "What for? I thought you'd want to search for plates and stuff."

"Well, I want to gather some information about Destonia," Gaia said seriously, "If we want to search for plates, then we need to know about the area." He grinned, "Besides, who says we can't enjoy ourselves?"

They set off for the main city. It was a long walk, but the three of them were used to travelling long distances and appreciated the exercise. Along the way, several Pokemon tried to offer their goods and services to them. It was to be expected; Team Enforcers' reeked of new tourist smell. But thanks to Alice's growls and physical strength, they managed to scare most of the hagglers away.

At around one o'clock in the afternoon, they arrived at Castle Town. To be honest, it was a bit of misnomer. Castle Town was more of a metropolis.

Seth's stomach rumbled, "When are we going to have lunch?" he moaned, "I'm hungry."

"You already ate all those snacks on the boat," Alice said, "Why do you need to eat again?"

"I dunno. Hey Gaia, did you buy a tourist map?"

The Grovyle paused. "Uh, no. I forgot."

"What! How are we going to find a good diner now?"

"Seth, we're in the middle of a city. A good diner isn't going to be too hard to find."

XXXXXXXX

Miles away, a thirty-something year old Espeon wearing a silver tiara on her head stared out of a palace window. Her name was Queen Elizabeth of Destonia. Her daughter was Princess Elisa the Eevee. Her husband, King Mugetsu, had died due to tuberculosis.

Queen Elizabeth sighed heavily. She was exhausted from an after-lunch council meeting. The fact that there was a strange presence in the air didn't help. She had sensed it half-way through the meeting and couldn't concentrate. It was seriously bugging her.

BOOM.

The queen gasped as she heard an explosion outside. "What was that?" she said. More explosions occurred. At that same moment, a guard burst into the room.

"Queen Elizabeth! Dark creatures have gathered in the castle grounds!" he shouted, "They have overpowered the guards and killed them. We need your help!"

"Very well," Elizabeth said, "Let's go." Whatever these creatures were, the guards would need her assistance. She wasn't one of the strongest Pokemon in Destonia for nothing.

XXXXXXXXX

"Oh man, why now?"

Gaia, Seth and Alice ran towards the royal palace. They had heard the multiple explosions. Seth had groaned. Alice had growled. Gaia had said nothing. All of them were pretty annoyed. No-one wanted to abandon their meal to fight a bunch of creatures.

As they approached the gate, they saw two Shadow Larvitars burst out of the ground and chew on the heads of two Quilava guards. Gaia formed the Spirit Sword in his hand and fired Ice Shards the Larvitars. They burst into piles of black dust. Unfortunately, the guards were unconscious.

Gaia ran into the palace grounds. Shadow Pokemon were pouring out of dark spheres on the ground, and they were attacking anybody who were coming near them.

At the same time, Queen Elizabeth burst out of the palace front doors. "What is this?" she gasped. The Shadow Pokemon were unlike anything she had seen. Then her shock turned into anger. How dare these creatures hurt her people? She was getting really pissed off. It was time to attack.

Then the Shadow Pokemon saw Gaia. "Hey look, it's the wielder of the Spirit Sword." One of them said.

The queen reeled back a bit in shock. The Spirit Sword? The Legendary Spirit Sword that was rumoured to be crafted from Arceus's blood and had the power of light? Legend said that it once resided in Destonia, but was transported to another place. She remembered enjoying the story as a young child. She surveyed Gaia. Did this child really hold the Spirit Sword? It was unbelievable.

"Yeah, that's me." Gaia said. He got into a fighting stance, "I have absolutely no idea why you Shadow Pokemon are attacking this castle, but you guys are vermin and I am the exterminator. It's time to die!"

The second crystal

"Everyone, we are going to kill the kid," a Shadow Ponyta said. Apparently he was the leader, "Full power." They charged forward, screaming obscene battle cries.

"Over our dead bodies!" Gaia shouted. He lunged forward and cut a Shadow Lombre in half, then swung his sword and sliced into a Raticate, spraying black and purple blood everywhere.

Alice tipped her head back and let loose a powerful stream of fire, burning up a wave of Grass-typed Shadow Pokemon. Then she charged her claws up with blue and red energy and started tearing into the survivors. They shattered into black dust when hit.

Seth took out a small red berry from his items pouch and chew it, letting the juice saturate tongue. What he had eaten was a Liechi berry and it multiplied the user's physical strength by one and a half times. "Let's do this." He growled. Ghost power formed around his claws.

A random Shadow Pokemon jumped forwards at him. Seth tore its bowels open with his claws. A Shadow Oddish charged from behind. Seth heard it coming and swung around, Fire-punching it in the face and knocking it unconscious.

Queen Elizabeth watched the battle from the sidelines. She was impressed by the strength of Team Enforcers. They were certainly stronger than the rookie guards the captains had placed at the entrance. She planned to have a proper talk with them once this was over.

Well, it seemed like she wouldn't need to do any fighting today.

"RAAAAARRGHH!" a not-too-bright Shadow Growlithe lunged at her.

Okay, maybe she would. Elizabeth opened her mouth and fired a Psybeam, cutting the Shadow Pokemon in half. She was surprised to see it collapse into black dust. What are these things? She wondered.

"Yah!" Gaia jumped up and slammed his sword downwards, chopping a Shadow Arbok in half. He focused and charged his sword up on fire, extending it to twice its length. Then he swung it around, hacking into nearby enemies. Embers scattered from the tip of the sword and burned parts of his torso.

"Dammit! There are too many of them!" Alice shouted, tearing into the face of a Shadow Grovyle and wincing a bit, "What do we do?"

"Alice, I know you're not even tired." Seth said, firing a Power Gem at a Shadow Fearow.

"It's still annoying." A Shadow Vileplume was unlucky enough to receive the end of her Flamethrower.

"Screw this, I'm taking them all out at once." Gaia focused his energy into his blade. Pitch black energy started swirling around his body.

"Oh crap, I think we should get out of here." Seth and Alice ditched their opponents to a safe distance. They did not want to get caught in the crossfire.

Seven days ago, Gaia had demonstrated his Dark Rush attack to his friends. The receivers were a few trees. When he had finished, the only things remaining were some wood shards and piles of ashes.

"DARK RUSH!" Gaia lunged forward in a linear pattern at a powerful speed, slicing into Shadow Pokemon that were in front of him. He pivoted on his left foot and lunged forward again, cutting into more enemies. He did that six times before disappearing and suddenly re-appearing in the air.

"Gotcha!" He slammed his sword to the ground, forming a ring of black and white flames around him. They instantly incinerated any Shadow Pokemon that were unlucky to get burned.

"Take this!" He appeared in the air again and slammed downwards, creating a larger ring of black flames around him.

"It's over!" He slammed to the ground for the third time, creating a whole minefield of black flames everywhere. All of the remaining Shadow Pokemon were destroyed.

Blood spurted out of his mouth and he had to lean of his sword for support, but Gaia did not fall unconscious. I'm not going down. I'm not going down! Those meditation sessions had helped after all.

There was silence. Everyone was staring at the panting Grovyle in wonder. They had every right to. None of them had seen a single teenager with a sword slaughter a punch of shadowy Pokemon.

"Child…" Queen Elizabeth spoke, "What is your name?"

"My name is Gaia." The Grovyle gasped, blood dribbling out of his mouth as he spoke, "And my friends are Seth and Alice."

"I see." The queen turned to her guards. "Take the three of them into the castle and give them medical attention."

"Yes your Majesty!" Two guards ran over to Gaia and started carrying him to the front entrance of the palace, stretcher style. The Spirit Sword faded away. Seth and Alice decided to make their own way to castle. They weren't heavily injured like Gaia.

Gaia's brain decided that it was too tired right now and shut itself down for rest.

XXXXXXXX

When he came to, he was no longer in the castle grounds. He was lying in the middle of the familiar stone platform floating in space.

He heard footsteps. An Ampharos with an annoyed look on its face peered down at him. "You've finally awoken," it said. Its voice had a feminine tone, which obviously meant that it was female, "About time. Do you know how long I was waiting? Seriously, your predecessor wasn't this awful." She sighed heavily, "Okay, down to business. I am the guardian of the Zap plate and my temple is in the depths of Storm Valley. So hurry up and get over there so I can kick your stupid green butt!"

The stone platform suddenly broke in half and Gaia felt himself falling into the darkness.

He woke up with a jolt. "Another dream…" he whispered. At least this one wasn't as horrific the ones he had before and after exploring Disasterside. Then he realized where he was.

Where was he? He was lying in a king-sized bed with luxurious sky-blue pillows and white silk blankets. There was a leather rest chair in the middle of room. Directly on the wall before it was a small plasma T.V. To put it simply, he was in a room that was extremely similar to a five-star hotel room.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in." Gaia said. Maybe it was one of his friends.

But it wasn't Seth or Alice. It was a Blissey he didn't recognize. "You're awake." She said formally, "Queen Elizabeth wants to see you."

"Queen Elizabeth, huh." Gaia mused, "Wait, was that the Espeon?"

"Yes."

Oh, crap. He thought. He had forgotten to bow to the queen when the two of them first met. That was a sign of great disrespect. Granted, at that time he had just defeated a horde of Shadow Pokemon and was coughing up blood, but he was still rather afraid.

XXXXXXXX

The Blissey maid led Gaia down hallways and towards the entrance of a conference room. "Her Majesty is waiting for you." She said, "Go on in."

Gaia took a deep breath and pushed open the oak door. Queen Elizabeth, Seth and Alice were sitting around a round table. Seth and Alice were relieved to see Gaia awake and well. They both smiled.

"You're awake." Queen Elizabeth stated. Gaia instantly dropped to one knee and bowed. "Your Majesty," he quickly said, "I am truly sorry for—"

Queen Elizabeth cut him off, "There is no need to refer me with that title. Just call me Queen Elizabeth" she said. "You saved my palace from an army of Shadow Pokemon. It's the very least I can repay you."

Gaia slowly nodded, mentally accepting his reward. Then he considered a part of what the queen had said, "Wait Queen Elizabeth, how do you know about the Shadow Pokemon?"

The Espeon gestured to Seth and Alice, "Your friends told me everything. Although, it did take some persuasion."

"Is this true?" Gaia asked his friends.

Alice pointed to Seth, "He somehow thought that Queen Elizabeth was an evil queen related to the evil king from one thousand years ago and refused to give her any information." She replied, all in one breath.

The Sableye's face turned red. "Hey, I was just checking!" he protested.

"That's it," Gaia said sternly, "No more bad fanfiction for you."

"May I see the Spirit Sword?" Queen Elizabeth politely asked, abruptly ending the little conversation Team Enforcers were having.

"Sure." Gaia held his hand out and concentrated. The Spirit Sword formed in his hand and he placed it on the table. Queen Espea got out of her seat and came around for a closer look.

"Interesting," she said, "So if I touch this, I will get shocked?"

"Yes, Queen Elizabeth."

"Very well." Queen Elizabeth got out of her seat and started walking towards the door, "The three of you, come with me. I have something I want to show you all."

XXXXXXXX

Most residents of Treasure Town were familiar with the various types of jewels. Now Gaia, Seth and Alice were currently seeing masses of them. Rubies and sapphires. Emeralds and Amethysts. Diamonds and Pearls. The three explorers, along with Queen Elizabeth, were standing in the treasure room of the royal palace. They were staring at wonder at the priceless jewels, all hidden behind glass cases.

"Woah, are these all of the Royal Family's jewels?" Seth exclaimed.

"Yes, they are. Impressive, aren't they?" Queen Elizabeth said with a hint of pride in her voice.

The Rage Dragon Clan wasn't heavy on jewels, but nevertheless Alice was impressed. She fingered the purple stone necklace around her neck. It seemed so insignificant right now.

Then she mentally slapped herself. What was she thinking? This was her deceased mother's necklace! It was her most precious treasure. Alice felt ashamed for dishonouring her mother's memory, even it was for a few seconds.

Queen Elizabeth led Team Enforcers towards a small glass case further down the room. There was a blue crystal with something like liquid swirling inside. Gaia's attention was instantly captured by the crystal.

"Gaia, you have encountered similar to this crystal, have you?" the queen asked.

"Yes, I have." The Grovyle replied, "But it was black, instead of blue."

"This crystal has been passed down in the Royal Family of Destonia for generations." Queen Elizabeth explained, "It is supposed to be given to the wielder of the Spirit Sword when he or she appears." She lifted the glass case up using psychokinesis and took the blue crystal out. "Gaia, this is yours now. Please accept it."

"Thank you." Gaia said as he received the crystal. He formed the Spirit Sword in his hand and placed the crystal on the floor. "I'm sorry I have to do this." He brought his sword up, and then slammed it down directly on the crystal.

At first, there was silence. Then a swirling spiral of blue energy appeared out of the crystal shards and wrapped itself around Gaia. He couldn't help screaming. It tended to happen when pure energy coursed inside someone's body.

Seth and Alice stepped back in shock. Queen Elizabeth looked a bit surprised. An image of a mysterious figure levitating in the air and firing water spheres from its sword appeared inside Gaia's mind.

Then the energy spiral disappeared and Gaia clutched his chest, panting heavily.

"Gaia, are you alright?" Alice asked, concerned.

"I learned it." He gasped.

"Learned what?"

"Hydro Blast. It's a new move. And somehow, I feel stronger." Gaia gazed out a nearby window. "We're leaving for Storm Valley tomorrow." He suddenly said.

"Wait, where?" Seth asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys." Gaia said, "I found out where the Zap Plate is. It's in the depths of Storm Valley."

"Wow! How did you find that?"

"Long story."

"We have time."

XXXXXXXX

That night, Gaia trained in a nearby forest. When he had finished, there was a number of small craters in front of him.

I did it! He thought, But…it's still far from perfect. I just hope I'm ready for the challenge tomorrow.

XXXXXXXX

"You guys ready for this?" The three of them were standing at the entrance to a large cave. A faded sign in front of it read 'Lightning Temple'.

"Yes." Alice said.

"All systems go!" Seth cheerfully grinned.

"Then let's do this!" The three of them ran into the cave, ready to conquer the dungeon.

The lightning caves

Gaia, Seth and Alice entered the small cave entrance and emerged into a room lit by a dim bub. There was a single metal chest in the middle of the room.

"Huh, modern technology. That's a first." Seth said.

Steel columns rose from the ground behind them, blocking the way out. "Well, here we go again." Gaia sighed. He formed the Spirit Sword in his right hand, "Where shall we start."

Alice was kneeling down and closely examining the metal chest. Looking carefully, she could see a few blue sparks jumping off it. Obviously this was a trap. She reckoned that once she opened the chest, electricity would pour out of it and zap her at full force.

However, she was a Ground type in conjunction to being a Dragon type and therefore would be immune to any electric attacks. Most electricians in Treasure Town were Ground-types.

She grabbed the lid and yanked it open. Sure enough, a wave of electricity blasted out of the inside and hit her in the face. Gaia and Seth didn't react much. Alice would be fine, which she was.

"Pathetic," she said, before noticing something lying at the bottom. It was a metal key. By the looks of it, it had been in the chest for quite some time. It wasn't rusted.

"What have you got there?" Seth asked, coming over to her.

"A metal key," she stated, holding it up, "It'll come in handy." She slipped it into her bag and stood up.

"Alice, I think it's best if you carry all metal objects from now on." Gaia said , "There's no telling what we'll come across."

"Sure, okay." They continued on. Opening the chest had made part of the stone wall opposite rise up, showing a room with a pool of water in it. A metal rod connected to a wire hanging on the ceiling was placed in the cool liquid.

"Well, that's certainly creative." Seth muttered, staring at the water. Sparks were jumping out of it and there was a salty smell in the air, "Electrified water, with salt added to give it more conductivity."

"Alice, can you swim?" Gaia asked.

"Of course I can." She rolled her eyes. "Who can't in this team?"

"Great. Can you swim over to the other side and pull that lever?" Sure enough, a lever was placed on the wall on the opposite side. Alice nodded. "Okay."

But before she jumped into the water, she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her boyfriend's lips. Gaia stepped back in surprise, blushing. Seth started to gag.

"Could you two not do that in here?" he asked, displaying a look of minor disgust, "We're on a mission here!"

"What if I die and never get to kiss Gaia again?" Alice grinned cheekily.

"Hey, don't say that." Gaia said, hurt. The thought of losing one of his best friend that was also his girlfriend was too frightening to think about. More emphasis was added because Gaia was an orphan and had no real family. Seth, Alice and his other friends were as closest as he got, "I would never want you to die. Please tell me you're joking"

"Of course I'm joking." Alice said, cupping Gaia's head in her hand, "I don't want to die. Because if I did, I would lose you."

In the background, Seth was still gagging. "So…much…romantic tension!" he choked, "Must….avoid…"

"Oh, shut your mouth." Alice turned around to growl him. "I'm going in." She leapt into the water, making a splash. Gaia and Seth jumped back, avoiding the electrified water. Alice began swimming towards the other side, using powerful strokes to propel herself forward.

She climbed out on the rocky bank, water dripping off her scales. Then she walked over to the rusty lever and pulled it downwards.

There was a rumbling sound, and series of rock platform rose from the depth of the pool towards the surface.

"After you." Seth said, gesturing to the square columns of rock. He and Gaia jumped from platform to platform until they were on the other side.

They entered a room full of Electric-type Pokemon. More steel bars rose from behind them and prevented escape.

"Let's do this." Gaia said. He got into a fighting stance. Seth and Alice did the same.

The Electric Pokemon swarmed forward, shooting off lightning attacks, both the fast and deadly types. Alice focused and a wall of sand appeared in front of her, blocking the electric attacks. Gaia burst through the wall of sand and cut through a nearby Flaffy. It groaned in agony, before dissipating in sphere of light. Seth fired gem-shaped beams from the crystals embedded in his stomach and from his mouth. Alice motioned for the sand to curl around the enemies, binding them before slamming her claws into them.

The Electric Pokemon faded into light. Nothing happened after that.

"Okay, now what?" Alice asked, annoyed. Usually a door, sealed by metal bars, would open. But not this time.

As soon as she finished her sentence, the floor below them imploded and it fell inwards. Team Enforcers was dropped down a bit. They could see sand below.

"Oh great." Gaia mumbled, the wind rippling against his lips. He and his teammates got into the proper landing stance. If they got this wrong, they would either be killed, or at the very least receive a broken arm or a fractured leg.

WHUMP!

They landed on the soft sand, completely unharmed. Unfortunately they landed face-first. Gaia pulled himself out and spat sand from his mouth. "Is everyone alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Alice said, sitting up. She was trying to rub sand off her face.

"Me too." Seth replied. He was standing up and dusting himself off.

"Right." Gaia looked around and saw a locked door. "Alice, do you still have the key?"

"Yes." She inserted the key into the lock and unlocked the door instantly. However, the key broke in half.

XXX

The three of them were standing on a piece of rubber in a metal room. The sound of electricity was everywhere. Generators were placed at random points, their dials and displays whirring and clicking.

"Well, this is certainly unexpected." Gaia stated. The insides of power plant weren't common things seen in the depths of a cave.

"So, what do we do?" Seth said. He had already analysed the room. He was the team technician, after all. "The floor in front of is electrified. We are standing on rubber, which protects us from the electricity. The door is at the other end and another mat of rubber is in front of it." He glanced at Alice, "Alice is invulnerable to electricity and could open the door for us."

"So, what are the options?" Alice asked.

"You could just ditch us here and go on alone."

"Hell no. I'm not leaving any of you guys here."

"Second option: you piggyback us to the door." Alice stared at him. So did Gaia.

"Seth, are you serious?" the Grovyle gasped, "Don't you know how wrong that sounds?"

"What, just because you're her girlfriend?" the Sableye chuckled. Gaia turned red and tried to control his blushes, "Look, it's either we stay down here for eternity, dying in the process or we get on Alice's back and move on."

"Fine, I'll do it." Alice said suddenly. She got into a crouching position, "As wrong as this sounds, both of you get on my back."

Gaia had no choice but to comply. Seth got on top of Gaia once he was on Alice. Her legs buckled a bit from the weight and she could feel the strain coming on.

"Alice, will you be alright?" Gaia asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." She replied, "Let's go." She walked across the metal floor, agonizing step by agonizing step. Gaia made sure to jerk his tail upwards. Alice started sweating and her knees buckled even more. But she couldn't let go. Letting go would give her teammates the gift of a painful death.

When she reached the other rubber mat, she dumped Gaia and Seth on it, before collapsing backwards, panting heavily.

"Thanks, Alice." Seth said. He grinned at Gaia, "Okay, you two. Please don't try that in the bedroom. Especially when I'm around. It'll probably be bad for your health."

Gaia and Alice gave Seth fierce glares. "Shut up!" they both said simultaneously.

XXX

Tick tick tick…

As soon as Team Enforcers walked into the next room, a sound that was suspiciously similar to a countdown timer began to start.

They spotted a bomb tied to the floor. It consisted of five sticks of dynamite with a small timer. According to the readings, in about three minutes the whole thing would explode.

"Run!" Gaia shouted, and took off down the long hallway. His teammates didn't need any encouragement. They ran for their lives. The constant ticking of the bomb reminded them.

Crossbows appeared from the walls and shot electrified bolts at them. One barely missed Seth's head. Blasts of lightning shot down from metal circles and tried to strike them. To make things worse, giant shuriken appeared out of nowhere and tried to slice them in half. Worse of all, more shuriken were hidden in the shadows of the other shruiken. The three of them had to time their jumps correctly.

As soon they ran through the door, the bomb went off and rocks fell down behind them, blocking the door (again).

They looked up and saw three blasts of lightning coming down from the ceiling. Alice was unharmed. Gaia and Seth weren't. They howled in agony, electricity coursing through their bodies.

There was the sound of malevolent laughter, and an Ampharos appeared in a flash of light. She was grinning at their pain.

"Man, that was fun!" she laughed evilly, "I love setting traps and watching the victims' pain. It makes me feel high!"

"Who the hell are you?" Alice shouted angrily. She was pissed how the trap had electrocuted her boyfriend and one of her best friends.

"My name is Katherine and I am the guardian of the Zap Plate!" the Ampharos said, "Instead of boring you all with a monologue, let's get to it. I can't wait to hear your screams of pain!"

Omake

"Wait, say that again." Princess Leafia was conversing with Yuxai in the underground base of the Destonia Resistance. In these troubled times, Leafia did not need to be referred by her title. She didn't like it anyway. "Did you really kiss Marly?"

She had grown up quite a bit in three years. Ever since she escaped from the mines, she wasn't as shy anymore.

The Froslass blushed a bit. "Yes." she said, "I have kissed what used to be the most obnoxious and annoying man in the castle. And somehow I am still attracted to him."

Leafia gave a squeal of delight. "Finally!" she shouted happily, "Us girls were waiting for you to do that! Although it was inevitable, given the fact that he was near fatally injured and you weren't."

"Wait, you guys were?" Yuxai asked, confused.

"Yes! Some of us even placed bets!"

"I see." Note to self. Track down those people and beat the everloving crap out of them. "What do you think about the new arrivals?" Yuxai said.

Leafia blushed a bit. "You mean the young guard and his friends?" She liked him. Probably in more than just a friend. Three years ago, she had been extremely shy and no-one would talk to her. Except for the young guard. He had been her bodyguard and had broken almost a hundred rules in the process (which involved talking to the princess). She had been so happy when he offered for the two of them to be friends.

"Yes."

"I like Aurelis. I think he's cute."

"Myde is an idiot. Arsen is even worse. Yang reminds me of myself." Yuxai said flatly.

"You're harsh, aren't you?"

"Princess, I tell the truth."

The sadistic mercenary

"Hehehe…"

Katherine the Ampharos giggled sadistically at Team Enforcers. Finally, a decent fight. She hadn't had one for at least a millennium. Guardians weren't supposed to fight each other (not that it stopped a particular Tyranitar). The familiar bloodthirsty mercenary feeling rose up inside her.

Lifting her hands up into the air and charged electricity in them, she screamed out, "Let's do this!" Before any of her opponents could react, she slammed her hands to the ground and a wave of electricity surged forward, knocking Gaia and Seth off their feet. Alice wasn't affected at all.

The Rage Dragon clan princess was angered by the fact that her teammates had just got injured. She was even more pissed off by the smirk Katherine was given her. "You bitch!" Alice roared and charged forward. Her right claw glowed with red and blue energy.

Katherine barked out a short laugh ("Now that's more like it!") before jumping above Alice and promptly drop-kicking her on the head.

Pinned to the rocky floor, Alice growled before forcefully pushing herself up and flipping Katherine off. Gaia lunged forward and tried to stab the Ampharos with his sword. She jumped back at the last minute, but the tip of the Spirit Sword just grazed her on the chest and a tiny drop blood dripped out of a small wound.

Katherine stared at the wound for a second before giving Gaia a wide, insane smile. "This is going to be fun!" she laughed in ecstasy, "I'm glad I signed up to be a guardian!"

She opened her mouth wide and fired a powerful stream of electricity at Gaia. Alice ran forward and used her body as a shield. As a Ground-type, she was not affected by the electricity. But the constant light was blinding her and she had to squint.

"Go!" That was all the encouragement the two boys needed. Seth dived down into the shadows and burst out behind Katherine, then slashed her in the back. This made her stop firing electricity and turn around. Gaia used this moment to strike her with a Waterfall, sending her barrelling towards a wall.

Katherine skilfully jumped off the wall toward Seth and screamed, "Thunderpunch!" Seth blocked it with his own Fire Punch. Unfortunately for him, since Katherine used an Electric-type move, she gained what was known as 'same-type attack bonus' or STAB for short. This increased the power of her Thunderpunch by 50%.

So it wasn't much of a surprise when Katherine overpowered Seth and knocked him back. But Alice used Katherine's diverted focus to create a Sand Tomb and bind her body.

"Oh fuck." For some reason, Katherine was still grinning, "I'm trapped. Still, I don't think you can control sand as well as Sabaku."

"You're finished." Gaia's Spirit Sword coated itself in fire and it grew to twice its size. He then started hacking at Katherine. Alice let her sand down to allow maximum damage.

The Ampharos was sent skidding along the rocky floor, wounds and burns all over her body. But she picked herself up and got into a fighting stance.

"You're still up?" Gaia asked. He was starting to feel a bit worried. Flare Blitz was his most powerful attack (sword-wise) and Katherine had just survived it. This meant that she had extremely high stamina, or was used to being pummelled around.

"Hah…hah…" Katherine gasped, "That was a strong attack. But it was nothing. When I was alive, I was a professional mercenary. I survived stronger attacks than that one." An insane smile grew on her face.

A mercenary? That explained it. In old times, warring kingdoms would hire soldiers to fight for them. Battles were extremely dangerous, due to the high amount of chaos and fighting, and mercenaries needed to be tough to survive.

"Now it's my turn!" Katherine suddenly disappeared. Half a second later, she crashed down on top of Gaia. Electricity coursed through his body and he was painfully thrown to the left.

Katherine gave the Grovyle no time to react. She repeated the same process three times. When she was finished, Gaia was lying on the ground feet very, very painful. Getting curb-stomped by Lord Garrett during the academy graduation matches was much less painful than this.

Damn it... he thought, I hope I wouldn't need to use it. But it looks I'll have to use Hydro Blast.

Seth ran over to his teammate and began to heal his wounds. Alice went over and supported her boyfriend up.

"Gaia, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said. Alice let him go, "I'm going to end this now."

"And how to you plan to do that?" Katherine asked. She had been watching the small scene. The thought of Gaia ending the fight now made her excited. She felt all tingly inside, "Show me!"

"Fine."

Gaia gripped his sword with two hands and concentrated. A blue aura surrounded him and he started levitating slightly. "Hydro Blast!"

He pointed his sword at Katherine and large globules of water formed in front of it. They rushed to the guardian at the speed of a train. Katherine was slammed backwards into a corner. She could feel her bones breaking. More water sphere smashed her and she actually could hear the walls cracking. Through her dizzy vision, she saw a few small craters where the water globules had missed.

She knew that the fight was over. The power of the Water Crystal was too much for her to withstand. The previous wielder had used the power of an Ice Crystal on her, and she couldn't move her arms or legs for days after he had finished.

"Stop!" she cried out, "I surrender." The blue aura around Gaia faded away and he collapsed onto the ground. That last attack had sapped him of a lot of energy.

Katherine slowly picked herself up and took a few steps towards Gaia and his friends. "You are strong. Take the Zap Plate."

A series of yellow sparks clustered together and formed a bright yellow stone slab. Gaia walked over and picked it up. Katherine's body started to fade.

"I lived in battle and I died in battle. A fitting end…" She disappeared in yellow sparkles.

But Gaia hadn't seen or heard any of this because he was face down on the ground, unconscious with plate in hand. Using Hydro Blast had taken a large toll on him. Maybe if he hadn't been struck with lightning blasts, he wouldn't be taking an impromptu nap by now.

XXX

Back in the stone room, the statue of an Ampharos cracked in half and fell to the ground.

"Thank Arceus for that," a Tyranitar grumbled, "That bitch is finally dead."

A Mawille slowly turned around and glared at him with pure and utter murder in her eyes. The other guardians tensed and could feel a fight coming on. "What did you just say?" she said in a deadly tone, "Say it to my face."

Sensing that a violent brawl was about to break out, Princess Leafia tried to calm the two of them down, "Please Mary and Tyrannus, don't—"

"That foolish, unbehaved bitch is probably sitting in the Distortion World right now," Tyrannus continued, not noticing the insane amounts of killer intent that were being projected from Mary, "Serves her right, anyway."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW!" The completely enraged Mawille launched herself at Tyrannus and began to beat the everloving crap out of the ex-noble. It would have been funny weren't for the fact that the two of them had done this over three-hundred times in the past one-thousand years.

XXX

Gaia was standing in the stone platform in the middle of space. A Lucario was right in front of him, grinning widely.

"Hi!" the Lucario said cheerfully.

"Who are you?" Gaia asked.

"I'm the guardian of the Fist Plate! Can you come to the summit of Mt. Destiny? I really want to fight the person who beat Ms. Katherine."

The platform cracked suddenly and Gaia fell down into the blackness.

"See ya!" the Lucario's cheerful voice rang.

XXX

When Gaia regained consciousness, his eyes were still shut. He felt someone caressing his cheek and had an inkling who was doing it. Opening his eyes, he saw Alice sitting on a chair next to his bed, her right hand gently rubbing his cheek.

She smiled at him. He smiled back. "You're awake." Alice said softly.

"Were you worried?"

She considered saying no to uphold her reputation, but what the heck, this guy was her boyfriend! "I was." She craned her neck forward and placed a kiss on Gaia's lips. Both of them relaxed and savoured the intimate feeling.

"So, how long have I been sleeping?" Gaia asked once the two of them pulled away.

"Almost one day. It's now three in the afternoon," Alice said. She got up and opened a nearby window, letting fresh air fill the room, "I've been sitting here the whole time."

"Wow, you have?" Gaia was touched, "Thanks Alice. But you didn't need to strain yourself."

"I'm your girlfriend," Alice smiled, "It's my job to do that." She pulled the covers off Gaia's body, revealing his chest and legs. For some reason, he looked much more attractive in this position. A blush started to creep on her face.

"Alice, are you alright?" Gaia said.

"Huh? I'm fine." She grabbed her boyfriend's arm and dragged him out of bed, "Come on, let's go. Queen Elizabeth wants to see you."

XXX

"You're finally up. That's good."

The delicate yet firm voice of Queen Elizabeth rang through the royal conference room. She was speaking to Gaia, along with Alice and Seth.

"I have something for you." The Espeon passed a blue diary on the table to Gaia. The cover read, 'Terra's Diary'.

"Is this the legendary Terra's diary?" Gaia asked, picking it up and inspected it. It was a Mind Diary. Instead of the user simply writing on the page, the diary took the user's daily thoughts, translated them into words (correcting spelling and grammatical errors along the way) and displayed them on the pages. Mind Diaries were hard to make and therefore costly. "This would sell for a high price in Treasure Town."

"Indeed. I have read it and found a few interesting parts. You should read it too."

"What sort of interesting parts?" Seth asked.

Queen Elizabeth just smiled mysteriously, "Just read it. I think you will all be surprised, especially Gaia."

"Thank you." Gaia flipped open the book and started reading. Seth and Alice crowded around him, eager to find out what was inside.

Terra's dairy

Gaia anxiously flipped open the front cover of Terra's diary. To say that he was excited would be an understatement. He was about to find discover the secrets of one of Treasure Town's most famous explorers. Maybe he could take the diary back home and show it to Alice's father. It would probably make him happy. Terra used to be one of Lord Garrett's best friends, before he mysteriously disappeared somewhere.

"Let's see, page one..." Gaia started reading. Alice and Seth crowded around eagerly. Queen Elizabeth watched on, smiling and being amused. Althought, she had to admit, the later parts were a bit sad. It would be even sadder for Gaia.

1986

Hm, so this is a Mind Diary? So it records anything I think? That's cool, I guess. Probably won't write/think in it too much; I don't want anyone finding out my secrets.

Today I arrived in Destonia. My orders from Master Dusk are to serve as a guard in the castle of Destonia. I have absolutely no idea why he wants me to do that. Oh well, it's not like I can refuse.

I just wish I had a better welcome. Upon entering the castle, I bumped into a female Sceptile. Before I could say or do anything, she turned around and slapped me in the face. And then she stormed off, looking extremely pissed off. I think she called me a pervert before doing that.

Man, that's going to leave a bruise. Not to mention it was very embarrassing for a Master Ranked explorer.

I hope I never see that woman gain.

"Slapping a man who bumped into her? That sounds like something Alice would do." Seth commented.

Alice glared at him. "Shut up. I would not do that."

"Right…"

1987

It's been quite a while since I've written/thought stuff into this. In fact, this is only the second entry.

Okay, where to begin? I found out the name of the female Sceptile on my first day. Her name is Lily. And she has a temper that rivals Garrett. I'm not so sure if that's a good thing.

Alice was fuming. This man had just indirectly insulted her father. She would hunt that guy down and beat the crap out of him if it weren't for the fact that he disappeared off the face of the earth.

The two of us were assigned as exploring partners. We mostly go out to Water and Ground-based dungeons. And we totally hated it at first. The fact that I am calm and reserved and that Lily is hotheaded and impulsive doesn't really help. But the two of us warmed up to each other over time. We're good friends now. I actually think she's kind of cute.

Now if she would only stop hitting me all the time…

"This Lily person really reminds me of you, Alice." Gaia remarked.

Alice gave him an annoyed look. "Not you too."

"You do realize that he just called you cute, right?" Seth said. Alice then blushed a little.

"I…"

"It's okay, Alice." Gaia smiled at her slightly flustered expression and continued reading.

The two of us always seem to be caught up in each others business. I heard about a great bar downtown from the guys and went to check it out. As soon as I walked in, I heard the following voices.

"Get your hands away from me you pervert!"

"Aw come on baby, don't be like that."

Yeah, Lily was getting harassed by some lecherous guy. And since I had absolutely nothing better to do, I walked over and slammed that guy's head on the tabletop, knocking him unconscious.

"You didn't have to do that." Lily said quietly.

"He was harassing you." I said.

"I could have handled him by myself."

"I had nothing to do and wanted to delay getting drunk."

She stared at me curiously, "You don't like getting drunk?"

"Not much. It makes it hard to concentrate on exploring. Besides, hangovers kill me."

She gave me a look as if I was insane, then called to the bartender. "Barkeep, get us ten beers and some fruit juices to act as mixers."

Apparently Lily can't hold her drink well, because she got totally drunk and I had to sneak her through the back door of the castle.

"Let me down Terra!" she had squealed like a little girl, "I can take care of myself!"

I told her to shut up and not get the two of us caught. It was just as well she fell unconscious soon.

I took her to the dorms laid her in her bed, because it was the right thing to do. If I didn't, she would probably hunt me down and kick the crap out of me.

She's lying there, snoring like a sleeping Tauros. She's drunk, and yet she managed to look cute. Beautiful, even.

Wait, what? Did I just say that Lily was beautiful?

…I think something is wrong with me. Must be due to the alcohol.

Oh well, I guess I better get to bed. I have a full day tomorrow.

"Hey Gaia, do you like getting drunk?" Seth asked.

"Ever since that incident when we were sixteen, I've never touched a single drop of alcohol in fear that might I do stuff like you did." Gaia said in a deadpan voice.

The door to the conference room opened and an Ivysaur servant entered. "Queen Elizabeth, the Council requests your presence."

"Very well." The queen got out of your seat and made your way to the door. Before she exited, she turned around spoke to Team Enforcers, "The three of you may stay here for as long as you like. The only condition is that you leave the conference room in a presentable state." And then she left.

Team Enforcers kept reading.

1988

Guess what? Lily and I are dating! Well, our first date was due to a bet done by the guys. But to our surprise, we both liked it and we just kept going. I just wish we could go out more. But missions and our jobs keep sucking up our time.

We went on our seventh date today. It was at a fancy restaurant Lily dragged me to. I have to admit, it was rather nice. And she forced me to admit that. For reason, I enjoyed that small bit of humility. Maybe it was Lily's beautiful smile that followed afterwards.

Dear Arceus, I think I love her. We've kissed ten times and counting. Each moment was pure bliss. But I've never told her 'I love you'. Maybe I should do it soon.

I sure am glad that there's no instant communication from Destonia to Treasure Town. Garrett and Riley would probably run out of air laughing if they heard I was going out with someone.

"Hey Alice, how did your mom meet your dad? I forgot." Gaia asked.

Alice thought for a moment, "Mother beat the crap out of Father and he was impressed by her strength, which made him kiss her on the lips."

"What happened after that?"

"She kissed him back, and then pounded him into the ground until he was unconscious."

"Love at first sight, huh?" Seth remarked.

"More like love at first near death experience." Gaia said.

1989

I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Lily and I are married. I can't believe I am married to the most wonderful and beautiful woman in the world.

A week ago, the two us had finished our date and were strolling through a garden. Lily kissed me on the lips and we were just about to leave when I got down on one knee with a 24-carat diamond ring and said the magic words.

"Lily, I love you with all my heart and I want to be with you forever. Will you marry me?"

She stared at me in shock, then in a completely normal fashion, slapped me on the cheek and asked why I was so late in asking. Then she pulled me up and gave me the most passionate kiss in my entire life.

Our wedding ritual was magical. Lily looked amazing in her wedding sash and tiara. She giggled when she saw my white face paint. I felt slightly embarrassed. The marking made me feel like an ancient tribe warrior. But then she said I looked handsome and my opinion on the face paint instantly changed.

Lily is calling for me to come to her bedroom. I better get over there quick, or I'll probably miss out on losing my virginity. I wonder what my friends at Treasure Town will say about this.

"They got married." Gaia said thoughtfully. Something was suspicious about these two. A Sceptile from Treasure Town getting married to another Sceptile and then sharing a bed? If Terra disappeared and no-one claimed to be his wife, then who was the child?

Nah, he was probably thinking too much.

1990

Wow, I haven't been able to write/think for a while. I've been so busy. Making a new entry does consume a lot of energy.

Anyway, Lily got pregnant a short time after our wedding. Her belly started to swell up with an egg, not to anybody's surprise. Our passionate lovemaking wasn't exactly discreet. She started having mood swings. One moment she could be cheerful and happy, the next she could be angry and lashing out at everybody. The cravings were even worse. Do you know how hard it is to find vension dipped in peanut butter sauce?

Nine months after getting pregnant, the egg was laid. I could tell she was in a lot of pain during the process. But she endured it bravely and the delivered it smoothly.

Next was the hatching stage. We had to wait another half a year for the egg to hatch. When it started, we were terrified that our child wouldn't be able to break out and die. But he managed. We had given birth to a healthy baby boy Treecko.

Now, what should we name him?

I couldn't come up with anything. I suck at naming things.

Lily suggested the name 'Gaia', meaning the Spirit of the Earth.

Yeah, that sounds right.

Gaia. It fits with my name, which means 'earth' itself.

Gaia.

It's decided. That's what we'll name our son.

"No…no way." Gaia whispered. That was his name on the page. He was the son of the legendary explorer Terra.

"Woah," Alice gasped, "I…I don't know what to say." Terra was highly revered in Treasure Town for his combat and exploring abilities. And she was the girlfriend on his son. It was simply amazing.

Seth's face had a look of complete shock. Words seemed to have deserted him.

Gaia was thinking about something else. Where was Terra? Where was Lily? Where did they go? He had to find out. This was his parents we're talking about.

He urgently flipped to the next entry.

1990

Lily is crying. I don't blame her. She's worried sick about our child.

There's a civil war going on. I don't how it started. Apparently it's got to do with an insane cult and other crazy stuff.

The rebelling army is said to attack the castle tomorrow. It won't be safe for Lily or Gaia. They might get caught in the crossfire. I have to make sure they survive.

I've told Lily to find a boat going to Treasure Town. It's safe there. But I have to stay behind. If I try to leave, I'll be labeled as a coward and sent to prison.

My heart is breaking. Lily is sobbing so hard. She doesn't want to leave me. I don't want to leave her either.

I try to comfort her, but she cries even harder.

1990

This sensation…what is this sensation?

I feel cold. So cold. The sounds of battle rage around me. I can feel blood leaking out of a heavy wound.

Oh no. I'm dying.

I'm dying.

No…I don't want to die. I have so much to live for. So many things I wanted to do.

Lily. My son.

What have I done? How could I be so weak and die? My wife is a widow now. Gaia will never know a father's love.

My friends. Garrett and Riley. They will never know what happened to me. I will disappear off the face of the earth.

Forgive me Lily! I broke my promise to you. I said I would be with you forever, but right now that's impossible.

Gaia, I hope that one day you find this diary. Please grow up to a strong and thoughtful boy like your mother wanted. Be respectful to Master Dusk. And one last thing, I'm sorry.

If you can find it in your heart, please forgive your stupid, weak father.

Gaia started crying. He hadn't cried to a very long time. He didn't even to try and stop his tears. The salty liquid rolled down his cheeks and flowed onto the page.

"Dad…" he sobbed.

Alice put her hand on his shoulder, "Gaia, do you need some time alone?"

"Yeah…"

She and Seth got up and left the room. Gaia was left sitting in the chair, crying over his father's diary. When he had read the third-last entry, he had hoped that Terra was alive. But now, that was gone.

"Dad…I forgive you…"

XXX

Later at night, Alice knocked on the door to Gaia's room. She was worried about him. He had stayed in the conference for the room for a while. And she saw his bloodshot eyes at dinner.

"Come in."

Alice entered. Gaia was standing on the balcony, looking at the night sky.

"Gaia, are you alright?" Alice asked. She walked over on stood next to him, "Are you still upset?"

"No, I've stopped crying." Gaia said, "I was just wondering what would be different if my father never died."

"Well…" Alice thought for a moment, "The two of us and Seth would've been good friends from the start, instead of having to wait eleven years for the three of us to get together. And that's pretty much all I can think of. I probably would've kissed you anyway."

"You so sure about that?" Gaia said in a playful tone.

"Of course," Alice replied, going in for a kiss, "I can't resist your great personality and your good looks."

XXX

The next day, Team Enforcers set out for Mt. Destiny. It was a long and hard trip, them having to go through three continuous mystery dungeons. But they made it in the end.

"Welcome!" the Lucario guardian greeted once they made it to the summit, "I'm Aurelis and the guardian of the Fist Plate!"

Blue aura started to swirl around him, increasing his power. Team Enforcers could feel it radiating through the air.

"Okay, I know who you guys are…I think. So let's fight! I love doing that!"

The rageing lucario

"Yeah!" Gaia dived to the right to avoid Aurelis's powerful aura-contained punch. The force of the attack exploded and created a small smoking crater in the rocky ground, spraying debris everywhere.

Alice dove at the guardian, fire streaming from her mouth. Since Aurelis was a Lucario, it meant he was fast, so he dodged the flaming attack by ducking. However, he didn't see the Fire Punch from Seth, which made contact into his stomach. He stumbled back, with a burnt chest. The aura around his body grew stronger.

"Waaahoooo!" Aurelis roared in glee. The aura seemed to be giving him a feeling similar to a person overdosed on cocaine. In other words, it made him high. It also increased his strength. The aura swirled around his body, turning his eyes from black to a flaming blue.

"Arceusdammit!" Gaia growled. He and his friends had been dodging melee attacks from the guardian for the past couple of minutes. Aurelis was a stark contrast to the sadistic Katherine. She was mean and like causing pain, whereas the Lucario seemed to think that fighting was a game. Katherine used long-mid ranged attacks and Aurelis used powerful in-your-face punches and kicks. "Why is this guy getting stronger?" he finished.

"It's because of the aura," Seth answered, "It gets stronger the more damage he takes."

"Oh yeah," Gaia was embarrassed now. He had forgetten part of Anatomy 101. If he had been there, Sensei Acer would be disappointed with him. Crap, the Grovyle thought, If the more damage the guardian takes, the stronger he gets, then that means we have to finish this fight as quickly as possible. "Guys, we have to end this quick!"

"Awww…." Aurelis pouted, "That's no fun!"

Knowing what their leader meant, Seth and Alice nodded.

Alice opened her mouth and fired a Flamethrower at Aurelis. The Lucario dodged swiftly to the left, getting in the path of a Fire Punch Seth was aiming at him. He blocked the attack by grabbing it with his paw. Unfortunately, the flaming fist started to burn his paw.

Meanwhile, Gaia leaped up from behind Aurelis and stabbed the Spirit Sword into the guardian's back, causing him the howl in pain, blood flowing out of the wound. The blue aura around Aurelis intensified and it was strong enough to force his opponents away.

"Gah!" Gaia gasped. The Lucario's power had suddenly spiked, and he was actually flinching because of it. Normally stabbing someone in the back would sever their nerves and instantly kill them. But since Aurelis was a guardian (and therefore somewhat dead) and a Steel-type, sword strikes probably wouldn't be as effective against him.

Now Aurelis seemed scarier than ever. Not that he was before.

"GRAAAAGGHHH!" the Lucario roared, "LET'S DO THIS!" He charged forward at a blinding speed. He was twice as fast as before.

Unfortunately he chose the wrong target. His aura-coated fist plowed into Seth and did nothing whatsoever. Being a Ghost-type, Seth was naturally immune to Normal and Fighting attacks. Aurelis seemed to have just remembered this little detail right at that moment because he gulped nervously. Seth stared at him for a moment, before charging up a Fire Punch and clocking the guardian in the face. He was sent sprawling across the rocky ground, a second-degree burn on his nose.

"OOWWW!" Aurelis picked himself up and the aura around him grew stronger. Gaia, not wanting himself or his friends to get clobbered by a fist, activated Hydro Blast.

Giant globules of water formed in the air and smashed into Aurelis's body. He was slammed away. There was the sound of some bones breaking. Bruises formed on his body, which soon leaked blood. But he still wasn't defeated yet. His aura grew stronger than ever.

"Crap…" Gaia moaned, spitting up a small amount of blood. He was already weakened from using Hydro Blast. Aurelis lunged forward and smashed a hard Force Palm onto Gaia's chest. The Grovyle spat out more blood with a shocked look on his face. Pain rushed through his body and he collapsed on the rocky ground, roaring in pain. Aurelis's attack had broken most of his ribs and paralysed him.

Alice's brain registered this sudden turn of events for roughly one second before she burst into rage. "YOU BASTARD!" she roared. She charged forward and tore into Aurelis with all her might. The Lucario was too tired to dodge. He skidded on ground, a gaping hole in the middle of his chest.

"I lost…" he whispered in an almost dreamlike tone. His body started to fade away. Concentrating, he willed for the Fist Plate and a white crystal to form into the air. They fell to the ground. Because Gaia was unconscious and Seth was healing his wounds, Alice walked over and picked them up, but not before kicking Aurelis in the face a couple of times.

"Thanks for fighting me…" Aurelis said with a small smile before disappearing into the afterlife.

XXX

In the stone room, the statue of a Lucario cracked in half and the top bit fell to the ground.

"My turn." Sabaku the Flygon stated. She disappeared in a small whirlwind of sand. There was no need to say anything else.

XXX

Gaia was lying down on the same old floating platform. Unfortunately, he was dreaming that his ribs were already broken, which meant that he couldn't move.

There was the sound of a gust of wind, and a Flygon flew over to him.

"I am Sabaku, guardian of the Earth plate. Find me in the Desert Fortress in the middle of the Dust Zones. I'll be waiting…"

Like before, the stone platform broke, sending Gaia falling into the darkness.

XXX

And then he was awake. He was lying in a hospital bed. For some reason, his ribs didn't hurt anymore. Seth must've healed them. Once again, he was grateful that his friend knew medic techniques.

Getting out of bed, Gaia started walking around and doing stretches, testing his joints and muscles. Nothing seemed to be wrong.

Nearby his bed, the Fist Plate and a white crystal rested on a small table. It was time to get down to business. Gaia went over, forming the Spirit Sword in his hand and lightly tapped the Fist Plate. The image of a mysterious figure blocking an attack and retaliating at twice the force formed into his mind.

"Counter, huh." Gaia said. It was certainly an interesting move. Handy, too. Now it was time for the other one. Lifting the Spirit Sword in the air, he braced himself and brought it crashing down on the white crystal, shattering it.

There was a brief pause. Then white swirls of energy formed from the crystal shards and wrapped themselves around Gaia, pumping pure power into his body. Once again, he screamed. The image of the mysterious figure, coated with air, bouncing up and down on targets and finally slamming into the ground with a burst of light appeared in his mind.

He clutched his head and waited for the energy to receded. When he did, he collapsed on the floor, panting heavily.

One second later, Seth and Alice burst into the room.

"What's going on?" Seth asked frantically.

Gaia groaned loudly and picked himself off the floor, "Learning new moves." That was all he needed to say.

Alice walked over to her boyfriend, her expression unreadable. Gaia stared at her. Then she slapped him on the cheek, hard.

"Do you know how worried I was?" she shouted at him, tears forming in her eyes. Secretly, she was relieved, but she felt the need to shout at Gaia for a while, "When you took that Force Palm to the chest, I thought you might be critically injured!"

She then hugged him and placed a passionate kiss on Gaia's lips. The Grovyle could only kiss back. "I'm so glad that you're safe," she whispered, "But please don't do that again."

"I won't," Gaia whispered back.

XXX

Gaia was training his new move, Stratosphere, in the nearby forest. It involved bouncing up and down like a pogo-stick on targets to severely damage them. As a result, a number of trees had large cracks down the middle. He sure was glad that there were no environmentalists around.

Suddenly, he heard someone tiptoeing up to him from behind.

He turned around just in time to see a small Eevee leap up from behind a tree and glomp onto him, making him crash to the ground.

"It's you!" the Eevee said excitedly. Apparently it was a female, "Do you remember me?"

"Wait, who are you?" Gaia asked. This little girl seemed familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The Eevee girl pouted and looked a bit sad. "Aww…why not?" she asked, "I hoped for you to remember me!" Then she suddenly became cheerful again, "My name is Princess Elisa. Now do you know remember me?"

Elisa…Something clicked inside Gaia's mind. "Uh, have ever been to Treasure Town' Kecleon Mall before?" he asked, sitting himself up.

"Yay! You remember!" Elisa gave a cry of joy and tackled Gaia to the ground again. She started nuzzling his chest.

"How have things been?" Gaia asked, "And could you please get off me?"

"Awww…please…?" Elisa begged, making puppy dog eyes. But Gaia had seen expressions like this before and was immune.

"No."

"Meanie." Elisa climbed off Gaia, allowing him to sit up. She was pouting again.

"What were you doing in Treasure Town anyway?" the Grovyle asked, "You and your mother are royalty; why were you travelling without any bodyguards or something?"

"Oh, mummy got tired of being escorted around by those meanie guards so she decided to have a little break," Elisa replied cheerfully, "But we haven't gone on any more of those trips," she said, frowning a little.

"Cool." Gaia stood up and started heading out of the forest. Elisa followed him. Then the Grovyle just realized something.

"Hey princess, do you have any guards to escort you around?"

"Nope!" Elisa replied with a grin, "But I know you have to save the world, so you're definitely strong, right?"

Gaia sweatdropped.

XXX

Queen Elizabeth was waiting for them in the throne room of the castle. As soon as the princess entered, a stern expression grew on her face.

"Elisa, did you go wandering off again? You know it's not safe."

"Um…" the young princess looked guilty and didn't make any comment.

The queen sighed, "Elisa, how many times do I have to tell you? It's not safe outside the castle. You're lucky Gaia found you."

"Actually Queen Elizabeth," Gaia interrupted, "She found me."

"That is beside the point," the queen said sternly, "Elisa, I'm going to have to ground you for a while. You must learn you lesson."

The young princess was horror-struck. "You can't!" she blurted out.

"I can and I will." Queen Elizabeth said firmly, "No going outside for two weeks, and that's final!"

Apparently the queen was immune to puppy-dog eyes, because she didn't react when her daughter did that.

XXX

The next day, Team Enforcers set out for the Dust Zones. They had spent the most of yesterday gathering supples. One noble was kind enough to provide the three of them evaporation-proof waterskins.

"Goodbye!" Princess Elisa said cheerfully. She and her mother were outside the palace, waving goodbye. The young princess seemed to have gotten over the fact that she was being grounded.

"Good luck." Queen Elizabeth said.

"Thank you." Gaia smiled at the two royals. "Come on guys, let's go!"

The three explorers ran down the path to the outside areas, fully prepared for the upcoming dungeon.

XXX

"So this is the Sand Fortress." The three of them were outside the entrance to a large temple. The entrance was sealed off by a large door. There was an inscription scrawled on the door.

If you wish to enter, prove that you are the chosen one.

Tap your blade on the door.

"I guess that's me." Gaia formed the Spirit Sword in his hand and tapped it lightly on the door.

There was a rumbling sound, and the stone door slowly slid open, revealing a chamber lit up by dozens of torches.

"You guys ready?" Gaia asked.

"Yes."

"Affirmative!"

"Then let's go!"

SHIFTING sand fortress

Team Enforcers stepped into the entrance room to the Sand Fortress. The room was colored sand brown and separated into two parts, a raised floor and a normal floor. Clay jars were scattered about, some broken and lying on the floor. Two large statues of Vibravas were placed on the sides of the room, fierce expressions on their stone faces.

"So, where should we start?" Gaia asked rhetorically, forming the Spirit Sword in his hands.

Seth took one look at the sealed jars and grinned. "I think we should break the jars."

Alice looked at him weirdly, "Why would we want to do that?"

"Haven't you played adventure-action video games? The hero always destroys pots or jars and gets treasure." Seth explained.

"Seth, we're not here for treasure," Alice snapped, "We're here for the Earth pate. Besides, those jars look too dense to be destroyed by a simple sword."

"Aww…"

Since smashing the jars was out of the question, the three of them had no choice but to continue through the large door on the opposite side of the room. The only problem was that the door was sealed off.

"Dangit!" Seth shouted, pounding his fists on the door. He stopped when he found out that repeatedly smashing his hands on a rock slab made them bleed. "I knew we should have smashed those pots!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Gaia asked.

"Because there are always switches hidden under pots and jars!"

"Or in statues." Alice was standing in front of one of the statues and had her hand in its mouth. She felt around for a button and pressed it.

The rock slab rose up, revealing the entrance to the next room. Seth gaped at her.

"How…?"

"Believe it or not, I play video games too."

XXX

The second room consisted of a large pit of quicksand with floating platforms resting on top of it. There were spikes lined on top of the ceiling.

"Great, quicksand." Gaia muttered sarcastically. He always died on desert levels in video games. "Looks like we'll have to be careful." He took a single step forward and a hidden switch was pressed.

There was a creaking sound, and the spike ceiling began lowering towards the ground level. Needless to say, it was a pretty urgent situation. To make things worse, an iron grate was slowly coming down from the top of a doorway, agonizing centimetre by centimetre.

"Oh shit!" Seth cried and swore at the same time, "Run!"

His two friends needed no further encouragement. They started leaping from floating platform to platform, being careful not to jump into quicksand. If they did, they would be utterly screwed. In other words, they would inevitably be impaled by the spike ceiling.

They ran through the doorway just in time. The metal grate fully covered the door, one second later.

At the very back of the fortress, Sabaku was watching the three explorers' progress through a television-like portal. And she was laughing her ass off, a rare occurrence for someone so strict when alive.

XXX

Gaia leant against the wall with one hand, panting heavily. The room they had just crossed was roughly one kilometre long. Was it a surprise that he and his friends were tired?

"Gaia, I know that you're my boyfriend," Alice said slowly, "But what you did was completely idiotic."

"Yeah, I know." Gaia said, slightly ashamed of himself, "Looks like I'll have to be more careful next time." He started surveying the room. It seemed to be made of sandstone. There were four pillars in the middle of the room. Numerous scratch marks and dents were carved in the scenery, giving the impression that a major fight had occurred here.

"Did a battle happen here or something?" Seth asked to himself.

"Correct."

A massive Sandslash wielding a large iron axe dropped down from a hidden compartment in the ceiling and landed in front of Gaia.

Given the fact that a gigantic Pokemon suddenly appeared in front of the Grovyle, he did exactly what anyone would have done: react instinctively. Since he had the Spirit Sword in his hand, reacting instinctively involved stabbing anything that surprised him.

Which involved stabbing the massive Sandslash. Coincidentally, the sword impaled into monster's heart.

It died.

"You killed my brother! You bastard!"

A second Sandslash dropped down from the roof, this time not landing right in front of Gaia. It looked angry, which was a large understatement.

"I don't care if you are the wielder of the Spirit Sword, I am going to rip you to shreds!"

"Bring it on, assface." Gaia said, charging his sword up with deep brown energy.

"YAAAAAHHH!" The Sandslash charged forward and struck down with its battleaxe. Gaia blocked it with his sword. The two of them were in a lock, each one trying to push the other back.

What the Sandslash didn't know was that, before it had attacked, Gaia had prepared a Counter move. And now he was ready to unleash it.

"Gah!" With all his might, Gaia forced the axe backwards, channelling energy towards the Sandslash. It screamed as the raw power, twice as strong as its own attack, seared into its body.

It exploded into a mass of light, defeated.

There was a brief pause. Gaia noticed that Seth and Alice were staring at him. "What?" he asked. He jerked his thumb to the door, "Come on, let's go."

Seth was in deep thought, That was Counter.Then he realized something. Half my moves are physical ones. And now they're useless! He gazed at his friend in wonder. Ever since Gaia had received the Spirit Sword, his strength had grown in leaps and bounds, what with all those different and powerful attacks. Dark Rush, Hydro Blast, Stratosphere…all those moves came at a high prices, but it seemed that the more plates he received and crystals he smashed, the cost became less and less.

Even thought the Grovyle was one of his best friends, Seth couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

XXX

The fourth room was covered in sand. It could have been a stretch of desert, if it weren't for the fact that it was inside. There were even a couple of dunes.

The air was thick and hot, like a real desert. Gaia struggled against it. Grass-types did not like heat. "Come on, let's go."

The three of them started walking across the sandy plains. It was tough going. The sands seemed to be endless. The ceiling had somehow turned into the sky. A fake sun beat down, radiating heat all over the place.

Once or twice, Digletts and Dugtrio would pop out of the sand and attack them. The battles were somewhat humiliating, given the fact that the moles used their noses to attack. But they were eventually defeated.

Eventually, the three explorers came across a large wooden door in the middle of the desert.

"Oh thank Arceus!" Seth cried, "The exit!"

As soon as he said that, the door disappeared right before his eyes.

"OH SON OF A BITCH!"

"Seth, who are you talking to?" Alice asked.

They struggled on. Unfortunately, their progress was halted by an unexpected sandstorm.

"Dammit!" Alice growled. This was great. Just frickin' great. Her eyes could pierce the sandstorm, being a Ground type, but her two teammates couldn't. "Gaia! Seth! Can you guys see me?"

"We can!" Gaia called back.

"Grab onto my arm! I'll guide the three of us out of here!" Gaia grabbed onto Alice's arm and Seth grabbed onto his. The three of them started slowly moving out of the sandstorm. It took quite some time. The powerful winds seemed no sign of dying down, which brought up the question of why there was a sandstorm indoors.

Eventually, they reached a tall, sandstone arch. A strange, blue light was shimmering through it, visible to all three members. And it didn't disappear as the three of them got closer.

There was no doubt that this was the exit, if not the portal to the guardian's chamber.

The three of them stepped through, and a few seconds later emerged into a large round chamber. Four statues of the same Flygon were placed in four parts of the room, equal distances away from each other.

"Where are we?" Seth asked.

"By the looks of it," Gaia said, glancing left and right at the walls and statues of the room, "I'd say this is the guardian's chamber." He noticed that the wall was inscribed with a lot of carvings. They depicted many things, including the Legendaries and the Spirit Sword.

However, there was a picture Gaia had never seen before. It depicted a Dusknoir, a Grovyle and a Celebi, holding hands and eyes closed. Behind them was a large circular gear with six teeth. And beneath it was scribbled the words 'I'm sorry'.

"What is this?" Gaia whispered, walking over to touch it. For some mysterious reason, he was attracted to this carving.

"Hello." A sudden voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He turned around to see a circular pillar of moving sand. It dissipated to reveal a Flygon. "Nice of you to come." She said politely, "My name is Sabaku, former captain of the UU and BL units of Destonia and guardian of the Earth plate."

"UU? BL? What are those?" Seth asked.

"Ancient strength grading terms. The lowest is NU, then UU, BL, OU and at the top Ubers."

"So, where would I be?" Gaia asked, forming the Spirit Sword in his hands.

Sabaku considered this for a moment, "Low OU, although that's mostly due to the Spirit Sword. Your girlfriend is around high-middle BL, maybe even low OU. Unfortunately, your Sableye friend is only middle BL."

"No way!" Seth moaned, grabbing his head with his hands. He was the weakest

"Don't worry. Middle BL is a great achievement for even your age. Aeros, Wes, Disaster and most of the others had to become over twenty years of age to reach that level. Besides, BL is only a term of strength. It does not measure intelligence." She held up her hands and two white crystals formed in them, "If you truly wish to get stronger, then beat me. In these crystals are pure power. They will enable you and Alice to reach Gaia's level."

"Wow, really?" Seth was excited. Finally, he wouldn't feel left behind.

"Yes. They will also enable you to do normal damage to the Shadow Pokemon. But enough of this." Sand started swirling around Sabaku. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The sand combined together to form a giant fist and a giant shield.

"Let us begin."

Omake

Disaster was watching the above scene in the afterlife. And he was feeling rather depressed.

"Beaten by someone whose younger than me," he muttered, an anime storm cloud forming above his head, "And to think he has a lower base stat total than I do…this is really depressing."

"What's a base stat total?" Aeros asked.

Sabakou

"I will show no mercy."

Sabaku's words rang through the round room. Sand swirled up from the floor and started to curl around her body, forming a thin protective shell. At the same time, the giant sand fist rocketed forwards and tried to smash Gaia into the wall. He dodged, and slashed the fist.

The sword strike made a dent in it, and sand started pouring out of the 'wound'. However, the sand quickly flowed back into the small hole and filled it up.

Gaia growled for a moment before jumping back to avoid a powerful index finger flick. If he had been hit by back, his ribs would have been broken. Okay, physical attacks are no use. Let's try something else. He charged a swirling orb of green energy in his left palm and flung it at the giant fist.

The Energy Ball tore through the fist, burning away sand in its path. It hit the wall opposite, creating a dent in it. The fist, now with a deep, thin hole in it, couldn't support itself and fell to the sandy ground. It didn't get up.

Sabaku frowned. It had taken quite some energy to form that. Oh well, she still had her giant shield. Seth and Alice were trying to smash it to pieces, but to no avail. Gaia ran over to them and charged up his blade with water. He slammed it into the shield.

"Waterfall!"

The shield couldn't support the additional weight of the water and it fell to the ground like the giant fist, now a mass of soggy sand. Sabaku was wide open.

Seth lunged it her and tore into her face with a Shadow Claw. She was knocked down onto the ground. The sand armor surrounding her cheek started cracking and peeled off.

"Hmm, you're strong." Sabaku said, "If I hadn't been coated with my sand armor, I would've taken more damage." It was true. The armor had softened the blow. She wasn't even bleeding, "Did you know humans used to use sand armor as part of their magical defences?"

Seth stared at her, confused. He couldn't remember that specific detail from his history lessons. From what he heard, humans had no magical abilities and were completely defenceless.

Sabaku decided that now was the time to attack and let loose a hail of sand globs from her mouth. Gaia jumped in front of his friends and used Mirror Coat, reflecting some of the globs back at the guardian. She quickly smacked them away with her tail. Then she closed her eyes, concentrated and floating rocks burst out from the ground.

"Stealth Rock."

"Wha—"

The three explorers each stepped forward and the rocks instantly slammed into them, knocking them backwards and leaving behind small wounds. For some reason, Alice didn't seem to be damaged as much as the others.

Sabaku darted forward and body-slammed Gaia into a wall, then slashed his chest with a dragon claw. Alice roared and charged forward, partly because she was angry at Sabaku for hurting her boyfriend and partly because another Pokemon in the Dragon egg group was touching her man. Only she was allowed to do that.

The Dragon Claw tore into Sabaku's shoulder, but due to the sand armor, it was nullified. It distracted her for a second. Gaia used this opportunity to slam an Energy Ball at point blank range.

The sphere of energy tore through the sand armor and wounded Sabaku in the chest. She was sent reeling back, her wound smoking.

"Heh. Not bad." As soon as those words escaped from her mouth, a screen of psychic energy covered her and then disappeared. "What?" She turned around to see Seth floating above the ground. "What did you do?"

"Role Play." Seth stated, "I copied your Levitate ability. Now your Ground attacks can't touch me."

The Levitate ability instantly nullified all Ground-type attacks, even if they didn't use the ground (Mud Bomb, anyone?). Needless to say, Sabaku did not look happy.

"How annoying." She spat, "Prepare yourself." She fired strange blue flames from her mouth. Seth countered with his own Will-O-Wisp attack. Gaia used Waterfall again, turning the sand armor on Sabaku's back into a sloppy, brown mess. Alice slammed a Dragon Claw on that spot, creating another wound. Sabaku lost her focus for the briefest of moments and the Will-O-Wisp attack burned her.

"Grrr…" The Flygon guardian gritted her teeth as she felt the pain seep through her spiritual body. Her strength dropped down a notch.

"Let's end this!" Gaia gripped the Spirit Sword with two hands, forcing wind energy into it. He suddenly leapt thirty feet in the air, shocking everyone. Then he slammed a powerful downwards thrust on top of Sabaku's head. The force of the attack was enough to push him back up. He then repeated the process four times before executing his finisher.

Unfortunately, he missed the head and ended up taking Sabaku's eyeball instead.

There was a brilliant flash of light, and when it disappeared, Gaia was standing on the ground, Sabaku floating in front of him.

Her right eye had been completely gouged out. She had one claw over it to stop the bleeding. It didn't take away the fact that it hurt like hell.

"Owww…" she half-moaned, half-growled, "You win. Take your rewards." She closed her remaining eye and concentrated. Two shining white crystals, a deep green crystal and a dark brown slab of stone appeared in a flash of light. After they fell to the ground, Gaia picked them up and shoved them into his bag.

"Get out…"

A whirlwind of sand covered Sabaku, and when it faded, she was gone.

XXX

When Sabaku travelled through the Gates of Origin and entered the afterlife, one of her old colleagues greeted her.

"Greetings, Captain Sabaku," the guy spoke, "Let me be the first to welcome you—" Then he realized that one of her eyes was missing, "Hey, what happened to you?"

"Don't ask," Sabaku growled, pushing past him. Hopefully there were medics somewhere.

XXX

Back in the stone room, the statue of a Flygon split in half and toppled to the ground.

"Finally." Tyrannus grinned maliciously, a bloodthirsty grin growing on his face.

Leafia turned sharply and glared at him, "If you do anything stupid to the kid, everyone in the afterlife will kill you. You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"

The Tyranitar smirked nastily, "Oh no, the princess is angry. I'm so scared. Is it because that fool reminds you of—"

"SHUT UP!" Leafia finally lost it and sent a wave of venomous plants towards Tyrannus. He teleported away before he got hit.

XXX

After successfully teleporting back to the Royal Palace of Destonia, the three explorers ate dinner and headed up to their rooms for some rest. It was only 5 in the afternoon, but they were tired from walking around in the dungeon and desert all day.

The next morning, Gaia got out of bed and opened the curtains. It was a cloudy day. The sun was nowhere to be seen. According to a nearby clock, it was 6 in the morning.

He took the Earth Plate and the deep green crystal out of his bag. Since he wasn't hungry at the moment, he might as well get some training in. He formed the Spirit Sword in his hands and tapped the Earth Plate with it.

The 'ritual' took place and Gaia soon learned Magnitude.

Hmm, that pretty interesting. Although it does rely on luck…

Next up was the green crystal. If he smashed the thing right now, the screaming he would make might wake everyone in the castle up. And that wouldn't be good.

He wandered around the outsides of the castle and ended up in the very same forest he had been practising yesterday. For some reason no-one had done anything about the trees he had split.

Placing the green crystal on the ground, he stabbed down onto it.

As usual, there was a lot of screaming and energy. Gaia fell to the ground, convulsing for a whole moment before his body calmed itself.

"Wow, Frenzy Plant," he muttered to himself, not knowing that he was doing it, "I didn't expect that."

He heard footsteps approaching him. Now would probably a good time to get his ass off the mossy forest floor.

It turned out to be his girlfriend. "Gaia, what on earth are you doing here?" she asked, "It's nearly breakfast time."

"Training." Gaia simply said, standing up.

"I see. What did you learn this time?" Alice asked as the two of them walked towards the exit of the forest.

"Frenzy Plant and Magnitude."

"Interesting. Seth and I have already smashed our white crystals. Care to train with us after breakfast?"

"Sure." Gaia said. Alice then smirked evilly. "Uh Alice, why are you smiling like a deranged lunatic?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," she replied, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

XXX

It turned out that the power in the crystals multiplied Seth and Alice's power by one and a half times. And the two of them had imposed a restriction that made Gaia unable to use his sword. Given the fact that he had not practiced hand-to-hand combat for quite some time made him suffer a series of humiliating defeats.

In other words, he got his ass kicked ten times over.

"Man Gaia, you never lose this much. Did you stop trainin' or something?" Seth chuckled as Gaia landed on the other side of the training field, trying not to burst into full-blown laughter.

Gaia glared at his girlfriend and best friend, "Is it really my fault that you two suddenly got a hell a lot stronger and I got weaker in the close combat area? Is it?"

"Maybe," Alice smiled.

"When did you two get so evil?"

"Would an evil person do this?" Alice leaned down and kissed Gaia on the lips, making him blush.

"Damn you Alice. Damn you and your loveliness."

"So, what to guys want to do now?" Seth asked.

Gaia grinned and formed the Spirit Sword in his hand. "I need to test my new move my mine." He started charging earth energy in his blade. It started glowing a deep green color.

"Which one?"

"Frenzy Plant." With that, he slammed his blade into the ground. A wave of ghostly green plants travelled forward and stopped at a nearby rock, which soon exploded in a blast of green light.

"Whoa. Just whoa." Seth managed to say.

Gaia felt pain run through his chest and started to clutch it. "Urgh, stupid recoil…" he muttered. It was true that he was getting stronger, but the recoi was still there, and that was a real pain in the ass.

As soon as he said those three words, he heard screaming in the distance. It seemed to be coming from the front of the castle.

"Oh, son of a bitch." He shoved an Oran Berry down his throat before sprinting towards the source of the noise.

XXX

Tyrannus was enjoying himself. This was the first time he had had fun in one thousand years. His fun involved sending waves of earth towards the guards of the castle and throwing them ten feet into the air.

Yes, he was sadistic (although not as much as Katherine). Plus, the people of Destonia had done something horrible to him when he was alive. This was simply his revenge.

Then a Grovyle rushed into the clearing. Tyrannus stopped.

Those eyes. That expression. That shape.

Tyrannus hated Grovyles. He hated them with every inch of his spiritual body. One had done something awful to him when he was alive. And now he was seeing one.

Was it really surprising that he got extremely pissed off? That Grovyle was the living incarnation of the previous one!

"Who are you?" Gaia demanded, "Why are you attacking these people?"

Tyrannus summoned a large battleaxe in his left hand, "Fight me." He growled.

"What?"

"Fight me. NOW!"

Destonia! Cup! GOLDEN!

The members Official Destonia Historial Association were smart, to say the least. Every one of them had above excellent I.Q. They knew how to carefully summarize evidence, analyse it and piece a coherent and well thought out argument.

Now if only they could agree on the same thing…

One day, Kinesis had been strolling in the nearby forest when he came across a metal box. Inside it were books. Human books. Most of them were filled with pictures. Strange pictures that were only black and white. What the Alakazam had discovered were a otaku's stash of manga.

Unfortunately, the association took these manga to be real events in man's history.

"I believe that humans were ninjas and wore orange clothes!" Kinesis proclaimed, holding up the first volume of Naruto.

"Wrong!" a Gallade shouted, "Humans clearly carried huge-ass swords and wore black robes all the time! They used the swords to send monsters to the afterlife!" He was holding a copy of Bleach.

"False! Completely false! Humans carried notebooks with them! They used those things to kill their own kin! And freaky monsters followed them! IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE!" another guy said. He was holding the last volume of Death Note.

"Well, I think that humans spent all their times playing card games. They even made machines to make the experience more interesting! Don't you all agree?" yet another man said.

Everyone stared at him. "No." Kinesis said.

"No." the Gallade said.

"No." one man said.

"No." one woman said.

"No." one genderless Pokemon said (robotically).

"Shut up!"

The tyrant

Alice and Seth hurried towards the front of the castle, their footsteps making pounding noises on the earth below. After the screaming had began, Gaia had ran to the scene. In his haste, he had left his friends behind.

The two of them ran onto the front courtyard just in time to see Gaia locked in combat with a brown-scaled Tyranitar. It was wielding a huge battleaxe and looked extremely pissed off.

"DIE!" Tyrannus slammed his weapon into the ground, sending a wave of earth rise up and move forward. Gaia was forced to leap away in order to evade the attack. He landed in front of his friends.

"Hey, when did you guys get here?" he asked.

"Just then." Alice replied, "Why did you feel the need to abandon us?"

"I didn't abandon you guys," Gaia defended, "I was just a bit too fast." Tyrannus's battleaxe came down and Gaia blocked it with his sword. Unfortunately, the Tyranitar was stronger than Gaia and the Grovyle could feel his knees buckling under him.

"Grr…Counter!" Gaia forced the Tyranitar off him and then quickly slashed his face. Tyrannus was sent reeling backwards, feeling the pain of the both the move and the slash to his face. Alice lunged forward and punched him in the guts. Seth rounded things up by firing a Shadow Ball.

"You slashed my face…" Tyrannus growled. Rage bubbled inside him and he roared, "NO-ONE MARKS MY FACE!" Red aura suddenly swirled around his body.

"What the hell?" Gaia whispered. He was reminded of the battle against Aurelis. Just who was this guy? Was he really a guardian? All of the other adversaries he faced had been honorable and were guided by duty, but this one seemed willing to outright kill him. He shook his fear away. "Let's go!"

He charged up the Spirit Sword with water and ran forward. Tyrannus swung his battleaxe sideways, trying to behead his opponent. Gaia ducked and slammed with Waterfall attack upwards. Tyrannus was flung upwards.

Meanwhile, Seth was concentrating hard. Then he opened his eyes. "Finished." He stated. What he had just used was the move 'Role Play'. It allowed him to copy the enemy's ability. Now he had the ability 'Sturdy', which allowed him to evade critical attacks. Alice tore into Tyrannus's leg with Dragon Claw.

"HOW DARE YOU?" Tyrannus got angrier. One could swear that he had used a Rage attack. He slammed his battle axe into the ground, causing a wave of earth to shoot up from under Gaia, sending him up in the air and wounding his legs. His sword flew out of his hands.

"Gaia!" Seth ran over to his leader and quickly healed him. He stood up and willed the Spirit Sword to come back.

"Dammit, this guy is strong…" he muttered, "Seth! Alice! Be careful of his attacks! Dodge when he slams his axe into the ground!"

"Got it!" Alice opened her mouth and let lose three fireballs. Tyrannus blocked them all. It also gave Gaia and Seth an opening.

Gaia shouted, "Hydro Blast!" and started levitating in the air. Large spheres of water formed in the air and shot towards the Tyranitar. They slammed into his torso and arms, breaking a few bones along the way. Extra damage was dealt due to the type advantage. The Grovyle landed on the ground and coughed, sharp pain shooting through his body.

"GRAAAAHH!" Tyrannus shoved Alice aside and lunged forward with his battleaxe. For a species that was one of the slowest in all Pokemon, he was pretty fast.

Gaia blocked with his sword, then parried and slashed Tyrannus in the chest. More aura swirled around the Tyranitar's body as his rage increased.

"DIIIEEE!" Stone pillars burst out from the ground, damaging Gaia and Alice. Seth rushed over and quickly healed both of them.

"Seth! Alice! Can you two hold him off for a while?"

Both of them nodded, and then ran forward and started to attack. Seth threw a Shadow Ball and Alice spat out fireballs. Meanwhile, Gaia was charging his sword up with Grass-type energy.

Tyrannus was now so angry that he let go of all common sense. All he wanted to do was kill the young Grovyle in front of him. But two idiots were blocking the way, which meant he had to get rid of them first. And they were skilled, too.

"NOW!" Seth and Alice jumped out of the way. Gaia slammed the Spirit Sword into the ground. "FRENZY PLANT!" Ghostly plants rose out from the ground in a long wave. Tyrannus was caught right in its path.

The ground around him exploded in a burst of bright green energy. Gaia coughed and could feel the brief rigor mortis settling. This was the downside with absurdly powerful attack. They left you unable to move for a brief period after being executed. In a battle, this could be fatal.

Tyrannus emerged from the smoke, looking utterly beat up.

"You're still alive?" Gaia questioned, "There's no way for you to win. Just give up."

"I…WILL…NOT…LOSE!" Tyrannus roared and charged forward, swinging his battleaxe. But his attack was weak. Gaia easily parried the blow, then stabbed the Tyranitar in the chest, ending the battle.

Tyrannus stumbled backwards, a bleeding wound where his heart would be and multiple scratches and burns all over his body. "I lost…" he gasped, "I hate you Grovyles!" he roared, "Your kind mocks me! A curse upon your species! Here is my payback!"

Suddenly, sharp stones rose out of the air, and then slammed into Gaia's body. They pierced his arms, legs and chest, spraying blood everywhere. Some even stabbed into a few of his vital organs.

Gaia stared forward for a moment, his eyes wide. Then he coughed up a mass of blood and fell forwards.

"GAIA!" Alice screamed.

"NO!" Seth shouted.

"Eheheheh…AHAHAHAHAHAH!" Tyrannus laughed maniacally as he faded away, "My revenge is complete!"

An earth-plate and a crystal shimmering with heat appeared in a flash of light and fell to the ground, but no-one noticed this. They were too busy trying to wake up Gaia.

Alice was in tears. She was sobbing onto her boyfriend's chest. "No no no…you can't die Gaia, you can't!"

Seth was busy inspecting the damage, "Dammit," he cursed, "I can't heal him on my own." Then he lifted up his head and shouted for the whole castle to hear him.

"MEDIC!"

XXX

Due to the fact that he was a guardian, Tyrannus immediately got a one-way ticket to the good afterlife.

However, not everyone thought he deserved it.

"You bastard!" a female Sceptile screamed as soon as she layed her eyes on him. She was Gaia's mother, Lily. "How dare you hurt my only son!" She launched herself at Tyrannus and slammed her Leaf Blades into him, over and over. It was painful.

"Tyrannus, you son of a bitch!" Marly the Roserade, holding his trademark Deathscythe, lunged out from behind a tree and stabbed downwards, the blade piercing the Tyranitar's head. "Why the hell did you kill the last wielding of the Spirit Sword?"

More and more Pokemon, hearing the news, swarmed forward and gave Tyrannus the beating of his death. Due to the fact that no-one could ever die, the pain was endless. In the end, the Tyrannus received the frustration and rage of almost a whole world's population.

Lily had broken down completely and latched onto her husband Terra for support. "My son…oh my son…" she sobbed, "Please be alive Gaia. I don't want you to die yet…you have so much to live for…"

XXX

Medics had arrived on the scene and taken Gaia to the castle infirmary. There, one of Destonia's top doctors inspected the young Grovyle's battered body. After that, he and his team began the long and painful process of surgery.

"How are things?" Seth asked nervously. He and Alice were anxiously waiting outside the operating theatre with a Clefable doctor.

"Not good," the doctor replied, "We found multpile stone chips inside Gaia's body. Some have lodged inside his liver, stomach and right lung. He's also lost a lot of blood."

"Will he survive?" Alice asked tearfully. She was still crying. The thought of Gaia leaving was unbearble.

The doctor sighed. This was one of the worst parts of the job: breaking the bad news to the patient's family and friends, "To be honest, there's only 30% chance that he'll survive. And even if he does, he'll be incapacitated for quite a while."

Alice cried even harder.

XXX

In the middle of an inky blackness, Gaia was floating to a light. His brain was fuzzy and disorientated. He didn't know where he was. He felt scared. But that light looked nice. It would probably comfort him.

All of a sudden, another Grovyle appeared. This one had white and grey skin along with strange eyes, with black where white would be and white where black should be. It was blocking the light like a curtain.

"What are you doing here?" it asked, frowning, "You shouldn't be here. Go away!"

He moved his hand, and all of a sudden, the world around Gaia cracked and shattered. He fell down, down into the inky darkness.

XXX

He slowly opened his eyes. His bleary mind registered that he was in a hopsital room. Apparently he was alive.

However, all of this was too much for his broken and battered body and his mind shut itself down for repairs.

XXX

The next afternoon, Gaia had recovered enough to be awake for more than four hours. He resting in bed when he saw Alice come rushing into the room, tears streaking down her face.

"Gaia!" she cried. Before he had any chance to speak, she pressed her lips down onto his. Gaia couldn't do anything but kiss back. When Alice let go, she was still crying. "I love you Gaia, I love you! Please don't die!" Then she hugged him close.

"I'm dying?" Gaia shouted abruptly, "Who the hell told you that?"

"There were rumors flying around the palace." Alice said tearfully, "Some said you were already dead! I wanted to confess my feelings before it was too late!"

"Alice, I'm not dying." Gaia said, "I'm perfectly fine. I'll just have to rest in bed for a few weeks. You should know better than to listen to some silly rumor. Oh yeah," He leaned forward and kissed his girlfriend on the lips, "I love you too." He whispered gently into her ear.

XXX

That night, Gaia had a dream where he was standing in the stone platform in the middle of space.

A Mawille appeared on the other side of the platform and began walking towards him. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"This is a first. I'm fine," Gaia replied, "Are you the next guardian?"

"Yes, I am." The Mawille replied, "My name is Mary, guardian of the Steel Plate. I have come to tell you where my dungeon is."

"Couldn't I just look on the Wonder Map?" Gaia asked. Mary shook her head.

"No. My dungeon is in a place that is obscured from the rest of the world. It is in a place where the Legendary Grovyle fought and died. It is in a place that is shrouded in time and mystery. My dungeon resides in the Hidden Land, Diagla the God of Time's home. I will wait you, Gaia…"

XXX

"Burn, Kyuubi!" Two weeks had passed since the battle with Tyrannus. Gaia had recovered fully. Now he was testing his newest moves in preparation for the upcoming dungeon. The new plate had given him Stealth Rock and the Fire Crystal yielded something called Fox Fire.

The face of a fox, completely made of flames, appeared behind Gaia before transforming into a stream of fire and shooting forward, burning down a whole row of trees.

"Yeah!" Gaia said, panting slightly, "I think we're ready. Come on guys, let's go to the Hidden Land."

At the front of a castle was a shimmering blue portal. It had opened today. Seth wanted to enter it immediately, but Gaia insisted on trying out his new moves first.

"Everything ready?" Gaia asked. His two friends nodded.

"Then let's go!" They stepped into the portal, and disappeared in a flash of blue light.

The hiddin land"So this is the Hidden Land…"

Gaia, Seth and Alice were standing at the entrance to the Hidden Land dungeon. The scenery around them was peculiar, to say the least. First of all, the whole place seemed to be floating above the sea. Second of all, time seemed to stop here, yet mild invisible winds whipped against the trees and grass, making them move. Looking off the edge, Gaia could see that the world below them was clearly in the afternoon, yet up here it was midday.

"Whoa, this is so cool!" Seth exclaimed. He was looking off the floating land to the ocean below. Like Gaia, he was fascinated and astounded by the sight. "I can see a whole bunch of islands from up here!" The Hidden Land was located at the very top of the stratosphere, immediately placing it higher than all mountains. For some reason, the air pressure up here was equal to ground level.

"Man, if only we brought a camera," Alice remarked longingly, "This is such a beautiful sight."

"I don't think Diagla would be too happy about that." Gaia said, "He probably wouldn't want people to know that this place exists." He gazed at the forest before him. "Come on, let's go. We're on a tight schedule. I sure hope Shadow Pokemon haven't invaded the dungeon."

They took one last look at the scenery around them before walking into the dungeon.

XXX

Upon traversing the first three floors, Team Enforcers came to the conclusion that the Hidden Land Dungeon was one of the toughest and nastiest places they had ever come across. The range of species was diverse, all seventeen types being featured. It took more than one or two hits to take some of stronger foes out. Twice, Gaia was flung into an empty gap, forcing him to be warped elsewhere. Seth soon had his hands full healing his teammates. Alice's bag quickly ran out of Foe-Hold and Petrify Orbs.

"Stealth Rock!" Pointed stones suddenly appeared in the air, then struck any unfortunate enemy that got too close. Gaia then charged his sword up with fire. "Flare Blitz!" He swung his sword around, slashing and hacking into Pokemon.

"Okay, I think that's the last of them," he said, "How far have we climbed?"

"Twenty floors." Seth replied, "Most dungeons would've ended by now, so we should be near the end."

"Sweet." The three of them climbed up a nearby stone staircase.

They emerged into a small clearing. The edges were surrounded by evergreen trees. The grass was lush and green. Several square holes were dotted in the floor, showing the ocean below. Apparently it was now night. But the sky above didn't show that. It was still light blue with wisps of clouds.

"Hey, how about we rest for a while?" Gaia suggested. The three of them crashed on the grass, relaxing.

"You know, I've been thinking." Alice said.

"Thinking about what?" Gaia asked.

"About why this place is called the Hidden Land." She turned to look at the sky, "It should be night now, but it's clearly midday. The bottoms of the holes show a night ocean, but they should be light blue due to the reflections from the sky. This place seems to be in its own time zone."

"Wait Alice," Gaia began, "Are you saying that the Hidden Land is hidden in time?"

"That's a pretty likely theory." Seth said, "If it's true, then Diagla is a genius. This place is probably where time is controlled. He probably didn't want people to come here and screw things up, so he chose a location cut off from the rest of the world: a place trapped in a particular time period. No-one would even think of this place."

"Wow." Gaia said, a bit stunned, "I think we're rested enough. Let's go. That plate isn't going to claim itself."

XXX

If the Hidden Land dungeon was hard, then the following dungeon—the Hidden Highland—was worse. Fifteen floors of hell, with a minimal amount of items on each floor and rooms the size of bedrooms. To top things off, the enemies actually knew how to use TM and HM moves. Gaia had to resort to some of his most powerful moves, such as Hydro Blast or Fox Fire to clear out rooms. By the time they finished, their item supply had dropped to a meagre one-quarter.

"Thank Arceus that's over." Gaia muttered as he climbed up the staircase. He took a good look at his surroundings. "Okay, where are we?" he asked.

The three of them were standing in a long hallway. It seemed to be a part of some ruins. Ancient drawing inscribed the walls, the Pokemon on them drawn to excruciating detail.

"Hey, I recognize these Pokemon!" Seth exclaimed, "That's Mew, those two are Kyogre and Groudon and there's Diagla and Palkia!"

"What about these?" Alice pointed to two pictures. The first one had a white dragon and a black dragon on it. The white once seemed to be made of clouds. The black one seemed to be made of dark metal. The second picture described three humanoid figures riding on clouds. They were green, blue and orange respectively. "I've never seen Pokemon like these before, even in history textbooks."

"Extinct ones?" Gaia suggested.

"Most likely." Seth said.

They moved on. The ruins were devoid of life. Broken and decaying statues littered the place. Most of them were of unknown Pokemon. Metal spheres with strange colors were also dumped on the ground in random places.

"Woah…" Gaia was staring at a massive statue of a Grovyle. In its right hand was a six-pronged gear. The beneath inscription read: 'Never Forget'. "Is this the Legendary Grovyle?"

"Who else could it be?" Alice said, "No other Grovyle is history is as famous as this one."

After exiting ruins, they climbed up a steep staircase and reached a small platform. There was a very large circular hole in the middle of it.

"What happened here?" Seth asked. He knelt down and inspected the hole carefully. "Did something used to be here?"

Meanwhile, Gaia was busy surveying in the sky. It was still midday. "Hey guys, look at that!"

A stone platform was floating in the sky. And on it was a tall, blue-colored tower. It seemed to give off a majestic aura.

"What do you think that is?" the Grovyle asked.

"Something tells me that it isn't the dungeon that we're looking for. It's probably not very important." Alice replied.

They strode down a staircase at the opposite end. They walked into another clearing, only this one was paved with concrete.

In the middle, two graves lay side by side. Gaia walked over to them. The first once was labelled 'Dusknoir' and the second one was labelled 'Celebi'. On both graves the words 'I'm sorry' were carved.

"Who are these people?" Gaia asked. He felt solemn for some reason. It was like the spirits themselves were weeping. "Why do I feel so sad?" He picked some nearby some nearby flowers and lay them on the graves. He felt a little bit better.

"Gaia, what are you doing?" Alice asked.

"Paying my respects." He replied, "I just felt that I should do it." He turned around, "Let's go."

XXX

They followed a stone path to another section of the forest. At once, they were plunged into another dungeon. This one was called the Hidden Forestland. Like the ones before, this dungeon was also tough. It contained a large amount of high-levelled Grass and Bug type Pokemon. Gaia silently thanked the gods for Flare Blitz, Flamethrower and Fire Punch.

When they reached the thirtieth floor, a rocky clearing that looked out of place in the forest, they were greeted by an oversized and angry-looking Venasaur.

"GRAAAAAHHH!" it roared. Its roar was equal to a small gale.

Gaia flashed the Spirit Sword in his hands. "I'll take care of this." He said. "Burn Kyuubi!"

A menacing looking fox completely made of fire briefly appeared behind him, before transforming into a gigantic stream of fire. The Venasaur was knocking off its four feet, its skin and leaves burning. Alice and Seth finished it off with their own fire attacks.

The behemoth disappeared in wisps of light. A staircase rose out of the ground.

XXX

Upon exiting the dungeon, they reached a small cavern entrance on the side of a cliff. A nearby sign read: 'The Hidden Dungeon'.

The Spirit Sword appeared in Gaia's hand.

"You guys ready?"

"Yes."

"Hell yeah!"

"Then let's go!"

It turned out that the cavern only consisted of one room. Mary the Mawille was standing in the middle of it. Seth was a tad disappointed that there was no spelunking to be done.

"You're the guardian of the Iron Plate, right?" Gaia asked.

Mary nodded. "Let us skip the formalities." She reached into the large mouth on the back of her head and pulled out a long and deadly looking katana. Gaia tensed up. So did Alice. Seth was a bit disgusted that the woman in front of him had just pulled a weapon from her mouth.

"How good are you in fencing?" Mary asked. Her blade charged up with a strange, blue energy, "This is my Kusanaji Blade. And with it I shall test your strength! Begin!"

Destonia! Cup! Golden!

I am the wielder of the Spirit Sword.

My duty is to protect Destonia from the forces of darkness.

I have the kingdom from the evil king and I will continue to serve the Royal Family

Now, it would be much easier…

"…if these crazy people stopped chasing me!"

Even the Pokemon world, paparazzi existed. For those who don't know, a paparazzi's job is to chase a famous person around, take pictures and write stories about them and generally be a total nuisance for a period of time.

Since the young guard successfully saved Destonia from the evil king, he instantly became famous. The good news was that he received the OU rank. The bad news was that people mobbed him, either wanting an interview and wanting to be his girlfriend.

"Dammit!" he growled to himself, "Where the hell can I hide?" Then he spotted the castle in the distance. "Perfect!" He clapped his hands together and shouted 'Agility!"

Instantly he could feel himself speeding up.

"So long, suckers!" he shouted gleefully as he ran into the distance.

When he reached his castle, the young guard would find that there were even more paparazzi around. He eventually would have to be saved by Princess Leafia herself, who summoned gigantic, flesh-eating plants to scare the annoying pests away.

Intermission IV

"I shall crush you." Mary gripped her glowing Kusanaji blade in her right hand and swung it forward, sending a black arc of energy shooting forward. Gaia quickly blocked it with Mirror Coat, sending the blast shooting back.

By the time he had finished executing the move, Mary suddenly appeared behind him, her blade ready to strike. Gaia swung around, blocking the Mawille's blow just in time. She backflipped away, landing on the opposite side of the room.

"Don't forget about us!" Seth threw a Fire Punch. Mary concentrated and a stream of blue fire burst out from the tip of her blade. "Helios 2!" The blue flames actually put out the red flames on the Fire Punch and actually burned Seth. He cursed and quickly commenced healing himself.

Alice roared and let loose a stream of fire from her mouth. Mary concentrated again and this time a gust of wind came out. It blew the fire away. She then lunged forward and tried to slash A lice in the chest. The Gabite jumped back just in the nick of time. But somehow, she still got slashed.

"How…?" Alice managed to gasp out.

"Surprised?" Mary said coolly, "This is one of the Kusanaji Blade's powers. It has an extended range. Even if the metal part does not connect, the energy part will!"

She swung forward again. Alice let loose another Flamethrower. Mary was forced to make a hasty retreat. Some of the flames struck her, making her hiss with pain. Gaia ran forward while she was distracted and managed to slash the side of her oversized second mouth.

"Cold 3."

The air in the cave suddenly got a lot colder. Gaia and Alice started to shiver. They could feel some of their strength leaving their bodies.

"Flare Blitz!" Gaia shouted, charging his sword up with fire. The temperature around him rose. Alice followed her example. She tipped her head backwards and fire gathered in her mouth.

Mary dodged the Flare Blitz and put out the Flamethrower with another blast of wind. But she didn't see Seth's Fire Punch that was coming her way.

WHAM.

The Mawille was sent skidding along the rocky floor, her left cheek burning. She gritted her teeth. Being a Steel-type, the pain from the Fire-type attack was incredible. Thankfully, the damage seemed more external than internal. Still, why the hell had she been unmotivated to learn healing spells when alive?

"Time to finish you off." She swung her blade in a wide arc, the blue energy on it shimmering and stretching. Gaia, Seth and Alice all were slashed by it.

Gaia lunged forward and attacked. Mary blocked it again. But the Grovyle was stronger than her and managed to parry the blow. Then he slashed the Mawille downwards on the face. A thin red line was created on Mary's face. She gently touched it for a moment. Then she roared.

"Blast 4!"

The force of the red explosion threw Gaia backwards into a wall. It was then that he learned his fiftieth lesson about women: never damage their face, even if they were a mercenary in a past life.

"First Dance: White Fang!" Mary gripped the Kusanji blade tightly and executed a series of complicated moves, spinning and twirling, giving her the appearance of a graceful yet deadly dancer. Gaia blocked the swings, then forced them off with a burst of energy and yelled, "Counter!"

The force of the move didn't knock Mary back, but the raw energy surging through her body hurt like hell. She growled and shouted, "Gust 1!" Wind knocked the Spirit Sword out of Gaia's hands. Then Mary yelled, "Second Dance: Silver Moon!" She got a few quick slashes in before an enraged Alice tackled her into a wall.

"Wait up!" Seth threw another Fire Punch, this time hitting the Mawille's left cheek.

Gaia struggled to his feet. He reached into his item bag, then cursed abruptly as he realized that all items disappeared as soon as someone entered a guardian's territory. Then again, he had used up most of them in the past three dungeons.

He wanted to end this now. He was tired from trekking around in the Hidden Land all day. And the current fight wasn't really helping. He gripped his blade tightly and started charging it up with a huge amount of fire energy.

"Alice, Seth! Get out of the way!" he shouted. The two of them realized what was about to happen and jumped out of the way, not wanting to get in the path of the powerful attack.

"BURN, KYUUBI!" The flaming fox appeared behind Gaia before rushing forward and swallowing Mary in its wrath. The Mawille screamed as the fire burned away her skin. All other pain she had felt in the past paled in comparison to this one.

When the fire receded, Mary was kneeling on the ground, her Kusanji blade half-melted and multiple third degrees burns covering every inch of her body.

"You win…" she gasped. It was painful to speak, "Take the Iron Plate…"

A stone slab the color of steel appeared in a flash of light and fell to the ground. Gaia picked it up and shoved it into his empty bag. A blue portal shimmered and appeared in the middle of the room.

"Now go back to Sage Forest, the fifteenth guardian is waiting for you. I wish you luck…" Mary's body flickered for a second or two before fading away. The Kusanaji blade hardened and cracked into tiny pieces, before dissipating into small orbs of light.

XXX

In the stone room, the statue of a Mawille cracked in the middle before splitting in half and falling to the ground.

Now there was only once occupant left—Leafia, guardian of the Meadow Plate and former princess of Destonia.

"I'm the only one left…" she muttered sadly, as if not quite believing it, "That means the time is coming soon…"

She turned around and gazed at the wall in front of her. It was decorated with ornate markings. Fifteen square holes were located in a circle. At the very middle, there was the image of the Spirit Sword.

"Don't worry, my love." Leafia whispered, gently stroking the wall as if it were a person, "Gaia is coming soon to release you from your torment…"

XXX

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Princess Elisa whined.

A whole day had passed from the battle with Mary and the exploration of the Hidden Land. Since there was nothing left to do in Destonia, Team Enforcers had decided to pack up and leave. However, not everyone wanted them to go.

"Why can't you guys stay and play with me?" the young Eevee begged.

"Elisa! Behave your self!" Queen Elizabeth said sharply, "Gaia, Seth and Alice have responsibilities! Do you want them to save the world or not? They can't do that if they stay in Destonia and keep you company."

"Aww…" Elisa pouted, but said no more.

"Thank you Team Enforcers, for all that you have done. I wish all of you a safe trip and good luck saving the world." Queen Elizabeth said.

"Thank you, your majesty." Gaia said, "We'll be going now."

"Bye Gaia! Bye Alice! Bye Seth!" Don't forget to write!" Elisa cried out as she watched them walk through the castle gates.

XXX

They boarded a cruise liner heading to Treasure Town, meaning that they now had five days to relax. It would probably the last bit of recreation they would have in a while.

On the night of the third day, Alice asked Gaia to come into her room.

"What's this about?" he asked.

"Something important." Alice said seriously.

They entered her room. For some reason the curtains were drawn, making the whole place dark.

"Wait, what the hell?" Gaia asked. That was the last thing he said before Alice slammed the door shut and tackled him onto the bed.

"Alice!" he growled, realizing that his girlfriend was on top of him. His words were cut off as Alice placed a passionate kiss on his lips. Her tongue slowly slid into his mouth. He couldn't do anything but kiss back. Soon, he settled into the pleasure that it brought him. Then he felt a shot of lust when Alice started caressing his body with her hands.

"Alice, what are you—"

"I love you Gaia." Alice whispered, "I love you so much. You could die in the battle with Darkrai. I don't want you to die. But you could. So before you go, I want to kiss you and cuddle you. I want to share my bed with you."

"You mean we're having sex?" Gaia cried, blushing heavily.

Alice smiled gently at him. "No, not today." She placed a kiss on Gaia's neck and gently licked the spot. Then she moaned in pleasure when he starting massaging her chest.

XXX

When they arrived in Treasure Town, they were given a warm welcome. All of their friends wanted to know about their adventures. But Gaia told them they would tell them once this huge mess was over.

"Hey Janua," Seth said, "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" Janua asked.

"This." Seth grabbed his girlfriend and promptly kissed her. Everyone gasped. Riley smiled proudly. Mitt was shocked. Raydir wasn't.

"So, do you want to go on a date?" Seth asked happily once he let go. Then he realized that Janua had fainted with a big smile on her face.

"Oh, crap."

XXX

Gaia and Lord Garrett were having tea in his exquisite garden. After taking a sip, Gaia reached into his item bag and pulled Terra's Mind Diary.

"You were friends with Terra, right?" he asked.

"I was." Garrett replied, "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"This was his Mind Diary. I thought you might like it." Gaia passed the diary over to the table. Garrett slowly picked it up and examined it.

"Interesting. I'll keep this. Thank you." To tell the truth, Garrett was extremely excited. He had always wanted to find out why his friend had mysteriously disappeared. Perhaps this diary would give him some clues. The only reason why he wasn't showing his emotions was that it was unbefitting for the leader of a great clan.

"So, am I to realize that you spent one night making out with my daughter in her bed?" he asked.

Gaia spat his tea out, "How to you know about that?" he cried.

Garrett pointed to a spot on the Grovyle's neck. "The hickey is still there. It's faint, but still visible."

XXX

Now Team Enforcers were in the Sage Forest village. They were standing in front of the statue of Princess Leafia. It was raining moderately.

Gaia formed the Spirit Sword in his hands and tapped the statue with it. There was a rumbling sound and a strange blue aura surrounded the statue. Then it disappeared in a burst of bright light, forcing the three explorers to shield their eyes.

There was now a hidden staircase leading downwards.

"Let's go." Gaia said. The three of them took a deep breath and prepared to enter Princess Leafia's tomb.

XXX

Leafia was resting in the beautiful garden at the very bottom of her tomb when she saw the door open. They had arrived. She got up.

"Are you the guardian of the Meadow Plate?" Gaia asked.

"I am."

He formed the Spirit Sword in his hand. "Then you know what we must do?" Gaia, Seth and Alice all got into fighting stances.

Leafia stared at Gaia. That expression was one of determination. It spoke of someone who was completely willing to throw their life on the line to save their friends. It was a familiar expression. It was one she had seen on his predecessor.

She had no motivation to fight. Just looking at it reminded her of the one she loved. Tears formed in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot fight you." She said sadly.

"Huh, why not?" Gaia demanded, "What's the deal with that?"

"Because you remind me of your predecessor. He had the same look as you did whenever he charged into a battle. He was the man I loved most." Leafia whispered. Her tears ran down her cheeks and dripped onto the grassy ground, "I know that the two of you aren't related, but I can't fight you. I would be fight like fighting him and I could never do that."

"Then tell me, who was my predecessor?" Gaia said, "I've been wanting to know for a very long time."

Leafia took a deep breath, "He was like you. He was a Grovyle. He was the once and only Legendary Grovyle."

The 5th graveyard

Gaia had seen a lot of weird stuff in his life. Once, he fought a sadistic female Dragonite who used a drug called Dream Dust to force Alice's father to do his will. Then came the Shadow Pokemon. They were pretty freaky too. After that, there was the truth that he was the wielder of the Spirit Sword and destined to save the world.

But this took the cake. He could feel some of his history lessons crashing down around him.

"W-what the hell?" he gasped, "The Legendary Grovyle was my predecessor? How is that even possible?" Next to him, Alice and Seth were equally shocked. Whatever they had been expecting, this wasn't it.

Leafia stared sadly at the trio. "I knew this would happen. I knew that you would not believe me. But it is true."

Gaia shook his head to clear away the shock he was feeling. The person standing him was royalty, even if she was dead. He had to show some respect. "I'm sorry, Princess Leafia, but what you are saying is completely unbelievable. We simply cannot accept that as fact."

More tears flowed from the princess's eyes, "Even in death, my love gets no recognition," she wept, "As much as it tears me to say this, there are important things right now. Grovyle rests in the 5th Graveyard right now, guarding the Draco Plate with his life."

"The 5th graveyard?" Gaia asked, "Where's that?"

"At the very top of the Ruined Tower located to the east." Then she did something very strange. Leafia knelt down to the ground and lowered her head, as if she were bowing. Given the fact that she was royalty, the three members of Team Enforcers were confused. "Please release him from his torment! He has been trapped there for one thousand years. None of the guardians have been able to contact him. I love him so much and yet we were separated. Please Gaia, I beg you, free my love from his madness!" She broke down crying, not bothering to hide her tears.

Gaia had no choice. He had to say yes. "I promise I will."

"Thank you." Leafia said. She unhooked a pendant around her neck and placed it on the ground. "Please, take this pendant. Grovyle gave it to me on my birthday. I hope that it will awaken him so that he can find his true self…"

XXX

After Leafia gave him the Meadow Plate and disappeared into the afterlife, Gaia's promise dissipating her grief and regret, Team Enforcers left the princess's tomb and went back to Treasure Town.

Along the way to the Kecleon Mall for supplies, they met Lord Garrett. He was holding Terra's diary in his claw.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Alice questioned. Garrett ignored the question and face Gaia instead.

"Gaia, is it true that you are Terra's son?" he asked.

"Well, according to the diary, yes." Gaia said.

"I see."

There was a brief pause. Garrett walked over to Gaia and hugged him. The Grovyle's eyes widened in shock. Alice and Seth gasped. "F-father!" she stammered, "What are you doing?"

"What else?" Garrett replied, "I am greeting my godson."

"Godson?" Gaia squawked, "Sir, what are you talking about?"

Garrett let go of Gaia and began to explain, "A long time ago, Terra jokingly commented that if he had a child, he would want me to be the godfather. Yet I was sure he was serious. The least I can do is honor his wish."

"Wait, why did you take it so seriously? It was just a joke." Gaia said.

"Even if Terra had not said what he had said, I would have made you my godson anyway." Garrett said neutrally. He turned around and headed back to his extravagant house, leaving the Grovyle completely confused as to what was going on.

XXX

The next day, when they reached the Ruined Tower located in the middle of a forest to the north-east of Treasure Town, they discovered that it was a one-Pokemon dungeon.

"What the hell?" Seth cried, "Only one of us is allowed to go in? This is shit!"

Gaia sighed and formed the Spirit Sword in his hand. "This is going to suck. The Ruined Tower is a seventy-level dungeon. Looks like I have to go in alone." He made a few steps to the entrance, but was pulled back by Alice.

She kissed him briefly on the lips before letting go. "For luck," she whispered softly, "You better come back alive though!"

Gaia nodded and smiled, "I promise I will." He entered the dungeon. The stone door dotted with carvings closed behind him.

XXX

All was fine in Treasure Town. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the residents were going on their daily lives. Nothing could go wrong today!

Murphy's law decided to activate itself right at that time. First of all, clouds covered the sun, blocking it out. Several Pokemon looked up to see what was going on. Then, black orbs of darkness fell from the sky. They congregated on the ground and formed Pokemon, only these ones were colored black and purple. A few people were becoming to get scared. This was unnatural. And the public was scared of the unnatural.

Finally, there was a loud rumbling sound. Cracks appeared in the ground. Gigantic Shadow Pokemon burst free from the earth and surveyed the town, looking for prey.

There was silence. Then the screaming began.

"So, the Shadow Pokemon have come." Master Dusk said softly. He had a feeling this would happen. It was time to fight.

But where was Gaia?

A nearby Shadow Growlithe lunged at him. He swung his fist at it, destroying it instantly. He may be nearly sixty years old, but he hadn't gained the reputation as the strongest Pokemon in Treasure Town for nothing.

XXX

When Alice and Seth arrived at the town two hours later, they were shocked to see destruction and devastation taking place.

"No!" Alice cried out. This had come completely out of nowhere. And with Gaia in the Ruined Tower, he was unable to fight the Shadow Pokemon.

"Dammit, what do we do?" Seth cursed.

"What else?" Alice shouted back, "We fight!" She charged at a nearby Shadow Dragonite, her claws radiating energy.

Ruined Tower, Floor 40

Gaia was leaning against a stone wall with his hand, breathing heavily. This dungeon was hard, maybe even harder than the Hidden Land. Thank Arceus for Reviver Seeds. He had brought fifteen of them into the dungeon. Now he only had twelve left.

He looked up and saw a Chatot flying through the air at him. He gave it a quick slash. It squawked, fell to the ground and didn't move.

Unlike most mystery dungeons, whose Pokemon changed every ten or so floors, the Pokemon in the floors of the Ruined Tower were always the same. Gaia had seen Chimchars, Piplups, Digletts, Dugtrios, Croagunks, Bidoofs, Loudreds, Chimechos, Sunfloras, Chatots, Wigglytuffs, Dusknoirs and Sableyes. The Wigglytuffs proved the hardest of all enemies. It usually took more than three moves to take them down.

Gaia kept moving. He couldn't afford to complain or give up. He had to save the world.

XXX

"Where's Gaia?" A behemoth of a Shadow Arbok demanded. It was currently terrorizing an innocent family, "Where is he?"

"L-l-leave us alone!" the young Elekid of the family whimpered.

"So you won't tell me? Then I guess I'll have to kill you!"

Alice ran out of nowhere and leapt up. She landed on the Shadow Arbok's head and began to slam her claws downwards. They pierced the brain, killing the monster immediately.

"None of you bastards are taking Gaia away!" she roared furiously, "I am going to marry that boy someday and anyone who gets in my way is dead!"

XXX

Seth was busy healing injured people. There were too many of them. There were also too many Shadow Pokemon. He and his father were in a reinforced barrier, set up by the Psychics of the town.

He finished healing a nasty wound on a Kecleon. He was tired and wanted to rest, but there was no time for that.

Gaia, come back soon! We need your help!

Ruined Tower, floor 69

The Grovyle threw down a Petrify Orb, forcing everyone except him in the room to stop in their tracks.

It was simple for him to walk up the nearby staircase.

Ruined Tower, floor 70

He was standing in a circular stone room. He saw toppled statues arranged in a circle. Their heads had crashed to the ground, leaving the torsos behind.

This was strange, to say the least.

"Are these the guardians?" he asked himself. Closer examination proved his hypothesis to be true.

At the very back, there was a stone wall. Fifteen square holes were placed there. Gaia knew what he must do. He walked over to it and placed all of his fifteen plates in the holes.

There was a rumbling sound, and Gaia saw the door open. There was a brilliant flash of light, and he knew no more.

A long time ago, Pokemon were controlled by humans.

Some time after that, the Pokemon got sick of being controlled. They rebelled. They wanted to live separately from humans.

One man tried to make that a reality. He was a human, and his name was N. He had been raised by Pokemon with minimal human interactivity and therefore sympathised with the Pokemon.

Eventually, Pokemon and human clashed in a battlefield known as Victory Road. There were many casualties. An entire group, known as the fifth generation of Pokemon, was wiped out.

N used the powers of the Yin-Yang two Pokemon, Reshiram and Zekrom, to create an alternate dimension where Pokemon could live in peace. He gladly sacrificed his life to make that a reality.

But what was left over? The humans were also sent to an alternate dimension. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova were abandoned, now nothing more than empty wastelands. The oceans had been sucked into the Pokemon dimension, ensuring that no more life could grow. The bodies of humans and Pokemon scattered the land, eventually succumbing to the forces of wind and erosion. It was a mass graveyard.

Arceus, watching over the battle, dubbed it was the 5th Graveyard.

It would be over two thousand years before a living creature entered the empty dimension.

It was a graveyard. Anyone else who saw these barren lands might pass it off as another planet.

It wasn't. It was once the human and Pokemon world. But it all went wrong. A war happened, and both sides were separated.

Nothing was left, and nothing would continue to be there.

Except one thing.

In the middle of a plain, a lone Grovyle sat hunched over, his hands gripping the hilt of a worn and cracked blade.

He was the Legendary Grovyle, the previous wielder of the Spirit Sword. He had been banished here as part of the ritual of sealing Darkrai away.

He couldn't die. Guardians only died once they were beaten. For a thousand years, he had sat here, between life and death.

He lay in grief, allowing only sorrow and hatred to fill his mind. For a thousand years, the sorrow and hatred had built up, erasing everything else.

He knew that he had loved someone before, but that, like all other memories, had disappeared.

Only two memories remained, both negative ones.

He was lying on the ground before a monster, utterly beaten. He had failed. Dead bodies of Destonia's proud soldiers lay around him.

Darkrai smirked at him in mid-air. Darkness seemed to radiate out of pore in his skin. It wasn't a good smile or a calming smile. It was a smile full of malice, cruelty and pride. It was a smile of someone who knew that he had won.

"What a sorry sight you are, Legendary Grovyle." Grovyle struggled with all his might, trying to get up, but he his legs and arms wouldn't move. Darkrai laughed evilly before disappearing into the night.

And…

He was trapped between four ice pillars. Pure energy radiated out of them, forcing him into mid-air. His life was being drained away.

Below him, Dusknoir cackled evilly, detailing his plans of stealing Grovyle's body and going back in time. The man had betrayed him! Grovyle had trusted him, let his guard down, only to walk right into a trap. Celebi was helpless, trapped by Spiritomb's power.

The future would never be saved…

Suddenly, Grovyle noticed something. Strange sounds like the groans of despair echoes deep inside him.

"Da…rk…rai"

He slowly got up, the ancient bones inside him creaking,

"Dusk…noir..."

The sword was lifted out of the ground.

"DARKRAI! DUSKNOIR!"

With a sudden burst of speed, Grovyle raised his head and let loose a roar of fury. The earth around him shook with the intense anger.

Grovyle lowered his head and glared out into the distance. The evil was there, he knew it.

Celebi…everyone…finally…I will end this…

The light faded away. Gaia opened his eyes to see a wasteland in front of him. And there was another Grovyle.

This one had bloodshot eyes. Its skin was rough and dirty. Scars lined its arms and legs. An expression of pure rage was etched on its face.

It was also carrying a Spirit Sword by its side. But this one was old, the wind having done some damage.

"Are you the Legendary Grovyle?" Gaia asked.

"Darkrai…" The Grovyle didn't see Gaia, only the image of Darkrai. He was hallucinating. Then he noticed something. There was familiar pendant around his foe's neck.

At once, he remembered the name of the person who he loved. "Leafia…" he moaned, sadness washing over him. Then it was replaced by rage.

How dare this person kill the woman he loved? The woman that he had cared for for so long? HOW DARE HE?

"You killed Leafia! I'll kill you!"

He raced forward, then hesitated.

Gone was Darkrai. In its place was a young Treecko, its eyes innocent and shining.

Then it was gone, replaced by the image of Darkrai, smirking and ready to fight. Grovyle ran forward again and swung his blade.

The battle had begun.

Gaia vs Grovyle

Darkrai teleported into the battlefield, cackling madly. He sent pulses of dark energy from his body, instantly killing half of Destonia's forces. The stronger ones had their minds corrupted and transformed into Shadow Pokemon. Grovyle was forced to cut them down where they stood. Some of those soldiers had been his friends. It only made his rage stronger.

He had almost reached Darkrai when someone suddenly appeared out of a dark portal.

Doryuuzu.

The armoured mole, black fur covering its body and a hazy purple line across its chest, smirked nastily before drawing his own weapon. The apprentice's lust for power and darkness possibly exceeded his master's…

A brief memory flashed into Grovyle's mind. He quickly shook it off. There were more important things to be done. Darkrai was right in front of him, and he was about to get his comeuppance.

"Darkrai…"

Gaia was confused. This Grovyle insisted on calling him Darkrai. But he wasn't a Legendary Pokemon. He was himself.

The guardian in front of him seemed different from the rest. Maybe it was the fact that he had a Spirit Sword. Or maybe it was the look in his eyes. It spoke of boiling rage, paralysing hatred and eternal revenge. This guy was out to kill him, Gaia knew it.

Was he really the Legendary Grovyle? He had to check.

"Are you the Legendary Grovyle?" he asked.

"Your beloved Leafia is gone…I raped her personally…" that was what Grovyle heard. The hallucinations were getting worse. He saw Gaia as Darkrai now. He let loose a roar of fury before charging forward. Gaia managed to block the strike in time. Grovyle followed it up with another attack, forcing Gaia to jump backwards.

The Legendary Grovyle was good. He was better than Gaia had expected. He got the feeling that he may have bitten off more than he could chew.

"Flame Wheel!" A ring of fire formed itself around Grovyle's body and he lunged forward. Gaia's eyes widened. This was new. Upon arriving here, he had expected that Grovyle's elemental attack would be same as his own.

Obviously this was not the case.

The flames knocked Gaia off his feet and he landed a few feet away. There was a burn across his chest. "Synthesis!" he cried out, pointing his blade in the air. Green leaves formed around it before disappearing. The burn was healed.

Grovyle saw Darkrai clench a young Aurelis in his hand. The Riolu was unconscious, a dead look on his face, and his face was rapidly turning blue. Then Darkrai focused his power and drained Aurelis's life force away. The Riolu was dropped to the ground, now an empty shell.

"He was a foolish brat, thinking he could play hero on the battlefield." He didn't give me much energy…" Darkrai laughed, "But perhaps you will!"

Grovyle had enough. He wouldn't let anymore of his friends get killed. They were most important things in his life. He raised his sword.

"Ultima Attack: Hailstorm!"

There was a rumbling sound, and dark clouds gathered in the sky. The air suddenly got five times colder. What was going on? Gaia started shivering. Grovyle seemed to be unaffected.

Blocks of ice, as big as soccer balls, fell from the sky. Gaia quickly cast Mirror Coat above him, protecting him from the attack. Unfortunately, the shield didn't hold up and the hair pelted him, breaking a few bones. He cast Synthesis again and stood up, breathing heavily.

"It's my turn now," he said, "Stealth Rock!" Pointed stones burst from the round and floated into the air.

"Die…" Grovyle raised his blade in the air and concentrated. White aura covered it. Then she ran forward, eyes full of hatred.

Before he even got halfway, the all of Stealth Rock stones slammed into his body, cutting a few wounds.

"Hahahaha…" In Grovyle's mind, the sound of the air rushing and the rock breaking was drowned out by the familiar laugh of Darkrai. He narrowed his eyes and the rage inside him grew twice as large.

"Metal Sound!" Before he had a chance to react, Gaia's Steel-type attack knocked him off his feet, the screeching sound lowering his defences.

Grovyle saw Darkrai, tear off Yuxai's head and shove it down his throat, laughing evilly.

"Thunderbolt!" Twin bolts of lightning crashed down from the sky and struck Grovyle on the forehead. Due to type matchups, the attack wasn't as stronger as it would have been, but it was good for long-range.

"ENOUGH!" Grovyle roared, lifting his Spirit Sword to the sky once more, "Ultima Attack: Psycho Shock!"

A purple aura glowed around Gaia. He could feel his body being torn apart.

It was very, very painful.

"AAAAARRRGHHH!" Gaia dropped to his knees, clutching his chest. Grovyle lunged forward and tried to stab his opponent in the chest. But Gaia moved at the last second and the blade ended up piercing his shoulder instead.

Gaia pushed the sword out of his shoulder, wincing at the pain and cast Synthesis once more.

"Flare Blitz!" he shouted. Fire coated his sword and he hacked and slashed, pushing Grovyle back and ripping huge burns and wounds in his spiritual body.

"Is that all you've got, little Grovyle?" Grovyle heard Darkrai snicker, "Look at you. You were much stronger last time. You're pathetic! You couldn't even save your beloved princess!"

"Shut…up!" Grovyle channelled all of his rage and hatred into his next attack. "JUDGEMENT!"

A beam of light burst up from the tip of his sword and shot up to the sky. Clouds parted, revealing the sun. Gaia shielded his eye with his arms to protect himself from light.

A larger beam of light shot down from the sun and enveloped Grovyle. Gaia could feel the power radiating from it.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked himself.

The beam of light faded away and Grovyle was nowhere to be seen.

"What? Where did he go?" Gaia cried.

SKLITCH!

Gaia looked down to see a sword sticking out of his chest, its blade glowing with holy power. He turned around and saw Grovyle standing behind him.

"No…"

Blood burst out from his mouth and Gaia fell face-down on the ground, beaten.

He had lost.

Grovyle had imagined this moment for years. He would stand over Darkrai's beaten form, watching him beg for mercy and his life. Then he would pierce the evil monster's heart, enjoying the rush of satisfaction and rage.

There was only one problem. It had been too easy. Darkrai had gone down within minutes. This wasn't right.

Bending down to check if the form was really Darkrai, he accidentally clutched Princess Leafia's pendant.

Then he was assaulted by the most vicious stream of memories yet.

The princess smiled, gently kissing the warrior on the lips. The battle was over, and the two of them had fallen in love in the process.

They were resting in her private garden, hidden away from the rest of the castle. It was the perfect place to relax.

"Grovyle," Leafia whispered fondly, laying her head on her lover's chest, "I will always love you…"

Grovyle staggered backwards, clutching his head. Emotions were clashing inside him, happiness mixing with sadness and despair…

Doryuuzu jumped off the cliff, aiming for Grovyle and Leafia. If he could not kill the King, then would take out the queen.

Twin drills fired, from his claws, hit Leafia dead on in the middle.

Just like that, she was cut in half.

Something snapped inside Grovyle. White markings started to cover his face, giving him a fearsome expression. His heart raced faster and faster, his blood turning into fire, trembling fingers clenching his Spirit Sword…

Darkness, locked away in his soul by the spirit of his blade, erupted inside him. Black aura shimmered around him. He panted and snarled, the power waiting to be released from its bonds…

Grovyle clutched his head in grief, clawing at the skin in grief, fighting his emotions.

"No…why…?"

He couldn't relieve that. Not again…

A string of blue energy was connecting Darkrai and Grovyle. The dark lord was draining the darkness from the warrior's body, filling himself was strength.

Grovyle was consumed with a sense of hopelessness. He had given himself into the darkness, and thus fallen into his trap. The world would be destroyed.

Leafia…

Aeros…

Wes…

Yuxai and Marly…

Everyone would die because of him. He had been too weak.

He had failed.

And then he remembered something else. A spark of light, locked away by a millennia of despair and rage, blossomed in his soul.

He was floating down through time. He had begged Arceus, God of Everything, for a second chance and had been granted it.

He saw a young Treecko, standing in a stone platform in the middle of space.

Who was this child? Why was he intrigued? He saw potential here, but why?

Then it hit him.

"My successor…" he whispered. And he smiled.

Grovyle collapsed to the ground, trembling violently. He didn't get up. The light inside of him was shining and shining, driving the darkness that his plagued his mind away.

That's right…

I'm Grovyle, wielder of the Spirit Sword, not some fool driven by rage…

I fell in love with Princess Leafia…

I failed in defeating Darkrai, but I know that all hope isn't lost.

That's because I have a successor…

His name is Gaia…

Took a level in badass

Gaia was in pain. His eyes were closed. What had happened? Why could he smell his own blood, mixed with the dust in the air?

Oh yeah, he remembered. He had lost to the Legendary Grovyle. The guardian's blade had pierced his body, spilling blood everywhere.

No. He couldn't lose.

If he did, the world would be destroyed! There would be no-one to fight Darkai, and he would win!

What about everyone in Treasure Town?

What about his friends?

What about Alice…?

Wait, the pain was receding. He felt something being pulled out of his body. No more blood was leaking out of the wound. Someone was healing him.

Who was it? He opened his eyes and saw the Legendary Grovyle staring down at him, hand on where the wound just was. Princess Leafia's pendant hung around his neck. "Are you Gaia?" he asked, looking concerned. He seemed less insane now.

Gaia's eyes widened. He crawled away from Grovyle. The Spirit Sword formed in his hand. "Y-y-you…" He wasn't quite sure what to say. This guy had tried to kill him, and now he was healing him? What was going on?

"Are you Gaia?" Grovyle repeated his question.

"Y-yeah," Gaia replied shakily, suddenly realizing that the person in front of him wasn't trying to murder him, "Wait, do you still see me as Darkrai?"

"Not anymore," Grovyle held up the pendant around his neck, "Touching my beloved's pendant brought me back to my senses. Thank you for bringing me it. Did Leafia put you up to it?"

"She did," Gaia said, "She was crying the whole time, talking about how the two of you were separated for one thousand years." At that point, a look of pain and regret grew of Grovyle's face, "She thought that you had gone mad in the 5th Graveyard and gave me the pendant in hope it would restore your sanity" Gaia continued, "Guess she was right."

Grovyle looked down at the ground, ashamed, "This is all my fault," he whispered sadly, "I wasn't strong enough to beat Darkrai. Because of it, I was separated from Leafia. Because of that, I drowned in my own hatred and sorrow and turned into a monster. I tried to kill my own successor. The shame I am feeling now is greater than anything else. Can you forgive me?"

"Sure," Gaia said, "It's was Darkrai's fault anyway. He's the one who tried to destroy the world. But," he frowned a bit, "How strong is he? You annihilated me and if you lost to Darkrai, I don't stand a chance."

This was really, really depressing. Fortunately Grovyle had a solution, "I have waited nearly a millennia for this. In order to defeat Darkrai, I'll add my power to yours." He stated.

"Wait, won't that chain you to the earth for another seventy years?" Gaia asked, "You and Leafia will be separated for even longer!"

"I only said I would add my power to yours. I'm not going to add my soul." Grovyle walked over and placed his hand on Gaia's forehead. Already he could feel the embrace of sweet death coming to him. "Gaia, the reason I picked you as my successor was because I saw potential. I believe that you will defeat Darkrai. Finish what I started and rid the world of darkness! Alone, we may be weak but with our powers combined, we're strong!"

Grovyle's body broke down into many spheres of light, which were absorbed by Gaia.

"Good luck…"

Gaia stood still for a moment. Then he collapsed down on his knees and clutched his chest. Raw energy was tearing inside his body, making him stronger. Unfortunately, it also came with pain. Lots and lots of it. His teeth were chattering. His eyes were squeezed shut. Inside his eyelids, his eyes were rolling in his sockets.

"GRAAAAAHHGGHHH!" he roared, toungue failing wildly.

Then it disappeared. A new power blossomed inside Gaia. It gave him a high and made him feel on top of the world.

"What is this?" he whispered, getting off the ground. How much times stronger was he now? Two times? Three times? Maybe even four times? Grovyle's power certainly had helped him a lot. Exactly how strong had he been when he was alive? "What is this power?"

He noticed a crimson slab of stone and a shining white crystal had been placed a nearby. After gaining their powers, he exited the graveyard through a shimmering blue portal.

XXX

The Pokemon of Treasure Town were fending off the Shadow Pokemon. And they were fighting a losing battle.

Lord Garrett cleaved a Shadow Vibrava in half with a Dragon Claw, sending its guts everywhere. Master Dusk threw two Fire Punches, sending a Shadow Glalie flying backwards. He finished it off with a Shadow Punch.

Seth was helping the medics. So far, he had consumed five Oran berries and a Max Elixir. He was still tired. After finishing healing the wounds of an unconscious Eevee, he nearly fell to his knees in exhaustion.

"Focus, son!" Riley spoke up. He wasn't as tired as Seth, due to have more experience, "We have to hold the Shadow Pokemon until Gaia gets here!"

But Gaia might be dead! Seth shook away that thought and stood up. "Understood," he said. Gaia would never die. He was too strong for that.

Alice was busy fighting like everyone else, shielding a family of three. Gaia, where are you? She fought desperately, We need your help!

XXX
When Gaia exited the portal, he was expecting to find himself outside the Ruined Tower.

He didn't expect to be in the middle of a war zone.

"Hey, where am I?" he asked, looking from left to right. Multiple craters were in the ground. Some buildings around him had collapsed. They looked familiar. Dust filled the sky. He swore he could hear screaming in the distance.

"GRAAAAGGHH!" That was roaring. Gaia turned around to see a large Shadow Arbok slithering its way, causing destruction as it moved. Instinctively he formed the Spirit Sword in his hand, "Holy shit! Shadow Pokemon!"

The Arbok lunged forward, trying to bite Gaia's head off. The Grovyle ran and slashed at its neck, trying to slit its throat.

The sword strike did more than that. The Arbok's head was sliced clean off. It landed a few feet away. Purple and black blood started flowing out of the monster's neck stump.

Gaia stared at his sword in shock. "Did I just do that?" he gasped, not believing his eyes. Then he grinned, "Man, I'm really strong now."

He went off in search of more Shadow Pokemon. They had to be exterminated.

XXX

CRASH!

A gigantic Aggron, much like the one that attacked at the stadium, burst out from the ground. Alice, Lord Garrett and Master Dusk got into fighting stances, ready to defeat it.

They didn't get a chance.

"DRAGON PULSE!" A wide arc of red and blue flew out of nowhere, striking the monster on the temple. The force of it was too stronger and the Shadow Aggron keeled over instantly, unconscious.

Alice's eyes widened. She recognized that voice. It belonged to…

"Gaia!"

The Grovyle jumped out from behind a pile of rubble. The Spirit Sword was in his hand.

"Alice? Lord Garrett? Master Dusk? What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"This is Treasure Town!" Alice shouted, "The Shadow Pokemon have invaded!"

Gaia was shocked, "WHAT?" he yelled out. Then his expression turned into a look of fury, "Those bastards! I'm going to kill them all!"

"MURRRR..." Gaia turned around to see that the Aggron was still getting up. And it looked pissed.

Okay, maybe I'm not that strong yet. "Ice Shard!"

Three spikes of ice flew forward and pierced the Aggron's abdomen, finally killing it.

"It's Gaia! I've found him!" A nearby Shadow Beedrill was in the distance, having spotted the Grovyle. Its voice carried to all its comrades. Almost instantly, all of the invading Shadow Pokemon gathered in the clearing.

Gaia was completely surrounded. All of the Shadow Pokemon were out to kill him. "Surrender, little Grovyle," a Shadow Duskull grinned maliciously, "And maybe we'll spare you."

"Haha, no." Gaia scowled. He lifted his sword into the air and concentrated with all his might. "JUDGEMENT!" he roared.

Light of all colors gathered at the tip of the blade. The Shadow Pokemon instantly shrunk away, the light burning their darkness-filled bodies.

"Augh!"

"The light…!"

"It burns!"

"LIGHT!" Gaia grabbed his sword and slammed in into the ground. Pillars of light erupted from the ground around him, filling the town with a blinding flash of white. Master Dusk could feel the power radiating from the attack. What is this? This power…it's unbelievable!

When the light cleared, the Shadow Pokemon were gone. Gaia was left standing there, looking completely normal. Everyone around him stared in amazement and shock.

"Impossible…" Lord Garrett whispered. He had seen a lot of crazy stuff in his life, but this the most shocking by far, "He took on a whole army and won. He's not even tired!"

"…it looks like I may have to give up my title," Master Dusk sighed.

Alice preferred a more hand-on method. She ran up to her boyfriend and kissed him on the lips. "Alice…" Gaia whispered, once they had let go. The two of them embraced tightly. "People were starting to think you were dead," Alice said softly, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, "I knew you weren't. You would never die."

"Of course I wouldn't." They let go. "Hey, does anyone know where the Temple of Ancients is? I've lost my map," Gaia shouted.

Seth rushed up to them, "Why?" he gasped.

"I'm gonna over there to face Darkrai."

XXX

They were in the stone hallway of the ancient temple. Gaia could see the statues and the space in the wall where the Spirit Sword had once been. The wall with the sixteen square holes was still there.

"It's been a long time…" Gaia mused. How long had it been since his start of his adventure? Was it roughly one month? He had no idea.

He walked up to the wall on the opposite side and placed all sixteen plates in the holes.

There was a brief pause.

The wall rumbled for a second, and slowly parted away to reveal a gaping black and purple mass. Everyone gasped. Gaia took a few steps back. He could feel the darkness radiating from it.

It was the portal to the Dark World.

"Gaia," Alice said, coming up the small stairs to him. She briefly kissed him, then spoke tearfuly, "Please don't die. I don't ever want to lose you…"

"Don't worry Alice!" Gaia said, grinning, "I won't lose. I'm really strong now!"

The dark world

"Urgh…"

Gaia was standing on a blackened plain in the opposite dimension of his world, the Dark World. He was trembling to head to toe.

The darkness was overpowering. He didn't expect for there to be this much. It clouded all of his senses, obscuring his sight, irritating his nose, violating his touch and blocking his eyes. He felt terrible. Was this Darkrai's essence? Just how powerful was he?

Had he bitten off more than he could chew? He felt invincible in the World of Light, but here…

No, I can't think about that. I have to win. I have to save the world, for Alice and Seth and everyone…

He forced the feeling down inside him and started traversing the first section of the Dark World.

Like Kinesis had said, the dimension was a complete opposite from his world. Instead of the sun, there was the moon, which was partially blocked out by dark clouds. Plant life was pretty much non-existent, the few exceptions being dead trees that were somehow semi-transparent and glowed dark purple energy. The ground was made of hard black dirt.

He could hardly see anything. Then he noticed that the Spirit Sword was coated with white aura, providing a light source.

Was this thing sentinent, Gaia briefly wondered. He had absolutely no idea how to manipulate aura. Only Lucarios could do that.

He took a step forward, his footsteps making loud crunching sounds on the hart dirt.

A decayed hand of some Pokemon burst out from the ground and tried to grab his ankle. Gaia gasped in surprise, leapt back and gave it a quick slash. The rotten hand flew off into the distance, purple blood spewing out of the hole. A painful howl came from deep beneath the ground.

"RAAARGH!"

A beast of an Ursaring, fur colored black and blue and claws covered in blood, tore itself out from deep in the earth and faced Gaia. It's eyes were blood red, a terrible lust for killing in them. It struck towards the Grovyle, its claws glowing with shadowy energy. Gaia blocked the attack, focused his energy through the Spirit Sword and struck back with a Counter attack.

The Ursaring's head was cleaved in two. Its body fell to the ground, sticky purple blood spilling out of the head stump. Cockroaches swarmed from nowhere and started chewing the corpse.

Gaia stepped disgustedly around them and continued on. After walking for a while, fighting the darkness around him, he ended up crossing a narrow path through a winding gorge. Here, the rocks were stained with a luminous blue, lighting up the place.

A sound like sludge going down a drainpipe sounded. Several Shadow Grimers, their filthy bodies glowing dark green, slowly oozed out of the rock. The aura coating the Spirit Sword grew larger.

"Stealth Rock!" Pointed stones burst from the ground and floated in the air. They smashed into any Grimers that got close.

"Thunderbolt!" Yellow lightning crashed down from the sky, striking a Grimer and destroying it. Another one hurled a glob of sticky evil-smelling goop, hitting Gaia in the face. He frantically rubbed it off and killed it with a shift round of Ice Shards.

After sending the last Grimer to its grave with a Shadow Ball, Gaia went on. He walked down the narrow and rocky path, careful not to fall into the abyss below. Many times random Flying-types would swoop down and try to push him off. Thunderbolt quickly took care of them, although he nearly lost his footing once.

He eventually ended up at the start of a rocky slope. Since there was no other way to go on, he started climbing.

"Grrr…"

A Shadow Dugtrio popped out from a burrow hole and tried to bite Gaia on the leg. It succeeded and the Grovyle winced in pain. But he stabbed downwards onto the Dugtrio, killing it.

The wound was poisoned. Gaia could feel the toxic spreading through his veins. He felt queasy and nauseous. Taking out a Heal Seed from his bag, he swallowed it and immediately felt the poison receded.

Along the way, he had his legs chewed on by multiple Shadow Dugtrios, Digletts and Sandshrews. A quick stab usually took care of them. By the time he walked up the slope, his legs were coated in black dust.

Now it was a short way down to another plain. Here, the sky shifted from black to deep purple, bursts of lightning flashing around.

"I wonder how far I have to go…" he said to himself, stepping down the slope. Fortunately, no enemies attacked him here. But there was a welcome party waiting him at the bottom.

At the start of the plain, three gigantic Torterras stood there, eyes pale yellow and the threes on their backs withered and shrunk. Gaia knew what he must do.

"BURN, KYUUBI!" he shouted to the heavens. A massive fox made of fire appeared behind him, before rushing forward and burning the Torterras into ashes.

Gaia held the Spirit Sword, panting heavily. Even he had received the Legendary Grovyle's power, using an attack like that still made him tired.

XXX

He was walking through a forest. It wasn't as hard as it sounded, due to the fact that many of the trees were dead. The ground frequently changed colors, ranging from dark red to sickly dark green.

Now he had reached a clearing in the forest. There was nothing in sight, save for a few rocks.

Then purple flames surrounded the clearing, forming a literal ring of fire.

"What the hell!" he shouted, getting into a fighting stance.

From the ground, two large vines dripping with poison burst out. A Tangrowth climbed out from the ground, flailing its limbs around. Gaia leapt back and saw that it was coated with sludge.

"RAAAAAGHHH!"

The battle begun. The Tangrowth attacked by swinging its vines around. Since Gaia had no long range Fire attacks, he was forced to use Ice Shard.

The force of the attack pierced the Tangrowth's tough hide, making it bleed. It roared and flung a massive Energy Ball at Gaia. He didn't see it coming and took the full force of the attack.

"Yaargh!" He was blown away, skin smoking. After landing on the ground and getting up, he cast Synthesis on himself and stood up.

The Tangrowth gave no chance for him to recover and struck out with a Power Whip. Gaia countered the attack, sending raw energy into the Shadow Pokemon's system. It roared again and let loose another Energy Ball.

This time Gaia was ready. He activated Mirror Coat, sending the attack back at the monster. The sphere hit it square in the eyes, knocking it over.

"BURN, KYUUBI!" The powerful fire attack smashed into the Tangrowth, doing heaps of damage.

Well, that's what Gaia thought. When the smoke cleared, he was shocked the find that the monster wasn't harmed at all.

"What the hell?" he gasped. Any other words he may have said were shoved down his throat as he saw the monster get up. He decided to try another attack. "Dark Rush!"

Coating his sword with night energy, he rushed forward and cut the Tangrowth in five places. The blood only flooded out when the attack stopped.

"AAARGHH!" The Tangrowth slammed the ground with its vines, causing an Earthquake. Gaia stumbled and fell over, breaking a few bones. He cast Synthesis again and got up. He was just in time to see a vine slap him in the face and send him flying backwards onto the ground.

"Gah! Alright, no more mister nice guy!" After consuming an Oran berry to heal himself, he used Metal Sound. The harsh waves lowered the Tangrowth's special defense.

"Stratosphere!" Gaia was coated in wind energy. He sprang up in the air and landed down on the Tangrowth's head, sword pointing downwards. He leapt back up and repeated the combo for four times.

The Tangrowth still wasn't defeated yet. It opened its mouth wide and let loose a torrent of Sludge Bombs. Gaia formed another Mirror Coat to protect him against the attack, but it only lasted for three seconds and he got splattered anyway.

"Ice Shard!" Three sharp icicles burst out from the sludge and flew towards the Tangrowth. It just so happened that they were aimed at its heart.

More blood flew out from its heart. It keeled over immediately, dead.

Gaia doused the sludge off his body by using Waterfall near himself. He stood up and took another Heal Seed, just in case he was poisoned. He also ate an Oran Berry.

There was a glowing portal of darkness in the middle of the clearing. Gaia hesitated for a moment. Was it a trap. Then he realized that the purple flames around the clearing had not gone out. The portal was the only exit.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the portal.

He found himself standing at the bottom of a small cliff. A full moon was in the sky, and for once it wasn't obscured by the dark clouds.

And an army of Shadow Pokemon was gathered around them. He could see their hungry faces and their blood lustful eyes.

There was only one thing he could do. He raised the Spirit Sword into the air. "JUDGEMENT!"

A pillar of light descended from the sky, powering up the sword. He then plunged with weapon into the ground. Pillars of light rose in a circle around him, destroying all of the Shadow Pokemon.

There was something at the top of the cliff. He could feel it. A massive amount of darkness was emitting from it. The aura around the Spirit Sword blazed larger to counter it.

"Darkrai…" Gaia breathed. Was Darkrai here? He didn't know, but he wanted to find out. Gathering up all his courage, he walked up the cliff.

Right in front of the cliff, a shadow-like creature with a white, smoky substance billowing from its head and red material covering the area around its neck floated.

It was Darkrai.

"Gaia…" it growled.

The aura coated the Spirit Sword intensified, as if sensing the evil around them.

"So you're Darkrai," Gaia stated, "You tried to destroy this world and kill many of people in the process. Because of you, the Legendary Grovyle was banished into the 5th Graveyard. You separated him from Princess Leafia. You destroyed my home and tried to kill everyone I hold dear. I have nothing more to say to you. I'm going to kill you and save the world!"

"You are a foolish child, trying to oppress the darkness. Very well, if you wish to fight me, so be it…" He raised his hand and a misty black aura coated the area, obscuring everything.

When it faded, the two of them were standing in the middle of a graveyard. Old and weathered gravestones dotted the place and dead trees were everywhere.

"Let us begin!" A large scythe formed in Darkrai's right hand. He gripped it tightly and held it in front of him.

The final battle had begun.

Endgame

Dark clouds covered the sky. An eerie wind whistled through the graveyard as Gaia and Darkrai stared at each other.

"You have one chance. Surrender now and I will let you join me," Darkrai stated, completely neutral.

Gaia glared back him, "Hell no."

"So be it. You shall fall just like your predecessor. Gaia, show me your power!" Darkrai disappeared in a burst of shadow.

Gaia instinctively knew where the attack was coming and turned around just in time to block Darkrai's scythe. Light and dark auras clashed as both opponents tried to overpower each other. Gaia grunted as he charged with blade up with raw energy. With a mighty shove, he forced the energy of Darkrai's blow into the scythe, channelling it into the dark lord himself. "COUNTER!"

Darkrai was flung back and pain resonated through his body. He managed to hold on to his scythe. "Counter?" he queried, "Interesting. I didn't expect your moves to be different from Grovyle's. No matter, I will still destroy you. Shadow Blast!"

Blobs of darkness gathered in the air, forming a large sphere. A brilliant purple beam of energy then burst out from the sphere, destroying anything where it hit. Gaia ran around in circles to dodge it. When the attack ended, Darkrai let down his guard for just half a second. Gaia used that window of opportunity to fire some Ice Shards.

Darkrai spun around and slashed the Ice Shards into tiny fragments. "Is that the best you can do? Shadow Fire!"

Purple and black colored flames appeared in the air. They group together to form one giant flame, a wicked grin etched in it. Gaia summoned a Waterfall and attacked, putting out the fire. Darkrai flew behind the Grovyle, trying to slash him. Gaia activated Mirror Coat.

The solid wall of light blocked Darkrai's attack. Gaia spun around and quickly slashed the Legendary Pokemon while his guard was down.

A cut appeared on Darkrai's right arm. Red blood started leaking out of it, slowly dripping to the ground.

"It seems you have managed to obtain the first blood. However, it won't remain that way for long." He said calmly. He disappeared again and reappeared behind Gaia.

"Night Slash!" Gaia reacted too late. By the time he turned around, Darkrai's scythe had already pierced his shoulder. Darkness was already pouring into the wound. He grunted in pain and leaped back, forcefully tearing the scythe out.

"Synthesis!"

Green leaves and pink flowers appeared above the tip of the Spirit Sword. The wound was healed and the darkness inside it was cast out.

"Stealth Rock!" Pointed stones burst out from the earth and floated into the air. Darkrai stared at them, amused.

"Really? Stealth Rock? Very well, if you're going to set an obvious trap, then I shall destroy it! Shadow Wave!"

A portal opened up in the sky. A large mass of toxic purple water descended down from it, flattening the Stealth Rocks to the ground. The trap was gone.

But where was Gaia? He had somehow disappeared.

"Metal Sound." A shrill and piercing whine rang through the ear, causing Darkrai to flinch. Gaia was right behind him, casting the attack.

"Thunderbolt!" Lightning crashed down from the sky, striking Darkrai on the head.

"Enough!" the dark lord roared, "Shadow End!"

A mass of darkness formed around Darkrai. More and more shadow gathered, creating a swirling black and purple mass. He closed his eyes, ready for a powerful attack.

"JUDGEMENT!" A pillar of light shot down from the sky. It charged up Gaia's blade, the white aura around it tripling in size.

The two of them lunged at each other, their attacks clashing. Once again, light and darkness fought each other in a struggle for dominance. Gaia could see bloodlust in Darkrai's eyes and Darkrai could see determination in Gaia's.

There was an explosion. Graves were destroyed. The few broken trees that were there were snapped into bits, and then vaporized.

When the shock cleared, Gaia and Darkrai were standing on opposite ends of the ruined graveyard.

"It seems that you are strong." Darkrai noted, dissipating his scythe, "Very well, I will have to up the ante."

He summoned an orb of darkness. From it, wisps of blackness spread out, obscuring all vision and smothering everything.

When it faded, Gaia was standing in front of a castle. He turned around and recognized it.

It was the castle of Destonia's Royal Family. Yet it looked different somehow But that meant…

He looked around again and saw that he was in a battlefield. Miniature crates dotted the ground. Dead bodies and decapitated limbs lay everywhere. There was an overwhelming stench of blood.

"Where am I?" he whispered. His line of sight went up and he gasped.

There was a monster in front of him. It was as large as a two-story building. It had three heads, two of them where hands should have been. Six black wings sprouted from its back. A purple collar was around the top head.

It had a dead expression on its faces, as if it was a living corpse.

In addition to all that, Darkrai floated behind it. Blue strings, coming from his figners, were attached to the monster's six wings.

"Welcome to old Destonia." Darkrai stated, as if introducing a play, "This is Sazandora, the evil king Kinesis talked about and one of the last members of the 5th Generation of Pokemon. He was a pathetic puppet, being killed by a mere Grovyle. Let's see how you do against him!"

Sazandora was truly a beast. Gaia had never seen his species of Pokemon before. And what was the 5th Generation? Were Pokemon classified in generations a long time ago?

All of his questions were meaningless now. He had to defeat Darkrai, and Sazandora was in his way.

The old evil king was a giant. Gaia decided to use his most powerful moves right off the bat. Unfortunately, he had no idea what typing it was. But since it looked a bit like a dragon, it was safe to say that part of it was Dragon-type.

That meant Fire Fox, Frenzy Plant and Hydro Blast were no longer effective.

"Stratosphere!"

Wind swirled around the Spirit Sword and Gaia leaped up. He plunged his sword on the middle of Sazandora's right head. Before the left head would bite him to pieces, he jumped up again and did another downward thrust. He repeated the pattern four times before the right head completely split in half and fell to the ground.

It was a bit unnerving to see Sazandora's reaction—or rather, lack of. Because the giant flying dragon was essentially a corpse, there was no emotion on his face. Instead of blood, smoke poured out of the open wound.

Sazandora flew back and from its left head, an orb of purple energy started charging up.

It was only when the sphere of energy got close that Gaia saw that it was roughly the size of a small fortress. He would never be able to defect it with Mirror Coat.

So he chose the only option available. He ran. He saw the freakishly huge sphere obliterate the mock castle behind him and reduce it nothing than a pile of rubble.

The Legendary Grovyle actually killed this guy by himself? He thought frantically. That attack could destroy an entire army by itself! But now wasn't the time to panic. He lifted his sword to the sky.

"Stratosphere!" He bounced up again and landed on the right hand, splitting it in half after four strikes. He landed in front of the destroyed castle, reading to take out the third. Sazandora opened its main mouth wide and fired a powerful stream of fire. Gaia jumped above it and shot some Ice Shards, hitting the giant dragon's chest. Like before, it showed no emotion and continued to attack. After he concentrated, Gaia saw dark energy orbs falling from the sky.

He dodged left and right, trying not to get hit. Once the deadly rain stopped, he yelled out, "Synthesis!" and quickly healed himself. Then he fired Ice Shards at Sazandora's head, piercing one of the eyes. But since the dragon was already dead, this had no effect on his at all.

Great, it looks like I'll have to aim for the brain. Or probably cut Darkrai's strings…

He decided to take a chance. "BURN, KYUUBI!" A massive fox of fire burst to life in the air, greedily consuming oxygen, and rushed towards Sazandora's body.

The burst of flame enveloped the giant dragon. It seemed impressive, but when the fire cleared it could be seen that Sazandora had only taken superficial damage. But that wasn't the main point.

Darkrai had been forced to move back to avoid the attack. In his haste, he had let go of the strings. He was no longer in control of the puppet.

Sazandora's body fell from the sky and crashed to the ground. It crushed a whole brick wall under itself. One of its eyes rolled out onto the bloodstained grass. Dust was flung into the air.

The body quickly decomposed itself into a mound of black dust.

"So, you have beat then evil king," Darkrai said from his floating place in the air, "It seems that I may have underestimated you. However, it all ends here."

He summoned another orb of darkness and after another transition, the two of them found themselves back at the cliff in the Dark World.

"You are far too dangerous to be left alone. I am going to have to kill you. Shame, you could have been such a great apprentice."

Darkrai closed his eyes and began chanting a series of ritual words. Gaia gripped the Spirit Sword tighter. What was going on? He could feel a terrible darkness, stronger than before, emitting from the dark lord's body.

A flower appeared in the air through a blast of black energy. It followed with a sphere of clear liquid, a vial of various chemicals, a silver wing, a gold wing and other artefacts.

"Using Zoroark, I killed my brothers and sisters and took their artefacts. Now, I shall take their power and add it to mine!"

Gaia stepped back, horrorstruck, "You've been killing all of the Legendaries?"

"Indeed. Gaia, you now shall fall before the power of darkness! Your pathetic little hopes have been dashed!"

The artefacts were absorbed into Darkrai's body. He trembled for a moment, then an explosion of darkness was let loose. It tore back the soil, sending it flying into the air. Gaia was flung back like an abandoned toy being thrown from a toddler. He was slammed into a dead tree and gasped in pain.

Darkrai was now a giant. He loomed over the Grovyle, like a comet ever so slowly heading into the earth. Gaia realized that he was powerless against the dark lord. He was too weak.

"Goodbye." Darkrai shot out a pulsing sphere of purple and black energy. It hit Gaia and sent shockwaves through his entire body. The pain excruciating and it was worse than anything else than he had felt. It felt as if every molecule in his body was being torn apart.

He fell face down on the ground, the life draining from his system. NO! he mentally screamed, I can't lose! I can't lose! I have to win! He tried to move his body, but it didn't respond.

No no no no no! I have to save the world! I have to protect everybody! I have to finish what Grovyle started!

I have to win…

For Seth…

And Alice …

And everybody…

But deep down, he knew that he had already lost. The sense of failure was the worst torture Darkrai had inflicted on him.

Hmph, pathetic.

A new voice had suddenly appeared in his head.

Look at you. Lying on the ground, given up already. Are you going to let this asshole beat you? Where did all of your determination go?

Who are you?

Me? I'm the person who guided Grovyle through his adventures. I was locked away by the sealing ritual, but I've finally broken free. My name is Izanagi, the spirit of the Spirit Sword.

You…can you give me power?

Why should I?

Because I have to defeat Darkrai! I have to save the world!

Are you going to give up again?

Hell no! I will win! I will destroy him!

Izanagi paused and seemed to consider this.

It's been one thousand years. You better not fail, Gaia…

Darkrai was surprised to see white aura glow from Gaia's body. It grew higher and higher, until it was enough to make him flinch and retreat back. The Grovyle slowly stood up. White marks were starting to form on his body. One of his eyes was slowly turning black and white. There was an expression of fury on his face.

Darkrai recognized the aura, "Izanagi!" he hissed.

"That's right." Gaia said in a heavily distorted voice, "We meet again after one thousand years, Darkrai. I was manufactured by Arceus specifically to kill you, and now I will!"

"Against the two of us!" Gaia's normal voice said, "You have no chance. Let's finish this!"

After math

"Hehehe…"

The air was thick with raw power. On one side floated Darkrai, his body size multiplied by one hundred and the darkness around him twisting and suffocating everything. His eyes showed pure hatred and fury. The darkness seemed to react to his anger.

On the other was Gaia, light aura swirling around him, providing a shining beacon in the blackness. White marks were slowly stretching across his body, forming curved line. His eyes were turning red at a slow pace.

"Izanagi!" Darkrai roared, the environment trembling around him. Gaia, or Izanagi, didn't even flinch, "You have chased me to ends of earth, and now you have traversed space and time! Why won't you give up?"

"Give up?" Izanagi laughed nastily in Gaia's voice. It sounded distorted, as if he were underwater, "You expect me, a creature of war, to stop chasing a creature of the darkness such as you? Has the darkness driven you mad?" He started cackling maniacally andthe light aura coating the Spirit Sword grew larger, "You know as well as I do that the two of us are destined to fight each other."

"Are you really that desperate to save the world of light, Izanagi?" Darkrai hissed angrily, "Has years of solitude tainted your soul?"

"Saving the world? Are you fucking kidding me? I don't care about any of that shit. As long as I get to spill the blood of my enemies, I'm fine! After all, I am a tool of war! I was designed to kill!" Izanagi shook his head and laughed again, "You are strong, and your blood is tasty! I am But why am I talking to you? It's about damn time we fought! Gaia, it's over to you!" He laughed again, and a torrent of light burst out of his body. It swirled around him, amplifying the stored power. Bonds that had held the full potential of the Spirit Sword were smashed open, letting pure power flow through Gaia.

"Let's begin." The Grovyle spoke in a calm voice. He gripped his sword two hands and focused.

"Die!" Darkrai decided to attack and swung a massive black scythe downwards. But when it reached the cliff, Gaia had disappeared. But the attack still went through and reduced the cliff to rubble.

Gaia reappeared in the middle of the air. Apparently he had leaped into the air before the scythe hit the ground.

"Judgement!" he yelled, raising the sword upwards.

A supernova of whiteness exploded outwards, tearing down Darkrai's defences. He was sent tumbling through the air, roaring in pain as the light burned his skin.

"How dare you…how dare you wound me like this!" Darkrai screamed, "Shadow Blast!"

Gaia's eyes widened as he saw a gigantic shimmering prism of black and purple energy formed in the air and started hurtling towards him.

"Mirror Coat!" A large semi-transparent white shield, as large as a castle wall, formed in front of him, absorbing the shock of the blast. The barrier shattered into a million pieces and left Gaia completely unharmed.

"Burn, Kyuubi!"

Instead of a head made of fire appearing, a whole nine-tailed fiery fox, complete with sneering eyes and fangs bared, formed in mid-air and dashed towards Darkrai.

The flames hit their target, fling miniature fireballs everywhere and created an enormous burn on Darkrai's left arm. He howled in anger and pain before activating another spell.

"Shadow Bolt!"

There was a brilliant burst of thunder, and purple bolts of lightning crashed down from the dark sky. They struck Gaia directly, causing him to groan in pain from electricity. He flinched for a moment, and Darkrai used this chance to send the Grovyle flying into the rubble.

The bones around his arm and shoulder broke and the light around him dimmed briefly.

"Synthesis!" he yelled out, raising the sword high above him. Leaves and flowers appeared at the tip, and at once, he was fully healed.

"Aerial Ace!" Gaia brought his sword downwards, and the air in front of him shook his raw energy.

There was a sharp sound not unlike glass breaking, and a cut suddenly sprang to life on Darkrai's left shoulder. Thick red blood poured out of the wound.

"Shadow Rush!"

Darkrai's massive form was suddenly layered with shadow energy and he angrily charged at Gaia, who only looked back with a maddening calm look on his face. He didn't even blink.

"Counter." He held out the Spirit Sword, which was roughly a toothpick compared to the behemoth that was Darkrai, and promptly deflected the Shadow Rush attack at twice the power.

Agonizing pain was sent through Darkrai's body and he was flung away, crashing into a nearby hill and reducing it to rubble with a loud crash. The scythe was flung out of his hands. Gaia dashed forward at an impossible speed and started hacking away at the dark lord's torso.

"GRAAAAGH!"

Gaia jumped back as Darkrai floated into the air and rubbed the wound on his body. It was slowly growing larger due to the light's natural effect countering the darkness.

"Enough playing around! I am going to kill you!" Darkrai grabbed his scythe and swung it downwards, forcing Gaia to jump away.

"Shadow Scythe!" A ghostly image of a black scythe head struck down at Gaia, slicing a thick line down his torso.

"Synthesis!" Gaia quickly patched himself up, and then lifted the Spirit Sword above him.

"Judgement." He quietly said again, and the area around him exploded with light. It pierced into Darkrai's body and seared it with incredible pain. Numerous wounds and light burns formed on his skin. He roared with agony, his voice screeching around all corners of the dark world.

When the light cleared, Gaia was nowhere to be seen. However, he soon made his presence known.

"When Izanagi entered my mind," he spoke, standing on top of a small mountain, "I gained knowledge of all special techs available to the Spirit Sword, including everything the Legendary Grovyle learned. All of his strongest attacks are now available to me!" He held his sword horizontally out in front of him. A white sphere of energy started gathering in front of the hilt, seemingly sucking in the air around it.

"Hyper Beam."

The energy exploded forwards in a gigantic beam and consumed Darkrai completely. The dark lord now could not be seen, obscured by the raw energy. Gaia held the sword out for about ten seconds before letting it fall to his side.

"Grah…" Darkrai had now shrunken down to his normal size, and his body was smoking. "You…how dare you…WHY DO YOU OPPOSE ME?"

Something snapped inside Darkrai's mind. Darkness rushed out of him in an alarming rate. Gaia gasped and stepped back. He nearly dropped the Spirit Sword in fright. There was so much power in the air. It was suffocating and smothering him, making him feel uncomfortable.

"Limiter Removal!" Darkrai roared, flexing his muscles "My power is now ten times more powerful than it was before! Prepare yourself, pathetic Grovyle!"

Gaia prepared himself in a traditional fighting stance. "Bring it." He said. The light aura around his body grew stronger and higher than ever.

They lunged at each other, scythe and sword clashing at each other. Stream of energy tailed behind them.

"Hyper Beam!" Gaia shouted, firing the blast of energy. Darkrai countered it with his own attack, a wave of darkness.

"Shadow Fire!" Ghostly purple flames burst out of the tip of Darkrai's scythe and flew towards Gaia. He countered with a Waterfall attack to neutralize the damage.

They continued fighting on for half an hour. Such a thing was unheard of in the history of the world. In the process, they destroyed numerous hills, trees and ground.

Gaia quickly realized that he was getting tired. He had to end this now. He couldn't wait any longer, because Darkrai seemed to have more stamina than him.

But what would happen if he sacrificed all his energy into one blow? He might die. And what would he do then? What would happen to Alice, Seth and everyone he cared for back in the world of light?

Deep down, he had no choice. He had to anything necessary to save the world.

Alice…Seth…everyone…forgive me.

Raising the sword to the air, then let loose his most powerful cry of "JUDGEMENT!"

Light of all colors started gathering at the tip of the sword, sending incredible power radiating through the air. Darkrai stared in horror at the sight. Gaia's power now outclassed his own.

"NO! It can't end like this! It can't!" He flew towards Gaia, but he was too late.

The light exploded into waves, incinerating all Shadow Pokemon that got caught in it. Darkrai was no exception. With a mighty roar, he faded into nothingness, consumed by the whiteness. The Dark World shone for the first time in its existence.

There was silence. The battle was over. Gaia lay on the ground, drained of any energy. Wounds and burns covered his body. The Spirit Sword had disappeared. He could barely move.

"Ugh…" he moaned.

His vision was fading away. His strength was leaving his body. He was dying. He wanted to close his eyes and let death take him.

But he couldn't. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see Alice, Seth and everyone else again.

There was a glowing sphere and blue energy hovering in front of him. Where had that come from? Was it a portal? Weakly raising his arm, he touched it with his hand.

A swirling blue vortex formed in midair, creating a strange sound. It then sucked Gaia in, then closed almost instantaneously. It was too much for the Grovyle to take and his eyes closed by themselves .

XXX

The doors at the very back of the Temple of the Ancients slowly opened, revealing a twisting blue mass. Alice, Seth and everyone in the room gasped. Had Gaia won? Was the world saved? They eagerly rushed up the small stairs to find out.

Gaia's body was soon deposited out of the portal, and the doors then quickly closed with a large bang.

Gaia looked in a bad shape. He looked dead. His arms hung loosely by his side and they were covered with wounds. He did not seem to be breathing.

"Gaia, Gaia!" Alice cried, shaking the Grovyle head, "Are you alright?"

The Grovyle gave no response. He said nothing.

"Gaia? Can you speak?"

Still nothing.

"Gaia, wake up! Please wake up! WAKE UP!"

What is this?

Why is there darkness around me?

I'm floating downwards.

Is this death?

No…

No…

I can't die!

I don't want to die!

I have so much to live for! There were so many things I wanted to see. And I wanted to be with Alice forever…

No…

I…

don't…

want…

to…

die…

The End

Grass. He was lying on what felt like lush, green grass. The scent of flower pollen invaded his nose and the sound of a gently breeze rustled through his ear.

Gaia opened his eyes. The sight of blue sky, a few clouds lazily floating in it, appeared to him. The air was cool and fresh. It felt great on his green skin.

A low, incomprehensible moan leaked out from deep within his throat. Where was he? Had the portal taken him from here from the Dark World? If that was true, then better get up and find out where he was in the realm of light. Hopefully he was somewhere near Treasure Town.

He slowly lifted himself to his feet. The pain was gone. But why? He remembered being in agony after launching that massive attack at Darkrai. Had his body self healed himself during his unconsciousness? It was strange.

He was standing in the middle of a grassy field, adorned with various amounts of flowers. There was no-one else in sight, but there was a large oak tree in the distance. Curious, he slowly walked over to it. When he realized that his legs weren't in pain, he ran the rest of the distance.

There was someone sitting at the base of the tree. It was a Sceptile, and its front was facing away from Gaia. He couldn't see his or her's face.

"Hello there," the Sceptile said once he got close. Apparently it was female, judging by the voice, "You must be Gaia, am I correct?"

Gaia blinked, "How do you know about me?" he asked. Surely his victory over Darkrai couldn't have spread that fast.

"Of course I know about you." The Sceptile calmly said, "You are the hero who killed Darkrai and saved the world in the living. Everyone in the afterlife knows about you. A great deal of people want to meet you."

Gaia's mouth slowly slid open, "Does that mean…" he began.

"I'm dead?" the Sceptile finished, a hint of amusement in her voice, "No, you are not. But if you wish to pass away, you may."

"What do you mean?" Gaia asked, confused.

The Sceptile gestured to the plain around her, "What you stand in is the gateway between life and death. Your body is still intact in the living world, but your mind is dangling on a small thread. Normally you would die instantly, but Arceus has decided to give you another chance for saving the world."

"Does that mean I get to live again?" Gaia said.

"If you want to." The Sceptile replied, and her tone she seemed to be smiling."

"Then I want to live." Gaia said without hesitation.

The Sceptile paused, as if in thought. "Are you quite sure about that?" she asked carefully, "The afterlife is a paradise. You can do whatever you want there. Negativity does not exist. I know for a fact that many people in the living world would kill to get to such a place."

"Yes, I am sure." Gaia repeated himself.

"Really? What about your parents?"

Gaia hadn't been expecting this and was thrown by such a statement, "My…parents?" he asked slowly and carefully.

"Yes. Your mother and father desperately want to meet you." The Sceptile said calmly, "They are very proud of you and want to give back the family that you lost. If you depart into the world of the living, they will be heartbroken, knowing that they will have to wait another seventy years before they can see their son again."

Gaia fell silent as he slowly digested the information. He hadn't thought of that. All his life, he had no family except his friends? But now he had a chance to see his mother and father. What exactly was he going to do?

After a while of silent deciding, he spoke again, "No, I still want to live again." He said, "Yeah, part of me wants to meet by parents, but if I do that, I will be abandoning Alice behind. I don't want to do that."

"Alice…" the Sceptile said evenly, "Is that the girl you love?"

"Yes, she is. I promised I would win and come back to her, and I never go back on my promises. I love her too much."

"I see."

All of a sudden, a blue light covered Gaia and he felt himself fading away. "Huh, what's going on?" he demanded. The Spirit Sword instinctively formed in his hand.

"You are returning to the world of the living," the Sceptile said. Then, she turned around and revealed Gaia her smiling face, "I hope that you live your life to the fullest… my son."

"Wha—"

Gaia disappeared and fell himself falling down into a pit of blackness.

XXX

"Gaia…Gaia…wake up…"

Alice was sobbing now. She didn't even try to hold back her tears. In her arms she cradled Gaia's broken form. Her salty tears dripped down onto the Grovyle's face, covering it with salty liquid.

Then, Gaia's hand twitched. One of his eyes slowly opened, showing him Alice's crying form. He was in pain, but he was alive. And that was all that mattered.

"Alice…" he rasped in a dry voice. It was enough to get the Gabite's attention.

"Gaia?" she whispered, not believing her ears. She gasped and took a closer look at her boyfriend's form.

"I…won…" Gaia grinned sheepishly. That was all he managed to say before Alice glomp-hugged him and began sobbing again. More tears streamed down her face.

"You idiot…you bloody idiot…we all thought you were dead…."

"I'm sorry Alice…I made you worry…I love you…"

All around them, people cheered.

1 year later…

Gaia was back in his dream world: the floating platform in the middle of space. In front of him stood Princess Leafia, looking much happier and relaxed than the last time he had seen her.

"Hello Gaia." She greeted cheerfully.

"Princess Leafia…" Gaia replied formally, reminding himself to keep his sense of respect. This was a member of the royal family standing before him.

"How are you?" Leafia asked, keeping her smile, "Are you coping with the fame well? I know Grovyle had a hard time dealing with his fans after he destroyed Sazanadora."

Gaia actively shuddered at the thought. After his news of saving the world had spread throughout Treasure Town and the rest of the land, he had been bombarded by letters, emails, gifts from fans and even marriage requests. It was seriously annoying. Thank Arceus for the Rage Dragon clan's protection and scare tactics.

"Anyway, the reason I am here is to thank you." Leafia said.

"For what? Saving the world?" Gaia asked. For the past couple of nights, he had been visited by the guardians of the temples, save for Grovyle and Tyrannus. It wasn't as annoying as his fans.

"Yes, for that, but also for reuniting me and Grovyle together. We were so happy the moment we saw each other again. And then we…" Leafia then blushed and said no more. She turned her head away.

"What did you two do?" Gaia asked, curious.

"We made love." Leafia blushed again, and then she giggled at Gaia's slightly disgusted discussion, "Grovyle is excellent in bed."

"Princess, I didn't really need to know that…"

"I know, but I just couldn't resist saying that. I'm still very happy about being with Grovyle again." Then she did something completely unexpected. She bowed to the ground and Gaia's feet. The Grovyle was surprised, "I believe I haven't thanked you yet, so thank you."

Later…

Leafia had disappeared, but Gaia was still standing in his dream world. Was there was going to be another visitor? His suspicions were confirmed when a white Grovyle appeared on the other side of the platform. Its belly was colored a deep grey and its eyes were black and white.

"Who are you?" Gaia asked, striding over to the newcomer.

"My name is Izanagi." The white Grovyle said, "You know who I am, right?"

"You're that guy who spoke in my head during my fight with Darkrai, right? Why have you been silent all this time? I haven't heard from you in a whole year."

"I just haven't been bothered to talk to you." Izanagi replied, "You have learned all the skills of the Spirit Sword, therefore I have nothing left to say."

"Uh, okay." Gaia said, "But what are you going to do now?" he asked.

Izanagi sighed and closed his eyes briefly, "I came to ask you a favour. When you reach your oldest, will you destroy the Spirit Sword?" he asked.

Gaia was surprised, "Destroy the Spirit Sword? Why? Wouldn't that kill you?"

"I'm aware of that. But I no longer want to live. All of the other spirits were killed when Darkrai was sealed away into the Dark World. I have been cut off from my family for over a thousand years and I miss them dearly."

"Family? You had a family?"

"Yes. Before I was sealed into the Spirit Sword, I had a family. My wife was Izanami and my three children were Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susano-O."

"I see." Gaia thought for a moment. He didn't want to let go of the Spirit Sword just yet, but he supposed he could let it go once he died. He didn't want anyone stealing it and using them for evil, "Alright, I'll destroy the Spirit Sword on my deathbed. But how do I do that?"

"Let go it. You will know how when the time comes."

2 years later…

Gaia had evolved. He was now a Sceptile. The process had been extremely painful, as he had been forced to see and feel his body changing itself from inside out. At least it had been worth it. He felt stronger and faster than his Grovyle form.

Alice, being annoyed that she was now shorter than her boyfriend, had evolved as well, transforming into a Garchomp. She looked exactly like her mother and was just as strong and scary as her father. Gaia thought she was simply beautiful. Seth probably disagreed, but was too afraid to speak up.

One day, Gaia entered the kitchen after a long day of speaking to his kids about his adventures. Alice was at the kitchentop, chopping up onions and carrots for dinner.

"Welcome home," Alice greeted, not bothering to turn around, "How was your day?"

"Eh, it was alright. The kids kept telling me to whip out my sword. Izanagi was yelling at me from the back of my mind, ordering me not to do that. He's pretty pissed off now." Gaia replied.

"Nice." Alice resumed chopping up vegetables.

There was a brief bout of silence. Then Gaia spoke.

"Alice?"

"Yes?"

"Will you marry me?"

Alice dropped the butcher's knife she was holding in surprise. It landed on the wooden cutting board with a clunk. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She then turned around to see Gaia kneeling right in front of her on one knee, holding a velvet-lined box with a 24-carat diamond ring in the middle of it.

"W-what?" she gasped out in surprise.

"Alice, will you marry me?" Gaia repeated calmly, "Fighting Darkrai and saving the world made me realize that every moment in the world is precious. Leafia also told me to never wait when it came with love. I love you Alice and I want to be with you forever. That is why I am asking you to marry me today."

Alice stared at him for a moment, and then abruptly slapped him on the cheek.

"Ow!" Gaia cried out in pain, "What was that for?"

"For asking such a stupid question!" Alice said back. She hugged Gaia and brought him into a passionate kiss, "Of course I'll marry you, you silly boy."

XXX

Gaia, Alice and Victoria were sitting in the living room of Seth's parent's house, discussing the finer details of the marriage ceremony when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Gaia stood up and went over to open the door. He was greeted by Riley and Lord Garrett, both with strange smiles on their faces.

"Get him." Garrett stated.

Before Gaia could do anything, Riley had unleashed a powerful psychic spell, freezing his limbs and paralysing him completely. Garrett promptly grabbed Gaia around the waist and started dragging him away.

Alice's eyes burned pure rage and she jumped up, running for the door. "Riley! Father! What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.

"We are kidnapping your fiancée and taking him to our bachelor party." Riley said calmly, as if he were merely describing the weather, "Please be patient."

"To hell with the bachelor party!" Alice swore, "I'm not letting Gaia drink himself into oblivion two nights away from the wedding!"

"My daughter, please allow us to carry out a sacred male tradition." Garrett stated, dragging a frozen Gaia even further away from the house, "We will be back before sunrise."

And then the door was slammed shut, courtesy of Riley. Alice stood there, shocked, before briefly wondering if she would be able to run after them, beat them in a quick fight and drag them back. But then she felt Victoria's firm grip on her shoulder.

"Alice, let Gaia go." She said, "We have to let the men have some fun in their lives or they will become joyless. Do you have complete trust in him?"

"What?" Alice was startled as to who was asking this, "Of course!"

"Are you certain of his love to you?"

Alice fingered the purple stone pendant around her neck. Gaia had once beat up a gang of bullies to give it back to her. It was very special to her, "Yes!"

"Then what is the matter?" Victoria said kindly, "You should let him go with good grace and wait with patience."

"I guess so." Alice slumped back on the couch and groaned, "Can't believe this." She mumbled, "Did Mother try to stop Father on his bachelor father?"

"Oh, Alisa did more than just try." Victoria smiled, showing all of her teeth.

"What?"

"When my husband and Master Dusk came calling, Alisa beat up your father, tied him up and shoved him in a closet for the rest of the evening. It was very, very funny."

Alice just gaped at Seth's mother. She felt really betrayed. Was this the person who had given the mischievous qualities to Seth?

XXX

2 days later…

"My wife, in sickness and health I promise I will always love you, respect you, console you and protect you. From this day on until the day of my death, this I swear." Gaia said calmly, sliding the gold ring onto one of Alice's claws.

"My husband, in sickness and health I promise I will always love you, respect you, console you and protect you. From this day on until the day of my death, this I swear." Alice said back, sliding another gold ring onto one of Gaia's fingers.

"The two of you are now husband and wife." Master Dusk said, "You may now kiss."

They were only too happy to do so.

As Gaia held Alice in his arms and walked down the aisle, people around them cheered.