A/N: Welcome back! Thank you to everyone who dropped a constructive review and submitted a character. I've currently accepted all characters that were sent to me with the exception of one that broke the rules so I immediately deleted the pm. I wasn't joking about that so to anyone who wants to submit a character, please be sure to read all of the rules before doing so. Since the first chapter, I've made a few changes to the form: I included that your character's name and clothes should reflect their home region and I've added a skin tone field (since I forgot that one) and archeology as another course. For those of you who already submitted a character, don't worry about making updates though they would be greatly appreciated. This is mostly for the new applicants. That's all for now so I'll let you read this chapter since you've been waiting almost a month for it. Yeesh!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I only own Shu and the rest of my OCs.

Chapter 2: What Was That?

When Shu came to, he found himself in complete darkness with the exception of the light emanating from his poketch. There was a ring spaced out in intervals coming from it which notified him that he was very low on battery but he ignored it. As he sat up, he wondered where he even was until he laid eyes on the television in front of him.

Shu's eyes widened upon seeing it only to relax once he realized that it was off. Was all of that just some kind of dream? If so, how did he find himself in the manor still? A sudden thought flashed into his head.

'Fukaze!'

The boy had been pursuing him through the building. What happened to him?

'Do you want to play?' Those five words played themselves over and over in his head. Then that ear shattering scream…Shu's heart began to pound inside his chest as his mind filled with anxiety. 'What's on the other side of that door?'

He slowly reached for the doorknob but hesitated as fear consumed him.

'What made Fukaze scream like that?'

Shu's hand remained in limbo, not fully withdrawn nor placed forward. His fingers twitched with anxiety. What was he to do? Risk seeing something horrifying on the other side of that door or risk stranding himself inside that room?

'No. I've never been a coward!'

Despite trying to encourage himself there was still that nagging feeling that he should not open the door. He struggled to grab the door as his hand shook in the air in front of him, Finally, Shu thrust his hand forward and clenched the doorknob. He waited for several seconds, each of which felt like an eternity, until he finally began turning it to open the door. The lock clicked and the hinges creaked as he pulled the door back. Deciding to rip the bandaid off, he swung the door open and aimed his flashlight forward.

There was nothing there…

He slowly peaked his head through the door and aimed his light in both direction. There was nothing in the hallway so he proceeded with caution. Not a single thing came out at him. The house did not even make any noises other than the floorboards that would creak underneath his weight. All the while, his poketch continued beeping every few seconds.

Once he made it outside, Shu ran straight for the gate, never once looking back at the Old Chateau. He hopped over the fence and ran towards the forest exit. He only roughly knew the way out but that was enough for him to reach North Route 205. It was already dark and he could see lights that illuminated the homes in town. He was covered in dirt and his school uniform was tattered and torn.

Surprisingly, his poketch's battery had lasted him the entire walk home despite being at six percent when Shu came to in the Old Chateau. He did not want to risk it dying and losing its flashlight function prematurely but he managed to reach his home at 8:00 pm without it losing even one percent.

As he stood at his front door, Shu knew that he would surely get an ear-full from his mother. Spending the night outside with Kyoku and Sage wouldn't be all that bad, would it? At this point, he would prefer a few claw marks from his parents' Glaceon and Leafeon over the scolding his mother would give him though either way, he'd have to face her eventually. No time like the present.

As Shu opened the door, he was greeted by a slipper to the face which was thrown with enough force to completely knock him off of the front porch and down the steps.

"Where have you been?!" His mother gasped.

"And what happened to your uniform?!"

She was still by the door but Shu could hear her voice right in his ear. He was sure that the neighbors would come out to check on the commotion. Before he had the chance to even sit upright, Shu felt pain jolt in his ear as she tugged at it with so much force that he could have sworn that he felt the tissue tearing apart.

Shu's mother was not the tiniest of women but he had past her in height long ago so imagine his surprise when she was able to drag him just by his ear up the stairs and to the den, practically tossing him onto the couch.

Across from him sat his father, a man of average height with a bit of bulky muscle. There was a hint of a beer belly bulging through his shirt. He had a pear-shaped head with his chin covered in light amounts of facial hair from side burn to side burn. The man looked at his son with an eyebrow raised and his arms crossed, waiting to hear Shu's explanation but before he could say anything, the man's wife continued her scolding.

"Do you have any idea how worried we've been about you? We asked all around town for you? Why were you not answering our calls? That's why we bought you that darn device!"

"Honey, this only works if you let him talk."

Shu's mother glared daggers at her husband but had no rebuttal. Instead she turned to Shu for his response. Knowing that taking too long would only cause her to yell more, Shu started talking.

"Well...I was playing in the forest and kind of got separated from my friends…"

….

….

….

"Is that all?" his father asked.

Shu nodded quickly.

"Why are you so late though? It's already dark!"

Shu winced at his mother's yelling and hesitated to answer.

"I...uh...well when I got separated, I ended up at that old mansion…"

The man unfolded his arms and sat forward in his big chair with a speculative look. "You mean the Old Chateau? Not even Gardena goes there and that kid is an adventurous little forest sprite."

"What's this about that haunted house?"

All heads turned to the figure descending the stairs around the corner. It was a young man, seemingly in his early twenties, standing tall over everyone else in the room. He sported a flannel shirt over a simple tee and a pair of jeans. He was barefoot since his shoes were lined up perfectly with his parents' at the front door. The young man appeared identical to Shu, albeit physically older with stronger and more defined facial features, a taller build, more muscle, and a bit of facial hair sprouting at his chin's peak.

"Your brother says he went there, Sakumo" the woman answered.

Shu's head was tilted downward but the young man could see his eyes looking up at him.

Sakumo looked at both of his parents and then at his younger brother before scratching the back of his neck and letting out a sigh.

"I thought I told you not to go to that creepy place."

"You did…"

"So what happened?"

"I was playing with some friends in the forest and I got lost."

"What happened to you though? Did you go inside?"

"...no…"

All three adults in the room looked at each other before turning back to him.

Their mother asked, "What happened to your uniform?"

"It got dirty."

"I can see that!"

"We were pushing each other around…"

The more that they questioned him, the more difficult it became to look any of them in the eyes. How could he with what he had just witnessed? Paranormal was the only word that could describe it.

"Sounds legit to me."

Both parents turned to Sakumo as he walked over to Shu and put a hand on his shoulder. With a light smile, he said, "Don't be going off to places you don't know too well, bro."

Shu simply nodded.

"Come on, let's go upstairs. You need a shower..."

Sakumo put an arm around his brother's shoulders and took him up stairs. Once he heard the shower door open and shut, he returned downstairs to find his parents discussing in the living room. He joined them, taking a seat next to his mother on the couch.

"So what are you guys thinking?"

"He's lying," his mother stated plainly. "He was up to something and if he expects for us to give him a pokemon, he better keep dreaming. He isn't doing well in school, he slacks off on his chores, he plays video-games all day and if he isn't doing that, he goes out with his friends all day. At this point he's probably doing drugs!"

"Shh!" Shu's father pressed a finger to his lips. "He might be eavesdropping. You know how he is."

"Not a chance," Sakumo said. "I left Echo up there in my room. If he hears anything, he'll let me know. Still, we should stay calm."

"I don't think he's doing anything wrong, mom. He's still just a teenager. Let him be one. I think his story checks out. Kids his age are still daring each other to pick up wurmple and throwing them at each other. If it makes you guys feel better though, I can have Echo spy on him for the rest of the week."

His father shook his head.

"It doesn't make sense for agolbat to be flying around in broad daylight. You'd be overworking him since he doesn't sleep at this time. Let's just let things be for now."

The following day, Shu woke up and got himself ready for school. As he dressed himself, he noticed that he had a scrape on his left elbow, probably from the fall he took the night before on the front lawn of the Old Chateau. He grazed it lightly to see how much it hurt. Not all that bad. It was bearable.

Shu descended the stairs and ran into the living room to prepare himself some toast and pour himself a glass of orange juice. He stood at the counter eating while watching the news on the small television in the corner of the kitchen.

"...police say that the culprit was apprehended five blocks from the scene with the gun in his pocket. The culprit was twenty eight year old Ikeda Haruto a pharmacist at a local pokemon center who allegedly was stalking the victim for weeks and even wrote about it…"

At that moment, Shu's mother walked in from the backyard, most likely from feeding Kyoku and Sage outside.

"Another murder this month?"

"Yup."

"This is exactly why your dad and I don't want you being out after sundown."

"Okay mom," he said blankly.

"From now on, you are to come home straight from school."

"Aw what?"

Shu practically dropped the toast from his mouth.

"After yesterday, we decided that you no longer have the freedom that you've become so used to so until we decide that you are shaping up, you are to be home by no later than 3:30."

"But mom, that only gives me half an hour to come home from school."

"It should only take fifteen at most to come straight home. I think that's a very fair time. We're giving you enough time to talk to your friends or go to the convenience store on your way home. If you come home even a minute late, you can forget about getting one of Sage's eevees. Is that understood?"

Shu opened his mouth to contest her but only released a faint, hollow breath. There was nothing he could respond with, especially since he did not want to explain the previous night. Not to mention that he would be confessing to the prank he committed the day before. That definitely would not go over well with them.

"Okay…"

He finished his breakfast in silence, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and made for the door. Just as he stepped outside, he heard his mother call, "And don't leave the television on all night anymore! Kazumi-san said she saw light coming from your room all night long."

Shu stopped and called back, "I didn't leave the TV on all night. And tell that old hag to mind her own busine-."

He was unable to finish that insult due to thesandal he got upside the head. He deserved it, though. His mother was older that Kazumi...

Sakumo leaned back in his chair and threw his hands behind his head never looking away from the images on his screen. The young man had set up the office in his room with two screens, one of which had several windows open and each window was a picture of the Old Chateau. The screen he was paying more attention to was the one with the online article titled, The Ball of the Century.

"Last night was the largest ball that billionaire jazz singer, Koto Jonsei, has ever thrown in the fifteen years of his successful music career. Koto-san threw last night's party in honor of his daughter, Utana's, acceptance to the prestigious Heart Academy here in Sinnoh's Hearthome City. All of the region's richest and most famous people came by to give young Utana-san an extravagant gift. Some of the night's highlights included various performances including a song that Koto-san sang personally to his daughter as well as a touching farewell speech that ended with a few tears. The rest of the night…"

Sakumo's poketch rang and vibrated on his wrist and a small icon popped up at the bottom of his desktop screen. Seeing a familiar name, he smiled and clicked on the icon to accept the call.

"Good morning, Professor."

"Good morning to you as well, young Sakumo."

The older gentleman on Sakumo's screen had a gruff voice and a bushy white beard that shared a strong resemblance to the fur that herdiers have on their snout. He had a serious demeanor about him since his eyebrows and the ends of his mouth were perpetually locked down by gravity.

"I am just calling to remind you of the anthropology conference next weekend. Cynthia-sama will also be attending and be speaking about her most recent findings."

"Oh yeah, I already have my ticket and made my hotel reservation."

"Very good. I also wanted to speak to you about that report that you have been working on. By when will you be done?"

"Maybe another week or so. It took a while to get the permits from City Hall to investigate the Old Chateau so I've mostly just been sticking to news articles and journals I could find online."

"If the legends are true in regards to a mysterious pokemon residing inside the manor, your findings will be highly valuable to the pokedex that I have been assembling."

"You're still on with that thing? Is there even any more room for more entries?"

"I spoke to Bebe-san about adding more memory to it however there is still sufficient space in it for now. Well that is all I wanted to speak to you about. Until next time."

The screen turned black.

"Later," he closed the window and went back to his research.

The teacher's voice was so distant and muffled by the thoughts whirling inside Shu's head. Despite his best efforts to forget the previous day, the events played in his head repeatedly and not always in the same order. Two things stuck out more than any other: the television and Fukaze's scream. It was did not help that he was absent in second period literature.

Shu broke from his thoughts when a folded note found its way onto his desk. He studied it, half-thinking that it would say, "Do you want to play?" That thought alone sent him into panic and caused him to push the note off of his desk. He put so much force into it that he slapped the tabletop. The teacher heard and turned around. Her eyes landed directly on him. Everyone's eyes were on him. Shu's back was pressed against the back of his chair and he held a shooken look on his face as he stared down at the piece of paper.

Noticing this, the teacher made her way across the room and asked, "Ishikawa-san, is there a problem?"

Shu struggled to make eye contact with her as he shook his head. She followed his gaze down to the note and picked it up to read it in front of the class.

"Want to hit the arcade after school?" She looked down at Shu through her glasses and asked, "Well? You might as well answer since you already have our attention."

Shu simply shook his head again still unable to look away from the ground.

"Shu."

Hearing the concern in her voice, Shu looked up to meet her bright emerald eyes.

"Yes Kakura-Sensei?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…"

"You look pale. Do you want to go to the nurse's office?"

"No...can I go get a drink of water though?"

She nodded and began walking back to the front of the room while Shu stepped out. He took a drink from the water fountain down the hall but was still feeling very uncomfortable so he decided to go to go to the restroom to splash some water on his face. As he walked in, he immediately noticed that there was no noise whatsoever and no one was using the stall. He was completely alone. That is until the a group of boys entered - the last of which locked the door behind them.

Shu whipped his head around to find a group of four boys standing in front of the door, all of which were wearing stern faces. Two walked further into the restroom and stood on either side of him while a third stepped directly in front of him and the final boy guarded the door. Shu glared into the other boy's eyes. They were steely without a trace of color. The boy was slightly shorter that Shu but had a wider frame and more defined muscle.

"What?" Shu asked.

"What'd you do to Fu, Shutsuga?"

"N-nothing."

"So why didn't he ever get home last night?"

"He never came home?"

"Are you hard of hearing?" asked another boy.

The boy in front of Shu got in his face, recapturing his attention.

"But you know all about that, don't you? Mina said that you and the other stooges played a prank on them and that Fu ran off after you guys. So what did you do to him?"

Shu's eyebrows furrowed.

"I told you that I didn't do anything already, Hiroku."

He tried to walk past his interrogator but was pushed back and restrained from either side by the other two boys. Before Shu could start fighting back, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, forcing him onto his knees. The boys holding him by his arms pulled him back to his feet but Shu was limp from the strong punch. He could barely breath as Hiroku lifted his chin up to force eye contact.

"We're gonna go visit Tubby and Firecracker later and they're gonna hang out with us until you find Fu and bring him back...unless you already killed him."

Shu struggled through his weezing, "I didn't do anything to him!"

Hiroku stared into Shu's eyes, noticing the conviction behind them. This made him crack a smile.

"You're right. Your scrawny ass wouldn't be able to do anything to Fu. But still, his parents are worried and you never know what kind of pokemon you'll find in the forest so I need you to get him back for me. Is that understood?"

A few seconds passed before Shu finally nodded. His solid look never once cracked. The group let go of him and walked out of the restroom, leaving him to collapse on his hands and knees. After finally getting back to his feet, Shu started typing a message on his poketch.

"I need your help."

A/N: And that's Chapter 2! Today you got a different side of Shu but I hope that I was able to portray his distress accurately. I honestly can't wait to get to the actual academy so the next update should come much sooner. Shame on me for making you guys wait a month for this one especially since it didn't have all that much action. Regardless, I hope you guys liked it. That's it for this time!