The moon began to cast its lustrous light upon the brisk windswept desert as the sun disappeared behind the monstrous sand dunes within the far distance.

Distress peaked deep within Lori's heart as she burst out the front door and stormed towards her neighbours house. HOW could any Pokemon Trainer allow such a beautiful creature to have to endure so much pain like that!? Not to mention that the Pokemon could SPEAK!? It angered her to the very core of her body. Whoever that rude man was living next door would definitely pay for the neglectful behaviour towards his own Pokemon. If the final decision came down to stealing the purple Pokemon away to save it's life, then so be it. She would.

Overflowing with rage, Lori found herself banging adamantly on her neighbours heavily barred front door. "Open the door! I witnessed exactly what happened to your Pokemon and the pain it had to endure! You don't even deserve to own it you coward! Open the door NOW!"

An icy breeze blew straight through Lori's skin. Wow. She hadn't expected the desert to be this cold at night.

"Ay you! I just thought I'd let ya know, nobody has lived in that house for many hundreds of years."

Lori was spooked by an unfamiliar voice behind her. As she rapidly spun around, she noticed a punk-looking girl with bright pink hair standing by the road.

"Huh?"

The mysterious girl approached her with a smile. "Name's Rogue. I live over there directly across the road from your new house."

Lori watched inquisitively as the girl pointed towards an open mud brick house across the pavement. Rogue beamed in response.

"Ya'll welcome any time to come 'round ours and have a feast with our family. We love new families who move here to our beaut city."

Lori giggled quietly at her new found friend's Australian accent. However, trouble continued to stir deep within her heart regarding the mistreatment of that poor Pokemon inside the house.

"Rogue, a horrible man lives inside that house. I heard his voice when we first arrived here in Dahara City. Then I saw a small purple Pokemon suffering pain through my window into the bedroom of that house. The room was completely empty, however I did notice some sort of eerie looking bottle on the table."

Rogue burst out into hysterical laughter. "No man or woman for that matter has ever even set foot from that house in hundreds of years, a large percentage of locals even claim it to be thousands of years. We moved 'ere when I was just a wee little tucker, about fifteen years ago and not one soul within Dahara City has ever seen somebody inside that house. The majority of the city claim the place is haunted with some kinda dark presence that is an abomination in the sight of Arceus. I personally just think it's abandoned hey. People get too caught up in old stories."

"I swear though..."

"Ay, so if you are new 'ere are you attending the Trainer School next week?"

"Heck yeah of course I am!" Lori bounced happily for a few moments, until she realised that she hadn't even introduced herself to her new friend yet. "Oh I'm sorry! My name is Lori Rose. We moved here earlier today from Lumiose City."

"'Bout time you told me your name!" Rogue chuckled jokingly. "Nah it's all good Lor, I think we are gunna have a real great time at school together."

Lori was taken aback slightly by the nickname. It reminded her too much of Marie back home.

Home? No... Dahara City was home now and Rogue would be her new friend. Although nothing could ever replace or separate the decade of friendship she shared with Marie, this place was her new life now. She couldn't keep denying that fact any more.

-X-X-X

One week later.

The much anticipated morning that Lori had been awaiting for a long time finally arrived. The first day commencing as a student at Dahara City Trainer School.

As the previous week passed, she had kept a close watch on her next door neighbours window ensuring that the Pokemon she had seen was in no harm or danger. The blinds now had become completely sealed, deterring her from seeing inside the bedroom and hearing any noises from within the house. It frustrated her that somebody would even think to do such a thing.

While Lori waved goodbye to her mother and jumped excitedly outside the house towards the school bus, Rogue met her on the front seat.

"Ay Lorz!"

"Hey Rogue!" Lori returned her friend a sweet smile. "Wow! I'm surprised. There are so many young people from our street heading to the Trainer School!"

Happiness permeated her heart as she scanned the interior of the bus, watching the children laugh and play games on their seats. Student ages roughly approximated between ten and eighteen, a small portion already elite Pokemon Trainer's, some novice continuing their second or third year at school and many others just beginning training in their first year.

There was one specific eighteen year old boy however that puzzled Lori. She couldn't quite comprehend his year or trainer status. He sat darkly in the back corner of the bus, lifting his charming yellow coloured eyes towards her and quickly looking back down again. What had been that boy's problem?

"That's Harper." Rogue motioned Lori to sit directly next to her. "He's creepy as you probably just noticed, apparently been coming to this 'ere school for a long time and still hasn't gotten anywhere in life. Stories go 'round that he wipes the memory of every single teacher so that he can stay here forever ay."

A dark shadowy voice echoed throughout the bus, causing the younger girls to scream. "I can HEAR you talking about me! Stupid girl!"

"Bring it on ay Harper! I ain't afraid of you!" Rogue hissed back.

"That's enough students!" An authoritative voice cut through the hysterical screaming and chattering as an older man alighted the school bus. Rogue gestured towards Lori quietly.

"This is Tony the bus driver. He's a bit of an angry old man sometimes."

"Rory return to your seat now! Trixie, sit back down! And you two..." Tony glared his eyes back and forth between Rogue and the black-haired eighteen year old boy. "You two must stop your useless bickering every single morning on the bus. I cannot have this argument any longer!"

"She started it. Now if I still had my power all of you would all be trembling in the shadows." Harper stared directly at Lori, sending shivers rapidly down her spine. His dark glare then fell on Rogue.

"Powers!? Ha! You're so full of ya self Harps. You don't even own any Pokemon!"

Rogue's laughter had become so loud that it echoed throughout the entire street.

"I don't need a Pokemon to battle fool. Darkness will rise again soon."

"Then why the HELL are you at a Pokemon Trainer School you noob!?"

Lori pulled her friend back calmly. "Stop Rogue. That's enough."

The frustration that seemed to unleash from this boy frightened every nerve in Lori's body. However she also felt as though he was holding something back... Not on his own terms either. A much darker hatred... Something malevolent and filled with pure evil.

What was this boy hiding? Not to mention his voice sounded oddly familiar to the rude man that she had heard next door when they had first moved to Dahara City.

Determination sparked deep within Lori's heart. She would find out as much as she could about this boy and help him in any possible way that she could.