Chapter 7:

Illusion Master Zoroark

"Wow," Z whistled, looking at what was left of the bathroom.

"Shut up…" I growled, sopping wet.

"Wow," he repeated, "How did you chop the faucet in half?"

"I said shut up about it!" I snapped. The door to our room opened to reveal Syoran. He sighed heavily as he entered and shook his head.

"Well, they're giving us another cabin," he said, since this one is flooded, thank you Spirit."

"Hey!" I growled, "No one told me a bath was like that! All that horrible noise and echoing! And that water was not luke-warm!" Syoran ignored me and packed up his stuff. After we moved into the next cabin, he tricked me into the closet with a slice of roast beef and took the rest to go get their baths at some place called a 'spa'. Z was the first back and he took up a position on the other side, presumably to keep me from getting out.

"Stupid trainer," I muttered, "It's not my fault. He should blame that evil bathtub!" I fumed. My fur was still damp from the bath and it only added to my discomfort. I heard Z sigh as I continued to mutter.

"And I thought I was bad tempered…" he said under his breath but loud enough for me to hear. "Seriously, Spirit, I don't like baths either, but who cuts a faucet in half?"

"I DO!" I snapped. I shook myself to remove some water from my coat, getting drops of water all over the closet. Oops. Someone's clothes just got all wet. Oh well… "Could you let me out?" I asked Z, as nicely as I could manage.

"No," he replied instantly. I bit back and angry reply.

"Why not?" I asked calmly.

"Because Syoran wants you in there right now," he said, "Though he could have put you in your Poke-ball. I suppose he just wanted to let you chill for a bit by yourself."

I cursed. "Do you always do everything he says?" I taunted.

"Yes," he replied, unflappable.

"Well, I'm not that tame yet," I said arrogantly.

"Clearly," Z muttered.

"And if you don't let me out right now, I'll start hacking through the door!" I threatened.

"And we wouldn't want that, would we?" Z said sarcastically. The handle jiggled. "Oh darn, it's locked. Can't help you."

"You little…" I said, grinning humorlessly, "Well played."

I heard the cabin door open and Syoran walk in with the rest of them. He sighed and dropped his pack on the floor. I yipped to get his attention, inwardly cringing. I really am pathetic. Pandering to the wishes of a human like that.

Absols have every right to despise humans. We try to warn them of their own doom that they're too pig-headed to see it coming, but they think we're the cause and drive us away! The reason we're so rare now is because a few after I was born they shot most of us! This reputation of ours has become known as the 'Absol's Curse'.

At least Syoran recognizes me for what I am. Not a monster (I hope) but a Pokémon just like any other. So just for that I didn't slice his hand off when he opened the door. Instead, I walked out and shook myself again, spraying him mercilessly.

"Hey! Cut it our Spirit!" he ordered, shielding his face. I stopped with a disinterested sniff and padded over to where a strange wind blew out of a strange metal grate. It smelled salty, like everything aboard the boat. Unfortunately, my damp fur and the wind made me feel cold, but I was too stubborn to move and sat shivering. My stomach rumbled as the smell reminded me of my favorite food: fresh caught Magikarp.

Syoran noticed me shivering and quickly pulled out a blanket. "You cold, Spirit?" I glared defiantly at him and he sighed. "Back to this, then? Fine. Freeze your butt off for all I care. If you get cold it will be right here." He set it down on the floor. Hopping on the bed, he pulled out a book and began reading.

Psi toddled up to it and grabbed it. Dragging it behind him, he approached me, concern on his face. "Spi'it cold?" he asked innocently. I tossed my head proudly.

"Ha! This is nothing compared to Mt. Coronet!" I boasted. But still my rebellious body shivered uncontrollably. I needed to dry off faster. Psi stared seriously at me with his squinted eyes.

"Spi'it need blankie?" he asked. I sighed.

"Yep. Yep I do," I admitted. Psi eagerly wrapped it around my back and then lay against my legs to take a nap. I shook my head in amusement and lay down, careful not to disturb him.

Syoran rose and sat down in front of me. I suddenly felt trapped between him and the wall, so my hackles began to rise. "Alright! I get it! You're angry!" he said ruefully. I glared at him. "I'm sorry. I now know you don't like the bath and I guess we both over-reacted. I shouldn't have locked you in the closet, alright? Now, will you stop glaring at me like you want to cut my legs off?"

I stared at him for a long second before turning away with a shrug. "At least I get free food," I said, "Never got that before." Syoran noticed my change in attitude and patted my head, which I grudgingly allowed.

"Great!" he said brightly, "Now, let's see if we can dry you off and brush you down and then we can go to bed!"

The next morning, we weighed anchor at the island port that gave access to the Battle Zone. It was not the busiest human settlement I'd ever seen, but it was the closest I'd ever been to one of its size. It was…revolting. It smelled of garbage and there was hardly a tree in sight. Instead, it was a jungle of metal and concrete. At least Snowpoint had been covered in ice, but here it was just human buildings and mowed grass.

The first thing Syoran did was go into a large building to 'register' or something like that, leaving us outside to 'enjoy the sights'. I didn't see much to enjoy, so I told the others I was going to take a walk and I'd be back shortly. I intended to find a nice stretch of beach and cool my paws in the water for a bit, because that concrete was scorching hot. But what I found was something else entirely.

It started out innocently enough. I was walking through the shallows on a nice stretch of beach, glaring at the local Krabby scoping me out to see if I was a good meal, when I heard a thunderous crash from behind the next turn in the coastline. Immediately, my battle senses activated. I crouched, body tensed and head in the air, sniffing. I smelled a very powerful group of Pokémon around the next bend. Being cautious but curious all the same, I crept up to an outlying boulder and hid behind it while I scoped out the scene in front of me. Stunned by what I saw, I blinked several times just to be sure that I wasn't hallucinating.

It appeared to be a full-scale battle between four Pokémon and a human. On the one side were the dark-clothed trainer and the Tyranitar from the ship and on the other were a translucent Vaporeon completely in her species' water –form, a Blaziken, and a blue-cheeked Pikachu. The Blaziken was ducking and weaving around the Tyranitar, raining blows upon it which despite the type-matchup barely seemed to be affecting it at all. Meanwhile, the Pikachu and Vaporeon were desperately trying to hit the man, who was laughing while he easily dodged their attacks.

"ROAAR! STAND STILL, JET! YOU LITTLE PEST!" the Tyranitar bellowed in pain, nursing his battered cheek as he tried to flatten the Blaziken in one punch, but missed and brought down part of the cliff instead. The Blaziken performed a handspring over the monster's tail as it came around with similar intent.

"Sorry, Tyrone," he answered in a rough-hewn accent, "But I think that would be hazardous to my health. And my face." He paused briefly to wipe a smudge from his cheek. "I have an image to keep, you know."

"FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN, YOU LITTLE PANSY!" The Blaziken responded with a blinding barrage of punches to Tyrone's cheeks, cracking the stony skin.

"Satisfied?" he asked smugly.

"Surrender, Zorro!" the Vaporeon ordered the human, "Pikablu and I have you outmatched!" The red-haired human laughed loudly.

"Do you now?" he asked, pirouetting out of the way of an electric bolt, "Thank you for your advice, Vapor, but I think I can take care of myse…" As he was talking, she jetted forward and rammed him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. His image shimmered as he collapsed and disappeared to reveal a black-and-red furred Pokémon known as a Zoroark. He gasped for air. "I spent days working on that illusion," he growled, "days!"

I had the uncomfortable feeling that I had just discovered something I would have been much happier not knowing about.

"What are you two doing here?" the Pikachu demanded, "Tell us or I'll fry you up crispier than humans like their bacon!" He leapt aside as the Zoroark suddenly lunged for him, claws extended. Growling in annoyance at his miss, the dark type began shredding the air around the Pikachu with his claws, sometimes coming within millimeters of his face. It was only lightning quick reactions that saved him from getting his skin shredded.

"Tell you? Don't make me laugh! I would never betray my lord to scum you!"

"Scum? Ha! That's funny coming from you, traitor!" The Pikachu's form began to blur and he shot around the Zoroark's claws, coming in for a high-speed attack from the rear.

Snarling angrily, the Zoroark whirled, his eyes glowing blue. "Eat some of this, Pikablu!" Red energy flowed over his body and down his arms. He slammed his fists into the ground emphatically. A wave of energy blew out from the impact point. The Pikachu tried to backpedal but he ran right into it and fell to the ground, coughing and spasming. The Vaporeon tried to jump into the ocean and escape, but she couldn't make it. With a scream, she fell. The Zoroark stood over them triumphantly.

"Like that, do you?" he asked their twitching forms, "Your friends in Viridian Forest were so kind to help me perfect it…while I was torturing and killing a few of them, that is!"

"You…monster," the Vaporeon gasped out.

The Zoroark laughed loudly and brandished his claws. "Now, believe it or not, I'm not supposed to kill you, Pikablu. However, you, dear Vapor, are a perfectly expendable target."

I made a quick decision just then. I didn't like this Zoroark's attitude and had the sneaking suspicion he had been up to no good on the ship. Plus, the Blaziken was still busy with the Tyranitar, so if anyone was going to save the Vaporeon, it would have to be me. Gathering my strength, I leapt out of hiding and dashed for him, making no attempt to silence my footsteps. He whirled sharply, but relaxed when he saw me. "Ah, Havoc, you're late, as usu…" I rammed into him, knocking him over and stunning him. "You're not…Havoc," he choked.

"Nope. Name's Spirit," I growled, "Nice to make your acquaintance. Not really. Now, how would you like to get your butt kicked today, finely sliced or battered?" The Zoroark rose slowly, dusting himself off. His look was murderous and for a moment I second-guessed myself. This may have been a bad idea.

"You are either very brave or very stupid," he said, "and I can't decide which." His eyes narrowed. "You're that Absol from the ship, aren't you?"

"Less talking," I snapped, lunging at him with my blade. I hit him, but he simply vanished in a flash of light, leaving me blinded.

"It was an illusion! Look out behind you!" the Vaporeon called worriedly. I whirled just in time to parry a slash with my blades. The Zoroark hissed in annoyance and leapt back.

"Do you really think you can defeat me, Absol?" he asked, showing me his teeth and claws. Shadows began to swirl around him and a wind whipped up, making his fur blow around in the wind. He seemed to become a source of pure darkness, overwhelming and terrifying. "I am far more powerful than you could ever imagine! Bow before me, or I shall tear the flesh from your bones and feed it to the hounds of hell!"

To be honest, I was scared. I'd never seen anyone do anything like what I was seeing now. And it didn't help that the Pikachu and Vaporeon were screaming at me to run. It could be an illusion, but it looked pretty real. Regardless, I stood up straight and faced him with a level, hard-eyed gaze. "Your illusion is very convincing," I said, hoping it was an illusion, "but there is one problem with it." Zoroark's expression became dismayed and the shadows and wind vanished.

"What? What was wrong with it?" he demanded desperately. Meanwhile, I noticed that the Pikachu and Vaporeon were not actually telling me to run, but shouting encouragement. That must have been part of the illusion too.

"I didn't feel any wind," I told him. He cursed.

"Ah-ha! Take this, you big oaf!" the Blaziken shouted triumphantly, landing a giant, glowing fist directly on the Tyranitar's jaw. He collapsed like a falling mountain, sending shockwaves through the ground and nearly flattening the Blaziken as he came down. After a successful doge, he took the time to strike a dramatic pose before turning to face Zoroark. "Come here, Zorro! I'm barely warmed up yet!" Zorro growled in annoyance.

"The position is becoming untenable," he said, raking a claw through his fur and pulling out a grey, metal egg-shaped object. I couldn't figure out what it was, but it gave me chills for some reason. It looked like a human weapon and that was enough to make me wary. "Catch, Jet." He threw it at the Blaziken and ran the other way. In mid-air, the egg exploded into a cloud of smoke, obscuring the battlefield and leaving me coughing.

"Coward!" Jet screamed, "I wanted to FIGHT! Come back here, Zorro!"

"It's okay," the Vaporeon soothed, rising shakily in her solid form, "We'll get him next time. At least we got Tyrone." She turned to me and smiled. "I don't know why you helped us, but thank you." She cocked her head to the side. "Did you say your name was Spirit?"

"Yeah," I growled, "I didn't like that guy's attitude. He spoke so flippantly of death and torture. I may hunt a few Magikarp…" That was not entirely true. I hunted a lot of Magikarp. They were my primary food source in the wild. But they weren't really intelligent to be called beings of equal worth. However, I would never dream of torturing them before I ate them. That was just cruel. "…but that doesn't mean I wanted to see you all dead. He reminds me of someone I knew once. He was a murderer. So…" I shrugged, "Plus, you looked like you could use some help there."

"We had it sorted…" the Pikachu mumbled. Vapor nudged him and he amended himself quickly."Um…thanks." He turned to his to companions, ignoring me. "Anyway, we have a new problem. Namely, Tyrone." The other two nodded in agreement.

"We can't just leave him here," Jet said.

"And it will take at least two of us to ensure he doesn't escape," Vapor sighed.

But we still have our mission to complete," Pikablu finished. He gave me a curious look. "I don't suppose you could help."

"No," I replied, "I have to get back to my trainer."

"Oh." Now, the Pikachu completely lost interest in me. "So, since I'm the leader, I'll continue the mission while you two make sure headquarters gets Tyrone locked up all nice and cozy." The other two exchanged worried glances.

"You sure you can handle this without my help?" Jet asked. The Pikachu grinned confidently.

"You forget, I'm a super-clone of the world's most powerful Pikachu! I can handle anything! I'd take Groudon on if he wasn't such a cheater!" he boasted. Vapor rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't cheat. He just has a type advantage," she said. Angry sparks appeared on the Pikachu's cheeks.

"I'LL TURN THAT JERK'S DIRT INTO GLASS!" he said, "WATCH THIS!" An electric aura surrounded him, throwing off sparks left and right. Vapor and Jet stood watching, bored expressions on their face.

I looked for an excuse to get out of there.

"Well, if you won't be needing me…" I muttered. The Blaziken waved me away. A bit put off by his dismissiveness, I turned and bounded back over the sands, thinking over the events that had just transpired. A team of Pokémon going out on missions to defeat criminals. What a…novel idea.

I arrived back at the port to find the others waiting for me. No one asked where I'd been, so I didn't bother to tell them. Perhaps this adventure was better kept to myself, for now at least.