Hey everyone! Thanks for all of the reviews, especially you Mist-Sensei. I'm glad you guys like the story so far, I'm truly happy to gain your support and constructive criticism. It helps to make my story so much better! Now onto the story!!
Chapter 11: The Woodland Maze and the Stone Gray City
Mark and Alex continued to head north through Viridian Forest. After they had gotten Eevee from Nik, the little boy had given them a Poke Ball and a Potion. As they kept walking, Alex pointed out the next Cipher goon standing near the western bend in the path. Mark grabbed Raichu's Poke Ball, not wanting to waste Sparks' energy.
The Cipher goon was a tall man with spiky light brown hair and cold brown eyes. He wore an orange vest over a black T-shirt, tan pants, and brown hiking boots. He was tossing a Poke Ball into the air in a bored fashion. Mark told himself not to fall for that act. It worked once in Viridian City, it won't work again.
"Raichu, get ready." Mark growled, throwing the Poke Ball. Raichu popped out and started growling at the goon.
The goon glanced at them and dropped the Poke Ball. It opened up to reveal a Ledyba. It had a purple shell and glowing red eyes. The Bug-type Pokemon opened its mouth and screeched, daring the electric mouse to get any closer.
"Ledyba, use Shadow Wind!" the goon growled.
Ledyba flew into the air and started beating its wings quickly, creating a fierce wind laced with a shadowy aura. Raichu sank its tail into the ground and curled up, saving itself from any damage. After a Shadow Spark attack, Mark captured the Ledyba and headed left while the goon ran the opposite direction.
Mark and Alex headed north again. Espeon dashed forward, leaving her owners behind for a moment before she returned. Alex smiled. "Looks like Espeon found an Antidote for us, Mark!"
"You keep it, Alex." Mark replied, dropping his bag on the ground. "I've got enough stuff to carry as it is."
"Okay, if you say so." Alex said, putting the Antidote in her backpack.
They turned left and walked through a large patch of long grass. Alex had to fight a few wild Pokemon and even caught a Metapod for her team. After passing the grass, they went around a bend and started heading north again. After crossing a second patch of grass, Mark spotted the next Cipher goon.
She was a young girl, around 13, and had short red hair and green eyes. She wore a white tank top with a jagged 'C' on it, black and red checkered shorts, black tennis shoes, and a chain necklace with a bird pendant on it. She was playing with her Poke Ball until she noticed the two and straightened up.
"Do you work for Cipher, kid?" Mark asked, looking at her Poke Ball.
"Yeah, I do!" the girl chirped. "I'm guessing you're the Snaggers. I can't wait to see how you battle against me! Go, Igglybuff! Cleffa!"
The two baby Pokemon popped out. Igglybuff was a pale purple color with glowing red eyes. Cleffa was pale red with black ears and glowing red eyes.
"Great, more babies!" Mark said sarcastically, throwing a Poke Ball. "Caterpie, Weedle, I think you two can handle this one."
The two Bug-type Pokemon nodded and turned towards their opponents. The two baby Pokemon looked at the bugs curiously, having never seen any Bug-types before. Alex was squealing with joy at the sight of the two babies (since Mark had assigned Alex with taking care of most of the babies, which she happily agreed to).
"Igglybuff, use Shadow Pound!" the girl cried. "Cleffa, use Shadow Sing!"
Igglybuff jumped into the air and started hitting Weedle, who curled up in a ball to avoid most of the attacks. Cleffa started to sing and Caterpie was wobbling, nearly asleep.
"Weedle, use Shadow Sting! Caterpie, use Shadow Shot!" Mark ordered.
Weedle managed to crawl away from Igglybuff and leaped forward, trying to hit Igglybuff with its stinger. The baby Pokemon cried out in alarm and bounced away, trying to dodge the sharp stinger that was aimed at it.
Caterpie shook its head and shot a string of purple thread from its mouth, tying Cleffa up and covering its mouth to silence the sleep-inducing song. The baby Pokemon wiggled a bit to try and escape, but that made Caterpie only tighten the thread slightly.
Mark pulled out two Poke Balls and tossed them at the two babies, capturing them. After he returned his Pokemon, he turned to the little girl. She sighed sadly before dropping something on the ground and walking away. Alex picked up the item and handed it to Mark.
"What is it?" Mark asked, looking the item over. "Some kind of disk?"
"Maybe there's a message on there from Shadow Master?" Alex suggested.
"It could be, but wouldn't that mean Cipher found him if a Cipher goon gave it to us?" Mark argued. "Unless that girl is working with him."
The little girl smiled as she walked away. That disk will show you exactly what you're in for now, Snaggers. I just hope the Shadow Master was right in putting that information on it. Good luck, Snaggers… you'll need it now.
Elsewhere on the unknown island…
"Dart!" Rosalean called, walking through the halls with her Floatzel partner. "Dart, where are you? The Snaggers are nearing your gym and the boss says you've got to go!"
"That idiot is probably in his room, sleeping the day away." Mist suggested, arms stretched over his head. "If he won't go, then maybe I will get to have my rematch a little earlier." He said a little louder.
Dart's bedroom door burst open and Dart tore out of his room, skidding to a stop in front of the two Cipher Gym Leaders. "I'm up already!" he groaned. Then he turned to Mist and snarled, "And you are NOT taking my place in battling them, whitey!"
"Okay, we get the point." Rosalean said, waving her hands. "Snaggers are almost at Pewter, so you better get ready. You know the boss, he'll have your head if you lose to those kids."
"I know, I know!" Dart exclaimed. "I'll win this fight, no matter what! Hey whitey, don't get to comfy with your idea of a rematch 'cause I'll beat them first!"
Mist sighed. "I highly doubt that, Dart." He said coldly. "You'll need all the luck you can get just to dodge a simple Spark attack."
"What did you say?!"
"Boys, calm down!" Rosalean scolded. "God, I feel like the only mature one here!"
"Yeah, Florence acts like a two-year-old and whitey acts like a one-year-old." Dart said, smirking.
"You're the one-year-old, Dart." Mist countered.
"THAT'S IT!!! You want to take this outside or what, magic boy?!" Dart spat.
"Come on, we need to get you ready to go!" Rosalean hissed, grabbing Dart and dragging him down the hall.
Mist just stood there. "Magic boy? Since when has he gone and made fun of my powers?" he muttered. Mist walked down the hall after his two companions. "Oh well. Guess he got tired of whitey."
Viridian Forest…
After passing through two more big patches of tall grass, and defeating the final Cipher goon there and catching their Happiny, they were finally on the edge of Viridian Forest. Mark looked back to see Alex playing with the little Happiny. It was pale purple with purple cheeks and lower body, glowing red eyes, and carried a dark gray egg. The gray stripe around its middle separated the pale purple from the purple.
Mark sighed, checking the stats on his three new baby Pokemon. Happiny's Attack was two stars while its other stats were one each. It was female, 2'00", 53 lbs, Natural Cure ability, and was Level 7.
Cleffa's Attack was two stars while its other stats were one star each. It was female, 1'00", 6 lbs, Magic Guard ability, and was Level 6.
Igglybuff's Attack was two stars while its other stats were one star each. It was female, 1'00", 2 lbs, Cute Charm ability, and was Level 5.
As they walked through the building the lead back to Route 2, Mark had the oddest feeling that he was being watched. Then sun was setting, bathing the sky a rainbow of different colors. As the two emerged from the forest, Alex stretched and said, "Man, am I glad to be back in the open again!"
"Calm down, Alex!" Mark chuckled, stretching his arms over his head. "I know you're happy to be out of the forest but don't overdo it."
"Get over it, Mark!" Alex said, looking forward. She suddenly stopped in her tracks. "What are you doing here?!"
Mark looked forward and saw the last person he wanted to meet tonight. "I control the gym here, if you haven't forgotten." Dart replied, eyes narrowed at the two. "Meet me at the Pewter City Gym tomorrow afternoon after you've dealt with the goons wandering the city. And don't forget our new rules."
Mark just glared at the blonde as he walked away. "Oh, don't worry. We haven't forgotten the rules, Dart!" he hissed angrily.
"I almost forgot about him." Alex growled. "I almost forgot that Cipher took over the Gyms and the Pokemon Leagues."
"I know," Mark replied, hands balled into fists as he watched Dart vanishing through the trees that lead to Pewter City. "We have to beat him so Brock can get his gym back."
Maybe we should head to the Pokemon Center first, Mark, Espeon suggested, nodding towards the building. We all need some rest for tomorrow.
"Espeon's got a point. We can think about Dart tomorrow when we've got to face him." Alex said, walking towards the Pokemon Center. "We get to sleep in beds tonight too!"
"What happened to 'I love sleeping outside like all Pokemon trainers'?" Mark asked, following her.
"I told her to stay in the forest." Alex replied, smirking. "I like the forest and all, but I keep waking up to weird noises and stuff. I'd rather choose a bed over the forest any day while Cipher's around."
Mark paused before saying, "You have a point there. But don't get too comfortable in a bed because sooner or later, we're going to end up sleeping outside for days straight sooner or later."
"Well, until then, I choose to sleep in a bed." Alex declared, walking through the doors of the Pokemon Center.
Mark walked up to the front desk and requested that his Pokemon be healed. While he waited, Alex pointed out a familiar face speaking with Nurse Joy. "Nurse Joy, I'm so glad to see you again! May I ask if you've seen a beautiful young girl and an older boy roaming around here?"
"Why, yes I have." Nurse Joy answered. "They're sitting right there. I'm healing their Pokemon right now."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy!" the man cried, hearts in his eyes. "I'll be right back!"
"Mark, is that who I think it is?" Alex asked hesitantly.
"Unfortunately, yes." Mark replied, pulling his bandanna over his eyes.
"Boy, am I glad I found you guys!" said the man. "I've been here since yesterday, waiting for you guys to show up. Professor Oak said you guys would be here soon to challenge the Cipher guy that took my gym."
"Brock, what do you want?" Mark asked. "Not to sound rude, but I thought you were all staying at Oak's place until we freed your gyms."
"Yeah, that was the plan." Brock explained, sitting down beside him. "But Sabrina suggested that we help you guys beat Cipher, mainly the people who took our gyms. If we can beat them, Cipher doesn't have that much control over us anymore."
"So that means the Gym Leaders are fighting with us now?" Alex asked, smiling. "That's awesome! We have more help now, Mark!"
"I know, but there's one thing I need to know." Mark said, looking at Brock. "Does Prof. Oak have any plans for the Shadow Pokemon inhabiting those gyms? Am I taking them or are you guys going to take them and find out a purification process?"
"Prof. Oak told us to let you take them." Brock replied, frowning. "Oak wanted to know something, too. He wants to know if you've gotten any new messages from the Shadow Master."
"We might have," Alex answered. "This girl in Viridian Forest dropped a disk and we still have to check it out. Once we find out what it says, we'll tell Prof. Oak."
"Okay." Brock said and looked at the counter. "I think your Pokemon are healed now. I'll get them."
"Thanks!" Mark said as Brock got up. Then he said, "He's gonna talk to Nurse Joy before giving my Pokemon back, isn't he?"
Alex sighed and nodded. "Yep, he will."
"How about we head up to our rooms?" Mark suggested. "We just need to get the key card and room number from Nurse Joy."
"Okay, I'll get it!" Alex said, standing up. "I'll get your Pokemon back too."
"Thanks." Mark replied, watching the blue-haired girl walk to the counter. He stared at the disk the girl had dropped in Viridian City. "Wonder if this is a message from Shadow Master?"
Mark's PDA started beeping again. After pulling it out, he checked the map of Pewter City to see how many Shadow Pokemon there were. Four Shadow Pokemon were scattered throughout the city while three resided within the Pewter City Gym, where Dart was located. Dart has three more with him? Mark thought. Wonder if they're as strong as Mist's Lapras was. I wasn't even able to check its level!
"Hey, Mark!" Alex called, snapping the green-haired boy back to reality. "I've got your Pokemon, our room number and key card. Brock's staying with us, too!"
"Great." He groaned, plucking his Poke Balls from her arms and replacing them onto his belt. "Let's get going then. Where is Brock anyway?"
Alex pointed to the front desk, where Brock was still flirting with Nurse Joy. "Over there. I told him to meet us in the room, since he has a key card too. Let's go!"
The two walked upstairs and down the hallway until they reached their assigned room. It had two bunk beds, a desk and a bathroom. Alex kicked off her shoes and crawled onto the top bunk of one of the beds. "I declare this as my bed for however long we stay here!" she cried before flopping onto her back. Her Sneasel jumped up and curled up in one corner of the bed, already asleep.
Mark collapsed on the bed below hers, kicking off his own shoes and wriggling out of his jacket. After untying his bandanna, he started petting Sparks' back. The Pikachu let out a noise similar to a purr and rubbed his head against Mark's hand.
An hour later, Brock entered the room and sat on the bed. He gave Mark a stern look and said, "Mark, thanks for helping me get my gym back. It means a lot to me."
"I know, Brock." Mark said. "But don't thank me yet. We still got to beat Dart in order to save your gym. And I should be thanking you for deciding to help me."
"Do you know what kind of Pokemon he's using?" Brock asked.
"The last time I battled him, he used Poison-types and a Fighting-type Pokemon." Mark replied. "My PDA says he's got a Rock-type and two Fighting-types."
"I can take care of the Rock-type," Brock volunteered. "But it's those Fighting-types I'm worried about. They could really do some heavy damage to my Pokemon if given the chance."
"Then we won't give them that chance!" Mark exclaimed. "Espeon can take them out!"
"One Psychic-type against two Fighting-types?" Brock asked, puzzled. "Sure, a Psychic Pokemon can take down a Fighting Pokemon but can she take out two? I think you're pulling a big risk by pitting her against them all alone, Mark."
"She won't be alone." Mark countered. "Umbreon will be with her."
"If you say so, Mark. But I hope you're right about us being able to beat this Dart guy." Brock added. "We really need to loosen Cipher's ties on us or we'll all fall… maybe even you and Alex, too."
"No." Mark growled. "We won't fall. We've got to beat them, for Anna."
"Anna? That little girl that Prof. Oak mentioned?" Brock asked. "Is it true that Cipher killed her just so they could gain control of a potential Gym Leader?"
"Yeah, it's true." Mark said sadly. "She was in the way of Cipher's plans, just like Alex and I are right now. She was Mist's friend, too."
"Mist's the guy that took over Misty's gym, right?"
"Right."
Brock sighed. "I'm going to sleep now. We'll need all of our strength to beat Dart and those other goons tomorrow."
Mark yawned and climbed into bed, turning the lights off. "Yeah, me too. Night, Brock."
"Night, Mark."
Mark closed his eyes and drifted off. The window creaked open silently and a familiar figure slipped into the room. It was Mist. The white-haired Gym Leader quietly picked up the disk the girl had dropped in Viridian Forest. Placing it in the computer, he waited silently for it to play.
The screen turned on to reveal the inside of a laboratory. Many large tubes covered the walls of the room, but the screen was fixed on one in particular. The largest tube in the middle of the room was filled with pinkish-red liquid, and floating in it was Shadow Mew. Many wires came from its body and its eyes were closed, signaling that it was asleep or unconscious.
Mist watched in fascination as a man in a lab coat bustled past, unaware that someone was filming this. An unfamiliar voice said, "This is Shadow Mew. It is just the start of a special Shadow Pokemon project called 'Project: Shadow Legendaries'. Cipher plans on capturing the legendaries and turning them into Shadow Pokemon. Only the head scientists and the boss know of this project, so don't go asking the Gym Leaders about is because they'll know nothing of it."
Mist smirked. "Oh, really? I know now."
"It took a long time to infuse the shadow into Mew but ended up working. The boss is still deciding on who will take it but whoever takes it will have to have a strong will, mind and heart in order to control this Shadow Psychic Pokemon. It is almost three times as powerful as a normal Mew."
Mist started to grit his teeth in anger. Why had he not have been informed of this? Why hadn't any of the Gym Leaders? Did the boss think of them as too weak to handle the powers of a Shadow Legendary? If they thought that, then they were highly mistaken.
"The boss came up with this new project not long after the elimination of a Ms. Anna Hikoru in order to gain the trust of Agent 69, a.k.a. Mist."
That part caused Mist to ignore everything else. Elimination? No, that had to be a mistake. Anna died in a car accident and her body had never been found. Cipher had delivered the news to him themselves. It was her death that made him take this job in the first place. That man… he's got to be wrong. Anna wasn't eliminated, she died. Died in a car accident! What reason would Cipher have to lie to me?!
Mist shook his head and removed the disk from the computer. He then leaped out the window and ran away from Pewter City. As he reached Route 3, he nearly ran into Dart. "Hey, watch it!" Dart snapped, only to realize exactly who he was talking to. "What are you doing here, psychic freak?"
"Just… following master's orders." Mist said. It was a lie, but Dart would never know. "I'm keeping tabs on the Snaggers. It turns out the Shadow Master left them another message but I couldn't figure out who he was. The Gym Leaders, the original ones, are planning on fighting us as well so be on the lookout for Brock."
"I know that already! I saw that skirt-chasing Rock-type trainer snooping around my gym yesterday." Dart growled. "And what's with you? You look like something spooked you… Not that I care!"
"Glad to know that you don't care." Mist said sarcastically. "And, actually, I'm not scared. I just discovered some startling news on the Shadow Master's disk."
"And that is…?"
Mist sighed. "Master been keeping a rather large secret from us. Turns out the legendaries are involved more than we originally thought."
"What?!" Dart hissed. "You're kidding. Why didn't he tell us?"
"I don't know, sword boy." Mist replied. "What do I look like, a dictionary?"
Dart growled lowly before grinding out, "How many so far?"
"Only Mew at the moment, but more will come soon." Mist said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get home and take a shower."
"Whatever." Dart grumbled, watching Mist teleport away. The blonde turned and stalked back to the stone building that was his gym. "Tomorrow will be the last time those Snaggers try to beat Cipher. After tonight, there won't be anything left standing in our way."
Next Chapter: Mark vs. Dart: The Battle for Pewter City!
"Do you really think you can get this gym back?" Dart taunted, tossing one Poke Ball. "Do you think you can stop all of Cipher?" He tossed a second Poke Ball. "Sure, two others did but that doesn't mean you will." He tossed a third Poke Ball. "Either way, I'll win and you'll lose."
Brock placed a hand on Mark's shoulder. "We better be careful here. If you have any Water-types on you, it's best if you use them now."
"I know, Brock." Mark replied. "We'll win this no matter what. Just leave the Fighting-types to me and you take the Rock-type. Alex, you jump in when you see an opening."
"Go that, Mark!" Alex cried. "For a second, I thought you'd say I wasn't allowed to fight this battle."
"I'll let you but just be careful, okay?" Mark said. "We need to win this battle. I promised we would."
"Don't count on keeping that promise, Snagger!" Dart snarled. "You're going to lose, here and now!"
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Well, I hope you all liked this chapter! If anyone wants to make up any goons or a Gym Leader for Cipher, put a description of them and their possible Shadow Pokemon in your review. I already have a timeline thought out for some of this story but if anyone has any suggestions or ideas, I'll gladly listen to them. If anyone wants to suggest a certain Pokemon to pop up soon, leave it in your review and I'll find where to have them pop up. Thanks for all of the reviews everyone and keep reading!