Disclaimer: Pokemon is copyrighted to Satoshi Tajiri (characters, concept, and creatures). The things I do own that will appear in the story are Aaron Shadow, Ian Darusu, Professor Xavier Kagu, the Tenla Region, the Elite Four of Tenla, the Tenla starter Pokemon, the towns and cities of Tenla, some attacks, the criminal syndicate to appear, and additional/random people and trainers that appear.
Halloween Special: What Lies In The Dark
The evening befell the Tenla Region. Clouds of grey and skies of slate replaced the white clouds and normal blue sky from the afternoon. The ominousness of the change of scenery struck slight fear into our heroes.
Ash, Misty, Dawn, Brock, May, Max, Aaron, and Ian traversed the trail of a spooky glade. Darkened fog blanketed sections of the grass that were stripped of sunlight for the time being. "It's getting darker than usual." Max stated. "And colder." May commented hugging herself. Ian chuckled, unaffected by the ill-omened conditions, "What's wrong? Getting scared?"
"Be quiet, Ian." May retorted.
Then suddenly, treetops began to creep over the horizon. "Oh, great, a forest is coming up…" Aaron groaned. "This is gonna suck." Ash stated grimly. As the group ventured further to the entrance of the woods, sinister shadows appeared behind the group, enshrouded by the mist. Their glowing eyes leered at the fresh set of targets.
Once surrounded by nothing but woodland, the creepy milieu was actually enhanced and the darkness deepened scarily. The mist that was present in the glade peered through every gap in the botanical environment. The group was at the highest point their instincts could allow because they could not fathom what lied in the unknown.
"We sure picked a lousy time to go to a forest." Aaron spoke as he examined the sky. The grey clouds began to amalgamate sinisterly. A downpour was impending. Misty could not help her skin crawling; the lingering metonymy of malice was evident in all sides of the surroundings. That and she could've sworn she saw an apparition spying on them. "Ah, it isn't that bad." Ian countered. "Easy for you to say," Aaron replied, "You enjoy this kind of stuff."
"True." Ian shamelessly admitted.
To add to the mysterious setting, thunder began to roar in the blackening skies. Sending the nerves of those who are easily frightening are of their place. "N-no need to worry, right, guys?" Dawn said desperately trying to endure the chilling circumstances. As if on cue, small raindrops began to fall from the dark skies. "Yeah, that's when we start worrying." Brock said scornfully. With that, the gang increased their speed in hopes of finding shelter. They were in such a hurry, that they did not notice the moving shadows concealed with behind the plants.
Finally, the party made it to a cave in a secluded part of the forest. As dark as it may be, the cave would make do until the rain subsided. "Well, guess this is camp for tonight." Aaron deduced. "Heh, a dark and spooky cave in a dark night such as this…" Ian said. Whenever he was caught in situations such as these, he found himself more willing and adventurous. During the first years of his travelling career, he even enjoyed scaring people as if it was a hobby. To some extant, he still does. Of course, Aaron was right there to set him straight.
"Ian, please don't be so descriptive." Dawn requested in a quavery voice. "What's the matter, Dawn? Scared?" Ian asked sneeringly. "That's not funny, Ian!" Dawn snapped back. "All right, calm down, everyone." Misty said as she set up the lantern to light up the cavern.
She soon wished she hadn't.
When the lantern's fire lit up the dark halls, arrays of Ghost-type and/or Dark-type Pokemon were plentifully surrounding them. "WHOA!" Aaron and Ash cried out in surprise. "OH MY GOD!" Misty and Brock screamed at the top of her lungs. "AAAHHHH!" May and Dawn hugged each other in absolute fear. "Whoa! Look at the Ghost Pokemon!" Ian exclaimed elatedly. Yes, he was the only person in the predicament not exhibiting forms of fear or distress.
Before the heroes could react, the Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, Drifloon, Drifblim performed Hypnosis. Lulling, hypnotic psi-waves suddenly traveled around the caverns. Slumber became imminent for those unfortunate to have the waves entered their senses. Ash and company were one of those misfortunate; they immediately fell to the ground sleeping. Then, the Gastly and Drifloon released a choking black Haze.
The Ghost- and Dark-type Pokemon's glowing eyes and malignant smirks could be seen in the smoke before it cleared away. And our heroes were no longer there…they were somewhere in the darkness of the unknown…
Ash's eyes finally opened up. His vision was blurry; he could not make out what surrounded him yet. "Where am I…?" He said as he sat up rubbing his head. "Better yet, what happened?" Finally, Ash could see his whereabouts: It appeared that he was in the middle of some kind of pathway. The dark brown ground was dirt and the walls were slate stone. He could neither see what was in front of him nor what was behind him; it was that dark. "Man, this is getting creepier by the second." Ash said.
"Pika…" Pikachu said groggily as it awakened. The electric mouse then noticed something about his trainer. "Pika Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed as it pointed to Ash's clothing. The raven-haired trainer look at what Pikachu was trying to point out. The colors of his attire were altered in which orange and black were the primary and secondary colors. "OK, who changed my clothes?" Ash asked in exclamation, addressing no one in particular. He also noticed something else, "And where my friends?" His head continuously shifted to look in every direction. He didn't hear anyone's voice nor could he see anyone. With an exasperate sigh, Ash stood up. "Come on, Pikachu, won't do any good just sitting here."
"Pika."
Ash and Pikachu began to venture into the dark unknown depths of the dungeon, unaware of the apparitions close behind him. "Man, what kind of place is this?" Ash questioned. "Pika. (Good question)" said Pikachu.
"Schizo…"
Ash and Pikachu literally froze in place as an evilly low sound made their spines tingle. "Wh-who's there?" Ash yelled. Sparks surged through Pikachu's cheeks, more so out of fear than preparation for battle. Ever so slowly, a floating entity began to reveal itself from the shadows. The nearer it drew, the more Ash and Pikachu's heart raced. Finally, a peculiar ghost-like entity revealed itself completely
"Schizo…" Its threateningly low voice said. The creature had a gold sphere in its very center and a red glowing eye on the sphere. A protruding gold rim made the crimson eye seemed like it was half-opened. Black, shadowy mass surrounded the gold center, shaped like a hurricane or even a spiral galaxy. "Wha-what is that?" Ash shakily took out his red PokeDex and pointed it at the sinister figure.
"Schizo: The Apparition Pokemon. Each Schizo is found to have differently shaped black auras. They live wherever darkness is most prominent. Whenever that criterion is not met, they will shelter themselves underground or in walls."
(A/N: "Schizo" [She-Zoh] is derived from the word 'schizotypy' which is a psychological concept that describes hallucination or apparitional experiences.)
"Well, there's just one of them so we can take it down!" Ash optimistically declared. That bravado was immediately eliminated when hoards of Schizo appeared. True to its encyclopedia description, each Schizo's black aura had different shapes; including that of flower petals, triangles, and stars. "Scratch that," Ash said in trepidation, "A TRUCKLOAD OF THEM!" The scared trainer and mouse instantly fled for their lives. The Schizo slowly followed them, knowing they had home-field advantage.
May and Max traveled down a dark staircase ever so carefully. Just like Ash, their apparel's colorings were alternated to the ones that represented Halloween; orange and black. With darkness constantly surrounding them and seemingly open space encompassing a narrow staircase, much caution should be executed. "May, I'm scared…" Max said. "Don't be, Max, we'll get out of this." May consoled. "But with all those Ghost Pokemon and this dungeon, how are we?" Max said as an unknown figure close by crawled along the sides of the stairway. May could not answer that question. True, they were trapped at the mercy of darkness and they were traversing the mysterious.
"Well, Max, remember when Dad told us that on our journey, we should not worry about the situation we're in, think about how to get out of it." May explained. "Um, right…" Max distractedly replied. What distracted him was he thought he saw something stirring in the darkness in close proximity to the stairs. "Were you even listening?" May retorted. "Sort of. Something distracted me." The male sibling responded. May's nerves began to feel anxiety; something seemed to be following them. Quickly, May gripped her younger brother's hand and began to hasten their descent. "Max, try to keep up." May instructed. "OK."
The siblings made it the foot of the staircase and hurried straight down the pathway that preceded it. When they rounded a corner, they bumped into something. This prompted them to shriek in fear. "Not so loud will you?" A surprisingly human voice pleaded. Fear exited the siblings when they saw Aaron, with his attire's original color altered to that of Halloween colors. "Oh, Aaron…" May said in relief. "Are we glad to see you." Max pronounced happily. "Why is that?" Aaron asked curiously. "Well, Max said he saw something back there," said May, "and then we hauled ass out of there."
"Something, huh?" Aaron stated as he leered at the two siblings. "Did it look something like this?" This next action proved that they were actually negotiating with an enemy. "Aaron"'s body began to morph into a darker, quadrupedal spider-like creature. The main body possessed nothing but two murderous gold eyes and a crooked red smile. The legs were long and resembled that of a scythe's blade.
May and Max released blood-curdling screams at the vicious entity that just revealed itself to them. They backed up from the creature until their backs hit the stone wall. The creature simply stared at them, not making any advancements (possibly toying with them). Wanting to know what exactly they were dealing with, May took out her violet PokeDex and scanned the creature.
"Çharade: The Shape-Shifter Pokemon. This dark pokemon is highly intelligent as it is able to morph its own appearance to that of other Pokemon or even humans."
(A/N: "Çharade" [Sha-Rod] obviously comes from the word "charade" which can mean "imitation", "fake", and "simulation". This emphasizes its ability to change its appearance.)
Çharade began to threateningly crawl toward the terrified brother and sister. "Blaziken come out and attack that thing!" May spoke extremely quickly, and almost unintelligibly, and hurriedly threw out her Pokeball. The gadget popped out and summoned her Blaziken. Immediately noticing the threat before it, Blaziken attempted a fiery Blaze Kick at it. "Sha!" Çharade's size suddenly decreased immensely (Minimize) avoiding the Fire-type attack completely. Seemingly gone, May and Max quickly scurried past Blaziken leaving massive amounts of brown dust in their hurried footsteps' wake. "…Blaze? (…What the?)" Blaziken said as it watched as the weird-acting siblings run off. Unexpectedly, a thunderous stomp sounded behind it. When the Blaze Pokemon turned around to investigate, Çharade was there. The pure Dark-type was now thrice its normal size (Maximize). "BLAZIKEN!
(HOLY SHIT!)" The Fire/Fighting-type ran away, pursuing its companions.
Dawn, Aaron (with Magnezone), and Brock, the only people that actually woke up in a group, cautiously sauntered down a hall of light-colored translucent walls. This made this specific portion of the dark dungeon the only well-lit section. "OK, how in the world did we end up here?" Brock questioned as he studied the contrasting walls and his reflection in it. "Obviously the Ghost Pokemon." Aaron curtly responded. "I don't get it," Dawn asserted, "What do they want with us?"
"We were probably at the wrong place at the wrong time." Brock concluded.
"Hmph, I bet Ian is having the time of his life." Aaron said. Dawn look at the strategist strangely and responded, "What do you mean?"
"Ian's from Lavender Town of the Kanto Region aka the City of Poltergeists. He developed a habit of enjoying all things frightening." Aaron explicated. "Is that why he's such an A-hole?" Aaron shrugged, "Perhaps."
The dark-skinned Pewter City Gym Leader continued to survey the translucent walls. Something about it irked him. "Guys, don't these walls seem really odd to you?" Brock inquired. "What about it?" Dawn asked in rejoinder. "It almost seems like they're alive and something's moving within them…" Brock stated. "Peculiar indeed…" Aaron concurred. Magnezone's red eye began to examine the walls for itself; sure enough, sinister white smoke was churning within these translucent walls. "Mag…(Hmm…)" It droned in thought. Suddenly, something dark was briefly seen. The Steel/Electric-type stopped and sparked electricity in its magnets because there was a threat watching them. "What's up, Magnezone?" Aaron asked.
Abruptly, the translucent walls shattered and the thick white mist began to fill the room. "Aaron! Dawn! Can you two hear me?" Brock yelled in question. "Yeah, Brock, I-" Then, Dawn's screams of fear broke out. "Dawn!" The males exclaimed. "Forretress, get out here and Rapid Spin away this fog!" Brock threw out his Pokeball and Forretress came out. "Scizor, you help him out with Silver Wind!" Aaron threw his out and Scizor, surprisingly, materialized right beside the other Bug/Steel-types. Together, the duo of Bug/Steel-types rotated at high speeds. The drafts created by Forretress began to dissipate the fog while the Silver Wind Scizor was producing thinned at the mist.
Eventually, everything was somewhat clear again. The dungeon reverted to its preponderant state of darkness. For a split second, Aaron, Forretress, Brock, and Scizor could see Dawn being carried away by a dark-robed figure. "Dawn!" The humans exclaimed. Before they could pursue it, Shuppets, Misdreavus, and Mightyenas suddenly appeared in front of them. "Oh, man, we're blocked off!" Aaron yelled.
"Doesn't matter. Take 'em down, Forrtress!" Brock commanded.
"You too, Scizor!"
Scizor and Forretress charged at the Ghost-types and Dark-type blocking their path. The Pincer Pokemon slashed at Shupper and Misdreavus with a damaging Metal Claw. Forretress slammed into the Mightyenas with a forceful Rapid Spin. The scary pokemon immediately retreated when they realized they were dealing with powerful opposition. "Let's go!" Brock directed. "Right!"
"AHHH!"
Aaron and Brock instantly turned around and noticed Blaziken, May, and Max running toward them, scared out of their wits. "May?" Aaron asked. "Max?"Brock asked. "Forre?/Sciz? (Blaziken?)" The Bug/Steel-types asked. "Talk later, run now!/Blaze Blaziken!" The trio frantically stated as they hurried past the befuddled quartet. "Uhhh…" Brock and Aaron droned in uncertainty.
Well, they soon got their answer: rampaging, thunderous stomps coming adjacent to them. They slowly faced the unknown cause in horror. Their faces met a pair of intimidating gold eyes and a crooked, evil smile. "Sha…" A low guttural growl sounded
"AHHHH!" Scizor, Forretress, Aaron, Magnezone, and Brock immediately dashed after their fleeing friends with Çharade following them.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Scere, Dark Pulse! Gouzatile, Ember! NOW!"
An array of Electric-, Dark-, and Fire-type attacks exploded into the dark corridors of the stone dungeon. Some Schizo, in agony, retreated back into the stone and dirt only to be replaced by more brethren. "Pika Pika… (This is bad…)" Pikachu said grimly. "Schizo!" All of the Apparition Pokemon present began to charge darkness in front of their gold centers. They discharged a collective amount of Shadow Balls. Most connected onto the walls or the ground, rocking the dungeon in its foundation. Others were aimed directly at Ash and his Pokemon. "Run, guys!" Ash commanded as he sprinted as fast as he could. Pikachu, Scere, and Gouzatile followed suit.
They kept running and running, traveling further into the darkness while the Schizo floating behind them in pursuit. Suddenly, an abnormality could be seen dead ahead in the shadows: a large oval-shaped door with a stained-glass format. "What's that up ahead?" Ash wondered. A Shadow Ball whizzed his head, narrowly connecting upon his head. Fearfully, he jogged faster while his Pokemon trailing behind. Finally, they reached the door, opened it, went inside, and slammed it shut in the faces of the Schizo.
Panting heavily and out of relief, Ash asked, "Is everyone alright?"
"Pika…(I guess…)"
"Scere. (Fine.)"
"Gou…(Hmph…)"
"All right, guys, let's-AHHH!" A pair of brown arms suddenly protruded from the door and wrapped tautly around Ash. Before his pokemon could react, they were suddenly frozen in their place by an Ice Beam. "Dusknoir…(Do not interfere…)" The brown, ghostly Gripper Pokemon said forebodingly as it revealed itself from behind Ash. A Froslass hovered above the trapped Pokemon who were struggling to destroy their icy prison.
They caught the site of some sort of ebony, decayed, stony church. A floating, robed figure stood in front of a crimson cross and scarlet manger. On the cross was a tied up, unconscious Misty and lying in the manger was an unconscious Dawn. "Misty! Dawn!" Ash called out to in alarm. No response whatsoever. He diverted his attention to the robed figure, "Hey, douche bag! Let them go!" He demanded heatedly. The robed entity turned around to face Ash with a glowing, menacing red eye.
The entity was garnished with a brown flowing robe (almost like the kind Grim Reapers stereotypically wear) and with the hood covering its head. The aforementioned eye was visible out of the hood. A silver metallic hand/claw, which is supposedly its right hand, could be seen. The cuffs of the right sleeve were torn at the wrist. The left sleeve was unnecessarily long so it covered the entity's left hand. The hems of the robe seem to flow like smoke or darkness. Under the hood, the same symbol a Duskull had on its back was present there.
"Yeah, you!" Ash barked, "I'm talking to-" The dark being suddenly summoned a scythe; its blade was long and blood red and its shaft was pitch-black. Dark energy encompassed the scarlet metal on the scythe and was swung, releasing an air-cutting Night Slash at the impaired Ash.
"Scizor, Protect!" A burgundy/red Bug/Steel-type suddenly dashed in front of Ash and made a green dome surround it. The Night Slash was blocked completely by Protect and the excess light produced from it caused Dusknoir and Froslass to retreat to the nearest darkness in the vicinity. "Ash, you OK?" Aaron questioned as he, Brock, Max, and May hurried over. Blaziken, Forretress, and Magnezone were close by, keeping an eye out for the Çharade. "I'm fine, but that guy over there has Dawn and Misty!" Ash announced as he pointed to the dark being levitating to Misty and positioning its scythe alarmingly close to her body.
"Magnezone, Thunderbolt!"
"Forretress, Double-Edge!"
The Magnet Area's magnet exerted a tremendous amount of voltage while Forretress gained a pinkish aura and rotated hastily to the shady character; Magnezone's Thunderbolt followed it. Noticing the threat contradicting its duty, the unknown entity turned around with its scythe now an airy silver color, swung it, and released a windy shockwave (Air Slash) at the attacks. Forretress's Double-Edge was cancelled and Magnezone's Thunderbolt dissipated. "Wha-what is that thing?" Max questioned as he hid behind her sister. May took out her violet PokeDex and pointed it at the entity.
"Duskassin: The Assassin Pokemon. The secondary evolved form of Dusclops. Duskassin is said to have been created from a purgatorial dimension and constantly hounds the living world to bring souls to said place."
(A/N: "Duskassin" [Dusk-a-sin] is a combination of the words "dusk", emphasizing its Ghost/Dark-type characteristics and togetherness with the Duskull evolutionary line, and "assassin")
"No way in hell I'm letting it take those two." Ash vowed through gritted teeth. "Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" He commanded. The electric mouse dashed at Duskassin with an immense electrical aura enveloping it. The Ghost/Dark-type raised its metal hand and snapped the claws, interestingly creating a regular snap. Shuppet, Drifloon, and Gastly suddenly appeared in front of the Volt Tackle-induced Pikachu and use a unified Disable. A blue sound wave forcibly made the Volt Tackle disappeared. Duskassin got in front and smacked Pikachu back to Ash with shaft of its scythe. Ash caught his most prize pokemon before it fell to the ground, "Pikachu, you all right?" "Pika…"
"Duska…(Come on out by brethren…)" Duskassin said in a spooky, whisper-like tone, "Duskassin…(Come enjoy the demolition of these outsiders and offering to my lord…)" Then, almost every Ghost and Dark type ever found before Tenla revealed themselves in many different methods. Gengars, Gastlys, Haunters, Drifloon, Drifblims, Misdreavus, Mismagius, Shuppets, Banettes, Schizo, Mightyenas, Absols, a Froslass, Duskulls, a Dusclop and Dusknoir, Sableyes, and Murkrows were among these pokemon. They filled up the room and surrounded our heroes indefinitely. Their dark bodies and glowing eyes immediately made fear outcome the remainder of their emotions. To top it all off, from vicinity of Duskassin, two extremely long legs appeared and stabbed into the ground near the bundled Pokemon Trainers/Coordinators. A Maximized Çharade appeared, finishing off the meeting of darkness.
"This is not good," Aaron stated dismally, "Not good one bit." May and Max cuddled each other for protection against the scariest type of pokemon ever created. Brock and Ash had many thoughts going through their heads, as if their life was flashing through in their minds. The Pokemon were powerless to attempt to take on army of powerful Ghost- and Dark-types. And everyone could only watch in horror as Duskassin's blood red scythe's attention was on Misty and Dawn.
"Everyone, Shadow Ball now!"
All the murderous pokemon looked in shock to see a rain of Shadow Balls colliding against their bodies. "Duska? (What is the meaning of this?)" Duskassin roared in question. "How do you do, ladies and gentlemen?" A familiar, outgoing voice echoed throughout the unholy chapel. "Ghouls and ghosts, Ian Darusu of Lavender Town is in the house!" Ian, with the aforementioned change of clothes and standing on a stone ledge, announced. His of team of Pokemon, Gengar, Spiritomb, Houndoom, Weavile, Mismagius, and Drifblim, standing valiantly beside him.
"Ian!" Aaron, Ash, May, Max, and Brock called out in complete relief. All of the Ghost and Dark pokemon glared at Ian and his pokemon venomously. "OK, you rejects, rule number 1." Ian said as he descended on his Drifblim. When he and the rest of his Pokemon landed, he continued, "Never, and I mean never, threaten by peeps like this." Brazenly, the Ghost-type enthusiast began to approach the opposing Ghost- and Dark-types. "Rule numero do, don't you ever, ever, ever knock me out and then try to scare me, it ain't happening."
The Lavender Town resident stood approached the Duskassin until dark grey eyes met a glowing crimson eye. "Last but not least…I…" Ian closed his eyes for split-second creating a tense silence in the surroundings. When he reappeared, the scariest thing that could happen to someone's iris happened. "I am the only one who can scare my friends!" He said. Ian's normal dot-pupil was now transformed into a slit-feral pupil. The Assassin Pokemon jumped slightly in surprise.
"Drifblim, Silver Wind! Houndoom, Flamethrower!" Ian commanded. The Ghost/Flying-type Balloon Pokemon flapped its four wings and whipped up a gust of silvery scales. The Dark Pokemon released a gush of flames from its muzzle that combined with the Silver Wind. The combo connected against the majority of the Ghost- and Dark-types. A fraction of those hit retreated in cowardice and/or pain. Çharade tried to retaliate with a Glare but Ian saw it coming. "Weavile, Ice Punch that creature's legs!" He commanded. The Sharp Claw Pokemon charged at the Shape-Shifter quickly and punched one of the legs of the Dark-type. Çharade's Glare was immediately stopped cold as the searing pain delivered ever so quickly. Weavile proceeded to do the same to the remaining three legs.
"Finish it off with Focus Blast, Gengar!" The Shadow Pokemon created a sphere of ivory energy and fired the concentrated blast at the trapped Çharade. "SHAAA!" The Shape-Shifter Pokemon roared in agony as the super-effective shot dealt damage throughout its nervous system in totality. Çharade eventually drifted away in darkness. "All right, Ian!" Aaron cheered. "Get 'em, dude!" Ash encouraged.
Seeing the how quickly its dark armada was being vanquished, Duskassin hurriedly went over to the sacrificial site and made both the manager and the cross glow brightly. "No you don't! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded as he pointed at the Assassin Pokemon. The diminutive mouse fired an electrifying Thunderbolt at the Ghost/Dark-type saw it coming and evaded the attack. As a result, the Thunderbolt an act of friendly fire on Dawn and Misty. Their awakening was also evident by the screams they made. "Oh crud…" Ash said nervously.
"WHAT THE HECK IS YOUR PROBLEM, ASH KETCHUM?" They screamed out in pain/rage. "Uhh, nothing!" Ash stammered. "Dawn, Misty, watch out!" Ian notified as he commanded his Spirtomb to use a Water Pulse/Calm Mind combo on some of Duskassin's army. Quizzically, the respective blunette and orange-haired girl looked around (not only noticing the change of scenery) and saw the Assassin Pokemon charging at them with its scarlet and ebony scythe ready to execute its next sacrifice. Now, they shrieked out of fear for their lives. "Scizor! Magnezone! Save them!" Aaron quickly ordered. Both Steel-types immediately got in front of the trapped females and stopped Duskassin's progression. Infuriated, Duskassin's shadowy body stretched and form multiple versions of itself (Double Team), forming a form circle around the ceremonial location, the Pokemon, and the girls. "Scizor! (Magnezone, watch them!)" Scizor instructed as he walked to over the blood-colored manger. The Bug/Steel-type snapped off Dawn's bindings with its claws. Duskassin and its clone raised their scythes and swished out a Night Slash. The Electric/Steel-type used Hidden Power [Ice] to fend off the attack.
Scizor, using its great dexterity, made to where Misty was positioned on the cross. But before it could free her, a rope of phantasmal darkness grabbed it and slammed it down on the hard floor. "Scizor!" Aaron called out in alarm. Suddenly, another cord of ghostliness wrapped and tied around Aaron. The same began to happen to May, Max, Blaziken (who was actually fending off Schizo and Gastly), Ash and his Pikachu, and Brock. The entities responsible for that were some Schizo that had a cable extending from its golden center. (A/N: This move is called "Dark Whip").
"Magne! Mag! (Aaron! Scizor!)" Magnezone shouted out in alert. With this little window of distraction, Duskassin and its clones swung their scythes and collectively unleashed another Night Slash at Magnezone. The Magnet Area was hit and fell to the ground for a Schizo to ensnare it with Dark Whip. Ian and his Pokemon finally became aware of the fact that their friends were immobilized again, and Schizo began to surround them. Ian growled menacingly, "I don't think so. Spiritomb and Mismagius, Pain Spilt them all!"
Spritomb and Mismagius's eyes glowed an eerie violet color and emitted an energy wave from their bodies. This soundwave affected every Pokemon in the vicinity. The opposing Ghost- and Dark-type and the gang's Pokemon had their respective energy/conditions siphoned. Pain Split transferred these statuses; the allying pokemon were given supreme and healthy conditions while the opposing Ghost and Dark (Duskassin, Schizo some Gastly, and some Absols to be exact) gained unfortunately tired and worn out conditions. As a result of using Pain Spilt, Mismagius and Spiritomb also gained the negative states and fell to the dirt with swirls of discontinuity in their eyes. "Good enough, you two." Ian commented and pulled out both of their particular pokeballs, "Return." Infrared beams of energy recalled them back into the device at a molecular level.
Duskassin unexpected change of condition caused it to dispel its clones. Scizor finally managed to get back up, free Misty, and carefully guided her back to safe ground. Magnezone escorted Dawn away from the manger. The Ghost-type trainer rushed to his friends and asked, "You two OK?" Before they could positively respond, they noticed Ian's transformed eyes. They exclaimed and hit Ian with hammers they somehow managed to obtain via hammerspace. "Owwwwww…." He groaned in pain as two huge bumps obstructed his cranium. The remainder of the group met them and asked similar questions, all getting a positive response.
"Now to finish Duskassin off." Ash said as he faced the Ghost/Dark-type. The Assassin Pokemon hovered tiredly in the air with its scythe rest on its shoulders. Approximately 20 Schizo floated behind him, and two Absols were stationed below him (all in similar conditions to their master). "Let's try this again. Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Ash commanded. "Blaziken, Overheat!" May ordered. "Magnezone Flash Cannon!" Aaron enjoined.
Pikachu hurtled at Duskassin with a gigantic electrical aura wrapping around the Electric-type. Duskassin retaliate by using forming a torpedo-shaped orange/yellow aura around it (Giga Impact) and lunged at the Volt Tackle-induced Pikachu. The Flame Pokemon unleashed a great amassment of fire at the Schizo and immediately KO'd them. Magnezone fired a silver burst of iron energy and instantly poleaxed the Absols into submission. Eventually, Pikachu and Duskassin's struggle ceased when The Mouse Pokemon managed to overpower the Assassin Pokemon. "DUSKA!" The Ghost/Dark-type howled in pain as the vast quantities of voltage and power overtook its phantasmal body. As it too began to fade away, the darkness fizzed up like carbonated soda.
The darkness from Duskassin's diminishing body began to scatter across the confines of the chapel. Eventually, darkness once again championed everyone's sight and they were once again rendered unconscious…
The gang awakened from their unconscious state of mind with tired and confused moans and groans. Unlike the last time they were knocked out, they were actually transported to a valued location; the exit to the forest. Noticing this, Ash sat up and said, "Hey, we're back in the forest."
"Thank the Lord…" Dawn groaned appreciatively. Everybody recalled their respective pokemon (excluding Magnezone and Pikachu) into their Pokeballs.
"Hey, where's Ian?" Misty spoke up in question. She was right; the Lavender Town resident was nowhere to be found. They looked around the premises for him, no trances at all. Aaron stated, "I wonder where he could-"
Suddenly, a thick ominous purple mist surrounded them. Then, a Gengar, Mismagius, Drifblim, and Spiritomb came out. They were using Scary Face, Pain Split, and Ominous Wind and created a perfect rendition/illusion of a gang of murders approaching the hapless heroes. Their vocal cords released high-pitched screams of bloody murder as silhouettes of enshrouded weaponry appeared in the illusion. Before the dark finisher could be delivered, it was interrupted by…hearty chortling?
Gengar, Drifblim, Mismagius, and Spiritomb dispelled the illusion to reveal the Ghost-type trainer laughing his heart out. "My God, the expressions on your faces were priceless!" He said in between hysterical laughs. Apparently, Ash, Aaron, Brock, Misty, May, Max, and Dawn were the victims of an extremely cruel practical joke.
And, Arceus, did they NOT like that.
Ian, in the middle of his self-centered jamboree, failed to notice that darkened, enraged, and disgusted auras of his friends were towering about him; ready to unleash unholy hell on him. "Uh…guys?" He weakly stated, trepidation entirely evident. The pissed off gang of trainers, breeders, and coordinators cracked their knuckles and pounced on Ian. "Hey, come on guys IT WAS JUST A JO-OW! COME-OUCH! STOP! STOOP! PLEASE! AHHHHHHHHHH!"
Finally, Ian's terrified screams became an addition to the deadly forest, but his trustworthy friends caused it rather than a group of murderous pokemon.