Ch. 14: A Dark Connection!
The trio made their way to Route 5, and although this route was normally short, they had ran into multiple trainers along the way. They had even run into a group of thugs who tried to steal their Pokémon, but Xenos' Pikachu was enough to deal with them. Despite the minor hiccups, they were still making good progress. The real trouble came when Malik noticed he could no longer sense his surroundings like he normally could.
He stopped dead in his tracks, just as they approached the entrance to a forest, and Xenos and Athaliah looked at each other in confusion. Before they could ask what was wrong, however, they were swept away by an unseen force. Malik wheeled around, but they were gone. Surely he would have sensed whoever was taking them, yet his senses were somehow being blocked, but how?
As Malik was frozen in shock, a figure dressed in a hoodie of varying violet colors, and long, dark boots dropped down out of a tree. Malik stanced himself, noticing the aggressive way the stranger was approaching him, and got ready for a fight.
"So you're the empath I've been tracking," said the stranger in a slightly muffled voice, "Time to see if you really were worth the trouble!"
The guy rushed forward, and skillfully flourished a few punches and kicks, but Malik blocked and deflected them easily. They went at it this way for a few seconds, then the stranger's eyes glowed a dark blue color, and his strength doubled instantly. Punching directly for Malik's face, his hand was barely caught in time, and Malik was struggling to keep up with his strength.
"Come on," demanded the stranger, "Is this all you've got, youngling? Show me your true power!"
He kneed Malik hard in the gut, and Malik thought he might throw up for a moment. the stranger rushed forward, and placed a thumb on Malik's forehead. Malik could now feel the energy he was putting out, and the voice in his head was back.
"Let me out," said the eerie voice, "I won't kill...Let me out, I won't kill...LET ME OUT!"
Malik's eyes exploded with white energy, and his body was slightly contorting. His head jerked up, facing the stranger, and he rushed forward with blinding speed. It was all the stranger could do to keep up with Malik's speed, but he was still too slow. Malik swept his legs out from under him, and elbowed his face hard.
With a hard thud, the guy was slammed hard to the ground, and Malik was stepping forward, eyes still glowing, but the stranger had returned to normal. Malik picked him up by the neck, and was trying to strangle him, but the stranger again placed his thumb on Malik's forehead.
"NO," the voice screamed in agonizing pain, "No, stop it! IT HURTS!"
Malik lost his grip, and fell backwards in a daze. He was rubbing his head, and the stranger removed his face mask, which was merely a cloth covering his nose and mouth.
"You'll need to control your power if you want to succeed in your future, otherwise, all of your hard work will go to waste," and after saying this, the stranger was gone.
Malik was more confused than ever, but Xenos and Athaliah had missed the entire scene. Umbreon returned with them, and Malik realized he didn't even notice Umbreon take off while the stranger awakened his dormant side. what exactly had just happened to him, and whose voice was in his head? Could it be a possession, or was his inner ability trying to take on a personality of its own?
Umbreon walked over to Malik, who was sitting down with a major migraine, and they both suddenly passed out. Although Xenos and Athaliah tried to wake them, it was useless, and the trance they were in was strange to Malik. Malik was seeing everything in the form of energy, and even he was floating in his own stream.
He could see Umbreon's, but it was flickering, and Malik could feel it weakening. they were on top of a mountain, and a large green dragon Pokémon was roaring down at them. It crashed into the ground multiple times, with Malik and Umbreon both dodging its attacks. Left and right, it fired massive beams of energy, and finally Umbreon was hit hard. It was struggling to get up, but the Pokémon was too fast, and Umbreon took yet another powerful hit.
Malik screamed, but it was too late, and Umbreon collapsed. Malik's rage built to an incredibly high level, and he screamed in a fiery rage. The dragon was firing a beam down at him, but his aura reflected it back. His entire body was glowing with intense, white energy, and lightning struck down on the Pokémon. the lightning bolt hadn't been white, however, but it was black instead.
The large dragon-like Pokémon roared in agonizing pain, and it collapsed. Malik was now back in the streams of energy, and saw Umbreon's energy, back to normal, and then they both woke up. It was now night time, but Malik's vision of the future had scared him greatly.
Not only was he out to save the world from its poverty, but now he had to save himself and his Pokémon. Xenos had fallen asleep, but Athaliah was staring at him with a look of deep concern. Malik couldn't look her in the eyes, however, because he needed to keep this emotion of fear to remind him of what needed to be done.
Whatever this power was, whatever he was capable of, it needed to be controlled, and he would find a way to do it. Finally, he was able to relax, and Athaliah was still looking at him.
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
Her voice was even more soothing than any he had ever heard, but he still shook his head in rejection. He was afraid of what she would think if she knew about the power he possessed, and it was too soon for him to trust her. He had talked to her a lot sooner than he had ever talked to anyone, even his brother, but he still couldn't trust her completely.
Also heavy on his mind was Xenos being Giovanni Jr.'s brother, and he was now very suspicious. They both sat there, looking at the moon and stars, and all the while Umbreon and Espeon had also gone somewhere to be alone. Athaliah leaned her head on Malik's chest, and fell asleep. He just held her, but he couldn't shake the feeling of restlessness inside him, and he found solace under the night sky.
The next morning, the three of them awoke to the sound of panic. They were closer to Saffron City than they had realized, and the city was in an uproar. They quickly grabbed their things, and headed into the city to see what the commotion was about. when they arrived, it was absolute chaos, and everything was extremely hectic.
The Crimson Jewel was in a battle with a young girl, who had powerful Pokémon for her young age, and she wasn't looking to pleased. According to the crowd, she had tried to steal some Pokémon from the Pokémon Center, and this girl had stopped her in her tracks.
"You really think you can beat me, little girl? Go, Charmeleon!"
"I don't just think I'm going to beat you, I'll guarantee it! Marowak, I Choose You!"
They both sent out their Pokémon, and the battle was on. Charmeleon's flamethrower attacks were powerful, but they were missing. With a powerful thrust, Marowak tossed its hardened bone club at Charmeleon. It was a direct hit, and the flame Pokémon took extensive damage. Marowak continued until the Charmeleon was knocked unconscious with a hit to its head.
"Give up," demanded the girl, "You're way out of your league here, and your Pokémon don't stand a chance!"
The thief growled, and tossed out her next poke ball, which revealed a Camerupt. The ground/fire type Pokémon stood a decent chance against Marowak, and rendered its bone club almost useless. The two Pokémon fiercely battled, but Marowak made the mistake of trying to jump over Camerupt to gain the edge, and that's when Camerupt used its special technique.
Fire and rocks shot out of its two volcano-like humps, and Marowak went down hard. The girl withdrew here Marowak, and the thief was laughing hysterically. Aggravatedly, the girl tossed out her next Pokémon, this time it was her Nidoqueen. The large, turquoise Pokémon towered over the Camerupt, and it boasted an incredible physique.
Camerupt tried using its fire attacks, but they did little to stop the giant Pokémon, which was stomping wildly, causing a miniature earthquake. The Camerupt finally lost its balance, and the Nidoqueen was ordered to end the battle. It rushed forward, and slammed the fallen Camerupt with its powerful tail.
The thief returned her Pokémon, but just as she was about to send out her next one, the police came screeching into the plaza. Before they could apprehend her, however, she dropped a smoke pellet, and then vanished out of thin air. Malik, Xenos, Athaliah, and Umbreon ran over to where the girl was standing as she called back her Nidoqueen.
"That was incredible," Xenos gushed at her, "You handled your Pokémon with such great skill, I wonder what else you could handle?"
The girl punched him in the nose so hard the cracking sound echoed throughout the plaza. Malik just shook his head, and dragged Xenos away, but the girl shouted at him.
"Hey you, do I know you from somewhere?"
Malik looked over, slightly confused, and shook his head no. But the girl seemed certain, and she seemed to be thinking back to a memory of some sort.
"Yeah, I'm sure of it," she blurted out, "You were the guy in my dream last night! You have that shiny Umbreon with you, don't you?"
Malik seemed taken back, and Xenos muttered something about the man of her dreams. Athaliah grabbed Malik's jacket and pulled him, but the girl was running over to them.
"Here, you told me in the dream to give you this," she said handing him a package, "Oh and by the way, my name's Kaylah, and I'm a Pokémon Ranger."
After handing him the package, she ran off, and Malik guessed she was going to track down the thief. The package was light, and the box wasn't very large either. He waited until they were alone at a local diner to open it. Both Xenos and Athaliah were curious about what was inside, but their anticipation only worsened when they saw what it was.
Malik pulled out an amulet, though he had never seen anything like it. It had a dragon insignia etched on the front side, and an ancient writing on the back that he couldn't read. What had Kaylah meant by 'the guy in her dream?' Had he gone traveling to someone else's mind without knowing it, or was this merely a coincidence?
He didn't have enough time to dwell on this, both due to the gym challenge ahead, and that he already had so much going on with Athaliah. He remained focussed on his goals, and they made their way to the Saffron Gym. This would be one of Malik's greatest challenges; the Saffron Gym was known to boast powerful, psychic Pokémon, but Malik was fully ready to win.