Part 3: Shadows of the Past

Prologue

"Rayquaza! Listen to us!" Rose shouted. "We are not here to fight you!"

The Legendary backed away, he had never been so equally matched, something was odd about his two opponents. Who intrudes on one's land and doesn't want a fight?

"We only ask for your help." Rose explained. "Our world is in danger, you're the only one with the power to save it."

"What are you talking about?" Rayquaza frowned.

The ground suddenly began to shake. Kip lost his balance. "An earthquake? How is that possible? We're in the clouds!"

"This is not an earthquake. Those are shockwaves." Rayquaza realized. "And they're enormous!"

"Yes!" Rose yelled in order to be heard. "That's what we've been trying to tell you! Look up!"

Rayquaza looked to the sky to see a massive meteor rocketing toward the planet. His heart sank as he realized the error he caused.

"It's massive!" His eyes widened. "At this point the world will be obliterated in fire..."

"Which is why you have to destroy it first!" Kip shouted.

Rayquaza's expression turned to gloom. "That's why you came? To ask for my help..."

"Yes. We need your help." Rose said.

"Very well." Rayquaza answered. "But know that if I use my Hyper Beam you will not escape unscathed."

"And if you don't the world doesn't escape unscathed!" Rose countered.

"Besides, we accepted the danger from the start!" Kip added.

"Well said." Rayquaza shot up from the Sky Pillar toward the meteor. He charged his attack and fired a massive Hyper Beam.

The meteor shattered in a massive explosion. Rose closed her eyes and braced for impact.

You didn't expect to survive. You were sure this was the end. It should have been. If you didn't interfere than the world would have been set right. Darkness would return to power. But you didn't know any better. You simply did what you were lead to believe was best.

But know that if you continue down this path you will find nothing but endless toil with no reward.

I do not want to fight Rose Frazier, but I will not hesitate if you force me into a confrontation.

I hope you realize this before we meet in person.

Darkrai fell to the ground. Matt and Torch stood victorious. It was a few months before their encounter with the other teams at the Explorer's Festival.

"We did it." Cresselia spoke in a surprised tone. "You are finished Darkrai."

"Don't be so sure." He said, his tone as dark as night.

A bright light flashed over the scene and an odd distortion took shape behind the shadow Pokémon.

"A dimensional hole!" Matt realized. "Stop him!"

Darkrai quickly got off the ground and moved to the edge of the portal. "A pitiful attempt, but no matter what you do I will always be there. Nothing can stop my mission."

"I WON'T ALLOW THIS!" A thunderous voice echoed. A purple orb of energy formed beside Darkrai. It reshaped itself into the form of Palkia.

"You mean nothing!" Darkrai held up his hand and fired a dark orb of a nightmare at Palkia.

The legendary only created a barrier between him and the nightmare. "You will pay a grave price for expanding the distortion of space! Prepare for justice!" Palkia pulled his arm up and thrust a massive energy attack at Darkrai.

The attack pushed him into the dimensional hole.

"What are you doing!" Torch shouted. "He's going to get away!"

"No he won't." Palkia fired another attack at the hole itself. It froze, turned a grey color, then exploded.

That was the last time you saw me. You thought you defeated me Matthew Nevermore. But like I said then, I will always be there.

I still hope you will one day realize your error. I want to be on the same side as you. The world needs more bright and dedicated people like you.

If only you weren't from the wrong future. The world you were from is not my goal. A world without meaning is unsustainable, we both know that. You have been lead to believe that I plan to make your world a reality. That couldn't be far from the truth.

I can't wait to tell you more about this in the future when we can discuss our differences in person.

I look forward to it.

The Bittercold gave off a low rumbling sound as Dan fell back. It was far too powerful to contain.

"We need to get out of here!" He ran to Wott's side. The Oshawott could barely breath this close to the massive crystal.

"No..." Wott stopped his friend. "This is our only chance. We won't get another opportunity like this."

"It's too powerful." Dan replied. "I'm not about to let you get hurt."

"Don't give up!"

"What did you say?" Dan asked Wott.

"That wasn't me." Wott answered.

"Then-"

"Don't give up now!"

"You're so close!"

"Don't stumble now!"

"You can't give up now!"

"It's the townsfolk from Paradise!" Wott figured. "They're showing support for us!"

"How is that possible?" Dan asked.

The energy flowing from the Bittercold slightly faded. Wott used all his strength to ignite his scalchop and handed it to Dan. "It will only last a few minutes without me. Make it count."

Dan took the sword. "I will."

He charged the Bittercold with newfound strength. He held Wott's sword high and plunged it into the crystal. A terrible cracking sound could be heard. The Bittercold began to break and fragment.

Dan pulled the scalchop out as its blade faded. He ran back to Wott and pulled him off of the ground.

The two rushed away from the Bittercold as fast as they could.

Before they could escape it shattered into thousands of small fragments. The pair were thrown away.

Even though I was not in your world to see this I know of your grand battle. Knowing that you were able to wield your partner's weapon is evidence of your mutual trust.

It is a shame that you didn't know the Bittercold's true purpose. It is an even greater shame that I wasn't there to direct it. You should have seen the Bittercold before Kyurem took it and twisted it to his needs. After all, we have similar goals, you and I, we both want to create a Paradise. One where no one is threatened and no one suffers.

But I do suppose I owe you Daniel Villus. Because of you all is not lost for the world. Do not worry, you will understand in the long run.

For now I suggest you rest. I will be able to explain soon.

The Bittercold fed off of negative emotions. The more negative the world was the stronger it became. As the Bittercold shattered several pieces were destroyed in the following explosion. But not everyone in the world was satisfied with its condition.

Small fragments were able to escape destruction. They were spread across the world, most leaving no trace of their existence. One such piece fell into a Mystery Dungeon. With such a warped space it slowly fell into place at the bottom of this dungeon, an old ruin created thousands of years in the past.

Another piece was thrown up into the air, where the strong winds pulled it along another path. By the time it fell back to the ground it was over the never ending ocean. Despite appearing like ice it sunk quickly to the bottom of the sea.

All Pokémon it came near instinctively swam away. It was a cold and dark object. When it reached the bottom of the ocean it rested for a few seconds. Until a shadowy claw reached from a different world and dragged it into the void.

Thomas Direvein.

Of all the people I knew, there were none I trusted more than you. I thought you of all people or Pokémon would understand the importance of our work. Now you work with the Legendaries, and worse still, you think you are fighting for good.

You believe that just because I was defeated once I won't return again? I am disappointed in your assumptions. I'm already returning, you've felt my presence and power on Guild Island. All it will take for me to return is one inevitable mistake.

I urge you to be on my side when that happens. We both know I believe in redemption, ShadowFlame would want nothing more than your support once again.

I can feel your thoughts, they are confused and muddled. Your old self would know immediately how to fix this. Find that old self and listen to him.

You will thank me when we meet.

Author's Note

As we go into this new part I think I need to talk about the future of the story real quick.

With the recent announcement of the new PMD I just want to say that I will not revise past chapters or the rest of the story to fit the new canon. That being said, the rest of the story has already been planned out, so while there may or may not be parallels between this story and the new game they are not intentional. This is only a story of the first three PMD games.

Will I write stuff for the new game? Maybe, it depends on how it goes. No promises though.

And Part 3 is coming now!

-lost