Chapter 21

Cresselia looked at Musharna, her right-hand Pokémon, with a mixture of fear and happiness.

"I can feel their presences getting closer!" She exclaimed.

"Whose?" Musharna asked, "Enemies or allies from Treasure Town?"

"Both," Cresselia said, "The forces of Darkrai are closer, but I can also feel the light of three strong young heroes… In fact, it's strange."

"What's strange, Mistress?"

Cresselia shrugged. What she was thinking was crazy. She wasn't one to believe things without saying things, so she banished the thought.

"Nothing," Cresselia said, "I was just thinking of an old legend…"

From the Hall of Light, Darkrai watched his army moving, the Psychics of their group teleporting the others in groups to a small island near Lunar Island that was owned by Darkrai and his forces. There, the pirate crew led by Crawdaunt, the buccaneer who was previously knocked out by Lucario and Luxray but was now back in action, transported them to the battleground.

He smiled. "Isn't it wonderful, Gardevoir? Soon, I will be twice as powerful as I am now! No Pokémon will be able to stop me!"

"Yes, Lord Darkrai," Gardevoir agreed unenthusiastically.

Absol was there too, relishing in the glory of seeing the army heading off to bring Cresselia to their master. He laughed as he imagined the Lunar Pokémon and her cohorts screaming in pain. He just wished he could be there to join in the slaughter.

His scar still hurt. He hissed in agony, still bitter from the battle a few days ago. Now wasn't the time to think about that fool Gallade; Now was a time to think about victory, domination, destruction and murder, which were four of Absol's recently-acquired new favourite things.

As the first group of their soldiers reached land, led by the two Meowstic, Pyroar and Rhydon, Darkrai laughed cruelly.

"So it begins, my friends," He said.

Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie and Lapras had been travelling for a few hours, and Lapras happily assured them that there wasn't far to go. They would all miss travelling the sea with Lapras. The sun shone, the breeze was cool, the different places they passed seemed interesting. Lapras also told stories, including ones about the former Guildmaster, Wigglytuff, and places they had journeyed to together. Lapras also revealed that she had been the one who took Lucario and Luxray to Brine Cave all those years ago, where they had then discovered the entrance to the fabled Hidden Land.

Chespin was nervous again. However, he was also excited. He couldn't wait to beat up Darkrai's henchmen, and take revenge for Lucario.

Fennekin was afraid, too, but seeing the determination of her friends put her mind at ease. She needed to fight her hardest in order to keep up with Chespin and Froakie in terms of power.

Froakie had been contemplating for the whole journey. He thought of his father, and assured himself that he would make his entire clan proud on Lunar Island today. He would fight hard, and take no prisoners.

"Well, there's Lunar Island!" Lapras said a while later, nodding through gathering mist at a small, circular landmass.

"Really?" Chespin said, "It's getting foggy! Is that big circle of land Lunar Island?"

"Yes!" Lapras told him.

"Why is it suddenly so foggy?" Fennekin wondered.

"It must be some kind of cloaking method for Lady Cresselia!" Lapras guessed.

"Or… It's a trap from the enemy!" Froakie narrowed his eyes, squinting to try and see further off, "Lapras, quick, move left!"

Lapras didn't question the intense young Pokémon's command, and moved left. She sighed with relief as she narrowly avoided a huge rock she would have rammed into had Froakie not warned her.

"Thanks, Froakie!" Lapras said, "That was close! My eyesight isn't so good, so I might need you to be my eyes!"

"No problem!" Froakie said, then he yelled, "Watch out! There's some kind of Pokémon swimming towards us!"

Two black blurs leaped out of the water and sank their fangs into Lapras' fins. She screamed with pain, then fired a pure white Ice Beam at these unknown attackers.

The enemies were too quick, and arced above Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie, leaping out of the water to launch another attack. They were fast, with powerful fins and razor-sharp fangs.

"Sharpedo!" Froakie said, recognising them at once.

"Not just any Sharpedo," One of the pair said, "The Sharpedo Brothers! We're the top ambushers for the Dread Buccaneer Crawdaunt's crew! Now, it's time for you land-lubbers to walk the plank!"

The Sharpedo on the left shot out of the water once more and latched onto Lapras' neck. Blood seeped out from the marks left by the powerful Crunch attack.

"We need to hurry to land!" Lapras said, "By the looks of things, the invasion has already begun!"

"We'll help get them off!" Chespin said, using his Vine Whip to pull the first Sharpedo off of Lapras and send him ramming into the second. Both disappeared down the increasingly turbulent waves.

"Strike!" Chespin laughed.

"Good job, Chespin!" Fennekin smiled.

"Nicely done," Froakie said, "But I don't think that's the last we'll see of them!"

"We've almost reached land, anyway," Lapras said, "If they come back, I can take them!"

"Just a little more, Lapras!" Chespin encouraged, "But, wow, the weather sure has changed dramatically from what it was like when we were on our way here!"

"It's probably due to a Pokémon using Rain Dance to try and stop us from getting here!" Froakie suggested.

"So, wait, they know we're coming?" Fennekin said.

"It seems that way!" Froakie said, "Someone must have known when that Sigilyph sent word to the Guildmaster!"

Rain began to come bucketing down.

"I think you were right about Rain Dance, Froakie," Chespin admitted.

"That means I'll be weak in this weather!" Fennekin complained.

"Don't worry, Fennekin," Chespin said, "I'll make sure none of these cowards lay a paw on you!"

Fennekin flushed.

He really does care about me…

"Of course, that goes for you too, Froakie!" He added, patting Froakie on the back.

"I won't need help, I feel confident," Froakie said happily, "I'll easily take on any Pokémon Darkrai can throw at us!"

"I hope you're willing to back that claim up, Froakie!" Lapras called over the sound of the gathering storm, "We've almost reached land!"

Meanwhile, Darkrai saw the three young pathetic Pokémon that had been sent from a Guild, presumably Exploud's since it was closest, to protect Lunar Island. He laughed haughtily.

"This is an insult to my honour!" Darkrai said, "Do Cresselia and the Pokémon of Lunar Island think that these three fools will be enough to defend their home from my army?"

"It seems that way," Absol said, a smile playing on his lips, "It will be more joyous to see those young faces twisted with agony, and their rich blood coming pouring out like water from a fountain."

"You know, Absol, you really are a messed-up Pokémon," Darkrai said, "It's only fitting that you're one of my top servants!"

Absol laughed, "You think too much of me, Master, for I am merely just another pawn for your cause."

Gardevoir, who was using her telepathy to conjure the vision of the three Guild members heading to Lunar Island, didn't speak.

"Oh, but, look!" Darkrai exclaimed, turning his attention back to Gardevoir's vision, "The Sharpedo Brothers are coming back!"

"They are!" Absol said joyously, "It seems that more blood may be spilt before they reach land!"

Lapras and the heroes hadn't noticed the Sharpedo brothers gaining on them at breakneck pace through the water, faster than the naked eye could follow.

"Gah!" Lapras yelled as she was bitten once more, this time with an Ice Fang. Her right flipper was frozen solid, slowing her movements.

"These guys don't know when to quit!" Chespin roared, the rain plummeting down on him.

"Where are they?" Fennekin shouted, "I can't see them!"

Froakie squinted around and focused, blocking out all other sound to try and locate them.

I've got it!

He fired a large Water Shuriken to the left, and it made contact with one of the brothers, sending him flying out of the water and then soaring limply back down. A roar of anger could be heard from behind them, revealing the presence of the other Sharpedo. He proved harder to hit, though, as he sped around randomly, trying to make himself a difficult target.

"I can't get at the other one!" Froakie said, "Fennekin, can you try and thaw out Lapras' fin? We need to get a move on!"

"I'll try!" Fennekin replied, leaning off of Lapras' shell to the frozen fin.

"You can do it, Fennekin!" Chespin called as he used his Vine Whips like oars, rowing them towards land while Lapras' fin was frozen.

"I'm sorry if this hurts, Lapras," Fennekin said.

"Don't worry about me, Fennekin!" Lapras assured.

Then Fennekin fired off an Ember, the light glow of the flames contrasting with the growing darkness of the cloudy, stormy sea. The ice covering the bottom of Lapras' fin melted and the Water Pokémon was able to swim at full speed again.

"Is the Sharpedo still behind us?" Lapras called.

"Worse!" Chespin answered, "There's more of them!"

Surrounding the remaining Sharpedo were the continuously-emerging forms of other predatory Water-Types, such as Carvanha, Basculin and even Gyarados. The huge forms of the latter made Fennekin scream with fright as she looked back at the growing number of enemies.

"I thought we were almost safe, and then this happens?" Lapras sighed.

"We'll try and fend off as many as we can!" Froakie called, "How far is left?"

"We're really close!" Lapras said, "But I can see Pokémon at the shoreline! They've prepared an ambush!"

"Damn it!" Chespin screamed, "This is bad!"

Chespin's head became filled with fear and doubts. He wished he hadn't accepted the mission. They weren't ready for this! This mission was in a whole other league, and once they reached land they would have to face another bunch of enemies.

If I hadn't been so cocky, none of us would be in this situation…

"Chespin, wake up!" Froakie shouted angrily, "Are you gonna help or are you gonna daydream?"

Chespin came back to his senses, "I'm gonna help!"

He sent a storm of Razor Leaves surging towards the enemies, but the fierce winds sent a lot of them blowing off into the opposite direction. The enemies laughed.

"Is that the best you can do?!" A Basculin laughed.

"Don't you dare laugh at my friend!" Fennekin shouted from behind them, and, unexpectedly even to her, a purple beam shot from her open mouth. The Basculin was lifted into the air by the strange beam, and thrown backwards into a rock jutting out from the sea.

"What in the name of Arceus was that?" Fennekin wondered.

"Looks to me like you just used Psybeam!" Lapras said knowledgeably.

"Woah!" Fennekin exclaimed, "Really? I remember my mom could use that attack!"

"Congrats, Fennekin!" Chespin said, "Now you can help us against these Water Types!"

"That's right!" Fennekin replied, "I don't have to rely on Fire attacks any longer!"

"Come on, then!" Froakie called, "Help us out some more!"

The three of them worked together, Chespin firing Energy Balls and throwing enemies into rocks with Grass Knot and Vine Whip, Froakie firing Water Shuriken at enemies that got too close to Lapras, and Fennekin using her new found Psybeam to lift enemies into the air and toss them back.

"We're doing good!" Chespin said happily, his doubts disappearing. Maybe they could make it through this together.

"We're about to reach the shore!" Lapras said, "Get ready to fight some more!"

"Will do!" Froakie said. He was ready for whatever awaited them on that beach.

Lunar Island was bigger up close. They touched down on a beach, the enemy still not far behind. Tall trees covered the land past the beach, and Chespin couldn't see very far beyond them. The Lunar Pokémon Cresselia was somewhere on that island. There were enemies waiting for them at the beach, and others had probably headed through the trees in search of Cresselia.

A group of Pokémon awaited them on the shore, led by a huge crustacean. This was probably the Dread Buccaneer Crawdaunt, whom the Sharpedo Brothers had mentioned. There were others, too, including types other than Water.

As they dismounted Lapras, they thanked her for safely bringing them there. Then, the Dread Buccaneer spoke.

"Ahoy there, me hearties. I suspect you three be the help the honoured Lady Cresselia sent for?"

Chespin shot him a glare, "What's it to you?"

"Ah, the brat has attitude!" Crawdaunt mocked, and the rest of his posse laughed.

"Lapras!" Fennekin said, "Watch out, they're coming!"

Behind them, their pursuers were barrelling towards the shore.

"Don't worry, Fennekin!" Lapras smiled, "Watch this!"

She sped towards them, and stirred up a huge wave. She rode the wave towards them, and it was so huge that the enemy couldn't avoid it. The Surf attack ploughed into them head-on, sending a majority of them washed away by the force of the great wave.

Chespin watched in awe.

"Wow, Lapras!" He shouted, "That was amazing!"

"Pardon me," A Bisharp among Crawdaunt's group said, "Shouldn't you be more focused on the enemies in front of you than that stupid fish?"

"Ah, Bisharp, me hearty, you make a fair point!" Crawdaunt said, "Perhaps you ought to listen, brats!"

"Whatever, I don't really care about you guys," Chespin said, "You're just cannon fodder, really."

Froakie laughed at this comment. "Agreed."

"We'll wipe the floor with these goons in seconds, then go protect Lady Cresselia!" Fennekin said.

"Such insolence!" Crawdaunt snapped his pincers, "Let's show them that the Dread Buccaneer and his crew aren't that easily wiped out, boys!"

"Guys," Lapras called from the water.

"Yeah?" Chespin looked back at her.

"I've dealt with most of those Pokémon pursuing us with my Surf, but I'm injured. I'm not a fighter, so that took a lot out of me. I need to go back to Treasure Town and recover, so this is as far as I go. I'll trust the rest with you!"

"Thanks so much for everything, Lapras!" Chespin called.

"We'll see you again soon!" Fennekin reassured.

"Thanks for getting us here safe, we'll be back home to celebrate our victory soon!" Froakie added.

Lapras' Explorer Badge shone. Chespin didn't even know she was an actual Explorer, he thought she just worked with the Guild.

"Goodbye!" Lapras shouted, "Good luck! We're all depending on you!"

As Lapras vanished, Crawdaunt and his cronies laughed.

"What a touching farewell," He mocked, "Too bad you won't even make it past us!"

The gang of about twenty-five Pokémon advanced on them. Chespin looked to his friends. Their battle on Lunar Island had already begun, even though they had only just set foot there.

"Get ready, guys!" Fennekin said.

"We were born ready!" Froakie yelled, and then the three of them ran into battle…

A/N: Hi, again! I got this one finished sooner than I thought, so I guess I'll put it up tonight. This chapter deals with the journey and arrival of our heroes on Lunar Island, and gets the action going before they even arrived. I didn't have the action sequence where the heroes are fighting on the sea in my original plan, but I decided to implement it because it added a sense of danger to the mission before the heroes even reached their destination. As of this chapter, the story has reached 50k words. I'm really happy about this, as this is probably the longest I've ever managed to stick with a story for. The next chapter will probably be up on Tuesday (Possibly later in the week), and I only did two chapters one after another over two days as it was the weekend, I didn't have much homework and it was very rainy so I had loads of time to write. Thanks for all the recent reviews and favourites, and be sure to do both of these things if you like the story. Anyway, thanks for reading, and see you all in the next one!