Nights in the Forest of No Light were usually filled with howls and laughter. Very rarely do you hear bloodcurdling screams in the dead of night. Well, there are rare occasions when that does happen, but not for the same reason as this particular night.

Pikachu dodged an incoming Inferno that scorched through the surrounding trees. Oshawott took cover behind a tree and fired Hydro Pump into the flames. They collided against each other, turning into a thick wall of steam that separated the group from their attacker: their friend and mentor, Ryder.

The Charmeleon cackled as he walked through the steam, his gleaming red eyes trying to spot his targets. He narrowed them as he sensed an aura coming at him from behind. Flexing his claws, he swung around and slashed at the Vine Whip that snapped at him.

Snivy retracted the vine before it could be cut before wrapping it around his ankle. She lifted him up in the air before he had a chance to retaliate and slammed him hard against the ground. She didn't stop as she leaped through the air and came down on him with Leaf Blade, sending him even deeper into the ground. She smiled in satisfaction, but the moment was short lived when a palm struck out of the ground and slammed into her face, propelling her in the air. She used her Vine Whip to catch herself in a tree.

Ryder picked himself out of the ground and growled. He observed the area, trying to spot his prey.

Buneary hid behind a tree shaking while keeping her arms wrapped around the egg container. This is crazy! Ryder, one of the sweetest guys I ever met, is trying to kill us!? Why can't I just be fighting Laura or something?! At least then I wouldn't have to worry about going all out!

She felt movement next her and nearly screamed, but a paw clasped over her mouth. It was her beloved Pikachu. "Bun, calm down, it's me," he whispered, almost inaudibly. She whimpered silently and nuzzled against him. He wrapped his arms around her and comforted her. "Shh, it's okay, I'm here."

"Pikachu…what are we going to do? I can't bring myself to hurt Ryder…"

His eyes narrowed sympathetically. He didn't like the idea of it either. But, from what Hank said, Ryder will be hunting him until he snaps out of the trance. There was no telling how long that'll take. Their best hope was to fight him until something they do wakes him up. Maybe if they hit him hard enough, it'll jolt him awake.

"Bun, I don't want to either, but we're low on options."

Ryder snarled as before sensing their auras behind the tree. He grinned wickedly and lunged at the tree, claws extended. Pikachu was the only one who could sense aura between him and Buneary. The fact he was moving so silently showed how animalistic he has become. He was treating this like predator vs. prey.

He waited for his claws to dig into the tree, but they never came. They heard his painful growls as he was bombarded with Bubble Beam. He shook the water off his body and growled at Piplup, who was sitting in the trees with his giant windmill shuriken.

He smirked. "That's right, you monster! You may have caught me off guard, but now you'll have to endure the wrath of my awesomeness as I bring this weapon down on you with a vengeance!"

Buneary stared with her jaw dropped while her mate's eye twitched. "Is he insane? Does he even know how to wield that thing yet?"

Ryder growled at Piplup as his hands engulfed in blue flames. The penguin merely laughed in response. "Your resolve is most impressive! But be prepared for agonizing pain!" He lifted the giant shuriken and threw it.

Pikachu and Buneary gasped. He actually threw the shuriken correctly. It spun through the air with grace and speed, practically slicing the wind with its movements. It flew at Ryder, whose eyes were wide in surprise. The giant bladed weapon flew closer to him with the intent of incapacitating.

…too bad Piplup never learned how to aim it, because the shuriken completely flew around Ryder and sliced through the trees behind him. The possessed Charmeleon stared at the sliced up trees for a moment, seeing the giant blade embedded into one of them. He turned around and growled at Piplup.

The penguin sweatdropped worriedly. He laughed sheepishly with his flippers behind his head. "Hey, uh…buddy? You wouldn't mind getting that so I can try that again, would you?"

Ryder lunged at him with his claws extending out into Slash. Piplup flailed his flippers in panic. Two vines wrapped around his body and pulled him out of the way. The Charmeleon sliced through where the penguin once stood, cutting it up into splinters.

Piplup's eyes were wide as the grass snake brought him to her side. "He could have killed me…"

Oshawott ran around the tree below. "Piplup! Blast me with your Ice Beam, now!"

The penguin shook out of his fear and fired Ice Beam. The sea otter heard a lot about Pikachu's adventures through past stories. One of them in particular caught his attention. Buizel, his friend, helped Ash develop a new technique revolving around Aqua Jet and Ice Beam. He planned on using it.

The sea otter engulfed himself in a veil of water before taking off through the air. The Ice Beam made contact and froze the water almost instantly. Oshawott flew through the air in an Ice Aqua Jet. Ryder turned around upon hearing the water movement and crossed his arms as the ice collided against him, smashing him through several trees.

He growled and grabbed the Ice Aqua Jet. His hands heated up, then fired Inferno which melted through it. Once the flames died, a scalchop slapped him across the face and sent him flying to the ground. Oshawott narrowed his eyes, then fire Hydro Pump with immense force. Ryder pushed himself up, then was shoved back down under the water.

Oshawott landed and took a moment to rest. That Hydro Pump should have done the trick.

If only it were that simple. The ground exploded under where Ryder was blasted. He rushed out of the dust with his body surrounded by the bluish-white glow of Aerial Ace. He vanished from sight, worrying the otter. He suddenly felt a sharp kick from behind, then a punch at his stomach. He collided against a tree and slid down with a painful thump.

Ryder loomed over him and raised his claws. A Thunderbolt shot across the air and struck him, stopping his assault. He glared at Pikachu, who got into his attack stance. "Come on, Ryder! Show me what you got!"


If anyone were around, they'd be concern about all the noise occurring within the walls of the old abandoned laboratory. Especially when you see Pokémon flying through the walls after being kicked around a bunch.

Dragonite rushed at the evil induced Darkmon with Thunder Punch. Koda smirked as his eyes glowed. He saw the punch was intended to be a fake out. Dragonite looked like he was going to strike him across the face when he was actually going to pull a fast one and use his other fist to hit him in the gut.

He reacted accordingly, jumping over the punch that was meant to hit him. He did a handstand on Dragonite's fist before spinning around and striking him across the jaw with his foot. He then flipped into the air and slammed his palms against his chest, infusing aura into a powerful Force Palm.

Pansage flipped over the dragon as he flew into the walls. He fired Bullet Seed down on him. Koda smirked again as he swiftly predicted and dodged each of them. Once they ended, he took a stance and used Copycat. A green aura wrapped around him. He copied his movements and fired Bullet Seed.

The grass monkey crossed his arms and blocked the attacks with slight grunts.

Pignite and Quilava ran around Pansage and stood at Koda's sides. They both took a deep breath and exhaled massive Flamethrowers. The Dark Riolu noticed too late as he became sandwiched between the flames. They inwardly cheered, having finally landed a hit on the Darkmon.

They gasped when a pulse of aura blasted the flames away. The Darkmon was scorched, but the damage slowly disappeared. He looked at the two before cracking his neck, then racing over to Quilava, much to his surprise, and slamming his palm against him, shooting him off with an aura pulse. He then repeated the action to Pignite, sending him through the ceiling.

Pachirisu raced around the lab speedily. Koda tried to hit him, but he was moving too fast. "Come on, Koda! This is a game I wanted to teach you! It's called Tag!"

Koda growled and chased after him, firing aura pulses at him. The squirrel dodged swiftly, not missing a beat in his movements.

Dragonite pushed himself out of the wall and rubbed his cheek. "Alright…" He inhaled deeply. "Get a load of this!" He exhaled a massive Flamethrower.

Pachirisu made a sharp right, tripping the Darkmon up. His future vision showed him being engulfed in flames. He rolled out of the way as the streak burned through the walls. He immediately rose to his feet and fired a volley of pulses.

Dragonite ducked under one that cracked the walls and ran away from the chain of attacks. He rolled out of the way and fired Ice Beam at Koda's arms, freezing them together. "Now, while he's incapacitated!"

Pachirisu jumped onto Koda's back and unleashed Discharge, sending electricity across the room. The Pokémon ducked from the stray bolts flying around the lab. The Darkmon squirmed in pain as he felt the bombardment of electricity. He growled at Pachirisu, then flung his head back, nailing him in the skull. The squirrel fell off, letting the Darkmon to spin around and slam the ice cuffs across his cheek.

Pignite stomped the ground, charging himself up, then flew over with Flame Charge, ramming into his back. Koda threw a kick, but, thanks to Pignite's increased speed, he dodged in time. He jumped back and slammed his fist down, surrounding the Darkmon in Fire Pledge. He grinned with a loud snort. "I got him!"

Red eyes gleamed through the flames. A larger aura pulse broke through the flames and rammed against Pignite, pushing him through a crumbling wall.

Pansage looked around, hearing the building creak loudly. This fight is putting too much stress on the building. He then saw the flames spreading across the floor. That is a problem, too.

Pachirisu picked himself up and rubbed his head. "Ugh…my aching head…" He suddenly was picked up by the tail and lifted to eye level with Koda. He gulped and whimpered. "K-Koda…come on, it's me…your buddy, Pachi."

He couldn't hear the meaning behind his words. All he could hear was distorted sound. He wanted to kill that sound. He wanted to kill all of them. He raised his palm and pressed it against his face. Pachirisu could feel the vibrations in his palm as it charged with aura. He shivered fearfully as he prepared to fire.

Dragonite growled and leaped forward. He brought Thunder Punch down on Koda's head. "Wake up, you insane Darkmon!"

Koda's eyes glowed angrily. He turned around and slammed charged up aura into his gut, knocking him through the walls again. He looked back at Pachirisu, then was immediately hit with Sweet Kiss. His vision became distorted as he spun around dizzily. He dropped the squirrel as he stumbled about.

Pachirisu ran away in fright, hiding behind Pansage. The grass monkey patted his head comfortingly. "We need to leave, now!" he shouted. Everyone got up from the wreckage and ran over to him.

"How?!" Quilava shouted. "Koda blocked off the only exit out of here!"

Dragonite cracked his knuckles. "Not all of them." He winded his fist and broke down the walls. "Come on! We can escape this way!" The smaller Pokémon went first before he followed.

The Sweet Kiss wore off and Koda shook his head. His eyes narrowed at the large hole created by Dragonite. With a snarl, he chased after them.

The group ran down as quickly as they could. They could hear Koda's roars echo down the hall, frightening them even further.

Pansage looked up at Dragonite. "Please tell me your wing is fully healed!"

The dragon looked at it and flexed it. He flinched a bit. "Well, I think I can keep myself in the air. Don't expect fast travel, though."

"That's all we need!" He looked at Quilava. "Distract him, now!"

He nodded and came to a stop. He exhaled a thick wall of smoke down the hall. While this won't confuse him, it should choke him up enough to give them time to escape. He turned on his heel and ran to catch up with the others.

Koda stopped upon seeing the wall of smoke. He growled loudly, then looked up at the ceiling, smirking.

The gang made it out of the lab and took a moment to breathe. "Oh man, that was close!"

Pachirisu looked back at the lab with sad eyes. "It doesn't feel right abandoning him like that. He isn't in control of himself. He needs our help."

Dragonite crossed his arms. "I hate to say I told you so, but…"

He glared at him. "Don't you start, Dragonite! Whatever you're going to say, just shut up! Whether or not he's going on a rampage, he's still our friend! Yes, he's trying to kill us! But he isn't doing this of his own volition! He's not in control!"

He glared down at the squirrel. "…I was just going to say he's dangerous. We need to capture him so he can calm down."

Pachirisu blinked in surprise. "…oh…"

Pignite sighed. "That's not going to be easy. He can see every one of our movements. Ganging up on him might work, but I can't take another one of those aura pulses."

Pansage rubbed his chin. "There has got to be a way to get Koda to wake up. It may not seem like it, but I know he can hear our voices. We just need to try harder."

Dragonite sighed. "It's our only plan." He reached down. "Now come on, we need to fly out of here as soon as possi-"

The top of the lab broke apart, with a figure leaping through the darkness. Koda flipped through the air and came down with a powerful slam, sending a shockwave of aura out. The force knocked the Pokémon away from each other. Koda stood up and smirked, snickering evilly as he tried to decide who to go after first.

Pignite rolled to his feet and charge at him with Flame Charge. "I've had just about enough with you!"

A hand stuck out and stopped the Flame Charge in its tracks. His eyes widened as Koda raised his fist and socked him across the face. He skipped across the ground and fell over the edge.

"Pignite!" they shouted in fear.

Fortunately, the fire pig was hanging on desperately. "I'm fine! Well, sort of!" He looked down and was immediately hit with a sensation of vertigo. "Ugh…not feeling so well…"

"Don't let go! We'll help you up!" Dragonite tried to assist his friend, but Koda flew in and struck him in the gut. He yelled loudly and stumbled back, holding his aching stomach. He growled at the Dark Riolu. "You're becoming a thorn in my side…"

Koda laughed wickedly before leaping forward and punched him across the face, then grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder. He glared at the others and cracked his knuckles, slowly walking up to them.


Chloe sighed as she walked back to the hut. She got weird looks by the Darkmon she passed by. Normally when they see her, they cower under her deathly gaze and her emotionless expression. She expresses no emotion in her face, no anger, no arrogance. It's emotionless, making it unnaturally mysterious.

So imagine their surprise when they see this same Dark Glameow suddenly walking around with a look of sadness in her face. They didn't bother asking why, as it was none of their concern. Not that it mattered if they tended to her. She would have just ignored them all.

She stopped at a tree and pressed her forehead against it. "I'm not evil…I'm in control…I'm not evil…I'm in control…" She kept reporting the words to herself as acidic tears dripped down her face, lightly burning the tree bark.

No control over her actions. She had none. Everything in her life was decided by a plant. Was her entire existence a lie? Did it even matter if she lived or not? Was there any purpose to her creation? Was she merely a puppet or pawn to be used? Was that her only usage?

She rubbed her paw over her eyes and wiped away the tears. No…she couldn't break down. Whether or not her creation was meant to be a puppet, she wasn't going to let these forces manipulate her. She wasn't going to let them control her. They won't make her kill. They won't make her kill Meowth.

Her heart skipped a beat thinking about him. She held it with a grunt. "Why does this keep happening to me? Ugh…it hurts…it actually hurts worse than the Awakened Evil…"

From what she understood from Meowth explanation, she couldn't understand her emotions because the bulb forbade it. She wasn't allowed to feel any intense or passionate emotions. If that's the case, what was this feeling that kept hurting her? Why does it happen every time she thinks of Meowth?

She grunted and fell to her side, panting. "I just…need a minute to rest…"

The evil cackles of the forest seemed to make it worse for her to fall asleep. They were usually soothing for her, but now her mind was so jumbled that it became harder to think clearly. She covered her ears and tried to drown the sounds out.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard a loud scream echo from the distance. It sounded like it was in danger. She wanted to leave it alone and let the poor Pokémon who's being chased die from whatever attack was going on. It wasn't her concern.

At least, it wouldn't be have it not been for her recognizing the scream. Her heart stopped in an instance, her eyes shrinking in fear. "Meowth?" Someone was trying to harm Meowth? Meowth…her first friend…

Her teeth clenched as her eyes glowed dangerously red, narrowing into a vicious glare. She radiated with anger and evil as she glared in the direction of the scream. "No one harms my friend and lives…"


While everyone else was capable of defending themselves, Meowth wasn't in the same boat. Minor training from Chloe wasn't enough to take on this beast of a mutt.

He ran across the forest, screaming at the top of his lungs. Dark Mightyena chased after him in hot pursuit, never letting the cat stay out of his line of sight. In all the time he had to guard this pathetic cat, he was more than happy to finally hunt him down like the prey he was. He'll make sure to pick his bones clean once he's done.

Meowth kept racing around trees, trying to find some way to outmaneuver this destructive creature. He didn't dare look back, fearing the purple aura that encompassed him and those vile red eyes filled with malice. Why did things have to end up like this? He was too young to die! He hasn't even found a mate yet! This was not how he wanted his legacy to end! Death by evil Mightyena clone was not something he wanted to be remembered for.

He dug his claws into a tree and spun himself around it. Just as Dark Mightyena landed near it, he spun around and kicked him with both his feet. However, he stood steady after receiving the kick. He bounced off his neck and landed on his back with a grunt. "You've got to be kidding me…"

He shivered as the powered up Darkmon loomed over him. His smirked grew. "Well, I'd say we've had our fair share of fun. So, what will it be? Bite your face off quick and painlessly or starting down at the legs?"

"I-I-Is there an option that doesn't get me killed?!"

He ignored his requested as he leaned down, maw opened with saliva dripping on his face. His eyes shrunk as he stared at the sharp canines bared at him. They were so close, they grazed his fur.

"Goodbye, cat."

A bolt of energy flew across the forest and struck him in the face, blasting him off the cat. Meowth took a moment to react as he was petrified with fear, then gasped. He wiped his face and looked around to see Laura. He smiled. "Laura!" He ran over and hugged her with tears in his eyes. "Please don't leave me!"

She patted his back. "Don't worry, Meowth, I'm here." She glared at the pile of burning garbage she shot. "As for you…" She pushed her friend to the side and walked over to him.

Dark Mightyena rose to his feet. His head regenerated, healing all injuries. He didn't seemed fazed by her attack. He kept smirking like the psycho he was. "You just know how to ruin my fun, do you?"

Laura glared as she raised her fists. "Right now, I'd be more worried about the beat down you're going to receive."

His smirk grew. "That arrogance of yours is amusing. You still believe you can face me? Pathetic. I'm much stronger and faster than before. You would most certainly beat me if I didn't use this ability." He laughed and got into an attack position. "I'll make sure to savor the moment of when my claws dig into the robotic body of yours and tear out your wires."

She glared deeper. "Don't underestimate me." She rushed forward and threw a fast punch.

She crushed the ground of where her opponent once stood. "Too slow," he commented.

She growled and pulled her sleeves back. She opened up her cannons and fired energy blasts at him. He swiftly dodged the attacks almost effortlessly. He wasn't even trying to dodge them. With his speed, they were moving at the speed of a Torkoal.

He vanished from sight and appeared under her, throwing a Sucker Punch to the face. She stumbled back and rubbed her cracked face. She was going to need serious repairs after tonight.

She raised her fists and slammed them down, sending a wave of rock and earth around her. It tripped the Darkmon up, allowing her to fly in and punch him across the snout. She gripped his fur tightly and unleashed a flurry of punches directed at his face. Black blood splashed across the ground.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" she shouted, her eyes raging with red.

A swift kick came up at her chin, knocking her back forcibly. Dark Mightyena rose up and pounced on her, his face regenerating, revealing his evil smirk. "Physical force won't kill me, robot."

She growled. "I'm not a robot!" She slammed her head against his snout, forcing him off. She flipped to her feet and punched her fists together. "I'll crush your bones!" She lunged at him.

Dark Mightyena rubbed his jaw, then dodged her attack, followed by a swift uppercut to her chin. "Pathetic!" He slammed his paws down on her, cracking the earth. "Weak!" He turned around and slammed his feet against her body, sending her flying into a tree. "Inadequate. A fragile machine like you is nothing compared to the power of the Darkmon."

She picked herself up and rubbed her shoulder. "That's right, keeping stroking your ego, mutt. I want to break that arrogant pride down with my own two hands."

He cackled. "I admire your resolve, but you simply lack the power to defeat me."

Laura looked at Meowth. "Meowth, remember that upgrade you installed in me? Where I can overclock my power core?"

His eyes widened. "Laura, that's dangerous! In your current state, that'll drain you dry!"

She glared. "I can be repaired. You, however, only have one life." She held her fists up. "I'm not going to let anything bad happen to." She slammed her fists together.

This sent a surge to her power core. It glowed brightly before pouring tons of power through her body. She developed a red glow around her fur, shaped like circuit patterns. Her body gave off heat, blazing brightly.

She crouched down into an attack position. "Execution mode ready, prepare to die."

Dark Mightyena smirked wider as the aura around blazed fiercely. "Well, aren't you a cocky robot? Come on, I'll give you a free shot, right in the muzzle. One little-"

Ask and you shall receive, as the punch came in faster than he thought, letting his guard down. The force of contact broke his muzzle almost instantly as he was propelled off with immense force, smashing through several trees.

Laura's hand smoked from the impact. She waved it off with a serious expression crossing her face. "Shut up."

The dark mutt rose up from the ground. His muzzle realigned itself back into place. A wild grin appeared in his newly repaired muzzle. "Ooh…feisty." His aura exploded to life. "Come on! Try again, rodent!"

She growled and kicked off the ground, crushing it under her force. She pulled her fist back and threw it at blinding speeds. He moved his head just out of reach and slashed her across the back.

She flinched before whipping around and striking her elbow into his gullet. He didn't even flinch. He slammed his paw down on the android and fired a blank point Shadow Ball. He laughed maliciously, but choked as a blade extended out of the dust and impaled through his throat.

Laura growled and slit his throat. He stumbled back a bit, allowing her to get up and forcibly slash through his forelegs. She then grabbed his head and kneed him in the teeth, shattering his maw again. She then headbutted him across the skull, multiplying the damage even more.

"Let me get this through that thick skull of yours…" She tightly gripped his neck. "If you hurt Meowth, I'll make sure you'll never regenerate ever again." With one fluid motion, she snapped his neck and punched through his head, decapitating him. She aimed her cannons down and fired destructive energy down on him, reducing his remains to ash.

Meowth hid behind a tree, shaking as he watched his friend completely obliterate the Darkmon. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved that he was still alive or scared that he may have created a dangerous weapon out of Laura.

She finished raining energy bolts down on the Darkmon and kicked his charred remains out of the way. Her body stopped glowing as she released a sigh, exhaling steam form her mouth. She turned towards Meowth, wearing a cocky grin.

"See? What did I tell you?" She walked over to him with her arms stretched out. She didn't notice the small bit of black gunk slowly growing in size. "I'll admit, he was definitely the strongest thing I've fought here. But it's going to take more than that to defeat the almighty Laura!"

"How the mighty have fallen…" Her eyes widened, hearing the dark mutt's voice. She whipped around to blast him, but he moved quicker, slashing through her arm and tearing it clean off. She gasped as the socket sparked badly. She glared at the mutt as he finished regenerating his tail. His aura relit to life. "You honestly thought it was going to be that simple?"

She growled and threw a punch, but he moved much faster than before, even when she overclocked her power core. He was holding back the entire time, just to tease her.

It happened so fast. A swift strike to her torso ripped through her chest, slashing off the front panel and revealing her power core. She flew into Meowth, who caught her in his arms.

"Laura?!" he shouted.

"Sys…zzt...tems failing..." she muttered. "Can't…zzt…fight any…zzt…more…"

He panicked, then looked up at Dark Mightyena. He licked his maw with a sinister expression. "Well, I worked up an appetite from all the excitement." He slowly made his way over to them.

The cat scrambled back fearfully, his heart pounding hard in his chest. "Y-Y-You're not well…you're being controlled!"

He laughed lowly. "So? I love embracing this side of myself. As long as I have power, I can do whatever I want."

He backed himself into a tree. He unsheathed his claws as a last line of defense. "I won't go down easily!"

"Good. I like a little fight in my prey!" He lunged at the cat with his teeth bared.

Meowth clenched his eyes shut, expecting the worse, while holding his claws up in a defensive matter. Arceus, help! Anyone! I know I'm not the nicest Pokémon on the block, but please don't let this poor Meowth become a chew toy!

Almost as if Arceus answered his pleas, a streak of purple light struck down from the trees and smashed on top of Dark Mightyena. He heaved in pain as the force knocked the wind out of him, even cracking the ground under him. The resulting shockwave produced a strong wind that nearly knocked Meowth over The figure leaped back and slashed him across the face, sending him back a few meters.

Meowth slowly opened one eye, taking a peek at his savior. The sight made a smile grow across his face. "Chloe…"

The Dark Glameow dusted herself off. "Worthless mutt. You're given a direct order to not harm Meowth and this is how you interpret it?"

Dark Mightyena pushed himself up and adjusted his jaw. "Siding with the Pokémon, I see?"

She narrowed her eyes. "My orders are to protect Meowth at all costs. And, considering you were in the act of harming Lord Dark's betrothed, I have more of a reason to turn you into scattered blood particles." She crouched into an attack position. "I will not allow this act of treason resume." That, and I'm going to make you suffer for trying to hurt my friend.

The Darkmon cracked his neck and smirked widely. "You think a lowly Darkmon such as yourself can defeat me while I'm in the Awakened Evil state? You're as delusional as you are a traitor."

Chloe let a small smirk form. She chuckled quietly, irking the mutt. "Cute…but I'm afraid you are the delusional one here." She glanced at Meowth. "You might want to stand back."

His eyes widened. "Chloe, are you crazy? Last time-"

She raised her paw to silence him. "Do not worry. I am in control this time." She took a deep breath, then swayed back and forth. Her movements were like Dark Mightyena's. They were slow, yet left brief afterimages in an eerie fashion. "I won't let you pass me. Not by an inch."

The Darkmon mutt smirked. "I'm willing to take that challenge." He rushed swiftly, scaring Meowth. He was practically up in his face with that kind of speed.

Chloe's eyes snapped up, enveloped in blood red light. Her aura exploded to life, the signature purple glow with red energy seeping off her body. Movement around her slowed, even for the mutt that was racing pass her. She glanced at him and sneered. In one casual motion, she flung her paw into his gut.

The force blew off his stomach into pieces before they turned to shadows. Dark Mightyena smashed into a tree and slid down with a small grunt. The tree cracked from the impact and toppled down.

He glared up, regenerating. He watched the dark cat walk towards him with an air of confidence.

"I told you. I won't let you pass me."

He stood up and wiped blood off his maw. He grinned savagely. "So, that's how it'll be, huh?" His aura blazed brighter as he got ready to attack. "Now you've got my attention."

An evil smirk crossed the features of the dark cat as she extended her claws. "Let's begin."

Meowth could only watch with fear, yet anticipation. The battle between two Darkmon. This was a fight he wanted to run away from, yet watch with his own eyes.


Nothing. There was nothing in the surrounding area. No landmasses. No trees. No forest. Only a black plain of endless distance. There was nothing for miles, not that there was anything to see. All was empty, except for the sound of dripping water, echoing like within a cave.

Green eyes opened after the hundredth water droplet. Nothing seemed to change. It was all nothing. Where was he? Was this death? Was this some form of Limbo? Where the heck was he?"

Ryder rose to his feet. Memories were fuzzy, as far as he could remember. He could only recall speaking with Snivy, they everything went black. As everything went black, whispers invaded his mind. Whispers of foreign nature. He could remember pain searing throughout his body, then he felt numb. Why did this happen? What did happen?

He held his head and sighed. There was certainly something unusual about all of this. Is it possible that this was Dark's doing? He has invaded his dreams before. But he never remembered the Darkmon forcing him unconscious like that. Something obviously triggered him to pass out. But for what reason?

Feeling he had no other choice, he walked. An endless path with no light in sight. He might as well walk with his eyes closed. There was nothing to touch, feel, see, anything. Just the continuous sound of the water drops dripping from who knows where. Honestly, the sound was giving him a headache.

He can easily confirm this wasn't a dream. It was far too lucid to be otherwise. If this was Dark's doing, he would have done something far more extravagant than sticking him in a dark plane with no end. So what was going on?

He stopped and looked up at the nonexistent sky. "Alright, come on out!" His voice echoed for miles, booming loudly in this empty plane. "You want something from me, well get out here so we can talk!" Nothing responded. He groaned and pinched between his eyes. "Either you come out or I'm flooding this…whatever this place is, with explosives."

The water drops stopped. It was replaced with a hissing sound. "Someone's feisty today."

He narrowed his eyes. The voice sounded like his. Maybe it really is Dark. "Where am I?"

"In the darkness," it hissed, laughing quietly.

Ryder rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Captain Obvious. Seriously, tell me where I am, now."

"In your mind, in an unconscious state. Do not fret, though. Everything is fine in the outside world."

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe." He glared through the darkness, trying to find a nearby presence. Something was here and he couldn't find it. "What do you want?"

"To do what you want to do: talk. Talk about our rein as Darkmon."

He raised a confused brow. If this was his mind, he obviously snapped under the stress he put himself under. Maybe Buneary was right. He needed more sleep. He glared and crossed his arms. "I'm not a Darkmon."

"Denial at its finest. But, I can't blame you. No one told you the truth."

"The truth about what?"

"That you tried to kill your trainer and friends."

yep, he snapped. "This is ridiculous. I'm not wasting my time talking to a disembodied voice making absurd claims." He started walking again.

Purple mist seeped out of the ground. "You think I am lying, Ryder?"

"Unless you have proof, the answer is yes."

"Then take a look and see for your own eyes."

He felt the haunting energy behind him, sending shivers up his back. He dared not to look at it, fearing the possibly of this being more than a false claim. But it only delayed the inevitable as he turned around.

A haunting purple aura. A Darkmon aura. Shaped like a cloud. It swished around in amusement. "Now do you see the thruth?"

The Charmeleon stepped back. "What is this?"

"Still clueless, Ryder? I'm a part of you now. Once belonging to the aura of Lord Dark, I am now your aura."

He glared and slapped the cloud out of his way. "You aren't my aura."

"Oh, but I am. At this very moment, you are accepting your Darkmon side…attempting to slaughter your friends."

He clenched his fists tightly, rage building up within him. "What are you talking about?"

"The evil hidden deep within you has been unleashed. By this time tonight, your friends will be gone."

"I won't allow that."

"You do not have a choice. You are powerless under the effects of Awakened Evil. You won't be able to force yourself awake."

He growled and tried blasting it with Inferno, but he didn't get as much as a puff of smoke.

"Do you not understand? You can't do anything in this domain! You are trapped under Lord Dark's aura. So long as it swims within your life force, you will never be free."

He glared up at the specter. "I've beaten the odds before. This time isn't any different."

"You really think anyone will survive this night? That is a bet you will take to your grave."

Ryder glared before taking a seating position. He closed his eyes and began to meditate. "I will push you out of my mind. Even if it takes all night."

"You can't win. Your friends are as good as dead."

"I won't let that happen. I won't let my anger take control of me. I won't submit to the darkness."


Dark floated in midair, meditating as a blue cloud of aura circled around him. "Why is it that you refuse to see the truth?"

"I'm not listening," the Darkmon lord mumbled.

"Don't you see there is more to life than the darkness? Why do you wish to enforce it onto those who strive for the light?" Dark didn't speak.

He was in a location similar to Ryder's, the only difference was him being bugged by Ryder's aura. Unlike his counterpart, he was well aware of this stray aura swimming around in his own life force. He did his best to block out its positive nature and good willed morals. If he had to listen to it speak any longer, he was going to throw up.

"There are Pokémon suffering because of your terror. Do you not feel the slightest bit of remorse for them?"

"…oh, I feel remorse. Watching their poor, innocent faces not die immediately from having their energy sapped away is just…heartbreaking," he said with a smirk.

"You're disgusting."

"And you're a pain in my rear. Welcome to the mind of a Darkmon."

The aura floated in front of his face. "How can you live with yourself knowing the horrible things you've committed?"

"Simple. It's this simple technique called 'Not giving a crap'. You should try it yourself, it does wonders for stress."

"An evil creature such as you needs to realize the dangers of the forces you're playing with. One of these days, your Darkmon will fall. You will be in the epicenter of the disaster. You will watch everything you built crumble. All because you wanted to prove to the world that you're the strongest force on the planet."

Dark opened his eyes and glared at the aura. "I don't need to prove anything to the humans. Or the Pokémon. I already AM the strongest force on the planet." He leaned forward. "It's beings like you that cause be strife. It makes me sick how you so easily try to eradicate our existence.

"You moment you see something opposing the light, the darkness, you need to shine your light down on us to eliminate the shadows. We're not allowed to live in the dark. All you good-hearted saviors just want what you want. We, the Darkmon, take your philosophies and shove them in your faces. You want to destroy our way of existence, go ahead. We'll be there to eradicate you too."

"Your evil ways will cost lives, on both sides."

He scoffed. "See if I care. By the end of the week, we won't have to worry about you or any other creature who wants to get in our way. Point is…I will not submit to the light."


Pikachu jumped into the trees to avoid another round of Ryder's furious Slash attacks. He fired down Thunderbolt, directly on top of him. The Charmeleon crossed his arms and endured the hit. He reared his foot back and kicked the tree. He couldn't apply enough force to topple it, but enough to knock Pikachu down. He clotheslined him, then dropped his elbow down in his gut.

He wheezed in pain, but didn't let up as he grabbed his arm and sent a strong current of electricity up his body. Ryder retracted and jumped away to get some distance. The mouse pushed himself to his feet, then unleashed another Thunderbolt.

Ryder jumped around it, using the trees for cover. Using this opportunity for some serious damage, Pikachu used Iron Tail with Electro Ball. Using Quick Attack, he raced over to the Charmeleon.

He immediately noticed and used Aerial Ace to try and avoid it. Pikachu's training was paying off nicely. Ryder's movements weren't as fast as he remembered. They were still fast, but he was able to keep track of where he was going. For instance, landing behind him to land a Brick Break.

He stopped and immediately spun on his hand, increasing momentum in his combo to block and effectively overpower the Brick Break. The Electro Ball-Iron Tail combo sent Ryder flying through the air.

Piplup cheered, "Nice one, Pikachu! Now we got him!"

Ryder's eyes snapped open. The purple aura blazed brighter. Once his feet made contact with the ground, he vanished.

Pikachu gasped. "Where did he-"

A strong Brick Break slammed against the left side of his face. He went flying into Piplup, who made his best attempt to catch him, only to effectively cushion his impact against the tree like a pillow. "Oww…" he moaned.

Ryder got down on all fours and growled like a savage Pokémon. He was becoming more animalistic by the second.

Oshawott got in front of the two and raised his scalchop, activating Razor Shell. "Anyone got a plan B?"

Pikachu held his head groggily, then took notice of the metal bracelets he still had on his wrists. He looked down at his body, remembering the vest he wore. "These things are weighing us down!" He looked up at Oshawott. "Oshawott, keep him distracted for me! I need to figure out how to undo these!"

He gulped and looked into the eyes of the beast in front of him. He shook his head and glared. "No problem!" He rushed at Ryder, Razor Shell held high.

Since the vest wasn't that complicated, he took that off first. Almost immediately, he felt a great weight lift off his shoulders. He completely forgot how heavy that vest was. Regardless, he went for the bracelets, but soon noticed they weren't as simple.

"Uh…how do these things work?" It was like he was playing a puzzle game. The locks apparently need to be turned in a certain order a certain number of times, otherwise they completely reset back to their locked form. All of it. "Why does Ryder have complicated locks?!"

Buneary ran over. "Let me take a look. I think I saw how he did it the last time." She handed the egg container to Piplup. "Please keep our baby safe."

He nodded. "I'll protect it with my life." He wrapped his flippers around it.

She nodded back before attending to Pikachu. "Okay, I think it was…"

Snivy ignored them as she kept her eyes on Oshawott, worried about his personal safety. With all the damage Ryder was causing to them, Oshawott could be in some serious hot water.

Ryder roared and threw his claws against Oshawott's blade. He pushed hard against the claws, as they were barely and inch from his face. He gave a mighty shove and pushed them down before firing a blank point Hydro Pump. The force blasted Ryder into the trees. The sea otter spun his scalchop before running to the tree.

The Charmeleon coughed and sputtered, spitting out water. He was completely soak. He growled down at the approaching Water-Type. Hands engulfed in blue flames, he rained down Inferno, scorching the dirt below.

Oshawott's enhanced reaction time saw it and he rolled out of the way before flying up using Aqua Jet. He snaked around the branches, then collided against Ryder. He turned around in time and pushed against the attack, keeping him just out of reached. His hands blazed and fire a concentrated Inferno that reduced the water to steam. He reached through and grabbed Oshawott by the scruff. He threw him in the air, then followed after with Aerial Ace.

Left and right, up and down, you name it, Oshawott felt fast paced strikes coming from every direction. Pain coursed through his body, the agony multiplying as each strike would hit the same sore spot over and over again. He was suspended in midair just from the sheer force of the strikes alone. He was sure how long he can stay conscious if this kept up.

Ryder landed on the ground and jumped up immediately with Aerial Ace. Forcing his body to move, the sea otter grabbed his scalchop and slammed it against Ryder's face. He then fired Hydro Pump downward, pushing the Charmeleon against the ground with great force.

He picked himself up and growled at the sea otter, who fell on his stomach upon landing, knocking the wind out of him briefly. "Ugh…I'm gonna feel that in the morning…"

He got up to the best of his ability and raised his scalchop in a defensive manner. Ryder sneered, slowly advancing towards him. Oshawott could barely keep himself standing after that barrage of attacks he endured. He'll be lucky to make it out of this one conscious…or not dead.

A Vine Whip wrapped around Ryder's throat and constricted him. He choked loudly, trying to remove it. The sea otter looked forward to see Snivy, glaring at the fire lizard. "Get away from him!"

Ryder's glowing red eyes locked on her with rage. He gripped the vines tightly and emitted blue flames that traveled down. Snivy's body erupted in an inferno of flames. She screamed loudly as the burns seared her skin.

"SNIVY!" Feeling his strength come back, Oshawott kicked off with Aqua Jet and crashed into Ryder. The attack did make him let go the vines, which retracted back to Snivy as she collapsed.

He brought his hands together and slammed them down on the sea otter. Oshawott breathed heavily and wiped his lip. He gasped upon seeing his white fur stained red. "Oh no…" He rolled away from Ryder's claws, aimed in a stabbing manner. He got to his feet again and activated Razor Shell. "Ryder, listen to me! Wake up! You're not being you!"

He growled at the otter and walked forward, flexing his claws. "I'm not gonna quit fighting you, Ryder! I will defeat you if it'll get you to snap out of it! So please, try and see reason! Let me help you!"

Words didn't reach him as he ran forward, activating Slash. Oshawott got into a swordsman like stance, prepping for the worse.

A loud set of clicks echoed through the forest. His eyes widened as a yellow blur popped up in front of him and nailed the Charmeleon across the jaw, sending him backwards.

Pikachu panted in relief. Buneary had just gotten his restraints off. It felt so weird. The entire time, he didn't even feel their crushing weight once he got use to them. Now, without them, he felt lighter on his feet. Each movement he made seemed like he was moving at light speed. One moment he was across his current positon, now he's over here faster than anyone could blink. It was incredible.

Pikachu got on all fours. His cheeks crackled with electricity. "Don't worry, Oshawott. I got this."

The sea otter's eyes glazed over as he fell back, uttering, "Thank you…" before passing out.

Buneary ran over to get him and Snivy out of danger. Ryder got out of the bushed he landed in and tried to rush her, but Pikachu slammed his fist against his cheek. He wasn't prepared for Pikachu's sudden increase in speed. This gave the rabbit time to pick Oshawott up and carry him over to where Piplup was, who had already gotten Snivy safe.

She rested the sea otter next to the grass snake. "You'll be alright…" she whispered. She narrowed her eyes worriedly at Pikachu and Ryder, who were repeatedly trading blows with each other, their bodies flickering and vanishing with their swift movements. "Please be alright…both of you…"

Piplup watched the battle intensively, all while keeping the egg container close to his side. He was doing his job of keeping an eye on it, but not well enough, as it would seem. He didn't notice the egg inside flash white once.


Dragonite caught a kick from Koda and slammed him face first into the ground. The dark jackal snickered and used his other foot, slamming it hard into his gut. The dragon staggered back in pain. His strikes…he felt like they were getting stronger as time went on. It was insane. They were able to hold their own for a bit before, but now it just seemed like he was playing with them now.

Pansage jumped into the air and rained down a storm of Bullet Seeds. Koda's eyes flashed, then he swiftly dodged the seeds. He fired an aura pulse, knocking him higher into the air. Quilava used Flame Wheel and rammed into his back. He stood his ground and kicked into the flame, ending the attack while leaving him open for a flurry of palm strikes, each delivering a wave of aura that made him flinch in pain.

Pachirisu jumped from above and spun down using Super Fang. He bit down hard on Koda's arm. He growled, trying to shake the rodent off. Quilava panted heavily, recovering his strength. He retaliated with a Swift attack. Koda crossed his arms, enduring the star attack smashing into him. He grabbed Pachirisu by the tail and threw him into Quilava, then used a double palm strike to send the two of them back into the laboratory. From the sound of it, they broke through a few walls.

He sensed another presence coming up on him quickly. He turned and pushed against Pignite's Flame Charge. The fire pig snorted angrily, increasing the force of his attack. "This is for trying to knock me over the edge!"

He pushed the dark jackal back a few inches, but that was all he could do before Koda slammed his foot into the pig's gut. He coughed in pain, ending his attack and holding his stomach with a scrunched up face.

Koda cackled, then slammed his palms into both sides of his head, sending an aura pulse that left him disoriented. He stumbled around, trying to get his bearings in check. The dark jackal smirked maliciously, grabbed his face, then smashed it against the ground, all while laughing his evil laugh.

Dragonite growled, holding his arm. "This is crazy. We can't keep this up all night."

Pansage rubbed his head. "Well, what else can we do? He's too far gone to snap him out of it."

Pachirisu charged in using Spark and rammed against Koda's side. He didn't flinch from the impact. He, instead, grabbed him by the tail once more and spun him. He flung him in the air, then used Copycat, jumping up to ram him with his own Spark.

"Maybe there's a way to shut it off," Dragonite suggested.

"Well, it's embracing negative emotions such as anger and malice. If we can get him to snap out of it…"

He shook his head. "Won't work. We've tried reasoning with him and that hasn't worked once. He's too far down in his trance."

"We need to try harder." The grass monkey sighed, a stray thought coming to mind. It worked once. But a second time with him this far in the state? "Maybe if we hit him with a strong enough attack, it'll wake him up."

"You want me to blast the guy?" Dragonite asked, raising a brow.

He shook his head. "I'm asking you to bring him back down to earth. We need to do something drastic. I hate to say it, but knocking some sense into him is our only real plan." He sighed. "Just don't hurt him too badly."

He nodded, then punched his fists together. "Gladly…"

Pachirisu landed with a groan. Koda grabbed him by the fur and lifted him to eye level. "C…Come on, man…give me a break…"

Koda smirked and slammed his palm against him, blasting him with Force Palm. He laughed loudly, then sensed an incoming threat. Predicting where the attack with land, he sidestepped from an Ice Beam. He glanced to the side and saw Dragonite gliding over with Thunder Punch. The Dark Riolu smirked once more and intercepted his attack with Force Palm.

The colliding strikes caused a brief shockwave that ripped the earth up from under them. Dragonite grabbed him and fired Flamethrower into his face. Red eyes pierced through before a flaming head bashed his skull, staggering him. The flames died. Koda's fur and burns regenerated, all while he wore a cocky smirk.

The dragon rubbed his forehead and checked for blood. None on his head. He clenched his fist and smirked. "Alright, I'll give you this much. You're putting up more of a fight than my Darkmon counterpart."

Koda cackled as he got into an attack stance. His palms pulsing with aura, he dashed forward and thrusted them. Dragonite, using his wings for speed, moved just out reach of the strikes. He fired Ice Beam down, tripping him up on a sheet of ice. He flapped his wings and rose high in the sky.

The Dark Riolu held his head, snarling at the sneaky move. He looked up to see a blue streak of light speeding down, increasing in speed from gravity. His future vision showed him getting severely wounded from contact with the move. Thinking on his feet, he jumped away out of direct impact. However, his change in position showed him another future. The shockwave would trip him up, allowing the Dragonite to trap him in a furious barrage of Thunder Punches. He won't be able to dodge.

The events unfolded in front of him as his vision showed. Without any ground to kick off, he was forced to endure the stinging pain of the Thunder Punch combo. One final punch sent him flying into the sky.

"Got him!" the dragon shouted. "Everyone, blast him now!"

With the dark jackal unable to dodge, he endured the combine force of Bullet Seed, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Discharge, and Swift. The five attacks colliding together resulted in a massive explosion, sparks and fire flying off.

Pignite snorted smoke. "Is he down?"

Dragonite narrowed his eyes. "No. That would have been too easy. He's still kicking."

Koda fell from the smoke and landed with a deep glare. Snarling, his aura increased in size, shattering the ground beneath him.

Quilava squeaked. "He looks angry!"

Pignite glared. "Ugh, why couldn't we be fighting a Caterpie or something?! At least then, three-fifths of us would have the upper hand!"

Pansage rubbed his chin. The angrier Koda got, the more power he received. Was that how it worked? No, that didn't seem like the whole answer. Perhaps it worked by having Koda produce more evil intentions into his mind. Each power increase seemed to make him more savage.

Darkmon could control their actions with practice, so this was a savage instinct. They needed to counter his instincts with something. But what? Speaking to him won't work. Physical force only made things worse. Was there something they were missing?

Koda roared at the group and charged with wild movements, losing himself in his madness. It went straight for Quilava, who hastily used Flame Wheel to avoid the Force Palm that shattered the ground to rubble.

"Koda, please stop! We don't want to hurt you!" Quilava shouted through the Flame Wheel.

He viciously shook his head, almost like there was something in his ear irritating him. He chased after the fire weasel, firing aura pulses.

Pachirisu ran after Koda. "Knock it off!" He used Sweet Kiss in his direction, hoping to distract him like last time. However, Koda was so lost in his rage, the Sweet Kiss exploded upon making contact with his aura. "Oh crud!"

He stopped and turned on his heel, slamming an aura charged palm into his face, blasting him into the woods.

"Pachi!" Pansage shouted.

Quilava stopped and fired Flamethrower at Koda. This only enraged him more as he continued to give chase to him. He fired Smokescreen down, shrouding his escape. Koda wasn't thinking straight, not bothering to track his aura. He was relying on senses now. But the smoke blocked Quilava's scent.

The fire weasel ran out in a panic. "I…don't know…how much longer…I can endure this…"

Pansage tapped his head vigorously, trying to come up with a solution. "Come on, think!" he yelled at himself. "What would Cilan do? Observe the situation and come to a logical conclusion…"

Dragonite gritted his teeth. "We don't have much time for logical thinking!" He could hear Koda's snarls within the smoke.

"Some outside force is doing this to Koda…maybe we can psychically block it."

"We don't have a Psychic-Type with us!"

"Maybe, but…" He clutched his head. "I'm under too much pressure to think!"

Pignite stomped the ground, then rammed against Koda with Flame Charge. The Dark Riolu growled and struck him across the cheek with his leg, knocking him back to the others.

He rubbed his jaw. "There's no way we can beat him like this! He just keeps getting stronger! Ugh, this is so frustrating!"

Pansage's eyes widened. They were all getting frustrated. Actually, now that he thought about it, the more they felt they were losing, the more strength Koda acquired. It was like he drew strength from…negativity.

He gasped. "Everyone! He's syphoning off of our anger!"

"Huh?" they questioned.

"That's the key to beating him! We just need to stay calm and try and fight him without giving him negative emotions to feed off of!" He got into a battle stance. "In short, don't lose hope! Stay confident!"

They glanced at the snarling Darkmon. Was that how Awakened Evil worked? Drawing off negativity?


The ground shattered in blazing fury as the two Darkmon collided claws. They smirked widely at each other as they traded attacks, blow for blow, tearing apart the world around them.

Meowth hid behind a tree with Laura close by, gripping tightly to the ground. It was madness out there. Dark Mightyena and Chloe were out for blood trying to outdo the other in strength and speed. Their strikes only seemed to grow in power with each successful collision. He couldn't help himself but watch the battle, simply stunned by their power.

They ricocheted off the trees and collided with each other in midair. They continuously bounced off trees, attacking from multiple directions. Their speed and aura, not to mention the manner of how they attacked, created of a massive sphere made entirely out of the light of their slashes.

The sphere dissipated from the final collision of their strikes. They appeared to be evenly matched. Dark Mightyena smirked. "Give in to your evil heritage, Dark Glameow. Become the creature of mayhem you were meant to be."

While she was smirking, her narrowed eyes reflected defiance and anger. "Sorry mutt, but I'm not giving in to my evil!"

"Then you'll die!" He fired Incinerate in her face. Staying true to its name, the attack scorched her face. This caused her to let up on her attack, allowing Dark Mightyena to slam his paw down on her, sending her packing into the ground.

"Chloe!" Meowth yelled.

The Darkmon landed and laughed. "Don't feel ashamed, my pretty. I am, after all, stronger."

Chloe's body flickered into view behind him. "Hey hotshot?" He didn't have time to react as her purple glowing paw, the move Payback, struck him in the cheek. "Keep your eyes on the opponent." He launched off her paw and smashed against a tree.

Dark Mightyena glared and rubbed his maw. "Lucky shot."

Her body flickered before vanishing, appearing right in front of him. "Make that two." She struck him in the gut, then the face. She unsheathed her claws and slashed his body widely.

The dark mutt growled, then smirked. His teeth began glowing in a poisonous manner. He opened his jaw wide and bit down on the dark cat's arm. She flinched from the bite, then struck him across the cheek. She jumped back for some distance before checking her wound.

No poison, so that was a good sign. Poison created from a Darkmon wasn't particularly enjoyable. It would have been worse if she was poisoned by an actual Poison-Type.

She glared. "I'll make sure to stay clear of your Poison Fang."

He snickered. "That's going off the assumption you can avoid me!" He dashed over to her at blinding speeds.

She jumped over his attack, leading him to crash into a tree. She unsheathed her claws and used Fury Cutter, extending out with a red glow. The dark mutt caught the attack with Poison Fang. Chloe used her other claws and slashed his stomach. He flinched, but he lifted her up by the claws and smashed her against the ground. He raised his paws and slammed them down hard, shattering the earth beneath them, uplifting it into the air.

She gasped from the shock, then clenched her teeth. She unsheathed her claws and lashed out in rage, shredding everything within her radius. Dark Mightyena managed to get out of her radius, losing his right hind leg in the process. Blood dripped from the wound before it reshaped and regenerated.

He fired volleys of Incinerate, scorching up the ground with their burning flames. Chloe jumped over them and slashed up the ground before kicking the debris at him. They tore apart the trees, ground, or just about anything they collided with.

He swiftly evaded them, afterimages appearing in his place. He fired Incinerate again, then ran through the debris storm. Chloe ducked under it, leaving her open for an uppercut to the jaw. Dark Mightyena spun and landed a kick with his hind legs.

She growled and flipped through the air, landing in the trees. She wiped her lip of blood and flicked it, evaporating into shadows. "Sadistic monster…"

He smirked. "You flatter me, my dear. But you must realize that victory is within my grasp."

"I'm not giving you that opportunity." She jumped from the tree and spun like a drill, flying down with tornado like force.

Dark Mightyena blocked it with the pads of his paws. The force crushed the ground, slowly pushing him down. He glared before throwing a Sucker Punch into the tornado. His foreleg got messed up, but he made contact with the dark cat, stopping her assault. He growled and snapped his teeth at her, coated with poison.

She pushed off his paws, avoiding his bite. She used Fury Swipes and slashed the air furiously. The force of her slashes created air currents around her, forming a cyclone. The dark mutt dug his claws into the ground to keep himself stable. He fired Incinerate, but it dissipated into the wind.

Meowth stared with amazement. "She's…incredible…" He couldn't stop himself from staring at her. She was simply…amazing.

He heard a little, static chuckle. He turned to Laura. Despite being heavily damage, she could still work up a laugh. "What…zzt…running through your…zzt…mind, Meowth?"

He blushed bright red and looked away from her. "S-Shut up!" She laughed weakly once more.

Chloe glared and slashed the air. Blades of wind fired from the cyclone. While it didn't work like Razor Wind, it did cause heavy damage. Dark Mightyena vanished and ran around the tornado, undetected. He glared into the center and smirked. "Shadow Ball!" He fired into the cyclone.

It wouldn't harm Chloe, being a Normal-Type. However, the cyclone was a different story. Entering the cyclone, the force disrupted the air around her and ended her attack. She tried to land, but Dark Mightyena came at her with a flurry of kicks and bit down on her neck.

"I'm going to make sure your punishment is filled with eternal suffering," he said in a muffled tone.

She glared up at him. "After you, pest." Her back claws unsheathed and she jabbed them into his legs. She poured as much energy as possible into her legs and flung him backwards. She sent him flying into the ground.

She jumped into a tree as her neck regenerated. "I told you, I won't let you-" Her heart pulsed. She clenched her chest, her face twisted in irritation. Her aura flickered a bit. "W-Wha…" She looked at her neck and gasped.

A purple, poisonous glowing splotch was on her neck, slowly spreading across her body. That last attack was Poison Fang.

She glared at the snickering Darkmon as he rose out of the ground. "Well, look at that. I got you." She growled under her breath. "It'll be much easier to catch you now."

Meowth panicked. "Chloe!" He almost stepped around the tree, but she shouted out him.

"NO! I can handle this! I don't want you putting yourself in danger!"

"But you're poisoned!"

She cringed as the poison spread more down her back. "I'll be fine!" She unsheathed her claws and lunged at Dark Mightyena.

He smirked in triumph. Her speed was drastically reduced. He could see the rage in her eyes. He could feel it as his aura syphoned off the negative emotions. She gained power too, but was more focused on keeping herself conscious. That was opportunity to strike.

Once she was in close range, he circled around her in the blink on an eye, a brief afterimage of him in his place before fading. Her eyes widened and slowly glanced back. A flurry of paws came at her and smashed her against the ground with tremendous force. He threw hundreds of kicks a second, the goal of causing everlasting damage branded into his mind.

Chloe's only strategy now was to endure the strikes while focusing on keeping herself conscious. She glanced over to Meowth. The worry on his face made a frown cross her features. If she lost here and now, both of them, plus Laura, were doomed.

She couldn't do much with the poison coursing through her body, though. It took all her strength to keep herself moving without locking up. She'd need to tap into more of her Awakened Evil, but Dark Mightyena was showing glee and excitement, not hostility or frustration. She couldn't syphon off of his aura.

Dark Mightyena brought his paw back and slapped her across the face, sending her through the dirt and hitting a tree head first. He laughed. "Oh, this is so much fun!" His teeth glowed purple. "Let's speed up the poisoning process, shall we?" He rushed at her.

She glared at him. "Die…" She backpawed the tree behind her, breaking the base. She grabbed it with both paws and swung it down in front of her. It slammed on top of her attacker with a hefty thud. She pushed herself up weakly and unsheathed her claws. She ran down the tree and shredded her way through, cutting up anything below it.

A paw emerged through the tree and stabbed her in the side with its claws. She flinched before being flung into the air. Dark Mightyena kicked the tree off, then kicked it into the air, hitting the dark cat higher into the air. He fired Incinerate to deal extra damage.

The tree caught fire and quickly spread across the tree. Chloe growled, then flinched as the poison spread down her left foreleg and more down her back. It was getting worse. She could feel it surging through her body and aching her every fiber with a burning sensation.

A thought crossed her mind as she looked at the poison. It was risky, but it might give her the edge. She unsheathed her right set of claws and stabbed them through her arm. She dug through before pulling them out. Her wounds took much longer to heal due to the poison, but it was worth it.

Coated around her claws was the poison, glowing in its toxic glow. She ran to the end of the tree and gave it a mighty kick, returning it back to Dark Mightyena.

He raised a brow in suspicion before sidestepping. He looked up again and gasped. He barely got out of her reached as she came down like a bolt of lightning. She glared up at him and slashed him across the chest with her poison coated claws.

Any Darkmon that wasn't a Poison-Type was still susceptible to Darkmon created poisons. However, any Darkmon that can use Poison-Type moves had a stronger immune system compared to those who don't use them. However, if enough poison were to enter their blood stream, it'll bypass the immune system.

He caught on to her plan quickly and jumped away. "As you said earlier, I surely must stay clear of those," he mocked.

She raised her claws. "Careful with what you say. If I got attacked saying that, you'll meet the same fate." She focused her energy into speed now and dashed at him, vanishing. He followed suit and vanished as well.

Sparks of purple light clashed through the air. Mini shockwaves rustled the leaves and trees around them. Fangs and claws of poison colliding, one after the other. It was a battle to see who will drop from poison first.

Meowth couldn't keep track of their movements, but Laura can. She was shocked by the destructive power they possessed. Their mere impacts were enough to shake the earth. Their auras blazed brightly, matching their determined need to win. This is what Darkmon were truly capable of.

Chloe roared and stabbed Dark Mightyena in the chest. She pinned him down and swished her claws around in him. "Stay down-AAHH!" His teeth clamped down on her foreleg, administering Poison Fang into it.

He kicked her off and used Incinerate, scorching her body. "I told you, Dark Glameow. You can't beat me like this." He tipped her head up. "Give in to your evil side. You've done it before, you can do it again. Now go crazy."

She clenched her teeth and spat in his face. "Die in a pool of acid…"

He wiped his face off and sighed. "You had your chance…" He then smirked psychotically. "Now you perish!" He rained down Incinerate, burning her body to unbearable levels.

"AAAAHHHH!" she screamed. She flailed wildly, trying to put the flames out.

He laughed and kicked her against a tree. He pushed her against it and whispered, "Now rot away like the garbage you are." He threw her into the air and charged up a massive Incinerate.

It slammed into her body and tore apart the flame in a massive fireball burning the contents within before exploding into a wave of flames, briefly blinding everyone.

"CHLOE!" Meowth screamed. Tears streamed down his face. He didn't see her body. She was disintegrated. "No…" He dropped to his knees and cried. He lost his friend. Now he was going to die. He and Laura were actually going to die. No Chloe, no Dark…they were good as dead.

Dark Mightyena laughed at his misery. "Quit your blubbering! In an hour or so, her body will fully regenerate from the central bulb." He cackled. "Then again, there's no telling how she'll come out when she regenerates. With the bulb conditioning her mind through the process, she might not be the same." He smirked like a maniac. "Still, if I were you, I'd be a little more worried about your own life right now."

Meowth stared into nothingness, emotionally broken. Chloe…what was going to happen to her? What about him? He never imagined this day coming so soon. He didn't want to die. Not now.

"If it makes you better, I'll make it quick and painless." His aura disappeared and his eyes returned to normal. "My thanks for the fun. I haven't had that much excitement in years. The struggle to capture my prey. I haven't felt that drive in forever."

Laura pushed herself up, sparking. Her eyes narrowed down. "I won't…zzt…let that happen…zzt…" She raised her arm and tried to fire an energy blast, but she was running low.

He chuckled darkly, then picked her up. "I might get punished for destroying you, but I'll at least be happy knowing I've finally killed something." He bit down on her arm and tore it off, leaving her armless.

She growled and smashed her head against his, but it didn't do much. She didn't have any energy left to do destructive means of damage.

He cackled and threw her to the side. He walked over to Meowth and pressed his claws against him. He didn't run or fight. He was petrified with terror. "Did I drain all the fight out of you, Meowth? Come on, put up some struggle. It's no fun if my prey doesn't fight back."

Meowth didn't respond. He just stared off into space with terror present in his face. Tears still dripped down his cheek. He didn't want to die. He couldn't escape. His fate was sealed.

He sighed. "How sad. Oh well! It was fun while it lasted!" He licked his maw and slowly inched closer to the cat. His eyes shrunk in fear, seeing his sharp teeth, the last thing he will ever see. He clenched his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable. Dark Mightyena laughed at his fear and went for the kill, lunging at him.

Seconds slowed dramatically as a vicious serious of slashes crossed over the Darkmon's body, starting from his tail, all the way to his head. He was covered completely in purple slash marks. His eyes shrunk as his mind registered what happened. It didn't even end there.

Darkness enveloped his vision, then was replaced with a barbarous tornado of claws over took his body before the force kicked him and sent him flying across the area.

His back crashed hard against a tree, an audible crack reverberating through the brief silence. His body was littered with cuts that regenerated, but that didn't help the wave of soreness that hit him. Something nailed him with incredible force.

Was that the robot? I thought I disposed of her! He looked up with a glare, then gasped. "No…"

Standing in front of Meowth was a thick purple aura with red energy seeping off the silhouetted body within. The shape of the figure was of a Glameow. A Dark Glameow…

He snarled and rose to his feet. She must have had more durability than I thought. She must have escaped before that final Incinerate. He narrowed his eyes. And it seems she has given in to her evil nature, too. He smirked. Excellent. Now she'll slaughter that puny Pokémon herself.

Even though that's what he was hoping for, Chloe didn't even look at Meowth, who still sat on his knees with a horrified expression. It felt like the aura she had before she tried to kill him. Does that mean she was out of control again?

"Ch…Chloe?" he mumbled.

Neither did she flinch nor turned around. She stood there, her glowing blood red eyes pierce through the thick aura that surrounded her. Dark Mightyena narrowed his eyes.

Something isn't right. With that kind of aura overtaking her, she should be giving in to her nature. She should be slaughtering Meowth. But no, she isn't. How is that possible?

His eyes focused on her aura some more and noticed something…strange. An invisible trail of aura from Meowth was being taken in by Chloe's aura. She was syphoning off his negative emotions. He clearly didn't have any anger or hostility built up in him, so the only other emotion she could be tapping into was…fear.

I see. She's drawing energy from his fear. Dark Glameow is so fond of that Pokémon that she's using his fear as a way of keeping herself anchored to reality. Perhaps just enough to keep her from going too deep. He snarled. Clever girl…I need to use reactivate my Awakened Evil before she gets the drop on me.

A task that he'll never get the opportunity to accomplish. The moment he began making the slow movements, Chloe's eyes locked on to him and she kicked off the ground at blazing speeds. Her paws made contact with him and completely obliterated his right foreleg.

He gasped in pain, then received an uppercut that made him snap his jaw down on his tongue. He went flying into the air like a rocket. Chloe chased after him with Fury Cutter. She slashed and hacked at him with no remorse, making every strike as painful and excruciating as possible.

No matter what little brief lapse of time he received, Dark Mightyena couldn't use Awakened Evil. He didn't have time to charge it. Even if he could, he was starting to see his chances of victory fleeting into the distance.

He received a small gap of space, enough for him to kick Chloe across the face and put some distance between them. He landed on the ground. "I have to activate it no…nah…ugh…" He held his side and collapsed. "What the…" He glanced at his side and saw toxic glowing splotches spreading across his sides. I forgot her claws were coated in Poison Fang's poison!

He pushed himself up and looked around for his attacker, who was running around to try and confuse him. If she still had poison on her claws, that meant her body wasn't totally destroyed before. That meant there was still a chance she had poison running through her body still.

He snickered. "That's right, Dark Glameow, keep running! Burn yourself out while the poison eats away at your health! We both may be poisoned, but I'll be the one conserving my strength!" He activated Poison Fang and bared them menacingly. "Now, show yourself so we can end this!"

A flash appeared next to him and slashed his front legs. Another and then his back legs. Flash, then back. He jumped in the air and fired Shadow Ball where Chloe will land, hopefully knocking her over with the shockwave. He hastily looked around for her presence.

His breath and heart rate quickened. His eyes widened. Was he feeling fear? He shook his head. No, that's ridiculous. Darkmon can't feel fear, they induce it. There was nothing this lowly Darkmon can do to him that he can't do a thousand times over.

"DIE!" He spun in midair and scattered Incinerate everywhere, burning down trees and bushes with each direct hit. I can't lose! I will never lose!

A loud 'shink' sounded behind him. He slowly turned around as Chloe hovered over him, her claws crossed. Her eye gleamed through the intersection her claws crossed at, staring him down emotionlessly. His eyes shook in surprise as she fell closer to him, her claws slowly separating as she prepared for the kill.

crap…

Slashes went all over his body, to the point where all that was purple light. Nothing was spared. Every fiber of his body was slashed by the fast moving claws. He floated there in dead silence as the attack took time to register the final blow.

Chloe landed on her hind legs, claws raised high. She sharpened them together, then retracted them. The moment they were retracted, Dark Mightyena's body exploded into black. Wisps of shadows rained down from the air, showering over the dark land.

Meowth stared with shock. His heart was still beating quickly, but it was beginning to slow down a bit. He carefully got up, knees shaking, and walked over to Chloe hesitantly. She stared at him through the thick aura, unmoving. He was worried she was going to attack him at any moment, but he felt like he was going to be alright, too.

"Chloe…are you…" He reached out to her. His hand retracted when she started wobbling unsteadily. "Chloe?!"

Her aura dissipated, revealing her weakened state. Half her body was covered in poison. She panted heavily. Her eyes were unfocused and foggy. "Meowth…" She collapsed forward, landing in his arms.

"Chloe…" He held her close in his arms. He could still hear her breathing. He needed to keep her body stable so it wouldn't give out. He didn't want her to change. "I won't let anything happen to you…" He placed her on his back and walked over to Laura. He picked her body up, then grabbed her discarded parts. He wasn't in the best condition to be holding them both, but he ignored the pain in his body and carried them both back to his hut.


The Pokémon surrounded Koda, who snarled at them angrily. They made sure to keep plenty of distance from him to avoid his reach, while also not making any sudden movements to rile him up.

"Koda, it's us," Pansage started slowly. "Your friends. We want to help you, but you need to calm down. You're not thinking straight."

He growled at the group and began walking over to Pansage, hands pulsing with aura. Pachirisu shouted, "Koda, listen to us! Take a moment and please listen! I know you can hear us! You just need to try harder!" He glared at him and walked over to him instead.

Pignite snorted. "Come on, I thought you had better control than this!" Koda glared at him.

Quilava gulped. "Seriously Koda, you're scaring us. Please snap out of it." The fire weasel was doing his best not to feel fear, but it was difficult.

Koda looked back and forth at the Pokémon as they each tried gaining his attention. He wasn't sensing or syphoning negativity from them. He held his head and growled, trying to get his head straight.

Dragonite calmly walked toward Koda, hands behind his back. "Koda, just stand still and let us help you."

Koda's eyes dilated and snapped into a glare. He turned around and rammed his palm against his gut. Dragonite gasped and coughed up some blood. He held his mouth and doubled over. Koda smirked, expecting the dragon to get angry. His eyes widened when he saw him push himself up on one knee and chuckling.

"Nice…hit…" He wiped his mouth. "I'll have to avoid that…" It was taking all his willpower not to lose his head. His body was already sore from the strikes he took. He needed to keep this up until he saw an opportunity to beat some sense into Koda.

The Darkmon was confused by his behavior, then grinded his teeth in rage. He jumped into the air and spun down, palms aimed out.

Pansage took aim and knocked him off course with Bullet Seed. The Darkmon crossed his arms as he took the barrage of seeds. Dragonite looked up and fired Flamethrower. Koda howled with pain.

He jumped out of the stream of fire, fur regenerating. He ran forward and threw his aura charged palms. Dragonite flapped into the air to avoid them, then fired Ice Beam at his ankles, slowing him down.

Koda was becoming too frustrated to properly attack. He was relying on pure instinct at this point. And, to make matters worse, he couldn't syphon off their negativity. They were keeping him from gaining anymore power. This angered the beastly Darkmon even further.

His aura surrounded him and became thicker, blacking out his figure and leaving him as a silhouette. His red eyes gleamed through the aura, locking on to the first Pokémon he saw: Quilava.

The fire weasel stiffened and back away. He was leaking some fear out of his aura, making the Dark Riolu smirk. He ran at him with charge aura strikes. Quilava thought quickly by using Flame Wheel and spinning around him. He fired Swift from the attack, successfully landing on target. Koda staggered back, then got hit by his Flame Wheel. He pushed against it and pulled his fist back, charging aura into it.

Pignite slammed his fist against the ground and sent Fire Pledge down his way. The pillars of fire surrounded the two and engulfed them in fire, with Quilava enduring it better. Koda roared in anger, while the fire weasel absorbed the flames into his Flame Wheel, increasing the size dramatically. Koda couldn't hold it back anymore and was overtaken by the flames.

The Flame Wheel shoved him against the ground and burned across his body. He fired an aura pulse and blasted him off. However, once the flames parted, more overtook his vision.

Two streams of Flamethrower blasted against him. Quilava landed and joined in on the attack. Pachirisu used Discharge while Pansage charged up a Solar Beam. Koda pushed himself up as the attacks bombarded down on him. He could barely move his body.

The Solar Beam was finished. "Sorry about this, Koda!" Pansage fired them beam of concentrated light. It pushed the dark jackal back down, searing his body with even more pain. Dragonite narrowed his eyes and flew forward.

The attacks ended, making the beastly Darkmon think it was over. He spoke too soon. Dragonite was in his field of vision with Thunder Punch activated.

He glared. "Koda! WAKE UP!"

He punched the Darkmon with furious power. Flurries of Thunder Punches bashing against his skull and body, not ending in their assault. Koda's Awakened Evil dispersed. He could hear distorted shouting entering his ears.

'Koda, wake up!'

'Come on, buddy, fight it!'

'You don't have to be evil! You're not like the other Darkmon!'

'Koda, please! I don't want to fight you anymore!'

Dragonite punched him in the air and flew up after him. He used Dragon Rush and rammed right into the Darkmon with draconian power, resulting in a massive explosion that knocked the others down.

They looked up at the smoke and saw the dragon descending with Koda passed out in his arms. He landed gently on the ground and set the Darkmon down. Immediately, everyone crowded around him.

"Koda?" Pachirisu whispered. He shook him gently. "Buddy, you in there?"

They were worried that they may have caused serious damage to him. However, after a few seconds, Koda's face twitched. He struggled to open his eyes. He could feel pain throughout his body. He had a large headache as well. His ears were ringing like they were caught in an explosion.

"Wha…What happened?" He pushed himself up and shook his head. "Why…Why are we outside?" He looked at everyone and gasped. "What the heck happened to all of you?!"

Pansage put his hands on his shoulders. "Koda, before you assume the worse, we know this wasn't you intention."

"I did this?!"

Pachirisu nodded. "Yeah. You gave us all a good walloping."

"Oh…Oh my gosh…" He held his head. "I didn't mean to…" Dragonite clonked him on the head. "Hey!" he whined, holding the sore spot.

"Don't get any ideas that this was your fault! That bulb of yours has been manipulating your actions! It forced you to attack us!"

"It did?" He looked down in the ground. "That's…That's not right…why would it do that?"

"That's how it was made," Pignite explained. "It brainwashes you and influences you to hate Pokémon. You may have been exempt from its control since day one, but you apparently can be controlled when you're unconscious."

Koda looked at his fist and rubbed it. "I can't believe I did all of this without me knowing…" He clenched his eyes shut. They thought he was going to tear up, but, instead, they formed into a sharp glare. "That bulb is the reason the Darkmon are a menace! It needs to pay! It needs to be destroyed!"

The group nodded. "Agreed." They helped the dark jackal up.

He cracked his knuckles. "Let's find and destroy that bulb!"

"You're speaking my language, little buddy!" Dragonite shouted, punching his fist into his palm.

An explosion sounded from the forest, making them jump. They turned towards it and saw an inferno of flame and electricity rise up into the clouds. They looked at each other in confusion. What was that?


Fire and electricity collided against each other speedily. Pikachu and Ryder were moving at invisible speeds, countering each other blow for blow. The surrounding battlefield was reduced to ash from the combined attacks, causing devastation and destruction in their path.

Pikachu could never imagine going at these kinds of speeds. He actually liked it. Feeling the wind brush against his fur as he ran around was quite relaxing. Granted, in the current situation he was in, being relaxed was the last thing on his mind.

He collided Iron Tail against Brick Break. Ryder growled and slashed Pikachu across the chest. He held it with a cringe, but didn't let it slow him down. He landed and kicked off the ground, running circles around the Charmeleon. He raised his hands and slammed them down, sending a wave of fire across the ground. It touched against the mouse's feet, burning them,

"AAHH!" He jumped up and fired Thunderbolt in retaliation. Ryder blocked it with his hands. The power pushed him into the ground, sticking him in a small crater. He growled angrily and pushed it back with Inferno.

Fire and electricity pushed against each other, trying to overpower the other. They glared, but Pikachu's glare was filled more with sympathy towards the Charmeleon. He wished not to continue with this battle.

Ryder stopped his attack and used Aerial Ace, dodging the Thunderbolt. Pikachu thought quickly and used Electro Ball, then poured Thunderbolt into it. He spun around on his back, like he would do when he performed his Counter Shield combo, and threw a wave of electricity around him.

The wave collided against Ryder's Aerial Ace. Pikachu flipped up and tackled him with Quick Attack, then throwing a right hook across his face. Ryder glared angrily and grabbed him by the tail. He spun and slammed him against the ground. Electricity coursed up the tail and blasted him back, forcing him off.

Pikachu pushed himself up and held his chest. He was getting worn out. However, so was Ryder. He may have Darkmon aura, but he didn't have their healing ability. If he could knock him out or something, this will all be over.

Buneary and Piplup watched from behind a tree, worried looks present on their faces. "Come on, Pikachu, you can do it," the rabbit mumbled to herself.

Piplup's beak chattered fearfully. "T-T-This is getting crazy!" He shook his head and stood tall. "N-Not that I'm worried! I can take him!" He inched away. "Though, let's let Pikachu soften him up first…"

The egg, with its container still safely wrapped around his flippers, flashed again.

Pikachu crashed against a tree. He rubbed his jaw, then dodged a swift punch that went through the trunk. Pikachu threw a fast one into his stomach, staggering him. He then grabbed his shoulders and sent a strong current of electricity through his body.

"Ryder, snap out of it!"

He got some form of reaction. Ryder's eyes clenched shut tightly. He flailed his head, like he was trying to fight against the Awakened Evil. Pikachu smiled. "Yes, that's it! Keep fighting it, Ryder!"

His hands went up to his head, clutching it tightly. He roared angrily, then swatted Pikachu away. He landed in the dirt and groaned. He looked up at Ryder, whose eyes flashed red at him.

"NO!" the mouse shouted.

Ryder fired Inferno at him, which he rolled away from. He fired Thunderbolt, ripping apart the ground as it traveled. Ryder sidestepped, then retaliated with Inferno once more. The mouse rolled away again. He got on all fours and ran away. Ryder used Aerial Ace and vanished.

He appeared in front of him and kicked him in the jaw. Pikachu stood his ground and flipped backwards, slamming Iron Tail into him. The two staggered away from each other, panting heavily. They both could give out at any moment.

The mouse held his chest and clenched his teeth tightly. I can't keep this up any longer. My body is screaming in agony. I can't push myself any further without do some series damage to myself. He was keeping himself going with adrenaline at this point.

Ryder growled and walked towards him. Buneary gasped. "Oh no…Pikachu…"

He collapsed onto his knees and looked up at Ryder. He aimed his hand at him, blue flames building up around it. Pikachu couldn't move right. He needed time to recover. Time wasn't on his side right now. The flames glowed stronger and prepared to eliminate him.

"Take this!" A spinning figure came down on Ryder with an axe kick. The Inferno canceled out. He whipped around to grab his attacker, but he flipped back. "Leave him alone!"

Buneary and Piplup peaked from behind the tree to see their savior. To their shock, it was someone they didn't know, much less expect. A Dark Riolu.

Ryder growled and rushed him. Koda dodged and blasted him in the back with an aura pulse. He ran over to Pikachu and helped him up. "Hey, are you-" Pikachu shoved him off, a glare present in his eyes. "Huh?"

"What do you want, Darkmon?" Great, just what he needed. His friend going crazy, now he had to deal with a Darkmon who saved his life…wait, what? Now his mind took a complete one-eighty. "Wait…why did you save me?"

"PIKACHU!" He looked up and saw Dragonite descending from the sky, with the others hanging on to him. "You're okay!"

He smiled brightly. "Guys!" They jumped off of Dragonite and hugged him. He cringed in pain. "Ow, ow, ow…" They pulled back with sheepish looks. He smiled again. "You guys are alright…"

"You wouldn't BELIEVE how long we've been searching for you!" Pachirisu exclaimed. "It was crazy!" He smiled brightly. "Anyway, what's new with you?"

They heard a vicious roar behind them. They turned and saw Koda battling Ryder, who was slashing at the former furiously.

Pachirisu and Quilava blinked. "…isn't that the Charmeleon from Sinnoh?" they both asked, confused.

Pikachu narrowed his eyes. "Forget that. Care to explain what happened to you all over the week? Who is that?"

"Oh, that's Koda, our friend."

"Your…friend? You guys are aware that's a Darkmon, right?"

"We know, but he isn't like his brethren," Pansage assured. "He seems to have been created exempt from their influence. He has his own free will…more or less."

"And you trust him?" he asked suspiciously.

Dragonite sighed. "Yes…as much as I didn't trust him over the week, he has been nothing but helpful in getting us this far. We have some pretty disturbing news about the Darkmon you may need to hear about them…after we snap your friend out of his…manic induced trance."

Koda ducked and blasted Ryder in the gut. He staggered back, then used Aerial Ace. Koda jumped over it and used Copycat, flying at him with swift movements. The two collided together, though Koda was taking more damage due to the typing of Aerial Ace.

He flipped back and took a stance. "So, you must be the Shadow? Very nice to meet you," he greeted politely. Ryder growled viciously. "I can see you're under the effects of our Awakened Evil." He looked at Pikachu and shouted, "Why is he under the effects of Awakened Evil?!"

"Long story!"

Koda turned around and flipped from a Slash. "Easy, buddy! I'm just here to help!" Ryder snarled and slashed at him repeatedly. "You are not making this easy for the both of us!"

Pikachu pushed himself to his feet. "Darkmon or not, I need to help Ryder wake up." He dashed forward, shocking his friends with his speed.

Ryder felt a solid punch against his side from Pikachu. He turned to attack him, but Koda blasted him with a wave of aura. The two tag teamed each other, taking turns to deal damage to Ryder.

Pikachu jumped away from Ryder's attacks and ducked, allowing Koda to jump onto his back and kick the Charmeleon across the face. He flipped off his back and got behind Ryder, pushing him towards Pikachu, who uppercutted him with Iron Tail.

Ryder's Darkmon aura flickered badly as he staggered around dizzily. "Ugh…" The first sound he makes that didn't have anger or evil in the tone.

Pikachu and Koda looked at each other and nodded. They went in close to deliver one final strike. They both fired Thunderbolt, with Koda using Copycat. The Charmeleon glowed in electricity and howled in pain.

The aura around him dissipated and he collapsed. Pikachu and Koda ran over and caught him. They slung his arms around their shoulders and lifted him up.

"Ryder?" Pikachu called out. "Are you okay?"

He didn't get an immediate response, but he was definitely conscious. He breathe heavily and opened his eyes. His bright green eyes. His vision was blurry and dizzying. His head was pounding with a vicious headache.

"Pik…Pikachu…" he muttered.

He smiled. "Don't worry, I'm here."

"What…happened?"

Pikachu bit his lip. Ryder didn't know about the Darkmon aura in him. He was worried how he'll respond, but there was no logical way to cover up what happened out here. He needed to know, even if it's going to leave him aggravated.

"I'll…tell you in the hideout…what's left of it, at least."

The weakened Shadow Agent glanced over to the new group of Pokémon that were present. "Are those your friends?"

"Yeah, they are," he answered. "They came by to help us during the…conflict."

"Seriously, what happened?" He cringed at the pain all over him. "And why do I feel like I was hit by a truck…then crushed under a boulder…then repeatedly punched?"

"We need to get you patched up first."

Buneary ran over with her egg container. Piplup waddled over carrying Oshawott and Snivy on his back. The rabbit ran over and hugged him around the neck. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright!"

He smiled weakly. "Thanks Buneary…" He groaned. "Everyone, back into the hideout." Buneary nodded and led the others to the hideout.

Koda sighed. "Man, I'm glad we got here when we did. That was crazy."

Ryder shook his head. "Whatever happened here, you have the right idea. Now, there's one more thing I need to know…"

"What?" Pikachu asked.

He glared at Koda, who gulped fearfully. "Why…is there a Darkmon here?"

The Dark Riolu shivered at the cold glare. Eyes filled with rage and hatred directed at him. This is going to take a lot of explaining…