Chapter 37: Silvershade

Blaziken's heart was pounding from the sudden shock that woke him. He only spotted Eric briefly before he slammed the door and stomped outside, and got off to try and figure out what is going on.

I began with looking towards the source of the noise, a wooden framed glass cabinet appeared smashed by some foreign object. Among the shards of glass, however, was Eric's pendant necklace.

"Huh?" he muttered to himself. "What's this doing here?"

The lack of a good night's sleep then hit him in a wave. Blaziken's eyes grew slightly heavier, and he yawned for a couple seconds.

*rfffrff rffrff...*

Blaziken picked up a rustling sound coming from the side of Eric's bed. Cautiously, he stepped towards the noise, and the rustling from under his bed. Then in one swift sweep, threw over the covers and revealed what was underneath. Riolu was lying facing the window, seemingly disturbed from his sleep. He stirred where he was and woke up steadily.

"Hey, Blaziken." he moaned with a yawn. "whea's Ewic?"

it was right then did Blaziken see something else on the bed, he stared at them for a few seconds until it dawned on him that he wasn't seeing things. he glanced at Riolu, who was staring at the same thing, then he slowly turned to Blaziken, his eyes indicating a similar sense of horror.

"He's not in heuh, is he...?"

"C'mon, kid." Blaziken lifted Riolu on his shoulders, his hand clutching Eric's secondary belt. "Any Trainer without this is looking for trouble, and with the trouble Eric's dealt with... dammit, man."

"GRAAHH!"

*BOOMBOOM, BOOM BOOM BOOM*

"YAH YAH, GNNAH!"

*BOOMBOOM, WHUMPH*

I was on the outskirts of Ecruteak city, punching at an unoccupied tree to vent out my anger. small craters were left where my fists have compressed the body and bark of the tree, and despite my fists aching like hell, I still had anger to spare.

Left, right, Left-left right. whirl-around left. I figured that if I had picked any other tree, it would be knocked down by now. after about a dozen or so different punches, I finally stopped and stood there panting. I leaned my back on the tree and slid sown in a sitting position. closing my eyes to collect my thoughts.

You will need to come to terms with yourself eventually. the warning echoed in my head for the third time. Should you not do it sooner, it will be all the more painful when it presents itself without your say-so.

Hearing the warning made me all the more frustrated. Like that's even possible... A lot of people know who I am. The Kanto Gym Leaders will likely have begrudged me because of what I did, especially Lt. Surge, who is the only one I actually enjoyed putting down initially. now, however, I felt a little less like what I was and am instead just some kid who's lost in a psychological labyrinth.

I took breaths in an effort to calm down, with some success. I figured that I might as well find another way of venting, so I got up and started walking along the borders of the city.

Come to terms with myself... I thought, feeling empty. I can't even FORGIVE myself for all that I've done for the past couple of years. I've learned so quickly to hide my real feelings that it's become second nature, but that doesn't hide the fact that I don't like the whole thing. I wondered what would happen to the Pokémon I was stealing. Perhaps they were just simply sold off to other trainers for profit. I mean, sure, it's not right to kidnap Pokémon from their original trainers, nor would it be right to sell them like merchandise. but maybe they'll be given to a Trainer that could care for them just like their previous one. At least that would be something I'll live with.

I stopped walking at the front gate of the small city. I stared at the Bell Tower and suddenly I just felt like I couldn't be angry anymore. Instead, I felt hurt... hurt at all of the disappointment that I've been getting. From Team Rocket because I had to think creatively to be a better battler, from Suicune for not giving me all of my answers, Ho-oh for not explaining everything to me... instead of anger, I felt emotional pain. I wondered if this was what Ho-oh meant; it would all just rise up without my say so.

"It's not fair." I muttered, looking at the Bell Tower from the gate. "All this crap happens to me, and nobody gives any detailed explanation. I'm left in the dark, with only nothing but faith in getting answers soon to keeping me going." I thought about giving up, but a part of me still felt sure it was for a reason. I figured I ought to keep walking, but instead, I just merely sighed.

"Well, then why don't you join with us?"

I was snapped out of my trance as my hair stood on end. I glanced around rapidly, searching for the source of the voice. that familiar chill of danger hit my spine, and I ducked out of blind reflex as I avoided an electric ball of energy. I recognized the attack as Zap Cannon, and I whirled around to face my attacker, who turned out to be a young man of about my height and apparently with a voice that sounded frighteningly recognizable.

I felt a strong wave of fear wash over me like strong waves on the beach. I held my ground, and clenched my fists in an effort to channel the fear elsewhere. I stared on at the shadowed guy and I saw him being accompanied by a Jolteon, where its collar was normally white, it's black, and where its spiky coat was yellow, it's a darker orange.

"You have quite a nerve of steel o face me with a straight face." the guy commented. "perhaps you might not be as weak a human as I think."

I felt a serious urge to run, but something told me to face him. Something was keeping my feet planted where they were. The fear wasn't just from what was flowing out of him.

I felt like I knew him somehow.

"A-Alright, Who the hell are you?" I said, suddenly feeling shaky.

The guy snickered for a couple seconds. "I'm the one you've been looking for, Eric Claid."

It hit me... it occurred to me who this was. I felt my urge to run nearly break, and I stepped back.

"You..." I uttered, my eyes trying to see his face. "You're Silvershade...?"

Darkness Silvershade stepped out, and I froze. I had always gone about saying that this guy merely looked like me. I thought that Silvershade was just a mockup. I felt an instant glance at his mind, and my opinion changed. In his mind, I not only saw images of everything that happened at Oak's labs, at the S.S. tidal, and even with Cassidy... I saw them from my perspective, I was watching my own memories in someone else's mind. That, along with the fact of his appearance, only gave me on true conclusion.

This guy isn't a look-alike, he isn't an imposter. He's not some maniacal fan who admires me so much that he wants to be me. This guy is calculated, aware of what's going on and able to bring about a fake attitude just to mimic another's.

This guy wasn't trying to be me... because he is me.

"So, I can tell you're pretty frightened, boy. It's not much of a surprise, knowing what you're face-to-face with."

No... I still couldn't come to believe my eyes. No, this isn't real...

Silvershade snickered again. "Tell you what, how about I give you a chance to face your fear. A simple Unison Battle to see if you're worthy of the potential I see."

I felt like I had no choice in the matter, but besides that, this guy is me. And odds are, he'll have my sense of strategy. But if I want to show him up once and for all, I'll have to fight him.

"Fine, I'll show you what I can do." I reached over to Blaziken's Pokéball... only to find it wasn't there."Uh..."

Oh shit... I thought, realizing that none of my Pokéballs were on my belt. I left them back at the hotel.

"Hmm, not prepared, are ya?" Silvershade taunted. "Well, too bad, you accepted my challenge, and you WILL follow-up!"

"Raahhhhhhh!" Jolteon leapt at me, its teeth electrified. I stepped aside, not even thinking twice. Suddenly I was flung to my left into a nearby tree. My vision blurred briefly, and I ducked an oncoming Scyther's blade. I pushed forward, and got to my feet and barely avoided a punch from somewhere. Something else slashed me at the side, but no blood was drawn, just a white burning feeling. My mind was reeling from all the attacks coming in from all directions, and as if in minutes, I was down. Small cuts were seen on my arms and waist, a couple of them drawing blood my entire body was beaten by multiple attacks. I tried to get up on my feet, but something clutched my shirt and tugged me to my feet, and the next thing I knew, a blade was at my throat.

My vision was blurry and hazy, I couldn't see or think straight, and the first thing I wanted was to close my eyes and let some rest clear my head. But something told me to stay awake, so I just listened instead. Footsteps were approaching me from directly in front of me. I felt my chin being raised sharply and a rather disgusting and indescribable stench swept my nose.

"You disappointed me, boy. I thought you could handle yourself, but it seems I was wrong." Silvershade hissed. "Quite a shame how you couldn't harness your hidden potential sooner, because the body I've now copied at that old man's place... your body... can be given a much greater strength."

So, when that shadow engulfed me at the Oak laboratories... I thought, the pieces beginning to come together. It was copying my body?

I felt my head tingle, which meant telepathy. Silvershade emanated a feeling of a sinister pleasure. "Yeah, now you're getting the idea. You've now understood how I came to be, now did you enjoy that sensation it gave you?"

I thought back on that feeling, though not by my choosing. My double used his telepathy to force the memory through me. It felt like despair that never ended, like my life wasn't really worth living. I felt that I was better off giving in to a cold but peaceful darkness, but something in me told me that I shouldn't accept this. I listened to that side and tried to push away that cold darkness, but then I began to hear voices like some psychotic would.

They'll never forgive...you've forsaken yourself from them... just give in.

No! I fought. I've still got a chance!

What chance? A chance to redeem yourself? the Voices continued. Face it, who's going to believe your redemption story?

"No!" I shouted vocally. "I'm no psycho, I always have a chance when I work hard enough!" I felt like I was tearing myself apart, trashing the inside of my brain to throw out these voices. "JUST LEAVE ME ALOOOONE!"

The voices didn't go away, instead, I heard an endless laughter. My mind was swimming, and I was beginning to lose control of myself. My voice began trailing, from despaired shouts to pitiful pleads for mercy.

I fought harder, my head began getting a headache, and my voice was getting stronger, but the numbness was washing over it, and I fought to maintain the headache. I tried to ball a fist, but my hands were barely moving. More effort, the headache turned into a migraine, nearly threatening to split my head like an egg. I got enough control into my arm for one shot. And I swung with a right punch forward.

"UMPH!" someone grunted, as my fist struck belly, and I shoved my fist with all I had. The world flashed in front of me as my vision quickly returned to normal, though a little unfocused. I dropped to the ground, stunned and mostly still numb.

As my vision focused, I stared helplessly as my shadow image got to his feet with a sinister smirk on his face.

"Gah... not bad, boy." he chuckled for a second. "Maybe you're just trying to get used to the reality still. That strength is definitely going to be mine for sure."

"I don't think so!" Silvershade looked to his left, and jumped back as a Flamethrower was going to hit him. in what I knew was the classic "last minute rescue" cliché, Blaziken and the rest of my Pokémon rushed to stand in between me and Silvershade. To my right, Morty stood at the side, looking between me and him, as if trying to figure out which one is me.

I saw that Riolu was looking between us for a couple seconds before dashing to my side, crying out my name.

"Ewic, Ewic! Ahh you okay?" he cried.

I forced myself to speak. "Ngh, I'm pumped full of Shadow painkillers, I... Geh... can't seem to move. But I'll be okay, Riolu." I clenched my teeth and forced myself to get to my feet.. I stood a little wobbly because I couldn't feel my legs too well, but I stood behind my Pokémon, who stood in Silvershade's way.

Silvershade looked me in the eye, and the smirk on his face made me nervous. But he closed his eyes, as if he was satisfied with something.

"Well then, now that I've finally met you in person, I believe I've seen enough of your potential." Silvershade commented. "Perhaps once it's fully grown, you'll be worth the trouble of taking over."

"So you're Darkness Silvershade, eh?" Gengar said from next to Morty. "Not bad for some weirdly nicked Ditto."

"Am I a Ditto, you say?" Silvershade responded. He pointed at me before saying "Ask HIM that question."

Gengar shifted his gaze to me, with a skeptical look on his face. I only looked down, and even though his thoughts got the message, he couldn't seem to really believe it.

Who would? I thought. I wouldn't normally believe it, even if the evidence slapped me in the face.

"Until next time..." Silvershade said. "I'll be sure to make sure you don't slip up on training that potential vessel you have."

I looked up at his expression., confused. "What vessel?" he turned to walk towards Ekruteak. "Hey! What do you mean by vess-...?" he began to fade. "HEY! I'm talking to you! GET BACK HERE!"

I jumped forward, in some attempt to stop him, but when I reached the spot he was standing on, I stopped and fell to my knees. Silvershade was not standing in that spot anymore.

He vanished, leaving me to piddle around with whatever he said... with no clue what it really means.

I closed my eyes and bowed down in an effort to hold in my urge to swear for a few minutes straight. I felt Blaziken's three fingered hand rest on my shoulder. I felt pain strike me again. It's not physical, though, but emotional just like when I looked at the Bell Tower. I punched the ground in a small attempt to drive out my anger, but it stung instead because of my punching that tree before.

"Hey, cool it." he told me. "You've told me to take it easy when the going gets rough. You should do the sa-"

"It's just not fair..." I interrupted him, fighting to hold back tears of frustration. "Why can't I get my answers... why can't I get the simplest things in the whole wide world?"

"What?"

"I came out to vent on the frustration of being left in the dark." I felt numb, like something died in me "But instead of finding a reliable source to learn what's happening to me... I came face to face with him... he has my memories, my appearance, and a shadow that can suddenly make you feel terrified. And what does he tell me... he tells me about some potential vessel, which could mean a chance at taking me over, copying someone else, I can't be too certain.."

I felt like I just want to sleep again... even though it's the middle of the day. Maybe all of this will blow over soon.

Riolu came up in front of me, and held out the pendant to me. "You dwopped tis."

I made a weak smile to Riolu as I took it, but it quickly vanished when I stared at it.

Why? I thought. Why is it that when I look at this thing, I somehow have faith that Ho-oh will bring light to all my questions? I looked at the Bell tower, and I hurt inside... but this thing just seems to give me some 'semblance of hope... I don't understand, why is that? I looked back at the Bell Tower, and instead of pain, I felt a feeling of determination. It was like the pendant was encouraging me to climb the Bell Tower and meet Ho-oh face-to-face. However, I knew in the back of my mind, that there's WILL be tests I need to pass. Because it's like the old Cliché goes with ancient prophecies, chosen ones and the final destination: there will always be a personally made trial to show whether or not said chosen one is truly worthy of their "destiny" (like I believe it, bah!). If I'm worthy, good for me, I get to embrace what the hell kind of benefits I get next. If I'm NOT, then who knows what happens next, even though it's not going to be good (Think about it, no movie director or book author ever said what happened if the chosen one was apparently "unworthy". though I don't want to find out firsthand, thanks...)

So, while the Pendant was wordlessly indicating to me that I am to climb the tower, the rest of me told me to rest first, especially my head. I got up to my feet, and the drowsiness quickly hit me. I guess I must have woken up too early this morning, and since I left my PDA at the hotel, I don't know what time it is. Not that it matters much, I'm still going to sleep. I only said "Come on..." and we all went back to the hotel.